CHAPTER 8: Confronting Your Demons
The scene Remington walked in on was NOT the one he'd been expecting. He'd thought they'd be training still, or eating lunch. Instead, he walked in on a room of somber people. Rosette was sitting in a chair, scowling at the carpet like it had just tried to bite her. Chrono, in his smaller form, was standing with his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and watching Rosette. Tegan was on the computer pulling stuff up. And Asmodius...
"This was of relative importance, Ewan," the halfbreed cut in sharply, pushing up from his own chair to approach Remington, eyes snapping fiercely.
Remington sighed, shoulders slumping. They'd found out, it seemed. But how? "I had reasons not to say anything," he replied.
"You had REASONS? That's my BROTHER!" Rosette shouted, finally looking up from the floor. Chrono took a step away from the wall, arms dropping to his sides. He was either going to comfort her or restrain her, one of the two. Remington was truly hoping for the second option.
"Rosette... how old was Joshua when you died?"
Rosette blinked, paling just slightly at the reminder she'd been dead. "Um... twelve, I think."
"He's now ninety-two years old, Rosette. After the first incident with Aion, he never recovered. Joshua lived in a fantasy world. He didn't know what had happened, who he was. He didn't remember his sister."
"STOP IT!" Rosette closed her eyes tightly, covering her ears with her hands.
Remington continued anyway, speaking louder so the sound would get through. "I took care of him, for as long as I could, but I was still in the Order. That put Joshua at risk, and I couldn't allow that. So, fifteen years ago, I put him in the care of a doctor friend and visited him as much as possible. Rosette, he was happy there. Happier than he ever was with me."
"But... it's Joshua! I don't care, I don't care! You should have said something!" No one would have guessed from the tone of her voice that she was crying. What gave it away was the slight shake to her shoulders. Chrono sat on the chair arm, putting a gentle hand to her back. He was simply letting her know he was there if she needed him. Rosette sat up fully, sniffling and hugged Chrono around the waist tightly.
"No matter the age, Ewan, Joshua is still very valuable to Aion," Tegan said into the silence that followed. "Look what it's done to her. Psychological warfare is as good as any bullet, you know."
Remington sighed wearily, rubbing his eyes. "I know that, but I sincerely never considered the fact that Aion would be able to find him. We disappeared fifteen years ago, and I've not seen him in ten. He doesn't have any powers to speak of. It was an oversight on my behalf, one that I now regret with every fiber of my being. And I'll do anything necessary to atone for that."
"What's important right now, Rosette," Asmodius said softly. "Is that you don't let this get to you. Remember that we have a collective goal; stop Aion and the Seven Sinners. We're in a very tremulous position right now, one that cannot afford having you lose sight of the true goal."
Rosette never responded to that. Chrono continued to hold her, but the glare he was giving the half-breed was anything but kind or sympathetic. "That's unfair of you," he said coldly. "Rosette's been through a lot in her life. She's not some kind of toy where you can turn the emotions on and off whenever you feel like it."
"I understand this, Chrono-"
"You understand nothing! You weren't there when all this first started. You weren't there when it came to an end. So don't preach about not letting this get to her!"
Asmodius backed down from that, carefully lowering his eyes from the snapping crimson gaze. There was a long silence in which no one spoke a word. Rosette had stopped crying though and was staring at the floor with a stillness that was almost inhuman. Chrono still sat on the arm of the chair, his hands now folded in his lap and untouching her. It was finally Tegan who broke the silence with a heavy sigh. "Well, there is a positive outlook to all this."
Everyone turned to stare at her in disbelief. She shrugged and said, "Obviously, Aion's frightened that the two of you are back as well. And that's a good thing for us. Anything that can rattle our enemies is to our advantage. Which is why it's very important for you to remain calm, Rosette. You saved Joshua before, you can do it again."
Whether it was that last sentence that did it or something else entirely, Rosette's eyes hardened and she stood up, hands fisted by her sied. "Chrono."
