Maka's brain finally caught up with her, pulling her out of her haze, and she realized what she had just done. She had just yelled at Crona that he could have betrayed all of his friends, accused him of horrible things out of anger. "What was I thinking?!" Maka had seen the pain in his silver eyes as she momentarily entertained the thought that he really could have made Lord Death ill, before his pain changed into fear. The lavender-headed boy had slowly backed up before yanking the door open and sprinting away.
"Maka, you can really be stupid sometimes," she growled at herself before running after him. "Crona, please wait!"
Crona would never take out his anger on anyone at the academy; in fact Maka couldn't remember the last time that she had actually ever seen the gentle Maister mad at all. Why did her temper get struck up so hard when he had clearly been uncomfortable telling her about Spirit in the first place? Crona didn't lie, and the rare times that he did, such as where his injuries had come from, they were highly transparent fibs that he rushed through jerkily, refusing to make eye contact for a good five minutes after telling them. However, when he was talking about Spirit, he did try to look at her. So why couldn't she have just listened to him? "Crona!"
She burst out the doors of her apartment building, head whipping from left to right as she tried to figure out where the timid boy had gone. "CRONA!"
~~~CRONA'S POV~~~
Crona's vision was beginning to blur as he ran into an alley, tears welling up as he leaned heavily against the wall.
"Crona!"
He flinched at the sound of Maka's yell, knowing that she was probably furious. Who could blame her? Not only did she most likely think that he was trying to kill Lord Death, but now it looked like he had been trying to shift the blame onto Spirit. Crona knew from experience that running was a signal of fear, and the only reason that Maka would think that he would have for running was guilt.
"Why couldn't I just stay there?" His agonized whisper was hoarse, Crona's throat sealing up as his mind pulled up the image of Maka's fear-filled eyes. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
His legs gave out underneath him, sending Crona sliding down against the rough brick wall, the ragged building's wall tearing into his back. Crona huddled on the ground, tears dripping onto the dirt as he desperately tried to keep his madness repressed.
"Let me help, please!" Raven's voice was sad, Crona's shadow having a steep frown on its face. "Seeing you in so much pain hurts me…"
"N-no, I can't." Crona gripped his hair tightly, focusing on keeping his emotions somewhat in check. "I c-can't, I can't!"
"Alright, alright, just calm down." Raven soothed, the shadow looking concerned. "Everything's going to be fine. I won't meld with you unless you want to, you know that."
"N-nothing's fine, Maka's mad at me!"
Raven frowned, eyes and voice growing dangerous. "I can make it so that that girl will never upset you ag-"
"NO!" Crona growled, hands clenching into tight fists as his lips pulled up into a snarl. "Never, ever threaten Maka!"
"Sorry, sorry." Raven apologized. "What can I do to help?"
"N-nothing. Just leave me alone, p-please?" Crona could feel a sob welling up in his chest and he just wanted everything to leave him alone.
"If that will help you. I hope you'll reconsider and play with me." Raven faded away, a tear rolling down its cheek as it did so.
The sob ripped itself out of Crona's mouth, his shoulders bobbing up and down as his thin frame wracked itself with the force of his sobs. He muffled his pained cries in his hands, just letting the agony out.
He knew that he was a despicable person, a murderer, a liar, a freak, and just an overall monster, but Maka had made him feel like he might be able to redeem himself one day. She was the first person to see him as a boy and not just a pathetic waste of a son or a horrifying monster. And now, the look in Maka's eyes, the thought that Maka felt that he was something to be feared, was killing him.
No, he could deal with being killed, he knew that he deserved it, but the agony of having the first person who didn't look at him with disgust or terror see him for the monster he was for something that he hadn't actually even done was far worse.
That particular look was one that he had only seen in Maka's eyes once before; the first time that they had met.
Crona had gotten the hang of how to half-control Lady Medusa's madness; the insanity he was forced into when she sent her snake to meld with Crona and Raven. He was now able to speak a few words with a clear mind, though he was never able to stay sane for more than a few moments at a time unless he was startled or calm. Crona had found a long time ago that it was far better to just stay huddled safely in utter insanity rather than try and oppose Lady Medusa's overwhelming will.
Crona had been staying out of the fight he had just been in, sitting with Raven and merely sadly observing. He wasn't sure if what had just gone on could really be counted as a fight, after all, they were a huge crowd of big and burly men that practically oozed danger. Then there was Crona. It wasn't really too much of a challenge to kill them all, his crazy side relishing their terror filled shrieks of agony as they were dispatched. Ragnaroc gagged slightly as he swallowed their souls, cracking one large gloved fist against Crona's back and yelling at him for ruining the taste. "Idiot! You can't just kill them, you have to let them get scared enough to shit their pants! That's the only way to get that minty flavor, this way they taste like burnt rubber."
