Chapter Five: The Fallen Swordsman
The night felt colder now as the swordsman walked, swaying as he did so, gripping his arm absently while dragging the blade's edge along the ground, keeping his head lowered in defeat. He couldn’t bring himself to look up, allowing the pink locks to conceal his eyes, as he followed the prince mournfully back to the chairman's tower. Akio noticed that Crona didn't seem happy about his defeat, but it didn't matter. The prince had defeated the demon swordsman Crona, and as per their agreement, he now belonged to Akio fully, and to the selfish prince, that was all that really mattered. “Come along Crona” he told the disheveled swordsman simply, before they went inside the tower. “Yes Mr. Ohtori” the boy spoke, as he reluctantly went inside the tower, and followed the older man into the observatory room. 'Great, this room again, I'm almost back where I started' Crona thought, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
Akio calmly strode over to a sofa and sat down “Crona, come here” he told the boy, causing the pink haired swordsman to look over cautiously at his new master. “Crona, I gave you an order” Akio spoke sternly, but Crona didn't move, he didn't want to be near the older man right now. Akio saw the hint of defiance to which he got up, and calmly walked over. If the boy wouldn't listen to the prince of his own free will, then he'd just have to make him. His demeanor seemed calm as he went over to the pink haired boy. “Crona” he spoke softly, before suddenly his emerald orbs gave a hint of rage, and he lashed his hand in anger. Crona's eyes widened and he gasped out in pain, before the force of it sent him crashing against the ground. He cringed and managed to sit up, the sting of tears forming in his pale eyes as he touched the dark slap mark, and looked up at the enraged prince, feeling bewildered and scared.
Akio's body was rigid in rage. “Crona?” he asked, his voice starting to sound psychotic “you belong to me, and you will do as I say” Akio snapped. Crona shrunk more in fear now, shaking horribly as he looked up the tan skinned man in horror, this man was not the man he first encountered at all anymore. Crona yelped in surprise, when the man grabbed him by the roots of the hair, as well as by the arm that Crona was trying to use to shield himself with. Akio pulled him to his feet, and proceeded to drag him over to the couch. Crona tried to pry himself free as the angry prince dragged him. “Ow, let go of me, please, ow, stop it, you're hurting me, ow, quit pulling my hair it hurts, stop it, ow, please stop!” Crona pleaded helplessly, before he was thrown down onto the couch hard. The pink haired swordsman gasped upon impact, he soon trembled and attempted to get up, but he felt a hand clasp down onto the back of his head, and force his face down into the pillow.
“O, ow, Mr. Ohtori stop it, what're you doing?!” Crona panicked. Akio knelt down, and forced the scared swordsman to look into his cruel emerald spheres. “Crona, you Do realize I own you now right?” he spoke “y, yes m, Mr. Ohtori” Crona forced himself to say out of fear. “You do know, what that means don't you?” Akio asked, before seizing the boy, and forced the boy to where he had his back on the cushions. Akio moved to where he was now pinning the frightened boy down. He leaned in gripping the child's wrists tightly, holding them above his head, and slid his other hand under Crona's chin, lifting it so their eyes met. “It means…your Mind, your Body, and your Soul; all are mine to do with what I please” Akio spoke cruelly into Crona's ear.
Crona felt horror consuming him, he was afraid to know where the enchanting man was going with this. “N, no, please d” Crona began, a couple tears sliding down, but his frail plea was silenced, when he felt the man's strong lips pressed against his own. His pale eyes wide, but suddenly went wider, feeling something wet and slippery slide into his mouth, to which he cringed trying to move, but the older man was stronger than him, as a few tears streamed down. 'Please stop, I, I don't want this, I want to go home, Ragnarok help' he thought helplessly. Crona muffled whimpers, as the man's tongue fluttered about inside his mouth, sliding around his tongue. 'N, No, I don't want it, I, I don't, it feels strange, I don't like this at all, I, this is wrong!' he thought frantically, trying desperately to resist, as his cheeks began to burn. 'No, NO!' he thought helplessly, before his pale eyes locked with the seductive hypnotic emerald spheres, and his trembling suddenly began to lessen.
Crona's pale eyes began to go blank, a dark crimson shade flushing on his pale cheeks. 'Why am I fighting it soo much? He'll only hurt me worse if I do....I should just play along so he'll stop' the swordsman thought, feeling his eyes close almost completely, continuing to tremble. He was afraid of what the man would do to him if he resisted, and forced his own tongue to move, and began to feel his tongue weakly flow with the prince's. 'Why does this feel good all of a sudden? I don't understand, what's happening to me?' Crona thought weakly. Akio watched the boy beginning to lose the will to fight back, good, but he wasn't going to let him simply play along, he had to ensure that Crona knew his place.
