I promise i'm not dead! See! I uploaded a chapter! It's not as long as they normally are, sadly. I've been really busy with school lately, there is also the fact that I have 0 internet. I have been nowhere for the past couple of months. My house doesn't let me have internet, everyone else can, but I can't. It has some weird grudge against me, idk what I did to it though. I have internet at school, which is where I read stories, but the story I write is on my laptop and I don't chance my laptop's safety at school. I would cry myself to death, literally, if my laptop broke. So, i'm at my grandma's for a couple of days and i'm going to upload a story or two, just for you guys! Well, enjoy!
I woke up the next morning and saw that Maka wasn't laying next to me. I got up and out of bed slowly walking towards the kitchen. Maka was sitting on the couch with a book, she seemed calm. I continued into the kitchen and was about to grab a glass of water.
"Crona, when do you want to go see Lord Death?" Maka asked. I turned around and saw that Maka had put down her book.
"As soon as possible..." I answered. She glanced at her book once and then got up to put it away. "Or, we could go later?" I suggested.
"No, we need to talk to him immediatly like you said last night. I'll call him and make sure he knows that we're coming." Maka said walking to the bathroom. I put the empty glass that was in my hand back into the cupboard and went to the bedroom to get dressed. I finished dressing and fixing my hair a little, then went to get Maka's coat for her. Only seconds after picking up her coat, Maka was ready to go and waiting at the door for me.
"Are you ready?" Maka asked me as I helped her put her coat on.
"As ready as i'll ever be." I answered. We spent half an hour walking through the cold snow and trying not to slip on the DWMA steps. Finally after getting up the DWMA steps, we had walked to the death room and didn't even have to knock. Maka was very out of breath, i'm surprised that she's still walking.
"Hiya, Hiya! How's it going?!" Death said in his high pitched voice.
"Hello, Lord Death." Maka said.
"My, my. Sit down, you shouldn't have to walk up that many stairs in the snow in your condition." Lord Death said. Maka pulled up a chair that somone had left in here and sat down to catch her breath. I wonder what he meant by, 'her condition'.
"S-sorry to bother you Lord Death. But it seems, I have a p-problem." I said.
"Oh? And what is it?"
"Well, um. M-medusa has s-shown up again. She's after m-me and M-maka." I answered.
"Hmm, well thats a surprise. I was sure that we eliminated her after Maka's Genie Hunter."
"T-that's what we though too. She has threatened me. I only h-have t-three months of sanity left, after that she's making me stop resisting my madness. If I fail to obey her, she'll k-kill M-maka." I said, attempting to not tear up.
"Oh... Well that's a problem isn't it. It's a bit hard to gather info, train and look for her in three months. I was planning to start our Kishin investigation this week, but it seems that we have a very big problem."
"Lord Death, isn't there a way for us to search for Medusa and the Kishin? I'm sure Medusa's reapearance has something to do with the Kishin." Maka spoke up.
"True, but that'd be a bit hard. I'd have to send multiple groups to get info on the Kishin, then multiple other groups to get info on Medusa. Unfortunately we don't have enough skilled and trained meisters and weapons to take on either task." Lord Death explained.
"Me and Crona will take on the Medusa part. Soul and Amanda, plus Kilik and his twins can be in our group." Maka said.
"Good group choice, but Kilik and his twins cannot participate. I have already gathered a small plan. Instead of Kilik, I will have Kim and Jaqueline join your group."
"Why Kim?" Maka asked.
"Well, it seems I have recently learned something about her. I feel that she would be a great addition into the search and she has her own info she can supply to you."
"Okay.. When can we get started?"
"Well, not quite yet. See me tomorrow morning, I will have a complete plan. I will also have everyone else here." Lord Death explained.
"But, we have to act fast! Why waste a full day if we can get a headstart now?" Maka asked.
"Indeed, we are in a race against time. But, you must remember fast and foolish actions are what get us lost and killed. You should know Maka, your one of our very best students." Maka had stayed silent.
"T-thank you Lord Death." I said.
"Your welcome. Also, I expect good grades from you Crona. You have been here not quite a full year, but i'm sure you can do very well. You've been learning fast and I know you can work hard. I want to see you in one of the first lists after the big exam. I also expect your presence at the DWMA anniversary this weekend." Lord Death said.
"O-okay." I answered. Crap, although I had been tracking time to the DWMA party, I had forgotten about it!
"Crona, Stein wants to see you after class tomorrow morning. Is there anything else you children would like to ask or tell me?"
"Okay. Whats happening to Cumo?" I asked him.
