DIALOGUE
By Hydraa
This takes place after "Voyage". Someone pointed out that I really haven't resolved the whole issue with Kate. I didn't see great battles and saving of lives and all as being something that would work to impress her with how Rosette and Chrno are still good. Perhaps a slower epiphany would be more effective instead.
---000---S
A cup of tea at her elbow and pile of work to be done beyond it, Sister Kate sat at her desk and flipped slowly through a folder. It was thin and mostly filled with photographs, but she'd spent a long time already going through it.
The first photograph was taken out a train window, showing a blurry, winged shape flying alongside the train. The quality was poor, but she could recognize Chrno and Rosette well enough. The second showed the demon landing on a car's hood in downtown Pittsburgh, Rosette cradled in his arms. The third was at a distance, half distorted by the light of an explosion as he hugged Rosette in his boy form, both of them backlit by a fire he'd started.
The militia team in Pittsburgh had gone in at the sighting of a demon without any idea of what they were dealing with. From what Kate had read, one very clever young nun had recognized the two, but they still hadn't been able to deal with them. Both escaped. The rest of the file contained the reports of the three nuns and the ground team. There were some cuts and bruises, a broken nose, and some broken limbs, but otherwise the team had no casualties. Thank God they'd avoided any fatalities.
She turned to the middle of the nuns' report. They'd caught the two in a cross barrier, but Rosette shot out one of the crosses with a stolen gun and they escaped. The nun who lost her weapon hadn't tried to hide her mistake at all. Kate appreciated that, but she wished she hadn't been so careless. If she hadn't let Rosette get her gun, she might be back at the Order right now.
As if anyone could stop Rosette from getting her hands on a weapon.
Kate sighed and took a sip of tea. The conversation they'd had with Rosette while she was in the circle was what disturbed her the most. Sister Jessica had accused Chrno of raping Rosette and her reaction had been extreme. She'd denied it and then kissed her demon, using him as a distraction to target the cross.
Even now, months after Rosette became a demon herself, Kate wondered how much of the girl was left. From what she could read in this report, it looked like all of her, but how could that be? She wasn't human any longer. Or was she? Was her soul still intact?
Kate sighed again and rubbed her throbbing temples. This was the stuff theologians were supposed to debate over, not a single nun who had an entire order to run and more than one child to find. Rosette wasn't the only one missing. There was still Joshua Christopher and Azmaria Hendric, along with several other children who had been identified as potential apostles.
Why were Rosette and Chrno in Pittsburgh of all places? Where were they going? Were they involved? She couldn't believe it. Corrupt though she believed Chrno to be, she couldn't see Rosette doing anything to harm innocent children, especially her brother, no matter what had been done to her.
Once, she would have sent Father Remington to investigate, but he was still recovering from the broken leg Rosette gave him when she threw him out that window. She grimaced. Much as she didn't like to leave, she'd have to investigate herself. Rosette was her responsibility and far too dangerous for others to deal with. She wasn't sure how she'd deal with her.
Her phone rang, the buzzer discordant and shrill. Kate picked up the receiver and put it to her ear.
"Sister Kate."
"You know, you're a real bitch."
Kate started, recognizing that voice immediately. "Rosette??"
"Yeah. Who else calls you a bitch?"
No one indeed. Kate pursed her lips, trying to remain calm. Rosette could get her flying into a rage with almost no effort. This time, she suspected the girl might just want her to. "Why are you in Pittsburgh, Rosette?"
"You heard about that already? Sheesh. Don't bother sending anyone after us. We've left already."
So much for going after her. She'd have to trace the call instead and find out where they'd gone.
"Don't trace this call either," Rosette said, as if reading her mind. "If you do, I'll never call back."
So much for that idea as well. Rosette was impulsive, but she'd rarely been stupid. "Are you planning on calling back?"
"Maybe. I don't know. That depends on you. We're looking for Azmaria."
Kate blinked. "You know she's been kidnapped?"
"Yeah. Chrno saw an ad asking if anyone had seen her. We would have been looking for her weeks ago, but someone stuck him in a cell and he forgot about it until a few days ago. Dumb demon. When did she disappear?"
"The same day you did," Kate told her honestly.
Rosette was quiet for a moment. "We didn't have anything to do with that."
Kate sighed. "I believe you," she agreed. No matter what, she trusted that.
"Good. So tell me what happened."
Kate's eyebrows rose. "You want me to give you intel?"
"Yeah, why not? We're looking for her too. If you tell me what you know, we might find her faster."
"You're a demon now, Rosette," Kate told her dryly. "Why should I tell you anything?"
"Bitch. You want Aion to have her? He has my brother too. You promised you'd help me find him."
