Just a Doll

Disclaimer: I do not own Chrno Crusade, or any of the characters from it, and so on…I do however, own this story, so…I guess it’ll have to do for now…-sigh-

Hopefully this chapter will be about as long as the last one, or at least close, as well as a bit more exciting now that there’s more characters to bring in (and the fact that I really don’t like Satella very much…). O.0;

The Sinner

Just a Doll

Chapter 2: Jewel Witch
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“How is she now?”

“Her heart-rate is beating normal now, but she isn’t awake yet. You know Aion…you sure did a number on her!”

Voices…She could hear voices. One she recognized as the violet eyed sinner, but the other, cheerful female voice was new to her.

“You sure she’s gonna be any help? Doesn’t look like much…”

Another voice entered, this one sounding less than friendly, in a rather gruff tone.

“Now now Genai, she’s lasted this long, right?” Replied the cheery creature once more in a song-like way.

The girl frowned, finding that the rest of her body was immobile. All she could do was listen to those around her, trying to gather bits of information as to her whereabouts.
“Poor child. She hasn’t had it easy, has she?” More and more people seemed to be arriving into whatever room she was in. This time, it was a deeper voice, much larger than the others, and male by the sound of it.

“Shader will fix that, I’m sure.” A cool hand went to her forehead, brushing her bangs from her eyes before brushing her cheek gently.

“I’m not a nurse, you know. You like to make a mess of things…oh, but she’s so adorable!”
“Shader. Pay attention to your work.”

“Ohhhhhh phooey…Fine, fine. Well there’s not much I can do right now. We just need to wait for her to wake up, so shoo everyone! Out, out!”

The sound of footsteps rung in her ears, then what sounded like a mechanical door closing.

Silence.

She waited a few moments before trying to move again, pushing herself up a bit before her strength failed her again and she fell back hard, wincing as the back of her head came into contact with what she lay on. Her eyes opened to find a white ceiling, very high up from her current location. Taking a while to stare at the blankness, her gaze trailed to her right. There were multiple machines here, all alongside each other, seeming to be working at full speed.

Her eyes closed once more at the throbbing pain that overwhelmed her aching body. It felt as though she were being torn in every direction, and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take…

Where was she? Why couldn’t she remember anything previous? Did she even know her own name?

Wait...it was…what was it? It seemed to scream at her from the back of her mind, but she couldn’t voice into matter how hard she tried. The young woman felt like screaming in frustration. There was so much going on in her head right now, that she didn’t even know whether any of this was real or not. For all she knew, it could have been a terrible nightmare, brought on by something funny she ate.
“Florette.”

Huh? When had the door re-opened?

Chocolaty orbs, dim with what little light danced around the room, crept open to look in the direction of the man. A friendly smile splayed across his face, making him appear more than almost human. Aion approached her casually as he spoke.

“That was what you said your name was, right?” He stopped when he reached her side, peering down into her frightened face.

“What have you…” Her voice wavered slightly, coming out as a harsh whisper.

“Don’t worry. Your sister is fine, so is the old man.”

Her eyes widened at the memories, and she felt the cruel sting of liquid leave her eyes.
“I know what you’re thinking. I’m heartless, cruel, evil…? Don’t be so quick to judge. Everything that happens in the universe has a purpose, right? You see…I have a goal. A dream, you would say…and your parents tried to stop that dream from happening. Nobody should be forced to give up their dreams, should they?”

What irony…his words almost made sense to her in some sick, twisted sense.

“In order to achieve that dream, I needed someone with great power. You, perhaps. So what do you say? Are you willing to help me, and get back your purpose in life? If you join us, then you can gain much more power than you already have, which can help you to protect the things you care about. How does that sound?”

“Satella. Remember, you should never settle for a less than what you know you are capable of. If you give up too early, then you will get nowhere, understand?”

That’s right…If she were abandon her purpose now, then she would be giving up far too soon. Maybe…just maybe if she joined them…whoever “them” was…then the power she gained could be used to find her family once more. To protect them like she was unable to the first round.

