The trip home felt like it took hours but it had only been about twenty minutes. He had so many questions, but the lady refused to answer any of them aside to say that her name was Weiss Kaninchen.
“White rabbit?” He asked, suspiciously.
“Yes, that is what my name means in German. I chose it when I joined the Hallowed just as you too will choose a name to signify your transition.” She retorted, somewhat defensively.
The only reason he agreed to let her follow him was the sounds of police sirens that reminded him that he had just kicked four guys’ asses in an alley and threatened one with a knife. Weiss claimed to know why he was suddenly able to move like he was in a Kung Fu film. The two of them had been talking for a couple of hours, and he finally decided to ask her once more what he had asked on the bus.
“So what exactly is a ger-gory?” He asked as he struggled to finally get the door to his apartment opened.
“Well, first, it’s pronounced gri-gawr-ee. Secondly, it means that you are different than other people. You have special gifts.” Weiss said, matter-of-factly, before taking a deep breath. She followed him into the small one-room condo he called home. “You are to serve as a guardian of the Earth as well as my homeworld, Araphel,” Weiss continued.
“A guardian, like a soldier or something?” Jesse spat out in disbelief.
She smiled sheepishly at him before continuing. “I know it’s a lot to take in.”
Jesse snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
He walked over to his sink and dampened a rag to wipe the blood off of him. As he wiped his forehead he realized that he couldn’t find the source of the blood. Under the thick layers of gunk was only clean skin, as if there had never been anything there, to begin with.
“Can’t find the wounds, can you?” Weiss said with an amused smile on her face.
He shook his head in disbelief as he turned to face her. “Weiss, did I die in that car accident? Am I in limbo or something?” He choked out.
Weiss smiled at him warmly as she shook her head. “No, my dear Jesse. Quite the opposite, in fact.” She stood and walked over to him before putting her hands gently on his shoulders. “You have been reborn, in a sense.” She guided him to his shoddy couch and helped him to sit down.
“But, none of this makes any sense! It defies all logic and reason.” Jesse protested.
Weiss nodded in agreement. “Yes, living on Earth I can see why you would think that, but even some of your world’s scientists believe that there are possible parallel worlds to this one. They just haven’t come to the how and why yet. That is by design, and if the legends are true then they will never figure it out.”
Jesse gave her a look of confusion. “What Legends? What do they say?”
“Well, when the universe was created the Earth and Araphel, where I’m from, were both one and the same. Back then, the planet’s spiritual energy gave the people and creatures magical abilities. This is where many of your world’s myths and legends originate. The people that had these abilities were known as the Grigori. They started out as watchers over the lesser beings of the planet, but some became corrupt and tainted by their lust for power.” She stood up and walked over to the window of his apartment and took a deep hesitant breath before continuing. “Have you ever wondered why there are thousands of deities from the various religions around the world?”
“Are you implying that they’re all real?” Jesse scoffed.
She nodded, sadly. “They were, once. Unfortunately, they fought with one another for the right to rule the rest of humanity. Those who fought for peace and harmony bound together and used the power of the planet to separate the world into two planes of existence. The Earth would remain a place where magic was absent while Araphel would be a place to contain all of the magical energy.”
“I’m not saying I believe you, but what does any of that have to do with me?” Jesse said as he stood to join her by the window.
She looked over at him. “For some reason that we don’t understand, humans on Earth have continued to develop into Grigori. Albeit, at a much smaller scale than before. However, this means that I and my comrades are tasked with bringing the awakened back to Araphel.”
Jesse stared at her with amused disbelief. “And you expect me to believe all of that?”
Weiss sighed heavily. “Whether you believe me is inconsequential to the ultimate outcome, as far as I am concerned. Now see here—” She took a few steps closer. Her once warm nature shifting to become cold and almost threatening. “You only have one of two choices as to how the remainder of our exchange will continue. The first is that you willingly follow me back to the Bastion to begin your training. The second involves me forcing you there, and I’d really hate to do that.”
