Help me save myself.
Plotted starter @shabcn
When Joseph stepped out from the blinding light, he was met with a cool breeze. A chilling breeze. Much different than what he had been used to whenever he was in Egypt not too long ago. The old man brought his arms up to cross across one another. A shiver ran down his spine. Why was it so damn cold? Taking a look around at his surroundings, he understood where the chill in the air had come from. The terrain around him was snowy, a frozen landscape everywhere he looked. The air crisp and thin, having his breath leave his body in white clouds of steam. (Of all the places to end up!) To make matters worse, night covered the landscape, making the wind that rolled in, bone chilling cold. Although what he didn’t realize was that there was another reason why a chill had gone down his spine. A sense of familiarity in this place. The more he looked around, the more that he felt like he had been here before. He understood that they could be taken to any point in time and any location within that time. It all just depended on what the next target was. Where the next part was located across time. At first glance, Joseph thought he had merely just walked into some quiet, snowy little village surrounded by tall mountains in the distance. However, now that he was getting a real good look around the location something told him that this place was one, he had seen before. It came in the form of a dull ache in his chest. It felt as though dread was tugging at his heartstrings and pushing forth an old memory that had long sense dulled over the years. A memory that he had never forgotten, but only learned to cope with as time went on.
(Oh no…)
His arms slowly came to drop to his sides as aged teals moved between the small homes and businesses of a town tucked quietly in the mountains of Switzerland, then out to the distance. The mountain range that spread across the land. Sure enough, there sitting on the edge of town was the ruin of a large rundown hotel. One that had in its glory days been some kind of tourist attraction, now nothing but a forgotten relic carved into the mountainside. His heart dropped at the sight of it. He thought he wouldn’t have to ever lay eyes on it again. And yet here he was. Why of all places would he be brought here to this site? Joseph didn’t even want to go near that place, knowing what it meant. Knowing what had happened there. And given the time of day, he could guess that that event would have just befallen him. This was the part where he had lost Caesar, forever. Arriving just moments too late to save his life and having the heartbreak of finding him. His realization. Joseph felt it all right in that moment. The ache in his chest so strong that it stole his breath away, allowing for the chilled air to sting his lungs. The old man had to lower his head, a hand moving up to press to his chest. As if this would stop the ache in his heart that he felt at that moment. It was like he was reliving it all over again. He could see the scene so clearly in his head, despite the fact that it had happened to him fifty years ago. What would have happened if he had ben able to save Caesar? He had asked himself this question many times over. Wondering again and again if he would have ever settled down with Suzie or if he would have stayed by Caesar’s side, growing old with him just as he had. He could never know. And more importantly, he was here for a purpose he didn’t have time to focus on that.
Just as he was trying to force these feelings down and move himself forward with the task at hand, his old eyes caught sight of something in the snow. A trail of footprints and fresh ones. Squinting at the sight of them, he followed their path. They appeared to lead out of town and towards the old hotel. They looked as though they had only been formed minutes ago. His heart leapt. Could it be? Joseph straightened up and looked behind him. There was no sign of his younger self or Lisa Lisa. That meant that they hadn’t figured it out yet. They didn’t know that Caesar and Messina had left for the old hotel just yet. Which meant right now he would be on his way to fight Wamuu. There was still time! And even though this wasn’t what he was there for, he had a feeling that his goal was probably hiding within that old hotel anyway. The next part had to be there. It only made sense for it to be given the circumstances he had come into this world. It was almost as though they had to go through trials to achieve finding another part. Each one, harder than the next. This was probably going to be the hardest thing he ever did. Especially if even in his advanced age and knowledge of Caesar’s fate—he ended up there too late. If his younger self wasn’t going to take this seriously until after he was dead, then he was going to fix that mistake for him.
The old man bounded through the snow after that, following the prints out to the old hotel. It was a good thing he used enough Hamon to stay in decent shape, otherwise at his age he wouldn’t have been able to make the trek. If his timing was right, he should arrive there just before himself and Lisa Lisa. Which meant that he should at least have a chance to do something about Caesar’s fate. Joseph knew now that when he had seen that light and heard his yell, it had been Caesar’s last. Back fifty years ago, he hadn’t actually realized this until he managed to get inside the damn place and found his bubble. He didn’t know why the time had been switched from day to night. But for some reason in this situation, he had been given a chance to stop the fate of the other before it was too late. Exactly what would happen if he did this, he didn’t know. The idea of time traveling was to let things happen the way it should. But he wasn’t sure he could stomach watching himself cry over Caesar’s death. He wasn’t sure he wanted to try and console himself and tell him that it would get easier with time. Eventually he would come to terms with his death, but it would always be a tender subject. His heart would never be able to fully heal from the loss of Caesar. Even now when he was nearing his seventies his heart hadn’t healed completely. Even despite having found a way to move on and have a family, his heart still held a hole in it where he had loved and lost Caesar.
By the time he arrived, he found the wall had already fallen in. So, the fight had already moved inside. Time was running short. He didn’t hesitate though, climbing through the rubble to get inside the old hotel, coming upon the scene. There was already a good deal of blood left on the floor of the lobby, but from what he could tell, Caesar was still alive. Maybe barely, but alive. And then he saw it, the large chunk of debris that had become his tomb. It came loose from somewhere above, breaking apart and heading right for where Caesar was to meet his final resting place. Joseph stepped forward though, throwing a handout to extend the purple vines. Hermit Purple came shooting out of his forearm, wrapping around the large chunk of debris first. The thorny vines constricting around the rock like a snake that had trapped its pray. Sparks of Hamon exploded all along the purple vines, spreading across the rock before it finally broke apart, exploding and raining down in small bits of debris and dust. Well, it wasn’t a graceful saved, but he had stopped it from crushing him. Calling back his stand he moved over towards him. By now, his other self should be arriving to the scene. The old man knelt down though beside the fallen Caesar. He hadn’t bled to death already had he?
“Caesar? Can you hear me? Hey!” Joseph coaxed him for a response. (Please tell me I’m not too late.) He realized that the other may not recognize him in his old age and his accent had changed a bit over the years, but the look in those teals was still the same. A deep concern for the other one he was sure he held whenever he looked to Caesar on a serious note.














