The World on the other Side

She followed after him glancing around the halls as she did, taking in her surroundings before they were soon stepping into his study. She had to take a moment to really focus as she saw everything, from floor to ceiling and wall to wall seemed nothing but books and tomes that lined everything. In the center was a low table with books stacked in it and parchment paper, around that were large plush pillows and even a few blankets seeming to show just where the young prince took naps.

Though her first thought was as she stood there soon slipped past her lips "it smells in here..." She said simply and not like books but of days of dust and what ever else. Noticing a curtain she moved towards it quickly pulling it back to show the large window. Grabbing it she pulled it open with a sigh as she felt the fresh air come in. "It's not healthy to stay locked in a room without fresh air so this will stay open. So long as I'm in here." She said simply glancing back at him with a smile. "Though very impressive Jango was right it is a paridise of pillows in here."

"No wait close the window!"Alibaba yelled out quickly as one of the vials on a table nearby stirred and rattled before falling onto the ground and shattering as a wsipy, shadowy figure rose from the bottle before quickly flying out the window as Alibaba tried to grab for it and sighed "20 years of research halted"he said saddly as he hung his head "That was a creature I magically sealed from the shadowlands that I've been studying in order to learn more about them and you just let it free. When this room is closed it is magically sealed and protected from within, only the Queen has the power to break it from the outside, that's why the crest is on the door...however when you open the window you break the seal and the demon can escape. I was outside all day with Jango, that is when I get my fresh air"he said as he slammed the window shut and chanted as he brought up two fingers drawing a line across it as the magic flashed around the room before fading "Hanako, let's not forget I'm over 200 years old. I need you to assist me, not tell me how to live my life, i have a mother for that already."he said "Anyway, let's get started, why don't you start off by having a seat by the table."he said as he checked on a few other vials to make sure they hadn't rattled off the table either

Hanako would look over when the vial broke and she watched him attempt to grab the creature, even with his whole lecture she would sigh some. Again she wasn't used to this world and yes she maybe his assistant and he maybe well older than her, but it was hard to not picture him as a child. "or we could just not study in here Ali, sorry to point this out but my job is to also look after you regardless of your age. Fresh air no matter what is healthy, and im not sitting in a dusty room which just to let you know"

She would then move over to where he had pointed and sat down, her hands going into her lap as she would show she wasn't going to touch or do anything, she sighed some though it wasn't like she opened the window with a purpose to ruining his research or anything like that...

"You know you can send in one of your maid staff to clean the dust now"Alibaba said "This room is the perfect room to study in, because for some reason, magic easily flows unabound in this chamber. You'll find your own magical capabilites are better in here too. First lesson, pick up that pillow without touching it. Use your mind to command the pillow what you wish it to do and the magic will follow."

She shook her head, the whole servant thing was new to her as well but she would let that pass for now as she looked at him. Though soo her eyes would glance over to the pillow he had pointed at, though she still wasn't sure if she had the ability. That earlier the dagger had been the one to command such power not herself.

"Ok...um...so do I just like...stare at it and say move? or..how exactly does this work?"

"Magic in this land, is almost a physical extension of your thoughts. If you imagine the flows of mana commanding the pillow to rise, can imagine seeing the waves of energy entering the pillow and causing it to rise up it will rise. Magic here is controlled by willpower, your mind is your greatest tool, and worst enemy when it comes to magic."Alibaba said as 4 pillows suddenly rose around him spinning in circle as he folded his arms "Everything does as I wish it to do, because I control where the mana flows"

She almost wanted to give him a lecture on how he was born into a world of magic she wasn't but she figured that would only get her a strange look, a lecture of her own and of course one ticked off Ali...he was mad enough at her that she let his research fly out the window...literally.

She sighed some as she sat there, and would then look at one of the pillows again before taking a deep breath just to shake out any thoughts that could cause her to fail at this. Then again he probably was expecting her to fail...several times, but for now she would focus trying to 'see' the mana as he said. Though as she sat there for what felt like forever she finaly spoke "um...what does mana look like exactly?"

"It looks like whatever it is you want it to look like. Like for example when I want to use an air type technique, such as lifting these pillows, it looks like a breeze of wind. When I want to use water, it looks like a flowing stream of energy. Mana is absorbed through the body and then let out in the form of magic. Right now you are in the stage of visualizing what mana looks like to you. Once you can see mana, you can use it in it's many forms" Alibaba said "But that is something I can't do, you must come into it on your own"

She nodded and sighed some, alright that wasn't to hard just picture how it would look like she had read manga and watched anime that explained mana and magic...she could use any of those visualizations that they had. She then looked at him "alright...sounds simple enough.." she looked at the pillow again but she let her eyes closed, 'what does mana look like...' she asked herself again.

She again would just sit there for what seemed several hours, but as she did he would notice her body was glowing and almost like a faint breeze was around her as the loss strands of hair seemed to flow around her. The energy on the training grounds he felt here, was this all untapped magic potential? But just when it seemed she had given up the pillow that she had been focusing began to lift up.

"There you go Hanako! You did it!"Alibaba said with his hand on his chin "And it only took you a couple of hours....it seems you are a rather quick learner my little prodigy. How do you feel right now? Mentally drained?"he asked as he moved to stand beside where she was sitting "That was very impressive"

She blinked hearing him while then glancing to the now floating pillow, it was a bit draining just to try and visualize what needed to happen. Though she glanced at him and chuckled "you could say that I couldn't quiet get the visualization down till I thought of some old shows I used to watch...needless to say is what I see is like a tone of colors minds pretty."

