Well, I was going to keep you guys waiting until tomorrow, but I couldn't bring myself to do it :) Haha. Here is Chapter 7, and I hope you like it! Sorry about the name mixup, OveractiveIMAGINER haha. Like I said...I might have dislexia. Kidding. Okay, read on, please! R&R.
In the distance, Lara heard the shouts of people approaching and guns firing. They reached the cliff's edge as the helicopter began to pull away. She opened fire, but knew that she would need to get out of harm's way, otherwise she might come face-to-face with the Grim Reaper.
She climbed towards the safe haven of the cockpit, but lost her grip as a bullet flew past her head. She reached around frantically for an edge, but was rescued by the hand of her supposed comrade. When she looked into the person's eyes, her stomach dropped.
"Kurtis?" she breathed, the majority of her weight in his hand, keeping her from falling below. "What are you doing here?"
"Getting my Chirugai back," he said, grinning slyly. "I've missed it."
Lara's heart sank. But what about me? Did you miss me? She could only stare into his eyes as though he weren't real. Then, he pulled her up into the cockpit. She was a bit dumbfounded, feeling like a damsel in distress, as he had been the one to rescue her from falling below.
"Where are we going?" she shouted over the whirring off the propellers.
"We're going into Honduras," he said. "Although I'm sure you already knew that's where we need to go."
We? "What are you talking about?"
"We'll talk later," Kurtis hushed her, "once we reach the hotel." The pilot flew the helicopter south, assuring his passengers that they'd arrive in about an hour. Wonderful, Lara thought. An hour, and all we can do is stare at each other.
Lara leaned over to the far side of the bench, watching the water pass by below, praying they would get to Honduras quickly. She did the best she could to block out the thoughts and feelings that immediately began to swarm over her within seconds.
"We need two two-bed rooms," Lara told the receptionist in Spanish. The receptionist fiddled with the keys on the keyboard, skimming through the list of available rooms on the computer. Lara refused to make eye contact with Kurtis – it was just too hard. They hadn't exchanged any words other than those of business, and even then, those had been scarce. This was all a bit overwhelming. Kurtis appears out of nowhere, takes his Chirugai (how did he get it?), insists they leave, and now, they were about to be sharing conjoined rooms in a hotel in Honduras. As if things weren't awkward enough. Lara wasn't new to the idea of indifference, though – she could play things off, at least for awhile.
"You're in luck," the clerk said. "There are two adjacent rooms available for booking."
Lara quickly reserved them, requested four room keys, and trekked towards the stairs to the room on the fifth floor. "Mind telling me why you got four keys?" Kurtis chipped in.
"My friends from London will be coming here to help with communications and intel," she said dryly. "They'll need a room of their own."
Lara approached the door, slid the key down the monitor, and pushed the door open. Two beds, a dresser, a television, and an ocean view. Lara unstrapped her backpack and began plugging in her laptop, trying to connect with Zip and Alister visually, as well as ignore Kurtis's presence (or lack thereof).
"Hello, Lara," Alister said upon power-up. "All settled in?"
"Yes," she confirmed. "I also reserved a room for the two of you. I'm going to need you here. How soon can you be here?"
"It's going to be a ten hour flight," Zip said, appearing on the screen. "We'll be there by ten a.m. tomorrow. Think you can hold out that long?"
"Not a problem," she said cheerily.
"Lara, have you had a chance to look at the notebook yet?" Alister asked.
"No," she said. "I just got here."
"Be careful with it," Zip warned. "It's five hundred years old. When we get there tomorrow morning, I'll analyze it and extract the writings for a better view so we can keep everything intact."
"Of course," she said. "I'll safeguard it. Now how exactly am I supposed to find the Fountain?"
"Ah, yes," Alister remembered. "Amidst our research, we came across something quite interesting – a map within the history of the Lux Veritatis. According to legend, the blades of the Chirugai have some type of ancient writings on them –"
"Lux Veritatis glyphs," Kurtis interrupted, stepping into view.
"Who is...?" Zip asked slowly.
"He's the Lux Veritatis warrior," Lara said, introducing him passively. "His name is Kurtis."
"Oh…" Zip said slowly, piecing things together.
