A few hours later...

"So, you know, I'm sorry for whatever."

"Artemis."

"What?"

Crona fixed me with a firm stare.

"Okay, okay." I sighed. I then turned back to Maka who was laid up in what was practically a full body cast. "I am deeply sorry for lying to and hurting you as I did. I should have gotten the facts straight, blah, blah, blah, blah, so on and so forth. I was wrong and bad, you were right and good. So, are we cool?"

There was a muffled shout from the meister. Most of her face was covered, save for her nose, eyes, and hair. Judging from the glare she gave me I doubted we were 'cool' as I had stated. Crona didn't seem to catch the glare as she stared at me seeming somewhat uncertain about whether or not I was being sincere or just acting. "I'll take that as a yes." I said giving Maka a friendly smile. I then looked to Crona who sat in a chair by Maka appearing a bit forlorn. I then gave a fake yawn. "Well, it's getting late so I guess we should be getting home now, huh?"

"I guess."

"Mmff! Mmmff!"

"What's that, Maka?"

"I think she's just wishing you a good night. Right, Maka?" I said with a catty grin. I knew she was more or less probably trying to tell Crona something that I was sure she didn't need to hear so playing the role of translator I assured Crona that her friend would be fine and it was okay for us to leave. This deceit caused Maka's green eyes to narrow and she became more persistant in trying to communicate her message, "Mmmfft! Stomm! Mfft! Hummff! Mmm!"

"Bye, Maka." Crona said with a weak smile. "I'll see you and the others tomorrow, okay?"

"Mmmff!"

"Yeah, bye!" I said, and then knocked a fist into her arm a little harder than was necessary causing her to cry out in pain. Lucky for me Nygus had shown up and had Crona too busy with something to notice what I had done. I then leaned down towards Maka's face with a scowl deciding that while I had the chance I should set the record straight with the ash blond scythe meister. "I'll be up front with you, okay? I don't like you. In fact, you make me freakin sick to my stomach and so do all your freakshow friends, but I'm willing to play with you nicely for Crona's sake. So either you make things easy on yourself and play along with me, or you can go and burn in f***in hell because-trust me-I can make your life unbearable. It's your choice. And from your injuries I'd think you'd have some time to think about it. I'll just take care of Crona for you."

Of course I gave an evil smirk then. What? C'mon who wouldn't?! I certainly did. And I even pat Maka's head like she were some puppy, which earned me yet another glare, of course, not that I cared.

"Artemis?" Nygus called over to me in a firm tone. "It's time for you to go."

"Yeah," I heard Crona agree, "we can see Maka tomorrow."

"Duahh eeeve!" Maka shouted from behind her thick layer of bandages. "Mfft! Corruh! Mff!"

Crona gave a giggle and waved a final 'good-bye' to the blonde. "C'mon," she said gently, "I don't think we should bother her anymore. She needs her rest to get all better."

"They all do." I heard Nygus sigh.

"Right! Coming!" I called to her, then turned back to Maka and keeping up my friendly act chirped, "See ya."


"So," I said with a bit of awkward apprehension, "I-I want to, umm, you know." I looked to my sister with a bit of annoyance and frustration. It was hard for me to speak my feelings. Crona stared at me from her place in Mr. Corner, seeming to be awfully confused about what I was struggling to say. I sighed and tried to figure out what to say.

"I-I just want to thank you."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"You're welcome."

"Don't mention it?"

"Yeah..."

A silence ensued then. It sucked, to say the least. I wanted to tell her so many things but was too unsure of myself. There was no fear. I was just really uncertain if Crona would understand me. Growing up talking about feelings wasn't a big thing, and knowing our dearest mother-gag me-I supposed Crona wasn't big on sentimental talk either. Sighing I opened my mouth to speak but was actually beaten by Crona. "I thought you were dead." She said. Her words were blunt and quiet.

"I thought you were, too." I admitted. "Or brainwashed, or something like that."

"I just woke up one morning and you were gone." She explained. "Lady Medusa said that I had imagined you. That you weren't real. I guessed that she had killed you and relocated us somewhere else. So that I'd forget."

"Did you?"

"Yeah. For a while. Then I met Maka and she helped clear my mind of all the hell that'd filled it. And I started to have dreams, which Professor Stein told me were suppressed memories from when I was younger. I didn't tell anybody it was about my sister, mostly because I assumed..."

"I get it." I mumbled. There was a short silence then I looked up to Crona and our eyes met. I then asked something that had been bugging me. "Are you really happy here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you really like it here?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Why?"

