Okay… I know I haven't updated in ages but here's one finally. Lol. Umm… Writer's block and compy dying prevented me from putting this up sooner. Also, I did this chappy from complete scratch due to the latter so I'm not so sure if it's better. But it's done now so… It has also come to my attention that authors are no longer allowed to respond to their reviewers in their chapters. I don't know whether this is true or not because I looked though the terms of agreement or w/e and I didn't see a thing about that in there. Ah, well. If I'm disobeying the rules, I deeply apologize and I shall never do so ever again after this.
YumeTakato: Update is here! Yay!
Sakura Blossom-Cilla-85: Hai! I agree! Evil Aion!
Sean: Yeah. I know. Thankfully, I have the six volumes of the manga now. I need the rest, though… Anyway, glad you like it. nn
DoneofLight: Glad you love it. n.n And, umm… I don't think I should join with as much as I update. Lol.
xXChocaholicXx: Eh? You got confused? What was confusing? (note to self: check over confusing chappy and think of a way to make it less confusing for future reference and/or edit chappy) Anyhow, glad you like it. n.n
Chrnoskitty: Umm… I'll try. n.n'' But I'm glad you like it so much. o.o''
Evilanimeblonde22: Aaaahhhh! I love Christmas! nn But I updated this too late to say the same to you. Noooooo! Gomen ne. ;.; I'll try to work to the best of my abilities.
Nanaki Red XIII: Umm… If you get this far then… Hi! And glad you like it.
Fang Girl 2: Umm… You must read this chapter and future chappies to know! (Yes, is evil) I'll try to update as much as possible. Though… Only having one computer makes this task difficult because I have to share it with my brother. (sighs)
Katana Blade: Wow. o.o Glad you love it. n.n I'll read your fic as soon as I get the chance. n.n
Lady-water-dragon: Glad you liked it. nn Hai. Me, too. (Prays for her poor Chrno;
Rose comes out of no where and clobbers her)
Rose: You're the one writing it! You should know wha-(silences her)
Anyway, onto the others…
JasmineScent85: Glad you love it. nn Umm… It just comes to me really… Not that good at times, though. Sometimes my thoughts get all scattered and stuff so yeah. And I'll try to get more Rosette and Chrno fluff in. n.n I won't quit! Lol. I've made a vow to not abandon my works. So, umm… Yeah. Might get writer's block but when it clears up, I shall continue it.
letsmakesomemagic: Glad you liked it. n.n
Pu: Yeah… I know… Stupid writer's block… And compy dying… I want a lappy for my b-day. It's next month. (sweatdrop) That has nothing to do with this. Lol. Anyway, glad you love it. n.n
The True Queen Of Hell: Okay. Okay. It's done. O.O''' Lol.
teddy911: Okay. Will do, mon capitan. (salutes)
Chrno Crusade: The End Is Just The Beginning
By:
Guardian Angel Of Innocence
Chapter Sixteen: An Old Friend Turned Bad?
Rose, Stella, and Azmaria climbed up the set of stairs after Stella had her knight vanish. Rose examined it closely, wondering what contents were hidden behind it. Stella appeared to be quite bored. Azmaria looked at the door anxiously. Rose reached her hand out over the knob, preparing to turn it. Stella placed a hand over her jewel just in case while Azmaria stood her ground. With one swift motion, Rose turned the knob and kicked the door open. She entered the room with her gun pointed at whatever dared to threaten her and her friends. To her surprise and slight relief, there was nothing within the room except a few crates here and there.
Stella frowned. "She was taking Azmaria to a deserted room?"
"Apparently yes," Rose said, suddenly sounding disappointed. Without warning, she gasped and placed a hand over her watch. She fell to her knees and winced.
"Rose!" Stella and Azmaria cried, running to her side.
"I'm-I'm fine," Rose said, straining to place a smile upon her lips. Her obvious lie didn't stop either girl from worrying over her well-being.
