Diabolical Kitsutora Here! You can also call me D.K.Chan or SeriiChan!

DK: Wow, my first Chrno Crusade fanfic, exciting, exciting!

Chrno: So how does this story start out?"

DK: Why do you wanna know?

Rosette: We don't wanna confuse our readers do we?!

DK…

C…

DK: Was that Rosette just thinking logically? O.O

C… I… think so…. O.o

Sister Kate: Call the police! The militia! Rosette has said something that makes sense!

Ewan: Umm… Sister Kate, we are both police (in a way) and Militia, (well Rosette is).

R: Hey c'mon! I'm not that stupid!

Azmaria: Aren't you guys being a little too harsh on Rosette?

R: Thank you Azzy.

A: bows you're welcome Rosette.

a fight cloud appears around everyone

DK: sweat drops on with the story. By the way, it starts as Chrno's Point of View. bows and slides off stage

To Give the Gift of Life

Chapter One: Thoughts and Fights

I suppose things can't forever stay the same. Surely there was a reason things had to change for the three of us. I guess things are just meant to continually change. My feelings for the two of them were destined to change. He'd be someone I'd always cherish, and I suppose it was inevitable… that I'd come to love her. Fate wouldn't allow us to stay together as our original group. Fate tore her brother from her grasp, and forced her into a contract with me. She doesn't regret it, she never regrets anything. I commend her for that, I wish I could say the same.

Needlessly, ceaselessly, she wastes her life so I can protect mine. Why can't I be strong enough without having to use my full strength? Why must I waste her life, to preserve it? There is a bottomless hopelessness in my heart, I know one day I'll be the cause of her death. Every time I must use my full strength, there's a pain that pulls at my heart, yelling at me to stop, to keep her safe and to preserve what little life she has. In my dreams I continually ask God why it has to be her that wastes her life.

It may not seem practical for one of devil offspring, someone born a devil, to pray to God, but to me, it makes sense. Maybe it's because I've spent too much time with humans, or maybe it's because I've fallen to where I feel human emotions. Whichever way you look at it, I do as most humans do. I pray to God to appeal to him, to give me a way to fix what I have done. To right the wrongs I have committed on this, this most tainted yet pure world. I try to believe that someday my prayers will be answered.

For the time being, while I wait for a sign that my prayers have been answered, I stay as far as I can from her. Yet I stay close enough so that I can protect her from other devils, from other sinners like myself. I've been called many things, Chrno the Sinner, the Hornless One, Killer of 100 Thousand. When humans see me, fear fills their hearts, when someone at the convent lay eyes on me, they pray that the Lord will spare them. When she looks at me, she smiles, she laughs, she frowns, she cries, she gets angry, she wants to teach me a lesson, give me a super noogie. A mere human shouldn't be able to have that much power over a devil right?

Well, that would be so if I hadn't lost my horns. For that reason, I'm stuck in the body of a 12 year old boy. Most times, I don't even feel like a 12 year old, but at the same time, I don't even feel like what I once was. When I'm in that form, I feel like I've been given another chance, a chance that I thought was reserved just for humans. I've been given a chance, to help Rosette to right a wrong in her life, and I believe that this child form is what will help me bring Joshua back. I don't know why I feel that way, perhaps it's just these human feelings causing me to think that way.

Then again, it's those same human feelings that have caused me to fall for that golden blond haired loud mouth. Maybe it's God sense of humor at work. Hah, put a devil in a situation where he falls in love with a human, is locked away, then falls in love with another human 50 years later. Could a devil truly love a human? Could a human, truly love a devil? I really can't say, I don't think Rosette sees me like that. She is of the church, she will take her vows and will no longer be able to marry. Rosette is a devoted member to the convent, she wouldn't break her vows so easily, even if she did love me.

She's worked so hard to get where she is now, and I don't plan to ruin that for her. I plan to do as much as I can to help her reach her goal. While I help her, I'll have to stifle my own feelings, something I'm not used to doing. As a devil, I never had to suppress my emotions because I didn't have any.

Now that I do, it's hard to keep these feelings from boiling up, though most of the people here at the convent wouldn't notice. Most believe devils can never gain feelings, but a few people like Azmaria, Satella, Ewan, the Elder and especially Rosette notice I'm not like other devils. Unfortunately, so does Sister Kate, and she makes sure I stay away from Rosette, meaning, I sleep in Elder's hut.

It's funny, I still remember some of our earlier missions. The bar owner, who turned out to be a Satanist, Rosette made the whole building come down. Then there was the stolen artifact that started attacking humans out of anger. The ship ended up crashing into the statue of liberty. However, my most horrible experience was that third assignment. Yet it, for some reason, is one of my fonder experiences. Not for the fact that the devil we had killed earlier knocked her out. For the fact that, even when I lost it, and I knew no reasoning, Rosette still trusted me. She ran at me, begged me not to change out of anger. Being in her arms felt… right.

At the moment, I'm staying far enough from the convent to where I can keep an eye on Rosette, yet far enough so I satisfy Sister Kate's need to keep me away from the building. Sighing deeply, I tried to once again bury my feelings for Rosette. We have another mission, another mission alone with her. I smile at the thought, but then frown, I have to control myself so I don't freak her out and lose her trust. Plus, she's a nun, a woman of God.

"Chrno, what the hell are you doing just sitting around? We got a mission to do!" The fiery blond haired nun stomped up towards the fence which protected the Convent.

