The next morning Nyx and I woke up late, so late in fact that Lachesis and Hemera had to drag us out of our tent so we could eat breakfast."Noooo, it"s too bright outside!" Nyx hissed as Hemera dragged her out into the sunlight.
"Five more minutes Lachesis," I said, trying to crawl back into the tent before being met with blinding sunlight.
"Listen, breakfast started at 9, and it"s been two hours since then. We have s.h.i.t we wanna do to!" Lachesis grumbled, somehow managing to pull me out despite my best efforts.
"Then go without us!" Nyx and I exclaimed, but to no avail as we were forcefully dragged and had our faces buried in the cold river water.
"There, that should do Lachesis!" Hemera said, smiling as Nyx and I coughed, having been officially woken up.
"Ugh, did you have to go that far?" Nyx grumbled, squeezing the water out of her hair. I simply shook my head fast, sending water droplets flying everywhere before pushing the hair out from my eyes.
I glared at Lachesis, who was wearing a dark yellow shirt today, with jeans and tennis shoes once again, although this time her hair was down instead of a ponytail. "So, what"s so important that I have to get up before noon?"
"The fact that you even wake up that late is a problem, but I"ll put it on hold for now." She twirled her hair around her finger before nodding to herself. "We were planning on going exploring today, since no one really knows much about this mountain to begin with."
"Ugh, nature," I grumbled, and Nyx giggled next to me, understanding the reference from yesterday. Lachesis however, ignored us and silently bit her lip.
"But, I"m kinda worried…" I groaned as I got up and frowned.
"What"s up?"
She quickly shook her head and let out a sigh. "If only he wasn"t here, this wouldn"t be an issue. Ugh, whatever, you two need to eat already, so hurry it up."
We obeyed and went to the campfire, where Hiro and Necessitas were chatting.
"Hey, give them some food you guys. I gotta prepare for later," Lachesis said vaguely, and she and Hemera left without saying anything else.
"So mysterious, I wonder what"s she up to?" Hiro asked jokingly, but he quickly dismissed the question as he turned to us. "So, the dead have finally risen eh? About time, I didn"t know how long we could keep this food hot for you guys."
He handed us two plates, filled with eggs and sausage, and they were still surprisingly hot, as if they were just made. "Did you just make this?" I asked, getting handed a fork from Hiro.
"Nope, been made since 9 this morning!"
"And you say Lachesis is the mysterious one," Nyx murmured as she also got handed a fork.
"Well, don"t worry about the how, just eat before Lachesis kills me," he said chuckling to himself, although with how she"s been acting, I wouldn"t put it past her.
"Anyway, Hiro and I were trying to figure out where we should go today," Necessitas started to explain as she pointed at a nearby map. "Since most people don"t ever come here, we thought should at least explore to see if we can find any nice viewing spots."
"So you can hang out with Erebus alone?"
"Where the h.e.l.l did that even come from Hiro!?"
Nyx frowned as she took a pause from eating. "Now that I think about it, where is he? Also, how did last night go with you two sleeping together?"
"Hey, don"t word it like that!"
"Luna seemed interested in whatever Erebus was doing, so those two left somewhere together. I"m not too worried about them though." Hiro quickly explained. "But I"m curious how it went with you two as well."
She let out an exasperated sigh, shaking her head. "Does it even matter?" We were all silent, staring at her expectantly, and she hesitated for a moment before her cheeks went slightly pink, and she quickly covered her face.
"It went fine. He was willing to sleep outside, but I refused, telling him it would be alright. After that we just talked for a long time." She uncovered her eyes, which were looking down at the ground. "It really was nice…"
Hiro all the while was nodding to himself. "Told yah we needed to experience the apex of our youth. How about you two, did you guys just sleep?"
"Nah, we tried to come up with a plan to take on Miss Optimistic." Nyx said, finishing up her food before taking a swig of water.
"Yeah, we plan on taking her on with the power of negativity. But then we got sidetracked. We ended up talking for quite a while." I too managed to finish, setting my plate down on top of Nyx"s and taking it over to the trash can before sitting back down. "What did you do?"
"I had to calm Luna down since she was scared s.h.i.tless after your scary story Depra."
"Sorry…"
"Nah, it"s all good. I ended up having to tell her a couple stories of my own that my mom used to tell me, along with some of my own original tales. But when she was finally asleep, her face was so adorable that I found that I stared at it for hours."
Both the girls looked disgusted at his last statement, and I could only laugh. "Yep, sounds like the siscon Hiro I know."
"Hey, it"s a very pure and wholesome relationship here! None of that dirty c.r.a.p you guys think is going on."
"Yeah, you just said you stared at your sisters sleeping face for hours. If that isn"t creepy, then I don"t know what is."
"You"re telling me you don"t wanna take a look at Erebus" face when he"s sleeping?"
"Gh!" Ah, he got her there.
Hiro just patted the now embarra.s.sed Necessitas on the back. "There there, it"s okay to do this with people you love."
"Who said I loved that idiot!?"
"Stubborn as always I see," Nyx muttered as she let out another yawn. "Anyway, where do you plan on going today?"
"Towards the forest near the west. According to the maps, there"s a blank area between the western forest and the west side of this mountain." Necessitas pointed it out on the map for us to see. "Honestly, this mountain is so mysterious, with the map having many blank s.p.a.ces, yet it"s like no one cares what"s in those s.p.a.ces, you know?"
Hiro peered over at where she was pointing, and a brief look of shock pa.s.sed over his face so quick, I was probably the only one who noticed it. It was soon replaced with a scowl as he cracked his neck.
"Hmm, I wouldn"t go over there if I were you. Although, maybe we could depending…" He clutched his key and a deeper scowl showed on his face, and he glared at the nearly cloudless sky.
"Hey, was there anything about rain today?"
"If there was rain, we would"ve planned the trip to go around it. Why, you think it"s going too?"
"Nah, it"s nothing, forget I said anything. But, I"m game to go there, although I would prefer it if we all went there."
"So nothing happens to us huh?" Nyx mused darkly, picking at her nails.
"Hmph, you"ve got a dark sense of humor there, but that"s partly it. If something happened to one group, it would be next to impossible to find one another. After all, our phones don"t work up here."