"Oh, shut up Ragnaroc." Crazy Crona smirked, folding his arms and staring defiantly up at his Weapon.
"Good work, Crona." Crona and Raven flinched as Medusa's snake hissed into Crona's ear, the shadowy reptile almost seeming to grin at their fear. "Oh, how interesting. Stay there, and put on a show for me."
"Y-yes, Lady Medusa." Crona grabbed control over his body long enough to nod and grab his arm in discomfort, turning to look at the beautiful glass window at the back of the church. His artist's eye was approving of the delicate design, while his bubbling insanity was wondering how much it would hurt to smash the window and slice himself to ribbons on it. Ragnaroc sank back into Crona's back, making the boy wince as his back resealed itself.
The huge double doors swung open behind him, two sets of footsteps trotting into the hall. One was softer and slightly more hesitant than the other, Crona's training instantly informing the boy that that was the weaker of the two and therefore the better target to attack.
"What the hell? He's in there all by himself. What happened to his Weapon partner?" The voice was that of a young teen boy, confused but confident.
"No… There's no way…" This voice was female, making Crona wince. He was bad around girls, not having any experience with females other than Lady Medusa. Lady Medusa also hadn't really had him interact or attack any women in years, so he was very unsure as to how to proceed here. This girl sounded horrified, which put Crona slightly at ease. That was something that he had heard in every person's voice that he had attacked for Lady Medusa, so he had almost gotten used to it. Almost.
"Now what?" The boy spoke again, Crona finally turning to see who he was probably going to have to kill soon. The boy had spiky white hair, was wearing an orange and white jacket and jeans, and had ruby red eyes. The girl was standing in front of the boy, apparently in command. Crona frowned momentarily, confused. Why would the weaker of the two be in charge? She had dirty blond hair in pigtails, was wearing a long black jacket over a white shirt, yellow vest, and red skirt, and her piercing green eyes were filled with freaked out fear.
"Lady Medusa, it looks like two others have arrived." Ragnaroc spoke politely, mouth poking out of Crona's left arm, caution in every word. He had cursed out Lady Medusa earlier, and Crona was still feeling the pain from the torture she had inflicted on them.
"Keep it down, Ragnaroc. You need to be quiet now." Crona warned, both boys having learned the hard way that Lady Medusa seemed to enjoy people's reactions at Ragnaroc's entrance. Crona always hated it when Lady Medusa wanted them to put on a show for her, his part a lot harder and more painful to play than his Weapon partner's.
"I'm reading the souls of a Meister and a Weapon, and both of them are directly in front of us." Crona stared at the ground, hoping she would just go away. "That means…" No, no, no! Lady Medusa was going to be very unhappy if- "That Meister standing there… has a Weapon inside of his body."
Crona stiffened and glanced towards the girl. Oh no…
The boy beside her shifted into a scythe, the girl grasping his handle firmly. "What?" Crona nodded, relieved. The reason that the girl was in charge was because that she was the Maister. That made sense. "What are you talking about, Maka?" So, the girl's name was Maka. "You're telling me that there's a Weapon inside that dude?"
"Not for long, it's coming out." Crona sighed tiredly, knowing that she was right and wondering absently how she knew that. He stared at the ground, one hand grasping his arm as his shoulders sagged.
Suddenly, pain shot across his shoulders and up through his neck and into his head, making him cry out hoarsely. Crona grabbed his head as flashing pain throbbed through his head, pained gasps erupting from his lips. He twisted from side to side, trying uselessly to get rid of his crushing headache, wishing that Lady Medusa's shows didn't have to be quite so painful. The agony only got worse; making Crona throw his head and torso back, his arms dangling limply at his sides, howling loudly at the ceiling. Crona's pained cries got louder as Ragnaroc forced his black blood to snap and crack inside of him, feeling almost as bad as the one time that his Weapon had accidentally broken three of his ribs. Throwing the top of his torso back forward, he smashed his fists firmly against his head as Ragnaroc slowly pushed himself out of Crona's back, the process slow and torturous. Finally, the skin ruptured and Ragnaroc gushed out of the top of his shoulders in a geyser of black blood, making a loud, long-drawn out scream burst out of Crona's chest. Ragnaroc was really laying it on thickly, forming his limbs one after another but leaving his white x-ed face for last, x-ed out eyes rolling around freakishly for a moment before settling in one place.
"Guh-gup goop geek!" Ragnaroc hiccuped, turning to stare at the other Maister and Weapon pair. Crona heard the girl gasp quietly behind him and felt a momentary twinge of unease. What if he wasn't supposed to hurt girls? "Goop ge-geek!" One of Ragnaroc's hard fists bonked into Crona's still-sore head, making his head throb even worse.
