Rose, still in bed, sits up. She had fallen asleep as she strolled down memory lane, and has no clue what time it is. She looks for a clock and spots one on the floor.
"Geeze." She reaches down and grabs it, setting it back up on her nightstand. "3am, perfect." She flops back down, her face buried in her pillow. "I... hate everything." She sighs as she gets out of bed, stretches, then heads for her dresser. She goes through it, looking for pajamas. "I really hate Mephisto though... I knew something was wrong with him back then. I had hoped when I didn't fight back with my powers he'd just forget about me. How unlucky of me to be on his radar." She finds some dark green fuzzy pajamas. "Ah, the mold pajamas. My favorite." She smiles sleepily as she pulls them out of the dresser and sets them on top of it. She starts undressing, and her tail unravels itself from her leg. "So annoying, hiding my tail like this." She tosses her shirt on the floor and drops her pants, kicking them over towards the shirt. She grabs the tape on her ears and pulls it off, then pushes her hair back. She turns and looks at herself in a mirror. She's quite pale, and her pointed ears looks ridiculous to her. Her tail isn't as thing as Rin's. Rather, it's a bit fluffy. Still, it is thin enough that she can hide it without too much issue. "How long can I hide this?" She reaches up and runs her fingers over her left ear. "It'd be nice if I could hide it forever..." She lets out a long sigh as she turns back to her pajamas. She puts them on, then goes and turns off her light before getting back into bed...
"Nooo! Don't die!" Rose slaps a manga shut. "Ah! That's terrible! What a horrible way to end the chapter!"
"What? Your favorite die again?" Dameon asks. Rose looks at him, clearly upset. Behind him she can see the school and a few other students. Most are gone, the school day over, but Rose and Dameon decided to stay back and have some peace and quiet.
"Yes!" Rose throws the book at Dameon. "Take it away! I don't want to look at it until the new chapters come out!" Dameon catches the book and laughs.
"You get so emotional over these things!"
"Shut up!" Rose glares at Dameon, blushing a bit. "If I wasn't going to get emotional over it then I wouldn't read it. That's the whole point! To be entertained, to be sucked into the world the writer dreamed up, that's why books and shows and all those other things exist. Be glad I function normally and actually enjoy those things."
"Whatever you say." Dameon looks up at the sky. "So, are you ready to drag all those kids to the beach with us?"
"No." Rose lies back on the grass. "But I already said yes to them so I don't get much of a choice." Dameon smirks at Rose.
"I suppose not." He tosses the manga back at Rose and it lands on her chest.
"Ow." Rose doesn't bother moving the manga. Rather, she watches the clouds float past. "Dameon... Do you think the kids would hate me if they found out?"
"What?" Dameon frowns. Rose turns her head and looks at him.
"Just... If my secret got out... would everyone hate me? I mean, Rin has to deal with that."
"Well..." Dameon thinks a moment as he puts his hands back and leans back. "From some people, definitely. The higher ups would flip out. But it'd probably be fine in the end because a lot of these people at your level and below respect you a lot, and even if they find that out I think they'd still accept you. After all, you've proven yourself time and again. I think the first higher up to accept you would have to be Angel himself."
"You honestly think he would?" Rose questions as she sits up.
"Yeah. He basically raised the two of us for a long time. He trained us, helped us, he thinks of himself as our dad. That's why he still worries about us all the time." Dameon smiles. "I know he'd freak out at first, of course. But I think, given a bit of time, he'd still love you as much as he does now."
"I doubt it." Rose shakes her head. "Angel would never trust me again. He'll probably say that its why I haven't reported anything negative back about Rin or Mephisto."
"I can't argue with you on that. But again, I think that's just an initial reaction." Dameon looks up at the sky. "Angel isn't bad, despite what you seem to think. He can be annoying sometimes, sure. And he can be arrogant, yeah. But, in the end, he's a good man who is doing what he thinks is best for humanity. He does it pretty well too."
"Yeah, I'm not as big of a fan of him as you are." Rose grabs her manga, which had slid off her chest and onto her lap, and flips through the pages.
"Why are you worrying about this all of a sudden?" Dameon looks at Rose.
"I just... Along with Mephisto trying so hard to find out I'm getting a really bad feeling. Something is going to happen soon, something really bad, and I'm worried that if it's as bad as I fear that I'll have to reveal my secret in front of others."
