Capitolo Secondo: Ambizione (23)

“You want to do what?”

Dio’s voice left him slightly nervous, but mostly because he felt he was overstepping with this request.

Derek Horse, professional gunslinger and former member of the Union Army, had never felt this much upset to himself for this kind of curiosity. Maybe it was because he hoped to gain a degree of personal strength out of it, having seen the results of what he was currently aiming for: Hamon. The idea came to him when he finished a conversation with Speedwagon as to why he never trained with that mystical art. After all, he had the chance to do so for many years now. The answer stunned him as he had just recently grown interested in improving in that department. ‘The art is not meant for everyone’, the fellow blond said, ‘and it is tied to an inner potential within the user’. He asked for a greater explanation, and what he got was that not everyone could fully unlock it, just like Dio had said a few weeks earlier. In fact, only a small percentage could technically unlock it naturally, with the remaining numbers being bolstered by those that ‘developed’ a soul-related requirement to try and unleash it.

It all stemmed from the capacity to endure trauma and overcome it through personal might. So, in a way, he could actually give it a shot and the curiosity he had about it just heightened at the notion to actually unlock that inner potential himself. Did he have the potential to unleash that kind of power? Did he? He decided to ask. Pure interest to know, nothing more if it wasn’t possible for him to train with it. But as he sat down with Dio, and as he questioned him about the possibilities, he couldn’t help but feel like he had taken the extra step he shouldn’t. But why? He couldn’t tell on the spot, but it definitely wasn’t tied to Dio himself. In fact, the young man looked pleased at this conversation, and even encouraged the idea of giving it a shot.

“I suppose that would help you a lot. Still, I hope you understand that the procedure can be unpleasant.”

“Robbie told me it was going to be messy. Just don’t kill me, right?” He teasingly replied, hoping to really not get killed by that move. He had too much to live for. Like his family. And alcohol.

The two moved back to the beds wagon as the Hamon User needed some silence to focus on the situation and get the ‘first step’ through. Derek remembered how Bloody got it, and he thought that it was going to be quite a delicate operation to go through. So, as he prepared for the hit… he got hit. It was sudden, immediate and it made his heart go still in shock as he felt Dio’s fingers strike his chest. He remained still, holding back against the unpleasant sensation coming from that ‘attack’, but something else happened as he tried to keep a solid expression about it.

He fainted. He ended up fainting. He was surprised by the move, and he ended up losing consciousness due to it. That and the sharp strange feeling erupting from his chest. His eyes were closed momentarily, but he managed to force himself awake. What kind of tough man would allow himself to fall victim to such a move? His eyes managed to open, but the ceiling of the train was replaced by a blue sky over his head. A blue sky with clouds as the wind swept down to the grassy floor he was lying on. It all felt so familiar, even more as his glance moved to check his surroundings and to capture the sight of a hill he had seen many times in his childhood. Derek pushed himself off the ground, dusting himself and quickly noticing that something was wrong with his body. He was way shorter than before, and his arms and legs were short too. He was wearing old clothes he once wore as a child and- The blond brought his hand to his face, to where his beard was supposed to be and… it was gone. The beard was gone and his cheeks were slightly fatter. Baby fat. He was… a kid again? Was this his mind?

He decided to further investigate the odd circumstance, starting by walking towards the top of the hill in front of him. The one with the big tree which he tended to visit when he needed to be… far from home. His parents weren’t abusive or neglectful, but yelling competitions weren’t that uncommon and he would generally walk away because he hated it. He loathed being around two adults that yelled at each other. At first, he recalled, he thought they were going to eventually split. That they weren’t really in love. But in a strange and particularly unsettling dynamic, both his father and mother were actually turning this more as a ‘daily ritual’ to let out all the pent-up frustration of the rest of the day. He would discover this only after puberty struck him, leaving incredibly worried and clueless during his early years as a kid.

So he would go out of his way to visit this place, and to actually sit down under the tree’s shade to let ‘nature and her soft whispers’ cuddle him in a state of calm. His mind would clear out, any bad emotion would be relieved and… then it became the place where he met her. Derek was now sitting under the tree’s branches, someone else doing the same right beside him. A small girl, she had a content smile as she held a basket filled with red roses, a flower that was common to grow in this area. The man could never forget this individual, not when she would end up becoming his wife.

Melanie was a beauty even as a child. A glance and he was smitten to her. She was his love before he could even ask her to be a friend. They started innocently, both visiting on a daily basis and checking the tree, the hill, the flowers and each other’s company. They were happy then, and they remained so for their whole childhood and early adulthood. They were inseparable, so much so that it became easy for their parents to catch on to the fact both were meeting with someone that was more than just a friend in their eyes. After a while, when the two started to be more than just friends, his mother teased him for ages when she learned of this, and his father didn’t mind the ‘good pick’ he made. She was, after all, a kind and honest gal.

