Return of Time

Ch 6 of ?

AN: Mmm… You think you know who Rosette is… well you're wrong. He isn't here yet. The reborn Sister Kate is though. And, I am introducing two new characters into Chrno's world and giving you a teaser here in my AN.

Chrno smiles. "YEY! You finally get to meet my roommates. They are so… so… well energetic. But they are nice. Really. Oh, and to let you know, my only love interest is Rosette."

Russet-haired half-demon pops in behind Chrno and hugs her. "It had better be Chrno."

Chrno looks up and smiles. "Rosette!"

"Must you call me that."

"Yes."

He rolls his golden eyes and laughs. "On with the story."

For disclaimer see chapter 1.

We lived our lives in our paradise,
As gods we shaped the world around.
No borderlines we'd stay behind,
Though balance is something fragile.
Within Temptation - Forsaken

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Six months after arriving in Chicago, Chrno stumbled into her dorm-room, collapsing onto her bed. She was grateful for the silence that the absence of her roommates brought. Sister Elizabeth had had her locked in the basement training room for the past two days, with only her twin blades and a live low-level demon in addition to the standard false specters. It didn't matter to her that she had received high enough marks to rejoin the Militia, all she wanted to do right now was sleep and get rid of her headache.

But sleep was not meant to be as the loud voices of her lively roommates filtered through the door.

"I'm telling you, they locked her up and threw away the key."

"Not possible Julian. She's just gone for training. I overheard Sister Elizabeth talking about it with Sister Azmaria."

The door opened to reveal the two girls, one a brunette, the other a red head.

"But Kathleen!"

Sister Kathleen Mistear shoved her brunette partner into the room. "Honestly Julian Chara you know better than to listen to rumors." She grinned wickedly. "It's much more fun to start them."

Chrno glared at the two girls from under the dark safety of her blanket. "Could you two just be quiet for once. My head hurts."

Julian quickly shut the door behind her, plunging the room once more into darkness. "Sorry." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I know what it's like. I get migraines all the time."

Chrno was unfamiliar with the word. "What's a migraine?"

"You've never had one before?"

"Not that I know of. What is it?"

Julian signaled Kathleen to look for her migraine medication. "It's like a really bad headache, where light and sound sometimes make you sick. And all you want to do is go hide in a dark room with no sound until it goes away."

Kathleen gave a small squeak of triumph when she found her partner's painkillers in her underwear drawer. She tossed the small bottle to Julian and grabbed a water bottle from the top of her dresser. Untwisting the cap, she handed it to Chrno. "Careful it's open."

Chrno thanked the two of them after taking the pills.

Kathleen shrugged. "It's no problem. Julian gets them all the time, so we know pretty well what to do with them."

Julian shook her head. "So says the woman who never gets migraines."

"I did get them when I first learned how to Dive."

"That's not the same."

"How?"

Julian thought for a moment. "Different triggers?" Sitting on the bed next to Chrno she pulled the tiny girl's head into her lap and started to rub her temples.

Kathleen soon followed suit by sitting on the other end of the bed and messaging Chrno's ankles. "Have you ever Dived before Chrno?"

The half-demon shook her head slightly. "No. But I have had someone Dive into me before."

"Really? Who?"

"Mary Raphael and a long time ago, my partner Rosette."

Julian gasped in amazement. "What did it feel like?"

Chrno smiled sadly. "I don't remember. I only know about it because Ewan, Father Remington, told me about it."

Kathleen patted the foot that she held. "It's because of the Trinity Seal that you can't remember, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"What did it do to you?" Julian asked.

"It made me half human and gave me a new life." Chrno held up the softly glowing pocket watch. "So I can be with Rosette again."

"That's really sweet." Julian smiled. "I'm a sucker for a good old fashion love story."

"So am I." Kathleen placed a hand over her heart. "We'll help you find her. I promise."

"Me two." Julian hugged Chrno's head. "Looks like you have two new partners for a while Chrno."

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"Do you know how much that car was worth?" Azmaria sighed. Being the director of the Chicago branch was difficult enough on a good day, without this. "Three cars this year alone. I'd hate to see what the total would be if we added in Rosette."

The small girl cringed back in her chair. "I'm sorry Az." Her crimson eyes were downcast. She didn't think that telling her old friend that she had never wrecked a car herself before yesterday would help her case. It's not like she could help it that being a high-ranking half-demon attracted legions of low-class brainless scum. She glared at the rosary around her wrist. If it weren't for it, she'd remember, she was sure of it. She'd know why they called her, 'Sinner', 'Killer', and 'Traitor'.

"You've been given clearance to loosen the Seal."

Chrno blinked at Azmaria in shock. "I can?"

Azmaria smiled, glad that she had at least temporarily driven away her friend's dark thoughts. "Sister Elizabeth and I, both, believe that you have recovered sufficiently to be able to handle your demon form. So you are officially authorized to loosen the Seal on missions from now on."

Chrno smiled brightly. "Thank you."

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"Chrno!" Azmaria started to gesture emphatically at the cargo on the flatbed Simi truck. "Didn't we just have a talk about you wreaking cars last month."

The shorter girl shook her head, as she held up her hand and started counting on her fingers as she spoke. "One. I did not wreck the car, the demon did. Two. I was no where near the car when it did that. Three. I did not aim it for the car when I hit it. It landed a good ten feet away. And four." She waved her hand at the wrecked car and the now stone demon attached to it. "I froze it before it could do anything. Besides flatten the roof and break the windows."

Azmaria sighed. Now she felt that she was beginning to understand Sister Kate's perpetual agitation. "Just be more careful next time Chrno. I don't want your record to start looking like Rosette's."

Chrno smiled at her old friend, before something unusual caught her eye. Reaching behind her, she pulled her ponytail over her shoulder and stared at it in confusion. "Why is it purple?" She looked up at Azmaria's amused giggle. "Azmaria? Do you know why my hair is purple? It was black this morning."

Sister Elizabeth having overheard her student's question answered for the Director. "Because you loosened the Seal for the first time today."

"But why purple?"

"Because your hair used to be purple before the Sealing." Sister Elizabeth reached out and tucked a stray hair behind Chrno's ear. "It was the one aspect of this that we had forgotten. We only realized that something like this would happen after you woke last year. I'm actually surprised that it took this long for it to manifest further. There are obvious differences. Mary was only four foot six, you're five foot. You have violet hair and crimson eyes, hers were black. And…" She touched one of Chrno's ears and fingered its gentle point. "Your ears have changed to what they were when you wore your human child form in the twenties."

"So all of these differences are because of my demon blood?"

Sister Elizabeth smiled minutely. "Basically."

"Will I change more?"

"Most likely not." Elizabeth shook her head. "Now that you've loosened the Seal, the physical changes should be complete. You are now as you will be for the rest of your life."

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Mistear - Gaelic - Cunning

Chara - Greek - Joy