"He has a point. We"ll just have to confer when we"re ready to leave. Let"s gather up the others."
"Alright, Nessy, go find your boyfriend-!"
"He"s not my boyfriend!"
"And bring him and Luna back. Nyx, can you go get Lachesis and Merry?"
Nyx nodded and walked back to where the two had disappeared. Hiro then turned to me.
"As for us, we"re finding the Aether, Eros, and the a.s.s as you so aptly put it."
I rolled my eyes at his extra statement at the end. "Whatever, what about Prez?"
"Oh, she"s over there observing birds." He pointed to the edge of the campsite, where Prez really was watching birds, trying to spot them with a pair of binoculars.
"So random," I muttered.
"Yep, that"s our President for yah. Anyway, I think the other guys said they were going downriver to try to fish, so they shouldn"t be far."
"Ugh, can"t we just leave the a.s.s there?"
"I"d really rather not get on Lachesis" bad side anymore than I already have thank you very much. Honestly, she"s really mad this time."
We started to walk down towards the river, talking as we went.
"It"s not as if you"ve done anything though. You just had convenient timing. I"m glad you decided to come, otherwise who knows what plan she would"ve had for me."
He looked at me curiously, gently grabbing his key before letting it go. "You seem rather chipper today though. Something good happen?"
"Oh, Nyx helped me out yesterday. I feel as if there"s a huge weight off my shoulders. I don"t even remember if there was a time I felt like this," I responded, stretching upwards.
He went quiet for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess you did."
"Eh, you saw it!?"
"No! Of course not! I mean, have you seen yourself? You really do seem happier. It"s been almost 2 years since I"ve seen you this happy."
"Ah, you mean soph.o.m.ore year then."
He nodded and gave off a grin. "Man, that was a wild time indeed. A much simpler time too. Ah, but I guess wasn"t around for the second half huh?" His smile faded as a somber look pa.s.sed over his face, and I knew he was thinking about our 8th member of the Hidden Club, the girl with the long silver hair…
I really wanna ask, but that face holds me back every time. He caught me looking and gave a melancholic smile. "If you wanna know, just ask."
I already knew the story about her, how she went overseas with Hiro and got dangerously sick, so she"s stuck there until further notice. But, I believe even now, that if I asked him then, he would"ve told me the truth right then and there.
Instead, I shook my head. "No, just as you don"t wanna ask me, I don"t wanna ask you. You"ll tell us eventually, right?"
A genuine look of shock, a rare look for Hiro, stayed on his face as he stopped, his mouth slightly open.
"I"ll tell you about mine soon, so don"t you dare tell it to me yet, okay?"
Finally starting to recover, he nodded, and I went ahead of him, but not before I saw him quickly start to wipe his eyes and mumble a word of thanks. We"ve all got secrets, don"t we…
I walked by myself for about a minute or two, and then Hiro caught up, his face back to its cheery self. "Anyway, I think they"re there, aren"t they?" He pointed to three people with lines cast out in the water, to which I could only a.s.sume that it was three we were looking for.
"Hey, we"re about to go out!" Hiro said, waving his arms to the three-man group.
All but one heard us, the furthest one away, the a.s.s of the group. He casted another line, and it looked like he already had a couple fish in his bucket. Hiro patted me on the back before greeting the other two, forcing me to deal with the a.s.s. d.a.m.n him.
"Hey, did you hear Hiro? We"ve gotta get going for the meeting."
He side eyed me before sighing. "And if I refuse?"
This little son of ! I stopped the thought as I took a deep breath and tried to relax. Don"t let him get to you Depra, don"t let him get to you. "Then I guess you can live with your fish then. Have fun fishboy."
I turned around, about to leave before I heard him chuckle. I turned my head back towards him as he reeled in another fish. "Hold on, I"m coming. Give me 30 seconds."
"15," I said flatly.
"Are we seriously fighting over how long I should take?"
"Call me petty I guess."
"Hmph. You know, I don"t particularly hate you yah know. I would at least like to be able to have civil conversations with one another."
Memories from the previous year tried to surface, but I pushed them down with anger alone. "I"m not about to be civil with you, so hurry it up." I started to walk back alone, Hiro and the others already halfway back up to the campground.
Before I could get far however, I heard a loud crack from behind me, and I whirled around to see another tree fall, this time heading for the a.s.s. I honestly was about to just let it fall on him, but a slight pang in my heart made me curse myself.
"d.a.m.n it all to h.e.l.l, you stupid a.s.s!"
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"Depra, what the h.e.l.l just happened?"
I glared at the a.s.s, who was on the doors of death just a moment ago. He had leaves over his clothes, and a couple scratches on his person, but nothing major. Still, what the h.e.l.l are the odds of that happening?
"Does it matter? You"re alive right?"
I turned away to see Hiro and the others had already reached me, with Hiro coming first.
"Depra, did you…?"
I scratched my head and shrugged. "Let"s just go. I"m p.i.s.sed at the a.s.s, p.i.s.sed at myself, but most importantly, I am really starting to hate f.u.c.king nature."
The other two looked stunned as well, but I ignored them as I walked past them. Still, what the h.e.l.l are the odds huh?
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"Okay, so is it decided then?"
Everyone had gathered around the now extinguished campfire. I had Nyx to my left and Necessitas to my right, with Lachesis standing up, having finished going over the plan.
"Do we really have to pack everything up though? Why can"t we come back here my dear Lach~?" Eros purred seductively.
"There"s a campsite nearer where we are going. I just think it would be better to just head there instead of coming all the way back here. We"ll be able to cover more ground that way."
"It feels like we"re exploring the new world or something," Nyx muttered next to me, which rewarded her an elbow to her side from Hemera.
"It"s exciting. I"ve never been exploring before, so I"m rather excited, although from the stories big bro tells me, he"s-!" Luna got cut off by Hiro"s hand covering her mouth.
"In other news, I"ve already packed up everyone"s stuff, so don"t mind all that. We can leave whenever you guys want." How Hiro managed to pull that off is beyond me.
"Alright, then let"s get a move on. Luna made us all sandwiches, so we can eat on the way."
