The Other Side: A Second Chance

 

In all my life, in my prior life, and now, I have never really been to a big city, and by that, I mean going to one and staying there for an extended period. I once went to Detroit to visit a casino when I was twenty-one, but I had never actually walked or explored the sites. Then again, it was Detroit, so I didn't want to.

The tallest building I've ever been in was a fifteen-story hotel in Columbus, where I stayed on the thirteenth floor. I wouldn't count that either, as Columbus is a relatively calm city unlike Detroit, New York, or any other well-known metropolis. I've never truly seen or been inside an actual skyscraper in person.

So when our wagon crested over a hill on our third day of travel and I saw the glinting peaks of massive Victorian-like towers and skyscrapers on the horizon, my jaw dropped. Before us, stretching along a massive river for as far as the eye can see, was a sprawling cityscape. As something ripped straight out of a steampunk art piece, I could see massive clock towers, vast factories spewing white smoke, and in the center, atop a large hill, a gothic castle overseeing all.

"We're here," Father said softly. "We've finally made it." He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at us all. "Welcome to Johanneson."

I stood up and moved towards the front of the wagon to get a better look, with Varis rushing up beside me. With our eyes wide in the distance, I could see what looked to be military-themed airships coming from far south over the massive river towards what looked like a large airport. Though there was more as well, as I could see what looked to be smaller, civilian airships moving across the sky above the city.

Public transportation, maybe? I thought with wide eyes as my brother pointed them out excitedly.

"If you think those are cool, just wait until you see the mag-trains," my mother said with a chuckle.

Mag-levs? I thought and looked at my mother.

"Mag-trains?" I asked her.

My mother nodded. "Magic trains." She smiled. "They're common within the larger metropolises, like Johanneson. They're trains powered by magrite instead of steam. Which makes them go much, much faster as they levitate just slightly off the rail." She explained.

Varis blinked. "So they're flying trains?" He asked.

My mother giggled and shook her head. "No, no. You'll see them once we enter the city proper." Her smile widened as the farm scenery around us began to gradually convert into brick-and-mortar apartments and businesses. As expected, the streets were bustling with hundreds of people of all races, many of whom I had never seen before, ranging from goblinoids and kobold-like creatures to even avian folk and much more. Around us, I could see wagons pulled by striders, dorragons, and even small box-like automobiles on thin wheels and squeaky horns driving down the roads.

Traffic officers stood in the streets shouting and blowing their whistles while children sprinted across the road whenever an opening appeared. Signs galore were strung up around the place on billboards, buildings, and even airships that flew overhead. Some of which were even animated, moving magical pictures that left me awestruck. Some of them even projected off of them, like holograms advertising brands of products and upcoming stage plays, but most of all, propaganda for the ongoing conflict.

"Illusory magic," my mother explained loud enough over all the noise. "Programmed Illusion is what it's called. They pair it with another sound based illusion to sync the sound effects with the movements. Pretty neat, isn't it?"

Varis and I nodded our heads rapidly as we watched one of these magical billboards playing an ad depicting a caricature of a cute akumari woman trying to reach for something on top of a shelf before suddenly a little gnome man with an extended gripping mechanism appeared to talk about his new product.

It seems even in this world, I can't escape capitalism. I jokingly thought as my eyes were practically shooting left and right and up and down, trying to catch a glimpse of all the imagery that was being displayed around me.

Varis seemed to be doing the same before eventually he sat back down beside Isa while I plopped next to my mother. The sensory overload is a bit too much, especially for Isa. I glanced at my mentor and saw she was gripping her pointy ears and clenching her eyes shut. I recalled a while ago that she had told me how much she despised cities for this exact reason: too loud and too flashy.

Another thing I noticed as well was the smell. I had remembered long ago in my old history classes that cities back in the day used to smell, yet this town in this world was clean. It was dusty, sure, and I noticed gutters along the road filled with Strider manure, yet despite the gross sight, there was no smell.

I'll need to ask Momma about this later. I thought.