Jesse looked her over a bit, taken back by how forceful she sounded compared to her size. It would have been comedic had it not been directed towards him. Even though she was shorter than him something told him that her words were true and that she could make him go with her if she needed to.
“What about my life here? I can’t just abandon the Wu’s.”
Weiss’s warm smile returned, softening her hardened expression. “Jesse, dear, I will take care of them, I promise. My word is my bond, and I will not allow any misfortune to fall upon them.” She placed a hand on his shoulder.
“How do I know you’re not just crazy?” He exclaimed.
Weiss chuckled a bit, “Well, for starters, we’ve been conversing in Grigori this entire time.”
He froze as the realization washed over him like a cold shower. It was true, he hadn’t been familiar with the language they had been talking in for the last couple of hours. He just figured it was a language he hadn’t come across yet. He never considered that it might be a language from another world.
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“It’s part of being a Grigori.” She started again after it was clear that the realization wasn’t sitting well with Jesse. “We can understand any language spoken to us, aside from fictional ones. For example, I attempted to learn Klingon once, but I’m afraid it was lost on me completely.”
“To be honest with you…” Jesse said as he shambled over to the couch and sat. “I always wondered why I was the only one who could do that. I didn’t even realize I could until a couple from India were conversing with one another about how lost they were and I stepped in to give them directions. They were amazed at how well I could speak with them in Hindi.”
He sighed as he leaned forward; placing his head in his hands. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. Surprisingly, Weiss didn’t speak while he did. He could feel the sense of urgency in the air, but she remained silent. He was appreciative of that, but this couldn’t have been her first charge. It comforted him, even just a bit, to know that there were others like him who didn’t know what choice to make. She promised to take care of the Wu’s, and there was something about her that made him want to trust her. Every time she gave him her word he could feel a surge throughout the air as if it were a sign that it would be done. The question now was if he was brave enough to do it. Not that he had a choice, according to Weiss.
“Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll go with you.” He stood to face her. “What do I need to do?”
Weiss turned to face him and smiled warmly. “Pick a name.”
Confused, Jesse replied, “But I have a name, it’s Jesse.”
She nodded while giggling a bit. “Yes, that is the name you were given here on Earth, but as a Grigori you can choose a new name to represent the start of your journey. It’s a rebirth in many ways, so don’t take it lightly. If you would still like to be called Jesse, then that is what you will be called.”
He thought about it for a while. The only issue he ever had with his name was that it was given to him by the state, not by his parents like other people. He had no personal connection to it, but this was an opportunity to pick a name that meant something to him. He felt so torn over the thought of leaving his life behind and starting a new one that it was difficult for him to even focus on something like a new name. It’s not something he ever thought he’d have to do, so it’s not like he had it planned out. All he knew was that everything in his life had been shattered. Suddenly, a word formed in his head that described his situation perfectly. Before he could even give it a second thought it escaped his lips.
“Rift… My name is Rift.”
She walked over to him, placed a hand on his shoulder, and smiled. “I think it suits you. Well then Rift, shall we get going? One thing you will come to notice about me is that I absolutely hate wasting time and I am a little more than punctual.”
“What? Now?” Rift exclaimed.
“Well there’s no time like the present, I always say!”
“I’m not even packed! What does someone even bring with them to another world?”
She chuckled. “Really, dear, you worry far too much! You don’t need to bring anything or do anything but follow me. I have already taken care of everything else and you will have all that you need once you are in the Bastion, you will see!”
------------------------------------
“What are we doing up here?” Rift groaned once he realized she had brought him up to the roof of his apartment building. “Someone’s going to catch us and then we’ll be thrown in a mental hospital!” Thinking about it more, he wasn’t sure if they didn’t belong in one.
She skipped over to the edge of the roof and peered down. “You have a lot of work to do on your faith in people.”
