Chrno Crusade: The End Is Just The Beginning
By:
Guardian Angel of Innocence
Chapter Four: Into Pandemonium We Go!
Chrno groaned as the nurse bandaged his wounds he had received from Rosette after she had discovered his burns. The burns were healing, but were still slightly visible. His wounds from Rosette were also slowly healing, but they still hurt a whole lot. The vase to the head might have been a little too far since it had cut him across the forehead after it had shattered. He shook his head and mentally noted to never get Rosette angry. Once the nurse was done tending to his wounds, she left him to do as he pleased. Chrno stood up and left the hospital room, placing his hands in his pockets as he walked down the hall.
"Looks like Rosette dealt you a number," a voice said teasingly.
Chrno turned around to see Mia. He smiled in greeting, sometimes feeling as though the black haired girl was a cat demon. "Hello, Mia. Nice to see you."
Mia jumped off the railing and stood beside Chrno. "That's why you're supposed to not get her angry. I thought you would have learned after the last incident." She winked.
Chrno blushed then shook his head.
"You knooooooow, I think you should go see Rosette," Mia said as she grinned a bit evilly from seeing his blush. "I'm sure she'd appreciate it. She was pretty worried from the burns you received."
Chrno blinked a few times then nodded. "I'll do that."
Mia's lips were between a smirk and a smile. "Okay. See you later!" She ran off in the opposite direction of him.
Chrno smiled slightly then went in the direction of Rosette's room. He slowly opened and closed the door behind him once he had entered and went over to Rosette to see she was asleep. He gently placed a few strands of her hair behind her ear causing her to slightly smile, but she remained unconscious. It was then that Chrno had noticed her face was tearstained as he sniffed the air, smelling salt water.
Was she crying? Over my sake? Or was it something else? Chrno thought. I'll ask her when she wakes up.
The white head man grinned as Rosette charged after him again. His gaze wasn't on her, though, but seemed to be behind her. On the ground was Chrno sitting up and watching the scene with wide eyes. Rosette stopped and looked towards Chrno, smiling slightly. The white head man used this to his advantage and grabbed out an energy sword. Rosette quickly spun around, but she was too late. The man had stabbed her through the heart. Rosette winced as her angelic wings disappeared and she began to fall down towards the ground rapidly. Chrno quickly flew after her and caught her just in time before she hit the ground. Chrno and Rosette exchanged a few words as tears ran down Chrno's cheeks. The two kissed then Rosette closed her eyes, dead. Chrno set her lifeless body down and looked down at the ground, his hands in fists and bangs covering his expression. Chrno said a few things, which seemed to amuse the man then charged after the man, holding his blade ready to strike...
Rosette felt someone's finger tracing her jaw line and smiled slightly. Though, her smile vanished once her thoughts went to her dream. She placed her hand over whomever it was that was tracing her jaw line hand and opened her eyes to see Chrno smiling gently down at her, sitting next to her. She blinked a few times as tears filled her eyes and quickly sat up, hugging him. Chrno looked down at her, taken aback by this, but hugged her back. Rosette began to cry.
"Rosette... What is it? What's wrong?" Chrno asked, concern evident in his face. He held her closer to him as he rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.
"I'm so sorry, Chrno," Rosette said in between sobs.
"Sorry for what?" Chrno asked. Is she feeling guilty for attacking me after I got those burns? Or is she feeling guilty about me getting the burns?
Rosette sobbed even harder while Chrno could only watch her helplessly.
"Rosette, I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong," Chrno said, trying to make her stop crying.
Rosette continued sobbing, but eventually came to the point where her crying was just small sniffles. She slowly looked up at Chrno. "I... I saw it. I saw all of it."
Chrno wiped away the tears and gently tilted her chin so that she was looking into his eyes. "Saw what?"
New tears formed with Rosette's eyes and threatened to come down again, but she did her best to hold them back. "The... The girl and her... her..."
Chrno gave her a questioning look. "Girl? And her what?"
Rosette's tears began going down her cheeks once again and Chrno wiped each of them away.
"The girl... That you were with when... When you guys fought Aion," Rosette said and began sobbing again.
