Huntik: A Retelling…
Summary: AU. The world is in danger; humanity as we know it is about to be annihilated. But there is one way to stop it….but only one person knows how.
Disclaimer: This is a Fan-fiction story of the cartoon series; Huntik, and is in no way affiliated with the actual series. All characters and other materials related to the show that are used are not intended to infringe on any Copyrights. Elemental-Zer0 takes sole responsibility for any mistakes or offence that may be taken but truly not meant.
However, this story plot and all characters not affiliated with any copyrighted show are copyright © 2011 to Elemental-Zer0
Authors Note/Warnings: Confusion abound. If you are easily confused or do not understand sci-fi or fantasy stories and the many scientific or fantasial twists that come with them, then look away now. I tend to write in riddles and sometimes even my answers to your questions are not very enlightening… My bad.
First Huntik Fanfiction, hopefully the title tells you what to expect. Let me know what you think, but no flames please. If you have any criticism to make please do it politely otherwise you will be reported. (It's happened before, I'm sorry to say, and I hadn't even posted any chapters…)
Prologue…
"Dante, I know you've just finished a very tough mission and you're on down time right now but I need you to hear me out on this one." Dante, a rugged, red haired, twenty-seven year old history buff to his neighbours but an undercover Huntik Foundation Agent on the underside of life, frowned at the shimmering holographic image of his very close and very sick friend; Metz. The fact that Metz had said 'I' instead of 'we' meant that the Foundation was trying to keep a lid on this one.
"Ok Metz, I'm listening but this had better be important." Dante replied light-heartedly as he leaned back in his vintage styled, high backed leather chair, taking a sip from his china tea cup as he did. He wasn't about to give up his well earned vacation for a simple errand now.
"Believe me my friend; you won't be able to turn this one down." Metz assured him after a small coughing bout. "Do you remember me telling you about my teacher; Eathan Lambert?" The ill man asked after a moments pause. Dante remembered with vivid clarity; he'd never seen his friend look so alive when he regaled those stories to him.
"How can I forget? You've told me about him so many times I feel like I know the guy's life story… and I've never met him!" Dante replied jokingly. His friend gave a rasping chuckle that turned into a vicious coughing attack. Dante frowned, his mirth vanishing at the sight of his friend suffering so.
"Well, it seems that there was more to Eathan Lambert's life that even I didn't know about." Metz continued after he'd recovered. "Our researchers have discovered a few alarming facts about Eathan and the research he was conducting before he vanished." Metz explained, taking a moment to sip at some water before carrying on. "You remember the story of the Great Casterwill?" He asked, knowing full well that Dante knew the story.
"Sure, legend has it that the Titans were sent to humanity to help us fight off the ultimate evil known as the Nullifiers. Casterwill kept himself alive through sheer will power alone until they were all gone." Dante recited, earning a dry chuckle form his friend.
"That's right, but Eathan managed to find something far greater than Casterwill, his Titans and the Nullifiers put together." Metz informed him. Dante frowned in confusion; what could possibly be more powerful that those three powers combined?
"Ok Metz, I'll bite." He relented as he set his tea cup on its saucer and placed it on the coffee table next to his holotome. "What did Eathan find?" He asked, sitting back in his chair lazily. Metz wasted no time in revealing the secret.
"He found the Source; the origins of the Titans." Dante froze in shock before giving the flickering hologram a disbelieving stare.
"You're serious?" He asked tentatively, hoping his friend was about to laugh at him and exclaim it was all a joke. The origins of the Titans, thus the origins of a seekers power, was a mystery that no-one could solve. But Eathan had found it?
"More serious than I've ever been Dante. We can't afford to be anything but serious on this matter; the Organisation has caught wind of its existence and is on the move as we speak. Eathan knew the location and had the key in his possession. Everything is in his journal." Metz explained succinctly. Dante stood slowly from his chair and tapped his chin.
"Do we have the journal?" He asked, hoping it would be a simple easy answer but knowing it was never going to be that easy.
"No, Eathan hid it before he disappeared." Metz replied dejectedly. Dante sighed, not really surprised with the answer. He stood for a moment, head bowed, thinking.
"Where do I start looking for this key then?" He relented, finally admitting to himself that his vacation was officially over for now. "If we can find the key, it might lead us to the location." He knew he was clutching at straws here but it was the only viable option. Besides, he had a knack for making things work out; just take a look at his high profile success rate on his missions since he'd joined the Foundation. There probably wasn't a mission he couldn't complete if given the right time and resources.
