Author's Note:

Been a while, huh? I always wanted to get back to this, and now it's almost ten years later. Let's start from the beginning!

btw:

they/them pronouns for Crona

This chapter is mostly an edit of the original chapter one and not much actually changed, so you can skip reading it if you've read the original pretty recently (though, I would encourage you to read this version because it does have some differences and is much more well written, even if it does still hold some underlying symptoms of originally being written by a 12 year old)

You can hear more from me at the end.

Shiny, Gilded Prologue

Crona sat on the cold stone floor in the corner of their new room rather than use the bed on the opposite side of them, trying to console themself with their comfortable habit despite the uncomfortable floor. They tightened their legs to their chest and wondered how they ended up here in this position, in this room, in this building.

A sigh escaped their lips, echoing against the empty stone walls, and coming back to their ears. They were amazed at how much could change in the course of only a couple of hours. In the shortest amount of time so much had happened: Maka became their friend, Medusa was dead, the Kishin had revived, and now the world was under the threat of his madness. And here they were in one of the stone cells that lay beneath DWMA.

Crona remembered how startled they were when they heard footsteps behind them in the cavern where they battled Maka, all alone after Maka and Soul left. It had already been several minutes since Ragnarok had finally dissolved back into their spine, finally bored of their quarrel, and so Crona found themself just...waiting. For what, they didn't know. But they'd had enough experience with waiting to have the patience for whatever it was.

With a sigh, Crona sat on the rubble-filled floor. Was it Medusa who was going to come and get them? Or—maybe they shouldn't hope too much—Maka?

Almost in response to their question, they heard the faint sound of footsteps behind them, getting louder every second. But they weren't at all like the soft pattering of Medusa's footsteps. Anxious, Crona spun around to the approaching noise and shakily stumbled up to their feet. There was a man a few meters away, each footstep taken in long strides, his sneakers squeaking lightly on the floor.

The most notable thing about this man was his blue skin. The second most notable trait of this man were the bulky muscles residing underneath said blue skin and his intimidatingly tall stature. He had looked around briefly, and when his gaze had finally rested on Crona, went toward them decidedly, as if he'd found something he was looking for.

Panic welled up in Crona's chest at his approach and looked around wildly, hoping for Maka or Medusa or someone who could tell them what they were supposed to do. But there wasn't anyone around to tell them how to deal with this, so all Crona could do was freeze.

When he finally appeared in front of them, he gruffly asked, "You the Demon Sword?"

Crona appraised the man fearfully for several seconds before nodding hesitantly. This man was… deeply unsettling, and everything about him churned fear into Crona's gut. After giving him the answer he was apparently hoping for, he nodded and signaled for them to follow him.

"Come on," he told them, his back already turning to head down the direction he had just come from.

Hesitation filled them. What should they do? What would happen if they followed? Crona would know if this was someone that Medusa had sent, so did that mean this man was on Maka's side? Should Crona follow if this man was on Maka's side? Just because Maka doesn't want them dead anymore doesn't mean that sentiment is shared by everyone else now. And what would Medusa do to them if she found out?

Crona's feet stood frozen to the floor. Their eyes flashed up and met the expectant look of the scary man in front of them, and Crona felt even more stuck in their position. God, he was creepy. Maybe they'd better just wait here for when Maka comes back. Or...maybe it was too presumptuous to think she'd come back through this way to get them. And surely she had enough on her plate if all the rumbling and earth shaking Crona experienced earlier was any indication. So maybe they should wait until Medusa comes back. Whoever comes first.

Seeing their hesitation, the strange scary man's intimidating stature relaxed, and he hunched over until their eyes were at the same level.

"Don't worry," though he spoke low, his deep voice sounded loud in the empty room, "We're not going to hurt you."

His words were supposed to be comforting, Crona could tell, but the effect was lost with his voice echoing in the space around them and those cloudy eyes staring deep into theirs. But… if Crona followed him, that meant that they could be on Maka's side for real, right? There's no way that Crona was able to get out of Medusa's clutches of their own volition. Right. This was the escort they have, so they should take it. To see Maka again, Crona resolved. Crona's ice-block body thawed just enough to nod in a silent agreement to follow.

Crona kept their distance as they followed behind the towering blue man, measuring out a length where they would have enough time to react and summon Ragnarok should he suddenly turn his heel and lunge for an attack. But for now, all seemed peaceful on their uncomfortably quiet journey. Crona was fine without any talk between them. They would probably only be able to mumble out short answers anyway, but the atmosphere in the air as they trekked through the battle-scarred underbelly of the school was tense. Growing increasingly anxious with the lingering dead silence between them and the scary man, Crona prompted Ragnarok into a mental conversation.

