Chrono X Angel, Book 7: Trial By Fire

Chapter 16

The Tachibana sisters were asleep for most of the return trip to Ireland, the intense battle they had just fought having thoroughly drained them both physically and mentally. Even the not-so-slight turbulence the helicopter flew through was not enough to wake the pair, leaving only Jacqueline and Sarah awake to converse within the passenger compartment. There was something on the Spirit Queen's mind now, having seen the two girls in action. It was not like she had never seen an Angel before, quite the contrary in fact. She had been around when their kind were nearly as common as Vampires or Ogres, some six or seven thousand years ago. It was that there was something about Usoko that gave her pause.

"So, about Ms. Usoko..." inquired Jacqueline, "Do you think it's her? Is she the one?"

Sarah, in all her plushie glory, looked over at the sleeping Pinkette curled up with her sister in the seat across from her, and sighed.

"Jacqueline, you know I don't put much stock in legends. Never have." She replied quietly, "Especially that one, it's so vague as t' be almost intentionally self-fulfilling. 'A warrior of golden might taking their place against the great evil'? I've read comic books with more convincing prophecies."

"True, I'll grant ye that part is pretty vague," agreed Jacqueline with a tired shrug, "But I'm referring more t'the carvin'. You know the one."

"Okay, now that one I might be willin' t'grant ya. Th' similarities are a bit eerie, even for me," answered Sarah carefully,"But if I'm bein' honest with ya? After today, I don't think it's Us'ko the prophecy's about..."

Her black button eyes fell on the younger Tachibana sister.

"I think it might be both of them..."

When they finally landed in Dublin, Usoko and Kuroko were still very much asleep. Not wanting to disturb the pair, but with them very much not able to stay in the helicopter, Jacqueline had to levitate the girls into a waiting car before returning to her castle. The first to awaken was Kuroko, who was still incredibly groggy and quite bleary eyed. She was laying next to her sister on a large and quite comfortable, if not slightly musty-smelling bed. The first thing she saw as her vision focused was an amorphous shadow, its body roiling like smoke, standing in the corner of the room. It observed the girl with small, glowing red eyes. Though Kuroko could not feel any direct malice coming from this entity, it's very presence made her incredibly uncomfortable. Fortunately, it seemed to sink into the floor after a moment, and the creepy feeling went away. It was then that Kuroko somewhat recognized her surroundings as Jacqueline's castle, albeit a part she had not seen the first time she had been in here, so she assumed that the shadow thing must have been waiting for her to wake up so it could inform the Lady of the place. Well, she hoped so anyway...

"This place sure is spooky..." she shuddered.

Cautiously, she nudged her sister in hopes of waking the girl, but to no avail. Usoko was out like a light. Figuring she might as well try to face her fears, Kuroko decided to take a walk around the castle. As she approached the door, a purple shape emerged from the floor in front of her and quickly coalesced into Jacqueline's form. The Spirit Queen smiled warmly at her. Though Kuroko was still terrified by the glimpse of this woman's true form she had seen earlier, she at least knew they were on the same side, and drew comfort from that thought.

"H-hello Ms. Jacqueline, thank you for taking care of us," stammered Kuroko, "If it's alright with you, I was hoping to sort of... wander around the place?"

Jacqueline put a hand on her hip and sighed.

"You're quite welcome. Although... I don't know if that's a safe idea for a living being to do, Ms. Tachibana," replied Jacqueline, "There are things here that are under my subjugation, yes, but not my direct control. Things that could attach themselves to you, or follow you home, or worse. It's truly nothing personal, and I won't stop you if you insist, but I would rather speak with you if you wouldn't mind."