The Hidden World

Yuna returned to the hotel late that day. Laurel had her practicing for hours on using and reaching her magic. She hovered around Yuna as she struggled to harness the light. When the magic seemed to be reaching a tipping point, Laurel would wave her hand and dispel it before Yuna lost control of it.

They ended the day with Yuna being able to conjure up small balls of light. Other than that, she couldn’t do without the magic getting out of hand. Shields would expand to an unreasonable size, healing and purification magic would take much more mana than necessary for the task presented, and if she tried to make brighter balls or larger balls of light, they would balloon far past her intentions.

Laurel seemed happy with the progress though. She reassured Yuna that she would get the hang of it eventually and that it would just take a bit more time to get there. 

‘We’ve been here in the city for half a week already,’ she thought. ‘The Shikaku aren’t taking any breaks.’

But she knew that she had to at least adequately control her magic and use it properly for it to be useful for her and her friends in any way. 

‘It’s a good step though,’ she thought as she rubbed her back. Lately, it had been feeling itchier than normal. She wondered if her skin was too dry there. 

When she stepped into the hotel lobby, she saw Yuki sleeping on a couch placed for visitors. Looking at her, Yuna remembered how she managed to use the light and the person she thought of. She began to blush before averting her gaze and stepping towards the stairs of the hotel. Right now wouldn’t be a good time to talk with Yuki.

“Oh, you’re back,” Yuki’s voice said behind her. 

Turning her head a bit, she saw Yuki sitting up on the couch, her eyes a bit sleepy still. A soft smile was on her lips as she gazed at Yuna. 

“A bit late today,” she remarked, a hint of something tinging her words. Yuna wasn’t sure how to respond or where to look. 

“I got a little caught up in my training,” Yuna replied. “Lost track of the time.”

“Oh,” Yuki said, her face relaxing. “Is it going well? Your training?”

“I think so,” Yuna nodded. “I can use it now. I can’t use it well, but at least I can use it.”

“Really? Can you show me?”

“Sure.”

With a small frown of concentration, Yuna mustered her magic with her memories. As her emotions flared, she felt the light respond with it. Then she reached out and grasped it, taking care to make sure that she held on it tightly. Her hand went out and she opened her palm as a small glowing ball of light appeared.

 

“Wow,” Yuki smiled. “It took so little mana as well. Once you get the hang of it, it’ll be faster, right?”

“It should be.”

“It’s useful,” Yuki nodded. “I can make a ball of light as well, but it’s purely a spell so it takes longer and uses more mana. Can you do anything else?”

“Err, kind of,” Yuna replied, glancing at the ground.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, I can do some other things, but I can’t control it,” she explained. “It either fizzles out or gets out of hand.”

“Is that why you were late today?” Yuki said. Yuna nodded. “Does Laurel know why?”

“She does,” Yuna said. “She’s trying to help me keep control.”

“What’s the problem?”

Yuna pressed her lips together as she considered her answer.

“Well, since the magic is reliant on emotion, it’s just my emotions going a bit overboard,” she said. “When they do, it makes the magic balloon or I get too distracted.”

“What’s causing them to go overboard?” Yuki asked, frowning. “It’s like the opposite problem you had before.”

‘You. You’re causing this,’ she thought as her cheeks warmed. She turned away from Yuki to hide her face.

“I found something to help get in touch with my emotions. It’s just a tad too effective,” she mumbled. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” 

“No, it’s fine,” Yuna said. “I want to figure this out myself. But if I get really stuck, I’ll make sure to ask.”

“Mmm. I’m just glad that something didn’t happen,” Yuki smiled. “Let’s go back to the others.”

“Alright.”

---

 

Figuring out how to keep her emotions in check proved easier said than done. With Laurel, they tried various experiments in attempts to reign in Yuna’s magic, neither of which seemed to be very effective. They had, however, isolated the exact problem Yuna had. Her emotions were distracting her, making her lose control over her magic as her mind wandered. 

“I think it’s because you don’t understand how to handle these emotions,” Laurel mused. “Before, you struggle to conjure them, but now that you’ve found a way to call them up, it’s overwhelming you.”

“That could be true,” Yuna nodded. “It’s just too much for me. I can’t really deal with them while trying to do magic.”

“I thought so. Tell me, what exactly are you thinking of when you try to use the light?”

“Um, well, I’m thinking of a person,” Yuna replied as her cheeks rosied.

“Oh?” Laurel asked, raising a brow. “And who exactly?”

Yuna didn’t reply.

“It’s Yuki, isn’t it,” she giggled. “Don’t look so shocked. It’s not exactly hard to tell from looking at you two.”

“Really?” Yuna asked.

“Yes. So, what is it? Are you worried about your love for her? Where it will go?”

“Kinda,” Yuna replied after a long pause. 

“Is that so? Why?” Laurel said as she repositioned herself on the couch, giving Yuna all her attention.

“Well, I don’t really know where to go,” she admitted. “I like her. A lot. But, I don’t have experience with advances.”

“You do seem like the more submissive one,” Laurel nodded. Yuna cocked her head, not understanding. “Ignore that. Why not wait for her to go after you?”

“I kind of swore that I would get her to fall for me,” Yuna said.

“Really? Hmm.” Laurel seemed to want to tell Yuna something, but she stopped herself short. “How about this. Let me tell you how you can get your girl.”

Yuna’s ears perked up at that and she looked at Laurel with eager eyes. 

“Just one thing you need to do,” Laurel said. “Can you guess what that is?”

“Flirt?” Yuna suggested.

“No.”

“Give her gifts?” Yuna frowned.

“No. None of that. For someone like Yuki, it’s simple,” Laurel smiled. “Just be who you are around her.”

“Just be who I am?” Yuna repeated. 

“Exactly. That’s how you’ll get her,” she said before mumbling something to herself quickly. “Just act like how you act around me or your other friends.”

“What’s that like?” Yuna wasn’t sure if there was a difference between how she acted. When was she ever not her?

“Hmm. What I really mean is to just relax,” Laurel explained. “Relax around her and stop being so self conscious. You’re beautiful, kind, and smart. You shouldn’t be worrying about looking good in front of Yuki. Now, if you were some mean girl, then that wouldn’t work, but I’ve spent enough time with you to know that isn’t you at all.”

‘Be myself,’ Yuna thought. ‘It couldn’t hurt. Not that I would know how to do that exactly.’

“If you can get your love affairs in check, then your confidence should go up and you’ll be able to control your magic better,” Laurel continued. “However, I don’t think you’ll need much more training now. I’ve told you all you need to know. If you want to leave, you’re free to go.”

“Really?” Yuna said, her eyes widening. “That’s so sudden.”

“There’s not much else for me to do,” Laurel shrugged. “I don’t want to keep you and your friends here for too long. I know they have things to attend to.”

“Then...I’ll go.”

“When you go, make sure to let the hotel know,” Laurel said. “I want to see you off. Got it?”

“Yes,” Yuna nodded. She looked at Laurel for a moment. “I’ll miss you.”

“I will too,” she replied. She sat up and opened her arms. “Come here.”

Yuna obliged and gave her a tight hug as Laurel squeezed back. They embraced for a second or two before breaking away from each other. 

“Now. Go back to your friends and tell them the news,” she said.