Chapter 13
After the train incident, Rosette, Chrono, Azmaria, Satella and Maria decided to go to Chicago on their own, considering that it would have taken quite a while for the train to start operating again. Since there was no other way to travel to Chicago, Satella suggested that they take her and Steiner's jeep that was in the storage area of the train. Everyone agreed to it. Before they left for Chicago, Rosette changed her tattered clothes into a casual outfit. She wore a white shirt with a long dark purple skirt along with a purple bow on the shirt's collar. They got the jeep out and drove their way to Chicago. They were supposed to resupply at the Order's monastery in Chicago so they could continue their journey to San Francisco. Maria was tasked with informing the Magdalene organization about Aion's goals. It took them approximately a day to reach Chicago. When they finally reached the city, instead of staying at the Magdalene monastery, Satella suggested that they should stay at a hotel since she wasn't too keen on the idea of having to stay in a monastery. At 7:00 PM, Rosette went into the hotel's phone booth where she informed Sister Kate about the train incident. "What?! First you destroyed a restaurant, then an airship, and now a train?! I swear, everywhere you go you just create chaos!" Sister Kate fumed in disbelief as she was apparently becoming irritated with Rosette's carelessness. "I'm sorry to disappoint you again Sister Kate." Rosette said apologetically. "Anyways, go and thank the Headmaster of the Magdalene Chicago branch. Speaking of which, why haven't you shown yourself to him yet?" Sister Kate asked curiously. "Well, it's a long story. But I can assure you that we will meet with him soon!" Rosette nervously assured her. "I really hope so Sister Rosette! You are now excused." Sister Kate said and hung up the phone. "Phew, I really should be more careful." Rosette said to herself with relief and put the phone down. Meanwhile, Satella, Maria and Azmaria were at the dining room waiting for Rosette to come back after she was done with her telephone call. "Oh my, how long is she going to chat?" Satella asked impatiently. "I think she is getting lectured again." Azmaria stated. "That's funny, normally she's so strong, but I guess she has to listen to her boss. Thank God I am not in her situation!" Satella said and just then, Rosette burst opened the door with anger and charged at Satella. "It's because you didn't want to stay at the damn church!" Rosette yelled furiously while she was pounding Satella's head. "Oh my God, all of the food is gone!" Rosette remarked angrily as she saw that all four of the plates were empty. "I'm sorry Rosette. You were late so Satella ate your dish." Azmaria apologetically stated which made Rosette even madder. "Why you bitch!" Rosette yelled and tried to charge at her again. "Now Rosette, calm down, we are in a public dining room, so please behave yourself!" Maria said while she restrained Rosette. After Rosette calmed down she saw an empty seat at their table. "Where's Chrono?" Rosette asked as she realized that Chrono wasn't at the table. "He wanted some rest, so he went to his room." Satella explained. "Speaking of Chrono, he has been acting strange lately. It's as if something is occupying his mind." Azmaria worriedly stated. "Rosette, do you know what's wrong?" Azmaria asked Rosette. "Don't worry about it Azmaria, he has his own problems to deal with. I'll go and check up on him!" Rosette said optimistically and left the dining room. While walking across the hallway, Rosette began to think to herself. "Now that I think about it, I know barely anything about Chrono's past. Chrono is a Sinner, Aion is a Sinner, and yet they're against each other. That's all I know of his back story." Rosette was thinking in her head. When she reached Chrono's room, she opened the door and walked in. She found him sleeping in his bed and sat beside him. "This contractor of mine who is a demon has always been beside me, and supported me silently." Rosette thought to herself gratefully. Chrono then made some kind of a panting noise while he was sleeping which slightly alarmed Rosette. "He doesn't look too well. I wonder if demons dream too." Rosette thought to herself with wonder as she looked at him empathetically. In Chrono's dream, he was in his winged demon form where his hands were in chains as he was standing on a pile of dead demons. "Sinner, so they call us Sinners." A calm, sinister voice said. "It's cold, I'm going to freeze." Chrono