"That hurts me!" Ragnaroc's other fist came around, his knuckles burrowing into Crona's lavender hair and burning the skin underneath. "It hurts! It hurts it hurts!" Crona whimpered as Ragnaroc bullied him, the larger boy's fists crushing his head. It also didn't help that Crona was having to stagger around to keep their balance as Ragnaroc focused on tormenting him instead of staying still. "Stop moving around like that… You're squeezing me!" Ragnaroc giggled madly and started jabbing Crona. "Stop poking me… OW!" Ragnaroc had smushed Crona's nose up against his head. "Stop already! Don't poke my nose!" Scowling, Ragnaroc gave Crona's head a sharp whack. "You're bruising me!"
As Ragnaroc returned to noogying both sides of Crona's head, Crona's temper broke out- a very rare occurrence, and he yelled at his companion, an even rarer occurrence. "STOP IT, NOW! I've had enough already!"
Ragnaroc reared back, waving his arms in an I-give-up motion. "Now, now, calm down Crona." The Weapon smirked crazily as he mocked Crona. "You're so scary when you're stressed out like this."
"Okay, this is getting weird." Crona had almost forgotten the girl, Maka, but at her muttered words he looked back up towards her. "You should know that the hunting of human souls is strictly forbidden." Crona frowned again, exchanging a quick confused glance with Ragnaroc. "Are you students? I haven't seen you at the Academy."
Crona was floored. "At the where? What Academy?" He ignored Ragnaroc as the other boy's hands squished his face into uncomfortable positions, having sadly gotten used to his Weapon's overbearing and highly painful antics over the years. "Anyway, she said it was okay to eat the human souls." It occurred to him after he had spoken that he probably shouldn't have brought up Lady Medusa even in passing, but it was too late now. He drooped a little at the punishment that they were likely to receive when they returned to Lady Medusa's castle later. "I don't see what's wrong with it if she said it was okay." Crona cringed, realizing that he had mentioned Lady Medusa yet again, but fortunately Maka seemed more focused on the fact that Ragnaroc had snacked on the human souls than on Lady Medusa. Crona fidgeted under Maka's emerald-eyed stare, feeling Lady Medusa's cold insanity taking hold over him again as he lost his concentration under this pretty girl's fierce gaze. He felt warmth rise in his cheeks as he looked down and to the side to avoid her continuous stare and sighed. "I'm, uh, I'm not good at talking with girls." His eyes flicked momentarily up to snatch a peek at Maka before returning to bore a hole in the ground as he thought of Lady Medusa and flinched. "They make me nervous."
Ragnaroc leaned over next to Crona's head and grinned. "Never mind that, her soul looks tasty."
Maka didn't look intimidated in the least, frowning at Ragnaroc as she held her ground fearlessly. Crona wished he was that confident. "Meisters and their Weapons are not allowed to collect human souls for any reason. We hunt only the souls that have become Keishen eggs." She slid back into a more solid stance, bringing her Scythe up into an attack position. "Now it's my duty to stop you. You will not hunt any more humans, you hear me?"
Ragnaroc poked Crona in the head. "Let's get her, Crona." Crona nodded wordlessly, still not able to meet the girl's green gaze. He wished that they could just let these two go, but Lady Medusa wanted a show, so a show they would perform for her.
"Mm."
Ragnaroc pulled off one of his flashier moves, dissolving right then and there into his black blood form, the obsidian droplets dangling in midair above Crona, who was still holding his arm. Without letting go he reached up into the ink-black mass, grabbing Ragnaroc's handle and pulling down, the black blood shaping itself into the sharp blade that Crona knew so well.
Maka blanched. It was barely noticeable, but she had flinched. "It turned into a Weapon. A Sword!"
Crona hesitated, knowing that this was going to be the other pair's final moments, before twirling Ragnaroc in a neat X and darting forward, letting his Weapon's blade tip strike up sparks against the hard floor as he ran. "He's gonna strike from below!" Maka's Weapon companion yelled as the girl easily swung the large Scythe around. Crona let Lady Medusa's madness envelope him so that it wouldn't hurt as much as he destroyed the beautiful girl and her Weapon. Crazy Crona lurched in shock as the Scythe's blade blocked his attack, lurching forward from his momentum as Maka merely braced herself with the weight of her Weapon's blade. He gasped in surprise, most of his opponents usually having been sliced in half by now.
"Stop this!" the girl yelled, smashing the back of her fist against Crona's cheek with enough force to crack his head to one side.
Crona's shock pulled him out of his insanity, whimpering sadly, "Y-you're going to start poking at me also?" Maka swung her companion over her head, the blade flashing down to cut him in two, but Crona jumped back in time to avoid the blow. Maka planted the base of her Scythe's blade firmly on the ground and flipped over the Weapon, using her momentum to neatly slam on top of Crona. He smashed into the ground, her knees digging painfully into his back. Maka jumped back up, Scythe swinging up to deliver the final blow.