Hiro uncovered Luna"s mouth, which revealed a slightly embarra.s.sed, but still very cute and adorable, face. "Oh, it"s the least I can do."
We all smiled when we saw it. Yep, she is indeed precious to us all.
After we all grabbed our stuff, we started on a trail that would take us to the western side of the mountain. It was vastly more forested than where we where at, and the humidity trapped within made our trip more unbearable.
"Ugh, it feels like my face is melting away," Nyx said, wiping her face with her light green t-shirt (she originally had a black one on, but she traded it for one of Hemera"s).
"I know what you mean," Hiro said, also wiping his face with a green shirt. "Having dark skin during times like this suck."
"It seems I"ve found my brother." She fist b.u.mped him, and I could only shake my head at their exchange.
"But man, Luna sure is enjoying herself. I"m glad she"s happy and all, but I wish she would at least stay back here with me…" Luna was near the front, where she was happily chatting with Prez and Erebus. How she hit it off with those two though is beyond me.
"Well, she has changed from when she first enrolled. You should be happy Hiro," I said, patting him on the back.
"I know, and I am happy, but…" Hiro once again had a complicated expression, one filled with happiness and worry, and yet neither having anything to do with one another. "That"s enough of that. How far have you gotten in my watchlist?"
Nyx tilted her head inquisitively, her grey eyes focused on Hiro. "Watchlist?"
"Yeah, I gave him a list of anime to watch, but I haven"t heard him say anything about it to me yet. You have watched at least one of them, right?"
"Yeah, I watched the one about dating evil, not having many friends, not wanting any friends, dirty jokes not allowed, um, lets see, oh, and the one about psychic powers."
Nyx looked confused while Hiro just nodded to himself. "Okay, not bad. Which one are you on right now?"
"Dating evil."
"That one"s pretty good, yeah?"
"It is, but I preferred the previous ones to be honest. This one seems like the weakest one out the list so far."
"Well, you need to watch all kinds to differentiate the good and bad, right?"
Nyx sighed and wiped her face with her shirt once again. "Yep, no clue what any of those are."
Hiro chuckled. "You would like the one about Shinigami."
"Hey you slowpokes, hurry it up! You"re dragging the group behind!" It was Prez yelling at us, waving her arms at the top of the hill.
"It"s f.u.c.king hot and humid! Leave me alone you p.r.i.c.k!" She stuck her tongue out at Hiro"s response and tapped her foot, waiting for us to reach the top.
"Seriously, we have to be together you know. Aren"t yah number one?"
"You wanna race then number two? I"ll beat you faster than you can say "Nani"!?"
Knowing him, he probably could. "Hey, it"s too humid for this. Let"s just get along please."
Nyx raised her hand. "I second that motion. I don"t know how you guys have all that energy." She yawned, covering her mouth with the hand she raised before fanning herself.
"Oh, I have an idea. How about we go as fast our slowest person? Okay, Depra, you"re up!"
"Why am I a.s.sumed the slowest," I grumbled, rolling my eyes at Hiro"s idea.
"I must deny said idea. How about you go faster? You get a breeze when you go faster!"
"That"s not how it works, and you know it! Ugh, it"s so d.a.m.n humid!" Hiro flapped his shirt quickly, trying to cool himself down.
"Nah, you"re like this cause I"m so hot!"
"If you"re hot, then I"m blazing," Nyx muttered, and I couldn"t help but snicker.
"Seriously you four, hurry it up! We do have to get there before sundown!" Lachesis yelled from ahead, rolling her eyes at how slow we were going.
"We have plenty of time, trust me! Besides, once it starts raining it"ll feel a lot better, trust me!"
"Number one, why do you think it"s going to rain anyway?" Prez asked, now going the same pace as the rest of us.
"Oh, that"s cuz it will. Call it belief, I guess. After all, if you believe in something, it"ll come true. A wise woman once told me that."
"What a strange woman it must"ve been." Nyx said, stepping over a stray root on the dirt trail.
"Nah, she was the best. Awesome stories, great sense of humor, and terrific advice. Yep, what a wonderful mom indeed."
Everyone grew silent at his words, including Prez, who normally wouldn"t be able to take a hint. Hiro noticed and scowled at all of us.
"Hey, just because she"s dead doesn"t mean you can start pitying me. It"s over and done with, happened over a decade ago. Really, it"s cool."
"Well, you can join the no moms club I guess," I mumbled, and I earned a tussle of my hair from Hiro.
"Aw man, I shouldn"t have done that! It"s too hot to be too close together! f.u.c.k, I might really be melting away today. Don"t miss me too much Luna!"
Luna, who was still talking to Erebus in the front, frowned and looked to her flamboyant brother. "Big bro, if you melt, I"ll put you back together again!"
Hiro clutched his heart, having taken the full force of his sister"s cute attack. "It"s super effective once more! Oh, how my heart trembles!"
"Hey Hiro, that"s an odd reference to make here, especially since, well, you know," I said, trailing off after remembering the guy he was referencing.
Nyx yawned again, stretching her arms out towards the green canopy above. "Man, how long have we been walking anyway."
"Day 355, I"ve been stuck with two weirdos and Depra, having been trapped in this magical forest."
"Oi, you"re the weirdest one here Prez!"
"I agree, and how come Depra"s normal?"
"Well, I mean, look at him!" All three of them looked at me before nodding to each other.
"Why do I feel as if I"m being pitied right now," I mumbled, sighing to myself, and the other three just laughed.
We walked our slow pace for a while longer, bantering around before Hiro nodded to himself. "Yep, here comes the rain."
In the distance, I could here thunderclouds rumble their way to us. Alarmed, the rest of us looked at Hiro, who shrugged before singing to himself a tune.
"All you need is belief, all you need is belieeeeeef!"
"That"s not even how the song goes!" I said, wiping the sweat away from my forehead.
"Are we just going to ignore the fact that Number one summoned rain!? Is he a rain-bringer or something!?"
We ended up almost b.u.mping into everyone else, who had stopped at Lachesis" behest. She was glaring at Hiro, who was the only one who seemed to be undisturbed by this sudden change of events.
