Wow! This is the longest chapter I've ever written to any fanfic or story. x.x Lol. Hope you all enjoy it.
Chrno Crusade: The End Is Just The Beginning
By:
Guardian Angel of Innocence
Chapter Eleven: Deadly Confessions
Rose let out a dreaded sigh as she stood in front of the church with Chrno.
"I don't see what's so bad about this," Chrno said, being in his adult form.
"It's absolutely evil!" Rose cried. "Whoever invented it is soooooooo down right hideously distorted!"
Chrno sweatdropped. "What's so bad about making confession?"
"Everything!" Rose cried. "One, they make you sit in this small room thing where there's this veil thing that doesn't let you see who you're talking to and it's much worse when you actually recognize the voice of the person you're talking to and you're admitting a bunch of embarrassing stuff! Two, the lines are super long! Three, Dad's the one that makes me go through this doomful sequence! And, four, do you realize how much I've sinned?!"
Chrno continued to sweatdrop. "Rose, I'm sure you don't sin that much."
"Ohhh! But I do! I mean, when I was twelve and younger, before I became a teenager, yeah, I didn't sin much, but when I turned thirteen, I've been sinning really badly ever since," Rose explained. "Dammit!" She gasped and quickly covered her mouth.
Chrno chuckled causing him to receive a glare from the young nun.
"It's not funny! I cuss, I destroy buildings, I lie sometimes, I'm violent, I-"
"Which all leads me to wonder just how are you the Saint of the Apostles," Chrno said and chuckled once more.
Rose glared at him again. "Do you realize how much trouble I get in because of all of that?!"
Chrno shrugged and smirked slightly. "Is it really my fault Remington's your father?"
Rose growled and sent him one last glare before going into the church to meet her "doom".
Chrno smiled and sat down on the steps, awaiting her return.
"Dammit," Rose swore beneath her breath as she waited in line for her confession. "Of all the evil slimy things in the world, it's just this one thing that can make me vulnerable. It's downright wrong. I swear, the next time I die, the bastard that created this is sooooooo dead."
"Rose, if that guy's dead then technically it would be impossible to kill him again," a girl's voice said from behind her.
Rose glared at the girl to see that it was April. "Shut up! No one asked you!" She stuck out her tongue.
April laughed slightly then smiled. "You're still a troublemaker, you know that?" She raised an eyebrow. "And you truly do sin too much for your own good."
"Dammit! Who was asking you anyway?!" Rose snapped and turned her attention to the front of the line.
April continued smiling. "You just swore again."
"Dammit! I mean-" Rose quickly covered her mouth, daring not to utter another word.
April laughed once more, earning a glare from the young nun, which only caused April to burst into a fit of laughter.
After several minutes, it eventually came to Rose's turn to confess.
Rose let out another dreaded sigh and entered the small room, closing the door as she sat down. She fidgeted slightly, not daring to look at the veil. "It has been..." She sweatdropped as she tried to remember when her last confession was since she had always tended to come up with some type of excuse to save her from making one. However, this morning, that hadn't worked too well since Chrno had told Remington he'd take her and, despite her protests and lies she poured out, her father had still made her go and Chrno had been the one to take her to what might as well be, according to her, Hell. "It's been about one year and six months since my last confession." She sweatdropped again. "I think."
This earned her a chuckle from whoever was on the other side of the veil. "You really do sin too much."
Rose blinked a few times, the voice being very familiar. "Excuse me, Father. I mean, I'm really sorry."
"Just name off your sins, Rose," the voice said.
"Well... Ummm... For the pass few months, I've been lying... A lot. Mostly to my father because, well, I've just been out kicking demon butt. Umm... I've also tortured Chrno a few times these pass months-"
The last of her sentence earned her a slight snort from the person on the other side of the veil.
Rose glared at the face on the other side of the veil despite the fact that she knew very well it wasn't seen. "Due to fighting demons so much, I've destroyed many buildings in the process. However, I have yet to be responsible for the death of innocent people. I've also sworn on more than one occasion. And, umm... I, errr..."
"I get it, Rose. You're forgiven for all the sins you have committed," the voice said.
"Uhh... Thank you very much, Father," Rose said. She left the small room, but before she could leave the church, she heard screaming. She quickly spun around and grabbed out her gun, seeing Arachnia standing on the wall. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the spider demon forming webbing in her hands then sending it out towards any Sisters that were nearby. She growled and ran forward towards the Sisters that were just standing there, clearly paralyzed from fright. "Get the hell outta here! You'll get killed!" She ran in front of them and shot her gun at the webbing, the webbing disintegrating from the holy weapon.
Arachnia growled and glared daggers at Rose. Her eyes narrowed as she jumped off the wall, landing on the floor. She was reincarnated again. She held her hand out, webbing forming within it.
"You know, I seriously hate spiders, especially big spiders that try hurting innocent people," Rose said, her eyes narrowing as she pointed the gun at Arachnia.
"Yes, and I hate it when someone doesn't give up because they know very well they have already lost this battle and war," Arachnia said coldly.
