I spent the rest of the day setting up my gaming computer in the study. Fortunately I found that both of my monitors fit on the old, wood desk. The window behind the desk cast some glare on the screens, so I resolved to pick up a set of blackout curtains for the office. For now I had to turn the brightness of the screens to max in order to compensate. Once everything was set up I attempted to connect my pc to the internet.
For several minutes I shouted abuse at the router. Nothing I tried connected my computer to any network. I knew grandpa wasn't current with technology, but I had no idea his internet was that bad. Eventually I called the service provider. Sitting on hold for almost an hour tried my patience. When I finally got through to someone I found out that no one had been paying the internet bill so the company disconnected us. I explained about grandpa's death and they agreed to reconnect me. For a while longer I struggled setting up an account with an automatic system over the phone.
Finally, just as the sun was beginning to set, everything was set up. Tomorrow I would take the internet out for a spin. Now, I was starving. Typically, I skipped lunch on the weekends. Today had been no exception. I had spent all day cooped up in the office, and my stomach was furious at me. Hungrily, I wandered down to the dining hall. When I arrived I was greeted by Damien, Sam and Erik. They were all drinking out of mugs.
"Welcome back to reality dear," Erik said, waving at me. "Are you hungry? James and Mathew are cooking."
"Starving, I skipped lunch," I replied.
"What did you do that for dummy," said Sam, appearing disinterested.
"I don't usually eat lunch on the weekends. Too much of a hassle."
"That's a strange way to think about food," Damien commented.
I shrugged, food had never been particularly motivating to me.
"How about I go get you some tea darling," Erik offered. "That may help tide you over until dinner."
"That sounds nice, thank you Erik," I replied.
Erik left, pushing his way through the parlor door and disappearing into the kitchen.
Sam huffed and sat down at the table, taking a swig from his mug.
"I heard you shouting earlier," Damien said. "Was everything alright?"
I grimaced, remembering my altercation with the router. "I had a fight with my computer. Don't worry, I won in the end."
As I chatted with Damien I found out the boys had spent the day sparring with each other. They were practicing in order to prepare themselves to fight against the agents their father had sent after them. Apparently Sam was quite a talented fighter, able to take on his four brothers single handedly. Therefore, I wasn't surprised to observe Sam staring haggardly into his mug. Erik returned with my tea at the same time James and Mathew finished dinner. Tonight they had made pork chops and fresh salad. Everyone settled around the table and began to eat.
"So," I started a conversation with the group, "Damien told me he never learned how to read. Are there things you boys haven't learned how to do because you lived in the Abyss?"
"Well, I'm not totally sure," said James. "We only ever learned what princes of the daemon realm needed to know."
"I guess an easier question would be, what did you learn?" I asked.
"We learned how to fight," Sam jumped in. "Swordplay, boxing, archery. Erik, James and I practiced every day."
"No, Sam, you practiced every day. We only practiced when you begged us to join you," Erik corrected.
"I never begged," shot back Sam.
"What about Mathew?" I asked
"I never had any interest in fighting," Mathew said.
"He would always hid from the dueling instructors, became very sneaky after a while," Erik commented.
"Wouldn't that have made your father angry?" I asked.
"Oddly enough, no. The daemon lord always said 'if you have the ambition to take what you want then you must have the nerve to act,'" James said.
"Oh. That seems a little strange," I observed.
"I thought so too," Mathew replied. "After he forced James to spend so much time reading."
"Mathew, Erik and I spent a lot of our time reading," James expanded. "We studied books on war strategy and governmental policy."
"And some other… miscellaneous subjects," Erik added suggestively.
"Erik and James learned how to dance," Mathew added energetically.
"Why only James and Erik?" I asked
"Come on, can you really picture me dancing with trashy nobles at some frivolous event?" Sam asked.
I shook my head, I really couldn't imagine that.
"Damien and I were deemed too young to learn how to dance," Mathew explained further.
"Wow, the daemon world sounds so different," I was a little stunned. None of these things seemed helpful in the human world. Yet they learned so much that I would probably never know. What about Damien though?
"My brothers taught me most of what they learned," Damien told me. "I was never allowed to work with the royal tutors, but my brothers didn't want me to feel left out." He gave an appreciative smile to his brothers.
"What do humans learn about?" Mathew asked, curiosity sparkling in his eyes.
I thought for a moment. "Well, we learn how to read and write. Then we learn mathematics and history. Mostly we learn that in school."
"What's school," Mathew asked.
"It's an institution where humans gather based on an age range to learn," James informed Mathew.
"So humans don't have personal instructors? That's so weird." Mathew sounded awestruck.
"Do all humans learn in schools, or are only the nobles allowed to attend?" Damien asked.
"All people go to school. At least, most people in this country do. There isn't really a nobility anymore," I replied.
"That's amazing." It was Damien's turn to be awestruck.
I don't know about amazing, I thought. School was a pretty normal, mundane thing.
"So in order to learn things you have to go to school," Sam said, sounding a little put out.
