EDEN
By Hydraa
This story takes place after "Dialogue".
When I write fanfiction, I try to stay in canon as much as possible. Yes, I make the characters go in new directions, but I try and keep the universe as intact as possible. I don't even create new characters, except in very minor roles.
Chrno Crusade though… I've seen the anime, but not the manga, and this was intended to be based on the manga. Thanks to OtherCat1, I have a much better idea of what's really going on now, and just how off centre I've been this whole time. This story is intended to bring me back to canon as much as possible. I'm not contradicting anything I've written so far, just trying to fit it in more closely. I think I can do it. Hopefully all of you think I can as well.
Consider this to have some spoilers for the end of the manga. Not that I 'know' how the manga ends, but this will start touching on some of the concepts that apparently weren't revealed until Volume 8.
This story is rated R for sometimes rough sex.
Reviews, as always, keep me going. Thank you to my regulars who always let me know how I'm doing. You know who you are. Without you I wouldn't bother to post.
---000---
Surrounded by silence and sand, they moved together, the demon sitting on the ground, the girl astride him and facing him. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and his hands held her hips as he pulled her up and down against him.
Rosette gasped, her eyes closed and her cheek pressed against his. It was incredibly hot out already, but a slight breeze blew against them, cooling the sweat on her skin and nipples. His body burned against hers though, heating the sweat. She didn't pull away, though. Instead she pressed closer, whimpering her pleasure.
"Rosette," Chrno gasped, shuddering against her. His mind was open to her, their souls intertwining even as their bodies were. It was gentle, loving, somehow more intimate than all the times he banged her into the ground, both of them screaming their passion into the fire. This fire was slower, sweeter.
The blonde girl opened her eyes, blinking sweat out of her eyelashes as she looked hazily at her lover. She embraced his mind as he embraced her body, and his face flushed with happiness, his expression lost in the moment. Rosette smiled and kissed his ear. He whimpered and pressed himself closer to her.
"I love you," she whispered to him.
His eyes opened, blood-red orbs meeting her blue ones. His smile lit them up like starlight and he kissed her. "My Rosette," he murmured. "You're everything to me."
The fire in her was growing and she leaned back, spine arching as she pointed her breasts at the sky, gasping for air. His tongue laved them both a moment later and she gave a quiet cry, her muscles clenching around him. He'd never been so gentle, never been so calm, and part of her wondered if he was thinking this might be the last time, even as her peak was reached and she stiffened, pleasure rocking through her. Half a moment later, he cried out as well, pulling her body back against his as he came, filling her with his seed. Gasping, they clung to each other, not caring about the sand on their wet bodies, and she felt his legions absorb through her womb, flowing into her bloodstream. After so many times together, it no longer hurt like it had the first time and she let out a breath, gently releasing his mind. Her awareness of him weakened back to the barest pulse, her ability to directly feel his love gone again.
His body she continued to hold, his face pressed to her breasts as she stroked his hair. "That was wonderful," she murmured. "Thank you."
He nuzzled against her. "I should thank you."
Rosette smiled and hugged him, loath to let go.
Eventually, they had to, the rising sun making it too uncomfortable to hold each other for long. Bitching about the heat and the sand stuck to her body, she went to find her clothes while Chrno dressed behind her, pulling a poncho on over top of his plain shirt and pants. She didn't know how he could wear that much in this heat, though the bandana around his forehead would at least keep the sweat out of his eyes. Rosette was starting to regret not picking one up herself when she bought her current blouse and cotton skirt. Her feet were sweating already in her boots.
Their camp was in the lee of a large rock, several miles outside the city they'd disembarked the train in. Everything she saw was desert, hot and uninviting. She would have preferred a hotel bed, but they'd taken so long getting here already that they hadn't wanted to waste any of the morning traveling out of the city. They should have set off already today, but Chrno had put such a concerted effort into seducing her that she'd lost track of time.
She could mostly guess why he'd done it. She was dependent on his legions to keep her alive, and he could only transfer them to her by making love. They probably never would have become lovers otherwise. She was a nun after all, or had been, and demons didn't have sex. Not without dying, that was. Given where they were going, though, he'd want her to be at full strength. She did too.
