"Wait….what happened??! You're so pale and you're sweating buckets!" Alex rushed to his side and put her hand on his forehead and cheeks. "You're burning up….? But your neck…it feels so cold….?" she was perplexed by his natural body temperature.
Dio blinked a few times before he could feel what Alex was talking about, every breath he took felt icy, reminding him of the voice that nearly made him stain his pants. However, his head felt heavy and the sweat seemed to drag him down as it dripped down his body.
"I think I just need to sit a while…" he sounded different, almost as if his personality had fully changed. Alex caught the slight change, there was no way she wouldn't, it was slightly concerning for her as well, but it was obvious that he wasn't himself at the moment.
"Alright…." She put her hand on his back and walked back to the seats with him. "Did something happen?" she asked after a minute or so of just sitting. Her curiosity was going out of control and she knew that anything that could happen to Dio would most likely be interesting.
"I saw some things….I felt….threatened…" Dio said in a slow and dragged-out tone, internally he put in a conscious effort to avoid using the word scared, but deep down, he knew.
"What kind of things?"
"I can't really explain it….everyone was bursting into color….and my movements felt very….blurry? I don't know…"
"Was that what made you feel threatened?"
"No…there was a voice….I couldn't tell who it was to or if it belonged to a man or a woman….but there was so much…" Dio choked on his words, he took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing, "there was just so much anger in the voice….and it said something about me failing…."
Alex nodded as her friend continued to speak, but once he mentioned what the voice had said she knew it was the time to chime in, "failed? What does that mean?"
"I have no clue….was I just zoning out? But it felt way too real for it to be something like that…and towards the end…the voice just lost all its anger, it was replaced by this intense sorrow and sadness.…." Dio took another breath before continuing, "Remember. That was what I heard before I was brought back to reality…"
It was interesting. That was for sure. It wasn't exactly a puzzle, but Alex was definitely caught, although it would be more apt to say that she herself jumped into it. Regardless, what was the voice asking him to remember? It was far too vague to even think about anything.
Dio's entire existence was a testament to remembering, that was literally what made him so special. He had the ability to never forget anything, so for a voice to ask him, no, urge him to remember was something unusual.
However, that didn't mean that they would spend their lives trying to find meaning behind a small vision he had, a fragment that barely meant anything. Perhaps it would be better to simply just wait and live on and hope that it would make more sense in the coming future.
And that was what they did. Once Dio was back to normal, the topic was dropped, rather it was pushed away for the moment. The selection process, that is, the duels was still going on. A total of two matches were done since Dio's and Hina's show of talent.
"Caesar and Tony Williams. Please come up to the stage!"
It was a feeling Dio couldn't fully comprehend, but for some reason, every time Caesar took to the stage, he felt like using his laurel wreath spell on him. It was funny how that feeling never failed to appear, almost as if his feelings were trying to tell him something. Unfortunately, who really listens to their own body?
"Let me guess, you had no idea there was an applicant by the name of Tony," Alex said as she leaned forward and look at the match carefully. She was right, Dio genuinely hadn't noticed, he probably wouldn't have cared for Caesar if not for the weird feeling he was getting.
"Woman detected. Opinion Rejected," Dio said with the straightest face ever known to mankind, not a hint of fear or remorse, almost as if he had just said the most intellectually factual statement ever.
(A/N: Personally, I would never say that. But that's just me tho frfr)
"Oh? Seems like I already have something to tell your mother," Alex raised her eyebrow and looked Dio up and down before turning back to the match.
Just that was more than enough to shake him up completely, "I was obviously kidding. I adore women, not as much as they do me, but still,"
"Just stop talking and look at the match will you?" Dio noticed that she was restless now, she couldn't keep her legs still even for a single second.
"Nervous?-"
"Yeah no shit," Alex replied before the word fully got out of his mouth.
"Why? I don't think there is anyone you can't beat here. Especially since you're giving it your all from the start,"
"I don't feel that way. Hina….even if the circumstances were on her side or whatever, it still doesn't change the fact that she beat you. Then there's this other guy named Blue, both of them have won all their matches so far. Besides, those aren't the only threatening applicants, there are so many….haaah.." She sighed heavily before continuing, "at times like these, I really wish I had your personality,"
"Then take it," Dio said, once again, with the straightest face known to mankind, "you're worried about the wrong things. Think of it from their point of view. You've lost none of your matches yet, and you've given it your all from the beginning. For them, you probably seem confident in your ability and someone threatening,"
"You call me a narcissist, and yet you fail to see things from a perspective other than yours. Calm down, you got this,"