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"I'm sure there's got to be a city nearby," Joseph said. "Don't look so down about it! We can ask where we are then."

Caesar was nervous; Joseph could tell. Caesar was always more uptight than he was (though there were few people who weren't), but he could practically feeling the stress radiating off his body.

Who could blame him, though? One second they were in Switzerland about to confront Wamuu and now they were in --

Joseph looked at the environment around them. Tuffs of dried-out plants grew out from underneath craggy rocks; the occasional tumbleweed tumbled over a vast sea of sand. It was the complete opposite of where they were before.

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"There's a wedding ring around my heart," Joseph said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He took another bite of biscotti.

"What?" Did she hear that correctly?

"...Despite his manner of speaking, it's quite literal."

If Joseph was willing to lay it all out then there was nothing for it.

"Jojo was poisoned by our enemies. It will take effect in mere days. Only they hold the antidote."

'Poison, huh...' Giorno set his teacup to the side and nodded towards Joseph. "...May I check? It won't hurt."

Check it out? What exactly was he going to do?

Despite wanting to ask more about it, he gave a little noise of affirmation instead.

Giorno politely waited until Joseph was done chewing before approaching him. When he did, he raised a hand--his stand's golden hand emerging slightly from it in turn. He pressed his palm to Joseph's chest and focused.

Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump.

Joseph was brimming with life energy--both he and Caesar were--but it was almost overwhelming to be so close to him. He had touched a lot of people in his time in the villa to heal them, but there was something about Joseph that was far brighter and fuller. His heart was the center of that powerful energy...and he didn't have to spend long sensing him to feel it.

It was indeed shaped like a band. It felt...off. Entirely foreign. Hollow. It wasn't like any metal or mineral Giorno had ever studied or touched. And it was wholly fused with his aorta.

Giorno took his hand back, and Gold Experience's arm dissipated. "I felt it. I can tell you're not lying."

"You really think we'd lie about something so ridiculous?!" Joseph had a thousand lies that were better than that one, but still he gave the truth.

Giorno's lips twitched in wry amusement and he returned to his seat. "I suppose not. ...I won't mince words. Leaving this place in search of your enemy would almost certainly be a death sentence."

"I won't just stay here to die!"

There was ice freezing Caesar's veins and he clenched his fists to ward it off.

"The others we spoke to...many of them said they'd been here for some time. What happens to those that leave?"

Giorno glanced at Juli and then back at the two men.

"I don't know. They never return. We've had teams search far out but, even with our resources, venturing a few kilometers away from this place is treacherous. You two are the first who have ever emerged from the desert. It all becomes aimless. ...I'll say this. I'm sympathetic to your plight. I may have the means to help."

"Help?" Joseph echoed. What could he do to help?

"What's the catch?" It was the first time Caesar had said anything so direct since they arrived. He couldn't help it - no one had been anything but helpful and accommodating, but...

"I don't intend to hold both of you in my debt, if that's what you're suggesting. I know nothing about either of you, so you have nothing of value. And even if you did, it wouldn't be my decision alone to make on how to collect it."

Giorno took a moment to consider his words with another sip of his tea.

"If you became members of this community, I would be obligated to help you as a member of the council. I'll leave that up to you both to consider. However, if not...there's nothing stopping me from making a decision on my own to assist or appealing to the others here as a gesture of goodwill. All I would need from you is your trust."

"What... what exactly would you do?" Joseph's response came out uncharacteristically subdued and he looked at the ground as he waited for Giorno's reply. He had been warned that taking out the ring before the 30 days were up would lead to him dying instantly. It felt like too much to hope someone could do anything about it.

"...You got a glimpse of it, didn't you? My ability."

"You talking about that weird person?"

Giorno blinked. "That was me."

So, Joseph really didn't know anything about stands. If Giorno wanted truly wanted something out of him, he could have used that to his advantage.

"I've cured myself of the incurable before. How I did it...I'm sorry, but I simply can't tell you until I know I can trust you." The only ones he'd told about his powers in clear terms were other members of the council. The only one who knew them fully, besides himself, was Juli. "If I were to tell you and you were to ever use that information against me, however small or petty the reason, you'd become my enemy without question."

Edited 2024-11-01 05:33 (UTC)

"I should trust you with my life when you won't even tell me what you'll do." Joseph didn't like it, not at all. Even though he wasn't getting bad vibes from Giorno, it was his life at stake here. They had been warned as to what would happen. Giorno hadn't been there. He didn't know who the Pillarman were. Joseph did.

Joseph glanced over at Caesar, trying to get a read on his feelings.

Caesar said nothing. He was focused on trying to get a read on the kid in front of them and his own swirling thoughts.

That being...Giorno was speaking as clear as day but it was still somehow impossible to get a read on him. A part of Caesar thought he was like Lisa Lisa in that way.

"I need to trust you before I tell you. And I want to trust you, Mister Joestar." And wanting to do something was the first step to actually doing it. "However, you still haven't answered me. Why were you spying?"

"I felt something was here."

“‘Something?’”

"Yeah." Joseph stuffed his hands in his pockets. "It felt like I was being pulled here."

Caesar gawked at his partner, too dumbfounded for admonishments or even words.

He had been spying?! …Well, that was like him, but the explanation absolutely wasn’t. It was beyond just unconvincing to any sane person—it was like nonsense a child would blurt out when they couldn’t think of a better lie.

And Joseph was an incredible liar. And this was his life on the line. So, why…?