Chapter 2: Casterwill Family
In the end, the teenagers got surrounded with suits and their Titans.
Dante saw this unfold as he was still standing on the roof of one of the houses.
"They just keep coming!" the boy called out as both of them were out of breath. Even the Suits were more experienced then both of the teens together.
"Guess I can only do one thing now. Fight with me, Sabriel!"
A female warrior Titan in pinkish and purple tones appeared from the amulet, with a golden saber.
'Appropriate name for the Titan, I guess.' the 24-year-old thought as he saw the fight unfold.
The girl seemed to have a small level of experience, while the boy had none. He was most likely to only just have found out about his powers.
"Keep them safe, Caliban!"
The Meso warrior he'd called, long sleek white hair & brown and grey armor, jumped down into the fight, making sure the boy was protected.
With Caliban now into the fight, it was easy to at least defeat the two Redcap Titans. Two against two was way fairer than two against one, even if that one was a stronger Titan.
The blonde boy looked up to where the Titan had come from, and saw Dante standing on the rooftop.
Cherit was with him, as Dante saw when he jumped down.
"Who're you?" the kid asked.
"Dante Vale, I saw you met Alyna already."
"She kinda saved us some problems by chasing some of those guys away. Guess I'll have to thank her when we're at Sophie's house. We promised to meet up there."
The brunet nodded. He'd knew his wife would get there, one way or another.
Suddenly, a Suit fell from a roof, lading on their back. Next fell a Mindrone, disappeared into red mist, as did a third Redcap.
This was all only moments before the two Suits Sophie was fighting got hit with a sickly green spell that knocked them out immediately.
Their eyes looked up, finding Alyna coming down from the roof, silver lining surrounding her feet, making sure she landed softly onto the concrete below.
"That escalated quickly." Lok said. "Thanks for the help."
"No worries. We should go, and fast, before some more Suits follow us."
As they went to the girl's, Sophie's home, Dante got a look at the boy's father's diary that held secrets that could lead to Legendary Titans and the Amulet of Will.
The kid himself was Lok Lambert, son of Eathon Lambert, a Seeker who disappeared a decade ago.
Suits had most likely surrounded his dorm room by now, searching for any clue that could lead to the diary.
The Professor wanted it, of that Dante was sure. The Amulet of Will could give the guy unlimited power.
Sophie's home itself was grand, more like a mansion than a normal house.
"You live here?" Lok asked as the four of them plus Cherit walked through the doors. "It's huge!"
"I am the heir to the Casterwill family fortune, I'm therefor expected to live up to certain standards." The strawberry blonde replied. "A dorm room doesn't exactly cut it."
At that moment, a sharply dressed somewhat older man entered. "Right this way, young masters, miss."
"This is my attendant LeBlanche. He'll show you to the tea room."
"Fancy!" Cherit exclaimed.
As they were walking, Dante whispered. "Did you not tell her you're a Casterwill as well?"
"Not yet." Alyna replied. "But Sophie already knows we're married, she saw our wedding photo."
The 24-year-old wasn't very happy about that, but at least it wasn't some stranger who could end up doing harm to their life, a Casterwill was a Casterwill, they were family.
As they were seated, and Lok was looking at some of the paintings on the wall, the green-eyed woman started speaking: "Lok, have you been able to think about what I've told you?"
Lok looked down at the Titan in his hand, it was a Gaia-Titan from what Dante could instantly see. "I don't think there's much logic in running, is there? These Suits will just keep coming interfering with any sort of normal life. So… I guess I'll have to take you up on your offer."
Dante's eyebrow rose. "What did you offer him?"
"To teach him. Well, me and you." his wife said. "You're the best at field work, I'll teach him the ins and outs of the Archive and to rely on certain instincts."
"It's possible to do so, but we're not exactly well on the money to take care of an extra person. And Seeker life is not exactly cheap." he argued.
Green eyes stared dead at him. "Money won't be problem."
An eyebrow went up. "How can you be so certain?"
Alyna smiled. "You forget again, I'm also a Casterwill. A different House than Sophie might be, but there's still enough money. And I'm sure Metz will be willing to help out, he's always willing to help the Seekers who take in youngsters to train."
"You're also a Casterwill?" Sophie had suddenly just popped up, staring in shock at the other woman in the room.
"It is my maiden name, yes." the green-eyed woman replied. "I'm from the Casterwill House of Strategists, one out of four still existing Casterwill Houses. The others are the House of Knowledge, the House of Nobles and the House of Blade Makers."
"And… do you know of which House I could be?" the strawberry blonde asked.
"Hard to say by just looking at you. But maybe if you know your parents' names or where you grew up, I could go into the archives."
Sophie was smiling from ear to ear, only seconds later she erupted in tears and hugged Alyna tightly.
Alyna just let her cry her tears, hearing muffled 'thank you's.
