Ruby-dream: Glad you're enjoying it. Had writer's block for a while on this chapter, though. x.x

Flying Phoenix: I'll try to update as much as possible, though, that's going to be kind of hard for me now since school's starting for me tomorrow.

Evilanimeblond22: Lol. Sorry. I tried to make it longer, but then it wouldn't have made for a very good effective ending. And thank you for all the compliments. I'm trying my best to make it really good even if it is hard since I've been getting writer's block lately. And I'll be sure to read your fic as soon as it comes out. Ja!

Chrno Crusade: The End Is Just The Beginning

By:

Guardian Angel of Innocence

Chapter Eight: Escaping, Searching, and S.E.T.D.C.

"You decide now is the time to inform me of this, Maxwell?" Kristy asked through narrow eyes. She stood up, her hands on her desk as she leaned slightly forward, the young reverend standing in front of her. "If you had told me about this at an earlier time, I could have told Rosette, Chrno, and Mia then this might have been solved earlier."

"Sorry, Kristy, but I have just now gotten this news," Maxwell apologized.

Kristy sighed and sat back down, massaging her temples. "The past few days have been rather long. Next time we have those three bring some sort of communicators with them so we're in contact with them. Things of this sort would be far more easier to report to them before it got worse."

"Yes. You are right. Perhaps we should have Tracie try to create such a device," Maxwell said thoughtfully.

Dufou and Chrno both charged at one another. Dufou swung his blade vertically while Chrno quickly blocked the attack then held his hand up, palm faced towards Dufou. Dark energy formed within Chrno's hand, red lightning coming off it. He quickly shot the small energy ball at Dufou. Dufou was sent flying back quite a few feet, but he quickly stopped himself from hitting the ground. He growled and shot out his own energy blast at Chrno, the energy being light blue with white lightning coming off it. Chrno quickly flew out of the way of the attack then flew after Dufou.

Henry crushed the demon's wrists causing it to cry out in agony. He then threw the demon into the ones that had been charging towards him. Afterwards, he flew up high in the air then held out both hands, his palms faced towards the rest of the demons that were still approaching him. A huge ball of green energy formed within both of his hands. He shot the blast at them causing them all to disintegrate when it had hit them. The blast also created a huge crater in the ground. Henry sweatdropped since he hadn't intended to make the crater. He shook his head and went off to fight the rest of the demons.

Mary weaved her way through the energy blasts the demons were shooting at her and Mia. She growled slightly while Mia yelped out of surprise when a blast almost hit the both of them. Mia quickly recovered from her surprise then continued to fire her guns.

Rosette kept herself from letting out a growl as she watched Aion speak to her brother. Though her brother had grown quite a bit, she still recognized him. She was glad that he was alive and appeared to be very well. She let out a sigh of relief then looked away. At the moment, there was nothing she really could do to save Joshua, but that didn't mean she'd give up in doing so.

Rosette turned her attention to Aion and held up her hands, palms faced towards him. Little by little, white energy began to form within her hands while a holy aura surrounded her. She was obviously still weak from earlier since sweat was beginning to pour down her face, tiredness trying to will her to close her eyes. Rosette tried her best to not allow her weakness to stop her. She would save her brother. Even if it meant her life, she wouldn't care as long as Joshua was safe and out of harm's way.

Rosette's hair began to slowly float up while the energy ball within her hands began to become bigger. She continued to fight back the sleep that her body longed for so much. Once the ball had reached the size she wished for, she shot it out towards Aion.

Aion had been busy talking to Joshua that he failed to notice the blast. He let out a cry of pain once the ball had hit him.

Rosette quickly ran over to Joshua's side, ignoring the fact that her legs were aching to give in. She gently took his hand and began making a run for it, not wanting to wait to see what affect her blast had had on the white haired demon.

"Hey! Who are you?! Where are you taking me?!" the young blonde head boy cried.

"Keep running. More talk later," Rosette said as she felt her legs turning into jelly and lungs gasping for air.

Joshua gave her a puzzled look. She did look very familiar, but, at the same time, she looked so different. Sweat began to go down his face as the two made their way around the trees. "I... Feel so... Tired..."

"Joshua! Keep running! Don't you dare pass out on me now! Not when we've gotten this far!" Rosette cried, ignoring her own thoughts of just stopping there and resting.

"You want me to make a communicator?" Tracie asked.

Reverend Maxwell nodded, the two being in front of the portal. "It would help greatly."

Tracie smiled then stood up. "Mission accepted." She ran off to the Elder's house. "It'll be completed in no time!"

