Lok was so exhausted that he fell asleep, his head nestled in the Casterwill girl's bedding. Surprisingly, throughout this time, he kept holding his girlfriend's hand.

Other team members didn't look much better. Dante was reading some book brought by one of nurses. Cathy and Malia were chatting about trivial matters. The latter sometimes left the room to check on what was happening in the other wards. Cherit, on the other hand, flew around the room or sat on the windowsill, observing what was happening outside.

Sophie woke up after a few hours. She tried to open her eyes, but the light shining directly on her face was too harsh. She blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the sun. Casterwill spotted her friends.

"Welcome back, sleeping Casterwill beauty." Malia greeted her, leaning against the wall opposite her.

"Have I been sleeping for long?" she asked weakly.

Small titan sat on the edge of the bed.

"It's better not to think about that." Cherit spoke up, then grinned.

Titan's voice woke Lok. When he saw that his girlfriend was awake, he immediately woke up and threw himself into her arms.

"You scared me to death!" Lambert exclaimed.

"H..hey. But I'm not dead, Lok" she hugged him.

"But you could've been" the medic replied with crossed arms.

Sophie noticed the gold ring on Malia's finger.

"A Legendary Titan? How did I not notice this before?" she wondered to herself.

Dante got up from the chair by the wall and approached his friend.

"How are you feeling?" Vale asked.

"I think I'm okay. At least nothing hurts me now" Casterwill replied.

"And it's better if nothing starts hurting, dear" Malia interjected.

Girl explained to Sophie that she had used more than twice her entire reserve of seeker energy to rid her body of the poison. Even after all that, she stayed here and watched over her with Lamberts and Dante. If there were any complications again, it would be very unpleasant.

At that moment, the well-rested and energized Fears brothers entered the room. They approached the team.

"Good to see you again, Sophie." Den spoke up.

A few days later
Dante's House, Venice, Italy

Team spent one of August afternoons doing household chores. It was also the time when Cathy could afford to repaint the walls in the room she now inhabited. She promised Dante that the next time he visited, he wouldn't see a trace of the old room decor.

"What color would be good?" she wondered quietly.

"Maybe green?" Cherit chimed in from behind her and perched on her shoulder.

"Do you think so? I was thinking about it too, but it's such a hard decision to make. Almost like picking the right shade of lipstick!"

"You can always try." titan smiled.

"Decision made. If green looks hideous, then next time you're painting, and I'm picking the color!" she said cheerfully.

Cathy grabbed her bag from the chair, went downstairs, and was about to leave the house, but Lok stopped her. Cathy replied that she'd be back soon.

Boy just nodded and told her to be careful. It was strange that the young Lambert didn't ask where exactly his sister was going. Maybe he wasn't that interested, or he thought she was heading to Clease.

After several minutes, Cathy was already in the home-improvement store, searching for the perfect shade of green. As it often happens in such places, it was so easy to get lost in various items.

For example, chandeliers. Different lamps in different styles caught her eye. For a moment, Lambert thought about buying one, but quickly realized she hadn't earned enough money from missions yet. It wasn't the right time for such an expensive purchase. True, she could spot a nice model and come back to buy it someday, but she didn't do it.

Finally, after walking through several aisles full of various items, she reached the appropriate section. When she saw the assortment of green hues, she was a bit overwhelmed. She opened her bag and asked Cherit to choose one of the colors.

Titan raised his head. Little gargoyle scratched his head and after a moment pointed to one of the lighter shades and immediately hid inside the bag so that no one would notice him. Cathy took a one-liter bucket hoping it would be enough.

After several minutes, Lambert girl returned home. At the entrance, she bumped into Fears brothers. Den was cleaning the table, and Harrison was vacuuming the living room. She briefly greeted them and immediately headed upstairs to her room. Before painting, she had to protect furniture and floor from getting dirty.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, Malia and Dante flew to New York. It was morning here, so the whole day was ahead of them. Vale didn't plan to spend the day with Malia, and vice versa, so after leaving the plane, seekers bid farewell and went their separate ways, wishing each other a good day.

"It was obvious that Mr Vale wouldn't want to go straight to the headquarters" she sighed quietly and yawned.