said in his head as his body began to freeze. The atmosphere around him was really eerie. All of a sudden, Chrono heard a noise. "Aion? Is that you Aion?" Chrono asked. "What a shame. They must be afraid of the truth." The voice continued saying. "Where are you?" Chrono asked as he looked around his surroundings. "But you must be different, right Chrono?" The voice said to Chrono. In front of him was a white haired winged, horned demon sitting on top of a huge pile of demon skeletons. "So let's go!" The demon tempted him. "Go where?" Chrono asked. "To the free world!" The demon explained as he was still tempting Chrono. "It's cold here. If I take that hand, will I feel better?" Chrono asked himself in his head and he then came closer to the demon. Just when he was about to touch his hand, a nude, blonde haired girl came to him from behind. "No Chrono." The voice of the girl called to him and grabbed his body with her arms. "This warm feeling in my heart. That's right, this is…" Chrono said to himself and all of a sudden, he woke up from his dream. "Are you awake?" Rosette asked softly. "Rosette?" Chrono said weakly as he was opening his eyes. Much to his surprise, he saw Rosette in front of him who placed his head onto her lap as she was smiling in relief. "Rosette?!" Chrono said as he reacted embarrassedly that Rosette saw him dreaming. "What's with that face?" Rosette asked irritated and got herself off of his bed. "You looked terrible while you were sleeping!" Rosette pointed out. "I see. That feeling was…" Chrono said in his head as he could tell who that girl in his dream was. "I feel better now. Thank you!" Chrono said gratefully. Meanwhile, Azmaria and Satella were by the door eavesdropping on their conversation. "What are they doing in there? I can't tell what they're saying." Satella said mildly frustrated. "Don't you think it's rude to be spying on other people's conversations?" Maria asked Satella seriously as she didn't like the idea of eavesdropping. "Come on, we were just curious as to what was happening between those two." Satella defensively explained. "Still, I don't like the thought of eavesdropping. Besides, we can already kind of tell that there is something going on between them." Maria stated. "Yeah, I guess you're right. After all, their bond truly is a special one. I just wonder if I'll be able to one day experience such a bond like they have." Azmaria wondered. "You weren't sleeping well. Were you having a nightmare?" Rosette asked as she tried making Chrono more comfortable. "Well." Chrono said as he hesitated to answer her question. "It's alright. Actually, I came here to ask you for something. Although it doesn't really matter anymore." Rosette admitted softly. "You've been living for so long, so it's obvious you have your own problems. You are the same person now as you were then. Someday, you can tell me. Someday!" Rosette said optimistically as she continued to comfort Chrono. "Someday, someday huh? She knows better. She doesn't have that kind of time." Chrono thought to himself while looking at Rosette smiling and lifted his head up from Rosette's lap. "Rosette, I…" Chrono tried to tell her but before he could tell her anything, a huge demon appeared from behind the window which took Chrono and Rosette by surprise. "What the…?" Rosette said startled. The three girls then heard a loud crashing sound in the room. "Oh my, what's going on in there with all the noise?" Maria asked worriedly as she could tell that something strange was happening. Back in the room, the shattered window glass was everywhere on the floor and two demons entered the room. "Yes, we've found them! I have good smell!" One of the demons remarked with great satisfaction. "I've found you Sinner! Broken horn, Chrono!" A winged, slim black demon said with an intimidating, threatening voice. The demon beside him was a stout, pig demon with a really good sense of smell which was what led them to Rosette and Chrono. "Pursuers!" Chrono said in a shocked tone and they both ran their way out of the room with a gun and the weapon backpack, much to the girl's confusion. "Come on girls, we better retreat before it's too late!" Rosette warned them and they all ran their way towards the hall. "What's happening Chrono?" Satella asked confused. "There's no time to explain, we've got to get out of here!" Chrono answered. Just then, Rosette found the nearest window and they all retreated by smashing through the window, hoping that they would land on the car nearby. Fortunately, they were all able