emyy220: No, Lucas is not going to die of alcohol poisoning.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Huntik."
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Chapter 22: Starting Over
The next morning, everyone flew home.
Although Grier had now given Wilder permission to leave the island at anytime, he had decided to stay on Sutos. He didn't think he'd be able to go back to the life he'd been living the last two years, seeing as how he no longer was trying to become leader of the Organization. Plus, Renee was loving the island. And so they slowly had all their belongings shipped over from Prague and settled down in the house Grier had given them, the same house the Huntik team had stayed in.
After catching Renee hanging around the stables several times, Grier finally gave her a job there. Her task was to tame and train young horses, which wasn't an easy job and one that had caused many previous employees to quit. But Renee didn't give up. She was a pretty darn good rider, and no horse was ever able to buck her off. She was gentle with them, but also firm, but not so firm as to be considered cruel. She had horses trained with a saddle and bridle within a week.
The fact that she was able to communicate with them helped a lot, especially with the more difficult horses. As it turned out, Pegasus, Hippocampus, and Alicorn were siblings. Bonding with one or two of them would allow a Seeker to sense the thoughts of the animals around them. Bonding with all three allowed the Seeker to actually talk with the animals and be able to understand them. When a Seeker didn't have all three, which animals they could read depended on the Titan. Pegasus gave you a connection with air creatures, Hippocampus with water creatures, and Alicorn with land creatures. Renee now had the whole trio.
The Huntik team had promised to visit, and they kept that promise. The first time they visited, the Casterwill elders joined them so that they could officially meet Renee. Sophie led them to the "Wild House," as Renee called their home in her emails and phone calls, and caught the occupants in the middle of a training session.
"Poisonfang!"
Renee leapt out of the way and shot a Touchram at Wilder, who dodged and pulled out two amulets.
"Incubane, Grand Façade!"
The Titans emerged from their amulets and landed on either side of Renee, who barely glanced at them as she smirked at her father.
"Only two Titans, Dad? You insult me." She pulled out an amulet of her own: a brown, right-side up horseshoe with a red gem in the middle and surrounded by a gold circle. "Make them fear, Night Mares!"
Three Titans emerged from the amulet: horses made from black sand with glowing golden eyes (A/N: just picture the Night Mares that Pitch uses in "Rise of the Guardians"). Immediately, two of the Night Mares completely surrounded Wilder's Titans, who began to cower and fell to their knees before returning to their amulets. The Night Mares then stood behind Renee, facing Wilder and waiting for their Mistress' next command.
"The Night Mares can sense the fears of any Titan or Seeker," Renee explained, "and traps them in a dream-like state where they are put into a situation that makes those fears come to life. The only way to escape the simulation is to conquer those fears. It's like the final test for Dauntless Initiates."
"You always were a Divergent fan," Wilder said.
"I'm not just a fan of Divergent," Renee said with a smile. "I am Divergent."
"I don't doubt it." Wilder turned and noticed their audience. "Enjoying the show?"
"I'm enjoying watching my twin sister kick your butt, if that's what you mean," Sophie said with a smile.
"Not that hard to do," Renee said as she called back the Night Mares. "He's not challenging enough for me."
"Is he supposed to be training you," Lok asked, "or are you training him?"
"Please keep in mind that I'm the one who trained her to be a Seeker in the first place," Wilder said.
"I'm still a stronger Seeker than you," Renee reminded him.
"Those two years must have taught you a lot," Harrison suggested.
"I could kick his butt even before I was kidnapped. The teacher can't fail the student for being smarter than they are."
"I beg to differ," Wilder said with a frown and a distant look I his eyes, one that Renee had seen plenty of times. She knew that he was thinking back to his childhood as an orphan in America.
"I thought the Night Mares were under a curse," Viviane said, looking at Renee. "It prevented anyone from taking them from their resting place. How did you get them?"
"It was one of the tests that the scientists gave me after I was kidnapped," Renee explained as she and Wilder led everyone into the house. "There was a curse on them: anyone who so much as touched the amulet was sent into a deep sleep, where they had to face each and every one of their greatest fears."
"Isn't that what the Night Mares already do to their enemies?" Focauld asked. As Elder of the House of Knowledge, he was very interested in what Renee was saying. The Rune Guardian was also listening closely.
"Yes," Renee answered, "but the Titans and/or Seekers know that what they're experiencing isn't real. That wasn't the case with the curse." By now, the group had entered the house. As everyone else took a seat around the living room, Renee got out a plate of lemon bars that she had baked fresh that morning. She continued her story after placing the treats with easy reach of everyone. "The curse convinced your mind that what you were experiencing was actually happening to you. Plus, as I said before, the curse made you experience each and every one of your greatest fears. The Night Mares, during battle, only make you experience one or two."
"What happened to those who were unable to escape the curse's simulation?" Teien asked.
