A/N: This has been done for Resbang 2015! I need to thank the following people for making sure this looked clean and amazing: Choaticlivi, who is a rockstar, who gave me constant inspiration and Kaen-daughter-of-loki, who let me rant to her about characterization. Thank you guys so so much. This wouldn't be here without you.
The amazing art was done by Chaoticlivi and Bluestarii! Thank you so much!
CHAPTER 1
"This'll be easy."
Black*Star dribbled the basketball in between his legs, spun and shot. The ball went in with a 'whoosh' and Tsubaki clapped, standing in the shade of the tree next to the court.
"Easy." Maka flipped through the book, occasionally highlighting something in it. Soul tried to block Black*Star's next shot but fell short. The ball went over his head and bounced off the hoop into the net.
"Simple." Kid nodded once, standing behind the bench with his hands in his pockets. The sun grinned overhead. Patti stole the ball away from Black*Star and cheered loudly when she shot it in the hoop. Liz stood next to Tsubaki, drawing a file over her fingernails.
Crona chewed their lip, tightening the grasp on their arm. They glanced at Kid, eyes meeting for a fraction of a second, before their gaze darted back to the ground.
"A-are you sure?"
Maka turned around to face Crona. "Yeah! Lord Death gave us this mission specifically."
"Just use that weird book we found in the wreckage of Baba Yaga castle, check it out and report back." Black*Star shot the basketball over Patti's head. "I don't even know why he's sending a big man like me to do it. He could send some of those kids from NOT class, and stop wasting my time."
Kid frowned. "My father thinks this could be another one of Eibon's works, and if it is, it needs to be destroyed immediately. Nothing from Eibon, or anything we found in the castle, can remain." He looked over at Crona again, then turned his eyes forward.
Soul rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah. Anyway, it'll be easy, Crona. If you worry too much you'll start going gray."
Crona looked down at their hands, alarm all over their face. Kid could feel a small smile steal over his face, but quickly smoothed it out before anyone else noticed.
With a squish and a crack Ragnarok appeared. "It's a figure of speech, you fucking moron. Besides, you're already gray, remember? I live in you."
Maka tossed one pigtail over her shoulder. "No one asked you, Ragnarok," she snapped at Crona's partner.
The black blood snorted. "Nobody ever does." With that he disappeared back into Crona, who was still frowning.
"W-why doesn't Lord Death send his three star meisters? You're still students," they insisted.
Black*Star whipped around, holding the ball. "Are saying you doubt the great me, Crona?" he demanded.
Crona shook their head frantically. "N-no! I-I'm just afraid for you," they whispered, head down. Pale hands flexed in the fabric of their dress, crumpling it in anxiety. Kid twitched to take their hands in his, then remembered his place and held still. Maka grabbed Crona's hand over the back of the bench. "Crona. Lord Death trusts us, and if it really was too dangerous, I don't think he'd risk sending us. So please don't worry okay? We'll be fine." Slowly, Crona nodded squeezing Maka's hand.
Crona was not allowed to come with them, having still not fully regained the trust of Lord Death. They were back on probation status as a student and could not take missions. Crona understood. Maka, on the other hand, wasn't pleased that Crona was still being treated like a criminal even after Medusa's death and Asura's downfall.
Life was slowly regaining rhythm after Asura's defeat. The city had returned to it's place in Nevada and the lingering strains of madness were being washed away by time. Some of the changes had been permanent, however. Witches who surrendered immediately after Arachne's death had sought sanctuary with the DWMA and the samurai Mifune and his charge Angela had been taken in as defectors and given a place to stay in the city limits.
The Immortal Wolfman who proudly claimed his name was Free, and the witch Eruka were captured trying to escape the wreckage of Baba Yaga castle. The Mizune sisters had slipped away, much to Blair's disappointment. During the search and raid of the castle, they had found many magical artifacts hidden in the basement of the castle and among them had been an untitled book. When reported to Lord Death, he had demanded it be brought to him immediately for examination.
