TWO CHAPTERS. IN A WEEK. AMAZING. I have managed to do so much. *pats self on back* This chapter is actually quite long compared to the other chapters and might seem strangely paces, but I love it, which is what matters to me.

Sweat beaded down his forehead. He whined and panted, twisting the sheets around him. Hands raking through the velvet sheets. Nothing but cries could be heard in the dark room. Eyes shot open in pain, looking around quickly. Crona sat up from the bed.

The dinner had ended on a light note and he felt secure knowing the other was willing to help. After crying on Kid's shoulder at dinner, he thought he would be fine. That the nightmares would go away. She kept coming into his dreams, dragging him through hell. Sometimes he would look and see blood splattered against the marble walls, looking at the others dead bodies. Maka. Kid. Tsubaki. Anyone who helped him, they kept getting hurt. He stepped out of bed onto the floor.

'I'm okay. She can't get me here.' Grabbing a small robe to wear over pajamas, he headed outside to the garden. It was slowly becoming his safe place. Somewhere he could go and be calm while not having to answer anyone's questions. The moon was the only source of illumination. The bushes softly rustled in the chilling breeze. Despite the cold, Crona felt an off sense of calm outside. It convinced him that he was indeed free. Walking around luscious scenery, he found a soft area to sit down. His eyes focused on the moon. Ragnarok wasn't bothering him, Kid was willing to help him, and, despite the nightmares, he felt tranquility for the first time in his life. No war. No dark room. No stale food or bruises.

He winced at a sharp pain in his ankle. Looking over, he could see anything, only hearing grass pushed away and louder brushing of a nearby rose bush. The blood hardened around the wound. The pain in his back informed him of Ragnarok's presence.

"Why can't you look out for yourself. Now look what you did." He harped at the poor boy.

"I didn't think there were anything else out here. Maybe I upset something?" He pondered, rubbing the bite wound. He attempted to get up, test walking on it. It didn't seem to hurt.

"We should probably go inside before I catch a cold." Crona started walking, slightly limping but mostly as an attempt not to agitate the bite…

The lilac haired boy sat in the library, attempting to listen to Professor Stein's particular lesson. His head would dip, only to cause him to jolt up in order to stay awake. When he had returned to the room, he hadn't been able to fall asleep. The bite would occasionally begin to burn, though he didn't think much of it. Ragnarok, however, had begun to complain of a strange feeling coursing through him. He has begun seeing things out of the corner of his eye, something he couldn't explain.

"Crona." The boy turned towards the voice. Stein stood at the opposite end of the desk, the shine in his glasses blocking out his eyes in an unsettling way.

"You seem distracted. Is something bothering you?"

"N-No, I just didn't get enough sleep last night… I'm sorry. I'll pay attention." Stein stayed quiet, analyzing the one in front of him.

"Alright. Just tell me if you feel as though you can't focus." He smiled slightly before returning to the lesson plans. Crona's hand shook slightly as he wrote down the words being spoken to him. The colored orbs flickering at the corners of his eyes, taunting him. The pencil snapped.

"Stop it already!" He snapped, breathing heavily. He froze, looking up at Stein, who had stopped.

"I-I'm sorry I-"

"Is there something happening," Stein questioned

"I don't… they're balls or shapes and they keep flashing in the side of my eyes." Heading to a smaller desk, the man got a glass, pouring water into it and returning over to hand it over to the boy.

"Possibly dehydration. Drink this." Crona took the cup firmly, drinking down the water. He didn't realize how thirsty he had truly been until the cool clear liquid ran down his throat. He set the glass back down after finishing it. Stein went to grab the pitcher, bringing it back to the desk and grabbing his chair. He stared at Crona curiously, wondering if the lad was actually dehydrated.

"Has anything happened recently?" He pushed up his glasses.

"Um… Kid and I talked… I couldn't sleep last night so I went on a walk in the garden… Oh, um something bit me. It hasn't bothered me too much, other than a small burn every now and then…" The last statement peaked his interest slightly.

"Can I see where you were bitten?" Crona hesitantly nodded, lifted his right leg to show the bite near his ankle. The wasn't any redness, surprising considering how pale the other was. Nothing seemed to be there, not even swelling. Stein questioned the absence, but stayed unphased so he wouldn't scare the fragile child.

"It seems too be fine for right now. I would recommend drinking more water and trying to eat a bit more than usually. If anything else comes up, do tell me. Now come on, I will take you back to your room for you to attempt to rest." Stein helped the boy up, leading him out of the library and down the hall. Walking down the hallway, the pair ran into Kid, who was reading a book. He noticed Stein before seeing Crona as well.