Rosette glanced at him where he was getting their gear together. She was suspicious that there might be a more subtle reason for his seduction as well. Going to Eden to look for clues on where Joshua and Azmaria were had been his idea, but he didn't want to go. Chrno was afraid one of both of them would die up there. He made love to her that morning in case he never got another chance.
Rosette bit her lip, telling herself again that he was overreacting. Eden was most likely abandoned, and even if it weren't, he was the Slayer of a Hundred Demons. There was almost nothing he couldn't take on and she was heavily armed, thanks to Sister Kate. He was just letting his negativity get to him. This was the only clue they had; they had to try.
Chrno, for all his fear, and she knew he was afraid from touching his mind every time they loved one another, had never once suggested they not go.
Of course not, she thought unbidden. She was his master. He'd do whatever she wanted. He always had.
"Are you ready?" she asked, striding to his side to collect her gun belt. She was going to carry as much ammunition as she could and hope it was enough, but she only had the two pistols. She missed all the machine guns and holy water.
He nodded shortly, hiding their gear by the lee of the rock and tying a flag so they'd be able to find it again. They wouldn't need it where they were going and the extra weight might be too much.
Rosette holstered her guns and shoved the last few clips through her belt. "Okay, come here."
He turned to her obediently and Rosette put her hands behind his head, pulling him down low enough that she could press her open mouth to his. She breathed astral into him, replenishing his energy. She'd been doing so every few hours for the last several days, letting his astral levels build higher than she could normally manage on one breath. She didn't give all of her reserves to him though. It took her time to recover her own levels with her tiny horns and he was about to use most of his. Chrno was almost as strong now as he would be with his own horns and he turned the exchange into a kiss briefly before he pulled back.
"Remember to stay close," he warned her, "and do what I say. There are a lot of dangers there."
"Right," she answered. He'd warned her of them before, but it was hard for him. He didn't have the words for what they were facing, or even for where they were going. 'High-atmospheric station' didn't mean anything to her after all. A floating island, he'd told her at last. It was a floating island and the air was going to be both thinner and colder. Rosette didn't understand how that could be, but she trusted him. She looped her arms around his neck. "Let's go."
Chrno lifted her up into his arms, holding her against him, and changed. Gone were the poncho and the plain western clothing. Now he was garbed in leather and steel, a heavy choker around his neck protecting his throat, even as his armour left most of his torso bare. Broad, bat-like wings stretched from his back and his pointed ears stabbed outwards from either side of his head. Above them, covered in thick caps, were the remains of his horns. A long tail made of bone came out the back of his head and looped around both their bodies to hold her to him.
"Hang on," he cautioned and barely waited for her nod before he leaped into the air.
He didn't use his wings for much more than steering this time. Glowing with astral instead, he rocketed straight upwards on a beam of pure power, firing them up so fast that Rosette had to bite down on a scream and was very glad of his arms and tail around her. Shocked, she clung to him and felt his arms tighten in response. Still they went up and she forced her eyes to open, looking down.
The ground was receding with dizzying speed, the whole desert seemingly laid out below them. She saw the city and the highway they'd left, as well as a convoy of familiar looking cars leaving it to enter the desert. Typical of Kate to not listen to her and send her militia in, Rosette thought with a smirk. Too late now. There was no way for them to get to where she and Chrno were going. Human technology wasn't good enough. She wasn't even sure they'd be able to see him flying in all the bright sunlight.
Twisting her head around, she looked up next. They were racing past clouds, higher than he'd ever taken her but moving too fast for her to be afraid. He was staring upwards, his hair streaming back from his face as he angled them towards a rapidly growing dot against an increasingly dark sky. The air was getting colder as well, just as he'd warned, and she wondered how it could be getting dark in the middle of the day. She wouldn't ask though. Chrno didn't need any distractions. The sooner he got them to Eden, the less astral he'd end up using. If there was someone guarding the island, he'd need every bit he could save.
The dot grew with appalling size, expanding to become what looked to her like a mountain flipped over, with its point downwards and a plate set on top of it, its edges jutting out over the sides. It was huge, bigger than the Order's grounds, and Rosette gasped as Chrno rocketed over it, arcing above the place.
The platform, or whatever it was, was made of what looked like white stone. The outer edge circled water criss-crossed by narrow bridges leading to the centre platform, where a building stood. Rosette didn't see anything moving in her brief look and then Chrno swept down, landing hard in a heavy crouch and letting her go.
