Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade (c) Daisuke Moriyama, not me, fortunately for all concerned.

Auramistealia: Thanks for the comment, and beta reading, even though you've been very busy lately. Lol, you've got more of a life then I do.

kyanightdragon: I haven't given up on it. :)

NightElfCrawler: I'm glad this fic captured your curiosity. I hope this chapter adds to it.

Sephyrah: I'm glad you liked it, so far. I hope you like this chapter as much as the last.

bamfling: You and your aversion to short chapters, lol. :P

Dark Magician Girl Aeris: Nice enthusiasm, lol. :) Sorry this was so long in coming.

Namster: I stayed true to the characters? (Big anime shiny eyes) I'm very happy to hear that...I still feel like I don't have them down right.

Trin-dono: All good questions. Don't worry, there will be answers. Lol, there's not going to be giant plot holes. I like Chrono in the manga better, but that follows, since I like the manga better then the anime. At the time I wrote the last chapter I had read more manga then seen the anime, so my basis of his character was from the manga. Glad you liked it. :)

Thank you all for reviewing! Your comments seriously helped me get back into Chrono-Crusade-Writing-Mode.

xxx

Chapter 2: Confession

Chrono entered the refectory and searched the room for Father Remington. He spotted the priest already seated and calmly eating his breakfast while a group of female novices stared at him from a nearby table.

The purple haired demon rolled his eyes. The female population of New York City's Madeleine Order was not exactly subtle in their...admiration for the young Father. Even Rosette exhibited what Chrono felt were inappropriate feelings for the man.

Chrono's eyes narrowed as he thought of that. He realized he was now glaring at Remington and quickly stopped, his face heating up at his unfounded jealousy.

What did he have to be jealous of anyway? Who cared if Rosette had a crush on the unattainable priest? Certainly not him.

Shaking his head, as if to clear away these thoughts, Chrono started walking towards the Father. He felt eyes on him and knew that he was attracting the attention of half the room. To see him without Rosette was always an oddity among itself, and he knew they were wondering what would happen if she wasn't around to keep him under control.

Which was ridiculous. The only time he ever went berserk was when Rosette was around and somehow had managed to put her life in danger. Considering Rosette did this regularly, it was a miracle Chrono wasn't perpetually in a demonic rage. And even then, he targeted whomever (or whatever) had attacked the impulsive sister.

But logic had never been the strong suit of the suspicious, and as he walked towards Remington Chrono did his best to gave the impression he had come to wear almost constantly; the look of a shy, intimidated, little twelve-year-old boy.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, hunched his shoulders, put a nervous smile on his face, and managed to look clumsy as he approached his destination.

The act paid off. After a few seconds of openly staring at him, the occupants of the room turned away and went back to whatever they had previously been doing. He could feel the atmosphere relax considerably as the stressful auras of the various nuns, monks, and priests dimmed.

By the time he reached the Father, who was on the other side of the refractory, most had forgotten he was even in the room.

Remington looked up from his breakfast. "Oh, hello Chrono."

"Hello Father," returned Chrono.

"Is something the matter? You and Rosette were to have a meeting with me in," Remington paused and looked up at the clock that hung by one of the exits. "Eleven minutes."

"I think Rosette is ill, and I wanted to tell you she won't be able to attend the meeting and probably won't be able to do whatever assignment you were going to have us do."

"That was very considerate of you, Chrono. Is she alright? Does she need to go to the infirmary?"

"I don't think so. She looks like she just needs more rest, but Azmaria has informed Sister Kate."

"Ah, with Sister Kate on the job, I'm sure Rosette will be fine." Remington smiled, clearly picturing the authoritative Sister demanding that Rosette get well.

"I hope you can find replacements in time," said Chrono, started to edge away.

"Hm...I don't see any reason why you couldn't do it Chrono." the Father mused, unconsciously tapping his fork against the plate while contemplating this.

Chrono stopped in his tracks. He never went on missions alone. He didn't think he was allowed to, though he had never ventured to ask. "Alone?"