"That's before you let a demon rape you and turn you into a monster."
Rosette's voice was rising. You're not just a bitch, you're a moron. The word 'let' doesn't go with the word 'rape'. He didn't rape me. I told your idiots that. He saved my life."
Kate closed her eyes. Saved her life yes, but her soul? "Rosette…"
"Don't you Rosette me!" She was screaming now. "He's sweet and he's kind and he's done nothing but good for the Order! It's not HIS fault where he was born! Did you know he thought he was going to die when he had sex with me?!"
Kate blinked. "What?"
"That's how demons reproduce. They had this crazy bitch queen thing who'd kill them during sex. Chrno thought he'd be killed when he was with me. He did it anyway to save me!"
Kate leaned back in her chair. "I notice he's still alive," she pointed out dryly.
"Yeah, well, I'm not a bitch. Not like some people."
Kate closed her eyes, trying to control her temper. The girl drove her to madness. "Chrno's intentions aren't the issue here."
"Yeah. The issue is Azmaria and Joshua. What do you know?"
Nothing, Kate didn't want to say. "What will you give me in return for the information?" she asked instead, wondering if she could get Rosette back to the Order somehow.
"Bitch," the girl said and hung up.
Slowly, Kate hung the receiver back up, realizing only after she'd done so that her hand hurt from clenching it so tightly. Standing, she made her way stiffly to the door and looked out at her secretary.
"A call just came to my line," she growled. "Trace it."
---000---
They were in Wheeling, a town in Ohio. Kate studied the report and wondered what they were doing. They had to be going somewhere, but she didn't have enough information yet to guess where. It had been two days since they were cornered in Pittsburgh and she debated whether to send that city's militia after them again. No, as far as they were concerned, they had a score to settle. She didn't want that.
Her phone rang. Kate looked at it, her heart sinking, and picked it up.
"Yes?"
"Collect call from a Rosette Christopher," she heard. "Will you accept the charges?"
Her heart jumped. "Yes!"
"Good," she heard Rosette say a moment later. "I really didn't want to pay for this. We're broke."
"You didn't phone collect last time," Kate pointed out.
"Yeah, well," She sounded sheepish. "The hotel room we crashed in had a phone. Since we didn't have to pay for it, I figured I'd call."
Kate's forehead began to throb. "You broke into a hotel??"
"Well, yeah, what do you expect us to do? Sleep in an alley and get mugged or something? We don't have any money. Why don't you send us some cash? Then we won't have to commit crimes or nothing."
Dimly, Kate wondered when she'd wandered into a bad pulp story. "You actually want me to send you money."
"Why not? The church is supposed to engage in charity, isn't it?"
Kate buried her face in her hand. They were actually breaking and entering. "Fine," she heard herself saying. "Where do I send it?"
"Yes? You said yes?? Hey, Chrno, she said yes!.. No, it's not a trap… because I'd know if it was a trap!... It's not a trap, is it?" She sounded suspicious.
"No," Kate told her wearily. Maybe it would be later, once her head didn't hurt quite so much and she could think clearly.
"That's jake!" Rosette crowed. "Send it to General Delivery in Columbus, Ohio. We'll get it there. And don't tell the militia about us! Oh, thanks," she added and hung up.
Kate replaced the receiver and put her head on the desk, deciding to wait a while before she had the call traced and arranged for the money to be delivered. It was turning into a very long day.
---000---
The 'not-quite-extortion' call had come from Zanesville, halfway between Wheeling and Columbus. Kate wasn't sure what could fascinate the two so much about Ohio, so they had to be on their way somewhere else. She tracked the calls, but otherwise did nothing else. She couldn't go after them herself. Rosette would get suspicious if she wasn't there to take her calls.
Instead, regretting every moment of it, she sent Remington, with the Elder to help the injured man out. Both had orders to go to Columbus and call her several times a day, so she could give them further directions. Neither of them could fight, but it wasn't a fight she was looking for. She wanted someone to talk to Rosette.
It was obvious, given the number of times she'd called, that the girl wanted to as well.
Hoping that she wasn't making a mistake, the nun confined herself to her office even more than usual, hoping for a call. Rosette didn't contact her though, and Remington and the Elder couldn't from their train. By the time midnight rolled around the day after the Zanesville call, she was so tired that she had to drag herself to her room and go to sleep.
Sometime later, when she was deeply asleep and dreaming about Saturday pie of all things, a knock came at her door. Kate came awake instantly, reaching for her glasses. "Yes?"
"Sister Kate," the nun on night watch said through the door. "Sister Rosette is calling collect. You asked to be woken."
