Ok people, this is my really first story so I hope you will like it. I thank my friend Viktorija who read all my ideas about the story and stood beside me to help out. Thank you girly!

I don't own Huntik (gosh I wish I do...)

*REVAMPED*

Dante was comfortably sitting in his favourite armchair in the living room: arm perched up on the armrest and his face leaned against his hand, staring right in front of himself. He was deep in his thoughts, when suddenly he heard a familiar voice from the big screen that was right in front of him.

"Hello Dante" The familiar male voice greeted him with a cheerful tone.

"Hey Metz" Dante answered quickly while moving his amber eyes upwards the big screen where his mentor appeared.

Although he was slightly startled by the sudden voice, he didn't let it show on his face.

"Where's your team?" The older man asked as he looked around in the room and realized that his protégé was completely alone in the room.

There were no sounds of arguments which would indicate to Zhalia and Sophie, nor sounds of breaking and crashing which would give away Lok.

"They were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago" the amber eyed man answered with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

He was used to his team being late sometimes, but he still didn't like that. It was a terrible habit for Lok and Sophie, but today Zhalia seemed to be pretty late as well. The thought of not knowing where she was made Dante slightly worried.

Just as he finished his sentence, he heard the familiar voices of his team coming from outside his house. With some relief he sighed and relaxed, now being assured that nothing has happened to his team and that they were simply late, like usually.

"Would you two stop it already!"

It was Zhalia who burst through the main door first, with Lok and Sophie following her and still arguing about something. As Dante looked at Zhalia he could clearly see that she was extremely annoyed by the teenagers arguing right behind her, which made him curious about the reason of their argument.

"It IS your fault!" Lok said in an angry way and gave Sophie a look that could have killed her in an instant if looks were able to kill.

"Oh, come on Lok. You know it's not my fault! If you would have studied in time, you would have passed the exam! And who knows, maybe you would have even gotten a good grade instead of barely making it!" Sophie yelled back at Lok and sat down in the armchair that was placed not far from the entrance door. At this accusation Lok seemed to take offence and pouted his lips, sitting down on the other side of the living room while his arms on his chest in protest.

"And by the way, you're only angry at me because you got caught" Sophie went on and made a rude noise.

"What's going on?" Dante finally managed to ask, his tone sounding surprised while he looked at Zhalia for help as she plainly stood still in the doorway.

"Oh, nothing special" Zhalia finally answered offhandedly and shrugged her shoulders vaguely. "They're just behaving like... well, you know, like children"

Metz didn't know what to say in this situation, so he simply cleared his throat to catch their attention. "Excuse me but, am I interrupting something important or can I go on?" he asked with some confusion but with a little smile on his lips.

"Go on Metz. How can we help you?" Dante asked him while a hopeful glint appeared in his eyes.

The team hasn't had a mission in about a month or even longer, and while it was a good feeling to simply lay back and enjoy some free time, Dante in the end didn't know what to do with himself anymore. Sitting at home and working on small investigating cases was profitable, but in advance it wasn't really difficult nor challenging.

"I had a feeling you would be interested Dante. If you'll accept it, you guys will have a mission. It's about a titan we thought to be lost for centuries" Metz explained with his serious and business sounding voice.

As she heard the summary of the mission, Zhalia looked up on the big screen with amusement in her chocolate coloured eyes. She was always looking for a good mission and a powerful titan to bond with, so this was something she wanted to take on for sure.

"Please, tell us more about this titan Metz" Zhalia asked him politely and concentrated on what the older man was about to tell them about their possible mission.

"Very well then. It's about a titan called Ravenheart and..."

"Isn't that the legendary raven that is supposed to protect the queen of the cursed ones?" Sophie interrupted him and asked with audible disbelief in her voice.

Her green eyes were shooting from Metz to Dante and back as if asking Dante if his mentor is alright. All seekers knew that often legends mixed with the seeker world and titans, but to mention one of the earliest vampire legends was pretty insane.

"What do you mean under 'the cursed ones'?" Lok asked with eyes shot open.

All the way until now he was pouting in his armchair and not really paying attention to what was going on around him. Sure, he heard that they might get a new mission, but that didn't really excite him too much right now. His biggest problem at the moment was how to get a higher grade for the exam that he most certainly failed. Although he was thinking of another way to get an easy grade, the mention of the familiar name made him look up and pay attention to the matter at hand.

"I mean it the way I have said it. They have many names throughout history and legends. The cursed ones, the doomed ones, the half living, the un-dead... But most people know them under the name..."

"Vampires" Zhalia answered with a grim voice before Sophie could finish her sentence.

Lok jumped in his seat at her words and his face turned slightly paler than it was just moments earlier. He didn't know why, but he felt uncomfortable about this new piece of information and even slightly nervous. Maybe it was because the dark and upset voice Zhalia had while saying that one word, or because Dante had an upset look on his face now. Neither of those two things meant anything good for him, which caused him to slightly freak out.

"You guys don't believe in this, do you? There are no such things as vampires! It was all made up because of count Dracula and his titan Antideluvian! Right? Right, Dante?" he turned to his mentor like a child asking for protection from the imaginary things that go bump in the night.

"I'm not sure Lok. I've been a seeker for many years and I saw things no one would believe me. Nothing can surprise me anymore" Dante shook his head lightly and leaned back in the armchair he was occupying. His expression turned dark and bothered, and Lok knew it was bad news for him.

