Chrono Crusade Fan Fiction ❯ Pandemonium Moment ❯ Holy Gates ( Chapter 1 )

The Pandemonium Moment

By Prinder

 

Rated: R for violence, Religious warping, and questionable topics.

Summary: “We found another child with Stigmata…” Staged after the last episode in the series, we see how their friends have coped with the changing times. Also, see what happened to Rosette and Chrono in “Afterlife.” Can a Devil, a Sinner, actually be the son of god?

Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade does not belong to me.

Legend: “talking”

`thinking'

reading

written

“Talk Electronically sent somehow”

 

 

Chapter one: Holy Gates

 

 

 

`It's cool…' she thought, her eyes still closed as she began to wake from her slumber; her memories slowly drifting back to her. “Chrono!” She sat up abruptly. `Aren't I supposed to be dead?' “Chrono!”

 

“He will not be here.” A male voice said, followed by the sound of fabric rustling.

 

Rosette quickly absorbed the layout of the room as she assessed the situation. She was laying on a cool-white bed of some sort with no adornments, the floor was also white, but looked soft to step on, `carpet?' She wondered. Above her was the only sign of color, pale blue with light shining across it, `Are there windows up there?' Rosette looked at the person who had spoken to her; he looked old, his hands and body aged beyond her years `not that that's saying much.' She thought dryly. His clothes were simple and neutral colored; being mostly tans and creams, the primary layer brushed the tops of his sandals. his skin was tanned and his hair was white and very fine; it moved lightly without any breeze, even as he stood still.

 

“Magdalene, or Rosette Christopher, her family-tree's 400th descendant. You lived in God's holy ways in this life closely. Yet not close enough to enter Heaven on that alone. You signed a pact with a Sinner, the lowest kind of Devil. You betrayed your virginity—not for the first time, you are the woman who knows men—both aided the Sinner Aion, and, corrupted the church of God, made yourself into an idol, caused God's people to turn from him and worship you. You pervert justice, and—“ Tom listed, though most of her crimes were done at the mercy of Aion's control.

 

`And I'm getting punished for that?' she thought with annoyance. “Where is Chrono?!” She demanded, jumping from the bed onto the floor; it absorbed the impact easily, but did not spring back; though, she could still not feel what was under it.

 

“He has returned to Pandemonium. Like the rest of his kind. You are at the First Holy Gate of Judgment, Magdalene. I am Tom, Seeker of truth.”

 

`An apostle?' she thought, not lowering her guard, “Well then, TOM, if that's REALLY your name. What is this place exactly, and why aren't I with Chrono?” She questioned.

 

Tom looked at her calmly, his dark brown eyes full of warmth and honesty as he spoke, “I am here to guide you to our next step. As one of the Lord's holy men, I was entrusted with the right of Question, I weigh the worth of man. In sort, I decide who ascends to Heaven, or to which Heaven they belong.”

 

“You mean like sending Chrono to Hell, even after all he's done to help you?” She challenged him, her voice bordering on becoming shrill as her temper shortened. “And what about Witches? Do you damn them, too?!”

 

“The Witches are placed into what they call `summer land.' But you have made a mistake, Magdalene, he is not in Hell, he is with Pandemonium—“

 

“--And just where is that?” Rosette asked, cutting him off.

 

“Limbo, between here and Hell, with the mother of the damned.”

 

Rosette growled, “Just how is that any different?” she balled up one fist and shook it threateningly at Tom's general direction. “Take me to God!” She demanded, “I'm going to have a few words with him!”

`I won't let them do that to Chrono! Not after all that we've been through! I'll make God see reason even if I have to beat it into him!' she thought.

 

For the first time since they met, Tom seemed genuinely alarmed. “You misunderstand!” He cried, raising his hand, as if to will her to stop. “Judgment isn't even why you are here anyway!”

 

Rosette glared, but held her position, not pausing to wonder how he knew she was going to hunt God down herself, as she replied, “Then explain it to me, old man. I don't have time for this beating around the bush!”

