The Other Side: A Second Chance [Dark Isekai Drama]

The man gasped as I touched his side and finished the incantation. My body flared with sensation as the maelstrom of ether soared through me, up my arm, and into the man's body. Whisps swirled around us, dancing like fireflies, before descending to zip around the injured construction worker.

The worker's eyes widened as he watched the swarm of living lights come down upon him. Yet, as they flew about him, he let off a calm, satisfied sigh as my ether transferred into him. I, and many of those around me in the cramped hospital room, watched as the final patient's wounds began to knit.

The man was a victim of the explosion I had heard nearly a week ago when I arrived in Johanneson. Hector, that was his name, told me that one of the liquid magrite pumps had come loose due to a faulty screw, and the entire tunnel beneath the foundation detonated. He had only survived due to a maintenance closet he had dove into, but the resulting heat had cooked most of his body.

He was covered in dark, gristly, blue, and red scorch marks from head to toe. Ether burns is what the doctor told me. Even with magical healing, the acolytes of Sylondra had saved Hector's life but done very little to make the burns recede. In his current condition, the man would be bedridden for months and, worse, would never walk again.

That was if I wasn't here to help. As my ether flowed through me into Hector, the man groaned with satisfaction as the archaic burns on his body began to recede. His skin stitched back together as if hundreds of little needles were sewing his flesh. I gritted my teeth as the power surged within, and the core of my very being began to swell as more ether channeled out of me. My brow began to sweat as spell fatigue started to settle in. By this point, I had healed perhaps a hundred people within this hospital, and finally, I was beginning to feel the effects of doing so.

My legs began to feel like jelly, and my breathing became ragged, yet I stood tall. I focused and concentrated on returning this man to how he should be. I could feel the power within me moving through his body and sense how every piece of him was supposed to fit. Like a puzzle, I put the said pieces back where they should be. I repaired his muscles and skin and did away with his burns. I concentrated on relieving his scars and rebuilding his hair. I did not know how I knew how to do this, yet I did.

I never really thought about this when healing others; it just happened, but Hector, a man broken the way he was, required my full and undivided attention. Flesh and sinew flexed and shifted, conjoining to form a seamless whole. I bit my lip and hummed softly as the dancing whisps whirled around us excitedly, like a small, cheerful crowd of onlookers, until finally, it was done.

I watched as the small patch of burnt flesh was overtaken by a tide of freshly formed skin on Hector's cheek, and the ether's current slowed to a trickle. The glow of ether light around us faded, and gradually, the swirling whisps twirled in the air before winking out of existence as if they had never been here.

Hector's eyes slowly opened, and he licked his lips. A doctor stepped beside me and leaned over the bed to look at the man with a broad, dopey smile. "How're you feeling, lad?" He asked in a husky whisper.

The formerly burned man sniffed and smirked as his eyes met the doctor's. "Like I just slept a full twelve hours and I need to rooting piss." His smirk grew into a bright beam, and he looked at me. "I feel fantastic, lass," he said, his voice wavering. "Thank you!"

I returned his smile as the room erupted into cheers, and Hector began to shift and move on his bed with stiff grunts. My heart swelled as the man sat up, as other patients did. His coworkers, whom I had healed, presumably rushed into the room and crowded around him, clapping his shoulders and back.

As I watched the revelry, I felt my heart swelling with pride. I had done it. Everyone in the hospital was cured. I felt exhausted, but that fatigue was outweighed by the joy I felt. I still didn't know what I was doing or how I'd even gotten here. But at this moment, it didn't matter. I'd saved these people, given them a second chance, and isn't that what mattered? I had done something, me, nobody else. I had chosen to help these people, and I did it.

"Luna, Luna!" I heard my father's voice. Jolted out of my stupor, I spun around to see my father and Varis pushing through the joyous crowd. His face was alight with joy and surprise. "You did it!" He said, dropping to his knees before me.

I blinked a bit with surprise. Is he happy? Wasn't he the one who told me not to do something like this?

Father threw his arms around me and hugged me. "I knew you could do it, Luna!" He laughed, and I gently returned the hug, blinking with confusion.

Over his shoulder, I caught Varis looking at me, and his head cocked with confusion as his blue and green eyes read my expression. I gave him a wary smile as Father pulled away, his hands resting on my shoulders.

I looked away from my brother and met Father's eyes. "I-I did," I said, "I… healed everyone…" I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

Truth, what is going on? I tried to prod the voice within me. I felt something stir inside, but no response came. Truth, my man, please speak to me. I need a sitrep. What's going on?

