Chapter 23
After seeing Chrono's back story from over fifty years ago, Rosette's soul was finally taken to what appeared to be the underground sewer where a tomb was located. Rosette saw the chamber door opening itself abruptly and she walked towards it. Once she reached the door she slowly entered the tomb and continued walking down the stairs which led her towards Magdalene's coffin. There she found Chrono sitting beside it and was looking at her with a sad look on his face. "I've finally found you. I finally get to see you, Chrono!" Rosette said to him in a happy tone as her soul started to get closer to him. "Come on, let's go back!" Rosette pleaded, but Chrono continued looking at her with uncertainty and then looked away from her. "I can't! I can't go back!" Chrono loudly said to Rosette in a sad tone of voice. Meanwhile, back in the basement room, the three men were continuously watching Rosette to see if she would wake up by the time her limit in Chrono's soul was up. "She still hasn't woken up. It's past the time limit. If we continue to go on longer than this, she may not last much longer." Reverend Gilliam remarked concerned as he realized that Rosette should have woken up from the soul diving by now. "Not yet, she hasn't given up just yet." Father Remington said and it was decided that Rosette will continue on with the soul diving for a little longer. Back in Chrono's soul, Rosette saw Chrono walking towards the coffin and began to look at it with a tremendously sad expression on his face. "I can't go back Rosette!" Chrono said sadly as he opened Magdalene's coffin. "If I return, the same thing that happened to Magdalene will happen to you." Chrono explained to her emotionally. Rosette saw Magdalene's body inside the coffin which was surrounded with different kinds of flowers. "In the end the place was not a place of happy memories at all. It was a painful and unforgettable farewell." Rosette thought to herself as she could see clearly that Mary Magdalene's death was still haunting him to this very day. "That's why I can't go back. If I return, I'll drain your soul. That means I will end up killing you as well!" Chrono cried out emotionally while looking at Rosette with a teary expression. "Because of that you're going to stay here forever? This cold, dark depth of your consciousness?" Rosette asked him in surprise. "If that's the case, then why did you make a contract with me?" Rosette asked confused while Chrono just stood there deep in thought without saying a single word. "Even now I think if there had been another way, if nobody had been hurt, there would have been a different ending." Chrono said to her in a regretful tone and Rosette continued looking at him with great pity. "It's past the time limit! Why isn't she waking up?" Gilliam frustratingly asked the Elder. "It's time! Any more than this will surely put her in danger." The Elder said cautiously and started to turn off the soul diving machine. "Don't disconnect it needlessly!" Father Remington advised them while he was holding his cross shaped holster in his hand, his back turned towards them. "Then what should we do Remington?" Reverend Gilliam asked the minister as he raised his voice. Father Remington walked towards the restrained, unconscious Chrono and aimed his holster towards his neck. "Is it really going to end like this Chrono? All of your atonement, not even carrying out your responsibility, just like this?" Father Remington asked him curiously in a serious tone. Just then, the minister heard Rosette standing up from the chair and turned around. He saw Rosette walking towards Chrono's body in such a slow pace that it looked like she was hypnotized. When she finally reached the cross Chrono was restrained on, she stretched her arms towards Chrono's face and touched his cheeks. Back in Chrono's soul, when she touched his cheeks, Chrono was feeling uncomfortable as she took him by surprise. Rosette looked at Chrono's face with tears in her eyes while holding his cheeks and said "Chrono is kind, much too kind! It's sad. Even I have regrets. At the time I grabbed your arm, I was unable to see my surroundings. It was my fault! No, it was our fault!" Rosette said to him in an emotionally teary tone with tears in her eyes. She remembered the time when they confronted Aion at the Carnival and when she grabbed Chrono's arm as well as when he forcefully transformed into his demon form in a fit of anger. "I'm happy that you came with me. But if you say this was all a mistake then I understand. If you don't want to fight, then you don't have to. But if you're staying here for my sake, I can't agree to it! I don't want you staying here alone." Rosette said to Chrono in an emotional tone as she remembered all of the good times they had with each other. Chrono was deeply moved by her words as he looked at her with a surprised expression on his face. "Please Chrono, don't deny the good times we had as well!" Rosette begged him as tears began flowing intensely on her face while Chrono was still looking at her. Just then, the soul diving machine exploded which caused Rosette's soul to tear apart into nothingness. "Rosette!" Chrono shouted out as he became terrified with what he was seeing and abruptly stretched out his hand to Rosette's decaying soul. This abrupt action of his caused him to release himself from the cross on which he was restrained and this meant that he had finally woken up! The belts that were strapped onto him broke apart and Rosette along with Chrono landed onto the ground. This also meant that Rosette's soul was also saved. The three men looked at the two with astounded amazement as they were relieved to see that both Chrono and Rosette were alright. "You're too reckless. Aren't you supposed to leave people alone?" Chrono tiredly asked while looking at Rosette with tears in his eyes. He then began to cough heavily which Rosette had noticed. Her body also began to hurt a little from the excessive soul diving. "Rosette, are you alright?" Chrono asked alarmed. "I'm fine Chrono! Don't worry about it!" Rosette said reassuringly while still having tears in her eyes. "The pain, the sadness, let's bear it both together! Magdalene's too!" Chrono emotionally said while thinking of Mary Magdalene. "Yes, that's right. At that time, if we hadn't made the contract, you would have gone by yourself anyway. I thought I had to watch your back." Chrono thought to himself as he remembered the time when he formed a contract with Rosette and the fact that Rosette would have carelessly run off if they did not form a contract together. Chrono then hugged Rosette tightly and dearly with Rosette doing the same thing. The three men looked at them while having a relieved expression on their faces as they were glad that both Rosette and Chrono were alright.
