Hephaestus: Master of the Forge
With three of the four keys in her possession, Lara emerged from the Poseidon doorway ready to take on the last challenge. Remembering where the last switch was located, she jumped across to the central platform and then dropped down to the landing below in between the two columns that held the top level up. Once she located the switch, Lara pulled it and watched as the torches above it lit themselves and started burning. Now, it was just a matter of getting back down to the third level where the Hephaestus doorway was waiting. Everything around Lara seemed very quiet. Not one sound could be heard throughout the room with the exception of Lara's echoing footsteps on the hard stone platform beneath her. Looking down to the very bottom of the room, she was unable to spot Pierre. However, she was suddenly aware of a different presence at the bottom of the room when she heard growling sounds. Standing near the row of pillars that separated the main room from the room with the locked door were two lions, one male and one female. They almost seemed to be waiting for Lara to get to the bottom of the room, but she was not worried about get past the large feline creatures just yet.
After climbing her way back down to the third level, Lara entered the last of the four doorways and emerged into a very dark medium-sized room that had two bricked columns at the far end. Beyond the columns, she saw that it entered into a much larger room that was a little lighter. Walking down the small stairway, Lara began to suspect that something was not right. Scattered on the tiled floor were five metal tiles that were arranged in somewhat of a star formation. Looking up, almost the entire ceiling was made of old metal, though it was not rusted at all. There was definitely something strange about the room Lara was in. That was when she noticed some of her hair starting to frizz upwards and become static.
"What's going on in here?" Lara asked. "Why is my hair going crazy?"
Then, the unthinkable happened. As she stepped foot into the dark room, Lara started hearing the sound of electricity. Right after that, she was startled by a bright flash of lightning was seen striking one of the metallic platforms on the floor, casting a bluish light across the room. Then, another flash was seen, followed by another and then another, each bolt striking one of the metallic platforms on the floor. Judging by the intensity of each flash, Lara figured that each electrical outburst would be enough to kill her.
"Lightning?!" Lara said. "What the hell is going on here? What's making the room spark?"
On the ceiling was her answer. Suspended in the air was a large spherical lightning rod which seemed to give off a subtle bluish glow. Suddenly, Lara was surprised by a stray lightning bolt that struck the ground next to right foot, barely missing it. She immediately headed for the larger room while careful not to step on the metallic platforms that have since become electrified. Lightning came pouring down from the ceiling, almost as if it knew of Lara's presence. One after another, a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of her as if to block her way. It was a daunting task, but Lara eventually found her way across the room. Another lightning bolt tried to strike her as she left the room, but Lara managed to escape a potentially electrifying death. She caught her breath.
"Out of all the rooms I've explored, I think this one is my favourite." she said. "The Greeks sure themed their god of fire and forgery very well. Still, I never expected to dodge bolts of lightning during this adventure! What in the world is inside this monster of a room?"
Looking around inside the new area, Lara saw that it was, for the most part, very empty. To her right was a staircase leading up to a high balcony that levelled out at the corner of the room and continued along the opposite wall. Also on the opposite was another balcony that was detached from the balcony on the right. Lara guessed that they used to be connected at some point in the past as suggested by the large pile of stony debris strewn across the floor along the far wall. There was a large metal gate blocking a doorway on the small detached balcony where a fair amount of sunlight was making its way in. Thinking back to the experiences she had in the three previous areas, Lara immediately knew that up inside that doorway was the Key of Hephaestus.
"That must be where the key is." she said, restating her thoughts out loud. "Looks like I found myself into yet another puzzle. I wonder what I have to do to get that open."
In the centre of the large room on the floor was a large omega pressure pad surrounded by three smaller circular holes that looked as though they were carved into the floor. There were also arrows pointing to the omega pressure pad from the smaller circular pads that seemed to suggest some sort of puzzle element. Lara walked to the nearest one and stuck her foot in it, only to find out that it was a smaller pressure pad. Confused, Lara then looked up and to the left and observed a rather frightening sight. Attached to the left wall of the room and suspended high above the ground was a gigantic hammer that was aligned with the large omega pressure pad on the ground. Without even thinking, Lara stepped on the pressure to see what its effect would be. When she realized her mistake, Lara quickly performed one of her signature backflips to avoid getting smashed by the head of the large hammer, which completely shook the entire room with the force of a moderately destructive earthquake. Then, one after another, three large stone blocks fell from the ceiling and shook the ground upon impact, after which the giant hammer lifted itself from the unaltered omega pressure pad and retained its original position through a large chain.
"Well, I guess I won't make that mistake again!" Lara said as she tried catching her breath again.
Lara looked around the room to see what the damage was, but the only thing that was different were the three greyish blocks that fell from the ceiling. Each block had a shiny bronze brace that went all the way around each of their midpoints as if to keep the two halves of the block together. Lara went over to one of the blocks and tried pushing it and was surprised to find that was much lighter than she had anticipated. The other two blocks felt the same way, though in the last block, Lara thought she could hear something moving around inside it. Were the blocks hollow? If so, what were their contents? Were there any contents at all? How would Lara break open the giant blocks? Looking back up to the giant hammer that dominated the room, her imagination was starting to kick in until she came up with a clever idea.