Chrno looked behind himself directly at Rosette, and nearly fell off at the look she was giving him. "I was just um… uh…"

Her eye brow twitched, "you have no good excuse do you, Chrno?"

The small devil jumped off the fence and backed up a bit, "uh, that is to say I um…" It was too late, Rosette jumped the poor boy before he could get a word out.

"TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT CHRNO, SUPER NOOGIE ATTACK!!!!" Rosette began her assault on his head.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" tears streamed from the poor devils eyes, what kind of punishment was this?

"That should teach you a lesson." She humphed and stalked towards the car.

"What kind of punishment is a noogie attack?" Questioned the devil under his breath, seriously, how could something like that hurt him?

"You say something Chrno?" she asked, her brow twitching.

"Nothing Rosette! Coming!" sighing as he ran towards her, he saved himself from another 'punishment.'

As both the nun and the sinner ran to the car, a question popped into Chrno's mind, "what exactly is this mission about Rosette?"

She jumped into the drivers seat and gave him a cross look, "two devils were spotted in the middle of New York killing off innocent bystanders."

"I see, you have all your weapons Rosette?"

"Wouldn't leave without 'em!" she grinned, cocking the barrel of her gun.

Replacing the gun in the holster on her thigh, she revved up the car and shot off before Chrno could buckle himself in. "PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE IN A CAR CRASH!!!!"

While in motion, the two bickered on and off. Rosette continually called him a baby for thinking he was going to die. He argued that she was a reckless driver. However, she brought up the fact that they never got seriously hurt, seriously hurt another, or got killed. Chrno couldn't argue and quieted at that. Once they had reached their destination and climbed out of the smoking vehicle, the site they saw made them gasp.

"Everything's… destroyed…" Rosette gasped. Her shock was short lived for she spotted two moving figures, quickly she pulled out her gun.

Whatever was moving stopped to look at the young blond wielding a gun. What looked like a female devil was carrying what looked like a wounded male devil. "Don't you two dare move! You've caused many deaths and you shall pay!"

The two looked surprised, as if they didn't know what she was talking about. Suddenly, the male shouted, "Karumen, keikai shitekudasai! (Carmen, watch out!)" Weakly, the male devil dragged her to the ground.

"Crimany, how many flipping devils are really here?!" groaned Rosette, as she spotted two more devils dive towards the male and female on the ground, dodging an energy attack, she brought her gun up, aiming at one of the airborne devils.

"I don't think the two on the ground did this Rosette!" Chrno yelled, trying to get Rosette under some cover.

"Nah, ya think?" she yelled sarcastically at him, lowering her weapon for a second, "I don't know what's going on, but we gotta help them!"

"Nah, ya think?" Chrno mocked.

Growling at the four foot tall sinner, she knelt on one knee and once again aimed at one of the devils. "I have a feeling this won't kill them Chrno!" Rosette yelled as she fired off a round of Sacreds.

"Rosette get down! Not even a Gospel could harm them!" The poor devil tried desperately to grab onto the girls arm and drag her behind the car, but she moved away.

"I have to try and get their attention Chrno, after I do that, I can release the seal." At this, crimson eyes widened.

"Save your time Rosette! We can find another way to do this!" his fiery crimson eyes were pleading.

The blond girl smiled at him, "it's for a good cause Chrno, besides I'll be fine." She flashed her famous grin and loaded a Gospel into her gun. If a sacred didn't get their attention, this would.

"I'm begging you Rosette, please don't release the seal." Inside, the poor boy was breaking, his heart was shattering.

Her only response was to grin and then aim at the swooping devils, "there's no other way Chrno."

"No, don't do it!" a voice cried from somewhere. Rosette finally found herself pinned to the ground.

"Rosette!" the blond could hear her partner calling for her.

"You mustn't use that against them, they could reflect it right back at you. Though you may not be a devil, it could easy kill you with its explosive charge." The voice was female.

"Who are you?" Rosette heard Chrno question.

"My name is Karumen." She coughed when they gave her a blank expression, "that's Carmen in English." Swiftly she picked up Rosette and dodged behind the car with Chrno and the wounded male devil.

"Karumen anatabaka mono… (Carmen you idiot…)" he muttered under his breath.

"Thanks for your concern." The female grunted sarcastically.

"Anatahasonoyouni kogai ni dete tobikon de ooki i kiken wotorimashita, anatahaanataga sorerawo sake runoni juubun hayai kotonioite un gayoidesu. (You took a big risk diving out in the open like that, you're lucky that you're fast enough to dodge them.)" The male looked concerned and irritated.

"Excuse me, who the hell are you two?" Rosette burst in angrily.

The female looked at the blond haired nun, "now's not the time, I'll distract them while you three get into the car."

Rosette's brows knitted together, "why can't we all just get in at once?"

This time the male spoke up, "Moshi wareware ga sore rano chuui wosorasanainara, wareware gamada itsutte iru mani, kare raha kuruma wo bakuha surudeshou. (if we don't distract them, they'll blow up the vehicle while we're still getting in.)" he painfully pulled himself up to a sitting position.

"When did you get there?" Chrno asked out of nowhere.

"Choudo ima korewo tanon deiruka? Ikanianatano tonari de watashi wo tadashiku kanji nakattaka?" (You're just now asking this? How did you not sense me right next to you?) the male asked, looking at Chrno as if he were stupid.

Chrno blinked and turned his head towards the male, "Umm… I didn't understand a word you said." Rosette looked dumbfounded.

"Umm, can you repeat what you just said? I couldn't understand you."

