A/N: Just a warning, this chapter will get very intense! Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (as usual).
Chapter 12
The air was fresh, with a light breeze ruffling through the trees, and the sun was shining down brightly, casting a warm glow over the Earth. Everywhere one looked, it seemed like an absolutely lovely day.
"Kind of an ironic day to kill somebody, huh?" Ragnarok commented in back of Crona's mind, making said boy stiffen.
"Hush, Ragnarok," he whispered softly so the other three boys trailing along behind him wouldn't hear.
It was the next afternoon, and Crona was leading Tamaki, Ed, and Al up the gravel driveway to his "house." Tamaki still seemed completely oblivious that something was up; the Elrics, however, were casting suspicious glances around the yard, all the while trying to keep an eye on Crona. As they reached the front door, Crona paused.
This was it. Once Tamaki went inside that house, the blonde's life would be over.
Crona took a deep breath and braced himself. He'd been trying not to think about it since last night, but the thought of never being able to see (or receive) Tamaki's kindness again hadn't left his mind. Suppressing a shiver, he grasped the door handle and opened the door.
"Um, w-we're going to go d-downstairs," he said as he made sure the other three boys were inside the house before closing the door behind them. As soon as Ed heard the lock click, he whipped around and narrowed his eyes.
"What'd you lock the door for?" he asked suspiciously.
"Uh, well, my m-mother says I should s-so we don't get burglars," Crona explained. Ed opened his mouth to say something else, but Tamaki put a firm hand on the top of his head.
"Leave him alone, Ed," the tall blonde said, and Ed's eye twitched. He whirled around, reached up, and threw Tamaki's hand to the side.
"Don't put your hand on my head!" he yelled. Tamaki gazed at him calmly.
"Why, because it makes you feel smaller than me?" he asked innocently. Al groaned as Ed let out a slight growl.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT BACTERIA IS GIANT COMPARED TO HIM?" the alchemist screamed, jumping up and down. Tamaki just continued to look at him with that serene expression.
"Sorry, Ed, but I told you to behave yourself today!" he chided. "As long as you keep being rude to Crona, I'm going to keep saying that you're you-know-what! Crona was very generous to let us come over to his house today, so we should be thankful!"
"Alright, alright!" Ed gave in, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Damn 'pure soul' . . ."
"Um, l-let's keep going, okay?" Crona said tentatively, and Tamaki nodded. As they walked past one of the doors in the hallway going towards the basement, Crona couldn't help but shiver; that was where Tamaki's father was currently being kept until he woke up. Medusa had left his body and returned to her own since she had no use for it anymore, so now Chairman Suoh was pretty much back to normal, although he wouldn't have any memory of the past few weeks.
At least Tamaki's dad will go back to normal . . . Crona thought as he shot a quick glance at Tamaki. Well . . . hopefully, if Lady Medusa doesn't decide to kill him as well . . .
"Is this it?" Alphonse asked, and Crona looked up to find that they were already at the end of the hallway.
"Oh, yes," he said quietly, staring at the large, brown door. He gulped and reached for the handle; no going back now . . .
He pulled open the door and led the three other boys down the stairs. At the bottom was a short, grey corridor with another door on the left wall. This was where Medusa and Lust were waiting.
"Um, m-my room's in here . . .," Crona said, gesturing to the door. However, he couldn't seem to do anymore than that. He stood there, frozen, until Tamaki put a hand on his shoulder.
"Do you not want us to go in?" he asked, the look in his eyes telling Crona that he knew something was bothering the shy boy.
"No . . . I-I mean, yes! I mean, um . . .," Crona sputtered, and Ed rolled his eyes.
"Do you want us to go in or not?" the alchemist asked, and Crona nodded at him.
"Yes, you can go in. Here."
He reached over and opened the door. Ed and Al stuck their heads in, scrutinizing the room for any signs of something strange, but all they found was darkness.
"Can we turn on a light?"Al asked, glancing back at Crona, who was still standing there clutching the door handle, Tamaki's hand still resting on his shoulder.
"It's in the b-back corner," Crona told them. This was a lie, of course; he knew that Medusa was the one controlling the lights, and they were off so that she and Lust could hide in the shadows until Tamaki was securely inside the room. "Just go in and you'll find it."
