Lost [Ch. 4]

Somewhere In the OverWorld

Day

Daniel opened his eyes. He was laying on the ground. No longer was he laying in his bed. He sat up. There was a woman next to him. She looked familiar, but he couldn't remember her name. Why was that?

He got back up onto his feet. He was surrounded by trees. Lots of trees. Looking down at the woman, he poked her with a stick, startling her. She screamed but then sighed as she saw him standing over her.

There was no one else in sight.

"Who are you?" Petra asked. "Where am I?"

"I was just going to ask you the same thing," Daniel asked.

As they were both trying to understand how they ended up here, a horse neighing was heard nearby. Daniel grabbed Petra's arm and pulled her back up onto her feet.

"Hello there," the man said as he waved his right arm back and forth in the air. The trotting, black horse approached. "Are you two—."

"Are we what?" Petra asked, "lost?"

"Precisely my question. Are you guys lost?" The man asked.

Daniel and Petra gave their surroundings a good examination. There were indeed a lot of oak trees, and a few birch trees. There were rose bushes, blue lilies of the valley flowers, and cherry bushes scattered about. There were even sheep and cows grazing the grass.

In the near distance, there was visible smoke rising into the air. It caught the attention of Daniel and Petra.

"I—I don't know," Petra responded as the man continued to examine Daniel and Petra.

Tucked in his belt was a rope lasso. He was wearing a big brown hat. He had a brown vest on with a golden star attached to it. Under the vest, he wore a blue shirt.

"Wait a gosh darn second," the man said, "I recognize you two!"

Daniel turned away from looking at the smoke. He looked at the man. "You do?"

"Yes!" The man said, "you're the King and Queen of the OverWorld, aren't you?"

"A King?" Daniel questioned.

"A Queen?" Petra asked, "I think you have us mistaken for someone else."

The man laughed. "Gosh darn tootin'!" He said, "I'm surely not mistaken. I know a King and Queen when I see them."

"Who even are you?" Petra asked.

"The name is Robert," he answered. "I'm a sheriff in a nearby town. I was out and about doing my daily terrain scouting when I came across you two."

"That smoke in the distance. Is that your home?" Daniel asked.

"Right on point, partner," Robert said, "now I need you two to come back to town with me. Our leader would definitely like to see you guys."

"Your leader?" Petra said.

"Yippee ki yay, partner," Robert said as he took his lasso off of his belt and flicked it. "I don't want to have to use this. I would come with me if I were you guys."

"If we don't? Then what?" Daniel asked.

"Well let's just say I won't be too friendly then," Robert said.

"Fine, fine. We'll come with you," Daniel said, "lead the way."

Robert wrapped his lasso back up and put it back on its holster. He reached into the satchel on the horse and grabbed a glass bottle out from it. He slowly turned around. Daniel and Petra saw the bottle. They wondered what liquid was inside of it.

"What's that?" Daniel asked.

"Oh this?" Robert asked. "I guess you'll find out, huh?"

He raised his arm and then threw the bottle at Daniel and Petra. The bottle broke, releasing the mysterious liquid. Red bubbles were floating around Daniel and Petra. They began to get drowsy.

"What—is this?" Petra asked.

"Just a potion. That's all you need to know," Robert responded as both Daniel and Petra fell asleep.

Kingdom of the Plains

Day

The Kingdom was gathering. Victor, the leader of the Guard, was preparing to announce the King and Queen's disappearance. Scarlet was walking down the hallway next to Victor.

She could sense that Victor was worried for his friends. Disappearing in the middle of the night was not something they would normally do, especially because they're the King and Queen. They both turned down another hallway. At the end of the hallway was the main entrance to the Castle.

"Victor," Scarlet said, "everything is going to be okay."

"Will it now?" Victor asked, "it's not like them to just vanish and not tell me. Something is odd about their disappearance."

"Why do you say that?" Scarlet asked.

"When they normally plan an adventure or something similar to that, they make me aware of their whereabouts. Like I said, it's very unnatural of them to just not tell me."

"Maybe they were kidnapped?" Scarlet said.

She knew what really happened, but she was playing along with the game. If anyone were to figure out it was her behind their disappearance, she would be in serious trouble. She would only need to play along a little bit longer.

If and when the Kingdom decides it's time to throne another leader, she will be the first to accept their offer of becoming their new Queen. But only if the people voted for her. Shouldn't be too hard to acquire everyone's support, right?

Victor and Scarlet walked up to the main entrance doors. They stopped. Victor looked over at one of his Guardsmen. "Open the doors Franky."

"Yes sir," Franky responded as he opened the doors. Victor took a deep breath in and exhaled. This was the moment of truth. To see how everyone would react to their King and Queen's disappearance. The outcome was unpredictable.

"Be calm. Be strong. And most of all, don't show them you're scared. It'll only feed the fury," Scarlet said.

Victor glanced over at her and faintly smiled. "Thank you Scarlet. You're very nice."

"I get that a lot," Scarlet responded as they both looked outside.

Gathered just outside the castle entrance were dozens of people waiting to hear the horrific news. They had no idea what they were about to be told.

"Where's the King and Queen?" Farmer John shouted loudly.

"Why is Scarlet with him?" Julian the dog breeder asked his friends.

"Everyone. Everyone please quiet down," Victor announced. "Unfortunately, I have terrible news to share with you all. King Daniel and Queen Petra have gone missing."

The people all gasped in utter shock. They had no idea that their king and queen had disappeared. Questions began to rise as to how they disappeared. Was there a motive? There has to be a reason for their sudden and shocking disappearance.

"Everyone. Please remain calm. We are doing everything we can to find the King and Queen. In the meantime, if anyone has any information at all, please come forward. If you saw something I would like to know about it. The Castle will be open to everyone. Use this time to come and talk to either myself or Scarlet."

Among the crowd was HeroBrine and Carlily. They were standing next to each other. They were silently watching the announcement happen in front of them.

"Who's going to be our new leader now?" HeroBrine asked.

Carlily leaned in closer to him. "I have a feeling they're going to elect Scarlet temporary power over the Kingdom," Carlily said.

"Something doesn't feel right. I know Daniel and Petra wouldn't just leave without any notice," HeroBrine said, "everything was going wonderfully until she arrived."

"What do you mean, son?" Carlily asked.

"I'm trying to say that I think she is behind all of this. They wouldn't just leave like that and not tell us," HeroBrine said.

"That's a serious accusation you're making, honey," Carlily said, "be careful of what you say. This could get you in a lot of trouble. You know that right?"

"I'm going to do everything I can to find them. No matter what," HeroBrine said as he turned around and pushed his way through the small crowd of people, leaving Carlily behind.

"I vote for Scarlet!" Farmer John shouted loudly, "crown her Queen."

Scarlet faintly smiled, but went unnoticed by everyone including Victor.

"Isn't it a little early to decide who shall take the throne?" Victor questioned.

"This Kingdom needs a leader. Who even knows if the King and Queen will return. What happens when they don't?" Julian, the dog breeder asked.

"Everyone please," Scarlet said, "I assure you Victor and I are working together to find the King and Queen. I have ordered a search party to venture out and try and find them. In the meantime, there is little we can do. But if anyone has any information. Even if you saw something. Heard something. Victor and I would like to know that information."

"Did anyone see anything? Or hear anything? There is a traitor amongst us. We must find this blockhead and serve him justice," Victor said.

"Or her," Scarlet added.

Victor glanced at Scarlet, giving her an odd look. He didn't think too much of it though. "The Castle will be open to everyone. If you have any details, you're invited to come share those details with us in private. Thank you."

Victor and Scarlet then turned around, going back into the Castle. The main doors behind them closed. Everyone left outside began murmuring questions. They were left without answers.

As for Carlily, she began to understand why HeroBrine had made that accusation against Scarlet. Should Carlily be suspicious too? Should she believe what her son was trying to tell her?

"People, people!" Farmer John shouted. Everyone quickly quieted down. "Scarlet and Victor are only doing what they can to bring our King and Queen home."

"What if they don't come home? For all we know, they could be trapped in the Nether," Julian responded.

"That's just one possibility out of infinite ones, Julian. But what we need to do now is decide," Farmer John said.

"Decide what?" Romeo, the blacksmith, asked.

"Decide who will take the throne in the meantime. That's what we need to think about," Farmer John said, "and I have a good feeling about Scarlet. She sent out a search party. Sure, she's still a stranger to most of us, but she's acting as if she were a Queen herself."