"Maka...Maka...Maka...Maka!"
Okay, so maybe Ragnarok had Crona pegged somewhat accurately. I mean, it seemed more than just a little weird that she was dreaming about that pig-tailed brat. It seemed normal enough for her to be worried and concerned over her health if they were friends, but when she started mumuring 'Maka' over and over again in her sleep...yeah...it kinda creeped me out.
I tried shaking her awake only to almost get skewered!
I tried to remember how the hell I could ever sleep peacefully when I was so close to someone that could go from a normal, sleeping body to a human pincusion within seconds, but I came up blank and concluded that it wasn't ever something I'd given much thought. At any rate, the night hadn't been very restful, especially since I had been trying to figure a way to convince Crona to leave the city.
There wasn't much success with that so I eventually gave up and fell asleep, brought back to consciousness at the sound of...screaming...
"Will you shut the f*** up? I wanna sleep for another minute."
In my defense I was really, really tired! And I tend to get a little grumpy when I haven't gotten a good night's sleep. So when the screaming persisted I found myself sitting upright, nostrils flaring, and glaring in the direction of the sound. The door to the room was open and I didn't see any signs of my sister anywhere. Sighing, I got up to find out what happened only to end up hopelessly lost in the maze that was the dungeon's halls.
"Crona?" I called after a while of wandering. My legs were beginning to cramp so I took a seat on the floor, thinking it was a good idea to call for help about now. "Sid? Death? Hey, somebody, anybody! Help!"
There was no response.
"Ugh!" I screamed in frustration before proceeding in my search for a way out of the endless hallways. I didn't stop until the sound of whispering caught my ear, so quiet, but so near that I had to pause to listen. Maybe if I could find whoever was whispering then I could also find a way out of here.
"Do...it's clear?"
"Yeah, I think so."
There was the sound of a soft footfall, and then there was hesitation followed by a quick whisper, "Wait! Who's that?"
"I-I don't know." that was a bit louder than it had originally been. I moved silently forward towards that voice. "Should I look?" They asked whoever was with them only to give a quiet squeak as the other voice said something too quiet for me to hear properly. "They're getting closer!" I heard the first voice whisper, panicked.
For the next few minutes the only sounds were a leaky pipe somewhere along with my footfalls, and our steady breathing giving life to the silence of the dimly lit halls.
"Don't just stand here," I heard someone hiss, "run for your life!"
There was another squeak then a dark figure jumped out from the corridor that was just a few short feet ahead. I saw her back and pink hair whipping slightly as she made a quick turn at the end of the hall. Baffled, I followed, calling, "H-hey, wait up!"
I don't think Crona caught that because when I did catch up with her she was still running pretty damn fast, turning left and right while I followed, closing in until she jumped some yellow tape and disappeared into a thick darkness. I ended up running into and getting tangled up in that stupid tape that was strung up, showing that this part of the basement was off limits. Unexpectedly, there came a shrill scream from that darkness. I struggled to get the tape off and by the time I was standing I was nearly knocked over as Crona came running from the darkness, practically crashing into me. Her body jerked and she fell as I grabbed hold of her robe's white collar, bringing her to an abrupt halt.
Cowering, she stared up at me with a huge pair of puppy eyes that made whatever anger I'd felt seconds before melt away like butter under the desert sun. Clearly there was a misunderstanding of some sort since she actually looked relieved to see it was me.
"A-Artemis? I-is that...are you...really here?"
"Of course I'm here!" I snorted, giving her head a light pat. Withdrawing my hand I ran it through my black tresses with a shaky laugh. I was just glad that she hadn't pulled Ragnarok on me or had a panic attack, or something like that. "Man, you can sure run fast. Oh, yeah, that reminds me..." I gave her shoulder a quick, light swat with the back of my hand.
"Ow!" she squealed, grabbing her shoulder. I hadn't meant to hit her hard; however, I hadn't exactly restrained myself so it wasn't surprising when she gave me a confused, weak-willed glare. "What was that for?"
"Ignoring me! Just what the hell were you doing running around like that? I needed your help and you ran! Do you have any idea how long I was walking those halls? And just who was the f***ing genius who thought this school needed so many f***ing long hallways anyway?"
"I-I don't know-"
"A retard! That's who!"
"I-I'm s-sorry you were lost," Crona stammered, shaking nervously and looking incredibly remorseful, "but I thought...you were...that weird guy..."
"What guy?"
She shifted uncomfortably and her eyes became downcast as she mumbled, "That witch guy."
"Zephyr?"
"Yeah, him..." she shuddered. I also noticed how she paled slightly and let her eyes glare at the floor. "He came over earlier...and...stuff happened."
"Whoa." I stopped her, suddenly feeling rather protective as I had a string of flashbacks of all the times he'd perved out on me. There was no way I was gonna put up with that, especially if he were acting that way around or to my baby sister. "What do you mean by 'stuff'? Why the hell were you running from him? Just tell me what he did and I'll kick his ass!"
"Uh...okay...well, i-it's not that big of a deal. He's just really weird."
"Yeah, no kidding." I rolled my eyes. "And if what he did wasn't such a big deal then why won't you talk about it?"
"Because!"
I had no idea how dark Crona's face could go until then. It was actually a very, very dark shade of gray that would have made anyone else think her to be gloomy instead of embarassed. Not me. It actually sent up a big, fat red flag for me. Luckily, for once, Ragnarok's appearance wasn't an annoyance to me. It was partly because I knew he'd tell me what Crona wouldn't and also partly because I felt a lot more giddy than usual when I looked at how much of a pipsqueak he turned out to be.
