fossilised | For Zack Fair

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For Zack Fair

Set semi in

snowblindrpg. Using the setting, but powers (such as SOLDIER and Ragnarok) are still in tact.

[The tablet was beeping to find shelter, but Crona ignored it. Just like Crona had ignored it every single day for the last four days since arriving here. Just like Crona hadn't moved from this house for the last four days since arriving here.

Because this wasn't Death City. And this wasn't any place that Medusa had ever taken Crona to. And this wasn't even a place that was recognisable at all. Which meant that this was bad, it was really bad, and Crona had no idea what to do that wouldn't make it worse.

Medusa would be so angry.

Just that thought alone had been enough to set off fresh moans and whimpers every few hours like clockwork, which would probably be the first thing Zack heard on entering the house to shelter for the night. Not at all creepy, right?]

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[ And the thing is Zack doesn't have anything to prove that he's not his enemy, no. Not really. Combine that with the way Norfinbury is and his own past lack of luck with these kinds of things and... he shouldn't be surprised it would come to this. No matter what, he just can't seem to find the right words at the right time. A dark part of him has to wonder what it'll cost him this time.

So, he steadies himself now with a rueful shake of his head, steeling himself as he admits: ] It always comes to this, doesn't it. [ A little part of his wonders what Angeal would have done in this instance- but he pushes the thought away. Gotta concentrate!

With a pained gaze back Crona's way, he shouts as he holds the knife in tight form: ] But then this just means I'm gonna have to stop you! So, come on!

[Well, that happened.

The last shreds of sanity holding Crona back from attacking disappear. This is what they need to get out of here, this is what Medusa would expect of them, and this is what must be done.

The anguished look is replaced by one of much more contorted features, a mingle of bloodlust and dark humour and terror all at once.]

Ragnarok, scream resonance!

[The mouth on the sword opens wide and emits a shriek of genuinely damaging proportions, even as Crona is rushing forwards with the aim of taking Zack's head from his shoulders with the first swing.]

[ The way his expression twists from timid to deranged is honestly terrifying. But Zack's dealt with worse. Much worse. Had to bring down his own mentor. Had to take down a battalion of naive soldiers. This is nothing, he tells himself. This is--

Him. At a kneel. Clutching his hands over his ears as that shrill shriek emits from that sword, feeling the air whoosh just above his head and the warmth of a slight bit of blood trickling where he accidentally nudged his blade against his earlobe. He seems to scream in tandem with Ragnarok for the present moment because hell, this is the one time he would give anything not to have SOLDIER hearing! This is deafening and more! ]

[Crona stumbles a step when that swing meets air instead of the resistance of flesh and bone like expected, stumbling off balance and into the doorframe.]

O-Ow...

[It might even be comical how dismayed Crona seems over getting a sore nose from banging gently into a door, if that sword wasn't also coming up at the same time to try and slice into Zack again.]

It will be easier for you if you just let me kill you.

[ Snap out of it. Snap out of it. Snap out of it and move!

THERE. He gets himself going and just in the nick of time as that next swing comes around, quick enough to attempt a parry- attempt a shove the kid's way if it works! Close quarters might be his best bet. The room's small! ]

Sorry, buddy, but I got some friends waiting for me back there!

[The shove works and sends Crona backwards, making control of Ragnarok waver mid swing and the blade come slicing through to meet Crona's skin instead of Zack's. For a moment blood, blood as black as shadow, trickles down Crona's leg before it coagulates and then shoots outwards in spikes towards Zack.]

I had friends once.

[No longer. Maka will surely never forgive a betrayal for Medusa.]

[ At first, Zack can't help but wince when he sends the sword careening back so hard it bites into Crona, himself. That hadn't been the plan at all! His eyes are wide with grief, but that's all the reaction time he has before he feels the sharp stabs cutting through his body. He shouts out a curse as he heaves under the sudden hot pain flashing through him.

What the hell was that!? H-He doesn't know, but he's gotta- do something! Gonna try for swiping his knife through the spikes to at least detach himself from the attack. He'll worry about removing them later! ]

[The knife severs the blood spikes easily, and the ends that were in Zack splash to the floor as nothing more than spatters of black liquid. The other ends of the spikes, the bits sticking out from Crona's body, retreat back inside and block up the wound.

Ragnarok isn't as strong as he had been before, souls have been in limited supply recently, he can't heal and fight and manipulate the black blood all at once any longer.]

You're not making this easy.

