Disclaimer: I don't own Chrno Crusade or anything closely related to it.
It's my first Chrno Crusade fic, so please don't flame me too badly. I'm just a beginner at this still.
An orphanage frozen in time, surrounded by stone statues of children. The roof had collapsed, but doesn't seem to fall. It only stays in mid-air like it was supposed to be there. Pieces of wood were frozen in place, never being able to touch the ground. This was the Seven Bell Orphanage looked like. Stone surrounded it, but it hadn't always looked like that.
-A few months earlier-
A girl with beautiful blond hair and sparkling blue eyes ran through the forest, her brother following her closely behind. Her brother had blond hair like her, but it was a lot shorter than hers. He even had the same eye color as her.
"Rosette, slow down!" he panted as he tried to catch up to the speeding girl. The girl immediately stopped running and looked at her brother.
"Joshua, hurry up! We have to get back to the Orphanage before someone notices we're missing." She complained. Rosette walked up to her brother and grabbed his hand. Then she dragged him through the forest towards the Seven Bell Orphanage. They were almost there when they fell through a whole in the ground and landed in a strange stone chamber.
"Where are we?" Rosette asked as she rubbed her sore back. Joshua observed his surroundings and noticed a dark path leading somewhere deep within the chamber.
"It could be a tomb. Remember someone told us that there's a hidden tomb deep in the forest. It's supposed to be extremely dangerous." He stated as he started to walk down the path. They were looking for an exit, but they just managed to get lost. After they walked for about an hour or so, they stopped in front of a huge stone door. Holy barriers had been set up around the door, as if they were trying to keep something hidden inside.
"Let's check it out, it might be the way out." Rosette said as she started to push the heavy door, but it wouldn't budge. Joshua sighed and helped her. He gave the door a little push and the door immediately swung open. The holy barriers around the door were immediately destroyed. The two children gazed into the room. It was dark and damp, but they both had a feeling that they were being watched. Rosette and Joshua stepped into the room, but as soon as they stepped into the room, the door slammed shut and all the light was blocked from the chamber. Rosette started to bang on the door, trying to get it open.
"Who's there?" said a loud voice that didn't sound human. Rosette whirled around and tried to find the source of the voice, but the room was too dark, and she couldn't make out a form in the dark. She heard a bit of movement, and she felt something move beside her. What was scary was that Joshua was on her other side so it couldn't be him.
"Who are you?" the voice whispered into her ear, making her shiver in fear. "Why are you here?" he added. Rosette felt a claw run down her cheek.
"Rosette? What is he doing?" Joshua asked as he tried to find his sister, who was hidden in the darkness.
"Rosette. That's a pretty name." He murmured into Rosette's ear. He snapped his fingers and the whole room was covered in light. Fire torches had been lit, so that the two children could see him. A purple haired boy stood near Rosette. He didn't appear to be a demon, but his pointed ears gave him away. He also had blood red eyes, fangs and claws. The demon boy wore an old cloak, a black shirt, black pants and a red bandana that had 3 triangles on it. Around his neck was a strange gold clock that didn't work. He was also a bit taller than Rosette.
"Who are you?" she asked the pale demon boy beside her.
"Chrno. You can call me Chrno. I'm a demon." He replied.
"Demon…" Joshua stammered as he back away from the boy. Chrno glared at him and turned him attention back to Rosette.
"How old are you little girl?" Chrno questioned.
"I'm 13 and my brother Joshua is 12. Why were you in here," she answered. Chrno froze and didn't reply. Rosette saw his uneasiness and dismissed the question.
"It's okay, you don't need to answer. Do you know the way out of here, we're kind of lost." She explained. Chrno glanced at the two children, they weren't afraid of him, which was something new to him. He hadn't had visitors in years. Chrno led them out of the tomb and back outside, where the sun greeted then happily. Chrno had to shield his eyes from the sun because the sun was too bright for him.
"Are you going to leave now?" Chrno asked as he tried to hide the disappointment in his tone.
"Yes, but don't worry. We'll be back. We're friends now." Rosette stated. She turned around and started to walk away from Chrno. She had only walked a few steps when she decided to turn around and run back towards Chrno. She smiled happily at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and then she ran away, trying to catch up to her brother. Chrno watched her disappear and when he was sure that she was gone, he gently lifted his hand to touch his cheek. He blushed and looked towards the direction Rosette had disappeared in.
'Rosette' he thought.
