Chapter V

As Diana and Lara made their way to the private airport outside of Beijing where Diana had landed Lara's jet, they talked about the poem's clue that Diana had deciphered.

"So how did you know Portugal was our next stop?" - asked Lara, intrigued.

"I remembered while I was attending a conference in Lisbon, that all delegates went on a tour of the city's iconic gothic monastery, the Mosteiros dos Jeronimos, where we learned about the special style the Portuguese had given to their gothic architecture, calling it manueline: naturalistic elements like shells, strings of seaweed, oak leaves and thistles, among many others. The columns do look like there are growing vines climbing them, usually with flowers on top, so it matches what the poem said about 'flowers climb the walls'".

"But that doesn't really narrow it down… There are other gothic styles that have flower themes."

"Indeed, but the poem's first line gives us the location: 'Where the battle was won'. While our tour guide in Lisbon was talking about the manueline architectural style, he mentioned many other locations that have it, including another monastery called 'Mosteiro da Batalha' which literally means 'Monastery of the Battle', which king Joao I started building in 1386, a year after the Battle of Aljubarrota, as a commemoration of their victory and as a thank you to the Virgin Mary for her aid during the battle".

"Wow, a whole monastery erected to celebrate a battle victory? Fascinating. Have you been there?"

"No. I'm excited to go!" - smiled Diana, like a cheerful child. - "The closest city is called Leiria. We can land the jet there and drive to Batalha."

The flight from Beijing to Leiria was a long one, so Lara knew she would have lots of time to talk to Diana about her other identity. She set the jet to autopilot and went to the cabin to talk to the so called 'museum director'.

"So… tell me more about this other side of you." - asked Lara with a raised eyebrow.

Diana laughed and looked out the window. Not many people knew about her life as Wonder Woman. Kara Danvers had figured it out not too long ago, but since Kara herself was Supergirl and lived a double life as well, it was easier to explain. Lara on the other hand, was a world renowned archaeologist, entrepreneur and part of the British nobility, doing all this on her own, not hiding behind a mask. Diana was unsure how to start.

"Wonder Woman was my way of maintaining focus in my life. When I first left my birthplace, the island of Themyscira, humankind seemed to not understand that I was different and could do things they could not. So the best option at the time was to blend in, find myself a human life and only reveal my true self when something out of the ordinary happened, as people were more comfortable then to see something extraordinary."

Diana looked at Lara anxiously, wondering what would be her reaction. Lara paused, looked down and said:

"I understand."

Diana was surprised with that reaction and continued to look at her new friend, intrigued. Lara carried on:

"Sometimes I wish I had a secret identity. I play many roles - Lara the adventurous archaeologist, Lara Croft CEO of Croft Enterprises, Lady Croft to the British lords, Professor Croft to Oxford. - sometimes I wish I could keep all these personas separately. Well, I guess it's too late for me to become a superhero" - she sighed with a faint laugh.

"Not all heroes wear capes" - smiled Diana and the two exchanged an understanding look.

After landing the jet and doing the paperwork at the Portuguese border, the two women rented a car and headed on to their next adventure.

Leiria was an ordinary city, quite different from the overwhelming and majestic Beijing. They realized that wearing hiking boots and leather jackets would make them stand out in the touristy town. They went to the simple hotel's reception and asked for the nearest mall.

"There is the Leiria Shopping Center up on that road" - pointed the front desk clerk.

Diana bought a navy blue dress with large white stripes, a hat and comfortable sandals. Lara chose a baseball hat, a yellow t-shirt, jeans shorts and running shoes. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Well, we definitely will blend in now!"

The two tourists got back to their car and headed to the monastery. The drive was picturesque, as the country road kept winding its way between the little villages with its simple houses.

The scenery changed drastically when the road widened and they saw the monastery right beside it. It was indeed a sight to behold. Its size alone would put any modern building to shame. Built in the 14th century, it was as big as a plane hangar and as majestic as Notre Dame of Paris itself.

They parked near it and walked to its front doors. Both women were in awe. The building had a presence, a power and emanated an overwhelming sensation of greatness, making them feel quite small beside it, literally and figuratively.

[Monastery of Batalha: wiki/Batalha_Monastery#/media/File:Mosteiro_da_Batalha_ ]

They walked in with their jaws still dropped. Even though both of them had seen amazing places and experienced greatness in many historical sights around the world, a gothic building of that magnitude would inspired even the most sceptical and seasoned scholar.

A shimmering colorful light caught their eyes and drew them to the chapel on the right side. They were on a mission, but it was hard to ignore the beautiful glass-colored stone columns that surrounded the royal tomb of king Joao I and queen Filipa. They stood beside the tomb and looked up, seeing the high glass windows dazzle their eyes with their heavenly glow.

They walked around like true tourists in a daze before such magnificence. Proceeding to the main nave, they admired the might of the huge columns. As they explored the building, Diana noticed some small carvings on the walls. They were strange, not aligning with the austerity of gothic architecture. She called Lara and examined the glyphs.

"Look at these markings. They don't seem to be part of the architecture… The seem… random."

"Markings are never random." - replied Lara taking a closer look. As she ran her fingers over them, her archaeologist mind began searching for answers. - "These are here for a reason. They indeed don't seem to be 'official', but look like something the architect or the builders might have added on in a sneaky way. Give me the necklace, I want to try something."

Diana handed Lara the golden necklace and took a step back to look at the whole wall. While Lara passed the necklace over some glyphs, they began hearing the familiar drumming sound from the box. They looked at each other excitedly. Lara continued to touch the necklace on the wall until Diana exclaimed:

"Look! The blue light!"

