The Source of Power
By: Yamiko #7
Yay for Chapter Eight! Can you believe we're almost done? Only two chapters after this one and it'll be over. (That way, I can start writing a new one...I mean, God forbid I try to write fewer than four fics at once.) I'm happy, yet at the same time I'm sad. (Sigh) At least my English oral is done. I think I've set a record: I am the only IB student in existence who has managed to reference Hamlet, FullMetal Alchemist, and Red vs Blue, all in under thirteen minutes...pertaining to an Atwood poem. My English teacher loved it. (Then again, this is the same English teacher whom I got started reading FMA, so there ya go. n.n)
Before I start, one thing (containing multiple wordy parts, so bear with me): THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of my reviewers. I'm at 48 already! YAY! That's about a dozen more reviews than my previous record...and you all make it happen. I am so grateful I can't seem to put it into words.
To Scarred Rose: Oh, my God, I've never had such high praise. Ever. I was grinning so hard my face hurt. The grin stayed for quite a while afterwards. (And yes, I do need to have my head examined. That's a given.)
Time to repay the favor: all of you readers out there, go read Scarred Rose's works of art! You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll like them so much you'll want to keep them all to yourselves - forget bringing the kids. At least that's how I feel. Y'all aren't my kids, so I have no problems sharing. n.n
Quite a few of you had questions about Fido...my excuse is, it was late, I was insanely tired, and procrastination on studying for the next day's English oral was at a maximum. Really weird stuff tends to spontaneously appear during those kinds of moments. As for Fido itself...first of all, if you've ever seen a mastiff, you know they're HUGE. (We're talking waist-high on Chrno. Yeah. HUGE.) The image I had in mind for Fido came right out of Hellsing: he looks kinda like Alucard's familiar, except bigger and with fewer eyes. Hopefully this clears something up for somebody.
And that's more than enough of that. Fic now. Riiiiiiiight.
Chapter Eight: This Way Comes
"Did you feel that?"
Joshua looked lazily over his shoulder. "Feel what."
Another wave of energy pulsed through the late-morning air. "That," Father Remington said matter-of-factly.
"Oh. That. Yeah, I do now." Joshua shrugged. "It's quite a ways off."
"And coming closer."
"And we just conveniently happen to be near the gates." Joshua sighed and shot a look at the priest standing behind him. "You've been sensing this for a good ten minutes, haven't you," he accused.
"Mm-hmm." A self-satisfied grin, the one Chrno had dubbed "that annoying little smirk," came to rest on Remington's face. By the pricking of my thumbs...
"So there is a reason Sister gets so annoyed with you." Joshua rolled his eyes.
"Oh!" Remington snapped his fingers. "Speaking of which, where is that sister of yours?"
"Oh, she's with me," came a voice.
Both priest and pupil whirled around to see a huge black dog loping smoothly towards the gates.
"What the..." An incredulous look passed over Joshua's face.
Father Remington's lip curled as he reached for his sword. This was no ordinary dog. "What do you want?"
"An audience," came the voice again, "with the anomaly amongst your men." The dog's lips never moved.
"Whose familiar are you?" Remington demanded.
"Oh, please," the voice laughed at him as the dog slowed to a stop, "I'm talking right through my familiar. It was a hell of a lot easier than ventriloquism." The dog sat. "You may as well address me."
I'd rather kill you. Aion was dead. What other demon had the gall to approach the Order directly? "What do you want?"
"I already answered that." The eye-roll that must have accompanied that statement was nearly audible in its tone. "But I guess I'll say it again, once more for the poor stupid humans..."
Father Remington was about ready to kill the familiar. Mangy mutt...This damn demon was having way too much fun messing with him.
"...Take me to Chrno."
"What?" Of all things, this was the last one Remington expected.
Sigh. "You know, Chrno. The Sinner. Broken Horns. The Ignoble One. Or whatever-the-hell you call him nowadays."
"Generally, we call him by name." Joshua caught the voice's sarcasm and flung it right back at him. He was getting rather good at that...goodness knows, he'd practiced enough on Chrno.
Another nearly-audible eye-roll. The demon was not impressed. "Ah-ha. Real funny, kid. Look, I know the asshole's here, lemme talk to him."
"Say the magic words." Now Joshua was teasing.
"I will eat your immortal soul."
"...Those aren't they."
"I hate you, kid." Now the demon was just plain pissed. "I really, really hate you."
"Oh." Joshua shrugged offhandedly. "Yeah. Sure. Great. Whatever peels your banana."
Now even the dog was beginning to look agitated.
"Joshua," Remington said in a voice he forced to be light, "please take our-" He coughed. "-guest to Chrno."
Joshua shot him a look that plainly said What the hell?
Remington sent him an equally eloquent look. It's Chrno. He can take care of himself.
Another look from Joshua. Oh-kay...
The dog looked confusedly from one to the other. Well shit, the demon mused, I just completely missed that.
"Um..." Joshua looked at the dog, "Follow me, I guess..." and started walking. The dog got up to follow.
