Chapter 1: Gianetta Giovanna awakens Almost (Sweet Music)!
Chapter Text
Naples, Italy. 20XX.
It had been many years since the events of the Diavolo incident. Giorno Giovanna, the only man to become the youngest boss of La Passione, basically ruled the country at this point. He was quite careful with those who wanted to enter the gang, but he was known to be very kind to others so everyone and anyone could join and were most likely in the gang at the drop of a hat. Six years after becoming the boss, he married his close friend, lover, and subordinate, Pannacotta Fugo. 3 years later, they made the risky decision to have a child through surrogacy, and their first daughter, Laurenza Giovanna, was born. And then, 3 more years later, their youngest daughter, Gianetta Giovanna, was born.
She is the heroine of our story.
This young middle schooler with no combat experience or knowledge of what she would soon be facing will have to piece together a sinister plot hiding in the familia, all while using her Stand that directly works against her.
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Gianetta Giovanna did not have a Stand.
Her fathers and their subordinates had Stands, her older sister had a Stand since she was seven, and here she was, a near-sighted twelve-year-old who was not only autistic but near-sighted, who came from a long line of born Stand users and still no Stand. Her family tried to reassure her that it was okay and it was actually a good thing that she didn't have a Stand, their reasoning being that it would make her more of a target than she already was if she did.
But, in Gianetta's mind, it was another thing that she was not allowed to have because of her 'unfortunate circumstances,' as some people liked to phrase it, which did not sit well with her.
She wanted to be strong. She wanted to show her family that she was worthy enough to be the future boss of La Passione.
That was her goal.
It was something she thought about often, especially on her way to school.
Especially on this day.
They went through their normal routine of getting ready for school and into a very protected van and followed by two other cars for extra protection. Even though the familia still ran everything, they still had to take precautions.
Gianetta was by the tinted window and quite bored as her father, Fugo, went on and asked the same overprotective/overbearing mafioso father questions as her older sister answered for the both of them.
"Is your phone charged?"
"Yes."
"And you have your portable chargers?"
"Yes."
"And you have your Uncle Mista's number on speed dial?"
Laurenza groaned, leaning back in her seat. "Yes, papa! I have everything including my bear mace and my one hundred switchblades that I have ever so carefully placed into my backpack."
"Laurenza, please."
Mista laughed a little. "Come on, Fugo. We've been through this over a million times! They know what they're doing!"
The rest of the conversation played out the same way it always did. The three of them argued about the capability of Laurenza going to school by herself as Gianetta continued to stare out of the car window until her other father, Giorno, tapped on her knee and they began their own conversation.
"Is everything okay, Gia? You're a lot quieter than usual…" He said, crossing his legs.
Gianetta straightened herself. "I'm fine, papa. More underwhelmed, if anything."
"Underwhelmed."
She nodded. "I don't feel as if anything's changed. I don't feel...grown up. I'm still in middle school and I don't have a Stand yet. I feel so...small."
"Well, you are only 4 foot 10." He joked.
"I'm being serious! If I'm going to gain respect among the ranks, I need to start changing-I need a Stand!"
Giorno smiled, shaking his head. "Such an ambitious child. Gianetta, you do not need a Stand to gain respect. You need to show your subordinates respect before they can respect you."
Gianetta frowned. "That is such a cop-out answer and you know it."
"It's true. That's how I got here."
Gianetta rolled her eyes. "Sure papa, sure."
The car finally came to a stop in front of Gianetta's school. "Okay, this is me. I'll be going now-" she said, standing up.
"Hold it, young lady."
The young girl sighed, parking herself back in her seat, facing her fathers.
"You have everything you need? Headphones, stimulation toys, lunch?"
"All in my backpack."
"And you-"
"I have everyone's numbers on speed dial and if anything happens, I'll call you."
"Good. See, Fugo? They're fine!" Giorno said.
Fugo sighed. "I'm just trying to make sure that they are safe."
"Now that you've done that, can I go now? I'm about to be late."
Giorno nodded, "Yes, Gianetta. You can go."
She smiled, quickly hugging the three adults and then turned to her sister, squishing her face in her hands. "3 o'clock, Laura."
"I'll be there as soon as I can." She said with a smile.
"Don't forget."
"I won't."
Gianetta nodded, hopping out of the car and running into the sea of students.
Fugo sat up, trying to catch a glimpse of his youngest daughter.
"She's fine, papa! Don't worry so much."
"She's right, Panna. She's been going to school for five years now and she hasn't run into any problems."
"Not yet," he muttered, his anxiety building, "and that's what I'm afraid of…"
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Gianetta pushed past the sea of junior high students in search of her own small group of friends. They consisted of both normal outsiders and children of the gang. They were the only ones in the entire school that knew that Gianetta was the boss' daughter-and they were the only ones who treated her like a decent human being.
During her search for her friends, she was tripped, pushed, shoved, and made fun of, but she simply ignored it. These were dumb middle schoolers. She didn't have to garner any respect from them. She just had to make it another year or so and she would be out of there.
She squished herself through the ocean of people, the loud chattering, and the large groups starting to get to her. It was starting to become too much.
'Where are they? Should I text them? No, I can't. They'll drop my phone down the stairs like last time. But school's starting soon, and I won't be able to see them until-'
"GIAGIA!"
Gianetta raised her head to find the first half of the Cioccolata twins up on the door frame of a classroom, hanging upside down.
"Alcee, what are you doing?" Gianetta asked, smirking.
"Just stretching!" She replied, happily.
Gianetta smiled. "Oh yeah? It seems like fun."
"ALCEE! How many times do I have to tell you to stop hanging off of the doors?!" The headmistress shouted, walking over to the two girls.
Alcee huffed, jumping down right in front of Gianetta, taking a bow.
Gianetta smiled. "You have to stop doing that."
Alcee rolled her eyes. "Whatever, it's not like she can do anything about it. If she tries, my papa will slice her to bits!"
Gianetta shook her head. "Where's everyone else?"
The odd twin shrugged. "Dunno. Lost 'em in the crowd."
"You mean you lost them when you decided to go off on your own and do...this."
She nodded, somewhat proud as the headmistress hauled her away to her office. "Bye-bye, GiaGia!"
Gianetta waved, a twinge of envy in her eye as Alcee's Stand, Holiday, hung off her back, disguising itself as a normal backpack
She decided to give up on her search for her friends and went directly to her speech therapy class, where another one of her Stand user friends was waiting.
"Zucchero!"
The somewhat small, slightly older ginger-haired boy lifted his head, his depressing mood seemed to brighten a little. He waved at her, a little smile on his lips.
Matteo Zucchero, the son of Mario Zucchero and Sale, created by La Squadra's Melone through his Stand, Babyface. The poor boy was 'plagued' by selective mutism brought on by severe anxiety which had gotten much worse over the past two years. It had gotten so bad, he was unable to communicate things such as "I'm sick and going to vomit," or "I'm having a severe anxiety attack and about to faint." These were things that frequently happened to him on a bi-weekly basis.
The young girl sat beside the ginger-haired boy, all smiles. "Everything okay, Zucchero?"
He shrugged. "Not...really. Home...not great."
Gianetta leaned forward. "They're still fighting, aren't they?"
He nodded, signaling Gianetta to cover her ears. She pulled out her noise-canceling headphones just as the second bell rang, the piercing sound shaking her.
"You wanna talk about?" She asked, loudly speaking over the bell.
He shook his head, uncovering his ears and returning to his silent state. Gianetta removed her headphones, wanting to press further but deciding against it.
'This is going to be a long day…' She thought, pulling out her phone and checking her messages. She checked her most recent conversation with her best friend, Leslie.
Gianetta: Are you on your way?
Leslie: I'll be there as soon as I can!
Gianetta: You better hurry up.
She had sent that message a while ago, and Leslie hadn't so much as read it.
'That's odd. Leslie always replies within seconds.'
Gianetta decided to shoot her another text.
Gianetta: Hey, are you here?
"Phones away, Gia." The speech therapist said as she walked into the classroom.
Gianetta nodded, sliding the phone into her backpack, leaving it on just in case Leslie called.
For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
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"I'll see you later!"
Laurenza jumped out of the van and ran to school, already extremely late. The blonde girl sprinted through the halls and fell into her classroom, panting.
"Well, look who finally decided to show up." Her teacher said, right in the middle of giving a lecture.
"S-sorry, sir! I had to drop my little sister off at school!" She said, straightening herself.
The homeroom teacher waved her off. "Don't wanna hear it, Shiobana. Just take your seat."
She nodded, making her way to the back of the class, sitting herself down beside a familiar curly-haired girl. "You're late~"
"I know, Bianca." She replied, not looking at the lavender haired girl.
Bianca smirked, sliding a slip of paper in her desk. "Anna wants to see you."
Laurenza nodded, looking down at the slip of paper in her hands. In neat handwriting, it read: 2nd floor, girl's bathroom.
She chuckled to herself, quickly folding it up and sliding it into her pocket.
'Always something with you, Anna. Always something.'
An explanation and few classes later, the break came and Laurenza made her way up to the 2nd-floor bathroom, waiting for a group of girls who were gossiping inside to leave
"Why is she standing there?" One of them whispered.
"She's probably here for that freak, Annamaria." Another replied.
"Shush! They'll hear you!"
"I don't care! Let them hear me!"
"Hey, cut it out!"
The redheaded girl strutted over to the last stall, making direct eye contact with Laurenza as she pounded on the stall door. "Come on, you little freak! It's not like you're actually pissing in there or anything!"
The girl howled with laughter as the others continued to shout at her to stop.
Laurenza frowned, finally stepping into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. "Hey! If you have something to say, then say it to my face!"
Suddenly the girl was silent. All the animosity and bitterness towards her disappeared. She had no words.
Biting her tongue, she motioned for the other two to follow her out of the bathroom. She pushed past Laurenza, glaring daggers at her. Laurenza shook her head, making her way over to the last stall, lightly knocking. "You can come out now. No one's here."
The door slowly began to open, a set of dark red and black eyes at her. She stood back as the older girl emerged from the stall. "That was quite annoying." She said as she stood very close to the younger girl.
Laurenza was always so intimidated by Annamaria Nero. She was so much taller and quite beautiful as well, with pretty porcelain skin, beautiful blonde hair curled like some kind of princess. She was everything that Laurenza wished to be. "Are you okay? I hope they didn't bother you too much."
Anna shook her head. "It was nothing, really. I only have a year left before I go to university. It's that bad anyway."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a flash drive, "Here. My father forgot to give this to Giorno. I took the liberty of bringing it here to you."
"Oh, thanks!" Laurenza said, taking the flash drive and slipping it into her book bag.
"How's Gianetta?"
"She's good. Still waiting for her Stand, you know?"
Anna nodded. "You know, my offer is still on the table. If she wants a Stand, she can-"
"No!" Laurenza exclaimed, almost defensively, "I-I mean, I appreciate the offer, really. But, I'm sure Gianetta is fine."
Annamaria nodded, falling silent.
Laurenza felt somewhat bad, but there was no way she was going to let them near her little sister with that thing.
There was no chance in hell she was letting her baby sister get hurt just to awaken her Stand.
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Leslie never came to school that day.
Gianetta knew Leslie inside and out, and she knew that Leslie would always tell her if she wasn't coming to school. Whether it was because she was sick or helping out her mom at her fortune-teller shop.
But there were no texts, no phone calls or emails, nothing.
No matter how many times she texted her, there was no answer. She tried not to think about it. She tried to convince herself that maybe she was just late because of some sort of doctor's appointment. But after the next handful of classes rolled around and her seat was still empty. With every passing minute without so much as a text saying, 'Hey, sorry I couldn't make it, I had a thing,' was another minute Gianetta spent worrying over her.
Lunch came around and the students were either on their way home to eat or going somewhere else for lunch. Gianetta was heading to her other childhood friend, Carlino's house for lunch, but she couldn't resist texting Leslie one last time.
Gianetta: Hey, are you okay? Why aren't you answering?
Gianetta: Did something happen?
Gianetta: Are you mad at me?
Gianetta: Leslie?
"GiaGia, are you ready to go?" The honey-haired boy asked.
"Did Leslie call you?" She asked.
"Leslie? No, she hasn't spoken to me since this morning-"
"When was that?" Gianetta asked, getting right up in his face.
"I-I don't know, around 7:30, maybe? Hasn't she texted you?"
Gianetta sighed, shaking her head. "No. She's not like this, Isidoro. She always replies within seconds. Something's happened to her."
"I think she's just very busy today, Gia. Maybe she dropped her phone while she was working."
"I don't buy it."
"I'm not asking you to buy anything. Leslie is...very eccentric. She was probably running around her mother's shop and dropped her phone somewhere. I'm sure she'll call once she finds it."
She didn't believe him in the slightest.
She was sure that something bad had happened to her best friend and they were wasting time by coming with all sorts of excuses as to why their friend hadn't shown up. But, without all the facts, she couldn't do anything. So, she tried to put it out of her mind for a while, at least until she gathered more evidence. She took Carlino's hand as they ventured down the hill to his house.
"What's your dad making?"
"Pasta e Fagioli."
"That's my favorite."
"I thought that was your favorite rainy day meal."
"It changes often."
"Is that so?"
"You're reading into this too much."
"I've just never met someone who has so many categories for food."
"Well, if you want to get into it, I-" Am awfully sharp noise pierced through Gianetta's ears, knocking her to her knees. "AGH!"
"GIA!" Carlino shouted, falling beside her.
Gianetta tried covering her ears to block out the sound, but when she realized that Carlino wasn’t screaming bloody murder like her, she knew that it was all in her head. This awful noise that refused to disappear was all in her head. It had become so powerful it completely drowned out Carlino’s voice entirely.
‘What the hell is wrong with me?! I can’t even hear my own thoughts! Why is this happening to me? Why here? Why now?’
The horrid sound persisted. It felt like her skull was about to split open. She screamed even harder, her fingers digging into her head. Through her hot tears, she could see Carlino frantically calling someone and trying to talk to Gianetta at the same time.
‘What are you saying? I can’t hear you! Who are you calling? Why aren’t you hearing this too?’
“Because he is not you.”
The voice in her head ceased the wretched sound. She looked around in surprise and then up at Carlino, who started back at her, utterly terrified. "....Gia?"
Another awful noise entered her ears, but this time it was...familiar. It was a cheery tune, one she had heard over and over again since she was nine.
It was Leslie's ringtone.
She quickly stood up, scanning the area until her eyes landed on a narrow alleyway between the school and an apartment building, so small it seemed like the walls were closing in on themselves.
'She's in there,' she thought, 'Leslie is in there.'
She slowly began to make her way towards the small crevice.
"Gia, what are you doing?!"
"Leslie's in here...she has to be," she whispered to herself.
She crept carefully into the narrow alleyway, instantly hit by an awful odor. She covered her nose and mouth as she crept further into the crevice, Carlino doing the same as he followed behind her.
"What is that smell?" Carlino whispered.
Gianetta suddenly stopped, causing Carlino to bump into her. She gasped, her green eyes becoming as big as saucers. Carlino peaked over her shoulder to see what had scared her so badly.
And he regretted it dearly.
Right in front of the two twelve year olds were three bodies, bloodied and battered, sprawled out on the ground. Two of them were high schoolers who went to an all girls school down the road, and the other...was their friend Leslie. Gianetta fought back the urge to both vomit and cry. 'No, No, No! This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real!' She looked down by her bloodied backpack and she could see Leslie's phone ring right beside it, her mother's phone number flashing on screen. She shakily bent down, reaching down to pick up her phone when a hand grabbed her wrist. She nearly screamed at the top of her lungs when she saw Leslie's big eyes staring back at her in utter horror.
"L-Leslie?! W-what-?!"
"G-Gia....ca-Carlino...you have to leave...you have to leave before he comes back…" She wheezed.
"Who? Who did this to you? How long have you been here?" She questioned, trying to pull Leslie to her feet.
"You have to go...you have to-!"
"What do we have here?"
They all froze in fear. They didn't have the courage to look behind them at the grisly man who was breathing down their necks. "You kids shouldn't be here. Didn't you parents tell you not to go poking your nose in business that isn't yours?"
Gianetta bit down on her lip, trying to prevent herself from screaming. Why was this happening? Why? Why her? Why Leslie? Why them? Why now?
"Well, you know what they say. The more the merrier."
Things seemed to go in slow motion for Gianetta. As the man out stretched his hands to grab Carlino, she opened her mouth and out came an ear bleeding screech.
Literally.
Her scream was echoing louder than any human voice should. It was so loud, it seemed that the whole building was shaking. The three covered their ears, pained expressions on their faces. The man fell to the floor, blood trickling down his ears, his eyes popping out their sockets.
Gianetta couldn't hear anything. She could hear nothing but her voice bouncing off the walls of the two buildings.
She just couldn't stop screaming.
And in all honesty, she didn't want to.
Because she had finally gotten what she wanted.
A Stand.
Chapter 2: A Favor
Summary:
Gianetta recuperates at home and asked her sister a very important question. And Fugo and Giorno decide on what to do about the recent developments.
Notes:
Hello! So, this chapter isn't the best but I tried! I wanted to make it good and get it out so you all can read it! Don't worry! The next chapter will most likely be longer and you be introduced to the villains of our tale! I hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Nothing felt the way it should have.
Her head felt like it was filled with cotton, her fingertips and toes were tingling as her limbs continued to shake. Everything was different, and she did not like it one bit.
She had no recollection of what happened to her that day. Up until the point of finding the narrow crevice, the rest was a blur. She couldn’t hear any last words from Carlino or sirens of police cars. She just couldn't hear anything.
When she woke up, her vision was blurry, but considering she was nearsighted, it wasn’t too concerning. But the ringing in her ears was quite prominent and annoying. She sat up, shaking her head in hopes that the sounds would disappear, but she caught the eye of her older sister, who was sitting in the green beanbag chair in the corner of their bedroom. She stood up, saying something Gianetta could not understand and pointing at her. Gianetta stared at her, puzzled as Laurenza continued to speak to her, even going as far as to shake her by the shoulders. Gianetta shoved her away, and eventually, Laurenza could tell something was wrong. She ran out of the room, and Gianetta waited. The ringing her ears still didn’t disappear and she still couldn’t hear anything. The ticking of her bedside clock, the movement of her feet under her turtle printed sheets, the ruffling of her mouse-brown hair close to her ears.
All she could hear was ringing, and it was starting to scare her. She could see Laurenza coming up the stairs with her two fathers following behind her. Fugo came in, utterly horrified, and relieved at the same time. He took Gianetta's hand, seeming to plead or beg. Gianetta shook her head, pointing to her ear. "I can't hear you!"
He looked back at Giorno, tears welding in his big strawberry eyes. He was...shouting? Maybe begging again? Giorno moved him out of the way. He tried speaking to her, but again, she could not hear him and shook her head. Giorno moved to the side of her head, gently tilting her to the side and stared into her ear, doing the same on the other side.
He turned to Fugo, explaining something to him. Laurenza cringed, and Fugo seemed extremely uncomfortable.
"What?" She asked, gripping her sheets.
'What's going on? What are they not telling me?'
Giorno looked back at her, his Gold Experience manifesting behind him. Her eyes widened, shaking her head. 'oh hell no!'
Gianetta wanted to scream. She wanted to run, but... she knew she wouldn't be able to hide from it. She won't be able to live without her hearing. The bullying would just be worse and the dream would be much harder to obtain. But she hated how Gold Experience healed her.
The uncomfortable and painful suctioning and mushing-and in her ear? If there was any other way, she would have chosen it in a heartbeat. But, instead, she tilted her head to the side, squeezing her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. She felt her sister's hand on top of hers and then immediately felt Gold Experience working its 'magic' in her ear. She could feel herself cringe, hot tears forcing their way out of her eyes. She felt something pull and snap out of her ear, then blood pooled. It quickly disappeared and something else was shoved into her ear. She heard a pop, then the voice of her father, "Gianetta? Can you hear me?"
"Gia, darling? Can you hear us?"
"Fugo, you don't have to-"
Gianetta nodded, hands covering her ears. "Yes! Yes, I can hear you! Please, hurry up!" She pleaded.
Giorno nodded, Laurenza's grip on Gianetta's hand tightened as Gold Experience got to work on her other ear. That was no picnic either. She squirmed and kicked, almost ruining whatever his Stand was trying to fix.
When he was done, Gold Experience disappeared. Gianetta grabbed the sides of her head, whimpering.
"Gia-"
"Let her be. She's been through enough tonight. Let's just...give her some time."
Fugo bit his tongue and stood, following Giorno out. Laurenza stayed beside her the entire time. It was a long time before Gianetta removed her hands from her ears and looked up at her.
"Are you-?"
"Leslie."
"Huh? Leslie?"
Gianetta nodded. "Leslie."
"You want to call Leslie?"
She shook her head.
"You want to know if Leslie's okay?"
She nodded.
"Leslie's fine. She and Carlino made it out alive. They caught the man who killed those two girls. Found him bleeding from his eyes and ears. Whatever you did really fucked him up." She said, laughing a bit.
Gianetta tilted her head in confusion.
"Do you...not remember what happened?"
She shook her head. 'Did I really do all of that? He did deserve it but...how?'
Laurenza stood up, "I'll go talk to dad. Maybe he'll know what's up."
Gianetta nodded, watching as her sister left the room and descended the stairs. She flopped back in bed, staring up at the ceiling covered in butterflies.
She sighed, "Well, at least Leslie and Carlino are okay. But still...Did I break that man's eardrums? No way...I couldn't have...I mean, I would have to have a Stand or, I don't know, a weapon to stab the guy through the ear with...that would be dumb though. Why would I stab someone through the ear? Uncle Narancia taught me how to fight with a weapon, so why would I pull a dumbass move like that? There has to be more to it," she rubbed her ears, still sore from Gold Experience's healing session.
'Wait a minute….GOLD EXPERIENCE! I COULD SEE GOLD EXPERIENCE!'
"THAT'S RIGHT! How could I have not noticed it? I could see him, clear as day! I could never do that...that means-!"
She sat up, smiling, "I HAVE A STAND! I ACTUALLY HAVE A STAND!"
Finally, after 12 years, she finally had what she wanted! She had a Stand! She jumped out of bed, happily making her way down the stairs. "I can't wait to tell papa and dad!"
She was about halfway down the stairs when she caught a few words from the trio's conversation.
"She saw it, Giorno. She saw Gold Experience!" Fugo exclaimed.
She stopped, tip-toeing down the stairs and peeked behind the wall and into the kitchen. Fugo seemed livid while Giorno was deep in thought, his eyes closed.
"You saw the look in her eyes! She saw Gold Experience right next to you! Shouldn't you be more concerned!?"
"I am Panni. I am. But let's think through this rationally."
"Rationally?! Gio, the only explanation is-is that she somehow developed a Stand! We have to do something."
"What can we do? You can't just take a Stand away, Panni. We can only do what we did with Laura-wait and see. Once we know what her Stand's power is, we can teach her how to use it."
"I can help, too!" Laurenza exclaimed, "I can teach her how to use it!"
Fugo shook his head, gently rubbing his temples. "This is unbelievable."
"Panna Cotta, you have to calm yourself down. She will be fine-"
"And what if she's not, Giorno? We're already risking her safety by sending her to school-"
"Dad, she's been in school for six years and nothing has happened to her until today-which happened by complete accident!"
"It wasn't." The three looked to the doorway of the kitchen and there was Gianetta, sticking her head in through the door, "I remember...when we passed the alley, there was this loud sound in my head. And then I heard Leslie's ringtone. The sounds-they were in my head. I could hear them in my head. It wanted me to find Leslie. I had this feeling the entire day that something was not right, and it was true. I have a Stand and it wanted me to find Leslie and the others. I don't know how, but it did."
Giorno opened his eyes and walked over to her, kneeling down to her height. "Gia, you have quite the ability from what you're describing-"
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't build me up only to tell me something bad, like I’m allowed to go to school anymore.”
“I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say that we’re keeping you home for a few days to help you recuperate. You can speak to your friends, but you can’t have Leslie over anytime soon.”
Gianetta nodded, “So I can still go to school and hang out with my friends?”
“Yes. I would never take your freedom away from you. But we just need to be careful.”
She nodded again. He was always more understanding and carefree than Fugo. Well, maybe not carefree, but more relaxed than he was.
He patted her head as he stood up, smiling warmly, “Go upstairs. I need to speak with papa for a minute.”
The two girls quickly left. Giorno closed the door to the kitchen, and turned to Fugo, still distressed. He made his way over to him, taking him into his embrace. “Panna…”
“What are we going to do?” He mumbled, “What are we going to do?”
“We let her live her life.”
“Gio, there was a barrage of police officers and ambulances when we arrived. There could have been a Stand User there-someone could have seen her, they could know who she is-!”
Giorno shushed him, running his fingers through his lover’s hair. “I will do everything in my power to ensure her safety. I will call everyone we know, Bruno, Abbacchio, Mista, Narancia-everyone. I will make sure everyone will watch her, and make sure she is safe. I will protect her. Whoever tries to hurt her will have to get through me. And that is a promise."
Fugo bit the side of his lip, his fingernails digging into Giorno's shoulder. He was nowhere near relieved or relaxed. He was nowhere near certain that Giorno would be able to commit to that promise.
But, then again, he did promise that he would marry him if he weren't dead by morning when they were on a very critical mission together.
And here they were, married with two wonderful daughters in an amazing house and they were all still alive.
But, his youngest? A Stand user? He couldn't fathom it.
And he didn't want it.
He swallowed his suspicion and gazed up at Giorno, pressing a kiss to his lips. "You're too relaxed with them, honestly."
Giorno shrugged. "I try. Now, I have to start making these phone calls, unless you'd like to join me?"
"Oh, really? And disturb you from work? Are you sure?"
"Oh, I-"
"Papa! Quit being gross! We can hear you from up here!"
Fugo sighed, shaking his head. "I swear they do that on purpose."
"I'm sure they do it on purpose."
Fugo chuckled, pecking a kiss to Giorno's lips before following him upstairs to his study.
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Gianetta shut the door, locking it behind her.
"Why are you locking the door?" Laurenza questioned.
"Because I have a very important question to ask you and I don't want papa to come in here and go off the rails once he hears it." She replied, sitting on her older sister's bed.
"What is it?"
Gianetta turned to face the older sister, a serious stare on her face. "I want you to teach me to use my Stand."
"M-me? Why me? Why not papa or dad?"
"Because you know very well that papa won't do it, no matter how understanding he is. And dad will just shut me down right out of the gate. You're one of the only people who still held out hope for me and meant it. You believed in my dreams through and through even though it meant you wouldn't be boss-"
"That's because it's not my dream! I want to be a fashion designer in Milan! I want to make clothing for people to make them feel good about themselves! You have the guts, the knowledge, the skill! You can actually be the boss.” Laurenza exclaimed.
“See? It’s your optimism that keeps me going! It’s what makes me want to pursue my dream with the burning passion I have now! That’s why I need you to teach me!”
Laurenza was almost dumbfounded. She had never taught anyone how to use their Stand. Hell, she never even expected to teach her younger sister how to use her Stand. The way she spoke so highly of her, it was almost tear-jerking. How could she believe in her that much? How could she be this girl’s teacher? She was only fifteen!
“Here, I’ll tell you what, Mouse. Once papa clears you and you are healthy enough to go to school again, I will take you into the backyard and I will teach you everything I know-along with the assistance of some veteran Stand Users-about how to use your Stand!”
Gianetta’s eyes grew as wide as saucers as an ear to ear grin appeared on her face. She threw her arms up and around her older sister. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Laurenza smiled, laughing as her sister squeezed her tightly. “Wow, you’re really happy about this! You didn’t even notice that I called you mouse!”
“At this point, I don’t care! I’m just so glad you’re going to teach me! This is so exciting!”
Laurenza smiled warmly as she looked down at her baby sister. “Anything to help you get closer to your dream.”
Gianetta nearly squealed as she bursted out into giggles. Laurenza couldn’t help but smile.
‘I promise you, Gia. I promise you that I will do my best to teach you and protect you no matter what!’
To Be Continued>>>
Notes:
With every chapter, I will try to put in a list of songs associated with our heroes (maybe the villains) and their growth over the story.
This time, it's Laurenza!
Little Busters- The Pillows
Rocket Ships- Cavetown
Fireflies-Owl City
High hopes-Panic! At the disco
Dance Monkey- Tones and I
Congratulations- From the Hamilton musical
Safe and sound- Capital Cities
Buddy Holly- weezer
Riptide- Vance Joy
Spiky seeds- The Pillows
A song for a best friend- dodie
Peachy!- Cavetown
Chapter 3: A Message Through The Grapevine
Summary:
Giorno's most trusted assassins are informed of the situation, but so are his enemies. And one shows up on Gianetta's day back.
Notes:
WARNING: this chapter contains some mentions of possible self harm! Viewer discretion is advised!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Uh-huh. Yeah. No, yeah. I get it. Yeah. Don’t worry about it. I understand. Yes. Ciao.”
Prosciutto sighed as he hung up the phone, rubbing his temples as he returned to the dining room where Risotto and Annamaria were waiting. Annamaria looked up from her plate of pasta puttanesca as her father sat in front of her. “What was that about, papa?”
“It was Giorno. It seems that the youngest Giovanna has obtained a Stand today.”
Both Risotto and Anna stopped eating. Anna gently placed her fork down on the table.
"Really?" Risotto questioned, "I thought she was incapable of obtaining a Stand."
"Well, apparently those 'Joestar genes' or whatever the hell he called it kicked in while she was in an altercation. We're on high alert for enemy Stand Users trying to murder her."
"That seems a bit much…" Anna muttered.
"She's the boss's daughter, Anna. After Giorno came into power, there's been more than a bit of unrest." The grey-haired assassin explained.
"You mean people hate him? Like you?"
"Look, no one is really happy that a fifteen-year-old managed to fight his way to the spot of the Boss-especially if he's going around changing things." Prosciutto said, picking at his food.
"I thought you were against drugs too."
"I didn't care about those things. Yeah, selling that shit to kids is a cheap shot, but he should have thought of the consequences before he went all high and mighty on everyone."
Annamaria shrugged. "I don't believe he's high and mighty-"
"He's doing this for Buccellati. His old man died because he just happened on something he shouldn't have and got snuffed out for it."
"He didn't die until years later." Anna corrected.
"Look, let's just talk about something else. I don't want you getting any more crazy ideas in your head."
Annamaria nodded, biting her tongue. "Right…"
"How was school, Anna?"
"Uneventful, as always. I gave Laura the flash drive you have for Giorno."
"Thank you, Anna."
"Of course."
"You gotta stop letting her do this stuff. You'll get her into trouble."
"You still don't trust me, do you? Even after I vehemently apologized, you still don't trust me."
"Anna, we do trust you-"
"I doubt it."
"Well, we wouldn't have to be like this if you hadn't pulled that stunt with you and your friends."
Anna gripped the table, preparing her argument but instead, her hand went to her arm, violently scratching her skin. Risotto stood up, pulling her hand away. "Anna, no!"
"Cut it out!"
Anna shook her head, stopping her scratching and biting her tongue even harder.
"Anna-"
"I'm not hungry anymore. I'm going to my room. Please do not follow me."
She quickly ran up the stairs and slammed the door to her room before the two assassins could chase after her.
Risotto shook his head, "why couldn't you leave it alone?"
"How am I supposed to leave it alone? Our daughter stole the Stand arrow and shot herself with it! Do you know what could have happened if that fell into the wrong hands-and all because she wanted to play her stupid games!"
"Don't you think I know that?"
"Well, you're not acting like it!"
"I'm trying to keep her happy. She's our daughter!"
Annamaria shook her head as she listened to the back and forth of her father's arguing. She paced her room, up and down, back and forth as she gripped her head.
' It was a mistake. It was all a mistake.'
"No, it wasn't." She told herself, balling her fists.
' It was a mistake. You shot yourself for nothing.'
"No. I did it to be strong. I did it because I wanted to be strong."
'And all you got was a stupid mask…'
Her red eyes fell on the porcelain mask, laying on her bed. Her hands were shaking, wanting to scratch her arms so violently.
'Break it. You know you want to. Break it and you can go back to your happy family. Break it and they'll be happy.'
Annamaria took a deep breath as she reached for the mask and held it high above her head, her hands shaking. Her breathing was ragged and her eyes were wide as she held the mask tightly. She took one deep breath in and prepared to throw the mask down on the floor, but she stopped.
“No...it’ll just repair itself. There’s no point in even trying…” She murmured, placing the mask back down on the bed.
She sighed, going over to her laptop on her desk and started a call with her friends. That would get her mind off of everything.
As always, Bianca was the first to accept and she appeared onscreen. Her big purple curls were all over the place, so much so you could barely see the room behind her. She was staring intently at her computer.
Anna smiled. "Bianca, how-"
"One second, Capo! I'm just putting the finishing touches on my program!" She exclaimed, tapping away on her computer.
Annamaria waited, still smiling as she watched her work away on whatever new program she had constructed.
"Bianca, dear-"
"One second...There! Did it!"
"Did what?"
"I created a program with a protective firewall that will prevent anyone outside of Passione trying to secretly enter our calls or something like that!" She exclaimed cheerfully.
“That’s quite brilliant, Bianca.”
“Thank you, Capo! That means so much coming from you!”
Anna chuckled as more of her little team entered the call. The Ciccolata twins were fighting at their desk over who could be in the frame, Ignazio was using the camera to do his hair, Matteo tried to speak but was drowned out by his father’s yelling, Stella was feeding her pet rats, and Caramello was counting all the money he had swindled from his previous dates.
“So, Capo. What’s with the sudden call? You always message us before you hold meetings like this.” Ignazio said, pulling his hair back into a ponytail.
“Well, I wouldn’t need to do this unless I had to. But in light of recent news, I felt like I had to bring it to your attention.”
“Is this about GiaGia and her Stand? Did something happen?” Matteo asked.
“Nothing yet,” Anna replied.
“What do you mean yet, Capo?” Ignazio questioned.
Anna clicked through her files until she pulled up a photo. It was a bit grainy and black and white. It was a photo of the side of Gianetta’s school taken from a street camera. Police and ambulances crowded the two buildings as they carried Gianetta and her friends out.
“What am I looking at?” Caramello asked, squinting.
Anna enlarged the image to show the opposite side of the street to reveal a very familiar figure, watching the whole thing unfold. They all nearly fell out of their seats.
“Is that-?”
Anna nodded, “It’s Acerbo. He saw everything.”
“Fucking hell.”
“He saw?!”
“Yes. I’m not sure if he knows who Gianetta is, but if he does, we have to find him and the others before they find her first.”
“How? He’s been off the grid ever since he and the others went rogue. And even if there was a chance of finding them, he’s probably recruited an army.” Ignazio said.
“Please, with his personality, I doubt it,” Bianca replied, flipping her hair.
“It doesn’t matter. He has powerful Stand users behind him, and we haven’t had our Stands for that long. We’d be completely outmatched.” Matteo said.
“We have to tell them,” Stella said, “They could take care of them-”
“No offense to them-” Alcee started.
“-but our papas haven’t even uncovered so much as a hair from them. What makes you think they can take care of them?” Luciano finished.
“Well, what the hell are we supposed to do? These assholes have probably been planning for months. They'll wipe the floor with us before we even have the chance to strike." Ignazio said.
"We have to come up with a plan. We have to protect GiaGia and the others. We can't have another Diavolo Incident…,"Anna glanced over at the small framed picture on her desk. It was of her and her fathers in Capri in the Blue Grotto. They were smiling.
'Even if they hate me now, I'm still going to protect them. No matter what. Even if it kills me.'
"Don't worry, Capo! I'm sure everything will turn out okay! You're smart! You can come up with something."
"I hope…" She muttered.
"Bianca's right. You've managed to help us through the worst of times. You'll figure something out." Caramello agreed.
Anna smirked, "I'll do my best."
"Alright!"
"You got this, Capo!"
She gave a half hearted chuckled, her gaze falling to her lap.
' You guys have too much faith in me…'
-----------
"Alright!"
"You got this, Capo!"
A smirk danced across Aglio's lips as he exited the call. It seemed that the daughter of the bastard traitors didn't completely perfect her pathetic little program enough to keep him out. Granted, he couldn't see any of them, but he had heard enough to know that the young girl Acerbo had seen was in fact the Boss's daughter.
"Oh, he is going to love this…" He said to himself, closing the laptop and stood up. He made his way out of the dimly lit bedroom and down the hall to the main office. He knocked on the old door, hearing a small voice telling him to come in.
He opened the door and quickly covered his nose with his arm. The body of the young tourist they had taken the laptop from was starting to decompose quickly-thanks to the heat. The musty smell of the old house wasn't helping either.
"Blegh! Are you guys gonna do something about that fucking thing? Seriously! It stinks!" He shouted.
"Not yet. Not until it's nighttime…" Arringa whispered from her place in the corner.
"Ugh, I can't take this anymore!" He shouted, throwing the laptop onto the old couch, which promptly collapsed, "I'm sick of staying here! I'm sick of having to hide! Why don't we just go out there and take on those assholes of Passione out right now?!"
"Because they have more men than us, idiot!" Polenta exclaimed, "and if these damn kids of theirs are getting Stands left and right, we'll be killed in an instant."
Aglio shook his head, exasperated. It had been months-almost a year since they had gone rogue from Passione. Well, some of them. Acerbo had gone up to the boss himself after finding out that he was the one who slaughtered almost every member of not only his but their family members.
He tried to fight him, but he lost and nearly died. He fled, and together, he, Aglio, Anguilla, Polenta, and Bottarga escaped to this old house at the very edge of Naples and worked off stolen devices from tourists and used VPNs to prevent anyone ever finding them.
By some miracle, it worked and they even managed to recruit some people who were willing to risk their lives to kill Giorno Giovanna and his goddamn lackeys.
But he had had enough.
Hiding out in this disgusting, old house. Rarely going out to buy luxuries like clean sheets and pillows.
He could hardly stand it anymore.
"Did you find anything?" The blonde newbie asked, walking over to him.
He nodded. "Acerbo was right. That girl was a Stand User, and that Stand User was the daughter of Giorno Giovanna. She just recently awakened her Stand from what it seems."
"Huh, a newbie. That'll be fun." Bottarga said with a devilish smirk.
"And why should we care about her? It's not like she's any kind of threat." Polenta said.
"Isn't it obvious? She's the boss' daughter. If we take her out, it'll hurt him worse than any kind of torture we could put him through." Anguilla replied, pulling out a file from the aging bookcase and pulling out a black and white photo. She placed it on the old table so that everyone could see.
They gathered around it and squinted as they pointed out the unconscious girl in the paramedic's arms.
"Wait, that little mousie girl is her? This'll be easier than I thought!" Polenta exclaimed.
"Cerbo says that we can make her suffer, but we can't kill her. We have to bring her back here so we can record her and send it to her father. That way we can bring him to her and kill him once and for all. Then we can get rid of her and we'll finally be in control. We'll make those assholes pay for what they did to us….so. Who wants to do the honor of bringing her here to play with?"
The blonde girl grabbed the photo off the table, examining it closely. That girl...she seemed familiar. There was something about her that radiated nostalgia. Like she was a friend...or…
'No! She's my enemy! Her father is the reason for so many deaths! She is not my friend.'
"I'll do it." She said, throwing the photo back down on the table.
Everyone looked at her, not exactly thrilled at her proclamation.
"You? You really think you could do it? She may not be much but you 'sun magic' isn't going to stop her bodyguards from kicking your ass." Aglio said.
She crossed her arms, frowning. "It's called Hamon, you jack off. And it's not sun magic. I will bring her here. And if I don't, you can make all the jokes you want-hell, you can even take turns punching me in the gut."
They all exchanged a glance until Anguilla spoke. "Deal. You can bring her here. We'll inform Acerbo and you can be on your way. Try not to screw up too bad, got it?"
The blonde girl rolled her eyes, stomping out of the room with a huff.
"Those fuckers. Just because I don't have a goddamn Stand doesn't mean I can't do anything." She muttered to herself, stomping off to her room but stopped dead in her tracks. She clenched the middle of her chest, feeling a burning sensation.
'This girl...how do I know her? Why is she doing this to me…? How is she doing this to me?'
She shook her head, standing up straight and smoothing out her skirt. "No. She has no power..not in her and not over me."
She continued to walk to her room, determination running through her veins.
"No one has power over me anymore…"
-------------
Giorno never thought he would have to do this. Having to put everyone on high alert to protect his youngest daughter. He didn't want to do it. He believed in her and Laurenza. He believed that she was strong enough to handle her own.
But it was being a father that worried about his baby girl that made him so on edge.
He loved both of his girls and he wanted to do everything to protect them both, but...was he doing too much? Was he blowing this out of proportion? What was he doing?
"Papa. Can I talk to you?"
Giorno looked up from his desk to see the little mousie girl in the doorway. He smiled, "Of course, cara. Sit down."
