MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!!! Hope you enjoy this. This is from Lok's POV.
Chapter Nine: Time to Fight
Lok
"It basically translates into the Guardian Line." Dante finished saying.
I stared at him in disbelief. I wanted to say something and comment, but I seemed to lose the ability to talk at that moment. It was Zhalia who noted the expression on my face.
"What's wrong, Lok?" she asked, emotionless.
At the moment, I didn't want to talk to her. I didn't trust her, not one bit. She didn't hesitate to betray us the last time and she said only earlier that she would betray us... Mentally, a part of me supplied the part that I had cut off. She'd only betray us if Klaus came himself to get her back. My mind reminded me, but I had a hard time believing that.
I didn't answer her. And the expression on her face did not change when I didn't bother to. She just looked back at Dante, who seemed to be the only tie to this team.
"What is it?" Sophie asked me gently, her hand catching my arm.
My eyes turned to her. "My father used to tell me stories about the Guardian Line."
"Can we skip storytime and save it for tonight?" Ian asked, his eyes down on his phone. "Got a text from Tersely. The meeting's starting in a good half hour. They need to test the projectors for the other Council members. So taking that into account, we've got forty-five minutes."
"The drive is only five." Dante interjected as he stood. "Go ahead, Lok."
I looked to Sophie before looking out to the others. I didn't have a talent with words. My father did, but he wasn't the one telling the story to them now.
"Well, he said that after the defeat of the lord of the Dark and the death of the leader of Light-" I started.
"He never mentioned Casterwill or the Nullifiers specifically?" Kevin asked.
I shook my head. "No, he never mentioned it."
"I don't think your father wanted you to join the family business." Dante said with the strange, sarcastic tone highlighting 'family business'. "Sorry, go on."
"Well, he said after the leader of good died, there was a line that went after protecting those of the Light. They were called the Guardians. They were gifted with the ability called Thoughtspeaking-" Dante interrupted me with a smile.
"That's not the Guardian Line." he cut in.
I stared at him with confusion. My father had said they were the guardians and that it was a family line. Two plus two equals four. It seemed that easy to me.
"They're not?" I asked.
He smiled and shook his head. "No, that's the line of Casterwill's guardian."
Now, everyone was confused.
"There are two different guardian lines. One is the descendant of the family from which both the Nullifiers and Casterwill are descendant from the Patronus Line and the other is the family line that are in a life debt to the Casterwills." Dante started to explain.
The story was familiar to me, but I didn't argue with Dante he knew his stuff.
"I don't know anything about the Patronus Line besides what Sophie's told us." he said giving an acknowledging nod to her, "But about this other line, I know a lot about."
His amber eyes locked onto me and I think he was trying to get a silent point across to me and me only, but it was lost when Ian checked his phone again.
"Okay, people, we've got to get to the manor. People really want to see you, Dante." he informed Dante.
My mentor just nodded and all of us left the room, but I heard Zhalia say something. I turned at the last minute to see Dante turn around and face her.
I disappeared around the corner of the door and watched as the others left.
"I don't think I should go." I heard Zhalia say.
Dante gave a low chuckle. "Why? Scared they'll hurt you?"
"Them hurt me?" she asked, something deadly underlying her voice. I got the sense that it wouldn't be her that would get hurt. "They hate me for turning over the alpha team to the Organization. Even Lok hates me and he was the nicest person on this team."
I heard Dante sigh.
"He doesn't hate you." he said.
"He wouldn't even answer a health question I asked. Not even in contempt." she said.
"And you care because?"
"Why are you asking?"
I found myself asking the same question.
"Lok?" Sophie asked, but I put my finger to my lips to tell her to keep quiet. I gestured with my thumb to the door and she heard the next words.
"Because it shows that you're a good person and not an Organization spy. What spy cares about the enemy?" Dante answered.
Sophie made a point by throwing me a look that said, 'Yeah, Lok, she does care. Be nice to her.'
But I rolled my eyes and shook my head to her in reply.
"Stop trying to make me turn against him!" Zhalia cried. "He is the only family I have! You would never betray the Foundation. Don't ask me to do the same for mine."
I realized that it was a possibility that Zhalia could storm out any minute and that Sophie would be seen. I made a grab for Sophie's arm and pulled her against me. Since she was facing me, we ended up face to face and body against body in the tiny shadow of the door. My breath caught and I was sure that my heart skipped a beat when I felt her hands on my shoulders and her body clinging to mine.
"Hi." she whispered awkwardly. I smiled at her.
"Hi." I answered with the same awkwardness.
The moment was ruined when Zhalia stormed out of the room, her footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. Both Sophie and I leaned against the door hoping to hear something, anything of what Dante was doing, but our curiosity was answered a second later when Dante left the room, not even bothering to close the door. The two of us breathed a sigh of relief, but I felt Sophie's breath against my neck. I gazed down at her.
