Quiet.
Simply dark and quiet.
He stands on the quiet dark beach, this time alone.
Isolated.
Even the waves of the black ocean have died down into the softest of splashes against the gray sand. No light to be seen at all, now. No hope to be found. There was nothing around him.
Just a cold sense of…loneliness.
The black blood teen, holds his hand to his eyes, trying to shield himself from bleakness around him. Time was non-existent to him. No way to tell how long anything was anymore. Yet it felt like days, months even of this awful feeling.
He found himself less incline to care about time though, with each of his visits to this place. Time didn't matter. What did, was if he could survive each time itself. Survive the feelings he hated himself for having. It wasn't the main reason he did so, but it was on his list of reasons.
Almost comedically, he could imagine Ragnarok having almost the same kind of list for him. Probably making up new reasons, like how he hated how the teen smells flowers or something along those lines.
The chuckle he gave at the thought was faint, almost echoing across the land around him.
It truly was too quiet here.
Giving a small sigh, and looking down at the sand at his feet. Crona childishly kicks at it. Watching as the sand either fell back to the floor or be blown away in the silent wind.
"…why?"
He asks out loud, as he slowly takes his hand from his own face. "Why am I feeling this, still?" As he speaks, his eyes wander down at himself, to his other hand that was still at his side.
The hand that wielded the gauntlet.
The one that had the infinite power of the soul within it.
A sound is heard. The splash of water.
Crona snaps his head to it…and sees his hope was there.
Her golden like dress…grown dim, and gray. With no light coming off her being.
Her back was facing him as she stood at the edge of the black ocean, the waves washing up to her feet as she looks out to the far ever-expanding blackness. He could see she was holding her hands behind her back, gripping one hand tightly over the other.
"Maka…" He calls out to her, as he steps forward…but is stopped as his foot touches something that was halfway embedded within the sand. Looking down, he saw ever so clearly what it was, even in the blackness of this place.
It was a mask of a certain cartoonish skull. That belong to a certain cartoonish reaper.
"…oh." Crona mumbles in a knowing and…somewhat bitter tone. "You saw that, didn't you?" He asks a question he already knew the answer to. "He was…not Kid, not the same one you knew. Not anymore." He tries to defend himself, but he knew better.
She knew better.
He steps over the mask, and walks to her. "The Soul Gem had corrupted him. Made him into something else. He could not bear the mass of infinite that the gem could give." Though he was at her side, he kept his distance. He does not even turn to look at her. There was no need, he could feel her eyes were staring into him. And while some part of him enjoy the attention she gave…the rest of him just felt nothing but shame.
He looks down at himself, at the very same gem that had destroyed the Kid he knew of so many years ago. He brings the gauntlet up, resting the palm of it on his own chest. He could feel that his heart was quivering, even though the gauntlet's metal. "I'm sorry." He manages to push out. Taking a moment to collect himself as best he could before he could continue. "I could have maybe reasoned with him, tried to save him just as you did me. But he showed me things…answered questions I didn't ever dare to ask. My anger, my pain….it took hold and I am sorry. I am so…so sorr-"
He is stopped…as he feels something.
He didn't even know what it was for a moment…till he found himself on the knocked down to the sand, placing one of his hands against his cheek and Maka was…standing over him. Trying to seem coy, even as she was shaking her hand like she just hit a wall. "D-Did you just punch me?" Crona asks out in disbelief.
As she continues to look on at the ocean of black blood in front of them, Crona continues to rub at his cheek. The hit…was nothing really. Thinking that Ragnarok's little fist when he was small hurt more than that. But it was mainly the idea of his hope hitting him that had shaken him up. "Maybe…I deserved that. No, I did actually." He mumbles out…only to stop as Maka takes a stomp toward him.
He quickly readies himself to take another soft hit…but it never comes. Instead he was met with something much worse. Maka was just glaring down at him with…a look. A mere look, yet it held so much. He could see it all in her beautiful green eyes.
The anger, the worry, the fear, the dread…the disappointment all directed to him.
It hurt more than any punch or stab.
She remained silent still though, as she kneels right down next to him…and takes his hand into her own. The one that wore the gauntlet. Her attention all on the green gem of infinity as she slowly runs the tip of her fingers along it. Crona understood now, what truly caused those emotions he saw in her eyes.
He spoke as softly as he could. "…What happed to him, won't happen to me." The gem began to faintly glow in response to her touch. She just keeps her eyes on the gem, staring deeply into it while keeping all those emotions in her eyes. Crona gently moves his other hand up to Maka's face, resting it on her cheek. "I swear to you Maka…this gem will not change me."
She takes a deep breath, and slowly blinks her eyes for a moment…before taking Crona's hand from her face and placing it on the back of the gauntlet. Leading his hand along it…to the five slots that were at the knuckles of his fingers and thumb.
Each meant to hold a certain gem of infinity.
So much power that is unthinkable, right in the palm of his hand.
Crona knew what plagued his hope, or at least he thinks it was. "Kid had told me about the others, I had seen them in the well. I know where they are, I'm looking for them." Maka slowly begins to shake her head. "You need not worry. I-I've gotten stronger…I am still getting stronger. I can get them, easily." She continues to softly shake her head, even as Crona stands himself up to his feet, and raise his voice. "Maka…with them, I-I can fix everything! I can make everything as it was…better than what it was!"
Maka brings her hands up to her the sides of her head, as her whole body starts to shake. Crona, grabs her arms and stops her, a large excited smile on his face. "No, Maka please! You need to understand, with these…I…I CAN do it! Medusa can be nice, no more fighting between the witches and DWMA, no more pain, no more…anything bad! I…I…" He stops himself…as Maka looks up to him.
…small tears beginning to buildup in her eyes.
The words move out of him before he could stop himself. "W-We could be together again…w-why don't want that?" He keeps his hold on Maka's arms and kneels down to her level, as the tears begin to drop from her face. Quiet…still quiet.
All she gave was a small shake of her head.
"N-…no…no, please tell me, you can't just say no." His voice begins to creak slightly, seeing his hope crying in front of him was…unbearable, even worst as he couldn't understand why she was doing so. "Please…please Maka, tell me. Answer me, why do you not want us to be together!? Why…why Maka!? Wh-"
He's stopped as he feels something…touch him.
A hand had grabbed his shoulder.
Shocked at the feeling of the touch, Crona turns his head to behind him…and there stood, in his proper reaper's robes, with his cartoonish mask on the side of his head...was a completely normal looking Kid as he said. "You really have a hard time listening, do you?"
Crona's Quest
POWER
A jolt, and Crona wakes up panting for breath.
His eyes quickly scanned around him, as he held a hand out in front of him. The feeling of power builds up for a moment…but stopped as he looks around and sees there was no one else here with him. He rests his upper body back down.
He was laying on a piece large piece of rock, within an old broken building. He turned his head to look outside, through the large opening that the building had.
Just more broken buildings, streets, and sand…lots of sand. It had been…a long while sense he had fought with Kid back in the ruins of Death City, and sense then…they have been traveling. Looking for a certain place. A village.
For the Infinite Gem of Power
Though it was no easy task to follow directions given from a well of infinite knowledge. That…and fighting off the massive feeling of hunger, which he remembers is what he passed out from. A rather…embarrassing moment he would not like to think about.
He places a hand over his eyes…pausing for a bit as he noticed it was the hand that wore the gauntlet, before he begins to run his hand down his face. "Ragnarok?" He softly calls out, and hears no response. Pushing himself back up to a seating position, Crona gives out a small groan. "Great…probably still…sleeping. Great help there." He mumbles under his breath, as he tries to push himself from the make-shift bed…only to stop as he feels an empty pain in his stomach, and forces him to seat back down.
