Sorry for not updating in a while. I just bought Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, and it's pretty damn cool. Seriously, having three minions is fun. So is shooting a crapton of arrows straight into the eye of a cyclops. Heh, those are funny. Especially when they fall.

For those who want Crona and his group to meet with Takashi's gang... I'm still contemplating it. I have to plan not only how they'll interact with each other, but for how long they'll be in contact. I like the canon group, I really do, but I don't want them to be that big of an impact on this story. It might be in passing, it might be for a while, they might pass each other without even knowing it! Who knows!? I do! So let me plan this out first, 'kay?

Also, Akire Rosales offered to make fanart. You don't have to, but I honestly would like to see what you come up with. CHoice is yours though, so don't burden yourself.

Anyway, I own nothing. Please enjoy.

Once Crona left, Marie turned to the girls with a troubled look. "He doesn't seem to be doing well. What happened to him?" she asked the three girls.

All three looked at each other, confusion clear on their faces. Misuzu was the first to speak. "What do you mean exactly?"

"If I had to guess, it seems he hasn't slept in a while, and maybe gone through something hard for him." she then turned to Toshimi next to her. "Where did you meet him again?"

"At school. Me and Misuzu were almost killed, and he saved us." she said without much thought.

"And this whole thing started yesterday..." mumbled Marie while placing her finger to her mouth. She thought for a second before turning to Misuzu. "Wait, so this means you've only known him for an entire day. Has he told you anything about himself? He wasn't wearing a uniform, so either he was sick and at home when this all started, or he's maybe a tourist."

"He did say that he was new in town, and that he didn't know anything about here." Misuzu mumbled while raking her head for anything else she might have learned from Crona. She soon realized she had nothing to say, really. Seriously, what did she know about her androgynous savior. All she knew was his name, that he was from out of town, and that he was a boy that wore 'robes'. She didn't know where he came from, what he was doing in school, why he was at the school, or even if he was as old as her. She was positive he never entered the school before this, as a boy with pink hair would be noticed within three seconds of entering.

Looking over to Toshimi, she saw that she was on the same boat. Hana seemed to be replaying her entire experience with the boy, and soon realized that she knew nothing as well. "I've... never really asked, actually." admitted the black haired girl. None of them have. They have been blindly following a boy who said nothing to them about his origins.

'Crona Makenshi...' was the collective thoughts of the three girls, as Marie excused herself to prepare dinner.

After managing to calm down (and waking up from Ragnarok's barrage of punches), Crona tried to bring himself together. It was not an easy task, but he managed. Getting out of bed, he again exited the room in search of Marie. This time, he wasn't going to cower. He would just have to deal with this, seeing as he didn't have much of a choice. While he was still sad, he was now determined to at the very least see this whole disaster to the end. It's likely he couldn't return to his own world, so he would just have to fight here for the sake of Misuzu, Hana, Toshimi, and now Marie. Besides, he had Ragnarok. The little demon was pretty angry when he was finally released from the pink-haired boy's hug, but he simply let it slide before entering Crona's body again. That's something that got the meister confused. Lately, Ragnarok was a lot more quiet than he would have been. He was pretty sure that the little demon wouldn't normally stay inside his body for this long. It's been nearly two days and he's only come out once or twice. He'd think on that later.

Once he made his way through the halls and saw that there was no one in the living room, he thought it best to explore the place. Maybe he could find that sword that was like Ragnarok again. It wasn't in the room, so he assumed that either Marie or a maid picked it up and put it away. Whatever the case, he would have to look for it. It it was here, he would not only have a weapon he was comfortable with, but he might be able to replace Ragnarok with it somewhere along the road ahead and maybe think up a way to explain Ragnarok being alive and the fact that he was attached to him via his circulatory system. He still had yet to find out if cursed swords existed in this world. Maybe something else.

Escaped lab-rat? That's technically true. Would they believe that? Maybe.

Demon? Also technically true, and maybe he could invent something about forming a contract. Would they believe him? Less likely.

Creature from a different dimension that saved his life? Half true. Damn it, making lies was hard!

He was brought out of his musings when he turned a corner and crashed headfirst into someone that was running towards him. He and the person ended up in a heap not two feet from where they collided, his face instantly smothered by something that wouldn't let him breathe. 'God, if you're really there, please tell me it's not what I think it is.' he thought as he felt the thing on his face come off. Seemed like God wasn't listening when he found a big chest right in front of his face. 'Oh boy...'