Gianetta nodded, coming into the room and sitting down in front of him.
"How are you feeling, carina?" He asked, holding one of her hands.
"In all honesty, scared and a little disappointed." She replied, pushing her glasses up.
"Why is that?"
She sighed, "well...because I'm not like you, papa. I'm not like you or dad or Laurenza. You all have experience. You and Laurenza were born with Stands, Dad had his for a long time. I just got mine today and...it scares me more than I thought it would."
"Well Gia, Stand Users normally carry this...aura around them. It's this...very threatening aura. Like someone is watching you."
"You're not helping."
"I'm telling you the truth. It's terrifying having a Stand, especially when you're just starting out. But I promise, I wouldn't let you go out into battle without any experience."
Gianetta smiled hopefully, "you'll really teach me?"
He nodded, "Of course, dear."
Gianetta squealed, flapping her hands in joy. "Yes! That makes two!"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, Laurneza promised to teach me as well once I've gotten better!"
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes, she promised after I go back to school she would help me use my Stand!"
"What about your other father?" Giorno questioned.
Gianetta frowned, "I can't talk to him. Don't get me wrong, I love him dearly, but...he doesn't treat me like you treat me. You treat me like I'm a young lady, like I'm an adult. He...doesn't. He doesn't believe in me like you do. He just coddles me and treats me like I'm some...porcelain doll he keeps on the top shelf. He isn't like you."
"I know, darling. But you have to understand that your father has been through quite a bit. He's seen awful things and he just worries over you. I do too, but he...he's more emotional."
"Then why doesn't he at least try to get what I'm saying? No matter how many times I try to tell him, it's like it goes on ear and out the other!"
Giorno didn't really know how to answer that one. Fugo had always been the protective type, and he was very vocal about how he hoped and prayed that his daughters would not be Stand Users. He never meant it in a way to spite or hurt Gianetta on purpose. Fugo loved Gianetta dearly, but her dream of becoming a Stand User always managed to give him a small heart attack everytime she brought it up.
The last thing he wanted was for his daughter to be wrapped up in the craziness and the pain that came along with being a Stand User.
Giorno shook his head. "Gia, I can assure you that your father loves you dearly and even though he may not completely understand all of this, it is only because he wants you to be safe above all else. He just does not want to see you get hurt."
Gianetta nodded, although she didn't seem completely satisfied with his answer. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of binder paper, sliding it onto the desk.
"An image came into my head earlier. I think she was trying to show me what she looks like-"
"She?"
"My Stand. I didn't see her when I apparently almost killed that man, but I think I 'saw' something."
Giorno unfolded the little note so he could see what Gianetta apparently 'saw'. The figure was tall, colored an interesting dark blue-green. They wore a large pointed visor on their face that was colored a light blue. They had odd grey circles on the palms of their hands and their mouth.
"What are those things on her hands?" He asked.
"Speakers, I think." She replied, her face changing.
He noticed this change in her demeanor and slid the paper back towards her. "Is this the disappointing part you were talking about?"
She nodded, sighing. "I...I didn't want this. D-don't get me wrong, I'm happy that she's here but-"
"With your sensory overload-"
"I'm about as useful as a back of rocks…." She murmured.
"You shouldn't speak so lowly of yourself."
"What do I do, papa? I could barely hold my own today and that wasn't even a real fight! What if….what if I can't do anything? What if I'm just...useless?"
Giorno finally stood, resting his hands on the desk and looking straight at her, "Gianetta Luna Giovanna, you are in no way useless. Let's make that clear right now. Just because you're way of thinking and how you experience the world is different doesn't mean you are useless. You are nothing less than extraordinary. And I believe that you will find a way to use your Stand without harming yourself. I believe in you."
Gianetta gazed in awe at him, a large grin on her face.
"Thank you, papa!" She exclaimed, standing up and throwing her arms around him from a tight hug.
Giorno chuckled. "You're welcome, my topolina."
She sighed. "I told you not to call me that…We were having a moment."
"We were?"
She groaned as he let out a laugh. "I'm going to my room."
"Very well. I'll call the doctor tomorrow and maybe we will see about getting you back to school soon."
"Thank you," She said, making her way out of the room but stopping before she was half way out the door, her hand going to her head.
Giorno watched curiously. "Gia? Everything okay?"
"Yes. Just...a headache. Probably from Gold Experience cramming his way into my ear." She replied with a chuckle, saluting him on the way out.
Giorno shook his head, his gaze falling on the old file he was going through. He frowned and threw it in the bottom drawer of his desk, leaving it for another day.
---------
Gianetta returned to school two days after that conversation, despite the pleading of her father. Carlino had also returned and did not hesitate to give her the longest and tightest hug, and the twins did not hesitate to bombard her with a gazillion questions about what took that place that day. Leslie was still at home recovering but she made the effort to video chat before class.
"It sucks that I can't see you guys for awhile because of my stupid concoction." The girl whined.
"You need rest, idiot. You nearly murdered three days ago." Gianetta replied.
"I'm still so happy for you, Gia! We have to celebrate! You finally have a Sta-!"
Gianetta quickly shushed her. "Keep your voice down! My dad will be pissed if he hears this going around."
"Whoops. Sorry!"
"Look, I gotta go. I'll talk to you after class. I'll see you later."
"Later, GiaGia!"
Gianetta hung up, chuckling to herself. She couldn't have felt better about seeing her best friend doing as well as she was despite the circumstances. She slid her phone into her skirt pocket and walked into her homeroom, taking her seat in between the Ciccolata twins, who were very happy to see her.
"GiaGia!" Alcee exclaimed.
"GiaGia, we have more questions!" Luciano said, jumping up and down in his seat.
"Of course you do." She said, taking her seat.
"Gia, are you feeling any better?" Carlino asked, turning to face her.
"Much better, Carlino. Hey, I was gonna ask you if you wanted to stop by that new...new...damnit, what's it called? B...bu...Bubble tea! Yes! Would you like to go get bubble tea with me on our way to your dad's house?"
Carlino's face warmed. "J-just us?"
"Well, actually, the twins and Matteo would be joining us. I'm not allowed to walk alone."
He nodded, fidgeting in his seat. "R-right. Of course…"
Matteo nudged him, pointing to the front of the room.
"Look alive, men. We have a shadow coming." Alcee said, sitting up to get a better view.
The teacher came into the room, her stocky stature hiding the potential new student. The class quieted down as everyone sat and watched the headmistress enter the classroom. "Everyone, we have a shadow here with us today. I want you all on your best behavior today, understood?"
A collective monotone 'yes' came from the class.
The headmistress looked to her left. "Come on now. Introduce yourself."
"Of course."
A petite girl around Gianetta's age stepped out from behind the homeroom teacher. She had short blonde hair that was styled upwards and big blue eyes. She wore a familiar black school uniform and these bright pink shoes. She stood in front of the class, a big smile on her face. "Hello everyone. My name is Constantia A. Varvaro. I hope we all get along well."
"Huh. She seems nice. What do you think, Gia-?"
When Carlino turned around, Gianetta's head was down and she was tightly gripping her knees. She was sweating bullets and her breathing was labored.
"Gia?! Are you okay?! Are you having an anxiety attack? A meltdown?"
Gianetta shook her head, looking up for a split second, locking eyes with Constantia.
"It's her. It's her. It's the enemy."
To Be Continued>>>>
Notes:
Thank you for reading another chapter of beautiful soul! Here's a song list for baby Annamaria! Hope you enjoy!
Porcelain face- 4 door theatre
Porcelain- mxmtoon
Oh no!-Marina and the diamonds/ MARINA
Teen Idle-MARINA/ Marina and the diamonds
Human-Rag n Bone man
On and On- Foster
Sweater Weather- The neighborhood
(And that's all you're getting for now. Have a nice day and thank you again for reading!)
Chapter 4: Trouble Coming Our Way-Constantia Appears!
Summary:
Gianetta finally meets Sweet Music just as she and Constantia engage in a battle. Constantia still has an odd feeling about Gianetta, and an ally comes on to help Gia.
Notes:
WARNINGS: This chapter includes depictions of violence among children, some blood, one occasion of vomiting, and the fight scene is just really bad overall.
You've been warned.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
' "No. She has no power..not in her and not over me."
That was the voice she heard while walking out of her father's office. It wasn't the voice in her head that suddenly appeared during her encounter with the strange man, but it was Constantia's. She had heard her somehow but she wasn't sure if what she had heard was even real in the slightest. But, before she even spoke, somehow she knew. This pit had formed in her stomach the moment she locked eyes with her, and her heart was beating a million miles an hour.
She was the enemy.
She was here for her-she was here to kill her.
She was here for her.
Constantia moved across the classroom and sat at the very back in the only available seat. She could feel her eyes on her-she was staring at her.
"Gia, what is it? Is something wrong?" Carlino whispered.
"T-that girl...she's a Stand User." She replied.
"What?" Alcee questioned.
"No way, we would know. She just...doesn't give off the aura." Luciano replied.
"L-look, I know I'm new at this, but something is up. She is bad news!" She exclaimed.
"We'll deal with this later," Carlino said, "if she is some kind of enemy Stand user, we can't draw attention to ourselves. Especially now. When break comes, we'll call your dad and inform him of the situation."
"Carlo, I can't just sit here with a possible murderer sitting behind me!"
The teacher shushed them as she continued to give her lecture.
"I can text my dad. Maybe he might know something about this Constantia." Alcee said, pulling out her phone and texting her mad doctor of a father under her desk.
Alcee: Papa, do you have a second to find someone for me? Their name is Constantia A. Varvaro.
She slid her phone and her pocket, turning to Gianetta. "He might be busy, so it could be awhile before we hear back from him. I doubt she'll try anything while in front of all of these people. She'll probably corner you in the girl's bathroom or something."
Gianetta frowned. "Was that supposed to make me feel better?"
"No. I was just informing you that what could happen."
She sighed, gripping the table. She could still feel those cold piercing eyes on her.
Something was telling her that this wasn't going to go well, and she needed to get rid of her as quickly as possible before she did the same to her.
'So that's Gianetta Giovanna. Hmph. Just as weak as I expected,' Constantia thought as she kept a watchful eye on the mousie girl, 'still, I can't help but feel this annoying familiar feeling when I see her. It's even stronger now that we're in the same room with each other.'
She let out a little 'tsk' as she turned her attention away from her enemy. 'Doesn't matter. If I can get her cornered somewhere away from her friends, then I can attack. The only problem is getting her off school grounds unnoticed….I'll sort the details out later. For now, I just have to pretend to be a student and wait until the opportunity arises. Just wait it out.'
-------
No one believed it when Cioccolata decided to be a father to twins. He was A sadistic fuck who found enjoyment in the suffering and despair of others around him, yet with his children, you couldn't really tell the difference. He was sweet and kind to them, he would appear less insane in front of them, and he loved them.
He actually loved his children. Who would have thought someone like him could be a good father figure to kids?
No one.
So, when Secco had brought him his phone during another torture session with a message from his daughter to find someone by the Constantia, he dropped everything he was doing-which meant his victim was still awake and still had an open chest cavity-but it was all for his daughter!
He was at his computer, searching through the files of old members of Passione and found nothing, so he went to the internet and searched there.
"Have you found anything yet?" Secco called, placing the camera down on the seat beside the operating table.
Cioccolata shook his head, clicking through various articles.
"Why does she want this information anyways? And isn't she in the middle of class?"
"Just started, actually. Maybe she's having trouble with this girl and wants to take care of her." He replied with a chuckle.
"How cute. Baby's first-degree murder."
"Yes, how adorable."
They laughed as Secco pulled up a chair beside Cioccolata.
"I'm not getting anything on this Constantia girl."
"Are you sure it's the right name?"
"Yes, look she sent it to me, right-"
He stopped. Another message had shown up while he was searching. It was a photo taken from a street camera from the side of her school, and on the opposite side was an all too familiar figure.
"Is that-?"
"It is...damnit." He muttered, reaching over and dialing Giorno's number.
There was still a part of him that wanted to hang up the phone and see Giorno play the sick game of cat and mouse with Acerbo. A part of him that wanted to see the bloody battle that would ensue once his boss found out that the one that got away was after his daughter.
But, Luciano and Alcee were there. Gianetta was their friend. He had seen the message. If they found out that he let Gianetta get hurt or die, they could never forgive him. They would distrust him more than anyone in his entire career, and that was a lot of people.
He dialed the last number and held the phone up to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Giorno. It's Cioccolata. It's about Acerbo. The bastard's back and it seems he brought reinforcements."
"What do you mean?" The man on the other end asked urgently.
"It seems that one of his lackeys has made their way into your daughter's class."
----------
The minute the bell rang for break, Gianetta bolted to the bathroom all the way on the other side of the school so she could put some distance between her and Constantia just in case she was tailing her. It might not have been the best idea, leaving her friends-three of which were a bit more experienced than she was-but she was scared.
Too scared to think properly. Too scared to examine her surroundings and see if she was actually being tailed. She just ran into the bathroom, letting her backpack fall into the floor as she slid in front the first sink there and started to have an anxiety attack.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was supposed to be different. She was supposed to know. She was supposed to know what she was up against. She was supposed to understand. She wasn't supposed to go in blind like this.
But here she was; in the path of an enemy that had found out where she went to school and was probably going to kill her, her sister, and everyone she ever cared about.
And here she was, hiding in the bathroom out of fear.
She brought her head up and stared at herself in the mirror. There she was, this scared little girl that was supposed to be the daughter of the all powerful Mafia boss, Giorno Giovanna, who owned the ever so powerful Gold Experience Requiem.
But instead, she was a sad and scared little girl who looked nothing like her family apart from her father's green eyes and her other father's nose, and was about to die because she was cocky enough to believe that she could actually beat someone like Constantia.
"Papa was wrong...I'm not extraordinary. I'm an idiot. I'm a fucking idiot who doesn't know what she's doing...and now I'm going to die."
"Do you really believe that?"
Gianetta jumped once she saw the figure suddenly appear in the mirror. She turned around and jumped onto the sink, coming face to face with her.
It was her.
The same dark green colors. The same pointed visor. The same speakers on her palms and mouth.
It was her.
"I-I...you're-"
"I'm your Stand, GiaGia. I'm the voice in your head that's been with you for years. I've been guiding you throughout your life since the moment you were born."
Gianetta scoffed. "Well that's utter bullshit. You only appeared a few days ago and you didn't even appear to me until now. Only in my mind, and even then you're just as elusive as ever."
"I only did it to protect you."
"Then why come now?" Gianetta pressed, jumping down from the sink and getting up in her face-or, what was supposed to be her face.
"Because you and I both know there is something wrong. You are right about Constantia. She is trouble. She may not have a Stand, but you know there is something about her that is dangerous. And you need to take care of her. Here and now."
"I can't do anything! I have no skill! And I'm alone!"
Her Stand placed her hands on her shoulders, staring at her straight in the eye. "You are not alone. I am here with you, just as I have always been. You just need to follow my plan and you-"
The door to the bathroom opened, making Gianetta back away from the sink and to the very corner of the bathroom.
"Just stay calm and follow my lead."
Gianetta nodded. The figure in the doorway stepped into the light and revealed themselves to be the person that Gianetta had been dreading to meet.
She smiled at her, giving her a cute little wave. "Oh! Hello! I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. My name is-"
"Constantia, yeah. I got that. You can cut the crap. I know how you are and why you're here, so you don't have to keep pretending." She said bluntly.
Constantia sighed, quickly walking over to the door and locking it. "So you know."
"It was pretty obvious. You were staring at me all the way through class…"
"I mean before. When I was up there and you saw me-you had me figured out in a matter of mere seconds."
Gianetta gulped, balling her fists. "I just have a really strong intuition...my parents taught me to be suspicious of everyone. You never know who could try to take you out."
Constantia smirked, chuckling. "You're smarter than I thought. Giorno taught you well…"
Gianetta shuddered. 'This bitch has the audacity to bring up Papa's name…she has no right.'
"You know, Gianetta. When I came here, I honestly thought I could just take you out. Right there, in the middle of that classroom while that old bitch was droning on and on. You really aren't worth my time or effort. But, I have a loyalty to my boss, and let me tell you, he's worth it."
'Her boss?'
"Keep her talking."
' But she'll know I'm stalling!'
"Just keep her talking a little longer! We need this information to find out who her so- called boss is."
Gianetta rolled her eyes, stepping away from the wall and walked closer to her. "S-so, you're not going to kill me?"
Constantia smiled. "I see what you're doing you know," she said, stalking her, "you're planning something in that stupid little brain of yours. You're hoping that I'll spill the beans and tell you about my boss."
'Well, it wasn't exactly my plan but she pretty much figured it out to a tee.'
"I have a right to know who wants me and my father dead, don't I?"
Constantia shrugged, her body beginning to glow. "This is getting boring, so I'll tell you what. If you can beat me-which I doubt you can-I'll tell you, I might even let you go," she laughed, "oh, I make myself laugh sometimes. We'll see if you even get lucky enough to land a hit on me."
"Proceed with caution."
"Yeah, I got that." She said aloud.
"Ready?"
Gianetta put her fists up, drawing her Stand. "I never caught your name, by the way."
"You can call me Sweet Music."
"Great. Then this should be easier."
"Just follow the plan and we'll-"
Sweet Music was cut off by the sudden appearance of Constantia beside them, her body glowing brighter. They quickly dove out of the way as she punched a sizable hole in the tile wall. Gianetta rolled across the floor, looking back at her.
"This is no Stand. This is something else. Something much worse."
"What?! B-but then how are we supposed to beat her?!"
"We still can! You just have to move quickly and efficiently."
Gianetta shook her head. There was no way she was going up against her. She had literally just punched a giant hole in the wall without a Stand!
But if it wasn't a Stand, then what the hell was it?
What was it that was making her so strong?
Constantia sped over to her, pulling her fists back about the strike when Sweet Music came from behind and grabbed her left fist. She kicked her back, but she landed on her feet, seeming unphased by the attack.
"Damnit! We're not strong enough! That did nothing!" She exclaimed.
"Just as I thought, you're a pathetic nobody!"
She stomped on the floor and water erupted from the pipes, obstructing Gianetta's line of attack.
"What the-?"
"ZOOM PUNCH!"
An abnormally long arm came out of the spewing waters and punched Gianetta right in the gut, the same hand pulling her forward right up into Constantia's face. She had apparently dislocated her entire arm and reached her from all the way across the room. Once she was close enough, Constantia kneed her hard in the stomach. Gianetta vomited all over the floor, collapsing onto her knees as Constantia kicked her across the face.
"Now this is just pathetic!" Constantia exclaimed, continuing to kick Gianetta in the face as the younger girl crawled backwards.
"I expected more out of you! When I heard I was going up against the daughter of the Giorno Giovanna, I was at least expecting something out of you! But now I see. I truly see what this is. I truly see you for what you are. You're weak."
She kicked her.
"You're nothing."
Another kick.
"You're a disgrace to your family's name!"
She delivered one last kick before it seemed that Gianetta was down for the count. She smirked, kneeling down, getting right next to Gianetta's ear. "And I'm sure your father is the exact same."
Her blood began to boil. Her hands began to shake as she gathered all the strength she had left to stand. "You have...no right…"
"To do what? It's not like you can-"
She felt a hand wrap around her throat, lifting her high up into the air. But, there was no one, in her eyes at least.
"I don't care what you say about me, but if you DARE speak of my father that way, I will personally kill you! "
Sweet Music threw Constantia across the room and into the wall. She quickly rushed her, punching her numerous times in her chest and one hard when in her face.
Constantia breathed in sharply, the glow of her body noticeably becoming duller.
' That's weird. Does her breathing have something to do with why she's so freakishly strong?'
Constantia grunted, kicking her back onto the floor and stood. She rushed her, her arm beginning to dislocate again. Gianetta quickly dashed out of the way and behind her, hitting her in the back.
Constantia whipped around and punched her in the stomach, actually smiling even though she was pretty much losing at this point.
'This is so exhilarating! This is fantastic! Finally, a formidable opponent! This is so-so-!'
"Familiar…"
Constantia was thrown off by the disembodied voice, allowing Gianetta to gain the upper hand and use her ability to shriek as loud as she could, sending Constantia flying across the other side of the room and into the other wall.
She hadn't, however, accounted for how loud her shriek was because not only did she go flying into the other wall, she went through it and into the hallway.
Students who were passing by screamed and ran into different classrooms. Constantia gathered her strength and stood, a bit shaken.
'W-What the hell? What did she do to me?' She shook her head, 'Nevermind! I still have to take her down! I have to finish this mission until the very end!'
Constantia stood tall, taking some deep breaths in before returning to her breathing technique, beginning to glow a brilliant blue.
"So it is her breathing that's giving her these powers. I've never seen anything like this...I have to disrupt her breathing long enough take her down!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Constantia shouted, dashing towards her.
Gianetta brought out Sweet Music and knocked her back with a hard punch. Constantia stuck her fist through a locker and pulled out a collection of uncapped pens, filling them with her power and flinging them towards Gia, stabbing her in the arm.
"AGH!" Gia cried, as jolts of electricity coursed the throughout her body.
Sweet Music flew forward, kicking Constantia up in the air and then to the side.
"You just don't give up, do you?"
"I'm a Giovanna. Stubbornness runs through my veins."
"It's more stupidity than stubbornness!" Constantia shouted, whipping around and grabbing Gianetta by her green shawl, pulling it back and slamming Gianetta into the ground.
She planted one foot down her back and the other on top of her head, pressing down hard.
"You know, this was actually really fun. But now, I'm afraid I'm going have to turn you over to my boss."
Gianetta tried to stand up but Constantia immediately stomped her back, pick her up by her hair and began dragging her across the floor.
"Maybe if I ask nicely, Capo will let me play with you once I bring you home. That would be nice, wouldn't it?"
Gianetta groaned in response.
Constantia chuckled, pulling out her phone and began texting Acerbo. "Let's see if he answers this time-"
She suddenly heard a loud bang come from behind her. She quickly dropped Gianetta and dove out of the way as a large ball of energy barreled down the hallway which resulted in a giant hole in the double doors down the way.
"What the hell?!" She exclaimed, looking back at whatever the hell fired at her.
"You know, I don't take too kindly to people who hurt my friends-especially GiaGia," The green haired girl with the backpack canon said, slowly moving towards her.
Constantia moved back, quickly reaching into another locker and throwing another round of pens at her, embedding them in her shoulder.
The girl barely flinched. Instead, she kept moving forward, her Stand charging up again.
"What the hell?!" She exclaimed again.
"I'm not letting you go that easy. Not after what you did. I'm going to take you down, Constantia Varvaro. No matter what it takes!"
To Be Continued>>>
Notes:
Thank you for reading this chapter of Beautiful Soul! Here's Alcee's song list! (Because we all just met Constantia and she's important to the story.)
Holiday-Green Day
Dirty Harry-Gorillaz
The dismemberment song-blue kid
The Ballad of Sara Berry
Believer-Imagine Dragons
Burn the house down-Ajr
The Good, The Bad, and The Dirty- Panic! At The Disco
That's all I have. Hope you all are staying healthy, safe, and standing up against inequality and justice! I love you all and have a nice day!
Chapter 5: Team Attack! The Twins Make Their Move!
Summary:
The twins come to Gianetta's aid, Giorno has some anxiety, and Acerbo makes another bold move against the kids of La Passione.
Notes:
Warning: this chapter kinda sucks and it also contains blood and violence against children. Viewer discretion is advised.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
No one really knew Alcee's secret. Like anyone who knew her father, most people assumed she was just a sadistic little girl who found enjoyment in self mutilation.
But the truth was, that wasn't the case at all.
It all started on a family outing when she was 6 months old and passed out in the middle of the street. She was rushed to the hospital and, to everyone's surprise, she was not sweating. The reason it was so strange is because it was one of the hottest days of the year in Italy and there was not a drop of sweat on her.
From that alone, Cioccolata knew that his daughter had Congenital Insensitivity To Pain, meaning she could not feel any pain in the slightest.
While most people prayed to never feel pain, they failed to realize that you actually need pain to know when something is wrong with you, like other diseases or broken bones. Alcee couldn't feel any pain and her body wasn't able to regulate her body temperature, which meant she could possibly die and she'd never know.
For some reason, Luciano didn't have CITP even though they were both created by Babyface, but Cioccolata did everything he could do in order to ensure that his daughter would live a long life despite her predicament.
He made sure that all of her clothes had cooling packs to regulate her body temperature, and he made sure that every part of the house was the same. When she was five, he elected to take out her appendix to prevent future complications. Secco and him taught her the anatomy of the human body so if she were ever in a situation where she could potentially get injured, she can avoid as much damage as possible.
She learned how to live without pain to keep her sane.
She was fine for years, but her younger, timid twin brother made it his job to protect her. No matter if it were a paper cut or a broken rib, he was going to extra lengths to ensure that she was safe.
But, he failed to realize that no one was looking out for him.
"UGH!"
Some kids had thrown Luciano down and kicking him over and over again because they found out his dad was the weird, murder doctor. They knew that he would do anything to protect his twin sister, so they attacked him instead for the fun of it. But, Alcee wasn't deaf, nor was she stupid, so she took matters into her own hands.
"HEY! Leave him alone!" The eight- year-old shouted, stomping over to them as they kicked her twin.
"Looky here. It's the other freak!" One of the kids exclaimed.
"If you want to pick on somebody, pick on me! I'm who you want! So do whatever! Gouge my eye out with a pencil! Throw rocks at me! Do whatever you desire! I welcome it!"
"With pleasure!"
They were about to fight Alcee, who was smiling at the fact that those fools actually thought they would hurt her when two familiar figures appeared behind the group.
"What do you think you're doing?"
They turned around and there were the Giovanna sister-or, the Shiobana sisters in this case. Laurenza had her arms crossed while Gianetta had her fists balled.
"What the hell do you want?!" One of the boys barked.
"Dude! What are you doing!? Those are the Shiobana sisters! Their dad is, like, crazy rich and powerful! He'll kill us if we do anything to them!"
"Not if I kill you first!" Gianetta shouted, "Go! Get outta here!"
The group ran away. Laurenza had gone to tend to Luciano while Gianetta marched over to the other twin, smacking her in the head.
"You know that doesn't hurt." She snickered.
But Gianetta remained serious. "You know, just because you don't feel pain doesn't make you invincible. You can still bleed out and die without knowing. Your brother has been trying to protect you from danger and here you are putting yourself in harm's way. You need to be more thoughtful of people who care about you."
Alcee growled. "I don't need a lecture from you, GiaGia!"
"You don't have to take my advice," Gianetta said, walking past her, "but just think about it. If you really love your brother as much as you say you do, then you'll stop being a cocky asshole."
Alcee scowled at her, but then she saw how badly her brother had been beaten. His eyes were swollen and he was lying in a pool of his own blood.
Laurenza picked him up as Alcee came over to him.
"A-Alcee, I-"
"You know, you're not supposed to do things without me."
"What?"
"If you're going to protect me, I'm going to protect you too! If you get hurt, I get hurt! So...mnh...try not too so I don't get hurt!"
Needless to say, Alcee wasn't good with words, but by the smile finding its way to Luciano's lips, the twins had made a mutual agreement to stop trying to shelter each other from danger and instead protect each other-with each other.
Thanks to Gianetta and what she picked up from her father, Alcee and Luciano and became almost inseparable.
And now, she needed to protect Gianetta, who had helped her build a better relationship with her brother, and who was now in danger of dying at the hands of a mysterious girl with odd powers that were not the work of a Stand.
She held her Stand, Holiday, tightly in her hands, keeping it aimed towards Constantia. She was glowing blue, but there was nothing.
No indicator of any kind of Stand in any way, shape or form. Just her and her unbelievable strength. Gianetta was lying just a few feet away from her, trying to get up or at least away from her.
'I just have to keep her away from GiaGia. Just until I can find out what this girl's power is.'
She fired a large blast from Holiday, which she promptly dodged. She fired again, this time a bigger blast which only managed to scorch the sleeve of her uniform jacket. She kept moving towards her.
'Damnit! She's too fast!'
"Stay out of my way you little brat!" She screamed, dashing towards her.
Alcee fired a series of smaller rounds at her, but Constantia managed to evade them all.
And just as she was a few feet in front of her when Alcee shouted, "LUCIANO! NOW!"
Constantia's fist was just inches away from plunging into her gut when the area around her distorted and Alcee disappeared.
"What?!" Constantia exclaimed.
She spun around and now, Gianetta had disappeared.
She growled. She had to stay calm, however. Any sort of distraction from her breathing technique and she could be open to attack. She carefully crept around the hallway, looking back and forth, back and forth.
Where could they have gone? They just disappeared into thin air, as if it were nothing!
She had to be careful.
"You can't hide forever, Gianetta Giovanna! I will keep coming after you until I've caught you!"
"You want me?"
She peered up and hanging from the lights above was Gianetta, a pair of headphones over her head. "Come and get me."
Constantia screamed, jumping up about to strike when once again, Gianetta disappeared, reappearing on the ground floor. She drew Sweet Music and projected an awful sound towards her, launching her into a trophy case.
Gianetta smirked. 'Thanks to Luciano, I have my noise cancelling headphones to block out the sounds that Sweet Music makes. The only problem is I won't be able to hear her when she tries to attack me from behind.' She shook her head, 'That doesn't matter. I'm already so overstimulated. I don't know how much more I can take! I have to finish her off! Right here, right now!'
Constantia charged towards her, a handful of broken glass.
"SWEET MUSIC!"
Sweet Music charged as well, Gianetta following behind her. Sweet Music swung first, knocking the glass out of her hand and then landing a punch in her gut.
"Useless…"
She didn't know what prompted her to say this. Maybe it was another verbal tick she had picked up and she had not realized it.
"Useless…"
She hit her again, watching her struggle to keep her breathing steady. Her glow began to fade.
"Useless…!" This time she had said it with more feeling, more determination.
"Who the hell are you calling useless?! You're more useless than I am!" Constantia shouted, her glow dampening as she attempted to take a swing at her.
Sweet Music caught her fist, holding it tightly before pulling her forward and punched her in the chest, watching as blood erupted from her mouth. And then came the barrage of punches against her body. This rush overcame Gianetta and now she was just completely lost to the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
"USELESS! USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS!"
Each punch felt wrong and right at the same time. She never intended for it to go this far. She wanted to come up with a plan that would have them both able to walk.
But sometimes plans don't work out the way you want them to.
Constantia flew back into the wall and down onto the floor. Gianetta sauntered over to her, Sweet Music still drawn. "It's over now, Constantia. Surrender now and I'll tell my papa and my uncles to go easy on you," she removed her headphones, hanging them around her neck, "make this easier on yourself and give up."
Constantia tried to run the other way, but Alcee was waiting with her Holiday. In the opposite direction was Matteo and his Stand.
She looked back at Gianetta who was looming over her.
She grunted. "Like hell! I won't be tortured by the likes of you, Gianetta Giovanna!".
She threw her leg up for what seemed like a kick, her shoe flying off and hitting one of the sprinklers which set off the entire system. The lights flashed a bright red and the fire alarm sounded. Gianetta fell to her knees, covering her ears and shutting her eyes. Constantia jumped up and took off running.
"LUCIANO!" Alcee shouted.
Constantia could see the area in front of her, so she made a sharp turn into the hole that led to the bathroom and escaped through there.
"I'll go after her!" Alcee shouted, turning around and heading out to find her.
Matteo slid down beside Gianetta, grabbing her headphones and placing them over her ears. He took out his phone and began texting Sale.
Matteo: Dad. I need you to come here now. We were attacked. Gianetta's in bad shape.
He replied within seconds.
Sale: on my way. Don't move.
Matteo glanced back at Gianetta, who was in the midst of a serious meltdown.
'You'll be okay, GiaGia. We'll be okay.'
Alcee ran outside to the empty school yard, scanning for Constantia, but she had already disappeared.
'Damnit! How could she have gotten away?! She's too injured to have gotten away!'
"Alcee!"
Alcee whipped around to find Giorno and Fugo running towards her.
"Mr. Giovanna!"
"Alcee, where's Gianetta?" Fugo asked in a panic.
"Inside with Matteo."
Giorno took off running as Fugo knelt down and pressed Alcee for more answers.
"Is the Stand User still here?"
"She wasn't a Stand user!" She exclaimed.
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't know what she was doing or what power she had, but she wasn't a Stand User."
Fugo nearly trembled in fear. "Alcee...I need you to tell me everything. From start to finish. What happened?"
------
Giorno ran inside to find Matteo and Gianetta on the floor next to a destroyed trophy case, water pouring down on them.
He ran over to them and knelt down in front of Gianetta, who was crying and trembling.
"Cara, look at me." He said, gently touching her back.
She jumped, frightened by the sudden touch. Giorno could see the damage that had been done to his daughter. The swollen eye, the various bruises on her, her blood nose and lips.
What had they done to her?
How dare they do this to her?
She shook as she crawled into his embrace, holding onto him tightly.
"I've got you now, Cara. I've got you. We're going home now. You're safe now."
Gianetta nodded as Giorno stood up, motioning for Matteo to follow as he carried her out.
Fugo raised his head and his strawberry eyes became as big as saucers as he ran over with Alcee in tow.
"Oh my god, Gia! What did they do to you!?"
"C-Con…C-Constan-!" She tried to speak, but her words came out broken.
"You can tell us everything when you're better. Don't strain yourself too much."
Gianetta nodded, nuzzling close to her father's chest.
"Alcee, go grab your brother. We'll be taking you home."
Alcee nodded, simply shouting her brother's name and he appeared right next to her. They followed the others out of the school where crowds of students, teachers, policemen, and firemen around the school.
'This going to be a bitch to get out of.'
-------
After a long time of waiting and trying to talk their way out of the line of police and firemen, the Giovannas, the twins, Matteo, and Carlino came to the Giovanna household and waited in the office.
Gianetta sat in the big arm chair in the corner of the room, recuperating from not only the battle but also the extensive healing Gold Experience had to do to her. The twins were engaged in a Super Smash Bros. battle on their Switch, and Carlino and Matteo were helping Gianetta feel better by bringing her all of her stim toys and her favorite books.
"Here, I brought you your frog plush. This is the right one, right?" Carlino asked.
She nodded, taking the frog in her hands and staring into its eyes.
Her mind couldn't help drift back to Constantia.
Something about her was...different. It was almost like she said. Familiar. It was a familiar feeling, like sparing with an old friend.
What was it about her that sparked this familiarity within her?
The door to the office swung open and Laurenza came in, her eyes wild. "Where is she?!"
"Don't yell. She's in the corner." Giorno said, pointing to Gia.
She raced over, kneeling in front of her. "Gia, are you okay?! Did she hurt you?! I swear to God almighty if that stronza hurt you, I'll hunt her down and-"
Gianetta grabbed her sister's cheeks and knocked their foreheads together. It was sort of their way of telling each other that the other was okay. Laurenza sighed, smiling as she pressed a kiss to her sister's forehead. "I'm still gonna kill her for what she did."
Gia rolled her eyes playfully. 'Sure you are, sis.'
"Laura, where are your uncles and the others?" Fugo asked.
"On their way up. Saw 'em coming up the hill." She replied.
Giorno nodded, "Good. That's good."
"Do you want us to wait downstairs?" Matteo asked, standing up.
"No. I'm going to need you all here. I need you to explain this to everyone so you know what we're up against."
They all nodded, Gianetta gripping her frog plush.
The door downstairs opened and a large group of footsteps followed. The first in the door was the man himself-the myth, one of the most important people that Gianetta looked up to-Bruno Buccellati.
He was still the same, seeming to not have aged a day since he was-what, 20?
Such a long time ago…
He turned his head and smiled, walking over to Gianetta and taking her hands. "Hello Gia Gia. Are you feeling better?"
She nodded, squeezing his hands. Even a small action such as holding her hands brought this warmth that just seemed to follow Bruno around.
It was...nice.
Abbacchio followed soon after with their son, Carbonara. The awkward and emotionally distant boy was nervously scratching his wrist as he came inside. After the incident almost a whole year ago, no one saw much of him. He avoided being seen most of the time and only ever came during holidays and birthdays. He had changed so much. He was a bit taller, his dark brown hair was longer and his bangs were falling over his face. The color in his eyes had dulled to an empty shade of blue.
Abbacchio nudged him and he walked over to the others, "GiaGia, it's good to see you again. I'm...I'm sorry I haven't texted you in so long. Are you okay?"
"...better now." She said, smiling at him.
He smiled back.
The others filed in soon after. Narancia and Mista ruffled her hair and hugged her as their daughter, Cassata, followed in behind them. Trish had come in as well, having dropped everything when she heard that someone had beaten the crap out of her 'niece'. Sale and Zucchero came in and for a good two minutes focused on the well being of their son until they began to argue once again. Cioccolata and Secco arrived to collect the twins who were still in a heated match of Smash. The rest of the Elite and La Squadra arrived with their children apparently tagging along because 'they could.'
And here they were, in front of Gianetta's eyes were the legends and the infamous.
The Elite Squad, The Renegade Hit man team, and the Golden Traitors. All in one room, attempting not to kill each other because of old wounds.
She felt starstruck
"I'm so sorry for calling you all here on such notice, but I wouldn't call you all here if I didn't have good reason to-"
"It's about Acerbo, isn't it?" Risotto asked.
Giorno nodded solemnly. "Yes. One of the members of his gang attacked my daughter along with Matteo and the twins. From what Alcee explained, she was trying take her back to their little hideout to torture her in order to lure me out and possibly kill me."
"Where is she now?" Trish questioned.
"She escaped." Carlino said.
He shook as all of the adults turned their attention towards him.
"I thought this was a private meeting, Giorno." Prosciutto hissed.
"Says the man who let his daughter coax her way in along with the rest of her friends." Trish said.
Prosciutto scowled at her.
"Continue, Carlino." Bruno said.
"R-right. I was watching from inside of Luciano's Rising Sun. She threw her shoe at the sprinkler system and took off through the bathroom and over the fence, I think. Luciano tried going after her, but he couldn't generate another room in time and she sort of...got away."
Luciano bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Papa. I failed."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Luci! You did good!" His sister exclaimed.
"So, what makes her so different then other Stand Users we've faced before?" Mista asked.
"She wasn't a Stand User. That's the thing," Alcee said, putting her controller down, "She had powers that made her really strong! She could transfer her power into different objects like pens and she even dislocated her arm and relocated it like it was nothing!"
"Alcee, dear, please be serious." Secco said.
"S-s-she's telling the truth…" Matteo whispered, "I...I saw it too. She hit GiaGia with her arm. I-it stretched like a slinky."
"Seriously?" Ignazio questioned, his interest peaked.
Matteo nodded.
"This has to be bullshit. There's no way. And if what you're telling us is true, then how the hell-?!"
"Breathing."
The room fell quiet as all the adults turned their attention towards Gianetta, who was standing up now.
"What do you mean breathing, Gia?" Giorno asked.
"She...was breathing weird. And every time she did...it gave her power."
Illuso threw his hands up in the air, "this is bullshit. She probably hit her head too hard and thought she saw all this crap!"
"It's true!" She exclaimed, "I-I'll show you!"
She shut her eyes tightly, trying to mimic the breathing technique. She could feel her body tingle and her blood begin to rush quickly through her veins.
They all stared in awe as they watched her body begin to glow a brilliant gold.
"GiaGia, you're doing it!" Annamaria exclaimed.
Gianetta almost smiled, but the feeling was just too much for her and she quickly stopped, falling to her knees from exhaustion. Her sister knelt beside her and helped her up as the adults continued to stare.
Giorno could feel his hand shake. This awful feeling swirled around inside of him as his mind ran at a thousand miles an hour.
Why was he getting so worked up over this?
Bruno noticed this-even though he was trying his best to hide it, he could tell.
"Kids, could you give us a moment to ourselves? What we're about to discuss is...private."
Annamaria wanted to protest but a look from Carbonara told her that it wasn't a good idea to stay. They filed out, Gianetta being the last one out. She stared at Giorno for a long time before finally joining the others downstairs, where they were most definitely raiding the fridge for snacks.
"So, what do we do about him?" Prosciutto asked, "the bastard probably has more than enough Stand users and people who can do whatever the hell that was."
"We would've had a better chance of finding him if Gianetta hadn't gotten involved." Ghiaccio muttered.
"Oh, that's rich coming from you! You heard what they said, she was actively looking for them! She had planned the entire thing-HE had planned the entire thing!" Fugo exclaimed, angrily.
"If she had kept away from her this wouldn't have happened in the first place!"
"Ghiaccio, that's enough." Melone said.
"Acerbo has to be close. If Constantia managed to find them and escape so quickly, then he has to be somewhere in Naples." Trish said.
"Well, we all can't just go after him at once. What if he's already planning something bigger? What if the next time we're too late to save the kids-?"
