"Right, first thing to remember when exploring a Seeker site is to only use magical light sources, so Boltflare!"

"Why?"

Eagle shrugged, holding the ball of electricity from his power aloft. "There are a bunch of traps that activate when exposed to light from other sources. But magical light doesn't do anything."

"That doesn't make sense," Snake protested. "There isn't a component to regular light that isn't present in magical light, how do the traps distinguish between them?"

"That's… hey, Foundation kid, you have the full education, want to field this one?"

"It hasn't come up. We know how the traps work, but no more than that. And having a torch as backup, so that you don't expend all your energy exploring, isn't a bad idea."

"If you have to fight someone later, sure," Eagle shrugged. "I can usually talk my way out, negotiate a peaceful settlement, so as long as I can call out a Titan when it comes down to it, I'll be just fine."

"Didn't you have all your amulets stuck in a bag when we met?"

"That was the Organisations fault," Eagle protested. "If I wasn't under the Professors control I'd never have made such a mistake!"

"Wait, you were in the Organisation?"

Eagle glanced back.

"Yeah, not my finest moment, letting the Professor trick me into getting close enough for his brainwashing. But after my group lost to this guy, I ended up breaking free during questioning. Now I'm all signed up for the inevitable assault on the Organisation in Prague."

"Why Prague? And what about the others with you?"

"It seems most of the suits, the lowest ranking members, were more or less grabbed off the street and implanted with knowledge of English and the ability to be a Seeker when brainwashed," Snake answered. "While me and the other Seeker in our group were being trained by Eagle, Ocelot tested whether any of the freed suits could still use their Titans, and nothing."

"Wait, the Organisation uses artificial Seekers?"

Eagle shrugged.

"News to me, but I guess it makes sense they wouldn't tell those of us with some individuality left. Some Seekers have a real thing about being special. And Prague? That's the main base, where it all started. At least, I'm guessing it started there, they have been around for… what… millenia?"

He shrugged again.

"Yeah, the Professor had this big thing about the Organisation being the 'true heirs of Caster' something, or I think that's what he was saying. To be honest I zoned out a bit, I'm more interested in the Titans than the history."

"You'd just ignore everything we can learn from the past?"

"Well, it's not as though we're stuck in the same war, are we? It doesn't matter as much as getting the Titans to stretch their legs again. Or wings, as it may be. Point is, Titans are living things, right, and while their amulets are sealed up, they don't get to do anything, not even exist, really."

"Amulets are used to call Titans from Huntik," Dante protested, "they don't live inside their amulets. They get to live their normal lives between being invoked."

"And you have proof of this 'Huntik' existing?"

"Well…"

"Guys, we're coming up on the trap."

The two more experienced Seekers broke off their… discussion… to look at the rusted armour before them.

"Right. We should probably remove the body at some point…"

"Maybe after we deactivate the traps. He's a bit more obvious than any kind of warning we could set up," Eagle mused, using the hand not holding his Boltflare up to check the walls. "Now, the passage should be around here somewhere… ah, got it," he told them as his hand passed through seemingly solid rock.

He glanced back at them.

"You'll want your own light up. Illusions tend to block light, after all."

Snake nodded.

"Boltflare."

It felt… strange, holding the spell as a light source, rather than letting it fire off as an attack.

Eagle waited a moment to be sure he had a handle on it, before sticking his head and other hand through the illusory wall.

"Right, looks safe enough. Follow after me," he called back, walking through the wall.

There was a noticeable change as his Boltflare passed through the illusion, the overall level of light instantly dropping.

Snake hesitated, seeing that Dante hadn't produced a light of his own.

"After you," he offered, "unless you want to get out your torch that is."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because honestly? You have no reason to trust us right now, and leaving your back open to a possible enemy is generally a bad idea," Snake allowed. "Me? I was a soldier. Well, special forces, but still. I signed up to risk my life under orders, fully prepared to die. I'd prefer to live, obviously, but I accept the risk. Added to that, we have a common enemy in the Organisation, so I am willing to extend a level of trust to you that you don't yet have a reason to extend to me. After all, if neither of us extends the other any trust, we'll be stuck in an uneasy truce at best, like the East and the West."

He considered, thinking back to his mentor.