"None of that matters at the moment, you three get into the car, I'll distract those two heathens up there," she paused as one of the devils bombed a small building, "once they're distracted, you guys hurry up and get going, I'll follow once you guys are at a safe distance."

More explosions were heard, the male grabbed the females arm, "Watashi haanatanisono Karumen wosurukotowo yurusa naideshou. (I won't allow you to do that Carmen.)" Rosette and Chrno looked at the male in wonder, asking themselves, what in the Holy Lords name did he say?

Carmen noticed their looks and sighed, turning to them she explained rather quick, "he only speaks our native language when around others he doesn't trust."

"Trust?! We're the ones that should or shouldn't be trusting around here!" Rosette yelled, at the sound, something very near them blew up.

"Come out my sweet little girl, we've come to take your head along with that blasted male you have with you."

The male growled at this, yelling as loud as he could, "Kanojo haanatano yasashii chiisa i shoujo dehaarimase! (She isn't your sweet little girl!)"

"Possessive now, aren't we you now, you ugly traitor."

He growled again, Carmen flushed red, "go, now, I'll distract them, don't worry about me, I can hold them off, you three can't."

"Who says we can't?" protested the nun.

"My friend here has an injured horn and can't heal normally, Chrno doesn't have his horns, and if he is to use his full strength he'll drain your life, and you don't have a bullet that could harm them. So if you will, let me take care of these two while you three escape." Carmen shot up into the air, leaving the three to look on.

"Maa, wareware ha naniwo matte imasuka? Jidousha ni itsutte, soshite itte youninarimashou! (Well what are we waiting for? Let's get in the car and get going!)" growled the male.

"They can't understand you Vinsento!" chimed Carmen from the air.

Both Rosette and Chrno blinked, still not understanding a word, "um, I'll just take that as our cue to get in and drive."

Vinsento rolled his eyes as Rosette jumped into the car, Chrno helping the injured male into the backseat and entering himself. "Floor it Rosette!"

"Wasn't it you begging not to die in the car just a few moments ago? What changed, Chrno?" Rosette teased loudly, driving madly.

"Let it go Rosette, just drive!" Chrno begged.

"C'mon my driving isn't that bad!" she protested.

Chrno looked at Rosette, not knowing what to say. "Vinsento, open the door!"

"Karumen, keikai shitekudasai! (Carmen, watch out!)" Vinsento yelled once more.

"Kuso!" The three in the car could hear Carmen dodge.

"Rosette, down!" Chrno forced the girls head down towards the steering wheel just as the top of the car was slashed off.

"Issou chuuibukai Karumen deattekudasai! (Be more careful Carmen!)" Vinsento growled.

Carmen dropped down into the car, "Drive. Now. Fast. Please."

Rosette put the pedal to the metal so to speak, and sped out of the destroyed part of town. "They just destroyed half this car! Sister Kate's gonna kill me!"

"Moshi wareware ga ima kokokara dena inara, kanojo ha mottomo sukunaku wareware no mondai no koto deshou! (She'll be the least of our problems if we don't get out of here now!)"

"You have a point Vinsento, but it'd help if you'd stop speaking Japanese and start speaking some English, you know the language!" Carmen growled, settling herself at Vinsento's feet.

"Fine, but only because you asked and it's really bothering me that they keep looking at me like I'm insane." The male said in perfect English.

"So NOW he speaks English! What PERFECT timing!" Rosette growled.

Carmen sweat dropped, "you can call my friend here Vincent, that's Vinsento in English."

"I don't think now is the appropriate time to be introducing ourselves!" Chrno cried loudly.

"Short stack in fronts quite right Carmen, stop introducing me." Growled Vincent.

Both women's brown twitched, "just shut up." Both said at the same time.

All four were quiet with the exception of Vincent's soft moans of pain. Carmen had moved so that his head was now on her lap. She gently stroked his forehead, telling him he'd be ok. Chrno gazed at them through the car mirror. Sister Kate would have a fit. She had enough trouble accepting Chrno into the order, but two more devils? Who had their horns more or less.

Rosette was thinking something along the same lines. However, she couldn't turn a blind eye to them just because they were devils. For one, Carmen helped save theirs asses, and neither had done anything to harm them. Plus, Vincent was injured, Rosette could just tell, that both devils wouldn't harm anyone at the order.

"Vinsento," she could hear her coo lightly under her breath, "anatahaanatano hoshi no enerugi wo setsuyaku surutamenianatanoissou wakai keishiki ni kawa rubekidearu. (you should transform into your younger form to conserve your astral energy.)

Rosette raised a brow at this, she vaguely wondered what she had muttered to him. Once she saw his large form take that of a form similar to Chrno's younger form, she guessed what it might have been that she had said. The blond nun had to smile, his tiny form reminded her of Chrno's. She smiled fondly to herself, beginning to zone out.

"KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD ROSETTE!!!!" Chrno yelled, grabbing the steering wheel to steer themselves clear of another car.

"Sorry," she answered sheepishly as the other driver honked madly at them.

Chrno sighed, did she think a sorry could make up for it if there had been an accident? About to say something, he decided not to, seeing as how they had an injured person with them. He could feel Carmen silently thanking him for not starting an argument with the hot headed blond human. The car slowly passed small homes, vast expanses of grass and shrubbery, and small patches of forest as Rosette drove along.

