Author's notes: are at the end of the fic this week. :D Enjoy!
Chapter Three
Cathy played hostess quite willingly, but after a while she excused herself to continue her school project. Lok had reappeared by then, and if he was a little red eyed, no one mentioned it.
"What's the plan, Dante?" he asked, settling on the couch beside Sophie.
"I was hoping to talk to Scarlett. How far is this…Bru na Boínne?" He carefully pronounced it the same way Lok had.
"Bru na Boínne is the proper name for Newgrange and the surrounding area. We were there last time we were home."
"Right. Pretty far away, then."
"She wouldn't get back tonight. But she does have a phone," Lok reminded him. "And a holotome. Why don't you call her on that?"
Dante nodded. "I think I'd better. We need to know everything she knows."
Scarlett wasn't much help, unfortunately, though she was pleased to see them. "I told Guggenheim everything," she said apologetically. "Two boys, a girl, a bit older than Lok and Sophie there. They all three had amulets, but only one of them actually called his Titan, and he looked pretty tired afterwards…they've not been Seekers long enough to have enough power for what he was doing."
"Did you recognise the Titan?"
"Deachtaire."
Sophie's Cypherdex beeped, displaying the Titan. It looked a little like a fish.
"Special abilities; can rapidly assess battles and adjust its' own strategy to match," Sophie read.
"That fits. Deachtaire was the Salmon of Knowledge. Fionn Mac Cumhail used it to gain wisdom, to help him solve problems." Lok sat back, frowning. "I guess he was a Seeker too."
"How did Deachtaire end up in a monk's graveyard?" Zhalia asked, frowning.
"Some of my ancestors were Seekers in this area," Sandra said from the kitchen doorway. "It's possible the amulets were buried with them, if no one knew what they were."
"Many Titans were buried with their Seekers," Cherit agreed. "Sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident."
"Do you recognise the name?" Dante asked, standing to offer her his seat.
"No. At least, only from legends, the same as Lok." She peered at the holotome's display. "A powerful Titan."
"Aye. And the boy didn't know how best to handle it; that much was clear. These children can throw fire and spells, but they're not true Seekers." Scarlett glanced over her shoulder. "I have to go, Dante; my team's waiting for me."
"Congratulations," he said with a smile.
"If I can help, let me know," she added, and her picture faded out.
"There have been fires in Killarney," Sandra said quietly.
"Yes. That's these kids," Dante agreed. "We need to track them down."
"What's wrong?" Cathy asked absently, coming down the stairs.
"Mom was just telling us about those weird fires in Killarney," Lok told her. "Have you heard anything?"
"Oh, they think there's some kids lighting them for fun," she said dismissively. "Mom, I'm going out for a while."
Lok bit his lip, and Sophie said quickly, "Can I come? I didn't get to see much of the town last time we were here."
"We'll be studying," Cathy said doubtfully.
"Sophie's a great student," Dante said easily. "In fact, she was trying to find out about Fionn Mac Cumhail today. Maybe you could help find her something to read while you're working?"
"I won't get in your way, I promise," Sophie added.
Cathy glanced at Sandra, who nodded. "Alright," she agreed. "Let's go, then. We won't be late, Mom."
"Alright, dear. Your friend thinks fast," she added as the door closed, "but is that necessary?"
"Scarlett was attacked," Dante pointed out.
"Yes, because they knew who she was. They have no reason to attack us."
"Maybe. Better safe than sorry, though." Lok looked back at Dante. "What's the plan?"
"We need to know what we're fighting, first. This monk's graveyard?"
"I know where it is."
"Alright." He glanced out the window. "It's late. We'll go tomorrow."
"You know where your rooms are," Sandra said easily. "Lok, can you help me with these?"
"Sure, Mom." Lok gathered up the empty glasses, following her back into the kitchen.
***
Cathy and Sophie returned a couple of hours later, Sophie holding a couple of books. Cathy wished them all good night and went straight to bed.
"Find anything?" Dante asked.
"Only more references to Deachtaire, I'm afraid. I'll go through them more thoroughly tomorrow; perhaps we can figure out what other titans we might be up against. Where's Lok?"
"With his mom in the kitchen." Zhalia gestured. "I think they're looking at the journal."
"Of course, she hasn't seen it in ten years," Sophie said quietly. "What about Cathy?"
"I don't think Cathy would care as much," Dante said.
"Why not? If I had something from my father…"
"Cathy remembers her father. She never really was into puzzles, not like Lok, and she doesn't know about Seekers. The journal wouldn't mean anything to her, not like it does to Lok."
