I think two and a half weeks and one chapter is too much of a Kurtis-withdrawal for you guys *sigh* so you can have his return early...


Garin stared down at the small white paper in his hand, reading the coordinates over and over in his mind. He hardly felt the slight waver from the helicopter as it crept even closer to the island of Maldives. You'd better be right, Kyran, he thought warily. If he was going on some wild goose chase – which wouldn't surprise him, seeing how it was in fact Kyran who had given him the coordinates – then he would make his way back to the states and kick the living shit out of his Vasiley comrade, Lux Veritatis or not.

Again, he thought, what difference did it make? What would happen then? He'd go the exact location of the bearing – point-for-point, and not a mark off – and find…what? Sure, neither he nor Kyran knew what to expect when he arrived at location, but still, a part of him wondered if there was even something to expect in the first place.

He'd convinced Lara twelve years ago that Kurtis likely wasn't dead, but the very fact that it had been twelve years since they'd last seen or heard from him was enough to make him question the truth behind his assertion. Sure, the likelihood had been probable – had been. Now though, everyone had aged. Things were different. Was it even possible that Kurtis could've survived in the first place? It wasn't like there was a Croft Manor inside Lemuria where he could relax at his leisure – he was trapped in another dimension.

Garin stared down at the paper, then flipped it over to read his own notes that he'd later scribbled on it. The village of Yarkeva. Apparently, there were some old ruins on the outskirts of the village, which would put him directly at the coordinates' location. That was where he was going to find…whatever it was he was looking for. You'd better be right, Kyran, he thought again.

Of course, then there was Kyran. Garin hadn't held contact with any of the brothers in the past twelve years. Well, not much anyways. Occasionally, he'd receive an e-mail, a letter, or a phone call from the more polite of the bunch – Zeth, Davis, and at one time, even Willard. The rest, he'd hardly heard from at all. Aiden had lived with him up until about two years ago, then had moved to New York to finish his schooling and become a certified lawyer. Garin had felt as proud as if he were his own son, but time and time again, he had to remind himself that he wasn't. He was the kid of a friend of his parent's. Had it not been for the Lux Veritatis blood, he would've been nothing more than another passerby.

And finally, there was Lara. He'd made brief contact with Alister and Zip over the years, only about once a year, just to make sure she was still holding up. He remembered the last time he'd seen her so sullen, so depressed, and who could blame her? Her lover was trapped in another dimension, and she was left to raise his child alone. He understood why she didn't want him to try to find Kurtis, but he couldn't do it. He just couldn't. It wasn't because he would feel like a jerk or whatever, it just wasn't in his nature to leave anyone behind. He knew it wasn't in Lara's either, but she wasn't a person of faith. She believed in the materialistic, and logic. If Kurtis wasn't there in her presence, he wasn't there at all.

Garin had spent the past twelve years in that damned study upstairs in his house, and Kyran had been right – it was about four or five hours a day. He became so obsessed with his studies about Lemuria that he could've given Alister a run for his money. Not only did he need to find a way out for Kurtis and Lara's sake, he needed to satisfy this insatiable drive to find resolve – resolve which could only be found by breaking open that damned portal and getting the Montsegur brother back to reality.

The helicopter slowly descended, and Garin crammed the note into his pants pocket. With a heavy sigh, he stood to his feet and gripped the overhead railing, waiting until the chopper was just low enough for him to jump out. Sure, arriving on the island of Maldives via hilo was nothing short of conspicuous, but he really didn't care.

Garin climbed out of the chopper, and with a quick wave to the pilot, he headed towards the village that lay ahead. Natives dressed in colorful attire casted long stares at the white man with the aviator shades and loosely-buttoned white shirt, but Garin hardly paid any attention. He ran his fingers through his jet black hair and then glanced in all direction, assuming that the ruins were the large stone temple that lay ahead in the distance.

With another heavy sigh, he trudged forward. You'd better be right, Kyran.


It was a funny feeling, really. People always thought of floating and flying as feelings of dissociation from reality. Isn't that what everyone wanted? No one wanted to be stuck on the mundane planet of Earth forever. Once in awhile, it would be nice to just escape and run away. Once in awhile, fantasy was better than reality.

Kurtis had been trapped in 'fantasy' for six years now, and those feelings that people longed for were feelings belonging to the unappreciative. Those people were unappreciative of life, unappreciative of reality. To be honest, he was sick of floating. He was just sick of it. To feel ground beneath his feet once again – well, that would be something.

Gravity was a materialistic kind of thing. It kept you grounded, and for once, he wanted to be grounded. Here in Lemuria, though, he couldn't remain grounded. Those stupid swirls of purple, pink, and gold floated around him, lifting him into a bittersweet moment of…well, floating. He was literally floating above…the ground? Whatever the hell it is, he thought. It sure as hell isn't ground.