"They died," Renee stated. "If they couldn't overcome their fears, then they remained in that deep sleep. They would eventually die of dehydration and starvation."
"And you were able to overcome such a curse?" Den asked, looking at Renee with awe and respect.
"I am not without fears," Renee answered. "I just know that I can't allow those fears to control me. I'm also not the kind of girl who just sits back and lets horrible things happen to her. I'm the kind of girl who takes action, who takes control of her own destiny." Wilder looked at his daughter with pride.
"If the Night Mares allow an enemy to know that what they're experiencing is not real, wouldn't it be easy for them to escape the simulation?" Focauld asked.
"To escape the simulation, one must face their fears," Renee explained. "You have to face them the way a Dauntless would, not the way a Divergent would."
"I'm afraid that I'm unfamiliar with the Divergent world," Focauld told her. "Please elaborate."
"Let's say, for example, that you're afraid of heights," Renee said. "You suddenly find yourself several stories off the ground, on a very narrow beam that connects two buildings. If you know that it's just a simulation, what would be your first action in order to escape it?"
"I would jump."
"Wrong! That's what a Divergent would do. A Dauntless would walk across the beam and over to the building. If you jumped, you would just find yourself back up on that beam, and possibly higher than you were before."
"So you're Dauntless?"
Everyone turned to see Lucas standing in the doorway, staring at Renee.
"I am Dauntless," Renee said, "but I'm also Abnegation and Erudite. I'm still working on Amity and Candor."
"Are you saying that you're not honest with me all time?" Wilder asked his daughter with a frown.
"Oops." The audience laughed as Renee said that one word.
"If you don't mind," Lucas said before Wilder could start chasing Renee around the house, "I would like to have a word alone with my sisters."
Renee and Sophie looked at each other for a second, trying to decide whether or not that was a good idea. Finally, Renee shrugged and stood up, walking past Lucas and out of the house. Sophie followed her, and Lucas followed them. Renee led them down to the beach and sat down in the sand. Sophie sat down next to her while Lucas remained standing.
"I. . .," he began, and faltered for a minute. "I'm sorry." The girls waited for him to continue with stoic looks. "I know that no amount of apologies can make up for what I've done to you, but it's the truth.
"You were right, Serena. I am a coward, and I am brainless, but I am not completely heartless. I did what I did because I thought that that was the only way to protect you from the dangers that go along with being a Casterwill. I never, for a moment, thought about what you wanted or what you had already been through. I was just trying to be a good brother, to preserve what remained of those two innocent little girls I remembered. But you're not those girls anymore, and that's what I refused to acknowledge. I was an idiot. I know that now.
"I won't try to convince you to give up being a Seeker, and I'll try to stay out of your lives from now on."
"Whoa, hold up!" Renee interrupted. "Who said we wanted you out of our lives completely? We just don't want you telling us what we should and shouldn't be or do. We want you to accept us for who we are and respect our decisions." She paused before standing up and facing Lucas. "I have no memories before the fire that killed our parents, but I'm trying to get them back. I want to remember what you were like before you became the selfish and arrogant jerk that you are today."
"She's right," Sophie said, standing up and joining her twin. "I barely remember what you were like in those days, but I do remember you. I've seen families where the siblings don't talk to each other anymore. They end up hating, even despising, one another. I don't want us to be like that. I want us to be a family again."
Lucas stared at the two girls in front of him, so different in some ways and yet so similar. They were both wise beyond their years, both strong in spirit. It would have destroyed them if they had listened to him. He didn't want that.
"If you two are willing to let me in," he said, "then I'll try not to be so overprotective and selfish."
"You should try doing that regardless of how we act," Renee said, "but I guess it's a start. Just don't think that you're forgiven. For now, you're on probation."
"For how long?" Lucas asked.
"That depends entirely on you."
Lucas smiled at his sisters before hugging the two of them. They hugged him back.
"If you three are done having your heart-to-heart, we're running out of lemon bars in here!" Wilder shouted from the house.
"I've got plenty of ingredients to make a few more batches!" Renee shouted back. "We're coming! Just be patient for a minute!" Wilder disappeared back into the house and Renee sighed. "He's probably really disappointed. Those lemon bars were supposed to be for just the two of us."
"If you're even half as good a cook as he said you were," Sophie said with a smile, "then I don't blame him."
"Then let's go," Lucas said, wrapping his arms around their shoulders as they walked back the way they'd come. "I'd actually like to get to know him more. He is, after all, the man who raised my sister."
"I'm sure you two will get along just fine," Renee told him before giving Sophie a look that said "Not gonna happen." Sophie laughed and Lucas frowned at her.
Why do I feel like I've just become the butt of an inside joke? he thought.
The trio walked back into the house, ready to start over.
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The End!
So what did you think? Did you like all the Divergent references? How was the conversation between the siblings? Did the story end well? Review and let me know and I'll try to answer all of them.
Amalthea Shine.