"Yeah, why do you like it so much? Aside from the friends thing."

"Well, nobody hurts me here. When I was with Lady Medusa she hurt me all the time, but here I can actually trust people to protect me, to not hurt me."

"You feel safe?"

She nodded. "And I learn new things almost all the time. I can go places if I want to without worrying about getting punished and I don't have to leave here if I don't want to. I have my own place. I'm not alone like before. Sometimes I actually get too much attention."

"Sounds sweet." I said. I didn't mean it, but I was really glad she was happy. "So, how much longer do you want to stick around?"

"Huh?"

"When do you want to leave?"

That was when it became evident I had asked the wrong question. A tense silence came between us and Crona looked like she really didn't want to be there then. Her voice lowered so much that I could barely hear her reply, "I-I don't want to leave."

"Seriously?"

She nodded.

"So, you're telling me you seriously want to hang around this place even though all these goody-goodies don't know squat about you?"

"They know me." She argued weakly. "And they like me for being who I am even when I don't like myself."

"What makes you so sure?" I questioned. She didn't have an answer right away. It seemed she needed to think on that. She just clutched her arm and stared at the floor. She was stubborn, I would give her that, but at the same time it was like she just thought these things without truly knowing why she thought or felt them. After a minute of silence she finally replied, "Because I trust them."

I scoffed at that. "You can't trust anyone nowadays." I told her, just because of how gullible she seemed and because I needed to keep what conversation we had going. "I trusted a bitch aunt of ours and look what she did to me!" It might have been a bit dramatic, especially since I waved my arms and pointed to my face like it were horribly disfigured when it was the same as it always had been, but I didn't care and foolishly put myself out there like some prissy drama queen. Crona looked at my face in silence for a moment before responding to what I had said.

"Y-you look fine." She said. "Y-you're st-still really pretty."

"I-" There was a pause and I gave Crona a look of surprise when I realized just what she had said. "You think I'm pretty?"

"I-I guess so." Crona mumbled in reply, still vaguely flushed. "You're not exactly ugly, Artemis."

"I know that! It's just...nobody has ever said I was pretty before...well, nobody I like I mean."

"Y-you like me?!" She shrieked like it were some dark sin.

"No, Crona," I spat sarcastically, rolling my eyes at her shock, "I just worried myself sick, risked my life, and about killed all your friends because I hate you. Of course I like you, you twit! Why else would I put myself through all this hell?!"

Shouting at her wasn't the best plan, especially when it made her stumble back and cower like I'd just beaten her or something. "I-I'm s-sorry!" Crona sputtered, as she looked at me fearfully. "I-I didn't me-mean t-to make y-you angry!"

"You didn't...I mean, I'm not...grr...could you please stop being so afraid of me!"

"B-but y-you're s-so sc-scary!"

"I'm what?!" I screeched, feeling as though she'd just slapped me across the face. How the hell was I suddenly scary? She was comfortable with me a few minutes ago! Then again, I had no idea how badly she responded to people yelling at her, which was why I kept on with my yelling. "What happened to the whole 'you're pretty' compliment, huh?! Do you just hate my guts now like everyone else in this damn city?!"

"N-no! I-I just...s-sorry...p-please stop...please stop screaming at me!"

"I'll scream if I want to!" I snapped at her, stomping my foot once like some spoiled brat who hadn't gotten her way, as if to prove my point I then opened my mouth, tilted my head back, and let out the loudest, longest scream I could muster. It caused Crona to cower in a corner, rocking back and forth with her hands covering her ears as she whimpered and mumbled about how she, 'just couldn't deal with this' and that sight, of course, made me feel guilty because I'd just freaked my little sister out, which wasn't a good start to any relationship, but then again we were Gorgons and Gorgons weren't exactly known for sisterly love. All the proof I needed for that was a quick look at my mother and our eldest aunt. They freaking hated each other!

Sighing I knew I didn't want my and Crona's relationship to be like that. If I ever...willingly...voluntarily...just ever decide to have kids someday in the next decade or two...maybe four or five decades from the present, considering witches live longer than normal humans I may not decide to have a child until a hundred or so years into the future. When I thought on it I had another couple years to physically age then I'd stop for a while. Shaking this thought away I got back to my point, which was if I ever had kids then I'd like them to get to know Crona and see that sisters could get along in spite of their differences. And my sister and me had a ton of differences. The biggest difference being we were supposed to be enemies what with her being a DWMA meister and me a badass witch...yeah...we weren't supposed to mix.