It was odd how both adults, who were usually keen to have quarrels on an almost daily basis, were actually unable to come up with reasons to bicker about it. They just couldn’t no matter the snickering and the teasing both aimed at each other at times. It was as if they had agreed to restrain themselves about possible issues of that kind. Derek never asked, but he could tell something of that kind had really unfolded during one of those times he was out to meet Melanie. It was surprising, but it was a development he welcomed even when his wedding came and cemented that hope of a lovely relationship. The tree was their place to visit even when she was pregnant with their child. Melanie loved it to death as the roses there were as red as the love she felt for him. And the place was soothing to his soul even as he grew up into what he was now. A man that was hardened by time.

A War that wasn’t his to begin with, but became one when people he knew turned foul and bad. He enlisted for his ideals, to protect them as he wanted to believe in them like his father did back when he had fought in the army. When war made ‘sense’ and it wasn’t American against American. It all seemed like a big adventure around the nation with the noble value of protecting those that couldn’t stand up on their own, those that deserved to have their voices heard. It proved to be much worse than that. The burning smell of rotting flesh and blood, the mud stained by corpses, the cannons throwing volleys while rifles cracked shots left and right. Derek still remembered when it all started, when he got his Stand. He was scarred, he was left to a bloody mess after he had been struck thrice. He could have recovered had he returned to the safe zone, the injuries were recoverable form. Yet… his gun was empty, his sight was blurry and his breathing was getting weaker by the moment.

He felt like he was moments away from dying, to join the rest of the carcasses on the floor. But something happened. Everything was covered in dark mud, deafening his sight to his surroundings… except for a single object that flew out of his chest pouch. A small necklace, one with a photo of the family he got back home. One that knew that he was to return back to them. He stood, he fought against the odds of bleeding out or being shot once again. Gripping the picture close while also clasping as harshly the handle of the bizarre revolver in his hand, Derek made it back home. He had no recollection of what exactly unfolded, but he started to shoot at shapes between him and his retreat, the bullets seemingly endless as they precisely struck all those he considered enemies. He got back to the medical tent much to the surprise of the officers there, and he got treated for his wounds. He was eventually ordered to rest for a few days to recover from the ordeal, but he was soon back to win that blasted war with those that didn’t lose their minds in this conflict.

When he returned home, he felt alive only as his wife and daughter came to greet him. Deliah was so tiny, so adorable and so… innocent. That touch of naivety just broke him and he was crying while holding the child dearly close to him. He made it back, and he was alive. Yet something was lost, a feeling that came with the war and was no longer there. Something important, something that made the fighting worthy of being conducted by him and others. Something that made him feel… worthy of having gotten a chance to live that day. He always wondered what it was, what he lost, what he had to seek out. When his parents died, Derek realized how things had changed a lot. He was a ‘better’ parent due to what he experienced on his skin, but he felt that, as a person, he forsook something for too long. Which is why he wandered off for a chance to learn a new truth… and he did.

He learned of the Heavens from Dio, a meaning to one’s life that defied the existence of a single God and was based on the individual’s capacity to muster what was already inside them. The power to fight back against horrible circumstances and to pull through those troubles without hesitation and with a big grin on their faces. But it wasn’t the only thing he found. He found purpose, and he could tell it was the right one. He found a new family to add to the one he had. More people he could share his thoughts on, a drinking buddy, a little buddy to tease and coach, a lady and her ‘pet’ to poke fun at from time to time, a curious uptight young man that was tuned with nature and… then there was Dio. The only worry he had, was the one weighing his conscience down. His mind left the memory lanes it visited, bringing him back to that tree that he for so long longed to have near to enjoy. To feel lulled into a state of full serenity by its shade and pleasant solitude.

“I’m sorry,” Derek finally muttered and he noticed that he was back to being an adult, with his dear wife now as old as him and holding close to her sleeping Deliah. “For being far from home for too long.”

She smiled kindly, almost angelically. “And why should you be? You will come back.”

“I might die. Our foe is… not the same as before.”

“It’s always a different enemy each time. Like life, we all live with new obstacles that beat the previous ones,” Melanie remarked tenderly, playing with some of her sleeping daughter’s locks of hair. “But you come back all the time. And that’s because you don’t want her to miss her daddy.”

“And for you to not miss your dearest husband.”

A giggle, he leaned out to plant a soft kiss on her cheek and nudged himself to the side so he could be close to her and the child.

“You’re troubled by guilt that you shouldn’t be worried about. My lovely little hero.”

“A hero? I am not exactly one.”

“Aren’t you, my love?” She questioned, almost offended by that response. “And yet you’re saving people. You’re putting your worth into the line, your life too, and you’re doing it because you know it’s a necessity to save others.”

“What if I lose focus of-”

“Will you?”

