Project Motherhood: Annie of the Stars - Chapter 2 - MetaMaster54610 (2024)

Chapter Text

When Annie opened her eye again, she yawned and looked down, seeing Crona still snuggling close to her chest, sleeping peacefully. With a smile, she patted his head and sighed in relaxation. This was a nice feeling, she enjoyed feeling Crona's small weight on her chest, sleeping like a little sweet baby.

Annie groaned in annoyance as the first rays of sunlight shone in through the window. Begrudgingly, she sat up in the bed and rubbed at her eye with one free hand, the other arm holding a still sleeping Crona close and tight.

She glared at the window even as she blearily blinked her eye to try and rid herself of the last dregs of sleep. She angrily muttered, "Oh great the sun laughs too," as a faint rumbling reached her ears. Beside herl Sagan growled in agreement as he slowly sat up, but before he could make their complaints known to the celestial body in questionl Annie held up her hand. "Don't, I'm already awake and that laughter isn't nearly as creepy as the moon's."

Elsewhere, the moon in question sneezed, then scowls slightly in annoyance at the rude rabbit that gave it a cavity, which was amusingly enough being worked on by a team of astronauts.

Back with Annie, she grudgingly got out of bed, cuddling Crona so that he could sleep a bit longer. Rising to her feet, she smiled softly at him and kissed his cheek.

Crona mumbled something inaudible, and settled down in her arms. Annie smiled, and considered what today was going to bring. She wasn't sure if she'd stay in Death City or not, and couldn't think of any reason to. But, she also couldn't think of any reason to go. Really, she just wanted to ensure Crona was happy, and while she doubted he did, if there was anything he wanted to do/see before they left, she wanted to help him with that.

Right now though, she knew she'd need to get some food into his belly. So, she set off to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for him. And herself, and Sagan, and hopefully find some lettuce for Lucky while she was there.

Then she remembered she wasn't in her house and they didn't serve breakfast for another hour here. She sighed, then looked down at Crona. "Guess food'll have to wait a bit, kiddo." She kissed his forehead again.

The happy little sound he made as he smiled and snuggled into her chest made her heart soar. It hadn't even been a full day yet but she knew without a doubt that there wasn't a power in the world that could take him from her. With a sigh she settled into a comfortable chair as she settled in to wait for Crona to wake up on his own.

As it seemed, he was very deep in his slumber. This brought a sad smile to her face as she realized just how many sleepless nights he must have had. How he was either in horrible agony, fearing the next day too much to sleep, or being haunted by nightmares greater than the one she saved him from... In his total lifetime, she would be amazed if his total hours of sleep even reached the triple digits.

'Well that is changing right this cotton picking minute,' as long as he was in her care he wasn't getting any less than eight hours of good sleep every night. On top of that he would never sleep on the floor without so much as a blanket again. Annie narrowed her eye as her anger at Medusa returned as the abuse Crona suffered rolled around in her mind.

She noticed again that his skin seemed wrong, it seemed pale, as if it wasn't the right colour. It only reinforced what had happened to him in the past, he was so malnourished that his body was barely keeping it together. Then again, he also apparently didn't have blood, so that was probably a factor in that, too.

Actually, now that she thought on that, how was he alive? Annie was happy he was, the last thing she wanted was a little child to die, her son or not. But he was alive, and Ragnarok was somehow keeping him alive. That was just another question she'd have to deal with at a later day, what was that things deal? It wasn't a parasite, it was apparently a weapon, but it also seemed to be its own separate person.

But, both were asleep, and Annie decided they needed sleep more than she needed answers. Besides, it gave her more time to think. A series of thoughts began to creep up on her, and she knew she had to answer them. Namely, what was going to happen when she went home? Where was Crona going to stay while she worked? Was she going to announce to the world she was a Mother? What happened when the Skull Heart appeared again?

She let out a forlorn sigh and shook her head. Though she resented her mother for her current ageless state, she knew very well that the only reason her mother subjected her to such a fate was out of a misguided love for her... The idea that any mother could be so uncaring of the child they brought into this world was unreal to her...

Memories of better times with her own mother started to slowly surface from the depths of her mind. Things hadn't been fairytale perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they had been happy together. Even when the world went completely insane and a war broke out with their home country as the preferred battleground, at least until Double appeared with the heart in her possession.

She scowled slightly at the mention of that blob of ooze. She despised Double with every fibre of her being, and because of her, she had cause to believe that the trinity was a major player in the skullheart's existence. Why else would its peddler push them so much?

If so, why were they doing this?! What did they gain from it?! According to Lord Death, they were just people, with Parasites who gave them power. But how did that lead to the logical conclusion of 'Hey, let's make a floating, talking, Skull which grants wished and twists them over to hurt people!'

Were they out for revenge? Were they trying to prove a point? Did they do it simply because they could? If Annie was actually fifteen, she'd probably have a hard time believing that last reason, but after all she had seen in her long life, including what she had seen with how Medusa treated her son, she knew that kind of evil did exist. Maybe that's all there was to it, because they could.

'I guess there isn't much point in trying to figure out why. They've done it, they've done it for who knows how long.' Annie frowned. 'I doubt their 'plans' were actually deep enough that if there were any, they'd need to wait this long.'

All she could say was, she prayed that either Beerus would wake up soon or Zarathos would find a worthy host, becauae the trinity needed to learn that they were barely even guppies in the ocean of gods... And she wanted a better world for Crona to live in someday...

Her smile returned as she looked at the sleeping child in her arms. It felt so nice to have someone to protect and care for after so long of it being just her and Sagan that were consistently there. The remote parasite was a close and loyal partner who had stuck with her through thick and thin, but it just wasn't the same as when the original staff of her home had still been alive.

Then she felt Crona stir in her arms, which brought a warm smile to her face. "Good morning, Crona... You sleep okay?" She asked softly. Crona responded with a soft, adorable yawn before nestling in close to her.

"Mmm... Hi Miss Annie..."

"D'aww, there's a cute widdle face." She cooed, nuzzling the top of his head with her cheek. She was thankful no one was around to hear that, though. "You've been really sleepy this morning, you feeling better now?"

"Mmm. A bit." Crona yawned, still clearly struggling to wake up fully, as if his body realized they could rest, they could finally close their eyes and not fear whatever came next. Annie smiled and scratched his back, beginning to fully coax him awake. She wanted him to sleep, to sleep as much as he needed, whenever he needed it until he was caught up on his sleep. But, she also wanted to check his injuries, and get him fed, so she noted she'd let him take another nap later in the day.

Annie gave him a kiss on the top of his head and ran her fingers through his hair. Then she slowly shifted Crona so he ipwas sitting in her lap as he rubbed at his eyes with his tiny fists. Her heart nearly exploded when Crona gave her a tiny smile and mumbled, "Y-you kept your promise..."

She let out a soft giggle and patted his head gently. "Of course I did. I always keep my promises... And I can't imagine anyone ever willingly abandoning you..." She said softly, rocking him back and forth. "You're stuck wjth me, kiddo..."

Crona's smile widened as he wrapp3d his arms around her in a hug, which she gladly returned. Annie started to cover his little face in kisses, sending him into a storm of giggles, a sound that she had immediately found more valuable than gold. She ran her fingers through his hair while holding him to her shoulder.

The tiny boy tried his best to hug his new caretaker, but his arms were too tiny, so all he could do was put his arms under hers and nuzzle his head into her shoulder.

'SO... ADORABLE~!' Annie mentally cheered, as her face changed into a wide, closed-eye smile. The tiny boy was so precious and cute, and she couldn't take it! She felt like her heart was going to give out!

"D'aww, it's great to hear that sweet, precious giggle." Annie smiled as she rubbed the boy's back. Right now, she wanted to hold him close and let him get comfy.

"I-I-I-I-I don't kn-kn-know what I was feeling just then. It-it-it didn't hurt, it felt nice..." Crona mumbled, looking up at Annie, and the eternal youth girl felt her heart shatter at that. He didn't even know what being HAPPY was like?!

"Welcome to your new life, Crona... You'll live a good life from now on... I promise..." She whispered softly. Indeed, she was more than able to take care of him and provide from him. The show left her with more money than she knew what to do with after all. 'Well, now that I have a kid, the charities will be getting just s little less I'm afraid.' She thought to herself lightly.

Especially when she first took him him, after all, he needed new everything, 'Clothes, toys, furniture, a mattress, and even bedding. In fact I might have to have the room painted as well,' Annie silently mused. She was going to have to make some calls before they left Death City, at the very least she wanted to surprise Crona with a few new toys when they got home.

The poor kid had nothing to his name but the clothes on his back and a pet rabbit that wasn't even intended to be used as a pet in the first place. Speaking of Lucky, the little rabbit hopped up onto his hindlegs and restrd his front paws on Annie's leg, asking to be let up.

Smiling, Annie picked Lucky up and handed him to Crona, who seemed more than happy to hold his pet rabbit. It was clear he was nervous that the rabbit would hate him for what had happened, but wither the rabbit was smart enough to know Crona wasn't at fault, or it was dumb enough that it forgot what had happened. Annie chose to believe it was the former.

"H-Hi L-Lucky..." Crona mumbled, rubbing the rabbit behind its ears. The Rabbit let out what sounded like a happy chirp and leaned into the affection. This seemed to soothe Crona somewhat, as a small smile formed on his face. It warmed Annie's heart to know there was another rabbit lover in the family.

Sagan tugged on her stocking, and then gave what she now understood was a smirk. Clearly, he liked how this turned out as well.

She patted her parasite on the head with a smile, then set him down on her lap. "Well, looks like we both have a lttle bunny pal now, sweetie." She said with a wink. Crona's smile widened as lucky placed his fore paws on his chest. Reaching down, he slowly scratched Lucky behind his ears.

Annie watched with a fond smile as Crona interacted with his pet. He clearly adored that rabbit, and she shuddered to imagine what would have happened if he had been there much longer. Medusa wanted to break him into killing his little furry friend... And a child's mind didn't hold out long under such pressure...

Before she could contemplate just what that would do to Crona, a soft groan followed by a cloud of ink colored blood thankfully interrupted her. With a sigh, the tiny Ragnarok leaned down on top of his head and barely managed to mumble out a, "Mornin..." Annie frowned in concern.

"What happened to you?" The cartoony blob ran a hand down his face.

"Nothing serious, just a little tired after doing some more delicate tidying up. A little nerve damage here, some bones that had yet to fully heal there, just fiddly stuff that I never got to properly finish healing because of Medusa and had to compensate for."

"R-r-right." Annie stammered, not having expected that gruesome an answer. "Forgot you could do that..."

"Be thankful. This kid should've died at least two dozen times by now." Ragnarok yawned. This... did not help Annie's feeling of anxiety. "Y-ye*yawn*ah. Before you ask, I kept him alive. I did it because one; I'm attached t'him, and best case scenario I'd get ripped out an injected int'someone else, worst case, I'd die too. And B; he's a kid."

"Hm." Annie nodded, tightening her grip on Crona.

"Hey, be careful. Th'kid breaks easier than a bubble. Or... something else that breaks easily. I dunno. I've been outta the world for like, over a decade now or somethin'."

Annie nodded once again, but noted Crona didn't seem to be in pain. However, she did make a mental note that she would need to be careful with him, at least until he began to grow again.

"But fer now, I think I've fixed all I can." Ragnarok yawned again. "Nothin's broken beyond repairable right now, but he's in a lotta pain still..."

Annie's eye narrowed in anger. "I swear, that woman was doing it mostly for fun, wasn't she?" Ragnarok snorted.

"She literally tried to see if Crona could break his record for healing from stabs and broken limbs. His best time so far is a minute and thirty seconds. Probably faster as his body grows in."

Annie was aghast as she stared at him, "She timed how long it took him to heal?" Ragnarok nodded gravely.

"With a stopwatch, and a digital one at that so she had it timed down to the millisecond. In fact those records were probably in the stack you gave to Lord Death, but anyway everything is either fully healed or just finishing up as we speak."

Annie bit her lip. "Ragnarok, was it as fast as it is now when you first started out?" Ragnarok grimaced.

"No, I kinda had to get into the swing of things... Took a few weeks the first time she stabbed him in the arm..."

"Huh."

"Yeah, I can keep him together now pretty easily, but that took a while before I could figure out how t'do that." Ragnarok shrugged. "Still, he'll live."

"Good." Annie nodded, somewhat grimly. She didn't like that her son was in so much pain all the time, and she didn't like that his blood had to keep putting him back together after his previous caretaker had broken him so horribly. But, she also knew there wasn't anything she could do about that. The past was in the past, and now, Crona was hers.

'Poor cutie...' Annie sighed, playing with Crona's hair while he pet Lucky with a small, content smile.

Ragnarok scratched his head and sighed "That's on me since at first I didn't really know much about biology, and I had to be careful because trial and error and the human body don't go together at all." Annie's breath hitched at the thought of something going wrong while he was healing Crona. After that first time, Medusa gave him a crash course in the human body to speed things along, not in any real detail but enough that he knew the basics of where everything was supposed to go.

She tightened her hold on the boy, who looked up at her with his big mournful eyes, and she looked down and gave him her best smile. "I'm just glad everything turned out okay..." She said softly. Then Crona's stomach growled.

Annie giggled before lightly poking his belly, causing him to giggle as well, "It sounds like someone has a case of the rumbly tumblies."With a sigh, she hopped from her seat with Crona in her arms, "I think we could all use a proper breakfast to start the day." Ragnarok thrusted his tiny fists into the air.

"Bacon and eggs, please, I haven't had so much as a taste of bacon since Medusa captured me!"

