Your writing & imagination just STUN me, Ms Croft!!! You have an amazing gift & I can't wait to read more.......

(Thank you Tino and Angelaian! Those comments were lovely!!)

“Zip, Alister?” Lara muttered into her headset as she surveyed her surroundings. She was in a room full of life, and foliage. Above Lara were vines intertwined. She could not see any type of exit or entrance above her. Was she stuck here? Her feet had crushed fine pieces of grass, rich with shades of green. As Lara lifted up her foot, the grass sprung back up into perfect formation. The walls were non-existent and had instead been replaced with huge brightly coloured flowers surrounded by weeds of every type. “This place is a literal green house…” Lara said turning around taking in the beauty of her surroundings. She expelled some air in awe, and decided to sit down on the soft perfect grass allowing the glorious sites to become absorbed in her mind. Lara giggled as she undid the loop of her backpack. She removed her raiding gear and guns setting them onto the perfect grass. Then, Lara stood up, removed her shirt and trousers and then proceeded to place her raiding gear on. This time, she brought along her classic raiding gear.

Lara slid the green Lycra onto her skin finally, and then picked up her two pistols allowing them to settle into the holsters. “Where there’s an entrance, there’s an exit!” Lara said, moving onwards towards some vines. These particular vines caught her eyes because they were shaped interestingly. They seemed to be covering something—at least to Lara. The vines seemed to go into and out of the wall as if they had been sewn into the wall.

Lara’s interest peaked, and without thinking she grabbed one of the largest vines and pulled. The vine screeched and moved out of the wall and on to the floor.

“Vine snake….interesting.” Lara muttered withdrawing her pistol and aiming it directly at the snakes head. She pulled the trigger twice sending the dullest echo Lara had ever heard throughout the room she was in. The snake recoiled, but the bullet holes Lara had created in its vine like flesh became sewn. Lara watched in amazement as the snake healed itself.

“Medusa?” Lara asked before shaking the question from her mind. “Let’s hope not.” She continued as the snake slithered away climbing back into the wall. Lara looked at where the snake was previously. It was covering something…something door-shaped.

Lara withdrew her other pistol and aimed them both to where she roughly thought the middle of the door would be. She fired.

~.~

“Alex! Welcome back!” The senator said as the young boy floated through the window of the tall building. He crossed the Senator’s path and landed straight at the mini-bar, withdrawing a bottle of wine as he went. He calmly walked over to the glass cabinet and seized a wine glass placing it gently on the table. His gaze drifted to the Senator and as he stared at the Senator calmly he poured the wine into the glass, never missing a drop. He placed the wine glass onto the table and picked up the glass, before swirling it in his hands. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” The boy calmly said staring fixatedly into the Senator’s eyes. “I just thought I’d get a little reward for being so….loyal.”

“Oh come on Alex! So I left you to fight her! I was no match for her! You have the powers, not me!!” The boy took a sip of the wine before swirling it in the glass again. His gaze broke from the senator’s and he swallowed, placing the wine glass onto the table.

“Very true, Senator. Very true. However,” He began walking towards the window he floated in from. “You are no match for me either, so I suggest,” He climbed onto the window ledge. “You never betray me again.” And fell out of the window.

~.~

The vine snakes all fell off of the wall as Lara pierced their grassy skin. As she expected, they healed themselves and slithered away, finding a new home at a different location on the wall. Eventually Lara was able to make out the figure they were blocking. This was no door as Lara had first thought; it was shaped like an arch. Small holes evenly spaced a part made the shape of the arch, and this was where the snakes had fit snugly into like stitching. Lara approached the door and turned on her PLS, however the battery had gone dead, and was not recharging. She sighed as she stared closely into one of the dark holes. She could make out something reflective in each of the holes. She went to place her finger into the first hole that caught her attention, but decided against it. Instead she grabbed a vine snake from the wall next to her by the head and made it straight between both hands. She faced its tail towards one of the holes and slowly pushed it in the hole. Everything seemed normal until Lara heard the reflective item descend further into the wall. What followed was what Lara had expected. The snake screamed and slid out of the hole. It’s entire bottom half had been cut cleanly from its body.