"Wait, are you trying to say...that he might be going after our children on purpose?" Tiziano questioned nervously.
"The only reason Constantia was at Gianetta's school...was to take her to Acerbo so they could torture her to lure out Giorno." Fugo explained, his voice shaking.
"What?!"
"No way!"
"Then why the hell risk it?!"
The room went into an uproar of arguments, protests, and what have you. Giorno could understand. Why they put themselves at risk when it could potentially mean their children could be hunted as well. But, what about his daughter? She was attacked, she almost died. And it almost seemed like nobody cared. Nobody gave a damn. Gianetta almost died-his daughter almost died.
Did anyone even care that Acerbo was going to torture his daughter and possible leave her for dead once he was bored with her?
Giorno couldn't take it anymore. The stress and anxiety that he was bottling up caught up to him. His vision doubled and he fell forward, almost falling to the ground if it were not for Risotto catching him.
"Giorno-!"
"I-I'm fine, Fugo. I'm fine. I just got light headed." He explained.
"Here, sit down." Risotto said, pulling out his chair and leaning him back.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry. I," he sighed, "I know you all would rather be anywhere else right now. I know you would rather have someone else, sitting here in this chair giving you orders. But if you care anything about your children or your subordinates or me, please. Help me. Help yourselves and your children. Help me get rid of Acerbo and everyone involved before it's
too late."
He hated having to plead and beg like this, but he could see that they were seeing his point.
"We will do everything in our power to ensure you and your family's safety." Risotto said, "we may not see eye to eye most of the time, we-or, at least, I, can put that all aside to help you. Isn't that right everyone?"
"Speak for yourself-"
Risotto shot a glare at Illuso.
"Yeah, sure. Yeah. We'll-we'll do that."
Giorno sighed in relief. "Thank you all. I truly appreciate it. You can go home now."
La Squadra and the Elite began to leave, gathering their children from the kitchen and walking out the front door.
Only Buccellati's gang remained. That finally got Giorno to let his guard down and relax.
"Gio, what happened?" Trish asked.
"I'm sorry. I just...lost my cool for a second."
"Lost your cool-dude, you almost fainted!" Mista exclaimed.
"I...I was just thinking about GiaGia. She...she could have died today. She could have died, and her blood would have been on my hands. I-I could never--"
"Woah, woah, woah! Calm down," Abbacchio said, "I know you feel responsible for what happened, but..you couldn't have known that he was back and you couldn't have known that he was going after you like this, and can't be hung up on it."
"He's right, Giorno. You have to keep a level head or else you'll hurt your daughters more."
"How can I? They're my flesh and blood-they have my birthmark, my name!"
"She also has your determination." Bruno said.
"Your charisma."
"Your cocky attitude."
"Your eyes and lips. Those are pretty nice too."
Giorno chuckled. "Thank you...thank you...I just...I don't want to lose my family. Not again," Giorno bit his tongue once the words left his mouth, a blush dusting across his cheeks, "I-I didn't-I mean I do, I just-"
"We get it Gio. But you'll always have us! We'll be at your side just like we were all those years ago! And we'll get out alive just like last time!" Narancia exclaimed.
Giorno smiled, looking up at all of them.
He trusted these people with his life. They were his family, his friends-his comrades until the very end. He believed that they would still be at his side, even if he were going to die.
He trusted them. "Thank you all. I really do appreciate all of this."
"Don't sweat it! If you ever need anything, just call us."
"Just don't call me on the weekends." Abbacchio said, going for the whiskey sitting on Giorno's desk.
"Will do, will do."
-------------
The Passione kids were downstairs in the kitchen, raiding the cabinet for snacks.
"Whaddya think they're talking about up there?" Cassata asked, her mouth full of chips.
"Dunno. But we might be here for a while…" Carbonara said, taking a sip from his cola.
"You really think you should be drinking that? Don't you have, like, really bad acid reflux or something?"
Carbonara simply shrugged, taking another swig of the soda.
"Gia, you haven't spoken in a while. Is everything okay?" Carlino asked.
She stood up, resting her hands on the table. "I...I want to do better."
"What do you mean, mouse?" Laurenza asked.
"I let her get away. She was right in front of me and I got cocky, and she got away!"
"It wasn't your fault, Gia-" Carlino interjected.
"Did you not hear what I just said?! If she comes back and I let her get away again, she'll lead Acerbo right to papa! I need to be more serious-"
"Aren't you being a little too serious about this whole thing? It's not like Giorno will let you go after this girl. Hell, he probably won't even let you go back to school after this."
Gianetta frowned, sliding back into her seat, feeling defeated.
Laurenza saw the disheartening look in her sister's eyes. How bad she must have felt about allowing herself to be fooled by Constantia.
"Hm!" She stood up and tapped Gianetta on the shoulder, "Come on. Outside."
"What-why? What are we doing?"
"Your training starts now. Outside. Let's go."
Gianetta's eyes lit up as she and the others followed outside. She ran down the stairs and the minute she stepped foot on the grass, she was flung into the air by a giant gust of wind.
It was Laurenza's Stand, Little Busters using their wind manipulation to send her flying.
They used to do this all the time when they were kids. They would put on their fake fairy wings and they would take turns flying into the air, pretending to be fairies. Fugo would always get mad when Gianetta asked Laurenza to send her so high that she would be able to touch the sky and Laurenza would actually do it.
And now, Laurenza was going to fight her with it.
"YOU'RE NOT GIVING ME A FAIR SHOT, YOU JERK!" Gianetta shouted, seeing that she was going higher and higher.
"IT'S NEVER A FAIR FIGHT WITH A STAND USER! YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO DEAL WITH WHATEVER IS THROWN AT YOU! I WON'T ALWAYS BE AROUND TO PROTECT YOU!"
"I know…"
She summoned Sweet Music and screamed as loud as she could to combat the force of Little Busters' attack.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" Laurenza teased.
"You, bi-" Gianetta quickly covered her ears and sent out an annoying feedback noise.
Laurenza covered her ears and Little Busters withdrew their attack. Gianetta was happy for a split second-that was until she realized that she was falling.
"SWEET MUSIC! PROTECT ME!" She shouted.
Sweet Music screamed, the noise so powerful it was actually allowing Gianetta to levitate.
"Woah...this is so cool!"
"Don't forget about me!"
Laurenza propelled herself forward, preparing to punch when Sweet Music appeared and swung first, knocking them both back.
Cassata pulled out her phone and began recording while Carbonara covered his eyes in fear. Carlino watched with such interest.
He couldn't see their Stands, but watching them fly about and use these supernatural powers...it was both unnerving and interesting at the same time.
Someday, he wanted to be right beside her, fighting by her side whether he had a Stand or not.
He wanted to be a part of her life no matter what.
"You know--" Gianetta started, sending Sweet Music to take a swing at Little Busters, "I've been thinking-"
"Is now really the time to be having a conversation?" Laurenza said, launching them both up into the air, but not attacking.
Gianetta smirked.
"Talk fast."
"I want to start my own group. Like Padrino. And I want you and Carlino to be in it."
Laurenza's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
"You have to believe me. This isn't like when we would play pretend like kids. This is real!"
"But Gia, you are talking about forming a group to fight Stand users!"
"I have to, Laura. I have to protect you. You and papa, and dad!"
"Gia-"
The younger sister held her hand out to the older girl. "Laurenza Izabella Giovanna. Out of all the people I want at my side, you are the one who I want as my right hand man-or, woman, I suppose….I know you're worried about me...I know you're scared of what will happen to me. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared, too. But...I need you. I need you with me. I want you with me, teaching me-Laura, I know you have no interest in being in the gang, but just for now--until we are rid of Acerbo and his gang, I need you."
Laurenza was speechless.
Her younger sister was surely something. This seemed too reckless. Her sister could be hurt-she could die. Sure, she promised her that she would protect her with her life. She had promised that she went, she would as well. It seemed ridiculous, but that was the promise they made.
But, could she really do this? Could she really let her sister put herself in harm's way in order to fulfill a dream and do a job that was meant for experienced Stand Users?
She held out her hand...and quickly grabbed Gianetta's hand and pulled her close.
"Gianetta Luna Giovanna, I swear on my life, I will do everything in my power to protect you and I will help you defeat Acerbo and his gang!" She proclaimed.
Gianetta smiled widely, hugging her sister as they floated mid air.
"GIANETTA LUNA AND LAURENZA IZABELLA, JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU TWO THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" Fugo shouted as he stepped out into the patio with all of the other adults following behind him.
"Whoops." Laurenza whispered.
"GET DOWN NOW!"
They both sighed. "Geez."
"Why does he have to make a big deal outta everything?"
Laurenza brought them down to the earth and the two linked hands as they prepared for what was most likely about to come next.
"So, you mean what you said? You'll do it?" She whispered as her sister pulled up the stairs.
Laurenza looked back at her sister, smiling. "Of course I did. You're my sister...I would never lie to you."
Gianetta smiled back at her, the grip on her hand tightening. 'I know…'
"We should probably go. Carbo has school tomorrow and I'm tired." Abbacchio said, running his fingers through hair.
"Yeah, us too." Mista said.
"I suppose so, and thank you again for doing this."
"Of course, Giorno. Just relax and try to get some sleep." Bruno said.
Giorno nodded as he watched the others leave. "Carlino, Caro. Your father is outside in a taxi. You should get going."
"R-right. Thanks Mr. Giovanna. Bye GiaGia!" He said, waving.
"You're leaving?" Gianetta asked, quickly running up the stairs in front of Laurenza.
"Uh, yeah. My dad is waiting outside for me. I'm so sorry we couldn't get boba like you said."
"No, it's fine. Maybe we'll hang out another time-whenever that may be."
"T-that'd be great!" Carlino exclaimed.
"Ciao, Carlo."
She hugged him tightly, and he could feel his face warm up.
"C-Ciao, GiaGia."
"Ciao."
He pulled away from her, seeing that beautiful smile of hers before he followed Giorno out the door. He could hear Fugo starting to reprimand his two daughters about flying in mid air out in the open. From outside he could see the cars of Buccellati's gang pulling out and leaving to their respective homes. Waiting in front of the house was a yellow taxi and his father leaning against it. He was covered in oil and dirt and his honey colored hair was a mess.
Carlino ran towards him, hugging him tightly. "Papa!"
His father smiled sweetly. "Hello, Carino. Did you have a nice time with Gianetta?"
Carlino nodded. "I have so much to tell you."
"I bet you do…" His father said, looking up at Giorno, "Giorno, sir. I...I have to thank you again."
"Isidoro, you don't have to-"
"No, please. Let me thank you. You've done so much for me and you've taken care of my Carlino while I'm at work...just thank you!"
Giorno smiled warmly. "You're very welcome, Lorenzo. If you or Carlino ever need my help, just come to me and I'll be there. I'll be right there."
"Thank you sir. I really do appreciate it--Carlino, let's go."
Carlino nodded, sliding into the cab with his father following behind him. He waved goodbye from the window as the cab took off.
"I have so much to tell you about today." Carlino said.
"I'm sure you do my boy. Let's wait until we get home. I don't want to bother Ms. Agata."
"I'm not bothered," the cab driver replied, "let the boy tell his story."
"Thank you, Angela."
She smiled. "Of course, Lorenzo. Of course…"
--------
When Constantia returned back to the house, everyone had shit eating grins on their faces as they were probably preparing to gut punch her.
"Got too cocky, huh?" Anguilla said.
"Shut up…" she muttered.
"Even against a newbie you didn't stand a chance."
"I said shut up!"
The others howled with laughter as Acerbo sauntered his way over to her.
"A-Acerbo, I swear I did not mean to embarrass you like that."
"I know you didn't." he replied.
"S-she was just...she was so powerful! She-"
"What did she do?"
"What?"
He leaned forward. "What. Did. She. Do?"
Constantia hugged herself in embarrassment. "She...she could manipulate sound. She was also stronger than I expected her to be. She sent me through a wall!"
"What else happened?"
"Uh...her friends...one of them could make them disappear and the other shot blasts of energy from her backpack."
The others snickered. It just seemed too unbelievable to be true.
"Is that so…?" Acerbo asked.
Constantia nodded, shaking in fear.
Acerbo turned away from her, walking over to the only window in the entire room. 'That means there are other Stand Users. And this Gianetta girl...she is not something to be taken lightly. People from her family are known to be powerful Stand Users….I need to do something about them. All of them.'
Acerbo turned around, stamping his foot on the ground to get their attention. The others turned their heads in his direction.
"Listen well, everyone. We cannot take this lightly. Gianetta Giovanna obviously has ties to some powerful Stand Users outside of Passione. Your mission is to find them and eliminate them all-except for Gianetta and Laurenza. They are mine."
"So...we can do anything to them? No questions asked?"
Acerbo nodded.
The group celebrated, cheering and high fiving each other as Acerbo exited the room.
'I will find you, Giorno Giovanna. And I will make you suffer the same way you made me suffer…'
Notes:
Hiya! Thanks for reading this installment of Beautiful Soul! Here's Luciano's playlist for ya!
House of the rising sun- The Animals (but any cover works)
Monster- Dodie
A song for a best friend- dodie
Dance, Dance- Fallout boy
Giants- True Damage
There's a reason these tables aren't numbered, Honey. You just haven't figured it out yet- panic! at the disco
One of the drunks-Panic! At the disco
And that's all for now.
Chapter 6: Carbonara Buccellati and Feel Good Inc. Part 1
Summary:
Carbonara's normal routine is disrupted by the sudden appearance of a Stand User who has a few things to say.
Notes:
I'm back! Sorry for the wait y'all! Trying to make this good for all of you. Not sure if I succeeded! But hey, you know. Stuff doesn't really work all the time! Anyways, hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The morning started off as it always did--with Carbonara throwing up. A combination of his severe anxiety and the 'suppression' of his Stand and its power would often leave him in this position. He would lock himself in the bathroom ten minutes before he was supposed to go to school and he would vomit for said ten minutes and then go into his so called normal routine.
He'd rinse his mouth out, shower, change into his uniform, brush his teeth, and fix his hair.
He usually took a long time doing these seeming quick activities. He had no need to rush.
Nothing was waiting for him at school. For the past twelve years, he hadn't made friends nor enemies.
Sure, people picked on him, but other than that, he had no one. Not a lot of teachers paid much mind to him-hell, he doubted that anyone even knew he existed.
It was lonely, sure, but his parents didn't know, or they did and chose not to say anything because they knew that he wouldn't talk about it. He wouldn't say a word because it didn't matter. It wasn't important that he had no friends and was nearly incapable of making friends.
He didn't need to worry them even more than they already were.
On this particular morning, he took extra long trying to brush his hair because he had gotten distracted by his eyes.
Ever since last year's incident, he would always hear his papa say that his eyes appeared to be...duller.
Like the color had been drained out of his eyes along with his sense of security and stability.
But he couldn't see it.
His eyes looked normal. They were the same shade of blue they had always been. Same as his papa.
' What are they talking about? My eyes look fine.' He thought to himself.
The sound of his phone going off brought him out of his thoughts. He looked down and on screen there was a message from Gianetta.
He smiled. It had been a long time since he had seen or even talked to his god sisters and seeing them yesterday almost brought him to tears, but he was still surprised that she was actually willing to talk to him after a long year of radio silence.
He opened the message and found that she had left a proposal for him.
Gianetta: Yo. Look I know we haven't seen each other in a long time, but...seeing you yesterday made me really happy. It made me remember all the fun we used to have together and how well we worked as a team when we would get into trouble. So, I wanted to know...do you want to be a part of my team?
'Her team...what?"
Carbo: what team?
Gianetta: I'm putting together a little team to stop Acerbo and his crew and I need your help. I need you and your Stand, Feel Good Inc.
Carbonara put his phone down, hissing in pain as his hand shook.
'No no no! I don't need him! I don't need to use him! I don't! I don't! I DON'T!'
Knock knock knock.
"Carbo! You okay in there?" Abbacchio called, startling the young boy for a second.
"U-uh, yeah! I'm fine." He called back, sliding his phone into his pocket.
"Well hurry up! You're gonna be late for school!"
Carbonara nodded, sliding his phone into his pocket as he made his way out of the bathroom.
'I don't need Feel Good Inc.'
He pushed the door open and was about to walk downstairs when his father's hand stopped him. He leaned down in front of him, as stoic as ever. "Hey, what's wrong?"
Carbonara shook his head. "Nothing. Just feeling really...nauseous this morning."
Abbacchio carefully pressed his hand to Carbonara's forehead, moving it around his face. "No fever...you take your medication yesterday?"
"I...I think so. I just...I dunno, I guess I was just overthinking again. I-I'm fine." He replied.
Abbacchio stared at him for what seemed like a long time when it was only a few seconds before he stood up and patted his back. "Go. Breakfast is getting cold."
He nodded, heading down to the kitchen where his other father was waiting at the table, his attention to some documents that were laying on the table.
"Good morning, Carbo." He said, not looking up at him.
"Good morning, papa." Carbonara replied, sitting down across from him.
In front of him was a plain plate of his usual breakfast that he would have everytime he was sick to his stomach. Plain eggs and plain toast with four pills laying on the plate. The two blue ones were his anxiety medication and the other was for his stomach issues. He took the pills and shoved them into his mouth, slipping them into a pocket that he had gnawed on the inside of his cheek as he took a drink of water, swallowing hard to make it seem like he actually swallowed those pills.
He did this every morning. He had convinced himself that he didn't need them.
Nothing was wrong with him, so he didn't need them.
Why were they giving him medication he didn't need?
He felt a tap on his shoulder. "Hurry up and eat. I'm taking you to school today."
"You are?" The boy questioned.
Abbacchio nodded. "I have to meet with someone downtown this morning. And with all that's been happening, your dad and I decided it was best for you to stop walking by yourself for the time being."
"Oh…okay."
"You don't sound too happy about it-"
"I-I am! I am. I'm just...a bit surprised. You haven't walked me to school in awhile."
He could see him almost smile as he ruffled his hair. "I know. Just...thought it'd be nice if this time it wasn't a stranger taking you…"
Carbonara almost broke out into a smile. It had been about 10 months since Carbonara had elected to walk to and from school and various other places because he often wanted to be by himself, but he did miss it when he was younger and he would run up to his parents, happy that he would finally see them after such an awful and melancholy day at school.
Plus, keeping those pills in his mouth were uncomfortable and he would often spit them down the storm drain at the end of the block when he was sure that his parents weren't looking.
He quickly shoveled down his food, almost choking before eventually finishing his plate, something both Bruno and Abbacchio were surprised about considering that he has never finished his plate or anything involving food for that matter.
"I'm gonna go brush my teeth." He said, quickly running back upstairs to gather his things.
"He seems to be better…" Abbacchio said, resting his hand on Bruno's shoulder, "Wonder how long that will last…"
"He's good at hiding things. He learned that from us…" Bruno said, lowering his head.
Abbacchio wrapped his arm around his husband, resting his chin on his shoulder. "Don't torture yourself like this. I know it's hard, trying to forget and pretend everything's normal. You know it, I know it, and he knows it, too. He's trying to push it away and pretend that he isn't in pain. It hurts us all, but...we just have to let him stop on his own. He's already denied any more help from us. He has to do this on his own."
He could feel his husband almost crumble. He turned him around and enveloped him in a tight hug. By this point, it was normal for the two to break down in front of each other and not feel like they need to put up this brave front.
Bruno's eyes began to sting from trying to keep his tears at bay so he didn't frighten Carbonara. "I-I just can't keep seeing him like this, Leone. He's our son! He's suffering! I can't let him just suffer in silence! I have to do something!"
"I want to do something too, but right now...we have to wait. We have to wait for him to come to us. There's not a lot we can do now…"
They heard Carbonara coming down the stairs. They both stood up, Bruno wiping the tears from his eyes and composing himself before turning around to see his son.
Carbonara slowly descended the last few steps when he saw how different Bruno seemed. "Papa…? Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, Carbo. I'm okay. Have a good day at school. I'll be there to pick you up later."
"Okay, I'll see you then, papa."
Carbonara and Abbacchio were about to leave out the back door when Bruno suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him into a tight hug. Carbonara was surprised, especially since Bruno didn't talk for almost a minute straight and didn't realize it until he noticed the silence. He quickly pulled away, his touch lingering on his fingers.
"So sorry. Have a good day, Carbonara. I love you."
"I love you too, papa."
The boy waved goodbye as he and his father left through the back door and into the streets.
Bruno sighed.
'Please come back to me, my Tesoro. Come back to me and tell me what's hurting you so I may help you.'
--------
"Abba, why is papa acting weird?" Carbonara asked, squeezing his hand.
"Hm? Nothing, Carbo. He's just a bit worried about you and the whole situation with Acerbo." Abbacchio replied.
"Dad, I'm not that dumb. I know there's something else. It's about me, isn't it?"
Abbacchio was quiet for a few seconds. His son was smarter than that-he had taught him to be smarter than that.
Why did he have to teach him to analyze everything a persona says?
"Okay. I won't lie to you...he's worried that you're repressing your emotions-actually, he's very sure that you've been suppressing your emotions and so am I."
Carbonara stopped walking, tightly tugging the straps of his backpack. "Dad-"
"I know you don't see it, or you do and you're just trying to ignore it. But after that night last year, I...you're not the same. You stopped going to therapy after two sessions, you stopped talking to everyone, and you just...you just don't seem alright."
"I am, dad. I'm-"
"I know you're just dealing with it the way you think is right, but it's not healthy. I know what road you're going down and it's-" He hated having to remember those awful feelings of despair and self hatred. That awful sense of hopelessness he had gone to bed with after the death of his partner. That need to forget every last bit of the events that occurred that night, "-it's like drowning, only from the inside out. And I don't think you want to drown…."
Carbonara didn't look up. He didn't respond, he didn't make any noise. He just kept staring down at his feet, waiting for Abbacchio to stop trying to lecture him.
He sighed. "Fine. I won't bother you anymore. Come on, we're gonna be late."
Carbonara nodded and quickly walked beside him. They had made their way up to the gates of the school just as the last of the kids ran in past them.
"I'll see you at home, Tesoro. Have a good day at school."
"Thanks, Dad. I'll see you later." Carbonara quickly hugged him and ran inside behind the other kids.
"Remember, Carbo. The world has teeth and it can bite you with them any time it wants…"
-----------
Carbonara ran into his classroom and into his seat at the very back of the classroom just before the bell rang. He just wanted to put the whole conversation out of his head and get on with the day as Paolo Accardi so he could go home to his safe spot on the couch in his father's safe office where he could be Carbonara Paolo Buccellati-Abbacchio.
To be honest, he hadn't slept in his own bed in a year. Out of all the things that he missed after that horrible event, it was feeling safe and comfortable in his own bed.
He would spend time in that room during the day, of course, but when night came, he stayed up with all of the lights on, a towel to block out the light, and he would wait for his parents to go to bed and sneak off to Bruno's office full of on hand weaponry and close to his parent's bedroom just in case something bad were to happen. It would take another hour for him to finally go to sleep and would wake up an hour before he had to so Bruno wouldn't find him and just lay in bed until he felt sick and his morning routine would start.
It wasn't ideal by any means, but he couldn't stay in that room.
He refused to stay in that room.
He was very sure he would never sleep in his own bed again.
Class went on like normal. The teacher droned on in her monotone voice and Carbonara was doing his best to tune her out-he always got fantastic grades anyways, so what was the point?
But then, he felt something.
Something had hit the back of his neck and fell on the floor. He turned back to see what it was-and it was a pebble.
But how did it hit the back of his neck?
He was literally sitting in the very back of the classroom. Behind him was just a wall with a few posters on it.
Maybe the bullies were just getting better at their aim.
He decided to ignore it for now.
Another pebble hit his neck.
He said nothing.
Another one.
Still didn't respond.
Pebbles just continued to fly at his head and neck and he said nothing even though it was getting on his nerves so bad he wanted to shout.
And then, he felt something small and sharp embed itself in the back of his head. "Ow!" He muttered.
"Paolo, is something wrong?" The teacher asked, turning to face him.
"Uh, no. I'm okay. May I use the restroom really quick?" He said, not even waiting for the response.
He got up from his seat and went down the hallway to the boys bathroom. He stood in front of the first mirror and pulled out the little pocket mirror in his pocket with one hand and used the other hand to find what hit him.
He felt around a bit before his fingers felt something in the middle of his head. He positioned the mirror carefully and found that someone had thrown a blue thumbtack at his head.
"What?! How the hell did this get in here?!" He said to himself. He quickly pulled the thumbtack out of his head and threw it in the trash.
'Man, they just really want to get on my nerves today, huh?' He sighed, 'Get a hold of yourself, Carbonara. They're just doing this to annoy you. They know you can't-and won't do anything to them. Just...relax.'
After quickly cleaning up the blood from his hair, he started to make his way back to class. He was only a few feet away from his classroom when he was hit by this awful pain on his left side. He leaned against the wall, cursing under his breath.
It was one of his stomach aches brought on by anxiety, because of course it was.
But why? There was nothing to be anxious about, really.
Nothing bad had happened. He didn't have to speak in front of his class or have to go to gym class and embarrass himself again.
Why was he feeling this way?
He would soon find out once his pain finally disapated and he walked into class. A chill shot down his spine as he looked around the classroom.
Everyone had their eyes on him, even the teacher. And all of their eyes were so wide, they were becoming red. They didn't even blink.
"Um...a-am I in trouble?" He asked awkwardly.
"No, Paolo. Everything is fine," The teacher replied, gently bending down and picking up a pencil, "In fact, you're right on time. We were about to start on our next assignment and we need you to lead in it."
"I'm sorry?" He questioned.
' What the hell is this? Is this some kind of sick practical joke? If it is, it's not funny. It's actually hella creepy! They're not even blinking!'
"Class, today, we're going to be doing something a little different than what we normally do….I want you all to grab a pen or sharpened pencil...stand up slowly….and fill this fucker full of holes!"
Carbonara almost laughed because a, he had never heard his teacher swear and the way it was delivered was just ridiculous, and b, he couldn't believe it.
It was a joke.
It had to be.
He was quickly proven wrong when he watched every single one of his classmates slowly reached into their desks and pulled various pens and wooden pencils.
And while still trying to comprehend what exactly was going on, they rushed him all at once. Even the teacher came running to him, a sharp pen at the ready.
He let out one last nervous chuckle before the color completely drained out of his face at the realization that all of this...was real.
They were actually going to attack him with school supplies.
He took one step back, and that set them off. They all charged at him all at once, sending him falling out of the doorway. Some of them grabbed onto his shirt as he tried getting away.
He managed to run away from some of them, but there were about fifteen of them and a few of them were picking up speed and most definitely going to catch up to him.
He made a sharp turn down the hallway and threw open the doors to the gymnasium, sprinting onto the bleachers and-regrettably-using his Stand to jump up and grab the head board, using it to climb up the large beams above.
He shook as he ascended the large beams and took refuge as the others crowded below, trying their hand at reaching him.
' What the hell is going on here?! Why the hell are they acting this way?! Is this...is this some kind of attack?'
"So you are a Stand User...how intriguing."
Carbonara started to sweat bullets. He ever so slowly turned back to see a young woman, probably around Annamaria's age. She had long strawberry blonde hair that reached down to her hips and was tied back in a braided ponytail. She was dressed in a short crochet Gucci dress and giant black, thigh high boots.
She was even confident enough to wear heels, huh.
"Though I suppose I should have expected it. Nothing less from the son of the Golden traitor, Bruno Buccellati."
Carbonara nearly fell back. His eyes had gone wide but he bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming.
"My, my. I thought you'd have a bigger reaction. I'm a stranger that has entered the school that you go to, and I mentioned your father-by his real name. I'm making all of your classmates and your teacher want to kill you. No rhyme or reason. It's only because I want them to kill you. And yet...your eyes...your expression...they remain completely….dull."
She sauntered over to him, carefully squatting in front of him. She slowly reached out and grabbed his cheek, staring into his eyes.
Her eyes were this...dark purplish, raspberry color. There was nothing there. No life, no shine. Her eyes were...dead. They were just...dead along with her expression.
"You're just like me."
"I am nothing like you." Carbonara replied, almost in a hiss.
"You are. At least, you almost are. You may be somewhat dead, but you've still got something in you. I would say I admire that, but in truth I find it to be the most obnoxious thing ever."
She pulled her hand away, cutting Carbonara's cheek with her perfectly manicured nail as she stood up.
"Feelings only get the way of the task at hand. Connections and relationships are roadblocks. They are the downfalls of the strong. Pointless dribble that only gets you killed. It's what spawns things such as greed, selfishness, and pain. It's what holds you back from your true potential….You're weak. You know you're weak. That's why you're not fighting me. You're scared."
Carbonara turned his head, looking away from her. 'she's trying to manipulate you. She's trying to bring him out.'
"Not going to respond? Very well then…" She stood tall, her Stand appearing behind her. It was a brown and magenta colored thing with odd little suction cups on the tips of its fingers, "Since you've made it quite easy to kill you, I figure why not leave you with this bit of information. It's not as if you shall use it anyways….My name Figa,"
Her Stand struck the beam, leaving a very sizable dent.
"My Stand's name is Drinking You Goodbye."
It struck again, the beam shaking. Carbonara grabbed on for dear life.
"It's ability is quite simple. Drinking you goodbye simply needs to touch the intended victim and they will force whomever is touched to attack the intended target upon eye contact."
Another strike to the beam, this beam nearly sank to the bottom. The crowd below became restless and were now screaming incoherent sentences.
"I was sent here to kill you and then find Bruno Buccellati and Leoné Abbacchio and kill them as well. It should be easy. They wouldn't be able to fathom what I am about to do and just like that--they're gone."
Drinking You Goodbye pulled back its fist for a final strike as Carbonara watched in fear. "You know...you were quite the boring opponent….so I'm almost glad it's ending this way…"
She stood back, carefully walking to the beam adjacent to his as her Stand advanced forward and punched the beam hard. It broke free from the hinges and she watched him fall into the crowd.
"Goodbye…."
Notes:
And now, Carbonara's little list of songs!
Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz
I promise I'm trying-Cavetown
Secrets for the mad- dodie
On and On- Foster
Désolé- Gorillaz
Nevermore- Casey Williams feat. Adrienne Coan
Little Lion Man- Mumford and Sons
Dear Winter- Ajr
False Confidence- Noah KahanAnd that's all for now! More to come later! Ciao and thank you for reading!
Chapter 7: Carbonara Buccellati and Feel Good Inc. Part 2
Summary:
Carbonara recounts the worst night of his life as the fight with Figa progresses.
Notes:
So sorry this has been taking so long! Hope you enjoy another mediocre installment of Beautiful Soul!
WARNINGS: fighting, mentions of injury, blood, and death. And the fight scene is awful.
View discretion is advised.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Red.
There was a red ring around his ankles and wrists from trying to break free from the zip ties that bound him to the bed frame. There was only one light that lit up the dark-colored room, and it was in that very corner, where she had been watching the whole time. Did she enjoy watching him struggle like this?
Wasn't he her son? Her flesh and blood, strapped down to this bed-struggling to break free-and she was just sitting there...in that chair...smiling at him.
This was what she wanted, wasn't it? She just wanted to have him.
She didn't care what she did to him. She didn't even seem to care about what happened to him.
She had him and that was enough for her.
She had her little boy right where she wanted him.
Right in the palm of her hands.
She stood from the chair, moving to the very edge of the bed and resting her arms on the bed frame. She was still smiling.
"Oh, Enzo...how I missed you. I was just in so much pain-seeing with those fakes, watching them treat you as if you were their child!"
"Because I am their child! You're not my mother! You're insane!" He had shouted, thrashing around, trying to break free.
She wailed. "Ohhh, look what they have done to you, Enzo! They've manipulated you! They're trying to turn you against me!"
"I'm already against you! You KIDNAPPED me! Right after I was born, you left me for dead!"
"I tried to help you, Enzo! I'm so sorry for leaving you but I just-"
"No excuse you try to throw at me will ever convince me that you did any of this out of love! You are not my mother! As far as I know, I have no mother! My name is not Enzo, IT IS CARBONARA BUCCELLATI!"
Slap!
Blood.
Small bits of blood splattered across the busted lamp on the table. A small gasp escaped her as she began to cry again. "Oh, Enzo! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to do it! B-but you made me do it! You made me do it!"
He said nothing. He just continued to look in the opposite direction as this...rage swirled around inside of him. He didn't notice the red smoke escaping from his mouth. He didn't notice that said smoke had filled the room, and he didn't notice her face and demeanor change drastically.
Within seconds, his mother jumped onto the bed and began to strangle him, her eyes big and red. Carbonara kicked and flailed around as she squeezed the life out of him.
"YOU LITTLE BRAT! I'M TRYING TO GIVE YOU THE LIFE YOU DESERVE AND WHAT DO YOU DO?! YOU SHOW NOTHING BUT DISRESPECT ME! YOUR OWN MOTHER! HOW DARE YOU?! I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAD SUCH AN AWFUL SON! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU TO HELL-!"
"SHUT UP!" Carbonara broke free from the zip ties and with the full force of him and his Stand, knocked her straight into the back wall, hearing several of her bones break loudly.
After that, the only thing he remembered was getting up from the bed and making his way over to her. He blocked out the rest of the events of that night but he knew that he hurt so many people that night.
He saw the effects of Feel Good Inc. on other people. He knew what it did to him if he let its power overtake him. He couldn't let that happen again.
He refused to be the monster he was that night.
He refused to prove her right.
'Just because I can't use Feel Good Inc, it doesn't mean I can't fight her!'
Feel Good Inc grabbed onto the very edge of the beam and used its strength to pull them both back onto the beam and climb back up. Figa took a step back, her expression unchanged.
"My, my. So there is a fighter in you. Quite surprising. I thought you were nothing but a worthless meat sack, " she stepped forward, "Maybe you'll bring me some entertainment before I kill you."
"I'd like to see you try." He muttered, running towards her and summoning his Stand.
He swung first, his punch landing on the beam as she dodged, sending out DYG to strike. "You should try harder."
DYG dashed him but Feel Good Inc. reappeared in front of her and sent an array of punches, sending them both flying into another beam.
"You're a lot slower than I originally anticipated. You're slow. Or maybe you're just really weak."
Figa scoffed. "Weak…? Me? Please. I am much stronger than you are. And I honestly expected more from you. You're supposed to be the son of Bruno Buccellati and Leoné Abbacchio. Aren't you?"
Carbonara closed his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath in. "My parentage has nothing to do with my power. I can assure you that I am more than meets the eye."
Carbonara charged towards her, Feel Good Inc. behind him. He took a swing at her head, which she promptly dodged, but before she could strike back, he used his fist and punched her square in the face and swept her leg.
"That's-"
"Just because you have a Stand doesn't mean you shouldn't know how to fight hand to hand." He said, proving his point but kicking her off the beam and down to the ground floor.
The beam began to shake, and Carbonara could see a look in her eyes that told him everything.
"Did you think I was dumb enough not to plan? I unscrewed the beam just enough so you could impress me. Maybe I should have waited a bit longer."
The beam finally collapsed. The crowd below moved out of the way as Carbonara came crashing down. Once the dust had settled, the class made a mad dash for him. He quickly stood up, limping as fast as he could out of the gym.
"Try to run. They'll catch up to you eventually and then what will you do? Try and keep your foolish ideals? Face it. You're dead."
Carbonara ignored her, continuing to run with a very swollen ankle and a bloody nose. Blood spilled onto the floor as he ran, but thank god for the adrenalin that was keeping him running and making sure he didn't feel how bad his injuries were.
She was right.
He couldn't keep going. No matter how hard he pushed himself, he was screwed. He was screwed.
They were right on his tail and they were not going to stop until he was dead. He had to come up with something.
He quickly darted into the main building and ran into the teacher's lounge, locking the door behind him. They all charged, knocking to his knees.
The pain was catching up to him for sure.
He needed to come up with a plan and fast.
"Carbo-"
"I'm not listening to you." He said, pushing the couch in front of the door.
"Carbo, they're going to come in sooner or later. It's only a matter of time-"
"I know that, but I don't need your help." He snapped.
"Carbo." Feel Good Inc. was now right in front of him, close enough that his heels were pressing up against the couch.
He turned his head. "I know what your plan is and I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it and you can't make me."
"It's the only way we can stop them. It's the only way we can get to her and stop her."
"I'm not going to let them hurt each other because of me! That's not what I want. I-"
"You don't want to be a monster."
Carbonara bit his lip, turning his head away from them.
"I never meant to hurt you, Carbon ara . I only ever meant to protect you…"
Carbonara glared daggers at them. "Protect me? You call the last 12 years protecting me? You tried to kill me when I was seven and then you left me alone-powerless-until last year where you made me hurt all of those people!"
"Do you remember what those people did to you, Carbo? They abandoned you under a bridge-left you for dead. Left us for dead-"
"There is no us ! You were never there!"
"I was always there! You just never wanted me there!"
"Oh, that is bullshit."
"It's true. Don't lie to me. I'm a part of you. You saw the things that happen ed behind closed doors and you wanted no part in it. You knew how worried Bruno and Abbacchio were when they realized you could wield a Stand, so you kept me at bay so they wouldn't worry. I did it all because I cared about you, and whether you like it or not, I care about you now and because I care about you, I want to protect you the best I can. I want to protect you the way I failed to do."
Talking to them felt unnatural. Referring to them as 'them' felt unnatural. Just a minute ago, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. He blamed them for everything.
He blamed them for why he was so sensitive as a kid. He blamed them for why he had to try extra hard to control himself. He blamed them for why his parents always had that dismal look in their eyes when they started back into his.
Not anymore.
He couldn't blame them any longer. It wasn't their fault.
He had no one to blame but himself.
Now, he had to put all of that aside and start his next line of attack.
"....let's do it."
-------
She didn't want to admit it but, Figa felt confident. There was no way he could survive without using his ability. Soon, they would rip him to shreds and return to their classroom as if nothing happened.
She was so confident, she took her time walking down to the main building.
But, she was thrown off when she saw a cloud of red smoke rolling out from under the doors.
How odd…
She covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve as she carefully crept inside. She could hear them. She could hear them yelling, she could hear them fighting.
Why were they still fighting?
She rounded the corner and what she saw was...puzzling.
In clouds of red smoke, the students and teachers were fighting each other. They were throwing each other around, slamming each other into walls.
'What's going on? DYG should only make them attack the target, so why are they attacking each other? And more importantly…'
She scanned the room, cutting through the smoke with her arm.
'Where the hell is he?!'
"Who's weak now?"
Figa whipped around just as Carbonara appeared behind her and used Feel Good Inc. to punch her across the room.
"W-what the hell?! How?! They should have ripped you to pieces!"
"Anger is a powerful thing. Of course, someone like you wouldn't understand. My Stand has managed to break these people out of their trance. It's not the most convenient of powers but it's enough to turn their attention away from me. Now we can fight, one on one. So come and give me every damn thing you've got."
Figa gritted her teeth as she charged towards him, DYG following behind her. Carbonara practically sprinted towards her, Feel Good Inc. at the ready.
He- like everyone else under Feel Good's influence- had this awful, unexplainable anger that swirled inside of him, giving him the motivation to keep going and stop this girl once and for all.
Of course, there was the inconvenience that was having to manipulate his classmates and have them fight each other, and the two of them if they got in the way.
He jumped over two wrestling students and landed a kick to her cheek. She stood up, growling, and sent DYG to punch him in the stomach. He nearly stopped breathing but he had to keep going. Feel Good propped him up and he sent a barrage of punches at her.
The commotion was drawing out other students, causing them to succumb to Feel Food's power.
Soon, there was a mass crowd of angry, violent junior high kids and teachers filling the hallway.
Carbonara and Figa were knocked back and forth until they were completely thrown out into a cramped sports closet.
But that didn't stop them.
Figa threw him across the room into a shelf of sports equipment which quickly fell on top of him.
Now she was angry.
He could see it.
Her eyes finally had some sort of color to them. She had emotions.
She loomed towards him, the veins in her head showing clear as day.
"I've had it with you! This was supposed to be easy! You were supposed to be WEAK! WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD YET?!"
DYG appeared and quickly moved towards him.
She laughed. "But now...I've got you. Now, you won't stand in my way! Now, you can finally DIE! NOW, I CAN FINALLY BE FR-"
She stopped as blood exploded from her mouth. A sharp pain had stopped her in her tracks. She looked up.
Carbonara had impaled DYG through the chest with a fencing sword. He stared in absolute horror.
What had he done?
As she fell to her knees, blood dripping down her lips and from her chest, she couldn't help but smile, flashing her blood-stained teeth.
"H-huh….h-h-how….nice."
Her eyes rolled in the back of her head, falling face-first into the floor.
Carbonara garnered enough strength to lift the shelf off of him and he scurried over to her. Her skin had gone white and she was lying in a pool of her blood.
She was dead.
She. Was. Dead.
