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The phone doesn’t ring often in Air Supplena island. Suzi had even asked Lisa Lisa why they had it — people aren’t supposed to know this island exists.
Yet, it was ringing right now. Lisa Lisa picked up the receiver.
“Yes?” she said instead of a greeting. The few people who had this number wouldn’t need to ask who it was.
“Hello, Elizabeth,” said a warm voice that reminded her of days long gone. The number of people who called her Elizabeth was even smaller than the number of people who were able to call this phone.
“Speedwagon-san,” she said, letting a bit of warmth permeate her own voice in return. “What’s the occasion?”
A sigh echoed through the phone lines. She knew he wouldn’t call this number just to catch up, but she still felt her shoulders tense. “I wish I could have called with better news, but—”
“Is he alright?” she interrupted, words falling from her mouth before she could stop them. She still sounded calm — she had trained in keeping her emotions close to her chest her whole life — but Speedwagon knew her well enough to know what a slip this was.
He didn’t need to ask who she meant. “Yes, he’s alright,” he assured her quickly. “Still here, still young and just a little stupid,” he said, his smile heard even through the phone, “but who isn’t, at his age?”
Lisa Lisa felt the tension release from her chest as she forced herself to keep breathing in the proper rhythm. “I’m glad to hear that,” she said. “Then, what’s wrong?”
“It's Straizo. Your father,” Speedwagon said. “Did the last message I sent you reach you?”
“Yes,” she said. The anthropology department of the Speedwagon Foundation had found a Stone Mask and other objects, which needed to be analyzed for any dangerous uses. He'd asked her father, possibly the most proficient Hamon master alive, for help, but he’d made sure to keep Lisa Lisa informed. “What happened to him?”
“He… Elizabeth, I’m sorry, there’s no easy way to say this,” he said. “He betrayed me. He attacked me, took the Stone Mask, and—” he sighed again. “I’m so sorry, Elizabeth. He’s not human anymore.”
She could hear her own heartbeat behind her ears. “What?”
Why would a Hamon master reject his own humanity and become the one thing they had sworn to destroy? Why would her own father become a blood-sucking vampire of his own volition?
“I know it’s hard to believe,” Speedwagon said, his tone apologetic.
“I don’t doubt you,” she assured him, “it’s just…”
“I know.”
He did. She knew that.
“Where is he now?” she asked.
“Elizabeth, if there was anyone else I could ask—” he started.
“I know,” she said. “I understand. But this job falls onto me. If he rejected his humanity, I need to be the one who settles this.” Lisa Lisa smiled, a sad gesture meant to reassure a man who couldn’t even see her. Maybe to reassure herself, too. “It’s what I can do to redeem him. At least this way, it’s my hands that lay him to rest.”
He sighed again. “I know giving you my condolences won’t be of any use,” he said. “But you’re allowed to grieve even if you’re the one who has to,” he hesitated, “settle this.”
Lisa Lisa bit her lip to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. How did Speedwagon-san always know exactly what to say?
“Thank you,” she breathed out. But she wasn't going to cry until this job was done. She squared her shoulders, letting the proper breathing rhythm lead her body back to a semblance of tranquility. “Where was he last seen?”
It was obvious Speedwagon was still worried about her, but he knew he had to tell her. She was his only hope for fixing this. “In New York,” he answered.
“I’ll be there tomorrow,” she said.
“I’ll be there to pick you up and tell you all I know,” he said.
“I appreciate it,” she said.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said. “Take care of yourself, Elizabeth,” he added, tentatively.
She nodded. “I will,” she said. But not until this job was done — she would only be able to process this once her father was dealt with.
***
“You’re leaving Air Supplena?” Suzi Q asked her, eyes wide.
Lisa Lisa smiled in reassurance. The girl was right to be surprised — Lisa Lisa hadn’t gone farther away than Venezia since before Suzi had come to the island. “I shouldn't be long,” she said. “But I need you to take care of things here while I’m gone.”
Suzi clearly tensed up. “But— but I can’t! I’m not nearly ready, my Hamon is ages away from becoming even comparable to yours, Master, and—”
“Your Hamon is progressing incredibly,” Lisa Lisa interrupted her. “If I didn’t think I could trust you to protect the island while I’m gone, do you think I would have asked you?”
