Well, sorry for the delay again. This chapter took longer to write than I expected, and I do apologize for that. I'm hoping I can get one or two more chapters up before I head out to college. After that, updates will likely be slower. The goal though, is to have this finished before Christmas. Because than the story will only be a year behind.

But anyway, thanks for the reviews, I always appreciate them.

I'd also like to thank my sister for helping me edit this. However, as I am want to do, I changed things and didn't have her look at them again. So if something really seems off, please tell me and I'll fix it.

One last thing before: There is one error in the last chapter that I don't think I'll change. I say that the statue in the church is one of Mary Magdalene. Did I ever get that wrong. Yes, it's Mary, but it's the Virgin Mary. Fair bit of difference there. The issue is, the statue is mentioned again in a later chapter, and I'm not certain how I can change the context of it to work with the Virgin Mary. So, this might be the one huge canon flaw I allow myself. (Silly me hasn't watched the anime in a few months. Imagine my surprise at hearing Anna go, "Not in front of the Virgin you pervert!")


Chapter 9

My alarm began to beep at 4:30, but I was up long before that. Nothing really hurt anymore; one of the few blessings of being an angel. We heal at a similar rate to demons, but with two notable exceptions: we don't need legion to regenerate, and we don't rely on the Astral Lines for our power. It does give angels a distinct advantage in combat as we can't lose our source of strength, but there's always the problem of getting demon blood mixed with open wounds on our bodies.

Demons may be the spawn of a fallen angel, but their blood was never intended to combine with an angel's.

Getting out of bed and putting on my boots, I began to get ready for the day. I had no idea what Jonathon had planned, but judging by the way he had treated me the day before, I knew that I could expect another harsh lesson.

Don't get me wrong; I appreciated that the Order had gone through the trouble of finding someone to teach me how to properly defend myself, but I was still a little sour of the fact that I had been treated like a know-nothing amateur by the other minister. Sure, I may have forgotten a lot while I was living on the streets, but I still had an idea of proper hand to hand combat.

Grabbing a jacket and my uniform top, I left my room and started to walk towards the kitchen to get something to drink. Eating was out of the question until the training session was over, but I figured that water would be alright.

Once I had navigated the dark halls of the silent dormitory, I and started to rummage through cupboards to try and find a sports bottle when I heard Minister Grishdun's voice from behind me.

"I don't think that this is the grass." His voice wasn't reprimanding. Rather, he just sounded amused.

"I wanted to have my stomach feel a little bit full. Besides, he can't yell at me for having water of all things."

"I thought that angels didn't need to eat?"

"We don't. That doesn't mean that we don't like to though. That also doesn't mean that we can't get sick if we over exert ourselves after a meal," I replied as I found what I was looking for.

"Minister Grishdun?" I asked as I turned to look at him at his table.

The large black man grunted in response as he took a sip of tea. "How many people know what I am?" I inquired.

"Most of the higher ups do, and I'm pretty certain that all of the council members are aware of your divine status. I know about it because I'm second-in-command of this branch. Jon knows because it was important for him to understand what he would be dealing with. Otherwise? Unless you tell someone what you are, you're just the new transfer. We figured that you would want your privacy."

"Thanks for telling me," I said as I filled up my bottle from the tap.

"Not a problem, Minister Remington. You have fun out there now. I'll be in my office doing paper work if you need to talk."

I left the other minister sitting at his table. I would find him at that same spot almost every morning for years to come: just sitting there drinking his tea.

X X X

I found Minister Jonathon sitting on a bench smoking a cigarette. For a man that seemed so proud of his body, this habit surprised me greatly, but I didn't say anything as I sat down next to him. He must have been feeling guilty about it, because he started speaking about his little quirk.

"I don't do this often. The girlfriend hates it, it's bad for the baby, and the Order tends to disapprove. I figured that one just before my first training session with an angel would be over looked," he said before he took a long drag.

"I wasn't all that worried about it. You're an adult and you're legally allowed to do what you want."

He laughed a little before taking one last drag on the cigarette. "Not going to ask about the girlfriend and the baby?"

"I could, but I figure that it's not my business to pry at this moment. I hate it when people try and get me to tell them what happened after the War," I replied before I took a sip of water; it was already starting to get cold in the early New York dawn.

Jon didn't say anything back. He just stood up, took off his top and walked onto the snow covered lawn.

"We've wasted enough time with chit-chat. Take off your jacket and top and show me what you remember. We'll work our way from there."