He had killed her.
Tears sprung from his eyes as he fell back, gagging as the realization hit him like a bag of bricks.
For the first time in his entire life, he had killed a human being.
His worst fear had come true.
He was a monster.
The gagging slowly became dry heaving which then became full-on vomiting.
'h-how...what have I done? H-how Could I have killed her?! I'm just like her….I'm exactly what she said I'd be….I'm a murderer….I'm a monster….'
-----------
Police and paramedics arrived quickly after Feel Good Inc.'s effects had worn off and the students and staff came back to their senses.
They found a mass of students and teachers alike beaten to a bloody pulp across the hallway and they were wheeling them out on stretchers.
Abbacchio and Bruno screeched to a halt in front of the school and ran out of the car. An officer came up to them just as they were about to run into the school.
"Hey! You can't go in there!"
"Like hell, we can't! Our son is in there!" Abbacchio yelled.
"Look, I get it, but we can't just-"
"No, you don't." He stepped closer to the younger officer, towering over him.
"Abbacchio, enough!" Bruno said.
"Sir! They found two more kids! One of them's dead!"
The two men exchanged a look and ran past the blockade, the officer yelling after them. The paramedics wheeled out Carbonara, wide-eyed and covered in blood and a black body bag alongside him.
"Carbo!"
He looked up at both of them, tears falling from his eyes once again. "Papa...A-Abba…I-I'm sorry…"
They placed him into the ambulance, both parents entering alongside the paramedics.
"What happened to him?" Bruno questioned.
"We don't know. He won't tell us. But he has multiple fractures and lacerations to his body and when we found him, he was passed out in his vomit. He is severely dehydrated. We'll have to do more tests once we get to the hospital."
Abbacchio looked Carbonara up and down. He was shaking vigorously and had several noticeable bruises.
Then he looked over to the large body bag traveling along with them.
He and Bruno once again exchanged a knowing glance, piecing together what had happened in that school.
"Oh, Carbo…" Bruno said.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…!" He leaned over the stretcher, hugging him tightly as he kept repeating sorry over and over again, all the way to the hospital.
--------
Carbonara had passed out from shock on the way to the hospital. During their time waiting for the results of Carbonara's tests, they managed to piece together the entire story, along with the history of their son's attacker.
Figa Bianchi was a dropout and a sociopath. She went through life with the pure belief of never making friends and never letting her emotions get in the way of her work.
She believed that emotions only got in the way of a job-that job being killing others for whoever asked as long as they paid her.
She had no connection to Passione.
She was just doing a job.
That's all it was.
A job.
Carbonara had been discharged, having several broken bones and deep cuts that Giorno would fix later.
He was still asleep as they drove home, lightly snoring and occasionally crying.
"So, what do we do?" Abbacchio asked, glancing at the sleeping boy through the mirror.
Bruno sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know anymore. I honestly don't know. I just...my worst fears were just presented to me on a platter. A Stand User found my son- our son-and she nearly killed him. I...I thought he was safe. I thought…"
Abbacchio grabbed his hand, messaging his knuckles. "I know...I know. But if we're being honest here...he was never safe. You and I both know that one day, someone would find him. We were just...delaying the inevitable. We were denying the truth...He was never safe. We were never safe…"
Bruno squeezed his hand. "So, what's next? Should we take him out of school?"
"And what? Homeschool him ourselves? Hire someone we don't know to teach him? We have to let him make his own decisions…"
He glanced back at Carbonara, still asleep but beginning to stir.
"He's our kid, after all."
Bruno turned his head to the window. "....what happened to me? I used to be able to keep a level head-I used to know what to do and when. Now, I can barely keep myself together. I can barely understand why I can't keep together."
"It's because of us."
Abbacchio stopped the car, nearly crashing into the one in front of them. They whipped around and sitting right beside their son was his Stand, casual sitting there without a care in the world.
"This is the first time you're seeing me, isn't it? Well, why don't I introduce myself and then we can talk. Sound good?"
------
It took him a while to wake up, but once he did, Carbonara felt like absolute hell. His mouth felt dry, his body felt like one big bruise, and he felt like he had to vomit again.
He sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and saw that he was back in his house, lying on his living room couch.
'How...how did I get here? When did I get here?'
"You're awake."
He turned his head and there was Bruno at the bottom of the stairwell, where he had been waiting for him.
"Papa…? What-how? What is-?"
"You tell me, Carbo. I've heard it from Feel Good Inc, but I have a feeling you have something on your mind."
He took a seat in the opposite chair, placing a glass of water and a couple of pills.
"You...talked to theThey, they talked to us first. Quite the chatty one. Never met someone who talks quite as much as they do."
Carbonara nodded, "Yeah, sounds about right."
"Are you going to tell me or am I going to talk to Feel Good?"
Carbonara bit his lip, ultimately deciding that enough is enough. He sat up, turning to face his father and fighting back the urge to cry. "She had already used her Stand to manipulate the class. They chased me into the gym….she found me. She said...that she was going to kill me first and then go after you and Abba. I-I wasn't going to let that happen-I refused to let that happen. So...I fought her...I used Feel Good's ability to break them out of their trance and then I...I…"
Bruno grabbed his hands, squeezing them tightly. "You don't have to tell me the rest, Carbonara. I get it-"
"No, you don't," he said, "I...I just kept thinking about that night. About what she said. She was right. She was always right. I'm a monster. Just like she said I'd be-"
Bruno shook his head, cupping his face in his hands. "You are no monster, Carbonara. If you were a monster, you wouldn't be feeling this immense amount of guilt and pain. You are a kind soul and I know you didn't want to kill her, I know you didn't! I'm...I'm sorry, Carbonara. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have done more. I should have pushed harder. I should have gotten you help- I should have helped you. I'm...I'm sorry…."
"No...no, you shouldn't be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry. I….I lied to you for a year. I said I was fine and in all reality, I...I was trying to hide the fact that I was dying inside for an entire year because the words of that...woman were still in my head, convincing me that Feel Good-that I was a monster. That I would do nothing but hurt others...I thought I was protecting you both by doing this...instead, I just kept hurting you….I kept hurting you...I don't wanna keep hurting you…"
Bruno pulled Carbonara into his embrace, holding him tightly and pressing kisses to his forehead and cheek. "I know, amore. I know. I'm right here and I won't ever leave your side again…"
Carbonara nodded as he buried his head in his father's shoulder, once again sobbing.
He was going to get better.
For him, for his family and friends.
For his future.
The light in his eyes was back, and this time, he refused to lose it.
He wouldn't lose it.
Not again.
To Be Continued>>>>
Notes:
I don't really have a playlist for this chapter (so sorry.)
I'm gonna hold off on prompts for Carbonara's book that involve Dante until he is introduced and he has some development so we can avoid spoilers. So feel free to recommend some prompts for me to do!
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!
Chapter 8: So This Is War
Summary:
Gianetta finds out what happened to Carbonara and Laurenza gets a visit from an old friend just as another enemy rises.
Notes:
Hi! Holy fuck it has taken me a long while to update! I am so fucking sorry my dudes! Hope you enjoy another mediocre episode of Beautiful Soul!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Four days.
Gianetta and everyone else in both Giorno's group and La Squadra had gone without seeing or hearing about Carbonara.
Word about his attack had circled but everything after that was a mystery. Only Giorno knew and he refused to tell anyone, stating it wasn't his business and that they would see soon enough.
One thing was certain: Acerbo attacked two children of Passione, in short, meant he had declared war.
And whether they liked it or not, Gianetta and the rest of her team were going to fight in it.
That's all she could think about it on her way to school-and Fugo could tell by how loudly grounded teeth.
"Gia, Cara. You're grinding your teeth again."
Gianetta stopped, frowning. "What's wrong with Carbo?"
"I already told you, I don't know. Your father hasn't told me."
"I don't believe you."
Fugo sighed. "I'm telling the truth, Gia. Your father hasn't told me anything about him and even if he didn't, I wouldn't be allowed to tell you because you would end up going off on your own, doing God knows what-"
"Please, God stopped caring about what I did a long time ago."
Laurenza chuckled, but Fugo remained serious. "Gia, I am seriously beginning to worry about you. You shouldn't be involving yourself in these things. You're only twelve-years-old. You should be focusing on school."
"How do you expect me to focus on school when some asshole-"
"Language."
"My language isn't the issue here. The issue here is Acerbo and the fact that he thinks that he has the balls to attack the familia."
The car pulled up in of front Gianetta's school. She pressed a kiss to Fugo's cheek and hugged Laurenza tightly, getting out of the car without saying a word.
Laurenza and Fugo watched as she disappeared inside the school.
"Don't give me that look, Laura," Fugo said, looking back at his eldest daughter.
"You're a lot more of a worrier with her. She's not stupid, you know."
"I know she's not stupid. She's very intelligent. She's just...she's just too young."
Laurenza nodded, turning her head to the window.
' It's funny...you never get that worried over me. You don't think I'm too young to fight Stand Users. You don't think I'm too young to almost get killed.'
-----
Gianetta chewed on the little ladybug necklace given to her by Giorno. It wasn't better than grinding her teeth, but it was saving some of her teeth.
She just couldn't understand why her father was trying to keep secrets from her now, especially when it was so important.
Carbonara could be critically injured-he could be dead. And they were choosing to withhold valuable information from her.
That's all she could think of as she punched in her locker combination.
'Does papa think I'm untrustworthy? I wouldn't tell anyone. What is there to tell anyway? They haven't told me jack shit anyway. Why didn't they tell me? Why didn't he tell anyone for that matter? That's so unfair!'
"Ugh!" She shouted, throwing her hands up as she punched the locker-which she quickly came to regret since she used her actual fist instead of her Stand's. She hissed in pain. "Ow…"
"Do you need help?"
'That voice…'
Gianetta whipped around and once she caught a glimpse of those big shimmering blue eyes that she hadn't seen in an entire year, she jumped up and tackled him to the ground.
Carbonara wheezed. "G-Giagia!"
"You're okay!" She exclaimed, tears flooding from her eyes.
"Y-yeah! I am. So sorry for the secrecy, I just wanted you to be surprised when I showed up…."
There was a long moment of silence where Gianetta just clung to him, her face buried in his chest.
"GiaGia…?"
She pulled away. "I know I probably shouldn't be...but I'm mad at you."
"You are?"
"I'm not mad mad, I'm...I thought you were dead. You and Padrino-even my dad hid your status from me. I didn't know what happened to you. For all I knew, you could have been 6 feet under and my dad was secretly planning your funeral. And you guys thought it would be funny to just surprise me because it would make me happy or something? That's...That's not how this works."
Carbonara nodded, sighing. He bent down a little, resting his hand on her shoulder. "That...that was only part of the reason. And I know you don't like people keeping secrets from you, so I'm telling you like it is. I killed someone four days ago."
Her emerald eyes widened. "You did…?"
"She was the Stand user that attacked me. I didn't mean to kill her, and I know I've seen people get killed a ton of times, but..it messed me up. And then, when I came home and saw my eyes--I dunno. I just...I needed a little while."
It was a hard thing to come to terms with. Carbonara did have to face the fact that he couldn't do this alone. He couldn't keep bottling up his emotions and just hope they would go away. The truth was he had serious issues that he had to work through and he couldn't do that all alone.
He needed help and being here, accepting that he had to use his Stand whether he liked it or not, it was what he believed would make him better.
Gianetta pressed her forehead against his chin. "I'm sorry for getting so pissy about-"
"No. Don't apologize. I understand. And I'm sorry for not telling you. I didn't want you to see me crying for four days straight."
"I don't care if you're covered in snot, I care if you’re okay."
Carbonara smiled. "Thanks, Gia."
"Thank me later when I save you from the wrath of the twins-"
"Too late!" Someone exclaimed.
The two looked up and the ceiling opened to reveal Luciano and Alcee, falling on top of Carbonara, squeezing the life out of him.
"CARBO!" Alcee exclaimed, kicking her feet happily.
"So good to see you!" Luciano added.
"Ack! We saw each other a few days ago! Remember?"
"And remember you almost died?"
"Right. That."
Gianetta shook her head. "Alcee. Luciano. Off."
The twins shared a groan as they jumped off of him.
"Hey, what are your classes? Do you need our help showing you around?" Gianetta asked.
"Uh, I might. I feel really uncomfortable here…"
"No problem!"
"We can help you, Carbo!"
"T-thanks guys...c-could you also help me find my locker?"
"Of course, Carbo."
Alcee quickly dashed towards him, stealing the slip of paper that had his locker number and combination, running past them, the others following shortly after her.
Carbonara couldn't help but smile to himself. 'Guess this is my life now...I would say goodbye to normal-but let's face it. Life for me-for us-it was never normal. This week alone has been the most bizarre week of my life.'
"Hey, are you coming or not?" Gianetta called.
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm coming!"
'Maybe...maybe things will be better.'
--------
"....Laura? Hey! Laura!"
Laurenza looked up from her phone, Cassata Mista and her long curly pigtails towering over her.
"O-oh, hey Cass." She replied, scrolling through her messages.
"What's up? You're not usually this quiet...something on your mind?" She asked, sitting beside her blonde friend.
Laurenza sighed. "Just...stupid sibling stuff. It's nothing. I'll get over it."
Cassata shrugged, taking a swig of her poweraid. "Suit yourself. Hey, did ya hear? Carbo's okay!"
"Really?"
"Mmm-hmm! He made a full recovery a few days ago! I don't know where he's at right now, but he's much better now!"
Laurenza sighed in relief. 'Thank god…'
"Oh-"
"What?"
"I just remembered I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Confidentially and stuff, you know?"
Laurenza chuckled, shaking her head. Cassata was brighter than her father, that much was true, she was just unbelievably forgetful.
“Laurenza!”
Laurenza raised her head and saw Annamaria walking over to her in a bit of a panic.
“Oh, hey Anna! Is everything okay?”
"Is there any news on Carbonara?" She asked with a sense of urgency.
"Yeah. I actually just got word that he is doing much better." She replied, eyeing Cassata.
Anna sighed in relief, her hands instinctively going to scratch her arms. "G-good...that's good."
"Hey hey hey! Relax!" Cassata said, standing up, "my dad says he's perfectly fine! So you don't have to get all bent out of shape."
Anna pulled her hands away from her arms, which by the looks of it were already raw from constant scratching. "You're right. You're absolutely right! I'm...I'm making a fool of myself."
"No, no! We're just saying that...you should try and relax. You've been so tense lately and we're just really worried about you."
"Yeah, you're, like, really unedged. More than usual." Cassata added.
Anna crossed her arms. "It's my parents. Ever since my "little stunt" a few months ago, they don't trust me anymore. They don't trust me going out, they don't trust me doing my homework alone in my room-I'm hardly even their daughter anymore. Now I'm just some...novice that fucked up the one simple job."
"Anna, Anna, Anna. You have to stop beating yourself up over this. Yeah, it wasn't the best way to go about this, but it was your decision. You are mature enough to make your own decisions on what you want to do, whether your parents liked it or not."
Anna was still unconvinced, and frankly, Laurenza couldn't believe her own bullshit. She was being a hypocrite. She was lying to one of her best friends just because she didn't have to be the one to kick her when she was already down.
Thankfully, Cassata managed to bring up the mood. "Yeah! And I think you got a pretty wicked stand if you ask me!'
"Really? You think that ‘this’ is cool?” She questioned, pointing to the porcelain mask hanging off of her pastel dress.
“Yeah! You can take the face of any person you want!” Cassata gasped, “You could make yourself look like Jennifer Lawerance! Ooh! Or Scarlet Johanson!”
“Yeah! And you could walk the red carpet, go to the MET gala-the possibilities are endless!”
“Not if the actress has any other hair color other than blonde…” Anna mumbled.
"....oh."
"Right…that."
The unease began to set in again, and there was really nothing either of them could really do. Annamaria was a girl whose mind was not easily changed. She was a girl that had a million insecurities and carried them all on her back, all while trying to be the stone cold, put together people that her parents were.
"Laura! Cassata! What do you think you're doing to my capo?"
Anna sighed, a smile finally appearing on her face. "Oh no…"
Bianca strutted over, a hand on her hip with a suspicious stare in her icey eyes.
"We didn't do anything, Bianca. Actually...Anna was just talking about your swanky new program and how great it is."
A little blush dusted across Bianca and Anna's cheeks. "R-really? Capo, did you really say that or a-are they just screwing with me?"
Anna glanced over at Laurenza, who just winked at her and gave her a small nudge. "O-of course I did. You already know how much I adore your talents…"
Bianca grinned widely. "T-thank you capo! B-but that's not what I'm here for. I'm actually for you, Laurenza."
"Me? Why me?"
"Your boyfriend's here."
Laurenza's face burned a bright red. 'No way. She's just lying because we embarrassed her and Anna!'
"He's waiting in the main hall. He would like to see you."
Laurenza stood. "You have got to be shitting me."
"Go see for yourself if you don't believe me."
"Fine. I will."
She straightened her back, walking away as the others snickered behind her. She tried telling herself that this was just some joke that Bianca made just because she embarrassed her in front Anna.
But then why was her heart beating so fast?
They weren't even dating! He didn't even like her! So why was she being so stupid?!
"Laurenza."
She stopped, her heart beating out her chest. She was too afraid or maybe too flustered to look him in the eyes.
This boy, with beautiful scarlet eyes and a beautiful head of ginger hair, who she refused to look at, was the very skilled Marcelino Nario.
She had known Marcelino for about two years. She met him when they were both 13. He was a runaway and she was walking home from school when she found him running away from an angry shopkeeper that was chasing after him for stealing a giant bag of bread. Using her street cred as the boss' daughter to get him out of going to jail and the next thing she knew, she was bringing him home and he easily became one of the best assassins of Passione.
Now, he was here-a full fledged assassin-at a public high school, looking for her for some reason.
"Hey, Laura. You in there?" He asked, lightly knocking on her forehead.
She quickly swatted his hand away. "What are you doing here?"
"What? Can't I see the beautiful Miss Laurenza while she's at school?"
"No, because then you would be a stalker. What do you want?"
Marcelino sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. "Your dad wanted me to come and watch over you and the others while you're at school."
"S-seriously? For how long?"
Marcelino shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe until Acerbo stops trying to hunt you and your sister?"
Laurenza frowned. "Don't even joke about that."
"Right, right. Sorry. How is she anyways?"
Laurenza crossed her arms. "She's doing better. She's up and walking but I'm not so sure she's ready to be out in the field yet."
"Oh, that's right. She has a Stand now."
"She's always had one. It's in our blood. Whether we like it or not, Joestars will eventually obtain a Stand. Me, Gia, our future children-they will always have the Joestar blood running through their veins…" she stopped, her face turning red, "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get all weird on you!"
"No, It's okay. I don't mind." He replied.
"There's just a lot on my mind right now. I can't really seem to focus my mind all that well."
"I understand. Your sister is going through some things right now, and so are you. But you're not alone, y'know? I'm always here when you need me...just like you were for me."
Laurenza smiled sweetly, holding his hand and giving it a tight squeeze. "Thank you, Marcelino."
"Of course, Bella. Your break is almost over, so we should head out."
Laurenza nodded in agreement, leading him upstairs to her next class.
But she could shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
-------
Gianetta had this strange feeling of impending doom looming over her. Maybe she was becoming as paranoid as her dads. Maybe her senses were beginning to betray her. She had been feeling so uneasy she decided to call Giorno and see if everyone was okay.
She sat in a shaded corner in the playground and called him.
"Gia? Is something wrong?" Her father asked, an edge to his voice.
"No-I mean, I don't think so. Are you and papa okay?"
"We're fine, Gia."
"What about Laura? Is she safe?"
"She's fine as well. I just sent Marcelino to look after her. He'll be picking you up from school for the next week as well."
Gianetta pouted. "Marcelino…"
"I know you don't like him, but Laurenza trusts him. And so do I."
"You paused for a second."
"I said I trusted him, I never said I liked him either."
Gianetta chuckled, hugging her knees. "Knew it."
"So, why the sudden call? Is someone at school bothering you?"
"No I just...had a feeling I should call you. Just to be sure you were all okay."
"Is that it?"
Gianetta leaned forward. "Do you...do you not want me to be the next boss? In all honesty-no bullshit-do you want me to be your successor?"
"....not now, no."
"What makes you think I want it now?"
"You've nearly landed yourself in the hospital twice already."
"The first time was an accident and you would have done the same the second time."
"Exactly my point. You try to do what you think I might want or what I might do, and then you rush into fights that you don't even know if you can win. And you've only had a Stand for a week? Maybe two?"
"What can I say? I'm my father's daughter."
"Gia-"
"I know dad," She said, standing up, "I want to promise you that I won't go after Acerbo anymore. I want to promise you that I'll be a good little girl and just live out my days as a normal school girl, but I can't. Even though most people on the streets know me as Gianetta Giovanna-here, at this school, in this neighborhood away from home-I have to be Gianetta Shiobana because of threats like Acerbo and his lackies. And I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want you to keep worrying about me dying anymore. But...if you want me to take steps back….I'll try."
Giorno was quiet for what felt like forever and soon, Gianetta was beginning to regret everything she had just said.
'C'mon dad. I can't read minds. I can only hear distant voices.'
"Okay."
"What?"
"I realize I can't stop you from whatever you try to do. No amount of grounding and security will keep you away from Acerbo and his gang. But, please, if you really don't want to give your father and I heart attacks, don't go after him. That's all I want. Let me handle him. If something like the attack Constantia made on your school happens again-"
"You'll let me fight?"
"If there's no other option, yes."
A smile crossed Gianetta's face. "...thank you, Papa."
"You're welcome, Gia. Now get to class. Break is almost over."
Gianetta nodded. "Ciao, papa."
"Ciao, cara."
Gianetta hung up, sliding her phone into her pocket, keeping it there for when she could text her fathers and sister what she found interesting in class that day. The bell rang and students began lining up to head to class. But, that feeling of impending doom never left her. In fact, it had gotten much worse. A splitting headache overtook her and she fell to her knees.
"L-Laurenza….Laurenza Giovanna. Let's see how well you can protect your sister when you're 6 feet under…"
'No….Laura. I….I have to warn her!'
She reached into her pocket, attempting to pull out her phone and call Laurenza, but the headmistress quickly grabbed her wrist. "Come on, Gianetta. I don't want to have to take your phone away."
"W-wait! M-my s-sister! She needs me!" She exclaimed, trying to wiggle free.
The headmistress sighed. "Gianetta, I'm sure your sister is fine. Now come on!"
Gianetta groaned, shutting her eyes tightly and began to concentrate.
'Come on! Work Damnit! I need to reach Laura!'
----------
"LAURA!"
Laurenza nearly fell out of her seat when she heard her sister's cries.
But how?
She was nowhere near her or the school. She lowered her head, catching the attention of Marcelino who was sitting right beside her.
"Gia?" She whispered to herself.
"Laura! Can you hear me?"
'Is she trying to talk to me through her Stand? No. There's no way. She's too far away.'
"Laura, you have to get out of there! Someone is going to hurt you and everyone else there as well!"
"Wait, Gia, are you serious?"
"If I wasn't serious, would I be somehow telepathically communicating with you?!"
"She has a point…"
She felt Marcelino tap her arm. "What's going on?"
"I think something's up. We have to go and get as far away from the city as possible."
Marcelino nodded, taking her hand and pulling her out of the classroom without a second thought. They jogged to Marcelino's motorcycle and rode off at high speed. It wasn't the smartest idea since a, they were basing this on the fact that Gianetta just told them something was wrong without explanation, and b, if something was wrong, they could be completely vulnerable to an attack from the enemy.
"Where are we going!?" Laurenza shouted as they sped through the city streets.
"To get your sister and then get you two to a safe house somewhere! If what you say is true, then we could be in some serious shit."
Before Laurenza could speak, the ground began to tremble. She grabbed onto his jacket for dear life as the earth shook violently beneath them.
"Of course there's a fucking earthquake!" Marcelino groaned.
Laurenza turned her head, her eyes becoming as wide as saucers. The ground behind them began to crack and rise up, and it was trailing right behind them.
"This is no normal earthquake-MARCELINO! STOP!"
"What-?"
Before he could do anything, they were ejected from the motorcycle and flew through the air. Laurenza quickly summoned Little Busters and blew them into the air to save them from the fall. They floated to the ground in the middle of the street where people were running out of their cars.
Another tremor came and the ground in front of them erupted. A young man with messy brown hair and rags for clothes jumped out of the hole, his grey and brown stand beside him.
"Get behind me!" He commanded, but Laurenza shoved him to the side.
"Hell no! We're in this shit together, damnit!" She exclaimed.
The boy laughed. "My, aren't you two the cutest couple. Oh, it'll be just like Romeo and Juliet! Except--this time you'll die much quicker."
"Some bold words from a man whose pants are made from potato sacks." Marcelino replied.
He smirked. "Trust me. Those words come from knowledge. I know you both very well--Marcelino Nario and Laurenza Giovanna--I know you very well. And with this knowledge, I will use it to drive you both into the ground and then I will kill that little pest Gianetta and those bastards Giorno and Panna Cotta Giovanna."
Laurenza's blood began to boil as a devilish smirk crossed his face. 'This sick fuck! If he thinks he's going to lay a finger on my dads or my baby sister, he's got another thing coming!'
Laurenza brought out Little Busters and charged him.
"Laura, WAIT-"
"How stupid of you…"
In the blink of an eye, the ground erupted and launched Laurenza into the air, her nose bleeding.
"LAURA!"
To Be Continued>>>
Notes:
Now it is time for the customary playlist-this time with Marcelino!
Rose Colored Boy: Paramore
House of the rising sun: The Animals
Daddy Issues: The Neighborhood
Sunflower: Post Melone
8teen: Khalid
Riptide: Vance Joy
Beautiful Morning With You: The Pillows
Afraid: The Neighborhood
Chapter 9: Her Little Mouse
Summary:
Laurenza and Marcelino fight Gattuccio. Anna has a moment with her father, Risotto.
Notes:
Yo! It has been a hot minute since I updated! WARNING: Blood, violence, death, and some heavily implied self harm.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Laurenza never understood why her baby sister couldn't talk to her. Or anyone for that matter. She would always hear her parents try to teach her how to talk, but everytime they tried, she would throw a fit and start crying because she just couldn't talk. It upset them all because Gianetta needed so many things but without words, she just couldn't get her point across.
Fugo took it the hardest.
She would always catch him crying-not because there was anything wrong with Gianetta, but he couldn't be there in the way that Gianetta needed. He wasn't used to having to guess what people needed. He and Giorno were always direct, straight to the point-and so was Laurenza. He wasn't used to having to figure out why Gianetta was crying without telling him.
He wasn't used to staying in the dark for so long. Even Giorno was starting to question himself.
So, one afternoon after Gianetta woke up from her nap, she tried teaching her words the way their former speech therapist taught her. She would play with Gianetta and then stop, and if Gianetta wanted to continue playing, she would have to say 'play.'
It was not going well.
"Come on, Gia. Say it! Say 'play!'" Laurenza said as Gianetta tried grabbing the little princess doll from her older sister's hands.
She was having none of it and was once again beginning to cry. Laurenza sighed, finally releasing the doll before she got in trouble. "
Gianetta calmed down, taking the doll and started waving her around as if she were flying.
"So much for that idea…Gia, do you want to play fairies?"
Gianetta's eyes lit up and she jumped for joy. Laurenza chuckled as she made her way to the toy box and pulled out two sets of fairy wings-one green and one blue. She slipped hers on and helped Gianetta into hers. She giggled.
"Alright Gia. You ready?" Laurenza asked.
Gianetta squealed happily.
That must have been a yes.
"Okay!"
Laurenza grabbed her sister and began throwing her up and down, spinning her around and around. "Look! You're flying!'
Gianetta laughed, flapping her arms around.
Laurenza smiled. 'Glad you're having fun.'
"Alright Gia, I'm gonna throw you really high now! Are you ready?"
Gianetta nodded.
"Okay! Here...we….go!"
Laurenza swung her as high as she could, a sudden gust of wind erupting from the palms of her hands, nearly knocking Gianetta into the ceiling.
Her eyes widened in surprise as she stared up at her little sister.
She was flying! She was really flying!
'Is this me? Am I doing this?'
Gianetta didn't really notice that anything was wrong in the first place. She was flying, and that's all that mattered.
But Laurenza was a bit scared. How long would this last? What if it just stopped and Gianetta ended up falling?
She needed her dads. Now.
"PAPA! DAD! I NEED HELP!"
Giorno and Fugo came running up the stairs and were in absolute shock.
"Gods, Giorno. She-"
"I...I can't believe it. She…"
"W-what do I do?"
"Just hold on, Laurenza. We can figure something out-"
"Laura!"
They all looked in the direction of Gianetta, who was grinning widely. "Laura! Laura! Laura!"
"You're...You're saying my name…"
'That was the happiest memory I have of her. I didn't care about the weird powers that were suddenly bestowed upon me. I just cared that she was happy and that I was the one making her happy. It was only later when I learned the truth and ramifications of my ability….still, I didn't care. I wasn't going to join the gang and become the next boss. I only wanted to use my powers to protect everyone that I ever cared about...my parents, my friends-even Gia! I don't give a damn if it's just empty threats-Anyone who dares to harm my sister will meet their end!'
" LITTLE BUSTERS!"
Before Laurenza could hit the building behind her, Little Busters propelled her upwards, sending her flying.
"LAURA!" Marcelino shouted.
"Marcelino! Get away from him as far as possible until we can come up with a plan!" She shouted back.
Marcelino nodded, using Rose Colored Boy to jump onto a building and climb his way to the roof.
"DISCORD! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!" The scraggly teen shouted. Discord materialized beside him, hitting the ground and caused another earthquake. The buildings began to shake and topple over.
"Laura! If you were gonna come up with a plan--now would be a really good time!" Marcelino shouted, losing his footing.
"I'm thinking!" Laurenza shouted back,"And aren't you the one who's supposed to be protecting me?"
"I'm still trying to figure this guy out!"
"Sure you are."
Marcelino drew his duel daggers, Rose Colored Boy appearing beside him. "I'll keep him busy! Try and see if you can find his weak point!"
"Be careful!"
Marcelino nodded. He ran and jumped down. The tattered boy took the opportunity to bend the ground upwards to try and trap him, but Rose Colored Boy was quick to break them out. He lunged forward, grabbing a hold on the boy's messy collar.
"You got a name, asshole?" He hissed, headbutting him to the ground.
He jumped back on his feet. He grinned. "Gattuccio. At your service."
"That's a fitting name for an ugly dog like you."
"Ooh! A feisty one I see! Could it be because I'm trying to kill your girlfriend? Or is it because I'm destroying the very two you grew up in?"
Marcelino didn't respond. He threw one of his daggers at him but Gattuccio pulled some of the earth up to deflect it.
"I don't see why you're holding back so much. I already know how your Stands work. The only reason you could be holding back is because...you're trying to figure me out."
Marcelino bit the inside of his cheek.
Discord stomped his foot, causing another major earthquake. "Well it's too late for that! You and Giovanna will be dead before you even get the chance!"
He charged at Marcelino, the ground erupting with each step he took. He punched Marcelino with so much force he flew into the building behind him. He dug himself out of the wall and launched himself forward, landing a couple hits to his chest.
Another stomp from Discord made the ground curl up and transform into spikes and try to stab him.
Laurenza watched in horror from above as Marcelino fought Gattuccio down in the city streets.
'Damnit! Marcelino's down there doing all the work for me while I'm up here doing nothing! Come on, Laura! Think!'
Her eyes went all over the place, trying to find Gattuccio's weak point-anything that could stop him.
And that's when she noticed it.
She didn't realize it at first but now that she was looking closer…
'That's it!'
"MARCELINO! USE ROSE COLORED BOY'S ROSES!"
"WHAT? WHY?"
"JUST DO IT!"
Marcelino complied. Rose Colored Boy reached for the roses that were growing on its back.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!"
Gattuccio rushed him, using Discord to pin him to the wall. He punched him in the stomach, blood exploding from his mouth.
'Laurenza knows something. And he's figured out what she's trying to do. What am I missing here?'
"SONG OF THE WIND!"
Marcelino and Gattuccio were thrown into the air by Little Busters. Marcelino broke free from Discord's grasp and tore off one of the rose's from his Stand's back. He covered his nose and mouth with his arm and shut his eyes tightly as he used his free hand to throw the rose down onto the ground. A cloud of red smoke exploded, covering the entire city block with the help of Laurenza's Little Busters.
Gattuccio tried to cover his mouth but it was already too late. His nose was clogged, his vision was red and distorted, and his mouth became as dry as sandpaper.
"Fuck!" He hissed.
"This must be so hard for you," Marcelino's voice came out as a distorted echo, "My Rose Colored Boy's rose bombs have quite the effect on those in its vicinity. I can't even hear out of my right ear. But you...you have the full package."
Gattuccio whipped around frantically. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"
A strong smack to the back of his head led him to the answer. Marcelino grabbed him by the shirt collar and held him in the air.
"Where is he?"
"W-what?"
"Where the hell is Acerbo hiding?!"
Gattuccio scoffed. "Like I'd ever tell you! I can't wait to see you all crash and burn!"
Marcelino punched him in the stomach, then threw him up in the air for Laurenza to deal with.
'Be careful with him Baby.'
Gattuccio was caught by the wind current made by Little Busters and brought up right to Laurenza's face. She snarled at him.
"So...y-you found out my Stand's weakness. And much quicker than I thought." He wheezed.
"It was actually quite easy. I was just panicking too much. Most humanoid Stands usually levitate, but yours-their feet never left the ground. No matter what it did or where it moved, it never left the ground for a second," She explained, "your Stand gains its power from the earth. Just like Anateus from the Heracles myths. When it doesn't touch the ground, it's practically useless. And now that it's useless, I can finally question you."
"Your boyfriend already tried-"
"WELL I'M NOT HIM!" She snapped, literally sucking the air out of his lungs. He gasped, his face going pale, "I am Laurenza Giovanna, and I will not allow you, or Constantia, or that bastard Acerbo anywhere near my little sister!"
She pulled all of the air out of his lungs. She watched as he writhed in pain for a few seconds before dropping him into the street.
He was dead.
The ground returned to normal-or at least, it was no longer under Discord's control and most of it fell back to the earth.
"Useless...absolutely useless…"
Laurenza floated down, creating a vacuum to collect the red smoke from Rose Colored Boy's attack and sent it out of the city.
"Did he give you any information on Acerbo?" Marcelino asked.
"I...didn't give him a chance."
He didn't question her any further. He simply nodded and walked over to his motorcycle. "Let's go get Gia."
"What about the town?"
"No time. There could already be other Stand users there to attack her and her friends. We have to go now."
Laurenza huffed. "Fine. But we're coming back to help with damages."
"Whatever you say, Laura. Let's go."
She hurried to the motorcycle, muttering a little prayer to herself before climbing on and riding to Gianetta's school.
-----------
Gianetta sprinted down the hill from her school with Carlino and the others in tow the minute the school bell rang. Granted, she had no idea where she was going or what she was going to do once she got there, but she knew she was going to kick someone's ass for trying to hurt her sister.
She had never run so much in her entire life, and it was beginning to show. Her lungs were burning and her legs were achy as all hell, but that didn't matter.
'I need to find her! I need to find Laurenza before-'
A familiar black car screeched to a halt in front of the crosswalk. Fugo and Giorno came running out. Fugo caught Gianetta in his arms, hugging her tightly.
"Where's Laura?" Gianetta demanded, fighting back the urge to cry.
"She's with Marcelino-"
"Well, where are they?"
"We don't know yet."
"Then let me go and find her!"
Giorno grabbed Gianetta by the shoulders. "Gia, calm down-"
"Don't tell me to calm down! I need to know what happened to my sister!"
"Gia, look!" Carlino shouted.
Gianetta whipped her head around and heard the roar of a motorcycle. A familiar navy blue bike pulled up beside them, one of the passenger's sporting a very familiar big, blonde braid.
Gianetta dashed towards the motorcycle. Laurenza threw off her helmet and hopped off the bike, opening her arms. Gianetta jumped into her embrace, letting all of the tears that she was holding back fall.
"You're okay!" Gianetta exclaimed.
"And you're okay...you're alive." Laurenza breathed.
The sisters hugged for a long time. Both of them refused to let go-they refused to let each other fall into the evil that was hunting them.
This was serious.
Acerbo was declaring war and there was no way Gianetta was going to sit idly by while the others went to fight it.
Marcelino stepped off the bike and limped over to the Giovannas, bowing and pressing a kiss to Giorno's ring.
"You don't have to do that, Nario."
"Sorry sir. But after that disaster, I feel obligated to-"
"Just tell us what happened." Fugo snapped.
"His name was Gattuccio. His Stand was named Discord. It could control the earth and was actually quite strong. But it could only keep its strength when it was touching the earth. We tried questioning him, but he refused to give us any information on Acerbo."
Giorno sighed solemnly. 'Damnit...I thought this would be it…'
"I'm sorry, sir. I should have done better…"
The older man shook his head. "I only care that you and my daughters are safe. We can deal with this matter later. Let's get you all home."
He and Fugo walked past Marcelino and towards the two girls. They were both crying.
The two men gently wrapped their arms around them and they all just stood there, almost like they were frozen in their positions.
They stayed like that for at least twenty minutes.
---------
"I'm pissed, Anna! I'm fucking pissed!"
"Bianca, please. Calm down. It wasn't your fault-"
"IT WAS ENTIRELY MY FAULT!" Bianca's voice reverberated around the room. She wasn't even on speaker phone.
That's how angry she was.
"I should have gone to my papa. I should have triple checked my system-Now Acerbo, he could be listening to us right now-"
"Bianca, enough!" Anna shouted, "Even you couldn't have expected Acerbo to get into our group call. You made a mistake. It happens. Big or small, we all make mistakes and we learn from them. If we don't learn from them, they can never grow."
Bianca sniffled. "That's so cliché, Capo."
A smile crept across Anna's face. "It's true. And the things I said about your program, they were true as well."
"...I wouldn't call you a liar, Capo."
"I never lie. Especially not to you."
'I'd never lie to you. Even if my life depended on it.'
Her bedroom door opened and from the corner of her eye, she could make out the tall, dark figure peaking its head around her door.
"I have to go. I'll call you later tonight."
"O-oh, okay! Goodbye Capo~!"
"Goodbye Bianca."
Anna hung up and threw her phone on the far side of the bed. She turned around, her fingers scrunching up with the urge to scratch her arms and neck. She quickly relaxed once she realized that it was only Risotto waiting for her.
"You didn't have to stop on my account. I only came to see that you were doing well…" He said, shutting the door behind him.
"I have things to do. I can talk to her later, " She dragged her fingers along the bedsheets, "How's Laurenza and Gianetta?"
Risotto sat himself beside Anna. "They're both doing well. They're both at home. Safe."
Anna breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I'm glad they're okay."
Risotto wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. He used his free hand to examine her arm, which was covered in fresh scratches.
"When did this happen?" He asked, rotating her wrist, "are these from that night?"
Anna shook her head. "These are from this morning. I...had an issue with a few girls from my class. That's it. It's no big deal."
But it is, he wanted to say, but he caught himself before he could.
He wanted to help his daughter. He desperately wanted to get Anna help. He wanted to be the one his daughter confided in, but ever since the incident with the Stand arrow, a rift had formed between the three of them which kept becoming wider thanks to Prosciutto and his horrible way of handling the situation.
He knew if he brought it up, Anna would become defensive and a screaming match would ensue that would most likely end with a bad scratching episode.
And he didn't want his daughter to be in any more pain than she already was.
He gently rubbed up and down her arms, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Would you like me to use Metallica to close them?"
Anna shook her head. "No. I don't want to give them any more reason to bother me…"
"Would you like me to take care of them for you?"
Anna chuckled. "No. I know what your version of 'take care of things' really means," she leaned into his embrace, "...papa...can...can…"
Risotto brushed her hair out of her face. "Yes Anna?"
"Can you...stay here for a while…? I...I need to relax for a bit before I start working again. Unless, you have something to do."
Risotto shook his head. "I have all the time in the world my dear."
Anna nuzzled into his chest. "Thank you…"
Risotto pulled Anna close to him, hugging her tightly as they sat in silence.
'This won't last.'
'Shut up.'
'Tomorrow will come and it will all be the same as it was this morning and there's nothing you can do about it!'
"I said stop it!" Anna blurted out.
Risotto pulled away. "Is something the matter?"
"N-no. No. It's nothing. I was just...too involved in my thoughts. You can stay."
Risotto nodded. He pulled her back and gently stroked her hair.
She closed her eyes. "Papa…?"
"Yes Anna?"
"I...I love you."
Risotto grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "I love you too, Anna. I love you too…"
'He doesn't.'
"I thought I told you to shut up."
