These characters are under copyright by Atsushi Ōkubo, Squar Enix, Yen Press, Shōnen,
Akatsuki Yamatoya. Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, Funimation, and/or others. This is a work of fanfiction, for no monetary gain.
Chapter 21 – Turnabout: Witches in the DWMA?
Liz refused to admit in front of the others, especially her sister, that she was afraid of a Witch who only came up to her thigh. But Witches knew magic, and they were sneaky and deadly, and damn it, how was she supposed to be leery of someone who was so ridiculously young and innocent? It was like being terrified of a kindergartner, for Death's sake.
"Just lie still and relax," the little Witch girl told her.
Lying still was about all she was good for right now. It hurt every time she moved. Hell, it hurt to breathe, but she was glad for every wince, because she was still breathing, and for a scary while there, she couldn't.
"Can I hold Liz's hand, the way she holds mine, when I'm sick?" Patty asked.
Angela bit her lip and shook her head. "If you did, it would siphon my magic off into you, too, and I'm not strong enough for that right now."
"Sorry, Sis. But if you're brave and take your medicine like a good girl, I'll buy you an ice cream when you're better," Patty promised.
Terrific. Now she not only felt like an idiot, but she wouldn't be able to use that line on Patty, the next time she was sick, without remembering how ridiculous it made her feel. "I'm fine. Just get it over with," Liz griped.
Angela folded her arms and glared at her. "That wasn't very polite. You need to say 'please'."
"Look you little brat…" Liz snarled, sitting up without thinking, and then she was gasping, because she couldn't even scream, and falling back, and she was going to die, and Lord Death, it hurt, and she could feel tears streaming down her face, and she actually groaned, or maybe even whimpered, she'd never been so weak and humiliated and useless in her life and…
Warm. So warm, and soft, like the comforter she used to have when she was a kid, before she and Patty had to run, before they ended up on the street, in the cold, hard, dark, and… bright and soft and warm and orange, so orange. Orange was her new favorite color. She was going to paint her room orange, dye her hair orange, but then Kid would have a cow, and what did that even mean, anyway, having a cow, and whoa, kittens, that crazy Samurai was right, they were everywhere, rubbing against her arms and chin, working their way down to her chest, which didn't hurt at all for some reason, it was just… orange kittens.
0 0 0
Patty stared wide-eyed as the little Witch girl healed her sister. Liz had gotten her angry, and she thought Angela wasn't going to help her, but then when Liz started crying and moaning, Angela's hands had immediately lit up orange, and then Liz's whole body had glowed orange, and suddenly she wasn't wincing and whimpering and crying, she was smiling, all happy and goofy, grinning.
She'd never seen Liz smile like that, or maybe she had, but years ago, before they left their home, which wasn't really safe and nice like she thought, but dangerous, which is why they had to run away. Liz had never told her exactly why, but the few times she'd tried to ask, Liz had gotten this terrible look on her face, just sad and furious, like she wanted to kill someone, but also, afraid, and Liz should never, ever be afraid of anyone or anything, so she'd learned not to ask.
Then without warning, the little Witch girl fell over, she just collapsed, and Mifune cried out "Angela!" and caught her, looking worried and afraid. He pressed a hand to her chest, her heart, and the fear melted away, but he still looked serious and grim.
"I'm sorry, I hope that was enough, because if she tries to do more, it'll kill her," he accused.
Patty was pretty sure he wouldn't have said that if Angela wasn't sleeping, because no one wants to hear they might die. Her eyes flew to her sister, because Liz had almost died, before, and what if the magic had hurt her because it stopped so abruptly?
"Liz?" she asked cautiously.
"Mmm?" Liz replied sleepily, and then she reached out both arms and stretched and sat up, and Patty was afraid she was going to scream or cry or whimper or something, but instead, she kept stretching, and she was grinning like a goofball, like that time they'd found all those bottles in the basement they'd been staying in, and Liz had cried, "Pay dirt!" and drunk a whole bottle all to herself, and didn't let her have any. It was the first time Liz hadn't shared, but she'd said she wouldn't like it, and she was right, because after she was asleep, all sprawled out on the floor, she took a drink and it was awful, all sour and weird, and she didn't know why anyone would ever drink wine.