Annie sighed and rolled her eye in exasperation. "You men and your bacon..." She muttered in amusem*nt. Present Annie snickered softly to herself, remembering Beowulf's adoration for bacon. Past Annie, meanwhile, nodded. "We'll see what they have."

"I-I-I-" Crona began to stammer, and Annie thought she knew what was coming next. But, Ragnarok looked him in the eyes before he could finish his thought.

"Kid. Look at me." He ordered, sternly.

"Y-yes?"

"Remember that one dream you had? When we were on a beach, and we could just go get food from that truck?"

"Yes..."

"And remember how there were no tests, no blood, no killings, no nothing, just walking up, saying hi to that Machete guy, and getting food?"

"Yes..."

"What kind of food-"

"Tacos." Ragnarok cut her off before looking to Crona again. "THIS, right here, right now, is that dream." Ragnarok seemed to be trying to explain this without losing his cool, something which was clearly more of a challenge for him than Annie would've liked. "We're free kid, that bitch is dead, and we're not her lab rats anymore. Don't give us that 'I-shouldn't-eat-until-the-tests-are-done' crap! That's behind us now! Got it?"

"S-So I d-don't have to-"

"Nah, you don't." Ragnarok said with finality, speaking... rather calmly, actually, as if he himself felt a great sense of relief. "Just- ugh, just relax kid. Just stay in Greenie's arms, and everything should be great from here on out."

"Please don't start calling me Greenie." Annie muttered.

"I could call you Patchy."

"You are extremely annoying, you know that, right?"

"Yup, know it, and proud of it!"

Annie frowned as she glanced up at Ragnarok, "What did she feed you two anyway?" Ragnarok's entire body jiggled as he shuddered. "A gruel like nutrient paste and water three times a day. It had everything we needed, but it was like eating blended wet cardboard."

Annie shook her head with closed eyes. "Well that's just not fair to a growing boy, now, is it?" She carried Crona to the cafeteria, hoping she could get some breakfast for them. "Might take you a little bit to get used to actual food, huh, Crona?"

Crona smiled nervously and leaned his head against her shoulder, "Ragnarok used to tell me about all the different foods he used to eat, and they all sounded really amazing." Meanwhile Ragnarok proudly puffed out his chest.

"All the kid has to do is remember to properly chew his food and I'll handle the rest." Annie softly giggled at just how polar opposite the two of them were.

She had... a LOT of questions about how they worked, and she wasn't sure she'd get all of them answered in her lifetime. Did they both need to eat, or did only one of them need to? How much could Ragnarok heal? Were they connected in EVERY sense, or were certain organs missing and/or duplicated?

If she was honest, Annie HATED having to ask these questions about such a sweet little boy, but she knew she kinda had to. Unfortunately, her biggest question 'Why did this happen?' seemed to be answered with 'Because fudge you, that's why.' Which peeved her off to no end (almost as much as not being able to curse!). But, again, there wasn't much she could do about it, aside from smother him with all the love an affection she could.

(Present)

"Hang on, so, Ragnarok is the kid's blood?" Beowulf asked, confused by Annie's explanation. Annie sighed and nodded.

"As messed up as this is, Crona doesn't HAVE any blood. Ragnarok was melted down and injected into him when he was a baby, and that involved him losing all his blood." Annie explained, seeing how terrifed Aileen seemed by the concept. "Yeah, it's... it's as bad as you're thinking, and then worse than that."

"I-I-I-I-" Aileen seemed to stammer for words, but none came. Annie just shook her head.

"He survived, he's tough. He is my son, after all." She smiled. "And as - to be blunt - gross as Ragnarok could be at times, the two of them did seem to care of the other. Kinda like a lot of Parasite users."

She looked over at Sagan with a smile and patted the little rabbit's head. "Course, Ragnarok is probably the most extreme example I've ever met... This little guy only needed an eye..." Annie chuckled as Sagan leaned into her touch. "But anyway..."

(Past)

Annie was watching as Crona and Ragnarok spoke to each other. So different, so polar opposite... It was almost like the classic comedy duo one would see on tv, albeit a lot more tragic... She herself had been through such a dynamic in the past when the producers tried adding multiple sidekicks in the show. None of them lasted due to being unpopular with the audience.

They never really clicked with her and it just led to things feeling off no matter what they'd tried. Unlike when they tried to shoehorn in a sidekick for her the two of them felt more natural. Which was really saying something considering how the two of them were stuck together.

She had a bad feeling, however, that Ragnarok may be harbouring some deep-seated resentment towards Crona. After all, it was the boy's mother that was responsible for taking away his physical form and fusing him with her child.

The problem with that was the fact that she couldn't exactly blame him for his anger. Ragnarok clearly didn't ask for this, but then again, neither did Crona. Really, the pair were just stuck with these unfortunate set of circ*mstances which resulted in them being fused together for lack of a better term.

When she arrived at the cafeteria, she looked around for a minute, seeing the food off to one side, and thankfully, the cafeteria seemed pretty quiet. She had a feeling Crona wouldn't be a huge fan of large crowds, so she was trying to ease him back into what was considered a 'normal' life.

Having someone as loud as Ragnarok attached to him was probably already stressful enough for the poor thing... He previous concerns returned.

Annie did her best not to let her thoughts show on her face, 'I should probably have a talk with him later, just in case. Maybe when Crona needs to take a nap?' Meanwhile Ragnarok himself was enthusiastically going on about the virtues of all things pork for breakfast to Crona.

Annie giggled as Ragnarok's descriptions of the various ways one can prepare pig made Crona's little tummy growl even louder. However, she noticed Crona looked a bit sad. "I feel sorry for the poor little piggies though..."

Annie smiled sadly and patted his back. "The sad truth is plant or animal something has to die for us to eat, Crona. Something I picked up while I was in the Far East a long time ago is that we should be grateful to each life that was given. Treat them with dignity and respect, and not be wasteful with what they have given to us."

Crona looked up at Annie curiously as she spoke. He was curious what she meant by that, and was curious as to where she had been in the past. Maybe it was because he spent so much time locked in a cage and being tortured, but he always wondered what was beyond the walls of his cell. Part of him wanted to see the world, to see the things that were beyond what he knew. Even beyond Death City, and Miss Annie seemed to know a lot about that.

"You've been all over the world?" Crona timidly asked, and Annie smiled down at him.

"Yup. I haven't been everywhere, but I've traveled a fair amount." Annie answered with a nod. "I'd be happy to tell you all about it."

"Yes please..."

"All right, but first we need to get you fed. Bottom line is... don't worry about the pigs too much." Annie assured.

Crona looeds up at her with a small smile, then nodded his head. "I hope they had a nice life before they became our supper though..." Annie chuckled softly.

"They definitely do." She assured, deciding to avoid the less humane methods food can be made.

To this day she still avoided most factory made processed foods even if the working conditions had gotten better over the years. The one time she had seen the inside of a sausage factory had scared her off the stuff for several decades. She had even helped a friend of her's write a book to expose their disgusting practices.

But, she'd be lying if she said she didn't like meat. It just tasted really, really good! But, she understood why some people chose not to eat it. Actually, she remembered a friend of hers back home happened not to eat meat, mostly due to his religion. But also because he didn't like harming animals. The more she thought, the more she realized Crona would probably like him, he was a laid-back, Jamaican, vegetarian bearded dragon who ran a smoothie bar, and had done so for years and years. She made a note to take him there some day, he'd probably like the drinks as well.

"Oh, right. Just so you know, if one of us eats, we both eat." Ragnarok spoke up as Annie was loading food onto a plate for Crona. Annie paused at that and considered what Ragnarok was saying, and he elaborated. "We share a stomach, if you feed us two meals worth of food, he'll feel it, and I dunno if he's tough enough to take that..." He grumbled something under his breath, and it reinforced the 'blame' Annie feared Ragnarok held against Crona, but that was good to know.

"It's... It's okay, I can handle a tummy ache to let Ragnarok have good food too..." Crona said shyly.

She smiled down at Crona, looking very much like a proud mother as she internally praised him for being a compassionate child in spite of his own suffering. Even after what he had been through, he still had it in him to worry about animals and Ragnarok.

"Um... Which one's bacon? Do I just get a whole bunch of bacon?" Crona asked.

She kissed his forehead before offering her own opinion on breakfast, "There is more to breakfast than just bacon, Crona. I find that you can never go wrong with pancakes." Both Crona and Ragnarok hang on her every word as she described some of the pancakes she had eaten at various places around the world from good old fashioned buttermilk, to fruit flavored, to crepes, 'Maybe I should take them on a trip and see if any of those old places are still around?'

Then she gained a wide smile at the realization that she will get to bring Crona travelling with her when she goes on her 'business trips'. She will get to have all sorts of amazing and memorable experiences with the boy.

She would get to show him the countless laces she had found on her travels. Natural wonders like waterfalls that few other humans had ever seen, a cavern full of massive quartz crystals that dwarfed her in size, canyons that twisted on for miles. Of course there was also the dozens of little mom and pop restaurants that she was going to take him to as well, because after eating gruel all his life she was going to show him the wonders of food.

There was a small Dagoninan place that had just opened before she left, Yu- something, Annie cursed herself for forgetting it, but it looked really good, maybe she could take him there!

But there was so much she wanted to show him, she wanted him to see the world, and the beauty of nature that existed in it, to see the vibrant forests and towering trees which had been planted when she was a little girl, and which now seemed to reach up to the stars themselves. She wanted him to experience the serenity of the lakes she would vacation on, to get up early in the morning and hear nothing but the calls of the Loons silently cutting their way across the still waters.

Yes, she knew she had to help him heal first, before she started taking him all over the world, but these were things he could look forward to. Things he could associate a better feeling with. Annie didn't know if Crona would ever want to return to Death City (and she herself wasn't sure if she wanted to, either, if she was honest.) but he could make that choice when he was ready.

She would have to be careful, however, that he didn't get mixed up in any of her adventures. She often encountered dangerous things during her travels, and the idea of Crona getting caught in the crossfire of a monster fight horrified her.

Thankfully he would have Ragnarok to watch his back in case anything did happen, but she hoped that things wouldn't get that far in the first place. Another thing to consider was the media's reaction if they ever found out about him on top of what her producers would do. Annie rubbed her temple with her free hand as the thought of them trying to make Isaac her new sidekick came to mind.

She wanted to keep him out of the spotlight as much as possible... He was much too quiet and timid to want anything to do with nosy reporters and their stupid cameras right up in his face. Then she came9 to a realization. The public cannot know that she is (going to be) Crona's mother.

She frowned at that, letting out a small sigh in annoyance. This was another problem with her being eternally young, the public didn't even know she had been playing Annie for decades now. Honestly, the fact no one put that together was kinda sad, but she didn't want to explain that to the public. The last thing she needed was for people to think she was working with the Skullgirl or something like that...

But what was she gonna do? If he was traveling with her, she needed some sort of cover story, otherwise people would put it together. Could she say he was her baby brother? No, the public didn't know much about her 'family', and if they found out her Mother had been a Skull Girl, that would've been another issue to deal with. Was he just a little boy she was taking care of for the time being? It wasn't the most unreasonable idea, but then they'd all ask 'why'?

It was dawning on her now that in her want to take care of Crona, she realized that the life she lived wasn't exactly a life which allowed this kind of change, unless she figured something out. And she would. For Crona's sake, she would.

There were very few people who were fully aware of her curse and all that it entailed. She had gone to great lengths to keep it that way. Changing her appearance every so often to make it look like a new actor had taken over the role of Annie of the Stars.

So she could never just publically come out and say that she was a mother now. Too many questions would be raised, too many variables would be considered... She decided it was just too risky to let the public know.

Beowulf shifted and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah I can see how that would be a snag. Especially considering how people tend to view those cursed by the Skull Heart." Annie sighed and leaned her head back.

"How do you think I feel? I've been dealing with it for over a hundred years. I'm just glad my head maids were willing to help with the cover-up..."

"Yeah, fair enough." The Wrestler nodded in understanding. He wasn't cursed, so he couldn't claim he understood how it all worked, especially the social stigma of it all, but at the same time, he understood Annie's frustration. Wanting to be something you were, but not being able to tell anyone about it, it was a fine line one would have to walk.

(Past)

Annie settled down at a table, placing Crona in her lap, and smiled at him. "Okay, open up, Sweetie~!" She said with a smile. Crona diligently did as she instructed, and Annie began to feed him his first decent meal in his entire life. Sure, Crona could probably eat on his own, and may prefer to (although Annie didn't know it at the time, Crona loved her feeding him, it felt like she truly did care for him) but Annie didn't really care. She wanted to take care of her son, and she needed to ensure he had enough to eat.

Annie smiled warmly as she took care of the boy. The idea of being a mother was sounding more and more appealing by the minute... Frankly, there were no complications that she wasn't willing to deal with...

Present...

"Um... So... You got through those complications, but...how do you get around that now that the kid's a grown man with a wife and kids of his own?" Aileen asked. Annie shrugged her shoulders.

"We just tell the public I'm a a cousin on his dad's side."

Beowulf grimaced in return, "I bet that charade's pretty tiring to keep going." Annie shrugged her shoulders.

"At first it kind of was, but now we're at the point where we can laugh about it. I'm really just happy to finally have an excuse to spend time with them in public after all these years."

Beowulf looked at her symoathetically. "Geez, you could only spend time with each other behind closed doors all this time, huh? That's gotta be a bit demoralizing..." Annie simply hummed in response.

"He's an introvert anyway."

She shook her head and lets out a humorless laugh, "He's lucky that he didn't suffer from full blown agoraphobia or claustrophobia after spending his entire life in a single room. It took a long time before he was comfortable just sitting in a park." Parks were one of the few places that if they were careful they could spend time outside together.

