Chapter 4 : Struggling

Somewhere deep into Amazonas State, Brazil, South America

It was as if they had been struck by a binding spell; no one moved a muscle, no one even breathed. No sound interrupted the utter shock of that moment.

"I'll be damned!" The harsh tone of Frank's voice shook them out of their surprise, as he ran towards the rock and carefully placed his hands above the man, who was apparently deeply sleeping. "Showtruth!" he murmured, and a yellow aura encircled the man's head. Nothing else happened.

"What was that for?" Lok asked; he realized he was whispering. It was as if he'd been worried it was an illusion, shattered by just an higher voice tone. "A spell to reveal and take care of any illusion placed by someone. I had to check him out." He looked up, and his face was almost glowing for the happiness. "It's him. It's Eathon!" The boy let go the breath he didn't realize he was holding, then he felt a hand patting him on his shoulder. Dante was smiling at him. "This is an important moment for you, Lok!" "Indeed!" exclaimed Sophie, grabbing his hand; she was almost in tears.

"Well, that's true, whoppy-do and all that, but that's a moot point if we don't get him on his feet and we drag him out of this place." said Zhalia, coming closer to the legendary Seeker, but the others could see she was struggling to hide a smile. "Is he asleep or what?" Cherit asked, looking worriedly at the thin figure. The veteran Seeker shook his head and explained : "It appears he's comatose; if I get it right, he used a little trick we discovered in an ancient Native American pueblo, deciphering some pictograms; if you're wounded and far from support and relief, you allow yourself to fall into a healing coma, and you wound up picked up from those who look around for you, or you wake up healed and walk away on your own. And I know just the thing to kiss him awake!" His right hand went over Eathon's chest, and it glowed white as he said : "Powergrant!"

To everyone's relief the figure moved a little, it grunted, then a pair of eyes fluttered open. A raspy voice came from behind the beard's curtain : "Simon...?" Frank scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Nine years disappearing from the world; then we find you and the first thing you do is insult me!" Although his voice sounded irritated, his beard trembled. Eathon turned to face him, and his face lightened up. "Frank? FRANK?" He sat up and gripped his hand, a large smile visible behind his facial hair. After a few seconds of looking him into the eyes, the elder Lambert said in an uncertain voice : "Frank... my God, what happened? You look... older!" "Nice to see ya, too!" answered Frank, the grimace on his face now genuine. He cleared his throat, and then he shifted sideways, exclaiming : "Now, don't worry about that. Just say hi to your son Lok, here!"

Another moment of extreme shock, as father and son looked at each other. "Lok...?" Eathon's whisper sounded almost like a prayer. The younger Lambert, as awkward as ever in this kind of situation, merely shrugged and heard himself say : "Nice to see you again, dad!" The next moment, they were hugging each other. Frank nodded approvingly and looked at the others; he was far from surprised at seeing Sophie fighting back tears, and Cherit having quite a satisfied expression, but he was quite interested in seeing how close Dante and Zhalia were, while looking intently at the scene with happy expressions, their hands almost touching. He raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask anything, Eathon sighed and broke the hug, letting his eyes wander over his boy's figure. "Seeing you again... grown up... a Seeker... is a reward I'm not sure I deserve, son!" "Aw, c'mon, dad. Look, these are my mentor, Dante..." "Dante Vale! Of course, I should've recognized you at once!" exclaimed the ragged Seeker, nodding in recognition. "...and my best friends, Cherit, Zhalia Moon, and Sophie Casterwill!" The two girl smiled and waved a bit awkwardly at him; after all, he was a legend; the Titan however grinned and told him casually : "Nice to meet you again!". "Casterwill? Is that...?" Eathon began, his brow furrowing, but Norton cut him out, by saying impatiently : "Very well, presentations are over, and question can wait, so we can get practical once again, gents. How about thinking about going the hell out of here? This place is not safe!"

