Kyle stumbled off the Ferris Wheel. "Someone looks a little motion sick!" the operator joked as he handed Runt back to Akora. Kyle ignored him and continued across the boardwalk.

At this time, Aoife and Asim had made their way back to the rides. Aoife had won a plush dragon in a game and wanted to give it to Kyle. She noticed at once that something was amiss.

"What happened?" she asked.

He was quiet at first, but then found his voice and said, "You knew."

Both Aoife and Asim furrowed their brows. "Knew what exactly?" Asim asked.

"Y-You know," Kyle said. He felt stupid saying that, but there was nothing else he could force out. He had yet to recover from the realization that his life had been built on a lie.

The two exchanged glances. Akora joined them. "What happened?" they demanded.

"I have no idea," Akora grumbled. "He just started acting weird."

"Tell the truth!" Kyle ordered. "Just tell them the truth!"

They looked back to Akora, eyes narrowed.

"I don't know what he's talking about!"

Elvia and Nixie rejoined the group. "What's going on?" Nixie demanded.

"We heard arguing."

Akora made a grand sweeping gesture to Kyle. "Your friend here just started pitching a fit and somehow is blaming me for it!"

Kyle shook his head. Either she was very good at playing dumb, or she had absolutely no idea what impact her words had. Either way, it was frustrating. "It's what you said!"

Akora turned back to him, eyes flashing with irritation, brow furrowed and teeth bared. "What did I say?"

"Calm down!" Sean ordered as he emerged from the crowd. "You're going to get us kicked out!"

He knew, too. They all knew. They all knew and didn't tell him. Everyone knew. "You knew, too! You all knew!"

"Kyle, could you please just tell us what we know?" Asim asked in his usual calm, cool, and collected tone.

Kyle struggled to regain control of his voice. If there was anywhere to shout about being an alien, a crowded boardwalk was probably one of the worst places. He drew in a sharp breath and very slowly spoke, "You knew I wasn't from here."

Everyone but Akora and Nixie became stone-faced. Their eyes went wide with surprise, and their jaws hung open, lips trying to form words but remaining silent. Nixie looked from person to person in confusion, while Akora seemed more irritated.

"Y-You didn't know?" Aoife asked.

"We thought you already knew," Elvia said.

"What's going on?" Nixie asked.

Kyle turned to her. He was still angry and hurt, but she was just as clueless as she was. He wanted to tell her but his words failed him once more, and his mouth could only contort as though it were speaking. He turned away and walked. He did not know where he was going, but he needed to be away from them.

"What's going on?" Nixie asked again.

"He just found out he's..." Sean took a breath, "not from around here."

"Where's he from then? The West Coast? Europe? Is he adopted?"

Kyle spun around. The crowds made any progress difficult. "I don't know!" he snapped. "I'm just not from around here!"

He saw Nixie shrink back in surprised. She asked another question, but he could not hear. Akora answered, "He comes from the same place I do!"

He stomped back to the group. "And where is that?" His face was hot and his vision was blurry. He did not want to break down here but he struggled to keep it in. "Where is it?"

The savage was still confused. "A planet called Erd."

"Surprised you even know what a planet is," he spat. "Go on."

She narrowed her eyes but continued. "I'm from Winter," she said, "the great island of ice we visited not so long ago."

"So that's where I come from? That big blanket of ice?"

She shook her head. "Let me finish. You'd be from Frühling, a forested land called 'the perfect place' by some. That's where the animal people come from. That's where the dragon people were born. It's where your ancestors are from."

He had an answer, but it did not satisfy the feelings he had inside. There was nothing else he could think to say, but he did not want to seem defeated. Defeated by what? Whatever. He just didn't want things to go quiet. "Well now what? What does that mean?"

"Kyle, I don't think it means anything," Elvia said, wringing her hands.

"Well why come here!" he demanded. "Why come to Earth and not just stay on our home planet?"

The group exchanged glances. "Are you saying you wished you never came to Earth?" Aoife asked.

He shook his head. "I'm not saying that!"

Sean grabbed Kyle by the shirt and pulled him aside. "Watch out, man!"

Kyle looked down. The imprints of his shoes were burned into the wooden planks of the boardwalk. It made him angrier. "And why does that keep happening!"

"Cool off," Sean told him.

"Don't tell me to cool off!" Kyle snapped. "I'm leaving!" He turned away and started through the crowd once more.

"You don't know how to get back!" Sean called.

"I'll figure it out!"

The remainder of the group watched as Kyle disappeared into the crowd. There was nothing they could say to reach through to him. Anything they said would only make him angrier. With nothing else to do, they dispersed and roamed the pier and beach, though there was no fun to be had after such an incident. They spent the rest of the evening trying in vain to relax and have fun.

The vacation ended and Kyle had made himself scarce. He left without much discussion with his family, returned to his room at the Academy, and only left for class and meals. He never ate much in the first place, and so seeing him outside his room was like seeing a unicorn, but even those sightings were more commonplace.

After nearly a week of waiting, Vince approached the group gathered in the courtyard.