She had to hide her hair, and couldn't wear what she normally did, but she could make it work. It had been worth it to see how happy Crona had been during those times. To see his sweet smile, hear his adorable laugh, it was just... liberating, for lack of a better word, as if those things signalled to all that he wasn't afraid anymore, that he was free, that he wasn't stuck in the past like he had been.

'Ugh, am I really thinking like one of those sappy Harkmark films?' Annie couldn't help but chuckle slightly. She remembered one Christmas she had watched one of those with Crona... and the young boy had fallen asleep in her arms about fifteen minutes in. Not that Annie blamed him, she couldn't say her show was 'high art' - it really wasn't, but it kept getting renewed and she kept getting paid, so whatever - but it made some of those awful B-Monster films she would occasionally see on tv look like Citizen Kage. And those movies were called things like 'Piranahconda' or some other ridiculous mess.

"So, how did Ragnarook handle all this?" Aileen asked. She couldn't imagine what this had been like for him. Annie blinked, then smirked.

"Ragnarok." She corrected. "Honestly? He was a real pain at first... and then I realized a lot of my annoyance was because I was jealous of him. The Black Blob could speak his mind, no curse attached. Even if he constantly said things I didn't want Crona to hear or repeat. That's kinda why we got along after a while, he could relate to how I'd feel on some things. And at the end of the day, he did care for Crona, in his own, weird way.

Annie chuckled. "Could do without his eating habits though... He might have actually made a dent in my wallet..."

Not that it really put much of a scratch in her finances in the end. Investing the majority of her money over the years had resulted in a tidy sum that mostly just got bigger as the interest compounded.

Splurging on the boy was a very nice feeling, however. It was nice to give this child that had never had anythjng all sorts of nice little gifts. In fact, now that she thought about it, she kind of spoiled him back when he was little.

Beowulf snickered as she admitted this, "You went a little overboard there Ann." She scowled and crossed her arms.

"When I rescued him from that place the only things he had at all were the clothes on his back, a pet rabbit, and a demon sword that had replaced his blood. No clothes, no toys, no anything at all."

She looks up at the ceiling with an annoyed expression. "They weren't even very nice clothes, it was this bland black robe thing that looked so...so..." Her inner fashionista was kicking in as she thought back to her son's first outfit.

"Uggghhhh. Apparently he liked it, but I don't think he understood how bad it looked!" Annie protested, trying to defend her choices here. She didn't feel like she really had to, but there was a part of her that was insisting she did, that she stand up and fight for her decisions to spoil her abused son when she did, then she realized she may be losing it and shook her head, deciding to get back to what really mattered.

(Past)

Crona had finished a small amount of food, and leaned into Annie's chest. The Star Girl was afraid of this, knowing that he probably couldn't each much more, and if he tried to, he'd get sick, or worse. Still, she was happy he had eaten. He had food and water in his body, real food, and that was enough for her.

He did seem to get hungry again after a few minutes. Good. She hated that he could get full just from eating some toast...

Soon she was feeding him a plate full of bacon, eggs and pancakes as Ragnarok took his plate and swallowed the whole thing in one bite, relishing in the taste as he chewed, dribbling some on Crona's head, causing a very fussy Annie to clean him off.

Annie was scowling at the monochrome blob as she carefully wiped away the last of the mess. "Ragnarok, slow down you're getting food all over Crona." She quickly snatched up an empty tray to hold over Crona's head when Ragnarok tries to mumble around his massively stuffed maw. Annie's scowl morphed into a glare, "Would you please swallow before you try to talk? You're just making it worse!"

Ragnarok grumpily finished his mouthful of food and huffed. "Man, I totally forgot how prissy women could be when it comes to food." Annie rollef her eye.

"It's basic table manners, all right? I don't wanna see your chewed up blob that used to be food. And quit drooling while you're at it, you're leaving puddles behind. And don't think I didn't see you eyeing Crona's breakfast. You have your own." Ragnarok groaned as Annie lectured him.

"I haven't eaten food in over a decade, woman!" He retorted, and while Annie didn't like him potentially taking Crona's food, she knew she had to give him that.

"And Crona hasn't eaten actual food in his entire life!"

"Yes he has! ...it was just drugged and usually ended in horrible things happening to him..." Ragnarok remarked, then coughed awkwardly. Annie inhaled sharply, not wanting to get into all this with Crona right now. She just- she just wanted him to be happy, for like, an hour. Just an hour! Then they could go back to all the pain he had been through and keep working through that.

Without another word, Annie kept glaring at Ragnarok as she continued to feed Crona, who happily took the food she offered, eating slowly, as if each bite would be his last.

Ragnarok sulked as he ate the remnants of his food. Even so he still moved to the side so he wasn't directly over Crona while he ate and Annie nodded approvingly, "There now, was that so hard?" She returned her attention to Crona, who was currently looking at the various foods on his plate in confusion. Her smile returned as she pointed out what each food is and helped him cut his pancakes.

He watched her do it with a small smile, happy to finally have someone to dote over him like Ragnarok had told him mothers were meant to do. She finishesdcutting the pancakes, then speared one and held it up to him.

With a smile, Annie offered the bite of sugary goodness to him, "Here you go, Crona, say 'Ahh.'" Shyly, he did as she asked and his face lit up like the sun as he got his first ever taste of a real treat. Without missing a beat, Annie offered him another piece, "There's plenty more where that came from, and that was just a bite of pancakes!"

Crona looked up and gave her a timid smile, it was clear he was still scared of something, and Annie assumed it was the food either being drugged or taken from him, so she did all she could to reassure him. She settled on eating at the same time to show him it wasn't affecting her, and therefore, he had no reason to fear it.

Thankfully, her plan seemed to work, as Crona did settle down at little, and simply returned to wordlessly doing as he was told, opening and eating the food Annie offered him. He was amazed by the different tastes and textures food had, this was beyond anything he could imagine!

She smiled warmly and giggled every so often as she fed the child his breakfast, making sure he ate every morsel until the whole plate was gone. After he was finished, Crona rubbed his tummy with a smile. "Yummy..."

Annie wrapped an arm around Crona and held him close as she finished off her own meal. Turning her head, she smiled at him. "There's plenty more if you're still hungry, Crona." Crona gave her a sleepy smile and shook his head before leaning against her.

She smiled softly in understanding and rubbed his back gently. "Yeah... A big meal can definitely make you sleepy, and that was probably the biggest meal you've ever had, huh? I'll pack some up for you to have later..."

"That's okay..." Crona mumbled, not wanting her to go out of her way more than she already had to help him. Annie smiled at him, but couldn't keep the pain out of her eye. It was so innocent and sweet of him, but it seemed like he didn't even feel like he deserved to EAT! Ugh, this was wrong, this was so, so wrong.

"Kid, trust me on this, having food on hand is AWESOME." Ragnarok commented, getting Crona's attention. "Seriously, we're gonna wake up one time at like, two in the morning, and then we can go raid the fridge, then go back to sleep. Trust me, it's amazing."

Crona seemed to consider what Ragnarok was saying, and then looked to Annie and nodded timidly. Asking her to get some more food for later. Annie smiled, and mentally noted to thank Ragnarok for that later. Maybe he was being self-serving and just wanted more food, but if it would get Crona to eat, she'd let it slide.

She barely held back a squee as Crona wrapped his arms around her side and mumbled, "Thank you," before starting to contently doze on her shoulder. Annie smile grew warmer as she watched Cron curl into her side, very much like his pet rabbit. Annie easily scooped up Crona with one arm as she moved to put together to go plates for the three of them and a little box of lettuce for Lucky.

She had the plates covered in tinfoil to preserve their food, then grabbed the lettuce and carried Crona back to their room where Lucky was waiting, rushing up to Annie's foot and taking a sitting position before her, nose twitching as he looked up at Crona.

Annie smiled down at him before crouching down, "He's just a little sleepy after having a proper breakfast. Anyway, I brought you a little something as well." The rabbit hopped after her as she placed the plates on a table.

Annie set Crona down on the bed, and smiled when she heard the audible Crunchcrunchcrunchcrunch... coming from behind her. Lucky was bust tearing chunks of the lettuce off and stuffing them into his mouth, before looking around for any signs of danger, before realizing there were none, and taking another bite of lettuce, before doing the same thing again. Annie settled down on the bed next to Crona, sitting with her back against the wall while playing with his hair. Sagan seemed to be flipping channels, looking for something to watch.

Annie didn't really care what Sagan settled on, and then smiled down at crona, seeing him napping peacefully, while holding her hand like a lifeline.

"Things are gonna be better, cutie, I promise." Annie whispered.

She looked over at Lucky and smiled. "Heh... An adorable pet to go with an adorable boy..."

Her smile widened at the happy noises Lucky made as he munched away. Annie rose to her feet, feeling the need to pet the bunny for a while. Lucky leaned into her hand while at the same time eating his food. Gving him one last scritch behind his ears, Annie carried Crona back over to the bed before tucking him under the covers. Annie placed a kiss on his forehead before whispering, "Sweet dreams, Crona."

He smiled and closed his eyes, falling back asleep. Annie absentmindedly stroked his hair as she began to plan for her departure back home. She hoped Crona would be able to stomach riding on her hover scooter... And that he would be able to keep balance.

It occurred to her that she really hadn't taken anyone but herself and Sagan on it. Now that she thought about it, she might need some sort of sidecar or something for him... if that. She wasn't sure what she'd be able to do for her hover scooter, let alone what the public may think if she was riding around with a child.

'And annoyingly, I don't think I'll ever be able to get a car or a bike.' Annie frowned, thinking it over. Again, she was fifteen, so she was JUST off of the 'legal age' to get a licence in some places. Even then, her scooter had always worked, so she never really thought of any reason to replace it. But again, this was something to consider for the future.

'Wait a sec, doesn't Lord Death have little portals that can send people places?' She'd have to ask the next time she saw him. Hopefully the portal would be enough to get them at least somewhat close to her house, or at least to a nearby city. After that it wouldn't take more than a phone call to arrange a ride for all of them.

She smiled over at the sleeping Crona, then took a deep breath. 'I hope he can handle life in the city... I'm worried it'll be a bit too crowded for a tiny little guy like him...' She thought to herself, concerned for the boy's mental health.

Hopefully she could keep his attention on her instead of his surroundings, 'But crowds are going to be a problem.' She let out a soft sigh before patting Crona's head. She had zero doubts that Crona would have a panic attack if he suddenly found himself surrounded by people. After all this wasn't her first rodeo when it came to taking care of abused children, but this certainly was one of the worst cases she had ever seen.

'Wait a sec, doesn't Lord Death have little portals that can send people places?' She'd have to ask the next time she saw him. Hopefully the portal would be enough to get them at least somewhat close to her house, or at least to a nearby city. After that it wouldn't take more than a phone call to arrange a ride for all of them.

She smiled over at the sleeping Crona, then took a deep breath. 'I hope he can handle life in the city... I'm worried it'll be a bit too crowded for a tiny little guy like him...' She thought to herself, concerned for the boy's mental health.

Hopefully she could keep his attention on her instead of his surroundings, 'But crowds are going to be a problem.' She let out a soft sigh before patting Crona's head. She had zero doubts that Crona would have a panic attack if he suddenly found himself surrounded by people. After all this wasn't her first rodeo when it came to taking care of abused children, but this certainly was one of the worst cases she had ever seen.

Beowulf interrupted the story again. "Hold on a second, you've taken care of abused kids before?" He asked. Annie quirked her brow.

"Well, yeah. You think every kid I do meet and greets with has a perfect life? I expose abusive parents, take the kid in for a bit, then find someone to take care of them. But Crona was different... I had a special attachment to him..."

"I mean, you killed his mom."

"I killed his ABUSER." Annie countered, seeming a bit angry at Beowulf calling Medusa Crona's 'Mother'. The wrestler coughed awkwardly, and rubbed the back of his neck, realizing his mistake. Aileen seemed to think things over before speaking up.

"Yeah... yeah, I remember that. There was that little boy, Kace, wasn't it?" She remarked, trying to remember something. "You exposed his Mother as his abuser, and helped him out of that."

"Yeah, he was one of them." Annie nodded with a sigh. It was sadly a more common occurrence than one would expect, or like. But, there wasn't much she could do about it. She could help the kids, and she could expose the abusers, but there would always be more who got away, more she never knew about... really, Medusa was a prime example of that. A whole bunch of events had to have lined up perfectly for Annie to ever have even MET Crona in the first place.

Beowulf scratched the back of his head, "I guess there's a bit of a difference in exposing abusive parents to the cops and rescuing a kid from a full blown crazy witch." Annie sighed and rested her chin in her hands,

"Yeah, I was without question the first person to treat him with unconditional affection. If I had tried to give him to someone else it would have broken him."

She smiled softly as she remembered how cute her son was when he was little. "Not that I was ever considering it for a second... I knew that he was my son and no one else's almost immediately..." She said fondly as she returned to the story.

Past...

Annie briefly paused as a thought comes to mind, there were a few people she could call to avoid the crowds. Especially if Death had a phone that could connect her to New Meridian. Annie sighed softly, 'I just hope Ben will pick up the phone even if it isn't my normal number.'

She looked around the room, and thankfully found a phone. She had no idea if it'd work, but she figured there was no risk in trying. She punched in the extension, and a few numbers, and waited. There were several rings, until a deep voice answered.

"Who is this?"

Annie was about to respond, but then decided to have some fun.

"We know who you are, Benjamin." She said, trying her best to deepen her voice. "We know who you work with, we have the girl, Annabelle. If you wish to have her returned unharmed, you will do as we say, and-"

"Keep her."

*Click*

Annie froze, staring a the phone in shock, then sputtered indignantly. The NERVE of some people! She angrily dialled again and waited.