Girl slept the entire flight from Italy to the United States. Maybe she could have napped some more, but she had something specific to take care of. Actually, a few things, but everything in due time. She headed towards the airport exit.

After less than an hour, she arrived in front of Huntik Foundation International Headquarters. She pulled her card out, then placed it on the reader. The control blinked green, and doors unlocked. Malia paced through a wide corridor. It was only just past ten, so she didn't expect to encounter many people.

At that moment, Malia decided to stop by the library to check on the person who took over her position over a year ago. Girl spent three months as a librarian, then returned to her native Sweden for a while before finally being transferred to a unit in Italy. The main reason for her transfer was to continue her education as a medical seeker. Venice housed one of the best medical facilities of Huntik Foundation, where she could gain a lot of practical experience.

"Hey Cassie, how's it going?" Malia crossed the threshold of the library.

At the same time, Cathy finished painting the first wall in Arnetta Vale's former room.

"What do you think?" she asked the titan.

"Dante would be pleased" he replied cheerfully.

On the lower floor, Lok, Sophie, Harrison, and Den sat at one table playing war.

The card game was supposed to determine who would go shopping. The team was currently on a week-long break (which was slowly coming to an end), so they had become a bit lazy and needed to come up with something so they wouldn't be the ones going out.

Girls were sometimes the exception. Cathy did it hoping that maybe Lok, Sophie, or Den would go with her. She didn't know Harrison too well, so she wasn't sure if he would be willing to join. Sophie felt responsible for the time she had been unconscious. She wanted to somehow repay her friends for saving her life.

***

Malia, slightly stressed, waited for Teien Casterwill in the corridor. She glanced at several people, and finally the awaited woman in a red kimono came.

"Good afternoon, Teien. Thank you for agreeing to spare me a few minutes." girl began.

"No problem. I'm always willing to dispel any doubts you may have. Shall we go to the cafeteria?" she suggested, pointing to the cafeteria door.

The Swede nodded, and they entered the room together. The lunchtime had already passed, and few people remained for afternoon tea and dinner. Many finished work around 4 p.m. and returned to their homes. On the other hand, there were people like Malia, who dropped by for a few days on Foundation matters. Agents could stay in one of the several guest rooms prepared specifically for such cases. Consequently, some of these people also came for dinner to Foundation cafeteria to avoid spending unnecessary dollars on food.

Teien poured only orange juice into a tall glass. Malia decided to have tea with honey. Girls sat as far away from the other Foundation members as possible.

"So, how can I help you, Malia?" woman asked after swallowing a sip of juice.

"I'm specifically referring to this titan." she said, showing her hand with the ring on her middle finger. "He said something to me that I still can't understand. So, on Dante's advice, I wanted to talk to you in the hope that you could help me."

"What exactly titan told you?" she asked, interested and intrigued. 

It was unusual situation that titans knew more about their seeker than them about themselves.

"You're not a Casterwill, but you're connected to them in a certain way" girl quoted.

Casterwill glanced briefly out the window to her left. She needed to think a little longer.

"I suspect what he might have meant, but you need to answer a few questions for me. Some information is confidential, and I can't just disclose it to anyone." Teien said.

Five years earlier, Malmö, Sweden

It was February. Malia was returning home from shopping with her parents. They didn't always have the chance to spend time together, as both of her parents worked at the hospital - her father as a doctor and her mother as a nurse. Little girl wanted to spend as much time as possible with her parents, especially since she was almost twelve years old. On the other hand, she understood that they worked to provide for her.

As they crossed the gate to their courtyard, people dressed in red outfits and silver masks jumped out from the neighboring areas. Malia and her parents were surrounded.

"What are you looking for here?" man spoke up.

He glanced towards his wife and daughter, signaling them to hide in the house. Woman took her daughter's hand, and they quickly barricaded themselves inside. She decided to make a call to certain people for help. She knew her husband wouldn't be able to handle it alone.

"What's happening, mom?" little girl asked.

"Daddy will be here soon" she hugged her daughter and stroked her head.

At one point, the summoned people arrived and engaged in a fight with the attackers. Woman ran to her husband and, kneeling beside him, began to heal him with her magic. Of course, she instructed her daughter to stay inside and not to come out under any circumstances.

"I told you, fool, that we need a barrier to protect our house" she spoke, barely holding back tears.