"You needn't go alone...I know!" Remington's eyes widened and he smiled broadly, causing a novice at the table across from them to spill her drink. "You should take Azmaria with you. I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

Chrono looked at the Priest in something akin to astonishment. Not only was the man trusting him without Rosette around, he trusted him enough to be alone on a mission with Azmaria.

I might have to reevaluate my feelings for him, Chrono thought. Did he always trust me? Was I just too paranoid to see it?

xxx

"So, what do we know about the Rogers?" Chrono asked as he and Azmaria stood across the street from a very wealthy looking house.

Azmaria and Chrono had been told by Remington that a wealthy women by the name of Sarah Rogers had called the Order yesterday, wanting to tell them something about a demon. She had refused to say it over the telephone, saying that she couldn't talk now, but to send someone over to her house the next day around seven o'clock. She then hurriedly gave directions and hung up.

Azmaria had then spent the rest of the day gathering all the information she thought they would possibly need, refusing Chrono's offer of help. Instead, he had spent a lot of that time with Rosette, though the girl wasn't conscious for most of his visit.

The Order's live in nurse had looked at her, but had found nothing wrong, suggesting that she just needed sleep. Chrono, except for a brief visit with the Elder, had stayed with her the entire time, hoping to discover what was wrong. But nothing of interest occurred; the exorcist slept peacefully, the only odd thing being that she would periodically wake up suddenly but then not be able to stay awake for more then five minutes.

Chrono had shown the Elder the pocket watch and had asked him if he could see anything wrong with it. He had thought that maybe that was affecting Rosette, like it had that one time where she had separated from her body and floated around the monastery at night.

But the Elder hadn't found a thing wrong with the mystifying object. However he had offered, leering all the while, to watch over Rosette for Chrono, just to make sure. The horror filled demon quickly said that wouldn't be necessary. The old man called him a spoilsport, as Chrono quickly left the Elder's lab.

Azmaria took a deep breath and plunged into her prepared narrative. "Richard Rogers and Sarah Rogers- they have one child, a little girl, a one-year-old- named Katherine. Mr. Rogers is involved in the selling of coal; Mrs. Rogers used to be Miss Kirtstein, the daughter of Mr. Kirtstein of the Kirtstein And Roustwhile Shipping Industry-"

"Azmaria, I don't need to know their genealogy, just if they have been participating in anything involving the occult," Chrono said gently.

"Oh. Sorry Chrono," she said sheepishly. "I looked up all I could on them, just in case it would help."

Chrono smiled at the overeager girl and asked "Did you find out anything involving demons?"

"No, they weren't on Sister Kate's list of known demon summoners."

Chrono nodded. "Okay, let's go find out why Mrs. Rogers wanted to speak with the Order."

At first they could not gain admission. The butler refused to believe that his mistress would have any need for two children. Even after Chrono explained that they were from the Magdalene Order and that Mrs. Rogers had sent for them, the butler still wouldn't let them in.

Luckily, the lady was within hearing and rescued them from her butler. "Oh, you're from the Magdalene Order? You two look so young...well, that doesn't matter, I'm sure you're very qualified. Why else would you be sent to help me?"

Without giving either Azmaria or Chrono a chance to answer she continued "Come, let us talk in the sitting room. Bradley, would you bring in some tea?"

With that Mrs. Rogers led them into a sunlight room, decorated in the Art Deco style. After she had situated herself on a rather uncomfortable looking chair and waved them to a couch near by, she began speaking.

"It all started when my husband, Richie, wanted to give me something extra special for our anniversary. It was our third, a week ago on Monday. Anyway, he wanted something extra special for me..."

Chrono's eyes started to glaze over, as the women's story dredged on, the point not in sight. Bradley dutifully brought in the tea, of which Azmaria took a tentative sip of, after poking Chrono to get him to take his tea cup from the hovering butler.

Finally, after much explanation on why their third anniversary was so special, and how wonderful her husband was, Mrs. Rogers said "And so he bought me a dear little imp. He had it shipped in from India. Or maybe it was China...Hm, no, I definitely think it was somewhere in India."

