Chrono Crusade 1. Reunions

**A/N:** Alright, I just want to thank everyone who's re-reading this re-write for sticking with me and not walking away. And thank-you for all your comments, Faves and Alerts! You guys are the reason that **I** Haven't given up on this story yet!

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Rosette Christopher stomped through the raised, open-air hallway leading to the main building, absolutely furious. She couldn't believe this! She only got to see her little brother once a year for two weeks, and they hauled him off for more training! She was going to give Sister Kate a piece of her mind! Guh, sometimes she wished they'd let her learn how to use the guns – at least then she'd be able to work out some of her frustrations. But no, only members were allowed. She supposed that she could understand, but still; she was bored, angry and frustrated... And, she suddenly realized, unsupervised.

The date was 1923 January 13 – exactly ten days before Rosette's 15th birthday, at which point she would have to leave the 7th Bell Orphanage. Like most modern teens, she had cut her hair short – in her case, into a bob – and was wearing a dress with the waist around her hips. Normally, a corset would be worn underneath and used to make her figure more boyish, but she couldn't afford one, and although Joshua had bought her the long-sleeved, sailor-style dress – which went down to just below her knees – she was currently wearing, her brother didn't have the funds to get her a corset either. As a result, the dress was a bit tight in the hips and chest area. On her golden-blond head was the sleekly styled hat that in later decades would become indicative of the 20s; a couche. The one that she was wearing was pale yellow, with lavender crochet lace over top. On the side was a flower – also crocheted – of the same color, with a green leaf on either side of it. They were crocheted as well. In contrast to the dress and hat she was wearing, the teen had on a leather coat and brown biker boots.

Rosette wondered when, exactly, it was that she had lost 'Sister Clairvoyant.' Actually, the Sister's name was Clarity, but she could sometimes have an uncanny insight into things Rosette would rather that she didn't, and had even been known to predict things before they happened, hence the nickname.

A mischievous, cat-like smile curled across the blond's face, her sky-blue eyes lighting up with mischief as she decided that, after coming here for nearly three years, it was high time that she started really exploring the place.

She looked one way and then the other, making absolutely certain that no one saw her, before heading towards the tree line at the back of the Order grounds. When Rosette saw a trio of nuns in blue and white habits walking through the open-air hallway that she had been treading only moments before, she plunked herself down and glared moodily at the main building. Doing so reminded her that she had been heading to Sister Kate's office to tell her off, but suddenly thought disappearing would give them a scare, and hopefully teach them a lesson.

By the time Rosette's visit with her brother was done, she would have nowhere to go; in a week and a half she'd be fifteen, and would no longer be allowed to stay at the Orphanage. Ms. Jean had been trying to help her find a job and a place to stay, but they'd had no luck so far. People just didn't want to hire a girl, and those that were willing paid so little that she'd never be able to make it on her own.

Rosette had no idea what she was going to do, and that frightened her.

The nuns continued down the open-air hallway, snubbing their noses as they went, and the blond stuck her tongue out at their retreating forms. The teen had never been able to figure out what their problem with her was, but for some reason, everyone at the Order – except Father Remington, Sister Kate, Sister Elizabeth and of course, her brother – treated her with disgust. Picking herself up off of the ground, she started towards the tree line again. Overhead, the sky was clear and sunny, the birds chirped happily all around, the grass under her boots was fresh and emerald green, and the stone paths were immaculately clean, without so much as a single weed growing between the tightly packed, pale paving stones.

All of it annoyed her.

Reaching the tree line, Rosette noticed that there were paths wide enough to fit a car. After a moment's debate, she decided to see where they led. Looking to her left, she saw that the path led to the long building with the angular supports – Rosette thought that they might be called buttresses, but she wasn't really sure – that started at the base of the roof and went all the way to the ground. Joshua had once told her that the building was used for training, and that they sometimes used real poltergeists and demons for more advanced training. The blond was sorely tempted to go take a look, but – much to her annoyance – she remembered her promise to her brother to steer clear of that building, and instead, she looked to the right. The only thing she saw in that direction was the dorm/cafeteria, which meant that the path angling off from it at the corner led to the outdoor training grounds, and around the back would be the path/road leading to the garage. Both of which Joshua had shown her a while ago. The number of escape plans that she had come up with after finding out where the garage is was staggering. All of them had been shot down by Joshua, until he had finally told her "I don't want to leave."

She'd never tell him, but she had cried herself to sleep every night for over a month afterwards.

A few paces away was a third, even wider path that gently curved out of sight. There were trees on the right of the path, and trimmed grass leading to bushes of varying sizes, and a couple more trees on the left. Spying water just past those bushes, she decided to investigate. Walking through a break between a bush and a maple tree, she quickly found herself standing next to a sparkling brilliantly – almost impossibly – pale blue pond.

"Wow," She mumbled, staring into the surprisingly deep pond.

Curious about how deep it was – and not noticing that the sky was now a softly glowing, pure white, along with anything beyond the trees and bushes – she brought one foot up, grabbed her boot, and started taking it off. A male voice from across the pond stopped her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. That pond isn't exactly normal."

Pausing, she looked up and set her foot back on the ground, stamping down to get her foot all the way back into her boot. Rosette looked around, trying to spot the source of the voice, but to no avail. A sharp whistle, and an "Over here!" brought her eyes around to an oddly familiar-looking man. He had spiky black hair swept back, with a single lock falling forward, and a hint of blue in it. He had handsome, fine-boned, friendly features, with a straight nose and fine eyebrows, and impossibly blue eyes that seemed to almost glow. He was wearing dark pants, and an un-tucked button-down shirt. His hands were in his pockets, and on one wrist was a watch. Whatever he had on his feet was hidden by the low bush he was standing behind.

"Name's Zack Fair," He said, "And yours?"

"Uh... Rosette Christopher..."

"Rosette Christopher..." He said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with one hand, "Rosette... Oh! Are you Joshua's sister?"

Rosette blinked once, staring at him in surprise, then asked, "You know my brother?"

"Yup, funny kid. Gets into a lot of trouble though... Definitely keeps Chrono on his toes."

Rosette was pouting. She didn't realize it, but she was. Zack hesitated, considering what to do, as he removed one hand from a pocket and rubbed the back of his neck. Getting an idea, he said, "You know, there's a bridge just over there." He pointed to his right, "If you want to stop having to yell just to be heard."

Rosette considered the man across the pond from her – he placed his hand back in his pocket – before deciding 'why not?' and went in the direction that he had indicated, following the edge of the pond. When she got to the bridge, she was startled to see that Zack had somehow beaten her to it, and was waiting on the other end. He smirked at her. Behind him was a white gazebo, with Roman-style pillars and a shingled roof topped with a white, miniature statue of a woman holding a set of scales.

As she set foot on the bridge and crossed, he said, "I got some food if you're hungry-"

Rosette's stomach made a sour, gurgling noise as she stepped off of the bridge, and both of them paused then laughed.

"It's not a full meal," He said, "but it'll at least put something in your stomach."

"Yeah... thanks. I haven't eaten since this morning." Her expression turned aggravated, "I was too angry after they came and grabbed Joshua for more training."

"Really? I thought you guys only got two weeks a year to see each other."

"We do!" She exclaimed, her expression turning furious, as Zack walked them over to the gazebo with Rosette stomping along beside him, "And they had the gall to haul him off for more training! They're just trying to push me further out of his life! First, it's fewer calls, then..."

And so Rosette spilled her guts about the last nearly-three years to Zack, who listened patiently while she stuffed her mouth, not noticing that he wasn't eating. Eventually, she tired herself out and fell asleep. The bench inside of the gazebo was done as a three quarter square, rather than following the shape of the gazebo, so she was able to stretch out. How he ended up with her head on his leg, Zack wasn't entirely sure of, but he had.

"Just like when she was a kid," He muttered to himself, then added a little louder, "It's alright. You're safe to come out; she's asleep now."

Zack could hear foliage rustling and a moment later, a relatively tall, muscular, Caucasian man in slacks, a tucked in button-down – top two buttons undone – and a blazer leaned his forearms on the wall of the gazebo. He had strong features that were, nonetheless, reminiscent of Zack's, though the bridge of the newcomer's nose was wider, the jawline more masculine – and sporting a short beard – and his eyebrows naturally arched. His blue-black hair was neatly brushed, as always, and a few inches long.

"She's grown..." The newcomer commented quietly, more to himself than to Zack.

"Yeah," Zack agreed anyway, "Looks like her mom too..."

"So does her brother."

The name of the man leaning against the gazebo wall was Angeal Hewley, once Zack's mentor and a SOLDIER 1st class. Given enough time, every civilization falls and the one that they'd been born into had been no exception, though its fall had come about five thousand years or so after they had died the first time.

When death claims most, they become part of the Lifestream and lose their individuality as they blend back into the life force of the planet. Sometimes, though, a strong enough soul will retain 'themselves' within the Lifestream; such was the case with these two men. What separated them from all but a few hundred – which was nothing in comparison to the number of people who have lived and died throughout the ages – was the fact that, every once in a while, they were sent back by the planet to help save the world. The last time that Zack and Angeal had been sent back was about twenty years ago, and they had died again around eleven years later. And yes, they had known Rosette and Joshua before the siblings had been sent to the orphanage, although Angeal had been going by an entirely different name at the time.

"How much of the conversation did you hear?"

"Enough to know that she may be on the streets soon," Angeal answered, his brows furrowing, as worry and anger clouded his too-blue eyes.

"Unless the Order didn't have any choice but to take her in..." Zack suggested.

Peering over at his once-pupil a bit suspiciously, Angeal asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well... If she knows what's going on, and gets involved deeply enough-"

"No," Angeal snapped angrily, abruptly standing up ramrod straight, "I do not want that **monster** anywhere near her!"

Zack sighed and said, "Angeal, she knew what she was doing!"

Rosette stirred slightly and both men lowered their voices.

"There is no way," Angeal countered, planting his hand on the wall, and leaning over it again to whisper fiercely at Zack, "That she understood the consequences when she was only twelve!"

"You're underestimating her."

Angeal's glare, if anything, got more ferocious.

"A child – whether they realize it or not – thinks they're immortal, that nothing can actually hurt them. She may have outgrown some of that by now, but I guarantee you that she hadn't by then!"

Zack sighed again.

"You got a better idea? We're kind of dead at the moment, so I really can't see too many other options."

Angeal ground his teeth in frustration, his glare hardening on the other man, who stared back with an unusually serious expression. Normally it was Zack who was the emotional one and his companion the one who kept a level head.

"Angeal," Zack finally said, "She's going to end up on the street, or working absurd hours for a ridiculously low wage for years to come, until some guy decides to marry her and she starts having kids."

Angeal's glare softened and he turned his eyes back to Rosette's sleeping form. A mental struggle warred visibly across his handsome features until they finally went slack. His large body slumped, he hung his head, and a sigh drifted past his lips. Zack knew that he had won the argument.

"If that monster," Angeal said at length, "Does anything else to her, I will find a way to resurrect myself and make certain that he pays."

"Fair enough."

The threat was not an empty one.

Rosette woke up about an hour later, feeling very rested and refreshed – and was by herself. Looking around she found an envelope nearby on one of the three benches. Standing, she walked over and picked the letter up. After examining it and finding nothing to indicate who had left it she assumed that it had been Zack and opened the unsealed envelope. Pulling out the letter, Rosette read it.

_Hey, Rosette. Sorry for up and vanishing on you! Had to get going_ _and didn't want to wake you. Anyway, if you go back the way you came_ _you'll see that one of the paths curves. Follow that one_ _and you'll come to an old church. Knock on the door. The guy inside is called Elder, he should be able to point you in the direction of Chrono._

_~Zack_

Rosette stared at the letter in surprise for a moment, before noticing that there was a postscript at the bottom in different – easier to read – handwriting.

_P.S. The old man is a pervert; feel free to hit him if he tries anything funny._

The postscript had a dash, like someone had been about to sign their name, but decided not to at the last moment. Either way, the blond was glad that someone had thought to give her a heads-up on what this old man was like, and debated whether or not she actually wanted to deal with him. After a minute, the temptation of seeing Chrono again after three years proved to be too much and, absently stuffing the letter in her pocket, she headed back across the little, arching bridge. When she was at the highest point on it she spied the path and decided to make a beeline for it rather than retrace her steps.

A couple of minutes later, and she was standing on paving stones again. Rosette glanced around to orient herself, spotted the familiar buildings of the Order, and went in the opposite direction, following the curving path. It was only a couple of minutes again before the trees gave way to trimmed grass, and the old church came into view. The building was covered in moss, partially surrounded by a stone wall that hugged close to the side of the building. It had paneled, double doors, with steps leading up to them, and a wooden bench off to the side at the base of the stairs. Directly behind the bench was a wall that jutted out from another one, which partially covered the front of the building. Rosette didn't know it, but this was the original Order outpost for the area. On one end of the wall that the bench sat next to was a marble gargoyle with wings, and was about the size of a very stocky and muscular child. At the peak of the roof and directly above the double doors was an old, worn out statue of Jesus facing to the side and beginning to reach upwards beseechingly with one hand. Chimneys stuck up from seemingly everywhere on the roof. Rosette counted at least seven.

Behind the old church was another tree line. A yew tree grew closer to Rosette on the lawn, which the blond passed as she walked up to the building. As she drew closer, she noticed that the arch above the doors – along with every wall that she could see – wasn't just made of stone; it was made of reddish-tan, stone bricks. Three strides away from the steps, and one of the double doors opened, revealing a hunched-over old man with the strangest, red-lensed goggles Rosette had ever seen in her life. The lenses were set in tarnished brass, and on the underside were steel-colored, metal half circles that attached to two unpolished, brass arms that further attached to thinner, silver-colored arms that disappeared behind his ears. Coming out of one of the goggles' arms was a black wire that attached to something white in his ear. On his head was a round, black cap covering his flaring, gray hair. Above the goggles was a set of bushy, gray eyebrows, and on his chin was a matching tuft of beard.

The old man was wearing a priest's cassock, though it was short even by the Order's standards, all black – instead of the Magdalene's blue – and the collar was missing, leaving the neck open. Over top all of this, he had on a white lab coat.

He broke into a grin, and asked, "Well, who do we have here?"

"...Rosette Christopher. And you?"

"Ah! Joshua's sister! Well, it's good to finally get to meet you... And I must say, he forgot to mention how pretty you are. I'm the Elder."

Remembering what the letter had said about Elder, she gave the old man a wary, suspicious look.

"Oh, come now! Don't give me that look! What has that boy been telling you about me?"

"Not much," Rosette answered bluntly, "Anyway, I was told that you could tell me where I can find Chrono."

The old man frowned at her, and hummed thoughtfully, his hand on his chin. She didn't know it, but he was debating whether or not to ask her to let him grab her breasts in exchange for showing her. Whichever way he chose would decide his health for about the next week or so. He did not make the right choice, but, then again, when it comes to pretty girls he rarely does.

"I'll show you if you let me fondle your breasts..."

He ducked the first boot she immediately threw at his head – which banged loudly against one of the doors, before rebounding and tumbling down the stairs – along with the second boot, but he still got nailed with her fist when she landed a roundhouse on him. The noted that she's very fast. He fell to the ground, where she proceeded to try stomping on him. Elder managed to dodge most of the blows, though she did land some that were going to leave some nice bruises later, and all the while, he was getting to see up her knee-length skirt.

"I see London, I see France!" he sang gleefully.

Realizing what he meant, she let out an embarrassed yell, stopped trying to pummel him with her bare foot and pressed her hands onto her skirt like she was trying to keep it down as she stumbled back. This was an instinctive response to try and stop him from looking up her skirt. Unfortunately, she forgot how far – or, more precisely, how close – the stairs were, and fell backwards. Luckily for her, it was only four steps, so she didn't get anything worse than a bump.

"Oh my!" Elder exclaimed, getting up and going down the stairs.

Grabbing her arm with a surprisingly firm grip for an old man, he helped her stand, saying, "Here, let me help you."

Once standing, he asked her if she was alright.

"Uh, yeah... I'm jake. Thanks." She answered, surprised.

"Come on." He said, now feeling a bit guilty, "I'll show you where you can find Chrono."

Rosette's face light up.

She didn't hear him add in a mutter, "Though I'll probably lose my job for this..."

"Anyway," He added louder, beginning to walk away from her, the odd little church and the path, "If you'll follow me..."

Rosette started to follow him, and then realized that she was in only her socks.

"Ah, wait! I have to grab my boots!"

The old man paused and glanced over his shoulder, waiting as the blond teen ran over to the double doors, scooping up the boot at the base of the stairs, and grabbing the other one from the top. Deciding that since the Elder was heading towards a grassy path and she'd like to feel it under her feet, she tucked the boots under her arm, raised one foot and balanced on the other as she tugged the first sock off. Setting her foot back down, she stuffed the sock into one of the boots, then repeated the actions with the other foot.

That all done, Rosette grabbed both boots by their laces and chased after the old man, relishing when she felt the cool, refreshing sensation of the grass on her bare feet. She would never understand why Joshua liked the city so much. Yes, it has its advantages, but the countryside was cleaner, less crowded, less smelly – she'd never been to a farm – and had so fewer restrictions. Besides all that was the fact that you also **knew** everybody, as opposed to all of them being strangers to you at any given time. It was creepy. Joshua always argued that you got to meet so many new people, instead of always having to deal with the same idiots all the time.

Rosette understood full well why he would say things like that. After the Incident everyone at 7th Bell had been scared of him and tried to avoid him as much as was possible given where that they were all living together. Oftentimes, they had used his past health issues as an excuse to not include him in things. Rosette and Chrono had spent the majority of their time with him – at least until Chrono suddenly vanished, and Joshua then joined the Order a few days later.

Rosette had been left behind.

Catching up with the old man he started walking again, telling her as they went about some of the more interesting incidents Joshua had gotten himself into, but had not told her about due to orders – which had never been issued to Elder, so he quite happily informed her of what her brother had been up to since he had joined the Magdalene Order.

The teen didn't know it, but he was deliberately leaving out the incidents that would understandably frighten her on her brother's behalf (this included the incident involving the doctors, a very angry Chrono, and some remodeling afterwards). On they walked as he continued regaling her with stories. When he ran out of ones to safely tell her about Joshua the old man moved on to stories about Chrono. Imagine Rosette's surprise to learn that there was a way to and from the demon world! And Chrono didn't even need to use it to make the journey. She had gotten hints from Joshua that their friend was an extremely powerful demon, but, from what the Elder was saying, it sounded like Chrono was more powerful than everyone else... That couldn't be right... Could it?

"Well then, here we are!" The Elder announced, jarring her out of her thoughts.

The first thing that Rosette noticed about the place was that the moss – the grass had given way to it about five minutes ago – led straight into a wooded area. The second thing that she noticed was the pale yellow ribbon tied to a sapling at the edge of the tree line, a very familiar pale yellow ribbon. Did he-? Have they been-? She was going to kill Chrono! That had been her favorite ribbon she had given him!

"The ribbons mark the path," Elder explained, indicating the first one, and completely oblivious to Chrono's impending doom, "Just follow them until the building comes into view. I'm not allowed to tell anyone how to find, or use, the door, so you're on your own there."

"Thanks," Rosette grumbled, glaring daggers at the yellow ribbon fluttering offensively from the sapling.

Turning around, Elder noticed the near-murderous look and where it was directed, then belatedly recalled that Chrono had once told him that the ribbon had come from Rosette. Deciding to save the poor demon from the blond teen's wrath, Elder explained Chrono's reasons.

"Rosette," He called, unusually serious.

Said girl's attention slid away from the offending object and over to Elder.

"Do you know why Chrono decided to use this ribbon?"

"No," She answered crankily.

"Well, Chrono once told me that he decided to use it to mark the path as a reminder to himself."

"A reminder?"

"Yes, of the one time in his life that he could remember being both happy and content. He said that whenever he sees the ribbon it reminds him that, even though those days were gone, there is still the possibility that happiness and contentment can be found again with the people he cares most about."

Rosette's gaze went back to the ribbon, but this time her expression was thoughtful.

"Oh," Was all she said in answer.

"Well," Elder said abruptly as he started walking away, "This trek is too much for this old man. Just follow the ribbons, and you'll be fine. Good luck!"

Rosette watched for a few moments as his hunched form retreated with surprising speed before she turned back around and started towards the path. She would have put her socks and boots back on, but the path was covered in moss – and lined on either side by more yellow ribbons. Some were tied to bushes and undergrowth, but the majority was tied to low-hanging branches. Her expression softened at the sight. Like Chrono and her brother, she wished that they could all go back to those days and, like them, she knew that was impossible.

With a sigh, she half-crouched, half-knelt down, placing her boots on the ground. Taking the laces of both, she tied them together, then draped them over her shoulder, one boot going over her chest and the other her back. Normally, the weather would still be too cold for her to do this, but, for some reason, the weather was unseasonably warm. Standing back up, she headed down the path.

The walk down the path proved to be fairly boring, though it was interesting to find out that the moss seemed to glow blue-green in the shade. As she went deeper into the forested area, the trees got larger and older. The ribbons were more commonly tied to undergrowth and – eventually – even that gave way to tall, delicately-wrought peaked arches made out of some dark material that Rosette couldn't identify no matter how much she inspected them. Eventually, her target came into sight within a small clearing that looked like it was from a fairytale-like land. Carpeting the entire area was the same blue-green moss that had lined the path and hanging from the branches of the enormous trees were draping curtains of yet more moss – this stuff green and flowering. The blossoms gave off a faint glow, though this went unnoticed by Rosette as she stared, dumbfounded, at the three-story building in the center of the clearing.

The building looked like a layered, near-white, pristinely clean, squat, oval fortress tower decorated with more peaked arches – one stacked on top of the other – that reminded the teen of flower petals. The first layer of the three-story tower tapered in and up to the next one, which was narrower. The second layer did the same, making the top half the width of the bottom. Rosette wasn't really sure what she had expected, but this fairytale scene was not it. Surprised, she crossed the clearing and when she was within reach placed her bare hand against the surface of the wall, next to the leg of an arch. Peering at the surface, it was easy to see that whatever it was made out of wasn't stone. The surface was far too smooth and non-textured. Anything made, her subconscious informed her, had some kind of texture – however fine and seemingly undetectable.

Unable to identify what it was about the structure that bothered her, Rosette started inspecting the building. The first thing that she looked at was where the arches met the rest of the wall. They seemed to be made of the same dark, colorless material that the arches lining the path were made of and were raised from the wall by about two fingers' widths. But there was no seam between wall and arch, nor was there any overlap of color from either the wall or the dark material to indicate that either had been painted.

"Jeepers..." She muttered.

Now thoroughly unnerved Rosette took a few steps back and stared up at the otherworldly-seeming structure. After a few seconds she gave herself a shake.

"C'mon," She told herself, "No point in lollygagging."

With that said, the teen started looking for a door, all the while keeping in mind what Elder had said about finding the door. When her first circuit around yielded nothing she frowned and circled the building again. Nothing, not even a window. She made another yet another circuit, now very curious and determined to find a way inside. This time, she started looking higher up – and found exactly what she was looking for; a window situated high above her head, very near the top. Looking the side of the building over she quickly determined that this was not going to be an easy climb.

_It shouldn't be any harder than climbing the side of that waterfall two years ago... S_he assured herself.

About two years ago Rosette had been exploring around the lake she, Joshua, and Chrono used to play by when she discovered a small waterfall about fifteen feet high. Roughly halfway up she had seen something flash in the sunlight and – curiosity getting the better of her (especially with no around to caution some sense into her) – she had set up the slippery wall of rocks. She had gotten a broken arm for her efforts, but she had also gotten what had been tucked away up there, a simple teardrop-shaped necklace on a fine chain. She'd worn it ever since and even now it was hidden under her dress.

Her brother often accused her of being too curious – at times with good reason – though he was still the only one who didn't tell her that she was an idiot because of it. The teen aged girl however, did agree with the others that she wasn't exactly the smartest person around. But that didn't stop her from getting mad at them every time they said it.

Walking backwards until she was nearly in the tree line, Rosette hooked her thumb on the tied-together laces of her boots and pulled them off of her shoulder setting them on the ground. Her jacket was unceremoniously dumped on top of them a moment later and she rolled up her sleeves a broad, closed-mouthed grin pulling at her lips. Rubbing her hands together she set herself in a position very similar to a runner's starting stance in a race, then went at the building running. When she got close enough, she jumped, planted her bare feet on the building wall and pushed herself up higher. Grabbing at the ridge which formed an arch, created where the building tapered up into the next level, she scrambled until she got her feet planted on the top of two arches. Pleased – and her stomach now sore from colliding with the corner of the taper – Rosette then started climbing again.

A few minutes later and she was looking into the window from a very precarious position. The window was too grimy to see anything though, so she very carefully reached into a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, which she then used to try and wipe the window clean. When she was satisfied, she – handkerchief still in hand as she gripped the small ledge of the window – looked in again. It was too dark for her to see anything.

_There __**has**_ _to be a way in__,_ she thought in frustrated annoyance.

Although it took Rosette a few minutes – in which her arms and legs began to get tired, though country life and a lot of exploring throughout her life had given her good stamina and muscle tone – she found something along the lower edge of the window. It looked like some kind of weird script had been carved into the window frame. She couldn't really make it out though, because it was caked in dust.

The handkerchief was put to use again.

When she had wiped away as much as she could Rosette returned her fabric-bearing hand to gripping the sill. She inhaled deeply, then blew across the script to try and get the rest of the dust out of the gouges. The moment her breath touched it the script lit up all around the window and down the length of the building. There was a bright glow directly in front of her that should have hurt her eyes, but didn't. When it faded she found a door where previously there had been solid stone and glass. The blond also now found herself lying, uncomfortably, on a set of stairs that had extended out of the wall.

Rosette stood up and examined the entryway. It looked to be made of something metallic and silvery, and had a lever handle.

She had no way of knowing, but normally a door like this one would have a terminal, into which a passcode would have to be inputted.

Rosette Christopher would never understand what possessed her to reach out and turn that handle, but she did, and then stepped through. On the other side, she found herself on a sizable balcony – oddly warm under her bare feet and **very** hard – going from one side of a domed chamber to the other, with stairs at the halfway point leading down to a large space below. Tall stone pillars reached all the way to the ceiling above her head, where they became beautifully carved, cathedral arches. Hidden somewhere at the base of each arch were green lights that gave everything a slightly surreal cast. On the floor was a mosaic made out of honeycomb-shaped tiles. It depicted what looked like an armless, horned, winged – one set on the woman's back, the other on her lower half – mermaid, with a severely bloated lower half, sleeping with her head turned upwards. She was beautiful, but something about her gave Rosette the creeps. Maybe it was all those extra fins and that snaking tail extending past the bloating, combined with the double set of angelic wings...

Coming to a decision, the teen turned around to go wait for her brother so that she could ask him about this, but found that, oh dear, the door was gone. Frantically, she looked for anyway out and/or weird scripts carved into something. When she found nothing she took a deep breath and looked again, this time more calmly. And then looked again and again and again... And again. Over and over, Rosette tried to find some way out that was attached to the balcony – because there was nothing to climb on the walls – but could find nothing.

Scared, she leaned against the wall and slid down to sit heavily on the floor, pulling her legs close to her chest and hugging them as she tried to figure out what to do. The teen took several calming, steadying breaths, refusing to acknowledge the tears clogging her throat and stinging her eyes.

_Think, think, think! You may not have much of a brain, but you've got enough to use, so figure something out!_

"Hello?" A male voice called, startling the teen out of her thoughts.

Rosette scrambled to her feet, and ran to the top of the stairs, her footfalls barely making any sound to her ears. There, standing almost dead center of the mosaic, was a man with shoulder-length dark hair, long, pointed (furred?) ears, **horns**, **wings**, handsome features – she felt a blush creeping onto her cheeks – a neutral expression, and a dark outfit that looked like it just might be some kind of very form-fitting armor. On his forehead were three dark dots in a triangle pattern. From the base of his skull was a long, segmented... Something... That ended in a sharp point and seemed to float away from his back.

She stared down at him, not sure what to do with this oddly-familiar looking man in front of her.

Finally, he spoke, his tone one of disbelief.

"R-Rosette?"

"Huh? Do I know you?"

"...Magdalene's Tomb. You gave me candy."

A moment of silence as this processed, and then she finally exclaimed, "CHRONO?"