"Yes, thank you." Hurriedly, she grabbed her robe and all but ran to her office.
"Rosette?" she gasped, grabbing the phone.
"Gee, were you running? I didn't wake you did I?" Rosette sounded giddy. "You'll never guess. I can smell demons."
"What?" Kate stammered, completely unbalanced.
"Well, not really 'smell'. More like my horns get all itchy. Chrno says that happens when demons get close to each other. But I sensed this demon that was summoned by this really stupid guy who wanted to get back at his girlfriend for dumping him, only she wasn't his girlfriend, he just pretended she was. Only Chrno sensed it first, but I did sense it too and it was really jake."
Kate felt her headache coming back. "Rosette, is there a point to this story?"
"Oh. Sorry. We followed the itch and we found the demon getting ready to attack the girlfriend. So we killed it." She paused. "You know, it's a whole lot messier when you don't have any bullets. I ran out. Can you send more?"
Kate's mouth opened and closed like a fish. "Sister Kate? Are you there? I would really like more ammunition. Please? Pretty please? Thank you for the money and I would have called sooner, but we smelled the demon when we were looking for a phone and we didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt."
Kate sat on the edge of the desk, feeling old. "All right. Where do you want them sent?"
"Awesome! Did I ever tell you how jake you are?"
---000---
The fight was in Columbus. Kate looked at the telegraph report from the local Order when the not-a-girlfriend ran to them after the battle. She'd then led them to the man who raised the demon. The demon itself was nothing but ash, though the destruction caused in taking it down was worse than what Rosette used to engage in when she was in the Order. Kate wouldn't have believed she'd be more destructive without guns.
The ammunition was supposed to be shipped to Cincinnati, again to General Delivery. The money could be wired overnight, but this would take a few days, even if she sent it from Pittsburgh. Granted, if she asked the Cincinnati Order to supply it, it would be there immediately, but she didn't want them to know about Rosette and she wanted to give Remington and the Elder a chance to catch up.
"She'll be in Cincinnati," she told the Father. "I'm sending her a box of Sacreds."
"Really?" Father Remington sounded amused, even through the static on the line. "You're getting soft if you're sending weaponry to a demon."
Kate frowned, her vein starting up again. "She's more deadly without it."
"Probably. Do you know where they're staying?"
"No. She has enough money for a hotel room though." She had enough for two, actually, though Kate tried really hard not to think about whether she'd get two. "She'll have to wait for the shipment to arrive."
"We should beat it by a few days. We've got a pretty good head start. Hopefully she doesn't get upset when she sees us."
"Don't scare her, Remington."
"I'm on crutches with a cast up to my hip and in the company of an old man who looks up girls' skirts. I don't think I can scare anyone."
"Are you alright?" Kate asked guiltily. She regretted sending him, but there was no one else Rosette would even look at.
"I'm sore, but I'm fine. The painkillers are good. Besides, I like to be doing something. I'd have been angry if you didn't send me."
Kate smiled. "That's good to hear. I should get off the line, in case she calls."
"Okay. It's bizarre, but she seems to trust you."
"I'll take what gifts God can give me, Remington. Keep safe."
"You too. Resist the urge to yell at the girl. She's trying to help."
Kate hung up and leaned her chin on her hand, staring at the phone with a patient sigh.
---000---
"Have you heard anything about Azmaria yet?"
Kate stared out the window, the phone held to her ear. It was a beautiful day outside and she wondered what it was like in Cincinatti. "No. All of our operatives are watching, but Aion's keeping a very low profile. He doesn't want us finding him."
"Do you think he's got everything he wants?"
She watched a trio of nuns cross the grass carrying rakes. "I think if he did, we'd know about it."
"Yeah. Chrno thinks the same. He says Aion wants to make heaven and hell swap places. I guess we'd notice that."
Kate smiled slightly. "Undoubtedly."
"Yeah." The girl sighed. "I can't stand that guy. He's not going to get away with what he did to Joshua and Azmaria. Hopefully we find him soon."
Kate turned back into the room. "Do you have any leads?" She hadn't asked that before.
"Maybe. If Eden's still where it used to be."
"Eden?"
"Where the Sinners lived when they took Mary Magdalene. Chrno says they might have taken them there. He couldn't get to it before, when we had the contract, but he can get there now. That's where we're going."
Kate's mouth went dry. She hadn't heard the name 'Eden' used that way before, but she knew what place they spoke of. A floating mountain that Father Remington and a young Elder tracked decades ago, after Chrno the Sinner kidnapped Saint Magdalene. They'd arrived just in time to see Mary fall from that mountain, along with Chrno. They reached them just in time to see her dead.