Maxwell only smiled and shook his head. He then sat down as he watched the laptop just in case Chrno and the others returned.

Dufou and Chrno's blades clashed against each other as they both glared into one another's eyes.

"You'll never win," Dufou sneered. "I will not allow you to get away again."

"That's odd. And, yet, this whole time I've had this battle already won," Chrno said and smirked slightly.

He quickly kicked Dufou in the stomach then sent out another blast at Dufou. Dufou winced slightly then got up and flew after Chrno. Chrno growled as he flew back quite a bit.

"Mia, Mary, Henry, get out of here! I'll take care of this! We can't linger here anymore! Rosette's in trouble!" Chrno cried.

Mia looked up at Mary who in turn nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure?" Henry asked as he threw a final demon into three that had been approaching him.

Chrno nodded. "I'm positive. Now, leave!"

"We'll free Rosette! Don't worry!" Mia cried as Mary and Henry began flying away from the scene. The last thing the three saw was Dufou bringing his blade down on Chrno then a bright explosion surrounding the area they had all once been at.

Rosette continued running. Her legs were going to give in on her at any minute, but she wouldn't allow them to do so, not until she was sure she had lost Aion and his crew. She could sense the same thing went for Joshua. Her grip on his hand tightened slightly as she gritted her teeth, her face full of determination.

"Almost there, Joshua. Soon, we'll both be free," Rosette said as she continued to run.

The forest seemed to become all the more familiar to her and, while it was a good thing since she could navigate though it without having to worry about getting lost, it was beginning to really creep her out since she had never been within it in her whole entire life.

Rosette smiled when they had finally arrived in front of a lake. She released Joshua's hand and looked down at the water, seeing that her face was drenched in sweat and it had a few scratches from branches she hadn't bothered to move out of the way. She also had a few twigs and leaves in her hair. She wiped the sweat away from her brow then looked towards her brother, smiling.

"That was some run, eh?" Rosette asked.

Joshua panted and looked towards Rosette, smiling slightly. "Yeah. It was."

"But we're not done just yet," Rosette said and took her brother's hand. She smirked slightly. "You ready for a swim?"

Joshua's eyes widened slightly and before he could do or say anything, Rosette dragged him into the water with her. Rosette led him down deeper into the lake, the two taking time to admire the water's life. Eventually, they arrived within an underwater cave. The siblings surfaced and went onto the land. They both then leaned against the walls, panting.

"Is this what you do for a living?" Joshua asked and looked towards his sister, smiling slightly.

Rosette smirked. "You bet." She took her shoes and socks off then placed them to the side since they were drenched and it felt very uncomfortable to wear them.

Joshua did the same then sighed. "You never told me who you were."

Rosette looked away, her smirk disappearing. "Sorry. I'm Rosette." She looked towards him and smiled sadly. "But you must not remember me. I'm your sister."

Joshua's eyes widened. "Rosette?" He smiled then hugged her tightly. "I've missed you so much, sister!"

Rosette was taken aback slightly by this. She smiled and hugged her brother back. "I've missed you a lot, too."

Aion growled angrily when he had discovered the boy missing and could only conclude that Rosette had been the one who had shot the blast and taken her brother with her. He knew they couldn't have gotten far and sent out some of his guards to go in search of the siblings. He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Mrow. She didn't have to hit me so hard," Emerald said, tears of pain still going down her cheeks, her nose having stopped bleeding.

"You should go have that looked at in the hospital room, Emerald," Aion said gently.

Emerald nodded. "Okay. But are you okay, Aion? That was quite a blast of holy energy she shot at you." Her face filled with concern.

"I will be fine. The girl's powers are still weak so they did not hurt me as much as they normally would have," Aion said then smiled. "Now go to the nurse. That nose of yours isn't going to feel any better if you don't."

Emerald nodded and ran off.

"Rosette's going to kill us," Mia muttered.

"Why do you say that?" Henry asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Because we left Chrno behind," Mia said.

Mary sighed and shook her head. "I haven't the faintest idea of where to search for her."

"Maybe we should return to Earth and see if Tracie can make some sort of radar that will help us search for Rosette," Mia suggested.

Mary and Henry both exchanged glances before returning their attention back to Mia.

"Are you sure they'd let us come?" Mary asked.

"We are demons," Henry said.

"So is Chrno. What's your point? They'll let you through, okay?" Mia said.

Mary and Henry traded glances again before nodding.

"Just tell us where to go," Mary said.