"Not necessarily. There's things you can learn outside of school. Like how to drive a car or how to play an instrument," I reassured him.
"Sounds like we are lacking a lot of skills we need in order to live in this world." James commented.
"I was worried that might be the case," I said. "But you know what? I bet there are some classes you can take which might help you."
"That sounds promising," James said
"How do we find these classes?" Mathew asked.
"I should be able to do a little research and find something online," I told Mathew. "I doubt there will be much availability until the fall, but I can start looking tomorrow."
The boys seemed enthusiastic at this prospect. Even Sam, who I had assumed would be against schooling, appeared interested. I spent the rest of dinner explaining how schools worked in the human world. Mathew was mystified at the idea of trade school, specifically cooking classes. Erik was impressed by the diversity of art classes and fine art schools there were available. James expressed interest in exploring higher education. Damien couldn't stop talking about finally learning to read. Sam watched the conversation in silence, excitement dancing behind his eyes.
Their enthusiasm for school bewildered me slightly. Compulsory education had ruled my life for 12 years, controlling my every action. From dictating my friendships to deciding what time I woke up in the morning, school was everything in my life. I hated all of it. The fear of tests, the tediousness of homework, the bias of teachers and the limitations of subjects. Never have I had free will in my education, and I still won't for the next four years. I was manipulated into taking advanced placement classes to stave off boredom. Then I was peer pressured into difficult art classes. Now, mom has chosen my college for me. I may have just graduated, but I still have a lot of resentment about my education.
After dinner I helped everyone clean up the dishes. Once we were done Mathew grabbed my hand.
"Mika, let's go," he said brightly.
"Go where?" What was he talking about?
"You promised to teach me how to play a game."
"I don't think I promised-" I started.
"What's this about a game?" Erik cut in.
"There's a room upstairs with a whole bunch of human games!" Mathew explained excitedly.
"Oh? I don't think we have ever played a game before," James said.
"Never played a game before?!" I said shocked. "I'm beginning to think you boys were neglected as children."
"May we join you darling?" Erik asked.
"Of course, you all should join us. Most of those game are more fun with multiple people," I encouraged.
"I dunno, sounds stupid to me," Sam said grumpily.
"Your mind seems to be interested in joining us," Damien mused.
"Get outta my head!" Sam shouted at his brother.
I laughed with Mathew and Erik.
"Come on, let go play a game," I said. Mathew's enthusiasm was rubbing off on me.
I led the boys upstairs to the gaming room. The room was a little bit smaller than the bedrooms. Each wall was lined with shelves containing an assortment of card games, board games and memorabilia. In the center of the room was a round table with plenty of space for five people to sit comfortably. A pile of pillows were stacked in a corner to be used as seats for the table. There was one window that looked out over the drive. The fading light cast a dark shadow over the property. I flicked on the overhead light while wondering what game to play.
Eventually I decided on teaching the boys Uno. The game wasn't super complex and a good gateway game. While I searched for the game the incubi dismantled the pillow tower and set up the table. Pulling out the two decks I had mashed together as a kid, I explained the rules to the boys. I dealt seven cards around the table and we began. Damien, the youngest, went first. They caught on to the rules fairly quickly. After a few rounds some of the boys were nearing victory.
"You forgot to say uno Mathew," James said, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Gaah! You've got to be kidding me," Mathew exclaimed while drawing two more cards.
"Haha, serves you right for forgetting," said Sam, a single card clutched in his hand.
It was my turn, and Sam was next. Mathew had just placed down a blue four. I fingered my last wild card tentatively. What were the chances Sam had a blue card? Maybe I should make it green instead…
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Damien said. "Sam's last card is green."
"WHY YOU LITTLE!" Sam shouted, jumping up and staring daggers at Damien. "Damien is cheating!" he declared.
"I'm sorry! I can't help it," Damien responded, sounding mildly warry.
"Oh yeah, help this." Sam pounced on Damien, wrestling him to the floor.
The two tussled for a moment, until Sam came out on top, pinning his brother to the floor. Everyone else was laughing at their antics. Even James had a humored smile on his face.
"Alright Mika, what's your play?" Erik laughed.
"I think I'll play this!" I said, dramatically tossing a blue eight onto the pile.
"Oh good, now Sam has to draw," Damien teased.
Sam grumbled and began pulling cards out of the deck. After the fourth card I began to giggle. The noise echoed around the table as Sam drew a fifth and sixth card. Slowly our laughter grew into a thunderous guffaw as Sam's hand grew to twelve cards. His face grew redder and redder from anger as he kept drawing. Finally he drew a blue one.
"That's it, I'm not playing with this cheater anymore," Sam decided, pointing an accusing finger at Damien.
"What?!" Damien chuckled. "But I didn't do anything wrong."
"Pfft," Sam snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Perhaps we should stop anyways. It's gotten pretty late," James said, a hint of comedy in his voice.
"Yeah, I'm pretty tired," Mathew agreed.
"I'll clean up, you guys go to bed," I said, smiling.
They began to leave the room one by one, wishing me a good night. Erik was last to leave, and he paused by the door.