City of the Fallen - unedited

Chapter Thirteen

"How are you feeling so far?" She looks at me as we take a seat and the doors close.

"A little overwhelmed." I respond, looking at my surroundings. Everything is so... clean.

"That's understandable, I know I was when I first came here. It's going to take you a while to get used to, but you have plenty of time to do that." She assures me, which doesn't really help.

"Which dorm did you get?" I ask.

"I live in the Palace of Versailles. It's a beauty but I am not fond of the long walks. It takes twenty minutes to go anywhere."

The train jerks forward and begins moving much slower than I had anticipated.

"Alright I am going to talk pretty quickly, so pay attention. There's a lot of information to grasp on this tour." She warns me, then adjusts her seating position to face the window.

"Do you see that circular building with all of the glass windows?" She asks, pointing down at what looks like a modern version of the Colosseum in Rome.

"Yes."

"That's the main cafeteria. Eating in the stage one area was a privilege, but here you can eat whatever you want because there's no harm in it. It doesn't do anything to your body because, well, you're dead. So people only eat for the pleasure of it. That's a popular thing here, but it's also dangerous." She clarifies.

"What is?"

"Pleasure. Eating is no big deal, but people often take advantage of the freedoms offered in the Afterworld which can get them what we call excommunicated.

Her eyes widen as we pass the really tall building I saw on the way here. "Oh! That's the Sapphire, the most luxurious place I have ever seen. You should see the elevators in that place, they're amazing."

I don't know why she just suddenly changed the subject, but I was still stuck on what she was saying about pleasure.

I look over at what she's pointing at. It looks even better up close. I can see through one of the windows a large swimming pool. I put my hand up to the glass, yearning to feel what it's like to swim again. I can't believe that I missed feeling alive.

Luna brushes a piece of her hair aside and leans in close to the window. "The building down there with the pillars," Luna points, "That's where you'll go pretty much every day in order to decide what your future here will be. Once you decide, you begin training for it. While you're doing that, every person is required to mentor three stage ones."

"How long will that take?" I inquire.

"A long time. Once you're here for a while, time seems to blend together a little. I can hardly remember being a stage one. But maybe that's just me. I'd say it has been about a year that I've been here."

I raise my eyebrows at her comment. A whole year before I am able to become an actual guardian angel Nick would be fourteen by then, going into high school. I can't stand the thought of him growing up, I want him to stay the sweet little boy he is.

"Any questions so far?"

I shake my head.

"Unlike stage ones, stage twos share space with all of the other stages, they're just separated from each other. You can also visit stage threes and fours if you'd like by train." She looks at me and her expression softens. "Just think of it as a city or a town. Your job is to go to training four days a week and then you have somewhat of a weekend to do whatever. There are so many things to discover here, you'll love it. I promise."

We move further from the city and towards a hill that has a train station built within it. "I was told that during orientation you get to look at a mirror or a portal and you can choose one person to look down at from here. Is that true?" I ask.