"Are you going to explain yourself?" She asked, crossing her arms as she twirled her hair around her finger impatiently.
"Hmm? Who, innocent ole me? I would never! Besides, not as if I can just call rain whenever I want. Wait, can I?"
"Stop f.u.c.king with us d.a.m.nit!"
"Jeez, turn it down a notch sista!" Hiro exclaimed, before letting out a sigh and scratching his hair. "It really wasn"t me. But, don"t you think instead of wasting time here, we should keep going?" He maneuvered his way through everybody before gently placing a hand on her shoulder. He whispered something in her ear, which seemed to only maker her even more mad.
"Okay, let"s just keep going. I don"t really get it, but it seems we just gotta keep going, I guess." Hiro nodded happily before waltzing away, seemingly without a care in the world. Man, he really didn"t take stuff seriously sometimes. Although, when he doesn"t, it"s usually for a reason.
I still stayed in the back, along with Nyx, but this time Prez went ahead to where Eros, Hemera, and Lachesis were, while Necessitas joined me in the back, while Luna and Erebus stayed where they were.
"So, what have you guys been up to?"
"Hating nature," Nyx said, and I couldn"t help but laugh at the inside joke, which only confused Necessitas more.
"Well, I"m glad you guys are having fun, I guess. I was trying to talk to who you call "the a.s.s" and Aether, and it went well, I think."
"Why not talk to Erebus then?" Nyx suggested, which earned her a step on the foot.
"How about you go talk to Hemera if we"re going along those lines, hmm?"
"I have no idea what you"re talking about. She"s just too optimistic. She burns me just by coming near me."
"Hmm, I have to wonder about that. She"s quite oblivious, but even she has her limits. Keep it up, and I wonder what path you two will go down."
"I could say the same to you. He"s bound to have his limits too, especially if you"re always pushing him away."
What the h.e.l.l did I get myself into!? I thought as I let myself fall slightly behind the two girls arguing in front of me. I knew about Erebus and Necessitas, but Hemera and Nyx? That"s the first I"ve heard of that one. I shook my head. Yeah, best keep that one to myself.
"Th-that"s different! You know how he"s like! If only he could be serious…"
"He is, about you."
"Ugh, whatever, you don"t get to lecture me if the reverse isn"t true either, deal?"
"…Deal." And they shook on it, and the tension between them was gone. I involuntarily took a sigh of relief, and they both looked back at me, as if they had forgotten I was there.
"Oh, I forgot. Sorry about that Depra."
"Please don"t say anything, my nature hating friend."
"Say what? I didn"t hear a word." The two girls smiled at response, and I fit in between the two of them.
"You"re too nice, you know that?" Necessitas said, putting both her hands behind her back, arching her chest forward.
"I can agree with you on that," Nyx said, giving me a rare smile.
"You both say that so readily," I muttered, and they both nodded. "But, am I really that nice." Before I could continue what had I to say however, there was a loud boom of thunder that shook the ground itself, and we all stopped, stunned at what just happened.
Hiro, the only one not stunned, whistled to himself. "d.a.m.n, looks like it"s gonna get pretty bad huh?" There was a flash of lightning, and then another thunderous boom that was followed by an all too familiar crack in the woods.
It was not one tree this time, but three, one headed for Lachesis, who had just stumbled over a root and fell to the ground, another for Luna, who was about to step back over the cliff to dodge it, and the last one for Hemera, who was walking right into angle of impact. My eyes widened as I saw this scene unfold, and my eyes focused on the tree nearest to me, and my emotions came rushing back to as I, for the third time on this trip, did the thing that had ruined my life…
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I collapsed to the ground, shuddering to myself as I dug my nails into my arms until it bled.
"What just…"
"Honestly, what are the odds of that…"
Both Nyx and Necessitas behind me just stared stunned at the scene in front of them. Hemera had kept walking, without noticing a single thing, and not even a hair on her head was harmed. Lachesis too, was unharmed, the tree miraculously missing her and instead heading straight for the cliff, pa.s.sing over her harmlessly. And as for Luna, she had fallen back on the dirt behind her where she had taken a step back, and the tree that was heading for her had broken apart a couple yards ahead of Hiro, who was now helping Luna up.
I dug my nails in even deeper before relaxing my body, my hands falling to the ground. I took a shaky breath before getting back up, where Nyx noticed my newfound wounds.
"Hey Depra, you"re…" She trailed off as she noticed my demeanor, and I simply shook my head.
"I really f.u.c.king hate nature."
Hemera finally started to pay attention and looked bewildered. "Eh!? What the h.e.l.l just happened!?"
The a.s.s helped Lachesis back to her feet, and she scowled at Hiro, who was now tightly hugging Luna. When she saw that however, her scowled faded, and she turned around to look at me. Her gaze reached my now bleeding arms, and she looked stunned.
"Depra, are you…?" She wasn"t able to finish, but I knew what she had to say.
"I"m fine, don"t worry about it. Let"s just continue." But right there, I felt a drop of rain on my nose, and it grew from that to a full-on storm.
Hiro looked up, gently patting his sister"s head. "Right about now."
"Huh!? What the h.e.l.l is this!?"
A new voice came from in front of us, having come from the hill on the other side. It was a cutesy voice, and the person had long pink hair with a pink cloak to match.
"Oh man, if I had known this was going on, I wouldn"t have done anything d.a.m.nit!" She pulled back her hood, and it was none other than Pinkie of the Hidden Club.
"So, I a.s.sume you guys need something?"
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"I really don"t like how I was used in this situation!"
We were now at Pinkie"s house (I think she said it was just a vacation home, but the way she said it makes me wonder), and she had already gotten into an argument with Hiro, who was just chuckling it off. Lachesis too, seemed angry, glaring at him from Pinkies side.
"I just knew you lived around here, and you did tell me it was gonna rain here, so I decided to take a chance and take a visit!"
"At least warn me first douchebag! I don"t even have anything prepared!"
"Eh, get Heracles to do it. I"m sure he wouldn"t mind."
"Ugh!" She started to throw a barrage of punches, and Hiro was just laughing the entire time, slightly blocking them with his arms.