"Look, pal. You seem to think I have some investment in what happens to her, I really don't." Ben's voice dryly came from the other side of the line. "She said she was going to pay for a pizza we ordered a few weeks back, and didn't. As far as I'm concerned, she's already dead to me."

"I said I'd pay for the wings! Not the pizza!" Annie snapped, annoyed. Then realized she had been outplayed.

"Hey, Annie."

"Hi, Ben."

The young woman let out a sigh. "So uh... Turns out Death City was real after all, and I was talking to Lord Death, and I uh... fought a witch in a cave in the middle of the desert and saved her son who was being tortured and experimented on, and he has a living blob of black ooze instead of blood, and I'm basically adopting the little guy., and he's nervous around large groups of people, so I'm gonna need to take the shortcut to my place in the lab we use to maintain easy contact so that I can get him home without getting him mixed up in the hustle-bustle." Annie explained. Yes, she very much intentionally left out as much detail as she could to confuse the man.

*Click*

Annie blinked, staring a the phone in surprise, amusem*nt and resignation. Okay, maybe she deserved that one. Dialling a third time, she sighed deeply, casting a glance to the sleeping Crona, feeling her spirits lifted as she saw the sweet baby boy curled up with Lucky lying next to him, leaning against him.

"Hey, sorry. Stanley's working on some power stuff and accidentally killed power to the lab." Ben admitted when he came back on the line. "I answered you on the land line, and then the conductor decided he was done with this orchestra for a sec. So... what was that about Death City?"

"It's real. All of it." Annie admitted, growing somewhat serious. "I know I'm gonna sound crazy here-"

"Kid. Remember who you're talkin' to."

"The Grim Reaper turns out to be a really friendly guy who runs a school here and wants to help destroy the Skullheart for good, also I may have adopted a kid."

"...you drinkin' enough water? Sounds like you're outta tune out there in the desert."

Annie chuckled. "Yep, there's the response I was expecting. But no, I'm well out of the desert at this point, been spending the night in a really nice room... We might stay for just one more night, but I need to bring him home by tomorrow at the latest. But he's... been through a lot, and he's a little bit nervous around crowds, so I need to take that shortcut back to my place we have set set up in your lab. The little underground elevator thing? I wanna use that to avoid the crazy city life and make sure my kid isn't worried or upset. Plus we have a few things we need to discuss regarding the skull heart and the forces above."

"Ya mean the Trinity?"

"No. Forces greater than even them."

There was silence, and Annie could've sword she heard a soft 'wa, wa, waaaaa' from the other end of the line.

"Are you being serious right now?"

"Yes." Annie spoke with a grave tone in her voice. "There... there is so much more out there, Ben. So much more than we understand, it's- I'll be honest, it's terrifying. The SKullheart is so weak compared to what else is out there. The good news is, what's out there seems to hate the Skullheart as much as we do."

"No kiddin'. And we can trust these guys not to turn on us?" Ben asked. Annie sighed into the receiver softly.

"Hard to say for sure."

She was silent for a moment. "They seem to have a degree of reapect for the natural way of things. From what I can gather, they're okay with just letting us be, at least until it's time for us to cross over to the other side... I don't think we need to worry about them trying to kill us like our current trio of goddesses..."

"Well, that's... good? I guess?" Big Band finally answered, unsure of what else to say. It felt like there was going to be a lot to discuss when Annie returned, let alone the fact that she- "So yer sayin' you've saved another kid?"

"Yup." Annie nodded, smiling down at her still snoozing son. "He's just a little guy, can't be much more than five, if I'm honest. But the kid's been through heck. It really isn't pretty."

"Hrgh, if you're the one saying that, I'll believe ya."

Annie was silent for a moment. "I'm keeping this one... I'm not putting him up for adoption like I did all the others. He's staying with me for good." She said with an air of finality. Ben chuckled on the other end of the line.

"Now whatever happened to not letting yourself get too attached to the little tykes, huh?" Annie let out a deep sigh.

"Well... I mean, being a mom is worth a shot..."

There was a prolonged silence, and it actually made Annie feel off. Almost like she was about to be told she couldn't do something she desperately wanted to by a parent. Except she was far (far, far, far, far, far, far) older than Big Band was. So, she wasn't sure why she felt this way.

"...If it's what you wanna do, don't let me stop you." Big Band finally said, seemingly coming to a conclusion which he was happy with. He didn't know how to feel about it, but he also knew better than to try and argue with Annie. She could be very, very persistent.

And she was a lot wiser than she seemed, he didn't doubt that she could be a decent mother. She was a kind soul, albeit a bit embittered by her situation and a little gruff at times, and she genuinely cared forr others with all her heart. And she had a good head on her shoulders for the most part.

The issue was that her curse would occasionally cause her to lapse into making rather childish and impulsive decisions that often had unfortunate and rather hilarious results that he certainly didn't want a child getting dragged into.

Regardless, he figured if Annie had found the kid in a place called 'Death City', and apparently said kid had been through a lot, he figured that wherever he ended up, getting him out of there was probably for the best. Big Band knew he'd end up in a good home regardless.

"A'ight." Big Band nodded. "When y'get back, call me again, and I'll have the boys here open the pathway to ya."

"Thanks, big guy. See ya soon." Annie replied with smile. They mutualky hung up, and Crona mumbled in his sleep.

She looked over at Crona with a smile and took a seat on the edge of the bed near him, gently stroking his hair like one would a cat. "You will like your new home, Crona... And if you don't, we'll make changes so you do..."

Crona let out a soft happy noise in his sleep before nuzzling into her hand. Annie then slapped her free hand over her mouth to prevent herself from squeeing like a schoolgirl. Thankfully she was distracted from her losing battle when a small object landed on the bed with a soft plop, and when she turned her head, she saw Lucky, who had leapt over from the table for a nap of his own.

She let out a soft chuckle, then gently picked the small bunny up and placed him down on top of Crona's chest. The sleeping child giggled softly in his sleep as the bunny made a few circles atop him before nestling down over his chest.

He really was too cute for words, and Annie felt like everything he did would be met with praise. Almost like a little pet... no, no! that's not what he was! He was her son! Sort of. Still, Crona clearly, and desperately needed affection in one form or another, so Annie was fine with finding the things he did adorable, as it would only help him get better.

Regardless, Annie let her thoughts turned to home, and she began to try and plan out how things were going to go for the next while. Thankfully, the show was off-season, so she didn't need to be back filming for another week or two, so that should maybe give her time to get Crona accustomed to his new life, but what was she gonna do when she got home?

She certainly needed to introduce him to her maids... Well, it wouldn't be too complicated, so long as she took it nice and slow. She slowly rubbed a finger down Lucky's back as he settled in and closed his eyes, "I guess it's true what they say about pets and their owners reflecting one another. Both of you want to settle down for a nap after eating your fill." With a soft giggl,e she leaned down to place one last kiss on Crona's forehead before standing up, it was time to see Lord Death about their travel arrangements.

After making sure Crona had everything he needed to have a nice nap, she made her way over to the office Lord Death called home. She knocked on the door, and it almost immediately swung open to reveal Lord Death watching her show with Spirit, who was clearly lovestruck. She looked at the screen and found the redhead was gushing over the actress that played her in the what-if episode where she became an adult.

That episode still kind of stung, but mostly because the actress was such a close match to her in mannerisms and facial features. All they really had to do was use a wig, a single colored contact, and an eyepatch to make the resemblance uncanny. Staring at what she could have been if not for her curse had been painful.

Even now, she stared wistfully at the screen and thought about how much easier life would have been if that was what she had grown to be. At least in regards to keeping Crona...She was pulled from her thoughts by Spirit's lewd comments about her adult counterpart.

"Just look at her, she's stacked like a..." Annie cut him off by loudly clearing her throat causing both men to leap from their seats. When they spun around, Death had Spirit in his arms and they found Annie looking at them with a very unamused expression.

"I'll have you know that she was a very nice young lady when we worked together, and I would appreciate it if you would keep the catcalls to a minimum." Spirit let out a pained yelp as Death dropped him to the floor.

"I keep telling you that your bad habits are going to bite you, Spirit, and your wife has already divorced you as it is."

Annie looked to Spirit, then over to Death.

"Is there something I should know about all that?" She remarked, dryly. Lord Death coughed and shook his head. There was a rather long story concerning Spirit, his Ex, and well, a whole mess there, but he wasn't exactly feeling like this was the time or place to go into it.

"No, not particularly." Lord Death remarked, then shrugged dismissively, clearly embarrassed by all this. "So, how can I be of service?"

"Well, as helpful as Death City has been - and I mean that genuinely - I think it's time for me to head home." Annie commented, then said what she was admittedly nervous about. "And I'm taking Crona with me."

"Of course." Lord Death nodded, surprising Annie over his seemingly sudden agreement. "Annie, I need to be honest with you. I failed you."

"You did?"

"Well, you are Crona's Mother, or at least his Guardian, correct?"

"Dang straight." Annie remarked, hating the 'no-cursing' part of the curse.

"Then in that regard, I allowed Crona to be harmed." Lord Death stated, growing both somber and serious simultaneously. "I brought Medusa into this school, and I was not aware of what she was doing. I didn't know what happened to Ragnarök, and I didn't even know Crona existed until you found him. That sort of thing never should've happened, but I let it happen. And for that, I am truly sorry."

Annie blinked, then sighed and shook her head with a small smile. "Hey. You do your best. Not like you're gonna catch onto every little thing that goes on. And that witch was clearly really smart. Smarter than anyone I know was ready to deal with... Cunning, manipulative... It's no surprise she fooled everyone."

The two smiled at each other... and Spirit's wailing grew louder.

Death just facepalmed so hard it echoed throughout his office and the hallway outside. Annie sighed before turning her eyes towards the reaper, "Anyway I needed to ask for your help on something, Death. I've heard you have a few portals at your command, but do you have any that go to, or at least near, my neck of the woods? I don't think Crona could make the journey on my scooter with me."

Lord Death nodded his head and clapped his hands together. "Oh yes, of course! We're more than happy to see you and little Crona home safely, Annie. Although due to the influence of the Trinity, it will take a bit more power to activate the portal... I'm afraid it may take one more night before I can send you home."

Annie let out a sigh of relief as she held one of her hands to her chest, "Oh thank goodness, I was afraid that I would have to strap a car seat to my scooter." Death let out a chuckle and lightly patted her on the back, "Well we can't have that happen. After all it wouldn't be good for Annie of the Stars herself to be seen breaking who knows how many traffic laws."

"No, it probably wouldn't." Annie muttered, annoyed that she was forever a year away from being allowed to drive a car (legally, mind you, she still had but she wasn't gonna talk about that) and nodded in agreement. So, it looked liked she'd be spending one more day here. Fine. Honestly, it gave her time to get Crona ready for his new home, and gave her time to try and plan some stuff out at the same time. Annie saw no real downside to this.

The faint, distant laughter reminded her of the two downsides, actually.

"While I'm here, I have to ask. What's up with the sun and moon?" Annie flatly asked, and Lord Death sighed deeply, clearly having been down this path a million times already.

"Yes, yes, I know. Those weren't my best ideas." He coughed. "It's just- well, we live in a place called 'Death City', I was trying to make it more... friendly!"

"...I get where you were coming from, but I don't think it worked." Annie confessed, flatly.

"Well, what was I supposed to do?! What else should I have called a location which is the embodiment of death and chaos?" Lord Death asked, continuing down the long-trodden path of his inability to name things properly coming back to bite him.

"Florida!" A man yelled from another room.

"Ha! Good one, Wiz!" Another voice yelled, followed by the sound of a high-five. Annie snorted slightly, but shook her head.

"I can't say, Lord Death. But why did you have to make them laugh? That's just weird on so many levels."

"I know, I know... it- well, like I said, I was trying to make things more friendly."

"Now I have a question for you. How many of the features on your scooter are real? There are many dangerous features that are less than ideal for crowded streets, we can't have you being too reckless!"

Annie grinned nervously, her eye shifting back and forth. "Heheh... Yeah, we uh... can't have that..." She chose not to mention the rather reckless things she did when driving her scooter, whether due to necessity or simple impatience.

She had Dr. Avery install those upgrades for a reason, between the turbo jets, the shocks that doubled as high power jump springs, and the supercharged engine there wasn't much she couldn't overcome with her trusty steed. Not to say that hadn't had an accident or two due to the learning curve when she was starting out, and now she was a lot more careful with how she used the jets. Although she could never forget the time she gunned the throttle and got sent flying after she hit a particularly stubborn stump.

The pictures of her trying to pry her head out of a tree trunk were still all over the internet... She shook her head and nodded at Lord Death. "Thanks, Lord Death, we'll he leaving as sooh as we canl After you're done charging, we'll be out of your hair."

"I understand, but it was rather nice meeting you." Lord Death nodded. Something Annie had to agree with, which was so weird for her. Considering Death to be a pleasant meeting? Only in her life, she assumed. Also, it gave her hope for what was to come, the fact that the Skullheart could FINALLY be put down for once and for all, and this nightmare could finally end. No more wars, no more chaos, no more death...

...and then there was Crona. the thought of her son made Annie walk a little faster back to her room. She hadn't been gone too long, but she didn't want to leave Crona alone longer than she had to.

'What if he's having a nightmare?! What if one of Medusa's experiments kidnaps him?! What if he wakes up and thinks I left him?! What if-' A thousand thoughts began rushing through Annie's mind, beginning to make her panic somewhat. But all those fears melted away when she slowly opened the door to her room and saw Crona still sleeping soundly. He seemed to be sleeping without nightmares for the first time, possibly ever. Lucky was still curled up on his chest, but jerked awake and looked around in paranoid preparation. The rabbit (a Lop bunny, but Annie didn't know from where) looked around, his large ears moving with him, before he saw Annie, and seemed to decide the paranoia was for naught. Settling back down, he fell asleep once more.