"Where do you think he's taking us?" they asked.

"Probably to a torture chamber or something." Ragnarok responded blandly.

Crona swallowed, "Ragnarok… Don't say that. It'll only make me paranoid."

"And I'll bet he'll chain you to the wall and starve you. Then he'll slowly rip your limbs off, one by one." Ragnarok teased.

The suggestion was too exaggerated to qualify as a genuine threat, but Crona couldn't help but wonder if there was a semblance of truth behind it. Punishment for all their actions in the quest to become a Kishin, unwilling or not, was certainly not off the table.

"Oooh, and I'll bet he'd want to watch you cry and plead, too. And as you scream and he rips you apart, he'll order you to apologize for killing all those innocent people and hurting the students here at DWMA. Then he'll bring that chick Maka and she'll tell you she hates you for hurting that jerky partner of hers." Ragnarok cackled.

Something acidic churned in Crona's stomach. That sounded closer to what would happen. Imagining Maka's hateful glare pierced a horrible feeling through their chest. They had done such horrible things— to innocent people, to Maka's partner — How could she forgive them? Why did she offer to be their friend? Was it just in the heat of battle that she decided to offer friendship, so she could get away from the fight and go onto what was more important? Tears budded at the edges of their eyes as doubt started to rush through their body.

Just as they were about to spiral further down that train of thought, Crona was brought out of their head by the squeak of the blue man's shoes stopping abruptly up ahead. Lifting their eyes from the ground, Crona saw his stiff back and the slight turn of his head in their direction. Before Crona's hand could twitch to call their blade, he spoke.

"You may want to cover your eyes." He suggested quietly.

Instinctively, Crona's eyes instead swept over the room to look for what he was referring to. The initial confusion they felt shifted almost immediately into realization as their eyes landed on the body lying motionless on the ground. Their mother's body was in full display in the middle of the spacious hallway, torn in two, blood pooled under her torso and splattered across her face. Any other details were lost on Crona as their vision unfocused, eyes still directed towards the scene but unable to drink anything more in. They found themselves unable to move. Medusa was… dead? Well, she would have to be if Crona wanted to surrender their quest of becoming a Kishin. But, despite that fact and despite the cruelty of living under Medusa's care, the grizzly scene in front of them brought no relief. Their mother was dead. Murdered, for a lack of a better word, and her broken body was in front of them. It felt…unreal. It wasn't just because she was their mother that the reality of her death felt so jarring, but Medusa had always felt so invincible to them. Seeing her broken body on the floor was terrifying. Is that what they were going to do to them?

Crona was brought out their haze by an anxious hitch in their breath and noticed the uncomfortable twitching that trembled through them and the uneven breaths they were taking. Crona's eyes finally broke away and they briefly met the gaze of the blue man who sheepishly slid his eyes away.

That's not what they'll do, right? That's not what they'll do to me right? Crona searched for Ragnarok. As much as he was mean and loved to tease when it came to questions as heavy as that, he usually gave an honest answer.

For once, he was eerily silent.

The man waiting in the distance in front of them was patient, though, occasionally looking in their direction before looking away again in consideration. Eventually, after a couple more silent moments, Crona shuffled slowly forward and he turned away and began to escort again.

No, Crona thought to themself, she died in a battle. Losing a battle is always messy. Even if Crona were punished, it wouldn't be like that.

Because I wouldn't put up a fight.

With all the uncertainty and questions building up, Crona finally bit the bullet and asked the question.

"Wh…where are we…?"

The man answered even though Crona couldn't finish the question, "We're going to Lord Death's Room."

The grip they had on their arm tightened like a vice.

"Lord Death isn't going to hurt you, though, he just wants to talk." The man added as Crona was halfway to accepting their fate.

Crona gave a soft nod, even though he couldn't see them. For right now, they'll believe it. As best as they can anyway. The shivers running through their body haven't stopped yet.

Once they entered the ground level, Crona found that they were walking through the unsettlingly empty hallways of DWMA. It felt unfamiliar and wrong to be inside of enemy territory. The walk through the building was largely unremarkable until the two were climbing a set of stairs and were faced with a wide window sitting at the top of it. The blue man's stride hadn't wavered walking past it, but Crona stopped in their path and turned to look outside. A dark red sky loomed above Lord Death City, the clouds thick and dark, and the city below was battered and devastated.

Noticing that Crona had stopped, the blue man turned and realized that they hadn't seen what had become of the outside yet.