Suzi opened her mouth and closed it, not knowing how to object. “No,” she admitted, “but— even the Stone? It’s something so important, what if someone—”
“You won’t be alone,” she reassured her student. “I’ve called all my previous students to stay alert and help you. But I want you to be in charge of things. You’re the one I’m trusting with this responsibility.”
“Master, I’m honored,” Suzi said, “but… are you sure? I mean, I could go take care of whatever job you need to do, and you could stay to take care of the island—”
“No,” Lisa Lisa interrupted her, firmly but without anger. “This is something I have to do myself. There might not be Hamon masters alive who can take care of this particular issue,” she said.
Suzi noticed what she had tried to hide in her wording. “Even you, Master?”
Lisa Lisa smiled sadly. “Even me. I might not be strong enough to settle this,” she said. “Which is why I can only trust you to take care of things here, Suzi. I know you’re capable of it.”
Suzi bit the inside of her cheek. She looked so nervous, and so young . It felt like centuries ago that Lisa Lisa was seventeen — could she even remember the feeling of having her entire life ahead of her?
She didn’t want to burden Suzi with this. She would like Suzi to take on the responsibility of being the keeper of the Stone of Aja, yes, but she wanted Suzi to make the choice herself. Or rather, she wanted the girl to run from that as fast as she could, but if she should stay, Lisa Lisa would be happy to trust her with it. There were few people she had taught who she would trust with something as important as keeping the Stone.
“I'll be back,” Lisa Lisa said, before she realized it. She shouldn’t give the girl false hope — Lisa Lisa herself didn’t know if she would make it. But maybe she did remember being seventeen and terrified, because she wanted to reassure her.
Suzi smiled through her nerves. “I know,” she said. The girl’s blue eyes were so bright — so full of trust in her. Lisa Lisa wondered, not for the first time, if she deserved that trust. “I’ll be okay,” Suzi told her.
“I know,” Lisa Lisa said. That wasn’t a lie. Suzi was more capable than she knew herself. Lisa Lisa felt an urge to reach up and cup the girl’s face, caress her cheek, tell her not to worry.
The moment she realized, she shook the thought away, focusing on her breathing rhythm. It was perfectly timed and steady, like it had been ever since she mastered it at eight years old, but it always helped her steady herself.
She picked up her luggage, not letting any of the turmoil inside of her transpire. “My plane leaves soon. Take care of the island for me,” she said.
“Of course, Master. I’ll be waiting here when you come back,” Suzi said, with the brightest smile.
Lisa Lisa turned away with no other goodbye.
She knew she was overly fond of the girl, her youngest student and the one who stayed with her the longest. Many students came and went, learning what they needed and bidding her goodbye, and she didn’t want any differently. But Suzi had come to her doorstep lonely and desperate at fifteen, and Lisa Lisa had seen the girl grow up and flourish as she practiced and mastered her best techniques.
Something inside of her ached as she walked away from Suzi and Air Supplena island. If she never came back…
She stopped the thought before she could reach the conclusion.
If she thought of the girl like that, like a daughter, that would be betraying him . She didn't get to be a mother to him, so it wouldn't be fair to him to let herself feel that for someone else.
And if Suzi was like a daughter to her, then if she didn't come back, she would be abandoning another child.
She knew he was alright, all the way back in England. He had people to care for him. What was he like, she wondered? His birthday was in September, so he had turned… sixteen, less than two months ago. She hadn’t stopped to think about him in a long time, or rather, hadn’t let herself think about him. Lisa Lisa sighed, a long breath perturbing her perfect rhythm.
The plane ride to New York would be longer than ever if she let herself indulge in this sort of thoughts.
***
She’d only been to New York once before — in her honeymoon. Every corner seemed to hide a memory of the man she was still trying to forget. She didn't know if she would be so calm if Speedwagon-san wasn't there to keep her mind off things.
“Elizabeth?” he asked. “Are you alright?”
The driver of the taxi shot her a look through the rearview mirror. Buildings passed too fast to take notice outside the car as they drove to the hotel Speedwagon-san had booked for her. Lisa Lisa turned to him, her face still a mask of calmness, but he knew her well enough.