"So tell me what happened."

"He found out where his family comes from and is not happy about it," Elvia said in one breath. She had been just as eager to talk about it as Vince was to learn about it.

The demicorn nodded. "Okay. And? Is that it?"

"Yeah that's just about it," Sean replied. "I mean it doesn't seem like a big deal to me, but I don't know. I've never been told everything I know is a lie."

Vince sat in the grass with them. "I don't know either. I've always known I was different so I've had all my life to live with and deal with disappointment."

"But you're not adopted," said Elvia.

"Well neither are you."

"I know I'm not," she said, "but I can't imagine it's easy to find out. Like, can you think of anyone who had to find out they're adopted?"

"But he isn't adopted," Asim argued.

"The planet adopted him," Aoife said. "Think about it that way."

Vince nodded. "I mean I guess I see where Elvia's coming from. Mr. Cloppes is adopted. I'd imagine he'd react the same way to finding out as Kyle is right now."

Sean felt the remains of his right arm. "Or to losing an arm."

Aoife rubbed her ankle, now free from the boot. "Or failing to live up to expectations."

Asim held his head in his hands. "Or getting rejected by your crush."

"Maybe getting rejected by your parents," Nixie added.

"Or by society," said Elvia.

Vice stood and clasped his hands together. "Well, I can see you have some emotional baggage to unpack, so I'm going to leave you all to this and go talk to him."

Sean looked up. "Wait a minute, ponyboy."

Vince glanced over his shoulder. "I have a name, you know."

Sean ignored this and continued, "Maybe you need to give him more time. Sure you can check on him but don't go expecting any breakthroughs."

Vince nodded. "Okay, stretch." He turned back around and left the courtyard.

Sean looked around at the others. "He could at least be creative about the insulting nickname.

Vince did not find Kyle in his room. He did not find Kyle in the cafeteria. He did not find Kyle in the classrooms, because Kyle was in the library.

The library was a strange place indeed. Kyle had no luck finding any of the books he and the others had read before. He discovered, after a few trips, that there was another room beneath the library. This room, too, was full of books, but it was much less presentable. It took days of searching for him to find a book titled 'AKFERNEN'. Much of the book had been written in another language, but some of it was in English. It was as if the book was a patchwork of different accounts all stitched together. He took the book back to his room and spent all of his free time decoding it. He learned of his ancestors, good and bad, waging wars against enemies of the Family. Sure enough, Akora's claim was correct. Deep within the history, he found details of a faraway planet his family once called home until they were chased away. For a name evidently as well-known as his, there sure wasn't much information on his history. Frustrated, he gave up one night and went for a walk.

He had not noticed prior, but the Academy really came alive after dark, too. The Gargoyles decorating the walls of the school came to life. He walked along one of the walls and saw one stand up and stretch. His skin was still grey, and he kept his wings, but the clothes on his back turned colorful and cloth-like again. The decoration on his head, which had appeared to be a tiny lion, leapt off and ballooned in size. The Gargoyle turned to him and said, "You're the one who burned down that barn in Mexico."

"So you heard about that," Kyle replied. He still could not believe that the barn burning down was his doing. Yes, he was in the barn when it happened. No, there were no lanterns or anything he could have knocked over. But he still could not believe he was the one responsible.

The Gargoyle smiled with pride. "Yeah. It's really good to hear about another Drago flexing their powers like that. We don't get to do it too often."

Kyle shrugged. "Actually I'm a Scorpio, but same thing I guess."

The Gargoyle laughed. "Man, it's so cool to meet you! You learn to fly yet? What about fire? Man, I have so many questions."

Kyle looked at Fledermaus wrapped around his shoulder. The lazy dragon had flown a few times, but never made any fire. "Nah, we're still working on that last one."

"No, not him! You!" The Gargoyle's yellow eyes gleamed with excitement. "Have youflown yet? I know about the barn, but have you ever made fire on purpose?"

After the blow from earlier in the week, these questions had no effect on him. They would have been shocking had they come just a few weeks earlier. "I haven't, really. I mean, I just found out I wasn't human a few days ago."

The Gargoyle recoiled in surprise. A few more Gargoyles nearby turned their heads to look at him. "You didn't know? Man, that's a crime!" The others agreed, nodding their heads and offering a vigorous choir of "Yeah!"

Kyle looked at the group. He was related to them, apparently, and he never would have known it. "Well, I mean, were you my age when you learned how to fly and make fire?"

The first Gargoyle smiled shook his head. "No, no. I was much younger! See, we Drago usually embrace our abilities. We're special, and we shouldn't try to hide it." His smile faded as he continued, "To try and hide it... it's disturbing. No one else but us has these powers. Hiding it is a rejection of the gift." The others nodded in agreement, while another pounded on her chest and said, "Preach!"

This made Kyle feel bad. He felt as if he failed some basic task. He tried to ignore the feeling. "I'm already so old," he said. "I mean, I'm not old old, but I'm not so much a kid anymore. Don't know if I'll ever learn."

"Hey, man. Don't be so hard on yourself." The Gargoyle offered his hand. "Oh, I'm Alejandro, by the way."