"Owie…" He moans out as he hunches a bit over. He was no stranger to the feeling of hunger, he had spent many nights without food…but now…now it's been about who knows how long since he's even eaten anything. The only thing that could be thought up of food would be that drink that Eruka gave him.
And even by poison standards, it tasted awful.
"Hey, fuckfac-" A voice calls out, and before Crona could even realize whose voice it was, the power builds through his body and two skinny pillars of blackness shoot from his eyes, right to the direct that the voice had come up.
Giving a few hard blinks to help clear his vision quickly, Crona gives a shake of his head and looks at his target…and sees a completely black version of himself, save for the gloves and large white 'X', was standing at the opening of the building…with two large holes going through his chest.
Ragnarok looks down at himself for a moment, bringing a hand up to gesture to the holes he had in him now. "Really?" He calls out, as the one of the upper corners of his 'X' raised a little. "Well, Good Morning to you too." He growls out as he walks further into the building, the holes in his chest sealing themselves up like nothing happened.
"…Sorry, didn't know it was you." Crona mumbles out as he places a hand over his eyes to rub at them for a bit. While Ragnarok just sets something on the floor and begins to work on a pile of wood that seem to have already been place there. "Well, let's be happy that you're getting the hang of it now, and you aren't fucking flying off every time you do that 'eye beam' crap." Crona removes his hand and gets ready to say something back, but pauses as he notices what Ragnarok had brought…it looked to be some kind of animal. A mix of a weasel and a goat.
"Did you…go hunting?" Crona asks, seeing the that the creature was not only dead, but had a hole going through its side. Ragnarok looked up from the pile of wood and saw what he was referring to. "Oh yeah, I mean your stupid ass was still asleep, I needed to do…something. So, it was either that, or just creepily watch you sleep. By the way…a thank you isn't too hard considering I had to chase this fucking thing with a stick and a pointy rock." He says, before he continues to try and start a fire by rubbing two sticks together.
Ignoring the feeling in his stomach, Crona pushes himself off his makeshift bed, and falls face first right next Ragnarok. The Demon sword not even moving to help him as he started to become frustrated with the wood not burning. For a few moments Crona just continued to watch him, and then back to the killed animal before he asks. "…Why did you use a spear? Couldn't you just…stab it with your…I guess you can say body?" Ragnarok gives a scuff as he drops one of the sticks back on the pile of wood, and easily picks Crona up into a sitting position with one hand.
"Look there is just some things us weapons don't do. Eat something we killed with ourselves is kinda one of them. It would be kinda like…I dunno, eating something that you just stepped on with your barefoot…it's weird." He then continues to try to start a fire.
Moving into a more comfortable position, and crossing his legs, Crona gives a small groan as he grabs his stomach. "Ow." He mumbles out, with Ragnarok giving another scuff as he lightly elbows Crona's side. "Yeah, feel that? It's called not eating for literally years. Honestly, we should have gotten something to eat right after waking up. Guess you being a Kishin doesn't go that far…or does it? I mean that Asura guy probably didn't need it…did he get feed while he was in that- fuck it." Ragnarok rambles on before he stops himself and continues to try and start a fire.
"…you're doing it wrong." Crona tells him, as he leans a bit forward and takes one of the sticks from Ragnarok's hands. "Oh, then you do it mister eyebea-" Ragnarok begins…only to stop as he sees Crona grip the tip of the stick and it instantly begins to steam and catch fire, before he tosses it back into the pile. The rest of it starting to burn.
Ragnarok stares at the flames for a moment…before quickly looking to Crona with the upper part of his 'X' raised in shocked. "How the fuck did you do that!?" He shouts in a bit of amazement, as Crona just moves to another sitting position. Holding his legs close to his chest this time as he held them in place. His eyes were on the flames as it began to slowly grow in size.
"Remember back to that time where we stayed in the cabin, off in that snowy mountains?" He asks, as he rests his chin on his knees. Watching as the fire danced along the woods surface, how everything under it died. How the wood was burning so horridly, that the small cackling of burn bark could be thought of as if it was screaming in agony.
Crona gives a small hum as he realizes that those old…'hippies' as Ragnarok called them were right. Trees do have souls. Small, very small kinds. Can't even be seen by people, even Meisters. It wonders for a moment how he can see it…till a bit of light shines in his eye…and he looks to his left hand, that house the green Infinity gem.
He fights the urge to groan out a small 'of course' as he places his hand to the floor. While he was thinking all this, Ragnarok was busy. Impaling the animal that he killed with a large stick, and using two others and some small stones to stand it up over the fire.
As he sits back down next to Crona he asks. "…wait hold on, was that before or after the time that bitch of your mother dragged us to Mexico, and you took a shotgun blast to the face? I'm not gonna lie…most of what happened during that is kinda a blur for me." He says while giving a wave of his hand.
Crona takes a deep breath as he places his right hand on the side of his face, remembering back to what Ragnarok was talking about. Learned quick that some people really didn't like his mother that day…especially when she had apparently killed their brother. "After." Crona mumbles as he places his hand back around his leg, with his eyes drifting low to the ground as he thinks back to that night.
"It was very late, and Medusa kept me up to run some test on me just in case the direct hit to the back of skull left any 'lingering problems'. I think you were asleep at the time…or was really annoyed you didn't get to have some of those weird food they served-" He stops as Ragnarok quickly stands back up, Crona's eyes widen expecting something to happen…only for Ragnarok to turn to him and shout.
"Enchilada and Tamales are not in the 'weird food' category, you ass! They are fucking delicious…and oh my god, I am pissed now cause I just realize I can never have those again! Son of a bitch!" Crona gives a small smile as he sees Ragnarok slap himself right over the 'X' and begins to grumble out low curses. "Okay…okay…" He says a bit louder, as he slides his hand down his face and turns to look at Crona again…seeing the smile that he had on his face. "Oh, I'm sorry am I amusing you?! Am I freaking clown for you now…just tell me how the fuck to start a damn fire already."
Crona gives a tiny snicker, before he quickly composes himself as he begins to explain. "Well the place didn't have much of a heater, and it was getting really cold inside. I saw Medusa walk to the fire place and…do that." Crona says while gesture to the fire, and then placing his fingers together in a ready to snap position. "I asked how she did it…and she told me that it was just a small trick with one's soul. If you have enough control over it, you can maybe produce a little spark large enough to catch something flammable on fire. It's…kinda of the same thing that makes people somethings get shocked when they touch another person." With a snap of his fingers, a very small flicker of light blue quickly flashes in his hand.
"Shit…you mean to tell me, you never used that in a fight before?" Ragnarok asks, with a 'trying to be clear' look on his face. As Crona places his hand back down he continues to explain. "It's not really useful in a fight, and it can't even be used to light a room or anything. It's just a tiny spark." Crona then looks back to the fire, with his face…turning somber. "…She said that was just a trick that she learned back when she was with a gypsy group, and they had to spend many nights in the cold."
A loud scoff comes from Ragnarok as his arm stenches to the cooking dead animal, turning it on the stick a bit, trying to roast more of it. "Shit…she actually talked with you? I'm shocked." He says in a tone of disbelief as his arms reshapes to normal.
Crona gives a small shrug at that. "No…I think she was just…reminiscing. Had this…faraway look in her eyes." He says, giving a small wave in front of his face with his gauntlet-free hand. "I tried to ask her what a gypsy was…and she gave me a dictionary and sent me out of the room." Ragnarok gives a loud 'HA' sound as he gets up from the floor, and walks outside for a bit.