"Sophie, do you believe it? Are there vampires walking among us?" now Lok turned to her with worry in his big icy blue eyes. She was the smartest girl he knew and if she had no explanation for this legend, then vampires really had to exist in this weird world.

"Of course NOT! People in the medieval age thought there are creatures that suck blood because the red death was killing hundreds of people. Sometimes the seizure and attack would be so brutal that the victim would suffer inner bleeding and then spit blood. That's why there are legends about blood sucking vampires. That's all. No creatures can suck blood and purely live like that. You don't have to worry about it" Sophie explained in her lecturing way she often used while they were on missions. She looked so sure in what she said that Lok calmed down immediately and felt a bit better about this mission.

Zhalia said nothing during this conversation about vampires, myths and legends, but deep within she knew how wrong many people were about this subject. She had this nagging feeling that something is very wrong about this mission, and it made her nervous. She had a very bad feeling, and her feeling would never fail her. For a moment she was reconsidering about telling her team what she knew about the vampire legends and the reality that surrounded them, but she feared they wouldn't take her seriously.

While she was fighting her inner demons and tried to decide what is smart or not, Dante called out to her a few times but she didn't seem to react to his summons at all.

"Zhalia? Zhalia! Can you hear me?" finally Dante stood up when he couldn't get Zhalia to answer him, and walked over to her as she was still leaning against the wall right next to the entrance door.

He put his left hand on her arm and with his other hand gently pulled up her chin so he could look into her beautiful chocolate coloured eyes. He really loved those eyes, but he wouldn't say it out loud. Only one look could make him do whatever Zhalia wanted him to do, but he never told her anything about it.

Although he was considered a heartbreaker in the seeker society and even among his more normal customers, he somehow felt shy around her and always seemed at a loss for words when around her.

For a few moments Zhalia was plainly staring at him without even seeing him, her eyes seemingly focused on something that wasn't even there.

"Zhalia," Dante repeated her name, only now in a worried voice "are you alright?"

"Uh, what?" she finally snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Dante who was standing right in front of her, holding her arm with one hand while his other hand was making her look at him.

"Zhalia, I asked you are you ok? What's wrong?" he asked while searching her face to see if she was suddenly sick or if it was only the worry about the mission that was making her so distant.

"Uh, I'm fine. I was just, um, thinking about something. I'm alright" Zhalia blinked a few times before managing to drive her previous thoughts away and focus on the matter at hand. A slight blush graced her cheeks when she realized how close Dante's lips are to hers, but it quickly went away when the teenagers also came into her vision.

It was Lok's turn to get up and walk over to the two of them to make sure Zhalia was alright. With time they have become great friends and even though Zhalia was older than him, he often felt as if she was a friend that's his age. Often she would tutor him about seeker matters, but enough times she helped him with classes he didn't understand. To his greatest surprise, when nobody was around she seemed to be careless, drop her guard and actually have fun.

"Are you sure 'bout that? You look really pale. What were you thinking about?" Lok asked with a slight hint of worry on his face.

"It doesn't matter. So, what's with the mission?" Zhalia walked away from Dante and Lok and sat down in the armchair where Dante was sitting a minute earlier. She was ignoring their questions on purpose because she was in no mood to remember and explain her past to them.

Leaning back in her seat she crossed one leg over the other in an elegant way and just to make sure they all understood what was she showing them, she also crossed her arms on her chest. The whole team knew that position and it meant only one thing: conversation over.

"Oh yes, the mission. I almost forgot! Ravenheart is said to be resting in an old building on an island. The team has to travel to Finland, more precisely to Helsinki. This matters needs to be attended as soon as possible, so I won't explain all the details but instead send the rest of them to your Holotome Dante. Your flight is taking off in 2 hours from the airport and the tickets are on your usual name. I wish you good luck team" Metz explained the rest he found important and ended the conversation, making the big screen go blank.

"Alright team, we have a mission" Dante exclaimed gleefully and his protégées cheered at that, all worries suddenly forgotten and gone far away.

"Sophie and Lok, you have 2 hours to pack your bags and get to the airport where we'll all meet. Can you do that?" he asked from them while they still cheered for the new mission and high fived each other. Apparently, they were also starting to get too bored sitting at home and they couldn't wait to finally get a new mission.

"I'm sure I can, but," Lok stopped for a second to give Sophie a devilish smile, "I'm not sure if Sophie will make it on time. You know, 'till she packs 5 or 6 bags it takes some time" the Irish boy mocked his friend now, all fear from vampires forgotten.

"Now you're so dead!" Sophie yelled and jumped towards Lok to hit him with the schoolbag she still held in her lap, but then she had to run after him because he was already on the way to his apartment. As they stormed out of the house, Dante stepped out through the door and yelled after them:

"Just don't kill each other until we get to the airport!" Lok waved to let him know they will be fine until then, or that he couldn't help it. There was never a sure answer when it came to Lok and Sophie arguing.

Date closed the door with a little sigh and then gave Zhalia a sweet little smile that tugged at his lips slightly. She blushed slightly for a moment, but then she smiled back at him in a bright way, revealing her white teeth in a full smile. It was their way of flirting with each other for a time now, especially when they were confident that nobody could see them.

Sometimes they would smile at each other while doing something in the same room, share a look and smile or simply nudge each other with their shoulders while passing by.

"I guess we should go and get our bags packed as well" Dante suggested and offered a hand to help her up once he reached her.

With a thankful smile Zhalia accepted it and got up from her previous place, taking a deep breath that seemed to calm her slightly. Together they went upstairs to their own rooms to pack their bags and get ready for the mission that was ahead of them.