"I don't know if you got the news or not," he sighed, "but Medusa got what she wanted."

Crona didn't know how to respond.

"Come on, let's get going." he said, and then he continued forward.

Crona broke away from the window and followed.

The rest of the journey was quiet, save for their footsteps bouncing on the walls. They finally reached a dead end with two grand doors looming over them. The blue man raised one of the heavy skull knockers and brought it against the door. This had to be Lord Death's room.

"Sir? May I come in?"

"Sid? Yes, you may come in." the grim voice was muffled by the closed door.

Sid grabbed one of the large brass handles and tugged. The thick door creaked as it opened and revealed a bright room. Crona's eyes squinted as they adjusted to the startling blue of the ceiling above them. A long pathway stretched in front of them, lined with long pillars that held guillotines above their heads as they walked the trail. Crona kept a wary eye on the blades as they and Sid followed the path to the center of the room where a tall dark figure had his back facing them. A large mirror loomed in front of him, the glass feeding back an overview of Death City instead of a reflection, the smoky red sky casting it in shadow. The figure shifted slightly once the two stopped behind him.

"Do you have the Demon Blade?" he asked.

"Right here, sir." Sid replied.

The black figure turned to them and it revealed how battle-torn the reaper was. Tattered robes fluttered in the soft breeze that pulled through the room, and his white mask was broken and smeared with dust.

Lord Death brightened at the sight of them and his form straightened with a bounce.

"Ah, hello, child!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

Taken aback by the drastic tonal stift, Crona couldn't get their mouth to form a response.

Lord Death's posture and voice softened at the obvious panic racking through the teen in front of him, "Don't worry, don't worry! I won't hurt you... Sid, a moment?"

"Right." Sid replied, and he turned away to allow them privacy.

Crona watched as Sid left the room, not wanting to meet the reaper's face yet. After the door shut behind Sid with a low thud, Crona could feel Lord Death's patient gaze on them. They turned back to him slowly, keeping their eyes on the ground, and shuffled their feet.

"I am glad that you've been able to hold on so strongly against Medusa's efforts to warp you." Lord Death praised softly.

Crona's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and their eyes lifted from the ground to the broken mask in front of them, "How… how did you know?"

Lord Death swayed casually with his response, "Well! Professor Stein reported that he noticed the difference in your soul after he defeated Medusa!"

"Oh…" Flashes of Medusa's dead body revisited them.

"It is greatly commendable." Lord Death complimented again, interrupting their flashback, "That is the sort of strength that I look forward to having in the soul of a DMWA student."

"Look… forward to?"

"Yes! I would love to see you readjust to life as a citizen of Death City and a student here at DWMA!" Lord Death cheered.

Silence hung in the air for a moment as Crona processed the words. And then all at once the reality of what Lord Death was offering processed in their mind.

"I'm—huh?"

An… actual student of DWMA? Here Crona was thinking that Lord Death would be so merciful as to make them a ward of the school as a prisoner, but to extend his mercy so far as to offer them a position as a student was…

"…really?" doubt colored Crona's small voice.

"Yup!"

More silence followed as Crona waited for Lord Death to pull the rug out from under their feet and reveal that he was joking. But all he did was stand there patiently. After a few unsuccessful croaks, Crona was finally able to push something out to respond.

"I…I think I would like to be here… at DWMA."

"Ah, it will be wonderful!" Lord Death sang, but then he abruptly leaned closer to them and his voice dropped low as though he were telling a secret, "Though, that does mean you will have to give up all of your human souls."

Crona recoiled instinctually, but stuttered out in agreement, "O-of course, Lord Death!"

Crona felt the back of their spine tingle and Ragnarok burst out to provide his two cents.

"And you said that without consulting me!" Ragnarok shouted, "There's no way am I going to give them up! Then I'd be just as worthless as this little idiot! Do you see how small I already am after what the twin-tailed kid did? There's no way I'm gonna—"

"We need to." Crona stated sternly, "Or else I can't be a student here."

"And why would I care about that!"

"It really is unfortunate that you disagree, but if that is the Demon Sword's choice, you must know that you really are powerless in this situation, hmm? Not only are they your meister, but you have the curious condition of being attached."

"First of all! Crona is not the Demon Sword, I am! Second of all—"

Ragnarok sputtered at him for several seconds in anger, but he couldn't find another argument so he just resorted to steaming by himself quietly, "Fine, but know that the moment this string bean dies from how wimpy I'll be in the future, I demand to have all of myself returned and turned back to normal. I refuse to die out in such a pathetic way."