"Are you OK, Sis?" Patty asked cautiously
Liz's eyes widened in surprise, like she hadn't realized anyone else was in the room, and then she focused on her, and on Angela. "Holy crap!" she said, and then she was pulling at her bandages.
"Stop that! Lay back down and let me take a look," Stein said authoritatively, sounding like a real doctor, not like a crazy loon, which was actually some kind of bird, so she didn't know why people called crazy people that, but…
"Holy crap!" Patty echoed, as the bandages were peeled away, revealing the smooth perfect skin of Liz's tummy and chest and her breasts, too, because she wasn't wearing a bra or a shirt and…
"If you weren't gay, I'd smack you," Liz snarled, as she snatched up the blanket, covering her, glaring at Stein.
"I'm a doctor," Stein said, sounding more creepy than reassuring.
"More like a mad scientist, you freak," Liz retorted.
That made Patty laugh, because her sister was funny and wasn't hurt any more, which meant now Kid wouldn't have to be crazy, at least, not scary crazy, just weird and goofy crazy, with all his talk about symmetry and stuff.
"Can we show Kid?" Patty asked eagerly, and then she swallowed, hard, because suddenly Liz just looked scared and lost and…
"I… um… don't think it's a good idea to wake Kid up without his father here," Liz said softly, and Liz never talked softly, she always either talked tough or yelled, which meant Kid was still broken, and maybe Liz was still broken too, even if she didn't look broken, like Kid. Maybe all her scars were on the inside, where they couldn't be seen or fixed, and now what could anyone do?
0 0 0
Crona shifted nervously, their weight going from one foot to the other, hovering outside the Infirmary door, not wanting to go in and upset Soul or the others more than they already had.
"Stop fidgeting! It makes you look guilty, which makes me look guilty, and you're the one who committed treason, not me," Ragnarok snapped.
"I didn't commit treason!" Crona cried indignantly. Then they shrank in on themself. "Did I?" they whispered meekly.
"Lord Death told you to rescue Justin and kill Giriko. Instead, you saved Giriko's life and let him run off with Justin. You healed and rewarded the man who nearly killed Death's son. I know if I was Death, I'd take my scythe and chop your head off with it," Ragnarok replied bluntly.
Crona swallowed hard and put their right hand to their throat protectively.
"You're lucky you're a Witch. That's the only thing that might save you now, since he doesn't want to break his treaty with them before the ink's even dry," Ragnarok added.
"I'm not a Witch! I just have Witch's blood… and powers… and I used them… I used magic… I… I'm a Witch," Crona whispered.
"What's the matter, Pinky, you got something against Witches?" a smug voice asked from behind them, making them yelp and jump, and spin around defensively.
"Kim!" Crona cried in relief, seeing their Meister friend standing beside her Weapon, Jackie. Only they and Jackie knew Kim was secretly also a Witch.
"It's so good to see you! But my name's Crona, not Pinky, and I've told you I don't like that nickname, although I guess it's a lot better than something really awful like Eternal Feather, so I suppose I shouldn't really complain, because then you might call me something worse, though I don't know why you call me that in the first place, when your hair is pink too."
"Wow. You must be really worked up about something, huh? You're doing that whole 'talking without breathing' thing again. You haven't been getting Crona into trouble again trying to kill people, have you Ragnarok?" Kim asked the Weapon casually.
"Tch. I'm not the one getting us into trouble, and we were supposed to be killing someone. The Marshmallow Kid here is the one who was too soft and squishy to gut the bastard, not me," Ragnarok grumbled.
Crona scowled. "Don't call me that! Even Pinky is better than the Marshmallow Kid. Or Cotton Candy. Just because my hair's pink and you think I'm too sweet, don't start calling me Cotton Candy for Brains or something awful like that."
