A/N: Okay, I've mostly figured it out. Here's something that I want to ask all of you, though, before I forget:

Should Satella a famous singer celebrity, or should Azmaria? Because this is present-day, after all. I was thinking that Satella could be either a jewelry or clothing designer, and Azmaria could be a great kid/teen idol who just started out and has an amazing voice and whatnot... Or she's a kid model... And then I have to think about the Magdalene order - should they be private detectives, a religious church, a police force, an organization like the red cross, etc... So much to do, so little time.

Moving on. Here's chapter ten - I've got to say, I'm kind of embarrassed that it took so long to get to this big part... Man, I've been wasting my time with that intro!

"Joshua!"

Rosette jumped out of Chrono's arms and dashed toward the entrance. The moment she stepped foot inside, she could tell that something was horribly wrong.

Everything was so white.

She stopped in her tracks and stared around her, then furiously rubbed her eyes to make sure that it wasn't a problem with her vision. It wasn't. The entire inside of the building had a thin, translucent film of white over it, so thin it was almost imperceptible yet impossible to ignore. Not only that, but it all looked so...still. Even though seeing the doors open and close on their own would've been unrealistic, this state of immobility was unnatural.

She gritted her teeth and dashed down the hallway, then made a sharp turn and began to climb the stairs, taking them two steps at a time. Behind her, she heard Chrono's loud footsteps, and then the flapping of his wings as he took to the air to catch up with her. When she reached the seventh floor, she wasn't even breathing hard - dimly, she realized that the only reason she could still run was because of the adrenaline coursing through her body, but she pushed that thought aside. She grabbed the door hand and, grunting, pulled it open. Even though the hinges had been greased a while ago, the door was still heavy.

As soon as it was open wide enough to go inside, she dashed in. Chrono followed close behind.

The same unnatural whiteness had seized this room, too, but something was different here. She squinted at the immobile white shapes inside the dense forest, which had never been there before. Something about their shapes.. Something about them was wrong. Even more wrong than the whiteness, even more than the stillness. She ran over to them, feeling her lungs begin to burn with the extertion.

The first shape she came across drained all the color from her cheeks.

Miss Jean.

She was standing in her nightgown, slightly hunched over, with a hand over her eyes as though blocking a bright light. Behind her was Seila, with one foot behind her and wide eyes, arms extended outward to stop whatever menace she'd seen when she was frozen. Through the fog of horror and disbelief clouding her mind, Rosette recognized all the others: Rebecca. Annie. Hanse. Even Billy was frozen, although it was clear he'd put up a bit of a fight before whatever had happened to all the others had happened to him as well.

"S...Sis?"

Rosette whirled around. That voice - Joshua's voice. Somehow, Chrono had gotten to her side. When had that happened? She shook her head. Focus, Rosette, focus. Her brother... Something had been weird about her brother's voice.

Joshua stood on the hill, facing her. Blood coursed down the side of his face. The bone white horn on his ear was soaked crimson, and in his hands, he held the horn's twin.

"Sis... You're back." Joshua's face twisted into a strained and joyless smile. "I'm sorry if you don't like what I did to Miss Jean and all the others, but they were being so loud. They're much quieter now, aren't they? You're being pretty quiet, too. That's a good thing. Chrono, too. I like you guys. You're a lot better than them."

Rosette shivered. "What's wrong, Joshy?" she pleaded. "What happened to you? You're...different."

Joshua's face hardened. "Not you too, Rosette. You're not going to start thinking about my disease too, are you?"

"Stop it, Joshua!"

Joshua tilted his head to one side, eyes narrowed. "Chrono...? You, too?" Suddenly, he winced and brought a hand up to the horn on his head. "No..." he gritted out. "No... I don't want the other one... Stop it, Aion!"

Chrono startled. "Aion? Where's Aion?"

Tsk tsk tsk. Chrono, that isn't a very nice way to greet your brother that you haven't seen in decades, is it? The red-eyed hawk fluttered down from somewhere up above, appearing as a dark blur before solidifying and settling on Joshua's shoulder. Ignoring me isn't very nice.

Chrono gritted his teeth. "Aion, what have you done to Joshua?"

Oh, nothing much. The hawk twisted its head to stare at Rosette. Instinctively, Chrono stepped forward and pushed Rosette behind him. She stumbled backward. Those eyes... It felt like those eyes were boring holes into her skull, simply by looking at her. She looked down and stepped behind Chrono's body, but the feeling didn't disappear.

In fact, I think that I might take the girl, too. She reminds me an awful lot of Magdalene somehow...

"No!" Joshua shouted. "Don't do anything to my sister!"

If the hawk had a mouth, it would've been twisted in a cruel grin. Oh, I won't, Joshua. Remember, I promised to leave both of them alone - as long as you put on both

"D-Don't do it, Joshy." Rosette forced the words out past her trembling lips, but couldn't make her voice any louder than a whisper. "D-Don't trust Aion. P-P-Please..."

Chrono reached behind him and squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Dont' worry," he murmured. "I won't let him."

Rosette relaxed. Somehow, having her small, childish hands enveloped in Chrono's larger one gave her a sense of relief. She quickly turned her attention back to Joshua, though, as he lifted the horn in his hand.

"This?" He stared at it contemptuously. Just like the one he wore, it was a sickly white, and the hand that held it glowed with a soft white light. "I don't need another one. The one I already have is enough."

With that, he threw the horn onto the ground with all his might.

A/N: Goddammit. SO MANY FRIGGIN' PLOT HOLES. What the HELL was I thinking when I wrote that last chapter? No idea. Frigging hell. From now on, I'm rereading my last few chapters before I write my next chapters. Just to make sure I don't make any mistakes.

GODDAMMIT. I AM SO ANNOYED.

I don't really want to end on that negative note, so I'll say something that'll make you guys (probably) annoyed too. REVIEW. RATE. CRITICIZE. And stuff. What did one author do? Ah, right. "If you leave a comment, I'll give you a cookie!"