Lara pulled down another book from the shelves of the library in Croft Manor and flicked through it. She scanned the first few pages, and then tossed the book carelessly over her shoulder, muttering, "No."

She took up another book, opened it, flipped through it, scowled. "No."

She threw it away and then stepped back, looking up at the upper shelves. She stepped up to the bookshelves and climbed upwards, using the gaps where rejected books had once been for hand and foot holds. She reached the top shelf and let go with one hand to look over a few more books.

"No!"

She slammed a fist into the shelves and let go of them. She landed hard on the floor, the impact jarring her legs, and tears formed in her eyes. She blinked them back - they had not come from the fall. She brushed at her eyes furiously. She was not going to just break down and cry like some little girl. Instead, she began to walk around the room once more, narrowing her eyes as she looked at each volume on the shelves. She grabbed a large leather backed book and looked through the pages before throwing it away.

"Damn it!"

"Lara?"

Lara spon around, one hand automatically going to her gun. Zip hovered in the doorway, clearly uneasy. Lara forced herself to take a deep breath and peeled her hand away from her gun.

"What is it, Zip?"

He stepped into the room, looking around at the discarded books lying in heaps on the floor. "Anaya rang, she wanted to ask if you were okay."

"I'm fine, thank you," Lara said, turning back to the shelves. She didn't care if she was being rude, she just wanted him to leave.

"What are you looking for?"

"Nothing."

Zip sighed behind her. "Lara... you can't bring him back."

She spon around, tearing her gun from its holster."Get out. NOW!"

Zip flinched, and then quickly headed for the door. As soon as he was gone, Lara let herself fall to her knees. This time she couldn't hold her tears back, and they spilled over her eyelashes and raced down her cheeks. She wanted to call him back and apologize, but if she did he would see her crying and she couldn't bear that. She looked around the library, at the mess she had made.

Alister would be horrified...

She rose to her feet and moved over to the desk. It had miraculously survived the fire, along with the papers inside it, and she had had it replaced in the rebuilt library. Now, she sat down at the leather chair and pulled open the top right drawer. Inside was a neat stack of papers and folders. She pulled out the first one and flipped it open. Alister's handwriting was scrawled across the page, amazingly untidy considering his personality. Lara ran her hand over the page, swallowing hard as a lump rose in her throat.

According to Natla, Avalon and Helheim are the same place. Mjolnir is apparently needed to enter (widely known as Thor's hammer) which may be found on the Jay Mayan Islands? Note: tell Lara about this. Doubtful that Natla truly wants to help.

"He knew even then..."

She bit her lip as her thoughts pushed out through her lips. She traced the unruly handwriting with one finger. Alister Fletcher. He should have been known by the whole world for his intelligence.

"I did try, Alister, I swear I did..."

She felt a sob catching in her throat and quickly stuffed the folder back into the drawer and shut it. She rose to her feet and moved to the nearest shelf. She would start again, from the very beginning, and search every book they had. How he had managed to pull up information in the past so fast was unbelievable - this was taking her forever. Gritting her teeth, she reached for the nearest book.

"No."

"No."

"No..."

Lightning flashed like the spark of a broken wire, and thunder snarled in Lara's ear. She opened her eyes, and then slowly lifted her head from where it was pillowed on a book. She had fallen asleep... scowling, she rose to her feet and stretched, wincing as her joints ached. Her eyes began to sting with tiredness and she glanced at her watch. Four thirty. She had been here for hours and found nothing. Shaking her head, she moved out of the library and down into the great hall. She slumped down into an armchair and looked up at the portrait of her mother and father.

"What would you do, father?" she murmured. "What would you say?"

His kind eyes stared blindly down at her. She felt tears forming in her eyes once more - yet another person she had lost. Shaking herself, she pushed herself up to her feet and walked over into the tech room. Neither Zip nor Winston were about. They must have retired to their rooms. She sat down in the desk chair and pulled herself towards the computer. She logged onto the net and stared at the search page. She could almsot hear Alister talking out loud to them as he scrolled down through the ancient myths they had spent their lives researching.

"Sometimes you start at the end and work backwards. Things are never clear as you want them to be... you have to dig past the skin... Think about what they believed..."

And they had started with Norse mythology... Lara tapped a search in and scrolled down the websites that came up. She flicked through them until something caught her eye.

In Norse mythology, Gullveig is a mysterious figure who appears solely in the Poetic Edda poem Voluspá in association with the Esir-Vanir War. In the poem, Gullveig is stated to have been burned three times in Odin's hall, yet to have been three times reborn.

Odin? She recognized that name. She dived deeper into it, her grief and despair beginning to melt away as she lost herself in the task. Soon she had some information on Odin himself staring her in the face.

Odin is considered the cheif god in Norse paganism. In some cases, his name is translated to mean fury, excitation, mind or poetry. His role, like many of the Norse gods, is complex. He is associated with wisdom, war, battle, magic, poetry, prophecy, victory and... death.

That last word burned itself in her mind, screaming out hope. That tiny little 'what if' nagging at her. This was a long shot, she knew that, and it was probably a wild goose chase. But maybe, just maybe...

Maybe was enough for her.

She rose to her feet and ran to Zip's room. She pushed open the door without knocking and ran over to his bed, shaking his arm. He startled awake, staring around in confusion.

"Lara? What time is it... what?"

"I need you to organize a flight for me, right now."

"Now? Lara... jesus, its nearly five in the morning! What the hell are you doing up?"

"Just please, Zip? I need it quickly."

Groaning, Zip sat up and rubbed at his face. "What is this?"

She hesitated. If she told him the real reason, he would either show her how it wouldn't be possible or not let her go. So she lied. "I need some time. I think there are some ruins in the area and I would love to just get away and... and explore. Just for a bit."

His face cleared. "Oh, right," he said, nodding. "Sure. I'll sort it out now."

She regretted lying, but she had to do this alone. She had to make it... for Alister