Author's notes: This is a compiled fic made from an rpg XD which has reached over 100 pages of unedited text in 1 week. So we're WAY behind the storyline in what we post XD. But being as we're both obsessed with rping, and fics… this is gonna go for a while!
A note on the title: Anachronism: n. 1. An error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one. 2. a thing or a person that belongs to another, esp. an earlier time. 3. In relation to Chrno crusade: relating to the specific character by the name Chrno, who belongs in another previous earlier time.
Chapter Two: 'Cowboys and Indians….'
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The wind flooded by them swiftly, as Chrno kept his knees supported beneath his two passengers, his arms tightly keeping a hold on their waists as they rocketed up out of the hole.
At first, the sudden rush of wind took Joshua's breath away, but then he stared around wide-eyed, and whooped in glee.
Rosette ogled at the old city; from this height it looked so much cooler then from the ground. Her face pulled back into a radiantly happy smile as she looked back over Chrno's shoulder excitedly, her fingers bunching in his shirt. "WOW!"
An amused smile played over the demon's lips, as the two children gasped, and he nearly missed spotting the sudden line of bright white lights aimed right for him. "A...ah!" He dove down quickly, as several honking loud things rushed by them, their wind knocking him askew a bit....
Joshua gasped. "Oh yeah...forgot to mention those... um.... "
"NO TIME." Rosette gasped, pointing at the large lumbering truck that was heading towards them, "You gotta get higher!"
Chrno gasped, staring wide-eyed at the truck which began honking loudly. "W...what are these things?! Gah!" He rocketed upwards, narrowly missing the truck, and almost plowing into a taxi, as he found himself quickly in the middle of the air-freeway.....
Joshua eeped. "Left! Right.. no right! left... YOUR OTHER LEFT!"
"Don't you understand the meaning of HIGHER?" Rosette freaked, and after a particularly red suburban nearly killed them, she hid her face in his neck, utterly terrified.
"Gahh...." Chrno suddenly shot upwards faster than before, his wings compacting, as he rocketed upwards in a streak of bright light, finally coming to a stop, hovering high above the city, cars, and busy traffic, his limbs shaking a bit.
Joshua let out a deep breath. "Wow.... can we do it again?
Rosette resisted the urge to throttle him.
"No!" Chrno gasped, glancing down at the city with wide eyes. "We can NOT do that again.....I haven't used my power in over 300 years and I'm a bit rusty....we could have been killed!"
"Yeah, I think we noticed!" She glared at the to happy boy opposite of her, pulling out of her death huddle.
Joshua pouted a bit. "But it was fun!" He waved his hands, accidentally bonking Chrno in the horn with his elbow. "It was like a video game!"
"V...video game?"
"No it was more like one of your virtual reality games." She grumbled, swatting across at him.
"A...ano...." Chrno sweatdropped, staring at the two of them blankly.
"But it was WAY better!" Joshua grinned widely. "Cause it was REAL."
"Right, but the fact of the matter is, you would have failed the level, since you got the directions mixed up."
"Ano....."
"Hey! It's hard to steer this way!"
"How were you steering, all you were doing was flailing your arms about!"
Joshua leaned over grinning at his sister. "It was like a roller coaster! Up, down, sideways...."
"Ahem....guys....?"
"Huh, what is it Chrno?" Rosette asked, pushing his tuffed ear out of her way as she turned to look at him.
"Um...That." He turned his head, staring directly at a hover-cop, who was headed their way.
"Aah! Why HIM! It's Officer Remington, Fly away Chrno! Fly away!"
Chrno sweatdropped, not understanding one ion of this information, and just dove down, this time taking care to see what was coming, as he dove between some clouds, the mist trailing after his wings as he tore out of them. "Where are we going?!"
Joshua eeped and clung tighter as they dove. " Should we go home?"
"No way, Remington knows we ditched, he'll come right there." Rosette mumbled, pathetically staring back at the shrinking form of the family friend.
Joshua groaned. "But you know he'll find us wherever we go...."
Chrno shot them both a puzzled look, and stared wide-eyed at the busy streets far below them. The city was tiered ala Jetson style, with each level being a different district.... "Wow...." Chrno breathed, his voice sounding a bit awed as the siblings argued. It was hard to imagine that someone from a different era was able to accept such a place.
"Not if we hide! He can't be psychic!" Rosette argued, "Central Park has so much interference, he shouldn't be able to track us!"
