Forgotten Memories Chapter Eleven

Chrono Crusade

Date Started: December 15th 2004

Sora Kazuma

Author's Note- The storyline and events that take place and are explained in this chapter are taken from the manga, not the anime. I have yet to get DVD 3 (I'm flat broke…) and so it's based off the books that I do have instead. I don't know if there are any changes but there might be, so disregard them.

Chrono, Rosette, Azmaria, Yugo, Julius and myself left the train station that morning and headed out of the city, out of the state itself. Our destination was Michigan; why we going only Rosette and Chrono knew.

After four days of country, towns, sleeping crowded in the car with Yugo and Julius and eating at whatever restaurant we found, we finally reached our final stop.

We had to park the cars in the woods, as the stone path turned into a dirt pathway, overgrown with weeds and plants. The gates were fixed closed at the entrance so we had to climb over them, and still it was a good mile walk to where Rosette told us we were heading.

"So… where are we going?" I asked finally. Rosette had been really upset the last couple of days and so nobody had dared press the issue of why we were heading all the way out into the middle of nowhere.

"The orphanage where Joshua and I grew up." She said softly.

I felt the Yugo go alert the second we stepped onto the accursed ground. He growled. "Nothing's moving. Time has been stopped here." He replied.

"You're very correct." Chrono nodded.

"There it is up ahead!" Azmaria pointed out, up ahead to where you could see the steeple of a giant building.

"I'm warning you all right now; this is sacred ground." Rosette told us. "Maybe…you and Julius shouldn't have come with us, Azmaria."

"No! I want to know!" she cried and Julius nodded with agreement.

"Just don't get to upset when you finally lay eyes on it." Chrono said.

There was a fence ahead of us at the top of the hill and we hopped it, entering through a huge door that read DO NOT ENTER in bright big bold letters. There we came face to face with the situation that was at hand. Azmaria gasped, her crimson eyes widening before she turned, burying her face in Chrono's side. He blushed, running a comforting hand down her back. Julius laid his head on my shoulder and even Yugo was at a loss for words. "Wh-Who did this?" he asked finally.

The side of the building had exploded outward as if by a terrible blast from inside and then had become frozen in midair. Pieces of wood and siding hovered magically in the air as if by invisible strings. A group of children and their older teacher had been trying to get away and were now stopped, paralyzed in place, like stone statues, their souls trapped in that frozen state for all eternity. Were they alive? Yes, very much so. But time had been distorted here, stopped, so that they would never move again. My eyes teared up staring at these poor victims. They were all just children, some not more then two or three years old.

"This?" Rosette sat on the fence railing, staring out at them with a calm, serene look to her. "This…was Joshua's power." She sighed. "Joshua and I… we lived here. This was our home, and these people were my family. My brother…never was very strong. He actually was quite weak, bedridden for most of his life and taking several medications. But you never could tell. His smile was also so bright and his eyes so full of life… and he talked excitedly about all the things he wanted to do in his life, as soon as he got better. He loved to read- sci-fi and adventure novels were his favorites. All I ever wanted, was for him to get better, to be able to play with the other kids."

We all realized Rosette was spilling out her story to us and even Chrono listened closely, his crimson eyes not even leaving her face.

"We were twelve when this happened. It was known throughout town that Joshua was a mysterious healer; he could touch someone and instantly heal them of a wound or a internal pain." Her blue eyes met the small girls. "Just like you can, Azmaria. The rumors of my brother caught on to the Magdalene Order and they sent out someone to try and adopt him. That someone was Father Remington."

"So you knew him all that time ago?" Julius asked before he had realized he had spoken up. He blushed, hiding more behind my shoulder. Rosette smiled at him.

"Yes, and at first, I hated him. He was trying to take my twin brother away from me… how could I not dislike him? One afternoon, when he was coming to see Joshua, I decided to take my brother away from the orphanage so that he wouldn't be seen by anyone. We were in the forest when a hole opened in the ground below and the two of us fell in. We had without knowing it, entered Chrono's crypt. Joshua and I explored the tunnel trying to find a way out and came across a massive door with a sealed lock. Joshua's powers reacted with the door, causing it to open. We thought it might have been an exit but we found a tomb and with it the demon Chrono." She giggled slightly. "At first I was thinking ' who is this guy? And who would call themselves a demon.' That was my first impression of you anyway Chrono."

