The Hidden World

“How many people live in this city?” Yuna asked as she walked beside Laurel, a half step behind. 

She was seeing more and more angels as they walked through the city. The first day she arrived to the city, she saw no angels at all besides the ones that guided them to the audience room. But now, she spied a few flying above them, going about their daily lives.

“There are around two hundred,” Laurel replied. “Our cities aren’t that large. Our people aren’t as numerous as others. But it’s for that better. With how long we live, we would overpopulate and fight one another.”

“Oh, I see. What kind of jobs do angels have?” Yuki asked. “I can’t imagine what they might be.”

“Quite normal ones. We have doctors that specialize in healing magic. We have business people that do trade and employ others to help them in their endeavors,” Laurel said. “Outside of the city, we have fields where our people farm. The mountains nearby have mines that we help transport goods to and from. As a trading city, we have many things we can do.”

“That makes sense.”

“You’re from Libra, so I understand why you might have thought differently,” Laurel smiled. “But rest assured, we’re quite normal. Besides our strength, we’re not much different from elves and the others in our society.”

“How about the other demons?” 

“You’re very curious. Have you not asked your friends about these things?” she said. “They can answer that question for you.”

“Oh, I didn’t really think about it before now,” Yuna replied. The succubus town was quite a normal looking one to Yuna. It could have been any rural town from Libra minus the incredibly attractive people. But this city in the sky was unlike any she had ever seen. “I didn’t really think about how different demon cities  were until now, so I thought your lives might be different as well.”

“A fair assumption. I think angels would be a bad example for this, though. In terms of how we live, we’re closer to that of elves than most are. Some demons don’t live together at all and simply have a hermit like lifestyle. Elementals flit about without a care in the world and appear in clusters to throw celebrations.”

“That seems like a fun lifestyle,” Yuna said.

“For a time. I can’t see myself doing that always,” Laurel replied. “I need meaning in my life.”

They made a turn and continued walking as Laurel spoke.

“Personally, I believe that in terms of demons that live together in cities, the dragons are the most different,” she said. “They have a sort of code of conduct that isn’t known. They don’t really work either. They just go around doing what they want, be it doing hobbies, training, or whatnot.”

“I see."

“Beyond these mountains,” Laurel said as she gestured to the mountains behind them, “are the dragon lands. It’s where the Dragon Cities are.”

“Have you been there?” Yuna asked.

“Once or twice. I don’t have much of a need to go there, and most of the time you don’t want to see a dragon. Especially more than one at a time.”

“Why’s that?”

“Let’s just say that they usually only appear in groups when there is a large threat at hand,” Laurel said. She stopped. “Here we are.”

Yuna turned to look at where they had stopped. It was a large building measuring at around thirty feet high from her estimations. From the fading paint on the doors and the dusty, dirty windows on the walls, it looked to be abandoned. 

“What is this place?” Yuna said as she followed Laurel as she opened the creaking doors. 

Inside the building was nothing. It was completely empty save for a few cobwebs illuminated by the dim light that the windows allowed in and a couple cloth covers that hid something in the corner of the building. Dust was floating about in the air, tickling Yuna’s nose.

“It’s an old warehouse,” Laurel explained. “It used to house goods, but we transferred it later to somewhere else. We haven’t found a use for it so far, so I’ve claimed it as a place for me to rest and train for the meantime.”

She clapped her hands and illuminated the entire building with small balls of warm light that floated in the air. Then she went to the cloth covers and pulled them away, revealing a couch and a table. They had no dust on them whatsoever.

“Sometimes I come here with food and eat,” she said. “I like it here. No one comes here except a few friends of mine when we want to gather.”

“It’s quiet,” Yuna commented.

“That’s why I brought you here. Come, sit,” Laurel requested, patting the couch. She laid down on it in a leisurely fashion. Yuna noticed that her wings were gone. 

“Where did your wings go?” she asked as she sat with the archangel. 

“I’m hiding them for now. It’s quite difficult to lay down like this with wings,” Laurel smiled. “When your wings come out, I’ll show you how.”

“I need to figure out how to get my wings to show first,” Yuna said dryly. 

“Isn’t that why I’m here? We should get started. I don’t want to keep you here in the city for too long.”

“Oh, this can be done in a day?” Yuna frowned.

“It can, but I doubt it,” Laurel said. “This is something that is taught at a young age. It gets harder the older you are and also depends on the student. We’ll see how long it will take after today.”

“How long each day will you be instructing me?” Yuna asked.

“There isn’t much in the way of instruction. I’ll spend today telling you what to do, but for the most part, it will be you doing exercises and practice as I watch,” Laurel said. “I’ll be here if you have questions and to help you when needed.”

“I see. When would the day be over, though?”

“Around five past noon if that’s fine with you. If you want to end it earlier, you can. This isn’t exactly formal education.”

“Five is good,” Yuna nodded. She didn’t want to inconvenience Laurel. 

“Then let’s begin,” Laurel smiled.

---

 

As the sun was setting, Laurel decided to end the day. They had made progress, but their pace was slower than Yuna would have liked. Following the instruction that Laurel gave her, she was able to touch that light element within her, although quite unreliably. She couldn’t use it either.

Laurel reassured her that it would be fine, but Yuna didn’t want to waste time. She knew Yuki had things she needed to attend to in regards to the Shikaku and whatever Ember had whispered to her. 

Yuna was escorted back to the hotel by Laurel who bade her a good night before disappearing. When she walked into the lobby, she noticed Yuki sitting in the dining hall by herself. She was looking at a projection made from her mana that she manipulated here and there.

Her eyes glanced over to the entrance of the hotel. A smile sprouted across her lips that warmed Yuna from the inside. 

“Yuna, you’re back,” she said as she waved her hand, the projection disappearing. “How was it?”

“Slow going,” Yuna replied, taking a seat at the table. “I learned a lot of new things though.”

“Want something to drink?” Yuki asked. She slid her chair back.

“Just some water would be fine.”

Yuki nodded and went to the water cooler that rested beside the condiment bar. She filled two cups and brought it back, handing one to Yuna.

“Thank you.” Yuki replied with a smile.

“What kind of things did you learn?” Yuki said as she sat back down.

“Some things about this light element. It’s hard,” Yuna sighed. “It’s not magic that’s really logical.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Laurel basically said that it runs on your emotions. The more you feel, the more you can use,” she said. “But how much you can use is limited to you, so it’s also kind of like mana. And if you feel the wrong things, you can’t use it.”

“Feel the wrong things?” Yuki repeated with a frown.

“Yeah. Anger and frustration can make it harder to use. Makes for a sort of negative feedback loop.”

“I can see why it would be difficult. How far have you gotten?”

“Not very far, I think,” Yuna sighed. “I can feel it here and there, but that’s it. Laurel has been giving me tips though. She said to focus on happy memories.”

“For something like this, that seems like a good idea,” Yuki nodded. “Though, you said that you used your magic before, right?”

“Once. When the Fiddler came and took you away,” Yuna said. The memory still left a bitter taste in her mouth. 

“I’m not a professional at any of this, but maybe you can look at that and see why you were able to use that magic,” Yuki suggested. “Laurel can help, I think.”

“That’s a good idea,” Yuna said. Then she smiled. “I’ll do that. Thank you.”

“No problem. I’m here to help.” Yuki finished her cup of water and slid out of her chair. “Let’s go up. They’re all in Akira and Erica’s room. We have some time before dinner. Let’s relax.”

“Alright.”