Chrno's eyes widened. "What?! How?!"
"I saw her die, Chrno! I saw Aion kill her!" Rosette cried out in between sobs.
Chrno drew Rosette close to him again and began running his hands through her hair. "It's okay. Shhh." Despite him trying to comfort her, he couldn't help but feel a deep ache in his heart as he remembered that night.
"Oi! I meant go make her happy and stuff, not make her cry," a voice said.
Chrno looked towards the direction the voice came to see Mia. He weakly smiled. "Umm... Sorry?"
Rosette continued crying and shook her head. She stopped her sobbing despite the tears that threatened to come down again and quickly wiped them away. She looked towards Mia and smiled a bit weakly as well. "It wasn't his fault, Mia." She stood up and looked up at her hair, frowning. "I'm such a mess."
Mia giggled slightly then smirked. "I knew you would be after he came in." Her smile and smirk disappeared. "But I didn't have you looking like a mess in this kind of situation in mind."
Rosette shook her head and smiled again. "I was just crying over a meaningless dream. Nothing to worry about."
Chrno gave Rosette a surprised look as his thoughts went back to the fact that she was an Apostle. He knew Magdalene could see the future, but did she also have the ability to see the past? If she did then he knew exactly whose powers Rosette had.
"Umm... Guys, unless you're going to turn around and not peek, shouldn't you leave so I can change?" Rosette asked then smirked slightly.
"Hey! I'm not a hentai! And my door doesn't swing that way, thank you very much!" Mia cried out and left the room.
Rosette giggled slightly then looked towards Chrno. "What about you?" She smirked.
Chrno turned a deep shade of red and shook his head. "Umm... I'll meet you outside." He quickly left the room, closing the door behind him.
Rosette came out of the room several minutes later dressed in light blue caprice and a white tank top, her hair in two pigtails tied off with white ribbons. She also wore light blue tennis shoes and white socks. She had a pair of guns strapped to her hips on a brown belt. She crossed her arms as she watched Chrno and Mia. "So, who's ready to go to Pandemonium and kick some demon butt?"
Chrno raised an eyebrow; he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "What are you talking about? There's no way we can get there."
Mia nodded. "What he said." She was sitting on the railing again.
Rosette rolled her eyes then smirked. "Ahh, but there is. Sister Kristy had a friend of hers create a portal for us."
Mia's eyes slightly widened as her lips changed to a smirk. "Okay. I'm up for battle, but..." She looked down at her clothes. "I'm not exactly dressed for the occasion yet. Be right back." She ran off into her room.
"Rosette, when I use my powers, you may feel weaken at the time. It's highly important you stay close to Mia or me so one of us can protect you since you may not be able to put up much of a fight," Chrno said, his expression serious.
"I'll be fine. Quit your worrying," Rosette said.
Mia joined them after several minutes had gone by. She now wore a red long sleeve shirt, black shoulder pads, black elbow pads, black armor over her chest, red pants, black knee pads, red gloves that had black steel spikes where the knuckles were, and black boots. A katana was sheathed at her left side along with a whip while she had a pair of guns on her right. Mia smirked slightly as she crossed her arms. "Now I'm ready to kick some demon butt." She looked towards Chrno and raised an eyebrow. "You going to fight in that?"
Chrno nodded and looked towards Rosette. "Lead the way."
Rosette nodded and smiled. "Follow me, Team Exterminators!"
Chrno and Mia both sweatdropped at the name and shook their heads, sighing.
The three of them eventually came outside where a large crowd had formed. Rosette mainly pushed her way through the crowd to get to the center of attention while Chrno and Mia apologized or excused themselves. Once they had arrived in the center, Mia and Chrno's eyes widened in awe while Rosette smirked.
In the center was a large ring with strange symbols going around it. From the ring was a ramp that led up to it. Wires were hooked to the back of the ring and went up to a laptop.
Sister Kristy and Reverend Maxwell stood beside a girl none of them had seen before.
The girl had short curly blue hair that reached her shoulders and deep green eyes. She wore hot pink t-shirt, white mini skirt, glasses, and brown boots that almost reached her knees. She was the one holding the laptop. She looked to be the age of twelve or thirteen.