"That's mean!" he cried with a blush. "You and Joshua were pretty strange too you know. You're brother couldn't believe I was a demon. He kept asking if he could shake my hand!"

She laughed, sweatdropping. "Yeah well Joshua was always into the occult stuff."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He smiled. "After that, Joshua and Rosette came to see my on a daily basis. The more I was fully awake the more I started to remember about my past and the more I started to remember who I was. I lived in the sealed tomb, often coming outside to explore the woods and the lake around my home. They always brought me food, or something with them that they had a feeling I would like, and I repaid them by telling them stories I had remembered of battles that had past and things in the demonic world they had never known about. Rosette used to always get scared of my stories but Joshua couldn't get enough of them. Rosette," he smiled over at her. "It was during one of those afternoons that you braided my hair for me, and I've kept it like that ever since."

She smiled, crimson filling her cheeks. "It was nothing."

"Those days were fragile, peaceful days, that I know could have lasted forever. However everything changed once Joshua decided that he was better off if he went with Remington. Having thought on the matter long enough, he decided that the Order was probably the safest place for him. Rosette was heartbroken and that evening she came to find me at the tomb to tell me the news. However, Aion had his own plans and he would not let a child with possible Apostle powers slip out of his hands so easily. He appeared before Rosette and me and tried to call me back to him, just like he did when we met him in New York a few weeks ago. He told me he'd give me back my horns, if I obeyed him again."

"Your…horns?" Azmaria blinked.

Chrono nodded, his deep red eyes meeting Yugo's gold ones. "For a devil whose life clings to astral power, our horns are our way of harnessing that power. It gives us an infinite amount of strength for as long as we need it. Without them we are practically powerless, practically human. Aion ripped out my horns long ago, during a battle that will not be named. Yugo, you tore your own out when you left Aion's ranks, vowing to never be used by such horrible power ever again. What you did with them not even Aion knows and it's lost in your memory whatever happened to them. For your sake and others, I hoped you destroyed them. Mine…were not and their the cause of all this."

"Aion went before Joshua and promised him strength by giving him Chrono's horns. The last time I saw Joshua, he was struggling with himself and the power he had been given, standing there inside the orphanage, right before the light went off and this happened." Rosette explained.

"We don't know where Joshua is, only that Aion has him and that he has my horns as well as his own power." Chrono replied.

"An apostle with a demon's power? And not just any demon, but the Sinner Chrono." Yugo ran his fingers through his hair. "How do you plan on stopping this kid? It would be like fighting you as well as one of God's messengers."

"We're not planning on fighting him. We're planning on saving him." Rosette told him. "Somehow…I will get my brother back."

"Can… I ask another question?" Julius said timidly and we all looked over at him. He swallowed. "What exactly is an apostle?"

"An apostle has been blessed with powers a normal person would never have. The power to heal seems to be the most common. These people have tremendous untapped power as well and are stronger when used for plans of evil. We believe there to be seven apostles- one for each of the seven virtues. Azmaria," Rosette smiled. "Is charity, or love. We believe Joshua to be hope."

"Aion's true goal seems to be collecting all the apostles as a means to bring forth his own end of the world." Chrono replied. "That's why we've been tracking him. To stop him from this as well as getting Joshua back.

"Sora and I would like to help." Yugo told him. "We know it's really not our place to ask, but it seems our paths have been intertwined again for yet another reason. And I…have to stop Aion so that the world isn't destroyed and so that I can learn the truth about myself. I don't even know what I'm truly capable of, or where my horns might actually be."

"I want to help too." Julius smiled at her. "I want to be able to get stronger and not remain as helpless as I've been."

"Me too!" Azmaria beamed.

Rosette smiled, her eyes shining back at us with happy tears. "Thanks guys." She looked off at the situation with a small smile. "We'll make the time that's stopped move forward again, I promise."

On our way back down, I grabbed Chrono's arm, keeping him behind the others. He blushed, flashing me a sheepish grin. "Uh, what is it Sora?"

"Seung Jin. Does that name mean anything to you?" I asked him.

"No…" he blinked. "Why?"

"How about the white wolf?" I asked again.

His crimson eyes narrowed. "How do you know about that?"

"I borrowed a book from Sister Kate's private library. Do you know what it is?" I swallowed. "Or was?"