“I'm fine,” she assured him. “Where was he seen last, and when?”
“Last night, on the outskirts of town,” he told her. “I know this is hard, facing your own—”
“I'm perfectly alright with that, Speedwagon-san,” she said. “He chose his side, and all I can do is take my place in this game. I can handle it.”
If she couldn't, she might not leave New York alive, so she had to. For Suzi's— no, for Air Supplena island's sake. As much as she trusted the girl, she was barely past intermediate level in proper Hamon control. Lisa Lisa had much to teach her before she could become a master worthy of the title, and of the Stone.
Speedwagon-san smiled sadly at her. “I know you can. You've always been so strong, Elizabeth.”
She had her mind still lost in thought ever since she left Air Supplena. She looked at the man she'd once called her father-in-law, trying to truly pay attention to him this time. He was much older than he looked the last time she saw him — which made sense, of course. It had been fifteen years, but her grasp on age and the passage of time was different from most people's. She knew she must look like a ghost from his past, with the exact same face that left England so many years ago. In contrast, Speedwagon-san’s hair had thinned and grown even lighter, and his face had deeper laugh lines and worry lines in the same proportion. His smile was still warm and open, and his eyes still looked earnest and worried for her.
He was also covered in bandages from wounds her father had caused. To a man Speedwagon-san’s age, those injuries were even more dangerous, and he looked frail enough she worried when he stepped out of the car to greet her at the airport.
That was what she came here to fix. She couldn't erase the injuries or the damage, but she could make sure they wouldn't happen again. She could put the monster her father had willingly become to rest, and let Speedwagon-san return to a happy home in England with no worries in his heart.
“Thank you for trusting me to handle this, Speedwagon-san,” she said.
He blinked. “Of course,” he said, like he couldn’t imagine a world where he didn’t. “Just… be careful, Elizabeth. You're better off alive to fight another day than a hero rotting on the ground.”
***
The streets were quieter than she expected. There were people wandering around in small groups, but the chatter and bustling weren’t as all encompassing as in most of New York. The air of late November was cold even through her clothes — her scarf wasn't meant to warm. Its fabric was made to conduct Hamon at perfect efficiency, a secret weapon her father had given her himself. She had made it her own, creating dozens of techniques depending on its conducting abilities; it was her trusty companion through hundreds of battles.
Lisa Lisa looked around as she walked, alert but not on edge. She was uneasy, of course. This was a fight she most likely was set to lose. Her father had taught her everything she knew about Hamon, and he knew her strategies from the moment she started coming up with them.
She didn’t know if he would fight her in earnest, if he would strike to kill — she wanted to believe he wouldn’t. But the father she knew wouldn’t have attacked Speedwagon-san, wouldn’t have used a Stone Mask, wouldn’t have turned on humanity.
The father she knew wouldn’t have made her kill him.
She focused on her breathing, steady as always. This would get her nowhere. This wasn’t her father, she told herself, this was a vampire. She had trained her whole life to fight vampires. Her technique was flawless, and her Hamon was strong.
A group of young people turned the corner, filling the air with loud chatter. Lisa Lisa scanned their faces for a sign of familiarity, for a shadow hidden among them. There was nothing more than smiles and light teasing, easy conversation between young people with their lives ahead of them. They passed her without a care in the world, not giving her any second thought.
Something in the cadence of their steps caught her ear — more on instinct than a conscious perception. One faint set of steps was approaching her, instead of moving away.
Lisa Lisa turned around and, in one fluid motion, reached for the man’s throat and released a burst of Hamon from her fingers. She knew she failed, however, before the burst even faded from her hands. The fabric that touched her fingertips was familiar.
“Elizabeth,” a familiar voice said. Lisa Lisa looked at him, still hoping that somehow she would find someone else. In a way, she did — the eyes that met hers were her father's, but instead of dark gray, they were scarlet red. “You've always had great reflexes.”
The group had turned the corner, far enough away not to hear most of the commotion from their impending fight. The street was empty now, and the wind blew cold between Lisa Lisa and Straizo.
He looked younger than she ever remembered seeing him. His hair was dark and shiny again, after it had been a dull gray for years. His skin was smooth and free of blemishes, his shoulders were straight and he looked—
He looked so flawless it wasn’t fully human.
