Demon Fever
Disclaimer: same procedure as every chapter... I DON'T own Chrno... geez, people, stop asking and reminding me that I'm not the genius who invented one of the greatest anime ever! ;; cradles Chrno-dolly to her chest
Author's Notes: Thank you again sooooo very much for your reviews! You know, authors live on three things... air, bread, and comments . And very special thanks again to Ari Kitsune who was so kind to proof-red this chapter as well! Arigatou
NightElfCrawler: maybe all the paragraphs aren't necessary, however I found stories written with this kind of separation easier to read than the ones with long paragraphs, so it's simply a question of taste, I guess shrugs
Kali Swifteye: mh... isn't it Chrno instead of Chrono?! The subtitled version of the anime I got spells it without the first 'o' o.O; are there different versions out there?!
YumeTakato: first- hell, do you really think a Chrno-obsessed person like me would kill her favourite purple-haired devil?! I may be a little masochistic, but that would be too much even for me XD. Second, you want fluff? Mh...maybe you'll get it P depends on how the story turns out XD
And thanks to everyone else, too!!
Chapter III
Only someone who's experienced fever dreams for themselves knows how frightening they can be.
They tend to bring out your innermost subconsciousness, playing cruel tricks on your tortured mind, showing you again and again madness, horrors, and fears in an insane mixture of people, places, and emotions.
Paralyzed by the invisible chains of fever and pain, Chrno tried to fight the pictures the dream was revealing to him, confusing in their lunacy. . . .
. . . Rosette, again in the red dress she had been wearing when saving Azmaria, beautiful and radiant, winking and smiling for him, only for him. Her presence soothing him like it always did, forcing him to return her smile. . . .
. . . Only to watch in terror as her face distorted in agony, horns breaking her temples, her screams echoing from the cold walls as her eyes became distant and wide with shock, her features turning into Joshua's
. . . Helplessly seeing both Joshua and Rosette as one being in Aion's chains.
. . . Watching the white devil kissing Rosette again, he felt so weak and powerless. . . .
. . . Staring unbelievingly as Rosette's pretty face lost its contours, changing into that of Mary Magdalene who, strangely enough, wore the Militia's dress. But why was it stained with blood?
Chrno, whose fevered mind couldn't bear this horror any longer and wanted to shake himself awake, tried to move in order to leave the dreamscape tormenting him, however, he failed. Throwing his head back, he screamed in agony. . . .
Rosette, who had been staring at her clenched hands after Remington's news, rose her gaze to look at the purple-haired devil in her bed, who shifted restlessly, his face twisted, as if trying to escape from some unknown horror.
Despite the shaking of her hands, she dipped a cloth into the bowl of water next to the bed and, after wringing it out carefully, placed it onto the feverish devil's forehead.
Her touch seemed to calm him, but only for a moment, then the tossing started again.
"So you say he's going to die?" she said in a voice so low that Remington barely caught it.
Trying to give her some comfort, he placed a soothing hand on her shoulder, but Rosette turned abruptly to stare at him, brushing away his hand in the process.
"I won't let him die! There has to be some way to save him!"
Nothing was left of the resigned, silent girl from some moments ago- Rosette's eyes were blazing fire, and within their blue depths shone the firm determination to do anything necessary to help her demonic partner.
The reverend was almost relieved, however, there was still not much reason for hope, so he kept his serious tone. "There might be a possibility . . . " He shook his head as Rosette's face lit up immediately.
"I said, there might be. According to the Elder, the Epitaph actually shouldn't be fatal, since the bullet, as you told me, only penetrated his shoulder. However . . . " He hesitated, and in the silence filling the distance between the nun and the reverend, the knock on the door sounded even louder.
Their eyes fixed on the Elder, who entered the room after carefully closing the door behind him.
Despite his often perverted manner, he was not completely blind to other people's moods, and after noticing Rosette's eyes, still shimmering with tears, he decided not to check the color of her underwear this time, even though her nightgown would've made the task easier. . . .
The Elder cleared his throat. "I guess the Reverend already told you, didn't he?"
Remington nodded. "Most of it." He turned to face the bespectacled man. "Did you get . . . ?"
Without a reply, the Elder walked toward Rosette and took her hand, silently pressing something cold into her palm.
"What's. . . ?" Somewhere between surprise and fear she looked at the small capsule in her hand.
"That, dear Rosette, is the core of a Spirit."
"The . . . WHAT?!" she shouted and, after realizing that the noise might have woken up the whole convent, she pressed her hand against her mouth. "It's what?!" she whispered from behind her fingers.
