Huntik: The Fate Of Destiny

8. Illusion

"I'm all ears." Cathy looked at Den.

"I heard you passed. I wanted to congratulate you. I knew you could do it." he said shyly.

"Oh. Thanks. My next success will be when Clease realizes I've mastered everything he taught me. Lately, his lecturing makes me nauseous. Even after the exam, he said I still need to improve." she smiled.

"Regular training is important too." he replied.

Boy began rummaging through his pouch. Cathy looked at him suspiciously.

"You know... Lok gave it to me once" he said, taking out an amulet and showed it to his friend. "Take it from me. You'll need it more than I do." he added.

"Are you sure?" Cathy asked.

"I made that decision a long time ago." he replied without hesitation.

Cathy was surprised. After a few seconds, she grabbed an amulet. For a moment, she was glowing with a radiant aura.

"What happened? Did I succeed?" she asked and aura disappeared.

"If you know his name, then yes. Focus on amulet."

After touching the bright crystal of amulet, she heard one word in her thoughts.

"Is it Freelancer?" she asked.

Den simply nodded.

"It's a very kind gesture from you. You know you didn't have to do this?"

"I wanted to give it to you a long time ago, but when I heard you were going to take same exam as I did... I decided to wait a little longer" he said cheerfully.

"I'd sooner expect this from Lok than from you. Thank you."

"Don't show it off yet. Let it be our secret" he winked at her.

"There are already so many secrets... it'll make me feel dizzy soon" girl thought.

Friends came downstairs. Other teammates were waiting for them.

"You're finally here" Lok said. "We're going to Florence" he announced.

"Now?" Den asked, surprised.

About three hours later seekers walked through streets of the city which was a little over two hundred kilometers from Venice. It was already dark. Only the lights of the roadside lanterns accompanied the team. Streets were empty. Along the way, they stopped at the Foundation's hideout, where one of seekers was waiting for them. More precisely, he was standing right in front of the entrance.

"Welcome and good luck" the man said. 

After a moment, he took out a key and a scrap of paper and handed them to Lambert. He returned inside the building.

The scrap turned out to be a drawing of the underground system of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral. Seekers immediately set off in the right direction.

"That guy wasn't very talkative." Den remarked.

"He only had to give it to us." leader waved the map. "We didn't get the mission to make friends with him." he added.

After a few minutes, they reached their destination.

"And here we are." Cherit said.

Lambert unlocked the door and pushed it. Team entered and took a few steps down the corridor. It was dark so Lok conjured a boltflare to light their path. As the room brightened, they saw religious scenes on the ceiling. Presumably, if they entered the main chamber, they wouldn't be disappointed. However, they hadn't come here to study Italian architecture but rather for a mission, which they didn't have an eternity for.