Tales from PS 3 by augmentedfourth

Ayn cursed to himself as he threw down his wrench, letting it clank on the pavement beneath his rusty car. Despite his best efforts to keep it working condition, the Escapipe simply refused to start this afternoon and he was growing frustrated. He and Thea had made plans to meet Nial and Alair at a fair in the next town over, but as Thea had to perform her cheerleading duties at the school's football game that morning, the other couple had gone on ahead. Unfortunately, that left the blue-haired boy stranded in his driveway.

He gave the front tire a swift kick before pulling out his cell phone and dialing his girlfriend. Hi, Thea, he greeted her when she answered his call.

Hi! Thea was bubbly as always.

I know I'm supposed to be picking you up soon, but my car won't start. He sighed. Nial and Alair are probably too far away by now, so I guess we can't meet them at the fair.

Aww... He could practically see her pout over the phone.

I'm sorry, I know you really wanted to go.

Thea paused. I can always ask my father if he could give us a ride, she suggested.

Ayn tried to stifle his groan, as he usually went out of his way to avoid Thea's intimidating father. Still, he hated to disappoint her. Do you really think he'll agree? Techna is kinda far away.

I'm sure I can talk him into it! she giggled. We'll be over in about ten minutes to pick you up!

Sure enough, Thea and Lyle pulled up in the latter's sleek, golden car right on schedule. Ayn opened the door to the backseat and slid inside, offering his profuse thanks for the ride to the fair. Lyle said nothing, but merely focused his one green eye on the new passenger via the rearview mirror for several moments before taking off.

The two men remained mostly silent for most of the trip as Thea chattered on about that morning's football game, which their school's team had actually won for a change. The opposing team, the Giants, had had a better record coming in, but their star player had been kicked out early on, much to the surprise of the spectators. The large, muscular boy had disagreed with a call and had yelled at the referee, menacingly wagging his finger in the man's face and threatening him. He was promptly banned for the rest of the game and P.S. 3's team had managed to prevail and achieve victory over the ominous Giants.

With a car that was actually able to reach and maintain posted speed limits, it didn't take as long as Ayn had expected for them to reach the narrow strip of land that was the only way to reach the town of Techna. As they traveled down Cape Dragon Spine to the bridge that would take them over to the site of the fair, he was glad that Lyle had offered to drive, as he didn't know if they would have made it without him. The older man pulled into the parking lot to drop them off and continued to glare at Ayn. Trying to brush it off, the two teenagers thanked him again for taking the time to drive them; he simply bid farewell to Thea before disappearing into the traffic. Ayn texted Nial and it wasn't long before the friends were able to find each other. Sorry we're a little late, he apologized.

Don't worry about it, Alair assured him. We ran into Lune and some of his friends, we were talking to them while we waited for you.

Ayn raised an eyebrow at Nial, but his best friend remained silent. Lune had begrudgingly allowed Nial to date his sister after they had fought after school one day, but though they tried to be civil towards each other for Alair's sake, it was silly to think that they would ever be good friends. However, the fair was quite large and it would be easy for them to keep their distance.

They strolled around the grounds, stopping at anything that caught their interest. There were rides, games, exhibits, and all sorts of food available, and at times, it was hard to decide how best to spend their day. Thea clung to Ayn and giggled as they sped along the track of a small roller coaster, while Alair and Nial chose to ride a carousel filled with all sorts of different animals, such as strangely-colored lizards and large-antlered moose.

Glad to have his feet back on solid ground, Ayn led the way to a series of games. Despite Nial's taunting, he managed to knock over an entire row of robot-shaped pins with one throw of a beanbag and won a prize for his beloved. Thea squealed with delight as she accepted the bright yellow stuffed bird; it somewhat resembled a cross between a chicken and a duck, but curiously enough, it had red-tipped antennae and a rather annoyed facial expression. Even though it looked vaguely sinister, the emerald-haired girl cuddled it lovingly and expressed her gratitude towards her boyfriend with a heartfelt kiss.