Dante smiled at the scene. At least the girl could learn more about her family, as well as its secrets and legends. His gaze turned to the boy, who was also smiling, he was happy for Sophie to have found a fellow Casterwill.
In the far corner, LeBlanche was watching the scene with awe in his eyes.
Little Sophie had found a fellow Casterwill, someone who would be able to teach her more about Seeker life, as well as other members of her family.
The woman herself seemed to carry herself with grace of nobility and was a strong Seeker from what he'd heard from the Foundation. There were several powerful Titans in her arsenal, and she was just as book smart as Sophie was. They'd do good together.
After their school the next day, and a horrible history test, Dante brought the two teens to the library, where his wife had already started with searching for information. Both she and Sophie would look for things mentioned in the diary, while he himself would start training Lok.
"A Seeker's power source, is the strength of will dwelling in his heart and mind." Cherit said.
"It lets you use powers and invoke Titans." Dante added.
Cherit then picked a book from a shelf. "When you touched your father's amulet yesterday, it triggered your Seeker powers."
Lok took the amulet from his pocket. "It's not doing much today though. You don't think I broke it, do you?"
"That amulet's tricky for a beginner. The effects you felt yesterday was most likely due to a jumpstart." The brunet said, picking a second book from another shelf on the other side of the room where Lok was standing.
Then Cherit said: "Maybe if you master the basics, Dante will let you give that amulet a go."
That seemed to encourage Lok. "Okay, let's do this!"
"The key to powers is controlling them on command." he said calmly. "Like this. Watch me."
He lifted his right hand into the air. "Boltflare!"
An orange-yellow light appeared in his hand.
"Now you try."
The blonde tried, but nothing much came of it. He sighed in defeat.
Dante scratched himself in his hair. "Strange. Even a Seeker half your age should be able to conjure a candle light."
"What it takes is hard work and study, which is not Lok's strongest point."
As soon as Sophie made that comment, Alyna gave her a stern look. "We don't talk down to other people. Some are just better at studying; others are better at learning it in practical situations." then she turned to Lok. "Do you still have the amulet I gave you yesterday?"
"Yeah, it was a Freelancer, right?" the boy took it from his pocket and took a better look at it. "Yeah… Come on Freelancer!"
After a single second, the amulet started glowing yellowish, and brightly so.
Sophie was staring in shock, while Alyna and Dante were looking at him with pride.
The Titan appeared right on the railing of the upper floor, where the two women were sitting. It turned and jumped down, standing right in front of Lok.
"He's asking me what I want."
"That's called the Bond. Titans don't usually talk, Cherit here being the exception. It's how Seeker and Titan communicate." Dante explained as the two women came down the stairs to the first floor. "Have you two found anything?"
"The journal mentions something about the amulet sleeping with the Golem. Thus, we're searching for a book that contains the Legend of the Golem of Prague." Alyna replied.
"Wait! I think I know where that book is!" Sophie said and ran back upstairs.
"Well, there's a reason Prague is called the city of Mysteries among Seekers." the brunet said. "It's a dangerous place to begin a treasure hunt like the one we're on."
This got Lok excited. "Does this mean we'll be going to Prague?"
"Probably. How do you feel about it?" Dante looked at his wife.
The auburn-haired woman thought for a moment. "It's dangerous, yes, but Seekers don't back away from danger so easily. It could also be a good training for the two of them, practice does make perfect."
"No!" a voice suddenly yelled, turning their attention to a man dressed in Asian style grey robes with a long braid of brown hair and a patch on his forehead. He had a long stick behind his back. "Prague is too dangerous; my Lady will not go!"
"You must be Santiago, Sophie's bodyguard." Dante said.
"I took an oath to keep Sophie safe, but in such a city, even I won't be able to protect her. I will not let you recklessly endanger her life!" and he pointed with his finger at Mr. Vale.
"You've got to take that up with her, but she doesn't strike me as the type to easily change her mind."
"This is between me and you." The bodyguard interrupted, swinging the bamboo staff. "and there's only one way to know what you're made off."
Alyna pulled Lok backwards, Cherit on Lok's shoulder.
"If you wanna dance, I can show you some steps." as he said so, the brunet grabbed the stick of the cleaning broom to use it as a fighting staff.
The auburn-haired woman knew that her husband would most likely win this duel, seeing as Dante always had some sort of tricks on his sleeve. She turned to Lok. "I'm going to help Sophie finding that book, the faster we find it, the faster we can get out of here." And she too ran back up the stairs.
"What's going on downstairs?" Sophie asked, she too hearing the clattering of sticks.
"Just your bodyguard thinking you can't make a proper decision, nothing else." Alyna replied.
Sophie's green eyes widened in horror. "Oh no!"
"Don't worry." the older woman told her. "Dante's got it under control, I'm confident he'll use one of his back up tricks to gain some sort of upper hand. He's not gonna cripple Santiago if that's what you think."