She hadn't realized that it was him because 1) she had only seen her demon friend in this form twice, 2) it had been three years ago that she had last seen him and there were no pictures at 7th Bell of Chrono anywhere and 3) he had looked fifteen years old the last time she had seen him.

He was about to answer her in the affirmative, when she barreled down the stairs and nearly tripped. With a startled "Gah!" he put on a burst of speed and caught Rosette before she took the fast and painful way down to the plaza.

"Geez, Rosette." He said, looking slightly exasperated, his hands holding her shoulders, "You haven't changed a bit..."

"Shaddup!" She exclaimed, righting herself, ready to bonk him on the head, only to find that he was too tall for her to properly reach, even standing one stair lower.

Refusing to be deterred, she pulled free of his grasp and moved up three steps, much to his surprise and confusion. Keeping a hand on one of his (definitely armored) shoulders she made sure that she could reach without losing her balance and bonked him a good one on the top of his noggin. He was a bit startled by this – though unhurt – and stared up at her in confusion.

"You just left!" She yelled, trying, and failing, not to sound hurt.

He sighed.

"Rosette, I told you I was going to have to leave eventually to stop Aion."

"You could have visited, or written, or, or – told me! You didn't say goodbye, or anything. You just left me!"

He saw flashes of the last three years go through her mind, though nothing clear. Even without seeing those memories he had realized by what she had said that she was lonely and felt abandoned.

It was nearly three years ago – just a few months after she and Joshua had found him in Magdalene's Tomb, and pulled him out of the literal and metaphorical darkness – that Aion had nearly taken Joshua away. Chrono had just barely managed to get to Joshua and pull his horns off of the boy's head before it was too late. He had undone the Freeze her brother had placed on the others in the orphanage and had then decided to remain in his sealed form as he figured out what to do. Although he had ended up only looked like a child for a few weeks more due to the fact that he started growing at a phenomenal rate thereafter until he looked like the adult he is. Ms. Jean had insisted on him staying at the orphanage, even after seeing him in his true form and for nearly four months he had happily helped her care for the children. That is until Duke Duffau showed up and offered him amnesty in return for helping them deal with Aion.

He had taken the offer, if only because his presence was a threat to the children of the orphanage. Rosette was mad more because he hadn't said goodbye than because he hadn't visited or gotten some word to her, though she wanted to be.

Picking her up so that she didn't tumble down the stairs Chrono said, as he made his way to the foyer, "The door won't open again for a few days. You can stay with me until then, but **please** stay close and do as I tell you."

He didn't see the slight blush across her cheeks. She wasn't sure why, but she liked the fact that he could lift and carry her so easily.

At the bottom of the stairs he set her down again and this time did notice her blush, making him wonder why she was blushing. Dismissing it for the moment, he, knowing that she just might wander off simply to spite him at the moment, wrapped his segmented tail – growing out of the base of his skull – around her waist. He noted that she was starting to get curvy as he led her to an exit that would take them to a Gate Room, which would then take them to the capital. They had recently started expanding out from Pandemonium when Chrono had pointed out that their numbers had become so precarious after the rebellion because the lack of space demanded controlled numbers. He had also pointed out that they needed a way to get to the surface more easily to catch Aion and other transgressors (there **a****re **other law breakers among demonkind – and all of them are called 'sinners').

As a result there are now two cities already built – demons are very efficient workers and the help of literally countless Legion hadn't hurt – branching off from Pandemonium, a third underway and tunnels being constructed under the noses of humans all over the world, with entrances/exits to get to the surface. The one Rosette had just come through was made to keep contact with the Order, who had been proving to be an asset in catching sinners. To say that many Pursuers had been shocked by the number of crimes committed on the surface by their brothers and sisters was a bit of an understatement.

Their alliance with the Order, though, was entirely secret and not even the Bishops' Council knew about it. Hence why the doorway was a forty minute walk away from all the other buildings.

As Chrono entered the tunnel he turned off the alarm lights hidden up on the ceiling and triggered the door to close behind him and Rosette. The walk down the barely-lit, spacious hall wasn't long, but she grumbled under her breath anyway, stopping only when they entered the more brightly lit Gate Shift Room. The teen stared. The room was enormous, and made of the same material as the tower. The walls were lined in interconnected arches that, this time, were made of the same pale stuff as the walls. In the center was a dais and a few feet away from that was a hexagonal hip-high – on Chrono – pillar about two feet wide by six inches across. The top of the pillar was angled and faced towards the dais.

Chrono gently pulled the gaping girl along, pausing at the pillar to tap in some commands on the terminal in the short pillar. With that done he then took her over to the Gate Platform and stepped up onto it. With his tail still wrapped around her waist Rosette had no choice but to follow and ended up standing next to him. Instead of going straight to the capital like he had initially intended to he was now taking her somewhere else.

Normally, a Gate Shift requires a Technician to safely operate it, but, in this case, the Gate itself had preset destinations, so as long as a person knows how use the terminal they can select where they want to go. Chrono had bypassed entirely this to take Rosette to see something. This hacking skill, along with knowing how to safely operate a Gate Platform, was something that Aion had insisted they all learn how to do. Though, in Chrono's case, he had already known how to hack the system. It had been something he had done a lot when he was younger.

There was a rush as the Gate Platform activated that disoriented Rosette and then, just like that, they were on another Platform in a nearly identical room. The difference was that the room was much smaller and the terminal was missing. In it's place was an attached, raised room with all of the controls necessary to operate a Gate. It was also manned by a rotund, relatively Human-looking demon with sharp eyes and a hawkish nose. He had a three-quarters ring on his back with spikes coming off of it that work in place of rings.

"We're not there yet, but there's something that I want to show you."

Looking around, understandably bewildered, she exclaimed, "That fast?"

He smiled – a bit amused – and answered, "Yes."

"Mister Chrono..." The technician manning the Gate Room said calmly, drawing the attention of the two arrivals.

"Technician," Chrono acknowledged.

"What is... That doing here?"

Rosette got the distinct and annoying feeling that 'that' meant her.

"She stumbled through one of the entrances on Magdalene Order grounds, Manhattan branch. I'll be keeping an eye on her until she can go back."

The technician frowned, but nodded. Chrono had just – deliberately – told him that the entrance had spontaneously opened without warning and which one. Since Chrono didn't have any rank, he couldn't just go up to someone and say 'Hey, this needs to be looked at.', but there are some, like the technician, that know him well enough by now that he can drop them clues.

The technician watched Chrono leave, His Human in tow and wondered where he was taking it. The only thing currently in the direction he was headed was the unfinished tunnel on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean... Well, Chrono had always been an odd one.

* * *

Chrono led Rosette along the almost pitch-black tunnel for nearly half an hour, before stopping and holding his hand up above his head. An orb of light seemed to manifest out of nowhere in his palm, much to the blond's shock.

"Joshua's come down through the way you had for various reasons," Chrono informed her, "But I've never been able to show him this."

"Wha- Joshua's- He never..."

"He probably couldn't. The demon-Magdalene Order alliance is strictly off the record."

"...Oh," She answered, suddenly feeling completely left out of the loop again and finding the floor terribly interesting.

"Rosette, take a look."

She did, not sure what she had expected, but a giant eyeball above her head definitely wasn't it. The sight was utterly terrifying, but then Chrono was standing right behind her, his hands on her shoulders (the orb of light was floating in the air behind them), and saying, "You're the first human in centuries to see a kraken and live, Rosette."

She turned a stunned look up to his smiling face and her fear evaporated, just like when she had first met him.

"That's a-?" Was the best the teen could get out.

"Yes." He turned his attention back up to the creature, "They live on the bottom of both oceans, and only rarely go to the surface, even when they're young. They're basically the biggest squids alive. Oh, you're also the first human to be standing on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Don't worry, the tunnel is extremely strong. You're safe."

Speechless, Rosette turned her attention back up to the giant eyeball. She sucked in a sharp breath when she saw it light up in a display of breathtaking color.

"That's how they communicate; they're very intelligent... Way smarter than you or I."

"W-wow," She finally managed to get out, still not sure what to feel about any of this.

Rosette stepped away from his comforting presence, his hands slipping off of her shoulders and his tail from around his waist, until she was standing only a foot away from the clear material holding the ocean back.

Chrono let her stare at the creature until it decided that it had shown off enough and left, which took roughly two hours; Rosette's feet were killing her by then and her lower back wasn't fairing much better. He still had no idea how he had managed to convince anyone that it would be a good idea to allow people to see the ocean outside the tunnel, but he had. And he was really glad right now that they had listened.

A bit reluctantly, he said, "Rosette, we gotta leave now."

She looked as reluctant to leave as he felt. To his amazement, she didn't argue though. Not sure what to make of this deviation in her behavior from what he remembered, he took her back to the Gate Room.

His reluctance was born out of the fact that he really – and with very good reason – didn't want her around his kind too much. The fast rate at which they heal allows them to be pretty brutal with each other. In most cases without too many consequences beyond angering or annoying someone. Unfortunately, this meant that it could be dangerous to let a human around them, since most didn't seem to quite grasp how delicate they are.

When they reached the Gate Room, Chrono was only mildly surprised to find the Duke sitting on the edge of the platform, his forearms resting on his knees and his long fingers loosely inter-laced. He was probably waiting for Chrono. He had his usual stern frown and scowl in place as he regarded the two.

"Chrono, who have you brought down here?"

"... Rosette Christopher, the Apostle Joshua's older sister. She came through-"

"The technician has already given me those details. What do you intend to do with her?"

"I was going to have her stay with me-"

"You think that you can protect her?"

"Most haven't forgotten what I did on the day of the rebellion."

"Exactly. You have enemies that will exploit her."

"If they lay a hand on her-!"

"You'll what?" The Duke interrupted, his deep, stern voice easily cutting over Chrono's, "Commit another act of treason, and kill them?"

When Chrono answered, his tone was chilling, and actually gave the other two in the room pause. Rosette was stunned at this new side to her childhood friend.

"If I have to."

The Duke was quiet for a moment, before answering.

"Chrono, the Unranked One, the Apostle Joshua Christopher's elder sister is present as a guest of Pandemonium. You are to act as her bodyguard for the duration of her stay. Is that understood?"

Chrono was more than a little surprised, but bowed out of reflex and said, "Yessir."

"Good. Now bring her to the capital."

"Understood."

Chrono led her onto the Platform and the Gate activated, sending them whisking away again, even as the Duke wondered why Rosette was barefoot...

* * *

**A/N:** All comments welcome and appreciated!


	2. Family

**A/N:** Enjoy!

* * *

On every Transportation Gate Platform is a 'magic circle' with symbols engraved on it. These are actually circuit lines for focusing and directing Astral energy. When a Platform becomes active the symbols and the circle light up, much the same way the symbols on the window frame had when Rosette blew on them. As the people using the Gate Platform come through from the other side a vortex of light and wind forms on the Platform and they appear. That was how Chrono, Duke Duffau and Rosette Christopher arrived.

The room was designed after the old Gate Rooms and, consequently, had a domed top and walls lined in arches with the raise Platform in the middle of the floor and a control center in an attached and elevated room. Every other arch was, in fact, a door that led into a room or a hallway. A Gate Room was the only place in Pandemonium that Chrono had seen arched doors; all the others were shaped like hexagons. Shader had once explained why to him, but all he remembered from her long-winded speech on the how and why is that it has something to do with the mechanics of Astral flow, directing it and containment.

As soon as the energy and wind died down they were stepping off of the Platform, Chrono gently tugging his disoriented charge along by the hand.

"That fast?" She asked, flustered.

The question was quickly followed by Rosette's stomach giving a load, sour growl that had every demon in the Gate Room staring at her. She tried not to squirm under their gazes even as she glared at Chrono's amused grin.

"Hungry?" He asked, just now noticing that she's barefoot and wondering what happened to her footwear.

"I haven't had lunch!" She griped.

He chuckled and said, "Well, no wonder your stomach's making so much noise."

Flushing brightly her glare gained a pout and he just barely managed to keep his smile from broadening. Rosette rarely – if ever – pouted, so when she did it looked so out of place to Chrono that he invariably got the urge to laugh. The Duke's self-control was significantly better and where Chrono was visibly struggling – much to the aggravation of the blond girl trying to glare menacingly at him – not a trace of his amusement about this older-sister-of-an-Apostle showed on his face.

"Chrono." The Duke said, drawing said demon's attention, "Take the guest to your quarters and feed her."

Initially Rosette was going to be taken to see the Council of Elders, but with her stomach making that noise they would probably get angry. None of them liked having any Human whatsoever in Pandemonium and – as the Duke had once said – they will take anything they possibly can as an insult to justify their conviction. The reason that they had been going to take her to see them was to eliminate any possible excuses of not knowing who she is should they decide to try and hurt her.

_ 'We will give her introduction upon her brother's arrival.'_

_ 'Understood.'_ Chrono answered and wondered what he was going to do about the sleeping arrangements when Joshua joined them.

"Yessir." He turned back to Rosette and scooped her up, "C'mon Rosette."

He carried her away from the Platform and out into the hall as the Duke exited out a different door from them. Duke Duffau had learnt through the course of various conversations with Joshua and Alistair that Humans require spare clothes. To that end he was going to see what he could do about getting some for Rosette. Human clothes can apparently get rather unpleasant-smelling if they're not washed. But first... He had someplace else to go.

When Chrono, still carrying Rosette, stepped out into the – to a Human – massive, honeycomb-shaped corridor he stopped as the look of amazement grew on Rosette's face. Half way up to the ceiling was a horizontal gap that ran the length of the hall. An enormous, pig-like demon flew out of that gap, who then landed and headed towards the Gate Room. The demon had a large belly with four dark dots in a square pattern, no shirt on, wearing black pants and matching suspenders and boots.

The floor is tightly ribbed and would have been uncomfortable for Rosette in her bare feet (which Chrono had finally noticed). In fact, walking on these floors without some kind of shoe or boot would probably blister and/or make her feet bleed by the time they got back to his quarters. The walls were made out of the same pristine material as the building Rosette had found in the clearing, but that was where the resemblance ended.

The walls angled outward until they came to the gap and, like the floor, were ribbed, though the ribbing was spread much wider apart than the tightly packed corrugating under their feet. The ceiling was about fifty feet above Chrono's head, flat and unadorned.

He let her take it in for a few moments before explaining.

"Demons come in a lot of sizes, so the corridors have to be big enough to accommodate them. You just saw one of the larger guys... And it's rude stare."

His last statement snapped her out of her seeming trance and brought her attention back over to him and away from the enormous, pig-like demon in black pants and suspenders.

"C'mon; we've still got a little ways to go."

* * *

Duke Duffau, having since left Rosette and Chrono outside the Gate Room, was headed towards the medical section. Specifically to the one in which the doctor in charge of Joshua's health was located. Truth be told, Pandemonium was so massive that she had over a hundred such sections – and all of them were unnerving. The corridor outside of the Gate Room was almost identical to every other one in their world, the differences lying mostly in size. The medical sections lacked the precise, symmetrical and enclosed ordering of the rest of Pandemonium with no discernible rhyme or reason. That and the feeling of wide open space was what made being in the medical sections so uncomfortable for him and many other demons.

But this visit was required.

There is a secret about Rosette Christopher that only Chrono, Joshua, Alistair and himself know; even the girl in question has no idea. This secret was potentially very dangerous to Pandemonium and possibly the girl herself. As such it is very important that this secret be kept a secret from as many people as possible. At the same time she still needs to be under professional observation. Hence the visit. Normally someone coming from the surface would be brought in for a mandatory check-up, but doing so could end up drawing far too much attention to the girl, so a discrete observation was the best course for the moment.

Reaching the bulkhead – with its zigzagging line bisecting it down the middle like inter-locked teeth – that would lead into his destination the Duke steeled himself to step into that unnerving space where his query lay. He keyed in the pass code on the panel beside the massive doors. Within moments he could here the hiss of the hydrolics as they worked against the powerful electromagnets holding the two halves of the bulkhead together. Joshua had once complained that being too near them for a protracted period gave him a migraine, which Alistair had confirmed after Chrono rushed the screaming and crying Apostle to the medical section during one of his first visits. Most of Pandemonium's technology runs on Astral, but some uses electromagnet energy instead.

The doors finished parting and the Duke stepped through the threshold and into a seemingly different world.

* * *

Rosette was getting very tired of being carried by Chrono. It's embarrassing and it made her feel like a small child – and she swore that he was taking the scenic route (she also **really** had to pee). The teen was right about the route, but he wasn't doing it to annoy her, he was doing it to avoid the crowds; Chrono really didn't think that she was quite ready to see a large number of demons all at once just yet. Besides it would only be a couple more minutes before they reached his quarters anyway.

"Chrono... How much longer?"

He had to roll his eyes at her timing.

"We'll be there in a couple more minutes."

He sensed her annoyance and decided to distract her.

"So... What have you been doing for the last three years?"

"Not much." She muttered.

"C'mon; there must have been something!"

It took a bit more coaxing and prodding, but he managed to get her to start talking by the time they had reached his quarters. By then she was ranting about Billy managing to get adopted two years ago and Nelly possibly getting adopted this year too. The others – including her – were all still waiting and they had a couple of new kids, including a pretty, young, blond girl named Carmen with the ability the to heal like Joshua.

"Have you told the Order about her yet?" He asked.

"Are you **kidding**?" She demanded incredulously, "They'd turn her into a guinea pig like they did to Joshua!"

"What do you mean?" He asked with a frown as he keyed in his passcode to his quarters.

"He has **scars** on his arms from all the blood samples they've taken!"

Chrono's frown deepened as the doors in front of him opened. He had known that Joshua had told her about some of the things he had been subjected to, but he hadn't realized how much. Chrono also hadn't known about any scars from blood samples being taken. He ushered Rosette inside, stepped in and closed the doors behind him. Silently he went over all the times that he'd seen Joshua since the boy had joined the Order.

Ever since the incident a year ago Joshua had been careful not to tell Chrono too much about the tests he went through. Not that he really blamed the Apostle; he would've become a bit tight lipped after what had happened himself. On the other hand Joshua assured him that they weren't trying to force his powers to come out fully anymore. Mind you, it's not out of the question that he's lying to keep Chrono calm.

He was going to have to question the boy more thoroughly when he saw him next.

Rosette stared around at his quarters, a bit fascinated. The best way to describe Pandemonium is 'scifi bees nest'. Joshua had come up with the term, but Chrono had to agree. In one corner he had a multi-colored and shaped pile of pillows for sitting on. Off to the side was a Greek-style lounge with no legs and there was a mancala board still laying around on the carpet-covered floor. The mancala board had three rows of pits that were seven long with no stores. It was a demon variation on that type of game, but Joshua preferred it because it was more involved and required more strategy. He had yet to win, but, then again, Chrono had yet to win at either chess or checkers against the boy. Kid was a freaking genius at those two, though Joshua claimed that Rosette is far better at checkers.

Incidentally, Chrono keeps a checkers set on hand in his room.

On the floor was plush carpet – a gift from Joshua – for which he was still very grateful. All of the floors of Pandemonium are made of demon cells and are fairly hard (he's still surprised that they hadn't absorbed the carpet yet). It was nice to have something soft under his feet when he decided to take his boots off. Speaking of which, while Rosette was still distracted (Humans really get very strange about the oddest things) Chrono altered his armor into casual clothes, leaving his feet bare, like hers. Turning around at the faint sound of low buzzing Rosette looked over and blinked in surprise to suddenly find him wearing something else. Now that he thought about it, she had no change of clothes at all and no way of cleaning them...

And once upon a time (i.e. before he met Magdalene) he never would have thought of the problem of not being able to do **laundry**. My, how life changes a person. He was going to have to figure something out for her, including footwear. In the meantime her stomach was making noises again that he needed to placate. He told her to continue looking around as much as she wished; he was going to make some food.

For some reason she followed him; last time they had seen each other it was the other way around.

"Your kitchen is **huge**!" She exclaimed, which was an understatement.

It was also all shiny black and very minimalist in design.

"Uh, well yeah. I'm not really sure why it is actually, but I like cooking so it's fine." He explained, turning to look at her for a moment before walking over to an enormous, black, floor-to-ceiling, featureless cylinder.

With a touch the lower half of the cylinder rotated, revealing a large range of foods and letting out a cold breeze. Picking out some fish filets, root vegetables, herbs and a passion fruit he closed the fridge with another touch. Setting them all on the counter he opened an over-head cupboard the same way he had the fridge – the cupboard door slid down as a panel – and grabbed some oil. He tapped the bottom of the panel to send it sliding back into place and put the oil on the counter with the rest of the stuff. A cutting board extended out from under a counter halfway to the stove when he tapped the edge of the board.

Where the lower cupboards normally would have been was a wall of more shiny, black material. An entire section of it – right next to the stove – extended out to show a rack filled with pots, pans and lids. Chrono grabbed two frying pans and set them on the stove. That done he started peeling the passion fruit, then, afterwards, went about chopping the other stuff. Rosette finally took a seat on one of the stools growing out of the floor next to the island in the middle if the large room and continued watching him.

Looking around she noted two large ovens, both are mounted in the wall. Next to and a couple feet away from them was a much smaller oven. Over where Chrono was standing there was a swath of counters that could comfortably accommodate five people Chrono's size. The stove-top was only half the size and – when she raised herself up in her seat to take a look – there didn't seem to be any burners, just a depression to indicate where the top of the stove was... And red symbols at the edge of the stove, just below the pans. Rosette wondered what they're for.

"The symbols indicate the temperature of the pan." Chrono informed her without prompting, "See how they're changing? Right now it's a bit above room temperature."

_Huh..._ The teen thought, _ I wonder how that works..._

She immediately dismissed the question on the grounds that she wouldn't understand the explanation anyway. This time she was right in her assumption and Chrono just left it since trying to explain it to Joshua had taken over three months' worth of education on (to Chrono and any other demon) basic science. He continued chopping up the ingredients, then pulled apart the passion fruit. Placing it and the vegetables in one pan and the flays in the other he added a drizzle of oil to both.

It was at that point that he finally caught her desperate thought that she needed to use the bathroom, but was to embarrassed to say anything out loud. He rolled his eyes again and told her, "Oh, if you need to use the bathroom at any point it's across the lounge, next to the back wall. Blue door."

She was running for it before he had even finished talking. He smiled wryly. Really, she and Joshua were so much alike sometimes that it was amazing and (when they got into trouble) occasionally scary.

When she took a bit long to come back he remembered that demon facilities are a little different from Human ones and wondered if Rosette was having trouble figuring things out; Joshua had encountered a few problems the first time he stayed over when Chrono had been assigned to him on bodyguard duties. Personally, the demon hadn't had any trouble adjusting to the differences, so he really didn't understand what the big deal was. Still... He hesitated for a moment, then turned the temperature down on the stove with a telepathic command and left the kitchen, went across the lounge and over to the bathroom door. It was hexagon-shaped and considerably thinner than the bulkheads out in the corridors. Even so it's normally sound proof so he used the demon cells infused in it (they're also in everything else in Pandemonium) to transmit voices much like a comm unit would. He knocked and got a hesitant answer back.

"Everything alright? You've been in there awhile."

Judging by the tone of her voice when she answered with, "**Er**..." she'd encountered at least one problem. Closing his eyes he pictured where everything was and told her what was what and how to use it.

"You going to be okay now?"

"Yeah." Rosette answered, radiating embarrassment, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He answered, set the demon cells in the door back to normal and went back to the kitchen, hoping that the food hadn't burnt.

He was relieved to find that it hadn't, but he did need to stir the vegetables and flip the flays again... A startled yelp from the bathroom alerted him to the fact that Rosette was done in the in there. A couple of moments later she came into the kitchen at a run.

"That-what-it-!" She exclaimed.

"Uh, yeah; I forgot to tell you about that. Joshua had the same reaction."

She sputtered angrily behind him, but, thankfully didn't pull up a chair to try and bonk him on the head. It didn't actually hurt him – well, not now that he had his horns back – but it could be a bit annoying.

A few minutes later he was serving up the food onto hexagon-shaped (Rosette was beginning to sense a pattern) plates and setting them on the table for the two of them. She was a bit hesitant to try it at first, but, remembering what Chrono's cooking had been like back at Seventh Bell, she said a quick prayer to God (though she sometimes doubted that He actually exists) and dug in.

It was a bit strange tasting, she decided, but good.

* * *

Joshua, with vast relief, stepped out of the secret meeting room hidden under the Order's main building, his debriefing done. When Ewan had come and collected him just before lunch telling him the code phrase 'You have some extra training today' Joshua had feared the worst; that Aion was coming after him again while Rosette was visiting. The idea that Rosette would get caught in one of those fights like she did with the first one was terrifying.

He still remembered the feeling of Chrono's horns being ripped from his head and watching as his once quiet, strangely mature friend with all those wonderful stories fought Aion like the demon he really is. Joshua still vividly remembers his sister pulling and then pushing him out of the way when a stray blast almost hit him. He remembered her scream as that blast grazed her arm and shoulder.

Joshua took a steadying breath and told himself that Aion hadn't attacked and that Rosette would never be put in harms way like that again. It was ironic, but he was now trying to protect his sister like his sister had once tried to protect him. And oh, how he had hated to be protected. He was just glad that had been able to heal Rosette that night despite his bleeding, throbbing skull.

The debriefing had been the normal 'Don't tell the heathen demons x-y-z.' It annoyed Joshua that they thought he would give out information freely; the teen knows that classified is **classified**. If the demons need to know about that stuff they have communication devices that will let them talk directly Sister Kate or Father Remington. Over-bearing old codgers. If people didn't want to use him for his powers, then they wanted to control him and if they don't want to control him they think he's unnatural and should never have existed. It was a lesson he had learnt from experience. Only three people that the Apostle knew weren't like that; his sister, Chrono and Alistair. Ewan and Sister Kate wanted to control him, though the intent was to protect him from himself, the demons and the rest of the Order. Joshua had no idea where Duke Duffau stood on the matter.

The teen realized suddenly that he had started walking, but had no idea where Rosette was at this point. Well, he supposed that he was just going to have to start asking people where she had gotten to...

"Joshua!"

The call that came from behind him belonged to a militia member named Clarity; she had just been in the meeting room with him. He didn't particularly like her – she can be a bit of a snob to Rosette – but he pasted a polite smile on anyway when he turned around and asked, "Yes?"

"Um, well, you see..."

_Just spit it out already!_ He thought in irritation, but kept his peace.

"You know those girls I asked to keep an eye on... Your sister..."

Did she have to sound so disgusted when she said 'Your sister'?

"Yes. What about them?"

"...They lost track of her." She mumbled quietly.

3... 2... 1... Snap.

"I'm sorry... They **what**?"

She sighed, knowing what was going to come next and decided to just plow ahead.

"They lost track of her."

Sister Clarity watched Joshua warily. She had always found her name to be rather ironic because of her ability to see things like auras. For instance... Right now she could see a crackling, almost demonic one surrounding the Apostle of Hope as he stood in front of her, head bowed, tension coiling every muscle in his body as he slowly repeating what she had just told him back to her ("They... Lost... Track... Of her...?"). Thankfully, unlike his sister – who had punched Clarity the first day they had met – he could keep a cap on his temper and not explode at the nearest person at the drop of a hat. Admittedly, she would not have blamed him if he had exploded in this instance. Clarity may not like his sister, but she had seen the two together and understood just how close they are. Neither of them are aware of it, but she is one of the strongest advocates to let Rosette visit more often; just because she can't stand Rosette doesn't mean that she thought Joshua should be isolated from his only living family. The others were Elder, Father Remington and Sister Kate.

No one else in the Order wanted a devil worshiper on the grounds, except under lock and key – and especially not near a 'fragile' Apostle. None of them seemed to care about the fact that not only had the contract been severed when Joshua was rescued, but also the fact that Rosette had made the contract in first place to save her brother. It had been an act of stunning self-sacrifice that no one wanted to take too close a look at; they preferred to point their accusing fingers and cry 'Devil worshiper! Heretic!'. Sister Clarity was not among those people (no matter how much she disliked the other girl). Her main problem with Rosette was just that she finds the teen to be far too forceful. She did, however, respect her.

Joshua's head suddenly snapped up, a forced grin on his face that had a disturbing I'm-going-to-murder-you-now edge to it.

"Well then, maybe you should head up a search for her since she rarely gets to come visit me... In fact, maybe you should start that **right now**."

