Disclaimer: I don't own anything even remotely related to Chrno Crusade, All characters property of Daisuke Moriyama
A/N I finally finished this chapter. I've had a lot of things happening in my life, which have prevented me from getting this done sooner so I apologise for the big delay. I have completed the entire plot outline for this fic so I warn you this is a long work in progress, looking at possibly twelve or thirteen chapters. In the later chapters I shall be shortening the chapters to only a couple of thousand words each so that I don't have huge gaps like this arise when I have important stuff coming up in the real world.
Also I want to thank everyone who has reviewed my first two chapters, your reviews meant a lot to me and really helped me to get this done, so thank you all so much!
Just to clear up something I have intentionally spelt Chrno's name C-H-R-N-O because that's the way it was originally spelt in the Japanese version as well as the Madman Entertainment English release of the manga as well as i prefer to spell it this way. I will not be changing this at all so do NOT leave reviews asking me to do so, if it upsets you that much dont read my fic, its as simple as that.
Once again, this is a Chrno x Rosette AU piece with a dab (or bucket load) of OOC behaviour.
'Blah blah blah.' – Normal Speech
'Blah blah blah.' – Thoughts
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Intolerable Cruelty
Chapter 3
Hem your blessings with praise, lest they unravel.
Chrno picked at the ripped seams of his nightclothes, the cuffs of his shirt were now somewhere around his elbows. The once full-length pants now hung around his knees, he glanced at his reflection in the mirror, his nose wrinkled at the demon staring back at him. The initial surprise had worn off since he first caught sight of himself in the mirror, the whole incident felt like a blur and a little too surreal for this demons' liking. It had been too long since he'd seen this older vision of himself; he winced a little as he was reminded of the last time he was in this older form.
'Not since her...' he thought sadly, as much as those memories hurt him he would never allow himself to forget, that itself would be an insult to her memory.
'Magdalena.'
'What was that?' Chrno's thoughts snapped back to reality, noticing for the first time in what seemed like hours (but was really only minutes) his contractor's eyes on him, kneeling next to her suitcase its contents astray.
'Oh nothing, just silly thoughts that's all' he answered quickly, brushing a stubborn strand of violet hair from his eyes. He had told Rosette a little of his life before he lost his horns, though not the more painful memories, even after fifty years those wounds still felt fresh.
'Well don't just stand there like a scarecrow!' the nun badgered, 'I need to contact the Order! Sister Kate is going to eat her wimple when I tell her what's happened!' Chrno could see a twinkle of glee in the blonde's eyes. Despite how much Rosette hated being in trouble with the Abbess, he couldn't help but get the feeling that his partner almost enjoyed giving the woman high blood pressure.
'What are you going to say?' The demon asked quietly, he had guessed what the Order might say: regroup and press on. Though he was at a loss to see how they would explain this little "growth spurt" to the Baits.
'No idea' rosette said simply, grunting with effort as she pulled the portable communication device out of her suitcase. Appreciating her partner as she could only imagine what the weapon pack must weigh, this was a third of the size.
'They'll at least be happy to hear I haven't wrecked anything yet though!' the blonde said cheerfully, Chrno despite his condition couldn't help but take a bite.
' "Yet" being the key word Rosette, the week is young and I'm sure you'll find something to wreck soon enough' he half regretted his words as a shoe was thrown rather viscously in his direction, narrowly missing its mark.
'ha ha, quite the comedian aren't we?' Rosette deadpanned, not taking her eyes off the purple haired demon as she began to dial the Order's number. Chrno grinned back at her goofily, he loved it when he got a reaction out of her. The demon was about to add something but was quickly shushed by Rosette, holding the receiver up to her mouth.
'Rosette Christopher speaking, please put Father Remington through' Chrno strained to hear the reply but his demon ears failed him. Once long ago when he'd had his horns his hearing had been impeccable, he could hear a pin drop fifty miles away if he knew to listen for it.
