Nina Vale: Yeah, you knew it. I thought it might be easy to figure it out. I gave you enough hints.

D.N.S Akina: Really? You had kind of figured it out already.

Disclaimer: I do not own "Huntik."

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Chapter 11: A Selfless Sacrifice

"I think that Renee might really be Serena, my twin sister."

"Your WHAT!?"

Lok, Den, and Harrison all had their mouths open and were staring at Sophie, who had flinched as they'd screamed those two words. Zhalia, Cherit, and Grier were looking at her with curious faces, wanting to know the story behind this. Wilder just looked like he wanted to run out of the house and find Renee.

"Why did you not tell us you had a twin sister!?" Lok demanded to know.

"I thought she had died in the same fire that killed my parents," Sophie answered in as calm a voice as she could muster, "just like how I thought Lucas had also died, so I didn't think it was worth it to tell any of you."

"But you survived the fire," Zhalia pointed out, "and so did Lucas, so it makes sense that Serena could have survived as well."

"I only survived because of Santiago," Sophie reminded her, "and I don't know how Lucas survived."

"Why do you think Renee is your sister?" Grier asked. "Aside from the fact that she looks exactly like you."

"My parents died in a fire," Sophie began, "fourteen years ago at our summer house in Paris."

"And I found Renee fourteen years ago in Paris, looking like she had just come out of a fire," Wilder chimed in. Sophie nodded.

"Also," she continued, "when every Casterwill child turns three years of age, they receive their first Titan to bond with. Lucas was given Templar, I got Sabriel, and Serena received Pegasus. She always did like horses."

"Only one way to know for sure," Zhalia said as she stood up. "We give Renee a test that will prove whether or not she has Casterwill blood."

Sophie and Wilder stood up, and Wilder took the locket back from Grier, putting it in his pocket to give back to Renee. As the four humans and Cherit moved towards the door, Zhalia noticed that the boys were still standing there with their mouths hanging open. Rolling her eyes, she turned to them.

"Close your mouths before a bug flies in," she said. The boys immediately snapped their jaws shut. "Good. Now, you can either stay here in your shock or you can come with us and meet the girl in person."

The boys had barely taken a step towards the door when a loud explosion rang out. Running outside, everyone saw a large pillar of smoke coming from the mansion. Grier, who had memorized the layout of the mansion and knew where every room was, paled slightly as he realized where the smoke was coming from.

Sure enough, a familiar figure emerged from the cloud of smoke, running towards the water. Renee's hands were still cuffed, but now they were in front of her, and she held her trio of amulets in her hand. Crouching down on the ground for a moment, she picked the lock on the cuffs and they sprang open. Throwing them away, she started running towards the water again when an unfamiliar voice rang out.

"Touchram!"

The power hit Renee in the back and she stumbled, falling to her knees. Looking back, she watched in horror as another figure walked out of the smoke. This one, however, was unfamiliar to the Seekers watching. It was a man, with white skin and short, dark brown hair. He wore a deep-blue shirt, black pants, and a white lab coat. His eyes were dark, almost black, and they were looking at Renee with a mixture of anger, determination, and lust. Renee shivered.

"Come on, my pretty little mare," he said, trying to make his voice soft and friendly, but failing. His voice reminded everyone of a spider web: innocent enough to look at and pretty at times, but a nightmare was hiding in the shadows, waiting to pounce on whatever unsuspecting victim fell into its trap. "Let's end all of this pointless drama and just go home."

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Carter!" Renee shouted at him, trying to sound brave to mask her fear of this man. "And I am not yours!" Raising one of her amulets above her head, an upside-down gold horseshoe with a blue gem in the center and a pair of orange wings, she summoned the Titan resting in it. "Pegasus, hold him back!"

The Titan that emerged was a white horse with large and beautiful silver wings. His mane, tail, and hooves were also silver. His blue eyes shined down on the man who dared to try and force his will upon his Seeker, hatred coming out of them in waves.

The man before him, apparently named Carter, merely smirked, not intimidated by this Titan. He raised two amulets of his own and called out, "Gigadrone, Redcap." The Titans came out and charged, with the two flying Titans beginning to battle and Redcap running straight for the girl.

Renee began to focus on the battle, the Redcap not giving her a second to call forth any more Titans. The Seekers watching, coming out of their shock, began to run towards them, Wilder taking the lead. Noticing them, Carter pulled something else out of his coat.

"Shadowspeed!" Wilder said, putting on a burst of magical speed in order to reach his daughter in time.

He got close enough to see just what Carter had pulled out. What Wilder had thought would be another amulet turned out to be a gun. His thoughts immediately went to his daughter. He put on another burst of speed and ran in between his daughter and the man with the gun just as Carter pulled the trigger.

BANG!

A shot rang out, and the Huntik team and Grier finally reached the sight. Zhalia shot a Raypulse at Carter, forcing the man to drop his gun, which was picked up by Cherit, but it was too late. Renee turned around after shooting one more power towards the Redcap, sending it back to its amulet. She didn't see the man who had been hunting her for so long, nor the prince who had questioned her earlier that day, nor the team of Seekers who defeated the Gigadrone and surrounded Carter, powers aimed and ready to be fired if he tried something.

She only saw her father, the one who had found her and adopted her when she had no one and nothing, the one who had raised her and taught her how to be a Seeker, the one whom she had been taken from, the one she loved with all her heart. . .

. . . and the one who now had a huge red mark on his stomach, one that was growing with the increasing amount of blood escaping from the wound.

The bullet had found a mark.

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Another cliffhanger! Keep watching out for the next chapter to find out what happens. For now, please review. . .

. . . and please don't shoot me!