Disclaimer: I do not own anything in regards to the Tomb Raider franchise. Alas, this is a pity… this story is for the utter amusement, entertainment, and bewilderment of the fans who appreciate Lara as being one of the best games in the world! The only thing hotter than Lara in my book is Batgirl, and the only thing hotter than them both is the sun, a supernova, or Icy hot placed on your back that drips down over time from the heat of the day to your backside. OW! (NOTE: Do NOT put it on too heavy! More does not make it work better!) :-/ So the score is:
ICY HOT 1 – Batman 0
Author Notes: I like getting into the part of the characters that you do not see. What happens 'in between' Lara's excursions? How does she interact with the people in her life when it is not over her headset? Read on and (hopefully enjoy my imagination). Love it or hate it, it's up to you to decide.
AN: If you see me using these marks // text // that is something that was said before in a prior chapter.
Chapter Nine: First Oath "The punishment of bringing taint or ridicule to my name and lineage will be Legendary!"
During Rebirth:
Paris, France was pleasantly warm today as she rode in the back of her limo. The sun was shimmering from above and the statues that were perfectly placed on the streets and parks gave to make a beautiful romantic atmosphere. This is where she was next, just arrived two days ago was Amanda Evert, the woman who was manipulated by Jacqueline Natla from day one, from false promises and ideas of Avalon, to how Lara killed her lover and partner James Rutland. Amanda was emotional, strong willed, and now in current days and times, cold hearted. Amanda did not see how Natla was going to use her, but she did know how Nalta felt about Lara and she used that herself against her. She found Natla, pieced her back together with her technology and made a deal with Natla, the goddess of Atlantis. The deal was that if she would restore her body in whole, that Natla not only assist Amanda in killing Lara Croft, but she also asked if she could be Natla's 50-50 business partner. In Natla's demise recently to Lara and the Doppelganger. Amanda had assumed full entitlement to head CEO of Natla Industries.
"I'll expect no less, make it so." Amanda snapped her cell phone shut and stared out the tinted window. She was making all kinds of business arrangements, dealings, and making plans for more business' to open all over the world. She knew Natla Technologies was a large conglomerate, but she never knew how huge and powerful it truly was until she obtained it. Her legs were crossed as she sat in her seat wearing a thin stripped business suit with a v- jacket, and a silk sleeveless blouse underneath with a silver necklace that James had given her before she died. Her silver hair was straight and orderly, compared to the mind that it belonged to it made her seem rather confident, but that was not the case with Amanda. She knew this, and she hated it. She lost control of so many things in her life in such a short amount of time. Left for dead by all of her remaining living friends in Peru, the man she loved was lost, and her dream of Avalon shattered, all single handedly done by one damn woman, Lara Croft! "Fucking damn it!" Amanda stomped the floor of her limo and threw her cell phone against the seat across from her as she now bit her casual leather gloved left index finger knuckle as she regained herself. "I hate that bitch, I really fucking HATE HER!" she hissed and sat back fighting the welling tears in her eyes. Her driver could not see her, the privacy window was up. She took deep breaths in attempt to control her rage, her make-up would run and that would be unbecoming since she was just now on her way to a business lunch. Just as they were pulling up to the building she would be eating at Amanda received a text from an unknown number that simply stated 'She has gone on with her life, she is in Greece as we speak, can it be said the same of you? I know your pain for I too have lost something to that wretched female. Interested? Then we should speak, come to Vienna, Austria. –End'
"My lady, we have arrived." The driver snapped her out of her focus. He was standing there with the door open waiting patiently. He was a tall man with normal brown eyes and brown hair, and of all things his name was Justin Miner which actually didn't make him stand out at all. If Amanda would ever remember his name he would actually appreciate her more and consider her not a total bit—
"Bitter-sweet irony." Amanda said snapping her phone closed again as she got out of the limo and headed towards the restaurant. "Thank you Jeremiah, your last name is Simons isn't it?" and before her poor driver could answer she was already ignoring him and went back to her own thoughts. She considered something for a moment before entering and flipped the phone open and texted back 'I am interested, make no mistake. I'll have you killed on sight if this is a double cross in any shape or form.' And with that she snapped it shut and went inside. She had to wonder, what the hell WAS Lara doing in Greece? They still had unfinished business and since the Doppelganger and Natla were both dead, then no one stood in her way but Zip and the damned butler. She figured she would spend $8.20 give or take. That would be the cost of two sniper bullets that could penetrate their cranium from an unexpected distance. At any rate, dinner, then business, then pleasure. She honestly has never been to Vienna, Austria. She wondered what she would have to wear…..
During Opening the Eyes:
Vienna, Austria was extremely pleasant! The air was magnificent! Amanda stepped off her private jet wearing black tight leather pants and a blouse with three buttons clasped exposing her upper cleavage and all of her abdomen. Where Lara was conservative and modest, Amanda had no problem showing off her body. Amanda walked down the steps from her jet to a jet black Mercedes that awaited her. This driver looked much more attractive than Gerald Sinclair or whatever his name was that she left in Paris. This driver was tall and blonde with piercing blue eyes and white teeth that seemed to sparkle in the sun.
"Greetings madam, my name is Peter Reynolds, it is a pleasure to be your driver today!" he was admiring this beautiful creature that seemed to glow against the light of day. His heart was nearly at a stop from her beauty. He had to be mindful of his thoughts or he may get a stir that he would have no decent excuse for.
"What a very nice greeting! Thank you Walter! What a nice name that you have, Walter Rayne, I like that." She smiled and got into the back seat of the car.
He was already placing her bags in the trunk as his mouth fell agape for the second time in regards to Amanda, did she even listen to him when he said his name? "My name is Pet…." And that is when she closed the car door for privacy and started making phone calls to her hotel and sent texts to the mysterious person who texted her nearly twenty hours ago. He placed her bags into the trunk rather roughly, he was always lucky with the women, he was a good looker and he knew it! Peter the Playboy was what they called him, and now if his friends or ex-girlfriends saw him now they would call him Weak Peter. He got in and drove to the destination that she told him before he started the car.
She arrived to her hotel in two hours and slept in the rest of the day. The flight was horrid and she had not slept since the morning before her business meeting in Paris. She almost went into a coma of exhaustion, and did not wake up for more than meaningful things such as restroom needs or a snack. Into the next morning she was wide awake and had an air of perplexity and excitement. She texted the mystery number 'Where will we meet?' and as she awaited a response she took this time to get a shower in and just as she stepped out and started toweling off did a reply come back 'In the lobby downstairs. I am looking forward to meeting you.' Amanda read it twice before it settled in that whoever this was knew where she was staying! "The fuck?" she frowned as she read the text and then quickly got dressed and made a call to her the mercenaries that she hired in the area with expertise in guns, assault rifles, and explosives. "Watch the bottom of the Austria Grand Hotel, make sure no one interferes with my interactions in the lobby." She had sent them all a picture of her own face so they knew who they were working for. Amanda then put on some white body tight stretch pants and black silken blouse that came low that shown the tattoos across her breasts and bell sleeves. She combed her silver hair down into the usual fashion and put on some knee high black leather boots, and lastly wore her wraith stone around her neck. "If this turns out bogus, then it will be your show Loki." She aptly named the unknown entity.
After coming down the elevator she looked around as she walked out and scanned the room for who would be seeking her. Three men smoking cigarettes looking over a brochure , an elderly couple checking in, a family checking out, two students that seemed to be traveling abroad for the summer, and the bellhop's that ran back and fourth. It was then that she saw a stunningly beautiful Austrian woman sitting at a table wearing a crimson sundress and pitch black sunglasses. Her hair was in cascading black curls, and although she was a thin woman, her curves were amazing. She had on black silken gloves and wore suede black heeled boots to match it. She also had a peculiar necklace around her neck that held Amanda's interest. It was hanging right in between her breasts. Amanda could not help but stare, the woman had bosom that made both her and Lara together look…inadequate. Amanda cleared her throat "I do not mean to stare, but is that a.." yeah, this woman was obviously well bred and a lady of indefinite standard.