"A-ah! Crona-kun!" squeaked Toshimi. She was still straddling his lap, her arms around his shoulders and her face a few inches from him. He blinked up at her, wondering when she would get off of him. She wasn't heavy by any means, but he still needed to make up an excuse for Ragnarok. That, and she was getting a bit red in the face.

Was she sick? He felt sick once because of a cold, and he couldn't stop coughing and sneezing. Therefore, Medusa thought it a good idea to slam him into a wall for every cough, and just smack him with her hand for every sneeze. Not a fun three days.

"S-sorry! I should have watched where I was going!" she said while finally scrambling off. She helped him up and even tried brushing his clothes a bit to knock off any dust or dirt. Obviously there wasn't any, but the gesture was still nice.

"I'm fine." he said with a slight smile. Toshimi seemed to suddenly perk up as she grabbed his hand and began to tug on it.

"Uh, come on! You must be hungry after all this time. We managed to make some food while you rested!" she said while pulling him down the hall she had just come from. He didn't object and followed, a bit excited himself. He was pretty hungry, to be honest, and having something in his stomach might actually be a nice change. Still, it's likely that Ragnarok would be hungry and try to get some food. How was he going to feed the little demon was what bothered him most at the moment.

He recognized the hall they walked into as the one that would lead him to the kitchens, which now that he noticed was filling with the sound of work as well as the smell of food. If he had to guess, it was some sort of chicken and soup. Or maybe soup with chicken in it. Chicken-soup...

He was suddenly in the dining room, which was mostly empty save for a few maids. "Excuse me," Toshimi managed to gain one of the maids' attention. She was kind of short for a woman, and had large glasses on her round face that made her quite cute. Oh yeah, and then there was the pair of giant melons on her. Can't forget those. "Could you get Crona-kun something to eat, please?" she asked politely. The maid took one look at Crona and almost immediately yanked him towards the kitchens.

"Everyone, look! It's the boy who brought the girls here safely!" she suddenly squealed while clinging on to Crona. Almost immediately, he was swarmed a by a bunch of other maids. All of them were like most of the women he had already seen since he got here; busty, jiggling, and so soft. Last one was proven when they started fawning over him and rubbing his arms against their chest, or hugging him from behind or the front, or just touching him in general.

All the while, comments were said like, "Oh, look how cute he is! He's so sweet-looking!", "I could just eat him up!", "Ooh! His arms are strong! Feel these muscles!", "He's so small! I wanna cuddle him like a little kitty!", and similar things were said about Crona. He got the feeling if he didn't do something soon, he would end up smothered to death in a swarm of breasts. He thought he remembered something Soul said about this. Something about a perfect death...

"U-um, I-I should go!" he squeaked out, quickly looking around. The maids seemed a bit saddened by this, and he was pretty sure the one on his back just gripped onto him tighter. "I-I just, uh, came t-to see if th-there was any food." he mumbled out. This, however, seemed to have been the wrong thing to say. They suddenly let go, and he was free for about two seconds, before he once again had curvy female bodies pressed up against him. This time, the maids were trying to feed him personally. He couldn't even raise his hands because there was so much cleavage.

"Here, try this! I made sure to season this turkey personally!"

"No! Here, I have some leftover pie! It's apple, and I put some extra apples in just for a bit more filling!"

"Wait, I have some steak right here! I hope you like it rare, though."

"Are all of you crazy!? Look at this boy! He obviously watches his weight! Here, I have a salad here with some chicken!"

"Enough already! He must be thirsty! Here, try some punch! It has no sugar added, but it's still delisious!"

"No! He's a hero, so he should drink like one! I have some champaign right here, I'm sure he'll enjoy it!"

Similar things were said while the maids tried to make him eat something. He couldn't even move his hands or feet without the fear that he might end up hurting someone. Suddenly the door behind him opened and Toshimi rushed in. She grabbed him, pulling him out of the mass of softness and out into the dinning room. "Just bring him something to eat!" she shouted back while pulling Crona to the table. He could hear a collective groan from the maids before they began to work. Before he could thank her, she shoved him into a seat and grumbled, "Sit!"

He did so without much complaint, a bit nervous when she then sat on the seat next to him and crossed her arms under her chest, pushing her boobs up and making him straighten up. Considering that she was right there next to Crona and her face was set in an angry pout, he could only look around nervously. He had to resist the urge to look at her body, especially since it was so close. It wasn't long before one of the maids brought him a plate with steak on it. Before the maid could say anything Toshimi took the food and shooed her away. The maid walked back into the kitchen with a dejected whimper, like a puppy that was kicked out of the room. Crona had half a mind to go check on her, but was quickly occupied when Toshimi sat down next to him, stabbed a piece of steak and shoved it towards his face.

