[66.3] An Arriver... Arrives?

I fell through the hole waving my arms trying to grab onto anything, but it was no use. As soon as I entered that void, the world around me turned pure bleached white. I freefell through it, nauseated by the sensation of not knowing which way was up or down. I could only tell because of the feeling of gravity pulling me down.

I waved my arms and flipped myself onto my stomach.

I stared down at the empty space and suddenly saw multicolored squares coming into view.

Eh?

What are those?

One zoomed past me so quickly that I started screaming, "AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!"

I noticed myself on a direct path towards another square. I hastily attempted to paddle away through the air, but unfortunately, it wasn't like water.

I closed my eyes to prepare for impact, but instead of smacking it and dying, I went through it instead. I crashed into a mattress, bouncing off and landing on the ground beside it.

"KYAAA!" 

I raised my head in confusion and saw a man naked on the bed, panicking to cover himself up. The man on the bed had medium-length black hair, gentle eyes, and a very handsome appearance. He had two black horns on his forehead and his flushed appearance would cause anyone to be seduced.

Honestly, THIS is the kind of person you would imagine when you thought of a demon.

I snapped out of my admiration and screamed out, "Where the hell am I?! What's going on?!"

He cried out, "That's what I should be asking YOU! This is my bedroom!!!"

"Yours?!"

I looked around in confusion.

Did I teleport?

But it didn't feel anything like the time I teleported before…

"My darling~" A melodious voice called out as she walked into the room, "Prepare for the best night of your-"

Before I could see the woman calling him, the floor opened up and swallowed me whole.

A woman with luscious platinum blonde hair walked in just in time to see the woman in the room disappear. Her pale blue eyes and charming face turned harsh, "Who the F*CK was THAT!?"

He jumped out of bed in a panic, "I-I have no idea, darling! She just appeared-"

The woman seethed, tightening her fists as her once peaceful face turned terrifying, "It was Abadi, wasn't it?!"

"No! It was a woman I've never met!"

"YOU'RE CHEATING ON ME WITH SOMEONE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW-"

As I fell through the floor, I could hear their arguments growing weaker and weaker as I flew downwards. My expression flattened, "...Oops."

I didn't have time to feel bad for the misunderstanding I caused as I was hurled through the space, twirling in the middle of the air until I passed through the next multi-colored square.

The space abruptly changed as soon as I went through it, shifting to an open field that I was on a direct path to crashing into.

At the same time, a child sprinted to the spot I was flying towards, crying hysterically. His mother screamed in the distance, "MARX! GET BACK HERE! IT'S JUST WATER!"

The little boy cried back, "I DON'T WANT TO TAKE A BATH-"

He froze, staring up at me as I screamed flying down at the ground at him, "-MOOOOOVE!"

He screamed back, "BANSHEE!"

I collided with the small boy and we re-entered a black square and back to that dizzying white space. We both freefell down in the air screaming as we held onto each other in a panic.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

We crashed through another multicolored square and screamed as the earth came into focus. Suddenly, we were caught by the abrupt appearance of a net. It gently dropped us to the ground where we sat, trembling in shock as we continued to scream while holding each other. A group of people quickly surrounded us, trying to calm us down.

"Hey! It's okay! You're both safe!"

A woman with sandy brown hair so long, it touched the ground, pushed to the front of the group. She had flowers growing in her hair and wore a long flowing dress made from vines. She forced an odd-looking fruit into the hands of both me and the child.

"Here! Eat this!"

We both took a bite of our fruit, still in shock from the sudden events.

I swallowed the bite forcibly, "T-That's… Tasty."

She forced more seeds and fruits into my hands, "Right? I make them myself! Super organic! Great for the body! Now, as for payment-"

Another man pushed her to the side, "And I can create interspatial bags! Here! Try one!"

I took it absentmindedly, trying to calm myself. I put the fruits into the bag, "W-Wow… They fit in such a small bag…"

He gave a wink, "Now for your trade-"

"-What is going on here?"

The crowd suddenly dispersed and a woman with a gentle aura and a flawless face elegantly walked over to us.

One spoke up, "Oh! Abadi! An arriver has just… Arrived!"

My head snapped over to her, "ABADI!?"

She looked taken aback, "Do you know me?"

I rubbed my face in disbelief, "You're supposed to be dead!"

She blinked in confusion, "...Dead? Huh?"

"Does that mean I'm dead?!" I let out a scream, "It was the backlash, wasn't it?!"

"...Backlash?" She tried to make sense of my strange words, "I don't understand what you mean… But never mind all that, we can discuss it in more detail later. First, as this village's chief, I am here to welcome you. Chaos arriver or an Order arriver, you are welcome here. If you have come to enact violence, please leave as you are not welcome. Our village has maintained peace for nearly a hundred years and has successfully avoided joining the Arriver War. We would like to continue our neutrality in this war."

A small girl poked her head out from behind Abadi. Her pure, platinum-blonde hair reflected the sun and her dazzling pale blue eyes sparkled in the light. She looked just like a timid mouse as she hid behind the woman, but her curiosity got the better of her.

I felt a surge of energy burst from my chest as I screamed and pointed at her, "YOU!"

She flinched in surprise, "M-Me?"

The ground opened at my feet and I fell through once more. Watching the ground swallow me up and disappear, the group was left utterly dumbfounded into silence. Abadi turned to the small girl, "Vira? Did you know her?"

Vira shook her head quickly, "N-No…"

Then their attention was turned to the small boy who was still deep in shock.

I fell through the next black hole screaming as I flailed.

Wait wait! 

Go back!

Go back! 

That was Vira!!!

I… At least I think it was?