No response.

Father patted my shoulder. "Come, lets go see your Mother."

I blinked with surprise. "Is momma awake?" I asked.

Father looked at me, then shook his head. "No. But, if we get caught away from her then we might get in trouble." I frowned.

Why would we get in trouble? I glanced at the joyous crowd around us. I don't think anyone wants to dish out punishments right now, anyway.

Father gently took me by my hand and motioned for me to follow. Nodding, I gripped his hand gently and looked at Varis. I felt my stomach tighten slightly as I noticed his expression from before hadn't changed. His eyes narrowed on me, and his brow arched as he examined me as if something wasn't right. I smiled sheepishly and jerked forward as Father began to move, and I followed behind.

Mother looked the same way as the last time I'd seen her. Well, aside from her clothes. She'd been stripped of her masculine garb and now wore a loose hospital gown. Like before, her expression was peaceful, and her eyes flicked beneath her closed lids as if having a vivid dream.

She might have visions if it were anything like when everything went to hell in the Cerebellium. I thought, and then my stomach tightened. What if she's experiencing my memories like how I'd seen her?

The thought made me feel uneasy. She would know that I was never indeed her little star. That I was a man stuffed into this child's body, pretending to be her little girl–

I clenched my eyes shut and took a sharp breath. I counted to ten and then released. I could feel something stirring inside me—a familiar sensation, Truth. It was like someone rousing from a deep sleep. I could feel them prodding at me.

"Would you like me to take back over?" I could sense them asking.

No. But I'd like you to explain what's going on. I thought back, but like before, I got no response. What the hell? Respond to me, dammit! You did before! But they said nothing, and that sensation of rousing diminished as I felt them go back to sleep.

I cursed inwardly, took another deep breath, and held it. Then released.

"Cailynn, Sweetie…" I heard my father whisper as he leaned over the bed. His hand reached out gently, and he cupped Mother's cheek. Mother twitched faintly, but her eyes did not open. "Love, please wake up. " He said hoarsely as he stroked her cheek.

We gasped when Mother began to stir, yet as quickly as our hope rose, it was dashed away in a series of intelligible grumbles. Father sighed, hung his head, and gently patted my mother's shoulder. "Don't worry, kids," he said, looking to his, his eyes glistening, and for the first time, I watched as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "We'll fix this." He pulled on a strong smile. "Like everything else, we'll pull through this."

Varis sniffed and wiped his eyes with his sleeve and nodded. "Yeah, we'll wake up Momma." He agreed and looked at me. "Luna, you were able to help everyone here. Can you help, Momma?" He asked.

I bit my lip, sighed, and shook my head. "I don't think so," I said regretfully. "Shortly after I woke up back in this realm I tried just that."

"Varis," Father said, stepping back from Mother's bed. "Remember what Isa and I said; we can't rely entirely on Luna. Even she may have her limits." I nodded at this.

Varis gritted his teeth. "Th-then what should we do?" He asked.

Father opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated. His jaw set, and his shoulders began to slum, but he paused. His head perked up, and he focused on something or someone behind us. I turned and saw an aged doctor and two nurses approaching us. The man was human, a senior, his short grey hair receding and perched upon his bulbous nose. His mouth was nearly covered in a thick grey mustache, and his hands rested on his round belly. As my eyes met his, I noted the twinkle of joy behind them.

"Perhaps I could be of help," he said, his voice ragged and grandfatherly. I am the director of this hospital, Rogal Shein."

Father blinked with surprise and stood momentarily before jerking up straight and bowing. "Director Shein, thank you–"

The rotund man let off a joyful laugh and smacked his belly. "Oh no, son! It is I who should be thanking you!" He then cleared his throat as Father nervously straightened up. "Or really," Rogal said, turning to me. "I should be thanking you, little lass."

I blushed deeply as all eyes turned on me. "I-I…" I stammered and gulped. "I was j-just trying to help. i-it wasn't really my best. I could've done better," I said humbly.

Rogal arched a brow. "That wasn't your best?" He laughed uproariously. "Oh, little lady, I would be honored to see how you are at your best!" He clapped his hands together. "What you did was nothing short of a miracle. Even the sylondrites under my control are taken aback by what you've done, in a good way mind you. Many of our patients, especially the most critical, we had thought would need to be sent off, but no. You've cured them. All of them."

My heart raced, and my blush deepened. I didn't know what to say or what I could say. I'd never handled praise well, especially not when it was being bombarded on me like this. It wasn't that I didn't like it. I just simply didn't know how to react.