I did as he requested, and after about twenty minutes of throwing punches and kicking at imaginary targets, he stopped me.

"Damn. Well, I guess that this is what I should have expected given your performance last night. Didn't they teach you anything at the Florence Branch?"

I wiped the sweat from my brow and shook my head. "They brushed me up on my old skills, but that's about it. I admit; I was wondering why they didn't have a better martial arts program there myself."

"Okay, because you suck. You have a good grasp of the basics, but I can clearly see that you don't know that much about the newer styles. What'd they teach you back in the twenties? Boxing and karate for dummies?"

"Boxing and judo actually, but there aren't that many opportunities to use judo when you're broke and no one will come near you," I answered. That, and it was a really bad idea to get that close to the enemy during the War unless you wanted to get bayoneted.

"Judo huh?" the younger minister perked up at my mentioning that, and he began to rub his chin as if in thought. "I can work with judo. I still need to teach you a whole hell of a lot of other things, but I can work with judo.

"Alright, just follow my lead. I figure by the time I leave here next week, you'll have enough know how to successfully take on at least the level 2 Militia members."

"You're only staying until next week?"

He looked at me and snorted. "Christmas is only a few weeks away. The fact that I'm staying until the twentieth to help you train is huge. My baby girl is only two, and she just doesn't get why daddy has to go away for so long. I'll keep coming by, but I've got my own duties at the Chicago Branch and I've got a family to raise. Unless I get asked to transfer, you'll be seeing me once every three months."

"So I'll work with the Militia otherwise?"

"You'll have to ask Sister Florence or Minister Grishdun about that. I'm only concerned about you here and now. Come on, and we'll work on following my technique for a few hours. After that, maybe I'll let us have a sparring session."

"Will it be anything like last night?" I asked with a grin.

He just dropped into a fighting stance and began to bark out orders.

Four hours, ten new bruises, and several new aches and pains later, Jonathon finally told me that we were done for the day. Most of the time had been spent watching and imitating his movements and techniques, but the last half hour had been spent sparing and getting my ass kicked again. Granted, Jonathon hadn't gone as full out as the night before, but he still let me know just how much I needed to learn with a few well placed kicks and take downs.

We sat on the bench we had started out on, panting in the late morning sun. I was going over the lessons for the day and wondering when I would be able to massage one particular twitchy muscle, but Jon didn't seem to be bothered that much by our session. I admit that I envied him for that.

"Feel better?" he grinned as he took a long sip from his own water bottle.

"About what I'll be doing? Yes. I've got a question for you though."

"Fire away."

"How is it that you hit so damn hard? Today wasn't as bad, but still: you're just a human. I shouldn't feel like I'm getting hit by a semi truck," I said.

Jon lifted up his arms and showed me the gloves—no, glove isn't the best term for it, more like gauntlets—on them.

"These were given to me by my mentor and teacher, Sister Sylvia. They're a special amalgamation of demon horns, silver, and steel. She got them made by some devil blacksmith as a gift back in the seventies. Works on demons, angels, and anything else that might have more strength than a regular mortal," he grinned. "Being about as muscular as Bruce Lee doesn't hurt either. Now there was a guy that could hit like a car."

I didn't ask about Bruce Lee. I figured that I could find something about him from one of the other ministers or nuns.

The younger minister stood up and rubbed a hand over his hair.

"We'll meet out here tomorrow at the same time. You should probably go in and clean up though. I'm going to get some breakfast and then train with the militia. If you've got any more questions, don't be afraid to find me and ask. See ya around, Remington."

Jonathon went his way, and I returned back to the dorm to take a shower and eat something. After all, I wanted to look nice for my day with an old friend.

X X X

It had been fifty-five years since I had last seen Anna. About twenty thousand seventy five days. Four hundred eighty-one thousand and eight hundred hours. Two hundred eighty-nine million and eighty thousand minutes…but really, who was counting?

For all I knew, Anna's mind had faded away with her body. She was eighty-four years old after all.

She probably won't recognize me at all, or if she does, she won't believe it, I thought to myself as I stood outside a door I had been told belonged to her room.

Knocking softly, I heard a faint, "Come in," and I slowly opened the door.

"Next time you knock, do it with more authority. I won't be having people who can't give a proper knock come in to see me," the old woman sitting facing the rather large windows said with a soft laugh in her voice.

"I'll remember that next time I come to visit you, Sister Anna," I replied, not moving too far away from my spot by the doorway.