They were a ways away from the Order. Chrno supposed it'd take them a while to get back. He busied himself with looking out in front of the car, making sure Rosette didn't run into any other drivers. Though in his heart, he knew that she was paying attention now. Vincent slept silently, his head on Carmen's lap. Carmen serenely looked out at the scenery, sighing silently every once in a while. Rosette was paying attention to the road, most definitely, but she also wondered what the deal was with these two devils.

Were they to be trusted, or did they have to watch their backs? What would Sister Kate say when she saw that she had brought two more devils to the Order? Surely she'd rip off the poor young nuns head. Then a nice long and loud lecture would surely ensue. Then again, if Chrno was allowed in, what makes these two such a big difference? Then again, she had known Chrno for a while before the two of them had been sent to the Order. Rosette sighed lightly, she'd deal with it once they were back.

For hours the drive was silent, until Chrno spoke up out of nowhere, "we should just stay at a hotel tonight. We can call Sister Kate and tell her we won't be able to make it back before night fall."

Rosette gave Chrno a quick side glance, "why Chrno? We're not that far from it now."

Chrno's eyes spotted a hotel, "we need to think some things through before we show up at the Order with two more devils Rosette. Sister Kate will not like this, and if we're not prepared, it could get real ugly."

Sighing once more Rosette parked on the street near a hotel, "maybe so, but do we have the money for four people? Besides, what's gonna stop people from freaking out?"

"I can easily transform into my human disguise Sister Rosette." Offered Carmen.

"Ok, well, where are we going to get the money to pay for all four of us?" Chrno looked at her, "What?"

"When are you the one that thinks sensibly?" he questioned.

A vein popped on Rosette's forehead, "DIE," the blond nun jumped at the poor devil and began attacking him with noogies. "That was so rude of you Chrno." She turned her back to him and humphed.

"It's ok Rosette, we have some money we can give to you to pay for all of us." Vincent said, crossing his arms and looking away, a small blush crossing his cheeks.

Carmen giggled and poked his cheeks, "aww, Vincent did something sweet for all of us, how cute."

His blush deepened and he swatted at her hands, "shut it woman."

A vein then popped on her forehead as she hit him upside the head, "don't call me woman." She said, glaring at him.

"Geez, c'mon! Don't I get some kind of protection? I'm injured here!" he complained, rubbing the huge knot on his head.

Sighing, Chrno looked towards the hotel, "well, it looks like we'll be able to stay the night." Rosette then grinned and nodded, being away from the Order would be good for her health.

Carmen nodded and transformed into a small child form, much like Vincent's and Chrno's. "By the way Carmen, how did you two get money? I wouldn't have thought devils have need of money."

Carmen smiled wildly at this, "well we can transform into a more adult looking form, without the devil like features. So we worked at a restaurant for a while."

"I wouldn't have thought devils needed to cook either." Stated Rosette, with a laugh.

"Yeah well, it was fun, and we taught the cooks there a lot of recipes with human organs in them!" laughed Vincent.

"Shut up you idiot!" Carmen yelled, hitting him, once again, upside the head.

"What the hell woman! Can't you be nice to someone who's hurt?" Vincent whined.

"Stop complaining you idiot, c'mon let's go!" Carmen grabbed Vincent by the collar of his shirt and dashed out of the car, leaving Rosette and Chrno to stare at the weird human looking devils running into the hotel.

Blinking rapidly, Chrno finally found his voice, "um… shall we go in?" he questioned.

"I guess so." Replied the blue eyed nun, as she unbuckled herself and opened her door to step out.

"You know, I wonder what people will say about the half destroyed car." Chrno said aloud, more to himself than anyone.

"Umm… we can deny it's our car, c'mon Chrno!" Rosette hurriedly grabbed Chrno's hand and dashed into the building, the poor little devil's face flushed a deep red.

"C'mon, Mr. Hotel-Man-Person let us have a room!" cried Carmen, jumping up and down so she could see the Receptionist.

"I-I'm sorry, but you must have an adult here that can rent out a room." The poor man sweat dropped, backing slightly away from the counter.

"Auntie, Auntie!!! You're an adult, you need to tell Mr. Hotel-Man-Person that we need a room for the night!" pouted the young looking Carmen.

"You whine so much, how the heck am I related to such a cry baby?" Vincent questioned, his arms crossed, leaning coolly against the counter.

Carmen forcefully pushed Vincent down, "stop being such a jerk!" she yelled, balling her tiny fists.

"Calm down you two!" Chrno finally intervened.

Rosette sighed, "I'll need a room for my Niece, Nephews and myself sir."

The Receptionist looked relieved that the caretaker of the small children was there, "yes of course." The young man gave Rosette the total it would cost, Vincent slipped her the money and she paid for the room for the night. The receptionist gave her the key and told her to take the first elevator to the third floor.

Once inside the elevator, all four sighed. No one thought it weird that someone as young as Rosette had three young "children" staying with her at a hotel room. Then again, it wasn't as if they acted scared. Chrno never would have thought it, but the two devils were pretty good actors. Both were smiling at Rosette and Chrno, they truly seemed just like two kids acting as if they have some kind of prank in store for the other two.

It was really hard to believe that the two in front of his eyes were really full grown devils. Rosette yawned loudly, she was beat. Nothing was more tiring then almost getting killed. After that thought, Rosette's stomach growled loudly. All three eyes bulged.

"Looks like we're getting some room service!" Rosette chimed, smiling loudly.

"How much do you have left Vincent?" Chrno asked, a huge sweat drop falling from the back of his head.