"No, no," I said with as much niceness as I could muster, "there's no need to be sorry! It's my fault, really! There won't be anymore screaming from me. From here on out I'll be quiet as a mouse!"

"Really?"

"Totally."

Exactly 5 Seconds Later

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN HERE YOU JACKASS?!"

Crona was hiding in her corner and I was glaring at Zephyr who sat laughing on the edge of her bed, apparently having transformed himself to sneak in here through the bars of the window. I huffed and stared back at Crona who had her hands tugging at her hair while she mumbled to herself about how all witches lied, which was fair enough seeing as my promise hadn't lasted over a couple seconds time. I was so pissed at Zephyr. He was such an idiot. He had his soul protect on now, but he was smiling a rather dark, knowing smile as I tried to comfort Crona.

"You're such a gorgeous nightmare!" He started to sing softly, though none too quietly. "Oh damn it never seem to go away! You make me feel brand new yeah! We resurrect it's like I've come back to life!"

"Will you shut it?!" I snapped, turning away from Crona to go stand a foot in front of him, eye twitching as I then felt like tearing Zephyr's head off. "You've already screwed enough things up today, you stupid son of a freak!"

"I feel so alive, I feel so alive!"

"I'll show you alive if you don't shut the hell up!"

"First impressions are hard to erase. It's in my mind and it just won't go away. Maybe I'm playing my cards way too safe. I've gotta change, change, change, change!"

I was practically trembling in rage by now, speaking through gritted teeth, as I continued to glare at him because he wouldn't stop with his damn singing and just get his ass out of there. "Yeah," I spat, "change form and get the hell out of here!"

"Is it the way that you feel against my body? Is it the way that you act so damn naughty? Is it the way that you shake? When your hips go through the bass, the bass, the bass, the bass!"

"Ugh! I swear you're such a sick freak, Zephyr!"

"I feel so alive! You're such a gorgeous nightmare!"

"I'm gonna kill you if you keep it up!"

"I can't deal with this. I can't deal with crazy boys!" Crona whimpered, still hiding in her awful looking corner. Cringing and attempting to sink further into it she grabbed her hair. "I can barely deal my friends!"

"Crazy, eh?" Zephyr muttered, standing then shoving me out of the way to go stand over Crona who hugged her knees to her chest looking to be on the verge of tears. "That's rude! You barely know me! Or do you and Artie share the same mother?"

"Get the hell away from her you asshole! You're scaring her!"

"That doens't answer my question."

"Because it's stupid!"

"You mean like you?"

"Okay, that's the last straw! I am so going to f***ing to kill you if you don't leave my sister alone and f*** off!"

"Temper!" He laughed, giving me a broad smile. It was then he grabbed Crona and hauled her to her feet making her give a yelp of fear and start squirming like mad in an attempt to free herself from his hold. "Besides, your sister is so cute and feels so soft and sweet an-" That was when a small, white gloved fist slammed into the side of his face sending him flying across the room where he hit into the wall and landed on the bed, rolling off and landing on the floor with a soft, pained grunt.

"Screw off you pervert!" The weapon of my sister snapped, sitting atop her head and glaring at Zephyr. He then turned to stare down at Crona who gave a sigh of relief at being released, a hand clutching onto her arm and body seeming to relax slightly. "Hey, do you know that guy?"

"No. I-I never met him b-before. He b-broke in h-here...somehow."

"Eh," Ragnarok said pointing towards him then at noticing something that gets Crona to follow his gaze, "he's got a witch's soul!"

"Oh. Yeah he does, doesn't he?"

"You can see it f***ing there can't you? So...can we eat his soul?"

"Yeah," Crona mumbled allowing Ragnarok to sink back into her body before he became a sword in her hand, "I guess so. I mean, Lord Death said those are the souls that are okay to eat."

"Let's get 'em, Crona!"

She nodded, taking a step forwards while Zephyr glared at her and climbed to his feet. "You wanna fight, huh?" Zephyr laughed, smiling darkly and allowing some dark magic to spark at his fingertips. I knew this wasn't going to end well if I allowed them to keep this up so I moved to where I stood between them, spreading my arms out acting as a barrier between Crona and Zephyr who were looking more than ready to literally tear each other apart.

"Chill! I know he's an obnoxious douche, but...well...uh...you just can't kill him, all right?"

"I'm sorry, Artemis, but I have to take his soul. He's an evil pervert!"

