Author's Note: Welcome to another Tale from the Lee, I'm glad to upload something special for all of you and I do hope you enjoy this short piece. It's simply a response to the massive amount of fan-backlash I've seen as a response to the…anti-climactic ending the Soul Eater manga received. Several small details need to be explained first.
These are meant to inform those who are either recurring readers of my work or those who intend to review. If you do not fall into those categories feel free to skip to the title line.
The first is a matter for my fans. No, the other stories are no on indefinite hiatus, I am working to continue those series however they are both at a point where I am required to use real gameplay lore and situations to continue them. They are not being discontinued, rather they are on a temporary break during which I am uploading various other stories from different fandoms.
The second is a matter for this story specifically. The Soul Eater series has several points of rabid contention amongst its fans. The primary ones I'll be addressing are those of the shippers and Crona's gender. The shipping wars are largely inconsequential to me and I'll not be taking an active stance on inferring details. However there are many overt details that I am taking an account of. I tend to support the CroMa ship primarily for the facts that are shown openly and for how that ties into the characters thematically. I am simply asking that this debate does not take up infinite amounts of my review space and that none of you lambaste me with ridiculousness because I do not show your specific "One True Pairing" or anything of that nature.
The final note thing needing explanation is Crona's gender. This is a point of excessive contention and one that I really prefer not to weigh in on. The fact of that matter is that he is played as an androgynous character and this is used as a running joke throughout the series. It is largely pointless. I would prefer that people do not start this argument again. I will be using masculine pronouns to refer to him simply for the sake of cohesion, given that the English language does not feature gender independent pronouns besides ones that refer to objects. My personal opinions on Crona's gender or sexual orientation may be revealed through this story and I wish to simply state that I in no way intend to force that version of the story on any readers, I simply endeavor to tie up the character plots and themes in a manner that is less ADHD and underwhelming than Ohkubo's own ending.
This story in that vein takes place just after the first pages of Chapter 113.
Legal Notice: This story is made under the Fair-Use clause of the US Copyright Act. It is made for non-profit purposes and serves only to enrich the initial fandom. I in no way receive any benefits for the creation of the story.
Warning: This story involves the latter portion of the Soul Eater manga and should not be read unless one is familiar with Chapters 112-113. I'll be uploading a follow-up chapter shortly; however I work tonight and really cannot devote more time to this.
The End of All Things
Chapter 1: Isolations and Revelations
Darkness, infinite and incomprehensible darkness. One would perhaps understand that in a place of this kind, patience would become an easily understood concept. What was there to be in haste for when nothing at all existed outside of the shadow?
The truth was far from theoretical understanding.
The internal area of a Kishin's soul was far from the darkness to which he'd been acquainted as a child. The darkness Medusa had forced him into was often quiet, aside from the noises Ragnarok made, primarily comprised of furious ranting and the sounds of punching. The fear he maintained as a child had dwindled over the years. The darkness had long become a tolerated presence as opposed to a hostile entity to which his younger self had been traumatically afraid of.
The darkness he inhabited presently was far from tolerable. It maintained an aura of complete chaos, a realm dedicated to the darkness and madness that the Kishin embodied. When he wasn't being harassed directly by the Kishin, the outside held the dull hum brought by the masses of souls consumed. A sound that no doubt intended to erode his resolve, weaken the hold on the Kishin's cage, perhaps freeing the Demon God in some future time.
Asura, the Kishin, literally a god of demons was contained, sealed within his own blood just as Lord Death had sealed him within his own flesh ages before.
It was a tenuous peace at best. He had felt it just a few scant seconds before when Maka had cut through the Kishin's body and escaped the soul space. The plane had shifted, madness pursuing the fleeing weapon and meister with purpose.
Just as the pair had escaped, he had activated Eibon's Brew. A device fitting of the reputation as the God of Wisdom's highest work. The small device resembled something of a clockwork heart. Its body covered in interlocking pieces of metal attached to a core that could not be described. Perhaps an alchemical construct made from substances and procedures lost with Eibon's knowledge, he really couldn't be sure. Despite his mother's magical power and intelligence, magic itself had largely been lost on him. It was a skill that he did not require to fulfill Medusa's ambitions and as such, was not something to which he was trained properly in. If he were asked to explain what was happening within the magical device, he doubted any amount of time would truly deliver an answer.