Rose smirked. "You haven't won quite yet. I know for a fact you're still missing an Apostle. And until you have gotten the Saint, your plan will never be fulfilled."
Arachnia growled and icily said, "I see you have returned, Saint."
Rose continued smirking. "You bet I have. Until I'm sure the world's safe from you, Aion, and the others, I'll continue to come back to kick your butt."
"We'll see about that," Arachnia replied. She brought her hands together, the webbing in them becoming bigger. She then spread her hands apart, the webbing being shot out in every direction.
"Dammit!" Rose cried, shooting at the webbing with her sacred bullets.
The small room everyone had made their confessions in suddenly burst into splinters of wood. Standing where the small room once stood was none other than Chrno in his true form.
Rose's eyes widened in surprise then narrowed. She was going to have a talk with Chrno after this.
Chrno flew up and quickly grabbed a few nearby Sisters by their waists then flew back just in time to dodge the webbing that had been sent in their direction. He placed them back down on the ground. "Get out of here! Questions later!"
The Sisters nodded and quickly made their way to the doors.
Rose grabbed out her other gun and began shooting sacred and gospel bullets at the spider demon.
Arachnia formed webbing within her hands once more then spread them apart forming a webbed shield in front of herself. She glared at Chrno. "I see you have betrayed us once more."
Chrno growled as he stood beside Rose. "You threatened to harm my friends, that being the only reason I had rejoined your group."
"And you had better not have harmed any of them or, I swear, you'll suffer more than anything else you can think of," Rose said through narrowed eyes. "Especially if you've harmed Joshua in any way."
"You still care about him even though in this life time he is not your brother. How terribly sweet," Arachnia said.
"There you are!" a voice cried out.
There was a sudden blast that caused a hole to form within the church's wall. Standing on the other side of the wall was a woman who seemed to be the age of eighteen or so. Her long red hair trailed down to her waist, her violet eyes holding determination within them. She wore long gray trench coat, a white long sleeved shirt underneath that that had a few buttons on top that were unbuttoned, blue jeans, and black shoes.
"Not you again," Arachnia said in annoyance. "I thought I had lost you back at the train station."
"It's kind of hard to hide when you're a huge arachnid," the lady replied.
Rose growled slightly, seeming to recognize the red haired woman. Her eyes then widened in realization. "Stella?!"
Stella turned her attention away from the spider demon and looked in the direction of Chrno and Rose. "Excuse me? Do I know you?" She faintly recognized the two, but how she did was a mystery to her since she had never met either of them in all her life.
She... Doesn't remember? I suppose she's Stella's reincarnation then, Rose thought. "No. Not really. It's a long story." One that I'd rather not explain.
"We'll explain later, but let us focus on the problem at hand first," Chrno said.
Arachnia smirked as she climbed up the ceiling. "And the group reunites. You're just missing one person before it can be complete once more."
Rose's eyes widened. Had Azmaria been reincarnated, too?! She growled and took a step forward. "You had so better hope you have not hurt Azmaria because if you have, you will dearly regret it."
Chrno took a step forward as well. "You have harmed enough innocent people. How far will you go before you dreams of freedom is realized to be nothing more than what you had desperately tried to break free of?!"
"It is the way to prepare the people for what life may be like once we have recreated both worlds," Arachnia said coldly.
"I left for that very reason. Recreating both worlds means killing hundreds of innocents! You'll kill the Apostles, too!" Chrno cried out, clearly enraged.
"Freedom doesn't come without price," Arachnia replied.
"There are other ways to gain it, you know!" Rose cried. "How do you think America got free?! Geez! Go do your research! Our country wasn't always free, you know!"
"Only this country had gotten 'free', however, you still are not totally free, now are you?" Arachnia asked, somewhat sneering. "Your freedoms may have been opened up greatly, but you still have very little freedom as well. It is only by recreating the world that we can achieve true freedom."
Rose remained silent for a while, trying to think of a comeback to that. Finally, she said, "There must be order within the world, otherwise, the world would be in chaos. While our freedoms are limited, we still do have some freedom. We have the freedom of living happily within an orderly world. We don't live within a world where you cannot think for yourself or where the government chooses the occupation you must hold. We don't live within a world where everyone's equal because everyone cannot truly be equal. We are all different in many ways, which makes it highly impossible for everything to be equal. However, we do make it so everyone is treated the same way, with respect, thus, making that equal.
Freedom does come with a cost, but not one so great as the one you are willing to pay. You are merely trying to escape from the world that had given you injustice and trying to make this world into the one you had envisioned. While many societies within our world are not truly equal nor truly free, we try what we can to make it so everyone's treated equally while making it so there is a bit more freedom in their lives. There are certain countries out there where only boys are allowed to go to school while girls are to stay home.
"This is why we cannot take our freedoms for granted, but many of us do so anyway. At least until they have experienced how it is to not have many freedoms within their life. One cannot help but be curious; it is only human nature. That is why we go to school, to gain knowledge and fulfill our curiosity," Rose continued then sighed slightly.
Chrno blinked a few times, clearly surprised by the long speech Rose had made. Maybe she had been paying attention in class after all.
"You bore me with your senseless talk," Arachnia said, yawning.
