AN: I hate being ill.

The Seeker Within

Chapter 20- The Legacy of Thor Part 2

The next day saw the team landing an unchartered flight on a tiny, snowy runway. After scrambling out of the small cockpit, Loki gazed about in awe and wonder at the majestic valleys and mountains of the Icelandic landscape. Hearing calls from her friends, the blonde scampered across to them, and the hike began.

Each person in the team had to carry their own weight, and that weight was greatly increased by the sheer volume of clothes they had to wear to keep warm. Will was feeling and looking fairly ridiculous in his puffy ski jacket, turtleneck, and salopettes, and yet he insisted on wearing a knitted woollen hat that LeBlanche had given him. It would seem that even the sullen brunette had some feelings.

Loki was wearing a slightly longer skirt than usual, with a woolly hat, tights, and a slim-line ski jacket. Dante had kited her out, since the blonde had never been to a snowy place before, and had no idea what to get.

Dante himself was only wearing a jumper under his trench coat. All three were lugging rucksacks, with the blonde's being slightly lighter. The boys had decided not to tell her that, and had done it only because she wasn't used to the environment. And, although neither would ever say it to her face, because she was a girl. Even so, by the third day she was beginning to droop.

"I haven't felt my face since the airport." The Casterwill muttered to Cherit, who was flying alongside him, a blue scarf thoughtfully draped around his tiny neck. Loki had seen him shivering on the second day, and given up her scarf for her tiny friend. The white titan laughed, and gave the miserable boy a thumbs up.

"Chill out Will!" He laughed. "Onwards and upwards!" Emerald eyes rolled, and their owner let out a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Cherit."

Loki was walking up ahead with her auburn mentor, her pale cheeks flushed with cold. "Dante, do you know how much further we have to hike?" The russet-haired man sighed, then drew his holotome from his pocket.

"Well, even after I input the data Tersly gave me, I can't say much more than we're headed in the right direction."

"Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" The blonde muttered, tucking wisps of hair into her hat. Dante gave an apologetic smile, then picked up the ice axe he was using as a walking stick.

"Better get used to it. We might be out here for a while."

The rest of the day passed almost without incident. The only interesting thing that happened was when the group came to a steep hill. Will and Dante skidded down it, using sticks and Dante's axe to steady themselves. Loki stood nervously at the top, not fancying her chances, and spotted half a tree trunk, hollowed out by rain and snow, only a few meters to her left. She smiled. The Irish girl had always wanted to go sledding!

Needless to say, the look on her companions' faces when she flew past them was priceless, and the ride was great fun. When the boys caught up to her, they gave the giggling teen rueful glares, and asked themselves why they hadn't thought of that. She replied that they were too serious, which caused a snowball fight between the teens as Dante watched the growing storm clouds with wary golden eyes.

His fears were confirmed when a blizzard started up not two hours later. "There's no sense in going any further!" The amber-orbed Seeker told his students. "Let's set up camp down there!" Pointing to a small forest, the man led the way, helping the scared Loki, who was busy keeping Cherit from being swept away.

When night fell, the Huntik team had only just set up the camp, and the storm was still howling outside. Dante was getting some rest of one side of the massive tent, whilst the two teens relaxed on the other. Or, rather, Loki was relaxing and Will was studying. After a moment, he began to tell his friend what was in the book. What he didn't notice was the fact that Loki was mouthing word for word what he was saying.

"This is interesting. According to the books Tersly gave me, there were nine different worlds connected by a rainbow bridge. The highest world, Asgard, was the one guarded by Thor and his hammer."

Loki rolled her eyes, and snorted. "Fascinating." Will ignored her, too excited by his books.

"And here, it says that many Norse lords worshiped him as a god of justice! That must be why Tersly thinks he was a Seeker!" The azure-eyed teen just laughed, and hit him on the shoulder.

"You read too much." She joked. The jade-eyed lad before her scowled, and tossed a book in her direction.

"And you read too little. Here- there'll be a pop quiz in the morning." The girl just laughed, and handed the book back to him.

"I do read, only I read certain subjects. And one of them was Norse mythology! I have in fact read this book before!" She giggled at the shock expression on Will's face. "Hey, didn't you think I'd want to research the origins of my name!" The boy nodded and sighed.

"I should have expected that." When Loki looked confused, he explained. "I should have expected you to have done the exact opposite of what I'd thought you'd do." The pair burst into quiet laughter, conscious of the fact that Dante was sleeping.

Suddenly, a vivid blue flash erupted outside the tent. Eyes wide with fear, the teens looked on as something got closer and closer to them at a startling rate. They half-sighed with relief as the thing hammered at the tent zip, yelling at them to let him in. It was only Cherit.

