Sleeping Beauty
Rayla, John and Sher Aka quickly get everything they own out of the room while Scarlet carries out Rose to the wagon and lays her down in some bedding.
“You’ve done well Rose, I’m so proud of you.”
The shooting Stars then quickly leave the Tennison company town right before the crackdown happens.
—--------------------------------------------------------------------
When I wake up again I’m lying in bed, in a room I don’t recognize.
Scarlet seems to be sitting next to me.
When our eyes meet she starts to cry, “Sob Good morning, Rose…Sniff Did you sleep well? Sob”
In a somewhat weak and broken voice I answer,“Yeah…Are you okay?”
“Yeah sob I’m okay now. Sob”
“Then…Why are you crying?”
“Sob Because I’m so relieved…Rayla! John! Come in!”
Rayla and John then burst through the door,
“Is something wrong?”
“Did something happen?”
They look at me in shock and after a few seconds of surprise Rayla runs towards me and starts hugging me while crying. Even John seems to cry in the corner when he sees me.
“What’s going on? Did something happen? Why are you all crying? Where is Sher Aka? Did something happen to her!? Is that why you’re crying?”
Rayla gives me an exhausted smile while tears are still flowing down her cheeks, “No you dummy, you’re the one we were worried about.”
“Me? Why? I’m fine, I must have just overexerted myself, I can go back to the factory tomorrow.”
“No, oki, the quest is already done. You’ve been asleep for two weeks.”
“What? Did I get into an accident?”
“No…It was the air. You were breathing in a lot of iron and coal and your little lungs couldn’t handle it…You…You nearly died multiple times.”
“What!? How? Everyone else was fine, right?”
“Yes but everyone else is an adult. You’re just a baby…”
“But I’m not a baby.”
“Thoma…No, Rose. It’s time for you and us to accept that things aren’t the same anymore. You almost died multiple times because we were still treating you like before. We need to change things.”
“Change what?”
“How about we stop being adventurers?”
“What!? No way!”
“Please, think about it oko. You’re a princess now. There is no need for you to risk your life out here, you can just stay in a castle somewhere with me and Sc-”
“No.”
“Why not? I’m sure it will be nice!”
“Because I’m not going to give up on my dream!”
“Dream? I thought you wanted a family, you can get that in Blaze.”
“I already have a family! I have you, I have Scarlet and I have Uli. And that’s not my dream either, my dream is to make your guys’ dreams come true! How will you get rich and famous and travel the world inside a castle? How will Sher Aka get really strong and smash the slave trade without us? And you Scarlet, you wanted to prove to our parents that you can be out alone right? As for John….He’ll get lonely without me.”
Scarlet adds, “But Rose, don’t you want to meet our parents?”
“Of course I do…But not at the cost of your dreams! I want us to get there without giving up on them for my sake. Also I’m not really interested in sitting in some castle all day in the first place…Provided they even like me enough to let me in…”
“They will, you’re their daughter after all.” Scarlet interjects.
I cross my arms, “Either way, we’ll get there by following our dreams the same way we’ll get there by giving up on them.”
Rayla puts her hand on my cheek and says, “Alright, let's talk about this again when you feel better, for now let’s just celebrate you waking up. How are you feeling?”
“A little tired but that’s it.”
“That’s very good. John? Could you take a look at her?”
“Sure.”
Wiping away the rest of his tears, John walks up to me and runs some tests, “You aren’t healthy yet but we can work on getting better again.”
“Huh…What’s wrong with me?”
“Your muscles have atrophied a lot, you’re a bit underweight and overall your body is exhausted.”
“Okay, I’ll go try to train a bit then,” I say as I try to stand up but Rayla, John and Scarlet all almost instantly stop me.
“Uhm…What are you doing?”
“Thoma Ahad you must not stand up in this condition! Your training for the next few days will be to sit up and move your legs while in bed. Anything more than that will worsen your condition.”
“Are you sure you’re not exaggerating? I feel fine.”
Scarlet in an authoritative voice answers, “And that’s why you’re not going to be allowed to make decisions on your health anymore unless it’s about telling us that you don’t feel good or that you’re sick. Your feelings obviously can’t be trusted on that matter. And on top of that you lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie to you?”
“Oh? What about hiding the nosebleed then?”
“That…I didn’t lie about it, I just didn’t mention it…”
“And what about saying you’d take a break if you felt overwhelmed? You even went so far as to unlock a new boost!”
“I…I’m sorry, it wasn’t a lie, I really just thought it wasn’t bad enough for me to take a break…”
“Sigh Fine, you didn’t outright lie but you did hide things from me and that’s still unacceptable.”
“I’m sorry…”
Staring me down, she crosses her arms, “I want you to give me a dragon-promise that you won’t hide feeling bad or sick from me or Rayla ever again.”
“Alright…I promise.”
“Good.”
“...”
“Uhm…So, I don’t feel completely fine. My left side hurts around here.”
“And you were hiding that…Why?”
“I just didn’t want you to worry, it just hurts a little…”
Scarlet puts her hand over her face, “Sigh Thank you for honoring your promise, John, please take a look.”
“Sure. Hmm…I don’t see anything. It hurts right here right?”
“Yes, OUCH! Even more when you touch it…”
“Hmm…It could be organ problems…Though I also am not sure where your organs are exactly because of that curse…”
“I don’t think it’s my organs, it hurts right under my skin.”
“I can’t really see anything though. Is it okay if I put you in your draconic form?”
“Sure.”
I feel him press down on my back and I’m now in my other form. It is only now that I feel how weak my body has gotten. No matter how hard I try I can’t move.
“Shit…You look even worse like this. Can you move?”
I try to shake my head but I can’t. All I can do is let out some high pitched whimpering.
“I see…”
Feeling John’s soft hand, he carefully picks me up and says, “I see the problem now. It looks like you have some sort of infection…Scarlet, can you take a look at this?”
I feel someone poke me, “It looks like scale rot. It’s a disease you get when you don’t take care of yourself well…I told you sponge baths weren’t enough! I should have just cleaned her with my tongue like I wanted to!”
“Well…We’ll know next time something like this happens. Seeing as you know the name I assume you know the treatment?”
“Yeah…We’ll have to pull out the infected scales then disinfect the area with some ointments. We also need to change the bedding to avoid her getting it again…It’s going to be very painful for her. It will feel like ripping out fingernails.”
Rayla asks, “If it’s that painful, is there not another way?”
“Maybe there is but the only one I know is that method.”
“What if we just wait for it to heal naturally?”
“It won’t. Scale rot only gets worse when you leave it alone, it will be lethal if it progresses too much.”
Rayla mutters, “Sigh Why does it always have to be lethal, can’t she just get a tummy ache for a few days or something…”
“John, do you have an ointment?”
“Yes.”
“Then get ready. Rose, you’ll have to be strong now, okay?”
“Gao…”
“Alright, 3, 2, 1…”
“GAOOOOO!”
“Two more.”
“GAOOOOOOOOO! GAOOOOOO!”
“John, the ointment.”
“On it.”
“Gaoooo…”
“It’s over now, Rose.”
Whimpering
“Scarlet, you and John stay with her, I’ll go and change the bedding.”
“Alright.”