At Eden deeply traumatized, Maria refused to come out of the bedroom Aion had put her in a few days ago. During that time, she was sitting on her bed and plotting how to get revenge on Aion. "I guess there's no way out of this. In order to put an end to Aion, I have to pretend to be his willing servant. Then when the timing is right, I can finally kill that bastard for raping me, taking me away from my family, and for making a fool out of me!" Maria said to herself as she realized that there were no other options in having Aion defeated. She then took off the white bandages from her wrists and feet and looked at her Stigmata. "I am sorry God, but this is the only way. Please forgive me o Lord!" Maria said apologetically to God as she was looking at the window. Just then, Aion opened the door and walked in which caught Maria by surprise. "Hello Maria, it's been a while! I hope you've made your decision by now!" Aion greeted as he was walking towards her while carrying the black dress he previously presented to her. Maria looked at him with a shocked expression in which Aion quickly caught on as he seated himself beside her. "So Maria, do you accept the offer I gave you a few days ago or not?" Aion asked her as he knew that she was still mentally vulnerable at that moment. Maria then got herself up from the bed and looked at Aion firmly, much to his surprise. "Aion, I accept your offer in being your willful servant once again!" Maria announced to him in a dead serious tone. "I see, so you have made the right choice after all, haven't you?" Aion said with a huge grin on his face as he got himself up from the bed and looked at her with satisfaction. "Yes Aion." Maria assured him. "Things are now going according to plan! With Maria now as my personal ally once again, I can continue forward with our plan for the Grand Apocalypse!" Aion thought to himself optimistically as he was sure that everything was going to go swimmingly. "Here's the dress Fiore had made for you and a necklace that goes with it!" Aion said as he gave her the extremely revealing black dress and the cross necklace that came with it. Maria took both the dress and the necklace and began to take off her clothes. Once she was done putting on the clothing Aion gave her and the cross necklace around her neck, she then turned around facing him. "My, you look so beautiful in that dress Maria! Even more beautiful than Mary Magdalene herself!" Aion said passionately as he was complimenting her beauty. "Before we start with our next plan, I would like to go down to the city where I can see that the people are being taken care of. After all, since I am the Holy Woman, it is my moral obligation to see whatever it is I can do to help them!" Maria requested. "But of course! Whatever you desire my dear!" Aion accepted and offered his hand to her. Maria hesitantly took his hand and they both then walked out of the bedroom. A little while later, Sister Kate and the Elder were communicating with each other on the headphones. They were discussing the activation of the Astral Line which caused many demons to reveal themselves in public. "In the darkness of the night, you aren't aware of anyone. The world is repainted in black. When you look at this view, you can think like that." Sister Kate remarked to the Elder. "My, that's very poetic Sister Kate." The Elder commented with a huge grin on his face. "Goodness Elder, that gives the impression you're nice! Don't mock me!" Sister Kate said embarrassedly while Sister Claire and Sister Mary chuckled at Sister Kate's reaction. "It's something like that, because demons have started moving everywhere." The Elder stated. "Yes, since the Astral Line has appeared, the demons have begun to reveal themselves. It looks like the Militia everywhere are dealing with them." Sister Kate remarked as another demon attack took place in Seattle not long ago, during the night. The demon flew quickly down from the sky and crashed at the ground towards the civilians which caused them to scream out of fright as the demon was aiming towards them. All of a sudden, one Militia agent abruptly appeared and climbed onto the demon, pulled out his gun and shot the demon multiple times. After the agent succeeded in killing off the demon, he went towards the car