I do not normally make comments on my fictions, however due to personal issues I went on a very long hiatus. This chapter and chapter eight have been re-edited, so as to not be confused please re-read from here. I felt I rushed things between Crona and Sergio, so here's take two.
Sergio lay in a spare bed in the infirmary wing of the academy feeling naked and vulnerable. The comforting certainty of the metallic collar that had long since birth been a part of him was gone, confiscated by Death. There was so much he felt was out of place, the certainty his role in life had offered him was gone but his desires offered him the same clarity in a different way, before he left his fate to others but now his fate was in his own hands. Freedom had been forced upon him. He needed to protect Crona and Maka and the others from his own kind. The People had struck and alliance with Crona's mother, a witch by the name of Medusa, who had attempted and failed to awaken the daemon slumbering under the academy.
He couldn't believe that someone as obviously horrible as she was capable of producing someone as wonderful as Crona. Though now he did have a wonder, how had Crona come to be in the academy if she had once been its enemy? She did mention she had once been a slave in a way, perhaps Maka had bested her too? No, it felt more like an honest friendship, surely Crona betrayed her mother, surely. Of course she did, perhaps Medusa hadn't realized it when they were in the alley but of course Crona would side with the good. She had chosen the right side as he knew she would.
But what exactly was Ragnarok?
He made a mental note to ask Crona how he came to be inside her. Though it did not bother him overmuch, the little creature was a benign thing even if he was somewhat temperamental.
The Krieger's mind wandered again to The People and the witch that now helped them. Someone like her could only breed evil in the world and nothing else. She had to be ended as did the Queen, she who sought to make dealings with evil.
Then there was this other band of villains: Arachnophobia. They had to be dealt with at once yes, yes, yes.
And lastly the daemons that had slipped into this world, without a doubt he knew they would only cause pain and seek to bring Hell unto this new and untouched world. They had to be stopped or there would be another end of days.
He sighed quietly. Clarity. Everything was clear and sure to him. He knew what had to be done and how. And yet, he never imagined he'd take up arms against The People. He still felt uneasy about the idea. The People were the last of a nation that had been annihilated off the face of their world, and now for their obedience to the Queen they were falling off the path of righteousness and good into evil. At first it had been thrilling coming into this new world with their original intentions; a holy crusade to be brought forth unto these evil spirits, but only after a short time he had seen the good in them. Their kindness and their generosity, it was The People who were brutal and cold. He was ashamed to admit it. They were really good people, folk who stuck their necks out for each other, people who were noble and good and strong and brave.
A thought dawned on him and his self image as one of The People was tarnished slightly.
Were The People the nation of heroes he thought? Would they have been that kind of folk if Hell wasn't there?
He wracked his brain quietly, he wanted to believe they would have been. He wanted to believe in the inherent nobility and goodness that lived through all of The People. Even him. Especially him, the sole Krieger to have seen the humanity of the spirits and thrown his lot in with them despite the fact it had been through the laws of slavery that he had come to be with them. But that was not the point. He knew in the pit of his heart that he was doing the right thing in siding with them. But the others didn't know. He had to find a way to convince the Queen that the spirits were people to be befriended and helped and to coexist with. Not a people to target for genocide.
"What must this one do?" whispered the Krieger quietly.
"What must you do?" echoed Crona, looking up now the Krieger had noticed in the dim moonlight of the infirmary that she had turned over and was watching him.
"I've never seen anyone frown so much while thinking" she said, little more than a whisper.
"This one is wondering what he must do to draw The People away from Medusa. They are blind, the Queen also. They must be made to see the truth"
"And what's that?"
"That you are not evil. Nor Maka, nor the spirit of Death, nor the people of this world"
"But why do they follow her?"
"Because she is the Queen, because they must. And because we still believe that you are all evil spirits like the daemons, although this one knows better"
Crona smiled, warmly
"What was the plan when you all came here?"
The Krieger frowned and pushed his head sideways into his pillow.
"To kill all of you and make this new world our own"
There was a brief silence in the room, like the world held its breath.
"You see my beloved friend. This one knows about war. This one was taught that one cannot love in others what we cannot love in ourselves, this is the spirit of war. And it is because of this that this one has learned to hate the daemons. Because there is nothing in them but anger, and hate and evil, things this one cannot love or abide within himself. This is why this one will not stop until all daemons in this world lie dead and torn apart, this is something this one knows with certainty, because there is nothing in daemons that makes them tolerable in this world or mine"
Sergio felt cold as Crona regarded him impassively, then tucked half her head into her covers.
"But, because this one sees kindness and warmth within Crona, things this one loves within himself and seeks to nurture that this one has learned to love Crona deeply"
His master looked up at him and gave him a tentative smile. What was bothering her?
"No one's ever told me that they love me before. I'm afraid I don't know how to deal with it" she said quietly, grasping the words with her mind carefully like a present. Sergio imagined she would have been happier to have been told but she wasn't. Something was troubling her.
"Have you ever met daemons or anything like them that was, different?"