He did this a lot. What else was there to do in Lemuria? Hell, compared to this, one of Alister's lectures on history was the most exciting thing he could imagine. Not that it matters, he thought. I'm never getting out of here anyways.

He'd been trying to communicate with his brothers for the past several months now. Lemuria was hell, without a doubt, but it proved to give him a lot of psychic manipulation. He took advantage of that and attempted to reach them through dreams and visions. The only brothers he felt that he gained a response from, though, were Garin and Kyran. Garin, likely because of his good-hearted nature, and Kyran, likely because he would only think of ridding Kurtis's voice in his head for the sake of peace. If it got Kurtis out of Lemuria, he didn't care who he had to irritate.

Kurtis felt something strange behind him, and he sat up quickly from his reclined position on the floating colors of dust. He lowered himself to the 'ground' and held a wary glare in the direction of the shadow he could've sworn he'd seen. Karel, he thought irritably. It had to be Karel…

He'd tracked him down and killed him with the Sword of Light after Karel had impersonated Konstantin. He hadn't seen him again in the past six years, not once, but somehow, Kurtis was convinced that he wasn't dead. Whenever he felt those strange feelings of being followed or watched, he was sure it was Karel…somehow. Needless to say, it was peaceful not having him around in physical context, but that didn't make up for the fact that he knew that Karel was around here somewhere.

This time, though, there was something different about the movement he suspected. He saw it coming from a northerly direction. He saw a thin barrier of dancing light, yellow light that hadn't been there before. His face knit into confusion as well as intrigue. What have I got to lose? he thought with boredom. Above all, boredom was what he was sick from more than anything else. Next on the list was loneliness…

Kurtis sighed to himself and worked the kinks out of his neck as he trudged towards the shadow in the distance – rather, where he'd assumed he'd seen the shadow. Psychology would easily claim that his lack of human interaction in six goddamn years was causing him to lose his mind in the most literal sense, but he was certain that he'd seen something…

And there it was again! Kurtis stopped in his tracks, watching carefully as the shadow moved beyond the thin layer of psychic energy in the distance. It almost looked…real.

Oh, well, he thought nonchalantly. If it's Karel, let him kill me. At least I'll get the hell out of here. He trudged carefully towards the thin layer of energy, and the shadow grew bigger with each step as he drew closer. He outstretched his hand slowly, reaching towards the barrier. The shadow stopped just before him, as if it was aware of Kurtis's presence.

Kurtis drew in a silent breath of courage, and then reached even further towards the shield. When his fingertips brushed against the barrier, he felt his entire body being pulled forward at lightning speed. The force on his being must've been too intense to physically handle, because before he could fully realize it, he was unconscious.

Garin followed the winding path down into temple, eyeing the intricate carvings all around. Normally, he would be keen to such cultural display, but right now, he just wanted to find what he was there for and leave.

He sighed as he dropped his backpack to the ground, glancing about the empty temple room. He was there. He was right where the coordinates placed him – but there was nothing there. He sighed again, although this time, with frustration. What the hell was he supposed to do now? A small voice in the back of his head told him to think outside the box…whatever that meant…

…use my powers? he thought slowly. He'd hardly used his powers in twelve years. But if that was what it took, that was what he would do. He held his hands before him, ever so slowly, and then closed his eyes, willing the psychic energy to erupt in his palms. When he looked down, he saw a subtle orange glow illuminating his hands. He smiled faintly as his powers returned to him, then he looked up. Garin outstretched his arm and engulfed the room in a thin layer of the orange energy, like a painter covering the entire white of the canvas.

Finally, he took a step back, admiring his work. The entire room was engulfed in orange energy, forming a barrier between him and the other half of the room. Now what? He could feel something strong, and it was just on the other side of the portal.

Garin slowly approached the portal and reached his hand towards it. This might not be the best idea, but it's worth a shot, he thought. He drew in a deep breath, and then reached forward. His forearm reached through the portal, disappearing beyond the orange light. He felt something against his fingertips, something…real. It felt like skin.

It can't be…he thought doubtfully. Kurtis? He tightened his grip around the object, and as soon as he did, he saw the faint trace of a shadow on the other side of the portal. He stopped for a moment, almost shocked by the cryptic illusion, but then pulled his arm back towards his body, keeping a grip on…whatever it was that was in his hand. He pulled hard with all the strength he could summon, until his entire arm returned through the portal – carrying extra baggage with it.

Garin almost leapt from his skin as he staggered backwards, watching as the body fell to the ground, unconscious. For a moment, he was frozen. He could merely stare down at the body of his lost brother. It wasn't true. It couldn't even be real. It couldn't be possible. Was he sure he wasn't dreaming?