Thankfully, Varis came to my rescue. I felt his hand on my shoulder. "Our Momma isn't cured!" He said, nodding to the bed behind us. "She's still asleep. It's been hours now and nothing can wake her. Not even Luna's magic!"

Rogal's bushy eyebrows rose briefly before they dropped, and he nodded. "Ah, yes. To go back on what I said earlier, I might be able to help with that." He held his hand out, and one of the nurses passed a clipboard over to him.

Father perked up. "You can? Do you know what's wrong with her?"

Rogal hesitated, his lips curled into a tight line. He shook his head. "Not exactly, unfortunately, I am a physician by trade. I only work within the material field." Rogal's eyes skimmed over the notes on the board. "By our records, Cailynn here does not fit any of the symptoms that would constitute a traditional coma. By all accounts, she's just resting." His thick finger tapped the page he held.

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"I highly doubt that," Father muttered, and the director nodded.

"I agree. Based on my staff's notes here, they believe she's under an affliction."

I cocked my head. "An affliction? Like… A curse?" I asked.

The director looked at me and nodded. "Perhaps, the sylondrites have noted here that faint traces of an external ether presence has been detected. A foul source."

Wait… What? I turned to my mother, and my gut twisted. Ether detection, you dolt. I chided myself. Mother told you about that spell, but never got around to teaching you.

From what Mother had told me, it wasn't a high-tier spell. Many initiates and etherborne were taught this within their first few months of studies in school. Mother had only been homeschooling me for a couple of months before everything went to hell. Even then, it was primarily lectures.

Even then, she was teaching me combat spells. To which I was thankful.

So, Shaed cursed her? I wondered. Is that the foul ether they sensed? Did he do something to her when he came to get me and her? I turned my focus on him. Do you hear me you asshole? Did you do something to her?

Yet, I got no response.

Still hiding from me? Or did you tucker yourself out again?

No response.

I shook my head in disbelief. "Wait," Varis said, "Momma's cursed? How? I thought curses were from fairytales?"

"No, son," Father said in a low voice as he looked at me. His eyes narrowed, and I felt my blood run cold.

He wasn't blaming me for this, was he?

"Curses are very real," He continued. "Very real, and very dangerous."

The hospital director, Rogal, nodded. "Aye, but not all is lost," he said. "Just like those stories, boy, curses can be broken. To do so though requires a great amount of effort, or someone very powerful. The issue is, we would need to know what the curse is."

"There are different kinds?" Varis asked. "How many?"

"Too many," Father said bluntly. "Especially for us to go over them now. Director, do you know of anyone who can help us?"

To our relief, Rogal nodded. "I do. However," he said quickly, and we tensed. "They are not here. Not in Johanneson." Father cursed loudly, and Rogal flinched. "I understand your frustration, Mr. Ashflow…"

"Blood of my elders, we don't have time," Father said, his voice shaking. "We must wake her soon before whatever Saria says is coming!" He turned to face Mother and bent over her.

Rogal blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

I gulped. What? I looked at Father, equally confused. What is coming? What did Aunt Saria say? Is she here? What the hell did Truth see while I was resting?

Father bit his lip, his expression showing that he knew he had said too much. He sighed. "Rogal, I'm sorry. I'll accept whatever help you can give us, but, in the meantime. Can you do something for me?" He asked.

Rogal shifted his heavy weight from foot to foot but nodded. "Certainly, Mr. Ashflow, your family has done so much for me and my patients. What do you need?"

Father's eyes met his. "I need you to take us to see Mr. Rosewall."

The large sycora wood door opened, its hinges squealing to be oiled as it did so. The fresh scent of incense, with a touch of alcohol, hit my nose. It wasn't an unpleasant smell either. The trip over to the main building was a quick one. Director Shein was happy to walk us to Mr. Rosewall's office to deliver the good news. As to why we needed to see this man, I had no idea.

I had tried to reach Truth as we walked, yet like Shaed. She… or He? Was Truth a woman? They were me, so I'd think so. Yet, when I was in the Cerebellium, Truth sounded like my dead self—the guy from the last life. Then again, I looked like that bozo in that realm. Which, even now, still makes me shudder.

Truth had said I looked like them because, deep down, I still feel like I am that guy. Am I?

I felt my heart race, and I closed my eyes and counted to ten. No. Don't focus on that stuff. That's not important. We need to focus on why we're here. Why did Truth bring me and my family here?

Perhaps I should've told Truth to leave a note or something. Then again, I doubted either of us knew this would turn out like this. When we first swapped spots, I felt like we were two people sharing a body, like when Shaed took control of me when we battled Putinov. The memory of that fight still made me shudder.

