An hour later, we were probably as underprepared as one can be when about to face a deadly, magical creature.

We were all wearing matching uniforms, and under special demand from all of us, we were gifted stormy grey outfits instead of canary yellow ones. Bulletproof vests, shin and wrist guards, and sleek, handheld neurometers.

"Remember, these neurometers are only in their beta test phases," Costas reminded us. "They aren't field ready, and may or may not work in a sticky situation."

"Yeah, okay," Steve said, absorbed in watching his muscles flex in the mirror, rippling around under the silver fabric. Claire rolled her eyes at him and slid her neurometer into the holster at her side.

Toby was pantomiming poses from spy movies, holding his gun up. "Domzalski. Toby Domzalski," he mimicked a gunshot. Sliding my armor on, I sighed as I took a look in the mirror. I looked too much like a scientist. Someone who didn't care what others thought or felt, if it meant learning more about the universe.

Turning away from the mirror, I debated whether or not to take the neurometer offered to me. Eventually deciding to leave it, I took my serrator instead. It may have been a stupid decision, but at least I would have something from home to go down with.

**********

We marched, single file, through the lab and to the back, where the creature was waiting in its cage. I placed a hand on the glass, hoping to get a better view of the inside from up close. The mist swirled around my hand on the other side, as if it were trying to reach for me. I heard a low growl from the left side, and I turned. A moment later, a flash of purple crashed into the glass.

I let out an undignified shriek and leapt backwards. I crashed into Jim, who crashed in Douxie, who tripped over Archie's tail and the three of us went down like dominoes. Archie, hissing, nursed his injured tail. Scrambling to my feet, I immediately turned my attention back to the glass.

A pair of eyes, a brilliant fuschia color, stared back at me. A muted hiss and a flash of magenta, and they were gone. "There can be no doubt now," Douxie mumbled, helping Jim to his feet. "We have officially captured a Ventil." He turned to all of us, Archie perched on his shoulder. "I understand if you don't want to come inside," he started, "But-"

"Are you kidding me," Claire said. "We're with you to the end, Teach."
"I'd never miss out on the chance to go on a quest," Toby said, wielding his warhammer. Steve nodded, baseball bat ready. "It's my job to protect Arcadia," Jim said, hefting Excalibur. "I can't do that sitting on the sidelines, right?"

"We're all going with you, Douxie," I said, transforming my serrator into its blade form. Douxie straightened his shoulders, looked to the right and nodded at Costas.

Saluting, he put his hand to the keypad on the side of the cage. The glass wall rose with a slight hissing noise, mist leaking from the opening. Taking one last look at the lab, hoping it wouldn't be my grave, we entered the belly of the beast.

**********

Inside the cage, I could barely see an inch in front of my own face. Walking through the mist was like walking through soup, and seemed to have a mind of its own. Whenever we progressed in a certain direction, it seemed to get thicker and more solid.

At one point, Steve tried to turn around and go back, but for some reason he was stopped. It was like an invisible blockade was preventing him from going further.

Just to test the durability of the mist, I tried to turn around as well. But, just like Steve, I too was stopped. The mist actually solidified and transformed into a wall that prevented me from going further. That's when I tried to cut through the mist with my serrator. Big mistake.

Instantly, a piercing shriek echoed throughout the cage. I could hear Archie yowling in front of me, but I barely noticed over the pain of the noise digging into my ears.

Then, suddenly, the shrieking stopped. I uncovered my ears, bewildered by the horrible noise that had assaulted my ears. Then, a voice started speaking. It wasn't speaking in any human language, or any language I was familiar with. It spoke in a strange, melodic tongue that was like sweet nectar to my ears.

Snapping myself out of the daze, I hurried to catch up with everyone else. They were all back to back, weapons drawn. I squeezed in between Douxie, who had his staff in guitar form, ready to attack, and Jim, who was struggling to keep his huge sword hefted.

The voice kept speaking, the words sweetened and honeyed. Archie, in his dragon form, shouted something back, presumably in the same language. "You can understand what it's saying," Claire asked, bewildered.

