Chapter 4

"I'm worried about him," the tall nun said to the man standing beside her. She was referring to the devil on the fountain in the courtyard below her office, looking worried and morose. "He hasn't eaten or slept in the days since the attack, and he's looking a lot worse for the wear- I don't think he can last much longer." Sister Kate sighed and moved away from the window. Remington stayed and looked out the window at Chrno, whom either didn't realize or didn't care he was being watched.

Sister Kate sat down heavily in her chair and took off her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. One of the Sisters had brought in the teacart and had set it by her desk, so she poured herself and Remington each a cup of the steaming brew. The heady aroma filled the room as she did so, calling forth memories of happier, less confusing times. Remington came away from the window to accept his cup and stood by the side of the desk, sipping gingerly at the hot liquid. The old friends were silent for a moment.

"It's been three days," Sister Kate finally said, breaking the silence. "Three days, and not a trace of Sister Rosette, that scientist nor the devil that attacked them are to be found!" She put down the drained cup, not bothering to pour herself another and buried her face in her hands. "We've scoured Manhattan and every other major city in the United States, and we came up empty handed. Oh, Remington," she asked, turning in her chair to look at the tall blond man beside her, "What are we going to do?"

Remington smiled and refilled both their cups. "We don't worry too much about it," he said reassuringly, putting her tea in front of her. He crouched down till they were about eye level. "After all, this isn't any of the other Sisters in this convent. It's Rosette Christopher, who can have a building fall on her and still walk out just fine, and who's as stubborn as an old mule and twice as likely to bite. If there's anyone you should worry about," he added with a sudden chuckle, "It's that Elric fellow, the one who called himself an 'alchemist.' If Rosette hasn't given him a sound thumping yet, she will." He reached down, surprising himself as much as Sister Kate as he took her hand and put it both of his. "Don't worry," he said gently. "You'll be reprimanding her in this office before you know it."

Tears filled Sister Kate's eyes as she stood up suddenly and hugged herself to his chest. Only then did she allow her silent tears to turn into wracking sobs. "Oh, Remington," she moaned between them, "I d-don't know how to handle this!" She cried into his chest.

Remington put an arm around to comfort her, as she had done with Chrno when Rosette had disappeared, closing his eyes in grief. He just hoped he had sounded a lot more confident then he felt. While he had enormous faith in the girl, the current situation might prove too much for even Rosette to handle.

"Um," said a voice from the doorway, "Excuse me, Sister Kate? Minister Remington?" They both looked up. Standing in the doorway were three of Rosette's fellow nuns and closest things that came to female friends in the convent, Sisters Mary, Claire and Anna. They looked extremely embarrassed to be interrupting the tender moment between the two, but they evidently had something important to tell them.

A few minutes later Sister Kate (determinedly looking at the floor as she walked, face as red as a fire truck), Minister Remington (looking eerily calm) and Chrno were following the head nurse through the infirmary to the Elder's bed. "He just regained consciousness about an hour ago," the stout nurse was explaining to them as they walked between the rows of beds. Only a few of them were taken, and only one had the curtain drawn- the Elder's. "He's asked to see you three specifically, but please keep in mind that he is recovering from a serious blow to the head resulting in a concussion, so I want you to keep your visit short- and whatever you do, don't excite him!" She looked at Sister Kate with a critical eye. "You know, to that end we may have to get you some pants…" Seeing the look on the head nun, she shrugged. "Or you can stand outside the curtain. Your choice." Sister Kate took the latter option.

Remington and Chrno passed through the fabric barrier of the curtain and into the Elder's temporary home. There was a young attendant there as well, whom old man was trying to frisk as if his life depended on it. Once he saw the two men however, he quieted down almost at once. The attendant shot them a grateful look, and Remington found himself wondering if she was ready to give the Chief Weapons Maker a second concussion as she hurried out of the cramped space.

"The girls visited me earlier and told me what had happened just when I got knocked out." The bedridden man said. "The devil moved so fast, I didn't even know what hit me till they told me. However, they wouldn't say what happened afterwards to Rosette and that Elric boy." He chuckled. "I suspect it might have something to do with the way I trying to grab their breasts- they were more than happy to grab you for me," he stated, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. Remington wondered, and not for the first time, whether the old man's perversity wasn't just to hide his brilliant actions.

Chrno remained silent as Remington filled him in on the situation. His thoughts were on his own failings of that morning. His failure to detect the devil. His failure to stop it before it disappeared. But most of all, his failure to protect Rosette. It was the guilt from that shortcoming that preyed on his mind the worst

("ROSETTE!")

(Flash of light and then all three- the devil, the nun and the crackpot scientist-

were gone)

("ROSETTE")

and most often.

The other two men had evidently finished their conversation, as Chrno dimly heard the Elder say he wanted to talk to him privately. Nodding, Remington turned and exited the curtain. While the thin veil was by no means soundproof, it was the gesture that counted.

The Elder moved into a sitting position on the bed and turned his goggled gaze upon the little devil. He was staring straight ahead at nothing, lost in his own world, no doubt tortured by guilt at having failed his partner when she needed him most. He motioned for Chrno to sit down on the chair beside the bed, which he did without a word, still in his own world.

The Elder tried to cheer him up. "Hey, it wasn't your fault that the-"

"Yes, it was!" Chrno said suddenly, vehemently. He was surprised at the outburst, but the feelings he had dammed up were now pouring out, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. "I was so preoccupied that I didn't even do my usual sweep of the compound to check for devils! In fact, if it wasn't for me, they could put up a Cruciform Barrier around the entire place, sealing it off from everything unholy. But because I'm a devil and I live here, that option isn't open." Tears were streaming down his face once more- he hadn't cried in sixty years, since the Magdalene had given him her energy when Aion had broken off his horns so he could survive. And for the past three days he was like a tap- on and off constantly.

