I groaned as I came to, instinctively putting a hand to my forehead. I was sitting on the couch, back in the Mothership; though I couldn't remember when I had gotten there, or how. A pillow had been slipped under my head, and a blanket smothered me in warmth. I kicked it off, but gasped at the pain the small effort caused me; even the sharp intake of breath made my ribs protest.

I winced as I felt the large lump on the back of my skull; I was still very tender. "Rest, Krel," a deep voice soothed. "Your body has been through a lot today." My eyes were still squeezed shut from the pain, and I opened them to look at whoever had been tending to me. Panic seized me, and I screamed as I leapt off the couch.

"Krel, what's wrong?" the Ventil asked, magenta eyes full of concern that looked genuine, but I wasn't about to test it. "St-stay away from me," I gasped, telling my protesting legs to not collapse from the effort of standing upright. The Ventil was a hulking male hybrid; bushy wolf tail and ears, teeth like daggers and huge wings that were folded behind his back.

Human clothes (a strange choice of apparel for a monster), in the form of a tight black shirt and skinny jeans, accentuated his ridiculously fit body shape to the point of perfection. Small lengths of dark hair with a faintly colorful sheen to it fell in his eyes, the rest pulled back in a low ponytail. He was beautiful the way a toxic plant might be; devastatingly gorgeous to the victim, but just as lethal.

"Listen to me, Krel," he said again, putting his hands out in a seemingly innocent gesture. "Don't even think about coming closer," I warned, eyes landing on my serrator on the couch cushion. If I could just leap over and get it--!

The Ventil tracked my eye movement, and moved to block my view of my weapon. Without thinking, I leaped forward and tried my hardest to knock over the creature, who was taller than me by at least two feet. Unfortunately, it was like trying to tackle a brick wall; I wanted to scream again when he scooped me up in his arms, forcing me to make eye contact with those eyes.

Those magenta eyes...glimmering like....

"Lunalis?" I gasped, realizing my mistake a fraction of a second later.
"Of course," she--he?--smiled, setting me down on my feet again. "It took you long enough to realize it."
"You...you're a man?" I asked, still terribly confused. Maybe Seamus had hit me harder than I thought...

"Seamus," I gasped. "He-"

"He's been taken care of," Lunalis cut me off coldly, before resuming his concern for me. "He didn't hurt you too badly, did he?" he asked. "My magic can be useful in healing smaller injuries, but we could call Douxie and Claire and ask them if--"

"No, I'm fine," I insisted, smiling. "See? Nothing's wrong." Lunalis looked unconvinced. "So..how long will you be like...this?" I asked, taking a seat on the couch again.

"It's very difficult to discern how long I could be this way," he admitted, sitting next to me. "Changing my physical form is difficult to do, so I may be stuck like this for the time being."

I wasn't sure what to make of that. For one thing, the Ventil friend I was incredibly attracted to was sitting right next to me as a male. On the other hand, I still found him extremely attractive. Luckily, a whirlwind of the Blank Bots crowding my space distracted me from the very handsome Lunalis, who was pushed out of the way in their panic.

"Hey, there, buddy boy! You feeling alright after that rustle-tussle with that mug? Hm?"
"Better put a t-bone on that sore spot, buckaroo! Ahahahah!!!" A large steak was flung into my lap by Lucy, who then crowded my face and proceeded to tangle me in white cotton ropes. "Lucy, Ricky, I'm fine," I gasped, spitting out cotton strings. A high-pitched shriek from the front door made them finally scatter.

Insanity was perched in the doorway, examining the situation. Finally, she said, "There are humans out here who wish to speak with you. In private."
"Thank you, Insanity," Lunalis nodded. Said Ventil sneered before walking out and disappearing to wherever she spent her free time.

Instead of the panicked crew of Arcadian Guardians, like I was expecting, a pair of well-dressed women carefully crept into the house. Lunalis snarled when he saw them, and they froze. I put a hand on his arm, and he stopped, though glared at them as they quickly made their way to the couch and sat down.

"Mr. Tarron, it has come to our attention that you were recently...erm, well," the first person--a woman--stuttered, eying Lunalis as he gave both people sitting across from us glares dark enough to cast a shadow of fear over everyone in the house. Even I felt unnerved as I sat there.

"We're from the student board, Mr. Tarron," the second woman said, much more controlled than her partner. "My name is Mrs. Aspen, and my associate is Ms. Diego. The principal of Arcadia Oaks High, Karl Uhl, requests that you come to his office as soon as you can to discuss further legal action against you and your friend for assaulting a fellow student; Mr. Seamus Johnson?"

"That stultus got everything he deserved and more," Lunalis snarled, eyes glowing dangerously. I noticed his muscles tensing the more I sat by him. "All the same, you are still required to come. Mr. Johnson's parents will be present, of course, and your legal guardians are required to attend as well," Mrs. Aspen said, standing swiftly. "Thank you for your time; please be at the high school by 6:00 pm. Sharp." And with that, she turned on her heel and ushered Ms. Diego right out the door.

"Why should we do anything that human says?" Lunalis growled once she'd left. "She wants nothing but to see us wither and perish."
"I've learned that humans do a lot of strange things to solve problems," I said, grunting as he helped me stand. "We should just go, unless we want to draw attention to ourselves."