Unless Father Remington or Sister Kate said otherwise security for Rosette was Sister Clarity's job, hence, she had to find the girl. It was her on-going punishment for what she had said to Rosette the first time the girl had come to visit her brother. Elizabeth had sided with Rosette and, in hindsight, Clarity could see that she had earned the punch she had gotten that first meeting.

"Uh, y-yes. I'll go do that." Clarity answered a bit nervously.

And with that she was gone, glad to be out of the way of his wrath and wondering if Sister Elizabeth – Rosette's only friend, besides her brother, at the Order – was going to ream her out for this in Joshua's place.

With Sister Clarity now gone Joshua resisted the urge to rant at the top of his lungs to the sky and took a deep breath. Glancing around his eyes searched for a clue as to where is sister could have gotten to (as if he'd trust the Order to find her...). His eyes locked onto the old pump well that was used to get water (since the Abby has no indoor plumbing). A translucent image began to com into focus into focus.

It was his sister sitting on the grass. After awhile she looked over at the roofed walkway he was on and stuck her tongue out... He looked over in the same direction as her and saw a translucent image of Mary, Anna and Clair walking away. Joshua turned his attention back to where his sister had been. She glared at them for a few moments more before getting up and heading towards...

Joshua followed the image of his older sister as she made her way to the wide path at the back of the grounds. He watched as she looked first one way, then the other before deciding to plunge into the treeline instead of going either way. Joshua rushed to follow – and knew immediately that he was no longer following his sister's image and was, in fact, someplace else. He found the glowing whiteness beyond the trees and bushes a bit hard to miss.

To the south-east was a lake very similar to the one near 7th Bell, but that wasn't where Rosette had plunged into. Where she had gone was the back of the main Order grounds where two connected, decently sized ponds of an impossibly blue color sat. Joshua had often found himself sitting in the gazebo near them in search of some peace that wouldn't get the search parties gearing up to look for him. In all that time he had never sensed nor come across anything to indicate that there was any kind of power in this place.

But apparently there is.

Sensing a presence – so familiar – behind him Joshua whirled around and came face-to-face with-

"Uncle Zack!" Joshua gasped out like he had been punched in the got, his eyes huge in his now pale face, "You... You're dead... You died years ago! Where am I? How is this **possible**?"

"Ah, well... Let's see." Zack sighed, crossing his arms and looking up at the sky as though he were addressing his question to it, "How do I explain this place?"

Impulsively, Joshua looked up as well – then wrenched his eyes immediately back down. There was no sky, just glowing whiteness.

"Jeepers..." He muttered, not sure what else to say.

It wasn't quite creepy – not much freaked him out – but it did leave him with a queasy sense of vertigo. He noticed that his uncle Zack was watching him, arms still crossed, eyebrow raised and looking a bit confused at Joshua's reaction.

"Huh?" Zack wordlessly questioned, then understanding dawned, his arms fell into a relaxed position at his sides, the raised eyebrow went down and he said, "Oh, yeah, I guess it is a bit disconcerting isn't it?"

"Somewhat."

Zack just grinned and asked, "So what are you doing here anyway?"

"Uh... Looking for Rosette."

"Oh." He pointed towards Elder's place, his eyes following the direction his finger was indicating, "She went that way, to Elder's." Dropping his hand back to his side again, he turned his almost glowing blue eyes back to Joshua and added, "He can tell you where she went from there."

Silence descended, unwanted and awkward, but present anyway. Neither was really sure what to say next, but they weren't ready to end the conversation either. Unsurprisingly is was Zack who broke the silence.

"Man you've grown! You barely came up to my knee the last time we talked! And boy do you ever look like your mom."

Suddenly self-conscious Joshua looked down at himself and asked, "Have I? Do I?"

"Yup."

Joshua suddenly found Zack standing right in front of him. He placed a hand on top of the teen's head, then slid it towards his chest.

"Yup." He said again, "You've definitely grown!"

The teen couldn't help it when he let out a loud "Pfffft!" and started laughing lightly at his uncle's behavior. Zack took a couple of steps back and watched him, glad to see that he was now in a better mood.

When Joshua sobered a bit again Zack said, "You know I'm a bit surprised that you even remember what my face," Which he pointed too, "Looks like."

His arm dropped down again as Joshua considered him for a moment. Finally Joshua asked, "You talked to Rosette, didn't you?"

"Yup. And she didn't recognize me."

Joshua nodded, his eyes distant as he remembered.

"That's not really surprising... She was about nine when she realized that she couldn't remember what anyone looked like anymore. Cried about it for over a week."

His eyes came back to the present and he added, "She's going to be really upset when she finds out that she was talking to you without knowing who you are."

"Upset at her self, or upset at me for not telling her?" Zack asked with a wry smile.

Joshua made a show of thinking about.

"Well..." He started thoughtfully, humor dancing about in his sky-blue eyes, "I'd say... Probably both."

Zack smiled and shook his head and said, "Man, I left way to strong an impression on you."

The remark earned him a return smile from Joshua.

When he and Rosette had been little – and Zack was still alive – their father had been forced to be away a lot due to circumstances that neither sibling had been told much about. Zack on the other hand had stayed close, at their father's request, to keep them and their mother safe. As a result he'd had a strong influence on them. He often thought that it was a sad thing that they had never gotten to truly know their father; he's a great man who would have made an excellent role-model for them. Despite constantly being away the man had managed to be a good parent to them and a good husband.

"Joshua." Zack said, his tone and expression serious, causing the teen's features to take on a similar cast, "I want you to know... That we're all proud of you."

"All of you...?" Joshua asked, his voice suddenly quiet and his eyes distant and sad.

"Yeah, all of us. Especially your dad."

"Really?"

"Mm." Zack hummed with a firm nod of confirmation, "Especially him – although," He added just to lighten things a bit, "You might want to make certain that you keep Chrono away from him; he might try to cleave the guy in two."

Joshua was a bit startled by this statement, then smiled dryly and said, "Yeah... Can't say as I blame him, though I don't think that it'd go over well with sis..."

"Probably not." Zack agreed.

Joshua sighed after a slight pause.

"I guess I gotta go collect Rosette now..." The teen could not have possibly sounded more reluctant.

Zack reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder and told him, "Hey, we're always here keeping an eye on you two, so no matter what happens just remember that you're not alone... No matter what."

Joshua stared at him, trying to pretend that he wasn't about to burst into tears, then his uncle smiled and the oldest of the Apostles tossed his teen-aged pride to the wind and threw his arms around Zack, startling the man. Not one tear slipped free, even when Zack wrapped his arms around Joshua's smaller frame. After a couple minutes the blond pulled away and stepped back a couple of feet again and smiled, his expression lighter than it had been since he'd arrived in this strange place.

"Thanks," He said, "I needed that."

"Yeah," Zack answered, "I know; that's why I told you. Now get going – they're going to start wondering where you are soon."

Joshua nodded once and then took off at a jog in the direction that Zack had earlier indicated. Quiet reigned until Joshua had well and truly left.

"You know," Zack said, "You could have come out and said 'hi'. He would have appreciated it."

"No." Angeal answered from behind a tree, "I'm too much of a coward."

Zack sighed, placing his hands on his hips and shook his head.

* * *

It didn't take long for Joshua to reach the 'demon building' (as it had been dubbed) that Elder had told him Rosette had gone too. The image of his sister came into focus again, this time faster. He watched as she repeatedly circled the building in search of something. As her circuits of the building proved to be repeatedly fruitless he saw the growing look on her face and dreaded what he might see next. Joshua started following her closely so that he didn't miss anything. Despite his dread he wasn't overly surprised when she climbed up the back to where he knew the doorway was located.

_Still as reckless as ever._ He thought sourly.

Not that he's in any position to object given some of the things that **he's** done...

Joshua got a bit annoyed with her when she somehow activated the doorway and then decided to go inside rather than do the sensible thing and walk away. The stairs – having been given no command to retract – were still out, leading up from the ground to the base of the doorway.

When said doorway closed behind her and vanished he sighed once, then ascended the stairs to investigate the symbols where they were carved into the windowsill almost flush with the stairs. He wasn't too worried about Rosette's safety since it would have been Chrono who would have come to see what was up. Joshua was, however, worried about covering his sister's tracks. He did not want anyone – especially not Aion or the Order – figuring out that the Apostle Factor runs in families. Rosette didn't need that on her plate as well with her fifteenth birthday looming in just ten days. Right now she needed to figure out where she was going to live and how she was going to support herself. Truthfully he had been trying to convince the Order to take her in without telling them about her – admittedly minor – powers of Astral Amplification. Just like he hasn't told them about his 'visions'.

Joshua seriously doubted that any of them would be overly happy to find out that there was a security network all over the Order grounds that he could tap into (which was the source of his visions). He could all-but see Sister Kate's lips pursing and all-but hear her asking him to request that the Duke meet with her, in person, as soon as possible. He did not think that any such meeting for those reasons would end well at this point. Being the liaison between the two races – he had long since realized – meant picking a choosing what to inform the Order of and what to keep from them. He'd bungled it a couple of times in the past and the delicate alliance had almost ended the first time with Sister Kate ordering the Duke shot. Luckily, Duffau was able to diffuse the situation; he's surprisingly good at it when he wants to be. The other times had been considerably less potentially volatile, thankfully, as he had learnt what would set Sister Kate and Father Remington off.

Kneeling on the small platform and peering at the symbols carved all around the window Joshua pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully used it to cover his index and middle fingers. He focused a tiny amount of Astral into them and brushed them along the symbols his sister had cleared of dust. The piece of cloth was mostly to cover the marginal glow on his fingers in case someone snuck up on him, but also to muffle his own energy signature; he'd rather that the Duke didn't know what he was doing and get mad at him since the demons were probably trying to investigate what had caused the doorway to open prematurely. The handkerchief was able to muffle his energy signature because it was made out of one of those new synthetic fibers, which is why he keeps one on hand.

In all likelihood Duffau had already deduced what had happened with Rosette and the doorway, but would have it 'investigated' anyway to cover up what his sister had done. Sensing someone coming Joshua stood up and put the handkerchief back in his pocket just before Father Ewan Remington came around the corner and into sight.

"I don't think she's in their Joshua. The doorway doesn't open for another two days." Ewan called from below.

"I know that!" The teen snapped, deliberately acting like he was still in an irritable mood.

If he didn't seem upset the Minister standing a few feet away from the side of the stairs would get suspicious and start asking questions that the Apostle didn't want to have to dodge. The man is far too perceptive for that to work and would catch him if he tried to lie or tell a half-truth.

Below, Ewan winced. He had been told of Rosette's disappearance and understood why the fourteen year old boy above him would be feeling less than pleasant. He just wished that Joshua wouldn't take it out on him; it's never fun being on the receiving end of of the infamous Christopher temper. Somehow it was less amusing when it was coming from Joshua than it was when his sister blew her top.

"Then what are you doing up there?" Minister Remington asked the boy who was technically his adopted son.

Joshua never talked about it – except to say that he wasn't – but Ewan suspected that the teen was mad at him for not adopting Rosette as well three years ago. Unfortunately, the Bishops' Council had only allowed for the adoption of Joshua and considered his sister to be too much of a distraction. Ewan didn't think that it was fair, but there was nothing that he could do; he'd tried repeatedly to change their minds and was still trying.

In answer to Ewan's question the Apostle decided to lie by omission and selection of information. Hopefully he wouldn't get caught.

"I thought I saw something up here... The dust has been cleared on one spot."

Ewan frowned, sensing that something was being left out, then made his way up the stairs. He had long since learnt not to pry on what Joshua didn't tell him; sometimes it's better not to find out directly. If nothing else having Joshua as his adopted son kept him on his toes and his mind sharp. Absently, as he remembered a few of the more interesting incidents involving Joshua, the Minister wondered if he – or the Order, for that matter – could have survived both the boy **and** Rosette.

"You think that someone was up here?" He asked Joshua.

"Yeah, Rosette."

"Well," He sighed in answer, rightly assuming that Joshua's answer had to do with what the teen had left out in his earlier statement, "I suppose that's as good a clue as any. Mind if I ask why you think it was her?"

"Because she likes to explore and Elder said that she came in this direction." He answered as he started going down the stairs, then added over his shoulder, " Besides," He added, spotting her boots near the treeline and pointing, "Her boots are right over there."

Ewan waited until he was out of the way before leaping down and landing in a crouch at the bottom of the stairs. He wasn't normally one to be so flashy about his extra-Human abilities, but it's usually a good idea to be very much in practice when dealing with Joshua on a regular basis. He'd also picked up the habit of not being so cautious – except around civilians and rookies (Joshua not withstanding) – from teaming up with Pursuers more than once and having to keep up with them. Ewan honestly had no idea how the regular Militia members managed to do it when they don't have enhanced strength, senses and motor skills. God knows the demons that teamed up with him complained about the deficiencies of the other Order members.

"So they are." The Minister commented, spotting the old battered things where Joshua had indicated.

"Mm." Joshua answered, walking over to the boots.

Ten strides later he bent over and picked them up by their tied-together shoelaces, wondering if he should place them at the top of the stairs. He decided against it on the off-chance that the weather went foul and ruined the boots since they aren't water-proof. There is also the chance of wildlife deciding to make use them... On that note he grabbed first one book by the bottom, then the other, flipped them both up-side down and banged them solidly against each other to make certain that nothing was in them.

Her socks fell out. Joshua stared at them, surprised, though he knew that he shouldn't be. Amused Remington walked over and picked them.

"Why don't we put these back in her boots and head back to the convent?" He suggested.

As they sorted out getting the boots flipped right-side up again and putting the socks in them again Joshua got the nagging feeling that he might have to tell Ewan about his sister's ability soon, much as he didn't want to. Well, if it comes to that then at least it wont be Aion finding out. Hopefully the Minister would have enough sense not to tell anyone.

* * *

Rosette was sitting on the cushions with Chrono (still in his true form), her bare feet tucked under her, as he was explaining how to use the terminal currently jutting out of the wall – which he had set to the English language, something that was possible because of a technician who got tired of answering all of Joshua's questions – when she realized that clean clothes might be an issue.

"Er... Chrono..."

"Yes?"

"Um... I'm going to need a of changes of clothes..."

Silence.

"Chrono..."

"Uhhhh... Well... You see..."

"See what?" She demanded, now aggravated.

This was not going to be an easy explanation, mostly because Humans were just starting to form the concepts necessary to explain what demon cells – not to be confused with Legion as the Order often does – do. Thinking quickly he called up a diagram and information on demon cells. He started reading it over to try and figure out how to explain it. By the time he'd had to explain it to Joshua his tutors had already taught the teen a fair amount about science and technology. As for why the Apostle has tutors... The Duke had decided that it was necessary to 'properly educate' Joshua if he is to be expected to act as the go-between for demons and Humans.

"**Chrono**." Rosette interrupted with her usual impatience.

He sighed and made a bit of a face.

"How do I explain this...?" An idea came to him and he perked up, "You know those scifi novels that Joshua's always reading?" She nodded, "And those... What were they called...? Robots!"

"You mean the metal constructs with the artificial intelligence that has to be programmed to do specific tasks by their maker?"

"Uh~ yeah..." He answered, a bit surprised and wondering what the blond sitting next to him had been reading lately, "That."

The answer to Chrono's unspoken question was that she had been reading Joshua's old books, since he hadn't been aloud to bring them with him.

"Well," He went on, "Demon cells are like those, but no larger than a Human cell and much, much more sophisticated." Rosette was giving him strange look and darting glances around surreptitiously, "Think of it this way; demon cells are tiny microscopic machines that do whatever their programmed to do and they can do it on a large scale, or a small scale."

"Oh... Okay." She answered, not sure if she actually understood, but not bothering to ask more questions, figuring – again – that she wouldn't understand it any better and probably get freaked out even more, "But what does that have to do with clothing?"

"Um, well... demon cells can construct and deconstruct things on a microscopic level, so clothes... Uh~, are a bit of a different issue for use than for Humans..."

Rosette did not look happy.

"I could restructure the clothes your wearing..." She looked even less happy, "But that's all... Sorry?"

Chrono wasn't sure what else to say about the matter that wouldn't make her more upset, so he left it at that and switched back to showing her how to use the terminal. Rosette was very cooperative in being distracted, though she did contemplate beating him with one of the pillows.

He wasn't quite sure when, but during the course of his lesson she fell asleep. He stared at her for a couple of moments, remembering when they had all been back at Seventh Bell and he would watch her, Joshua and all of the other children play and do chores until they were so tired that the lot of them all but passed out. It had always amazed him just how quickly children could fall asleep only a few minutes after seeming to be so hyper that they could keep going for hours.

Pushing the terminal back into the wall he carefully picked Rosette up – she didn't so much as twitch – and took her to Joshua's bedroom. Chrono still wasn't sure why he had been given back his old quarters, but he had.

Reaching the door Chrono shifted Rosette to one arm – glad of the size difference between them – and keyed in the code to open it. Normally within a person's quarters they don't have a bedroom door locked and coded like this, but Joshua was considered to be fairly important and not every demon liked him. As a result his bedroom was locked and could only be opened by Chrono. Which isn't any kind of problem since neither sibling is much of a morning person. Though, as he recalled, Rosette does have this issue of needing to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom... He'd better keep a telepathic tab on her, just in case that's still a problem.

Stepping into the room, the door automatically closing behind him, he sighed yet again; not for the first time Joshua had forgotten to slide the thin, honeycomb-shaped bed (that's almost level with the floor) back into the wall. Not to mention the pajamas lying on the floor, rather than in the set of drawers in the wall to Chrono's left. Well, in this instance, Joshua's absent-mindedness made Chrono's life easier. He walked over to the unmade bed and carefully set Rosette on it, pulling the covers out from under her legs and tucking her in. He'd had plenty of practice during those four months at the orphanage and in the two and a half years that Joshua had been staying with him off and on. He could still remember little Nelly asking him to adopt her after one particular bedtime story (because, after all, she had reasoned, he was the best person at taking care of her) and then her disappointment when he'd had to gently tell her that it wasn't possible because he'd be putting her life in danger. She hadn't spoken to him again before he had taken the Duke's offer ("Please come back one day!" she had pleaded).

Satisfied that he had the blankets properly around her he got up and left, wondering if she would be on the floor by morning like her brother often was.

* * *

_It was nightime and the Astral Lines were lighting up 7__th__ Bell. Everyone was playing and talking. Except for Chrono; he was standing on the rooftop observing all of them with a smile as the soft, green light played on his wings like sunshine through water. Rosette watched blankly as Joshua suddenly doubled over, clutching his head and screaming in agony._

_ She knew what was about to happen and that this was just a nightmare, but couldn't shake the feeling of panic hammering her heart and clawing it's way up her throat._

_ Go over to him! She ordered herself, but, despite the fact that she was lucid in this nightmare, she could not control her own actions in this macabre play. Horns erupted out of her brother's skull and blood painted the night ruby red. Everyone became statues and Chrono fought in the sky with the pale-haired monster that caused all of this. Her brother's scream was the soundtrack to their battle._

_ A bright flash of light literally exploded on her shoulder. Bits of cooked meat and charred bone struck her face and body. She stared at her limb where it dangled precariously from her shoulder in mute shock, just like the first time that it had happened. And just like last time she lifted her good hand and cautiously prodded the injury. _

_ Agony racked through her at the touch and her scream joined her brother's._

* * *

Rosette woke with a cry that she just barely strangled, her shoulder and arm twinging in painful memory. Joshua had healed it, but some part of her had never forgotten the injury. It wasn't unusual for her to have nightmares about that night three years ago when Aion had tried to take her little brother. The almost-fifteen year old wished that she could just forget that it had ever happened. Bringing her knees up to her chest she hugged them in a semi-unconscious attempt to comfort herself; these days she was used to having no one else to give it to her.

She squeezed her eyes shut on tears only to have images from her nightmare dance leeringly behind her eyelids. She opened them again, not wanting to see that. The tears fell, but she refused to sob, or even acknowledge that they were falling. In an effort to distract herself Rosette took in her surroundings and wondered if she was in a guest bedroom even as she had to swallow a pointless moment of near-panic at being alone in quasi-darkness. There was no window that she could see, which made her wonder where the extremely dim, but ambient, light was coming from. Other than that all she could make out were vague shadows.

An unfamiliar sound to the side made her head snap around to it in fright, though she'd never admit that it had scared her.

There, standing in the honeycomb-shaped doorway was a tall silhouette with wings, long, pointed ears and horns. She knew immediately that it was Chrono; he'd been in his true form since she had arrived. Without thinking she threw off the cover, got up from the bed – nearly tripping in the process – and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing. Chrono grunted, surprised at her strength and kind of wishing that he still had his armor on because she was actually starting to restrict his breathing.

He would have thought that it's sweet that she doesn't think she can actually hurt him, but he was a little busy trying to get his next breath. After a moment, in which she did not let go of him, he pried her loose and took in a deep breath of air.

"Rosette, I need to breath!" He exclaimed.

"S-sorry." She apologized, surprised.

"It's fine." He sighed, turning her around and leading her back to the bed, the door automatically closing behind him, "Now what's that matter?"

She was a bit hesitant to answer as he settled her on the edge of the mattress and joining her a second later.

"C'mon." He coaxed, his golden eyes strangely luminescent in the gloom, "It might help you to talk about it."

The irony of a guy saying something like that – when it's normally 'supposed' to be the girl, or woman, who does – was not entirely lost on Rosette. It was completely lost on Chrono though; demons don't have the same hang-ups about gender roles that Humans do. Rosette watched him warily sidelong, causing a stab of pain in his chest at her suspicion, particularly because – as far as he was concerned – it wasn't unwarranted. Rather than telling her that she could trust him, since he had proven such a claim to be a lie, he picked another angle to come in at.

"I'm worried about you. I haven't been able to see you in nearly three years. I'd like it if you could tell me what I've missed and what's bothering you... Like you used too."

Rosette hesitated again. Another stab in his chest. Finally she let out a little sigh and told him about the nightmare, describing it to him as best she could remember. By the time she was done, something both leathery and silken – his wing, she presumed – was wrapped around her. It was very warm, almost uncomfortably so, if not for the room being a bit cool.

"A nightmare, huh?" He said into the silence, "Joshua has them too. Wakes up in the middle of the night yelling. Are the others at the Seventh Bell still having them too?"

"Yeah... They all say that they don't feel safe because you're gone. Even Billy, before he left."

"Even Billy... I never did get him to stop being scared of me."

"Yeah." Rosette said again, "Nelly's still upset that you didn't adopt her and keeps hoping that you'll come back to be her daddy."

He smiled fondly, but sadly.

"A demon isn't exactly that well suited to raising a Human child."

She had to agree if what Joshua had told her is anything to go by. Although, in Chrono's case, Rosette thought that he'd do fine and said as much. Chrono gave her a slightly odd grin, though she couldn't see it and said, "What about all the other demons I'm surrounded by?"

"Eh, good point."

There was a moment of silence in which neither knew what to say next. It was Chrono who broke it.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" He asked.

Rosette gave a surprised start at the offer and it took her a moment to realize that he meant stay with her for the night, not the other 'stay with her'. Though, she wasn't sure which other 'stay with her' she wanted; not leaving her alone anymore, or the more romantic implications.

Ever since that first day Rosette had gotten to know him she'd had a bit of a crush on the purple-haired demon. His absence hadn't done a thing to dampen those feelings, though she knew full well that he'd never see her that way; she'd learnt in the last couple of years that boys just aren't interested in her romantically. It was a truth that hurt, but there it was. Sometimes she wished that she could say and do things more like the way other girls do; the teen found it kind of embarrassing how rough around the edges she is. Once upon a time Rosette had actually attempted to be more feminine when she was twelve and Chrono knew first hand how disastrous those attempts had been. Sewing and cleaning are about the only domestic things that she's actually any good at, much to her dismay.

"A-alright." She finally answered, mentally kicking herself for her stuttering.

Without warning he hooked a forearm under her knees, picked her up, his wing keeping her steady and serving in place of his other arm. He moved her further onto the bed and set her down. Edging in next to her he settled down so that they were laying by her side. Figuring that he must be tired Rosette – while blushing brightly – moved and got herself comfortable as well. The teen, despite the situation, fell asleep much faster than she expected too and had only one more nightmare. This one was about being baked; as it turns out Chrono puts off a lot of body heat.

The covers eventually ended up on the floor and Chrono's wing served in it's stead.

* * *

**A/N:** By the way, the body heat thing is actually cannon from the manga. Stella had gotten Rosette drunk and – after she fell asleep – Chrono ended up pulling her into a one armed hug. After only a few seconds she shoved away from him, looking very uncomfortable and exclaiming "HOT!". Poor Chrono.

Another cannon piece that I put in here is Rosette being embarrassed about the way she is (I think she may have been referring to the way she talks...). That's also from the manga and something that she only admits to herself and only once.

Anyway, please review!


	3. Childhood

**A/N:** Presenting, chapter number three...

* * *

When Rosette was younger Chrono had once told her that he's an early riser, so when she woke up she had expected him to already be awake and doing something. Instead Rosette found him lying behind her, an arm draped over her waist, their bodies neatly tucked together and her head resting on his other – hard as a rock and, consequently, not a good pillow – arm. Covering their upper bodies was his wing, draped over both their forms. His even breaths gently blew against the back of her head and down the length of her neck, making her feel strange and uncomfortable. She decided that it was either time for him to wake up, or for him to move. To that end she started jabbing him in the ribs with her pointy elbow. Her arm slid across the soft underside of his wing where she felt a smooth ridge that she assumed was one of the fingers (spines? She didn't know what to call them) that support his wings. The best she got for her efforts at jabbing him were stronger puffs of breath that sent shivers running uncontrollably up and down her spine. Her own reactions were making no sense to the fourteen, nearly fifteen, year old blond and ended up serving to freak her out.

For some reason it didn't occur to Rosette to just move away from him herself.

So, instead, she resorted to kicking his shins with the back of her heel (since using her elbow on his ribs didn't work). When Rosette still didn't seem to be getting any kind of response out of him she started debating jabbing him in the ribs again as she continued her kicking, getting increasingly anxious about his close proximity. It never got to that point, though, because that was when Chrono suddenly moved. It took Rosette a moment to process that the sharp teeth on her shoulder belonged to him.

"Er... I take it you're awake now Chrono...?"

His response was a deep rumbling that, more-or-less, sounded something like an avalanche. After a moment she realized that he was growling... And still not letting go of her shoulder. Rosette shifted slightly, trying to think of what to do.

"Eheheh... Chrono... You can let go of me now..." She told him nervously.

The arm around her waist tightened instead and she started to get a little more nervous.

_Think, think, think,think,thinkthinkthink!_ She tried to order herself, her heart pounding rapidly.

The best that she could come up with was, "Um... I promise not to jab you in the ribs again to wake you up..."

He shifted, pulling her closer with his arm, his wing folding and tucking in close against her body, further restricting her movements.

"Or kick you in the shins!" She added her voice rising in pitch a couple of notes and cracking.

Whether or not his response was better or worse was entirely up to debate based on perspective. After all, she certainly wasn't going to be attacking him in his sleep again.

He removed his teeth from her shoulder and started nuzzling her neck, still growling. Rosette's shoulder instinctively came up, trapping his head where it was as he continued to nuzzle against her vulnerable neck. He shifted his arm out from under her head, the appendage curling around to press against the upper half of her face – thereby blinding her – and force her head back. Chrono's nuzzling shifted forward and she felt his teeth graze against her throat until he had his mouth clamped over the front of her esophagus. Rosette – having grown up, for the most part, out in the middle of nowhere – realized what was going on; this was the same as when she had spied (from a distance and up in a tree) two wolves fighting until one got it's mouth clamped around the other's throat, forcing it to submit. It made sense considering she had just been violently jabbing and kicking him a few moments ago, not to mention the decidedly carnivorous teeth in his mouth.

Now, normally, Rosette Christopher would not play submissive to anyone, but at the moment she decided that tipping her head back a bit further to show submission wasn't such a bad idea and did so. Besides, if she was right, Chrono was actually still asleep and would never know anyway. Several long moments ticked by, then something almost tangible trickled into her chest, easing a strain that Rosette had not even known was there in the first place. Finally, Chrono eased off and settled back behind her, the arm caging the blond's head falling away, but the one around her waist – and his wing – remained firmly in place. A soft snore sounded behind her and he shifted slightly, cutting the next one off mid-sound. And his breath was blowing against her head and neck again. This time, though, Rosette decided that as uncomfortable as it made her she would just let him wake up on his own.