"You are right. But how do we do it? We can't jump that high, and I doubt Lok's got enough strength to summon Kipperin right now!" Dante meditated, caressing his chin with his fingers. The American shook his head. "No need to. All we need is blasting an exit out of this cave. I think... Yes," he said, pointing to the left, "we fire a few Touchrams at that wall, and boom, exit's ready. That wall must be just a few inches deep." "Okay, then. Do you think you can move, dad?" Lok asked his father, helping him on his feet. "Yes, don't worry. I just need some clean air and some food, and I'll be as good as new!" "Make that a good shave, man, and I'll agree with ya!" Frank said sarcastically, while surveying the wall. "Alright, there's the thinnest point; on my mark... three... two... one... TOUCHRAM!" Four spells blasted the wall, and another, much welcome, current of fresh air entered the cave. "You know, right now, I can understand why ancient peoples actually adored the Sun!" Zhalia commented, looking up at the sky. "Couldn't agree more, Zhalia!" Frank said, stretching a bit and looking on while Lok helped his father out of the cave. His expression went distant, as if lost in a remembrance. "Yeah, couldn't agree more!" he repeated in a murmur.

Norton Mansion, Troy, Pennsylvania, United States

"Oo-kay, here we are, home sweet home!" Frank cried dramatically. Looking at his best friend, he said seriously : "Now all we have to do is having some nice meals, and you'll start looking human. You're thinner than a promise!" Eathon merely rolled his eyes. "You need new jokes; this one is at least twenty years old!" "It does the job, however. C'mon, move, move, Eathon's not the only one who needs to stuff his mouth with food!"

Mood was very high as they approached Frank's house. At Frank's strong suggesting, they had avoided to talk about everything that happened after Eathon disappeared, it was a thing to face when rested and properly fed. All they had done in the return trip was relishing in their success, making jokes and stuff. The elder Lambert looked much better now, clean shaven, except his trademark moustache, although he was still very weak.

But relaxation lasted until Frank took out his keys to open the door. His ever-active senses then picked up something, and he turned abruptly, roaring : "HEADS UP!" Not a moment too early; several Augerfrosts pierced the air, but slammed into his Armorbrand. "Sophie, protect Eathon! No matter what!" "O-okay, but who...?" she trailed off, as at least twenty men emerged from the nearby woods. Leading them was someone they could hardly recognize. "DeFoe?" Dante said, disbelievingly. The failed Organization team leader smirked; he'd never seemed very smart, but now he looked crazier than ever; his eyes sparkled with a mad light, his clothes were dirty and messy. "Surprised, Vale? I promised I would destroy you, no matter what the cost!" "This is crazy! The Organization is no more; we don't have to fight anymore!" Dante replied grimly. "I don't care about them! They abandoned me when you humiliated me; and for that, you'll be humiliated too... before I kill you!" Frank quipped in : "Someone you know? Oh wait, I frankly don't care. Just bring it on, mister!" And the tall Seeker charged at the group, followed by Dante, Zhalia, Lok and Cherit. The madman said laughing maniacally : "Destroy them, Bonelasher! Jokoul!" His minions followed suit, but their Titans were nothing spectacular; Enforcer, Sekhmet and Redcap were the norm, with a few possessing Ammit Heart-Eater and Impet. "This is gonna be boring!" Frank commented derisively, and thundered : "Time to play, Sentinel! Goldram!" "Come out, Caliban! Ariel!" Dante ordered. "Freelancer! Lindorm!" called Lok. "Give them a lesson, Kilthane! Ghar-ghoul!" Zhalia exclaimed.

The Battle Royale soon flared out of any control; but as the Foundation Seekers plus Cherit got the upper hand very soon, Dante, who had been targeted by DeFoe, had soon to admit that his enemy was far more dangerous than before. His attacks were ruthless and relentless; he didn't care of exposing himself if it meant he would score a hit. He was so unprepared to such a change that he was forced to take up a defensive posture. "Where is your trademark irony, Dante Vale? I am getting the upper hand; I am proving to be the better Seeker!"

Eathon was leaning against the wall, a frustrated spectator. He saw, through Sophie's protective Honorguard, the direness of Dante's situation, and his face went hard. As he took out an amulet from his pocket, he mumbled worriedly : "I pray I have enough strength to do this. Go, Cavalier!" The flying knight with two flaming swords duly appeared, and with lethal grace impaled both of DeFoe's Titans. In shock for the sudden change, the evil Seeker wavered, and Dante wasted no time in taking advantage; a mean Dragonfist at the mouth sent DeFoe flying. "Thanks for the save, Eathon!" Dante cried with a grin, to which he was able to answer only with a weak nod, breathing heavily and clutching his chest.