Lunalis laughed darkly, helping me towards the front door. "I think the time for not drawing attention has long since passed."

*************

We arrived at the high school just before the sun went down. We walked down the now silent hallways with Insanity and a (thankfully) female Lunalis. Our friends had volunteered to come with us for moral support, but I turned them down; the women had come to the house specifically for Lunalis and I, and I didn't want to make the situation worse than it already was.

We entered Principal Uhl's office silently, to see said man sitting subdued behind his desk with his fingers interlaced; Seamus, sitting in one of the chairs across from our principal with a purple nose and his neck in a brace; his father, face turning from crimson to purple with rage when he laid eyes on us, and his mother placing her hands on her son's shoulders and looking at him with sympathy while his eyes widened with fear.

"Please, sit down, Mr. Tarron, Lunalis and Miss...erm," Señor Uhl offered the chair sitting next to Seamus. I sat down, and Lunalis immediately shot a glare at the wide-eyed stare the redhead next to me gave to Insanity. A flutter of her skeletal wings made him immediately back down and turn back to Señor Uhl.

"Now, I know that Mr. Johnson has called you here today to discuss the incident that occured at school a few days ago," Señor Uhl said as Lunalis relaxed from glaring daggers at Seamus' parents and himself. "This illegal 'alien' should be taken out of the country and put back where he came from as soon as possible," Seamus' father shouted. "I knew that kid was trouble from the moment he walked into this high school!"

"Silencio, Señor Johnson," Señor Uhl shouted, slamming his hand on the desk. "While, yes, the matter of Mr. Johnson's injuries are alarming, I will not tolerate such language inside my school." Then, he turned to my Ventil friends and I. "Mr. Tarron, Señor Johnson has asked me to expel you and Miss Lunalis from Arcadia Oaks High permanently."

"Expel?" Lunalis cocked her head. "What does that mean?"
"It means you will no longer be allowed to attend Arcadia Oaks High for your remaining years in school," Señor Uhl explained as he stood.
"Absolute stercus," Insanity hissed from the shadows. "You humans are always so quick to blame, and never the first to accept your own faults."

"You'd better keep your disfigured nose out of business that doesn't belong to you, freak," Mr. Johnson snapped, and Insanity went nuts. She snarled and her wings started to smoke, before Lunalis put out a calming hand. "Insanity, calm yourself," she warned. "Though, Mr. Johnson, she proves a valid point. Why should we be punished for something your son started?"

"My son was only trying to protect you from..from that...that--"

"Señor Johnson, you will keep your personal opinions on...Cantaloupians, to yourself during this meeting," Señor Uhl growled low in his throat.

"All Lunalis did was retaliate for Seamus beating me into flexol," I said, standing. "She defended me!"

"She nearly killed my son," Seamus' mother yelled.

"Only because he was stupid enough to pick a fight with a Ventil's mate," Insanity snarled. "Erm..well, we aren't exactly mates, exactly--" I mumbled, sitting, but the others in the room kept going on and on yelling.

"SILENCIO!!" Señor Uhl shouted, and everyone froze. His sky blue eyes were glaring daggers at the Johnson family and the pair of Ventils beside me. "Everybody, please remain calm."

"How can anybody be calm with a creature like that lurking in the dark?!" Mrs. Johnson shrieked.

Insanity purred, letting a flame twirl between her fingertips. "If you want to meet someone who lurks in the dark, you're looking at the right Ventil," she hummed, red eyes illuminated and glowing hypnotically in the light of the flame. "Perhaps I should drag you into the woods tonight and feast on your boney carcass then, instead of ripping you into pieces now. Your screams would echo quite nicely..."

Mrs. Johnson when white and promptly fainted onto the floor, and Mr. Johnson was turning green. "Señor Uhl, if you'll allow me, I would like to show you all what really happened at school that day," Lunalis proposed calmly, walking to the center of the room and letting magic light up her hands with magenta. Waving them in a circle, she hummed a few notes and the magic started to paint a circle in midair.

With a final exhale of the melody, the circle started to glow and warp, before turning into a window everyone could see into. Inside the circle was like watching a movie playback from Lunalis' perspective. I saw her watch as Seamus walked up to me, how he cornered me against the lockers, and how he pushed me out into the open. Then, the view was blocked by Mary Wang wildly pushing through the gathering crowd of students.

Everyone watched in fascination as the view followed the fight through Lunalis' eyes; when I fell, when she revealed her true form, and when she carried me back to the Mothership. With a small note hummed, the circle winked out of existence. "So you see, Señor Uhl," Lunalis explained with a smile as she sat back down. "Krel and I have done nothing to provoke the action of expulsion. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have the important matter of removing Ventil goddesses from my subconscious to deal with. Insanity, hold the door, please."

Once Insanity had knocked down the door with her magic, Lunalis and I stepped over it (I more cautiously than her), before Insanity followed us out of the office.

Hey there, Snowflakes! I know it's been a slow process getting back into QOTV and the Tales of Arcadia fandom, but I swear, I WILL BE BETTER ABOUT IT NOW. There's no more Project: Titans distracting me from this story, so now, my full attention is on it, and I will finish it soon! That's all for now; peace out!