I don't know how I did this. All I could think was to stop this somehow. Everything around me stopped in a mere scream. Except I can still move. What? Cashe's arm is about to emerge from Mack's chest but Sacred Heart appears where Cashe is and with a punch time moves once more. Cashe goes flying backward with a wound in his chest with blood spurting out of him.

  Mack still stumbles to one knee, "The hell?"

  The Man in Bck readies his guitar, "You can stop time?"

  "I don't know! I just did it!" I snap back and Sacred Heart unches into a barrage accelerating the fired off bullets to powder. One slipped by and Cashe bursts out of a wall, falling onto the street and aiming down the sights before reeling back from a bde of pure sound slicing into his cheek.

  The Man in Bck strums as fast as possible with soundwave bdes sshing through cars and lightpoles sending them crashing down in front of where he nded so he couldn't shoot through the barrier much less advance.

  More shots ping off as Cashe keeps coming and getting us with his small pocking bullets. A death of a thousand cuts is more likely than just one kill shot. Mack's odd golden aura and sucking in of breath has my body tensing at every hit. But our enemy keeps bursting out of pces. That's when all of a sudden Mack stabs him in the chest. The gun in Cashe's hand going off and drilling a bullet right into his shoulder. His expression twists into one of pure fear and he stumbles back hoping against all hope that his bde hit its target.

  Only for Cashe to have slipped through and he stands lopsided and covered in blood from almost head to toe. Every inch of him is covered in it, and yet his right hand and pistol are still pristine. His crimson eyes are full of desperation and pleading.

  He watches as my friend moves backward in pure terror. I've never seen Mack more scared in my life and I've barely known him for that long. He stumbles and falls to the ground with blood pouring from the shot. He stares up at me and yells out, "Kill this fucker!"

  "Lord Dio..." Cashe warbles, "Just stop this and I won't kill your friend."

  "I warned you all, Cashe." I state, "Now you're reaping what you've sown by pursuing me."

  "I know that."

  He tries to fire but Sacred Heart crushes the bullet in its hand and Cashe gets the message. He moves back and considers his options. The Man in Bck has Mack in his arms and is moving him out of the way. Gring at him with his dark eyes.

  Cashe takes out another firearm and belt from his bloodied coat and tosses it to me, "Shoot me then after ten paces." his tone's bitter and as sharp as a knife. I catch it and its fully loaded. Instead of a bright pearled handgun it was dark and gold accented. A bck-hat's gun. Just as Cashe styled himself as the sheriff in a Spaghetti Western. Along with it was a holster bck and gold like its pistol.

  I can't help but spin the pistol like a gunslinger. The gold accents shine in the sunlight and I study the six shots and pristine bullets in the belt. But from how Cashe is looking... it's only one shot. One shot and its over. I switch the gun to my dominant left hand and holster it. He palms the grip, softly reloads his shots in the chamber, and flicks it closed. Mack, The Man in Bck, and I all tense. Stands at the ready to attack. His blood runs down to the ground and the sun shines off us all.

  We turn and begin our paces.

  1...

  2...

  3...

  4...

  5...

  Aim for his arm. Get the gun out of his hand. If I'm shot he'll be able to burst right through me and it'll all be over.

  6...

  7...

  8...

  If this is all I have to do, the first enemy Stand User goes down and I get the answers I've been wanting to get. About Father Pucci's true pns. Maybe whoever this Man in Bck is will be answered too?

  9...

  We both whirl around and his right arm is shredded by The Man in Bck's stand. His shot goes high and mine scores right in the side of his neck because of the Man in Bck's act. Cashe grabs the side of his neck and gurgles to the road.

  "What the hell?!" Mack snaps, "We coulda gotten answers!" he snaps at the Man in Bck as he straightens his hat and spits on the dying man.

  "He shot you and was going to kill Daniel just now. I jus' did what any man would do." he turns and tips his hat, "Now let's get back with the goods before the lunch rush is over. I'm starvin'."

