Chapter 20:
Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Crusade or any of the characters.
"Thank you for the dinner. I enjoyed myself a lot tonight." Rosette looked down at her toes self-consciously, took a deep breath and continued.
"I have to admit that I had always thought you a jerk from the moment we first met. I am sure you knew that too." Chrono nodded. "I can't say that my opinions of you have improved immensely overnight to the point where I will start thinking of you as an angel," Chrono gave a wry smile at that. "but I am willing to say that we could have a more civilised relationship rather than arguing and fighting every time we see each other. Friends?" Rosette smiled shyly and extended her hand to Chrono in a gesture of friendship.
"Friends."
Rosette sat in front of her dressing table, blowing her hair dry with a hair dryer. There were so many conflicting emotions and thoughts that she was experiencing at the moment. She had always thought Chrono to just be a stuck-up rich jerk whose main hobby was to showcase his wealth for the world to see and was also an inconsiderate fellow who did not give a second thought to breaking the heart of each and every girl in his fanclub who confessed their love for him on an almost daily basis.
She had always thought those girls naiive and considered them silly to actually form a fanclub for him, professing their infatuation for him although it was obvious that he did not return any of their feelings. She even used to feel pity for these girls who were so blinded by their love for him that they did not realise that he was trampling onto their hearts with the heels of his shiny branded shoes. That was until tonight.
She had recently found herself having more and more encounters with him. Somehow he seemed to have changed recently. Not in terms of external looks but in terms of his something internal. Like his characteristics and personality traits. There was something different in the way he talked and treated people. Tonight, she was so enchanted by the charisma he exuded and his intelligence where he was quick to notice points that she might have deliberately left out or details that were not mentioned that she found herself blurting out everything. He was really good at that too. At getting information and knowledge that he wanted. He had asked her leading questions that were smoothly worded and coerced everything out of her mouth.
He also showed a thoughtful and caring side to him. Generous too. When she mentioned that she helped out at an orphanage in her free time, he quickly asked her if she needed help and offered to donate a generous amount to the orphanage to help sponsor for the children's living expenses. He even offered to go down to the orphanage with her to give an extra helping hand.
She stopped the hair dryer and put it down onto the dressing table. She could feel her heart pounding fiercely when she thought about Chrono. Could it be that she was falling for him? No no no, Rosette shook her head fiercely. 'He is my newly acquired friend. I haven't known him that long. Besides, wasn't I arguing with him just a week before because he tore a love letter in front of the girl who gave it to him? Sure, he might have proven to be better than I originally thought.. He is kind, thoughtful, caring, generous, handsome...' Rosette shook her head harder this time. Oh boy, she was in trouble.
It was a great relief for Rosette that the next day was a weekend. She had tossed and turned the night before, dreaming about the clock, no, a pocket watch. She was seeing it clearer and clearer this time. It was a pocket watch with a chain that she felt hung around her neck. A girl's strong determined voice repeated the phrase " I am going to be kicking and screaming 'til the very end!" over and over. Somewhere in her dream she thought she saw a young boy. Somewhere in her consciousness it registered that the young boy shared the same purple hair and ruby eyes that Chrono had. That thought was quickly pushed away by other images. When she woke up, she could only remember bare traces of her dream and had a faint pounding in her head.
Rosette dragged herself down to the dining table and Mrs Christopher took one look at her pale face and quickly sent Rosette back to bed. Rosette was about to return to sleep when another wave of images hit her but she could not see them clearly as they were moving so fast.
She sat herself onto the bed and held her head until the images stopped flooding through her mind's eyes. She did not understand any of these. What were those images about?
Confused, she sat and tried to think but the headache persisted and so she lied down on the bed and fell into a slumber with dreams filled with pocket watches and purple- haired boys.
Azmaria was both curious and worried at the same time. She could not wait to hear from Rosette in regards to her date with Chrono and called Rosette early the next day after the date just to have Rosette's mother telling her that Rosette was in bed for the day and could not answer the phone as she was unwell.
Least to say, Azzy was disappointed. She had hoped to hear all the juicy details of last night's date. She went to visit Shader at her costume shop and updated Shader on their happenings. Shader was a dear friend whom both Rosette and her got onto much friendlier terms with after the night of the Halloween Party. Whenever possible, Rosette and Azzy would stop over at Shader's shop to visit her and each girl would share about her day. The girls virtually have no secrets from each other.
This day, however, was slightly different. Rosette was not present AND that was because she fell ill after a secret date the night before that she had conveniently forgotten to mention to Shader! Shader felt betrayed. Afterall she shared the most intimate of secrets with Rosette and yet how could Rosette had found, according to Azzy, a tall handsome boyfriend and not mentioned it all to her!
However as she listened on to Azzy's update, she found herself increasingly amused. It was obvious that Azzy was really fond of Rosette's brother. Though she had never seen him in person, from what she had heard between Azmaria's obvious infatuation and Rosette's complaints, she could tell that though he shared the same temper gene with Rosette at a seemingly lesser degree, he genuinely cared about his sister and seemed like a rather nice person to hang out with. When Azzy finally moved on from talking about Joshua to Rosette's latest update, Shader frowned. The name Chrono had rung a bell somewhere in her head. But where? Ignoring that thought, she paid full attention to Azzy's chatter. Azzy was usually a rather quiet girl but today, the fact that she was chattering away was a bit of a fit in itself.