The Book of Eibon. An old and extremely powerful magic tool. It was where Eibon had planned most of his inventions and spells and the magic that lingered in it almost had a life of it's own. Ebon was apparently a notorious trickster and Lord Death was concerned that Arachnophobia may have used some of his designs. Lord Death's instructions were to have the book opened, to send Maka, Black*Star and Kid with their partners into it. They were to make a run through the book to make sure that nothing from Arachnophobia lingered.
"This'll be easy." Black*Star bragged again, and he shot the ball over his shoulder. It bounced on the rim, circled, and fell off.
"Ugh, why do we have to do this so early?" Liz yawned into her hand, climbing the stairs up to the school. The sun was already climbing into the sky, warming the earth and grinning maniacally.
"We don't know how long it will take. We need to get started, in case this is harder than anticipated," Kid responded. Patti bounded ahead of them, taking the stairs two at a time.
"What happened to 'this will be easy'?" Liz grumbled, but quieted as they neared the school. Maka, Soul, Black*Star, and Tsubaki were waiting at the top. Patti reached them first.
"Hey guys! Are we ready?" She waved her hands in the air. Black*Star hi-fived her.
"Hell yeah, let's go do this." Kid and Liz reached the top.
"I'm never going to get used to those stairs." Liz clutched at a stitch in her side.
"C'mon, Stein is getting the stuff set up for us in one of the unused classrooms." Soul turned around and started walking inside.
"Stuff?" Liz raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Since it's a wizard's book we need to do all kinds of freaky occult shit to get inside. Sid is bringing up that frog witch Justin caught to help with the incantations," Soul explained. Then he glared at Maka. "We've been here since six am, since miss goody-two shoes just needed to see how it was done. We could have been in bed, but no -" Maka punched him in the arm.
"Shut up Soul. We need to do this right. This isn't an ordinary mission and we can't afford to mess it up." Maka tossed a pigtail over her shoulder.
"Wait wait wait! Occult shit! Nobody said anything about occult shit." Liz stopped walking, tired mind finally catching up with the conversation. "I'm allergic to stuff like that."
"Liz, don't worry about it. It's just to get in the book. We don't know what's going to be inside after all," Tsubaki said.
"That's not helping." Liz reluctantly started following again.
They made their way further into the school, to one of the old abandoned sections over the library. Not all of the school was used at all times. This area was dark and the doors stood gaping open, revealing empty room after empty room. The high windows allow sunlight to shine through but all it illuminated was dust particles in the stale air. It was startling when the sound of footsteps came from behind. Liz flinched preemptively.
"M-maka!" Crona ran up, panting.
"Good morning, Crona! Come to see me be awesome?" Black*Star greeted them. Crona bit their lip and nodded timidly. Black*Star laughed. "Don't worry, no need to be shy! One day you might be second best." Maka aimed a punch at his chest but the blue haired ninja dodged backward. Laughing, he grabbed Tsubaki's hand and rushed down the hall to the room. Maka rolled her eyes before turning to Crona.
"What did you need, Crona?"
Crona's eyes darted from Maka's face to Kid's then down to their shoes. "I um, I w-wanted to talk to Kid." Maka's eyebrows rose and she shot a suspicious look at Kid. He shrugged his shoulders, face perfectly blank.
"Alright. We'll see you in a second." Maka and Soul walked down to the end of the hallway, Maka checking over her shoulder at them. Crona looked up through their bangs, and bit their lip. They shifted their weight from one foot to the other, stirring up dust.
"What did you need, Crona?" Kid prompted. The dust from the hallway was making his eyes itch and he'd just noticed that the doors weren't evenly placed apart.
"C-can I talk to you? A-alone I mean?" Crona looked nervously at Liz and Patti. Kid turned to them.
"I'll be down there is just a moment." Liz shrugged, and Patti giggled.
"Okay. We'll tell them not to start the freaky occult stuff without you." Liz turned away, following her sister down the hallway.
