FUTURE PATH

by Hydraa

Chrno was dead.

He'd died during the night, unexpectedly going into shock as the legions they'd spent so long healing in him started to fail, sending the demon's heat rate racing, even while his lungs collapsed. Every organ in his body failed in cascading order, bursting inside of him as the legions exploded.

Rosette stood before her lover's open grave, her hands clasped until they hurt to try and stop their trembling. He'd died in her arms, convulsing and choking, looking for her to make it better. She hadn't. She hadn't even been able to get him to Shader in time, or understand what was happening to him.

It wasn't until the autopsy that they knew what had gone wrong.

Rosette turned away from the image of her beloved Chrno lying on that cold steel table. Father Remington was saying the prayers. Joshua and Azmaria stood near each other, staring at the grave with wet eyes. Even Satella had come with her butler Steiner while Shader stood across from Rosette, staring into the grave as if she didn't understand how this could have happened, or how she could have ended up as the last Sinner. All of the Order was there, all of them come to give their last respects.

Rosette wanted to scream at them to leave, to get out of there. They shouldn't be there. Chrno was lying with his head on a satin pillow inside a cherry wood coffin and he shouldn't be there. This was wrong! It was!

It was wrong because Chrno was still alive.

Rosette forced herself awake with a gasp, her heart pounding and her skin soaked with sweat. Blinking the nightmare away, she looked to her right.

Chrno lay beside her, turned on his side to face her, his hands curled limply by his head and his mouth open in that little kitten snore of his. He didn't wake when she did and she felt an instant's panic. Maybe it wasn't a nightmare again after all and there was something wrong with him, something missed during the two years he'd spent in Shader's tanks.

Impulsively, she lunged forward and grabbed him, yanking him against her in a tight hug. He made a muffled, almost frightened sound at what had to be a rude awakening, but he relaxed immediately as she stroked his back, her face buried against his clean-smelling, lavender hair.

"Another nightmare?" he asked. His voice sounded muffled.

Rosette didn't answer, just stroking him and letting the feel and smell of him wear away at the images in her head.

Chrno waited for a moment and then sighed, the sigh turning into a yawn. He snaked his own arms around her and hugged her, his palms flat and warm against her back.

"I'm not going anywhere," he pointed out.

"I know," Rosette said. She didn't let go though and eventually he fell asleep again, his soft snore starting up against her throat. Rosette listened to that sound and let the reassurance of it eventually soothe her back into sleep as well.

---000---

Chrno and Rosette both yawned at the same time, unexpectedly competing to see who could bear the most teeth. Coming up to the table with his own breakfast, Remington's laugh turned into a yawn as well.

"Don't do that to me." He sat down, smiling at the two. Rosette looked like she'd needed to be dragged out of bed – and probably had – while Chrno had dark circles under his eyes. "Not sleeping well?" he asked.

Half muddled, Chrno shook his head, his loose hair flying, and bent to his cereal with a tired sigh. Rosette leaned on her hand and looked at Remington for a long moment before she answered. It probably took her that long to understand the question, Ewan thought in amusement.

"Nope," she said.

"Maybe you both should try actually sleeping in bed," he teased.

That one got through their fuzz faster. Chrno blushed red while Rosette glared. "Hey! I just didn't sleep well, okay?"

Ewan cocked a thumb at Chrno. "And him?"

"Well, he didn't sleep well neither. We didn't do nothing!"

"I was sleeping," Chrno muttered. "I was sleeping quite well." Rosette turned her glare on the demon instead.

Knowing what he did about the pair, Remington made a guess. "Are you having bad dreams, Rosette?"

"No," she said.

"Every night," Chrno disagreed. Rosette's glare deepened. "What?"

Ewan looked at the two with fond humour. They'd always amused him, even while they drove his predecessor to distraction. More, they delighted him. A demon and a nun. Actually, they were both demons now, thanks to Chrno turning Rosette into one to save her from the contract she'd made with him. Her life energy to sustain him where his broken horns no longer could, his power to help her search for her missing brother. Ewan didn't think there was any other demon in the world that would have fought so hard to keep his contractor alive as Chrno. If he hadn't, Rosette would have long been dead by now, and Chrno as well, since without her he had no energy to live off of. Self-survival hadn't been Chrno's motivation though. He loved Rosette, truly loved her, and no other demon would ever have been able to say that.