"A monocle? Yes. That is exactly what it is. This belonged to my father actually." She looked down absently and stroked it between the index and thumb of her right hand. You do not know me, but I appreciate you coming all the way out here to meet with me. My name is Sonya Von Croy. My Father was Werner Von Croy, Lara Croft's teacher. There is a lot of…history between our two names, but the most importantly, is that she killed my father, and that as you Americans say, does not set well with me." She tilted her head as she gave Amanda a charming smile. "Still interested? If you are, will you join me for breakfast at my favorite restaurant? If you are not, I will be happy to go about my way, but you will not know about the journal's my father kept about her and her family…." She trailed off.
Amanda's understanding of opportunity knocking was one of the best. She was happy to know that through this woman's thick accent she was able to understand her English all too well. "I like my coffee black. You really do know my pain." Amanda could not help but feel triumphant inwardly, she lost James, and this woman lost her father. Lara has enemies in high places, and she was thanking every god in known creation and religion for such enemies right now. "So….Sonya, are you blind? or are you just a Ray Charles fan?" looking at those pitch black glasses. Amanda did not trust anyone if she could not see their eyes.
Sonya smiled darkly and nodded "I can see just fine, let's just say that my vision was 'Set' (Sonya made a play on words) a long time ago. My father impregnated my mother with me during an….awkward time for him." Sonya smiled and took Amanda's hand and clasped fingers with her. "All in due time, but please allow me to tell you all of this later." and pulled a very surprised Amanda with her. This woman was bold, and she could not help but wonder what else Sonya was.
During The Naming:
Two months had passed since she met Sonya, and the two of them had gotten much over the trust issues between them. Sonya welcomed Amanda to stay in her home, and Sonya was also the one who opened up first, and told the tragic tale of a young Lara who left her father to die inside a tomb they were exploring. Then, she went on to explain how his heart was torn that his own student, his protégée, and disciple had ignored him when he found she was alive. How he toiled and ranted about her. Over the years Sonya confessed to great jealousy and resentment that he ever met her or heard the name Croft. Even Sonya, Werner's own daughter, was being outshined by a damn foreign British girl! The only person she had to admire her achievements coming up was her mother who had to give the attention of two parents. She went on to explain how he then started to distance himself in his own guilt and frustration as the years passed. How he went from sending a letter a week, to one a month, then to none at all, and ignored his family all together. Even in the end, he called for Lara to help him find some ancient paintings when he dealt with a man named Eckhardt. Not her mother who was broken hearted, not his daughter, but called LARA CROFT. Sonya's hands were tight and her toes tightened so hard that the very knuckles ached in her boots. Lara had broken her great father just by saying nothing to him at all! Lara accused him of leaving her to die, when she had left him first in the same damned predicament!
Amanda was enthralled by the story that she wove before her. If Natla was still alive even she would know that Amanda was enraptured by this tale of betrayal, deceit, and anguish by the way she stared focused on Sonya's every word. Just as she was when Natla spoke of Avalon and how Lara affected her own life as well. The thing is Natla lied through her teeth to make ends meet. Sonya wanted justice, even at the cost of staining her own hands with murder.
Sonya did not tell Amanda these things until after a month of gaining her trust. She too was in awe of Amanda's story, how Lara had killed her lover, destroyed her dream, and worst of all, before any of that, how she had left Amanda too for dead! Lara seemed to have a bad habit of doing this to people, or so it seems to Sonya at least. Leaving people for dead and not checking for them with whole body and soul efforts. The only two people she 'did' do this for was obviously her mother and father! "How selfish, she claims to have been hardened and found her self after being on her own in her youth, but all she found was a way to run from the world. How she does not want them to see her weak self, her heart which denies her own weaknesses to the public, instead she remains reclusive and out of the shine of the world's eyes." Sonya confirmed this after the two of them ate lunch together. She had made every journal that Werner wrote from the time he met Lara and her father, to when she was shipped every last one of his journals after his death. How upon reading these in her father's absence enraged her that he went through so much, when she and her mother was there the entire time! How they could have supported him! Sonya filled in blanks where Amanda shown confusion, she made light to Werner's thoughts that seemed too dark to figure out. Sonya provided answers to questions that Amanda had of her own life as well, if anything that Amanda had learned during her time in Vienna, Austria is that this woman was wise, strong, and confident. Amanda was also shocked to find out that she was conceived when Lara was in her twenties which would make Sonya 20 now! Lara and Amanda were in their early 30's themselves!
"There is no way you are twenty!" Amanda stared at the pitch black sunglasses of her face and now remembered what she wanted to ask so long ago "When are you going to show me your eyes?" she peered over the journal she was in the middle of as she awaited an answer.
Sonya giggled and crossed her legs underneath the black gothic like dress she wore. She smiled through her glasses at Amanda and held up her right hand. Just when Amanda thought she was reaching for her pitch black sunglasses, she started shaking her right index finger back and fourth very slowly in a most teasing manner. "In time, right now you still do not know all you need to know. When you have learned all that I know about Lara Croft, the people around her, and the things she has done. Then and only then will I present my eyes to you."
Amanda sighed heavily and went back into Werner's journal and became engrossed again in his intelligent writings. In between this, and Sonya's detailed information, Amanda felt richer than any dollar she could spend. The company was refreshing, the conversations were always engrossing. This alarmed Amanda more than anything, because she was starting to like this woman! and that was not what she wanted. She wanted herself to get the information she needed, then leave after she got what she wanted! This was unexpected….
Sonya sipped her cinnamon tea and sighed. It was good to have someone to share a vision with, she could not wait to grow up, get her life together and plot her revenge. Her mother returned to her home town in northern Austria, they owned a summer home there near the sea. Her mother moved on with a man she did not approve of, and they split on even terms of understanding. She warned her step-father in private outside of her mother's ears that if he ever hurt her mother physically or emotionally, that she herself would put an end to him so abruptly that his brother, sister, mother, and father would feel it just because they were related. Of course this concerned him deeply and when he told the mother of her daughter's threat the mother pushed it off that she was still trying to heal after losing her father, and was worried that she would be hurt like a good daughter should look over their parent. Sonya reflected upon this only for a moment before she saw Amanda finishing the current journal.
Amanda finished the last journal at least for today and sat back rubbing her eyes and yawned. "That was yet another amazing read! He was a very well learned and knowledgeable man. His knowledge of ancient Egypt was as if he had lived there, and the way he described everything was anything short of amazing. There were a couple of artifacts that he mentioned that had me enthralled, and even left me very curious as to why they were truly created. What I am curious about now though, is how having me read all of his journals will help me unmake Lara…I am not following your perspective in that.
Sonya now finished her current cup of tea smiling triumphantly and nodded "A very fine question indeed, but the answer is within the read. Have you noticed how he went from various parts of the world, their ruins, artifacts, and how their early humanity seemed to be under one collective union? Well, that is where you have missed something. There were 20 journals involving his treks and footnotes, but you did not realize that out of the 33 you have now read the 25th, after those first 20 he started focusing only on Egypt. The 21st book to the 29th is all about Egypt. The 30th through the 33rd is about Paris, France and how he found Lara again, and when there are no more notes, is when he died." Here she smiled and sat forward on the edge of her chair staring intently at Amanda.