“That’s what happens when you grow up on the streets.” He said in a snippy tone harsher than he had meant to. Weiss had been nothing but kind to him, and he had no reason to throw attitude her way. Luckily for him, she hardly seemed to notice, if at all.
“You have to trust me from here on out. If you don’t, this will be a lot more difficult for the both of us.” She turned to face him. “Do you understand?”
He wondered what she was talking about, but he decided it was best to just go with it. It’s not like he had much of a choice if what she had said was true. He finally nodded, “Yes, I understand.”
She turned back to face the cityscape once again. “Join me on the ledge please.”
Rift hesitated but finally relented and walked over to the ledge as well. “What’s this all about?”
“Trust.” Weiss answered, irritated. “If the two of us are going to work together I need you to trust me. Now, please, step up onto the ledge next to me.”
Rift sighed a bit before doing as she asked. He wasn’t one to be afraid of heights, but standing seven stories above ground level didn’t sit well with him. Before he could protest further he was amazed by what he saw. It was early in the morning, but there were cars still making their way to and from their respective destinations. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but he could see the faintest hints of sunlight trying to peek above the horizon. It was quiet, with a few distant city noises, but it was almost tranquil.
“Every time I visit your world I can’t help but be amazed at how vastly different, yet similar, it is to mine. It definitely does have its charms.” She said with a warm smile. The two of them stood and admired the view for what seemed like a long time. Finally, Weiss spoke up again. “In order to get to Araphel, we need to travel by R.A.B.I.T. hole.” She looked at Rift who was giving her a weird look. She laughed a bit. “It stands for Ready Access Bilateral Intergalactic Transporter. Yes, I know, it’s an odd name, but I wasn’t the one who came up with it, I can assure you.”
Rift grinned a bit, thinking about her name’s meaning and the name of the transporter. If she wasn’t the one who named it then whoever did must have had her in mind.
“Now, traveling from one place within the same plane isn’t an issue, but traveling from one dimension to another is a bit trickier. That is why we’re here.” She pushed a button on her wrist-band which emitted a beeping noise. “Weiss, reporting. G-2021 has been located and we are ready for transport, over.”
A male voice responded back from her communicator. “Copy that. R.A.B.I.T. hole in five.”
Before Rift could ask her what was going on, a loud roaring sound came from beneath where they stood. He looked down and saw the concrete on the sidewalk begin to quiver until it moved in a spiral direction as if it were being sucked downward. Soon enough, a hole about the size of a car had appeared. In the middle of it where swirls of light and wind rapidly spinning. The realization finally hit him.
“Weiss, this is all real, isn’t it?” He asked her, the panic rising slowly within him.
She smiled and extended a hand out to him. “Yes, but always remember my dear Rift that you are not in this alone. I promise you that I will always be near.”
He hesitated for just a moment before taking her hand in his. The two of them looked down at the maelstrom beneath them before stepping off the ledge and plummeting downward. Time seemed to slow down, and a smile spread across Rift’s face as the adrenaline rose within him. He let out a loud yell of excitement and Weiss laughed before joining him as they descended downward. They slipped rapidly through the entrance, and moments later only silence remained as the portal spit the road back into place as if nothing had been disturbed.
The wormhole was a swirling mess of colors and, to Rift, it was like skydiving through a rainbow-colored cloud tunnel. He half-expected a unicorn or dragon to fly by, but before he could entertain the idea further, another hole formed below the two of them. This time, he could see a white ceiling with a glamorous chandelier hanging from it. It almost looked as though they were about to enter a room that had been turned sideways. The two of them began to slow in speed and as they reached the exit he began to descend onto the ceiling. Strangely, it was as if gravity had suddenly been switched back on and he fell backward. With a loud thump, he hit the cool marble flooring. Weiss, on the other hand, had turned right side up after her exit of the R.A.B.I.T. hole and was slowly drifting downward as if she were wearing a parachute.
She walked over to him and reached out a hand to help him up. “Welcome to the Bastion!”