DEMONS
By Hydraa
(Author's note: This is the sequel to "To Find the Watch" and starts about two minutes after that story ends.
Rated "R" for the kiddies)
---
Everything was frozen. Chrno knelt on Sister Kate's desk, Rosette's gun leveled at her head. She sat back in her chair, gripping the arms and glaring at him. Around them, a dozen armed nuns and priests had their own weapons aimed at the demon. No one moved.
"Tell me how to save Rosette," Chrno growled. "I know you know how."
Her eyes narrowed. "By the command of-"
He pressed the gun against her forehead so harshly that she felt the skin bruise. "Finish that sentence and I'll blow your head open."
Sister Kate sniffed. "You can't," she reminded him. "You took Oaths when you came here to not harm anyone. I can see how much pain you're in just by bluffing." He was. She could see him shaking and his skin was damp with sweat. To not cause harm was only one of the Oaths she'd bound him with when he first arrived, but it was the strictest. She was amazed he had the strength to hold that gun up.
Chrno's lip curled. "Stupid. My Contractor is in danger. My Oaths to her outweigh my Oaths to you."
Kate tensed. Was he right? Could he actually shoot her? Or would his heart explode in his chest if he tried? For the first time, she wasn't sure.
"This won't solve anything," she reasoned. "You…"
"Save Rosette!" he screamed. "Save her! You have to!"
He was losing any sense of rationality. Desperately, Kate tried to think what to do. If the militia fired, someone would get hit in the crossfire and the chance of her ending up with a Sacred in her skull was rather high. The holy water wouldn't hurt her, but the lead it was encased in certainly would.
"I wish I could save Rosette," she told him, as softly as she would when speaking to a child. "I truly do. But that's not God's will. Her place is in Heaven now, at His side."
Chrno quivered. "I don't want her to go to Heaven!" he yelled, tears coming out of his eyes. "I want her to stay here with me! She has to stay here!"
"You would deny her eternity?" Kate asked him reasonably.
The demon, locked in the form of a twelve year old boy with a long, lavender braid, blinked, real pain behind his eyes. She was getting to him; not to change his mind, but to confuse him, and to weaken his insane determination to fight against the Oaths.
"Why does she need it now?" he whimpered. The gun was shaking in his too small hands. It really was too big for him and Kate knew he was tired.
Kate forced herself to relax, to act as though he wasn't a threat. "It's her time. You guaranteed that, after all."
"NO!" he shrieked. "I'll kill you!" He tried to pull the trigger. Kate saw him go to do it, but his finger wouldn't move. He gaped at it, unable to understand. "…what…?"
Kate stood, twisted the weapon out of his hand, and held two fingers up before his face. "By the command of the Holy Order of Magdalena, sleep."
Chrno bucked, swaying on his knees, and crumpled over, his head thudding loudly against the wood of her desk as he fell over onto his side. The militia started to relax, but Kate gestured for them to be careful. Chrno was fighting the command, shuddering bonelessly and gasping for breath, his eyes wide and unfocused.
Kate knelt down, feeling compassion for the demon even now. He couldn't help but be what he was, which was why he was so dangerous. "Rest now, Chrno," she told him softly. "I have that place I promised you. We'll take you there now." She'd intended for him to witness Rosette's death, but she saw now that was too cruel. She was not a woman given to making others suffer, even demons. "You won't feel pain anymore."
Chrno's eyes fluttered, his mouth and tongue trying desperately to say something. "By the command of the Holy Order of Magdalena," she repeated gently. "Sleep."
This time the command worked. Chrno's eyes closed and he relaxed.
Kate straightened up, feeling very much like a drink and a hot bath. Or a few hours singing hosannas in the church. That had been far too close.
"Bind him with the blessed rope," she ordered, "and blindfold him. We'll take him to the cells for containment."
"No, you won't," a new voice hissed.
Startled, Kate looked up. Standing in the doorway to her office, dressed only in a linen shift, Rosette levelled a machine gun at her.
"Not unless you've got some sort of crappy spell that works on me," she added.
---000---
For a long moment, Sister Kate wondered when she'd lost control of the situation so badly, but then again, when had she ever been in control with this one? Kate stood over Rosette's unconscious pet demon, staring at the girl, and wondered how she was going to explain this.
For her part, Rosette was so angry she was almost sure steam was rising from her ears. After Azmaria's revelation that Sister Kate and Father Remington had a way for them to survive, Chrno had been out of the room so fast that he didn't even hear her shouting for him to wait. It had taken her a few minutes to drag herself up, grab a weapon, and follow him. She'd seen the militia scrambling to Kate's office, but still it took her long minutes to get there, praying all the while that she wouldn't hear any gunshots.
Instead she arrived to find Chrno lying on top of Sister Kate's desk, sleeping because she told him to. Her lip curled, her face burning red with anger. "What did you do to him?" she snarled.
Sister Kate folded her hands in her habit, her face as impassive as always, though Rosette could detect a trickle of sweat on her temple. "I kept him from hurting someone, Sister Rosette. He was becoming very dangerous."
Yes, Rosette could believe that. She hugged the butt of the machine gun against her side. "I was told you have a way to save my life."
Sister Kate stiffened. "I'm afraid you heard wrong."
"Why's that? What is this supposed cure anyway?"
The Sister only shook her head. "Nothing that wouldn't destroy your soul and doom you to an eternity in Hell. Come, Rosette. Put the gun down."
Rosette looked at Chrno. He was so still… "Get away from him," she snarled. "Nobody touches him."
"Be reasonable, Rosette. I know you. You would never hurt an innocent."
