Before Daniel D’Arby could have come to the point of even considering letting out his own breath, Officer Josuke Higashikata had done so, cementing both his own innocent soul and the soul of the notoriously wretched DIO, who had, with nary a shred of guilt, brought suffering to the loved ones of D’Arby, Higashikata, and countless others, as D’Arby’s own personal possession. The two had been, in one moment, living, thriving individuals, and in the next but tiny, insentient poker chips, neither smiling, nor frowning; neither laughing, nor crying; neither thinking, nor feeling; neither blinking, nor breathing.
They merely slumbered, with the same permanently untroubled expressions as the empty shells that had once been their bodies; that were now, essentially, their corpses.
DIO merely slumbered, with the same permanently untroubled expression as the empty shell that had once been his body (that had once been young Mr. Higashikata’s great-grandfather’s body); that was now, essentially, his corpse.
The effect of his own victory on the reaper of souls was instantaneous. His mouth split into a grin, leaving his wrinkled face feeling just as about to burst as his heart, which swelled with the pride of being able to take down the man that had terrified him; that had served as a threat to him; that had preyed on the vulnerabilities of, and indirectly, but unsympathetically, left devastatingly injured his beloved younger brother with such ease.
Every cell in the elder D’Arby’s body lit up with excitement.
He would have found himself questioning the reality of the sharply-featured chip in his gloved hand, and what exactly the presence of said chip meant, in the sheer disbelief that comes with an elation so great that is unable to be processed in any other way, had it not been for a movement seen through the corner of his eye that drew his attention towards its source immediately.
In front of him, the body of Josuke Higashikata began to fall towards the ground, no life residing inside of it to even attempt to keep it upright. Without a moment’s hesitation, Daniel wrapped his arms around the cadaver of his younger accomplice before its descent could reach its end in the dirt of the Egyptian wastelands, and held it against himself so that it stood as erect as could possibly be managed.
Daniel glared down at the dirt beneath his feet in disgust at its sheer audacity in thinking that it might find the officer laying in its midst.
He moved his hands so that, while his ally remained still standing, he was able to see the chips in his hands, so as to differentiate between that of the contemptible DIO and that of the honorable Officer Higashikata. He knew well that he could have but touched the chips in order to tell the two apart, for even with his leather gloves, touch was his sharpest sense, but willed himself not to take even the slightest chance of error.
Keeping one arm tight around Josuke, he used the other to place DIO’s chip in his binder amongst the other souls that he had collected over the years.
D’Arby smiled once more at the lifeless token, before turning his attention towards the other chip of which he had come into custody.
Daniel ran his thumb gently over the display of his young friend’s features, then brought his own eyes to a close. His thoughts already entirely focused on the soul resting in his palm, he let his Osiris, which he had yet to dismiss, handle the chip, and bring Josuke’s soul to his body once more.