Chapter 3: Start of A New Life
"She what!?" Salem screamed later that night when he heard from Ross that Phoenix went missing
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S MISSING!?"
"I told her to stay where she was and apparently she didn't listen. When my men cornered her she jumped off the cliff into the river below. Best I could say we are facing one of two outcomes: either she was swept away by the river or Croft got her." Ross explained
Salem breathed heavily, his daughter dared to defy him again and now she went missing. He must find her.
"I'll speak to command and have them send you a new team, and you're going to head back there and search that river, let me know if you find her dead or alive."
xxxxxxxxxx
The next morning Lara had gone back to the mill to see if there were any remaining Trinity soldiers left. Satisfied that there weren't any left she went back to Phoenix to pack up camp. They were able to reach a road not too far from the site where Lara had a Jeep parked on the side. They get in it and drive off to Anchorage to meet up with Jonah and plan the next move. It was a four hour drive to Anchorage and Phoenix fell asleep during this. Lara decides to call Jonah through a bluetooth earpiece connected to her phone once she gets cell service.
"Hey Jonah, I'm on my way, but something has happened."
"What is it?" Jonah asked concerned
"You know the information I got about Salem Star? He sent his daughter here with that Trinity cell and she did not want anything to do with them. She's sitting right next to me. I'll explain everything when we get to Anchorage," said Lara
"Alright Lara, I hope you know what you're doing,"
Once they arrived at Anchorage, Lara parked the Jeep in front of the cafe where they were going to meet Jonah.
"Phoenix wake up, we're here." Lara nudged Phoenix awake
"Are we here?" Phoenix asked waking up and stepping out of the Jeep
"Yes we are."
They entered the cafe where a man with tribal Maori tattoos sitting at a table gestured toward their direction. Both Lara and Phoenix went to the table.
"Phoenix, this is Jonah. Jonah, this is Phoenix." Lara introduced them to each other.
Phoenix and Jonah shook each other's hands.
"Lara told me you didn't want anything to do with Trinity," said Jonah
Lara proceeds to tell Jonah what she knew about what Phoenix had gone through and Phoenix tells him everything else.
"That's terrible!" Jonah exclaimed "Forced marriage?! What year are these people living in?"
"I don't know," said Phoenix
While Lara was taking care of the Trinity cell that was housed in the mill, Jonah was gathering information on what artifact Trinity is after and he found a lead.
"Trinity is after something known as the Fire Bird's Crest." Jonah pulled out a file packet with some papers in it and placed it on the table for Lara to look over.
Richard Croft's notes had mentioned the Fire Bird's Crest. From what Lara knew, it is an artifact made out of fire agate and gold in the shape of a Fire Bird or a Phoenix (which is what the girl with them is named after). It is unknown who or what created it, but it is believed to bestow immortality and give someone pyrokinesis. In order to access it there are twelve fire agate keys in the shape of feathers. In 1850 Trinity found the keys as well as the location of the Fire Bird's Crest near the Texas-Mexico border. However a mutiny had occurred among Trinity's exploration team. They put the crest back in the tomb, resealed it, and scattered the keys across the continental United States.
Lara looked over the papers in the file, and noticed a photograph of a map containing the location of the keys.
"Jonah, how did you find this?" asked Lara
"A man claiming to be a descendant of one of the explorers that defected from Trinity reached out and told me that he knew about your crusade against Trinity and wanted to help out. He had his house broken into by Trinity and they stole the map. Luckily he was able to take a photo of the map before it got stolen." Jonah explained
Lara looked over the photo of the map and showed all twelve locations of the keys which she is able to see clearly well. The locations include the States of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Arizona, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, Nevada, Kentucky, Wyoming, as well as both North and South Carolina.
"Well now that we know where the keys are we're going to have to go to those States to find them," said Lara
"Phoenix, since you're going to be with us, you're going to have to learn how to defend yourself. I want you to be able to at least learn how to fight back in case your father, stepmother, 'fiance' (Lara did the air quotes gesture at this), and the rest of Trinity try to find you." Lara turned toward Phoenix
Phoenix realized the possibility that her father and Ross had Trinity send out search parties after her and the thought of being forced to go back to them made her sick to her stomach. Both Lara and Jonah sense Phoenix's unease.
"Don't worry, we're not going to let them take you," said Lara
"Phoenix I know what you're going through, my brother and I suffered at the hands of an abusive father as well. I tried to protect my brother, but I lost him. After hearing your story I'm not letting anyone suffer like that again," said Jonah
This calmed Phoenix down, she felt safe around both Lara and Jonah. She knew that if her father, stepmother, and/or Ross show up they are going to have to go through Lara and Jonah.
Author's Note: Since I am writing a Tomb Raider fanfic I had to include an artifact in there. The next two chapters will be coming soon in the next couple of days.