A/N: Heys. New story... ^^' Little something that crawled into my head and wouldn't leave! Anyway! This story takes place directly after the second Tomb Raider movie and sometime after Defiance.

Disclaimer: I don't own either franchises. I just own Sestine and Wralyx.

Edit: You know... Every time I try to fix this chapter I add breaks. I really wish would leave them...

Songs of Sorrow

The narrator for this chapter is an OC of mine but will change in later chapters.

Prologue

Sorrow; this is an emotion that all living creatures feel at one point in life or another. Most fall prey to it when they've lost a loved one or someone of significant importance to them.

A tall dark figure sat upon the ledge of a high stone balcony, arm resting on a bent knee as a sword was held in their other hand. The misty blue glow coming from the eyes of the skull on the sword's hilt contrasted strangely with the crimson and orange of the sun setting over the land. Lowering the sword, the figure sighed and looked out over the land. Watching the sun make the shadows of the Pillars move slowly across the still semi-healthy land, he felt slightly at a loss. The feeling was odd and rather uncomfortable. With all his years of planning successful and his first born gone, he had no clue what to do with himself for the first time in thousands of years. Raziel's absence in the world was oddly disconcerting; he hadn't felt bad at all when the others were slaughtered by their own brother why should said brother being gone feel so strange. Passing it off as exhaustion and nothing more, he slowly got up to leave.

_V_

A feminine figure sat hunched up in her seat on the plane, legs pulled up to her curved chest and her nose between her knees. Eyes slightly wet from the tears that wanted to form but she refused them. She looked out the window, watching the beautiful landscape of the continent below pass by. The pain in her arm and the blood drying on the limb were forgotten as her mind was still in the Cradle of Life; how her once lover was gone by her own hand.

"All for the greater good" She told herself, making the tears want to flow again. A familiar sense of loss welled up in her; not as intense as the loss of her father but close in comparison. A sigh and a little hiccup escaped her throat. She rubbed her tired eyes with a grimy hand and resting her face against her knees; perhaps if she took a little nap the feel would just go away…

The majority of people or creatures show it quite openly and for a good amount of time, this helps them to heal. Though, there are others… Ones, where sorrow is an emotion that is not felt often, therefore they're unsure on how it is dealt with. These ones stuff it down, hoping that if they hide it, it will not bother them.

Now under the cover of night, Kain's swarm of bats flew swiftly through the murky darkness. With time starting anew from this point in the timeline, he needed somewhere quiet and familiar to stop and think.

Flying through dense forests and over murky waterways, he headed for a secluded woodland hidden in the mountains to the north. Hours of familiar sights flying by, a sight he had not seen in many years came into view. It was a large and lonely castle, overrun with ancient vegetation and nested between tall trees. The bats flew lower towards one of the battlements, spiraling down to reshape into Kain. The stones of the castle walls seemed to be older looking than he remembered.

Ignoring this for now, he headed for one of the entryways and slipped inside. He looked around as he passed through the corridors and shook his head, purple-flamed torches lit the way but other than that there was no real personalization made to the old ruin.

He stopped suddenly in front of one of the large rooms, a small dining hall, and hesitated for a second. This was the room that the owner of the castle spent most of her time, usually reading dusty old tomes and wondered if she would recognize him. He really didn't want a repeat of their first meeting; of him sneaking into her castle and her being so upset she threw a bowl of water in his face as she started yelling at him. He stepped into the room, not surprised to see a large throne-like chair sitting in the back with books in piles around it. What did surprise him was to see the castle owner sleeping in the chair, book in lap; not that she was like this but the fact that she look almost exactly the same as when he had come to see her a few days before he had Raziel thrown into the abyss.

A few piles of books started to shift as something large moved behind them. It was an abnormally large black wolf; it raised its head and looked at him, nodding to him before lying back down again. The movement seemed to stir the castle owner from her slumber. The tiny humanoid creature sat up slightly and stretched, her little green horsetail brushing against the blanket she was curled on top of. She blinked her eyes open sleepily, looking at him and cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"Kain?"