Stella walked away from her and gazed out the small window within the left wall. The ocean's water was extremely close to this window which made it obvious as to why the window had no way of being opened. However, Stella found it incredibly stupid to have a window in this location. What if the ship accidentally ran into an iceberg? Yes, the ship would be badly scraped afterwards, but the window would either have been cracked or broken altogether! She shook these thoughts out of her head. The matter at hand was far more important than her criticizing on the ship's poor construction.
Azmaria slowly walked towards the front wall and examined it. For some reason, she felt the wall, or perhaps what lied within or behind it, was calling to her. She could faintly make out an outline of a golden cross. Becoming curious, she placed a hand within the center of the cross. Golden light illuminated from underneath her palm.
Rose and Stella turned their attention away from their distractions, turning all their concentration upon Azmaria and the light.
Azmaria gasped and hesitantly took a step back as the light turned into a dark aura. Before allowing her to get out of its grasp, the aura lunged forward and encircled her arm like an octopus's tentacle. The jewel summoner and nun ran forward, trying their best to free the young Apostle from the darkness. Much to their dismay, the darkness split from its main source and held the two girls in captivity as well. The darkness began pulling the group towards the wall. The girls cried out and continued to fight for freedom. Before they knew it, all three had gone through the dark substance…
"Emerald's gone," Arachnia said with evident irritation.
"And so she is," Aion said, taking a sip of wine from his golden jewel encrusted goblet.
He and Arachnia were within an almost bare room. The only thing that showed signs of being occupied was the desk Aion was sitting on and the numerous items displayed upon it ranging from pictures of family to papers and pens. The walls were bare for the most part save a small safety doughnut ring hanging from the wall with crimson words inscribed into it saying S.S. Neptune IV.
Aion turned his attention to Chrno. The purple haired demon was hung to the opposite side of the wall with the ring. Arachnia had spun her webbing in order to stick him to it and he was already weakened by the poison within his body. "The time is soon…"
Chrno gave him a seething glare. "What are you planning, Aion!"
"You know well what it is I plan, Chrno." Aion grinned.
Chrno continued to glare at him but said no more.
"The time is now," Aion said as though the whole scenario between himself and Chrno had never occurred. Just as he had said his final word, the floor in front of the opposite wall of Chrno began glowing with dark energy. A dark circle formed in front of the wall and almost appeared to be much like dark liquid…
Just as suddenly as the energy had appeared, three figures appeared within a large mass of darkness. Just as the darkness left the figures, they all seemed to tumble over as though tripping over an unseen object.
Chrno's eyes widened as he immediately recognized them.
The blonde haired girl groaned as she got to her feet, rubbing her nose from landing face first into the ground. She growled and glared at the red haired girl. "This is all your fault!"
"My fault!" the red haired figure objected, getting to her feet as well. "How is it my fault!"
The lavender haired girl sat up and sweatdropped as she watched the two older women argue.
"Ro… Sette…!" Chrno weakly called out. He was a bit surprised at how he had suddenly become weak again when he wasn't so weak when yelling at Aion.
Rose didn't pay Stella anymore heed as soon as she had heard her beloved Chrno's voice. She took note of the webbing and glared at Aion.
Stella glared at Rose when she saw she was obviously ignoring her. Wanting to know what was so fascinating, she followed Rose's glance. Her demeanor changed to one of calmness when the purple haired demon beheld her eyes. She turned her attention to Aion and placed a hand over her jewel once more after raising her jeweled hand.
Azmaria got to her feet and looked at Aion and Arachnia with a determined gaze.
"Let him go!" Rose shouted.
"The Apostle… Where is she?" Aion asked instead.
Rose felt the sudden urge to slap that all too calm grin off his face. Judging from his relaxed posture, he knew darn well where the Apostle of Prudence was. She was sure he also knew she didn't know who this Apostle was. Her eyes took in Arachnia's own stance. From her glare, she could tell the spider demon wanted a reply. That only meant she didn't know the information Aion held… She fixed Aion with cold eyes. "None of your business."
"Is that so?" Aion questioned before smiling. "Then allow the party to commence."
