Author's Note

Well, this one seems to have a long description to the city. I named part V-2 because nothing much happens here, except for a few events which are going to be set in motion in the next part.

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Ray's paws were soft and soothing as I was carried along the Void in the blink of an eye and transported to just outside the castle, into the the grand capital of Esix - Phoenix.

The city was grandiose and Harry was taken aback how different it was than on Earth. Behind him, was the castle that was covered in black masonry and seemed to be protected by a magical shield. Ray looked at Harry, then back at the sight ahead of him. "Its pretty awesome, huh?" Ray says with hope in his voice. "Ooooh, yeah!", I shouted at the sky - although my voice was muffled by the ambient sounds of the other civilians who seemed to be of different and varying species. 

He slowly walked down the stairs from the castle, taking in the fresh air he had craved for such a long time. The air felt, smelt and tasted less polluted than on Earth. This was due to Phoenix's heavy reliability on Aura. "Some say there's a stronger source out there," said Ray, picking up on my thoughts. "If so, I've yet to find it. That's what I've been tasked to do, research into Aura as much as I can. Good news, we've found a substance called Aurite that we're already using for our bigger power supply buildings. Ah, but enough of that. I'll explain later at my house. Enjoy yourself!" Nodding without interest, I began to descend the many stairs further, with Ray following behind at a slow and thoughtful pace.

"You sure are a dreamer," he said, smiled gently to me, but seeming surprised that I turned to look at him. He quickly looked away, pretending to be distracted with something else. Just at the bottom of the stairs, was a market area. As I tread on the lands I would now discover, I looked around the city - staring at the wonderful and fantastical people that inhabited this world. The market looks like a great place for your daily needs. Food, items, everything seemed to be there! I gazed at the people at the stall, shouting in their proudest and most welcoming voice in order to advertise their stall, and make it most appealing to any of the people which were busy either browsing wares, rushing in certain directions or discussing with one of the workers and sellers at the stalls. Every stall seemed to have a simple wooden structure to it, with a hay roof that seemed almost to reflect the mild midday; the light up in the sky was almost amber, and retained a yellow-ish color - which seemed like it was about to transition into the evening, as if calling the calming and relaxing amber light to set in.

"This is Phoenix, Harry! The capital of Esix. It may not look like much right now, but just north of that castle is where all the high-up royal people go. Down here is the markets, I'm gonna need a few things so why don't you hang 'round me for a while?" Ray explained. "Sure," I said to him happily, eager to continue my adventure here in Phoenix.

I smelt in again, my nose being assaulted by the smell of what I could assume was only meat and fresh vegetables. The smell was fueling, and made my stomach growl. Strolling through the crowd, careful to not to bump into anyone as I was continuing at a slow pace, I heard many people shouting things out like: "Get your fresh vegetables here!" and "Only the finest meat!" The sheer union and happiness was much welcome compared to the somber and depressing robotic-like supermarkets on Earth. Ray patted me on the back reassuringly, directing me towards a market stall. He chose the one which was selling vegetables and the other stall next to it was selling meat. But perhaps, most strangely, is that both of the workers seemed to be working co-cooperatively, instead of against each other. I found the spirit to be an unexpected change from the mostly negative view of Earth. Back on Earth, everyone was either working against or with each other. However, even those who had worked with each other, still found some way to take advantage of kindness and weakness, and assert the victor as the one who held the most money. That was how Earth worked, a rise to power was achieved by using and taking advantage of other people's benefits and turning them into your own - where corruption was first created in the mind. By taking advantage of people, you not only hurt the one who has offered kindness to you, but also turn into less of a human being. Not to mention, money also ruled the world back there. But here, in Esix, everything looked to work in unison and teamwork. As if everyone was trying to survive, and equality was true. My own human mind couldn't think of that at first, as the clear ethical problems in Earth had taken that vision of seeing a brighter future away from me and I only knew how to hope.

"Wow," Ray said out of the blue, "You... You sure think a lot, dontcha? I-I never thought it was like that on your... Earth."

Ray thanked the bear-man who had served him, and handed him a few silver coins. "Come on," beckons Ray "Let's go to my house."

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Ray's taken me off the beaten dirt path of the market area, and starting walking to a more appealing place. The place he was taking me to now had fully paved paths, our shoes a little worn and covered in dirt after walking around the marketplace for a while. The housing area was quiet and I heard birds tweeting in the trees between the cottages which littered the area. At the end of the cul de sac, there seemed to be a house bigger than the rest, and with much garden space than the others. As me and Ray walked close together, almost sharing our heat, with the birds tweeting in the background, brought serenity to our faces which relaxed the nerves on me when I first arrived the city.

We continued walking for a little longer, before Ray stopped before his cottage.

His cottage had purple flowers and seemed very much like the others. I found it odd that he had his own house considering he had great living space in his laboratory quarters, but I suppose his salary made room for extra privileges, being the head of the Science Division.

"I hope you like it," he said, while opening the door for me, revealing a nice homely room.

"Come inside, and let's have a chat." Ray said heartily. I chuckled slightly, thinking like that was something like an old lady would say. More so when there is a cottage right in front of me. I closed the door behind me, got accustomed to my surroundings and looked around - hoping to know what Ray wanted to talk about.

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Oooh wow, double post in one night! Such things do not exist! I hope you had fun reading this, I love making stories at late night, really gets my creative juices flowing!

Like, fav whatever. I don't mind, just as long as you enjoy this!

More coming soon. o/