Rosette picked up a few sticks and placed them in the center of the cave, her brother having fallen asleep near the wall. The two were still wet and would most likely catch a cold if they didn't have any heat to warm them. That was especially bad for her brother since he tended to be a bit weak. She began making a fire and let out a startled cry when the fire started abruptly. She shook her head and began making the fire the size appropriately needed. Rosette then went over to her brother and gently picked him up, bringing him a bit closer to the fire, but not too close so that it didn't burn him. She held her hands out, trying to warm them with the fire afterwards.

Chrno groaned as he sat up, putting a hand to his head after removing a dead demon off him. He shook his head and got up, looking around. Once he had been sure Mia, Mary, and Henry were a good distance away, he used his powers to freeze Dufou and his army in time, all of them temporarily appearing as gray statues. Though, Chrno knew full well it wouldn't last long and it was best for him to leave before they unfroze. He flew up into the air then flew off in search of Eden II.

Tracie looked around the Elder's house, throwing any objects she found unnecessary for the new invention she would create. She smiled widely when she had finally gathered a pile of all the items needed. She then began creating her masterpiece.

Maxwell sighed and leaned back in the chair Tracie had been sitting in only moments ago as he watched her laptop. His eyes then widened when he saw that someone was trying to get through. He grabbed out a piece of paper and began typing in the codes.

The inside of the ring was glowing red while the symbols around the ring began to glow blue. The ring also began to turn clockwise. After a few minutes, the inside of the ring changed to a shade of blue while the symbols turned red. The ring stopped turning clockwise and began to rapidly turn counter clockwise. Eventually, three figures made their way off the ramp.

Maxwell was about to go over to them to ask about the situation when he saw they weren't the ones he had been expecting. Instead, the three people meeting him were Mary, Mia, and Henry. Reverend Maxwell gave Mia a questioning look while he unconsciously placed his hand over the hilt of his blade.

"Calm down. I can explain, Reverend," Mia said as she took a step forward. She let out a breath and began to speak of the events that had taken place.

Rosette sighed, wondering what time it was. She never did wear a watch and she couldn't get a view of the sky without leaving the cave and going back into the lake. She couldn't get wet again and doing so would most likely cause her to catch a cold. And then there was, of course, the risk of being caught by Aion and his croons. She would have to stay with Joshua, at least until they returned to the Order where she then could leave her brother knowing he was safe and protected.

Rosette looked down at her dress and frowned. She definitely hated wearing dark colors and it only made her feel as though she was mourning when, in fact, she wasn't. Now was a time to be happy and wearing black wasn't making her feel that way. She shook her head and watched the flames, her brother still sound asleep next to her.

Chrno... Where are you? Rosette thought and closed her eyes. We need you.

Aion sighed as he and the others were within the dining room, drinking and eating. He and everyone had been searching for the two teenage Apostles all day and what had they gotten out of all of it? Nothing. There wasn't a trace of them. It seemed the two did well to not leave behind a trail. Aion drank some of his wine, a frown creasing his lips. Even after all these years, she's still a nuisance. She doesn't remember a thing from her past life, but she seems to remember this place in the far corners of her mind even if she doesn't realize it. Perhaps she also remembers everything in the far reaches of her mind and has yet to realize it. It is quite obvious by the way she's been acting.

He looked out the window. Does she realize yet that she is fighting a losing battle? That she may think she and Chrno will defeat me, but, in the end, the fact is I'll continue to live while she and her beloved demon will die? Or is this simply Fate's cruel way of dealing the same cards as before, wanting to make them both suffer? Aion turned his attention to Arachnia and Emerald, seeing them both argue. He chuckled slightly then smiled. We will know in the near future.

Reverend Maxwell stared at Mia, Mary, and Henry, his face filled with evident shock at what all of them had gone through. He quickly regained his composure and smiled sadly. "I see. So, you believe Chrno's really dead?"

"It was Lord Dufou and his army, Reverend," Henry explained. "Sure we put up a fight when it was all of us together, but with him fighting them alone..."

"The chances of him being dead are far more likely than him still being within the world of the living," Mary said, her gaze upon the ground.

"He sacrificed himself so we could save Rosette. Let's not make his death be in vain," Mia said somewhat determinedly.

Maxwell nodded in agreement. "But before you three leave, it is best you see Tracie first."

Mia, Mary, and Henry all exchanged glances then nodded as they followed Maxwell towards the Elder's house.

Chrno flew around the sky for what most have been several hours. To him, the day seemed endless and tiring. He still hadn't caught sight of the ship, he was becoming extremely tired, and he was draining Rosette's life force still! He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to get in contact with Rosette but to no avail. He opened his eyes and growled as his hands turning into fists, his claws digging deep into his skin. At this rate, Rosette was probably going to die the following day! He wouldn't let that happen. He wasn't going to lose her again.