She didn't know it, yet , but Chrono's teeth had created tiny little punctures in her skin that were too shallow to bleed unless pressure was applied or a lot of blood rushed to her head. She was going to find out later though. For the time being she was mulling over that feeling of something soothing trickling into her hammering heart. Without realizing (which was remarkable given how tightly his wing was pressed against her) it Rosette brought her hand up to rest against her chest as she wondered.

She never even noticed that she had to go to the bathroom.

* * *

Chrono woke in a bit of an odd mood, one he couldn't quite put words too. It was confidence, of a sort, but different enough to not entirely fit in that category. Assurance, maybe? Possibly, not that he had ever lacked for it. But still not right. As he pondered this he carefully extracted his arm from under Rosette's sleeping head and got up on that elbow to stare down at her, his demon cells having regulated his blood flow so that he hadn't lost feeling to the limb.

He had forgotten how angelic Rosette could look when she was fast asleep and not losing her temper... Or getting into mischief. Really, the girl had far to much energy and not enough places to direct it. He reached over and gently tucked some of her mussed tresses behind her ear as a fond smile pulled at the corners of his mouth (even as he lamented how short her hair now was). This teen-that-wasn't-yet-a-woman-but-not-a-child was precious to him in ways that were as hard to describe as the mood he was in, but she was his... Even if she didn't know that the Contract hadn't actually been broken that night three years ago and he was still trying to figure out a way to sever it. Chrono was almost at the point of giving up and accepting the fact that Rosette Christopher was, and always will be, his.

Not for the first he felt a surge of territorial possessiveness for the girl currently lying beside him. What bothered him about it was the way it was morphing since he had seen her standing at the top of those stairs a few hours ago. Three years ago, when he had made the Contract with her to save Joshua, he had suddenly discovered that he has a territorial streak in him that could get down right possessive. It was something that he had, thankfully, learnt how to curtail quickly and no one had been the wiser. But now... Chrono had the feeling that it was going to be a little tougher to keep under control with it becoming more ambiguous... And with so many other demons around her. The thought alone was enough to make something ugly in him stir. Chrono forced himself to calm down and shoved that... Something... Into a dark corner and locked it away.

With a steadying breath he reluctantly rolled over, finally releasing the girl from the confines of his wing – and only now realizing that he'd draped it over her – and got off of the bed. Standing he walked over to the door. Blessedly he'd had the thing programmed to be opened from the inside if he's in the room so it opened with a command tapped into the terminal beside the door. It quietly – but not soundlessly – opened and he left the room to make breakfast, the door staying open behind him, as he had set it too; he had picked up a few tricks here and there from Shader over the years.

Thankfully, he was used to having to feed Joshua so he didn't have to worry about figuring out what's appropriate for her to eat in the morning. It's a good thing too since, well... Just because demons can eat Human food without any problems doesn't mean that Humans can eat **demon** **food** without going into anaphylactic shock. True story. Didn't happen to Joshua though (thankfully). He and the boy had since come to the conclusion that it's because of a demon's fast rate of healing that they can ingest Human food. Physicians had commented that it was the best theory to date.

And on the subject of food, demons – due to the shape of their teeth and (presumably) what they're supposed to ingest – primarily take in (in order of magnitude) meat (almost any kind of protein actually, just usually in that form), root vegetables and hard fruit. Humans require a lot of plant matter to stay healthy so Chrono had a higher ratio of it in his fridge. Demons have a different name for the built-in appliance, but he had come to think of alot of things in Human terms, if only to be able to explain it to Joshua.

Chrono opened the fridge and pulled out various food stuffs from it. Closing it again he set about making breakfast, making certain to set aside some fruit for Rosette to eat afterwards. He didn't want Alistair gripping at him again about a properly balanced diet.

* * *

Duke Duffau walked into the Transport Room, the door closing automatically behind him. With him was the Sinner Shader; they were headed for the Doorway plaza to investigate how Rosette had managed to open it two days early. The Order had caught the Sinner not long after Joshua had joined them; the then twelve-year old had gotten information straight out of Jenai's brain on where they were operating from. At the time they had been in a beach-front house and Jenai had not realized that Joshua had been able to read information out of his mind. The Order had lost three people, but they had managed to disable Viede kill Rizel, rattle Aion, found out about the Jewel Witch and captured Shader. She had been surprisingly cooperative with the Order and seemed to be genuinely fond of Joshua.

After the Apostle of Hope had become the liaison for the Order-demon Alliance Shader had been handed over to the Duke with the condition (begged for by Shader) that she be under Chrono's care. It had been enough to – for the most part – keep her safe. She had, over the last couple of years, proven herself to have a grasp of demon science and technology that none other possessed.

Pandemonium's five best technicians had been trying for the last several hours to figure out what was wrong with the doorway. So far they had turned up nothing, but there had been a fluctuation in the energy readings on the doorway about ten hours ago. They hadn't yet been able to explain that either, so Duke Duffau had finally become impatient and got Shader. He stepped up onto the Platform while she cheerfully (a near-perpetual state for her) hopped up.

Now if only he could find Rosette some clothes like he had said he would.

* * *

Rosette woke to the tantalizing smell of what she hoped was breakfast and dragged herself out of bed, absently noting as she did that Chrono wasn't behind her anymore and that the door was already open. But, before eating, she needed to go to the washroom; her bladder was very full at the moment. As she walked out of the bedroom Rosette could hear the sounds of Chrono cooking and it made her stomach gurgle.

A slight laugh followed by Chrono's voice sounded from his over-sized (in the teen's opinion) kitchen.

"Sounds like you're up."

"Almost." She answered groggily.

Another chuckle; Rosette was seriously beginning to wonder if she perpetually amused him or something these days.

"No, I've just missed your company so I'm in a pretty good mood."

The blond teen froze as his words sunk in. Rosette hadn't said that out loud and she knew it (she was also focusing on this fact to avoid feeling embarrassed because he had missed her and had actually admitted it).

"You kind of think loudly..." He said dryly.

Her perpetually short temper snapping she marched over to the kitchen, up to him where he stood at the stove and prepared to hit him hard on the head for eavesdropping on her thoughts. She may be fairly short compared to him, but she could still reach. He stopped her from succeeding through the simple expedience of using his (currently blunted via demon cells) tail to pick her up and out of range of his head. Frustrated she struggled to get free. As one can imagine this was not terribly effective. Her struggles stopped, however, when she realized that if she didn't it was going to make her relieve herself in her underwear. Chrono set her down to go use the washroom.

Still mad, she stomped off. This jarred her bladder (due to the fact that she wasn't holding her stomach in since that would put too much pressure on her bladder), so she ended up running for the washroom.

The cooking demon had to shake his head. For some reason that entire little episode had reminded him of Luna, a demon child – the demon term being 'unconfigured' – that he had known before the rebellion. She was long dead and, although the memories were painful, he was glad that he hadn't really forgotten her. She had been one of his favorites, always trying to sneak up on him and pounce. He would let her succeed every once in a while so that she didn't get discouraged, but mostly he didn't since she wouldn't have learnt anything if he had. Chrono still missed her.

He made a mental note to have a talk with Rosette later about not trying to hit someone while they're handling anything hot.

* * *

Once done using the toilet (she managed to dodge the spray of water this time) Rosette went to the sink to wash her hands. While she was rinsing her hands of the soap she suddenly realized that, for some reason, it had never occurred to her that demons might need to wash their hands with soap too. She now found herself wondered if it was only for Joshua, or if Chrono uses it as well.

_He better._ She thought sourly.

Looking up at herself in the mirror it was then that she noticed the little marks on her throat. They were small, red pin-pricks in four sets of lines, two on either side of her slender neck. According to Joshua most demons' front teeth are the same as a Human's; the carnivorous choppers started with the premolars. Deciding that she didn't want Chrono to notice Rosette quickly flicked her hand in the empty sink until it was damp, but not really wet – so that she wouldn't get dribbles that would wet her shirt collar – and wiped away the blood. The teen was relieved when it washed away without a trace. She rinsed her hand again and shoved it into the hand drier.

The thing had freaked her out at first, but it was more effective than a towel. Which reminded her... She really needed to bathe, particularly because she still had dried sweat, dirt and dust on her from climbing up the building and probably a few leaves tucked away somewhere, all of which was making her feel disgusting. Not to mention the bottoms of her feet were filthy.

At the other end of the bathroom was, well, something that she **assumed** was used for bathing when someone wanted to get clean, but she couldn't really, actually, tell. Rosette decided with a sigh that she was just going to have to ask Chrono about it after breakfast. With that in mind, and her hands now dry, she opened the bathroom door – glad that it simply slid open and didn't require one of those terminal things – and stepped back into what Chrono had told her was the foyer, though she kept thinking of it as the living room.

The blond teen went over to the kitchen again and plopped herself down onto a stool just as Chrono was setting the plates on the table.

* * *

At the back of the dormitories, leading off from the right-hand corner, is a path wide enough to comfortably fit two cars. This path leads to the outdoor training grounds. This is not to be confused with the indoor training grounds where an Apprentice, Exorcist or a Militia member trains against real ghosts, spirits, demons, or other such creatures. The outdoor training grounds are used for some of the large team exorcises and for hand-to-hand training.

At the moment that was where Joshua was practicing with a metal sword, which he preferred to the Astral Blades that Father Remington favored. His training partner was currently the selfsame Minister, who, for the duration of the training session, was using a metal sword as well. At the moment they were sparring in an open field with no one else around to disturb them. When you have someone like Aion after you it's best to stay in top form. They were exchanging blows when the alarms sounded. Very few demons were willing to attack the Order directly and only one had the kind of power that the teen and the Minister could sense coming off of them.

Aion was attacking.

Both sheathed their swords and ran back to the main biuldings where they sensed him, knowing that the chances of some Pursuers backing them up were none existent at the moment. That meant that there was going to be a lot of property damage and, worse, alot of injured people... Assuming, of course, that none died again.

As they ran towards the white-haired demon – hoping to head him off since the two of them stood the greatest chance against Aion – an idea came to Joshua. His powers were greatly diminished without his sister's Astral Amplification, but if he can heal... Then he should be able to reverse it to at least some extent. Joshua figured that it was worth a try, although he could already imagine Chrono's disapproval at inverting his power like that. As Aion came into view he and the Minister found that they were the only ones there for the moment.

When Joshua had first arrived at the Order he had gone from sickly to as healthy as his sister and the change had come from Chrono's horns as far as anyone could tell. The ongoing theory – both demons and the Order were in agreement on this without even knowing it – was that Joshua's powers had been creating an Astral depletion in his body which was causing his sickness. What no one had suspected was that Joshua would have a talent for fighting; he is, after all, a healer. In fact he hadn't really shown much ability when he first started learning after he arrived. So imagine everyone's surprise when Aion showed up a few months later and Joshua – who had shown no progress since the first few weeks of his training – suddenly managed to fight him off long enough for Chrono to arrive and save him.

They had gotten lucky on the timing that day and no one had any delusions about that.

Joshua still had not told them why he had suddenly been able to fight like so well, but the truth was that it had simply been instinct. Instinct and memory. His mother hadn't been Human – though he didn't know what she had been – and his father was who he had gotten his wings from. He also knew that Rosette didn't remember this piece of information about their parentage. No one knew except Alistair – a demon physician who had looked after Chrono and Aion's health when they were children – who had confirmed what Joshua remembered with DNA evidence. Thankfully, Alistair was keeping quiet about Joshua's heritage; hopefully he'd do the same for Rosette too.

The Apostle's sword was the first to clash against Aion's as the distance was suddenly closed, but rather than continue the attack Joshua whirled around the demon and grabbed his wing. The teen knew full well that he was safe from the Aion's tail as long as he was needed alive. Giving himself no time to hesitate Joshua inverted his power and Aion fell to his knees. Ewan stopped, stunned by this turn of events. Both adults turned their gazes on Joshua who stood there, frozen in place, nausea whirling in his gut as what he was doing fully sank in; he was using his gift of healing to inflict harm. It felt like he had taken a part of himself and turned it inside-out, then started stabbing it with a blunt knife. Aion's life was literally in his hands and he could do anything he wanted too him. The temptation was great and that, more than anything, scared him stiff.

_'Joshua! Let him go!'_ The Minister ordered.

The teen vaguely realized that Father Remington was actually using telepathy.

_'...Don't do this.'_ It was Aion in his head now (oh great! he's hearing voices again),_ 'Don't invert yourself; there's no coming back from that.'_

Joshua wavered on a precipice, teetering between his innocence and what he was doing. If he let go now he wouldn't murder the child in himself, but Aion would get away and possibly harm even more people than he already had. If he hung on and did what was needed to stop this demon then he would loose his innocence forever, but Aion would finally be in custody and unable to inflict harm on others any more. Joshua made his choice.

_ 'Then shut-up and come quietly.'_ He told Aion, his mental voice cold as frozen steel.

_'I can't do that. Come with-'_

Aion screamed as searing agony ripped through him for three agonizing, eternal seconds and he fell to the ground gasping in the aftermath. Above him he heard orders being given out to get various things – he couldn't make out what – that he guessed was supposed to contain or kill him. He had to get away and he knew it. He started with a small shifting of his sword hand (which, amazingly, still held his weapon), only to be met with more agony. After three more attempts he passed out.

* * *

A wildly red-haired man named Reno, who had a red slash on either cheekbone, whistled to himself as he waited at the docks for a specific ship to arrive. On that ship was a young albino girl by the name of Azmaria Silva. Her full name actually involved two surnames, but it had – for the sake of simplicity – been contracted and the 'de' and 'da' particles removed. Reno's job was to collect her and get her out before Ricardo Hendricks' pet demon arrived to take the girl. Hopefully they might be able to save the orchestra that she was traveling with.

_"Will you please stop that?"_ Vincent asked over the comm, his voice annoyed.

"Stop what?" Reno asked innocently, just to be annoying.

_"That whistling,"_ Rude said, _"Is annoying and it doesn't carry very well over the comms. You're making our ears hurt."_

"Oh alright, alright! Why didn't you just say so?"

_"Reno..."_ Vincent warned.

"Yeah, yeah; don't get you're panties in a bunch." The red-head replied with a roll of his eyes.

_You'd think the guy would be used to me by now..._

"Looks like the ship's just arrived."

_"Good. Get the girl-"_

"I know how to do my job Vinnie."

_"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"_

"Until the cows come home."

One of these days Vincent's temper was going to snap and, hopefully, Reno will be far away when that happens. It was a miracle that he hadn't yet tried to kill the red-head... It was also a testament to his patience.

_"Tell me again why I'm part of your back-up?"_

"Because Rude scares kids, you happened to be nearby and, for whatever reason, they love you. You're also pretty handy in a fight."

A sigh, followed by Vincent saying, _"Right."_

Reno spotted the orchestra with the albino girl and headed over. Rude warned him of Lerajie's approach towards the girl just as Reno spotted him and picked up his pace.

_"I've got him in my sights."_ Vincent informed them.

"YO!" Reno called to the orchestra, making all the others on his team wince.

The orchestra people turned and smiled at him.

"Sorry," He said as he came to stand next to them, "Hope I'm not late."

"Oh! No, no, you're right on time actually." A middle-aged woman informed him, quickly getting over her shock at the sight of him.

She had once been a Turk like Reno, Rude and Vincent and had been revived by the planet – like many other Turks and Soldiers. For some reason her revival had occurred in Portugal. When Azmaria came to her notice, along with the demon Lerajie chasing her, she had pulled the girl into the orchestra. A year after that she had bumped into Rufus while he was there on business. It had taken him awhile to arrange for Azmaria and the orchestra to be shipped over seas, but here they were.

"So," Reno said, "You going to introduce me to everyone? Gotta know who's who."

Smiling the woman turned around to face her group again. The smile melted off of her face when she realized that Azmaria was missing. Hoping that the girl was just behind someone she called for her a couple of times. Everyone quickly surmised that Azmaria wasn't with them.

Pressing the comm piece in his ear to cancel out background noise as he scanned the crowd Reno asked, "Does anybody see her?"

Several voices gave a negative and he quickly and effortlessly climbed up the nearest high point, which was a stack of crates. He looked around, trying to spot the demon and/or the now missing girl.

_"Found her."_ Vincent's calm voice announced.

"Where?" Reno demanded, along with several other voices.

He directed their attention.

"Dammit!" Reno cursed, "Lerajie's got her!"

Without waiting for a response he took off after them, using a few people (including Rude), another stack of crates, the side of a building and a lamp post to head the demon off before he got to the alleyway he was aiming for.

"Hey," He said to Lerajia with enough volume to draw attention, "Kidnapper. Where do you think you're going with her?"

Seeing the disapproving looks and the way a crowd was rapidly starting to build – and not a few of them were dock hands – and knowing that if he caused a commotion it would drew the Order's attention (and possibly that of the Pursuers) Lerajie released his hold on the girl's wrist.

"My apologies, but I believe that you are mistaken." Lerajie.

"I don't know... She arrived with an orchestra and you just came along and took her away... Kinda seems," Reno produced his baton and started tapping it against his shoulder, "Like a kidnapping to me."

"Ah, am I taking her in the wrong direction? She had become separated from her group. My intention was to return her to them."

"Really?" Reno asked sceptically, "They're back the other way."

Lerajia half turned to look where Reno had indicated. The red-head gestured to Azmaria to come over to him and she readily obeyed.

"Oh my," Lerajie said, not having yet noticed Azmaria's movement due to his slit pupils giving him limited peripheral vision, "I seem to have become turned around."

The demon turned back to Reno and found Azmaria hiding behind the smaller man. Recovering quickly from his surprise he said, "I suppose that I will leave her in your care then."

Lerajie walked away, wishing to rip the smug Human's head off. The crowd parted from him, their survival instinct kicking in. Reno breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to look down at the eleven-year old soprano.

"Lets get you back to the others." He said to her.

Azmaria smiled. She only knew snippets of the language, but she understood what had almost happened and that this man had just saved her.

* * *

Ewan Remington watched with a great deal of concern and worry as Joshua vomited into a toilet in the men's washroom. The teen – the Minister couldn't legitimately call him a boy anymore after seeing the Apostle's eyes – refused to tell him how he had downed Aion so easily. Yet another secret he was keeping from them all. Father Remington wondered who Joshua talked to at all about things that bothered him. Sometimes he suspected that it may very well be Chrono that the teen goes to when he needs a friend, or an ear to listen.

The Minister was doing the best he could as Joshua's guardian, but it apparently wasn't enough. He just wished that he knew what he was doing so wrong that Joshua would turn to a demon rather than the man raising him.

_That would be a rather long list..._ He thought ruefully and wondered how to remedy his mistakes.

To his almost-dismay the Minister found himself seriously considering asking a certain demon for some advice... Good Lord, what lows was he beginning to stoop to?

* * *

**A/N:** So, what did you guys think of this chapter?


	4. Communication

**A/N:** This chapter is shorter than the first ones and the others will follow suite... Though they won't be this short.

* * *

Rosette really wanted to take a shower and she was certain that she was thinking it rather loudly by now, but Chrono just kept doing whatever it was that he was doing on the terminal (he looked like he might be typing, but Rosette couldn't be certain). She seriously wondered if he was ignoring her to make her ask, or if he had just shut her loud thoughts out so that he could get some work done... Actually, come to think of it, what **does** he do for work? She had no idea and almost went over to take a peek, but some semblance of manners – Miss Jean and Joshua would be so proud – kept her sitting on the lounge.

But she really, really wanted to take a shower... Oh, to heck with it! She was just going to have to swallow her embarrassment and ask him!

"Er... Chrono...?" She started tentatively.

"Yes?" Was his distracted answer.

"I'd like to bathe."

"Go ahead."

"I don't know how it all works." She reminded him, now annoyed.

He looked up at her now, eyebrows raised.

"Huh?" He asked, then realization struck, "Oh! Right! Sorry." He got up and headed for the bathroom, saying, "I'll show you how it works."

Rosette got up and followed him.

Once in the bathroom he led her over to the darker tiled area with the half wall... Which turned out to actually be a full wall; the top half was just clear. Rosette was a bit concerned about that.

"Oh, don't worry; it goes opaque."

She was almost starting to get used to him hearing her every thought...

"Not your every thought, just the ones that you're thinking loudly. You're actually surprisingly good at shielding for a Human."

She was?

"Most of the time." Chrono added to her annoyance, then went on, "Come here."

She went to stand by where he was and he, in turn, rolled his eyes and moved her to stand next to him. He touched a part of the wall and a terminal came out. Like all the others in Chrono's quarters the language was set to English. Along the left-hand side was a list that didn't entirely make sense to her. Chrono tapped the 'Walk Through' and text with diagrams slid into view. After staring at it for several moments she realized that they were instructions on how to use the shower... She also realized why he was giving her instructions rather than showing her; he'd have to climb in with her since there was no way to explain without demonstration which meant that he'd be bathing with her.

That gave her an embarrassing mental image of him. She didn't see Chrono's blush as he reminded himself that after he had saved Joshua and driven off Aion her mental image of him had somehow warped into some kind of god/knight in shinning armor. It's only natural that she would feel some kind of attraction to him now that her hormones had kicked in... Right?

_She'll get over it and find a nice Human male-_

The territorial possessiveness that surged up within him _(__**MINE**__)_ took Chrono completely by surprise in it's vicious strength. He struggled momentarily with it until he finally managed to squash it flat and chuck it in a metal box in a dark corner of his mind which he then closed it in. Three locks secured it and he added unbreakable chains to the mix, wrapping the thing up in so many of them that the box couldn't even be seen anymore.

Proud of himself for a moment he was suddenly horrified to find himself now facing Rosette and leaning over far enough to be all but pressing his nose into the top of the blond's head as his hand rested on the small of her back. Her scent had been changing all day and he had figured that this was normal for a Human girl of her level of development (he had smelt it coming from Miss Jean before), but now it was disturbingly enticing.

A demon's sense of smell varied in strength and Chrono's wasn't much better than twice as good as a Human's. This did not account for all the little nuances he could suddenly pick up from her scent. Chrono would never truly figure out what it was that possessed him to telepathically ask Alistair what the scent Rosette was giving off meant and then transmit that smell to Alistair, but he did.

_'Oh my,'_ Came the mostly amused response back, _'Well, I suppose this question was going to come up eventually. She's currently fertile.'_

If Chrono was finding the way (**his**) Rosette was smelling appealing then he definitely didn't trust other demons not to try something funny with her. Wait. Why was he reacting to her scent like this in the first place? His kind can't even breed without Pandemonium!

_'Because at one point we could and, although we no longer can, the __instincts remain.'_

Oh, well that was just **wonderful**.

He managed to pull himself away from (his) Rosette – who was, by now, very embarrassed – and tell her as he left (fled) the bathroom that he had to finish writing his report. Oh, and she could place her clothes in the basket by the door.

Rosette stared at the bathroom door that he had just exited through a bit owlishly, the blush still prominent on her cheeks. She had just heard his entire conversation with Alistair (including the possessive way in which he thought of her, for which she would whack him for later). The other demon had explained to her that Chrono had been unaware that he (Alistair) had pulled her into the conversation. As Rosette stared she contemplated how to react and, after some deliberation, decided that she liked the fact that Chrono is attracted to her (even if she didn't like the whole 'his' part of the equation) – and that this was the perfect opportunity to torment him for leaving her behind three years ago.

_'Uh~,'_ Alistair's voice filled her mind in cautioning tones, _'Please wait until you're no longer fertile; a Demon's instincts tend to ride fairly close to the surface. It could be... How do I put this in a Humanly polite manor? It could be hazardous to your... Virtue.'_

Oh, alright. She'd leave him alone. For now.

Rosette ignored the spreading and deepening stain of red on her cheeks.

* * *

Not long after his retreat from Rosette Chrono went back to the bathroom door to check – via the console next to the door – if she was done steaming herself and was actually showering now. She wasn't and he went back to writing his report to the Duke. Mostly the older demon wanted to know about how Rosette was getting along (it wouldn't due to have the sister of the liaison between the Order and Pandemonium getting traumatized by her visit) and if Chrono didn't make it almost embarrassingly detailed he would just be drilled later. So he did his best to write the day's report without telling the Duke anything that he shouldn't know.

And, of course, he couldn't focus; Rosette's scent was everywhere, teasing him.

Really, this was absurd! His sense of smell wasn't **that** good! Telling himself that, though, didn't seem to have any effect. Finally, he got up again – with a mental note to have a **female** technician come in and adjust the air scrubbers – and checked if Rosette was showering yet.

Ah good. She is.

She needed a change of clothes and thinking about her smell had, for some reason, given him an idea for a solution. He keyed the door open and snuck in as quietly as possible. There was no way that she could hear him over the shower head(s) pouring water down on her naked body (oh God, mental image; bad choice of words), but Joshua had surprised him on more than one occasion and he didn't want to risk being caught by Rosette; she'd murder him. Cautiously he made his way over to her clothes and – with only a few of his demon cells – re-shaped them into a dress that he hoped she'd like.

With that done he snuck back out, relieved that he hadn't been caught.

* * *

Rosette wrapped the fluffy towel around herself, feeling fantastic and wonderfully clean. She loved the way demons bathe; take a steam bath, take a shower (the water comes out of the roof and it's like cleaning yourself in a very dense – but nicely hot – rain) followed by a soak that lasts as long as you want it too. It was luxurious, especially the last part. She didn't know what they did to the water, but it made her feel **amazing** by the time she got out.

The teen happily grabbed another plush towel and started in on her hair. She almost missed the light pink that showed up unexpectedly on the towel. Startled, Rosette took a look at herself in the oddly un-fogged mirror and found Chrono's bite marks were bleeding again and wondered why. That was just wonderful. She seriously wondered if she could still hide it from Chrono, but really doubted it.

Question was, how's she supposed to get dressed with her neck bleeding? Without getting it all over her clothes (it's not like she's got alot to begin with). She definitely didn't want to use the fluffy towel to stop the bleeding, but really couldn't see any other choice...

"Rosette?" Chrono's muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door (although, what with the door being air-tight, it really shouldn't have), "Um... You're thinking loudly again and... Why are you bleeding?"

"Er..."

"Rosette?"

She sighed, checked to make certain that she was as decent as she could get in a towel and keyed the bathroom door open. He stared, surprised for a couple seconds, then, with a serious expression, tipped her head back and bent over to examine her throat. She tried to suppress it but having him so close to her exposed neck was making her very nervous.

"Rosette..." He hesitated, then straightened up again and looked at her with a frown, "These are bite marks; how did you get them?"

She fidgeted and squirmed under his stern gaze, trying to figure out how to answer his question without it sounding like she was – in anyway – going to be submissive. Rosette had no idea why the idea bothered her, but it did.

"**Rosette**..."

She almost cringed and realized in that moment that she really **was** starting to act more submissive. Oh, HELL no.

The teen squared her shoulders, straightened her spine and looked him in the eye.

"When you were sleeping next to me last night I got too warm and started jabbing you in the ribs to get you to move away. You didn't like it and, well..." Rosette ended the sentence with a shrug, having to force herself to maintain eye contact.

Chrono gave her a bland, mildly irritated look and hoped that she wouldn't do something like that a second time (he was just glad that this had never happened with her brother). Reaching out with his mind he found Alistair and made an appointment with him for Rosette to see about her neck along with instructions from the other demon on what to do in the meantime. Chrono hoped that the teen wouldn't kill him even as he leaned in and licked the injury as he had been instructed too.

Rosette stayed utterly still, then, as he backed away (prepared too bolt from her), she exploded and Chrono ended up running through his quarters for a good half hour to avoid her wrath as she chased him around in the fluffy towel (it almost fell off more than once, tormenting him). She only calmed down when his explanation for licking her neck finally sank into her head and the blond noticed that it had, indeed, worked. She continued to glare murder at him, though, all throughout the rest of the day and vowed to give Alistair an earful (at the very least) when she met him tomorrow.

Chrono decided not to give the older demon any warning – and was feverantly glad that Rosette hadn't realized that he'd had to sneak into the bathroom to alter her clothes. Thankfully, it also didn't occur to her to wonder what had happened to her previous outfit (BONUS!).