"Yes, I can, for the most part, because somebody decided to take the time to learn Ancient Arcane Languages, unlike some wizards," he replied, pointedly looking at Douxie. Before Douxie could respond, the voice abruptly stopped.

We all tensed, ready for the Ventil to strike. We waited for what seemed like forever, and I could almost hear the others heartbeats pounding away. Then, Toby gasped and fell to his knees.

"Toby," Claire cried, letting her magic dissipate and rushed to his side. "Tobes, can you hear me," Jim shouted, dropping Excalibur and shaking his shoulders. Claire was about to slap Toby, when she froze, watching something in the mist. "Jim," she said, voice shaking.

"Wh-," he started, then froze, mouth agape. Steve dropped his bat and stared at whatever Jim and Claire saw. Even Douxie was frozen in place, and Archie was back in his cat form, sitting and staring with huge eyes. I turned to see whatever they were looking at, and I felt my breath stripped away.

The Ventil was agonizingly beautiful.

She was like a statue, carved by the most brilliant artist in existence. Her fuschia eyes sparkled with power, mystery, and just a hint of mischief, standing out even in the dark.

Her raven hair, a waterfall of ebony, cascaded down her back in a solid sheet and stopped at her waist. It was a stark contrast to her porcelain skin, which was so pale she looked like she had never seen the sunlight.

Everything about her was flawless. Everything, from the angle of her cheekbones, to the shape of her nose, even the tips of her claw-like nails, was immaculate. Her arms were muscular, her legs toned to perfection, everything made from raw strength.

But, her loveliness wasn't the kind of beauty that made people desire her. She had a cold beauty; a sort of glamor that demanded respect and worship. She was like a goddess; so perfect that she was beyond our comprehension.

Then, I began to see the imperfections in her otherwise flawless guise. The bruise just above her right eye. The crimson line on her left cheek. The huge scar on her lower thigh, that showed through the rips in her cloth skirt. Her prominent ribs, showing through her worn and ripped top.

She had no human ears, but instead had the ears of a wolf, which were poised on top of her head and had fur the same color as her hair. There was a bushy tail growing out of her back, and wings at least 10 feet in length hung limp behind her back.

Audibly swallowing, I tried my hardest to break away from her piercing gaze. Her eyes seemed to see through mine, seemed to look past me and into my mind. It was a lot like Señor Uhl's gaze, in a way. Except the person staring me down was a magical entity that could kill me in an unlimited amount of creative ways, and the other was a high school Spanish teacher and interim principal.

She purred something I couldn't understand, still staring at me. Then, lifting one of her delicate hands, she beckoned me forward with a finger. Shaking my head violently, I rapidly started to backpedal, trying to get away. Frowning, she moved her arm like she was shoving something aside. Instantly, everyone went flying into the mist, flung aside by some invisible force.

Turning back to the Ventil, she was still staring at me, and beckoned me again. Her body language was clear, even if I couldn't understand her speech: You will come here now.

I shook my head again, and kept backing up, until I hit a wall. At first, I thought she had solidified the mist again, until I realized the mist had evaporated.

Douxie, Toby and Steve were groaning in a dogpile on the other side of the room, Jim was helping Claire to her feet, and Archie, a dragon now, was desperately trying to get his tail out from under Steve's weight, belching fire all the while.

I had backed all the way into the glass wall, where I could see Sargeant Costas and the other scientists gaping in awe at the Ventil, who was still approaching me.

She stopped about 10 meters from me, just staring. Then, lifting her hand again, she closed her fingers into a tight fist. Instantly, I was speeding towards the Ventil, feet barely gliding above the floor.

I shuddered to a halt right in front of her, still hovering barely an inch off the ground. Tilting my chin up with a finger, she examined me all over. She took in my eyes, my hair, which she ran her fingers through multiple times, much to my discomfort. She traced her fingers over my shoulders, down my chest, and even started walking circles around me.