"Adamantine Collossus Collapse!" A young human paper boy shouted from a street corner, his voice seemingly amplified by a small megaphone in his hand. "Heinmarr prevails! Read all about it!" A large crowd was forming around the boy, and other kids working alongside him were frantically handing out papers in exchange for five silver coins, which was expensive when compared to the five copper coins my father paid for back home.

Our wagon encroached upon the corner where the boy stood, and my father glanced over his shoulder. He motioned for Varis to tap on Isa's shoulder to get her attention, and the serelli perked up and leaned over to him. The two muttered an exchange, and Isa nodded and reached into her satchel. She took out a few worn pieces of coin and handed them to him.

Pulling onto the side of the road, my father called out to the boy and flicked him the coins. In a display of dexterity, the boy snatched the coins from the air with ease and motioned for his partners to toss my father a rolled-up piece of paper, which he just barely caught by its edge. With a small sigh of relief, he turned back to all of us and passed the paper to my mother.

"It's been so long; I thought it'd be best if we knew what the heck was going on in the world," he said as my mother took to the paper.

"I can agree to that," she said as she unfurled the paper.

Curious myself, I scooted as close as I could to her side and peered at the newspaper, and my eyes widened. The paper was magical, as, like the billboards, the pictures were animated. Or, as my mother said, illusions. Like an old computer gif, it displayed like a video on repeat in grayscale ink.

On the front page, we saw the Rusivite behemoth that we had briefly seen back at the facility collapsing to the ground in a fiery heap of wreckage.

"After weeks of a seemingly unstoppable advance," my mother read out loud to us all. "The Rusivite menace has been brought to a blundering halt along the Alter and Kenchala Rivers. Due to numerous failures in stopping the invader's march of death, Kaiser Brikur Lirner demanded General Holser step down from his position and replace him with General Lucas May. Much of the old guard has expressed outrage at this decision brought on by the Kaiser, declaring that the young and inexperienced General May could not hold a candle to his former. Yet only time will tell if this decision will improve our chances of defending our homeland.

In developing news, Heinmarran forces were in the third brigade of the Hein's Guard Defense Division under the command of Colonel Elin Hass, renowned for being the first woman to hold such a high-ranking position within the Hein's Guard, and disobeyed orders to hold the Kenchala River crossing.

On the second day of Aquila, outside the village of Dresden, Rusivite forces woke up to being bombarded by Heinmarran artillery. Before the dust could even settle, over five thousand of our brave men and women stormed over the river to assault the fortified positions said to have held Heinmarran citizens captive."

My mother took a moment to glance at both Isa and me as she skimmed ahead a bit before looking back up at us.

"What else does it say?" I asked curiously as I peeked back at the paper.

"Well," my mother said with a sigh. "It seems you've made the news."

"What?" Isa gasped.

My mother continued reading, "Starlight News was unfortunately not on the grounds to document such events in real-time; however, our renowned reporter, Sarah Reichart, arrived a day after the intensity of the battle and was able to interview a number of our brave soldiers, but the disobedient Colonel Hass refused to talk on the matter due to classified information.

What Starlight News was able to garner, however, was that our valiant men and women were tipped off to a Rusivite weakness. It was also mentioned that a valuable asset was utilized in the field; many eyewitnesses, including Sarah, spoke to claim that on the battlefield they'd seen a young elven child healing the wounded and demolishing the invader forces with gouts of fire. When comparing numerous accounts of them explaining the same thing, a young, dark-haired girl with blue eyes and long ears was described as wearing a dress on the field rather than a military uniform. When pressed on whether the alleged child may have been a halfling or gnome, many accounts corrected Sarah in stating that the child was indeed a child. Once again, when confronted with such information, the Colonel declined, stating that no children were present in her assault on the Rusivites outside of the prisoners captured. Investigating the matter, Sarah Reichart spoke with the head cleric of the brigade's medical unit, Celena Katz, who hesitantly declined that no such healer was present. Yet, every soldier Sarah had spoken to talk of a child prodigy, capable of healing the dying and dead without scrolls or components continued…"

My mother started muttering under her breath as she continued to read more. "Afterwards, the Rusitive's counter attacked with the Titanic Daemons…"

"Daemons?" Both Varis and I said as we looked at my mother.