"Oh, my apologies, I will use the right names from now on. And I will keep note of your request, do not worry." Lord Death responded.

"So, umm," Crona began awkwardly, breaking the discussion about the extraction of Ragnarok following their untimely death, "h-how do you take the human souls?"

"It's quite simple actually. Bring the Demon Sword out in his weapon form, please."

Crona nodded and immediately felt the familiar weight of the sword in their hand. Lord Death held his hand out, motioning for them to give him the weapon. Warily, Crona put the blade in Lord Death's outstretched hand, feeling uncomfortably naked without Ragnarok in their possession.

Lord Death held the sword away from him and shook violently, a startled cry leaving the sword at the sudden motion. Several floating blue human souls popped into existence, scattered in the area around them. As the reaper shook the sword wildly, agitated yelps coming from the mouth at the hilt, more souls rushed forth. This process lasted an uncomfortably long time with Ragnarok yelping the whole way, barely managing to yell strangled curses in between. After an excruciatingly awkward several minutes, Lord Death had finished manhandling the sword, and five red kishin egg souls stood out from all the blue littered around them.

With a satisfied hum, Lord Death handed back the sword and the five kishin souls to Crona. Ragnarok's blade was noticeably thinner and his weight noticeably lighter, and after quickly swallowing the red souls, he immediately vanished inside of Crona. They wobbled drunkenly and tried to find their balance as Ragnarok's nausea from the experience transferred over to them.

"See?" Lord Death teased, "That was quite simple, wasn't it?"

"Umm, yeah." Crona replied dizzily, trying to blink away the stars blocking their vision.

"Well then, I'll get rid of these later!" Lord Death sang motioning toward the floating blue orbs, "Now that the human souls have been taken away, you are now compatible to attend DWMA!"

Lord Death immediately turned back to his mirror and wrote numbers onto its surface with his finger. The mirror glowed as it dialed a tone and ripples disturbed its surface. Sid appeared on the other side.

"Yes, Lord Death?"

"You may escort them now, Sid."

"I'll be right there!" Sid answered with a salute before disappearing.

Crona was barely able to register their confusion before a knock was heard immediately at the doors of the room. Sid must have been waiting right outside the whole time.

"Come in!" Lord Death welcomed.

Once Sid made his way up to them, he asked, "Number 27, right, sir?"

"Mmhm!" Lord Death hummed happily and turned to look at Crona, "Our room number 27 will be your new home starting now, courtesy of DWMA!"

Crona stood frozen in shock, mouth dropping open, before immediately closing it because the throbbing nausea that still lingered threatened to do something. They were going to have a new home? They were really truly being that nice to them?

"I-I, y-you, really? I can—Medusa has a—there's a place for me to stay, you don't have to give—you've already been s-so nice to me already, if you do more I won't know how to deal with it, it's too much." Crona's words stumbled out.

"Ah, yes, that may be true, but we don't want you living all alone now that Medusa is gone!" Lord Death answered, "And we are going to want to investigate Medusa's real residence, and that would be uncomfortable for everyone if you were still living there!"

That made sense.

"I—uhm, okay. Thank you…"

Lord Death chuckled, "Of course!"

"If you would, sir," Sid suddenly spoke up, "May I talk to you for a moment?"

Lord Death tilted his head curiously, "Of course. Uhm, Crona is it? Could you wait outside the door for Sid, please. He will be there momentarily to take you to your room."

Crona nodded and exited the room quickly.

Lord Death and Sid watched the small figure recede until they were successfully out of earshot.

Lord Death turned to Sid but didn't get a word out before he was interrupted, "I'm sorry to talk before you, sir, but are you sure about not having the Demon Sword board with Maka? She's the one who was able to bring them to their senses, it seems like it would make sense to keep them with the person that was able to reach them. We didn't get to discuss this fully before you asked me to go grab them, and I am curious about your decision."

"I'm sure Maka would love to take them in, but she is going to be very busy in these trying times, what with Asura reviving and all. I am taking into consideration that she and Soul may not want a new member in their household after such a stressful experience." Lord Death stated.

Sid's heavy brow furrowed, "Somehow I don't think that's your real reason."

Lord Death hung his head and blew out an airy sigh, "Oh, you saw through me too easily."

"I know just as well as you do how risky this is." Sid said.

Lord Death regarded the man in front of him grimly, "There's no arguing that Crona has an impressive soul. A child that can retain themself that strongly under the wing of someone like Medusa has amazing potential. But I'd be foolish to not invest in a little precaution."

