38.- Brother Occitan
His soul has gone rotten and poisoned in time, like his cursed Protocol. Instructions have come from Brother DeCombel on the treatment of Cathar prisoners by the Order of Lux Veritatis. "The protocol of St. John has not only increased the skulls in these rotten catacombs, but it has also poisoned my soul and mind," Brother Occitan thinks. And in each passing day the rotting becomes more evident.
"You can hardly walk on your own, Brother Occitan," the Bishop of Carcassonne says. He tries to hold Brother Occitan standing. "There's news on von Hahn," the Bishop says as he delivers a sealed letter. The popping and unhopeful eyes of Occitan shine brightly. "The White Witch has been defeated!" he exclaims. The Bishop smiles at the news. Then, Occitan's gestures become solemn. "Bishop, our Order has contributed a lot to the Inquisition of the Cathars," Brother Occitan says. "But this duty has steered me away from the Lord's way. I must go into retreat and find peace in Him again. I hope you may appoint someone to promptly replace me." The Bishop normally would have played politics, but this time, mercy and piety moves his words. "You may retreat," he orders.
Only the Lord knows for how long Brother Occitan has contemplated the beauty of the Creation in a cave that has gone lost in time. This is until the souls of the Trents, linked by the Chirugai, set in motion finding Brother Occitan. And then, a rock is being pried with a climbing axe. A small gap is created. Small, but enough for Lara Croft to squeeze in, and light a flare. Illuminated by a mere haze of light, lies sitting the corpse of a perfectly mummified Brother Occitan. An Eastern would argue he's still alive, contemplating, meditating. And the key to the catacombs is in a collar around his neck. Lara respectfully takes out the key. "Rest in peace, Brother," Lara says.
With a bit of a hustle, Lara opens a bit further the rock that blocks the cave entrance, and squeezes herself out of the cave. Then, it's climbing back to flatter lands. And deep into Carcassonne's catacombs. The air is filled with poison gas. A secondary effect of a myriad of rotten poisoned bodies. What has been drunk, is now being inhaled. And Kurtis is suffocating.
"Leave," Lara orders. "The trial is mine to complete, you will only make things worse by staying here." Kurtis understands that if Lara saves him, the poisonous gas might escape, and then there would be no trial, and no Cross of Darkness. So Kurtis escapes, and Lara falls. She breathes in every ounce of poison used to torture the unfaithful Cathars. As soon as poison attacks, Eckhardt's blood sign wakes up, as poison is just another element in the season of Darkness. In exchange, a Cross of Darkness is coughed, and the unbreathable catacombs are filled with purified air.
Now, two crosses are in disposal of Ms. Croft. And she has bought three dull knives. Kurtis is waiting, as he is unsure what comes next. The two crosses won't become one on their own. Thus, a sacrifice is made. Lara Croft sacrifices her two blood signs to create a Silver Cross of St. John. And in that very moment, Kurtis could swear he has seen Lara's wings. A person with the Holy Blessing of Gabriel.
But the miracle doesn't last for long. "Three periapt shards destroy all evil," Lara recites. And then, the Cross of St. John starts embedding the dull knives with something akin to lightning. A force akin to the Great Flood is felt in the hotel room shared by the supposed couple of Lara Croft and Kurtis Trent. And by the end of the storm, the Cross of St. John breaks down into two silver yet useless halves, while the dull knives have been ascended into three Periapt Shards.
"How could you renounce such power?" Kurtis asks. "People would normally be blinded by it." "Egypt," she states in a stoic fashion. "These nuts haven't overcome duress like I have." Kurtis looks confused. Egypt doesn't mean anything to him at all. "So, what do we do now?" Kurtis asks. Lara looks at him coldly. "Ephesus," Lara answers. "Let's see what St. John has in store for us..."