"Krel, get out of there," Jim shouted, running to me, sword raised. Not even batting an eye, the Ventil held up her other hand, the other still laying on my shoulder, and snapped her fingers. Instantly, a wall of mist encased the two of us, blocking out everything except her.

Placing both hands on either side of my head, she laced her delicate fingers through my hair until her palms were resting over my ears. Then, she began to sing a strange melody.

Even muffled by her hands, her voice was incredible, like a thousand different notes colliding in a beautiful symphony. There were no words in the song, but that didn't take away from her performance. It lasted for a few seconds, but it was magical all the same.

When she took her hands away, I immediately started running my fingers over my face, my arms and my legs to make sure I was still intact, and hadn't turned into a walking terrarium.

"Krel! Krel, are you okay," I could hear the others shouting. Trying to respond, I opened my mouth, but the sound that came out was definitely not English. Grabbing at my throat, desperately trying to make tongue change languages, the Ventil giggled. "It's so funny how much you struggle," she smiled. Her voice was soft and melodic, like her throat was lined with velvet.

"Y-you speak English," I asked, bewildered why she hadn't communicated with us earlier.
"What do you mean," she asked, her brow furrowing. "You're speaking Ventis, just like me."

"So that's why my English sounds so funny," I mumbled to myself. "Can you change my voice back," I asked the Ventil. "Please?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely..." she started sarcastically, then winced and fell over. Backing up, I took out my serrator, ready to fight if I needed too.

I wished my sister were here; she was the warrior. She should be the one fighting. I should be back at home, designing new tech and clearing out the bugs in the Mothership's systems.

Groaning, she rolled around on the floor, grabbing at her head and occasionally whining in pain. After a few seconds of this odd behavior, she abruptly stopped. Tensing, I carefully approached her, serrator in blade form.

When I got within reach of her, I poked her with the toe of my shoe. When she did nothing, I assumed she was unconscious. I turned to try and find a way out of the mist, when something grabbed my forearm.

Without thinking, my serrator changed into shield form and I lunged at whatever had grabbed me. Hissing, the Ventil stumbled back, rubbing her collarbone where I had crashed into her.

"I was going to change you back to English," she growled, coming closer. I tensed as she slid her hands into my hair once again. This time, she didn't sing, merely spoke a few words, then retreated.

"Hey, I can speak normally again," I exclaimed, rubbing my throat. It was nice being able to speak English again. The Ventil just looked at me with utter disgust. I guess being assaulted by an ionic energy shield would put someone in a bad mood.

Growling something in her native language, she retreated back into a curtain of mist. As the rest of the haze cleared, my friends all rushed to me and started interrogating me about the Ventil.

"What did she say to you?!"
"Did she curse you?!"
"Are you alright?"
"Did she say she had a thing for you?"

"Steve," Claire scolded him, slapping his shoulder.
"I'm alright," I assured them, then proceeded to tell them about what she'd done.

"And you're sure it was a female," Douxie asked when I was done telling my tale. I nodded. "It's a miracle you're alive," Archie said in wonder, sniffing at the shoe that had touched the Ventil.

"Why she would take an interest in you, I cannot fathom. Perhaps she was only curious. If she were malevolent, you would have probably been killed by now."

"Thanks for the reminder," I said, shuddering at how close she had been to me.
"We should get out of here," Claire said. "Before this girl changes her mind and decides to turn us into singing pumpkins or something worse."

Under unanimous agreement, we turned around and started to leave. The mist had dissipated for the most part, some still straying around our ankles. Just before I left the cage, I turned one last time, to see if I could see the Ventil.

She was staring at me, still as a statue. She raised one hand, and more mist swirled around her, concealing her bit by bit until all that was left were her eyes. Turning back, I clambered out of the cage, leaving the eyes following me behind.

Yahoo! They've finally met! This is the start of something big, I can promise you that! No, spoilers, though. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I didn't want to leave the last one where it did, but if I didn't cut it short this one would've been about 6k words long and even I don't have the patience to read that, even if it's for grammar and spelling edits.

Please let me know what you think in the comments, and I'll see you guys next time! Peace out, Snowflakes!