Undying Resolve

This wasn’t good.

While she hadn’t exactly expected the Quincy to be easy opponents, even at her level, she hadn’t expected them to wipe so much out in a single attack. She couldn’t even feel anyone’s reiatsu.

No. That wasn’t it. It wasn’t that she couldn’t feel theirs; they wouldn’t be able to feel hers.

"I… I’m dead?"

Something that just hadn’t seemed likely - even if that guy had powers to do with fire, she’d been able to freeze him. How had she lost? How had she failed? Now probably wasn’t the time for such thoughts, though. This simply had to be another area of Soul Society; she’d have to find a way back as quickly as possible. If she’d failed already, then the least she could do is try to make up for it.

That did raise the question, though, of how she’s managed to reincarnate with her memory intact; her education told her that wasn’t the norm. That she shouldn’t remember her past life, that she should just live a new one. Even if it didn’t seem to always be the case, it was still rare enough that it was almost concerning. She’d put that thought aside for now; there were more important things to be dealt with.

Such as the being walking towards her.

She was tiny. Ridiculously small. That was the first thing he noticed about her. The second was that she was wearing some black robe. She seemed about the age of a teen to him, but he wasn't sure. Staring was rude, so he stared into space.

"Ah! That's right. I've seen a sign that says 'Welcome to Asphodel Valley' so I would assume we are, indeed, in Asphodel Valley."

Jonathan wasn't sure of what to say next. He stood there dumbly, next to the girl, and examined his whereabouts. With the hordes of zombies suddenly dying down, he felt it was much safer to venture into town now.

At his apology, Beato waved her hand in a quick motion, as if to dismiss Jonathan.

"All is forgiven."

If there was anything that she liked more than a polite human, it was one that recognized how great her magic was. Jonathan had done an excellent job of getting on her good side. Yet, at that blush of his, she couldn’t help but let a giggle slip.

She turned towards him, and spoke once more.

Jonathan took a deep breath and punched through the door. Bits of wood lit on fire due to the sheer power of the ripple. Zombies that were clawing behind the door flew backwards along with it. Some limbs and parts turned to crisp.

He looked outside of the building. The entrance seemed less cluttered. A few zombies were writhing on the ground and others were still clawing at the windows. He stepped aside for Beatrice.

Admirable. This boy had the courage of a full fledged knight. He wondered what sort of training he had undergone, for creatures like these were no easy task to slay. And he supposed Jonathan needed a helping hand.

He set his pack down and followed suit.

"What a coincidence, there was something that I was sorely meaning to do as well."

He stepped outside to face the horde, and then a black cloud of obfuscating smoke surrounded him, letting up to reveal a suit of armor as black as night, with a red light emanating from his visor.

"I would be honored," Jonathan replied.

Indeed, it was a great privilege for him to have such a legendary knight as a mentor. Jonathan was also curious to see what kind of techniques Lancelot used. Learning from such a man would be interesting.

"Ah, Thank you Joestar-san." She nodded, giving a faint smile. 

Miuna pulled her sleeve back down around wrist and gave it a slight tug. Grunts and the sound of something moving towards them became more apparent in the distance. Unlike the calls she heard from him a while back, this sounded more sinister. As if it wasn’t human at all to begin with.

"Th- that doesn’t sound human…" Her heart pounded against her chest, beating to the rhythm of the steps behind them. Just as those words escaped her lips she felt her body lift up into his arms. Flustered, Miuna nodded. "A- ah..! Mhmm. Alright..! I’ll do my best."

She wrapped her arms around him the best she could, trying to keep look at the world around them. What was happening..?

"Just call me Jonathan." He had no clue what the syllable she attached to the end of his last name meant. To avoid complications, he suggested she call him by his given name.

It wasn't long until they reached a cliff overlooking the sea. On the far left of him were some docks and what seemed like small white steamboats. Much closer, to his right, was a slope that led down to the beach. Jonathan put Miuna down gently and stood protectively in front of her.

She was a bit surprised at his initial actions. Was he not aware of what a witch could do? Truly, she had only changed her attire for sheer comfort, but did the short skirt bother him? He seemed like a man with an older mindset, for which she didn’t blame him too much. Yet, his face brought a grin to her face. Such shocked expressions always did.

"Did I scare you? Forgive me, I was just trying to be more… Comfortable for this.”

He had underestimated her, hadn’t he? Moving closer to the door, she could hear that there were more coming.

"Your magic will be of great aid, Ms. Beatrice." The ground outside seemed to rumble with what seemed like an entire horde of zombies. He wasn't sure how many there were, or what they were exactly. All that he knew was that they were vulnerable to the ripple.

Although Jonathan didn't really understand magic, he knew that there were some special phenomena out in this world. And Beatrice seemed to be gifted with strange powers. Thankfully, she was an ally.