and picked up the phone from the car seat beside him. "This is Militia Storm Valerie, the mission is completed. What's next?" The agent asked as he informed one of the nuns on his mission completion. "Please wait. We're requesting reinforcements." The nun told him and then switched to another agent on the line. "This is Louis Rainback and Phaser. We have just finished our third extermination!" The agent said to the nun on the line. However, the telephone communication line began to become fuzzy and eventually disconnected which prevented the agent from explaining further. "We can't get in touch with the second unit. Is anybody nearby?" The nun asked as she was struggling to connect the telephone lines. "Crap! This is the fifth one tonight!" The blonde nun said in frustration. "Eyewitness reports on route eighty say the victims are a mother and a child." Another nun revealed as she and other nuns beside her were reporting the recent demon attack. "Demons hate to reveal themselves in public. What does this mean? In all, something is coming." The Pursuer asked himself in confusion as he was standing on top of a building while witnessing the various demon attacks from above. "There's no mistaking their goal. They are the Sinners. I know their location!" The Elder revealed to Sister Kate. "Really?" Sister Kate asked curiously. "Up until now, we only knew a few uncertain things surrounding the events of fifty four years ago from what Chrono remembered. However, this time the Astral Line has appeared and become active. So if we can calculate where the demons will go, within a fifty mile radius of Seattle in the sky." The Elder explained. "I see. If that's true, then we should set up a mission at once." Sister Kate said with great satisfaction as she knew that the Magdalene Order will eventually succeed one way or another. "Anyways, how is that child?" Sister Kate asked. "You mean Rosette? She's doing fine! She's helping the Militia out with serving the civilians some food and by the looks of it she sure seems to be doing a great job!" The Elder told Sister Kate. The people that Rosette was serving next were three children, two boys and one girl. "I don't need carrots." The blond haired boy said but Rosette just simply dumped the carrot soup into his bowl, much to the boys' shocked disappointment. "Don't give me that crap! Listen, if you don't stand in line, I'm not giving you any food, got that?" Rosette said in a strict, angry tone since she wasn't willing to put up with the children's food pickiness. "You're such a stingy old lady, Rosette!" The black haired boy angrily called out to her while the brown haired girl was having a sad look on her face. "What did you just say you stupid kid?!" Rosette snapped while the three kids ran away from her as fast as they could. "Yikes, Sister Rosette is angry!" One of the boys frightfully commented. "Well, I can see that you sure have a way dealing with kids Rosette!" Chrono commented as he was walking towards her while she was still fed up with their picky behavior. "Oh, Hi Chrono, what brings you here?" Rosette asked since she wasn't expecting him to be there. "I just wanted to see how you were going along with your duties and by the looks of it you sure are as short tempered as ever!" Chrono sneakily remarked while Rosette began chuckling to herself out of embarrassment. "Oh, here you go Chrono! I almost forgot!" Rosette cheerfully said and poured one serving of carrot soup into a bowl and handed it to Chrono. "What's this?" Chrono dubiously asked. "It's carrot soup. Oh, that's right! You hate carrots!" Rosette commented as she could tell that Chrono was not pleased with the food he was given. "No, I'll give it a try!" Chrono hesitatingly said as he then picked up his spoon and placed it into his mouth. Rosette was looking at him with deep satisfaction, hoping that he would eventually like it. "So, do you like it?" Rosette gleefully asked. "It looks gross, but it tastes okay I guess!" Chrono nervously said as he feared Rosette's reaction. "What did you just say Chrono?" Rosette asked in a haunting tone as she came closer towards him while giving him an intimidating look. "Nothing Rosette! The soup is good, very good!" Chrono said intimidated as he was spooked by Rosette's reaction.
