A/N: Hi everyone… I know it's been a while, but I've been so utterly bored at work that my creative juices have all dried up… hopefully this will be okay. I didn't want to do anything too clichéd, so fingers crossed for originality…
Revised 01/10/05
Lara had no idea when the senseless, all-encompassing dark had been permeated by starlight. Though there was nothing for the stars to illuminate – no ground, no objects whatsoever – they were there, shining away merrily, unaware of their futility.
She felt disorientated, sickened by the pain that had forced her here and then abruptly departed. She floated in this landless place unmoving, a horrible suspicion beginning to germinate in her mind. Am I dead? Did my body die while I was in the Angel, so that when Karel cast me out, I had no place to go?
She struggled to surface from this waking nightmare, terrified. Just like Egypt… just like Egypt… buried in stars instead of rubble…
An ominous presence at her back jarred her careering thoughts to a standstill. Ms Croft.
She tried to swivel and face Karel, but only exhausted herself trying. She couldn't even open her mouth to speak. Bugger off.
I suppose this is a bit of a mystery to you. Would you care for an explanation?
Well, as you can see, I have nothing better to do at the moment.
Karel chuckled. Frankly, I'm surprised you managed to hang on long enough to get here. That's one heck of a will you have there. But as I was saying – this is the… the engine of the Angel, if you like. You've been able to control it as you would your own body through thought alone, like a motorist would use a steering wheel and accelerator to drive a car. It's not these instruments that power the car – it's the engine. Take apart the engine, and the accelerator becomes useless. The motorist has to fix the engine before the car will start again…
And when they open the bonnet, you try and jump in yourself, Lara filled in, surveying her empty surroundings with renewed interest. Well, I'm sorry, but there's no way I let anyone but Bryce tinker with my Porsche, so you're out of luck.
His voice in her mind was deceptively gentle as he played on the fears that had distressed her so not minutes before. Let go of the Angel, Lara, and you'll be back in your own body, safe and sound.
She hadn't even realised that her fists were still clenched into the imaginary handholds she'd dug for herself in the non-existent fabric of the Angel. She wouldn't even know how to drop her hold on them, and there was no way she'd do it for this bastard. You don't happen to have a Periapt Shard handy, do you?
Karel's presence was all around her. If she'd been breathing, she would surely have suffocated. If you insist, he snarled, all pretence of docility abandoned, we shall have to do this the hard way. The painful way.
If I had a body, I'm sure it'd be trembling with fear, Lara shot back, heavy sarcasm masking her anxiety at this rapidly-worsening situation.
With a wordless grunt of rage, Karel made his move. The pressure of his presence around her increased, as if he was attempting to squeeze her very soul out of existence. At first the sensation was similar to pressing down on a bruise, but as time passed the 'bruises' grew to sores, and from there it worsened still, until it felt as if her skin was being peeled off layer by layer.
Get the fuck away from her.
Through a pain-induced haze, Lara registered another manifestation, another mind-voice. Kurtis' presence dampened her agony, nullified it, as it seeped between her own mind and Karel's. You okay?
I'll let you know when I'm back on my own two feet. Now that Kurtis was here, she didn't have to be, but she was loath to leave him. How can I fight?
You can't. And I need you gone so I can. Let it go.
She laughed humourlessly. With pleasure. Just tell me how.
She sensed the mental equivalent of someone slapping their own forehead in self-admonition. You can't do it alone unless you're Lux Veritatis. I'll help. Why did it seem like Karel was just standing by and waiting for him to be done babysitting her? Was he immobilised in some way? Gaining a new respect for Kurtis' abilities, Lara allowed him to tighten his grip on her as Karel had done. A cool breeze flowed between them, and the darkness surrounding Lara became blinding light…
"What…?" Fighting dizziness, Lara pushed to her feet, taking a second to relish the familiarity of her own body before glaring at the Angel that moved towards her, directing her words to the man within. "I thought the point of you doing this was that no one else had the power to get inside the Angel?"
He seemed as surprised as she. "It must work like a vacuum. I left it, and you were pulled in to fill the empty space…"
"Why wasn't Karel pulled into the empty space?" Lara exploded. Her limbs felt weak and shaky, and she was more unnerved than she cared to admit by the experience. "Isn't he always trying to take over?"
"Maybe he was taking a break. I don't know," Kurtis shot back edgily, his tone warning her to drop it.
"Did you get him out of there?" she asked, wearily stretching her aching arms. He nodded.
Hasty footsteps approached, and Lara drew her guns once again, only relaxing her shooter's stance when André hurried into view.
"André? What's up?"
"Nothing, nothing… I just thought you'd need me – Bryce is more than capable up there now we've gotten rid of that rabble," André replied lamely.
"If you say so, mate," Bruce muttered in their earpieces.
Kurtis and Lara exchanged suspicious looks.
