The Other Side/Rise Of The Crow

Kira is a tall Dark Elf standing at 5'10 with red eyes, a voluptuous figure, and beautiful long white hair.

"Are you all just going to stare at me? Come on in! We can talk in my quarters!" Kira says as we walk into the tavern.

We walk down some steps that lead us to an underground hideout. There are weapons mounted all around the room as well as a large table, 6 beds, a desk, and oil lamps. This place may not be fancy, but it's certainly better than where I was leaving in my other world. We're all sitting down at the table eating dinner which tastes pretty good.

"I'm proud of you Layla! This was an A-ranked job and you got it done within a day!" Kira says happily, as she chugs down on her drink.

"That means a lot coming from you! I'll continue to do my best!" Layla says humbly.

"But enough about that! The children of Adora have arrived! I'm sure your heads are probably spinning from all that's happened. I hate to be this blunt, but it's only going to get worse from here. Being summoned by Adora means that people will be expecting a lot from you. What are your names?" Kira says as she puts her drink down.

"I'm Crow! The rest of them are Sachi, Mari, and Jack. Layla let us know a little bit about our situation, but we were in a rush. We were all hoping we could get more answers from you." I say as Kira lets out a huge sigh.

"I could… But it's going to take a while! Are you sure you guys don't want to get rest first?" Kira asks, her eyes full of concern.

"We've been forced into this situation, so I'd like to know what's going on. My whole life has been flipped upside down, rest is at the bottom of my priorities… " Jack says, his voice full of pain.

"Knowing the full truth would help me at least grieve my old life." Sachi says.

"What does it even mean to be a half-blood? Why were we summoned here?" Mari asks.

"Very well! Those tattoos on all of your arms aren't merely for aesthetic, they're the mark of Adora." Kira says.

"Mark of Adora? Are we cursed or something?" Jack asks as he looks nervously at his tattoo.

"Curse is purely subjective, but having the mark means that all of you are half human-half Frodian." Kira says as she examines all of us.

"Okay, now I'm lost. What are Frodians?" Sachi asks.

"That's the name our kind. Dark Elves, Orcs, Wood Elves, and High Elves. We all make up the Frodian race since we all have a common ancestor. Of course, we all have different appearances so our ancestors divided us into four different houses. Scavian for Dark Elves, Windian for Wood Elves, Mardian for High Elves, and Bracadier for Orcs." Kira says as we all try to process what she told us.

"But, I don't feel any different? Do you guys? Are you sure we're actually half-bloods?" Mari asks.

"That leads to the next thing I was going to talk about. Tomorrow all of you will be expected to participate in a ritual. In Goliath, we call it the Rebirth! Right now your appearances from your previous world are still the same, but after the rebirth that will change. You remember how it goes, right Layla?" Kira asks as she grabs another drink.

"Adora will return to the land of Goliath and bless her children with the powers of a Frodian. With the help of their full-blooded brethren, the Children will put an end to the reign of the 12 Legendary Colossi." Layla says, as she clearly knows this prophecy by heart.

"Wait what? What are the 12 Colossi?" Jack asks.

"Analach, Honos, Ononora, Baolithir, Agionn, Gelathla, Finrir, Melkiyon, Sorane, Tasios, Alraina, and lastly Vedora queen of the Colossi. Our kind has been threatened by them for centuries, but recently it's gotten even worse. Last year alone, we lost over 2 million Frodians to the Colossi. Some of our kind has gotten so scared that the birth rate has declined immensely… " Kira says, as she looks really sad.

"And you all expect us to stop them? After what we just went through? This can't be serious!" Jack says as he punches the table in anger.

"Jack, calm down man! We should at least hear them out first!" I yell.

"He's got a point though, what does any of this have to do with us?" Sachi says.

"I won't stand for this crap any longer, I just want to go back home to my brother… " Jack says, as he leaves the room.

"Jack wait!" Mari says, as she gets up to run after him.

"Stop, just give him space. I'm sure it's hard for him to accept his new circumstances." Layla says as she grabs Mari's arm.

"I'll be the first to admit I don't envy you guys. Waking up in a world that isn't yours and being asked to take on so much responsibility off the jump. That would be a lot to ask out of anyone, much less a group of teenagers. Just keep in mind that you do have a choice in the matter. If you don't want to proceed, then I wouldn't blame any of you, but keep in mind that life in Goliath is really hard and our race lives thousands of years old." Kira says, her voice full of understanding.

"What should we do guys?" Mari asks.

"I don't know what to do. I'm really just overwhelmed more than anything." Sachi says as she looks down at the table.

This is a lot. I mean what the hell do they expect from us? I think it's pretty safe to assume that none of us were heroes in our past lives and now we're supposed to be just because of some weird prophecy? All of this is just really weird…

"I don't really know what to do either, but I think we should at least check on Jack first! I can't imagine how hard it is for him right now." I say as I got up from the table.