Akio gripped him harder, sliding his other hand onto Crona's cheek, as he then deepened the kiss. It had been soo long since he'd touched anyone intimately, not since the defeat he received at the hands of Utena, in the form of Anthy leaving him. His empire had fallen to pieces around him, even the student counsel had left him of late. Touga had came to him sometime after she had left the academy, only to inform him, that the student counsel wanted nothing to do with the rose duels anymore. All that pent up aggression, which he'd been suppressing for soo long, and finally he had someone he could take it out on. Willing or not, he didn't care, he was going to satisfy himself, using this young boy to do so.
He deepened the kiss, making it stronger and more passionate. Crona really didn't know how to deal with this; all he could think of, was to try to wait it out, and hope to God it’d be over quickly. Though he still couldn't understand why Ragnarok wasn't responding? Why was his dark guardian not coming to his rescue now, like it had soo many times before? Was Ragnarok actually mad at him? Crona whimpered, his pale slender hands shaking worse, wishing there was something he could do to make it stop. But he felt completely helpless, even more so now than when he served Medusa. Akio felt his fingers becoming wet from Crona's tears, but he didn't care, the boy had to learn not to question him. In Akio’s demented mind, this was Crona's punishment for not listening to him. Crona kept whimpering, wanting it all to be over, but he soon discovered another problem. 'I, I can't breathe!' Crona's thoughts screamed. Finally the prince slid his mouth off of Crona's, grinning upon seeing the saliva trickling off his own tongue, as he then licked his lips. 'Is it over?' Crona thought as he panted heavily, coughing as he tried to catch his breath.
Akio let go of his wrists and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, still keeping his other hand on Crona's cheek. 'Thank God,.....it's really over' Crona thought weakly, as he then looked up, blinking upon seeing the sinister glint in the prince’s eyes, looking upon the prince now fearful. 'Why’s he looking at me like that?!' Crona thought helplessly. “Tell me Crona, do you understand now?” Akio spoke smoothly. Crona shivered as a few tears slid down “please....d, don't hurt me anymore, m, Mr. Ohtori” he pleaded. Akio's eyes darkened, causing Crona to yelp in fear. Akio grabbed his throat and tightened his grip, glaring upon the pink haired boy murderously “don't you mean master?!” Akio snapped furiously “ow, ow, I, I'm sorry, f, forgive me, p, please don't hurt me anymore, it hurts and I don't like it” Crona pleaded. Akio released his hold on the boy’s throat, and sat up glaring down at him.
He began to imagine the one who took his power away and grinned worse. Oh, all the horrible things he wanted to put her through, for taking the power of Dios away from him. “Stop looking at me like that, you look psychotic, it scares me” Crona begged, as Akio soon leaned in and forcibly kissed him. Crona muffled pleas, trying to push him off, but to no avail. 'No, stop it, don't kiss me again, I don't want you to' he thought frantically, as soon the man stopped, and Crona felt the collar of the dress become open. Akio then proceeded to kiss the side of the boy's slender throat enthusiastically. “N, no, stop it, don't kiss my neck like that, it feels weird, I don't like it, stop!” Crona begged, as he continued to try to push the man off of him.
Akio didn't stop, as he opened his own shirt instead, and bit hard into Crona's neck. “Ow, stop it, don't bite me, it hurts, stop!” Crona cried out. Akio heard the boy's desperate pleas, but he really could care less right now, as he reached around behind Crona's shoulder blades, and ran his hand along the boy's back. Crona struggled worse upon feeling the man grab him on the butt. “No, stop touching me, get your hands off me, dammit I said stop it you pervert!” Crona cried out. “Pervert?” Akio asked suddenly, stopping what he was doing abruptly and got up. Crona looked up at him fearful as the prince chuckled, before that psychotic glint returned. He then grabbed Crona's arm and began forcing him onto his stomach, before pulling him back, and slid a hand inside the black dress, as he then began touching Crona's chest. Crona gasped and squirmed frantically “no, stop it, that feels weird, stop touching me there” Crona begged, as he winced and gasped worse, feeling the man's hand on his neck, and his index finger slid into Crona's mouth.
