Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Crusade, only a account and a lot of plot bunnies.

Chapter Four

~I Am Allowed to Goof Off in Church~

After getting my butt handed to me in sword-fighting, I spent the rest of the afternoon in the arts and crafts room, making stained glass windows. The instructor, Mrs. Jean, was really nice and patient with me even when I kept cutting off the score line and ended up with a glass piece shaped like a rhombus instead of a square.

There was another hour of free choice before dinner, so I decided to go and get more settled into my room. Word of my fight against Aion had already spread across the entire campus like wildfire. Even though nobody said anything to me about it, I could feel that their initial curious stares had changed into cautious glances. They were probably talking about it behind my back too. As much as it bugged me to be the center of attention, I was starting to wonder along with everyone else if maybe I had a special knack for attracting demons.

I clenched my fists, my insides flaring up, when I thought back to the end of the lesson where Aion had thrown me a snide "See you around, Newbie!" What did that jerk want with me anyway? I'd never done anything to him. And more importantly, what was a half-demon doing in a demon-fighting camp?

"Chrono!"

I was halfway back to the dorms when I turned around and saw Azmaria running towards me. Behind her was a silver car parked at the entrance where a woman was rummaging around in the trunk.

"Hey, Az!" I called back, going to meet her halfway. It was nice to finally see a familiar face around here.

She gave me a tight hug that nearly made me fall backwards, but it still felt good to get one after a long day.

"I knew you'd be here!" she cried excitedly, taking a step back. She smiled even wider when she saw my shirt.

"How?" I asked her.

"Your mom."

I almost froze at that. Did my mom know where I really was after all? Could she see past the Geas too?

"When I stopped by your place, she said that you'd been at a social studies workshop since summer started. That's when I figured it out," Azmaria went on.

I tried not to look too disappointed as I forced a smile. I should've known it'd be too good to be true.

"Er, do you need help with your stuff?" I asked.

"Oh! That reminds me. Come on"—She grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards her car where the woman was already unloading two suitcases—"Mom, this is Chrono."

I was almost too surprised to say hello. The woman looked nothing like Azmaria with her long, black hair, and gentle brown eyes. She must not have noticed the look on my face, because she returned my greeting, saying that her name was Melda Hendric. She then handed me a suitcase…my suitcase.

"Your mom asked us to bring you your clothes, because you forgot them. Azmaria was bouncing with excitement the whole way when she realized that you were here," she explained, her voice soft and polite.

I shook myself out of my daze. "Wait a second, you know about this place?"

"Of course, I teach the choir activity here, in the chapel," she said.

"Mom's been an instructor here for a few years, before she adopted me anyway," Azmaria added.

"You're adopted?" I blurted before I could stop myself. I quickly shut my mouth when I realized how that came out, but Azmaria and her mom only smiled.

"My husband, Ricardo, and I adopted Azmaria when I realized that she could see past the Geas too," Mrs. Hendric replied. "It was much safer for her that way."

Not trusting myself to speak, I simply nodded and helped them with the rest of their luggage. Mrs. Hendric eventually let us go on our way while she went off to take care of some last minute preparations. I had managed to hold back all of my questions, but they started spilling out once we were a good distance away.

"Can your dad see past the Geas too?" I asked.

Azmaria shook her head. "No. He doesn't know anything about this place, which is better for him really," she answered.

"Why?"

"Because demons go after anyone who can see past the Geas, or if he or she has spiritual energy."

"But why can't everyone see past it?"

"It depends," she said. "Sometimes it just happens and certain people are born with the ability. Or you can get it from one of your parents. If you've seen a traumatic event…" She trailed off and I saw her eyes cloud over. Then she shook her head as if to get rid of whatever thoughts were there.

"Er, anything else?" I prodded as gently as I could, not wanting to upset her.

"Some people may have a genetic disorder that causes it, or they might have a certain type of sixth sense. Those are all the factors I know of." She went quiet again.

I wanted to argue that my mom had a clear sixth sense and should've been able to see past the Geas, but I decided not to push the issue anymore. Azmaria looked like she would've started crying if I pried too deeply and a part of me figured that it wouldn't have made a difference anyway. It was like my mom and I were in two separate realities.

XxXxXxXxX

Azmaria and I met up with Rosette and Joshua in the mess hall after a tall man wearing a chef's hat and an eye patch fixed us a plate of cheeseburgers and French fries. The sound of voices and clattering food trays bounced off the walls as we searched for an empty table. As soon as we found one, Mr. Remington materialized right next to us.

