The next day they were scheduled to enter the mining area. Ludwig met them at the entrance to the dorms and led them through the station. They went through an air lock and a long tube, which was similar to their trip to the power generator. When they arrived in the mining dome, they were greeted by a burly looking man.

"Hello. My name is Rogers, and I'll be showing you around."

"I was told, I'd meet Impero Lithos here," Ludwig replied without so much as giving the man a greeting. From the way he was dressed, he probably wasn't even a mage.

"Impero Lithos is indisposed. You either have to put up with me, and treat me with respect, or you can leave immediately." The non-mage stared at Ludwig with such an intensity that the Impero was taken aback.

"Fine, we'll make do with you," Ludwig answered finally. "Would you please show the students around?"

Rogers stared at Luwig a few minutes longer. Perhaps he was displeased by the strange way Ludwig had emphasized the word 'please'. Finally deciding that that was the best he'd get, he turned around and gave them four pairs of strange looking shoes. "Put these on," he told them. Ludwig didn't get a pair.

"What are those for?" Eclaire asked.

"There is no gravity in the mining area. Those shoes will keep you grounded. They are weakly magnetic, and the mining area floor is laced with steel."

"Where are my shoes?" Ludwig asked.

"You, Mister Impero, told me to show the students around. Not you. So I will do just that. You can wait here for Impero Lithos to arrive."

"This is outrageous," Ludwig fumed.

"I told you to treat me with respect. You may have magic, but you're still very much reliant on me here, while I am not reliant on an Impero without any Donar at his side." Mister Rogers turned to them. "Come. There is much to see."

They followed Mister Rogers while Ludwig stood there as if he had turned to stone. The non-mage led them through another airlock before Ludwig found his voice to protest. Inside he handed them four small bottles. "There shouldn't be any emergencies, but hold these in front of your mouth in case there is some sort of decompression. It will allow you to breathe until the mages on site have fixed the hole."

Lia looked at Orphelia, feeling alarmed. Her room mate smiled. "Don't worry. These are just extra precautions. I am sure nothing will happen."

"Your school mate is correct," Rogers told them, then opened the air lock on the other side. "We're working with heavy machinery, and even though the dome has been magically reinforced, it is always prudent to be careful. Not even mages can defy the vacuum of space for more than a few minutes."

Lia sat a foot onto the mining area's floor, and the magnets in her shoes pulled her down. It was a strange feeling to be rooted in place by the shoes, while the weightlessness seemed to pull her in a different direction. Above her was a vast dome, similar to the one they had arrived in. But instead of a large crystal tree, they were greeted by a humongous rock. Large machines were digging chunks out of the rock that were then transported to other areas of the dome, probably to be refined or something like that.

"By the way: Don't run or jump in this place. The magnets are just strong enough to keep you grounded if you walk normally. If you try to run or even jump, you might float away, and catching someone is not really something I or anyone else here wants to do." Rogers gave them one of his hard stares, and all of them nodded.

"Now, I know you are from the big mage academy, and you're here to learn, how mages are involved with mining, correct?"

"Yes, Sir!" Peter and Eclaire answered immediately. Lia had to wonder when he had managed to impress or intimidate the two Imperi. Was it when he had defied Ludwig?

"That's the spirit," Rogers said with a smile and pointed to the ground. "The very first thing mages have been and still are involved with is the ground of the mining area. There is steel laced into the ground, and mages maintain its integrity. Other mages maintain the integrity of the dome, or they help with a tiny bit of gravity to keep the Asteroid that's currently being mined in place."

"But if the stone here is laced with metal, shouldn't it be possible to attach it to the gravity field of the station?" Peter asked.

"Yes, that would be possible. But there are several reasons, that this is not done. First it places more of a strain on the mages generating the field. Secondly it allows us to move the mined ore much more easily, because we don't have to work against gravity."