Akio began kissing Crona's neck, even though all the helpless swordsman really wanted, was for it to stop. And yet, at the same time for some reason unknown to him, it felt soo good, that his body was beginning to almost rebel against him, the scent of roses was becoming intoxicating, hypnotic, frightening. His mind beginning to feel torn, Akio could sense it, as he moved his hand in Crona's dress out, before sliding it down to between the boy's legs. Crona gasped out and flinched, he arched back a little, trying desperately to fight back. “N, no, not there, if you do that my clothes will get dirty, I don't think I can handle that” Crona begged. Akio grabbed it hard, and began sliding his hand back and forth, forcing his finger further into Crona's mouth.
'Anthy used to beg me to stop too, but she learned to love it, and so will you' Akio thought darkly. Crona gave a muffled cry suddenly, to which Akio paused looking down, and felt a strange fluid running over his fingers, and grinned sadistically. 'He's almost mine now, just a little more' Akio thought to himself, before letting go and grabbed Crona by the back of the hair, and forced his head into the pillow. Crona shivered and whimpered, he tried to get up, and his eyes began to tear up, his face flushing darkly. Akio brought the boy's hips up, and unzipped his pants, before lifting the boy's dress. “Wait, n, no, m, Mr. Ohtori, s, stop, don't lift my skirt up like that, I'll be exposed” Crona begged “Crona” Akio began, before pulling himself out, and began rubbing it enjoying every minute of this.
“I told you to call me master didn't I?!” Crona barely managed to look back, and his face glowed a dark crimson. “N, no, don't, please, I beg of you, anything but that, it's too big, I don't know how to handle that! Stop, please if you put that inside of me, it'll split me in half” Crona cried out. Akio grinned and moved closer and abruptly grunted. Crona stiffened in response, his tears stopped as his eyes widened, feeling the surging painful feeling, force its way into his body. “Ow, no, pull it out, it hurts too much” Crona pleaded, but to his horror, he felt it starting to move out, but right as he thought it would come out, it was forced in harder, and Crona cried out in pain, falling face forward into the pillow. “Ow, stop it, stop thrusting so hard, I don't like it, it hurts” Crona pleaded, but Akio was getting what he wanted, so he really didn't care. Crona gripped the fabric of couch, as he gasped and cried gasps of pain, as the man continued to violate him from within.
Crona begged and pleaded helplessly, but after a while, the thrusting began to feel intoxicating, as Crona's cries began to melt down, from cries of pain into shame filled moans of pleasure. 'What’s happening to me? Why is it starting to feel good? I don't understand, why doesn't it hurt anymore?!' Crona thought weakly, as he began to moan out. After a while he abruptly heard Akio make a loud groan, and felt a strange sensation. Crona screamed before collapsing to the couch, sweaty, weak, and helpless, as he laid nearly seeming lifeless, drool slowly pooling from the innocent swordsman's mouth. Akio panted and pulled out, before he calmly fixed up his clothes. He went over to the weakened boy, and gripped Crona by the roots of the hair, as he then forced the boy to look at him. “Disobey me again, and next time, it'll be worse, do you understand?” Akio told him sternly before getting up.
He soon exited the room into a bathroom, and got himself cleaned up, where he changed into a fresh pair of clothes. He soon realized if Crona was to get to work, he'd need a change of clothes soon, which gave him an idea. Crona lay on the couch feeling too weak to move, both from the injuries he received during his fight with the prince, to the man's more intimate assault on his body. Crona's pale colored cheeks burned in shame, as he shakily pulled his dress back down, and hugged the pillow against his face, as he then proceeded to weep into it in shame and disgust at himself, all the pain and the fear, as he cried helplessly into the pillow.
Akio heard the boy crying, and held a flat look “you'll get over it Crona, this won't be the last time, if you decide to defy me again” he spoke, so that Crona would hear it. 'And now you're truly mine' he thought finally, as he transformed into the chairman, and walked over with a towel in hand. “I have to go meet with someone, in the mean time, I want you to clean yourself up before I return, I have an assignment for you, if anyone at the academy asks you, you're the chairman's personal assistant, and that you enjoy working for me, because if I hear otherwise, you will be punished” he informed the pink haired swordsman. The chairman then gave the boy a kiss on the forehead, and walked into the elevator, before disappearing from view.
Crona weakly forced himself to sit up, and sadly set the pillow down, before he picked up the towel in a defeated manner. He glanced around, and regretfully realized, he didn't know where the bathroom even was, and began to internally panic. He didn't want to be punished again, and began wandering about aimlessly, but soon jolted hearing the front door open, and saw a blonde haired woman enter. Crona hid at first, behind the closest pillar he could find. The woman glanced up and blinked, seeing no one, before she looked around. 'That's strange, I could’ve sworn I thought I saw someone' she thought to herself. She looked at her watch, and thought it was strange that Akio wasn't here to greet her, and soon decided to head towards the observatory.
