Chapter 11
Kid watched the fire burn.
Medusa was dead.
Again.
Somehow, he still felt cheated that he hadn't been able to shoot her either time.
Crona stood away from them all, surrounded by the souls of Medusa, Arachne, and Shaula.
Their face was fixed into a perfectly blank mask. No tears or outward anger, but a complete shutdown of their emotions.
The sun was setting over the Death Valley and the temperature was dropping. The weapons had curled together next to Free, the greatest source of warmth. Maka had insisted on helping Crona build Medusa's funeral pyres. They had to cut the witch into pieces and burnt in different places, since any large flames would draw the attention of the city, whose dim lights could still be seen.
The last fire was dying as the stars started coming out.
"We'll stay put for the night. We won't be able to navigate in the forest, and the four of you need rest," Crona said tonelessly. "We didn't bring any food but we'll leave at first light and make it back to Baba Yaga."
They walked away, scouting the tops of the dunes. He noticed Maka staring at them too, biting her lip.
Kid would have loved to be the one to go after Crona. Would have given just about anything to go and try and comfort them, talk them through the death of their last family member. In the real world he would have curled his hands around their and they would have talked softly about Medusa. About his father. About best intentions gone awry and how they'd both been influenced in their way of thinking because of them. Kid would have been able to hold the real Crona in his arms and kiss them softly.
But here he couldn't do any of those things. So instead he nodded at Maka and turned away so she could go after Crona instead.
Kid had never felt so tired.
Black*Star had hardly said a word to anyone since the fight with Tsubaki. It was unnerving to say the least. He was working on a small fire pit when Kid returned to the impromptu camp. The real weapons seemed to be hesitant to make any quick moves around the others, as if they were wild animals that needed to be treated with the utmost caution.
The other Soul hadn't said a single word so far. He barely moved, red eyes gazing into some faraway vision only he could see. He didn't react to Maka or the real Soul. The girls all seemed to cluster around him and Patti, trying to keep them warm.
Black*Star had the fire going, then sat further away, legs crossed under him. Tsubaki sat next to him, her hand wrapped around his arm. She was speaking softly, her eyes on his face while he stared into the flames.
"Do you think time is progressing in our world?" Soul asked him quietly, sitting next to him in the sand. Kid shrugged.
"I'd assume so. Why do you ask?"
Soul shrugged. "My family calls on sundays. Just need to know if I'm going to get lectured about missing it."
"Is Wes alive?" The voice was so hoarse and cracked that it took a moment for Kid to realize it was the other Soul who spoke. He was staring at the real one, some presentness in his gaze.
"Y-yeah. He's doing well," The real Soul stuttered out. The other smiled thinly.
"Good." Soul lapsed back into silence.
Other-Tsubaki stared at him in amazement. "That's the first time I've heard him talk in a year," she muttered in amazement.
"Glad I could help," Soul said sardonically.
Maka and Crona choose this moment to reappear. Crona's face was still stiff and fixed. Maka was very quiet and seemed to sit closer to Soul that she normally would have.
Crona took Medusa's soul out of their pocket again. It bobbed in front of their face, emitting a faint purple glow.
"Are you going to do it?" Tsubaki asked.
Crona's eyes slid over to her.
"Am I going to eat the souls of my mother and aunts?"
Kid shivered. That was the coldest he ever heard Crona's voice. Tsubaki didn't even flinch.
"Yes. Crona, I know it's hard. But it's the only way we can get home," she said softly. "You'd be the only one with enough power to get us back."
Crona didn't reply, still staring at Medusa's soul.
"What about them?" Patti asked quietly. He looked over at the huddled weapons. Patti's doppleganger was already asleep, mostly on top of Liz. Kid shrugged.
"They should come back with us. It's the only thing we can do for them now," Maka said.
Crona sent her a puzzled look. "Why would they leave with you?"
"They're our partners."
Crona let out a disbelieving 'ha'. "I'd ask their opinion first."
