The Depra King 13 Fall: Remembrance That Begets; Slothfulness...

I was about to eat lunch in the hallway when I looked up to see Necessitas, carrying her lunch with her as she was looking down. "Oh, well I was going to meet up with someone, but it seems that they couldn't make it, so I was just going to go where Hiro and the others were."

She nodded before sitting next to me. "Well, if you don't mind, would you like to stay and chat with me?"

You didn't really give me much of a choice there you know. "Yeah sure, it's not a problem."

She started to nibble at her food, which was a sandwich she bought from the cafeteria. She frowned as she glanced at my own lunch.

"Since when did you start bringing your own lunch?"

"Oh, that's a recent occurrence. Luna said that since I'm part of their family now, she has to make me lunch now. I couldn't exactly refuse her, so here I am." I looked down at my own lunch, which was a bowl of steaming tomato soup I warmed up in the cafeteria along with some grilled cheese. There was also a note there that said, "Hope you enjoy it!" inside, with a drawing of her giving me a smile.

"Lucky you then. Her cooking is amazing. I'm kind of jealous in all honesty…" Necessitas looked at her own meagre sandwich and water and frowned. "Nope, I really am jealous."

"Even jealous, my Dark Empress is still the most beautiful maiden in the land!"

The aforementioned Dark Empress nearly choked on her food, her face flas.h.i.+ng red. "Erebus, where the h.e.l.l did you come from!?" She whirled around, trying to find him, and looked confused when she couldn't. "Huh, where is he?"

I heard the window next to us open, and we both watched him jump through, carrying his lunch with him.

"You were looking for me?" He ran his hands through his jet-black hair and gave her a grin. "Of course, if you have need of me, I shall always appear to your side to help Dark Empress!"

"How did you get here? We're on the third floor," I asked, dipping my grilled cheese in the soup.

"I jumped King; how else would anyone get here?"

Before I could respond, I watched someone else come through the window, albeit not in the cool way Erebus came in. On the contrary, he struggled to come through, and wiggling his way through the gap, and fell flat on his face after he finally managed to get through, spilling his food everywhere.

"Ah, it's Aether," I said, and he shot up, brus.h.i.+ng the spilled food off him.

"I clearly meant to do that."

"Like h.e.l.l you did Aether!" Necessitas exclaimed before letting out a weary sigh. "Ugh, I'm surrounded by idiots Depra. Idiots! I just wanted to have a nice peaceful conversation with you."

"Love and Peace~!"

Huh? We all turned to see Eros walking towards us, an entourage of boys and girls following him. "Ah, my dear lambs, it seems I won't be able to eat with you all today." He winked at them, sparkles shooting off in every direction. "Please forgive me~!"

They squealed when they heard him speak. ��Ah, it's alright Eros! Have fun!" And then they left, laughing joyfully as they practically skipped away.

"I think that takes the cake for the entrance," I murmured, but I was about to proven wrong.

"Get away from me you ball of suns.h.i.+ne!"

"Hemera Tackle!"

I saw two bodies slide by my field of vision, and I blinked before turning to my right, where I saw Hemera, who had tackled Nyx and was pinning her down with her chest.

"Nibble."

"He-hey! Who the h.e.l.l said you could nibble on my ear!?" I could see what Hemera's true plan was though and grabbed one of her legs to pull her away.

"Eh!? Aw Depra, whadda yah doing!?" I managed to drag her away far enough so Nyx could get up.

"Please, it was obvious you wanted her food."

"Tee-hee, it was that obvious?" She hit her head with her fist, sticking her tongue out while winking at me.

"He-me-ra! How many times have I told you, don't steal my food!"

"But your food tastes better!"

I forgot how ridiculous this group of people can be when together.

"Hey Necessitas, did you plan this?" I asked, taking my seat next to her.

"As if I could plan something with these goofb.a.l.l.s. Nope, they just gravitated towards you it seems."

Towards me? I dipped another piece of my grilled cheese in my soup. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She readjusted her gla.s.ses, glancing at me. "Who can say. By the way, have you given thought to what I asked you a while back?"

"What question?" I asked, frowning as I took a swig of water.

She looked back at the goofb.a.l.l.s acting like idiots and pushed her hair back. "It was during summer break; we were cutting onions…"

Oh, that. I had forgotten about that conversation we had. "Why are you bringing it up now of all times?"

"Well, I just a.s.sumed 5 months is more than enough time for you to make a choice, you know?"

A choice? I could feel my head starting to throb as I tried to think about it, and a girl with messy brown hair popped in my head, telling me something.

"You're full of discord you know. Why is that?"

And suddenly she was gone, and I was left with the throbbing resounding in my head which had started to fade. d.a.m.n, what is that?

"Are you alright Depra?" I looked at Necessitas and noticed the others had stopped goofing off, worry in their eyes.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's weird, but I get these strange feelings sometimes whenever I'm around you guys," I said, dipping my grilled cheese in the soup. "It's been happening more frequently too, but I don't know what it's all about…"

(Slothful Coward.)

It was the first I had heard of the voice in nearly a month, and I could feel my heart hammering as the inevitable came.

"Well, so long as it's not one of your episodes, I think it should be fine," Necessitas said, and everyone nodded in agreement. "Personally, I'm just glad you're doing better. I just wish you would eat more."

"I eat two meals a day thank you very much!" I popped the rest of one of my sandwiches in my mouth, enjoying the taste of tomato soup, cheese, and bread.

Actually, that last part was a lie. I had stopped eating breakfast almost entirely, mostly due to the fact I can barely sleep at night due to the nightmares plaguing me every time I tried to sleep. I don't even remember the last time I had a good night's sleep. But other than that, I was pretty good, all things considering.

"Ooh, we should hang out later today guys! Depra, you're coming too!" Hemera said as they all sat down to eat their own lunches.

"I guess I can come…"

Nyx chuckled. "I mean, what else are you doing today? You normally go straight home right?"

Actually, since Pandora and I started to date, she had managed to drag me to a variety of places that I would never go under normal circ.u.mstances. Well, I wasn't about to tell them that though.

"Very funny. I bet you're the same way though fellow hater of nature."