Granted, Chrno was a very unique sort of demon, demonstrated by the ebony and garnet cross currently hanging around his neck. God himself had accepted Chrno into his house. A demon, consecrated to the Lord.

That made one miracle, Ewan thought idly. Defeating Aion and his attempt to destroy the world could be seen as two. What would happen if there were three?

He pushed the thought away. There were far too many priests even now who would rather Chrno had never woken from his coma. That was easier.

It certainly wouldn't have been easier for Rosette, he thought, watching her try not to fall face first into her food while she ate. Her hair dragged into it anyway and Chrno patiently pulled it away, his gaze fond. Rosette had no idea how much interference Remington had been running on her behalf during the last two years. She was the absolute best Militia fighter they had, able to use the demons' powers without being affected by them. She could take the water and wine, could bathe in holy water and say the prayers. She could also change her shape and have feathered angel wings. She was the holy one, they argued. Born of woman, blessed with a soul, sworn to God.

Not sworn to God, he amended, and there lay the need for interference. While every single girl in Rosette's class had taken the oaths to become full nuns, Rosette had not. While Chrno slept, Remington let her avoid the topic, just as Kate had before him, but the pressure being brought on him to finally force the issue was immense. Now that Chrno was awake again, it was even worse. Remington tried to resist, but in the eyes of his superiors, Rosette was rutting with a demon and that sin would corrupt her. If she was to be God's chosen, she had to be His alone. Chrno would have his part to play in the church, of course, but it should be nowhere near Rosette Christopher's bed.

Ewan sighed. Chrno loved Rosette. He had loved Mary before her as well. Had Mary forseen what would happen to Chrno after she died? Ewan had wondered that many times, but Mary's writings in the church had never been about herself or anything connected to her, and once she left with Chrno, she hadn't written anything. Not about her death, not about his fifty year sleep in her tomb, not about Rosette, the apostles, and the salvation of the world.

He shook his head. Ultimately, none of that mattered now. Remington had his not-quite-orders. Talk to Rosette. Convince her to make the final oaths to the church and become a full nun of the Order, with all that entailed.

Chrno looked at him sleepily. "You look unhappy, Father."

Remington forced a smile. "Just business, Chrno." He turned to Rosette. "Rosette, while Chrno is getting his astral, can you come to my office? There's something I need to talk to you about."

Rosette made a noncommittal grunting sound. "I'll get her there," Chrno promised. He didn't look at all bothered that he hadn't been asked to come himself.

"Thanks, Chrno," Remington told him and left, no longer hungry. This would be hard enough without having to face both of them at the same time.

---000---

After drinking nearly a pot of coffee by herself, Rosette went into Remington's office with the conviction that she should be able to stay awake through whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about.

She needn't have worried.

"Rosette," he sighed, standing and looking out the window with his hands clasped behind his back. "Thanks for coming. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Yes?" she asked, sinking into one of the chairs before his desk. Kate had never let Rosette sit when it had been her office.

Remington sighed again. "This isn't easy, so I'll just come out with it. You've been here since you were twelve. You're nineteen now. The time has come where the high Council members want you to swear your oaths to the Order and become a full nun."

Rosette blinked. "What?"

He turned around. "I think you understand what I'm saying, Rosette. They want you to swear the oaths."

Rosette's teeth started to grind, remembering some oaths Chrno had been forced to swear many years before. The oaths they were talking about for her weren't magically imposed to stop disobedience, but essentially it came down to the same thing. Control. The church wanted to control her, even after everything she'd done for them.

"What do you want?" she managed to spit out. "Do you want me swearing these oaths too? Is that why you're asking?"

Remington frowned, but he didn't back down. He never did. "I think what you do is and should be your decision, but I do think you need to decide something. You can't stay in limbo the way you are forever. I've let you put it off for too long as it is." He looked out the window again, in the direction of the lab where Chrno would be receiving his astral infusion from Shader. "I didn't want to bring it up while things were still undecided though."

