A secret buried
Dante walked down the streets of Al-Rabwah district of the city Hafar Al-Batin in Saudi Arabia. He was heading the foundation's HQ nearby, which happen to be the only one in Saudi Arabia, since the war gives seekers a hard time keeping their secrecy, yet they maintain a healthy professional relationship with military members and manage to preserve a remarkable amount of activities in the country.
He breathed in the dry air, not filling his lunges entirely, but enough for him to heave a sigh of exhaustion. Just a few hours ago, he was on a mission, which fortunately was successfully finished with the help of a local loyal foundation agent as a guide and consultant. A golden amulet at the shape of a star, with tiny little white gemstones resembling sand pieces as ornaments and a larger yellowish white stone in the middle of the star, was intertwined between his fingers which were stuffed in the pockets of his long yellow trench coat. It was a hard Yama titan to bond with, considering that he accents from a legend of a long lost kingdom, so it hasn't been at the hands of a seeker for quite a while, but Dante was patient and convenient enough to manage.
Right now, miles away from where the lost kingdom is located, he is waiting patiently for a trunk to arrive and transport him to another location, 60 km from his current one, the military city of Saudi Arabia. At least that's what the pedestrians notice in his calm and preserved expression. Dante was constantly letting out mental sighs of indignation upon the delay of the soldier who was supposed to have been there half an hour ago. Dante's foot started moving up and down, hitting the pavement.
The fact that military workers are always accurate has become a matter of doubt. Finally after what looked like eons, the trunk appeared out of the distance, making heave another sigh and take his hands out of the pockets. Out of the military car, a soldier with a classic army outfit, with dark brown hair, tanned skin, pacific blue eye color, sharp cheekbones and thin lips pursed in a perfectly straight line with huge shoulders greeted Dante's sight and made a short curt motion with his head, signaling him to get in. Dante replied with a nonchalant nob and entered the vehicle.
Skipping the otiose chit chats, the soldier started to drive to King Khalid, the military city of Saudi Arabia. As far as Dante can recall, King Khalid is a special city in northeastern Saudi Arabia, designed and built by the Middle East Division, a unit of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, in the 1970s and 1980s. The city was built to provide lodging for several brigades of Saudi troops. However, it soon got another purpose. As the engineers of United States brought the new technology to the city, the constructions got more stable and modern and also, they became the local military's last priority. Since mechanical support was no longer needed, the military members of Saudi Arabia distanced themselves from their sponsor, while keeping a few American members and taking over the whole operation, paying more attention on training their crops and building the perfect defense system. As long as reports kept being exchanged between the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the military members, which's number kept increasing, no need for an intervention in each other's business, as long as the main purpose of the collaboration was being served. Yet the past few months, the military seems distant itself even more and allow –willingly or not- scientist to intrude their business, sharing with them classified information which they shouldn't have. Of course, the biggest amount of this information is only for seekers to know, since to the world, the military city of King Khalid is only preserving a small amount of US government members and evolves its air force, with the assistance of them. Yet as a seeker, he is well aware of the alliance between the foundation and the United States Army Corps and Engineers, as they have Huntik foundations members there, and as a top agent in his generation, he was given a quest by his mentor to check on the military facilities for any movements against any of the members of their alliance. The lack of reports and classified information being spread to the world of mad science is a matter of consideration and suspicion, which was rising in Dante's head with the soldier's clearly unfriendly behavior.
During their way there, no words were exchanged between them, only to introduce themselves and the soldier named Omar kept driving in silence. Dante was never bothered by silence; in fact, he cherished it and preferred it over the loud blabbering most seekers bombard him with when they meet the top foundation agent. This guy seems to be an Arabian seeker and Dante would have been grateful to him for not worshipping his presence as if he was some kind of God –not like he thought so himself, but he has witnessed many forms of admiration and some of them were disturbing-, yet this specific silence had him on alert instead of calming him. This wasn't the silence of a respectful man, but a man who has something to hide. He didn't want to rush in conclusions though; he wasn't the kind of person to let first impressions affect him, so he just waited until they arrived, calmly examining Omar behind his golden glasses when he thought he wasn't looking.
When they arrived Dante eyed the facilities from the entrance of the electrical barriers and couldn't help but be impressed of how a country like this one can afford such well-built, stable facilities which he has only seen in the United States. Then again, they were working with US, so it shouldn't surprise him that the American engineers spread their perfectionist idealism even in the country. They passed a few armed guards in the entrance and Dante could swear that one of them growled upon noticing his presence but earned a rough, scolding look from Omar.