"You've got him now!" The girl roared an adrenaline packed howl, apparently encouraged by her partner's words.
"RaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Crona glanced up at her as he spun and bounced back up on his feet.
Ker-shlang!
Raven huddled protectively over Crona's mental form as Medusa's shadowy snake chuckled darkly.
Crazy Crona looked almost disappointedly at the red and black blade that had just smashed into his shoulder, automatically grabbing his arm even though the comfort gesture wasn't necessary for the insane version of himself. He heard Maka gasp in a scared breath, and looked up to see her pupils contract as her hands began to shake.
A bright tear rolled down Raven's cheek as he stood in front of Crona, sneaking a glance over at a discarded branch longingly but unable to move from his post as Medusa's snake eyed him in amusement. "Did you think you could cut him in half?" Medusa's voice echoed in Crona's mind, Crazy Crona hearing the words as his silver eyes met wide emerald orbs.
"Oh, no. Not with a stroke like that one." He barely noticed as droplets of black blood plopped heavily to the floor, oozing from the shallow cut that curved around his upper shoulder to his lower back, but Maka did.
"Black?" she breathed, her voice starting to break. "Black blood?"
Crona leaned in beside the girl's frozen figure, whispering in her ear. "Yes. That's right." Maka turned her head to look at him. "My blood is black." She jumped two large strides back, putting some space in between her and him. Neither Crona nor his insanity could blame her for that; he was pretty scary when he went nuts.
"What's up with this guy?" Crona faintly heard her Weapon ask. "His body's way freaky!" Crazy Crona flashed a quick grin at the other boy's too true statement, staggering a few steps after them. He had to admit though, Maka had a lot of courage. She was still holding her ground instead of turning tail and running, though Crona could see how terrified she was of him. His opinion of the other two was only increasing by the minute, which was making the fact that he was going to have to hurt them making him feel worse and worse.
"I think I have an idea." Maka was talking to her Weapon partner, though her eyes never left him. "I don't know how it's possible, but I think that his blood itself is a Weapon." Crona stared at the ground, wondering how this girl knew all of these terrible secrets. The only people who knew about him was Lady Medusa, and all of his dead victims. "I was able to cut through his skin, but his blood hardened and the blade stopped completely when I hit his blood vessels."
"Well, if you're right, then how do you propose we go about beating him?" Crona smiled sadly, thinking that that was impossible. No one could defeat him, other than his mother.
"None of our normal attacks will work. I'm not even sure Witch Hunter will help." Maka looked frustrated, fear dimming as her anger swelled. "If only I could shoot my soul wave length directly at him like Black Star does, I might be able to do some internal damage. Otherwise, I have no idea what to do."
Medusa's snake struck, sending Raven convulsing to the ground. It slithered forward to coil around Crona's unmoving mental body, hissing her cold words into his ear. "Crona. Why are you taking it so easy? Do something!"
Crona gulped nervously, trying to find a way to get Lady Medusa to let the Maister and Weapon pair go. He knew very well that if he let her know that he wanted them to escape, that she would insist upon him killing them in a cruel and vicious manner. Crona's eyes darted from side to side as he stumbled through his words. "It's not like the ones before. Those were boys, she's a girl!" He knew that Lady Medusa considered him to be little more than scum, which Crona knew was true, but he wasn't quite as clueless as she and Ragnaroc thought he was. Crona was drawing on their perception of him as a spineless coward to hopefully convince Lady Medusa to let the two other teens go. "I'm no good with girls, what am I supposed to do with her?"
His heart sank as Crona heard Lady Medusa's snake chuckle evilly, her voice amused as her velvet voice spoke up again. "How silly."
Lady Medusa's snake pulled the two limp figures together, jaws widening as it prepared to strike. "Kill her, of course." It struck, sending a rush of insanity through Crona's mind.
"What's with this guy?" Crona absently heard the Scythe ask, his voice confused. "And who is he talking to?"
Crazy Crona grinned madly, eyes darting in every which direction as he giggled. "Oh, okay. You're saying I can kill the girl? I didn't realize that." He glanced over towards Maka, the girl paling slightly at his crazy gaze. Crona's smirk only widened as he eyed her ponytails. "But maybe I could play with her hair first." His insane side was laughing uproariously at both Maister and Weapon's expressions as they stared in horror at him, also giggling at the thought of slicing the girl's hair into chunks and strands. "Just for a little while."
Crona's sanity cringed at what he was saying, grabbing control long enough to try and warn the pair. "The doors here open inward." His quiet voice was slurring slightly as Crona slipped back into madness. "They only open one way!" He leaned backward, raising Ragnaroc straight up. Crona's voice sounded distant and monotone as his sanity and madness fought for control of his mind. "Ragnaroc." He pulled the handle down to chest level, blade parallel to his face. "Screaming Resonance."
