AN: This is it, peeps! The chapter before I get to start mocking Grier's fashion choices! YAY
The Seeker Within
Chapter 34- Like Father, Unlike Son Part 1
The team decided to wait till the next day to set off for the Argo, spending the evening and early morning relaxing and training. The rising sun found the team spread out along the beach, each absorbed in their tasks. Dante was practicing his martial arts, going through training dances on a rock over looking the sea. Zhalia was sat cross-legged under a tree, studying the tablet that they had found the day before. The youngest member of the team, with the eldest draped around her neck in his usual fox-scarf way, was sat on the end of the pier, her eyes fixed on the amulet cupped in her hand. "Lindorm." Loki said softly, not really knowing if she was talking to Cherit, herself, or the titan. "Lindorm the Dragon."
A flash of colour erupted in her mind, the dragon bursting through her carefully made defenses, seeking the destructive power that she held within herself, the one he held felt when they had Bonded. "You will do, Burning-Brightly." The bear-like creature snarled, green eyes glinting in the darkness. "You will do nicely." He showed her what they could do together, the destruction and havoc they could wield side by side, the deaths they could cause, the world they could conquer, the blood they could spill-
Loki jerked herself away from the titan's mind, barely holding back a scream. She did scream, however, when a bucket of ice cold water was dumped on her head, trickling down her back, sending shivers up her spine. "Hey!" The blonde cried, spinning around the face the grinning boy behind her. "What was that for?"
Will just shrugged, his emerald eyes glinting with a mischief that was more at home in the Irish lass's azure orbs. "I've been trying to get your attention for 10 minutes now. And," He took a quick step back out of reach. "I was bored."
"Will!" Loki complained, shaking her head and sending water droplets flying everywhere. "Did tapping my shoulder not cross your mind?" With a hoarse laugh, Cherit flew from where he was perching, with wings dripping wet, coming back with two towels. After handing one to the blonde, he started rubbing himself dry, struggling with the space between his wings till Will reached out to help the little titan. The azure-eyed girl carefully toweled her hair to a semblance of dryness, sighing and picking at the soggy mess that used to be her clothes. "I'm going to get changed." The brunette behind her smiled, his jade eyes glinting in a way that reminded the blonde too much of the vision Lindorm had just shown her.
Feeling his name on her thoughts, the bear-dragon shimmered inside his amulet, sending green flecks darting from his pendant. Will looked down his surprise, then smiled even wider than before. "Taking Lindorm for a spin?"
The Irish lass grimaced, glancing at the amulet digging into her palm with a barely repressed shudder. "Yeah right."
Will frowned, sensing something other than laziness holding his friend back. "Why not?" He demanded, hands on hips and stubborn look on his face. "You've never invoked him, not even for practice!"
Loki bit her lip, turning Lindorm's amulet over and over in her hands, wondering how much she should or could tell the boy beside her. "This is gonna sound really lame," She began, hesitating before the words started to tumble from her lips like a waterfall of suppressed emotions. "But he kinda intimidates me. If I can't control him, he might- no, he will really hurt someone."
Will's eyes softened, and he patted his friend on the shoulder awkwardly. "Well, lets check him out." He jumped on board the ship that floated beside the pier, picking up the holotome and searching for the dragon with in Loki's amulet. The search soon found Lindorm, and the statistics for the titan were reeled off. Dante, who had walked over during their discussion and caught the end of the holotome's information- the titan's special abilities, Rolling Charge and Wild Spirit.
"And that means his strength in combat makes him worth the trouble." The Casterwill smiled slyly, putting the machine in his hands back where it belonged and sauntering over. The blonde didn't like the look on his face.
"Dante," The brunette almost purred, his emerald eyes glinting. "Don't you think Loki should give him a test run?"
When the russet-haired man nodded, the Irish girl felt her heart sink. "Your focus has improved. Maybe its the sea air?" Damm that boy- he'd gotten her mentor to unknowingly gang up on her! But then, the half-curious, half-worried look in her friend's amber eyes told her that he was going to make her do it at some point. Her fear of the bear-dragon was becoming noticed, and her friends would pressure her till she told them the truth behind her reluctance to summon him before long. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad...
