i really do forget to say this the whole time but any and all characters in the whole story that feature in the games as well as movies are not mine!

by the way im really busy with school and all so its been uphill for me the last few months and since my computer is in for repairs i need to borrow my friend's, let me tell you her internet is a real asshole hehehe but please enjoy and i apologise if there is any grammer or spelling mistakes i had to do it in a hurry-enjoy and thank you so very much for the reviews they make me really really really really happy...

"There's no need to worry" she said as she watched intently at his face

"Who are you?" it was almost as if she was staring through him rather than at him

"montsegur" she said, her voice not asking but not telling either

"What?" he asked astonished, he was sure she wasn't going to attack him so he lowered his weapon to his side

In a quick and sudden movement she embraced him in a hug, he didn't know what to so do he just stood there until she pulled away "I'm not who you think I am" he said

"I know, he's dead but he was part of your family, I can see it in your eyes, everything about you, you look a lot alike. . .I will not hurt you, what is your name?" she calmly replied

"Kurtis, you?"

"Silencia I loved montsegur. . .you're here for the dagger aren't you?" kurtis was going crazy inside, what was she talking about?

"Actually I'm looking for the grail. . What dagger?"

"the dagger, the dagger of light, I know nothing of its purpose but I know he would have done all in his power to keep it safe, and so must you and I will take you to the grail's location as well"

Kurtis took the dagger she held out to him, it looked almost like the periapt shards but it was different, the markings were from the ancients older than the ancients who created the periapt shard but something else, he couldn't explain it but it was different, he could feel it "thanks" was all he could manage to say. Silencia started walking off to the room ahead and kurtis, cautiously followed after her.

"Shit" was all Lara could mutter, she was out of breath. She had already led Gunderson and his men through the previous hall and into another room with a meganism and of course a werewolf. Why are these things trying so hard to protect the place, it held more than the grail she was sure of it. Lara and the others have been trying for the past fifteen minutes to kill the damn thing, this one was stronger than the previous one and a hell of a lot bigger. Lara had tried numerous times to throw it into the meganism but nothing was working. She had almost lost her hand but pulled away just in time. Few of the mercenaries have died, the gunfire kept the creature at a distance but it still didn't kill it. In a corner something caught her eye for the first time. It was a skeleton, but that wasn't what caught her eye it was the sword laying beside him that did. Not only did Gunderson notice what she was looking at, the wolf did to. Lara looked once at the wolf and then to the sword 'it's now or never' she thought and started running toward the sword, the wolf following not far behind. She was going to be dinner if she didn't take it fast, she slid on her side on the floor until she had the sword in her hand then quickly while sliding turned herself and swung at the creatures neck, as expected its head fell next to her when she crashed into the wall. She looked at the sword in her hand and immediately recognized the symbol. She threw the sword aside and joined Gunderson at the door at the end of the chamber.

"What if another one comes along, get the sword" he ordered

"I'll improvise don't worry"

They, meaning Lara, Gunderson and his gang of mercenaries stepped into a hall, a very narrow wall. Lara saw an opening to the left but the door at the end of the hall, made of gold was what caught her attention. When she entered the large chamber she saw a newly made mark on one of the pillars also surrounding the room, the room was circular. She knew kurtis was already here, on the pillar he wrote KT and she knew he was looking out for her. She noticed the altar in the middle of the room with a cup atop, a golden cup with rubies covering the surface. It sparkled as sunlight shone on it from the cracks in the ceiling. Gunderson demanded for one of the mercenaries to go get it, he was resistant at first but doing things like this usually came with the territory. Lara knew the cup was a fake but she wasn't going to tell him that. The mercenary slowly approached the cup, then slowly, almost in slow motion reached forward. Four beams of light shot out to the pillar, cutting through the mercenary from all sides. Lara put her arm in front of her eyes to shield her from the terrible light originating from the beams. The mercenary was vaporized. Lara was expecting a trap, but what happened just shocked her. Gunderson walked strictly over to her watching her with hatred filling his eyes.

