Well, hello again! Still reading?
Ah, and already, a second chapter. Although, I suppose this could be thought of the "first chapter" as the last one was a bit of a prologue. Ah well. Anyway... This chapter does contain a spoiler for a character introduced later in the series of the manga (end of volume seven), but no specific happenings are spoilerific I think...
I don't own Chrono Crusade, or any of the characters, that would be Daisuke Moriyama.
It was a few hours' drive from the Seventh Bell orphanage in Michigan to the Magdalene Order in New York. Rosette had never been a patient girl, and when given time to think, it was more than unwelcome. A flooding barrage of questions raked her mind: Who was Aion? How did Chrono know Aion? What did Aion want with her brother? Why did Father Remington want Joshua? The questions continued, she would have to talk to Chrono later. But now, she could see, he was deep in thought, staring out the window of the tiny automobile. Father Remington was driving the car, and had remained silent for most of the trip, which was a blessing. Rosette sighed, impatient to get there, wherever there was. However, as the night progressed, the day's events weighed heavily upon her, and she eventually surrendered to sleep.
The night... an old tree...
The red moon.
An eagle perched looked below, glowing red eyes matched the moon, piercing her. 'Could it be...Aion?!' She scrambled forward, but she couldn't move. Her legs refused to move, nothing would.
But her mind, and the time.
They were both still ticking.
Joshua held her, eyes unfocused peering at her.. "You always were so loud, sister, I've told the noise to stop you."
Nothing.
Rosette jumped to awareness, clutching... covers? Where was she? Had they arrived? It was still dark out.. So it couldn't have been that long. She leapt from bed, stumbling around on the floor for her shoes, then ran out the door. She heard voices from down the hall. Father Remington... and another, a female, it sounded like.
"You brought a devil into the Convent!? What kind of lunatic are you!?"
"Sister Kate, he may be able to-."
"I will not have a devil staying in this Convent! Get him out of here!"
A third voice interrupted with a cough, "Sister Kate, I brought Chrono here as my test subject. It was easier to have Father Remington get him then to have me drag my weary old bones all the way to Michigan..."
Wait.. Chrono? What was going on? Rosette ran towards the door.
"I didn't know you needed another test subject, elder."
Rosette barged in.
The three adults turned towards her, surprised. But Remington put on a smile, "Sister Kate, Elder, this is Rosette Christo-."
"What are you going to do with Chrono!?" Rosette cried, tears in her eyes once more.
Remington dashed forward, placing a hand on her shoulder in the process.
"Rosette, why don't you go back to bed? It's 4am. I'll take you back to your room." He exited the room, Rosette in tow, and escorted her back to her room. He lifted her into bed, and sat on the end.
"Where's Chrono..?" Rosette sobbed, "I want to see him.. Where is he?"
Remington sighed, "..You need to sleep, you've had a very wearing day... I'll-."
Once again he was interrupted, her eyes bored into his. "I want to see Chrono."
"Rosette..."
Her eyes didn't budge, and he knew they wouldn't until she got what she wanted. She was as stubborn as ever, still.
"...Sister Kate wouldn't let me just bring him in here, he is a devil after all."
"Where is he!? I want to see him!"
"You can't see him now, Rosette.."
She opened her mouth to protest, but he silenced her with his hand.
"He's been restrained, and put in a cross barrier, I'm trying to convince Sister Kate that this isn't necessary, but..."
The door slid open, and the elder walked in. He sighed tiredly and sat down on an armchair in the corner.
"Remington, I've managed to convince her that he's my test subject... He'll be confined to my quarters and in my care. I trust you, but I sure hope you're right about him not being a typical devil..."
Rosette's face brightened, "Does that mean I can see him now?"
The Elder smiled, but shook his head. "I'm afraid not, missy. You and he both need some time to recover. Maybe tomorrow, or the day after."
While she wasn't satisfied, Rosette was at least willing to accept that as an answer. The Elder and Remington then, without further ado, left Rosette for the night.