"Oh dear. Well, I don't know if Kid has told you this or not, but... It seems that the kishin's wavelength has gotten stronger, her soul protect won't last much longer and will cause students to panic. I had to put her into a sealed room that hopefully works to hide her soul wavelength. She recieves no visitors, it is restricted." Lord Death explained.
"I see." I answered. I tilted my face down, which had shaded it. I wonder how long it'll be before i'm just like her. When I can no longer control myself.
"Now, don't worry about it Crona. You'll be just fine!"
"Crona?" Maka attempted to peer at my face.
"I see that you need some time. I'll see you two tomorrow morning, ta ta!" Lord Death waved his big hand in the air and sent us on our way. I didn't respond, I could hardly turn around and walk out of the room.
"Goodbye Lord Death, i'll see you later." Maka said. Before I could hear her step towards me, I started to run. I didn't know where to go, but all I could do was run.
"Crona!" I heard Maka yell. I ran as fast as I could around the school. When I finally gave out, I found myself on the balcony of the DWMA. I started to bawl. I couldn't be strong anymore, I can't fight, I can't keep it together, I can't save anyone. I don't know why I don't just give up now. Let Medusa take me, give in to the madness, not care anymore. Its her, Maka. She's the reason why I can't do it. I'll keep my promise to myself, be strong and sane for her. But, I don't know how long I can do this anymore. My legs finally gave out and I sat in the middle of the balcony bawling my eyes out. I don't want Maka to see me like this. I have to be strong for her, she's already hurting because of me. I don't want to cause anyone else pain. After what seemed like hours, I got up from my puddle of tears and sat on the edge of the balcony, watching the sun laugh at me in the noon sky. Maka is probably really worried about me right now. I guess I should head home soon. I tell myself I need to go home, but I can't move. I'm stuck here to think about everything i've done wrong and the things I should've done right. I don't get why this is so hard for me to understand. Everyone around me has been here for me no matter what i've done. Obviously there are still plenty of people who hate me, I don't blame them. I'm just so confused to why anyone would be nice to me. I've killed so many people, hurt so many people, why can't I just be hated? Maka is the one I question the most about... I nearly killed her, but ended up nearly killing her partner instead. I've sworn to kill her so many times, but she ended up being my friend. She's helped through all of my hardships, even though I betrayed the DWMA. She's become my girlfriend, after I had caused her so much emotional harm. I still don't understand.
"Crona?" I heard a female voice say. I wiped the tears from my face and looked back. Tsubaki.
"H-hi Tsubaki." I turned back towards the city.
"Maka's trying really hard to find you right now." Tsubaki said.
"I know." I answered.
"Are you hiding from her?"
"No."
"You just wanted to be alone, I see. Is there something going on?" Tsubaki asked.
"Not between me and her. I just needed some time to think about something."
"Okay. I understand that it's something you don't want to share. I'll leave you be and i'll tell Maka that you're fine. Crona, if you ever need help and you feel like you can't tell Maka. I would be happy to hear you out." Tsubaki offered.
"T-thank you. It's not that I can't tell Maka, I just don't want to hurt her anymore than I already have."
"Thats alright. Just don't hurt yourself keeping it in. It hurts Maka when you hurt yourself." I could hear Tsubaki turn around and leave. No doubt that she'll tell Maka that i'm here. I felt a wet substance hit my hand. I looked up, no clouds... I brought my hand up to my face and found more wet. I looked at my fingers, black blood. I pulled myself off of the ledge and onto the platform, examining my hand. I touched my nose, more blood. I looked around but theres nothing here to harm me. I backed up away from the balcony and then found myself falling to the ground. I hit the ground, unable to move. I could see and hear feet coming for me before I blacked out. The next moment, I was laying in a bed with a major headache and my legs felt very weak.
"What?" I said as I attempted to sit up. A huge pain went through my head.
"No, lay back. You hit your head really hard." I heard Stein's voice. I hadn't even opened my eyes yet. I already knew where I was, the infirmary. I didn't want to be blinded by the bright lights. I set my hand on top of my eyes, then I slowly opened them.
"What happened?" I asked.
"That's what i'm trying to figure out." I could hear him typing.
"It's the black blood and the madness, isn't it?"
"It is, I feel that it is producing your madness faster. We have located the kishin. It won't be long before we can attack." Stein said.
"You have?!" I questioned.
"Yes. We are currently setting up a plan to infiltrate her."
"Her?" I asked.