He returned soon after with a make-shift spear in his hand, with the tip still a bit bloodied. "Let me guess…you thought it started with a 'J' didn't you?" Ragnarok says jokily as he sits back down next to Crona, and begins to untie the sharpen rock that was on top of the stick. He catches the embarrassed look Crona had just before he placed his face into his hand.
"You're such a stupid ass." Ragnarok Chuckles out, before he turns the rock to Crona. Offering the blunt end to him. "You want to do the honors?" He asks, with Crona giving a glance at the rock, and then back to the cooking animal. A bit of hesitation in his eyes as he gripped his legs a bit tighter.
"…You sure that…whatever that thing is…is really safe to eat?" Ragnarok gives a shrug, as he flips the rock around and holds it like a dagger. "…Well…I don't think you're in the market to be picky." He mumbles out as he wipes the blood away with his free hand.
Crona gives a cautious look at the animal, only though as he realizes something…the aroma that it had. It made the pain in his stomach grow worst, enough to make him give out a groan. "That's a good enough way to tell it's ready." Ragnarok said, as he stood up from the ground again and takes the creature off the fire, ripping off one of its legs for himself, before throwing the rest of it at Crona…which had smack into his face like a basketball and knocked him onto his back.
Giving a chuckle, he walks to the opening of their little temporary 'home'. "…seriously man, eat up. Last thing I need is your ass passing out on me again. Bad enough I had to drag you all the way out here." The bottom half of his entire head just seems to open like a large jaw, with him just tossing in the leg within the black mass and in seconds he is spitting out the means of bones and giving a satisfied sigh.
He then turns to look behind him, seeing how Crona was nibbling on the animal's stomach as best he could. It was like watching a squirrel eat. With another chuckle at the thought of Crona with buck teeth…it dies down quickly as his eyes fall to the gauntlet.
It's been so long since Crona had that thing on…yet, sometimes Ragnarok could still feel it. The unyielding power that little rock held. Enough that just a small touch of it was enough…to give him so much strength that he could finally leave his… 'prison'. Something hundreds of souls couldn't do.
To have such power in his hand, the question was obvious. "…how is it like? Wearing that thing on hand?" He asked, Crona pausing mid-chew as he looked up to the black blood version of himself, seeing it was staring at him.
Crona looks down at himself, bring his gauntlet hand up so it was close to his face. The Gem gave a small shine and for a moment…Crona could have swore he saw something within it, looking at him right back. He ignores it as he continues to eat for a bit more. Taking in the dry taste the creature gave. Honestly, Crona was shocked how good it came out. Though that might be due to lack of food for so long. He was honestly shocked it was happening to him now.
"Hey, I asked you a question!" Ragnarok shouts, as he began to get annoyed…but flinches as he sees the gem in Crona's gauntlet faintly glow. "…it's like…hard at times. I don't know how to really say it." Crona mumbles out, as looks at the gauntlet again. "Imagine trying to see all of the ocean at once…" Ragnarok looks visible confused by that.
"Um…like you're in the middle of a large pile of ants, and…there is so many that it just looks like a large black puddle around you?" He offers another analogy, but this just causes Ragnarok to lean back and give a small disgusted groan. "That's terrifying." Crona shakes his head and takes another bit from the creature. "Like I said…it's hard to explain."
Truly it was for him, as whenever he looked into the green gem on the gauntlet it was like an ocean, an ocean of souls. Their numbers just continuing on and on, as the name 'infinity' would imply. It was like trying to grasp an entirely different world. From every single plane of existence, they were there. Souls from the beginning, the end, from different worlds, different spaces, different everything.
Crona had tried to focus, to grasp as much as he could, but it was like trying to pick up a specific type of match from an entire bucket of them, with boxing gloves on.
…and now having thought up that analogy, he feared that Ragnarok was rubbing off on him as these kinds of images plagued his head.
All he wanted was to find…her.
Find Maka's soul, his hope's soul.
But no matter how hard he looked within the gem, it was impossible.
The rest of their time was spent eating and giving small talk between each other. Before long the two were back to traveling. The area they were in was far from the ruins of Death City, how far couldn't be said exactly, but it was far...yet not far enough for a different looking area. As the two travel all they seem to find was, as Ragnarok would phrase it, 'a hell hole of dirt, cactus, and sand…hold the cactus.'
Crona didn't see the reason to complain about it though, ever since they had been to Death City and had gotten him to reform himself it has been much easier to travel. Aside from the few stops every now and again to regain their bearings…not having flown for such a long time could give someone a tag bit of nausea when suddenly doing it again.
Something Ragnarok keeps remaining him with comment like 'what are you even gonna throw up anyway, dust?' and telling him to quit being a wimp about it. "Honestly man, you think after all this time you would have gotten used to being hungry." Ragnarok mumbles, with his head forming out of Crona's back as they flew.
"Yeah, then again I've never gone years without real food before." Crona mumbles back, his arms crossed against his chest as he looked to the ground for any sign of their target. They shouldn't be far now. As Ragnarok mumbles a small 'true' at his comment suddenly Crona's gem begins to glow.
Taking notice, Ragnarok spoke up quickly. "Okay, glowing is good right?!" He nearly shouts panicky. Remembering what had happened before, first time he had gotten a body…second time a cyclone of raw power form around them and completely destroyed the ruins of the DWMA building…he really wasn't looking forward to what was gonna happen now.
Though he was panicked, Crona was completely calm. Staring into the gem with widen eyes. It was as if it were…speaking to him. "Turn 54 degrees to your left, start counting backwards from 83 while slowly descending…and we'll reach the second gem." He says, speaking in a low tone that Ragnarok could barely hear.
"I'm sorry, did you just GPS my ass?" He asked, only for Crona to reach up to grab the bottom of his chin and pulls him down to his face. "Just trust me on this!" Crona shouts at him. Though heavily annoyed by the teen's raising his voice at him, Ragnarok did as he was told as best he could.
Of course, giving an attitude the entire time. "54….53…52…51…still nothing Crona, the hell were you expecting from just pointing me in a random direction? 45…44…43…" He continued, with Crona looking around hastily as he answered.
"I could hear them, numerous voices within the soul gem. T-they told me where to turn to, where to look." He says, with Ragnarok looking down at him with one of the upper parts of his 'X' raised. "And that doesn't strike you as odd…because…" He trails off in the end, hoping to let Crona finish for him.
"…I can't exactly explain it, but…I feel as if, the gems…want to be together, like it draws me to where they are." Crona is unable to see the unamused look Ragnarok holds as they land on the ground. "Oh well shit, a fucking gem locator. Now we really are sounding like D&D nerds."
Crona continues to walk forward, continuing to look around them for anything else. "…what's D&D, is that a term for one of those weird things people do to each other?" The land around them was barren, nothing seems to be in sight expect for the sand.
Ragnarok form returned to his 'Crona-like' shape as looked he was about to say something but pauses for a moment, as a look of realization shows on his 'X' face. "…okay, I was gonna make a joke about sex and D&D never coming close together…but that kinda summed it up perfectly." Ragnarok chuckles out for a bit at his own joke.
With an annoyed roll of his eyes, Crona continued to search for something that the gem was directing him too. Wondering just what could have pulled him to this placed. It had looked no different at all to the rest of this desert. He is left to wonder, what the gem was trying to lead him too.
He reserved the answer far sooner then he had expected though.
