“Wheeze through the night

While my lungs burn inside

As I fake through the day,

Forcing on a smile.

Why can’t I find

All the words, all the lines that I

Wanted to say 

Before you left to die?”

- an unknown Eastern bard

It has been a sunny day. Uncommon for the time of the year, but welcome by most inhabitants of the Islands. On the Lower Layer the goblinoids were able to work the ground without the fear of seeds being swept away by a passing shower. The Middle Layer was bustling with activity as usual, most people choosing the streets over the underground tunnels in order to catch glimpses of the setting sun’s light that reflected from the hundreds of windows of the high-rising residential buildings. At the same time at the Upper Layer, two young women were walking through a crowded market street. 

One of them seemed to be unsure and shy. She wore an eyepatch on her right eye and had long dark brown hair made into twintails. The other young woman was clearly more easygoing. She had two small black horns poking out a bit from underneath the reddish hair. 

Both women were dressed in uniforms: a blue top with white shirt and a black necktie, decorated by the red stripes, and complemented with long dark blue skirts that reached just beyond the women’s knees in combination with dark blue boots.

This uniform was one of the most clear ways to show one’s affiliation with the Magics’ Research Institute, also known as just the Institute. The Institute was seen as a gathering place for the most prominent researchers of magic and all of the natural and the unnatural order. Anyone with talent for magic could apply, so it wasn’t uncommon to see people from different races and walks of life taking lessons or researching together. 

Because of various reasons, Eileesha was roped into joining the Institute as an assistant of one of the lecturers and had to regularly participate in the wide selection of activities held by the Institute. This time, however, was special as she was finally able to escape the dreary hustle and bustle of the assistant’s life and explore the city a bit. 

Her companion, Makino, was one of the students from the group Eileesha helped to manage. Having lived at the Islands of Hope since her early childhood, she had more than enough experience getting around the Upper Layer to be chosen as a guide for the mostly clueless assistant, despite the fact that she was a half-blood Deamon. Her kind wasn’t liked that much, as it reminded people of the Demonic cults of old, but was still accepted due to their innate proficiency in magic. What made her stand out even more, aside from her red hair and small horns, heritage of the Deamon race, was her yellowish skin, monolid eyes and an abnormally short stature. 

Being about two heads shorter than her contemporaries, she made up for it with a never-ending stream of enthusiasm and liveliness. To put the case to point, at the moment of this story's start she was vividly explaining the variety of small and medium-sized shops to Eileesha. 

“This is a really popular place with the students!”, she said as her eyes shone like the stars, “Not only do they serve supreme food over there, you can also take it with you. Very good when you don’t want to cook.”

Without missing even a second she switched to the next shop, that one apparently had “very nice dresses and other official-like clothing”. Another five steps further was a “stall with the best fish in the Layer” and on the street’s corner stood the “best boutique for casualware”. Many of these things were unknown to Eileesha, as she got the majority of her foodstuffs from the small shop near the dorms and as far as her clothes went, she only really needed her Institute uniform. When she told that to Makino, she was met with a face of exasperation.

“This won’t do, miss assistant”, said Makino after both were seated at an outdoor terrace of one of the numerous cafes in the vicinity. She continued, “I know you are supposed to be a bit older than an average student of the Institute, but doesn’t that mean you should be looking out for those things more? You’re a gorgeous woman, you should accentuate it more!”

Eileesha wasn’t accustomed to being called beautiful, so she didn’t react in any particular way to her guide’s comment. Instead, she sipped her tea from a white porcelain cup. The tea had a grassy and refreshing taste.

“But is this even all right? Don’t you feel guilty for doing it?”, Eileesha asked after a long pause. “Guilty? Why would I be?”, said Makino, seemingly surprised by her companion’s sudden out-of–theme remark.

“Do you wander off to the smaller streets often? The ones that are removed from the center of the Layer? I once had a family member, an older brother, who… Let us say they showed me a lot. They traveled through these streets, the ones that are unkept, unlike the big boulevards and avenues we have traversed today. Despite the Upper Layer being famed for its beauty, wealth and quality of life, there is still rot infesting it. It seems like even a place which many would consider to be a paradise is not exempt from festering wounds of poverty and misery. Do you not feel guilty, when exposed to this reality, that we are allowed to frolic in the light of the setting sun while the others are forced to suffer in the shadows?”

The mood was soured and an awkward silence befell the duo. Makino stared into her own cup for a few seconds, then she moved her gaze towards the street. Every so often someone passed by the cafe.

“I guess I was wrong about you”, she said, “At first I thought you are some kind of a sheltered lady that got accepted into the position because of your status, but I guess you actually did see some stuff, huh. I thought I was tasked with babysitting a princess, but I am happy to have been wrong for once.”

With those words uttered, her glowing and overly happy personality dissolved into one of utter indifference, as if a mask that fell off an actor’s face. She continued:

“It is true that the Upper Layer has its own share of unpleasant quarters, but you know what? If we have the privilege, the life so many desire, are we not supposed to make full use of it? Think of it yourself, so many people, just as you said, strive to get a residence on the Upper Layer, hoping to uplift themselves. They dirty their hands, their hearts, their souls and use countless people to climb up here. Are we, the ones who made it here one way or another, not entitled to living the life we aspired to have? Don’t you think that if one was not to use their privilege, that it would be unthankful to those who fight every day to get here? And anyway, if you are not willing to use your privileges, then someone else will in your stead. Not making use of everything you have sounds like a very privileged thing to say, no?”

Another round of silence. A minute passed and a gentle gust of wind ran through the terrace, bringing the scent of flowers from the nearby florist shop and mixing it with the smell of freshly made tea. 

“I now see why my mentor paired us”, said Eileesha while looking in the direction the wind came from, “We have very different, if not opposite, views on life. I guess she thought it would be a good learning experience for me. If only she stopped poking her nose into my daily life…”

A sigh escaped Eileesha’s lips. It sounded tired, but somehow affectionate.

“You actually like your mentor, don’t you?”, said Makino with a smug expression.

“I guess you could say that. She’s dear to me, but perhaps not in the way that you imagine it.”

“She doesn’t seem to be teaching you much about taking care of yourself though. No normal student, let alone adult, would go about their day like you. As I already said, using your standing and opportunities in life to create a better life for yourself is very important.”

“All I hear here is egoism. I have seen firsthand how such wishes can end not just hurting others, but yourself as well. I… I don’t want to be happy alone, I wish to share the happiness of life with others.”

“Heh, that’s quite a selfish wish for someone who preaches selflessness…”

Makino’s whisper got lost in the sudden rowdy-ness of the street. She put her cup down on the small white plate, as it had no tea left in it. With the bill already paid and her companion having lost all interest in the grassy-scented beverage, she stood up from the oddly comfortable wooden chair and said:

“Well, why don’t we take a further look at what the Layer has to offer? I am still set on having you buy at least one casual outfit today. And we definitely should try out the pastries from that one shop I mentioned before. ”

Eileesha stood up as well. After a moment of doubt, she downed the remaining tea at once and put the cup on the plate as well. The duo then walked off, with Makino seemingly returning to her former chipper self, while Eileesha listened to her inexhaustible flow of trivia knowledge. From time to time, she checked her neck, as it was where a crystal hung on a thin chain of silvery metal. The crystal gave off a bit of warmth, which soothed Eileesha greatly. 

“I wonder if my brother is fine”, she thought to herself, “Maybe we should try to talk sometime like we did before.”

The sun was almost completely set and the last glows of dark orange light were starting to be replaced by the glow of the streetlights. Slowly but surely, night came to the Islands of Hope.