 

“Devils return to Pandemonium for instruction on their next life! It is not Hell! All of their souls that are to be returned to Earth speak to Pandemonium, the guiding leader of the devil world, which has her as it's namesake! She isn't really much different then I.”

 

“You mean that headless monster that I—“

“That you have slain for countless generations, Mary of Magdalene. You have little time left here, so we must hurry to the Decention Bridge. I have seen all that I must, and now God has seen to the rest.” He said, taking her hand and pulling her along behind him. He was surprisingly strong for looking so old.

 

Rosette pondered his words. “What do you mean by `we'?”

 

“I, along with the Lost Disciples, are to return with you to Earth. We have waited for the time to be right for so long… and that time is neigh. Time passes much slower here than it does on Earth. What only seems like a few hours or days to you or me, is years to them.” He said, continuing to lead them. “Your next path has been chosen! Be blessed! God saw fit to end your brother's life soon after he finished his book so that—“

“Joshua!” Rosette gasped, her eyes wide with horror, thinking about her little brother; she didn't realize that she had interrupted him. “What do you mean `saw fit'? Just what gives him the right to kill Joshua—“

 

“—You both could to be reborn as twins. He is God, after all. But we must hurry, or the window of opportunity will close.” Tom finished, stopping over a spot of floor that was slightly grayer than the rest. Rosette could tell now that this wasn't Heaven, because it lacked streets of gold, or any other distinguishing character to it, rather, it was an empty landscape without a view—there was nothing beyond the wall clouds that covered them on all sides—and there wasn't another soul there, save for Tom, who stood completely still, as if expecting something to happen.

 

Rosette exhaled sharply as she tried to steady herself as it suddenly began to sink under them, “Wait! What about Chrono?” She asked, alarmed.

 

Tom shouted over the whooshing noise the Bridge made as it lowered them, their hair and clothes flapping around them both wildly, “That depends on Pandemonium! We would dearly wish for Emanuel to join us, but if he cannot convince his maternal mother—“

“Who is Emanuel! What are you talking about?!” Rosette screamed; everything was moving entirely too fast for her to understand.

 

“Pandemonium and Jehovah are the holy creators! Nothing can be made without both of their consent! As God is all that is pure and light, Pandemonium is all that is dark and evil! Both must be present on Earth or it will be thrown off balance and be destroyed! With Jehovah's seed, and Pandemonium's egg, Virgin Mary was implanted with Emanuel! The triple-being; One third Heaven, One third Hell, One third Humanity!”

 

“What?!”

 

“I said, Pandemonium and—“

 

Rosette hissed at him, as if to bare her fangs in warning, “I know what you said! What do you mean by it?! And why tell me?!”

 

“That doesn't matter now. As soon as we have reached the Astral Line…” his said, his voice growing distant and faint as everything around them began to turn green and their bodies began to fade into that glowing light. “Everything we know will be forgotten so that our souls can be reborn! I was only telling you to try to ease your mind about Chrono!”

 

“But how does knowing about how Jesus was fully conceived do that?!”

 

“Don't you get it? Jesus, as you call him now, was a devil!” Tom called, though by this point, they were both partially submerged in the Astral Line. “Lord, your ways are forever mysterious, but why keep all of Emanuel's Disciples away until now? Why is it now that you send us forth with the Seven Virtues, the Virgin, and the Misguided Magdalene…?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was so hard to believe. Partly, Chrono didn't believe it was real: the dreamlike few months of serene life with Rosette before her heart stopped beating and she fell limp in his embrace in the last light of the setting sun. He could no longer tell the difference between his fantasies of her, and his real memories; so much of them ran together, did he only wish that he had seen their children? Or did he get to hold them and her in his arms, her cheeks flushed from exertion and love? Was that really her kissing him as they looked over the water? Did he ever get to feel her warmth, sleeping in the same bed? Or had he cried like a baby, as he pushed her up to sit on the swing with him as his vision, too, began to fade?