"No arguements there; however, listen to me, he is the brother of a friend of mine and his brother isn't that bad of a guy so I can't let you kill Zephyr otherwise his brother will be an orphan."

"Sometimes it's better to be an orphan."

"Okay, point taken, but if you kill him then you'll have to kill me too."

"Do it, Crona, it's a two for one deal!"

"But I-I don't w-want to kill Artemis, but I-I can't not kill him, but Artemis...uh...oh...I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS!" She screeched with a hand tugging at her hair and eyes wide, going between me and Zephyr. The next thing I knew she was huddled back in her corner, sobbing with Ragnarok no longer in sword form, but instead chastising her for freaking out and failing to kill Zephyr when she had the chance.

"Hmm, isn't she just hopeless?" I heard Zephyr say and gave him a look of warning at hearing him. "What? Look at her! I swear you wasted ten years of your life searching for this sad train wreck. She can't even fight and lets her freaking weapon of all things push her around."

"Zephyr-"

"The hell did you say?!" Ragnarok shouted glaring back at us. "Come over here and we'll cut your sorry ass into a million pieces!"

"I'd like to see you try."

"Would you shut up!"

"I don't know would you? It's sad that you're scared of such a little thing! Seriously, this is the smallest, most unimpressive weapon I have ever seen in my entire li-" He was cut off when he was sent sailing from the room, through the door that broke down at how hard Zephyr's body struck against it. I knew he must have broken some bones, but stood frozen as Ragnarok glared at me from where he sat perched up on top of Crona's head.

"You have anything you'd like to say, bitch?" he demanded huffily, apparently ready to pop me a good one if I say anything insulting, which I had never intended to do anyway.

"Uh...yeah...actually, you don't look like you have changed much since I saw you last."

"Actually, A-Artemis, Ragnarok has changed a lot."

"Yeah! I use to be all huge and even more badass than usual, but then her retarded friend, Maka, purified Crona and the damn Shinigami confiscated all the souls I ate!"

"And he shrunk down, but Lord Death said he might get that big again if I manage to make him into a death scythe."

"Sounds cool." I said with a smile, heading over to the door and allowing my magic to flow. "Anyway, let's fix that door and we'll have a chance to rest afterward. I mean, after how you clobbered Zephyr I doubt he'll bother us anytime soon."

"Hey, Crona, know what?" Ragnarok whispered.

"What?" Crona whispered back, genuinely curious as to what her partner had to say. It seemed like he'd just made an important observation. She got a smirk in return for her curiosity and a whispered, "Your dumb sister got totally hot!"

"Ragnarok!" She quietly whined.

"What?! You know she is!"

"Stop being a pervert!"

"I will when you stop being a dyke!"

"I am not!"

"Oh really?" Ragnarok sneered then went on to mock the pink-haired girl who gave a squeak when he made his voice all trembly and high-pitched to perform an impression of his flushed meister. "Look at me I'm Crona and get turned on by staring at my girlfriend's flat chest!"

"Th-that isn't me! An-and I don't st-stare at M-Maka's chest!" Crona sputtered out with her face having became a bright red. He cackled at her response, giving her a noogie while she squealed and fussed, complaining about how he was hurting her. Laughing loudly he eventually stopped after Crona fell to her knees and just sat biting her lip fearing that he'd make it worse if she kept complaining. Her weapon then pinched her nose and declared her to be 'such a wuss'. "It's not my fault you're too rough with me! I can deal with it, but pain still hurts!"

"No freaking duh, Crona! Why else would it be called pain?!"

"I don't know!"

"Would you lay off her already?!" I finally snapped at him after repairing the door completely, having only heard part of their conversation. "Geez, have you not matured at all?"

"I don't know are you still a lame ass?!" He shot back. "Mind your own busy, witchy! I mess with Crona all the time and she doesn't mind! She can deal with it, right Crona?"

"R-right." Crona mumbled.

"See?" He snapped, wrapping his arms around her head in a way that made it seem as though he were hugging her head. "She's my meister and loves it!"

"I'm so sure." I scoffed. My arms folded in front of my chest, as I then took in the two. Crona was staring at the floor and still blushing while Ragnarok kept his hold on her head, practically glaring at me. "Who the hell likes being belittled and beat on everyday of their life?"

"Why not ask your sister! She takes it and hardly whines about it too much anymore. I mean, maybe every now and again, but not too much!"

"Then you should quit bugging her, you pest!"