"Don't bet on it." She saw one of the militia look between them uncertainly and shifted the muzzle towards him. "Don't move," she ordered, but as she did, Kate picked up the weapon Chrno had brought and pressed it against the side of his head.
"PUT THAT DOWN!" Rosette screamed, weapon aimed back at her.
Sister Kate's face was filled with regret. "I won't let him destroy your soul, Rosette. Put the gun down and he'll be incarcerated in a cell where time is frozen. He won't feel your life end or suffer for it. If not, I'll have to shoot him."
Rosette hesitated. Kate would do it. She hated Chrno. Her face flushed, trying to think of what to do. She stared at Chrno's small form, mind racing. "Okay," she stammered. "Just take the gun off him. I promise I'll put my weapon down."
The nun looked in her eyes and nodded. "I trust your word, Rosette. Bless you." They both lowered their weapons.
A moment later, Rosette flung her weapon at Kate, leaving her scrambling to catch it. "Chrno!" she screamed. "WAKE UP! RUN!"
---000---
On the desk, Chrno started out of sleep, ears ringing from Rosette's command. His defences had been torn down by Aion when he was injured, his demon compulsion to obey brought to full force. Rosette was his Contractor. She was his liege, threaded through his mind the way Aion had wanted to be. He was relearning to resist, but with Rosette, he didn't want to.
Chrno dove off the desk, rolled back onto his feet, and threw himself at the window, all without any real conscious thought. He smashed through the glass and landed at a dead run, sprinting for the far wall of the Order.
Kate was apoplectic. "Catch him!" she screamed at the militia. "Don't let him get away!"
Startled and confused, but still well trained, the militia moved to obey, some of them heading out the door past Rosette, others climbing through the window. In seconds, Rosette was alone in the office with Kate.
The nun turned towards her, her expression livid as Rosette laughed under her breath, genuinely amused. "You'll never catch him," she said. "All of Pandemonium couldn't catch him." The laughter turned into a ragged cough and she dropped to her knees, clutching her chest.
A moment later, Kate knelt beside her, gently draping a blanket around her shoulders. "You'll be the death of me, child. What do you think you're doing, running around the Order in your nightclothes?"
Rosette shivered even with the blanket, utterly exhausted. "I didn't want you to hurt Chrno." She looked up at her. "There isn't a way to save me?"
Kate shook her head sadly. "I wish there were." Carefully, she helped Rosette stand. "Let's take you back to your room." As they went down the hall, a staccato of gunfire sounded in the distance. Rosette tensed, but Kate's hopes weren't that high. "You're probably right. We'll never catch him."
"Yeah." Rosette sighed. "Only he won't live much past me without my astral and I don't want him to die alone."
Kate kept an arm around her shoulder and walked with her, pretending all the while that she couldn't hear the girl weeping.
---000---
Chrno sprinted across the grass of the square, his legs shorter than his pursuers but still wickedly fast. He couldn't use his full speed; Rosette's energy only came to him in a trickle and even that he couldn't use fully, not with the ancient spells written into each block of the Order. They limited his powers as they did all demons, and on top of them were Oaths he'd been forced to swear that kept him from using magic, from transforming, from doing anything that would distinguish him from a little boy. He'd tried once to break the seal on the Order's grounds, in order to protect Rosette, but it had been impossible. She could have died that day while he struggled with his impotence.
Now he struggled to run faster, his only thought to get away, to obey his Contractor. He'd worry what to do next once that order was accomplished.
Behind him, armed militia raced to catch up, panting heavily. A woman in blue skirts appeared on his left, looking at him intently as he dodged around three screaming novices and she edged about a rose bush. A man drew up on his right, hissing through gritted teeth. Chrno knew both of them, had worked with them in the past, but there was no compassion for him in their eyes. Probably not after he'd shoved a gun in their leader's face, he thought dimly and swerved around a fish pond. That brought him uncomfortably close to the man and he swung his weapon around, trying to catch the demon in the head with the butt. Chrno ducked and started to dodge back, but the woman had moved in to where he had been and he was running out of room to go anywhere but forward. He could also hear boot heels running behind him. The woman pressed closer, the man dropping to the side a bit, and suddenly he realized they were herding him, towards the courtyard of the garage with its twelve foot stone walls.
He couldn't let that happen. Chrno sucked in a deep breath and tried to run faster, pushing his still recovering legions until they howled inside him from pain. He moved faster though, slowly putting distance between him and the militia until he could head away from the garage towards the shorter, front walls, and they couldn't hem him in any more. He cleared a hedge, barely, and dashed for the walls, gasping.
Behind him, he heard the man curse and something grabbed hold of the hugely long braid he wore. It tangled in some of the looser hairs, pulling them painfully free, but Chrno tightened his neck and bolted forward even faster, trying to get loose before they got a solid hold and pulled him back enough to club or shoot him. The grip slid down his braid and caught on the yellow ribbon Rosette always used to tie it. A moment later it was pulled free and his braid swung loose. He felt a pang at the loss but kept running. The front wall was only a few hundred feet away.
Behind him, a motor sounded, someone finding a car, and he heard the engine roar as it came up behind him fast. Chrno didn't look back, but he could hear it getting closer, about to run him over. He made his legions give him everything they had left and leapt for the walls, hands clawing for the six foot height and dragging him up. The car screeched to a halt behind him, the driver cursing, and the militia he'd been outrunning jumped to grab his dangling foot. Chrno pulled himself up though and rolled over the top, ducking under a spurt of Sacreds fired at him. He landed on the far side, on ground that was no longer holy or ensorcelled, and his energy levels surged in him. By the time the militia climbed the wall, he was out of sight.