 

Chrono's eyes welled up with tears. He wanted to do so much! `Why? Why did I take his hand?! Why did I let him keep my horns?! I could have slowed time, I could have stopped it all before it began, I could have done -something-!'

 

“Wake…Wake… My son…” a voice that was soft and silky to his ears, echoed around him. But he still did not move from his place on the ridged black floor; his yellow, red rimmed, eyes staring unblinkingly at nothing. “…My son's soul is troubled… What has happened to make him weep…?”

 

`How long have I been like this?' He wondered as a hand touched his dark purple hair, fingers gently stroking his scalp as his eyelids wavered; recognizing the touch and the small comfort it gave him. `I want to know what's happened… but if I move, what will happen to me?' Salty water began to sting his eyes, `oh god, please protect Rosette… please…' When Chrono woke up in this place, he knew right away that Rosette was not there, which filled him with joy, but, at the same time, also filled him with unease. `What place is this? Isn't Hell supposed to be… warmer than this?'

 

“Jehovah is cruel to his son… Mother understands… Emanuel.”

 

`That name again… Who is she referring to? I'm Chrono. I'm Chrono!' his mind screamed, though his voice remained silent and his body unmoving. The moment he had realized that he wasn't sitting in a void of nothingness, this woman had been there, talking to him, calling him by her son's name.

 

“The pain he gives your heart,” she paused to huffed, “No soul is good enough, yet every soul is too good for his son… Emanuel.” She said, removing her hand from the side of his head.

 

Chrono, his curiosity getting the better of him, rolled over to look at the person who had been speaking. “Who—“ He began to ask, his voice horse from lack of use.

 

Her hair was long and straight silver-white, contrasting drastically with her dark dress, which exposed scandalous amounts of flesh that was so pale that it seemed to be tinged blue. Her eyes were dark red, and her lips were painted black, which only served to make her look paler still. Her horns sleek, stemming from her forehead, folding over themselves, only to stretch out onto a flat plane on either side.

 

“Who are you?” he asked, this time pushing himself up with his arms into a half-sitting position. “My name is—”

 

“I know who you are, my son… Cursed by that father which would have you born! Damned by the race of the Virgin, from who's loins you were brought forth into the world of man! The mark of contract between -I- and JEHOVAH!” She spoke, her eyes burning with rage. “To suffer eternal anguish at the hands of Man, Angel, and Devil alike!” she growled, turning to face the dark nothingness around them, “This is how you love me? This is how you love your fallen children? This is how you care for your child?! I DAMN YOU! Jehovah! I damn you to that bleak and useless Heaven of evils! May you never—“

“Please! Stop!” He did not know when, or how, but he was embracing the devil woman from behind; only vaguely aware that his own horns were back on his own head, right above his ears, though his form was still small. “I don't know who you are confusing me for, but you have to stop this. No matter who this Emanuel is, he would not want to hear his mother speaking like that.”

 

“I am Pandemonium. Mother of Emanuel, contracted to God Divine, Keeper of Sabathani—The forsaken ones.” She said, her voice lowered, the flickering lights of candles arising around them.

 

“Pandemonium… But you!” Chrono gasped, “You lost your head—“

“It was stolen from me by my contractor!” Pandemonium screamed, her voice choked with bitter sorrow. “In the beginning there was Heaven and Earth. The Earth was without form, and was naught but a void. Six days did God take to make life, but the seventh he did not rest, for it was on this day that he made Devils. When Humans gained Knowledge and were cast off, the Devils were stripped from Heaven and sent to return man to faith…” She whispered, reliving a nightmare from long ago. “His promise was to restore our wings! He said he would love me like no other if I granted him way to make a holy child! He took my egg and gave it to the Virgin and cast me out! Damned me to this pit as the Astral from which your horns feed! He stole my head and left my heart to bleed for eternity! The betrayal of unrequited lust.” She paused to gain control of her emotions before continuing. “Turning my brethren against me with threats of being chained into eternal slavery. Twisting the hearts of man to call for my punishment and setting a fate of stone onto the woman who loves my Emanuel, the one he was cursed to love in return… she is to forever be cursed to be the only one to trigger Apocalypse, the only one to stop it and slay me… and to die, never knowing how deep my son's love is for her.”