The device was powerful though, nearly a wish granter. Eibon had deserved his reputation, and the device was no doubt a magical tool capable of immense good or terrible evils. A simple thought, a dedicated focus on the desired outcome produced such astounding results one had to wonder just what Eibon had known when creating such a device.
When he had activated the great magical tool, he had felt understanding flood his mind for a fleeting moment, during which he understood the mysteries of the cosmic plane, magic, and the methods to defy the limitations of reality. If even a mere child with little experience of the world could gain so much insight for that time, just what could the device's creator do with such power and moreover, why didn't he do anything with it?
The tool itself seemed almost devoid of life now, though if he were to guess, it likely still thrummed with great power, playing the lock to Asura's cage. It played the lock, though he played the warden holding the keys.
Perhaps Eibon had seen the future and understood what must be done? He mused over that concept for a short time before abandoning trying to comprehend a near omniscient entity. He didn't understand gods, demons, or things of that nature. He was a killer. It was all he was ever taught to do. He was never rewarded the time to develop understanding of things of a religious or mundane nature. He was only needed for the martial aims. What purpose did faith and understanding have for a minion when all he needed was the orders and the desire to fulfill them? He could safely say in surety that he knew nothing of his own history, the world, or religion.
But he did understand angels.
He knew he had one, she'd come to him, even after all the destruction he'd wrought, after all the errors he'd made, she'd still come to him, not with fury and punishment, but open arms.
"I wonder if they escaped all right." He said to himself, talking for no other reason than that simply thinking was oppressive, and somewhat rude to his companion.
The dull pain returned momentarily to a specific position on his back, before intensifying to a sharp burning that forced him to grit his teeth to avoid screaming at the hurt it brought his form before the flesh on his back was split asunder and the weapon creature known as Ragnarok emerged from the sheath made of his meister's body.
"This asshole's been real quiet; I guess Tiny-Tits and the dipshit brigade are keeping him busy." The black creature said as it rose to full height and began to lean on his meister's head. Its body was that of an excessively muscular male, though his flesh was obsidian black. His face featured no nose or ears but rather a large white X and similar symbols adorned his eyes in the stead of pupils. His hands were colored a white tone, emulating the look of gloves while a pair of spiked bangles adorned his wrists.
"You've been really quiet too, Ragnarok." The young man responded, eliciting a dull thump as the entity sprouting from his back ground a knuckle into his shock of light lavender colored hair. The noogie, as he'd heard others call it, was a common sensation and one that was progressively becoming less painful as he experienced it.
"You calling me an asshole, Crona!? So what if I've been quiet, I've had some things to think about ya' little shit!" Ragnarok shouted, digging his knuckles further into the human's head.
"I didn't mean it that way, Ragnarok! Stop hurting me!" Crona responded, his words shooting quickly from his mouth as the bone-like ridges of the weapon's hands dug into his scalp.
The scenario despite its pains brought a moment of nostalgic joviality to the duo, though it was short lived. Memories of the past being fleeting and largely devoid of happiness for Crona's part did little to drive off the feeling emptiness from his present situation.
"So, you think you're just gonna seal away the Kishin here? Sweep him under the rug and forget about it?" Ragnarok asked, though unusually for him, his tone was not one of anger, rather a question in curiosity and devoid of aggression.
"I-It's the only thing we can do, nothing can kill him, and if I can do this for Maka and put an end to Asura's madness, I will." He responded, stuttering slightly at the strangeness of his weapon partner's tone. Usually by this point Ragnarok would have shifted to picking on him or looking for something to kill or eat.
A moment of silence passed, during which Ragnarok remained completely silent, leaning against his partner's head. The entire situation was unsettling to Crona, who'd always known the weapon to be impatient, unthinking, and uncontrollable.
"That's a stupid plan."
Shock passed over Crona as he heard his partner answer, almost emotionlessly, before the black-blooded weapon slapped him on the back of the head.
