“Oummmmmmmm.” Lucifer hummed, waiting for this to end. Next to him, his brother squealed like an injured pig.

“How can you be so calm?! We’re falling like a thousand feet!” Brandon demanded to know.

Lucifer opened an eye. “You are an Air Artist. Command the air.”

Brandon blushed and did as he said, righting himself up and slowing down, so he wouldn’t be left behind but could actually remain calm.

“Wonderful.”

“Don't patronize me!” Brandon snapped. Lucifer ignored him, deciding to go back to meditating.

“Ouuuuuummmmmmmm.”

Brandon scoffed. “How can you find this so interesting? You’re just saying ‘ouuuuuuuuum’ forever and trying to fall asleep, aren’t you?”

Lucifer sighed. His brother was so impatient. “You would know if you actually paid attention to the lessons, Brandon.”

Lucifer had no real way of knowing, but he was sure his brother had just rolled his eyes. “Oh please. His lessons are so boring, I would be doing anything else during that time.”

Lucifer decided to mess with his brother. “Even spend time with our younger sister?”

That time, Lucifer heard his brother shiver, and he grinned inwardly.

It wasn’t that Amy was bad, no, far from it. Everybody absolutely adored her, even their mother in her own cold way. No, the real problem was how childish she was. She believed in fairy tales still and always waited for that one moment when her prince would come galloping on a horse to pick her up. Then, they would ride off together into the sunset, whispering sweet nothings and kissing each other.

That was all fine and everything, but it wasn’t so good if she dragged them into it. And she always did, saying she needed the jealous brother in her stories.

Of course, Brandon was out of the house most of the time, most likely talking with girls in hopes to get a real girlfriend who actually liked him for who he was, so the task usually fell on him.

Lucifer sighed. His brother was also a hopeless romantic.

“Hey!” Speak of the devil. “Yes?” Lucifer queried.

“I know you’re thinking weird stuff about me. Cut it out!”

Lucifer didn’t respond, and Brandon started to hit him. “Don’t be such a weirdo!”

“OUUUUUUUMMMMM-“ Brandon stuffed a hand into his mouth! Lucifer’s eyes snapped open as he lost his composure and kicked Brandon away.

“Ah! Gross, what’s the matter with you?!” Lucifer asked.

Brandon looked unbearably smug as he crossed his arms and stuck a tongue out.

“Idiot,” Lucifer whispered to himself. Unfortunately, his brother heard and flew over to him, forming a gust of wind in his hands. Lucifer began to do they same, prepared to fight back.

Before they could launch the first blow, a voice interrupted them.

“If you guys use those crazy powerful wind blasts while we’re falling, we’re all going to o go SPLAT! across the walls.” said a crisp voice.

Lucifer’s mouth quirked upward in a smile before he could stop, and Brandon noticed, jeering and sticking out his tongue. Lucifer’s eyes narrowed. He regretted ever telling his brother about her.

“Dawn,” Lucifer said politely. Dawn nodded back.

She was a goddess. Lightly tanned skin and her hair went down into two long ponytails. She had a perfect heart-shaped face and huge orbs of blue ocean as eyes. Her lips were somehow always clean, even when they spoke harsh rebuttals, and ever so appetizing. Of course, Lucifer had never tasted them himself.

“Brandon, how’ve you been?” she said, and Lucifer frowned. It was common knowledge Dawn favored his brother over him, particularly because Lucifer had hated girls when he was younger and was mean to her.

Oh, how much he’d hated himself when he finally realized his feelings.

Meanwhile, Brandon on the other hand, couldn’t care less. Of course, she was his close friend (maybe closest), and he always confided in her. Still, Lucifer knew for a fact that he didn’t have the slightest romantic feeling for Dawn, and he suspected that always made her grumpy. At the very least, she was always crankier when he was away to talk with some girls.

All in all, it was a love triangle, one Lucifer desperately wanted to break free of.

“So, how long do you think this is going to last?” Dawn asked.

Brandon shrugged. “Don’t know, but it's fine. I’m super chill with it.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. Of course, not having any romantic feelings didn't mean he wanted to embarrass himself in front of her. Stupid Brandon.

Dawn giggled lightly and turned her attention on Lucifer. his breath caught at the glorious view that was her face. Her ponytails just made her look too cute to be fair!