  I move over to Cashe and kneel. Sacred Heart's power already reversing some of the damage so he could get some final words. Tears stream down his bloodied face as his eyes close. Basking in my touch one final time.

  If I was anything like who I came from I would've walked away. Called him weak or a coward or some other thing that far cheapened who he is. He gulps down precious time and look up at me with forcing his eyes open.

  "They... I'm not... the only one. I'm... diligence..." he hisses, "Lord... Dio... you....." I close my eyes and Sacred Heart accelerates his death. Just another way I can show mercy to him. I never knew his story but he believed in me wholeheartedly enough to dedicate himself to the cult.

  But what could've made him so durable?

  "Guys!" Jolyne runs up and sees all of us covered in wounds and Mack nursing his shoulder the best he can by himself. The Man in Bck turns slightly and regards her with a cool expression if he hadn't just lopped a man's arm to pieces.

  "Who's that?" she asks me.

  "I'm the Man in Bck, Miss?" he cuts me off before I can say anything.

  "Jolyne." she fttens her tone and immediately stitches up Mack's wound, "Let's get back. I got worried about you two." she and I both support Mack as he mumbles...

  "No... no... Amaya no..." he must've passed out from either pain or fear. The Man in Bck walks alongside us and I don't even bother making eye contact with him. Cashe wanted a fair duel and a sendoff that befitted his choices.

  A fair duel. Gun to gun.

  "You broke the duel." I snarl at the Man in Bck.

  "He was going to kill you." he reasons, "What? Do you think life is fair, Dio? That every bit and inch of it is nice and equal?" he looms over me as we head back to the restaurant, "You're lucky enough to have only been in the world for a few weeks."

  "Still! It's not right that we didn't honor his wishes. You took his chance to go out on his terms away from him!" I snap back but he shakes Mack a little.

  "Do you even care for these people, Dio? Or are you running like Miss Jolyne?" he asks and in seconds my Stand pops out and a kick screams right for him.

  "What do you know about me?!" I yell, "You know *nothing!*"

  My leg lights up in pain as Sacred Heart's kick meets a solid mass of air pyed forth from the Man in Bck's guitar. He smirks and the masses of air keep coming up as Sacred Heart tries to bash all of them down.

  Tears stream down my face at the pain and the thoughts of me not caring for any of them. Loredana took me in, Mack fed me, Jolyne and I bonded during the fights with Elvis and Sister Golden Hair, and said Pilr Woman healed me because I was hurt because she wanted to.

  My thoughts swirl with that memory of Sacred Heart's fist plowing through my mother's chest. Father Pucci's own words of comfort... but... my chest clenches with the grief of it all. How ashamed I was that I killed her.

  This wasn't living.

  "What do you even want?" the Man in Bck asks, "Friends? A family? The love of Miss Jolyne?"

  "Hold the fuck up, cowboy!" Jolyne cuts in, "What the hell are you talking about? Dio's my friend and we gotta focus. Mack's hurt. You two can handle this ter." she smiles at me and winks. Just giving me a little more time to hide my real pain.

  He hangs back, "You have a powerful stand, more natural strength, and you're too scared of what they'll think if you embrace them. You've already seen their reactions to your vampiric abilities, but what about your Stand's true power?"

  "And the way you look at Jolyne gives it away." of course he twists the knife. I don't like how right he is. Or even how much he's even getting right in the first pce.

  I close my eyes and Sacred Heart vanishes, "Fine. I am scared. Terrified even." He smiles and moves off towards the door with Jolyne bringing Mack in. I stare out at the street and reach down to grab my cross neckce. My mother's death, Cashe's death, and my warning to the other members of the cult still haunts me. Shadows me at every waking moment, but here I am still standing and still alive. My hand brushes against the cool onyx grip of the gun the cowboy had given me.

  Yet another memory to hold.

  I hear the nightsongs of the bugs and the frogs. The sounds of the urban sprawl. All I can do is hold them both. The cross and the gun. The heart and the weapon. I sit at the front stoop and the door opens behind me.