"I can not deny it fellow denizen of the night."

"Then it's settled then? We'll all meet up at-!"

I suddenly couldn't hear the rest as another image popped in my head. A trail appeared before me, and the warm sun was beating down on us as we marched towards our destination

"We're going to the hideout; we're going to the hideout!"

(SLOTHFUUUUUUUL!!!!!)

I shot up, my breaths heavy as I was unable to catch my breath. I could feel gooseb.u.mps all over my body, and a cold chill caused me to shake.

Everyone was looking at me, alarmed. Ah, I gotta say something.

"I just realized, I have to go to the bathroom. Sorry if I startled you all," I said, trying to laugh it off.

"Jeez, don't scare us like that!" Hemera said, pouting. "All to go the bathroom."

Everyone started to laugh, and I smiled at the brief exchange as I made my way to the nearest bathroom, still unable to catch my breath.

c.r.a.p, what the h.e.l.l's going on? I could feel my head starting to throb again, and I stumbled into the bathroom, leaning onto one of the sinks as I turned the water on, splas.h.i.+ng it on my face.

"Calm down, nothing's wrong here," I murmured, and as if a reward for saying that, the pain got worse as the trail flashed in my head once again.

I don't even know where that is d.a.m.nit, so leave me alone!

I pounded on the sink, focusing on the sink as I stared at the flowing water, still unable to catch my breath.

go…

I could see another hazy image flash through my head, this time what looked like it could've been the entrance to the trail I saw before. And the funny thing was, I knew exactly where it was at.

(Slothful.)

I grit my teeth as I heard the voice again. "What the h.e.l.l do you want me to do? Go there?"

Of course, there was no answer. I sighed, shaking the water out from my hair. "d.a.m.nit all to h.e.l.l."

I exited the bathroom, and this time it felt like my body was trying to warn me of something as I walked down the stairs and out of the school.

It was cold out the sky a dark grey, and nearly all the trees had lost all signs of life. I was wearing a sweats.h.i.+rt along with sweatpants, but even with all that on I could still feel it. I just wanted to get this over with already.

I started to jog, taking the way I would go if I were going to my house. I'd rather not have the others worry too much, so time was of the essence.

After about 10 minutes, I had reached my house, but it wasn't over yet. I jogged past it and continued to jog, until about another 15 minutes had pa.s.sed, and I had reached my destination.

It was an empty park, the very same one that I went to all those years ago. I hadn't been back since then, and as much as I wanted that nostalgia to come back, I didn't have the time to do it. I was already going to be late for my next cla.s.s, and I would much rather not have my friends put out a search party for me.

I stopped as I reached the entrance of the trail, and I could feel my head throbbing as the dark grey trail was replaced with a lush green, filled with plants and greenery all around.

"C'mon, we have to make sure we don't get cooties!" I watched as three boys ran past me, one with jet-black hair, one with silver-grey hair, and the last with blondish-pink hair.

"They're gonna catch you King!" Yelled one of the boys in front, and another boy ran past me, this one with dark, greasy hair along with eyes that shone brightly.

"Was that…" I could only watch the four run off, and suddenly I felt myself running after them, and I could see four girls running alongside me.

"Major, wait for me!" It was a girl with the hair of summer and soft blue eyes calling out to the boy who ran past me last.

I followed them through the trail, my head starting to throb even more as the warning my body was trying to tell me only grew stronger, but even if I wanted to stop my body, I couldn't.

I watched boys suddenly take a right turn off the trail, and I followed them, my vision starting to grow hazy from seeing the desolate fall weather and the warm summer weather.

I continued onwards, dead thorns tugging at my clothes, as if nature itself was trying to stop me. The girls had run past me, and my head was throbbing so bad I was starting to wonder if my brain was trying to jackhammer its way out.

I was so close, and yet, this overwhelming feeling of uneasiness won't go away, as if I were about to make a horrible mistake.

(Slothfulness.)

A flash of white pain struck in my head, and I fell to my knees, my advance halted. "d.a.m.nit, not yet. What's so important here?"

No response as usual, and I got back up, walking as the flashes of white pain continued. And right when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I had reached my destination.

It was a large clearing, and the wind howled at me, causing me to hold myself tight. I watched as the images of the children faded, and all that was left in front of me was-!

(SLOTHFULLNESSSSSS!)

I collapsed, unable to breathe as my body rejected my brain and my brain rejected my body. I couldn't think, I couldn't move, it was nothing but pain as I laid there, convulsing and writhing as if a bug squirming underneath a magnifying gla.s.s.

And then as quickly as it had happened, it stopped, leaving a moment of clarity.

(It's time to wake up from this dream DEPRA!)

And then I blacked out, the sounds of their laughter echoing in my head…

[Some Time First Grade]

"You two have fun now!"

My twin and I waved our mom goodbye before walking into our elementary school.

"Wanna race to cla.s.s Minor?" I asked my twin, and he grinned.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!"

We weaved our tiny bodies through the adults walking around, some of them yelling at us to stop running in the halls.

I managed to touch the door first, right before Minor did. "Hey, I'm better than you!"

"Nuh-uh! You cheated!" He was pouting, angry at the fact he lost.

I frowned. "How did I cheat!?"

"That's enough out of you two boys now." We both looked up to see a teacher, a young woman, kneel to our levels to ruff up our hair. "Siblings shouldn't fight like that. Besides, it's time for you two to hurry on to cla.s.s."

"It's his fault for being a sore loser!" I said, getting the last word.

"You provoking him doesn't help either," the teacher retorted, and I could feel my face growing red. "Now that you two are even, say goodbye to one another."

How do they manage to shut me up like that? I thought to myself as I waved my twin goodbye and walked into my cla.s.sroom. "Adults really are smart."

After learning some math (or arithmetic. Big words are fun), it was time for lunch. I grabbed my plate of chicken nuggets and fries along with chocolate mile and sat next to my best friend Lachesis.

"Hey Major!" She said, giving me a wide grin. "Wanna play together at recess?"

I nodded eagerly, stuffing my face with food. "Mmhm! Shonds G.o.de!"

She wrinkled her nose. "Gross!"