As he taken another step forward to survey the area again…and suddenly felt the sand shift under his foot…and completely cave in underneath his weight. "Ah!" "SHIT!" The duo each cry out at the sudden feeling of them falling through the ground…and continuing to do so.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Ragnarok cries out as he quickly shifts back into his winged form, to try and stop their fall. The flow of air there though wasn't like outside and trying to catch any under his wings were impossible. The result was the two of them crashing hundreds of feet to the ground.
A loud crash was heard from as they fell and hit the ground, which was made up of more sand and surprisingly…pavement. Which easily broke apart under Crona's weight dropping on it. "…ow." He mumbles out, more out of habit then from actual pain as he felt the impact of his fall more than anything else.
Placing a hand on the shoulder he landed on, he felt nothing was broken or loosen and gave a sigh of relief that he was fine. "God damn it, why am I not shocked that out of the entire desert, WE would be the ones to find a hole to fall through!" Ragnarok shouts as he reforms back to normal again…and the two pause their banter as they see where exactly they fell.
It was…a neighborhood.
Old and decrepit, but a normal looking neighborhood nonetheless. A typical suburban community it looked to be, with houses with seemly two floors and much room for a yard. What was really strange was how…well kept it looked. At worst it was like a bad storm came through here, but that was it. There were still windows clean enough to see through, the yards had their grass looking oddly healthy, he could even see flowers and some bushes with what seem to be fruit there.
Crona's eyes then moved upward from where he feel and saw that he was in a large…dome-like cave. The small opened he fell through was right over him, showing that there were several openings like it which provided the light for this place.
But as he moves to his feet and readies himself to explore…but he is stopped as all the doors to the houses around him open…and out steps the 'people' that lived here. "Oh, you got to be fucking kidding me." Ragnarok mumbles out in disbelief as large insects of different breeds all came out of their homes, standing outsides the houses and looking right at them.
Their antennas all twitch, and he could hear strange sounds echoing from their mouths. Some were turning to each other, and directed these actions to one another. They were communicating to each other. Crona's eyes widen as saw this. "T-they…they are actually…thinking?" He mumbles quietly to himself, noticing more things. This being very much different than most of the creatures he had met and seen since he had come here. How they were keeping their distance, that they looked more frighten by him rather than angry. He could see that the smaller, most likely, younger ones, were being held behind what could be their mothers and fathers.
He lowers his fists as he sees this. Ragnarok reacting as anyone would expect. "The fuck you doing? Unless you got a can of raid on you, we got to squish these bastards the old fashion way!" He forms out of Crona's back and shifts his right arm into a blade form. He was stopped from rushing forward as Crona grabs him with his gauntlet hand.
"Wait…look around, they aren't attacking us." Crona tells him, keeping his eyes to the insect people around them. "Oh congrats, they learn the art of being patient." Ragnarok says sarcastically, as he tries to shake off Crona's hand to no avail. The boy just kept his grip as he told the demon sword in a warning tone. "And you would think that over two thousand years would have done the same for you."
Just then, one of the insects came towards them. No rush, nor hostility to be found. Crona could even tell it was carefully taking steps, as if not to startle him or Ragnarok. Strange echoing sounds came from it, as it twitched its antennas at him. "It's trying to talk to us." Crona says as he lets go of Ragnarok's shoulder.
The Demon sword just gives out a scoff as he turns to face the bug. "Look at you, about a few seconds here and you already made a friend. Look, I'll roll with it, but the moment it tries laying eggs so it's young could burst out of your chest, I'm burning this place down."
"Would you stop talking for a few seconds, so I can think." Crona says in an annoyed tone as he tries see how he could try speaking to the bug creature, while Ragnarok just continued grumble back at him. "What's the point, not like there is an 'English to bug dictionary' around. What's next, you're gonna speak Greek to it?" He finishes with a teasing tone.
Crona held back a sigh, knowing what Ragnarok was referring two. Another of the things that his mother had taught him was how to speak and read the her natural language. Something the Demon sword like to poke at from time to time, for whatever reason.
"…I don't know, will you speak Norse?" Crona says, trying to throw the comment back at him. Only for the demon to just chuckle as says. "Why don't I?! (Hey, numbnuts!)" He says while turning to face the insect. "(You understand the words coming out of my mouth?!)" Seeing it look at them with confusion provided him with the answer. "God, how is it I don't even know a thing about bugs but I clearly tell he has no idea what the hell I am saying?" He blurs out angerly, as he turns around and throws his arms in the air.
Crona rushes in front of him and places the gauntlet hand on the demon sword's chest. "Ragnarok would you just-" Before Crona could finish though, the Soul Gem on the gauntlet began to glow suddenly in a bright light. It lasts for only a single second as it quickly faded back to its normal state, but the two were frozen as they did not know what it had actually done.
After a few seconds of silence, it was unsurprisingly Ragnarok that spoke first. "Uh-oh…it glowed, what's that mean? Do I have cancer now or something?" Crona looks up at him as he pulls his hand away, looking irritated as he says. "How would that even-…forget it." He groans out as he steps away from the him and nearly walks right into now excited insect that had walked up to them.
"mu'cah! I was starting to think, neither of you knew our language." It says in an ecstatic tone, with both of them being able to perfectly understand him now, which understandably had started the two.
Ragnarok quickly turns to face the insect and with the 'X' open outward straight in an almost shocked expression. He leans close to Crona and whispers. "…did that fucking thing just talk in Norse!?" He asks, with Crona whispering back. "…I heard Greek."
"What are you two speaking about?" The joyful insects ask, as he takes an eager step closer to them. Ragnarok, in wishing to try and get some footing in the situation, grabs Crona's shoulders and drags him away from it with him. "Um…excuse us for a minute." He says in a rarely heard polite tone.
Crona did not fight his hold, as the two quickly turn their back to the insect and huddle together so that they couldn't be over heard by it, or it could see their faces. "Ragnarok…I think it is the gem, it somehow seems to…link the souls to…allow us to communicate with each other, I think it might be with what language we feel at home with." He tries to explain, rationalizing what had happened as best he could.
Though he had seen much when he gazed into the Infinity Well, even it couldn't provide him with just how the infinity gems had worked. Their power was that that immeasurable, not even an object made from their power had the ability to see its limits.
Ragnarok was as joyful from the revelation as one would expect him to be. "Oh, so it's a fucking translator too. Congratulations gem of infinite power, you manage to figure that out, yet you forgot to tell us we were supposed to fall down a hole a few minutes ago. Good job!" He says, grabbing Crona's gauntlet hand and talking to the gem itself.
Crona swiftly pulls his hand away from his grip and mumbles. "Ragnarok, it's not like the gems are sentient." To which Ragnarok just threw his arms up in the air again and says back. "You don't know that! Would it seriously surprise you if it was?!"
He opens his mouth for a response but stops himself. Instead he takes another long look at the gem in his gauntlet. Now that Ragnarok had brought the idea, Crona could not deny that it held much ground. It would explain the way the gem had felt as it flowed through his mind, and how it's power moved in low waves throughout his body. Like the how a living being would hold a conversation and breath. "…okay, good point."
Crona admitted, but as he turns back to look at the insect he tells Ragnarok. "But that only means I have more to learn…Hello." He greets the creature, walking up to it and giving a small bow to try and be polite.
Ragnarok leans his head back and gives out a frustrated sigh, before joining Crona's side. The creature looks at the two with confusion again, before it asks. "Well you two are certainly strange. Not from around here, I would guess, yes?"
Giving a scoff, Ragnarok points a finger up to the hole that both he and Crona had fallen through. "From out of town, we came from the sky you see." He says in a fake cheerful tone, the kind Crona knows as his 'used car salesman tone'. He liked using it a lot whenever he liked to annoy him whenever he doesn't know stuff.