Notes:
Thank you again for reading this dumpster fire of a fic! I wanted to take the time to tell you about the Q and A I'm thinking of doing! That's right! After I post chapter 10, I'm going to be doing a q and a for anyone who is interested. You can leave them in the comments or on my Tumblr @bri-writes-alot517! That is where I am most active so if you have Tumblr send them there if not, you can leave them here.
Otherwise, stay safe and thanks for reading!
Chapter 10: You're Gonna Go Far, Kid part 1 (Q and A!)
Summary:
Gianetta and Giorno have some intrusive thoughts and Cassata and Constantia face off.
Notes:
Hello! I am so so so so sorry for the long wait! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I tried to do my best and make it good for you.
Also this a Q and A! You can as anything you want (as long as it is not too spoilery) down in the comments or at my Tumblr @bri-writes-alot517!
WARNINGS: Violence, morbid discussions of death and dying, and swearing.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Hey, Gia. You wanna go outside and train a little?"
Gianetta didn't raise her head. Her mind was filled with so many anxieties and truths filling her head. Laurenza almost died. She could have died and it could have been because Gianetta stuck her nose into business that wasn't hers. It was her fault.
Her fault, her fault, her fault-
A tap on her shoulder brought her back to reality. Her sister was staring down at her, concerned. "Hey. What's up? Are you okay?"
"It's all my fault."
Laurenza frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"This whole thing is my fault. If I hadn't gotten involved with Acerbo, you wouldn't have had to fight against that Gattuccio guy. You would have been safe, and you wouldn't need to-"
Laurenza pulled Gianetta by her arms and pulled her into a tight hug, squeezing her so hard she could feel her eyes popping out of her head. "A-ah! Laura! W-what the hell!?"
Laura broke away from the hug. "I don't want you thinking that this was entirely your fault. You and I both know that this was a risk. We're the daughters of a mob boss. We were targets upon conception. Whether it was because you got involved with Acerbo or not, it would have happened. You can not blame yourself for this. And I'm fine!"
"Because you're more experienced than I am…" She mumbled.
"How about this? In...maybe 10 minutes-if you're up for it-we can go outside and train for a while so that way you don't feel bad."
Gianetta played with the idea for a bit. She hummed. "Okay. Let's go."
"Great! Glad you're not dwelling on the negative!"
"No, I still am. I'm just going to try and fight it out. If I can't, I'll do what most people do and eat my feelings."
Laurenza shook her head. "Whatever keeps you happy, Mouse."
The girls ran past Giorno's office, quickly mentioning that they were going outside to train. But he didn't notice. He was sitting at his desk, just staring at the file of Acerbo that he had buried at the bottom of his drawer when he thought it was nothing. His hands were shaking.
How could he be so stupid? How could he have just put this to the side like it was nothing? His daughters were in danger because of his negligence. He was an idiot.
'I can't believe I did this to them. To Fugo, to Buccellati and his family, to my girls. How could I be so selfish? How could I bring these girls into this horrible situation? How could I bring them into this world knowing that one day they could potentially be taken away from me? How could I be so selfish?! How could-'
"GIO!"
Fugo's voice sliced through his thoughts. He looked up in surprise. The other blonde stared at him for a moment, confused. His husband never got this deep in his thoughts. He carefully walked over to the mafioso, eyeing him.
"Panni, I didn't notice that you were here," Giorno said, quickly composing himself.
"What are-I've been calling you for the past two minutes. Are you okay?" He questioned.
He nodded, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm fine. I just...I lost myself for a bit."
Fugo cupped his cheek. "You look pale."
"I'm cold."
"It's spring."
"Maybe I've been experiencing cold spots that you don't know about."
Fugo frowned. "You're lying to me."
"I swear I'm fine. I'm just tired."
"If you're doing this to keep me from worrying about you, you're doing a bad job."
Giorno chuckled, pecking a kiss to the corner of his lover's mouth. "I was a little shaken up when Laurenza was chased today. I will admit that. Not that I didn't expect it to happen at some point...but it did get to me."
He traced the scars on Fugo's cheeks on the corners of his mouth. "Your scars are irritated again."
"I know. You're not the only one who's been stressing over our daughters."
Giorno nodded, pressing their foreheads together.
"...Do you trust them, Gio?"
"Hm?"
"The girls. Do you trust them so much that you'll let them do all of this?"
Giorno closed his eyes, caressing Fugo's cheek as he came up with an answer. "...Trust them? Not with this, no. I believe that they're both capable of protecting themselves, but...they're not ready to be out in the field, voluntarily fighting. Not yet."
"Not yet-Are you even hearing yourself right now? They shouldn't even have to be entertaining the idea of going out to fight strangers who could potentially kill them!"
"That's not what I meant."
"That's what you were implying."
"I'm just saying if our girls do-and I'm not saying they will-but if they do, I can't necessarily stop them-"
"Yes, you can. You just choose not to because you don't want to hurt Gianetta's feelings because she's your favorite-"
Giorno moved away, "I understand that you're concerned about our girls, but don't ever assume that I don't love my Laura as much as I love Gia. They are both my children and I care about them both equally."
"It doesn't seem like it."
"Panna Cotta-"
"Are you guys fighting?"
The two men turned in the direction of the door. Gianet ta was leaning against the doorway, but for how long? They were both frozen in place.
"G-Gia! What are you doing up here? I thought you were training with your sister outside." Fugo said.
"I forgot to bring my phone down with me. Are you two fighting again?” Gianetta asked, almost unamused-as if it were a normal thing.
Giorno shook his head, “No, topolina. We’re not arguing.”
“Are you sure? You both sounded upset-”
“We’re fine, Gia. We’re fine. You can go back with your sister and continue training.” Fugo said.
Gianetta gave him an odd look-most likely because he was more vocal about his distaste for the path that Gianetta was going down-but she quickly changed the subject, “‘Okay? I also came in here to ask if I can go out with my friends tomorrow to see Leslie.”
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea, Gia. Especially now,” Giorno said.
“It’s not that far. And I doubt there will be any enemies waiting outside of-”
“Gianetta, the answer is no. Not right now.”
Gianetta was taken aback. “But...Leslie’s my friend. She hasn’t been to school in days and I want to make sure she’s okay.”
“I understand that. But the answer is still no.”
Gianetta opened her mouth to argue, but she stopped herself before any words left her mouth. She sighed, turning around and walking out, defeated.
Giorno turned back to look at Fugo, “I didn’t want to do that...but you are right.”
Fugo’s face softened. He ambled over to him, gently wrapping his arms around his husband, “I know you still want to give them a normal life...but this life that we chose-the life you chose doesn’t fit with normal. I may seem harsh...but it’s true.”
Giorno held him tightly. “I know...I know.”
‘Never in my life have I felt so selfish for bringing my children into this world...how could I do this to them? How could I bring them into this world? This horrible, wretched world. Why did I do this to them?’
The room started spinning. His body began to tremble again as the events of his fight with Diavolo flashed before his eyes.
“Giorno, you’re shaking, what’s-”
Before he could finish, Giorno collapsed. He fell out of Fugo’s embrace and onto the floor, his eyes closed. Fugo’s heart lept into his throat and he fell to the ground beside him, trying to shake him awake. “Gio?! GIO! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!”
‘Please, please wake up!’
The girls had spent about two hours in their backyard training and Gianetta had not won a single match against her older sister. She would have liked to think it was by choice-that just maybe she was doing it because she knew how much Laurenza most likely resented her for taking away her fathers’ attention from her.
But even she could admit that she was no master. She sucked at having a Stand and that was that.
Cassata: So he said no?
Gianetta sighed to herself, watching as her sister worked away at her desk. LIke Giorno, she hated having to repeat herself, although this time she couldn’t get too angry at Cassata. Not after the day they’ve had. She also couldn’t too mad at her for being so surprised. All she could do was keep practicing and hope no one would jump her while she still had shitty fighting skills.
After showering and throwing on her pajamas, she flopped down onto her bed and started texting her little group, bringing them both up to speed on what had happened.
Gianetta: Yes. It was..weird.
Carbonara: Weird how?
Gianetta: I mean.
Gianetta: It’s not like I expect him to let me go wherever I want all the time.
Gianetta: I thought he would at least let me see Leslie once. Who knows when she’s coming back to school.
Carbonara: He's just looking out for you and Laura. It's not all that strange.
Gianetta: he let me go to school even after I was attacked by Constantia and now he wants to be cautious?
Cassata: she's got a point.
Carbonara: what's the status on Constantia anyway?
Gianetta: not sure. I was gonna ask papa if he knew anything about her, but padre told me he was tired and needed to sleep. So I asked him and he didn't know anything about her.
Gianetta: but I swear….when I fought her, it felt like we were connected somehow.
Cassata: what, are you in love with her or something?
Gianetta: Beating the shit out of someone doesn’t mean you love them. We had some kind of connection, that’s it.
Gianetta: I saw it in her eyes. She felt it too.
Carbonara: Doesn’t seem that uncommon. For you at least.
Gianetta: what’s that supposed to mean
Carbonara: You told me a long time ago that this stuff sort of happened to your family, right
Carbonara: Vampires, Stands, Bad and Good luck.
Carbonara: You said if it were for your bloodline, you would have been normal. You wouldn’t know what Stands are, and you probably would have just been a normal girl.
She remembered that talk. She was having a bit of a self-loathing episode because a teacher-who had not been informed of her verbal stims or that she was even autistic to begin with-openly insulted her in front of the class when she started clicking noises with her tongue. She had no idea how the conversation changed to her family, but she found herself rambling about how she wanted to know it all.
Why did Stands exist? What was the deal with her grandfather? Why did everyone else in her family have Stands but her? Why was she like this?
Why was she like this...that’s what she was thinking. That’s why the conversation had changed. Because she was trying to mask the fact that she knew that something was wrong with her. She was trying to mask the fact that she felt all wrong.
Carbonara: You still there.
Gianetta: The old man. Joseph. He knows something. I remember now. I think I have a journal he gave a while back. Somewhere in the basement. I can look for it tomorrow.
Cassata: We’ll help you!
Carbonara: We will?
Cassata: Yeah!
Cassata: We’ll go check on your friend Leslie and if she’s okay, we’ll bring her and your little boyfriend over so we can form a little search party for that journal.
Gianetta: A. He is not my boyfriend,
Gianetta: B. Searching for the journal is more of a one or two-person job, but
Gianetta: C...thank you, Cassata.
Cassata: You got it, capo!
Gianetta: You don’t have to call me that.
Carbonara: Would you rather us call you Mouse?
Gianetta: Capo it is then.
Cassata: see you tomorrow, capo!
Carbonara: tell Laurenza I said hi.
Gianetta: goodnight you two.
Gianetta brought her phone to her chest and looked at Laurenza, who was still working away at her missing assignments. "Hey, Laura?"
"Yeah G?" Laurenza said, not looking at her.
"...you know you can tell me if I'm annoying you or anything, right?"
Laurenza turned, giving her an odd look. "What are you talking about?"
Gianetta looked to the ceiling. "Nothing….I'm just talking. Not that important. You can keep working."
"Okay? Are you sure nothing's wrong?"
"I'm sure. Don't worry about it, okay?" She smiled at her.
Laurenza nodded hesitantly as she turned back around to complete her work.
"Nice to see you out of the house."
Carbonara looked back at the tall girl, smirking. “I saw you a week ago.”
“I’m just messing with you, Carbo! You’ve been lookin’ pretty glum lately…”
Carbonara shoved his hands in his pockets, giving her an apathetic look. “I’m just ti-”
Cassata stopped him, “No. Don’t tell me that you’re ‘just tired.’ Tell me what is going on.”
Carbonara bit the inside of his cheek. Cassata was never this forward or very much concerned with deep and heavy topics. She wasn’t the one to really get into the nitty-gritty of other people’s deep emotions. She made people laugh. That was her thing.
Cassata Mista was the comic relief. That was her job.
Her big violet eyes kept staring into his soul. It was making him uncomfortable. He looked away from her. "I...I feel bad for doing this to them."
"Who?"
"My dads. All of you. If I had just talked about it, none of this shit would have happened. They wouldn't have to be walking on eggshells, just waiting for me to snap and break. I...I fucking killed someone, Cass. I killed someone…" His body began to tremble. He bit his lip as hard as he could to stop himself from crying. Cassata grabbed him by the shoulders and squeezed tightly.
"Carbo, it's okay to feel guilty! You never killed anyone before and it's the worst experience you ever have to go through! I know, I've done it before too. And let me tell you, it doesn't get easier."
"Y-you say that like I might have to do it again…" He said with a nervous laugh.
Cassata's smile fell as she lowered her head. "Not gonna lie...you might. People are going to try to kill you-sometimes without rhyme or reason...and you'll have to kill them first. Even if you don't believe that killing is justified...you're going to have to do it. Eventually, it'll be like brushing your teeth. You won't even notice you're doing it."
She quickly caught herself, shaking her head and plastering on a grin. "B-but that won't happen to you! I'll make sure you don't have to get any blood on your hands!"
"C-Cass..you don't have to. I wouldn't want you to-"
He looked up at her. She wasn't listening. Her eyes were fixed on the shop window right next to them. "Cass?"
"Move."
"What?"
"MOVE!"
Cassata lunged forward and shoved Carbonara out of the way as a figure dressed in black rammed into Cassata and crashed through the shop window. The people screamed and fleed to the back rooms.
Cassata unzipped the left side of her leather skirt and pulled out her go- to pocket knife, swinging it forward.
The figure jumped to its feet and now Cassata was finally face to face with her attacker.
It was Constantia, glowing yellow.
"So you're Constantia Varvaro…" She said, drawing her other knife.
Constantia took a fighting stance, "And you're Cassata Mista. And the one outside is Carbonara Buccellati."
"You know, you've got some nerve trying to attack my capo-my family!"
"Your family is responsible for hundreds of deaths-"
"And knowing you work for Acerbo, so did you. Neither of us are saints."
Carbonara ran into the shop, stopping once he saw Constantia. "Is that-?!"
She nodded.
Carbonara grunted, drawing out Feel Good Inc. "YOU BITCH! How dare you and that bastard threaten my family-!"
He went to charge at her, but Cassata put out her hand. "NO! Wait," she turned to Constantia, "you don't have a Stand, right?"
She shook her head.
Cassata smirked. "Good. Then this'll be a fair fight."
"What are you going on about, Mista?" Constantia narrowed her eyes.
"I'm saying let's fight. One on one. Carbonara won't interfere."
"WHAT?!"
"You? Fight me? You don't have any powers!"
"Don't need 'em."
"I'll crush you."
"I'd like to see you try."
Constantia was noticeably pissed. Cassata just kept smiling. She started twirling the knife in her left hand,everything but Constantia fading around her.
'Remember Cass. Just focus on the knife. Focus on how it feels in your hands...then your opponent...and then everything else...1...2…'
Cassata lunged forward, swiping her blade inches away from Constantia's throat.
'3!'
To Be Continued>>>>
Notes:
Cassata's playlist real quick for ya:
You're gonna go far, kid-The offspring
Dance Monkey- Tones and I
Belgrade- Battle Tapes
The Baddest- K/DA
Choke- I DON'T KNOW HOW, BUT THEY FOUND ME
Undercover Matryn- Two door cinema
Soldier, Poet, King- The Oh Hellos
Just Like Fire- P!NKThank you for reading and remember to leave your questions in the comments!
Chapter 11: You're Gonna Go Far, Kid part 2
Summary:
Cassata and Constantia fight and Carbonara has a discussion with Fugo about Feel Good Inc.
Notes:
So fucking sorry about not posting for two months and that this chapter isn't that good. I feel really bad for making you all wait so long for me to update.
Content warning for extreme violence and mentions of death and injury
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
(A/N: so sorry about all of these flashbacks. If they annoy you, please tell me. I will stop if you hate them.)
The spinning of the blade always brought her comfort. Even when she was 4, hiding in the corner of her kitchen, watching as her biological mother bled out on the floor right in front of her, watching her assailant spinning that blade and never leaving his hand to strike her.
That brought her comfort. That brought her back to reality-even if that reality could have ended with a knife to the back. The towering man sauntered towards her, but she didn't tremble.
He crouched down. She looked up at him. He grinned, "Hey little girl. So sorry you had to witness that."
Cassata tilted her head. He was still spinning the knife.
"I hope I didn't scare you too bad. I know you must 'love' them, but look what they've done to you," He pointed to her then broken arm and the collection of bruises on her legs, "They hurt you, honey. And now they won't hurt you ever again-"
Three shots rang out. The man fell over, blood spewing from his head. The spinning stopped and the knife fell to the floor. Cassata looked up and saw a man in bizarre clothing and a revolver in his head, still aimed at where the man previously stood.
"Shit! They didn't tell me there was a kid in here," He looked over at the bodies of her dead parents and then back at her. He winced, tucking his gun back into his boot as he walked towards her. He crouched down and tucked back her stray hairs, "h-hey, it's okay now. You don't gotta be afraid anymore. I'm here."
With a shaky hand, Cassata reached out to the man, only managing to brush his cheek before falling to the floor from the overwhelming emotions that were coming over her. The last thing she remembered was reaching for the knife the killer had dropped and tucked it away.
She never knew the name of the man who murdered her biological parents. She only knew the man who put three bullets in his head.
That man became her father-Guido Mista.
And that knife was something she carried with her since that day as a reminder of the two men that changed her life all in one night.
Cassata charged at Constantia, who quickly retaliated with a roundhouse kick to her face. Cassata laughed, wiping the blood from her lip and going on for another strike. She swung her blade and tore a hole in Constantia's top.
"ZOOM PUNCH!" Constantia's arm dislocated and flew towards Cassata. She smirked and slid out of the way, kneeing her elbow.
SNAP!
"AGH!" Constantia fell back.
"You know, you really shouldn't shout out your attacks-it leaves you vulnerable to AN ATTACK!"
Cassata lunged forward and rammed her knife in her shoulder and kneed her in the stomach. She heard the air leave her lungs as she was knocked back into a glass case.
“You’re pulling your punches,” Cassata said, twirling her knife.
Constantia spat out some blood as she tried to get her breathing under control, “G-Go fuck yourself….”
“What does Acerbo want with Don Giovanna?”
“Isn’t it obvious, dumbass? Revenge. ”
“For what? Acerbo and his band of idiots left on their own. He had nothing to do with it.”
Constantia grimaced, “Is that really what he told you? You’re even dumber than I thought,”
She jumped to her feet and delivered a powerful kick to her gut, sending Cassata flying out of the broken shop window and right into a car.
“CASSATA!” Carbonara screamed. He turned his attention to Constantia, drawing out Feel Good Inc., “You’re gonna fucking pay for that!”
“I’d like to see you try!”
Carbonara charged forward. Feel Good Inc was already spewing red smoke and filling the room with rage. Constantia’s demeanor changed quickly and she rushed at Carbonara. Constantia threw a punch and knocked him back. He pounced on her, using his bare hands to wail on her, beating her and punching her until her face began to swell. She threw him off and kicked him into another wall, stomping over to him and kicking him in the stomach.
The room was now filled with pure rage thanks to Feel Good Inc. Constantia was wailing on Carbonara as an unfathomable amount of pure hatred started to bubble over. Feel Good Inc manifested behind her, preparing to strike her with as much force as he possibly could. Rage had become full-on murderous intent.
The room was now a rich crimson.
Feel Good Inc raised its fist, preparing to plunge it into her back and out her chest. He was so close. So close to ending her pathetic worthless life that was planning to take the lives of his family members away-and then he fell through the ground, Feel Good Inc following him as well.
“W-WHAT THE HELL?!” They both shouted before the floor swallowed Carbonara and he disappeared. The same happened to Cassata. The sidewalk had just opened up and sucked her inside and out of sight.
Constantia growled before letting out a scream of anger. She took whatever remained in the shop and threw them all around, breaking things left and right. She then turned to the back room where the other patrons were currently hiding.
She slowly turned and began walking towards them, glowing a bright yellow as she turned the handle.
Carbonara and Cassata fell into the backseat of a very beat up cab. Carbonara was still feeling the effects of Feel Good Inc and was thrashing around like an angry toddler having a tantrum. Cassata was still trying to ground herself after her little mishap with the window.
“Wha...what happened? D-Did I win?” Cassata mumbled.
“No. In fact, you both would have lost your lives if I hadn’t intervened,” The voice upfront said.
They looked up. The older woman glanced behind her, a deep frown on her face. “ M-Mrs. Agata! What are you doing here? How did you find us?”
“I was driving by and saw you two in there trying to beat up that girl. I was waiting for the right opportunity to pull you out.”
“I HAD HER! I FUCKING HAD HER!” Carbonara screamed, angry tears running down his face.
“Goddamnit. Looks like he’s still reeling from the effects of Feel Good Inc. Cassata if you’re up to it, can you hold him down until I get you both home.”
“What? No-we need to go to Leslie and Carlino’s houses and get ‘em.”
“No. We’re going straight home so you both can heal up.”
“Please, Mrs. Agata! I promised Gianetta that I would check on her friends and bring them to her-"
"For?"
"For...important stuff. Yeah-Important stuff!"
Angela sighed, “Cassata-”
“Please, Mrs. Agata! I promised Gianetta that I would at least try, and you know I don’t like to go back on my promises.”
Angela shook her head. Here she was, in the middle of her shift with a disheveled and bloody teen and a tantruming twelve-year-old with murderous intent.
And now, here she was-turning around, risking getting fired from her perfectly legal job all because Cassata wanted to keep her word.
'The things I do for these damn kids.'
One of the things Gianetta didn't like about Cassata besides the times she washes with lavender-scented shampoo was that she never set an exact time for things.
She always said things like, "I'll be there when I'll be there," or "Don't worry about it. I always show up, don't I?"
She did. But that wasn't the point. Yes, it would take a while since they were walking, but three and a half hours was too long for her. At this point, she didn’t care if she brought Leslie and Carlino to her. If she wasn’t back by hour 4, she would have no choice but to assume they were all dead.
Every time she got up to pace, she would quickly sit down and try to fight the urge to do so. Laurenza watched for a while before standing up and resting her arms on her shoulders, “Would you like me to call Cass and see when she’s coming?”
Gianetta shook her head, “No, it’s okay. I know she’ll show up eventually…”
“Are you sure?” Her sister asked, looking at her curiously.
“Yes, I’m sure. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You just seem...different, that’s all.”
“Is it because of my clothes? You do know that I don’t always wear my uniform, right?”
“No, it’s not that- it’s...nevermind. I think I’m just imagining things.”
Gianetta didn’t believe her. But, now was not the time to try and understand why her sister was being weird. She needed to wait for Cassata for her to get the hell over to her house and deliver her friends to her.
If they would even make it.
"YO! ANYBODY HOME?!"
"Just use the damn doorbell, Cass."
Gianetta lit up. Excited, she rushed to the door and threw it open. Laurenza joined her at the door but sadly couldn't join in with her excitement.
Cassata, still beaten and bloody, was wearing a wide grin on her face as she leaned against a very dismal looking Carbonara while Carlino and Leslie stepped out of the obnoxiously bright taxi parked in front of her house.
"LESLIE! CARLINO!" She exclaimed as she ran up to the two of them.
"What happened?!" Laurenza asked.
"Had to fight that little bitch that Giagia fought at school. Don't worry about it though. You don't gotta worry about her finding you guys or anything. Mrs. Agata got us out of there real quick," Cassata replied.
"You fought Constantia?"
"Yes, we did. Can we not talk about it please?" Carbonara said, hurrying inside.
"What's up with him?" Gianetta asked.
"He's just going through some stuff. You know how it is."
Gianetta nodded, immediately turning her attention back to her friends, “You guys made it! I can’t believe you actually made it. Well, I sort of believed you would make it. Cassata is very persistent and she probably would have kidnapped you in some sort of way.”
“She almost did,” Leslie said, “but, thanks to my masterful persuasion skills-and your dad’s Gold Experience, my mom let me come over as long as I take it easy.”
“And my dad is at work. I left him a note since he’s bad at responding over the phone, so hopefully he won’t freak out when he doesn’t find me home.” Carlino said awkwardly.
“I’m glad you’re both here. I think I remembered something that could potentially stop Constantia, or at least put us on the same level as her.”
“Really? Where?”
“Basement. If I remember correctly, it’s in an old green box-a plastic one, covered in tree frogs-it’s a journal that Mr. Joseph gave me at a Christmas party I went to when I was nine. There’s an entry in there that had something to do with that weird power she has.”
“Are you sure?”
“I believe I am. But we can’t be too sure unless we venture down there ourselves.”
“Alright then! Let’s go down to that scary basement and find that journal!” Leslie exclaimed.
“You guys go on ahead,” Carbonara said, “I need to...talk to Padrino Fugo really quick.”
“Oh, okay. I think he’s in papa’s office upstairs. Knock before you enter, though. He’s a real pain in ass about that.”
Carbonara nodded as he went on ahead, the others following in behind him to embark on their own mini adventures.
After what happened last night, Fugo insisted that Giorno take a break while he took care of his work for the day. He couldn’t deny that his little ‘fainting’ episode did shake him, but he put it out of his mind-for both his and Giorno’s sake.
‘It was just stress, Fugo. Stop worrying about it and do your job.’
Knock knock!
“Come in!”
The door opened and, to his surprise, Carbonara stepped inside, beaten to a bloody pulp and covered in dirt and shards of glass, “Hi, padrino…”
“Carbo?! What the hell?! What happened?!”
“....Some assholes from my old school bumped into Cassata and I on our way to Leslie and Carlino’s, and they beat us up.”
He knew he was lying. No one beats up a kid so bad that they end up coming back with open wounds and shards of glass embedded in their skin. But, Carbonara was clearly not in the mood. Not after the week he had. He sighed and motioned for him to sit down. “Well, I’m sorry about that. You know I care about you deeply. I’m also sorry to inform you that your other padrino is currently out, so I’ll only be able to keep you from bleeding out until he returns.”
Carbonara nodded, hugging himself, “Yeah, I-it’s no problem. I’m okay…”
“Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself,” He pulled out a first aid kit and began to tend to his wounds, “this is going to hurt, okay?”
He nodded again, “I actually came because I wanted to ask you something...it might be a bit...of a sensitive topic.”
“What is it?”
“Well,” he began to scratch his wrist, “it’s...about Purple Haze. How did...how did you learn how to control him?”
Fugo stopped, setting the first aid kit down on the floor beside them. He looked up at the nervous boy, the scratching of his wrist intensifying, “It took...it took a lot of time. To let go of anger that I had and still have been holding onto for years. To not lose my temper every time something went wrong. It took every ounce of my mental and emotional strength to keep him under control so I could finally be useful and not a detriment to my family.”
Carbonara lowered his head, “That...sounds like a lot.”
Fugo nodded, “It was….I’m assuming you’re asking this because you want to know how to control Feel Good Inc?”
He nodded, “I...I’m afraid, padrino. I don’t want to be the person I was a few days ago, but now, I’m...it feels like losing my mind. I’m not in control of myself or my emotions. I’m-“ he choked out a sob, “I don’t want to hurt any of you!”
Fugo opened his arms and hugged Carbonara tightly, “You won’t. I understand you’re going through major changes in your life, but I know you would never hurt anyone one of us. I will be here for you every step of the way. I promise.”
“I-I’m scared!”
Fugo swallowed hard, “I know. I know you are.”
I am too.
To Be continued>>>
Notes:
I hope this chapter wasn't too bad. Hope you enjoyed. I'm going to try my best to do better with chapter 12. I will see you all later
Chapter 12: Fateful Findings
Summary:
Gianetta finds some very useful information while everyone else gets emotional.
Notes:
Hi and holy fuck! I took too damn long with this! I am so sorry. Hopefully the next one will be out a lot sooner!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Gianetta didn’t venture into the basement often. The only times she ever went down there was to retrieve decorations or on dares. There was nothing down there that necessarily frightened her other than bugs and the darkness, but those were just superficial fears. It was nothing compared to the hell she dealt with back when she fought Constantia. She could handle getting dirty and possibly bitten if it meant she could have a one up on the enemy.
Gianetta held Leslie’s hand the whole way down, occasionally squeezing it and receiving a squeeze back. Carlino was behind them. He was holding onto Leslie's shoulders, shaking like a leaf.
"I didn't picture you to be the easily scared type, Isidoro." Leslie teased, holding his hand tightly.
"W-well I don't often go into the dark places in my house." He replied shakily.
"Your father leaves you alone all the time. Shouldn't you be more scared of getting murdered or kidnapped or something?" Gianetta asked.
"W-well now I am! And my dad doesn't leave me all alone! Miss Agata takes care of me while my dad is working. She's really nice-so is her son. He's a lot older than me though…"
“Didn’t know she babysat for people….”
“We’re here.”
The three middle schoolers stopped in front of the old wooden door that led to the rest of the giant basement. Leslie and Carlino hid behind Gianetta as she slowly turned the knob and opened the door.
“Where is all that confidence you had a few seconds ago, Leslie?” Gianetta asked.
“I-I just forgot how big and ominous this place was….”
Gianetta pushed the door open. It creaked open and revealed the large room littered with boxes and shelves of wine. “Okay, if I remember correctly- I put them in a box at the very back of the room on the very top shelf.”
“Why in the back of the basement?” Carlino groaned.
“I didn’t expect this place to fill up with boxes so quickly. We’ve got a lot of shit. Come on.”
The trio maneuvered through the shelves and box filled floor until they reached the very corner of the basement. Gianetta climbed onto the rickety shelf and lowered the thin box to Leslie, jumping down soon after.
Carlino dug into the box. “I think I found it! It feels really gross!”
“Let me see.”
Carlino handed the book off to Gianetta. She unwrapped it and flipped through the yellowed pages, “Vampires, Stone Masks, Stands-“
“Wait, vampires? Is all of the stuff in this journal true?”
“Even though you can’t see them, you believe Stands exist, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah. You and your dad have no reason to lie to us.”
“And you never lie. You haven’t lied to me in the 12 years we’ve known each other. You’ve never been one to like made-up stories.”
Gianetta shrugged, “You have a point-Ah! I found it!”
She knelt on the floor, opening the book to a very colorful page with illustrations and old photographs.
“Well? What’s it say?”
“It’s some kind of breathing technique. It produces ripples throughout the body and it’s supposed to have the power that’s identical to the sun-holy shit.”
“That’s insane!”
“So this is the power that Constantia has...what else is in there?”
“Well, let’s see. You can apparently charge things with Hamon, use them as weapons-this is interesting. Only one in ten thousand people can use Hamon to its full extent. Normal people like us can’t do all the crazy shit that people trained vigorously for years. You have to keep breathing the same way, too.”
‘Makes sense. I was able to stop her breathing, and that stopped the energy.’
“Do you think you’d be able to do that, Gia?”
Gianetta shrugged, “I don’t know. The only ones I know that have used Hamon are Mr. Joseph and Jonathan. Ever since Stands came into the equation, there hasn’t been any need to really practice it anymore.”
“Interesting...hey, there’s a photo sticking out.”
Leslie pulled out the photo and dusted off the sides. In the photo, there was a group of people leaning against a building. A very familiar building….
“Hey, Gia. Isn’t that Libecco? Like, way before it was rebranded.”
“Let me see.”
Gianetta took the photo and held it close to her face. In the photo, a young Joseph Joestar had his arm around a very giddy-looking Suzi Q. Beside him was a young woman-probably in her 30’s-with long brown hair standing next to a blonde man with two distinct birthmarks on his face.
“He looks like Constantia.” Gianetta blurted out.
“What?”
“The resemblance is vague, but it’s there. He looks like Constantia.”
Leslie squinted, "You're right! She totally does."
"Does this mean she has some kind of relation to you guys? Is she some kind of cousin or something?"
"No. I would know. We all would know. I...I need to ask. Not now, but later. Until I'm a little sure of myself and I'm not imagining things. Which I'm pretty sure I'm not, but just in case."
"You need our help?"
"Not really," Gianetta went quiet for a second, "but...if I do, I'll call you, okay?"
Both smiled and nodded.
"Okay then. We should head back upstairs. Tell the others what we found."
"Right!"
Gianetta closed the book and the trio went upstairs.
"Hey! I think we might have found something-"
Gianetta stopped. Carbonara was standing up, his eyes red from crying. Cassata was right next to him, her arm wrapped around his shoulders. Gianetta tilted her head, confused. “What’s going on?”
Carbonara stood up, “There’s something I have to tell you.”
“Is it the reason you’re crying?”
He nodded, fidgeting awkwardly.
“Well, what is it?”
“I...I don’t think I can help you with your hunt for Acerbo. Not now. I’m too unstable and...I don’t want to hurt any of you. I want to protect you, but I can’t do that until I get a hold of my emotions. I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? It’s okay.”
“It is?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? You’re my god brother. You just had a mental breakdown from murdering someone. I think you’re entitled to not want to murder more people-though, they kind of deserve it.”
“You’re really okay with this?”
Gianetta nodded, “Yes. I’m not five anymore, Carbo. I’m not gonna throw a tantrum just because you want to take care of yourself. Take all the time in the world. We’ll all be here when you get back. I’ll make sure of it.”
Carbonara smiled tearfully as he threw his arms around Gianetta, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. Gianetta squirmed uncomfortably before relenting and hugging him back.
“Okay. You can stop now.” She said after a long, uncomfortable silence. Carbonara pulled away and fixed her little shawl.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just try not to suffocate me again, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good. Now, go home. Write something, call your therapist-do something that will help distract you from all of this. And maybe change your bandages. You’re bleeding a lot.”
“I-I know. I know. I’ll do that. Thank you, GiaGia.”
“You’re welcome, Carbonara. Now go! And take Cassata home, too. Or, maybe take her to the hospital. She’s looking rough.”
“Wow, thanks for being brutally honest,” Cassata called.
“Cass, you’re bleeding all over our couch,” Laurenza said.
“She could have at least said my hair looks nice.”
Gianetta rolled her eyes playfully. She reached her hand out and grabbed Carbonara’s, giving it a small squeeze, “Take all the time you need. I’ll be here waiting, even if you don’t come.”
“Thank you, GiaGia.”
“You’re welcome, Carbo.”
Ms. Agata came into the room, a hand on her hip, “You two ready to go?”
“Yeah, I think so. I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow.”
“I’ll pick you up later, okay Carlino?”
Carlino nodded. They helped Cassata up from the couch and sent them off. Laurenza turned to the trio once they watched the car disappear, “So, what did you find?”
“The journal has a lot of useful information about the powers Constantia has. It also has something really...interesting that I have to check up on. Is papa awake yet?”
“No. They both fell asleep awhile ago.”
“Shit. Did they lock the office?”
“Yeah.”
“Shit!” She sighed, “Okay, new plan: we go up to my room, discuss our findings, and probably route through my closet for other things I may have forgotten that could help us.”
“And then?”
“And maybe I can steal that goddamn key without waking them up.”
“Should we tell the others?”
“Not..yet. Not until Bianca and I are sure we can talk without being in danger of being found by Acerbo and his gang. I want to make sure you’re all okay.”
The group nodded and followed Gianetta back into the house, who made sure to lock every door and window before heading up to her room.
Anna always liked it when her uncle Pesci braided her hair. It always reminded her of the days when she came home from school after a big test or something like that and he would do her hair up into fancy braids as a way to calm her nerves. He was always nice to her, he was always unbiased, especially when it came to ‘the incident.’
So when he came over because he had some downtime and offered to fix up her hair, she couldn’t refuse.
They were sat in front of her vanity. Anna closed her eyes as Pesci ran his fingers through her hair and gently getting the tangles out. They sat there in silence for almost an hour, just Pesci messaging her scalp, making her forget all of her anxieties. That was until he started talking.
“That’s a new one.” He said quietly, lightly tracing the newest scratch that had appeared on her neck.
“It is.” She replied, not opening her eyes.
“When did it happen?”
She shrugged, “I don’t remember. Maybe last week? Things happen, I can’t keep track of them all.”
That was a lie. She remembered vividly how she had violently scratched at her neck during a violent panic attack after school the other day. She had hoped that her collar was tall enough to hide the marks.
“You shouldn’t be doing this, Annie. You’re gonna hurt yourself really bad one of these days.”
Anna hummed. At this point, that phrase was just white noise to her. It didn’t matter if someone told her not to do it. It didn’t matter because it’s not like she could stop even if she wanted to. It was second nature for her hands to scrunch up and grab at her flesh whenever she felt overwhelmed or ‘overly emotional’, as her teachers would say. She couldn’t stop if even she wanted to.
She didn’t want to stop.
Anna opened her eyes and leaned forward, hugging herself tightly, “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think I’m stupid? Do you think...what I did was stupid, to be more specific?”
Pesci went quiet, and for some reason, Anna was expecting him to start yelling at her for asking him such a question. But he didn’t. He continued braiding her hair as he spoke, “I think you shouldn’t have done it. You could have gotten seriously injured or worse…”
Anna bit the inside of her cheek hard. Sure, it crossed her mind. It crossed all of their minds as they all stared at the golden arrow in the dark alleyway. But they didn’t. Call it a miracle or some kind of good luck that befell them, they had survived and even gained the powers they had been desperately seeking for so long. “So it was stupid?”
“Reckless and stupid.”
“Selfish?”
Pesci went quiet again. It was telling.
“I don’t know why you wanted to use the arrow. Maybe it was because you wanted to protect your dads or just because you wanted to know what it’s like to have that kind of power-well, maybe not that one. You’re a little more mature than that. I can’t say why you did it, but next time-if there even is a next time-be a little more careful.”
Anna knew that he had wanted to say, ‘Next time, think about us before you do something stupid.’ He should have. She deserved it. She wanted to say that she deserved it. But, she closed her eyes again and mumbled, “Thank you.”
They heard the door unlock and her fathers come in. She opened her eyes again and stood up, “I guess this means we have to continue this later.”
Pesci nodded, pulling her in for a hug, “I love you, Anna. You that, right?”
Anna nodded, “I know...I love you too, Uncle.”
“Be good to your dad, okay? He’s been working really hard. He’s been really stressed, so be careful, okay?”
Anna hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Okay...I will.”
Pesci nodded and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before heading downstairs. Anna grabbed her phone off of her vanity and called up Bianca. She picked up on the second ring.
“Capo, what’s-”
“I’m not done being a selfish bastard and need you to get me some weapons for me. For us. For all of us.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow. Is that-”
“That’s fine.”
She sighed, falling onto her bed. “Thank you..”
“Of course, Capo. Do you want me to come over?”
“...Yes.”
Giorno had spent most of the day in his room. Fugo had been adamant about keeping him in bed after his random fainting spell. He had gotten up a couple of times to stretch his legs and check on Carbonara for the short time he was there. It was much later. The sun was beginning to set and Fugo had come from the office and fell into bed beside him. He had fallen asleep. Giorno just watched him quietly, running his fingers through his hair and occasionally planting kisses to his cheeks and forehead. He stared up at the ceiling, pondering what could have caused his fainting spell. He attributed it to stress, but he was always stressed. Was this just all of that stress finally catching up to him?
But he couldn’t afford to be stressed. He was the Boss of the largest gang in all of Italy-hell, he practically ruled all of Italy with an iron fist. He couldn’t afford to be sick. He couldn’t.
The door to the bedroom opened. Light from the hallway flooded into the darkroom and then quickly disappeared. Giorno could faintly hear scuffling at the foot of the bed.
“Can you hear me?” Gianetta whispered, “Don’t answer that. I think this is one of those things where I can’t look at you because I don’t think you’ll like what I have to say.”
Giorno nodded.
“I know something’s up. Dad’s always more neurotic whenever you’re sick...It took me a while to come in here because I was afraid I would give you both a heart attack, but you both told me that I can’t be afraid to shake people with my words, especially since it took me so long to find them. So here I am. Here to make you both worry about me even more than you already do.”
A smile tugged at Giorno’s lips, though this feeling of dread quickly washed over him as she continued.
“I know this isn’t really what you wanted for me. I know you didn’t want me going off and getting the shit kicked out of me by bad guys and willing to get myself killed by these assholes-wow, I should really stop swearing in front of you guys-but I know what you guys are thinking. I hear you, I read your expressions. Even though I suck at it, I see how much you hate this. I hate it too. You’re probably gonna try and ground me or take measures to try and keep me out of harm’s way...but I think we both know that’s going to fail miserably. We all know that we’re fucked no matter what we do,” She stopped. She stood up and crawled onto the bed, still facing away from them, “I love you. You know I do, but you always want to hear it from my mouth, so here it is. I love you, but Acerbo declared war. He declared war the moment he walked across that street, probably walking over there to kill me. He declared war when he said he was going to try and kill you all. I wasn’t going to let that stand then, and I’m not letting it stand now. I’m going to kill him. I am going to kill him for trying to hurt you. And I don’t think you can stop me.”
She stood up and grabbed Giorno’s hand, pressing a kiss to one of his knuckles, “Buonanotte. I’ve got things to do,” she leaned over and grabbed Fugo’s hand and did the same. She slid off the bed and left, making sure to shut the door quietly behind her.