Meanwhile, the other members of the team had already taken care of most of remaining enemies. As Sentinel blocked the last three's attacks, Frank and Lok yelled : "Hyperstride!" to jump above it and take the three of them out with two simultaneous old-style front kicks. "If this was what you call an ambush, I've faced worse ambushes when I was ten years old, returning from school!" the latter said victoriously. The madman laughed, and showed yet another amulet. "This was just the beginning; now that you are tired, I will finally crush you, forever! Dominator!" As the large beast with spiked maces for hands made its appearance, Frank exclaimed, surprised : "What? Where the devil did he find that Titan?" "Who cares? DUCK!" The American quickly followed Lok's advice, as the mighty Titan nearly smashed his face. Goldram tried to give him a taste of his horns, but Dominator surprisingly managed to dodge, and with a swift blow hit it with his spikes, and the Titan began to have convulsions. "No! Damn it, he's out of control!" Dante cursed, knowing too well Dominator's specialty. "Quite a nice way to bellow the obvious, my friend! Why don't you give it a rest and try to take out this Titan before he refurbishes our pretty faces?" Norton yelled, using Hyperstride again to avoid another blow. Lok wasted no time in taking out his other amulets. "All you had to do is ask. Fight for me, Baselaird, Dendras!" The golden warrior and the puppeteer barreled on DeFoe's Titan like a ravine; each of them would have been difficult to defeat, but together Baselaird and Dendras were a match for almost any enemy. It was over in three phases : Baselaird received Dominator's spikes on his shield, Dendras's puppet dragons roasted and froze him at the same time, and then Baselaird's sword impaled their adversary, defeating him for good.

DeFoe was struck speechless. "What? No!" "Face it, DeFoe; you got us by surprise with that Titan, but after facing Rassimov and the Professor this is just ordinary business. You're going down, man!" "Couldn't say better myself!" Frank said suavely, cracking his fingers with a murderous grin on his face, taking a step towards him.

But DeFoe, after looking at them with a bewildered expression, did something they didn't quite expect; like a wounded beast, trapped by its hunters, he charged... but not towards them. Towards Sophie. She most certainly didn't see that coming; all she had done had been blocking some random attacks coming their way, protecting Lok's father; and she had just let the spell dissipate. So, surprise was on DeFoe's side; and he took advantage of it.

The Foundation Seekers all sprang to block him; but they were not quick enough. But as DeFoe began to mouth the word 'Poisonfang', a figure intervened. It was Eathon, who had desperately rallied all of his force in a Dragonfist, surging forward to intercept him: before the villain could even register that, the blow had already connected with his belly, knocking him out cold. All that Frank could do was immediately grab his best friend, to keep him from crumbling down. "Whoa!" was all he could say. Sophie looked at her savior with big eyes, and mouthed an awkward "Thank you!". "Anytime!" was the hoarse answer.

"Ok, enough macho men for now! Dante, take Eathon to a bedroom and make him catch his breath, while I secure those idiots for the Foundation. They already did enough this time!" the American ordered, and everybody noticed how his face was scrunched up in a dissatisfied way. They obeyed him, and as they sustained him past the foyer towards the stairs, Eathon commented : "He really was worried sick about me, if such a little thing gets him so annoyed!" Lok shrugged and said : "We all were, dad. But I must admit nobody would have expected such a thing from you, not in your weakened state!" For a moment, pride showed up in the elder Lambert's eyes, then he sighed, lowering his head : "Now that I think about it, we should tell Sandra and your sister, and Metz too, that I was found. Your mother is so going to kill me..."

A relieved chuckle was all he got for an answer.

If any of you is wondering why I made the gang find Lok's father this early, I'll confess it was always my intention to do so; I wanted plenty of time to explore Eathon's character, so I couldn't let him to remain AWOL till the end.

This means that now that the quest to find him is now succesful, now it begins another one : since his old mission was accomplished by the Huntik team in the show, he has to find wheter there are still challenges for him... of course, helped by his family and friend! This will be the next objective for the group, help the elder Lambert find a new purpose. This way, the title's meaning is far from being resolved!

Please review, and thanks to those who already did!