Crona waited until they were a distance away before turning back to Kid. For a moment they simply stared at him, hands wringing and eyes flicking over his face. Kid stepped closer, drawing his hands out of his pockets. Slowly he reached out to their hands and drew his fingers lightly over the back of their pale hands. His back was to the room, so anyone watching would have simply seen him talking to Crona. Kid focused on their face, finding it easier to concentrate.
"K-kid, I-I-I." Crona stopped, swallowed, and started over. "Kid. I'm frightened for you!" Crona whispered hurriedly, then bit their lip. Kid frowned. That was his job, to bite that lip.
"Please don't be. There have been riskier missions. We'll be back before you know it." Kid responded softly.
"Kid!" Liz called from down the hall. "Let's go! We're nearly set up."
He nodded distractedly, never taking his eyes from Crona's face.
"I-I have a feeling, Kid. It's bad. Please, please…" Crona whispered urgently, eyes wide with an emotion that they didn't know how to properly express. Kid's hands curled around Crona's, holding tight.
"Kid! C'mon! Let's go!"
Kid held a hand up at the door.
He turned back to the taller meister. "Crona, I really have to go."
They nodded hesitantly.
"You'll come back? Y-you swear?" Crona's hands were cold and but it didn't bother Kid, his own hands were as well.
Kid paused. Then slowly he nodded as well. "Yes. Always. I promise."
Crona smiled a little, blue eyes widening in pleasure. Kid was surprised to find himself smiling back. Such small acts could make Crona happy. A kind word or action would have them pleased for hours afterward. Kid checked back over his shoulder and, seeing that the doorway was empty of observers, gave Crona a small peck on the lips. Their eyes fluttered in amazement and softened, looking down at Kid in wonder.
"I'll come back." He promised, squeezing their hands one more time. Crona took a deep breath and stepped back.
"I trust you, Kid."
"GET YOUR ASS IN HERE REAPER!" They both jumped at Patti's shout, letting go of each other's hands.
"Yes. Yes." Kid stepped in, Crona following behind like a shadow.
The room had been cleared of all the tables and chairs, allowing room for the ceremony to take place. In the middle of the marble floor, a large chalk drawing had been laid out. A circle in a square of salt, which Kid carefully stepped over. In the circle there were four arrows, pointing to each cardinal direction. Laid over them was another four, northeast, southeast, southwest, northwest. Around the border of the circle there were various incantations, some decipherable, some meaningless and chaotic. Kid wrinkled his nose as the overpowering smell of sage reached his nose.
"Nice of you to join us, Kid." Stein blew out a mouthful of smoke, resting his head on the back of his chair.
"Apologies, shall we get started?" He smoothly moved to stand in between Liz and Patti. Crona hung near the door, clutching their arm. Stein stood and his back cracked. Soul winced.
"If you insist. You all know the mission right?"
"Go in, investigate, return, report," Maka recited immediately. Black*Star coughed into his hand, something like 'Suck up'. Maka didn't even glance at him, but aimed a hit at him anyway. Black*Star dodged away again. Stein sighed but Kid saw his lips tip up in amusement.
"That's right. Now we only need one more thing. Sid, bring in the witch." Stein called out and the door to the teacher's office opened.
The witch Eruka held her head up but her lips trembled and beads of sweat dripped down her nose and damped the prison clothes she wore. Her hands were tightly tied behind her with anti-magic infused iron chains. Sid held the chain linked to a collar around her neck firmly, walking her before him. He stopped her about a foot from the salt line. Sid undid the chains from her arms but left the heavy chain and collar around her neck. He attached the chain to an anchor in the floor. With five meisters, two of whom were three-stars, and four weapons, a chained witch wouldn't last very long, but it was still best to err on the side of prudence and caution. The tension in the chain and collar forced her head up and Kid saw her wince when the chain swayed, tightening on her throat.
Sid stood at the door, arms crossed, silent, face fixed in a permanent grimace.