She let out a sigh of relief. So far so good... Maybe she could go and get them something to eat from the nearby stores for when he woke up, the boy deserved a little treat after all he had been through... She looked over at Sagan. "Keep an eye on things while I'm gone, okay?" The ever loyal rabbit plush saluted his host and stood vigilantly by the sleeping Crona's side, prompting Annie to giggle softly.

One trip to the store later, Annie was carrying a medium sized pizza to share with Crona. "Is this too much for his little stomach...? Should I have gotten the small pizza...?" She muttered to herself as she traversed the hallways, ocassionally encountering a few students who were familiar with her show, before she finally returned to her room, opening the door to find Crona crying and holding onto Lucky, who was trying to comfort him with nose kisses.

Sagan looked up from his place rubbing Crona's back and sighed in relief when he saw her. The sound of the door opening caughy Crona's attention and his teary eyes looked at her blearily. Annie didn't even need to be told what happened and was at his side in an instant with her arms wrapped around him.

She shushed him gently and picked him up, hugging him against her shoulder. "Another bad dream, huh, kiddo?" She asked gently. Crona buried his face into her shoulder and nodded his head slowly, making her sigh sadly.

Annie rubbed the back of his head, "I'm so sorry that I wasn't here when it was happening, Crona." Leaning back against the headboard, Annie settled him in her lap to calm down, "I had to make some arrangements for us to get home." Crona sniffled and looked up at her when she said, 'us.'

"Huh?" Crona blinked, clearly confused as to why he was involved in that 'we', assuming he'd be left behind and sent... somewhere.

"What, you think I'm leaving you behind?" Annie laughed gently, hugging Crona close and letting him bury his face into her chest. Crona looked up and nodded, embarrassed. "Nah! Not a chance, you're coming home with me!" Annie smiled, giving him a kiss on the top of his tiny head. "Like it or not, you're stuck with me."

"I-I-I I like that, I like that a lot!" Crona squeaked out, and Annie felt her heart melt at that little statement.

She smirked down at him in amusem*nt. "You still look kinda surprised. Now why would you think I'd leave without you? No way I'm ever leaving my new little buddy behind. Not in a million years." She cooed, playing with his hair.

Crona gave her another of his surprisingly strong hugs and clinged to her even tighter. Annie let out a soft giggle before kissing the top of his head, "Yup, you three are stuck with me from now on." Crona let out a soft noise before crying once more.

Annie was momentarily taken aback by his sudden breakdown, but her expression turned into a soft smile as she realized the reason behind it: He was not crying out of fear or pain, but rather out of pure joy...

It still hurt to see and hear a little boy crying, but this time it wasn't because he was being tortured, thankfully it was because he was happy. It still sucked that he felt like tears were his first response for being told someone cared about him in the slightest, but still. Annie didn't want to press onwards and risk upsetting him genuinely.

Ragnarok heard Crona crying, but didn't say anything this time. Usually the kid's crying irritated him to no end, but now... he just felt a sense of relief, really. It wasn't as great as 'hey-Ragnarok-here's-a-magic-spell-to-seperate-you-two-and-a-bunch-of-hot-women-who-are-looking-for-a-good-time'. But, it also wasn't 'hey-Ragnarok-you've-gotta-peice-a-child's-body-back-together-for-the-fifteenth-time.' Really, he was relieved that the nightmare was over...

Annie started to slowly rock Crona back and forth in her arms, "I promise I won't ever let you go." Holding him tightly, she began to softly sing a lullaby into his ear and he slowly began to calm down. Eventually he went still in her arms and she kissed the top of his head, "Just one more night, and then we'll be home, Crona."

She sighed softly and rested against the backboard of the bed, looking up at the ceiling as she held Crona close to her shoulder. "Man has my life ever gotten complicated..." She mumbled to herself before smirking. "I kinda like it."

Sliding down the headboard, she laid her head on the pillow with a soft sigh. A soft thump occured by her head and she turned to see Sagan and Lucky collapse next to her in exhaustion, "You two did great with Crona. Thanks for being there for him while I was gone."

Lucky looked up sleepily, it was clear he was a rabbit, and as such, didn't understand human languages, concepts or social norms. But, he did know a sad child when he saw one, and Crona was a very sad child. A very, very, very, VERY sad one. He had tried to befriend the small boy back in the dark room, and had done so because the boy seemed incappable of harming him. And he was right. Sure, that other woman hurt him, but she hurt the boy too, so he assumed the boy was nice.

He very much was.

Sagan meanwhile, was in a similar boat to Annie. He had seen his fare share of abused children (the thought of which always depressed him) and he always wanted to help, however he could! Even if sometimes that didn't always help Annie in the way he intended. He softly laughed at the memory of the infamous 'Banana Peel Incident' which Annie had borderline threatened him at sword-point NOT to bring up. Sagan noted he'd need to 'accidentally' get Crona to ask about it.

Annie let out a deep sigh, then smiled down at Crona. "Hey... I went and got us something to eat for dinner." She said softly, grabbing the nearby pizza box and pulling it open. The smell of fresh pizza wafted through the room. Luckily Ragnarok was too busy sleeping to notice or else he probably would have eaten the whole thing.

Crona looked at the pizza curiously.

He had never seen anything like it before. Why was it all flat and round? What were all those little red dot things on it? What was the white and brown stuff encrusted on top?

'Aww, poor thing's never had pizza? that's so wrong.' Annie frowned, and felt like she was being agreed with by four unseen warriors who may or may not be either samurai or ninjas. She looked around, then shook her head.

"What is that?" Crona asked, innocently.

"It's pizza, Crona." Annie explained, pulling a piece loose for him to try. "You've never heard of it?"

"I think Mama had it once, and she was eating it in front of me while she tried to make me kill a little mouse so I could eat that. But- but I was too weak, I didn't wanna..." He mumbled, and Annie pulled him into another hug.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to hurt someone or something. Don't think there is." She instructed.

Reaching over, she scooped up a slice for him and held it up with a smile. "Here... We'll start you off with a nice small piece so you can get a feel for it." She said gently before handing it over to the tiny boy.

He took it slowly.

Then he studied it closely.

He gave her a glance, then he slowly took a bite of the slice of pizza. Then another. And another. He found that he was really, really enjoying this slice of pizza... It was everything he dreamed of when he saw Meduda eat it.

Annie chuckled and took a slice for herself. She had made sure to get extra cheese. Because dang it, she loved her cheese.

From the looks of it, so did Crona. He took a few more bites, letting a small smile form on his face as he ate. Annie mentally squealed in delight at the sight, it was honestly too cute! Sure, she considered pretty much everything Crona did to be 'too cute', but dang it, she couldn't care less!

"I take it you like it?" she asked with a smile.

"Mmhm! It's so good!" Crona mumbled through his food.

Annie giggled and took a bite of her own pizza. "Heh... Glad you think so, it's definitely a favourite of mine... It's best had as an occasional treat though, bit hard on the figure..." She gave Crona's little tummy a poke. "Wouldn't want this to get too blubbery now, would we? You're too cute when you're all tiny."

Crona goggled softly.

Gosh she loved that little laugh.

It was such a small, almost squeaky laugh, but it was such an innocent sound. She didn't know how to explain it, but it was the most genuine, sweet, and wholesome thing she had heard, and she had heard a LOT of children's laughter in the past. Maybe it was because he was (technically) her son, or maybe because the laughter came after all the pain and tears he had been through, but Annie didn't care.

However, Annie did snort when she saw Lucky hop over and look at them curiously, only to seemingly recoil when Crona offered him some of the pizza. Annie laughed as Lucky hopped off and Crona seemed almost heartbroken.

"Aww, it's fine, cutie." Annie remarked, playing with his hair. "Rabbits don't eat pizza, I think Lucky was just curious was all."

She gently rubbed the boy's head with a small smile. "You have to try and be careful what you feed your bunny, kiddo. The little guy can't stomach most human foods, animals habe very different tummies from us. If you give them food they shouldn't eat, they could get sick." She explained softly. Crona winced at that and looked over at his little furry friend as he curled up on the bed.

"Sorry, Lucky, I didn't know it was gonna make you sick..." He said softly. The little rabbit simply looked over and twitched his nose. Annie giggled and patted the little rabbit's head gently, causing him to lean in.

"Aww, I'm sure he doesn't have any hard feelings towards you, little guy." She laughed softly as Lucky sniffed her fingers.

The rabbit rubbed against them, still smelling the lettuce she had given him, then began exploring the room once more. He didn't seem to be going anywhere in particular, but also didn't seem to care. Annie envied him somewhat, to be able to live with such care-free peace, it'd be nice.

Crona returned to his slice of pizza and kept eating, savouring every little bit as if he'd never be able to eat again. It was clear that if he had ever been given normal food, it was in such little quantities that he wanted to save every last bit of it.

"Hey, Crona?" Annie spoke softly, making the small boy look up with his adorable eyes. "It's okay to eat, remember? I'm not gonna take food from you, ever. I'm not like that monster who was hurting you. There's always gonna be food for you while I'm around."

Crona swallowed the pizza he had consumed and looked down with a small nod. "I...I know you won't do that to me, Miss Annie, you're way too nice to do somethibg mean like that, it's just that it tastes really yummy and I wanna try and enjoy it as much as I can because it'll be gone soon... Um... Does that make sense?"

Annie winced ever so slightly at the boy's words and smiled awkwardly to try and avoid upsetting him in any way. Oooh how much those words effected her... It reminded her how fleeting most of her friendships were, with all of them marked to die someday...

"Okay, hun. However you wanna do it." She said softly, pulling him in for a hug. She honestly felt compelled to hug him more frequently now that he had spoken those words, like she needed to savour the time she had with him while he was small.

Crona smiled timidly and went back to his food, taking another tentative bite of the pizza and letting out a soft hum at the taste. Annie smiled, nothing that these were the kinds of memories she wanted Crona to have from here on out. She wanted him to be happy, to enjoy his life to the fullest!

'Well, I guess I'm just gonna have to help him with that.' Annie thought with a nod.

"This is really good..." Crona mumbled. "All I ever ate was this weird jelly thing that didn't taste like anything."

Annie grimaced at tbose words. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing more disgusting and unappetizing than food tnat didn't have a taste. She would rather eat literal garbage... The idea that taste was a special treat in this boy's eyes was devastating to her... But at least he had a lot to experience.

"Well... we'll be sure to introduce you to all sorts of food. Real good food, like this."

His new caregiver's reassurance was enough to make Crona's smile just a little bigger. Smiling, Annie leaned down and kissed his forehead.

Crona looked up and tilted his head with a timid closed-eye smile. Annie felt her heart melt further than it already had (which was really saying something at this point).

"Uh, Miss Annie? Where are we going?" Crona asked after another minute. It occurred to Annie Crona probably had no idea what the world was life, outside of the cell he had been trapped in.

"Have you ever heard of New Meridian?" Annie asked.

Crona shook his head.

"The Canopy Kingdom?"

Crona shook his head.

"Well, that's where we're going." Annie smiled. "It's-" She cut herself off before saying 'it's like Death City', because A) it wasn't Death-y, and II) Crona probably hadn't seen Death City before.

"Well... It's a big city that's... kind of like what's right outside. Here... Let me show you." Rising from the bed, she carried the boy out to the balcony.

"Now, you see all those buildings out there? When there's a whole bunch of big tall buildings in one place, we call that a city. Now the city we'll be living in isn't quite so...uh... halloweeny, let's say, but it is decently big."

Crona tensed up.

Big?

Lots of people?

He instantly felt intimidated.

Annie set to remedying the situation. "No! No no no, no worries, we won't be living IN the city. My home is just sorta...near the city. It's...kind of a big house..."

"Oh- oh... okay..." Crona mumbled, nodding slightly. A big house? He could probably deal with that. He just didn't wanna deal with a lot of people yet. As of today, Miss Annie had been the only other person he had met, aside from his Mom. And Miss Annie was the only person in his entire life who hadn't hurt him.

"Yup, don't worry. It'll be just you, me, Saga, Lucky, and a few women who help me keep the place clean." Annie nodded. "But New Meridian is kinda like this." She pointed out to the city. "But there's a lot more lights and stuff. A lot more signs and all that. I think the best way to explain it, is that the city really comes to life at night."

Crona tilted his head to the side, uncertain of what that meant. "It comes to life...? Does that mean all the lights have magic powers that bring all the buildings to life?" Crona was now imagining being surrounded by massive towering buildings with faces walking around him and started to feel anxious.

"No, no, nothing like that. It means that there's a lot more people outside doing a lot more things." Annie explained gently. "People going out to parties and going to bars and gambling their money away... There's just... way more people out during the night." She explained. Crona blinked, then nodded in understanding.

It didn't make a ton of sense to him, as he had spent his entire life in a cage, in a cave in the middle of the desert (you read the first chapter, right?) so he hadn't really seen a city 'come to life at night' before, but he understood what Miss Annie was saying. It was like the lizards which would wander around at night, they seemed to prefer to be awake at night, rather than during the day.

They were okay, all things considered. They ate the mice his Mama tried to make him kill, and that made him sad, but he also understood (mostly because Ragnarok told him. And by told, that meant 'yelled') that this was nature. It was just the way things worked. He had actually been able to pet one of the lizards, until Ragnarok had appeared and seemingly angered them, as some sort of fan came out from around its head, and a few of them hissed at them before taking off.

He decided to ask Miss Annie about it. "Miss Annie, what are the lizards with the weird fan thingies on their necks?" He asked timidly. Annie frowned at how nervous he sounded. It hurt her to know that he was so afraid just to ask a simple question... Sighing, she gave him a gentle squeeze and a smile.