"And that was not all! While I was on the way here, I bumped into Joshua while en route here! He seemed so deep in thought that he did not seem to notice me at first though until I waved my hand in front of him. He smiled at me- a genuine smile!- and asked me about my new outfit and complimented me on it. I was so happy that I must have made a fool of myself! Oh Shader, I almost melted. That was so embarrassing. What should I do..."
"I am sure it was alright. He probably did not notice because he was too distracted by your new outfit. You are just too adorable in it." said Shader with an affectionate smile.
"Really? Do you really truly believe that, Shader? Oh, I was so worried that he was just being polite about it." Azmaria blushed as the memory of Joshua smiling brightly at her while complimenting her on her new dress surfaced in her mind's eye. He looked so breathtakingly handsome and she did not have the chance to return the compliment because he then turned abruptly and left before she could summon enough courage.
"Of course I do silly. Have more faith in yourself, Azzy! You look great!" Shader exchanged a pleased smile with Azmaria.
"As great as can be as if I had spent a whole day at a salon?" teased Azmaria.
"Nope, even better. You look like a natural beauty who had no need to enter a salon in her whole life!" exclaimed Shader as both girls broke out in laughter.
Dr Ewan Remington had not been a teacher in Mary Magdalene High School for 10 years for naught. He had spent years researching on demons studies since he stumbled on the topic in college. Most people believed that all demons were gone for good, but he for one knew that there was one that had barely survived a final battle, laying in a semi-dead state with no way for recovery. It was through his research that he stumbled across stunning findings of a man with a similar name to his was involved in the battle. That man was a minister of the Magdalene Order that had stopped functioning after the supposed extinction of demons and the conclusion of the final war.
Of course Ewan had tried to find the demon that was rumoured to be semi-dead and about this mysterious man who shared the same name as him during the war. His findings led him to Mary Magdalene High School where he had since settled and taught as a Biology and Chemistry teacher, leading a relatively peaceful life in this quiet town. He did not give up on the research of course but people were not willing to sponsor his research and all clues and findings led to Mary Magdalene High School. The last 10 years had not exactly been fruitful where he could find no more trace on demons though he did found that the man from the war had helped to run this school till his death.
"Sir! Mr Remington! I am sorry to disturb you but we will need your assistance in the Science Laboratory. The Duffau boys..." came a panicked voice of a female student. She looked desperately at him from the door of his office.
Ewan sighed aloud. Those boys again. They truly were bright and intelligent. If only they had not found their calling in Chemistry and decided to explore their intelligence through occasional experiments using the schools' facilities... Within the last two months alone saw the school's Science Laboratories experiencing four explosions and one ruined fume hood.
That incident with the fume hood caused one of the Chemistry labs to be shut off for an entire week till they could get rid of the horrible stench that was coming out. The boys seem to have great fortune in that they were never injured despite the damage done to the labs. Of course they were also fortunate enough to have wealthy parents who could afford to pay for all the damages done by their sons. Many were curious as to why said parents did not bother to build a Science laboratory for their sons at their huge mansion of a home but Ewan understood. He shuddered at the thought of frequent explosions from the back yard or in the middle of the night. The worst part was not knowing what to expect when one steps out of one's home the next day because of the broad interests of the boys in different types of Chemistry.
He had better hurry over to the Chemistry Laboratory before- "BOOM!" Ewan groaned and quickened his foot steps.
Chrono shifted uneasily on his feet. He put his hands into his pocket and looked around before leaning back onto the pillar behind him. He closed his eyes and breathed out a long breath. Just what was he thinking? Of all situations, why did he have to find himself in one like this?
"Master Chrono."
Chrono groaned inwardly and opened his eyes to see Mrs Edwards staring at him with that familiar subtle twist at the corner of her mouth that one wouldn't notice unless you know her well enough. He had taken to referring to her as Fiore in casual moments of jest or when discussing about their past. Other moments he just called her Mrs Edwards. After years of only knowing her as the trusted nanny and housekeeper who brought him up, he just found it somewhat out of place to call her by her first name despite their past. Still, it was definitely not a moment of jest nor even to bring up any emotional past life. Rather, it was the moment to face the wrath- or music, depending on perspective- that awaited for him.
"Master Chrono, the car is ready. Let's go home." With that, Fiore Edwards walked away from the door to Ms Kate's office which she had just moments ago stepped out from and headed towards the school gates where a car was waiting.
Chrono followed behind her. It was definitely going to be a long trip home.