"Oooh good idea!" Joshua grinned, and pointed to the very top tier, where a tuff of green could be seen on top of all the buildings. "Up there!"
"Right..." Chrno changed altitude, and soared up, while un-able to tear his eyes away from the whole city as he flew...until finally they reached the park, and he soared over the trees, and landed on the edge of the rim, in a concealed place where no one was around, and set them down smoothly.
Rosette slipped down on her knees, the sudden stop making her woozy. "Wow...We're gonna have to do this more often..."
Chrno smiled a bit, and slowly rose to his feet, turning and stepping to the edge of the platform, and peering over, staring around him in wonder, as his long hair blue loosely in the wind, tangling with his spine-tail and wings.
Joshua just jumped up and down. "Definitely!!"
--- ---- ---
Aion Felt it almost immediately, the seal fracturing after some interference, causing him to sit up rigidly, the wave of demonic energy starting to leak quickly into the air. "Sheda." He called, setting down his glass and swept to his feet.
"Ouhh??" Sheda's head poked up from the bottom hold, as she shoved her glasses up her nose a bit. "What? It can't be working yet, I haven't stuck the bolt on!"
Aion gave her a strange look, raising an eyebrow as he grabbed one of her floating screens, "Check 'His' location." It couldn't have happened, who would have released it? He placed a hand over his mouth, his eyebrows pulling down in thought.
Sheda blinked and her eyes went wide. "But we don't even know where he is!? You think that someone found him and...." She scrambled out of the hold quickly and dashed across the floor to her console, and began punching buttons
--- ---- ---
Rosette stood up, staring at the watch, "You are much to noticeable in that form.." She cranked the knob to the right, making sure that it was still slightly open.
An answering surge of power surrounded Chrno, and with a slight swirl of wind, his form shifted back into the previous one, his hair still loosely blowing behind him, the cowboy hat faded and a bit torn, but staying on. He didn't seem to notice the change. "This place... is so...."
Joshua peered at the watch, curiously. "This thing's cool... wonder what would happen if you closed it all the way...."
--- ---- ---
Aion stared after the cat girl, things rushing through his mind a mile a minute, "If he's been released, that means..." Pandemonium....
"Araaa.... Pandemonium would be unsealed.....there goes our vacation then." Sheda muttered, punching another button and getting a blip on the screen. "Ah ha.. there... he is awake... and..." The blip vanished. "Crap... and someone shut his power off. But at least I got a fix."
--- ---- ---
Rosette leaned back, holding the clock close. "Don't touch!"
Joshua eeped and whipped his hand back. "Why not! I helped find him too!"
"So, you might break it!"
"Will not! You're the one who broke my wristband!"
"What ever! Besides, Chrno gave it to me!"
"But I helped!!! So just lemme look at it!" He reached over her.
"What are ya gonna do?! Fight me for it?"
Joshua pouted. "No fair... Oi, Chrno!!" He waved over at the tall man who was still staring out at the city in wonder.
Chrno glanced over his shoulder at Joshua tearing his gaze away from the city below.
Rosette gasped, standing up and dashing up to the man, stepping up to him. "Don't let him have it!"
Chrno blinked a bit awkwardly. "O...oi... It's not as easy as that... Don't go fighting over it!"
Joshua sighed sadly, then clutched his lugs and began coughing once more.
Petty squabbles aside immediately, Rosette gasped and went attentively to her brother. "Do you need a doctor Joshua?"
Joshua wheezed a bit, a pained look crossing his face. "Uh.... no...Just need to stop being so excited...."
Chrno walked over and knelt down next to the two, concern on his face. "What's wrong with him?"
"Its a birth defect with his lungs. They gather fluid if not properly treated with his respirator, and he can get very ill"
Chrno blinked, and looked sympathetically down at Joshua as the boy coughed, before he finally gasped, stopping his shaking.
"Maa it's not so bad really... It could be worse." Joshua looked up with bright eyes.
"Yeah," She elbowed her brother playfully, a smile forcing its way on her face. "You could be a old geezer with really bad breath, that scratches his butt all the time." Joshua stared at her flatly, clearly not understanding her humor.
"Um..." Chrno just gave her a puzzled look, and took his hat off, running a hand through his long violet hair.
Rosette stared at the long flow of velvet toned locks, her fingers itching. "Na, Chrno, isn't all that bothering you?"