“Sorry, but you heal, I don’t.” Lara frowned examining the tip of her finger. Whatever was in there had cut her slightly and blood was flowing from her firm fingers. “Right,” Lara smiled, taking a step back to examine the holes. “10 holes…8 fingers, two thumbs. One hole eliminated leaves me with 1 finger or thumb of my choice of course. However, snakes heal themselves and there are certainly more than 10 snakes here!” Lara looked to where the half of a snake was before. It was dead. Lara’s eyes widened and she became riddled with guilt. The snake needed its entire body intact to heal. “This has made it more difficult, I can’t kill another snake.” She sighed, and placed her hands on her hips. “Right, there has to be a logical explanation to all of this!” Lara took another look around but could see nothing. “Ok, Pegasus came from Medusa in one of the legends. Medusa has snakes for hair. She has more than 10 snakes on her head, but has 6 letters in her name, however Pegasus has 7. So, 6th hole to the left, or to the right…or 7th hole to the right, and vice versa.” Lara clasped her hands over her head with guns in hand. “Oh I’m sorry Medusa, I’m going to have to use your snakes.” Lara grabbed a snake and pushed it quickly into the 6th hole on the right. It squealed and slid onto the floor dead. She picked up another and placed it in the 6th hole on the left. Again, it squealed before dropping lifelessly onto the floor. Lara closed her eyes before grabbing another snake. This time she placed it on the 7th hole on the right and the same thing happened. Again it happened with the left. Lara screamed in unison with the last snake as it slid onto the floor, and she slammed her hands onto the middle of the arch. “There has to be something!! A connection….Medusa and Pegasus. Pegasus was born from Medusa…birth. When you’re born you are given one of the 12 constellations, or stars. Pegasus became a star. He was the 9th star!” Lara quickly placed her finger on the 9th hole on the right and waited patiently. She heard something descend.

~.~

“Lara!!” Alister frantically shouted into the earpiece.

“Relax man, she can’t hear you.” Zip replied placing his hands behind his head. “Just wait! We’ve lost connection with her and she’s not even on the satellite anymore. She’s probably in some ancient Tomb not discovered for centuries with death traps and stuff!” Alister stared at Zip for some time.

“LARA!!!”

~.~

Lara’s eyes adjusted to the room she was in. Before her was a long hallway with light at the end. Lara’s eyes drifted towards the walls of the hall. “Amazing!” She muttered as golden sculptures etched into the wall stared at her. They were all of Pegasus, and his family. He was surrounded by bright light and mirrored on each side of the hall. Lara ran down the hall and continued to stare at the decoration as she passed. The wall told 100s of years of story, from Pegasus’ birth, to his ascension, to his family and finally to his death. Lara’s smile had never been bigger than ever. She took dozens of photos with her new visor and stood to admire the view as she reached the end of the long hallway. “Simply amazing!” She smiled as she placed a hand on the sculpture.

“YOU THERE!!” Lara gasped withdrawing her pistols at the sound of the voice. Her eyes contracted as she absorbed the light. Eventually she could make out the huge form of a winged man, with snakes for hair. He had a golden breastplate and his lower half was that of a horse and had 2 arms like a man, but 4 legs like that of a horse. “Show me your fingers!” He said extending a huge spear towards Lara. She obliged dropping her pistols onto the floor. He grunted, “Very good! You may take the prize!” Lara looked to where he was now pointing. A pedestal stood in the centre of the cubed room. It had snakes climbing its centre, and wings spreading from the sides. Lara did as she was told and picked up her pistols, approaching the pedestal. She holstered her weapons and looked at the centre of the beautiful pedestal. There was a dark space black pearl in the centre. Lara clutched it in one hand and felt the power flow through her. When she opened her hand, the pearl was gone. She looked up at the winged man.

“What does it do?” He snorted and looked away.

“You’ll find out when you need it most.” Lara nodded. “Now leave!” The great man threw his javelin towards the other end of the room. The spear connected to the wall, sending cracks to appear around it. The giant man-horse pointed his hand at the spear and it flowed freely back into his hands. The wall then collapsed revealing the brightest white light Lara had ever seen. Without turning back to the man, Lara walked towards the great door of light. Just before she reached the light, she heard a flap of wings and immediately turned around seeing the giant guardian of the tomb flying towards her. She turned on her heel towards the lights and sprinted, but not fast enough. The guardian grabbed Lara’s backpack and flew her up through the bright light. Lara felt herself go higher and higher. She heard a powerful horse like cry from the guardian before finally feeling like she was falling.