Crona was afraid to waste time and attempted to flee, but soon smacked into the woman, and gasped in shock. “Oh, I, I am sooo sorry” Crona began flustered, and rubbed the back of his neck shyly, to which the young woman blinked. “It’s alright, you just startled me a little” she began before she saw the look of horror in the pale boy's face, and looked at him worried. “R, really, it's alright” she told him, seeing him hug his arm and have a difficulty looking at her. The woman kindly held out a hand and smiled “there's nothing to be afraid of here, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm Kanae Ohtori, and you are?” she told him sweetly. Crona looked at her hand stiffening, he then looked up and realized she reminded him of Miss Marie, as he then went back to staring intently at her hand. “Is something wrong?” she asked worriedly. Crona gasped softly and looked at her “oh, no I, I'm fine” he spoke, looking to her hand again and carefully reached out, reluctantly managing to place one of his hands into hers. Kanae blinked, realizing his hands were sweaty, was the poor boy really that nervous? “I, I'm C, Crona....it's n, nice to meet you” he managed shyly.
Kanae felt his hand trembling, and soon realized the poor boy’s clothes were wet and filthy. “Oh my goodness, you poor thing, your clothes” she began. Crona's face turned dark red in embarrassment, and tried to hide the stain with the towel, looking like he was about to cry. Kanae calmly touched his shoulder “it's okay, don't cry, let's get you cleaned up okay?” she told him. Crona blushed, this woman was soo gentle and kind, he just hoped she wasn't like his new master the prince. “It's this way” she told him calmly, gently taking him by the hand and began to lead him to the bathroom, as he kept his head lowered in embarrassment. “So Crona” she began, causing him to look up “y, yes?” he stammered. “What brings you to the chairman's residence?” she asked him politely “w, well I” he began, his pale eyes darting around, thinking of what he should say.
'What should I do? Should I tell her the truth? That the chairman kidnapped me off the side of the road, and is forcing me to stay here against my will?....no, no, I can't do that, he'd punish me again....what was it he told me to say?' he thought worriedly before he suddenly looked up at her barely. “I, I'm” he began, causing her to stop and look at him. His smile was nervous and weak “I'm the new chairman's assistant” he spoke, horrified at himself for saying it, but she seemed to smile. She clearly didn't seem to understand “oh I see” she began, gently cupping her chin with a hand “come to think of it, he has been acting strangely ever since his sister left the academy, he's just seemed soo distant and depressed lately” Kanae admitted sadly. “You're not related to him are you?” she asked “oh n, no, of course not!” Crona blurted out, as Kanae then laughed a little before looking at him.
“That’s a shame, you seem like such a sweetheart too” she told him before stopping “here we are” she told him. Crona looked at the door, then back at her, before lowering his head more. “Um” he began, his voice soft and frail “is something wrong?” she asked. “It’s just, this is the only clothes I have, I don't know what to do if the chairman sees me dirty like this, he won't be happy with me, I, I don't know how deal with this” he confessed sadly. Kanae felt sorry for the young boy, and placed her hand on his shoulder, lifting his chin up “it's alright Crona, I can clean them for you, while you're getting yourself cleaned up” she offered. “Y, you'd do that for me?” he asked surprised. “I don't mind” she told him, before he managed to give her a smile “th, thank you very much” he managed to tell her.
Kanae smiled and let him go into the bathroom. Crona shivered as he removed the dress, allowing it to slide off his shoulders, sliding off of his skin and onto the floor. He then wrapped the towel around himself, before opening the door barely, just enough to hold out the dress. “Please be careful with it? It's all I have” he informed her softly. Kanae smiled and accepted it “don't worry, I'll make sure to get it back to you safely” she told him, before taking it to go get it washed. Crona shakily closed the door and locked it, before he sighed and covered his face, the tears starting to form again. “I hate this, I just wanna go back to the academy, I just want to be with my friends...this is a nightmare, I don't want to be here anymore” he wept softly to himself, before going to the bath and began to prepare the water. He carefully got in and began to clean himself off, allowing the running water to drench his frail body. He didn't really want to do what the prince wanted, but he was scared of what would happen if he didn't.
