Lara Croft sat in a pub in the middle of London, a pint of beer nearly untouched beside her as she went through an old book she'd found in the library of Croft Manor. She was trying to decide where she would go for her next expedition, the thought of it filling her with an almost giddy excitement.

After her adventure in Kitezh she had become determined to do three things: restore the Croft name to its former glory, continue to seek out the truth about the mysteries of the world, and fight the sinister order of zealots known as Trinity wherever she could find them.

The beginnings of the restoration of her family's reputation had begun by her donating some artifacts she had obtained to museums. It was almost too bad she didn't have anything from Yamatai. Such objects would have given her international acclaim, especially if she'd donated them to museums in Japan. However, carrying all the things she'd found during her time on that cursed island wouldn't have been practical when fighting an army of undead samurai, and even if she'd been able to, she wanted as little to do with that horrible place as possible.

The most she'd done was direct other groups in how to find it now that the storms had abated in exchange for credit going to her and her friends, living and deceased, for the find.

As for artifacts from Kitezh, she'd left anything she found with the Remnant tribe in the area. Not only did it not feel right to take them, but taking and donating them would have meant revealing their valley, and she'd brought enough trouble down on their heads.

She hadn't seen hide nor hair from Trinity, but she didn't let her guard down. They'd had the perfect opportunity to kill her with a sniper round in Siberia and hadn't taken the shot. That made her exceptionally wary for what might come next.

She finally looked up and smiled when one of her best friends, Jonah, sat down in front of her, his large frame taking up a considerable amount of the booth. "Hello Jonah. How are you?"

The Polynesian man smiled jovially back. "I'm doing alright, Little Bird. The new play I'm running is going well. I think I might be cut out for directing after all!"

Lara chuckled softly at her friend's obsession with the theatre, remembering the time he'd made her play the lead in Pride and Prejudice fondly and with a hint of embarrassment. As Jonah ordered his drink she set a bookmark in the pages of her book and carefully set it in the bag sitting on the seat beside her. "I'm glad to hear it. Let me know if you need any help. Just… not with acting, please."

They both shared a laugh and began to talk about other things, such as Reyes' latest email and how the repairs to Lara's home were going. It wasn't long before they were interrupted, however.

Lara blinked as someone suddenly set a chair at the end of the table and sat down without warning, setting a bottle of pop on the wood with a thump. "You know, you're surprisingly hard to get a hold of, Lady Croft. I went to your home, but there was nobody there but construction workers."

Lara, somewhat tense at the sudden interruption, shared a glance with Jonah before turning back to the new arrival, studying him. "And you are?"

The young man, who couldn't be older than seventeen, took a sip of his drink before setting it down, a smile on his face, emerald green eyes glittering. "Right, sorry, I'm being pretty rude, aren't I? You can call me Harry. I've come to help you out, and to see if you could help me with something too."

Lara raised an eyebrow. "Help me? Help me with what?"

Harry's smile dropped and his eyes became serious. "I'm here to help you save the life of your friend, Samantha Nishimura."

Immediately every muscle in Lara's body became tense as steel, and she had to hold herself back from launching herself at the boy. "What have you done to Sam?" She practically snarled out, eyes narrowed and promising murder upon him for a wrong answer. Jonah, she saw, was halfway out of his seat, ready to do grievous harm, his normally placid features hard.

'Harry' sighed. "Oh, relax, would you? I haven't done anything. I'm seriously here to help."

"What does Trinity want with me now?" She growled, going with the most obvious explanation.

The boy reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking irritated. "Please don't insult me, Lady Croft. I'm not with those sanctimonious bastards. If I personally met a Trinity agent in any capacity, I'd feel the need to snap their fucking neck on principle alone. This isn't about them. Now please, calm down so we can discuss this civilly."

Lara slowly sat back in her chair, studying the young man sitting before her. He was gazing calmly at Jonah, who was sitting back down as well, not seeming the least bit intimidated by the large man. Then he turned back to her, eyes shadowed slightly by messy black hair that hid his forehead. As he took another sip of his drink she finally managed to unclench her jaw. "Alright, why don't you tell us what you're talking about? What's wrong with Sam?"