"Umm… do I want to know how much this will cost?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

Once again, Carmen hit him upside the head, "it doesn't matter how much it costs Vincent! You're a gentleman! You should pay for a ladies meal, no matter the cost! So get used to becoming broke within an hour of getting money!" she yelled at him, while strangling him. As this was happening, the elevator stopped to let them off on their floor.

Chrno looked at them, this was true, but at the Order, it was Sister Kate who paid the expenses. After Carmen was done strangling poor Vincent, the poor boy spoke again, "well in any case, I think I should have enough money to feed any woman's bottomless stomach." And with that he earned another huge knot on the head.

"Idiot," she coughed out.

Chrno and Rosette both sweat dropped at this. Walking casually to their room, C17, Rosette took the key and unlocked the door. For what it cost, it looked like the room was pretty spacious, well furnished and actually didn't reek. Chrno, Carmen and Vincent walked in ahead of Rosette, who stepped in and shut the door. Chrno jumped up and turned on a light switch. The room had a pale green carpet, a soft green looking couch, and king sized beds with dark blue and green covers.

Dark green shades hung from the windows, and the shades on the lights had a delicate roman look to them. Rosette saw the bathroom door and opened it. The bathroom sink was green, while the shower was blue, the toilet was also blue. The tile floor was green. The small kitchen had off white walls, pale yellow counters with light brown wooden counter tops. There was a black micro wave and a silver sink. There were a few drawers, and a few cabinets.

"This place looks pretty good for so cheap. I wonder why the cost is so low." Rosette said aloud.

"Who knows," stated Carmen, who had transformed into her adult form. "maybe there's some hidden flaw in these rooms."

"Well either way, we need to figure out what we're going to—" Rosette and Carmen cut Chrno off.

"Before we talk business we need food." Both said at the same time.

"Food does sound good." Agreed Vincent.

With Chrno reluctantly agreeing, Rosette shot to the phone and called for room service. Within a half hour, there was a whole feast of steaming hot food laid out on both beds. "Time for some real food! Finally!" Rosette exclaimed, starting to inhale her food, pounding on her chest often as she choked. These actions were repeated several times by Vincent and Carmen.

"Am I the only normal one here?" questioned poor Chrno.

"Course not, you're the weirdest one here Chrno!" Rosette laughed, biting into some chicken.

Sighing, he sipped the soup he had ordered. In truth, it was much better than what the Order served, but then again, the Order didn't have the money that a hotel probably had. Noisily the three ate, Chrno having finished way before the others. He sat quietly, waiting for the others to have their fill. What seemed like two hours later, they pushed their plates away and sighed happily, filled to the bursting point.

"Now that you've eaten, can we talk about what we're going to tell Sister Kate?" Chrno asked seriously.

"Telling her exactly why we're here might be a start." Suggested Carmen politely.

Rosette raised a brow, "why ARE you two here? You two need our help or something?"

"I think it's the other way around Rosette." Huffed Vincent.

Chrno and Rosette looked at them, confused, "um, what do we need help with?"

Carmen sighed, "All devils pretty much know that you have been contracted to Chrno Rosette. Therefore, many devils try to attack you in such a way that Chrno has to transform in order to defeat them."

"We're here to help you out in this situation." Voiced Vincent.

Both were listening, "you see, I'm not sure on how to explain this, because we weren't even sure if what we were seeing and hearing was true but well, here it goes. A couple months ago, we were visited on our travels by a peculiar human. He had blond hair and blue eyes, he looked like the kind of guy who smiled through most everything and seemed like he wasn't listening to a thing you said. Anyways, that's beside the point.

"This human came up to us, and asked us if he could camp with us that night. We thought it strange that a mere human could be so comfortable asking two devils to camp with them. Regardless, we shook our heads yes and that night we set up camp. Once we were eating the blond man began to talk to us. He told us that God was redeeming our darkened souls, that if we completed this one mission for him, we would be allowed to walk on Earth completely free.

"Interested, we listened to the man, and this is what he told us we had to do. We were to find the contractor Rosette and the contracted Chrno. From what he said, God wants us to give you two, our own astral energy."

Chrno jumped to his feet yelling, "what?! But that'd be the same as killing yourselves!"

"Calm down Chrno." Vincent said haughtily.

"Let me explain Chrno, the way we can help is truly special. I have my horns, and even though one of Vincent's horns in injured, he can still regenerate and use astral energy. This is how we help: both Vincent and I will transfer our bodies, minds and souls into the pocket watch. Once we're in there, Rosette, you'll most likely feel a little light headed. This is because you'll be regaining your lost time."

"How…." Rosette wondered aloud, her eyes wide.

"The soul of every living thing, no matter what it is, has a set amount of astral energy existing with it. You'll be feeling light headed because you'll be gaining the astral energy you've lost back. Chrno, after a time, you'll end up growing your horns back. This all happens because we'll be sending the two of you more astral energy than contracts really allow. However, by the time Chrno begins to grow his horns back, I'm afraid it will have some effects on you too Rosette." Carmen said, looking at the wide eyed blond girl.

"What kind of effects?" Chrno asked worriedly.

"Let's just say, she'll end up because somewhat… half devil." Vincent stated as softly as he could.

Chrno was shocked beyond belief, he didn't want Rosette to become a devil! She didn't need to know the pain of being a devil, to know the dirty looks. She didn't need to be an outcast because of what she was becoming. Rosette seemed a little frightened by the idea, but also very intrigued.