'That's wonderful but I don't care who he's blessing right now this is an emergency!' Rosette gripped the receiver tightly, if there was one thing she couldn't stand about the order it was the seemingly endless amount of pen pushers therein. Muttering some not so very nun-like comments under her breath, her whole body slumped in relief as she heard a deep musical voice.
'Yes Rosette what is so important?' Father Remington's voice crackled through. No matter how good the Elder's work was, being this far out of town made for very poor communication.
'Thank God!' Rosette said breathily 'something happened! We had dinner with the Baits (and I must say it was truly delicious dinner) and then we went to bed and Chrno he's well he's- not him! I mean well he is him but he's not!' the words tumbled out of the blonde's mouth, the demon across the room looked curiously at his contractor.
'What?' the Fathers voice crackled back, 'Rosette you're not making any sense' Chrno noticed frustration flash over the pretty blonde's features. Despite himself he thought how cute she looked when she was flustered. 'enough of that' he reminded himself.. He went back to picking at the seams on his sleeve.
'Well he's big!' The blonde gestured wildly with her free hand 'we woke up this morning and he's grown about three foot in height!' Rosette waited for the reply from Father Remington, all she could hear for now was crackling.
Finally he spoke 'Is it affecting the pocket watch device?' Rosette instinctively clutched the steadily ticking device that hung around her neck on its gold chain. 'No, everything is normal Father, this seems to be independent of the watch' The blonde was once again met with crackling. Glancing over at her partner who looked utterly absorbed with his torn sleeves.
'Can you think of anything that might have caused this?' Rosette thought back to when they first arrived at town, and Chrno's comment about how much astral was present in the town. 'The only thing I can think of is that Chrno said there was a high amount of Astral in the town'
riiiiiip
Rosettes head snapped up, looking over at her partner who was standing with a rather guilty look on his face, he held in his left hand the right sleeve of his night clothes. Rosette rolled her eyes at the demon thinking to herself that sometimes he acted so childishly. God knows he was the oldest person she knew. However his formally child-like appearance allowed him to get away with a lot of silly things in which would normally get him into a lot of trouble. The nun had to thank him for that, people who didn't know what he really was went easy on him, feeling sorry for the odd looking purple haired child.
After what seemed like an eternity the speaker came to life 'Rosette, I've just spoken to Sister Kate and your orders are to continue with the mission.'
'What?' the blonde's eyes went wide in disbelief ' How do you expect us to explain this to the people we are staying with?' the crackling became more severe, making the nun hold the speaker away from her ear.
'We think the astral may be the factor behind Chrno's change. If anything this will make your guise more believable' Rosette couldn't believe her ears 'continue until you find out the source of the astral, you're good at making up excuses I'm sure you'll figure out something to tell your hosts.' and with a click the nun was left cursing at a dead line.
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'Are you sure this is going to work?' asked a very nervous demon. It had taken him close to an hour trying to calm the fiery nun down; the portable communication device lay in a broken heap on the floor. His contractor having put her foot through the contraption several times in anger had later said. 'I sure showed those big idiots at the order!' The demon feared too much for his safety and had decided to remain quite throughout the whole thing.
'Ok I'm gonna go see if the house is clear, then we make a run for it to a local tailor and we get you some new clothes, sound ok?' It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement; Rosette had no idea how they were going to explain Chrno's little growth spurt to the Baits so she had decided their best option was to avoid them like the plague for the mean time. Until she figured out some elaborate excuse to tell them 'I'm good at making excuses but I doubt Houdini himself could out of this pickle' she thought to herself, but she wasn't about to let Chrno know that she was at a loss for once.
'Don't you think it would be better if I climbed out the window?' The purple haired demon asked, fearing the looks he was going to get once they got into the town square. Rosette had managed to get him into some of his old clothes, though every time he moved he could hear the seams creak with the strain, not to mention the pants (which were now more like shorts) were making him extremely uncomfortable in certain places. Holding back the temptation to try and adjust the shorts further, he resigned to the fact that for now he was going to have to put up with it till they got to a tailor.