"Is everything okay? I thought there were lessons today?" He raised an eyebrow. Before Crona could say anything, Stein covered for him.

"Crona was feeling a bit dizzy so I'm making sure he will rest in his room." Kid seemed to accept this, but felt concern over Crona's health. He watched the two walk, electing to wait before going to the lilac boy's room. He made it into the dark room, attempting not to tense as he made it over to the bed.

"I will get Maka or another maid to bring you water and something to eat. Try to get a little bit of rest." Stein made sure that Crona was resting in bed before leaving to do as he said. When he closed the door, he felt concern for what could possibly be happening.

'Dehydration wouldn't cause hallucinations especially if he just hadn't drunk water since dinner. The fact that the bite wasn't even slightly swollen was also another troubling sign. If it was venomous, then there would have been signs of such. Then there were the orbs, did they mean anything? Were they what had kept Crona awake?' Stein didn't know how he could find the answers with no idea what creature had bitten him. Pacing down the hall, his mind tried to go through every possible knowledge he had of the creatures in the area.

Crona sat in the room, alone, tired yet unwilling to fall asleep. Ragnarok's groans of pain rung in his ears, making the already lightheaded prince feel as though he was trapped in a room. The dimly lit room distorting and twisting around him.

"Crona…" the voice sounded like sweet bells. His muscles felt relaxed, to the point that turning his head was difficult.

"Crona…" It was coming closer, whose ever voice was calling for him. He felt something touching his shoulders from behind, pulling him back gently.

"Crona…" The voice started to distort into a harsh tone. "My dear child… You can't hide from me… Your own mother" The hands tightened around him, gripping his neck tightly. He gasped for breath, trying pawing and scratching at the cold hands strangling him.

"Crona!" A cold rush of liquid hit his face. He froze, panting horribly. Looking up, he noticed Maka along with another maid standing above him. His back was against the soft bed covers, now wet from getting hit presumably by water. Maka looked unbelievably relieved and set a tender hand on the calmed boy. "W-what are you doing here, M-Maka."

"I wasn't going to, but Eruka rushed into the maids' chambers saying you were screaming and thrashing on the bed." Crona glanced at the woman who was probably Eruka. The two dots at the ends of her mouth unnerved him. Turning his attention back to Maka, he apologized for being a bother. Eruka refilled a glass of water, handing it to him before taking a step back. The chilled liquid running down his throat barely eased his nerves, yet he still drank the whole glass.

Maka looked down, concerned about this behavior, but unsure what to do about it. Especially since he hadn't exhibited this sort of fit in the month he had been staying here. The perplexing nature of this was enough for her to hesitate in leaving him, but she did still have to do her job.

"Will you be alright if I leave you here for a short time? I promise I will return as soon as I'm done with a job." He nodded, "Could… um… could Kid come in… please?" Maka looked a little surprised, but agreed to get the prince as she got up to leave. Putting Eruka in charge of Crona's temporary care, she slowly left the room. Every inch of her warning her brain against each step further away from the room.

It wasn't hard to find Kid, he was sitting in a chair near the library and despite his eyes staring at the book, he wasn't reading it. Mind obviously preoccupied.

"Kid. Hey, can I ask a favor?" Maka strolled up. The snap in his eyes was visible and he looked at her.

"It's with Crona, right? Is he okay?" She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"How do you know something is up with Crona?" She asked.

"I passed Stein taking him back to his room, saying he had felt dizzy." This eased her a bit.

"Oh okay. He isn't doing well; I don't understand what happened. It was like he was having a fit. So if you go in, please be careful." Kid nodded, taking her warning with all seriousness as he bookmarked the page and strode down the hall. Each step making him feel like he wasn't going fast enough to get to the other's room. Taking a deep breath as he neared the door, he quickly entered.

"Hey Crona, I-" He paused for a moment seeing Crona who looked as though he had passed out on the bed. Eruka standing close to the edge of the bed, looking down at the unconscious boy though quickly turning her attention to the other Prince.

"Oh your highness," she bowed quickly. "I didn't expect you to be here so soon."

"I tried to get here as fast as I could when Maka told me what happened. If you would kindly dismiss yourself, I can look after him."

"Sir, is that really safe? He could have another fit and hurt you." She stated. Kid took another breath.

"I trust him not to do such a thing. Now if you would kindly leave." She stepped back, before nodding and grabbing the pitcher of water in order to head out. Eruka left the duo alone. Kid sighed a bit, once the door closed, grabbing the chair near the desk and moving it over to the bed side. He tried not left the symmetry get to him in this serious situation, with no second chair able to be place on the other side of the bed.

