"Hey, look who finally decided to show up." Soul chuckled as Kid and Chrona made their way to the court. Everyone was gathered in the park for a day off from missions and school. It was the first time she had seen everyone so relaxed and out of uniform.
"Chrona, you came to play with us?" Tsubaki asked.
"No," Chrona shook her head, "I don't know how to deal with basketball." She'd never had a chance to learn any kind of hobby, always busy hunting Medusa's chosen target. Transitioning from that life to a normal one had proven excruciatingly difficult. As it was, the thought that this many people wanted to see her outside of required schooling was hard to handle.
"I'm not that good with it either." Maka said as she rushed over to Chrona's side. "Chrona and I will sit this one out; you guys go ahead and play." Maka grabbed Chrona's arm and guided her to a park bench, obviously relieved to be off the court."They were trying to get me to play even though I still don't know the rules." Maka explained as much as she knew about the sport with a half laugh. Even the most capable miester seemed to have her weak points among their peers. Her demeanor turned to one of concern as she looked at her friend.
"Is everything alright?" Maka asked.
"Hunh? I'm perfectly fine." Chrona startled out of her stupor. She was, admittedly under-slept, but this level of fatigue was normal to her. Had she done something to upset her friend on accident? "Why do you ask?"
"Well you've been working so hard after class, I mean, I've hardly seen you outside of school." It was as if the blond had pointed a spotlight on her. Chrona could feel the beads of sweat gathering on the back of her neck. "Chrona how many units have you covered?"
"Ah! Umm… four. I'm almost caught up. I still have one unit to go." Chrona fibbed as Maka crept into her personal space on the bench. She knew Maka could read soul wavelengths, was it possible she could tell when someone was lying. Chrona looked every where except her friend, hoping to hide her insecurity. Her friend's concern increased.
"Chrona, you know you can always talk to me if something's wrong." Maka said earnestly, placing a hand on Chrona's. Something was bothering her; Maka knew it, the way Chrona fidgeted gave it away.
"Really Maka, I'm fine." She lied. "I've just been busy with school work." Another lie.
"Chrona-" Maka started, but was cut off by Chrona's nervous laughter.
"My, they look like their having fun out there. I think I'll go join them." She stood abruptly and rushed to the court in robotic-like steps; eager to avoid her current interrogation. Doubt clouded Maka's mind as Chrona traded places with Tsubaki on the court. The blonde crossed here arms when Tsubaki sat down.
"What was that about?" Tsubaki asked casually.
"Chrona's hiding something." Maka scowled, deep in concentration. "I asked how many units she still had cover and she said four. Normally I wouldn't interrogate her like that, but she's been acting so strange." In Tsubaki's eyes, Chrona had always seemed a little strange, but she could understand that the girl needed much more space than most of their friends would allow. Unfortunately, Maka wasn't the type to let go of a mystery with a simple explanation.
"Maka, I don't see what's so suspicious about that." Tsubaki attempted to steer her friend away from fixating on the poor girl's personal life.
"But Tsubaki, she said she still has one more to catch up on, were just finishing unit three." Maka threw her head in her hands. "I just don't know what to do!" There really wasn't anything they could do.
"Maka, Chrona's been out of her comfort zone for a long time now. It's stressful to constantly be surrounded with new experiences." She understood that much, growing up in an insular home herself. "She might just want some time to herself without seeming ungrateful."
"I guess." Maka bit her lip, unconvinced. She wanted to be there for her friend and know what she was going through so she could fix everything. But she could feel Chrona shutting her out and it was, disheartening. How was she supposed to become better friends with someone who was avoiding her. At this point, she felt like she was the one being a nuisance. "If I could just-"
"Chrona look out!" Soul shouted from the court. Maka glanced away from Tsubaki and saw Chrona turn to Soul; only to be smacked in the face with a basketball. The girl fell backwards onto the hard cement.
"CHRONA!" Maka jumped to her feet and ran. Kid had beat her to the punch, already on his knees checking for any injuries. She wasn't moving, a thin trickle of black blood coming from her nose.
"What the hell you guys!?" Kid shouted at Soul and Black Star. They hovered around her with Patty and Liz, unsure of what to do other than watch.