"You start at the Venice Preparatory Academy situated a few blocks from your place." Metz replied, giving Dante an apologetic look. Dante blinked.
"A school?" He queried suspiciously, suddenly rethinking his idea of a mission he wasn't able to complete. He did not like where this was heading. He slowly sat back down in his chair and eyed the image of his friend warily.
"We only discovered this today Dante. Before he disappeared, Eathan managed to send us a message. At first we had no idea what he was talking about but after today's revelation, its beginning to make a little more sense." Metz explained as he reached for his glass of water again.
"What did this message say?" Dante asked, feeling a little put upon by the sudden information overload and the general expectations that he knew were being placed upon him. He let his mind dwell over it all while Metz rummaged around to reach the message Eathan Lambert had left them all those years ago.
"It was in a terrible state when we received it and it's only just recently been returned to us from the screening department. It's taken the labs twelve years to get every ounce of information from it. We're quite sure he'd intended to say more but it cuts off suddenly where a scorch mark presumably burned the rest of it." Metz warned before holding the results report and a copy of the message up to his holotome and letting it scan the abused piece of paper. Dante received a virtual copy within seconds and the rugged red head printed it off and read what little there was;
Friends,
I write (scorch) warn you of a danger we all face. I found the Source, the origins of the Titans but I made a grave mistake. I'd accidentally sealed (scorch) key but before I knew what (scorch) done, it was too late to undo (scorch)tions. The damage is done. If I'd known at (scorch)ime I would have taken his place but the Key had been synchronised with him for too long, thus the Source has chosen its new master.
Everything is in my journal which I've (scorch) with him.
All hope lies with him now. Please, keep him (end of message)
"It's a miracle we managed to screen what we did." Metz commented gently, bringing Dante back to the conversation.
"How does this relate to a school?" He asked, distracting himself from tragic thoughts by concentrating on the mission. It wasn't a tragic letter in itself, but knowing that the writer had disappeared suddenly with no trace gave it a tragic edge. This was the last thing Eathan left to this world before he vanished. The finality of the situation didn't make for light reading. He looked up at the image of his friend and noticed the sad smile again.
"The message states that the Source must have synchronised with someone but the context of the letter also proves that it was not Eathan that it synchronised with." Metz paused to cough a little before continuing. "We traced and tracked Eathan's last journey before he disappeared and found a tale far more tragic than we first thought." He paused, steeling himself for the next bit. "Eathan took his five year old son; Lok Lambert on summer camping trip to the Amazon Rainforest around the same time he claims to have found the Source." He said quietly. Dante's world paused for a moment. Eathan had a son? Which meant he had a family… the tragedy of the situation finally caught up with him and he choked out a gasp.
"Shit…" He managed under his breath. Metz wanted to give him a moment but the situation called for action quickly. He continued, knowing his friend was still paying attention.
"We managed to track down the guide and one of the other three members of his camping party. Both claimed that only Eathan and his son went into a strange looking tomb and then twenty minutes later came rushing out like the dogs from hell were after them. Both witnesses claimed the boy was glowing and unconscious. The tomb disappeared as though it was never there to begin with. No one's been able to locate it since." Metz paused, slightly unsure if Dante had heard him. His fears were pushed aside when his friend looked up at the holotome with fear in his eyes.
"The boy?" He asked, leaving his question open. Unwilling to jinx the answer.
"He's alive Dante." Metz assured him, "Initially he was missing for two years but was found clinging onto the third member of the party; a young girl named Zhalia Moon. Our two witnesses claimed that Eathan had been teaching her 'how to control her power' which leads us to believe that this Zhalia may have been a Seeker in training at the time. They were found in Prague in August 2001. Neither could remember how they'd gotten to Prague or that they'd even been on a trip to begin with. Lok and Zhalia have been living with Mrs Lambert since then. Both now attend the school you'll be visiting." The red head fell silent again, letting it all sink it. "Dante, I don't want to rush you but the Organisation knows everything we do. Eathan's son and the girl are in grave danger right now and it's likely that they know very little if not nothing of the world of Seekers. You have to find them and protect them Dante, not just for the world or the Foundation, but for Eathan's sake… and my own peace of mind."
Dante closed his eyes slowly and sighed loudly; steeling himself for what he predicted would be his most difficult mission yet. His life was about to get a whole lot more interesting. "Venice Preparatory Academy huh?" He mused out loud. "Guess this old dog's going back to school…"
A/N: Ok, not much action but a whole loada info for you to digest… Action will arrive in next chapter with a few more of my own sadistic twists… See ya next time ;P