"I'm losing my patience miss croft, where to next?"

"Mind letting me find out" she said walking past him and to the altar. Lara looked up and saw a small silver pendant, almost in the shape of a diamond at the top of the ceiling, then she crouched near the altar reading the inscription "let the light show the way" she translated aloud then smiled. Lara walked back toward Gunderson, stopping a mere three feet from him.

"You want the grail, ill need a gun preferably a rifle" Lara said still looking at him with hatred

"You're outnumbered, don't try anything funny" Lara wasn't going to try anything, well not yet.

"I heard it the first time" she took the rifle that one of the mercenaries handed her and proceeded back to the altar. She took a deep breath, then let the tip of the rifle touch the cup. She immediately fell to the floor with her hands on her head, letting the beams shoot on the cup instead of her. From the points where the beams made contact with the cup, they shot up into the pendant and then toward four other pendants on the tops of the pillars, from there to the bottom of the pillars and with the help of another pendant the beams shot back to the altar. The inscription she read earlier burst into white and another door revealed itself at the other wall. The beams got more intense and the cup burst into a million pieces, with the cup being gone, the door slowly descended and Lara, Gunderson and most of the mercenaries ran to make it through before time ran out.

Silencia walked straight past the cup toward the wall on the other side, she changed shape once more to her wolf form and gave a shrieking howl, also making kurtis cover his ears. When she was in human form again a door rose up from the floor and Silencia entered awaiting kurtis to follow.

"Hold on there's something I got to do quickly" kurtis walked over to the pillar, unclipped the chirugai and wrote his initials on the pillar. Letting Lara know he was there. Silencia waved to him with her hand as he followed, he eventually stood in the next room with her when she fell to her knees.

"What's wrong?" kurtis asked helping her from the floor

"Its gathadrian, he's dead" kurtis immediately remembered the two empty cages but just continued through the hall in awe. Along the hall were glowing white intricate patterns. A small walk and he was standing in a room with an empty altar, it was an exact replica of the previous room but this one was bigger with a lot more pillars, a perfect place to have an ambush.

"where's the grail?" he asked as soon as he realized it was taken

"I told you id take you to the location. A long time ago, the cages we were kept in didn't open and men came. . .we couldn't do anything to stop them and they, they took the grail. Montsegur promised that he would find it and bring it back but he never did, it was the last time I ever saw him." He could see the pain in her eyes

"I have a friend coming this way, she's being held against her will-"

"you want to ambush them and get back your friend" she finished his sentence

kurtis was about to say something when she fell to the floor once again, she screamed in agony and laid on her side, holding her head. She muttered something about a cup being destroyed between the screams, kurtis realized what she meant but she fell unconscious. He heard Gunderson's voice from the hall they had came from, in a desperate attempt to hide he pulled Silencia behind a heap of ruble and ran behind a pillar, holding his chirugai ready to attack. From his hiding place he saw Lara being pushed forward by Gunderson and his men, 'I'm right here Lara' kurtis whispered to her telepathically. She nodded in confirmation 'give me a minute before you do anything' he trusted that she knew what she was doing. Lara slowly made her way to a mercenary while Gunderson slammed his fists into the altar and swearing on about the grail not being there. She watched as he neared her but also took slow steps back toward another mercenary.

"This is not acceptable" he yelled and backhanded her through the face.

"You're a sore loser, perhaps it got moved" he backhanded her again and she stumbled a few steps back. She swiftly turned, punching the mercenary in the face and kicking him backwards while grabbing the rifle from his hands. The rest started firing at her but she quickly dodged behind a pillar 'now!' she yelled in her head to kurtis and as expected the chirugai, along with its familiar orange glow flew through the air, cutting at any mercenary standing. Lara also got out from behind the pillar and started shooting at the mercenaries, each and everyone fell dead to the ground, all but one. Lara walked over to Gunderson but was thrown backwards by something with lightning speed. Lara regained her footing and pointed at the creature, the same creature that helped her in Prague "you!" she screamed in frustration.

