Tears of innocence
Chapter 7: A Dark Journey
"Very well." Chrno said after a pause. "If you want to join the Order, then I agree... just as long as we can go together." He smiled. "They probably won't like to have me there, but I don't care. Like I said, they can't separate us." A demon joining the Order... oh that would be great. Especially if that demon was none other than himself, the so-called 'Holy Maiden's killer'. It would serve them just fine...
Rosette's face brightened at his words, nodding eagerly. "Yes!" She exclaimed. "Even if they could separate us, I would quit the order and look for you. You're my best friend in the entire world!"
Chrno smiled at this, almost despite himself. Her best friend, she said... but then again, what was so wrong about pretending to be her friend? Whether he liked it or not, he had a debt with her... the very least he could do was to make his contractor as happy as he could during the course of her short life. His own plans could wait for later... at least until the right time came.
"Well then, let's go back." He said, standing up. "Unless you prefer to stay in here?" He asked cautiously. Rosette always seemed disappointed every time she had to go back to her home, so he decided that he might as well let her spent the night in there, as uncomfortable as it was. "I could take you there in the morning if you want. The orphanage's building is partially ruined anyway, so it won't be much better than this chamber."
"Really!" Rosette asked, almost not believing her ears. "Can I really stay here with you?" She had no desire of going back to the orphanage for now... she didn't want to face anybody at the moment. The faces of the minister, Mrs. Jean and each of the kids as they stared at her and Chrno with frightened expressions were still very clear inside her mind, and she didn't feel prepared to face them just yet. "If you don't mind too much... I would love to. I won't make any noise, I promise!"
Chrno just nodded, shrugging. "I don't mind. But this place it's a little cold for a human, don't say I didn't warn you."
"Oh no, it's okay, I'm not cold anyway." Said Rosette, rather excitedly. A sort of slumber party in the woods with her best friend... nothing could really be better for her at the moment, except finding Joshua… she quickly pushed that thought away, however. She couldn't allow herself to feel sad... there was really nothing she could do about him, at least for now...
She then took an old blanket and a pillow that she had brought for the orphanage and sat on the floor, next to the stone bed where Chrno had laid asleep for 2 centuries. The floor was very cold and uncomfortable, but she tried to take the best position, and smiled up at him. She was really tired and emotionally exhausted, but she was not sleepy at all... she didn't think she could sleep for even five minutes, no matter how much she wanted to. The events from the last hours were still painfully fresh inside her mind, and it would take a lot of time to put them behind her.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence then, until Rosette finally spoke. "So, umm..." She began hesitantly. "Did you really meet the Holy Maiden?" She asked at last, in a very soft voice, looking down. She wasn't really sure why she had even asked something like that. It was too personal, and Chrno disliked those kind of questions. But she just couldn't stop thinking about the minister's words about Chrno, and it made her very curious, to say the list.
Chrno, however, caught the hidden meaning behind her words immediately. "Just ask what you really want to ask." He said in a low voice. "If you're wondering whether or not I'm the Holy Maiden's killer, like that priest said, just say it out loud." His voice was carefully controlled, but there was a very clear twinge of resentment on it that was not missed by Rosette.
"Ah no, that was not what I wanted to ask!" Exclaimed Rosette, though she lowered her voice immediately. "Well, actually... I really wanted to ask you about it, but I didn't want you to get angry. I don't believe anything the minister says... I already know that you never tell any lies." She took a deep breath, gathering all her courage to ask him what she really wanted to know. "Umm... did the Holy Maiden… do something… bad… to you?" She said, very slowly, her eyes on the floor.
Chrno sighed and sat down next to her, yet still not in close contact, as he leaned back against the base of the stone bed to stare at the ceiling on top of him. His eyes had a far away look that Rosette had never seen before, though she didn't say anything about it, and just waited patiently for him to speak. It wasn't until a whole minute later that Chrno finally spoke, in reply to her question.
"Yes..." He began. "I met the Holy Maiden. It's a long story, but I'll only tell you this: I was not the one who betrayed her. It was her the one that betrayed me and put the seal on me when I... well, it doesn't matter anymore." He made a short pause. "I know that you've probably heard her story several times before... the history book you gave to me mentioned her a couple of times, praising her for being the reason you humans won the Great Battle. But I don't care about that. None of them knew her the way I did." He fell silent at that, gazing sideways at Rosette, waiting for her reaction.