to land on the car in one piece but not smoothly as they all fell onto each other. "Owww, my hip!" Satella cried out in pain. Rosette found the car keys, immediately started the car and began to drive their way with full speed. "Hey, come back here thief!" A man called out angrily while he saw his car being taken. The pig demon however was catching up to them as well. "I can't believe it, they're still after us. Why did we run?" Maria asked as she saw from behind the demon gaining on them. "There was no other choice. We have to reorganize. Plus we don't have a lot of weapons left." Chrono explained. "Why don't we head to the Magdalene Order?" Azmaria asked while they entered a road tunnel. "That is a good idea. There are weapons over there." Chrono said. "Well, there is only one problem. I don't know the directions and I don't know where we're driving either." Rosette embarrassedly admitted. "What?" Azmaria and Satella exclaimed out of shock at the same time while Maria simply face palmed. "You idiot!" Chrono called out irritated. "What? It's a new city! How should I know where it is?" Rosette answered back at him crossly. The pig demon all of a sudden catched up to them and lightly smashed the open car's front window, much to everyone's shocking surprise. "Laden!" Satella called out as she grabbed one of her jewels out but before she could activate it, Rosette swiftly turned the car wheel and smashed the demon onto the wall, which caused the jewel to escape from Satella's hand. "Aaaaahhh, stop!" Satella yelled as she was shocked that she had just lost one of her jewels. "I can't stop!" Rosette said and kept on speeding, hoping it would help them loose the demon. "Now!" Rosette said and speed the car at an even faster rate. "You won't get away Sinner! You've destroyed Pandemonium and for that you shall be punished!" The pig demon yelled determinedly. Just then, Maria took a gun from her black leg bracelet underneath her dress and pointed it at the demon's face. When they had finally reached the end of the tunnel, she then fired at the demon. The trigger caused a huge blast to take place with lots of smoke coming out of the tunnel while they all made it out safe and sound. "Thanks Maria! I didn't know you could use a gun so well! Where did you learn how to use one?" Rosette thanked her gratefully as she asked her about her gun skills. "Well, it's a long story. I'll tell you later!" Maria answered. Back at the tunnel, the demon slowly began to make his way out. He was determined to get to them at all costs. "Fools, I have good smell! I'll reach you soon! Soon!" The pig demon said with intense determination and kept going slowly after them. "Is that thing still after us?" Azmaria nervously asked. "Probably." Chrono said with certainty. "Chrono, who was that demon?" Azmaria asked curiously. "Azmaria, let's talk about that later, okay?" Rosette said as she tried to avoid the discussion. "No!" Chrono said firmly as they were passing by the water front. "I think it's better if I tell you guys now, before we meet Aion, and the reason behind why we are called the Sinners." Chrono explained in a serious tone.
Meanwhile, Father Remington was in his car talking with someone on the telephone while he was driving. "Yes, I'll be in Chicago very soon. What? An accident?" The minister answered while someone on the phone informed him about the demon incident. "It appears that demons are involved. However, there's no further information yet." The man on the phone replied. "Do you know which direction they went?" The minister asked. "No." The man replied back. Suddenly, Father Remington saw Rosette and the others pass by his car which caught his attention. He stopped his car on the side of the road and while he saw them driving their way he got out of his car. "Rosette? Did something happen?" Father Remington asked himself confused. "I think I understand now, Gilliam." The minister concluded. Rosette and the others stopped by a warehouse from where Rosette contacted the Magdalene Chicago Headquarters through the telephone. After she was able to inform them about the demon attack, she then started to load her pistol. "Okay, I was able to contact the Magdalene Chicago Headquarters. They'll be coming here immediately!" Rosette explained. "However, it sucks that we don't have much equipment with us." Rosette disappointedly pointed out. "But we have to defend ourselves against those Pursuers until they arrive." Chrono stated. "Speaking of Pursuers, could you tell us who exactly are they and the reason why