When Loki unleashed the zip, however, the titan flew through so fast he got his scarf stuck, and ended up strangling himself. "Don't mind me." He whispered hoarsely. "There's someone out there!" Will froze.

"Someone, or something!"

Cherit scrambled over to the blonde child, eyes watching the tent opening like a mouse watches a cobra. "Loki, do something!" The girl sighed, and crouched up, wondering why the little titan always asked her to help.

"Stay here!" She told the others, before creeping over to the flap. She hesitated, then slipped out, all as silent as a shadow.

Outside, nothing moved. It was pitch black, except for the drifting white dots of the snow. The blonde held still, knowing her prey would reveal itself. Light bobbed in the distance, and the teen gave a savage grin. There.

She slunk along, keeping close to the ground, moving as quietly as she was able in the snowy terrain. Manoeuvring herself so she went around the light and its conjurer, Loki came up on the intruder from behind. Getting as close as she felt she could get without being seen, the azure-eyed Seeker held out a hand, focusing on the danger she and her friends were in, and prayed the mist-power would do what she wanted. Screwing her eyes tightly shut, she imagined it flowing from her hand, winding along the air, and curling lightly around the figure's throat. Hearing a gasp, the blonde opened her eyes to see that the power had done as she asked, although she got the feeling that it was a one off.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" The girl demanded of the stranger. The figure stiffened, then began to spout a blistering rant.

"Loki, it's me, you useless half-wit! Don't you have someone your own age to practice on? I have better things to be doing that being attacked by pint-sized Seekers! Dante asked me to come!" It was Zhalia, neatly dressed in fashionable snow-gear, and a killer glare on her face. "Get this stuff off me! I thought you said you had no control over it!" Smiling bashfully, Loki did as she was bid, and willed away the blue-grey power. Surprisingly, it went. The blonde had her suspicions that the power wouldn't be as nice next time it was called.

"I'm sorry Zhalia!" She yelped, running over to the disgruntled woman. "We thought there was someone out there! It's not like it would be the first time.."

"I know. Where's Dante, just tell him I'm here already." The azure-eyed girl shot a glare at her new companion.

"Do I have skivvy stamped on my forehead? Tell him yourself!"

"No need. I'm here." Came a voice from behind them, and Will and Dante padded over from the camp site. Whilst the latter was smiling broadly, the former was sulking. He'd obviously wanted a fight to break the monotonous boredom of the march. "Glad to see you made it okay." The auburn told the blue-haired woman. Zhalia was still in a mood about how she'd been 'greeted' by Loki, and so continued to snap at everyone around her.

"Well, you're lucky I'm good with location spells, otherwise I would have turned back a long time ago."

Will rolled his eyes, and a look of false innocence appeared on his face. "Well, it's never too late." Coffee eyes met jade in a battle of scorn, but both looked away at the same time

"Clever." Zhalia muttered, walking towards the little camp. "Let me guess- you haven't located the temple yet." The russet-haired Seeker behind her nodded, then realized she couldn't see him.

"Good guess." He called, motioning for the teens to follow her, before making for the camp himself. Loki, who was still annoyed at the way Zhalia had treated her- it had been an honest mistake after all- made to defend Dante and her teammates.

"We were headed in the right direction, before the blizzard."

As she knelt down by the fire outside the tent, the blue-haired Seeker gave a bitter, dark laugh. "It could have been worse. Better a blizzard than the Guardians." The blonde teen raced to sit by the fire, eyes wide with interest.

"Who are the Guardians?" She asked, feeling both excitement and fear stirring in her heart. Dante reached the fire, but remained standing, watching the trees, and not looking at any of his teammates.

"So, you've heard of them too." Will marched up to the fire and sat down, scowling. He'd not heard of the Guardians, and was furious that his mentor had kept something from him, and not the mocha-eyed operative beside him. Again.

"They don't know?" Zhalia asked, truly surprised. When the amber-eyed man before her nodded, she settled down to explain. Despite hating its teller, Will wanted to hear the story, and inched closer to the fire, knees drawn up under his chin.

"Word has it that there is an ancient cult called the Guardians of Thor. They've been in existence for thousands of years, preserving the ways of the Norse Gods."

Feeling the excitement dropping away, leaving only fear in its wake, Loki spoke up. "Something tells me they protect temples and artefacts. And that they aren't very willing to part with them." The story-teller nodded, and carried on with her tale.