Ed and Al stepped into the room and Crona got ready to close the door behind them. However, he knew that he couldn't close it just yet; his job was to get Tamaki inside the room as well. Once that was done, he would sit outside and wait. If everything went as planned, Medusa and Lust would convince Ed and Al to activate the transmutation circle and Crona wouldn't have to do it. Unfortunately, Crona was pretty sure that there was no way the Elrics would do that, so he was already preparing himself for having to activate the circle.
"You can go first," Tamaki said suddenly, breaking Crona's train of thought. Crona looked at him and blinked, not realizing what he'd said.
"What?"
"I said you can go in ahead of me, if you want," Tamaki repeated. Crona stared at him and gripped his arm, shaking his head.
"No, you can go first. I'll be right behind you," Crona told him. A strange feeling was starting to overcome the pink-haired boy- a sort of numbness, as if this whole situation he was in wasn't really happening.
"Alright, mon ami," Tamaki said, and Crona flinched when he heard those words.
Mon ami . . . my friend . . . He was Tamaki's friend . . .
"Get him in the damn room already!" Ragnarok suddenly yelled, making his Meister wince. "Lady Medusa is waiting!"
"Okay," Crona said quietly, and then he looked at Tamaki once more. Gently, he brushed the blonde's hand off of his shoulder and gave him a light push towards the doorway. Tamaki glanced back at him, sensing that something was wrong. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Crona started to close the door.
"Goodbye, Tamaki," Crona said, and he saw Ed and Al whip around at the sound of his voice. When they saw the door closing, they immediately started yelling and rushing towards it, but by the time they reached it the lock was already clicking into place.
Crona slumped down against the wall, listening to the boys banging against it, crying to be let out. He scrunched his legs up to his chest, rested his head on his knees, and waited for the signal, trying not to think about the fact that his friend's life was about to end.
"Crona, let us out of here, damn it!" Ed yelled, smacking his fist against the wall for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Ed, Ed, stop!" Tamaki said frantically, pulling his hand away; Ed was hitting the wall so hard that Tamaki could swear he saw a dent in his auto-mail. "We're not going to get out by doing that!"
"Brother, you were right," Al said, his glowing eyes the only visible thing in the darkness. "This was a trap! And we fell for it!"
"Yeah, I know," Ed agreed sourly. He glared at Tamaki. "See? What'd we tell you?"
"Alright, so maybe this is a part of Crona's plan," Tamaki tried to reason with him. "But I'm sure he's not going to do anything to hurt us; I mean, this is Crona. He wouldn't hurt a fly!"
"Are you sure about that, Tamaki?" Ed asked, and Tamaki frowned slightly. "How much do you really know about that kid?"
"Well, I . . ."
"He probably left us in here so he could just come back and take care of us later!"
"Well . . .," Tamaki said quietly, having no response to this. He really wanted to believe that Crona meant them no harm, but he was starting to have second thoughts. Maybe the shy boy wasn't as innocent as he'd seemed . . .
"I see we have some company," said an unexpected voice in the darkness, making everyone jump. The boys looked around frantically for the source of the sound, when a dim light suddenly flooded the room. The light was coming from a lone bulb hanging from the ceiling, and it allowed the boys to get a good look at exactly where they were.
The room was a huge, gray square, bare except for some faint lines running along the floor off towards the far end. There were still some pockets of darkness, and it was out of one of these shadows that two figures appeared. One was a woman wearing what looked like a black jumpsuit, with her golden-blonde hair tied at the front and strange tattoos resembling snakes running up her arms. The other figure was also a woman, with a low-cut green dress and a red tattoo in the center of her chest.
"Lust!" Ed and Al both exclaimed, and the homunculus smiled.
"Long time no see, boys," she said, and Ed snarled at her as both brothers crouched into a fighting stance, Al pushing Tamaki behind him.
"Wait, what's going on?" Tamaki exclaimed. He glanced around Al to look at Lust. "Who is she?"
"That is a homunculus," Ed informed him, and Tamaki let out a little gasp.
"Now, now, let's not fight," the other woman said, stepping in-between the brothers and Lust.
"Who are you?" Alphonse questioned, and Medusa grinned at him.
"My name is Medusa. I'm Crona's mother."
The boys' mouths fell open in shock.
"You're . . . his mother?" Tamaki managed to say after a few seconds. Medusa nodded. Tamaki frowned and walked in front of Alphonse.
