"The second phases of the Spring King trials are nearly upon us," Lunalis hummed, hopping up and down trying to get me excited for the challenge. The next challenge was some sort of book stacking competition; nothing too difficult, considering my strengths excelled in engineering, and yet I couldn't find it in me to be excited. Probably because I would inevitably see Seamus' face if I decided to participate.

"Can't we just not attend these trials?" I asked Toby as he rambled to Jim about the upcoming challenge. "Well, sure, but then you'd be forfeiting your claim to the ultimate seat of high school power," Toby said dramatically.

"Are seasonal monarchs really that important?" Ela asked, feline ears drooping in boredom. She and Cephas had both decided to tag along to school for the day, but were growing increasingly bothered by the number of people who stopped them asking what they were.

"I believe so," Insanity mused. "But what good is a child king who rules over pathetic whelps? Even chaos and disorder make more sense than that."
"Insanity, always with the chaos and the killing," Cephas sighed. "Can you not find something else to entertain yourself with?"
"You could give the chess club a try," Toby suggested, and she growled.

"Gah! Mr. Tarron, why are there more of these...creatures roaming about the school hallways?!" Señor Uhl stomped over to us. "If they are not students, they are not permitted on campus."
"Apologies, o great Alpha of this pack of adolescents," Ela bowed her head. "We will not trespass on your territory any longer. Insanity, Cephas, come."

"Make sure you go back to the Mothership," Douxie called after them as they took off running through the streets. "Aren't you supposed to be at the Book Stacking competition by now, Mr. Tarron?" Señor Uhl turned to me. I groaned, and started trudging behind Toby, who led the way to where the competition was being held. "I'll wait outside the gymnasium for you, Krel," Lunalis called before she was escorted to class.

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

"Ay yai yai," I sighed, slumping next to Lunalis on the bleachers an hour or so later. "I cannot believe I was bested by that soolian!" Though, in my defense, Seamus hadn't exactly been fair in his competition. One of his friends knocked down my tower of literature a few minutes before time had run out, and he had another one to help him stack higher. The fact that there was no adult supervision made it all the worse.

"I could always ask Insanity to discipline him," Lunalis smiled, and her eyes glinted with what looked like a mixture of dark mischief and revenge. She was most likely still angry with Seamus; not that I blamed her. "No need," I sighed after a split second of consideration. "The last thing I need is to be expelled from this school for real."

"Hey! Tarron! Lunalis! Get your lazy butts off the bench and start warming up," Coach Lawrence yelled at us from across the gym. "It's time for our wrestling unit!" Lunalis exhaled, rising and offering me a hand. I took it and pulled myself to my feet, and we walked hand in hand to where Coach was standing by a makeshift elevated platform with many bungee cords lashed to make boundaries.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I've got you all sorted by weight class," Coach Lawrence yelled at us, waving his clipboard around to get the attention of all the students, before clearing his throat. "Ahem. First class for the boys; Krel, Jim, Douxie..." He prattled on, reading off random names I didn't recognise, until the biggest weight class was called and I heard Lunalis' name listed among them.

"You expect me to grab and wrestle with smelly, sweaty human adolescents twice my size?" Lunalis asked, clearly unamused.
"What?" a larger boy next to us teased. "Too scared because you're a girl?"
"No," Lunalis replied sweetly, and the boy screamed as his legs were pulled from underneath him as he was hoisted into the air. "I was just proving the point that it wouldn't really be fair to you boys. That's all."

"Alright, alright, get in the ring, Wolf Girl," Lawrence yelled, blowing the whistle. "And you! Johnson! Less standing, more action! You're up against her first!" A sudden chorus of "ooh"s and gasps went up, and Lunalis sneered at Seamus (who she had been forced by Señor Uhl to heal so he could compete in regular school activities), and he swallowed; I could see the bobbing movement of his throat as he struggled to climb into the ring.

"Now, I don't wanna see any magic or teeth in this match, alright?" Coach warned, shooting a pointed glare in Lunalis' direction. "Just plain wrestling." And with a tweet, the match began. Seamus was wary as he approached Lunalis, arms spread uncertainly as he drew closer. Then, just as he was about to pin her into a corner, she zipped out of his reach and into the opposite corner of the ring. And so went the pattern for about five minutes.