"I told her to watch out." Soul sighed as the others muttered among themselves. "How was I supposed to know that she would turn towards the ball?"
"Well of course she's going to turn to the moron shouting to get her attention!" Kid groaned. Maka pushed passed and joined Chrona at her other side.
"Seriously Soul that was an epic fail." Black Star said sagely.
"You're one to talk; you threw the ball at her!" Soul shot back.
"She'll be fine." Black Star waved him off.
"Come on Chrona wake up." Kid said, gently shaking her shoulders.
"Or not." Black Star corrected. He could feel everyone staring at him.
"You knocked her unconscious!" Maka shot back up to her feet to scold him.
"We need to get Chrona to Nygus." Kid suggested.
"Right." Maka agreed. "I'll get you for this later!" She shouted as she helped Kid carry Chrona.
"Man you're going to be in for it." Soul whispered to Black Star with a smirk.
"So are you Soul!" Maka threatened from across the court.
When Crona finally awoke, it was due to Ragnarok's incessant poking. She stirred and slowly sat up in an unfamiliar place. From the white walls and stiff cot, she assumed it was the nurse's office. She recalled her mother complaining about this room many times over while she'd been undercover.
"Thank goodness you're up!" Ragnarok gasped. "I came out to tell them you were fine and the next thing I know I'm squished under your giant, empty head!" As Ragnarok ranted, he smacked her repeatedly on the back of her head with his pudgy arms. Normally it would have been annoying, but this time it really hurt. She whimpered, pushing his hand away a feeling a hot bruise on the back of her skull.
"What happened?" She asked. The blob stared at, no longer resisting and sighed.
"Damn you're clueless. You got hit in the face with a basketball and everyone freaked out." She nodded mutely, slowly piecing together what had happened on the court. Kid had used his jacket as a pillow for her when she didn't wake up right away. And Maka... Maka had been livid. She should find them and let them know she was okay, mostly. "Maybe you shouldn't work with the shinigami today."
"I can't stop because of an accident!" Chrona protested. "He still needs my help."
"Does he really?" Ragnarok asked darkly. Why was he suddenly concerned about her now? Their whole lives, he'd been pushing her to get stronger so both of them could survive as Medusa's tool. Now that they were free, he got to laze about all day and eat as much food as he wanted. There shouldn't be any reason for him to care about her passed that. However, she could tell something about her research had really bothered him.
"Of course he does, he asked me to help him himself." Chrona reasoned meekly. Working together the past few days had been a lot of fun. Whenever they finished, they'd quietly enjoy each others company or grab a small snack. It had become surprisingly easy to hang out with him, as long as the two were alone.
"That was two weeks ago, he probably doesn't need your help anymore." Ragnarok hadn't been this angry since he was forced to give up the souls they had gathered over the last decade.
"But he said-"
"Think about it Chrona! That look in his eyes when you said you knew something about Eibon. He's using you!" She refused to let her partner tear apart the friendship she had so carefully pursued. For once, they shouldn't have to worry about who they could trust. These people were good people, they'd keep them safe.
"No, he would never do something like that." Chrona said on the verge of tears.
"How can you be so sure? You hardly know him Chrona." He was right, she hated that he was right. "He's a shinigami, the moment he finds out you know nothing about Eibon he'll throw you away!"
"I don't know how to deal with being abandoned." Chrona sniffled.
"Then do something about it! You always do this, Chrona. If you don't get off your ass and do something, he'll find someone else who will!" Lose Kid? She held her face in her hands and let silent tears make patterns on her dress. She didn't want to lose him. For the first time she felt wanted, no, needed and now it was slipping through her fingers. "What you need to do is get out of this situation before you end up hurt or worse."
"I want to help him." She choked out. For once, he wasn't stronger than her. He couldn't hijack her body anymore, couldn't use his wavelength to suppress her feelings. She was going to do this, whether he wanted her to or not.
"Fine, help him, see if I care." Ragnarok crossed his arms. Chrona looked up at her partner with blood shot eyes.
