"I just can't believe it," cried Sister Kate as she slammed the manila file onto her desk. "The ENTIRE park… destroyed. The people barely made it out alive! What do you have to say for yourself Sister Rosette?"

Rosette held her hands behind her back and smiled sheepishly at Sister Kate. "Well, it's not what it seems. I mean, isn't it more important that I defeated Anixiel and-"

"Sister Rosette," Sister Kate said with exasperation while emphasizing each word. "I would have preferred if you defeated the demon without destroying ANYTHING." The head nun's voice raised an octave with the last word. She sighed again and folded her hands together.

"Sister Kate," chimed an extremely suave voice in an English accent. "In the case at hand, it wasn't actually Rosette's fault at all; rather, faulty engineering on the Elder's part."

Father Remington kept his gaze toward the outside as he spoke. He held a teacup in his hand and sipped it quietly. The steam from the cup rose slowly and only seemed to be accentuated by the dim, morning light that was filtering through the large window. After taking another slow sip, Father Remington turned around to face the two sisters and smiled charmingly at both.

"Perhaps we should be thanking Rosette for testing out such an efficient weapon."

Sister Kate jumped to her feet as her hands rested on her desk. "We should thank Sister Rosette for testing Azrael's Wrath," she scoffed. "The Elder had barely finished the weapon when Sister Rosette decided to take it for her own use." The head nun's voice was beginning to rise again. "Had Rosette not taken the weapon the disaster in Cortland County would never have happened. I'm convinced that Anixiel could have been dispatched with a Gospel."

"But Sister Kate," Rosette protested as she stepped closer to the large desk. "Anixiel had found some way to remake his horn. He was calling upon the power of the Astral Lines. I don't think a Gospel would have stopped him!" Her chest heaved as she spoke and her hand was balled in a determined fist. "Sister Kate," Rosette said breathily. "I did what I had to do. I'm sorry that the park burned down, I'll start writing letters of apology immediately. But I can't say that I'm sorry that I used Azrael's Wrath on Anixiel. I just can't."

Sister Kate sighed and returned to her chair. "Sister Rosette…" she trailed off and shook her head. "You are to report to the Elder and inform him on the effects of his Penitence bullets. Tell him he is to redesign the bullet so that it does NOT cause its recipients to explode in a fiery blaze."

Father Remington smiled and walked over toward Rosette. He placed his teacup on the corner of Sister Kate's desk. "Come on, I'll go with you."

Rosette smiled. "Thank you Sister Kate." The young girl practically bounded out of the room and was just about to close the door when she peeked back in. "I'll get those apologies out right away too!" And with that she closed the door and made her way to the Elder's workshop with Father Remington.

-

Aion was perched atop the spires of one of the older churches in New York. The cold January wind gusted through his silver hair and caused his ponytail to whip out behind him. He rested his elbow upon his bent knee and held out his forearm for his messenger bird to rest upon.

"You've done well," he said in a wickedly low voice as the bird landed upon his arm. Aion looked out upon the city that seemed to shimmer like a diamond in the night. The bright lights of the buildings shone through even the thickest of fogs, even the one that had overtaken the city on this very night.

"I'm surprised that the Order hasn't realized that anything's amiss," he smirked and looked at the bird. "No matter, their folly shall be my gain. Rosette will be with her brother again and I shall regain my most loyal supporter." He reached up a hand to stroke the dark feathers upon the bird that remained eerily still as his gaze fell upon rooftops of the hazy city.

-

"You say Anixiel exploded in a fiery mass, hrm?" The old man in the odd spectacles was bent over a microscope-like device as he gazed intently at the empty shotgun shell.

Chrno nodded solemnly. "He was burning from the inside out, but instead of turning into ash he … well…"

"He burned down the entire park," Rosette interrupted as she barged into the Elder's workshop with Father Remington close behind her.

"Ah Rosette," said the Elder as he straightened himself up. "I heard that it was YOU who burned down the park, actually. Good job." The old man smirked sarcastically at Rosette as she waggled his eyebrows.

"Shut up you old perv!" Her shrill voice echoed in the small roam. Chrno winced at the sound.

"Now now, Rosette," said the Elder calmly. "If you're a good girl I'll modify the shells for you to use in the future."

Rosette's eyes brightened at the idea and she clasped her hands in front of her chest. "That would be jake! I can't wait to Azrael's Wrath again!" An almost wicked glint entered her gaze as she stared ahead, her mind racing with images of fallen demons.

"Of course, being a good girl means letting me fondle your breasts." The Elder reached out two hands toward Rosette's chest and made a squeezing gesture. Rosette narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"YOU FILTHY PERVERTED," she smacked his hands away from her body. "GOOD FOR NOTHING," she stepped forward and pushed her sleeves up her arms. Chrno and Father Remington each grabbed onto an arm and tried to hold her back. "LECHEROUS OLD MAN!" Rosette's chest heaved angrily after her tirade but she was no longer making any advances toward the Elder.

The Elder however smiled brightly. "You know, your breasts look so voluptuous when you're breathing heavily." He smirked at her and let out a wicked chuckle.

"THAT'S IT!" She rushed forward but Father Remington and Chrno had already begun to drag her outside.

"We'll be back later, Elder," yelled Chrno as he left the workshop with Rosette in tow.

"Yeah we'll be back," Rosette muttered. "Back to pound your head in you perverted old perv!"

Rosette struggled against Father Remington and Chrno's grasp, but the two men would not let go of her until they were a good distance away from the Elder's workshop which wasn't until they reached the fountain in the center of the courtyard. Rosette sat angrily upon the edge of the fountain and Chrno took his place beside her, smiling peacefully.