"What exactly do you mean by, half devil?" she questioned.

"Well, you'd most likely grow horns of your own, but they'd be small and most likely not noticeable, since you can never really go through the stages a really young devil would go through. Also since you'd be going from completely human to half devil, some markings may appear on your skin. Very easily you can make them disappear though. If you two decide to allow us to help, the first thing you should do once you start to feel changes is learn to conceal the half devil aspects of yourself, which I'm most certain Chrno would help you with.

"Since I'll be releasing a lot of astral energy in a stream, Vincent in a small, steady stream, the process will probably be a little weird. You'll feel huge jolts of life, then small jolts. Huge jolts of astral energy, small jolts of astral energy. One change right after the other, then small changes, because of this, your bodies will most likely end up drawing in astral energy on your own the same way. In high jolts, then in small jolts."

"What else about this aren't you telling us?" Chrno questioned harshly.

"Every once in a while, we'll have to leave the watch to regain our astral energy. We can give what we have to you yes, but we can not regain what we've lost while in there. When the time comes, if it comes, Vincent and I will instruct you in how to allow us into the watch, and how to let us out. This should not come to you as a burden Chrno, nor as a burden to you Rosette. This will give you what life you've lost back, plus years more. You may not understand why we're doing this, you may even think, it's some kind of trap, but it isn't." Carmen sat on her legs, giving both of them a pleading look.

"We realize you just want to keep Rosette safe, Chrno. In reality, this will be the best way to keep her safe. Every time you transform, you won't be feeding off her soul directly, you'll more be using our astral energy, and because astral energy will by flowing, cut off, flow, cut off, it'll eventually trigger your horns to grow back. When that happens, the contract will break. By that time, Rosette will have all time she's lost back plus who knows how many years more." Vincent kept constant eye contact with the two as he explained this.

Chrno looked down, Rosette could have her life back, but once the contract was broken… would he be forced to leave Rosette? "So…" he started, "you two will tell Rosette how to let you two enter the watch." The two nodded, "once in there you'll be helping Rosette regain what time she's lost." They looked at each other.

"One of us will be helping her regain her time while the watch is closed, we'll switch between each other. That's why both of you will feel high and low jolts of astral energy. That's why any changes will either be extremely subtle, or extremely noticeable. We'll try to make sure you two aren't around anyone when a huge change should occur." Carmen explained, keeping up eye contact.

"Ok, but then, when you're out of the watch, how long will it take you two to regain astral energy?" Rosette asked.

Carmen thought for a moment, pondering how to explain the absorption of astral energy. "Think of it in terms of pounds of astral energy. A devil with their horns can absorb, in metaphorical terms, 1000 pounds of astral energy in a very short time. However, someone like Vincent with an injured horn, could probably only absorb about half of that, if lucky."

"Quit making me sound weak!" Vincent complained, which earned him a hit on the head, "abusive woman…"

"Anyways, for most devils it will definitely vary, but, if we can somehow absorb more in a short time, we'll only need to be in the outside world for about a day and a half. However, we'll only be able to enter the watch three days after leaving it. So that'd give us another day and a half to gather even more astral energy, which should help you two out greatly." Carmen said while sitting on Vincent.

"So what will you two do when you're defenseless?" Rosette wondered aloud.

"We'll find somewhere to hide while we regain our astral. It's you two I'm more worried about. You shouldn't waste any astral energy we've given you, so it's you two that should more likely go into hiding." Stated Vincent, growling under a full grown Carmen.

Chrno looked from Rosette, to the two on the other bed, "how can we trust the information you're giving us is true?"

"The mans name that told us all about this is Ewan Remington." There was an ear shattering scream.

"WHAT!?!?!?!? FATHER REMINGTON TOLD YOU ALL OF THIS!??!!?!?!?!?" Rosette swayed on her feet and started to fall, Chrno caught her the best he could in his small state, and laid her down on the bed.

"Remington told you this?" Chrno questioned.

Carmen was now looking at Rosette, "yes…" she paused for a moment, "Chrno, you can't allow her to waste any time at all when we're not in the watch. She'll need every ounce of energy and every single second."

Chrno looked at her, his face a mixture of surprise, embarrassment and horror, realizing the hidden message in those words, "Rosette would not so easily go against her vows!" he half yelled, trying not to be too loud.

"Chrno, I'm pretty sure anyone who looks at you can tell how much you love her!" Carmen shouted as softly as she could.

"It doesn't matter how much I love her! She won't go against her vows! Even if she did love me the way I love her!"

"We can see that's not the case! She'll eventually choose you over her vows!" growled Vincent.

"No she won't! She takes her vows seriously, she's a nun! A sister, she's celibate for God's sake!" Chrno insisted.

Carmen looked at him sadly, "do you not want her to love you Chrno? Do you WANT her to stick to her vows?"

"I don't want her to get hurt because of me." Chrno was sitting on his legs, his small fists balling up, gripping the fabric of his shorts tightly.

"What makes you think you'll hurt her?" both devils asked him.

"I'm a devil, a full grown devil, it's hard for me to control myself around her in normal situations! If she were to actually be with me… I'm afraid what I might to do her. I couldn't live with myself if I hurt her!" Chrno gripped his violet locks hard, tears streamed down his face, "I couldn't live with myself if I hurt her and she couldn't trust me ever again!"

Carmen was now sitting on the edge of the second bed, Vincent sitting next to her, "you're thinking way too much into this Chrno, you won't do anything to hurt Rosette."