“So, what about you?”

Lucifer managed a grin, despite it being wobbly. “I’m pretty fine with it. Just meditating helps me relax.”

Dawn made a noise in the back of her throat. “That’s right! You like to meditate, don’t you?”

Lucifer nodded. “Yep.”

Dawn smiled. “You’re going to have to teach me how to do it one day, you know.”

Lucifer’s mind exploded. BAM! Was this happening? This wasn't another one of those dreams, were they? Forget about the Academy, Dawn was the only thing that mattered!

“OH HEY!” Brandon shouted, breaking Lucifer from his trance. He glared at his brother.

“What? What is it?”

“Look! Look!” He jabbed at a person so hard, his finger was likely to pop right off.

Dawn giggled. “Relax, Brandon. Whose so important?”

They both followed his finger to a group of three girls connected. That wasn’t unusual, most of everybody grabbed hands with their friends.

No, what was unusual was that only one of them seemed to be panicking like the other. The second one was using wind, just like them, to create a perfectly level floor so that they could stand. It was advanced, and something even Brandon was hard-pressed to do! Still, you could see the slight worries on her face.

What really caught his attention was the third and final girl. She was the one in the middle who connected both of them, and she had the most peculiar expression to have right now.

She looked almost bored as if she’d done this a thousand times, and a bit preoccupied like her mind was on something else. Not to mention her eyepatch over her left eye, which was also quite unusual.

Still, he didn't see any real reason for his brother to turn into a poking maniac.

“What is it? I just see three girls.” Dawn commented.

“The girl in the middle!” Brandon shouted.

Dawn narrowed her eyes. “The eyepatch girl?”

Brandon nodded furiously.

Lucifer shrugged. “Well, I guess she is cute. Though, you like the mature type more, don’t you-?”

“NO, not like that! I meant I’ve seen her before!”

Lucifer groaned. “You see a lot of people every day, Brandon.”

Brandon nodded in agreement. “Yes, I do. But she was different! She was totally indifferent and even rude to me!”

Lucifer sighed, knowing where this was going. “Don't tell me, you’re attracted to her because of that?”

Brandon sent him a burning glare. “Who said I was attracted? Besides, it's weird. She’s acting totally differently now.”

Dawn scratched her chin in thought. “Maybe she just doesn’t like the public?”

“Or she just doesn’t like you,” Lucifer added in helpfully, smirking.

“Hey!” Brandon gasped.

“Oh, I see the bottom!” exclaimed Dawn. Most other people saw this as well and were panicking even more now.

“The teacher will stop this, right?” Dawn asked worriedly.

Lucifer took a look around, trying to spot Sir Neptune, but came up empty. “Nope! Looks like he left us!”

“What??!” Dawn clutched at her head and moaned. “This isn’t good at all! What are we going to do?!”

“Um, float?” Brandon added in helpfully.

Dawn sent him a death glare. “I’m not like you guys! I cant use wind! I’m not an Air Artist!”

Seeing how much she was freaking out, Lucifer kept into action to reassure her. “Don’t worry! I’ll protect you!”

Brandon waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Of course, you will.”

Lucifer narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.” Brandon drawled out.

“Hmph.” Lucifer looked away but kept one eye on his brother. He didn’t quite trust him just yet.

“STOP IT! HELP!” Dawn shrieked.

Brandon started picking his ear. “Calm down, lady. It’s fine!”

Dawn started smacking him. “Don’t be so mean!”

Lucifer smiled fondly. “You know you can use your ice to make a slide?”

Dawn blinked. “Oh yeah!” She rubbed her head and stuck her tongue out. Brandon rolled his eyes.

“Geez, what an idiot.” Immediately, the silly expression was gone and Dawn resumed hitting Brandon.

Lucifer looked down and realized there was a square green patch on the ground. He squinted as he tried to see through the darkness.

What was that? They were going to land straight on it if they didn't stop! Maybe it was a landing platform?

Lucifer took several deep breaths to calm himself. This was okay. It was a landing platform. It would break their fall, preferably without breaking their legs.

Just as they were about to hit, Lucifer’s eyes opened and he used his Art at the last moment to propel Brandon, Dawn, and him up.

They collided with the same group with the girls and hit the wall together. They crumpled down to the floor, landing harshly right outside the green square.