Suddenly, he felt a hard slap that rocked his head to the side. When he recovered from the shock, he put a hand to the stinging spot on his cheek where the bow had landed and looked at the Elder in confusion.

The old man still had his arm in the carry-through position from the slap. For the first time that Chrno could remember, the Elder looked at him angrily. "Don't be absurd!" he growled. Seeing that he had Chrno's attention, he finally brought down his hand (and subsequently the threat of another slap) to his lap. "First off, the reason we don't have a giant Cruciform Barrier around the complex isn't because of you, dear boy. Trust me, if it was because of that, the High Muck-a-Mucks on the Council would have you live in a shack outside of it! Do you realize how much energy it would take to build, and then maintain, such a barrier? It's far easier to just to make sure everyone in the place has a gun loaded with Holy Ammunition. Secondly, neither you, nor Sister Kate, nor Minister Remington, nor even Rosette herself could've stopped the devil. It was just too fast. It ran right into me, and all I saw was a blur a second before everything went black.

"And thirdly, instead of moping about, as I was told you've been doing for the past three days, why aren't you looking for her?"

Chrno felt as if God Himself had just put a Revelation into his skull. 'Of course,' he thought, 'why didn't I think of that?' Immediately, though, he saw a problem with that course of action. "I can't," he said, dejectedly. "Rosette's not on Earth anymore- I have no idea where she's gone."

"Eh?" Remington and Sister Kate said in unison, whipping back the curtain and coming inside. While they hadn't been actively listening to the conversation, they couldn't help but hear the last bit. "What do you mean, 'she's not on Earth?'" Sister Kate demanded. Chrno looked taken aback.

"Chrno," Remington asked suddenly, putting a claming hand on Sister Kate's shoulder, "you don't mean she's in Pandemonium, do you?"

The devil shook his head. "No. I don't know where they went, but it's definitely not Pandemonium. I would've known." He shuddered at the thought of

(his Rosette)

Rosette being trapped in that hellish home of all devils.

Sister Kate had seemingly calmed herself enough not to jump on Chrno, but that was about it. "What do you mean, 'she's not on Earth?'" she asked again.

Chrno sighed. She was not going to like the explanation he was about to give her. "Okay, let's start off with the basics- as we know, souls are made up of different bits and pieces of previous souls that flow through the Astral Line, the conduit of all spiritual power. We also know that devils exist in another dimension called Pandemonium. Now, how do you think devil's get from there to here?" He asked.

"Devils collect Astral energy in their horns to give them power, and once they are strong enough they can pass through the Gate of Knowledge and come to Earth." Remington stated, easily following Chrno's explanation.

Sister Kate only looked more lost. "I'm sorry, 'Gate of Knowledge?'" she asked.

"When Adam and Eve partook in the Fruit of Knowledge, they committed the first Sin. From that Sin sprung forth desire, and from evil desire came Pandemonium. The Gate of Knowledge was created to prevent the denizens of Pandemonium- devils- from overtaking Earth, and afterwards Heaven." Chrno explained. He was not surprised the head nun did not know this particular piece of religious knowledge- it wasn't generally known to mortals. "However, since they could not totally block off Pandemonium because Humans cannot totally destroy desire, devils do get through. Not near as many as if there was no Gate, but enough.

"Now, that's as far as we know: that there are three worlds- Heaven, Earth, and Pandemonium, and all three are connected by the Astral Line, while Pandemonium is partially blocked off by the Gate of Knowledge. However, when the Red Water that the stranger carried came in contact with the Clock Seal, which transforms Rosette's Astral energy into usable energy for me, it allowed them to go through the Gate, but they didn't end up in Pandemonium. And since the Gate doesn't go between Heaven and Earth as well, that leaves only one possibility- that they somehow managed to go to somewhere else- probably another Earth or its equivalent, through the Gate."

Sister Kate looked stunned and sort of fell into a chair on the opposite side of the Elder. Chrno could sympathize with her- it was a lot to take in all at once. He turned back to the Elder. "So, as you can see, it would take a massive amount of Astral energy to get through the Gate, even if I could locate her, which I can't."

The Elder laughed. Everyone looked at him oddly, thinking the blow to the head had done him more harm than they had originally thought. "Oh, this is too perfect. Absolutely too perfect." He looked at Chrno. "Do you have anything of Rosette's- anything at all? A hairbrush, a photograph- anything?"

Puzzled, the devil thought for a moment. "Well…" his mind seized on something. "The bow!" he pulled up the end of his long purple braid, and on the end of it was a large yellow bow. "Rosette put this on me herself when she was younger. Why do you need it?" He asked.

The Elder grinned. "D'you remember that time a couple weeks back when Rosette lost the Spirit bullet and I made that locator device to get it back?" The device in question was an odd little portable box with two antennas and many dials and knobs. It located things by the 'tug' the object- or person- gave on the Astral Line. Since everyone's 'tug' is unique in variance, power and volume, the device needed only a reference point to match the frequency with the person in question.

Chrno nodded. He thought he saw the Elder's plan. "But Elder, I'd still need a massive amount of Astral energy to get through the Gate-"

The Elder held up a hand to silence him, reaching down and pulling up a briefcase that had gone unnoticed on the floor beside his bed. "Y'know, I was saving these as a present to Rosette for her birthday- stupid, really. I should've given them to you as soon as I had finished- but oh well…" he muttered to himself. Remington and Sister Kate looked at each other anxiously. Chrno, however, was staring at the briefcase. There was something familiar in there, something he couldn't quite place…

The Elder undid the latches and opened the briefcase facing Chrno. He gasped in awe at what lay snug in the cotton batting of the case.

Devil horns.