"Those are jist called frilled neck lizards. Really cool little guys, aren't they? I had one as a pet for about twenty years... He was a great little buddy to have around... I've had a lot of pets over the years, actually... A lot of people wanna go for the classic cats and dogs, but I always liked having different kinds of pets... Pets that are kinda different than what anyone else would have... Right now I have a skunk and a hedgehog."

"What's a skunk?" Crona asked, curiously.

"They're black-and-white animals, kinda like cats." Annie explained... poorly. Sure, they looked like SOME cats, but- y'know what? Annie shook her head, she wasn't going to berate herself for not being the best Zoologist in the world, she did enough, thank you very much! "But they've got large tails, and they can spray a really, REALLY foul odour when they feel threatened."

In reality, she had considered getting a fox, or even an echidna, but the former apparently didn't get along too well with hedgehogs, and the latter was a bit too weird, honestly.

She noticed the look on Crona's face.

"Oh, no, you don't have to worry about him smelling. He had his scent glands removed long before I got him. Just... try and stay away from that other skunk that seems to have made a home in my garden, she seems to like him just fine, but she really, really doesn't like people..." She explained gently.

Crona nodded his head slowly in understanding. So the one in the house was good, and the one outside was bad.

The last thing he wanted was to question Miss Annie, especially after all she had done for him, but he had to wonder: why a skunk? They didn't sound like the kind of animal one would keep as a pet. Then again, he didn't really know anything about pets. Was Ragnarok a pet? He didn't think so. Ragnarok had referred to himself as his 'partner' or 'better half' or 'burden'. Was he a pet? There were days when he kinda felt like one... being treated as an animal, beaten, experimented on... was that what pets were?

No. They couldn't be. Miss Annie wouldn't her her pets, and he didn't wanna hurt Lucky! Maybe it was just something 'cool'.

He looked over at Lucky with a tilted head as the rabbit darted about the room, trying to find his own entertainment. He thought about all the things he liked about holding Lucky, reasoning that Miss Annie might like her skunk for similar reasons... Sure, it might be a bit stinky, but if she kept it around, surely there was a good reason for it, right? If it was a bad, inconvenient pet, she would just get rid of it, like Medusa did when an experiment subject got a bit too rambunctious... Then he remembered the thing he liked most about petting Lucky. "Is your skunk soft?"

Annie smiled warmly. "Oh yeah. He's really soft. Softer than any silks I've ever seen in my entire life." She said softly.

Which was saying quite a lot, actually.

Come to think of it, Crona's hair was incredibly soft, and she didn't have the slightest idea what caused that. Now, she kinda wanted to know... partially because she liked the feel of it, and partially because he had been stranded in the desert for his entire life, and she was wondering how the heck his hair turned out the way it did, when in reality it probably should've been brittle as toffy. But it wasn't.

Unbeknownst to Annie, this would be a mystery which would elude her to this very day, much to her irritation. And not for lack of attempting to find an answer, but because the universe seemed to decide she didn't deserve to find out.

In the past time, however, she just enjoyed it.

She ran her fingers through his fluffy pink hair gently, marvelling at the pure softness that really shouldn't have been possible, and watching with a smile as he finished his pizza. He only managed to stomach two slices, which was no surprise to her. His little tummy had a very long way to go before he was ready to eat any more than that... She would have to tell her maids to portion his food carefully.

Magnolia and Isabelle, or Maggie and Izzy as she referred to them as, were going to have their work cut out for them preventing the rest of her maids from swarming the poor thing... A house as large as hers needed a lot of hired help after all...

They'd both like Crona. Aside from Medusa, who wouldn't? He was such a sweet, gentle soul. A little boy with such a timid, shy personality, there wasn't anything she didn't like about him. Aside from maybe Ragnarok. Heavy emphasis on the 'maybe' as she didn't really know what to think about him at this point.

Like it or not, the pair were connected, permanently, and even if Annie could find a way to separate them, she doubted Crona would want that. He probably saw some sort of bond in Ragnarok (even if the black thing inside him didn't return said feelings, but again, Annie didn't know) and since they had been bonded for this long, that change may be hard. Furthermore, removing Ragnarok meant removing Crona's blood. So... no. Just. Just no. The only person who could do something like that, was Eliza, and she was dead, and currently being eternally gang-beat in one of the deepest, darkest pits of the Netherrealm by a mixture of Entities, demons, her own victims, a Demon-Slayer, and a whole hoard of other powerful beasts who simply saw an excuse to beat someone up, and didn't need to know any other context. Someone probably hated her, and she probably killed someone close to someone in the group, but to most of the others, it was open season to beat someone up.

Annie smiled as she watched Crona watch Lucky dart about the room, the tiny boy giggling every now and then as Lucky moved far faster than she would've expected him to be able to. He wasn't overweight, but he was larger than his speed would lead one to think. Also, due to the missing eye, he unfortunately had a habit of bumping into walls as he ran.

The poor little guy... He didn't deserve to get mixed in with the experiments that awful woman performed... She was honestly amazed Lucky didn't die from the shock of having his eye removed, considering how easily rabbits tended to die from heart attacks... Lucky was certainly a miracle rabbit...

Hmm... She probably needed to take the little guy to the vet, she highly doubted Medusa cared to do anything to treat the little rabbit's empty eye socket... She didn't want the poor thing to get any kind of infection... Well, it was a good thing she had a maid that was studying to be a veterinarian, she would probably be able to check the little guy for anything wrong... She knew that anything happening to Lucky would absolutely destroy Crona, so she knew that she needed to make sure everything was nice and safe for the little bunny so he didn't just unexpectedly drop dead like her pet rabbit Moppy had... She gave the little boy a gentle squeeze at just the mere thought of his devastated reaction to finding his little furry friend still and unmoving on the floor... She had cried for hours at her bunny's unexpected demise (not that she'd ever admit it), Crona' s reaction would probably be so much stronger...

Oh great, now she was starting to fret over things that hadn't even happened yet... Guess that came with the territory of being a mom, she was supposed to be overprotective of her child and stress out over the possibility of him being miserable and unhappy... And also take the measures necessary to prevent it

Crona didn't pick up on it, still watching Lucky run about the room. Annie remembered she had seen videos of puppies having 'zoomies' as the internet called them, and assumed that's what this was, rabbit zoomies. Maybe he was trying to keep Crona's spirits up, or maybe he was simply running around at the speed of sound, without places to go, he's just gotta follow his rainbow. Annie couldn't tell, but it made Crona happy, so she didn't care.

"Rgh- wh- yo. YO. PIZZA?! HELL YES!"

Annie blinked in surprise as Rangrok appeared and devoured three slices in less than ten seconds. She honestly should've expected that, but remembered that Crona could get sick from this.

She narrowed her single golden eye in annoyance at Ragnarok, who shrunk back at her withering gaze. "Aw come on, hasn't anyone ever taught you that sharing is caring?" The glare intensified. "I gotta eat too ya know!" She didn't stop glaring. "You're trying to deprive me of delicious food! That is cruel and unusual and abusive!" The glare did not leave her face. "Look, I haven't had pjzza in a really long time..."

"Your eating habits are gonna give Crona a stomach ache!"

Annie lightly poked at the blob as a form of punishing him without hurting Crona. The boy giggled softly. "That tickles..."

"Then why didn't you wake me up when the food got here so we both could've eaten!?"

Dang it. Her worst enemy. Common sense.

"Because- because you were asleep, and I wanted to let you sleep." Nailed it.

"...huh, well, thanks." Ragnarok muttered, thinking about her reason. "It felt weird, y'know? Not having to wake up suddenly and pull th'brat's skin back on. Again." He looked up at Annie, who seemed horrified beyond words, and blinked. "What? You mad I called him a brat?"

"Y-yes. But also the skin thing!"

"Oh, yeah, that. That was nothing. Taking care of that was a cinch, all it tooks was a couple months of practice."

"MONTHS?!"

"Hey, I didn't have any practice, this isn't something that just comes naturally!"

Annie took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. "Okay... Okay... Let me get this straight... Crona was sitting there... Missing a bunch of his skin... suffering horrible, excruciating, agonizing pain... for TWO MONTHS?!"

"I...I healed, but... it was slow..." Crona said softly.

"Yeah, it was also closer to five months, actually." Ragnarok added, not realizing this probably wasn't the right time or place to bring this up. But, he also correctly guessed Annie would want to know everything Crona had been through so she could help him. So, well, time to delve back into the darkness. "I got close a few times, but then she just cut him apart again. Something about the closer to death he was, the faster I would be able to heal him? I dunno. I just remember everything hurt like hell back then."

Annie stared, uncertain of what else she could do. That- but- she- how- She had no words. Really, and truly, Annie had no words. No reaction. She simply looked at Crona, then hugged him tightly.

She just...had to cuddle her boy after hearing abut tnat living nightmare he had gone through... She had to show him all the love and affection he rightfully deserved but never gt formreasons she couldn't even begin to fathom. It didn't make any sense! How could such a cute, adorable, sweet little cinnamon roll like Crona EVER be born to someone as cruel, sick, twisted and monstrous as Medusa?! What kind of cruel, sick, twisted sad*stic deity would ever allow such a thing?! Just why?!

Her maternal instincts were kicking in strong and hard now. Her instinct and desire to horribly torture that hag were overwhelming.

Crona looked up at Annie, still not sure as to why Annie seemed to care so much for him. But the comfort felt nice, so he didn't really comment on it. He still felt weak and worthless, but he wasn't sure what he could do about that. Miss Annie was the nicest person he knew, and she seemed unhappy, so he was nervous that he had done something to upset her. He closed his eyes and waited for whatever came next, feeling like the hug he was wrapped in was going to transition to him being hurt. It just made sense that way. He had upset her, and now she was going to hurt him. That's how this worked, right?

Surprisingly, Crona learned that day that it did not work that way.

When he was hugged, it was for the sake of making him feel safe and warm. When she kissed him, it was for the sake of showing him that she loved him. When she spoke to him, it was to reassure him and try to make sure he felt okay. She just wanted to keep him happy... And for that, he was extremely grateful, if very much confused. But honestly, he would rather be confused and uncertain than living in constant fear of when the next experiment was going to be, when the next bout of horrible, excruciating pain was going to strike him, when the next animal he was meant to murder was going to come...

Why was his life so messed up?

Annie just kept hugging Crona, wanting to comfort him. She felt like words couldn't do the job, so this action would hopefully help. She couldn't imagine what he had been through, and this was compared to the nightmares she had been through! The only upside to her suffering, was that it had been over long periods of time after she had quote-unquote 'matured'. She knew how to handle it, how to learn from it. It sucked that it happened, but she was able to keep going. Crona, on the other hand, was a sweet little boy who had been tortured and abused for reasons which did not exist. There was nothing he would learn from this, other than fear and submission, and Annie didn't know how to change that. Sure, she had been through a lot of trials in her life, she had seen a lot of abused people in her life, and she had HELPED a lot of abused people in her life. But this was different. This kind of pain and torment... she didn't know how to help him overcome it.

The things this child had experienced... The sheer, unadulterated pain and agony he endured... Any ither child would have gone insane. Heck, any adult would have gone insane! They would have been reduced to little more than a gibbering, terrified wreck that was constantly anticipating their next session of torture. How was Crona still sane when he was only fove years old?! How much willpower was he putting into not giving himself to madness?! Would any therapist be of any sort of help to him after that absolute nightmare of a life he had lived? Could... Could she do anything to help him...? Was there anything at all that could possibly even come close to overcoming these horrible memories? Would the nightmares never go away? What kinds of things would trigger panic attacks and crying fits due to reminding him of a bad memory, of a messed up experiment he was forced through? What was she going to do...? She was going to be raising a broken spirit...

But, as she looked at the frightened, timid boy in her arms, she knew it'd all be worth it. She had committed to this, and she knew these things were going to happen when she took on this task. No, not task. Crona wasn't some job, like cleaning an air filter, or re-wiring something. This was a CHILD. This was her SON.

So, she sat there, and let Crona vent his emotions. All the pain, all the fear, he let it out, and Annie silently held onto him as he did so. Promising him over and over in her mind that he would never suffer like this again.

She could tell that he was a dam on the verge of finally bursting from the continuously building pressure at the moment, and honestly, she was just fine with that... Whenever he needed her comfort, she would be right there to offer it to him, no matter the time or place... And besides... it was a great excuse to cuddle him...

And as if on cue, Crona let out a soft sob as he buried his face into her chest. "Why...? Why dkd all this bad stuff happen to me...? Why was she my mommy, why couldn't it have been someone else?! Why does it still hurt so much?!"

"I- I'm sorry, I don't know." Annie finally admitted, quietly. She rubbed his back, and ran her fingers through his hair, trying to soothe him. She didn't know if it was working, or even worth trying, but she was still gonna try. "Sometimes, well- sometimes bad things happen to good people. People who don't deserve it. There isn't anything that can be done about it, it just happens that way. I hate that fact, and I wish it wasn't the case, especially in your case. But... that's just the way it went."

She lifted his tear-stained face up to meet hers, and she smiled at him.

"But I promise you. It's over." She said sweetly. "Now, you're mine. And I'm gonna take great care of you. You're never gonna be hurt again, and you never need to worry about being experimented on, or hurt, ever again."

She leaned down and gently pressed her lips against his forehead, allowing them to linger for several seconds before pulling away and gazing into his big, mournful eyes with a gentle smile. "Your life is about to get so much better... I'm gonna make absolutely sure you get everything you should have had all along... That means lots of food for your little tummy... A constant source of water... Plenty of fun things to do... And above all else, love. You are gonna get lots and lots of love." She said gently.