'Look, if need be I'll create a distraction, but for now stick to the plan!' Rosette took a deep breath before quietly slipping out of their room beginning to tip toe down the hallway. All appeared to be clear, popping her head into the kitchen, followed by the bathroom and sitting room 'all clear!' she whispered back hoarsely. Watching as her purple haired friend snuck out quietly, closing the door softly behind him. The nun couldn't help but chuckle a little; he did look awfully funny in clothes four sizes too small on him. The hassle it had been to get him in the clothes was enough to wipe the grin off her face, what she hadn't planned on however was how different he looked in this older form, or the funny feeling she got in the pit of her stomach when she'd been helping him get dressed.
Rosette now far too preoccupied with her thoughts got the shock of her life, just as she was about to open the front door it swung inward and collided with her head with a loud crack.
'Owwwww' the nun moaned, the door had sent her flying backwards landing uncomfortably on her backside, the throbbing from her head however distracted her from the rough landing. 'what in the wor-' Rosette looked up at her assailant, freezing in horror as two Miranda Baits stood over her, an apologetic look on their faces.
'Are you ok?' Rosette could hear her partners voice vaguely, and suddenly two Chrno's appeared looking down at her, concern written on their faces.
'Holy hell there are two of you!' Rosette exclaimed blinking vigorously trying to get the two Chrno's to merge. Her head stung painfully and she could feel a lump forming, gingerly placing a hand on her forehead, a small bump met her probing fingers. She groaned in annoyance.
'Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't even think when I opened the door, how clumsy of me!' The young woman exclaimed, kneeling down next to the abused nun. Chrno now also kneeling next to Rosette looked at the young woman, the cat was out of the bag it seemed, then again she'd yet to say anything other than apologize. In the back of his mind Chrno vaguely considered making a bolt for it, perhaps go hide up a tree or find a suitable sized shrub to conceal himself in. 'Yes abandon Rosette, every man for himself. She'd kill me' he thought gloomily.
'Forgive me for not introducing myself, you must be Chrno and Rosette!' Rosette who's head was finally starting to stop spinning opened her eyes, remembering their situation and how her plan to 'avoid them like the plague' had drowned like a rat.
'Miranda Its ok I wasn't looking where I was going, I-' Rosette was about to go on but was cut off by giggling. The woman kneeling next to her seemed to have found something rather amusing 'uh, pardon did I say something funny?' The nun asked. Chrno was waiting for the inevitable, prepared to make a run for it if needed.
'I'm sorry dear, It happens all the time' Rosette just stared at her 'she opens doors in peoples faces all the time?' she was thoroughly confused. 'Miranda are you ok?' she asked again, afraid the woman had lost her marbles.
'I'm not Miranda dear; I'm her sister Rosemary. We're identical twins you see' The piece that had been missing from the puzzle clicked into place for the demon, relief washed over him. 'My sister and her husband had to leave early this morning, they received bad news regarding her husbands father who lives a few hours from here.'
'The father has fallen ill you see, so they will be up there for the remainder of this week and depending on his health the rest of next week as well' The nun and the demon couldn't help but stare open mouthed at their absolute pot-luck 'They are sorry they didn't get to explain the situation to you personally due to the urgency of the phone call they received this morning they had to leave almost right away.'
Rosette finally started to pick herself off the ground, her heart was hammering in her chest, was it really going to be that easy? Bump on the head forgotten she grabbed Chrno's shoulder for support. 'So they didn't tell you anything about us other than that we are staying here for a week?' Rosette was barely able to keep the excitement out of her voice. Chrno could only stare in wonderment at how easily they had gotten out of the problem they were facing with his transformation.
'Like I said they were in a rush, but I hope I can accommodate you as best they were' The young woman finished with a smile, the resemblance was scary, not a hair out of place could make you tell the difference between them where they standing side by side.