Amanda found herself frowning, she was right, now that she thought about it. He stopped trying to make connections to other countries between artifacts and the focus went only to what happened in Egypt, in particular the Egyptian god Horus! Amanda looked at her and realized how intently Sonya was staring at her through her sunglasses. She seemed to almost be posed in excitement! Amanda thought and a realization came to her "Your father wrote the journals until the 21st one…" Sonya nodded and Amanda continued "Then, when it went to Egypt and started involving the Egyptian god Set and Horus….that was way too detailed for someone to piece together from the current time. Your father confessed to thinking he was possessed…was it…" she was unsure how to even approach this, it sounded crazy! "You mean that the 22nd to the 29th is all what Set wrote?" Sonya nodded and Amanda's heart jumped in her chest "Oh my God….this is a direct communication of how he was trying to bring about the end of the world and how the prophecy was told and what his plans were. I suppose it will also go into how he was going to deal or when he DID deal with Lara." Sonya smiled more "Amanda's head was swimming with the possibilities and then she stared at Sonya "Your father was possessed….was your mother with you during this time?" Sonya giggled and nodded "Yes, she was for one month, before he started scaring her because he was different." Sonya said and then again silently signed for Amanda to go on as if begging her to continue. "Your father was possessed by Set when he laid with your mother…you are half human…and half…" looking at her with this almost piercing curiousness and fear that swelled in her stomach.
Sonya took her sunglasses with her right hand slowly and stared at Amanda revealing glowing red orbs that looked as if someone took a ruby and shown a flashlight through them constantly. Against her natural black outlined eyes and her ruby lips she looked like royalty in some kind of way. "Half Egyptian god?" she nodded once again and her lips took on this sinister grin. "As I told you Amanda, Lara Croft did in fact take my father away from me, what I did not tell you, was that she took both my father's from me. Sealed one away and broke the other ones spirit and will. My mother knew I was half human upon my birth, hell she had the doctor's killed that helped give me birth. She had me attend school as if I was blind all my life, I was a prodigy, and graduated when I was 14. I just finished college earlier this year and now am ready to see to my own desires. I have no intent of freeing Set, I love my world, but I am not above getting revenge for him, after all, he didn't kill my father, Werner Von Croy, and he could have. So I am grateful to him for that."
Amanda sat back and could not stop staring at Sonya, her skin broke into goose bumps and her heart was thumping heavily in her chest "Holy shit."
Sonya giggled and sat back as well clasping her fingers together in her own lap "Indeed, so go on now and finish reading the other journals. This is when you will find it utmost interest that the wraith stone you have become one with comes into play." She stood up smirked deviously "You wanted to know the origin of it right? I think you will be up very late and will be sleeping in tomorrow." Sonya laughed openly and walked off towards her own room after saying her goodnights to Amanda.
Amanda looked down at the last 8 journals and a new excitement entered her now. By the time got to book 31, she knew that her wraith was in fact a guardian of one of the ancient weapons, and each weapon had one it seemed. She was amazed to find that this wraith of hers was made in Egypt and was given to other countries for more power or sacrifices. She was no longer tired, and Sonya was right, it was a lovely night, she may have to sleep in tomorrow, mountain dew and coffee tonight…
During the first Feeding:
Amanda was shopping with Sonya, the two of them like Lara and Valkyrie were becoming nearly inseparable. Sonya shown Amanda her favorite shops, foods, and took her to her favorite places. Today, Sonya said it was time for a change. She had asked for her yacht and took Amanda out to see with her just for a nice sail on the lovely day. The yacht was extravagant! Amanda loved laying in the deck chair in her new two piece black bikini. It was only the two of them on the boat, Sonya was an excellent navigator. Amanda took this time to take off her top and enjoy the sun's rays on her bare breasts and back.
After setting the anchor Sonya made her way over to Amanda. Sonya was wearing a two piece as well. Her bottom was decorated with a sheer Hawaiian patterned wrap that blended colors like red, orange, blue, and green. Her top was just an under cup fashion that was black and green that matched her wrap and bikini bottom. She took the example and laid in the deck chair next to Amanda and stretched out after she removed her own top.
Amanda could not help but feel inadequate again and being the open person she was commented "When you breast feed your kids one day, they will damn near drown." She snickered.
She did not see the pitch black sunglasses look over at her slowly and stay there for a moment before they looked back towards the sky "And with all of the tattoo's across your body and especially your own breasts and belly, I think your child will get more ink than milk in their system. I would dare say that with as much ink you have on your body, it would be nothing short that your babies do not come out octopi with 8 arms and their own ink sacks." She giggled.
"Bitch." Amanda smiled.
"And you love me for it." She retorted. "But now it is time for a bit of business. I have gotten info from old friends that work in communications that Lara has made plans to go to China. I know which hotel she will be at, and what helicopter she has arranged to drop her off. For some reason she will be going to the Great Wall of China in particular. For what I do not know…." She cracked her ankles as she stretched and yawned. "The plans of travel were apparently made for two people. Do you think it is for fun? Maybe a man is involved?"
Amanda was listening intently. She did want to know what the hell Lara was up to now. "China…I do not know why she would go there, but I do want to know why. Shit! Lara and a man! Right…." Amanda hissed "I swear Lara must be a lesbian, she was friendly with the guys, but she seemed more interested in getting close to the girls. Anya, Rebecca, and I. She was around us more than them. If there is a guy with her it may be Zip, I cannot see the butler watch dog ever leaving the house. He is too well trained."
Sonya was quiet for a moment as she pondered on Amanda's response. "I see. Maybe she is, and I suppose that you have something against it? Lesbians I mean of course, because I am one myself. I hope this does not bother you. Oh yes, just so you know… there will be no breast feeding, and no drowning. I think I would adopt a child rather than have one." She smiled towards the sky.
"You are a lesbian?" Amanda said very softly. She was thinking 'oh my GOD, I would not have guessed that!' Amanda had mixed opinions about them. As a matter of fact she was both interested and intimidated by them. She had to ask though, "Um, so would you be the girl?" she said randomly.
"Pardon?" her thick Austrian accent shown confusion. "Are you referring to if I chose a woman, then she may be the one is more masculine? Good grief, the things that people assume." She shook her head. "No, I like soft beautiful women. That is the point for me, nothing more nothing less. If I wanted masculinity, then I would date a male." She spoke with disgust. "Please, let us not talk of this today."
Amanda knew a period to a conversation when she heard it. She nodded, but could not help now feeling a bit exposed since she was topless, and she had already probably checked her out. 'Oh God….what the hell would I do if she made a move on me?' she swallowed her saliva nervously. Before? She would have whipped the first female ass she saw that would try to hit on her, then brand the initials of her name on their backside marking that she had been there. But this woman, Sonya was serious, wise, and it goes without saying 'no joke' and was just as deadly, if not more, as her self. She knew if she put her top back on now it would be an insult to her, even offensive that she did not trust her. The truth was Amanda did not know what to do. Then again, as she calmed down a bit, maybe Sonya had a girlfriend already. She was strikingly gorgeous after all! This would be a conversation for another day. She relaxed the best she could and enjoyed the sun, but she was sure she was not taking a damn nap at this point!
Sonya was a bit heated at the brief conversation. The world had their views on people with beliefs such as hers. Just when she thought she heard the most ignorant thing EVER, one more person shows up and surprises her again by matching or if not exceeding the last ignorant person she met before that one. She thought Amanda was lovely, but not once did she think of her in 'that way'. This made her place walls up again, she could tell there was not the air of relax anymore between them. She wished she could take back what she said and kept her private life to herself. It came out so fluidly that she did not even think until after she admitted her preference. None the less, Amanda seemed no different and Sonya would be watchful from hence fourth. She herself thought about placing her own top on and steering the ship right back to shore, the day had a kind of sour sweet touch to it now. 'To hell with it, another day for this.' She thought and took a nap. She always felt better after one.
When Sonya awoke after 3 hours, Amanda was swimming in the ocean. She did place her top back on, which Sonya was happy of, because she did not need Amanda being stranger anymore than she noticed already. "I think we should head back. There are preparations to China that must be made." She called over the boat, she remained topless, to hell with what Amanda thought, she was comfortable and this was her yacht.
"Right! I'm on my way!" Amanda called back as she swam towards the boat. Sonya's sudden voice surprised her, and he was in deep thought about the many things she had learned. As she climbed up the ladder to the deck she grabbed her towel and walked over to Sonya and leaned against the railing. "So, when do we leave? You have a plan already?"
