"What do you mean she's gone?!" I yelled, heart racing at Claire's panicked voice.
"I mean she took off out the window before I could catch her," she said, pacing around the living room. "I-I-I don't know what happened; one minute she was fine and the next, it was like she was possessed!"

"Probably because she was; I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of you who convinced Eclipse to take over her again," Archie hissed at the Ventils with us. "We did no such thing," Ela growled in response. And to think the evening had been going so well beforehand...

The boys had all gathered in the Mothership to get ready for the Spring Fling; I programmed and uploaded a new transduction illusion for my Akiridion form, just for the occasion. A blue tuxedo with a black undershirt that the other boys praised me for; even Steve, reluctantly.

"Looking good, Krelito," Toby grinned, and whistled teasingly; Aaarrrggghh!!! smiled and growled out a "Nice suit. Shiny," in his gravelly voice, while adjusting the tiny top hat balanced between his horns. I scoffed and grabbed a spare hair tie that Claire had left us, and remembering how Aja would put up her hair, tried to replicate that. I ended up with a decent bun that hung by the nape of my neck.

Jim had opted for a patterned tux he had rented from a local company, in a nice red color; Douxie had a classic black suit and Archie wore a white bow tie. Toby wore a turtleneck and dress slacks, and Steve was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. The Blank bots scurried around, offering very unhelpful advice to us and generally getting in the way, before I decided to shut them down.

The Ventils had taken residence in Lunalis' room to get ready, and they actually looked quite attractive in human formal wear when they emerged. Ela wore a floor-length dress that matched her eyes, green braids intertwined with pieces of amber gathered up in a huge bun on the top of her head. Insanity had decorated her hair with what looked like bones--a common custom among Ventils, Ela had explained--with a pantsuit the color of fresh blood. Aquarius chose an off-shoulder dress with a skirt that moved like the waves of the ocean whenever she walked.

Cephas had groomed his beard into something acceptable-looking at a school dance, and had gotten many strange looks when he emerged in a ballroom gown. Eventually, after we were unable to answer the question as to why Insanity could wear a suit but he could not wear a dress, he had smirked in satisfaction as he let Ela braid his coppery hair down. It was in this high of excitement and anticipation that Jim's phone had rang, and Claire's panicked voice had told us that Lunalis had run away yet again.

"You don't think it was Eclipse, do you?" I asked Douxie, praying it could be something, anything else but that. "Highly likely," Insanity grinned. "Just imagine; your little life-mate, helplessly alone."
"She is stronger than you think," I retorted, ignoring the fact that Insanity had called us mates. "After all, she defeated you by herself."

Insanity shut up at that, growling to herself. "Do you remember which way she went?" Douxie asked, grabbing his staff from where it was resting next to the couch. "She took off in the direction of the storm," Claire explained, voice cracking with a sob. "Oh, God, I'm such an idiot--"
"Stop it, Claire," Jim said firmly. "You aren't an idiot; you couldn't have known Lunalis was going to do that."

"We should go, quickly, if we wish to find her," Archie said with a nervous glance out the window. "The storm looks like it will get much worse later."
"Oh, not again," Steve yelled angrily, as we all soldiered up and prepared to march out the door. Suddenly, the minute Douxie had taken his first step over the threshold, a booming ROAR shook the Mothership by its foundations, knocking us all over like a stack of dominoes.

"Kleb--!" I barely managed to shout before the lights went out, causing somebody (most likely Cephas) to scream in fear. Instantly, waves of fear crashed over all of us; I could literally feel the magic pouring over us, drowning us in a sea of terror as Cephas kept screaming, causing all of us to scream in irrational fear, and Insanity's wings to catch fire from the stress. As soon as the golden light of fire washed the room in what little light it cast, Cephas calmed down, and the waves of fear lulled to a stop.

"What the heck was that?!" Toby shrieked as Aaarrrggghh!!! cradled him in one giant arm. "I have absolutely no idea," Douxie said, crouched over in a defensive stance, Archie on his shoulder. "Holy guacamole," Claire said, staring out the window. "Look at the sky!"

"But...there's nothing there," Steve asked, confused.
"Exactly; it was just about to rain, like, two seconds ago. I think that roar might have done something to get rid of the storm."
"Then..what made the roar?" Toby asked, confused.

"No regular animal, for certain," Cephas said, still trembling under the many layers of fabric that covered him. All of the Ventils seemed a bit on edge, murmuring to themselves, except for Aquarius; her eyes were wide with wonder and what seemed like hope. Before we could register what was happening, she began to sing.

Immediately, surges of emotions washed over us all as the hauntingly beautiful melody reached our ears. Longing in the form of powerful arias made my heart clench and I gasped from the pain, tears glimmering in my eyes as Aquarius sang her heartache to us all. "Cover your ears," Douxie yelled in a strained voice, but no one obeyed the command.

Once again, much like how Lunalis had sung all those many months ago, my senses began to heighten. I could see each strand of Ela's jungle green hair, each just a slightly different shade than the other, and how looking at Insanity's eyes was like drowning in an ocean of blood. I could smell the scent of saltwater and the ocean, feel the seaspray lapping at my ankles even though we were many hours away from the nearest ocean. And through it all, I felt the emotions of pain, heartache, and so much love it nearly made me black out; before I realized it, tears were rolling down my face, and I felt each little trail they traced down my cheek.

"Look," Cephas exclaimed, breaking Aquarius' focus and snapping us out of our trances. "In the sky!"
"Is that--?" Ela started, before being cut off as Insanity sprinted forward, crashing through the front door as if it were made of paper. With a shout of alarm, all of us (except Aaarrrggghh!!!, because the sun was still visible in the sky) followed her outside to see what exactly was flying towards us.