She was silent for a moment, pondering on his words. "I see... well, actually, I don't really know much about her... none of the history books actually say what she was like... but you know, I don't really care about that either. I just won't believe anything those books say anymore." She tried to smile at him, but instead made a face as she shifted on her place once more. The stone floor sure was hard...
Chrno did not miss on any of her reactions, and he sighed for himself. Ah well... he could afford being generous with his young contractor every now and then... "Why don't you come closer?" He said, not directly looking at her. "That place is hard, isn't it? I doubt a human like you can sleep on it."
She looked at him with open surprise. "Really?" She almost couldn't believe this either... he had never been so open to her before. But she certainly couldn't complain, so she got closer to him, and rested her head in his shoulder. "Ah this feels so much better..." She began to say, but interrupted herself as Chrno suddenly took her in his arms and embraced her, allowing her to rest her head on his chest.
She lifted her head to stare at his face, with open surprise, her cheeks warming up. He only frowned at this. "What's wrong? If you don't like it, then…"
"NO, it's okay!" She exclaimed, not allowing him to finish. "This feels... really nice... thank you." She murmured shyly, pressing her small head against his chest once more, feeling the beating of his heart against her cheek. So relaxing... she almost forgot all the horrible things she had suffered that day... the news of Joshua's disappearance, the minister's harsh words about Chrno, the terrifying attack of the demons, the faces of her friends while they stared at her... none of that mattered much to her at the moment. She would think about that later... "Good night, Chrno." She murmured, as suddenly, sleep seemed to wash over her, and she fell asleep in less than a minute, smiling peacefully.
Chrno looked down to stare at her face for a few moments, as he thought about Rosette dying in a few more years. It had never occurred to him, until that moment, to imagine what she would look like when she grew up. Not that it mattered... he couldn't let himself lose sight of his objective, unless he wanted to end up like last time... he couldn't afford that.
He closed his eyes for a moment, pushing those thoughts aside. He was so tired... all he wanted to do now was to forget about everything and just sleep...
It was past 10 AM when Rosette finally opened her eyes and looked around, feeling a bit lost. Where was she? She was so comfortable and warm, but she couldn't remember where she was... it wasn't until she finally looked upwards and saw Chrno's face, that she suddenly remembered everything, as last night's events came rushing to her mind in one painful moment. But she pushed those memories aside for the moment, as she stared at him for a several minutes, remembering the first time Joshua and her had seen him, sleeping inside that dark and creepy room, like a male version of the Sleeping Beauty... she giggled, though she immediately blushed beet red upon remembering the kiss she had given him. Gah, that sure was embarrassing! Well, at least he didn't know anything about that... she sighed.
Chrno's golden eyes opened as soon as he sensed she was awake, and looked down at her with impassible, yet calm eyes.
"Ah... good morning Chrno. Did I wake you up?" She asked, rubbing her eyes, still a bit embarrassed due to her earlier thoughts.
"Not really. I was just waiting for you to wake up." He said, moving her to the side. He stood up, stretching his muscles and his long wings in a very luxurious way, as if he had slept on a feather bed instead of on the cold stone floor, and offered his hand to her.
"Come on now. I can't tell that is very late already. Let's go see that minister already, before he starts looking for us. The sooner you can convince him to let you join the order, the better."
Rosette nodded, smiling and stood up, taking his large clawed hand with her own small one, feeling rather happy, considering the situation she was in. Instead of horrible nightmares, she had the best dream ever... though she could barely remember it now, she knew it had to do with living in the house of her dreams with her husband, a tall and handsome prince... if only dreams like that came true.
It wasn't long until they were both on the air, as Rosette looked around with wide eager eyes. She never got tired of flying... it was the best part of her day, no matter how hard it was...
The night at the partly destroyed Seventh Bell Orphanage had been difficult. The children were very nervous, and couldn't sleep for most part of the night, and those who could had horrible nightmares and woke up covered in sweat and crying. It wasn't until nearly 8 AM when a Militia rescue team finally arrived at the place, apologizing for their late arrival and giving Remington a full report about last night's events. The situation wasn't good... Remington's own Militia team had been attacked on the way there by some Pursuers, who had destroyed everything on sight, before heading straight for the orphanage searching for the Apostle's sister.
