The Other Side/Rise Of The Crow

It's been two days since we defeated Honos and thankfully things have turned around in a good way. Still, it doesn't change the damage that's already been done. A lot of the Crimson Blade members had families and we had to help Marda and Landon send the letters out to all of their families. Each and every one of them had a story, dreams, passions, likes, dislikes, and their own unique personalities.

It really surprised me how Landon and Marda knew this many people so well. General Daris knew all of them by name and didn't forget about a single one either. In short, these people had a very large family of their own that was precious to them. I can't imagine how painful it is for the survivors to deal with.​​

On the bright side, none of their sacrifices were in vain. There haven't been any Colossi attacks since the battle and the scouts said there are no signs of any enemies further beyond the border. Although, something tells me Vedora is cooking up another scheme elsewhere. It's not going to be easy to defeat her but we will no matter what!

We're all sitting with Landon and Marda with our stuff packed and our bellies full.

"I bet you guys never expected that all of this would happen when you got here." Landon remarks as he chugs down some ale.

"Definitely not, seeing you again spun my head around for sure." Layla admits as she lays back in her chair.

"At the end of the day, I'm just glad that we managed to survive! Every time we do one of these jobs it feels like there's a possibility that we might not make it back. We're still basically new around here, so you never really know what to expect from Goliath." I respond as I drink some water.

"Ugh, you got food under your mouth! Let me get that for you." Mari complains as she grabs a napkin and wipes the food off.

"Yuck, guess we're going to have to get used to this lovey-dovey crap!" Layla sneers as she looks annoyed at us.

"Aww don't be like that! You'll end up alone like us if you don't get your act together Layla!" Marda jokes as she sprays more perfume on herself.

"Who says I don't want to be alone? Honestly having these idiots around all the time can be a headache!" Layla retorts as it's obvious she's lying.

"Sure… " Sachi says sarcastically as we all laugh at Layla.

After a little while, we head to the gate and put all of our things on our carriage for our journey back home.

"You guys didn't forget anything, did you?" Landon asks casually.

"Nah, I think we're all set!" Layla responds.

"Wow, to think we only brought you here for a guild-study and you ended up defeating one of the Legendary Colossi. Any guild would be stupid not to recruit you guys!" Landon compliments.

"Thank you for everything, Landon. I guess being reliable must run in the family, we'd be lost without your sister!" I say as he and I shake hands.

"She's ten times more reliable than I am! I still have some work to do!" Landon answers earnestly.

"Thank you, you taught us quite a bit even though we weren't here that long. I pray that things get easier for you guys up here." Sachi commends.

"You just make sure you continue to hone in on that brain of yours! You'd make an excellent General one of these days!" Landon praises.

"We couldn't have done any of this without you! Thank you so much for the hospitality, be sure to try to stay safe and let us know if any other Colossi show up." Mari cautions as Landon nods his head.

"Don't mention it! We're probably going to need a lot of time before we can recover. Recruiting, rebuilding the base, and hopefully getting some help from our useless government! But we'll make it work, we always do." Landon reassures as he smiles lightly.

"Well, this is it, big brother! I'm not going to thank you but rather I'm going to tell you to stay alive! Also, can you actually write back this time? I'm tired of losing sleep worrying about whether you're alive or not! Please, keep me updated this time… " Layla calls out her voice full of sadness.

"I'm sorry for making you worry so much little sis! I promise that I'll be sure to write back at least once a month moving forward! You just make sure you stay on your studies and keep getting stronger, alright?" Landon asks as he pats her head.

"Got it! I love you!" Layla cries as she hugs Landon.

"I love you too! Be sure to look after my little sister, I'm counting on all of you!" Landon requests as he starts tearing up too.

"Understood!" We all reply in unison.

For the next two days, we ride in our carriage catching up on some rest and thinking about what the next semester has in store for us. Finally, we arrive back at Vortiyas and head straight to the hideout.

"We're back!" I shout as we all lay our bags down.

"Welcome back kiddos!" Kira replies as she comes out of her closet with only a bathrobe on.

"Wha-What the hell? What are you naked?" I ask as I look away.

"Ah, they just added a hot spring in our tavern! Pretty neat right?" Kira asks as I still feel really awkward.

"Kira you really have to learn about boundaries… " Sachi remarks as she facepalms.

"Hey! I'm finally back… What the?" Jack yells as he freezes in his steps after seeing Kira.

"Okay, Kira why don't you head into the hot spring before you give the boys a heart attack!" Layla commands as she shoves Kira out of the room.

For the next hour or so we explain to Jack everything that happened and he also catches us up on how his job went too.

"Pause. You mean to tell me that Mari and Crow are dating now! Crap, how could I miss all of this?" Jack yells as he hits the table in frustration.

"I love how that's what caught your attention, not the fact that Vedora summoned a Legendary Colossal!" Mari points out as she pinches her forehead.

"The thing about that is, Vedora actually talked to me too during my job. Between all of the crap that happened, I almost forgot." Jack shares as he lays his head on the table.

"Really? You too? What did she say?" I ask as he lets out a huge sigh.

"Revenge, a bunch of stuff about Adora, I don't really know! But it definitely scared me out of my boots, I was already on edge because I was guarding the family. Imagine waking up to some creepy Scavian Woman staring at you in your sleep." Jack replies.

"She seems to be pretty fixated on us, are we really that much of a threat to her?" Mari asks as she combs her hair.

"It makes sense, with Adora being her enemy and rival anyone associated with her would obviously be considered a threat. The biggest issue is how we can even defeat her? Do we have to defeat all 11 of the other Colossi first? Or can we stop her before they can even become an issue?" Sachi asks as all of us start thinking hard.

"Nope, you gotta defeat all 12 of them that's just how it is! With all of them dead, Vedora won't be able to gain more power. But from what I saw in the report you guys didn't kill Honos did you?" Kira asks as she barges into the room fully clothed this time.

"No. Vedora saved him before we could finish him off." Layla replies as she lays in her bed with her head down.

"She's quite a thorn in our people's side. Don't any of you hang your heads low though, you guys defeated a Legendary Colossal and saved our land from certain destruction. Vedora is just that strong of a foe, it couldn't be helped." Kira encourages as she sits down at the table and starts drinking her ale.

"Hey! What about me?" Jack asks as he holds his arms out.

"You did an excellent job, Jack! The report said that besides a couple of situations where you were a little bit overwhelmed, that you handled it like a professional. Keep up the good work and you'll probably get more jobs like this in the future!" Kira compliments as Jack smiles like a little kid.

"Understood!" Jack replies as I can tell he really appreciates the praise.

"Now what is this I heard about Mari and Crow? Did you tick her off again, Crow? Why don't you just stop playing games and make her your girlfriend already?" Kira asks as she puts both of her feet on the table.

"Kira, that's exactly what I did during the job!" I snap back as Kira freezes.

"Oh… OHHHH! Wow, look at you growing up Crow!" Kira realizes as everyone starts laughing at her.

With winter coming to an end, I feel like something big is coming. I just hope I can keep my little family safe no matter what.