I laughed, gulping down chocolate milk. "You're no fun Lachy! Try it, it's fun!"

She frowned, looking down at her own plate. "But, I don't wanna ruin it…"

I stuck two fries into my teeth, pretending I was a monster. "Look, it's cool right!?"

Her eyes lit up. "Whoa, let me try!" She put her own two fries in her mouth, looking like a vampire.

"You two should eat and not play with your food," a warm yet stern voice said behind us, and we both turned around, baring our teeth at the teacher.

She smiled before messing up our hair. "My two little vampires, eat, or you'll be hungry later alright?"

"Yes ma'am!" we said, and we continued to eat, while goofing off at the same time.

After lunchtime was recess, where we built a sandcastle together before we went back inside to learn some more, and then we walked back home with our parents.

My twin and I walked with our mom in the middle, holding each of her respective hands.

"Did you two have fun?" She asked, swinging her arms.

"Yep, I did! I built a sandcastle at recess with Lachy; the biggest one we've made so far!" I exclaimed, my small arms struggling to keep up with her arms.

"I played tag with my friends, and I wasn't It at all for the entire game!" my twin said, also struggling.

"Well, what wonderful accomplishments! Oh, am I swinging my arms too far?"

"Yeah, shame on mommy for not noticing!" Minor said.

"Yeah, shame on her!" I agreed, and we both looked up towards her as she rolled her eyes.

"Sorry. My bad munchkins, I'll try to remember the height difference next time."

We both nodded at her words, and she just shook her head, chuckling. "How did I get such cheeky sons at such a young age?"

"Cheeky?" I asked, and she giggled as I said it.

"Yep, it's used to describe troublemakers such as you two," she said, poking us in the ribs.

"Hey, that tickles!" we said as we started to laugh.

After our walk home, Minor and I played together until dinner time, where the entire family ate together in the dining room. Daddy would say grace, and then Minor and I dug in, eating the delicious food our parents cooked for us until we were stuffed. Afterwards we took a shower together before watching some cartoons until Mommy told us to go to bed.

"Do we have to go to bed?" I asked, putting toothpaste on my toothbrush.

"Little boys who don't sleep don't grow. Do you wanna stay small forever?"

I shook my head. "No way! I'm gonna grow taller than Mommy!"

My twin nodded, agreeing with me. "Yeah, I have to be taller than Major!"

"No, I'm going to taller than you!"

"No, I am!"

My mother just shook her head, a relaxed smile on her face. "Oh, hush already. Hurry up and brush your teeth so you can go to bed."

We did as we were told, and after brus.h.i.+ng our teeth and using the bathroom, we crawled into our beds, and our mom gave us each a kiss and a hug before walking to the door.

"Goodnight you two."

"Night mommy!" We said in unison, and she gave us a smile before leaving the door open just a crack, so we wouldn't be left in complete darkness.

I waited a minute before speaking. "What did you do today?"

I could hear my twin sit up in the dark as I did the same, and we began to talk to one another about our day. We had started this by happenchance, since we weren't in each other's cla.s.ses, but it had now become a nightly occurrence.

We talked for about an hour before the door swung open, and our mom peering into the room, her pajamas on.

"I hope there aren't any young boys still up," she said, and that was our que for us to finally drift to sleep.

And that was an average day for me, a life filled with relative peace and quiet.

One day during recess, I noticed one of my cla.s.smates doing something strange by themselves, as if they were fighting something invisible.

"Hey, what're you doing!?" I asked, walking towards him. He had one eye covered by his shoulder length jet-black hair, and he frowned as he stopped, glancing at me.

"I'm practicing."

"Practicing what?"

"Fighting demons," he said as he picked up a nearby stick, holding it in two hands.

"Whoa, so cool!" I exclaimed, and I rushed towards him, grabbing his shoulders. "I don't know what demons are exactly, but it sounds like fun! I wanna join in too!"

He looked me up and down and scowled. "Too weak, you would die instantly."

"Nuh-uh! I'm plenty strong! I can knock down a sandcastle in one kick!"

He shook me off his shoulders, taking a couple steps back. "You need to be stronger than that to take demons on."

I pouted, starting to get a little mad. "Oh yeah? How strong do you have to be?"

"This strong." He took the stick he was holding and slammed it on the ground, causing a small crack to appear.

"Whoa, that's amazing!" I exclaimed, and the boy looked pleased with himself.

"So, you see, you're just not strong enough." And suddenly the stick was gone, and the boy looked alarmed. "Huh!? What happened to my weapon!?"

"Heheh. I can do plenty of cool stuff too, so you gotta let me help you!" I exclaimed, pointing at the boy.

"Did you do that?" I nodded eagerly, grinning at him. "Hmm, maybe you can help me…"

"Great!" I said, grabbing his hand. "Now let's have some fun!"

"Fun?"

"Of course, we have to have fun while doing this! Ooh, what powers do we get, what do we call ourselves, stuff that like that!"

He frowned. "Is that really needed?"

"Of course it is! We have to look cool after all," I said, nodding to myself.

He looked down, worry starting to fill his face. "I don't know anything about that stuff though…"

"Eh, you don't? Oh, that is a problem," I said, and we both stood there awkwardly until I came up with a brilliant idea.

"I got it! I'll teach you all about cool stuff, so that way you don't have to be so serious! Then, we can practice fighting these demons together!"

"Y-you'll do that for me?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Yep, now we're friends now!"

"My first friend…" he murmured, looking down before his red eye looked into mine. "Oh, what's your name?"

I told him my name before continuing. "Oh, but everyone calls me Major, since I was born bigger than my twin."

"Okay, my name is Erebus!" he grinned at me, and then we heard the bell to go inside.

"Oh, we'll have to talk later, okay Erebus? Let's get back to cla.s.s!"

And the next day during free time we began our work on cool stuff.

"Who's this?" Lachy asked me during lunch, looking at Erebus curiously.

"Oh, he's a new friend I made! He practices how to fight demons at recess! Isn't that cool?"

"Eh!?" She exclaimed, using her s.h.i.+rt to cover her mouth. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Hmm, I don't really know?" I turned towards my new friend. "Is it dangerous?"

"It is."