Fiore suddenly appeared beside Aion and teleported before Stella. Within her hand was her spear that she had apparently summoned before joining Aion's side. She swung it with great force and speed.
Stella jumped back to avoid the attack. Upon recovering her stance, she said a few German words before a light green snake-like creature with wings flew from her jewel and towards Fiore. The green creature wrapped itself around her thin body and held her up.
"Sister! You must not do this!" Stella cried out.
"I am not your sister…" Fiore softly said.
Fiore successfully spread her arms out causing the creature to break apart into small specks of green energy. Just as Stella summoned another light green creature to grasp her, Fiore cut deep into the creature's neck with her spear. The creature limply fell to the ground before dissipating as well.
Stella watched her sister with wide eyes. She had always known Fiore was a great summoner but by how easily she could defeat her summonings…
Rose threw her gun to Azmaria who opened her mouth to protest. Before allowing Azmaria to object, Rose ran towards Chrno. Aion calmly and quickly appeared before her to block her entrance. He grinned and brought his hand up to tilt her chin so her eyes met his.
"Why pretend to be what you are not?" Aion asked and brought his other hand up to run it through her long hair.
"Exactly my question!" Rose yelled. She tried to bring her hand up so as to fist it and punch him square in the nose yet some unforeseen source kept her body still. The only things she seemed to control were her breathing, sight, and speech.
Aion brought his hand from her hair and caressed Rose's cheek. He then brought his hand up and removed her contacts. "You are not Rosette Christopher. You are not Mary Magdalene. You are Rose Allison Remington. And it is indeed selfish of Chrno to try and change you into someone else so you may win his affections."
"You idiot! Chrno already loves me for who I am!" Rose shouted.
"You cut your hair…" Aion ran his hand though her hair once more. "And dyed it… And changed your eye color with contacts… You even wear the same outfit she does… Yet you say Chrno loves you for who you are? No. He loves you for who you used to be and what you try to be. He does not see Rose Remington but Rosette Christopher."
Rose's body became numb to his words. A deep pain went through her heart and she suddenly found it hard to breathe. Her vision became blurry as tears flooded her eyes.
Chrno tried breaking free of his bonds but to no avail.
"No! You're wrong!" Azmaria cried, holding Rose's gun within her hands and pointed at Aion.
"Azmaria…" Rosette softly said.
Weakly, Chrno echoed Azmaria's name.
"You can't do this anymore…" Azmaria softly said. "You were kind to me when I was in your care but… You have killed many and made many suffer! This I will not allow any longer!"
Aion raised a curious eyebrow and took slow strides to her side. He lifted young Azmaria's chin up intently and looked through her ruby eyes. Sure enough, he saw the unflinching determination within her soul.
Azmaria peered back into Aion's own eyes, giving him a deep, heated glare.
Fiore leaped forward and spun her spear above her head before bringing it down to strike Stella. Stella jumped back barely in time causing part of her dress to become ripped near her knee. She looked down at the torn slit then performed two front flips. She leaped over her sister and brought her arms around Fiore's neck much like a chokehold. Fiore glared at her through the corner of her eye and brought her arm back to elbow Stella in her stomach. Stella winced and loosened her grip just as Fiore had planned. Fiore then grabbed her arms with her free arm and threw the red haired summoner over her causing Stella to crash into the ground. Without further ado, Fiore rushed forward and pointed her menacing spear at Stella's throat.
"I advise you to surrender," Fiore softly said.
Becoming all too accustomed to this scenario, Stella grabbed the spear tip with her jewel hand. Sister… Florette… She closed her eyes for a brief moment. Light began emitting off her body as her hat fell to the ground. Her long red hair began floating up as though gravity no longer existed. Her green dress vanished only to be replaced by a long, shimmering sun yellow gown. The gown slightly floated up as well and was the only thing she wore. She opened her eyes to reveal a lighter shade of them.
Rose and Azmaria transformed into what appeared to be their true forms.