At the slowest pace he'd ever moved, he bent down next to Kurtis, feeling for a pulse along his wrist. With lightning speed, Kurtis jerked his hand forward and gripped Garin by the throat. He would've reacted, but he felt the barrel of a gun pressed into his side, held by Kurtis's other hand. Kurtis slowly opened his blue eyes, gazing up hollowly at his brother. Garin could hardly recognize him. It was as if he were possessed, as if he weren't even in his own body.

Don't do it, Kurtis, Garin thought warily, hoping it would reach his mind. It's me. It's Garin Limoux. I'm your brother – I'm your friend…

Kurtis continued to stare into his eyes for a long moment, glaring as if deciding whether or not he should waste the lead on the man before him. Finally, he released his grip and lowered the gun. He dropped his hands to the ground and closed his eyes, turning his head to be precisely parallel with the ceiling above him. It was too good to be true – wasn't it? Kurtis lay on the ground on his back, his eyes closed, afraid to believe that for a second he was back in the real world. He opened one eye, looking up to see the brick ceiling of the ruins. The sunlight was creeping in through the brick windows. "You'd better not be fucking with my head," Kurtis muttered in a hoarse voice.

Garin wasn't sure if it was a joke or not, but seeing how the ball was in his court at that point, he let it turn as a joke, and he chuckled a bit. "Hardly," he replied. "As long as you're not messing with mine…?"

Kurtis didn't laugh. Instead, he groaned, reaching a hand up to his head. He slowly opened his eyes, gazing over his hands as if expecting to look like an alien. Then, he slowly lifted up his shirt, revealing the large scar on his stomach from where Karel had skewered him with the Sword of Light. Luckily enough for Kurtis, light would repel light. That had been the only way he'd survived the attack, although the healing process had taken long enough…

He shoved his shirt back down, refusing to look at the scar. Then, he turned his head towards Garin. "Are you real?" he asked slowly.

"As real as you are," Garin replied carefully. "As real as any of this is." He gestured about the temple's room, keeping a close eye on his friend.

"How do I know that's true?" Kurtis asked suspiciously.

"You have faith," Garin replied flatly. "Isn't that all we can do?"

Kurtis didn't reply. He wasn't in the mood to have faith – in anyone or anything. Instead, he slowly rose to his feet, staring at the orange energy that floated before him as it slowly died away. "Good riddance," he muttered, watching as the light slowly dissipated altogether.

Garin rose to his feet as well, removing the folded paper that Kyran had given him the night before. "Kyran told me you sent him some coordinates," he said casually.

Kurtis slowly looked down. "Good thing he got them," he muttered hollowly.

"He left them with me," Garin replied. "I figured there was no harm in checking them out."

Kurtis ran his fingers through his hair. "No harm is right," he echoed.

Garin pocketed the note, unsure as to why he removed it in the first place. "Well, I'm certainly glad to see you're alive and kicking," he replied.

"If that's what you call this," Kurtis said. "I've been in hell for six years."

Garin frowned. "Six years?" he asked. "It's actually been…twelve years," he remarked.

Kurtis's face knit into confusion. "I counted every goddamn day, Garin. I think I would remember."

"Perhaps time moves slower in Lemuria," he said. "Regardless, you seem to be alright."

"Yeah," Kurtis said sarcastically. "Sure." He was the farthest thing from alright. He felt queasy, and the next thing he knew, he was bent over, heaving up his dry insides. He hadn't eaten in six – twelve? – years, and he was just barely realizing how hungry he was. Perhaps all that psychic energy beyond the portal had disrupted his insides, anyway. He couldn't even be half-normal at this point. He was sure of it. That place had caused plenty of damage on him, emotionally and mentally.

Garin helped him back to his feet. "It looks like you could use some food, a shower, and a place to sleep," Garin speculated.

"All of the above," Kurtis agreed.

"Very well," he said. "I'll take you back to my home in Amiens. You can rest up and then decide where you'd like to go from there."

I know exactly where I want to go, Kurtis thought. The first place on his stop was London, England, to find the woman he'd not forgotten in six – twelve! – years. She would still feel the same way about him – he was sure of it.

Of course...psychologically speaking, Kurtis would've been literally insane, but Tomb Raider defies logic, so there's no argument there XD

OveractiveImaginer: I had to ease you guys in with a deep speech about being a hero/burden!! It only seemed right. And don't get me started on that PAINT...

Jade the Grey: Huh? You're in a festival meadow without internet for six days? Is that some Independence Day vacation, lol?

laraandkurtisfan97: Lara's a tough gal, she'll manage XD No worries!!

I'll catch you kids lata on Monday for chapter three!! You might find the next chapter to be quite entertaining!! I know I do...XD