"I'm sure you've noticed the changes to her behavior of late." 'Harry' said. "I know why it's happened, and the fact that the cause is threatening her life."

Lara felt her heart clench, remembering the vile, hurtful words Sam had hurled at her the last time she'd tried to speak with her. She still had no real idea what had caused the change. Her former therapist (who she now knew was being monitored by Trinity, if not outright working for them) had posited that the change was due to Sam's experiences on Yamatai. Which Lara could believe, if not for the timing. Sam had seemed fine for months before suddenly changing.

She'd always had a horrible feeling that Sam's behavior was indeed caused by something from the island. Perhaps some kind of curse. It wouldn't surprise her. But there was nothing she could do about it.

Now here was this boy telling her that whatever was happening was endangering the life of her sister in all but blood.

"How do you know this?" Jonah asked, eyes firm and hard, and Lara felt her chest tighten again. The events on Yamatai had changed her friend, made him the normally gentle giant harder, and their adventures in Kitezh had exacerbated the change.

Not that she'd emerged unscathed.

'Harry' glanced around to make sure they weren't being heard before leaning forward slightly. "You won't believe the reason I'm aware of this, along with your adventures on Yamatai and Kitezh. Not now at least. Let's just say…" He held a cupped hand on the table in front of him, and a flickering, black flame appeared. "…that I have my ways…"

Lara sucked in a breath at the sight. Magic. Real magic, not just an illusion. She could feel a surprising amount of heat from the small flame, confirming it was really there. She looked back up at 'Harry's' face.

She hadn't met a real magic wielder yet. She knew they must exist. Himiko'd had the power to control the weather and transfer her soul, and that was just the abilities she knew about. Jacob, if he'd had any powers, never displayed any beyond his inability to die, and that had been something granted by an artifact of power, not something he'd done.

"Who are you…?" She whispered.

The young man's eyes twinkled with amusement. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I will though, once we get better acquainted." He sat back, letting the flame dissipate before picking up his drink and taking a sip. "The important thing right now is to help your friend before her condition gets to the point of no return. I'm honestly not sure it isn't already. I haven't had a chance to examine her in depth, just a cursory look to confirm my suspicions."

"What exactly is wrong with Sam?" Lara asked, serious once again.

'Harry' paused in thought. "You did well on dealing with Himiko and stopping the soul transfer. I'm honestly impressed. Unfortunately it had already begun and gone on for a bit before you stopped it. Because of this, part of her soul was successfully transferred. Just not all of it. That fragment of Himiko is growing stronger, feeding off of Sam, preparing itself to take over her body fully, bringing about the Sun Queen's return. If that happens, very few will be able to deal with her, and even less without being forced to kill her. She could cause incredible damage thanks to her control of the weather before she's stopped."

Lara felt as though her insides had turned to ice. She'd had suspicions, but… this was so much worse than anything she'd envisioned. Sam was being consumed by a parasite, and if she didn't do something quickly, Sam would be lost, and only Himiko would remain.

"What can we do about it?" Jonah asked, looking subdued.

'Harry' tapped a finger on the table. "I believe I can remove the piece of Himiko's soul from Sam. It won't be easy, or painless, for her, but it's the best option I can think of. I'd need a private location where I can perform what amounts to an exorcism without interruption, and access to Sam. If it weren't for those requirements, I'd have done this without bothering you, actually."

Lara blinked, surprised. "Why? You said you needed something from me, so doing something like this without telling anybody doesn't do you any good."

He gave her a lopsided smile that Lara had no doubt would charm any teenage girl instantly. "Honestly? Because it's the right thing to do. I'm not going to let an innocent woman suffer just because it's more convenient for me."

Lara felt herself relax fractionally as she looked him in the eyes. She could see that he meant what he said. Though there was something in his eyes that made her wary. They had a hardness to them, a kind of hardness she'd seen before.