“Alright…I will.”

Only until I’m strong enough to defeat you…to gain what was taken.

Aion’s face lit up, and he jammed his hands into his pockets. “Wonderful. You’ve earned yourself a new life. Well, practically…and with a new life, comes a new name. So your name is no longer Florette Harvenheit. Got it?”

“What?”

“Fiore. It sort of has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? That’s your new name. Fiore.”
She frowned to herself, thinking it over. Well….it wasn’t too bad…it could have been something worse. So for now…just for now…she would play his pitiful game and agree.
She nodded at the nickname.

“Aion, looky there, you woke her up!” The cheerful woman from earlier practically bounced back into the room and over to the other demon’s side, resting her chin in her palm as she stared down at Fiore. This was the first time Fiore had actually set eyes on her. From what she could tell, this woman was relatively short, with large circular glasses placed upon her nose. She wore a heavy lab coat over a white button up shirt with baggy tan pants and boots. But the thing that caught the teen’s eye quickest, were the two cat-like ears protruding from the mess of dark brown hair the ended short on her neck. Two small horns could be seen where any human’s normal ears would appear, and a feline tail flicked back and forth repeatedly behind her.

“Of course not. She was already awake by the time I came back.” He pouted playfully at the accusation.

“Riiiight…” The feline looked the frail girl over a few times, grinning widely. “Well hello there kitten. I should introduce myself. I’m Shader, your ‘nurse’ for this evening!”

Odd name…

Aion took one hand from his pocket, pointing to Fiore while turning the rest of his body to Shader. “And this…” He made a small motion with his hand, “Is Fiore.”

Shader’s eyes seemed to gleam with mischief as she, once more, looked the child over. “Oooh, you’ve already renamed her. Did you just bring her home as a pet?” She teased, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“Heh. Well, I’ll leave her to you for now. I still have “research” needing to be done.” The man turned his back to the females, wandering over to the doorway and pausing before he left.

“Right, right. Just leave everything to me!”

“Fiore.” Aion began again. “I’ll talk to you later about your job, okay?” Before she could answer him, he walked out.

Fiore mustered enough strength to push herself upwards, leaning back on her elbows, giving the room another look. It was much larger than she had first thought.

“Careful, kitten. Don’t want to injure yourself.” Shader held out a glass of water with a smile, simply watching as the girl took it, sipping it down with effort. “You probably think we’re horrible people, right?”

Well, duh.

“But don’t think too ill of us. If you knew the whole story, then I’m sure your opinion would change for the better.” Her voice trailed away in thought, and she pulled up a nearby rolling stool, taking a seat and staring off into a corner.

“Then tell me.” Fiore muttered, setting the glass aside. “What IS the whole story?” This would be a good one…

“Oh, we have plenty of time for that later…”

“I have time now. Please, I would like to hear.” She urged on, sitting up fully while gripping her stomach.

Shader said nothing for a long while, then her smile drooped as her gaze shifted to the floor with an audible sigh. “Alright.” She tugged her seat forward more and began. “A long time ago, when we demons still resided in Pandaemonium..”

“Pandaemonium?”

“Pandaemonium. It’s what we call the demon world, or, as I’m sure you humans refer more to as hell, in some sense. Anyway…to get to the point…originally there were six of us sinners. Aion was, and still is our ‘leader’ I guess you could say. The reason we’re called sinners…is because of our dream. We wanted our freedom, and rather than be cooped up there, we’d set our sights on the surface. So…during our escape, Aion went after Pandaemonium herself, to assure our freedom.”

Fiore frowned gazing at Shader with a look of confusion. “But I thought you said that Pandaemonium was…”

“Yes, the name of our ‘world’, but also, she is our ‘mother’. The core that we all hatch from. We all come from her. Well, as I said. Aion went after Pandaemonium, and ended her life…In a way…I’m sure you can understand what an impact that had on the other devils. Nope, not too happy…”

“So they tried to kill you all, right?”