"What?" Dameon shakes his head, still smiling. "Relax. I'm here too. I'm not totally useless." He smirks. "Rose, whatever happens we can face the problem together. Besides, with the current situation we'll probably have a bunch of others around to help out as well."
"Why do I feel like that'll be the problem?" Rose stops on the last page of the manga and stares at the dead body of her favorite character...
It's been a few days and, as Rose shoves a beach towel into a bag, Dameon lies on her bed, tossing a key up in the air and catching it again. Rose looks at Dameon, then throws a bottle of sunblock at him, hitting him in the head.
"Ow!" Dameon rubs his head and sits up. "What was that for?"
"Go make sure the kids are getting ready or, you know, do something USEFUL." Rose says as she looks around, trying to figure out what else she needs.
"I am doing something useful."
"And that would be?" Rose raises an eyebrow at Dameon.
"I'm making sure the bed doesn't suddenly fly away." He lies back down on the bed again. Rose rolls her eyes and pulls the strings on her bag, closing it.
"Come on."
"No. I don't want to deal with children!" Dameon groans.
"Quit that and go grab your stuff. I'm going to put on my swimsuit." Rose says as she grabs her swimsuit off the top of her dresser.
"I'm fine with staying. Really. My stuff is ready to go." Dameon says with a smirk.
"Only if you want to die, you pervert." Rose says as she looks at Dameon.
"Fine, I'll leave." Dameon hops off the bed and stretches as he stands. "Just hurry it up or we'll never get to the beach."
"Yeah, just get on with it." Dameon walks out and Rose locks the door behind him. Then she changes into her swimsuit, including her extra bottom piece, which hides the tail wrapped around her underneath it. She then tosses on a shirt and some loose pants before unlocking her door and heading out of her room. She sees Rin running down the hallway, Yukio not far behind him.
"Hey! We're ready!" Rin shouts.
"Good." Rose smiles. "Ah, Dameo..." She's cut off when Dameon grabs her around the waist from behind.
"Hello there." He says as Rose attempts to reach back and smack his head. She doesn't succeed though, and Dameon lets her go.
"Right." Rose glares at Dameon, then looks at Rin and Yukio. "We just need to meet the others and we'll be ready to go."
"This is gonna be great!" Rin shouts excitedly as he runs to go downstairs and wait for the others outside.
"He's a tad bit excited." Dameon says with a smirk as he heads down as well. Rose shakes her head, then looks at Yukio.
"Sorry I'm stealing your class."
"It's fine. They should be studying, but I guess this should relax them and make them listen better later on." Yukio says as he starts heading downstairs. Rose walks next to him. He doesn't look too relaxed himself.
"Yukio, relax." Rose smiles. "Today is about wasting some energy and enjoying ourselves. There isn't anything to be worried about."
"Is that why you have your gun in your bag?" Yukio asks as he looks at the bag in Rose's hands. She smirks slightly.
"Well, I'm just cautious." They get downstairs and find the others are all outside, waiting.
"Come on you two, you're slow as snails." Dameon says with his usual playful smirk.
"Yeah, just use the key already." Rose says. Dameon walks up to the close doors and puts the key in, turning it, then opening the door. The group heads through, and they find themselves walking out of an old, abandoned shack. As they walk through and turn back to see the building they find an old, broken down, wooden mess with a tree growing through one of the walls, tearing the wall into pieces.
"Where is the beach?" Rin asks as Rose and Dameon walk through and close the door.
"We have to walk a short ways. Follow me." Rose says as starts walking away from the shack, an extra bounce in her step.
"She seems really happy today." Konekomaru notes.
"She loves the water." Dameon says. "It's pretty funny. She acts like such a kid when she gets around water."
"I can hear you!" Rose shouts from up ahead.
"I know! I said it loud enough on purpose!" Dameon shouts back. The group laughs a little. Then, before they know it, they break through the treeline, and wind up on a beautiful golden beach. It's small, but there is plenty of room for the small group to run around and wear themselves out.
"It's beautiful." Shiemi says quietly as she looks out at the sparkling blue waters.
"It is." Rose sighs happily. "Well go on then!" With that the group charges onto the beach and strips off their extra layers of clothing, down to their swimsuits.