"What are you doing, you idiot?" Ed exclaimed as Al grabbed the tall blonde's arm in an effort to keep him in place. Tamaki just continued to glare at Medusa.
"So you're the one who's been mistreating that poor child?" he asked, and Medusa frowned slightly.
"Whatever do you mean?" she said innocently, but Tamaki wasn't having any of it.
"Don't try to deny it; I know that Crona acts the way he does because of you! I'm not sure exactly what you've done to him, but whatever it was, it was enough to severely scar him!"
"And how exactly do you know all this?" Medusa questioned, her eyes narrowed. Tamaki kept his mouth shut, not wanting to risk getting Crona into any more trouble. However, this effort was useless, as Medusa nodded in understanding.
"He told you, didn't he? What a bad child . . . I told him not to be making friends with you, and now look what he's done!"
"Why do you hate him so much?" Tamaki yelled suddenly, and everyone looked at him. Ed was surprised to see that his eyes were glistening with tears. "He's your son! You're supposed to love your children, not make them grow up twisted and unable to deal with anything! How could you even do something like that?"
There was a silence for a moment, and then Medusa broke it with a chuckle.
"My, my, you really are the pure soul, aren't you?" she said, and Al pulled Tamaki a step back towards him protectively.
"Medusa, let's stop this chatter and just get to making the stone, alright?" Lust piped up, and all eyes turned to her.
"Yes, I guess you're right," Medusa agreed, and then she and Lust turned back to the boys.
"Edward, Alphonse, we have a proposal for you," Lust said, smiling again. "I'm sure you two know how the philosopher's stone is made, correct? And how the pure soul can be used to create one without having to use hundreds of other souls? Well, we have the pure soul right here with us-" she gestured to Tamaki-"-and we have the transmutation circle over there with all the ingredients needed to create the stone." She gestured behind her to the lines on the floor that the boys had noticed earlier. "Now we just need some alchemists. So, what do you say? Would you like to help us create the philosopher's stone?"
The boys just stared at her in shock; had she really just asked them if they'd help her kill their friend?
"Hell no we're not gonna help you!" Ed yelled. He clapped his hands together and ran his left palm over his right arm, creating a makeshift sword out of his auto-mail. "And if you even touch him, you're gonna be in big trouble!"
"Oh, too late," came Medusa's voice from behind them, and Ed and Al whipped around to find her standing next to Tamaki, grinning like mad. The brothers took a step back in surprise, and then they noticed that there was some sort of black-arrow-like thing wrapped around Tamaki's body. It went from his ankles all the way up until it was covering his mouth, so that no matter how much the blonde struggled, he couldn't move or make any noise except for a faint whimper.
"How did you get there so fast?" Al gasped as Ed snarled at Medusa.
"Magic," Medusa replied, winking at them. "I'm a witch!"
And with that she suddenly darted towards the other side of the room, and Tamaki tried to scream as the arrow dragged him across the floor behind her. Ed and Al rushed to help him, but Lust jumped in their path, slashing at them with her long fingernails.
"NO! Tamaki, run!" Ed screamed as he started to battle the homunculus alongside his brother. He knew he wouldn't be able to make it to Tamaki anytime soon; Lust was too much of a handful.
Tamaki looked towards the shout, and his eyes widened as he saw the Elrics swiftly trying to deflect the attacks of the homunculus. He wanted to help them, but Medusa jerked his chin towards her so that he was staring at her face.
"You should be happy!" the witch said, and Tamaki glared at her as hard as he could and once again started struggling with the arrow keeping him in place. "You're going to help create something that could benefit mankind! Not that I'm going to use it that way, but-"
"You mean we, Medusa!" Lust called, sparing a glance back at the witch, and Medusa inclined her head.
"Of course, I mean it's not like we're going to use it to benefit mankind. We've been working together this whole time, you know, Lust and I . . . along with Crona."
Tamaki's eyes widened even more and he frantically tried to get free. Medusa laughed and waved a hand over him. The arrow holding him in place disappeared, but before Tamaki had a chance to get up new bands wrapped themselves around his wrists and ankles, chaining him to the floor. When he glanced at his wrists, he realized with a jolt of fear that he was laying right smack in the center of the transmutation circle.
"Now, how about you be a good boy and die quietly, alright?" Medusa asked, leaning over him.