_V_

Lara sat crosslegged in the middle of her bed, eyes closed and hands on her knees. The white silk curtains drawn around her bed, closing her off from the rest of the world and whatever thoughts came with it. Rain pouring outside the window was the only sound that could be heard. She took a slow, deep breath and opened her eyes.

Her meditation complete, she now needed something to keep her occupied; something to take her mind off what happened back in the cradle. She reached under one of her large pillows and took out an old scroll she had collected on one of her recent trips. It had been hidden away in a secret area in one of the tomb walls. It told of the discovery of an ancient temple hidden deep within the frozen Siberian wastelands. As she read, she found the scroll held not one page but many, including a vague map showing where the temple could be found. At the bottom of one of the pages, strange markings that Lara'd never seen before littered the ancient parchment. The obvious fact they were a type of hieroglyph yet nowhere near familiar looking intrigued her deeply.

She became absorbed in the vague yet fascinating details she found in the scroll. So lost in the world of knowledge was she, that she was vacant to all reality about her. Her ears didn't not notice the sound of her companions calling to her through her bedroom door but nor did her heart ache at the loss of her lost lover.

They become lost, cold and distant. For some, ever more so than before…

A strange sense of emptiness settled in Kain's chest, making him uncomfortable and unwilling to speak to the castle's owner. Not even giving her a second glance, he turned away and headed for another corridor. This whole thing was unnerving and Kain refused to acknowledge what the feelings really were; feelings of guilt and sorrow. His stubborn streak surfacing, he stuffed down his feelings as he headed for the castle owner's extensive library hidden deep beneath her castle.

The little castle owner shot his retreating form a strange look as she scratched her head.

"Now ain't he in a fuss…" She turned to her large wolf and shook her head, "Wralyx, nothing good ever comes of Kain coming to see me. I worry about what trouble this visit brings…"

_V_

Hillary knocked softly once more, his knuckles resting gently on the wood as he waited for a reply. He frowned slightly as he waited, it had been hours since his mistress had locked herself away in her room and he had stopped by five times already. Lara Croft refused to even acknowledge that her butler even existed each time he had come by to check on her. He heard rustling of papers and sheets; she was obviously awake but just ignoring him. He sighed, there was only one day that he could that she ever acted like this and it was the anniversary of her father's death. Strangely, today was not that day so he found himself wondering why she was acting like this.

And in the end, when that has failed them; they have an epiphany or they strive to make amends how they can.

Sestine walked through the halls of her castle; searching the different rooms for her uninvited guest. Wralyx, her wolf, led her to the ancient library that lies hidden under the castle. She held up a torch with the purple flame as she navigated through the catacomb of dusty bookshelves. She turned a few more bends before she found the clearing in the middle of the maze of books. Kain stood at the large hard wood table; several old tomes lie open before him.

"Kain, you should really ask before you use someone else's library." She commented flatly even though she knew such formality was below him. She frowned and placed the torch in a wall hook before climbing onto the table.

"What are you looking at?"

"Preventative measures." Kain replied absentmindedly.

"Excuse me?"

"Preventative measures. This is my world and only I hold the right to ruin it, no one else…" Sestine rolled her eyes at this.

'Of course…. All of Nosgoth has to belong to him….'

"For thousands of years, the Elder God has been pulling the strings on all the humans that are in power…. With him gone, there will be a power struggle between the human forces. This will plunge Nosgoth into war and ruin. It is common knowledge that Nosgoth is full of magical items that would help these humans." He flipped a page, "If they were to get their grubby hands on them they'd cause even more damage. Rather than destroy these head humans, which would cause more chaos and a lack in blood supply, I must find and keep the most powerful of these items out of their reach…." Sestine hummed thoughtfully at this as she looked down at the book he was reading.

