Disclaimer: Blah blah blah…whatever.

Author help: Blah blah blah. Now, since I…uh…am lacking current imagination to keep this story going, it will not be the last chapter. I am asking for ideas…something I swore not to do…oh the shame…so please, answer my pitiful call for help AND HELP ME!!!!! And just so you don't get confused and miss the point, cocotte is a fancy way of saying hooker. Aqua vitae means booze, liquor, beer, alcohol, etc. don't forget! I wrote this while listening to Linkin Park: Meteora. It really helps you get into the Chrono Crusade universe because it describes such an angry, struggling, loving climate…I really like them…too bad they don't have that many CD's…sigh anyway, review!

Chapter 4

3,000 leagues in search of Mother

Chrono:

"So I'm supposed to go in there, talk to her, and convince her to come out and talk?" Chrono asked, hand grasping the wall quietly as he leaned against the heavy stone building. His dad nodded, making Chrono sigh slightly at the simplexes of it. "Fine, but don't you come in." Chrono replied, standing up and walking to the door.

Every step he took on the wooden stairs creaked. He tried tiptoeing just to see if it'd help…and it didn't. It actually made it louder! It was driving him crazy to have to listen to that annoying sound every second he took a step when he was trying to be quiet. Which is why he was glad when he got to the landing, which, thankfully, was made of stone.

With grateful ease, he leapt onto the non-creaking material, cursing the hardwood floor that he had just left. He stared around, trying to recall what was told to him by his dad before he left.

'Room 34…got that?'

"I think he said 32…or was it 34? Maybe I'll just knock on them all…" He said to himself, walking over to the door labeled 31 in peeling gold paint.

Knock

Knock

He rasped on the door lightly with his hand, trying to keep the noise from echoing down the silent halls. Slowly, the door opened, bringing the smell of cats and mold with it.

"Who's there? Ah, what a cute boy. You're not the cocotte I called for are you? You don't really look strong enough…or big enough…" A fat old lady demon dressed in a revealing bathrobe said, her eyes darting downward. He blushed furiously, thanking the Lord silently that no one was around to hear those comments or to see that she was now staring at his…well…it was uncomfortable. He looked away as he saw the lady give a swish of her thin robe, revealing she wasn't wearing clothes underneath it.

"Uh, no…I must have got the wrong door, sorry." He said, turning. As he began to walk away, he felt heavy arms wrap around him tightly, pulling him back.

"Aren't you a cutie? I think you'll do just fine…" The fat lady whispered hoarsely in his ear, sounding like grating fingernails on a chalkboard. He cringed, especially as the hair on her wart touched his face. He grabbed her arms, trying to get himself free as she tightened her grip menacingly, laughing maniacally.

"No you old bat!! Let me go!" Chrono yelled, trying to loosen her grip, though, it wasn't really helping any.

"Haha, looks like I don't need money now!"

"Aaah!!" He struggled harder as he shut his eyes, praying someone would save him.

"Chrono? Is that you, Chrono? Are you my son?" A voice called, making him open one of his eyes slightly. What he saw was a wasting figure, aged but sturdy that stood in the doorway a few doors down, looking at him in amazement and shock. The stomach was a dead giveaway of what her condition was, making her look somewhat scary. "Let him go, you old perv. Your hooker will be here soon enough, now get back in your room and leave my son alone." The woman said, standing firm and staring the woman in the face as her voice rung out harshly.

The lady that had Chrono trapped let go and scuttled back to her room, eeping a little.

"M-mum?"

"It is you, honey! Oh, I'm so happy to see you again!" His mum said joyfully, harsh tones evaporating from her voice as she embracing him tightly, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"How have you been, mum?"

"Oh, I always loved how you said mom. It always had that different sound…like a human British person. None of my other son's have such an odd quality…quite unique, but then again, so are you. Oh, how I've missed you!" She said, leaning against him heavily, nearly making him stumble backwards.

"Mum, why are you living here?"

"We'll talk inside, away from prying ears." She said, letting him go and walking back through the open door. He followed obediently, closing the door behind him. The room was quite bare. No pictures hung from the walls; no light fell upon the dark; there was no scent of food on the air, making him guess that she hadn't eaten in awhile.

"Are you doing okay alone, mum? It looks like you could use some help around here…"

"No, not really. I want nothing more to do with that family of yours. I hate the blood you got from your father so much. If only I had choose someone else to be my partner…but then, I'd never have you." She said, sitting on one of the chairs in the room. He blinked shyly, not really being able to say anything about the subject. I mean, what could he say? 'oh yeah, I hate my blood too. Too bad we can't get rid of it.' Ha! Yeah right!

"So you won't come back with me?" He asked quietly, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall as he tried to make himself comfortable.

"To where?"

"Uh…home?"

"No. I will never go back to that home ever again."

"But mum-"

"Your father put you up to this, didn't he? Well, if you only came here to make me come back, then you can forget about it."

"Mum…what if you came with me somewhere else? What if I got you away from here…took you somewhere else where you can have your kid and raise him decently? Would you come with me?" He pleaded, hoping she would say yes.