Meaning Chrno. What would be her answer to this question if Chrno had died? Would she have sworn the oaths and become a complete member of the clergy? A full sister? Rosette suspected that she would have. As it was, there was really only one thing keeping her from doing so now.

Chrno. To swear herself fully to the church would mean that she would also have to swear herself to a life of complete celibacy. No more Chrno. No more warm kisses or warmer hands, no more embraces and love. All for a church that had saved her life, and her brother's, and given her purpose.

Rosette bit her lip. "I can't do it, Father," she admitted. "I can't leave Chrno."

"I think I might have thought less of you if you had," he said. He smiled at her, though it was a little strained. Imagining what he was probably going to be put through when he reported in just made her angry all over again. "Take some time. Talk to Chrno. Decide what it is that you do want to do, all right? I'll support you no matter what it is."

He headed back towards his desk. He hadn't dismissed her the way Kate would have done, and Rosette knew he'd talk all day if that was what she needed, but his desk was covered in paperwork and she knew he'd have to do some quick dancing in his support. The anger rose a third time.

"Thank you, Father," she said instead and went out.

---000---

Shader's laboratory was a square, white building covered with restricted signs. It had become a place of legend at the convent, with no one really sure what went on inside it and only a few people actually allowed inside.

As Shader's master and as head of the First Class Militia Unit of the New York branch, Rosette was. Still steaming, though she didn't blame Father Remington, Rosette stormed inside and through the maze of cables and machinery that filled the place. Shader had almost unconditional rights to make whatever she wanted, though many of her inventions left people wondering if she'd been into the catnip again. Others looked as though they'd change the face of the world. The Order had experimentally patented a few and now they had the money to do a lot of things they hadn't before.

Shader didn't belong to the church, Rosette mused suddenly. The cat demon belonged to her. If events reached the point where she and Chrno had to leave, Shader would go with them. Shader, with all her genius and inventions and all the money those inventions were worth. They'd be rich. Beyond rich.

Rosette started to drool.

Seated on a strangely conformed chair that made him brace his chest against a pillowed rest, Chrno looked over at her idly. He was naked from the waist up, his back covered by a harness that held twenty or more foot long needles. They in turn led to wires that connected him to a humming machine. The whole contraption glowed as the astral generated by the machine fed into the demon's body. It was Shader's favourite toy, though not one that she had invented herself. It was the brainchild of the Elder, though Shader had improved on it a great deal from the square box it used to be. Originally, the recipient had the needles inserted into their spine to receive the astral, which was understandably painful. Chrno needed somewhat longer treatments with the harness arrangement, but it definitely hurt less to do it.

An hour a day in the machine, more if he really exerted himself. It was a terrible weakness, but Rosette had only to remember him collapsed on the floor with dead legions oozing out of his nose and mouth to remind her that anything which kept him healthy wasn't so bad.

Chrno smiled as he recognized the greedy look in her eyes. He had his arms folded on the top of the chair he was sitting on and his head laid across them. He looked sleepy but content. "What is it?" he asked.

Rosette wiped the drool away. "Nothing."

"Of course not," he murmured and closed his eyes.

Rosette walked over and ran a hand through his hair, her lover tilting his head so that she could caress his ear. The feel of the astral was very pleasurable for him and she indulged in a few wicked thoughts about what they might be able to do with that machine if Shader weren't around and if the cat demon didn't record everything that happened in the building. That reminded her of what Remington had told her and the anger started up again, though it didn't last long. She did need to decide what to do. It wasn't fair to the beautiful creature she was in love with to stay in limbo the way she had been. Ultimately, it wasn't fair to her either. Only, she didn't know what to do. Like always, she wanted it all and the Order was her home. Maybe Chrno would have more insights. He was older, after all.

"I talked to Remington," she told him. His eyes opened again to look at her, soft and red, slitted in a way a human's eyes would never be, along with his lavender hair and the points at the top of his rounded ears. "He said that the council wants me to take the oaths to be a nun."

