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ILIAS VAN PAYNE

Eighteen days until the rings dissolve.

Joji's Glimpse Of Us ability could deconstruct any non-living thing back to things it had been and construct them into things they could become. To simplify it, if he had the raw ingredients to make a cake, he could use his right hand to construct them into one without any need for prep or baking. And if he had a baked cake, he could use his left hand to revert it back to its raw ingredients.

This ability didn't work on living things because as much as our appearance changed, we were still the same person deep down. Our bodies were always in a constant form of the present.

Riko's Stand, Comfortably Numb, could heal any wound by removing them from people and manifesting them as red balloons that got darker the deadlier the wound was—black being near-instant death. These 'wound' balloons must be absorbed by at least one person. If this didn't happen within ten minutes, the damage they carried would be applied to Riko. A balloon could be divided into as many equal pieces as Riko wanted and be absorbed by multiple people.

Because the people Uncle Salty had turned into statues bordered the line between animate and inanimate, neither Glimpse Of Us nor Comfortably Numb's abilities had any effect.

We had no choice but to leave them and seek refuge on the rock formation close by.

Trebor's suggestion of keeping Uncle Salty alive was an unpopular one. But as much as we hated it, the words his mouth formed were right. This highwayman wouldn't choose this desert to be his board if he didn't know how to traverse it.

Using Comfortably Numb, Riko manifested Uncle Salty's gunshot wounds into balloons and had a desert worm we lured to the surface absorb them. What we didn't heal were his eyes.

"You'll live," Trebor told him. "And don't be an idiot and activate Walk This Way. You can't see who has their back turned and who can beat you an inch from death."

Using the ropes that once bound Clint, Uncle Salty was kept tied up and inside the cart.

Jaime, Clint, and I sat by the campfire while everyone else slept. Trebor joined us not too long after, staring into the fire as if wanting to throw himself in for causing so much trouble.

During our tussle earlier, Clint had won over the right to move freely. Though Jaime and I still remained wary of him, we couldn't help but show respect for the way he took gunshot wounds for me knowing he might die.

He may have stolen our money, but his reasons for it were something I could get behind. In fact, we were both technically facing the same enemy, weren't we?

After a long while, Joji and Riko had gotten up from their sleepless spots and joined us around the fire.

"Mr Liar," Joji broke the ominous silence, "you've never crossed the desert before, huh? What's done is done, but I believe you owe us an explanation. You got a good number of us killed and have condemned most of us to wander this hell until we die. You owe us the reason why, at least."

Trebor didn't answer for a while. He continued to stare into the flame thinking of the right words. "Back when we met, I said you and I are the same person. We're both doing things to try and heal deep wounds. What's your deep wound, Joji?"

"I'll tell you why I'm here and what I'm doing. In fact, I believe we all owe each other the truth. But you got us into this situation and I did ask the question first."

Trebor grinned unsurely. "Have any of you ever been in love?"

Jaime began to raise her hand but I slapped it down. Joji caressed the locket around his neck.

"I was as well. We met each other when we both took archaeology classes at Oak University. Her name was Sherrie."

"If you and I share the same wounds, then I'm guessing Sherrie died."

"We were on an expedition to learn how to study ruins. She got tuberculosis and died eight months later."

"I'm sorry."

"She was too obsessed with archaeology. The ruins were being occupied by sick people and she kept going back because she was just so fascinated by its history. I should have tried harder to stop her, but it was her passion—our passion. How could I say no?"

Joji chuckled. "Did Sherrie have a dream?"

"You know how this goes, don't you?" Trebor sighed. "The Great Sand Sea is the last location true archaeology takes place. There are so many sites here that are yet to be discovered. There's one legend she was obsessed with. The story of King Benjamin, the richest man to ever live and his tomb filled with riches. Sherrie wanted to be the one to discover it."

"Hek hek hek," Uncle Salty cackled from the cart. "Do you even know how King Benjamin became the richest man to have ever lived? He was a warmonger who plundered every village and city he came across."

Even though the man he would be talking to was blind, Trebor faced the highwayman. "And you know this how?"

"You're not the only one who's looking for that legendary tomb. And there are things your history books can't teach you that only locals whose ancestors passed down stories to them can."