Remington was loading some of the children belongings on one of the Order's trucks, when he sensed a demonic presence nearby, and turned around to stare at the sky. He could almost guess who that presence belonged to... Chrno the Sinner. He made a motion for the rest of the Militia team to be on their guard, but to not attack the intruder. Chrno had a contract with Rosette... injuring him would only result in injuries to the young girl, as he would surely use some of her life to heal himself. He gritted his teeth in anger at the thought. By making a contract with the Apostle's sister, he was virtually immune to the Order's attacks, since their first priority would be to protect the girl's life. On the other hand, though, Rosette would be protected by him... demons were fiercely protective of what they considered their possession, in this case, their contractors. At least Rosette would be safe... for the moment, at least.
Just as Remington expected, Chrno soon arrived at the place, landing softly with Rosette in his arms not too far from where he was. Remington made a signal for the other Militia to lower their weapons, and walked slowly and cautiously to where Chrno stood, spreading his arms in a surrendering gesture.
"I knew you would come." He said simply, though his words were not directed at the demon, but at Rosette, who stood defiantly in front of Chrno, as if wanting to protect him. "So, what have you decided, Rosette? What you do from now on is all up to you." His voice was soft, but firm, as he continued to ignore Chrno's presence. It was all Rosette's decision... If she wanted to stay with the demon, and throw her life away... then there was nothing anybody could do for her other than watch her die, as sad as that was.
Rosette frowned, looking down, searching for the best words to say. "Minister... I, um... well... " Argh, just say it, you idiot! She thought to herself. "I wanted to know if... if I could join the order even if I had a contract with a demwith Chrno." She said at last, looking at the minister's face with a half-hopeful, half-defiant look.
Remington was surprised, but said nothing, and just stared at Rosette, and then at Chrno, for what appeared to her like hours, though it really wasn't more than half a minute. When he finally spoke, however, his voice was calm, belaying nothing of what he was thinking or feeling about the matter at hand. "What made you change your mind so suddenly, Rosette?" He said, in a very kind tone, though his eyes strayed at Chrno for a moment. "Last time we spoke about it, you didn't seem to be too convinced."
Ah, drat. Rosette stared at the ground for a moment, feeling a bit embarrassed. Yes, that was true... she hated the Magdalan Order at first, but then, a lot of things had happened that made her change her mind. "Yeah, that's true, but... that was before the demons attacked, and... well... I want to search for Joshua. If I can train to become an 'exorcist' then perhaps someday I can rescue him, or something. Also... well, nobody would attack the orphanage while I'm there, right?" She muttered.
Remington didn't look too convinced with her explanation, however, as he simply stood there, studying each of her reactions before he finally spoke again. "Are you aware that IF you're accepted into the Order, your friend Chrno will have to be sealed again? Nobody at the Order is going to like having a demon roaming free inside our headquarters... and frankly I can't blame them." He said, his eyes meeting Chrno's for the first time.
"What are you planning?" He asked him. "Surely you don't expect us to welcome both Rosette and you into our organization... have you decided to be sealed again?"
"Yes." Was Chrno's firm reply. "I am willing to have my powers sealed, however, I won't let Rosette go. We have decided to join the Order together... and I am willing to offer you my help to fight against Pandemonium. None of you know its weaknesses the way I do... and my information could be valuable to you. We're in a war... and knowing your opponent's deepest secrets could be a powerful weapon that could make the difference between winning and losing it."
The priest's eyes narrowed at this. This demon sure was very clever... he knew exactly what they needed the most at the moment. Information. The battle against demons had gotten a turn for the worse in recent times, ever since Pandemonium had seemed to 'awaken' and continued the battle that human had thought they had already won. It was important to know their weaknesses, before things got even worse.
He sighed in defeat. "Very well, Rosette. You can join the Order. But Chrno will have to be sealed, and he won't be allowed inside the main offices, just the dormitories and the recreation areas. I will need authorization from Sister Kate, the headmistress of the NY headquarters for this first, though, so don't have your hopes too high up. She will need to know about this situation, but I don't guarantee that she will agree with it."
Chrno nodded, looking at Rosette, who nodded as well. Perfect. He didn't know who this 'Sister Kate' was, but he was positive that he could convince her as well...