---000---
Father Ewan Remington was furious, not that he let it show. "So they both asked you point blank about how to save her and you lied to them?" he asked with a calm he certainly didn't feel.
Kate rubbed her forehead. She had a cup of willow bark tea in front of her and was sipping it with a disgusted expression on her face. "I don't lie, you know that."
The Father crossed his arms. "Telling them they'll go to Hell if they try it sounds like lying to me."
She glared at him. "They will go to Hell if they try. At least Rosette will. Chrno's going there no matter what he does."
Remington shook his head. "So much for redemption, is that it?"
"I'm not having this conversation with you again, Father."
"Fine. Then I'm going to march right over to Rosette and tell her what we know. Let her make the choice about whether to try it."
Kate froze. "Don't you dare, Father."
"It's her body, Kate."
"And it's God's soul."
"I really don't think God will mind."
"That's blasphemy!"
Muttering under his breath, Remington stepped forward, grabbed her cup, and took a swallow of the hot liquid. It tasted as vile as it looked.
"What did you do that for?" she asked suspiciously.
"Just cutting the headache off before it starts."
She shook her head and pushed her glasses back up her nose. "The point is somewhat moot. Rosette can no longer travel and Chrno will be shot if he ever steps foot on these grounds again."
"After all they did for us," Remington sighed. "Not very gracious. I don't want them to die."
"Neither do I, Father. Do you think me a monster?"
"No, just inflexible sometimes." He leaned back in his chair. "Tell them, Kate. For God's sake, tell them, or let me do it." She shook her head again, stubborn, but she wouldn't look at him. "To allow a death by inaction is the same thing as murder."
She glared. "To damn a soul to eternal fire is worse than murder."
"But I can't see that," he protested. "All Chrno has to do-"
"Is defy every oath Rosette has ever taken with the Order. She gave herself over to God."
"But she gave herself to Chrno first," he pointed out. "Whether you like it, whether you believe it, she did. If she's damned, she's damned already and nothing you do will save her soul. You're only condemning her to Hell sooner. Can you do that?"
Kate trembled. "But… She'd be lost."
"She's lost already. At least give her the chance to live."
He saw her squeeze her eyes shut, hands clenched in prayer on her desk. Remington stood, making no attempt to hide his movements. Kate didn't move. Quickly, the priest left the office, headed towards the women's barracks. He was running before he reached the end of the hall.
A minute later, Kate's eyes snapped open. "No," she breathed. Her faith was strong. It was true. If there was even the slightest chance of Rosette's soul being saved, she had to take it. "Remington!" she shouted. "Stop! Don't tell her!"
---000---
Remington ran hard for the barracks, praying as loudly as he could that he was right, praying that he got there before Kate came to her senses and caught up. She outranked him. He would have told Chrno and Rosette years ago if not for her orders, and she could order him again now. Chrno and Rosette both could be on their knees before him, begging, and he would say nothing if she forbad him, but he had this one chance and he knew it was fleeting.
He banged through the door into the women's quarters, yelling that a man was on the floor, and raced up the stairs two at a time. He saw Kate running across the square through a window he passed and ran down the hall to Rosette's room, going around some very startled nuns without really registering them.
Rosette's door was unlocked, Azmaria sitting beside her where she sat propped up in the bed. Both girls stared at him in shock and Remington had a guilty moment of thinking how terribly young Rosette was to be proposing this to her. Still, if he didn't, she'd never get any older.
He skidded painfully to his knees beside her bed. "For once in your life, listen and don't interrupt." She blinked. "There is one thing that may save your life, something we've sometimes seen demons do to human women to make them into demons themselves. Chrno has to turn you into a demon to save your life. Then you won't be reliant on your life force to survive anymore. You'll have horns of your own to feed you, and feed him." He could hear Kate on the stairs, puffing her way up but not yet screaming the order for him to stop. "You have to let him infuse you with his legions so they can transform you."
"How does he do that?" Rosette asked uncertainly, her eyes suspicious. Azmaria's were huge.
He heard Kate racing down the hall and said it just as she skidded to a halt in the doorway.
"Sex," he said.
---000---
For a long, comical moment, all three women stared at him. Azmaria's face was white, Rosette's an interesting shade of red, and Kate's purple. Remington would have laughed if he wasn't sure they'd hit him.
Kate's head dropped. "I'm going to kill you, Remington."
Rosette's face was completely coloured. "What?" she squeaked. "I have to do what?"
"Forget what he said, Rosette," Kate urged. "It's not worth the risk."
Her nose wrinkled. "You want me to have sex? With Chrno??"
Remington shrugged, still absurdly amused. "It's the only way. A blood transfusion would kill you. Anything you drank would be digested. Think of it as a sexually transmitted cure."
"What?" she managed again, even redder.
"It's better than Chlamydia," he couldn't resist adding.
Kate smacked him on the head. "That's enough! Rosette isn't going to do it! Even if it did work, all the women it was done to in the past became thralls to their demon rapists. That's why we didn't tell you! You'd lose your mind and your soul to Chrno forever."
Azmaria turned to Rosette, her hands clasped together and her eyes shining. "You get to make love to Chrno! That's so romantic!"
"Don't give her ideas!" Kate screamed.
Rosette rubbed her forehead, her blush fading. "I think… I need some time alone."
Remington stood. "I understand, Rosette. I'm sorry to have to tell you."
"No you're not," Kate groused. "Forget about it, Rosette. It'll never happen. Your soul is too important." The girl wouldn't look at them.
The two adults backed out, Azmaria with them. "I wasn't entirely sure how she'd react," Remington admitted, regarding her closed door.
