Rise From The Ashes

Our previous conversation helped me calm down a bit. I finally got myself up and looked all around us. I noticed that so much had changed. So many different places had been combined.

Snow-covered mountains were right next to volcanoes and deserts! There was even the clichéd candy world. Digital worlds, shadow worlds, futuristic, medieval, cat-filled, school-themed, emptiness, and even worlds that were what the earth was like well before the bible was first published with all sixty six books.

"He's succeeded so far." I commented, "We might need a miracle to make it out of this."

Suddenly, a young silver-haired woman with appeared before us, wearing a red dress. There was something that felt different about her. It also seemed like she was glowing somehow.

"My name is Matilda," she said, "and I'm here to help you."

"With what?" asked Donovan.

"By giving you the strength to continue." she answered.

"Huh?" I responded.

"I helped out last time, but it looks like things aren't going so well this time." said Matilda.

"Yeah, almost everyone's dead." I said.

"I shall increase the power in the gems and the physical strength in both of you." responded Matilda.

"Is that it?" asked Donovan.

"You will be stronger and if you succeed, those you lost will be returned." she said.

"T-thank you." I said.

"Now, I must go." insisted Matilda, "You should have the power now."

"This is it." said Donovan.

"Y-yeah!" I responded.

"We can finish this." said Donovan.

"Yeah, I think you're right." I responded.

"We'll both be right if you believe in yourself," said Donovan, "because if you don't… we might not make it through."

"Okay, then!" I said, "Now we just have to figure out where Jeff went."

"We should scan this area to see if there is anything that will point to his location." suggested Donovan.

We immediately began searching the platform. First, we found the remote that Jeff had used earlier to raise the platform.

"Why would he leave this behind?" I asked.

"I'm not sure." answered Donovan, putting it in one of his pockets.

"Okay, then." I said, "More searching it is."

We returned to our search of the platform. It didn't seem like there was much left, but we soon found a letter. The contents of the letter was a threat:

Jeff,

You have to do this. This is your third chance. You only have one more after this, and you know what happens if you fail this time. As long as you succeed, you shouldn't have to worry.

- G.

"A threat to Jeff!?" I exclaimed.

"Well, this was unexpected." was all Donovan could say.

We searched some more and found an open envelope which had an address on it.

"Okay, that's enough poking around." said Donovan, "Time to put the pieces together."

"Um… alright, let's do it!" I said.

"First up is the remote." said Donovan, "Why do you think it was left behind?"

"Because… Jeff must have been in a hurry." I said.

"I thought the same thing." responded Donovan, "Now, where did the letter come from?"

"Well… the letter was obviously in the envelope we just found. Probably also left behind in Jeff's rush." I responded.

"That's what I concluded as well."

"So, what next?"

"At present, we don't know who wrote the letter. But we do know it was a threat. What can you interpret from that?"

"All this time… Jeff was not the real mastermind! Whoever wrote this letter to him is behind all these tragedies."

"I agree. What you're suggesting makes sense and is probably accurate."

"I always thought it was just him, but it seems that there are more people involved than I originally thought."

"We both know it's far from over. Anyways, we still have one clue left to discuss?"

"The envelope?"

"Yes. The one thing that will tell us where Jeff is located."

"Okay it's… the address?"

"Yes."

"But… how would we know if he's actually at his house."

"The truth is, I don't."

"Huh?"

"But it's still worth checking!"

"I guess so. Anyways, why'd you have to have this little 'game' instead of just explaining the stuff?"

"Where's the fun in that? Also, you still needed help to calm down."

"Well, looks like we're finished here."

"Now that we know where he possibly is, let's pay him a visit!"

"Yeah!"