She saw that look every time she looked in a mirror, now.

She gave herself a mental shake. "We can use Croft Manor for the exorcism. I'll contact Sam and tell her… hmm… I'll tell her that I discovered something new about Himiko and Yamatai. That's likely to get her attention. I'll ask her to come to the manor to speak about it. Would that work?"

Harry (she felt she could extend enough trust to believe that was his name, at least for the moment) nodded, pleased. "That works perfectly, Lady Croft. I'll come over when you're ready to get this done. Just give me a call at this number." He handed her a piece of paper with what she assumed was his mobile number.

Lara shook her head as she took the paper. "Enough with the 'Lady', please. I was never a big fan of it." She set her elbows on the table. "Now, what is it you want in return?"

"We can discuss that after we're successful, Miss Croft." He said after another sip of his drink. "The basic gist of it is that I want your help locating a mystical artifact. I don't want it for any nefarious purpose, no need to worry about that. Nobody'll get hurt if I use it. Promise."

Lara nodded slowly. "Alright, I can at least hear you out about that."

"That's all I'm asking." Harry finished his drink before getting up. "I'll be waiting for your call. I'll be ready when you are." He nodded to them. "Miss Croft, Mister Maiava." Turning, he walked away, hands in his pockets.

Lara turned to Jonah, who was already looking at her. "Are you sure about this, Lara? It's a gamble."

Lara took a deep breath. "It's a chance we have to take, Jonah. We can't leave Sam in Himiko's clutches an instant longer than necessary." Guilt pooled in her stomach as she berated herself for not seeing the signs and trying to do something, simply letting Sam try to cut her out of her life.

Jonah took her hand. "Hey, we'll fix this. Harry may be mysterious, but something tells me he's our best chance here."

Lara nodded. "I feel the same." She took a deep breath before downing the rest of her beer. "I'd better start getting things ready for… this."

Jonah nodded. "Call me whenever you're ready. I'll be there to help as much as I can."

Lara smiled gratefully before picking up her bag and leaving the pub.

It was a couple of days later that Lara opened the door to Croft Manor to let Harry in, Jonah already seated on a sofa by the fireplace. She was surprised, however, when instead of just the mysterious young man, two other teens were at her door as well.

One was a younger boy she'd guess to be fourteen or fifteen. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, with lightly tanned skin. He was wearing a purple shirt with an image of a green t-rex on it, and blue jeans. He was staring at her with wide eyes, for some reason.

The other was a young woman that might be reaching her twenties soon. She had long, black hair and green eyes with a pretty, aristocratic face. She wore a nice red dress that flattered her lithe body. She gave Lara a small curtsey when the door opened. "Lady Lara Croft, I presume? A pleasure."

Taken aback, Lara nodded. She wasn't used to being treated in such a way. "Ah, the pleasure is all mine. Come in." The trio stepped inside as Lara made way before shutting the door. As Jonah got up and turned to face the newcomers she spoke to the boy she was most familiar with. "I wasn't aware you were bringing anybody else, Harry."

"They insisted on coming to help." Harry said as he took off his black longcoat. He set it down on the back of a seat, leaving him in a bottle green polo and jeans. "They have their own talents that should be helpful."

"They can do magic too?" Jonah asked.

The blonde boy grinned widely. "Something like that."

Harry motioned to the boy. "This is Garfield. He'll help with restraining Sam if necessary." Then he turned to the girl. "This is Alice. She's here to check on Sam's mental stability after I deal with Himiko."

"Do you have any training for that?" Lara asked, unable to keep the skepticism from her voice.

Alice nodded, not looking offended. "A bit. I am currently taking psychology courses to compliment one of my abilities, which allows me to enter a person's mind. After Harry deals with this Himiko woman, we'll make sure she's medically stable before I check to see how her mind is faring. I expect her to be rather damaged by the experience, so you should remain close to comfort her, as her best friend."

Lara nodded hesitantly. "Can you really do that?"

