...Epilogue...

"Aurdel!" He wasn't able to get a single word in before he was tackled down to the ground by his large group of companions, each one overjoyed to see him again.

"You know those wishes were supposed to be for you guys, I didn't want you to waste them on me."

"Don't say that," Yunyun said looking him dead on with tears in her eyes, "It wasn't a waste because you know how much you even to us, to all of us. If it means seeing you again then it isn't a waste at all." She pressed her face into his chest, "You especially mean a lot to me, I don't think I'll let go until you promise me that you'll never do something like that again."

"Yeah," Anatalia added, "You've done too much for all of us for you to simply go like that." Darkness and Megumin nodded along with her.

"Alright alright, I promise I won't do anything like that again," he patted Yunyun on the head. "But I have to ask then, who was the one that wished to have me revived?"

Darkness looked a little in disbelief with her answer, "Well, it was Aqua who wished for it."

"Seriously?" He looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes seriously you big idiot!" She shouted at him, "What kind of Goddess would I be if I let you die?" She playfully punched his shoulder

"Oh come here you blue idiot," he dragged her in and gave her a noogie on the head, then he let her go.

"So, what happens now?" He asked, "You said that you wanted to stay here, and that wish was really your only chance for you to do that."

"It just means that I'll have to go back to heaven, I don't really have a choice in that," she said somberly. But then she piped up, "But no matter what happens, I had fun the whole time that I was here! And I couldn't have had that fun if it wasn't for you dragging me here with you."

"So no hard feelings?"
"Of course there's hard feelings! You dragged me here without giving me a chance to prepare," Aurdel raised a brow, "Oh I'm just kidding! You really need to learn to be able to pick up on jokes" He let out an exasperated laugh and shook his head, but he still had a grin on his face.

"Hey, Aurdel," Megumin tugged on his sleeve, "Is Aqua really a Goddess? You always said that she's not a Goddess or just mocked her, but just now you said that she would have to go back to heaven. What is she really?"

"Yes, I'd like a solid answer to that question too," Darkness said. "It's been bothering me for quite some time."Aqua looked at him.

"Well, yeah, she's a Goddess. As much as I joked about her being a Goddess of debts or misfortune, or even that she was just pretending to be one, she actually is a Goddess," Aqua looked happy that he was finally telling the truth. "Honestly though I'm surprised you wouldn't realize something was off with her from the start. What normal Priest or even Archpriest is able to revive people several times? Or has a move called 'God Blow'? Or why the hell she vomits rainbows when she drinks too much?" They looked a little embarrassed hearing all that coming from him.

"We… we just thought she was crazy," Yunyun said.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Aqua pouted, "Just what kind of idea do you guys have of me?!"

"Well you are an Axis cultist after all," Megumin pointed out, "They're not exactly known for being the smartest or most sane people around."

"Don't insult my children like that!" Aqua protested and shook Megumin. "You can all start making up for your sins by buying me all the wine-!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," he stopped Aqua, "You may be a Goddess but in this party we're all equals."

"Yeah, well, whatever," she flipped her hair and pointed at him, "You better take care of Emperor Zell while I'm gone, he has to grow into the strongest and best Dragon the world has ever seen or else you'll get divine retribution!"

"Emperor who?"

"Emperor Zell! Don't you remember the Dragon egg that I bought and wanted to take care of?!"

"Moi sees that this evil Goddess refuses to accept the fact that the egg she purchased is mere poultry and not some mystical or divine beast."

"You damn Archdevil! I'll send you back to hell for insulting my Emperor Zell!" Aurdel held Aqua back as she tried to assault Vanir.

"Fuhaha! A font of emotions as always, moi must say that today truly was a treat compared to others. Moi does not regret coming along for this battle."

"Does that mean you came here just because you know that I would die during the battle? And that my companions would be devastated as a result of my death?"

"Of course, moi is a diviner." Aurdel let Aqua go in order to chase Vanir around the battlefield. Seriously. He understood that he was a Devil but some things were just too far.

It took some time but Aqua eventually did come back from her chase, stopping tired and panting while shaking her fist at Vanir in the distance. "Say Aqua, I have one other question. You were the one that revived me, right?"

"Well yeah of course I did, didn't I tell you that?"

"No you did, but… I have to ask since you were the one that did. Why am I about a head shorter than I was before and why do I physically feel younger? Like… about thirty years younger?"

"Oh, that wasn't me. That was her," she pointed at Yunyun, whose face had turned a beet red.