"Eat." she ordered simply. After all, he probably hasn't eaten since that morning, and that was a good ten hours ago. It was almost sunset.

Crona took the fork and took a bite. He noticed that Toshimi seemed a bit more quiet and distracted, nervously tapping the table while her eyes would study the wood of the table. He blinked. Now would be a good time to feed Ragnarok. Taking a much bigger piece, he managed to keep his movements unnoticed as he slowly positioned the food next to his ribs. Ragnarok's mouth appeared through the black shirt before the mouth took the piece and swallowed. He continued like this, taking a few bites then giving Ragnarok a bigger piece while he chewed his piece. Toshimi didn't seem to notice, and that actually made him wonder what was going through her mind.

Should he ask if she was alright? She seemed fine physically. Then again, he wasn't a doctor, so she could be having a flu and he wouldn't know what to do.

He must have stared at her too long, because soon she noticed his gaze and smiled weakly before returning to staring at the table. It was a good thing he and Ragnarok had stopped eating and there was no need to feed the little demon. For now, at least.

She seemed to want to ask something, but was hesitating. He thought it better to get it out of the way now. Maybe it was urgent? "I-is there something wrong?" he asked. Toshimi seemed to snap out of whatever she was thinking and turned to him with a questioning look. "You looked distracted." he said. He really was concerned, seeing as he was going to have to live with her for now. Actually, he wasn't sure if he should try finding a way to his own world. Was it possible? Would looking for a way back put anyone in danger? Besides, if he remembered right, he was hit with that spell from Medusa. Doesn't that mean that he was thought dead by everyone else? Above all else was the thought that scared him the most. 'Did they defeat Asura?'

Toshimi seemed to become a bit more nervous because of the question, but took a breath to prepare herself. "U-um, Crona-kun?" she started, bringing Crona out of his musing. "U-uh, now that we're, you know, not running from them, I was wondering... Uh, where, w-where did you come from? Y-you said you were from out of town, s-so, uh, where did you come from?"

Crona knew this would happen one day, but he was honestly hoping for a little more time. What was he supposed to say? "Well, my mom is a witch who was hellbent on unleashing the devil-god in hopes of advancing evolution, she kept me in a dark room most of the time or sent me off on my own to kill innocent people, and I have a weapon of evil, black, annoyance that is running through my bloodstream every second of my life, and I'm actually from another world where I was somehow incinerated completely and ended up here." Yeah, that would end up nicely. He knew that she had a right to know, but he was honestly unsure if he was ready to tell her anything. So he would stick to telling her a few things, and let her come to her own conclusions.

"I-I, well, I sort of... uh, I was always an orphan." He wasn't about to refer to Medusa as his mother, even if she did keep him alive. "I lived in an orphanage in a small town in Nevada." Technically true to the point that was where he came from. "I was always scared. I was alone most of the time, but I've had a... companion of sorts with me since I can remember. He's a bit of a jerk, but he always took care of me." He smiled a bit. "A few days ago I met this nice group of friends that got me out of some... trouble I had with people. One of them was kind of lazy and reminded me of a shark, but only because of his teeth..." 'Soul...' "Another was loud, but always had good intentions..." 'Black*Star...' "this one girl was nice to everyone, and usually kept the loud one in check..." 'Tsubaki...' "And there was one who had a sort of obsession over... certain art..." 'Kidd...' "there were these two girls, sisters. One of them liked fashion, and the other was always full of energy..." 'Liz, Patty...' His smile suddenly turned fond. Toshimi actually blinked when she saw how happy he seemed to have become. "Then there was this one girl who helped me the most. When I thought it was only me, she came and helped me. She could have abandoned me, she could have just left, but she helped me instead. She offered me a chance to have friends, to live happily." he sighed, suddenly becoming a bit sad. "That was a few weeks ago. I... came here because of school problems." Technically he was on a 'school assignment' with Marie. Or at least, that was the excuse he would have used. There was also vacation, but then he'd need to have someone here. "I got here and... well, I kinda got lost. Then I found your school, and, uh, here we are." he said lamely. He wasn't even sure if it was believable.

Toshimi blinked as she absorbed the information. While he did tell her about himself, it seemed that he didn't want to give details. Then again, he also said that his friends got him out of some trouble with people. Was he being harassed by a gang? Maybe even money problems, or something else. Whatever the case, she was both glad and a bit saddened. Glad because she got to meet such a sweet young man who fought for her and two other girls without asking for anything in return, and saddened because he was away from his friends. From what he said, it sounded like the group of friends he hung out with might seem incompatible. Judging by the smile on his face, though, they somehow seemed to make it work. She smiled a bit herself. She kind of liked seeing him smile, especially like he was now. He would usually make a weird smile like he was unsure, but when he spoke of his friends he looked much cuter.