Charging for the nearest zombie, the officer began to bludgeon its skull over and over in rapid, successive movements until a hole began to be cracked in its head and cranial fluid began to leak. With that simple sign, the officer grabbed the zombie and seemed to almost throw it over his shoulders. Its skull hit the ground with a thud, cracking upon impact and rendering the zombie immobile. Quickly and efficiently, Dan did the same to the other two attacking him, seemingly not even breaking a sweat. It was the same technique he’d used on the enemy in battle: they were just a tad heavier because they were dead.

"We should definitely be careful," he said at last. Seeing Zhuge Dan in action made him feel a lot more at ease. He was a remarkable man with great power and he seemed to voice out his opinions clearly and honestly. Jonathan liked him a lot.

"Where I come from, there were undead vampires. An ancient artifact created one all-powerful being. In turn, he created an army of undead vampires with his new abilities," Jonathan said, thinking about Dio. "It is possible that someone has uncovered an artifact that can do the same. Fortunately, it seems like these undead are mindless, unlike the ones I've fought before."

The death and decay emanating from the freshly-incapacitated corpses made Jonathan's stomach churn.

"Asphodel Fish Co.", the sign read. So did the stationery. Made for some good paper planes. There had been enough messing about for now though, they were halfway through repurposing this coastline warehouse’s elevated office for their own uses as a base of sorts.

Part of their task had already been done for them. For example, the stairs had already been removed at the upper joints- torn, fallen apart, they didn’t really care - which shed half of the time it would take to barricade the large doors further. Zer0 themselves had come in through the gaping hole in the back wall which let ships to dock in and unload, allowing the tide to wash in and out of the building.

Their other touches including dumping all of the office equipment out onto the floor where the stairs used to be. They weren’t piled high enough for the shambling masses to work their way up to the outpost, so a rope ladder had been constructed. Easy to deconstruct and pack away if there ever was a threat and allowed people with basic motor functions still under their control to get up. 

The rope had come from equipment and supplies collected on his way to this location. Along with some ammo stock, a handful of blunt weapons - bats, planks, anything that could be swung at one of those creatures’ heads all wrapped up in a large sheet - food and drinks scraped by the armful off of the shelves and funnily enough, some Insta-Health vials. Souvenirs from Pandora that even they were incredibly surprised to see and they’d without a doubt come in handy. 

The last step, for now, was all that remained. A sofa they’d pilfered from one of the apartment buildings nearby. This was the only problem posed by the downed staircase. Well, more of an annoyance a problem. A hoist had been made and looped around the piece of furniture with the door cracked wide open above. Manoeuvring it in would take either a lot of time or assistance.

Behind them, faint creaking sounded out, its echo reverberating around the wide empty building. Time to see if their lucky streak was to continue.

There seemed to be no electricity around these parts. He shivered. He had a bad feeling about this. As he pushed the door open, he heard a voice greeting him.

The face Jonathan made was amusing, and she almost laughed at him for it.

“That is what I mean,” she replied, motioning to the sudden onslaught of undead. 

A sigh passed her lips, and she moved off the counter to stand. A sudden snap of her fingers, and a mirage of golden butterflies on her person changed her dress to her human form’s attire. She believed it would be better suited for this situation.

Strange, however, that switching to her human body didn’t feel all that different. Perhaps it was just another side effect of this city. Regardless, there were zombies to be dealt with. 

Beato watched curious as Jonathan used his ripple — She hadn’t seen anything like that before. She made a note to ask him about it went corpses weren’t trying to devour them. Still, her in danger? Hardly. Beato surmised it was the other way around.

Jonathan turned back towards Beatrice. He was about to tell her to stay put in the building while he scouted outside, but he noticed the fact that she had changed forms. Taken aback for the third time, perhaps, in less than an hour, Jonathan was speechless.

He hadn't been dreaming when he'd seen Beatrice in a beautiful dress. In fact, it was probably the first thing he'd noticed about her through all the smoke and the darkness. At the corner of his eye, he spotted something golden fluttering. He blinked, and it was gone.

Beatrice was a witch.

How silly of him to have forgotten.

"This is what people in your time call a ‘first aid kit’ is it not? I’d say we use this sparingly."

He tossed it over to Jonathan and tried searching for anything else of use.

He then heard a rasping moan.

And then a scratching at the door.

He looked towards Jonathan, who seemed just as alarmed as he was. He seemed to have been similarly convinced of this town’s emptiness.

Packing supplies into his bag, he suddenly heard a voice. And then some kind of banging on the door. He looked at Lancelot, who had had the same thought as him.

Reanimated corpses grasped clumsily at the dirty windows of the store, their flesh threatening to fall off of their bodies at any time. Some had hair, some had nails, some had teeth and eyes. But what was certain was that they had no minds. They weren't like Dio's minions. These weren't vampires but just simple undead.