Apparently God does actually give him a break every once in a while.

* * *

Viscount Lerajie returned to his master's mansion less than pleased. The Human-looking Legion constructs that he had made over the years scattered from his path, a rudimentary survival instinct telling them to stay away from their master and maker for the time being. At this point he would be tempted to destroy anyone of them that came too near and they could all sense it. He'd had such plans for that Apostle child. His master wanted the girl so that she could help revive the master's dead wife. Lerajie wanted her so that he could heal from the injuries and damage inflicted by the Sinner Chrono decades ago. Why his demon cells and his body's ability to heal had not already repaired it all he – and no Demon doctor he had consulted – could figure out.

There was something different about Chrono; there always had been. That something had always unnerved most Demons. Oh, his twin had seemed normal enough, if precocious (he'd had rank without even being Configured, which is rare) and powerful... But Chrono... Was... Off. Quiet, but not shy. Acquiescing, but not submissive. Powerful, but not assertive. Curious, but a soldier and not a scientist, technician or engineer. Polite and deferring, but possessing a strong will. Accepting, but questioning everything. Gentle as an Unconfigured, but vicious as a newly Configured who had just realized that they can hit back.

Lerajie couldn't stand him and had never liked him. Why the Duke had possessed such high hopes for the Sinner he would never understand. There was just something **wrong** with Chrono.

Walking through the halls he came to the Master's study. After entering and closing the door behind himself Lerajie went down on one knee, a hand over his heart and announced his presence. He didn't bother to check what the old Human was doing; he didn't need to. By now he knew Ricardo Hendricks routine by heart. The man was going over paperwork for his legal revenues.

"Master."

"Lerajie." Ricardo answered in a rough and weakening voice, "How is the girl?"

"My apologies Master, but I was unable to acquire the girl... It seems that she has... Protectors."

Ones that reek of something... Other. But he wasn't going to tell Ricardo that.

"Protectors?"

"Yes. They were able to get to the girl before I could acquire the Apostle child."

No need to give him the details.

"I see." Ricardo said, clearly not pleased.

After a stretch of silence the Demon Master spoke again.

"Find a way to get her from those protectors and bring her hear. Get rid of them and make it look like an accident."

"As you wish Master."

Lerajie stood and asked, "Is there anything that you need from me in the mean time Master?"

"No. You can leave."

Lerajie gave a slight bow and left. When the door closed the old man finally let his fear and fury show. What was he to do now? The artificial womb Lerajie had built to restore Miranda's – Ricardo's wife's – body could only sustain that empty shell for so long and there was no way of knowing how long it would take for the girl's power to manifest enough to be useful.

Walking down the hall Viscount Lerajie smiled in amusement, able to clearly sense his master's emotions and tumultuous thoughts. The stubborn old man man would be much easier to manipulate in such a state. Perhaps something good had come from losing the girl after all.

He still didn't like that red-head with the two slashes on his face though.

* * *

**A/N:** And the plot thickens... Or, rather, starts. Please review.


	5. Consequences

**A/N:** This one is all one long scene...

* * *

It was the middle of the night and Joshua was still wide awake, the memory of what he had done swirling with nauseating effect in his gut. He had reached the point where he **wanted** to get in trouble for it. He had almost told Ewan just to hear someone chew him out for it, to tell him that he never should have done what he did, that he would burn in Hell for the rest of eternity as a damned soul. He needed someone to tell him that, he needed it desperately because then he wouldn't feel so guilty and like some unfathomable monster was eating him up from the inside out. How could anyone survive this?

Aion's words from that afternoon echoed about inside his confused, guilty brain and, sitting up, the Apostle came to a decision. Throwing the covers off impatiently he got out of bed and went to where he had unceremoniously dumped his clothes earlier. He yanked off his pajama shirt and tossed it onto the bed (he could hear Chrono's voice echoing in his memory, berating him to put it away – the Demon could be worse than a mother hen sometimes, but Joshua was often glad for it). His bottoms joined them a second later and then he was putting his uniform on; blue pants, then black undershirt followed by a more traditionally-styled, but blue, Minister's coat complete with the white collar. Socks went on next, then the boots (he did a balancing act, not wanting to go back to sit on the bed out of fear that he'd loose his nerve). Once they were firmly on his feet he grabbed his gun holster, buckled it on and went over to his little table where his gun rested, disassembled. Joshua put it all back together and loaded it with a practiced ease, all the while his mind trying to drift to where Aion's cell was. As a result he double checked his work and only when he was satisfied did he holster it. Ewan and Chrono had both trained him well when it came to guns. Although why a demon as powerful as Chrono had experience with them was anyone's guess.

Joshua took a moment for a steadying breath before steeling himself and marching out of his room – he decided to leave his sword behind – closing the door behind him as quietly as he could. The fact that he had his own room was actually extremely irregular for someone of his rank; normally there were six people to a room, all of the same rank and gender. An exception had been made for Joshua, though, when other Order members actually refused to sleep in the same room as him. No matter how much Sister Kate or Father Remington said that their behavior was shameful they wouldn't stop and, eventually, Joshua had simply been given his own room, which had originally been a fairly large, walk-in storage closet that had been cleared out for him.

The Apostle would like to say that he understood why the others all did that to him (after all, he – intermittently – spends half the year with demons), but after the way he had been ostracized at Seventh Bell both before and after the 'Horns Incident' he found that he just wasn't that forgiving. His sister had so much anger and rage storming around in her that no one ever noticed his and that was the way he wanted it (well, not his sister being constantly angry at the world, but still); things would only get worse if he tried to say something. So he just swallowed it down and hid it behind a smiling mask where no one could see it, not even Rosette. Chrono was the only one that he couldn't hide it from.

Well, most of the time; occasionally someone like Sister Clarity would put a nice, big, fat crack in his mask... Which is **always** oh-so pleasant for them. Just ask Sister Clarity.

Taking another deep breath – this time to settle his gut enough not to vomit – and letting it out slowly he squared his shoulders, turned away from his bedroom door and started walking down the hall. Noticing a light up ahead he suddenly remembered that there are people who patrol the hallways at night. Frantically looking around he quickly, but quietly, went into a large storage closet (guess which part of the Abby his bedroom is located in) and closed the door as quietly as he could without being too slow. He breathed a sigh of relief when no one shouted. That sigh quickly caught in his throat, however, when he saw the light stop at the door. He almost panicked, but then got an idea... One that plays on an oddity of his physiology that only he, Alistair and Chrono know about; he's built for flight and, consequently, has very strong legs. Glancing around quickly above him he jumped up – turning around at the last second – and got himself deliberately wedged in a corner above the door. He used a high shelf and the molding surrounding the door to plant his feet on and pressed one hand against the wall, while the other used the shelf to keep his balance. He hoped (prayed) that nothing on his uniform caught the light of the candle (thank God he decided to leave his sword behind) that the man below him was holding. Joshua kept his eyes unfocused, but in the general direction of the Minister; experienced Order members are very good at knowing when they're being focused on/watched. Why the Order wanted shiny things on their uniforms would forever be a mystery to the young Apostle; it was like painting a bullseye (or dozen) on yourself.

Thankfully, the man didn't notice him and left. Joshua stayed where he was until the light passed by the door again as the man made a return circuit. The teen waited for a full count of one hundred and eighty seconds (three minutes) before jumping down from his perch. Straightening from his landing crouch he nearly fell over (he'd been in the same position for too long), caught his balance, then bounced on the balls of his feet for a few seconds to get everything flowing again in his legs. Satisfied Joshua opened the door and peeked out. For some reason both the rods and cones in his eyes are always active at the same time, which makes for fantastic night vision (it also has the added benefit of making his vision more sensitive to paranormal/spiritual/Astral phenomenon).

Seeing that the hallway was clear Joshua hurried along, staying on the look out for any telltale lights ahead of him. He was out of the building within minutes; no one was within sight and he headed to the building where Aion was being kept. By the time he had made it there he still hadn't been spotted. Placing his hand on the magical seal – similar in concept and design as the one on Mary Magdalene's tomb – he unbound it and let himself in, resealing it again before making his way through the maze of corridors designed to keep any captured demon that got out of it's cell lost almost indefinitely. Due to demons having telepathy not a single person had the entire place mapped out. An added precaution were the Disruptors, which were designed to disorient Demons and had a similar effect on Humans as well, which is why no Order member had the place entirely mapped out; it was impossible. If either a Human, or a Demon were stay in the maze for too long it would start to look like an Echer maze... Which won't come onto existence until 1953, making the entire experience even more disorienting because they have nothing to compare it to.

Most Order members who enter the maze know where the disruptors are and can avoid them as a result. Obviously a person has to keep their minds well shielded so that the imprisoned demons don't learn where they are as well. Joshua happened to be very good at this. Ironically he used to think that out of him and Rosette he was the one who got the short end of the stick. This talent was, admittedly, due to training from Chrono when they realized that having the demon's horns had woken up some latent psychic ability that would only grow stronger over time. Not wanting to go through what he had back at Seventh Bell when he nearly lost his sanity entirely he had asked Chrono to teach him and his friend had agreed to help. This was how the young Apostle discovered that his friend was one of the strongest telepaths of his race – which explained why 'the voices' had been so loud in Joshua's head. He still couldn't imagine how Chrono could tolerate being around unshielded Human minds; he himself could barely stand it... Though that could be because he's also an empath, which can create an amplification of his telepathy, specifically being receptive, or 'hearing' peoples mental 'voices' more loudly and clearly. It can also have the effect of making it impossible for Joshua to tell his own thoughts and emotions from those of others, though most of the time he can't tell.

Thankfully, he has a strong sense of self that Chrono encouraged to help him not get lost in everyone else's thoughts and emotions.

Finding Aion's cell through the maze proved to be exceedingly easy; it's heavily warded and sealed the same way the maze entrance had been, though much more strongly. It was also multi-layered. Joshua had to unseal and reseal three sets of doors before he finally found himself standing in front of Aion (apparently this cell had been set up before hand for if/when they caught the white-haired Sinner). He didn't know what he had expected to find, but the demon curled up in a corner of the cell and a shivering mess wasn't it.

Peeking out from behind long strands of white hair a single, lavender eye gauged him critically.

"What do you want?" He finally asked Joshua in only a slightly strained voice.

"Just to ask a question." The teen answered as lightly as he could, trying not to feel disturbed by the sight in front of him.

A long silence stretched as both waited for the other to say something.

"...Well...?" Aion finally prompted.

Joshua resisted the urge to sigh.

"How did you know what would happen?"

The Apostle's question was referring to when Aion had tried to warn him against inverting his powers during their fight. The demon knew what he was asking about and considered his next words carefully. Joshua waited.

"...Because I did it to myself... Years ago to try and save the others. Didn't work so well in the end."

Joshua winced at his words, unable to find any of his own.

"May I ask you a question Mr. Christopher?"

He nodded.

"How long will this pain last for?"

The question caught Joshua completely off guard. Aion raised a pale eyebrow from behind his curtain of white hair and decided to elaborate when he realized that the teen hadn't known. He held up a dark, shaking hand.

"It seems, Mr. Christopher, that whatever you did has a lasting effect."

He lowered his hand again as a look of concern clouded Joshua's features (Aion was relieved that the teen hadn't completely ruined himself). After several moments of hesitation the Apostle of Hope finally came forward and held his hand over the trembling demon, the appendage taking on a glow that soothed the pain. Joshua watched what he was doing with a curious frown, trying to hide his own relief; he didn't feel so turned inside-out anymore. This continued for an indeterminate amount of time and, eventually, Aion uncurled somewhat, observing the boy in front of him. No... 'Boy' didn't apply to Joshua Christopher anymore; the innocence was gone from his sky-blue eyes.

_The 'boy' is dead._ The demon realized, _I killed him._

"I did it to myself." Joshua said quietly in response to Aion's unspoken thoughts.

"You retained the telepathy I see."

A shrug.

Aion hesitated to say the words hovering on the tip of his tongue, but after a moment said them anyway, refusing to shirk responsibility (it's just another form of lying).

"Even if you did it too yourself Mr. Christopher I am the one who forced you so far into a corner and gave you no other recourse."

Joshua gave into the urge to sigh this time before correcting him.

"No. All you did was push me onto a path – I'm the one who chose to walk it."

They lapsed into silence then, Aion thoughtful and the teen simply focusing on what he was doing (although a part of him wondered why the demon was so intent on taking responsibility for something that Joshua had chosen to do of his own accord).

Finally, Joshua stopped healing, too exhausted to continue. Aion hunched over immediately, the pain returning as though it had never left.

The teen could feel a fit – like the ones he used to get three years ago – coming on and that scared him. He needed to leave. He needed to... His lungs seized and his heart began to beat erratically. Clutching his chest he desperately wheezed in forced breaths, years of practice the only thing keeping him from suffocating. Why was this one so much worse than all the others before? Or was it just his imagination from not feeling this for so long?

A warm hand was on the side his head, right where one of Chrono's horns used to be. A feeling, amidst all the pain, like threads were tickling him from under his skin spread across his skull, all the way down his spine where it radiated out across his shoulders and down his legs. Afraid of what Aion might be doing to him he desperately called for Chrono.

_'Joshua? What is it?'_

_ 'Help. Fit. Maze. Cells. Aion.'_

That was the best he could manage with his head spinning from not enough oxygen.

Aion sighed, knowing that Joshua was going to die at this rate.

_'Mr. Christopher is suffering from severe Astral depletion; he was using his powers too much.'_

The white-haired demon was un-surprised when none of the emotions he knew his twin must be feeling came across the telepathic contact. He waited patiently as Chrono got Joshua calmed down enough that his chest muscles loosened some, allowing the teen to draw slightly deeper breaths. Finally, Aion spoke again.

_'He still has some of your demon cells in him; they're draining his Astral energy and are probably the reason that his fit is so bad. You might be able to direct some energy to them.'_

What Aion was suggesting was the use of quantum entanglement, which, in essence, is one atom being able to interact with another no mater how far away it is as though that atom were right next to it. To put it very, very simply.

Judging by the rising Astral levels in the demon cells – still miraculously alive – it seemed that Chrono may have decided to try it. If so, then it was obviously working. Aion continued to wait as Joshua's breathing evened out and the pain subsided. When Chrono stopped feeding him Astral the white-haired demon removed his hand from the Apostle's head and sat back against the wall, the pain still racking his body.

Minutes ticked by and Joshua picked himself up off the dry floor enough to sit cross-legged in front his enemy-now-prisoner.

_He looks about as good as I probably do right now..._ Aion thought with some irony.

It was his slightly polite way of saying that they both looked, well, **horrible**. The teen seemed like he was going to pass out at any moment. Or throw-up. Or both.

"Why?" He finally questioned Aion, his voice a bit ragged and alot tired.

"Why what?"

"Why did you help me?"

"Why not? I do still need you."

He was telling the blond the part of the equation that he'd believe.

Joshua snorted.

"You can't do much in your condition. Moving had to have hurt."

Well, that was true; the demon had nearly passed out. Aion shrugged and opted to tell him another – truthful, again – reason why he had helped him.

"To be honest, Mr. Christopher I actually like you."

The Apostle looked confused at this statement. Aion rolled his eyes; the simplicity of a youth's mind is a sometimes wondrous thing. But right now it was just naive.

"What? Did you think that just because I'm 'the bad guy' I, by default, hate you?"

Joshua looked sheepish and Aion had to laugh.

"Ah, Mr Christopher, if things in this world were really that simple I would be a much happier – and much saner – person."

"Saner?"

"Oh yes... Didn't Chrono tell you? I'm completely insane. I did already tell you that I inverted myself, didn't I?" And now he smiled at Joshua, "Don't tell me that you thought a person could do that to themselves and remain sane... Did you?"

There were other factors involved concerning Aion's sanity, but he didn't think that the teen needed to know about all those Contracts... Or the awful truth. Well, at least not yet at any rate.

"...Didn't really want to think about it too much..." Joshua admitted.

_Honest,_ Aion decided, _But ignoring something he doesn't like is a bad habit._

"Never look away from what's right in front of you Mr. Christopher."

Joshua winced.

A silence stretched. Aion began to shake again, unable to hold his body still any more.

"How..." The Apostle of Hope finally started, breaking the silence once more, "Did you end up thinking that you had to invert yourself?"

"...Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Alright then," Aion said, revising his earlier decision to not tell the teen about the horrifying truth of the world all around him just yet, "I suppose I'll tell you."

And Joshua listened, the world getting ripped out from under his feet as he wondered how much of it was true and how much of it was a lie.

He couldn't tell.

* * *

**A/N:** So, uh... Is Aion in-character, or out of character (following his manga portrayal, not his anime one)?


	6. Routine

**A/N:** Your not going to get to see the person in the first scene again for a while yet, but he's important.

* * *

He drifted, between dreams, his mind fogged and unfocused. He was vaguely aware that he was once more waking up from his hibernation. He thought that maybe, this time, he could guide his kind a step forward, that maybe this time their Queen could awaken and they could finally stop The Plague...

Maybe.

He remembered a young woman telling him once of heroes who had almost defeated The Plague when his people first crashed onto this world. But then The Plague had resurged in overwhelming force and although they defeated it a second time they did so at the cost of their lives. The young woman (if only he could remember her name!) had been the only survivor to tell their tale.

Oh... Yes, that's right. She hadn't been young when he had spoken to her, not physically. She had still been a child by his race's reckoning of time, but physically she had been an Elder. She had been the only one left from that time; her husband had died only a year before. He wasn't sure how much longer after passing the burden of the story on to him that she died, but he remembered having a few more conversations with her and his shock and sadness when, one day, he had found out she was dead.

If only he could remember her name...

The thoughts floated away back into the haze, slipping out of his grasp and his mind drifted into the fog once more.

* * *

Joshua had long since learnt not to trust anyone within the Order past a certain point, and with good reason: After his first year with them they had finally figured out that they'd never be able to fully control him. As such they had felt it necessary to place a 'safety measure' on him. This 'safety measure' allowed Ewan to make the teen suddenly loose most of his physical strength with a snap of the Minister's fingers in front of the Apostle's face. Joshua wasn't supposed to know of it, but demon technology is far more advanced than anything Humans have and therefore can detect things that they don't even know exist. So the Order's expectation that the 'safety measure' would go undetected was downright laughable.

Thankfully, the doctor that had found it – Alistair – had decided not only to inform him and Chrono, but to promptly remove it as well. Joshua had spent most of his stay with the former Sinner after that convincing Chrono not to confront anyone in the Order about it; if they realized that it had been removed they might try placing it on him again, or trying something else.

Joshua still wasn't entirely sure that he understood what a 'Geas' – that was what Alistair had called the 'safety measure' – is, except that it's some kind of control mechanism, specifically for use on people. Actually, he got the impression that Alistair wasn't entirely sure what it was either. Be that as it may, this Geas was why he so readily kept secrets from the Order even though they were supposed to be helping him. If they won't trust him, how can **he** trust **them**?

Well, he had another reason as well for not trusting the Order; the doctors' initial idea of what acceptable tests were. To be fair to Sister Kate and Father Remington neither of them had had any way of knowing about the closet psychopaths in the medical wing. It was how Ewan had handled things when Chrono had gone ballistic – or, more precisely, the aftermath of it – when he found out about the tests that had made Joshua trust him more than any other Order members. There was still a limit too it, but it was better than anybody else got.

Even so, Joshua didn't tell him that he'd been checking on the Doorway – demons called it (and summoning circles) a Gate – on the suspicion that the recharge was picking up where it had left off. His suspicion had since been confirmed, which meant that he needed to phone Seventh Bell and tell Mrs. Jean that Rosette will be staying a bit longer than expected. Checking his silver pocket watch. It was a Christmas gift from a Police officer that he had saved last year that had made everyone (except him) who knew about Rosette's Contract cringe. He debated whether to make the call right now or to wait. Although he had finished his lunch he knew that they'd be having there's at the moment. After another moment's debate he decided to pack some of his things and then call Seventh Bell. He'd pack Rosette's things as well since almost no one was in the women's dormitory at this time of day unless they were sleeping after a night-time mission.

Once he had their stuff packed he was going to have to swing by the medical wing (much as he loathed the place) to get some 'feminine hygiene' stuff for his sister. He didn't know if she'd need it or not, but better safe than sorry, right? But after he got all the stuff he would have twenty minutes – tops – to get to and through the Doorway.

Aion's trip down to Pandemonium was going to be delayed, but he wanted a chance to speak to the Duke first – and a proper guard for the Sinner; he saw no point in taking chances on this.

* * *

Chrono got up from his bed, bleary-eyed and hungry. While in his child-like form he hadn't had too much of an appetite, just like when he had really been a child. When puberty hit, though, that had changed dramatically and he had felt like he was almost constantly hungry – not surprising given that his wings, horns and tail were growing in at the same time as all the other changes to his body were occurring, including his nails hardening and the general normalacies expected of puberty. It had been a relief when his appetite had gone back down. His metabolism, however, did demand more food than a Human of his size would be capable of ingesting due to the fact that he's now flight capable. Thus, whenever he wakes up Chrono is very, very hungry.

Crawling out of bed – literally – his demon cells constructed some clothes on him and he levered himself upright. Yawning he went to his bedroom door (which opened automatically), stepped out – the door closing behind him – and headed to the kitchen, the plush carpet padding his bare feet as he walked. Noticing the mancala board with it's playing pieces still on the floor he wondered why he still hadn't cleaned it up yet.

Shaking that off he continued to the kitchen.

He stepped onto the body-temperature, ribbed floor of the enormous kitchen. Unlike the golden-colored foyer the kitchen was mostly green-black and had the majority of it's appliances hidden in the counters, walls and, occasionally, the floor. Chrono bee-lined it for the fridge and, opening it up, he looked inside, spotted where he had put the large container of leftovers the night before and grabbed them. Straightening again he closed the fridge and placed his hand over the counter, telepathically telling the systems what he wanted. A slender, two-pronged fork was produced. He grabbed it and went over to the table where he sat down and opened the container. Putting the lid down on the table top he changed his grip on his fork and started eating.

About ten minutes later he was putting the container and it's lid for washing. This involves opening a part of the counter top and placing whatever is dirty in the depression then found and lowering the counter top again. After that you just leave it; automated systems would put whatever had been placed in the cleaner back where it belongs within the kitchen. It won't work for anything that belongs in another room, though.

Speaking of the blond... Chrono could sense her mind waking up and exited the kitchen, going straight too Joshua's bedroom where she was. Standing in front of the door he keyed it open to find Rosette sitting up, wearing a pair of pajamas that Joshua had forgotten to pack on his last visit and stretching in a way that made him uncomfortably aware of her chest. He managed to pull his eyes back up to her face before she noticed and started either bugging him, or harping about him being a pervert.

"Breakfast will be ready in about twenty minutes. The shower is available in the meantime if you want it."

"Mm..." Rosette mumbled, "'Kay. Thanks..."

She yawned again, carelessly tossed the covers aside, got up and stumbled her way out the door, heading for the bathroom as Chrono made his way back to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Sometime later, as he was keeping her long-since-ready breakfast warm, he heard Rosette's very irate voice screaming, "CHRONO! **What did you do with my clothes**?"

He cringed; it would seem that she had finally noticed that the clothes she had come in were 'missing'. Chrono decided to be a coward and let her come out and ask him in person. He didn't have long to wait before Rosette stormed into the kitchen. Turning around to face the teen's wrath he was met with the sight of her standing next to the kitchen table in nothing but a very large, fluffy, sunshine-yellow towel and her mussed (from drying it), damp hair. Clenched in one angry fist held out in front of her were her altered clothes; her other hand was clenched and trembling at her side. He was semi-glad that the towels were so big.

Blushing he listened as Rosette demanded to know what had happened to the clothes that she had arrived in.

"Uh, well... That's them in your hand... I just altered them while you were showering yesterday..."

He realized too late that he shouldn't have mentioned **when** he had altered them.

"CHRONO~! YOU PERVERT!"

"**What**?" He exclaimed.

"I can't believe it! You of all people!"

"No! I-!"

"Do you have **any** shame? Sneaking in while I was showering! You're a Peeping Tom, that's what you are!"

"But-!"

"What kind of things have you been teaching Joshua?"

"Rose~tte!"

In the end Chrono had resorted to whining her name pleadingly.

Glaring at him, she shook her clothes and went on, "And another thing! How do I even put this thing **on**?"

"The same way you did yesterday, Rosette." He sighed, giving up.

The teen stared at him for a second, then at the garment she was holding up. After a moment realization struck and – embarrassed that she hadn't noticed sooner – she silently retreated back to the bathroom to change.

_How did she reduce me to a whining child?_ He wondered with a sigh as he got up and turned off the stove.

Chrono stood in front of the now-off stove and stared at it silently for a moment, then walked out of the kitchen and into the foyer, making his way over the back-most wall. Placing his hand on it the demon cells there turned transparent, showing the eye-poppingly enormous room beyond with it's floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall window looking out over one of the smaller gardens (neither of which he'd so much as put a toe in and the garden looked more akin to a healthy jungle anyway). The size of a person's quarters is a sign of their status, as such Chrono – knowing that no one is actually aware of how big his is – never let anyone see the real size of his quarters. The reason no one knows is because an automated system assigns quarters for everyone based, normally, on their rank. Being unTuned – and rankless as a result – meant that he had no status or authority, but, for some reason, he'd been assigned to these quarters and once quarters are assigned they can't be reassigned; he would get no end of grief if anyone ever found out.

Now he was considering exploring them if only to find out if there's any possibility of Rosette having a little more privacy; she seemed to be oblivious to a few very important things. He had debated showing Joshua the rest of his quarters on more than one occasion, but that huge window made him a little nervous; if gardeners saw them and put two-and-two together... Admittedly, it was unlikely since only a select few had any idea where his quarters are... Which is due to the fact that he's the only one assigned quarters in this section. Aion's assigned quarters used to be right next to his.

Chrono removed his hand from the wall and it turned opaque again as he wondered why he had felt the need to look at the massive room beyond. He went back into the kitchen and called out two bowls – stored in a slide-out set of racks – and two forks for the warm vegetable, fruit and eel salad he'd made for breakfast. When Rosette came into the kitchen a couple of minute later he was just setting the table. He hadn't gotten the chance to see how she looked in the design he'd come up with for her clothes the other day and took a moment to do so know.

It was a modest, halter-top dress with a two-layered skirt. He had deliberately picked what he hoped were a suitably feminine colors (lilac and pale yellow) for her and found that Rosette looked quite pretty in the outfit. He had also made a pair of light green, calf-hugging boots for her out of the spare material and some demon cells. Chrono was relieved that she seemed to approve of the design as she looked it over. Growing up it had always been Aion – and not him – who was good with people and, particularly, the opposite gender. In fact Chrono had been a bit shy as a child – not blushing shy, just quiet, reserved, introspective and a little awkward with people – so he hadn't been entirely sure if he'd made the right kind of clothes for Rosette or not.

"So," She asked him, "How do I look?"

He was a bit startled by the question, but then smiled warmly at her and said genuinely, "You look beautiful Rosette."

The fifteen year old immediately blushed.

"We should eat breakfast before it gets cold." He added.

"Huh? Oh, yeah thanks." Rosette answered.

She walked over to the table. Before she could do it herself Chrono pulled the chair out for her and she sat, blushing a bit more, as he gently pushed it back in. He wondered why she was blushing over him pulling out a chair for her. That's the polite thing to do among Humans for a Woman, isn't it?

Once she was seated Chrono remembered drinks and went to one of the slide-out cupboards. Pulling out two cups he set them on the counter top, then retrieved some juice from the fridge and poured them a cup each. He put the juice back, closed the fridge, grabbed the cups and took them over to the dinning table, setting one down by Rosette, the other by his bowl and took the seat next to her.

Both of them tucked into their meal, one of them with more gusto than the other.

* * *

The walk to Alistair's medical section was uneventful and, thankfully, devoid of any demons overly shocking in appearance, though it did take a little while to get there. When they did arrive it was like stepping off of one world and onto another. Where before it had been nothing but corridors, doors and the occasional open areas... Here it was all reversed; the architecture was even different, like it had somehow been built separately from the rest of Pandemonium.