Rosette took this as her opportunity to get the ball rolling as a small light bulb blinked to life in her mind 'Yes well we have a small problem you see' she began, stretching her arm around Chrno's shoulders, noting that it felt odd that his shoulders where now almost past her head. 'While we were packing, and I don't know how it happened but my partners suitcase was somehow misplaced back home (we have a lot of younger relatives you could say) and we need to find an emergence tailor to make him a couple of pairs of pants and some shirts'
'oh you're kidding? That's terrible!' Rosemary exclaimed. The young woman took the time to have a proper look at Chrno and a small giggle escaped her lips 'you poor thing!' she said sympathetically, placing a hand on the demons shoulder. Rosette couldn't help but laugh a little at the situation, even though her head was still hurting quite considerably.
'I know just the place to take him, would it be ok if I took your man away from you for the day to get him all fixed up?' Rosette blushed a little at Chrno being referred to as "her man" 'Remember tonight is the Festival and he'll need a formal outfit as well' The young woman said, looking the demon up and down as if sizing him up.
Chrno felt like an insect under a magnifying glass, he hated attention, wanting nothing more than the shrink into a corner somewhere. Rosette on the other hand had better ideas 'of course how could I forget! He's all yours for the day!' the nun said cheerfully giving the demon a hard pat on the back. ' See what you can do with him and I'll make sure to pay whatever is necessary once you've got everything sorted out'
Rosette figured since the Order was going to flip them off the way they had she could at least be kind enough to give them a nice fat bill to pay for at the end of the week. 'Whatever it costs I'll pay!' she said with a wide smile. Chrno almost shivered when he saw the look on his contractors face, she really did scare him sometimes.
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The blonde exhaled in boredom, it had been almost two hours since Rosemary had taken off with Chrno. She wondered idly what her best friend was doing right now, possibly being stuck with pins and being drawn all over with tailors chalk. She'd wanted to go along but Rosemary had insisted she have a look around and meet some of the townsfolk. Rosette now sat at a small table in a milk bar, sipping on a chocolate milkshake. She'd walked around the town square enough times before she decided to go find a drink somewhere.
Across the square from where she was sitting stood the tailor shop, her eyes drifted back to the shop frequently, hoping to see some glimpse of Chrno. This got her thoughts back to the change in him, he looked so much more different than before. The baby-fat in his cheeks gone, his face was now more angular. His eyes seemed darker in colour and more slanted, his skin was more tanned. She blushed when she thought of seeing him without a shirt on; she'd seen her partner without a shirt on a number of occasions but it had never fazed her. He was her best friend after all, but this morning she'd gotten quite a shock, feeling incredibly guilty when she'd found her eyes lingering just a little too long on her demon friend.
'This is stupid, you don't think things like that about Chrno!' she mentally berated herself. Frustrated that the heat in her cheeks still wouldn't leave her she huffed in annoyance, taking a big sip of the milkshake and finding anything to look at that wasn't the tailor shop.
She noted the people that were going about their business; all were fairly young maybe around Rosemary's age. Something was out of place however; the nun unable to put her finger on it thought over what she had learned. Remembering back to last night's dinner when the Baits had claimed to been running the inn for almost forty years which was impossible when you saw how young they were. 'Or how young they look I should say' Rosette tried to view their hosts as suspicious but couldn't hold it for long; they'd been so kind to her and Chrno.
'What then?' she thought sighing, nothing seemed out of place in this town, everyone seemed so normal and healthy and 'young' she spoke out loud. Realisation hit her like a train, not one person they had seen in town looked over the age of thirty not to mention where were the children in town?
'Bingo' she said with a grin.
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Chrno shifted uncomfortably, he had been standing on a pedestal for over an hour now. He wasn't one to enjoy any real sort of attention let alone be poked and prodded by complete strangers. 'Ah yes that colour really suits you!' exclaimed the bubbly seamstress who was holding a crimson fabric to his chest. A giggle came from the corner of the room where two young women sat at sewing machines, Chrno sighed glancing at the girls in the corner, they had been eye-balling him continuously since he'd walked in the store.
'Girls! Enough talk more work, we have to have this ready for him by tonight!' snapped the seamstress at his side. The girls stopped giggling almost immediately, the demon had to admit that even though they reminded him a lot of the three nuns back at the order these two girls looked like they were actually doing work rather than standing around spreading gossip.