Omar kept guiding Dante around, until they reached their destination. As they entered the stone made building, Dante felt chills rising in his spine. It wasn't really cold in there, but something about the room made him flinch. It had many locked wooden boxes all around and three cells. At the center of it, a desk with piles of pepper work, so many that Dante could barely see the desk's surface. The windows resembled rectangle holes and were really close to the ceiling's level. Besides the army equipment and the camera's I every corner of the room, the blood in the walls –which looked fresh, Dante noted- and an injection syringe which was crawling in the door of one of the cells gave the room a non-welcoming atmosphere.
He was greeted by a group of three men in military outfits, one of them bald with a scar in his face, the other one rather short and skinny for a soldier and the third one with a very dark skin and hawk like expression. Besides them there was a woman at her 30s with caramel braided hair and aqua colored eyes, with a small nose and a kind smile, making a pleasant contradiction with the dead looking space and the sharp looks of the soldiers.
"Hello mister Vale, I am doctor Jaqueline Cody, geneticist. The military and my team have been working together for quite some time and I am here to assure you that our collaboration won't bring any complication to your alliance." She politely said and Dante merely raised an eyebrow
"I thought I would speak with major Declan. Is he one of these three gentlemen?" Dante questioned, or more likely demanded to know. Sending a second face to him only raises his suspicions; no matter how polite Doctor Cody seems to be.
"I am afraid we had some unfortunate events close to the borders and major's Declan presence was required. He gave me the task to speak to you in on his behalf. I hope this is not a problem. Besides, we both know exactly what you need to know" Doctor Cody assured him and offered him a seat besides the desk which is most likely hers. It was when he took a closer look at it that Dante noticed a mechanism under it which is probably used for scientifically research. He pretended not to notice it and looked straight into Doctor Cody's aqua eyes.
"I am all ears doctor" he said as he took a seat while kept his guard every second that ticked.
"Stop! Please stop!" a weak male voice of a child could be heard out of the small room, well-hidden on the corner of the military base near the mining cave. No one was allowed there except Doctor Cody and her comrades accompanied with her lab rats, which happened to be human and at this particular day, it was Kasim Acumen. Kasim was screaming in pain as the scientist tied him in the lab chair using black leather belts which were so tight, he could feel his blood circulation getting unstable.
He was struggling even though he knew it was pointless to get away from them. He was doing so every time and no matter all the failures he faced, he never gave up. He has to escape… he has to get back the only thing he has left from his family…
Kasim let out another scream of pain as they injected the needle of the syringe with force in his vein, a weird thick blue liquid overflowing in his system. He hisses like a reptilian as he feels it getting mixed with his blood and starts coughing from the pressure this scarred soldier have been applying on his belly to prevent him from freeing himself. But this time, Kasim was ready…
They have been repeating the same process for three months and Kasim knows exactly where they will lay their hands on and when he will be able to move his limbs. He knows that even better than them.
After the scientists pulled out the needle, the soldier holding his belly and the one holding his feet had permission to go, then the one holding his hands and he was free. The pale old man with the red shirt, the half bald head and monocle with the mischievous grin and hideous expression stood above him with his comrades standing behind him. He counted…
5…4…3…2…1…
For the past half hour, Doctor Cody has been informing Dante about the benefits of their experiments and that their goal is to make the soldier's training easier and increase their muscle strength and in return the military sponsored their project. When Dante asked about the project, Doctor Cody replied with a forced smile that she cannot explain because Dante wouldn't understand scientific terminology, an excuse which Dante found really stupid and suspicious. She just kept talking about her and her team's findings, avoiding mentioning the lack reports from the military, a matter which they could have settled a long time ago if major Declan was there. Dante held back a sigh and gathered all of his patience not to snap out of control. This day has been tiring and stressful, despite the successful retrieve of the titan, and Dante just wanted to get over with the needless talk and report to his mentor, Metz. He noticed that after a while Doctor Cody kept eyeing her watch every five minutes, which made him, guess that major Declan would arrive soon and release her from her task so that she can return back to her experiments, but it seemed unlikely. During their conversation, he had the time to recall what he saw on the news about the explosion on the borders, so he concluded that it would take him sometime to take care of some crucial issues. Instead, Doctor Cody seemed to have her own business in her mind…. And only her own business, much to Dante's despise.
"Mister Vale, would you please excuse me for a second?" Dante nobbed and she excused herself. He needed a break from all this blabbering, but he still found the whole scenario suspicious. Omar was in the room with him and the other three soldiers followed Jaqueline. Now that she was gone, Dante noticed how Omar's breathing got the slightest uneven. He was nervous, but about what?