"So cool! That makes what we're doing all the more cooler Lachy!" I said, and she shrunk down into her seat.

"I don't like it," Lachy said as she poked at her food, and a teacher behind us noticed.

"You shouldn't be picky Lachesis. You have to eat to grow big and strong."

"Oh, but I don't like vegetables," Lachy complained, but she tried to eat them anyway.

"Oh, so what should we do now? What should our, um, I think it's called eh-pee-tets, be?"

I pulled out a notebook fittingly called "The Coolest Notebook," and opened it to our various ideas we had written in our earlier free period.

"What's an eh-pee-tet King?" Erebus asked, and Lachy scowled at hearing that.

"King? Who's that?"

"It's a nickname I decided to call him. It's way cooler than Major."

"Yep, King is way cooler than Major!" I declared, writing it down in my notebook. "Oh, I got it! I know a cool nickname for you Erebus!"

"Hey, let me look," Lachy said, trying to peer into my notebook.

"Hey, no girls allowed! You wouldn't understand anyway, so go do girly stuff or something."

"You're mean Major!" Lachy declared, and she refused to speak to me for the rest of the day until I apologized.

I turned back to Erebus, barely able to contain my excitement. "Your nickname should be Slayer!"

His eye widened as he heard me say his ultrcool nickname. "Whoa, Slayer… What does it mean?"

I had just recently learned the word, so the definition was still in my head. "It means you're very good at beating stuff up!"

He nodded to himself, a smile rising on his face. "Yeah, I like that! Erebus, Slayer of Demons! Oh, that is pretty cool!"

"Isn't it? That can be your eh-pee-tet!" I declared, starting to write it in my journal.

"Oooh, can we make it longer?" Erebus asked, really starting to get into it now.

"We can make it as long as possible, as long as it sounds cool!" I grinned at him, and our training in the art of "cool" had commenced.

The days pa.s.sed on, and we continued training in our imaginary fights against the demons, coming up with awesome move names and cool combos until our "Coolest Notebook" was filled up with our awesome moves.

Afterschool I would tell my mom all about our adventures about slaying demons, and at first she looked worried, telling me to stay away from any demons I could potentially see, but after telling her enough times, she seemed to be alright with it now. Oh, and I told my twin Minor about it as well during out nightly talks together.

One day during recess, we were in a safe area, taking a break from fighting demons before Erebus looked at me and bowed his head.

"Thank you King."

I was confused. "Huh? What did I do?"

"You helped me have fun with my training. If it was up to my mentors, they would've rather had me locked up until I was ready to fight…" He looked back up, his red eye wavering as tears welled up.

I was having a hard time understanding what he was trying to say, but… "You're saying thanks for making training fun?"

He nodded vigorously, tears coming down his face. "And for teaching me how to be cool."

"Oh, it's no biggie. It's what friends are for after all! And if you need help fighting demons, I'll always help you out Slayer, no problem!"

He sniffed, the tears still coming. "You mean it?"

"I mean it! Let's make it a pinkie promise!" I held out my pinkie, and he looked at it, confused.

"What are you meant to do?"

"You don't even know that!? Man, these mentors must be mean!" I said, frowning at the thought of not even knowing what a pinkie promise is. "It's simple, hold out your pinkie."

"Like this?" he asked, and he held out his pinkie. "Now what."

"Now you do this," I curled my pinkie around his, and he proceeded to do the same. "And then, you say the phrase."

He nodded, and he repeated after me as I said the phrase. "Cross my heart, hope to die, swallow a thousand needles if I lie!" We finished by connecting our thumbs at the top, sealing the promise.

"There, it's done," I declared, and we released our interlocked pinkies. "You can never break a pinkie promise no matter what, so I'll always be there no matter what!"

Tears started to flow as Slayer started to cry again, and I could feel the tears starting to well up in my eyes as we hugged each other tight.

I hope I helped a little bit in the end…

[Some time Second Grade]

"Today cla.s.s we have a new student! Introduce yourself if you don't mind," The teacher said, smiling at the student next to her.

She gently pushed the student forward, revealing it was a boy with blondish-pink hair styled in a weird way, and he stiffened as he spoke.

"I-I'm E-Eros! Ple-pleased to meet you all!"

"He's a little shy, so treat him nicely, okay? Let's see, ah yes, you can sit next to Major and Erebus at the back." She pointed Eros to us two in back, who weren't paying any attention, pouring over "Coolest Notebook: The Second."

"Hmm, it's becoming hard to come up with combo moves, with just the two of us," I muttered, and Erebus nodded.

"We need someone else to join us, but who?"

"And what might you two boys be doing?" The teacher had walked behind us, and she crossed her arms as she looked down at our notebook.

I was the first to respond. "Um, homework! We were doing homework!"

She grabbed the notebook from us despite our complaints and gave it a cursory glance. "This doesn't look like homework to me. And as punishment for not paying attention and lying, you can show Eros around the school, no recess for the both of you today, and I'll be confiscating this for the time being," she said, closing the notebook.

"No fair! We worked hard on that!" Erebus complained, glaring at the now confiscated notebook.

"Yeah, it's not like you were doing anything important!" I said, and she looked at me, a smile on her lips but not on her face.

"I see, so you want more punishment?"

That shut the both of us up, and after lunch, we showed Eros around the school building.

"What should we do Slayer? Without the notebook, we can't come up with any more combo moves!" I said, walking next to Erebus.

"Hmm, maybe we can take when she's not looking?"

"Um…"

"But if we get caught, she'll give us detention!"

"I can use Shadow Step to sneak past the teacher, so we need someone to distract her," Erebus said, and I groaned.

"Oh, I'm bad at distracting things! You remember the last time we tried that!"

"Um!"

We both stopped as we heard the voice, and we turned to see Eros calling out to us.

"Oh, what is it?" I asked, curious.

"I-I can g-get it b-back," he stuttered out, and Erebus and I looked at each other before turning back to him.

"Okay, how?" Erebus asked, a skeptical look on his face.

He looked around before motioning us to come closer, and when we did, he continued. "L-look o-over there," he said, and he pointed towards where two teachers, a male and female, were eating lunch together inside an empty cla.s.sroom.

