"..............."
".........Cough."
"Ahem." Issei cleared his throat as we awkwardly rode our vehicles to our next destination, "So, how's the weather in Petra?"
"What kind of an icebreaker is that?" Sandy scowled.
"Look, I dunno! But everyone's being super quiet all of a sudden and it's making me nervous!"
There's a reason for that, dopeass. Juavez saw the Green light, and he's been giving us the sidelong stare ever since. It seems we were a bit too lax with keeping our mission a secret from them, to the point where even Sandy started interrogating us. Juavez was willing to let us keep it to ourselves, but he just couldn't leave things at that once he saw the mysterious Green light appear. Not only that, but almost as if to prove to us that he saw it, he placed his hand on the same spot we did on the remnants of Nero. Sure enough, the Wonder light reacted, and we've been trying to figure out how to deal with this situation ever since.
"Amigos, that light..." He asked, "Is it in any way related to your objective?"
"Mn." I nodded without even having the strength to look at him directly.
"The objective that you've constantly kept secret from me and garota?"
"...Yeah."
"I see." He paused before sighing, "You're gonna have to tell us the story, amigos. Both garota and I have been transparent with you from the start."
"How so?" Freddy sounded ticked off.
"She's made it apparent multiple times that she's just here for the treasure." He pointed to her with his thumb, "As for me, I'm here to see the world. We have no motives apart from that, but you on the other hand..."
"Then you're free to turn back." Issei snarkily replied, "We're not holding you guys hostage."
"Geez, what's with you all?" Sandy tried to calm the situation down, "We don't wanna argue or fight, we just want proof that we can trust you as our travel companions."
"And we're saying you don't have to." Freddy glared back, "We three have our own objective to fulfill with visiting the World Wonders, you're not necessary in the plan."
"Did that light show up when you touched the previous World Wonders as well?" Juavez asked, "What happens when you check them all off?"
"Mind your business!" I shouted, startling all of them as I did, "You said you wanna remain friends, yet you interrogate us like we're some crazed lunatics! If you really wanna have faith in us and continue this journey in peace, then just trust me when I say this - It's nothing evil!"
"...Cheh, evil." Juavez snickered.
"Spoken like a true villain." Sandy leaned back with a sigh, "But I think I can guess what's up anyways, so no need to say anything."
"You can?" Juavez raised an Eyebrow.
"Yeah, it's magic!" She smiled brightly, giving a startling close answer that made my hair stand on end, "I'm right, aren't I? That light couldn't have come from nowhere. Besides, there's also the air of mystery surrounding the World Wonders as a whole. Surely something mythical happens when you touch all of them, like summon a massive global-scale event that..."
"Tsk, you're crazy if you think that, garota." Juavez immediately denied her, "Magic? Do you heard yourself? Where's this even coming from?"
"Well, it's an old story I saw on the internet a long time ago, but I never considered it to be true until now." She shrugged, "It theorized that the World Wonders were created by an ancient civilization that had access to long forgotten magic."
"Oh, I've read that one!" Freddy smiled, "Yeah, it was a popular theory a few years ago, spread like wildfire because of how well-designed it was. They even pulled up geometric calculations all the locations, plugged in the coordinates as numbers and got some crazy results."
Huh, that does sound fascinating. Well, we know already that everything in this world was maticulously created by the Five Gods, so I'm sure they must have put a major emphasis on the location. Now that I think about it, the old man in the Redeemer Statue said the Gods tricked the locals into sealing him inside it. So then, do all the Wonders of the World have something (or someone) hidden within? What a scary thought...
"You guys are thinking of History Channel myths." Juavez rolled his Eyes as he immediately debunked the notion, "Seriously, I'm sure older civilizations existed way before us and had their fair share of fun, but they obviously didn't have the tools necessary to make the damned spectacles, much less map them out ahead of time."
"Oh? Then do tell me who you think made them?" Issei chuckled, "Watch, next he's gonna tell us how he wholeheartedly believes the aliens built the Pyramids."
"Yes, they did!"
"Bahaha! I was joking, you idiot!" Issei mocked him, "Man, I didn't think people actually believed in that crap!"
"Shut up! Numerous UFOs have been found throughout history, and countless people have spoken up about getting abducted by them and had their bodies operated on!"
"Guys, guys!" I stopped their quarreling to ask, "What the hell are aliens?"
I probably shouldn't have outed myself as not knowing, because it's apparently super well-known to the people of this world. Yet again, Issei bailed me out by telling them how I grew up in a village and thus wasn't all that well informed. Still, what I heard from their explanations of aliens shook me to my very core. Aliens are people with giant craniums from... the Moon!? You can go there!? And other planets as well... Hold on, what even are other planets? If this world is called Earth, then what's beyond Earth? The sky is still above us, the stars in the sky and the Sun and Moon, but they speak of a land even beyond that. So then...
"Ah, I get it." I nodded confidently, "So aliens are people who have passed on and reside in Heaven?"
"You don't get it one bit, amigo."
Damn, and I was so sure, too...
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***
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"Time to take back Jerusalem!" Sandy enthusiastically announced.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Don't even joke about that, garota. The hot topic is no one's friend." Juavez warned her.
"Yeah, and besides, you mixed up your World Wonders." Freddy chuckled, "Our next stop is Petra in Jordan, so not even the correct country."
"Eh, Petra? Never heard of it!" She whined, "Isn't Jerusalem like, the main attraction here? Y'know, the crusades and all that?"