"Of course, go ahead. But I do need your answer by tonight! The Guild Alliance is going to be here tomorrow and they're going to expect some type of answers." Kira says as she chugs her drink down.

"Understood! Let's see where he ran off to." Mari says as she and Sachi follow me.

It is now nighttime and the city has become way busier than it was earlier.

"Ugh, where do you think he went? He should've at least told us where he was going before he left!" Mari says, her voice full of frustration.

"No clue, it's a pretty big city after all." I say as we walk down the street.

"Most likely Keryth District. He said earlier that he loved it over there." Sachi says.

"That's right! Well, it shouldn't be too hard to find him since we all stand out here." I say as we head into Keryth District.

As we walk into the district we hear a lot of commotion in the tavern. We can hear the Bracadiers chanting in the tavern. We all walk into the tavern and Jack is arm wrestling a Bracadier.

"Huh? Jack?" I say.

"One more round! One more round! One more round!" The crowd chants.

"What's going on?" Mari asks.

"Come on half-blood! Let's do one more round! If I win, then I get back all of the money you won from me! If you win then keep the money and I'll even throw in my gold ring! That's more than fair wouldn't you say?" The Bracadier says as you can tell he's desperate to get his money back.

"You're on!" Jack says as he smirks confidently.

"Alright, this is the final round! Three, two, one, GO!" Another Bracadier says as she lets go of both of their hands.

"Come on Half-Blood! I betted good money on you!" Someone in the crowd says.

"Benjo you better not lose again! That's all the money we made on the last job!" Another person in the crowd says.

Jack and Bejo struggle for over two minutes straight.

"Come on just give it up Half-Blood!" Benjo says, as he almost pushes Jack's hand all the way down.

"Sorry, quitter just ain't in my blood!" Jack says, as he regains his momentum and wins the match.

"And the winner is…. Uhhh, what's your name Half-Blood?" The Female Bracadier asks.

"It's Jack!" Jack replies.

"Give it up for Jack!" The Female Bracadier says as she holds Jack's fist up.

The crowd erupts in a cheer as they lift Jack up.

"We should wait for him outside! It feels too cramped in here!" Sachi says as I could tell she was uncomfortable.

We all wait for everything to calm down for about 30 minutes. Jack finally walks out with a huge bag of gold.

"Unbelievable! We were actually worried about you and you decide to gamble!" Mari says, her voice full of anger.

"Sorry about that guys, I had to let off some steam somehow. Why don't we talk somewhere a little more private?" Jack suggests as we find a quiet alley to chill at.

We're all in the alley and we sit on four wooden boxes. The night is starting to calm down and everyone seems to be getting ready for bed.

"I'm sorry, all of this has been a lot more than I ever expected. I tried to push forward and not think about my brother but… " Jack says quietly.

"It's impossible, right? I haven't been able to stop thinking about my family either." Sachi replies.

"Before I came to this world my only purpose was providing for him, but now that's all gone… It feels like my reason for living is all gone." Jack says.

"So you're just going to give up? Is that it?" Mari asks.

"Well, I… " Jack says.

"Mari, don't try to force him. Ultimately, it's up to him what he wants to do. It's his second chance and he has a right to use it the way he wants to. We still need your answer though Jack. Kira is waiting for all of us." I say.

"What do you think you're going to do Crow?" Jack asks as he looks at me intensely.

"To be honest, while I didn't appreciate the way they piled all of their problems onto us, part of it did excite me. In my past life, I didn't have anyone except for my dog and my pet crows. I didn't get the chance to go to a regular school, I didn't get the chance to fall in love, I didn't get the chance to have a real family, and ultimately I didn't even get the chance to enjoy my life. Every day was just all about survival, nothing more." I say as I felt very uncomfortable being this vulnerable.

"Crow… " Jack says.

"Things are different now though! I have another chance! Yeah, we might be in a completely different world that's way more dangerous than our original, but just the idea that we can do this all over again, it's the only thing keeping me going. I think I'm going to participate in that ritual tomorrow and wherever life takes me from there, I'll just accept it! Anything is better than just laying down in fear… " I say, as everyone looks surprised.

"I see… Well, I guess it can't be helped then. I can't allow you to try to save the world on your own, can I? I don't believe in prophecies and all of that stuff, but I do believe in living on. I can't let my brother down, he'd chew my head off if I just gave up." Jack says as he smiles.

"What about you guys?" I ask as I look at Sachi and Mari.

"I really want to spend my life doing what I want! But if those Colossals are in the way, I guess I have no choice but to put an end to them right?" Sachi says.

"Mari?" Jack asks.

"This place is way too interesting for me to just run away from it! I don't necessarily care about saving people, but I do care about learning more about this world. If saving it helps me get to that goal, then I guess you can count me in too!" Mari says as she smiles.

"Then it's settled!" I say, my voice full of excitement.

"Yeah!" We all say in unison.

Tomorrow is the ceremony, I hope things go well.