Lara shot like a bird through the sunny sky before finally falling towards the pool her feet were resting in earlier. She placed her hands together like an arrow point and broke the water’s surface.

Eventually she surfaced. Coughing she pressed her ear, “Zip…Alister?”

“LARA! Oh I’ve been terribly worried!”

“That’s great Alister, get me a warm cup of tea and some beans on toast ready. I’m coming home.”

Edited April 7, 200719 yr by Ms.Croft

Go MsC! I love this story!

Chapter 5

“Breaking and entering has its limits.”

Croft Manor, England

Lara picked up the last bean on the plate with her fork and ate it with great satisfaction.
“That was lovely, Winston. Thank you.” The man nodded and picked up the plate from the table Lara was sitting on. Lara thanked him once more, and then stood up. She walked towards Zip who was watching something on the screen in front of him.
“Wow, Lara! Those images are cool!”
“Ah, are you looking at the pictures of Pegasus on the ancient wall?” She smiled and walked around the desk to face the monitor. “Wow, they are truly magnificent. Still though,” Lara looked at her hand. “I have no idea where this leads me to next. There was a feather there, I know it. Alex definitely got the feather from the place I got…”
“Got what?” Zip asked turning towards Lara.
“Nevermind.” She replied quickly. “I think I’ve got somewhere to go---Alex’s apartment. He lives in London, however boys I won’t need your advice on this one.” Lara took off her headset as she finished the sentence and placed it on the desk.
“Ok…how do you know he lives in London by the way?”
“Let’s just say it’s…woman’s intuition.” Lara smiled before running towards her bedroom.

Notting Hill, London

“Here I am…Notting Hill. Whoever fills out Sir Alex’s pay checks is certainly giving him the high life. Who could have believed that 40 years ago this place was described as a massive slum, full of multi-occupied houses, crawling with rats and rubbish. Still though, I prefer Cornwall.” Lara said to herself as she walked through the hill past the many lavish apartments. She was dressed head to tow in black at 3am so as to hide herself from any nosy neighbours. The apartments were attached to one another and each one of them looked almost identical. The path leading up to the apartments was small, with only a black gate with stone pillars either side of it. There was no room for a garden, however Lara felt that there wasn’t really a need for one. Just before the jet black doors, with Gold numbers inscribed into them were 4 stone Pillars set in a square formation. They held up a balcony of sorts above them, which held small trees about the height of Lara herself. The plants were identical everywhere she looked. “This place doesn’t really get marks for originality.” She muttered to herself. All of the apartments were cream in colour, however two were white and stood out from the rest. Lara smiled and weaved between an Aston Martin and BMW before reaching one of the white apartments. She smiled once more as she saw ‘15’ etched into the jet black door. Lara’s attention turned to one of the Pillars. She carefully opened the gate and stepped up to the Pillar she had seen earlier. Lara looked around to see if she could spot any life around her. When she knew that she was safe, wrapped her arms and legs around a pillar and began leaping up it. When she had reached the top, she arched her head backwards to spot the small ledge before her. Keeping her legs securely in place, Lara let go of her arms and hastily made a reach for the ledge. Her hands connected. Lara expelled air in relief as she let her legs go and hung there. Her relief was short lived however as the stone under her left arm gave way. Lara gasped as her arm dropped, but quickly recovered and grabbed onto the ledge once more. She sighed, “If it’s not tombs or mountains it’s apartments in London. Ah well,” She smiled, “Breaking and entering has its limits.” Lara contracted her muscled and performed a handstand. She allowed her legs to fall over the fence covering the perimeter of the balcony and onto the roof. Her body followed shortly afterwards, and as Lara finally stood straight, she looked at her white knuckles. She shook them and they filled with blood again. Lara’s eyes set onto the large window overlooking the balcony. She approached it, and withdrew her pistol. Silently, she placed her backpack onto the floor and felt for a cylindrical object. She found one and pulled it from among the weaponry and folded clothes. Lara attached the silencer onto her pistol and took aim at the window. Her finger slowly pressured the trigger before it finally gave way. The first shot pierced straight through the window and onto the wall into the distance. Lara’s eyes caught the alarm box on the far wall and she suddenly felt like an idiot. This time she adjusted her aim towards the box and pulled the trigger 6 times. The box was destroyed and with it the alarm system. Seeing how thin the glass was, Lara grabbed a knife from her shoulder. She placed the knife at head height and drew a circle as wide as herself into the glass. It wasn’t perfect, but to Lara it was enough. Her elegant fingers touched the glass and with one sharp push, it fell into the apartment. Lara smiled and stepped back onto the edge of the balcony readying herself by bending her knees. She took an intake of breath before sprinting towards the hole. Her arms formed an arrow and her legs a tail as her body lifted and glided through the glass wall.