"It's just that I said something stupid this morning." the strawberry blonde said. "It's just that I find Dante to be… attractively secretive."
Alyna just smiled.
"You're not angry?"
"Why would I be? You're hardly the only young Seeker who's got a crush on my husband. It's more or less flattering that my choice of partner is so wanted, because I know he'll always come back to me."
"You're pretty sure of that." Sophie commented.
The auburn-haired Seeker shrugged. "It's just the way Dante is, incredibly loyal when he commits. Especially now we're trying for a child of our own."
"That would actually be cute." there was a little pause. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize. We just gotta find that book before the Organization gets here. We don't have much time left."
Alyna had been right, they had less than two hours before sundown, the usual time for the Organization to strike. Though it wouldn't really surprise her if they'd come earlier. As long as the streets were empty enough to not leave any witnesses.
It was when they found a reference to the Seeker Jodis Lore that the Organization stormed in.
It was Defoe again, with Grier, and about three dozen Suits, if not more.
"Great, there they are already." the older woman turned to the teenager. "Search quick, we'll take care of these." and both older Seekers jumped down to end up in the middle.
Mindrones and Redcaps were invoked.
Dante invoked Caliban, the Titan he most often fought with.
Then, Santiago joined the fight, getting some suits out of the way.
"Thanks for covering me." Dante said.
"I still don't trust you." the bodyguard said.
Alyna didn't pay the Suits much attention, but appreciated Lok taking care of them with buckets. It was when Grier invoked Breaker and Defoe Kreutalk, that she too invoked a Titan or two.
"Fight for what is right, Wolf Knight!" and the blue furred wolf in red armor with spikes appeared before them in a pinkish light, standing protective with its Seeker.
"Effulge them in fire and ash, Kerosan!" and in a red fire-like light, the Asian female warrior with red skin in a white kimono adorned with flames and a pair of samurai swords appeared.
Kerosan fought the lesser Titans, two attacks were enough to send them back to their amulets. And together with Shinobi, Santiago's Titan, they easily took out Defoe's Kreutalk before any acid attack could take place.
The library was somewhat of a mess due to the Seeker fight, but the Huntik Foundation would most likely pay Venice for any damages the fight would cost in the end.
Upstairs, Sophie was still going through the books. She knew she had to be fast, the Organization was closing in on her, quite literally.
Suddenly, a Wolf Knight appeared in front of them, howling at the two intruders and their Redcaps.
This type of Titans was pretty Seeker specific, Organization Seekers would never be able to control a Wolf Knight, as they were honorable fighters.
"Uhm… are you done already?" Lok asked as he was being cornered. "We can't hold them off the whole night!"
"Just one more minute!" she called.
Then, the wolf jumped in front of Lok, cutting both Redcaps in the abdominal area, causing their legs and upper halves to split.
"Well, that was a good save." the blonde remarked before hearing a scream. He turned around to see a Suit standing in front of Sophie, ready to strike.
As soon as the guy said 'raypulse' to wound Sophie, Kerosan jumped in front to get the hit, sending her back to her amulet.
Caliban soon just punched the guy in the face from the side.
Alyna had quickly ran up the stairs. "We've got to get going, immediately." then she looked down, before looking at Caliban. "Can you throw some book cases down and hit some suits for a distraction?"
The grey Titan gave a curt nod before doing so.
"Uh… why does Caliban act upon your orders if he's Dante's Titan?"
"I explain later, but we need to leave immediately."
They did leave the library unharmed, but Sophie lost one of the books on their way out. Defoe most likely would've picked it up to see what they'd found, but it didn't matter anymore at that moment, what mattered is that they got out without much of a scratch!
As decided before, they were going to fly to Prague. From Marco Polo Airport, to be exact. Sophie was buying their tickets, as she and Alyna had agreed to split the costs. First Sophie would pay for a trip, then Alyna, then Sophie again, and on, and on, and on.
"I can't wait to see Prague," Lok commented. "it'd be nice to get away from this Suit infested city."
Dante turned around and put his rucksack with Cherit in it down. "Prague's a hundred times worse."
"Oh, come on!" and the teen sat down on the ground, with his head in his hands.
"Organization's headquarters are there." Alyna told. "Not something we can do anything about."
Lok stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom, before I have to go on the plane." And he left the pair of older Seekers alone.
"Do you really want to come?" Dante asked.
She nodded. "We're partners Dante, no matter if the Organization already suspects something's between us. It's all pure speculation, any spies within the Foundation will only read we're partnered Seekers, nothing more."
"How did you get that done? Even I couldn't convince Metz to change our documented status."
The auburn-haired woman smiled. "Some connections Teien has."
"Your cousin really knows how to make our lives easier." and the brunet kissed his wife on the cheek, simple and pretty innocent if anyone saw.