His question was answered 10 minutes ago, when he happened to start losing his patience. One of the three soldiers –the skinny one- entered the room in a hurry. Calling him shocked would be the understatement of the year. The guy was shaking like a leaf, his eyeballs were ready to pop out of his skull and cold layers of sweat were washing his forehead. Omar immediately stood up, his expression hard and his grip got tighter around his sniper.
"Someone put a bomb in our gun storage! This place is going to explode!" the guy informed them and run away with his trembling shaky tiny feet. Omar remained his composure while Dante had a frown plastered on his face. Who would be able to get in the facilities and implant a bomb without being spotted? This place is a stronghold with well-trained soldiers; it has to be someone who knew what they were doing…
Omar wasted no time and signaled Dante to run. The men rushed through the ashy stone corridor until they found their way out. Dante scanned his surroundings and felt a hand on his soldiers.
'Follow me and you'll be safe" he said and Dante nobbed following his lead. The whole bases was crowded with people running for their lives, tryig to save everything they could from the storages and some of them even carried small kids. What were kids doing there?
Omar and Dante kept running, avoiding bumbing into anyone or let anything delay them, yet they didn't manage to reach the entrance on time. They were a few meters away and many soldiers were out, while a car was passing besides them. Omar called out to the driver to slow down and take them in but a half bald head which belonged to an old man with a monocle popped out of the window and shook his head in disapproval.
"Tsk tsk tsk! Omar Shadin! You shouldn't have done that!" The man mouthed, clearly satisfied for leaving them behind.
"You will pay for that Klaus!" Omar shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice leaking odium. After the trunk got out, the ten or fifteen soldiers that were out there closed the gates. They left them there to die! Time was running out and even though Dante could use hyper stride, he couldn't leave Omar behind.
Omar stopped on his tracks at the sound of his phone beeping in his pocket. I just stood there and watched as he picked it up while cursing this Klaus in Arabian and noticed how his expression got sad.
"No Jaqueline! I can't leave you behind!" he said with a pained expression. So he cares about Doctor Cody… he wasn't sure, but Dante could guess they might have been close. A few seconds later, Omar bit his lip and let out a sigh of frustration. "Alright, I know it has to be done this way" He then said something else in Arabian with a tightly clenched jaw and maybe it was the sun playing tricks on him and the adrenaline flowing in his blood due to the possibility of him dying there, but Dante could see tears gathering in his orbs. They didn't stay there for long though as Omar took a deep breath and came back to his senses. Now he turned to look at him with a deadly serious face and Dante observed him attentively.
"Mister Vale, I know you have many question but right now there is something that has to be done! Follow this way and turn left to the food storage, then go two times right and you will find a small facility near the miners' cave. There is a small five year old boy there and he has to get out. This is important Vale! That boy is special and I was planning to take care of him but now I am going to die"
"Omar, you don't have to. There has to be another way to save the boy without killing ourselves!" Dante knew nothing about that boy, but judging by the look on Omar's face, he must be important. Yet, he can't leave him behind, he is not that kind of person and in the end, he turned out to be his ally.
"I am afraid there is not. Just do as I say and get the boy out of here! I'll go to the gun storage and try to… make the explosion less harmful" Omar said and Dante immediately knew what he was going to do. He was planning on covering the bomb with his body…but this is just insane! What is so important about that little boy?
Dante mentally slapped himself after thinking of that question and felt stupid for doing so. Every human life is worthy and he shouldn't make discriminatory practices. Both Omar's and this boy's life is worth and he wishes there was a way to save both of them, but the look on Omar's face indicated that he won't accept any of Dante's ideas. He is determined to die to save him and the boy and the only thing Dante can do, is his best to grant Omar's death wish. With a heavy heart and efforts to keep an emotionless expression, he placed his hand on Omar's shoulder, squeezing it lightly, as a silent goodbye of two men who could have been great allies, but happened to meet under the worst circumstances. Omar shot him a reassuring look of appreciation and signaled him to get moving. Both men's ways separated as Dante followed Omar's instructions and found himself in the right building in no time.
Before he could open the door though, he felt the earth shake…it was happening! He has to find the boy fast! As if hearing his soundless thoughts, a tiny male figure, around five years old with dark skin, with royal blue big eyes, short spiky chocolate brown hair, skinny body and a swollen cheek and arm with countless bruises and poor attire rushed out of the room and bumbled on Dante's knees. The boy lifted his head to see an unfamiliar face and immediately backed off.
"W-Who are you? W-Where is O-Omar?" the little boy asked frightened and Dante hurriedly took hold of his tiny hand and started pulling him to his direction.