- - - - - - -
Light filtered through the window by Rosette's bed, lighting the whole room. Shadows cast by the evening hours began to dissipate, and a female child stirred in her sleep, still reluctant to wake.
The clock struck nine, a nun walked in. She was a little taller than Rosette, with brown, shoulder length locks of hair. She wore the clothing of an apprentice in the order, a long dark blue dress, and a lighter, near white shawl like cloth pulled over the top, the seam of which was held by an oval clasp. She looked at Rosette,
"Hey! Get up! It's past wake up time already! Did you hear me? Get UP!"
With that, the girl yanked off Rosette's sheets.
"Sister Kate told me you're new in the order. I'm Elizabeth, Beth for short. You're Rosette, right? Sister Kate told me to show you around.. Hey, are you listening!?"
Rosette pulled her pillow over her head, she was listening, she just didn't want to be.
Beth was infuriated, she pulled away Rosette's pillow, grabbed the pitcher of water supposed to be used to wash hands and faces, and dumped it on Rosette.
"Hey! What was that for? You little.."
Beth threw a towel and a change of clothes at Rosette, "Those are your clothes, and a towel to dry off. I'll meet you outside!" She walked briskly out, closing the door behind her.
Rosette took the opportunity to flop back into bed and mull things over. New to the convent? What convent? She lived at the Seventh Bell Orphanage, in Michi-.
No. No she didn't. Aion had changed all that.
The shock that her entire life had just been cruelly twisted around finally hit her. She curled up into a ball and started sobbing. It was always so hard.. From her parents' deaths to Joshua's sickness and now..
But time was still ticking.
No time would stop for her sadness, time wasted could never be gained back. A new, resolved energy filled Rosette. Grabbing her clothes, she changed and hurried to meet Beth outside. Time wasn't waiting, nor would she.
When she met Beth outside, the girl immediately burst into laughter, "Rosette, you've gone and put it on backwards! Here, let me fix this." Chuckling, the monitor brought her back into her room and helped her put it on correctly. By now, the two of them were laughing and smiling, Beth grinned "It should fit better now too. Let's try this again." Beth led Rosette out onto the grounds, she pointed at various buildings as they walked by. "There's the kitchen, the chapel, the shooting range.."
"The shooting range? Isn't this a Convent?" Rosette was utterly confused, why on earth would there be a shooting range in a Convent?
Beth winked at her, smiling. "It's where we train for missions! Where else would you expect target practice?"
"Missions? Target practice for what?"
"Devils, of course! What else? The Militia and higher end of the clergy here go on missions to eradicate devils and stop devil worshipers and-."
Beth's voice droned on as a thought struck Rosette, Where was Chrono? Remington said he was in a.. barrier of some sort, but wouldn't that mean that...
Beth poked Rosette, "You listening? We had better get to Sister Kate's office. She wanted to see you after I showed you around." Grabbing her hand, Beth led Rosette back towards the building they had come from. They went up stairs, a right, and Rosette found herself in the same room she had barged into last night when Remington, the Elder and Sister Kate...apparently... had been talking.
"Thank you, Beth, I'll take it from here."
Beth made a hurried curtsy and dashed out the door, "I'll see you at breakfast, Rosette!"
Sister Kate shifted her glasses, "Please sit down, Rosette."
Rosette walked towards the only unoccupied chair in the room, but instead slammed her hands on the desk in front of it.
"When can I see Chrono!?"
"Chrono..? Why on earth would you want to see him? Sit down, child."
"Because I've made a contract with him, he's my frie-."
"You WHAT?! Father Remington, get in here this INSTANT."
Father Remington entered from outside the room, sporting a casual and hesitant smile. "Yes, Sister Kate?"
"This girl has just told me she made a contract with that devil."
"Yes.. It appears she has, Sister."