Sonya had just pulled the anchor back up and started her yacht as Amanda asked. "Yes, I will have it arranged that there will be transportation tonight so you can get there the same day. I do not know what part of the wall she wants to visit, but you should be able to find her and figure out what she is up to. I will not be coming with you however."
Amanda stopped toweling her hair and stared at Sonya "Oh…. it's not because of.."
"That would be infantile." She cut short her coming question "I do not care what your opinions are, nor am I concerned with whether or not you feel comfortable around me. My hospitality is still open to you. You are still welcome in my home. I am aiming at the same thing you are. The end of Lara Croft, but whether you realize it or not Amanda, you still care for her in some way shape or form. You see her as your enemy, but you also remember your friend. You saved her from her this Doppelganger entity and killed it right? You knew that you needed Lara to help you stop Natla, but you did save her. I do ask this however.." she set the course and now turned and faced Amanda and stared dead at her blue eyes with her own crimson ones. "If you decide to forgive her, do not forget that I do not forgive her. Please, if you change your mind, then walk away. I will finish it by myself, and you may have clear conscious. Stand in my way? I will miss you dearly. I have come to be quite fond of you. I truly have, but not in a sense that would make you uncomfortable with yourself or me. You will go with your mercenaries and see to what Lara is up to, but you will not kill her. That is for me. I will eagerly await your progress report." And with that she turned back around and steered the boat back to the harbor.
Amanda had to give her credit though, because Sonya was as straight forward as they came. She knew now Sonya was either put off, or pissed. She could find no words to say and it was silent all the way back. For the love of her though, she could not place this sore feeling in her chest. Then she realized it, she was not stupid, although she called herself that many times just now. Guilt, pure and utter fucking guilt. She felt as if she wronged her new friend in some kind of way, and she was not sure how to fix this. The fact that she was being sent ahead and she made clear she was staying home had Amanda kicking herself in the ass mentally. "Fuck." She whispered to herself as she bit on the knuckle of her right hand. As soon as they docked they were off and into the white Volvo that waited them to take them back home. Amanda could feel the cold, and wished to God that it would be because the air conditioning was on too high.
During First Slumber:
Amanda did find herself relieved that Sonya was talking to her again later that evening. Even it was about the trip and the other things she arranged. It was business, nothing more, nothing less. Sonya was very precise though, she was on top of how to get the guns into China. The men that she had Amanda send before she left as well so there would be no connection back to her if they were indeed killed or arrested. She had alibi for everything so Amanda's reputation and her own would not be stained. Amanda never thought THIS far ahead and realized she was never this careful either. She knew she had them look unremarkable which was deliberate. Little did she know that Lara remarked about this habit and figured her men out just upon a first glance during an adventure once before. Sonya stood in her doorway as Amanda was heading to the car and just as she was getting in she welled up enough confidence to apologize. She took a deep breath and looked back "I'm…" Sonya had waved and closed her door, and was already making phone calls. "I'm…oh damn-nation!" she got into the back seat and slammed the door "Damn! Dammit! DAMN!" she stomped her foot on the flooring and punched the seat in front of her. She leaned forward and placed her hands to her face and groaned deeply in rage at herself "The fuck!" she cursed through her hands.
The driver was watching her in the rear view mirror, for it was not a limo with a privacy window, but a standard driver in the business of transport to airports and recreation resorts. "Hey, Miss? Are you alright back there?" he was of course worried, why did he have to have the crazy bitch in his car today?
"Look." She spoke through her hands but he saw the glint of a hard blue eye staring through the top of her fingers "Start the fucking car, drive the fucking car to the airport, shut your fucking mouth, then fuck off."
His eyes widened and his ears flared at her direct insults and curses. He started the car, drove her to the airport, said not once word the entire way, gave her bags to her, got in, peeled off, and said "I dropped the fuck off is more like it." He spoke between gritted teeth. His day ended badly, he went straight home to his best friend Jack Daniels and would spend the evening with that bottle and some reggae. This Austrian had a soft spot for it after all.
Amanda's ride to China on her jet was not a joyous one. She was mad as hell, she tried to watch television, listen to music, read, sleep, and none of this seemed to work. When she did arrive to China, she checked into her hotel, checked her e-mails for work and to see if Sonya provided any updates, which she didn't. Amanda took a shower and changed clothes. She called the head mercenary and told him to keep an eye out on various parts of the great wall. When he saw a helicopter or caught site of Lara he would call her immediately. She hung up and two hours later she got the expected phone call.
"She just dropped off with some other woman. They are already climbing the wall."
"Standby, I am almost there." She hung up her cell phone. Amanda was a bit perplexed right now. Who the hell did Lara have with her? Lara was a loner by nature! Why does she have help now? Not unless she needs a guide for some Chinese relation. When she arrived, she got out and walked over to the men wearing pitch her black jeans and a black halter top with a black leather jacket that came down to just above her waist line. She walked over to the main mercenary and nodded "What's the status?" taking his offered binoculars and shown her their position. She looked that way and saw Lara and…"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" she lowered the binoculars and then raised them again "What the hell is the Doppelganger doing with Lara? I thought I killed that bitch for one! For two, why is she standing RIGHT beside her and not choking Lara to death?" she lowered them and slapped her forehead. "Un-fucking-believable!" she was still out of sorts because of the situation with Sonya. This on top of it was not a good thing!
The mercenary named Judas looked at his men and then back to her. This bitch had more issues than the morning newspaper. "This going to be a problem?" he asked dryly. He would just shoot the dame if she wanted him to, he was old school. There was nothing that he could not handle, but his mind might change after today.
"The problem is that one Lara was not bad enough, but now we kind of have two of the bitches!" she slammed the binoculars down and paced back and fourth. She was getting herself together. She took out the reach mic, a device that most FBI agents use to point and listen to a conversation at a distance, and picked the surprisingly unbroken binoculars up and watched and listened to them. She over heard them talking between each other:
//Lara nodded and clucked her tongue "Well, okay. The next question is 'did Amanda listen to her?' I mean 'really' Valkyrie. Amanda really can be impossible to get through to sometimes." She flicked her loose pony tail over her shoulder, and started walking ahead as she adjusted her black fingerless gloves.
Valkyrie snorted once and answered "Not a word of Natla's was heard. As a matter of fact…" she was walking after Lara now keeping her eyes moving across the terrain for any signs that their position was given away "Amanda told Natla in retort 'Yes, well, that may be the case for one of Atlantis. Women can un-build a man through words or actions of passion. As long as you know how to keep a man's hands busy on you, your visions or dreams will become his, and you are never told no.' I do not think Natla appreciated it, she didn't speak to Amanda for three days." Here she smiled deviously as Lara replied.
"Ouch! Well, it's not to say that Amanda never knew how to use her natural assets. She was always rather good with the boys in our earlier days. I am sure that Natla in all of her 'godly glory' was a bit taken back. Natla probably had become quite frigid over time of not having….attention." Lara cleared her throat and decided to leave that subject alone now, when you speak of another's sexual exploits it always leads back to your own. She had a bad feeling that Valkyrie would kind of know Lara's 'score' and would attribute it to some kind of flaw that Lara had which would put an abrupt end to her 'oh so lovely day'.//
Amanda lowered the mic and binoculars, her eyes were wide open and her mouth was as well. Amanda did not even notice or feel her left eye twitching, nor did she realize that as she held the mic in her right hand her fist was tightening more on it with each word spoken between them. She broke it just now as she was standing there in shock "Those bitches….are…talking about me! I don't care what the fuck you gotta do! Shoot one of them tonight, or fill them both with bullets if you can!" she slammed both devices down and snapped her fingers for the men to ready themselves. They ran down up to the wall and as Lara and Doppelganger went down they followed exactly 20 minutes after. She had a smaller device and was listening to them, she now learned of what Lara was doing! The Dagger of Xian was a piece that was lost in history, and Lara had it! She could still get to Avalon with this! That only meant she had to steal it from Lara and any info that she could from her as well. She heard them firing guns, heard the wolves. "Let them clear it out first, she is good at making ways for me." She commanded the men. She was still enraged! Those bitches are all chummy now and of all the people to be talking about! Then Lara had to say she was always rather good with the boys! Was Lara calling her a whore!