"The White Wolf was a spy of Aion's a long time ago. It was a shape shifter; and no one really knew its true form. It was used as a lookout and a diversion when the Sinners were going to attack. Why is it an interest to you?" he explained.

"Aidan came back for a reappearance a couple of weeks ago, and let out some information he shouldn't have. Did you know Yugo's brother?"

His eyes widened. "Yugo has a brother!"

"Apparently, but nobody's heard anything about him for decades. Apparently he wasn't well known. I can't find him in any of the books. I think the reason I can't find him is because he's been hiding himself."

"You think Yugo's brother is White Wolf, don't you?" he asked after a moment.

"It would explain why I can't find him."

He looked off, where the others were just about down the massive slope. "Why don't you try contacting him?"

I put a hand on my hip. "How? Call up the operator and tell her to find me a shape-shifting devil? Not going to happen."

"No, no." he shook his head. "You have a very strong psychic link that awakened when you became contracted with Yugo. It gives you the ability to talk to other devils, correct?" He smiled when I gave him a shocked expression. "I thought so. You can speak to Joshua as well, and probably Aidan. All devils have a psychic link, you just have to find the right path." 'Like this…' I heard his voice echo into my head and my eyes blinked wide. "Finding Yugo's brother's path shouldn't be to hard. You just have to look through Yugo. But be careful." He put a hand on his shoulder. "All of Yugo's connections have been down for so long because he shut them out. If you're careless you might cause him pain or reopen links you don't want to even imagine." He walked past me, continuing down the hill. "Because all of us Sinners, former or no, have a connection to Aion."

I swallowed. He was one person I didn't want in my mind. But the idea was interesting. I mine as well give it a shot. I caught Yugo's gold eyes looking back at me as I headed down the hill. "You coming Sora?"

I smiled. "Of course!" I ran down, gathering speed on the slope and dashing straight into his arms.

"Twenty four days until Christmas…" I counted the days in my head, laying on my bed.

"Yeah and still no snow." Julius told me with a teasing smile, playing with Fallon on the floor.

"And a week since Lena's been gone." The word's echoed in the silence, hung heavy there for a moment and then fell into a black hole of depression.

"We'll find her Sora." Julius said softly after a moment.

"I know we will." I whispered. The words sounded so strong and at the same time, completely false.

The boy got up from his spot on the floor and climbed up on the bed by my side. He seated himself in my lap, his arms around me, silky locks of dark brown hair tickling my chin as he snuggled up with me. I smiled, hugging him to me. He sure knew how to make me feel better, that was for sure.

He lifted his head from my shoulder after a few minutes, looking up at me with his golden eyes. "How's your head?" he asked.

"Better now." I smiled at him.

"You should take it easy. You've been trying to contact that guy for the last twenty-four hours straight and all it's giving you is a headache. Here." He got up, flashing me a smile that made my insides melt. "I'll go make you some hot tea and sweet talk Maria into getting something to eat. You wait here and rest."

"Thanks love." I told him, leaning my head back against the pillows.

He blushed. "It's nothing, really." And with that he was gone.

I sighed, closing my eyes. Last time tonight. This would be the last time tonight I tried to find Seung Jin, or White Wolf or whatever the heck this guy's name was.

'Back again?' Yugo greeted me with an amused tone as the psychic link connected again.

'I'm going to figure this out, even if it kills me.'

'It better not kill you.' He said, his voice teasing.

'And why not?'

'Because I couldn't live without you.'

I smiled. 'Not right now Romeo. I've got work to do and so do you. Aren't you supposed to be cleaning tables or waiting on people, or something?'

He let out a sigh. 'Of course Master.'

I went roaming through his head, looking for sparks of a connection. Chrono had told me I would know immediately if I got a link because it would pick up immediately... but still… nothing. I couldn't tolerate doing this for very long either and it gave me a massive headache. 'Come on, where is this loser? He has to be here somewhere…'

"I don't appreciate the continuous calls."

My eyes snapped open and I jerked my body into a sitting position as I stared up, somewhat in awe and confusion at the gorgeous young man standing in front of me. His arms were crossed over his muscular chest, a long white trench coat pulled over his form, the collar trimmed in a line of beautiful thick white fur. His eyes were golden, pupils narrowed like that of a devil, locks of bright crimson falling in his eyes and his cheeks, cut short in the back, stray strands falling against his neck. He did not look happy at one bit and it probably didn't help that I was gawking.