Suddenly, the two teachers became very odd, and they both looked at one another before the man walked towards the door and glanced outside. Seeing no one there, he locked the door and closed the blinds so we couldn't see anything anymore.

"Huh?" I asked as we turned back to Eros. "What just happened?"

"I made them do that," he said quietly, looking down at the floor.

"Whoa, that's amazing!" I exclaimed. "So, you can make people do whatever you want?"

"Um, not exactly…" He said as we continued to walk, and as we pa.s.sed by the cla.s.sroom, I could hear a weird noise coming from within. "Whenever I use it, stuff like that happens."

I glanced over at the cla.s.sroom and shrugged. "Adults are weird. But, if you can use that on the teacher, we can get our notebook back! Isn't this great Slayer!?"

Eros immediately shook his head. "Oh no, I-I'm not allowed to use it on people. My parents told me I shouldn't because it causes problems…"

"Oh, it should be fine! You already did it just now, right? So long as you do as we say, it should be fine!"

Erebus nodded. "Yep, and if you do a good job, you can become a part of our team! We fight demons!"

I nodded, starting to get excited. "Oh yeah! I can do this!" A poster vanished near Eros, and he looked amazed.

"Whoa…"

"And Erebus is super strong! He's been teaching me how to fight, and we've come up with a whole buncha new combos together!"

His eyes started to light up as we continued to talk all about our cool moves and nicknames we came up together, and we eventually reached our cla.s.sroom, where our teacher was eating lunch alone today.

"Okay, you know the plan, right Eros?" I said, and he nodded nervously.

"I'll try my best!" he said, and he walked up to the teacher.

"Do you think he'll be able to do it King?" Erebus asked from behind me.

"His powers cool, so of course it'll be fine! Oh look, it's working!"

We watched as Eros talked, and the teacher started to swirl her hair, anxiously looking between the clock and Eros, before she shot up, excusing herself from his presence. She walked by without even noticing us, and from what I could see, her face was flushed red as she was breathing hard, and we watched her walk towards the cla.s.sroom where the two teachers were locked into.

"Whoa, it worked even better than I thought," I said.

"I didn't even need to use my Shadow Step," Erebus agreed, and we walked in, where Eros was waiting for us.

"Is this it?" He asked, holding a notebook.

"It sure is! Aw man, this is amazing! Why would your parents want you to hide that!?" I exclaimed.

He tapped his index fingers together, his caramel eyes looking downcast. "W-well, th-they say they'll 'punish' me if I use it…"

"Punish? Like grounded?" I asked, frowning, and Eros shook his head.

"N-no. Not like that…" He trailed off, looking away from us.

"Hmm, I guess it's a problem if they punish you every time you use it," I said, trying to come up with a solution. "Oh, why don't you use it on your parents!?"

"Eh!?" Eros exclaimed, his eyes darting back towards my own. "I-I could never do that!"

"Oh, just use it whenever they're about to punish you! That way you can use it here at school whenever you want!" Yep, that was my genius plan with no flaw!

"Oh, that could work King! It seems to incapacitate adults, so it'll work perfectly," Erebus exclaimed.

"What's in-cap-is-tate? I never heard of that word before."

"Oh, it's in-cpac-i-tate! It means someone can't fight back anymore!" Erebus explained cheerfully.

"Incapacitate… Oh, we can incorporate that in a new combo!"

"Such a cool word will make an epic combo King!"

"U-um, are you sure it'll work?" Eros asked, part of his bottom lip in his mouth, cutting us off in the middle of us "cooling" out.

"It should, I think. If it doesn't, Erebus and I will help you out, no problem," I said. "We're friends now after all!"

"Friends…" Eros murmured, and he looked between the two of us before nodding. "Right, you two are my friends!" And for the first time since we saw him, he gave off a warm smile, sending sparkles flying.

"Whoa, since when can you do that!?" Erebus and I exclaimed, and Eros started to laugh, sending off more sparkles.

"Did you get a new friend Major?"

We were eating at lunch the following day, and Lachesis was sitting next to me, while Eros and Erebus were sitting across from us.

I nodded, stuffing my face with spaghetti. "Hep! Phis yame is Gross!"

"He said is name is Eros," Erebus explained, and I gulped down my food.

"Yeah, that!"

"U-um, pleased to meet you," Eros said to Lachesis.

"Oh, you're him! The boy with the cool hair! How did you do that?" Lachesis asked, looking at his strangely styled blondish-pink hair.

"Oh, I did this myself…" Eros said, leaning slightly back from Lachesis.

"Hey, why are you leaning away?" Lachesis asked.

"Don't you know? Girls have cooties!" Eros explained, and I tilted my head in confusion.

"Cooties…?" I asked. "What is that?"

"It's something dangerous! All girls have it, and if a guy gets it, they'll have to hang out with girls!"

"Eh!?" Lachesis looked down at herself in shock. "I have cooties?"

"Get away from her!" I yelled, and us guys scooted away from her, all the while Lachesis was inspecting her body.

"Have I always had them? Oh, I don't want them!" Lachesis pouted as she watched us scoot our chairs to the end of the table.

"Anyway, now that we made sure we can't get cooties, let's think of an eh-pee-tet for Eros," I said, going to the newly dedicated pages for Eros.

"Oh, I got one," Erebus said excitedly. "I read in one of my mentors' books about a demon that charms people! It's called an Incubus!"

"Whoa, so I have demon powers!?" Eros said, sparkles starting to fly off from him again.

"Oh, we can call him Eros, Charmer of Incubus'!" I declared, writing it down. "His charms are so strong, they affect the ultimate charmers!" I looked back up at Eros. "Is that okay?"

More sparkles flew off him as his caramel eyes grew big with excitement. "That's so cool," he whispered to himself.

"Yep, King is the master of cool," Erebus said proudly. "You should tell him your eh-pee-tet King!"

"Oh yeah, I should!" I said before clearing my throat. "I am King, Master of the Mystic Arts!"

"And I'm Erebus, Slayer of Demons, Ruler of all those in the Dark!"

We finished our introductions, and Eros started to clap. "Whoa, I can't wait to start!"

