Cardcaptor Pandora

by Kira Ashkelon

Pandora Malfoy believed that she was a Squib for the first fifteen years of her life, until finally she was invited to Hogwarts after finding a mysterious book in a basement. What she finds in this book grants her power beyond anything she ever imagined.

13. Episode XII: Tomb Raider

Cardcaptor Pandora
Episode XII
Sara Croft: Tomb Raider

Persephone read the letter again... and again... and again... She wouldn't believe it. She refused to. Even if it was true, as long as she didn't believe it and accept it as the truth, then she wouldn't have to cry about it. She could never bring herself to cry. Not anymore.

"You may come in now, Miss Avaran," Dumbledore's voice said, breaking her silent memories as she still continued to read the letter.

"Thank you, Professor," she heard herself respond, cold and distant as always. Why was she like this... so cold...

"So why is it that you will be needing to leave the school for a week?"

"I received a letter a few hours ago that said that... that... my mother... died... last night... mysteriously... I am going home for the funeral... if it is alright with you..."

Dumbledore's blue eyes softened as did his voice. "Of course you may. If there is anything at all I can do to help you, tell me. I will arrange a way home for you in the meantime, okay?"

"Thank you, Professor, but that will not be necessary. I've made my own arrangements just outside of Hogsmeade. I will be leaving in an hour."

"Very well. I hope everything goes well, Miss Avaran."

The helicopter landed rather sloppily near the hills just outside of the city. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she walked closer to it, now wearing a Muggle outfit which consisted of a light blue shirt which didn't quite make it to the top of her khaki pants, and a long, white, hooded sweater which reached all the way to the ground. The doors opened and a small staircase came down to make it easier for her to get on, though she skipped the steps and jumped right into the passenger's area right next to the pilot: Peter Pettigrew.

"I told you learning how to fly this 'Muggle contraption' as you so enjoy calling it would come in useful," she said.

"Your father was not happy to hear you were leaving for the funeral, you're lucky he's even letting you go."

She smirked as she leaned back in the chair. "I suppose he's forcing you to be my escort. Charming," she said coldly, leaning back in her seat as she kicked her feet onto the dashboard, receiving quite a disapproving look from Pettigrew.

"Yes, well, you're supposed to call me Steven Chase when you're around your family, we wouldn't want them suspecting anything."

"You act as if I've much of a family left..." she sighed. "Unless you're counting my half brother."

They flew on in silence until they neared the Croft Mansion, an old house with more secrets than a family could ever remember. She loved it. But it would be so much different now...

Then again, maybe not. As she and Peter walked towards the front door, glass was broken and shattered all about the walkway, and the front door was left open because it seemed to have been slightly damaged as well, so that it could not be closed all the way anyway. "Hello?" she shouted into the entry, peering into the darkened room.

"Sara...?" came an astonished reply. "Is that you? Is it really you?!"

She felt a genuine smile playing at the corners of her mouth, but somehow she couldn't let it surface. "Yes, Jason, it's me," she answered, stepping into the messy room followed closely by her cowardly protector. "What in the world happened here?"

"Very possibly a follow-up to your... your mother's death, Miss Croft," their butler, Tafton, responded. "I must admit, I am quite surprised to see you here. We never thought we'd hear from you again after your sudden disappearance, but your mother told us not to ask questions... so we shall continue with that order, unless you would like to offer some information, of course..."

"Maybe later, Tafton. What happened to her?"

"There's no telling, really. She just died. No marks on her, no signs of earlier sickness, no poisons were used on her, there was nothing."

"That's the same thing that happened when my father died when I was very young," Jason commented, giving Persephone an almost resentful look. "You know, Sara, it's kind of funny that you were born about nine months after that incident... And then you disappear for a year without telling us anything, then show up conveniently right as Mother dies..."

Persephone saw Pettigrew stir out of the corner of her eye. She knew he was not comfortable with her brother's accusations, for he was afraid, as she was, to where they might lead. "Brother, remember what Mother told you. Don't ask questions. That's the best advice I have to give, for I know hardly any more than you do."

He sighed and leaned on the stick of the broom he was sweeping up glass with. "I'm sorry, Sara... It just happened so fast... Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?"

She allowed a patient smile to cross her lips to reassure her brother that there were no hard feelings. "I could really just use some rest. Is there a particular place you are wanting me to stay?"

"You're old room is still there, and we've been taking care of it, as that is what Mother wanted us to do in case you were ever to return... Your friend can stay in the guest room down the hall from you."

