A/N: I am so sorry this has taken so long to upload, I am finally on summer holidays so I can write until my heart is content!
Insanity of a Goddess
Chapter Three. Awakening
"It is possible to experience an awakening in this life through realizing just how precious each moment, each mental process, and each breath truly is."
Zio Lorenzo had taken Lara to the nearby café 'La Bella Rosa'. The café was small, traditional and full of Italian character. The owner of the café, Signor Giovanni, greeted Lorenzo like an old friend and was then introduced to Lara. Giovanni showed them to an empty table, out of earshot from all the other customers, or so it seemed anyway. It was right by the front window of the café, the warm glow of the midday sun shining through, they had a beautiful view of The Grand Canal. They ordered lunch and admired their surroundings for a moment before getting back to business.
"Zio Lorenzo, something is clearly troubling you, please let me help you, amico" Lara gave him an encouraging smile across the table and he relaxed a little.
"Well, I had a young man visit me a few weeks back you see, asking about Hera and the necklace, saying it was to do with a Università di assegnazione, scusa...assignment. I found out later, 'owever, this was not the truth!" Zio Lorenzo visibly tensed and clenched his fists that had been resting on the table. Lara placed her hands on his and smiled up at him. He smiled back at her but it seemed strained.
"The boy was actually a treasure hunter, and a poor one at that, sciocco, foolish boy. He wanted this information as he was attempting to steal the necklace and become rich from the profitto. He was ill equipped and lacking importante informazioni. The temple is in ruins now as it was destroyed by an earthquake in the early 4th Century AD but it is believed there is a hidden sanctuario beneath it where Hera will rest for eternity. He tried to get into the sanctuario using esplosivi, sorry I seem to have forgotten the word in Inglese."
"Explosives Zio Lorenzo, go on." Lara was slowly becoming aware of the seriousness of the situation.
"Si, yes, explosives. As you can imagine this did nothing, we are talking about the Temple of a Goddess, brute force will not achieve anything." Zio Lorenzo became quiet and Giovanni brought over their lunch. They both thanked him and he left without questioning the lull in conversation his appearance had made, he understood the importance and secrecy of Professor Lorenzo's work.
"The boy came back to me a few days ago" Lorenzo sighed. "He seemed very preoccupato, worried. He told me how after the explosion everything had gone deadly silenzioso, there was not a sound for miles. He said the sky had gone suddenly grey and clouds had rolled in. At first I thought he was being drammatica, but what he told me next proved his mistake." Lara had never seen Zio Lorenzo look so scared and vulnerable, she had always imagined him as a strong and brave man, much like her father. The sight of him clearly so worried made her angry at this treasure hunter she had never even met and she prayed, for his sake, she never would.
"What happened Zio?" The question was a mix of curiosity and apprehension.
"He said..." another deep sigh, "he said, that from the gardens surrounding the temple two peacock emerged and walked to the centre of the ruins. Bella bambina, are you aware that the peacock was sacred to Hera, like a motif?"
Lara could only shake her head.
"Well they were and according to the boy, both the peacocks each had around their necks a replica of Hera's necklace, only far less grande. They both then flew up into a nearby tree and disappeared. 'Owever they left behind something of great significance, a small ornament made of the finest gold. It was in the shape of a pomegranate. Yet another emblem of the Goddess Hera."
"What are you telling me Zio Lorenzo?" Lara had a very good idea what he was about to say, but waited for him to confirm it.
Zio Lorenzo took a deep breath and carried on. "It is written that if Hera was ever to be disturbato from her eternal rest then her sacred being, these two particular peacocks, supposed the same two peacocks that were used to pull her chariot, would bring her an item that was of unimaginable value to her as a peace offering. Of course our treasure hunter couldn't resist that now could he, idiota! He stole the ornament and ran." Zio Lorenzo paused for a moment, seeming to choose his next words carefully.
"If what has been written and what I studied for more than cinquanta years is true then the Goddess Hera is awake and more insane, jealous and angry than ever before!" Zio Lorenzo began massaging his temples, trying to calm himself down. "She has already begun to show her displeasure at being woken up."
Displeasure, that didn't sound good, "what do you mean Zio?"
"Hera has the ability to slowly turn people insane and she has already infected villages nearby her temple. She is 'owever, only using this ability on women, most likely because of her hatred and jealousy of other women. The men are too frightened to do anything or to leave. Hera has also been causing major natural disastri, such as earthquakes and floods, but she is only just regaining the use of her powers and so cannot affect large areas at a time. Unfortunately her powers are constantly growing and everyday she is able to infect more women, young and old, even children. If she is left she will no doubt soon, be able to tortura the minds of every woman on this earth." Lara noticed Zio Lorenzo physically slump a little in his seat, he seemed a little calmer at being able to share this horrible information with someone but by no means relieved.
It took Lara a moment to take all of this in. Lorenzo had just told her the Queen of the Goddesses had been woken up and she was pretty pissed off about it, the local women were slowly being turned mad, nearby villages were being attacked by natural disasters and if 'someone' didn't do anything soon, the whole world would be in Hera's control. Lara would've bet the whole Croft estate and fortune that Zio Lorenzo thought that 'someone' should be her.
"I don't understand why there hasn't been more publicity on it" she said, pushing her food around the plate with her fork, she had suddenly lost her appetite. "Surely someone must've found something?"
But Lorenzo just shook his head. "I only know through the boy and the locals living nearby the temple are either already under Hera's control or too terrorizzata to do anything, they will suspect it is something to do with the Gods and will probably be too afraid to speak of it, in case they displease them. Greci are still very aware of the myths."
Lara looked up at her old friend, he looked tired, very tired in fact. She was aware he wasn't as young as he used to be but he still seemed so carefree and full of life that she often forgot his true age. There in that moment, with worry etching his already wrinkled face, and the joy and happiness gone from his green eyes, Lara promised herself she would do whatever it takes to make Zio Lorenzo smile again.
"What do I need to do Zio?"
A/N: I am aware that is probably quite a boring chapter, and I'm sorry, but it is needed and very important! but if you're good I may post chapter four (which is far more interesting) very soon
Italian translations
La Bella Rosa = the beautiful rose
Signor = Mr
Università di assegnazione = university assignment
Scusa = sorry, excuse me, pardon etc.
Sciocco = foolish
Profitto = profit
Importante informazioni = important information
Sanctuario = sanctuary
Esplosivi = explosives
Inglese = English
Preoccupato = worried
Silenzioso = silent
Drammatica = dramatic
Grande = grand
Disturbato = distrubed
Idiota = idiot
Cinquanta = fifty
Disastri = disasters
Tortura = torture
Terrorizzata = terrified
Greci = Greeks
