Fall: ...Slothfulness That Begets; Inevitability... PT. 1/5

[Some Time Fourth Grade]

"Hey Eros, what's that on your back?"

We were having a swimming lesson during P.E., and Eros had just taken off his towel as we all prepared to jump into the cold water.

"Oh these? They're scars," he said, glancing at his back.

"What!? That's so cool!" I said, pumping my fists.

He frowned. "You really think so?" I nodded, and he let out a breath of relief. "Well, if you think so, I'll be proud of them Major~."

I was about to ask him how he got them before the teacher blew her whistle. "Alright, everyone who knows how to swim, jump into the water!"

"Yes ma'am!" We all yelled out, and the majority of the class jumped into the water, all except for three people.

Erebus turned to me; his brow furrowed in confusion. "King, aren't you getting in?"

"Oh, I can't swim," I said sheepishly, looking to the side while I scratched the back of my head.

"It's okay Major, I can't swim either," Aether said, giving me a reassuring nod.

"Well, looks like it's just me and you dear Eru~!"

"Stop with the nickname! It's creepy!" Erebus said, shoving Eros away, and I started to laugh as the teacher made her way over to us.

"So, you two can't swim then?" She asked us, and we shook our heads. "Alrighty, you three are just gonna have to sit out for now while I handle the others, alright?"

Three? I turned towards the third person, a girl with golden hair wrapped in a bun sitting near the fence, who nodded at her words.

"And from you two boys, I don't want any trouble, you hear me?" The teacher scolded, and we replied with a "Yes ma'am," before she hopped into the pool to help the others.

I glanced back at the girl, who was staring out the fence into the woods. "Hey Aether, who is that girl? Is she new?"

Aether turned towards the girl and pounded his hand with his fist. "I've got it."

"You really know?"

"Nope, haven't a clue."

"Then why would you say that!?" I exclaimed, and he shrugged, nodding to himself.

"I can't expect to know every girl who likes me," he scoffed.

Ever since the incident last year, he had grown cockier by the day. Maybe it was because he skipped a couple grades or something? I didn't really mind, since I knew he was super smart.

"I'm gonna talk to her," I said, and Aether grabbed my shoulder, shaking his hand.

"Don't you know? Girls have cooties."

"Weren't you the one who told me they didn't exist?"

He paused before the realization dawned on his face. "Oh yeah, I did."

I shook him off me, laughing. "Okay, wish me luck Aether."

"Please, you don't need luck Major. You have skill," he responded giving me a thumbs up as I walked towards the girl.

"Hey, you're in the no swim squad too?" I asked, and she glanced at me before turning away. Upon closer look it seemed that her swimsuit was well worn, it starting to fray at the edges.

"It's not nice to ignore someone like that," I said, taking my seat next to her. "Are you shy, is that it?"

"What do you want?" She asked, sending a chill over my body with her harsh tone.

What's up with this girl? "I've never seen you before. Are you a transfer student?"

She hesitated before shaking her head, a strand of hair falling from her bun. "No, I've been in this school all my life."

"But how come I never see you in class?"

She went quiet, and I got the feeling she wasn't about to answer me. "O-okay, never mind then…"

Well this is awkward, I thought, looking at the girl who was now drawing her finger across the concrete floor.

I decided to try again. "So um, what's your name?" Her finger stopped at my words, but she didn't answer me. "Okay, I'll introduce myself first then."

I cleared my throat and told her my name before continuing. "Oh, but everybody calls me Major except for Erebus, who calls me King."

Her yellow eyes looked at my feet, and this time she did respond. "Why does he call you that?"

I grinned. "It's my eh-pee-tet!" I shot up to my feet as I formally introduced myself. "For I am a legend among all Mystic Art users, Keeper of Weapons, King, Master of the Mystic Arts, Leader of the Mystic Multitude!" I finished it off with a pose, grinning triumphantly.

"You pronounced it wrong."

"…Huh?" That wasn't the reaction I was expecting. "I've practiced it a million times, there's no way I pronounced anything wrong!"

She looked to the side, frowning. "It's epithet, not whatever you were saying."

"Oh, so that's it!" I said, relaxing my body. "Man, I thought I screwed up- wait a second, I was pronouncing that word wrong this entire time!?"

I started to ruffle up my hair, my face going red from embarrassment. "Oh, this sucks, and I thought I was cool too! Agh, I feel like an idiot!"