Rose seemed to have forgotten Aion's painful words and went over to Chrno's side. A small amount of holy energy formed within her hands before she released it causing the webbing to disintegrate upon contact. Chrno limply fell forward but Rose caught him before he hit the ground. She helped him to sit down on the ground before turning her attention to Aion and Arachnia.
Arachnia had been too caught up by Azmaria and Aion that she hadn't noticed this. She glared at Rose and released a wave of webbing at her. Rose flew up into the air to avoid it before shooting out a ray of holy energy. Arachnia placed up a web shield to avoid it before it was destroyed as well.
Azmaria flew back a bit and began singing. Aion pursed his lips and grabbed out his sword, turning it clockwise causing a transparent barrier to surround him much like a bubble. Azmaria became silent and turned her attention to Stella and Rose. Aion followed her gaze…
Wings sprouted out from Stella's back. She flapped them and flew forward, grabbing her sister by her shoulders. The duo ended up falling onto the ground and rolling over, exchanging blow after blow with one another. Stella punched her sister's face, tears falling down her face. Fiore brought her arms up to shield herself but to no avail. She growled and brought her leg up to kick Stella in the shin. Stella hissed from pain and wrapped her arms around her sister.
"Big Sister, please… Come back to me. Don't leave me," Stella gasped as she began sobbing.
Fiore's features softened as she hugged Stella, trying to soothe her.
Rose rushed forward and vanished. Arachnia became puzzled by this and looked this way and that for the young Saint. Before she knew it, Rose had appeared once more but right in front of her, sending a sharp punch to her nose before releasing a gargantuan blast of energy into Arachnia's face. Arachnia cried out as she crashed into the wall. She placed her hands over her burnt face, shrieking from pain.
Chrno stumbled to his feet and watched the battles take place. Arachnia shot out webbing from her hands, webbing that Rose easily got rid of. Stella and Fiore seemed to finally be getting along or at least it appeared as such. Azmaria was watching the battles just like him except… Aion was walking towards her while she wasn't paying attention. Chrno growled and flew towards Aion, tackling him to the ground.
Aion growled and punched Chrno in the face. Chrno retaliated by doing the same. The two continued like this for quite some time. From the appearance of all three battles, it seemed as though Rose and her friends were winning and Aion was losing…
Azmaria, Rose, and Stella suddenly reverted to their original forms. The three stopped their actions and examined their surroundings. Chrno stopped in his act as well and looked at the three with concern. Next thing Rose knew, she had been kicked in the throat and sent flying to the other side of the room.
Rose massaged her throat, groaning. She saw everyone's eyes were wide and wondered why. What her eyes fell upon was a figure with long ebony hair standing beside Aion.
The figure vaguely looked familiar. The figure wore a black cloak, a white buttoned-up t-shirt, a black miniskirt with a single white stripe going across it near the hem, black finger gloves, and knee-high black heeled boots. The figure turned away from Aion to face them. Rose saw that the figure was that of a young woman very close to her age. The girl's extremely long black hair outlined what it could of her body and it perfectly outlined the features of her face. The girl's ruby eyes pierced through Rose's soul like ice. It was then that Rose realized who this was…
Rose gasped and covered her mouth, her brown eyes wide with shock. It couldn't be! But it was! Yet how! It didn't make any sense to her.
Chrno and Rose exchanged glances, their eyes confirming what the other didn't want to believe.
"Mia…" Rose softly said.
Mia placed a hand over the whip that was strapped to her left side. She didn't respond to Rose's words and, instead, said, "You will regret the day you did harm to my master, Sinner Chrno."
Rose winced at the iciness within Mia's words. She couldn't believe what she was hearing… "Mia! It's me! Rosette!"
She ran off to jump in front of Mia but Arachnia did not allow her, wrapping webbing around Rose's body causing her to fall over. Rose gave her a glare.
"Leave me the hell alone!" Rose shouted and struggled to get free.