After a short period, though, my memories stopped. It was like I had fallen asleep, and Truth took over. Is that how this worked? One of us steps into the driver's seat, and after a few moments, the passenger takes a nap? Could I control that? The critical question is, how do I get Truth to wake back up? I need her, he, they? I need them to tell me what's going on!

So far, this is what I know. I woke up in the hospital surrounded by hurt people asking for help, similar to the army triage a couple of weeks back. I healed everyone, which made my father happy, which is odd because last I remember, he didn't want me healing people. So, something happened between then and Truth taking over that made him change his mind. My Aunt Saria is here, and she said something is coming.

I noted that when we were walking from the hospital to the main office building, things had gotten cold. Very cold. My spring dress was not made for this wintry weather that had blown in. The sky had also darkened immensely as thick clouds blew over the city. I recall that it was spring, so unless mother nature is doing one last "screw you" with a final cold snap of the year, things didn't seem right.

So that's happening, and Father wants to talk to some super-rich guy I remember Isa telling us about. I don't know why we need to talk to him. Maybe it's related to what Saria said was coming.

If only there were someone really truthful inside of me who would tell me… No? Not gonna wake up and make a sarcastic comment about that?

No response. If this is how things will go, and Truth comes back. I'll need to discuss how to proceed with this with them. How I'd do that, I don't know. Maybe I'll write something down. Writing letters to myself? Damn, I am going insane. I sighed inwardly.

As the heavy door clicked shut behind us, I saw a sizeable oval-shaped office. In the center was a large coffee table flanked by two leather sofas. At the end of the room was a large wooden table cluttered with papers and binders. Standing at this desk were three men and a child, their backs facing us. One of the men, an elf facing away from us, turned upon hearing the door.

I gasped when our eyes met. "Oscar!" I exclaimed with a broad smile.

"Luna!" he called back to me. The small girl beside him turned, and I saw it was Anne. Her eyes lit up joyfully, and she rushed towards me, squealing.

Before I could react, Anne's arms wrapped around me, and she yanked me into a tight hug, nearly choking me as I embraced her back. "You're safe! You're safe!" Anne stifled a sob. "Uncle Oscar said you were doing something super dangerous! He didn't know what was going to happen!"

I gagged and wheezed and tried to speak, yet this girl's arms were shockingly strong and crushed my throat. I flailed into her grasp, and thankfully, Varis was there to save me again. He tried to pry Anne off of me politely, but eventually, he had to use force, and he pulled her off of me, allowing me a chance to breathe.

Taking deep breaths, I blushed, smiled at Anne, and said hoarsely, "I'm glad to see you're safe, too! I was scared when we lost contact after our call."

Anne shrank back a bit as if recalling those moments and nodded slowly. "It was awful," she said with a sniff. "Uncle took my caster to go help the soldiers. I was scared, but… not alone…" She turned and pointed to a large, round man at the head of the desk, and he almost looked like he could be Director Shein's brother. "Mr. Rosewall is nice and kept me company."

I smiled gently. "That's good, and your uncle did help a lot. He's a good guy." Anne said nothing and returned my smile.

As Anne pointed out, Mr. Rosewall rested two large hands on his desk and leaned towards us, a soft yet confused look on his face. "Director Shein, who are these fine folk?" he asked in an accented yet fluent Maurich.

Before Shein could speak, Oscar happily said, "Friends, Terry, people who help Anne and me survive. People we can trust."

Mr. Rosewall looked at Oscar and nodded. "I see." He looked at my father, scrutinizing him before going to Varis and finally landing on me. "Is this that child Luna you mentioned, Oscar?" he asked, and Oscar nodded.

Anne turned to Mr. Rosewall. "And this is Deadeye! He's one of the Spellbound Rangers!" She beamed, and Father visibly cringed.

Mr. Rosewall's eyes widened. "The Spellbound Rangers? I thought they disbanded ages ago?"

Father took a deep breath. "We more or less went into retirement, never officially disbanded–"

"Deadeye and Moonweaver are married! And they had children, such as Luna and Varis!" Anne said giddily, pointing to me and my brother. "And we're friends! I always knew Deadeye and Moonweaver had a thing for each other in the books, but I never knew they actually got together!"

Father stammered. "Some of wh-what's in those books are dramaticized. We've always been together!" Anne gasped loudly.

"Really?! So it was, it was a secret romance?!" Her face flushed, and she began to vibrate with excitement.

"Papa, I think you made it worse." I giggled.