"Hey look, there is a young woman who can perform miracles right up ahead, let's check it out!" One guy said to a group of friends while they were running. The guy's words caught Rosette and Chrono's attention. "A young woman who can perform miracles? Who could that be I wonder?" Rosette asked out of curiosity. "I don't know, but I guess it doesn't hurt to find out!" Chrono advised and they both made their way out of the food tent and followed the guys. By the time they got to the center of the base, they saw an enormously large crowd of people, much to their surprise as they weren't even expecting a crowd to be present. "Boy, this crowd sure is big, isn't it Chrono?" Rosette asked Chrono in disbelief. "Yeah, If only we could see who that woman is." Chrono commented as he was astounded that the crowd was big to the point that they couldn't see who the young woman was. "Well then, I guess this leads us no other choice." Rosette announced as she grabbed Chrono's hand and began to drag him towards the crowd. "Hey, what do you think you are doing Rosette?" Chrono asked as he protested to Rosette's sudden action. "Just follow me Chrono!" Rosette said and started to push her way through the crowd by cutting in, much to the people's annoyance. "Rosette, did you really have to make us push our way through all these people?" Chrono asked once they had finally reached the front of the crowd. "Well, what else was I supposed to do?!" Rosette asked annoyed. "I am just saying that we could have just simply found another way around this crowd, that's all!" Chrono answered while Rosette looked closer at the woman to see who she was. Much to her shock and horror, the young woman was none other than Maria who was accompanied by Aion. "No, this can't be true! It just can't!" Rosette exclaimed out of disbelief. "What's wrong Rosette? Did something happen?" Chrono asked and looked to the direction that Rosette was looking. "I can't believe it! Maria is with Aion amongst a huge group of people?" Chrono asked himself as he too could not believe with what he was seeing. A small girl then ran towards Maria. "Hello there little girl, is there something I can do for you?" Maria asked the girl in a soft, gentle voice. "My hand is scrapped!" The girl told her in a mildly sad tone as she showed Maria her hand. "Don't worry, you'll be alright!" Maria assured the girl and a glowing power then shined through Maria's hand as it healed the girl's scrapped hand. "So, how is your hand doing? Does it feel better?" Maria asked the girl who was looking at her hand with amazement that the wound was now gone. "Yes it is. Thank you so much!" The little girl said gratefully and hugged her tightly. After the girl was done hugging Maria, she then stood up from the ground. The crowd began to become amazed with Maria's ability as they never saw a woman who actually possessed healing powers. Several other people had then made their way towards Maria so they could have their injuries healed by her. "Oh my God, I can't believe this is actually happening. Maria is actually working with Aion again?! This just doesn't make any sense. Why would she choose to work for that demon again? Why?" Rosette confusedly asked herself as she never would imagine seeing Maria willingly be with Aion. "My, this sure is quite a gathering. I wonder what all the commotion is about?" Father Remington asked himself as he just got his way out of the crowd. "Minister, you have got to see this. This young woman here is actually Maria!" Chrono told the minister as soon as he saw him. Father Remington then turned his head towards the front and when he finally saw that the young lady was Maria, he all of a sudden froze in shock. "Maria, is this true? Have you actually decided to work alongside Aion again?" The minister asked himself as he couldn't accept the reality that he was seeing while Maria was busy healing another one of the individuals. "There you go, the bleeding has stopped now!" Maria said to a man whom she just healed its head. "Thank you Miss! Thank you so much!" The young man gratefully thanked her and left. "You sure are becoming quite the savior Maria! With your healing powers, you could basically heal the masses all at once!" Aion said to her with an impressed tone and walked away from the crowd. "Maria!" Father Remington called out to her. Maria then turned her head around and saw the minister walking his way towards her. Once Father Remington had reached her, Maria looked at him with a monotonous expression. "Hello Father Remington!" Maria greeted him as if he was a total stranger to her. "Maria, please tell me this is not true?! That you are actually on Aion's side?" Father Remington asked in a broken tone. "Yes Minister, it is true! I am doing this to help humanity!" Maria said but the minister wasn't convinced by what she said. "That's a lie!" Father Remington said in a strong voice while Maria began to mildly laugh. "Oh Ewan, you really don't understand, do you? Just look around you. People all around here had come for a miracle to happen. A miracle that would surely help end their suffering! I alone am the only one who the people can turn to!" Maria explained as she placed her hand on the minister's face. "But why would you do this through working with Aion?" Father Remington asked confused. "Things are not as they appear to be! I thought you of all people would know that." Maria said mysteriously. "Now please, if you will excuse me, I have another miracle that I would like to perform!" Maria pleaded as she then raised both of her arms high up. Just then, a glowing power began to emit through her body, which then spread through amongst the masses. "Wow, look at that! Could this woman actually be our savior?" One man asked astounded. "Well, if this power is really healing us? Then she must be the one!" The guy beside him remarked. "This is incredible! It's as if a new messiah has come!" One woman commented with amazement. "Shall we get going Maria?" Aion asked once the glowing power within Maria's body faded away. "Yes Aion, let's!" Maria said and they both walked their way out of the crowd with Maria holding Aion's hand. "Make way for the Holy Woman everybody!" One young man directed as they were both leaving the base. The crowd became mesmerized with her healing powers to the point that they started viewing her as both a savior and a messiah. "This is unbelievable. Those people are acting as if Maria is their savior." Chrono stated to Rosette as he was observing on how the masses have been elevating Maria to a virtual Messiah status. "Maria, wait!" Rosette shouted as she tried to run after her. "Rosette!" Father Remington said as he grabbed her. "Father Remington, let go of me! There's something I have to tell her!" Rosette protested. "There's nothing we can do now, I'm afraid." The minister said in a defeated tone. "What do you mean Minister?" Rosette asked confused. "This is Maria's decision. I guess we have no other choice but to accept it!" The minister said as if he had lost hope. The three of them looked on as Aion and Maria were leaving the base amongst the crowd.