"Yeah, well, you'd better say goodbye to Pinky here now, while you've got the chance, Kim. Because once Lord Death comes back, if we're lucky he'll just banish us forever from Death City. But the way both he and his son have been going off the deep end, we'll be lucky to get out of here alive. In fact, let's go now, Crona, before those two crazies find us, because there's no way we can win against one Reaper, let alone two, no matter how cracked they are," Ragnarok urged.
Kim frowned. "I thought Kid was better. We heard he was rescued, that he's been healing," she said, exchanging a worried look with Jackie. "Although we also heard some crazy rumors about there being a Witch here in Death City, with healing powers, and we all know there aren't any Witches here, right Crona?"
Crona backed up a step. Kim had sounded really intimidating when she said that, like she was threatening them not to reveal her secret.
"It's not what you think! The Witch with healing powers is Angela, not y… anyone else, but there's not one Witch here, there's two, Angela and Michiko, and they've both been helping Kid and Lord Death, and he's declared a truce with the Witches, and he's going to send a peace delegation to the next Convocation, to officially end the war with the Witches, and they're not going to be hunted anymore, so all the Witches who are in hiding don't have to hide anymore," they said, looking pointedly at Kim.
"Only there's not two Witches here, there's three, there's me too. The only Witch who's in any danger right now is me, because I used my powers to heal the man who attacked Death's son, and I helped him escape with his hostage, Justin, and Lord Death's going to be really angry with me, and I don't know how I'm supposed to deal with him being angry like he's been, with his shadow going everywhere and attacking people instead of protecting them, but I'm not sorry I did it, because Justin's my best friend, and if Giriko died it would have hurt him, a lot, and he would probably have been really, really dangerous, too, because he loves Giriko, the way I love Maka, and I know if anyone ever killed her, they'd wish they'd never been born, not like the way I wish I was never born, but I mean, I'd hurt them so badly before I killed them that…"
They stopped talking, because Kim was looking stunned, and so was Jackie, and even Ragnarok looked a little freaked out, and had they really looked that scary, or was it just them talking about killing people?
"Wow. Did you just admit out loud that you love Maka Albarn?" Kim challenged loudly.
The tone of her voice made them scowl, because it was taunting, and they hated being teased, and… "Yes, I love Maka! I just told you, didn't I?" they shrilled, furious, because no one ever took them seriously and…
"You love me?" an incredulous voice asked from behind them, and then they realized why Kim was being such a jerk, so they'd say it again, so Maka could hear, and oh Lord Death, what was Maka going to say?
They turned around, and stepped back, because Maka looked really angry, she was scowling, which meant she didn't love them back, and they were just going to crawl in a hole and die, but they might not be able to, because the last time they'd been in a hole and wanted to die, in the desert, Maka had found them and pulled them out.
"And you thought the best way to tell me that was to scream it at Kim?" Maka accused.
Crona grabbed their arm behind their back, anxiously, and bit their lip, and looked to the right and left, instead of into Maka's eyes, because they didn't want to see her looking angry or disappointed or disgusted and…
And Maka was grabbing them by the head, and she was going to squeeze them so hard their brains were going to come out of their ears and… Oh Lord Death, are those really Maka's lips? Is Maka actually kissing me? Why is she kissing me?
But then she wasn't, and Crona realized in a panic they hadn't kissed her back, and now Maka would never kiss them again, and they were just going to… to have to kiss her back, right now, before she got away!
Crona dove forward, tackling Maka, knocking her to the ground, because they were so anxious not to let her get away, and Kim was laughing, like it was funny that she'd knocked Maka down when they were trying to be romantic.
"Well, my work here is done," Kim said with a smirk in her voice, and probably on her face, but Crona couldn't check, because they were looking at Maka and… and then Maka was pulling their face down to kiss them again, and they stopped caring who was watching, or why.