Lara pulled up in an empty parking spot, Diana getting off and taking her helmet off. The two women then went inside the restaurant and found themselves a table.

"So, feel free to order what you want. But you probably already figured that out just by being inside my home." Lara rested her elbows on the table as Diana picked up a menu.

"I certainly will." She looked it over, finding something to pick. A waiter came by and they both ordered what they wanted.

As the waiter left, Diana leaned on towards Lara. "I want to get a better understanding of your world. You said that magic exists but is very difficult to find."

"Correct." Lara nodded. "My father and Conrad used to locate ancient temples and cities and try to uncover hidden treasures, and they usually had some sort of supernatural quality to it. In the last several years, I have had some…intense experiences regarding the more supernatural."

"I assume that means that there are other people that seek these objects out for their own agendas?" Diana asked. "Doesn't seem too unlike my own world."

"Well…yea, I guess it isn't." Lara thought about it for a moment. "But I wouldn't exactly say I'm the Wonder Woman of this world." Lara grinned, getting Diana to softly chuckle.

"It is a little strange to know that this world only has me as a fictional character."

"Well sure, I bet that raises all sort of existential questions. But you are one of the more popular ones. There are a lot of people that admire what you do, even if on this world it is all contained on paper."

"So there are others that try and live their lives with me as their ideal goal?"

"Yea, a lot of women. And some men." Diana raised an eyebrow at that, which Lara could only shrug. "I guess you transcend gender norms. That's my best explanation."

"As long as I help the less fortunate gain the strength to take control of their lives." Diana leaned back in her chair. "So, what do you do with your life now? From what it sounds like, your days of travelling the world discovering ancient magic seem to be on pause."

"Well, I sort of nearly stopped an apocalypse last time I followed some people to an ancient temple. After that, I had my full of the undead and the magical for a while." Lara moved back as the waiter came over and set their food in front of them. "But I wouldn't say my days are completely over. Especially now, since I might just have to find one in order to help you get back."

Diana nodded as she started to eat her meal. After a few bites, Diana looked up to Lara and said, "You have picked a fine place to eat."

"I aim to please. Glad you enjoy it." Lara started digging into her own food, savoring the taste as the women ate mostly in silence, knowing there isn't much they can do until they find some sort of lead. After they finished, Diana was the one who spoke first.

"I'm curious. How many people to you normally interact with on a regular basis?"

"Uh, I don't know. I mean, I go to restaurants and stores…I'm not sure what your trying to ask." Lara raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Forgive me for speaking on something I shouldn't, but I have noticed your home is pretty empty of people. With the exceptions of photographs."

"Well, it's a big place. There is going to be lots of open spaces no matter what."

"But it feels like the home belonging to someone who doesn't want to get out and connect with others. Given what you have spoken about your past, I can see that you are still struggling to adjust to your newfound knowledge and perhaps you might still have some issues left unresolved."

Lara shifted a little uncomfortably in her chair. "Wow, you really know how to read people."

"It's a useful skill. I'm sorry if I overstepped- "

"No, no, it's fine." Lara ran a hand through her hair, collecting her thoughts. "It's not like your far off from the mark. I just want to deal with this myself."

"If that's what you want, I will respect it." Diana's face softened. "But should you change, remember that not everything has to be done alone."

"Thanks. Anyway, unless you want to stay and turn this into a therapy session, we should probably get going." Lara took the check that was just placed on the table and gave the waiter her card.

"Very well. What shall we do for the rest of the night?"

"We won't be able to do much tonight. We spent a huge chunk of the day reading old texts and myths and couldn't come up with much." The waiter returned with the receipt, handing it to Lara. "So, once we get back, we can just more or less do what we want and save more work tomorrow."

"A logical plan." Diana got up from the table, following Lara back outside. They got on the motorcycle and headed back to the mansion. Once back inside the house, Lara gave Diana more of an official tour, showing her as many rooms as she could and having slightly lighter conversation.

The two soon made their way upstairs, stopping once they reach the top. "Well, you know where your room is obviously. I'll be over there at the far end." Lara pointed over to the adjacent hallway. "Might be a little bit of a walk, but if for some reason you need to find me during the night, you know where to look."

"Thank you. You have been a very generous host. There are a lot of people who might not have been so accepting and calm throughout this unusual predicament."

"I've been through worse." Lara smiled. "Well, I guess it's good night then." Diana nodded, surprising Lara with a hug before turning around and heading back to her own bedroom. Lara began walking to hers, slightly red. She closed the bedroom door behind her, pushing away any thoughts and images in her head away as she tried to find some sleep.