"No! Let me go! Stop!" Tamaki cried, trying once again to get free, but he had a feeling deep down that it was hopeless; this was the end for him. Tears started to stream down his face as he thought of all the people he was going to leave behind.
"Maman! Dad! What'll they do when I'm gone? What will the Host Club do without me? Kyoya, Mori, Honey, the twins . . . Haruhi! What's going to happen to them? And Crona! He's so lost and alone; he needs a friend! I can't just leave him! I-"
"Oh, will you shut up?" Medusa exclaimed, slapping Tamaki across the face. "I'm tired of your blubbering! You're about to die, and all you can think of is other people? What a stupid child you are!"
"TAMAKI!" Ed shouted from across the room as he saw Medusa raise her hand over the Host King's chest, but his voice was lost in the noise of the wall shattering behind him as Lust risked another slash at his face.
"Now, say goodbye!" Medusa cackled, and a black mist shrouded her hand. She brought it down on Tamaki's chest and Tamaki screamed as the blow hit him.
Desperately, he tried to escape, but it was all in vain. As jolts of the most intense pain he'd ever experienced ran through his body, he tried one last time to make peace with the world he was leaving behind. After a moment, his eyes closed and he was still. An orb with a soft, blue glow floated up out of his chest and hovered a few inches above him; the pure soul, finally free of the body it had been imprisoned in for seventeen years.
And just like that, Tamaki, the kind boy with the violet eyes, was dead.
Crona was still cowering outside the room when he heard his name being called. He lifted his head up but made no move to get to his feet; the sounds of fighting were ringing through his head, along with what he'd been sure were Tamaki's agonized screams.
I guess he's finally gone now, Crona thought as Ragnarok appeared and started tugging on his hair. Numbly, he managed to get to his feet and grasp the doorknob; Lady Medusa had another task for him to complete, and he didn't want to make her wait any longer.
He turned the knob and stepped inside the room.
Crona entered the room to find chaos awaiting him. He saw Ed involved in a fierce battle with Medusa, the two of them shooting either bolts of magic or shards of rock at each other whenever they found an opening. Meanwhile, Al was trying to avoid Lust, who had apparently knocked his head off and was trying to prevent Al from getting it back. Crona jumped out of the way when Ed suddenly came flying towards him, knocked back from the force of a blow from Medusa.
"U-um, Ed . . .?" Crona said questioningly, looking at Ed warily when he didn't move for a few seconds. The blonde shook his head and looked around for the voice, but when he realized that Crona was standing over him, his eyes filled with fire.
"You bastard!" Ed screeched, jumping up and grabbing Crona by the shoulders. He started to shake Crona violently. "How could you? We trusted you, and you betrayed us, and now Tamaki's dead! He's dead, you damn traitor!"
Ed let go of Crona's shoulders and started weakly punching him in the chest, silent tears falling down his cheeks. Crona was horrified; he had never imagined that the ever-resilient and cocky Ed would actually cry, let alone because of something he, Crona, had done. Crona had known from the start that someone was going to be killed, and it hadn't bothered him in the least; after all, he'd killed a countless amount of people before with the hopes of strengthening Ragnarok.
So why was it that it hurt so much to see Ed in tears?
Suddenly, Ed was wrenched away from him, and Crona saw Medusa throw the blonde against the wall. The witch turned to Crona and he cowered before her gaze.
"Crona, don't just stand around!" Medusa commanded, grabbing his arm and thrusting him away from the door. "Go and activate the transmutation circle!"
Without waiting to see if Crona was going or not, Medusa turned to Edward, who was hauling himself up off the floor. Ed spit out a bit of blood and wiped his mouth off on his sleeve, his eyes once again determined.
Crona wavered, wanting to see what was going to happen to him, when Ragnarok tugged on his hair again, more violently than before.
"What are you waiting for, idiot?" the Demon Sword yelled, pulling Crona's cheeks. "Hurry up and finish making the stone! The pure soul is over there!"
Ragnarok tugged Crona's head in the direction he was pointing, and that's when Crona finally noticed the shimmering circle drawn on the floor. He ran over to it, dodging Alphonse as the boy was knocked over by Lust. Al called out to him desperately, and though the voice tugged on Crona's heart, Crona didn't stop.