Maxwell, Kristy, and the girl turned their attention to Chrno, Rosette, and Mia.
The girl stood up and went over to them, holding out her hand. "Hi! I'm Tracie Hamilton, the proud inventor of this dimensional portal."
The three shook her hand, each introducing themselves.
"Dude, how old are you?" Mia asked as she gawked at the ring once more.
"Twelve, soon to be thirteen," Tracie said as she brought her glasses up a bit on the bridge of her nose.
"I hereby deem you Super Genius," Mia said, still gawking.
"It hasn't been proven to work successfully just yet," Sister Kristy said. "When you three enter it, come quickly back of there are any problems. Am I clear?" She eyed Rosette, Chrno, and Mia.
"As clear as glass," Mia said and saluted.
Chrno nodded.
"As clear as they get," Rosette muttered and rolled her eyes then looked down at Tracie's laptop. "Well, open it already."
Tracie looked towards Kristy and Maxwell. They both nodded and she began typing codes into the laptop, which sent Rosette's head spinning since she understood none of it.
"Once you've found the problem, report back to us. We don't want to send you three in there to handle the problem on your own, especially since there are certain circumstances that could lead to failure," Reverend Maxwell said, looking at Chrno and Rosette mostly meaning what he said to those two.
Chrno nodded, knowing exactly what Maxwell meant.
Rosette rolled her eyes. "We'll be fine." She then smirked. "Besides, what do you get when you have an Apostle, a Sinner, and a human working together?"
Rosette, Chrno, and Azmaria, Maxwell and Kristy both thought then said, "Trouble."
Chrno chuckled slightly to their thoughts and response towards the question then sighed as he looked to the sky. He missed the Rosette he knew so long ago as well as Azmaria. No. He missed everyone. He looked towards Sister Kristy, Reverend Maxwell, Mia, and Rosette then slightly smiled. He might miss them, but he did have new friends that reminded him so much of all of them and, yet, didn't as everyone of them were different somehow from his old friends.
"You guys seriously are no fun," Rosette said, placing her hands on her hips.
The inside of the ring began to glow light blue and the top center, left center, right center, and bottom center symbols began to glow red. The ring began to slowly turn counterclockwise.
Rosette, Chrno, and Mia watched, getting ready to leave.
The red glowing symbols soon began to glow aqua green as the ring began to rapidly spin clockwise, the inside of the ring beginning to glow a deep blood red.
"It's time for you to take your leave," Tracie said, still typing codes into her laptop.
Rosette, Chrno, and Mia all exchanged glances then nodded and walked up the ramp towards the ring.
"Be careful," Sister Kristy said.
"And don't forget to report back when you have found out anything," Reverend Maxwell said.
"We will. Quit your worrying," Rosette said, not turning to face either of them.
Chrno gave the two an apologetic smile as he continued to follow his best friend.
The three soon stepped into the inside of the ring and were brought into a spinning vortex, vibrant colors spinning around them rapidly. The three of them seemed to be floating in the air. Rosette flew up ahead, Chrno now being in the middle while Mia was behind the both of them. The vortex soon disappeared as gravity seemed to gently settle the three of them upon their feet.
"We're here," Chrno said as he looked behind himself to see the ring behind them, the inside of the ring glowing faintly blood red until the glow completely disappeared, more land of the world they were now within being visible.
The three of them looked around, all seeming to be in awe of the land before them. The ground beneath their feet seemed to be nothing but a deep chocolate brown dirt. Gray ruins of buildings were scattered around them. The sky was covered in darkness, no light being visible aside from the occasional strike of lightning. The air was thick and cold, freezing Rosette and Mia to the bone. There were oddly shaped mountains up ahead that seemed to glow red.
Rosette shivered slightly as she crossed her arms, trying to look as though she wasn't freezing while trying to keep her teeth from clattering. "Talk about... Dark and gloomy... This place needs... A new decorator..."
"It wasn't always like this," Chrno said as he looked around. "Apparently a lot has changed since I left."
"Duh," Rosette said. "Let's see... You left here about..." She began doing the math. "One hundred thirty-four years ago. Of course things are going to be different now!"