"What if the hammer could help me break open these boxes?" Lara asked herself. "I'm not sure if this will help me get that door open, but everything I've done seems to have helped me so far. I think I'll give it a try."
Lara pushed one of the blocks onto the omega pressure pad and watched as the giant hammer swooped down and smashed the box to rubble. It left behind a very interesting surprise. On the pressure pad was a tall statue that consisted of a Doric pedestal and the bust of a Greek man with a helmet (perhaps Hephaestus himself?). The statue was laying on its side and was somewhat damaged, but not completely ruined. Lara went over to it and pulled upright and off the pressure pad just in time to avoid the wrath of the hammer. She had it next to one of the circular pads on the ground and was surprised and satisfies to see that the bottom of the statue matched the shape and size of the circular pressure point.
"I'm thinking that this statue is supposed to fit in the hole." Lara said. "I wonder what happens when I push it in."
After she pushed the statue in place, Lara was surprised that nothing happened. Confused she started looking around the room for more clues, but she was unable to find any. Then she saw the arrows on the floor next to each of the circular holes. Turning her attention to statue that was already in place, Lara noticed that was facing to the left wall. Looking at the arrow again, Lara was now under the impression that maybe the statue was not facing in the right direction. Desperate to make something work, she turned the statue so that the man's face was facing the pressure pad and heard a suspicious clicking sound coming from floor. The statue had been locked into place.
"That seemed to do something." Lara said. "Now I just need to get the other statues out of their boxes."
Lara repeated the process for the other two boxes. After smashing them with the giant hammer, she saw that statues were very similar to the first one, though with different levels of damage. After the statues were pushed into the two remaining circular holes, Lara oriented the statues to make them face the omega pressure pad to lock them in place. Looking back up towards the metal gate near the top of the room, she was dismayed to see that it was still tightly locked into place. There was something missing from the equation, but she was unable to put her finger on it. Perhaps if she made the hammer fall one more time, maybe it would do something. With no other ideas coming to her mind, Lara cautiously stepped onto the omega pressure pad and then quickly jumped out of the way as the hammer smashed the ground once again. This time, the hammer stayed on the ground and a sudden bright flash of electricity from the other room shot its way through the three statues, creating a sort of zigzag pattern. The lightning then shot its way up to the metal gate at the top of the room where the blast blew it from its hinges and allowed access to whatever was lurking up there. After the lightning simmered down, Lara was completely lost for words. She had a hard time figuring out how the statues were able to divert the lighting around the room, but it did not seem to matter anymore. All that mattered now was that she was one step closer to the last key.
"That was just completely amazing!" Lara said. "Now to see what surprised lurk at the top of this room."
Lara made her way up the stairway and reached the balcony at the top of the room. Looking across the gap to the other balcony, she could tell that was almost too far for her to make it, but she decided to take the risk anyway. After backing away from the edge, Lara ran and jumped across the gap and was barely able to grab the edge and avoid a nasty fall. Using her remaining arm strength to pull herself to safety, Lara then walked into the previously blocked hall and saw a small Ionic pedestal where the last key glistened in the bright sunlight that was shining in through a hole in the low ceiling. A large and beautiful purple amethyst gemstone was seen in the centre of the key.
"At last!" she said, grabbing the key and placing it with the others. "I have all four keys!"
Besides jumping her way through lightning again, the trip back into the main room from the realm of Hephaestus proved to be a walk in the park. Lara then focussed her attention on getting to the bottom of the room where the large door and four keyholes were located. Almost forgetting about the lions, Lara took out her pistols for the first time in what seemed like an eternity and prepared for the worst as she climbed down the bottom staircase and stepped foot onto the gravel. The lion couple was aware of Lara's presence and they began charging at her was their large feline teeth. Both the male and the female tried to swipe at her with their large paws, but she remained unharmed. Lara fired her pistols at the giant cats and almost felt sorry for them as they fell lifeless to the ground, but she refocused her attention on the next task ahead of her as she made her way for the giant door with the four braces.
Approaching the first small keyhole to the right of the door, Lara saw that it had an aquamarine sticking out of it. She took out the Poseidon Key and fit the key into its slot before turning it. Once that was done, one of the large metal braces in front of the large door moved out of the way.
"Yes!" Lara said. "Now I'm getting somewhere!"
The next keyhole had a large emerald in it, which suggested the use of the Atlas Key. Lara took out the key and used it to free the second brace. Two down, two to go. Looking at the third keyhole, she saw that it contained a ruby, so Lara used the Damocles Key to free the third brace. Finally, she took out the Hephaestus Key and used it one the last keyhole to free the fourth and final brace. When then happened, the giant door slowly opened outwards, revealing a small hallway leading to another area. Taking back the four keys as souvenirs, Lara started down the hall, not knowing what she will encounter next. Nonetheless, her excitement was already starting to grow exponentially.
And so concludes the first part of Greece. Lara has successfully located all four keys needed to open the door to the next area. What kinds of dangers will Lara encounter as she ventures into unknown territory? Where in the world is Pierre? The answers are sure to come sooner or later. Now on to the next part...I'll see you in the next update:)
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