"Yes?" the Devil asked slowly, watching her suspiciously.
"You said you knew someone who had information. I wanna meet them. Tonight."
Chrono took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay."
The sun had completely left the sky, throwing the world into a darkness studded over with brilliant stars and full moon, which was starting to wax downward. It was almost two in the morning at the mansion, but all the lights were on. After the conversation earlier, Chrono had disappeared, saying something about 'negotiating admittance' and finding whoever they were supposed to meet. From the tone in his voice and the look on his face, he obviously didn't think they were going to be allowed to see this person. he'd come out from his room almost two hours later, looking a little pale, but with the good news they had an appointment at ten o'clock in the evening. In Chicago.
That had sent Tegan into a tizzy, running down to her lab and shouting orders left and right to get certain items around. Rosette had cheered up quite a bit when Tegan gave her some new hand grenades filled with the Blood of Christ. Namely, it was blessed wine, but it was a good choice for explosives since alcohol caught fire and burned hotter. And Remington had gotten his wish. Tegan had given him the G11 assault rifle he'd been eying since before the wedding. It was already partially disassembled and stored into the black wool jacket.
Rosette sat at the bottom of the steps, elbow supporting her head up as she stared at the clock in boredom. She fidgeted a little in her outfit, not really used to how tight it was and how much skin it really showed. Chrono had told them where they were going (somewhere called Eden) and a quick search on Tegan's computer showed it was a dance hall. No biggie, she was good at dancing, despite what Chrono would say! Tegan had helped her pick something out that she could fight in but at the same time hide a weapon. That's how she'd ended up in the black shirt with thin straps, bright pink shirt that hugged her upper body and was really see-through, dark blue jeans and really comfy heeled boots she could run in. She had a gun hidden on her ankle, one under the knee-length blue jean jacket and the grenades in a purse that was really too big for anything BUT hiding weapons in. Chrono had insisted she and Tegan wear blessed crucifixes for the evening. Neither of them had aruged about extra holy items in a place over run with Devils and Demons.
Speaking of Chrono... she looked over to wear he was leaning against the wall, in his taller form, arms crossed over his stomach. He was the only one not wearing civilian clothing, dressed in his usual leather gear. He was staring up the stairs thoughtfully as they waited for Asmodius to join them. He sure took a long time getting ready, she thought absently. She was a little distracted by Chrono's true form, and not just because of how warm it made her feel. She was a little light-headed from the seal being broken, but they'd done it an hour in advance for a couple reasons. One, Chrono needed to be in that form to travel the astral lines with her. And two, she wanted to get used to the light-headedness before any fighting actually happened.
Her stomach backflipped when narrowed crimson eyes turned to her, softening a little as he offered her a quick smile. When he looked at her like that...
Asmodius came down the stairs at last, straightening the black cashmere duster over his clothing. "Is everything ready?" he asked, glancing around at everyone inquiringly.
"I think so," Tegan answered, adjusting the small knife hidden in a wrist sheath. It wasn't designed to do a lot of damage, but raising the dead needed blood and if an animal couldn't be gotten, human blood would do just as well. "So, before we leave, are you going to tell us who we're meeting with?"
Chrono blushed, which was something rare in his true form to see. "I can't tell you his name. He's a Devil, a very rare and highly ranked Devil. And he's old, almost as old as Satan. He knows everything that every Devil and Demon does, and because of this he's forgotten a lot about himself, including his own name. I'm sorry, that's the best I can do."
Tegan let out a nervous little laugh, eyebrows quirking upward. "Oh, joy. A Devil who can't even remember his own name."
"I hate to cut the witty reparte short, but we're going to be late if we don't hurry," Remington cut in, tapping the watch on his wrist to emphasize that they had to hurry. Everyone stepped outside, Remington and Rosette with Chrono, Tegan with Asmodius. Since Chrono was at his full strength he would be taking two through the lines while Asmodius took one. Everyone stepped back a pace as the two unfurled their wings. Tegan swallowed loudly as she stepped in close to Asmodius, arms going around his waist.