"I thought you were helping me" she yelled to the creature as it took a fighting stance

"I said I need not follow the masters orders if there are none, now I am ordered to retrieve the grail at any means necessary and if anyone gets in way I must eliminate" Lara watched as the creature rushed toward kurtis toward kurtis but its hand was stopped by Silencia. Lara was extremely confused but kept her pose, kurtis backed away a bit as Silencia and the creature broke out in a fight.

"go leave now" she yelled to them, Lara and kurtis both shared quizzical looks until Silencia changed into her other form, threw the creature aside and howled once more. The door ascended and stared descending once more "now!" she yelled again when in human form. Both Lara and kurtis ran barely rolling under the door as they went. The creature shoved its claws through silencia's heart "forever and always my montsegur" she whispered then fell limply to the floor.

Kurtis and Lara was standing at the wall that Gunderson first blew up, they both rushed toward the door, hugging the wall and peering outside. Six mercenaries awaited the return of their leader. Lara smiled at kurtis and they both shot at the mercenaries until each and everyone fell. Kurtis had grabbed his boran x back in the chamber where the grail was supposed to be, and Lara still had a rifle with her. They took two of the bikes standing around and drove to the spot where their SUV was still parked. Lara got into the driver's seat this time, and kurtis into the passenger seat. Lara took the phone from her backpack and dialed zip's number, putting it on speaker as soon as they answered.

"Lara! Lara! Are you okay? Is kurtis dead? What happened?" Alistair yelled in a worrisome manner

"Yes Alistair were fine and kurtis didn't die"

"Bloody hell, so he has to come back here?" Alistair sighed

"Guess so buddy, get us a plane back will you?" kurtis shot back

"Will a chopper do?" zip asked

"It would be just fine , send it to our current location" Lara dialed a contact she had in Paris and asked him to take the rented car back. After a while the helicopter was flying above them. Kurtis grabbed hold of the ladder that was thrown down for them, when on top he helped Lara up and they closed the door, taking a seat next to each other. Lara suddenly began to laugh in relief, kurtis watched her as she grinned on in between laughing.

"I haven't heard the joke yet, mind telling me" kurtis asked

"That was the most fun I've had in a long time"

"You're different"

"Different?" she asked once done laughing

"Any other person would have gone to a psychologist about this but you, you just laugh" he smiled a bit at the thought

Lara was happy that they weren't fighting any more, and she was happy that they were both alive and kicking. On the way to the manor kurtis told her about Silencia and all that she said, including the dagger. Lara had taken the dagger and examined it but returned it to kurtis, thinking that it was just another periapt shard. At the beginning they thought that this trip was going to answer at least some of their questions, but it just opened a whole lot of new and to no surprise unanswered questions. The grass on the croft's estate swirled in patterns as the chopper prepared to land. Alistair and zip were already waiting outside, covering their eyes from the wind. Lara was the first one out and joined her comrades near the front door. Kurtis was slowly getting out of the chopper, clearly taking his time. Lara shook her head in disbelief and she retired inside the manor. Winston was waiting for her with a few beverages on a silver tray.

"You must be exhausted lady croft, your rooms have been readied and dinner will be done soon" he smiled a true and honest smile to her.

"Thank you Winston it is much appreciated" Lara then went to zip and Alistair in the tech room, kurtis also joined them and they discussed everything that happened in Paris. Alistair was going to find out where the grail was, where the dagger came from and about the dagger Lara saw in her dream, the one Karel stabbed kurtis with. Zip on the other hand was going to track down Karel and make sure the security system was to the best that it can be. Lara was about to leave when she remembered the sword and the symbol from when she killed the werewolf.

