Tonight was the night. The night we had all been waiting for for many weeks and mensis. Tonight was the night of the Spring Fling Dance.

Ela and Cephas were curious and excited for it--a human custom to show off their mates with music and merriment and dancing? It seemed like a dream. They had eagerly busied themselves with grooming and preening themselves to look their best; Claire had even come over to give out fashion tips to all of us on what we should wear.

Aquarius was nervous to be around so many humans; she was very used to the calm sereneness of the ocean, and not the bright lights and blaring noise of a high school dance. From what I had gathered from my human friends, it seemed very similar to my own den whenever someone was challenging for the place of Alpha. Insanity withheld any commentary about the dance, leaving me with just a small sentence when I asked her about it; "I cannot sing in harmony without my other part."

It shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did, but I couldn't help it; Cephas and Ela were going as a pair, Jim and Claire, Toby and his girlfriend Darci, Douxie was going with the girl from the record store, Zoe, and I had Krel. They seemed lonely without their mates, and it distracted me the entire day while Claire was busy trying to show me different outfits for the dance.

"What's wrong?" she asked finally. "You seem distracted."
"Huh?" I asked, bringing myself back down to earth. "What do you mean?"
"I mean you've been spacing out all day," she said, sitting next to where I was on her couch; she'd insisted on all the girls coming over to her house to get ready, and since I was one of the only girls in the Guardians of Arcadia group, she'd jumped at the chance to bring me along. Mary and Darci were upstairs in her room doing their makeup. "Come on; girl talk time."

"Girl talk?" I was very confused.
"Yeah; you know, girl talk," Claire said, crossing one leg over the other and leaning on her knees. "What's bothering you? Is it boy trouble? Krel not treating you the way you want?"
"No, of course not," I said, thinking of Krel, and how wonderful he was to me. "It's about Insanity. And Aquarius."
"What about them?" Claire asked, the smile slipping from her face to a frown. I hesitated, before confessing "I think they're lonely. Their mates are still trapped inside of my mind. I--I feel guilty."

Do not be guilty for something you cannot control, Zephyr soothed me. We will be released in time; do not rush something like this.
As much as I wish to hold my beloved in my arms, I will be patient, Scales agreed.
"And...well, the others say they're fine with waiting, but...but--"
"You still feel like you can do something," Claire finished.
"Exactly."

"CLAI-RE!" Mary Wang's whiny voice cuts through the stillness of the moment and makes the both of us jump. "Darci used my lip gloss AGAIN and we can't find it anywhere!!!"
"It's not my fault you don't keep your makeup pouch on you when you go to other people's houses," Darci countered, and the sounds of a squabble could be heard from upstairs. "We should probably help them out," Claire said, wincing as a THUD came from above us. "Definitely," I agreed, and we both took off up the stairs before one of the girls killed each other.

**********

"Ugh, stupid weather," Mary groaned as she pulled the curtains in Claire's bedroom shut. "This storm is gonna make us late to the dance!"
"Storm?" I asked, even though I had heard the rumblings from outside.
"Duh, the giant black clouds covering the entire town!" Mary huffed and flopped down on Claire's bed with a groan. "Well, at least it's not raining," Claire said, before stopping as a flash of lightning exploded outside and thunder boomed.

"A storm..." I murmured to myself, watching through the curtains as the sky lit up at random times, followed by a large CRASH of thunder. Please, let me see, Zephyr begged. I was surprised; Zephyr rarely requested anything of me. I wish to look upon the sky, to see the thunderheads crying with rain.

I supposed I owed it to her to indulge her wish; even Scales was excited and wanted to see the rain. After all, living inside a cave made it very hard to see storms whenever they happened; most of the time, all I ever heard was a distant rumbling and the faint noise of raindrops, and the rocks near the entrance to the den would smell weird for a few days. But, since we lived predominantly underground, even the sound of a powerful thunderstorm was muffled by the layers of earth above us. Besides, I was still feeling guilty about Aquarius and Insanity. So, I indulged them.