Ragnaroc's lips popped out of the blade and the Sword hiccupped. "Gu-pi!" His mouth opened wide, teeth grinning as Ragnaroc yelled. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYAAAAAAAA!" Crazy Crona smirked as the handle vibrated in his hand, letting the blade drop to the floor and then swung it up, releasing the pent-up energy of the sound waves in Maka's direction.
Crona darted forward, using his extreme speed to leap high into the air, giving him a good view as Maka barely blocked his first attack. As he fell back to the ground, Crona slashed down, the hard grip on his arm giving his blow more strength as he brought the Sword up and over his head. Maka was only just able to bring her Weapon's staff up to deflect his attack, the force sliding her back a good four feet or so. Crona stabbed forward as the Scythe yelped, "He's coming Maka! Guard now!"
Ragnaroc's blade jabbed forward, Maka swinging the Scythe up and around, Ragnaroc's razor sharp edge smashing into the hilt of the blade. Crona was amazed and impressed with Maka's strength as they struggled back and forth, neither one able to gain the upper hand. That was when Ragnaroc decided to help in the fight, screaming in a high enough pitch to vibrate. "PEEYAAAAAHHHH!"
The Scythe howled in pain, crimson spurting from his blade as the sound waves forced Ragnaroc's blade into the other Weapon's handle. "SOUL!" Maka yelled in concern, smashing a heavy boot into Crona's gut and sending him staggering back. "Stop it!" Crona winced in pain, her blow making him half double-over. He fought down his gag instinct as he steadied his stance, feet wide and planted. "Are you okay, Soul? Talk to me!" Crona's silver eyes widened in shock at the concern and worry in her voice as Maka spoke to her Weapon: Crona never having heard those tones being directed at another person before.
His surprise only grew as her Scythe, Soul, groaned in pain, scarlet still spurting from his chest and blade. "You don't need to worry about that right now! I am your Weapon partner, Maka. That means that I am always prepared to die for my Meister."
Crona's grip on his arm tightened to an almost unbearable level, his other hand holding Ragnaroc up almost like a shield between him and the caring relationship that he was witnessing, his silver eyes wide with pain and shock and sorrow. This couldn't be the way that other people interacted; they had to be faking this. They just had to! Crona's mixed feelings kept him in a sort of stupor as Ragnaroc growled and screamed again, his Weapon just as confused as he was. They both watched as Maka calmed herself down, giving her Weapon another worried look before glaring at them, face unreadable.
Crona got up on his toes and swung Ragnaroc in wide x's first on one side then the other, using his slight lack of balance to speed up the slices as he shuffled forward. He could see Maka visibly tensing as he got closer, and decided to use speed and surprise to his advantage again, lunging forward to jab Ragnaroc's point forward…
She dodged to the side and darted forward, planting the butt of Soul's staff against the ground and spun herself around, using her legs to knock Cronas' out from under him. Crona flipped, managing to block a blow as he was upside down in the air, the strength of the two Weapons crashing together sending the two Maisters flying to opposite ends of the room. Both landed on their feet, Maka breathing heavily as Crona readied himself to attack again, his grip on his arm never having loosened. Ragnaroc sometimes mocked him for the comforting gesture, but it was a comfort, and Crona had very few of those, so he clung desperately to the ones he retained.
Swinging the Sword to cross his chest for a moment, he stabbed and leapt towards Maka, still feeling mixed on whether or not to kill her. Over and over he jabbed at her head, growing more and more confused as to why she wasn't deflecting the blows, merely evading them. If she kept this up, Maka wouldn't be able to step back anymore, and the speed of his attacks left her with no time to return blows if she didn't deflect. Soul apparently shared his confusion, the Scythe yelling, "What's the matter, Maka? Quit dodging and start fighting back!"
Crona bit his lip, wishing that they would stop being so kind to each other. First Maka was worried about her Weapon, something that he had seen was not common among the few other Maisters he had fought. They had all considered their Weapons to be tools to protect themselves with, something Crona didn't think he could ever feel with Ragnaroc, the bullying Weapon always having been there to protect him when he truly needed it. He had thought that maybe caring about his Weapon's well-being was just as freakish as having black blood or having his insanity be a separate being from himself, just something else that made him a monster. But these two, they were messing with his head, making him think about himself again and he HATED thinking about himself. He had done too many horrible things to like himself, or even think that he was tolerable. And Soul… Soul was yelling at Maka to use him, even though he knew that Crona had the ability to hurt him, kill him.
