THE RESCUE MISSION

Lok

9:20 pm

Metz's Chamber

Huntik Foundation Headquarters

Venice, Italy.

I gasped when Zhalia said that it was possible that Dante was captured by that weirdo time machine. Everybody looked at her as if she'd said something really horrible. But, I could see that everyone was thinking the same way as Zhalia. Everyone but Sophie.

"How could you say such a thing about Dante? He's your husband!" she screamed at her.

"I'm just saying it might be possible!" she screamed back.

"What really makes you thinks like that?"

"Uh….well, you had those visions……" I said, controlling myself to not interrupt these two, but failing instantly. Sophie gave me a deadly look.

"Ah, yes! You had those weird visions. You said the area looked like something ancient. Didn't you?" Zhalia said.

"I never said that!" Sophie protested.

"Yes, you did!" Zhalia said, with a smirk.

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No, no, NO!"

"Yes, yes, YES!"

"Uh….I would hate to interrupt, but we've to think about saving Dante!" I said, finally getting pissed off with their argument. They just start off anywhere whenever they get an opportunity. This reminded me of Cherit's favorite quote.

"I've been here long before human history; women have always remained a mystery"

I giggled in my head, thinking that even my condition was something similar to Cherit's. I really missed that fellow a lot!

"Dr. Jefferson, what do we do now?" Zhalia asked Miles.

"I really don't know……..I've never studied something like this. I'm sorry, dear. I've no solution to provide."

I could see Zhalia's eyes welling up. But, she blinked faster in order to avoid them from bursting out of her eyes. She bit her lips. I'd never seen her looking so helpless…………so vulnerable.

"We'll find out some way…" I said, reassuring her.

"But, we don't even know that if he's really there or not!" Scarlet said. I truly agreed with her.

"Maybe, I can help in this case!" saying this, Sophie went near the machine, extended her arms towards it, and murmured some inaudible spell. Her hands produced a pinkish eerie around the entire machine. She kept her eyes tightly closed, concentrating on the spell.

"It's confirmed." She said, softly.

This time, Zhalia couldn't control herself, and teardrops fell from her eyes, like beautiful pearls. Metz patted her back to comfort her while Scarlet gave her a light hug. She finally stopped, looking towards us as if nothing had happened.

"Sorry, I just got….carried away…." She said, with a tone of sadness in her voice.

"We understand." All of us said together, which was quite amusing. It made Zhalia smile.

"Now, how do we get him back?" I asked Metz, who looked at Sophie.

"I really don't know any spell which could get a person back to the future." She said.

"Then…..there's only one way……" Zhalia said as we all looked towards her.

"What do you have in your mind?" Scarlet asked her while I gave her a quizzical look.

"One of us can go….."

"No! That's too dangerous!" Sophie almost screamed at her.

"Then you tell me a way, princess!" She said, giving her an angry look.

"Then who will go? I don't think anyone is willing to do this…." Metz said.

"Relax guys. It was my idea. So, I'll go."

"Don't be stupid!" Sophie screamed at her again.

"Sophie, there's no other way!" she screamed at her so hard that everyone of kept mum for a while.

"Are you sure with this?" Metz finally said, breaking the silence.

"There's no other way."

Metz turned to Sophie again and said, "It would be very dangerous for Zhalia to go directly through the machine's entrance. She may not be able to find the way out and may get trapped inside, just like Dante. Can you do anything to reduce this risk?"

Sophie thought for a moment, then picked up her cell phone and dialed a number.

"Santiago! Will you please get me that pink crystal pendent……….yes, yes, the one in that black velvet box……….get it soon to the HQ……..it's an emergency…………"

She ended the call and told us to wait for sometime. Within a minute, Santiago was standing near the door of the chamber, with a beautiful black box, which he handed over to Sophie. He bowed and went away.

"This is a magical crystal that belonged to my ancestors." Saying this, she tied the pendent, around Zhalia's neck.

"This pendent will help you to time travel. Since its range is quite small, it can transport you to only those histories which had taken place recently. But when it comes to transport back, it has unlimited range. So now, you can use the normal entrance of the machine. Just think about Dante when you're doing so. You'll be transported to an area near to him; hence you'll have to do a bit of searching. Once you're done, think about this place and you'll be back. The chain is long enough to fit in both yours and Dante's neck, so don't forget to put it around him too. And, you'll have to do all this in just two hours, or else the pendent will become ineffective and you'll be trapped there forever!"

As she finished her explanation, Zhalia turned toward the machine's entrance. Slowly she took a step towards it.

"Remember, Zhalia! Only TWO HOURS!" Sophie said as Zhalia nodded towards her.

And the next moment, Zhalia was gone.