She nodded while smiling brightly. While there were still a few questions she wanted to ask, she didn't want to seem like she was being overly nosy. And besides, she got to find out a few things. She learned where he came from, that he was an orphan, that he had friends he had to leave for some reason, and that he was supposed to come to school here. Maybe even to the school that she and Misuzu were going. She briefly wondered what life would have been like had this whole disaster never happened. Would she still have met Crona? Would they even speek? She was pretty sure she would have noticed him if he were to walk in the hallways because of his hair. Would they even know eachother's names? She sighed before smiling at the boy, who had been looking at her face this whole time. She blushed a bit and stood up a bit more straight. For some reason, she really liked it when he would pay attention to her. Now that she thought about it, it seemed to have started this morning with their little accident. Even now the memory brought a hot, almost burning itch within her.

Crona blinked blinked when he saw Toshimi suddenly look at the tabletop while her face became red. She looked uncomfortable, almost like she was sitting on something that was bothering her bum. At the thought of 'bum' he remembered how earlier in the morning his face was being smothered by one. He felt his face become warm again and had to adjust his pants.

Toshimi blinked when she saw his face become a grey color. Was he getting sick? It would explain why he wanted to rest earlier. Maybe she should do something.

"Are you okay?" she asked, earning a startled look from Crona. He smiled a bit uneasily, his normal pale color slowly returning as he nodded. She nodded back, still worried. "How are dealing with... all of this?" she asked, motioning to all around her. It took him a moment to realize she mean the pandemic happening. He frowned, wondering how he should respond. Truthfully, it wasn't the first time he saw a zombie. First time they wanted to actually eat him, but the only zombie he ever met was Sid, and he was scary in his own way. Mostly the teeth. by god were those things huge.

"I guess... I'm kind of scared." he said truthfully. She seemed surprised by this, but he continued. "I don't know what else to say. I'm worried of what we'll do from here. And how long we will last." He looked up at her and she saw he had a strange haunted look in his eyes. "I don't want anything to happen to any of you. I failed my friends once already. I don't think I can handle failing again." he said while the air around him became gloomy and depressed. He thought of all the people he left behind. He left Marie, Stein, Maka, and Soul alone with Medusa. He assumed that the Kishin was still on the loose, and that Maka would probably go looking for it once she defeated Medusa. But what about Black*Star and Kidd? What were they doing? Surely they would be taking care of each other's backs, right? That's what friends are for, after all...

Just then, Misuzu barged in, panting and a big grin on her face. "Toshimi, you cousin! We just got a phone call! She's okay!" she said. The dark haired girl instantly got up and ran out the dining room, followed by Misuzu. Crona was a bit interested himself, so he got up and ran after the girls. Reaching the living room, he was met with the sight of Marie with a relieved look on her face, tears running down her eyes as she held a cellphone to her ear.

"O-okay. Yeah, don't worry. I-I'll be there as soon as possible. Just please hold out for a bit longer." she was saying. Crona was honestly half-tempted to wrap her in a hug. She looked so relieved, and judging from Toshimi's face, so was she. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even know what Toshimi's cousin was named. He wondered if he should ask, but right now was probably not the time.

The phone was passed to Toshimi, who was instantly asking questions. "Are you okay? Where are you? Is anyone with you? Are you in trouble? Are you okay? Where are you?" She was silent for a moment, listening to the response. "R-really? That close? Good, we'll get you as soon as possible!" Toshimi quickly gave the phone back to Marie, who seemed to have composed herself enough to think more clearly.

"Okay. I'm coming over as soon as possible. Don't worry, everything's gonna be okay, honey." she said. Crona couldn't stop the smile that slowly crossed his face as he saw Marie close the cellphone. "I'm heading out immediately. I'll be back soon." she said. That quickly wiped the smile off of Crona's face. He watched her cross the room, probably to prepare, but he quickly got in her way. She yelped in surprise and jumped back a bit. "Crona-kun? Wha-"

"I'm coming with you." he said. He wasn't asking either. He refused to just let Marie go on her own. He was strong. very strong. He was going to protect her and her daughter, no matter what. "Please. Let me help!" he said, pouring every bit of his courage, will, and strength out in hopes it would reach her.