Most demons disliked the medical areas because of this difference. Put another way; they found it unsettling and creepy, even the doctors, excepting Alistair. Chrono, on the other hand, had always preferred it and had often snuck into the area when he was younger (when his hands were still clean of his kin's blood) on the excuse of pestering Alistair with questions. The older demon had been surprisingly patient with him and – bizarrely enough – kind. But that wasn't unusual for the demon doctor. For one reason or another Alistair took the opposite stance on rearing Unconfigured (demon children) from that of every other of their kind; treat them gently and with kindness. In a society where brutality is considered a given Alistair had often been a place of refuge.

These days it reminded Chrono of an old-growth forest.

Rosette looked around, a bit awestruck by it all. The normal architecture of Pandemonium had been alien and unnerving for her, but this she found beautiful. The entire area was tiered with a series of lofts, balconies and hanging platforms with vine-like railings. Everywhere she cast her eyes there were organic, flowing lines, arches and the impression of walking into a forest with massive trees on which the lofts and balconies either clung too the side of, or hung between. All the stairs and ramps looked like carefully placed, woven branches. Looking up she discovered that the roof resembled, with seeming photographic accuracy, the underside of a canopy.

Despite herself Rosette started to relax and half wondered if the plants were real.

Chrono had long since come to realize that the architecture of this part of Pandemonium was designed to look like a forest and often wondered if, once upon a time, they had lived someplace that looked like this. Realizing the Rosette had come to a standstill he stopped as well. If it were up to him he'd have let her gawk for as long as she wanted, but they had an appointment with Alistair to keep so he closed some of the distance between them and took her hand. Chrono didn't expect the electricity that traveled up his arm and wrecked havoc with his body. Glad that – as per usual – hardly anyone was in the medical wing, Chrono ignored the blush staining his cheeks (which was becoming normal) and gently tugged Rosette along.

She followed without argument or resistance, still gawking at everything around her.

A few minutes later the blush was gone and Alistair was coming into view standing beside one of the massive boles, it's roots – at least that's what they looked like – forming several beds. At nearly eleven feet tall, with a lean, draconian, beaked muzzle, angular face and build, an unmanageable shock of white hair, two sets of large wings and bright, orange eyes he was a bit of an intimidating sight to say the least. Rosette unconsciously gripped Chrono's hand tighter. He could feel the fear pulsing in her and hear it in her shaky breaths. Chrono gave her hand a gentle squeeze that he hoped was reassuring.

Coming to stand near Alistair Chrono introduced them.

"Alistair, this is Rosette Christopher. Rosette, this is Alistair."

Alistair nodded to her, then turned to Chrono, a look of mischief in his eyes. The smaller demon started feeling a bit uneasy and had to resist the urge to squirm.

"My, my Chrono... Is their something going on that I should know about...?"

"Wha-wha-?"

"Well... You haven't let go of her hand yet..."

That was when they both realized that they were, indeed, still holding hands. Embarrassed, the two snatched their appendages back and, very obviously didn't look at each other. Rosette had every intention of denying that any hanky-panky was going on but found herself staying inexplicably silent.

Due to the geas that had been found on Joshua two years ago the teen has to come in for a check-up as soon as he arrives. As such Alistair is the first – along with Chrono – to get the alert that the boy has passed through the gate; consequently he has been aware of Rosette's presence since the first few seconds that she'd been standing within Pandemonium's territory. Since, really, he has nothing to do that actually requires more than half his attention he has been watching her interaction with Chrono the entire time (admittedly he was also just curious to know about the sister Joshua liked to talk about so much). While he had been watching them he had noticed that Rosette had a way of pulling Chrono out of his shell that even her brother couldn't quite manage... From what he could tell it was something akin to taking an El Red Point Canon and blasting the shell Chrono kept around himself to smithereens – which is really good for Chrono, if a bit brutal.

Besides, from a medical stand point on his mental health, Chrono needs a romantic partner and Alistair didn't think that Rosette would stay available that much longer – not with her looks – not to mention the fact that any other potential partners would never, after what he did, even consider him... The blond teen was his best bet.

"Er, um..." Chrono started, still flustered by Alistair's comment, "R-Rosette's throat... The bite marks..."

"Yes, yes." Alistair answered almost dismissively, kneeling down on the tiled floor (patterned and colored to look like fallen leaves and seeds), "Miss Christopher," He continued, turning his attention to her and reaching out, "If you would allow me?"

Still wary and nervous of him she nodded anyway, trusting in Chrono to – just as when she was a child – not let anything happen to her. Alistair very gently lifted her chin and took a close look. Data sped across his peripheral vision as each little puncture on her delicate skin was cropped out and magnified for him to see and scan more clearly. He found trace amounts of demon cells in the wounds that seemed to be actively preventing them from healing... Which is very unlike Chrono... Well, than again, maybe not; he is rather possessive, even if he does hide it well most of the time.

_Well,_ Alistair mused, _At least I know what I'm looking at._

This knowledge came less from reading and research and more from experience.

Once, when Alistair was still young, he had been summoned and chained into a contract with a Human sorcerer to... Babysit their unwanted daughter. Long story short he became very fond of the (dazzling, brilliant, gentle) mother he was assisting and the daughter as well, the former of whom he ended up 'marking'. Unfortunately, because demons heal so fast and so well that they don't scar, they have to make the injury permanent in order to mark another demon. The purpose of marking someone is to say "They're mine. Back off.". If another demon – or any male for that matter – tries to touch the injury (and, by proxy – theoretically at least – plant their own demon cells in it) the demon cells within the injury will attack, causing the offender to be 'burnt'. If a male that the demon who marked the person does not approve of tries to come too close the injuries will start to bleed as a warning, or to make them easier to find via their scent – he wasn't sure which it was, or if it was both. Needless to say Alistair's master had not been very happy with him when all of this came to light... And even less so when he discovered the illicit affair between Alistair – who can make himself significantly shorter – and the mother.

In essence; Chrono has marked Rosette as his. Joshua should love this... No; really, he really will likely love this turn of events. He had often said – half to bug Chrono, half because he actually believed it – that Chrono and Rosette would probably get married one day.

That aside for the moment he had a more pertinent question to contemplate... How does he explain this in a way that wont end with the firey blond chasing after Chrono screaming promises of pain and torment?

Well, he decided, it might help if he has the story first; it's not as though he had been constantly listening in on them.

Turning his attention to Chrono, Alistair asked, "How, exactly, did you end up biting her throat?"

"Uhhh..." Chrono started, then pointed to Rosette and said, "Ask her."

Alistair turned to the blond teen and raised a questioning brow ridge. She squirmed around where she stood and, after several moments of silence finally told him.

When she was done he simply asked, even as he wondered if Chrono was, perhaps, a bit masochistic, "When you got him to release you, did you do so by yielding?"

She did not want to answer that and Alistair found her hesitation very telling... Still, he needed confirmation.

"Miss Christopher, I need to know – did you yield?"

For Rosette answering him was like pulling a ball of razor blades out of her throat. Slowly.

"...Yes..."

Chrono's eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise as something seemed to go 'click' in his head. It wasn't a puzzle-piece-falling-into-place kind of click, more like a switch being flicked on. An odd feeling came over him... Like what he had felt when he woke the morning after he had bit her... Chrono frowned as he mulled this over in his head.

"Chrono," Alistair started, turning his attention to the younger demon, "Were you awake at the time?"

"Huh?" Chrono started, then gathered his wits, "Oh, uh, no. I wasn't. At least not that I remember..."

"Ah, well, that would explain it then..."

"Explain what?" Rosette growled.

Alistair hesitated, still trying to think of a way to put it delicately... And came up with nothing. He gave Chrono fair warning – telepathically – and plunged ahead, telling her what he had learned from experience and vague allusions from various sources that he had found over the years.

When he was done explaining he wrapped it up with, "Well, all of that said, I really don't know that much about it; this is only the second time that I've seen it. I'll try to dig up some more information on the subject."

Alistair then waited for it to sink into Rosette's brain while Chrono found himself inexplicably rooted to where he was standing, just as stunned as the blond and waiting for her reaction.

* * *

Azmaria woke and sat up, staring around blearily. She hadn't yet recalled where she was and, in fact, wasn't even awake enough yet to to notice her surroundings. The subtly expensive decor went completely unnoticed by her.

The door creaked open and Miss Maria looked in to check on the young girl.

"Ah~! Good morning Azmaria." She greeted cheerfully.

"G'morning." The young girl greeted in return, remembering to use English and not Portuguese.

"Why don't you get dressed – your clothes are on the chair over there – and come downstairs. Breakfast's ready; you should eat while it's still warm."

"'Kay."

"Good girl." Maria praised and then quietly closed the door.

The young girl sat there for a couple more minutes before getting out of bed and dressing herself.

* * *

Azmaria came down the stairs and went to where she could hear voices. Reaching the dining room she found the familiar sight of the orchestra members enjoying breakfast and each other's company... And she found – to her surprise – that the red-haired man that had saved her the other day from her kidnapper was sitting at the table having breakfast with everyone. It had taken her a moment to notice him, which was strange given the color and cut of his unusual hair... Not to mention the fact that he was wearing his suit while everyone else was more casually dressed for the moment, their blazers draped over the back of their chairs.

Despite this he not only managed to look less formal in his suit than everyone else (maybe it was because his blazer was open and his shirt untucked and undone at the top...), but also blended in with the group with a casual ease Azmaria knew was not normal.

He spotted her and called, "Yo! Looks like the sleepy-head is awake!"

Hearing this the others all looked over and a minute later saw her seated among the happy orchestra members. They had all gotten a scare the other day and were still feeling relieved that she was alright. They hadn't pressed her for answers when Reno – the red-head's name she had surmised the other day – returned with her to the group and they all headed to the mansion that they had been given to use for the duration of their stay by Reno's boss. She still wondered why Mr. Shinra was so interested in their little orchestra but had no time to contemplate the mystery because the others were now asking her about the man that had taken her.

Reno watched Azmaria, wondering something similar himself; his boss hadn't been very forth-coming when asked. Whatever it was that made the petite albino girl so special had Rufus Shinra concerned enough about her safety to put Reno on bodyguard duty until further notice. He didn't mind (it gave him something to do), but it would still be nice to know what was going on.

* * *

**A/N:** You know... It just occurred to me that under other circumstances Reno's behaviour would be really creepy... Or is it creepy anyway? Anybody have an opinion on the matter?


	7. Spirited Away

**A/N:** And here is the next chapter for you enjoyment!

* * *

Chrono was hiding in his room, staring petulantly up at the peeked, gold-colored, very plain, very boring roof. Since Alistair had dropped the bomb earlier in the medical area any time Rosette saw Chrono she started yelling at him. Most people don't realize it – because he's so outwardly calm – but the purple-haired demon actually has quite the impressive temper himself... And Rosette is very good at finding his buttons **despite** the years that have passed without contact between them; he would have been glad that she still knew him so well under other circumstances. Unfortunately they had been arguing about the whole 'marking her' thing for the last few hours. So the reason he was hiding out – or at least what he had told Rosette – was two fold; one) he's ears are ringing and two) he was honestly worried that he would say something particularly stupid in a fit of temper.

Truthfully, he also didn't want to hear another demand that he remove his mark from her. Out of sheer stubbornness he continuously refused, much to her aggravation. Some part of him kept snarking that Rosette is his and it's going to stay that way, thank-you very much. He was feeling a bit too annoyed and broody to put the brakes on those thoughts, so they got to run their course... Which turned out to be not so good. His thoughts were starting to stray into areas that they – as far as he was concerned – shouldn't ever go, mostly centering around fully 'claiming' her as his.

_God damn puberty!_ He thought emphatically, referring to Rosette's, not his, as he rolled onto his stomach to stare at the as-boring-as-the-ceiling wall.

Silently he wondered if it would be possible to reverse the flow of time to go back to when Rosette was still a child and things were much simpler. It would be very nice if he could.

* * *

Rosette was pacing the length of Chrono's living room, dodging around the pillows, terminals and other random things that she had been hurling at him; she was furious beyond words. **Marking** her? The nerve! She isn't property or an object to be claimed! Who does he think is? She stopped her pacing to kick a throw pillow across the room where it hit the back wall, which made a strange 'bsh' sound on impact. For a brief second Rosette could have sworn that she saw the small part of the wall, where the pillow had hit, change.

Frowning – and now curious – the teen made her way over to the wall as she put her annoyance on the back burner of her mind. Coming to stand in front of the wall she stared at it for several moments and decided that it didn't seem any different from the other walls... Still frowning, Rosette placed her hand on it. Nothing. Retracting the appendage she made a fist and banged the side of it against the wall, figuring that it might require more force. When her fist connected she saw – for a total of five and a half seconds – trees about thirty yards off, a polished looking floor inbetween and the gleam of a floor-to-ceiling window holding them at bay. She banged again to confirm what she was seeing, and then again, and again, and again.

A catty smile spread across her face as Rosette started looking for a way through the wall, figuring that it wouldn't be hidden like it was if there wasn't some way through. After a few minutes of experimenting she figured out the trick of it; splay her hand across the wall and focus on wanting to pass through. Grinning a second time as the tiles – they gave her the impression of being hexagonal in shape, unsurprisingly – peeled away and Rosette stepped through. She didn't notice that a piece of her skirt got clipped off and landed on the floor where Chrono could find it. Without a second thought she dashed across the room and over to the massive window – which proved to be even taller and further away than it had at first seemed (she felt about as big as an ant in this room). Rosette pressed her hands too – what she assumed was – the glass and attempted to look through the branches splayed, like her own hands, up against the window. Try as she might, though, the jade-green, small-leafed foliage was just to dense... So she went form one end of the window to the other until she finally found an opening near the left hand corner at about crouching height.

What she found was a cat-sized creature sitting perched on a red-brown branch about five feet away. It was eating – making use of nimble little hands – a yellow fruit ruffly the shape of a peach, twice as big and with bright orange flesh inside. The creature was covered in short, but thick, black fur with spatterings of small, white ticking that culminated as a white-tipped mane on it's big-eyed head. It had a slender snout that terminated in a brown nose, constantly swiveling ears and the eyes, she found when it turned to look at her, were rose colored. On it's long fuzzy forearms were feathers that were a burnt orange color at the wrist and faded to a playful yellow at the elbows.

After studying eachother in silence for several moments the creature finally finished eating, swallowing the fruit's core and moved towards her on all fours. As it did the light caught on it's fur and feathers; black became iridescent blue, white became the pastel rainbows of opals and orange and yellow became polished copper and gold.

Rosette felt the air catch in her throat at the sight and stared in wonder. She almost missed the luxurious tail swishing behind it for balance as the little creature made it's way across the branch. When it got as close as the branch would take it to where she was it stood up on it's hind legs... And started very obviously dancing. The teen was absolutely delighted and found herself unable to stop giggling. The giggles got worse when it decided to go on it's hands to continue it's dance. The feet of the creature were somewhere inbetween a cat's and a monkey's.

This entertainment went for nearly forty-five minutes – Rosette stopped crouching and sat down in that time – with the creature even making funny faces at her and playing out a fifteen minute story. When it was done it yawned, gave itself a shake and scampered off.

Now in a fantastic mood Rosette picked herself up off of the very hard floor with a wince, deciding to see if their was anything else of interest in the room. The first thing that she noticed were the rectangular blocks of color evenly dispersed on the floor. Deciding to try something similar to what she had done with the wall – mostly on a whim and partially on a suspicion – she picked a random block and crouched down beside it. Placing her hand on it she focused.

Nothing happened.

Feeling a bit annoyed and disappointed Rosette turned away to start looking around for something else of interest. Like everything else she had seen since arriving – the medical area notwithstanding – the room was hexagonally shaped. Or, to be more precise, it was shaped like a bee's honeycomb and, as such, it has six walls and a roof that comes to a central peek. One wall led back the way Rosette had come, the one across from it had the massive window and the other four each had a single door. The teen wasn't really sure what had possessed her to look up, but she was very glad that she had.

On the ceiling was a mural depicting an alien, but beautiful world of colorful foliage, grand buildings, ancient mountains, strange arches, glowing flowers and – in the sky of this mural – iridescent, ethereal creatures with almost butterfly-like wings flying here and there. They vaguely reminded her of some deep-sea jellyfish she had once seen in a book Joshua had given her, but only vaguely.

Each of the six ceiling panels showed a different landscape. The simplest one was that of an orchard. The flowers of these fanciful, silver trees were fluted, brilliantly colored and glowed with a soft blue and green light being emitted from within. The ethereal flying creatures seemed to be drinking in the light from these flowers, but not draining them. In the distant background was a massive arch that seemed to have things growing off of it.

Going clockwise, the next panel over showed a giant tree made of light that dwarfed the demons sitting and standing on it's mind-numbingly large, exposed roots. In the foreground was an animal that was sitting on what Rosette presumed was one of the roots, a fruit – identical to the one the small creature that she had seen earlier had been eating, but much, much smaller – in hand. This animal had finely mottled blue-black and opal-white... Well, it looked like fur, but she couldn't tell for certain... Except that the coloring continued onto it's luxuriously coated tail, so it was probably fur. On it's snouted head was a thick, copper-colored, mohawk mane and on it's forearms were feathers fading from brilliant copper to pale gold. It's head was turned so that the viewer could see it's luminously blue eyes.

Rosette decided to assume that this creature and the one that she had seen were two species of the same animal, much like with different types of monkeys, or cats and dogs.

The next panel over showed a rounded mountainscape covered in lush greenery. Above them was what looked like the satiny curtain of an aurora borealis. Carved right into the mountains were buildings of some kind. She couldn't tell by their appearance what they were for, but their fronts were wide and had arches supported by pillars. All of it was so thoroughly covered in flora – like they had been there for so long that the wild was starting to reclaim it's territory even as demons moved among and about them – that she couldn't make out much more of the architecture.

The next panel over took her a moment to decipher. It was of a dark-skinned demon child – she couldn't tell gender – sleeping in a moss-lined nest, flowers and plants growing all around them. Curled up next to the child was a ball of starry-sky fur with copper and gold feather's peeking out. The clothes that the child was wearing didn't look much like what Rosette had seen Chrono or any other demon wearing before. The shirt was colorful, billowy and covered in detailed and intricate geometric patterns. Around their waist was a fairly plain, wrap-around, knee-length skirt in shades of green. In the background was an impossibly blue lake with steps overgrown with plants leading down to it. A pair – male and female, both dark-skinned – sat on the steps, heads bent in conversation, the light catching on their horns. Beside and behind the male, resting on the stairs, were their folded wings. The light glowed through the membranes and Rosette could actually see the veins throughout them. She could also see the pair's expressions. The guy – who was shirtless and wearing a skirt like the child's – had a very stern expression, while the woman – wearing a halter top shirt and a wrap-around skirt as well – seemed like she was trying not to laugh.

Rosette stared at that particular panel for some time, thinking that Chrono would probably like it.

Another panel over and Rosette was looking at ruins in which nothing grew, though fog hugged the ground as orbs of light – of varying sizes – floated here and there. There was something so desolate about it that the sight was unnerving. There were scorch marks, craters and parts of the ruins were vitrified, others partially melted lumps that were almost unrecognizable for what they used to be. But the most disturbing thing about these ruins were the clear crystal statues of demons, with skeletons fully intact inside them. They gave her the creeps. Up in the sky were two suns and one of them had a distinct, noticeable ring around it.

The teen found herself wondering what had happened there.

The next panel over was the last one and – to Rosette at least – the prettiest. It was of numerous waterfalls cascading into a series of perfectly blue rivers filled with what looked like vibrant water plants. Marine life was visible all throughout it, some hunting, some hiding, some simply going about there business. A plethora of blooming flora grew all around the waterfalls and rivers as those ethereal, transparent, winged creatures flitted about from flower to flower – all of which possessed that glowing-from-within quality – drinking the light, but never draining it. The stone that the waterfalls fell over, (at least what Rosette could see) was a creamy, glossy sunshine yellow. It looked almost like sulfur, but, judging by the color of the water and the fact that the stone is too pale, it was something else entirely. The trunks of the trees varied from red-brown to silver and even purple. All of the leaves were green as far as she could tell, but the flowers came in every color imaginable. Flying through the air with the flitting light-drinkers were birds, some vibrant, others plain looking, but too many for her to take in at once. In the trees, on the ground and beside the rivers were so many kinds of animals that, like the birds, it was impossible for her to take in and catalog them all. Off to the side, in the sky, was a sun.

At the peek of the ceiling was a clustered vine that separated each scene.

Rosette thought that it looked like a tropical scene captured by a very well hidden artist.

* * *

As the blond had been admiring the mural Chrono had continued brooding. Over the course of that brooding he had come to the perception-altering realization that when he had been at the same physical stage of development as Rosette currently was he had taken his first step into the realm of romance. It hadn't lasted more than a week before he got bored. But the point remains; Rosette was old enough to be looking at boys and to be looked at **by** boys. But if any of those adolescent, hormone-drenched, squeaky-voiced brats laid a hand on her Chrono would have to do something drastic.

Suddenly feeling restless and a need to check on Rosette he rolled off of his bed and exited his room – only to find the foyer empty. He went over to the terminal beside the bathroom door and checked to see if she was in the shower. Nope; bathroom was empty. Frowning, he crossed the foyer and checked the kitchen. Not there either.

Where did she go? Joshua's bedroom was always locked, so she couldn't be in there. Did she get out...?

Nightmare images of what could happen to her running through his head he rushed over to the door and checked the terminal beside it. Safe; the door had not been opened since they got back from her check up. So where is she? He scanned the room, searching for anything that would give him a clue. That was when Chrono spied the piece of pastel fabric on the floor. A frown on his face he strode over, crouched, picked it up and studied it for a moment. He then looked up at the wall thoughtfully and placed his hand against it, willing the demon cells to go transparent.

Sure enough there was Rosette... Staring up at the ceiling in utter fascination for some reason, the wall of foliage behind her a far more appropriate setting for her than his world of cold technology. He raised an eyebrow and stood, making an opening in the wall the same way Rosette had earlier and stepped through even as he wondered how she had managed to get in. Chrono walked over to her, also wondering where the tables and chairs had come from and tilting his head up slightly to catch on the upper edge of his vision what she was staring at. He did a double take, stopped and looked fully at the ceiling. He halted, coming just short of plowing into Rosette.

_Wow..._ He thought, taking in each scene like the blond was.

After some time she finally pulled her gaze away from the mural and back down to everything around her and found herself staring at Chrono's broad chest, about two feet away from her nose. At the moment he was wearing a green, sleeveless, open shirt with a skin-tight, black, long-sleeved shirt underneath. She stumbled back in surprise and found that his shirt disappeared into loose, but still fitted pants, which were tucked into armored boots. Bringing her eyes back up she saw that his shirt sleeves extended over the backs of his hands and kept his neck completely covered as well.

Actually... Now that she thought about it Rosette couldn't remember a time when she had seen him voluntarily leave his neck completely exposed. Huh. Wierd.

"..I should have come in here ages ago." Chrono commented, snapping Rosette out of her thoughts.

"Whadda mean?"

He turned his gaze down to her and said, "Well, I've never been in this room before..."

"Wha- really?"

He nodded. Then Rosette grinned and he waited for whatever she was going to say. At the moment he was trying not to read her thoughts – although he was still catching whispers – since he didn't wan to get into another argument with her.

"Wanna explore?" She asked him, much to Chrono's surprise.

After a moment he decided that there wasn't any harm in doing so and said, "Sure."

Besides, he's kind of curious now himself.

"By the way," Rosette added, "Where did these chairs and tables come from?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you that..."

"Why would I know?" She demanded, annoyed.

"Well they weren't here before!"

"Well-" She started then stopped, remembering what she had done.

The blond wondered if the response had just been delayed for some reason. Thoughtfully, she told him how she had gotten through the wall and what she had tried to do with the patterns on the floor.

_Her brain works in strange ways._ He decided, because there was no real reason why she would have thought that the patterns on the floor were anything but patterns.

Chrono also noted that she was learning how to control the demon cells in her body, which she had gotten from him when he had transformed while taking off into the air with her three years ago when Aion had shown up. The black 'miasma' that had whipped around him in a flurry had actually been his demons cells multiplying to change his form; she had ended up breathing some in. He would have thought that they'd have all died off by now, though. Unless they had gone dormant to conserve power... Then again, it could also be the demon cells that he had used to mark her, but he was fairly certain that they were only in the vicinity of her neck, so maybe not...

"Well," Chrono said aloud, "I guess that's as likely as anything else to be the reason... Anyway, where do you want to start exploring?"

Her grin returned and she said, pointing to the side, "I want to start in there!"

When he turned to look Chrono knew that he should not have been surprised to find her pointing to the trees. Truthfully, he wanted to go exploring in there too... But he didn't think that there was a way in from this room.

"Er... Rosette I don't think that we can get in there from here."

He returned his gaze to the blond teen and was horrified to discover that she had learnt – at some point – how to do a very good pout. The reason that he's horrified is one) he doesn't generally know how to deal with 'feminine' and two) she was looking very kissable at the moment.

His cheeks warmer than he'd like he said, "Well, there's plenty of other places to explore."

She brightened.

* * *

Half an hour later and both of them were bored, an absurd number of rooms and a series of doors left open (so that they can find their way back) behind them and the two desperately needed **something** to break the monotony. As it turns out most of the rooms are featureless, so there really isn't much to see except if they keep to the middle and right, then they get more trees. It might have been interesting if the foliage wasn't so dense that they couldn't see past it. That changed abruptly when they opened the next door and nearly walked into a wide branch with a plethora of smaller ones of varying sizes growing out of it. Startled, the two exchanged glances, then Rosette grinned and started climbing over it, working her way between the smaller branches.

Her skirt got caught three times before she was out of Chrono's reach; it gave him plenty of time to discreetly reattach the small piece of her skirt that she had lost earlier. By then he had shifted into his more Human-looking form to get his wings and horns out of the way, along with his sleeveless over-shirt. Scanning over the branches in his way he determined that Rosette – unsurprisingly, given how much climbing she had done while he was at 7th Bell – had picked out the widest gap in the branches. He started climbing through the branches after Rosette.

If it was a squeeze for Rosette to fit, then it was almost impossible for his – ruffly – six and half foot frame. Still he managed to keep getting through, even with all of the branches trying to tangle him up, or grab his clothes with greedy claws. Watching Rosette struggle her way through a tight gap he sighed and did his best to follow her – and to not enjoy the view of her of her backside quite so much. He nearly had a heart attack when Rosette disappeared from his line of sight, but noticed a piece of skirt that had been torn off and headed in that direction, grabbing the piece of fabric and pocketing it (just as he had done with all of the other torn pieces) as he went by. He made a mental note to make the fabric tougher next time he altered her clothes. To be fair, he hadn't anticipated that they'd be climbing around as they were.

Chrono ended up stretched out over multiple branches, looking through the small space that the blond teen had – if the, yet another that he pocketed, piece of torn skirt was any indication – gone through. Hanging his head he sigh and slumped. A rustling brought his gaze back up; he thought that it was Rosette. Instead he found the branches moving, widening the gap into something that he could actually fit through. After about a minute they stopped moving.

Sending a tentative telepathic thank-you he started working his way through.

_'You're welcome...'_ Came the gentle reply, making Chrono pause because he sensed it coming from the tree.

And it was an ancient mind.

Mentally filling that away he snaked his way through the gap and found himself looking out over a forest. The branch continued to a massive tree, which Rosette was headed towards. Circling the bole was a wooden walkway. It looked very narrow, but, then again, he didn't know how far away it was.

"Hey! Rosette! Wait up!"

The teen gave a start, turned to look at him and yelled at him to stop being a slow-poke and hurry up. Annoyed at the remark he pulled himself half way free, bending over a bit to plant his hands on the wide, main branch and – with a push – somersaulted the rest of the way out, landing in a crouch. Without pausing between movements he launched himself into a dead run too fast for Rosette's brain to process. Less than a second later he was standing six inches in front of her, not even winded. It took her a full second to register that he was there and then she was so surprised that she nearly fell over. Chrono caught her by her upper arms.

"Fast enough for you?" He asked with a playful smile and a raised eyebrow as he righted her, but didn't let go.

"Uh, er, ye-yeah..." She answered, craning her neck to look up at him and remembered just how much taller than her he is.

She had mixed feelings about the new discrepancy in height.

"Shall we continue?" He asked.

She snapped out of her surprise and grinned up at him again. This was definitely going to be more fun then those monotonous rooms.

Neither of them noticed the starry-sky furred little creature scamper into the branches that they had just come out of.

