Return of Time
4 of ?
AN: Why? Hmmm… I'm starting to wonder. To remind everyone why, because I thought it would be fun. Chapter Two has my rationale. To quote myself, "'And a Sinner shall love a Holy Maiden, in all her forms and glory. The first but a taste, the second a brief delight, and the third will bring lifelong happiness. Twice as a demon and the last as a Maiden himself. A holy seal will change him. And he will love me again.'" Chrno becomes a girl, because Sister Mary Raphael chose to use the Trinity Seal, a seal which sacrifices the Sealer and makes the demon human and therefore limits them to a human lifetime, thus fulfilling the prophesy of Mary Magdalene. The only reason that Father Remington and Sister Margaret, whom you'll meet soon enough, agree to this is because Rosette's watch, the one signifying their contract, started to tick again. The watch started to tick around sixteen years before the events in chapters one through four, making the reborn Rosette, whatever his name, sixteen at the time of the sealing and when he is finally introduced in a few chapters, just turned nineteen. I hope this clears things up.
Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence.
Enigma - Return to Innocence.
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Sleepy crimson eyes opened to white. It took a moment of blinking for Chrno to realize that she had been staring at the ceiling. Turning her head slightly, she took in the features of the small room. There was a small wooden desk and matching dresser, a small chair and a crucifix over the door. Chrno shivered and pulled the woolen blanket closer to her chin.
There were quiet footsteps outside, before the door opened admitting a tall blonde haired man that she remembered was a priest and a friend. She also had this vague feeling that she should be mad at him. "Ewan."
The priest smiled, "Chrno. I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you awake." He sat on the edge of the bed. "You had us worried."
"How long have I been asleep?"
Carefully weighing his words, Ewan spoke softly, "A long time."
Chrno pursed her lips and glared at him. "How long Ewan?"
Ewan flinched. "Like this, three weeks. As you were before," he spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness, "I'm not supposed to tell you."
Chrno buried herself further beneath the blanket until only the top of her head was visible. "Why not?"
Ewan smiled at the child-like behavior, no doubt learned from Rosette. "Because you don't remember what happened before. At least not all of it."
There was a low growl before Chrno sat up throwing her pillow at Ewan. "I know enough to know who you are."
"But what else do you remember?"
Chrno was silent for a few minutes, her delicate features scrunched up in thought. "Rosette. She was my partner, I think, or lover. One of the two." Seeing that Ewan's eyebrows were trying to vanish into his hairline, she hurried to explain. "I just remember telling her that I loved her. That and us fighting evil demons." She paused for a moment, her cheeks pink. "And I remember Sister Kate always yelled at her for wreaking the Order's cars. Rosette liked to call her an 'old hag'."
Ewan blinked several times, before he laughed lightly. "Anything else?"
Chrno ducked her head, her bangs covering her expression. "No. Not really." She raised her head as a thought occurred to her. A smile touched her lips. "Oh, and I'm a demon." Her smile faded into a frown. "Which is not necessarily a good thing." She twisted the blanket in her hands, another habit learned from Rosette. "It's bad isn't it."
Ewan pulled the small half demon holy maiden into a hug.
Chrno started to cry into his chest. "Why don't I remember anything? What happened to me? Why can't I remember?"
"Give it time Chrno. Everything will work out in time."
Chrno shoved away from him and flung herself onto her pillow. Absently her distraught mind noticed that it still smelled softly of wildflowers and strawberries. "Where are you Rosette? Why aren't you here?" She screamed into the pillow. "Rosette!"
Ewan placed a hand in the middle of the small girl's back. Tears flowed silently down his cheeks. He hadn't realized how hard this would really be on his friend. Chrno was missing the other half of his soul. "I'm sorry." Standing he moved to leave. "I'll find Rosette for you. I promise."
There was a soft sniffle as he was closing the door.
"Thank you."