"Ah, wonderful. The team's all together," he said.

Confused, I looked to the others to see if they knew what he was talking about. I noticed that Rosette's cheeks had turned a light pink, but as soon as she caught me looking, she threw me an annoyed glare. Azmaria and Joshua seemed to be wondering along the same lines I was.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "Chrono, I've arranged it so that you're on my team for Flashlight Tag," he said.

A look of realization seemed to dawn on all of their faces, so I did my best not to look completely clueless.

"Great!" I exclaimed. "I, uh, can't wait."

I wondered if I had been too quick to answer because Rosette smirked and rolled her eyes at me. Mr. Remington also seemed to sense that my enthusiasm wasn't all that sincere.

"Don't worry, Chrono, the rules will be explained later on. Trust me, you'll get used to things here quickly," he said, winking at me.

That was the second time I'd heard that today and I still felt like I wouldn't understand anything even by the summer's end. Still, I said "ok" and turned back to my cheeseburger.

"What's going to happen after dinner?" I asked, trying not to sound too much like a new kid. I don't think I pulled it off.

"We'll go to MSP Mass for about an hour," Joshua answered, stirring his chocolate pudding.

"What? Like with praying and peace-be-with-you's?" I said, frowning.

My mom had never really been religious, so I'd never gone to church before. Besides, I didn't really like the idea of trying to memorize all those things you had to say in response to the pastor's statements.

"No, nothing like that," Rosette laughed. "We just go and hang out in the chapel. It's really meant to be a last-minute meeting for the people who're planning to do something at the bonfire. Not a churchgoer?"

I shook my head. "Never been. You?"

"We've been a few times, but only on special holidays," she said. "Mom and Dad keep saying they want Joshua and I to go more often, but—"

"Mom and Dad always want us to do something that'll make them happy," Joshua objected. He was grinning, but it was obviously forced—the same look I used whenever I lied to my mom about how great the weekends I'd spent with my dad had been.

I grinned back to keep things from getting awkward. I glanced over at Rosette, who had suddenly become more interested in her pepperoni pizza.

XxXxXxXxX

At about eight o'clock, everyone filed out of the chapel and towards the bonfire pit. MSP Mass had been a lot more fun than I expected. There were only two rules: no profanity and no horseplay. Like Rosette had said, everyone just hung out and talked with their friends, even the instructors, all of whom Azmaria pointed out to me. Most of them looked pretty young except for Mrs. Jean and the Elder, who was a really old guy in a white lab coat and goggles and supervised the metal workshop. Rosette didn't seem to like him all that much and when I asked her why, she only muttered something about a "pervert." At one point, Mike and Darryl, the guy who'd been sparring with Mr. Remington earlier, came over to play hacky sack with the four of us.

Campers, counselors, and instructors all gathered around a huge orange flame that crackled and glowed as the sky got darker and stars started appearing. Lots of people were settling on the log benches that circled the pit while others were laying out blankets on the grass or setting up beach chairs. There were a handful of counselors, Mike and Darryl included, going around with tote bags and passing out marshmallows, roasting forks, Hershey's chocolate bars, and graham crackers.

"Mike, over here!" Joshua called, waving his arm.

The four of us were sharing Rosette's blanket, which was laid out close enough to the fire to feel some of its warmth.

"Good spot," I told her.

It was impossible to miss the proud look on her face. "I reserved early."

Mike was only a few steps away when a tall redhead wearing a shirt that fit a little too closely to her body cut in front of him, smiling sweetly at us. Ok, not trying to sound too full of myself or anything, but I honestly think that she was smiling at me.

"Vould you like to make some s'mores?" she asked politely with a heavy German accent.

I looked back at the others to see their reactions. Azmaria looked positively awestruck—like she was meeting a famous rock star. Joshua was also staring and blushing, I think. Rosette, however, was glaring darkly at the girl, who took no notice.

"Um, sure," I answered finally.

"I don't think I've seen you here before," she said. "Are you the new camper everyone's been talking about?"

"Y-yeah…I'm Chrono," I managed to say.

She offered me her hand. "I'm Satella Harvenheit—"

"Hurry up and pass out the s'mores!" Rosette cried.

She then pushed past me and promptly grabbed her ingredients from Satella's bag. I couldn't believe how rude she was being, but Satella only seemed to find this amusing.