He turned his attention to the sickly looking boy. The sweat still running down his face. Kid may not have been a maid, but he wasn't inept at taking care of himself or others. Grabbing a rag, he ran it along Crona's forehead while feeling for a fever. But none was there. He felt colder and his hand would twitch quite often. Whimpers came from his pale lips.

"N-No…" the word was faint; Kid couldn't hear it. Yet his curiosity was peaked and he tried to listen for anymore that came out of Crona's mouth. There were only faint whispers of 'no' sprinkled here or there. When Kid tried to see if he could get answers out, he didn't receive coherent replies, only mumbles of pain. The tossing and turning got worse, kicking pillows and pushing blankets away.

"Crona." Kid touched his cheek.

The blade against his throat was freezing. Like winter's very hand was touching him. Kid didn't move an each, trying to not breathe for concern of cutting himself on the blade. He stared the boy down, not allowing anything, but his normal calm demeanor towards the other. The fear in Crona's eyes rivaled that of any cornered animal. They hardly looked like his eyes. Pale. Scared. His breathe hitched and he recoiled. "Kid…" The sword slowly dissipated from where ever it came.

"I-I'm sorry. I thought you were…" He shook off the thought. "N-No. Sorry…" He hung his head low, out of shame. The raven haired prince didn't say anything initially, just raising his hand to reach over to Crona's forehead.

"You don't seem to have a fever." His hand moved to his neck.

"Your heart is beating really fast. Look at me. A take a few slow deep breaths." The light in his eyes eased Crona enough to focus on breathing. He counted each inhale and exhale, Kid's voice remaining soft and caring the entire time.

"Why are you… not angry?" He questioned as the tension wore down.

"I trusted you wouldn't do anything to harm me. If you had, it was mostly the nerves. Were you having a nightmare?"

"…Something like that…"

"Do you want to talk to me?"

"I don't want to drag you into them too…"

"Does Maka know about them?" Crona looked away.

"I won't tell her if you don't want me to." Kid softly smiled. "I promise." Crona curled up on the bed.

"Can you… come over here… please…" Getting up from the seat, the black clad prince came closer to the boy whose hand reached out, tugging on the end of his sleeves for him to get on the bed. Kid hesitated for a moment, but climbed in next to lilac haired prince. Thin arms wrapped around him.

"Can you just… stay like this… please… you don't have to if you… don't want to…" Crona didn't hold on tightly, so if Kid wanted to leave then he easily could without meeting resistance or feeling forced. The other had to think for a moment before deciding to gently put his arms around the 17-year-old.

"I said I wanted to help and that I would be there for you. I'm not going back on my word." He restated with a hint of strength in his words. While still tense, Crona took that statement well.

"I've… just had nightmares for a while… they were never actually this bad… but for the last two days… they've been getting worse…" Kid took in each word Crona spoke with great care and attention. The nightmares were understandable, due to the lingering sense of guilt and terror that the skinny lad still contained within his smaller body. But they were increasing in intensity and visibly taking their toll on him.

"Is it my fault?" He could only assume that after the rocky beginning and only recent development.

"No… It's always… her… Lady Medusa… It was wrong to just try and get closer to you… she knows… she knows about you… and Maka… and what's happening…"

"Maybe you're overthinking? She is miles away."

"She has people here… She must have… that's the only way right… li-like spies?" Kid almost wanted to reject the idea, telling he must be wrong, but when he considered the possibility. That Crona was never mentioned, much less known about until recently, how many others could she have? Would they be better disguised? His grip on Crona accidently tightened uncomfortably.

"I-" A knock on the door disrupted things.

"Your highness, something urgent has come up and your father has called an emergency meeting. You're expect to show up." The grip softened and he looked down at Crona.

"I'm sorry. I have to go."

"No! Please. D-Don't leave me alone." His heart felt like it was ripping apart slowly.

"I shall come right back when this is over. Please, trust me." Before he realized what he was doing, he gave Crona a small peck on his forehead. His face flushed more than it was already and he looked away. Kid snapped out of it for a second, aware of what he did, and quickly detached from the boy to head to the emergency meeting. His face was bright pink as he mentally scolded himself for doing such a thing. It didn't take long for him to go back to his calm self the closer he got to the meeting rooms. His mind wondering about this emergency. The guard opened the door.

Lord Death sat at the end of the seat, along with a series of military officials he recognized, a few servants who had been hand selected to attend meetings like these.

"Father, what's going on here?"

Cliffhanger... BUM BUM BUM