 

`Rosette…' Chrono let go of her with shock, looking at her with wide eyes. “but you have your head now—“ he said, slightly confused still.

“This body in which you see is nothing but an illusion of Pandemonium… He took our child and used him for his own plans of grandeur. He FORGOT who gave him his power in the first place!” The lights were growing stronger, and now Chrono could see the room around them. The ceiling was high, and from it heavy red fabric was draped to the walls. There seemed to be more than one floor, as the light was not candles in the room, but light shining up from the gaps between the floor and the walls, casting off a dull yellow glow.

 

Sensing her pain, “Maybe you should sit down for a minute…” Chrono said as he looked into her eyes and glanced around for a chair for her to sit on, but finding none.

 

Pandemonium smiled at his kindness, raising her hand and snapping her fingers; two chairs appeared next to them, causing Chrono to step to the side with surprise, before motioning for him to sit down with her. “How many times have you been reincarnated to suit his needs?” Pandemonium asked rhetorically.

 

“How many?” He trailed off, his brows pinched together at the bridge of his nose in confusion.

 

“You have been brought back twice, but in that time, he has damned you thrice, Emanuel… Chrono.” She replied.

 

Chrono blinked, monetarily surprised before settling down again to look at her. “You do know who I am. But why did you keep calling me by that other name?”

 

“I shouldn't say the name Emanuel, I think… It was, after all, the Angelic name that Jehovah gave you. Or he was, before he placed me here. It was only you he stole from me. Your bother and sister still—No… Only Lillim is still within my reach. Lucifer discarded his horns, and now he serves Jehovah's twisted plots and even stole your horns away for a time to torture Hope.”

 

Chrono's pupils dilated. `Joshua… my horns—No!' Chrono snapped out of his thoughts to ask, “Pandemonium, tell me, is Aion—“ His body began to shake. “Who is Lillim?”

 

“She is your oldest sibling. She was my dream to unite us all. Adam was to love her, and she was to be an angel.” Pandemonium snarled, her hands balled into fists as she recalled the whole memory, “But Jehovah stripped her of her beauty and her wings! She was the turned into the mother of devils, not holy men. She lost her mind and now wanders in lust for her own brother.”

 

Chrono's jaw went slack as images of a spider woman, who (now that he thought of it) looked much like the woman in front of him with raven hair. “Rizel…” he said softly.

 

“These are all indirect attacks on me. To make me suffer for being born. To make me suffer for loving him as much as I have. To punish me for being a devil. To punish me for being only what he made me to be.” She said, her mind in a place far away from where they were now. “I will not let him have you again. This time, I will choose your fate.” She murmured, “all of their fates.”

 

“Who—“ Chrono began to ask, only to blink in shock when faces flashed in front of his eyes. Faces of Joshua, Azmaria, the other Apostles, faces he knew, faces he did not, and Rosette.

 

“This time, I will see things done differently. After this, it will be over. He will never torment our children ever again. He will never again be allowed to cause pain to suit his own desire for worship and supremacy. After this, I will end his madness, once and for all!” she said, standing, turning her head to look up, a yellow glow flickering in her mouth.

 

Chrono jumped to his feet, tipping his chair over behind him. “What are you do--!” He did not get the chance to finish his sentence, for she had lowered her head and engulfed him in the blazing gold glow. `Ahh… It burns! What are you doing to me? No, stop! Tell me what has happened to Rosette!' his mind yelled, his lips unresponsive to his demands for them to move.