"We figured out who this kishin is. She's very very old. She came from a child, this child was a witch. This child had very imaginative dreams, she was sad. Her mother was killed by Lord Death and she wanted revenge. So, she created a character from her dreams to get revenge and rule the witch's." Stein explained.
"What's her name?"
"The kishin, Matilda. The witch, Mayhdan."
"Mayhdan? That's a name i've never heard before."
"Indeed, spelt weird as well. She was a witch of dreams, she had great potential for the witch's. But was washed with revenge when the witch's refused to attack Lord Death."
"That makes sense. Does Maka know i'm here?" I asked.
"I'm not sure. Tsubaki went after Maka, to tell her that you were alright. I don't think she had any intention of telling her where you were."
"How did I get here?" I said trying to sit up again.
"Me and Spirit walked by when we saw you bleeding and collapse."
"Oh. Tell Maka i'm here please. I need to see her." I said. Feeling a little guilty that I had left her earlier.
"I will. Stay and lay down. You shouldn't move, I don't know how injured you are." Stein pushed me down. Then he left to find Maka. I looked around the room, the same as ever. I'm in the same bed that i've always used. How many times have I been here now? Six, or seven times? I've lost count. The table next to me had a bag, labeled for me. I grabbed and examined them. They're pain pills. Yeah, I definitely need these. I took a couple, hopefully getting rid of my headache.
"What happened?!" Maka ran into the room and sat next to me.
"I don't know, honestly." I said. She looked at me sadly, then shoved a big book through my skull.
"Maka Chop! Why would you leave me like that!? You almost worried me to death! Especially now that you're in a hospital bed." She was super angry. Can't blame her...
"Hey, hey! Be careful with him, I don't know what damage has been done. I need to take some tests." Stein said. I rubbed my skull.
"I actually deserve that. I shouldn't of abandoned her in the Death Room. I'm sorry Maka, I freaked out." I apologized. She sighed.
"It's alright. I can see why you'd freak out. Honestly, I probably would've done the same." She sighed again. Then, she smiled and took my hand in hers.
"But, i'm here now. So everythings okay." she said. I gave her a smile back. I saw Stein's face go all confused and then realization.
"Okay. So from what I can see, your blood count is gigantic. Ragnarok is losing your madness battle, so are you Crona. You restraining this is putting pressure on your sanity, it's starting to take over your soul." Stein explained.
"You can see the madness spreading over his soul?" Maka asked.
"I can, it's not a pleasant sight. We need to go battle that kishin, Lord Death will tell you tomorrow morning what our plan is." Stein said clicking the computer off.
"Is he going to come home?" Maka asked Stein.
"No, he can't afford another fall like that. He needs to stay here and rest. Tomorrow morning is the only time he will be allowed out of that bed." Stein said. Maka sighed.
"Okay, I'll stay too." Maka said squeezing my hand a little. I could tell that she was nervous and scared for me. I don't want her to be afraid.
"Maka, it's going to be alright. I'm going to be alright. Okay?"
"Okay." She smiled at me.
"I need to go, but i'll be back to check up on you. Stay. In. The. Bed. If I see or hear you out of that bed, I will dissect and suture your arms to it." He said pointing and glaring at me. I gulped.
"Y-yes sir." I replied. He smiled, nodded, and walked out of the room.
"I haven't heard him say that he'd dissect something for awhile. That means he's real serious." Maka giggled.
"Uh, y-yeah." I said nervously.
"Are you going to be able to fight?" she asked me.
"I hope so. I'll need to practice before the fight to be sure. My madness could come in handy, if we met Medusa." I said.
"No, don't resort to madness. Ever. It's hard to get out of once your in it, you should know that." Maka said. I could feel her frustration.
"You're right. I don't know what i'm thinking." I sighed. Maka gave me a serious face and I could feel her hand tighten on mine.
"I have something to tell you-" she began to speak but was interrupted when Stein came back into the room.
"Crona, Lord Death needs to see you." Stein said. Then he looked inbetween us, "Oh, sorry."
"It's fine. It's not important." Maka said. Then she fake giggled like it was nothing. She obviously needs to tell me something.
"Okay." I sat up. I gave Maka a confused look. She shrugged and acted like she hadn't said anything. She stayed seated where she was while Stein helped me out of bed. She's bothered, I can feel her tension, nervousness, and frustration. Stein started to walk me down the halls towards the Death Room. I wonder if she's been trying to tell me something but i've been too busy with my stupid madness storm to even pay attention to her. Is she breaking up with me? The thought sent tons of pressure through my body.
"Are you okay?" Stein asked me.