"Thank you, Jason," she said, and, after gesturing for Peter to follow her, they ascended the stairs to their rooms.
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Persephone sat on the floor of her dimly lit room, a collection of five unlit candles in front of her. She couldn't stop thinking of her mother, and of her mysterious death. Perhaps it wasn't quite such a mystery to her, but why would he do this...?

A knock sounded from her door. "Enter."

Peter Pettigrew stepped in and closed the door behind him, peering around the room, squinting in a way which immediately made her think of a rat. "Why do you have it so dark in here, Lady Persephone?"

"I apologize. I hadn't really noticed the sun setting..."

He smiled kindly at her, almost in a fatherly way (though she wouldn't really know what that was like, for her father's smiles were anything but fatherly). "I'm sure you're upset about your mother... who wouldn't be? While we're here, I don't want you to worry about anything with your father or the Deatheaters... I just want you to relax and have a nice time with your friends and family... You need it."

She flashed one of her rare sincere smiles back at him, appreciative of his attempts to keep her happy through everything she was put through. Sometimes she wondered what he was doing as a Deatheater... "Can you hand me those matches on the dresser?"

"Of course, My Lady."

She tried to light the match, but every time a spark teased at coming alive, it immediately died. She slammed the small box to the ground with an irritated growl. "Fire and I have never gotten along... It isn't my element. I only seem to be able to kill it."

Pettigrew laughed and lit a match easily, then lit each of the candles. "Is that better, My Lady?"

She sighed and smirked. "Thank you, Peter. Now leave me. I have a lot of things to think about before the funeral in two days..."
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Perhaps it had to do with her mother's spirit's recent departure from physical life, or maybe her father's eyes which she imagined were constantly upon her, or it might have just been the huge, old mansion, where so many mysterious events had taken place, but whatever it was, Persephone Avaran could not have fallen asleep that night even if someone had driven a stake through her heart. She was completely restless. Her thoughts kept returning to her mother... her father... the house... What was the use of laying around anymore?

She walked slowly through the house, a white robe wrapped around her nightgown. The old wooden floors creaked and on unusually windy nights a howl seemed to sound all through the house. It was a perfect night for a haunting, but she had never seen any real ghosts in the house to be sure it was haunted. It certainly was the perfect place for one though.

She turned down whatever hall she came across, and up so many stairs she lost count. She hadn't realized how long it had been since she had last been here. As she continued walking, she forgot to pay attention where she was going, and seemed to just be wandering by instinct, until it led her to one closed door. Mind you, in a place like Croft mansion, there are so many doors and the likelihood of one being closed shouldn't make it seem any more important than the rest, but there was something about this door. Something she couldn't really explain. When she first tried it, it was locked. Persephone pulled her hand away and sighed. "Fine, then I guess I'll just keep walking." But just as she turned her back she heard a click and turned back to find the door swinging open. It made her a bit nervous, but she wasn't about to stop. She entered.

Immediately she recognized it as her mother's old office. She was amazed that she hadn't recognized it before. On the desk a computer was still set up, but was off. There were marks all over the floor, as if the police had investigated there. "This must be where they found the body," she whispered. She felt a slight mental tug towards the desk. As she neared it, she noticed a book on top about St. Patrick and Ireland. She walked around and sat down at the desk, kicking back and swinging her feet on top of it as she opened the book, which mostly seemed to be about the absence of snakes.

Just as the book was beginning to get interesting, Persephone felt a slight chill and suddenly her chair slipped out from under her. She grabbed at one of the drawers on the way down, attempting to catch herself, but only succeeded in taking it with her and scattering papers everywhere as she landed with quite an ungraceful thud. She glowered around the room quickly to be sure no one had seen the most embarrassing scene, and was quite thankful to find she was truly alone. Now on the floor, she found the drawer which she had tossed halfway across the room and began gathering papers, until she found something that for some reason caught her eye. It was nothing more than a newspaper article about Ireland.... but then she read it, and this is how she found out about the snakes.

Now the book about Ireland was beginning to make since. Over the past week, snakes had slowly been appearing in Ireland, until there suddenly seemed to be a plague of them. Scientists were completely baffled, for snakes logically could not survive in Ireland. Not only that, but even desert snakes had been sighted.

Persephone unfolded the newspaper so as to get to the rest of the article, and an opened envelope fell to the floor. Carefully she pulled out the contents, and then she knew what she had to do. There was more to the snakes in Ireland than a mere fluke of science...