"That's not the best part, junior. The Organization infiltrated their little group completely, so you see, by now they know we're coming, and they're not giving in without a fight."

Unknown to all of them, Zhalia was right. In a temple not that far away, the Guardians were summoning a fierce titan to defend their ancient palace. Each Guardian was the same as the last- tall, old, with a long, flowing, white beard and a hooded cloak with the sign of the hammer on the back. They walked in time to the main hall, where they formed a circle.

The leader padded forwards, the titan's amulet in one hand, and a sword in the other. "Guardians of the Temple of Thor, Protectors of Mjollnir, Descendants of the Æsir, the titan of Ymir shall be awakened, but first, we must intone the ancient incantation of Asgard!" He lifted the amulet, now glowing ice-blue, and the Guardians began to chant.

"Ymir, hear us, answer our plea for your holy protection. We invoke you, we summon you to form!" The ground began to shake, and the men staggered, trying to keep their balance, still desperately crying for Ymir.

Morning broke, white and pure like the snow underfoot, and the team set off again. Reaching higher into the mountains, Loki began to feel her vertigo rising in her throat. Instead of focusing on how high they'd come, she kept her eyes on her feet. Will moved closer to her, seeing the way she was turning steadily greener. Dante noticed as well, Zhalia too, but they said nothing for their own reasons. Dante knew the teen wouldn't want to be a burden, and was quietly keeping it under control, and Zhalia couldn't stand weaklings.

The russet-haired man pulled out his holotome, and scanned the programmed map that appeared when he opened it. "Watch your step. One slip and you'll end up in the crags."

The team nodded, with the blonde teen taking his advice a bit too literally. "How far have we gone, anyway?" She called, her voice all but lost in the howling wind.

"Three miles, maybe more." Came the reply, and the azure-eyed girl drooped. Zhalia huffed, and drew her coat around her.

"We're all freezing to death out here. Is there any reason why we're not just using powers?" Will shot a venom-filled glare at the blue-haired Seeker.

"Dante said we should conserve our power." He told her superiorly. Brown eyes glared right back at him, and the wind and snow picked up. The brunette looked in shock at the now stormy sky, and Loki plucked Cherit out of the air, cradling him to her chest. The little titan gave her a thankful grin, not like the prospect of getting blown away. "Just what spell are you using anyway?" Zhalia glanced at the teen, then returned her gaze to the sky.

"This isn't me..." She murmured, as the ground began to shake, heavy shock-waves rocking the ground, and a sound like the rumbling of thunder filled the air. Dante turned to face the trio, his amber eyes grave.

"Something's coming!" He yelled, shaggy, auburn hair whipping about in the wind. "Stay on your guard, be ready for anything." Seeing the mounting fear on his teammates' faces, he span around, and saw for himself the monstrous figure headed their way.

It was huge, so big a normal man would only come up to his ankle, and made of ice. He had a jagged beard, and his fingers ended in massive icicle claws. Bands of gold circled his huge wrists, and a look of cold anger covered his face.

"Does that count?" Loki cried, pushing Cherit to curl around her neck, under her hood, leaving her hands free to fight. "Does a huge, god-damm Frost Giant count?" As she and her friends backed away, Dante scanned the creature with his holotome. It reeled off a load of statistics, ending with the chilling message that it could summon allies.

"It must have been sent by the Guardians." The blonde teen shouted, eyes wide. "The Frost Giants were enemies of Asgard- so why do they fight for them now?"

Will shrugged, still staring in fear at the colossal titan. The teens' mentor looked from the holotome's screen to the ice man, then back again. "I was afraid of this- it's the titan Ymir! He can create an army of ice creatures to fight by his side!"

Loki went even paler, and gave her older friend a wide-eyed look. "Oh, well, that's just brilliant, isn't it!" She muttered, before raising her voice. "What's the plan?" Dante thought for a second, then nodded, and gathered the team around the holotome, which was displaying a live image of Ymir headed towards them.

"I'll hit him with a frontal attack." Zhalia and Will made to protest, but when each saw the other was going to speak they didn't, not wanting to agree on anything. "The rest of you fan out here," The amber-eyed man continued, pointing to a spot on the map, which then glowed blue. "Here," Another touch, another glowing spot. "And here and see if you can distract him." The final point shone out, before the team leader pointed to the real life titan. "Loki, follow his footprints back where he came from, over here!" He gestured to the place where the group had originally been headed, and the girl nodded.

A shadow fell over the group, and the blonde looked up to see that the ice man had gotten much closer. "Oh man!" She yelped, taking an involuntary step back. "He does not look friendly!" Zhalia scoffed, and made to run to her position.