Kate shot him a look. "She's acting far more reasonable about it than I would have expected, thank God." She smacked his chest. "My office, now. You'll be lucky if I only make you scrub toilets for the next month. Thank God Chrno is gone." She led him down the hall, berating him all the way.
Azmaria looked the way they'd gone, then at Rosette's door. She'd said she wanted to be alone. She bit her lip. Chrno needed to know this, if she could only figure out where he'd gone.
Quickly, before anyone could think about how she'd react, the young apostle hurried out of the barracks, headed for the front gate.
---000---
Rosette sat back in her bed, completely stunned. She had to have sex with Chrno to live? That word sounded rather icky. She had to make love with him? That sounded better. She tried to imagine her friend naked and got an image of him in his twelve-year old form. That was wrong on so many levels it made her ill. Then she imagined him in his demon form the way he'd been when she healed him from Aion's attack. She shuddered delicately and the room started to feel distinctly warm.
The girl shook herself. She couldn't focus on that. Pay attention to the rest of it, girl, she told herself. The whole point of it all was to give her Chrno's legions, to make her into a demon. Her heart fluttered. Could she be a demon? What would that mean? Would she end up as Chrno's thrall the way Kate had warned? Somehow, she doubted that. Chrno himself would never allow that to happen. He'd probably flip it the other way around and give her control instead. He'd make love to her.
Rosette shuddered again and looked out the window. She'd live. As a demon, she'd live. She'd be with Chrno forever. She'd have the power to find her brother. She might lose her soul. Only she'd be losing it to him, wouldn't she? And he already had it.
Rosette sighed. This was one thing she'd never really let herself consider and now she couldn't get it out of her head. "Chrno, where are you?"
---000---
Partway across the city, Chrno hurried down the sidewalk, looking behind himself periodically to make sure no one was following him. He'd have to go back to the Order soon, he had to get back to Rosette, but first he had to figure out how he'd get onto the grounds without being detected. It wouldn't be much of an infiltration with Kate knowing where he was all the time and her being able to knock him out with a sentence.
She could do a whole lot else to him as well, he remembered bitterly. He just hadn't ever thought he'd be crazy enough to give her a reason.
"Well, you're looking better."
Chrno spun around, heart pounding. In front of him stood Satella Havenheit, her lips curled in an amused smile. Her butler stood behind her, holding her packages.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," she teased. "Are you running from one?"
"Um, no, from the Order's militia," he admitted.
Her eyebrows rose. "Whatever did you do to them?"
He looked down sheepishly. "Threatened Sister Kate with a gun."
"Excellent!" She turned to her butler and clapped her hands together. "Steiner, bring the car around! This sounds like a wonderful excuse to go to lunch."
"Very good, madam."
Fifteen minutes later, Chrno found himself sitting at a table in a very expensive restaurant, feeling horribly out of place. Everyone was staring at him, though he didn't know if that was for his grubby clothes or his slitted eyes and pointed ears. Nervously, he played with his half unravelled braid, afraid to touch the plethora of utensils in front of him. He didn't really need to eat, though he did to keep Rosette company and because he liked the taste. He wasn't sure what the things put before him were though.
"Have you never had escargot before?" Satella asked him curiously.
"No," he said doubtfully, eyeing the little shelled things. "What are they?"
"Snails," she said gleefully.
Well, that didn't sound any grosser than dead cow muscle. Chrno stuck one in his mouth to keep her happy and started chewing. "Crunchy," he admitted.
Satella waved a little torture device in front of his face. "You're supposed to take it out of the shell first."
He blinked. "Oh." Taking it, he shot the first snail across the room and then managed to get the hang of it.
Satella watched him. "Usually people get all squeamish when I break out the snails," she admitted. "I suppose you're used to doing all these strange human things."
Chrno shrugged. He had to be, living with Rosette. His gut twisted, aching for her. To leave her the way he had… he couldn't believe anyone at the Order would hurt her, but she was still dying, her life draining away because of him.
And Sister Kate knew how to stop it, only he couldn't get close to her. Not without her knocking him out and throwing him in that cell that stopped time. The same cell he'd asked her to lock him in, before he found out there was still hope. He closed his eyes, grieving, until a thought occurred to him. Azmaria also said Father Remington knew how to save them.
"Satella, can you help me?" he asked his hostess. "I need to find Father Remington, but I can't go back to the Order."
She gave him a sultry look. "And what do I get if I do?"
Chrno flinched. He had a pretty good idea what she wanted, which was rather freaky in the body he was currently wearing and impossible besides. "Anything but that," he said dryly and she pouted.
"You're no fun."
"I'm way too old for you, Satella," he reminded her.
"True," she admitted with a sigh. "I saw you at the hotel. Nice ass though."
The demon rolled his eyes. "Please. Rosette doesn't have much time."
She frowned. "She'll really die?" She'd always had trouble believing that. Sure, that's what usually happened to anyone who consorted with demons, but Chrno was different. He nodded dumbly.
"Then what happens to you?" she asked.
Then he turns himself in to Sister Kate and hopes she blows his head off or locks him in that cell for the rest of eternity. "Please. Father Remington might know a way to save her."
"Oh, well, why didn't you say something? Can't have my favourite pain in the butt die on me." She grabbed her purse and snapped her fingers for the cheque.
---000---
Twenty minutes later, Chrno sat in the car with Steiner, his head down, while Satella stood at the Order's front gate, arguing with someone.
"They don't appear willing to let her in," Steiner commented.
Chrno banged his fist against the floorboards. He hadn't been expecting that. Sister Kate must suspect Satella of helping him. Granted, it was kind of obvious he'd go to her, even though running into her had been an accident.