  "Brother Daniel?" Mack slowly and painfully sits down next to me, "You good?"

  "No." I state.

  "Is it 'cause of The Man in Bck?" he asks and at my nod grimaces, "Yeah I figured. Dude's abrasive as hell but I kinda know what he's talkin' about."

  "Oh, so you're going to badger me about Jolyne and how I'm scared stiff of losing you all?" I scoff, "Really helpful."

  "No, no. That ain't what I'm hear t'do at all." he shakes his head and smiles, "Just listen to what a coward like myself's gotta say first." he winds his good arm around my shoulders.

  "The worst thing she could do is say she don't feel the same way. An' I know you're new at all this. So maybe wait a bit. Grow a little more." he squeezes my shoulders, "You're a guy who just got out of a cult, you don't have an identity outside 'a that."

  "But what if Jolyne moves on?" I mumble.

  "Then you take it on the cheek an' be real happy for her. Say... what do you like to do when you're sad?" I close my eyes and think back to years ago. To that piano in Father Pucci's pce. How it would gleam and he would press the pedals and guide my hands.

  It was special.

  "I like to py piano." I answer and Mack barks out a ugh.

  "Well shiiit. I got one. How about you py for the folks tonight at dinner?" he nudges me a little.

  "What?! No! I'm... I'm terrible! Honestly! All I know is uh... Hot cross buns? Maybe..." he leans in close and whispers.

  "Do it an' no dishes for the next few weeks." that sweetened the pot enough. When we get inside I move right to the worn out piano well-pyed and well cared for. I wander over and sit down at the lopsided bench.

  The cover slides up on slightly creaky hinges and the old keys are still pristine. I py a scale to check its tuning and smile. Just the way it needs to be. I close my eyes and py. Py from the heart and the tune sings and sighs out of the piano.

  I remember Mother's singing along with the tune. Lyrics that I forgot but the singing stayed. The happy times in the compound even though I was stuck there to be some sort of king among men. Not just a king.

  A god.

  Something to be feared and worshipped instead of loved. My pying slowly drifts into the sad and mournful tune of knowing what I escaped. Knowing what I could've been and mourning the person I lost.

  I don't even think about the people coming in for dinner. I don't even think about what the Man in Bck said. All I do is py. All I do is let it pour out and tear open those old wounds. I keep pying until my fingers hurt and my eyes have cried enough tears to fill a cup.

  Loredana took me in because she saw a lost boy. Not a god. Jolyne likes me because... well, I'm not really sure. Mack and Sister Golden Hair seem okay with me. That's when I feel a hand on my shoulder. Standing there is Loredana. She smiles and slowly closes the piano. She's wearing the closest thing I've seen to pajamas on her but I don't focus on that.

  "Not yet!" I snap.

  "Daniel, it's three in the morning."

  "Not yet." I turn back and try to open it back up but she stops me by grabbing my wrist.

  "Daniel. Please." she dries my tears, "Just go clean yourself up and sleep. It's okay."

  "Why am I still here?" I feel my voice break, "Why me? Why not... not..." Loredana softly brushes my hair off from my forehead and leans down. Kissing it. My face goes warm and I look down at my hands which are bunched in my pant legs.

  "I don't know, Daniel. I ask myself the same thing." she touches her scar and I know there's times she just... stops. Where there's nothing going on up in that head of hers. Mack's had to rush out and get her into the back.

  To do what, I'm not sure of.

  She takes my hand and leads me up the steps towards the bathroom, turns on the light, and shuts the door before I could protest. Loredana's not going to move until I do what she says. So I do it. As I settle in she sticks by the door.

  "Loredana?" I ask.

  "Yes?"

  "Goodnight."

  She smiles, "Goodnight, Daniel." she bows her head and turns to leave. I roll over and try to surrender to sleep. After a little bit I'm out like a light.