"The shield, the shield of course it is absolutely brilliant" Lara said aloud

"What shield?" Alistair asked

"What are you talking about Lara?" kurtis asked after Alistair

"I knew she'd figure it out sometime today, she always does" both Alistair and kurtis turned to zip as he said it while Lara just kept pacing about the room

"Remember Kazakhstan" Lara asked

"What's Excalibur have to do with the grail, other than Arthur and his grail quests"

"Oh come on Alistair I thought you of all people would understand, remember the shield, I found a sword with the same symbol. Some of the graves were empty, I think Arthur's knights went ahead and searched for grail it was after all one of their goals. But why didn't they ever return? Alistair find out"

"Will do" he said adjusting his glasses and retiring to the study

Zip just shrugged and put on his earphones, falling asleep with them in the tech room was one of his trademarks. Kurtis's room was just down the hall of Lara's. They walked up together stopping briefly at kurtis's door.

"Goodnight kurtis sleep well"

She was about to walk away when he started talking "night Lara" he closed the door, he wanted to tell her about the dagger Silencia gave him and what she told him, to be honest it was eating at his mind but he just thought that it didn't have anything to do with the grail so he kept it to himself, until he could find out what it's use is.

Lara smiled and walked to her own room, she took a quick shower, brushed her teeth and did all the necessary things. She was wearing comfortable pajamas, it wasn't cold but the bedding wasn't too warm either. She got underneath the coverings and let her hand slip under the pillow to make sure that her 9mm was there if she would ever need it. Minutes later her eyes closed and she drifted off for peaceful sleep, or so she thought. She was running through a maze of white walls, but all around there was black, she was walking on black, not even sure if there was a floor. Above her was black, all that broke it was the white walls. Lara heard her mother's voice calling, the sweet voice of her mother as she remembered from memories. How her mother read her stories before she went to bed, the fun they had when Lara was a young child. After an eternity of running she reached the middle. A drop of sweat dripped from her forehead, as did more by the minute, she was out of breath and out of hope. Her mother's beautiful form stood there, the mother she had before the crash. Lara smiled at the image, her mother approached her, embracing her daughter like never before. Lara's back suddenly started to burn, it felt as if someone was throwing her in a fire. She suddenly pushed her mother away, seeing the exposed flesh on her body, her mother had turned into a thrall again. Lara had no tears to shed instead she shook her head and started running from whence she came. She forced herself to look forward, to never look back. She sat straight up in her bed, sweat dripping like she just came out of a shower. In the corner stood a figure of a man, the man she thought was dead killed, the man who she left behind. Werner was standing there, his eyes glowing red and his walking stick in his left hand. He gave an evil chuckle then grinned at Lara. She grabbed her gun and fired at him, soon enough the door bashed open and kurtis stood with his own gun aiming where Lara was aiming, nothing was there so he lowered his weapon. From the corner of his eye he saw Winston, zip and Alistair watching them. He turned, making a silent conversation with his eyes. They all left silently knowing he was the person to talk to her and not them. And to be honest they didn't want to mess with him. Kurtis turned back to face Lara, she had pulled her legs up so her knees were close enough to rest her head on and her arms wrapped around them. Kurtis walked over to her and took the gun that she was still holding in her hand. She startled a bit as he took it, he already checked in her subconscious what had happened. Why was Karel making her suffer and not him?

"Some mind trick" Lara tried blocking her worry out

"He does that, you know, focus on your biggest fears" kurtis told

"Why am I getting the dreams and not you?" she asked innocently not even looking up once

"I don't know he's crazy who know what's going on in his sadistic mind"

"You okay?" he asked soon after

"as good as can be expected" he stood up, ready to leave and go back to his own room "don't leave" she whispered he knew what Karel was capable of and he certainly did not want to be alone either, for the first time she had looked up, pleading with her eyes that he must stay.

He neared the opposite side of the bed, climbing on top of the covers, tucking his bare arms behind his neck and closing his eyes, Lara rolled on her side holding both her hands under her head and closing her eyes whispering one final time "thank you".