"But you said-"
"I don't care what choice you make. But you better not half ass it." He balled his hand into a fist. "Whatever decision you make, you better stick with it." He smacked her on the top of her head. "I don't want to see you crying again unless it's because of me."
"Okay." Chrona nodded. In order to make sure Kid needed her help, she would have to find more information about witches. Shinigami-sama wouldn't have many books about wicken society, and she didn't know anything about their history either. If only she had access to Medusa's books. She could go back to the lab and get them, but Medusa destroyed the lab while she still worked at Shibusen. She stood from the bed.
"I should let everyone know I'm okay." She mumbled, still deep in thought, her foot snagged on something near the nurse's desk. "OW!" She stumbled forward and gripped the table to keep her balance. She glanced down to see what it was she caught her foot on. "A book?" she mused. She would have asked Ragnarok about it, but she could tell he was still mad at book she had tripped on was propping up a broken leg of the desk. Kneeling on the floor, Chrona read the spine of the book. She carefully pulled the book from under the desk and flipped through the pages.
"Oh my- THIS IS IT!" Chrona squealed as she ran out of the room, book in hand. Poor Nygus would later return to a lopsided desk.
Kid had grudgingly gone on another mission while everyone waited for her to recover. When he returned, however, he found Chrona awake and waiting for him on the steps of Shibusen like a child on Christmas morning. The moment he set foot on the ground Chrona had a hold on him and pulled him into the school.
"Chrona, what's the rush?" Kid asked. She pulled him down into the dungeon hall. "Chrona!" The girl stopped and turned to the shinigami, a tarnished red book in hand.
"I found something about Eibon!" She gave handed him a grimy, blank covered book. "It's one of Medusa's! She was using it to prop up a broken desk and must have forgotten about it."
"The Fall of Salem?" Kid read, tracing the spine with his fingers. He glanced up and gave Chrona an inquisitive look.
"On page eighteen." Chrona pointed, brimming with excitement. Kid opened the book and searched for the passage she was referring to. Chrona watched him with anticipation.
"...the practice of magic was banned to avoid further attacks on human lives. As a result, a negative stigma was placed on witches as a whole. Those who were caught using witchcraft were threatened, harassed and sometimes banished. Witches began to blend in with humans to avoid persecution and swore to give up magic all together." He knew most of this already, but Chrona insisted he continued.
"The desire for magic was not heeded by simple laws. Witches would congregate once a week for an event known as witches mass. Here, those who practiced magic would go by pseudo names to protect their identity. There were even those who would use their false identities to sell enchanted items to humans. The best example of this was Iroha, known among humans as the witch doctor… Eibon." Kid looked up at Chrona.
"There's a bit on the magic tools," Chrona bit her lip, "but it's mostly about the Salem Witch Trials." The trials had marked the beginning of humans hunting witches for sport. A massacre of innocent witches, spurring a retaliation against death that still knew no end. She hoped the little information it had related to the magic tools would be enough to keep their investigation going.
"Chrona, do you know what this means?" Kid said with realization. "The reason we can't find anything on Eibon is because Eibon didn't really exist!"
"Is that a good thing, right?" Chrona asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
"Good? This is great! We finally have a lead! Who knows how many books are on this Iroha person!" Kid paused. "It sounds familiar, I just can't place where I've heard it before." He had hundreds of years of private schooling under his belt, some things were bound to be forgotten. "Anyway, we should get started immediately after school tomorrow." He returned the book to Chrona and began to walk away.
"Tomorrow?" Chrona couldn't help but feel disheartened. All that work and they had barely talked for a few minutes.
"You do need to rest, don't you?" Kid smiled at her and chuckled good-naturedly. She blushed, feeling silly for fretting. Still, if there was anything that could be done.
"You don't have to worry about me," Chrona insisted, "I could still work." They were both exhausted, and Kid refused to budge on the matter. Though, he argued much more gently than Ragnarok had.
"Even still you need you rest." He fumbled with his hands, uncertain what was the correct way to say goodbye. He settled for giving her should a gentle squeeze, before turning around. "See you tomorrow Chrona."
"Yeah, tomorrow." Even though he was walking away Chrona couldn't help but smile.