Chrno slightly smiled as he took a step forward. "Hopefully that means we'll get a warmer welcome." He turned to face Rosette and Mia. "Though, I still doubt it since once of you is an Apostle and the other is a human."
"Yeah. Yeah. We'll be fine for the bazillionth time," Rosette said and went up to Chrno's side. She looked at him, their eyes meeting. "I won't die so easily. I can protect myself." She placed her hand over the watch. "It's probably best you turn to your true form while we're here. The demons are most likely far more powerful then back in my world."
"Don't open it, Rosette," Chrno said. "I'll only transform when needed."
"Umm, guys, the welcome committee is here," Mia said as she took a step towards them.
Chrno and Rosette turned around to see a large group of demons.
Chrno's eyes scanned each of the demons' horns and jewels on their foreheads trying to see just what the three of them were dealing with. Most of the demons only had two or three jewels upon their forehead and had horns that were no bigger than the length from his shoulder to his elbow. His eyes slightly narrowed when he saw that there was a demon ahead of them with five jewels on his forehead and horns that were as long as his whole body. Chrno immediately guessed that the demon with the longer horns and most jewels on its forehead was the leader.
"Rosette, Mia, be careful. Most of these demons should be a piece of cake, but there are some that are as powerful as me," Chrno said, not taking his eyes off the leader. "And there's one far more powerful."
Rosette grabbed out one of her guns. "Don't worry about it, Chrno. But I really think we're going to need your true form in this battle."
"Only if needed," Chrno said. It was almost like the girl wanted her life energy to be taken. He shook his head and unsheathed his blade.
Mia grabbed out her whip and slapped the ground with it then got into a defensive stance.
"Why have you returned, traitor? And with a human and an Apostle, no less," the leader said, taking a step forward and flexing his claws.
"Why have the demons been leaving this realm?" Chrno asked.
"That is a matter that no longer concerns you," the demon said.
"It does if those demons start causing a ruckus," Rosette said.
"And if it's because of disease! Those demons could pass the illness onto humans! Or worse, to the Apostles and they're too weak to even fight it back! If the illness is killing you guys, imagine the devastation back in our world!" Mia cried.
"It's more than just a plague," the leader said. "But you three have the right to remain silent and anything said can and will be used against you to conclude your punishments."
"Not happening," Rosette said and aimed her gun.
"Over my dead body!" Mia cried out.
Chrno watched each of the demons as they began to charge after them.
Rosette began firing her sacred bullets, being sure to not hit Chrno in the process. Mia hit each demon that drew near her with her whip, leaving bloody marks upon them where the whip had hit flesh. Chrno cut each demon that came close to him as he searched through the army for the leader since he'd be the hardest to defeat out of the rest of the demons. Rosette jumped back from an attack and continued firing her gun. Mia wound the whip around at least three demons then threw them into the upcoming demons. Chrno jumped up onto the heads of the demons slashing each one down as he leaped from head to head in search of the leader.
Mia let out a yelp as one of the demons caught her whip and used it to pull her against them. She quickly unsheathed her blade and stabbed them in the heart. "No way are you going to kill me." She spun around and sent a horizontal slash towards the demon that had been behind her, cutting its head off.
Rosette jumped back as each demon tried to capture her or harm her. So far, they were having no luck. She continued firing her gun and rolled to the side just in time to dodge another blow.
Chrno continued leaping from head to head then landed on the ground once he had spotted the leader. He charged towards him. The demon watched Chrno. Chrno swung his blade horizontally, but the demon quickly jumped behind him causing Chrno to miss. The demon then sent a kick towards Chrno's back. Chrno had turned around just in time to block the attack with his blade. The two glared into each other's eyes.
Soon, the demon army was down to the point where the leader was the only one left. Rosette and Mia watched as the leader and Chrno fought off one another. Mia sat down, clearly exhausted. Rosette continued standing up and watched the scene. Mia had several cuts across her arms and legs, but nothing serious. Rosette had a few cuts on her arms and legs and one cut across the cheek. The two were both covered in blood, mostly Mia.