When he finally made it over to the circle he paused. He looked over the shimmering rim of writing and nearly gagged when he saw Tamaki laying there, the blonde's face frozen in an expression of agony. Crona staggered back and fell to his knees, clutching his chest and feeling as if he were about to throw up. He didn't know why Tamaki's body just lying there was having such a profound effect on him.
"Come on, what are you waiting for?" Ragnarok exclaimed, pulling Crona's hair. "The pure soul is right there!"
Crona looked up and saw the orb that was Tamaki's soul hovering over Tamaki's body, glowing with a strange yet unnaturally calming blue light. Crona stood up warily, hoping that he wasn't going to get sick again, and stood over Tamaki's body, getting as close as he could without stepping inside the shimmering circle.
As he tried to recall the incantation Medusa had taught him, Crona stared down at Tamaki's frozen face. Suddenly, he gripped his head and sunk to his knees again as all the memories he had of the Host King made their way to the surface of his mind.
"Stop! It's too much! I don't know how to deal with it!" Crona cried as random memories played back in his mind at the same time; the first time he'd met Tamaki; the first meeting at the Host Club; the visit to Tamaki's house when he'd realized he could do alchemy. . .
All of a sudden, all of the flashes converged together into one specific day:
Crona had been at Tamaki's house, crying after seeing a picture of Tamaki's mother and being reminded of how little Medusa cared about him. It was his first time letting out his emotions like this, but Tamaki had known exactly what to say:
"Crona, look at me," the blonde had said, gripping Crona's shoulders. "Listen to me: no matter what you've gone through in the past, or what you're going through now, I want you to know that I'll be there for you no matter what from here on out."
At that time, Crona had had a hard time believing what Tamaki was telling him. He had disagreed with the blonde, but Tamaki had refused to back down until he had said what he needed to.
"B-but . . . but why?"
"Because you're my friend, mon ami," Tamaki said, smiling. "Aren't you?"
Crona had answered tentatively:
"Well . . . yes, I-I guess so . . . But . . . no one's ever been friendly to me before . . . I scare everyone away, so no one likes me . . ."
"That's not true!" Tamaki exclaimed, surprised. "I don't think you're scary at all, and I like you a lot!"
"But . . . I'm so strange, no one understands me . . . there's things about me that if you knew about, you'd run away screaming."
"No, I wouldn't." Tamaki took Crona's hands in his and gazed firmly into his eyes. "Everyone has something they don't want people to know about. But just because you don't want people to know about it doesn't make it scary or weird or anything."
"But-"
"Crona listen to me. No matter what secret you have that you don't want to tell me, I'll always be there for you. You are a dear friend to me, and I always take care of my friends. If there's one thing in your life you can be sure of, it's that fact."
Suddenly, Tamaki gripped Crona in another hug. Surprisingly Crona hadn't resisted that time.
"Y-you . . . you really care about me?" Crona said, tears starting to gather again, though he wasn't sure why.
"Yes, I do," Tamaki said into his shoulder. "Even if no one ever has before, I want you to know that I do care about you."
He released Crona and smiled, his eyes full of sincerity, and Crona felt the corners of his mouth being tugged upwards as well . . .
That was the first day in Crona could remember that he had shown anyone his true smile.
It had been a wonderful feeling.
The memory faded out and Crona shook his head, remembering where he was. During that time all those days ago, he hadn't really given Tamaki's words much thought. But now, as he stood up again and gazed down at Tamaki's lifeless body, he felt hot tears streaming down his cheeks.
There was someone in this world that really, truly cared about him. Someone who valued him as a person, not just another pawn in their plan, or someone to beat up and abuse.
And now, that person was dead.
And it was all Crona's fault.
"No, I won't let this happen," Crona muttered. He clenched his fists. "I won't have the one person who cared about me taken away! I won't! I won't! I WON'T!"
Time itself seemed to freeze at the sound of Crona's shout. Medusa and Ed paused as they were about to shoot another blast at each other, and Al and Lust had stopped their scuffle. Crona slowly turned around to face everyone.
"I'm not going to suffer anymore!" he said forcefully, his voice not wavering for once.
"Crona, what are you doing?" Medusa said, her eyes blazing with anger. Crona stared straight into them, not even flinching.
"My whole existence has been nothing but a pawn in your plan to spread madness," Crona told her. "I'm sick of it! You never loved me, I know that! And because of you I've grown up twisted and frightened! Well, that's not going to happen anymore!"