  After the day's final service I'm alone in the sanctuary. The candles still glow and the lights are out. We always end in near total darkness aside from the candles. It was Rio's personal touch to it all. But that's not what I focus on. I drift back to the grand piano near the altar. The sleek bck painted piano. It was inherited from my father, Alexander. At least from what I can recall.

  My fingers brush against the keys as a voice echoes through my mind, "No no no. Like this." its warm and giggly. Feminine. The scent of wildflowers drifts through my nostrils. The blurry and soft gold of that someone's hair softly brushing against my chest.

  I keep my eyes closed, "Why do you close your eyes?" the voice asks.

  "Because it helps me feel the song." I answer to it with a sad sigh. Of course my original compositions I've only written down for myself. Never for the congregation or the flock. Or for Dio's mother or for him. Just for me. Just to remember.

  Days where the sun would shine.

  Days where she would sit with me on the bench and py. My hands dance pyfully as the one part sounds out without accompaniment. I'm calling out to someone who cannot answer anymore. I'm calling to the one person that made everything worth living for.

  The other half of the composition was never pyed again.

  I don't hear the knocking. My eyes burn and sting with tears. As much as I would like to shed them.

  I can't.

  My hands stop moving and my feet move off the pedals. I let out a shaky breath and slide the piano shut. The cover thunks with a final sound and is at rest.

  Goodbye and goodnight for now, my love.

  I sit and hear the knock.

  "Father Pucci?" a voice breaks me out of my piano pying. One of my few joys outside of leading my flock. I turn and smile at the man coming in to tell me the status of Cashe's fight with Lord Dio and his deceivers.

  "Yes my son?" I ask as the man produces his readouts from the battle.

  "Well sir, Cashe is dead. We've sent some brothers and sisters out to collect the body, but..." he walks in and Year Zero appears with its hammer poised to strike. He moves back at the change in the room.

  "What?" I stand and cross over to him, "What is it?"

  "Lord Dio... he can... stop time. Not just fast forward it or slow it down, he can do all three..." The man begins as he shakes in his boots. Not everyone can see Year Zero, but as part of its power they can feel it.

  "Splendid!" I excim, "Praise be to God. Any other news?" My chest and shoulders lighten up at the news that Lord Dio is getting stronger. Maybe letting him out in the world was a good idea. Then something stokes in me that I haven't felt in a long time.

  A familiar pulling. An awful sensation. The man shudders and flips the page of the dossier he has in his hands, "Uh... We've also had reports that the ah... Man in Bck is with him." That's when it explodes out of me like a bomb.

  In moments Year Zero's ability triggers and I grab the man, who's eyes are dead, his muscles are sck, and his voice fades. I drag him over to the piano and sm him into it.

  "He's ALIVE?!"

  "HOW DARE HE?!" I sm him onto the piano bench and then lift him to smash him into the keys.

  "I THOUGHT I DEALT! WITH! HIM!" The keys smash out discordant notes and blood mars them. I keep smming him down remembering my st encounter with that man. How he and I changed each other's lives forever.

  Again.

  And again.

  And again.

  Sickening thunking and squelching sounds out.

  The follower falls to the floor bloodied and broken. Footsteps sound out and Elise is there. Her eyes cold as ice as she steps over the man. In moments he's on fire and in even more moments he's nothing but ash that she sweeps up.

  Not a sound. Not one scream. Year Zero sweeps away into the shadows and Elise sighs.

  "Cashe was always bound by his honor. His diligence was admirable." I sigh going over to a sink and washing my hands free of the blood, "Now that the apostate is involved I don't think we can send any of the Saints directly."

  "Father Pucci, if I may... why not send Walking in Memphis?" she asks as she begins to clean off the keys, "Maybe even Patience?" I look over at her and smile.

  "Elise, dear. We have more than just the Saints." I touch her shoulders and she looks up at me, "Their times and yours will come. Bring me my phone." As she leaves to get it, I look down at my hands.

  Will I be able to overcome this trial?

  Please, God, give me your answer.