Anna slowly placed the book she had been reading on a nearby table. However, she didn't stand up from her chair as she addressed me. "I never thought that I would live long enough to hear your voice again, Minister Remington. Why did you come back?"

I moved closer to where my old friend sat, but she still didn't turn to face me. I wanted to lie to her; to tell her that I returned because I wanted to see her again and talk about the old times. It didn't seem fair to do that. Both of us had been through too much to expect anything less than the truth from the other.

"Aion's back," I said after a long minute of silence.

She snorted and pointed to a chair next to hers. "Figures. I never believed for a minute that Chrono completely killed that son of a bitch. How'd you find out about him?" she asked as she finally looked at me.

Her eyes were as bright as they had been five and a half decades ago, and I was grateful. At least there was still one other person besides the Sinnerwho knew about the past. Hell, she seemed as vibrant as she had as a young woman. She was just older.

"I lived with him for three months. He's starting to look for the Apostles again. He wants to gain control of humanity and fulfill his role as the Anti-Christ."

"Well, at least he's persistent," she muttered. "Do you think you can end it?"

I shrugged. "Probably. I have a few things up my sleeve, but so does he. All I know is; when I do find him, it won't be pretty, and there's a good chance neither one of us will come out alive."

She nodded and turned her eyes back onto the window. "You didn't come here to tell me about your almost certain demise, did you?"

"That wasn't the intent, no."

"Did you come to talk to me about the ones left behind?"

I nodded. She sighed heavily.

"Start with anyone you want. I just need to hear about what happened," I said, and even I caught the hint of desperation in my voice.

"Then you can let it rest?" She sounded weary, as if she had long ago grown tired of speaking of things buried.

I too looked outside to see the snow gently falling to the ground. "I just need some closure, Anna. I know it's rather selfish of me, but maybe if I have that, I can completely get on with the process of moving on. I was almostable to do it with Aion, but when I returned to the Order, I just felt like I had betrayed everyone by letting go without knowing what happened to them."

"I'll start with Mary, but just be aware, Ewan. I don't think you'll like a lot of what I have to say."

In the end, that was fine. I knew that I wasn't going to enjoy what fate had given my comrades. The pain of knowing would ultimately be easier to live with than the pain of never finding out.

That's what I kept telling myself at least.

"Mary died in '56 during a mission. We were attacking a nest of demons that had kidnapped ten or so children. It was supposed to be a standard job, so we didn't think too much of it. Things were fine one moment, and the next, the building burst into flames. We had a mutual friend helping us, and he insisted that he would get the demons. Mary and I got the children out safely, but our friend didn't come out right away. Mary ran back inside to help him, and everything went to hell. The structure started to collapse, and…and she didn't come back out. Our friend did, and when he heard that she had gone inside to rescue him, he tried to turn around and go back in. It was only sheer force of will and the threat of getting shot that kept him from running back in.

"We found her body the next day, and she didn't have a single burn on her. She died from smoke inhalation and a broken back. Our friend never forgave himself for letting her die and he left soon after her funeral.

"Claire died in '90. She married a veteran in '45 and they had four children. She brought them here all the time, to visit and to learn what the Order did. She was happy, but after she left, we never spoke that much. Her world had changed, and that was that."

"What about Az and Kate?"

"Az…," Anna sighed before she started again, "Az died three years ago, Remington. I'm surprised that she lived as long as she did. She was ready to go a long time ago."

"Why was she ready to die? She was fine when I left. Was it because of Mary?" I asked, not understanding why a young woman so full of life would change so drastically.

"She met someone, Ewan. They loved each other very, very much. He promised that he would come back from the War, and he never did. It broke her heart when she found out about his death. She figured a demon would have a better shot at surviving the horrors of Normandy than a human would."

I quickly turned my eyes back onto the elderly sister. "She was in love with a demon? But…when did they meet?"

"They meet in '39. She told me first out of our little group, and even that was a, 'I met a nice gentleman, and his friend has invited us to his jazz club. Do you want to come?' He reminded me a lot of Chrono if it means anything to you. He was dedicated to blending in with humans, and he would hunt down demons that refused to do the same. He was a good man, and a good friend," she said calmly.

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"Why would she want to? Being in love with someone technically goes against the creed of the Order. She didn't want to hurt anyone. Besides, being in love with a demon? She was just asking for removal and a black stamp by her name for the rest of her life."

"What took her?" I asked, feeling more depressed by the minute.

"Time and bad health. I can't remember the exact diagnosis they gave her, but it killed her in the end."

"Was…was she happy?"