“Father,” she said. She was hoping for a strong tone, but her voice came out wavering. He didn't make any effort to remove her hand from where she was grasping his scarf. “So it's true. You've become a vampire.”
He shrugged, like that was a given. “Yes.”
“How could you?” she asked, gripping his scarf. She shot another burst of Hamon that was immediately redirected and dispelled by the fabric of his scarf — the same material hers was made of. “How could you become the one thing we were supposed to destroy?”
“You wouldn't understand, Elizabeth,” he said. “You're still young.”
Young? She wasn't as old as he was, since he was past seventy, but young? Lisa Lisa was nearing fifty years old, and the things she'd been through were more than most lived in those years.
“What?” she asked.
“You don't know what it's like, seeing your body falling apart piece by piece. Your hands aren't as fast. Your back doesn't bend like it used to. Hamon slows that down, but it can't hold back aging forever. The more I practiced my Hamon, the more I understood the limits of my frail human body. And when I realized there was nothing I could do, I thought back to the days I fought Dio,” he said. “Even as I fought him and his minions, I could only marvel at his strength. He was unstoppable,” he said, then chuckled. “Well, almost. His mistake was that he wanted to test his powers, to see if he was truly stronger than Jonathan. That's how he gave him an opening, and that's why he lost.” He smirked. “I won't make that same mistake.”
Lisa Lisa could only look at the creature her father had become. The worst part wasn't the differences — the worst part is that he still sounded like her father.
How could she not have seen this?
“You're right,” she said. “I don't understand.”
He sighed, a smug smirk not quite leaving his lips.
“You might not understand your body giving up from age, but you do understand loss, don't you?” he said, stepping close enough to her to whisper in her ear. He grabbed her hand, the cold touch making her shiver.
She tensed, aiming a Hamon punch to his stomach, which he dodged in a long leap backwards.
“What do you mean?”
“Your husband. George died because he was weak,” he said. “He was killed by a creature you dealt with without breaking a sweat. A zombie, for crying out loud, something so below a vampire or even a human with the barest knowledge of Hamon, and he couldn’t even handle that .”
“How dare you,” she said, under her breath.
“If he was a vampire, none of this would have happened,” her father continued. “You wouldn't have lost him. I am the height of creation, Elizabeth! Nothing could ever beat me! Why would you say no to that, when you know what it's like to lose because of weakness? You would still be with your son if—”
She punched him. She didn't really think about it, but her muscle memory took over, and Hamon burst through her knuckles, connecting with his face in a satisfying sound.
He stepped back, revealing he'd protected himself at the last second with his scarf. “Oh, Elizabeth. My reflexes are too quick to be taken by surprise by this.”
“You don't get to bring them into this. George has nothing to do with why you're doing this— this coward's escape. You don't get to use my grief to justify that you're too weak and pathetic to die with dignity.”
“That's just it, Elizabeth, you don't have to die. Join me,” he said, and she stopped dead in her tracks. She thought he was arguing to get her to let him go, but he wanted her to become like him ?
“You— do you think I might ever say yes to that?” she asked, disgust transpiring through her voice. She had trained her whole life to destroy creatures like him, cowardly beings who took human lives for pleasure. How could she ever become one of them?
“You don't have to make the choice you're trying to make. You don't have to kill me, and you don't have to die trying. We can go all the way to England and find your boy, too. They can't keep you away from him if you're stronger than they ever dreamed,” he said. His scarlet eyes glinted as he weaved his delusions of grandeur. “You and I would never have to know loss again, Elizabeth. No Hamon master could ever reach our level. You know it's true, don't you? You could have it all. Power, family, everything you lost.”
She knew her father well enough to know he wasn't lying — or rather, that he believed every word he was saying. To him, being a vampire meant stepping away from everything that could hurt him in human life.
And god, she wanted that. She wanted not to be hurt anymore. She wanted to not have to worry anymore, to forget protecting the Stone and to stop looking over her shoulder. She wanted to stop regretting every decision that led her to Air Supplena, every decision that made her leave her Joseph behind.