"Sophie." I whispered when-
"Lok?! Sophie?!" It was Dante.
Sophie's eyes widened in alarm as we broke apart and ran for the stairs. We met the others downstairs. Dante was getting on his motorcycle while Ian, Kevin, and Xalia were in a black SUV. The rev of Dante's engine was thunderous in the once quiet area, and soon he was in the lead leaving Sophie and me to get into the waiting SUV.
The ride to Metz's manor was short and Dante was waiting for us by the time we arrived, leaning against his bike when we parked in the driveway. I couldn't help but notice the lines of cars parked outside the sole manor on the street.
Zhalia was the last one out of the car and the last one in the party when we arrived in, Dante at the head. The door was thrown open long before we even hit the pavement that led to the front door. My mother ran out followed by Cathy, and they made a beeline for me ignoring Kevin and Ian who jumped into a defensive stance before they realized that the two blonde women were related to me.
"Lok!" my mother cried before her arms wrapped around me and she held me close to her. "Oh, Lok! You're okay."
"Little bro!" Cathy whispered as she hugged me from my free side.
It took several moments before they released me. I looked over to see that Sophie was in the fatherly embrace of LeBlanche and Santiago was standing close by, always Sophie's loyal bodyguard. When he hugged her, I couldn't help but feel jealous, and when he said something that made her turn red, I felt like running over and crashing their reunion, but it was Zhalia who stopped me. Well, inadvertently-
"What are you doing here?!" my mother, LeBlanche, and Santiago yelled when they saw her.
Their hands lit up with Boltflares and soon fire filled the air as three Nimblefires flashed towards Zhalia. Dante, Kevin, and Ian stood in front of her protectively.
"She's with me." Dante said, the authority in his voice final.
"She's the reason for-" Santiago started when Dante turned a fierce amber glare towards him.
I was shocked to see Santiago shut his mouth instead of challenge Dante to a duel. If Zhalia was a threat he would have challenged Dante because Zhalia was a threat to Sophie, or at least would have been in his eyes.
"Please," Dante said, the tone of his voice soft and persuasive, "Go ahead and assemble the meeting. Tell Metz to begin and that I'll be in there shortly."
No one argued and I wondered why. Why was it that no one was questioning Dante?
As I made my way up the stairs at the rear of the returning party, I threw a glance over my shoulder to see that Kevin and Ian were following and that- Zhalia attempted to run away, but Dante was too fast and had caught her by the arm. I heard her scream something at him, but from far away it was unintelligible. I made a move to go back when Kevin put his hand out.
"Don't." he said as he gestured towards the open door. "C'mon, we've got a meeting to get to."
I didn't argue, but my eyes remained on the two of them before I entered.
"Kevin? Ian?" I asked as we made our way past the empty den, the empty dining room, and the empty entertainment center.
"What?" Ian replied.
"Why isn't anyone questioning Dante anymore? I mean, I know that he's the next leader of the Foundation and all, but not even to question his decisions? Are they scared because of the dark powers he's learned?" The question made the two men stop dead in their tracks and look at each other with a questioning glance. Immediately, I knew there was more to Dante's story than he had said. "What? What is it?"
"Lok-" Ian started, "You don't know what the Foundation has been through. We were falling apart when news of Dante's supposed death hit the Huntik main stream. When Dante came back- We didn't believe it was him."
"It took my convincing and Metz's word that Dante had come back and even then people didn't trust Dante because you and Sophie were missing." Kevin continued, "They believed that Dante had been corrupted by Zhalia and that he was a traitor who faked his death in order to continue what Zhalia was doing."
"That's stupid!" I yelled. "If he was a traitor, the Huntik Foundation would have crumbled within the twenty four hours that he was assumed dead! He wouldn't have to come back."
"Kid's smart." Ian muttered to Kevin who just nodded.
"You're one of the few logical people that defended Dante." Kevin said, "Even some Council members didn't believe him. It wasn't until Turkey with the Legendary Titan Behemoth that people began to believe him. I mean, those who believed followed him and even those that didn't just went along because they didn't want to see the Foundation crumble and if it meant following a fake then as long as the fake rallied the Foundation they joined."
I listened with disbelief. It was hard to believe that some people thought Dante to be a traitor even though he survived the attempt on his life, and they still planned to overturn him after he rallied everyone else.
"I know what happened in Turkey." I said, "He killed the Professor."
"Yes." Ian nodded, "I'm sure he only told you that part."
"What?" I asked.
"There's something in legend called a Death Duel, something that hasn't been initiated since the time of Casterwill and the Nullifiers. It's an ancient battle that is literally the essence, soul, and being of the person put into the battle." Ian said, "Dante challenged the Professor to this duel and that's where he killed him, and nearly died himself."