"So, you mean to tell me that you knew this was going to happen?"
"Well, I did say trust me, didn"t I?"
A vein bulged on Lachesis" forehead, and she too started to throw punches, although a lot harder than Pinkies.
"Hey, these actually hurt you know!"
"Stupid dumba.s.s!"
"I hate you so f.u.c.king much!"
I could only sigh at the predicament he managed to get himself into to. Ah well, he"ll probably be fine. I scratched my head while scanning the place we had ended up at.
It was a big log cabin, about two stories tall. At the front entrance, where we were currently at, a giant chandelier hung above us, sparkling as it illuminated the room below. There were paintings lining both walls, all of them woman with varying hair colors, all dressed similarly. Right by the door was a place to put all our shoes, which was filled with all of ours at the moment, and the door to get in was a double door with windows on both side and a large arched window above the doors. Beyond the two ladies and their punching bag, their looked to be stairs leading up to the right around the corner, along with a kitchen underneath the low ceiling, which was caused by the second floor. Although I couldn"t see it properly, it looked as if there was a door leading to what I would a.s.sume was a dining area. Straight ahead was a patio leading to a grand backyard, with giant wooden stakes pointed up keeping out any woodland creatures from the forest beyond. To the left was the living room, and a stone fireplace along with a chimney leading up to the ceiling. The living itself was rather big, with about five comfy looking couches and three reclining chairs stationed around the fireplace, with a large wooden table in the center of it all, a basket of fake fruit adorned the top.
Pinkie, having finally calmed down, ran a finger through her hair. "But I get the situation though Hiro. But you owe me after this is all over, you got that?"
Hiro, who had finally shaken off Lachesis" barrage, nodded. "Yep, just tell me what you want later. I really do owe you for this."
She rolled her eyes and turned towards the rest of us. "Alright, the rest of yah, go pick out a room to sleep in. There should be enough for all of you if you bunk up. I"ll have to tell Hera that we"re bunking though…"
"That works, so the girl-boy pairs is still on!"
I felt a slight nudge and turned to find Nyx trying to edge away from the group, and I quickly got what she was trying to do.
We managed to sneak away, the only one noticing Pinkie, who winked at me before looking back at the group. We quickly went up the stairs and found ourselves looking at a hallway.
"Which one do you want? I don"t really have a preference you know."
"Near the back, where we can see the backyard." So, that only left three. Two doors at the end facing each other, and a single door all the way at the back of the hallway.
"Split up?" I asked, and she nodded before we rushed to the last two doors facing each other. I chose the left, and she went right.
The room I chose was rather small, with their barely being any room for the two beds that were in here. The walls were lined with bookshelves, filled with a variety of books. Actually, I don"t think there"s even a window in here, so that"s out.
I quickly left to find that Nyx had done the same. "No luck?"
She shook her head. "No windows. You?"
"Same here. No windows." We then turned towards the final door, and I quickly opened the door and had my breath taken away.
It was a rather s.p.a.cious room, with two king size beds, one with black sheets and covers, the other with white, fitting in with relative ease. There was what seemed to be a bathroom near the back on the right, and sliding doors leading to an overhead patio were covered in white, elegant curtains. There was a dresser with a large mirror attached to it made entirely out of wood in between the beds, and to the left was a door that looked as if it led to a closet. Nyx quickly opened the curtains and revealed a breathtaking view of the mountain, albeit with thunderclouds roaring in the sky above.
We both looked at each other and grinned.
"This is the room."
"Wow, this is probably the best room here. d.a.m.n, I kinda wish I decided to go with you."
We whirled around to find Hiro behind us. It looked as if he had beaten everyone else up here, and he was nodding to himself. "Yep, I want the room nearest the stairs all right. It"s the second-best, but you guys did beat me after all."
I d.a.m.n well knew he could"ve easily beaten the both of us to this room, but I appreciated his kindness nonetheless. "You better take it before someone else does."
"Oh, I already did. Luna"s putting her stuff in as we speak. Still, I kind of feel sorry for the others, since they"re pretty much getting c.r.a.p."
Puzzled, I frowned as I scanned the hallway once more. "If the rest of them are c.r.a.p, where the h.e.l.l is Pinkie"s and Heracles room?"
"Oh that. They sleep downstairs. You probably didn"t notice, but there"s a room near the kitchen. Now that"s the best room for sure. I know Pinkie sleeps there, but I have no clue where Hera sleeps though. The couch maybe?"
"There"s another room in the dining room." A new voice, this time Pinkie, had appeared behind Hiro. Now it looked as if everyone else was coming up here.
"It"s technically connected to my room, but, well, it"s complicated. He"ll just sleep with me."
Hiro looked down at the mane of pink hair next to him. "You sleep with him often."
She stomped on his foot in response. "Can it douchebag. You already gave me enough trouble as is. You"re grateful no one else was around. If I hadn"t found you…" She trailed off before biting her lip. "But that doesn"t matter. More importantly, do you guys have enough food? Because I don"t have enough food to feed 14 people here."
"Do you really think we would go camping and not bring enough food?" Nyx asked, frowning at the absurdity of her question.
"Knowing Hiro, he would pull a stunt like that."
"Aw, thanks!"
"It wasn"t a d.a.m.n compliment!" She sighed before pushing her hair back. "Dealing with you just gives me anxiety, you know that?"
"Huh! Little ole me?"
"In any case," she started, finally starting to ignore Hiro much to his disappointment, "You guys can stay here as long you need. It"ll be storming for another day or two, so I wouldn"t recommend leaving until the storms gone and the path is safe. Seriously, if only I knew…" She trailed off once more, biting her lip.
"Thank you for letting us stay," I said, and she let off a grin when she saw that.
"Aw, anything for you Depra! If only your friend could act a little nicer." I bent down, and she patted my head, something that she had started doing since the latter half of soph.o.m.ore year.
"I"ll never get used to that," Hiro grumbled, watching our strange exchange before heading back to his room.
"Hera should be back soon, so once he gets back, we can eat, got it!?" Pinkie yelled out to Hiro, and he waved without looking back. "Man, I really don"t know how you put up with him son."
"He"s pretty neat when you get to know him mom," I responded, and Nyx just looked alarmed.