"Like?"

"Do you know why King Benjamin was such a feared warmonger? Locals say that he had an alchemy ability that made anything he looked at explode. Because of this, both his enemies and allies called him the Boom."

Trebor's mouth had dropped open. "You're telling me the tomb that legend is referring to is..."

"Hek hek hek. Yeah, it's the famous Tomb of the Boom ruin that's marked down on every Great Sand Sea map. You've been to it? Or did you ignore it because it's already been discovered?" Uncle Salty taunted.

"So all the riches have been taken..."

"Even worse. It doesn't exist. Many people have searched every crevice of that tomb but they haven't found one gold coin."

"I thought you were going to say it's already been found," Trebor sighed. " I'll discover it and honour the find to my wife."

"You lot are insane. Good night." Uncle Salty cachinnated, rolling to his side. "Honour it to my wife."

"I lied to you people because I was too afraid to enter the deep desert on my own." Trebor gestured to Joji and Riko. "I believe it's both of your turns. But I want Joji to go first."

Joji nodded. "My real name is Johnathan Van Jimin. I'm a State Jynxist who goes by the name Pink Guy. But I prefer to be called Joji because that's the nickname my wife called me when we were young."

"I see," I said, focusing on sensing his gates. "So that's how you were able to figure out how Walk This Way works. Well, it's good to finally meet another State Jynixst. Woah! You only have four gates and they're so strong."

"Yeah, I was only born with four but spent more than a decade strengthening them. And it was hard trying to pretend not to know who you were, Ilias."

"Why's that?"

"Because I read about you in the papers—the youngest person to ever become a State Jynxist. And just like you and Jaime, Riko and I are from the West. In fact, our stories have large similarities. All four of us were in Gilead when that beam of light teleported us here."

Jaime stood up, her ears doing the same. "You were there?"

"Yes, I lived in Gilead about thirty or so years ago. I went back to visit my wife's grave."

"So you're trying to get back there as well?"

"I burned my house down to make sure I had no home to return to." He ruffled up Riko's hair. "I'm trying to bring this little one home."

"Oh." Jaime sat back down. "So, Mel—sorry—Riko, what's your story?"

"I'm the eldest daughter of a noble family in Honahli. I ran away, got my healing ability taken advantage of, and regretted everything. All because I felt like I didn't belong back with my family. Luckily, Joji found me and promised to take me home."

"There's something that doesn't make a whole lot of sense," I said. "If Joji's trying to bring you back home, why didn't he use the money he threw at Uncle Salty to pay for the fare that would take you across fairly safely?"

"It's safer to cross on our own. We're much harder to track," Riko explained. "When I was young, my father paid to have me guarded. I was his only child at the time and he wanted to keep me as safe as possible. One of the guard's names was Diaye Essio. I was always scared of him because he was overly friendly but would beat a man to death if he had to. Him being able to switch tempers on the flip of a coin was something else. He left after a short while because my father didn't want to raise his wage. When we were in Shoya, we passed by Essio and his adventuring party—Clint was with them. He stared at me for a while. He might not have recognized me then, but he has now. I know he's trying to find me and wants to use me as ransom for my father's wealth."

Trebor tittered. "Only if Uncle Salty knew."

Clint snapped his fingers to catch our attention. Using a stick, he drew a portrait of a figure and wrote a small question mark in the sand.

"Yeah," Riko said, "that's what Essio looks like."

Jaime tilted her head. "You know what he looks like?"

Clint nodded. He pointed at Jaime's throat, referring to the rings. He then drew a portrait of Oyecomova under Essio.

"Huh?"

"I get it," I said. "You said you're not with Oyecomova's party. You're only tagging along because you want to kill their leader in a fair duel. That leader is this Essio guy, right?"

Clint nodded and drew an X over Essio's face.

"Why do you want to kill Essio so bad?"

Clint drew himself and another man. He pointed at this other man and then at Essio before imitating a gunshot to the head.

"Essio killed your father?"

Clint shook his head and wrote the words good friend. He then slashed his throat with his thumb and drew an equal sign in the sand.

"And you want to kill him by defeating him in a fair duel," Jaime finished. "You stole our money because Essio ordered you to and would reward you with a fair duel."