Immediately after I set eyes on the storm, I felt overcome with a surge of energy, an excitement I had not felt in a great many years. I opened the window all the way (to which Mary, Claire and Darci immediately began protesting), and breathed in the potent scent of ozone and rainwater. My pupils dilated, and I felt a stirring in my stomach as my wings spread on instinct. "Lunalis...?" Claire asked slowly, but I barely paid attention.

Yes, I inhaled deeply, breathing out a misty cloud. I can feel it...the power of the storm...
"Lunalis, are you okay?" Claire asked again, worry tainting her voice.
Lunalis is..not here at this moment, I purred, turning to face the human calling the name of the young Ventil. Claire gasped as she locked eyes with stormy grey instead of bright magenta.

Apologies for snatching the body of your companion like this, I said as Claire dropped into a defensive stance. Truly, it's highly irregular of me. But the storm, the sky, they call to me. I hope you can understand. And with that, I turned tail and slipped out the window before she could grab me with her magic.

Soaring through the sky on powerful wings, the stinging of the wind against my cheeks, I sang my praises to the clouds, which were rumbling and collecting on the other side of town. To the edge of town it is, then, I decided, and with a flap of Lunalis' feathery wings, I was speeding along the tops of the buildings. I swooped and dove under and over lampposts; most of the humans of Arcadia Oaks were inside their dens cowering from the rain, so I was free to fly as far and as wild as I wanted.

I glided on the updrafts as I drew nearer to the storm, flashing with lightning and black clouds rumbling like terrifying beasts, feeling my own blood crackle with energy as I tucked in my wings and burst through the cloud layer into the eye of the storm. Then, I fled as Lunalis began to come to grips with where she was.

"What--huh?! Where am I?!" I shrieked, confused as to how I had gone from Claire's bedroom in one moment to the eye of a thunderstorm in another. Another storm like this will not come to pass for a great many years, Eclipse responded from inside my mind. Now, we must act quickly, before the storm moves on.
"And do what?!" I asked, panic rising as a stray boom of thunder caused me to shriek in fear.
Free Zephy, she simply responded, before my mind was taken over once again.

Agite, ventos veterum magicarum, et date reginam liberam, I chanted, spreading my arms as magic surged through my veins to collect in pools in my palms. Agite, ventos veterum magicarum, et date reginam liberam. The lighting around us surged and crackled, drawn to me as if I were a magnet as the wind howled louder and louder by the second. Agite, ventos veterum magicarum, et date reginam liberam, I shouted, barely able to speak over the hurricane speeds of the wind and the booming of thunder and lightning.

Agite, ventos veterum magicarum, et date reginam liberam!!! 

A draconic ROAR ripped from my throat, blowing the storm clear away from the sheer force of the soundwaves and leaving me under a blue sky. My jaw unlatched for the last time, and two more things left it, circling in the sky around me. My energy faded with Eclipse, and I found myself falling through the sky, wind whistling in my ears as my landing was cushioned by something soft. The last things I saw before I lost consciousness were kaleidoscopic wings of an insect, and eyes the color of a thundercloud. 

**********

Lunalis? Lunalis?! LUNALIS!!!

I gasped as a sudden cold hand laid itself on the skin above my heart, and, panicking, I latched onto it and squeezed hard. A very loud and high-pitched shriek of pain made me shoot up in surprise, before wincing as the bright light of the sun stared directly into my eyes. "What...what happened..?" I asked groggily, trying to block out the sunlight with a hand, and failing. Relax, Lunalis, a voice soothed from above me. You have drained much of your energy to free us.

"Wh...huh?!" I gasped as I struggled to rise and see, because the sun was still, infuriatingly, glaring into my eyes. Once I could squint through the bright light, I noticed the sun was filtering through kaleidoscopic wings that made the ground seem like it was made of patched-together rainbow soil. "How--?"