"It's cold!" Bon yells as he wades into the water.
"It's perfect!" Rin shouts as he dives in, though he quickly comes up and starts waving his arms around. "COLD!" Rose, Dameon, and Shura all start laughing as they stand on the beach, watching. Rose looks at Yukio, who is standing off to the side, looking at his shirt. She walks over to him.
"Hey, I said to relax didn't I?" Rose questions as Yukio looks up at her.
"Yeah, sorry." He smiles slightly. "I was thinking about something, so..." He's cut off by Rin as he runs up and grabs Yukio's arm.
"Come on!" He drags Yukio into the water.
"They're having fun." Shura comments.
"Yeah." Dameon says with a chuckle. Rose watches them a few more moments, then she smirks.
"Like I'll let them have all the fun!" She runs and jumps, diving out into the water, splashing some of the guys who are near by. When she surfaces she's bombarded by splashes and laughter. She laughs and splashes back.
"She really is a kid." Shura says as she unrolls a beach blanket and lies down on it.
"Yeah." Dameon sits on the beach, watching the group as they laugh and fight playfully. The only one holding back is Izumo, who was dragged into the water against her will. She's off to the side, watching the group as well. "It's nice though, seeing her so at home in the water. She has a hard time really relaxing normally, but here she can't help but completely open up and enjoy herself."
"I guess that's good." Shura says as she shuts her eyes, ready to fall asleep.
"Well, that's enough lazing about." Dameon hops onto his feet, then runs to join the group in the water. "Make way for the king!" He shouts as he starts splashing the group.
"As if!" Rose shouts.
"You can't defeat me!" Dameon says, though he soon regrets it as the group takes it as a challenge and overpowers him. Through the laughter can be heard splashing and shouting from everyone.
"Bunch of kids." Shura says with a smile as she slowly drifts off to sleep. The excitement slowly calms down, and while Rose and Dameon swim out into deeper water the rest of the group stays in the water, except Shima who is sent to grab a beach ball that he had left on the beach earlier. Everyone dropped what they brought with them on the beach near their clothes so they could run into the water.
"This is nice." Rose says as she floats on her back.
"Yeah. Those kids are having a lot of fun." Dameon says with a chuckle.
"I'm glad things are going so well." Rose gets some water on her hand and pours it onto her face. "I hope this wears out some of their energy and need for fun for a while. It would be nice if it helped to keep them on track for studying."
"Yeah, it wou..." Dameon is cut off when a strong gust of wind hits the water, blowing him and Rose back towards the beach, along with everyone else in the water.
"Bee soldiers!" Shura shouts as she recovers from being blown back a few feet and jumps to her feet.
"What?!" Rose turns to look at where the gust came from. To her horror she sees not one, not two, but nine bee soldiers. "CRAP!" Rose starts swimming the rest of the way back to shore. As she swims two of the bees create gusts of wind with their wings. The gusts fly down and hit the water and the people in it. This time though the wind is sharper. As everyone is thrown back onto the beach their skin is cut. It's not deep though, to everyone's relief. Rose, once back on land, runs to her bag and grabs her gun out. Dameon does the same, running to his smaller bag he had brought with. Yukio too gets out a gun he had brought. Shura and Rin get their swords out and ready to fight, Rin's flames appearing.
"This isn't going to go well." Rose says. She looks past the bee soldiers, into the distance. "More are coming."
"What?" Dameon looks at Rose. "Are you sure?"
"Unfortunately... Everyone! If you don't have a weapon then get back! Now! Into the trees!" Rose shouts.
"Why? We can say the verses!" Bon questions.
"No." Rose glares at the bees. "Verses aren't very effective against these demons because of their ability to block sound waves. It's not just that they won't hear it, but the sounds, the verses won't reach their bodies at all."
"How do we kill them then? They're so high up!" Shima shouts.
"We jump." Rose looks at Dameon and he nods.
"Get back now! Yukio! Guard the ones that can't fight! Guns aren't that helpful here unless you get really close!"
"Right." Yukio ushers Bon, Shima, Konekomaru, Shiemi, and Izumo back into the treeline. Shiemi and Izumo summon their demons for extra protection.
"Shura! Rin! Dameon is gonna toss us up! Aim for their wings! I can kill them easy if you get them down!" Rose shouts.