Sid crossed his arms and let out a slow sigh, "And you think having them here is better precaution than keeping them with Maka? She has soul perception. Out of anyone, she'd be the fastest to know if they were headed downhill again."

"Aside from me." Lord Death reminded, "Maka has shown she has incredible influence over their soul, but with Asura released, their sanity is safer in DWMA where my presence is strongest."

"I see…" Sid replied.

"Perhaps if they show strong progress we can change the arrangements. But for now, I'd like to keep them under my supervision."

After several minutes of waiting and Ragnarok whining, the door creaked open and Sid stepped outside. His eyes found Crona standing timidly off to the side and jutted his head in a motion for them to follow before walking down the hall.

As they were walking, Crona peered into some of the empty classrooms and wondered which one they would be in. After Crona had gotten to peer into a dozen or so classrooms, Sid cleared his throat and Crona set all their attention back to him. Crona remembered, when their chest clenched up, how uncomfortable this man made them feel.

"You will be attending part-time classes next week after most people have gotten their bearings. Full-time classes won't be available for a while since the staff will be busy trying to repair Death City with most of their time."

Sid pointed to a room to the left of them, "This will be your new classroom in a few days. Professor Stein teaches that class, so you'd better hope you have a strong stomach."

"In the same hall as your classroom, there is a bulletin board filled with missions." They were walking down a flight of stairs now, but it didn't slow down Sid. "When you take a mission, you go to the location it tells you, and take the Kishin egg's soul." He explained.

Sid kept explaining more and more about the school the more they walked through its map, filling the quiet with his tour. Eventually, they reached a hall very different from the others. The following corridors were all stone, and they were only lit by the torches lining their walls. Sid's voice bounced loudly against the stone as he continued with his lecture. Crona followed Sid carefully as they took the set of stairs that led deeper into the school.

Sid stopped in front of a steel metal door that had a 27 stenciled onto the surface and turned to them, opening it wide and gestured inside. Crona peered inside the room. A window was nestled close to the ceiling and looked out to the deep red sky above, there was a bed pressed up against the wall, a dresser on the opposite wall, and a sink with a small mirror above it.

"I know it's not much," Sid said from behind them, "but it's better than nothing... Anyway, I'll leave."

Crona nodded without saying a word and watched Sid leave the room. When he was gone, they ignored the bed and sat in the corner. Some habits are hard to break. Crona tried to find a comfortable position on the hard ground and looked up at the window to stare at the sky. They gazed at the sky and idly daydreamed about going to school with Maka and eventually living a normal life, leaving the past of what they had done behind them. It was a good, wholesome daydream, but they knew it would be a hard one to fulfill. With a small yawn, Crona decided that they should go to sleep, finally feeling how worn their body was after the night's events. Crona glanced pensively at the bed before resolutely staying in the corner, curling tightly into a ball.

Close to dozing off, Crona realized curiously that Ragnarok hadn't said a word since they were at Lord Death's office.

"Lord Death is very generous." Crona probed.

They felt him stir lazily, "Tch. So you think, but this is a cell room. He said he'd accept you as a student, but I think he's really just keeping you prisoner for all the bad things you've done."

"I don't think that's what's happening." Crona disagreed, even though they could tell that his accusation was empty. They both knew this was all too much for Lord Death to just keep them prisoner. They really were going to be a student at DWMA.

"Believe what you want to believe, moron."

Ragnarok faded from consciousness after that, leaving Crona alone with their thoughts. That was a lot quieter of a conversation than they expected from him. They were expecting a rant and rave that would last hours, but now they were surprisingly alone in this quiet room.

Crona tightened their legs to their chest. They couldn't help but have their thoughts swarmed. Swimming through their head were memories and anxieties about what had happened in this short day. It felt like it could be a dream. How they ended up here in this position, in this room, in this building. With a sigh, Crona remembered everything at a dizzying speed before they took a steadying breath to stop the whirlwind going through their mind. Worn out and breath deepening, they began to lull themselves to sleep, pushing out everything that would keep them awake. The battle with Maka, her offer of friendship, Medusa's dead body, the revival, the future of becoming a student at DWMA, their new residence. Everything slowed down and drifted away, and they fell into a merciful slumber.

Author's Note:

This chapter seems weak in comparison to the stuff I've written from scratch, but I guess that's expected when you're writing on top of a 10 year old document.

I could have just posted a new story for this, but I wanted to make sure that all the OG subscribers to this story got the notification that it updated, so that's why I'm editing on top of the original story.

I'm also posting it on AO3 if that's more your style.

Second chapter scheduled for Friday!