Rushed footsteps echoed throughout the dark halls of Baba Yaga Castle. A masked figure burst through the double doors of a large, deserted chamber. The spark of activity stirred dust into the air, and reflected what little light came in through the door way.
"Arachne-sama!" The figure called. High above the man, a woman in black sat on the delicate threads of a spider's web. She opened one silver lined eye to observe the messenger. Taking a sip of wine, the woman opened her fan to hide her annoyance. Every second of this exchange broke the protocol she had carefully crafted in her organization.
"What is it?" She asked in an even tone.
"There is a person here to see you. She claims to be your sister." Arachne froze. "Arachne-sama?" Both of her sisters should have been dead by now, and neither were particularly pleasant to deal with. Still, she herself was considered dead, so anything was possible. Especially among witches in the Gorgon family. She carefully adjusted her hair, the familiar flame of rivalry reigniting in her chest.
"Let her in." Arachne said coolly. The servant bowed and opened the door to the chamber. A young girl, about the age of eight, with fair hair and a plain black dress was escorted into the room. The cold stone floor nipped at the girl's bare feet and she wore a deceptively sweet smile. "Hello Medusa." Arachne glowered down at her middle sister. Of course the biggest thorn in her side was the one to evade Lord Death in his own home.
"It's so good to see you again Arachne, I can see the years have treated you well." Every sweet word dripped with an underlying sarcasm.
Unlike Medusa, Arachne had no need to borrow a child's body to stay alive. Like the witches of old, her magic was strong enough to allow her to shape shift back into her human form without any side effects. In fact, it was so powerful, she had to split herself into millions of spiders just to go into hiding. Even now, she hadn't fully reassembled, for fear that Lord Death would catch wind of her plans. With the Kishen back in the world, it would be easier for her to go unnoticed.
"What do you want?" Arachne asked. Her hold on her fan tightened. Her weak little sister had always envied her for her magic. She was not particularly interested in hearing Medusa's half baked attempts to steal her power.
"Whatever do you mean?" Medusa pouted. "Can I not come by and visit my dear sister?" She could bat her child puppet's eyes as much as she wanted, it wouldn't mend their century long feud.
"Last I checked I was a treacherous coward." Arachne hissed.
"My you can certainly hold a grudge." Medusa chuckled, her charade broken. "That was a little over 800 years ago, the world's moved on since then. Though I see you haven't."
"What do you want?" Arachne snapped her fan shut, baring her resentment on her sleeve.
"My, my, impatient as ever." Medusa scolded. "Haven't you guessed why I'm here? I know you've been keeping an eye on me, as well as others." Medusa eyed the tiny spiders that made the chamber their how with disgust. Arachne calmed herself with the knowledge she had gained the upper hand.
"Perhaps an arrangement could be made?" Arachne opened her hand as if offering aid. "A simple trade perhaps?"
"A trade?" Medusa probed with caution.
"Yes. I'll tell you the location of your daughter in exchange for my son." Arachne beamed as her sister went pale.
"You know I can't do that!" Medusa growled.
"Then I can't help you." Arachne sighed in sing-song. Yes, she knew exactly where Chrona had run off too without lifting a finger. Having the young girl in Shinigami-sama's possession was Medusa's worst nightmare and Arachne reveled in it.
"How can you say that, she's your niece!"
"He's your nephew." Arachne glowered with icy vengeance. "Think of it as a thank you, for stealing my son."
"You were being hunted down by Shingami-sama and Maba!" Medusa could still remember how pale and feral he had been. No one wanted to be caught harboring the first demon weapon that could kill a witch."If I hadn't come along Ragnarok would have died on the streets! He's better off with me then a traitor like you!"
"And Chrona's better off without you. You honestly think you're better than me?" Arachne scoffed. "I created other demon weapons so my son wouldn't be an outcast! But you? You tried to turn your daughter into a monster."
"I have my reasons." Medusa shouted. "I will find her again with or without your help." She turned and stormed out of the room. Before the Kishin's release, Arachne had been trapped in her spiders, helpless to do anything without Shinigami taking notice. Assuming Medusa would care for her son any better was her biggest regret.
"No one in their right mind would help you." Arachne whispered to the empty room.