 

“Change your repeating future! Do not allow him to take what he wants! Do not succumb to Lucifer's tyranny! Emanuel!”

 

`Wait! Pandemonium! What am I supposed to do?! Where is Rosette?!' Alas, as he thought his last thought, he was scattered into tiny speckles of light and knew nothing more.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“So the child with Stigmata was a hoax?” Claire asked, her green eyes looking at Anna with pity, as they walked to Sister Kate's office.

 

“It was a real bummer. Seven years of trying to hunt the child down, only to find out that it was a child of another Crusader, who was cut at by it's mother.” Anna replied, still horrified that a parent would do that to their child. She ran a hand through her tangled red hair.

 

“Really?! That's some wild turkey chase.” Mary asked, shocked, her blob of blonde hair bouncing as she moved.

 

“I believe you mean Wild Goose chase.” Claire commented.

 

“It was so sad. She was locked in a glass room where people would come to pray to her. I'm glad that the orphanage would accept her. I hope she is happy there.” Azmaria sighed, feeling guilty for the whole situation. This was her first mission as a Sister, a level 2 exorcist, and she had begged and pleaded Sister Kate to accompany Anna to Washington DC. She wanted to show Rosette and Chrono—who she prayed and sang to every night before bed—that she could be stronger and somehow repay them for their kindness.

 

“Me too, Azmaria. Maybe she will be able to forget the whole thing, now that we've christened her under a different name.” Anna commented as she knocked on the door. As the new top level 3 exorcist, she was disappointed with herself about how poorly the mission had gone, despite not having any way to control the outcome. Their general consensus was that it was seven years of pain for nothing.

 

“God will only know. Maybe we will, too, in time. Mary and I will see you two later.” Claire said with a wave, hearing Sister Kate call them from the other side of the door.

“Yeah! So good luck!” Mary added as she followed Claire, her official partner.

 

“Thank you very much!” Azmaria called back, bowing to them slightly before opening the door and leading Anna in behind her. Her pale lavender hair fanning slightly behind her.

 

Sister Kate's office was split into two portions, one an eating area, the other where her desk sat in front of the large window. The furniture wood was dark maple, and some of the wood on the walls were painted white. These mixed with the oak bookcases and walnut paneling on the far end by the doorway out; her office could safely be called mismatched. Despite that, or maybe because if it, it was always neat and clean, without even the slightest trace of disorganization.

 

“Do you have your report?” Sister Kate asked, pausing to look up from her writing.

 

Azmaria jumped, snapping into perfect stance, “Yes ma'am, we have!” she said quickly. Even after all these years, she was still easily intimidated by others.

 

Anna sighed, “The Crusaders are still a problem… One of them tried to make their own daughter into the holy woman. The child nearly bled to death from the wounds on her wrists.”

 

“They still thrive… even after all these years… that is unfortunate. What did you do?” Kate asked, her eyes watching them worriedly.

 

“We locked her mother away and took her to the Orphanage here. We'll look after her to make sure she's okay, Ma'am!” Azmaria replied, her voice breaking slightly.

 

“Very good. I applaud your good work.”

“Thank you ma'am!” Anna replied, glad to be praised, smiling with Azmaria before calming down again.

“Ma'am is there anything else we can do?” Azmaria asked, her hands clasped in front of her, her eyes pleading.

 

Kate smiled, her lips and eyes making her look more tired than happy, “You have been away for a long time, Sisters. Take a weeks' leave to get settled back in.”

 

“Yes Ma'am!” Anna said, bowing and heading out with Azmaria at her heels, who closed the door gently behind them.

 

Sister Kate set down her pen, pushing away from her desk to look out her window. “Something is coming. And now that Joshua has died, Remington has disappeared without a trace… or is he finally at peace? Sweet Lord, what have you in store for my girls?” She asked the heavens, her hands clasped in prayer.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“You will never be allowed to go through this again, Aion.”