This was a Hogwarts Card.
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"My Lady, I'm generally not one to question your probably perfectly logical motives, but it does happen to be five o'clock in the morning, and you're wanting to me to fly where?"

"Oh, come off it, Wormtail. It's only Ireland! It's not like America, God forbid. You can handle it, I promise."

"But the funeral's tonight! Why are we leaving?"

"Hopefully we'll be back by then, but Mother would rather me help her with unfinished business than go to her funeral."

Pettigrew swallowed nervously, as if thinking about something unpleasant. "Exactly what kind of unfinished business are you talking about, Lady Persephone?"

"Just do what I say, Wormtail. It's my business, not yours. Now if you'll excuse me for a few minutes, I would like to pay my respects to my mother."

Her father had always told her that crying was a weakness and never to do it, thus she was very thankful for his absence as she knelt before her mother's opened casket and wept as she whispered a Requiem. She hadn't felt emotions like this in so long. So often emotions were simply pushed aside to her, she never felt anything except for cold indifference. But now, away from the Deatheaters, away from her father, at home with the ones she loved, she finally was able to let go a bit. Somehow it didn't make sense to her, why it was easy all of a sudden, but she was glad it was. She had been worried that she would not be able to shed a tear over her mother's death.

Pettigrew was waiting outside where the helicopter had landed the day before. She knew they needed to be in the air fast, or Jason and Tafton would hear and come see what was going on. She didn't want to have to face them, even though she really was only trying to help her mother. Yes, they would be able to understand if she didn't make it back home.

It was still early morning by the time they landed in the area Persephone had ordered. The ruins of castles lay everywhere, and not a soul was in sight, at least nothing that was human. But the first step Persephone took on the damp grass was immediately withdrawn when three hissing snakes stared up at her with slitted eyes. She saw how Pettigrew tensed up immediately (he had a terrible phobia of snakes).

Persephone at once was thankful that she had decided to wear her brown leather pants with hiking boots, knowing that she had a better chance of withstanding a snake bite were one not to get along with her, but of course she didn't foresee much of a problem with that. "Hello, Little Ones," she hissed at them. "What are you doing here?"

A small green snake gazed up at her, before it slowly responded, a bit surprised, "Our master called us."

Persephone knew who the master had to be, now she just had to find it. "Show me where your master is, and perhaps I will be able to get you back to where you belong."

"But our master is very hard to get to for one of your type," it answered uncertainly. "And he may not wish to speak to you anyway."

"Very well. Perhaps I shall find my own way to your master, that way it will not be blamed on you. Is that better?"

"Much."

The snake slithered away with the other two, but there were certainly more where they came from. Persephone and Peter couldn't take two steps without nearly running right over one. Occasionally they had to duck away from overhead planes and such, for they didn't want to be seen snooping around. This made Peter very anxious, for he hated getting any closer to the ground where the snakes were than he had to.

As they continued stepping over ruins and snakes, eventually Persephone found a young asp curled tightly up close to a rock. It saw them nearing and reared up, showing its fangs as it hissed, "Come any closer and you're dead!"

But Persephone saw its weaknesses. It could not survive in such a climate, yet here it was, and it was very afraid. "I am not going to hurt you, I need your help."

"Get out of here, human! I won't help you!" it hissed, fiercer than before.

"If you help me, I will help you find a way home..."

The snake relaxed some, though it remained in much the same posture. "Does that mean you know how I got here?"

"No, but obviously you wouldn't have come to a place like this of your own accord, I don't think any of you would have."

"But some of them did. I didn't. I don't know why I'm here or how I got here, but it is too wet and cold... I want to go home..."

"My name is Persephone," Persephone said kneeling down next to the asp, who now was much calmer, though it watched her closely.

The snake told Persephone her name as well, but for translation purposes, we'll call her Tasyra. "You wish to see our master then?"

"Yes. Please take me."

"It may get me into a lot of trouble, so you'd better hold through with your side of the bargain."

Persephone followed Tasyra through the unending maze of snakes and ruins, a transfigured Peter Pettigrew riding in her pocket, terrified of the snakes.

Finally they came upon an opening which led deep underground. Persephone could see nothing at the bottom, no sign of light. She pulled the light bag that she had kept on her back off and found a head-strap flashlight and a rope. She secured the rope at the top, strapped the flashlight to her head, then made sure that the pistols strapped to each thigh were secure. Then she descended behind Tasyra who had already started in without her.

The damp unlevel ground beneath her feet made it somewhat difficult to walk on, but she managed it with an amazing amount of grace. She shined her flashlight all along the walls as she passed, every so often running across a tall monument of a snake. She hoped she would know the Hogwarts Card when she found it.