The insect had not managed notice the mocking tone Ragnarok was giving them, instead seeming to be concern as it looked the two over. "That you did. That was quite a fall you both had taken, are you okay?" It says, leaning closer to them with its antennas twitching close enough to nearly touch them.
"No, we're fine. We've taken a lot worst." Crona says as he instinctually moves away, not knowing how to deal with the large bug touching him. He wasn't a fan of them when they were small, being larger then him now was a little much.
"Shit, have we. Shoot at, stabbed, beaten up, burned, thrown around like a rag-doll, attempted poisoned, attempted melted, eaten and spat out, starvation…and that was only before our lives got somehow worst." Ragnarok listed off, counting off his fingers all that had happened to them so far from their travels.
The insect gives a low clacking noise from its throat before it continued to speak. "Ma'telo. I am so sorry to hear of that, are you both lost? Our people would be happy to help you. Come, come everyone." As he spoke, he turned to signal others to come to them, all the other insects that had previously watched while keeping their distance, quickly began to come towards them.
"We're getting a big infestation around us…" Ragnarok says, clearly not liking how they were beginning to crowd around Crona and himself. His tone alone told Crona that if one of these creatures so much as twitch one of their six appendages at him wrong, he would just start attacking without thought.
"Shut…up." Crona tells him as sternly as he could, while keeping his voice low. His raises it back to normal as he talks to the one insect that first spoke to them. "We're not lost…if anything I think we were directed here. Please is there someone we can talk to, someone who is in charge, a leader of some kind."
The insect gave out a joyful clicking noise. "Ohhh, the Ma'tnota!" It says loudly, causing all too suddenly all the insects surrounding them to burst into a loud mass of clicking noises. All seeming to into talking among themselves about the name the first insect spoke of excitedly. And also, about the travelers who have come to speak to it.
"The fucks a Ma tontn?!" Ragnarok whispers while leaning closer to Crona, his body shifting a bit as he sees how excited they all were. Crona tries to calm him down by holding his non-gauntlet wearing arm out in front of Demon Sword.
The first insect had stepped even closer to the two. "I don't know, but please let me talk to them. He could be who we are looking for." Crona quickly whispers back, right before the creature could speak again.
"He is leader, as you said. He is at his home, I will gladly take you, if it pleases you." It tells them, but before Ragnarok could give out a comment, Crona spoke up first. "It would help us a lot, thank you very much."
As the insect turned to the crowd around them to clear a path, Ragnarok pulls Crona into another huddle. "You literal son of a bitch, we could be walking straight into a trap! Okay, I'm placing bets now…if this is gonna end with me saving your ass and saying, 'get away from her, you bitch', this is kinda a dream come true for me."
Crona just rolls his eyes at another one of his partner's references he didn't understand and pulled away from him. "Ragnarok, please!" He stresses the plead as he begins to follow the first insect as he already had a path cleared and was walking away.
"Yeah, yeah…" Ragnarok mumbles back as he walked forward to follow him, keeping his guard up the entire time. "I swear if beating death actually made that fucker cocky…" He mumbles quietly to himself, before letting it go. His own and Crona's thoughts quickly turning attention to the place they were now in.
From the look of it all, it seemed to have been a suburban neighborhood turned into a small town, or rather a village. They walked by small homes that used to house people, and huts that seem to be made from harden mud and old concrete. Many other insects all came out of their homes as they saw them walk by, easily able to hear the mumbles they were giving to each other.
After a short while of walking, the insect leading the two had stopped in front of the largest building that the village seem to have, which seemed to be about three stories tall, with no windows at all. It looked to be held together by a mixture of many things that surprising made it seem the most durable out of all the buildings here.
"This is the home of the Ma'tnota, our leader and Champion." The insect told them, before it bows down on the floor, right next to the open doorway leading inside. Not seeing much light though, a bit of hesitation came over Crona.
Something Ragnarok didn't notice, as he was instead looking at the insect who was now presses its face against the floor. "The fuck are you doing?"
"We bow down, as to show the respect our Ma'tnota deserves. It is he who is protecting us, it is he who has guided us, and it is he tha-" "Okay, I get it." Ragnarok rudely interrupts as he looks at the building again. Not liking how dark it seemed with its lack of windows and having what seemed to be only one entrance inside.
"I know I haven't exactly been secretive about my feelings for all this…but I don't like this." He says in an obvious tone, as he crosses his arms. "Look at this fucking evil lair, Crona are we actually doing this?!"
His loud upset tone was enough to momentarily knock Crona out of his own thoughts. "Huh-what? I'm sorry." This, Ragnarok did take notice of. "You doing alright?" Crona gives a small shake of his head to help clear his thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Stay here. I'll…go inside." He says, trying to shake of the sudden feeling of familiarity that crept to him. Only happened during certain rooms with no light, the kind that gave him a sense of déjà vu. His many dreams of the dark and his hope he's had was not helping his situation.
He refuses to let this stop him though as he tries to walk into the building, only for Ragnarok to quickly rush up in front of him.
"…how about no?" The demon sword says, before shoving Crona back. Surprising the teen a bit as he looks back at the weapon in surprise. "Ragnarok, listen. The infinity well showed me exactly who this holder was. I know exactly what to expect from him." He says, while gesturing to the building with his gauntlet hand.
Ragnarok leans his head back a bit as his eyes turn to stare at the gauntlet. "Really…because I don't seem to remember you telling me that the fucker lived in an underground town and surrounded by fucking BUG PEOPLE- no offense." He quickly interrupted as he snaps his fingers and pointed at the still bowing insect that lead them here.
"None taken, friend." It tells them, as watch the two speak to each other.
"So, it's either that well, fucked you over and decided to hold out some important little details like that…OR your stupid ass overlooked said important details. And I gotta be honest…I am one hundred percent willing to believe that both of these things happened." He says, before giving another shove to Crona's chest.
A low annoyed hum leaves Crona, before he forces himself to take a deep breath and calm himself. "…You're right, I'm sorry. But look…we are already here. I'll go in, and I'll talk to him." He tries to rationalize with him as best he could, but Ragnarok just raised one of the corners of his 'X'.
Getting angered by the look alone, Crona tries to assure him. "Ragnarok, please! I have this!" But Ragnarok just continued to give him the same look, till he finally decided to speak. "So, let me get this genius plan of yours straight. I'm gonna stay out here, away from you, while you go talk to the guy who you told me has so much potential power, he could fart, and it have the same impact as a nuke."
"I didn't say that." Crona groans as he tightly closes his eyes and turns away from the duplicate of himself. "I mean…he could do that but…Well…I mean- that's just gross and-" He begins to ramble, before Ragnarok suddenly grabs his arm and drags the teen into the building with him.
"Oh, for fuck sakes, come on!" He says, begrudgingly, already knowing how this would end, and hopes that if he would rush through it, it would also end quickly. He regrets that choice as with the instant he and Crona entered, the doors of the building had closed behind them, leaving them in complete darkness.
A small whimper is heard, and before he could react, suddenly Ragnarok feels a hand tightly gripping over the one that he was using to hold Crona. He already knew it was the teen himself and had to hold himself back from letting out an annoyed sigh. Even with all that has happened with them, and all they had face, including holding Infinity in their palm.
Crona was still a traumatize child, with a near-crippling case of nyctophobia. The was a simple fact that both of them knew. Though he had great power within him, the dark was something else. It reminded Crona of too many things.
Or rather one simple thing.
His failures.