Ragnaroc screamed their joint confused frustration, his blade vibrating as it swished barely an inch beside Maka's face again and again. "Maka!" Soul yelled again, fear-striken concern in his voice. Jab-jab-jab-jab-jab… Crona didn't let up as he continued to step forward, Maka dodging and backing up. Finally his insanity sliced through, a crooked grin cracking across his face as he giggled and stepped back, swinging Ragnaroc at Maka's ankles. She lost her balance as she hurriedly stepped back, falling back… back slamming against the large double doors at the entrance of the church. Crazy Crona smirked as he watched Maka's emerald eyes light up with hope, the girl smashing her shoulder against the doors.
"We're getting out of here!" Maka threw herself against the door repeatedly. "Open up!"
Crona resurfaced slightly from his craziness as he brought Ragnaroc back up, holding the sword up as high as he could. "That's not going to work, you know." He looked at the frightened duo sadly as Ragnaroc screamed loudly, building up a strong sound wave length. Crona sighed, wishing that people listened to him sometimes. "You should start paying attention to the things other people say."
Maka's pupils were shaking dots in a sea of green, standing out starkly against her bone-pale skin. "Oh no…"
Crona tried one last time to help the pair. "The doors here only open one way! They open inward." His silver eyes dimmed as he saw that Maka was too scared to understand his prompt, her breath shaky as she stared at him.
"MAKA! STOP HIM NOW!" Soul roared, Crona close enough to see the reflected image of the Weapon in the Scythe blade, his crimson eyes wide with fear. But the fear wasn't for himself, it was for his Maister.
Crona wanted to go hide in a corner as Maka yelped back, "But Soul, if I guard, you'll die!" Crona couldn't take all of his conflicting emotions anymore, just wanting the confusion to stop. He swung the blade down, Ragnaroc surrounded by violet sound energy as he tore down to slice through Maka's soft-looking skin…
KERSPLASH!
A large gush of crimson splashed against Crona's cheek and dress, scarlet flying through the air in every direction. Crona's head was full of so many conflicting emotions that it felt like it was about to explode, as he stared at the body in front of him, a weeping wound slashed across their chest.
No. That couldn't possibly be right. This was wrong, it had to be. His eye twitched spasmodically, an insane smile flitting on and off of his lips. Wrong, wrong, wrongwrongwrong! Soul stood protectively in front of Maka, arms flung wide. He had changed back right as Crona had swung down, taking the blow meant for his Maister. WRONG WRONG WRONG! No one cared that much for anyone else, it wasn't possible! No, no no. If normal people cared for each other, then his mother should- no. This was wrong. This had to be wrong. Maka's green eyes were full of horrified terror for her Weapon, yet another thing that was wasn't possible. This was all part of his insanity. It was, it was it was. Crona sighed in relief, a small smile twitching one end of his mouth up. Yeah, that was right. This was all in his head, just a weird twerk of his madness. That's it. He was a freak of a monster, the only Maister in the world that cared about his Weapon's safety, with a mother who was normal in her disdain for him, who deserved to be experimented and tortured, and he had black blood.
Soul hadn't just protected Maka by absorbing the killing blow that had been meant for choked gasp that the girl let out wasn't fear for her Weapon. They didn't care for each other in any other way than professional respect, if that.
Crona raised the blade up again, silver eyes dancing with insanity as he prepared to kill Maka, this time successfully. He accidentally locked gazes with the girl, Soul's blood trickling down her cheek. In her eyes, he saw exactly who he was; a black-clad, blood-spattered, crazy freak who was smiling like a monster as he prepared to sink his Sword into her chest. Overwhelming anger shone out foremost, accompanied with sorrow, pain and fear, all swirling in her green eyes.
He had seen that look again on her face in the apartment, and it was ripping his delicate heart as Crona staggered to got to his feet and stumbled back to the Academy, numbly absorbing the sharp pinch as Ragnaroc popped out of his back. It actually felt good, the pain distracting him for a second from the whirling throbs of his thoughts. Crona ignored his Weapon's rude comments as he dragged himself up the eighty-eight stairs of the school, plodding mindlessly through the halls. His mind still stayed distant as a small group of older teens gathered around him, not noticing as they gently herded him down a deserted hall even though Ragnaroc was cursing up a storm on his head and pounding on his head frantically.
Crona only somewhat came back to himself when he was thrown harshly into a wall, harsh laughter accompanying the shock. He looked up to see about six or seven teens high-five each other before walking off, leaving three behind. One was actually in Crona's class, a girl who sat three seats behind him, while the other two were in the class for the less advanced Meisters and Weapons. They were the only bullies that Crona knew by name. The girl in his class was a Weapon called Avery Windhold, while the two boys were a Meister and Weapon team; the Weapon a boy called Sam Tyson, the Maister's name being Hayden Vale.
"Wassup, fa-reaky?" Sam asked, the other two smirking in amusement. "Whatcha' doin' down there?"
"You p-pushed me." Crona said emotionlessly, staring blankly up at the three older teens.