Rosette scrambled to her feet, braced with her weapons ready, watching for any sort of attack while Chrno gasped behind her, getting his breath back.
Nothing moved. Other than the sound of the wind in the cold air, it was deathly silent. Rosette shifted, her boots loud on the stone, hesitated, and then looked down at her lover. "Chrno? Are you okay?"
He was kneeling on the ground, one arm braced against his leg, his other hand flat on the ground. "Yeah… just wiped… never used to be that hard… to get up here. Easier to get down… you just jump."
Rosette frowned. "Maybe if you have wings you do." Holstering one pistol, she knelt and kissed him, breathing the extra astral she'd been holding just for this into him. Chrno straightened and stood.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." She redrew the pistol and looked around, a gun in each hand. "It looks deserted."
"Yeah. I really didn't think it would be." He sounded thoughtful and stepped past her, wings folding against his back as he made his way cautiously across the ground towards the building. It was huge and dome-shaped, covered in massive windows that glowed with the light of the sun. Rosette followed, looking around.
Was this where he'd lived? It was so strange. She stared at a clothesline hung between two poles and then down into the water. It wasn't deep. "This place is weird. I've never seen anything like it."
"We escaped from Pandemonium in it," he told her softly. "Thousands of us."
"You must have been packed in pretty tight then," she commented.
"A lot of us were still eggs or children. Only six of us made it." He was quiet a moment before sighing. "It was horrible. Eden actually crashed into your world. It took months before the repair legions could get it airborne again."
Her world? "It's your world too," she pointed out. He looked back at her and smiled. He didn't say anything more.
Actually, Rosette thought, it was the most about his coming to Earth he'd ever said to her. She looked around again and wondered just how many bad memories this place held for him. Maybe that was where his reluctance to come here started, because there definitely wasn't anyone guarding it.
The building was just as deserted as the rest of the island. Inside was a main room, a kitchen, multiple bedrooms on the second floor, and stairs down into the belly of the island. Those were the rooms she recognized. There were other rooms as well, of all shapes and sizes, with things in them she had no way of identifying. She saw circular mirrors set in the floor of a dias in the middle of one room, and another that was narrow but stories high, with a huge pillar of glass rising up through it. Chrno searched all the rooms, leaving the stairs downward for last, and, true to her word, Rosette followed him. Her curiosity made her want to go exploring, but there wasn't really all that much to see. Everything was bizarre, but it was all so Spartan. There were no personal touches at all, other than a checked tablecloth in the dining room and that clothesline. Chrno didn't seem to find anything he was looking for either.
"I guess it's deserted after all," he told her. "If anyone was here, we'd have seen them by now."
"Good," Rosette answered, though she only holstered one of her guns. "But if no one's here, do you think there'll be any information about my brother?" The thought that there wouldn't frightened her. They had no other leads at all.
"If there is, it'll likely be downstairs in the computer," he told her.
"What's a computer?"
"Ah." He touched a finger to his lips. "A thinking box?"
"How can a box think?" she asked suspiciously.
He smiled and kissed her nose. "I don't really know. That was more Shader's area. But I do know how to work it, if it's still running." He looked around. "I guess it has to be if this place is floating."
He led them down into the island, palming a square on the wall as he did that turned on lights far better than any electric light she'd ever seen. Rosette looked around in amazement as he led her into a cavernous room with a strange jar-like thing in the centre, coffins jutting out from it at angles.
Rosette was fascinated, but at the sight of the coffins, Chrno gasped and ran forward, past tables with strange machines on them. "I never thought Shader would have left these! They must have gone in a hurry."
"What are they?" Rosette asked, walking up beside him. The coffins had clear tops and looked like they were filled with translucent goo.
He looked at her, his eyes glowing. "Legion tanks. They're mostly designed for healing, but you can use them to reprogram legions."
She stared at him, not understanding.
He bit his lip, trying to think how to explain it to her. English didn't have words for these things and she didn't speak his language. He'd never thought to teach it to her, but even if he had, she might not get the references. They were too far outside her experience.