My mother blinked and said, "Oh, uh, that seems to be what they're calling the Rusivite machines." She turned the page. "There appeared to be a titanic one that was destroyed near the prison with the help of Master Alexander."

Isa nodded slowly. "We had seen it." She bit her lower lip. "I've never seen something so big in my life, and I had thought a thumper was the largest creature to walk this world." She was referring to a large elephant-like creature.

"Anything else regarding me?" I asked curiously, and my mother shook her head.

"No, it seems you were left to the rumormill on the prior page." She smiled and patted my head. "And I think it's best we keep it that way." I blushed and nodded.

"Yeah," I said, "I was just curious if there was anything else…" I blinked and pointed to an animated picture of a well-dressed man with a scarred face giving a speech behind a podium. "Who's that guy?" I asked.

My mother blinked looked at the moving picture and said, "Oh, uh…" She pursed her lips as I could see her mulling it over. "He's the Global Allied Nations security chief, oh jeez, they swap these guys out regularly. Oh!" She snapped her finger. "Robert Dower, he's a Yanky man. He's in charge of the global peacekeeping corps."

"So like the world police?" I asked, and my mother smiled and nodded.

"Pretty much."

Varis huffed and crossed his arms. "What even is this global whatever? Everyone is talking about it, and I don't get it."

Isa placed a hand on my brother's head and patted him. "If you were paying attention in my class, you would know this."

My mother smiled faintly. "It's fine; I can explain it. The Global Allied Nations, also known as GAN, is a league of countries that united two thousand years ago against the Dark Lord. Nations alone couldn't defend against the march of the Black Armies, and the Magus Concordium could only go so far to help others. So, in an act of solidarity, nations all over Enora set aside their differences and united against the Dark Lord, forming what we know today as the Global Allied Nations. It's an alliance that has grown so powerful that it has eclipsed the Magus Concordium and has stood proudly ever since."

Varis pursed his lips and asked, "Then why are the Rusivites attacking us?"

My mother sighed as our wagon turned onto another street, one that held a large railway bridge that passed over her head. "Not every nation agreed with the Global Alliance's goals. The Alliance has many, many rules, some of which I don't know since it's not my field. Though there are a few well known ones, after the Seven and the Alliance defeated the Dark Lord, he was stripped of his power and imprisoned behind the Great Wall along with the remainder of his black armies. The most important rule within GAN is this: An attack on the wall is an attack on all. It states that any person who attacks the wall and threatens to release the Dark Lord will experience the wrath of every nation on Enora."

Varis frowned. "Then just kill him; why imprison him if there's a chance he can get out?"

Isa sighed. "I explained this too in class." She patted him on the head just as a roaring train passed over her head, causing her to wince. My eyes widened as I watched the locomotive screaming over its head in a blur of speed before vanishing moments later.

My mother smirked and said, "That's a mag-train." She chuckled.

"So loud…" Isa whined.

Varis, who was distracted by the train, shook his head, regained his focus, and said, "So why not kill him?"

Isa shook her head and said, "Because gods cannot die, Varis."

"Why not? They're people, right?" He glanced between Isa and my mother.

My mother sighed. "It's complicated; the easiest way to put it is that gods are concepts and ideals that have taken on…" I could see she was trying to explain this in a way a nine-year-old could understand. "A physical body."

It was obvious he wasn't understanding, his head cocking to the side like a confused dog.

My mother pursed her lips. "In a sense, gods can die, but the only way to kill one is to forget about them. Forget they ever existed, but it's hard when you have millions, if not a billion, of people in the world who all know about them."

Isa nodded. "Even if just one person believes in them, they will be around. Gods get their powers from belief; the more you believe in something, the stronger they become."

I smiled and nodded, remembering my mother telling me this many weeks ago. "Yeah!" I said, "Momma said that if enough people believe in me, I could become a goddess!" I smirked smugly.