He glanced up at her, then back at his long hair which was still slightly tangled and dusty. "Well.. it is longer than I'm used to...."
"It makes you look like a girl." Joshua added cheerfully.
"Sit down," She commanded, pulling out a the ribbon from her uniform, "I'll fix it."
The tall man blinked, but sank down to his bum and crossed his legs before him, his belt clinking a bit, revealing that yes indeed, he had a gun there.
Joshua's eyes got very very big. "Wow...is...is that real?"
Rosette let the boys talk about the gun, her fingers sliding into Chrno's hair happily, splitting it into three sections, with quite a bit of trouble being that it was a bit tangled. She reached into her briefcase for a brush, only half listening to their conversation.
Chrno slid his gaze down, and he unhooked the weapon and held it out to Joshua. "Yes. of course it is... You don't use them anymore?"
"No! They're illegal!" Joshua stared at it.
"Ah.. be careful then... it's dangerous." Chrno took it back quickly, and held it for him to look so he wouldn't accidentally fire it.
"Do you need it though?"
"Not really. It's more for show."
---- ---- ----
"Let's go pick him up then." Aion sighed, tapping his finger against the screen, his mind fuddled with worries.
Sheda peered at her leader cautiously, her tail swishing behind her worried. "Are you sure that's wise? He's probably still mad at us."
"The first person Pandemonium is going to go after is him." Aion looked over at Sheda lightly, "And if were to seal her before she breaks our cover.." He let it sink in.
Sheda blinked, and nodded slowly. "True.... but he doesn't even know yet...."
Aion sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose, "Gather the others. We might as well gather a compromise. I was not expecting this turn of events..."
Sheda nodded, but paused before leaving the control room. "It'd be nice to have him back though, ne?"
"Yeah.."
Sheda giggled, then dashed out, slammed a hand on the com, and bellowed a loud greeting. "ATTENTION ALL HANDS! PARTY ON THE POOP DECK! FRONT AND CENTER."
--- ---- ---
After a bit of difficulty, Rosette was able to braid the demon's long tresses, ending the plait with the large yellow bow. "Finished."
Chrno peered back, and smiled a bit at the long braid that now hung down his back. "Thank you. that helps."
Rosette swung the braid before sitting down next to her brother, staring at Chrno with mild amusement. "What are we going to do with you, we can't just bring you home."
He blinked a bit at that, not sure what to make of it. "Why not? Your parents would not understand the situation?"
"Right. we found a man underground, from...." She did the math, "1870, and we took him home. Can we keep him?" She looked over at Joshua, as if prompting him for ideas.
Joshua just raised an eyebrow. "Yeah...the orphanage won't like that... If only he were more our age... we might get away with passing him off as an orphan...."
She fiddled with the pocket watch, "You're magic Chrno, do something.."
Chrno blinked and scratched his nose a bit. "Magic…? Right…Well... you could try sealing my power entirely.. I've never done it before... I'm not sure what effect it'll have."
Rosette looked down at it, and then back at him, "It won't hurt you will it?"
He looked thoughtful. "I don't think so...."
She nodded, twisting the knob completely to the right, hearing a snap come as the clock latched together.
Energy instantly wrapped around Chrno's form, and shimmered, as suddenly he lost several feet of height, and sat there on the ground, wearing a simple pair of pants, shirt and suspenders that still looked out of date... and he looked the same age as them, with a baffled look on his round face.
Joshua's eyes widened, and he stared, then grinned and giggled.
Rosette couldn't hold back laughter, "Su su su..." she stuttered, "Su su su suspenders? The other outfit looked cool but," She leaned against her brother in a fit of hysterics.
Joshua joined in laughing hard, clutching his side. "But... it's kinda cool!! Those are clothes you'd see in a museum!!"
Chrno just blinked cutely, and glanced down at his now smaller hands, and looked a bit puzzled.
She checked her wristwatch, noting that it was time for Remington to report in to the office. "I think its safe to go home now."
Joshua scrambled up. "Right... let's go! I'm getting hungry...." He glanced at the sun, and blinked. "It's lunchtime."
Rosette nodded, standing and offering her hand to their new friend, "You coming Chrno?"
The small demon blinked a bit, but took her hand with his own, and stood up, looking around with some interest.
"Right...." Joshua ran forward, and headed towards the transport, a small shuttle powered by the hover coils all the other flying craft used. "Come on!"