Father sighed and shook his head. "By the roots…" He muttered, looked at Director Shein, and nodded.

For the first time since I stepped into the room, the third man by the table turned, and I blinked. I was mistaken; she wasn't a man but a woman. A tall, slightly broad-shouldered woman in a thick grey cloak with a finely tailored men's suit beneath. Her face was squared yet smooth, and her eyes were wide but stern.

In a butch tone she said, "Mr. Rosewall, as pleasant as this all seems. We must focus on the task at hand."

Rosewall held a hand up to the woman to silence her. "Please, Erianna. I have guests now. We'll have time to discuss once I hear from them."

Erianna's stern gaze darkened more. "We do not have time," she hissed.

Rosewall held her gaze, his face also darkening. For a seemingly jolly man, he could get scary real fast. "Time is all we have, Erianna," he said, then paused. He curled his lips into a line and thought, then nodded. "I've made my decision."

Erianna's brow arched. "Excuse me?"

"I've decided," Rosewall said again. "Tell the Concillium and General, May this, 'I, Terry Rosewall, CEO of Automaton Wonders and Adamantium Builds, formally decline your evacuation offer. My duty resides here in Johanneson in regard to overseeing the completion of the generator. The Arcineers under my foresight who choose to leave under your escort may do so without fear of breaking the contract and will continue to receive their discussed pay. May the Seven lead you to victory, and Kraten bless our troops.' Did you get all of that?"

Erianna's jaw set, and I swore I could hear her growling. "Indeed, I did. Mr. Rosewall, with all due respect, this is foolish."

Rosewall sighed, straightened his back, and folded his hands behind him. "Perhaps. But, you should know by now, Erianna, that I am not one to abandon those under my care. I know that many of my peers would jump at the opportunity to escape this nightmare, however… As the leader of those under my employment, I cannot fathom abandoning them. If, by chance you can convince the Ionans to evacuate all of my employees, I will not leave my station."

The woman snorted. "You would seriously kill yourself to protect these peasants–"

"Enough!" Rosewall barked, and I jolted. "I will not have you disrespect me in my own office, Erianna Archon. Remember your space. Beyond the canvas in here, I am the one in charge. I've said my piece." He waved her to the door. "Send my message to General May and your siblings on the Concilium. I'll finish this project, and I'll see to it those beneath me make it."

Erianna stuck her nose in the air and turned. "Idealist fool…" She scowled and stormed towards the door, brushing past me and my father and slamming it shut behind her.

"Roots take them magisters," Rosewall said with a sigh. "Apologies you had to witness that exchange."

"The Ionans are trying to evacuate us?" Director Shein asked.

Rosewall nodded and looked at us. He contemplated something momentarily and then glanced at Oscar, with whom he seemed to have a silent conversation. "Yes," he finally said, "It seems that something… Unnatural is approaching us. I take it you've noticed the weather outside has been changing as of the past week?" We all nodded. Rosewall continued, "The Veilanrites had done the unthinkable and conjured forth a great frostwind using Ursan's blessing and have cast it towards us."

My stomach sank as I remembered what Isa had told me the other day—the codes of war. One of the rules had forbidden the usage of great spells such as weather manipulation. If they truly had done such a thing, then that would be no different than a nation deploying a tactical nuke. The moment one nation fields powerful wizards, the other countries would begin to do so. Soon, battlefields would be filled with mages unleashing god-like powers on one another.

Father's eyes widened as he came to the same conclusion I had just drawn. "This can't be real… Why? They've already been pushing us back? I-I hate to say it, but they were winning. Why go so far to do this? It makes no sense?"

"Papa?" Varis asked, sounding scared. "Are we in danger?"

Father tensed and looked to Varis, and knelt. "No, son. Not right now."

Oscar cleared his throat. "The Ultimatum," he said. "Veilanrites said, Surrender, or be destroyed. No?" He looked to each of us, and Rosewall nodded. "Veilland has no interest in having Heinmarr; dead, they want us." Anne whimpered.

"But they will fail!" Rosewall proclaimed. "Our project is nearly finished; we just need to push through… However, with the Ionans pulling out their archineers before the storm hits, I'm afraid that we'll have a manpower issue… Many of my own were harmed during the air raid and–"

Director Shein cleared his throat. "About that, Sir." He smiled. "That is why we came here."

Rosewall blinked. "What do you mean, Rogal?" he asked, and I saw Oscar smiling widely when his eyes met mine. He knew exactly what I did.

Director Shein looked at me with a twinkle and said, "It seems that the gods have thrown us a lifeline."