Chrno and the leader seemed to both be on the brink of exhaustion, but mostly Chrno since the demon was far more powerful than him. The two charged at one another, the demon sending a swipe at Chrno's head, but he had ducked and sent his blade in for a stab. The demon quickly jumped on top of the blade and ran down it then sent a kick towards Chrno's face. Chrno hadn't expected this and had gotten hit, crashing into the ground.
Rosette growled and pointed her gun at the demon. "Leave him alone or I'll shoot!"
The demon looked towards her. "In all my years, I've never seen such a strong and fiery Apostle."
"Well, get used to it because this Apostle isn't weak and doesn't stand for anyone hurting her friends!" Rosette cried and fired her gun.
The demon was struck by the sacred bullet, but didn't fall down dead. Rosette's eyes widened slightly and she continued to fire bullet after bullet at the demon but to no avail. The demon laughed and charged towards her. Mia weakly stood up and grabbed out her gun, firing it at the demon but also failing to do any serious damage to it. Chrno sat up weakly and watched as the demon charged towards Mia and Rosette, his eyes widening as the two girls tried holding the demon off but were obviously not prevailing in it.
"Rosette!" Chrno cried.
Rosette continued firing her gun and looked towards Chrno, their eyes meeting. She placed a hand over the watch and gave Chrno an apologetic smile as she opened it, allowing Chrno to use his powers. Chrno quickly turned into his true form and flew after the demon, tackling it to the ground before it could harm either of the girls. The demon's eyes widened and he quickly sent a kick towards Chrno's stomach. Chrno quickly grabbed the foot before it made contact with him then lifted the demon up, throwing it into a nearby dead tree.
Rosette sat down as she put her gun away, Mia sitting down next to her.
The demon quickly stood up and sent a powerful blast at Chrno. Chrno put his arm up to shield his face then lowered his arm. He charged after the demon then jumped up and sent a punch towards the demon, red energy surrounding his fist. Once Chrno's fist made contact with the demon's face, a blast formed within the punch causing the demon to fly back quite a bit, sending him crashing into the ruins.
Electricity slightly began to come off the watch. Rosette placed a hand over it as she continued to watch the two fight. She felt a bit weaker than she had been originally, but she shook her head telling herself it was just because she was tired.
The demon stood up and watched Chrno. It growled and charged after him, sending a punch towards him. Chrno ducked to dodge the punch, but he hadn't expected the demon to quickly bring his knee up connecting to Chrno's face. Chrno staggered back a bit then growled and picked up his blade, which had fallen to the ground after he had transformed, and threw it at the demon. The demon hadn't expected this and got stabbed through the heart. The demon fell to the ground, dead.
Chrno let out a breath and looked towards Rosette and Mia. He went over to the two girls and kneeled down beside Rosette, placing his hand on her shoulder gently, his face filling with concern. "Are you okay?"
Rosette nodded. "I'm fine." She smiled and closed the watch, Chrno turning back into his smaller form.
"You sure?" Chrno asked.
"I'm not a weakling," Rosette said as she stood up, Mia standing up as well. She began walking a bit. "See? Perfectly f-iiiiinnneee!" She fell forward, but Chrno quickly ran over to her and caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.
"Fine, huh?" Chrno asked, raising an eyebrow.
Rosette laughed a bit nervously then smiled a bit nervously as well as apologetically. "Guess the demons took more out of me than I thought."
Chrno sighed and shook his head, picking her up bridal style causing Rosette to blush slightly. "Come on. We have to find somewhere to rest up at."
Mia nodded in agreement. "But let's not forget your sword. We may need it later on." She winked then went over to the demon, taking the sword out then going over to Chrno and sheathing it for him.
Chrno nodded and smiled in gratitude. He and Mia then searched for cover.
Now that our heroes are within Pandemonium, will they discover the reason to the population rising on Earth? Will Rosette's dreams ever come to an end? Will our heroes find out what the demon leader meant by their problems being more than just a plague? How are the others doing on Earth? You'll just have to stay tune for the next chapter of Chrno Crusade: The End Is Just The Beginning! And please review and tell me what you think of this so far. Thank you very much in advance. .