New York, America

Alex glided through his window and settled onto the rough carpet. He was tired, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Sluggishly, he moved towards a door and slowly creaked it open.
“Hello Alex.” A female form was sitting on his bed.
“What are you doing here?” He replied approaching his bed.
“Checking up on you…and your mission.”
“No,” He said sitting on the edge of his bed. “She’s not.”
“What? What am I paying you for, Alex? I might as well do it myself!” Her thin structure made to get up, but Alex’s arm pushed her back down by her stomach.
“You don’t have nearly as much power as I do anymore, that’s why.” He coldly said, staring into her lifeless eyes.
“Remember who sent you to Tarsus, Alex. I did, and that’s why you have Pegasus’ powers. Remember that!”
“Whatever…” He mumbled before resting his body on the bed. His eyes grew heavy and eventually, all was black.

Notting Hill, London

Lara flicked the light switch at the far end of the room and surveyed her surroundings. The room was elegantly filled with clichéd English decorations from the Queen’s guards to Big Ben to the London Eye. The floor was marbled, with a red and white Rug set into the centre. Surrounding the rug, there was 4 leather chairs and sitting comfortably on the rug was a wooden table. The wooden table had a transparent glass centre and was littered with letters. Lara’s intrigue peaked and she approached the table. She gracefully sat onto the chair and picked up a letter.
“Dear Alex,

I hope this finds you well. The research into the third Dais is astounding. There is a man in Egypt who knows its whereabouts but I fear Lara Croft also knows this. Her compassion for finding the third Dais is admirable; however she cannot and will not find it. Go to Egypt and find this man, if Lara has found him first, kill him and her together.

Senator Rutland.” Lara’s voice trailed as she finished the letter. It was Alex who had stopped her in Egypt and her hopes of finding her mother. Her blood began to boil, but she needed to know more. She picked up another letter but this time lost the strength to read it aloud.

Dear Alex,

After reading into Lara’s research, we have found more than we bargained for. Lara missed a site in Bolivia all those years ago called Beonuk. Meet me there the 15th of August; we have some work to do.

Senator Rutland.

Lara’s heart was pounding, she needed to know more and filtered through the letters. One caught her eye, the handwriting was different, it was more effeminate than the last two.

Alex,

I hear Pegasus’ feather went well. This is good news. You now have the power to find the third Dais, and with it, Avalon. However, do not forget your main mission--- kill Lara Croft. At any costs.

I have more interesting news for you. Swords in stones are part of the Legend but so is something else, which lies in Greece. I will not divulge such information over a letter, but it involves an Arthurian Legend.

The letter was not signed, but it gave Lara a clue as to where to go next.
“I have some research to do. Looks like I’ll be going back to Greece; the country of Legends.”

Edited June 6, 200719 yr by Ms.Croft

(N.B. Oh my God, it's been a year! I have written a lot more of this story and have just failed to update it due to time and lots of things happening! I will try my best to update it weekly if there's a lot of interest for it, but I will get this story finished regardless. Oh by the way, this next chapter is going to look like it was heavily influenced by the recent information released on Tomb Raider: Underworld, but I can hand on heart say I wrote almost a year ago, so...no lawsuits please CrystalD )

Chapter 6

The man of the lake

Western Aegean Sea, Greece

The blades of the plane wings whirled noisily overhead as Lara lent out of the doorway; a parachute attached to her back. She was dressed in a wetsuit with various buttons and tubes arranged perfectly around each other, and sporting goggles to protect her eyes. On either side of her parachute were two oxygen canisters.