He tries to rid his thoughts of them, focus instead on something to keep him grounded. Such as his breathing and Ragnarok's hold on his arm. He couldn't even move his legs for a moment as they felt weighted down. He had just wish for a light to guide him.
And two were provided almost instantly.
One from his gauntlet, that shined a bright green that illuminate both himself and Ragnarok's body, up to even half the room, showing how bare it was of any kind of furniture or comfort, like the inside of a cave. The other half of the room was lit, by a menacing red light, the same shade as blood. Both Crona and Ragnarok took a notable step back together as they witness the one that they had searched for.
One that stood over them in size and stature, with its body holding an armored shape with notable scars from past battles. With one of his horns seeming to have been snapped off at the past. It did have more 'human' traits then the other insects. It had better posture, holding itself upright much better than the others. It also seems to have some idea of clothing, as it had braces on two of its arms and a large also belt around its waist right below it's two extra sets of skinny arms.
The two each wondered if the so called 'Ma'tnota' would be like one of the insects they saw.
They had gotten their answer as its twelve eyes all look down at them, the red glow of the gem was embedded underneath its main horn. That was what mainly had Crona's attention. As he already knew exactly what it was.
The Infinity Gem of Power.
The one that allowed its user to control the amount of power of anything or anyone, and if used right could potentially wipe out all the life on an entire planet with a single wave of a hand.
Ragnarok focused on something else entirely.
"Did that well told you, it be in the hands of a giant dung beetle…who looks super pissed off." He whispers so lowly that Crona could barely even hear him, despite the two still holding each other. "I think that might just be how his face looks." Crona could only mumble back as his eyes then move down to the gauntlet hand that was holding Ragnarok's.
How the gem was shining just as brightly as the red that was in the Ma'tnota's head. Taking a deep breath to push nervousness down, Crona looks up to the large beetle creature and says. "I-"
"So, this is who you are."
The Beetle quickly responds before Crona could even finish his first word. "I had…expected more, from what I heard of you." It said in a deep voice that seem to emphasize power with his tone alone. It was almost enough to make Ragnarok trip backward on his own footing.
Crona was more focus on what it had said, rather than its voice. "…you know me?" He asks, taking the gauntlet covered hand off Ragnarok's arm and holding it towards his chest. The Soul Gem's glow turning dim as he moves it.
With a small nudge of his head, suddenly torches on the walls around the room spark on automatically, allowing them to see it with a more natural light. "No. Only have heard of you, a description of who you are. The one who conquered death himself…the one with the golden gauntlet…The Mad Titan." He spoke in an intrigued tone for a moment as his own gem lost its glow.
"…look at that…you got a new nickname." Ragnarok says in a force cheerful tone as he moves his hands to his hips. "We'll…better than just 'the demon swordsman'. Having one less syllable really makes the difference." He says, while turning to Crona. Though his face lack much in means of expressing, there was the unmistakable look on there of one begging to flee away from a situation.
Crona had not notice this look, as his eyes were trained on the Soul Gem in his gauntlet. "…the Mad Titan…" He mumbles, trying the word among his lips. The large Beetle nods his head. "Yes…I've been told of you. By nonother then the 'Godslayer' himself." It says as he turns its back to them. "Come, follow me."
It walks off, revealing that behind it was a stairway that it was blocking from view with its large firm. Crona shares a look with Ragnarok upon hearing something called the 'Godslayer'. Already knowing if someone was called that, it was for a reason. "Did I mention how much I am not liking this shit yet?" Ragnarok comments as the two follow behind the beetle, watching their steps as they move up the stone craved stairs.
The echo of the Ma'tnota's footsteps were loud, easily dwarfing Ragnarok and Crona's own as they moved behind him. It was not long before they had gone up what felt like two floors, and saw a completely different room from the one below.
It looked to be more personal, with blankets placed on the floor and makeshift old pillows on top of them. "Sit." It commanded, gesturing to them and the floor, as it walked to a throne-like seat in the center of the room. Crona doesn't though, his eyes still on the walls of the room.
Decorated on them was old weapons, and accessories. Much like the bracelets and belt the Ma'tnota had on itself. This was a leader's room, where he made choices and told others what to do. Crona knew a powerplay when he saw one. "I…prefer to stand."
Ragnarok looked at him, with the top of his 'X' becoming straighten. "Crona, lets please not piss off the giant Beetle of power, and accept his hospitality." Crona didn't move though, still standing by the stairs as he looked to the Ma'tnota sitting on its throne. It seems to notice what Crona was doing but didn't do anything with it. "I care not wither or not you choose to sit. If you wish to stand, then do so." Ragnarok gave a low sigh, mumbling something that couldn't be made out.
The Ma'tnota leaned in back in its throne, staring directly at Crona. Its many eyes trailing along each limb of the teens body and lingering on the Gauntlet more and more with each pass. Bits of his old self began to show as Crona grabs at his right arm and turns his body slightly. He was still wearing nothing but a part of old pants on him on himself.
He didn't really like the idea of being looked at while being so bare, he made a mental note to find something to cover himself more later on.
While Crona was thinking it was his form, Ragnarok was able to see exactly where the Ma'tnota many eyes kept going back too. He steps back and keeps a foot on the last step of the stairwell, incase something were to happen he knew that he needed to act quick and get himself and Crona out of there as quickly as possible.
"What is your purpose for coming to my home?" The Ma'tnota asks, raising a hand to gesture toward Crona. "Are you here for the same reason as you had for Death? To kill me?" Crona raises his hands defensively. "We don't mean to bring trouble."
"Yet it kinda follows us wherever we go." Ragnarok says bitterly, a bit louder than he intended too as Crona quickly turns around and shushes him. "Please…we…we don't want to fight. My name is Crona. This is my friend, Ragnarok." As Crona turns back to look at the large beetle, he hunches over a little.
The Ma'tnota spoke up, its large mandibles seeming to be clicking slightly as it lets out a low growl. "I care not your name, who or what your companion is. You come here for a reason, not long after the Godslayer had told me of you. If it is not to kill me or bring any 'trouble' to my people…then what is your intent?"
Crona looks to the floor, hesitation in his eyes now. He didn't know what to say or rather how to say what he demanded. He remembers back to what the Infinite well had told him of this holder of infinity. He did not truly know what the gem was, or the power he had. Yet he remembers what had happened to Kid, and how much of a struggle it was to fight him thanks to the power that the gem was giving him.
Taking a breath to calm himself, Crona decides the best course was to be honest. "I…I came because of the gem."
The teen spoke as he looks back to the Ma'tnota, his eyes staring at the Infinity Gem that was still embedded under the horn of the large beetle. "The one that you have on your head. I…I need to have it." Crona pleads, in his usual soft tone. For a moment the Ma'tnota seems taken aback from the request.
Leaning forward on his throne, as he raises one of his three fingered talons toward the gem, just barely not touching it. He remained silent for a moment in thought with no other movement, till finally he asks. "…do you know what this is?"
His large talon fingers, still close to the Infinity Gem. "…I…I believe we have different thoughts on what exactly it is." Crona says, as he sees the large beetle give a small tap to the gem. It radiates with power once more. A red glow emitting from it that almost seem like lighting was pulsing out of it.
"That may very well be true. Because if you had known, you know this is the crest of the warrior. It's an heirloom passed down to those that prove to be the strongest of our kind." It told them, before it stood to its feet. Staring down at the two that had dared to enter its home and to asks such a thing of him.
Ragnarok could easily read the room and takes another step down the stairs. He grabs at Crona's arm and gives a small tug. He was trying to silently tell Crona that they should leave while they have a chance before it was too late.