"He doesn't think they did," she continued. "There are demons called Pursuers who are dedicated to killing the Sinners because they killed Pandemonium. She's the demon who lays all the eggs and kills her mates and everything. It's weird to think that Chrno hatched out of an egg and that his dad was his brother. Eww. That's just gross. But the Pursuers are really powerful and human-like, like Chrno is, and they'd know about Eden by now. But there might be a clue there and we can't think of anything better to try. That's why I was hoping you knew something."
In twenty years of service, Kate had never learned so much at one time about demons that wasn't clouded in supposition and belief. "Chrno's taught you a lot about demons," she said slowly.
"Yeah, well, I guess I really need to know now. I don't think I can tell you much else. He'd be upset."
"He's not there now?" Kate asked softly.
"Nope. He doesn't like me calling you. I think he's scared of you. You were pretty mean to him, even before we left."
Kate was silent for a moment, surprised at the fact that she was disturbed at all about a demon's feelings. "I didn't mean for him to be afraid of me."
"Well, he never knew what you did to him and you were always glaring. It took a lot for us to break those Oaths you put on him. Oh, we broke the Oaths, by the way. That was a horrible thing to do, you know."
"I was just trying…"
"Yeah, yeah. You were just trying to protect everyone. Save it. You're just lucky Chrno's such a nice guy or you'd have really made him hate humans. Hey, gotta go. He's back." The phone clicked off.
Kate hung it up, her brow tense. She sat there for a long time after that conversation, thinking.
---000---
Remington called her next, from the train station in Cincinnati. "We're here, Kate. We'll head to the post office next and wait for Rosette. Hopefully she won't just see us and run."
He sounded tired. "She won't," Kate told him. "You've always been her confidant."
"But I captured Chrno," he protested sadly. "I don't know that they'll forgive me for that. I really don't think the Elder is very popular with them right now either."
"Do you think you shouldn't have gone?"
"No. I want to apologize to them, and at least I can be honest with them this time."
Kate looked down at her desk. "I never asked you to be dishonest. Just to protect her."
"Yet here I am, sent to talk to her. Are you having a change of heart, Kate?"
She flushed. "Perhaps just a change of perspective."
"Oh?"
Kate put a hand to her crucifix. "She hasn't changed, Remington. Physically yes, but mentally? She's still fighting to help other people. If anything, she's calmer than she ever has been before."
"Of course she is. She's in love."
"With a demon."
"With someone you disapprove of. You just don't think he's good enough for her. If you'd really thought Chrno was evil, you never would have let him into the Order, even with the Oaths you made him swear. Stop trying to be her mother."
"I…" Kate blushed. "Have I been doing that?"
"With good intentions, but yes. Rosette doesn't need a mother. Or maybe she does. Maybe that's why she keeps calling. Did you ever ask her?"
"No."
"Maybe you should. She still has a soul, Kate. She'd never be able to fake it so well if she didn't. She wouldn't even try." He paused. "I have to go. Elder just spotted some schoolgirls." He hung up.
---000---
Late the next day, the phone rang. Kate had spent the hours until then praying, thinking, trying to gain perspective. Her dialogue with Rosette, over the phone where they couldn't see each other's anger and get angry themselves, had made it impossible for her not to become alert to what was there. Remington was right. Rosette had a demon's body, but her soul was still her own. She hadn't lost that in her sin with Chrno. Kate would never accept the filth she'd done with him easily, but it hadn't harmed her spirit. She still cared, she still fought, and she was still determined to do what was right.
Kate would rather she didn't do it with a demon at her side, but she'd always thought that. She didn't think she'd ever be happy that the demon was now in Rosette's bed, but Rosette was, and she hadn't forgotten her place with God.
Quickly, Kate answered the phone and accepted the charges. "Rosette?"
There was silence for a long minute. "Rosette?"
"Why the hell did you send Remington and the Elder after us?" the girl grated at last.
Kate's heart jumped into her throat. "Are they all right?"
"You have to ask me that?? What do you think I am? Oh, right, I forgot. I'm a monster. Of course they're all right. I'd never hurt Father Remington. I want to shove the Elder's head up his own ass though."
Kate blinked, baffled. "What happened?"
"He grabbed my crotch!" the girl shouted. She sounded near tears. "And said that since I was letting Chrno have me, I should let him have a taste! I'm not some sort of whore!"
Kate's hand flew up to her mouth, horrified. She'd known the Elder was perverted, but he'd been at the Order for years and usually the worst he restricted himself to was stealing girls' underwear and looking up their skirts.