"I don't want to fight you, Lulu," he said, as she began to circle him; the first move of action she had done this entire time. "I don't hit girls."
"Well, isn't that a shame," she said, lip pouted, before she charged him. Yelping, he instinctively put his hands over his face, which unfortunately for him left his...erm, lower areas less protected.

A collective "oof" rose from the audience as she brought a knee up into his groin; even Coach Lawrence winced as Seamus bent over, mouth open in a large 'O' shape. Then, quick as a whip, she forced his head in the space between her legs, grabbed his arms (that had flown out to keep his balance), leapt upwards and brought her knees down on his back as she landed. And with the tweet of the Coach's whistle, Lunalis had won the match.

"How did you do that?!" Claire asked as Lunalis sat at the edge of the ring as Seamus was carted off to the nurse's office (his face had again taken quite the bashing from the force of impact). Lunalis shrugged. "When I was living in the Ventil caves, we had been taught the basic lessons of hand-to-hand combat in the Arenam. This move was a common one, often used by one with high agility levels to bring down their opponent."

"Good use of the Pedigree, Lunalis," Coach barked out a laugh. "Now let's see you try it again. Palchuk! Get up here!"

*******

After the school day was over (and Steve had been cleared by the school nurse that his replacement tooth had not, indeed, been knocked loose), we all trudged to the Mothership and collapsed. "Honestly, I think wrestling has got to be the worst idea Coach Lawrence has come up with in a long time," Claire groaned, flopping over in the nearest available chair.

"I absolutely agree," I chimed in, taking a seat on the couch. Lunalist sat by my side, leaning into my shoulder as Archie clambered into her lap and fell asleep. Everyone else made various sounds of agreement, too tired from Gym to form complete sentences. "Well, if you all are in need of a relaxing vacation, perhaps we could visit the ocean," Ela suggested. "It has been so long since I last saw the beach," Cephas agreed. "Felt the warm sand on my hooves--"

"I have no interest in seeing the ocean," Insanity said flatly, and promptly retired to my room where she locked the door. "She's a bit scared of water," Cephas whispered.
"Understandably so, of course," Ela chimed in, pleating her long lengths of hair into little braids, then tying them back in a high ponytail. "She cannot use her influence over fire underwater; she's essentially powerless."

"The beach sounds so good right now," Claire sighed wistfully. "I'd kill for a swim right now."
"Too bad we're miles away from the nearest one," Toby grumbled. We were silent for a few moments, until Lunalis started suddenly. "What's up, Lunalis?" Douxie asked, noticing her jump.

"Eclipse said she could help," she responded, and I sat up a little straighter.. "Her voice simply startled me, that's all." She was silent for a while, until she said "No humans?" aloud, and the others around us looked up in curiosity. "What did Eclipse say?" Archie asked, looking up at her after a few more minutes had passed.

"Aquarius said she knows the place Eclipse is talking about," she said, and I could tell by her unfocused gaze she was listening intently to the voices in her head. "She says it is somewhere humans have avoided for years...guarded by an enchantment to make their ships lose course, to make it easier for her subjects to bring them beneath the waves. The place she used to call her kingdom."

"Wouldn't that be extremely dangerous?" Jim asked. "I mean, there were Ventils living around Ela's old den; we'd be walking right into a death trap."
"Not necessarily," Lunalis answered, rubbing beneath Archie's chin. "Water Ventils spend almost their entire lives underwater; they would only surface unless something were to disturb their home. And they are known to live hundreds of miles beneath the water's surface. We would be nowhere near close enough to bother them."

The others mulled it over for a while, thinking. "We could possibly release my sister if we were to go," Ela finally spoke up. "It would make the journey more than worth it."
"And it has been a while since we last tried to free a sister," Archie agreed, and I felt Lunalis shift uncomfortably at the mention of it.

"Only if Lunalis wants to," I said, taking her hand and squeezing it. She squeezed back, and smiled. "Alright, Eclipse; take us there," she said out loud, and I thought I felt the room begin to vibrate. With every passing second the vibrations grew more violent, until the furniture was shaking and Ela and Cephas were struggling to stand. "What in the name of the sun and stars is going on out here--" Insanity began, emerging from Lunalis' room and shrieking as she lost her balance and collapsed onto the floor.

"Hold on tight," a strange voice spoke from Lunalis' mouth, and I did a double take as her shamrock green eyes were replaced with an empty void filled with stars. As my body felt compressed tighter and tighter into itself, I squeezed my eyes shut as we were suddenly teleported somewhere else.