Lucifer groaned from underneath the pile. Well, he could testify one thing: The green tile was a landing platform. His leg was on top and it jiggled.

Unfortunately, only his leg was on top of the green slime. The rest of him was squished into the ground.

He tentatively cracked open one eye and nearly yelped in shock. Staring right back at him was the most unique and remarkable eye he had ever seen.

The orange and red seemed to flare up brightly, and the white line gave her an ethereal look. The blackness sucked Lucifer in so deeply he gasped, feeling his breath escape.

Then the eye rolled off of him and he could move again.

He quickly tried to scramble his way out of the dogpile (how did the eye and its owner move so easily out of the pile?) but was forced to stop when somebody kicked at his spine.

He whimpered in pain, looking up. He froze.

In front of him was the most adorable girl he’d ever seen, even more than Amy. She had orange hair that reached down to her shoulders, and a face that wasn’t fat but almost chubby. Lucifer had to fight back the creepy urge to pinch them. The most unusual thing about her by far was the silver eyepatch she wore. His hand instinctively reached toward it.

“What is-?”

SMACK! “No touchy!”

Lucifer blinked, his hand having just been slapped by this girl. He winced and laughed sheepishly. “Sorry about that, don’t know what came over me.”

The girl continued looking at him suspiciously before walking past him and clambering on top of the pile. Lucifer blinked.

“Um, what are you doing?” He grimaced as one of the girl’s feet kicked his brother in the face.

The girl didn't reply as she reached the top and promptly laid down and began to sleep.

Lucifer gaped. Was this girl for real? She was sleeping?!

“Hey hey hey!” He started tugging on her sleeve. “This is no time to sleep! And anyway, do you use friends for pillows?”

The girl grunted in her sleep (how she fell asleep so fast was beyond him) and shifted.

Lucifer groaned, shaking his head before looking down at the piece of clothing he was grasping. It felt cool to touch and more exquisite than any material he’d seen before.

“My god! What is this-urh!”

The girl had suddenly grabbed his head and was now chewing on it!

Lucifer blushed as he tried to pry her mouth open to no avail. It was like she had steel jaws! To make matters worse, Lucifer could hear the gossip spreading as his future peers observed the scene.

Could this get any worse?

“My my! What happened here?” Lucifer sweat-dropped. Of course, it did.

Sir Neptune made his way, the paragon of a noble. With slow, deliberate steps, he reached them. Peering down at Lucifer, he began. “What happened, my dear boy?”

Lucifer flushed. “It was the girl!”

Sir Neptune leaned over him and cocked an eyebrow. “I’m afraid you must point out which one out of the three that are unconscious.”

Lucifer jabbed a finger behind him. “That one! The one chewing my freaking h-wait, what?” The words now registering, he spun around to find an empty space where the girl had been moments earlier.

“I-I-!” Lucifer stammered. Sir Neptune nodded and clapped him on the back.

“I understand, my dear boy. Fear of falling and all that. Can create some very realistic illusions.”

Lucifer snapped at him. “I’m not crazy! And it wasn't an illusion!”

Sir Neptune recoiled in shock. “Of course not! Why would you think that?” Leaning next to a student, he whispered loudly, “He’s crazy all right.”

Lucifer growled, and Sir Neptune immediately clapped his hands. “Hup hup, students! We must get along! I am certain all of you are taken back by its glory?”

“Um. . .” One brave student raised a hand. “We can’t see anything. There’s nothing there.”

Sir Neptune widened his eyes comically. “My goodness? For real?” The shock in his voice was absolutely genuine.

The student looked less confident now, and more uncertain. “Yes?”

Sir Neptune sighed and shook his head, murmuring to himself. “This cannot do.” Everybody snapped up at the grim tone in his voice. Sweat trickled down Lucifer’s back. Were they going to be expelled? All of them?

Sir Neptune began walking through the crowd of students, examining every one of them. Lucifer tried to sallow down his big ball of fears.

“Haha!” Everybody jumped from the loud exclamation after a prolonged silence. They all slowly turned around to find what unfortunate soul was his query.

“Found you!”

Everyone’s jaw dropped. He was snuggling and cuddling a cane!

Sir Neptune straightened his back and cleared his throat. “Very well now, we will continue. Howdy ho!” He jabbed his cane into a loose stone on the floor and lights flickered on.