Crona managed to finish showering off and stepped out, before bandaging his injuries, jumping a little upon hearing a knock on the door. He felt his heart nearly stop, hoping it wasn't the prince. “Crona?” came the female voice, and he mentally gave a sigh of relief as he walked over, wrapping the towel around himself, and hesitantly opened the door. “Here's your clothes, I finished cleaning them” she told him “oh, th, thank you very much Miss Ohtori” he told her, as he began reaching out, and accepted the black and white dress. “Oh, you don't have to call Miss Ohtori, you can call me Kanae” she told him “a, are you sure it's okay?” he asked “well of course it is silly” she told him warm heartedly. “O, oh okay then, I'll try” he told her, before he closed the door and slipped on the dress. After he finished drying himself off, he touched the mirror looking worriedly. 'Where are you Ragnarok?' he thought to himself, as he opened the door and saw her. “Feeling better?” she asked, Crona blushed, before his pale eyes darted about a bit nervously.
“Are you alright?” she asked “I, it's just” he began, lightly gripping his arm “I don't really know how to deal with girls” he admitted meekly. Kanae merely smiled, such a timid young boy, he was soo adorable, but at the same time somewhat odd, but at least, he seemed honest, unlike that sister of her fiancé’s. “Don’t worry, you'll get used to it eventually” she told him. He blinked and managed to give her a feint smile “sure” he answered, before suddenly he heard footsteps, and he saw the man approaching, his eyes widened in sheer horror. “Kanae? What're you doing here?” the chairman asked dumbly “I got done with my appointment early, and decided to come see how you were doing” she told him. Akio looked over and saw Crona looked scared, and gave him a stern glare, before he smiled at her. “Oh, I see you've met my new assistant Crona, you'll have to forgive him, he's very shy around strangers, isn't that right Crona?” he asked, to which Crona swallowed hard, but forced a nod.
Akio soon placed a hand on her shoulder, before he leaned in, and pressed his lips to hers in a warm kiss. Crona stiffened, before looking away in shame, gripping his arm tighter. “Oh my, Akio, it's nice to see you too” she managed when they parted lips, and he smiled charmingly. “How could I not kiss my beautiful fiancé?” he lied, as he then placed his arm around her shoulder, and began to lead her away. “Alright, let's get going Kanae” he told her, as he led her towards the elevator. “We'll be back shortly Crona” Akio told him “it was nice to meet you Crona” Kanae called back, before they began to walk over to the elevator. “W, wait, m, Mr. Ohtori, um.. a, about my assignment?” he forced himself to ask, wanting any excuse to get out of this dreadfully resilient tower. Akio paused and glanced over his shoulder “why don't you walk about the campus for now, get a feel for it, and meet me in the greenhouse just after sunset, think you can handle that?” he asked the pale swordsman. “Y, yes sir” Crona managed, before he saw them disappear, to which he then walked back to the entrance, and out of the tower.
He really didn't want to get used to this place, not in the least, but at the moment, he didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. He managed to look back up towards the tower worriedly, before he began walking about, taking in his surroundings, even though he kinda didn't want to now. He felt like he was all alone again, a feeling he really didn't want to relive. At least when he was with Medusa, he had Ragnarok to keep him company, but now, he didn't even have that. He wanted to curl up in a ball and die, trapped once again to the feelings of darkness, loneliness and fear. He wanted to go back to the other academy, but he knew, that he couldn't, not now.
Eyes cringed and slid open, before the young reaper looked up, his golden spheres widening, upon seeing the rose petals, accompanied by an upside down castle. 'This wasn't here before, am I dreaming?' he thought, before glancing over through the water, and saw Eruka floating, looking almost lifeless. 'Oh yeah, that's right, we fell into the lake, we've got to get out of here before we both drown' he thought worriedly. He then forced himself to swim over to her, seeing her starting to sink, and caught her wrist, before summoning his skateboard. He caught hold of it, to which he then held on, as it began jetting them towards the pool's surface, and soon they reached it. Kid coughed out some water. He glanced around “what kind of place is this? Where did that castle I saw go?” he wondered aloud, before he helped Eruka onto the skateboard, and used it as a floatation device, as he swam over to the water's edge. There he pulled Eruka onto the stable ground.
“Hey, wake up, wake up I said!” Kid shouted shaking her, not sure what to do, he hadn't been prepared for this sort of thing. He looked at her almost lifeless form, and pulled out the duel pistols. “L, Liz, Patty?” he asked his voice quivering, holding the barrels down towards the ground, allowing the water to pour out. “Suddenly he heard coughing sounds, and the pistols glowed, before transforming back into the two cowgirls. “Liz! Patty! You two alright?!” Kid blurted out, the two coughed before looking at Kid. “What happened, where are we?” Liz asked glancing around, as Patty blinked and looked up at the sky. “Hey sis, look at the sky, it's all weird” Patty blurted out, before Liz and Kid blinked and looked up.