Sophie nodded, rising to her feet. "I'll just say good night."
"Night, Sophie."
"Does she think she's fooling us?" Zhalia asked quietly as the door closed behind her.
"I don't know. Do you think it's that obvious?"
"Dante, Guggenheim probably knows. It's hard to hide something like that when we spend so much time together."
"It is, isn't it," he murmured, and suddenly she didn't think they were talking about Lok and Sophie anymore.
Sophie tapped on the kitchen door before stepping inside. "Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to say we're back, and goodnight."
"You're not interrupting us, dear," Sandra assured her. "Lok and I were just catching up. We didn't get much chance last time he was home."
"No, of course not."
"Did you find anything?" Lok asked, rising to clear away the cups they'd been using.
"Not sure yet. I didn't want to do too much in front of Cathy."
"Probably wise," Sandra agreed.
"I'll look some more in the morning. Good night, Mrs Lambert. Night, Lok."
"Night, Sophie," he said over his shoulder.
***
The site was under guard. Dante and Zhalia walked the perimeter, but it was pretty clear they weren't getting in. Even Dante's credentials weren't enough.
"Now what?" Sophie asked, frowning.
"Now we research," Dante told her. "Who was buried here, when. I'll have Guggenheim send us records for any Seeker who died in Ireland."
"Dante, most of the records for this graveyard have been destroyed," she protested.
"It's still the best chance we have."
"Unless these Seekers just appear out of nowhere," Lok added.
"Unlikely, Lok."
"Yeah. Look, there's a tourist office down that way." He pointed down the street. "If they don't have records, they might know who would."
"Zhalia, you and Lok try there. Take Cherit with you. Sophie and I will go to the local library. Lok, when the monks left this site, do you know where they went?"
"Out of town, I think. I'll find out."
"Good. They might have records, too." Dante turned, following Sophie towards the library.
"We should get going," Zhalia murmured.
Lok nodded, turning back to look at the shop once more. A boy who'd been standing at the barricade turned away, bumping into him. "Oh! Sorry."
"No big deal," Lok assured him, taking a couple of steps back. The boy shifted his weight uncertainly. A year or two older than Lok, he had dark hair and eyes and was well built.
"Kind of creepy, huh?" He gestured vaguely towards the building.
"Yeah, a bit." He shrugged.
"Oh, well. Makes life interesting, anyway." The boy half-turned, looking up the street, and Lok frowned, attention caught by a flash near his throat.
"Hey, that's a cool necklace you're wearing. Look." He touched Zhalia's arm. "You were looking for one like that, weren't you?"
Zhalia studied the amulet for a moment before nodding. The design matched Deachtaire's. "Yeah. Where'd you get it?"
The boy had instinctively gripped the amulet. "Oh, I don't really remember. Just thought it was cool, you know."
"Uh huh." Zhalia caught his arm, steering him away from the crowd and into an alley, pushing him into a recessed doorway. Lok followed, keeping an eye on the crowd. "Want to try that again? Where did you get it?"
"Around." He jerked free of Zhalia, pointedly straightening his clothes. "What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is you and your little friends have been causing damage. And we're here to stop you. Where are the other amulets?"
"We have them."
Lok spun, moving out of Zhalia's way as she turned. Another boy and a girl were standing behind them, watching them. The girl had brown hair and eyes and was all but hanging off the arm of the boy, who, blond and blue eyed, looked a little like Lok himself. These two were older, though, closer to Zhalia's age.
"Cherit," Zhalia murmured, "go find Dante. They can't have gone far." Cherit soared straight upwards; the boy eyed him, but they didn't try to stop him.
"Mark," the girl said, "come on."
"We told your friend," the boy said. "Leave us alone, or we'll make you."
Mark stepped out of the doorway, moving around Zhalia. "I would," he advised them. "Aidan has a temper."
"Don't make me prove it," Aidan added.
Lok shifted, watching Mark rejoin his friends. Neither Aidan nor the girl wore visible amulets, but that didn't mean anything; he carried most of his in a pocket, and Zhalia rarely wore hers. It didn't make them any harder or slower to invoke.
"We don't want to fight you," Mark said, ignoring the girl's pout. "We just want you and yours to leave us alone."
"Can't do it," Lok said. "Just hand over your Titans."
"Titans," Aidan repeated. "No. Now unless you want to fight us for them right here, turn around and walk away."
"Lok, come on." Zhalia caught his sleeve, tugging.