"There is no time for explanations kid, he sent me to get you. Now run!" Dante explained in a hurry and the boy started following him without more protesting. They hadn't even reached the middle of their destination, when the loud deafening sound of the explosion filled their ears and the military facilities dismembered and collapsed right on top of them.
After he made sure it was over, Dante called one of his titans, Metagolem, to remove the debris of buildings and rocks from the top of his Armor band. He managed to save them just in time before a huge rock could smash the little boy's head, which had crumbled to the ground besides Dante's legs and was crying non-stop while sobbing and mumbling things in Arabian that Dante wouldn't have been able to understand even if he knew the language.
The Metagolem did its job well, took them out of the debris and Dante called him back to his amulet. After scanning his surroundings and found his way out of there using only his sight, he turned to the boy who was looking behind him, where the food storage used to be. Obviously he knew Omar as well and Dante couldn't help but feel guilty for being unable to save the man. Doctor Cody and this little guy seemed to be close to him, maybe they were a family! The mere thought of that possibility only added in Dante's guilt. Omar is dead and he doesn't know if Doctor Cody has survived… this boy has no one now and it was partly his fault. He knelt beside the tiny figure which was wiping his tears with the long sleeve of his dirty moccasin lean shirt which looked like a dress on him, reaching down his knees and covering his arms. Dante placed a hand on his small bony shoulder and wondered how long has it been since he had last eaten a proper meal.
"What's your name boy?" he asked with his softest tone, causing the boy to turn to him with his large watery eyes and trembling big lips. The sight of him made Dante's heart clench. This child is so young, yet seems to have experienced terrible things and just lost some one important to him. Dante has seen monsters, he has witnessed people's deaths but none of them can be compared to the heart-breaking sight of that boy crying in the middle of the debris, looking half dead.
"I am Kasim sir" Kasim replied politely with shaky voice and eyed his savior. Something snapped in Dante, a small trace of humanity which he never puts aside. As a top seeker, he doesn't allow himself to get affected the loss of his teammates when he has one –not because he is cruel and it doesn't hurt him, but he has to do his job right- yet he felt responsible for that boy. He is not sure if it is because Omar asked him to look after Kasim or because he feel's guilty about Omar's death, but he knows this, he couldn't leave this boy alone or give him to the foster system. After all, there is something special about him, something that made Omar sacrifice himself for and Dante can't risk letting him go without protection and expose him to evil forces who might want him for his specialties. It is decided; he will take Kasim with him back to Venice and will take care of him. Looking deep into Kasim's beautiful royal big blue eyes with his amber ones, he shot him a soothing smile.
"Well Kasim, I am Dante Vale. Omar told me that you are a special boy, so I am going to get you out of here and take care of you" he sincerely promised and Kasim looked at him indifferent. He felt sad about Omar and Jaqueline, the first people who had showed him a trace of humanity and he is afraid of trusting this man, but he has no choice and he seems to have friendly intentions. Like Omar, he is offering him a hand to hold when he has no one. Kasim can only try…
Hesitant, he took the man's hand, which has been stretched out to his direction, Dante waiting patiently for him to feel safe and take it.
"Survivors!" they heard someone shout rom distance and no longer after that, they could make out human shilluetes heading to their direction. Kasim hid behind Dante's legs and tightened his grip around a big pocket attached on his shirt. Dante noticed how he has been holding it for quite a while and could only guess what he had there, but he won't ask him about him, since Kasim didn't tell him anything about it himself.
Dante kept his gaze hardly fixed on the people approaching them and his hand softly but reassuringly placed on Kasim's shoulder.
"Don't worry; I won't let anyone harm you. It will be just us from now on, ok?" Kasim looked at Dante's hard expression and knew he meant what he said. He was still frightened and shocked, but calm enough to know that no one should find him, not even if those people want to help them. He gave Dante a shaky nob and at the very next moment, they were running.
A/N: Hello everyone! Hope you are having a good time on planet earth! :D
This is my new story "Make a wish". It doesn't follow the series, Metz is not sick and Dante has some of the titans he had in the first season. You won't see Lok and Sophie. Only Dante, Zhalia, Kasim, Klaus and other Huntik characters or OCs.
Soooo, what is so special about Kasim? Who put a bomb in the military bases? Is it the same one who is responsible for the explosion in the borders? Why was Kasim a lab rat? Was Doctor Jaqueline Cody a good or a bad person after all? What was the real cause of the lack of reports and what was the real job of scientists there? What was Klaus doing there? What does Kasim hide in his pocket? Will he tell Dante about it?
Stay with me and find out in the upcoming chapters~
I hope you this story is exciting and enjoyable! I would appreciate any view or review!~
Lots of love from Irene Rays