“Are you sure you no want to get closer to sea?” The Russian man behind Lara uttered staring at the thirteen foot drop into the waters below.

“No, thank you. What’s life without some fun?” She smiled in response. She breathed inwards before giving the Russian man the three-finger salute. She looked back down, and jumped.

At first, the feeling of falling was great as the plane got further and further away, however as the altimeter began to drop, Lara no longer felt like she was falling. To her, it felt like floating, softly, towards the Earth. An old friend of hers once told her that during freefall, she could do anything a bird could do except go back up. Intrigued, Lara tested this theory by keeping her arms close to her sides and tilting her body towards the cold waters below. She began to place pressure on her right arm and her body began spinning left. The feeling was intoxicating and all Lara could do was smile. No, she thought to herself, I must concentrate.

In a rush of Adrenaline, Lara stared at her wrist altimeter. 4, 000 feet. Had she really been falling that long and fast? Looking towards the sea, she noticed the small islands neatly formed in a kind of spiral. Lara was aiming for the middle of these islands. 2, 000 feet. Bugger, her mind raced before she pulled the tag in front of her. The breath was knocked out of Lara’s body but she fought to breath as the parachute fought Earth’s gravity and the wind. Eventually Lara slowed with the parachuting and began breathing normally again. She watched her altimeter with great interest, waiting for it to reach 33 feet, which to Lara meant perfect diving height.

108…74…50…40…38…35…34…33. As soon as she could, Lara pressed a button on her wetsuit, moving the bag holding the parachute from her back and onto her chest removing the parachute entirely. As this happened, the canisters electronically moved closer to each other so that they were now in place of the parachute. She attached the oxygen nozzle to her mouth and breathed in deeply.

Lara pointed her toes and formed her body to that of an arrow before she hit the water’s surface. Detecting the sudden drop in temperature, her suit warmed keeping Lara warm and comfortable. As she descended all Lara did was breath out, keeping the pressure of her body as low as possible. When she slowed to a complete stop, she turned on her PLS and fumbled with the bag that previously contained her parachute. Ripping it off her body, Lara greedily rummaged through the contents before finding her flippers. She attached these to her feet. They can provide me with a parachute/ Driver Propulsion Vehicle, but not shoes that turn to flippers… Smiling, she then placed both hands into her bag grabbing onto the metal circular object. She took this out and placed her body on top of it before placing her left arm on one of the handles. Her other hand found the bottom of the Driver Propulsion Vehicle (DPV) where a handy Russian APS Underwater Assault Rifle was placed. She took this from its holder and placed it on top of the other handle. Now ready, Lara aimed the nose of the vehicle downwards and descended.

Croft Manor, England

“Where is she?” Alister said concerned, “She should have called in an hour ago!”

“Chill dude, she’s fine. It’s Lara after all; she’d have to dive off a wall head first into concrete to die.” Alister glared back at Zip.

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“That she’s effectively invincible, only her own stupidity could kill her…and Lara’s not stupid!”

“Ah,” Alister sighed, “You’re right, she’ll be fine.”

Western Aegean Sea, 40 Fathoms

Lara breathed in and out slowly as she looked around seeing only figures and shadows of fish and rocks illuminated by her PLS. She could feel her heart beating in her chest as her eyes darted around at the scenery. It was around here somewhere…someplace.

Rotating her DPV, Lara looked for any sign of old marble, stone, or any kind of rubble as a clue. As she rotated once more, Lara let out a deep breath and looked upwards ready to give up. As she ascended something reflected upon the surface in the distance. Lara’s heart pumped hard and she guided the vehicle towards the site in a rush of adrenaline.

As the figure came into view, Lara outstretched her arm to grab it. It turned out to be a platinum coloured chain, and as her curiosity peaked, Lara couldn’t help but tug on it. The sand around the chain became disturbed as she pulled, as if it were moving something around it. In response to this, Lara pulled on the chain harder until the chain flew upwards and sand was spread in front of her. Before she could react Lara was sucked into the hole she had created and hit the floor with a thud that knocked the air out of her.

Lara tried to gain her bearings as the room quickly filled with water, and before she knew it, her body was submerged once more. Lara’s eyes attempted to adjust to the darkness to no avail. Frustrated, she kicked her DPV to the floor and aimed her light in front of her.