"W-well," she stammered out, trying to gain composure, "Y-you see… I just… I thought…"

"It's fine, you don't have to explain yourself. But I have to say this is certainly going to make some things awkward."

"Why's that?" Darkness asked.

"Well if we're going to talk about small things, I wanted to grow out a beard. Now I really can't," he stroked his chin. "As for major things, none of my gear is going to fit me now. I don't think I can even stand properly in this set of armor without tipping over and hitting the ground."

"I see… That is a problem. But I'm sure it's one that will be solved with time, just like any other problem that comes our way."

"Yeah I suppose you're right, but onto other things. So I know what Yunyun and Aqua wished for, but what about the rest of you?"

Megumin was the first to answer, "I wished for an infinite pool of mana!" She was proud in her answer, pointing her hand up towards the sky, "Now, I'll be able to fire off Explosion whenever I want, wherever I want and as powerful as I want!"

"I don't think you realize just how terrifying that is as an idea with how powerful it is now." He turned his head, "What about you Anatalia, what did you wish for?"

"I wished for peace in my country, for the war to end and for the sides to rejoin. As much as I love living here and being with all of you I do wish to bring my sister back to a peaceful Siberas at least one more time during my lifetime."

"That really is admirable, using your wish for the greater good," then something popped into his head. "By the way, did you specify how peace would occur and how the sides would rejoin?"

"No, why? I didn't think it was necessary at the time to specify, I just thought that the Gods would find the best way possible to do it."

Aurdel sighed, "No reason, I was just thinking about the possibility that we might have more on our plate in the future than we really expect. As for you…" He turned to Everest, finding her beak deep inside a large bucket eating something, "That's about what I expected." She raised her head with a fish still hanging out of her beak and squaked, then went back to eating.

"What about me Aurdel? Aren't you going to ask me what I wished for?" Darkness asked.

"Frankly? No. I'm practically afraid to even ask what you wished for."
"A-afraid?" she stammered, "Why would you be afraid of what I wished for?"

"Because you're a masochist who tends not to have a good sense of judgement. Really I don't feel like being disgusted or verbally violated by whatever insane manner of thing you decided to wish for."

"Your teasing is too much-"

"It's not teasing, it's the truth!"

"-But even I know the time and place for such things. I simply wished for the members of House Dustiness to be brought back to life. After all, it's a chance for me to reunite with my mother."

"Oh…" He felt a little ashamed of himself for pushing his idea of her so much, though he really couldn't blame himself for believing such things. Even though she said she knew 'the time and place for such things,' she really didn't. It was evidence enough that she considered him practically insulting her to be him just teasing her. "Besides that, can you guys help me take off this armor? As awkward as it is to ask that, it's a lot more awkward and uncomfortable to sit in this thing."

And so they helped him take off his armor, leaving him with only a baggy set of clothes that he had on top of the armor. He practically had to clutch it to his body just to make sure it didn't fall off with a sudden movement. If he was going to be honest, it was a little bit embarrassing. "So what now?" Megumin asked.

"Well, we'll…. We'll…" he lowered his head as he didn't provide an answer, "I, uh, don't really know what we're supposed to do now."

"You don't know what to do?" Darkness parroted.

"Well look, for almost all of my life there has been one war or another going on around me. And then for most of that life, I spent my time fighting in one of those wars. Even when I died for the first time on Reach I was flung into the war going on over here. If I'm going to be perfectly honest with all of you, peace time isn't exactly my forte." He felt a little ashamed in saying that, but there was really no other way to answer.

"I see…" Darkness trailed off, probably thinking of something. "Maybe we can celebrate our victory here? After all, it isn't every day that one defeats the ancient and cruel threat of the Demon King, a powerful and cruel foe willing to break women into submission and-"

"Jesus I got the point, you don't need to go any further. We can throw a party," he looked at Aqua, "But will we even have enough time? When do you have to go back to heaven?"

"I'm in no rush. Besides, there's one thing that I want to do before I leave here."

"And what's that?"

"I want to see you get completely drunk!" Huh…?

"It's settled then, we'll hold the celebration for the defeat of the Demon King in the capital!" Iris shouted, thrusting her sword into the air. There was a cheer of voices around them. Ah, well, it couldn't be so bad.

