Chapter Sixteen:

Team Name: Moron

Nicodemus

Sebastian was pacing back and forth in front of Hayden Hall, his hands moving a mile a minute against his chest as he mumbled to himself. I came up the walkway and tilted my head; Odysseus and Praxis were giggling at him, rolling their eyes to one another. I decided to intervene and tapped his back with a raised eyebrow, “Um, Seb? You cool, dude?” I called as he continued by me, his eyes jutting back and forth wildly.

He paused mid step and spun on his ankle, glaring into my soul violently enough that I lurched back, “You naïve little boy… you have no clue how important this day is for us!”

“I wonder how many times Mom dropped you?” Praxis snickered.

“What am I so naïve about, Mother Nature?” I snorted as he rushed over to shake me wildly, something I had grown more than used to.

“They’re going to release teams for our field missions, you moron, and that means Galaxy might take you away from us! Everything I’ve done to ensure your spot can be ripped away by a single piece of paper! You’re the last piece to the puzzle!” He screamed bewilderedly.

“What the lunatic is trying to explain…” Odysseus said, shoving himself in between Sebastian and I, “Is that our team is short a person, and Sebastian has just about driven Galaxy insane over having him add you to our group. We had a girl named Kenzie a while back, but she changed to a different team to fill their space. We’ve been looking for a replacement for quite a while, and you more than fit the bill.”

“If he takes you away from me, I swear to the Gods above…!” Sebastian wailed.

“Galaxy is part of the Gods above, you moron.” Praxis snorted, which ignited another of their classic sibling arguments.

“Any idea what mission we’d be going on?” I continued as if Sebastian and Praxis weren’t fist fighting just behind me.

“Most likely something obscure. Our team is one of the highest ranked at the academy, admittedly, and Dad is constantly trying to find a weakness in our bond. Luckily, he’s been a failure every time!” Griffin added as he and Soren joined us with confident smiles.

Sebastian let out an abrupt screech, and grabbed my arms to whip me in circles wildly, “We can hunt demons with you around!”

“Oh, shit, I didn’t even think of that. That would be awesome!” Soren laughed.

Sebastian threw our arms above our heads and danced in place as he spoke, “You’re the only one who can hunt and reap them, aren’t you? None of us can send a soul back to the Shadow Realm, let alone Gehenna, but you can! This opens tons of doors! I’ve always wanted to see a Death Elemental in action!”

“That would be pretty fun. I'm not too shabby at demon hunting if I do say so myself, and now that we have Akira it would be even easier.” I stammered in between Sebastian swinging me around. Akira yapped in agreement while his tail whipped like a propeller.

Praxis snatched my hands from Sebastian and raced towards the window, “Well, looks like Elizabeth just finished tacking up the assignments. Let’s get inside and see where they placed him, and find out where we’re being sent to. I wonder who our chaperones will be this time?” She said as she lead the way into the building, teeming with excitement as she swung our interlocked hands.

Crowds of students were surrounding a large display of papers neatly thumbtacked under numbers, which were color coded as well. Griffin used his height as an advantage and barreled through the crowd, dragging each of as a chain behind him. I made sure to keep my grip on Praxis and Soren’s hands tight so I wouldn’t be swallowed by the sea surrounding us. “Yellow, yellow, yellow… Crawford, Crawford, Crawford… HA! WE GOT NICODEMUS!” Griffin screamed, which caused my friends to cheer wildly and throw their arms around me. I laughed and tried to hug them back as best as I could, though I was secretly ecstatic myself.

“Yes, yes, yes! He is so lucky he gave you to us!” Praxis laughed.

“Who’s our chaperones?” Odysseus continued, peeking over Griffin’s shoulder.

Griffin pressed his nose to the list, squinting at the names. Kids kept shoving into him, which made him tsk as he tried to read. “Hmm, that’s different; looks like we got Ashlynn and Galaxy. I don’t think we’ve ever had Dad or Ash on our team.”

“Eww,” Soren and I said simultaneously, laughing at one another through our teeth.

“This is great! If Galaxy is coming, we’re definitely going to have a big mission! Maybe he’ll let us hunt down some demons after all?” Praxis began making karate moves, “We are seriously going to kick some evil butt with this kid around!”

“Add in that Ashlynn is joining us most likely as a healer, and I don’t see anything besides that being a possibility.” Odysseus nodded to the list again, “Looks like we’re going to be in Japan, a small rural village. I take it we’ll get more debriefing once we leave tomorrow.” He explained, glowing at my side so brightly that his gold eyes seemed dull in comparison.