"To where? Where could I go now? I don't have a lot of money, and I certainly don't have enough strength to go anywhere right now…"

"What about the human world? I could look after the kid while you go and explore the world, have fun, find a decent place to stay and get your strength back…then I could see you more often!" He said cheerfully, making her smile happily.

"That's what I missed about you, Chrono. Never giving up or letting others condemn themselves to death…" A guilty look flashed over his face, his thoughts flashing back to Rosette briefly. "Would you really do that for me?"

"I would…but I'll need help from my friends. If you're willing, I'll be back after I get things arranged, okay?" He said, standing up and grasping the door handle carefully. His mom nodded, and waved him off.

"Thanks Chrono. You helped me see that even if you have bad blood, you're not a bad person." She said sweetly, though somewhere deep inside he felt the pang of sadness and pain from that comment. He nodded and closed the door behind him with a sigh.

'Oh mum, why do you say that? Why won't you overlook that the man you despise is my father?'

"ROSETTE! YOU GOT ANOTHER LETTER FROM CHRONO!" Azmaria screamed as she tore through the halls, quickly drawing a tag-along group.

"What?! Give it!" Rosette yelled back, snatching the letter from her hand and ripping it open before reading in a loud voice.

Dear Rosette,

Things are going so great here! You'll never guess what happened to me today.

I was nearly molested by an old hag, which really scared me because she's old

And old demons are supposed to be 'moralized'. I've heard of old and young relationships,

But that was ridiculous! Oh yeah, and I talked to mum today.

Glad to see not much has changed. She still judges me by my blood, oh yeah, and she's

Still living in poverty. I offered to find her a place to stay in the

Human world, so I'll be gone a little longer. Hope your holidays go well, since

Mine is gonna be like crap here. Hey, I gotta go, Dad's fighting with

Shader again and it's getting bad, catch ya later!

Chrono

Rosette finished reading the letter with a laugh. What an optimistic spirit he had when he was bored. She sighed and folded up the letter, tucking it in her pocket with a sigh. Oh well, if things were going good, then he might be home for Christmas.

"Ugh…maybe we shouldn't party so hard…with such hard liquor…" Chrono mumbled as he woke up, rubbing his head as he rolled over on the table and sending several aqua vitae bottles to the ground in a tinkle of breaking glass.

"But…that'd ruin the fun…" Jenai moaned back from his lopsided position of half in the chair and half on the ground. Chrono propped himself up on his elbows and groaned. HIS HEAD HURT. They had nearly depleted the alcohol supply that dad had stored up…but it's not like they cared. Chrono swung his legs a little, trying to get the feeling back in them as they hung off the table.

"What happened last night?" he asked, closing his eyes and leaning backwards on his elbows.

"Ugh…we drank a lot…then we…uh…I dunno, ask Aion…" Jenai said, rolling off the chair and on to the floor where he snored loudly.

'It's a good thing Rosette isn't here…' he thought as he slipped off the table onto his feet and looked around in the dim lighting. He took a few unsteady steps, before he felt something hit his foot.

"Aion?"

"You didn't have to kick me in the head…" He replied groggily, rubbing his head slightly and propping himself up against the wall. Chrono was about to respond, but when he opened his mouth…

"Oh gross! Did you really have to barf on me?!" Aion said, trying to brush some off his shirt and hands, though he was failing. Chrono wiped his mouth, smiling inwardly.

"Uh…sorry. Didn't expect that…but do you know what we did last night?" He asked, feeling his stomach give another lurch and barfed some more.

"Maybe I'll tell you when you stop puking on me." Aion said, moving out of the way as the second round of vomit hit him squarely in the face.

"Right, sorry again." Not really… "Now what did we do last night?"

"Well I'll tell ya, you sure know how to party." Aion said, laughing slightly as he saw Chrono's worried face. "Don't worry, you didn't do anything you'd regret…that much…"

'Oh no…' Chrono thought, imagining the worst.

"What do you mean 'that much'?" He asked, fearing the answer.

"Why don't you ask Rizelle? I'm sure she'd remember…" Chrono's face paled in the dim lighting, making Aion laugh harder. "Oh my, looks like you can't take a joke." Chrono stiffened.

"So I didn't…?" Aion shook his head, making Chrono let out a sigh of relief. "Well…what are we going to do today?"

"Well…you said you were gonna go look for a place for mom to stay…don't you remember?" Aion asked, looking up at Chrono as he smiled slightly.

"Um…no, not really. But…I guess I'll go then…" Chrono said, moving towards the door and opening it. Receiving several groans and mumbles from disgruntled demons as the light shone in, Chrono shut the door and moved off.

End Chapter 4, 3,000 leagues in search of mother

Hello! It's me again! Instead of a really long and boring note, I have one simple question to ask you. I was reading in the paper where a teenage boy and his father dragged six girls from Wichita, Kansas across the borders into Oklahoma and forced them to become prostitute's for their own sick enjoyment. They would make truck drivers pay $400-$500 dollars for one night. One girl tried to escape and was murdered, but they found the girls in Oklahoma City where authorities discovered them. The boy and his father are under charges and will face life in prison if they are convicted, which leads to my question. If you were one of those girls, would you become a prostitute to live, or keep your morals and die? Please review and tell me because this is something that came as an odd question to me…what is life without morals? But what are morals without life?