"There's a reason for that- he isn't!" The titan roared, and Dante nodded to his team. They all tensed, ready to play their part.

"Get moving! Touchram!" Loki moved off as her mentor shot the green energy at Ymir, but skidded to a halt as the titan just roared again, and took another step.

"It didn't work!" She cried. "He's too strong!" The auburn's golden eyes widened in surprise, and he dumped his bag on the floor.

"Plan B- everyone run!" They happily complied, but the azure-eyed teen had been behind the titan, doing as Dante had told her, and so was trapped. The mahogany-haired Seeker looked back, and yelled for her to hurry. Desperately, she Hyperstrided to one side, trying to dodge around the massive creature, but her movement caught the titan's eye, and he turned to face her, blocking the way to her teammates. Cobalt eyes met gold for a second, before the girl threw her pack to the ground and called Nimblefire to help her to run- in the opposite direction.

"Loki! Come back!" Dante called, but his voice was caught in the winds of the storm, blown backwards in the wrong way to its intended target. Instead, Will and Zhalia turned back, looking on in horror as the blonde tried to escape the Frost Giant, speeding across the snowy tundra.

The Casterwill moved forwards, jade eyes filled with worry, and his breath caught in his throat as his friend narrowly avoided the titan's grasping hands. "Loki!" He yelled, just as the wind changed, carrying his call across to her. She looked over, gasping for breath, Will's voice distracting her long enough for Ymir to smack her with one ginormous fist. The young human went flying, but twisted in the air to land on her hands, pushing off and flipping backwards as the titan swung again. She landed wrong, going down on one knee, the ice man's next punch going an inch above her head. Getting up, she growled, and shucked off her coat, needing all the manoeuvrability she could get.

"Hurry!" Dante cried, knowing that the girl couldn't keep it up for much longer. "This way!" He ran at the giant, and after a moment's hesitation, Will and Zhalia followed. The russet-haired man threw a beam of red light at one huge leg, yelling "Bristlevine!" The light became ropes of thorny vines, wrapping around the titan. Ymir tripped, and fell, almost squishing Loki, but the girl danced out the way, the Nimblefire's red light fading, then vanishing completely. The teen sighed, drooping for a second, then sprinted after her teammates.

"Thanks for the save!" She panted, catching up easily, no longer weighed down by her heavy snow coat. Will glared at her, moving closer as they ran, and slipped his hand into hers. She gave an apologetic smile, and mouthed the word sorry, knowing she had scared him.

Behind them all, the Frost Giant was ripping his bonds, tearing them as he struggled to his feet. Standing tall, the titan howled his fury, then blew a gust of blistering cold to knock down his fleeing prey. As the dust cleared and the team scrambled to their feet, Loki shivered, more from fear than from the cold. A strange hissing sound filled the air, and the last of the dust fell away, revealing an army of jagged creatures sculpted from ice surrounding them. Ymir had called his allies. The blonde teen, her snow-caked hair looking white instead of its usual gold, took a step back as one swung a rugged claw at her, only to spin around to dodge another.

"This does not look good!" She told herself, staring with wide eyes at their seemingly endless foes. The team back away from the ice creatures, standing in a circle. Dante gave the blonde teen a quick glance over, making sure she was okay, then turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

"Stay calm." He whispered to his teammates. They nodded, slowly reaching into their various pockets, clasping their titans in their hands. "Okay, get ready." A moment passed before Dante started the battle.

"Come on out, Caliban!" The Aztec did as he was bid, holding a hefty club in one hand, perfect for smashing the brittle bones of the Frost Giant's friends.

Will was next. "Emerge, Sabriel!" The pink-haired warrior appeared in a flash of rosy light, her sword at the ready.

"Now Freelancer!" Loki shouted, and the armoured titan answered her call, standing defensively in front of her, protecting her with his shield.

Zhalia was the last to call her titans, holding both her amulets before her, coffee eyes sharp. "Gareon, Kilthane, quickly!"

The titans and the creatures charged each other, claws against swords and shields. Freelancer slipped on the body on one of his opponents, and went down, only just managing to raise his shield to defend himself whilst he got up. Caliban, Sabriel and Kilthane smashed through the monsters, but it still wasn't enough.

"We need to hit them harder!" Zhalia snarled. Dante nodded, pushing aside his coat to reach a silver, ball-like amulet at his belt.