"Alright." Loki sighed, her voice barely more than a whisper. "I'll do it!" Lifting the amulet above her head, green electricity crackling from it in bright and dangerous sparks, the blonde closed her eyes, reaching for all the strength she possessed, thinking she might need it before long. "Lindorm!" She yelled, opening her now green, glowing eyes. "Answer me!"
With a mighty and fearsome roar, the titan appeared in the sea before them. He was twice, no, three times as tall as any man, his lower half a furry tail, his huge arms tipped with massive paws and razor-sharp claws. The scarf of tribal patterns around his throat fluttering in the sea breeze, the titan lowered his head, revealing his long tusks and thorn-like horns, his curved back covered in spines. Ears pricked to hear the slightest sound, he twisted in the water to face his Seeker, showing the gleaming armor that covered his giant shoulders.
"At last we meet, Burning-Brightly. Where are our enemies? Where is the battle, the blood, the pain and fear? Why have you summoned me?"
Will took a step back, away from the titan, and Lindorm turned to face him, his emerald eyes burning with a hellish fire. The Casterwill whistled softly, impressed. "He looks so mean, and powerful."
A moment passed, in which the Seeker and titan gazed deep into each other's souls and eyes, learning more about their new companion. Lindorm was ancient, the markings that adorned his neck now long forgotten by human kind, and he had seen so many battles, been wielded by so many cruel and wicked Seekers that his mind had almost lost all semblance of mercy and, if you could call it so, humanity. With a slight nod, Loki promised herself that she would curb his vicious nature, make him a better titan, someone she could trust.
Lindorm rumbled deep in his throat, finding her will to be stronger than he had first thought, and her power to be twice as great as he had imagined. He knew that, given the chance, they could make the world tremble in fear, but there was an innocence inside the mortal child that made him want to use his power to do things other than killing. He shook off those thoughts, confused. He had been ruthless for so long now, he'd forgotten the feeling of gentleness.
Cherit's hoarse croak broke through the pair's musings, and the blonde jumped when he landed on her shoulder. "Well then, lass, let's see some action!"
"Okay..." The azure-eyed teen looked about for a moment, searching for something none violent that the titan could do. "Lindorm!" The girl called at last, seeing the perfect thing. "Throw that rock," She pointed to a large, rugged thing jutting out of the water just in front of them. "Into the water!"
The titan laughed softly over their Bond, and his eyes gleamed in the sunlight as he reached one huge paw to pull the rock from the sea. He threw it, up and up and up, then smashed it to pieces with his whip-like tail. The majority of shards flew into the sea, peppering the waves with holes that were instantly refilled. A few large chunks were flung towards the group on the pier, and the humans ducked and dived to avoid them.
Will turned to face the blonde teen on the dock, his emerald eyes wide. "That was deliberate! He tried to harm his Seeker!"
Loki glanced at him, her eyes as hard as sapphires. "I know that!" The two men with the girl realized, with some degree of shock, that she was glowing with a soft blue light that seemed to bubble up under her skin, making her hard to look at. Dante's eyes narrowed, and he looked between the teen and her titan with worry. What was going on that made Loki's powers flare up?
In truth, a desperate battle of wills was being fought over the pair's Bond, as each tried to gain dominance over the other. Lindorm sought to use the immense power that he could sense within his Seeker, wanted to influence her to kill and maim and hurt. The blonde tried to force with oppressive strength away from her, trying to find some semblance of control over the bear-dragon. Gathering his will, Lindorm charged at her mental barriers, striking against them. The teen felt a hairline crack along them, felt her strength fade, and pushed him back.
And in the real world, when the girl winced and the titan rocked first forwards, then back in the water, the team noticed the first signs that she was fighting to control him. Zhalia, hearing the commotion, stood up on her rock, eyes slitted at the team on the shoreline. She sighed, reached out her hands towards them, glowing with a pale orange light, and cried: "Thoughtspectre!" Picturing the titan in the water.