"Of course not. There is nothing but evil within a daemon"
"But let's say for an instant that I was a daemon and still treated you the way I do. What would you do? Hypothetically of course"
The Krieger looked at her casually, but with the sure certainty of a hypothetical answer.
"This one would kill you of course. If Crona was a daemon she would have been planning something nefarious. If you were a daemon you could have had no feeling inside you that would not have done harm unto others"
The conversation didn't pick back up, Crona curled up in her bed and turned around facing the wall. The Krieger worried and fussed as he tried to go to sleep but to no avail. Had he done something to offend Crona? It had just been an honest answer to a hypothetical question.
Shifting away from her partner Crona discarded the declaration of fraternal love with ease. The promise of death made it conditional and darkened the friendly words. It killed her to do it but she could never tell her friend the truth, she knew she would get killed. She couldn't raise her sword against him, someone so like her in origin and so wonderful in character.
"You know he'll kill us if he finds out" said Ragnarok quietly in her mind.
"So he better not! If he asks about how I got inside you tell him you were born this way. If he finds out the truth just put the moves on him and lie your ass off! And don't you dare get sentimental or selfish, if your head rolls so does mine!"
"I know Ragnarok, I won't tell him"
"You better not"
"I said I wouldn't ok"
"Yeah but this has me worried! An idiot like you can't keep a secret! Remember how you broke Tsubaki's vase and told her the truth?"
"But you broke it!"
"Exactly, and I made you promise not to tell but you told on me and now I can't have any candy at home! Good thing that fat cow moved out"
"Ragnarok…"
"I mean it though dumbass. You tell him and he will kill us both! He's a zealot and you know it, there is no room in him for mercy for daemons! They destroyed his world"
"I know, just shut up"
"And even though he chose you over his freak-a-zoid group there is no way he'll choose you again if he finds out you are part daemon"
"Just shut up!" said Crona loudly, then quickly slapping a hand over her mouth and briskly walking out of the room. She shuffled out of the room quickly as Sergio's eyes followed her out. She just needed to clear her head and get her act together.
"What crawled up her butt?" asked Black Star as he turned in his bed.
The rest of the group looked at one another through bleary eyes.
"This one will see to her. Return to rest my friends" said Sergio as he hopped out of his infirmary cot and followed after his master.
Maka's mind wandered quietly to intimacy as the shirtless Krieger followed after her. A pang of jealously touched her ego and the whispered thought rang out in her mind. "He should have been my partner".
-0-
Crona briskly walked out to the dry air of a summer night as she reached the tall overlooking balcony of the academy that overlooked the entire city and the surrounding lakes and forests. She rubbed her head sorely as she ran each scenario in her mind looking for a way to maintain harmony with her partner and not, well, die.
She really missed her corner in her old room in the dungeons of the academy.
"What troubles you my friend?"
Crona turned around and saw the form of her friend. Every detail of his skin, lit up in the glowing blue light of the moon. She turned around sheepishly, it was a little odd to just have him shirtless right there, she felt she shouldn't let her eyes linger. It was impolite.
"Nothing"
"You are lying to this one"
"I-I'm not"
"If Crona does not want to tell Sergio, this one understands" finished the Krieger with a hint of disappointment in his voice but with a smile on his face. He stood by her looking out at the city. The Meister remained by him looking out as well as if searching for the same indefinable point of interest he was looking at.
"Sergio"
"Yes?"
"Have you ever thought about what you are going to do if we win? Against the daemons and Arachnophobia I mean"
The Krieger looked at her openly and then frowned.
"This one doesn't know. This one was hoping he could live with Crona and remain partners. Does this partnership end at some point?" he asked quickly and nervously.
Crona blinked at him, then smiled reassuringly.
"Actually I was kind of hoping you'd say that. I really don't know what I'm going to do if we win. But about partnership, I think it's for life though I wouldn't want you to leave. I mean unless you really wanted to"
The swordswoman grimaced while looking away from the Krieger. She was no good at this, she wanted to let him know that she wanted him around always, but he was free to come and go as he pleased.
"But why would this one want to leave Crona?"
"I don't know, to find a nice Krieger girl maybe?"
"And do what?"
"You know" muttered Crona as she fidgeted with her dress. "Get married or something"
"Oh no" began Sergio with a disarmed gesture. "This one could never do that"
"If you say: because this one is a slave. I am going to pinch you"
Crona fumed at him silently. "You are a person, and if your people can't see that then they are being really dumb". She caught herself on the last word, she was going to curse (kind of a semi-new thing to her that she wasn't sure if she liked) and didn't want to be offensive.
"This one was not going to say that. It is simply that no Krieger woman would ever have him if he ever chose to attempt to court her" he explained shyly. Sergio clenched at his chest nonchalantly as the words escaped his mouth. He was very anxious and Crona looked so, lovely.
He felt like he wanted to stroke her hair.
Very inappropriate, she was his master.
