Chapter 1: Bolivia

Set In Motion

Amanda packed her research papers and various notes she had made into her satchel. Before she could leave she noticed her iPad was nowhere to be seen. She frantically searched around the rest of the other bags as time was ticking.

"Babe?" she called James "Have you seen-"

Before she could complete her sentence, James rushed past her with an apple in his mouth, clutching both his phone and iPad

"Food?" he said, barely audible "no worries, I got it"

He left in such a hurry that Amanda could hardly get a word in.

"- the iPad…" her voice trailed off

'Typical' she thought. Clearly food was more important to him than the research at hand.

Amanda and James waited at the cockpit for their pilot to arrive. Amanda had made the suggestion that James fly the helicopter himself but why do so when others could do so instead, even if it meant more money to be spent. He didn't care, as far as he knew there were plenty more money where that came from. When you were raised in unlimited wealth and power, having people to do things for you is easy.

James walked over to massage Amanda's shoulders "Relax love, I promise this will go smoothly. Can't guarantee the same if you see Lara"

"I can handle her" she chuckled at the thought of utilizing her faithful spirit on her long lost 'friend'

The helicopter soon came into vision along with the sound. It hovered above them. The loud whirring sounds of the blades made them disorientated. Amanda could never get used to it no matter how many times they traveled with it.

"Ms. Evert, Mr. Rutland" Their designated pilot, Sean greeted.

Sean is one of James' friends dating back their West Point days. Calling him Mr. Rutland was an inside joke between them. James hated being likened to his father as the public never saw him as his own person but rather the senator's son. On the hand, Sean was never a fan of Amanda. He felt she was too hostile and possibly had ulterior motives behind being with James whether there was evidence to back that up or not. Amanda didn't like him either. He doubts her authority and judgements concerning the locations they needed to go to.

"Sean! How are ya'?" James asked

"Great man, fucking pumped if you ask me. And you, Evert?"

"Feeling the depression kick in upon seeing you"

"Touché ma'am"

James let out a sigh of exasperation at the two's petty exchange even though he's be used to it by now.

They took off to Bolivia, Tiwanaku to be exact. Below them was the most beautiful view of luscious green terrain with spots of the bluest water. Seeing locations like this was privilege and they knew that. Amanda checked the GPS. It said the dais would at least be 15 minutes to get to. The closer they got, the more nervous she became.

The 15 minutes passed by when they spotted a faint view blocked by the morning mist of the island. There stood five pillars around the floating island. They had finally reached possibly the most sought out standing myth.

Sean landed the copter on the ground, dust and gravel flying in the air. The rest of their mercenaries soon followed after them. Amanda was the first person to hop out.

"We fucking did it, James" she said wide eyed taking in the sight of what they worked for. The sleepless nights and hard work finally paid off.

An air of tranquility lingered as the sound of birds chirping in the background of the already quiet surroundings. If one took the time to listen carefully, you could hear the crickets chirping and water droplets falling off the vines on the walls. The smell of petrichor in the morning was cleansing and crisp. James took out a sword chard they acquired in a place unattained by anyone out of his back pocket to examine once again.

See, he never cared for the finer details of the artifact or why it came from its location, however one thing he did care about was Amanda. She'd talk to him about Bolivia and the possibility of discovering the portal to Avalon and what it meant for society or even humanity in its entirety. Whenever she spoke it made her face light up in excitement and that him fall in love with her even more.

"Time to work boys!" He said, directing them to the weapons. "Alright I'm gonna need to you to scout the area, we might have a visitor by the name of Lara Croft" he handed them each a photograph of her.

He gathered them to explain on how to execute the plans and spoke on the radio to rest of them.

"Hey Dogette" he said over the radio "Why the hell hasn't Drew reported back regarding the IDs?" he grew frustrated as he hated the slightest delay in his mission running well.

"Been waiting for days. Tell him I want it by today and not a day later"

He turned around to find Amanda standing behind him, giving him a fright.