The Sister's face inflated with rage, "You let a DEVIL and it's CONTRACTOR into my CONVENT!? Get them OUT of here at once!"
"But sister..."
"I see no reason why they should stay here any longer! Out!"
"This girl.."
"Out!"
Remington stepped forward, grabbing Sister Kate's hand and slamming it down on the table. He looked into her eyes, voice in a hoarse whisper. "This girl is Joshua's sister. She may be able to help us find him!"
The Sister was shocked, she took a moment to re arrange herself, then looked at Rosette.
"Rosette, I'm afraid you can't see... Chrono... right now, could you give us a minute? Go eat breakfast."
That was it. She was going to find out where Chrono was, and she was not going to wait. Rosette stomped her foot down, glaring at the nun. "No! I can not give you a minute! Tell me where Chrono is!"
Taken aback, but all the more enraged, the convent's head jumped to her feet, returning the girl's glare with one twice as wrathful.
"You will get out of here right now, young lady! I'll deal with you later."
"Fine! I'll just go find him myself, you old hag!" Rosette turned on her heel and stomped out, her depart was signified by the slamming of the oak wood door that could be heard half way across the convent.
Father Remington was about to follow her, but he was stopped in his tracks by the voice of the enraged Sister. "..I have something I need to speak to you about, Remington, get your sorry ass back here."
The convent's grounds were larger than Rosette had first thought, it appears as though several acres were donated solely for the use of these facilities. There were a lot more buildings than the ones Beth had shown her, too. Making the search for Chrono all the harder. But, the Father had said something about a Cross Barrier, so perhaps in the church? It was shaped like a cross, after all.
- - - - - - - - - -
Rosette sighed, sitting down on the chapel's steps. The church had been empty, and after looking for more than an hour, her search had come up fruitless.
A whistled tune interrupted her, she watched as the Elder exited from a small cottage, locking the door behind him. Then it hit her.
Last night, in the conversation between Remington and the Elder, the Elder had said something about keeping Chrono in his quarters as a text subject. Chrono had to be there. No doubt. Once the Elder was out of sight, she rushed towards the cottage. It was stone, and ivy covered, and there were a few windows, but not many. Taking her chances that no one was inside, she tested one of the windows. Luckily for her, it was open, but as to why the old coot would lock the door but leave the windows was beyond her comprehension.
Then again, not many people would climb into an old man's cottage in a convent.
Rosette shrugged, and scrambled inside. Halfway through the window, however, she was met by a pile of dust covered books. No wonder he kept the windows open, it was near impossible to get in, let alone breathe in the dust covered room. With a crash, Rosette tumbled into the books, sending them crashing all over the floor in a cloud of dust. She fanned her way through the room, looking about for any sign of Chrono. There was a stairwell leading down, she figured it was her best bet, and climbed down.
The room was dark and musty, and amazingly enough, more clouded than the room above. She slowly made her way through the smoke, unable to see the ground beneath her feet.
"Rosette..?"
The sudden sound of Chrono's voice sent Rosette stumbling, but she quickly regained her footing, running towards the muffled sound. She ran into something, bowling it over.
It was Chrono
Chrono looked in astonishment at Rosette, "Rosette, what are you doing here!? How did you-?" He was cut off by a slap from Rosette.
"Don't ever leave like that ever again! I'll never forgive you." She pointed a finger at him, "And I've got some questions for you, buster!" With that, she lifted the devil to his feet, much to his suprise.
"Rosette, I..."
"Just shuddup and keep walking!"
But he wouldn't, or rather, he couldn't.
"You can't see it 'cause of the smoke.. But I'm trapped in a barrier, Rosette. I can't move."
"Well then I'll just get you out! Elder said it was a Cross Barrier, so it's in the shape of a cross, right?" Bending down, she began to see faint outlines of a cross on the ground, four miniature crosses were embedded in the ground at intervals, forming the shape. She picked up one of them.
"Hey.. Is this it?"