Gradually she began stepping into a dim green light, which made her feel VERY uncomfortable considering what green lights most often meant in the Wizarding World. There also seemed to be many whispering voices, which, as Persephone began to sort it in her head, she realized were the voices of hundreds, possibly thousands of hissing snakes. "We must be getting close," she whispered so that Peter would understand.

She was quite right. What greeted them was a green-lit room with snakes of all types all over the floor. From the center of the room rose a sort of pedestal, and the largest snake Persephone had ever seen was wrapped around it, his massive forest green head looming over the entire scene. She felt something wrap around her ankle, and looked down to see Tasyra clinging anxiously to her. "He will not like that I brought a guest, don't mention me..."

"Don't worry."

She looked back up to the great snake to find him staring down at her. For a moment she felt fear, something that for so long she thought she was immune to. Then again, as of late so many emotions had been attacking her all at once. "It is rare for a human to make it this far without being bitten," he hissed at her. "You must have a very strong and fearless heart. Do you understand me, Human girl?"

"I do."

The snake moved in such a way that he seemed to smile and position himself in almost a challenging way. "You are a Parselmouth. Impressive. I have only known of one other person who had that ability. He was the first human I ever encountered. I hate him."

Persephone felt her heart skip a beat, but she forced herself to calm down. Snakes sensed fear... and fed off of it. "Was he perhaps your creator?"

The snake narrowed its eyes at her. "You are clever. I know what you must be after. Is it power you want?"

"I only want to catch a card."

The snake seemed very taken aback by her comment. "A card...? Perhaps you really are more clever than I expected. So you know me, dear little Heir of Slytherin? I do not know why you would want me. I have no particularly special powers. I am only a snake, granted a large one. What use is it to capture me when you could have something which would give you true power?"

"True power...?"

"Yes. I have something... but it's a secret. It was my duty to protect it before the human Salazar Slytherin took me and hid me away in a card for years. I was eventually able to escape him, but by then the damage had been done. This marvelous prize was taken from its home. Mistress Medusa would have been very disappointed had she been alive. But now I have it back, and once again our kind shall regain a hold over the world. We start here where poor humans believe that no snake could ever exist. Very clever, isn't it, my dear?"

So many things she hadn't been taught. Persephone knew she had to be careful, the snake was up to something. "And why do you tell me of this prize? It will not save you from your fate."

"Oh, but won't it? This prize was our Mistress' one true treasure, the Medusa Mask. The wearer of it has complete power." It was now that Persephone saw the tail of the snake unlatch a secret storing area before the pedestal, and then pulled from it a golden mask with molded snakes coming from the top of it. "I was to protect this forever, but I grow tired of being a slave to so many. If you promise to keep me free, I will give you this marvelous prize in return."

Persephone stared at the mask, not knowing what to believe. The snake couldn't possibly be completely honest in what it was telling her, for it was far too good to be true. She had heard of the Medusa Mask before though, she couldn't remember where. Perhaps her father...

Memories flooded through her all at once. Her mother's mission... the sudden death... mysterious death... the article... the envelope...

One has to be twice a devil to trick the devil himself.

"More powerful than anything on this earth? Father would love it... it would be exactly what he's been looking for. Could it grant a person immortality?"

"Of course! It can do whatever you want it to, you hold the power."

"It's a bargain."

The snake seemed to grin as it tossed the mask down to her. Gingerly, Persephone caught it, not knowing exactly what the thing was capable of, though she had heard rumors...

"Aren't you going to try it on, my dear?"

"Of course I will," Persephone answered, giving the snake a smirk. She turned around and held the mask before her face as if to put it on, all the while hearing the giant snake hissing behind her, quite pleased with himself. "You are foolish to let your guard down," she thought to herself, sending her Sealing Staff out from the green gem on her forehead into her hand.

The Snake Card didn't know what was going on until it was too late for him. "I, Persephone Avaran," she began, "call upon the spirits of the West to grant the power of the Water Element unto my staff, and return this card to its master, the Heir of Slytherin! Hogwarts Card! Return!"

She ran forward and hit the snake's side. He hissed bitterly at her, and as he shrank into the card he reached for her with his giant fangs, but they fell apart as they touched her as a drop of rain does upon stone, until he melted into his prison.

Immediately all of the snake began to disappear, most likely to go back wherever they came from. Tasyra remained tight around Persephone's ankle. Even when all of the others were gone, she remained.