Marie blinked while looking at him. She felt like this was... right. Like she should expect this of him despite his seemingly shy nature. She wanted to argue, to tell him that as the adult it was her job to keep them all safe. But the look on his stern face made her realize that even if she refused, he would probably follow her, consent given or not. With a sigh, she nodded. "Fine. you can come, Crona-san." Crona smiled, making the blond woman smile back, before her face became stern. "But still, I don't want you going there unprepared. You should take one of the guns, like me." she said while waving for him to follow. She led him to the closet, which had all the guns he and the girls got from the police station, as well as the Ragnarok blade at the very back. He gasped when he saw it, and was surprised when Marie grabbed it, with some effort, and pointed the handle towards him. "I saw you with this when you fainted, so I assumed you knew how to use it." she explains with a smile.

Crona smiled back and grabbed the blade. It was heavy, but the familiarity was reassuring to the androgynous boy as he took a few practice swings. While Marie looked through the guns, he felt a sudden jolt and felt as if something was slowly draining out of him. He felt empty for a second, but it quickly disappeared when he saw what happened exactly.

"Holy shit! What the hell happened!" a familiar voice said. Crona jumped and looked back at Marie. She hadn't noticed a thing, still looking at the guns and wondering which she should take. Looking down at the blade, his eyes widened further when he saw Ragnarok's head reflected on the blade's side. He blinked once, wondering if he was going crazy.

'There's no way Ragnarok can be outside my blood. It's impossible. Right?'

"I know! So this has to be some fucked up hallucination!"

Crona sighed when he heard that, nodding his agreement.

"..."

"..."

"..." He looked down at the blade. Sure enough, Ragnarok was still there. 'This is bad.'

"No shit.

'You're outside my body.'

"You make it sound weird. Don't ever do that again."

'Right.'

"..."

'...'

"... How the hell is this possible?"

'Uh, this may sound weird, but I guess that since this sword is the 'you' of this world, it's basically the same material. So... you can move into your own body? Does that make sense?'

"A bit. I think I get it. Since there's a Marie here with an actual pair of eyes, then there must be others here that are basically the same from our world. Just that this is me. A sword. Meh, could be worse."

They're musings were cut off when Marie finally stepped out of the closet, wiping some sweat off her forehead. She held up one of the rifles with a bayonet with a triumphant smile on her face. "Ready!" she said. Crona smiled as well and nodded, also ready. Marie suddenly reached behind her and produced a brown-leather pistol-holster, with the pistol in it. "Don't forget this. Swords are good and all, but you need this just in case." she said. Crona nodded, taking the holster and putting it on with her help. Once done, the holster snuggly fit under the sweater and over his shirt, making him nod in approval. He blinked as he wiggled his toes. He just remembered that he wasn't wearing shoes. He was about to ask for a pair of shoes, but Marie already had his shoes in her hand and was handing them to him.

With a slight grin, he took the shoes and put them on. Once done, he turned to Marie and nodded. They were about to leave when he heard someone approaching from behind him. Turning, he blinked when he saw Hana, Misuzu, and Toshimi there, all three of them seeming to become nervous and twitchy. It came as a surprise when all three of them suddenly wrapped him in a hug, almost making him fall back.

"Take care, please." Whispered Misuzu. Crona was mildly surprised at the sheer worry in her voice, making him nod quickly. The other girls were also fussing over him, adjusting his sweater and patting his head. He was overwhelmed for a moment, honestly surprised by how much they seemed to worry.

"I'll be be fine. D-don't worry, o-okay?" he said, giving them his most reassuring smile. The girls nodded and smiled back.

"Right then, let's go." said Marie, opening the door. Crona gave the girls one last nod before following Marie out, both of them heading to the gate and climbing it. Crona landed in a crouch, quickly looking both ways for any signs of them. When none could be spotted, he waved for Marie to come down as well. The older woman had a bit more trouble getting down, so Crona had to help her. She blushed in embarrassment, though she quickly became serious and looked around as well. It was eery how deserted the whole street looked. "Follow me." she whispered, before jogging in one direction. Crona followed, only to stop when Marie also stopped and stood still for a moment. He tensed. Were there more of them here than he originally thought? Marie turned to him and gave him a familiar smile. One he had seen many times when she was in the basement of the school. "A-ah, never-mind, I-it's the other way."

Crona couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. Same world or not, Marie still had a horrible sense of direction.

Wooh! Another chapter! What is this, chapter 7? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed! Sorry I didn't update sooner, I was mostly taking care of a few things. Mostly the horrible amount of homework overload. Ugh, I hate homework. It should burn. Just like the furbies. Fucking creepy little shits.

Anyway, you have read, so it's your duty to review. The box is down there. Don't be shy, go right ahead.