"Got it!"
"Lets go!"
"Do what I do!" Rose takes a few steps away, then runs full speed at Dameon who is crouched low to the ground, his hands together. She steps on his hands and instantly he throws her up with all his might, and Rose gets quite high. She gets close enough to almost reach some of the highest bees. She points her gun down and shoots at a couple of bees below her. She hits them, and both falter, but one seems to recover. "Only one." Rose growls as she starts falling back down, along with the second bee. She tries shooting up, but a couple of bees beat their wings at her, throwing the bullets back at Rose and into the beach. The wind cuts Rose up as it throws her hard into the ground. She gasps when she hits, the sand doing little to cushion her fall. With the wind knocked out of her Rose takes a few moments to recover. But as she lies there she sees Rin is up in the air, and he uses his sword and flames to take down two bees. As he falls down Shura goes up. She gets the wings off a bee, but the rest of the bees suddenly seem to realize the danger they're in. They beat their wings hard as a group, throwing Shura down into the ground with enough force to knock her out. The wind knocks Dameon off his feet, shoves Rin down hard the last 15 feet of his fall, and knocks over everyone hiding in the trees.
"These bees are bad as a group! They caught on too quick!" Dameon shouts. Rose sits up, finally recovered. She didn't gain any new cuts from the last attack. Rather, the bees pushed for distance and made a defensive move, not an attack.
"The new ones are getting close! There are too many for us to deal with like this!" Izumo shouts as she leans on a tree. "We need to run!"
"No!" Rin shouts. "We can't let them go! They'll find people! They can do a ton of damage!"
"Rin is right!" Rose runs to Shura and grabs the sword from her. "Rin! Take Shura back to the others!" Rin runs and picks Shura up, moving quickly so he can return and fight. As he runs though a single bee soldier dive bombs him.
"RIN!" Everyone shouts. Rin drops to the ground, but the bee continues on. It hits the trees where the group is hiding.
"NO!" Rose screams. As the bee flies up the damage can be seen. Trees are knocked over, broken into pieces. Rose starts to run to help, but a gust of slicing wind his the ground in front of her, forcing her to stop. She glares at the bees. "Dameon!"
"On it!" Dameon runs to help the group. Rin stands and joins him. Rose starts shooting at the bees, but the bullets are reflected back by the beating of their wings.
"You annoying..." Rose growls. A couple of the bees fly at the group again, but Rose moves fast. Without hesitation she runs to beat the bees. As she runs the others send waves of slicing wind at her, attempting to disrupt her path and keep her away. She dodges the first few times, but as she gets close one of the bees that was diving down stops suddenly and instead throws a devastating gust of wind at Rose. The gust his her, throwing her through one tree and into another. She cries out in pain.
"ROSE!" Dameon shouts. He starts to run to her, but the still moving bee catches his attention. "Rin!" He shouts. Rin, who was helping Bon out from under a couple of trees that had collapsed onto each other, turns and sees the problem heading straight for him.
"Got it!" Rin smirks as he runs at the bee. He jumps up and runs up a fall tree, meeting the bee at higher ground. "This is for them! Die already!" Rin shouts as he starts slicing through the bee. The blade gets far enough in before Rin loses his footing to redirect the bee. In its pain it vears sharply to the right, heading for Rose and Dameon instead. "Watch out!" Rin shouts.
"Rose!" Dameon shouts as he nears Rose. She gets up and grips her borrowed sword tightly.
"Get down!" She shouts. Dameon, without hesitation, drops down, allowing the bee to fly past him. It hits Rose, shoving her back into the tree. As the cracking and crunching of the tree reaches the others, the images of the bee splitting in two also reaches them. The two halves go further into the trees, and leaving Rose standing here, blade in hand, and demon blood all over. The tree behind her finally falls backwards.
"Rose! That was amazing!" Rin exclaims.
"Keep helping them!" Rose shouts at him before glaring again at the bees. She can see the next wave, about 20 more, will be here in a matter of moments. "I can't do this." Rose grips the sword tighter. "In a swarm they're too strong without more help..."
"Rose!" She looks at Dameon who is again running to her. "Lets hurry! We have to contain this!"
"Dameon..." Rose pauses. "Yeah." She again turns her attention to the bees. "Dameon, toss me up again."