Satella came back to the car, irritated. "They say they're closed," she grated. "No one is permitted entry. Sister Kate's orders."
Chrno peered out the window at the Order. "I have to find Father Remington. I have to get to Rosette. Did you ask if he could come to the gate?"
"They said he was on latrine duty." She shrugged at his look. "I don't know what that means. That's what they said though."
Chrno sagged. Rosette could die while he waited out there. His need to get to her was an agony inside him, but there was no way he could get in there without being detected. Not unless Sister Kate was seriously distracted. He looked up at Satella again hopefully. "Can you do me another favour?"
---000---
The call came in at dusk, the militia being called out in force to deal with a major demon outbreak at the wharf. The smoke could even be seen from the Order, something huge and glowing waving its arms and roaring madly.
Sister Kate didn't hesitate. Leaving Remington neck deep in latrines and the Elder in charge, she gathered together the main militia force and set out. It felt strange to not be taking Rosette along, but the girl was in no shape for combat.
Some time after they departed, Chrno scaled the wall and dropped into the grass on the inside, feeling his power levels drop the moment he landed. Hopefully Satella could keep them hopping for a while. It wouldn't take Kate more than a single good look to realise that her 'demon' was really a jewel knight in disguise.
Hopefully, no one would be watching for him so closely here. Chrno honestly didn't know how Sister Kate knew demons were on the grounds. He just knew she did. So he didn't waste any time and ran for the barracks. He didn't know where Father Remington was, but maybe Rosette did and he needed to see her anyway.
He reached the women's' barracks and crept in the back door, listening to the sounds of the junior nuns chatting and giggling. They were really a rather useless bunch, he sometimes thought, but Rosette liked them and they'd never been unkind to him. They just giggled and stared a lot.
Chrno went up the back stairs, but there were girls in the hallway. Skirting around to one of the windows, he opened it and climbed out onto the ledge, cautiously edging his way around to Rosette's window. It was open, like usual, and he climbed in, looking up with relief at Rosette's face.
She stared back at him, her face rapidly going a very alarming pink colour.
Chrno scrambled the rest of the way in, landing in an uncoordinated heap at the foot of her bed. She yanked her knees up. "Are you okay?" he hissed. "I got back here as fast as I could."
"I-" Her blush deepened. He stared, completely baffled.
"What's wrong?"
"Um." She looked away. "Father Remington told me how you can save my life."
His face lit up. "Really?? He did? How?" he demanded, his voice actually breaking on the last word.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to look at him. He couldn't figure out why it was so difficult for her until she spoke.
"He said that you have to make love to me." His jaw dropped. "It'll give me your legions and make me into a demon. Then I won't need a life force anymore."
The whole bottom dropped out of Chrno's gut. "W-what?" he managed. He had to…? But he couldn't, he'd…. She'd die. She'd die if he didn't. Chrno shuddered, his entire frame shaking, but he crawled forward, Rosette's eyes widening as he got closer. Crouching right next to her, he steeled himself and leaned forward to kiss her.
He didn't know what he was expecting. Actually, he knew exactly what he was expecting, but her lips were soft and sweet. Chrno kissed her and reached up a trembling hand to lay against her breast. Her heart was beating like a frightened bird, but she didn't stop him. It was the most awkward moment he'd ever been in.
A minute later, he realised that one of the things he did expect to happen wasn't. He blinked, eyes opening to stare into hers. "What?" she asked, her face still red.
"Um." Chrno was pretty sure this was humiliating for a human man. He knew it was humiliating for him. "Something's not working."
"What?" she asked. He looked down at himself and she flushed red.
A cackling laugh came from the doorway and they both turned, flaming red, to see the Elder standing there, flanked by armed militia. "Too bad, I would have liked the show, but the Order isn't big on sex. Nobody can get a hard-on here. It's one of the biggest regrets of my life."
Chrno howled and grabbed the tray off Rosette's nightstand, throwing it at them. The old man ducked, already yelling. "By the command of the Holy Order of Magde…" Rosette beaned him in the forehead with a boot and he reeled back. The guards pushed forward.
Chrno grabbed Rosette around the waist. He couldn't leave her here again, especially not now that he knew how to save her. The thought of it terrified him, but he'd pay the price willingly. He just had to get her away first.
"What are you doing?" she shrieked, right before he threw them both out the window.
Luckily, her room was only on the second floor, but Chrno still nearly broke both his legs when he landed with her in her arms. Rosette wasn't exactly a light little flower. Not with all the muscle she'd put on fighting demons.
Chrno ran for the walls, again, this time carrying Rosette. "Let me down!" she yelled as he staggered under her weight and he set her down gratefully. She only ran a few metres before her legs gave out under her though and with a curse he pulled her up again.
"Sorry," she gasped. "Sorry."
There were already militia pouring out of the barracks, yelling and brandishing weapons. Chrno ran as hard as he could, but there was no way he could outrun them like this. He just wasn't strong enough. He might make it without Rosette, but that wasn't happening. He had to change the odds.
"Forgive me," he gasped and let himself change. Not to demon form, he would kill her before he ever saved her that way and he'd need her to release the seal anyway. Instead he changed to the adult human he'd always been with Magdalene, before he realised its greater drain would kill her faster than him as a child. Suddenly a head taller than Rosette and much stronger, he put on speed and outdistanced the militia, sprinting for the front gate.
It was opening. Chrno had a moment to wonder why, and then Sister Kate's car was pulling through it, summoned back to deal with him. Chrno jumped onto the hood, staring through the glass at her for an instant, then leaped up onto the roof and off the back, sprinting down the street towards the nearest alley. Pedestrians on the sidewalk gaped in shock at the man running away from a convent with a half naked girl in his arms, but he bowled over the few who tried to stop him.
