Queen Of The Ventils

IXXX

I still don't get what's so exciting about a controlled fire, Insanity huffed for the umpteenth time as I laced up my shoes. If it is caged in a stone prison, why force it to endure the pain of never being truly free? It will die in captivity, never tasting the true great outdoors.

Insanity, relax, Cephas said. It's just a fire; it isn't like the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
How do you know? she shot back. You never did respect fire. You Earth Ventils never respect what can hurt you until it actually does--

Enough, I silenced them. You can talk plenty about this, AFTER the Pyram happens. We're going to be late if we don't hurry!
"Be sure to bring a jacket," Krel warned. "It will be colder out than usual." Summoning the silver hoodie I had abandoned when I was first choosing my human disguise, I tugged it on and dashed out of my room into the lounge.

Ricky and Lucy were dashing around, ensuring we both had flashlights, plenty of water and insisting on "No hanky-panky on Lover's Lane", whatever that meant. We left the house about 10 minutes before we were due to be there, because Krel had a method of transportation he wanted me to try.

"It's called a hoverboard," he explained, as I cautiously swiped underneath the board of electric blue energy that was floating a foot off the ground, suspended by a strange power. "What kind of magic does this object possess?" I asked suspiciously, batting the board around the front sidewalk with my hands.

"No magic," he smiled, jumping onto the hoverboard with a giant leap. "Just science and brilliant engineering. I have been working on its construction for quite some time. Come on, jump aboard; I promise it won't hurt you." I stared warily at his offered hand, before accepting and letting him pull me onto the board next to him.

The moment I stepped foot on the hoverboard, it immediately listed to the side. Panicking, I grabbed Krel around the middle, hissing wildly while trying to maintain my balance. "Lunalis, relax," he yelped, struggling to keep his own balance on the board with my crazy movement. Slowly, I stopped moving, and Krel got the hoverboard back under his control. Then, I tensed and tightened my grip on him as he leaned forward, and the board started to move.

Gliding smoothly over the sidewalk, the hoverboard inched its way out of the neighborhood and into the forest, surely and steadily making its way through the maze of trees. With the setting sun casting its golden glow on the leaves, the entire forest was glowing an amber yellow color.

When we finally got to the campsite, I immediately leapt off the hoverboard and face-planted on the ground, scrambling for something to grab onto to stop the world from tilting. Eventually, my hands locked around the sturdy, slightly hairy tree trunk, and I held on for dear life.

When the earth finally stopped moving, I breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the tree I was clinging to, who looked back down at me with a confused expression on his face. "Oh. Hi, Seamus," I said, clambering to my feet and brushing the stray debris from my clothes. "I haven't ever ridden a hoverboard before, so my reaction was...surprising."

"Yeah, definitely," he agreed, chuckling. "Anyways, we still on for that ice cream date this weekend?"
"Of course." Krel cleared his throat from behind us, grabbed my arm and tugged me over to where the other girls were standing by a bunch of plastic cups. 

While he was dragging me away, I got a good look at the party. It was a large gathering of humans from Arcadia Oaks High, including many familiar faces such as Seamus' cronies, and the girl I frightened the first day of school, who was playing a cithara while sitting by a huge fire that cast a light on everyone's faces.

"Omigosh, Lulu," Mary squealed once Krel had walked off to find Toby. "Are you really here with Kevin? Like, with him with him?"
"Why are you repeating yourself?" I asked, confused. "I heard you the first time. And I've told you, my name is Lunalis."

"Oh. My. GOD," Mary gasped. "You are so totally on a date with Karl!"
"A date? Oh, no, Krel and I just came as friends."
"What?! NO! You can't friend-zone him yet! I'm already dreaming up ship names!"
"Unfortunately, I believe I already have."