And during recess, we began our training with our new friend Eros, which made things a lot easier for us in the long run. Eros would charm the demon, I would use my Mystic Arts to disarm the enemy, and Erebus would slay the enemy.

A couple days after training together, Eros ran up to Erebus and me, tears streaming down his face.

"Huh? What happened to you? Did someone try beating you up?" Erebus asked, and Eros shook his head, his normally styled hair now down.

"No, that's not that. My parents found out about how I was using my charms," he said, and I frowned.

"Aw man, so the plan didn't work then!?" I said, messing up my hair. "Oh man, how badly did you get in trouble!?"

"Oh no, it worked!"

"Huh!? Then why are you crying!?" I exclaimed. "Are you not happy?"

He shook his head. "I am happy, so happy…" He started to cry even more after saying that, and I looked at Erebus, who also looked as if he was about to cry.

"Hey, if you start crying too Slayer, I'm gonna start…" I trailed off as I sniffled, trying to stop the tears before they came. "It's okay, I'm just glad it worked!"

We gave each other a group hug, and Eros' crying became even louder. Eventually a teacher found us sobbing our eyes off and took us to the bathroom so we could calm down.

After that, Eros was always smiling while with the two of us, and the sparkles that flew off him were constant.

[Some Time Third Grade]

I was on my back to cla.s.s after using the bathroom when I accidentally b.u.mped into a boy around my age who had short silver-grey hair.

"Oh, sorry about that!" I said, and the boy looked at me, his lip quivering.

"No, I'm sorry."

"Is something wrong? I don't think I've ever seen you before," I asked, looking him up and down. "Aren't you in my grade?"

"No, I'm in the 5th grade. I'm 9 like you though."

"You skipped grades!?" I had never met someone who had done that before. "Are you super smart then!?"

He shook his head. "I don't wanna be smart! I wanna be with kids my age!"

"Oh, I see. What're you gonna do about it?"

"If only I knew…" He trailed off. "Anyway, what's your name?"

I introduced myself before continuing. "Oh, but everybody except for Erebus call me Major, since I was born bigger than my twin!"

"Erebus…?"

"Oh, he's a friend of mine, along with Eros! They're pretty fun to hang out with. Oh, I got it!" I exclaimed, a brilliant idea popping into my head. "Can you meet me in front of the school, oh, I didn't actually get your name!"

"Oh, I'm Aether," the boy said. "What do you plan on doing?"

"We'll meet up and then come up with a plan to help you!"

He blinked and frowned. "You'll help me? But why?"

It was my turn to frown and tilt my head. "Isn't it natural to want to help people?"

He didn't have a response to that, and I looked at a nearby clock and nearly jumped up in fear. "Oh no, I've been gone too long! I can't talk anymore, but remember, meet us at the front of the school!" I ran and waved him goodbye as I said these words before rus.h.i.+ng back to cla.s.s.

"Where have you been Major? You didn't happen to fall in did you?" The teacher teased, and I could hear giggling throughout the cla.s.sroom as my face went red.

"It was a big one okay!?" I yelled out, which only increased the fervor of laughter, and I plopped back into my seat, where Erebus and Eros where snickering.

"We told you not to take too long King," Erebus said. "Did you get attacked by demons on the way?"

I shook my head. "No, that wasn't it. I found another problem we have to solve guys!"

"As usual, Major is trying to think of solving another problem," Eros said, a warm smile on his face as sparkles darted around him.

"There's this guy named Aether who needed some help, so I decided to try and see if we could come up with any ideas!"

"Now you're talking instead of paying attention to cla.s.s?" The teacher warned, and I stiffened at her words.

"Sorry ma'am!" I yelled out before whispering my final words to my friends. "Anyway, let's meet up in front of the school after the day is over."

They nodded, and we spent the rest of the day behaving as good students until the final bell rang, and we rushed outside, putting on our coats while running down the stairs and finally reaching the front of the building, which was blanketed in a white fluffy substance.

"Oh, we got here first," I said as I zipped up my coat. "Well, he should be here soon, so it shouldn't be too long."

We waited a couple minutes and watched as students trailed out, and then Lachy appeared from the crowd and saw me and gave me a wave.

"Hey Major, I didn't know you were already out here!" She ran up to me, giving off a big grin. "Why are you waiting out in the cold?"

���We're gonna help someone. And go away, you have cooties, remember?"

She scrunched up her face in anger. "I do not have cooties! I asked a teacher, and they said cooties don't exist!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"What are you fighting about?"

We both turned to Aether, who had finally arrived.

"Hey, you made it! Oh, you're smart right!? Do cooties exist!?"

Aether scowled. "No, I don't believe so. Why?"

"Hah, told you so!" Lachesis said smugly, crossing her arms in triumph.

"Oh whatever, it doesn't matter!" I yelled out, and a pa.s.sing teacher noticed us arguing.

"You two again? How many times must you fight?" The teacher knelt down and sighed. "You remember how to make up with one another, right?"

Silence as both of us nodded. "Good, now say you're sorry and hug it out. Major can go first."

"But-!" I stopped myself after looking at the teacher's gaze and decided to apologize without any trouble. "Sorry Lachy for believing cooties were real and ignoring you…"

"I'm sorry for yelling at you…" she said, and we hugged each other tight.

The teacher sighed as he stood up, shaking his head. "You have it easy Major."

Huh? What did he mean by that?

"Oh, I'm so glad I get hug Major again! It's been almost a year! I don't wanna let go!" Lachesis declared, hugging me even tighter.

"H-hey! Let go already! This is weird!" I yelled out, trying to pry her off me. It was only when Erebus and Eros helped that I was finally free, and Lachesis nodded, smiling to herself.

"And now we're even, for now."

"Whadda you mean for now!?" I yelled out, and she started to laugh. I really don't understand girls at all.

"Now, you kids don't stay out too long, alright," the teacher said, looking at all of us.

"Yes sir!" We all responded, and he waved us goodbye before walking back to his car.

"I'm going to go home too," Lachesis declared. "I need to tell mommy how we managed to make up, so I'll see you tomorrow you guys."

"Bye Lachy," I said, and she ran off by herself, back towards her house.