"Huh?"
"Oh, it"s a long story," Pinkie said, waving off the issue before turning back to me. "So Depra, wanna hang out for a bit? It"ll be a while until Hera comes back, so I could use some help outside."
Outside? "Um, you do realize it"s storming outside, right?"
"Yep, which is why I need you!" Ah, so she"s just using me then.
I turned to Nyx, who had furrowed her brow. "What are you gonna do?"
"I need to talk to Lachesis, so go on ahead." I nodded, and Pinkie grinned at me.
"Alright, to our outside adventure we go!"
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We ended up meeting Hera as we were coming back, which gave him quite a scare. We explained the situation to him at dinner (we ate in the dining room), and he just sighed at the whole affair.
"Yep, sounds like something Hiro would do. By the Depra, are you gonna get those cuts checked out?" He pointed with his fork towards my arms, where my self-inflicted injuries were still slightly bleeding.
"Huh, I didn"t even notice that," Pinkie said, who was sitting next to me. Oh, we ended up having barbeque for dinner by the way. She examined my arms and scowled at me. "Hey, I don"t appreciate this son."
"…Sorry," I mumbled out, and she rolled her eyes as she speared a sausage.
"It"s fine. After dinner come to my room and I"ll handle it, free of charge of course!" She stuffed the sausage in her mouth, moaning in delight as the taste hit her taste buds. "Mmhm! Delicious! Luna"s cooking really is the best around isn"t it?"
I nodded a silent word of thanks and caught Lachesis looking at my arms. She was biting her lip, lost in thought when she caught me staring, which only caused her to bite her lip harder.
"Hey Lachesis, you shouldn"t brood so much," Hiro said, nudging her on the arm. He somehow managed to sit next to her without her complaining, much to everyone"s shock.
"Whatever Hiro. I need to talk you to later, so meet me on the patio, you got that?"
"Oho! A secret excursion in the pouring rain! What sort of event will this be?" Hiro bit into his hotdog slathered with ketchup, chewing his food quickly before nodding. "Alright, let"s do it before bath time, since we need to bathe together!"
Everyone froze at his words, and he quickly realized what he said. "I meant same gender d.a.m.nit! You know what I meant yah d.a.m.n perverts!" Pinkie just rolled her eyes before taking another bite of her sausage.
I took a bite out of my hotdog as I watched the others continue with their various conversations. Luna, who was sitting next to Lachesis, was talking to Erebus and Aether, the latter of which somehow managed to sit at the head of the table. Hiro was happily chatting with Lachesis and Hera, the latter of which who seemed to happy catch up with him. Next to Hera was Hemera, who was talking to Eros at the end of the table and the a.s.s across her. Prez and Pinkie were talking to one another, which just left Necessitas, Nyx, who was sitting to my left, and I the only ones not speaking.
Ah well, I"m eating, so I guess it"s fine. I continued to eat my hotdog and watched as Nyx and Necessitas started up a conversation.
"So, it"s us three once again? I wonder what fate has in store for us?"
"Taken straight out of Erebus" one-liners."
"Oh, quiet you. Let"s steer away from this topic."
"I couldn"t agree more. So, let"s talk about your friend Hiro, shall we?"
They both looked at my while I was in the middle of stuffing a hotdog in my mouth, and they both started to laugh.
"Bad time Depra?" Nyx said, the first to recover.
"Lev mh ulne!" I said through a mouthful of food.
"Okay, so how did you meet him? He"s kind of mysterious."
"If we"re going down that lane, my pessimistic buddy is also mysterious too."
I managed to gulp down my food with the help of some soda before burping aloud. "Whew, excuse me. Um, it was the beginning of soph.o.m.ore year and he said he wanted to be friends. I agreed, and that was basically it."
Both girls looked confused. "Wait, seriously? That"s it?" Necessitas asked, pushing up her gla.s.ses.
"Yep, pretty much. Did you think something else happened?"
Necessitas frowned. "That seems far too simple for him. Hey Hiro!" Hiro, who was still in the middle of his conversation, turned to her.
"What"s wrong?"
"How did you two meet? You two never talk about it."
"Oh, I walked up to him and asked him if he wanted to be friends. He agreed, end of story."
"Their story"s the same! Nothing else was involved, no incentive!?"
Everyone had taken notice now, and now even Aether was interested. Pinkie looked at the two of us and nodded. "Yeah, that makes no sense. Hiro, there must"ve been something."
"Now that I think about it, you guys got close awfully quick," Lachesis murmured, and now Hiro looked worried.
"Hey guys, seriously, you"re trying to make somethin" out of nothin", so leave it alone already."
"From King I can believe, but Hiro, nah, can"t be true." Erebus said.
"Hey, why am I the only one scrutinized here!" I laughed, and Hiro looked sadly at me. "Aw man, you too?"
"No, it"s just funny that they think you"re this super-layered person," I said, still laughing. "He really isn"t that complicated. Tell em Hiro."
"That"s right!" Hiro suddenly shot up and raised his finger to the ceiling. "I"m Hiro, a man of culture who loves animoos, mangos, girls of both 2d and 3d, and knows how to treat his friends right!" He pointed at me and winked. "And that"s all there is to it."
Everyone except me and Hera was stunned into silence, and I could only clap for his performance.
"… So, he really is just an idiot," Pinkie mumbled.
"A bonafide genius I think you meant to say!"
Necessitas just rubbed her eyes from underneath her gla.s.ses. "You know what, forget I even asked. A man such as himself is only troublesome."
"Hey!" And everyone started to laugh.
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"Ah, it"s been too long since I"ve taken a bath!"
It was late now, and the girls had just finished up bathing together in the communal bath, leaving us guys next. The bathhouse was an extension from the living room, near the right of the entrance. Hiro was the last to enter the bath, practically jumping in next to me, splashing water everywhere.
The other guys rolled their eyes, and Eros scooted next to me, wrapping his arm around me. "So, my dear Deppy~, I say it"s time for some male bonding." He flicked his hair back, causing sparkles to erupt around him.
"Oi, incubus, stop trying to seduce us while we"re naked. I don"t need any awkward moments in here," Erebus warned, and Eros pouted but otherwise relented.