Two silhouettes--one slithering through the sky like a snake would the dirt, the other floating ethereally on the light breeze that had picked up--were flying high in the sky above us, and approaching fast. As they drew closer, I gasped out loud as I noticed a very familiar head of fawn colored hair clutching the back of the serpentine Ventil tightly.

Insanity was racing through the street as fast as her feet could carry her, screeching horribly, though somehow it seemed happier than her usual shrieks intended to terrify. Many times she leapt into the air, suspended for only a moment before crashing back down as her skeletal wings prevented her from soaring into the air to meet with the two Ventils, who were now descending towards us.

The first to land was one who looked both elderly and childish at the same time, with silver hair and large eyes of the same color. Tattoos ran down her arms and legs as giant wings of a butterfly fanned out from her sides, catching the sunlight and casting the street in a rainbow kaleidoscope of lights. However, I barely had a moment to register that this Ventil had not come to rip my throat out before Insanity shrieked and tackled her to the ground.

We all prepared to leap into action--to drag Insanity off the Ventil or help her was debatable--but we froze as we saw her not sinking her fangs into the neck of the intruder, but rather was nuzzling at her, making a strange rumbling noise in her chest as her giant frame easily dwarfed the slim creature beneath her.

The strange Ventil said something to her in her own language, a sound like the chirping of birds and the whirring of insect wings. Insanity replied with downright domesticated coos, nudging her large face into the crook of the other's neck as the other laughed. I turned away from the strange happenings between Insanity and the other Ventil, and instead to the second Ventil who had landed a few feet away from us.

"Lunalis!" I ran over to her limp form, barely gripping onto what looked like spines trailing down his back (it was clearly a male, if the large moustache growing by his draconic nostrils was any indication). His ebony hair was spiked and trailed from the center of his head down his neck and spine actually all the way to his tail, decreasing in size as they went. His eyes were the color of molten gold, yet so narrow and reptilian they were barely slits on his face. His nose was some sort of snout that protruded out from his face, gentle curls of smoke puffing from his large nostrils every few seconds. A large, snakelike tail curled and twisted on the ground behind him.

She collapsed into my arms as soon as I took her from the strange Ventil, who snarled at me when I pulled her away from him. A cry from the first Ventil to arrive made him stop, still eyeing me warily before locking his gaze on Aquarius. His gigantic maw opened for a moment, pausing, before shutting it and rumbling quietly, like some sort of more threatening purr.

Aquarius churred in response, walking towards the other Ventil and embracing him tightly. Smoke puffed out of his nose contentedly, tail wrapping around the slimmer Ventil as they pressed their foreheads together and hummed in unison. "Erm, I hate to interrupt such a touching moment, but could you possibly ask these two what on Earth they are doing with Lunalis?" Archie asked from his perch on Douxie's shoulder.

A few hummed spells and moments later, and the two strangers were easily speaking English. "Once more, I apologise for taking over Lunalis' body," the female Ventil (who Insanity had introduced as Zephyr) said. "I am not quite sure what came over me; I believe my mother may have influenced my decision."
"No kidding," I huffed, still holding a barely conscious Lunalis in my arms. Insanity hissed at my snarkiness, before a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Insanity, at ease," Zephyr said. "I do not blame the human for his concern for his mate; after all, was it not you who time and time again defended my honor?" At that, Insanity was silenced; at the moment, I was too engrossed in Lunalis' condition to correct Zephyr. "She wasn't this exhausted the last time," Claire said as she put a glowing hand to Lunalis' forehead. "She's not sick, just...magically drained."

"The combination of freeing two spirits from her mind, having Eclipse overtake her body without proper consent, and having Zephyr fly her across town into a large thunderstorm might have something to do with it," Douxie said.

"She will just need a few horaes and a rune to regain her strength," Ela decided. "Then she will be ready."
"For what?" Jim asked, confused.
"For your Spring Fling," Aquarius said. "Don't think we will let our hours of grooming be put to waste."

"But--wait," I said as Cephas approached to take Lunalis from my arms. "Lunalis--isn't she-"
"She will be fine with rest and time," Zephyr said firmly. "We shall groom her for your dance. Go, now; we shall meet you there."

"How can we trust you won't just leave with Lunalis the moment we say yes?" Archie countered; my friends murmured to themselves, different voices questioning the Ventils. After all, Lunalis was finally free now; she had no more incentive to stay in Arcadia Oaks. "We spent thousands of annos separated from our mates," Scales, the draconic Ventil who had embraced Aquarius, rumbled. "We would be no better than Eclipse to do the same to Lunalis."

"Krel?" I startled at the sound of Toby's voice asking me for my opinion. Right; I was the one who lived with Lunalis. I suppose it was only fair to ask me for my opinion. "I.." I faltered, looking down at Lunalis' serene, sleeping face. She was gorgeous asleep; all of the stress just drained away from her body, and my heart ached with the pain of thinking she might not feel the same way.

Then I remembered the Kissing Tree; how open she had been with me about her feelings, how she wanted to take her time with me. How magical her eyes had been, glowing with the light of the stars and fireflies and love that could be seen bubbled up inside her with just a glance. "Let them take care of her; she will need it, if she wants to dance all night."

With a solemn nod from Douxie, Claire whipped out her phone to text Mary and Darci that, yes, she was still going to make it to the dance, and Cephas took Lunalis' limp body from me. I was nervous, watching them trail back inside the Mothership like some sort of strange menagerie of animals, but I reminded myself that they would be able to bring Lunalis' strength back, and I was not equipped with the tools to do that.

"Alright, then, what are we waiting here for?" Toby asked, grinning. "We've got a Spring Fling King to crown!"