"By the way," Joshua threw over his shoulder. "I have a gun. Attack me and I'll shoot you."
"Oh, please," the demon snorted. "I value Fido more than that."
Joshua stopped short. "Wait...you named your familiar "Fido?'" Sigh. "What are you, six?" He rolled his eyes and resumed his brisk pace.
"Oh, lay off," the demon grumbled as the dog fell into step with Joshua.
Chrno sighed and leaned against his tree. This was indeed the perfect spot. Still within the bounds of the Order, yet far enough out that the Elder's cottage was just within hearing range. That way, he'd be able to hear if any explosions happened and still have time to effectively disappear -
Erm, that is, he'd be able to go help...
Oh, who was he kidding? Like he wanted anything to do with anything that happened in the Elder's cottage. He needed that like a hole in the head - except in his case, it was another hole in the head...he'd had several, thank you, and none particularly appealing...like getting his horns ripped off...and that Gospel...
Depressing, off-topic thoughts aside, this really was the perfect spot. He'd have to bring Rosette here sometime.
Speaking of which, where was she? He hadn't seen her since...
...since about ten this morning...
He stood up quickly. No way. NO WAY. She wouldn't...
...would she?
He shook his head roughly, furious at himself for his moment of doubt. He knew her better than that. She would never go back.
Then again, he hadn't thought she would ever start...
He snarled and struck the tree behind him, leaving deep gouges in the bark. Dammit! DAMMIT! How could this happen!
"My," came a voice. "Temper, temper."
Chrno whirled around, barely managing to wipe the fury from his face before his eyes widened. Damn, but that was the biggest dog he'd ever seen. And what was it doing with Joshua?
And why was it talking?
He shot Joshua a look that plainly said What on God's green Earth...?
Joshua responded with a short look and a shrug. How the hell would I know? Just go with it.
Chrno gave a matching shrug. Oh-kay...
The demon gave a quiet sigh. I have got to catch up on my body language translations.
And spoke up. "I've been looking for you, Chrno."
Chrno gave an offhanded shrug. "Good to know."
The dog cocked its head to the side. "What," came the voice, "you don't think it's weird that you're talking to a dog?"
"Oh, I'm not talking to a dog." Chrno crossed his arms. "I'm talking to some idiot who sent a familiar because he's too damn scared to face me himself. So," Chrno gave another little offhanded shrug - he was getting rather good at those, "no. Not fazed."
It took the demon several long seconds to realize he'd been insulted. "...I hate you."
"Hey," Joshua piped up, "he hates me too. We should start a club." Fake enthusiasm - the absolute pinnacle of good old-fashioned Christian sarcasm.
"Oh, I wouldn't make fun of me if I were you." The demon acted important despite his immensely convoluted grammar.
I bet you wouldn't make fun of you if you were you either. Chrno raised an eyebrow. Evidently his own grammar was just as bad. His point still worked, though.
"After all," the demon continued, acting important, "I have something I think you might want."
"Oh really." Chrno raised his other eyebrow even with the first, sensing that the fun might soon end. "And what could that be?"
"How about your lovemate?"
Chrno's entire body tensed and he hissed as a momentary flash of fury passed before his eyes.
"You...you...!" Joshua was also feeling that fury. "Don't you dare touch my sister!"
"Too late." Said with enough smugness to choke both boy and demon. Even the dog grinned.
It took all the self-restraint Chrno had to keep himself from attacking the canine familiar standing in front of him. Joshua, however, had no such restraints and swung at the mastiff's head, pulling his hand back only when the dog turned and snapped his jaws shut a mere hair's breadth away from the boy.
"I wouldn't do that," the demon scolded mockingly. "Fido doesn't like being attacked. It makes him angry. Why, I might even lose control of him." The dog's lips drew back in a snarl. Joshua took a grudging step backwards, returning the angry facial expression.
"Now," the dog's eyes turned to Chrno. "Let's talk. I assume you want this beautiful young lady back, yes?"
"You...No way." Chrno said slowly, still trying to wrap his head around all this. Rosette would never let herself get captured so easily. "You're bluffing."
"What, about having your lovemate? Now Chrno," the voice took on the tone of a suave negotiator, "you know as well as I do just how dangerous it is to accuse a demon of lying."
Chrno's lip curled. Now everyone was wearing a snarl. "...fine."
"See, now that's what I thought." The voice suddenly sounded happy in a scarily inaccurate "we're all friends here" kind of way. "Are you going to listen to me now?"
"Wait." Chrno held up a hand. "First. I don't know you; therefore, I couldn't have done anything to you, at least not directly."
"Oh yes," the demon snickered, "very sound logic, sir ex-duke."
Chrno ignored the insult. "Who sent you?"
"Now that," the voice adopted its most annoying tone yet. "...is a secret."
A low growl rippled from the back of Chrno's throat. Sensing he was playing with a very dangerous sort of fire, the demon decided to hurry it along. "Like I was saying...you want her back, right?"
