The Other Side: A Second Chance

My hands gripped the bark of the Sycora tree and I gritted my teeth as the prickly wood pierced my skin slightly as I pulled myself up the branches. My shoes scraped against the bark, chipping pieces of it off as I scrambled to gain a footing.

"You're too slow!" Varis laughed from atop the tree.

"Sh-shut up!" I retorted as I finally caught footing and once again resumed my scramble to the top. As the branches became more numerous and thicker as I neared the top, I found my ascent to become easier and more fluid as I scurried up the branches like a ladder. Eventually, I poked my head through the cherry-pink leaves beside my brother.

Immediately, his fist playfully slugged me in the shoulder, causing me to wince as it stung a little. "Hey, what did Dad say about hitting girls?" I yelped.

"Father is not present, and you act more like a boy than a girl." Varis stuck his tongue out at me and smirked. "Now you have to do the dishes tonight with Mother."

I gawked. "Si-since when?!"

"Since now. I won the climb." He smugly puffed his chest.

God, I'm starting to despise him again. "We never agreed to that!"

"Losers are losers, so you have to do it." He laughed as I began to pout, and the moment he saw my expression falter, he sighed, "Luna, I'm just joking."

This trick gets him every time. I smirked and beamed at him. "So am I! So, we both do the dishes tonight." Varis blinked his green and blue eyes, flicking from side to side, before scowling and huffing.

"Fine." He puffed his chest and looked towards the town of Oren. The Hautchkins Mill was close by, and we could see our house on the nearby hill. Varis turned to me with a mischievous grin. "But don't think you're getting away with it next time!" I chuckled and playfully nudged him. Knowing that our banter would continue long into the evening, we began to climb down and make our way home.

It's been six years since I've awoken in this new world. Even now, I'm still unable to wrap my head around whether this is real or some form of afterlife. Yet I try not to dwell on it, mostly going with the flow as things come and trying my hardest to adapt. Much has changed since then. I've learned much of the language of this world; my parents hired a home tutor for Varis and me, especially since Father and Mother took note of how intelligent I seem to be.

The two of them have come to treat me as their little girl genius. Little do they know, honestly, I just have a head start on life. Due to this, they pooled together money and hired Madam Isa Soza, a gorgeous Serelli woman. Serelli is a form of humanoid, beast folk hybrid. They're feline in nature; if I had to slap an internet slang term on it from my old life, they're literally cat folk, or nekos, as Redditors called them.

Madam Soza is a brilliant teacher, kind, and, well, very good-looking, if I'm being honest. She was the one who taught us the common tongue and, more importantly, the Maurich language. The common tongue is the language used primarily in this world, the world of Enora. Maurich, however, is the language of the Father Land, Heinmar. More specifically, the Heinmar Republic. Which is where my family and I live now.

Since my parents are Maurich speakers (though my mother is also fluent in the common tongue), Soza began by teaching me that language. Since the two languages are so similar, it was helpful to have multiple people guide my studies. Thinking about it, the closest comparison I can make to this is Latin. It is the linguistic ancestor of many European languages, although in this case, the linguistic ancestor is universal. Soza informed me that Common had previously gone by a different name but that it had eventually changed. She told me that the downfall of Common came about at a time when all humanoids spoke the same language and all the known races colluded to overthrow the gods. Disapproving of this, the gods forced everyone to forget, thus leading to the creation of many different languages.

Naturally, I'm greatly paraphrasing this. Perhaps I should sit down and read more of the narrative later because it's extremely interesting as a whole. Nevertheless, Soza taught Varis and me for many days and sleepless nights in the interim. For obvious reasons, I picked up most things more quickly than Varis did. Take mathematics, for example, which is the same as it was in my previous life, save for the characters that represented the numbers. To be honest, I think I went overboard. I was awful at math in my previous life, at least algebraically. However, basic algebra, geometry, and below is a cakewalk.

I attempted to pretend to be incompetent, but Soza quickly realized that I wasn't as clueless as I seemed. This, together with my parents, pleasantly surprised her. It seemed to annoy Varis a little, but hopefully, I didn't injure his pride too much.

It was also around the time at the start of my education that I learned how to properly pronounce my name as well as that of my family. Roona, when converted to Common and Maurich, actually means "Luna," which at first, I thought was named after one of the two moons above Enora. Though no, my mother explained that I was named after the constellation of a famous adventurer back in the day, Luna Mayfly. An Elven Sorceress who had once fought alongside a legendary group known simply as "The Seven" during the "Twilight War", which to me sounded metal as hell!

I'm getting sidetracked.

The languages of Maurich and Common handle Ls weirdly, as they're pronounced similarly to Rs when compared to English. To be frank, this is what I struggled with the most. Madam Soza always ridiculed me about my accent and how I had a "speech impediment". Which I simply started calling the "American Debuff". I should clarify that it wasn't harsh teasing; it was more playful. Though she told me that, as a lady, I speak too boyishly and should spend more time with Mother or make other female friends,

Eh, I didn't get to choose to be a man for the majority of my life. I guess she is right to a degree. I noticed a lot during these past few years and during Soza's teachings that this world is a lot more open-minded compared to my past life. I've noticed that while there still appears to be some form of inequality between genders, it is nowhere near as harsh. Men and women share the same jobs, outfits can join the army, and apparently, this country has a voting system, which they partake in too. Yet even then, there still seems to be a looming expectation over them.

Well, I'm not looking forward to all of that when I grow up.

"Is something bothering you, Luna?" Gentle purring came from Madam Soza as she set the portable chalkboards on the dining room table. "You look like you're thinking really hard about something."

The Serelli woman's red feline ears whirled like radar dishes as she followed the sound of Mother clacking dishes together in the sink as she cleaned up, and I blinked and looked up at her before lowering my head back down to my toast and coocha eggs I was having for breakfast. "I'm just wondering what life will be like as I get older."