"I don't see a lot of magic here." Orphelia wasn't even looking at her, but exploring the whole new world that had been opened to her. Lia almost wanted to shout at her that she shouldn't remind her all the time that she had magic, and Lia didn't. She barely managed to keep her temper under control and sighed.

"Most of the work here is done without magic," Mr. Rogers confirmed Orphelia's comment. "There are a few mages on call, should there be any kind of accident, but other than that, we're simply doing a lot of manual work. There are a few mages involved in the final refinement step, especially metal mages, but that's it." Rogers shrugged, then leaned toward them conspiratorially. "It's also why Impero Lithos isn't here. He wouldn't be able to tell you much, so he pushed the job onto me."

"I wonder what we're supposed to write about the mining station then?" Eclaire asked.

"Oh, that's simple. I'm sure your teacher won't like it, but the lesson you're supposed to learn here is, that magic isn't all. Humans can and will do a lot without even being able to see, touch or maybe smell magic."

***

Ludwig was fuming when they came back to the air lock. He sent them to the dorms immediately while he wanted to have a talk with Mr. Rogers.

Lia had no idea what Ludwig hoped to accomplish doing that, but he was still frustrated when they met him the next day. He didn't say anything about the day before, and no one of them wanted to open that can of space worms.

Lia looked once again at the crystal tree, feeling a strange longing, which only got worse when she saw how Orphelia stared at it with fascination. Even if she couldn't control magic, couldn't she just be able to see it? To see the wonders that must be around them all the time?

It didn't take long after Lia managed to fully tear her gaze away from the tree, before they entered the docking area. Although the docking ring wasn't being used right now, there were a lot of people running around. People carried boxes, others checked things on tablets, and there was station personnel standing around, eyeing everything carefully.

Ludwig led the way to a square building that seemed to be the center of the activity. He knocked on a wooden door and waited. A few minutes passed before the door was finally opened by a burly looking man with a beard that had completely forgotten to grow a mustache.

"Ah, you have to be today's student group. Come in, come in," the man said with a smile and made way for them to enter the room.

The inside of the building was boring. The desks were stone slabs that stood in the room in ninety degree angles. A few people were looking into several crates. Then Lia's eyes stopped on a few colorful balls of fur that hung upside down in a corner of the room.

"Our flying puffballs always catch everyone's attention," the strangely bearded man said. "They are apparently descendants of flying foxes, have innate air mana, the ability to use it, and very, very good noses. We use them to find illegal substances."

"Illegal substances?" Orphelia asked.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Mostly 'Red Mist', which is a bitter tasting, red powder. While it can draw more power from donar, they easily lose control of their mana, overwhelming and killing them in the process. They oftentimes also burn out in the process." The man sighed and shook his head. "There is a rumor that it can give donar the ability of an imperi, but those are unfounded. And even if they were true - what's a moment of power compared to losing your magic forever after that?"

"Which is probably why donar are still valued higher than non-magical people in our society," Orphelia whispered. Lia felt a shiver run down her spine. Losing your magic would mean losing your elevated status.

"Anyways", the man continued, "my name is Sergeant Hoss. You're here to learn about the mage's roles at the docking area. I am a metal mage, and I have a matching donar working next to me. Who are you and what are your roles?"

Ludwig opened his mouth, but he was stopped with a hand by the man. "Let them speak for themselves. They have to learn to stand on their own feet, after all." Then the Seargent turned to them and waited.

"I am Eclaire Centauri, and I am an Impera." Rudehair reacted first and tossed her red hair behind her. "My Element is-"

"I haven't asked for your elements," Hoss interrupted her. "Never give more information than necessary." Then his gaze turned to the next one.

"Orphelia. Orphelia Deimos. Donar. And I have a question, Sir."

"Yes?"

"Can't you deduce our roles by the clothes we're wearing?"

"I could, yes, but then again, you could wear clothes that hide your actual status. You might be an Impera, disguised as a Donar." Orphelia turned slightly red. "Unless you're a very good actress, you'll either slip up or show other signs that can help me deduce a lie."

