A Most Bizarre Seeker 2 (Patreon)

A Most Bizarre Seeker 2 - or ‘I made a promise, and I will uphold it!’ (Huntik SI ft. Jojo logics)

Zhalia knew something was up with Klaus’ giddy mood.

It was rare to see the old scientist behave like a kid that had discovered a new toy, but while part of her just wanted to ask him about it, something she caught from his call with Judeau got her reluctant.

“-the lab can be recreated, I have the funds. It’s still a shame, I loved Vienna.”

The base in Vienna had been compromised?

As the girl checked the news, she saw that some of the international media had labeled it as a ‘terrorist attack’ as a large explosion ripped through a good chunk of the district. Only two died, a few more were injured- but she knew that the cause of that blast was not the invading force that had triggered it.

Zhalia had been told a few times that the library was meant to be rigged for potential infiltrations, the explosives being part of that procedure. Still, her initial thought on this discovery was that the group behind this had been taken care of.

When her ears caught Klaus mentioning that ‘the brat lived’, the girl was sure that hadn’t been the case. The fact that Klaus behaved around her as if nothing had happened was really what got her involved. Her first journal, her many items from the first years in the Organization- all of that had been detonated as far as she was aware.

The girl was upset, especially since with that went some of the memories and hopes she had stored in that book. After spending the rest of the day waiting patiently, with Gareon keeping her company as the loyal Titan that he was, Zhalia hatched a plan to get some answers through deceptive means.

As nighttime came, Zhalia left her room, sneaking around as she looked into where Klaus had stored some of the ‘recent data’ from the ‘Vienna Fiasco’. Differently from other bases, this one was labeled as an ‘unremarkable’ one by the doctor.

It didn’t have the same level of security of other major bases, so it was easy for someone like Zhalia who was accustomed to difficult infiltrations to get to her goal. The small storage room that was guarded primarily by some cameras and a reinforced door.

Stepping inside via the ventilation system was a piece of cake, while entering the laptop’s weak security took actually a little more than she was willing to accept. Still, she got through and she found a few folders. Some had videos and others had files with peculiar nicknames.

Zhalia started with the videos, deciding to see what had caught Klaus’ attention and… she was perplexed by the oddly familiar boy that was looking through the library and slowly making his way through the vacated base.

From her point of view, it was clear that Klaus had been warned of this infiltration and cleaned most of the facility before this. But why didn’t he just kill the intruder on the spot?

She knew he would play with targets like a cat would with a mouse, but for him to just let someone just stroll about and ultimately reach the deepest section of the base was perplexing.

Even more when she felt that fuzzy familiar feeling swell up again as she saw the intruder reach her room. Her heart sank as she saw the young man look around and then find her journal.

Whatever panic she felt in that moment vanished in realization. After all, the strangely strong reaction of the intruder at the sight of a rather important picture with the meaningful words she left there made his identity clear to her.

“Jojo…”

Tears swelled in her eyes, yet she didn’t sob. She just watched as she saw Jojo not only reach the bottom of the base, but he also fended off an attack from a Titan with what looked like a new form of magic and… just rushed out of the base before it got destroyed. With her journal!

She was glad that he made it out, but she knew that if Klaus was aware of him, then it meant that-

“So, what do you think of them?”

Klaus’ voice made Zhalia jump. Her eyes still wide open, horror turned cold as the scientist was just behind her, hands resting on her shoulders as he checked the screen over her head.

“They are fascinating. Your friends that is, and the one that really wants to ‘save’ you, Herr Bukharin, truly a… curious specimen.”

“W-What are you planning to do with them?”

“Study their progress and growth,” The old man answered with pure calm in his voice. “However, I believe you are interested about what I will do to them if they try to claim you, correct?”

Zhalia didn’t nod at this, but that was because Klaus already knew what was in her mind. It was that one childhood thing that persisted in her growth. And Klaus knew that so much at this point.

“Well, these three… Ja, I think I wouldn’t be able to truly reason in recruiting them. But losing you? You know, I am tempted to let him take you away from him. After all, he sounds and does behave quite stubbornly. Like a clingy boyfriend one would say~.”

The tease was unexpected, and the girl blushed at the mere idea of someone that she once held sibling-like feelings for could be that to her. Not much because it was wrong, but because it felt all too right.

How long has Jojo been on her case? How long has he been investing time to find her with the Fears bros?!

“Still, it’s all a matter of how he plays his cards. He is quite a resourceful young man, and as a father, I have to play rough to show him that I do care for you.”

As much as many would see this as creepy, Zhalia was actually aware that Klaus was somewhat genuinely caring for her as a father. Except he was also quite psychotic and insane at times.

So, she left to bed with mixed feelings. On the one hand, Jojo and Co. were still looking for her. On the other hand, Klaus and the rest of the Organization were aware of them so… this was going to be difficult for them.

And she wasn’t going to let anyone hurt them!