"Of course." The words were low, pointed, dangerous. The fire was getting hotter by the minute.
"Well then," the dog rose, "come with me." It turned to leave.
"Right." Chrno laughed derisively. "It can't be that easy."
"Oh, believe me, it's not. This is just the first part." The dog looked over its shoulder. "Now are you coming or not?"
A frustrated sigh. "Yes."
"Me too." Joshua had his stubborn look.
"No, you're not," Chrno and the voice snapped in unison. Chrno blinked in momentary surprise while the voice continued. "No room for you in this one. So sorry."
"But...!" Joshua turned an angry, stubborn expression from the dog to Chrno and back again.
"No," Chrno told him, a little more in control of his emotions now.
But with the demon's next words to Joshua - "Don't worry, I promise no more...touching...until your friend gets here." - that control nearly snapped. His glamour flickered slightly, allowing a momentary glimpse of the furious demon just beneath the surface.
The dog skipped several steps to get away from that fury. Maybe, the demon reflected, that wasn't the best thing to say. And then aloud, "Time's a-wasting, buddy. You want your girl, hurry it up."
Chrno growled again, softer this time, as he turned to follow the dog. The quiet, angry words came before he could stop them. "What are you up to?"
"Oh, you'll see." The dog glanced over its shoulder. Satisfied that Joshua was not following them, it faced front once again and jauntily trotted off, tail wagging.
"You'll see."
Wow. It's only been, what, a week since I last updated? Not bad, considering.
I could've sat here and mocked the nameless demon all day. It was just too much fun. Kinda sad, yes, but...still fun... n.n
And for those of you who don't get Father Remington's "thumbs" line...read your Shakespeare. And the titles of this chapter and the one before it. It'll come sooner or later, trust me.
Now, to completely change subjects on you, I have a rant that's been sitting on my chest for the better part of four hours, and I'm going to take it out here. (Yeah, I know: I need a blog.) Some of you may hate me after this. That's perfectly fine by me. You don't need to agree, or even read this, if you don't want to. You've been warned.
Before I begin, keep in mind: you must know both sides of a story before you truly understand it.
I hate our media.
I heard a story on the news tonight. A man in Iraq was standing in a blood donor line. Several American troops saw him. I'm not sure if they knew he had terrorist connections or if he just looked suspicious: for whatever reasons, the troops pulled him aside. They saw he was wearing a suicide bomber belt.
Did I mention this was right outside a blood bank, where hundreds of civilians were selflessly giving their precious blood so that others less fortunate than them might live?
Long story short, the troops executed the terrorist before he could detonate the bomb on his body, thereby saving hundreds, possibly thousands of innocent lives.
And the media told this story like it was a bad thing. Like our troops had done some terrible deed that could not be repeated for fear of inciting a riot in the masses.
Right. Sure. Pardon me while I go pity the poor suicide bomber.
I really hope you caught the sarcasm in that last sentence.
Yeah, I know, "Thou shalt not kill." I believe that. Then again, I always interpreted that to mean "Thou shalt not go and arbitrarily murder thy neighbor for shallow, stupid reasons." I also believe "do unto others" and "whenever you take care of one of my people, you take care of me." Weren't our troops taking care of those hundreds of donors and nurses when they saved them from death and bloody mutilation at the hands of a terrorist?
Here in Colorado, we have this great little law entitled the "Make My Day" law. It basically says that if anybody comes onto your property with the intent to hurt you and yours, you have the right to take whatever measures necessary to get them to leave, even if those measures involve a bullet and a body bag. So wasn't the execution of the bomber a necessary measure to save the donors and nurses?
I know somebody out there will try to come up with another possibility. Couldn't they have taken the belt off the guy? Couldn't they have taken him elsewhere? With a skilled bomb technician and a heavy sedative, sure. With those items, several other options would have become viable. What we had on the scene were several troops (I don't know the exact number, but I'd guess less than a dozen, if even that) and a potential mass murderer. They were also missing the time to find another way. I don't see any other option than the one the troops took.
And, as I've said numerous times, I believe they were right. Isn't this one of the reasons we even have troops in Iraq: to keep the Iraqis themselves safe from their more extreme compatriots? If one man had to die to save the lives of hundreds, so be it. If that one man intended to kill himself anyway in order to murder those innocent hundreds, hey - even better. Either way the man would have been dead. It was the actions of the troops that prevented him from taking hundreds of innocent, unwilling victims with him.
And when it all comes down to it, which story would you rather have: "Several American troops killed a suicide bomber today before he could detonate at a local blood bank" or "Several American troops, along with hundreds of donors and nurses, died today when a suicide bomber blew up a blood bank"?
Yeah, I like the first one too.
I know I'm biased, I know I can be rude, and - most importantly - I know I'm only telling one side of the story. This is just how I feel. Feel free to disagree. Just don't tell me I'm wrong - after all, only knowledge can be wrong. Feelings can't.
Thanks for listening. I'll see you all next chapter, hopefully in a calmer frame of mind. n.n' Have a nice day!