"Tasyra!" Persephone cried, "you will not be able to go back now. Your contact with me must have anchored you to this place."

The young asp lifted her grey head around to where she could see Persephone. "You saved all of them, you know. They wouldn't have lasted long in a place like this. I thank you, Human girl."

"Tasyra, how am I supposed to get you home?" Persephone asked, not about to let the crisis slip past. "I suppose Father would know a way to send you there by magic, and until I can get to him, I'll put a warming spell on you so that you won't be too uncomfortable."

Pettigrew crawled out of Persephone's pocket and onto the ground, quickly transfiguring back into a human in case Tasyra was feeling hungry. "My Lady, don't forget the mask! By the way, that was very clever..."

"No, I had not intention of going against my bargain. Now, since I've sealed the Snake Card as I said I wouldn't if I took the mask, I must leave it here."

His jaw dropped, almost to the floor. "What?! All the power in the universe..."

"Wormtail, I don't expect you to understand. That mask is dangerous. Even Father would be better off without it."

"But... that's what..." He sighed and broke off. "Then I'll take it to him myself."

"You will do no such thing!" she shouted, filled with sudden dread and violence. She pounced upon the mask before Pettigrew could reach for it, then hurled it into the side of the underground tunnel. The impact of the mask into the rock caused a small explosion right there, and suddenly the entire building seemed to shake, threatening to fall on top of their heads at any moment.

"Persephone Avaran! How could you...?!"

"Shut up and let's get out of here! We don't have long!"

And she was quite right about that. Stones fell all around her. It was hard enough keeping herself out of their way, but she also had to keep an eye on Pettigrew, who wasn't nearly as agile. "Transfigure, I'll carry you." He was quick to obey this time.

It was a narrow escape as they resurfaced, yet the ground beneath their feet continued to quake. Pettigrew transfigured back into a human and headed for the helicopter.

"We have to hurry! The ground itself could cave in at any moment!"

The tremor followed them, even out as far as where they had landed the helicopter, though it had grown weaker the farther they ran. Quickly they took off. Persephone gazed out the window as they passed back over, but there was nothing left there but a gigantic crater.
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It felt horribly strange to be back in the Slytherin Common Room after such an adventure. She was used to such adventures, but she had almost gotten used to the lazy school life. It was probably around one in the morning when she arrived there. She pulled out her laptop computer that her brother had given her just after the funeral before they left. "I want you to have this, Sara. I don't know where you are, and I don't expect you to tell me, but I always want you to know you have a friend and someone you can trust. Send me a message any time. I would love to hear from you," he had said.

She sighed and smiled gently as she prepared her hands to type a short message saying she'd made it back alright, when a very familiar and very painful sting came from her left forearm. Her father was summoning her. She clasped a green and black stone that hung from a silver chain around her neck which served as a portkey that could take her immediately to her father.
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"How was the funeral, Persephone?"

"I was a little late. Wormtail and I had an adventure beforehand."

"Yes, I know. He told me. Where is the asp?"

"She's in my dorm. I think she wants to stay with me, so I suppose I don't need to ask you to send her back."

"Wormtail said that you needed to tell me something. Was it perhaps about your adventure?"

"I caught a Hogwarts Card, the Snake Card."

"Yes. And what else did you find."

"I did not bring you the Medusa Mask, Father."

"What? How could you not! You will pay for such treachery, you wretched little Mudblood..."

"Father... please... It would have killed you. My family had had dealings with that thing before."

"Yes, I know. That's why I asked your mother."

"I suppose she didn't want to tell you. So you just killed her?"

"Your Muggle mother isn't worth crying over, Persephone Avaran."

"Can you not ever call me Sara Croft? That is who I..."

"I don't care who you were when you were nothing but a Muggle girl! You're mine now! You will always be Persephone Avaran, Princess of Darkness!"

"....Why do I hate you so much right now? Why do I feel like crying? What are all these emotions...?"

"It is irrelevant, Persephone. All that matters if the Fire. You see the candle there?"

"Yes, Father."

"Watch the flame."

"Yes, Father."

"Who is it that you are loyal to?"

"You, Father."

"Who is your true enemy?"

"The Heir of Gryffindor, Father."

"And what are you going to do to that Fire?"

"Put it out. Forever."

((There! Finally a long one! I've had this ready for over a month, but, as you know, fanfic.net wasn't working. But anyway, here it is! Oh, and now you know my secret. I love Peter Pettigrew. If I could have a pet Deatheater, he would be mine. Okay, gone now.))