Rose growled. "Some people aren't even allowed to marry someone outside of their religion or race! That's-"
"That's why the world will be destroyed and reformed to make it so none of that matters," Arachnia hissed. "We will make it so none of that matters."
"You'll still be killing many innocent people," Rose said. "I will not allow you or anyone to ever do that."
Stella frowned. "I've had enough of this stupid freedom crap." She glared at Arachnia and held her hands together, a light blue aura surrounding her. "Where's Fiore?!"
"With the other Apostles, of course," Arachnia said coldly as she watched the red haired woman.
"You know damn well what I mean!" Stella cried, light blue energy forming within her hands.
Chrno's hands turned to fists. His ear twitched slightly when he heard movement behind him. He quickly spun around to see Jenai. He growled and sent a punch towards the demon.
Jenai jumped back just in time. "You missed. I'm afraid your reaction time has been cut quite a bit, Chrno."
Rose spun around and pointed her guns at Jenai.
Jenai gave her an annoyed look. "When will you just die and never come back?!" Why can't she just stick to being the Magdalene she was those hundreds of years ago?!
"I'm going to keep coming back as long as Chrno lives and as long as you and your group continue to terrorize everyone!" Rose cried.
Chrno gave Rose a surprised look then shook his head. He charged towards Jenai and sent a punch his way. Jenai held up his blade, blocking the attack. Black electricity poured out from Chrno's fist. Chrno growled while Jenai gave him a glare.
Rose watched the two then turned her attention to Stella and Arachnia, seeing Stella send out a large amount of red energy at the spider demon; the energy turning into flames. Arachnia spun a webbing shield in front of herself once more.
Rose's eyes slightly widened when something familiar caught her eye, however, it was gone before she could be sure of what it was. She watched Chrno and Stella then went in the direction she had seen the familiar object. She turned a corner to see a few strands of light lavender hair turn another corner. If I'm right about this... That should be... She turned another corner to see a girl with long light lavender hair running up ahead, her long white gown blowing slightly with the wind, her hair being tied back in a half ponytail by a red bow. It is her! Azmaria! She ran after the young Apostle, soon arriving within a forest.
Rose let out a breath once the two came to a halt in front of a river. Her eyes widened in realization. This is the place I always went to get away from the Magdalan Order! Memories of her and Chrno taking Azmaria here for the first time and getting into a splashing battle went through her mind causing her to smile. She shook her head and went over to Azmaria. "You know, you've gotten harder to keep up with as odd as that sounds." She smirked as she crossed her arms.
Azmaria turned around to face Rosette, tears within her red eyes. "Rosette... Run! Please!"
Rose blinked a few times in confusion. "What...? What do you mean...?" She shook her head and gently took the young Apostle's hand, walking off in the opposite direction of the Order since neither of them would be safe there anyway.
"Rosette!" Azmaria protested.
"Azmaria, we're both Apostles and those guys back at the church are Aion's henchmen. Sister Kate would kill me if she found out I just took you back to the Order where you're not safe and could easily be captured by them," Rose said as she continued to lead Azmaria further away from the Order.
"But Aion-"
"Is still alive and apparently very well," Rose said and glared at the ground. "He was supposed to die. But he survived." She closed her eyes as tears began to flow down her cheeks. "He continues to make everyone suffer for his own selfish wants!"
Azmaria looked up at Rose, sadness reflecting in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Rose..." She looked away.
"Ah, Rosette Christopher. I see it is true. You have returned once again," Aion said, coming out from behind a tree, his bird resting on his arm. He smiled. "Please give me Azmaria."
Rose growled and stood in front of the young Apostle, grabbing out her gun and pointing it at Aion. "You creep. Don't think I'll fall for your lame tricks again."
"Joshua is in pain. He wants his sister," Aion explained. "He's deeply ill and not in his right mind. Only his sister can make him feel better."
Rose's eyes narrowed dangerously. "He wouldn't be sick if you hadn't taken him to begin with! If you had just left him alone... Why must you make everyone feel so much pain?!"
Azmaria watched the two uncertainly.
"Ah, but if I had left him alone, do you honestly believe he would be any better? Think back to where you were when you had died, Rosette Christopher," Aion said.
Rose closed her eyes again then opened them, looking down at the ground. "No... He wouldn't be... But!" She looked back up at Aion, not having lowered her gun. "He would have been much more safe without you! You're the one that makes him suffer more than anyone else!" Memories of that night at the carnival flashed through her mind. She saw herself dancing with Chrno, the both of them trying to step on the other's foot but ending up having a great time. She saw Stella, Steiner, and Azmaria talking. Saw herself and Chrno watching the city lights after they had gotten lost. Then... She saw the bird and ran after it only to arrive where Aion had wanted her to go. She saw her brother having no memory of her, saw all the Apostles, saw their energy going into her, the stigmata marks beginning to bleed; saw Jenai kill each of the Apostles afterwards, Remington saving Azmaria before any harm could come to her; saw Joshua and Chrno fighting one another... She growled and glared at Aion. "If you hadn't come at all, everyone would have been much more happier! Stella and her sister would have been together with their family! Azmaria wouldn't have been used by her adoptive father and she would still have her band friends!"