Clint shot a thumbs up.

Riko continued, "That's why we didn't pay to cross. Essio would definitely go after the expedition to look for me."

"Wait, Roxy and Roxanne are on the expedition!" Jaime realized.

"Don't worry. I doubt he's rash enough to attack them without confirming if I'm there."

"So, Clint," I said. "It seems as if we have more in common than we thought. We started off on the wrong foot, but I think we understand each other much better now."

Clint nodded. He pointed at Jaime's throat and thumped his heart.

Jaime puffed her cheeks in an attempt to look angry. "Fine, I'll forgive you. But only if I live..."

"It seems that Night Dancers and its members appear to be our common enemy," I said. "Joji and Riko are trying to avoid them, Jaime and I are trying to defeat Oyecomova, Clint wants to kill Essio in a fair duel, and Trebor..."

He giggled. "I'll be the emotional support."

I extended a hand to Clint. "I believe it's more beneficial for us going forward if we were allies."

Clint stared at my hand for a while before shaking it.

Damn, I never would've expected to be teaming up with the kid that almost killed me.

"Now," Jaime said. "This is pretty difficult because you're deaf, but who are you, Clint?"

The gunslinger gave her a subdued smile.

"I know who he is," I said. "Ever since I met you, it felt like I've seen you before. And it's been gnawing at me more and more ever since we stepped foot in this desert. But it finally clicked. When I was younger, Mother and I were visited by a friend of hers looking for something called the Panacea Flower—a rare plant that can heal any wound and sickness. I asked if I would ever get to meet you and Mother said that I will someday."

Clint couldn't take his eyes off me.

"Your name is Clint Kino and you're Auntie Odetta's deaf little brother."

What's next on Rebellion?

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Thanks for reading this far and don't forget to comment and vote as it would help push this story out a lot.

What do you think of Trebor?

What did you think of the reveal that Clint is Odetta's brother? (If you forgot who Odetta is, refer to Chapter 4.2)

This one was more obvious, but what about Frank and Melissa being Joji and Riko?

What are your thoughts on the Great Sand Sea, does it feel like what it should?

Now that the main cast for this volume is together, what do you think of them?

What are your thoughts on Uncle Salty and his fight with the Desperados?

References:

Joji/Jonathan Van Jimin (Pink Guy and Filthy Frank) - Jonathan (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure), Jimin (K-Pop artist), Joji (Indie Singer), Pink Guy/Filthy Frank (Joji's previous names)

Melissa - Melissa (PornoGraffitti song)

Riko Barrett - Riko (Made in Abyss), Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd member)

Clint Kino - Clint Eastwood (American actor), Kino (Kino's Journey)

Oyecomova - Oye Como Va (Santana song)

Coleman Trebor - Coleman Trebor (best Star Wars Jedi)

Uncle Salty - Uncle Salty (Aerosmith song)

Glimpse Of Us - Glimpse of Us (Joji song)

Separate Ways - Separate Ways (Journey Song)

Whip It - Whip It! (DEVO song)

Walk This Way - Walk This Way (Aerosmith song)

Comfortably Numb - Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd song)

Author's Notes:

Riko's last name was either going to be Barrett, Waters, or Floyd because her ability is named after a Pink Floyd song. Syd Barrett and Roger Waters are members. I ended up going with Barrett as it flows with the tongue better and it parallels how both Riko and Syd left their family and band respectively.

Comfortably Numb's appearance is based off of Korosensei from Assassination Classroom. The ability of being able to heal people's wounds by transferring them onto someone else is inspired by Kuma's ability in One Piece. The reason why the wounds manifest as balloons is because of a line in the song Comfortably Numb.

Coleman Trebor is inspired by Indiana Jones (obviously) in looks and character. Even his ability is just Indie's whip. Trebor's placeholder name was Indiana Smith.

Walk This Way's ability to turn anyone who looks back into stone is a mix of Medusa and the ghost alley from Jojo's part 4.

Uncle Salty was originally going to be a Snake-man to reference Medusa. But both Uncle Salty and his ability "Walk This Way" are from the Aerosmith album "Toys in the Attic". In the album cover, there is a white rocking horse which is why Uncle Salty is a horse-man instead.