╪

The next morning, Mom cheerfully lead me through the crowds of excited Elementals to a grey bus with a yellow flag pressed above the windshield, bubbling with pride that she would be accompanying me on my first mission. She has spent the entire morning berating my father over this victory, and left him sobbing in the corner by the time breakfast was over. I wanted to laugh at her gigantic grin, but didn’t want to ruin the moment for her.

Galaxy and Soren were already on the bus when we joined them and tossed our bags into a couple of empty seats. Galaxy wore a smile despite the trouble we’d gotten one another into, which I was grateful for. “Morning, you two; excited for your first mission, Nick?” He chimed, opening his arm so I could sit beside him. I slid into the seat with a slight blush, but was surprised when he hugged me without breaking his big smile.

“Sure am! How are we going to take a bus to Japan, though?” I quizzically asked.

He raised his hands and shook them, “Magic…!” He sarcastically sang. I burst into laughter and rolled my eyes; he chuckled at his own joke and leaned down a little, though Mom was glaring at him as he spoke, “Don’t worry about what happened the other day. I’m not mad at you, and I truly hope you aren’t at me. I shouldn’t have said something so upsetting. Promise you forgive me?” He whispered in my ear sincerely.

I nodded sheepishly, “Of course. I didn’t mean to make you and Dad fight…?”

“We’d fight regardless of what I say,” he snorted, which made Mom sigh to herself. She was relieved I wasn’t upset with Galaxy, but still eyed him as a warning. I didn’t want to imagine what Gehenna she would let loose on him in Dad’s honor, and I don’t think Galaxy wanted to either, so he kept his friendly smile up regardless.

“Make room, make room! Montgomery’s coming through!” Sebastian declared as he marched up the bus steps with Praxis, as energetic and peppy as usual.

Praxis, on the other hand, was incredibly disheveled due to our early wake up, to the point that her hair was still in a lopsided bun with tendrils creeping out from the night before. She sported pajama pants and a baseball jersey, and yawned so widely I was surprised her jaw didn’t snap. “Here comes trouble,” Mom laughed as they put their bags in the back, then raced up front to say hello to everyone, “Praxis, my love, let me fix your hair…?”

“Eh, I could care less about looks right now. I fully intend to catch some z’s during this ride, so I’m crashing with you, Ash!” Praxis retorted, flopping into my mother dramatically to make her laugh and squeeze Praxis lovingly.

“You gonna tell us what we’re doing yet, grandpa?” Soren teased his father.

“Is your team here yet? Then no, I’m not disclosing anything, Rotten Strawberry, so cool your jets,” he replied with a chuckle at Soren’s scowl.

“We’ll be lucky if those boneheads get here before the turn of the century…”

“Shut your trap, Praxis!” Griffin barked as he and Odysseus climbed aboard, which made the rest of laugh hysterically at her grumble. He tossed a breakfast wrap at her head to appease the beast, but instead of retaliating, Praxis savagely ensnared the treat before crawling back into the cocoon of blankets she had nested against my mother’s side to feast in peace. Mom burst into giggles and went to work braiding Praxis’s long blonde curls, shaking her head to herself.

Galaxy counted off everyone on the bus before nodding to himself, and ticking off our names on his checklist. “Well, I suppose that’s everyone. It’s going to be about a three hour bus ride, so everyone get comfy. We can only travel so far with the portals, but this is nothing compared to how long Atlas and Elizabeth’s team is going to be traveling.”

“How long is their ride?” Sebastian asked as Galaxy lightly nudged me so he could step around and set coordinates into the bus’s self-driving system.

“Seven hours; they have some icecaps in the artic to whip into shape.”

“Eww, cold and wet!” Soren hacked with a shiver.

“Now will you tell us our mission?!” Praxis whined as the bus began to drive itself towards the main gates, falling in line behind the other teams.

Galaxy rolled his eyes at Mom and moved to sit beside me again, “I suppose we’ve tortured you enough; we’re going to hunt an Ōmukade.”

“A who-what?” Sebastian scoffed.

Galaxy smirked to himself as I picked my head up, as he knew I was about to answer, “The Ōmukade is a carnivorous giant centipede that resides in dark caves deep within the mountains of Japan. Last seen on Mount Mikami, the Ōmukade are extremely rare in appearance, and if one should appear, all nearby villages are doomed. The creature can only be killed with weapons coated in Human saliva provided from pure souls.” I said robotically, basically reciting by heart pages of my demonology textbook. Galaxy and Mom nodded in approval with a proud smile.

“Have you killed one before?” Odysseus asked, hanging over the seat casually so he could take notes as I spoke.