'So who's the lucky lady?' simpered the seamstress, Chrno had not spoken much since he'd been in there, the woman standing in front of him had been providing more than enough conversation for the two of them, introducing herself as Madam Pomfrey. He had been content to just stand there and think about other things. This question however had caused his cheeks to warm a little.
'uh, Rosette she's my g–girlfriend' the demon stuttered, the words seemed foreign on his lips but he noticed not entirely unwelcome. Suddenly looking down at his feet, he noticed out of the corner of his eye the smile on the Madam Pomfrey's face widen. 'ah well, she's a very lucky lady, young man!' she exclaimed, The demon could have sworn he heard a snicker at the mention of Rosette, he glanced over to the corner of the room where the two young girls sat, heads buried in their work. 'must have been imagining things'
His thoughts lingered on his partner for a little longer; it was strange being taller than her. Of course he'd transformed into his demon form when she was little but not since the orphanage incident. He'd felt a great urge to protect her, to really be there for her if she called. He'd do anything to keep her out of harms way.
He'd noted earlier that morning when Rosette had been helping him fit into his smaller forms clothes, he could have sworn he saw her blushing, which was unusual because rosette was hardly one to be bashful around anyone, especially himself. 'why would she start getting embarrassed now?' he asked himself. His mind wandered into the endless reasons as to why Rosette would be embarrassed by him.
'Well my dear boy' said the seamstress interrupting the silence 'I think we have our colours picked out for you, we can start pinning!'
Chrno groaned, today was going to be a long day.
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'Gosh its been like three hours already what on earth could be taking this long!' Rosette huffed impatiently, after having finished her milkshake she had taken to pacing around in the town square, waiting for her purple haired friend to make an appearance out of the tailor shop but so far she had not seen hide nor tail of her partner.
She was absolutely busting to tell him about her discovery, and how brilliant she was for figuring it out on her own. 'That'll show those big idiots at the order!' she said with a snarl.
'Miss Christopher!' Rosette spun around at the mention of her name. Rosemary came jogging up to her looking slightly breathless; a few strands of hair had fallen out of her neat braid. 'I've been looking for you everywhere dear!' the young woman gulped 'It just occurred to me that you probably don't have a gown for tonight! And I thought it would be a shame if you were to not be able to dress up for the occasion like everyone else!'
Rosette took a moment to think, on one hand she really wanted to tell Chrno what she'd discovered, but on the other she also loved any opportunity to dress up in fancy dresses, something she was not often given privilege to in her line of work. And she had been waiting around for hours to see him emerge from the shop. 'I'll see what I can find out about Rosemary and about this town' she thought to herself as a side note, though she knew the teenage side of her really wanted to try on some of those dresses.
'That sounds like a really good idea, I didn't bring anything suitable for tonight!' the nun said honestly.
'Excellent!' said Rosemary who had regained some of her breath back 'My good friend Patricia is a dress maker for her hobby, you look about the same size as her so I'm sure we could find something to fit you'
'May I ask what tonight is actually for?' Rosette had not had much time to really think about the festival tonight or what is was really about.
'Well my dear, lets start walking to my friends house and I'll tell you the story on the way' Rosette nodded at the woman. The young nun took one more look at the tailor shop, not a sign of her partner. She sighed 'guess I'll have to tell the big idiot tonight then' and with that she turned and walked off with Rosemary.
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At six o'clock the bell tower rang, birds startled by the sudden interruption of peace flew into the sky from their perches in the treetops. A purple haired demon sat nervously staring at the wall clock of the small tailor shop he had spent a majority of the day in. His suit had been completed and he now waited patiently for Madam Pomfrey to give him the remainder of his new clothes so he could go back to the inn and meet up with Rosette again.
'Well young man, everything had been done that you asked for.' The woman said giving a wink as she walked back into the front of the store 'I'll get one of the girls to pop the bill over to the inn tomorrow morning as we don't have much time today due to our little town festival!' she said beaming. A large brown parcel sat on the counter of the small shop waited to be collected.