"We can take them!" Lok protested.
"Too many people around. We'll get them later, come on."
"Yeah, run away," Aidan agreed. "Keep an eye out, though. We might come after your Titans next."
"I wouldn't," Dante said from behind them. Aidan turned, looking unimpressed.
"This is your backup? An old man and a girl?"
"There's only three of you," Lok pointed out. "And you don't know what you're doing. Hand over your Titans and walk away."
"Tine!" the girl hissed, and a jet of fire shot out of her hand, headed straight for Lok.
"Honourguard!" Zhalia yanked him back behind the shield. "Augurfrost!"
Aidan and Mark were attacking Dante and Sophie, but they weren't having any more luck. Sophie's shield held up without effort, freeing Dante to shoot back at them.
"Dante, we can't fight here!" Zhalia called. The street was temporarily empty, but it wouldn't stay that way for long.
"Deachtaire!" Mark called, and the Titan appeared.
"Lok!" Dante ordered.
"Freelancer!"
Deachtaire was technically almost a match for Freelancer, but Mark clearly had no experience guiding him. Freelancer forced him back into the amulet in less than thirty seconds; Mark stumbled backwards, sitting down hard where he stood.
The girl's attack faltered and dropped; Aidan scowled, wrapping a hand around Mark's arm to get him back on his feet. "Come on. Deateach!"
Thick black smoke spewed out around him, enveloping all of them. Lok coughed, dropping to one knee and trying very hard not to breathe in. His lungs were as strong as they'd ever get, now, but still not as strong as they had been before he'd drowned, and breathing in smoke like that would probably knock him flat.
Cherit bounced off his head, recovered, and landed on his shoulder. "Lok, you ok?"
He nodded, hoping the Titan would feel it; he didn't dare take a breath to speak. "It's clearing up," Cherit assured him. "Just hang on, Lok."
The smoke was clearing. Lok eased backwards until he could lean against the wall behind him, finally risking a breath. The smoke tasted horrible, but it didn't really restrict his breathing any more.
"Lok? You ok?" Dante asked, crouching in front of him.
"Yeah. Just catching my breath. Are they gone?"
"Yeah." Zhalia was standing at the mouth of the alley, eyeing the crowds. "They're gone, all right."
Dante rose, holding out a hand to Lok. "Scarlett was right, they don't have much control."
"Mark couldn't handle Deachtaire at all," Sophie agreed.
"And yet Deachtaire bonded with him," Dante said thoughtfully. "He must have ability."
"You want to go ahead with the plan?" Zhalia asked, coming back to join them.
"Yes. But I'll go with Lok. You two go to the tourist office. Come on."
***
The desk at the tourist office was manned by a guy, who looked up as they came in and smiled. "Ladies."
"Hi." Sophie smiled. "We saw them digging in the centre of town, there. What's going on?"
"Everyone's asking about that," he said, sighing in mock boredom. "They dug up an old graveyard by accident."
"Really? How fascinating!" she cooed. "What kind of graveyard?"
"An old monastic order. They've already sent representatives to come and look. I can give you some information about their current monastery if you like."
"Yes, thank you."
"Who was buried there?" Zhalia asked.
"Monks," he said, frowning.
"I mean specifically. There must be a list."
He handed some flyers to Sophie, still eyeing Zhalia. "The monks have a list, yes. It's not available to the public."
"Simplemind," Zhalia murmured.
"Although I don't see why you can't see it," he continued in the same tone. "It's not really like a secret."
"Thank you," Zhalia said politely, taking the list he offered her. "Come on, Sophie."
"How long does that last?" Sophie asked quietly as they left.
"Only a couple of minutes. He won't remember us after that."
Sophie glanced down at the leaflets in her hand. "I don't suppose we need these."
"Keep 'em anyway. They might be useful later."
***
Notes: Fionn's Salmon has a lot of different names. I choose one I liked the sound of. Bru na Boínne is the name for an area of Meath inculding Newgrange and two smaller passage tombs. And the name Aidan means 'Fire'. I thought it was appropriate. :D
***
Hedgi: Gaelic is the group of languages. Irish is what we, specifically, speak. It's sort of the informal name. :) Tara's a couple of years older than Lok; they talk about it in another couple of chapters.
KaliAnne: The adventures start this chapter! Enjoy.
Kanasukeh: I always love looking at the backgrounds of characters, and we know so little about any of htem really! I'm really glad you like Tara...I was a bit nervous about her...
DragonPhoenix: Wow, Phillipines! Nice. Have a great time. :D