"I brought a titan especially for this mission, and the time to use it is now! Melt them, Ignatius!" The titan appeared from the sky as a ball of molten lava, which grew arms, legs and a small, round head. It was humanoid, but larger than even Dante. His feet melted the ground beneath them, and he radiated heat. Roaring in a sluggish voice, like his vocal chords were made of magma- and they probably were- Ignatius spewed lava at the ice creatures, melting half of them away in one go. Looking on, Ymir growled at the destruction of his pets, and moved forwards.

At the thundering footsteps, the team looked back, surprised. Whilst Ignatius finished off the ice allies, Dante formed a new plan. "Loki, Will, trace his tracks back to the temple. We'll stay here and hold the line." The teens nodded.

"Got it." The blonde took Will's hand, and the two set off. The Seekers left behind shared a grim smile, then turned to face their massive opponent.

"Gareon, slow it down!" The blue-haired woman cried, and the lizard-like titan on her shoulder obeyed, but the laser beams from his eyes did nothing to halt the titan's progress. The amber-eyed human beside them sent a Raypulse to burn the giant's eyes, but again, it failed. The titan ignored the two adult Seekers, and kept after the teens. Zhalia put a hand on Dante's arm, stopping him from casting another power.

"It doesn't care about us!" She told him. "It's trying to keep the secret of the temple safe..." But the auburn wasn't listening, and instead ran after the mighty ice man. Reaching the giant's leg, the same one that he had trapped with Bristlevine earlier, Dante called out another new power. "Spidertouch!" Light blue, sticky strands sprang from his hand and grabbed onto the icy trunk, pulling the man close enough that he could hold on by more conventional means.

Meanwhile, Loki and Will were running, following the massive indents in the snowy ground. Cherit, who was flying, risked a look behind them. "It's still following us!" At his words, the blonde looked around too, before grabbing her friend's hand and dragging him along.

"Hurry!" The pair ran faster, trying to escape their pursuer, but stopped. The prints they had been following had led them to a cliff-edge, and they were trapped on top of it!

Will turned to her, and saw his idea reflected in her azure eyes. "Now, let's see if your studies paid off!" The teens ran to opposite sides of the cliff, and the colossal titan ambled forwards, one heavy footstep after the other.

"Raypulse!" Loki cried, throwing a bright, twisting beam of fiery energy at Ymir's eyes, with the brunette following suite. Moving backwards, they kept up the streams, blinding the titan, and it stumbled. As it did, Cherit could see a figure riding behind on massive shoulder.

"This isn't as easy as it looks!" Dante yelled, seeing the little creature, his eyes lit up with a fierce glow. The grey eyes of the titan widened.

"Dante?" He asked. "What's he doing up there!" The blonde, hearing the winged being's shout, stopped blasting the titan, and signalled to her companion to cut it out. Unfortunately, Will thought she was telling him to end the titan! He sent his strongest Raypulse yet, catching the giant's heel, and sending him stumbling into the abyss.

"No!" The azure-eyed girl screamed. "Dante!"She pulled Kipperin from around her neck, undoing the clasp in her haste, and summoned the titan faster than she ever had before. The Casterwill paled, realizing what he'd done. "Take me to him!" The green creature wrapped his vine-like arms around her, creating the familiar harness, and the duo were about to take off when a hand rested on the Seeker's shoulder.

"What did I ever do to you?" Came a dry, sarcastic voice, and the teen spun around to face her auburn mentor. Zhalia came up behind them, feeling strangely...worried about the russet-haired Seeker, and didn't know whether to sigh with relief or slap him. She settled for the first option, not having the guts to go up to the man. The quiet sigh let her release her feelings, without showing them to anyone else.

Loki, it seemed, had no such qualms, and gave Dante a resounding smack around the cheek. He put a surprised hand to his face, eyes wide, and Will gaped at the blonde. "What was that for?" They both asked, and cobalt eyes glared hard into gold, before softening and breaking down into tears.

"I thought you'd gone over!" She whispered brokenly, throwing her arms around his neck. After a moment, Dante drew her close, a little smile on his face. It was nice to feel wanted, even if it was shown in the form of a slap. "Don't you ever ever scare me like that again! I thought you were dead!" The mahogany-haired man gave a small chuckle, and Loki looked up, her eyes asking why.

"I guess you know how I feel every time you wind up getting hurt, or lost, or do something stupidly reckless." The Irish lass blushed, and returned Kipperin to his amulet. The winged titan was grumbling to himself about getting his hopes up. Loki apologized, and told him it was an honest mistake. Kipperin forgave her, and muttered something about her making up for it by flying with him later. She agreed, and the amulet hummed contentedly.

The group gathered around the cliff, wondering how they'd find the temple now.

AN: I can just picture Dante's face when he gets slapped. So funny