"Legions think. Sort of. Think is the best word. My legions make you a demon, but they don't recognize you as being me; that's why they shut down, er, die, and why I have to keep putting more into you. It's why they don't devour the world every time a demon bleeds. With this, we could reprogram the legions in you now to recognize you as their owner. You could control them and they'd renew themselves then. You wouldn't need me."
Rosette thought about that for a moment and her face darkened. "Are you trying to blow me off or something?"
He threw up his hands to ward her off, blanching. "No! Of course not! You just wouldn't have to worry about anything happening to me."
"You planning on having something happen to you?" she grated.
"No! Of course not! Um, never mind."
Rosette watched him scuttle over to one of the other tables, leaving her by the coffin. She understood what he was saying, mostly, but the thought of not being as connected to him as she had been hurt her in a way. She didn't want to not be reliant on him anymore. Besides, he'd still be dependent on her, wouldn't he? He'd die without her supplying the astral he couldn't draw anymore.
"Chrno?" she asked slowly. He looked back. "Could this thing regrow your horns?"
His smile was sad. "No, they're too complex. It would take a much more powerful computer to manage that. Er, talking box."
Rosette nodded, a little relieved in a way. She wanted him to need her, just as she didn't want to ever stop needing him. She holstered her gun and went over to lean against him. He put an arm around her. "What about my brother and Azmaria?" she asked, not wanting to think about the coffins anymore.
He pointed at a box on the table with a clouded window in the front. What looked like the keyboard to a typewriter sat before it. "This is the thinking box. It will have every record Shader put in it. If they're still here, that is. She recorded everything she did, but she might have taken it all with her. I'm guessing if she had, she would have taken the healing machines as well, so we might get lucky."
He put his hands to the typewriter part and started typing rapidly. Rosette watched, intrigued, as the window suddenly lit up and words appeared on it, scrolling in a line across it. She couldn't read them as they weren't in English, but Chrno explained as he typed. "I'm just booting it up. I can set it to interactive mode. Then it'll talk to us and we can talk to it. It's easier that way. Shader preferred to type, but I always did better with the verbal interface. My spelling sucks."
The girl raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't think I've ever heard you use such big words before."
"Sorry. I don't know what other words to use though."
"It's okay," she smiled. "I'm not used to feeling stupid though, so don't keep it up."
"Right," he laughed, finished a sequence of typing, and stepped back. "That's it. That should start the interface, if it's even still working anymore." He looked up at the ceiling. "Computer, acknowledge."
"Acknowledged. User Chrno recognized."
Rosette started at the voice, which was hollow and almost tinny sounding, but Chrno grinned and his tail waved happily. "They didn't lock me out. Granted, they didn't think I'd ever be able to get back up here, but still…" He cleared his throat.
"Computer, new user. User designation Rosette Christopher. Full access. Acknowledge."
"New user acknowledged. Rosette Christopher. Full access, level B. User acknowledge."
Chrno nudged her. "Say something. That will let it recognize you."
"Um," Rosette said. "Hello?"
"User Rosette Christopher recognized. Voice pattern recorded. Awaiting your command."
"You're in," Chrno cheered. "It'll do whatever you tell it to now. Go ahead, ask it about your brother."
Rosette swallowed, suddenly nervous, and stepped forward, looking up toward the ceiling. "Um, can you tell me where my brother is?"
"More information required."
"Uh, his name is Joshua Christopher."
"Identity not recognized."
Rosette's heart fell and she looked at Chrno desperately. He put his hands on her shoulders, massaging the muscles and standing right up against her so she could feel his warmth. "Don't worry. Computer, what is the location of Aion?"
"Unknown."
"Shader?"
"Unknown."
Chrno went through several more names, his voice growing steadily more desperate. The voice didn't know where any of them were. Rosette finally pulled away from Chrno and walked silently out of the room, up the stairs, and across the platform to the edge. There she stood looking down at the earth so far below. Clouds were drifting by below the island, casting shadows across the desert. It was starting to get dark.
A tear trickled down her cheek and fell free, sparkling as it dropped over the edge.
A footstep sounded behind her and Chrno's arms and wings both came around her, his face nuzzling into her neck.
"I'm sorry," he mourned. "I'm so sorry."
Rosette sniffled and wiped her nose. "This was supposed to work," she sobbed. "It was supposed to work!" Turning, she punched his chest as he stood back. "This isn't fair!"