"That's one of the biggest issues in this world, people drawing meaningless lines to divide us, refusing to allow the trust needed to bridge the gaps. As that continues, it helps drive the endless cycle of conflict, and all to keep a handful of idiots in power."

"Uh, this sounds oddly specific."

Snake blinked, returning to the present.

Was this something he should share? Well, they had tgeir own secrets…

"Right. Basically, you, or I guess we, Seekers aren't the only conspiracy out there. The Philosophers started out as well intentioned, then the council died of old age and their replacements lost the plot. They've been driving conflict for personal power for decades, and are the main reason I left the armed services."

"That sounds…"

"Less than believable? Yeah, plenty like that around. Not even counting this Seeker stuff."

He glanced at the wall Eagle had walked through.

"Look, do you want to go first, or should I? We need to get moving sooner or later."

Dante considered for a moment.

"I'll go first then, spare my energy in case there are guardians or something."

"What do you mean by guardians," Snake asked as Dante approached the wall.

"There are some powers that allow Titans to remain active for centuries, even after their Seeker dies, and some Seekers use them to protect the amulets they left behind. Rarely just the Titans amulet, but I've heard of it happen now and then."

Snake considered for a moment before following.

He had encountered four Titans so far.

Freelancer, who, while sturdy, was slow and limited in how far it could attack. Its main advantage was the shield, which had proven capable of standing up to Seeker powers, but with the other two to distract it he would be able to flank it no problem.

Strix, the living bombs. They were fast moving and dangerous, but fragile. It would be a problem if they got hit, but a Strix would be banished again after a single impact. Not a likely choice as guardian.

Redcap was somewhere between the two, fast and dangerous close in, but more durable than Strix. On the other hand, one man with a rifle could take it out before it reached him, so unless a Recap broke through the wall, he could probably deal with it.

And finally Heirospecter. The only Titan he hadn't seen in a fight.

While the apparent main body of Heirospecter was quite visible, the rest of the Titan was much harder to see.

Against a regular enemy, Snake would go for the head or body, depending on whether he had the time to aim or was in the middle of a firefight, but with Heirospecter things weren't so clear cut.

For all he knew, the apparent body was simply a covering, with only the vaguely visible limbs being an actual part of the Titan.

Under those circumstances, should he target the body or try to aim at limbs he couldn't really see?

Or of course the guardian, if there was one, could be something entirely new.

Snake put the thought from his mind, and stepped into the wall.

His vision went black as his head passed through the illusion, clearing up as he reached the other side, to see a rougher looking passageway, Eagle testing each step he took while Dante looked on.

Rather than the same finished look of the entrance, with all its murals, this passage looked to be a roughly, even hastily, hewn passage through the rock.

He stepped forward, and caught a flash of reflected light from one of the walls.

Looking closer he saw what looked like gemstones in the wall, rubies or garnets and amethyst or agate.

As far as he could tell anyone, for all he knew there could be any number of other red or purple precious stones.

"Gems in the wall," he called out. "Think that's the trap?"

Eagle glanced up from where he was carefully shifting his feet, and looked at the wall.

"Ah, that makes sense. Make sure you don't touch them, either of you."

He barked out a brief laugh.

"Makes it harder to find the path though, if we can't just run a hand along the wall."

"You think there'll be another false wall? That they didn't change things up?"

"Well, it was likely one group of Seekers who set this whole place up," Dante commented. "For the most part, when Seekers work together, we share any powers we learn. Other than family secrets of course. This means that Seeker sites usually have a constant… theme, you could call it, throughout them. Maybe a second, if they use a Titans power for some of them."

"Huh, is that why? You learn something new every day. Either way, we're likely to have illusions to deal with throughout, and traps relating to the ancient Seekers beliefs. Keep an eye out as we go."

"It does raise the question of what the warning for the first trap was supposed to be," Snake commented. "Even with the doctor, our only warning there was anything was the body. Well, we didn't have any Seekers in the team, so we had no idea there could be traps like that in the first place, but…"

Dante nodded, following after Eagle.

"It isn't too common to find signs of ancient Seekers being religious, but it happens from time to time. Generally the Foundation prefers to send Seekers from the same religion, so they should understand the messages left behind, but since the Organisation started taking an active role, back in '59, Buddhist Seekers in the Foundation haven't been keen to take the field. We'll have to make do."