"I pushed you? Fa-reaky, you need to pay more attention. I haven't touched you…yet." Sam chuckled as he snapped a finger against Crona's nose. "Now I have officially touched you."
"Boom, dude!" Hayden grinned, knuckle bumping his Weapon partner.
"So, Crona. We heard that you've gotten into a little disagreement with your girlfriend. Wanna tell us what went wrong in paradise?" Avery asked, leaning against the wall beside him.
Crona laughed bitterly, thinking that paradise was the last place he would ever be in. "She's n-not my girlfriend."
"Ohhhh… boom!" Hayden didn't say much else, at least not whenever Crona had been around him.
"Can't blame ya, fa-reaky. She ain't all that. And have you seen how flat she is? Making out with her would be like makin' out with a dude." Sam patted Crona's cheek patronizingly, the gesture hitting a little harder than absolutely comfortable. "Plus, she can be a real bitch. Those 'Maka-chops' of hers-"
Crona growled dangerously and slid up the wall into a standing position, grabbing the front of Sam's shirt and pulling him in close. "Never, ever call Maka a b-b-" his voice broke, Crona unable to finish the word. " . . Do you understand?"
"Yeah, fuck you bastards!" Ragnaroc chimed in, Crona shooting his Weapon a grateful glance.
Sam's face was white, the Weapon's hands shaking as he tried unsuccessfully to break Crona's grasp. "G-get him!"
Crona was slammed into the wall, head cracking painfully against the hard surface. He blacked out momentarily, but that was all the time that the three bullies needed to drag him into a nearby room, locking the doors behind them. Hayden and Avery pinned him to one of the walls, holding him steady as Sam approached, eyes dark with adrenaline-fueled anger. He smashed a flurry of punches into Crona's stomach, though the attacks were actually being appreciated at the moment, serving to distract Crona from his dark thoughts. "How do you like that, huh, fa-reaky? Well?"
Crona spat out a mouthful of black blood and intentionally aimed for Sam's shirt, making the other boy curse angrily. "The hell, you bastard!" Crona smirked as his head cracked to the side from the force of the punch it received, the pain keeping his mind firmly in the present.
Avery studied him as Crona was beaten, a frown on her face. Finally, she nodded to Hayden, both letting Crona fall to the floor. She walked over to whisper into Sam's ear, the buff boy's shoulders heaving after the strenuous exercise that was thrashing Crona. He had been scowling, fists clenched, but as she spoke to him he started grinning. "Sweetness." Walking over to where Crona lay, coughing up thick globs of black blood onto the floor, Sam knelt on his throat. Crona's eyes widened as he struggled to breath, weakly pushing against the other boy's knee. Sam bent over, ignoring the fact that that put even more weight on Crona's neck, and whispered into his ear. "You know how I said earlier that making out with Albarn would be like making out with a dude? I'm thinking about testing that theory. Ya see, I got this sneaky suspicion that Albarn makes up for her boyish figure with a lot of agility and energy, if ya know what I mean." Crona snarled, glaring up at the muscle-bound boy on top of him. Sam chuckled, tapping Crona's nose playfully. "Aw, I'm sorry. Are you upset that I'm talking about fucking your girlfriend?"Crona pushed up hard enough to send Sam rocking back a step, the older boy flinching momentarily before smirking. "Yes you are, fa-reak!"
"Sh-she's not… my g-girlfriend!" Crona insisted, refusing to burden Maka's reputation further by tying her down on his level by close association.
"Yeah… you said that earlier, fa-reaky. Seemed pretty dead set on it, too, didn't he?"
"Boom, man!"
"Maybe Albarn finally saw you for the monster you really are, hmm?" Avery said, leaning over to wiggle her eyebrows at him.
Crona burst out laughing, the three bullies backing up quickly as he sat up, hugging himself tightly. "Th-that's right, she did!" He slowly got to his feet, starting to shake with uncontrollable hysteric laughter. "I've expected this e-ever since she f-first hugged me, a-after all, I'm n-nothing more than a freak, r-right? W-why would someone as nice as M-Maka ever bec-come friends with a murderer l-like me? I'm p-pretty sure that it's p-pity; an angel w-would only sh-show kindness t-to a demon out of p-pity. B-but even knowing that th-this was inevitable, it still h-hurts, you know? I c-can't deal with m-myself, but I r-really want t-to deal with you." He looked up, silver eyes flashing with pain. "M-maybe if I st-stop trying to be s-someone that everyone kn-knows I'm n-not, I'll f-finally be right, you know? Instead of the wrong th-that I've always been."
He held his hand out. "R-Ragnaroc, let's p-play."
Ragnaroc sighed, arms folded. "Damn it, I hate being the responsible one. WAKE THE HELL UP, CRONA! I want to kill these bastards just as much as you do, but I can't let you give up your little slice of home over these pieces of shit. Let's just get out of here."
