AN: OK, guys, I am INCREDIBLY sorry about the late update, but I DO have my reasons: My laptop broke down, meaning all my files were erased, so, I had to reboot my laptop, and there was a lack in the rebooting which let me get my fanfic files onto the network, and then once I reinstalled windows, I managed to move the files to my laptop...this took about...3 days??? But, THIS chapter had been erased for some reason, I don't know why, but ANYWAY. Once I got to nearly finishing it again, a HUGEEEE blizzard comes and wipes my internet away, and it's not just MY internet it happened to, it happened ALLLLL the way across Fife. So, at least for once I have a decent excuse XD
But, hopefully, if stuff like that don't happen again, then I should be able to update on time, seen as it's the holidays now, woo!
Anyway, this is a relatively short chapter, but with lots of info, so, read on!
Mason gazed out of the window of his Edinburgh manor. The stars were bright in the sky, them and the moon acting as the only light casting it's way into the grounds of the house. He stared off into the distance, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. It was now just past midnight. Morgan had retired to bed a few hours ago, along with Lara's two friends, and Mason found himself waiting alone for the pair to come home. He saw something up in the sky, and narrowed his eyes as a helicopter flew closer to the manor. He turned away quickly, grabbing a Glock 22 that lay on the coffee table in the centre of the room. He holstered it. Just in case, he thought. Turning back to the window, he trained his eyes as the helicopter flew over the gate, lowering down into the house's grounds.
Mason stealthed his way over to the door, gripping at the handle of his gun as he stopped at a small window beside the front door. He pulled his gun out of it's holster and peered behind the curtains that covered the window. The chopper landed, and the door opened, two figures jumping down from the cockpit. Mason breathed relief when he recognised Lara and Kurtis walking towards the house. He holstered his pistol, jogging to the front door and opening it wide, feeling the cold December air hit him as he walked outside. Lara waved goodbye to the pilot, turning and smiling subtly to Mason as he approached them. "Any luck?" he asked quickly. Lara reached a hand into her backpack, removing it to reveal the sword. She threw it over to him, Mason catching it easily and pocketing it. Lara then pulled something out of the back pocket of her combats, holding another sword piece in the air. "We've got the replica, too," she pointed out, "But do you plan on telling me where we're going to keep both of the sword fragments? I mean; we need to keep them safe from Karel, even the replica." her and Kurtis walked closer to Mason, passing him as they lead the way into the house. Mason turned and waved a final goodbye to the pilot, following the pair into the house.
He closed the front door, locking it shut. "If we're going to let Karel get the replica of the sword, then we still need to act like we want to protect it, even though there is no need." she continued.
"Sounds like a good enough plan." Mason agreed. He and Kurtis watched as Lara departed them, walking up the stairs, practically dragging her feet up the stairs. Kurtis smiled lightly as she turned around to gaze down at them, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips before she disappeared into her bedroom, ready for some well earned sleep. Mason and Kurtis headed towards the stairs, both equally tired. Kurtis walked up the stairs with his Lux Veritatis brother, heading towards their rooms slowly. "Any luck on finding anything about Cappadocia?" he asked.
"We've found some interesting information about it, yes, but it's best that you two get your rest. We'll talk about it tomorrow morning, along with the location of the other half of the shield." Mason yawned, stopping outside of his bedroom. "That's fine with me." Kurtis chuckled, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. He turned away from Mason, walking up the hall. He stopped as he passed Lara's door, resting his hand on the handle. He heard Mason chuckle, and looked up to see him smiling over at him. "I take it everything is back to...normal with you two." he grinned. Kurtis returned the gesture, shaking his head in amusement. "Better than ever." he agreed.
Mason chuckled lightly before opening his own door, heading in to get some rest before the challenges the next day would bring. Kurtis turned back to the door, knocking lightly before entering the room.
He saw Lara sitting on the edge of the bed, tying a knot in a bandage over the slit on her forearm. She looked up at him, "Is something wrong?" she asked. Kurtis moved slightly, so that Lara could see his attractive features over the faint shine of the hallway light.
"My bed doesn't seem as cosy as yours." he grinned.
Lara grinned back, getting up and opening the door fully for him. She turned her back to him, moving over to the bed. She kicked her boots off and crawled over the covers. Sleep had never seemed so blissful. She pulled the covers over her body, closing her eyes, ready to wait for sleep to overcome her. She opened her eyes again, looking up at Kurtis as he lifted his top over his head, getting in the bed beside her. She turned her back to him, and she felt Kurtis' hand slide down her forearm before reaching for her own hand, entwining his fingers with her own. She didn't find it difficult to fall asleep that night.