Azmaria looked at Rose's gun then at Arachnia then back. She huffed and shot the holy weapon. The holy bullet hit Arachnia right between her eyes before a holy explosion lit the area. Mia grabbed Aion's hand as Rose began towards them to save her best friend or, at least, someone she thought to be her best friend still. Before she could reach them, Aion and Mia vanished. Stella held onto her sister tightly as her body began to fade. Fiore gave her apologies before disappearing as well. Once the holy light was gone, Chrno, Stella, Rose, and Azmaria were the only ones that remained within the room.
Chrno exited Rose's room, sighing as he closed the door behind him. After what had happened, Rose had passed out. Chrno had taken her to her room to get some rest. Stella was in her room as well, doing the exact thing. Azmaria and he were the only ones not resting.
"How is she?" Azmaria's small voice suddenly asked.
Chrno looked at her and shook his head. "She's still out."
"Mia… Was Rosette very close to her?" Az inquired.
Chrno nodded and looked up at the ceiling as nostalgia filled his soul. "She was her best friend in a previous life."
Azmaria silently nodded in understanding. "What about you, Chrno? Don't you need your rest, too? The poison…"
Chrno smiled faintly. "I'll be fine. We're almost there, right?"
Azmaria nodded with a cheerful smile but concern could still be seen within the depths of her eyes.
"Is Stella alright?" Chrno asked.
"She's a bit… Sad about losing her sister because she was so close to getting her back but I'm sure she'll be fine in the morning," Azmaria said.
Chrno nodded and an awkward silence fell over the two.
After some time, Azmaria finally spoke up. "I'm going to see if the battle had any affect on the ship." She left without further ado and climbed up the stairs to the upper deck. Upon arrival, she saw that the whole deck was covered in salt water. Fish and seaweed laid strewn across the whole entire thing. Sailors were coming to and fro to clean up the mess while others were shouting speculations on what had caused the sudden disturbance. Azmaria brought her gaze to the skies to see it was partially cloudy. The stars seemed to had somehow lost their shimmer and the moon was a faint color of rust.
"Ma'am, you should go back downstairs," a young sailor said as soon as he had spotted Azmaria. "'Tis not safe up here."
"What made this mess?" Azmaria asked instead.
The sailor's eyes twinkled for a moment before he turned away. "The sea was in a great chaos as the heavens seemed to be against us on our way to our destiny. The sky roared in torment and struck its anger across the dark clouds. Water raged down from the gods as the seas became rough with fury. Things did not void well and it all seemed as though nothing more could go wrong but the ship suddenly tilted to the side with a great upheaval. The waters rushed in with ferocity. It seemed as though the ship itself would drown like Atlantis when it turned back into its normal position. The sea calmed as did the heavens. The moon itself seemed to be satisfied with the blood it craved." The sailor ushered to each object he spoke of during this whole thing.
Azmaria wondered why she hadn't taken any notice of this earlier but came to the conclusion that she and the others were too busy fighting Aion and the gang that they wouldn't have had much time to pay attention to these occurrences.
"The last one," the sailor continued, "what I mean to say is that the moon was crimson with vengeance."
Azmaria's eyes widened. Rose and Chrno had been up earlier, hadn't they? Surely they would have noticed, right? And from the faint color the moon still held… She gave her thanks to the sailor and ran off. What if Aion really hadn't gone just yet?
And that's the end of this chapter, ladies and gentlemen. (bows) Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed it and I thank you if you were patient enough to wait for my updates. To those that have ditched my fic because of my lateness on updating, I give you my dearest humble apologies as well as to everyone else. u.u
Stella has mysterious powers and it seems as though she could be that very Apostle Rose and Aion have been searching for. Stella was so close to getting her sister back and it looked like Fiore had regained her memories of the summoner. And Rose's best friend from her other life is back but is she really just Mia's reincarnation? And is she honestly working alongside Aion willingly? If so, then why? And what about Chrno? Is he really okay after all that just happened? Or is he really hiding his pain so as not to worry the others since they seem to all be lost in thought over these current occurrences? And is Aion still somewhere on the ship? Will Chrno and the others ever get to Italy? And if they do, will they make it in time to save Chrno? You'll just have to wait for the next exciting chapter of Chrno Crusade: The End Is Just The Beginning!