Sometime in the future...

Third Point of View

Far from the merry welcoming party another of the Foreman family was drinking alcohol. Although in this case in a less merry setting and more of a downtrodden guilty drink to dull the pain. Melissa Foreman is Gloria’s elder sister, the one she often envies for being both charismatic and stubborn in equal measure. What she doesn’t know is that Melissa is a recovering alcoholic, she has been drinking before it even became legal for her to do so with a fake ID. However, around a year ago she went sober and was keeping herself alcohol-free until…

It has been over two weeks now since Gloria returned home and subsequently went missing. Melissa rounded up a search party for her and even called for Gloria’s friends from the militia to help. By now most have given up and all but one of Gloria’s militia friends have gone back to whatever they were doing before. “You shouldn’t be drinking at a time like this, you need all the mental facilities you can muster.” Joseph Atkins, Gloria’s captain and the sole militia person who hasn’t given up yet, commented as he watched Melissa down another.

After Melissa let out a hearty burp she responded back slightly annoyed. “Now’s the perfect time to drink, especially as we haven’t made any headway at all~.” Melissa said if it wasn’t already clear she has drunk the slur of her words would prove it to any doubter. “Nearly everyone has given up even my godforsaken parents have given up as well. Did your scientist friend find anything?”

Joseph nodded his head as he pulled out his phone and went to the message his friend sent him. “Check it out.” He said as he showed it to Melissa who after a few seconds of staring realized she was too drunk to read it. After Joseph sighed he turned it back to himself to explain it to her. “Ever since that day ten years ago, there are these new elements that persist in the air around the whole globe.”

“Yeah yeah, I learned this back when it happened. What does that have to do with finding Gloria though?” Melissa said as her agitation was amplified by her drunkenness. “If this ends up not working out I’ll-! Sorry sorry, continue.” Melissa stopped herself from complaining and urged him on.

Joseph was used to this and knew she didn’t mean her comments. “Well there seems to be a spot a few miles away that seems to be especially high in this stuff.” He said before pulling up a map showing what he is talking about. “The craziest thing is though? It seems to be pulling in more of it from around.”

Melissa’s eyes widened at that as she recalled what she was told about these elements. “But couldn’t too much of that be fatal? Or even an early warning sign that another disaster like the Pyrocene Eruption will happen again?” Melissa asked quickly about her worries growing. “Are you telling me Gloria is dead because if you are-!?”

Joseph shook his head as he raised his other hand to shut her up. “That’s only if it is volatile or extremely high in the stuff. But this place is both stagnant and constantly shifting.” He continued to explain. “It uses the elements somehow and replaces it with more of the stuff.”

“Wow… That is strange.” Melissa commented in awe as she sat back down and relaxed. The new shot of alcohol that the bartender handed her had been forgotten. “But that doesn’t prove Gloria is there. Do you have reason to believe she is there?”

Joseph was silent for a bit as he turned off his phone and returned it to his pocket as he mulled over the question. “Honestly? No, I don’t.” He answered honestly. “But it is the closest to a lead we have so I say we go for it.”

Melissa nodded her head as she cleared herself of the drunkenness. “Alright, then I will follow you. Let me get dressed and equipped then we will head out.” The two headed to the Foreman farm before Joseph waited outside for Melissa to get prepared. When Melissa walked out she was carrying an ax. “For if we need to fight off some creeps who kidnapped Gloria or something.”

Joseph just shook his head as he couldn’t help chuckling to himself. “You’re a strange one Melissa, I can see why Gloria envies you.” He murmured to himself. Melissa heard it but thought it was some sort of hallucination from her recently being drunk so she dismissed it. “Let's get a move on.”

Joseph nodded his head as he turned toward the direction of where he thought Gloria might be. “Come on, there are no roads so we will have to do this on foot.” Joseph explained as they began their journey. “We must not be distracted any longer, if Gloria is truly in danger she will need our help.”

Their journey was a relatively safe one as they mostly walked through grasslands. "As we are walking towards it might I ask you some questions, Mr. Atkins?" Melissa asked as she followed Joseph. "I know very little about you and from what you say Gloria talked a bit about me to you. It just doesn't seem right for me to know so little about someone who knows so much about me."

Joseph chuckled to himself at her question. "Sure I will humor you but there really isn't that much to tell." Joseph began after he finished chuckling to himself. "I just turned 18 when the Pyrocene Eruption happened, I did volunteer work for a year afterward along with my final year of High School. I was then kicked out of the house for a reason I rather not discuss and then I joined the local militia that formed after the disaster."

Melissa decided to take his advice and not question why he left. "Then you worked hard enough to become a captain, yes?" She instead decided to question something else instead. "Then little less than a decade later Gloria joined your squad and you mentored her. Now you do all you can do to search for her..."

"Heh, I thought you wanted to hear me talk about myself." Joseph commented. "But, yes that is what happened. I became a captain and now I am here searching for one of the people under me, honestly, I am quite disheartened that only I still have the will to search for her. Perhaps as payback, I will give up quickly myself when one of them goes missing?"

Melissa giggled at what she thinks is a joke. "Maybe you should... Actually, speaking of 'you doing everything you can' I haven't met that scientist that is helping us nor have you talked much about them. When do you think I could meet them?" Melissa decided to bring up a new topic.

"She doesn't like to leave her lab or the house she has connected to it, ever since that day ten years ago, she has devoted herself fully to trying to understand what happened. If I didn't meet her before all that I may have never met her, the only reason I could even get her to help us is due to that connection." Joseph explained. "She lost almost everyone back then and now she doesn't like to meet new people. It is better if you two never meet, for the both of you."

Melissa quietly agreed when she heard the reason. Then something caught her eye, a strange architectural structure that seemed to come out of the middle ages came into view. "Hey, is that where the strange reading is coming from?" Melissa questioned as she pointed towards it. Joseph was looking down at the map and looked up to see what Melissa was pointing at before gasping in shock.

Glancing between it and his map he mouthed words of shock before actually saying something out loud. "Oh damn, yes that's the place. But how did it not appear on any satellite." He said out in shock and amazement. "Gloria must be here!"

"S-so Gloria was kidnapped!? Are you sure we have the capability to fight her kidnappers?" Melissa said in disbelief. "Maybe you can do well but I am just a farm girl! I would only slow you-"

Joseph grasped Melissa's wrist strongly which caused her to blush feverishly. "Do not say such things! We will save Gloria together, you and me. Your sister always saw you as the bar to compare herself, do not let her down now when she needs you the most." Joseph tried to hype Melissa out of her funk.

Melissa shook and nodded her head as if to shake away her doubts. "You're right Joseph. Of course, you are, as her elder sister I have to help her however I can." Melissa spoke as she psyched herself up. The two then nodded their heads as they then turned to face the Dungeon disguising itself as a Dark Castle.