'Sora? Did something happen?'

'I…think I found him. Or he found me. My God Yugo, sexiness must run in your family.'

'I'll be home as soon as I can.'

"Well," he said after a minute. "Why have you been bugging the hell out of me the last twenty four hours, why would a mere human have a psychic link as strong as yours and most importantly, why does the scent of the Sinner Yugo choke this room?"

"You're… you're the White Wolf. You're Seung Jin, right?" I asked when my voice finally finished freaking out.

His eyes widened. "I have not been called that for many years. Yes, I am the man you're looking for."

"Are you really Yugo's brother?" I asked him, not hiding my eagerness at all.

He swallowed. "Yugo is… my older brother."

"YES!" My feet moved before I had realized and all of a sudden I was hugging the crimson-haired stranger. Yugo was not alone in this world. He still had a family. "I'm so glad I found you! Yugo will be so happy to see you, I know he will."

The door swung open then and Julius entered, cup of tea and a plate full of muffins in hand. He took one look at the scene and almost dropped everything. "Why is it that every time I leave the room, something important happens?" (Author: Sorry Julius, nothing against you sweetie, it just makes for a good scene opener. ;)

The man sweatdropped. "Uh…Miss…who are you?"

"I'm Yugo's contractor, Sora Maiko." I stepped away, holding out my hand. "Nice to meet ya."

"You…" his golden eyes lit up. "You…! You're the one my brother's been waiting for all this time!" This time he grabbed me in his strong arms. "He's been waiting his whole life to meet that one girl… and he finally found her." He suddenly huffed, letting me go, his cheeks flushing as he tried to regain his composure. "I've been nameless for a long time, but I suppose you can call me Jin, it was what my family called me."

"Nice to meet you Jin. This… is my apprentice, Julius Weyr." I said, holding out an arm in the boy's direction.

"Hello. Would you like some tea sir?" he smiled at him.

The redhead devil blinked. "Uh…sure."

"Alright, I'll be right back!" He sat the tray and my cup down on the table by the door and headed back out again.

I smiled at him. "Wow…Sorry about this, it's pretty bad weather outside and you had to travel through it to get here. I really didn't think I would be able to get a hold of you."

"It's no problem Miss Maiko." He said, his hands in the pockets of his coat.

"Please, call me Sora. I don't like formalities." I told him, sitting down on my bed. "How long has it been since you've seen you're brother."

Jin ran his fingers through his long crimson bangs. "About… twelve hundred years."

I blinked, thinking that he must be joking with me, but he just stared back with a blank expression. I swallowed.

"Look, Sora, I can't be staying around here. I have to get going." He said after a minute.

"But Yugo's not here yet!" I told him.

"Yes, that's the point." He huffed. "I don't really want to see him."

"Why!" I cried, getting up off the bed. "He's your brother and you haven't seen him in so long!"

"There's a reason for that!" he snapped back.

"And you haven't forgiven him for that!" I laid my grip on his arm and suddenly I was picking myself up from the other side of the room. My head slammed back into the wall and I winced, my vision blurring for a second as I looked up. He had tossed me a good fifteen feet as if I had weighed nothing. I started to stand, my hand's fumbling on the windowsill for support. I had lost my breath and I knew I would be feeling the hurt from that one for the next week or so.

I went to walk and everything swirled, my legs feeling like they weighed a ton. I thought I would hit the floor but a pair of gentle, strong arms caught me.

"I'm sorry." It was Jin's voice, softly whispering to me and I could feel him lower us both to the floor. "That was no…There's never an excuse to harm a lady."

"Seems like the hot temper runs in the family." I said, looking up at him.

He chuckled, a smile playing on his lips. "She was beautiful, you know. Her hair…the color of silver dancing in the sun. Her eyes were like amethyst and her smile could light up the night."

"Jin…who…?"