"I mean, how fucking stupid can you all really be?! It didn't look like it worked last time someone tried to lock up the Kishin, and you're not exactly as strong as Lord Crazy-Ass Skull Mask. Do you really think this will work? Nobody's gonna come around in the future and try to break him out again? And what about you? What happens when you starve or dehydrate in a few days? It's not that hard to break out of a cell with no guard and all the fucking time in the world to break the lock!" The weapon shouted, his voice rising as he spoke.
"We can't just let Asura roam free! The world can't survive like that!" Crona shot back.
"You and I both know the world has nothing to do with this. You said it yourself." Ragnarok answered, once more returning to an emotionless tone of voice.
"I-I d-d-don't want Maka to get hurt…" He answered, a blush rising to his cheeks, tinting them a dark grey from the black-blood flowing in his veins.
"I know, I know! Damn kid, you and Tiny-Tits are fucking annoying. Anyway, I'm not saying we just let Asura go free." Ragnarok countered, smacking the boy on his head to bring the topic back to course.
"But what can we do?"
"Oh for fuck's sake, kid! You listen to everybody else too damn much and never think of anything yourself! You gotta have some ambitions! I say WE kill the fucker!"
"But they s-"Crona started to protest before Ragnarok punched the top of his head once more.
"God damn it, stop talking before I pound you Crona!" The weapon shouted, stopping the boy in his verbal tracks. "This little plan you all formed up was a special kind of last minute stupid! I'm sure the Good-Idea Fairy must have come down and given you guys this one! Well, it didn't work last time and I doubt it'd work this time! So let's make our own answer! I say we kill us a Kishin and prove we're the biggest of the badasses! Hell, maybe shut Black*Star and his fucking god-complex up for a bit!"
"But what if…"
"Damn it, Crona, no what ifs! There's no such thing as immortal! Eibon was a god once, but where the hell is he now? He's gone but what he embodied is still here, right!? Well, Asura embodies Fear and Madness, but all of that existed before he was a Kishin! He isn't the fucking fear and he sure as hell isn't immortal! So let's go kick his ass and show Tiny-Tits how big badasses we really are!"
"Ragnarok, we can't…" Crona started to argue before feeling his whole body lurch as his weapon delivered a retort.
"Fuck this, we're doing it!" Crona could hear before a great light opened up
She could see that the moon had been nearly eclipsed in the black blood. Asura's fate had been sealed; Crona had indeed captured him along with the rest of the moon.
It still didn't ease the feeling that it was a hollow victory. After all they'd done, nothing had really changed. The Kishin still lived, though on the moon now as opposed to underneath the DWMA. It seemed that they'd only managed to get back to what once was as opposed to pressing forward for the betterment of everyone.
The battle had been harsh.
Black*Star was hospitalized. Despite being a war god, he was still a mortal and grievously injured from the battle, his only reason for still being mobile at all was from sheer willpower alone. A weaker man would have been crippled and most likely dead.
Kid had found out the truly most depressing part though, his father, Lord Death, the cheery founder of the DWMA, a friend and mentor to them all, had died. Apparently, as he had learned, only one Shinigami can exist at a time. Only one Lord of Death. As such, he had been locked away in the Death Room with Excalibur, though much to his own annoyance, to learn what his Father had wished for him before his passing.
Professor Stein had been working non-stop in the infirmary with Mira Nygus and Marie. The conflict on the moon had been wide in scope even before Asura surfaced and the casualties were numerous, though thankfully many were not fatal.
It was for this reasons that Maka sat alone looking out her window at the moon, which housed one of her best friends and one of her worst enemies.
She couldn't deny that she was tired; after all fighting for extended periods of time was difficult even for the most battle-hardened meisters. Even in the Spartoi unit, they were still students and had yet to graduate from their formal training.
She'd changed into her pajamas immediately upon arriving at the apartment, despite the fact sleep still eluded her for some time. Soul had fallen asleep on the couch as soon as he hit the cushions and she had no doubt that Blair was out celebrating the "victory" with her father.