"Good good, for each person it's unique. That is why elementally Jango can only use fire and water technically is the basis for his mist illusions...but it's because he has a hard time visualising the other forms mana can flow in. He's been working on trying to broaden his horizons for a while."

"Well the main one I saw first was wind it fills this room from what I noticed and so I went with that first. I figured that would be one of the more simpler ones the only one that I couldn't really make out was this almost black looking element...it was like I was looking at a black sky with faint light in it...but it could just be a mana that I havnt quiet unlocked my mind on." She said as the pillow dropped to the ground with a soft 'thud'

"A black.....careful when using any magic your mind preceives as black. That is dark magic, very powerful. Not bad, just dark, those spells have the power to alter our world and physical realities...you can see black...usually only those with a strong sense of the gift can see the full mana spectrum from white to black. The darker the color, the more powerful and more energy it takes to use, the same reason fire, red, is harder to use than wind, green. " Alibaba said

"alright..." she stated as she sat there, then again that was the only color she saw the most of and for some reason it called to her, though she stayed silent about that part for now. "alright so stay away from darker colors for now....though I didn't see any green....I thought the white I saw was wind..." she said confused.

"That would be light...so in essence you didn't raise the pillow through the air, you made it light enough to float. Light energy is pure, it is clean. Dark energy is heavy and dense. Wind is usually shades of green, water blues and purple, fire reds and oranges, earth yellows and browns metal is shades of gray."Alibaba said "Something you'll be reading in the book i will be giving you to learn from."he said twiddling his fingers as a book flew from under a large stack of other books before landing on the table in front of her and opening to a chart of the djinn, the elements, and their responding colors of mana. "Here is what is commonly referred to by scholars as the Natural Balance of Magic. All elements equally balanced with light and dark on it's own spectrum, metal in the center and the other elements balanced around metal. Water beats fire, Fire beats wind, wind beats earth, earth beats water. Metal resists them all."

She glanced at the book that he laid down in front of her, and she would sigh some more reading. She wasn't sure what to do even do, she had reading on the history, then the language to learn, then now this as she looked at him. "You sure love giving me things to ready Ali" she stated with a small smile.

Though for now she would reach out to flip through some of the pages, glancing at a few things then spoke "but it would seem I am going to need to learn the language first before I can even read this." she said pointing to the words. "I maybe able to understand you all, but reading is another story" she chuckled some at him. "how about you continue your research im going to go get the books you gave me the other day to read on them..."

"My research is at a stand still until I go get another one of those creatures from the Dark Forest. But I think that is a good idea, you should do that, and dinner should be here by the time to come back"Alibaba commented crossing his legs floating in midair as he hovered around the room looking through his books

She sighed some as he brought up his research was haulted for now, though she stood up and would nod "ill knock when I come back so anything else can't escape" she stated opening the door and would then step out to head to her chambers where she had left the book.

Stepping into her room she glanced around finding the books as she sighed "man these things are huge...how am I even going to carry them back..." she shook her head "i suppose I could just start with the one...though my luck Ali will want me to look something up in the other." Shaking her head she would then blink "wait...I could use magic..." she said and looked a the books. Closing her eyes, she focused on them 'green.....green....im looking for....' all she could see was the black and white colors for now, as she focused the white and black would swirl together around the books, lifting them up.

After a bit her eyes opened, and se saw the books floating "I did it!" she said excited, and then would test out walking before heading back to his study. Without thought she opened the door "Ali!! Ali look I'm making the books float!" she said excited as the two large books floated behind her.

"Congratulations"Alibaba said with a smile as he looked at the books "And it's stilll not using wind energy...it seems you have a penchant for using yin and yang magics. The yin is a combination of metal, earth and fire, the heavy, darker elements and yang is a combination of wind,water and metal."he said "Together they are perfectly balanced in their own right and produce, like I mentioned extremely powerful, sometimes volatile magics."

She would move into the room after shutting the door and went to sit down as she let the books float down and then sit on the table, "I tried looking for wind but I couldn't see anything other than the white and black magic..." she stated as she scratched her nose some, "I just wanted to try something since these tomes were pretty heavy...do you think meditation would help?"

""I do think meditation would help. It's clear to me now that you need to clear up whatever blockage you have that is causing you to produce scythes and see dark energy."Alibaba said "However, just as there are those who dwell in the light, others must practice the dark, perhaps you are destined to master the dark arts as a dark maiden. I think you would be the second hand maiden in it's history to master dark arts"

"Maybe...' she stated as she sighed some shaking her head and would then look at the book in front of her, "for now maybe i should learn the language here...its one thing to hear it its another to be able to read it" she said simply as she would look at the front pages, explaining how the words where read at least in her language.

"Ali...I know your going to say your magic helps you understand...but do you really know Japanese?" she asked looking over at him.

"Of course, to some lesser extent. I study it every day."Alibaba said "Ever since the incident happened. Of course I wish to learn Japanese so that I no longer have to rely on my magic for translation since it is so draining."Alibaba said "Why do you ask that?"

"Well...when we go to Japan...I know there's some simple books we can get on the brief trip there...I know its for business but in the long run it could be useful...I can even teach you...like you are with me." she said with a warm smile at him.

"That way its we both are teaching one another, and I can stick you with homework from time to time." she said teasing as she laughed a bit.