The room was made of metal. New Metal, Lara thought to herself. This submarine has not been here long; she processed with uneasiness in her stomach. As she looked down, there was a textured floor in the style of bumps, Probably for Grip. Looking up, all Lara could see was dark through the square hole. To the left, there was a small rectangular crawlspace the right size for someone a bit bigger than Lara. With excitement growing in her muscles, she swam towards the crawlspace.

As she emerged from the other side of the crawlspace, Lara noticed the surface of the water about 10 feet above her. Eager to get out of her suit, she swam upwards.

Lara climbed out of the water exhausted and rolled onto the bank to the sound of running water. She threw off her goggles and tore the almost gagging oxygen pipe from her mouth to the side. Breathing heavily, she pressed her finger against her ear,

“Zip? Alister?”

“LARA!” Alister screamed as he heard her voice.

“Beautiful Zip, you fixed that reception issue we had back in England a year ago, and hello Alister, nice to hear you too.”

“So…where are ya Lara?” Zip chimed in.

“I’m not sure exactly. I should be in the Tomb of Achelous; the River God---one of the lead River Gods, might I add. Some believe he was the son of Gaia; The Goddess of the Earth. Homer, however, believed out of all three thousand River Gods, Achelous was placed above all as the source of all the World’s fresh water.”

“Then what would a River God be doing in the ocean then, Lara?”

“I’ll answer this one, Lara,” Alister interrupted. Lara saw this as the perfect opportunity to begin getting out of her wetsuit. “In ancient times, The Aegean Sea gave birth to two civilizations--the Minoans of Crete, and the Mycenean Civilization of the Peloponnese. Later, the cities of Sparta and Athens arose among others in the Athenian Empire and Hellenic Civilization. Plato described the Greeks living around the Aegean ‘Like Frogs around a Pond’, pond being the prominent word. With the ancient Greeks, the difference between a pond and a lake or river was subjective; therefore the Aegean Sea was not always known as such a sea, rather a river as it connected to other rivers. Having Achelous known as the lead River God, and having the Aegean Sea much larger and influential than the other rivers, it was thought that his Tomb was here, rather than the Acheloos River for which he was named after, which coincidentally is also the largest river in Greece.”

“Quite right, Alister.” Lara replied, kicking her foot to dislodge her flip flop. “But the reason I am here is not to find Achelous, but rather Acheron. His river was believed to be a branch of the underworld river Styx as it translates to ‘The River of Woe’.”

“So, why are you here in Achawotsits Tomb then?” Lara sighed.

“I’m in Achelous’ Tomb because being the source of all fresh water, or rivers, he should lead me to Acheron, who should lead me to Styx…and then…well, you’ll just have to wait and see.” She said flipping her camera on so the boys could see what she could. What Lara could see was rather boring, at least to her. The room---like most entrances to Tombs---was circular, like a dome. However, because of the rocks that formed it, it was more like a badly cut out dome by a 5 year old child. The rocks looked damp, and reflected Lara’s PLS as if the sun were shining. The running water she heard earlier was a waterfall. “Now that’s interesting!”

“What?” Alister asked.

“A waterfall coming as if from nowhere, that’s what!” Lara responded walking up to it. Attempting to discover the source of the mysterious waterfall, Lara aimed her PLS upwards but only saw rocks with gallons of water pouring from it. Arching her left eyebrow, Lara knelt to the floor, picking up a rock the size of her palm. She threw it at the waterfall. “Interesting...” She noticed the rock disintegrate into thin air and leave behind a hole in the waterfall. “What? The hole! It’s...moving!”

“What hole? Lara? Lara!?”

Ignoring Alister’s squeaking voice on the other end, Lara watched as the hole in the waterfall fell into the floor and then appeared once more in the ceiling. “LARA!” Lara clutched her ear in frustration,

“Yes, Alister, what is it?”

“What hole?”

“Well, I threw a rock at the waterfall and it created a hole in it. The only problem is, the hole is moving like it’s on a conveyer belt at a supermarket. Another problem is that the water appears to be made as if it were some form of acid...hold on a minute.” Lara squinted at the small circle passing her eyes. Behind it she could see complete darkness. Her interest peaked, Lara moved around the waterfall to the other side. There was no light behind the waterfall. “It also appears to be a portal to another realm.”