Well, let him celebrate. Most of them were glad to be alive, and while it was far from a perfect scenario, it was hard to deny that at least they had managed to accomplish something.
Still, it felt like she'd betrayed Crona.
Why did he have to stay behind and lock up the Kishin? Wasn't it perfectly possible to do it without such a sacrifice? After all, Lord Death had done it before?
It wasn't fair. Yes, he'd done horrible things, but beyond the insanity Medusa had inflicted upon him, he still had never been truly exposed to reality. How can you blame someone for something when they don't know it's wrong?
That was perhaps the worst part, and the reason she couldn't sleep. He still blamed himself, felt the need to atone despite the fact that there was nothing he could have done, and she still couldn't have saved him. It was upsetting to the point of tears, and she'd refused to cry for some time.
She was stronger than that. She'd defeated numerous Kishin eggs, engaged the Kishin himself in combat, and yet the thought of abandoning a friend was what could make her cry.
Turning back to stare at the moon, however, replaced the will to cry with anxious fear.
The black orb that had been the moon was shifting, shrinking back into its natural crescent shape.
"Oh no…" She said, before bolting from the room to get Soul and the others.
"Something isn't right. Why can't we feel the madness wavelength?" Maka said, still wearing pajamas though Soul was in weapon form and at the ready in her hands.
"Maybe the Kishin found some way to hide it?" Kid answered, ready for bear. Wearing his father's cloak to symbolize his status as the new Shinigami.
"There's no way he could hide something like that! The wavelength was enormous." Black*Star responded, his upper body covered in bandages, Tsubaki in his hands as a Ninja blade.
"I can sense a soul just over this ridge; we'll figure it out there." Maka responded, climbing the rocky terrain of the moon.
"Holy shit!" The three exclaimed as soon as they were able to see the carnage that lay beyond.
The three Spartoi meisters who had left to scout the moon and if need be recapture Asura, were greeted by something exceptionally disconcerting.
Asura was nowhere to be seen, however all through the impact crater that lay below the ridge was the undeniable markings of black blood.
It appeared as if the entire area was painted in the black substance, as if a massive detonation of it had occurred rending a great hole into the surface of the moon and covering it in the bloody mess.
"What the hell happened here?" Black*Star asked first, taking in the environment, both himself and Kid stopping just outside the blood's grasp only to hear Maka gasp before taking off at a sprint down the slope, black-blood sticking to her clothes.
She slid the remaining way down, drifting slightly in the loose rocky ground, coming to stop before a small mass at the base of the hill, stirring slightly.
The Trio of meisters all came to a stop, standing just over the form lying amidst a pool of obsidian blood. They were shocked even more so when they discovered Crona's unconscious body.
Waking up in a medical bed was a new experience for the young meister, despite his mother's habit of experimenting the effects of the black-blood on him. He stirred slightly before opening his eyes, unsure of what to expect. When he saw light however, panic became the first emotion he felt.
Shock became the second however, when he turned to see Maka asleep, her head resting on the edge of his bed, next to him.
"M-M-Maka." He stuttered out, confused beyond reason at his situation.
The girl stirred before bolting upright as the realization hit her of who was talking. Her hair was a mess, likely due to the position she was sleeping in, and her pajamas were clearly stained with black-blood.
"You're awake! Professor Stein, he's awake!" She shouted as she stood up, wiping at her eyes to clear the fog of sleep from herself. "Crona, you're okay? What happened?" She asked as she pulled him into an exceptionally strong hug.
"Ahem. I believe it'd help if you let him breathe before you expect an answer, Maka."
They were interrupted by the calm monotone as the resident mad-scientist and doctor of the DWMA stood near the doorway, turning the screw in his skull until a minor click could be heard.
"Oh, sorry." Maka exclaimed before jumping back and allowing the boy to breathe heavily before responding.
"Now, Crona, what happened? Where is Asura?"
"I don't…I mean….Umm…..I think….Ragnarok killed him?"
The look that the duo gave him was something akin to shock, surprise, and disbelief all rolled into a single expression that left them all in stunned silence until finally Stein gave his screw another sharp turn before answering.
