Daughter Of Madness [Kid X Fem!Chrona]

Tale as Old as Time

Words could not describe how mortified Maka was. She hurried down the halls of Shibusen like she had been shot. Her head spun and her hands shook. She could hear the skittering laughter of the world at her back. Was this what it was like to be unable to deal with something?

"Maka!" Her friend's voice pulled her back to reality. She had run all the way to the front steps. "It's not true, is it?" She turned to see Black Star just a yard behind her. He searched her eyes for any trace of joviality, but there was none. She relented a small, affirming nod. "And you're O.K. with it?" Frustration bubbled behind his words.

"Of course I'm not O.K. with it!" Maka defended. "I didn't want to- don't want to get married! I never wanted any of this to happen. Nobody asked me, they just decided they knew what was best for me and went for it." Shinigami-sama was still their ruler, no matter how child friendly he tried to appear. Once he had his heart set on something, there was little anyone could do to change it. "Now everyone knows, it's too late to make him take it back."

"So that's it! You're just gonna' lie down and let this happen?" Black Star shouted. "This isn't right Maka, it's not how it's supposed to be. You can't just do nothing!"

"Well what can I do?" Maka sniffled. "We can go on and kill as many Kishen eggs as we want, but we're still kids." Black Star froze as tears trickled down. "We can't do anything." That was where she was wrong. He could do something, about Kid.

-8-0-8-

Deep within their safe house, the snake witch continued her work. The artificial clown was now officially Medusa's greatest failure. Without a soul, it tried to latch onto Chrona's like a parasite. Unfortunately for it, Ragnarok's was still filled that role and triggered hideous rejection reaction. It had taken hours to extract the dysfunctional creation and it would take even longer to dismantle it now that it had, had a taste of madness.

"I'm too young to die." The clown whimpered. "How sad, I knew me so well." It was aggravating. She had to shoo Chrona out of the house just to concentrate. "Perchance, could you tell me the time?" The sooner it was gone the better. She fumbled for a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

"Be quiet." She snapped. "Your yammering won't prolong your existence."

"It is not my existence I worry for." The clown chuckled. "Tell me, foul temptress; if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a noise?"

"I don't have time for you riddles." She sighed. Next some boric acid, maybe arsenic for good measure.

"Unbusy your mind a moment and listen to what I ask." The clown insisted. "If the king is in the counting house and the queen is in her chambers, how do they know what goes on in the court yard?" It paused, but received no answer. "There are places in this world protected by magic, old magic, that even the eyes of the gods can't see; but I can see it."

"I am done with Grimoire and Chernobyl, the queens of the old world can't hinder me with their spells anymore." Old as it was, Claudia's charms had withstood time. Her seal kept Salem, and the Sarcophagus from the sight of her crystal ball. It was also, the only reason Chrona had gone to Chernobyl to begin with; as a spy. With the clown, she could make sure Shinigami's son had the last magic tool. Not the garish shell, but the small key Iroha had worn so close to her death. It warded off madness from the person who held it and could make the Brew safe to use. If Kid had the tool, then she wouldn't have to worry about a radical in her plan.

"I do not speak of spells and buildings, I speak of the heart." Medusa finished the concoction that would destroy the vile thing. It spat a cackled. "Your daughter is almost strong enough to break free of the soul that shrouds her. It won't take much to tip her over the edge."