"Fine, lets keep walking." I answered. He gave me a wonderous look but continued to walk. She wouldn't break up with me, she would atleast try to fix us first. I wonder what's wrong.
"Crona, are you listening?" Stein asked me.
"Uhh, I guess I wasn't. Sorry." He sighed and repeated what he said.
"I said, Lord Death is going to ask you some questions. Only a few, but you might be here for a while. I need to stay with you so you don't fall again, so call me when you're finished." Stein said setting me down in a chair in front of Lord Death. I nodded. I watched as Stein left.
"Hiya." Lord Death said.
"Hello." I almost whispered. Why do I feel like i'm in trouble?
"You made quite an exit earlier. May you explain?" Lord Death asked. I nodded and took a deep breath.
"I was thinking of how Cumo has been locked up and how she's acting. I've realized how my body's been rejecting my sanity, my very own sanity. I can't end up like her, plus I was worrying what would happen if I lost my control when I was with Maka. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hurt her. I've already-"
"Okay, okay... You don't have to explain anymore. I get it." He sighed, "now wipe those tears from your face. You shouldn't worry about this. We will make sure nothing like this happens to you. It was very unfortunate that Cumo ended up like this, but her madness was already very progressed." He pressed one of his big fingers to my face and wiped a tear that had escaped my eyes. When did I start crying? I wiped my face until it turned red.
"S-sorry."
"Don't worry about it. Now, how is Maka doing?"
"She's pretty stressed about what been happening to me. I feel like she's trying to tell me something, but we get interrupted. I'm pretty sure it's important but she shrugs it off." I admitted.
"Ah, I see. She will tell you soon enough." Does he know what she's going to tell me or is he just giving me wise words? I don't know anything anymore. "Do you know who is responsible for releasing this kishin?"
"Huh? Uh, no." Is he suspecting me?
"I've heard that Medusa has been visiting you in your dreams and has been quite violent." Lord Death explained. I sighed in relief.
"I think she said, some teenage boys? She didn't tell me their names, I doubt she knew them herself."
"I see... I wonder why some teenage boys would mess with this kishin. She is very old and has only been published once, but that hasn't gotten out to the public." He stood there rubbing the bottom of his mask in thought. I tried thinking of reasons why someone would mess with it in the first place, if they aren't Medusa or being controlled by her.
"This kishin has been getting closer, she's destroying city after city with only dreams. She's trying to scare us, picking us as her last target."
"W-what do you mean?" I asked.
"This kishin was made from a witch's child, she was too little to understand. I killed her parents, she wanted revenge and came after me with her creation. 'The Witch Of Nightmares', we called her." Lord Death said.
"S-stein explained most of this to me." I said.
"Yes, I knew he would. Mayhdan created Matilda a very long time ago to search and destroy everything around me. Then target me when i'm last. Mayhdan was killed, murdered by her own kind. Matilda was sealed away in a hidden tomb, but now that she has no owner to boss her around... She's continuing the last mission she'd been assigned."
"That makes sense."
"Indeed. Matilda isn't a functional 'person'. She's a puppet made for destruction. She has no thoughts or feelings, just orders."
"So how do we stop her?" I asked.
"She's almost literally the Sand Man. She is made of sand and weilds the power to manipulate people's dreams that turn into nightmares. Problem is, if you die in the dream you die in the real world."
"What kills sand?"
"Water and fire. The only way to wash and melt her down is to destroy the protective sheild that makes her look human."
"You want me to do that?" I asked him.
"You haven't discovered this yet, but you have a secret weapon. It's deep inside you. It was created when Medusa first tried to kill you. You and Ragnarok worked together to heal and in the process, the black blood created something that'll destroy everything." Lord Death said pointing at my hands.
"I don't want to know that! What if I succumb to the madness and use it against the DWMA and my friends? If I haven't found it out, my madness definitely will." I yelled. I almost got out of my chair but remembered that i'd fall.
"It's alright Crona. You won't, I know you won't. I only told you this, so you could become stronger, quickly. It won't be long before our battle. I know that you don't want to hear this either, but I have a feeling that you're the only one who will be able to defeat Medusa."
"I want to kill her." I blurted. I was surprised at my own words, I didn't think of this often.
"That's a surprise. Marie told me that last time, you told her that you weren't sure if you wanted to kill Medusa or not. She is your mother."
"Medusa is my mother, but only biologically. Marie is my real mom, the only mom I ever had." This time I could feel the tears well up in my eyes.