Amanda and her men followed at a distance, it was not until she got to this room that she heard Lara talking to Zip about Thor, Arthur and the Xian Dragon? Then what was she doing looking for the gods of Atlantis? What the hell was Lara trying to find? Amanda and her men were unprepared for the light show that happened next, it blinded them all for a moment, they were all disoriented but made no sounds what so ever. One of her men had bloodshot eyes and one man was crying. She focused back on Lara and Doppelganger and thought a bit more. Then it finally hit her! Lara was trying to get into Avalon before her! That HAD to be it! She found some info that Natla did not tell her! "Oh no bitch, you are not taking it from me again!" she spoke but kicked herself in the ass mentally yet again, it seemed that the Doppelganger turned and looked over her shoulder. If she were not an emotional wreck all day behind Sonya and the shit that Lara and Doppelganger were talking about her! She would have been so much more careful!
//Valkyrie then spoke up "The unwanted guest has warranted others of the unwelcome nature."
Lara turned around "Hm? Oh bother." She said very casually as she snapped her camera closed and tucked it away. "Hello. I trust you have been enjoying the atmosphere of China's rich history?" she smiled coyly.
"Shut it Lara! To hell with the history of China!" several tactical armored men behind her aiming assault rifles at Lara and Valkyrie. "Give me the damn dagger bitch or this will get messy!" Amanda held her hand out demandingly "That is one of the pieces that will open the door to Avalon!"
Lara pouted in utter denial "Whatever do you mean? Are you still on this?" she remained smiling.
"Shut the HELL up! GIVE IT TO ME NOW!"//
During the First Word "Obey Me"
Amanda woke up with her head searing in pain! Her eyes started welling up with tears the minute she regained focus. The knot on her head was evidence that she had again met Lara Croft and ended up on the wrong end of her guns. She was in a room full of dead men and she was not without some kind of appreciation. Lara must have been damn near bullet riddled. She saw bandages and medi-kit shit all over the place where Lara must have been. The dumb assed men did a fine job of following her orders at least. She knew she heard Lara in pain even in the state she was left in "I hope they killed the bitch. Then again…..Sonya would have been pissed. I might have fucked up….damn it!" She stumbled to her feet and wiped at the blood that came from her head, Lara put it to her a good one "I am going to take only but so much more of this damn pistol whipping bullshit!" she hissed, raising her own voice hurt her head right now. "I hate Lara, I hate Lara, I HATE Lara…" she kept reciting to herself as she guided herself out leaning on the wall for support. She took a handgun from one of the dead men and made her way out the inner sanctum of the Xian Dragon room. "Lost the fucking dagger, lost to Lara, her twin….oh God….her twin. To make things even MORE interesting is that she wants revenge for me trying to kill HER! She started this shit! Ow! my head!" she cried and collapsed to her knees. "Bread and Butter my freaking head hurts!" she thought on what she just said, she had not said that since she was a child! Did Lara really knock her that senseless?
Amanda went back up to the Great Wall and sat down gasping for air against the cold night. She took out her cell phone and dialed Sonya's number. It rang six times before she heard the thick Austrian accent speaking English.
"Amanda?" she yawned as she sat up out her bed "What is it, were you successful?" there was a long silence and Sonya in her sleepy state sat up and really focused on listening to her. She heard sniffles and soft sobs. "Amanda? Are you crying? What happened?" she sat up abruptly. She was already thinking she was shot, or perhaps dying!
"Sonya, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry if I upset you!" she choked a few sobs again "Please don't be upset with me, I cannot do this alone! I'm…I fucked up….again…..she got the dagger…oh god!" she balled again, she was frustrated and furious beyond even being able to control herself. "The dagger….of Xian….she needs…sob… to get into Avalon…take…dream…sob…again….hate her so much!" she cried aloud.
Sonya was in a mixture of shock and perplexity, what the hell was going on with Amanda? The more she spoke she had already now figured Lara had bested her again. Then when she apologized she felt her own eyes well up, was she upset about that all this time? "Amanda, please stop crying. I'm on my way. I'll come pick you up. Can you make it back to your hotel?" she was already getting out of bed and choosing something to wear.
"I can…make it…sob…I'm so sorry….I.."
"Shhhhh be at peace Amanda. I forgive you. Do you hear me? I forgive you." Another long pause, Sonya thought she lost signal or Amanda passed out from exhaustion. Or worse, was she shot, or bleeding to death? "Amanda? AMANDA? Are you hurt?" and once again there was silence, she heard her still sobbing but it was softer this time. She calmed herself and asked again softly in deep concern "Amanda?"
"Thank you." She whispered so softly that unless you were right next to her you would not hear.
Sonya stopped in her tracks, she was heading downstairs putting her leather coat on as she carried her matching leather boots. The thank you in Amanda's voice was so sincere that she felt her eyes well up again, and now it was her who was silent before she spoke "You are so very…welcome." She smiled and felt a tear fall down her own cheek "I am coming. Go to your hotel, I will be there for you by this afternoon."
"I'm waiting. Thanks…" Amanda staggered to her feet and walked off no longer wiping at the tears that rolled down her cheeks. She walked down the way she came from the wall and back to the car she had to come pick her up. She got in and just held the phone against her face, content to hear Sonya's voice.
Sonya, again perplexed asked "Thanks for what now?" Amanda was really on a roll with keeping Sonya guessing tonight!
"For being my friend." She replied. 'It means a lot to me."
The next afternoon Sonya came straight to Amanda's hotel after leaving the airport. She got up to her room and knocked persistently with worry. "Amanda, are you here?" she asked through the door, her pitch black sunglasses contrasting against the hotel hallway.
The door moved open slowly and Amanda stood there wearing black dress slacks and a white long sleeved shirt that had two buttons in the middle clasped. "Thanks for coming." She sounded rested and she had obviously taken a shower to calm down. Without another word she stepped forward and hugged Sonya tightly, wrapping her arms around her lower back and burying her face into her neck. Sonya felt her own neck start getting wet. She knew Amanda was crying again. "I am so frustrated, how could I fuck up so much shit. She doesn't even take me seriously… I hate that bitch! BOTH of them!" she took a deep breath and sobbed softly.
Sonya smiled now, she was here this time. Amanda was not alone and Sonya was delighted that her friendship meant so much to Amanda. She thought on this all the way there. How Amanda seemed so upset, she must have suffered the entire time, had this on her mind all along. No wonder Lara was able to thwart her so easily, she was unbalanced. Sonya sighed and brought her left hand up behind Amanda's neck and stroked it caringly and then her right arm wrapped around her upper back holding her in return. "Shhhhh You are so very welcome. Do not let her worry you any longer. You are not alone this time, when you see Lara Croft and this…Doppelganger again. I will be there with you this time. I take my friends very seriously, and it is time now that she begins to as well. Lara Croft, will have no choice but to do so. This, I assure you." She walked Amanda into the room and closed the door as they went it and sat next to her on the foot of the bed. "Now tell me everything that happened." She encouraged patiently.
When Sonya heard it all she was none too happy about it all herself! Lara used her emotional distress to offset her and made it work to her advantage! What a despicable woman! Then when she learned of this doppelganger she was a bit concerned of how it moved and how strong it was. She was going to have to get a weapon that could protect them from this demon twin of Lara's. That much was for certain. She checked Amanda out of her hotel and together they went back home. Amanda was once again treated to breakfast, lunch, and dinner as she was before she left and they returned home. Their friendship was once again whole, Sonya still had a wall up, but it was wavering currently. She was seeing a side that many did not get a chance to see of Amanda. She was soaking it all in and relishing in it, she could not help but do so.