“Hey, now you’re on the trolley! But, yeah, they attacked. We managed to escape relatively unscathed, which is more than I can say for most of them…”

The mechanical door screeched open a third time, causing the two females to jerk their heads in the direction of the noise. Shader hopped to her feet, seemingly forgetting her story, and she waved at the approaching figure. This one was very large, the one that could be none other than the booming voice she’d heard earlier in her dreamy state. He was easily brushing 7 ft.

“Shader. Aion wants the girl to be brought to him immediately.”

“What? But Viede, she can hardly sit up! And I didn’t get much fun time with her…”

Fiore lifted a questioning brow at Shader, earning a playful giggle from the cat.

“Oh, c’mon, I’m only joking, kitten. But really Viede, why now?”

Viede shook his head, waving towards the exit. “He hasn’t told me, either. Just that he needs to speak with her now.”

Fear rose within her as the towering man walked to her, reaching down with large hands and picking her up. However, he was much more gentle then she would have ever expected a demon of such size to be. She clung to him trembling, staring back wide eyed at a grinning Shader as they left the room.

She was just being dragged around everywhere, wasn’t she…?

Her desperate grip tightened immensely as a chilled gust of wind blew past them, and she realized that they were completely outside now. Not only that…but they were on a ledge, a narrow staircase, and just below that…was nothing but sky. She jammed her eyes shut while Viede continued his journey up the winding staircase, pleading silently that they would reach steady ground soon lest they fall to their doom. Eventually, one eye slid back open to take in her surroundings. No longer were they on stairs, but rather a grassy yard of some sort, set just in front of an enormous building that she gathered would be their destination.

Sure enough, that’s where the devil headed. Right up to the building, and through a door that he was forced to duck under. Fiore’s eyes darted around the room in wonder. It appeared to be a normal kitchen, nothing that she would have expected on this floating isle in the sky. How strange…

“Hello again, Fiore.” She jumped at the sudden voice, spotting Aion sitting calmly in a chair at the rectangular table.

“Oh…Hello.” How long had he been there? How in hell did she not see him??

“Viede, I need to talk to her alone.”

Without argument, the enormous demon set the girl down, helping her to gain full balance before turning his back, saying a short farewell to the two and departing. Fiore watched the door a couple of seconds before turning her eyes back on the sinner across from her.
Aion motioned for her to sit, and she did so quickly, wondering what would become of her now.

“As I mentioned earlier, the reason you were brought here, was because I, we, needed your abilities. I’ve already witnessed what you can do with your jewel summoning powers, and I think it will be very helpful.”

“My jewel summoning? But I’ve already told you, I still have a long ways to go…”

“I think you’ll find that you possess more talent then you let on. During the time you were unconscious, I had Shader run a few tests on your body. It can withstand much more now than it could when you were just flesh and blood.”

Flesh and blood…? Then what was she now? “I don’t understand…what do you mean by…”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. It will all be explained later. Right now I need you to listen to me closely.” He waited for her to sit back comfortably, then continued. “I’m sure you’ve heard from your parents, but there are things about demons that you should understand before we get started. A demon’s power comes from their horns.”

“Ah, yes, father told me about that once. A devil’s horns can absorb power from the astrallines. That’s their source of life, right? But…you don’t have any…do you?”

A dark smirk crept onto his face, revealing for the first time the fact that he truly was a devil in disguise. “That’s right. I removed mine. I assume Shader told you a bit about our pasts?”

Pandaemonium…that’s right…it was beginning to make sense now.

“You mean you removed your horns to further rebel against Pandaemonium? Is that it?”

“You catch on fast. That’s exactly the reason. You see, without horns, I don’t have to worry about Pandaemonium trying to control me…but that also means that I can’t absorb any astral energy, which makes me quite vulnerable. That’s where you come in.” He stood, watching her closely as he wandered over to her. “Are you good enough to walk?”

Fiore hesitated, then nodded quickly, using the table as something to lean on while she stood, waiting for further instructions from her new master.