I nodded eagerly, “Surprisingly, yes; Dad and I hunted down a male last August, so I assume he was finally able to track the female. They aren’t known to travel in pairs, but we happened to stumble upon the two. They are quite the bitch to fight, especially the female, but luckily I know a few Humans with pure souls who were willing to donate some spit…” I reached into my bag and procured a vial of saliva, which made the bus erupt in gags, “Good thing I always carry this!” I exclaimed.

“Ok, that is so gross!” Griffin wailed before gagging again.

“As gross at it is, that thing will wipe half of Japan’s villages off the map if we don’t take care of it. Plus, the paycheck is pretty steep for one of these guys.” I explained as I conjured my scythe to begin prepping it for the battle.

“How much?” Sebastian mocked, cringing as he watched me slather the tip with the saliva and buff it in like it was miracle serum.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Half a million Japanese yen…” I replied nonchalantly.

“Otherwise known as five million American dollars…?” Praxis croaked.

An eerie silence enveloped the bus for a moment. “HOW MUCH MONEY ARE YOU HIDING ON US?!” Odysseus roared abruptly, which made me jump out of my skin.

“Are they really that valuable?” Soren pressed.

I snorted with a shrug, “To the people surrounding Mount Mikami they are. It’s no easy task taking these things out, but we’ll be able to do it just fine if we work together. I already have ideas on who can…?”

“Slow your roll, know-it-all,” Mom laughed, which made me frown, “Just because you’ve handled one before doesn’t mean you can predict the situation completely. Let’s get to our home base first, then take it from there. This is a team exercise, not a Nicodemus kills a giant worm exercise. Besides, any money earned goes to the academy for funding and research, so you brats aren’t seeing a dime of it.”

“What?!” The guys roared, which made the adults laugh hysterically at their anger.

Galaxy rolled his eyes and stood to hand each of us a keycard, “We rented a small cluster of cabins in a valley that the Humans use for summer camps. There are two beds per cabin, so decide amongst yourselves who would like to bunk with whom…”

“I want Nick!” Soren and Sebastian screamed simultaneously, scowling at one another. “Buzz off, Seb, I want a turn to hang out with him!” Soren defiantly snapped.

Sebastian stuck his tongue out, “You buzz off; he’s MY best friend!”

“How about I chose who I want to bunk with?” I snorted, rolling my eyes, “Since you two clearly need some time alone to work on your problems, I’ll camp with the only quiet person out of the group. I think I’d like to sleep for an hour or two this weekend.”

“Of course you’d pick Odysseus,” Soren sniffed jealously.

“Why do you say that?” Odysseus said, though I could see he was excited by my choice.

Soren scoffed and rolled his red eyes dramatically, “It’s more than obvious that you two have a major crush on each other, so I think it’s YOU who would like alone time.”

“Not true!” We both yelped simultaneously, though my mother grinned scandalously over this newfound information. Galaxy had quite a smug look on his face, which made me think our parents had been gossiping about Odysseus and I prior to this call out.

Sebastian laughed darkly and pinched my cheek, “Yeah right, lover boy! I'm supposed to believe that it’s just a coincidence you’ve rejected every girl to ask you out, yet you hang around Odysseus every second you get the chance? Any other teenage boy would be all over those girls to soak up the attention, but you’d rather soak it up from Goldy Eyes over here!”

I turned so red that I became dizzy, and punched his arm, “You’re such an ass. I can be friends with whoever I want, so cram it. Just because a couple of girls find me attractive doesn’t mean I'm shallow enough to take advantage of them…?”

“A COUPLE?!” The guys, including Odysseus, all yelled simultaneously.

Mom rolled her eyes sweetly, “I never thought I’d meet anyone who would gain more attention than your father, but you’ve swept dozens of them off their feet within a couple of months! I’d like to think my freckles are what set you apart.” She scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder elegantly.

I choked on a laugh and shook my head, “Subtle, Mom. Let’s all be happy I'm not a jerk who just tosses themselves at anything with a heartbeat.”

“I'm sure Odysseus is happy about that,” Soren teased, winking with a sly grin. Odysseus sunk into his seat with a blush as red as Soren’s hair, and turned to face the window so he could hide his burning cheeks from the crowd.

Before I could respond my phone began to ring obnoxiously, and when I saw the caller I.D I groaned horrifically. “What the Gehenna do you want!? We just left!?” I barked as I answered, throwing my head back into my seat dramatically. Mom and Galaxy were already laughing, as they knew exactly who I was talking to.