“What?”

Lara turned off her head set and looked around more carefully. She positioned herself once more in front of the waterfall and looked up at the rocks. As if a light bulb had turned on in her head, Lara withdrew her left pistol and fired at the rocks above her. They fell as she expected.

“Now for something bigger!” Lara looked at the largest rock behind the waterfall. Beneath it was a slope perfect enough for the rock to fall through the waterfall. Withdrawing her other pistol, Lara took aim and fired.

Where am I? Lara thought surrounded by complete darkness. Her plan had been a success. The giant rock had fallen and created a hole large enough for Lara to jump through. The room she found herself in now, however, was dark. Lara thought she heard an echo when she had landed and what sounded like a splash. Ok Lara, mental picture. You’re in a large room, hence the echo, and you’re obviously standing in shallow water. As the thoughts of the room raced through her mind, Lara caressed her right pistol and withdrew it slowly. She pointed her favourite weapon in front of her, sliding her fingers across the barrel with her other hand and pulled. The bullet, free from the chamber, hit the water with a satisfying splash. Lara pulled the trigger slightly, loading her next bullet and stepped forward confident there was still floor beneath her. Breathing slowly, she pulled the chamber again.

Lara finally heard the sound of metal hitting metal after having wasted 18 bullets. She smiled to herself, holstering her weapon and walked forward confident that she wasn’t going to end up in any trap.

Click.

“Oh bugger.” The familiar sound of rotating cogs hit Lara’s ears and sent her heart pumping. What felt like dirt hit her head and sent her gaze upwards. There was light, and like the moon hidden by the eclipse it revealed itself slowly.

The room had suddenly lit up. The beam of light had reflected off of strategically placed mirror’s dotted around the giant semi-circular dome. Lara looked around in astonishment at the size of it. Before she could take it all in, a sinking feeling hit her heart as she looked upon the path she had taken. The shallow water Lara thought she had been standing on had been a river; the deepest she’d ever seen. As she looked over the edge of the circular platform she was standing on, Lara could see tropical wildlife happily swimming beneath its surface for what looked like miles.

“I was standing on a bottomless pit of water?” Lara shook her head in amazement and noticed the bullets that were meant to be there, had gone. Like a curious monkey testing an electric fence, Lara dipped her boot onto the water’s surface and applied pressure. Her boot submerged. Along with my bullets, she thought. Curious as to what had happened; Lara looked around the room in more detail.

The source of the rotating cogs was 8 doors, all with rocks etched Greek written above them: Αχέλους, Αχέρων, Ακις, Αλφειός, Ασωπός, Κλάδεος, Ευρώτας, Πηνειός. They were the 8 River Gods in Greek mythology minus Styx. The doors were arranged like that of clock digits around the circular room, evenly spaced. The water Lara had previously been able to stand on was rushing through each of the doors now opened by the pressure pad she had stepped on earlier.

“A is A in English, χ is C and H, έ is E, the lambda symbol is L, ο is O, υ is U and finally, ς is S. So that’s A, C, H, E, L, O, U, S, Achelous.” Feeling somewhat proud of herself, Lara walked towards the door labeled Αχέλους and stopped before hitting the water. Grabbing her grapple, she pressed a switch on its underside transforming it from magnetic, to claw and aimed for the letter ς. The grapple connected. Lara pulled to make sure it was secure and jumped in. The current was strong and was pulling her away from where she wanted to go. The thought of reeling the grapple in crossed Lara’s mind, but she decided against it for fear of losing the grip. I’ll just have to do it the hard way, she decided, pulling herself towards the door.

Lara was under the doorway. She gripped the entrance with her left arm and pressed the reel button of her grapple. It zipped towards her body, cutting her leg open before resting on her buckle. Lara winced and gritted her teeth before remembering the tropical creatures below her. Without looking down, she pulled herself into the entrance with all her strength before plummeting down a waterslide into the unknown below.

Lara opened her eyes abruptly and stood up succumbing to head rush. She could hear the faint sound of someone speaking. Lara closed her eyes and breathed slowly, composing herself before opening her eyes again.