Raven appeared in his shadow. "Hello, Crona. Do you want to play? It looks like you do."
Crona giggled, feeling torn beyond all fixing. "If you don't want to help, Ragnaroc, then go away!" Ragnaroc flinched and shlurped back into Crona's upper back, while Raven nodded and faded away.
"Check it out, freaky." Sam smirked nervously, cracking his knuckles in what was probably supposed to be an intimidating manner, but just managed to make him look constipated. "Even your own body is deserting you!"
Crona grinned crookedly at his three bullies, letting his entire body relax as he got ready to deal a little damage back. "Giving up already? That's probably a good idea. After all, we outnumber you, I have more muscle than you do, and two of us are Weapons while yours just abandoned you." Avery said, looking relieved.
Crona tilted his head, gazing unfeelingly at them. "Mm." Contrary to popular belief, he was actually lean with muscle, the various experiments that Lady Medusa had performed on him making it so that his muscles stayed small but just as strong as any of the giant muscle-bound jocks. Other experiments that had better results had given him his extraordinary speed, along with the ability to go from a complete stand-still directly into a full out run. Crona demonstrated his last talent, speeding forward to crack an elbow under Sam's ribcage. Sam fell to the floor, crimson dripping from his lips as he wheezed.
Hayden roared and swung a fist at Crona, the lavender-haired Maister easily blocking the attack with one wrist and tiger-fisting him in the sternum. Hayden smashed into the wall, slumping to the ground with an agonized groan. Avery paled as Crona turned to her, still smiling madly despite the fact that he was sadly sane. She turned and ran out the door, Crona letting her leave. "After all, I'm no good with girls, right?" He considered torturing his former tormentors, but decided against it, just wanting to curl up in his room.
When he got back to his room, the cat was still in his room, curled up comfortably on his bed. Crona grabbed his pillow, sketchbook and pencil, sliding into his corner before beginning to draw. As his pencil swirled around on the page, Crona went into a slightly calmer state. As he shaded in some lines on his picture, a knock came on the door, startling him. Crona set his sketchbook on his table before going to answer the knock. He opened his door, only to come face-to-face with Spirit. Crona yelped and stepped back, surprised. "M-Mister Spirit?"
Spirit gave him a peculiar look, almost sad solemnity. "Maka really likes you, kiddo."
Crona stared at his feet, hand reaching over to grab his arm. "No. She doesn't." Thinking on what he had done to his attackers, Crona blanched. "I'm k-kind of glad. Y-you should be, t-too. B-but Maka's g-going to be glad t-to hear that you're up and a-able to walk around." As Crona walked across his room, he muttered to himself, "Again."
"What?"
Crona snapped. "What have you been doing? You can't tell me that you've been in bed, because I've seen you walking around. I saw when you messed with Lord Death's tea bags, then when you were exchanging pills in one of those bottles-"
Spirit had gone bone white, hands clenching and his blue eyes turning golden white.
"Why! Just… why?" Crona asked, feeling tired as he ran one hand through his hair.
"Because. Lord Death is an evil monster who deserves to suffer for all of the horrible things he's done." Spirit growled, fists slamming into the wall. "I couldn't just lay there knowing that my baby girl was going in to see that… animal, every single day. She idolizes him, did you know?" Spirit had tears rolling down his cheeks now as he spoke. "A murderous beast who sends innocent children to do his dirty work, and my precious daughter loves him. Thinks that the world revolves around him." Spirit straightened, turning to face Crona. "Maka already lost her mother. She doesn't need to lose her faith in her headmaster as well. If he just died of natural causes, I would be satisfied and Maka would eventually get over his demise."
Crona took a step back, a spike of fear stabbing through him. "B-but you're his most trusted W-Weapon! I th-thought that you liked him."
Spirit's eyes flickered momentarily, flashing their regular blue before returning to the steady golden white. "Th-that's not right. I am a Weapon, but I would never work for Lord Death." Spirit shook his head firmly, gaze falling on Crona. "Anyway, like I was saying. Maka really likes you, anyone can see that. I've seen how she looks at you, it's the same way I used to look at her mother." Spirit sighed sadly before walking into the room, the door clicking shut behind him. "I even like you, and I haven't liked anyone that Maka 'likes'… ever, really." He set a hand on Crona's shoulder, patting it gently. "I really wish that you had just gone with your friends to investigate my attack, Crona. But you didn't, and you saw things you shouldn't have." Crona's silver eyes widened in panic and he tried to back up, but Spirit's hand grabbed his shoulder in an iron grasp, the other hand slamming him up against the wall by his neck. The last thing that Crona saw as his oxygen supply ran out was Spirit's golden white eyes, full of sad pity as Crona's vision went black.