A New World

It wasn't the landscape that made this new place different, it wasn't even the scenery or type of land. He still stood in a massive grassland with mountains rolling in the distance. The form of the land was slightly different. It didn't look like the mountains were quite the same shape, and these plains were rougher and more hilly than the last that he had seen. However the biggest difference was the color. Where he had come from, the grass had been a constant field of vibrant, dark green, the mountains had been a picturesque blue that blended into the azure sky. Here, the grass was an expanse of yellow and brown with little green to be found in between. The sky was dark with clouds, making the mountains difficult to make out in the distance.

Jason hadn't had any idea where he was before, so he was even more confused now, but this new place was somewhat comforting to him. It felt real in a way that the other place hadn't. This wasn't some idyllic paradise with green grass and smooth earth. Jason had grown up in the plains of the central United States and it was rare to find any natural area that was that green. Not to mention an area that you could walk barefoot without stepping on a rock or spiky weed.

"This is much more like it," he found himself saying out loud.

"I thought you might like it," a voice said. Jason jumped looking around for the source of the voice, but found nothing. "It reminds you of home, no?"

Should he be answering this mysterious voice? Where was it coming from anyway? "I suppose it does a little," he said, still searching around him.

A sparrow landed on his shoulder and looked at him with intelligent eyes, "I hoped that this would bring you some small comfort," the sparrow said. It didn't actually speak. Jason was just hearing it in his head, but he somehow knew that it was coming from the sparrow.

"How do you know anything about me?" Jason stiffened as he waited for an answer. This sparrow was completely different from the other. It was larger in size, perhaps even larger than a normal sparrow and it was a light brown with black eyes. He would have no way of meaningfully differentiating it from a normal bird if it weren't for how it was acting.Was this the same sparrow that he had seen before, and if so why could it suddenly speak now?

"I was the one who chose you," the sparrow said, eyes locked with Jason's. "Though this is not how it should have happened, this is the world that I chose you to save."

"What?" Maybe he was less sane than he had thought. "Chosen by a sparrow to save the world? What in the world is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that this is a world that is in grave danger and you are the one who will save it."

Jason couldn't help staring blankly at the bird. "This is some kind of destiny chosen one bullshit isn't it? One of those things where I can choose to help or not, but if I don't then the world will be destroyed and fall into chaos?" He had to be dreaming. He would wake up in bed back home with Mina and everything would be fine. He would tell her about his horrible nightmare and she would comfort him and…

"This isn't a dream," the sparrow said into his head. "And like I said, it is very irregular."

Not a dream? It was cliche but he tried pinching himself, and nothing happened. Well, that wasn't going to be nearly enough to convince him. Then again, if it was a dream then that meant no consequences so why not indulge the stupid bird? "What do you mean by irregular?"

"Well it is difficult for me to say," the bird said, sounding hesitant.

"Then start with who you are."

"That may be even more difficult. I am the goddess of light, Vani, though it may be presumptuous to call myself that now."

"So, you're a goddess that lost her powers and is trapped in the shape of a bird and now you need…"

"That isn't quite right," the sparrow said, sounding thoughtful. "I am something less than the goddess. Perhaps even…"

"It doesn't really matter," Jason interrupted her. He wanted to act cool, but on the inside he was panicking. What if this really was a new world? Would he be trapped here, living this life until he died, all the while never able to see his wife or daughter again?

"I'm sorry for your loss," the sparrow said. It might have been genuine, but Jason couldn't bring himself to care. "However, your sacrifice is precisely why you have been chosen. There…"

"So I have to go through this because I already went through the most shitty thing imaginable? You want me to just forget about my family and move on to your precious world here?"

"You have shown yourself to be a loving, sacrificing hero who…"

"I haven't shown you shit!" Jason screamed. "Doing what I did doesn't make me loving or self-sacrificing! I did it because I love my wife and that's it. If it had been a group of the most important people in the world or another happy family, I would have happily stepped out of the way to keep living my own life." Tears were streaming down his cheeks now. "I actually liked my life, you know. I had a little girl and a wife who loves me. Do you have any idea how rare that is?"

"It had been determined that that wasn't true," the sparrow said after a short pause. "You are someone who would sacrifice themself for anyone in need."

Jason had no idea if that was really true. If someone had asked him if he would sacrifice himself for a random stranger in need, he probably would have liked to say yes, but seeing someone sacrifice themself for their wife and then assuming that they would do that for anyone seemed ridiculous. "Regardless of whether or not that was true, I'm not feeling particularly self-sacrificing right now. Why don't you go find yourself a new hero and let me rest in peace."

"That is the problem I am afraid," the sparrow said unrelentingly. "While you may have been chosen, you were not the hero that we got."

"That doesn't make sense. You just said that I was chosen and here I am. What do you mean I'm not the hero you got?"

"It's complicated," the sparrow said again.

"You keep saying that, and I'm getting tired of it. Either start explaining or I'm out of here."

"It should have been me that chose and summoned the new hero, but I was overpowered by the god of darkness before that could happen and he summoned a dark hero instead. You are only here because of another's sacrifice."

"And?"

"You must stop the current hero, and then unite humanity against the forces of darkness before they are annihilated and consumed for eternity."

"And how would I go about doing that?"

"You must go to the capitol and convince the king that their hero is not sent from me. He has an evil heart and will stop at nothing to see everything destroyed."

"So which direction to the capital?"

The sparrow cooed with excitement. Flying in circles towards what Jason presumed would be the direction of the capital. "To the southwest!"

It flew back to land on Jason's shoulder, but Jason was already running in the opposite direction.