"But I have to agree, stripping and bathing together reveals truths that otherwise wouldn"t be revealed," Aether said wisely, and we all looked at him confused, except for Eros, who gave him a hug.
"Ah, my dear Tae~Tae, I knew you would agree with me~!"
"Ugh, get off me Eros!" He pushed Eros away, but still let him be up next to him.
"So King, my fellow brother in arms, how fare thee on this adventure in witch"s territory?"
"I don"t think we"re in witch"s territory, but as me…" I trailed off, and everybody looked at me as they awaited my answer.
"Yeah, that"s it." I nodded to myself before looking at the rest of them. "I really am having a blast here. Thank you, I mean it."
"Ah, the smile of one who has finally found a brief moment of reprieve is always nice to see! Yes, truly such a smile could conquer any foe, and, dare I say is, ladies as well?"
"Speaking of ladies, who do you fancy out of this group of ours, hmm? I"ve noticed you"ve spent a lot of time with Necessitas and Nyx on this trip. What do you think about them dear Deppy~?"
"No, nothing of the sort," I said, waving my hands in surrender. "They"re good people. I can see why Erebus likes Necessitas though."
"Ah, you see it as well? Her bold nature, tactless words, brutish strength, there are an innumerable amount of reasons why she is fit to be the Dark Empress!" Erebus clutched his fist. "And that is why we have fated to meet once more in our second life!"
"I don"t think she would appreciate you saying any of those things about her," Hiro said, chuckling to himself.
"And what about you Mr. Hiro?" Again, odd this may sound, but I couldn"t tell if Eros said his name or "Hero" in this case. "What girl, or boy, are you interested in, hmm?"
"I only need one girl in my life, and that"s my Luna."
"Stepsister huh?" Aether said, musing to himself. "She is cute, with her auburn hair and bluish eyes. I can see her being a viable option for those less than myself."
Hiro tossed water towards Aether"s face. "Gross bro! That"s my sister you"re talking about! It"s a completely wholesome relationship, nothing more, nothing less."
"Uh huh. What about those other girls, hmm? You know exactly who I mean." Eros was still pressing the issue, although now Hiro"s face went slack.
"How do you know about that?"
"I"m not just a s.e.xual deviant you know. I"m the love master as well~!" He winked at Hiro, who just sighed as he slowly sunk into the hot water.
"Anyway, enough about that. My dear Deppy, you avoided my question quite skillfully. You"ve learned well from Hiro." I tensed up as he grew closer to me. "But, at the very least, you don"t seem so hung-up about her anymore. I wonder, is there another girl we don"t know about?"
"Oh yeah, you know Pandora, don"t you?" d.a.m.n it Hiro, why must you instigate so much!?
Eros however, frowned when he heard that name. "You know Pandora?"
"Ah, that devilish woman? The one who brings naught but destruction, so much that even the darkest denizens in the deepest pits of h.e.l.l want naught to do with her? How did you acquaint yourself with such an infamous woman as her?"
Huh? I looked around the bath, and everyone seemed to be in agreeance, including Hera, who had been quiet this entire time. Seriously, that kind girl has that bad of a reputation? I shook my head in disbelief. "She"s so nice though. She helped me out quite a bit last semester. Honestly, I wouldn"t be here if it wasn"t for her…"
Hiro sighed before scratching his hair. "I wouldn"t worry too much. It"s mostly just rumors I"ve heard, and I try hard to make judgements about people only when I"ve met them. Don"t worry too much. Still, I could see her being a viable option. She"s quite peppy, and cute to boot."
"Oho, is that true~?"
"I can attest to that," Hera rumbled, nodding in agreeance with Hiro. "She is quite attractive."
"But that is how she ensnares the hearts of-!" Erebus had his head forcefully put into the water by Eros.
"My dear Eru, much as I love you to death, please keep such biased lies to yourself." He released Erebus" head from the water, and he gasped, coughing water.
"You too Eros? I thought you of all people would know I speak the truth…"
Hera stretched, unintentionally showing off his muscles, which caused Hiro to roll his eyes.
"Showoff. Speaking of Hera, what girls are you interested in?"
"No one. Don"t got time for it."
"Okay, if you did have time?"
"…" Hera was thinking, and we were all waiting for his answer.
"Hmm, I guess it would be someone outside our friend group to be honest."
"Oh, I thought you would"ve chosen Pinkie Hera~."
Hera scowled and started to laugh. "Yeah right, as if I could deal with that as my girlfriend. I already see her too much as is."
"Actually, why do you live out here?" I asked, not realizing I never knew where Hera and Pinkie stayed.
"Ah, that"s…" He trailed off before scratching his hair. "Long story short, I"m basically a servant around here; more specifically, Pinkie"s servant, although she doesn"t treat me like one."
"I see, so Hera is into servant play~?"
"You know, I think it"s about time to get out before Eros makes in any more awkward," Hiro exclaimed, and I couldn"t agree more.
"Oh, so soon? I was hoping to play more~!"
"Didn"t I warn yah yah d.a.m.n incubus!?" It was Eros" turn to have his head dunked in the water, and when he was released, his face was red.
"Oh my, it"s been a while since someone was that rough me~!"
"Yep, time to leave," Hera said.
And the bath time with the boys ended as such.
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After getting dressed, I went back to my room to find Nyx putting on the last of her clothes. I scowled as I turned away slightly. "Um, shouldn"t you have already been dressed?"
"I took a shower after the bath. Still, I wasn"t expecting you guys to get done so fast. What happened?" She motioned for me to look, and I turned towards her. She was wearing a black t-shirt that was slightly too big for her, with hot pants underneath.
"Oh, Eros happened." She nodded before opening up the curtains, staring at the stormy sky above.
"I quite like the nighttime, even during weather such as this," she murmured, tracing her finger along the gla.s.s. "While I may hate nature-" I chuckled at that part, and she did the same before continuing. "While I may indeed hate nature, I don"t hate the night, with it"s many wondrous mysterious just waiting to be discovered."
"Is this the part where you somehow equate me to the night?"