Giorno’s heart ached. He turned on his side to see Fugo facing him, tears streaming down his face. He grabbed his husband and quietly sobbed into his shoulder as Giorno held him.
“G-Giorno-”
“I-I know. I know. And I’m going to try to fix this. I’m going to protect you all. I promise.”
He spent the next few hours trying to calm Fugo with reassuring phrases and sweet nothings until he could no longer keep himself composed and started to cry as well.
“I’m sorry.”
Notes:
Hope you all enjoyed! Next chapter, you'll be meeting more of the main cast and some reoccurring side characters that will hopefully have their own stories for you to explore! Stay safe and have a good day!
Chapter 13: Strangers And Skipping School part 1
Summary:
A chapter too stuffed with stuff that don’t really make sense.
Notes:
I'm sorry about this chapter being so weird. I can admit it isn't my best and I'm sorry for disappointing you all, I just didn't want to keep you all waiting. Hopefully I can map out the next chapter a lot better and not switch between POVs as much.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Constantia slid across the floor and collided with the bookcase at the far end of the room. The others watched as Aglio laid into her, punching and kicking her in the face and stomach. She tried to get up but Aglio stepped on her hand and kicked her in the face. She let out a painful groan as she looked up at the others. They just kept watching her be beaten by her subordinate.
'Bastards. All of them.'
He kicked her again. "You fucking idiot! What did you think to accomplish by fucking ambushing the Mista girl and the Buccellati boy?!"
"I wasn't-" Before she could answer, Aglio punched her in the nose.
"That's right! You weren't thinking! You could have given us away! Led them back here and-and-"
"And what?" Anguilla chimed in, "Do you really think those children can fight us? The Mista girl doesn't even have any powers that could help her in a fight."
"It isn't about them , you dumb bitch. It's their parents we have to worry about." Bottarga hissed, "Especially that asshole, Don Giorno. His Stand is powerful- much more powerful than any of ours put together. Even Acerbo's."
"And if he finds us before we have a good game plan, we're all fucking dead," Polenta added.
"We should be glad that Constantia nearly got her ass handed to her. She saved our lives." Anguilla said.
"Oh, go fuck yourselves." Constantia spat out some blood before weakly rising to her feet.
"I'm not done with you. I'll tell Acerbo-"
"He already knows," Arringa whispered, "He always knows…"
Constantia bit the inside of her cheek. A chill ran down her spine at her words, but she stood tall and left the office. She could instantly feel his presence.
It was a heavy, dark presence that emanated from the end of all the hall. She couldn't understand how a teenage boy just four years older than she was could have such a dark aura surrounding him that it would make her and her subordinates tremble.
He wanted her to come forward. He didn't even have to say it. She knew. She slowly walked to the end of the hall. Her heart was pounding in her ears. She broke into a cold sweat and her hands trembled. Dread weighed down on her like an anchor. Every step closer was agonizing.
She stopped. She stood fearfully at the top of the rickety stairwell.
This is it, she thought, He's going to kill me. And I don't have the power to defend myself. This is it.'
" Constantia." His voice was dark and melodious. It nearly made her lose her balance.
"A-Acerbo! I-"
"Relax, Constantia. I'm not here to hurt you or punish you. I came because I'm actually proud of you."
Constantia turned her head, "You are? But why? You heard the others- I fucked up."
"That is true. You were too quick to assume victory, especially since you were facing off against a Stand User. But you brought me back so great intel. I know what those two are capable of. I even know of a third Stand User that can create portals. That will come in handy for when we face them again.”
Constantia wanted to smile. Finally, she was useful to someone on this team-but the fear in her heart was too overwhelming. She swallowed hard, nodding her head, “T-Thank you, Acerbo.”
“Don’t go taking any bows just yet. As said before, you should be much more careful. From what Aglio has told me, nearly all of La Squadra’s children have acquired Stands and it seems there are more Stand Users right in the area. If you continue going off on your own trying to face off with them, you’ll have to deal with me. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want that, would you?”
Her blood went cold. Acerbo’s Stand was a powerful one. It was nowhere near the caliber of Don Giovanna’s from what she had heard. But she sure as shit did not want to be the next person to be brutally maimed and killed by Acerbo. She shook her head vigorously. Acerbo hummed. She could almost feel him smile.
“Good. Return to your room. I need to discuss something with the others. I’ll inform you of your part later.”
She didn’t waste a second. She said a quick, “Yes sir,” before walking down the stairs and into her room. She slammed the door behind her and let out a deep sigh of relief. Her heart was still beating at a hundred miles an hour but she was no longer overwhelmed by his malicious presence. She slid down onto the floor to catch her breath.
‘See, this is why the others don’t take you seriously. You’re a fucking coward. You can’t even talk to Acerbo without turning into a sniveling little shit. Still, if he saw fit, he would have tossed me down those steps without a second thought for fucking up his plans. I need to be more careful-’
“Yeah, you should.”
Constantia jumped. She scanned the room for the owner of the disembodied voice, but there was no one around. She opened the door and looked out into the hallway, but it was empty as well. She shook her head.
‘I’m going fucking crazy. I’m starting to hear that little shit in my head now.’
“You’re not going crazy. I’m speaking to you through my Stand. I’m not anywhere near your little hideout, so you can relax.”
Constantia whipped around again, becoming enraged. “You little bitch-haven’t you caused me enough trouble already?!”
“I could say the same to you.”
“Just what the hell do you want?
“Well, what I truly want is to figure out where you’re hiding. But I’m smart enough to know that you won’t give it to me, so I’ll ask you a simpler question.”
“And that would be?”
“Why are you here? Why are you working for them? I heard you upstairs. They treat you terribly and you’re scared of them. What’s the point of staying here?”
Constantia clenched her fists. “It’s not about me. It’s aiding Acerbo in his plot for revenge.”
“Revenge for what?”
“Why don’t you ask your dear old dad? I figured since your such a Daddy’s girl, he’d tell you everything. Doesn’t he?”
There was a long silence. Constantia smirked, thinking she finally got that little bitch out of her head until she came back with one last thing to say, “You know me. I know you know me, and I think you know how we know each other.”
Constantia’s face flushed red. She wanted to punch something but was too afraid to alert the others and risk another encounter with Acerbo. She flopped down her rickety, old bed and buried her face in her pillow.
‘Gianetta Giovanna...you pain in my ass. I can’t wait to watch you suffer.’
Gianetta sighed as she fell back onto her bed. Laurenza sat down beside her, legs crossed. “Did you get anything?”
“She wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information, but that was expected. She did tell me something interesting about Acerbo.”
Laurenza perked up, “What was it?”
“She said that Acerbo was looking for revenge against dad…”
“What? Revenge for what?”
Gianetta shrugged. “I’m not sure. I was hoping you knew.”
“Me?”
“Dad tells you a lot more than he tells me when there’s something important that he doesn’t want me knowing. So what do you know?”
Laurenza shrugged. “About as much as you do. Acerbo went into Dad’s office and challenged him and the others to a fight out of nowhere. Something about their ‘real power’ or something. He and the group he gathered lost and Dad threw them out of the gang. He didn’t kill them because they were the same age as me and La Squadra and just...never heard from them again.”
Gianetta hummed. She started pacing back and forth while tapping her head with her right index finger. Laurenza stood up, folding her arms as a knowing smirk danced across her face. “Something wrong?”
Gianetta nodded.
“Let me guess, you think the story Dad told is-”
“Complete horse shit? Yes.”
“You want the truth, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“You’re going to need my help uncovering the truth, aren’t you?”
“Well, I was actually going to ask Annamaria for her assistance, but since you’re offering I guess it’s cool.”
Laurenza chuckled, wrapped her arms around Gianetta. “I’d be happy to help.”
“Thanks, Laura.” Laurenza smiled sweetly. But something was still on her mind. Gianetta could tell as she felt Laurenza’s chin press into her head. “What is it?”
“I..I know you told me at one point. Heck, you probably told me last week but...why is it so important that you become the next Don? Dad said we didn’t have to follow him. We can do our own thing before either need to-”
“Because I’m scared.” She replied.
Her sister lifted her chin. She tilted her head in confusion. She never heard that answer before. “You’re scared? Of what?”
“Of things that haven’t happened yet. Yeah, I think it would be cool to own a gang and shit. And it is technically my birthright. But, right now, that’s not what I’m focused on,” She stood up, walking to her bed, “People are trying to kill us. You, papa, dad- they’re trying to kill us all because of something he did. Whatever he did, or whatever he will do, I’m afraid that it will just lead the rest of us down the same path, just a different Acerbo at the end of it-”
“Wait, you mean dad? You think dad is-”
“Not yet,” Gianetta turned to Laurenza, tears in her eyes, “I...I think too much. And when I think too much, I think about things and that could happen but probably won’t or things that….I don’t wanna think about the possibility any more than you do. I know you don’t want to think that this won’t change him or hasn’t already changed and he’s just good at hiding things but we know we’re not jolly do-gooders. We’re not good people and at some point, there’s a line that you cross that makes you...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"
"No...you're right. I hate that you're right. But you're right. He could change and be...something else. Something that twisted the dream. But...we don't know that yet. So let's just focus on looking for the truth and then we can judge, okay?"
Gianetta closed her eyes, nodding. "Yeah, okay. Look for the truth. Find out why Acerbo is looking for revenge. That will help us understand and plan out what to do next."
"Together, okay?"
Gianetta opened her eyes. Laurenza was standing right in front of her. There were also some tears in her eyes. Gianetta smirked, lifting her hand and patting her sister's head.
"Yeah...together."
6:00 am.
Anna left the house much earlier than that, but she had nowhere to go before the meeting place so she just sat outside of Bianca’s place and waited. She sent a text to the group chat, though she doubted that anyone would check it besides Bianca. She had spent an hour straight just sitting on the stoop of her house until 6 am finally came. It was still somewhat dark outside. The only light came from Annamaria’s phone as she went through her previous conversations with her curly-haired friend.
The door opened. Anna could feel her heart jump as her friend’s lavender curls poked through. She nearly jumped to her feet in excitement. Bianca came out in her usually navy dress and mismatched socks. When she turned around, she lit up.
“Capo!” She exclaimed, bouncing towards her.
Anna smiled, putting her finger to her lips, “Shush. We’re supposed to be stealthy, remember?”
Bianca waved her off, “Trust me. After the night they’ve had, an earthquake couldn’t wake ‘em.”
Anna shook her head, “Please spare me the details.”
“Oh don’t worry about it! I like you enough to not share the weird shit my parents do while they assume I’m not home.”
Anna chortled. Her gaze went to Bianca’s right arm. Her eyes went over the long scar from when the Stand Arrow pierced her skin. She turned away, a pit of guilt forming at the bottom of her stomach. “Shall we go?”
Bianca beamed, “Ready when you are, Capo!”
6:10 am
Matteo had finished the last line of his two-page letter explaining to his parents where he was actually going and how sorry he was about purposefully skipping school. His team was probably going to crucify him for letting them know about their plans but, it was physically impossible for him to lie to them. At least, without help.
He folded up the letter and left it on the kitchen counter. He then reached up to the medicine cabinet, grabbed his collection of anxiety medication, and headed out the door. A burning feeling was already rising in his empty stomach. He pressed on, walking to the end of the empty block until he knowingly bumped into his team partner.
“Ey,” The brown-haired boy said hoarsely, throwing his arm around the shorter boy’s shoulders, “You eat this morning?”
Matteo shook his head. Before he had a chance to argue, Ignazio reached into his pocket and pulled out two granola bars. He practically shoved them into his mouth as he said, “Here. Eat. Ain’t takin’ no for an answer because you know for a fact that if you don’t eat and you try to take your medication- you’re gonna feel like hell. So eat.”
Matteo huffed. He grabbed the granola bars from Ignazio’s hands and tore them out of their packages. He shoveled them into his mouth as Ignazio watched.
“No hidin’ it in the cheek pocket either.” Matteo rolled his eyes. He swallowed hard, opening his mouth and moving his tongue around to show his partner the proof. Ignazio nodded proudly. “Good. Let’s go.”
Matteo nodded, smiling at him. “Thanks...Naz.”
“Thank me later when I save your ass from the others once they find out you sold us out to your old man.”
“Right.”
6:30 am
The town had begun to come alive. Shops began opening up, students were dragging themselves to the bus stop to get to school, the sun starting to make its appearance behind the line of brick houses. Caramello smiled.
He enjoyed the simple things in life. If his fathers weren’t mafiosos, he would be able to wake up with seeing blood seemered across their nice floral wallpaper, or have the anxiety of potential death weighing down on him every time he crossed the street.
But there was one thing in life that wasn’t so simple and equally dangerous that he adored more than the simple pleasantries and that thing was his team partner, Stella. Stella-the object of his affection for most of his childhood. His shining star that was sadly subjected to being the main muse of horrible emo poetry he wrote in the 8th grade. If he were to place his life in anyone’s hands, it would be hers. He loved her more than anything else in the world- besides money.
He really liked money.
His heart jumped. There at the little flower shop near the end of the street making little daisy chains was her. His angel. His shining star.
Stella.
Stella, with her beautiful honey-colored hair and skin the color of fine clay. She looked as beautiful as ever.
“Stella!” He called.
Stella perked up. She grinned and Caramello could feel his heart melt. She practically lunged at him, throwing her arms around him and pulling him in for a tight hug. “Caramello!”
He laughed, “I love how you’re always so happy to see me.”
“Of course I’m happy to see you! I haven’t seen you in, like, 12 hours!”
"Well, 12 hours is a long time."
"You know what I mean! It's been a time since we've done something cool like this! Man, I wonder what Anna's surprise is. We should get going so we can see!"
Caramello nodded, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He pursed his lips.
'Anna, I care about you and I wish I could say that I trust you...but I hope this won't be like last time.'
7:15 am
Luciano and Alcee had managed to get to the pier quickly thanks to Rising Sun. They had gotten there way before anyone else, so Alcee could scare the seagulls.
She always hated seagulls for some reason. He never understood why. She had finished frightening the last of the birds and they were eating the lunch they would have had if they had gone to school. Their legs dangled precariously off one of the warehouse roofs.
"Better yer happy that Sidro is gonna come, aren’t ya?" Alcee asked, a sly smile stretching across her face.
"Y-you don't know he's coming. You don't even know that's what this is." Luciano replied, flustered.
“Oh, I’m sure he’s coming. We wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t.”
Luciano sighed, looking down at his feet as Alcee continued going on and on about something else. Her voice eventually faded from his mind and now it seemed like she was just moving her lips for no reason. She didn’t notice him staring. Whatever she was rambling on about made her forget he was even there.
But maybe that was for the best. If she had noticed him, she would badger him with annoying questions. But he liked her annoying questions. It would distract him from the fact that she looked too much like Cioccolata.
The green streaks in her hair, the one green eye - He had those, too. But she...she seemed too much like him, and he didn't like that. It was hard to tell whether the weird things she said and did were just her or Cioccolata.
And that terrified him.
He reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, as some kind of confirmation that it was her. "Alcee -"
"YO! LUCE! AL! GET DOWN FROM THERE!"
Alcee jumped up and -as Luciano expected - off the roof and onto a garbage can that she placed there purposefully just to make the jump. Luciano used Rising Sun and opened a room that sent him ahead of her. The rest of the team walked up normally as Alcee bounced towards them.
"You guys are painfully early," Ignazio said, catching Luciano as she lunged at him.
"It's easy when you have a Stand that can open rooms to places you've been to a million times before." Luciano said, very matter-of-factly.
"Is Sidro here yet?" Anna asked.
"Still waiting!" Alcee exclaimed.
"He should be here soon."
"He better be. I'm risking my life here!"
"You're risking an ass whooping at best," Bianca rolled her eyes, "And plus, at least they don't know what we're actually doing here. Right, Matteo?"
Matteo hid behind Ignazio. Bianca was feverishly shaking her fists.
Anna placed a hand on Bianca’s shoulder, "Relax. He has really bad anxiety."
"Well, then he shouldn't be here! He's not fit to be here if he's just gonna blab to his parents!"
"I-I'm sorry…." Matteo murmured.
"Oh, piss off Bianca! Don't act so high and fucking mighty!" Ignazio snapped.
"Enough! Both of you get it together! It doesn't matter right now. We came here for weapons and we're getting weapons! We can talk about this like adults once we're done, but right now, I need both of you to suck it up and be civil. Is that understood?"
Both of them turned their heads, mumbling "Fine," as a van from the Weapons Unit pulled up to the dock. Anna motioned for them to go forward. The van stopped a few feet away from them. Out jumped a boy with tan skin and long, potato brown hair. He skipped towards the group, grinning widely.
"Annamaria Nero! Punctual as ever." The young boy said.
"Sidro Cannizzaro. Still shoving your nose into Pizzelle's business I see."
"Hey, I'll have you know that I already passed my test. I am an official member of the Weapons Unit now! Which means I have access to all the weapons you desire!"
Ignazio scoffed. "Can't believe Pizzelle made you a member of the Weapons Unit. You're not even done with puberty. "
"Neither are you, my friend. Neither are you."
"Can we just get this over with?" Bianca said, annoyed.
Sidro nodded. He grabbed the keys from the van and opened the back doors. Their eyes lit up as they looked on in awe at the pile of heavy artillery.
"Woah…"
"Like it? Only the best of the best for the daughter of the head of La Squadra! I got it alleverything from assault rifles to semi-automatics. All at your disposal and all at a slightly cheap price. Plus tax.”
“Thank you, Sidro, this - I promise to take any and all blame for this if you get caught,” Anna said.
Sidro waved her off, “Oh, I’m for sure getting caught, but don’t worry about it! This is a deal among friends. You use your father’s debit card to give me money and in return, I supply you weapons without a license. It’s a win-win situation!”
“You’re actually giving us these weapons? No joke?” Caramello asked hesitantly.
“No joke,” Sidro said, “I gotta get back quick, so if you need me to take these anywhere, now’s your chance!”
“I do have a place we can house those,” Anna said.
“You do?” Caramello raised an eyebrow.
Anna nodded, smiling. “We do. What, did you think we were just going to drag these home on the streets? I have a place for us now. If you’d like, you can join me.”
The rest of the group became excited, immediately piling into the back of the van. Luciano was about to hop in the back of the truck when he saw Caramello lingering behind him.
“Hey, are you coming?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just lost in thought, I guess…”
Luciano absentmindedly shrugged it off and piled in, crawling into the front seat before anyone could call shotgun.
‘This is going to be so cool!’ He thought, taking out his phone to take a celebratory selfie of him and the group.
Carbonara’s eyes widened as he lingered over one particularly concerning photo that had appeared in his feed, “Anna and the others ditched and just bought a shit load of weapons from Sidro.”
Gianetta perked up and slammed her locker door shut. She stood up, snatching the phone out of the taller boy’s hands, “Let me see that! I swear to god - ugh! Goddamnit, Luciano! At least the idiot doesn't have many followers."
"Wha- that's not the issue!"
"What is the issue?"
"The issue is that they are buying weapons. For themselves ! Does that no strike you as -I don't know - fucking illegal and dangerous?!"
Gianetta merely shrugged, "I mean, Anna's parents have a murder basement and a torture shed in case of intruders. Luciano and Alcee's fathers are mass murders who commit several counts of genocide. It isn't that strange to me."
Gianetta picked up her bag, mumbling to herself about how stupid Luciano was for posting it on his public account while Carbonara stood dumbfounded. Yes, his parents were mafiosos but he wasn't going out trying to grab an assault rifle and carry it around to protect himself. Was he just overreacting? Was he the only rational person who was thinking? Or was he being stupid? Should he tell Gianetta?
'No. No, I can't. She's too focused on her own shit. Get yours together before you start unloading it on others. Just fucking relax and talk to your goddamm therapist, you fucking -'
"HEADS UP!"
Carbonara was a bit too late when it came to coming out of his self loathing thoughts and right as he somehow walked out into the courtyard and got smacked in his face with a soccer ball. He fell back, feeling himself slam hard on the tile. His nose was bleeding and he could feel it go into his mouth. A crowd had begun to gather around him and he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
"H-holy shit! I am so sorry about this!" A squeaky voice exclaimed.
Carbonara grunted, sitting up, "I-It's okay. Don't worry about it."
"Your nose is a bloody faucet - here, let me help you up."
Carbonara shook his head, "N-No, it's fine. Really, I-"
He looked up at the boy standing in front of him. He was an inch or two taller than he was. He had messy blonde hair that was clearly trying to hide his natural black hair that was poking through his roots. His big teal eyes were peering into his soul and making him feel uneasy and he was dressed in a soccer uniform and cleats.
"I...I…"
"Please, let me take you to the nurse's office. It's the least I could do after fucking up your nose."
"I...I mean -"
"CARBO!" Gianetta yelled. She pushed through the crowd of staring people and took her place next to the mysterious boy, "What happened to your face?!"
"I'm so sorry, GiaGia! It's all my fault!"
Gianetta shook her head, "It was an accident, Dante. Relax. Carbo, can you get up?"
He nodded, pushing himself up and straightening his clothes which were now stained with blood.
"I'm so sorry!"
"Calm down, Dante. I'll just use one of my free hall passes and take him to the nurse's office. Hurry up and go change before you get chewed again."
The boy - Dante - was hesitant. He kept trying to hold up Carbonara until Gianetta eventually scared him off along with the rest of the crowd.
"Who was that?" Carbonara asked.
"Him? That was Dante Arancini. He's in our class. He sits in the back with Luciano and he's on the soccer team. Have you really not noticed him this entire time?"
"N-No, I haven't…"
"That's weird. He usually makes friends with everyone within seconds of seeing them. I can't believe you didn't notice him - or that he didn't notice you."
"Yeah...weird."
Carbonara looked back, trying to spot that head of blonde hair in the crowd of students.
'I should pay attention to my classmates more…Could really come in handy.'
To Be Continued>>>
Notes:
so sorry if you didn't enjoy this chapter and if I'm repeating Playlists but here's Matt's because I can:
Souk Eye - Gorillaz
Desolé - Gorillaz
Turn The Lights Off - Tally Hall
Intertwined - Dodie
Mirgrane - Twenty One Pilots
Prom Queen - Beach Bunny
Curses - Crane Wives
False Confidence - Noah Kahan
8Teen - Khalid
Boys Will Be Bugs - Cavetown
Chapter 14: Strangers And Skipping School part 2
Summary:
Carbonara makes a new friend while La Squadra Gen 2 go to their new hideout
Notes:
I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT HOLY SHIT! SO SORRY YALL HOPEFULLY NEXT IT WON'T TAKE SO LONG
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Once Carbonara's nose stopped bleeding and the nurse determined that it wasn't broken, she sent him back to class where he immediately found Dante Arancini sitting in the desk right next to his. He walked in and sat down, very confused.
"Uh, what are you doing?" He whispered.
"I wanted to talk to you," Dante replied, "I wanted to apologize for, you know, hitting you with a soccer ball. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and I'm just really, really sorry -"
"Arancini, Acardi - settle down back there!"
Both boys slinked down in their seats. Carbonara sighed, "Dude, it's fine. I don't care. My nose isn't broken and it didn't even hurt that much-" That was a lie, "Seriously. Just forget about it."
"But I feel bad for what happened! W-why don’t we start over?”
“That’s really not necessary…”
“I can still hear you!”
Carbonara rolled his eyes. Dante stuck out his hand for him to shake it, his smile stretched wide. He sighed, shaking the blonde boy’s hand. “I’m Pao-I mean, Carbonara. Carbonara Acardi.”
“Dante Arancini! I think we’re gonna be good friends!” Dante beamed, his smile stretching ear to ear.
Carbonara smirked. The teacher slammed her hands down on the desk, the veins in her head popping out for the entire class to see, “BOYS! If I have to tell you to quiet down ONE MORE TIME-"
"Can you please not yell?" Gianetta popped up, "You're interrupting my reading."
Dante watched intently as Carbonara tried to make himself small. He always hated how nonchalant Gianetta could be. The teacher turned as red as a tomato as she erupted with anger, "DETENTION! ALL THREE OF YOU! FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK!"
"At least I can finally get some peace and quiet. "
"Gia-"
The teacher stormed out in a huff. The students started murmuring under their breath. Carbonara turned to what he thought would be Dante with the same disapproving looks as the rest of his peers but he was actually trying to stifle his laughter.
'He's enjoying this shit. He's actually enjoying shit…he must be an idiot.'
And yet, Carbonara found himself smiling along with the boy. He was smiling at him for finding this stupid situation funny.
'What a weird dude.'
After a long drive with confusing directions and wrong turns, the La Squadra Kids and Sidro had made it to Annamaria’s set rendezvous point. It was a warehouse far out of the city, one used to make gluten-free pastries. It was very large with an alarming amount of meat-hanging hooks and empty grain holders. Alcee did twirls as they entered the empty building as the others went off to explore every corner of the warehouse.
But while everyone beamed at the idea of their very own ‘hideout’, Caramello was a bit unsettled. How did Anna manage to find a place like this? And, why a place like this? There were so many dangers - they could get seriously hurt? Could she not find a place that was much cleaner or better? Why did they even need a hideout anyways?
He felt a hand on his shoulder. Sidro and Anna appeared next to him. The younger boy leaned against him as he took in the sight while a pleased smile tugged at Anna’s lips.
“This is a fine place you got here, Anna,” Sidro said as he whistled, “How’d ya get it?”
“I found it,” Anna replied.
“You found it?” Caramello questioned.
“My father was doing a job out here a few weeks ago. I was fortunate enough to have tagged along. I saw this place, kept watch over it to make sure no one bought it before I could take it, invited Bianca to help clean it, and the rest is history.”
“So, you don’t actually own this place?”
“I do now.” She said with a devilish smile.
The rest of the conversation was lost on Caramello as Anna led Sidro to the designated weapons room, only hearing something about Sidro wanting a trap door in the Weapons Unit’s hideout.
He had an off feeling about everything that was going on. Something about it was just too odd and much too reckless. He somewhat expected this from the others, like the twins and Sidro. They were young and didn’t take things seriously. But Anna and Bianca were the oldest and the smartest of all of them, yet they were acting as if buying weapons and moving into an abandoned building was just another trip to the mall or something.
It wasn’t right, but he doubted that any of them would take his word seriously. As far as they knew, they were living out their dreams. They had power, both supernatural and influence-wise, and while he desired a piece of it too, he didn’t want it like this - especially this early in his life.
Meanwhile, Matteo stood in a corner, urgently texting something on his phone. Ignazio came up behind him and rested his chin on his shoulder, “Whatcha doin’?”
“Texting,” He mumbled.
“You’re telling your dad where we are, aren’t you?”
He nodded sheepishly.
“What’s he saying?”
Matteo sighed, “He says that he’s glad that I’m okay but I’m gonna be grounded for the rest of my life.”
Ignazio patted his back sympathetically, “Don’t worry, buddy. Once we get back, we’re all fucked. But, hey. At least they don’t know about this place so we can hang out without them bothering us.”
“....”
“You gave them our location, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
Ignazio sighed, shaking his head. “You are so screwed once Bianca finds out.”
Matteo slumped forward in shame, but he was interrupted by Luciano rushing in with Alcee. The twins were feeling the walls of the room, knocking on each one.
“The hell are you doing?” Ignazio asked.
Alcee perked up, “We’re looking for a good place to put a secret room in!”
“Alcee! You weren’t supposed to tell them! That’s why it’s called a secret room!” Luciano exclaimed.
“It’s still a secret! Just...not to those two!”
Luciano rolled his eyes. The other two walked over as Luciano looked for a good corner for his room.
“I don’t get it. You open rooms all the time, so why make it secret?”
Luciano stood up, “We’ve had to fight a lot more Stand Users than we have in the past. That girl, Constantia, she knows what my Stand can do. She probably told Acerbo and the others about it. I wanna be prepared. I wanna make sure that I can protect you guys, or at least buy you guys some time if-”
“Woah, Woah, Woah,” Ignazio cut in, “Don’t talk like that. No one here is gonna be sacrificing themselves for anybody, okay? Even if they know what we can do, we can still beat the shit outta them together. You got that? Ain’t nobody dying on my watch.”
That managed to get a small smile out of Luciano. The younger twin nodded, and Ignazio ruffled his hair. Matteo smiled too, but there was a pit in his stomach that took away the impact of Ignazio’s words.
‘This doesn’t feel right...why doesn’t this feel right? This is what we wanted, right? So, why does it feel like...like I’m way in over my head?’
The day had finally come to an end for Carbonara. He had spent most of his day with the very chatty and bubbly Dante Arancini, and during his time he had learned a couple of things about his new friend.
For one thing, he seemed normal. No connections to Passione or any other rival gang. He loved playing soccer, he surprisingly had an interest in the works of H.P. Lovecraft like he did, and he talked. A lot. Almost to an annoying degree.
But he seemed really cool. He seemed...normal.
When his time in detention was up, he found Dante standing by the lockers. He had waited for him. Once he saw Carbonara, he started grinning.
‘Okay, that smile is starting to get really creepy.’ “Hey.”
“Hey! You wanna walk home together?” He asked cheerfully.
“Uh, sorry. Not today. I’ve got a lot to do. Maybe next time.”
Dante nodded, still smiling, “Okay! Is it cool if I walk you outside then?”
“Uh, sure?”
Dante beamed. They made their way through the halls of their twisty school. Dante was rambling on about something, but Carbonara wasn’t listening.
‘There’s something...off about this kid. Why is he being so friendly to me? I just met him this morning and he wants to walk me home? Could he be an enemy? No -No, Carbo. You’re just being paranoid. He’s a normal guy. Just a normal, sports-loving, annoying guy-’
He stopped. His heart leaped in his throat as his heart began to race. He hadn’t noticed that he had reached over and grabbed Dante’s hand, pulling him close. He was more focused on the familiar brunette braid that rounded one of the corners ahead of them. His breathing became heavy. He could feel Feel Good Inc. come out and prepare to strike. His vision was beginning to blur as images of Figa filled his head. Dante suddenly appeared in front of him, his hands resting on his shoulders.
“Carbonara, are you okay?” He asked gently, a confused smile tugging at his lips. He shook him a little.
Carbonara looked at him, then back to the braided figure. It was one of the eighth-graders on the volleyball team with one of their friends. They were heading to practice. He then looked around. Some of the detention kids were staring at him. Gianetta stepped into view and tried signaling him to put Feel Good Inc. away.
He quickly drew back his Stand and tried to compose himself. "S-sorry, Arancini. Guess...guess I just freaked….freaked out a little. Thought I saw something…"
"Oh, that's okay!" Dante replied, returning to his chirpy nature, "Here, I'll help."
He grabbed Carbonara's hand and walked him outside, Gianetta following closely behind. Carbonara couldn't help but turn red.
"I'm sorry about what there," He mumbled, somewhat hoping Dante didn't hear him.
"It's okay! We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"I...thank you."
The trio made their way outside. Gianetta raced ahead of them, stopping a few feet ahead. She waved them both goodbye, staring at Carbonara the most with furrowed brows. They both waved back. Carbonara did his best to form some kind of expression to show that he was fine, but he looked a lot more awkward than fine. She turned around and took off in the direction of her father's car.
Across the street, Abbacchio was waving him over.
"Ah, that's my dad. I gotta get going. I'll see you tomorrow, Arancini."
Dante nodded, throwing his arms around Carbonara and hugging him tightly. Carbonara had to take a step back.
'He's hugging me? Why is he hugging me?'
The sweet aroma of roses and honey filled Carbonara's senses. His racing heart slowed and he suddenly felt at ease. He somewhat melted into the hug but was interrupted by his father.
"PAOLO! LET'S GO! I GOT WORK TO DO!"
Carbonara quickly broke away from the hug and took off running, "G-gotta go! Later, Arancini!"
"Bye, Carbo!"
Carbonara cringed. 'Crap! I forgot I gave him my real name!' He waved him goodbye and hopped into the passenger seat.
"Who was that boy and how did he know your name?" Abbacchio questioned.
"H-he's a boy in my class. Gianetta knows him."
"Okay, but that doesn't explain how he knows your name. And what happened to your face?"
"Oh, heh. He, uh, kinda accidentally nailed me in the face with a soccer ball. I-I'm fine, though!"
"You sure? Or are you just saying that because you don't want me to beat the shit outta him?"
" Both, " Carbonara replied.
Abbacchio sighed, "Tesoro, you gotta be more careful than that. He could be an enemy."
"I mean, he seems pretty normal to me. Plays soccer, never shuts up."
"Can never be too sure. And I'm assuming that this boy is also the reason you had detention today?"
"Him and Gianetta, yes."
"That kid…anyways, we gotta make a quick stop over by the church. I have to pick up something for your dad."
"It's fine, dad…"
Carbonara yawned, feeling an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion take hold of him.
"You okay, Tesoro?"
"Yeah, dad. Just...really tired today. "
Abbacchio's hand went to his forehead.
"I'm fine, dad. Just a little tired."
"If you say so, Carbo. Just take a nap. This should be quick."
Carbonara sleepily nodded as he moved the seat back and closed his eyes.
The dream was the same as it always was since the incident.
He was back in that sports supply closet in his old school, that feeling of dread and anxiety weighing down on him. He tried to keep his eyes shut and his hands at his sides.
'I don't want to do it.'
That's what he kept telling himself as a strange force kept trying to pull his arms away from him and pry his eyes open.
'No, no, no! I don't want to do it! I don't want to do it! I won't do it!'
His eyes shot open. A shadowy figure in the shape of Figa stood in front of him, hands outstretched as if to grab him. His hands moved on their own and he was just about to lunge at the figure when the smell of honey and flowers filled his senses. He looked down at his feet. A collection of leaves were suddenly under him. He fell through, falling in pitch-black darkness until his body slammed into a bed of sweet peas. He didn’t scream or panic - which was a surprise for him.
He oddly felt at ease. Like, for the first time in a while, he could breathe easier. He didn’t have to worry about everything that was happening or everything that would happen. He could finally relax.
Prosciutto was pissed.
No, he wasn’t pissed. He was fucking infuriated. More than he has ever been in his entire life.
Once again, his daughter was trying to play mafioso and ditched school to hang out with her friends and Sidro Cannizarro from the Weapons Unit in an abandoned building. He swore under his breath as he pulled into the dirt parking lot and slammed on the horn with his fist. Anna and the others were just exiting the building when he rolled down the window and shouted, “ANNA, GET YOUR ASS IN THE CAR! NOW!”
Anna’s face flushed, embarrassed. Bianca shot a glare at Matteo, assuming him to be the culprit who ratted them out -which he was, but he had only found that out after Anna’s school called saying she was missing.
Anna stomped over to the car and into the passenger seat, facing away from him. Ignazio waved at them, “See ya later, Mr. Nero!”
“You all realize you’re fucked when you get home, right?”
“Oh trust me, “ Bianca growled, “We know.”
Prosciutto rolled up the window and sped off.
“How the hell did you find me?!” Anna exclaimed, red as a tomato.
“Oh, no. Don’t you dare take that tone with me after the shit you pulled today! And what the fuck was Sidro Cannizarro doing with you?!”
“We were just hanging out!”
“It’s a Tuesday and Sidro goes to school two towns over! You were not just ‘hanging out’!”
“You don’t know that…”
Prosciutto shook his head, “I swear to God, Anna - you are grounded until further notice. I’m taking your phone, your laptop - you are going to be escorted to and from school and I swear, I’m going to station men outside of your school to make sure you stay in there if I have to.”
“You can’t do that!”
“The hell I can’t! Until you stop pulling shit like this, you are not to go anywhere except school, and you are forbidden from talking to any of your friends!”
“Father, I am 17! I’m almost a fucking adult-”
“Well, you sure as hell ain’t acting like it! And I don’t wanna hear another word about this shit!”
Anna opened her mouth to argue but, realizing she had no good rebuttal, she kept quiet. Prosciutto was still boiling with anger. He muttered things under his breath, trying to compose himself. He wasn't sure why his daughter was doing all of these outrageous and dangerous things, but he sure as shit wasn't going to let her do it again.
Tomorrow, he and Risotto would go back to the warehouse and get rid of everything inside. Hell, he would burn the entire place down if it would stop her from trying to put herself in danger.
The only thing he could manage with only half of his fury in his voice was, "Just wait until your father hears about this…."
The next day, Carbonara found Dante Arancini standing at his locker, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Usually, the twins, Gianetta, and Matteo would be there waiting for him, but they had all gotten in trouble in some way, shape, or form and were most likely being separated from one another on purpose.
He found it odd, but he was more glad that he had someone to talk to. Dante spotted him and waved to him. He waved back. As he walked towards him, he noticed that a few people were looking at him strangely. Like he didn't deserve to be Dante's friend or something.
Dante leaned forward for a hug but Carbonara gently pushed him away, "W-Woah -"
"Oh, sorry! Was that too much?"
"A little, yeah." 'I mean, I only just met you. Unless you like hugging strangers.'
"Sorry! Totally should've asked if it was okay! So sorry, Carbonara."
"It's cool, man. Just ask next time, okay?"
Dante nodded, still smiling. Carbonara smiled back at him, thinking how he could get used to his smile.
"You wanna walk to class together?" He asked, saying back and forth.
"Sure. I mean, we were gonna do that anyway. We're in the same class."
Dante laughed. Carbonara was puzzled since it wasn't a joke and even if it was, it wasn't that funny, but Carbonara laughed a little too. After he had grabbed his things out of his locker, he and Dante walked to class. This time, Carbonara listened intently to his blonde friend's ramblings. He talked about things like what kind of desserts he likes, the best places to get ice cream, the fact that his family had accidentally bought an antique shop and suddenly needed to fill it with a bunch of antiques.
All of this he learned in three hours before the bell for the first recess rang. Carbonara waited for Dante to get his things together before they left for the schoolyard. They had once again taken a long way around, mostly because Carbonara didn't want to continue to be stared at by the other students.
He didn't wonder why they stared at him, but it was odd.
The two found themselves in an empty hallway and beside a staircase. Carbonara slowed down to let Dante finish his next thought before he started upon another tangent.
"I'm telling you, Carbo - it was huge! I have to show you one of these days!"
Carbonara chuckled. "I'm looking forward to it."
Dante beamed, giggling a little bit.
"Hey, Arancini. Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"I don't mean this to be rude, but why are you being so nice to me? I'm new and I didn't even notice you, like at all. So, why?"
Dante shrugged. "I dunno. You just...seem real to me."
"What do you mean by 'real'?"
"I mean, I knew you found me annoying and sort of clingy, but then you genuinely liked me hanging out with you. And I like that. I like that you were real with me, even if you were trying not to tell me how annoying I am."
He giggled again, but it was more of a sad giggle. But that wasn't what caught Carbonara off guard. What caught him off guard was the ghostly figure hovering behind him, almost phasing into him. The sweet smell had returned and Carbonara put two and two together.
"You son of a bitch-"
He drew out Feel Good Inc. and punched Dante down the stairs. Dante used his Stand to land without hurting himself. Like Carbonara’s Stand, Dante’s was the same size as him. It was an ivory color - almost like an ivory statue. Colorful flowers bloomed from its back. The hallway instantly filled up with red smoke from Feel Good Inc. Dante backed away, the smile that had been religiously plastered on his face was gone.
“Carbo, what-”
Carbonara jumped forward for another attack. Dante rolled out of the way, precariously sitting at the edge of the second set of stairs.
"You lying asshole! To think, I actually started to trust you!"
"Carbonara, it's not what you think! I-i mean, I don't really know what you're thinking, but it's probably not-"
" Stop talking! You're full of shit. This is the last time I ever try and make friends with fuckers like yo-"
Dante lunged forward. Carbonara raised his fists, preparing to attack but that was when he realized that Dante wasn't trying to attack him. He instead shoved him out of the way with his elbow as something broke through the large window to their right and pushed Dante down the second flight of stairs.
Carbonara stepped back as the figure slowly rose to his feet, three spiked tentacles sprouting from his back.
"Well, guess I have to thank you, kid. Cause you just made my job a whole lot easier."
To Be Continued >>>
Notes:
it's Time for Dante’s Playlist!
-Wasteland, Baby! -Hozier
-Hidden In The Sand - Tally Hall
-Tune Into The Madness - The Stupdendium ft. Dan Bull
Friend - Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams
Bmblb - Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams
Like morning follows night - Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams
Outside with the cuties - frankie cosmos
A pearl - Mitski
Chapter 15: Schoolhouse Rock
Summary:
Carbonara and Dante escape and come up with a plan to defeat Polenta. Later, Giorno makes a declaration that does not sit well with Gianetta.
Notes:
I always have to apologize because Holy shit do I take forever to fucking right this. I am so sorry. A lot happened these past months and I am currently a senior in high school going through the college admission process so my time has been kept by school and such.
I am so sorry to keep you waiting. And I apologize if this chapter wasn't worth the wait.