"That makes a good deal of sense." She looked up at him as she pushed her bangs out of her eyes, "But that is a lot for one to do by one's self, even for you…." Kain nodded in reply but didn't look up; he just tapped the page of a book lying next to the Soul Reaver. Tiny Sestine crawled across the table and looked at the page. It was an ancient spell book full of difficult spells that were usually thought as forbidden.

"Soul transference…?!"

"Can you do it?"

"Ehh…. Err…. I might… I mean I'm sure I can do it, Kain. But who am I transferring?!"

"….Raziel…." Sestine looked over at the Reaver as Kain pointed to it.

"Ooohh… I take it your plan all those years ago worked then…."

"Correct…"

"And he's in there…?"

"Correct…." Sestine frowned slightly and took the book.

"I'll do what I can, Kain…."

_V_

An hour later, Lara swung the door to her room open and stood in the doorway; hair sopping wet and wearing only a towel.

"Alright, boys, pack your bags…!" She chirped to Hillary and Bryce, who were sitting outside her room playing cards; waiting for her.

"Pack our bags? Whatever for?" Bryce complained, completely confused. Lara smirked and tossed a writing pad to them. Hillary caught it and both men looked at it; it held semi-detailed plans for a tomb raiding mission.

"I have realized that the three of us never spend enough time together." Lara replied, heading back into her room to get changed, "I've decided that a little trip will be a good time for us to bond!" The two men cast worried glances at each other before Hillary called out to his mistress.

"And just where are we going, Lara….?"

"Siberia." They swallowed hard at hearing this, "This is a simple trip to find an old temple in the Siberia wastes and try to decrypt its origin." Lara told them smoothly as she stepped out of her room, clad in a sea green tank top and brown cargo shorts. She saw the disturbed looks on their faces.

"Lara, I hate to break it to you but I really think I've had enough excitement for a lifetime and I'm sure Hills has too." Bryce argued gently, standing up, "Plus, you're not done healing up from this last trip…!"

"Trivial details. Now hurry up and get packed you two." She clapped her hands and smirked evilly, "Pack light, we leave at noon." She smiled fondly as she heard grumbles from Bryce as she watched the two head to their living areas in order to pack. Her smiled slowly morphed to a frown; life was too short to not spend time with the ones you loved. She wanted to share her world with them while she still had the chance, they might not be so lucky next time she tangled with a madman.

When all is said and done, the sorrow is not gone; only stashed away and hidden. One cannot run from an emotion no matter how hard they try, they can only move through it and use it to make them stronger. As nature's watchful eye, I've seen many a person fall victim to sorrow's song of despair and have it ruin them. But, I feel that sorrow's newest song will sing forth a guiding light that'll save us all.

Kain reached down and gently caught Sestine as she collapsed, her energy spent from the powerful spell casting. His little mage was exhausted but she had done her job; a human Raziel clad in blue and black lay atop the stone table in front of him. Kain gently placed Sestine top the back of her wolf Wralyx, who quickly ferried her away to her room. Kain looked down at Raziel, his pale skin and dark hair resembled that of his vampire form as did the face but with slightly softer features.

"Awaken, Raziel." Cloudy forest green eyes slowly slid open and blinked a few times before his head turned to stared at Kain dumbly.

"..Kain…?"

"Is that all you can say? Usually I cannot get you to shut your mouth." Kain mocked but secretly felt a little relieved, "Now get up, there is work to do." Raziel gave him a strange look.

"Work, what work…?"

_V_

Lara Croft stood bundled up in her form-fitting yet extremely warming exploration suit, a small bag on her back and guns at her hips. Bryce and Hillary stood bundled up in not so form-fitting outfits and large backpacks on their bags. The two men sighed and wondered how they let Lara talk them into coming to Siberia to look for some stupid temple.

"C'mon, boys. Long journey ahead….."

~~~~~P.S. Grah! Longest prologue ever! Sorry for bringing you a new story. ^^' Reviews are welcomed and encouraged. Yes, even flames. They give me something to check online.

sorry about errors. Its super late and I'm in a hurry.