Nina Vale: The mission is on. There will be more Casterwill reunions in future chapters. Muahahahahahaha!
Disclaimer: I do not own "Huntik."
I'm sorry this is a day late, but, as I said at the end of the last chapter, I was on vacation and didn't have access to my computer. I will update next Friday like I normally do. For now, enjoy!
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Chapter 14: The Mission – Part 1
Sophie and Renee jogged to an isolated beach with a wooden dock. A pier stretched out and into the water. The girls ran to the very end of it. Looking around to make sure they were alone, Renee pulled out an amulet.
It looked like an upside-down gold horseshoe, with a blue gem in the middle and surrounded by orange waves.
"Help us, Hippocampus!"
Renee invoked the Titan, which appeared in a flash of sea-green light. The light disappeared below the water for a moment, then the Hippocampus jumped out of the water like a dolphin, spraying the girls with water. It dived back into the water and then came back up and swam to the pier. The horse part, which consisted of the head, the front legs, and the torso, was about the size of a very large draft horse. The tail stretched out behind it for a few more yards. The Hippocampus shimmered with scales that were shades of purple, pink, blue, yellow, and green. Its front legs and head were lined with fins of different shapes and sizes (A/N: Basically, just picture the Hippocampus from "Percy Jackson.").
The Hippocampus turned to the side and stayed still as the girls got on, with Renee sitting in front and Sophie right behind her. As soon as the girls were settled, Hippocampus dove under the water and started swimming towards New York.
The girls should have been freezing due to the temperature of the Atlantic Ocean, but they didn't feel any cold at all. They both held their breath at first, but, when they couldn't hold it in anymore, they started breathing normally and found that they could breathe as easily as if they were on dry land, just like Wilder had said. While it took planes a few hours to travel across the Atlantic and it took quite a few days for ships to travel the same distance, only an hour passed before the girls found themselves flying past the Statue of Liberty.
Hippocampus took the girls to a pier that was blocked off from any spectators, so they didn't have to worry about anyone seeing them. The girls got off, surprised to find themselves completely dry, and Renee called back Hippocampus to its amulet. They walked away from the beach and into the city, with Sophie leading the way since she knew where they were supposed to go.
"How are we going to get the amulet?" Renee asked. "Are we going to sneak in or something?"
"No," Sophie answered. "I called a friend on the Huntik Council, explaining the situation, and he agreed to take us to the Titan."
"Who is he?"
"Dante Vale."
"The Huntik Foundation's number one Seeker?" Renee asked. "You know him?"
"I met him two years ago," Sophie answered. "He was our team's leader. After we defeated the Blood Spirals, he was offered a place on the Huntik Council."
"Who are the Blood Spirals?"
Sophie explained to Renee about Casterwill and the Betrayer, the Spiral Mark that had first summoned the Nullifiers to Earth, how the Blood Spirals were the Betrayer's followers and wanted to bring back the Nullifiers, and how they were the ones who had burned their home and killed their parents, causing them to become separated. When Sophie told her about her encounters with Kiel, ending with his defeat, Renee smiled.
"He should count his blessings that you got to him before I did," she said. "I would've ripped that guy to pieces." Sophie laughed.
The conversation would have continued, except that they had reached Huntik Foundation HQ. The girls walked in and were immediately greeted by Dante and Teien.
"Welcome, Sophie and Serena Casterwill," Teien said.
"Who are you and how do you know my true identity?" Renee asked, hoping she didn't sound too rude.
"Teien Casterwill," the woman said, taking off her mask. "Elder of the Casterwill House of Strategists and member of the Huntik Council."
"How did you know we were coming?" Sophie asked. She had only called Dante, and had asked him to keep it all a secret until Renee was ready to reveal herself.
"She has the phone lines tapped," Dante answered with an apologetic smile. "I don't know what the key words are, but you said them."
"I'd love to keep chatting," Renee said before someone else could say something, "but every second I waste is another second taken away from my father's life."
Dante nodded, then led the way to the amulet storage rooms, the women following him every step of the way. They reached the room reserved for Titans that were difficult to bond with, stored in small safes that lined the walls. There weren't very many that had amulets in them. Dante opened one of the safes and took out an amulet, handing it to Renee.
The amulet of Alicorn was very similar to the amulets of Hippocampus and Pegasus: an upside-down horseshoe with a gem in the middle. The differences were the colors and the decoration beyond the horseshoe. The horseshoe was dark gray and the gem was pink. Surrounding the horseshoe was a steel-blue, eight-pointed star.
Renee was silent for a minute, looking at the amulet. The others were waiting for a reaction. After a while, Sophie spoke up.
"Is something wrong?" she asked. "Did the Titan not bond?" Renee shook her head and blinked her eyes, as if she were coming out of a trance.
"Sorry, what?" Renee didn't seem to notice that she had been frozen.
"I know you have a lot of hope riding on this Titan," Dante said, "but please remember that Alicorn has turned away hundreds of Seekers. It may choose not to bond with you."
"I don't care if it doesn't want to bond with me!" Renee shouted, a few tears escaping her eyes. "I just want to save my father!"
At that moment, a golden light began to emanate from the amulet, surrounding Renee and making her glow. There was a blinding flash, and everyone covered their eyes. When they looked back up, there was a Titan standing in the room.
Alicorn was pure white, with a golden mane, tail, and hooves. A horn, just over one foot long and shining like diamonds, protruded from the middle of her forehead. She looked at each of the Seekers in turn, her eyes resting at last on Renee.
Seeker and Titan gazed into each others' eyes for several silent moments. The audience members, holding their breaths, were just waiting for a reaction of some kind. Finally, Alicorn took a step back and bowed to Renee. After a few seconds of shock, Renee curtsied back. As she stood back up, Alicorn returned to her amulet and Renee turned to face the others.
"She bonded with me," the girl whispered. "She can save my dad."
"Then we'd better hurry back to Velos," Sophie said. Renee just nodded before following her out of the storage room.
Dante and Teien guided the girls back to the entrance, wishing them luck on their return trip. As the girls ran off into the city, the two members of the Huntik Council turned back to see the rest of the Council members standing there with shocked looks on their faces.
"There's two of them?" Metz asked.
Dante rolled his eyes as he prepared what to say to his mentor.
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They have the amulet. Now it's time to save Wilder.
I'll explain later a little bit about why Alicorn refused so many Seekers. Until then, please review.