Crona bit his lip and sniffled.

Then he broke and buried his face into her chest, sobbing louder and harder than he ever had before, practically screaming at points as he unbottled all of the emotional anguish he had building up inside him.

Annie didn't know how to react. It was one of the most painful things she had witnessed. To see such a small boy so damaged on every conceivable level was beyond what she could comprehend. Yet, here she was, being forced to comprehend just that.

'Why? Why? WHY? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HIM!?' Annie desperately tried to think of something, ANYTHING that could help answer her quandary. But she couldn't. and she didn't want to. She didn't want to think of justifications or reasons for why Crona had suffered so much, she just wanted to think of ways she could make him happy again! She wanted to think of all the ways she could spend time with him, comfort him, care for him, all the things she was going to do.

But above all else, she wanted these awful sounds, these horrible soul crushing sobs of pure, unadulterated agony, to end... To be put behind them and forgotten about as if they never happened, as that would mean he was finally happy...

She didn't realize she herself was crying until about five minutes later. She let out a few choked sobs as she tightened her hold on the little boy in her arms, practically covering his entire tiny body in her warm, protective embrace. Crona didn't even notice she was crying as well. His own sobs were so loud, that they were completely drowning out her much softer cries. Annie wanted to stop crying, to be strong for him, but she just couldn't stop sobbing quietly.

The pair remained there for some time. Annie wasn't paying attention to the time, and Crona... well, you can probably put together how HE was doing through all this. But despite the pain, there was also release. With each sob, somewhere deep, deep down, Crona felt another chain breaking. With each pained cry, he felt like he WAS getting further away from the nightmares, as if this suffering was the final steps in finally being free! Sure, Miss Annie had taken him in, and was caring for him, and being nice, but now... now everything began to solidify. He wasn't just crying because he was terrifed, or in so much pain, but because he finally began to feel something he had never felt. Humanity. He felt like he wasn't just a number, or a lab rat, but he was a little boy, who had been hurt. And part of this pain was him finally realizing that he WAS human, that he WAS normal (all things considered) and feeling pain at the knowledge that he had been deprived of those feelings for so long.

It felt...nice. Liberating. He felt as if he really was... well, not free, but on the path to escape. No matter what they tried, his feeling of trapped hopelessness was not going away any time soon. He would alwags be harbouring those feelings of doubt, uncertainty and fear... But they would get better. It was going to be a very gradual process, but he was reassured that he wasn't going to be sad, scared, uncertain and stressed out every single solitary day for the rest if his life. If he kept trying, he would start to feel like he was worth something. Like he really did deserve to be happy. Already he felt the desire for his life to end fading away from him. No longer did his desire for his pain and fear to go away tempt him to try and take his own life only for Ragnarok to stop him. Now he didn't have to die for the pain to stop. Thanks to Miss Annie, the pain was already getting better. All he had to do was finish crying, and he was confident that a huge portion of this pain would be gone.

To Ragnarok's (slight, and not that he would voice this) annoyance, it was another two hours before Crona finally stopped. Annie had stopped long before him, collecting her endurance and will to be strong for her baby boy, but Crona- well, after the years of abuse and neglect, stopping was one of the hardest things he could do. If he forced himself to stop, it would remain buried until another day, and if he forced himself to keep going until he was done, it would only hurt more. But once that pain was over, it was like a weighted blanket he had been struggling under for years was finally pulled off of him.

"Better?" Annie softly asked when he had finally quieted down somewhat. She wanted him to get it all out. To keep crying if need be. But to her delight, Crona looked up and nodded.

The teenage girl smiled softly, leaned down and pressed her lips against his forehead gently. "Good... I'm so glad..." She said softly. "Poor little guy... That was building up for such a long time, wasn't it? Getting it off your chest must be so satisfying... But don't think this is just a one time thing, okay? I never want you to hide your feelings again. If you're feeling sad or scared, I wanna be the first one to know about it so that I can make those feelings go away... Okay?" She asked gently. Crona sniffled.

He gave his new caregiver a teary smile and pressed his face against her chest. Then he spoke. "Thank you, Miss Annie... I love you..."

"I love you too, cutie. Don't you ever forget that." Annie said, sincerely.

"Urghhh..." She swore she heard Ragnarok groan at the sappiness of the moment, but thankfully, he didn't say or do anything to ruin it. It was clear this was too 'Life Time Movie' for him, but at the same time, he was thankful to finally be free, and more importantly, not under the heel of a psychotic witch who tortured and mutilated him for reasons beyond anything Annie could even begin to question. Sure, Ragnarok may not show it, but he was thankful for what she had done, and so long as he didn't make things worse for Crona, she didn't care if he thought she was being overly-affectionate. She was his Mother! His REAL, Mother, who actually gave a darn about him.

And he was just going to have to deal with it.

At that moment, both of them began to yawn softly, feeling exhausted and worn down from their raw emotional outburst. Annie gave her boy a tired smile and gently pressed her lips against his forehead. "Okay, little guy... I think it's time we went to bed." She said softly. Crona nodded and snuggled in as close as he could as she laid them both down and draped the bedding over them. She leaned down and gave him another kiss, this one on the cheek. "Sleep tight, sweetie..." She whispered softly into his ear.

Crona mumbled something inaudible, but to him, he whispered: "I love you, Mommy..." But Annie didn't care what he had said, she simply smiled and settled on the bed with Crona on her lap. Sagan was watching the city out the window. Annie wasn't sure what to do now, but when her phone buzzed, she figured she could think and message whoever was texting her at the same time.

'So... Ben said something weird happened.'

'New phone. Who dis?' Annie replied.

'Violet.'

'Oh. Hey, V.'

'Hey. So, what happened? I need 2 know, it's so boring around here...'

Annie let out a sigh and shook her head. Her old protege was much too nosy for her own good... Still, she supposed that was a huge part of why she became a vigilante in the first place, outside of her desire for justice and thrills... She was really not likely to hear the end lf it if she did tell her, but it wasn't like not telling her was an option, she would pester her until the end of the world if she had to. Sighing, she texted back.

'I'm at Death City.'

'So that place does exist. My students argue about it all the time.'

'I met Lord Death. He's gonna find a way to permanently end the skullgirl cycle.'

'Thank. Goodness.'

'I killed a witch and adopted her tortured son.'

'Oh. Okay then.'

'...? Really? That's your reaction?'

'IDK if you're joking or not, but I chose to believe you. If you found Death City and met Death, you adopting a kid isn't the weirdest thing I've heard.'

'Fair.'

'You aren't joking, right?'

'Of course not!' Annie replied, a bit annoyed.

'Aren't you a little young to be a mom?'

'No, no I'm not! Shut up!'

'Hahaha, I know you're not. You're pretty much living proof that dinosaurs once roamed the earth.' Annie's eye twitched.

'Laugh it up, jerk.'

'Oh don't be like that.'

'You know I'm sensitive about my age!'

'Oh come off it, you're doing pretty damn well for a centuries old granny, you're pretty much every young boy's first crush at this point.'

'And yet, they'll always outgrow me.'

There was silence for a moment, and Annie figured Violet had realized she may have gone a bit too far with her comments. Sure, she didn't mean anything harmful by it, but still.

'Is the kid cute?' Violet finally asked. Annie smiled and snapped a picture of the sleeping Crona, who was now innocently sucking on his thumb. She sent the picture with a 'What U Think?' and waited.

'Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshhessoadorable!' Was sent, followed by a string of heart emojis. This was uncharacteristic for Violet, who even while sometimes a bit promiscuous, usually kept a cool head about all things. Still, Crona seemed to have that affect on people. 'You HAVE to let me watch him some night!'

'There's a chance you'll end up teaching him, eventually.'

'I'm fine with that!'

'You'd better make sure you dress appropriately around him.' Annie didn't know why she bothered typing that. She knew the response she was going to get.

'Oh, you all need to stop trying to change me, this kind of outfit makes me feel alive!' Annie rolled her eye as she read her old protege's lengthy rambling about how she would not be 'restrained by societal norms'.

'Seriously, you're gonn end up making my kid start asking me questions that I am not at all comfortable with answering, nor am I physically able to!' She chided. She sighed and shook her head at the smiley face emoji her old ward send her way. 'Seriously. He's way too young for your preferred style.'

'I will happily answer any questions he has.'

'Miss the point much?'

'Kids grow up fast these days!'

'I don't think being cut open, tortured, beaten, burned and starved is normal 'growing up' these days...' Annie sent the message, but then regretted it. That was WAY too much information to drop on someone like that. But... it was sent.

'What?' Was all she got back after about three minutes of silence.

'I'm not making this stuff up. The kid has been through heck. He's barely holding on as it is, and he can barely even look at ME without freaking out.'

There was no response.

'I'm sorry.' She finally got.

'Just wear pants.' Annie half-jokingly, and half-seriously sent back.

'Never! Why do I have to and yet Oog doesn't?!'

'He's a Tortoise Feral, he's got scales and a shell. It's hard to wear clothes over that.' Annie flatly replied. 'Also, he DOES wear clothes, and doesn't run around presenting to everyone!'

'He wears a cape and a sash, how is that clothing?!'

You're acting more childish than Crona. And he's like, four.'

'Awwww! That's such a sweet widdle name!' Came the reply, and Annie could feel the sincerity from it. "And his hair is so precious~! Did you dye it or something?'

'No, this is his natural hair.'

'Oh my goodness that is just TOO adorable! It looks so soft and fluffy, I just want to run my fingers through it, it would probably feel like rubbing a little ball of cotton!' Well, Annie certainly wasn't going to deny that.

'It is pretty fluffy.'

'Grrrr, I want to meet him as soon as possible! When will you be coming home?' Annie shook her head and sent the reply.

'Tomorrow.'

'When can we meet?'

'Some other time.'

'WHY?!'

'Because you're way too much, way too soon for a traumatized kid. We both know you can't keep your composure around cute things.'

'That is not true!'

'You got your school banned from the zoo because you tried to steal a penguin.'

'Well I can't help it if those little balls of feathers and fluff are uhfairly adorable! Besides, the prinvipsl already chewed me out for that...'

'As did all of us.'

'Didn't you try and steal a monkey?'

'No. I was trying to save a kid who fell into an enclose. And I thought we agreed not to speak of that. Ever. Again.'

Thankfully, Violet seemed to agree and didn't press that particular memory any further.

'Fiiiiiiiiiiiine. I won't meet him tomorrow. But the day after that, I'm meeting him!'

'No.'

'Day after that one, then.'

'No.'

'Day after that one, then.'

'You know I'm going to keep saying 'No' to you, right?'

'And you know I'm gonna keep asking, right?'

'Just stop.'

'On one condition.'

'You aren't meeting him tomorrow, stop asking.'

'Ask him.'

'...?'

'Ask him if he'd be comfortable meeting some people. Me, Ben, Pan, that new medical intern Avian hired, Valorie or something... IDK. But you can't tell him lies to scare him into not wanting to meet me!' Violet texted, adding the last part in protest.

The girl of the stars sighed.

Her old ward was such a brat.

'I'll make sure he's good and ready before he meets you. But I'm only introducing him to everyone at his pace. No one else's.'

'I wouldn't ask for anything else.'

Annie paused.

She needed to warn Violet about Ragnarok.

She needed to know about that weird little blob.

Mainly so she didn't whip him and hurt Crona.

Because the blob was as perverse as they came.

And as much as she liked to show off, Violet loathed a pervert.

But how best to word it...?

It wax an odd thing to explain...

Eh.

She'd just have to put it bluntly.

'My son has a perverted black blob for blood.'

A long paus

The message was received.

Her phone buzzed and she looked down at the massive wall of text demanding further explanation, as well as a string of shocked remarks that made her jealous due to her inability to repeat them.

'Look, I'm still figuring out how this works myself, but the monster who had Crona before replaced his blood with some black sludge. Which also happens to be alive.' Annie began.

'Is it like a parasite?'

'I mean, kinda? But I've never seen a Parasite like this, aside from Sek-whatever... apparently Ragnarok was once a person, or at least his own sentient being who didn't need to be connected to anyone, and that witch melted him, fused him with a weapon, and then injected him into Crona. Now, they're fused.'

'This sounds like a fanfic someone would write about your show.' Violet blankly texted back. Sure, she knew all about the Skullheart, demons, monsters, Parasites, and even had heard rumours of Entities outside those factors, but it was clear she was having trouble believing this. Not that Annie blamed her. Oh, right. The whole 'The-Trinity-is-actually-fake-thing'... she'd need to mention that. Probably when they met, it'd be hard to explain that over text.

'Well, it isn't. My baby has the scars to prove it!'

'Whoa, whoa. Back up, Starr-O.' Violet shot back, using the nickname Annie hated. 'I never said I don't believe you. I mean, you know the crap we deal with every few years!'

'Fine. Whatever.' Annie sulked. 'I'm telling you this because the two of them are fused in every sense of the word, anything that happens to one, the other feels... and Ragnarok is essentially a drunk frat boy ninety-nine percent of the time. Do you see where I'm going with this?'

'If this is another convoluted way of you asking me to wear something different, the answer is still no.'

Annie mentally screamed, then tried to text bluntly, but the words kept changing.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down, then sent her text. 'Fine, but uf the little pervert decided to cop a feel, you're not allowed to hit him with your whip, unless you want to end up hurting Crona.'

'You don't hit with a whip, you whip with a whip.'

The sound of Annie's palm making contact with her face was enough to cause Crona to stir slightly in his sleep, prompting her to stroke his hair and shush him to lull him back into it, smiling as he clutched at her skirt.