"Oh right, Aether!" I exclaimed, turning to back to him. "You had a problem, right? Do you mind telling us what it is?"

He nodded, and the three of us looked at him in earnest. "Well, you see, when I first came here, I had to take a test to see what grade I would be in. I somehow managed to end up two grades higher than my age group. I've been stuck like this for the past two years, and all I really wanna do is be with kids my own age for once…" He trailed off and started to kick at the snow.

"So, we need to hold you back somehow? Isn't that hard though? The only way I know is for you to fail your grade…" I said, frowning at his predicament.

"Why'd you take a test to decide what grade you're in?" Erebus asked. "I've never heard of that before."

"Oh, that was because I was homeschooled before, and they didn't know where exactly to place me," Aether explained.

"I see, this is quite a problem. But, we've plenty of tough demons already, what's a problem like this!?" I yelled out, pumping myself. "We can do it; I just know it!"

In the end, we couldn't come up with anything, and we were forced to reconvene until the next day.

At home I ate dinner, the only notable exception was that there was one less person at the dinner table, and then I took a shower before my brother, the days of us bathing together over.

And as usual, I had my nightly talk with him.

"Hey, do you know anything about getting held back?" I asked him, and I could see him shoot up, alarmed.

"Bro, why do wanna get held back?"

"Oh, not me, a friend I made in the 5th grade wants to get held back to our grade. He's the same age as us, but I don't see a way unless he fails the grade twice, which is too long…"

"Oh, you're talking about Aether?"

It was my turn to shoot up. "Huh, you know him?"

"No, but I've heard that he's really smart, so smart that they wanna bring him to the sixth grade."

Oh, that isn't good. "What do I do Minor?"

"If he's that smart and hasn't figured it out, no way you will Major."

I could feel myself getting angry. "Oh, just wait! I'll have come up with the most genius plan possible when it's morning!"

We heard the door swing open, and we both quickly got back into bed, our nightly talk over.

And come morning, an idea came to me, just like I predicted.

I quickly entered the school, a huge grin on my face as I rushed to my cla.s.sroom, and I saw Erebus and Eros sitting in their seats, glum looks on their faces. Even Eros' sparkles weren't darting around anymore, instead constantly falling to the ground.

"Oh, hey King. Did you think of something?"

"It looks like he did Eru~."

Erebus looked over at Eros. "What did you just call me?"

"Guys, I came up with a genius idea this morning!" I said, slamming my hands on the table.

They both quieted down at my words, and I pulled up a seat before taking my coat off.

"So, he had to take a test to decide what grade he was in, right?" I started, and they both nodded. "So, let's have him take it again!"

"Okay, but how?" Eros asked, resting his chin on his hands.

"We need reasonable doubt!" I said, and they both looked at me confused.

"What's that?" Erebus asked, scratching his head.

"It was on the news this morning, and I asked my mommy to explain it for me. She said it's when people aren't sure of something within reason. So, if we make the teachers have enough reasonable doubt he should be in a lower grade-"

"Then we can have him fail the test!" Eros exclaimed.

I nodded, both of them finally understanding what I mean. "So, all we need is to get that reasonable doubt!"

"Alright, this is great!" Erebus said. "I have an idea on how we can get this reasonable doubt. Let's find Aether before cla.s.s starts!"

We ran out the cla.s.sroom and headed to where the big kids where, meaning the fifth and sixth graders. Most of them ignored us, but a couple took note as we were pa.s.sing them by, a confused expression on their faces.

"Oh, he's in here!" Eros exclaimed, and we stopped to see Aether sitting by himself, his hair covered in snow.

"Aether, we found you!" I yelled out, and he turned towards us so fast it was almost scary. "We figured out a way to bring you to our grade!"

"Di-did you really!? You're not messing with me?" He asked as he brushed the snow off his hair.

"Nope, it's thanks to our genius plan!" I said, and he nodded.

"Okay, what is it?"

"Well its, actually, why did we come here Erebus?" I asked him, but he had already disappeared into the cla.s.sroom somewhere. "Oh, well he said we needed to come here for something, but I'll tell you the parts I know."

As I was explaining our plan, a couple of fifth graders in the corner took notice of us and started to snicker.

"Look at the nerd brigade here."

"Does he think he can actually escape us?"

Aether noticed and started to tremble at their words.

"Hmm, what's wrong Aether?" I asked, and I turned to the three boys in the corner. "Do you wanna talk to us or something?"

The big one in the middle snickered. "Like we need to talk to people like you."

"But why are you talking to us then?" I asked, confused on what they were trying to do.

"Sh-shut up twerp!" He said, getting up and walking out of cla.s.s with the rest of his friends.

"What was that all about?" Eros said, frowning at the boys who left. Aether however looked stunned at the both of us.

"Whoa, how did you do that!?" He asked us both.

"Do what?" I asked back, but before he could respond, Erebus was back.

"I'm finished now, so we can head back now."

"I don't even know what you did!" I yelled out. "Where even were you!?"

"Oh, I was changing his recent scores on his tests and quizzes," Erebus said casually.

"Willing to break the rules Eru~? How kind of you!"

"Why are calling me that nickname!?"

"It's cute isn't? You don't like it?"

"Of course not, yah Incubus!" I started to laugh at their exchange, and Aether looked bewildered, his eyes darting between the three of us.

"You guys are amazing…" He said, his sky-blue eyes widening, and then the bell rang.

"Aw c.r.a.p, we're going to be late! We'll talk later okay Aether?" he nodded, and the three of us rushed back to our cla.s.sroom, barely making it on time.

"Well, it took a while, but the anointed day is finally here!"

It had been a couple weeks since we put our plan into action, and with the help of Erebus changing Aether's test scores and a little bit of charming the teachers from Eros, we had managed to get enough reasonable doubt so he could retake the test.

Aether was standing in front of us, and he clenched his pencil as he bit his lip slightly.

"Now remember Aether, all you have to do is a get a score good enough to join us in the third grade, okay?" I said to, patting him on the back. "You're super smart, so you should be able to do this no problem!"

"And if need be, I'll use my Shadow Step to change your answers," Erebus exclaimed, and he nodded at the three of us.

