"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 pass, 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 God, 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 passed.
"Hey, isn't it taking too long? He should by trying to fail, not pass," 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.
"He finished the test, right? What's taking so long?" I asked, my heart hammering. Crap, what have I done!?
"Oh, it's you Major. You should knock before entering a room. Shouldn't you have left school by now?" The teacher closest to me put a hand on my shoulder, trying to steer me out of the room, but I shook him off, approaching Aether instead.
"What did you get?" I asked, and his eyes widened before he turned away, clenching his fists tightly.
"Well, take a look."
I snatched the paper, taking it before either of the teachers could, and I grinned as I saw the score.
"Yeah, about the score," Aether started, and he looked at me, giving me a grin. "I completely bombed the test. I guess I'm not so smart after all."
I nodded, and I turned to the three very shocked teachers. "You see? There's no reason to keep him in fifth grade! Oh, and if you do, I'll uh, tell my mom!"
I put the paper in my pocket before grabbing Aether's hand. "C'mon, let's go!"
He nodded, and we rushed out, and as the four of us ran, we could hear the teachers shouting behind us.
"Run! We have to outrun them!" I yelled out, laughing, and we ran as fast as our small legs would take us, running out the school, running onto the sidewalk, running until we couldn't run anymore, as we collapsed onto a nearby snow pile.
"Did, hah, we lose, hah, them?" I asked, trying to catch my breath, and we looked at the way we came, but no one seemed to have followed us.
"Thank God!" I said, sinking further into the snow. We were at a nearby park not too far away from my house, the snow having covered most of the playground.
"That was crazy King!" Erebus exclaimed, sitting up. "We should do that again some time!"
"Um, are you sure that was alright?" Aether asked, sitting up as well.
"It should be fine. We have the test, and we all know the score, so the adults shouldn't be able to do anything," Eros said, siting up with the other three.
"Yep, it should be fine Aether! You won!" I sat up as well, pulling out the paper and looking at the score. "What a perfect score of 36%!"
"Whoa, you failed that bad?" Eros asked, and we all began to laugh, before suddenly a snowball hit Aether right in the face.
"Ow! That hurt!" He cried out, tears of pain starting to form, and we looked towards who did it.
"Oh look, it's the nerd brigade again!" It was the group of fifth graders from before, and the big one, probably the leader, was tossing a snowball in his hand. "Just our luck, we get to put them in their place!"
I got out of the snow pile and glared at them. "Hey, would you be what people call bullies!?"
"I wouldn't say I'm a bully! I'm just exercising my right to put those that are beneath me in place!"
I tilted my head, scowling. "What does exercise have to do with anything?"
"Oh, shut up! You don't even understand that, so what makes you think you're anyway near my level!?"
I clenched my fist, anger starting to boil over. "I may not understand everything you're saying, and you may be also older than me, but that doesn't give you the right to pick on my friend!"
Eros and Erebus also got up, standing next to me as they gave me huge grins. "Alright, we don't fight against people often, but let's get into formation guys!" They nodded, getting into their positions.
I said my line first, getting into my unique pose. "I am King, Master of the Mystic Arts, Leader of the Mystic Multitude!"
Erebus said his line next, posing as well, pulling his sword out from his coat. "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 Sexual Deviant, Charmer of Incubus'!"
I pointed at the three bullies, grinning. "We'll show you what happens when you mess with one of us!"
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"Wh-what the hell are these creeps!?" The big guy exclaimed, his body bruised, having two black eyes, and the majority of his clothes gone or in tatters.
"I-I don't know!" said one of his lackeys, looking even more battered as he was holding his limp arm, gritting his teeth.
"Let's just get out of here!" The last one said, some of his teeth knocked out as they all started to run away, the last one limping.
"And don't mess with our friend again, you hear me!?" I yelled out, waving my fist at them.
"They were more difficult then I thought," Erebus said, putting away his sword, his face bruised.
"Yeah, I thought we were gonna be in trouble there for a second," Eros said, his hair messy from having one them tear at it.
"Haha! Oh please. They were nothing compared to what we normally deal with!" I yelled out, raising my fist in the air before I felt myself getting dizzy. "Whoa, I guess it took a lot more out of me than I thought." I myself was holding my stomach, the pain not entirely gone yet.
"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 us in our group! We always accept cuties~!" Eros said, grinning at Aether, and we could see tears starting to form in his eyes.
"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 friendship.
This was how I spent my days back then, in carefree [Slothful] luxury.