* * *

Reno, Miss Maria – formerly of the Turks, but now a cello player in the orchestra – and Azmaria were shopping around for some clothes for the girl. Due to her family situation just prior to joining the orchestra, along budget constraints since, Azmaria only had three changes of clothes and all of them were beginning to get just a little to small for her to get in and out of. Maria had explained this to Rufus Shinra and asked him if he minded helping them get her some new clothes.

He had given her an unduly large budget for the endeavor and told her to get herself some as well; she may not be a Turk anymore, but Azmaria is a target for a powerful Demon so Maria needed clothes that she could fight in. He had very strongly suggested that she take up practicing with the Turks and getting herself back into full fighting form. She understood it for the order it was and proceeded accordingly. However, they were getting Azmaria's clothes first, then her's. Reno was being amazingly patient about being dragged around and made to carry most of the bags. Of course they had an understanding that if trouble comes he'd be dropping all of it where he stands.

It was while they were stashing Azmaria's clothes – and some shoes – in the car that Lerajie literally dropped out of the sky, grabbed Azmaria and was gone before either of them could even think to chase.

"SON OF BITCH!" Reno yelled after, then spun around and kicked the solid steel care hard enough to make it rock (he had an adrenaline rush).

Maria had a similar fit, pounding on the hood of the car, swearing enough to make passersby gape. Those that had seen the demon take the child weren't so surprised. Among those who were wondering what was going on was Chief Inspector Joseph O'Donnell. At the moment he was visiting relatives, but keeping the peace is his life's calling so he approached the two.

"Excuse me." He called firmly, once he was standing by their car.

"WHAT?" Reno and maria demanded at the same time, rounding on Joseph.

He frowned at them and they both realized that their anger was completely miss-placed. Forcing themselves to calm down they took a moment to apologize, to which Reno added, "Look we have to go find her-"

"Magdalene Order." The Chief Inspector interrupted.

"Huh?"

"The Magdalene Order members are trained to deal with a fight demons. They may be able to help you."

Before Reno could say anything Maria spoke.

"Where can we find them?"

"Maria-" Reno started, but she interrupted him.

"I know the group that he's talking about, I just didn't think that they were on this side of the planet."

"Fine." He said, then turned to Joseph O'Donnell, "Where do we find them?"

The Inspector gave them the address.

* * *

**A/N:** Do any of you remember that old Police Officer at the beginning of the anime and manga? Well, I found no name given for him, so I decided to give him one. That's Chief Inspector Joseph O'Donnell. Couldn't fit a description of him into the flow of the story... Don't know if he'll show up again or not...


	8. Alien

**A/N:** Let me know what you think of Amua, Shinsi and Diann!

* * *

Amua watched from a lower branch, amid a tangle of red-brown limbs and green leaves as the golden-haired female with the brilliant blue eyes that he had entertained earlier emerged clumsily from the tangle of branches. She tugged on her skirt to get it free of the tree, who was just trying to say hello; the female obviously had not been taught proper manners – or how to climb. Said female continued on down the main limb without so much as an apology for being so rude.

Children these days, they have no manners!

By the time that the female was halfway to the bole of the tree a dark complexioned male with red eyes appeared from among the branches she had climbed out of. Or, more precisely, his head and shoulders made an appearance. He nearly gave Amua a heartattack when he yelled at the female in a foreign language. The female yelled back and the male slumped, hanging his head and sighing. The tree decided to move it's branches for the male and he snaked himself further out and planted his hands on the main branch. Amua went perfectly still as he sensed, through their shared contact with the tree, a vague impression of the male's past and his current state. It was the sadness and loneliness that caught Amua and his family elsewhere in the tree and held their collective heart. The male (Chrono) was so focused on the female up ahead that Amua saw far more clearly several random memories of the girl (Rosette); she was sunshine and happiness, warmth and caring, summertime energy and endless possibility... And she was an end to isolation. She put him back together when he was in pieces. He knew that Chrono had been missing her for some time and was struggling with an unexpected and new found attraction to her. He also now knew that she has a brother (Joshua) that he saw as his closest friend and a little brother that gave him a direction and purpose in his life and bright, brilliant, blinding hope. Both were the center of his world.

Processing all the random bits of information about Rosette Amua watched the two thoughtfully, then stood on his hind legs and looked in the direction the two had come from. He glanced back at them for a moment, then up at his family now watching from higher vantage points. They had sensed through the tree what he had sensed. Through that same tree and their bond his mate knew what he wanted to do and gave him the go ahead.

It **is**, afterall, the duty of there kind to guide, protect and help the children of other species. Their homeworld had made them specifically for that purpose.

He climbed through the branches, asking the tree to move them where he needed them and thanking her along the way until he was clear of her and landed on the cold floor – where he froze. This environment was completely alien with it's emptiness, six walls and – when he looked up – pointed ceiling and although this alien environment in and of it self did not bother him it was the complete lack of... Something... Something very important and fundamental – for which he couldn't think of a word – that bothered and disturbed him.

But he didn't falter; it only served to firm his resolve and he made his way through the trail of open, six-sided doorways the male (Chrono) and female (Rosette) had left behind.

He passed through a series of monotonous chambers that were so lacking in any variance that it was downright creepy. No wonder they had fled to the Ecology Habitat. He would have too! After a half hour of this boring blur he finally came into the last one. This one appeared to be a meeting room, complete with Aids' tables. As always the chair seats were long and sloped at the back to accommodate tails with the back rests standing extremely high and only three inches wide to allow for wings.

The scents of the male (Chrono) and the female (Rosette) were stronger, but only very recent. Amua followed his nose to a wall, where their smells simply ended. Standing up on his hind legs again he studied this wall, decided that he would not be able to figure out how to get through – though he could see shadows of the room beyond – and resolved to wait for the male (Chrono) and the female (Rosette).

He should have brought some food with him; it was going to be a long wait since they'd probably been found by now.

* * *

And Amua was very right.

Rosette and Chrono were being chattered at by a dark skinned, shirtless, sandaled, male demon with scarlet hair, emerald green eyes and a reptilian tail. Circling the base of his neck was an elaborate bead collar designed to look like plants with what looked like jewels woven into it as flowers. The piece of jewelry should have looked effeminate, but, somehow, managed not to cross that line. Rings flashed on his fingers as he gesticulated while talking. Occasionally the light caught on his large, dangling earrings when they peaked out from the thick volume of his hair. On his ankles and wrists were brightly colored bangles, some of which had charms hanging from them.

Neither of them could understand a word he was saying, but Chrono's demon cells were finally starting to catch up and translate random snippets that made no sense whatsoever. Despite this they were following him... But that was mostly because of those house-cat sized creatures with the feathers on their forearms. Said creatures had bullied and herded the two of them over to the strange, male demon within minutes of their arrival; they hadn't even been able to take in the scenery around them yet except that it's fragrant, lush, humid and hot. Truthfully, Chrono could have dealt with the little critters easily, but he really didn't want to hurt them... And besides he's curious about, well, everything around him.

Where did this demon come from and why is he dressed the way he is? Are there more like him? Do they know where demons come from? What are the names of the plants? Of the animals? How long have they been here for? Why where all of these plants being allowed to grow rampant? Why are the animals here and not in their pens? Or are they wild, like on the surface?

There were a million and two other questions – the majority of which he'd had since he was old enough to think too ask them – floating around in Chrono's head that had never been answered. Maybe now he could make some sense out of all the random senselessness of his race. Maybe. He doubted it, but figured that there was no harm in asking; he can protect Rosette if they get insulted by his questions if that's what it comes to.

Twice now Chrono had tried talking to their escort telepathically, but both times the guy had told him, _'Just listen (with your ears).'_ and continued chattering. He was currently running on the assumption that this person wanted him and Rosette to learn by listening. Not the most efficient way of teaching someone a new language when there's no context for it...

_'You must understand the sound of a language before you understand the words.'_

This voice was new and silenced the red-head. All eyes – Rosette had heard her too – unerringly found a tall, dark woman with deep green eyes and dark, ankle-length hair standing ahead and a bit off to the side, next to a plant that looked suspiciously like a fern. Around the base of her neck was a plain, yellow collar about two and half inches wide from which draped her knee-length, sky-blue dress. Going down the middle front was a wide stripe of geometric patterns. Her feet – unlike the redhead's – were bare. Each ankle had one fine, gold, plain chain around them that almost disappeared against her dark skin. She was of a slim, almost skinny build, slender hipped, but deep chested.

Perched on her shoulder was one of those animals that had herded them earlier. This one was shades of brown and red, ranging all the way into bronze and reflecting the light wetly, though the creature's fur seemed to be perfectly dry.

Turning her attention to the redhead she spoke telepathically again, her voice carrying to all of them like before.

_'Really Sebastian,'_ She admonished, _'You should have explained yourself properly before you started yammering their ears off about random things.'_

"Ah, you're right." Sebastian answered in English, then turned to Chrono and a now very annoyed Rosette, "My apologies. Sometimes I forget that what is obvious in my culture would not make much sense to outsiders." He turned back to the woman and added, "As such I will leave them to your care."

Without further ado Sebastian walked off, then jumped up into the trees and disappeared from sight.

"Well," The female in front of them said, "My name Diann. If you two will follow me..." Then she turned on her heel and brusquely started walking away.

Rosette very nearly either yelled at her about her manners, but held off in favor of walking in another direction just because. There was a time when she would have given into the urge to yell at the woman, but she had since learnt that no matter how vocal she got people just don't listen to her. Besides, Chrono is already following the woman and – knowing what Rosette was thinking of doing – tugged the blond teen along as well by the hand. She was not happy and shot a jealous glare at the woman walking ahead of them – Chrono was following her around without so much as a 'who are?'!

She turned her attention back to her friend, glaring at his purple head. For some reason, though, Rosette found her eyes draw down to their clasped hands. A blush crept onto her cheeks (again; this was getting ridiculous) as she noticed that his hands are larger than she remembered – and calloused, but that wasn't new; his hands had always been like that for as long as she'd known him. The blond remembered when he had first gotten his horns back that he had, at first, looked like a fifteen year old as he recovered. When Mrs. Jean had called some local men to help fix Seventh Bell they had been happy to teach Chrono and he had learnt pretty quickly how to repair a roof, walls, furniture and even do plumbing. She remembered that he seemed to enjoy the work and had done some maintenance after the repairs had been finished.

Rosette suspected that he had started learning out of a sense of guilt over what had happened.

Said demon, meanwhile, was even more curious now and particularly wanted to know who these people are. Chrono didn't notice Rosette's blush; he was to focused on keeping up with the woman without making the teen trip – and was still trying not to listen in on Rosette's thoughts. He didn't know if she'd ever think of it, but he was a bit afraid that she would try mentally yelling to give him a headache, or as a deterrent. To that end he had decided to not be too blatant about the extent of his telepathy.

Trusting Chrono to lead her along safely Rosette decided to look around. The place was amazingly lush, full of strange foliage – one bush had pink leaves and black flowers – and still following them were those cat-sized creatures. Most of them had differing colorings. Under everyone's collective feet the ground was littered with damp leaves, twigs and blue-green moss (which Rosette could have sworn was actually glowing) that cushioned their footfalls. For some reason the creatures following them were the only animals that she could spot anywhere and she saw no bugs or insects. The boles of the trees varied between shades of red, to brown and all the way into silver, gold and bright copper.

For a moment Rosette was certain that she had actually spotted a hunched over plant that was walking.

After awhile the trees began to give way to thicker undergrowth – some of which looked almost like ferns and crouching hickory bushes – then scarlet grasses and glowing flowers as they came out of the forest and into farm land. Working the fields a distance away were mostly adult male demons with more of the small creatures helping them and some children scattered about here and there. The majority of them wore jewelry and all of them had dark hair and skin with brilliantly colored eyes. Their clothing was colorful with the children wearing a lot of patterns and the adults wearing mostly solid colors. The majority of the children were smiling and laughing, which was a strange sight to Chrono because demon children don't usually smile much.

Painful memories assailed the edges of his mind as small faces twisted in fear, or pain, or both flashed before his eyes, their own forever blank and staring sightlessly just before their demon cells used the last of their power to dissolve their frail bodies. The remembered feeling of Luna's lifeless form crumbling in his hands almost sent him careening back into those moments, but a warmth and a light filled him, tugging him back from that pain. An added voice pulled him the rest of the way home.

"Chrono! Hey! Earth to Chrono!"

He blinked his vision clear and found that Rosette was squeezing his hand and looking up at him in concern.

"What were you thinking about that was so painful?" Their guide's – Diann's – quiet voice brought him around to find her staring at him, worry written all over her face.

"Huh?" He asked, confused.

"We could all feel it, your pain..."

Alarmed, Chrono turned his eyes outward to the fields and found that everyone had stopped and was staring at him, most of the children huddled close to the adults. Feeling guilty for upsetting them he turned a sheepish look to their guide.

"Sorry..." He muttered.

_'Take that foolish boy to see your mother.'_ Came the nearest male's voice from the fields before Rosette could reprimand Chrono for apologizing when he shouldn't, _'She got back a little while ago, but she's probably still at the temple.'_

Giving a start at the sound of his telepathic voice, Diann turned to look at him and said, _'Yes father!'_ Then she turned to a very surprised Chrono – Demons don't have parents – and asked, _'Please follow me.'_

"Er, sure." He answered aloud out of reflex, wondering where this was going.

Rosette frowned at him confused and was about to demand to know what was going on – since their guide had not broadcast to Rosette as well – when Diann walked away and Chrono started tugging Rosette along again.

Finally having had enough the teen wrenched her hand free of his, drawing his attention around. Diann stopped as well, turning to face her with a curious frown.

"Stop yanking me around like a little kid! What's going on and where are we **going**?" She demanded loudly.

"Ah... Sorry Rosette; I was just worried about loosing you-"

He was interrupted by the teen jumping up, putting him in a head-lock and smacking him on the top of his head.

"I'm not a little kid!" She snapped.

Chrono lost his patience, grabbed her arm and carefully un-wound it from his neck, straightening.

"Then don't act like one." He told her, "C'mon."

And this time he didn't yank her along. Rosette was a bit taken aback by his response and so stayed where she was for a moment, before realizing that the two Demons' longer strides – yes, Diann is taller than her as well – was quickly putting distance between her and them. She hurried to catch up with them.

* * *

A little while later found them staring at corralled creatures. She wasn't sure how big they were, but their forelimbs were much longer than their hind limbs and were bent so that their bodies were mostly parallel to the ground. They had relatively long necks and toothed beaks. On their bald, wrinkly heads were small horns on top and a pair of eyelets on the underside. Growing out of their arms were enormously long spines with folds of skin gathered between them. Covering most of their bodies – except the head – were feathers of varying colors that tapered off along the arms.

Rosette and Chrono only realized that the spines and the folds of skin between them were actually wings when one of the creatures came in for a landing – with a demon woman riding on it's back. That made Rosette nervous and Chrono decided that if Diann thinks that he's going to trust Rosette to ride on the back of one of those she was very mistaken. He would be carrying her.

_'The temple is a ways away.'_ Diann explained.

Chrono used himself as a relay so that Rosette could hear what she was saying and wondered why Diann was being so rude. He realized then that it was mostly Diann's – not Rosette's – behavior that had made his patience snap. Normally he'd not have snapped at the teen so easily; she and Joshua could just about get away with murder before he would loose his temper to any degree. Actually he'd always had a slow temper and it was somewhat exaggerated with those he cares about. Not always a good thing, as he'd learnt, but it's core to who he is. Chrono had learnt to be stern though, so that helped to counter balance things.

_'Please follow me.'_ Diann added to her previous statement, still only broadcasting to Chrono – who relayed it to Rosette – and led them towards the corral.

As they drew closer the scale of these creatures became increasingly undeniable and... Evident. No, Chrono would definitely not be letting Rosette onto one of those creatures. Somewhat daunted by the animals (birds? Bats? Pterodactyls?) Chrono and Rosette halted just outside of the holding area. Diann didn't notice and kept walking towards the woman who was now dismounting from her whatever her mount is. The two talked. When Diann looked over her shoulder while talking to the other woman she finally noticed how far back Rosette and Chrono were. She frowned.

_'Chrono, why are you all the way over there?'_ Diann questioned.

She was joking right?

_'Why do you refuse to speak to Rosette as well?'_ He shot back, _'I've had to relay everything that you've been saying to me so that she can hear.'_

Diann's chin lifted slightly and an air of haughty arrogance enveloped her.

_'She's just Human – and Human's don't belong here.'_

_'Diann is right. Humans do not belong here.'_ The other woman added.

_'Then I guess that means that I don't belong here either.'_ He informed them, both disappointed and angry enough that his hair was bristling.

Before anyone could react Chrono shifted forms in a flurry of demon cells and a flash of black and miasma – which sent the winged animals scurrying away – and red light. He stood there with Rosette in his arms and wearing full body armor. Normally when a Demon transforms the light that they emit is the same color as Astral due to the fact that the light **is** Astral. However, Astral being pure life energy, it reacts to the emotions of those it courses through. More often than not the changes caused by the individual's emotional state can't be discerned by the naked eye... Unless of course the emotion is very strong and – in the case of Chrono – his emotions tend to always run somewhat strong.

When he feels a strong passion the light he emits is red. If he is prepared to inflict harm he emits a miasma as well, which is the Astral turning poisonous in response. The latter happens with almost any Demon when they're will to fight and hurt people.

Chrono scooped Rosette up bridal style, earning a surprised, yelled demand to know what he thought he was doing. This was not exactly the way that he had wanted to get her in his arms, but – BAD THOUGHTS!

Reigning his mind back in line he told Diann, "We're leaving."

_'What, but – I didn't say that she had to leave! And it's not as though you're Human!'_ She exclaimed, this time including Rosette as well in an attempt to placate Chrono.

"I'm **half** Human!" Chrono snapped, stunning both women and stopping Rosette's yells to be put down.

The creature on Diann's shoulder rolled it's eyes and hoped down to the ground, earning a surprised look from Diann and the other woman... Particularly when it went straight over to Chrono and Rosette, climbed up the former onto his shoulder, licked his cheek, gave him a little nuzzle, then carefully maneuvered down to Rosette and gave her the same treatment. The teen reflexively started petting it's silky fur and it settled in for a cuddle.

"I think," Sebastian said from behind them, "That she does not approve of your behavior Diann."

He was referring to to the little creature that Rosette was currently cuddling.

"Sebastian!" Diann exclaimed in surprise, looking past Chrono's shoulder.

The armored Demon turned slightly to get a look at the red-haired and green-eyed Demon that had snuck up behind them. Sebastion looked the same way he had when Chrono and Rosette had seen him a couple of hours ago. Except for one detail; he looked frighteningly mad. For reasons that would make no sense whatsoever Chrono suddenly realized just how strangely he himself had been behaving. It wasn't like him at all to get so bristly so easily...

_So why am I behaving like this and unable to stop myself?_ Chrono wondered with no small amount of concern.

Answer: Because Rosette is defenseless and helpless. If she knew how to protect herself he'd settle down considerably. If she was good at it he wouldn't really worry about it at all.

"Diann, you are dismissed."

"What-!" She started to protest, only to be cut short by the other woman grabbing her arm.

Diann looked at her, surprised. The rider simply shook her head. Diann shot Rosette a venomous look before picking a random direction and leaving, her nose in the air.

"Please; this way." Sebastian said, gesturing with a nodding inclination of his head towards the south.

* * *

Shinsi was Amua's mate and was the one currently cuddling with Rosette. She had followed the pair out of curiosity about Rosette (she would have investigated about Joshua too, if she'd been able). The moment that she'd come into physical contact with the teen Shinsi had made her choice; she'd be sticking close to this girl. The poor thing needed someone like her to take care of her.

A moment later and Sebastian took to the air, Chrono following in one powerful leap that scared the living daylights out of her and Rosette. After the two got over the shock and fright they both loudly and vocally protested the lack of warning and getting such a scare.

Sebastian laughed and called behind him to Chrono, "I think they get along!"

"Eheheheh... It certainly seems like it..."

* * *

Lerajie flew through the air unseen, the Humans' weak minds easily nudged so that they did not even notice his shadow on the ground. Such pathetic creatures with such fragile and easily bent minds. It made Ricardo Hendricks' protection – via their Contract – from telepathic manipulation all the more frustrating. The mansion came into a view and a few seconds later Lerajie landed on a balcony with an open window. It was the same balcony he had left by earlier; the window had been left open per his orders.

He shifted back to his more Human form, with it's wide-brimmed, conical hat and long white coat, a dark front panel buttoned closed. Lerajie set Azmaria down.

"Do not try to resist." He told her and then led her inside to be introduced to Ricardo Hendricks, the man who was soon to be her adoptive father.

Azmaria was terrified and wished that she had been able to learn more of the language on the way over to America. She tried to be brave, but when you're alone, eleven years old and just been kidnapped by a demon it's very hard to be brave. The young girl had spent nearly half her life being rejected for her strangeness – usually no more than her appearance – and handed off to one person or another. That ingrains in a person a certain set of behaviors as survival strategies. In her case she had learnt to be as unobtrusive as possible so that she wouldn't be so readily handed off.

She never realized that this just invited people to walk all over her even more. Instead she tried to be understanding; she is strange looking and bad things happen around her, so of course people might be frightened. If she was patient she believed that someone, someday would see who she really is like her parents had and maybe – if she was lucky – they would even love her. But she would understand if they didn't, after all... She brings tragedy.

* * *

Sister Kate and Father Remington were discussing concerns about Joshua's behavior when Sister Anna knocked and – upon receiving permission – quickly popped her red-haired, habit-covered head in.

"There's a Rufus Shinra here to see you Sister Kate." Anna informed them.

The Abbess frowned and Father Remington raised an eyebrow.

"Send them in." Sister Kate ordered.

"Yes ma'am."

Anna disappeared, the door almost closing and murmuring could be heard from the other side. After a moment four men and two women stepped in. They were all wearing black, no-nonsense boots and business suits, even the women, one of whom was a brunette with and the other a light golden-blond. The blond had her hair cut into a bob that was shorter in the back. She had large, golden-brown eyes and a doll-like face that could have almost been Chinese or Japanese. Her hair on one side was tucked behind her ear. The brunette was plain-looking other than her pale, gray-green eyes.

As for the men they were... Distinct... In their appearances. One of them had a dot in the middle of his forehead and shoulder length, bone-straight black hair slicked back. His eyes were also black and there was a stern air about him that would normally make one assume that he was in charge. Another was very tall, bald, darker-skinned than the rest and had multiple piercings in his ears, a trend that would not exist for a few more decades. Covering his eyes were a pair of glasses with dark lenses and surrounding his mouth was a close-cropped goatee. The man with the fire-engine red hair was the most distinctive. Not so much for his spiky hair, or even the two red slashes on his face... It was the sloppy manner is which he was dressed; shirt un-tucked, tie completely absent, top buttons undone and blazer open. His hands were in his pockets and he looked like he was looking for trouble despite his calm expression.

It was the look in his eyes, like he wanted to hit someone. Hard. The brunette woman's own eyes gave the same feel.

The last person in the group was a man who looked to be in his twenties. He had dirty-blond hair and calm, light blue eyes. His hair was brushed back, though some of it fell forward anyway. Surrounding him like it was his skin and radiating like it was also his pheromones was an air of confidant assurance. It was this assurance that made it very clear that he was the one in charge, not the one with the black, slicked back hair and dot in the middle of his forehead.

This person's business suit was white with a black shirt underneath. He wore brown boots, instead of the black ones that the others had on. He was the one that stepped forward to stand in front of Sister Kate's desk.

"My name is Rufus Shinra," The man in the white suit said, "And I'd like to ask for your help."

* * *

**A/N:**Don't worry, Azmaria will learn more English soon! So what did you guys think of my OCs?


	9. Hunters

**A/N:** Hope you like this!

* * *

A few hours before Chrono and Rosette met Diann...

Kallii Dannu Miramba Sukii was leading a hunting pak, out in the Atlantic ocean tracking a Zunnu. These are deep sea creatures of impressive size that are shy, but aggressive and the staple meat of everyone in Pandemonium – it's also highly toxic to a Human (including the blubber, which contains protein chains that would cause them to have an allergic reaction, which is why neither Joshua, nor Rosette has ever, nor will ever, try it). In order to follow the Zunnu underwater without spooking it they had all put on their atarghast suits.

These are full body thermal suits that compensate against the near freezing temperatures all around them. Since most of the hunting pak have tails, the shape of the suits varied and were custom made to each of their forms. In the case of those without tails the suits wrapped around their legs to form a mermaid-like tail with a horizontal fin. For those with tails the suits encased the legs and tail individually and all three had fins; those at the ends of their feet were horizontal to the legs and the one on the end of the tail varied between horizontal, again, or vertical. On their hands – between their fingers, specifically – is webbing to help them move and steer. The suits' hoods covered their faces and kept their eardrums, sinuses and eyes protected from the immense pressures with bubbled caps for the ears and eyes and a more shaped one for the nose. Artificial gills built into the sides of their suits allowed them to breath underwater, though they do have their drawbacks. All of them kept their hair braided – or simply pined – and coiled on top of their heads and under their hoods.

In shallower, warmer, waters they would forgo the suits and simply shapeshift into their atarghast forms, for which the suits were named.

As for tracking this creature that was a matter of following the trail of it's scent through the water. The membrane protecting their sinuses allowed – and amplified – scents coming through to be processed by the brain and translated not as smell, but trails of light in the water.

And they had just caught the fresh scent of the herd. They had to move cautiously now, least the Zunnu sense them; along the sides of the creatures are a series of horizontal tubes under their blubber that – when the water pressure changes from, say, something moving – sent signals to nerve endings nearly touching them. This system is so sensitive that the Zunnu can differentiate what is in the water, where it is and how far away.

As one they followed the trail until Kallii signaled them to stop to examine it. Three had wandered off from the herd for one reason or another, which could make their hunt much easier. She sent the majority of her hunting pak out to catch up with the herd, while she and a few others approached the ones that wandered off. After an hour they finally caught up with one of them near a vent where it was feeding on eyeless, colorless shrimp. The small crustaceans were thriving at the base of the field of glittering – to the splinter pak's eyes – white hydrothermal vents. Humans have yet to discover these smoking chimneys and would not know just how deep they can form for another two centuries. In the case of this site it was much deeper than they would believe possible for most of those two centuries. The majority of the termite-mound-like structures ahead of them were wider, thicker and much taller than those on the mid-Atlantic ridge. This was due to the immense pressures causing them to be squatter and take longer to gain height – it also meant that they don't collapse as readily. This field was nearly a thousand years old and that age had allowed larger animals to be more abundant, such as the Zunnu, which come to these fields to feed.

Not to mention the mussels grow to be up to five feet in length and the Wandering Clams nearly ten feet in diameter. Of which – Kallii noted – there were plenty at this sight.

The Zunnu is vaguely equine in appearance with no eyes – though, once upon a time, it did have them – and has arms capped with impressive pincers that are not to be taken lightly. It is about fourty feet in length, well padded with blubber, has massive gills on it's sides and a set of large, strong fins on it's hind quarters. Trailing from it's body are deadly spines and flattened tendrils that are vestiges from when it had occupied the deep-water forests on their homeworld and used them for camouflage and as part of their communication. The creatures had escaped from the Ecologies and into Earth's Atlantic ocean – where it had no predators, but little food – when Pandemonium crashed thousands of years ago.

Moving slowly and keeping their distance they pulled out their net – which could stretch to several times it's original size – and began carefully staking it into the ground. Over the next forty five minutes they stretched the net around the basses of several vents. They spent another half hour setting up another net over top, leaving between the two nets one hole that the creature could escape through.

Kallii made a single, slow circuit around to each anchor point for both nets, making certain that everything was firmly set. Satisfied she telepathically called to her hunting pak.

_'Get into position.'_

She was not normally so succinct, but telepathy is just another frequency that broadcasts, which means that it sends out waves, which creates pressure changes in the water. Already the Zunnu was tensed and nervous from their activity; if it bolted before they were ready they could end up being it's next meal, or it's calf's if this one has offspring, although that wasn't likely since this particular Zunnu appeared to be to young male, not a grown female.

Thankfully they managed to get into position before anything untoward happened.

