Author's note: I don't own any of the characters! They belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 4: A Sapphire from the Oceans
In a secret room, Athenaeum, four days ago
Nathan Drake was having a face-to-face discussion with Kratos alone. They were in a room hidden from any curious faces. But Nathan himself wasn't looking forward to this, because he knew that he would get scolding and criticism from his leader. As the muscular and pale-skinned man merely sat on his chair while glaring at him, Nathan decided to speak up, in hopes of changing his opinion.
"Warchief, what I said earlier was not about dismantling your leadership. It was all about…" he stopped once he heard Kratos's gruff voice.
"I know that, Nathan Drake! You didn't speak about defection. Rather, you questioned my way of solving problems. Do you even realize what we are up against!?" he demanded an answer from the spelunker who sighed deeply.
"I know that it's important for us to stand against King Mario! However, we shouldn't force others to risk their lives on the battlefield! They don't deserve such treatment!" Nathan pointed out, much to Kratos's indifference.
"You are saying that those of Sony flesh and blood should reject our call for liberation!? Should we just let them skulk around their homes defenceless!? Your opinion sickens me, Nathan!" Kratos rebuked him.
"But the first thing we don't know is the fact that if it was Mario's orders to kill our elders. Don't you think that someone else could've pulled something like that?" Nathan asked with reason.
"Bah! You are too ignorant to see the facts, young one! Of course we decided to engage in negotiations with Segendo, but why did they have to assassinate our elders!? They gave their word…but that was nothing but a lie" Kratos explained coldly. Nathan scratched the back of his head.
"Hey…you know something….I might be able to do you a service. Do you want to hear it?" Nathan asked his superior. Kratos focused his attention on him.
"A service, you say? Argh…explain it to me and I may consider it" Kratos demanded.
"Okay. For you see I was just wondering…..
Present day, Wumpa Islands
Back in the jungle, we see Nathan and Lara walking through while passing by some old ruins. Nathan had been explaining to Lara about his story while they wandered.
"And that's how I managed to convince him to put his trust in me. I told him that I could do a scouting mission on these islands. Kratos was sceptical at first, but he agreed to it if only Colonel Radec could be witnessing it. But things have changed" Nathan said to Lara who nodded in return.
"I know. We left Colonel Radec's ship during night. We used a lifeboat to reach Wumpa Islands. But tell me, Drake: what do you think these islands have that could help us against Kratos or other threats on the rise?" she asked him seriously. Nathan took a deep breath before answering.
"There are rumours of one such temple containing an artefact created by Fictiontopia's creators. Legends say that the one in possession of it can control the seas" Nathan explained, much to Lara's shock.
"Are you serious!? Don't tell me that you're planning on destroying the world!" she said outraged, but Nathan tried to calm her down.
"Slow down! I never said anything about destroying the world! No I want to use it to end all of this chaos. It's called….the Orb of Azulmona! It's said to have been created by the goddess Azulmona to control the seas!" Nathan said with interest.
"That is very interesting to hear, Drake! But do you really think it could…." Lara stopped once she noticed Nathan just staring at something in front of them. Once Lara looked forward, she was completely stunned.
It was an old temple, where the vegetation had taken control of its white colour. Water was running freely from the temple, to the rivers and lakes in the jungle. Nathan smiled and slowly walked towards it, Lara followed him.
"I Just hope you know what you are doing, Drake" Lara said to herself as she followed her partner.
Outside Sandover Village, Sly Copper and the gang's hideout
In a large shack in the jungle, Sly was relaxing while reading the Theivius Raccoonus. The young raccoon lived at this shack along with his lifetime buddies, a four-eyed but smart turtle named Bentley and a clumsy, but strong hippo named Murray. Sly were orphaned at early age and found himself at an orphanage, were he eventually met Bentley and Murray. Together, they would form a trio which was built upon friendship and brotherhood. Even though the trio were known as the local gang of thieves, their actions were mostly for the best. Indeed, the Cooper Gang always preferred to steal from the rich, greedy and tyrannical rather than the kind, gentle and defenceless. In their opinion, a true thief always stole for a purpose, not just for the sake of staying alive.
Sly studied the written texts on the book, until he was interrupted by a large explosion coming from the garage. He immediately ran to see what it was. Obviously it was Murray who was trying to check on something regarding their van. Once the raccoon entered the shack's garage, he facepalmed at what he saw.
Believe it or not, Murray had accidentally destroyed the van's motor when he hit it too hard with a wrench. This is what caused the explosion. Murray stood still while covered in black. He started coughing out smoke and soon realised Sly was watching him.
"Dude, what happened here, Murray? It almost sounded like a bomb!" Sly asked while staring at him. The hippo turned around to reply.
"Howdy Sly, I….was just trying to tame this van's good-for-nothing motor! Then all of a sudden…" Murray stretched his arms while pushing his belly. "This happened! Luckily, I'm still alive!" Murray answered, much to Sly's dismay. He sighed.
"Well, now you probably realise that hitting a motor with a wrench isn't such a good idea. Wouldn't you agree big guy?" Sly asked.
"Yeah...I think so" Murray answered.