“What kind of place is this?! What happened to the moon?!” Kid blurted out before looking over at Eruka. “Oh right, I almost forgot, Liz, Patty, can one of you revive her somehow? I believe she breathed in too much water. “But kid, isn't she like a frog or something? How could she drown?” Liz asked arching a brow “just do it Liz” Kid snapped irritated. “Alright, alright, but you owe me for this Kid” she told him, before moving over to Eruka, and raised her hands over the witch's chest. “Sorry about this” Liz spoke, as she then began pushing her hands over the witch's chest, thrusting her hands as she did. “Breathe, c'mon breathe dammit” Liz snapped.
The assassin had thought he was done for, when suddenly he felt his eyelids slide open, and hooked the chain sickle around himself, before swimming towards the surface. He blinked in confusion, as he spotted the rose petals, and saw an upside down castle. 'A sunken castle huh? Maybe I'm going the wrong way then' he thought, before turning himself around, and attempted to swim back towards the depths, but a sudden gust forced itself against him. His eyes widened and the blue haired assassin screamed, as it threw him out of the water, and he crashed into the ground, causing Kidd, Liz and Patty to jump. “What the hell?!” Kid blurted out, before blinking shocked, upon seeing the blue haired assassin pull himself up. “Oww, man that hurt” Black Star murmured “wait, what the, Black star? What're you doing here?” Kid asked blinking, to which Black Star blinked and looked over, soon seeing the young reaper.
“Kid? What are you doing here?” Black Star asked. “I'm looking for Crona, what do you think I'm doing?” Kid snapped, before Black Star casually unhooked the chin sickle from around him. “Tsubaki, are you okay?” he asked, seeing her image appear in the blades surface. “Yes Black Star… I'm fine” she stated calmly, before transforming back into herself. “Now hold on, how come Tsubaki wasn't effected at all, while Liz and Patty were?” Kid blurted out. “Because we're pistols stupid, we can still inhale water in our weapon form, she's a bladed weapon, so naturally, it wouldn't affect her” Liz told him, before Tsubaki walked over, seeing Eruka and knelt down. “Is this woman the witch from before? What's she doing here?” Tsubaki asked, looking over at Liz.
“She said she wants to help us rescue Crona, something about repaying him for saving her life” Liz told her “but I think she took in too much water, I'm not really sure what to do here” she confessed. “Okay, let me try” Tsubaki told the cowgirl, and began the motions over Eruka's chest. When that didn’t work, she began pinching the young witch’s nose, and bent over, pressing her mouth over Eruka's, until she felt the witch jerk, and pulled off, catching the woman as she coughed out water. Black Star had lazily brought one leg over the other, interlacing his fingers as he placed his hands behind his head, and blinked seeing Tsubaki kneeling down. “Huh? What's Tsubaki doing over there?” he wondered aloud. The two male meisters walked over and saw her place her mouth over the witch’s, to which Black Star and Death the Kid blinked and turned dark red. Black Star had to clasp a hand over his nose from a gushing nose bleed, as Death the Kid twitched in horror. “T, Tsubaki, what're you doing?!” the two male meisters panicked, before seeing Eruka arch up and cough out the water.
“Are you alright now?” Tsubaki asked, causing Eruka to look at her. “Ribbit, I'm okay I guess” she answered. Death the Kid was still in shock, as Black Star fell backwards, from another gushing nose bleed. Tsubaki gasped and ran over to him, crouching down and hugged onto him. “Black Star! Black Star, are you okay?” Tsubaki hollered, before he glanced up and blinked, seeing her endowed chest right in his view, clasping a hand over his nose, wide eyed, with his face glowing red. “Uh, y, yeah, I'm fine Tsubaki” he forced himself to say. He then straightened up, and pointed at himself out of a fist “don't you worry Tsubaki, I'll rescue Crona, and we can get outta here, you guys just leave this to me” Black Star stated. Kid twitched and grabbed his shoulder “now you just hold on a minute there Black Star, I'm the one who's going to rescue Crona, as a reaper, it's my sworn duty to protect the students of the academy” Kid lectured.