"How can you even say that with a straight face?" Juavez sighed, "Petra is the World Wonder of this area. It is also known as the Rose City of Raqmu due to the surrounding sandstone's vibrant colors. It's dated to around 500 years before the birth of Jesus Cristo."
"Wait, did I hear that right? That's 2500 years ago!" Sandy jumped.
"Whoa, that's over double the age of the Everdivision..." I muttered.
"Mn? Did you say something, England?"
"He said that's over double the age of the Church's division." Issei bailed me out with a quick history fact, "You know, 1054AD? The Christian church was officially divided into two denominations - The Orthodox and the Catholics?"
"Why would anyone care to know that?" She asked.
"I knew that." Juavez added, "Though it is a weird date to base the comment off of, especially for our fake God believing amigo here."
"J-Just cause I believe in my Gods doesn't mean I don't know anything about yours!" I quickly refuted.
"Then tell me the story of Noah's Ark from the Bible."
"Easy! There's was this guy Noah who built a ship, but as the planks rotted away he had to swap them out." I elaborated, "Over time, every plank was changed for a new one, so the question remained..."
"That's Theseus!" Juavez shouted, "Meu Deus, it's like you're not even from this world!"
"I-I am!"
"Eh?" He looked at me weird, "I know that, amigo. I was just making a joke, what?"
"Well, you sound pretty stupid at times, and you're thick skulled to boot." Issei roasted him in order to shift the focus off of me, "So maybe he just thought you wouldn't get the obvious."
"I'll whoop your ass again, you know!" Juavez raged, "Don't tell me you haven't had enough of these fists!?"
"What kind of a devout Christian threatens to beat another soul so much? Heh, maybe you should read the Bible yourself sometime, too." Issei continued to egg him on.
"Why is a Buddhist telling me to read the Bible!? Shit makes no sense!"
Ah, religion. It divides the masses, yet it brings together the individuals. Well, if you can consider this relationship between us "brought together". Either way, at least these two aren't interrogating us about the World Wonders now, so that's something. Another thing added surprise benefit of this situation is that we no longer have to touch the World Wonders in secret, since they already know about the Green light. Now it's just smooth sailing to the rest of the Wonders.
"So, Jordan, huh?" Sandy asked, "I wonder why they chose to name the place after an actual name."
"Most likely it happened the other way around." Freddy corrected her.
"Y'know, I used to think the next JoJo's name was gonna be Jordan." Issei remarked, "Like, it never sat right with me to just reuse Josuke's name for Part 8."
"Part 9 is Jodio though."
"What the-!? Last name?"
"Joestar. He's Joseph's grandson, but in the other verse Holly has a sister, so he's her child."
"Argh, I really need to catch up with the story...!" Issei proclaimed, "Once we get back home, I'll show it to Othelia and Eleanor too. Eleanor really likes to read maps, so she'll probably really like it, too."
"You talking about your missies, JP?" Sandy smirked, "You're not fooling anyone, you know."
"You think I'm lying?"
"I know you are."
"Then what if I showed you a picture as proof?" He suggested as he pulled out his phone.
Ah, good idea, I'm surprised he didn't think to show her earlier. From what I understood, his phone has an ability similar to that of a camera, in that he can capture a photograph for later viewing. That being the case, his phone's futuristic, so he can store all those pics digitally instead of having them physically as polaroids. Gah, I'm kinda jealous of them up there. I'm riding my hoverboard separately, so I can't quite get a good look at the images-
"Whoa!" Issei panickedly flicked his fingers a few dozen times, "Wrong pics!"
"Hell no, right pics!" Sandy scrolled back to them, "Ooh-la-la! Look at these spicy images!"
"Ayo, who's the naked hottie, amigo?" Juavez chimed in.
"Naked hottie!?" Freddy's neck almost snapped from how hard he turned back to look.
"Eyes in front, you perverted uncle!" Issei snapped at him, "Sigh, this is Othelia... God, will you two stop staring so intently at my girlfriend's nudes!?"
Nudes!? This idiot, why the hell is he taking pictures of his girl like that!? And hold on a sec, why did she even agree to it? Actually, it's Othelia, so of course she would...
"Hey, there's a different naked garota now!" Juavez stopped him again.
Aaaand looks like they found one of Eleanor too. Geez, these girls are way too lax with Issei's depraved sexual wishes...
"Dammit, where's the right pic... Ah, there!" Issei proudly showcased the picture he wanted to show from the beginning, "This is from the time me and a few buddies went to Mount Ivr-err, a famous mountain!"
"Aww, they're fully clothed..." Sandy looked disappointed.
"Didn't think you'd have so many friends, amigo." Juavez jeered.
"Screw the both of you." Issei frowned.
He wanted to say Mount Ivrys just now, didn't he? Then, that must have been when he went with Ed, Cecily and the gang. I need to ask to see that picture when we land, I wanna see my wife's face again. Now that I think about it, I think Cene was there as well...
"Heehee..."
"What're you smirking at like an idiot down there?" Issei asked.
"Hey, can you show me that picture later?"
"Lune..." He looked at me a bit hurt, "I didn't think I'd ever see the day you so blatantly lust after my girlfriends..."
"H-Hey, I didn't mean...!"
"Wait, plural?" Juavez did a double take.
Who cares about whether he said plural or singular! Oi, Issei! I meant to see my wife! MY wife!