"If anyone should leave her alone it's you, you f***ing creeper! You probably plan on experimenting on us or put us through some weird hell like that bitch mother of yours!"

"That's bull and you know it! I'm the only one here who really cares about her! You just bully her all the damn time!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about, cow!"

"I do so, creep!"

"Bitch!"

"Fathead!"

"Whore!"

"Pervy blob!"

"And you're a homewrecking witch!"

"At least I'm not some parasite that harms and bums off an innocent girl!"

"I'll kill you!" He screeched.

"You can't touch this!" I laughed mockingly. "Especially since you're such a little, teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy nothing!"

Ragnarok looked ready to explode. It made me feel so proud to be putting down one of my childhood bullies, Crona's included. He seemed to actually be at a loss for words or maybe he was restraining himself so that his meister didn't flip out. Whatever the reason he looked ready to tear me to bits.

"In his defense," Crona spoke up then, actually spoke up and was siding with her weapon to my astonishment, "he doesn't mean anything bad when he messes with me. I-it's just...teasing, Artemis, it's not that bad...when you're used to it, anyway."

"Don't defend him!"

"Shut it bitch! Crona's my partner! She's on my side!"

"Well she is my sister! We're related by blood!"

"So what? I live in her blood!"

"Crona," I stared at her intently with my fists resting on my hips, "who do you care about more?"

"Yeah." Ragnarok sneered, tugging on her hair so she was staring up at him with his narrowed eyes. "Who's had your back since you can remember and been with you for just about your entire pitiful life?"

"Umm..."

"Tell him," I prodded, glaring at the black blob on her head. "Tell him who came to rescue you and wouldn't dream of hurting you."

"Yeah? Well, Crona, then tell her who is physically closer to you than anyone else in the entire universe!"

"Who came from the same womb as you?!"

"Who-" he paused then shook his head making a small sound of disgust, "Really? We're gonna get weird?"

"Who's gonna put tacks in your shoes if you answer this question wrong?!"

"I...uh...umm...I c-can't..." Crona looked between us with wide eyes, seeming uncertain of who to choose. "I-I...uh..." I noticed she avoided looking directly at us and was most likely mulling over her options. Too bad the two us didn't lay off her...

"Crona?" I prodded forcefully. "Who is it?!"

"Yeah!" Ragnarok cackled. "Which of us is it?!"

"Um...uh...oh...I-I ch-choose..."

"Crona!" We both shouted at her in unison.

"Ragnarok!"

"Yes!" he shouted victoriously, hugging his meister's head so hard that she gave a small whimper, grinning a bit though she flinched slightly when he slammed one of his small fists to her head. "I knew it! See, witch?! She cares about me the most! I win, you suck, go on and get f***ed!"

"Dammit!" I gave a frustrated growl, kicking the nearby wall and ending up with a sore foot. Hissing in pain I swore some more and ended up sitting on the bed glaring at Ragnarok as he continued to gloat. I huffed and silently planned a way to destroy that little bastard without harming Crona in the process. Sadly, the idea seemed impossible with them being fused together and everything. It didn't take too long before Crona's quiet voice piped up once Ragnarok had vanished from sight.

"Artemis? A-are you mad at me?"

"No, why you ask that?"

"Because I picked Ragnarok..."

"That's okay. I know you just said that because he was pressuring you. You like me best, right?"

"Umm...well..." she mumbled, twiddling her fingers together nervously, "I-I don't really...know you...s-sorry..."

"Yeah," I sighed in agreement, "we'll have to fix that. Tomorrow will just be a you and me day, right?"

Crona gave me a smile and nod, tucking herself into her corner and looking at me with such a sweet look of trust that if it were anyone else I'd have probably crushed them already, but this was my little sister and I wouldn't purposely hurt her. So tomorrow was a day I looked forward to in spite of all the hell I went through to get to this point I felt that it had been worth it. All that was left was convincing her to leave. Let's face it, I hate most meisters and to be surrounded by these goody-goody friends of Crona's made me want to vomit. So, that night I started my plot-uh, no planning, yes that's the word. Planning. I began planning how to convince Crona to leave the city with me. Boy, that was one night I certainly didn't get any rest.


Aww! I couldn't resist adding that song in there! It took longer than I'd have liked but here ya all go! One fantastically long chapter to make up for the wait! If you will plz review to let me know what ya think of it. I'm thinking that maybe they'll go to the bazarr or Death Bucks next chapter. I'm not too certain.

Guess we'll find out next chapter, right? ;)