My lesson, like the previous one, started as soon as school was out. We met out in one of the school courtyards, where a couple people were still hanging around.
"Well then King, let us be off on our grand quest! For you see, you shall be helping me slay one of the Demonic Commanders of hell, Beelzebub, on this most righteous day!" He posed, using his left hand to cover his right eye while pointing to the sky with his free hand. "With the power I've kept sealed within my right eye along with your own abilities, we shall triumph over any foe, no matter who gets in our way!" He pointed at me with his free hand, giving me a grin.
"And that's a promise!"
Eh? I looked around, and I could see people trying their hardest not laugh, and I sighed. Maybe this was a bad idea. "So, what should we start off with?"
He nodded at me and started to move. "Follow me and you'll see exactly what which we need to do! Shadow Step!" Pretending to do a move, he ran off into the school building, and I was left simply stunned.
I guess I gotta follow him, don't I? I sighed before running after him into the building.
"First choice! You run into a couple demons, and they quickly take notice of you! If you don't do something in the next five seconds, you'll die! What do you do!?"
I quickly stopped in hallway, trying to locate Erebus' location. "Hey, what is this?"
I suddenly got pushed behind and fell to the ground. "Oh, looks like you weren't quick enough, and you have now died!"
I groaned and turned around to see Erebus offering a hand. "This is your training King! You need to make snappy decisions in the midst of battle, and as you get quicker, you'll be able to translate these skills into everyday life!"
I grabbed his hand and got back to my feet. "Can't say I was expecting that. What can I even do in battle anyway? It's not like I have any fighting ability."
"Just assume you can get rid of them somehow, don't sweat the small stuff." He nodded as his blood moon colored left eye gleamed with excitement. "Now, try again! Using your imagination might help a bit."
I nodded and turned back around. I guess if I think of it as infiltrating a palace, it shouldn't be so bad.
"Alright, you run down the hallway and are struck at crossroads, where do you go?"
I ran down the hallway, envisioning palace walls around me as I tried to reach my objective. "Left," I said quickly, and I turned left, where…!
"You find two demons chatting amongst themselves! It looks as if they haven't noticed you yet, so what will you do King?"
"Let me see what they're talking about to get any information, then I'll take them both out."
"Okay, after listening to the demons, you find out that there's a map on the second floor of the castle, and you quickly take them out before continuing up the stairs."
I ran up the steps two at a time before reaching the second floor, where on a billboard was a…!
"It's a map," I said incredulously. There was legitimately a map here. It looked handmade, so it was probably made by Erebus, although how he knew I would come up here was an entirely different story. Nonetheless, I grabbed it and read what it had to show me.
"Okay, so it looks as if there isn't a way to reach Beelzebub from here, since he's on the roof, but it looks as if you need a key to get there anyway. So, what do you do?"
I sigh. Damnit, he's not making this easy, is he? I looked back down on the map and frowned. There was a room marked down, although it didn't say exactly for what.
"I'll go to this marked room to see what's there, I guess." I put the incomplete map in my pocket and sighed. Alright, here we go.
I navigated my way through the passageways, defeating demons in whatever way I was beating them, since Erebus wouldn't tell me. Although, it was rather strange. I could hear his voice behind me, but I couldn't see where he was. Ah well, it's whatever.
Anyway, I followed the map to the room that was marked, and sure enough, it was indeed marked by multiple red x's all around the door. Again, how he managed to prepare all this beforehand is beyond me.
"It seems you've reached the marked room King. What do you wanna do?"
"Can I take a peek inside?"
"You can do whatever you want, it's not like you're limited by anything."
Oh yeah, I guess he's right about that. I opened the door a sliver to find…!
"It seems there's someone locked up in here. You're able to free them, but you don't see any sign of affiliation, so they could be an enemy. Quick, before a patrol spots you, choose!"
"Agh, um, I'll free 'em I guess," I said hastily, not too sure about my decision but sticking with it nonetheless. I swung the door open and inside there was…!
"Oh, what are you two hanging out for?"
Suddenly my immersion was gone, and I stared, blinking as the rays of positivity started to assault me.
Hemera grinned and ran up to hug me. "Oh, it's been a while since I've seen you!" She let go and looked me up and down. "You seem to be worse, but better at the same time!"
"…how does that make any sense?" I grumbled, and she shrugged.
"I dunno, it just does!"
Erebus appeared next to me, frowning. "It seems the prisoner was none other than the Bringer of the Sun, She Who Brings Warmth After The Long Night, Hemera, The Daytime Beauty!"
She started to twirl her golden yellow locks, giggling to herself. "Aw, I'm really nothing special. Thanks anyway though!" She winked at Erebus, and he scowled.