She tugged at his hand, pulling him along until they reached the transport. "Step on!"
Chrno stared with wide eyes at the small transport device, completely floored by a vehicle that just hovered in mid-air with no support. "W...wha?"
Joshua giggled and pushed him in by steering his shoulders. "Come on! It won't bite!"
"Unless you kick it. It has security devices." She mumbled, obviously being acquainted to said occurrence.
Joshua snickered. "You'd know, Rosette." He punched the button on the console, and the whole transport shook.
Chrno grasped onto the side railing out of alarm, his eyes wide, as he looked around wildly. "How is it moving!? Where are the horses...?"
"At the zoo!" Rosette said cheerfully, reaching up and doing something she probably shouldn't, stepping up on the railing and leaning out.
"Z...zoo?" He gawked, staring outside with wide eyes, and looking around in complete amazement. Joshua just grinned and giggled, watching his bafflement.
"Hey Joshua, how much you wanna bet I can touch the nearest car?"
Joshua's eyes widened sharply. "Rosette!! No! Not good!"
Chrno just looked slightly ill, as he stared at the speeding scenery, and clutched the railing tightly.
She grinned at her brother wildly, "You don't trust me? Watch!" She leaned out more, shifting her feet to the upper rail.
Joshua yelped, and leaned forward, eyes wide. "Rosette!!" But he pulled back frightened as another car whipped by speeding at full throttle.
"D...does she do this... often?" Chrno gulped, clinging to the rail.
Rosette inched one hand out, just missing the side of the car heading in the opposite direction. "A little more." She let her fingers loosen around the bar a bit so that she could move even farther out. "Don't be such a baby Joshua."
Joshua gulped and reached out, grabbing her shirt tightly. "Rosette... it'll take your hand off!"
The sudden tug on her shirt caused her feet to slip from their position, sending her toppling "AAHHGG!"
"ROSETTE!" Joshua screamed, and grabbed hard onto her shirt, trying desperately to hold on, but he wasn't strong...and her shirt was poorly made....and thus began to rip.
Chrno's eyes snapped open, and he was up on the rail in a heartbeat, his small body balancing perfectly on the high speed device, leaning over with one hand towards her. "Grab on!"
There was no need to ask twice, as she gripped his hand tightly, praying that he didn't let go.
Joshua gasped, as the fabric ripped in his hands, and he fell backwards abruptly, with half her shirt in his hands. "Ah!"
Chrno gripped her hands tightly in his, and pulled as hard as he could, straining to get her up...but she was about the same weight as he was....
The support from above just suddenly dropped away as she felt herself back in the weightlessness of falling, her stomach rising to her throat.
"Rosette!" Chrno gasped, and didn't even think twice, as he dove off the transport after her.
"Wahhhhh!" Joshua gasped, and leaned over the edge, watching the two bodies fall out of sight as they sped away. "No fair!!!!!!!!!!"
She closed her eyes, her hands flying to the heavy pocket watch, waiting for the ground to come rushing up at her. They may have been high in the air, but everything had a bottom to it… and this one was rising quickly to meet her.
Suddenly, she felt Chrno wrap his arms around her tightly as he caught up to her falling form, and turned his back to the ground. "Rosette! quickly!" He gasped over the rushing wind, fearing it was too late.
She fumbled for the knob, yanking it open as quickly as she could, all the while keeping her eyes closed.
A cart vender on the ground beneath looked up in the sky, watching a small dot grow steadily larger, gasping deeply. "ITS THE END OF THE WORLD!"
The power whipped around them....but as Chrno had feared, it was too late for him to slow their descent, as the ground came up to meet the two of them with a hard impact. Fortunately, his body could handle the blow, and cushioned her so that it only knocked the wind from her. Unfortunately, the ground collapsed a good ten feet in as they made a pretty crater.
Joshua wailed in horror, covering his face. "So young...so young... my poor sister... poor Chrno....so old, living all that time, just to die now."
The hot dog vender stumbled backwards as the meteorite, or what he thought was one, crashed down. When the smoke cleared he slowly approached but upon taking a single look at the demon he turned on tail, running for high waters. "SATAN HAS COME! EVERY MAN FOR THEMSELVES!!"
Rosette gasped for air, her sight blacking and her head reeling. "Chrno, Are you alright?" She choked out, once she was able to speak.