"It's what I said. I distinctly remember telling you about the Spirit, that it contains devils. The Epitaph, you know, is not necessarily fatal for our demonic friend here because he wasn't fully hit with it, so theoretically he should recover. Yet . . . "
Just when the young nun had thought to see a ray of hope, the strange stress on the single word 'yet' alarmed her again. "Yet?" Her worry made her irritable and impatient. "Just say what you want to say and stop this pussyfooting! Is there something I can do to save Chrno, or not?" She blushed a little as she realized that she just shouted at the respectable Elder, in Remington's presence at that, however, her distress was bigger.
"Calm down, young lady," the Elder murmured before continuing. "I said that he should. But it's obvious that he doesn't, and I think the reason for this is our location."
Obviously this part was new to Remington too because the blond man's eyes widened. "The convent?"
"Of course. All the spiritual energy around here, all the security systems made for keeping devils at bay. . . . It's clear that this antagonistic atmosphere makes it almost impossible for Chrno to heal properly. Minor injuries, like burns from holy water, may be all right, but wounds like this . . . " The Elder nestled on his glasses nervously. "If he stays here, he won't survive."
Rosette flinched at those harsh words. "But, we can't move him! It'd be too much stress for his body!"
A hint of his trademark grin flickered around the bearded man's lips. "That's why I'm a genius. To regain health completely, he has to use his own recovery abilities. Nevertheless, the demonic energy of a Spirit should help him to get better so we can bring him somewhere else where his demon nature isn't restricted by holy surroundings."
The blond girl simply nodded in reply and sat down next to Chrno on the edge of the bed, taking a glass of water and trying to make him swallow the capsule.
Somewhere in his fever dreams, the purple-haired devil felt her touch on his skin, cool against the whirling heat of his mind, and he tried to snuggle closer to the soothingly cool hand, instinctively sensing that this was the person he trusted completely, even if he couldn't figure out why, or who she was.
So he didn't even consider refusing the quiet order, "Drink this, Chrno," spoken in a familiar voice- if only he knew who this 'Chrno' was- and so he drank.
All at once the fire in his body and soul was dimmed down to a bearable measure, and with a content sigh he slipped back into sleep.
Rosette nodded with a small smile, relieved that Chrno had obeyed her so easily and that the capsule seemed to work.
Then she turned to Remington. "So where do we take him?"
The Reverend pondered the question for a moment, then he shrugged. "It has to be a place with a strong demonic aura, I guess. But I can't think of a place like that, because I'm not too keen on bringing him to Pandemonium."
The Elder seemed clueless too. "Where then?"
"I might know a place like that." Lost in their discussion, the three hadn't noticed the door opening to reveal Sister Kate standing there, looking small in the bath-gown wrapped around her tall frame, yet not without her glasses and the usual aura of authority surrounding the woman.
And she looked angry. "But first I want to know what's going on here. What you all are doing in Rosette's room in the middle of the night?"
"You . . . you're awake?!" Rosette asked unnecessarily, feeling like a school girl caught while doing something forbidden, but then, that's more or less what it was.
"Your yelling was loud enough, Sister Rosette!" Sister Kate cleared her throat and tried not to get in a fit of anger at the fact that the most infamous of her nuns had, once again, broken the rules.
But then again that was nothing unusual, was it? So Sister Kate just sighed and looked around the room, her gaze coming to rest on Chrno's still frame in the bed.
She saved herself the trouble of asking what the devil was doing in the blond girl's room and settled for the simple statement: "He's ill?"
"He got wounded during a mission," the Reverend explained. "And to heal completely he needs a place with a strong demonic aura."
Sister Kate was quiet for a moment, pondering her options. After one look on Rosette it was clear that she'd never just let her partner die, and if she didn't support the young nun, the blue-eyed girl might just recklessly run off on her own to find some cure. Aside from this, Chrno, devil or not, might play an important role in defeating Aion.
So, with a sigh, the hazelnut-eyed nun decided to go against her own principles and her deep-rooted distrust in anything not human. "Do you know why the nunnery was built in this place and not somewhere else?"
Silence was the only reply. "It was built to serve as a seal for a space beneath the area of the convent. A large system of caves that have a distant connection to hell."
From the surprised gasps the two men in the room were uttering, it was obvious that this part of the convent's history had been known to Sister Kate alone.
Remington regained his composure first. "But wouldn't it be very dangerous to open the seal to a place like that?" he asked and interrupted Rosette, who'd opened her mouth to let out a joyful cry.