"That old man, I swear, one day I'm gonna," she gritted her teeth and balled her hand into a fist and shook it angrily. Chrno smiled sheepishly at Rosette.

"It's a good thing he's such a good inventor otherwise you would have pummeled him a long time ago."

Rosette couldn't help but smile at Chrno and nodded. "Yeah… he is. Guess I can't kill him yet." The young girl looked up at Father Remington and smiled. "Have you all found out anything about how Anixiel recreated his horn?" Her angry demeanor from before had subsided to reveal one that was more serious and in every respect, more mature.

Father Remington crossed his left arm over his stomach and rested his elbow on the top of his left hand as his right hand stroked his chin.

"No, we haven't," he said thoughtfully. "Though we did retrieve his artificial horn from the scene; it was one of the only things that wasn't damaged in the fire."

Rosette's eye twitched.

Father Remington's lips curled into a slight smirk. "We're currently testing it to find out what it's made of exactly. I'm sure we'll get some answer in a few days or so."

Chrno looked up at Father Remington and sighed. "You know, I've never heard of any way that a devil could regrow his horn. I don't have a good feeling about this. It feels like," Chrno trailed off and glanced at Rosette. "It feels like Aion is behind this somehow."

Rosette looked over at Chrno and pursed her lips. "If Aion is behind this then…" She rose to her feet quickly as an odd expression crossed her face. "You know… I'm suddenly hungry. Come on Chrno." She reached down and grabbed the small demon's hand and dragged him to his feet. "Let's go get something to eat. See you later, Father Remington!" And with that Rosette made her way to the dining hall with Chrno in tow.

- In the dining hall -

Chrno sat next to Rosette as she ravenously attacked the pile of food sitting in front of her. It was as if she had literally taken all the food from the kitchen and was now eating it. Not just some of it or a little bit of it, ALL of it. From the chicken pot pie to the shrimp patties; stuffed mushrooms to Caesar salad, Rosette was eating it all.

"Oh my god, Chrno," she said in between heaping mouthfuls. "I don't remember the food ever tasting this good! Did we get a new cook?" She blinked at Chrno as she took a bite from her apple pie.

Chrno looked up from his soup which he had been sipping quietly while Rosette ate. "I don't think so. This tastes the same to me."

"Lel hit tasthes gud do me," she said with a full mouth of food before swallowing and taking a large swig of the juice that sat to her right. She sighed loudly but contently as she looked at the food in front of her and smiled, her eyes still twinkling with hunger.

Chrno cocked a brow and pushed his half-empty bowl of soup away from him. "I think I'm full," he said softly though his face clearly exhibited the confusion over Rosette's sudden appetite. "She probably hasn't eaten since our mission last night," he thought to himself as he looked at her.

Rosette smirked and eyed his soup. "Are you… going to eat that?"

Chrno shook his head. "No I think I-"

"Thanks!" Rosette quickly grabbed the bowl of soup and began to drink the broth directly from the bowl, foregoing the spoon. "Mmmm, chicken noodle." She slurped up a long noodle with a smack. "My favorite."

"How can someone as cute as Chrno have such a sloppy partner," said Sister Anna from the next table over. She, Sister Claire, and Sister Mary had all stopped their own meals to watch Rosette in awe.

Rosette's eye twitched just as she was about to eat a large spoonful of Shepherd's Pie. She looked up at Sister Anna and glared.

"Ah… Rosette," Chrno began sheepishly. "Maybe now's not the time…"

"Sister Anna." Rosette emphasized each word slowly. "I don't think you EAT ENOUGH!" With that said Rosette pulled back her spoon and flung the Shepherd's Pie straight at Anna. It flew through the air and landed on Anna's forehead staying there for a moment before it started to slide down. Rosette started to laugh maniacally.

"HA! WHO'S THE SLOPPY NOW, HUH!"

Claire and Mary had managed to take cover under the table just as Anna wiped the food off her face angrily. Her red hair only accentuated the anger in her eyes just as the young sister picked up a plate of rice and flung it at Rosette. The rice landed on Rosette's chest and Chrno couldn't help but chuckle softly. Rosette glared at him.

"If you don't help me I'm never going to speak with you again!" Rosette's face flushed with malice as she spoke. She didn't even notice the huge clump of mashed potatoes that Anna had already sent through the air towards her. It landed right on her cheek and Chrno slid out just before it would have dropped onto his pants.

Rosette turned toward Anna and began to fling anything she could grab at the other sister. Anna in turn was throwing more and more food at Rosette. It was a battlefield and Chrno knew he had to escape. He started to make his way to the doors by crawling underneath the tables, keeping well out of harm's way. Occasionally he'd see some food landing near him or hear it splattering against some furniture. He also heard the sound of breaking plates and angry screams and while this would have distracted anyone else, Chrno kept on his path. He had almost reached the doors to the dining hall, the doors to his freedom, when they began to open slowly.

"Rosette," cried Azmaria as she held her songbook close to her chest. "Rosette are you in here?" Azmaria's eyes widened as she spied Anna and Rosette throwing food at one another. The girl was like a deer in headlights as a stray mashed-potato projectile was headed towards her.

"Get down," cried Chrno in what seemed to be slow-motion. He ran as quickly as he could toward the scared Apostle and just when it appeared that the mashed-potato would hit Azmaria in the face, Chrno had grabbed her around her waist and pulled her down to the ground. The attack landed upon the large, mahogany doors with a splat just as Sister Kate appeared in the doorway, face painted in shock and horror at the sight that met her eyes.

"ROSETTE!"