"Thank you. I just have to barely pa.s.s, right." He nodded to himself. "Okay, here goes!"

He walked into the room, where three teachers were sitting at a table, waiting for him to arrive.

"So, now what?" Eros asked as we started to walk away. "What are we meant to do now?"

"I guess we wait," I said, taking a seat on one of the steps. "Oh G.o.d, I hope it works out fine!"

Erebus and Eros repeated what I said before taking a seat next to me, and there we waited, the clock ticking away until almost two hours had pa.s.sed.

"Hey, isn't it taking too long? He should by trying to fail, not pa.s.s," I said, and we looked at each other before getting up.

"Let's take a peek," Erebus suggested, and we peeked through the window, trying to see what was going on.

"Why are they speaking to him? Isn't it supposed to be quiet during an exam?" Eros asked.

"What are they saying, can you hear them?" I whispered, and suddenly the door cracked open a bit, and we both turned to Erebus, who had opened it.

He held his finger to his lips, and we nodded before gathering around the crack.

"Now we know you can do better than this Aether. You're our school's top student. We don't need you fraternizing with those lower than you."

"What does fraternizing mean," Eros whispered, and Eros shushed him before we continued to listen.

"You should listen to the adults in this situation," Another teacher said, and through the crack we could see him get up and place a hand on Aether's shoulder, causing him to tense up.

"I, I took the test, and that's the score I got. Please, can I leave already?"

"Something's bad happening, right?" Erebus said, and I pushed the door open, much to everybody's surprise, including my own.

"What're you doing here kid?" The third teacher got up, confusion on his face as he noticed us three.

"Um, we heard everything!" I proclaimed. "He took the test, right? You should accept the score instead of bullying him!"

I grabbed Aether's hand and started to pull him away from the room. "C'mon, we're leaving Aether!"

I didn't fully understand what was going on, but I had a feeling that is was best to leave right now instead of later. I ignored the teachers protest and continued to walk away, until we were outside the school. Only then did I let go of Aether's hand, Eros and Erebus close behind.

"Whoa, that's our King for yah!" Erebus said excitedly. "Even in that situation, you still did whatever you wanted!"

"Aw thanks, it was no biggie," I said, scratching the back of my head. "But we should get farther before the teachers come back. To the park!"

I led the way to the park, or at least I was, if I suddenly wasn't stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"Huh, who did that?" I turned around to see Aether grabbing my shoulder, trembling slightly.

"Th-thank you…" He said, looking at the ground.

I gave him a grin. "It's no problem! Now come on, let's get outta here before the adults come find us!"

We walked to the park in relative silence, Aether clinging to my shoulder the entire time until we reached it.

"Well, I think that went well," I said, collapsing on a snow pile. The others followed suit, and we finally relaxed.

"Do you think the plan worked," Aether murmured, which caused me to sit up.

"Of course it did, and if it didn't, we'll think of another plan!" I said confidently. "I can't wait until your in our cla.s.s Aether, we could use someone smart to come up with some more strategies." I pulled out my "Coolest Notebook: The Third," and opened it up to the strategies page. "See, we only have one so far. Oh, we can also come up with cool moves and stuff for you as well!"

"I'm getting excited just thinking about it!" Erebus said, kicking his feet up in the air haphazardly.

"Oh, can you do anything cool Aether?" Eros asked. "I can charm people, Major can use the Mystic Arts, and Eru~ is just strong."

Before he could answer however, a group of fifth graders pa.s.sed by who took notice of us, and made there way towards us, snickering.

"Look, it's the nerd brigade. We knew you were a loser Aether, but to think you would stoop this low!" The big one in the middle laughed, and threw a s...o...b..ll square in Aether's face, which caused him to reel back.

"Ouch!" He was holding his face, and I could see tears of pain coming down his face. "That hurt!"

I glared at the three fifth graders. "Hey, what was that for!?"

"Duh, because we can. He's a loser, so of course we can pick on him."

I could feel myself getting angry as I clenched my hands into fists, and Eros and Erebus got up, getting angry as well.

"You must be what people call bullies!" I exclaimed.

"It's not a crime to bully people beneath us is it?" The big one glanced at his friends, and they nodded their heads, grinning. "See, it's because I'm simply better than this loser that I can do whatever I want to him."

"Hey King, can we do it?" Erebus asked, looking at me for confirmation.

I grinned. "We don't do this against people, but for you, we'll make an exception!"

I hopped out of the snow pile, Eros and Erebus following suit.

I said my line first, getting into my unique pose. "I am King, Master of the Mystic Arts, Leader of the Mystic Mult.i.tude!"

Erebus said his line next, posing as well. "I am Erebus of the Blazing Red and the Billowing Black, Slayer of Demons, Ruler of all those in the Dark!"

Eros was last, getting into his line ready as he posed. "I am Eros, Love Master and s.e.xual Deviant, Charmer of Incubus'!"

"And together we make the Primordial Bunch!" We yelled together.

I pointed at the leader. "These losers are gonna "slay" you until we win!"

"Wh-what the h.e.l.l are these guys!?" The big one exclaimed, his clothes in tatters, small wounds covering his body.

"I-I don't know, but I'm not staying here any longer!"

"Monsters, all them! I'm never messing with them again!"

I watched all of them run away, screaming in terror. "Haha, this was nothing at all!" I turned to my battered friends and nearly collapsed. "Whoa, I guess they were tougher than I thought."

"Why did you guys…" We turned to Aether, who had watched the entire thing unfold.

I looked at my friends and grinned before giving him a thumbs up. "Duh, because we're friends after all!"

"Yep, and friends stick together!" Erebus said.

"You're welcome to join the Primordial Bunch if you want," Eros said, and Aether started to tear up at his words.

"Th-thank you! I owe you so much! Thank you! I'll never forget it!" He cried out, and he began to sob, his warm tears falling unto the white snow as he came in for a group hug.

"Hey, don't cry! Oh, if you cry too, I'll start crying!" I said, but it was already too late as I started cry alongside him.

Soon we were all crying with one another, not tears of sadness nor of happiness, but tears of friends.h.i.+p.

This was how I spent my days back then, in a carefree [Slothful] luxury.