Chapter 25: Crash
"Alright! We're finally here!" yelled Rose as she walked all the way to the shoreline in the new swimsuit she got from Momo. "Come on and hurry up…or do you want me to be bored?"
The regulars' eyes widened in fear, and they all ran for the shoreline because of what happened the day before.
"So how are we going to do this?" Gakuto asked.
"Easy," Rose replied. She transformed into her dragon form that was meant for swimming and flying and quickly took in a mouthful of seawater.
"Are you sure that's safe to do that?" Oishi asked worried again.
"It's fine, as long as I don't swallow," Rose replied telepathically to Ryoma who relayed it to Oishi. Rose then started blowing bubbles from the sea water filled with enough oxygen to last then nine hours. She blew enough for 25 people and all the regulars took one. "Put it on top of your head and let's go already." Rose transformed back into her human form and dived into the water.
The regulars did not want to be left behind, so they put the bubbles onto their heads and dived in as well. They dived really shallow so that if the bubble didn't work they could go right up. They were about to scream for air but realized that they could breathe just fine. They looked around and saw Rose swimming, more like darting, through the water like a torpedo. They swam up to her trying to catch her and saw her go down towards the bottom.
Rose wanted to make sure they had a good time. She had already explored a bit of the sea earlier because of yesterday and wanted to show them. She quickly got them to follow her ten feet at a time before they stopped because of the changing pressure. After they were used to the intense water pressure she led them to a steep wall at the bottom of the ocean. Of course since they were so far underneath the water surface, Rose had to use her light element to light their way.
On the way to the wall, the regulars were amazed by what they saw. They saw fish they haven't even heard of, creepy plants that could have snapped and caught them, and other amazing things. They finally reached a cave and followed Rose inside. What they saw immediately made them want to get out of the cave.
Rose went into the cave and saw who she was looking for. She looked at the regulars and saw their scared faces. She cast magic so that the hosts of the cave would be able to talk in human tongue. She then said, "These are my master's friends. I told you all about them yesterday. Now please don't bite them…King of the Sharks, King Crash."
"Oh course not. Why would we want to anger the last dragon of Earth? I still can't believe what happened with the humans 1000 years ago. I truly pity that you had to see such a horrid event take place right in your home. Welcome to my humble abode. Let me take your human companions to the air cave above us." The king of sharks, King Crash, replied. He was a great white shark and the largest one the regulars had ever seen. He was three times the size of any normal great white and was actually a deep shade of gray with white stripes along its back and fins.
The regulars didn't know what to do and looked over at Rose.
Rose just nodded to follow him and said, "He won't bite…as long as you don't start bleeding." Rose left to follow King Crash and the regulars followed her right after.
The regulars were led to an enormous air-filled cave above where they were. Rose decided to drag them all up into the air cave in order to adjust to the pressure and air in the cave.
Kikumaru, as soon as he was adjusted to the room, started to run around the place yelling, "Sugoi! This place is just…sugoi!"
Oishi was once again worrying for his partner yelling, "Eiji! Be careful!"
King Crash just laughed along with his shark subordinates. After he calmed himself down he said, "As long as he doesn't fall into the water, he will be fine. Those bubbles that Rose created last in the water just fine but as soon as you reach the air, POP!, those bubbles are no more. Now then, tell me, how it is being the last dragon of Earth Rose?"
Rose was walking around the area, or flying around, and replied, "It's not as fun as it seems. For over 900 years I was waiting around stuck in a cave waiting for my master. Not allowed to go out, not allowed to see the world with my own eyes, only allowed to see the world through visions in my dreams. But I've come to like this world when Ryoma finally found me." Rose then walked over to Crash and whispered something into his ear.
Crash whispered, "That's too bad." He then said aloud, "I hope you are treating Rose nicely. She has been through a lot and does not need any more pain in her life…or loneliness."
"What do you mean?" Ryoma asked.
Crash looked at the boy confused, "What do you mean 'What do you mean?'? She has been lonely for over 900 years because of the massacre of her kind. She has had no friends, no family, nothing to comfort in. She has been alone for many years, and I do not think that she would ever want to lose anyone precious to her again."
"Souka…Ii data…" Inui muttered.
"Is he always like that?" Crash asked Rose.
Rose just nodded yes and then teleported the notebook out of Inui's hands into her own. She then glared at him saying, "If you take any notes about this encounter, I will seriously just wipe your memory about this." She then teleported all of Inui's notebooks back into his room at the mansion and locked them in a safe she placed in there a while ago.
"So that's why you were so worried to show your feelings. You felt that you would be lonely if you let them all out…" Ohtori said.
"Yes. That's why I only truly trust my true self to Ryoma. But I think I can trust you guys just fine now. I'm actually pretty childish when it comes to being outside of a battle. I mean I act like an eight-year old kid sometimes," Rose said sheepishly scratching the back of her head.
"But you are pretty cute when you do," Ryoma replied.
"Honto!" Rose exclaimed obviously happy that Ryoma called her cute.
The regulars chuckled at her because she was truly as childish as she said she was. She was starting to show her true self which was to them an honor.
Rose then laughed along with everyone. Crash and Rose got everyone to explore the sea bottom. They showed them all the sharks in the area, all the sunken ships, explosive mines which they never touched thankfully, and then went up to a higher sea level to see many animals.
The regulars couldn't help but smile at Rose because she suggested doing this. They had a lot of fun even though Crash gave them a scare.
Rose called out with a whistle and then came along a group of 30 dolphins or more. She cast a magic spell over them so that they could talk in human tongue as well. She told them what she wanted and they got to work.
The regulars were certainly surprised when they were each confronted by a dolphin, each with its own colored eyes and fin-bands to tell them apart. The dolphins reached out to their hands asking, "Why don't you come for a swim?" The regulars obliged but started to regret it soon after. As soon as they got onto one of the dolphins back, the dolphins swam straight ahead like a bullet nearly knocking the regulars off their backs.
Rose and Ryoma snickered because they had planned this if the dolphin group came.
Pretty soon, the regulars were familiar with all the animals when they had to go back home.
Rose looked at her underwater camera that she brought along with her and looked at the clock function. "Wow…five in the evening already. Guys! We got to go now! It's already five!"
The regulars looked at her yelling, "What! That late already!" Even the stoic ones were surprised by how late it was.
Rose slowly got them to the surface again by getting them used to the water pressure so that they wouldn't get hurt. As soon as they got out of the water, she transported them all in front of the Atobe mansion to get them inside.
The regulars dried off and got some dinner while Rose was busy.
A few hours later, Rose came out with something behind her back. When the regulars asked, she brought out her personal scrapbook with the pictures she took inside. She opened to the pages after her solo pictures with Ryoma and showed the pictures she took today. There were over 50 pictures: the regulars with the sharks, the sharks on their own, the regulars with the dolphins, and the dolphins racing around with the regulars on their backs. This time the decorations were sea-themed like seaweed, shells, sand castles, beach toys, sea animals and the like.