35.- Martinus Destrée
After completing service, Father Martinus Destrée receives a highly anticipated visit. "It is a pleasure to have your visit, Lady Croft," Father Martinus says. "The pleasure is mine," Lara says. "Father Dunstan always speaks highly of you." Martinus seats in a chair after a long service. "Yes, I never get tired of listening to how you helped him exorcise a demon when you were fifteen," Father Martinus says. Lara starts laughing. "He surely loves exorcisms," she says. "By the way, I've come here to visit a mausoleum, but I'm afraid it may have been raided." Father Martinus gets serious. "Dangerous business they are engaging in…" Father Martinus says. "I will go with you to check. But, whatever they are looking for, they will not find answers in a tomb."
And so, they go to Tournai cemetery to visit the mausoleum Lara's interested in. The dome has a nice statue of a one handed witch being stabbed with three swords. The mausoleum clearly belongs to the DeCombel family, and one of them must have faced Sofia von Hahn and won. "Do you know the story behind this mausoleum?" Father Martinus asks. "An order of warrior monks, the Lux Veritatis, faced battles against alchemists who sought to break the covenants that we have made with God." Of course, Lara has been here in the afternoon and has listened to that voice…
IT IS HIM! THE ONE WHO KILLED ME! RAID HIS TOMB! CLAIM MY VENGEANCE!
Yet, Lara is immune to such temptations. The Holy See lock doesn't seem to have been violated. Nevertheless, Martinus opens the lock and lets Lara in. It is sad news, as a casket seems to have been split in half and left open. Father Martinus makes the sign of the cross, and puts his hand over Lara's back. She's clearly withholding some pain.
HA! HA! HA! THEY STOLE IT FROM HIM! MY CROSS! MY REVENGE IS NOW COMPLETE!
A series of screams is heard on the outside. "We are surrounded, Father," Lara says. "We better stay put for a while. They won't find us in here." Lara's hands start shaking violently.
I FEEL HIM! I FEEL HIM! A LUX VERITATIS! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!
But the demands are not fulfilled. She just stays solemnly, until the voices of hatred fade away. And then, the door is knocked. "What should we do?" Father Martinus asks in a low voice. "We go out," Lara says. "It won't look nice, but it is safe." And so, they go out, and there he is standing. "When are you going to put a proper habit, Brother Trent?" Lara asks. "Who is he?" Father Martinus asks. "A hipster monk..." Lara jokes. "And a Lux Veritatis."
Kurtis Trent rushes into the mausoleum, while Father Martinus makes the sign of the cross at the murdered mercenaries. "Is he OK?" Father Martinus asks. "Maybe some things have been lost in translation," Lara says. Kurtis comes out of the mausoleum unhappy. "They stole them!" Kurtis says. "We have to get them!" Lara pulls out her gun and puts it in Kurtis' head. "Relax, sheriff," Lara says. "You've overdone it now!"
"Don't you know?" Father Martinus asks. "Attributing any magical value to those crosses is inane. The story is clear, the miracle is in St. John the Apostle himself, that's why the crosses split when he dies. You are looking at a tomb that has been raided in vain. I hope there's still some mercy in your heart, or else you'll break the covenant with your own mistakes." Kurtis looks hopeless… "And what now?" Kurtis asks. "We recover the Shards?"
NO.
Lara seems quite clear in her statement. "I blew them away with Eckhardt's lab," Lara says. "And that place is in the Lost Dominion. I won't enter that place again." This makes Kurtis crouch, and move his Chirugai around. "I think I have been clear enough," Father Martinus says. "You should seek to be as pious as St. John the Apostle. There may your heart find some peace."
NONSENSE!
"I think Father Martinus is correct," Lara says. "God Willing, we can recreate the Periapt Shards again. After all, I believe they were created by St. John the Apostle." "For those who follow my trials shall keep the gates of evil closed to this world," Father Martinus completes. "Such is the legacy of St. Francis. And such is the legacy of the Lux Veritatis. I will provide you a copy of the memoirs of Brother DeCombel. He devised an apparatus to recreate the Cross of St. John." Father Martinus lends a hand to Kurtis Trent, so he may rise again.