"What?!" I practically yelled. "Died?! No, that's-"
"Dante's powerful kid. Not invincible." Kevin said, his face grim and serious.
"The Professor pinned Dante to the ground by the shoulder with a sword. Dante should have died, he lost too much blood by the time Kevin and I showed up." Ian continued, "We even thought he was dead. He wasn't breathing, at least he didn't seem to be."
"But he was alive. He is alive!" I said perplexed, "Get to the point because my head hurts. Why don't people question his authority?"
"Everyone was watching, Lok. Everyone. It was supposed to be the last battle between the Foundation and the Organization." Kevin picked up after Ian. "Dante led us all into the battle that day-"
"No." I said as I shook my head. That wasn't how Dante told the account. "No, it was just you three. You, Ian, and Dante."
Ian shook his head. "It wasn't Lok. It was going to be Judgment Day between the Foundation and Organization."
"Your mother, Scarlett, Montehue, LeBlanche, Santiago- Everyone!" Kevin said, "Dante killed the Professor in front of all of us. Ever since then, no one questioned him. We trust him to lead us all out of this fucking mess."
I shook my head as I leaned back against the wall. I never really saw Dante as the kind of guy that would lead a whole army into battle. He seemed to be the team leader, not an army commander. He was greater now than ever and I knew I should be admiring him for that and looking up to him, but my mind was telling me something else.
It made sense, you look up to the person who destroyed a great evil and did it nearly at the cost of his own life and kept everyone else alive. I would follow that person, but-
"Don't you know what he did to do all that?" I asked.
"We know he used those books, the dark and light tomes." Ian answered.
"I'll go up and check on that meeting." Kevin said as he left Ian and me to talk.
"Why?" Ian asked, "What's wrong, Lok?"
"That's the only reason why people trust him?" I asked.
"It seems stupid to you, doesn't it. To trust a person who just defeated a major enemy?" Ian asked, "Well, not stupid but strange."
"Yeah." I said as he made our way to the stairs where Kevin had gone.
"Well, he individually saved all of us before." Ian said, "And people trusted him and not to mentioned owed him their lives. Your mother and sister for instance. He saved them when some teenage Suits attacked them brutally. Dante saved their lives because the teens couldn't control their powers. Some Council members were nearly assassinated and he protected them, sometimes taking the blow meant for them and surviving it. Dante saved my life from some army Suit general who ready to kill me, Dante killed the guy and left the other Suits out cold. I could go on, but he saved most of us. Scarlet, Montehue-"
We reached the meeting place and before Ian opened the door and hesitated. There was something he wasn't telling me and I knew it.
"There's another reason, isn't there?" I asked.
"It's not my place to tell you." Ian replied.
"I won't get the truth from Dante." I argued. I needed to know. "Please, Ian-"
The older man sighed and he pulled me away from the door. "Dante's the current leader of the Foundation as Metz can't lead but he already has chosen a successor."
"Why? He's going to resign?" I asked.
Ian gave me a look that looked mournful and sad. I shook my head. I didn't understand.
"Dante's dying, Lok." Ian finally said.
My composure shattered.
"Ian!"
We both turned and saw Dante standing at the top of the stairwell with a shocked Zhalia standing at his side.
"You're dying?!" Zhalia asked in disbelief as she whirled at him.
"I-" Dante started, "I'm going dark-"
"You're what?!" Zhalia asked, confusion tangible in the hallway.
"Knowledge comes with a price, Zhalia." he explained as Ian and I exchanged glances. "I'm turning evil. Little by little, I'm losing myself and I am not going to live when I go dark and turn on everyone."
"The greatest light casts the greatest shadow." Ian interjected as an explanation.
"Don't start with the damn riddles." I said, not in the mood to decrypt it.
"I'm strong with the side of good." Dante explained looking between Zhalia and me. I already knew that he was turning dark and that he said I'd have to kill him, but to hear that he was dying. "I'm going to be strong with the force of evil."
"That doesn't mean you're dying." I interrupted. "Dante, we could still free you."
From the corner of my eyes, I saw Ian look away.
"My consciousness and control will fade. A darker consciousness would rise and take over." Dante explained, "That would mean I would die. I am dying, Lok- Zhalia."
It made sense now. Everyone knew that he was going to die, that he'd die mentally and that we'd have to kill him physically. Everyone else, but Sophie, Zhalia, and me knew. Everyone except Sophie knew now.
"We've got a meeting to go to." Ian said as he cleared his throat and threw open the door to the meeting.
They had been in the middle of discussing with Scarlet, who was a hologram in the middle of the table, the evacuation of all former Seekers in Europe to the safe houses, when we had arrived in. The conversation died when everyone saw Zhalia and hatred became tangible. The only one without hate in their eyes, besides Kevin who looked ready to throw a shield if needed, was Metz.