Again, if I wrote anything that offended you, is offensive, or if I am spreading misinformation, please tell me. Tell me and I will make time to fix it because I would hate to offended someone or spread misinformation that could potentially cause harm to someone or a community.
Hope you enjoy this chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Carbonara stared terrified at the figure strolling towards him, the crunch of the broken glass loud beneath his feet. He was a tall, lean teenager- around Anna’s age- with unkempt silver hair and clad in black leather. Eight long, spiked tentacles protruded from his back and slinked around the floor, searching for him. Carbonara scurried up against the wall behind him as the tall figure turned his head towards him.
“There you are,” He cooed, “For a second there, I thought I had the wrong school. You can’t blame me too much, though. You’re not exactly what one imagines when you think of Bruno Buccellati’s son.”
Carbonara trembled, “W-who are you?”
The boy laughed, “Oh come now. You know who I am. Surely they’ve told you about me and all of the ‘awful, horrific’ things I’ve done to people, haven’t they?”
“Y-you’ll have to be more specific,” he swallowed hard, “Lot of you guys have done awful and horrific shit.”
The boy frowned, “Don’t play dumb with me, boy. I was one of the many people your dear ol’ dad fucked over. I had the brains to get out and not play into their goody-two-shoes bullshit. I’m also the one who’s gonna put you and your little shit godsister into the ground.”
‘He’s talking about Gianetta. She isn’t here today, but I doubt that will stop him from going out and killing her once he’s done with me. I have to stop him. Right here, right now.’
“C...Carbo…?”
Carbonara’s heart sank. He looked down to see that Dante was still alive, struggling to get up. The other boy took notice, sighing. “That’s right. Still have him to deal with. Guess I should try to keep this thing on the down-low from others, huh? Wouldn’t want them freakin’ out and callin’ the cops or something, am I right?” He smirked as he started walking down the stairs towards Dante, “It’s not like they’d be able to stop me even if they did catch me.”
Carbonara lunged forward, Feel Good Inc. launching right in front of him. The boy turned his head ever so slightly, one of his sharp tentacles going after his neck. He dove out of the way, rolling to the other side of the staircase. He cursed himself as the silver-haired boy turned around with a devilish grin. “Oh come now. You know better than that. ”
All eight of his tentacles shot at him like a bullet. Carbonara threw himself down the stairs to avoid being hit. Dante was only half-conscious when Carbonara grabbed his wrist and pulled him through the halls.
In truth, Carbonara had a vague recollection of who his assailant was. He had heard about him in passing between his parents and godparents and a few times during their confidential meetings.
His name was Polenta. He was a born Stand User who was already a sick and twisted fuck before he joined Acerbo on his crusade of carnage. His Stand was Witch Hunt. Eight powerful tentacles filled with two types of venom; a power paralytic and a fatal substance similar to cyanide that he used to ravage an entire rival operation and seven students during his short time in school.
Needless to say, they were both pretty fucked.
The two stumbled down the stairs, scrambling for the basement level of the school. Carbonara spotted an empty classroom near the end of the hallway.
“Let’s hide in here,” Carbonara said as he shoved Dante into the classroom. They dove under an old desk. Dante began to regain more of his consciousness. Carbonara went to place a hand on his shoulder but quickly pulled his hand away.
'No way he would want me to comfort him. Not after what I did to him.'
"So," Dante started, "I'm guessing since we're hiding out down here, that guy trying to kill us is real and not the result of a terrible concussion?"
Carbonara nodded, biting the inside of his cheek.
“Would you like to tell me why he wants to kill us?”
“He wants to kill me a lot more than you, trust me. It’ll mean nothing if you get away. It’s me he wants.”
“Why? What did you do?”
Carbonara let out a heavy sigh, “It’s...I’m a part of a gang.”
“You’re in a gang?”
“Well, sort of. It’s - my dad. He’s one of the elite guards of Passione. Him - Polenta - he and his group are trying to get revenge on my dad and my godfather and he’s-”
“Trying to kill you to get that revenge.”
Carbonara nodded, “I’ve never had a normal friend who wasn’t in Passione. Hell, I don’t even have normal friends - my closest friends are the Russo twins, and they were a part of the Great Third Floor Flooding. When you started talking to me, it was like I could finally stop worrying about someone I care about possibly dying while standing right next to me. For a short time, I felt like...like I could breathe.”
“And then you tried to beat the shit outta me.”
“Yeah...that.”
Dante chuckled, "It's cool. It's the first time I've been ragdolled by another Stand User. And it was kinda on me, anyways. I shouldn't have used Wasteland, Baby on you. I thought I was going to help you but I overstepped and freaked you out instead."
"Thanks...for apologizing. I should too. I shouldn't have tried to beat the shit outta you. And threaten to kill you."
"Thanks, but this one was on me. Really, I'm sorry."
"Do you," Carbonara hugged his knees to his chest, "If we make it out of this, do you think...do you think we can start over? Be real friends who don't pummel the shit out of each other and get into life-threatening situations?"
"I can't promise the second thing, but I would love to be friends with you again!"
Carbonara chuckled. "Thanks…"
Dante beamed. Their moment was short-lived by the sound of a loud bang. Carbonara shivered.
"He's here. Shit!"
"Hey, hey! It's okay! We'll get out of this!"
"No, we won't. He's one of the most ruthless killers out there! He's going to kill us!"
A light blue cloud of anxiety pooled around them. Dante looked around, placing his hands on Carbonara's shoulders.
"Is this...your Stand?"
He nodded. "F-Feel Good Inc...it turns my emotions into clouds of smoke. It amplifies what I'm already feeling while projecting my emotions onto my opponent. Makes me lose control…"
Dante grinned. "That's perfect!"
"How-"
"M-my Stand - Wasteland, Baby - it can release an aroma, like your smoke! It relaxes people, and if I focus enough, it can put him into a deep sleep! If I focus enough, I can exhaust him so that you can get an easy win against him!"
"But what if I pass out?"
"That's why you're gonna use Feel Good to get angry and keep your momentum! I'll balance you out so you don't lose control. I'll help you out."
"This won't work."
Another bang followed by four large shadows passing through the window of the classroom.
"Well, it's the only plan I've got. So we at least have to try."
Carbonara nodded. He shut his eyes tightly. He thought about every single thing that could have possibly made him angry. Being so helpless when he was kidnapped, the idea of his family being killed by these monsters knocking at their door when he made himself feel so horrible and alone by isolating and repressing his emotions.
The anger began to bubble to the top. He could feel it swirling around the room. At the same time, Dante’s calming energy was poking at his bubble of anger, worming its way in and creating something new.
"Holy shit," Dante said.
"I know. It's a lot…" Carbonara replied.
"It's okay. People are a lot. This is a lot. Just keep it up."
Dante squeezed his shoulders as Carbonara rooted through his angry thoughts. The door to the classroom flew open and into the opposite wall. Polenta crawled inside, flinging the desk they were hiding behind.
"Shit!"
"You little shits are really starting to get on my -" Polenta fell to his knees, grabbing at his head. "AGH!"
"What's wrong with him?"
"Emotional whiplash with a little bit of sensory overload. Come on."
Carbonara brought out his Stand as Polenta flailed uncontrollably. Feel Good Inc. grabbed the unspiked tips of his tentacles and flung him into a pile of stacked desks. He launched himself forward, landing a flurry of punches at Polenta’s face. One of his tentacles launched for his neck. Feel Good Inc. grabbed it and with all the strength they could muster and ripped it clean off. Polenta let out an ear-piercing scream. Blood painted the walls and ceiling. The poisons stained Carbonara’s hands.
“Close your mouth!” Dante shouted.
“AGH! PATHETIC LITTLE SHITS!” Another tentacle lunged at Carbonara, stabbing him full of the paralytic poison. He went down in an instant.
“CARBO!”
Polenta spat blood. He sneered as his eyes met Dante’s.
“I’m gonna have some fun tearing apart Buccellati’s son….But first, gotta get rid of the witnesses.”
Carbonara watched as Polenta stalked towards Dante.
‘No...Dante...I-I can’t move! I can’t...I can’t….!’
“WASTELAND, BABY!”
The room was engulfed in a white cloud. The red from Feel Good Inc. swirled around, creating a light pink. Carbonara heard a loud thud. Polenta’s figure fell to the ground. He was starting to lose consciousness.
“CARBO!”
‘Dante?’
He felt a tug on his arm. Dante pulled him up, hugging him around his waist. “You’re gonna be okay...ngh...you’re also surprisingly heavy!”
He grunted as he dragged Carbonara out of the classroom and into the empty hallway. The door slammed shut behind them, and that was the last thing Carbonara could hear before succumbing to Wasteland, Baby’s ability.
When he came to, his whole body felt like pins and needles. He could move, but just barely. Everything ached and he just felt exhausted overall. He opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar yellow taxi with a very familiar face sitting beside him.
“Ar...Arancini?”
“Hey! You’re alive! That’s good!”
“See? Told you he’d be fine.”
“Miss Agata...Dante...what happened?”
“Well, the teachers heard all of the destruction and screaming so they called the cops. Good thing your old man knows them. They believed our story and let us off the hook."
Carbonara struggled to sit up, "W-what about Polenta?"
"Gone," Agata chimed in, "Escaped before anyone could find him. There's a manhunt on him, but I doubt they'll find him."
He groaned, "Great. Just great."
"You're okay though! That's good!"
"I probably wouldn't have made it out of there alive if it weren't for you, Dante. Thank you for sticking with me."
Dante grinned and enveloped Carbonara in a tight hug, "What are friends for?"
"Y-yeah...but could you please let go? My whole body hurts really bad."
"Oh! Sorry!"
Carbonara laughed. "You're good. But I'm sure I won't be once my parents get a hold of me."
"I'm sure you'll be fine! They seem like nice people even though I've never met them."
"We'll see…"
To his surprise, they pulled up to the front of Gianetta's house (which Miss Agata would surely be reprimanded for).
"They need to talk to you," Was all she said. Dante followed him as they entered the house with Carbonara's spare key and went upstairs to the office.
"Woah…"
"Yeah. It's not as big as you expect but it's nice. My godfather likes to keep a low profile. Not one to flaunt his wealth."
They came to the office. Cassata, Gianetta, and Laurenza sat in a line of chairs facing Giorno's desk while the others stood to the side.
"Carbo!" Abbacchio shouted.
"Tesoro! You're okay!" Bruno yelled.
They ran towards him and hugged him with a death grip.
"Y-yeah, I'm okay. B-but you're probably breaking my already broken bones, so could you please let go?"
"Right."
"Sorry Tesoro. "
Carbonara gasped for air. "I-it's fine."
"Carbonara did great! He held his own pretty well in battle!" Dante exclaimed.
"...who the fuck is this?"
"My normal-ish friend, Dante. We beated the shit out of each other and then beated the shit out of Polenta before he escaped."
"Well, Carbonara, you're going to have to say goodbye to your school friend for a while." Giorno said, sitting down at his desk.
"What do you mean?" Laurenza asked.
"We've come to an agreement. With Acerbo and his gang still out there and coming for you all, we have made the decision to...to pull you all from school."
"WHAT?!"
"Acerbo knows where you attend school, and you've all been harmed in one way or another because of our negligence. It's only a matter of time before they find out where we live. So, we're keeping you on lockdown until this issue is resolved."
"That means no going to school, no going out with friends to unfamiliar places, and you are no longer allowed to have any involvement in the situation." Fugo stated.
"This is bullshit!" Gianetta exclaimed.
"Watch your language with me, Gianetta!"
"But this is bullshit! We've shown you how capable we are with holding our own in battle! We can take care of ourselves!"
"Gianetta, you've barely survived the times you've been attacked. Cassata and Carbonara were lucky to get out of their fights alive . You have no formal experience with your Stand. Hell, you've barely had it for a month."
"Then teach me! Show me how I can fight better so I can-"
"No!" Giorno slammed his hand on the desk, "Gianetta, I am putting my foot down. You are not to have any involvement in any of this. You are not to go into my office or my drawers and look for anything about this. You are not to even seek out information about this. Do I make myself clear?"
Gianetta narrowed her eyes. She stood from her chair, walked over to the desk, slammed her fist on the desk, and spoke the words that no child would ever dare to utter to their parents.
"Make me."
Notes:
Thank you for reading this installment of Belle âme! I can’t promise the next chapter will come out soon, but I will do my best to get to work on it as soon as possible.
Chapter 16: Words Fail
Summary:
Gianetta and Giorno have an argument about the current situation. Matteo is attacked by an enemy in his own home.
Notes:
I am so sorry that I take forever with this shit. I make the mistake of writing a million and one series at a time but hopefully once all of my college stuff done and get my life together, I will be more frequent and better with updates.
Warning for Violence and threats
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Giorno had sent everyone else out of the office and when the door closed, Gianetta could tell she had absolutely fucked up. She somewhat understood that fact when the words had left her mouth and the expression on Laurenza's face when she had challenged her father and basically had a death wish in doing so.
There was no turning back. She had to stand her ground, no matter how much dread was piling on her shoulders, no how wrong she might have been or was.
The second Giorno shut the door behind them, he gave her a look that could have killed a whole room of gunmen. He didn't even wait to go back to his desk. He immediately came marching up to her with the scariest glare.
"I don't know where you think you can get off talking to me like that, but I know damn well I didn't teach you that shit. " He hissed.
"I-"
"No. You listen to me. I am done with this. All of this. I am done enabling you, I am done letting you put yourself in danger, I am done with your fantasy-"
"It's not a fantasy. I care about this family too! I am helping this family!" Gianetta exclaimed.
“You are a child, Gia! You don’t know the first thing about running a gang, let alone being the boss of one! Recklessly throwing yourself into danger -”
“-Is the exact thing you did when you were fifteen and trying to make your way up to where you are now! This isn’t about that though! This is about protecting you all -”
“That is not -”
“What? That’s not the same? How can you sit here and berate me when you went off and had your adventure and –”
“BECAUSE YOU ARE A CHILD! ” Giorno slammed his hand on the desk, “You are a child, who doesn’t know a damn thing about what it takes to run a gang! To be the reason why people live and die! You think just because you have my name, just because you have a Stand and men behind you means you can suddenly take your seat at the table? Well, you’re wrong. And refuse to let you continue to do wrong and let someone else get hurt. You and Laurenza are not allowed outside of this house without my word. You are both to stay here and you will not be returning to school until further notice. Do I make myself clear?”
Gianetta’s mouth fell open. She turned to Laurenza. She turned her head away. Words were lost on her. Her brain was a screaming mess.
‘This isn’t fair. This isn’t fair, this isn’t fair. This. Isn’t. FAIR!’
She ran out of the office, slamming the door shut behind her. Hot tears ran down her face as she took shelter in her room for a few seconds before her older sister came in and carefully closed the door behind her.
“This isn’t fair,” Gianetta choked out, “He can’t do this…”
“Yeah, well he is,” Laurenza replied with a sigh.
“Why are you so okay with this?”
“Okay – Gianetta, I’m furious! You act like you’re only who’s -” She stopped herself. She shook her head, “You know what? Nevermind.”
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“It is something. Just tell me.”
Her sister pinched the bridge of her nose, “It’s – You’re not the only one who’s pissed off about this! I want to go to school like a normal girl too! I want to go out and hang out with my friends and be normal without having to watch my back or wonder if the people I’m with are going to kill me or not! But I can’t! Not with my stupid Stand, not with being the Boss’ daughter, and…and not with being with you all the time either.”
Gianetta’s eyes went wide. “What?”
Laurenza fell onto her bed. “Look, I love you. It’s not that I hate spending time with you or hate you in general. But I hate that I’m not your sister all the time, or even dad’s other daughter. I have to be your bodyguard, your babysitter, your ‘teammate’. I have to be all of those but never Laurenza Giovanna. I always have to be there whenever you get yourself into shit. I always have to ditch my plans because I have to be there for you. I always have to go along with your plans because I don’t trust you on your own –”
“You don’t trust me?”
Laurenza paused. “I…I don’t always.”
“So…when you agreed to help me with my dream…you –”
“I meant it… at that moment. Right now…I think you should take papa’s advice and let the adults handle this. They’re just like us. Young, stupid Stand Users that probably aren’t as experienced as Papa and the others are. They’ll slip up and they’ll be gone like that,” She snapped her fingers.
Gianetta sat there silently. Her fingers twitched as she fought the urge to ball them into fists. She began grinding her molars.
“Gia? Are you–”
“I need time to myself.” She stood up, hastily walking to their shared closet.
Laurenza jumped from her bed to follow her. “Gia, wait. I’m just saying –”
She shut the door in her, grabbing a belt and tying it around the handles. She slid against the doors, falling to the floor. She grabbed an old pair of noise-canceling headphones by her feet.
“Gia-” Sweet Music prompted.
“I’m not in the mood.”
“Gianetta, I really think–”
“I don’t want to talk right now, okay? I don’t want to talk, I don’t want to think, I don’t want to do anything. I just want to sit here and be…nothing for a while.”
Sweet Music didn’t respond. Gianetta shook her head, sliding the headphones over her ears.
‘How can you even think, anyway? You’re a part of me, you have my thoughts, and so far they aren’t very good ones.’
Matteo had spent the past hour getting reprimanded by his parents after they found out (or, when he told them.) about his and his friends’ whereabouts. He never got into too much trouble, half of the reason being that he would always tell them the truth, in the end, no matter what – Sale always told him never to be a snitch, but better a snitch than dead or grounded for a year – and a half because whenever he did get in trouble, they would end up arguing about how much of a shitty job each of them did when it came to raising him. What he got out of the conversation was that what he did was dumb, he was slightly dumb, and he was grounded for a month or so – at least until the Acerbo situation was dealt with. He didn’t really mind, mostly because they did fuck all of what their parents said.
Even as he fell back onto his bed, arms spread out, he wondered how soon it would be until Alcee and Luciano would open a room into his to drag him into another adventure.
Not like he would be up for an adventure.
His body was a rock, sinking deeper and deeper into his mattress. He was too done with everything to get up, to think about how he could make things right. He didn’t want to say that he didn’t expect everything to get so fucked. He knew that eventually, things would become a fucked shitstorm. It was more appropriate to say that he didn’t expect shit to hit the fan as quickly as it did.
Maybe everything would have gone better if he hadn’t told his dads. Maybe if he tried to convince Anna out of taking them to that shady warehouse or buying the shady warehouse, to begin with. Maybe if he talked himself out of pricking himself with the Stand Arrow… no.
Well, yes. Maybe his life would be slightly different if he hadn’t hit himself with the Arrow. His parents would have one less thing to fight about. The number of people who wanted to kill him would go down by 7%. But that wouldn’t change the fact that a bunch of angry teenagers wanted him dead and had great means to make sure that would happen. That wouldn’t change the fact that he would still be helpless to his friends, possibly dying right in front of him. That wouldn’t change the fact that he was the son of two mafiosos and his life would be in constant danger.
His stomach clenched.
‘Great,’ He thought, ‘Now I’ve made myself sick. Fuck me.’
He sat up, sighing deeply. ‘I don’t wanna go down there. They’re still arguing and I don’t want to deal with that shit. Ugh, but if I don’t go now, I won’t be able to eat or sleep later. Fuck.’
He begrudgingly pulled himself up from his bed. He walked halfway across his room, floorboards creaking under each step. He counted each one in his mind as he had done a thousand times before. He got to an especially creaky part of the floor, one that moaned for a good 10 seconds every time he stepped on it.
1…
2…
3…
4, 5…
6…
7…
8, 9…
10…
11, 12 –
He stopped. 2 seconds too long. The sound didn’t even come from under him. It was behind him. Under his bed.
Even worse, the enemy must have noticed he froze because whatever was under his bed scurried across the floor and was heading straight for him.
‘Shit.’
He jumped, racing for the door. A small hand wrapped around his ankle and dragged him to the floor. Another set of hands grabbed his other ankle and his right arm. They all varied in size but they were all the same chestnut hand with a scar from a bike crash from kindergarten. The hands dragged him away from the door and to the middle of his room. He turned onto his back. His heart fell to his stomach as he stared back at…himself. Four different versions of himself, in fact.
Him at 5-years-old, him at 7-6, him at 10, and him just last year. He didn’t remember himself being that strong at any of those points of his life. Their eyes were devoid of their pupils, just straight white staring back at him.
“Ngh, l-let go of me!” He yelled, wiggling around to try and break free.
The closet door creaked open. A tall, slender girl with wavy auburn hair and a black, shimmery dress and heels stepped. She looked ready for the red carpet. She stepped out with the utmost grace as she looked him over curiously.
“Hm, will you look at that? The son of a second-rate mafioso pinned down without a good fight. As expected from the production of Sale and Mario Zucchero.”
Matteo grunted, “W-what the hell is this?!”
“This? Why this–” She sat elegantly on his bed with her legs crossed, “-- is an exposure piece by me. Acquacotta. Producer, director, loyal comrade to my dear friend and employer –”
“Acerbo…You were sent here by Acerbo. The guy who’s trying kill the Boss.”
She smirked. “So you know of our work?”
“W-what do you want from me? If I’m such a second-rate, why are you wasting your time with me? Shouldn’t you go out to look for someone like Buccellati or the Boss’ kid?”
‘Why the fuck am I encouraging her to go out and murder my friends?’
She stood up, strutting over to him. She bent down and reached out with her perfectly manicured hand to cup his cheek. “Because, my dear, I am fully aware that you are a lot closer to the Giovannas than you would try to leave me to believe. That towel girl – Constantia – she told me about you. Saw you there, assumed you might’ve had a Stand. You can never be too sure about her. But she did mention how fiercely protective you seemed about that Giovanna girl. And since the ‘Boss’ has made it so it is impossible to put her in one set location, you are my next best option.”
“For you see, your fathers aren’t as careful as Don Giovanna. They’re not as meticulous as to circle the same streets on their way home to ensure they’re not being followed or watched. They don’t install a VPN on your phone to change your location so no one can pinpoint your location or hack your phone. They don’t send others to watch you so they can ensure your safety. They don’t take the steps to make keep people like me from coming in and taking a gander inside that noggin of yours.”
“I–”
There was a knock at his bedroom door. “Matt? Buddy? Are you okay in there? Thought I heard something.”
Matteo’s eyes went wide. ‘Fuck. Dad. I have to tell him. I need help!’
“Dad–!” Acquacotta clamped his mouth shut with her hand, putting a finger to her lips.
“I wouldn’t want to do that if I were you. You see, I tapped into his memories earlier – that’s how I got these guys. Must think very highly of you if they’re this strong. Anyways, I can make another. Find a memory with you and your Stand’s ability and use it against him. How horrible would that be, to know that you technically killed your own father with your Stand. How heartbreaking it will be when your other father comes and follows right after him. Wouldn’t want that now, would we?”
Matteo swallowed hard. The knocking at the door continued.
“Matteo! What’s going on in there?”
“N-nothing dad! Nothing, I’m just…just…reading…smut.”
There was a long minute of silence. Acquacotta had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing. They waited until his father turned around and listened as his footsteps disappeared down the hall and the stairs.
Acquacotta moved her hand and stood up. She walked to his desk, pulling out the chairs. “Put him here.” She commanded.
The clones picked him up and dragged him to the chair. They threw him down. Acquacotta came right behind him. Her hands rested on his shoulders as she spun him to face out his bedroom window. Something stabbed into the back of his head. She covered his mouth as he tried to scream in agony. The room darkened despite it being only 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
“Wha…what are you doing?”
She rested her chin on the side of the chair, “We’re going to take a gander into your memories and find out where GiaGia spends her time. That way, it makes our whole operation a bit easier.”
He squeezed the armrests, shutting his eyes tightly. “No, I won’t let you!”
“Oh, I know you won’t let me. But Masterpiece Theater will.”
A jolt of electricity shot through the back of his head and forced his eyes open. The sound of a projector whirred to life. The room went completely dark except for a square light on the opposite wall.
“And just so you know,” Acquacotta whispered, “I know that I can’t control your mind. You will do everything in your power to stop me. It’ll hurt you terribly, but you’ll still try. But if you so much as try and use your Stand on me, I will sever your spinal cord and tear your head clean off your body. Understood?”
He nodded in horror.
She smiled, patting his head. “Good. Now, let’s get on with the show.”
To Be Continued >>>>>
Notes:
End of chapter Playlists -- Matteo! (TW: mentions of depression and suicide as well as generally bad mental health. )
Souk Eye - Gorillaz
Boys Will Be Bugs - Capetown
Numb Little Bug - Em Beihold
Misery Meat - Soddiken
Way Less Sad - Ajr
Karma - Ajr
Follow You -Imagine Dragons
Colors - HalseyHope you all enjoyed! Thank you for reading and hopefully I'll be back much sooner with another update and have nice day! Bye!
Chapter 17: Masterpiece Theater (2nd year anniversary)
Summary:
Matteo is attacked by Acquacotta and her Stand, Masterpiece and is force to relive some unpleasant memories.
Notes:
Happy anniversary to Belle âme that I totally missed last year but I remembered it now!
I know I take forever updating this thing but believe me when I say that I really do love this series. At first I was hesitant to even post this story since a lot of it was just ideas with no concrete plot line or anything, but I loved it too much to leave it unfinished and alone to collect dust. I love the characters I have made and the ideas I built around them. I love you the audience for all of your love and support, I love the friends and the community I have made in here because of Belle âme and will be forever grateful for all of those who have supported this series. Hope you enjoy and here's to another year of Beautiful Soul!
Trigger Warnings for heavy gore, violence, and implications of slef harm
Chapter Text
And just so you know,” Acquacotta whispered, “I know that I can’t control your mind. You will do everything in your power to stop me. It’ll hurt you terribly, but you’ll still try. But if you so much as try and use your Stand on me, I will sever your spinal cord and tear your head clean off your body. Understood?”
He nodded in horror.
She smiled, patting his head. “Good. Now, let’s get on with the show.”
Matteo dug his feet into his creaky floor. His fingers dug into the armrest as the reel began to play. His brain buzzed as a very hazy memory played on screen. He was staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom, a sheep mobile spinning over his head and his chubby baby hands reaching up to grab it. It was dark, the only light coming in being that of the moonlight from the opposite side.
Acquacotta huffed a sigh, “Wish this damn thing came with a remote to skip all of this filler.”
Matteo’s eyebrows rose at the realization. ‘So she can’t just go through my memories. It only shows her from past to present like a slideshow. I’m in control here…I just have to cut out the memories that involve Gia and any place that might indicate where she might be.’
Another figure came into view, leaning over the crib and reaching a finger in. A head of ginger hair fell in front of their face.
“Can’t sleep either, Teo?”
Matteo’s eyes went wide. ‘Dad.’
“I figured as much. You probably got that from me. I’ve always been a bit of a night owl myself.”
One of Matteo’s hands wrapped around his finger. Sale chuckled. “Looks like you got me.”
“Ugh! This is so boring! You have anything good in there?” Acquacotta bemoaned.
“Sorry to disappoint but this is all you’re getting right now.” Sale’s voice became muddled. The image distorted into Gianetta’s visage. He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. “N-No! Stop, stop, stop, stop!”
Acquacotta grabbed him by his hair, “No, don’t stop! This is getting good!”
The setting changed to their downstairs living room. Matteo was 4 then. Sale was sprawled out on the floor in a pool of his blood. The younger Zucchero was hidden in a crook between the couch and the small table beside it. His knees were up to his chest, tears staining his shirt. He was biting his tongue so hard it bled because he was trying so hard not to give away his position to the men stomping around the house.
“Well, this is interesting….”
“Matty…”
Sale’s head slowly came up, revealing his swollen features. Matteo scooted away.
“Matty…something…something is going to happen, okay? You’re…you’re gonna feel weird for a second, but– try not to freak out too much. You’re gonna be fine.”
“Papa–”
“Now, Zucchero!”
He felt something pierce his back and before he could even scream or comprehend what was happening, he slipped through the floorboards themselves. He felt weightless like his bones and insides had just dissolved from his body leaving but a skin suit made of paper. He flew into the basement only regaining his mass when he hit the floor. He scanned the room for anyone or anything that could explain what had happened to him or how he got there but there was nothing.
He was alone.
Echoes of his fathers’ shouting and screams bounced around the pipes. Matteo found a corner by an old pool table and covered his ears, waiting until they stopped.
Matteo winced as Acquacotta let out an awkward whistle. “Man. Probably should’ve taken you to therapy after that, huh? Maybe they thought you would have forgotten when you were older. No wonder you turned out the way you did. That’s what happens when you roll with second rates.”
He gritted his teeth. The image proceeded to change – again — and he was back in the living room. His face was buried in his homework as his dads were at one another’s throats once again.
“He wouldn’t be doing this crap if you were around more!”
“Oh please! That’s rich coming from you! You can’t even seem to spend one dinner with us without having to go to ‘work’!”
“You tryin’ to say somethin’?”
“Why? You finally have a good enough excuse as to why you can’t be a good example for your kid?”
Matteo stopped writing. The lead of his pencil snapped as he gripped it with his sweaty hand. His stomach churned. “Fuck me…” He muttered as he buried his head deep into the page. “It’s okay…you’re okay…this’ll blow over…this’ll be fine–”
“I didn’t ask to have a kid, you know!”
Matteo’s heart fell into his stomach. He cringed, squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to change it. Tried to remember something else. Acquacotta pulled on the cord. A sharp pain ripped through his head. He bit down hard on his tongue to stop himself from screaming as his brain rattled inside his skull.
The next thing he saw was his feet as he ran through the streets of Napoli with hot tears in his eyes. All of Matteo’s horrible thoughts swirled around in his head. He wanted to run until he hit the bridge leading to Venezia so he could jump off and let the sharks have him for dinner. If they didn’t want a son that bad, they wouldn’t have one anymore. But instead, his feet were leading him in the direction of Gianetta’s house.
‘Shit!’
The image distorted into multiple blurry images of Gianetta at different points in their lives flashed around the room, a symphony of distorted voices following soon after.
“Dammit! Come on!” Acquacotta pulled on the cord again. Pain seared through Matteo’s skull as he struggled against her grip. His teeth were clenched so hard that if he gave them any further push, he’d break them all to dust. She whipped him back into place. The visage of Anna came into view. And so did the Stand arrow.
Acquacotta’s interest was piqued. “Well, what do we have here?”
She pulled his sweaty head back up to get a better look. The whole room changed into the back alley of an old bakery they used to hang out in before a Stand attack almost leveled the building.
Anna had the Arrow gripped tightly in her hand. Bianca stood beside her with a bag of old ladybug brooches with Gold Experience’s power embedded into them. They would form replacements for body parts and wounds if they sensed it to be necessary. They’d taken some for themselves since they knew the Arrow wasn’t going to find them worthy, so at least they had a fail-safe that if something went south.
Matteo’s heartbeat was in his ears. Even the reassuring pats from Ignazio were not enough to stop his shaking or the bile creeping up his throat as the gleam of the Arrow stung his eyes.
“This everyone?” Anna asked.
Bianca scanned the group, “Pretty much. Stella and Caramello were pretty adamant about not partaking in the festivities,” She had replied with a smirk.
Anna didn’t smile. He could still remember the subtle but heavy glare she shot at her after she said that. She looked back at them, stared right at Matteo, and held the Arrow up high. “This is your last chance to back out! After today, things are going to be different. You will be different, and you need to be prepared for that.”
She didn’t believe he’d pull through. She didn’t have to say anything – he knew that she didn’t believe in him. And why would she? He was an anxious mess who bailed halfway (well, mostly all the way) through anything that made him even slightly uncomfortable. She had no faith that he would go through with it. So, he had to show her.
Before she could finish her next sentence, Matteo swiped the arrow from her hands and held it up to his face. Ignazio was at his side in a matter of seconds.
“Woah, Woah, Woah! Easy, Teo! Let’s pick a body part that isn’t your eye.” He had said, bringing his hands down.
He nodded.
It had to be somewhere that his dads wouldn’t be able to see if he managed to get away with it. His leg? Upper thigh? Armpit? No, then it would be impossible to put his clothes on without it hurting like a bitch. And did he want to go for a massive gash? What if he just pricked himself on it? What if he just gave himself a simple scratch? Yeah, that would work.
Just a scratch.
Matteo brought the arrow up to the palm of his hand. If it scarred, he could have always passed it off as some sort of bike accident. He could get away with it. He could get away with just a scratch, right? His hands trembled. Why was he so nervous?
Ignazio’s hand rested atop his. “Why don’t I go first?”
“N-No! I can do it! I can take care of it!”
“Matteo, you’re shaking.”
“I can handle this. Fuck off.”
His face immediately turned red with shame. Ignazio backed away, an immense amount of hurt weighing down on his shoulders as he let go of Matteo’s hand. Matteo pulled up his left sleeve, shut his eyes, and jabbed the arrow deep into his forearm. He sucked his teeth trying not to scream. Ignazio came running with a ladybug brooch. He slapped it onto his bleeding gash – which didn’t help with the pain in the slightest. He winced as it melted with his skin in an attempt to replace the damaged flesh.
Ignazio held his shoulders as he clenched his teeth. Fearing they would break, Matteo shoved his sweater sleeve into his mouth as the pain shot up and down his arm. When it was over when he didn’t feel his skin inverting and expelling blood, he could hardly breathe. Tears had made their way down his face along with some saliva dripping down his bottom lip.
Ignazio then grabbed the arrow from his hand and stabbed it into his side. He barely seemed to flinch – lucky bastard. The twins took turns jabbing themselves in the back. Alcee hit Luciano first since he could feel the horrendous pain and she couldn’t bear to rub it into her brother’s face when she got up like it was nothing. Bianca then swiped it from them and with a sadistic grin slashed up her right arm. Anna was last.
When she took the arrow in her hands, she didn’t smile or show any sort of excitement or rush of adrenaline. If he didn’t know any better, he could have sworn he saw hatred burning in her eyes as she plunged it into her stomach and twisted her organs around like he used to stab an orange with a pencil. She was bearing her teeth, hoarse wheezing leaving her throat as twisted it one last time before Ignazio ripped it out of her hands. Blood had stained the ground and all of them as well. Bianca rammed a brooch into her friend’s gut. Matteo couldn’t help but vomit at the sight.
His heartbeat was in his ears again. Everything was becoming blurry. He could barely hear the cries from his friends as he fell to the ground, or the police sirens that followed soon after.
A small gleam shone towards the corner of his eye. He didn’t remember seeing that during the whole debacle.
‘This isn’t in my memory…this is–!’
He gasped allowed, ducking his head as a bullet flew through his bedroom window and grazed Acquacotta’s shoulder. The cord ejected itself from Matteo’s head and he fell to the floor. More bullets flew into the room. Matteo rolled under his bed but the hard light holograms of himself dove in after him. One of them grabbed him by the ankles and attempted to pull him out but a glitch allowed him to slip free.
Acquacotta screamed as more bullets were lodged into her flesh. Blood exploded all over the floor. A thud soon followed. Acquacotta’s body lay sprawled out across the floor, riddled with bullet wounds. The remaining glass from Matteo’s window scattered on the ground as Sale’s feet came into view.
“Matteo!” He called, scanning the room for his son.
He stuck his hand out from underneath the bed. “Down here!”
Sale grabbed his hand and pulled him out from underneath the bed. He fell into his father’s arms, gripping his shirt tightly.
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay. I’ve gotcha. I’ve gotcha…”
“How did you know?”
“No pre-teen boy would ever refer to porn as ‘smut’, and I know for a fact you would never read shit like that. I’m sorry it took me so long to come to get you. Are you okay?”
Matteo’s eyes went dark as he looked over at Acqcotta, who was surprisingly still alive. “I will be in a minute.”
He jumped out of Sale’s embrace, calling out his Stand and ripping Acquacotta’s soul from her very body. She trembled.
“Where’s Acerbo?” He demanded.
She laughed, “As if I’d ever spoil a good show–”
“Don’t fuck around with me, damnit! Tell me where Acerbo is and what the hell he’s planning or I will make sure you end up in hell by my own hands.”
She sucked her teeth before showing him a toothy grin. “You won’t have to wait that long. The next act is just about to begin shortly…”
Matteo scowled. Souk Eye grabbed her throat and squeezed until her soul cracked and broke into a million pieces like a statue. Her body then fell lifeless right after. Matteo’s vision doubled. He tripped back into his father’s arms, breathing heavily. Sale picked him up and carried him to bed.
“N-no! I have to…have to warn–”
“I’ll get on it. You need rest.”
“She’s my friend–”
“I know but you’re injured and you need rest, so you need to stay here.”
“Dad–”
Sale placed a hand on his chest as he laid him down, “It will be okay. Let the adults handle this.”
Matteo tried to argue but the exhaustion and pain shut him up quickly as his vision began to fade to black.
‘Gia…Gia…be…safe.’
“Your parents aren’t going to like this.”
Gianetta rolled her eyes as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder. “We’re just going to the library to find any information we can on what happened between Acerbo and my father and we’ll be back before sundown.”
“How are you so sure that we’ll find this information there? Your father is the most powerful gang lord in Italy. He could have easily erased any data had on this Acerbo character.”
Gianetta shrugged. “I’m sure there’s something. Not everyone can disappear off the face of the earth that easily. And since this event is pretty recent, there has to be something left behind. We just have to find it.”
Sweet Music sighed. “This is a terrible idea.”
“Well, it’s the only one I have, so it’s what we’re going with. And sadly, you’re coming along with me.”
The young girl climbed the stairs to the grand library. She reached for the door handle but suddenly stopped.
“Hey, I, uh, wanted to apologize for…for what happened back there. I…I’m really glad you’re with me right now.”
There was a long pause before her Stand spoke again. “I am as well. I wouldn’t have picked a better user than you.”
“And you’re not just saying that.”
“No. I truly believe that one day, Gianetta Giovanna, you will go on to do great things.”
Gianetta smiled. “Okay, then let’s go do the next great thing.”
She threw open the door and ventured inside, not knowing the dangers that were awaiting her within its walls.
To Be Continued >>>>>
Chapter 18: Hunting Season
Summary:
Gianetta goes out in search of answers but runs into some serious trouble while trying to find them.
Notes:
I am so sorry for taking so damn long for these chapters, I swear I'll get to work on the next one as soon as possible. Thanks to everyone who's been sticking around this far, hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Gianetta slipped into the public library with ease. The musty smell of old books hit her like a bag of bricks. Her hand twitched, wanting to fly to her face and cover her nose instinctively, but the very unhappy librarian saw her the last time she did that and she was banned from her local library. Sweet Music hovered close to her as they headed towards the ancient Mac computers between the research and reference section.
“You honestly think your father hasn’t thought of erasing any news from the web or otherwise?” They asked.
“That’s why we’re not looking on the ‘web’,” Gianetta replied, “Yes, my father is meticulous and we will no doubt have our work cut out for us, but he couldn’t get to every piece of media there is.”
They rounded a corner and passed through the World History section where they came across a long wooden rack covered in stained and yellowed newspapers. Some Times magazines with missing pages had been thrown around as well. Some of the articles were from a mere few months ago.
“Newspapers?”
“Why do you sound so surprised?”
“Because I’m a part of you. And therefore, we both happen to think that–”
“--That newspapers are basically a dying news source that only old people use? Exactly why we’re here!” Gianetta pulled a stack of newspapers from the rack, shaking the dust off, “We’ll just–” She coughed, “--look through these and see if there were any odd unsolved crimes or happenings in Napoli that fit the time frame from when Acerbo disappeared.”
“I’m sorry, we?”
“Yes, we. I know you don’t want to be here right now, and in all honesty, neither do I. But, my father and his friends have yet to find them — a pack of stupid teenagers — and any lead is a lead I’m willing to follow if that means ending this and maybe getting back to some normalcy.”
She couldn’t tell just by looking at them, but something about the way Sweet Music stared told Gia that they were not a fan.
“Look, you don’t have to help. But you’re stuck with me until I find something. So either help or, I dunno, browse? Can you even do that?”
Sweet Music continued to stare until they released a sigh. She moved towards the rack and pulled a newspaper towards Gia’s spot on the floor. “Yes. I can. As I said, I’m a part of you. I can do almost everything you can and more. Probably better than you, now that I think about it.”
“Probably. I’d be impressed if you could.”
“If you train me more than I might.”
“I’ll get to it. Now get to work.”
Gianetta and Sweet Music read through every paper they could get their hands on. From what the Pope announced from the Vatican to a political whorehouse scandal from 50 years ago, Gianetta learned more about Italy and its history than she ever did in school. Some things she had wished she’d never learned or seen like the expose piece of said whorehouse that was run out of the bottom of one of the few Mcdonald’s in the countryside. There were a few articles of incidents that Passione had covered up, such as the Cioccolata and Secco incident in Rome that they made out to be some sort of segue pipe explosion that released deadly toxics into the streets, or the botched job at the docks that they had to say was a poor maintenance job on one of the yachts that actually had a shipment of army grade fire arms that were supposed to go to the the Weapons Unit in Sardegna.