He took a breif look around then gave a chcukle, looking down to Crona who was appearing quite alarmed by his appearance, probably because she was having the same thoughts as me.
"So," he said, "you finally ditched the perv, huh? Pfft. Why am I asking when you're with this fat cow?"
"Ragnarok!"
Ignoring his comment as best I could I managed to give a strained smile.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he snapped. "Are you constapated or something?"
"Or something." I muttered, losing the smile to glare at that little bastard. "So, what isn't Crona telling me? I mean, aside from Zephyr dropping in and chasing her around?"
"Hey, bitch, you'd better keep your bitch on a leash or something. He was trying to rape this idiot!" A white hand patted Crona's hand to add emphasis. She whimpered and her face looked ready to turn black.
"No-" she started to stammer.
"He what?!"
"Artemis, i-it isn't so bad!"
"Excuse me a second." I growled, turning and dashing off, ignoring Crona's cries and her weapon's snickering. All I knew for certain was that Zephyr was about to learn a lesson.
Not that long later...
Richie had been watching some show about a kid picking apples while Zephyr sat at the kitchen table, setting it up for a poker game when their apartment door suddenly flew off the hinges and crashed to the floor, sending up a cloud of dust.
"Whoa!" Richie gasped.
Zephyr grinned, staring in silence as I stood there, fixing my gaze on him, glaring at him. My fists were at my sides and I was more than ready to beat him. A hadn went up and, as melodramatic as it sounds, I pointed an accusatory finger at him, letting only one word escape from between clenched teeth, "You!"
"Me?" he said, sounding so innocent it made me sick. "I am something, aren't I? But don't tell me that I'm the only reason you decided to break down our door."
"You...you...you creep!"
Yeah, that was a pathetic insult. But I was pissed off and not thinking about any decent insults. I mean, what are you supposed to say to someone who tried to rape the only decent family member you have left? I'd trusted him...if only a little...I should have known that was a big mistake from the start. Okay, so I did know it was a mistake, but that doesn't change the fact that he betrayed me! And for what reason? To hurt Crona? To tick me off? Or was it to get my attention? Well, he sure succeeded if that was his goal. And I was going to make sure he regretted it.
"Oh no," I heard Ritchie moan. "Zephyr, what'd you do now?"
"I have no idea, little brother. I've absolutely no idea."
Using all my speed, I sucker punched that SOB across the face, making him fall back in his chair. It hit the floor with a loud thwack and he rolled back into an upright position, leaning against the wall behind him. It didn't seem to bother him too much as he rubbed his jaw, shaking his head. He frowned, staring up at me.
"Artmeis!" Ritchie exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm making your big brother, Mr. Rapist, feel sorry for ever trying anything on my sister!"
"What? Zephyr? You didn't!"
"That's right, Rich, no way I did anything with her nasty he-she sibling."
That entire sentence earned him an extra hard kick to the stomach. I stood watching as he wheezed and gasped for about two and a half minutes, acting like a big baby when I didn't even come anywhere near hitting him in his solar plexis.
"Stop whining and tell me what the f*** happened!"
"Okay, okay, just...give me a sec..." he gasped, trying to gain his breath. Once he was 'better' and standing on his own two feet he gave me a glare, stating, "You've no idea how lucky you are to be you or else I'd have destroyed you for that."
"Yeah, yeah, get on with you're explaination."
"I was just curious about if 'she' was in fact a 'he' instead of a 'she'. Simple as that."
"Zephyr!" Ritchie gasped, blushing profusely, whilst I growled out a well-founded accusation, "Pervert!"
"Get over it!" Zephyr scoffed. "It's her own fault for looking so confusing! Seriously, she should put her hair up in bows or something. Wear skirts or do something to make it more obvious!"
"That's not her style!" I shouted at him. "And what exactly is so 'confusing' about her? She's got the curves and her hair is pink! Or are you as blind as you are clueless?!"
"So what?" he spat. "She's flat chested and guys can have pink hair just as much as girls can! Or have you not seen Fairy Tale?"
"No, I have never heard about that–whatever that is–before in my life!"
"Zephyr," Ritchie huffed, as he came between us, "why couldn't you just take Artemis's word for it?"
"Because I thought her sister was a brother and needed to see for myself that it was, in fact, a girl."
"You're such a creeper!" I snapped, face feeling like it'd turned to a mega shade of red. "Stay away from my sister, Zephyr, or so help me I'll kick your ass! Hey, wait, what are you even still doing here? Death said you were to leave!"
"And I did," he said somberly, though his deviant smile suggested he was anything but. "However, I forgot my baby brother and had to come back to find him."
I rolled my eyes, giving a few more lethal glares and stern warnings before making a beautiful exit that left them with their door smashed up into a dozen pieces on the floor. Good luck paying for that! I thought in a fashion that was probably too enraged. But it wasn't my fault. At least not entirely. Zephyr was the one who had to be an idiotic pervert and try pulling Crona's clothes up like...like...Ragnarok? Ugh!
That was a pretty disturbing thought...
Okay so this is LONG overdue and I am so very ashamed to have dropped this like I did, but I ended up getting distracted by another story as well as school and that sort of stuff. So what I'm now gonna do is try getting back on track with this. I will, hopefully, have it completed within a few chapters time without rushing things.
Please don't ask how many because I'm not one to fixate on numbers so much as the storyline and chapter size. I think this one was pretty good though I apologize if it isn't so great.
I may have gotten rusty during my time off, but will try to get back on track, as stated beforehand. Thanks for your patience and lack of flames. I so appreciate it!