Harry nodded. "Yes she can. It should prove to be invaluable with helping deal with the aftermath. Now…" He rubbed his hands. "When are we expecting her to arrive?"

"I told her to arrive in about an hour, to make sure you had time to set up whatever you needed to do this." Lara said. "I hope that's enough prep time."

"That's more than enough." He said with a smile. "Honestly, I don't actually need much preparation time. There's no magic circle, or dancing around with blood on my face and a live chicken in my hands or something. I just need an open space to restrain Sam in where we won't be disturbed."

"You said this would be painful for Sam." Jonah said, body tense. "How bad are we talking?"

Lara clenched her fists. She'd been hoping not to think about that part. Harry responded. "I'm not entirely sure. This is a… unique case of possession. I promise to try to be as gentle as possible, though."

Lara motioned to the teens to sit. "Well, if no real preparation is necessary, why don't we sit down and discuss what exactly is going to happen?"

Harry sat down. "Alright, the basic idea is that to use my unique affinity for soul magic to essentially reach in and disentangle Sam's soul from Himiko. The hard part for me will come in doing that without damaging Sam's soul. I couldn't care less about Himiko's. The difficulty increases depending on how entangled Himiko's soul has become. Not to mention the fact that the bitch will fight me every step of the way."

Lara let out a deep breath, trying to stop the slight shaking of her hands as she picked up her tea. "You said we'll need to secure her?"

"Himiko isn't just going to just let us do this." Garfield said, looking more serious than somebody his age should. "Sam will fight us every step of the way. We need to make sure she doesn't have any weapons or anything in reach she can use before we begin, and then we need to hold her down to make this as easy for Harry as we can."

"Physical resistance won't be her only avenue." Alice said softly, sipping a drink Jonah had offered her. "She'll most likely lash out verbally, trying to hurt you two, or guilt you into making us let her go. No matter what, you can't allow her to convince you."

"We won't listen to anything she says. Will we, Lara?" Jonah said as calmly as he could.

Lara shook her head. "Of course not."

"If it helps, think of it like forcing an addict to go cold turkey." Garfield said, ignoring the way Alice quirked an eyebrow at him, though Lara didn't. "She'll beg and plead and threaten, saying that it feels like she's dying and we're killing her, but we just gotta ignore her."

"You have a lot of experience with this sort of thing then?" Lara asked, relaxing at their surprising professionalism.

"I'm used to a lot of weird crap." Garfield said bluntly. "Possessions and exorcisms aren't exactly my usual thing, but it isn't that far out there either." Then he grinned. "Don't worry. Your friend will be back to normal in no time."

Surprisingly, Lara did feel better at his words. Her hands stopped shaking so much and she closed her eyes to take a breath.

They talked for a while longer, Lara and Jonah trying to get more information about the mysterious trio and not getting much. Harry and Alice could be very cryptic, answering questions without giving much information, while both kept Garfield from blurting anything out. Soon enough, however, there was a knock on the door, and they all went silent.

Lara slowly stood up, feeling her knees quiver slightly. She saw Harry motion to Alice and Garfield, the three moving to hide from Sam's view, not wanting to tip her off just yet.

Lara swallowed as she opened the door to find Sam standing behind it, a scowl on her pretty face, almond eyes glaring at Lara. "Alright Croft, I'm here. Now what do you have to tell me about Yamatai and the Sun Queen?"

Lara almost shrank back and the acidic tone Sam was using, feeling hurt spread through her. Instead she moved to the side to let Sam in. "Come in Sam, and we'll discuss what I found. Jonah's already here."

Sam stalked into the main hall of the manor, glancing around briefly before turning to Lara, utterly ignoring Jonah, who had stood up and was moving behind her. "Well? I'm waiting. I have other things to do, you know."

"Sam, I discovered something about Himiko." Lara said slowly.

She caught a flicker of unease appear in Sam's eyes. "Oh really?"

"Yes. I found out…" Jonah suddenly grabbed Sam's arms and held them behind her back.

"What the hell!? Jonah, let go!" Sam cried, struggling, before silencing as Lara continued speaking.