Azmaria looked up at Rose and smiled slightly.
"Joshua wouldn't have suffered so much pain! And Chrno would be happier!!!!" Rose cried out then fired her gun several times, ignoring the tears that went down her cheeks.
Aion, however, simply moved to the side each time as each bullet went to strike him, but only missed due to his speed.
Rose growled and was about to load her gun again, that is, until Aion quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she held the gun up to Aion's chest. No! Get your filthy lips off mine! She fired her gun and, much to her surprise, actually wounded Aion.
Aion looked down at the hole in his chest, blood slowly trickling out from his wound. He looked at Rose and grinned. "I see you have become stronger. You wouldn't have done that last time."
"Last time, I was scared to death! I thought you had killed Chrno! And you were hurting my brother! Not to mention I had become really weak after what you had the Apostles do!" Rose shouted. "And I have plenty more ammunition to give you more than just a hole."
"But what of Joshua?" Aion asked.
"I'll find him and I don't need you in order to do so," Rose said. I'll find Fiore and Joshua. I owe Stella that. She had helped us several times in the past, even if she has no memory of it.
Aion reached his hand out to her to cup her chin, but Rose held her gun up to his eye level.
"Touch me and I'll shoot. Touch Azmaria and I'll still shoot. Tell your henchmen to back off now and leave us alone. Leave all the Apostles alone. Go back to Pandemonium where you belong and never return. And release all the Apostles you have captured," Rose said determinedly.
"You have grown quite dangerous as well, I see," Aion said calmly. "Who are you to make such threats and to order me as you please?"
"You're evil and I will do what I must to save all the innocents from you. I am Mary Magdalene, Rosette Christopher, and Rose Remington. I am an Apostle and Saint. I will perform my duty to this world and that is to rid the world of all demons such as yourself," Rose said.
"Will you rid of Chrno as well?" Aion asked and grinned once more. "He is just like me. He is a demon and, though he may seem kind, he still has the nature and dangerous powers of a demon."
"He's changed greatly from the Chrno you once knew. He's not the same anymore. He can contain his powers," Rose said.
"I wonder how you are still able to stand. I'm sure you're in a lot of pain, Rose Remington," Aion said.
Rose blinked a few times, taken aback by this. She suddenly did feel weak from all the life energy Chrno was still using. Why she hadn't felt it before, she could only conclude the reason being because she was too caught up in the events to feel the pain. She looked down at the watch, electricity coming off it. She winced and glared at Aion. I won't let the pain get to me! I won't let him have Azmaria! I won't let him win again! "You underestimate me, Aion. Despite my life slowly being depleted, I still have the energy and determination to get rid of you and protect Azmaria."
"Then why is it that you're suddenly beginning to shake?" Aion asked.
It was true, Rose's hands seemed to be shaking suddenly while her legs turned into jell-o threatening to make her fall down to her knees. "I'm not shaking. It's merely your imagination."
"Your life will be greatly shortened today if you do not seal Chrno's power away," Aion explained. "Do you want that to happen when you have not gotten rid of the darkness within this world?"
"As I said before, I will be coming back as much as I am needed," Rose said firmly.
"Courageous words coming from someone who has been fighting a losing battle," Aion said, pushing his spectacles somewhat upwardly upon the bridge of his nose.
"Hate to break it to you, but I believe you are the one fighting a losing war," Rose said then pressed the trigger.
However, right when Rose released the gospel bullet, Emerald appeared by Aion's side, holding out a small gadget that had been placed around her wrist as though it were a wristband. She pressed a small red button that had been attached to the band, creating a light green barrier in front of herself and Aion.
"Mrow. You'll have to do better than that, Rosette Christopher," Emerald said, grinning.
Rose watched the two through narrow eyes, her breathing coming out in short wheezes.
"I'm sorry," Azmaria said quietly. "They captured me a long time ago." She squeezed her eyes shut as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Aion told me I had to lure you into the forest or else he'd-he'd-"
"Don't apologize, Azmaria!" Rose cried, keeping her attention on Aion and Emerald. "None of this was your fault. I know how Aion works since I've had to deal with the guy for the pass three lives I have lived. However, things will turn out differently this time. I won't leave Chrno's side and he won't leave mine. Aion will not collect all the Apostles. And he sure as heck won't be using me or brain washing me!" She closed her eyes. "I'm sure God is with me on this. My destiny is no longer that of death and allowing you to win." She opened her eyes, sheer determination within them. "My destiny is to defeat you once and for all, Aion! And to live a happy life with Chrno by my side! I will not allow anymore people to suffer because of you, Aion!"
Aion looked up at the sky, seeing Chrno fighting Jenai. He then saw that Stella had used her jewel summoning skills since a huge light green soldier had thrown Arachnia into the air. He chuckled and looked back at Azmaria then Rose. "Tell me, how is it that you are so sure He's on your side? What has He ever done to prove that? If you ask me, He has only made you and everyone suffer greatly. For what cause? I am sure everyone within this world has not sinned and, yet, He seems to help those that are greedy more than He does those who are selfless."
