Wind gusted past Megumi's brown hair as they rode off in their newly acquired sleds. The beasts lugging them from ahead continued, unhindered by the ash that flew all around them. It wasn't long until they reached the towering wall of rock.
Cider awed in amazement his gazed fixed the wall that seemed to have many different faces and hands peeking from parts of the wall. "That's so big!"
Megumi stared at wall for a solid minute. And despite its big size, it seemed to pale in comparison to Dragerd in his true form. In fact, she was sure that Dragerd himself could probably jump on top of it like some big rock.
Since Cider Didn't see Dragerd, she couldn't blame him for thinking it was so big. After all, she would've thought the same if they were never trapped within that maze.
Dino, who sat next to Cider with his arms crossed, silently kept to himself as he stared up with closed eyes. IT seemed like he could care less for what was happening.
"Megumi." K called. "You might want to hold on tight."
Megumi, although a little confused, did as she was told. K repeated this to Cider and Dino who followed his instructions.
"Whoa!" Megumi stumbled on her seat. She turned back to find the beasts dashing at the speed of sound. She had no idea that these beasts could run this fast, she quickly braced her face as her hair and bangs now whipped around violently. It was then that she realized that they were still heading straight at the wall.
"H-hey wait! We're about to hit the wall! W-we're going to crash!"
"Quiet down, will ya?" Dino interrupted. "Just watch. and hold on tight."
Turned to Dino indignantly shouting him. "What are you talking about!? we're going to crash!"
"C-crap!" Megumi swerved back around in time to see them about to hit the wall. Her heart jumped, but before she could react, the beasts hopped on the wall with practiced precision and kept running up.
Their sled, among many others, rocked and where jerked up on the wall. To her shock they were being dragged up the huge wall!
Megumi held on tight for dear life, trying to stay calm in an otherwise impossible situation. Soon, she felt her grasp starting to slip, prompting K to conjure his bone tentacles to prevent her from falling.
"Th- thanks!" Megumi said.
She then closed her eyes, bracing for the worst to come, but hoping for the best. Meanwhile Cider enjoyed himself to the fullest, practically hanging himself outside the sled. "Whoa! This is so Cool!!"
"Get back here!" K demanded
Cider frowned, disappointed. "Aww. Your no fun."
It wasn't long until the beast finally made it up the entire wall. Jumping and landing straight back at the top of the plateau. The ceased all movement then. huffing and puffing with a few laying down to rest.
Within this brief moment of reprieve, the whole world spun around Megumi. She felt like she was going to puke.
Cider flung his arms up in excitement. "Woohoo! that was awesome! Lets go again!" Not long after he noticed Megumi's condition. "Megumi, are you alright?"
Megumi's head now hung just outside the sled. "Nn-nn- nooo…"
"I hope you're not scared of heights, Cause from what I hear, the rift in Arc is a long way from the city." Dino said.
Megumi glanced back at him with a pout.
"Hey, Megumi." K called.
Megumi turned her glance back to K who pointed to the far distance ahead of them. She turned alongside Cider who instantly became awestruck. Before them was a huge blue lightning bolt that was stationary in the far-off distance.
Megumi was left in awe by how large it looked already. She could practically feel the energy pouring from the rift ahead and they were still a day's travel until they could reach Arc.
"It's so big." Megumi said.
"Yes, Arc's Rift is typically the size of city's gate."
The Beast got back up, with their energy seemingly returning. Not long after the huge beast went dashing onwards to Arc.
Megumi and Cider staggered a little bit but quickly regained their footing. They Quickly adjusted to the moving sled, with both their eyes glued on the large rift ahead, excitement starting to swell within Megumi. "We're so close."
"Hey Megumi, you wanna play a game?" Cider suddenly asked.
Megumi quickly agreed coming up with a game they could play safely within the sled.
Megumi's group weren't the only ones to take in the note of the large fit in awe. Everyone else from the Caravan Had their sights fixed on large rift ahead, Kailey included. Although the sight intrigued her, she quickly turned away in favor of waiting silently as her group continued to fawn over the large rift ahead.
Liang, who was in the sled behind Megumi's group, look on more fondly at the rift ahead. He then glanced at Megumi's group. "How nostalgic." He thought. "Well, it looks like it's all smooth sailing from here."
********
A day of travels passed by in an instant and the entire caravan was encroaching on the rift that seemed to only become bigger. As they got closer, they spotted what looked to be huge fortifications built around the large rift. What was even more surprising was that it was all being manned by a single person in a hooded robe.
The man in the robe, instantly stepped aside allowing their caravan through without question and they enter into what seemed to be a large and complicated checkpoint. There were many different people and demons coming specifically to enter the rift with very few coming out.
To her left, she saw another group of sleds with the same strange beast, picking up new group of passengers.
And to the right was an empty space where they seemed to be headed to be dropped off. Some of the people and demons exchanged envious glance at their group.
"Don't mind them. They're most likely newcomers to Arc. They have to wait a couple of days before entering. Primarily for security reasons."
"What about us?" Megumi asked.
"Everyone here's already been vetted during the trip. The Grimms that accompanied us saw to it that we were already examined. They typically start from the first sled moving to the last." K explained.
Not long after K spoke, a couple of demons and a human that were part of their caravan were escorted from their sleds somewhere else.
"Alright, you guys can hop off now." Liang said. He leaned on their sled, his confident smile still plastered on him.
"Finally." Dino didn't hesitate to jump off.
Cider followed suit, with K right behind leaving Megumi as the last to follow. She hopped off landing on solid pavement. She followed her group behind and glanced back to their caravan.
"You guys can go in first, the next group will be following behind you soon. And once I finish here, I'll rejoin you guys in Arc."
Megumi Narrowed her eyes, not liking the idea of Liang joining in with them. She then glanced back at Dino, remembering that Liang did have to look after him since the incident at Gondola. as she looked back within the crowd she caught a glance of Kailey who was minding her own business. She also saw Megumi but made no effort to make her presence known.
"Thank goodness. At least she's okay." Megumi thought.
Focusing back to the rift she caught up with her group and watched as Dino and Cider entered without issue. K then gestured for her to follow.
Although a little nervous being face to face with another rift, she took a deep breath. And as if she was diving into water, dove headfirst with her eyes closed.
A strange tingling sensation passed throughout her entire body, as she finally reached the other side of the large gate sized rift. She slowly opened her eyes and to her surprise she saw what seemed to be standing in black water that rippled across her feet.
"What the…" Megumi slowly brought her head back up and to her shock, saw a wide-open void with her companions walking on endlessly. A few other people passed by her through a large bright blue tree that branched behind her. She jumped as soon as she saw the tree.
The sound of pattering water was heard, and a tug of her jacket was felt. She turned back around to find Cider still looking just as excited as before.
"Is this place awesome!" He exclaimed.
Megumi was still confused. She felt as though she was going crazy. But then Cider pointed up. "Look."
Slowly Megumi turned her gaze to the skies above. And what she saw left her in complete disbelief.
Above them lay an upside-down city with a mix of modern skyscrapers and old architecture of different types, from sandstone-built houses to homes built from different cultures around the world. There were even some mountainous areas and forests, both within and out of the city itself.
She kept looking on in the distance, looking for an end to the ever-expanding world before them. It was like they were in an entire brand-new world.
Finally, after a while, K called for Megumi once again. She looked back, seeing Dino growing slightly impatient. She quickly ran to them, rejoined them. as she rejoined them, she found herself bombarded with a plethora of questions that she just wanted to ask.
Just before she could speak, K gave a quick explanation. "Alright. There's two ways we can enter the city from here. The first is that spire over there."
K had pointed over to a needle-like structure in the distance. Megumi could just barely make it out.
"The second is that we jump down." K said.
"Oh! That sounds like fun!" Cider said.
Megumi quickly became alarmed.
"Well, we might as well just jump down, since it's the quickest of the two." Dino noted.
"H-hey wait! Y-you can't be serious about jumping down from here." Megumi was in complete disbelief at what they both just said. She looked to for him to be the voice of reason.
K pondered to himself for a bit. "It would be nice to shave off a few hours of travel since we're cutting things close…"
"You can't be serious!" Megumi was left in shock. She felt as though she was being ganged up on.
"Alright Let jump." K said.
Megumi's soul now left her body. "He.... Can't be serious.... Can he?"
K, taking notice of Megumi's newly petrified state, manifested his bone tentacle from under his robe and grabbed her. Without waiting for her response, they all jumped up.
Soon the gravity for all of them shifted, pulling them up towards the city. It wasn't long before the gust of wind blew against them as they were now in a free falling down.
Becoming conscious once more, Megumi could help but freeze up in fear. Despite battling a skyscraper like giant, the sheer fact that they were now free falling brought shivers to her very spine. A pit in her stomach formed and she prepared for the worst.
"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, craap!!"
BOOM
The crash landed straight into the city pavement.
"That was awesome!" Cider shouted.
"Jeez, the fall was much longer than I thought it'd be." Dino wobbled himself up and stretched in front of a crowd of people that took notice of them.
Meanwhile K noticed that Megumi felt a lot looser in his bone tentacle. It was like she was turning into a puddle right before his very eyes. "Next time we'll just use the spire, promise."
Megumi made some gurgling noise as if agreeing and thanking K.
As Megumi was finally released, she shook her entire being, trying to shake off that tingling sensation from herself. Despite her best efforts it wouldn't go away, prompting her to give in.
Looking back up, she found herself in a large city-like area in Arc. It was like they were in a full-blown city that she's always read about and saw on TV with Eric. crowds of people were moving from one place to the next with little regard for others. But strangely enough there wasn't a single car around and the roads seemed to be much tighter.
"C'mon this way." K said. He took point in leading every through. As they traveled, Dino Kept quiet as he glanced around. Meanwhile, Cider continued to cause mischief with K having to drag him back with his bone tentacles. Megumi on the other hand looked around, taking in these new sights with much intrigue.
Eventually after some time of touring around the big city, they arrived at a house sized dome. It was pure black with now reflection on it.
Since they seemed to be hedging towards the dome, Megumi finally raised a question. "Hey K, what is that?"
"That over there is a travel station. It's used to travel to different parts of the city in a short amount of time. It's also useful for taking you home if you have it registered.
Megumi rubbed her chin, fascinated by the travel station. "That's pretty nifty."
As they entered the dome and arrived at a nearby counter with a receptionist, they could hear someone speak out loudly. Megumi peaked at what seemed to be drama.
"Hey yo! What do you mean I can't go there!? This is fast travel isn't it!?"
"I'm sorry sir, But the place you described isn't registered with you."
The short man slammed the counter hard. "What do you mean! I've been there so many times before!"
The man at the counter looked to be a blonde haired with blue eyes. He was becoming increasingly panicked.
Meanwhile the short man with brown skin and short curly black hair, had his big green eyes glued to the blonde-haired man with frustration clearly boiling over. Looking at the man, his biggest distinguishing feature was the sheer size of his rounded nose.
Finally, the short man gave in. "Hmph! Fine. What is the closest place I can get to that place then?
"I'll check now." a blue orb materialized before the clerk and promptly gave his answer. "That'll be the east side of the sand district."
"Sand district!" the short man slumped over, practically like he was punched in the gut. "I'll never make it in time now."
Megumi has never seen a black man like him become so pale in her life. Feeling a little bad for the guy, she patted him on the shoulder. "H-hey. At least you didn't have to jump from the sky, right?"
"Huh?" The man just looked back at Megumi and stared at her for a solid minute.
"Uhh… Are you okay?" Megumi asked. It quickly became awkward for Megumi as it felt like his brain just shut down.
Dino quickly came in, pulling Megumi away from the guy. "C'mon, K has our destination set."
"O-okay." Megumi followed as the short guy just continued to look on, brain dead. "I- I hope I didn't kill him."
Megumi entered into a small room with K, Dino and Cider. The space was tight, mostly due to K's tall and wide stature. The receptionist they were speaking to then closed the door behind them.
"Happy travels!" They said aloud.
Megumi glanced back up to K. "So where are we going exactly?"
"Where else? We're going to the spire where we can determine your exact sin."
"T-to the... Spire?"
"Why did we have to jump down if we had to get to the spire anyways?" Megumi thought.