"Not a problem, Jonathan. I would be glad to have you join me." In truth, Dan was merely thinking that in a fight it would be better to have another man there, in order to have an advantage in numbers. That and there was something about this entire place which discouraged traveling alone. Perhaps it was the dank and musty air, or maybe the abandoned buildings, but this town was not a place to wander around alone.

He waited for the creatures to approach before making a move. They were fast, but they seemed clumsy. They didn't seem to have a mind of their own, like Dio's minions. Good, at least he wouldn't feel any remorse from killing them.

With a swing of his sword, he completely cut down one of the undead in half. It crumbled to dust due to the ripple-infused blade. One down. He didn't have time to check up on Zhuge Dan, but Jonathan believed he'd be fine. Gentlemen fought their own battles.

So, he was that sort of man? The kind with a purpose that consumed them; the kind she knew well. Nothing would stop that sort of man, nothing at all. Thus, there was nothing she could do — or so she thought. Propping herself up with one arm, the witch could see through the door frame past Jonathan.

"Oh my…"

The words came quickly, as she was surprised by the sudden stench and sight which she beheld. For a witch who specialized in reviving the dead, it didn’t take her long to figure out some unwelcome visitors were approaching.

A harsh force pushed the door closed, surprising Jonathan. The thumping on the unstable wood almost unhinged the door. He let go of the handle in his confusion. "What in the world?"

He watched as the door slowly fell apart, a rotting limb coming through from a gap caused by the continuous banging. The stench coming from it was horrid. It wasn't anything like Dio's minions, but undead will always be susceptible to his powers. He couldn't let Beatrice be in danger. Witch or not, she was a woman.

Jonathan took a few deep breaths, calming himself. With a gloved hand, he grabbed the frail, decrepit arm, and channeled a weak ripple through it. Sparks seemed to fly from his fingertips into the undead.

A few seconds later, he let go. The unfortunate creature's arm had been reduced to almost nothing, and with Jonathan's hand no longer supporting it, the limb turned to dust. There was a small thud from behind the door. Whatever that undead was, it must've been defeated.

"Johnathan... Joestar." The words were said in an unsure manner, as if tasting them for the first time. There was a strange rhythm and flow to the name, rather than the almost harsh barks of a Chinese name. Drawn out of savoring this strange name by Johnathan's questioning statement Dan found that easily answered. "Zhuge is my honored family name, while my personal name is Dan. Sir Zhuge Dan will do just fine. And how do you wish to be addressed, Lord Joestar?"

He looked at the never-ending tracks along with Zhuge Dan, he nodded reluctantly. "It really seems like there aren't any stations nearby. Trains stop at stations to pick up people. It'll be a long walk, I expect. I haven't much of a choice either. Would you mind if I accompanied you?"

Jonathan wanted to get out of the foreign town too. The train was his best bet, seemingly. With Zhuge Dan's help, maybe they could get back to their respective places. He did seem like a strong, reliable gentleman. He liked that.

"To be honest, there might be dangers lurking out around here. I believe it would be great to have someone reliable to watch my back. Traveling alone in these unknown parts--"

A growl. Several growls. Grunting noises. Thumping sounds. Jonathan put a hand to his sword's hilt.

Her face began to burn bright red as she let go of his arm and started to lead from a few steps ahead. How embarrassing.

"Oh yeah! E- ena.. Ena is like a thick skin or somewhat like a fishes scales." She nodded along with her speech. "The humans from the sea all had it… But as people left the sea, the sea god began to get angry with them. A person born between a land dweller and a sea person would be born without ena. I think– I was the first person to be born between both who gained it." Miuna pulled up her sleeve and let her ena glitter in the dim light. 

Ena… Since Akira also gained ena and so did Tsumugu, would all the people born between land and sea begin to get it again? Not that it mattered in this place… But as long as they were alive she felt somewhat at ease. 

For some odd reason, it was shimmering in the darkness. Is this what she meant by scales? If she was some sort of mermaid, like he'd read in books, then surely she'd have a tail? In any case, she was similar to a mermaid. She needed saltwater.

There was a growl in the distance, and then heavy thumping that interrupted Jonathan's thoughts. If it was a person, then he'd probably hear them call over to them. However, the bestial grunts behind them didn't signal amicability. An enemy then? If it was the case, Jonathan couldn't afford having the girl get hurt.

Lancelot would think that such a sword would be unnecessary, what with his muscle mass, but who was he to judge? Everyone has their own unique style.

He had noticed that the boy was looking through the various shelves, and reached into his own bag and procured a jar of peaches. He handed it out to the boy.

"Here, have this. A young man needs to keep up his strength whenever possible."

His brows furrowed, however, as a thought came to him.