"No, I"m not like Hemera and her stupid metaphors." She turned around, yawning loudly. "But, I will say that even though the night is dark, you shouldn"t consider it scary, no matter how bad it may seem."
"That sounded like a metaphor to me." I got a pillow thrown at me in response.
"Come on you joker, let"s sleep already, since they"ll just wake us denizens of the night early anyway." She practically jumped into her bed, snuggling up under her black sheets and covers.
I hesitated, looking at my bed for looking back at the sliding door. I walked over to it and placed my hand on it, looking at the view of the storm laid out in front of me.
Don"t be afraid of the night, huh? I thought as I gazed up at the mountain. If only the thing I was afraid of was as simple as that…
I sighed before shaking my head. That was a rabbit hole I did not want to go down. I tossed Nyx"s pillow back on her bed before laying down in my own, the long second day of our camping trip finally completed.
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The third day of our trip, the final day before we headed back, was pretty uneventful. Woke up late, ate breakfast, played some card games with Pinkie, Nyx, Erebus, and Hera (Pinkie won them all), ate lunch, chatted for a bit with Hiro and Luna, ate dinner, had another bath time with the boys that didn"t end awkwardly, and chatted with Nyx until we inevitably fell asleep, all the while the storm outside still raging on.
The fourth day, shortly after Nyx and I ate breakfast, I found Lachesis and Pinkie both staring at the storm worriedly.
"What"s wrong?" I asked, standing next to Pinkie.
"Oh, Lachesis is worried about when the storm will stop, since, you know, food and all."
"Oh, yeah, I guess we were meant to head back today," I murmured to myself, staring at the almost black sky above, lightning crackling in the heavens above. "Still, this is pretty bad for a storm, and it"s lasting so long too. It"s kinda weird, don"t you think?"
"Eh? You really think so? Hahaha…" Pinkie trailed off, suddenly lost deep in thought.
"If only I had known about it," Lachesis said, her hair once again in a ponytail, which she was twirling around her fingers. "Then we wouldn"t be in this mess."
"Well, it"s not as if you could"ve known. I mean, you did say the weather was going to be clear. It"s not your fault the weather decided to pull a fast one on yah."
Lachesis seemed surprised by my words; her fingers having stopped twirling her hair. She looked at me, as if confused by what I had just said to her.
"What"s wrong? Why do you seem so shocked?" She blinked before rubbing her eyes.
"Sorry, it"s nothing. In any case, it"s all Hiro"s fault for putting us in this situation in the first place."
"Yep, he owes me big time for this."
"Hey, I told you I was paying you back yah know." It was Hiro, and he walked up to my right and waved at the two girls before looking at the storm. "Still, if I had known the storm was going to last this long, I would"ve bought more food before I came up this mountain." He sighed before changing position, leaning his back against the gla.s.s.
"If only the storm would just go away just as quickly as it came," I murmured, and Pinkie started to laugh nervously.
"Well, you know how these things go my son," Pinkie said, patting me on the back.
"Yeah, if only it would…" I trailed off, finishing the sentence in my head before another surge of emotions came out from beneath the surface, unable to affect me all the same.
I gritted my teeth as I clenched my hands into fists, my nails starting to dig into my skin, a crack of lightning lighted up the sky with another thunderous roar, the loudest it"s been so far.
Lachesis noticed my sudden change in behavior and quickly looked up at the sky once more. "Hey, is it just me, or is it going away?"
I looked up to see the dark clouds start to lighten up, the loud cracks of lightning fading away.
"Whoa ho! Kind of like magic, huh Pinkie?"
"Whatever Hiro," Pinkie said, rolling her eyes before sighing. "Ah well, you know how the saying goes: all"s well that ends well."
I finally relaxed, my hands uncurling to reveal crescent marks all over my palms, not deep enough to pierce my skin. "Yeah, lucky us, huh?"
Hiro nodded, smiling to himself. "Yep! I"ll tell everyone to start packing up. Oh, and Pinkie, text me what you want later, got it?" And then he was gone, already halfway up the stairs to tell everybody who was still in their rooms.
"Hey Pinkie, make sure he suffers, okay?"
"Hmph, dare you even need to ask that? I was already planning on it."
I honestly couldn"t tell if they were serious or not.
And after that, we were packed up and ready to go, although not without some warnings.
"Alright, here"s a map of how to get down the mountain safely. Don"t take the trail you took to get here unless you wanna die, since the trail is probably muddy as h.e.l.l. Take this one," Pinkie pointed to a color trail on her map, "and you should be fine. Hiro knows how to get there, so just follow him if you forget. Also, please don"t stray off the trail by any means necessary."
"Wow, sounds pretty drastic just to get down this mountain," the a.s.s muttered, and while I was loathe to agree with anything he said, this was a rare case.
"Ah, don"t worry about it too much. Just follow me and you"ll all be okay!" Hiro said, giving us his signature grin and thumbs up.
"That just worried me more," Lachesis grumbled, and everyone started to laugh.
"Well, I"ll see you guys during the new semester!" Pinkie yelled out, waving us goodbye. "And Hiro, prepare to suffer later!" Hiro rolled his eyes before leading the way.
"Bye mom, it was a nice surprise seeing you again!" I said, waving her goodbye.
"Bye son, hope the rest of your break goes better than last year!" Heracles elbowed Pinkie for that statement, but I couldn"t help but chuckle.
"Don"t worry, I will!" And then I left, the last one to leave out of our odd group of 12.
Nyx was waiting for me, looking at me with her stormy grey eyes, and I immediately knew what she was about to say.
"It"s time, huh?" I asked sadly, and she nodded as we started to walk together.
"Indeed it is. I wish I could hold onto it longer, but…" I could see her lower lip quiver, and I looked up at the light-grey sky above.
"It"s fine. I"ll be fine," I said, nodding to myself. "So cheer up, alright?"
"I really do hate nature, you know that?" she muttered, and I laughed.
"I think we"ll both hate it for a long time coming."
She took a few steps in front of me, her grey eyes locked with my own. "It"ll be alright Depra."
And the first ray of sunshine to appear from the dark clouds overhead fell upon her figure, and I fell back into the dark pit, left with a single ray of light.