Rosette started sniggering into his neck. "Did you see Sister Kate's face? I thought her head was going to explode." She pulled back and looked at him, her face tense. "Stay like this?" she whispered. "During?"
He knew what she meant. "Yes," he whispered back and skidded around a corner. He had a long way to go before they would be safe. Satella would meet him, if she were still free. He had to hope she had somewhere to take them both that Kate wouldn't be able to find them. Holding Rosette close, he ran on.
---000---
Kate got out of the car and slammed the door so hard that it rocked on its wheels. The Elder walked towards her, rubbing a bruise on his head. "I thought you had things under control," she grated.
The old man shrugged, unimpressed. "Consider yourself lucky. I caught his presence about two minutes after he crossed the wall. If the Order hadn't had those annoying little protections on it, Rosette would have been a demon before I got to her room. I would have had some nice porn though," he added thoughtfully.
Kate blanched. A second later she was livid. "Rouse the militia!" she snapped. "I was everyone to find Chrno the Sinner and Sister Rosette Christopher. I want him dead and her back here before he has a chance to rape her!" She spun. "Get me every address belonging to Satella Harvenheit. I know she's helping him. They'll go back to her. Now MOVE!" They scattered in every direction and Kate breathed slowly and deeply, trying to calm herself down. Now was not the time to lose control. Not until she had that demon in chains and Rosette was safe.
---000---
Satella rubbed her eyes wearily as her car pulled up in front of her building. The front bedroom was still under reconstruction after Aion threw Chrno through the window – okay, after her jewel knight accidentally punched Chrno through it – but it was home. Steiner opened the door and she stepped out, looking forward to a long bath. She was done with good deeds for the day.
"Psst, Satella."
She turned. Standing next to the lamppost was Rosette, dressed in a man's coat that reached to her bare knees, and a man who she only recognized as Chrno because of the lavender coloured hair and the ears. They both looked sheepish and Rosette was barefoot.
"Now what?" she groused, already seeing visions of her bath going away.
To her surprise, they both turned red.
---000---
As warehouses went, it was rather ordinary. As a place to lose her virginity, save her life, and maybe lose her soul, it was decidedly lacking.
"Is this the best you can do?" Rosette complained.
"There's an alley out back if you're feeling particular," Satella pointed out.
"I'm pretty sure your apartment has more than one bedroom in it!" she shouted.
Satella sniffed. "Like I want you two ruining my sheets. Besides, you both said you didn't know for sure what would happen. I'd rather not have any collateral damage destroy my drapes. Or the building."
Rosette blushed. She had a point. "Just… go away."
Satella turned her back. "I'll be at the coffee shop down the block, just in case something blows up."
Rosette watched her walk away and exhaled noisily. She didn't know what to think, but it was true. They didn't know what would happen to either of them. Chrno crouched behind her, drawing the circle that would hold in their energies, just in case. At the least, it would make it harder for Sister Kate to find them. At worst, it might keep them from killing everyone around them if this went wrong. She closed her eyes. She hoped it didn't go wrong.
She heard Chrno finish drawing behind her and stand. "Rosette," he called, his voice very soft.
Rosette forced herself to turn around. It was only Chrno. It was only sex. What did she know about sex? She lived in a nunnery, for God's sake. It was her life though.
Chrno stood inside the circle, next to a pile of blankets and a mattress they'd found and dragged there. The circle was complete except for right where he was, to let her in. He was still in his adult form, his eyes haunted.
"Are you okay?" Rosette found herself asking. He looked more troubled than her.
He shook his head, the haunted look not leaving. "I love you, Rosette. I'll do anything for you." He held out his hand.
Shivering, Rosette walked over to take it and he drew her into the circle before kneeling to complete its closure. That made it easier, but she was still terrified. She wanted to beg for more time to get used to the idea, but there was an emptiness in her chest that told her she didn't have any more time. It she'd had any doubts, her pocket watch would have dissuaded her. The hands were almost at midnight and she was only on her feet due to determination.
"Have you ever done this before?" she asked him as he rose and he shook his head mutely. Great, they were both incompetent.
Blushing still, she looked at the mass of blankets and gingerly knelt down, testing the softness. There really wasn't much, but she supposed it didn't matter. She looked up at Chrno and felt her blush burn hotter as he stripped off his shirt and started on his pants, his eyes closed.
"Here we go," she squeaked, took a deep breath, and yanked off her shift.
---000---
Chrno took his clothes off, looked at Rosette, and was nearly undone. She had her arms crossed over her bare chest, hiding everything, and her face was a vivid red, but she was so beautiful. He could die for her.
He took off his pants and underwear, noting distantly that his problem from the barracks was gone, and made himself kneel down beside her. It was harder than he imagined. He loved her but…
The only demons in Pandemonium who had sex were the ones who mated with Pandemonium herself to produce the next generation. It wasn't a mark of honour though, it was a death sentence. She'd use their body and their mind up, ravaging both until they were destroyed, and thanks to the telepathy of their horns, everyone would feel their death screams. Aion had been slated to be next for that death before he rebelled and took Chrno and the others with him. He would have died the way Chrno expected to now, his mind and body ripped apart.
But she would live, he whispered to himself. Rosette would live.
He kissed her, her lips so soft again, and pushed her back against the blankets with his body, covering her as he hoped he could do what he needed before her mind tore his apart. Rosette whimpered but opened her arms, putting them around his neck. A minute later, she opened her legs.
