"Alright class, get into your groups! It's a free day today, so you can do whatever you wish-!"
"Yeah!" I yelled out, high fiving the members of my group.
"You can do whatever you want, withing reason! You hear me Major?" The class started to snicker, and I felt my ears grow red.
"Yes sir," I mumbled, and the teacher clapped his hands.
"Now, go have fun! We'll be doing something special tonight, so remember to be back before 5 o'clock, okay?"
"Yes sir!" We all yelled out, and we slowly started to scatter away into our groups, exploring the surrounding woods.
I turned to my group, which was Eros, Erebus, and Aether, and nodded at them. "Right, you all know the plan, right?"
"Yep, of course Major~! But are you sure it'll work?"
"Of course, it will. We shouldn't get into any trouble so long as it works out, I think."
I turned to Erebus, who was staring at the girl's group. Besides the usual three, there was the extra person they gained when they were making their group, a girl with messy brown hair that seemed to frizzle out into an afro, with round glasses with different colored brown eyes. I think her name was Necessary, or something like that.
"What's wrong Erebus? Having second thoughts?"
He shook his head, frowning. "No, it is nothing King. I am prepared to see this plan to it's awesome conclusion!" He turned to me; his red eye gleaming as he gave me a thumbs up.
"Okay, let's get everything ready while the girls distract Nyx, alright?"
There was only one thing we really needed, and we were going to use this free time to go and find it.
"So King, how will we know when we find it?" Erebus asked, the four of us now exploring the woods.
"Hmm, it needs to be big, with preferably nothing around. Something like that. You'll know when you see it."
We continued onward, jumping across streams and hopping over large roots, the warm light filtering through the green leaves of the treetops, and the four of us started to sing a merry tune while we ventured around the woods, trying to find the most crucial part of our plan. Until…
"Whoa, look at this!" I exclaimed, rushing forward, running to the place I had been searching for.
It was a large grove, filled with yellow flowers shaped like trumpets, the sun shining its rays directly on them, the treetops seemingly avoiding the grove of flowers. Yes, this was the place I was looking for.
"Yes, this is the place! Now we have everything we need for the plan guys!" I yelled out, turning around while spreading my arms out wide. "Tonight, we'll meet here!"
"So, this is the place you were looking for?" Aether said, walking into the grove of flowers. "I see, this could work."
"Right!? Now the really hard part comes tonight though…" I said, nodding to myself. "Everyone remember their roles?"
"Of course~! I'm to charm the teachers so they don't get suspicious," Eros purred, walking up to me as I put my arms down.
"I'll use my Shadow Step to make sure they don't follow us King."
"I supervise," Aether said, nodding to himself.
"Yep, after that, it's up to the rest of us to make sure the final part of our plan works out!"
"You're leaving this up to chance~?" Eros asked, his caramel eyes looking into my own.
I shook my head. "Nope, I have faith in my comrades! We'll be able to do, I just know it!"
Erebus patted me on the shoulder, giving me a thumbs up. "Then, we'll leave it up to you and the girls King. The real question is how do we get back to camp from here?"
We all froze except for Aether, who pointed at a nearby trail. "If we take that, it should lead us back to camp."
We all breathed a sigh of relief. "Man, I'm glad you're here Aether. I thought we were totally lost for second!" I started to laugh.
He shrugged, a small smile on his face. "It's nothing. Someone like me should be able to do something like that. I am the best."
Erebus gave him a wicked grin, flashing his teeth. "Of course, I expect nothing less from our tactician!"
We bantered along back on the trail, the sun still relatively high in the air. Soon, we reached back to camp, where the teacher breathed an audibly sigh of relief, checking us off on a piece of paper. Erebus once more looked at the girl with the messy hair frizzling out in a wild afro and wide-rimmed glasses, his red eye glaring at her.
"Hey, you've been staring at that girl for quite some time Eru~," Eros said, looking at the girl, who was talking to Lachy and the others. "Do you like her?"
"She feels so familiar, with this warmth within me, what could this feeling be inside?" Erebus voiced out, looking down at his chest. "It seems I have to reflect on this later."
I looked back at the girl and shrugged. Eh, whatever, it's not like she's important to the plan or anything.
The day passed with relative bliss afterwards, and for dinner we had curry before the teachers announced what the special event they were going to host for us was.
"Gather around now, for we're doing a test of courage!" There were murmurs all around, and I grinned to myself as I looked at the guys.
"This is it guys, our chance," I whispered, and the others nodded.