"Really, Master Chrono, I would have expected better behaviour from you! Never in the past have I ever expected you to do something like this! Since when did you get yourself involved in school explosions? I would have expected calls from your school regarding traffic congestions by your lady fans at the school gate, yes, and also calls about you offending a teacher but never did I expect calls regarding school explosions! I have heard of the Duffau boys, yes, but you were never in the same clique as them or even showed any specific interest in Chemistry for that matter! Just what were you thinking!" Mrs Edwards exploded in the Anderson home sitting room. She paused to catch her breath before continuing. "Just what am I supposed to tell your parents about your doings after they return on their business trip? An explosion is definitely off their minds! Not one lab too! Ms Kate specifically made a point to tell me that you and the Duffau boys had blown up all three Chemistry labs! Three! What do you have to say for yourself?"
This was probably only the second time in his entire life had Chrono ever seen Mrs Edwards exploded like that. The first time was when he had sneaked out of the house to the river nearby at the tender age of five and attempted to build a raft. It was the longest business trip his parents had been on. Having not seen them for nearly a month, he missed his parents dearly. He had attempted to use the raft to assist him in his sailing expedition to find his mom and dad. Meanwhile, Mrs Edwards had turned the house over searching for him, even sending the security team and the entire household throughout the neighbourhood to scout or him. Eventually they found him asleep on the river bank with a half finished wooden raft made of twigs and branches. Mrs Edwards had taken him home immediately, containing her anger till they reached home and were within the safe compounds of the Anderson home sitting room before she unleashed a long train of scolding. Chrono had stubbornly bitten on his upper lip, refusing to cry, as he found no wrong in wanting to find mom and dad. Why did he have to be scolded? It was only when Mrs Edwards broke down after the tirade of scolding and held him in her arms, crying, that he finally understood the worry and scare he must have caused her.
Chrono shook his head and returned his attention back to the present moment where he realised Mrs Edwards was getting into a hysteria. Chrono mentally strangled those Duffau boys. Why did they have to rat him out? Granted, he was the mastermind behind the explosion episode. Yet they couldn't have closed their mouths for a moment.
"Wait wait, Mrs Edwards, wait." When he realised Mrs Edwards was ignoring him and about to start a fresh tirade of hysterics, he finally decided that he needs to do something.
"You could have been so badly injured! I saw the state the laboratories were in! I saw! You could have been- "
"Fiore." Mrs Edwards stopped short in the middle of her tirade and stared at him. Chrono took a deep breath and continued in the same low voice, "Fiore, I understand you're worried and angry that this happened. I am fine now. Look at me, I managed to escape in time. I am really fine. I need you to calm down and discuss this with me."
"Discuss! What can we discuss about? You know you made a narrow escape from death. You had me so worried when I received that phone call from Ms Kate. What else is there to discuss?" Fiore cried and stepped towards Chrono.
"I need you to listen to me very carefully. I had no idea what I was doing. I know this sounds like a stupid excuse but it is the truth. I had no idea what I was asking the boys to find out about. It was as if I was in a trance. I really had no idea what I was doing. I only knew that I had a strong urge to go find out about something big. Something important. I needed to find someone who can help me with it. The Duffau boys came to mind and next thing I knew, I was approaching them for help. Everyone knows that they are geniuses in the Science field and have been doing crazy experiments ever since they got into middle school. I had instinctively approached them and then all of a sudden, I was telling them about this crazy experiment that I had in mind. An experiment that I had to try with their help. I have no idea what is the ultimate outcome or what is to be achieved from mixing all those chemicals and getting all those statistics that we got before the explosion. The recipe and procedure of what we had to do just gradually came to my mind as we went on. It was really strange."
Chrono paused and looked up at Fiore. She had collapsed onto a couch beside him and was staring at him in disbelief.
"Believe me, I find it hard to believe this is happening to me too. You know that I don't usually find myself in such situations, right?" Chrono turned to Fiore and gave her a look that begged for her trust. When she started to slowly nod in agreement and the situation started to dawn on her, she made a start.
"Are you saying? Wait, you were reborn! What is going on?"
"Yes, I am reborn." Chrono put his hands on both her shoulders to sit her back onto the couch. "I am reborn but similar to the dreams, this might have something to do with my past life. I don't know what is happening or what might happen. Based on what I have experienced so far, I think it is safe to assume that it might very well be associated with what I was doing before I died. I had been on secret meetings with Father Remington before the final war. The strange thing is, whenever I try to recall what was discussed or happened during those secret meetings, my mind either blanks out or come across occasional strange images that do not seem to be associated with each other. This episode might very well be linked to those secret meetings or possibly other events in the past life. Of course, it could also very well be me losing control of my mind after the influx of memories from remembering my past life and the latest events of reuniting with Rosette..."
"Father Remington? Did you say Father Remington? I knew him. Or at least I had encountered him in our past life. He was doing a lot of research about legions and demons on the last time I saw him. Of course I only saw him during a battle and heard some stories discussed amongst the demons so I know nothing more about him."
"Yes. I suspect those secret meetings might be linked to his research too. The most important thing now is to seek him out and talk."
"Do you mean...? He has been reborn too?" Fiore asked with wide eyes as she immediately straightened her back.
Chrono nodded. "What's more, he is currently a teacher in the school now. I will have to talk to him about this."
End of chapter