"That's not true!" Rose cried out. "You wouldn't know! He does do good for others! He has his reasons for not granting many prayers, but, I can assure you, He is not on the side of those that sin!" She lowered her gun, glaring at the ground.
"And how would you know that, Rose Remington?" Aion asked.
Rose looked up at Aion, her expression full of determination. "I know because if that was true, He wouldn't allow me to come back as many times as I have."
"Or is that part of His plan? To have you come back as many times as possible before you have come to realize your fate?" Aion asked. "I do not follow the path He has set for me, I create my own; one that He would greatly disapprove of if he truly is a god."
Rosette shook her head. "This is His plan. He's trying to have you realize your mistakes and, apparently, it hasn't worked yet. As long as you continue to make the same mistakes and not learn from them, I'll continue to return."
"Mrow. You've turned boring," Emerald said, crossing her arms. "Can you please return our ever faithful Azmaria? We still need her."
"Never in any lifetime would I hand her over," Rose said, taking a step back.
"Rosette..." Azmaria said quietly.
"Chrno! You're getting on my nerves!" Jenai cried out, bringing his blade down.
Chrno used his tail to block the blade. "Then maybe you should stop before I'm forced to hurt you more than I want."
"Not until you're dead!" Jenai cried out, swinging his blade horizontally.
Chrno flew up above the blade then sent out his tail to attack Jenai, but Jenai quickly flew back causing the tail to merely leave a cut upon the demon's cheek.
"I'm disappointed," Jenai said. "Is this what the 'Killer of a Thousand of His Own Brethren' has become? A weak, defenseless, demon?"
Chrno stayed silent and charged towards Jenai.
Rose placed a hand over her watch, her eyes suddenly widening in realization. "Wait! Chrno still has his horns! How is he using my life force?!"
Emerald's eyes held a glint within them. "Easy, my dear. You see, Sheda was the one who originally created it, making it so that when the seal was open, the demon would be able to drain the astral energy, life force; from the contractor. However, when we had taken you, Rosette Christopher, captive, I took the device and tweaked it slightly." She sighed. "I didn't know that he would still be able to use your life force, though. Didn't find that out until recently. When I had made a few changes in the watch, I had accidentally made it so that Chrno would be able to still take your life force as a form of astral energy even when he has his horns, and I also, ummm..." She fidgeted. "Made it so the connection, link; between your mind, body, soul, and heart was a lot stronger than any of us wanted. I'm sure neither of you have come to notice that just yet. But it would explain why you've been seeing Chrno in your dreams after regaining all your memories." She smirked. "I don't believe Chrno has noticed at all. He probably thought those dreams he had of you before you two were reunited were merely dreams to torture him yet pacify him."
The dreams I had of him after I regained all my memories? I thought they were just visions. I do have the same powers Mary had, Rose thought.
"Aion!" a voice cried.
Rose, Azmaria, Emerald, and Aion turned their attention to where the voice had come from.
Aion grinned. "What a pleasure to meet you again, Yuan Remington."
"Dad!" Rose cried.
"Allow the children to leave. This is a battle you and I must finish," Remington said, holding out his holy energy blade.
"Yuan, do you honestly believe I would forget about the two Apostles I need? In order to make this world into what it should be, I need all of them," Aion said then turned into his true form.
"Give me a break," Rose muttered then grabbed Azmaria's hand, making a run for it while holding her gun with the other hand.
"I'll go after them. No worries," Emerald said, winking, then ran after the two.
Remington began charging towards Aion then brought his blade down. Aion grabbed out his own blade that had been sheathed by his side the whole time and used it to block the attack, light blue and black electricity coming off both clashing blades as the two glared into the other's eyes.
"Tell me where Fiore is!" Stella cried out, holding Arachnia against the crumbled wall with the green knight.
"If I were to do that, I'd be betraying Lord Aion," Arachnia said. "Why don't you join me?"
Stella's eyes narrowed as she smacked the small spider that had landed on her shoulder. "Do not think I will fall for such trickery."
Arachnia growled and shot out a ball of webbing at Stella's arm causing the jewel summoner to stumble back a bit as she tried to get free, which also caused Arachnia to get free of the knight's grip. Arachnia laughed, quite amused with Stella's attempts of trying to release herself from the webbing.
Jenai let out a furious cry as he brought his blade down once more, Chrno blocking it with his tail again. Jenai growled and swung his blade at Chrno's feet. Chrno blocked the sword with his tail then brought his fist back and punched Jenai in the face, black electricity coming out from his hand. This caused Jenai to fly back quite a bit.
"Dammit!" Jenai shouted, glaring at Chrno.
Chrno grabbed out his sword and charged towards Jenai. Jenai barely brought his blade to block Chrno's horizontal swing.
Rose ran as fast as her legs would carry her, sensing that Azmaria was beginning to tire. Of course, Rose was also beginning to weaken and she wasn't exactly enjoying it either. I won't stop until I'm sure Azmaria's safe. She gritted her teeth as memories of saving Joshua ran through her mind, the events being almost equal to these ones. She instantly stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening. I was weak when I was saving Joshua. The same applies for now when I'm saving Azmaria. I'm not going to die again! She turned to face Azmaria. "Go on ahead and find somewhere to hide. I'll take care of cat girl. We can't risk you being caught and there's no way that cat's going to defeat me."
"But Rosette," Azmaria protested, panting, sweat pouring down her pale face.
"You have to go on," Rose said determinedly. "If you're caught then the whole world will be doomed. Do you really want everyone in the whole entire world to suffer?"
Azmaria stayed silent as she looked down at the ground, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes. "Rosette..." She looked up at her, tears beginning to trail down her face. "Be careful!"
Rose smiled and nodded. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." She gave her a thumbs up while winking.
Azmaria nodded and ran off ahead.
Rose stood her ground, waiting for Emerald to appear.
Aion and Remington's blades clashed once more. Remington took a step back then swung the blade at Aion's feet. Aion jumped up then swung his own blade, purple electricity coming off it and hitting Remington sending the angel crashing into the ground.
"Do not take me so lightly. You of all people should know that you cannot simply defeat me so fast," Aion said.
Remington gritted his teeth as he stood back up. "Answer me this, Aion. How is it that you lived after Chrno 'killed' you? Why aren't you dead?"
"I am the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end," Aion said as though that answered it all. "And you are getting in my way of doing so."
Remington's expression remained filled with determination as he charged towards Aion.
Chrno and Jenai's blades clashed each time the other tried to strike, though, they both had gotten a chance to send a few cuts to each other. However, they each had enough time to heal those wounds since they weren't major. Jenai and Chrno glared into the other's eyes, trying to figure out a way to get rid of the other. Jenai smirked and did something Chrno hadn't expected; he grabbed at Chrno's horns and began trying to break them. Chrno winced as he let out a cry of pain.
"You're no fun," Emerald said and jumped off the branch she had been occupying.
"The time for fun is not now," Rose said. "The time for fun is when you guys aren't ruining everything and when we can actually take a break from all the overwhelming stuff from work!"
Emerald frowned. "Blah, blah, blah. You humans can be so boring sometimes." She sighed and shook her head then grabbed out a small gun from her pockets, pointing it at Rose. "The time for fun is now. At least for me." She winked and began firing the gun, large laser beams coming out of it.
Rose's eyes widened.
Azmaria ran pass the trees, her legs threatening to give in beneath her. But she couldn't stop; she refused to. If she did, Rose would be risking her life in vain. Her sides were hurting, her feet ached, and her legs felt like jell-o. She let out a cry when she tripped over a rock, landing face first into the ground. Her breath came out in short pants, sweat pouring down her face and mingling with the dirt from the ground. She groaned as she sat up, wiping the sweat and dirt from her face. She then stood up and began running once more. She couldn't spare any time to stop and take a rest; who knew what lied behind her, chasing her down to return her to Aion.
Stella growled and glared at Arachnia as she finally got free of the webbing. Arachnia also growled and shot webbing out from her hands once more. Stella used her green knight to cut through the webbing, cutting it in half. She then had the knight slash its sword down vertically.
Chrno placed his hands over Jenai's wrists as he tried to prevent the armored demon from ripping out his horns. He growled and glared at Jenai. "I won't let you rip them out."
Jenai smirked as he continued holding on tightly to the horns. "Why? You afraid of losing your girlfriend again?"
Chrno growled causing Jenai to smirk all the more. However, that smirk instantly disappeared when Chrno attacked him with his tail, stabbing through his armor and chest. Jenai coughed up blood then growled, pulling with all his remaining strength at the horns. Chrno held back a cry of pain as he dug his tail deeper through armor, bone, blood, and flesh causing Jenai to wince as he continued to pull.
Remington and Aion's blades clashed once more, different colored electricity coming off the both of them.
"How did you survive?! Answer me with one that is not filled with your meaningless riddles!" Remington cried as he pulled his blade back then swung it horizontally.
Aion easily dodged the attack then grabbed the fallen angel by his throat, lifting him up. "Must I repeat myself? That is all that you need to know."
Remington growled as he tried to keep hold of his sword while trying not to choke from Aion's tight grasp. "The beginning and the end do not explain anything to me."
"You being around humans so much has caused you to gain naivety, angel," Aion said then threw Remington into a tree, slowly walking over to him as the sun glinted off his sword.
Remington put a hand to his throat, wincing from crashing into the tree as well as from the crushing grip Aion had had on him. He watched the white haired demon draw nearer and tried reaching for his blade that was mere feet away from him.
Rose hid behind a tree as she loaded her gun with gospel bullets. The cat demon seemed to have the upper hand with that gun in her hand, but Rose knew Emerald would be practically defenseless and helpless without it. She just had to find out when to strike at the right time and grab the gun away from her.
"You can run, Rosette Christopher, but you certainly can't hide," Emerald said, being several feet from Rose's location. Now where can you be, Saint?
Rose closed her eyes and leaned against the tree, slowly counting mentally on when to shoot. She heard a twig snap beneath Emerald's feet, her cattail creating a swishing-like noise. Just a little closer, kitty girl. She heard the leaves crunch as Emerald drew closer. She opened her eyes and turned slightly to look over the tree to see Emerald very near to her hideout. She continued to count mentally until she finally reached fifty. Now! She jumped out of hiding, completely catching the cat demon by surprise. She held her gun up to Emerald's head, the cat demon putting her clawed hands up. Rose took the laser gun and placed it in her unoccupied holster. "Okay. If you don't want to die then I suggest you listen to me."
"And what will you have me do, Saint?" Emerald asked, slightly grinning.
"I want you, Aion, and the rest of you group of creeps to leave us all alone peacefully. I'm tired of dealing with you guys. Besides... I'm not going to have you guys capture me again. I won't fall for the same trap a fourth time," Rose said. I won't leave Chrno again.
"Ah, but we still need you, Saint," Emerald said.
"I don't care. You guys will leave this place," Rose said. She closed her eyes. "You were very kind to me back in the ship, Emerald, but..." She opened her eyes. "If you continue to harm innocent people, I will kill you despite the fact that you were so nice."
Emerald smiled and shook her head. "Do not be so naïve. Now was not the day to capture you anyways. We have other plans in mind." A suspicious glint lit her eyes as a smirk spread across her lips. "I do not know how it is that you and Chrno already have a contract since he still has his horns, but it will prove to be very effective. Lord Aion hadn't planned for this."
"Just what do you mean?" Rose asked, her eyes narrowing. She had forgotten about the contract once again, feeling slightly shaken from all the energy Chrno was pulling from her.
"You'll see," Emerald said, winking. Before Rose could demand her of anything else, she grabbed out a small remote and pressed the red button, vanishing.
Rose growled in frustration and turned around, going back the way she had treaded from.
Azmaria continued running then stopped, leaning over as she placed her hands on her knees, panting. She didn't hear any footsteps behind her and, so, sat down on a log, trying to regain some of her energy before running once more. She sighed and looked down at the small puddle in front of her. She truly was a mess. Twigs and leaves stuck out from her hair while her face was covered in dirt and sweat, her clothing being covered in dirt as well. I'm going to need a shower after this. She looked to the sky. I hope you're all right, Rosette.
"Azmaria, Aion's not going to be very happy when he finds you out here," a voice said from behind her.
Azmaria's eyes widened as she spun around. "J-Joshua." She instantly stood up, taking a step back.
Joshua smiled as he took a step forward. "Soon, I will be strong. You can be strong, too, Az." He held out his hand.
Tears filled Azmaria's eyes as she quickly shook her head. "No! I won't be manipulated by him just as he has done to you!" She quickly wiped away the tears that began to flow down her cheeks then turned around and began making a run for it.
Joshua only shook his head and sat down on the log, waiting for his power to be returned to him.
Arachnia put up a web shield before the knight could cut her. She then let out a hiss and glared at Stella. "This battle is not won yet, human." She disappeared.
Stella growled in frustration then sat down on one of the ruined altars. "This is becoming wary."
Aion looked down at the blade that was only a few feet from being within Remington's grasp. He kicked it away then held his blade up vertically, bringing it down afterwards.
"Father!" a girl's voice cried, a gospel bullet jamming into Aion's shoulder.
Aion winced and placed a hand over his shoulder, glaring at the one who had shot the bullet to see Rose glaring at him through narrowed eyes.
"Leave him alone!" Rose cried as she took a step forward. "I'll fire again if you don't."
Aion regained his cool manner and shook his head, a grin spreading across his lips. "Rose Remington, what of your brother?"
"Does it truly matter? Every word that comes out from your mouth is useless for they are only shrouded in deceit," Rose said, taking another step forward.
"Are you so sure, Rose Remington? Or is it Him who simply tells you lies to pacify your soul?" Aion asked.
"Trust me, I know who tells the lies and truths here," Rose said, taking yet another step forward. "I do not fear you, Aion. I will remain strong even when my strength is being drained."
Remington slowly crawled his way to his fallen blade as Rose distracted the white haired demon.
Azmaria continued to run until she tripped over a rock, falling down face first into the ground. She rolled onto her back, closing her eyes as her breath came out in short wheezes. She couldn't run anymore. She simply didn't have the strength to do so. Rosette... Help me...
She heard twigs and leaves snap underneath someone's feet as they approached her. Azmaria sat up weakly, opening one eye to see Emerald looking down at her with a wide grin. She opened both her eyes, them being wide as she desperately tried to stand only to fall back on her butt.
"Don't do that, Az," Emerald said, shaking her head. "You're too weak right now and you're only straining yourself. You'll end up hurting yourself somehow." She held out her clawed hand. "Now, come. We must return to the ship."
Azmaria slowly raised her hand up to meet Emerald's until she heard a voice in the back of her mind say, "Azmaria, don't do it. You mustn't give up. You must have courage."
Azmaria quickly took her hand away from Emerald's as her expression changed to one of determination. "No..." She weakly stood up, stumbling back a few steps before she caught her balance. "I won't go with you. Rosette wouldn't and I won't either!"
Emerald was taken aback slightly by the sudden courage filling Azmaria's soul. She shook her head once again. "Az, you can't run. You can hardly even walk. What makes you believe you can get away?"
"The fact that I have friends who are always there for me. I can't fail them by giving in so easily!" Azmaria cried then spun around, running off.
Emerald let out a sigh of exasperation then appeared in front of Azmaria within a blink of an eye. She crossed her arms in irritation as she tapped her foot. "Really, Az, this is becoming quite the nuisance. Lord Aion will not be pleased with your misbehavior."
Azmaria took a step back, closing her eyes as she tried to think of what Rosette would do. She looked up at Emerald determinedly when she had opened her eyes then lunged forward, grabbing the gun that had been holstered on the left side of Emerald's waist. She held the gun up, pointed directly at Emerald's chest.
"I'm not coming with you. I'm not returning to Aion. I'm staying here with Chrno and Rosette!" Azmaria cried.
"You don't want to do this," Emerald said, calmly, taking a step forward as she watched the trigger carefully. "Your aim would be very off due to your loss of strength and the after blow from the gun will strain your body, you may even be harmed."
"Don't come a step closer," Azmaria said, trying her best to keep her hands from trembling while keeping her aim on target.
Emerald stopped, reluctantly obeying when she saw the fiery determination within the young apostle's eyes. It was then that she knew Azmaria was deadly serious and would fire the gun if she came any closer. She closed her eyes as she thought back to the previous Azmaria that had excelled beyond any normal Sister. She was the greatest within the Order. Though, Rosette would always be the most memorable within the Magdalan Order.
She smirked as she opened her eyes, watching Azmaria. To think such a weak coward would turn out to be the best shooter and Sister in the whole Order. Not to mention to become the Head Mistress at the age of sixteen. "Well, I suppose I really must take my leave. See ya later, Az." She smiled, waved bye then disappeared.
Jenai glared at Chrno as his strength began to drain due to the fatal blow Chrno had inflicted upon him. However, that glare slowly disappeared, a smirk spreading across his lips. Chrno looked at him suspiciously, wondering slightly if the armored demon had finally lost it. Jenai closed his eyes and simply said, "I know it's very late to say this, but I will warn you nonetheless." He opened his eyes, a dark grin taking the place of his smirk. "You're about to feel a hell of a pain go through your whole entire body."
Chrno gave Jenai a confounded look, but before he could do or say anything, he felt something sharp and burning go through the center of his chest. He looked down to see a small smoldering hole where he had been hit. He placed a hand over the wound then lifted it up to see his crimson blood. However, as he looked closer at it, he saw traces of golden liquid within it. He raised an eyebrow then looked down to see a young girl.
The girl had long, flowing, black hair and ice cold gray eyes. Dark red lipstick covered her lips while metallic blue eye shadow covered her eyelids. Her outfit was very similar to Rosette's militia uniform except her dress was red, the crosses black, what was normally white was also black, her gloves were black, her hat was red, her gloves black, and, instead of boots, she wore black high heels. She looked to be about seventeen years old and held a pistol pointed up at Chrno, conspicuously ready to fire her gun once more at the purple haired demon.
Jenai took advantage of Chrno's distraction and quickly pulled out the horns with the last of his remaining strength. He then flew back some feet away from Chrno.
Chrno let out a cry of pain and quickly grasped his head where the horns had been, wincing as the blood poured out on the sides of his head. He folded his wings in, falling towards the ground at a rapid speed. He closed his eyes, faintly hearing the occurrences around him.
"If you don't die this way, you'll surely die from Mia's shot," Jenai's voice shouted.
Footsteps came closer to him when he had crashed into the ground, a girl's voice saying, "Such a shame you must die this way. I must admit, you are quite the cutie. Not as cute as Lord Aion, though." With that said, the footsteps left his side, growing fainter until he could no longer hear them. It was then that he was finally consumed in darkness...
Rose was about to shoot Aion once more, when her eyes suddenly went wide, her whole body trembling from an immense pain. She fell to her knees, her grasp upon her gun weakening until it fell to her side. She hugged herself trying to keep herself from crying out, electricity wildly pouring out from the clock around her neck while its hands turned rapidly. What's wrong with me? What's happening? Why's the clock acting like this?
A wide grin spread across Aion's lips as he watched the young nun. It seems we have finally gotten what we wanted. He turned around to leave. "We will meet again, Rose Remington."
"Aion!" Yuan Remington cried, grabbing his blade and quickly getting up. He then charged after the white haired demon, lunging forward. However, before he could make contact, Aion disappeared. Remington growled slightly then sheathed his blade. Afterwards, he went by Rose's side, his expression filling with concern. "Rose?"
Rose placed a hand over the watch, her breathing coming out in short pants while sweat poured down her face. She looked up at her father, a tired but worried expression upon her face. "It's... Chrno!"
Noooooooooooo! Chrno got hurt! T.T Just what did that chick, Mia, shoot at Chrno? What will become of everyone's favorite lovable purple haired demon?! You'll just have to wait and see in the next chapter of Chrno Crusade: The End Is Just The Beginning! And please don't forget to review on your way out. Thank you very much in advance.