"Rei-Xi, my wife." He told me. "She was one of the beauties of Aion's army, a succubus dancer, a temptress of dark magic. She could have anyone twisted around her finger, and I do mean anyone. It didn't matter whether you were devil or human, male or female, no one was safe from her once she decided you were her target. She was a close friend to Aion and one of the best the Sinner's could trust. I was just a spy, not particularly happy with the plan and biding my time until I could get out. But she set her violet gaze on me and I…" he shook his head slightly. "I fell so hard for her that I became unaware of much else. I was so happy when I knew that I could make her happy. I wanted to get her out of the war and away from all of this so we could settle down on our own, but she had other plans. When Yugo decided to flee, right before Sinner Chrono defied him, I was planning to make a break for it as well, but Rei, she…" he pursed his lips together, helping me to the bedside. I leaned against the posted frame as he sat down beside me. "She called us both traitors and said that she was going to report us to Aion. That she and I were no longer together. Yugo flew into a rage; he was angry that she would leave me after so long and shove my feelings back in my face. He tore her apart right in front of my eyes, so angry and driven by bloodlust that he hadn't realized what he had done until his urge to kill had been conquered and he was holding her mangled body in his arms."

He got up, going over to the window, looking out beyond the foggy rain pelted glass to the grounds below. "That was the day he ripped out his horns, so sick of wanting to feel lives die by his hands. A noble deed, especially for a Sinner. He hadn't meant to kill Rei and I know that…but there's a part of me that can't forget what he's done. I wanted to spend eternity by her side. Now I spend an eternity of internal pain." He looked back at me. "My reasons, I hope are clear now. I hope, you're not to upset with me."

I shook my head. Looking at his pain-stricken eyes made me want to comfort him and reassure him it was going to be okay. "It's alright. No, I'm not mad."

"Thank you." He nodded. "I'll be leaving now, before my older brother gets home."

"Jin," I started quickly. I didn't want him to leave now, more then ever. "Yugo's in trouble. I can't help, but I know you can."

He raised an eyebrow. "What sort of trouble? I'm not as strong as Yugo is so if you're talking about some sort of other problems with the Sinners then-"

"Sort of." I told him. "We're planning on going after Aion."

"WHAT!" his eyes widened. "Are you insane! If Chrono wasn't able to do it, you think my brother can! He is nothing compared to The Broken Horn and Aion."

"It's not just me. We have a group. Chrono and his contracted and my apprentice and an apostle. We possibly have the help of Sieg and his lady as well." I explained.

"Three Sinners…" he ran his fingers through his hair. "All eight sinners couldn't take out Aion. That's how strong he is."

"We're going to try." I replied stubbornly. "Anyway, that's not the immediate problem. When Yugo enter contract with me, he gave up his own mind-"

"In order to save your life from being used as payment." He finished with a nod of his head.

"But he can't remember anything. His memory is bits and pieces, jumbled fragments and sounds. We don't know what to tell him and what to let him figure out on his own. We figured... his brother might be of help, if we could find him."

"He has to remember on his own. If someone tells him, it's not going to help any of us and you're just going to forget quicker. He's in good hands. Trust me, he'll be fine." He explained. "Now, I-"

The door was thrown open and Yugo stood there, his eyes widening at the sight of the other man. They just stared at one another for a minute. Two pairs of amber eyes meeting in complete silence. Suddenly Yugo winced, putting a hand to his head. He collapsed to his knees, the pain evident as it pulsated into mine. "Yugo!" I got up, going over to him.

"What…is…ah…" he gritted his teeth, fangs biting into his lowers lips. I looked that Jin had gone while nobody was watching him. The headache slowly vanished and he sighed. "Brother…" he said softly.

"Yugo?" I looked over at him.

He leaned against the doorframe, pushing strands of wet cyan hair over his shoulder. "That was…my brother…Jin." He smiled. "I know that to be the truth." He pulled me into his arms. "So, are you going to tell me what you two were talking about?"

At that moment Julius came down the hall with a silver platter, teapot and china cups. "Huh?" he blinked. "Oh, hi Yugo. What's…going on?"

Author's Notes- I am…so sleepy…-passes out on keyboard- Chapter Eleven is done! Yay! The shortest chapter to date…. But a lot of storyline stuff happened in it, so it's all good. Poor Julius! -cuddles him- He got left out on all of the storyline stuff. But he's so cute! Jin turned out to be a pretty cool guy for being anti-social. He's really a sweetheart, he just doesn't like to show it…hmmm… sounds like someone else I know… -cough-YUGO-cough- Anyway… Chapter Twelve is the Christmas chapter -cheers- and I will bring Sieg back for this one so it's going to be great fun. Until I write again!

Sora Tokumi Kazuma