Maka floated in the water seeming lifeless, as her grip on the scythe began to slip. “Maka?!” came Soul’s voice from the weapon, but her grip only slipped worse, and she began to sink. Soul transformed back into himself, and caught her under his arm, seeing an image and squinted to see. When he saw it was an upside down castle, he looked at Maka before he began swimming away from it, but felt something crash into him, and blasted him towards the castle. The two burst out of the water, and crashed into the ground. Kid and Black Star heard the crashing sound and poised themselves “what now?” Kid blurted out, before they saw Soul force himself to sit up, holding Maka in his arms. He had used his body to shield her from getting hurt. “It's Soul and Maka!” Black Star stated, before they both ran over to the two, as Soul carefully laid Maka down onto the ground, and placed a hand on her soaked face. “Maka! C'mon Maka, wake up” Soul spoke, worry drenching his tone. Kid ran over and knelt down, before looking at Soul “Soul, is she dead?” he asked. Soul leaned forward, placing the side of his head against her chest. “No, she still has a heartbeat, but she seems to be unconscious, she must've inhaled the water” Soul stated.
Tsubaki walked over and saw Maka, before placing a hand on Soul's shoulder. She leaned in, before she whispered into Soul's ear. The white haired weapon's cheeks flushed a dark crimson “y, you want me to what?!” he blurted out, looking at her in shock. “It's the only way Soul” she told him. Soul looked at the unconscious meister on the ground in front of him, before taking a calming breath, a worried look on his face, before his gaze became determined. He then leaned forward, lightly pinching her nose, and placed his mouth over hers. “Soul, what the hell are you doing?!” Black Star blurted out “Oh my god, Soul, what’s gotten into you?! Wha, what're you kissing her for?!” Kid blurted out, and blinked went Maka cringed. Her body jerked, and Soul swiftly moved back, in order to help ease her up. “Maka, are you okay?” he managed to ask her, Maka blinked and looked at Soul, her cheeks turning pink briefly, before seeing Kid and Black Star both staring at her from behind him. “Soul?” she asked before looking at them, and then began glancing around herself, realizing she didn’t recognize this place “where are we?” she wondered aloud.
“Your guess is as good as mine” Kid remarked looking about. “So, I guess now that we're all here, we can go back to looking for Crona now” Kid told them. Soul extended a hand to his meister, and she accepted it, allowing him to help her up. She lost her balance for a moment, but caught herself by placing a hand onto Soul’s chest, as they both looked at each other blushing slightly, before Maka looked at Kid. “Hey Maka, you can still detect wavelengths right? Perhaps you can try to see if Crona's is here” Kid suggested. Maka closed her eyes to focus, and her eyes widened in shock. “Maka, what is it?” Soul asked “Crona's soul wavelength, I just sensed it, but something's wrong, his wavelength seems distorted somehow” she told them.
The group looked at her shocked “so he is alive then” Kid managed seeming rather relieved. “Maka, can you determine where it’s coming from?” the young reaper inquired. Maka focused more, before she started climbing the hill. “It's this way c'mon” she told them, as they then began to follow her. Kid glanced over as Eruka “can you go on ahead and tell Crona that we're on our way?” he asked her. “Okay” she told him, before chanting and summoned her trusty tadpole to her, hopping onto its back, and flew ahead of them. It wasn’t long before she soon saw the academy and landed, making the tadpole vanish upon touching ground, and walked into the academy, glancing about as she entered. “Wow, this place is way too bright and happy, what the heck would Crona be doing in a place like this?” she blurted out, before spotting something out of the corner of her eye, and turned to look towards it swiftly.
“Crona?” she wondered aloud and ran after it, Crona wandered about the academy, trying to find a place where he could be alone, but everywhere he went, people seemed to be nearby. He managed to go to the only place he could think of, and entered the dueling forest. He wandered over near the fountain, before sitting down and scrunched up, hugging himself as he trembled, crying softly, hugging his knees tightly, and burying his face into his arms. Eruka bolted about, noticing all the students were wearing set uniforms, and continued to look around. 'Dammit, where is he? I know I just saw him' she thought to herself. When she finally reached the dueling forest to catch her breath, and suddenly heard crying, she stopped and blinked looking over at it. “It's coming from inside this forest” she told herself, before walking closer to the entrance, and carefully proceeded inside. Soon her eyes widened upon seeing the figure by the fountain.
“Crona?” she asked hoping it was him, Crona flinched and barely looked up at her, tears in his eyes. Eruka's eyes widened, before she ran over to him “Crona, thank God you're alright, it's okay, you're safe now, your friends and I are gonna take you back home to the Academy, they've been worried sick about you” she told him. “Eruka?” he managed, before lowering his head mournfully, to which he then got up, his pale hands tightening into fists. “You shouldn't be here” he snapped slightly, before he began to walk away from her. “Crona?” she asked worriedly “h, hey, didn't you hear me?” she asked grabbing his arm. Crona suddenly stopped, refusing to look at her “you should get out of here while you still have the chance” he told her absently.