Chrno took the blow, shifting back to his human form as he did. "I'm sorry," he said again.
Rosette hit him again, wanting to take her rage out on someone. He didn't try to stop her, his eyes mournful and depressed. That just stoked her anger more and she pushed him, screaming at him, forcing him in stumbling steps backwards across the platform and through the water towards the building.
"How could you be so wrong?!" she shrieked. "Do you know what it does to me to get my hopes up and come here and get nothing??" She poked him hard and he flinched, not making any move to defend himself other than backing up. "You're so stupid!" Tears were pouring down her face. Years they'd searched, years they'd fought to find Joshua. She joined the Order to find him. She let Chrno be tortured to find him. She became a demon to find him. And still she was no closer to doing so than the day Aion took him. All the pain inside her was boiling, demanding a way out, desperate to escape, and she grabbed Chrno's shirt, pulling him to his knees and stepping up against him. He tilted his head back as far as it would go to see her, his hands lax by his sides.
"You idiot," she whispered, her grip loosening to draw a finger up along his cheek. The agony was still whirling in her. "You're stupid, you know that?"
"Yes, Rosette," he whispered back, his eyes soft and submissive. She could feel his mind again, open to her. She could kill him in an instant, she knew, and he'd let her. Powerless to do anything about her brother, her power over him consumed her.
In an instant, she had him flat on his back on the floor, his legs bent under him and Rosette lying on top, her mouth locked on his own. She ravaged a kiss out of him, her fingers clawing at his clothes and tearing his shirt open. He lifted his hands to help her, but she slapped them away and he let them drop back by his side, just letting her do what she needed.
She just wasn't so sure what that was. She only knew she needed to be in control of something and Chrno was there, willing to let her. She ripped his shirt fully open, barely aware that they were at least inside now, and grabbed him by the throat with one hand, holding him to the floor while she pulled his pants open and freed him. His mind she stroked until his eyes rolled up into his head and he shuddered, whimpering in pain and ecstasy both, though the small, rational part of her made sure the ecstasy was greater.
"You're mine, right?" she snapped at him.
"Yes, Rosette," he gasped.
The girl ducked down and took him in her mouth for a slow lick. He shrieked and she brought her head up again. "Forever?" she added.
"Yes, Rosette."
Some of the tension eased. "And you'll always be with me, right?"
"Yes, Rosette," he breathed.
The anguish faded. Rosette's hand gentled on him and she leaned over, kissing him gently. "I love you," she whispered.
"I know," he smiled.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you," she told him truthfully.
He reached up to her. "Does this mean you're going to stop?" He kissed her and Rosette melted against him, her arms coming up around his neck.
They ended up in one of the bedrooms, doing something softer than what she'd done to him in the kitchen but even more intense. Rosette let Chrno rise above her, holding her almost closer than her own skin, his tongue dancing along hers as he slid into her, banishing the last of the grief about their failure. Still not completely ready to give up control, she rolled him over, rising up above him, and he sighed, always having preferred her mastering him. His hands rose to caress her breasts and she sighed, smiling at him.
"Forgive me for being an ass?" she asked him.
"Don't I always?"
Rosette cuffed him lightly, though the blow turned into a caress of his ear. "Idiot," she murmured.
"Only sometimes." He lifted his hips up repeatedly to meet hers, sweat beading on his lip. "We'll find him, Rosette. I promise you we will."
"I know," she breathed, and focused her attention on what they were doing. They lost themselves in each other, finding solace in the other's love, letting the fire of it consume them until they found their release and she collapsed against him, breathless.
"I think I really needed that," she gasped.
"Glad I could help." He stretched and put a hand on her cheek. "Let's try the computer again. If it doesn't know where Aion is now, it might know where he was planning to go. Sometimes you just have to change the question you ask it."
"Okay," she sighed. "I think I hate it though. It's such a stup---"
The wall of the bedroom exploded inward, throwing them both across the room. Rosette hit the far wall back first and yelped in pain, losing track of Chrno in the smoke.
A huge shape hovered in the hole that had been blown in the wall of the building, something massive and fat with a pig's face mostly hidden behind a heavy helmet. Glowing eyes peered in at her.