"You are the witch Eruka, correct? Your familiar is a frog?" Stein asked as she stood in the center of the room before the line of salt. The muscles in her cheek ticked, but she didn't reply. Stein sighed and quicker than lightning he shocked her with a burst from his soul force.
Eruka gasped in pain and nearly crumpled to the ground. Kid saw Crona make to start forward, concern all over their features. Stein shot them a sharp looked and Crona moved back against the wall.
"You are the witch Eruka correct? You allied yourself with Medusa, and helped free the Kishin?" Stein barked. Eruka's eyes were teary but her voice kept steady.
"Yes! I am Eruka, and the amphibian anura is my familiar."
Stein's glasses flashed in the light of the classroom. "No comment about Medusa?" Eruka sent him a hard look.
"I have plenty of comments about her. But I have even more for people who detain me without reason." She tilted her head up, and Kid wasn't sure if it was because the collar was pressing on her air pipe or if it was pride. Stein shrugged.
"You're a witch. That's reason enough." He reached over to the chair he had been sitting on and grabbed the book, handing it to her. "Let's get started, shall we? You were briefed by Sid about the ceremony?"
Reluctantly Eruka took the book from Stein, her arms shaking under it's weight. She opened it and swallowed.
"Maka, Black*Star, Kid. Stand in the circle," Stein directed. The weapons transformed and everyone stepped into the chalk line, careful not to touch it.
Maka's face was fierce with determination, back straight and hands tight around Soul. Black*Star grinned and when he moved, Tsubaki's chain glinted in the sunlight. Kid stood straight, Liz and Patti in his hands.
"You understand the mission? Investigate the book and return?" Stein asked.
"Yes, Professor." Maka nodded sharply. Stein grinned.
"Good. As always there's only one rule; don't die. Good luck. Eruka, begin."
The witch took a deep breath and with one hand supporting the tome, she moved the other across the page.
"Annon unus alterum, moventur. Hoc page transitus ad sequentia de hoc mundo. Eibon vocabo vestros."
The pressure seemed to drop in the circle as the salt lit up in flame. Eruka repeated her chant as the fire went higher. There was a whooshing through the circle, stirring Maka's pigtails and ruffling their clothing. Kid felt as though he had become rooted to the floor through the balls of his feet. It felt like the ground was tipping, and Kid almost leaned forward to try and catch himself. The fire was climbing higher and higher with every repeated verse of the spell. It slowly blocked off sight from the room and Crona stared through it, eyes unnaturally bright.
Kid was finally aware that something was wrong when the fire started burning higher and higher but Eruka was quiet, her mouth open, staring in shock. The wind howled now and blew around the room, rampaging, shaking windows and blowing papers around. The book fell to the ground, opening, and the pages started turning like someone was rifling through them quickly.
"Stop it!" Stein shouted over the howling wind and through the flames Kid saw him grab Eruka, who finally wrenched her eyes away.
"I can't! This isn't how it's-" Stein shoved her back and she fell to her knees.
Stein whipped around and charged his soul force. "Twin palm for-!" The moment his hands touched the flame it seemed to grow, shooting above the heads of the meisters trapped inside. Stein withdrew his hands, hissing. His hands smoked and the palms were the bright, angry red of undercooked steak.
"Don't touch the fire," he shouted over the wind and fire. Kid couldn't even if he wanted to. Every muscle was frozen, his entire body paralyzed and stuck to the ground like a statue. But Stein wasn't talking to them. He was addressing Crona.
The wind and fire was too loud now to hear what Crona was shouting, but the panic on their face was easy to understand. Stein held them back while the fire reached it's crescendo, licking the ceiling. The tipping feeling changed and if Kid couldn't see the world rightside up, he'd swear it was upside down. His mind spun and the smoke was getting in his eyes, blacking everything out.
Crona yelled something, staring through the smoke at him, and he wanted to tell them not to worry but the only thing he could do was stare as the darkness closed in around him and suddenly whatever rooted him to the floor tore loose and Kid was falling.