Zephyr peered down at me from where she was straddled across my knees, gigantic grey eyes staring into mine. She wasn't as tall as the other two sisters; in fact, she was even shorter than Aquarius, who was already quite petite out of water. When she finally rose to her full height, she appeared to be less than five feet tall, perhaps the size of Raven when she was eight annos. That, coupled with her curly silver hair pulled into large puffs on her head, made her look less like a goddess and more like a small child.

Her wings looked much too big for her body, large portions of her butterfly wings dragging on the ground behind her; upon closer inspection, I noticed they were covered in small feathers, like a bird's. Her eyes were large, like a child, and had an almost insect-like quality to them, especially when I saw what I thought was an extra pair of beady black eyes between her eyebrows blink. However, many other aspects of her character made her appear far older than a child.

Her hair was braided with feathers, bones and beads; a common sign of a wise and powerful Ventil. The dark tattoos of spells running up and down her honey colored arms and legs, not to mention the second, smaller set of draconic-like wings which I had not seen before on her lower back lended themselves to the fact Zephyr was much more powerful than she appeared. Large horns spiraled from her temples, arching back to lend themselves to speed in the air.

Come, quickly, she said, grabbing my hand with her own (that reminded me too much of a bird's talon) and hauling me to my feet. We must not be late to the ceremony.
"Hold on just a minute," I said, yanking my hand out of hers. "How are you here? WHY are you here? Did Eclipse tell you to take over my body or--"

I merely gave them a nudge, Eclipse spoke from my mind, interrupting my train of thought. This storm was the perfect window to free them. You may thank me later.
You absolute.... I growled mentally, thinking up many colorful words to call the goddess in my mind, when a low snarl made me jump. We are wasting our time, another Ventil, who I assumed was Scales, growled. Just as his name suggested, he was a Dragon, but not like the many I had seen before.

Instead of leathery wings that spread to take up the entire sky, he had no visible wings I could discern. He was very long and lithe, and had a more delicate body type instead of brawny, and looked very aerodynamically fast, compared to the usual burly, strength-reliant Ventils I had grown used to seeing.

Instead of a reptilian-like face, his facial structure was somewhat reminiscent of a feline Ventil, and his cream-colored hair looked very fluffy and soft to the touch. Two horns grew straight out of the top of his head, and looked straight as bars. Two large, whiplike tendrils grew from under his nostrils (for he had nostrils like a dragon instead of a human-like nose), and nearly reached his kneecaps.

We must leave if we wish to be on time for this dance of yours, Zephyr told me, tugging my hand once again to get me to start moving. I, for one, wish to accompany my mate to a gathering for human pairs.
As do I, Scales agreed. Come, quickly; we must hurry if we wish to alert your human companions that you are attending.
"O-okay," I said, still a bit in shock from the sudden turn of events.

You are too weak to fly on your own, Zephyr decided. Scales shall carry you to your den. With a squeak, strong arms looped under mine and with a roar, I was suddenly hundreds of feet off the ground. I shrieked as I twisted in Scales' grip, terrified he was going to let me drop; it would have been so easy, too.

If you keep twisting, I will not be able to hold you, he grunted, throwing me up into the air, screaming, and catching me on his back. Gripping to his fluffy hair that grew down his spine, I noticed how he slithered through the air rather than flew, and had no need for wings to stay aloft.

Zephyr breezed along in front of us, surprisingly quick for one with such flimsy wings. You'd better hang on tight, Zephyr warned me. I barely had a chance to ask why before the duo accelerated so quickly, we were easily traveling at supersonic speeds. My screams were lost to the wind as we zoomed over Arcadia Oaks, headed back to the Mothership.

Hey there, Snowflakes!!! Wow, it really has been a while since I've published another chapter of this, huh? I'm not going to lie, my writer's block has been pretty horrible (though I'll be honest, it's not even really a block anymore, I think I'm just legitimately lazing around at this point), and I've been pretty busy with my life outside of Wattpad too, so I haven't had the time to write very often (October was a NIGHTMARE). I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the next one, whenever it comes out. Peace out!