'You know very well that doesn't matter in the slightest, you're just trying to get under my skin again. You've always been a total smart aleck." She tried so hard to type smartass, she wanted to say it so badly, but darn it, that curse wouldn't even let her think bad words. 'You've always been giving me grief, ever since you were sixteen years old and training under me... You always did drive me nuts...'

'Oh, I love you too.'

'Still more than a little peeved over that prankster phase you went through. Those sparring matches were the fudging worst.'

'Hey, you always were the one to tell me to use everything possible to my advantage no matter who you're fighting. It's not my fault ice, snow, sand, trash cans and dumpsters make such efficient tools.'

'Ugh... You are such a pain.'

'I have all of our sparring sessions saved onto a harddrive, with all of our mistakes fully intact.'

'And I have pictures of your first outfit.'

'...you wouldn't DARE.'

'Would I?'

There was a long silence, and then Annie noticed something way more important than winning an argument with her friend. Crona was squirming about, possible in a nightmare. 'GTG, Crona needs me.'

Hanging up, she wrapped both arms around the tiny boy and pulled him close once more. Now, with. Crona's head tucked up against her neck, she let out a small sigh and simply squeezed him gently. Thankfully, this seemed to do the trick, as Crona settled down once more, and returned to a peaceful sleep.

She smiled softly at him.

She gently stroked the back of his head.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

By the trinity-erm... by the gods, she loved this so much... She loved Crona so much... She loved holding him close, she loved stroking his tiny head, she loved showing him how much she loved and cared for him...

She loved this motherly feeling... This feeling of being a beloved, important, nurturing figure in this boy's life... She teared up slightly and smiled as she gave him another kiss, this time on the forehead. He mumbled in his sleep. She gave him a few more kisses. Why? Because she could. Then he spoke clearly... "Love...you...mommy..."

Annie let out a soft gasp, and smiled widely at that. Wrapping him up in both arms and kissing the top of his head. 'That's right, sweetie. Mommy's here. Mommy loves you. Don't you ever forget that..."

"Eugh..."

Annie flatly glared at Ragnarok, who smirked, laughed, and caused Annie to realize she was messing with her.

"Really?" She muttered.

"Fine. But seriously, thank you." The Black Blood conceded. "Thank you for saving the kid, and thank you for keeping him safe... I hate admitting to my own weaknesses, y'know, because I have so few. But I'm not the guy to try and raise him. Thanks for saving us, and thanks for raising him."

Annie sighed softly and let a small smile grace her features. "You're welcome, Ragnarok. I'm more than happy to do this for Crona... I'm just really glad I get the opportunity to actually be a mom considering the curse..."

"Curse, huh?"

"Yep. I'm a victim of the skull heart. I didn't use ut or anything, but my mom did a really long time ago..." Annie explained.

"So how old are you then?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to ask a lady her age?" Annie replied with a light smirk. "But really, the truth is, I have no idea how old I am anymore. I've lost count of the years... See... I've been around since the medieval era."

"Oh. Uh. Huh." Rangarok blinked. It was clear if he believed her, thought she was insane, both, or something else. Slowly, he looked her up and down for a moment, then muttered: "You look the same as the broad playing Annie from like, twenty years ago."

"That WAS me."

"...seriously?"

"Yeah, I change my hair colour every few years, and no one seems to notice." She shrugged. Since Ragnarok and Crona now lived with her, she reasoned they'd find out about this sooner or later.

"But- That- I mean- you-" Ragnarok sputtered, shifting left-and-right as he tried to find the reason, or logic behind that. "How does- but that- I mean-"

"Yeah, I know." Annie chuckled. "I'm really shocked no one has figured this out."

"How stupid are these people?!"

"Well, they made a monster which was a banana peel, and decided the plot was to undermine government trade laws or something last season." Annie muttered, having HATED that weird phase her show went in for a full season. Thankfully, those show-runners were gone.

"What- How do they even-What?!" Ragnarok exclaimed in disbelief. "Isn't that show supposed to just be you going to random-ass planets and fighting random-ass monsters? Like, when did politics get mixed in?"

"Exactly what I said." Annie muttered.

"And the banana peel monster was the villain for the whole season."

"Kinda? He was working under his boss... Who just happened to be a giant monkey... Yeah, I dunno..." Annie muttered.

"Wow. That'll definitely be something weird for the kid to bear witness to." Annie grimaced at the thought of Crona seeing her show at its worst.

"No. He is watching the golden age."

"Oh yeah, the slapstick age where the main villain was a snowman!"

"I said golden age, not the worst, most humiliating part of the whole darn show." Annie said with an annoyed scowl.

"Meh, he might find it funny." Ragnarok shrugged, and Annie swore she heard Sagan suppressing laughter. She glared at her partner, but didn't push it further. There wasn't much she could say or do, really. The show had gotten really weird time and time again. And yet somehow it kept going.

Honestly, that even surprised HER.

She really felt like the show would've ended, or been cancelled, or moved to a different station, or... ANYTHING, really, by now. But it wasn't. It seemed like the show was going to survive, no matter what.

It was kind of like her in that regard. No matter what kind of obstacles threw themselves in her oath, no matter how hard things got, no matter who tried to put a stop to her, she would just keep going on and on until the bitter end... It really did seem like nothing was evee going to stop her, or her show.

And now she had more incentive to keep going.

She really did want to show Crona her show, at least some of the episodes she was proud of... She wanted her onscreen counterpart to be a role model to him as much as her real self was.

She smirked, wondering how he would react to seeing her on the TV. She hadn't mentioned it yet, and figured that could wait. Right now, she just wanted to keep him nice and snug. The tiny boy in her arms had been through enough, and right now, sleep was what he needed.

Annie wanted to sleep, but the memories of the inane slapstick seasons began playing in her head. She wished more than ever she could curse, so she could curse out whatever force (or forces) out there caused her to suffer such humiliation during that period of the show. It just- it just didn't make sense to her. Once or twice, fine. She'd admit, even she found some of the cartoonish antics amusing, but for a whole season and a half? When every episode was the same thing, the same joke, the same concept, with only the bare minimum changed? That just screamed lazy writing, fudge the fact that that was what was popular at the time.

'Then again, it's not like my show ever had great writing.' She was forced to concede.

She really needed to step in more often and fix things up... The most well regarded episodes of the show were the ones where she was the one calling all the shots and deciding what happened and when after all... The show needed more action, more drama, more intensity... These writers seemed to be aiming at a preschool audience...

And that wouldn't be too bad if it weren't for the fact that they already made a spin-off show directly aimed at a preschool audience! ...Wait. Speaking of school... What was she going to do about Crona's education? Would she send him to public school or hire a private tutor? Both had their pros and cons... Public school was good for social improvement, but bullies and bad teachers were an issue, plus it would be tougher to keep the ruse up and she wouldn't be there when he needed her... But with the private tutor, he would miss out on that social experience...

Hmm... Private tutor was probably the easier option to cover for the cons.

Still, Annie had a feeling Violet would teach him once he got older, and she wasn't sure if she could teach him what he'd need to start. Also, there was the questions of any sort of social life, how could she do that with her being, well, her. And with Ragnarok attached to Crona?

If she was honest, Annie had to admit, she might be going a bit hard on the symbiotic blood-thing. He seemed smart enough to know Crona was his life-link, so to say, and messing with him would only make things worse. If anything, he might be able to help Crona stand up for himself. But the last thing she needed was to go into a school after being told 'Yes, uh, hello? Your son's BLOOD stabbed several students and then pantsed another four!'

Although, Annie couldn't hold back a chuckle at that thought. It was so absurd. But this was her life.

Make no mistake, she wouldn't change jt fkr the world, but she had to acknowledge how complicated and bjzarre things had gotten ever since she made the decision to adopt Crona. A permanently fifteenngear old mother, her little tiny pink haired child, a black blob of blood, and a massive mansion full of maids.

It was almost like something straight out of a sitcom. She had to laugh slightly at that thought, tightening her hold on Crona and shaking her head. A sitcom based around their family life, how crazy would that be? Sighing, she kissed the top of his head. Crona wouldn't be a good fit for the life of an actor, he was much to quiet and shy and fearful... She would have to keep him out of the process as much as she could.

Though that may be difficult...

Still, as she had told herself countless times in the past, challenges were nothing she couldn't accomplish! Aside from that stupid Rutix Cube puzzle... she had been working on it for literal YEARS now, and somehow, she still couldn't figure it out. But, she refused to give up. If solely because she didn't want to be bested by a children's puzzle.

'Puzzles, those could be fun!' She thought with a smile. Sure, some found them dull or boring, but Crona would probably enjoy the quiet, calm nature of them. She thought about what he'd need now; clothing, toys, his own room eventually, even though Annie wanted to keep him by her side for the time being.

In fact, he was going to need her by his side for the forseeable future. She would try to very slowly ease him into sleeping on his own, but at the end of the day, his trauma ran extremely deep, and as his mother, it was her duty to make sure he was feeling comfortable and safe and above all else happy.

She would also have to make sure to have his room built very close to her own so that he could easily come to her when the nightmares inevitably struck him... Just the thought of him having a nightmare and fearfully wandering the dark hallways in search of her room was enough to make her heart clencn.

She tightened her grip on him ever so slightly, and exhaled softly. 'He was safe, he was safe.' She said to herself, reassuringly. She cast a glance over to Sagan, and quietly asked: "You don't think I'm overdoing this, do you?"

Sagan crossed his stuffed arms and shook his head. Annie smiled at that, relieved by the remark. Sure, while she and Sagan may be partners, Sagan was never one to not make his thoughts known, and would often tell Annie if he thought she was doing something foolish. Or, he may not, and allow her to continuously wander about with a burlap sack over her head, slipping on banana peels every seven seconds for nearly three hours, when all she had to do was walk four feet to the left... Annie bit her lip to stop those thoughts. That was the tip of the iceberg of that disaster, and she didn't wanna focus on it. Ever. Again.

She looked down at the tiny little bunfle of black and pink sleeping soundly in her arms and smiled warmly. She didn't want her baby to see her on one of her incredibly embarrassing off days, she wanted him to think she was cool!

She let out a sigh and kissed his head. "You wouldn't laugh at me for having a little bit of bad luck like everyone else does, would you? No, you're way too sweet for that..." She murmured. And she honestly did believe with all her heart that it was true... Crona was a perfect, adorable little cinammon roll that would honestly be more concerned for her well being than anything, and would probably make an effort to help her. Though she didn't particularly like the idea of him trying to help her, not because she didn't want his help, but because he was more likely to either inadvertantly make it worse or get pulled into it with her.

That would be something else to consider while shooting the show. What would Crona be doing? Most likely her maids could watch him, but she felt like he'd have an issue with being away from her for so long. Still, she wasn't sure if the soundstage was the right place for a scared little angel, but maybe when he got a bit better he'd want to see what she did for a living.

For several decades.

Oh yeah, she also needed to tell him about her incredibly complicated history, and how she was technically old enough to be his great great great great...REALLY great grandmother. She wondered how he was going to respond to that... She didn't look that much older than him, and he certainly was at that age where he expected every old lady he met to have gray hair and wrinkly skin...

She smiled to herself. She was at least grateful she didn't have to worry about that aspect of life.

She also hoped Crona wouldn't have to learn about the Skull Heart. Well, he would. she'd teach him what she knew, about what it did, the dangers of it, and so on, but she meant she hoped he'd never have to experience it. Or at least, if he did, he could be safe, and far away from it. Still. She knew how traumatic it could be, and let out a sigh in annoyance. This just seemed to be the way things were going.

She squeezed her child tightly and shook her head, closing her eyes. There was so much darkness in this world that she needed to try with all her might to keep him safe from... The skullheart... The Medicis... Kishins... It was all so much to worry about, she had half a mind to keep him overly sheltered so he wouldn't have to put up with any of it... But she knew she couldn't do that... He deserved to have a sense of freedom.

Not to mention, his whole life had been sheltered up until now, add to this the factors of being homeschooled and most likely suffering from extreme social anxiety, and perhaps him being sheltered would be a good thing. At least, possibly, for now. If being alone with her helped him heal, then Annie was all for it. But, she also knew balance was important. But, she also knew she was someone who couldn't just go out and about, so that was something ELSE to factor into all this.

The only way she could easily get him more social interaction was if she got him to form a close bond with her maids and have him go out with them... Or she could wear a disguise, that was also an option... No, that never worked, someone always saw through it eventually and then all tje little kids on the general viciniry would crowd her... Ugh... She couldn't even be mad about it because they were all too dang cute and she didn't wanna hurt their feelings... No matter how much she tried to deny it, she liked all the kids.

'Oh well.' She shrugged, taking another slice of pizza. There wasn't anything she could do about it at the moment, so she kissed Crona's head, and decided to just relax, maybe try and sleep a bit. Crona cooed, and nuzzled closer, making Annie chuckle softly. He really was too cute for his own good...

"Love you, little guy..." She whispered softly into his ear. He mumbled something inaudible in his sleep. She couldn't hear it, but she knew there was exactly a zero percent chance that it wasn't something outrageously cute, so she had to giggle softly and lean down to place a kiss atop the boy's head.

With that, Annie decided she was going to try and sleep for an hour or two, she felt more tired than she had realized, and she settled down on her bed, Crona held close in her arms. So long as the tiny boy in her arms was held close, she felt like nothing could hurt him, and that was perfect for her.

She smiled softly as she gazed down at the sleeping child. She adjusted him carefully in her arms so his head was tucked up against her neck once more. He seemed to really like being close to her, so why not keep the boy as close as she possibly could? By the way he smiled, she could tell it was the right move.

So, she settled down, letting her body and mind rest as the thoughts about tomorrow faded to 'I'll-deal-with-it-later' territory. She had her son, she had a place to sleep, she had plans in the works, all was good.