It was July. The sea stretched clear and endless beneath a cloudless sky.
Logically, with sunlight glinting off the waves and the sea breeze in the air, it should have been pleasantly warm—but Joseph Joestar felt a chill crawl down his spine.
One moment, he was fretting about his grandson beneath the waves; the next, he stood frozen, eyes wide at the impossible sight before him.
The surface of the ocean, where a vast, nearly hundred-meter vortex had churned moments ago, was now utterly frozen. The whirling current had solidified into a crystalline formation, the spiraling water locked in time as sunlight refracted across the glassy surface. Even the patterns of scales, scattered by the whirlpool, were clearly visible beneath the frozen layers.
The four remaining figures aboard the ship stood in a silent row, dumbfounded as they stared at the unnatural phenomenon.
All of them had faced terrifying foes before. Some had stood in the same room as Dio, whose presence radiated death and corruption. Yet, even against those dark forces, none of them had ever seen a power capable of freezing an entire, flowing sea vortex in place.
This wasn't a still pond or a stagnant lake—this was the open sea, ever-shifting, impossible to control.
Freezing a simple glass of water? A refrigerator could do that.
But to freeze water pulled by relentless currents, and to overcome the salt-laden lower freezing point of seawater? That required power beyond reason.
"Joseph… what the hell is happening?"
Avdol's voice was tight, his sharp gaze flicking to Joseph first. He remembered enough of the older man's past to know: if anyone might recognize the impossible, it would be Joseph Joestar.
When Joseph was young, he'd fought alongside warriors against beings of unspeakable horror—the Pillar Men—ancient, near-immortal creatures, whose leader, Kars, had nearly crushed human civilization.
In the end, it was Joseph's ingenuity that had flung Kars into the void of space, ending the terror.
Avdol, seasoned as he was, instinctively turned to Joseph, wanting—needing—to know:
Was this some unfathomable natural phenomenon… or something man-made?
If it was man-made…
But Joseph looked just as baffled as the rest, his brow furrowed, mouth ajar. His expression practically said, You're the psychic, shouldn't you be explaining this?
None of them, focused on the ice vortex, had yet noticed the small inflatable raft hovering just beyond the frozen spiral—its flimsy appearance betrayed by the stability and faint magical shimmer that rippled around it.
Hermione Granger's wide brown eyes sparkled in shock, but her surprise wasn't directed at the frozen sea itself. She'd seen stranger, more terrifying displays of power before.
What truly startled her was the fact that Kai Adler had intervened at all.
"Didn't you say you weren't going to meddle?" she asked, her voice laced with disbelief.
"It's annoying," Kai replied simply, his eyes fixed on the frozen sea.
Truthfully, freezing seawater took far more Black Magic than he'd anticipated. Maintaining stability in moving saltwater required delicate control and significant energy.
His wand—white ash with unicorn hair core—glowed faintly as he lifted it, the polished wood channeling his intent.
Crack… Crash…
The ice responded, shattering along its edges as Kai manipulated the formation. Seawater rushed back to fill the void, colliding currents pounding against a shimmering magical barrier Kai had erected to shield their raft.
The others aboard the larger vessel could only gape as a colossal, inverted ice cone slowly emerged from the sea. Suspended in midair like a giant, transparent diamond, the structure glittered beneath the sun.
Within its crystalline core, the vortex's remnants were preserved—the swirling seawater, frozen marine debris, and… two figures locked in the center.
The Captain, his arrogant grin captured in ice, hovered near the base of the cone. Behind him, his grotesque blue Stand maintained its aggressive, arms-raised posture.
But higher within the cone, Jotaro Kujo and Star Platinum were trapped mid-motion, battered but unyielding, their defiant expressions frozen along with them.
Kai's eyes narrowed with interest. The man before him clearly bore the signs of a brutal underwater battle, yet he remained composed—even his gaze, when their eyes met across the shimmering ice, was steady.
Crack… Crack… RUMBLE—!
The ice fractured violently, and with explosive force, a purple-gloved fist punched through the frozen prison.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA—!"
Chunks of ice burst outward in a storm of shards.
Kai's intrigue deepened. This ice was no ordinary construct—it had been infused with heavy Black Magic, structured to suppress and entrap even supernatural entities like Stands. Not even a seasoned wizard wielding Fiendfyre could melt it with ease…
Yet this man's Stand had shattered it.