After this, the minister made a motion for them to get inside his car, but only on the promise that Chrno wore a special kind of restraints that had a holy protection in it, as an extra security measure. Rosette protested angrily against this, but Chrno agreed without much hesitation. Both him and the minister knew that such a thing did not mean much to a demon of his rank. He could break free easily, even inside the Magdalan Order's car, which had a built-in holy barrier inside it that made him a bit uncomfortable, but really didn't affect him much. Nothing could restrain him for long... not unless they use a very large quantity of holy power, which he was sure they didn't have at the moment, especially not after losing their precious Holy Maiden and the Apostle boy, their source of holy energy…
Their trip to NY was long and tiring, especially for a young impatient girl like Rosette, even though she spent most of her time asleep on Chrno's shoulder. The atmosphere inside the car was tense, to say the least. None of the 3 people spoke much... though the minister sometimes made Chrno or Rosette a few silly questions to break the ice, without much success.
They were a few hours away from the city, in the late afternoon, when Remington raised his eyes to look at the front mirror, and saw that Chrno was apparently asleep. He finally decided to make the girl a serious question. "So tell me Rosette." He said in a very low voice, as if not to awake the sleeping demon, even though he knew he probably wasn't completely asleep. Demon's instincts were always alert, and he doubted Chrno was not aware of every word he spoke. But he also knew that at least Rosette would be able to speak up her mind if she believed him to be asleep, so he continued speaking. "Do you know how demons use their Astral energy?" He asked softly.
Rosette immediately leaned forward on her seat, her eyes suddenly interested. "No..." She whispered. "I know that they take their powers off the Astral Line, but that's about it..."
Remington smiled. Perfect. "Yes, they absorb the energy of the Astral Line through their horns, unless they're sealed, like Chrno has been. In those cases they're forced to take the life energy of their contractor and use them to sustain their life. If they can't find a contractor, the demon dies after a certain period of time... but if they find one they can keep using their powers normally, until their contractor dies, usually after 6 or 7 years, depending on age of the person who makes the contract and how powerful the demon in question is." He said softly, expecting Rosette's next question.
"I see... um..." Rosette shifted uncomfortably on her seat, throwing the sleeping Chrno a nervous glance, before she spoke softly. "How long do you think that I can live? I mean, it's not that important, but well… I want to know so I can hurry up and find Joshua before I... well, you know."
"Well, my guess is that you have about 3 or 4 years left. You're very young still, but Chrno is a high ranking demon, and they tend to consume a lot of energy. But then again, you already knew all of this, didn't you?" He said, looking in the mirror to study Chrno's reaction to his words. He still appeared to be asleep, but one never knew... "Anyway..." He said, still speaking in a low, suave voice. "If he's sealed again, then perhaps you can live a little longer..."
Chrno's eyes opened at this, throwing the minister a silent glare. "I say you stop the car right now, minister." He growled, in a low and dangerous tone.
"Why?" Asked Remington, a little defiantly, yet still pretending to be friendly. "We're almost there..."
"Stop the car now, priest. I can sense several Pursuers coming this way. I expect them to come here in a few minutes more... unless you want to keep driving and let them attack us in here?" He said tauntingly.
The car stopped abruptly, and Remington jumped from the car. Damn it! Over the horizon several flying forms could be seen, rushing to their exact location...
"Rosette." Remington ordered, taking his sword. "Stay inside the car!" Damn it. This was going to be hard...
TBC…
Again, I apologize for the long wait. I will try to post a new chapter every two or 3 weeks at most, but sometimes my work and other activities keep me too busy for my own good. sigh
Anyway… THANK YOU very much for all your reviews! I can't believe I have over 100 already! tears of happiness Really, I'm always happy to read your reviews, wish I had the time to answer to all of them! Constructive criticism, especially, is very helpful. Again, thank you very much! If you like this chapter, or hate it, or have something to criticize about, don't be shy, comments are welcome!
See you next chapter!
Ps. I just uploaded an original piece of fiction on called "The Telestial Chronicles". Don't be fooled by the title, it sounds dramatic, but it's actually a mixture of comedy, romance and drama, written by Nightelfcrawler and me. If you like Chrno Crusade, my guess it's that you will like this story as well. Please take a look at it!
Story id: 1861061
