Very short chapter here, so you guys should feel happy...because that means I'm going to update TOMORROW! Lucky you!! =D Anyways, well, read on!! And kudos to anyone who might have an idea where I referenced a particular line in here from FFX-2 =D
The group arrived later that afternoon in the province of Toamasina, on the eastern coast of Madagascar. The sun was beginning to set, and the weather was cooling off just the slightest bit. This place is beautiful, Lara thought, taking in the sights that reminded her both of Ghana and the Bahamas. Lara turned to Zeth. "So where is this portal?"
He removed a small, folded paper from his pocket, apparently having jotted down a few quick notes the day before. "It was said to have been located at the eastern end of the peninsula," he said. "Apparently, there are some ruins down there – an almost-temple-like structure, if you will – where we must enter and activate the daggers."
"Splendid," Lara said. "Well, let's get moving." The group of nine trudged forward, moving through the humid jungles of the civilization and out towards the end of the peninsula where nothing but exotic animals inhabited the land. They moved forward until they saw a small temple in the distance – it couldn't have been much bigger than a studio apartment. Lara entered first, figuring she might as well get her action where she could. They made their way through the temple's winding hallway until they reached the end – which was nothing but an extremely large empty room, with a musty, algae smell. The room must've been led underground, because the path had descended meters ago, and it would've been too conspicuous otherwise.
"Is this it?" Lara asked, facing Zeth.
"If my research is correct, then yes," he confirmed. He drew in a deep breath. "So shall we open this portal, or what?"
Each of the brothers carefully removed his jade dagger. Seeing all eight of the daggers reunited was enough to amaze Lara. Eight jade daggers, with Lux Veritatis glyphs, held in the hands of the Lux Veritatis warriors themselves. All this time, Kurtis had thought he was alone. He'd thought that his family had been completely murdered, and that he was the last of the Lux knights. He couldn't have been more wrong. Here he stood, with others just like him, his last remaining family. Lara felt a tinge of happiness creeping into her heart, elated by the idea that Kurtis was standing here with his remaining family, or the like.
Lara stepped back as the brothers formed a circle around the center of the room. Then, each levitated his blade before him, continuing with the circular motions. One by one, the auras of the blades activated, until the room was illuminated with a bright orange glow. Lara shielded her eyes, taking another step back, and watching as they ushered their daggers forward into the empty space centered between each of them. The auras met, until the bright light capsized, then protruded through the room. When everyone looked up, the daggers were united into one, hovering in the air, and a mystical, orange portal floated before them.
"This is amazing," Aiden breathed. Then, the portal emitted eight streams of light towards the walls. The lights turned into small, circular-shaped windows of space, and everyone watched in amazement to see what would happen. After a moment, the light formed into portraits, and Lara could feel the energy leave each of the warriors as they stared in shock at the faces of the past warriors lying before them in the empty space emitted by the light.
"What is this?" Kyran asked, walking towards one of the portraits. He reached his hand through the seemingly holographic image. Then, he stepped backwards, shock overtaking him. "I-It's my father," he stammered. "It's an image of my father."
Garin approached one of the portraits as well, the image of his own father coming into play. A subtle smile of contentment crossed his lips, and he reached his hand towards the portrait. "What do you know…?" he breathed.
Each of the warriors moved forward towards the empty windows of space – all but Kurtis. Lara slowly approached his side, placing a gently hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly.
He clenched his hand into a fist. "I'm fine," he said lowly.
Don't you want to see your father's face? Lara wanted to ask. She knew better, though. Perhaps, after going to Salt Lake City as well, this was just too much for him. The one window of light remained hollow, and no image appeared without Kurtis's presence close by. Lara glanced over each of the brothers, who appeared to be having private moments of reverie with the images of their departed fathers. Lara knew that since this was now no longer about her, she needed to be there for the ones who were suffering at the emotional cripple.
Aiden pulled away from the window, the light disappearing as he stepped back. He quickly wiped his eyes with the edge of his sleeve, then looked down. Lara felt sorry for the child. He was just seventeen years old, and he'd lived the past four years without any family. He'd been stuck in a group home in Germany, a country as foreign to him as anything else. Seeing the face of his father had to be overwhelming enough for him.
Finally, all of the brothers drew back, and the windows of light disappeared. Lara could sense that each had been profoundly impacted by the image of his father. Garin drew in a deep breath, assuming the role as the leader once more. He turned towards the group. "We need to go in," he said. "Do you have the stone, Lara?" She removed the stone that Zeth had given her and held it up for him to see. Then, she returned it to her backpack. Garin nodded, then faced the portal, slowly approaching it. He reached a hand forward, extending it so that his entire forearm was on the opposite side of the portal. Then, he pulled it back, examining his hand. Nothing had changed. He drew in another deep breath and faced the group, grinning. "See you on the other side," he remarked. Then, he stepped through.
Aiden stepped forward, the fear in his eyes gone, and a new look of duty resting in them. He closed his eyes and stepped through the portal, disappearing. Davis followed next, then Willard, then Dan, and then Zeth. Kyran turned towards Lara. "Take care of things topside," he said. Lara nodded, appreciating that for once, he wasn't making an unnecessary sarcastic comment. Then, he stepped through the portal. Kurtis was the last to enter. He solemnly faced Lara, his eyes swamped with duty, yet shadowed with a tinge of fear.
"Take care of yourself in there," Lara said quietly. "You know how Karel can be."
"Yeah," was all he could manage to say. They remained standing where they were for a moment, both plagued by the inevitable fear of loss, although neither had any real way of proving it would happen. Then, they reached forward, and Kurtis pulled Lara into his arms once again, holding her as close to him as he could bring her. He closed his eyes, acutely aware of every curve of her body, the silk of her skin, the smell of her hair, the warmth of her touch. If he was going to be up against Karel, he would need everything he could to keep him going – having Lara in his arms was enough to do that.
Lara pulled away from him and looked up into his eyes, her own glossing over with soft tears. "I love you," she said firmly. "Give me something to reach for." In other words, she meant, 'don't get yourself killed in there'.
Kurtis knew exactly what she meant. "I'm not going to leave you," he promised. "I love you, so much." He pulled her mouth towards his, propelled by desire and fear, savoring her kiss as if it would be the last time. He pulled away, touching his forehead to hers, and then released her, ever so reluctantly. He faced the portal, refusing to look back at Lara – it would only make him weaker. Instead, he took several weighty steps towards the mystical door to another world, and reached forward, stepping through until he was no longer in Lara's sight.
Love-struck teenagers is what they are. *sigh* Poor kids.
I want to address my idea of Lemuria. Trfanfrombeg asks if it's like the Astral Plane from X-Men, and I suppose it IS something of the sort, but the inspiration I drew it from was the Farplane from Final Fantasy X and X-2. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just google 'farplane' real quick and check out the images...you'll get a feel of what's going on in my mind. You'll get more of a feel of Lemuria in the next chapter, though. The main thing you need to know is that Lemuria is a huge trip, and not necessarily a good one. As you've already witnessed, they will be encountering a lot of their pasts in relation to this...place...
Stay tuned guys! Like I said, update tomorrow, so I'll see you then! I appreciate the reviews!!