Maka frowned, looking over at the weapons. The other-world Tsubaki was still bruised from the fight, and trying to work out the tangles from her long hair.
"You would come back to use with our world, right?" Tsubaki looked up, confused.
"Without meisters?"
Maka looked hurt. "We would be your meisters."
Tsubaki dropped her hair, snarling. "Maybe I'm sick of being someone else's tool. Maybe I don't ever want to be a weapon again. Maybe I don't want my identity to be that of a killer!"
Maka insisted, "We're different. It's a partnership, not an enforced slavery."
"You aren't listening. I don't want to be a weapon. I don't want to be a thing." Tsubaki insisted. "We aren't people to meisters. We're things. Possessions. Livestock. I'm here to be used a weapon and be thrown away when I can no longer serve."
Kid felt ill. 'If I don't become a Kishin, Lady Medusa will abandon me.' Crona's voice echoed in his head. Exactly how were the weapons in the world any different than what Crona had been forced to become? Turned into prisoners of their own bodies, and seen as nothing more than a tool to be used.
Maka opened her mouth to argue back.
"Maka. It's their choice," Kid said softly. "If you don't want to come back with us, that's your decision."
Crona had never had a choice. Trapped by Medusa then monitored by his father, they'd never even had an option. The least he could do here would be to let someone have a say in their fate.
"The witches will take you in," Crona said evenly. "We always need more hands."
They sighed, turning to the real Tsubaki. "You need to return. You can't stay here, it won't work." Their voice was so flat, so lifeless. They reached out and touched the soul, gently running a long finger over the surface.
"We need to get back to Baba Yaga. Then I can get the book and send you back."
"Thank you Crona." Tsubaki nodded her head at them.
"Far be it from me to keep you from your home," Crona said quietly.
The sun rose in bloody reds and vibrant oranges over the dunes and scrub bushes of the valley. The early powder blue of the sky seemed to match Crona's eyes, at least to Kid's mind. The world seemed quiet as they hiked the last part of their journey to the portal back to Baba Yaga.
"Do you think they'll come after us?" Other-Liz asked, looking over her shoulder at the city in the grey light.
"Yes. They will. You're the personal weapons of Death's son." Crona's answer was blunt. They looked over their shoulder. "But he won't ever touch you again. The witches will protect their own."
The other Liz's hand tightened on Patti's, but for once a forced smile was on her face.
"Can witches use weapons?" Other-Tsubaki tilted her head. Crona shrugged.
"Some can. Our souls are probably compatible. But most choose not to. Witches prefer their own power to someone else's."
The portal was covered in sand when they found it again. Crona brushed it away, whispering the words to ignite the green flames again. Crona stepped through first, then the weapon doppelgangers. Then it was Maka and Soul, Black*Star and Tsubaki, Liz and Patti.
Kid hesitated for a moment, looking back at the black dot of the city.
It was a husk, a husk and a sham of everything his father stood for, Kid thought viciously. This whole world a crumpled and nightmarish version of what should have happened. His father should have been the one in the right, the one holding back madness. Not the witches, not the enemy of the DWMA. How could it have gone so wrong? Was there anything that could have stopped it, or was the this world tied to fate, tied to its ruined destiny?
Kid wished he listened to Crona, heeded their feelings and convinced his father to destroy the book, instead of investigating it.
As Kid stepped through the portal to join the others, it crossed his mind that the real world was as much a victim of fate as this one.
The woods were blessed relief from the open desert. The castle was still waking as they approached and it took a moment for everyone to realize who was back.
'They're back! Crona and Free are back!" One of the woman standing guard called out. Voices rose up as the magical door yawned open again.
"Where is Arachne? Where is Medusa!"
"It's the weapon! The magic weapon who ate Angela!"
"Why are they here? Crona, what's happened?"
The interior of the castle was dimly lit, and seemed to be even more hollow and empty than before. The witches and humans stood clustered around as Crona led them in.