"The glyphs were inscribed on the blades back in the 1300s. When they're deciphered, they reveal the location of the Fountain."
"How are the Fountain and the Lux Veritatis related?" Alister queried.
"The Lux Veritatis are descended from the Arawak tribes," Kurtis explained.
"I did tell you that the Arawaks are as mysterious as the Mayans," Lara chipped in.
"Yeah, yeah," Zip waved her off. "So how do we translate the map?" Zip asked.
"It's not easy," Kurtis said, "that's why it's not been done. It requires extreme psychic concentration to both still the revolutions of the disk and to deplete the harmful psychic energy emissions."
"And I'm assuming that you don't know how to do that…?" Alister said.
Kurtis shook his head negatively. "I've been trying to figure it out for the longest time."
"Well, do let us know how that goes," Alister said. "Until then, we'll be packing for Honduras. We'll see you two tomorrow morning."
"Have a good night, Lara," Zip said, grinning devilishly.
Lara rolled her eyes and closed the screen down. Zip and Alister had a longer conversation with Kurtis than I did, she thought. If that's not irony, I don't know what is. She removed her gloves and tossed them on the dresser, feeling a desperate need for fresh air. She stepped outside on the balcony, overlooking the Central American coast. It really was quite beautiful, and surprisingly enough, she'd never been here. She'd trekked the world, but not much of Southern Mexico.
She heard footsteps approaching, and felt a strange dread in her heart and soul. Kurtis leaned against the railing next to her, taking in the scene, but speaking no words, only adding to the awkward moment. Lara knew she should say something, but what? Where have you been all this time? I've missed you. What do you know about the Fountain? How did you get the Chirugai? Nothing seemed adequate, though.
"So you found a notebook?" Kurtis spoke up.
Great conversation-starter, Lara thought, disgusted. "Yes," was all she said. "In a Taino cave in Exuma."
"Interesting," he commented.
"Almost as interesting as this conversation," she said dryly.
A silent moment, then Kurtis spoke. "I should've come back sooner."
"I don't expect anything from you," Lara said simply. "I was just commenting on the present."
"You deserve an explanation," Kurtis argued. "I wanted to come back sooner. I really did. I figured you'd be upset…"
"Why would I be upset?" Lara asked. "I'd assumed you were dead, at least."
"And at most?" Kurtis asked.
Lara sighed in her mind. "I'm not sure. You had other demands."
"I needed to go to Utah to see my family, or what was left of them," he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "They needed to know that the Cabal had been defeated."
Lara was puzzled. "And it kept you for two years?"
Kurtis stared down at the water for a moment, then looked out in the distance. "Karel…he didn't die."
"What?" Lara asked quickly, her stomach dropping.
"He followed me into Salt Lake City…and he killed the rest of my family to provoke me."
"How did he survive?" Lara queried.
"I'm not sure," he said. "But he did." He looked down. "I took care of him," he said, in a low and evil voice. "But there was nothing left for me." He looked up and at Lara, who caught his gaze and felt a fleeting mixture of intrigue, confusion, and curiosity. "Nothing except for you," he said.
Lara held her gaze with him, seeing the world in his eyes. What was left of the world, anyway. She was angry and ecstatic, delighted and disgusted. You think you can just walk back into my life and tell me these things? she wanted to scream. Stop jerking me around! But the better side of her knew that wasn't what he was doing – he was confessing emotions he'd kept pent up in the past two years. The least she could do was counter such an act – but she was too afraid, and her bones began to shake as he reached a hand up to her face and stroked her cheek. She wanted to close her eyes and succumb to his touch, but she knew she couldn't be so vulnerable. Instead, she drew away, gazing back into the ocean. Immediately upon doing so, though, she regretted it, cursing at herself in her mind.
"What do you know about the Fountain?" she asked, hating herself for drawing away from the subject. It was too early for these emotions to be released. Let's stick to business, she said to herself. She knew that the minute she asked the question, Kurtis was cursing her in his mind as well. He had subtly released his feelings for her, or the beginnings of them, and she'd turned away from him. She was ashamed, but fought to push it away.
"Probably as much as you do," Kurtis said. "But maybe a little more."
She looked up at him. "Such as?"