There was a pause before he sucked in a huge breath, “RULE ONE FOR THIS DEMON HUNT…!” Dad screamed so loudly that the entire bus could hear his shrill shrieking.

I smacked a hand to my forehead, and shoved the phone at my mother, “For the love of the Gods… Mother, talk to your husband!”

“No thanks, I’m enjoying my freedom while I have it!” She called to antagonize him.

“I HEARD THAT, ASHLYNN…!?”

“Dad, I know how to handle myself, geez! Would you stop being such a worrywart?!”

“Worrywart!? The last time we hunted this thing…!?”

“The last time nothing! You’re just jealous Mom got to come with me, so you’re going to harass us the entire trip. Don’t you have your own team to handle?” I accused with an eye roll.

“YES, HE DOES!” Elizabeth demonically yelled before Dad screamed bloody murder, and the line went dead. There was a steady hum of static before I hit the end call, horrified.

I stared at the phone in horror, but my mother and uncle were in tears beside me. “Dear Gods, I think Elizabeth might have murdered him for real this time. How the Gehenna do you stand being married to him?” I teased Mom.

She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and giggled some more, “I guess he has a cute face.”

╪

“Isn’t it amazing!? Oh Soren, look at all of the cat tails!”

“That I'm allergic to!” Soren sneezed repeatedly like a kitten, with little flames erupting from his nose as Sebastian raced in circles through the field of cat tails surrounding our camp site, laughing in delight. He collected a bushel in his arms and tossed it into the air, though that inevitably made Soren sneeze hard enough that he almost set Odysseus on fire.

“You Earth Elementals are weirdos,” I sniffed.

“Go find a dark hole to lurk in, Ghost Boy,” Sebastian retorted, waving me away before turning to Galaxy excitedly, “Can we explore the villages a little bit while we’re here?”

“Depends how fast you can kill the Ōmukade,” Galaxy joked, ruffling his hair before nodding to the wood cabins, “How about we take the night to rest up, then we’ll begin your assignment. You can explore anywhere inside these mountain ranges, but be up by seven to get ready for the mission. I, for one, need a moment away from Sebastian’s shrill voice.” Galaxy teased, laughing at the heavy glare Sebastian gave him for the comment.

“Wear a condom, kids!” Soren called, which made Mom snort an obnoxious giggle as Odysseus and I went to open our cabin door. I whipped around with pure black eyes and flicked my wrist, which made a shadow arm shoot from the ground to grab his neck and faceplant him into his own cabin door. Sebastian let out crow like laughs as I slammed our door shut, fuming wildly while Soren wheezed pathetically in the dirt.

“Simmer down before you pop a blood vessel,” Odysseus giggled, stepping aside so I could throw myself onto one of the beds and scream into a pillow.

“He’s such an asshole sometimes…!”

“He’s also pretty perceptive; I thought we were hiding things well.” I blinked as I felt him slide over me and lay across my back so he could wrap his arms around my neck and place his cheek in my hair. He ran his lips along my ear with a sadistic smile, “Guess you’ll have to make me your boyfriend for real now?” He whispered sweetly. I didn’t pick my face up from the pillow, let alone make another sound, and that worried him obviously. He peeked at the side of my face and touched my cheek with his nose lovingly, “Hey, you ok? I didn’t mean to make things awkward if I did…?”

“You didn’t… I promise…” I tightened up, “I just… I don’t know…”

“Do you, not like me that way?” He sighed miserably.

I snapped up and frowned at his broken expression over my shoulder, “What, no?! When the heck did I say I didn’t like you that way?” I simmered down to roll over so that he and I were face to face. Admittedly, it was extremely difficult to ignore teenage urges with him lying on me like this, but the severity of the conversation won our attention for the time being. I ran my fingers through his bangs slowly, tucking them behind his ear so I could peer into his devastated eyes more clearly. Their beautiful gold iris made my heart skip a beat, and pulled me in so deeply that I almost forgot where I was. “Odysseus, this has nothing to do with you. Well, I guess it has everything to do with you, but it’s not your fault…?”

“Heh?” He popped, which made me giggle hysterically.

I slid my arms around his waist to hug his back, “I guess I just… I'm, ashamed… to tell my family that I'm gay. It’s a completely personal issue, and doesn’t change at all how I feel about you. I know everything would be fine, but I just haven’t built up the confidence yet…”

He frowned and kissed my top lip gingerly, only pulling away enough that he could talk, “It’s ok to be scared, Nick, I won’t ever judge you for that. I haven’t told anyone myself, but I also haven’t ever met anyone to give me reason to until now. I’ll never force you into anything you aren’t ready for. If anything, let me help you build your confidence a bit, the way you’ve helped me build mine? As long as you don’t decide to leave me for a dumb blonde…”

“You mean Sebastian?” I snorted to make him laugh.