They both looked to the corner it was coming from and saw one particular glyph shining like the letters on the stone box. Lara examined it and noticed: "It's a keyhole." She inserted the necklace inside it and the cyan shimmer started tracing a small patch of the wall.

They looked around worried, but everyone seemed busy taking pictures and admiring the monastery. Seeing the image the cyan light formed, Lara immediately figured it out.

"It's a map! See the keyhole, that's where we are. This winding streak going East is our direction and this marks the spot. It's not a mere "x" marking the spot, it's the Portuguese symbol for the Templar Knights. It's a cross." - she concluded proudly.

Diana opened a huge smile and sighed: so this whole quest was built by the Templars. She should have known. They had always been a mysterious order, with many facades and objectives. Protecting a dangerous power seemed right up their alley. Diana finished the puzzle:

"The poem states 'old Templar halls'. 'Old' because the order was no longer called Templars in Portugal. In the early 14th century, it was converted into the Order of Christ. Our next stop is Tomar."

Lara looked at her GPS - "It's less than an hour from here."

They took one last look at the magnificent monastery and Diana thought to herself: "I will be coming back one day".

The town of Tomar was charming, with narrow streets decorated with Templar motifs. It had a joyful and rustic air to it, making Diana and Lara feel transported to the middle ages. Its people seemed cordial and happy, the shops were small and lovely, giving the town a movie set look.

They drove on towards the Convent of Christ, an ancient Templar stronghold. At first glance, it didn't seem so big, until they saw it sideways and discovered its huge wall that went on and on protecting the cloister. It was as massive as the Monastery of the Battle, also gothic, but had quite a different approach to it.

[Convent of Christ: wiki/Convent_of_Christ_(Tomar)#/media/File:Convento_Cristo_December_ ]

They entered the main hall and walked down the nave. It was similar to the monastery, but something there had to draw their attention to "where the circle runs" to match the poem-clue the stone box had given them.

Diana approached one of the staff members and asked in perfect Portuguese:

"Hello, do you know if there is any place here that is a circle? Maybe the main rose window?"

"Yes, maybe the rose window, but I would say it's our most precious room where the charola lives." - replied the young man.

Diana looked at Lara. They never heard of a 'charola' before. The man continued:

"Go through that door and look to your left, you can't miss it." - he pointed the way, smiling.

"Obrigada." - thanked Diana and they went on to the direction he indicated.

When the women crossed the small door that he had mentioned, they are amazed by the magnificent structure inside. They had never seen anything like it. It was the convent's church building but its altar was unlike any other. A tall golden cylindrical wall went up to the ceiling, waiving back down through the outer walls like a fountain. The richness of adornments was jaw-dropping. Frescos of saints and other catholic figures surrounded the walls.

[Charola: wiki/Convent_of_Christ_(Tomar)# ]

Lara exclaimed in a full ecstatic British accent: "Good Heavens! This is fantastic! Look at the details of the paintings, the uniqueness of the structure!"

Diana was also in awe, but when she heard the drums coming from the box inside her backpack, the mission came back to focus.

"Lara, we are in the right place, listen to the drums. Now we must find whatever the next clue might be."

They began circling the area, examining every fresco, every column. As they stepped inside the cylindrical wall, their eyes were drawn up to the exuberant images of saints embedded in gold stands. Right at the center, where the dome dripped into a golden funnel, its small gold tip started emanating the familiar cyan light, catching Lara's vision.

"Diana, here! Look up."

"This is it, we need to get that piece."

"Well, I don't think we will be allowed to climb up those walls nor take that as a souvenir." - replied Lara, ironically.

"We don't need to climb." - and she winked at Lara. - "Can you create a distraction?"

Lara understood the idea and laughed. She went to the edge of the room, grabbed her metal water bottle and pretended to drop it on the ground. It made a loud noise that echoed throughout the previously quiet church.

While the guests gasped and the staff ran to assess the problem, Diana swiftly flew up and pulled the small golden tip from the dome.

The young staff member looked concerned while an older gentleman began to address Lara vehemently in Portuguese:

"A senhora não pode entrar com isso! Poderia ter danificado o piso! Tenha cuidado, por favor!" - he gesticulated for her to put the bottle away.

"Desculpe." - apologized Lara and left the room. Diana followed her.

"I got it, let's go."

Back at their hotel in Leiria, they were able to better examine the object. It was small, made of gold, round and seemed to attach to something else.

"It's gold like the necklace and this orifice might fit just right on the pendant." - observed Lara.

Diana opened her backpack and took out the necklace and the box. She handed the pendant to Lara and placed the box on the bed.

Lara turned the newly acquired gold object in her hand and plugged the pendant shaped necklace into it. With a 'click', it snapped together becoming a key and began to glow. The box on the bed began to emanate the cyan light, dyeing the whole room blue.

They looked at each other excitedly, ready for the next clue. This time, instead of blue letters appearing on top of the stone, the box illuminated a small orifice which Lara noticed was the perfect size of the new key in her hand. She inserted it and turned her wrist.

There was a loud thud and, instead of letters appearing at the top, the box projected light through the key's center onto the wall, like a hologram. The images, however, were not of letters, but of symbols.

Diana stared at the wall, amazed. Lara was assessing the glyphs:

"I don't recall ever seeing glyphs like these. They slightly resemble sumerian cuneiform writing, but are not it…"

"I've seen these before." - replied Diana, still fascinated. - "I need to make a call."

She walked to her backpack to get her cellphone, leaving Lara wondering who she was calling.

Diana dialed. She got a voicemail that said: "Hello, you've reached Kara Danvers. Please leave a message and I will return your call."

"Hi, it's Diana Prince. We need your help."

To be continued.