Chrno gave a soft cough, some blood trickling out his mouth, but his eyes opening as his arms slowly released their strong grip from around her. "...un....."
She managed a weak grin." Guess what?" She asked, trying to blink the blackness from her sight as her head slowed its swirling.
"....nani..." He groaned, not wanting to move until his body had healed over the damage he'd just taken.
"I touched the car." She whispered, closing her eyes as she stopped trying to sit up, and just rested her cheek against his chest, relaxing her traumatized body.
"...ah...good for you..." He smiled faintly at that, amused beyond reason that she could still think of only that after just taking that dive.
In the distance one could still hear the Hot dog vender screaming.
He just lay there for several long moments, staring up at the busy sky above them, until he heard whispering mutters from all around them, and his eyes glanced over to see a crowd gathering around them. "Ah...Rosette...?"
She opened her eyes, vision returning along with her breath. "Hai?"
"We have an audience."
Meanwhile, back in the aero car, another passenger leaned over Joshua as he stumbled out of the transport. "You alright son?"
Joshua just wailed, blubbered and sobbed. "A...car...killed her.... "
The man gasped, patting the young boy on the shoulder. "I'm so sorry son… come on….come with me…"
Joshua just howled more, and a few people took pity on him, and knew where he lived, thus escorting him home.
Meanwhile, the blonde girl looked up at the group of people, snapping up from where she was lying, gaping like a fish. What to say what to do?! Normally she left it to imaginative Joshua to make up the stories.
Chrno slowly sat up, groaning a bit, but flexing his wings a bit and feeling his back was mostly healed over from the fall though his shoulder hurt something horrid, but he stood to his feet, still holding Rosette. He glanced around, as people backed up, uncertain what to think. He glanced at Rosette then back up.
Rosette sweatdropped lightly, pointing in the opposite direction. "Look, there's GOD!"
The sad thing was, some people actually DID look. Which gave Chrno enough time to grab her, and simply vanish from sight, re-appearing several paces away, behind a building out of sight.
She immediately turned the knob around right, watching as his form shimmered once more. "We better get to the orphanage before Joshua has a funeral for us."
Chrno groaned in pain as she sealed the watch up, and fell to his knees, gasping for breath, since he hadn't completely healed yet, but he nodded forcing a straight face. "Right..."
"Are you alright?" She leaned over him worriedly, her hand reaching for the watch once more. "You took the brunt of the fall...You can just re-grow yourself a clone body right?"
A huge sweatdrop hung on the side of his head. "A...clone body... I'm not going to even ask what that is...."
She placed a soft hand over his back, feeling the shoulder bone. "Its broken, it needs to be taken care of right away." She looked about for a shred of cloth, before finally realizing that THAT was exactly all that was left of her shirt.
His face turned a bit pink as he realized just how little clothing was left on her. "Uh....."
No wonder they were staring...She thought. "Would you..." She motioned for him to turn around, throwing her arms about her chest.
Chrno flushed, but quickly did so, and began unbuttoning his shirt, and quickly held it out to her, his face still red. "Here."
She nodded her thanks, despite the fact that he couldn't see it, and took his shirt, removing her own and sliding his in its wake. "Now stay still while I set that shoulder.." She said nicely, knowing now that horror stories weren't the only thing she had learned in first aid class.
"It's not really necessary..." He murmured, still a bit red, keeping his back to her.
She shook her head, now a bit curious at if she could do it or not, placing her hands against his bare shoulders lightly. "Its not like you can just rip your arm off and sow it back in place." She argued, ah…or was that zombies who did that...
He blinked back at her. "Well....no not really... but I can heal fast normally..."
She glared at him, "Just shut up and stay still."
Chrno blinked but shut his mouth quickly and turned his head back to face the wall, falling silent."
She used the remains of her old shirt to bind the area, after as gently as possible, pushed the bones back into place. "Even if you did heal fast, that could knit bad." She said, tying the material tightly, before examining him for anymore wounds. "Feel achy anywhere?"
He grit his teeth, as she administered her care, and let out a slow breath as she finished, and smiled up faintly at her. "Ah... it's not bad, I've been through worse... a lot worse."
She looked at him with some worry, before pointing at a distant range of buildings. "The orphanage is that way."
He stood up and glanced that way, then nodded and threw her a cheerful smile. "Let's go then!"
--TBC--