"Do you feel better now?" Sonya asked later that evening as they sat on the patio having sun tea and some delicious cinnamon biscuits with raisins in them. "Please help yourself to more tea and desserts. We will do many exercises so you do not have to worry about the American Girl Lament of having…how do you say? Ghetto…Booty?"
Amanda's eyes popped wide open and she choked on her tea. She sputtered with her coughs and grabbed a nearby napkin and held it against her mouth. "Oh my GOD! No the hell you didn't!" she started going into a hysterical laughter, and she held both her own sides she laughed so heartedly. "Ghetto Booty…..oh my goodness!" she giggled. "No, NO I do NOT want 'Ghetto Booty'. You are right!" she fanned herself with a book and leaned back still laughing here and there. Sonya's thick accent and soft voice were sexy, but her saying that was FUNNY! "You are cracking me up…" she drank her tea again.
Sonya was concerned that she caused offense at first, and then she relaxed when she saw that Amanda was laughing. She did not see what was so funny, she was serious! She would die if she had the American ghetto booty! It would be horrible even! "I am glad you find it funny, I however would not. Hmph!" she shook her head and crossed her legs turning her nose up.
Amanda was happy, she was really happy. She loved Sonya's company and for it all she kind of understood what Lara was doing working with Doppelganger. She had no idea what relationship they had, but if it felt like this right now? She would find herself agreeing with Lara on at least that. Now this? THIS would make them even. "So, what now? Any word about what Lara is doing?"
Sonya looked at her again and shook her head "No, nothing since she went back to England." She sighed "But, when she does make a move we will know. In the mean time, you and I will be making a trip to Cairo, Egypt." She sipped her tea ignoring the strong look of curiousness on Amanda's face now. "We will have to find a particular Ankh of Anubis she nodded more to herself than to Amanda. "Without that, the Doppelganger will make short work of us."
Amanda sat forward "What will this artifact do for us against her?"
"It will allow us to call upon one warrior from his army to assist us. It will be a servant that will put good use to his dual hooked swords. That will keep 'it' –referring to the Doppelganger- busy." She raised her left brow at Amanda as she played with her tea cup. "You think this will help us? I think you would benefit if we had it fight next to your wraith."
"You are amazing…" she sat back and laughed in disbelief "You know where it is?" she laughed again a little more joyfully, "Of course you know! Your knowledge of Egypt was your father's! Then of course you know because of the journals as well!"
Sonya nodded appreciatively "Well done Amanda, as I figured you would. You have gained much wisdom from my father's teachings. You will benefit to great ends before this adventure is done. How about we leave for Egypt the day after tomorrow?"
Amanda nodded and ate another dessert "Well, I can eat plenty of these now. There in that damned heat, if I were to get a ghetto booty I could at least sweat it off." She smirked at her own humor.
Sonya rolled her eyes and stood up preparing to go to the market for dinner later "Or you could just go topless." And left towards the kitchen on that note to take inventory of what she needed to buy.
Amanda sat there very quietly and said not a damn word. "………"
During Crawling:
Cairo, Egypt was exactly what Amanda expected it to be. Noisy and really thick pollution filled the air. Her ears were thumping, her nose was burning, and her head was swimming. She was walking to the right of Sonya, they had only been here about two days and already Amanda was anxious to leave. The people were abundant, she told Sonya she would not be disappointed if sight seeing was skipped. Amanda kept a bag full of bottled waters, and she was sweating like crazy already. She wore some really short jean shorts blue in color, and a white sleeveless button up shirt that was tied at the bottom to allow for her belly to air, and her bra to show. She was not receiving pleasant looks from the men and women, they spoke insults to her, and she gave a finger gesture back in return. Sonya would smack her hand as she did this and tell Amanda to stop it. Amanda would listen, but she was suffering, if it was not for such an important cause she would say 'let's pay someone to bring this to us.' And be done with this shit already.
Sonya had arranged for a personal driver, she spoke expertly in Egyptian and told the driver where she wanted to be, what time, and in what sequence she wanted to go about doing her travels. She sat back and patted Amanda's hand comfortingly. "Relax, if we are lucky, we will be leaving here by 8:00pm. Then you can be at peace, this does not bother me. I feel….energetic if anything." Sonya admitted, Egypt was half of her home as Austria was the other. Their first destination was not a hotel, but The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo. She decided to take Amanda's mind off the surroundings with conversation. "Did you know? The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities contains many important pieces of ancient Egyptian history. It houses the world's largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities, and many treasures of King Tutankhamen. The Egyptian government established the museum, built in 1835 near the Ezbekeyah Garden. The museum soon moved to Boulaq in 1858 because the original building was getting to be too small to hold all of the artifacts. In 1855, shortly after the artifacts were moved, Duke Maximilian of Austria.." here she smiled with pride. "… was given all of the artifacts. He hired a French architect to design and construct a new museum for the antiquities. The new building was to be constructed on the bank of the Nile River in Boulaq. In 1878, after the museum was completed for some time, it suffered some irreversible damage; a flood of the Nile River caused the antiquities to be relocated to another museum, in Giza. The artifacts remained there until 1902 when they were moved, for the last time to the current museum in Tahrir Square."
Amanda was transfixed on this information, parts of it she knew from her classes in university, but this was expert advice from Sonya's lips. "Damn, that is a lot of shit that went on in a length of time. I have never been here myself so I have not seen the museums with my own eyes. That is where we are going first right? What is it like?"
Sonya knew she had Amanda's focus now on her instead of the environment "Well, There are two main floors of the museum, the ground floor and the first floor. On the ground floor there is an extensive collection of papyrus and coins used in the Ancient world. The numerous pieces of papyrus are generally small fragments, due to their decay over the past two millennia. Several languages are found on these pieces, including Greek, Latin, Arabic, and the Ancient Egyptian writing language of hieroglyphs. The coins found on this floor are made of many different elements, including gold, silver, and bronze. The coins are not only Egyptian, but also Greek, Roman, and Islamic, which has helped historians research the history of Ancient Egyptian trade. Also on the ground floor are artifacts from the New Kingdom, the time period between 1550 BC. These artifacts are generally larger than items created in earlier centuries. Those items include statues, tables, and coffins. On the first floor there are artifacts from the final two dynasties of Ancient Egypt, including items from the tombs of the Pharaohs Thutmosis III, Thutmosis IV, Amenophis II, Hatshepsut, and Maherpen, and also many artifacts taken from the Valley of the Kings. What we are searching for is on display for only two more days though." She was making reference of the Ankh of Anubis.
Amanda nodded and crossed her legs "A limited time only kind of deal hm? How will we get…" looked towards the driver in the front seat "to SEE it?" she smirked.
Sonya snickered and sighed at Amanda's bold and dangerous way of playing. If this driver knew what they were there to do, he could have the police there on them ASAP. She played along though, but on her terms "We will take a close look, and play around the museum for 10 or so minutes. Then we will travel quickly to see a pyramid, then, back to the airport before our pass runs out." She smirked and looked out the window.
Amanda found herself laughing inwardly at her wit. That meant they were going to find it after hours, take their time and steal it. Get out of the museum quickly and take out the guards as they do. 10 minutes, that meant limited guards, and she already knew how they were going to leave with haste. Then get the hell onto the plane before they are found out and wore out their welcome. 'Sneaky…..I LIKEit!' she thought to herself.
They arrived to the museum and got out, joined a tour group to learn the lay out of the floors and then after hours broke back in. Amanda used her wraith stone to summon Loki and had it phase through the doors and smash the alarm box. Sonya used some weird magic which made the doors open up quietly and walked in. Sonya was wearing a long black thin strapped evening dress, black heels, and a long black leather trench coat for the cool evening. The monocle bounced vibrantly between her bosoms as she walked with her hands in her pockets. Her pitch black sunglasses looked back and fourth. Guards heard the alarm box being smashed and came to investigate. Sonya took a hand out and flung a plain dagger which planted itself right into his heart. His knees buckled inwardly and he fell onto his face driving the dagger deeper with his body weight.
