I was swinging my sword around to get some practice.
"What are you doing out here so late?" asked my floating friend.
"Training." I replied, "I need to be able to fight as long as I'm here."
"Are you still worried?" she asked.
"Of course I am, Moira." I replied, "I don't know of a way back."
"Well, it's a bit difficult to sleep while you're swinging that thing around." complained Moira.
"Ah, sorry." I responded, putting my sword down.
"So, what was your sister like?" asked Moira.
"You really want to know?" I responded.
"Yeah!" she said, excitedly.
"Well, she's nothing like YOUR sister," I said, "we seem to get along most of the time."
"Most of the time?"
"Well, yeah. Most siblings end up fighting from time to time. Despite that, we're okay with each other… most of the time."
"You really miss her, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"...So, is she as cool as you?"
"I don't know about that. I think she's a good person overall, but she has a habit of getting annoyed with a lot of stuff. And she has a habit of taking everything seriously."
"What would you do if she ended up here?"
"I don't even want to think about that. I'm not sure if she could handle it here. At the very least, it's safer in my world."
"But what if monsters go over there?"
"Please stop making me worry."
"But I'm serious!"
"That isn't something I want to think about."
"Sorry."
"But if there are any monsters out there, I know I can count on our friends over there."
"Will you two nerds shut up already?" asked Moira's older sister, who came floating down to where we were.
"Ah, sorry." I said, "Didn't think we were being so loud."
"Just having Moira around is enough of a headache." complained Valencia.
"Hey!" exclaimed Moira.
"You two are definitely sisters." I commented.
"Shut up!" they both yelled at me.
"Alright, alright." I said, "We should go to bed."
I followed them up to the house and went into the guest room. Since I didn't really have anywhere else to go, I just stayed with them. However, it felt a bit weird being surrounded by people that weren't even human. To be honest, it had been months since I had actually seen any of my kind. I didn't really let that bother me though. Before I knew it, I found myself falling asleep. When I opened my eyes, there was a familiar floating figure right in front of me.
"Good!" she said, "You're still alive!"
"Did you think I would just randomly die in my sleep?" I asked.
"But you never know what might happen!" she said.
"Yeah, sure." I said.
"Oh yeah," said Moira, holding out a letter to me.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Someone came and dropped this off for you." answered Moira.
"Wait a minute!" I exclaimed, "How would anyone know I was here?"
"Why don't you ask Arianna?" suggested Moira.
"Who is that?" I asked.
"She's a knight," answered Moira, "but sometimes she delivers mail."
"Why?" I said.
"Because there's not always normal knight work." answered Moira.
"I'm not sure if I'll ever understand how anything works here I muttered."
After a quick breakfast with Moira's family, the two of us headed out. After running for a short period of time, we found someone just outside the forest. It was a beautiful girl, who looked to be a bit taller than me. What stood out to me was how she was wearing armor. When she turned to look at me, I got a good look at her face, clearly seeing her purple eyes and her long pink hair that went halfway down her back.
"You must be Ken." she said.
"And what if I am?" I said.
"I'm Arianna." she said, "What exactly are you doing here?"
"What I want to know is how you even knew I was here?" I asked.
"Did you even look to see where that letter came from?" asked Arianna.
"No, I-" I started.
"Well, read it." she said.
"O-okay." I replied.
I opened the letter and read it. It said: "Dear hero, so you have found your way into this world. I see you've been getting stronger too. But that won't be enough to defeat me. You'll never collect all seven of the golden pearls. But if you somehow do, don't be afraid to bring them to me. They're the only way you can win, but I'll definitely be taking them from you. Sincerely, the demon lord."
"D-demon lord…?" I said.
"The demon lord has magic that can track us." said Arianna, "So she knew where you were staying."
"And you delivered a letter from the demon lord." I commented.
"We're supposed to deliver any letters," she answered, "it doesn't matter who they're from. Doesn't matter what side we're on. We all use mail to communicate."
"God, this is all so weird to me." I muttered.
"So, what are you going to do?" asked Arianna.
"If she's got magic," I said, "then perhaps facing her would help me get back home?"
"But to do that, we need the seven golden pearls." said Moira, "Do you really think you can do that?"
"We won't know until we try." I said.
"Why don't I come with you?" suggested Arianna.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well, Moira's family told me you're not from this world," she said, "so maybe it would help to have someone like me around?"
"I guess." I said.
This was when I decided to start my quest to collect all seven of the golden pearls so I could go and face the demon lord. If I did that then maybe I would be able to go back home and see my friends and family again.