---000---
"Anything?" Kate growled. She was still so angry she wanted to just rip someone's head off, but she forced herself not to take it out on her people. None of this was their fault. It was hers, for being as lenient as she had been. She couldn't even blame Remington, though she still wanted to give him a good smack.
"Yes and no," the Elder grunted, staring down at his machine as the antennas whipped back and forth. "They seem to be south of us, but the signal's muted somehow. They're trying to hide it." He checked the dials. "They're putting out a lot of energy though. They're definitely south." He looked at her, his eyes hidden behind his goggles. "I think we might be too late."
"Not yet we're not. MOVE OUT!" Kate headed back to her car. She wouldn't believe that until she saw it with her own eyes.
---000---
"Oh God!" Rosette gasped. "Chrno!"
She hadn't expected to feel like this. She hadn't expected anything to feel like this. She'd thought she'd be embarrassed and sore, but Chrno was thrusting against her, rubbing against nerves she hadn't even known she had and he was building a fire in her belly. Was this what the nunnery was always saying was so bad? Forget them; she didn't want this to stop.
She clawed her nails down his back, crying out again, and felt him shudder, never slowing his movements and pushing her repeatedly into the mattress until she felt the springs biting into her back, but she didn't care. She wanted more.
She could feel his mind as well, rubbing against hers in a way she was pretty sure she wouldn't have felt from a human lover. She could feel herself opening up in her head, pathways down into her soul widening, but Chrno never followed them. Craving that unexpected closeness, she reached for his mind, diving as deeply into it as he drove into her. Chrno gasped, his entire body trembling, and she pushed further, crying out at the raw bliss of his soul open to hers.
Chrno shuddered again and Rosette opened her eyes, wanting to see his pleasure. That wasn't what she saw though. His eyes were closed in agony, even as he continued to rock within her.
"Chrno?" she gasped, watching a tear squeeze out.
She was hurting him, she realized. Somehow, her presence in his mind was killing him, and it felt good. Frantic, Rosette pulled back out, letting go her grip on his mind even as she fastened her lips on his, her legs wrapping around his waist to draw him deeper physically.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Chrno's eyes opened as he heard Rosette's whispered apologies and felt her withdraw from his mind before she could do any permanent damage. For a moment he was confused, having expected what Pandemonium would have done, and wrapped an arm around her, stopping while deep inside.
"What did you do?" he whispered, staring down at her.
"I don't know," she admitted. Her face was sweaty and glorious. "I think I was hurting you. I stopped. Does it feel better now?"
She stopped? Pandemonium could have stopped? He remembered all those demons he felt die in agony and stared at her with amazement. "Yes."
"Good." She pouted and tightened her muscles around him. "More?" Chrno gasped at the sensation and flattened himself against her again, thrusting harder until she started to cry out her delight again. She was dancing around the edges of his mind without touching, just as he did to her, and now he really was feeling pleasure, shuddering and starting to gasp as the flood inside him threatened to peak.
Doors slammed and he heard a woman's voice cry out in horror. "Stop! For the love of God, stop!"
Nothing could have stopped him. Chrno screamed, head thrown back and muscles standing out as he came, filling the shrieking woman under him with everything he had. Then he collapsed, drained and too dazed to recognize the militia who moved to surround them both.
---000---
Rosette did recognize the people surrounding them, even as her muscles pulsed with the after effects of her own orgasm.
"Oh, applesauce," she muttered, thinking about shoving Chrno off of her, but they could hardly doubt what they'd been seeing and at the moment, his body over hers was the only thing hiding her nakedness. Worst of all, the Elder was standing there, leering at them both.
Maybe not the worst. Sister Kate looked like she wanted to start gnawing on the woodwork.
"Um, hi," Rosette managed, giving a little wave.
"Don't hi me, young lady! Do you realise what you've done?!"
Saved her own life? Rosette glared at the nun. "Don't you understand privacy?" she snapped.
"Don't you start." Kate pulled a piece of chalk out of her pocket, knelt down, and finished a symbol, turning the circle they lay within from one they could open themselves to one they couldn't. Rosette felt the air pressure change and Chrno's head shot up, suddenly aware of the danger. He looked over his shoulder at Kate and pulled free from Rosette, leaving her scrambling for a blanket to cover herself while he stood and walked to the edge of the circle. Reaching out, he touched the wall of energy, creating a flash of sparks, and looked at the nun evenly.
"I was not going to let Rosette die," he told her.
"You bastard," she spat. "Rapist of children."
"Hey!" Rosette yelled. "I'm sixteen here!"
"Yes, you are," the Elder leered, standing right at the edge of the circle. Chrno looked at him and slammed a fist against the circle right in front of his face. It sparked and the old man jumped back. Chrno looked back at Kate.
"You can't do anything for her now."
Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, I can. She won't be the first thrall God's brought back to humanity."
Chrno hissed. What was she going to do? Dropping into a crouch, he snarled at the woman. "You won't touch her!"
"You won't stop me." Kate raised a hand. "By the command of the Holy Order of Magdalena, sleep."
Dizziness swept through Chrno and he dropped to his knees. Not again.
"Stop!" Rosette cried, hurrying to his side with the blanket wrapped around her. "Leave him alone!"
"Not while he has you under his control." Her eyes were cold. "Sleep and die, demon. I command it!"
Horrified, Rosette watched her lover pitch over, gasping for breath. She could feel his mind going, could feel him dying, his body forcing itself to stop living under the power of Sister Kate's command. His gaze met hers, terrified of leaving her.
"No!" she screamed, outraged and horrified. Deep inside her, Chrno's essence soaked through her womb, deep into her bloodstream, and her scream suddenly turned to one of pain as her body bucked, jerking backwards. Agony speared through her skull, centered above her ears.