“Good girl.” He said quietly, motioning for her to follow him, and she did. Through a separate door than the one she’d entered in, and down another, much wider flight of stairs. For what seemed like forever, they walked on, until finally they paused in front of a set of steel doors. Aion reached for a small button off to the side and pressed it. The two watched as the large doors slid open, and on the other side was a much smaller room, also covered in white, just as the first room she’d been in was. Something caught her eye instantly though…

There, in the far corner, huddled in fear was a man. A human from the looks of it, no older than thirty.

Fiore looked up at Aion for instructions, wondering just what her job was going to be.

“You see, Fiore. Every soul is born from the astrallines themselves, and for some reason, a human soul emits an even greater energy than that of any other living being.” Nudging her further into the room, he patted her head gently with a smile. “A contract, is a sort of binding between a devil and a human. Normally it would allow the human to summon it’s devil at anytime, for any reason, but with a price. That price, is the humans own life. When the contract is made, the soul of the contractor is basically turned over to the demon to feed off of, rather than gathering it’s life force from the astrallines, and with every use of the demon’s power, the life of the human is shortened.”

Her eyebrows knitted in worry. Is that what he wanted from her? For her to become his contractor?

“No. It’s not what you’re thinking, so don’t worry. I don’t want your soul in particular…But I do still need one to feed from. You see that man there? I need you to steal his soul for me.”

“Wh-What?” Her own voice quivered at the thought of his demands, almost assuming it was all a mere joke.

“Like I said, I need a contractor. I want you…to seal away his soul for me inside those precious jewels of yours. Of course, in order to do that, the physical body will need to be destroyed to make things easier…you can do that, right?”

She could feel her heart thundering violently in her chest, and her eyes trailed over to the hunched form in the shadows. She’d already assumed that her task would be terrible, considering it was being given by a demon, but…could she honestly murder this man? Rip his soul from his flesh so easily? Then again…did she have a choice?

“I’ll be waiting upstairs, come up when you’re done so you can get some food, alright?” Aion patted her head once more before spinning around to the exit and leaving her in shock.

She stared at the sobbing form, watching every little movement he made out of desperation. Her heart dropped at the sight, and she felt as if she were a terrified little girl. Terrified of life and failure…just like…

Satella.

That was it. She knew she never had a choice. Her new job came first over any guilty thoughts that plagued her mind. To kill this man, simply on command was her order, and she would do whatever it took to complete it, holding onto the small hope that she would one day be reunited with her little sister. She had to become strong in order to protect that which was lost, and she knew it too.

She stood.

Her hand reached around for the gem hidden away in her pocket, before she found it, pulled it out and held it firmly in her palm.

The watery eyes of the adult lifted to meet with her own, and for a moment she could see the small glimmer of optimism his gaze held when he spotted another human like himself. What a fool…

“Laden!” She called out, seeming to stun him with the spoken word, and without second thought…

She ended his life.

~*~~~x~~~*~

Days…

Weeks…

Years later…

Eventually she’d lost track of time, all thoughts of sanity leaving her during her stay on Eden. That room was where she spent most of her time now, whenever Aion needed more souls to devour.

She was certain that it was more than a hundred lives she ended by now, but she didn’t seem to really care anymore. Not only that, but her reason for doing it in the first place had left her memory long ago, and all that she knew now, was that she was nothing more than a puppet, a doll made to do the bidding of sinners.

Perhaps she was also to be titled as ‘sinner’…

However, little to her knowledge at the time…that would change.

It was getting late, she was positive by the weariness she felt. There were no windows in the room, so no light could get in unless it snuck in from the tiny crack of the door.
Head lowered, she stared at the gems that lay loosely in the palm of her hands and lap. That was seven more humans killed by her hand…She felt numb and cold, her gaze blank with lifeless sorrow. Then, just vaguely in the back of her mind…she heard it. A small, confused, and frightened voice…

“…sis…?”
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Author note: Finally. Wow, I actually had an entertaining time writing this one…And next chapter I get to add…Joshua! Yaaay, Joshua…cute little demented freak…XD. Anywho, Review ^^!