"You're such a hothead, Christopher," she remarked, rolling her eyes.

"At least I don't flirt with everything that moves," Rosette shot back. And then she threw me a look as if to silently hint that this was somehow my fault. I glared back at her.

As soon as she had gone back to her spot on the blanket, Joshua was at my side and grabbing his s'more ingredients from Satella's bag, while throwing her an occasional shy smile. Azmaria looked ready to faint the whole time she was getting her stuff.

"I'll see you around, ok, Chrono?" Satella giggled as I put one of my marshmallows on the end of my roasting fork.

Then she winked at me before walking away. I could only watch her leave, my mouth hanging wide open.

"You're drooling," Rosette said.

"Am not." But I wiped at the corners of my mouth anyway.

Almost instantly, Mike was at my side with his arm looped around my shoulder.

"You sure know how to reel 'em in, Chrono," he said slyly.

"B-but I didn't do anything!" I spluttered stupidly, heat rising from my neck to my face. "Who was she anyway?"

I looked to the others for some kind of explanation. As soon as the words left my mouth, Azmaria stared at me in total shock.

"That was Satella Harvenheit!" she exclaimed, as if that explained everything.

"Yeah, I got that much," I said, not showing any kind of reaction. "Is she a counselor or something?"

"That and one of the best jewel witches here!" she added.

"Actually, Azmaria, she's one of the only jewel witches here. Her, her sister and her mom, Madame Harvenheit," Joshua corrected her.

Rosette only scoffed. "She's an arrogant and spoiled little rich girl." She violently impaled another marshmallow with her fork.

At the risk of sounding ignorant, I asked,

"Ok, what are jewel witches?"

"They use the power of magical jewels to summon powerful creatures," Azmaria answered.

I gave her a half-smile, trying to seem like I shared her excitement. Not that I wasn't glad Satella had spoken to me—let alone flirted with me. Let's just say that, under less bizarre circumstances, girls and I don't usually mix and leave it at that.

Conversations slowly died down as Sister Kate cleared her throat and waited for everyone's attention. She had changed out of her blouse and into a camp T-shirt.

"So, how is everyone tonight?"

Everyone cheered, some campers even waving their flaming marshmallows around over their heads.

"All right then, first things first: we have a new camper with us this year," Sister Kate began. "Chrono, if you would come forward please."

Nervously, I stood up and made my way over, nearly tripping over one of the benches. A few people snickered quietly, but they stopped when Sister Kate placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Everyone, this is Chrono Furey. I'm sure you'll all make him feel welcomed," she said.

Before going back to my spot, I caught a glimpse of Aion looking right at me through the flames. He was sitting further in the back and away from the crowd. There was some gothic chick hanging onto him and tracing his jaw with a black-painted fingernail, but he hardly paid her any attention as he flashed me a smirk. I glared back before moving on. Sister Kate took a seat in a beach chair and Mr. Remington stepped forward. I saw Rosette quickly straighten her posture to get a better look at him.

"Hello campers!" he announced, smiling at the crowd. "As you all know, our first game of Flashlight Tag will be coming up next Friday"—loud, excited cheers erupted from everyone—"so I want to go over the rules. Remember: each team must have a Leader, a Guide, a Spotter, and a Protector. Protectors, when battling, you are only to disarm your opponent. If you try anything other than that, you will be severely punished." He looked around at everyone, letting the warning hang in the air.

"Only Guides can scout out their teams' routes during the daytime and with an instructor's permission. No two teams may travel the same route to get back to home base. Meetings will start Monday evening, carry on through Thursday, and then the first game will be on Friday after MSP Mass. You guys got that?"

Again, everyone cheered and stomped their feet. I was even starting to look forward to playing this game. Of course, it didn't sound like any kind of Flashlight Tag I'd ever heard of before.

With that being said, Mr. Remington sat down and let the entertainment for the evening begin. The whole thing was a mix of sing-along's and improvised skits that had us all laughing until our sides hurt. It wasn't until midnight, a whole hour later than the scheduled lights out, that the celebration came to an end and we all went back to our dormitories to get a good night's sleep.

As soon as my head hit my pillow, I closed my eyes and actually found myself looking forward to spending the summer here.

A/N: Wow, this is the first chapter where I haven't put a beginning Author's Note.

Anyway, I can't help but think of this chapter as a filler one, but it finally brings an end to Chrono's arrival at Magdalan. And I got to explain things a little more. Phew!

Thanks for reading. Suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcomed.