Dungeon Hunters

Who We Are

The four were back in Mr. Fournier's office, standing in front of his desk where he was sitting. He had a new cigar in his mouth to replace the one he had tossed just a few moments before. His coat was off his shoulders and hanging on the coat rack behind him. The woman was lounging in a large chair off the right.
"Well then," Mr. Fournier said, "after all that nonsense, let's talk. First thing you should know: what that priest said was true, their numbers are growing. More and more cities are seeing a rise in their numbers. Second thing: is a bit of a confession on my part. There is no dungeon out here."
"WHAT!?" They all yelled.
"I know, I know, I used you guys to do a little errand for me and for that I apologize. I just wanted to see what you kids were made of. Dungeon hunting is no joke, and I wanted to make sure you kids were up for it. Clearly you're all committed to this."
"So wait, does that mean there isn't even a library?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, there is. Just because it isn't in the desert, doesn't mean it isn't real. It's just off the desert, in The Ironwood Forest. And to get in, you'll need this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a key. It was hard to tell, as it was more a key handle with a mangled looking cube at it's head.
"You're just giving it to us?" Eden asked.
"Not exactly," He said. "Before I give it to you, you have to each answer me this: why are you hunting dungeons? What is each of your motivations?"
"Why do you want to know?" Riley asked.
"Four sixteen year olds don't just up and decide to go chasing after the most dangerous locations on the face of this earth. So, humor me. How about you first." He points at Daemeon.
"Fine then. A long, long time ago, my home village was attacked by one of the warring kingdoms at the time. They had under their control, an immensely powerful demon they had used to wipe out all others who had opposed them. However, the first leader of our village stepped forward and defeated the demon with a technique only he knew. Why he didn't share it with anyone is beyond me. Regardless, he used this technique to imprison the demon for a great number of years. Until one day, it got out. Don't ask how it did, maybe someone released it, maybe the seal on it's prison broke. Regardless, my mother and father where part of the task force assigned to take it out. My father and a few of the other higher ranked fighters of the village used a combined technique to kill as much of the demon as they could. All of the ones involved in killing it died in the process. Thing is, a piece of its soul persisted. It moved and latched itself onto the nearest living thing it could with a stable enough soul. In that, it attempted to latch onto my mother, but her soul was to great, so, it found mine. Not even my mother knew she was pregnant with me at the time. So I was born with a torn soul, one half just fine, the other, a little less so. It killed my mother to bring me into this world."
"So then why?"
"Growing up, I was viewed as a monster, a freak. No one gave a damn about me. I was all alone in the world. Then, one day, Michael and Eden passed trough my village. Despite everyone's warnings, including Eden's," he shot her a look, while she pretended not to notice, "Michael came up to me and started talking to me. He was the first person to ever reach out to me. I followed him after that. My only goal now, is to find a way to either control or get ride of this thing inside me."
"An excellent motivation. Who else?"
Riley stepped forward.
"You said so yourself, I'm from the Isles of Conquerers, any offenses against our people isn't looked upon very kindly. Well, one day, my father decided that he had had enough of our lifestyle. He lost it, and killed our leader. After that, he up and ran, leaving myself, my two sisters, and my mother all alone. The elders of our village convened. They determined that all of our family would be black starred."
Riley lifted up the right sleeve of her shirt, revealing a star shaped tattoo that had a black outline around the edge.
"If you don't know what that means, let me enlighten you," She pulled her sleeve back down. "We can never set foot back inside the village, no one else of our clan can associate with us or assist us in any way, shape, or form. We're exiles, forced to live in solitude until the day when my father can be brought to justice for his crimes. My family left the Isles, no real point in staying there. We did whatever we could to get by. My mother became a nervous wreck. I eventually started taking part in gladiatorial challenges. Beating somebody to a pulp with my bare hands for the entertainment of a bunch of sick freaks isn't the most respectable form of earning cash, but the money was good and I was good at it. Then one day, Michael, Eden, and Daemeon came along. Well, Michael jumped right into the arena to talk to me. I was so startled I tried to attack him. He talked me down though, and I decided to join him. I'll search for my father endlessly, and make him pay for what he's done."
"As good as motivation as any," Mr. Fournier said solemnly. "Well this leaves two."
Eden put a her hand on Michael's shoulder. "It's okay, take some more time."
"I'm sure you recognized my last name upon hearing it," She said to Mr. Fournier.
"Of coarse. Raylen, the shipping tycoon, the man who's empire stretches the entire world."
"My father."
Mr. Fournier raised an eyebrow. "You father is one of the richest, most powerful men in the world, and you chose to live a life on the very edge of death?"
"I know what you're getting at, and you're right. I could have lived my entire life in comfort, not having to raise a finger for a thing. But I didn't want that kind of life. I always heard my parents talk about an older brother I had never met, about how he had gone off to capture dungeons. I wanted to do that. I wanted to see the world, to live life. If that means putting my life on the line everyday, then I'm okay with that."
"You truly do have conviction in your heart girl, I admire that." He turned to Michael. "All right then, guess you're the last one up."
Michael could barely pick his head up to look at Mr. Fournier.
"To be honest, I don't have a past."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mr. Fournier asked.
"It means I don't remember anything before a certain point. The first and only thing I remember is waking up on a ship, it was one of Eden's father's freight ships. Well, Eden came up to me and we began to talk. When we got off of the ship, Eden invited me to stay back to her home to give me a place to stay. I truly did want to accept her offer but I couldn't shake the feeling I had something to do, something important to do. Well, Eden decided to join me for the reasons she stated earlier. And from there we've traveled a lot until one day we heard about a dungeon that held untold knowledge from thousands of years ago. So, we started off for this place. And that's the story so far."
"Well, I can't really make heads or tails of you," He said to Michael. "So you have no idea what that mark is on your arm, or why you have the markings of the most dangerous prison in the world?"
Michael shook his head. "No sir."
"Well, these have all been fascinating tales," Mr. Fournier said. "But there's one more thing I need to know. Why did you all join together? What made you want to join up with someone who shares none of your interests?"
"We do share a common goal," Michael said.
"We want to use the wealth we obtain from capturing dungeons, to build our own kingdom," Eden said.
"Your own kingdom, huh?" Mr. Fournier said.
"That's right", Riley said. "A kingdom with no wars and no hatred, were all people can live together in peace."
"A place where no one is looked down upon for being different," Daemeon said.
"A safe haven for all people, from all across the world can come together, to escape the hatred of the world," Michael declared.
"Well, that's a pretty big dream," Mr. Fournier said. "It's not going to be easy."
"We know that," Michael said. "But we're all willing to put in the work, because we've put our minds to it, to this collective dream. And we won't give up until it's reached."
Mr. Fournier took a long pause, he puffed his cigar once, twice, three times. He leaned back in his chair and tossed them the key. Michael caught it out of the air.
"You've convinced me," he said. "There's nothing but conviction in your eyes, and that's a trait few can boast in numbers. Though I'm not going to lie," his tone got serious "this dungeon is no joke. I've gotten reports of it from several people. This is a specialty dungeon after all. Supposedly, there are guards inside, knights in heavy armor, nigh impregnable by any normal means. Take caution won't you?"
"Of course sir. Thank you," Michael said.
The four turned, and were almost out the door when Mr. Fournier called out. "Kids, just one more thing before you go."
They stepped back inside. Mr. Fournier opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out what appeared to be a rolled up piece of worn, tinted, paper. It was a bounty poster. He unrolled it and held it up.
"You wouldn't happen to have seen this man while you were out in the desert would you?"
On the paper was a picture of a man.
"Wait." Michael said. "Is that...?"
It was, in fact, the man in red they had encountered before.
The poster read as such:
WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE:
KELLEN BERRY
The picture of him was only of his head. He had a smile on his face that stretched from ear to ear, wearing the pair of yellow sunglasses from before that didn't really cover his eyes and more fell to the end of his nose. His spiky blond hair still looked ridiculous. You could see the collar of his red coat sticking up. His hand was also up in the picture, as if in a wave.
"Are you telling me that guy has a bounty?" Daemeon said.
"Are you telling me you've never heard of the legendary Kellen Berry?" Mr. Fournier asked.
"We don't really check wanted billboards," Eden said. "We never really saw a point to it."
"Ah well, this poster isn't really hung up any more," Mr. Fournier explained. "Seeing as how no one has been able to even come close to catching him in ten years. Regardless, I thought one of you might of heard of him. He's known the whole world over. Kellen, the One Man Army, the Man of a Thousand Bullets, the Human Stampede?"
They looked at him with black expressions.
"Yeah, I guess he was a little before your kids' time. Still, he is the man with the highest bounty this world has ever seen."
"Really?" Michael asked. "What's his bounty?"
"Ah right, here," Mr. Fournier unfurled the poster all the way.
And the bounty at the bottom was...
"THIRTY BILLION UNITS?!?"