'I really appreciate this, you have done a really good job' Chrno not one educated in clothes assumed that anything that didn't look like a Hessian sack must be good. 'You've worked really hard so thank you' he finished with a sweet smile. If one could disarm a person with a single look that would have been it, the two shop assistants huddled at the back swayed.
'Not a problem dear, anytime' Madam Pomfrey winked.
Tucking the parcel under one arm he said another quick thank you to Madam Pomfrey and a small wave to the two assistants he could see peaking from behind a door.
The demon turned and had not taken more than a step towards the door when he was met with a tall burly man. 'You must be Chrno!' the man boomed. The man towered over Chrno, which was quite odd in itself seeing as Chrno himself in this form was by no means what one might call short. 'The names Carl!' The man thrust out his hand to shake the surprised demons.
'uh-' The purple haired demon had lost his train of thought 'n-nice to meet you Carl' Taking a hasty step back to get a view of the man before him. He was built like a tree, but not what one might consider portly. Brown hair, which dusted his forehead lightly, his hand felt rough and calloused in Chrno's own. A labourer of some kind thought the demon.
'Carl!' The high-pitched voice of Madam Pomfrey screeched 'what did I tell you about coming in and scaring people like that!' Chrno didn't take his eyes off the man. 'Didn't you mother ever teach you any manners?'
'Aye she did!' The man was now grinning widely 'but its not tha often we get out 'er town folk in 'ere is it?'
Madam Pomfrey sighed ' You'll have to excuse Carl, he's quite fond of out of towns folk' Chrno glanced back to Madam Pomfrey who was giving the burly man a glare.
'Tha's not fair Marley, I'm jus bein polite to tha youngster!' The man let go of Chrno's hand moving around to the counter and giving Madam Pomfrey and wink. The demon noticed the slight twinkle in Carl's eyes reflected by the seamstress. 'Must be married or something' he thought quietly. His thoughts were soon confirmed.
'This is my husband Carl, he's the foreman for the towns mine' The man gave a toothy smile, wrapping a protective arm around the smaller woman. 'aye an' this is my lil rose bud Marle!' Chrno couldn't help but grin at the tired look the seamstress was now giving her husband. A quick glance at the wall clock however wiped the smile off his face 'Rosette is going to kill me' the demon thought cringing.
'I'm really sorry to be rude but I have to get going. I promised to meet my girlfriend at six-thirty so we could go to the fest-'
'Oh no you can't do that!' Madam Pomfrey interrupted taking a step towards the demon a smile on her face. 'You can't do that at all' Chrno gave the woman a questioning look 'what now?' he thought harshly.
'You see' the woman began 'It is customary that the men and women get ready for the festival separately so as not to spoil the surprise!' Chrno felt a hand on his shoulder 'that's right my boy! You'll be comin with me!'
'But Rosette she probably doesn't even know-' The demon began to protest. Lord knew Rosette would not be impressed if he just left her there.
'Its ok dear, I'm certain Rosemary told me she would go and get her' this did little to ease the demons anxiety. He couldn't help but feel like this had all been organised without either of them knowing about it.
'Don't you be fretting, you'll see yer lass tonight' boomed Carl, who had now tightened his grip on his shoulder. 'Now you come with me and the rest of the boys and we'll get yer all ready for yer lil woman'
Chrno gave Marle a helpless sort of look and allowed Carl to nudge him in the direction of the door. 'Ok then' he conceded, wondering to himself how his best friend was feeling right now. Tonight was sure to be interesting, curiously enough the last thing on his mind was their mission, those thoughts were taking a backseat for the day it seemed.
To Be Continued….
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I apologise for the rushed end to this chapter. I am months overdue for this and I really wanted to get it finished. Not a whole lot happened, but stuff that seems kinda out of place will come together later I promise! I really appreciate the reviews you've all given me so far so please tell me your thoughts on this. The next chapter I promise to be an exciting one!
Next Chapter – A Little Less Conversation… The Festival has begun, what starts out as an awkward night turns into a night of drinking and celebration, that is until some of the village women start making eyes at Chrno. The green-eyed monster rears its ugly head in Rosette!