"Th... thank you," Orphelia whispered and looked at the floor. The sergeant's gaze went to the next in the group.

"Robert Solace. Impero." The third in their group answered. Then the man's gaze landed on Lia.

"I'm ... Lia Selena Eo, Donar." She sighed at the end. In this group she was the only true Donar. The other two had been Imperi from the start, and Orphelia had developed those powers. Even the flying Puffballs could do more magic than she herself. "May I ask a question?" Lia turned from Sergeant Hoss to Ludwig. "Why can those Puffballs use magic on their own, while we need two people?"

Ludwig looked at her for a long time, then shook his head. "We have no idea. There is a theory that some sort of gate between the realms of mana, and the realm of actua has been shut. Some mages are on one side of the gate, others on the other. Only the royal family was spared from that fate. Or maybe they were the ones closing it in the first place." He shrugged. "In the end it doesn't matter. We can't change the circumstances, but we can work around those limitations."

But if the circumstances couldn't be altered, then how had Orphelia's changed? Lia looked at her room mate out of the corner of her eye. Was the sergeant eyeing her friend strangely as well?

"Now that the introductions are out of the way," Hoss said all of a sudden, "let me show you how we inspect the various crates and packages that come in ..."

***

At the dawn of Virgoday, Lia wanted to stay in bed. It was their midweek free day, but it had gotten hard to care. Almost everywhere they went, Lia was shown how much more Imperi were worth, and that she as a donar had no worth past being a battery. And the life of a battery was boring. Even farmers were doing more interesting work than just standing behind an Impero providing them with what they needed to do extraordinary things.

"Come on Lia, get up!" Orphleia didn't allow her much time to bathe in her misery and pulled her blanket away.

Lia grabbed for the piece of cloth, trying to reclaim it. "I don't wanna. Being a donar mage is worse than doing manual labor. I hate just standing around and doing nothing."

"It's not that bad ..." Orphelia argued and trailed off. "You are doing something when you're providing mana."

"When I am doing that. But all the other time the donar stood in a corner like wallflowers. Vases with decoration, waiting for someone to empty them out."

"Then ... just look at the bright side. You're still getting paid more than a farmer, although you're doing less work."

"I am not made for this. I can't stand around and be bored all the time. Standing around and doing nothing is like dying inside!"

"But lying around and doing nothing keeps you alive?"

Lia sighed and mumbled: "Allow me my little hypocrisy here. Giving those up is even harder for me than doing Impero magic." Still, she slowly got up from the lower half of their bunk bed.

Orphelia was already dressed, not in the academy robes but with tight, knee-length jeans and a shirt that read 'The mage that made the universe did a poor job'. Lia could agree with that sentiment and had to smile.

"Now get dressed. I wanted to look around the place without Ludwig watching. Which includes the places he won't bring us to."

"And what are these places?"

Orphelia leaned in to her and whispered conspiratorially: "The market. Who knows? Maybe they even have some of that red mist somewhere."

"You don't want to try that, do you?" Lia asked, taken aback by her friend. "You out of all donar, don't even need it!"

"Don't you want to try?"

"And lose the little bit of magic I have? No thank you."

"Well, then let's go with my original plan: Find a souvenir or two."

Lia frowned at her broadly smiling friend. Then she finally sighed and grabbed her clothes. "Well, okay, it's not like I have anything else to do."

***

Roughly an hour later the two of them sat foot onto the market place of Foresteri Mining Station. As with the mining area and the power plant, the market was off in another dome. A great central pillar supported the vast glass dome, with several holo displays advertising wares in the space above their heads. Below that technological marvel were rather mundane stalls where several different people tried to advertise for their own wares, shouting out loud what they had to offer. "Game Codes," called someone, "Interactive Novels," another. The sound of "Soylent Steaks" wafted over to them, as well as the delicious smell. "Get the new Dragon Tablet 8i2Max," came from above, along with visuals advertising a tablet that looked a lot like the one Ludwig had. Maybe a tad more modern. The price of fifty Star Crystals made it clear that she won't be able to afford such a device any time soon.

