>>6274004Seeing her hesitation, the doubt in her eyes you decide to immediately assuage her doubts, taking a knee.
“And to show you how it works, I'll have him use his power on me first.” you continue, her eyes widening in surprise. “Joseph, if you would?”
“Of course.” he replies, all hints of his previous acted senility disappearing as he levels his right hand towards you. “Hermit Purple!”
Cesha gasps as his purple thorny tendrils shoot out from his right hand, his Stand wrapping around you. You feel the thorns press against you, then gesture down to yourself for the girl.
“See? Everything's fine.” you tell her, then turn to Joseph. Whose brows are furrowed, a small frown on his face. “Joseph?”
“Hmm? Oh, sorry. It's just, I can barely feel it.” he replies, shaking his head. “That act must be starting to mess with my abilities, I can hardly sense your Stand at all.”
“Oh right, I forgot to give you a head's up. But Dragon Force is down right now.” you reply, seeing the sudden worry in his face. “Used up a lot of power and its Wish to take down a big threat, has to sleep it off and recover.”
“I see. Guess it isn't me then.” he replies with a laugh, patting you on the shoulder. His hand feels... Wrong, only for you to remember it's not real but a mechanical hand. A souvenir from his battle with Kars more than fifty years ago, where in exchange for his hand and arm Joseph expelled Kars from their homeworld. “Good to know this old geezer's still got it!”
“Wh-What are those?” Cesha asks him nervously, the old man grinning warmly to her.
“These are my Stand, Hermit Purple.” Joseph replies, creating another tendril and offering it over to her almost like a handshake. “And I am Joseph Joestar. What's your name?”
“Cesha. Cesha Ryn.” she replies, taking the tendril in a hand gingerly, carefully avoiding the thorns. “And this is Strange Brew.”
“Ohhh? I've never seen a Stand quite like that one, Cesha.” he replies, bringing his mechanical hand to his chin as he looks it over. “Hmmm, a sensory type? Doesn't seem like a powerful close-range type, maybe an automatic ability?”
“...Huh?” the girl asks, having no idea what he's talking about. You, however, having faced your fair share of Stands back during the Covenant War, and after it with the Remnants, understand what he's getting at. And, honestly, you're stumped as well. Whatever her Stand can do, it couldn't save her from being sold into slavery, nor could it stop whatever the slavers did to her. So, what CAN it possibly do?
cont