Suddenly Bentley entered the garage while pushing his wheelchair. He just kept staring at the mess Murray made with shocked eyes.
"SWEET MOTHER OF….ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US ALL, MURRAY!?" Bentley asked outraged, but the hippo stood his ground.
"But I was only trying to figure out what the van's condition! Remember, the grand prix is only a few days away!" Murray pointed out, much to Bentley's annoyance.
"You're still getting it all wrong! You could've killed us all with what you were doing!" Bentley pointed out.
Sly watched as his two friends bickered with each other. He couldn't help but to chuckle in amusement. But there was something on his mind: how were Crash and the others doing? He smirked while thinking about their punishment for what they did yesterday.
At Sandover Village's docks
Crash had just cleaned up the basement at Samos's hut. Fortunately he managed to avoid any confrontation with Jak. Samos was satisfied, yet not cheerful about their actions yesterday. Ratchet and Spyro had also managed to work together on the hut's roof. True, since Ratchet was the laid-back and easy-going individual while Spyro was the hot-tempered and cocky individual. Now he sat by the docks, while slowly lowering his feet in the water. The bandicoot wanted to take a short break before continuing to the market where he was supposed to buy some Wumpa-fruits. But as Crash was about to stand up, a cheerful voice called to him.
"Hey Crash! Are you feeling well?" the voice of Kat could be heard. Crash turned up to face the blonde girl standing beside him with a gentle smile on her face. Accompanying her was her black-furred cat: Dusty. Crash's face shifted from laziness to cheerfulness.
"Kat….I'm fine. Although I'm still a little bit rusty after cleaning Master Samos's basement" Crash said, trying to sound nice. Kat giggled and sat beside the young bandicoot. She stared down at the water, much to Crash's curiosity.
"It feels really nice, doesn't it?" she asked, making Crash confused.
"What do you mean by that? That I'm finally done with the cleaning?" he asked, causing Kat to laugh sweetly.
"No, no silly, about lowering your feet to the water. The moment you do that, all you can feel is its chilling effect moving all around you" Kat answered while observing Crash's feet in the water. The young bandicoot merely chuckled.
"Ummm…it feels really nice…but I think I may feel something a little different from what you just told me" Crash said.
"Well, I guess you could say so" Kat remarked while gazing towards the horizon. Crash started to do the same thing.
"Are you excited for the race?" she suddenly asked the bandicoot.
"Why…yes, but my sister's only agreed to race with me if I behave. And you know what, I actually agree with her on that" Crash answered. Kat chuckled at the bandicoot's statement.
"You are lucky to have someone who cares about you, Crash" she suddenly said, much to Crash's silence. "Anyway, have you heard anything from those two strangers who saved you?" she added with a question, making Crash snap.
"Well, the so far I haven't heard anything from them. They are probably busy doing their research or whatever they called it. Oh, their names are Nathan Drake and Lara Croft, by the way" Crash said while scratching his neck. Kat smiled.
"Nathan Drake and Lara Croft, they both sound interesting, don't you think?" Kat asked.
Crash thought about it. True, those two were indeed special, considering the fact that they came from the mainland. But Crash didn't know anything much about them. Perhaps Samos knew something. As he thought about the old sage, Crash realized that Samos today sounded not as grumpy and short-tempered as the Samos he knew. It was almost as if Samos were hiding something. Not just from Crash, but from Jak, Spyro and every people in Sandover Village. This included his daughter: Keira.
"Yeah, they really do" Crash answered Kat's question.
The young girl stood up on her feet and went her way while waving Crash goodbye. The young bandicoot did the same thing. He watched as the girl and her cat walked away from his sight.
"Well, I better head over to the market! I don't wanna keep Coco and Crunch waiting" Crash said to himself and sat his course for the market in the village's centre.
Inside the ruins of the temple in the jungles
Nathan and Lara had finally entered the temple. They expected to encounter something dark and threatening in these abandoned corridors, likely in the form of mindless monsters. To their surprises however, no one came. But still, they wanted to remain unnoticed by anything that was probably watching them.
"This temple is probably filled with traps. It won't be easy navigating here, Drake" Lara stated lowly while readying her guns. Nathan smirked while loading his rifle.
"We'll see about that, tough girl!" he replied and the two began venturing through the empty corridors filled with flora and stone.
After completing a few tricky levels, including climbing up to openings to reach the top of the temple, the two spelunkers had arrived in a large hall where a statue of a beautiful woman stood in the centre. She held her arms like she was about to hold something. But there was other than flora and stone which could be seen in the hall. There was water, lots of it!
Water ran every corner, from the shoulders of the statue to different holes in each of the corners. They were probably running out to the rivers, and thus out to the ocean. Nathan and Lara could also se openings in the walls that were formed like windows. As a result the hall was given much thanks to the rays of sunshine.
But the spelunker duo was mostly focused on the statue and the way she held her hands while the water was running like it was washing her. They stepped closer to get a better look at the woman.
"Whoa, look at her! I've never seen statues like these! It's incredible" Nathan exclaimed while reaching out for his logbook.