The next few months were exactly the same. Rosette and Joshua would visit Chrno every day. They soon became best friends, but happiness like that doesn't come easily.
Everything was fine until HE came.
It was a cold night when Rosette came running towards Chrno, her eyes were filled with tears. She ran into Chrno's arms and started to cry on his shoulder. Chrno rubbed her back to try to calm her down.
"What's wrong?" he asked sweetly. A faint blush appeared on his face from the close contact.
"Joshua is being taken away! A man came to the Orphanage and said he was going to take him away." She said between sobs. Chrno continued to comfort her, but he suddenly felt a strange presence. An eagle landed on a tree branch and glared at him with its glowing red eyes.
"Aion" Chrno whispered.
"Hello, my brother." The bird said. "Come back to me and I'll give you back your horn. We can finally fulfill our dreams together."
"Never!" Chrno exclaimed.
"Horns?" Rosette murmured.
"Yes, little girl. Chrno used to have horns, but I tore them off. A demon without horns or a contractor will slowly die alone in the dark. I had a feeling that you wouldn't accept my offer. That's too bad. I already found a replacement for your horns. That little boy that you hung around with is very special. He's an apostle." Aion stated. Then the bird flew away.
"Aion, don't you dare hurt that boy!" Chrno yelled.
"Joshua!" Rosette exclaimed as she started to run back to her brother. She hadn't even taken 3 steps when someone grabbed her and flew into the air. Rosette screamed in fright as she wrapped her arms around her captor's neck, to make sure that she didn't fall. A tall demon was holding her in his arms, He had long fluffy ears, that made you want to touch them, and metallic stripes on his face. He also had 3 shinny gems on his forehead. He had a long metal tail coming out from the back of his head. He had short purple hair. A pair of red eyes gazed at Rosette seriously. He had fangs, claws, and a pair of black devil wings that were coming out of his back. He was wearing leather pants and a black coat, which was open showing his well-toned chest.
"Chrno?" Rosette whispered.
"Rosette, this is my real form. My other form is to stop myself from loosing astral energy. I'll explain everything later." Chrno explained. They flew through the air and headed towards the orphanage. There was a huge explosion, and Rosette saw the orphanage collapse, but it didn't crumble to the floor. The clock tower in the middle of the building was tilted as if it was falling, but it was frozen in the air. The middle of the orphanage had been blasted away, and all the orphans had been turned to stone. Stone surrounded the whole area, and Joshua was nowhere to be found.
"Joshua!" Rosette screamed. She turned towards Chrno and saw that he was in great pain. "Chrno! What's wrong?"
"I don't have enough energy to survive. Aion is right. Without my horns or a contractor I probably won't survive the night." He stated unhappily as he gasped in pain and put his hand over his heart. He was having trouble breathing. Rosette gazed at Chrno and sighed.
"Chrno. What's a contractor?" she asked. Chrno's eyes widened in fear.
"A contractor is a person who helps a demon without horns by giving up their life. A demon used the astral energy that resides inside their contractor, but humans don't collect astral energy. They are only given a certain amount. A human's astral energy is their time to live. Please don't do this Rosette, your life would only be a fraction compared to others. You would live in pain. Please don't do it," he complained.
"I must do it, Chrno. This way I can save you. You can even help me find Joshua." she replied as tears began to fall from her eyes again.
"Fine," Chrno murmured. He leaned in front of her and got to his knees. He gave her the gold watch that he had around his neck. "Rosette Christopher, I will have a contract with you." He added. He took her into his arms and nuzzled his face into her neck.
"Chrno, what are you doing…" she started to say, but she suddenly felt fangs on her neck. Chrno was biting her! He sank his fangs into the joint between her neck and her shoulder. Her blood leaked into his mouth, and he slowly swallowed it. Then he let go of her. Teeth marks were on her neck, and small drops of blood were leaking from it. Rosette suddenly felt extremely exhausted, and she fell into Chrno's arms. Her eyes were half closed as she gazed at her demon protector.
"Rosette. Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. She nodded as she fell asleep in his arms.
That's why the orphanage was in such a bad shape. After the incident happened, a man that worked at the Magdalan Order came. It was the same man that wanted to take Joshua away. His name was Father Remington. He looked disgusted when he saw Chrno, but he gladly took both of them to the Magdalan Order. That's where they were now.
That's it for the first Chapter. I hoped you liked it. Please review.