"Cute that you may be, the only love for me is my wonderful Dark Empress, Necessitas, my lover in a previous life!" He shouted these words loudly, so loudly in fact that I wouldn't be surprised if his Dark Empress heard them.
He cleared his throat before turning to me. "In any case King, it seems that we are at an impasse. Unless our Lady of Warmth and Optimism knows where the key is being held, it seems we are stuck."
I scowled. "Are you serious? Damnit, I was hoping to clear it all in one run too."
"Um, I don't know what exactly you two are up too, but if it's a key you need, I know where to find one!" Hemera offered, waving her hand in the air excitedly.
"Oh, do you really!? Where is it located!?" Erebus exclaimed, grabbing onto Hemera's shoulders. "Please, tell us!"
"Hey, calm down buddy. We'll have to go outside the school for it though, if that's alright with you two."
"King, it's up to you. Decide now!"
Huh!? "You can't just, you know what, never mind." I let out a sigh. "Let's leave then to grab this key I guess."
Erebus had an almost maniacal grin on his face, his bloodred red eye gleaming with excitement. "Never guess King, always know."
I simply nodded at his words. "Okay Hemera, lead the way."
She gave me a thumbs up. "No problem! Just follow me!" We followed her through the school, going down the stairs into the school parking lot.
"It'll take a while to walk there, so I'm just gonna drive us all there," she explained, skipping on the worn pavement, twirling her keys around her finger. She turned around to see the both of us and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll drive you two home too!"
We reached her goliath of a pickup truck, and she happily hopped into the driver's seat. I sat in the back, while Erebus sat shotgun.
"What is our final destination going to lead us too? A fight with demons? A pack of werewolves? Vampires? Maybe even casted out gods!?"
"Nope, we're going to the arcade!"
"I see, the arca-, wait, what?" Oh wow, she managed to shock him out of his persona.
She laughed at her achievement as she started up her vehicle. "Yep, the crane game no less! There's a key there, surprisingly enough, along with other things that could be useful, you know!" She put the truck into drive and started to drive to the arcade.
"I-I see, the arcade huh? Yes, that could work!" I couldn't see his face, but he was probably hella worried right now.
I wonder if we're going to the same place Caelus took us to during sophomore year. "Are we going to Battle Arena?"
Hemera glanced in the rearview to look at me. "Oh, you know about that place? I've been there back in grade school, but no, that's not the place. It's a lot less testosterone where we're going."
"There's a place called Battle Arena!? Why have I not gone there before? It's probably a hotspot for potential people I could work with!" Erebus turned around and grabbed my hand, shaking it vigorously. "Thank you for telling me about such a place! You'll have to take me there sometime!"
"Yeah, sure, after my lesson is over, I guess," I said, looking into his eye, filled with an almost childlike excitement, like when a kid can't sleep before a field trip.
He nodded at me, releasing my hand. "Remember, never guess King! Always know!"
"What happens if I don't know?"
"Then use that confidence you learned from The Man Who Controls The Heavens, Aether, to, as normies say, fake it till you make it!"
Hemera started to laugh again. "Ah, it's always a blast with you Erebus!"
I relaxed back into my seat, looking out the window. "Fake it till you make it huh? Never thought about it like that," I murmured, watching our surroundings turn from suburbia to urban life.
"So, what sort of magnificent place is this arcade you're taking us too? Is it filled with powerful allies, who are used to fighting against the forbidden darkness that pervades this city!?"
"You'll see when yah get there, so stop nagging me."
"Or is it a place where the fell gods who roam this city come to congregate, casted out from their home high in the sky after they broke the Ultimate Taboo!?"
Seriously? Where does he come up with this stuff? "I'd rather not deal with fell gods today Erebus. We're already dealing with demons after all."
"But King, don't you know? That you're-!"
"We're here!" Hemera yelled out cheerfully, drowning out the last of Erebus' words. "See for yourself boys!"
Erebus quickly went outside (he didn't buckle his seatbelt during the ride) and ran to the front of the destination. Hemera watched as he ran before looking back at me. "So, you're coming in, right?"
Nope, is what I would normally say, but I couldn't help but be curious. I pray this isn't like the last time with The End of Days restaurant. "Yeah, I'm coming."
I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out the truck, sighing. I stretched upwards before focusing my eyes to the sight in front of me.
"Welcome to Pixie Palace!" Hemera exclaimed, patting me on the back.
It was almost like an explosion of pink. It was a moderate sized building, being two stories tall, with the exterior covered in varying shades of pink. Sitting on the roof was a twirling pink disco ball, shining its rays all around the parking lot. Sitting on top of the disco ball was a large statue of a pixie, lounging on top, with a pink crown atop her head. However, the strangest part was its lack of surroundings. The buildings nearby all looked pretty dilapidated, to the point where I was wondering if we were near the old City. The parking lot too was mostly empty as well, and the sky above had seemingly all signs of clouds in the sky, the only thing visible was the sky turning from it's normal blue to a brilliant orange.
Honestly, what else did I expect from Hemera?
I walked up next to Erebus, who was gazing at the pixie atop the disco ball. I couldn't see his face, but I noticed his fists ball up before relaxing.
"Hey Daytime Beauty, you sure our key is in this place?"
"Of course it is! You're not scared, are you?" Hemera said, poking him slightly.
"So long as I have the power of my Crimson Eye, nothing shall stand in my way! And with my two compatriots, any low chance of defeat has been turned to zilch! Come, let us be on our way!" He waved us forward, his cloak fluttering in the wind as he went to his destination.
"Hey Hemera?"
"Hmm? What's up Depra?"
"Where'd Erebus get the cloak from?"
"Eh, I don't really know, but he sure looked cool, didn't he!?"
And with that final exchange, we walked into the Pixie Palace, where inside there was…!
"Glitter," I said before spitting out the very thing I had just spoken about.
Glitter was raining down on us, making the entire scene feel a bit more magical. Lined everywhere were a variety of machines, the majority of them arcade games, and many people, mostly girls, were playing against one another. And while it may be strange of me to say, but I could've sworn I could see clouds of glitter about the size of my palm sparkling brightly, either hanging around the customers or whizzing around really fast. Oh, and the inside was pink as well. Hell, it even had pink lighting, as if they really wanted to commit to this pink theme of theirs.
Erebus once again seemed dismayed, but quickly recovered, turning around to face us, crossing his arms.
"So, where can we obtain this key of ours? Is it a prize we must gain, beating all worthy challengers in a fight to death, using our refined techniques and hand skills in order to beat them?"
"Nope!" Hemera said, cheerfully shutting Erebus down
"Of course, that has to be, wait, huh?" I was starting to feel bad for my teacher.
"Nope, what we're looking for is upstairs! C'mon, up the stairs we go!"
Erebus nodded, unclear what else to do. I guess Hemera has her own way of keeping people in line. Who knew optimism and happiness could be so scary?
We followed Hemera to the second floor, where inside was…!
"Oh no," Erebus moaned, completely out of character at this point, and looking at the scene in front of us, I couldn't blame him.
The second floor was entirely filled with crane machines and their many variations, with their being a giant one at the back, near where we would've come in downstairs. Hemera happily skipped along, leading us to, of course, the big one in the back.
She looked up at the big one, peering into the glass, trying to find what she was looking for. Erebus just stared at the behemoth of the crane game and let out a rare sigh.
"I hate these games with a passion," he said simply, and I couldn't agree more. Most were rigged, and this one was probably no exception.
"Aha!" She clapped her hands together, pointing up at the top. "See there? That's the key I was talking about!" I looked up at the top and could barely see it, it was so high up.
I looked down at how much it cost and almost yelled out in shock. "10 dollars to fucking play this game!? Are you fucking for real!?"
"Yeah, it is pretty expensive, isn't?" Hemera said, giggling to herself. Oi, how can she be so calm about this?
Erebus nodded, finally regaining his composure. "I see, so that's what must be done!" He flipped his cloak, sending it fluttering in imaginary wind. "The cost to play this rigged game is cheap, but this is a perfect lesson for the likes of King! Therefore, he'll pay."
"Hold up, who the hell died and made you leader!?" I yelled out, not about to put in a ridiculous amount of money to get an item I wouldn't even care about.
"With my crimson eye leading the way, of course I would be the designated leader! In any case, your next lesson will require precision and skill, as well as making the right decisions! Decide wrong, and you'll be sent circling the drain!"
Hemera, nodded, grinning at me and giving me a thumbs up. "Basically, don't screw up playing!"
These little sons of-! I stopped my thought, calming myself down. I mean, I guess I do have a lot of money huh?
(And whose fault is that?)
"Shut up," I growled, and both of my companions looked at me, confused.
"Something the matter King?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
I sighed, rolling my eyes at the misunderstanding. "I'm fine for now, let's just get this over with."
(Do you really think you can escape from this?)
Shut up already!
(Just because you've got some spunk now, you think you're ready, is that it? Do I need to remind you why you're in this situation the first place?)
I know…
(So you know it's all…)
I could feel myself falling once again into the cold, dark abyss, the voice yelling at me once more.
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