"That's rather cheap," Orphelia noted. "They wanted sixty on the crystal citadel."

"There's a market on the crystal citadel?"

"But of course! It's in the lower levels. I walked over it when I first arrived. Didn't you catch a glimpse of it?"

"No," Lia answered with a sigh. "I was a late addition to this years students, and Ludwig came personally to get me. He brought me directly to the academy's doors."

"We should look at it next weekend," her friend said with a smile. A moment later she brightened even more and pushed herself past Lia to look at the wares of one of the stalls.

Smiling, she joined her friend as she pointed at different crystalline brooches. "Look," Orphelia suddenly said, "they have designs for all nine elements!"

"They're eight sun chips each," the merchant supplied helpfully.

That was money Lia didn't have. Spending money was not included in her scholarship.

Orphelia surprised her, when she pointed at a brooch. "I'd like two of the tree one. Can I get both for fourteen?"

The merchant hesitated for a moment. "Fifteen."

"Deal!" Orphelia smiled and handed him the silvery bars. How did she have enough money to spent it on trinkets? Lia had at most five sun chips, and maybe a few moon sickles. Orphelia couldn't have that much more than her!

While she was still reeling from the purchase, Orphelia thrust one Brooch into her hands. "Here. This one is for you!"

Lia took the trinket and stared at it for a long while. "Why?" It was just a whisper, but it expressed perfectly how she felt: Unsure of herself, of the gift, and of everything. She was jealous of Orphelia, of her magic, she had been so very frustrated, that she was sure, that after a few more of these lessons, she'd yell at her friend.

"Because you're my friend," was all that Orphelia said. She turned away from her and pretended to be interested by the ads that were being played above. A beach resort on some fancy vacation planet.

"Thank you," Lia answered and attached the brooch to her blouse. It was just too bad that she hadn't 'life' as one of her official elements, but it still made her feel better.

Just as Lia closed up to her friend, everything went dark. Then an overly large image of the queen appeared in the air above them. Her figure lit up the area like a goddess. Her flowing, rainbow-colored hair spilled over her shoulders, and she seemed to look at them from golden glowing eyes. On her head rested a tiara, a golden arm, encrusted with jewels, depicted an arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

"Beloved Citizens of the Empire," the queen said after a long moment of silence. "I have an important announcement to make: Today I shall resign as your queen in favor of my brother, who has recently demonstrated a mastery of all the nine elements. Since he has surpassed my own control," she reached up to her head and began to lift the galaxy-tiara, "it is only right that I abdicate the throne and give it to my brother, who will henceforth rule as your king."

The prince appeared next to the queen, and bowed. She put the tiara on his head and stepped back. As the queen, or rather the former queen, faded from above them, the prince, or rather the new king, became the center of attention for everyone.

"Dear Citizens of the Empire. I pledge to use my power to keep all of you safe and lead the empire into a new age of prosperity!" He spread his arms, and spheres of light and darkness appeared next to him, flames sparked into view and a ball of water grew in front of him. A benevolent smile played around his beard as a small crystal condensed in mid-air.

While someone on the market shouted "long live the king," Lia felt a shiver run down her spine. His eyes didn't have the same warm glow that the eyes of the queen had, but they seemed rather cold.

"I think," Orphelia started and leaned against Lia, "we should return to our rooms."

She took her friend's arm and nodded. Maybe it was just the projection above, maybe it was her on trepidation about the change she'd witnessed, but her friend seemed colder and paler than before. Maybe Amir Saggitarius really had visited Orphelia once, and she didn't want to know, what a prince might have done to a poor girl from a farming colony ...