But Crona stood his ground, even as the Ma'tnota stepped toward him still it stood right over him. The light of the Infinity Gem of Power beamed down on Crona, as more clicking noises could be heard from the Beetle's jaws, or rather it's large mandibles that seems just a hair away from crutching down on Black blooded teen's head.
"I know what I am asking for, is a bit much. A-and it seems very sudden." Crona tries to reason to it. His old self was showing more. Ragnarok could feel him shaking. "But I promise you, I am doing it for a good reason. One…I can't tell you. I'm sorry, but please…I ask for your trust."
The Ma'tnota stares down at Crona some more, before turning away from him and towards one of the walls of the room. "An outsider, asking for trust after expressing a desire for something of great value." It lets out a sound similar to a, as Crona remembers Ragnarok calling them, 'chain smoker' laughing as he picks up one of the old weapons off the wall.
It was fashioned as a spear, with a four tipped prong on each end. "You are not one to asks for much things, are you?" Crona looks down at his feet and nods his head. "Only when I really need something." Crona tells it, noticing it was running one of its talons along the edge of the weapon.
The Ma'tnota seems to be in thought for some time, as it places the spear back on the wall, keeping its talons along the shaft on it. Neither Crona, nor surprisingly Ragnarok said anything as it seem to be contemplating to itself. The Demon Sword was just waiting for any sign of hostility. He would grab Crona by his other arm and throw the boy as hard as he could down the steps if he had too.
Though he would admit he was a tad too ready to do so, as he was mid-way about to throw Crona right as the Ma'tnota spoke. "I will give it to you." It said as it turned to them, seeing Crona was trying to regain his balance as Ragnarok had pulled him off one of his feet.
"Ragnarok, for the love of- just stop!" He shouts as he regains his footing and throws Ragnarok's hold off him. Giving the black blood version of himself a glare. The demon sword raised his hands up defensively as he backs away from the teen. "Sorry, panicked a bit. My bad." He apologizes while giving a shrug.
Giving a deep Sigh, Crona turns to the Ma'tnota. "So sorry, um…you were saying?" The beetle gives a cruel of its head. A clicking nose coming from it looked confused with the two. "Hmm…I said I will give it to you."
Both of them were easily taken back by the news. "R-really?!" Crona says, with a hopeful look in his eyes. "No bulshit?" Ragnarok mumbles out with the sides of his 'X' straightening.
The Ma'tnota steps away from the spear on the wall and turns to fully face the two. "Yes, though it holds much to myself as the Ma'tnota, it is only that of sentimentality. However…" It paused for a moment as Ragnarok turns around and throws his hands in the air.
"And there's the bulshit." He calls out. With a quick shush from Crona, the beetle continued. "You spoke of me placing my trust upon you. That is not something to be given, but to be earn."
"…W-what do I have to do?" Crona asks, though seems a bit hesitant on what they would have to do. Ragnarok looks back to the large beetle and crosses his arms. "If he fucking says, 'bare my children' I swear to god…" He mumbles under his breathe.
Crona and the Ma'tnota, thankfully didn't hear this comment as the large beetle stood in front of the two. "My kind are at war, with a different tribe. The red Pha'sens. They attack at random, wishing to drive us from out of our home, for a long time. Many of the Ma'tnota before me had fought against them with seemingly no end in sight."
"Oh, you got to be freaking kidding me- LET ME GUEST!" Ragnarok shouts out, while throwing his hands to the side in an exaggerate style. Crona having to duck down to avoid accidently getting hit. "You want us to help you take them down and only then after we go through this shit then you will give us the gem?"
Crona pulls himself back up and smacks Ragnarok's arm down. "Ragnarok! Would you please-" He tries to say, only for Ragnarok to continuing shouting over his voice. "No, fuck that, I've read way too many adventure books, I can see this shit from a mile away."
"Ragnarok, I have had enough-…You read adventure books?" Crona stops mid-sentence, his annoyance quickly changing to confusion as he realizes what Ragnarok had said. "The late eighties were a dark time for me. Literally, it was nothing but crappy adventure books and star trek for a while there." Crona stared blankly at him for a moment, trying to imagine how his partner used to be before they had met.
He couldn't even think about him actually sitting down to read something, let alone more than a single book. Nor did he know he had any interest in astronomy from his 'tracking of stars'. "I didn't know that about you." He mumbles in a generally shocked tone. "Well to be fair, a lot of my life was just me wondering around…I actually don't really have a lot to talk about myself…There was this one time in the seventies though where I took a shit load of LSD-"
"You two…are strange." The Ma'tnota calls out, stopping the two before they can continue to ramble to each other some more. "Back to the matter at hand of you joining the fight, I cannot ask that of you. You are just a traveler, and it would be wrong to try and drag you into our war. What I ask of you is something different." He tells them before he walks back down the stairs, leaving the room with a call to come follow him.
Ragnarok just gives a shrug, before following with Crona right behind him.
As they all step outside, the many insects that lived in the village all seem to look at them, some bowing, others giving out waves, or just loudly clicking at them. Crona and Ragnarok tried not to pay them any mind though, just as the Ma'tnota did. It was too busy speaking to them. "As you can see, this village is our home. In here we have all we could desire. And the pha'sens knows of this. Sometimes they try to attack through underhanded means…burning our crops so that they could starve us and-" Ragnarok calls out to him. "Hang on, so you want us on guard duty?"
This causes the Ma'tnota to suddenly stop walking, before it turns to look back to the small creature made of black blood. "…Does it always seek to interrupt one's thoughts?" He says as his eyes shift to look at Crona.
"…unfortunately." Crona tells him, Ragnarok rolling the 'x's' that made up his pupils in response. The Ma'tnota lets out a huff of breath, before it turns back to look forward, and continue to lead them. "Seek better control of your mate." It said, stopping both Crona and Ragnarok in their tracks while it continued to walk forward. The two snap their heads to look at one another, the 'X' on Ragnarok's face was completely spread out at all angles while Crona's face turn to a deep shade of gray.
"Did it just fucking call me your 'MATE'?!" Crona presses his face into his hands and lets a muffled groan. "No that is just…ugh, gross and weird on SO many levels. Oh man, I'm gonna be sick." Ragnarok's holds a hand up to where his mouth would be if he allowed it to form, trying to over come the nausea from the idea the Ma'tnota implied.
Pulling his face back up and shaking his head to get rid of his own disgusted thoughts of the idea, Crona rushes to reach the Ma'tnota side, walking along side it. He chose to ignore what the large beetle had said, mostly to spare himself from having to continue talking about that topic. "I am sorry, please continue." Ragnarok joins them, mumbling things under his breath while he crossed his arms.
"Right, as I was saying, they try to drive us away by attacking our crops. Burning them down and waiting for us to be weaken for their next attack." It explained as they continued to walk by the many other insects, without even giving a glance at those it passed.
"…they're acting smart." Crona says, noticing the Ma'tnota turned its head to look down at him. "I-it was something my mother had taught me, when it comes to destabilizing enemy strongholds or…villages in this case. It's one of the best ways to attack. Cause a shortage of their supplies and you a trigger a few things to happen."
The Ma'tnota stops walk, with Crona instinctually doing the same as he continued to explain, his tone changing from meek and fearful…to something deeper and thought-out. "Cutting the number of supplies, means that the enemy will have to try and focus on accommodating for the sudden change as soon as possible for them. Depending on the severity of the attack and the number of the supplies being destroyed and with enough knowledge of your enemies' location, just…about anyone can take a number of educated guesses on what can be done."
He raised a finger from his gauntlet hand.
