Chapter II

Outside of London, the Croft Manor's gardens had turned into a practice rink for Lara's archery routines. The target was worn off in the center as too many arrows had pierced it. The bow was high-tech, but beginning to show signs of wear and tear for being used too often.

"Lara, we've been at this for days! Can't we go back to guns?"

She raised her eyebrow and yelled "Draw!"

A disc was thrown into the sky and she released the arrow aiming at it. She missed. Grabbing her father's rifle, she yelled "Draw" again and took the shot. Bullseye.

"Until I can do the same with an arrow, we keep practicing."

Bruce sighed and kept working on the targets and arrows.

Dusk finally came and they went back to the house. Hillary awaited them at the door.

"Lady Croft, there is a Diana Prince here to see you. She says it's urgent."

Lara paused. She had met Diana Prince briefly after her seminar on Rare Archaeological Artifacts at the Louvre, but what would the museum's director want with her now, showing up unannounced at her home?

Entering the large Victorian style living room, she placed the bow on the mantle and looked at the mirror on the wall. She was sweaty from the training and her hair had seen better days… She threw on the brown leather jacket that was hanging on the chair, fixed up her hair in a braid and went into the study.

"Send her in."

As Diana walked across the room in an elegant carmine dress, high heels and an elaborate hair up-do. Lara immediately regretted not taking the time to change. She was an adventurer, but she was still British and poise was essential. She felt like Indiana Jones staring at a Greek goddess.

"Lady Croft, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"The pleasure is all mine, Director Prince."

"I apologize for showing up without warning, but I have an urgent matter to discuss."

Lara gesticulated to the chair and Diana took a seat.

"I remember from your seminar last year that you are the expert on rare artifacts" – Lara nodded with curious eyes. – "I need your help with this one."

Diana pulled the box from her large leather bag and placed on the desk. The cyan light started escaping from the cracks of the stone box, coloring the room. Lara's eyes widened and shone at the sight of the mysterious glow.

"This is unlike anything I've ever seen! Artifacts are not normally… alive." – As she raised her hand to touch it, the inscriptions began to appear again. She read them carefully and stopped at the poem.

"High and low we go

across the colorful sea.

See us in the woe

where the first piece shall be."

"Fascinating!"

"I thought so too, but it raised many questions. Who originally found this item? Why did they bury it? How did they know its power could not be controlled? Who is worthy and powerful enough to control it?" – Diana replied speaking fast, mostly thinking out loud instead of asking Lara.

"I see this has been troubling you. Where did you find it?"

"Under the ground at Notre Dame. The floor was damaged after the spiral crashed down."

"A tragedy to history, but a valuable moment for archaeology."

They smiled at each other.

"Can you decipher the riddle?"

"Not alone. Come with me."

They left the study and passed a long hallway stopping in front of large double doors. Lara pushed the doors open and Diana marveled at the sight of the Crofts' massive library. Bookcases filled the walls top to bottom. Mint new books were at the bottom while old first editions and rare items filled the higher shelves. Lara stepped on a ladder and grabbed an old book about history, one about art and a brand new atlas and placed them on the table.

"The trick with riddles is finding the common element between all the clues but you need to get each piece right first. Let's see… It says the first piece will be where there is woe, sorrow. That does not narrow things down, as History is filled with places of sorrow: from the destruction of Troy to the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so not enough for us to identify the location, but we can funnel the dates: if Notre Dame was built between the 12th and 14th centuries, we can eliminate anything in the American continent, as it wouldn't have been discovered by Europeans until the 15th century.

She flipped the history book's pages, stopping after the 15th century. Diana admired her mind working. Lara went on:

"The 'colorful sea' can be literal or figurative. If it's literal, there are fours seas with color in their name: the Black Sea in Western Europe, the Red Sea by the Sahara, the Yellow Sea by China and the White Sea northwest of Russia. If it's figurative, it could be a painting, flower farms, rainbows, and so on."

Lara opened the atlas on the Black Sea and flipped the pages of the art book. Diana glanced at the moving pages and stopped Lara's hand when the book showed Cezanne's Road Near Mont Sainte-Victoire. She looked intently at the landscape of colorful mountains mumbling the riddle to herself "High and low we go… across the colorful sea…"

[Art: /cezanne_1900_ ]

Diana grabbed the atlas and opened it on the page showing the Yellow Sea. She placed it beside the painting. With her finger, she traced a straight line from the Yellow Sea into mainland China, stopping at Gansu.

"Aren't there Rainbow Mountains in Gansu? Couldn't those be the 'colorful sea'?"

"'High and low we go.' Yes! Mountains go up and down. That fits the riddle!" - Lara felt that familiar rush when she solved an archaeological mystery.

"How about 'See us in the woe'?"

"We'll worry about that part once we are there. It usually works best when we are on site."

Lara stormed out to the study - "Hillary! Prepare the jet. We are going to China."

"Mmm, may I suggest a bath first, Lady Croft?" - he dared with a raised eyebrow.

Lara sighed and looked at Diana.

"We have time. I'll help you pack. Do you mind lending me some boots?"

To be continued...