"Jesus!" he cursed "you scared the shit outta me!"

Amanda laughed thinking how he was so tough and assertive a second ago yet frightened by her unannounced presence.

"You were quite alluring until now, Mr. Tough guy"

"So you find dominance alluring? I mean if you want that…"

"You are the worst! But anyway check this out" she pointed towards the pillars in the middle of the island

"Just as I expected, the markings are quite similar to what I expected but there seems to be what I guess is melted Jade or Emerald?" her voice echoed through the island as she looked at her notes

"And?"

"I didn't expect this yet I understand because crystals vibrate on different frequencies, meaning if this can be activated via the dais, it might trigger a portal perhaps?"

She walked towards the helicopter to put her notes back until she heard rushed footsteps moving towards them.

"Bosses?" Drew reported back "We're losing contact with everyone so I'm guessing Croft will be here soon"

"Can't wait" Amanda said bluntly. She wandered off away from the men.

"Babe?" James walked towards her with his hands in his front pockets "Are you okay? I mean you could always leave her to me"

She let out a laugh "I can do this. She's a mere speck in my-"

Their conversation was interrupted by a gunshot let off by one of the men. James ran to stop him from further shooting. He was looking forward to meeting her uninjured.

"Hold your fire!" he shouted with Amanda by his side, her composure intact and face stone cold looking at her ex-friend

"Nice to see you again, Lara" she muttered under her breath.

"Lara Croft! I've been hoping I get to meet you" That was Amanda's queue to head towards the helicopter. She sat on the edge watching the show from a distance. She couldn't wait to hear what Lara had to say.

"At ease. We're just gonna talk" James walked closer to Lara with his hand at the back of his pocket reaching for the sword fragment.

Lara's pistols were fixated on him but that didn't scare him at all knowing the upper hand he had against them. A cocky smile plastered on his face.

"I'm listening" her guard kept up and eyes on every move he made

"Have you found a piece of this? Is this what led you here?" he showed her the fragment, waving it around like a toy.

"Where did you find that?"

"It doesn't matter, what matter is what it does. Do you know?"

"What I know is my business" Feisty, he thought

"So you don't then. Then that means you don't have a piece" before he left, he wanted to tease Lara with something she might be surprised to hear

"Amanda said you were sloppy. You shoulda paid more attention in Paraiso"

"Amanda? Amanda's dead!" Lara spoke with confusion in her voice.

That phrase alone made his blood boil. The amount of ignorance and negligence coming from this woman he had known for mere seconds was unbelievable.

"What the hell do you know about Paraiso?"

"We're done talking" James' words came out littered with anger.

As he headed towards the chopper he could see the anger and sadness on Amanda's face. He hoped to god his men would land at least land one bullet on Lara for the trauma caused to his girlfriend.

He got into the helicopter while Sean prepared for takeoff. Amanda had her seatbelt on already.

"Hurry please" Amanda asked Sean with a wobble in her voice. James noticed her wraith stone started to glow the ghastly black and maroon energy emanating from it. It sometimes scared him knowing that she was controlled by an entity with dark energy; turning her into nothing but a vessel for it to feed off. For now he needed to get her to the hotel and away from her nemesis.

Amanda unlocked the door and stormed inside, throwing her choker to one side leaving her tattoos to fade. Her hands were burrowed in her hair while her palms rested on her forehead. The migraine the stone gave her after the surge of energy shot through her system was always the worse part of its after effects. Her breathing became shallower and shallower.

"Hey, hey, hey, Mandy!" James rushed to her wrapping his arms tightly around her. "I'm here. I'm right here"

"I'm still dead to her James" she could no longer hold it in and let the tears stream down her face.

"She discarded me just like that, not even bothering to search for my body"

James hushed her while rocking her slowly.

"Don't worry. I'll make her pay if it's the last thing I do"

He meant that with every fiber in his being. He knew what he was up against but that didn't from seeking revenge even if it meant killing him in the process. Anything for the person he loved.