"For example. If done well and you cut a large enough portion of their supplies and trap them within whatever place they reside by simply boxing them in, you cause massive internal drama to happen. Things such as demand and need to try and benefit toward everyone inside will distract the leaders. Things such as thievery and even mutiny can sometimes occur. Even cause total desperation in a few, making them turn on their allies…or even have them run out to their deaths from the safety of whatever they were hiding in."
"Of course, such a thing like this requires that whoever is surrounding them has enough of the most important component for the plan. And that is…patience. If you were to interfere at any point during this 'internal drama' part, then you'd might as well just throw the plan away because you add a whole new cluster of variables into the equation." He finishes, while gesturing he was throwing away an imagery piece of crumbled up paper.
"…and the Red Pha'sens have plenty of patience." The Ma'tnota lets out a small clicking noise in annoyance as he raises one of his claws to poke at his mandibles. His voice seems to help snap Crona out of tone, as he blinks his eyes and look up to the Ma'tnota nervously. "Huh…oh, uh…s-sorry. I didn't mean to go…on an entire tangent there. I-I'm so sorry."
The large beetle shakes its head at him. "Do not be. Your mother is wise to have taught you this, she did a remarkable job in raising you." It says before continuing to walk down the path it was leading them down. Crona just giving a glance to the side as he gives out a low '…yeeeeeeah…' as he follows along again.
"Pfft, ain't that right. While other mother's worried about teaching their kids how to spell 'blue', his worried he wouldn't remember how to sever a person's tendon on each limb." Ragnarok said while giving a playful shrug at the teen. "…behind the foot, in front of the knee, stab-stab-stab so that they will all bleed. Now aim for the arm-"
"Oh my god, I forgot she actually came up with a jiggle." Ragnarok shouts, with a notable grin forming on the bottom of his face as he hears Crona mumbling the song to himself. "She actually looked proud when she came up with that. Didn't help she couldn't rhythm worth shit." Crona couldn't help but agree with Ragnarok there, having actually told the song to others and hearing the same criticism from it, especially when his hope found out it was Medusa that taught him it.
"…again, you two are quite strange." The Ma'tnota stares forward as he spoke, not seeming to fully grasp the two that were walking behind him. With the so called 'Mad Titan' seeming more to be a frighten lost child and his partner being something of a mystery all together.
"Messed up part is that you are seeing us, on a good day." Ragnarok said in a completely honest tone, with Crona nodding along to it.
Putting aside their quirks, the Ma'tnota show they had reach what they needed to. "This is what I wanted you to do." The Ma'tnota says, with Crona and Ragnarok just now realizing that they have reached the edge of the village. Not far from them seem to be an entire field of what looked to be strange kind of plant life that appeared to be a cross of corn and wheat.
It stretched out for a mile wide, with a large part of it seeming to have been torn about, as one could tell with the remaining bits of plants that were left in the dirt. How something had managed to grow within this place underground and with little light confused Crona, but he passed it off as just another strange thing in this world.
The Ma'tnota raises a clawed hand to his jaw and lets out a loud cracking sound. Both Crona and Ragnarok flinch from the sudden volume, with Ragnarok mumbling how it was like a chainsaw and a blander had a child together.
Was not long after the noise, another insect made itself known. A smaller one that seemed to reach barely above Crona's chest level. It stepped out from the living field and looked to them while giving a low clicking noise. It looked to be a type of ant, with notable missing legs on it. Crona notice how it limbed as it came up to them.
"The Ma'tnota, how may I be of service?" It asks, as it gives a bow…as best it could, looking close to falling over. As it came back up to straighten itself, is sees the two travelers that came with its leader. "What are these things? They are not of our kind."
The Ma'tnota nods his head. "Indeed, you are right, farmer. These two are not of our kind, but they mean none of us harm…at least plead to be so…or rather…one does." He turns to look at Ragnarok, who had wander to the field behind the wounded ant and pulled down at one of the tall plants.
Crona's gauntletless hand, came up to cover his gray face as he notices this. "Crona, they are straight up growing fucking popcorn here! Like it is seriously already popped!" The black blood silhouette of the teen side as the top of his 'X' was straight upward in amazement. "Ragnarok, please don't eat that." He calls out, embarrassment in his voice as he rushes to partner's side to stop him.
"That one…is a bit of a problem. But they want to earn my trust, what better way…then to help you rebuild our villages food supply after the attack." The Ma'tnota spoke with the Ant as it came closer to it. Easily over hearing them, Crona and Ragnarok paused in their small struggle, with Crona being able to make the demon sword let go of the plant before he could shallow it whole.
"…I'm sorry, what?" He asks the Ma'tnota with a raised brow at the odd request of him. "He wants us to be farmers...I…don't even have a retort for that, I'm with Crona…what?" Ragnarok asks as he places a hand on his hips and tilted his head from confusion. They had expected a lot from the large insect, ranging from things such as a gladiator style arena to even being their next meal, but farming was never an idea that could come to them.
The ant begins to start clicking again, as it blinks its completely black eyes at the two. "I could use the extra hands." Ragnarok's smile returns as he points at the ant and says. "Ha! I get it."
"Get what?" "…the pun, you know…extra hands…you are missing…oh forget it." He says disappointingly, seeing that the job had easily thrown over the incest's head. "I got it." Crona offers, with a small smile, trying to help cheer Ragnarok up. "You don't count." The Demon Sword says back bitterly.
The Ma'tnota places a claw on the Ant's shoulder. "This is Hijana. This one will help you and give you guidance. You are to give life to rest of this field; our people will ration the food till then. The Red Pha'sens will not strike again for some time, so you have plenty of time for it to grow till the next Sol'en."
"Okay, I've been ignoring the made up bulshit words so far, but what the fuck is a Sol'en?! What is that? A week, a month, an hour?! How the fuck do you even tell time here? I don't see a giant clock around or anything." Ragnarok shouted, seeming to hate the bundle of new words he was hearing today. Before he could continue to speak out though, almost all the light inside the cave seem to have vanished, almost like that of a light switch being turned off.
"…what the…" "D-did…did it just become night?"
Both Crona and Ragnarok yelped in surprise, as the two quickly look around for what had happened. Seeing as if all the ground that had made up the dirt, and the cave walls and ceiling just…became nearly fully black, as if there was no light touching it at all. "How?! Just…how?! I can still see the light from the holes in the damn ceiling!" Ragnarok shouts, gesturing to the openings that remained at the top of the cave.
"These two are strange." Hijana mumbles lowly to its leader, with Ma'tnota lowering itself to the Ant's level to speak more privately among each other. "…They are…but…the larger one…the one with the gauntlet, is someone to pay close attention to. Make sure that his stay is comfortable, and that he is able to find some peace for himself while working. He seems…troubled by something." The Ma'tnota warns him with the Ant nodding his head at his leader's command.
The Ma'tnota then stood back to its full height, it's back wings spreading open as it called to get the two traveler's attention. "I will leave you in the care of the farmer, when the field becomes filled with life again…then you may come and speak to me about trust. Till then, I leave you to your duties." With that, he turns and walks away from them, leaving them alone with the Ant as it began lead them elsewhere.
"Great…so instead of a task of his trying to kill ourselves in fighting those red…whatever he called them, we are gonna try and stop ourselves from killing each other out of boredom." Ragnarok moans as he rubs at the side of his head, as if to massage a headache from forming.
"I…don't know…farming, might seem nice." Crona tells him in a slightly nervous tone, while gripping his arm. Having grabbed it as soon as it realized how dark it had become all to suddenly. Ragnarok just moves his hand to cover his face and groans knowing that this was gonna be more of a challenge of his patience than anything else.