Kyle looked at the hand. He was unsure if the fingers were long or short. Altogether they were about seven inches in length, but five of those inches were claws. He accepted the hand, and shook it cautiously. He looked down at Alejandro's Familiar. It was just a lion.

It was still weird to him that he could see a lion in public and think, "Oh that's just a lion? No big deal."

"Do you want us to teach you how to fly?"

Kyle looked back up at Alejandro. It was a very kind offer, but... "How would you do that?"

Alejandro shrugged. "It varies. Some of us have to work on it every day, others just know, and all they need is a little push."

Kyle peered over the edge of the wall. They had to be at least fifty feet up, and they were dangerously close to a cliff, adding at least another hundred feet. He turned back to Alejandro and said, "I think I'll just try and work on it for a bit."

Alejandro, too, looked down. "Probably a good idea. We'll just get you used to the air first then. How often do you fly with your Familiar?"

Fledermaus picked up his head. Kyle looked at the little beast and said, "Can't remember the last time this guy got off the ground."

Alejandro walked to the other side of the wall. "We'll have to change that."

Kyle took the dragon from his shoulders and set it on the ground. Fledermaus grew until he was just a bit bigger than a Great Dane. He peered over the wall, then up at Kyle. He gave his tail a little shake.

"Now that you're aware of this, maybe you'll be able to fly." Alejandro helped Kyle onto Fledermaus's back. "Sometimes you can't fly if you don't know you can."

Well, yeah, Kyle thought. Though, part of him thought Alejandro was getting at something more. He shifted awkwardly on his Familiar's back. He had never gotten this far. "What now?"

Alejandro knelt down. His Familiar shrank back down and leapt onto his head. He then leapt over the wall and spread his wings. A powerful gust ruffled the empty branches of the trees below. The others followed him. Their powerful wings sent the fresh snow below into a flurry of white crystals. When they had a good grip on the air, their wingbeats became less powerful. They hovered there for a moment, before they turned and beckoned Kyle forward.

"Now you!" Alejandro called.

"Yeah! The air is great!" "C'mon, Kyle!"

Kyle looked down at Fledermaus. The dragon stared ahead at the Gargoyles. He raised his front legs up and placed them on the wall. Kyle gripped his Familiar tighter. "Okay, let's go," he said. When Fledermaus did not listen, he tried again in a sterner voice. "Fledermaus, let's go." The dragon turned his head to look at Kyle. He tried one more time, "Fly!" and the beast jumped.

There was a rush of cold air. Fledermaus spread his wings and caught the gusts of wind caused by the Gargoyle's wings. The time it took for him to do this was less than a second, but felt like an eternity. The wind burned Kyle's cheeks. His heart pounded in his chest. The snowflakes still rushing on the wind stung his eyes and made them water. His nose started to run. The only time he had felt colder was when he had fallen into the stream. He peered down. The courtyard was fifty feet below. The branches of the trees were clear, while the snow on the ground had settled in swirls. The moon cast their shadows onto the ground below. He was in the air!

"How does it feel?" Alejandro asked.

He had flown before, for the mission for Flight Class, but he had flown on Leonidas, not Fledermaus. It was different flying with his own Familiar, but still scared him senseless. "Terrifying!" he called back. "This is going to help me fly?"

"It's like water wings!" another Gargoyle said. "We can't just throw you in and expect you to swim, not this time!" She beckoned him with both hands. "C'mon!"

Fledermaus needed no further instructions. He flapped his wings and drifted to the small group. He was excited to be with other dragons. Kyle was less enthusiastic. His stomach was in knots and he thought he was about to vomit. It was comforting to be surrounded, though. If he fell, they would catch him.

"You can relax, you're doing alright."

"Once you get a feel for the air," Alejandro said, "you'll be flying in no time!"

Kyle looked down again. They were so high up...

"Don't look down!" a third Gargoyle warned.

He did as he was told. He brought his eyes back up to the Gargoyles. There were five of them. It was easier to see now that his eyes had adjusted to the light. He felt a bit more relaxed.

"Try to feel his wings," Alejandro said. "Feel the way his body moves as he flies."

Kyle put his hands on Fledermaus's shoulders. He expected to feel muscles beneath scaly flesh, but he felt nothing. He could sense them, however. He could sense the absent muscles and bones working together to give him flight. He felt something in his own back, an itching or an irritation, something that wanted to get out.

"You feel it!" Alejandro said. "Excellent, Kyle!"

He felt himself smile. He felt warm again. This felt right. He was almost ready to fly. Emotionally, of course, he was sure if he threw himself off Fledermaus he would just crash into the snow banks below.

"Now feel it in your own back," the second Gargoyle said. "Feel his wings and imagine they are your own."

He was ahead of her instructions. He had been feeling it. He could imagine his own glorious bat-like wings. He had not even thought about them tearing his shirt. Though, that ought to have been a concern, as it was quite cold. "I can feel it..." he said.

"You're a natural, kid!" the third Gargoyle said. "You'll be flying in no time!"