"If you drop me and I die, I swear I'm coming back to haunt you," she muttered shortly before a squeal broke free as he took off into the sky, disappearing with a faint white flash.
Rosette and Remington did the same with Chrono, neither one looking very comfortable with this mode of travel. "I don't suppose now would be a good time to mention I'm afraid of heights," Remington asked nervously, closing his eyes as Chrono began to fly, an arm around both of their waistes.
"An Angel who's afraid to fly?" Chrono teased, glancing down as Rosette slowly relaxed her death grip a little around his stomach. She could feel the thrum of energy as it drew closer and closer to them, prickling along her skin. It bordered on being slightly painful or slightly ticklish.
"There was a good reason most of my assignments were earth bound," the Angel in question replied right before they entered the astral lines.
Rosette felt it. She could actually feel when they entered that otherworldly energy. It was like the prickly feeling suddenly exploded all around her and sucked her in, covering her in it. They were going fast, she realized, VERY fast. So fast that everything was a blur and it seemed like they were standing still while everything revolved around them. In next to no time they were exploding into the air over Chicago, staring down at the city all aglow with electric lights. But the lights were clouded and dulled. Something was veiling the city. Rosette squinted, coughing a little as smoke hit her hard. "What's that smell?"
"Something's wrong," Chrono muttered, slowly dropping them to the ground in an alley. There was no sign of Tegan and Asmodius anywhere. It was when they were on the paved ground that they heard the screams, the shouted orders, and sirens. The smoke was coming from the city itself, billowing down the street, turning the yellow lights a dirty brown color. Rosette and Remington covered their mouths as a smell other than smoke assaulted them, sickly sweet and cloying in the nose and throat. What the heck was that? Chrono was already moving for the crowds of people gathered at the front of the alley.
"Chrono!" Rosette ran after him as he stepped out behind the people in his true form. If anyone saw him... Her thoughts trailed off and her steps faultered when she saw what he was staring at.
"Good God!" Remington exclaimed, eyes widening in horror.
A whole city block was lit up and burning, the smoke rushing upward and outward with the wind, blanketing the entire city in thick ash and that horrible stench. Fire fighters were running around like mad, trying to put out the flames. The more they hosed them down, the hotter and higher they seemed to get. Coughing, struggling to take a breath that didn't burn from the smoke, Rosette squinted into the flames... and figured out what that sweet smell was. "There're people in there! Chrono, look!" There were shapes twisting about in the flames, twirling around frantically to put out the fires that just refused to die down. They were screaming through broken windows, begging to be saved. All she could do was gape at the scene and fight not to be sick.
Chrono suddenly stiffening and whirling around with a fierce growl was about all the warning Rosette and Remington had that there was someone behind them.
"Why, hello Rosette. Chrono. So good to see you again. Are you enjoying the little show?"
It was all she could do to keep the gun level and steady as pale, laughing eyes met hers and held, a cruel smile twisting thin lips. Silvery hair was being whipped back in the fire wind as he shifted, the fire catching his glasses and hiding his eyes momentarily. Rosette could feel the chill spreading from her stomach on upward, trying desperately to take over. She couldn't let it, she couldn't let it surface. If she did, she was lost, and that wouldn;t be good with him standing not even six feet away.
Aion's smile grew more confident as he spread his arms to either side. "Well, I'm waiting. Are you going to shoot me?"
Two guns exploded, bullets zipping through the air to explode in crimson blossoms across a white shirt. Aion fell to the ground, unmoving and staring blankly at them. Remington and Rosette crept closer, guns still trained on him. Was he...
"FREEZE!"
"Hands where I can see 'em!"
"Drop the weapons!"
Without thinking, they both looked over at the police running at them with guns drawn... and sprinted for the alley again, Chrono right behind them.