"Bullcrap!" Varis stuck his tongue out. "Like, you could be a goddess."

I scoffed. "I could!"

My mother shook her head. "None of you are becoming gods, not while I'm around." She chuckled.

Varis nodded. "I-I think… I get it…"

"No, you don't," I said with a huff.

"I-I do!" He snapped back, though it was clear he hadn't.

Isa sighed. "This is more of a lesson for when you're older," Isa said. "For now. Let's relax and enjoy the… scenery." She said the last part, squinting, as she wasn't enjoying it.

Wanting to change the topic to something more silly and non-political, I smirked and looked up at my mom, who had returned to reading the paper silently, and asked, "Momma, how come the city doesn't stink?"

Not expecting this question, she blinked and looked at me. "Excuse me, dear?"

"Why does the city not smell?" I asked and pointed towards the literal shit gutter on the side of the road. "There's dragon poop everywhere, but I don't smell it."

Unexpectedly, my mother smiled widely and giggled. She rolled up the paper and shifted in her seat to face me, clearly excited to talk about this. "Oh, that's because there's a magical spell in play here." She hummed and rubbed her hands together. "You see, along those trash gutters there, if you look really, really closely, there are runic etchings. Etchings for one of my favorite spells."

Curious now, I watched where she was pointing, but even with my elven eyes, I could hardly see anything within the messy, manure-filled gutters. "And uh…" I frowned. "What spell would that be?" I asked.

"Lyle Magnificent's Odor Guard." My mother purred. "A spell that has saved your father and me countless hours of tending to you and Varis when you were babies."

My eyes widened, and my face flushed. "Oh…"

Now that she mentions it, this checks out.

"You two were very stinky babies, and well, this saved us a lot of headache!" She snickered deviously and poked me.

"St-stop, that's embarrassing!"

"I know, and so is nearly gagging in front of your father!" She laughed as if she were getting revenge.

"We're almost there!" My father called out from over his shoulder as our wagon turned down onto another, much busier road. A loud horn from an automobile sent me nearly out of my dress as the vehicle swerved around our wagon. "What the fuck?!" My father cursed. "Watch where you're going!" He shouted as another vehicle sped by.

The whistles of traffic cops echoed all around us as my father grumbled and carefully maneuvered the wagon onto a lane that was designated for wagons Beside us, I could see a trolley coming down the street, packed to the brim with people, and sprinting towards the trolley, I could see kids and teenagers quickly hopping onto it.

No one seemed to care about who was on the roads and who wasn't, as people would j-walk in front of us or even walk along the street beside our wagon. To my amazement, it just seemed like everyone didn't care if a speeding automobile was coming at them or not. There was virtually no road safety.

"People are stupid, I swear," I heard my father grumbling. "Move out of the way!" he shouted towards a bunch of kids who ran out in front of our wagon. Ruby snarled and roared at the children, who just ran off, squealing towards the other side of the street.

"Welcome to the big city," Isa said under her breath.

"Where are we going again, Momma?" I asked, having forgotten. I knew we were going to a family member; I just couldn't recall who.

"We're going to my younger brother, Aenorin, your uncle, and his wife, Saria, which would make her your aunt." I nodded slowly.

"Do we have any other family members?" Varis asked curiously.

Come to think of it, I didn't know much about my own family. I've only ever known my mother and father, but I never heard anything about my grandparents and only a few times about Uncle Aenorin.

My mother smiled a little. "A few, there's your uncle Aenorin and Aunt Saria. My parents, Grandma and Grandpa Sartosi."

"What about Papa's parents?" I asked curiously.

As if a switch were flicked, my mother frowned. "Your father does not like to speak of them, and before you ask, it is a long story."

Well, that just made me even more curious. Though I nodded and relented, I left the matter alone.

"It sounds like our family is small," I said as I shifted in my seat.

My mother nodded. "There are possibly more out there," she said. "We elves live long lives, Luna. Many of which travel all the time; very few ever settle down."