Rosette watched the water, kneeling down over it. She was still very close to where she could see Joshua and feel the warmth of the fire. She sighed and placed both of her hands in the lake then splashed her face with it. She shivered slightly from its freezing temperature and backed up a bit. Her eyelids were feeling heavier by the minute and she felt as though she'd pass out any minute. Rosette pulled the watch out and looked down at it. She watched as the second hand slowly ticked by. Her eyes slightly widened with disbelief. She didn't want to believe it and thought it highly impossible, but if it truly was real, then that meant she didn't have much longer to live. She closed her eyes as she clutched the watch closer to her chest. Tears filled her eyes as she bit her lower lip.

Chrno, I don't want to die. Not yet. Please save me. Please be here soon, Rosette thought desperately as she began to slightly tremble. Rather it was from fear or the cold, she couldn't quite tell. She just hoped that if she had to die, that she'd be able to see Chrno one last time and that Joshua wouldn't witness her death.

Tracie pieced wires together, melted metal into one another, and took out wires as she worked upon her invention. She was in the middle of sawing some metal when she heard the door open. She stopped her task and looked up to see Reverend Maxwell had come in along with Mia, Mary, and Henry. She raised an eyebrow and went over to the four, cleaning her dirty hands.

"Can I help you?" Tracie asked and gave the two demons an inquiring look.

Maxwell nodded. "Have you finished the communicators yet?"

Tracie looked from Mia to each of the two demons until she turned her attention back to the reverend. She nodded as a smile spread across her face. "Yep. Got them all set up and everything. Not sure if they'll work, but it's worth a shot, right?" She went over to a pile of metal and hardware then began searching through it.

Reverend Maxwell, Mia, Mary, and Henry all sweatdropped as they watched Tracie search, the four of them moving to the side occasionally to avoid any flying objects the young genius threw over her shoulder in their direction.

Tracie let out a cry of victory as she turned around holding up about twenty small circular devices that all had a cross in the center of them. Their colors all varied ranging from black and white to blue and green, the cross being golden on all of them. She held out four to them all. "You can wear them like pins on your shirts or whatever. You can put them in your hair. Hang them on your purse. The possibilities are endless. All you have to do is press the cross in. It's like a small button except no one would take notice to the fact because once you press the button in it will instantly pop right out afterwards. No one will ever know. And, of course, you speak into it. Though, it's not physically, mind you. Don't want people thinking you're talking to yourself. Instead it creates a mental link between your mind and the person or persons' minds you wish to speak with. It doesn't matter what dimensional world you're in or different galaxy or whatever. I call it Speaking Emergency Transferal Dimensional Communicator or S.E.T.D.C. for short."

"Umm... Thank you. I guess," Mary said and grabbed a ribbon from her pocket. She made the light green ribbon into a headband and put it on, the bow being at the side of her head. She then pinned the small communicator onto the bow and smiled.

Henry raised an eyebrow then pinned the communicator onto his shirt.

Mia eyed the small device then hid it under her right elbow pad.

Reverend Maxwell pinned the S.E.T.D.C. onto his shirt. "What were you working on, Tracie?"
"Something," Tracie said and shrugged, pinning her device onto her skirt. "It's a surprise." She winked then went back to work.

Maxwell only shook his head and smiled as he left the house, Mia, Mary, and Henry following him. "There's something I must let you three know before you leave."

"What is it?" Mia asked, crossing her arms.

"I want you three to go check out this area of Michigan. It seems the forest has been where the opening of a portal from our world to Pandemonium has been occurring the most," Reverend Maxwell explained.

The two demons and human exchanged glances then turned their attention back to Maxwell.

"Mission accepted!" Mia said cheerfully while her worries for Rosette nagged at her mind.

Maxwell smiled slightly and nodded. "Very well. You three are dismissed." With that said, he returned to the dimensional portal watching the laptop once more.

Henry picked Mia up around the waist then took off into the air, Mary flying beside him.

Rosette sighed deeply as her tiredness began to overcome her. She lied down on her side, her eyelids becoming increasingly heavier. She eventually closed her eyes and softly said, "Chrno..." before falling into a deep sleep...

I'm TRYING to get this Chrno Crusade episode DVD set that has all the episodes on it. Not only then will I get to actually watch the show then, but it'll also help me to improve this fic. Anyways, please tell me what you thought about this and thank you once again for all the reviews, everyone!