"For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,

and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

2 Kings 19: 31

Chapter 4

It had taken two days, but the old small town ambulance and issued car finally made it to their sanctuary in New York. Not to anyone's surprise, Ewan Remington had already arrived there two days prior, having had skipped the distance. Sadly there had been no change between any of them. The trio of the risen dead were still asleep.

Sister Kate took a deep breath as she stepped towards the parkway where the rear door was being opened. She was secretly overwhelmed with happiness to be able to see Rosette again, however in the light of their meeting it was a somber reunion. How long had it been since she had last seen the girl? Over seven months? Yes, she nodded sadly to herself. The last time she had seen Rosette was when she has sent her off to San Francisco. Who would have thought so much chaos, destruction, and death would have occurred before their enemy was finally defeated?

"What should we do with them?" Sister Anna asked as others of the church carried the heavy laden stretcher out and down onto the walkway. It was odd to see Rosette laying on top of him.

Sister Kate stood there with hands clasped in thought. She hadn't really been prepared to see this after all, despite what Sister Anna had warned her about over the phone. The head of the New York branch masked her feelings as she took in such a sad scene with such a large audience surrounding her. Was that really Chrono?

Kneeling down beside the stretcher and moving some of Rosette's blond hair out of the way, it was unmistakably her demon partner. His hair was still a dark blackish purple and his ears were just a bit too pointed to be human. His forehead was covered with a red bandana and pain etched his pale face. She had only ever seen this devils true adult side once briefly during a demonic breach of their compound. She had no idea what to think of this unconscious adult human version laying before her now.

Pivoting slightly, Sister Kate brushed more of Rosette's hair aside to take a good look at her face. It took everything in her to hold her composure. Sister Rosette. Who would have ever thought that such a rash hot headed girl such as Rosette would turn out being the blessed Holy Woman? What a difficult cross to bear. She ran her finger across the scars on her forehead which marked the crown of thorns she had worn in spirit only. Trailing her eyes down, her eyes moistened to see that their hands were in fact intertwined together. Looking to her other hand, Sister Kate lifted her wrist up for closer inspection and felt full of awe at the sight of the crossed mark that scared her there.

"Let us now help carry some of that burden Sister Rosette," she whispered. Rosette's actions in the west, prior to Aion taking control of her, was more than enough to earn her support.

Standing, Sister Kate held her head high in thought. Having the two of them connected together was a problem. They had no beds that could fit two people. All their beds were of humble size. Chrono himself seemed taller than she would have guessed and even if they pushed two of the infirmary beds together, she was fairly certain his head would hit the head board.

She sighed. "Oh Rosette, when will you stop causing me trouble?" she smiled sadly. "Take them to the dining hall!" she suddenly ordered. "You two there! Grab as many spare blankets and quilts we have and bring them to the dining hall! Sister Martha! Go and hold the door open for them! Sister Mary, please tell the cook that we will not be serving meals in the dining hall for the foreseeable future! Brother James, make sure this vehicle is returned!"

"Yes Sister Kate!" various voices chimed as people scurried off to follow their orders.

Remington stood off to the far side and had to smile. He hadn't realized he had missed this place so much. Turning, he went back to the infirmary where little Azumaria slept. What was God doing now? He wondered, yet he made no plans to find out for himself and simply sat down next to the bed. He didn't have long before he needed to check up on Joshua again.

"Careful now," Claire spoke to the stretcher bearers. "Easy does it."

Two of the large oak tables had been pushed together and turned into a bed within minutes of their arrival. It was difficult, but eventually the two sleeping bodies were laid onto the quilts side by side without too much added distress. Anna had kept thinking any moment Rosette would sit up and yell and holler that everyone was making too much noise for her to sleep. Yet she laid there unfazed.

The hours went by. Everyone took turns standing watch over their two charges. There were times Chrono would break out into a feverish state and all they could do was keep a cool cloth on his head. His external wounds had healed within the first day so that was thankfully not a problem. Rosette seemed to fall in and out of dreams which seemed to plague her. An IV was placed on Rosette to try and give her the nutrients she so desperately needed, but they left Chrono alone. Azumaria received an IV as well, but she slept in complete peace compared to her friends.

No one awakened at all throughout the day and into the next. It wasn't until the morning of the third day did one of them awaken.