Chapter Text
Holly has more or less raised her son on her own. Generally, she’s proud of him and thinks she’s done well with him. He gets good grades, he only fights when someone else antagonizes him, and he willingly helps around the house. His attitude isn’t the best and he’s not social, but he has a good heart. He’s sensitive too, even if he won’t admit it himself. It’s not obvious to her father since he’s only visited a handful of times, nor to Sadao, who’s rarely home anymore, but Holly knows her son. She’s seen him bring enough dying animals home, hoping to nurse them back to health, and she’s seen him fall into bouts of melancholy after his failures to know better than anyone else who tries to judge him.
It’s not surprising at all that he followed them, with that in mind.
His Stand, Star Platinum, gives her a forlorn look as the others ream Jotaro and Noriaki out for sneaking after them. She meets its eyes and tries to fight the exasperated smile that wants to curl at her lips. Jojo, at least subconsciously, realizes that she’s the one that needs to be convinced for them to remain.
When her father came to Japan at her request, she hadn’t expected to be thrown into this supernatural hullabaloo. Jotaro had been in jail and she hadn’t known what to do—even without knowing that Sadao wouldn’t pick up, Papa was the first person she thought to call. He’s still the person she trusts the most in the world, even after years of being apart and their disagreements about her marriage.
When they arrived at the jail, Jotaro was still unwilling to leave. At the time, she didn’t know if her boy was having a mental break or if he really was possessed—she’s seen more than her fair share of bizarreness, having grown up a Joestar, so it wasn’t out of the question—but she didn’t want him sorting it out alone, at any rate.
But then Jotaro was holding a gun to his own head, shaving years off of her life.
And then Holly’s own Stand manifested in response to Magician’s Red goading Jotaro, wrapping around her son protectively.
And then Star Platinum finally showed himself too, to fight back.
And then they had to save Noriaki.
And then Papa told them about Dio.
“I think Jotaro’s Stand would be helpful in defeating Dio,” Papa said. “He has dark plans in motion that the Speedwagon Foundation has only begun to scratch the surface of. We need to stop him before he achieves his full potential—“
“Jotaro is seventeen,” Holly said lightly, chopping an onion for the stew she was planning for all of them to eat. She had been trying hard not to think too hard about the swirling vines that are curling around her and the counter as a second pair of hands delicately drops potatoes into the pot. Another vine was already chopping up the beef as she continued to say, “Certainly too young for a dangerous mission like this, no matter what powers he may or may not have with his Stand.”
“He’s nearly a man—I went on my own journey when I was his age, you know!”
She slammed the knife down and spun to face her father, hissing, “Nearly! Nearly a man is still a boy. And don’t you dare try to say that my son should have to risk his life when it’s barely begun—He has school and a life ahead of him and I won’t have him chasing after /vampires/ and magic and getting himself killed—“ Her voice cracked on the last word. An arm wrapped around her shoulders while a vine cut across the room and grabbed her father’s wrists, wrapping around them tightly.
Papa knew better than to say anything as her Stand swiped at her eyes to clear the frustrated tears from them. She said, after a long few seconds, “You’ve told me all of the stories. Granny Erina told me even more. Dio was my boogeyman, Papa. I won’t have my son facing that madman. I won’t lose him.”
“I would protect him—“
“You would do what needed to be done,” She corrected firmly. “You always have.”
It was cold of her to pull that card. Joseph Joestar was a real estate agent, and a good one at that, but he was also the Speedwagon Foundation’s top field agent. He had never been the most present father, dearly loved though he was. It had, generally, been Holly and her mother at home.
Just as it had always been Jotaro and his mother at home.
“What you’ve never understood, Papa, is that sometimes ‘what needs to be done’ doesn’t have to conflict with protecting and caring for your family,” She said quietly. “I’ll go instead of Jotaro. He’ll stay here with Noriaki and they’ll be able to keep an eye on each other. They both have Stands and will be safer here, as far away from Dio as we can keep them.”
Her Stand released Papa, who looked gutted at her statement.
“No, Holly—You can’t!”
“Oh, so my precious, vulnerable baby boy can go but I, a grown woman, can’t?” She snapped. “I love you, Papa, but you don’t get to decide what /my/ son can or can’t do. Nor was I asking for your permission.”
With that, Holly went back to preparing the stew for dinner. She called out for Jotaro and asked him to set the table, which he did with minimal grumbling.