“Oh my...what...who are you?” Lara’s first thought was Grim Reaper, but he had no scythe. The man in front of her was pure skeleton, no meat or muscle covering him. The bones were the brightest white, as if he had been preserved in a museum or embalmed. He was covered in a cowl, showing his ribcage, head, hands, pelvis and feet and was speaking ancient Greek. Lara translated as he spoke.

“You are not a soul. You do not belong here.” Lara wondered where ‘here’ was and looked around spotting the waterslide she had just fallen down. The water flew from under her feet, and fell into a river of fire. The surroundings were mainly comprised of rock, with bits of onyx protruding messily from the floor. “Get out of here, mortal.”

“I’m sorry...Charon, is it?”

“How do you know of me?”

“I’ve done my research, and I know you are not a murderer. You are simply a guide for lost souls trying to find their way to Hades.”

“And you are one of those souls?” Lara now noticed the flaw in displaying her knowledge.

“No. I am simply here for information.”

“Information comes at a price, mortal, as do all of my services.”

“I know,” Lara reached inside her backpack and withdrew a leather pouch. She untied the strings carefully with her delicate fingers and withdrew a silver coin, beautifully detailed and very old.

“An obolus!” Lara could sense how much he wanted to reach for the coin in her hands. An obolus was a Greek silver coin and also a measurement of weight. In ancient Greek, the deceased were buried with an obolus placed under the tongue or on the eyes of the dead. This was for the soul of the deceased to be able to pay for passage across the river Styx or Acheron (depending on who told the story) to pass on. Those who were not wealthy enough to pay passage across the river were to wander the banks of Acheron or Styx for a hundred years. “One is not enough, mortal, it will only gain you passage to Hades.”

“Then how about 20.” Lara threw the bag towards Charon so that it landed in front of him.

“What do you wish to know?”

“Where’s the sword, Charon? You know the one to gain access to the heavens?” Charon’s skeletal gaze looked at Lara for a long time.

“That sword disappeared long ago. The titans destroyed it.”

“Along with the dais?” Charon appeared to not understand this word. “The entrance to the heavens.”

“That is where it has always been, my lady, in the tomb of a God who would protect it best. That is all I know, now leave this place.”

“You’re very unsociable, Charon, especially for a ferryman. Fine, I’ll leave, but I need your help to leave this place.”

“No. You will leave this place without my help; I will not aid a soul in escaping the grip of Hades.”

“Not even for 100 Obolus?” Lara said, curling her lip.

Edited June 27, 200818 yr by Ms.Croft

((Bite sized chunks at the moment, as I've got a lot to do and just deleted 4 chapters as I wasn't happy with them ))

CHAPTER 7

Where There’s A Will There’s A Way

Croft Manor, England

“I’m stuck. For once, I’m stuck.” Lara said quietly sitting on the armrest of her sofa with a laptop on her legs.

“Lady Croft, if I can offer a suggestion?” She nodded her head at Winston in response. “Talk to Zip and Alister, they may be able to help you.

“It’s 3am, Winston, I cannot ask them for their help now, and they need their rest. There’s got to be something I’m missing. A small detail I’ve just forgotten about; something obvious!”

“What about the text in Bolivia, Ms Croft?”

“The one I can’t translate? Yes, that is interesting and the wall probably leads to one of the six swords.” Lara sighed and stood up walking towards the tech room. “But it can't be translated. Useless. I guess it is the only lead I have at this present moment in time, though. Perhaps I should try and learn of the writing’s history.” Winston followed as Lara typed furiously at the keyboard.

Images flashed onto the monitors which were quickly discarded by her. As she went to close one window, Winston gasped in protest.

“What? What is it, Winston?”

“That picture, I have seen it before in your father’s records.”

“This one?” Lara pointed to the monitor showing an oval black stone, etched with carvings too dark to be seen clearly. Winston nodded in response before walking briskly towards his bedroom. Moments later, he returned with the picture. It was annotated. Lara could recognize her father’s handwriting anywhere. She read aloud. “‘The Stone of Translation’. It’s hardly the most interesting of artefact names. Still though, it seems appropriate considering the circumstances. I might just give this some more research.” She looked towards her faithful butler and smiled. “Winston, retire to your bed, you deserve the rest.”

“And you, lady Croft?”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. I’ll talk to you later.” Winston simply nodded, and walked towards the grand staircase. “Yes...I’ll be fine.” She said quietly to herself, smiling.