“Something like that. We don’t have to rush anything, I just want you to know that I'm here for you as much as you’d like me to be…”

He shuddered slightly when I lightly bit his bottom lip, pulling it slightly before letting go to speak, “I think I prefer to keep you this close at all times.” I teased, which made him close the space between us. For a few minutes we kept up the pace with just simply kissing, but the intensity of the air around us was getting to be too hard to ignore. I was thankful I didn’t ruin the mood earlier; in fact, whatever I said must have really changed his mind on how I felt about him, because before long, his fingertips began to travel down my shirt to the button of my jeans.

I did gasp slightly when I felt him unclasp the button, which made him pause to make sure he was allowed to continue. When I brought him back in to lace our lips, and now our tongues, he got his answer. The sound of my zipper being pulled down made my spine tingle a little, though it didn’t prepare me nearly enough for him slipping his hands underneath my underwear. He did pause our kissing to peak at my face, and when he saw that I was so red I could barely breath, he inevitably chuckled despite trying to hold it back. “You ok…?”

“Shut up, Odysseus!” I squeaked. My staggered tone made him bite his lip, and begin to kiss and bite my neck softly. I was trying desperately to not act like the total virgin nerd I was, and figured I should try and reciprocate his actions a bit. He luckily wasn’t wearing a belt tonight, so finding my way into his jeans was as easy as I hoped. The moment I began touching him, his body locked up, which made me snort a huge laugh right in his face. “It’s not fun playing the other side of the field, is it?” I taunted.

“Listen, smartass…” We both giggled hysterically, bringing our lips back together to pick up where we left off. I couldn’t tell what I was enjoying more, touching him, or having him touch me. I’d dreamt about this moment many, many times over the past couple of months, and to be living it was greater than anything I ever expected.

Inevitably, the sound of Praxis and Soren racing by to try and grab a spot at the bathroom ruined the moment, since they banged on our windows obnoxiously. Odysseus had luckily closed the curtains, but we knew they were going to continue bothering us until someone answered the door. Thankfully this came seconds after, well, we did, so we were able to at least share that together. Neither one of us wanted to move from one another’s pants or arms; the way his breaths were hitting my neck was driving me insane, and I wanted nothing more than to continue, but we both knew this wasn’t the time or place. Odysseus lifted his head with flushed cheeks and cleared his throat, “Think they’re going to try and break in?”

“Is that a risk we should take?” We both groaned in defeat and stiffly parted. Odysseus cinched his pants into place and leaned against the bookshelf; “We can always pick this up later, you know…?” I teased with a wink as I buttoned my own.

“Pick up what?!” Soren screamed, throwing the door open with a bobby pin in his hand from picking the lock. Odysseus and I screamed bloody murder, which made the two snort huge laughs as they ran back towards their cabins to evade the scythe I whipped out.

╪

The following morning, a calming yet serious silence had enveloped the camp. When my friends and I exited our cabins, our eyes were the pure and rich color associated with our elements. We didn’t speak to one another, but all understood that this was our chance to prove ourselves to Galaxy and Mom, and we were ready to show our worth. Akira stayed close to my leg as we crossed the field to sit at the benches by the outdoor kitchen, where our chaperones were quietly conversing over their coffee. “Morning, everyone. Looks like you’re ready to go?” Galaxy offered, in awe of the dedicated presence that his students held.

“How long is our leash on this one?” Sebastian stiffly responded.

Galaxy shrugged to his surprise, “Since you have someone experienced with these things on the team, I think you should be able to fight it as you please. I’m curious to see how you will react with your new addition, so by all means, do as you feel best.”

“Well, in that case,” Soren began, spreading a map out across the table for us to get a good grasp on the area. “Where do these things tend to lurk, Nick?”

I pointed to the center of the map, “They burrow into mountains and form caves to hole up in until their next feedings. Knowing these gross maggots, the female is probably searching for another mate and is going to stay within close range to the outskirts so she can feed but still attract one. Her main goal is to make a proper den at this point, so she’s going to protect it at all costs.”

Praxis nodded passively, “What are we looking for in terms of signs she’s around?”

I laid a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder, “That’s where Sebby comes into play. There usually is a certain magnitude of plate shifts and or layer disturbances, since they travel mainly underground, so he’ll be great at tracking them. I actually have an idea of what roles you can all play, if you’d like my opinion?”

“More than anything.” Griffin pressed.