My Curse
Crona tossed and turned in his sleep. The moon and its devilish grin peered from above through his window.
"Lady Medusa," he mumbled in his sleep.
A familiar voice spoke to him. "Crona, I have need of you. I have one final task for you to complete."
"W-What is it?"
"Kill Maka Albarn and avenge me!" she hissed.
"I-I can't do that. Maka is my friend," he protested.
"And I am your mother! Be a good child and do as I say."
The shadowy figure of his deceased mother transformed into a snake and began to constrict Crona's body. Crona screamed in fear as he awakened from his nightmare. Sweat was running down his face. He nervously glanced around the room peering into the shadows as if he expected his mother to appear out of the darkness at any moment. He sighed in relief.
"It was just a dream," he said to calm himself down. He attempted to go back to sleep, but the nightmare haunted him and he was unable to do so.
The next morning in class, Crona felt terrible. He must have also looked terrible because Maka asked him if everything was okay. He did his best to smile and reassure her. Try as he might, he just could not get his mother's request out of his head. As soon as class ended, he left the classroom as quickly as possible and made a run for the bathroom. He set his books he was carrying on the bathroom sink and glanced into the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot and there was a faint shade of black under his eyes. Suddenly, the mirror began to ripple as if it were water. He blinked several times and wondered if his eyes were just playing tricks on him. It was not so. The familiar face appeared to him in the mirror. She grinned with her serpent-like smile.
"So, little Crona, what's it going to be? Are you going to do what your poor old mother has asked of you?"
"No…I won't do it. Maka is my friend now and I won't hurt her."
Medusa gave him a look of disgust. A look he was all too familiar with. "Poor pathetic little Crona. You know she doesn't care for you. She simply feels sorry for you."
"T-That's not true," Crona weakly protested.
"I know you don't actually believe that. I am your mother after all. Who would know you better than your own mother?"
Crona fell silent and averted his eyes away from the mirror. Medusa grinned.
He pondered this for a moment.
"I will ask you one more time. Will you do what I have asked of you?"
Crona looked into the mirror and considered the question. Before he could answer, Soul walked into the bathroom.
"Who are you talking to?"
Crona shook nervously. "Um, no one, I was just talking to myself."
Soul looked into Crona's bloodshot eyes. "You don't look so good. Maybe, you should see the nurse."
"Er, yeah…I will," he said. "See you later." He gathered his books and hastily left the bathroom. He moved as fast as he could down the hallways, hoping to avoid any further interaction with his friends. He sighed with relief when he finally made it to his apartment. He opened the door and quickly closed all the shades. He made his way into his room and hopped into bed. Slowly, he crawled into the corner and curled up in a fetal position, hugging a pillow.
"What is wrong with me?" he asked.