"We were settled down," I said, and my mother smiled.

"Only for a little while," she said with a wink. "Eventually, once you and Varis are able to take care of yourselves, Your father and I planned on traveling again—proper traveling, not adventuring."

Understanding that I decided to ask the question that's been gnawing away at me for a bit. "Momma, how long do elves live for?"

"Oh, that's a big question," my mother giggled. "It's said that no elf has ever died of old age," she said calmly as she gazed up at the tall building around us and then at the sky. "There are elves who have lived for centuries; it's said a few have even lived for millennia. A few of the known remaining ancients are elves who have lived a few thousand years, but honestly, we know our own kind. There are those out there, in the wilderness, away from all of this, who are far, far older than we can imagine living out their calm lives."

With wide eyes, I took a deep breath and glanced at Isa, who simply nodded agreeingly. "From my times of study," she said, "this seems to be true. This is why elves and dwarfs are considered the elder races. Enora has truly blessed them with longevity."

"That's amazing," I said softly, and my mother patted my head.

"You and Varis have such a long life ahead of yourselves." My mother smiled. "Make sure you make the best of it. Many elves get stuck in complacency, and it was this complacency that caused many of the ancient kingdoms to falter. It wasn't until humans arrived that dwarfs and elves got their acts somewhat together." She chuckled.

I nodded. "Okay…" So I'm immortal? At least, age-wise. I honestly don't know what to say to that. I'm kind of speechless.

"Whoa, what is that?" Varis called out as he stood up and pointed up ahead.

"Sit down!" My father barked at him, and my eyes followed where Varis was pointing.

Up ahead was a large central plaza, yet in the center of this plaza were tarps reaching high up into the air. The area around it seemed to be cordoned off, and men and women of various races with hard hats and overalls were coming in and out of the tarped-off area.

"It's a construction site," I said, and my mother nodded.

"My brother told me something was being built here, and whatever it is, it's large." My mother hummed.

Suddenly, a loud bang, followed by screams and an abrupt explosion, caused the ground to heave. My heart nearly leaped into my throat, and Varis let off a startled cry and dove towards Isa as Ruby and the other striders roared and tugged violently at their reins. Suddenly another explosion came from the construction site and more screams echoed.

A klaxon alarm began to blare as people in the streets began to panic and run for cover. My heart began to race. We're under attack! We're under attack! My eyes began to dart left and right. Master, are you there?! Where are they coming from?!

Yet I received no response. The sound of sharp whistles caused my panic to rise, as flashes of imagery from the prison assault came to my mind when the order to charge was given. Yet there was no charge; instead, constables rushed towards the tarped construction site as smoke began to billow out from the gaps in the fabric and above.

Another klaxon alarm blared. "Accident at the construction site! I repeat accident at the construction site!" A booming voice echoed. "Medics, report to the construction site immediately!"

More constables arrived on the scene, many of whom were holding their hands in the air and shouting. "Remain calm! Remain calm; the situation is under control!"

My mother shifted and moved up towards the front to sit beside my father, as she began to hiss and snarl in draconian towards Ruby. The strider shifted and whined before finally calming down as my father took control of the reins again and began to drive Ruby forward.

Varis was sniveling and sobbing as Isa comforted him. Beyond the tarps, I could hear screams of agony and fear, and my heart rammed against my chest. "Th-there's hurt people," I said to Isa. "We should go help—"

"No, Luna," Isa hissed.

Even my mother looked over her shoulder and said, "Absolutely not. Medics are on their way, Luna."

As we started moving, I noticed a bloodied man and woman limping away from behind the tarp. "I-I can help these people, though," I said.

"No. You don't need to be a hero," my mother said, "and we don't need to be creating more rumors and attention."

I bit my lower lip as my father led us further down the road as the blaring sound of an ambulance came roaring down the road towards us. The large, boxy truck swerved around us as there was no room to pull off to the side, and I watched as it parked outside the construction site. I closed my eyes, turned away as I balled my little fists, and remained seated in the wagon.