"The reason as to why Rutland has attained psychic powers," he said. "The Fountain of Exuma isn't the Fountain of Youth. It's the Fountain of Retribution."
"What are you saying?" Lara asked cautiously.
"I'm sure you know a thing or two about Taino religion…?"
"Of course," she said. "Their devotion to the nature gods…"
"The Fountain of Retribution was made as punishment for those who disrespected their gods. Instead of gaining immortality by choice, they were thrown into the pond to exist as immortals with spiritual punishment – banishment from the realm of the gods, otherwise known as psychic capacity."
"Why would that be considered retribution? You'd think the Taino would value such skill."
"Apparently not," Kurtis said. "Magic was only possessed by their gods – natural born gods. People who attained such powers after birth were seen as evil beings, or outcasts. Times have obviously changed since then…"
"Then what about the Fountain of Youth?" Lara asked. "Is it its angelic twin?"
"Physical and spiritual holiness was desperately sought by the Taino," he said. "To obtain it meant that they deserved it because they were permitted to bathe in the springs."
"Permitted by whom?"
"Their elders who were said to be appointed by their gods," Kurtis explained. "After quests for knowledge and wisdom, one would be rewarded with the opportunity to bathe in the Fountain of Youth. Legend holds that the Fountain either provided immortality or rejuvenation, but that's for us to figure out."
"That's what you meant by physical and spiritual holiness," Lara mused aloud, "at least from the Taino perspective." Lara looked away, thinking over these new facts. "But the Chirugai is the only thing that can kill an immortal…?"
"Yes," Kurtis said. "And it bears the map to the Fountain of Youth."
"Can the Fountain of Youth reverse the effects of the Fountain of Retribution?"
"Yes, and that's exactly why Rutland is looking for it. My guess, anyway."
"No, not Rutland. He hasn't changed, and knowing that, he wouldn't want to relinquish such abilities."
"Then what could he be looking for…?" Kurtis pondered aloud.
"The notebook might help," Lara said, turning inside the room. Kurtis followed after her as she reached for the notebook in her backpack. "I found this in the cave," she said. "It belonged to one of the sailors on the ship from Columbus's first voyage. He'd been threatened and banished by the Taino people after the rest of his comrades had pillaged the natives' village and people. When Zip and Alister get here, they're going to analyze their findings from it and see if they can't find anything about either of the Fountains."
"Wishful thinking," Kurtis commented. "But we'll have to see."
"So is that an implication that you're actually going to stick around?" Lara asked, a bit hurt.
Kurtis gazed at her, equally hurt. She didn't mean to hurt him. She was only trying to get him to realize she wanted him to actually stick around this time. Lara realized she wasn't very good at communicating feelings. He played it off, just as he had on the balcony, drawing a cigarette from his pack, and stepping outside into the barely lit sky.
Lara sighed to herself. Why did this have to be so hard? She knew she was in the wrong, but she wasn't going to apologize. She knew she should, but she couldn't. She sighed again, stepping outside on the balcony with him. She put a hand on his shoulder, dropping her head. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "It's just been hard, not knowing what's become of you…"
He faced her. "I know, and I'm sorry. I would've come back sooner, but…"
"I know," she said, not allowing him to finish.
She met his gaze, feeling those anxious emotions coming back. Something in his eyes stirred emotions in her that she both feared and desired. "I want to know," he said slowly. "Does this go beyond just wanting to know if I was alive?"
Lara searched his eyes, then looked down fearfully. "Perhaps…" she said slowly, "we should just stick to business for now. It's too soon to go so fast." She knew that that declaration alone implied feelings for him, anyway. She wanted to pretend otherwise, though. And, strike three, she'd hurt him yet again. You're so cowardly, she scolded herself. She ignored the realism behind the claim and turned away from him, for the third time. She needed to get out of his presence so she could think things over. "I'll take the other room for tonight," she declared, refusing to make eye contact with him. "I'll see you in the morning." She took her backpack, notebook, and other items into the opposite room and closed the door between the rooms, not sure if she felt relieved to be away from him…or even more confused.
Well, there you have it. Kurtis is back with more answers about the Chirugai and the Fountain. How the hell did he get it back, though? You know, Kurtis is just badass...we shouldn't even question :)