Crona felt scared for a brief instant. His explanation seemed premeditated, like he steered this conversation purposefully because he wanted to tell her something. Oh no, was he lovesick with some girl she didn't know? Oh God no, worse. Did he have something for Maka? They were growing closer and played rowdy often, they would cook breakfast together as a new habit and they were always chatting away behind her on the way to school like they were conspiring. Was Sergio trying to tell her that? Oh no, oh no, oh no! She loved them both but she definitely didn't like the idea of them together. It was selfish and stupid and she didn't know why she didn't like it but she just didn't, he was her partner, not Maka's. She kicked herself internally. No he was free to do whatever he wanted she shouldn't hold him back because she was jealous with her friend. Why was she feeling so anxious? It was just Sergio she was speaking to.
"Umm, did you have someone in mind?" she asked quietly, trembling imperceptibly out of sheer nerves.
She noticed how his eyes seemed to widen for an instant then settle as he looked out at the city. He gulped quietly and closed his eyes as if to deny them something.
"Well, do you?"
Crona imagined the words escape his mouth "Maka", two syllables and two consonants spoken in his particular voice and subtle accent. She followed his expression as he opened his eyes carefully and glanced at her hands on the railing. Almost as if dragging the rest of his head in their wake his eyes grasped hers with an honest gaze that lasted an instant. She felt her heart flutter at the same time her stomach clenched as to puke. The seconds stretched out for what seemed like awkward minutes as she noticed he looked equally sick. He then recoiled away from her and breathed deeply.
"This one has made a fool of himself. Please excuse him" said the Krieger as he stepped away from her very quickly towards the academy doors.
"No wait! Don't go! Tell me are you thinking about someone?"
The Krieger shied away from her gentle grasp of her hands, almost as if running away from the question.
"Please tell me"
Sergio remained quiet and confused.
"If its Maka, just-just know that I won't get in the way. I promis-"
Before she could continue Sergio tilted his head and kissed her on the cheek. Crona froze instantly as did Sergio once he realized what he was doing. He pulled away from her carefully and would not meet her gaze. Awkward silence stretched on between the two until Sergio began to shake and ran away.
The swordswoman shook her head sharply. Had that really just happened?
"Don't question your good fortunes you idiot! I told you he has a crush on you!"
"Ragnarok, I want you to be quiet for a little while"
Crona smiled widely, but it died as quickly as it had been come. The Krieger liked her didn't he? But if that was true, why did he look so pained and sick?
Why did he run away?
-0-
Sergio smacked the side of his head loudly as he walked down the hallway to the infirmary. "No, no, no. This cannot be, this one cannot. NO! To Hell with my station, this one will do as he pleases". The conflicting boldness of his statement and his humility fought against one another as the Krieger wrestled with what he was feeling, equal parts terror and excitement. He wanted to hold Crona tightly and keep her close, his master and friend. But there was something in there as well that he couldn't recognize. Warmth he couldn't define. But this could not be, he was vile and wretched and monstrous he did not deserve to be happy. Afterall, who could ever love him? The only comfort he could ever draw from love was that despite his new friends he would never find a woman who would want him.
Oh gods, he had just kissed his Meister hadn't he? Sergio sped up his pace as he languished under the knowledge that he was now a tramp.
He continued his walk down the hall and past the infirmary. Muttering stern admonitions onto himself and walking barefoot down the hall. He didn't notice when Maka poked her head out of the infirmary and looked at him with curiosity, her eyes lingering on him for an instant too long.
"Sergio? Is that you?" called out a familiar voice from the classroom a few doors down. It came from Francesca who was in her comfortable pajamas. Which was to say a t-shirt and a pair of short shorts.
"What are you doing up so late? Are you alright?"
"Umm, yes this one is just anxious is all"
"About what?"
"Crona"
"Well, I was just doing a little late night research but come in and we can talk"
As the Krieger struggled to begin to explain Francesca grabbed his hand with a girlish smile and tugged him conspiratorially into the classroom.
Maka followed the pair with her eyes in a wide expression of concern as the door shut in the quiet and private classroom. The young Meister listened as hard as she could and she heard a giggle from the room. She couldn't believe that Francesca was doing what she thought she was doing.
"Maka what are you doing?" asked a voice behind her and she turned startled to Crona who seemed awkward and tense.
"What did you and Sergio talk about?"
Crona frowned and looked thoughtful "I think Sergio likes me" she explained simply.
"Hate to break it to you but I think you have competition. Francesca just pulled him into her classroom" said Maka with more feeling than was appropriate though Crona didn't seem to mind.
"Wh-what? Why? What should I do?"
"Nothing, just let them be"
No sooner had Maka said that, the door to Francesca's classroom opened and shut quickly with the Krieger holding the doorknob shut. Neither girl could make out what Francesca pleaded through the door but the Krieger answered in his own mother tongue brusquely and the woman quieted. Swiftly he came to the two girls and stopped short. He refused to make eye contact.
"I do not like Scholar Francesca anymore"
With a quick shiver he slid between Maka and Crona blushing uncomfortably as he faced the latter and shuffled into his bed and wrapped his sheet over himself creating a bizarre shape because of his horns.
Maka curled up in her own cot and tried to fall asleep despite her sour mood.
Crona laid in her bed, watching the Krieger under his covers with her peripheral vision. Why had he run away after kissing her? Was there something wrong with her?