Each of them in their place, evenly spread out – but leaving a gap where they wanted the creature to go – they started singing and clapping their hands (a membrane protected their mouths and filtered the water to the gills so that they could breath). There are other ways to startle the creature into bolting, but this method would carry through the water to the herd and make them nervous, which, in turn, would tell the rest of the hunting pak what was happening so that they were prepared when the herd started moving.

The singing and clapping sent the Zunnu into immediate motion; it knew that it was going to be food. Well, actually, if it turns out to be a juvenile male, they'll leave it.

Chasing after it they spotted it's mother coming after them and – oh dear – an adult male, which is twice the size of a female and three times as strong. It's already open mouth opened wider, clearly showing pointed teeth and an intent to kill them. It was a given that the Zunnu would eat whoever it killed, or, more precisely, let the female eat them since – if she wasn't nursing – she was pregnant.

Kallii moved quickly, telling the others as she did to keep going, and pulled out her compacted Zunnu-tae and triggered it to extend to full length. The weapon is, essentially, a long, metal poll tapered to a point and designed after the deadly spines on the Zunnu's back. Kallii was intercepting because she was the fastest and – therefor – could get under it to attack, where it's safest.

Hunting these things was about as safe as hunting wild boars for Humans.

Moving at top speed she raced towards it and dove down, just barely missing the jaws even as the pressure wave from the female's speedy passing nearly threw Kallii right into one of the male's angry pincers. She twisted out of the way as he turned, jaws snapping even as she stabbed up, pushing through the blubber, but biting no muscle. The streamers on it's back came into her view – an angry red – as it moved it's eighty-foot bulk swiftly and gracefully up to get the Zunnu-tae out. Kallii was having none of that; if you don't win in a fight with a Zunnu male quickly, you don't win at all. She surged up with it and – pulling on some Astral – gave herself a boost. The Zunnu male bellowed, sending a shock through her body that stunned her for a few seconds, making her entire body jerk and then relax, her grip slackening. Coming out of it Kallii got her grip back, just as she nearly lost the Zunnu-tae. She thrust the weapon up again and this time blood gushed to cloud the water. Kallii pushed it deeper, realizing by the color of the blood that she had hit it's heart.

Purely luck in this instance; she'd been trying to get it's lung. A Zunnu has a fairly complicated respiratory system, much more so than what you'd find on this world. Usually a creature with gills doesn't have lungs, but Zunnu do. They use their lungs to help extract oxygen in deep waters more efficiently.

The Zunnu went limp over her and began to slowly sink to the seafloor. Kalli pushed herself out of the way and watched as it landed on it's side, a cloud of sand billowing up and nearly clogging her gills before she swam out of if to float over the carcass. As the gills cleared she surveyed her kill and silently cursed. This one wasn't eighty feet, it was closer to a hundred and twenty! She was very lucky to still be alive.

Once upon a time the largest that even a male got was fifty feet. No one could figure out how they were getting so large with so little food – unless there was something larger that they were feeding on, that no one knew about... It's more than possible; not like her people have had the time or resources to go exploring the Earth's oceans thoroughly since their arrival. Juvenile kraken maybe? Something else...? If this kept up they were going to overrun this plant's oceans and any rivers that let out into them. As it is Kallii's people are already having a hell of a time keeping the Zunnu in the deep waters; keep getting this big and they won't be able to manage it anymore.

Wonderful.

But, in the meantime, how is she going to move this thing? It would be too much of a waste to leave it. For one thing their scientists need to get a look at it and hopefully figure out why they had suddenly started getting so large.

_'Mother.'_ Her eldest son's voice filled her head, _'We've brought buoys for the carcass.'_

Kallii smiled under her hood. Her son's confidence in her abilities is sometimes astonishing. She checked the wound on the dead Zunnu as her son and his group approached. The Zunnu-tae had already excreted enough gel to stop the wound from bleeding further, which should help preserve it long enough to get it back to the transport where it would then be set aside enroute to be examined. The rest of the carcasses would be cut up and preserved for consumption.

Her son and his group of men arrived with buoys and tied two of them to the creature – one at the base of either claw – which caused the upper half of the enormous body to twist and float upward as the Zunnu's head lulled backwards. A third buoy was then added around it's neck. Normally only those first two would be used to raise the upper half, so, Kallii surmised, a large enough portion of the herd had been unusually big enough for them to assume that this one would need extra buoyancy. The next two buoys were added. These two were attached together via a net that was much less stretchy then the other ones used. Between the buoys and this net were rings that were just wide enough for the end of a Zunnu-tae to be slipped into them, which two of the men did in order to slip the net under the Zunnu's back, starting at the head and sliding it down further than it needed to rest. The reason for this is because the pull of the buoys combined with the angle that the beast is resting at in the water causes the net to slid up along the body until the spines that pass through the gaps in the net stop it from sliding up any further.

The body floated up, but was still too close to the seafloor.

Her son wrapped the cord of one of the remaining buoys around the end of his Zunnu-tae and passed it under the creature. Another man, on the other side, grabbed the cord, unwound it, brought it up and around again and tied it to itself. He then took the cord of the buoy tied around his wrist and did the same thing that Kallii's son had done. Her son then tied that one in place and they were ready to go.

When hunting large game this is the primary job of the males in the pak(s) because they are more than twice as strong as the women, who would never be able to move those buoys around; they'd just get pulled all the way to the surface. The reason for that males are so much stronger is that – although not usually very bulky – they have extremely high muscle fiber density, much more so than a woman. Prior to puberty there is little to no difference in physical strength. It is during that time of awkward change that the density in the muscle fibers increases. It's also when their vocal range increases, their instincts become more aggressive and they begin to come into their power. For girls those instincts are there from birth (along with their power), though it often becomes fairly weak when their bodies begin to mature and sometimes – rarely – even goes away outright. During this time fathers and brothers tend to become extremely protective of the girls in their family.

The men checked the net and eachother's knots before her son telepathically told her that they're ready to go and gave her a mental map of the way to the transport that would have them meeting up with the rest of the hunting pack along the way.

Nodding her thanks to him Kallii led the way.

* * *

About five minutes before Kallii and her small group joined up with the rest a juvenile Kraken found them and started swimming above their path. It examined the Zunnu they were moving with it's proportionately enormous eye for several long moments. They have two eyes, but the other one is on the exact opposite side of it's head, so it can only use one to examine something unless it starts rotating, which they sometimes do. Finally, it spoke to them telepathically, it's color shifts emphasizing what it was saying.

_'You shouldn't eat that; it'll make you sick.'_

_'No it won't.'_ Her son informed the Kraken bluntly, _'We eat it all the time.'_

_ 'But it's poisonous!'_ The juvenile exclaimed, alarmed.

_'It isn't to there kind.'_ A new voice said.

Out of the darkness loomed an adult Kraken and everyone realized that they must be near a nursery. The creatures hatch in shallower waters, grow there until they are about forty feet long and then make their way into the deeper waters where the adults take them to the nursery where they pass on their culture and teach them how to hunt.

The adult herded the juvenile away and the small pak continued on undisturbed until they joined up with the rest. Greetings were passed back and forth as everyone kept moving and all the while Kallii noticed that they were short more than a few people. There was the possibility that they had just gone ahead of everyone else, but... If they have died then her son – as is appropriate since he is the oldest of her children on the hunt this time – will tell her once they reach the transport.

In the massive nets holding the Zunnu – which are all still alive and being herded, more than anything, by the nets – Kallii noted that there weren't nearly as many as there should have been. But they were also a lot bigger, so she supposed (hoped) that it would make up for the lack of numbers. As Kallii's son explained about the dead Zunnu they had with them his mother's mind wandered.

For the last half century Pandemonium – excluding the Ecology – had been living up to the Human definition of the word 'pandemonium', which came from their ship's name and actually meant something else entirely than what they thought. Kallii had long since gotten the details of what had happened in the rest of the ship to cause this from the Duke; he occasionally joins them on a hunt, so she had been able to ask him what was going on. The Duchess was the one who came with them this time and, like her male counterpart, managed to be more help than hindrance – which is a significant improvement over more than one of their predecessors. Neither, however, were much inclined to go on the hunts closer to the surface, so Kallii had no idea what either looked like.

Recently she had heard from Duke Duffau that Chrono had returned to Pandemonium and now she was curious to meet him.

When they returned to the transport that would take them back to Pandemonium Kallii's eldest son formally informed her of the deaths on the hunt as the caught Zunnu were killed and loaded into the massive hold. It seemed that she would be making a trip to the temple to honor the fallen. It would be near the end of that ceremony that her curiosity about Chrono would get to be satisfied – and a curiosity about Rosette and her brother kindled.

* * *

**A/N:** So... That was a bit hard to describe... Was it understandable? Do any parts need clarifying?


	10. Perparation

**A/N:** A few years back I was watching a home renovation show where they had to replace part of a crossbeam. This is apparently not easy. I can't remember how hard it was, though... Only that it's not something an ammeter should try doing.

That aside... I AM SO SORRY THIS UPDATE TOOK SO LONG AND THAT THE CHAPTER ISN'T EVEN VERY LONG TO COPENSATE! I really am! My muse was starving to death and I just got her recovered enough to finish writing this chapter. I'll try to keep her better fed from now on. Promise.

Now to answer reviews. And I want to say that I'm really sorry that answering you guys took so long; having a half dead muse seems to make me especially forgetful. I'd remember to answer a review **after** I'd post the chapter. Every time! So I'm answering them now. Again, I'm really sorry!

_Broken doll:_ Yeah, I had to fix a few things and I think the story is better for it. Besides, I get to play around with some interesting – at least to me – story ideas this way.

_Forbiddenlove285:_ Thank-you! I will! And I'm glad that you've enjoyed what I've written so far. Hopefully I will continue to write a story that you and the other readers will want to keep reading. I'll try to update more regularly.

_kitsune's miko_: You read the entire thing in one sitting? Wow. I'm flattered. How were your eyes feeling after that?

_Shiroi Bara Kitsune Inu_: I'll try to update more regularly, but my muse is still recovering.

_Myya:_ Er, are you still confused?

_Darkryubaby:_Glad that you enjoyed it and I'll try to update soon.

To jainga, Shiroi Bara Kitsune Inu, bluedot, mangaanimefan4eva, Vincent-and-Yuffie-FOREVER, Lady Demoonica Darkmoon, darkryubaby, Victiorian Asylum, Dragons redemption, Saya and Hagi together 4 ever, Chibi Oro, gluttony456, snowpaum, HikariKegawaAshi, divinedragonchick: Thank-you so much for faving this story! It's what kept me writing this story. Every time I got a Fave Alert in my inbox it reminded me that there are people out there reading this and enjoying reading it. It really means alot to me whenever I see a Fave Alert. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart.

To Amayachida, kitsune's miko, Shiroi Bara Kitsune Inu, bluedot, snowpaum, 10-iz4, Chibi Oro, talkstoangels77, On Soaring Wings, the black kitty, crazy-ghost-girl: Thank-you for putting a Story Alert on this! Again, I'm glad that you're enjoying this story so far! And, as with the faves, it reminds me that there are people out there reading and enjoying this!

And now to the story...

* * *

Father Remington was a little annoyed. He and Sister Kate had been unable to convince Rufus that it would be better if his subordinates stayed behind rather than tag along. He didn't seem to grasp that they would be getting in the way. In fact, the man arrogantly insisted that they were "probably better equipped to deal with this" than the Order's Militia. In short; Rufus considered Remington and his people to be the back-up.

These people had no idea how to fight Demons and were all-but guaranteed to end up – at the very least – badly injured. As such Remington was heading to the infirmary to warn the head doctor to be prepared for them and to possibly have to treat an Apostle child. After the fiasco with Joshua when Chrono (very understandably) lost his temper with the 'doctors' that had been 'caring for him' Ewan and Sister Kate had made certain that the head doctor would have a conscience and empathy. Oddly enough they wound up with a civilian doctor by the name of Genesis Rhapsodos. He didn't even blink the first time he saw a Demon. Joshua said that he was cold and arrogant, but worth keeping around.

Everyone else was in agreement with his assessment. Ewan suspected that the teen liked the head doctor simply because the man didn't seem to be bothered by Joshua's... Differences. Doctor Rhapsodos was definitely an interesting – and mysterious given that Ewan couldn't find any background information on him – man to say the least.

Ewan stepped into the infirmary and immediately found the auburn-haired, vaguely Asian looking man wearing dark gray slacks, a black turtle-neck and standing in the middle of the floor, checking something on a clipboard. The Minister walked over to him.

* * *

Joshua found that he was actually glad that Rosette had made him filch some 'feminine hygiene' products for her a couple of times (7th Bell had been getting really tight again and Ms. Jean apparently hadn't noticed that they suddenly didn't need get those things after Rosette returned). This would make it far easier for the teen to discreetly sneak in, grab a few things, stuff them in a paper bag and sneak back out. That and the I'm-not-here-so-don't-notice-me trick he had learnt from Chrono. Turns out that's why no one ever remarks on his hair or ears when he's among Humans not from the Magdalene Order. Chrono's particular hair color – Joshua had since been informed – is fairly weird even for a demon.

All that said, the only hitch in the plan would be a Militia member being in the medical wing... And just his luck Ewan was talking with the head doctor, Genesis. Fantastic. To Joshua's surprise the older man lead the doctor away as he continued to talk with him. That was when the teen remembered; Ewan had caught him the last time he had been getting some stuff for 7th Bell and the Minister had been fairly understanding, turning a blind eye to what Joshua was doing at the time.

Relieved he quickly set about filling his paper bag.

* * *

Sister Elizabeth Grandberg was in the library running her finger across the spines of the old, dusty books as she thought over what the others were saying about Rosette Christopher. Elizabeth didn't think that their treatment of – and attitude towards – the blond was at all fair. They were far more forgiving of Joshua, but she suspected that was due to his powers. True, his relationship with Chrono was concerning, but the demon was loyal, protective and treated Joshua like a **person** rather than... Like an object. The only other people who could make the same claim could all be counted on one hand; Father Ewan Remington, Sister Kate Valentine, Edward Hamilton and Sister Clarity. Of those four the last one was judgmental of Rosette and seemed to all but loath Chrono.

Elizabeth sighed and turned away from the bookshelf, nothing catching her interest. Turning towards the other shelf that had been behind her she noticed a particularly thick book, the title of which made her eyebrows shoot up. She didn't notice the middle-aged man with the short cropped hair and Jewish cap on his head approaching. He had a square face, sharp cheekbones and serious, dark eyes.

_The Dead Sea Scrolls?_ Elizabeth thought as she stepped closer to the book on the shelf, _Translated by Alistair Doctus?_

Elizabeth's eyes went wide when the name sunk in; 'Doctus' was the surname that one of the Demons that sometimes came up from the Demon World uses... And his given name is 'Alistair'.

_It can't be..._ She thought, completely dumbfounded, as she pulled the heavy tome off of the shelf and stared at it.

"Is something the matter?"

The new, male voice caused her to jump half out of her skin and made her loose her grip on the book. It fell and hit her toes with surprising force, startling the man. Normally a sister of the Magdalene Order has steel-toed boots, but – unfortunately for her – she was only there to attend the school that funds the Order and, as such, does not wear the steal-toed boots. The only thing that set her apart from the other students, was that she was the only one who knew about the Demons and that only because of an accident.

"Are you alright?" The man – Guilliam, who had been recently transferred from San Francisco – asked her.

"Yes, I'm fine!" She answered reflexively, though it was a blatant lie, making her inwardly wince.

"Her, let me get that." He said, bending down to pick up the book and knowing that she had not told him the truth, but only to reassure him and not with the intention of sinning.

A 'white lie' people usually call it.

Picking the tome up an old, marginally yellowed envelope fell partially free. Surprised, Guilliam and Elizabeth stared at it as he straightened and turned the book to get a better look. After a moment Elizabeth took hold of the protruding corner of the letter and pulled it free. She flipped it over and found 'To Elizabeth Grandberg and Guilliam Aarons – Please read this.'

The two of them exchanged a glance before Elizabeth asked, "Are you Gilliam Aarons? I'm Elizabeth Grandberg."

"I am." He answered.

She considered the letter while the tall Jew placed the book back on the shelf before deciding to open it and find out what it had to say.

* * *

Edward Hamilton – the Elder – was an old man these days, but he was still... Spry. Much to the dismay of many a nun in the Convent. Ewan over-looked the Elder's ofttimes perverted ventures simply because the old man would never do anything to actually harm the girls. Both of them knew that if it was ever taken that far there would be a reckoning at the hands of Ewan. There was a reason that the highest authorities of the Order referred to the blond Minister as 'The Fallen Angel'.

Most who knew about that nickname assumed that it was born out of either (depending on how much of the Minister's past they were aware of) his failure to protect Mary Magdalene from the Sinners, or because of his sometimes boarder-line supernatural abilities. Almost no one knew that the truth of the matter is simply that Ewan can – if he concentrates – sprout wings. The kind that are large, flesh-and-blood and covered in gray feathers. Unlike those of the Apostles there was no glowing to accompany their appearance. Hence why the higher-ups call him 'The Fallen Angel'; they honestly believe that he is a real fallen angel that has been born into Human form for some reason.

Good thing they don't know about the Demon Cells permeating the majority of his body.

Minister Remington's wings had not been discovered until over twenty years after Chrono had been Sealed inside of Magdalene's tomb. The higher-ups mostly assumed that the reason for Ewan's fall from God's Grace was because the Minister likes the opposite gender far to much. It was an understandable assumption given the man's predilection for flirting with every bipedal female around him. It was something that Magdalene had often scolded both of them for, but it never succeeded in curtailing his behavior even a bit. So, the Elder supposed, he really shouldn't be so surprised to find a note left by Magdalene underneath a squeaky floorboard (that he had been trying to fix) telling him to behave before one of the girls seriously injured him. The note had been hidden inside of a simple and sturdy wooden box that had been placed where part of a supporting crossbeam normally should – and would – have been.

He wondered how and when she had managed to get that chunk of the crossbeam removed and the box put there. The very fact of the box's sturdiness was the only reason that the floorboard hadn't yet given out. He was going to have to get some help to fix this now. Nailing a board in place is one thing – replacing a missing piece of crossbeam is another entirely. For one thing it takes a certain amount of expertise.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, next to where he had removed the old board of wood, The Elder considered the box he had pulled out from under his workshop's floor. Inside of it were two notes and a silver Jewel Witch's Port/Interface designed to hold up to four Jewels. Port/Interface was attached to a vambrace rather than the normal, fingerless gauntlet. Obviously it wasn't normal.

With a sigh he decided that he will read the letter first, then get to the exiting an fun task of studying the Interface. Picking up the envelope he opened the letter and read it. The Elder raised an eyebrow and wondered what role Elizabeth was meant to play... There was also a reminder in the note that today was the day he and Ewan needed to get the big box down from the top shelf. At the end of the letter there was a P.S. telling him to give Azmaria the box with the vambrace in it (and no, he is not allowed to examine it – she means it; the box and it's contents are the girl's property).

_Who's Azmaria?_ He wondered, then decided that he'd ask Ewan if he knew.

Putting the letter back in it's envelope he set it aside and grabbed the next one, opened it and read. He frowned. And why did she have to tell him to stop what he was doing with the girls? He wasn't hurting anybody... Right?

_Oh, fudge..._ Edward Hamilton thought,_ Now she has me feeling guilty. Probably what she was aiming for._

* * *

Elizabeth and Gilliam approached The Elder's workshop, the former with an understandable amount of trepidation given that the old man's reputation – such as it may be – proceeded him quite... Loudly. Ever since she and Gilliam had finished reading the letter not more than a few sentences had passed between them. Normally Gilliam would be adamantly against sending a fifteen year old down to live among Demons for any length of time... But, according to the letter, Elizabeth is not a normal fifteen year old. On top of that the writer had claimed to be the Mary Magdalene Chrono had taken fifty years ago and told them to get The Elder to confirm the handwriting.

Hence why they were outside of his workshop.

Gilliam opened the door.

* * *

Five minutes later and the Elder was reading the letter, ignoring his throbbing arm and shoulder from his attempt to flip Elizabeth's skirt up. Unlike Ewan Gilliam had no tolerance for Edward's behavior with girls.

"Hmm..." The Elder finally said, "That's definitely her handwriting..."

Gilliam turned startled eyes to a shocked Elizabeth. She looked pale and dizzy.

"Elizabeth!" The Elder snapped sharply, startling the girl, "You are living proof that **what** you are does not decide whether or not your are evil... Or good. We'll burn this letter and no one else is to know about it." He turned his goggled eyes to Gilliam, "Agreed?"

Snapping out of his own disbelief at the situation he said, "Agreed. For now."

Elizabeth winced.

The Elder sighed, knowing that was the best he was going to get for now.

"Well," He said, "Get going – both of you! You've got a door to the Demon World to sneak Elizabeth into! I'll take care of this letter."

* * *

Not long after that The Elder was staring up at the top shelf contemplatively, wondering how he was going get the box down. At the time that he'd had it put up there he had been a few decades younger and it had been at Mary Magdalene's request. She had instructed him – amongst other things – to place it up there and to pull it down on the current date; hence the reminder in the one of the letters she had left him. The problem lied in the fact that the box was not only big it was also solid oak... And The Elder was way to old to be risking climbing up a ladder to pull it down by himself.

He had been counting on Ewan's help. So far the man seemed to have forgotten.

A knock from the front door followed by the sound of it opening and Ewan's voice calling out a greeting.

"I'M BACK HERE!" He called back to the blond man.

A moment later and Ewan was joining him.

"Thought that I had forgotten, hadn't you?" He asked with a lopsided smile.

The Elder 'humphed', which led Ewan to the assumption that his decades-old friend had failed to catch a peek at some girl's underwear sometime in the last half hour. The Minister figured that Edward would be back to himself in around... Ten minutes or so.

"Get a wiggle on and give me a hand with this box will you? We're already running late."

"We are?" Ewan asked, genuinely surprised.

"Yes! Joshua already ran by!"

"Applesauce!" Ewan muttered as he quickly grabbed the stepladder, "How did he get ahead of me? Move." He ordered as he set it in place before climbing up and proceeding to single-handedly get the long box down by grabbing one of the end handles and pulling and rotating it.

Ewan turned and carefully stepped down from the stepladder, using his shoulder to support the rest of the box's length and his free hand to keep it balanced.

"Well, then... I'll be right back!"

* * *

Five Minutes Ago...

* * *

Joshua got back to his room without being noticed and still had ten minutes to spare. Which meant that he had just enough time to shove the paper bag (sealed shut with tape) into his duffle bag, close the duffle, sling it over his shoulder and make a mad dash for the Gate. He had long since learnt to stow his sword in the duffle when he's planning on doing any kind of running around that wont end in the need to immediately use the weapon... So that was where it currently was and would stay until further notice.

More than a few people felt a strong, swift wind at his passing, but the 'I'm not here, so don't notice me' was still working. As a result no was really sure where the wind was coming from. Except for sister Clairty. Astonished at his speed (had he been hiding this from the Order the entire time?) she took off after him as fast as she could. Unsurprisingly, he quickly started to out-pace her.

_Like hell!_ She thought ferociously and put on more speed.

The gap started to close and she started to get this feeling in her legs... As though she could run much, much, faster than she was. Try as she might, though, her body refused to tap into that extra speed. By the time she managed to halve the distance between them she realized that she was not nearly as winded as she should be.

Joshua chose that moment to glance over his shoulder, spot her, and pick up the pace. Again she was astonished at his speed – she also suddenly realized what he had over his shoulder and where he was headed. Sister Clarity forced her body to tap into that latent potential and suddenly it was not a race to catch up with him, it was a test of which of them was faster. Everything had been blurring by her before, but now it was all just a smear of color from every direction. She found that if she focused on any one thing it took on a sharp, crisp clarity (giving yet new meaning to her name – haha) she had never experienced before. She felt... In control. Sister Clarity had never noticed before then that she felt like her fate was being orchestrated by someone else and not in a good way. The sense of control gave her a sense of freedom and she felt in that moment like she could have flown off into the sky and been free forever. She new that – as a Christian – she should gladly hand over her fate and destiny to God, but somehow... She wanted a say in her life... She actually wanted to **live** her own life. The nineteen year old wondered if Joshua ever experienced the same thing when he was moving so fast... If he was ever frustrated by the way everyone tried to control him. If so she could understand a little why he always seemed to be rushing everywhere – and away from everyone.

Clarity came to a decision then; she would not stop Joshua from entering the Demon World... She would, instead, join him and find out what drew him there. Sure she had plenty of stories about Demons tempting Humans, but Joshua – no matter how many times he went down there – never lost his divine powers, so something was obviously being left out. Something important that he wasn't telling anyone.

_Besides... _She realized, _It might do him some good to have a Human he feels he can relate to._

They burst into the clearing with the Demon Building and Joshua abruptly stopped. Clarity almost crashed into him but manage to twist and turn so that she was standing at a right angle to him. Joshua stared at her coolly.

_I know that look._ She thought and braced herself.

"Leave." He said bluntly, "You know the rules. Only I'm aloud through the Ga – Doorway."

"Joshua you should see my record; I don't follow the rules very well."

She almost added – just before the period at the end of the sentence – a comma and the comment, "That was my husband."

The problem with that statement is that – at nineteen years old – she's never been married before. Granted, she had washed up on shore five years ago with no memories of who she was, or where she came from, but Sister Clarity very seriously doubted that she had been married at the age of fourteen... And if she had been then her parents needed to be shot in the head a couple of times. Whoever they are... Or were as the case may be.

"It could case an incident!" He snapped.

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me!" She snapped right back, making Joshua's temper flare, "And you've caused a few 'incidents' yourself young man!"

He didn't know why but she tended to go into what everyone else called 'Mother Mode' with him every once in a while. Whenever she did it was like having her resemblance to his mother thrown in his face with the same painful force as the fastball that had broken his nose two years ago when he convinced Ewan to take him and Rosette to a ball game during one of her visits. It made her opinion of Rosette all the more stark... And painful for his sister. Both factors served to make him disproportionately angry.

"DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE YOU'RE MY MOTHER!"

"If I was you wouldn't ever be allowed down there without an escort!"

"Well, then it's a good thing that you're not!"

For some reason that remark was like a sharp slap in the face to her.

"If you two are quite done," A new, deep-toned voice interjected, drawing both of their attention.

The Duke stood only ten feet away, frowning at them like they were a pair of bickering children. They had the good grace to look embarrassed. Duffau narrowed his attention to Sister Clarity and said, "If the Order is so concerned about Mr. Christopher's well being while in our care than you are welcome to join him in his diplomatic visits at any time."

"Then I'm coming this time." She announced bluntly.

"Very well."

Joshua shot her a sullen glare.

"That's enough Joshua."

The sound of Ewan's voice startled both teens, scaring them so effectively that it felt like their hearts tried to jump out of their bodies through their mouths. Both whipped their gazes over to the blond and blue-eyed Minister and wondered what he was doing there – especially Joshua. Ewan turned to address the Duke.

"Well, if she's going to be going with Joshua then I'd like to throw one other person into the mix, just to keep the peace, if you don't mind."

"And who were you considering?" The Duke replied coolly.

"Elizabeth Grandberg."

Duffau thought it over for a moment and then nodded, saying, "Very well. She has already snuck down anyway."

"What? When?" The demand came from Ewan while the other two shot the Duke a wide-eyed look.

"A few minutes before you arrived. She came bearing a message from the Magdalene you used to protect and who held a Contract with Chrono."

Ewan wondered what one **Earth** Magdalene could have said in a letter to make Elizabeth do something like that. Then he smiled dryly and said, "I wonder how I'm going to explain this one to Sister Kate?"

The Duke smirked and replied, "That is for you to decide."

"I suppose it is..." Ewan said with a worried frown, then added, "See you two in a couple of weeks."

"Wait! That's **it**?" Both Joshua and Sister Clarity exclaimed at the same time.

Ewan gave them both a unexpectedly severe frown and said, "The last time that Magdalene set up something like this I almost hesitated too long before doing what she wanted me to." He shifted his focus solely onto Joshua before continuing, "If I had waited any longer than I wouldn't have been there in time at 7th Bell and Aion would have gotten you. If you want to know what I did, then ask Chrono when you see him later."

And with that Ewan simply left, leaving behind two speechless teens and a thoughtful Duke Duffau.

* * *

**A/N:** Please review! It aids in my muse's recovery! By the way, what did you guys think of Genesis being Joshua's doctor?


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