"Oh," Chrno said. He knew as well as she did what those oaths were. Obedience, poverty, chastity. He sat up, pushing away from the padded rest and making Shader screech from the other side of the room that he was ruining the connections. Chrno laid flat again. "What are you doing to do?"

She frowned. "Not swear them," she said. "Of course."

"There's nothing stopping you," he pointed out.

Rosette glared at him. "Are you saying you don't want to have sex with me anymore?"

He winced, aware he was treading dangerously. "No. But I won't stop you from doing anything that's important to you. Being a Sister matters to you, doesn't it?"

She sagged and went to drag a chair over to sit beside him. "It does," she admitted as she sank onto its hard seat. "But you do too. I can't imagine not having you anymore."

"You'll always have me."

She glared. "Okay, let me clarify. I can't imagine not getting all sweaty and hot with you and banging the headboard of the bed through the wall while I scream my head off." He blushed.

"I wanna record that!" Shader shouted from somewhere in the maze.

"SHUT UP!" Rosette shouted.

Chrno sighed and reached out to lay a hand on the back of hers. "I can't imagine not making love to you either, but-"

Deliberately, Rosette took his hand and pressed it against the swell of her breast.

"Okay," he said after a minute. "No oaths. What are the other options?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I don't know that we'll get other options. Father Remington said he'll support us, but he's the youngest head of any of the Orders. I know he gets overruled a lot. He'd have had to be just to bring this up."

"They can't make you do anything," Chrno pointed out. "You're still mostly human. They can't even bind you. I think."

"Don't worry, I don't plan to get caught in any circles."

He smiled and she groaned, rubbing a hand over her face. "It's not fair. I don't want to have to deal with all of this."

"So what do you want? Forget titles and oaths. What do you want to do with your life?"

She shrugged. "I want to be with you. I want to live here, with my brother and Azmaria. I want to protect people from demons that get out of control."

"Sounds simple enough," Chrno agreed. "That's what I want to do too."

"Yeah, but no one's asking you to join the clergy."

"True," he agreed meaningfully. "and they're letting me do it anyway."

Rosette thought that through, blinking. It was true. Chrno had to follow the rules of the laity, essentially helping where he could and serving the church without taking any of the oaths. Lots of people did that. Some did it formally.

Slowly, she started to smile. What a wonderful idea.

---000---

"So you're going to serve the church as a member of the laity?" Remington asked, sitting behind his desk with his hands folded atop it. He looked at Rosette with interest, though inside he was laughing, and, just a bit, cringing at the thought of how his superiors would react to this. It was the only real solution though, if Rosette was going to remain true to herself.

"You bet, Father," Rosette agreed. "I'll lead the militia and help hunt demons. I'm good at that. Just one of Shader's patents will more than pay for my room and board. But I won't take the oaths."

"Will you take off the headdress?" he asked her.

Rosette reached up to touch the blue and white headdress she wore instead of the wimple of a nun. It and the blue nun's uniform were as far towards decorum as she'd ever gone, though Ewan doubted any nun wore the sides slit up quite so high. Granted, few of them ended up in close quarters combat either.

"No," she said slowly. "I'm used to it. I serve the church. I just… belong to more than God." She frowned. "Does that make sense?"

"I'm sure God doesn't mind sharing. I think you've come up with a very good solution." He tilted his head to one side. "What if the senior council doesn't agree?"

Her face turned hard. "They don't have a choice. If they push it, I'll leave and I'll take Chrno and Shader with me."

"And be a bounty hunter like Satella Harvenheit?" he suggested.

"Yeah!"

"All right then," Ewan agreed as he leaned back in his chair. He'd tell the council that. He'd tell them all sorts of things that Rosette probably hadn't thought of. She was an asset even more than a friend. They needed her in the Order with all the changes threatening in the world with the 1930s just around the corner and a willing layman was far more useful than an unwilling nun.

Rosette had never had the soul of a nun anyway. She was far too much the warrior for that. She was God's sword, not his lamb.

"Welcome to the Magdalene Order, Layman Rosette," he told her formally and she couldn't quite hide her grin. It was a good solution indeed.