The End (Vol1)

Ataru opened his eyes to find himself in a white room, laying in a white bed. His right arm was in a cast. Was it the same nightmare again? Had he finally busted his arm for good? He wondered to himself. Was Rosalind alright? The thought superseded everything else in his mind, Her name repeated over and over. “Rosalind.” He muttered her name just to hear it, just to make sure he was awake, alive.

“Ataru?” He turned his head to see her sitting beside him, her hair a mess, her eyes tired. She was beautiful. “Ataru! You’re awake!” She cried out in joy and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him as if he’d turn to dust if she let go. “You’ve been asleep for two days! I didn’t know if you’d wake up, I... I…” She wiped her eyes, but as usual it only made her cry even more. He hugged her back, at least as best he could with a cast on his arm.

“Are you alright?” He asked. Rosalind let him go and looked him in the eyes with a wry smile.

“Am I alright? Yes you idiot, I’m alright.” She sniffed.

“Where are we?” He asked, looking around.

“The Aegis Guild’s infirmary. Claire is here as well.”

“Uh, is that alright?”

“So far she’s just in custody. The guild is still investigating the incident. The four we fought on the mountain were brought in as well, though they haven’t been very talkative. So far all she’s revealed is that she was taken prisoner, then broken out by someone who wanted to use her pathway to awaken the dragon. So far she’s going with the story that she was forced to do it.” Rosalind spoke, nearly forgetting to breathe.

“What about your uh, situation?” He said looking at her hat.

“The Hero found both of us and brought us here. They made sure no one saw my horn. They’ve stopped by to check on you, but they keep avoiding me.” She looked at him with an accusatory glare.

“That sounds about right. You two really should talk.” Ataru removed his covers and stood from the bed.

“Hey, easy, you’ve been in bed for two days, remember?” She ran over to his side, prepared to help him walk.

“I’m alright, just a little woozy.” He said, rubbing his head. “By the way, when I smashed that dragon, did you hear anything weird?” He asked.

“Well, I think your obsession with baseball manifested as your pathway.” She said with a chuckle.

“Seriously? What does it even do?” He let out a groan.

“I suppose we’ll have to find out, in the meantime are you sure you can walk?” She was holding her hands out as if he could fall at any moment.

“Yes, dear, I can walk.” He said in a teasing voice. She backed up and blinked a few times.

“O-okay.” She let out a cough as he walked forward. He found his clothes, which Rosalind had already washed, dried, and folded in a drawer in his room. “I didn’t have much else to do, so why not?” She said, Ataru smiled.

“You’re too kind, dear.” She twitched, then glared at him. “Okay, now you’re doing it just to get a rise out of me.”

“Of course, your reactions are cute after all.”

“Gah! Did you hit your head or something!?” She led him out of the infirmary, fuming. He couldn’t help but laugh. Rosalind was like a glass cannon, could deal it out, but could not handle it at all.

“Hero! Don’t you run again!” He heard Rosalind yell. As he stepped out he saw that she had stopped in the middle of the hall. Rune was there, about to bail once more when they saw Ataru.

“You’re awake, finally!” They walked past Rosalind, who threw her hands up in annoyance. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m alive, got all my limbs and everything.” Ataru looked past them to Rosalind. “You really should speak to her. It’s not up to you to decide what you deserve.”

“You aren’t going to let this go, are you?” They scoffed. “Fine.” Ataru put a hand on Rune’s shoulder and turned them around. They stepped forward.

“Rosalind, I…” They exhaled, and slowly removed their helmet. “I’m r–”

“RUNE!?” Rosalind covered her open mouth in shock.

“Huh?”

“You’re the Hero!?”

“W-well yes. You remember me?” Rune seemed to be in shock of their own. Rosalind hugged Rune, barely able to wrap her arms all the way around them.

“This dumb armor is in the way.”

“Wait, you really remember me?” Rune asked once more.

“How could I forget you? Rune, you were one of my first friends.” She said, her eyes turning glassy once more.

“But I… I killed your father.”

“We both know what kind of man he was, even still, I forgive you.” At Rosalind’s words, Rune began to weep. It was as if they had been waiting to hear those words. They wrapped their arms around Rosalind, hugging them back.

“Thank you.” They managed to say through tears.

After a while of catching up. Rune left with a bow, apparently late for an important request. “Well, shall we head to the inn? I need to take a bath…” Rosalind said, seemingly only now realizing the consequences of not grooming or sleeping for two days. “Yeah, let’s–”

“Hey, you two!” The familiar voice of Rhopal called out to them. He was hovering beside Strix, who was carrying a wooden box in his hands. They walked over to the two men.

“We don’t owe any damages for what happened, do we?” Ataru said with a chuckle.

“Ha, the kid’s got jokes.” Rhopal said. “No, no. We’ve got something for the two of you.”

“I see. Is the General no longer here?” Rosalind asked.

“Nope, turns out he’s a busy man, rushed off something quick.” Rhopal tilted his head towards Strix, who opened the wooden box, inside were two round badges with the emblem of the Aegis Guild etched into them.

“You two are officially dusters, congrats.” Strix said, holding out the box.

“B-but we didn’t complete the exam.” Rosalind muttered.

“Bah, to be honest with you, we really half-assed that thing. We mostly did it just to prevent an overload of paperwork.”

“And deaths.” Strix said.

“Right, and deaths.” Rhopal motioned for them to take the badges. “Now go on!” They each took a badge, noticing that their names were etched into them as well.

“Wait a minute, Rank 2!?” Rosalind cried out. “Is this a mistake?” She pointed to the bottom of the badge, where two shields had been etched into it.

“That’s no mistake, you all took down a dragon. Even if it was on its last legs, that’s no small feat.” Rhopal said. Rosalind braced herself on Ataru’s shoulder.

“This is real, right?” She asked.

“Sure looks real to me, Hey–” He caught Rosalind as she fainted.

Later, in Gourmet Inn, Rosalind was pacing with her badge. “I still can’t believe this.” She said for the fiftieth time. Ataru meanwhile, was laying in bed, thinking.

“Hey, who exactly do you think it was that broke Claire out?” He wondered aloud.

“Rank 2…” Rosalind gleamed at the badge in her hands.

“Also uh, why did they call you the Princess of catastrophe?” Rosalind lowered the badge and looked over to Ataru. “Rosalind?” He looked over to her, noticing she had quieted down.

She sat the badge down on her drawer and walked over to him. She sat down on his bed. “Remember when I said that I’m dangerous to be around?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, it’s not just because I’m a demon, or the daughter of a Demon Lord. They wanted me alive for a reason. Listen, what happened at the mountain? That’s likely not the end of it. If you stay around me then–” Ataru leaned up and planted a kiss on Rosalind’s cheek. “Huh?” She turned to face him, speechless.

“I’ll say it no matter how many times I have to, I’m not going anywhere. If there’s more people after you then we’ll handle them. We’re a battery, remember?” Rosalind didn’t respond for a moment, she just looked him in the eyes. “What? Come on, it was just a kiss on the che–” Rosalind pushed Ataru over and kissed him on the lips. They stayed like that for a while, kissing, until Rosalind finally sat up.

“I understand Ataru. A battery, until the end.”