Those stories gave her hope that maybe there would be something in there about Acerbo. A sign, maybe a clue to how she can fix everything or at least have some context to whatever her fathers were hiding.
“So, what will you do with this magic piece of evidence once you find it?” Sweet Music asked. “Are you going to try to talk to them?”
Gianetta scoffed. “He stalked me at my school and sent his lackeys to kill my friends. We are well past talking it out.”
“But you still want to, don’t you?”
Gianetta bit the inside of her cheek, “...Man, having someone inside your head is really annoying, isn’t it?”
“Is that why you want to meet up with Constantia again? To get her out of your head?”
“That– don’t say it like that!” A chorus of shushed erupted from the other side of the shelves. Gianetta’s face burned red as she scooted closer to Sweet Music. “It isn’t like that, okay? It’s just…we obviously have this weird connection, right?”
“Apparently so.”
“And at first, I thought it was because we were Stand Users and Stand User are inheretily attracted to one another, yeah? We can pick one another out of a crowd no problem!”
“Yes.”
“But that’s the thing! She doesn’t have a Stand, but we’re like connected in this weird way, like we know each other. It’s to the point where I like, unconsciously connected with her in her head and it’s weird, right? And now, I can’t stop thinking about her — not like that — and maybe there is a chance with her. Maybe she’s different.”
“Maybe you can fix her?”
Gianetta frowned. “I can hear you smirking. No, I don’t think I can ‘fix’ whatever’s wrong with her, but…she is something. And, yeah. Maybe I’d be crazy if I try and get through to her, I know. But I did give Alcee Russo something somewhat constructive to do instead of replacing the school’s drinking water with orange soda and instigating fights with people just because she didn’t want to do her math homework.”
“She isn’t like Alcee. She ragdolled you in your own school. She made you feel a genuine sense of terror.”
“And what if she doesn’t anymore?”
Sweet Music sighed. “Gia, I know you just want to prove you are mature and…well-rounded enough so that others will be more inclined to take you seriously, but you have to understand that Constantia is a part of Acerbo’s gang. She is mostly likely deeply interwoven in his web that even if you try to get through to her, it might not work. And I think you know that.”
Gianetta crumpled the sides of her most recent paper. “Maybe…”
“I know that because you made friends with the children of your father’s enemies, but this a different situation, one that has to apply to Constantia and all of Acerbo’s group for your protection or you risk yourself getting taken advantage of. You risk your life.”
“I–” The newspaper in Gianetta’s hand fell apart in her hands. The pages fell onto the floor and mixed in with other loose papers in their pile, “Oh, goddamnit!”
“Let me help you with that.”
Sweet Music gathered a couple of papers in their hands. One particular article caught their eye. They held it close to their face, squinting their eyes.
“What is it?”
“I believe this is what you were looking.” They handed her the article.
It was a a small cut out of photo of a warehouse marked by Passione. She could tell from the deconstructed ladybug spraypainted on the side of the adjacent building. The warehouse was on fire with large holes near the entrance, as if someone were trying to blow it open to escape. The date on the photo read 10/9/20XX, just 7 months ago.
Gianetta’s eyes became saucers. She got on her knees and search through the rest of papers and clips. She found a page with a cutout that fit the photo exactly. For the first time in a while, Gianetta managed to speed read through something.
The warehouse apparently caught fire due to the same old excuse of faulty wiring and negligence, possibly by health inspectors paid off by the owners (which wouldn’t be the first time that happened). The warehouse had to be blocked off due to a ‘mysterious gas leak’ that erupted from the floor which had ‘caved in’ to reveal the skeletal bodies of former workers that were assumed to have been buried many years ago.
“This is it. Well, not ‘it’, but it’s apart of it.”
“What’s next?”
“Well, next is either go to where the warehouse used to be and searched for more evidence or break into my father’s office, root through his things until he either catches me or until I find something important.”
Sweet Music gave her a look.
“What? It’s not like he’s going to tell me himself. He doesn’t want me anywhere near this case to begin with.”
She slid the clips and the paper into her backpack, hastily putting back everything onto the rack so she wouldn’t get banned from another public place. She threw on her back and was about to take off running when she got the feeling.
That feeling that someone somewhere was watching her every mood. That someone was coming too close for comfort and she needed to get out that minute.
There was a Stand User in the library.
No. Not just one Stand User. Multiple Stand Users that were’t there before were in the public library and were closing in on her.
She jogged out of the news section, lazing into a slight hurried walking speed as to not draw too much attention of herself and to prevent casualities if things got tricky. In the corner of her eye, she watched two tall, masculine figures get up from a table in the main hall, two others from the second floor making their way to the stairs, and another feminine figure appear out of the opposite shelves.
“They’re coming from all sides.”
“I’m aware. But we can’t do anything until we’re outside. We could seriously hurt people.”
“You need to call someone.”
“On it,” Gianetta reached into her pocket and tried to discreetly call someone.
They were coming closer. Gianetta picked up speed.
She threw open the door to the library and took off running. Or she would have if not even a few steps in front of her, Constantia jumped out from the small gap between buildings and backhanded Gianetta across the face with a charged slap.
Disoriented, Gianetta got on her hands and drew out Sweet Music. Sweet Music opened her mouth and let out an ear piercing screech that made the ground trembled. But something came from behind them, pinned their arms behind her back, and threw their into the ground.
“Fuck.” Gianetta hissed.
A pair of heavy black hunting boots stepped in front of her. Gianetta cranned her head up and through her double version met Constantia’s eyes. The figures from inside the library surrounded her as well, their shadows stretching across her.
“We should just take her out now. Leave her for the dogs. Maybe one of them’ll take her arm back to Don Giovanna.” One of them said.
“No,” Constantia said, “You heard Acerbo. He said alive, so we’re bringing her alive. He has plans for her.”
Someone else scoffed. “Cockrider.”
“If you want to your ass beat, be my guest. I’m taking her in alive. Now help me get her in the van.”
Gianetta groaned, trying to summon enough strength to break free from her restraints.
“Looks like she’s still got some fight left in her.”
“Then I suppose we oughta beat it out of her, eh?”
“No, we leave her for Acerbo. Like we promised,” Constantia reminded them, “Polenta, you know what to do.”
“Hmph. You’re no fun.”
The sound of whip cracking in the air rang in Gianetta’s ear as something sharp logued into her lower back. Her body seized up, locking into place. She was still aware, she was still ‘awake’, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t wiggle her fingers or even twitch her nose. She was a statue.
Constantia crouched and eyed her curiously, a devious smirk stretching across her face. “You know, girlie. You’re a lot more trouble than you’re worth. But the Boss wants what the Boss wants. Ain’t that right?”
She stood up, lifted her foot, and shoved her heavy hunting boots right in her face.
Laurenza knocked on the closet door about two hours after her argument with Gia. That was always how long it took — two hours to let Gianetta collect herself and for her to calm down and get her thoughts straight before they had a good hour talk and then everything would be fine again. They would be sisters and go on co-existing like always.
“Gia,” she called, “Can we talk now? There’s…there’s something I want to tell you. I wanna be honest you so we can work this out.”
No response.
“Gia? You okay?”
Still no response.
Laurenza grabbed the closet handles and tore open the doors. The cord holding them close snapped. A cold draft hit her as she searched the closet for her kid sister. She threw clothes off their racks, shoes off their shelves until she noticed the Gianetta sized window that she had never noticed before, sitting wide open.
Oh, son of a bitch!
She stormed out of the closet to call for her parents but just as she was about to yell for her dad, her phone started to ring. It was Matteo. She swiped it from the table and answered, “Matt? Is Gia there with you?”
“Fuck, she’s not with you?”
Laura’s heart sank. “No. Why? What’s going on?”
“I got attacked by a Stand User today. Like a few minutes ago.”
“Oh my god, are you—”
“I’m fine. She’s pretty much dead, but I think before she died she was trying to tell me that Acerbo’s going after Gia. Today.”
“Oh my god.”
“You need to find her ASAP. Text her, call her, hell — tell your dad or something. They’re coming and they’re coming for her.”
“Okay, yeah. I’ll – I’ll let them know. Thanks.”
She hung up and ran into the hallway, screaming at the top of her lungs, “PAPA! DAD! THEY’VE GOT GIA!”
Her fathers came bursting out Giorno’s office. Fugo grabbed her by the shoulders, “Laura —Laura! What’s going on? Who has Gia?”
“Acerbo, he – he sent someone to attack Matteo. She said — Gia, she left. She climbed out a window and — I don’t know where she is!”
Their eyes became saucers. Fugo’s breath became ragged as the gripped on Laura’s shoulders tightened. “Gio–”
“Laura, start calling your sister. She’ll be more likely to answer to you right now. Your father and I are going to put out an alert—”
“Are you going to look for her?”
“After we put out the alert. You stay here in case she comes back.”
If she comes back, “But I–”
“Stay. Here.”
Laurenza swallowed hard. She turned back to her room as her fathers retreated back into their office. She dialed Gia’s number. It went straight to voicemail. She almost threw up.
‘This is Gianetta. Leave a message.’
“Gia, it’s Laura. God, Gia – I’m just hoping this cause you’re mad at me or something and not you getting kidnapped or murdered or like Saw movied or something. Fuck, Gia. If you’re okay, call me right now. Papa’s putting out an alert, he’s looking for you, Gia. Please, please call me.”
She hung, prepared to send an armada of texts that Gia couldn’t ignore when a thought came into her head.
A very stupid thought, but a thought nonetheless.
She scrolled through her contacts, formed a massive group chat that would surely break her phone and/or screw them even further, and she sent a message.
Laura: Gia’s missing. Parents sent out an SOS. But I need you guys.
Within seconds, responses came flooding in — the first one coming in from Marcelino Nario.
Marcelino: Give me five minutes. I’ll be there soon.
To Be Continued>>>
Notes:
Thank you so much for reading and Thank you for the support. I will do my best to get the next chapter out as soon as possible!
Chapter 19: Hunting Season II: The Calvary
Summary:
Laurenza and the rest of the kids go on their own search for Gianetta that involves car robbery, car crashes, and a whole Lotta drama.
Notes:
Warnings ⚠️: this chapter contains mentions of child kidnapping, murder, car crashes, and blood. Viewer discretion is advised.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
All of Passione was informed of Gianetta’s disappearance within a matter of minutes. The map of all active members lit up like Christmas lights, all searching for Gianetta Giovanna who was still not answering her phone. Bianca managed to pinpoint her father who managed to pinpoint Gianetta’s previous location at an old public library deeper a few miles away from their home. Moody Blues had managed to deduce that she had been incapacitated and taken though it would be a while before they could get any sort of lead like a certain type of vehicle or reconcilable faces other than Constantia and Polenta, who they found out were there and might have led the kidnapping themselves.
But Laurenza didn’t have a while. Her little sister was being brought to the enemy, most likely for ransom in exchange for her father. She had no doubt they would kill her if given the chance or just because once they got to chance. She had to work fast. The second Marcelino’s motorcycle roared up the hill, she jumped from the window and made a mad dash out the back before the guards her father had ordered to keep watch could catch her.
“We have to cut them off before they give her to Acerbo,” she told Marcelino as they zipped through the streets of Napoli.
“How? We don’t even have a license plate or car model yet,” Marcelino replied.
“I’ve got Bianca working on that. Just be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Feel for any Stand Users in the area.”
“Alright. But I’m still a little confused here,” he turned down a tight alley, “Why would Topolina be at a public library in the middle of the afternoon?”
She shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe she was looking for something?”
“What makes you say that?”
“She doesn’t go to old libraries anymore. Not voluntarily at least.”
“Cause of the smell?”
Laurenza nodded. “The only reason she would go to a place like that is to either look for something or hold up her end of a bargain. And given what happened today, I don’t think it was the latter.”
“Probably looking for information on our old buddy Acerbi, huh?”
“Most likely,” They turned back onto the main road. Laurenza’s phone started to buzz. She answered it on the first ring, “Yeah?”
“Found something,” Bianca chirped into the phone.
“What is it?”
“An hour ago, a catering company found a stolen rental in their lot instead of theirs. Had a weird smell to it, they said.”
Laurenza’s heart sank, “Like…blood? A body?”
“I didn’t say that. I just said a weird smell and a stolen van.”
“What’s the name of the catering company?”
“Claudia’s Catering. Logo’s blue and white with a little bread drawing on it. They didn’t have any big events today so you should be good.”
“Thanks, Bia. I owe you.”
“Just bring our girl home. That’s all you can do,” she replied before hanging up.
“They stole a catering van,” she told Marcelino, “From Claudia’s Catering. We have to hurry. We’re losing daylight and they could change cars any minute.”
“On it. Let me just–”
The motorcycle screeched to a halt, flipping forward and sending the two flying. They crashed onto the asphalt. Laurenza crawled onto the sidewalk just as the cars behind them collided with one another. Marcelino quickly got to his feet and came to her side, “LAURA!”
“I’m fine,” she said, catching something in the corner of her eye, “Look!”
She pointed at the totaled bike that had slowly begun to disintegrate out of nowhere. Upon further inspection, there were little mite-like creatures with sharp teeth chomping at the bike, tearing it to shreds.
“Shit,” Marcelino hissed, “It’s a colony stand. Someone knows we’re looking for GiaGia.”
“Damnit!” Laurenza looked around as multiple people started getting out of their cars and crowding the streets, “There are too many people. I can’t make out a possible user.”
“We can’t waste time here. We need to go.”
“We can’t just leave these people here. They could die!”
Marcelino pulled her close, “We can’t expose ourselves. They could just end up sending more Stand Users at us and then we’d never find Gia. Or worse.”
She sucked her teeth, watching as the colony stand turned their attention to the two of them. “You’re right.”
“Can you walk?”
She nodded. Marcelino helped her to her feet and with his hand in hers, they started running down the road as angry drivers and the colony stand started to pursue the two.
“They’re coming!’ She yelled.
“We’ll lose the people in an alley somewhere! We’ll deal with the enemy Stand later!”
Laurenza nodded, running faster as lamp post after lamp post nearly fell on top of them.
‘Gia. Hold on. We’re coming as fast as we can! Wait for me!’
Carbonara was at home wearing holes in the living room floor from pacing left and right. He feverishly sent a million and one texts to Gianetta in effort to convince himself that it was a mistake. Gianetta wasn’t missing, she was just angry and being neglectful of her texts. She got a spring cold and was too disoriented to answer quickly enough. She just forgot her phone somewhere and was racing home where she and Laurenza and her dads would make up and it would all just be a false alarm.
Except that was just wishful thinking.
He didn’t need his intrusive thoughts or overthinking to know that something bad happened to Gianetta, that they came after her and had her. They were probably half way across Italy with her, if they hadn’t ripped her to shreds by then.
How long had it been since she had been gone? An hour? Three? They say that the first three hours are important because the likelihood of children being alive after the initial kidnapping goes down by each passing minute. Was it too late? Had the three hours already passed and she was dead in a canal or in the middle of a field in the countryside with a giant gaping hole in her chest where she was waiting to be found?
Or had Acerbo taken her somewhere dark and far away from Italy, Europe — maybe even Earth itself and was suspending her in an endless cycle of torture and pain, breaking her down until he broke her mind into dust, until she was a mindless zombie far beyond repair?
How many people had he done this to before her?
A car screeched to a stop right outside of his house. His heart leapt into his throat. He crept to the window and slowly drew back the curtains. There was an unfamiliar silver car haphazardly parked at the steps of his house. The driver’s side door opened and just as Carbonara was about to draw out Feel Good Inc when Dante Arancin i stepped out of the driver’s side of the car with Cassata Mista and the motherfucking Russo twins following behind him as he walked up the steps to his house.
He raced to the front just as they ascended the steps
“Hi,” Dante said.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“We’re here to help find GiaGia. Was that not obvious?” Cassata said.
“No – I mean, you– ” he pointed to Dante, “I figured why the rest of you would be here, but you–”
“Gia’s my friend, too,” he put a hand on Carbonara’s shoulder, “If this is the work of the same weirdos who sent that lunatic after us the other day, then I wanna stop them as best I can with what I have.”
“Dante, this isn’t your fight —”
“And it isn’t yours either but a part of you was waiting for us, huh?”
Carbonara bit the inside of his cheek.
“Exactly. So, I’m coming with you. Plus, I’m the only one who knows how to properly drive soooo…”
Carbonara let out a chuckle, “Yeah…I guess you’re right. I’d trust you with my life over these guys.”
“Hey! We’re still here, ya know!” Cassata exclaimed.
“And, we need to get going if we’re going to catch these assholes,” Luciano said, pulling them back towards the car.
“Right. And you don’t mind driving?”
Dante shook his head, “Nope! My brother taught me and I’m pretty good. Better than Cass, anyways.”
“I’ll take it.”
Cassata rolled her eyes. They raced to the car. On the floor in the back lies Matteo Zucchero, a towel covering his head.
“Matt?”
“Hey, Carbo. What's–What’s up?” he slurred.
“What’re you doing down there? And what’s with the towel?”
“Got…attacked. Still a little woozy. Bit of a migraine or something,” The ginger hair boy replied, gesturing to the air.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
He smirks, “Too bad.”
Carbonara rolled his eyes and slid into the front seat. Dante started the car and they sped off.
“So what do we know?”
“Catering truck, blue and white,” Cassata started, “They might be changing vehicles to confuse us or something. We tried using Rising Sun to find Gia, but–”
“Rising Sun can only open rooms in set locations not people,” Luciano finished darkly, burying his face in his hands, “Fuck, if I’d fucking figured it out before maybe I’d–”
“They would have taken you too, Luc,” Alcee said, “They would have probably taken you both and you’d both be half way across the peninsula—”
“Hey, you don’t know that. There’s a lot of traffic during this hour. It’s gonna take them a while before they can even think of crossing the bridge to Venezia.”
“They’ve been planning this for months. They’re a million steps ahead of us.”
“That’s never stopped you before–”
“Just, just let her be, Carbo. She’s been like this since we found out she went missing. They both have.”
“Because Gia’s missing and you’re acting like it’s another day at the beach, a walk at the fucking park—”
“I’m trying to stay positive like you would do even if it were the worst time possible–”
“Guys, enough. We’re all stressed—”
“Stressed? This more than fucking ‘stressed’, this is fucking mortified and scared—”
“Jesus, what’s gotten into you? This isn’t like you.”
“Guys, seriously. We can talk — Dante… Dante, LOOK OUT! DANTE!”
Carbonara grabbed Dante’s shoulder, bracing themselves on the dashboard as a bright yellow taxi rammed into the ride side of the car. The crash sent them into a tailspin until they screeched to a halt in the middle of the road. They scrambled to get out before another car could collide into them. A thick plume of smoke surrounded the group. From what Carbonara could make out, he found Angela Agata lying beside a blonde woman on the ground, barely moving. Broken glass had littered the ground and blood was splattered on every surrounding surface.
Alcee activated Holiday and kept it aimed at the unknown. Cassata drew her blades. Luciano supported Matteo on his shoulders while Dante grasped Carbonara’s hand tightly. He squeezed back as he watched three tall figures step out of the smoke and into view, sinister smiles twisted on their faces.
To Be Continued >>>>
Notes:
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this installment and hopefully the next chapter and all others will come soon and be better than the last!
Chapter 20: Hunting Season III: Shit Hits The Fan
Summary:
Things get a little off the rails while the search for Gianetta continues!
Notes:
HI! HOLY SHIT IT"S BEEN FOREVER. I want to sincerely apologize for this fic's unannounced and frankly unexpected hiatus. That was not the intention but in all honesty I A. was not doing well mentally and needed to take a step back for a bit and B. I was just getting into different things, fixating on other media and I wanted to do stuff around that for a little bit. Doesn't mean I don't love Jojo! I still do, I just also like different things. Hope you all will still stick by me though. I can't promise consistency or quick updating works but I can promise that each chapter will be an improvement upon the last so hopefully you enjoy whatever comes next!
Since this is the 20th chapter, I tried to make it special by making it longer, making it a Q and A (so feel free to ask me anything about Belle ame!), and if all goes well; hopefully I can insert drawings I did on the kids!
Content Warnings for:
-Violence
-Blood
-some gore
-Mentions of Kidnapping/murder
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 20: Hunting Season III: Shit Hits The Fan
Angela never got involved in the physical side of Passione. She had made it very clear the first time Don Giovanna approached her that night with a bleeding Narancia Ghirga in her backseat that she was just a simple taxi driver and nothing more. She would drive them around when they asked but refused to get involved in any sort of violence.
That instantly went out the window when the alert for Gianetta’s disappearance blared from her phone. She was cruising through the red-light district with one of her regular riders– a blonde woman known only by the name ‘Belladonna’ – when her phone blared its ugly alarm in her ear from her cab’s cup holder. It jolted Belladonna awake (she had been taking a nap using her knock-off black and white Louis Vuitton bag as a pillow) and nearly sent Angela careening into a parked car. She hit the break-in time, sending the blonde passenger rolling off the backseat to the floor.
“Ow – fuck! What the hell, babe!?” Belladonna cried, rubbing the sore spot on her hip.
“Sorry, Bella. Change of plans. I’m dropping you off at this hotel close to the spot. I gotta go,” she explained.
“Is it the kids?”
Angela caught her eyes in the rearview mirror. With her wrinkled lips pressed tightly together, she slowly nodded.
Belladonna’s expression shifted into one of concern. She climbed back onto the seat, picked her stuff off the floor, and sat it down on her lap. “Stop here.”
“No, Bella. I’m not just gonna leave you here–”
“You need to get to your kids. I can walk. Just leave me here and go.”
‘Not in those heels,’ Angela thought while she continued to speed through the narrow streets of the red-light district, blowing past the hotel altogether.
“Ang, it’s fine. You got to be with your kids. And you should. Dominic can wait.”
Dominic never liked waiting. He’d have her head for dragging around the nice new shoes through streets like this…
But her kids couldn’t wait either. Gianetta could already be halfway across the country or right next to her and she was just wasting time debating over this! She harshly pulled into a parking spot closer to a much ‘safer’ area, jostling the woman in the back some more as she came to a stop. Angela turned back to face Belladonna.
“I’m leaving you here.”
“I can see that.”
“Be safe.”
“Quit worrying about me! Just go!”
Angela nodded. Belladonna popped the back door open and started to slide her way out but Angela caught something stalking out of one of the alleyways. No, not stalking.
Speeding.
Something was speeding toward them. Toward her.
She reached for Belladonna’s checkered jacket and yanked her back inside. She didn’t wait for the door to shut or Bella to get her bearings. She put the car in drive and took off, narrowly avoiding the ball of fire ripping through the air and setting the building on the opposite building ablaze.
Belladonna’s denim eyes bugged out of her head at the sight. “Holy shit–”
“Shut the door and get down!”
She obeyed. Angela kept driving, speeding down the twisting roads and blowing past red lights. From the rearview, Angela could see two individuals – a young man around Marcelino’s age and an older girl, maybe even a young adult – barreling down the road on an old motorbike. The young man with wild orange hair sat on the back. He carried a massive – almost cartoonishly big – grenade launcher that he most likely stole. A wicked smile was twisted onto his features as the barrel of the launcher glowed a bright orange.
“Just who the fuck are these weirdos?!” Belladonna exclaimed, still watching from the back window, “Do you know these freaks?”
“I don’t, but my kids might. Stay down!”
Belladonna did as told but she fumed. “What?”
Angela didn’t reply. She had tunnel vision at that point. All she cared about was getting the hell away from those two hitmen – most likely sent by Acerbo – and finding the kids, finding Gianetta alive.
And wasting her time talking would only get her burned to a crisp.
So, she kept speeding. Belladonna continued to yell from the backseat, though it just sounded like the warbling of a broken radio.
‘Just keep driving,’ she repeated to herself, ‘Keep driving and get far enough so you can get to Bella to safety with Cleopatra. Just. Keep. Going.’
“OI! AGATA!”
Angela froze. A tremble fell down her spine. Her eyes hesitantly focused on the two figures in the rearview mirror. Her heart fell into her stomach once she saw that they were right behind them. The grenade launcher was aimed right through the front of Belladonna’s face and into the back of her head.
The boy grinned wildly, flashing his sharp and almost beastly teeth at her once he knew he had her attention. “What’cha running for? We just wanna talk to ya!”
Angela drove her foot into the gas. They kept speed. They swiveled to the side of the taxi, inching toward the driver’s side window.
“Come on, Agata! Don’t pretend you don’t know why we’re here! We know you’re going out to look for her. You’re trying to find Gianetta .”
Her name slid out of his mouth like sludge. So flippant, mocking. Her name was a joke. Her kidnapping and the inclination of searching for her was a joke to him.
It was a joke and she wasn’t laughing.
She was boiling.
She snapped her head to the window. His burning yellow eyes met her cool indigo ones. She swallowed a lump trying to form in her throat while they kept steady glares at one another. His grenade launcher sat atop his shoulder, still glowing and ready to fire.
He chuckled, “Come on, old lady! If you stop the taxi now, maybe we’ll letcha go. We’ve got bigger problems to deal with and chasin’ after some second-rate senior Stand User ain’t one of ‘em.”
“Better hurry, Bertagnin,” the girl muttered, “The others are already en route to the next rendezvous point.”
“Better get to deciding, Agata!”
Angela stared at him for the longest time, eyes stinging with tears she was trying to push back into her sockets. They knew where GiaGia was and if she played her cards right – if she could play them well at all – she could figure out at least a street name. They were kids – cocky ones, at that. They were bound to let something slip in a moment of inflated hubris. Otherwise, she could fight them. Hold them off long enough so that she could maybe waste their time or buy time for Don Giovanna to send an army after the others before they could change vehicles again.
But, Belladonna was still in the back.
This innocent woman simply called a taxi and needed to get to work and was caught up in this mess because she knew a man with blood on his hands. Because she chose to continue to get involved in all of this and now, someone else was paying the price. She slowly sighed, biting down on her already cracked lips.
“Fine,” she hissed, already starting to release her foot from the gas pedal.
But instead, Bertagnin’s wicked grin grew.
“Sorry, ol’ lady–” he aimed the grenade launcher at her face, “-but you took way too long to answer!”
Angela shut her eyes and braced for the eventual shot. She briefly felt the heat from the supposed blast and the sound of it firing but nothing happened.
Her eyes shot open and she whipped around. She didn’t need to look that far, however. Belladonna had jumped to the front, stretched across the dash, and summoned a rose gold hand out of the car window to divert the blast to the sky, setting it ablaze. Angela stared in shock. Belladonna bared her teeth and whipped her head to look at her.
“If you’re gonna do something, then you need to do it now!”
Angela swallowed hard. Without a second thought, she stepped on the gas while Bertagnin was still reeling from what really happened. She blew past them. She lifted an arm from the steering wheel and extended out toward the road in front of them. And she thought.
She thought of what the safest place would be for the two of them for the time being until this whole mess blew over. She thought of someone she could hand Belladonna off to so she could be safe. She thought about how she could not tell this entire time that her regular was a Stand User or if she was part of Acerbo’s gang or not. She had so many swirling thoughts but they all ended up going to the same place.
The world swirled a dizzying crimson red. Angela slammed her foot into the gas as hard as she could until it felt as though her foot would break through the floor. Belladonna flew into the back seat from the sheer force.
“Oh no, you fucking don’t! Anisette! Step on it! ”
The girl revved the engine and sped after them. Angela couldn’t go any faster. The red began to dissipate. They were on the other side of the city, somewhere around the shopping district. She couldn’t tell. Things didn’t look right but she knew that they were somewhere different and those two maniacs were still right behind them. She kept her foot planted onto the gas – which in retrospect proved to be a big mistake.
She didn’t understand how she could have missed them. She was staring right at the road. Her always were always forward, so how could she have missed them? How could she not have seen Carbonara and the others in the car that appeared in front of her?
She tried to hit the break but she was too late. The two vehicles collided with a horrible bang and they crashed into a lampost with the same amount of heavy force. Darkness swallowed her, though for how long she did not know.
She had apparently fallen out of the taxi at some point. Belladonna was next to her, bloody and bruised from flying out of the backseat and through the windshield. She reached an aching arm out to grab her, to feel for life. The blonde woman flinched as Angela’s boney fingers grazed the top of her hand.
Angela breathed a sigh of relief. She was so sure that would be the last breath she would ever take.
“Ms. Agata!”
Angela tried to push herself up but her entire body screamed at her to stop. The pain went through her body like a horrible electric shock and forced her back down into the concrete. Hurried footsteps came up from behind her. Through her blurred vision, she could see the vague outline of Carbonara crouching in front of her. His face was bloody too, probably more than hers was. He was littered with scratches and dark purple bruises all across his face.
“C…Carbo?” she croaked, coughing up a bit of blood as she did.
“ Shit! Ms. Agata, I’m so sorry–”
“Carbo…You need to run…it isn’t safe. I—” she coughed again, “ Dammit …I…I’ll use Cleopatra. I…I’ll get you out of here…to Giorno–”
“No! I’m not leaving you here! I–”
He stopped. He whipped around and from what little she could see, she noticed his eyes go as wide as saucers. She craned her head up. Though her consciousness began to slip, she could see that over his shoulder through the plumes of smoke erupting from the cars were three looming figures slowly inching toward them.
“Well, look at what we got here, guys,” Bertagnin said, his voice echoing around the street, “Seems like Passione’s losin’ their stuff. They’re sending a bunch of kids to do their dirty work!”
He laughed. He was the only of the trio who laughed. The other two were eerily silent.
Bertagnin shook his head, still grining. “Don’t matter. The more of you we get rid of, the less trouble it is for us.”
Angela could hear Carbo growl through his teeth. He took a defensive stance, red smoke already starting to pour out of his mouth.
“Luciano! Dante! Get Ms. Angela, Matteo, and this woman to safety! Cassata and Alcee– you’re with me.”
The way he said those words; he sounded just like his father. Like he knew what he was talking about.
Luciano and Carbonara’s other friend appear beside her and Bella. The blonde boy in teal – Dante – did his best to gently place her arm around his shoulders and get her to her feet.
“You doing okay there, Miss?” he asked.
“As fine as I can be…,” she winced, “Crap, I think…my ribs—”
“We’ll get you out of here soon, Ma’am. Luciano’s going to open a room and get you all to safety.”
“Please,” she wheezes, “Call…call me Angela.”
Dante smiled, “Okay…Angela. You’re going to be fine, Angela.”
“Dante, hurry!” Luciano exclaimed, hauling Belladonna into one of his little trap doors alongside a dizzy Matteo.
“Aw, where’re you going? You haven’t even seen what the rest of us can do!” he turned to the brown hair boy beside him, nodding towards the street, “Show ‘em.”
The other boy stepped forward and without even moving his hands from his pockets caused the line of lampposts behind him to crash into the ground. Fire escapes fell onto the sidewalks, twisting into heaps of metal. Angela squinted and so did Dante.
They were gathered into piles like colonies of ants. Little, metallic-colored things with razor sharp teeth biting at all of the metal around them.
Their eyes went wide.
“Crap. Carbo–”
“Yeah, I see ‘em. We can take care of them!”
“Watch out for the redhead! His power seems to be some sort of thermal artillery.”
“Guess you're not as dumb as I thought! Still, you guys ain’t getting away from us that easily! My friend Bottagara here was kind enough to spare us a couple hundred of his Rock ‘n Roll Soldiers to help us out! And just a heads up – these guys don’t just like snacking on metal stuff. They can rip the skin off your bones in seconds! Why, I’m pretty sure a couple of ‘em are ripping apart that other Giovanna brat and her little boyfriend right now…”
Carbonara sucked his teeth. “No…Laura.”
“She’ll be dead soon. Ain’t that right, Botta?”
“Rock ‘n Roll Soldiers always find their targets. There won’t be anything left of them. Just like there won’t be anything left of you all once we’re through with all of you,” Bottagra replied.
“Not if I have anything to say about it!”
Carbonara charged at them with Feel Good Inc. appearing at his side. Cassata and Alcee jumped out and followed suit, determined and wicked smiles respectively stretched across their faces as they armed themselves.
Carbonara gearing up to launch a punch at Bertagnin’s face was the last thing Angela saw before Luciano shut the room.
And the last thought that crossed her mind as it shut was: ‘I let my children die.’
This was a horrible plan. This was a horrible stupid plan.
That was the mantra Carlino repeated in his head but never voiced aloud while he and Leslie dug out the spare key to the back doors of Gianetta’s mostly empty house. The same house he and his father took refuge in ten years ago. The same house that was now devoid of any joy or life now that Gianetta had been taken.
Despite being the boss of the largest gang organization in all of Italy, Giorno Giovanna had always made every place he inhabited feel like home. It felt warm, almost welcoming. Sneaking in through the back door of the kitchen while Leslie disarmed the home security system behind him did not feel like home.
The normal vibrant nature wallpaper painted on the kitchen wall looked dull. The warmth had been sucked out of the house and had been replaced with a still coldness. It didn’t feel like Gianetta’s kitchen. It didn’t feel like a place where they had spent so many days and nights pretending to do homework while doodling in the corners of their notebooks while Gianetta went on about whatever was on her mind that day or week or month.
What he’d give to hear talk about the different types of poisonous dart frogs again.
He shook his head. He mentally cursed himself for already thinking the worst, especially while Leslie was right behind him.
“Hey,” she said, grabbing his shoulder, “I disabled the alarm. Come on.”
“Leslie, we can’t–”
“Yes, we can. Now come on.”
She didn’t leave much or any room for argument. She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him across the kitchen, into the living room, and up the stairs. She didn’t look back at him once as they ascended, nor did she speak a single word the entire time after that – both rarities for a girl such as Leslie Lissandra.
They passed Gianetta’s closed bedroom door. Neither dared to linger behind in fear of breaking before they even started.
Carlino’s heart thundered in his ears as they approached Giorno’s office door. Leslie did not wait to listen for anyone on the other side. She jammed what Gia had told her to be the master key to literally her entire house into the lock (seriously, how had she not gotten kidnapped earlier?), unlocked it, and easily popped the door open. She dragged him inside the thankfully empty office but that didn’t settle his racing heart.
It was only when they got inside that Leslie let go of his wrist. Carlino felt that much more alone when she did.
“Come on, start looking,” Leslie said coldly. She darted toward Giorno’s grand desk. Carlino stayed a statue in the middle of the room. “Carlino, stop staring and start looking!”
“Leslie…we can’t do this.”
She slammed one of the drawers shut. “What are you talking about?”
“Les, even if we find the arrow, what makes you think it will accept us when we use it on ourselves? How do we know we won’t just bleed out or get sick and die here?”
“Well, we have to try, don’t we?!”
Carlino put his hands up defensively, “Leslie, I get it. You’re scared. And I’m scared too, but this–”
“No, you don’t!” Leslie screamed, slamming her hands down the desk.
Carlino shook, curling into himself.
If looks could kill, he would have been dead. Leslie’s lilac eyes burned holes into him. Her hands curled tightly into fists at her sides.
“You don’t get a damn thing , Isidoro! Gianetta is my best friend. She protected me the first day we met, she came to every. Single. Rally, family dinner, party even if she couldn’t stand being there because she cared so damn much about me. Even when she doesn’t want to fucking be there because she cares. ”
Carlino scrunched his brows, “Are you trying to imply that I don’t care about Gia? Just because I don’t want to go along with this batshit plan to get her back? Because believe it or not, I care a fucking lot.”
“No, Carlino. That’s not what I–”
“Gianetta wa— is my first friend. Her family took me and my dad in and she was nice to me. She’s been with me throughout my whole childhood while my dad worked his fucking ass off to make sure I was happy. They both worked hard to make sure I was happy even when I don’t deserve it and you have the audacity to imply that I don’t give a damn when I sure as shit do.”
Carlino’s knees wobbled until he collapsed onto them. Tears started pouring out of his eyes in waterfalls. He gripped at the middle of his shirt so tightly he was about to rip it apart with just one hand.
“I love Gianetta more than anything else in the world! I’d swap places with her if I could! I’d rewrite history so she could just live a normal life and not have to deal with any of this shit! I wouldn’t even care if I never met her, just the thought of her alive would be enough!”
He was a panting mess at the end of it. Hair standing on end, face wet and sticky from the tears that spilled down his face along with some snot from his nose. A wave of shame immediately washed over him. He turned his head and tried to cover his face with his trembling hands.
“I–I’m sorry, I…I shouldn’t have said all of those things. This–This isn’t about me, this about Gia and–”
Suddenly Leslie’s arms wrapped around him. Her arms snaked under his arms and squeezed his middle so tightly, he felt all of the air in his lungs leave. Her chin rested atop his left shoulder. Her mouth was so close to his ear, he could feel the harsh inhale she took before she spoke.
“I love her too.”
He felt his heart drop into his stomach for some reason.
“I love her so much. An-And I’m not sure if I love her the same way you do or the way I love you, but I do. And I know you do. I shouldn’t– I shouldn’t have thought or said otherwise. I know you fucking care about her too. God– I just hate this!”
Carlino sniffed, grabbing the back of her sweater. “I hate this too. I hate this so much.”
“I don’t hate you, though–”
“I know.”
“But I shouldn’t have said that you didn’t care.”
“You didn’t mean it. I know you didn’t mean it. I…,” Carlino choked on a sob, “I just want her back!”
He buried his face in her shoulder. Leslie cradled his head in her hands.
“I know, I know. I…I want her back, too. And if we can help get her back then…”
Carlino pried his face away from her shoulder as he felt her pull one of her hands away. He looked down and saw – grasped tightly between her fingers – the sacred Stand Arrow she had been searching for.
His eyes went wide. “When did you–?”
“While you were crying. Sorry, but I just – I couldn’t not do it. I was tired of being helpless and I grabbed it—”
“No, no. It’s okay. It’s,” he stared down at it, observing its gleaming form, “So…we’re doing this?”
“I can do this, you don’t have to–”
“No. I’m – I’m not letting you do this alone. I just…what if it doesn’t want us?”
“Anna and the others made it. They have Stands.”
“That was luck. Luck and strength – two things that I don’t have. The arrow only wants people with strong souls–”
“You said you loved GiaGia, right?”
Carlino hesitated. His mouth felt gummy. He nodded, “I do.”
“And you love me?”
“Yes.”
Leslie shrugged. “Well then, that settles it.”
“I’m not following….”
“People say that love is a strong emotion. And if stabbing yourself with a sci-fi magic arrow...thing for someone you love isn’t strong enough of a reason, then I don’t know what is.”
Carlino bit back a smile. “We could get into big trouble.”
Leslie smirked, then shrugged again. “Since when has that been an issue for you when it comes to Gia?”
Carlino stared at her and huffed a laugh. He held out his arm palm side up. “Okay. Let’s do this. Let’s save GiaGia.”
Leslie nodded. She adjusted the arrow and with a trembling hand, inched the tip of the arrow toward his skin. Carlino squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away for good measure. His heart was thumping so loud in his ears, he could hardly hear the office door open until the person entering was already a foot inside.
He opened his eyes and locked onto Pannacotta Fugo’s big violet ones. Leslie stopped once she understood what was happening. For all of 5 seconds, they were all locked in this three-way staring contest. Fugo stared in shock before his face turned to something akin to anger and determination.
What followed happened so quickly, Carlino couldn’t tell you if it really happened.
Fugo lunged at them. Before he could latch onto them, Carlino turned the arrow around and cut Leslie’s forearm. Blood spewed from the wound and she fell back, grabbing her arm in pain. Carlino had an iron grip on the arrow. Fugo made a mad grab for it. The two wrestled with one another, something that Carlino never expected to happen but here they are. Fugo was strong. Of course, he was strong, he was a grown-ass man and gang member. Carlino was a scrawny 12-year-old who got winded walking up too many stairs. Neither of them spoke. Fugo didn’t yell or shout, but his teeth were bared like that of an animal and every so often a grunt or growl slip out. He never tried to harm Carlino, never swiped at him or elbow him or something of that nature. They simply struggled, rolling around on the floor, trying to wrestle the arrow out of the other’s hands.
Carlino couldn’t understand how he was holding his own against Gianetta’s dad – perhaps it was the arrow sensing the determination to get Gianetta back bubbling within him or maybe this was sheer dumb luck – but either way, he wasn’t going to let go and he let Fugo know that.
They continued to struggle. Leslie tried to pull Fugo away from him but the attempt was futile. He was much too strong for either of them to overpower him. So instead, Carlino decided to change the course of action.
He moved his hand up the arrow’s handle and ripped his hand across the tip. Fugo’s face became ghostly white.
That was the last thing Carlino saw before the world turned dark and he fell to the ground.
Notes:
I hope you all enjoyed it! I will try to bring you the next chapter as soon as possible! Feel free to leave constructive criticism or just comments on things you like! Hope you all have a good day and thank you so much for the support!
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