Mrs. Rogers took a sip of her tea, giving Chrono time to ask "An imp? Why would he give you something like that?" Chrono didn't mention that the buying and selling of any demonic creature was illegal; he doubted Mrs. Rogers cared.

"Because it was special, it was supposed to give you wonderful dreams. I've been having such horrible nightmares lately..." Mrs. Rogers trailed off.

"Ma'am, where is the...imp now?"

Mrs. Rogers looked up from the surface of her tea. "Oh, he's gone. That's why I called you."

"Gone?" pipped up Azmaria.

"Yes, he escaped. You see, he wasn't helping me with my nightmares, even though he slept in our room, and Richie thinks that he made them worse. I don't think that, I mean, he was so darling, but...it was so odd."

"What was so odd Mrs. Rogers?" prompted Chrono.

"That first night, after our anniversary, I woke up to find myself outside of my room, heading down the hallway. I've never sleep walked before, and I thought it was a fluke so I didn't tell Richie.

"And that day I was so very tired, that I went back to bed right after lunch. But I'd wake up ever so often, and hear Kitty, my daughter Katherine you know, crying. But then I couldn't stay awake, and would fall back to sleep almost instantly.

"And that night..." Mrs. Rogers' voice quieted, and she looked around the room, as if searching for any unwelcome listeners. "That night, I woke up-"

She stopped, and dabbed at her eyes. "It's really almost too horrible to say. Promise me you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

"I promise we won't tell anyone who doesn't need to know." Chrono said.

Mrs. Rogers evaluated that statement and decided that it would suit. She inhaled deeply. "That night I woke up in Kitty's room, and I was standing over her crib. I didn't feel like it was real, like it was still part of the dream, but I had control over it, you understand? Like it is right before you're fully awake in the morning, and can direct what path your dreams take you..."

Azmaria nodded to indicate she understood.

"I...had something in my hand. I knew that, but I didn't look at it, I just held what it was over Kitty. I felt like I was being given a choice...and for the longest time I just stood there, holding it over my baby, and feeling like I was about to wake up.

"And then I looked at my hand." Mrs. Rogers quickly rushed through the words, getting them out as quickly as possible "I had a knife! I had a knife and was holding it above Kitty, and then I felt this impulse, to stab her, and this thought that it wouldn't matter, it was only a dream, and I knew I wanted to-"

Mrs. Rogers abruptly stopped talking and clapped her hands over her mouth. Azmaria was staring at her, her eyes wide in alarm.

"What happened next Mrs. Rogers?" Chrono asked gently.

"Richie..." she said weakly, "Richie came in at that moment and stopped me." Now that the terrible confession was over, Mrs. Rogers' voice went back to normal, fast, and effusive.

"Dear Richie, he stayed up the rest of the night with Kitty and me, trying to find out what had happened. I told him what I could, and in the morning he took Kitty to visit his parents. And he told me to get rid of 'that vile goblin.' He then said he had had second thoughts about getting it in the first place, but he had thought it would help me. He blamed it on my poor imp. But I couldn't hurt my darling Poopsie-"

Chrono choked on the tea he was attempting to swallow. "Poopsie?"

"Yes. Poopsie."

"Oh."

Azmaria asked "You named the...demon...Poopsie?"

"Yes. Why? What does his name have to do with anything?"

"Oh! Nothing!" Azmaria said quickly, her arms raised. "It's...uh...just such a cute name."

"Isn't it though?" Mrs. Rogers gushed, her hand fluttering around her breast. "Richie thought it didn't suit, but I said he looks just like a Poopsie, and I just couldn't call him anything else, and Richie, such a darling man, said 'Whatever you wish my dear' and I said-"

"Um, Mrs. Rogers?" Chrono interjected.

"Yes?"

"What happened to, er, Poopsie?"

"Well, like I said, I couldn't hurt my Poopsie, so I had one of the servants put him in one of the unused guest rooms, and bring food to him in secret while dear Richie was home. Kitty stayed at her grandparents for a few days, but with Poopsie out of my room I didn't sleep walk again."

Mrs. Rogers paused in her narrative as she took a sip from her china tea cup. Chrono hoped the rest of the story would be shorter then the previous part.

