Nina Vale: I've never actually sang to someone while they were dying, or severely wounded like Wilder, but I like the idea of it. Hopefully, I will never have to.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Huntik."
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Chapter 13: Sisters
Renee slept for the rest of day and on into the morning. When she woke up, there was a girl setting a vase of flowers on the table next to Wilder's bed. She was wearing a maroon top, maroon arm sleeves, and a pink skirt. She had long, light-brown hair, and green eyes. When she turned to face Renee, the waking girl knew exactly who she was.
"Sophie Casterwill, I'm assuming?" she asked. The girl nodded.
"You assume correct," Sophie said. "How did you know who I was?"
"When you get mistaken for someone," Renee explained, "and then you meet someone who looks just like you, or very similar, well, I can do the math." Sophie smiled.
"I'm surprised you're not questioning why there's someone who looks exactly like you," she commented. Renee smiled back.
"They say that everyone has a double somewhere in this world," she said. "I guess you're mine. That, or you're really my twin sister that I didn't know I had because I don't have any memories before my dad found me." The smile left Sophie's face. Renee's smile quickly followed.
"You're not far off," Sophie said. "I did have a twin sister, but I thought she was dead." Quickly, Sophie told Renee about Serena and the fire that had killed their parents and the Titans that each Casterwill child receives at age three. "You have to admit, it's too much of a coincidence to be anything else."
"I don't believe in coincidences," Renee said. "Four years of my life are missing, and the pieces of the puzzle are all there. I just can't remember what the final picture looks like." Her hand went to her amulets, specifically Pegasus, and she was silent, looking as though she was listening to some voice that only she could hear. "Pegasus tells me that I really am Serena," she said after a moment. "I prefer 'Renee' though, if you don't mind."
Sophie shook her head, indicating that she didn't mind at all, and the girls sat in silence for a while. The revelation that they were twins was drowned out by the depressing atmosphere of the hospital room. A doctor came in once to check on Wilder's condition. Nothing had changed, and the time passed slowly and in silence. Sophie went to the cafeteria and came back with some fruit and muffins for the two of them to share. Renee didn't eat much. All of her attention was on her father.
"The doctors say that I should just let him die," Renee finally said, breaking the silence. "He saved my life, more than once since I met him, and yet I can do nothing to save him."
Sophie stared at her sister for a minute, then down at the face of the sleeping man. She thought back to all of her encounters with Wilder, lingering on the last couple of days. In that moment, she knew that she had to find a way to save him, not just for her sister, but for the man that she knew was hiding in there: the man that Renee knew, the man that Sophie was just beginning to know.
As night fell, and visiting hours came to an end, a doctor came in and told the girls that they had to leave, and that they could come back in the morning. Renee tried to protest, especially since the doctors hadn't made her leave the day before, but Sophie was finally able to convince her to leave.
"I don't think your father would want you to waste away in here," she said.
Renee wanted to tell Sophie that she knew nothing about what her father would want, except she knew that it was true. She followed Sophie, who led her to a Huntik Foundation safehouse where they could rest. Renee almost immediately fell asleep on one of the beds while Sophie sat awake on the other bed and pulled out her Cypherdex.
"Cypherdex," she whispered, not wanting to wake Renee, "give me everything you have on healing powers and Titans with healing abilities."
The first few results were powers that she already knew, like Everfight, but then a Titan's name came up which caught her eye. She researched it more, trying to learn all she could about it, and eventually fell asleep. Her Cypherdex, sensing that its mistress would not be using it again for a while, turned off.
Sophie woke up around nine in the morning. Looking around, she noticed that Renee was not there. Guessing where she had gone, Sophie got dressed and headed for the hospital, making a few calls as she walked. When she got to Wilder's room, she saw Renee sitting there on her father's right side, holding his hand. She didn't even look up when Sophie walked in. She just kept staring at her father, dried tear marks on her face.
"Hey, sis," Renee said.
"Hey." Sophie pulled up a chair and sat opposite of her twin. A moment of silence passed before she spoke again. "Renee, have you ever heard of the Titan Alicorn?"
"Yes," Renee answered. "It's the Titan that inspired the legends of unicorns. According to my research, it has miraculous healing abilities. If you're thinking about using it to heal my dad, I already thought about that. My research unfortunately didn't give any clues as to the Titan's location."
"It's at Huntik Foundation Headquarters in New York."
Renee's head snapped up and she looked at Sophie, curiosity, doubt, and a bit of hope in her eyes.
"How do you know that?" she asked.
"I did my own research last night," Sophie answered. "It was found a few hundred years ago, remaining in possession of a single Seeker family until the Foundation was formed, when it was given to them for safekeeping." She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "My research also told me that hundreds of Seekers have tried to bond with Alicorn and none have succeeded. There is a chance that it will refuse to help you."
"If there is even a chance that my father could be saved," Renee began, "then I'm going to take it." She started to stand up, but then sat back down again and looked at Wilder. "I can't leave him. The doctors already want to pull the plug. If I just leave him like this. . ." She couldn't even finish saying it.
"Don't worry," Sophie said, standing up. "I've got it covered."
She went over to the door and waved. Not thirty seconds later, Den and Harrison walked into the room.
"We'll keep an eye on him for you," Den said.
"If any of the doctors try anything, they'll be the ones who will need a doctor," Harrison added.
Renee didn't say anything. She just ran up to the two boys and hugged them. Sophie laughed a bit when she saw that both Den and Harrison were blushing. They both glared at her.
"I don't know how long this is going to take, so. . ." Renee began to say after letting the boys go.
"Not a problem," Sophie interrupted. "They'll switch out with Lok and Zhalia in two hours. They've all agreed to take shifts until we come back."
Renee almost started crying again, but she took a deep breath instead. Now was not the time for tears.
"Thank you," she said before turning to Sophie. "Let's go. I don't want to leave my dad any longer than I have to."
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Seekers, we have a mission.
To find out how the mission goes, please review.
P.S.: I won't be able to update next Friday. I will be in Oregon celebrating Thanksgiving with my grandparents, and I will not have access to my laptop. Even if I did, the Internet connection isn't very good up there. I will update as soon as I get the chance after that. Please be patient.