"no prob, it's a pleasure" kurtis said back. Lara fell asleep quite easily, as did kurtis. Lara woke early the next morning, when she was getting out of bed kurtis opened one eye, still in the same position as the night before, he closed it again soon after. Lara took her usual morning shower, instead of getting dressed in the closet she took her clothes with her to the bathroom. When she came out, kurtis also had spare clothes in his hands.

"Mind if I use your bathroom?" he asked smirking at her

"Not at all go ahead, just clean up when you're done"

Lara exited the bedroom, down the hall and past the stairs straight to the study. Upon opening the door she found Alistair asleep on a book, she smiled at the sight and quietly closed the door. She did have all day to find out after all. She felt quite happy this morning, on her way down the stairs she bumped into Winston.

"Morning my lady I hope you feel better"

"Tons Winston thank you, could you please take my usual weaponry to target practice, the necessary equipment to the pool and a bottle of water to the gym along with a towel"

"Will that be all?"

"Yes" Lara answered a smile creeping at the corners of her mouth "oh and take a cup of tea for Alistair, he's asleep. . .in the study"

"Will do lady croft have a lovely day" Lara smiled running down the stairs toward the tech room where zip was also still asleep at the computer with the earphones.

Lara stood in front of the computer monitor and rearranged the volume so to speak, in an instant zip sat up, looking at Lara with sleepy eyes "living with you is near impossible"

"Oh come on zip its not that bad" she answered back

"What's got you so hyper today?" to be honest not even Lara knew but she had a feeling that today was going to be a good day

"No idea, anything useful for me?"

"Not much I haven't got anything it's like his doesn't even exist"

"Its okay zip just keep trying" he didn't actually have time to comply as she sprinted down the hall toward the swimming pool. She saw Winston leaving to the garden, probably to get everything done she had asked for. As promised there was a swimsuit waiting for her on one of the chairs and a towel as well. She had timed herself to take up two hours at the pool, at least four in the gym and another two at the shooting range. She got dressed and started pulling at the fish statues placed all around the pool. After a bit of climbing and swinging she made it to the diving board, she took a relaxing breath, then without warning she started running forward, moving in the air to form a swan dive. She spent the promised two hours at the pool, next she opened the underwater passage leading to the gym. Once in the tunnel she felt the small space close in on her but she paid no attention and kept swimming on. After a little while she surfaced at the small pool in the indoor gym. On a chair in the corner Winston had put the gym clothes along with the towel. She dried off and changed in the changing room that was built in when the manor was being repaired. She had a close family friend do it, she didn't trust anyone else with it, she knew of the secret passages and wanted them built in. Jacob was a close friend of her father, he originally built the manor and she wanted the manor exactly the same. Unfortunately Jacob had a heart attack not too long ago. Lara had spent her four hours in the gym, constantly wondering what had happened to kurtis. Lara was done with the gym, most people would be exhausted after a gym session of hers but she was used to it, according to her she never wanted to stop. In the past four hours she had been to every inch of the gym, from top to bottom. Unfortunately there was still no sign of kurtis. Lara decided to go to the shooting range next, fortunately kurtis was also there. Half of the card board figure was blown away, as usual he had a cigarette in his mouth. Lara got her guns out as well, ready to fire.

"How long have you been shooting" she asked.

He pointed toward a heap of cardboard to his left, "long enough" he smiled at her and then continued shooting

"Good" Lara said shooting the other half of his target into oblivion, then taking a hold of semi-automatic pistols and starting to shoot at her own target. They were out there for longer than an hour when Lara remembered something with a sudden shock. She dropped her guns, the thud of the guns falling to the gravel made kurtis realize Lara was running back to the manor. He threw the cigarette to the ground, then stamping it dead with his foot. He returned his gun to its shoulder holster and followed after Lara. She grabbed her backpack from the day before and threw the contents on a nearby coffee table, she sat at her knees, looking closer for the picture. The picture was gone, that could only mean that it's still in Paris, in the tomb.