The support that was called, arrived in about two minutes. During that time, Malia's father took a beating. Despite being a seeker, he was totally inept at fighting.

Despite her mother's prohibition, Malia secretly watched what was happening outside. She saw some strange creatures, people using powers, and her mom, who looked like she was healing her dad. She didn't know what to think about it. At first, she pinched herself. She still hoped it was some kind of unreal nightmare. However, it turned out to be reality. A very strange reality. After all, magic was only used by characters in fairy tales, which girl enjoyed watching after coming home from school. Eventually, Malia realized that she couldn't just stand by and watch, and she wanted to somehow help her mom.

"Dad, Mom!" she ran towards her parents.

At that moment, one of Spiral members cast a nullcurse towards her. Malia shielded herself with her hands, hoping it would somehow protect her from the attack. Instead, something else happened. Her father took a hit at the last moment. When the girl heard her father's groan, she uncovered herself and saw him lying beneath her. She crouched down and hugged him from above.

"I'm sorry! Dad! Don't die! Please!" she said.

Nestled into her father's chest, she began to cry. She didn't want her father to see that she was crying. He just stroked her head.

"It's good that nothing happened to you, sweetheart. It's a shame they couldn't wait a few days. After all, your birthday is the day after tomorrow, isn't it?" he smiled.

"Daddy, don't say that..." she couldn't finish because she felt a lump in her throat that prevented her from speaking further.

"I'll fight, honey. They won't get rid of me that easily." man stroked the girl's cheek to wipe away her tears.

"Just like you'll fight for us and with us." her mother added.

After driving away the foreign enemies, Malia's father ended up in the hospital as quickly as possible. His condition was stable.

Malia spent her birthday with her mom and Foundation agents. Originally, her classmates were supposed to come to the party. News of her injured father and the attackers quickly spread, and because of that, all her friends canceled their attendance. So the nurse, on behalf of the birthday girl, invited the people who came to deal with the Blood Spiral members to somehow thank them for saving them that day.

Of course, it was a bit awkward for the girl to be sitting among adults. At one point, her mom asked to sing "happy birthday". After singing the song, woman handed her daughter a small box. Inside was a necklace with an amulet, which had a pink crystal in the center.

"Long ago, especially after what happened two days ago, your dad and I decided together that you should become a seeker like us. In this amulet, you have a friend, whose name you may have already heard or will get to know soon. She'll protect you if you ever find yourself in trouble. Once again, happy birthday, sweetheart" her mom addressed girl and kissed her on the forehead.

Malia didn't know what to think about it. For a moment, she felt like she was a character from a cartoon again. On the other hand, the events of two days ago made her realize that she had been living in the world, but only seeing a part of it. At that moment, she understood that she had started to see more, just like a certain percentage of people on Earth.

"Surely if Adam were here, he would say he wanted you to become a medical seeker like him. I've heard so many times that he wanted to tell you that eventually" one of seekers spoke up.

"How do you know my parents, actually?" Malia asked.

Finally, she decided to ask that question. It had been haunting her since the incident with the Blood Spiral, and her mother wouldn't tell her anything.

"Like your parents, and now you, we belong to the Huntik Foundation. We're a group that can use powers and summon characters from amulets. Your parents saved a lot of people from our unit here in Malmö" another agent replied, taking a bite of cake.

"Do those people in red belong to our group too?"

"No. We have to stop them from causing the world's destruction and more deaths of our people" Malia's mom answered.

After the party, which ended on a good note, Malia and her mom went to visit her father.

"You know what it's going to be like when Klara arrives? It'll be total chaos!" one nurse yelled to another.

When Malia's mother heard her name, she approached the familiar women and asked what had happened. It turned out to be about her husband. Woman rushed to the room. She saw a team of rescuers performing CPR on her beloved. In the background, she noticed that one of the windows was shattered. She immediately thought that someone must have jumped out of the window. When she looked outside, there was no one below. They must have managed to escape. It was the first floor, so nothing serious could have happened to that person. But who was that person? 

Woman thought for a moment.

"I think I know who you should definitely talk to. Let me give you the address. He lives nearby from here. He surely will know more about it than I do. I'll call him right away and let him know about your visit. I hope he's not too busy." Teien answered.