you and Aion are called Sinners?" Satella demandingly asked. "Yeah, if you're called the Sinners, then there must be some kind of a sin, right?" Azmaria asked Chrono. Chrono at first hesitated to tell them, but after a short while he then began to explain to the girls about the Pursuers. "Before that, let's talk a little bit about Aion. As you all should know he kidnapped Joshua, Rosette's younger brother. At the time of the revolution of Pandemonium, he became the leader of the beings known as Sinners." Chrono began explaining. "Pandemonium? What is that?" Rosette asked curiously. "The world in which we demons came from and the one who gave life to all of us demons. Like ants and bees, we demons are born into one nest and queen. Like a feudal society. Who we call mother is Pandemonium itself." Chrono revealed which intrigued the girls. "That's why…" A voice said loudly across the warehouse, which took Rosette, Chrono and the others by surprise. "They're here." Rosette said and picked up her gun. "Ahhhh, why is it so dark?" Azmaria asked as she became scared with what was happening around them. "That's why killing anyone from our kind is forbidden." The tall demon said as he was standing towards the warehouse while his shadow reflected the building which made it dark. "Unforgivable!" The pig demon snorted from behind Rosette. "There!" Rosette said and turned around. By the time she saw the pig demon, he knocked down some black oil tanks onto the ground while the oil began to spill out. "Damn it, they're trying to get to us with the darkness." Rosette said in frustration. "Sinner! You who will not be forgiven for carving into our bodies. The karma which you can never escape from. Atone for those sins with death! Your slaying of 100 demons and Aion's beheading of Pandemonium!" The tall demon said in a sinister voice. Just then, memories of Chrono's past in regards to the revolution of Pandemonium began to occupy his mind. The revolution of Pandemonium began 50 something years ago when Aion had formed a group of demons to rebel against Pandemonium. The purpose of their rebellion was to gain their freedom from the tyranny that was placed on their demon brethren by the Elders. "Stop! Stop it! Aion!" Chrono yelled out while he saw Aion taking out the head of that of a woman with horns on the altar. Once Aion succeeded in pulling Pandemonium's head out, he then looked at it with a satisfied grin on his face. "What's wrong? What's with that face of yours?" Aion asked his brother as he was surprised by his reaction. "Let's go now, to the free world! Be happy! There's no one that will keep us in!" Aion said sinisterly while blood was flowing down on the altar. "See? Pandemonium can't do anything." Aion remarked. "You've killed her!? Pandemonium!?" Chrono asked in disbelief. "We're free now!" Aion said victoriously. "You've killed Pandemonium!?" Chrono angrily yelled. "Oh my, the eggs are burning. Even the nest! The next generation is doomed. This is terrible!" One of the Elders said in a shocked tone as they saw that the eggs of the hives that contained the unborn demons were obliterated. "Hahaha, the Elders have finally appeared!" One of the Sinners said in a sinister tone. "Let's go Chrono. You're involved too. I'm going to need your help." Aion pleaded and offered his hand to Chrono. That was when Chrono had helped Aion by killing 100 demons of their own kind. Since then, Aion, Chrono and their followers became known as the Sinners, for they dared to go against Pandemonium and commit the heinous crime of killing demons from their own brethren. The revolution was a bloody one as a total of 1,000 demons died, including a huge number of Aion's followers. When the Sinners had no other choice but to escape, the Pursuers, demons who were still loyal to Pandemonium, tried to find them with the intention of executing them for their betrayal. Back in the present, Azmaria, Satella and Maria stared at Chrono shocked, for they could not believe that he was responsible for murder while Chrono began to tremble. "He's trembling. We can kill him. Get him Carv!" The Pursuer demanded. Carv then charged towards Chrono as fast as he could while snorting. "Die inside of this darkness, Sinner!" The tall Pursuer said. Just when Carv was getting closer to Chrono, Rosette stepped in and shot towards the oil tank on the ground which caused a huge explosion. Unfortunately, Carv managed to quickly escape the attack by flying up on a long upper metal staircase in the warehouse. "There!" Rosette shouted out when