"Alright." Dameon and Rose both take a few steps away from each other, then as Rose runs to Dameon he braces himself against a fallen tree trunk. Rose steps into his hands and he throws her into the air and at the bee soldiers just as the new group arrives. Rose starts shooting her gun, praying for something to work. Instead she's met with a wind she hasn't had to deal with yet. As a group the bees send a devastating wind at Rose. She puts her arms in front of her face and neck. She's thrown back down to the ground as the wind riddles her body with both light and deep, short and long cuts. bits of her hair go flying as the wind cuts it off. When Rose hits the ground a huge cloud of dust is kicked up, both by her hitting the ground and by the piercing wind creating and spreading it. Slowly the dust starts to clear. As it clears three of the bee soldiers dive down, one aimed for Dameon, the other two aimed for the group, which had almost completely recovered. Dameon starts shooting, as does Yukio, but the bullets are deflecting by the wind created by the wings of the bees. Rin starts running to meet the bees, sword and flames ready. Suddenly a huge gust of wind rushes out of where Rose had fallen. The bees are not only blown off course, but they're ripped apart. The wind doesn't harm anyone else though.
"What was that?" Izumo questions.
"It came from..." Yukio starts. Everyone looks to the where the wind rushed out from. With the dust blown away in all directions it's easy to see as Rose stands. Her body is covered in cuts and blood, and her hair is missing small chunks in different spots. One strap of her bikini top is broken, but it doesn't come off. Her shorts are falling apart though, covered in small cuts. As they hang by only a few threads Rose's tail comes out, to the shock of everyone but Dameon. One of her ears is revealed as well.
"Pushed so far by some stupid bees." Rose grits her teeth. "I'm not going to get pushed around anymore though!" Wind starts to swirl around her. "JUST DIE!" The air rushes at the bee soldiers, and one after another they're ripped apart, their wind too weak to stop Rose's power. When all bees finally drop onto the land and into the water a silence falls over the area. The wind around Rose stops, and all that's left is the quiet. For a minute no one says anything. No one moves. The reality of what had just happened slowly sinks in for everyone.
"Rose..." Rin finally breaks the silence. "Y..." He stops, not sure what to say, what to ask.
"I can't get away with saying forget what you just saw... Too bad, it was nice while it lasted." Rose looks sadly at the tainted water and the blood stained sand. She doesn't say anything more.
"Listen, everyone, we need to head back and make sure you all get proper care." Dameon says, stopping the new silence before it can start. He walks towards the group, pausing a moment to place a hand on Rose's shoulder. Only for a moment though. He continues on. "Rose... We will explain everything later, when everyone is home safe and sound. Go on, grab what you can and lets head back." He starts moving the group along, not answering questions, but making them grab their things and head back to the cabin, hoping the door is still standing after all the wind and damage. As the others finally get going he heads back over to Rose. "Rose..." He gently grabs her hand.
"I wonder what would happen if I tried to run away and disappear." Rose quietly says.
"Nothing good. Come on." He starts pulling her with him. They head back to the broken down shack, which seems to have been outside the damage radius. Everyone keeps some distance from Rose as Dameon unlocks the door, leading everyone back into the Academy. "Okay, everyone go get cleaned up and changed." Dameon says.
"You said you'd explain." Yukio quickly replies.
"I'm not going to explain something so important while everyone stands are practically naked and all cut up. If anyone is seriously hurt or having any problems I can treat you, but the rest need to go back to their rooms for now. When everyone is done we can have a talk. Not before." A slow echo of agreement rings out from the group. "Then go." They disperse, all but Yukio, Rin, Dameon, and Rose. In an awkward silence those four stand there a few moments, then they head upstairs together. When they reach Rose's room Dameon quickly gets her inside. They stand in there, silent until they hear the door to Yukio and Rin's room close.
"Dameon..." Rose looks at Dameon, tears in her eyes.
"Hey, no crying. Stop that." Dameon pulls her into a hug. "It's okay. I promise it's okay."
"No it isn't!" Rose cries. Finally the strong, silent facade she had up breaks. Rose cries into Dameon's chest, and all Dameon can do is hold her. Nothing he says will comfort her, not right now. Her paradise is tainted, and her spirit is broken...