"I found out that you were possessing my best friend, you bitch." Lara almost snarled out, fists clenched.

Sam looked surprised, before the look on her face shifted into a sneer that looked utterly wrong on the usually jovial Asian girl's face. "So what if I have, child? What are you going to do about it? Kill your friend?"

Lara paused, not having expected Himiko to drop the pretenses so quickly. The mad former queen laughed, grinning malevolently at Lara from Sam's face. "You should hear that silly girl. She keeps struggling and weeping, crying out for you. Pathetic. As though you could have any power over me."

Lara felt fury roar through her veins at Himiko's taunting. "I stopped you before, Himiko."

"You delayed me, you stupid girl." Himiko snarled. "And for that I'll make you endure a thousand tortures. But there's nothing you can do to me now. Not without harming Samantha."

"Good thing she has help then." Harry said, stepping into view at last, Alice and Garfield at his sides.

Himiko took one look at him and, to Lara's surprise, started howling in abject fear, resuming her struggles to get away from Jonah. "Akuma! Akuma! Wh-what is one touched by Death and Darkness doing here!?" She cried, panicked.

Lara watched, eyes wide, as Harry let out a dark grin, his features shifting slightly. Now he bore strange black markings on his skin, including his face, and his pitch black hair was streaked with white. "I'm here for your soul, Himiko. You've been cheating Death for too long. I have a particular grudge against those who refuse to die when they're meant to." He looked at Jonah, emerald eyes glowing with power. "Lay her on the ground and hold her down. BB, help him."

Garfield moved forward before his form began to change and, to Lara's further shock, a large, green silverback gorilla stood in his place. The gorilla went to grab Sam's thrashing body by the legs, holding her down easily even as she continued screeching in terror.

Lara bit her lip before moving forward to stand beside them, Alice moving to her side and reaching up to gently take hold of her shoulder in comfort.

Himiko looked up at her, and for a moment she truly believed she was looking at her best friend again as she cried out with Sam's voice. "Lara, please, don't let him! He's going to kill me and eat my soul! Please, save me, Lara!"

Lara's resolve almost broke when she saw tears of fear begin to leak out of Sam's eyes even as she struggled with all of her might. Alice's grip on her shoulder kept her in place, but it was a near thing.

Harry kneeled down beside Sam's body. "Hold her still, boys." He rested a hand on Sam's thrashing chest, right above her breasts, and the other on her belly. Then he closed his eyes and breathed out before the lines on his skin began to glow with a dark light.

Sam arched her back and screamed the loudest scream Lara had ever heard in a dual toned voice, her eyes wide. Lara almost bit through her lip as she watched, using all her willpower to keep from dropping to Sam's side.

Light began to emanate from Sam's chest from under Harry's hands. Said boy was sweating with exertion, focused entirely on what he was doing, breathing deeply and evenly. Jonah was also looking tired. No doubt restraining a thrashing woman wasn't exactly easy. The green gorilla, for obvious reasons, didn't seem to be having as much trouble.

Slowly, after what seemed like an eternity to Lara of hearing Sam's screams, Harry began to move the hand on her chest up, seeming to be clutching something. In his hand was a writhing mass of gold and crimson energy. If Lara looked closely, she thought she could see the image of a beautiful Japanese woman snarling at all of them in fearful rage. Himiko, no doubt.

Once the energy was completely removed Sam collapsed back onto the ground, seemingly unconscious, as Harry brought it to his face. He cocked his head to the side in curiosity as he studied it. Then he smirked. "I don't know what lies next for you, Himiko, but I doubt it'll be nice. Enjoy Yomi." He brought his hands together to crush the mass of energy, the sound of a keening wail ringing out before the energy exploded from between his fingers, dissipating quickly.

Harry then let out a sigh and sat back on the ground as Lara hurriedly kneeled down beside Sam, studying her friend carefully, looking for anything wrong with her as Jonah and Garfield let her go.

"So, is it over?" Jonah asked Harry, looking tired as well.