she saw the demon standing on the staircase and started to shoot towards it. The Pursuer however swiftly jumped down just when Rosette shot at it. "Damn, he's fast!" Rosette commented as she couldn't believe how quick the demon was. "So, what is it that you want us to do?" Rosette asked Chrono while he looked at her puzzled as if he did not understand what she asked. "We have to keep going forward. We can't let those Pursuers kill us!" Rosette turned around and said with determination. Chrono realized that Rosette was right with what she just said. "My answer was decided 4 years ago. I am going to meet Aion and…" Chrono thought to himself determinedly while he picked up a long stick from the ground and prepared himself to fight alongside Rosette and the others.
"That's odd, a flame inside my field? Is someone nullifying it? This isn't good!" The tall Pursuer said perplexed as he realized that his shadow was slowly starting to become lighter due to the flames. "Carv, something has come up. We need to change the plan!" The Pursuer told the pig demon. "Don't worry Gurio. I'll finish them off soon!" Carv assured Gurio and he began to inhale the flames with his pig like snout. As he was standing on one of the pipes high up, he then puffed out the flames from his mouth towards their direction. "Look out!" Rosette cautiously yelled out and took Azmaria's hand. Rosette docked Azmaria and herself from the incoming flames while Chrono grabbed Satella and Maria and swiftly jumped towards the upper level stairs where he managed to land successfully. "Rosette, Azmaria! The flames are spreading!" Maria called out towards them, informing them on the flames getting bigger. "We're alright! He's coming!" Rosette answered strongly as she pointed her gun out towards the front while Azmaria slowly got up from the ground. Rosette started shooting her gun towards Carv and just when it seemed that the bullets got inside his body, his skin then reflected the bullets back and he quickly charged towards the two girls. "What?!" Rosette frustratingly yelled out as she didn't expect that the Pursuer's body was immune to her Holy bullets. "His skin bounces my bullets back. And his flexibility is incredible. I can't get near him!" Rosette thought to herself as she could see that the Pursuer was too fast for her to catch. "Rosette, Azmaria, behind you!" Chrono, Satella and Maria warned the two girls at the same time. Rosette and Azmaria looked from behind that the pig demon was behind them, much to their worry. "Aaaaahhhhh!" The two girls yelled out when Carv suddenly grabbed them with his large hands. "Rosette, Azmaria!" The three yelled out. "Yes, that's right. Take away their attacks one by one. Little by little, make them defenseless until they can no longer move! This is our greatest strategy!" Gurio said satisfied while Carv was squeezing Rosette and Azmaria. Outside the warehouse, Father Remington was observing the Pursuer and his shadowy reflection. He also heard the strategy that the tall Pursuer was talking about which made him worried yet angry at the same time. "Hahahahaha, I got you now! Gurio, what do we do now?" Carv said triumphantly as he asked his partner Gurio. "Ummm, Gurio?" Carv asked curiously when he realized that Gurio wasn't answering him. "Now's our chance to attack, let's go!" Maria advised. "Right!" Chrono agreed wholeheartedly while Satella grabbed out one of her jewels. "Laden! Aufladung! Tiefer Fisch!" Satella called out once she loaded her jewels on her jewel summoning bracelet and the ghostly fish was released from the jewel. The jewel monster charged towards the Pursuer and pushed its way towards the wall. When the jewel monster hit the Pursuer, he accidently dropped Azmaria who yelled out until she reached the ground. Rosette on the other hand safely landed on the ghostly fish monster. "Rosette!" Azmaria called out as she could see that she was on Satella's jewel monster along with Chrono who was holding on to its long tail. The jewel monster then pinned the Pursuer against the wall behind him. However, Carv began to inhale again and he puffed out some air which caused the jewel monster to slowly start crumbling. "Aaaahhh!" Satella cried out shocked as Carv's attack towards her jewel monster put a strain on her jewel. Rosette struggled to keep herself on the ghostly fish monster while Chrono jumped towards Carv. He stretched out his hand while in another hand he was holding the long stick. Rosette was surprised that Chrono was able to go further than her as she could barely hold