"Uh, Crona, did the black blood get to you again?" Ragnarok said, tapping him on the head. Crona grabbed his hand and tugged it forcefully. "Ow! Hey, that hurt!"
"Now you know how it feels!" Crona spat angrily. Tears were once again starting to gather at the corners of his eyes. He looked determinately at the Elric brothers. "Ed, Al, please help me this one last time; I need you to cover for me. And this isn't for me, it's for Tamaki."
"And just what are you going to do?" Medusa sneered, still not quite believing that her shy, introverted son was suddenly rebelling against her.
"I'm going to bring Tamaki back!"
And with that, Crona turned and jumped into the circle. Medusa hissed and started to go after him, but Ed held her back. Alphonse did the same with Lust as Crona grabbed a shard of broken glass lying on the floor and drew it across his palm, making a line of black blood appear across it. He quickly recalled the mark on Al's armor and proceeded to draw it onto Tamaki's forehead, knowing that to actually put Tamaki's soul back into his body, he would have to do the same thing Ed had done for his brother.
Crona clapped his hands and, despite Ragnarok's protests, placed them on Tamaki's chest, crying out:
"Please, bring him back! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Just please bring him back!"
There was a flash of light, and Crona cried out and closed his eyes as he was hit with some unseen force. Then, suddenly, there was absolute silence.
Crona opened his eyes to find himself surrounded in a white room. Everything and everyone who had been in the dungeon had disappeared; even Ragnarok seemed to be missing. Crona turned around when he heard a faint creaking noise, like a door being opened. He saw an enormous black gate, slowly opening to reveal nothing but darkness. However, when the door was fully opened, Crona saw a huge, monochrome eye staring back at him.
He took a deep breath and stepped through the door, knowing that somewhere inside was Tamaki's real soul, the unseen, intangible thing that every human possesses. As soon as his foot left the threshold of the doorway, Crona felt hands tugging him in all different directions. He tried to walk forwards, but the hands were pulling him down, and he started to panic.
"I just want Tamaki's soul! Give it back, and then I'll leave! Please!" he cried out. Whatever was pulling him was now giggling softly, and the noise became louder and louder as Crona sunk lower and lower.
"No! Stop!" he yelled, but the things refused to let go. The noise was deafening, and just when Crona couldn't take it anymore . . . it stopped, and a second later was replaced with the sounds of battle. The things tugging him down had disappeared, and Crona felt himself lying on something cold, hard, and flat.
He opened his eyes and realized that he was back in the dungeon, lying on the floor. He immediately sat up, noticing that the glow around the transmutation circle had disappeared. He quickly looked at Tamaki, but he didn't see the soul hovering over the body.
Crona feared the worst, but then, ever so slowly, Tamaki opened his eyes. Crona laughed with relief; his plan had worked! Tamaki was back!
Suddenly, Crona's laughter turned into a cry of pain. His whole body felt like it was on fire, and he noticed blood seeping out of his back and his chest, much like it did when Ragnarok came out; only this time, it wasn't stopping, and it wasn't forming into the Demon Sword either.
"Wha . . . what's going on?" Tamaki said wearily, sitting up and holding his head. "What happened?" He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. After a few seconds, he noticed someone yelling and crying in pain from somewhere to his left. He turned towards the sound and screamed.
"OH MY GOD, CRONA!"
Tamaki realized that the screams of agony he was hearing were coming from Crona, who was writhing on the floor in a pool of black blood. Tamaki quickly crouched over him, starting to panic.
"Oh my god, Crona, what happened to you? Is that your blood? Oh, we have to get the bleeding stopped! Where's a towel? Uh-"
"T-Tamaki," Crona said weakly, and Tamaki realized that he had stopped crying. Crona looked up at him, and smiled for a split-second, before coughing up a startling amount of black blood. After the coughing fit ended, Crona spoke again.
"It's okay. I know I'm not going to make it. But . . . I'm just glad you're back." He paused for another coughing fit, and Tamaki's eyes started to water. Using what little strength he had left, Crona brought his hand up to touch Tamaki's cheek.
"Thanks for being my friend." And with that, his hand dropped to the floor.
"No! Crona, don't go! NO!" Tamaki screamed, but it was too late.
Crona just had time to hear Tamaki's sob of anguish, before the world went black.
A/N: Only a few more chapters to go! Look for the next one in a week! And while you're waiting, please review!