 

Aion snorted at the bound and caged angel at the far end of the room. Though his expression was amused by Ewen Remington's announcement, he was hardly surprised; even if he was stripped of his wings, it wasn't likely that he would learn to bark in a different tune. “but you forget, -sinner- Ewen, I already have. But don't let that stop god!” he said, laughing as he stood up, opening his arms wide, palms to the heavens, “Let him strike me down now if he wants to do so! He is God, he can do anything… But if that were true, wouldn't he have already done so? He certainly seems to care very little about his creations!”

 

Ewen scowled, his expression a deadly mix of contempt and denial. “Laugh now, Aion, but this is not finished. Why are you keeping me alive? It's obvious that I have no strategic advantage for you.”

 

“You're so right!” Aion replied, smacking the side of his head before looking at him with a smirk. “That's a very good try, Ewen, but you will be delighted to know that I do have plans for you and your wings. But that will all come in good time…”

 

How had he been reduced to this pathetic state? When Joshua died peacefully in his sleep one night, his finished book clutched into his hands like a life-line, his guardian angel lost all direction. It was in Ewen's state of weakness that Aion had literally bumped into him on the streets of Rome. Without his wings, Ewen was no stronger than a starving child because, like a horns are to a devil, wings are to an angel. `Ironically, you could call each of us, devils and angels, the perversion of the other.'

 

“Well that is no good, Ewen, you shouldn't keep your thoughts locked inside. Who knows what could happen if you do. Why, you might just explode if you keep them all in.” Aion said, condescendingly, as he sipped his drink.

 

“I have a question for you, Aion. Who is your Contractor? Without your horns, you will need one to sustain yourself.. What is your secret?” Ewen asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

Aion laughed, throwing his head back as his whole body shook with glee. “Well played, Ewen! Very well, I will tell you, I have none. So long as I have Pandemonium's head, I can draw from her power indefinitely, I do not need my horns, though I would greatly love it if you told me where they were hidden?”

 

`Don't need your horns…Humph! So that's your game, is it, Aion? Well you will not get your answer with me.'

 

“Come now, Ewen. Devils were once Angels too…”

 

“I don't recall what happened to them, I'm afraid that is one thing Chrono and Rosette took to the grave with them.”

 

“Oh well, that cannot be helped…”

 

`Aion, what are you planning…?'

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

The year is 1936, the Spanish Civil War is in full-swing, German troops occupy Rhineland, Italy completes its conquest of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), War between Japan and China begins. Thus begins World War II in a Godless world where all use his name as a means to justify cruel and hideous actions by lost and confused people.

 

On this stage, the 11 Disciples, 7 virtues, Emanuel, Magdalene, and the Virgin are fated to regather to counter-act the imbalance of Lucifer, Lillim, the 7 sins, the 11 unholy Ligion.

 

Which direction will their forces colliding cause fate to turn? The coming of Satan and Apocalypse? Or the release of Pandemonium and Rapture?

 

But where is God? What role does the ruler of all have in this battle for Earth? Is there still mercy left within his heart to save his people? Or will he turn his face away from us all, to allow us to choose our own hell? For, truly, there is no humanity left in the Human race.

 

 

Chapter one end.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

 

Thank you, everyone, who has made it this far into this story. Obviously, this fanfic will have some religious spin to it, so pardon me if any of you find it offensive. I will try not to bring my own beliefs into this story, for the sake of keeping the spirit and setting of Chrono Crusade. I kindly ask that, for those who feel the need to voice their personal beliefs in their reviews, you do so respectively. I do not want to see you flaming me with threats of eternal burning in the seventh level of hell—in other words, save the judgment for God, so don't jump to conclusions. Don't tell me about the splinter in my eye and ignore the plank in your own, savvy?

 

Now, to answer the question before anyone asks it: “Will God play a larger part in this story?”

 

He may. It all depends on what I decide on how to describe him. ^_^;

 

Peace and love, Xs and Os,

 

~Prinder