Could she? Could she give in to her worst impulses, and become a creature of pure desire? She would go to England, and find her son. Would he know her? Erina-san had told him his mother was dead. Did he ever think about her?
Lisa Lisa didn’t know him. Couldn’t even imagine how he’d react, when she didn’t even know what he looked like. The only thing she had was a picture Erina-san had sent her on his seventh birthday. That was almost ten years ago, now — did he grow up strong? Did he look like his father?
If she gave in, would she return to Air Supplena? She’d made the island almost a prison for herself in the past fifteen years. Letting go of everything that tied her to that place would feel like finally breathing easy. She might go back, just to feel the joy of walking away for good. And for Suzi, if she could. Would Suzi join her? Could she tell the girl just how much she meant to her, if she wasn’t scared of losing her anymore? What would Suzi even say?
She imagined the reflection of scarlet on Suzi’s eyes. Suzi was young, naive. She believed every word her Master said — she would never turn her back on humankind. She would be horrified. She would feel betrayed, and for good reason. Lisa Lisa would have turned her back on everything she ever told herself she believed in.
“I can't,” she said, her voice coming out just a bit choked out. She focused on her breathing rhythm, bringing it back to perfection. He'd been the one to teach her to calm herself like this.
She looked into her father's eyes, and saw only scarlet red. Vampirism didn't come free, or cheap. She knew the cost of this so-called freedom from ever being hurt, and it was paid in blood. She trained dozens of broken people who had lost loved ones to the neverending hunger of a vampire.
She couldn’t follow him in betraying everything they ever stood for.
He sighed. “Oh, Elizabeth. I really thought you'd see reason. You leave me no choice,” he said. He slipped his hand under his cloak, and pulled out a Stone Mask. It was still stained with the blood he'd used to activate it for himself, dried and stale.
“Father, you can't be serious,” she said.
“If you won't save yourself, it's my duty to help you. I am your father, after all. I should take care of you, shouldn't I?”
She called forth her Hamon. It enveloped her, bursting from her hands through her body, flowing through the scarf. The same kind of scarf he wore, but while he used it to diffuse Hamon, she infused hers with it, turning it into a weapon.
“Can you really kill me?” he asked. “Can you do that to yourself?”
She swallowed hard. She didn't know the answer either.
He dashed forward faster than her eyes could follow properly. In a split second he was on top of her, a punch hitting her gut and disrupting her breathing. Her Hamon faltered as she caught her breath, and she pivoted on her back foot to get away from him.
He reached forward, trying to grab her, but she quickly unwrapped her scarf, throwing one end over her shoulder and infusing it with Hamon, making it rigid as it hit the ground. She leaped back, using the scarf to balance her weight off the ground and out of the way of his grasp. She used the momentum to circle around him, reaching his lower back with a Hamon infused strike.
She felt as his cold flesh gave way to her hand enveloped in Hamon. Her father gasped. She had half her forearm inside his abdomen, Hamon still somehow flowing even as she felt like sobbing.
“I remember when you came up with that attack,” he said. She looked at him — he was smiling, his fangs turning it into a sinister grin. “It feels like so long ago.”
She pulled back her hand, covered in blood. He fell to his knees now that she wasn't supporting him anymore. The flesh around the wound was burning through with bright yellow rays of sunlight, expanding from the point of entry and leaving behind charred gray.
“I suppose you could do it, after all,” he said, a smile on his lips. She wasn't sure if he meant it to be kind or menacing.
“You got what you wanted,” she said, kneeling beside him. She was so tired. “You won't grow old ever again.”
He grabbed her hand. The Stone Mask was on the floor a few meters away from him, forgotten. “I’m sorry you had to lose me too.”
Her Hamon burned through his flesh ever so quickly, reaching his neck.
“So am I,” she said, her voice catching in her throat so the words were barely audible. By the time she was done, his face was mostly burned through, so it didn't matter anymore.
She felt her cheeks were wet before she realized she was crying. She got up, her knees failing once before she steadied herself. She walked to the Stone Mask, picking it up. The blood on her hands didn't activate it — it wasn't human blood.
A burst of Hamon flowed through her fingers, cracking the stone and burning through the Mask. It fell apart in her hands, the dust mixing with the charred remains of her father, indistinguishable.
It was over.