Soza gazed at me in astonishment, her green eyes wide, as she brushed her red hair out of her face. "Well, that is quite a big thing to be thinking about for someone your age." She laughed as she sat down on the chair opposite me. "What exactly are you thinking about?"

As I picked at my eggs with a fork, I could hear a sleepy Varis stumbling down the stairs to join us. "Nothing major, really. " I said, "I guess I'm simply wondering what the experience would be like overall. I often fantasize of joining the military as my father did and going on adventures like the wayfarers that pass through town." I let out a deep sigh.

Oren, the place we called home, is a tiny village located a few miles from the Rusimian border. Agriculture and the neighboring magrite vein mining (I'm assuming a magical crystal) are the town's two main industries. I don't know a lot about it yet. Although a lot of travelers and explorers pass through here because of our proximity to the border of a huge country, many of those groups resemble those I used to oversee in my Dungeons & Dragons games.

With her long, scarlet, fluffy tail flickering softly behind her, Soza tapped her chin. "Well, I'm not surprised. Many children fantasize about traveling the world. Being a soldier or an adventurer would grant you such wishes. Do you yearn for adventure, Luna?" She asked me.

Varis drew his chair out and sat next to me, just as Mother came over and placed his food in front of him before ruffling his hair. "Maybe..." I mumbled; honestly, I had no idea. I hadn't left my room respectfully in over six years of my previous existence. I've spent a quarter of my life online, only leaving when I needed to accomplish something that I couldn't do from a computer. Even back then, I wanted to do something outside, but I couldn't bring myself to go.

Seeing my conflict, Soza purred and smiled as her tail flicked back and forth more rapidly. She gestured out to my breakfast with her calloused, clawed hand. "Think about it. Though do not think too much, Luna, or else you may forget what it's like to be a child. Pondering the future too much will leave you blind to what is here in the present. Enjoy life for what it is now and take things as they come. Now, finish your breakfast. Today we'll be working on grammatical writing. Varis, you'll be working on addition, and Luna, I noticed you seem to already be aware of multiplication."

"Aaaah, I hate math!" Varis grumbled tiredly as he slurped up his eggs.

I blushed and rubbed my neck. "I, uh, found a book upstairs that talked about it." I lied, and Soza smiled and shrugged.

"I will not discourage outside study. It does make my life easier." She chuckled as we finished up our breakfast and began our morning lessons.

"How're you so good at math?" Varis asked me as we walked past the front gate to our property. He tightened the backpack on his shoulder full of the baked goods we were taking to the Hautchkins that they had ordered along with some other baked goods Mother had made in thanks for letting us use their mill. I turned and waved my hand goodbye to Mother, who stood on the front porch beside Madam Soza.

"Be back soon!" I shouted and turned back to Varis. "Because I study unlike you." I teased and poked out my tongue, only to yell when I felt his fist strike my shoulder. "Hey!" I slugged him back, though he didn't flinch, and I huffed.

Varis rolled his eyes and said, "I haven't even seen you study once. Aside from all those books you take from our father's study, all you do is read."

"And that's called studying, Varis." I swear this kid is a doorknob sometimes, though I get him. Back in my old life, I despised studying. I could never understand those kids who just seemed to know everything and got to do whatever they wanted. I guess to him, I seem like one of those kids. Little does he know I already have a high school education and a background in IT, not that IT will help me in this world. "I dunno how to say it; it just comes to me easily." I tried to give him a cute smile, hoping it would ease him. "If you ever need help, I can help you study... Varis?" I noticed my smile didn't work. He seemed to be looking straight ahead as we walked towards the mill, which can be seen in the distance.

Varis sighed and shook his head. "I don't get it... I want to be as smart as you. Every day since Soza came, you've shown our mother and father how smart you are. Now all they ever do is talk about you!"

I blinked and shook my head. "That's not true. Mother and father love us equally, Varis, and like I said, I can help--"

Varis raised his hands in the air and turned to face me. "I don't want help!" He interrupted. "I just want to be as cool as you!" It's painful trying to talk to a child. Yet, once again, I could identify with him; fears and inferiority complexes were issues I used to suffer from and, in some ways, still do. So, I took a deep breath and smiled at him once more.

"Brother, you are cool." I pointed at him and began to glaze. "Already, you have our father's strong looks, and you have those super cool eyes. Speaking of which, I don't have super cool eyes like you, and you can climb trees really fast. You're special in your own way."

"Well, you're pretty like Mom!" I smacked his shoulder.

"No! I'm saying nice things right now; shut up! You're special in your own way, just as I'm special in mine. We're hum--elves! All elves are different." I almost messed that up there. "I may be good at learning things, but you're strong and look super cool, like a superhero!"

"Superhero?" He blinked.

I guess superheroes like Spider-Man and such aren't a thing here. Yet, "Uh yeah! Like adventurers, like the Wizard Merlin or the Sorcerer Luna! You have the capability of being those guys. Leave the books and such to me, and I can leave all the swords and athletic stuff to you. We'll be like a team!" I pounded my fist into my palm.

This seemed to lighten the mood a little, as Varis blushed deeply before nodding with a smile. "Thank you, Sister."

I returned his smile and gave him a pat on the shoulder, which I had to stretch up on my tiptoes to do. "No problem! You and I, we're siblings; we should work together, not compete." I wish this was something I'd done in my prior life. Working together with my brothers instead of pushing them away

"Y-yeah." Varis nodded as silence fell over us as we walked, though it was broken shortly after with, "But I can beat you to the Hautchkins, though."

Oi... Oh no, he didn't. "Doubt that! Y'know, I can run fast!" I said as I bolted forward down the dirt road with Varis running by my side.