I heard laughing, and I stopped my shame fest to see the girl laughing at my reaction. "You're funny," she said, and her yellow eyes finally reached my own as she stood up.

"I'm Hemera. Nice to meet you Major!" She said, giving me a grin so radiant that I thought I was about to be blinded.

"Ah, why are you glowing so brightly!?" I said, squinting to see her. "It's weird!"

She stopped smiling at my words, the radiance gone as she reverted to her meek self. "Oh, sorry about that. I didn't mean it, I swear!"

I chuckled. "No, it's cool, so you should do it more often! Oh, can you do it on command, or is it on permanently like Eros' sparkles!? Can you do other neat things too, or is can you only-!"

I got cut off by the teacher chopping my head lightly. "Can't you see you're overwhelming her Major?"

I looked at Hemera, who was swaying back and forth in a daze. "Oh, sorry! I got too excited!"

The teacher sighed. "Anyway, time to teach you three the basics, so follow me!"

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It was the end of the day now, and as I was walking to the front of the school, I saw a girl with golden-yellow hair that nearly reached the floor wearing rather old clothes.

"Oh, is that you Hemera?" I asked, tapping her on the shoulder. She nearly jumped out her clothes, her hair whirling around to hit my face as she turned to me. "Ouch, that hurts!"

She blinked when she saw me and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's just you. Sorry about that."

"Nah, it's fine. What're you up too?" I asked, readjusting my backpack.

"Oh, I was about to head home…" She said, gazing downward, tapping the tip of her shoe onto the floor.

"Aw man, I wanted to introduce you to the others so we could talk about your abilities and stuff!" I complained, frowning. "Well, if you have to go, you have to go…"

As I started to walk away, I felt someone grab my hand, and I turned back to see Hemera's face close to mine.

"Um, I can't make it today, but, but…" She trailed off, looking down at the floor.

A realization dawned onto me, and I gave her a wide grin. "So, tomorrow then?"

Her face lit up at my words as she started to glow again. "Yes, tomorrow for sure!" She gave me a sunny smile, and I was almost blinded again.

"Whoa, so bright! How do you do that!?"

She laughed and started to back away. "Tomorrow, okay?"

I gave her a thumbs up. "Tomorrow it is!"

We waved each other goodbye, and I made my way out the school, practically skipping my way to our group's meeting place.

As I was heading over there, I saw a girl with dark skin and short hair even darker blocking the sidewalk, her arms crossed as she stared at me triumphantly.

"I've been waiting for you!" She declared, pointing at me with a wild grin on her face.

I stopped, frowning. "Um, who are you?"

"So mean!" She declared, clutching her heart as her charcoal grey eyes winced in imaginary pain. "After making me wait for so long, how dare you say that!"

"But I really don't know who you are though…"

She quickly recovered before clearing her throat. "Well, allow me to introduce myself! I am Nyx, pleased to meet you Major!" She offered her hand, and I glanced at it before looking back into her eyes.

"How do you know my name?"

"Of course I know your name!" She exclaimed, grabbing my hand as she rushed to me. "Your group is famous after all!"

"Oh, we're not that famous, hehe," I said, feeling my ears going warm. "But why do you care about us?"

"I wanna join! I already have an epithet ready and everything!" She leaned in closer, her eyes sparkling with joy.

"Hmm, I dunno…" I said, taking a step back from the girl who proclaimed herself as Nyx. She seems a bit too overenthusiastic for me… Oh, I got it!

"Hey, can you come tomorrow instead?" I asked her, and she shook the hand that she was still clinging onto.

"Of course! After school?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll lead you to our base, so just wait out in front."

She finally let go of my hand, saluting me while flashing her white teeth in a grin. "Roger that! I'll see you tomorrow then Major!"

She ran off into the distance, waving me goodbye, and I felt my shoulders relax. Why are girls so hard to deal with?

After my strange encounter, I managed to reach our meeting place, which was the park the four of us ran too last year with Aether, without too much trouble, where my three friends, Erebus, Eros, and Aether, were all waiting for me.

"What took you so long King? You're never late," Erebus said, his red eye gleaming with curiosity. "You didn't take out a couple demons without telling us, did you?"

"Of course not! I would never do something like that!" I said, shaking my head before continuing. "No, I ran into a strange girl on the way. She said her name was Nyx I believe."

"Oh, her? Yes, she does try very hard, doesn't she?" Eros said, sparkles darting around him.

"You know her Eros?"

"Yes, she's in our grade. Actually, she might be in our class too."

Seriously? "Well, after talking to her, I got an idea!"