"That is very sweet. Stein has talked about you a lot lately, I think he's been worried about you. He doesn't show it, but he does care about you and Maka. He thinks of you as his son."
"I'm glad." I said as I felt a tear roll down my cheek.
"This is a nice conversation, but I do believe I have one more thing to ask you." I nodded for him to continue. "Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?" I asked, slightly confused.
"The fight. It is going to be quite difficult. You and Stein are going to battle Medusa, Maka and her team are going to fight the kishin. You and Stein are going to fight Medusa while she is weak and unable to completely call her power. So, we must work fast."
"O-okay. Yes, i'm ready."
"Crona, this is going to be hard. Even if Medusa is very weak, she can still kill you or Stein. I want you to be aware of this, you can die. Be ready and prepared."
"I'll t-try." I said, getting nervous.
"Don't worry too much about it now. I just needed to warn you, so you don't walk in there like a hero and never come out. We don't need another Black*Star."
"I agree." I said honestly. I don't think anyone could live with another Black*Star.
"Alright, be prepared. I'll see you and the team tomorrow morning. You are excused." Lord Death waved his big hand. Stein came in and helped me back to the infirmary. I looked at the clock, 6:48 p.m.. Maka wasn't there anymore, she must've gone for dinner. I'm not surprised I lost track of time, I missed most of the day after passing out earlier. It didn't feel like I was in the Death Room for very long though, time goes fast I guess. Stein continued to test me for any injuries, of course I had none, the black blood has been doing it's job. He waited for Maka to come back before leaving, just in case I happened to have another freak moment.
"Bye Stein, thank you." Maka smiled and waved goodbye as Stein exited. Then she pulled out a container, my dinner.
"Thank you Maka." I said as I started to open it.
"You're welcome. I went home and made some dinner so that we didn't have to eat greasy, unhealthy food." Maka started to dig into her serving. I took a bite of mine.
"This is really good Maka. Thank you again."
"Of course." She replied, kissing my cheek. I blushed a little and she giggled. We conversed as we ate. Maka tried her hardest to keep her food in her mouth when she laughed.
"Ah, i'm stuffed." Maka said leaning back in her chair.
"Me too." I said putting our containers down on the side table.
"It's getting late, we should get to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow."
"Yeah. Hey, what were you going to tell me earlier?" I asked.
"Uh, oh. Um, nothing too special." Maka got up.
"I can tell that you really want to tell me." I said, lightly grabbing her arm.
"It's fine, I can tell you another time. Maybe when we have better timing." Maka went to get a blanket. Better timing? Can she not tell me because I'm in the infirmary? It must be important.
"Here." Maka handed me a blanket.
"Thank you. Maka, I can tell it's important. Why can't you tell me? Nobody else is here, just me and you." I tried prying.
"No, I'll tell you sometime else. I don't feel like telling you now." I could feel her sadness. Did I make her sad?
"I'm sorry, if you don't want to tell me, then okay. But, you'll have to tell me sometime, I hope before we go battle."
"I will, I promise." She said taking my hand in hers. "Go to sleep, I'll be right here." Maka sat back down in her chair and leaned her head on my bed. The lights automatically turned off at 10 and I was still awake. I could tell that Maka had fallen asleep, because of her slow, steady breathing I knew she was at peace. I couldn't fall asleep. I was thinking about all of the things that she could be wanting to tell me. Then it hit me. The thing I didn't want to think could actually happen, i'm sooo dead. Maka doesn't seem mad at me, more like sad. I hope this doesn't make her sad. I understand why she won't tell me, because of everything that we've gone through. Should I just tell her that I know? Wait, I mean suspect, not know. I don't know. I hope it isn't what it is.
I hope you enjoyed it! It's been forever and I hope you guys haven't given up on me. I try to answer all of your guy's questions. So, if you have any, don't put them in the reviews just P.M. me. I will absolutely get them there. I will answer them, no exceptions. BTW, Imma give some shoutouts to some really awesome writers. moon dogie, you are a amazing writer. You have inspired my writing a lot and I hope you continue with your amazing works. If you guys haven't checked out his writings, are you crazy!? He's absolutely awesome and I had to give a big shout out to him. Thank you Serpentine Zhark for continuing to read, review and like! It means a lot to me. This also goes out to a lot of other people. Also to mageofarrows, I hope your story is going well. I hope that I helped, I really enjoy your stories and your shoutouts. Thank you to all my readers for being here for me even if I fail to update a story. I never give up on my stories, remember that! It's something I won't let happen! Anyway, I'll let you all get on with your lives... See you all next chapter. Bye Bye!