…

“What?” He questioned with a confused tone, the woman cupping his cheeks.

“Will you allow yourself to lose it? Your focus on us?”

“N-No. Of course not.”

“My dear, you’re a good man. You might be rough, but I know you’re well above being stopped by anything about it.”

Just as she finished saying that, he was about to speak again, but he was interrupted by a bundle of little joy that had woken up in the meantime. The man looked down as his daughter had shifted to his lap, chin pressing on his chest as she aimed her gaze at him while smiling.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, my little pie?”

“Can you get back to us after beating the mean guys?”

…

“Of course. I promise I will be back soon.”

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

A giggle, his body eased and soon the world collapsed around him. He knew what happened as he slowly felt that love, that pure form of affection circulating all over his body. His eyes opened again, this time to be greeted by the room he had collapsed to. Dio was looking at him, worried, but seemingly determined that he was going to make it. And Derek did it.

“I’m… back.”

He smiled. “I can see that.”

The cowboy didn’t refuse the helping hand and he got up from the floor.

“It worked,” Dio pointed out. “I can feel it, your body is adapting to it.”

Nodding, the gunslinger could feel a strange feeling of… “Peace.”

“And calm.”

“It’s so… unexpected. I thought it was more ‘turbulent’.”

A chuckle, it was clear Dio had expected this much from the fellow blond. “Not always, and not without you using it as an attack force. It works in synchrony with your soul and body. The moment you learn how to harness this power, you will understand this better.”

Derek nodded, his gaze aimed at his hands as he could feel it so clearly. He also noticed, as he called his Stand out, that ｢The Emperor｣ now came out quicker, smoother and it felt lighter to hold. His capacity to aim was also… improved. He had less issues mustering enough focus for clean shots. Still, the minor improvement was but the first real step into Hamon and he knew that now he had to start training too if he wanted to get even better with it. He expected things to just get tougher from now on… and he wasn’t that far off from the truth.

If only he had considered the fact that he was getting old and his body was far from its prime.

-------d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-d------

“You’re almost there,” Dio muttered as he focused on Derek’s current situation. “Just once more.”

It was easier said than done. Derek’s face was red to show the pure strain he was going through. Dio hadn’t been kind with setting up his first day of training.

First, it was meditation to try and get a greater understanding of this new element that pervaded his senses and enchanted those. It was a complicated task, not difficult but definitely not the easiest one in his case. He had so much to think about, and he only achieved a brief moment of peace when he allowed his thoughts of that precious hill of his to enable him out from his current thoughts. Next was the bone-breaking exercises that forced him to take things to a whole new level of physical training. It was there that he realized that all those cool moves that he expected to eventually get hang on were… not within his reach. Not when he was this slow-learning when it came to this new circumstance. He could still use a lot of Hamon due to his past traumas enabling a greater amount of potential compared to others, but his control was messed up. By a lot.

He had to endure a few snickers from both Bhediya and Bloody as they passed around. Kate noticed this development too, but she and Zephy lingered to actually cheer him up. It wasn’t that easy, but after going through the last ‘weighted push-up’. Dio had decided to put him under extra pressure by adding a few heavier clothes on him. Those were meant to stimulate a ‘proper counter’ to the Hamon enchantment. The higher the strain, the higher the gain. He couldn’t exactly support that statement but he could see the point in that. He was then going some jumping jacks, the weights now relocated to his legs to make it more difficult to jump, and finally he was given the task of lifting himself through a special bar that was slippery and that forced him to use constant Hamon to not fall off from it. The moment he fell for it was the moment where he had to do the task again. Once he was done with all that mess, he was allowed to finally rest and think how wrong he had been about the difficulty of this whole process. Way higher than predicted.

“Why is this so difficult?” The cowboy inquired tiredly as he remained on the ground, preferring that to merely sitting.

“Because you’re starting late and it normally should be better articulated with more meditations, and a more peaceful pace.”

“T-Then why are you pushing me into harder training?”

“Do you want to lose 4 years of your life to get to the point you can effectively hold your own in close-quarters with a vampire?”

He could tell the younger man was being truthful. Mostly. There was also another reason, and he was rewarded with it shortly after.

“That and the fact I want to see how strong your fortitude is.”

“I thought I proved that already,” The gunslinger lamented and Dio hummed in agreement.

“You proved to have the fortitude to handle threats, but you have yet to prove to have it when it comes to approach something that will define part of your future,” The English Businessman explained calmly. “Hamon is also a lifestyle which, in my humble opinion, should be refined on a daily basis, even for a minimal amount of time.”

“What happens when one doesn’t?”

“Well, if it’s just a case of forgetfulness for a day or two… Nothing. But for longer than that, you will end up losing all that training and it means being put back to square one.”