Amanda used Loki to snatch the next two guards and smash them together. She smiled as she watched her wraith partner do his thing. She then watched Sonya use her right hand and snap her fingers, a golden flaming sphere of energy left her right hand after doing so and enveloped the last guard sending him bursting into crackling light which also illuminated the area they were going to, yes, Sonya did a two for one. Sonya's left hand turned into a black liquid like state and went through the glass case and took the amulet. She examined it for a moment and nodded over to Amanda that they had what they were looking for and made their departure.
Amanda was walking right beside her, and she was wearing a black body tight cat suit. The zipper was half down, she enjoyed being daring and was strutting in high heeled boots that clicked with the grace of her swaying hips. "Damn, you make this shit easy." She smiled as she got into Sonya's midnight black Mercedes-Benz SLR Mclaren, she was the driver, Sonya was in the passenger side. Amanda gripped the wheel and shivered "I could fuck this car it's so hot." As she reached down for the stick shift and started it. The engine purred, it was made for speed, and she was going to prove it tonight. The car did a perfect donut as she peeled off and went down towards the street.
"Change of plans, go towards the desert. The streets are too congested, and I just received a text that the airports are on some sort of delay. Hit the desert and we will go to the pyramid here." pointing to the G.P.S. that she just programmed "I would like to pay my respects." She said thoughtfully.
Amanda asked no questions, she turned the car towards the sand and floored it. "Oh God….." Amanda muttered as her breathing became heavier as the engine kicked the car into faster speeds.
Sonya frowned and looked to her left at her "If you are afraid of high speeds, then slow down." She watched Amanda shift in her seat and then found her self smirking "Oh. That's what's wrong with you. You like my car do you?" she giggled and cleared her throat pointedly at her.
Amanda nodded quickly and said nothing, this car and her were having sex and Amanda was on top! She was going to enjoy it while she was behind the wheel, in control. All she could say though "This car is good…." She spoke just above a whisper "Oh…." It seems Amanda had a weakness for hot foreign exotic cars and she seemed to love speed. "God…..ohhhhhh"
Sonya was smiling ear to ear "I am glad you are wearing a cat suit. If you were not, my seat would be just a mess."
"Shut up." Amanda spoke through half fluttering eyes and as she pulled up to the desired pyramid she leaned back in the seat and wiped the sweat off her brows as she still breathed heavily as her body convulsed a few times.
"Americans…" Sonya said and got out. She walked over to the pyramid and stood there in silence for a long period of time. This is where things for Set started going wrong, what lead he and her father Werner to meet. The path that started so long ago in Angkor Wat, Cambodia, and ended in the Pyramid of Horus. "Father….I will make her suffer." After a few more moments she came back to the car to a more relaxed Amanda and Sonya got back in and closed the door. She was staring straight ahead and then looked over to her left "Maybe I should drive?"
"Like HELL you will!" Amanda laughed and gripped the steering wheel "He was just saying how much he loved me! he was just asking for my number when you came back." She winked. "He told me you never gave him this much of a workout." She sneered and started the car.
Sonya's ruby lips curved into her own sneer and tapped her chin with her left index finger thoughtfully "Yes, but you know….I think you forgot something. I am a lesbian. What makes you think I would make this car male? HER name is Lotus, because like the flower, she is gentle and soft to my fingers. So….tell me now. You two were very intimate all the way here, so she was about to ask for your number am I correct? NOW, how was she?"
Amanda leaned forward and placed her head on the steering wheel and could not fight the burning blush of her cheeks, ears, and neck. The scar on her cheek turned white and her hands remained firm on the wheel as she sat there in silence.
Sonya reached over and rubbed Amanda's right knee up to her thigh twice in two long strokes and then patted it her mid thigh. "I will give you some time. This was the first time you were with a woman after all." She snickered.
"Oh God…." Amanda whimpered in utter embarrassment. This was just too much.
Later
Amanda and Sonya arrived now in Greece and made their way to St. Francis's Folly as where Lara started this new adventure. Sonya had once again tracked Lara's expense records over the last few months and found that she was having all kinds of stuff shipped her to this location a few months ago. Sonya brought the Ankh of Anubis with them, it was cursed and its power was sealed away. In order to make it work again she had to break the curse on it by purification. Amanda did not know why they needed to come here, but she was more than curious as to see what was on Sonya's mind.
"So…" Amanda spoke up and rested her hands on her hips. "We are here because? Looking for notes that Lara left perhaps?" she blew the hair from her face and sighed.
"No, we are here to pay a visit to an old an ancient king actually. The only way to get this curse broken is to have the golden ankh melted down and remade. I do not have the resources or the understanding of how Anubis did this and neither did Set, but the next best thing aside from melting it down and making it again is just having Midas make it gold again, kind of like a rebirth. That may give us the edge we need, and 'that' is where we are here."
During First Emotion…RAGE "Battle Cry from the Heart of a toddler":
Sonya was wearing white stretch pants, a black v-cut blouse with bell sleeves and knee high black boots. Her black curly hair was pulled back and worn in an Asian twist with ornamental sticks in it. Wisps of curly hair danced at both sides of her face, she was not wearing her sunglasses down here. She knew there would be no one here to meet them, and from what she understood, Lara would be in Nepal right about now. Sonya was just going down the stairwell, and starting to make her way through the Coliseum. Midas Palace would be the next location if her informant was correct. The Coliseum was amazing! The architecture was still standing up even after all these years! There were dried bones gorillas and what looked like Lions. "Looks like Ms. Croft, was in fact here quite a long time ago, and then recently as well. She must have been reminiscing as of late."
"Yeah, it does kind of smell like 'bitch' here." She rolled her eyes as she walked up the tall steps of the Coliseum "How in the hell did she get through here? She must have done that monkey climbing shit with her grappling hook thingie! I wish she would one day miss whatever she was aiming at and fall straight to the bottom of the ravine she was trying to get across!"
"Be careful what you wish for, sometime wishes come true Amanda." Sonya said casually as she looked at what was now before them. She used her magic to allow them to float across the great distances since the same tools Lara would use were not in their daily means. Sonya got to the box seating at the furthest point and walked down the stairwell into Midas Palace. "I think we found the ancient king of alchemy.." she smiled and looked at Amanda.
Amanda's mouth was wide open, to think that Lara went through here and said nothing about this great find! Amanda thought about a billion things she could turn to gold and live the life of a Queen herself, but as they approached the statue she noticed that his hand was broken off away from his body, and she noticed the four gold bars that Lara must have left there long ago to gain access into the deeper parts of the area. "This is amazing…" she said softly in awe.
"Not particularly." Sonya added "You know that he was gifted with turning everything he touched to gold, and this is his Palace. However, have you noticed that this entire Palace is made of stone and so is he? That symbolizes a great deal in its own right." She sighed and shook her head in pity of him "He was a fool, for the love of gold, he lost what made him rich. The ability to live and breath, and he apparently died alone. The statue has him sitting in an empty room alone, no golden statues around him, no stone ones either for that matter. This would also show his greed and the inability to share his wealth. He obviously trusted no one, so alone is how he spent his life until he himself had his own gift turn on him. The broken hand? That is probably how he tried to end his own curse, he was alone, realized it was not a gift….but a curse. He tried to end it, and my guess is that after cutting off his own hand he probably picked it up to throw it away, thus how he himself turned to gold. This statue is a marker of his own defeat to himself and to silently warn others of their own greed. Be careful Amanda, I know you have thousands of ideas, but everything that glitters.." and held up her right hand and spun her index finger in circular motions regarding the entire room made of stone. "Is not gold…." And with that point made she walked over and tossed the gold ankh on the severed hand and it jumped twice before going still. The ankh pulsated twice and then the red jewels in it began to glow. "It worked." She smiled and used her magic to bring it over to her, she was not going to get near that hand, and she did not like it or this Palace.