"Ian. Lok. Dante. Zhalia." he said, surprising all of us except Dante when he used Zhalia's first name. "Come join us. Scarlet was about to tell us about the safe house procedure."
"No, I will not." Scarlet interjected her hologram gaze turned to Zhalia. "As long as she is in the room, this matter will go on as discussed. I don't need to elaborate or give out more information."
"Scarlet-" Metz started, but the Irish agent had disappeared leaving the holocom glowing blue. "Well, now that that matter is done, we can move on to something else."
"I'd like to know what she's doing here." asked an agent that I didn't recognize as he pointed a finger at Zhalia. "Why is she still alive Vale? I thought your mission was to kill her."
I hid my shock. That explained the shock that took people's expression before hatred.
"You people are so obstinate." Dante muttered under his breath loud enough for me to hear. Aloud, he said, "She's here with me. Go on."
"All information will be compromised if she remains here!" Santiago exclaimed as he stood, his chair pushed out. "She is a threat to all of us!"
"Santiago, sit down!" Sophie hissed, through grit teeth. "Now!"
Ever reluctantly, he did.
"I agree with Santiago." my mother added to my surprise, "Metz, please have Miss Moon banned from this meeting. These are sensitive matters and they are not to be discussed in the presence of a traitor and spy."
"I knew this would happen." Zhalia said giving an exasperated sigh as her eyes turned to Dante before she looked out to the crowd. "I know you all hate me. For turning over family members and friends and you will never understand my reasons. You want me gone, that I can do. You want me to betray you all again, that won't be too hard."
She turned on her heels and was about to leave the room, but I couldn't let her. I wanted the doors to remain closed and locked.
She reached out to open the door and when she tried to wrench it open it wouldn't budge. I kept staring.
"What the-" I muttered as Zhalia pulled the doorknob and tried to kick the door down.
She whirled around. "Dante, unlock the door!"
He shrugged his shoulders half-smiling. "I didn't do anything." To me, he whispered. "Good job, Lok."
"What?" I asked as I looked up at him out of the corner of my eyes. I saw him wink.
"Looks like we're all stuck here." Kevin said with a laugh as he stood up.
People glowered as Zhalia grudgingly made her way to the end of the table and took a seat besides Dante. I stood and watched the others, my gaze shifting to Sophie ever so often.
"Zhalia is bound to Dante." Metz said, "If anyone's failed to notice, Dante is still living and breathing, and Seekers Lok and Sophie as well as other prisoners have not suffered under any torture while imprisoned in Vienna."
"They wouldn't have been there in the first place." someone countered.
"Shut up!" Dante yelled as people started shouting counterarguments across the room. "Jesus Christ, you do know that she would be dead if I didn't believe that there is still some good in her. I draw the line when a threat comes to the Foundation. I know when to cross it and when to find the balance between it. Now-"
I heard a low thunderous sound coming from beyond the windows as Dante went on making a speech defending Zhalia. I knew he had feelings for her. It was obvious. Now, what was that-
"Oh, fuck." I said loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Lok!" my mother scolded, "Watch your-"
"Not now, Mom. Dante, Rassimov and friends." I said as I made for the door and threw it open.
"How was he-" I heard Zhalia start when I rushed down the stairs, the sounds of rushed footsteps behind me echoing.
"Kevin, protect Zhalia! Ian, Lok, Sophie, Santiago, Lexa, Simon, with me! Everyone else, activate the house's defenses and don't let anyone out." I heard Dante throw orders as I rushed out the front door and saw a group of men in black land.
Rassimov was in the lead, landing thirty feet away from the parked cars. Two people on a short-tailed dragon landed followed by at least fifty other people and... My heart stopped. I knew Zhalia was going to betray us and that everything that Dante said would be undermined because when the people from the dragon dismounted I saw Klaus.
I heard footsteps behind me and a low curse and turned to see Dante standing behind me, his jaw set and his fists glowing with fire.
"Lok, there's something I need to tell you." he whispered.
"What?" I asked as the Suits approached.
"Just think of a spell and fire. Don't bother firing." he said with a smile to me before he turned to the others and nodded to them. "Spread out and take out as many of them as you can."
"Gotcha." Ian said as we all ran out onto the field. A line of seven defenders against fifty five.
The battle didn't even start and I knew it was going to be important and-
"Destroy them!" I heard Rassimov yell.
"Have fun doing that." I heard Dante yell in return.
It was time. Time to fight.
Sorry if this was terrible. But I was stuck writing this chapter I promised to upload soon but I got stuck. The next chapter might come easier and it is going to be from Sophie's POV.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS READERS!!
-DragonPhoenix16