"Used the computer," it grated. "Stupid. Let us track you. Gigigi. Where's the Sinner?"
Rosette glared at it, bracing herself to leap for her guns.
A growl interrupted her. An instant later, Chrno erupted out of the rubble, wings spreading wide as he glowed with astral, hitting the pig demon with a blast of power that blew it backwards out through the hole. He followed right after it. Additional explosions sounded from outside, and yells from far more voices than Rosette wanted to count. Cursing, she scrambled for her guns, ignoring her clothes as she ran out the door and scrambled down the stairs to the main floor.
Chrno was airborne outside in the darkening sky, throwing astral around indiscriminately. Rosette gasped at the sight of it, knowing he had few reserves to draw on, but she could see he also had no choice. There were dozens of demons surrounding him, including the pig demon and a muscular, far too human-looking man with wings even larger than Chrno's.
"Surrender, Sinner!" he bellowed. "You can't beat us all without your horns!"
"Stuff it, Dafou!" Chrno yelled back, ducking around a demon with broad horns and stabbing it straight through the back with his whip tail. The demon screamed and dropped, Chrno dragging his tail through it so viciously that it landed on the ground in two separate pieces. More demons moved to take its place, trying to catch him between them.
Rosette started swearing, unheeding of the rubble she was standing on with bare feet as she aimed her weapon, the rest of her ammo hastily piled behind her. Three Sacreds slammed into the closest demon and it screamed, exploding into ash. Rosette took the opening it gave her and put another four rounds into a second demon's side while Chrno took a third's head off at the shoulder.
The rest of the demons roared, following Dafau's orders to surround Chrno, and Rosette fired a couple of shots at him. He blocked them with his arm and she gasped as he remained unharmed.
"Rosette!" Chrno yelled wearily. "Run!"
Dafau threw a ball of astral at her. Swearing, Rosette dove out of the way, cutting herself a dozen times across her nude body as she rolled and the doorway exploded behind her. Chrno screamed and she felt astral pass overhead, exploding against something that had been rising over her. That something screamed and she jumped to her feet as a demon fell back from her.
She only had the bullets in her current clip, the rest destroyed in the doorway. Chrno was above her, fighting madly against multiple demons, and astral flashed as they threw energy at each other, the explosions deafening her screams to her lover. He was killing himself, trying to lead them away from her.
A hand clasped around her neck and she was hauled off the ground. "Is he sacrificing himself for you, girl?" Dafau asked, his breath hot on her neck. In answer, Rosette brought her gun up and pointed it upside down over her shoulder, right at his face. She pulled the trigger and he bellowed in pain, throwing her away from him.
Rosette screamed, losing her pistol as she flew across the platform and landed hard on the other side of the water, tearing the skin off her shoulder and side as she rolled helplessly across the stone toward the edge.
Somewhere above her, she heard Chrno's bellow of horror and pain. Catching herself with her hands, just at the edge of the drop, Rosette stared down for an instant at the night darkened sky, lit far below by a few dots that had to be campfires in the desert. It only caught her attention fleetingly as she pushed herself up and leaped to her feet, turning around.
Dafau stood on the far side of the water, one hand to his bleeding face and his expression enraged. He pointed a hand at her, the palm glowing, and she braced herself to dodge, even though she didn't know where she was supposed to dodge to. Demons fought above her, their screams and explosions lighting the entire platform.
"ROSETTE!"
Chrno dove for her, his naked body covered in blood and his face desperate. He swooped down, arms outstretched, and caught her, throwing her out of the way just as Dafau fired.
The astral hit him dead centre and blew through his chest.
Lying where she'd landed, Rosette looked back over her shoulder and saw the almost puzzled look on his face. He stood there on the edge of the platform for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something while Dafau closed his fist and watched him appraisingly.
Then Chrno's eyes closed and he fell soundlessly backwards over the side.
"CHRNO!" Rosette screamed.
Dafau and the surviving demons didn't even look at her. They followed Chrno and she scrambled up to the edge, howling as she looked down to see them diving after the broken, tumbling figure. She couldn't even tell if they caught him as they all vanished into the darkness.
"CHRNO!" Rosette shrieked, sobbing. "CHRNO!"
THE END
What, you think I'd leave it there? Of course it's to be continued.