herself on the jewel monster. "Aion, just you wait! I'll be heading straight for you! To make the children's time from the Seventh Bell Orphanage unfreeze! Joshua, Rosette, and my own time!" Chrono thought to himself as he was thinking about Aion, the now frozen Seventh Bell Orphanage, Rosette, Joshua, as well as the time when Aion mercilessly ripped his horns out of his head. "By taking the next step, I will go through everything that stands in my way!" Chrono said with fierce determination and impaled Carv's mouth with the wooden stick. The blood started flowing out of his mouth due to the impalement. "Hahahahahaha! Fool, you can't defeat me with that!" Carv taunted him sinisterly. "Do you really think so?" Rosette asked confidently, pushed her gun towards the stick which made it slide into the gun's barrel. Rosette then shot her gun towards the demon's mouth which suddenly caused an explosion. The explosion broke the surrounding glass windows and all the mechanical parts that were on the ceiling around the demon had also exploded into pieces. Azmaria looked worried as she had a horrible feeling that Chrono and Rosette might have died in the explosion. "Are you alright liebekind?" Satella asked as she offered her hand to Azmaria. "Yes, I am! But what about Rosette and Chrono?" Azmaria asked worried once she got herself up. "We better see if they're okay. Who knows what might have happened to them." Maria said and they all ran towards the place where the explosion took place. "Even if the outer layer is tough, the inside should not be." Chrono stated. "I must say, those were fast reflexes." Rosette sighed. "Rosette, Chrono!" Azmaria called out towards them while they saw that the Pursuer was buried with the wrecked ceiling parts. "I guess this proves I'm smarter, right?" Rosette asked while she was sitting on the wreckage. "That's tough to say." Chrono answered weakly as he was lying on the fallen down ceiling parts. "We can't slack off now. There's still one more." Chrono pointed out. "Aah, I forgot!" Rosette whined. "You're such an imbecile! You always forget the most important things!" Chrono strongly said while the three girls looked at them with confused looks on their faces. "Oh, shut up!" Rosette replied back rudely as she punched him while Azmaria, Satella and Maria started to laugh at their amusing conversation. "That's right, for now I'll just go forward! It's better to go forward than back!" Chrono concluded optimistically. "Moron! Moron!" Rosette called as she began to playfully attack Chrono. "You're the moron!" Chrono said and attacked Rosette back. "I was so worried." Azmaria said in relief. "You two are so reckless." Satella pointed out as they all walked towards them. Just then, Chrono heard a loud noise from behind him. It was the Pursuer Carv, who had lifted himself up from the ground. "Crap, it's still alive!" Rosette commented nervously as she prepared her gun while they all saw the demon rising from the wreckage. "Fire!" One man commanded a group of nuns and they all started shooting at the Pursuer at once. After he was shot multiple times, the Pursuer Carv finally met his bloody demise as his body vanished. "The target is down!" One of the nuns said while they walked towards Rosette, Chrono and the others. "We will now be collecting the evidence. Over!" A man's voice answered on his headphones. Rosette, Chrono, Azmaria and Maria looked at the clergy members with a surprised and confused expression on their faces. "Sorry to keep you waiting Sister Rosette. The Headmaster of the Magdalene Chicago branch is waiting. Come with us." A brown haired man apologetically offered. "After we finish collecting evidence, we will return. Over!" One of the agents said from his headphones. "Thank you for helping us, Minister!" The agent thanked the minister as he walked towards him. "I came to Chicago on a different mission, but it's just my luck." Father Remington answered stoically. "In the previous smuggling incident, the report said that a demon master from Chicago was involved, so I was just on my way searching for demons to question." The minister revealed while he was looking at Gurio who was pinned to the wall with Barrier crucifixes which impaled his body and blood was all over the wall. "You appeared at the right time." The agent stated. "With that being said, I wonder if Pandemonium is trying to migrate the demons to this nation?" Father Remington asked himself in deep thought as he was trying to make a connection between Pandemonium and the smuggling incident.