"I could have killed him!" she went on. "Chrno nearly did kill him! He went demon right in the post office! Remington was yelling, I was yelling! The police showed up and they were shooting at us! Chrno barely got me and Remington out."
"And the Elder?" Kate whispered.
"He left that old jerk there. I hope they throw him in a jail cell and never let him out! Why did you send him??"
"He was supposed to help Remington because of his broken leg," Kate answered quickly. "Oh, Rosette, I am so sorry!" That was the last straw. She didn't care how good the Elder was at making weapons. The cost was too high. The demon had better self-control than him. She closed her eyes. The demon was less evil. "I am so sorry."
"Why did you send Remington?" Rosette asked quietly.
"To talk to you. To make sure you were all right." Kate stared down at her desk. "Didn't he tell you?"
"He's unconscious. The flight was really hard on him and I think we made his leg worse. I didn't mean to break it in the first place."
"It's all right," Kate sighed. "You were only defending yourself." She had been. If she could defend herself against an old man trying to assault her, she could defend herself against a young one ordered to bring her back to a place where she'd die. "Do you forgive me?"
I dunno. Ask me when Chrno's calmed down. He's up on the roof hissing. I've never seen him like that. I think if he sees the Elder again, he'll kill him."
"He won't," she promised. "What about Remington?"
"We'll have to take care of him until he can travel, I guess. I don't trust the local Order enough to take him there. We'll wait until he's okay enough to get there himself, so I guess he'll get lots of time to talk to us. You're really slowing us down, you know that?"
"I didn't intend to," Kate admitted. She paused, remembering what Remington had said. "Rosette, will you tell me why you called me all these times?"
"Huh? I wanted money."
"I mean other than that," she said dryly.
"Oh. Uh. Well. I kinda, um, I kind of miss it there. All my friends and the free food and all. Not the chores! Or the prayers. They were okay, but ugh. Did we have to do them so early in the morning?" She paused and Kate could almost imagine her shuffling her feet. "And I didn't want you thinking bad of me, or of Chrno. He doesn't deserve it."
Kate smiled slightly. "I suppose not. Were there any other reasons?"
"Why should there be?"
She shrugged. "I never imagined you cared what I thought before."
"Right. Well, maybe I'm a little scared. I always knew before that I was going to die. I could just look at the watch and I'd know. But now… I don't have to die and I'm scared that I'm going to. I can tell that Chrno is afraid of going to Eden, which really scares me, but it's the only way to find out what happened to Joshua… unless you found out something."
Kate pressed a hand against her lips, wishing that she did know something, that she could say anything to the girl that would reassure her, or show her a different path to take. "I have nothing for you, Rosette," she admitted finally. "I wish to God I did. We don't know where to look for Aion or the other Sinners."
"Oh. I… I'll call you later."
She hung up and Kate bowed her head.
---000---
"Rosette?"
"This is Chrno."
Kate was silent, her hand frozen on the desk.
"Kate?"
She swallowed, forcing everything she was feeling back. "Where is Rosette?"
"Helping Father Remington into a cab. Our train is leaving in a few minutes so she won't have time to call you."
"Does she know you're calling me?"
"No. I'll tell her later."
Kate licked her lips. "Where are you going?"
"Eden. If it's still where it used to be."
"I checked the old records. It was last seen in Texas over fifty years ago."
"Yeah. I hope you're not planning on sending a bunch of militia out there. No matter what we run into, it'll be too much for them and I don't want Rosette getting killed trying to protect them."
Kate looked out the window again. It was getting late, the sun setting. Soon it would be winter and already most of the leaves were off the trees. "Is that why you called me? To tell me not to interfere?"
"To ask you. And to ask if Rosette can trust you. She seems to think she can."
Kate took a deep breath. "She can."
"And me?"
"I'm still working on that."
"Well, at least you're honest," he chuckled. "I can appreciate that." A train whistle sounded faintly behind him. "I have to go."
"Chrno, wait!" she cried, loathe suddenly to let him go.
"Yes?"
Kate clutched her crucifix. "You'll take care of Rosette, won't you?"
"I'll die for her, Kate. In a heartbeat. You have my word on it." He hung up.
Kate set the phone down silently, her lips pressed together and her eyes trembling. She wiped them and leaned back in her chair, hands clasped together. Silently, she prayed for Rosette's safety, and even Chrno's, and for her own peace of mind in the wake of her realisations.
THE END
What can I say? I don't like the Elder. O.o
This is to be continued, sometime after I get a lot more information on Pandemonium as she is in the manga. I need what, where, when, why, and how. Otherwise, I'm stuck. I also need to know about Eden. Anyone out there who can help me?
BTW, please review. It's my gauge on how well the stories are working.