Aether's raised one of his eyebrows, stroking his chin. "Oh, what is it?"

"Well, I think we need more people, right?" Everyone nodded, and Erebus scowled at my words.

"Alas, you are correct. It is getting difficult to handle higher level demons with the four of us."

"Right? So, I think we should go and recruit people! I already have two people ready, so all we need is a test!"

They all gave me a grin at my idea, and I already knew their answer just from that alone. "Alright, it's settled! All we need to do now is set up this test. Aether, can you come up with the test since you're super smart?"

"Of course, that's child's play for someone like me," he said haughtily.

"Awesome! After you come up with it, we'll handle the rest, alright?"

We ended up working on our tests until my mom came to pick me up, and by that point, they were all but finished.

"Bye guys! I'll buy you some time, so make sure you finish up tomorrow, okay?"

"Of course~! Bye Major!" My three friends waved me goodbye, and I walked back home hand in hand with my mom as I told her about my day. After we got home, we went through our normal routine, and I finished it off with my nightly talks with my twin, which had gotten extended by an extra thirty minutes.

The next day afterschool, I met up with my two candidates at the front of the school, my three friends having snuck out the side exit so Hemera and Nyx wouldn't notice.

"So, why are you here Lachy?" I asked, scowling.

She readjusted her backpack and gave me a grin. "Well, we don't get to hang out as much as we used too, so I thought I could infiltrate your group!"

I scratched my head, frowning. I guess it had been a while, since I spend so much more time with Erebus, Eros, and Aether. "I guess you can join, but what can you even do?"

"Fufu," Lachesis said, laughing haughtily. "And the next thing you'll say is, whatever, wait, how did you guess that!?"

"Whatever, wait, how did you guess that!?" I exclaimed, feeling slightly taken aback.

"Hmm, well, I can do that since I know you so well," she said, giving me another smile.

"Oh, so it was an accident then," I said.

"Of course it wasn't!!"

"Um, when exactly are we going to leave?" Lachesis and I turned to Hemera, who seemed to be wearing the same old clothes as yesterday.

Ah right, I almost forgot. "Thanks for reminding me Hemera!" I cleared my throat and straightened my back before continuing. "Well, I've gathered the three of you so you may undergo some Trials!"

"Oh! What sort of trials are they?" Nyx exclaimed, her charcoal-grey eyes sparkling with joy.

"There will be three trials for you to complete! Trial of the Past, Trial of the Present, and Trial of the Future!" I declared, and all three of them scowled at my words, all of them scowling for different reasons.

"Trial of the Past, huh?" Hemera murmured, and I noticed she gripped her arm tightly why looking downwards.

"H-hey, what do you mean by Trial of the Present? Do we have to give you a gift?" Nyx asked, laughing to herself, but her eyes were wavering, between what I didn't know.

Only Lachesis stayed quiet, her scowl forming into a frown as she nodded to herself, as if renewing some sort of resolve.

"Uh, did I say something wrong? Where'd all the excitement go?"

Hemera shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Are you going to tell us what these trials are?"

"Well, I really don't know?" I half-said, half-asked as I brought my finger to my chin, looking upwards.

"But weren't you the one that thought of them?" Nyx asked, scratching her short hair.

"Oh, no, that was someone else," I said. "But that doesn't matter! If everyone is ready, follow me!" The three girls nodded, and I led the way to the park, where my three companions were waiting for me.

"King, we have finished the preparations! Are these three the ones who will bear the burden of taking out demons with us, forever plagued by the darkness!?"

I grinned, pounding my fist into my hand. "Great, now then my friend Aether here will explain the first Trial!"

I walked to Aether and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you got this!"

"Of course I do, I'm Aether." I chuckled and took his place while he walked to the three girls waiting.

"Oh, hi Aether! Did you come up with the trials?" Lachesis asked, and he nodded.

"Yep. I'm in charge of the Trial of the Past, so listen." He cleared his throat, and the girls stood at attention as he begun to speak.

"I forgot."

"An unexpected development!?" Nyx exclaimed, and us three guys sighed. I forgot; he chokes at the important moments.

"Alright girls, I'll explain it~!" Eros said, bringing Aether to the back. "Forgive Tae~Tae, he doesn't know any better~."

"Tae~Tae? The heck is that?" Aether asked, scowling as Eros replaced him.

"Anyway, allow me to explain fully~!" Eros purred, sending off sparkles with a wink of one of his caramel eyes.