Amanda was staring at the back of Sonya's head as she spoke the thoughts of her mind, and after thinking about it she found that it kind of made sense, way too much sense. Even if Sonya was wrong and this was just made to send another message, her interpretation was much more involving and powerful. She looked at the four gold blocks Lara left here long ago that were still fitted in place around the statue. She then looked at the water pool in the middle of the room and found herself laughing softly "You are wise, so wise." She smiled and looked over at Sonya who was watching her in her thoughts. Amanda must have been thinking a lot, Sonya was standing there patiently near the exit where they came in. "Sorry about that."
"No worries, but it is time for us to make our next move. I have it on good authority that a piece of what you may need called the Pendragon Stone is in an ancient shrine in Kyoto, Japan. The Japanese call it the Oni stone –Oni means devil-. This stone is supposedly the key to get you into Avalon. I will help you get your dream Amanda, and I will send you to Avalon. You will not be denied your heart's desire any longer if I can help it. I do not know what other devices would be needed, but we will see to it that we acquire them." She smiled earnestly and nodded at Amanda sincerely.
Amanda's eyes watered a little and she returned the nod "I will help you avenge your father's…and see to it that your life is set right for all of your own loses. You too deserve to have your dream become a reality." She patted at her own knees and nodded "Okay! Let's get the hell out of here and get our happy asses to Kyoto, Japan! I studied there for three years before I went to Peru so it will be exciting to see how much it changed since I was last there." Amanda seemed to be beaming, she was closer to her dream and this time someone cared enough aside from James to help her!
--Later
Amanda came out of the entrance of St. Francis Folly into a heavy rain that down poured upon them both. Her clothes stuck to her and she held her arms out and absorbed that moisture of the air and relished the cool of the evening rain. "This is bliss."
Sonya watched her and with serine smile on her lips as she still held the ankh in her right hand and nodded "Indeed it is." She felt her cheeks warming and took a deep breath and went ahead to the car and got in. She cracked the window and called out over the crashing rain "Get in least you catch your death in this cool air!" she rolled the window back up, started the car, and turned on the heater. She hated that it always came on cold until it warmed up, and yes she knew the engine had to warm up first, but STILL. "Sonya muttered a soft curse as she tapped the heater vent repeatedly as if that would make it work faster. "C'mon you stupid thing! Get warm!" she shivered and watched Amanda walk around to the drivers side and get in.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You cold?" she smirked and started revving the engine to get it warmer a bit faster. Amanda was comfortable, and she liked the cold over the heat. Sonya was amusing her right now though, how someone so prim and proper, elegant, and regal was reduced to a shivering shaking child because she was cold. "Light weight." Amanda sneered playfully and stuck her tongue out at her.
"Your accumulative attention to the details astounds me Amanda." She rolled her eyes and then she shot Amanda a glare at her sneering comment "You are all high and mighty now, but I do remember that someone was being a little 'princess' because they were too hot in Egypt! So you stick that tongue where you would appreciate it most, and enjoy the taste of your own asinine beguilement!" she was leaning closer to the heater and thanking God that it was getting warmer now. "Yes, oh lovely, LOVELY heat!" she opened the low cut blouse that was clinging to her in her rain soaked form and enjoyed the heat on her cleavage. She paid no mind that Amanda was quiet, for she was not caring what she was doing right now! She was COLD! Even the monocle between her breasts was fogged up!
Amanda was laughing at her inwardly, and how she was so cute. But to 'tell her off' in such a way made her stop smiling abruptly. Amanda found herself sneering again after a moment and turned the dial from red to blue slowly.
"BY ALL THAT IS HOLY!" Sonya screamed and sat away from what used to be heat and glared at the woman next to her who erupted into a laughing fit. Sonya was pissed, but then she started laughing too reluctantly. Then she moved the dial from blue back to red when Amanda was not looking. She was still cold damn it.
Amanda drove the car back and they went to Athens International Airport to get on the flight Sonya was arranging along the way. She was already thinking about sake bars, hot pot, sushi, and karaoke. "Oh man this will be fun!" she giggled.
Sonya glanced over once while she was on the phone speaking Japanese to the airport, and hotel she was arranging and nodded that she agreed with her as well. "Arigato, Tanaka-San." (Thank-you Mr. Tanaka) and hung up her phone. "The plans are made, I acquired a Sano Tanaka which is a very good travel agent to set us up with the flight and rooms at a very nice penthouse room while we are there." She yawned absently and crossed her legs as she enjoyed the drive. She had a very content look on her face.
"You look very content." Amanda noticed "By the way, why do you always have me drive? I am just curious." She glanced over at her as she asked and then refocused on the road.
"That is because I like you driving me around. You drive very well and I am comfortable with how you do so. Besides, you are good eye candy. You are focused on the road, I can look at you and you do not see me doing so." She said matter of fact like with a most devious smirk on the right side of her lips.
Amanda shot her face towards her with her mouth and eyes wide open in shock that she would even say that!
Sonya did not look back at her, but pointed at the road casually "Road. You are supposed to be watching the road, not me silly." She now smiled ear to ear.
Amanda scoffed once again at a loss for words "You!" she half scolded her as her face burned as she gripped the steering wheel tighter. "The fuck man!.." she muttered in complete embarrass yet again. "Stop DOING that!" she hissed through her teeth.
She did not see the pitch black sunglasses staring at her with a triumphant grin that would match even the most winked of deviants watching her as she drove the car.
When they got to the airport they got on the private jet they split the cost of and then they were on their way to Japan. Amanda was reading up on the area on her laptop when the reached altitude and was pleased that there was just so much to do! Maybe they could go to a festival as well! She always wanted to wear a kimono!
Sonya was listening to some soft classical music and was trying to shake this feeling that something was going to go wrong about this trip. She just could not place it, but she was following her instinct and would try her damndest to be prepared for whatever they will face.
End Chapter 9
AN: Hope this was enjoyable! Here is some small background, what Amanda is doing was/is in fact what happened in Tomb Raider: Last Revelation. This is a brief summary that I gathered from Wikipedia to help make things clearer for those who did not play this game on the PS2 at all. Werner Von Croy had no children that were ever mentioned, I added Sonya from imagination and placed her in to give the story some deeper arc in regards to revenge and conviction to why/how a hatred can be so strong. NO one will be confused if I can help it:
The story begins with Lara Croft's teenaged tomb-raiding origins, accompanied by her former mentor Werner Von Croy. They travel to the temple of Angkor Wat, Cambodia in the hope of finding the mystical "Iris." However, the trip is cut short by an accident where Lara is forced to abandon her companion in order to save her own life. Back in the year 1999 Egypt (this is the only game in the series to keep the globehopping to a minimum, aside from the prequel level the entire game takes place in one country), Lara Croft uncovers an ancient tomb where a fearsome Egyptian God Set was once imprisoned. She unwittingly unleashes him and finds herself in a deadly race against time to restore the god to his resting place before an apocalypse befalls Earth. Unfortunately, Von Croy becomes Lara's new rival as he is possessed by Set himself and he makes things considerably more difficult. Lara travels across Egypt to collect the pieces of Horus' armour in order to defeat Set. They are found in Pharos, Temple of Isis, Temple of Poseidon and Cleopatra's Palaces. She combines them (with the Amulet of Horus) in the Temple of Horus to finally defeat her enemy. However before Horus can be summoned, Set arrives and destroys the armour, knocking the amulet into the water. Lara quickly recovers it and exits the Temple sealing the entrance shut with the amulet. She must leave it in place to keep Set imprisoned for eternity. As she reaches the exit of the temple, injured and exhausted, she is confronted by Von Croy. Fearful that he may still be possessed she is reluctant to hold onto his hands and so falls into the darkness beneath the collapsing temple.
Werner Von Croy was killed in Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. That is where I have the journals' from France come into play.
I am told my imagination is dangerous, that's up to you all. LOL