Eruka looked at him not liking the way he was acting “h, hey what's gotten into you? We'll just walk out the front gate and back to the others” she told him, but Crona suddenly tore his arm away from her. “I’m sorry Eruka.... but I can't leave” he began, before looking at her over his shoulder, a shattered empty look in his eyes. “Please tell the others that I'm sorry about this” he told her before walking off. “Crona!” she shouted after him, but she soon quickly lost sight of him. 'This is not good, what am I gonna do? I have to go back and tell the others' she thought as she ran back out of the academy, where she then summoned her tadpole, and quickly flew back, stopping upon seeing them running. “Hey you guys, I found Crona” she told them, before landing, as they ran up to her.
“You did? Where is he? Is he okay?” Maka asked, to which Eruka lowered her head. “He was acting weirder than usual” she told them “what do you mean?” Maka inquired worriedly. Eruka looked at Maka, a grim expression on her face. “Well, when I found him he was crying, but when I told him you guys were coming, he told me to deliver a message to you guys, he told me to tell you guys he's sorry, and that apparently he can't leave” Eruka informed them. Kid twitched in irritation “he's sorry for what?! And why can't he leave?!” Kid demanded. “I dunno, he didn't say, but he was really acting weird” she told them. Maka looked worried before nodding “okay, show us the way Eruka, maybe we can snap him out of it, and convince him to come home” Maka told the young witchling, who hopped back onto the tadpole, and started flying the direction in which she had seen their missing friend. Maka and others nodded before they began running after her.
Crona calmly navigated about the campus and saw the birdcage greenhouse. As he then gripped his arm and the front of his dress. 'he wouldn't do that to me here, w, would he?' he thought, as he walked in and looked about, at all the many different colored roses, and gently touched them; a lost look in his eyes, as he stared down at them. He didn't really want to see his master, but he didn't want to be punished either, it was going to be getting dark soon, so he might as well wait. Maka noticed it was getting close to sunset, and that everyone was still tired. “Hey guys, we know that Crona's safe for now, so why don't we just set up camp and rest till morning?” Maka suggested.
The others seemed to agree except for Kid, who was appearing to be getting anxious. Maka walked over to him “Kid, are you alright?” she asked “no, I'm not alright, far from it” he told her. Maka blinked before placing a hand on his shoulder. “It's not your fault Kid, none of us knew this was gonna happen” she told him, attempting to console him. “You don't get it do you Maka? I knew father was planning to exile Crona, I practically begged and pleaded him not to, if he finds out about this, I might not be able to convince father to let him stay next time” Kid confessed. Maka looked him worriedly “wait, Kid, you mean you're the reason Crona didn't get exiled? But why?” Maka asked, before Kid lowered his head “because” he began, tightening his fists before looking up “it meant everything to Crona to get to stay with us at the academy” Kid stated, before glancing over at her “what?” he asked flatly.
“I had no idea Crona meant that much to you” Maka stated, Kid blushed blinking in surprise before twitching “what?! What are you implying?! I, I only convinced father to let Crona stay, because it was the right thing to do, besides, the academy would be much gloomier without him, wouldn’t you agree?” Kidd blurted out, to which Maka blinked before smiling. “Don't worry Kid, we're gonna find him, and everything's gonna be fine” she told him. “Do you really think so?” he asked her. “C'mon Kid, let's go back to the others and get some sleep” she told him. “Go on ahead without me, I'm gonna admire the night sky a little more” he told her “okay, if you say so” she stated, before walking back to the others, as she then laid down to rest
The truth was Kid felt too troubled to sleep at the moment. He found himself wondering if Crona was looking up at the same sky he was. Crona looked up at the sky outside of the birdcage greenhouse, a lost sadness in his pale eyes, before suddenly he heard the door open and tensed, slowly turning to face the prince. “Hello Crona” Akio spoke smirking, to which Crona's eyes dimmed slightly “hello.....master” Crona spoke flatly, and saw the man smirk, extending a hand “come with me Crona, I wish to show you something” he told the pink haired swordsman. Crona didn't want to move, but he walked over to the tan skinned prince and followed him, keeping his head down like a lowly servant, a role he had thought he'd never have to be again. “Where are we going?” he asked as Akio grinned darker “you'll see”