"Once the sun sets, you'll go down on this trail," the teacher continued, pointing to the entrance of the trail we had came out of earlier, "in groups of four to reach the goal, which is to ring a bell, and then to make your way back here. Simple right? But they'll be scary things within the forest trying to stop you, so be careful, else a ghost might take you to the underworld!"
One of the female teachers elbowed my teacher, the one speaking, and he cleared his throat before continuing. "In any case, you're free until the sun sets, so go make your groups while you can, alright?"
Everybody dispersed, and our merry group of demon-slayers came together, plus the girl with messy hair.
"We deal with blood-thirsty demons, like ghosts are gonna scare us!" I yelled out, laughing, and in the distance, I could see my twin roll his eyes.
"You'll be the first one to cry Major!"
I glared at him, sticking out my tongue. "Shut up Minor, you'll be the one crying first! Crybaby!"
Nyx and Hemera looked confused as they saw this, glancing between the both of us. "Do you know him?" Hemera asked, looking at my twin.
"Oh, he's my twin, my SHORTER twin!" I yelled out, emphasizing the short part, and Minor stuck out his tongue before walking away with his friends.
"I didn't know you had a twin Major…" Nyx said, watching my brother walk away.
"Yep, they call me Major since I was born bigger than my twin! But he's a goof, so don't hang out with him," I said, and Lachy frowned.
"But you talk late at night every night Major."
I felt my ears going red at her words. "He-hey! You weren't meant to say that Lachy! I'm too cool for that!"
This entire time, Erebus wasn't paying attention to us; instead, he was staring at the girl with the messy brown hair, and it seemed she finally took notice of his stares.
"U-um, do you need something? You've been staring at me for a while."
Erebus blinked before shaking his head. "No, I just feel as if I've met you before is all."
"I don't think I have, since I'm new and all. What's your name?"
He grinned as he got into his pose. "Excellent question, for I am one who dwells in the darkness, keeping this power of mine sealed within my right eye, waiting for the right demon to unleash it's power upon! I am Erebus of the Shadowy Night and the Smoldering Flames, Slayer of Demons, Ruler of all those in the Dark!" He finished, pointing at the girl with the messy hair. "Who might you be, brown-haired girl?"
The girls were stunned into silence, while us guys grinned at him, applauding him for his newly come up epithet. The girl in question stared him in his red eye, and a small smile appeared on her face.
She got into a pose of her own, grinning at Erebus. "I am one who brings order within the bountiful chaos of this world, bringing forth the events that shall lead us to the inevitable End Times! For I am the Dark Empress Necessitas, Balancer of Ruin, Enforcer of Events, Bringer of all unquestionable Catastrophe!"
This time, everyone was stunned into silence, as we all started to process what was going on in our heads.
"So, so cool!" Erebus and I yelled out, and we practically leapt onto Necessitas.
"Oh man, did you come up with that yourself!?" I asked, grabbing one of her shoulders.
"Forget that, she's perfect for our group King! She's gotta join now!" Erebus exclaimed, and we both started to shake her as we bombarded her with questions.
Eventually, Aether and Eros had to peel us away from her, much to our complaints, and the time to put our plan into action was finally upon us.
The groups went like so:
Group 1: Hemera, Lachy, Nyx, and I
Group 2: Erebus, Eros, Aether, and Necessitas
Group 2 would go ahead first, hiding themselves somewhere nearby to ward off teachers, while group 1 would perform the hardest part of the plan.
While we were waiting in line, we could hear screams of terror coming from within the trail, and I couldn't help but get a little nervous.
"Don't get too scared Major!" my twin yelled out from behind me, and I whirled around to him, scowling.
"I'm not scared of stupid ghosts! I fight demons! You don't be too scared!"
One of the teachers started to giggle before she covered her mouth. "Now you twins behave alright?"
"Yes ma'am!" Minor yelled out, and I turned back around, pouting. In front of me I could see Aether's legs shaking, and which calmed me down.
At least I'm not the only one nervous about our plan.
"Okay, next group can go on ahead! Try not to get taken by ghosts!" My teacher said, and group 2 walked away, Erebus giving me a thumbs up.
I took a shaky breath, glancing at Nyx, who was talking to Hemera. Hemera was holding Nyx's hand, a warm smile on her face, before I felt a slight tug on my shirt.
I turned to Lachesis, who was twirling her hair around her finger. "Major, are you sure it'll work?"
I nodded, grinning. "Yep, I'm sure. I'll need help though, okay?"
She nodded, giving me a big grin. "Okay, I trust you Major!"