Lucifer was blown away.

When he’d first seen the school and its surroundings, it wasn’t much of a big deal. He had seen pictures of it before anyway from Father. However, never in his wildest dreams did he envision a secret city underground!

It had suffered greatly by time’s hand; most of the buildings were black and had huge chunks torn away. Moss grew everywhere, and debris littered the streets. Not to mention there was a huge crater with water trickling into it.

Still, you could see the great beauty this place must have shined back when it was whole. Lucifer could see architecture that rivaled that of the mansion, and even some designs he had never seen before! After all this long time, it still had a certain look to it.

“What-what is this place?” somebody wondered.

Sir Neptune giggled. “Oh, this place is the birthplace of the Arts!”

That got everybody’s attention. “WHAT?!” Everybody whipped their heads in his direction.

Sir Neptune waved it off. “The Arts were discovered and first practiced here. That was thousands of years ago, mind you, yet the magnificent powers you wield are thanks to this place.”

Lucifer took in a deep breath. If he tried, he could imagine how this looked back then, with people running around and smiling. He wondered how they felt when they first discovered the wonderful gift. Proud? Happy? Worried? He felt so humbled by being here.

Sir Neptune leaned heavily against his cane. “Ah. I usually come here often to remind myself.

“Of what, sir?” somebody asked.

Sir Neptune let out a heavy sigh. “That I owe everything to her.”

Her? Lucifer glanced around and saw everybody also mouthing ‘her’ and shooting each other confused looks. Sir Neptune seemed to be in a daze as he reminisced something.

“Ah! But we mustn’t dilly dally! We have places to go!”

There was immediately a loud chorus of groans, Lucifer included. This palace had such a magical aura to it!

Sir Neptune chuckled. “Never fear! We are not leaving! Instead, we head up there!” He pointed his cane up into the air.

Lucifer followed the cane and gazed up at a huge mountain. On top of the mountain was the most beautiful temple he'd ever seen, with ivory plating, a silver dome, and Greek marble columns.

“Woah,” he whispered. Even in this glorious city, it stilled shined out.

“Let us go! March!” Everybody energetically began to follow him, talking and muttering to each other about how cool it was. Lucifer began to follow them but Sir Neptune blocked him with his cane.

“Ah ah ah. Where do you think you’re going?”

Lucifer froze and broke out in cold sweat. What was going to happen? Sir Neptune gazed at the dogpile. “You seem to be forgetting something.”

Lucifer sighed. He had forgotten about them. “Please wake them up and follow us,” Sir Neptune ordered before marching off, humming to himself.

Lucifer glared at the dogpile. What was with them? Were they unconscious? Honestly! He had been the one on the bottom!

“You are so annoying,” Lucifer told his brother before sending a gust of frigid wind straight up his nose.

The effect was instantaneous. Brandon bolted straight up, coughing and choking. Luckily, his big head didn’t hit any of the girls.

“What the-Lucifer!” Brandon growled, his clothes ruffling from his power. Lucifer rolled his eyes.

“Hurry up, we’re leaving.”

Brandon growled. “You can’t just-!’ He made to get up but found his leg was blocked. His eyes widened as he saw the huge pile he was part of.

“What did you do?!”

Lucifer deadpanned. “Yeah, I really love how you always assume it's my fault. Just hurry up and wake the two girls up. I’ll get Dawn.”

A sly look formed on his brother’s face again, but it quickly fell when he took in the glorious city for the first time. His mouth fell open and he made an “urh?” sound.

Lucifer snorted. “You have drool on your face.”

“Wh-what?” Lucifer snapped back to life and blushed. “Idiot!” He angrily wiped it off before not so delicately getting out of the pile.

“Hey, watch it!” Lucifer barked as one of the girls slid down. Lucifer hastily formed a small funnel right before her head hit the ground. He glared at Brandon.

“Heh heh, whoops?” Brandon said. “Anyways, this place is amazing!”

Lucifer crossed his arms. “Don't go and change the subject! Just wake them up, all right?” Not bothering to listen to his complaints, Lucifer gently dragged Dawn out of the pile. As she lay on the ground, Lucifer couldn’t help but think about how beautiful she was. Her lips were smooth and plump, and the tiniest bit open. His mouth started to become dry.