"I agree. But who is she? She does not look like a Segendian, or a mortal upon our world for that matter" Lara asked while studying the statue's structure. She walked closely to study the way her hands were posed.
"According to Sully, this woman right here is…none other than Azulmona herself! That's the goddess I was speaking about earlier. It stands here in this logbook: she is the beauty that lives in the unknown, the kindness that lives in the uncertainty and the sapphire that lives in the oceans" Nathan stated while reading a few excerpts from his logbook.
"What is that you are reading?" Lara asked her partner.
"Oh, I just wrote down a few facts about Azulmona. I found them on a book Sully gave to me when I first met him. The book was about the creation of Fictiontopia and our world's former guardians. Azulmona was among these guardians" Nathan explained.
"That is indeed intriguing, Drake. However, I am still reluctant to trust this artefact you want to find so much" Lara stated coldly.
Nathan walked up towards the statue's hands and noticed something round lying there in the palms of water. As he got a closer and better look, he could see that this was the Orb of Azulmona. It was blue as the ocean itself. Nathan slowly reached for it, only for Lara to watch carefully.
"Careful! Who knows what this object might do to you!" Lara stated with a hint of fear in her voice. But Nathan slowly grabbed the orb with is hands and lifted it up. He observed it with wonder.
"This is amazing! Just look at it, Lara! Have you ever seen such wonder before?" he asked while holding the orb.
"Listen, I know it's too early to say it, but we really need to get out of this place before…." Lara stopped speaking when both she and her partner could feel the whole temple shaking. The hall didn't collapse.
But the most surprising moment was when Lara and Nathan noticed how the eyes of the statue suddenly glowed into blue. It was almost as if it was becoming alive, but this wasn't the case. Both spelunkers stared at the statue warily while noticing how blue the orb was glowing.
"This doesn't sound good! What the hell's going on?" Nathan asked with shock in his voice.
"I think it was unwise of you to just take the orb from its location, Drake!" Lara remarked while sharing her partner's feelings.
Suddenly both spelunkers snapped once they heard a voice coming to them from the unknown.
"I am Azulmona, creator of the oceans. You intruders have taken something of great value to this world! That is unforgivable!" the female voice could be heard from the statue, much to the spelunker's shock.
"Wait! We aren't thieves! We just thought this orb of yours could've helped us cure the depravity of the video game people!" Nathan tried to explain. But the voice became louder.
"Enough! My orb is not be used by mortal hands. If they did, this world's oceans could've been destructive" the female voice explained. "The relics we left behind must always be refrained from being used for selfish purposes. They can awaken terrible disasters!" the voice added with despair.
"But what happens now? Drake just held the orb! That does not mean something terrible will happen, am I right?" Lara asked while pointing out the situation.
"You mortals don't understand….by touching the orb….you have...awakened what I failed to control!" the voice of Azulmona said with a hint of sadness in her voice, much to the duo's shock.
The orb began glowing blue and soon a beam of light shot right up towards the roof. But the beam went through the roof and continued its way towards the blue sky.
All over Sandover Village
The people of Sandover stopped with whatever they were doing and turned their attention towards the mountains. They were all shocked. They could see the blue beam heading towards the sky.
Samos observed it with both sadness and shock from his hut. He knew what would eventually happen if someone was so foolish as do search for such relics. But he had no interest in telling the truth to Nathan and Lara.
"So it has come to this…..not good…..not good!" Samos said lowly.
At the market, Crash and other well-known people living in the village observed the beam with widened eyes. The young bandicoot had groceries in hands, but he immediately dropped them and ran straight for the light. Others continued to just stare at it with shock in their eyes.
"I better check out what that is! I'm sorry sis, Crunch! But I've gonna have to break my promise to you. But I assure you it's for a good reason!" Crash thought while running towards the light.
On the Uncharted Sea, a few miles off the Wumpa Islands
Colonel Mael Radec kept observing the direction the ship was heading towards. He and the rest on-board the ship had caught a glimpse of this strange light shooting up towards the air. A Helghast solider approached him with a respectful bow.
"Colonel, our radars are correct! This strange light comes from the Wumpa Islands. But we have also discovered the whereabouts of Nathan Drake and Lara Croft thanks to those tracking devices we put in their weapons and…" before he could inform his superior, the colonel interrupted him.
"And I take it Mr. Drake and Mrs. Croft are the objects standing very close to this….light" Radec stated.
"Yes sir! Correct" the Helghast answered. The colonel moved closer towards the ship's frontal windows while observing the direction the ship was heading towards. His red eyes could be reflected from the window's mirror.
"Then Wumpa Islands it is! We now have confirmation about where their loyalties lie!" Radec declared and his followers saluted. The colonel kept staring from the window. "The end draws near for you, Nathan Drake. Enjoy your final moments while they are still there" the colonel thought, while his red began glowing redder than usual.
To be continued…
Author's note: It's been a while since I last wrote on this story. I have been busy with the other Fictiontopia stories. But don't you worry, this story also deserves some attention. For those of you who think the beginnings are similar to that of Trouble in the East, I am planning to make this a little bit different. It won't be a repetition of what Huey and co. went through. Until then, see ya folks!