"Crona, I believe it would be best if you start at the beginning."
The light dissipated and for a moment, Crona was unsure what had happened. Brew still hang freely in the air, though where before its shape gave off a dim light and moved pieces of its own accord, now the tool seemed lifeless and dark.
"Oh no! Ragnarok you broke Brew!" Crona shouted, realizing the dangerous situation they had unleashed. After all, how could someone contain a prisoner with no lock?
"Shut up, Crona. I know what I did."
The answer didn't come from above him. And now that he noticed it, he couldn't feel the weight of Ragnarok resting on his head, or the part of his back where the weapon had exited.
"Ragnarok?" Crona asked, looking around to find the weapon's protruding body.
"Over here."
He turned to see that detached from him, he could see Ragnarok's floating form, congealed of the black-blood that comprised the Kishin's insides.
"Ragnarok! What did you do!? Without Brew we can't keep the Kishin trapped? And how did you get your own body!?" Crona exclaimed, panic rising in his voice.
"Shut up, Kid. Let me explain. Brew's broken, used up, whatever the hell you wanna call it, I don't fucking care. As for this, well, I'm gonna kill me a Kishin, can let some weakling like you hold me back."
"But Ragnarok, I-"
"Shut the hell up, Crona! I ain't here to listen to you whine!" Ragnarok shouted, interrupting Crona's response. "Look kid, I know a hell of a lot more about what's going on than you do so why don't you stop fucking talking and let me tell you what's gonna happen."
Crona nodded his head in confusion before Ragnarok continued, rising to full stature.
"I am Ragnarok, called the Fate of the Gods; I am fulfilling Brew's design as the wish-granter and bringing a true end to the gods of this age just as my fate foretold."
"But Ragnarok-"
"Crona, don't you say another word. I've had to put up with worse things than you and trust me, I'll fucking win! You ever fight with Excalibur? Just when you thought that asshat was annoying enough to talk to, he's even worse to fight! Now, how much do you know about the history of Weapons?"
Crona just nodded his head in the negative, before Ragnarok continued his rant.
"Didn't think so, dumbass. Weapons exist as they do thanks entirely to the work of Eibon, The God of Wisdom. He designed the original weapons and led to the birth of the weapons you've seen today. So, you think he just decided to fuck around with your world by creating super weapons all over the place? Of course fucking not! You don't get called the God of Wisdom for doing stupid things! He made us with a purpose, set these things in motion for a reason. Ya' can't kill Kishin eggs with a normal fucking dagger after all. Well, we each have our different goals and nowadays we're free to choose what we want. Me? I'm ancient, and I had a goddamn purpose when I was made, not like those other Demon Swords who went bat-shit crazy! You think I'd just let Medusa go and put me in your wimpy body just for shits and giggles? Or were you a special kind of dumb and thought she actually could force me into it?! No fucking way! I needed to get made into Black Blood just for this specific moment! Eibon's never wrong and trust me I've dealt with an omniscient fucking entity and when he told me "You'll know it when you see it." Well I fucking see it! So now, it's time to do what I was born for!" Ragnarok concluded, letting his body begin to dissolve into the black-blood that comprised Asura's insides.
Just before his head dissolved completely, he stated.
"Ya' been good kid, like a brother to me,don't have too much fun with Tiny-Tits when I'm gone."
Immediately upon losing substantial form, the black blood that comprised the inside of the Kishin began to tremble, reacting to Ragnarok's will.
"This is gonna hurt, you fucking scaredy-cat." The voice of Ragnarok resonated throughout the entirety of the plane before the seams began to tear, revealing the light outside.
The trembling continued to grow in rapidity and force until after reaching a fever-pitch the blood simply stopped altogether.
This lasted only long enough for Crona to begin to say "Huh" before the area was rocked with an explosive hemorrhaging of the Kishin's entire body, it's flesh dissolving in the blood, bones shattering into dust to be thrown into the cosmos, and at last all the blood that once comprised the Kishin drained out to paint the crater that formed on the moon with the force of the explosion.
In the final moment before passing out, Crona could see that both Ragnarok, and the Kishin, were no more.