They left the next day, Holly kissing her son’s precious cheeks as many times as he would allow while warning him not to only eat junk food. He had brushed her off rather quickly, which always stung a bit, but she had been holding Papa and Mr. Avdol up at that point. She left him with one last, “I love you!” and a small pinch when he didn’t return it.
Her darling, ungrateful brat of a son. She sometimes wished that he was a little less cute so she could discipline him better, but he’s just too precious. He’s her favorite person in the whole world, even when he’s acting like a little shit.
Knowing what she does of Dio, from the childhood horror stories and the little Papa shared with her on the way to the airport, they would not make it to Egypt easily. His focus on recruitment and obsession with the Joestar family said a lot about his priorities, so it was unlikely that when they already had met a flesh-budded Noriaki that there weren’t others watching them. Even with their vigilance, they were caught off guard by the Tower.
The Tower was fast, but Holly’s Stand was slyer. She wove a net of vines, laying it like a trap, and once it ran along the edge of it, heading towards its middle, she snatched the bug up. She gave her Stand a high-five, grinning proudly at the tiny pouch that restrained the irritating insect. She tried not to be too smug as she grinned at Papa and Mr. Avdol, who seemed almost offensively amazed by her victory. It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise—Razor sharp and strong enough to move cars, her Stand’s vines were incredibly versatile and she already had a number of ideas in place for how to effectively use them.
She still doesn’t really know what her Stand itself can do—She had already tried getting it to physically fight, but it had looked at her like she was an idiot for trying to spar with it. As bulky and large as Star Platinum, her Stand looks like it should be combat-ready. The feminine cant to its hips and movements and the foliage that drapes around it make it look much more delicate, though, and as far as she knows, her Stand’s just an extra pair of hands. Even with the Tower, her Stand didn’t seem particularly bothered and hadn’t made any moves to fight, following Holly’s internal directions for laying a trap but seeming less inclined to fight than Holly herself was. Papa hadn’t looked thrilled at only having one “battle” Stand in their first skirmish, but he didn’t try to bring up their disagreement again.
They had heard a commotion from the cockpit, at that point, which revealed the Tower’s user and their two stowaways. The user had been snarling and growling, holding a gun pointed at Jotaro and Noriaki. She didn’t hesitate, after seeing that. She dropped the pouch of vines holding the Tower and stomped it under her heel, watching the user’s paralleled destruction as she ground the Stand into dust. After Papa landed the plane, she grabbed Jotaro and Noriaki by their ears and dragged them after her, waiting for them to mumble their explanations.
“This is our fight too,” Noriaki had argued. “We have a right to help. I never want to be under Dio’s control again and I want to personally ensure it won’t happen. I owe your entire family for saving my life, as well, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that I could help but didn’t.”
Jotaro didn’t say anything at first, until he finally caved under her look. He muttered, “If this is a family burden, then I’m already involved. May as well try to keep you from getting distracted by a stray dog or charity case instead of waiting to get dragged into it.”
Papa and Mr. Avdol scold them—Papa a little halfheartedly, Mr. Avdol more seriously—and Holly thinks and thinks.
Now, Star continues to look at her sadly, pressing his hands together in a begging motion, and she caves. As she always does with her baby boy.
She throws herself into Star’s arms, hugging him tightly while her own Stand reaches out and wraps around her boy, covering him from head to toe in the softest vines she has. She brightly says, “How can I say no to that face? As long as you’re careful and listen to Mama!” and winks.
Even without her caving, there’s no sending them back. They just landed in Hong Kong after an incredibly unsafe flight—There’d be no safe way to get the boys back to Japan, and leaving them in unknown territory alone would be dangerous. They’ll have to stay where Holly can keep an eye on them herself.
She’s not happy, though. Holly’s no fool—Those boys got plane tickets from somewhere. From someone in particular. It’s the work of a thought for Sage World to let her boy go and reappear behind Papa. Vines curl around him menacingly, sporting poison ivy leaves instead of their usual nondescript pale green leaves.
“Papa, isn’t it great?” She says with a cheesy smile, ignoring his sputters as he tries to shake Sage World off. “A family trip with both of my favorite men. I’m sure we’ll have a blast.”
Jotaro hides under his hat, mutters, “Good grief,” while Noriaki snickers under his breath. Mr. Avdol looks like he’s praying for patience but makes no move to help Papa with his discomfort.
It sets the tone for the trip, really.