"So… we'll translate that into, you need to be here for the next part of what you've seen in your vision to happen," Kurtis filled in.
André looked suitably sheepish.
"Come on, then," Lara sighed. "Let's get this over with."
Three more flights of stairs down, they reached the floor on which Lara and Kurtis had first been imprisoned. The guard Lara had killed – the one gullible enough to think Lara was afraid of spiders – had not been disposed of, and lay decomposing amid a cloud of flies. "Nice Karel respects his followers enough to give them a decent burial," she remarked wryly.
André, paler than usual, grunted. Kurtis did not reply, and she could almost sense his nerves. She didn't blame him – she was getting a little twitchy herself.
They reached the end of the corridor, which culminated in a large room with no other exits. A dead end. "Now what?" Lara asked, frowning.
Kurtis' response made her jump. Without warning, he fired several bolts of orange energy into the wall, a portion of which – to her surprise – shimmered and disappeared. "Optical illusion," André muttered.
Wordlessly, Kurtis started forward, and was abruptly repelled, as if he and the corridor beyond were the like ends of two magnets. "What the…?" He stepped towards the fragmented wall once more, and this time was thrown back with twice the force.
"You okay?" Lara asked over her shoulder, reaching out a tentative hand to touch the space.
Iron spikes, rusted and ancient, shot out from all directions, and she yanked her arm back just in time.
"I'm fine. You're the one who should be watching yourself," Kurtis replied pointedly.
"Physical and magical wards…" Lara murmured thoughtfully. "Can you break them?"
"I can." André's voice made them both turn as prickles of unease needled their minds. His tone was grave and a little shaky, and his grey eyes held a tinge of fear barely overpowered by resolution.
Suddenly, realisation clicked into place in Lara's brain. "No," she told him through gritted teeth. "Don't you dare."
With a sad shrug, a bitter, determined smile, André took a step towards the barrier. Lara intercepted him, scowling denial. "André, there has to be another way!"
"What?" Bryce asked, typically clueless.
Kurtis filled him in, quietly.
"Oh, come on, mate – it can't be that bad!"
"You remember I told you once there could be no shadow without light? The opposite is also true. I must depart this earth, or the Nephilim – and Karel – can never be truly defeated. They have been the shadow to dim my light – now I must be the light to vanquish the darkness." As he spoke, André's features changed, a little like they had seen Karel's alter. In a matter of seconds, he had sprouted wings like shimmering copper lattice, and his blonde hair lengthened, falling over his shoulders in golden waves. Grey eyes now shone gold, and the unremarkable features they were so used to reshaped themselves into a dazzlingly handsome face and lithe yet obviously powerful frame.
"What are you?" Kurtis asked, a split-second before Lara could. Her mind raced over possibilities – he appeared the stereotypical angel, minus the feathered wings and halo, but if he was an angel, what was the being that Kurtis inhabited?
When André spoke again, even his voice seemed richer. "The only living being – Nephilim, if you really must – formed of a virtuous human and an Angel. But there is no time for this. You must hurry."
Lara bit her tongue in order to suppress the logic-starved argument that fought to escape her lips. Andre smiled again, this time a little less fearfully. "Soon I will rejoin Djian in Paradise. And Lara, you might want to go and find Karel in the temple to the far north of the Nephilia Veritas in a minute."
Lara stepped back with a curt nod, hating herself for it, but forcing herself to accept the being's wishes. Kurtis stood still as stone at her side. Bryce, surprisingly, was also silent. Slowly, André stepped towards the barrier, and halted, as if psyching himself up for the event to come. "The spikes crave human blood, and the magical protections a dilute Angel's soul," he stated softly, as if reminding himself. With a deep breath, he took the last step forwards.
The spikes shot home with deadly accuracy, sending a shower of crimson rain into the air. André let out a muffled cry and fell to his knees as the blades retracted for the last time, drenched in vital fluids. Lara fought the urge to turn her head – the least she could do was bear witness to her friend's death.
The air pressure in the room seemed to increase, immobilising her and pressing inwards on her skin, as André collapsed facedown on the stone floor. Abruptly, it receded, and Lara was able to move again. As one, she and Kurtis dashed to the fallen Nephilim's side.
"Is he gone?" Bryce asked, though from his tone it was clear he already knew the answer.
Lara removed her fingers from André's neck. "Yeah." Remembering his words of advice – to go and find Karel – she glanced at Kurtis. "Good luck."
"See you topside." The Angel reached out a hand and skimmed it down her cheek. She felt nothing but a slight breeze, but appreciated the sentiment.
As Lara began to retrace the ground they had already covered at a measured jog, Kurtis glided carefully over the prone body of André and into the unknown…
And we're one step closer to the end… Could you do me a favour and let me know what you think of André? Whether he was enough of a fleshed-out character, whether you actually cared when he died, that kind of thing… Thankies:hugs all reviewers: