Chapter 2

Rosette woke up feeling terrible. The fight with Chrono the night before had been one of the worse ones, and she had never told the little devil that she'd hated him before. She had been confused and worried when Chrono had brushed past her in the hall, head down and tears flying off his face. The girl was helpless; she didn't know what to do.

Sighing, she sat up, dressing quickly and heading towards Chrono's room. She knocked on the door softly, but there was no answer. She slowly pushed it open to see Chrono lying on the bed, curled up in a snug ball. Rosette frowned as she saw that there were dried tears on his cheeks, and even in sleep his face was pained.

'Oh god…' the girl thought. 'What have I done? How could I do this to him?'

She wanted to go in and talk to him, but she knew that Chrono needed to sleep right now, it was probably best that he get rested. 'I'll talk to him as soon as he gets up… I promise…'

As Rosette walked away from the building she looked skywards. "Please God; forgive me for what I've done… I promise I'll go to confession as soon as I can… Just let him be alright…"

Rosette wanted to talk to Chrono, but this was a problem. The small devil was avoiding her completely. The blonde did everything she possibly could to get to him, but he always found a way to disappear. Blowing at her bangs in frustration, Rosette walked towards Chrono's room, knowing that he would have to go back there eventually.

Time passed, and Rosette sighed, leaning back against the wall. Even though it was past midnight, there was still no sign of Chrono. Running a hand through her hair, Rosette stood. 'You win for today Chrono, but I have to talk to you soon…'

Rosette walked back away from the building, keeping a careful eye out in case she saw Chrono. There was no sign of him, and Rosette gave up, going into her room to get some sleep.

Chrono slipped into his room, quietly shutting the door. Avoiding Rosette today had been a pain, but he didn't want to talk to her. It would only make the ache in his heart worse. As Chrono carefully latched the door he reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his newly stolen vial of holy water.

Uncorking the vase like container, Chrono pulled up his left sleeve to reveal a latticework of burns and welts. The devil carefully allowed a single drop of holy water to fall on his skin, and then tilted his arm, the drop rolling over his skin, leaving a red sizzling trail as it did.

Tears filled Chrono's eyes, his heart pounding in his chest. 'Make the pain go away…'

His heart eased as the pain in his arm took his focus away from it, and he sighed in relief, lifting the vial again. After pulling up his right pant leg, Chrono tilted the bottle, pouring the water over his calf.

The devil had to bite back a cry of pain, tears flooding his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. The smell of burnt flesh filled the room, and Chrono dropped the empty vial of water in favor of reaching for the bandages that he had hidden in his room. He had to bandage them quickly, just in case someone came in and saw.

After winding the clean strips around his calf and forearm, Chrono disposed of the empty vial, and then crawled into his bed, settling down against the mattress. His heart didn't hurt quite so much now… But it would, he dreamed of Rosette too often. He would have to repeat this again tomorrow, at least twice, to keep the hurt away.

As he tossed and turned in the bed his hair grew loose, and the ribbon fell away to allow his hair to fall around his form. Chrono played with the ends of his long hair, and then his thoughts drifted to the night before, when Rosette had brushed his hair for him. The pain in his heart returned, and with a sigh, Chrono rose from the bed, retrieving his coat so he could sneak out to get another vial of holy water. Maybe he should take extras this time…

Azmaria was worried. The girl didn't know what was happening, but she sure did notice the way that Chrono and Rosette had stopped talking. She knew that something was wrong, and it worried her.

The pale-haired girl watched with sadness as Chrono drew into himself, his usually vibrant crimson eyes growing dull, his skin growing pale, the dark circles under his eyes turning into bags. Rosette wanted to talk to him, Azmaria knew, but the little devil seemed to avoid her.

Sighing, the apostle stood, looking over to where Chrono was eating silently. They were currently the only two in the room, and Azmaria wanted to talk to her 'big brother.'

Hesitantly, the red-eyed girl made her way over to Chrono, softly saying his name. The devil flinched at the sound, and hastily pulled at his sleeve when it fell down his forearm.

Azmaria frowned as she caught sight of white bandages. "Chrono? Are you hurt?"

The devil smiled, but Azmaria could tell it was forced. "No, I'm alright. It's nothing." Chrono slowly stood, picking up his plate. "Was there something wrong Az?"

Azmaria wrung her hands, and then nodded, steeling herself. "I'm worried about you Chrono. Are you okay?"

Chrono blinked his dull eyes, and then smiled again, this time a true smile that turned up the corners of his lips slightly. "I'm alright. Thanks for thinking of me Az, I appreciate it. But everything's fine."

With that the devil turned, going to leave the room. Azmaria watched him silently, and then frowned again. 'No, everything is not alright…' she thought as she noticed the way that Chrono favored his right leg slightly.

Her resolve set, the apostle girl walked from the building, going to where she knew Father Remington would be. Knocking softly on the door, she peeked in to see the minister sitting on a couch reading a book. The kind-hearted man looked up as the girl came in, smiling.

"Well hello Azmaria. How are you doing?"

Azmaria moved closer to him, and then gingerly sat on the couch. "Father…" she murmured. "I… I'm worried about Chrono!" she blurted out quickly, a blush coming to her pale skin an instant later.

The minister blinked slightly, and then put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "And why is that Azmaria?"

The pale-haired girl looked down. "Well… There are bandages on his arms, but he won't tell me why. Usually he lets you know what it is, even if he doesn't want to tell you if they're paining him or not. He seems so sad too… Like he's lost something." The girl thought a moment. "And he's avoiding Rosette, I've noticed that too."

Remington's handsome face was set in a frown, and he tapped a finger against his chin. "Hmm, this is a little strange. I've never known Chrono to want to stay away from Rosette. Anything else?"

Azmaria nodded. "He's limping too, favoring his right leg."

Remington sighed slightly, trying to think of what he could do. "Well, I'll try and talk to him, if that will make you feel any better. And I think I'll speak with Rosette too. Maybe I can figure out what's driving them apart, because if anyone can cheer up Chrono, it's Rosette."

Azmaria nodded, the smile returning to her face as she gave the blond man a hug. "Thank you Father!"

Remington smiled. "It's perfectly fine Azmaria. It's what I'm here for."

Rosette opened the door to her room after someone knocked, a little surprised to see Father Remington standing there. The blonde girl blinked, and then gasped. "Oh, Father! Please, come on in!"

Remington walked into the room, sitting down on the chair that Rosette had near a desk. "I was asked by Azmaria to check up on things with you."

Rosette blinked, sitting down opposite from the priest on her bed. "Az? Why?"

"She says that she's worried about Chrono, and I was wondering if you could tell me why he's been avoiding you. That might help a little." Remington explained, lacing his hands together and settling them in his lap.

Rosette sighed, looking down. "Yes, I know why. We had a fight a little over a week ago. It was probably one of our worst. He brought up the subject of the watch again, and I got mad at him because he didn't want to let me make my own decisions." Rosette felt tears gathering in her eyes. "I've been trying to talk to him, but he just keeps avoiding me. I'm so worried about him; I didn't mean to do it…"

The minister frowned. "Do what, Rosette?"

The girl looked up at him. "I told him that I hated him."

Remington suddenly understood completely. Chrono was bound to Rosette in more ways than anyone could know, through the contract, but also though love. Chrono cared deeply for the blonde girl, he would do anything for her, and a comment like that would have shattered his heart. Remington sighed. "Well, that clears things up… I think I'll go talk to Chrono, see if I can get him to come out of his shell a little."

Rosette put a hand on the minister's arm as he stood. "Please Father; tell him that I'm sorry, and that I want to talk to him."

Remington nodded, his eyes sad. "I will, I promise." The priest turned, putting his hands on Rosette's shoulders. "Don't worry, things will work out alright. Chrono just needs a little time, and I'm sure he'll be okay once he realizes that you're sorry for what you said."

Rosette nodded, hope in her eyes. Remington turned and left her room, heading towards Chrono's, a grim expression on his face. 'This is worse than I thought… Azmaria said that Chrono was injured. Could he possibly be hurting himself because his heart is in pain?'

Chrono wiped the tears from his face, carefully disposing of the empty vial of holy water in the trash. As he started to wrap the bandages around his right leg he was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Chrono?"

The little devil almost swore, quickly pulling down the leg of his pants and hiding the bandages under his bed. "Come in!" He cleared his throat slightly as his voice broke.

Father Remington was the one who opened the door, but Chrono had known that. His sensitive hearing had easily been able to decipher the difference between his footsteps, as well as his voice. The blond minister smiled at Chrono where the devil was seated on his bed. "Hello Chrono. How are you feeling?"

The devil smiled slightly at the minister. "Well. Why do you ask?"

Sighing, Remington decided not to beat around the proverbial bush. "Azmaria is worried about you Chrono. She says that you've been acting strangely, and it's scaring her."

Chrono struggled to keep from sucking in a breath. He hadn't expected Az to tell anyone… Instead the devil tilted his head, trying to ignore the burning warmth from his blood rolling down his leg. The burns had gotten bad enough that they had begun to bleed. "Acting strange? I haven't been trying to act any different…"

Remington sighed again. "Well Azmaria says that you're avoiding Rosette, and that she's seen you limping."

Chrono cursed himself inwardly. Az was a very bright girl, of course she would notice that he was limping. Chrono again smiled slightly. "Oh, I was limping because I twisted my ankle the other day. It's just starting to heal, so it's still a little painful to walk on. As for the avoiding Rosette…" The devil trailed off.

Remington could see that it was bringing up painful memories for the small devil, so he shook his head. "I know what happened between you and Rosette. But Chrono, please understand, Rosette is sorry for what she did, and she wants you to know that she wants to talk to you. Alright?"

Chrono nodded. "Thank you Father. Now, if you don't mind, I'm really tired, so I'd like to get some sleep."

Remington nodded, putting a hand on Chrono's shoulder as he stood. "Please do rest Chrono. You don't look well, and frankly, it's worrying me as well."

Chrono smiled slightly, and then watched as the minister left his room. Latching the door, Chrono turned to his closet, opening a small drawer in the bottom. Pulling out a vial of holy water, the devil uncorked it, pulling up his left sleeve and tipping the vial to the side.

Well, there's chapter two. I'm working on the third now, it should be out soon. Please let me know what you think!