A stream of energy flowed from her palms, and from the light a second Lindorm appeared. His shape and colour were twisted, darker and more menacing, and when the massive creature suddenly materialised next to the original Lindorm, Loki jumped, shocked, and lost what little power she had over the titan.
Luckily for her, and the entire team, Lindorm was very territorial, and was quick to defend his land from what he saw as a rival. The two Lindorms met with a mighty crash, grappling with their huge paws and arms, locking horns and curling tails together in attempts to gain the upper hand... or paw as the case may be.
Loki lifted the titan's amulet again, but Dante stayed her hand. "Steady." He murmured quietly, and she nodded, lowering the pendant, but held it at the ready, tense and alert.
Suddenly, the titans broke apart to charge each other, and Zhalia had to release the spell, breathing heavily. The second Lindorm disappeared into flickers of orange light, and the remaining bear-dragon looked around, stunned and surprised. Amber eyes narrowed, Dante nodded to his student. "Do it, Loki!"
"Lindorm!" The blonde called to her titan, shimmering faintly, switching between green fire for her titan and blue mist for herself, and the titan turned to face her, emerald eyes wide at the force and strength in her cry. "Return to me, now!" With one final roar of anger and defiance, Lindorm returned to his amulet, his freedom over... for now.
Sagging slightly, Loki propped herself up against one of the posts on the pier, shivering. She blinked, surprised, when Lindorm called her her through their Bond.
"I will not test you so again. I see your heart is true, and your strength great and mighty, like my own. I will abide by your wishes, and relinquish the bloodlust that my past masters have given me. I am your servant alone now, Burning-Brightly. As you will, I will do."
The azure-eyed girl felt the sincerity in the titan's deep rumble, and clenched her hand around his amulet, the spines along its curved edge digging into her palm. "Betray me, dragon, and you shall remain in your prison till the end of my days. I will never summon you again."
Silence echoed across the Bond before Lindorm sighed. "As you wish, so it shall be. I will not harm an innocent again- unless they try to hurt you."
Outside Loki's head, Will was looking at the spot where the titans had fought, his brow furrowed with thought. "What was that?" He murmured, not liking the idea that someone else had a Lindorm, or that the bear-dragon could duplicate himself.
A snarky, dry voice came from behind them as Zhalia sauntered over, coffee-coloured eyes gleaming with smug pride, dark hair drifting softly on the sea breeze. "Well, don't everyone thank me at once. I finally mastered the illusion power we found." Hands on hips, the Seeker shot her friends a cocky smile, and Loki whooped whilst the boys just smiled.
"That's fantastic! I'm sure that'll be a great help!"
Surprisingly, Will agreed. "Yeah, that's great. She can use illusions now. Brilliant." He fell quiet, thinking of all the ways she could deceive them now, and added it to his Reasons-Not-To-Trust-Zhalia list. It was getting rather big now.
Dante just grinned, his amber eyes saying everything for him. The blue-haired woman barely stopped herself from blushing at the proud look in his eyes, one that was more often directed to his students, and shook a tapered finger at the blonde beside him.
"You know, Loki, Lindorm is a violent titan." The teen rolled her azure eyes and muttered something like 'And don't I know it'. Smiling coyly, Zhalia went on, her tone half-mocking, half-warning. "You'll have to think destructive thoughts to control him." With a sigh, Loki nodded her agreement, and the mocha-orbed Seeker grinned. "Now don't we have a mission to get back to?"
The russet-haired man nodded, excitement and the prospect of finishing the mission and getting home lighting up his face. "That's right! We set of for the Argo today!" In one leap, he cleared the railing of the boat and nearly scampered up to the controls, waiting impatiently for his team. Loki sighed, rolling her eyes, although all four of them left behind were in awe of the older human's energy. The blonde thought to herself, sniggering, that if he had a tail, it would be wagging.
Laughing softly, the Irish lass climbed aboard the ship, her teammates following, Will looking more than slightly displeased at the thought of more days at sea, his face already turning as green as his eyes at the thought.
AN: Though this is all one scene, I wanted to dedicate an entire chapter to what has happened to Grier since we last met the blond. That guy is so... weird, and yet so completely honourable...