[ Zack's bug-eyed as the black, solid ends of those spikes just suddenly dissolve as soon as he cut through them. But he doesn't have anymore time to just stand there gaping. He'll leave himself open and last time he did, that was the cost.

Still, he can't help but let a finicky smile cross his face despite his stern gaze. ] Of course! [ It's gonna take a hella lot more than that to take him down! He's already making a quick footnote that using that knife's going to cause him more trouble than anything though, so change in tactics!

Namely, he's going to dart backwards and grab onto the door of a cabinet. With a rough yank, he dislodges it from its hinges in order to collect a makeshift shield to swing around front and center. ]

[Shield?

Crona pauses in a half step towards where Zack had darted back to, genuinely surprised. Most people would take the offensive in a fight, or at least try and land one hit, and this man was... he was going for a shield instead? He didn't want to hurt Crona? It made the madness waver just a little bit.]

Why are you doing this?

[Crona's expression was twisted in grief, tears forming even if they don't fall quite yet. This hurt. This kindness hurt. It's sad, when a simple act of defence instead of offence is a kindness.]

You're supposed to fight me, you're supposed to let me kill you. Don't-- Why are you being so kind?! Stop it... Stop it! STOP IT! STOP IT!!!

[ Zack's just on the verge of moving forward, of doing what he unfortunately has to do if he plans to survive the night, when Crona just starts screaming like that. And that gives him pause- partly because he's just so caught off guard. But the bigger part is the fear. The fear and the tears and the agony of this kid, this kid so raw and confused and he- really doesn't want to fight you, kid. He doesn't and that's-...

He doesn't lower the door. But he doesn't move any further either. His breathing's a bit shallow, but he's surprisingly better put together than some people would be after getting hit with an attack like that. Shaking his head, he speaks with certainty: ] I already told you. I don't wanna fight you. And I definitely don't wanna kill you either. I don't wanna kill anyone.

[Crona's grip on Ragnarok suddenly loosened completely and the sword fell from numb fingers. Not that it hit the floor, it disintegrated back into that black mist and then disappeared completely.

The wound on Crona's leg, despite still obviously being gashed open, seems to be blocked with more of that black blood that's acting like a shield to stop it getting worse.

Crona drops to a kneeling position with a thud and fiercely grabs fistfuls of pink hair, tugging it and ripping at it. A truly agonised scream tears out and the tears begin to fall properly. Maka... Maka wouldn't want Crona to kill, she had given her belief and assurance that Crona could be a better person. Maybe that wouldn't always be the case, maybe-- not, definitely, betrayal was in the future.

But until that happened, until Crona was forced to betray Maka, then they would do their best to live up to the belief shown from the very first friend.

It hurt. It hurt and the madness was swirling, but the danger was over.]

[ It's the way the sword drops out of his hands-- that's the first sign of the end. Not that Zack lowers his guard anyway at first. Maybe it's only a brief reprieve. Maybe he'll change his mind. Maybe he's been falling to hallucinations in the first place and he's going to suddenly get up and go after Zack again.

But when he doesn't- when he just start screaming and sobbing on the floor- when he starts trying to tear his own hair out, Zack... Zack slowly understands that it just might be over. At least for now. Whoever this kid is, there's a lot going on... A lot he doesn't understand. A lot maybe he'll never understand. That sword, that strange black blood... Talk of eating souls and that creature...

Slowly, he lowers the cabinet door to the ground. And once he lets it go, he'll... cautiously start to approach Crona with another careful: ] Hey...

[Crona's eyes roll up to look at him, wide and intense. The madness is pushed at bay for now, but there's a glimmer of it hiding not too deep behind the tears, and the ramblings that fall from Crona's lips aren't exactly the most coherent.]

I said I didn't want to fight. I told you... I said I didn't want to, and I didn't. But I have to, I have to go back, and I need to be strong.

...I'm so scared.

[ He's not foolish enough to try his luck with a hand on Crona's shoulder or anywhere near him this time. Not just yet. But he does end up crouching again to his level if not with a sore grunt. Really, he's had a lot worse than the spikes that burst into his skin and with the aim being as erratic as it had been, Crona'd not hit anything vital. But it still hurts. But he'll take care of that in a minute.

Right then, he's going to address the kid lightly: ] Your name's Crona, right?

[Zack is too good of a person to be so kind to someone who just tried to kill him, and that fact isn't lost on Crona. It's the sort of thing Maka might have done, and it eases a little more of the tension.]

That's right, and my sword is Ragnarok. I'm sorry, he can be really rude.

[Trying to kill someone is rude.]

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