Alair spotted a haunted house at the edge of the fairgrounds and convinced the others to enter with her. It was damp and dimly-lit inside and all sorts of props and dead ends that would have seemed harmless in the light of day seemed especially eerie. The two boys tried to maintain their composure as they led the way through the large building, not wanting to appear frightened in front of their female companions. Ferocious giants wielding swords lurked around every corner and grotesque bat/wolf hybrids hung from the ceiling. Distorted faces seemed to appear in midair and nearly every noise startled the group.

As it was hard to see much of anything inside, the foursome soon discovered they were lost. They struggled not to bump into things as they tried to find a path to the exit, but each member of the party had a different opinion on which was the correct way to go. As they argued and debated, each of them gradually got the feeling that they were not alone in the room, almost as if they were being watched. Nial motioned for them to be silent and they listened to the haunting emptiness of their surroundings.

He took a few cautious steps forward, squinting into the darkness, with his friends close behind. All of a sudden, a tall figure sprung out at them from behind a corner, laughing maniacally! Thea screamed and squeezed her plush bird, causing its eyes to bug out slightly and appear even more peevish, while the others scrambled to get away from the shadowy stranger. My, my, bickering amongst ourselves, eh? it said in a deep voice.

Alair groaned audibly. Lune, that wasn't funny! she complained. Her brother merely continued laughing as he vanished back into the blackness. Nial shook his head, wondering if Lune would ever leave the two of them alone, before leading the group in the opposite direction.

Daylight was a welcome sight once they were out of the cave-like depths of the haunted house. Let's get out of here, Nial suggested and started walking towards the southeast. No one argued with him.

They traveled back across the fairgrounds, occasionally stopping at displays that caught their attention or to get some snacks. Strange mechanical signs with arms and legs displayed arrows pointing in various directions, but as there were no other markings on them, Ayn found them to be utterly useless. A secluded path flanked by odd looking disks bearing more arrows led them to a old man offering rides in a hot-air balloon. You are the first of your people to visit us, he greeted them.

Ayn wasn't sure what people he was talking about, but assumed that the balloon had gone unnoticed by the teenaged crowd in search of bigger thrills. The girls turned to their dates expectantly. That looks like fun, can we go? Thea eagerly asked.

Yeah, let's do it! Alair chimed in.

Nial was still feeling a bit jumpy from their trip through the haunted house and he wasn't sure if he wanted to go flying through the air in something that seemed so unsteady, but the man assured them that it was perfectly safe. Besides, Alair seemed eager to take to the skies and he would have hated to disappoint her. Ayn offered no opinion on the matter, so after paying the man, they all entered the small vessel.

They took off into the air and were soon soaring high above the trees. It wasn't long before the people below them were no more than tiny specks and they could see the entirety of the fairgrounds. Ayn wrapped his arms around Thea and her plushie and contentedly rested his chin on top of her head as Alair squeezed Nial's hand and beamed at him.

The balloon slowly drifted over the water in the direction of their home and they made a game out of spotting all the landmarks they had passed on their way to the fair. Alair's house came into view first and they marveled at how different all the streets and neighborhoods looked from their new viewpoint. It took them a little while to gather their bearings, but they were soon able to find all the significant places in their lives with ease.

Nial was the first to locate their school in the distance and his jaw dropped open in shock. That's what our school really looks like? he exclaimed. It's shaped like a spaceship! But who built it?

That is sort of weird, Ayn remarked. How could we have gone this long without knowing something like that?

Alair agreed. I know! It seems like someone should have told us about this before!

The old man stood in the far corner of the basket, counting his money. You have earned the right to know the truth, he mumbled, but no one paid any attention to him.

They floated peacefully through the air until it was time to turn back. As they made their way back to the fair, the sun was beginning to set and the orange-streaked clouds provided the perfect backdrop to the end of their lovely day. Ayn continued to hold Thea close, glad that he had a girlfriend who meant so much to him and enjoyed spending time with him...and glad that he didn't have to worry about dealing with her father for the rest of the evening.

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