"How can you know? What do you even know about me?"

"We know enough, from our own observations and Remington's. You're a kind and sweet person, and you're loyal to Rosette. You won't do something you know that'd upset her. You should give yourself more credit than that Chrno. You may lose it when something bad happens to her, but you can bury your own feelings until she's ready to accept any destiny that she's to fulfill." Carmen grabbed Chrno's hands and pried them from his hair,

"You mustn't worry about what you might do to Rosette, Chrno. Sometimes it might be hard to control, but all you have to do is remind yourself she's not going to be used to being with or being a devil, she won't know our ways unless you explain them to her. Yes, she's going to be afraid of all of this in the beginning, but things will become better. Both you and Rosette will eventually be comfortable with the fate that's been thrust upon your shoulders. Things will work out in the end Chrno. That is how the Lord has predicted it." Carmen held Chrno's hands in his own, smiling warmly at him.

"How can others have such confidence in me? Don't they understand, I WILL end up hurting Rosette, I don't have any such control over myself anymore…" The violet haired devil let the tears flow down his cheeks.

"You were able to control yourself around your own kind because they just weren't something you were interesting in right Chrno?" he gave a weak nod. "it's the same thing with Rosette, you can control yourself because she's the one you desire to be with. Not for lust and breeding, but because you truly love her. Love and instinct are two different things Chrno, you would be wise to keep that in mind." Vincent scolded him.

Chrno looked at the male devil, seemingly taking in this information and processing it, however, it didn't make him feel any better. He knew himself, he knew that Rosette was becoming more irresistible to him. The poor violet haired devil wasn't sure what her becoming a half devil would do. Would it make him want her more, less, the same? Would he have any more control over himself? She'd be in a new state, she wouldn't know how to handle it. Would that force him to control himself? He had no clue, but he did know that he needed some air.

Taking his hand from Carmen's, he hopped off the bed, "I'm gonna go for a breather." He silently walked to the door, opened, closed and walked down the hall to the elevator.

Carmen and Vincent looked sadly in his direction, they couldn't say anymore to even try to make him feel better. Their attentions turned to Rosette, the opportunity presented itself anyways, they had specific things they needed to talk to JUST Rosette about. Carmen jumped next to her and started lightly poking her side until the young nun stirred. When she awoke, she complained about being disturbed while she was sleeping.

"But you were practically drowning in your own saliva!" Carmen exclaimed.

Rosette looked around the room quickly, scanning the room for something, and frowned when she didn't see what she wanted to see, "where'd Chrno go?"

"He went for a walk, he'll be back." Vincent answered her.

"There's some things we wanted to talk to just you about anyways Rosette." Carmen interrupted.

"Ok?"

"While we're in the watch, we'll be able to communicate with you, and you with us. So if there's ever anything you need help with, something you don't understand, or a change you're not comfortable with, we can walk you through it." Carmen said in a reassuring tone.

"Is that all you need to discuss with me?" she questioned, looking at the door.

"Well… Vincent you explain this one." The male sighed and began as Carmen asked.

"Rosette, most likely since the day you met Chrno he's been going through changes. Not that of the body, but changes of the mind, behavior, soul. He's gone from relying solely on his instincts, to another form of reliance. He now relies on human emotions." He began, he sighed when Rosette looked confused. "you know how it's said devils don't love right?" Rosette nodded, thinking that Chrno was not like that. "Well Chrno used to be like that, he had no emotions, and the things he did was to further his own powers, yet, he always rejected being with one of his own. The idea of being with another devil because of lust never appealed to him.

"However, he's one of the few who see the power in love. It's hard for him, because love is so much stronger than lust. It's even harder for him because it used to be his instinct to find a female because of lust, even though he never acted on that instinct." He paused again when he saw she was still confused. "Rosette, Chrno has a great love for you, I'm sure you know from experience he always does whatever he can to protect you." The young girl nodded. "he's at the stage in his life, where… well… umm…"

He sighed once more, this was going to freak her out. "this is the point in his life where he'd start looking for a mate, in devil terms, just someone to mate with to create strong infant devils, in human terms, to find someone he can love whole heartedly." Rosette gave a laugh.

"Why are you telling me this? I wouldn't be the one Chrno loves like that. I mean, he's my best friend, we'll always be friends, besides, I'm celibate, I'm not allowed to have children, I'm a nun." She laughed, she knew Chrno didn't feel that way towards her.

"Things change over time Rosette." That was all Carmen could say to the blond girl.

"Not for Chrno and me, we'll always be friends." She gave them a grin and a thumbs up.

Both devils sighed, there was no getting through with this girl. Carmen blinked for a second, she heard a crash from somewhere, then another one. She blinked again confused, before she knew it, Chrno slammed the door open, running like a mad man. "EVERYONE GET DOWN!!!!" he cried, jumping at Rosette, slamming her body against the bed as a devil noisily crashed through the windows right above where Rosette's head would have been.

Chrno growled, "how the hell did they find us so fast?" he asked.

Vincent growled, "they must have been tracking the scent of blood." Chrno gave him a quick look his eyes looking to Rosette, Vincent shook his head, it wasn't Rosette they had tracked. It was Carmen.

"Why didn't you tell us it was that time Carmen?" Vincent cried, diving out of the way of the devil.

"I didn't realize!" she cried, back flipping away as the devil took a swipe at her.

"You guys talk too much, it's time I killed you all." The devils eyes were a deep blood red, his claws seemed to be oozing some kind of poison. It was a tall devil, with bat like wings that were also a blood red color. This was something none of them had seen in a devil.