A very hunched witch with long, grizzled grey hair hobbled past the crowd. One beady eye stared at them, and at Free, and the other-world weapons who were shifting uncomfortably under the weighted looks from the clustered group.
"Crona. Where is your mother? Where is Medusa?" A crow swooped down and landed on her shoulder.
"Nevermore." It croaked. The witch stroked its beak, still staring.
"She, Arachne and Shaula are dead." Crona released their souls, letting them hang in the air.
The crowd gasped like a multi-headed hydra.
"No! It can't be true!"
"We're dead without them!"
"Who will protect us from the meisters? Who will save us from Death?"
The words rebounded and echoed overhead, each clamoring over the other.
Free howled, and even Kid had to struggle not to cover his ears from the sound. The witches and humans cowered while the wolf sung his grief.
"Stop." Crona held up one long fingered and calloused hand. Free's howl died, echoing in the stone.
"Grand Witch, I intend to take my Aunt's place as the leader of the coven, to protect the humans from Death and save my race from extinction. I will consume the souls of my family."
"That's heresy! Monstrous!" Someone cried out but the Grand Witch held up a wrinkled hand.
"Are you prepared for that, Crona? Prepared for those consequences? Death will hunt you, as he hunted your mother and aunts and all your family. You will never have peace, and your life will be dedicated to the coven."
For one moment Crona hesitated. Then they stood straight, as if someone had strengthened their spine with iron and lit a fire in their blood.
"For too long we have cowered in our stronghold as Death runs rampant over the earth. He destroys all he touches, and has disrupted the balance of our world. I'm sick of hiding in the dark. I will consume my bloodline's souls and I will bring us back to the light! If I need to become as monstrous as him to do it," Crona lowered their head and curled their hands next to their lean thighs, "So be it."
"Crona, no." Maka's whisper was lost as the witches suddenly screamed their approval of the declaration. The Grand Witch ducked her head in acceptance and stood aside to let Crona and the meisters and weapons pass.
"Arisa!" Crona barked at a witch in a faded yellow bomber jacket. "Take these four to Diehl. Tell her to spare no resource in healing them. Find them food and water."
She nodded and looked at the weapons curiously.
"Come on. She's a crab but she's the best healer we have." She started leading the weapons away. Crona kept walking, but Kid watched as the familiar frames of his weapons were led away. The Other-Patti turned and looked over her shoulder at him. She waved good bye and Arisa led them around one of the curving hallways of Baba Yaga and that was last Kid saw.
"I-I didn't-" Black*Star mumbled faintly next to him. Maka looked between where the weapons disappeared and Crona's back, cutting through the dispersing crowd. With a frustrated groan she finally plunged after Crona, trying to keep up with their long strides.
"Kid. Forget about it. We need to go," Liz said in his ear, and steered him away.
Arachne's room was in the same condition it had been when they'd been here forty-eight hours earlier. Nothing had even been touched and the door was still splinted from where Maka had kicked it in.
Crona stared at the broken lock as they walked in, heart shaped face vaguely bewildered. They shook it off and grabbed the doors after everyone was in behind them.
"Free. No one is to interrupt us, no matter what you hear." The werewolf, now a raggedly-dressed man in bare feet, nodded and leaned against the wall. Crona shut the door completely.
"Here. We need to move this." They gestured to one of the tables. Kid immediately rushed forward and helped them move it, till it was parallel to the other.
"I've been dying to do that since we got here." He confessed. Liz let out a quiet but fond sigh.
The large magic circle was now revealed completely. Crona lit the candles that were on the table, affording them more light. Finally they went to a large chest that was shoved into a corner. Dark brown and covered in silver spiderwebs. Kid could sense the age even as he looked at it. Crona ran a hand over it and tiny carved spiders scuttled down the intricate webbing, each one letting out a small 'click' as the tumblers unlocked.
"Arachne said I could have this chest when I was older." Crona had that misshapen smile back on their face. "I don't think she intended to pass it on like this." The chest opened and and they reached into it to grab a familiar book.