Yunyun had never seen such a large party before, the ones she'd been to were the ones she'd made and no one had bothered to show up to those besides her. But here there were so many people, each one of them having the time of their lives as they celebrated their great victory against the Demon King. "Chug chug chug chug!" Adventurers and Knights shouted, both Aurdel and Aqua were situated at a table near the head of the room where large barrels full of wine sat. Just like Aqua wanted him to do he was getting completely drunk, the two of them having a drinking contest. There were glasses and tankards scattered all over the table, some of them tipped over and some of them barely managed to sit up right. Either way it was really a sight to behold even if it was something Yunyun wasn't used to. At some point Aurdel gave up on using the cups and just picked up one of the barrels, drinking straight from it. Eventually there was a roar of cheers as he was eventually declared the winner, just barely beating out Aqua. But in the end it was clear that the both of them were completely drunk.

As out of the usual it all was, she couldn't be anything but happy. She spent most of the time at the party talking with Megumin and Iris since Darkness continuously refused to allow them to drink, with the only times they got any being the moments that Anatalia brought something over while she wasn't looking. But she did find that the three of them all had something in common, something only they knew. "Nature's Beauty!" Aqua let off one of her party tricks in celebration despite her loss. The day and the celebration went on without end, but eventually she was left alone at one of the tables sitting at the side of the room. Megumin had gone off to speak with her parents because of what Komekko had done and Iris went to catch up with her family, having spent so much time apart recently. She spent some time with her father, the chief, too, but it wasn't really how she wanted the day to go. She continued spending her time at the table, slightly less elated. Looking at all these people having fun made her feel like that there was something that she was missing.

It was at that moment that she realized what it was. The party shifted from an all out chaotic event to a slower but still happy one, most beginning to clear the main floor as others stepped out in pairs and began to dance. Music began to play as they danced around the room, each one locking arms with eyes with the other. She lowered her head, if only… "Yunyun, what are you doing sitting here all by yourself?" She looked up and saw a hand extended out towards her, "There's no reason to be off on the side like this, come on."

"R-really?!" Her face lit up.

"Of course really!" She grabbed his hand and he led the two of them onto the floor, where she noticed that there was an opening for them. It was like everyone else had been waiting for them to show up. She looked up and stared into his eyes, they were shining. It was almost like she was in a trance just in that moment. She'd only read of times like these in story books, it was completely unreal. They locked each other's arms as they danced around the floor, keeping in pace with each other, everyone around them and the music. "You know, I've only done something like this one other time in my life."

"R-really?" She stammered. It was almost unthinkable given the way that he moved, it was like he'd been practicing for a moment like this his whole life. But the look in his eyes said otherwise.

"Yeah, it was one night that I went out with Clementine. She said she'd always wanted to try dancing like this, and that since we were dressed for the occasion we might as well go. It was beautiful." She could tell what that sparkle in his eyes was, he was happy. He was really and truly happy. One might have thought that it was the alcohol getting to his mind but they would be wrong, this was different. There was a subtle warmth, one that you could only see if you got close and looked for yourself. "Yunyun, I know you've said it before but… do you really love me?"

"O-of course I do! Why wouldn't I? You're the only one that's ever treated me right, everyone else avoided me because I was different. But you welcomed me, made sure that I was happy."

"Well it's just that that makes me wonder, are you sure? I'm sure that people would treat you properly and with respect now because of all that you've done, you can-"

"No," she shook her head, "It may be true that they'll treat like they were supposed to, but they'll only do that because of what we accomplished. I don't want that, I don't want someone fake."

He let out a low hum and pressed his head against hers, her cheeks blushed red, "Then I suppose it can't be helped." Her heart felt like it was going to pound straight out of her chest right then and there, and if it wasn't for the fact that they were dancing then she would have frozen up right there too. So she followed every move that he made, not missing a beat. But she knew that he knew she was getting flustered."Come on, follow me," and as the dancing stopped for a moment he pulled her out, they ran towards one of the balconies.

"What are we doing?" She looked around, it didn't look like anyone else was nearby.

"You'll see," he said as he continued pulling her along. He pushed through the door to the balcony. The night sky was beautiful, there were more stars than she'd ever seen before. "I thought I'd set up a little something to celebrate our victory today."

"What are you…?" She looked out as she saw things shoot up from the ground and into the sky, before detonating into bright bursts of colors with designs.

"Fireworks, just like the ones that I fired off on the day that you joined the party and saved me. It's always good to make things go full circle," he brought her in for a hug

AN: Thank you to everyone who stuck around for the whole of the story, the reviews you gave and the interest you showed kept me going forward. It's entirely possible that I may make an afterward story as I do have ideas, but in the future I plan to further in depth with Aurdel's backstory.