Hello, little girl... goodbye, little girl

[ Dio pov ]

I didn't even need to leave the wasteland, instead Artoria suddenly appeared at my side as I was walking in her direction. If her stressed face was anything to go by, she most likely didn't enjoy the explosions that we caused, and the absolute destruction around us probably didn't help her concerns diminish.

Before I could speak, she immediately tackled me into a hug.

"There, there." I said in a low tone, caressing her hair.

I was definitely in a good mood, so I guess it was fine to waste a bit of time on this, even if there were more important things to do right now.

"How was your job?" I asked, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Did you get the kid?"

"Of course, my dear." she replied, releasing me from her embrace. "Giorno is keeping an eye on her."

"Good." I said calmly, walking in the direction she came from. "Let's get this over with first. We have a lot of things to do, so we can't waste any more time on this ruined town."

After a small walk we arrived to were Giorno was and I stared for a moment at the young girl, who was tied up and sweating, her consciousness barely clinging to her mind as she struggled to stay awake.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked Giorno.

"Well..." muttered Giorno with a slightly awkward expression. "She seems to have over-exerted herself and is now on the verge of passing out from mana exhaustion."

"I see..." I muttered while getting closer to her and crouching down, placing my hand on her forehead and directly injecting magical energy into her magic circuits to help her recover.

Immediately, her eyes opened and we found ourselves staring at each other.

It was truly incredible how similar she was to my wife, though it made sense , after all she was her body.

"Well then, let's get started." I said, indicating Artoria to get next to the girl.

Placing my hand on the girl's forehead, I sunk my palm into her head and activated my true magic, accessing her soul.

The girl began thrashing around, trying to break free as I moved deeper into her soul, getting hold of her very mind.

"Shhh." I muttered in a low tone, moving deeper into her mind and breaking it slowly, to make sure her body wasn't damaged in the process.

Unlike before during my fight with Aoko, this time I wasn't trying to kill the girl, instead I just wanted her soul to stop being in this body. The difference was that the body needed to be alive.

"Sigh, how troublesome..." I muttered before placing my free hand on Artoria's forehead.

This part was even harder, because unlike with the girl, I needed to make sure my wife's mind and memories remained intact.

Slowly, I began taking pieces of the girl's soul out of her body and began replacing them with parts of my wife, remaking the intricate web of strings that was Artoria's soul in the girl's body.

The girl began to scream as I continued to tear her soul apart, unable to remain silent as I destroyed her mind and memories while sending her, in parts, to her death.

"Shhh, it's alright." I said in a low and caring tone.

There was something slightly uncomfortable about doing this, but one can never reach greater heights if you stop every time something doesn't feel nice.

"There you go." I muttered, pulling out the last string of what used to be Gray's soul out of her body and releasing it into the wind, only for it to disappear and head to the root.

Bringing my attention back to the new body of my wife, I finished filling it with her soul and, once I was done, I simply stared at it for a moment with a smile.

Her body began to change, growing in size to match her soul, and I immediately began to give her extra magical energy to make sure it worked.

Her appearance began to change, regaining her Alter aspects, however that was not all. Her size continued to grow, including the size of her chest, and for a moment I found myself in an unexpected situation.

I expected her new body to grow to match Artoria's previous one, but this was different...

Once the process was done, Artoria opened her eyes with a calm expression.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

Artoria nodded in reply before standing up and walking in the direction of Gray's Mystic Code, which had been next to Giorno during the process.

Grabbing it, Artoria brought it to me.

"My lance is here." she explained while placing it on my hands. "I tried using it earlier, but the mystic code has a consciousness and didn't let me."

"Interesting..." I muttered with an amused smile, grabbing the mystic code and activating once again my true magic.

What I found inside was certainly an unexpected surprise. There was no soul, no mind, just a personality, floating in the emptiness of the weapon and acting as a seal.

"Perish." I muttered, and the consciousness vanished, alongside the seal, releasing Rhongomyniad in all its glory.

Now holding a huge lance on my hand, alongside what remained of the previous mystic code, which was slowly turning to ashes, I couldn't help but admire the weapon.

Giving it back to Artoria, I finally took a moment to fully appreciate her change. She was now a tall woman, nearly the same height as me and at least 15cm taller than her previous form, but this only made her prettier. Her chest grew in size as well, and her black armour was also different.

As soon as she grabbed the lance, it began changing both colour and shape. The white and golden aura around it turned black as the weapon darkened, thorns appearing on it. the previously light blue weapon that looked like the sky on a clear day now resembled a stormy day, and it was beautiful.

I felt something appear inside me once she grabbed her weapon, and even without looking inside I already knew what it was.

A smile grew on my face as I stretched, even though it wasn't necessary.

"Well, let's get out of here." I said.

Today, despite the annoyances and interruptions, was a good day, and if you ignore the destruction and deaths, the world really is a better place because of me.