This Book of Eibon was far thinner than its counterpart in their world. The cover was a plain leather, rather than the richly decorated blue and gold one. Crona placed it delicately on one of the tables then they took out the witch souls.
"Crona. You- I-" Maka stopped, shaking her head. Then she surprised everyone and took a step forward to give them a hug. "I'm sorry about Medusa. And Arachne. And that you have to do this now. It's not fair," she mumbled into Crona's shoulder.
Crona was stiff under the contact but gradually they raised their arms to slowly pat Maka's back.
"It's not," they agreed. "But this world has never been fair. Why should it start now?"
Maka released her friend, green eyes sad and hard. Crona tore their gaze from hers and grabbed Shaula's soul.
There was a reason meisters didn't eat souls. Kid was now witnessing why first hand. Crona's jaw hung wide open and their throat bulged as the soul slid down. They shuddered, and nearly gagged. Crona's limbs trembled as their soul expanded, becoming a darker purple and a large scorpion stinger emerging from it. When they opened their eyes, Kid swallowed hard. Their beautiful blue eyes had become two toned, divided by an 's' shape into a light bluish grey and the darkest navy blue. Maka turned her head away. Kid kept his eyes fixed on them.
Panting and trembling, they took Arachne's soul next. They struggled to swallow around it, tears streaming from their new eyes as they choked it down. As their soul expanded again Crona screamed. Kid could see why. Their soul was now about four times its original size, big enough to fill the room in its entirety. Eight legs erupted off it, squirming and sensing the air. They reached out into the walls and the castle shook as the magic was poured into it. Kid heard people outside the doors shout.
Crona wiped black blood from where their lips had split, forcing the souls into their mouth. They took Medusa's soul in their hand.
"What do you get when you mix a scorpion, a spider, and a snake?" They asked hoarsely.
"A chimera," Maka said brokenly.
"A monster," Crona answered and ate their mother's soul.
Ragnarok joined his meister in screaming as he erupted from Crona's back in a fountain of black blood. Two more arms of black blood emerged from Crona's back as well, becoming long and clawed. Medusa's soul expanded Crona's until it covered the castle, a bright purple beacon of a soul. Kid could feel it as the magic poured off of Crona in waves, like a dull throb behind his eyes.
Their scream stopped all at once. For a moment the only sound was their panting.
"Crona?" Maka asked cautiously. "A-are you okay?"
Crona's breathing hitched, and their shoulders shook. Kid realized they were laughing under their breath.
"I never realized!" Crona looked up and grinned. Their smile stretched over their face, showing all their teeth. "They had so much power." Their voice was singsongy and chipper. A rope of black blood shot out of their wrist and grabbed the Book of Eibon off the table, then zipped back, dropping it in their hands.
"I'm going to send you back, and then I'm going to grind Death under my heel."
"Crona." Kid whispered. They grinned manically.
"I'll need you to get in the circle."
Maka shut her eyes in pain and grabbed Soul's hand as they moved into the magic circle. Black*Star and Tsubaki moved in silently. Kid took one last look at Crona. On impulse he put his hands up to their cheeks and held their face.
"You aren't a monster, Crona. Don't let this world make you one. Please," he begged quietly, looking into their divided eyes.
They didn't respond.
Kid followed Liz and Patti into the magic circle.
Crona flipped the book open and started their chant.
""Annon unus alterum, moventur." The winds began to blow, stirring the flames of the candles. Crona's voice was deep as the ocean as it reverberated off the stone.
"Hoc page transitus, ad sequentia de hoc mundo." The green flames leapt up at their command and once again Kid felt his muscles lock into place. He kept his eyes on Crona running their pale hand over the page. They looked up as they read the last verse. Their two toned eyes were very blue as they stared through the flames.
"Eibon vocabo vestros."
His vision was obscured by green flames and smoke. Whatever was holding him tore loose and Kid was falling, again.