"That's right," Sister Kate answered. "And that's the reason why we have to consider this carefully." She turned to Rosette. "In opening the gate leading to the caves we might trigger off a catastrophe if any demon manages to get past the seal and into the convent. Sister Rosette, we would endanger all nuns in this nunnery while trying to save one single devil. Is this a risk we can take?"
Sister Kate's tone of voice had told clearly that it wasn't just a rhetorical question, she expected an answer.
The blond nun was silent, pondering the question.
Would she, could she, risk the safety of her fellow nuns for Chrno? She thought of the other girls, remembered the carefree chats during service, the shining faces on Christmas Eve, the laughter on the sunny meadows of the convent. She thought of putting all her friends in danger. For Chrno.
However, Rosette had to discover that her initial reaction didn't change. It might be thoughtless and uncaring, but for her partner, just like for Joshua, she was willing to take any risk.
So, half expecting refusal, she met Sister Kate's gaze and nodded. "I think we can. If we open the seal only for a moment, just long enough so that Chrno and I can get in, and then close it again, we can keep the risk as low as possible."
The older woman looked at Rosette silently, her glasses reflecting the light of the lamp so that it was impossible for the young nun to judge her reaction from her eyes. The girl threw a brief glance at Reverend Remington to see if she got any help from him, but the blond man remained quiet as well, waiting for Sister Kate's reaction.
Finally, the head of the convent nodded. "All right. We shall do as you say. Nevertheless, don't underestimate the danger you're getting into. Due to its connection to Pandemonium, the cave might be full of demons. Even as a Militia it could be difficult down there."
Rosette shook her head, showing that this danger wasn't changing her opinion at all. "When can we go and open the seal?"
For the first time since Sister Kate had entered the room the Elder raised his voice. "If this old man might say something as well, don't wait too long. The Spirit's effect won't last for long, and then it might be too late."
None bothered asking what this 'too late' meant. It was apparent from the Elder's tone of voice. Remington nodded. "All right then. Let's go now before the other girls wake up. It would cause too large an upset if they learn of Chrno's state, or our plan." He looked briefly at his watch. "Dawn will arrive soon."
Under Rosette's pleading gaze, Sister Kate nodded and turned to leave. "So be it. Sister Rosette, get yourself dressed and armed, then we'll take Chrno--"
"No!" Obviously the Elder's medicine had worked better than expected, for the husky whisper interrupting the convent's head belonged to Chrno who, though looking pale and exhausted, sat up in the bed, and had obviously listened to their discussion. "That's too dangerous! We can't!"
"You're awake!" With a relieved cry, Rosette rushed to his side. "How are you feeling?" The devil brushed her worries aside. "Your plan is impossible! No matter what happens to me, we can't endanger the whole convent like that!" He shook his head vehemently, but regretted doing so the next moment, as his weakened body answered to the sudden movement with dizziness and a throbbing headache.
"But the danger is not that great! And what else are we supposed to do? You could die!" Rosette replied, the words coming out louder than she had expected.
"I don't care!"
"But I do!" Rosette's face had turned red in a mixture of anger, impatience, and fear, and Chrno saw to his alarm that her eyes were brimming with tears. Still, he had to refuse her plan. The nuns of the convent had so kindly taken him in despite him being a devil. It was unfair to repay their benevolence by putting them into danger.
Rosette was starting to get desperate. They were, no, Chrno was running out of time, but they couldn't take him down to the caves by force just like that, it might harm his already weakened body only more. Seeing no way out, she looked to Reverend Remington for help.
The blond man caught her pleading glance and moved to stand next to her. "We know about the risks we take. But your health is important to us as well," he said while gently laying a hand on the sick devil's shoulder.
"We can't!" Chrno stubbornly insisted. "I won't come--"
Seeing that words wouldn't work with the amber-eyed demon, Remington sighed quietly before, all at once, delivering a well-aimed blow to the back of Chrno's neck, making his eyes widen, his voice an unbelieving whisper "What . . . ?" before the purple-haired boy collapsed onto the bed, unconscious.
Rosette's confused gaze traveled back and forth between the Reverend and the devil, receiving a wink from the blond man. "Sometimes you have to force people to meet their luck." With that, he picked the limp devil up and headed for the door, followed by the Elder and Sister Kate.
"Sister Rosette, get dressed and take your arms, we'll wait for you in the hall. Let's see if we were right in judging the possible danger."
To be (definitely) continued... though it might take some time. I'm moving into another town soon, so I'll probably be busy.. but I WILL finish this story! (muwaha, that was a threat... you won't escape my horrible writing! X'D)
Mh... maybe I stretched this chapter out too much, but... actually I'm too lazy to shorten it much, so bear with me... argh XD
Hope you liked it. Next chapter, the action starts .