Kai's earlier assessment was confirmed—the concentrated energy within Star Platinum could physically repel or disrupt lesser spells and curses, a rare quality among magical beings.
If circumstances were different, he might have been genuinely eager to spar with such a capable opponent.
Freed from the ice, Jotaro stood amidst the ruins of his crystalline prison, blood trailing from his wounds but posture unbroken. His eyes, sharp beneath the shadow of his hat, locked onto Kai.
"It's you?"
Recognition flickered in his gaze—this was the same strange young man they'd crossed paths with at that Berlin restaurant. Back then, Kai had seemed inconspicuous, but now… the oppressive aura swirling around him told a different story. Black Magic radiated visibly, warping the air itself.
Two teenagers, alone in the middle of the open sea on an inflatable boat, now commanded an aura that distorted reality.
"This was your doing?" Jotaro asked, voice low.
Kai smiled faintly, ever-polite, "You're welcome."
Jotaro snorted, saying nothing further, though he silently acknowledged that Kai's interference had pulled him from a dire situation.
Jotaro's eyes flicked to the Captain, still frozen below. "So the vortex… that was his Stand?"
"Obviously," Kai replied smoothly. "Going to keep standing there, or join us on the boat?"
Jotaro hesitated for a moment, glancing at the small vessel. "I'll stand for now. What are you doing with him?"
"Whatever you want," Kai responded dismissively, his attention already turning back to the ice block.
The hundred-meter cone cracked and shrank, rapidly compressing as Kai's wand directed its collapse.
Realizing he was running out of footing, Jotaro leapt toward the inflatable raft, calling, "Careful!"
He landed with practiced precision, but to his surprise, the raft didn't jolt or sink beneath him. It felt as solid as dry land.
"How…?" Jotaro frowned.
"Black Magic," Hermione chimed in proudly from behind Kai.
"Black Magic… that's real?" Jotaro muttered, skeptical but intrigued.
Kai's pale eyes glinted. "You didn't think you were ordinary, did you?"
Jotaro remained silent. Truthfully, up until recently, he had believed exactly that.
Meanwhile, the ice cone had condensed into a two-meter sphere, the Captain and his Stand still trapped inside. Though his expression remained arrogant, terror flickered behind his eyes.
Kai flicked his wand, sending the ice sphere plunging back into the sea with a splash.
"Kai Adler," he introduced with a nod.
"Jotaro Kujo."
Their brief exchange ended, Kai turned to Hermione.
She had been watching quietly, but concern lingered in her gaze. Kai knew what she feared. His smile softened.
"Relax. Just teaching him a lesson. The ice will melt soon enough—he'll manage."
"But won't he drown?" Hermione asked, hesitant.
Jotaro cut in, voice calm despite the situation, "He boasted underwater earlier—claims he can hold his breath for ages."
"See?" Kai gestured. "Not my problem."
Hermione rolled her eyes but let her worry ease. "I wasn't worried about him drowning. I was worried that your… thing… would act up again."
She caught herself before saying Obscurus, glancing warily at Jotaro.
Kai's eyes sparkled with amusement. "I know my limits."
Jotaro studied Kai silently. Moments ago, this man hadn't known the Captain could hold his breath, yet his actions had been precise, calculated… merciless.
Elegant and composed on the surface—but beneath that, utterly ruthless.
Kai's logic was simple:
The Captain endangered Hermione.
Therefore, the Captain must die.
Though he hadn't technically lied—the outer ice layer was survivable—the true prison awaited beneath: compressed, spell-reinforced ice, layered with Gravity Charms and Solidifying Curses.
Even Fiendfyre would struggle to break it. That ice egg would sink to the ocean floor, entombing the Captain in his watery grave.
—
"Jojo!"
"Jotaro!"
With the ice block gone, the group on deck finally spotted him standing on the raft—alongside Kai and Hermione.
"It's you two?!" Joseph exclaimed.
"We meet again," Kai called, his smile polite, aristocratic as the raft approached.
Joseph and Jotaro exchanged wary glances.
"Come aboard," Joseph offered cautiously. "How'd you end up out here?"
But before Kai could respond, his expression darkened.
He grabbed Hermione, Black Magic coiling around them as the raft rocketed away from the ship like a shot arrow—
RUMBLE—!