The devil also had wild short silver hair, his tail looked as if it was drenched in poison. Before anyone could do or say anything, he spoke again, "Ahh, you smell wonderful female, I shall enjoy you." He sniffed the air. "hm, it's close to your time human, I should take you with me."

"What makes you think I'll let you take me you bastard!" Rosette jumped to her feet, taking her gun out of her holster, and pointing the gun between the devils eyes. "I'd sooner die than be taken by you!"

"Ah, but what's the use of a dead pet? I much rather keep you alive, so I can enjoy your screams of pain." The devil laughed maliciously, his buddy crashed in through a wall, nearly lopping off Rosette's head had it not been for Chrno pulling her down onto the bed.

"You'll save me some of the human won't you brother?" the new devil also had wild silver hair, but his hair flowed down his back, giving him the look of a girl, in all other aspects, he looked exactly like his brother.

"I shall save you the human dear sister," that was a startle, "we can't waste any chance for you to regain your womanly figure now can we," he stepped over to his sister and wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her chin, she looked lovingly into his eyes.

Rosette about puked, this could not be real, "that is so disgusting!" she blurted out.

"Insolent human, you could never know the beauty of what we share!" his metallic tail shot out from behind him towards Rosette, before her eyes, all she could see was bright red blood.

"C-Chrno…" her eyes were wide with fear. "w-why?"

"Rosette… get out… of here." He panted, the tail was protruding through his stomach, his bloody hands holding onto the end of it so the devil could not retract it.

"Useless weakling, let go of my tail!" he bellowed, wildly moving his tail around, trying to through the little devil off.

Tears prickled in the back of Rosette's eyes, "Chrno… CHRNO!!!" she stood up and held her gun ready, aiming this time, extremely low.

"What do you plan on doing human? Shoot my head off?" There was a silence besides the bustling outside, until he heard Rosette shout out the word Gospel and an intense pain shot from his groin throughout his whole body, "you stupid little BITCH! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?"

He dropped his sister and dropped to his knees, holding his groin painfully, his tail limp, Chrno struggling to stay on his feet. "I just neutered you," she ran to Chrno who was now about to collapse in front of the couch at the foot of the beds, she tried uselessly to get the tail out of his stomach.

Coming out of their shock, Vincent and Carmen ran over to the blond nun and helped wrench out the tail. Chrno gritted his teeth, coughing up puddles of blood. He looked paler than he ever had been before, Rosette was almost in tears.

"What have you fools done to my brother?!" cried the sister, "I'll kill you all for what you did!" the female charged at them, her claws were dripping with poison as she swiped at them.

Barely ducking out of the way, Rosette was doing what she could to keep calm, "what do we do?! We have to get out of here now!" Rosette held Chrno on his feet.

He coughed once more, Carmen was busy fending off the females attacks, "you three get out of here now!" she cried.

"I'll be fine Rosette, let's just get out of here." He tried vainly to smile for Rosette, but it didn't work very well.

Tears were beginning to overflow in her eyes, "r-right, let's get out of here, can you help me Vincent?"

"No you don't! You won't survive for what you did to my brother!" the female dived at Rosette, Carmen got there in time to stop her with some form of wrist guard. The two battled as the other three attempted to escape.

"No!" the male yelled, mostly in pain, some in anger, he couldn't stand up, or move much for that matter, every time he moved, an intense pain shot through his whole body. Instead he reached behind his back and drew out a long sword and threw it towards the door to stall them.

"Rosette, look out!" Carmen shouted.

Turning around, she saw the blade flying towards her, but it never made contact with her, "what are we waiting for?" gritted Vincent, "we need to get out of here!" his chest was bleeding badly, as were his hands. He used himself to stop the blade.

"Vinsento, daijoubu ka!?" Carmen screamed.

"Watashi haumakuaru, kanojo wo nage, iko u kousei! (I'm fine, just throw her off and let's go!)" bellowed at her, he pulled the blade from his chest and threw it to the floor.

Rosette had already loaded her gun with another gospel, "Watch out Carmen!" she waited for Carmen to get out of the way, and shot the gospel in the middle of the female's chest. She staggered backward and fell next to her brother.

"L-let's get out of here now!" nodding in agreement, Carmen scooped up Rosette in her arms. Rosette herself situated Chrno and Vincent as comfortably as she could into her arms. As fast as she could with all the added weight, Carmen took off, leaving behind the hotel and the half destroyed car, praying to God that she had the strength to get away.

DK: Wow that was hard to write.

R: Why?

DK: It took me forever to type! I'm so freaking lazy!

C: That could easily be solved if you actually TRIED to write more sooner.

DK: I don't want sass from you!

ER: Yes Chrno, I suggest you don't anger her, she is quite tired.

DK: Thank you Remington.

ER: You're welcome.

DK: STOP SUCKING UP TO ME!!! kills Remington

R: She killed the Father! horrified

C: brings him back to life somehow

ER: Wooo I'm all better now!

E: Hm, that was amazing Chrno! Maybe you should try using your powers to make Rosette's bust even more glorious… drools

SK: Control yourself Elder, Chrno will do no such thing to Sister Rosette.

E: You're no fun Sister Kate…

DK: … Anyways, here's what happens next! Chrno, Rosette, Carmen and Vincent reach the Order and Sister Kate is none too happy of the state that they are in. Why does she not even take into consideration that there are two more devils in the Order?!