"In my experience, Seekers are still people," Eagle commented. "You just need to understand how people think, not research their religion and details about when they lived. Ah, I see an archway in the wall."

Snake glanced towards where Eagle was looking.

"Looks like a wall to me."

"No, the gemstones," Eagle pointed them out, "they make the shape of an archway. This is the way."

"Really, because I can see another gemstone arch over here," Dante told them. "These look like sapphires, what about yours?"

"They look clear, could be diamonds? I've never bothered with gems too much, I deal in amulets!"

"I'm guessing you have an idea about the puzzle here?"

"Well, a lot of cultures have different meanings assigned to gems. Clearly we need to find the correct arch to reach the amulets they sealed here."

"Any idea what happens if we choose the wrong one?"

"Probably the same as if we touch any of the gems. I wouldn't be too surprised if each gemstone in this passage could be used to fire off an offensive power."

Snake looked around, at all the tiny points of light.

"Any idea which direction they'd all fire in? Who am I kidding, we wouldn't be able to shield everything."

Dante nodded.

"We pretty much have to get it right first time. Or we could head back, send one of us in at a time to try the archways, get three shots."

"Sacrificing each other to get through? No, better to record what gems are used in each archway and contact one of those Buddhist Seekers you mentioned for advice. The expeditions been here for about a week already, we can handle-"

"This one," Eagle declared, and Snake turned his attention back to him in time to see him step confidently into an arch formed from turquoise stones.

Snake flinched, dropping his Boltflare to cast a pair of Earthbands, Dante reacting a hair slower to cast his own shield.

The barrage never came.

Instead Eagle stepped through the wall safely, casting them into darkness as he carried his Boltflare into the next passage, until he leaned back.

"Come on, there's more to go."

The two of them slowly lowered their shields.

"How did you know," Snake asked, dreading the answer.

"Far enough from the start that people wouldn't get to it by process of elimination, while far enough back that there's space for another 'you've gone too far' trap. It's all psychology, I told you. You just need to know people."

"And if you were wrong?"

Eagle shrugged.

"If I was wrong, I'd never know. But I'm already beating the curve for independent Seekers, if I wanted to be safe I'd have retired by now."

"And your revenge on the Organisation?"

Eagle froze.

"You know, I'd forgotten about them. Heh, it was starting to feel like any other expedition. Okay, I'll try to avoid too much risk, until we've finished that assault at least."

He held position while Snake and Dante approached, providing light while the two Seekers felt unable to produce their own.

"I hope there aren't too many more of these trials…"

]

"Tables of food? Seriously, this place is ancient, it wouldn't be edible any more."

"At least it makes it clear where the door is."

]

"So, we're supposed to be seduced by these illusions?"

"You have to admit they are attractive, right Snake? It would be easy to be tempted."

"Eagle, I had to blow up a slab of rock to get into this place. There is no way for anyone to still be alive down here. I'm not the sort if pervert who loses all sense when confronted with a scantily clad woman. No matter how many of the soldiers in the region fall for the poster of an anime girl on a cardboard box, I am not like them!"

Eagle, Dante and the illusory seductresses all stared at Snake.

He coughed, trying not to let his embarrassment show.

"People don't tend to notice cardboard boxes, which makes them good for concealment."

"And the posters?"

"If it works, it works."

]

Eventually, after many trials, they found their way to the heart of the site.

Placed on what could only be described as an altar was what had to be the amulet.

It looked like a pair of fangs biting a red jewel, one much larger than those in the other amulets Snake had seen.

"This seems too easy," Snake muttered, eye darting around the chamber as he stepped forward.

"We've already passed the trials," Dante responded. "No need for more traps in here."

"Looks like removing the amulet should break the illusions, though maybe not the other traps," Eagle stated.

Snake nodded, glancing back at them, before pausing.

"Why are you both back there?"

While he had been approaching the amulet, his companions had kept at the entrance to the chamber.

Snake sighed heavily.

"Right, you're letting me take the risk here."

He watched his step for any final traps, picking where he trod carefully, before lifting the amulet from the altar.

He felt the amulet resist his attempt to bond only momentarily before the connection snapped into place.

"Mara," he breathed, and invoked the Titan.