Anna smiled. "Yes, at the end, she was happy."

I leaned back in the chair again, and sighed. "What happened to Kate?"

"She suffered a stroke in '62. She retired the year before and was looking forward to finally relaxing. Obviously that got cut much shorter than she would have liked, but for the time she had, she enjoyed it." Anna paused before continuing. "Speaking of Kate, have you found the letter she left in your room?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not in the same room. Why would she leave a letter in a room that I never spent time in?"

"Have you really looked, Ewan? I heard that the new transfer had been put into your old room. Seeing as you're the new transfer, they just put you right back where you belonged. It's not like they touched the place. All the heads forbid it on grounds that you'd return at some point or another."

Surveying my room hadn't been high on my list. The past day had been little more than a blur, and other than sleeping there, there had been no reason to stay for any long period of time. I hadn't really looked.

"No. I didn't even realize where I was until you mentioned it. Do you know what the letter says?"

"My guess is that it says the things that Sister Kate wanted to declare, but never could. Most of us had things like that, but we didn't want to worry you while you were away in Europe. We figured you had enough to deal with dodging bullets and fretting over Joshua's health.

"I think that Kate had the most to say though. It wasn't obvious to most people, but she became distant after your departure. She was probably just lonely, and unlike most of us, she didn't have anyone to talk to."

"Who did you confide in?" I inquired.

"A few people. Azmaria, Mary, and that mutual friend I mentioned earlier were the main ones. Mary and I were probably closest to him because we knew that he would never talk about our problems to anyone, but then Mary died and he left and it was just Az and me."

There was a heavy silence as we both looked out the window again and watched the snow continue to pile up on the sidewalks below. There was a hollow pain in my chest, but…it didn't feel like the over whelming regret I had known before I lived with Aion. It just felt like I was saying good-bye to people whom I would never see again.

"And that's that?" I asked once silence had finished settling around us.

"That's that, Minister Remington. I rather enjoyed our conversation. Tomorrow when you see me, you'll have to tell me how your training sessions are going with Minister Jonathon. I'd like to hear about that."

"Certainly, Sister Anna. I think that I'd like that as well."

I got up to leave when I heard her say one last thing to me. "Keep the letter to yourself, Ewan. It was written for you and for you alone, so there's no point in sharing it."

"Sure thing," I replied as I left her and started walking back towards my own room.

Just like that: fifty-five years summed up in two hours. Somehow it made perfect sense that such a seemingly long period of time could be put into so few words.

That's really how my own life was if I took the time to think about it: Long, but easily condensed.

X X X

Anna was right: Once I decided to actually look at the room I had been assigned to, I recognized it as my own instantly. I should have noticed it earlier when I grabbed some clothes from my dresser and they had been covered in dust, yet, I just brushed it aside as some unimportant detail. Hell, I hadn't even wondered why I had clothes in my room in the first place; it wasn't as if I had gone to pick up any spares.

Sitting down heavily on the bed, I glanced at the night-stand closest to me. Without even thinking about it, I opened the drawer, and there lay an old-yellowed letter with neat letters reading: To Minister Ewan Remington.

Formal to the end, huh, Kate? I thought as I carefully picked up the envelope.

I didn't open it though.

I wanted to. I wanted to try and let go of the last pieces of my past, but a little voice in the back of my mind held me off.

Do you really want to open up old wounds? Do you really want to know her last words to you? Can't you just rest with what Anna gave you? it said quietly.

But I feel like I've lived a whole life running from the past. I don't want this one to be running from the ghosts. Why not close off one last loose end? I replied, but the voice offered no answer.

Ultimately, I put it back unread. I was just going to leave it for a rainy day I told myself. No big deal.

Just then, I heard a knock on the door, and Minister Grishdun's voice came through the solid wood.

"Minister Remington? The Elder would like to see you."

I slowly pushed myself up and went out into the hallway. Before I closed locked everything to make my way towards the small cottage the Elder still inhabited, I eyed the room and sighed.

"Welcome home," I muttered before I shut with the door with a snap.


I'm pretty certain that Remington will stop being so angsty in upcoming chapters. Maybe.

Um, there are reasons why Anna isn't saying this friend's name. He will show up at some point or another, but I haven't decided how much I'm going to talk about him in this story. I can safely say that in the Azmaria story I'm working on, much more will be revealed about certain characters, but since this one is more about Remington and Aion, the story is going to be more focused on those two.

Reviews make my day, and don't be afraid to ask questions or correct me on things. I always appreciate it.