Harry nodded. "Should be, yeah. She might retain a bit of Himiko's knowledge, but she should be back to being herself.

Lara gently caressed Sam's cheek, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes in sheer relief. At her touch Sam began to stir, eyes fluttering open to gaze up at Lara, who smiled. "Hey you…"

"La-Lara?" Sam whispered softly. At her friend's nod tears quickly began to fall down her cheeks. "O-oh god, Lara, I… I'm s-so…" She hiccupped before beginning to sob in earnest, "I-I'm so sorry, Lara! I… I tried to fight her! I really did! She made me do all th-those things…!" Then she couldn't speak any more, sobbing uncontrollably as Lara gathered her in her arms, tears in her own eyes as she gently shushed Sam.

"It's okay, Sam. It's all going to be okay. You're safe now. She's gone. I'm right here." Lara whispered softly.

Sam cried harder, clutching Lara tightly as she wailed her pain and horror at the violation and terror she'd endured, shaking uncontrollably, trying to speak and making no sense while Lara held her lovingly, giving her what comfort she could.

As Jonah knelt beside the girls, offering his silent support, Harry motioned for Alice and Garfield to follow him out to give the three some space. They left out the door onto the estate grounds without being noticed, Sam's cries echoing behind them.

In a nondescript flat in London a man sat in front of a group of monitors. His flat, brown eyes stared at the image of Lara Croft comforting her best friend on the floor of the main hall of Croft Manor, gently rocking the traumatized young woman in her arms. Then he picked up a phone and called the pre-programmed number.

"I have news." He said to whoever was on the line. "Croft has made contact with someone capable of manipulating souls. I am emailing the recording of him doing so now, and will continue to monitor the situation." He listened intently to the response. "Understood. I'll keep a special eye out for any methods of neutralization." He listened some more. "As you command."

The call finished, the Trinity agent set the phone back down and resumed watching the monitors.

Hello all. Before anything else, I have to do this.

*ahem* WE HIT 400 REVIEWS! WOOOOT!

Alright, now that that's out of the way, the actual story.

This is mainly a chapter to help set up why Lara will be helping the trio out, and also, as you can see by the end there, set up some conflict in the TR universe. Not to mention leaving Sam to suffer didn't sit well with me. I always liked her.

Since I don't doubt somebody will mention it, yes, I know the Himiko thing is addressed in the comics. But I've only read the comics set before Rise, and decided to go my own way on it. I'll eventually read the ones set between Rise and Shadow (which was confirmed to be coming out in September as I wrote this chapter. Squee!), but not now.

Now, in other news, I got a lot of feedback on the Harry/Alice pairing. Some good arguments for and against. That said, I'm still leaning towards them being more siblings than lovers, but that could change as the story goes if it works out. There are plenty of other options for the both of them.

As I've had people trying to guess universes, I can neither confirm nor deny anything at this point. You'll find out when/if we get to them.

As for Worm, I got somebody to help me out with that. Everybody put your hands together for sandmanwake! *thunderous applause* We've spent quite a bit of time talking about the details of Worm, the differences between canon and fanon, Word of God, and how my ideas would fit with what's established. I thank him for his patience and his extremely long and detailed messages on the minutia of the Worm-verse. I feel confident enough to tackle that portion of the story now, and I think it'll be cool when we get there. It's going to be a while, though. Still, thanks a ton, man.

As for everybody else who offered to help, I'm very grateful for the effort. You all rock. sandmanwake just got there first.

Now time for my next plug: I have yet another new story. By now you must be getting irritated with me starting new ones instead of continuing the ones I have, but my muse is a fickle little bitch, and she breeds attack plot bunnies.

It's called Through the Filth and the Flames. It's a crossover between Ranma ½ and The Secret World (which is also getting new content soon! I'm so happy!). Anybody interested can find it in my profile. It's got 4 chapters so far.

I… think that's all for this chapter's notes. Thanks everybody for the support and reviews (well, the nice ones, at least). Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'm looking forward to hitting 500.

Till next time.