"Alright, next group can go!" My teacher looked at me and sighed. "And Major, don't cause any trouble, okay?"
"Why do you always assume it's gonna be me!?" I yelled out, and I could hear a nearby teacher giggling to herself.
He sighed before waving us through, and the plan was finally set into motion.
It was dark in the woods now, a stark contrast to the warmth and greenery of how it was before. We could hear animals chirping in the dark, with the occasional growl or so, but nothing we hadn't experienced before.
After a few cheap scares made by teachers and ghosts alike, we had reached our destination.
"This is kinda scary Nyx," Hemera said, clutching Nyx's hand tightly.
"Wh-what? No, it isn't scary at all!" Nyx said, chuckling as she clutched Hemera's hand with an equal amount of force.
"Shadow Step."
Suddenly, we were in the grove from earlier today, a moonless sky yawning down from above us, and Erebus was at the edge of the grove, his red eye gleaming before he faded into the shadows.
"Whoa, is that part of the test too!?" Nyx exclaimed, and we all turned to her, looking into her eyes.
It was Hemera who spoke first, holding one of Nyx's hands with both of her own. "Your eyes are darker again. They're black now."
"Hk!" Nyx froze, her black eyes widening at Hemera's words.
"I don't fully understand, but you're in pain, right? Why didn't you tell us!? We can help you Nyx!" The plan had begun.
Nyx's face grew dark as she looked down, biting down on her lip. "You, you noticed. You weren't meant to notice."
"Of course we noticed! We're your friends Nyx!" Lachesis said, grabbing Nyx's other hand, trying to look her in the eye. "You have to tell us what's wrong, you know?"
"I'm not supposed to!" Nyx yelled out, and we froze as she continued. "Don't let anyone know, always have a smile, laugh when others laugh, act as others do, I'm not meant to do anything but that! I, I can't do anything other than that!"
"Says who!? We don't care, so act as you wanna act Nyx!" Lachesis said, leaning in closer, and Nyx shook them both off, shaking her head.
"I, I can't! I'm not meant to! If I do, people will get hurt!"
"But Nyx," Hemera said, grabbing ahold of her hand once more, "You hurt so much, it's enough to make me cry."
Nyx's lip started to tremble as she started to shake. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you do! I wasn't able to understand now, but, but," Hemera started, her body starting shake as her voice trembled out these next words. "Why, why is that you carry other people's pain?" She looked at her, tears coming down from her face. "Why do you do that!?"
"H-how do you know that? No one, no one was meant to know, so how is that…" Nyx trailed off, looking at all of us as she slid down to her knees. "I, I can't let it go, since it'll hurt them instead…"
My mother's words resounded through me once more, and I walked up to Nyx, flaring my nostrils as I grabbed her shirt.
"Eh!?" She looked at me and could see the anger in my eyes.
"I, I don't fully get any of this at all, but I don't think you should do that! If people are hurting, they should just say so to their friends so they can help! So why should you hurt instead of them!? Why!?"
She was at a loss and could only stare at me as she took my onslaught.
"I bet it was stupid adults who said that! But, is that what you want!?"
"But, I was told to help them, so this is helping, I'm helping people by taking it and-!" She got cut off as I brought her closer to me, as I asked her my next question.
"What do you wanna do?"
"Huh?" She looked confused as I asked that question, as if she had never been asked that her entire life.
"Do you wanna be hurting!? DO YOU!?" I yelled out, and her eyes widened once more.
"I, I," I let go of her shirt, taking a step back as she tried to answer my question.
"It'll be alright, okay?" Hemera said, hugging Nyx from behind. "Friends help one another, that's how it should be. Please Nyx, let us help."
"I, I…" I saw the grass glisten, and I looked at the tears streaming down from Nyx's face as she proclaimed what she wanted to do.
"I don't wanna hurt anymore," she said, barely whispering her wish into existence, and I grinned, pulling out of my pocket a stick I used for my Mystic Arts.
"Then, using my Mystic Arts, let the darkness in her eyes, [REDACTED]!"
(My memory grew hazy once more as my field of vision turned black, and I could hear screeching within the memory before it cleared.)
I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air. Oh man, that took a lot more out of me then I thought. I looked at Nyx again, looking into her eyes before breathing a sigh of relief.
Nyx started to sob, and as the three girls hugged one another, I laid down on my back, a warm feeling of accomplishment rising within me as I stared into the moonless sky, smiling to myself.
"That's how they look. So cool."
And after that night, Nyx acted the way she wanted, her eyes forever proof of that.