Mrs. Rogers put the cup back on its dainty saucer and continued. "But one night Poopsie escaped from his cage. I had my servants look everywhere, but they couldn't find him in the house. He must have gotten out by an open window."

When it was apparent that the women was through Chrono asked "And then what did you do?"

"Well, nothing. Poopsie was gone, and I couldn't very well tell Richie about the situation, now could I?"

Chrono just stared at her.

Azmaria looked at her stunned friend and then back at Mrs. Rogers. "Uh, then how- why did you contact the Magdalene Order about Poopsie?"

"Oh, well, when I heard about that murder in the Park I didn't think anything of it, but then I overheard one of the servants talking about how the person must have been delusional and I began to worry that it might have something to do with Poopsie. My dear Richie is out on a business trip, so I contacted the only place I knew would know what to do about it."

"Why didn't you tell someone about 'Poopsie' earlier?" Chrono asked, still in disbelief.

"I told you. I didn't want to bother Richie. Besides, I didn't think poor Poopsie would hurt anyone."

"Wait, and what murder in the park?" Chrono asked, trying to comprehend everything that the women had spouted.

"There was a death, in Central Park. Try to keep up, will you? Some man drowned his father, and witnesses said he kept screaming about his mother."

"His mother?" Azmaira asked.

"Yes. The servants said he killed his father, while screaming about how it was his, the father's you know, fault that his mother died. But when the police caught him he said something like he thought he was in a dream."

Chrono asked "Do you know anything else?"

Mrs. Rogers shook her head. "No, that's all I heard. I wasn't terribly interested until later I thought about Poopsie, and the dreams."

"So you don't know what the man's name was?" Chrono asked, but knowing it was futile.

"No." Mrs. Rogers moved her shoulders up and down in a nonchalant shrug.

Chrono and Azmaria looked at each other. Chrono looked back at Mrs. Rogers. "Is that all then?"

"Yes." She beamed cheerfully at them, "I feel so...relieved, now that I got all that out. I should do this more often! Isn't there something like that, at a church?"

"Confession?" offered Chrono.

"Is that it? What an appropriate name..." Mrs. Rogers mused on this.

Before Azmaria could ask if she was Catholic, Chrono stood up, placing his unfinished tea on the table. "If that's all..."

"Yes, that's all I know. I'm sure everything will turn out just fine now that you know."

As Chrono and Azmaria walked out the front gate Azmaria shuddered. "Imagine...that poor women, almost killing her baby."

"Mm."

"What is it Chrono?"

Chrono looked up from the sidewalk, which he had been staring at while thinking. "Nothing."

Azmaria looked behind her, taking one last look at the house. She said sadly "Do you think we should get the police?"

"What for? Because of the baby?"

"What? No! That wasn't her fault... I meant because of the imp, how Mr. Rogers bought him. You aren't supposed to do that, right?"

"No, you're not. But I don't think the police could do anything, with no proof. But I think I'll talk to Sister Kate about someone going back and talking to Mr. Rogers about how he bought "Poopsie". Maybe then the Order can get ride of that one illicit demon-selling route."

Chrono took a corner. "Chrono? Aren't we going back to the monastery?"

"No, I think we should go to the prison."

"Oh, which one?"

Chrono sighed. "All of them, until we find that one murderer."

"That could take a long time," Azmaria said mournfully.

Chrono smiled at the girl. "You don't have to come, if you don't want to."

Azmaria shook her head, smiling up at him as she slipped her hand into his. "No, we're on a mission, we have to stick together."

Chrono laughed, while inside he worried about their "mission". If his suspicions were correct, there was more trouble to come.

xxx

Sorry this took so very long! I hope it was worth the wait...don't you just want to strangle Mrs. Rogers? Lol.

Thank you all for the lovely reviews. :) They made me want to finish this, even though I still feel like I don't have a very good grasp of the characters. Lol, I especially loved the reviews that were wondering where I was going with this. If it makes you feel better, I do have the ending planned out already, just not down in my word processor.

Hmm. (Mental gears clicking in head) I guess this will be a four chaptered fic.

Please review. :)