“Yeah, why don’t you kiss her? Might wake her up.”

Lucifer nodded. “Yeah, that makes sens-wait, what?!” He whirled around to find one of the girls beaming at him. He flushed, immediately recalling what he had been doing. “Um-I-“

“Don’t worry!” the girl said. “After all, she is your girlfriend, am I right?”

At that moment, Lucifer was caught in a conundrum. If he told her the truth and admitted he was just a friend, she would be freaked out and could tell Dawn! Even if that didn’t happen, she might tell Brandon instead! But if he lied and said he was her boyfriend, that would be morally wrong and it could lead to a much worse scenario along the road! Argh, what to do, what to do?!

“Hm? Are you okay? You look deep in thought,” the girl asked.

Lucifer cleared his throat. “Yes, I am fine. Now, we must follow that group climbing the mountain. Let us go.”

Nice! Skillfully changing the subject and making her forget what they were talking about! The girl nodded. “All right! Wow, isn’t this a big city? Here, let me help you with your girlfriend!”

Lucifer blanched. No! She wasn’t his girlfriend! The girl walked over and leaned in close to Dawn’s ear.

“WAKE UP!”

Lucifer jumped, and Dawn awoke. She sat up so fast her head collided painfully with Lucifer’s, sending them crashing to the ground. Lucifer groaned and opened his eyes to find Dawn on top of him.

“Uh, hi," he whispered. Dawn’s face was flushed and she was breathing hard.

“Hi,” she panted.

The girl popped up from behind. “There you go! Now, let's go, boy-!”

Lucifer moved out from underneath Dawn and sped towards the girl, clamping a hand over her mouth. “Hehe, let's go, Dawn! Up the mountain!”

Dawn shot them both a weird look before slowly getting to her feet. “Oookay. Oh my gosh, this city! The architecture! Look at the faucets! The-“

While Dawn went on and on about the city, Lucifer dragged the girl to the side before letting go. The girl spat on the floor and gagged.

“Wow, your hand doesn't taste so good. Also, rude! What was that about?” she asked.

Lucifer sighed. This was quickly getting out of hand. Better now to just admit the truth and hope for the best. “Okay, look here. Me and her-“

“Oh, I get it!” A look of comprehension dawned on her face. “You guys are new and shy! Don’t worry, I got your back!” She winked.

Lucifer wanted to rip out his hair and then her hair as well. “No! That’s not what I meant-!”

A finger on his lips stopped him. “Shush shush shush! Relax. I understand now. It’s a love triangle between you, the girl, and that boy, am I right? Well, here’s a tip! You should just be yourself! I know, super cringy and cliche, but it works! Also, secret! I’m rooting for you! The name’s Felicie by the way! Do you think we can be friends?”

Lucifer was dumbfounded. How could so much sound come from such a tiny package? Unfortunately, his super brain was too busy trying to remember everything she said, and by that time, she’d skipped off to Dawn.

“Do you want to go together?” Lucifer heard her ask. Dawn looked at Felicie in shock, before nodding.

“Sure, let’s go!” Arms linked together, they walked toward the mountain.

Lucifer's mouth fell open. Wh-how?! It had taken him ages to get Dawn to warm up to him! His hands clenched instinctively. It seemed he had a new rival.

“You seem to be having problems, Lucy!”

A vein bulged in Lucifer’s forehead. He wasn't feeling particularly good right now, and he hated the nickname in any context! Spinning around, he snapped at his brother, “What do you want, Brandon?!”

Brandon recoiled. “Woah, don’t be sad because your girlfriend is being stolen.”

Lucifer’s teeth gnawed against each other. Brandon smirked and flicked up a piece of his hair before going after the two girls. Growling, he made to follow them before noticing a small girl behind his brother. He frowned. How had he missed her?

Shaking his head, he ran up to the girl. He wanted some conversation, and it was too awkward with the girls and he was mad at his brother.

“Hi! My name is Lucifer! What’s yours?”

“Angel.”

Lucifer nodded appreciatively. “That’s a good name, Angel.”

A small nod. “Thank you.” Then she sped up a bit to get in front of him.

Lucifer grumbled. Of course, he had to get the silent girl. Deciding to do what she did, he remained silent for the entire trek up.