And that didn’t sound anything Derek was willing to deal with. Considering how ‘time-limited’ training was, it wasn’t like he had to worry about the timing. In fact, it would be a good way to make some more muscles for the lady back home to love. Just that thought brought him the strength to stand from the floor and sit by his bed as he thought about the recent circumstances. Hamon was now an element to keep trying to develop and even now as he waited and rested, he could feel the energy soothing the sore muscles and help him recover faster to his fatigue. His stamina was definitely going to be more compared to before. He was going to be faster, nimbler and more perceptive of things. It was an overall boon, no issues in that. Training… was still going to be a nightmare to survive for the time being.

Derek’s hand glowed at his own command, displaying that his control over the breathing was different than before. Better, he admitted and he was given further confirmation of this when he decided to test his capacity to hold his breath underwater. The gunslinger was shocked when he managed to hold it for more than his usual time, managing to resist the temptation of pulling away for a whole minute. Usually he would be able to resist half of that, and he hadn’t done anything to really improve that… except unlocking his Hamon potential. Despite this novelty, he still decided against training again for that day, merely looking at the others doing that on their own. Bloody was the finest example of what level he should first strive to get to. It was the one that started Hamon training the closest before him, and his skills were impressive at this point. Dio admitted that there were circumstances where the training was more versatile when it came to age and body, a degree of flexibility from the growth that just allowed the boy’s potential to be unleashed faster and better.

It was quite frustrating, but nothing neither he or Dio could do much about. He could still learn as quickly as his body and mind allowed, but he should well put away any disappointment in being beaten in training by someone that was less than half his age. So, Derek stuck around for a while before retreating to chat with Speedwagon about the current development. His good friend had already uncorked a new bottle of wine, letting the fruity flavor of the beverage pour out of the bottle together with the liquid as he filled up two glasses. He always knew how to get him in quite the good mood when he needed it.

“Tough day, my friend?” He asked calmly, trying to really appear clueless about Derek’s annoyance at the training.

“You could have told me it was rough.”

“You would have ignored my warning,” His drinking buddy rebuked with a snort. “Seriously, I didn’t expect you to go through with that.”

“Why shouldn’t I have? I don’t want to be relegated to second-line,” Derek pointed out, referencing his general distaste to be put on the side for others to deal with threats. He fought in a war, and he wasn’t an old cripple that couldn’t defend himself. He could still fight, and he was going to still fight regardless of the situation.

“Still, are you sure you are up to that? Hamon is quite an intense experience for anyone, especially for someone like you.”

He scoffed. “Are you calling me old or weak?”

“Both, but more the first than the second. You’re stubborn, my friend, but do not exaggerate with the attempt to improve yourself. Don’t believe for a moment that Dio will actually go any lighter the moment you’re in trouble with your own body,” The new Stand User muttered dryly, speaking from experience from the looks of it. “You are in charge of that, and we all agreed to remind him occasionally about his responsibilities being not tied to our general wellbeing while away from danger. You signed a deal, and now you get the full tour through painville.”

“It’s not that horrible. I’m sure I will be able to overcome all issues with that just like I did with the military rounds I had in the south. Which actually makes me think of something I really wanted to ask you, Robert.”

A blink from Speedwagon, one that exuded curiosity, was the only sign that pushed the gunslinger to go forth with his questioning.

“I would have thought someone like you, with your standards that is, would have tried to join the Royal Army rather than try his luck in the slums. What prevented you from trying?”

He shrugged at the thought. “First, I don’t see myself in the army. Period. Second? I would say that the army goes by requirements I might not fit with and… I guess there is also the fact that the wars available had enough cannon fodder, so there was no recruitment drive happening.”

“I just can’t help but see you faring well as an officer,” Derek admitted. “I can see you shaking off troops and being the charismatic bastard all armies need from time to time.”

“That would mean having noble contacts to enlist commissioning ranks. It’s rare to get promoted during peacetime and… that would also mean not drinking wine. Do you wish to kill one of the few joys in life, Horse?”

“Maybe,” He rebuked cheekily, getting a chuckle from his friend. “Still, I hope you’re ready to ditch part of that to make your pretty lady happy. Wine will have to be left on the shelves more frequently than now.”

Robert’s face burned red at the cheeky assumption, and the glare did nothing to actually lessen the embarrassment running in his whole mind. Derek could still outpace the brain of the Briton with some cheeky remarks about love, having himself dealt with it too. He could already imagine the surprise he was going to leave to both his wife and daughter when he came back. The power to actually help with the fields and also produce pretty flowers so his little Deliah could do many gorgeous crowns with those.

That was actually a thought he could easily use to push himself even more into his training. Time was of essence, and he couldn’t afford to appear weak now that the adventure was ending… but first, it was best to prepare for their next destination. He could tell something interesting was going to happen there.

------d-d-d-d-----------d-d-d-d--------