"Rosette," Chrno coughed, reaching for the convulsing girl as Kate exclaimed in horror, but darkness was clawing at him, pulling him down. He hadn't known Kate had a death command. He fought it anyway. Rosette's horns were coming in.
She shrieked, kicking the blankets free and writhing in agony. The burn of pleasure from her belly had swept up through her body and now it was an excruciating pain in her skull. She couldn't hear either Kate crying for her to hold on or Chrno yelling to let go. She just knew the pain was worse than anything she could have imagined and tears poured down her cheeks.
Something pushed through her skin. Rosette felt them small and pointed under her fingertips, and then they made her back arch as she exploded into light. Chrno lay on the ground and looked at her, smiling as he felt the demon energy consume and become part of her. She had horns now, tiny little cute horns that would draw energy from the astral line without any need of a human life force. "Rosette," he whispered and let his head fall against his arm, drifting away.
Rosette heard him. Rolling over and wanting to be sick, she crawled over to the outstretched demon, dragged him onto his back, and punched him as hard as she could. "WAKE UP!"
Chrno jerked awake, gasping.
"Idiot," Rosette muttered. "If I'm not allowed to die, then neither are you."
Trembling, Chrno reached up to her where she crouched over him, hands pushing through her golden hair to touch the two little horns that poked out from her temples. He could feel the energy in them, far more than what was no longer coming to him from her watch. His arms fell back limply.
With a cry, Rosette pulled him into her arms. "Chrno! What's wrong?"
He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Your life force is gone. You're a demon now. I have nothing to live off anymore." It was worth it though, just to see her safe.
Rosette bit her lip as his eyes closed again, not caring about her nudity any longer, or his, or that everyone was watching. She lifted her head and looked at Kate, standing on the other side of the circle with her arms folded in her habit.
"Come back, Rosette," the nun said. "We can banish the demon in you and bring you back to God."
"But I'll die," Rosette protested. "He'll die."
"Yet your soul will live forever."
Rosette stared at her for a long minute. "I don't want to live forever," she decided and bent down, pulling Chrno's head up until she could kiss him. She breathed astral into him, whispering for him to come back.
"I can't help you anymore, child," Kate mourned. "May God forgive you."
Chrno's eyes opened, staring at her, and he changed, flickering in an instant from man to demon. His wings spread as he stood, pulling Rosette up with him.
"Are you going to kill us now?" he asked Kate.
"To send Rosette back to God, yes. You can go to Hell." Kate gestured at the militia. "Ready your weapons."
Rosette's grip tightened on Chrno's arms, his wing coming around to cover her, for all the good it would do. The militia raised their weapons and neither of them could fight or run. They were trapped in the circle they'd meant to protect them.
"Make it quick and painless," Kate ordered sorrowfully, "but make it final. That's the only mercy I can give you both."
Rosette pressed her face against Chrno's side and when the crash came, she thought it was gunfire. Nothing hit her though and she looked up to see Satella's jewel knight break through the front doors, swinging its sword for the circle. It went through, missing them both, and dragged back across the line, breaking it.
"Run, you morons!" Satella shouted.
Chrno grabbed Rosette and leaped. Immediately they were airborne, no longer trapped and crashing through the roof of the warehouse an instant later. Rosette tried to scream, but she couldn't get enough air as Chrno glowed golden, arcing over the city as fast as he could go. Looking back, she saw that Satella was the only one able to follow them, riding one of her jewel beasts up above the level of the city. She smiled, glad the woman had escaped.
"Where do we go now?" she asked Chrno.
"Don't know," he answered, gliding around a skyscraper with a restaurant and a lot of surprised customers in it. Rosette blushed again.
"How about somewhere with clothes?" she suggested and smacked him when he grinned. "Pervert."
"Of course," he murmured and kept flying, grateful just to be with her.
---000---
Far below, Azmaria walked wearily along the sidewalk, no longer knowing where she was, but knowing now this had been a bad idea. She didn't know where Chrno was at all and it was dark out. She wanted to go home.
Someone shouted, pointing, and the girl looked up to see a demonic form flying overhead, carrying someone. A moment later, Satella's flying beast followed them, all of them glowing in the dark. They rose over a line of buildings and vanished.
"Oh my God!" she gasped.
"Somehow I doubt God had anything to do with it." Startled, Azmaria looked beside her to see a tall, white haired man in a white suit standing there.
"Aion!" she gasped.
"I must ask him how he managed that," Aion continued. "Surviving sex. What a concept." He looked down at her. "Later, of course," he added with a smile and reached for her.
The End
(Well, hopefully everyone enjoyed that. I honestly tried to think of another way to save Rosette, since the sexual solution seemed a little obvious, at least to me, but I couldn't come up with anything. Does give me some directions to play with though. And it was interesting trying to write Sister Kate as an opponent who wasn't really an enemy, though she definitely presents a continuing danger to the couple.
My goal with this was to get rid of that whole absoluteness of the Contract and the fact that Rosette was going to die. I hate absoluteness. I also hate how much it limits a writer. So this gets out of that and gives me a clean slate, hopefully with everyone still in character. That was one of my main goals as well. I think I pulled it off, based on what I know about all of them, but I'm not so sure about the Elder. The perviness, yes, but I'm not confident about the rest of him. At least he only had a small part.
If you liked the story, send me a review. I won't die if I don't get any, but I do like them – who doesn't? – and they do help motivate me when I'm not on a mad writing glut like I was this weekend. Usually I'm not quite so inspired. I'll probably never stop writing to some degree, but there's not much point in going through the posting process if no one is interested.)