There was a rushing sound, then silence. Rosette's view circled her. Had she destroyed the barrier? Chrono rushed up to her, "Rosette, we need to get out of here right now. Now."
"What.. why?"
Chrono picked up his pace, "Because I wasn't the only Devil in those cross barriers, Rosette."
Shrieks and Cries of inhuman things echoed through the room. Chrono winced, the sounds were high pitched enough to make him feel the pain they had experienced, he could hardly fathom what Rosette was going through. Suddenly, she became deadweight, Chrono had to haul the girl up onto his back to keep moving.
A whirring sound, a rush of air, and the room was cleared of smoke!
What the...? Unless there was a switch he had tripped, the smoke should still be in the room...
The woman's voice cleared the intercom,
"Congratulations, Sister Amy, you have cleared the fourth level of the mission re-enactment. Please return to the headquarters."
The shrieks and cries had stopped.. But...
Where were they? And more importantly- how could they get out?
Rosette stirred, the devil put her down, kneeling over her as she came 'round.
"Chrono.. what?" She jumped up, "What's going on!? Where'd all that smoke go?"
Chrono steadied her, "I don't.. know.. But we need to get out of here. I have a bad feeling."
"Wait.. Sister Kate, there are still devils in here."
A nun rounded the corner, hefting a gun at Chrono and Rosette.
"It looks like one of the apprentices got in here on accident. Get her out of here, I'll deal with the devil."
The nun pulled out four crosses like the ones Rosette had seen earlier and threw them around Chrono. She re aimed her gun directly at Chrono's heart. "Let go of the child, devil, else you won't se another day.
Rosette began to object, but Chrono put a hand on her mouth, "Please, Rosette, just do as she says, I promise it'll turn out jake." She frowned, concerned, but did as the nun had said, and left the barrier. Sister Amy motioned for Rosette to stand behind her. "There are more devils here, stay behind me."
From there, Rosette could only remember bits and pieces.
A large, grotesque and scaly hand shooting out from behind a corner, Chrono lunging forward, stopped by the barrier, yelling something. Flying backwards, the nun in front falling, blood.
Rosette hit the ground, the must-be devil whirled around to face her. The nun from before was dead, her near-severed neck was a sure sign of that. Chrono was still shouting. The devil stepped towards her, but rather than attack Rosette, began to..suck...from the dead nun. The nun shriveled up, no more than a mummy now.
Chrono clawed at the barrier, but to no avail. Rosette was next, and he knew it. That goddamn son of a bitch devil was going to kill her if he couldn't get to her in time. He banged his head in frustration against the barrier. At least if she had stayed in the barrier she would have been safe. He looked down, tears of anger in his eyes. That's when it struck him. Rosette had pulled out the cross from the ground earlier to release the barrier. Perhaps he could do the same? The effect on him would be disastrous, but at least, he might be able to save Rosette. It was worth a shot.
The devil sneered at Rosette, its grotesque body was strangely similar to that of a malformed human. Huge eyes and a wide, open mouth revealed the devil's large fangs. The demon dragged itself towards Rosette, fat from his recent meal.
Chrono yanked the cross from its place in the ground, wincing as the cross seared its shape into his hand. He rushed forward, then thrusting the cross into the devil's back. In sheer agony, the devil arched his back, clawing through his own skin to try to remove the cross. His shrieks echoed through the entire room, blood poured from the wound, pooling around his feet. The cross eventually burned its way into the devil's heart, killing him. The devil fell to the ground, disintegrating as he died.
Chrono ran over to Rosette, "Rosette! Are you alright!?"
"I'm okay Chrono.. It's just a bruise, that's all... But.. Your hand?"
"It's nothing, we need to go, now. Before someone else finds us."
Rosette nodded, and followed the devil towards the exit.
Author's Note:
There we have it, the first real chapter! I hope it was enjoyable, I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible!
R&R everyone! Thanks!
Until next time,
- Ikiaq