Disclaimer: OC's, I own them. Others: I do not. Story: Yes, I do own it.

Author's Note: How do I put this?... This is set before Tomb Raider: Legend, so that's why Alister's still here and the mansion's in one piece and everything. Plus... Happy Thanksgiving everyone! :D (Or happy Thursday for those of you who do not celebrate Thanksgiving. Have a good day!) :)

And thank you so much everyone for reviewing and sticking with the story for all this time. ^_^ It means a lot to me.

Chapter Four: Turning Time

"...Winston? If you don't come out, right now, I'm going to... To... Paint the kitchen... And leave a mess behind!" Zip said, proud of his threat, as he slowly went through the storage room.

When silence returned his call, Zip pulled on his hair and growled, the flashlight doing little to reveal Winston's hiding spot.

"Honestly, where is Alister? I called him like a thousand times this morning to see when he was coming into work and his response time is worse than Trish's when she's struggling to come up with a lie." Zip said in annoyance.

Still nothing, not even a sound of breathing.

"Great, and now I'm talking to myself like a maniac." Zip muttered, shining his flashlight on the wall. "No light switch? What is wrong with Lara? Honestly, when she gets back, I'm going to request a light switch installed in this room... And a psychiatric evaluation for Winston!"

"I'm all right." Winston said suddenly, reappearing from behind a stack of crates and startling Zip. "I just had my coffee this morning."

Zip narrowed his eyes at the older man. "Cut it out Winston. We've got serious work to do. I can't-"

Winston held up his hand. "I know, I just want to apologize for not telling you she called. I honestly thought you two had broken up."

There was a long, awkward silence, before Zip finally spoke. "Winston, I am going to count to ten, and if you haven't left the room by then, then I am leaving you to your crazy little mumbling's and going upstairs. I will work in peace there and try and figure out just where our employer has gone!" He said, yelling by that point.

Silence, again, reigned as Winston disappeared behind the crates.

"Seriously? Did you switch to regular instead of decaf or somethin', man?" Zip asked, in shock, as he wondered what Winston used to do when it was only him lurking around the mansion.

He then thought about that. Honestly, no one on this earth probably knows, and no one ever will.

And then it hit him. "Who called?" He asked.

When the trio reached the throne room, they were greeted with the sight of all the throne room's occupants standing at the windows, staring out, swaying in time with something as it shot past the window.

While the people screamed and gasped, Lara grabbed the other two's arms as they moved forward to see what was going on. "Wait!" She hissed. "I've seen that thing before... Problem is, I can't remember where." She said with a frown.

Kurtis and Trish exchanged nervous looks when Lara wasn't looking. "Concussion?" Trish mouthed, pointing at Lara with her free hand.

Kurtis shook her head and then acted like he was falling to signal that Lara's problems were connected with the fall. "The portal." He mouthed back.

Trish nodded just as King Nod gasped.

"Guards! Stop that... That... Monster!" He shouted, pointing out the window. "Nooooow!" He bellowed.

The gong-ringer reinforced his statement by another gong ringing session.

Trish cringed as she watched the little man bounce and jolt across the floor. "Seriously, he's gotta be deaf by now. So how does he know when to do that?" She asked her friends, though they weren't listening.

As the king's guards formed an un-blinking wall around him in one quick motion, slowly inching their way away from the window and, thus, moving the king with them, Lara looked around for an exit to the courtyard where the excitement was occurring.

She pointed at a nearby balcony and looked at Kurtis, nodding her head in its direction. He nodded and the two took off at a sprint across the throne room to the balcony.

Trish, meanwhile, stared at the guards. "How'd they do that?" She asked the other two only to spot them crossing the room. "You have got to be kidding me." She said, taking off after them.

Lara and Kurtis reached the balcony and watched as the dark, and sinister, being circled the minaret before diving out of sight, the being's identity on the tip of Lara's tongue.

Yum Yum and Tack reached the balcony seconds later, just as the creature reappeared. Trish was right behind them, her short currently black hair in her face for a few seconds.

Those few seconds were long enough for the creature to dive at them, and Kurtis was forced to drag Trish down as they all ducked.

"Thanks," Trish said, pushing her hair out of her eyes and quickly securing it back with a hair tie. "What is that thing? A gargoyle?" She asked her friends as the group slowly rose to its feet.

"No, definitely not." Lara said as it circled the minaret before landing on the very top.

Yum Yum gasped in horror, her skin growing pale as she clung to Tack. "Tack, if it removes even one of the Golden Balls..."

Tack nodded. "We'll face trouble all around... Again."

The trio looked at them, all having the same slightly-annoyed expression on their faces. "So... This is a regular occurrence?" Trish asked them slowly.

Yum Yum shook her head. "No, but the last time this happened, the One Eye's attacked." She said, her breath coming in short gasps. "Tack, I feel weak." She said before collapsing against her husband.

Tack wrapped his arms around her, alarm clear on his face. It only took him a moment to make up his mind though.

Looking up at the group, his eyes grew serious. "Chase this thing away, and you'll endear yourselves to the kingdom. Please... Save us." He pleaded.

The trio exchanged looks, as Trish's eyebrows hiked up to her hairline.

Kurtis shrugged before the group moved into action.

Lara climbed up on the railing of the balcony and began scaling the wall of the palace, head for a seam that ran just below the roof. She planned on moving between buildings, estimating it would take her five minutes max to get to the minaret. It wasn't her first choice of action, but they couldn't risk shooting at the beast and leaving shell casings behind or doing anything else that might change the technology of the time.

As she reached the seam, Kurtis spotted a "nearby" loose awning and, after a moment of weighing his options, used his telekinesis to rip the awning loose and send it flying over to the three Golden Balls, turning the awning into a flying sentinel against the creature.

Trish assessed the situation, trying to spot a reason behind this... Incident... When she spotted far below them a dark figure moving quickly across the courtyard, heading for one of the towers next to the minaret.

"This is too easy." She said, looking over the balcony.

Several poles were set up below the balcony, flags hanging between them.

One of them was close enough for Trish to leap onto.

"Oh what the heck," Trish said, climbing over the railing and leaping to the pole.

Lara, meanwhile, chimney jumped, or leapt between two buildings quickly, in order to reach a seam above her on the next building that would get her much closer to the chain hanging between the minaret and on tower. What she was going to do from there, she was unsure.

That's when she realized that she wasn't surprised that the event was happening.

My goodness- was whatever happened earlier truly warning me about what is to come or... Or have I been here before and I've... Forgotten?

Her eyes hardened as she leapt from one windowsill to the next. That's it. The moment this little shenanigan is over, I'm going to get to the bottom of this nonsense. I'm tired of games.

Some days, Angry Lara was the best Lara to have on your side.

Well, it's only been... 2+ years since I updated... *Facepalm x2* Gah, sorry about that. Where I've been? Doesn't matter. Am I back for good? Yes. Will there be an update soon? ...Maybe. I've got a lot to deal with right now. Anyway you look at it, I'm not going to wait 2 years to update.