(The next morning)

Lara was greeted by her phone loudly ringing right next to her. She groaned in annoyance, blindly reaching out to find the cell phone on the nightstand. After finally getting a hold on it, she pushed herself up and answered the phone.

"Whoever this is, you better have a really good reason for waking me up." Lara rubbing her face, trying to open her eyes.

"Ms. Croft, this is Bryan. You left me a voicemail the other day about any rumors about a powerful artifact. Something about other dimensions?"

"Yes, I did. And?"

"Well, I did some digging, and I think I might actually know of something that could be what you're looking for."

"I'm listening." Lara was able to get her eyes fully open, gaining her focus on the conversation at hand.

"There are local Chinese legends about a temple located somewhere in the northern region of the country that contains something called a Flaming Pearl. I have taken the liberty of emailing the documents detailing the object to your address."

"Thank you Bryan. You have no idea how much you're helping me out with this one." Lara started to hang up, but Bryan had one last thing to say.

"Ms. Croft, before you hang up! You should know that word is there is an unidentified party that is also interested in what you're looking for."

"Well, do you have any other information about them?" Lara got out of bed, pacing around the room.

"No, I'm not even sure if they are on their way there yet or if they have already arrived. Chances are, it will take them some time to find the temple since no one knows for sure where it is located. But I have also emailed you the contact email for two people to meet up with you once you arrive in the country. They are probably your best bet."

"Thanks for the heads up." Lara ended the conversation, stretching her back and neck as she thought things through. If there are indeed other people who plan on finding the same thing she is looking for, chances are it is going to get bloody real fast. She opened her email, going through all the information that was sent to her, getting herself as familiar with the object and myth as she possibly could. Then, she started getting herself prepared.

As Diana walked out of her bedroom, she saw a fully prepared Lara walking towards her. She had on a sleeveless green top with green camo cargo pants and black boots. She carried a back bag across your shoulders. Diana almost didn't notice the two twin guns at Lara's sides.

"I suggest you wear all of the stuff you had on when you first arrived here. I just got a call on something that might be able to help. I'm going to call ahead and make sure we have a plane ready to take us to where we need to go."

"Where is it that we are going?" Diana asked.

"I don't have exact coordinates, but we're heading to northern China." Lara started walking backwards. "So, get your warrior face on. We're going on an adventure!" Lara smiled big before turning around and heading down the stairs. Diana smiled herself as she headed back into her room to grab everything she needed.

(Last night, over China)

The plane was set-up like the ones from movies where all the people are sitting on the edge, turned towards each other. Some of them played and cleaned their weapons, whether it be guns or knives. All of them were conversing with one another, making jokes and telling stories. They were a bunch of mercenaries hired by the leader of this group, who was sitting with the pilot.

Anton Smelleck was dead focus on the air in front of him. He was keeping his eye out in case some military plane came from out of view and tried to approach them and make them land. He wanted no delays, they were already going to be taking longer than what he wanted to try and locate this damn place anyway once they hit the ground.

Once he was satisfied with what he was seeing, he got out from his chair and started to walk towards the hired guns. As soon as he came into view, the others fell silent and turned to him, knowing that he was going to speak.

"In a couple of minutes, we will be jumping out of this plane and hitting the ground." Some of the men started to make sure their weapons were where they needed to be in order to be secured during the trip down. "There is only one thing I care about. Finding the temple and the pearl inside. I don't care how we do it. If someone tries to stop us, shoot them. I want to delays that can be avoided. Is that understood?"

They nodded, with a few mumbling their agreement and understanding. With that, Anton turned around and gave the pilot the thumbs up, and the door started to open. The mercs started to get to their feet, grabbing their parachutes and moving towards the opening door. Once it was fully open, they all jumped out one by one, with their employer following right behind them.

The air hit them with an intensity that they all expected. The darkness of the night didn't do anything to hide the sights they were falling towards. While they couldn't describe the details of the landscape, they could see enough to start finding out a safe spot to land. None of them tried to talk to one another, because it was pointless to try and communicate going so fast in the air.

Once they came to a certain height, they opened their parachutes and started slow their descent towards the ground. One of the men that Anton trusted to be a second in command started leading them all towards the safest spot they could pick out. One by one, they all ended up making contact with the ground. Anton was the last to land, dropping his parachute right where he landed. He didn't care about what he left behind him, as long as he got what he came here for.

Once he could tell that everyone was where they should be, he used his hands to indicate that they should start moving. According to his plan, they should be nearby a small village that they can more or less take over as a base of operations. No need to get too violent with them, as long as they cooperated with them.

Anton and his men quietly but briskly moved through the wildlife of the Chinese landscape. Soon enough, they came across the village right when they were supposed to. They then made their way to it, asserting their dominance to begin the search for the temple the following morning.