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"The symphony?" Chrno looked up at her blond friend a few days later, uncertain if he were joking or not. "You want me to go with you to the symphony?"
Ewan smiled and nodded. "I hear that they do a lovely rendition of Beethoven's 9th Symphony."
Chrno blinked up at him. They had been sitting quietly gossiping on the edge of the courtyard fountain, when Ewan had suddenly spring this on her.
"I thought a change of scenery might help cheer you up."
The small demon nodded uncertain. "I've never been to the symphony before."
"You'll enjoy it. I promise." Ewan stood and shook out the long tails of his cassock. "And next week there's a play I want you to see."
Chrno's expression softened as she laughed softly. "You were so sure I'd say yes weren't you?"
Ewan grinned wolfishly. "Of course. And I have tickets already for a musical, for when you come back for a visit in six months."
Chrno sighed and rolled her eyes at her old friends behavior. "And what did Sister Elizabeth say to this plan of yours?"
"Only that I should be careful of your 'delicate health'. And that we are not to do anything 'too exciting'. So we're going to the symphony."
Chrno arched an eyebrow. "So who else is going?"
Ewan tried to look innocent. "What makes you think that someone else is going with us?"
Chrno gave him a sideways look before rolling her eyes and looking off into the distance. "Given our track records, I doubt that they would let us go by ourselves." She heard Ewan sigh as he started to walk away. Feeling remorseful she turned towards him and asked quietly, "So what time should I be ready?"
"Four. We have dinner reservations at five-thirty." He looked over his shoulder and was struck by the sadness he saw covering her features. Shrugging, he smiled softly. "If you must know, Joshua and Azmaria are going with us."
Chrno's entire face lightened at this news. "Azmaria?"
Ewan sighed in relief. "She arrived from Chicago just this morning."
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It was a quarter after four, before Ewan became worried. Chrno still hadn't come down from her old room. Grabbing a young nun who was just about to enter the dormitory, he asked her to go check on Chrno.
The young girl smiled at him, nodded and headed off. When she was out of his sight she shivered. "That man is entirely too handsome. And who does he have in that old room?" She shook her head in confusion. As far as she could remember the room that the priest had directed her to was reserved for the sleeping demon Chrno and his old partner Sister Rosette Christopher, the famous exorcist pair from the twenties. Reaching the door she knocked softly, asking softly for permission to enter.
In response the door opened, and the young sister was awestruck by the beauty of the crimson eyed angel standing before her.
"Umm… did Father Remington send you?" Chrno's cheeks were stained a heavy red in embarrassment.
The other girl shook her head slightly to clear it. "Yes he did." She smiled softly. "I'm Sister Jasmine Sintonia." Looking the Japanese beauty over she sighed. Chrno was wrapped in a towel, her long black hair loose and tangled around her. Looking behind the other girl she saw clothes piled in complete disarray on the bed. "I think this is going to take a little bit of work."
"Anything you could do." Chrno's smile was self-depreciating. "I'm afraid I don't know too much about this kind of thing. Men's clothes I can figure out, but this..." she shrugged helplessly.
Sister Jasmine moved past the other girl and started to sort through the clothing pile. "So, what's your name? Father Remington didn't tell me."
"Chrno, or Sister Mary Raphael. Either way."
Jasmine blinked for a moment, a pair of black stockings hanging from her hand. "Like the demon Chrno?"
Chrno pulled the stockings from the younger woman's hand. "I am the demon Chrno. Mostly. From what I can tell, physically I'm half Chrno and half Mary Raphael. In everything else," she shrugged, "I'm just Chrno."
"Ain't that something." Jasmine shook her head and muttered to herself as she pulled out a red dress that she had noticed. "Here. A pretty dress to match your pretty eyes."
Chrno smiled softly as she took the dress. "Thank you."
"No problem." She turned her back and started folding the rest of the clothing. "Now get dressed and I can do your hair."
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Sintonia - Italian - meaning Sympathetic, in sympathy with another