Alister flopped the paper in his hands down onto the dining table, looking up to see Lara and Kurtis join him, Zip, Mason and Morgan at the table, ready for a quick briefing on where the shield was, along with more information on the portal that lied in Cappadoia. Lara sat herself next to Morgan, while Kurtis just continued to stand behind Lara's chair. He wanted to get right down to business; he didn't want to give Karel a reason to live any longer than what was needed.
Mason wasn't one to idle, so he took a cup of coffee in his hands from the table, and got straight to the facts. "So, Alister and I have made some progress while the two of you were in Spain yesterday." he started. "Although what we've found out may not be the best thing in the world." his gaze slowly set on Lara, and she narrowed her eyes at him in confusion. He looked away, turning his attention back to all of the group again. "At first, we thought that the portal in Cappadocia is what unleashed the Nephilim on Earth. We thought that it was a portal that lead the way to hell. It turns out we were wrong. We need to get in there to prevent Karel from doing what he needs to do."
"Wait, I thought we were supposed to avoid going in there at all costs?" Morgan spoke up.
"So did we," Alister took over from Mason. "At first, we thought that Nephili lurked in this portal, but it's no where near as close to hell as we thought. It's merely a....staging area, if you will."
"So what do we need to do?" Kurtis asked.
"We still have to get the rest of the artefacts, as we already know." Mason took the spotlight again. "But what we've found out is that they are associated with the portal. They need to feed off the power emitting from it in order for them to work. Think of it as huge telekinetic power. Greater than what our minds could ever produce. If we get in there, and set the weapons up, then the power will flow into them. That should be enough to take care of Karel." he put it simply, as if it were just any other job.
"So that shouldn't be so hard...?" Lara let her question hang.
"If we can get in there and do what we need to do, then get out of the portal, we should have nothing to worry about." Mason said.
"So we just make it quick. We get in there, set the weapons up, get out and kill Karel with the power within the sword." Lara said, standing up.
"Yes, but, I'm afraid, when I said 'we', Lara, I meant Lux...you can't...get through the portal."
"What?" Lara asked, taken aback.
"The telekinetic power being produced in the portal has an effect on it's surroundings, making it only possible for physic minds to get in. You'll have to stay outside while they power the sword up." Alister said regretfully. "Your mind couldn't handle the pressure being put onto it...your mind would literally explode."
"So what am I supposed to do? Just sit and fight Karel off while you three are in there?" she could feel the anger rising in her blood. She didn't like this – at all.
"Well, yes." Mason said. "Even if you did get through the portal, you would most immediately...well, die."
"And how exactly is Lara supposed to hold Karel off?" Kurtis said. "It's not as if she's a match for someone who comes back to life every five minuets once he's killed. He would kill her in an instant."
"We know that, but it isn't our fault." Mason turned to face Lara, "If you can hold the merks and Karel off for ten minuets tops, you'll be fine. We won't need longer than that to do the job."
"Ten minuets?" Morgan scoffed. "First of all, what if we have no idea in hell where we're going in there, second of all, what if Karel follows us in there, and third of all, you seem to be forgetting that you'll have me with you, and I'm not known to be someone that's easy to handle."
"We're sorry, Lara, but you're going to have to trust us that we do okay on this." Mason said, taking another sip of his coffee and also ignoring Morgan's comment.
"Of course." Lara said through gritted teeth, "So where is the next part of the shield?"
"Poland." Alister said. "In fact, we've made a convenient discovery. You two can get both the shield and the next part of the sword in one go." he smiled.
"Well that makes our job easier." Kurtis said.
"The locals up in Warsaw are always saying how they believe there is an underground cave below their houses, and these hold glowing artefacts that can kill anything; mortal or immortal. These glowing artefacts turn out to be our glowing artefacts. But we won't have to worry about any tourists being in the cave whilst you're under there, it's just an old wives' tale."
"So why should we believe it?" Lara asked, biting a bit of toast from her breakfast plate.
"You've came across many old wives' tales in your time, Lara, and they've all become true, so I don't see no reason to treat this one any less."
"So my guess is that if we leave early enough, then we can get both of them with time to spare, and when we get back, you two might have the location of the final sword fragment..." Kurtis sighed.
"We're already working on it," Mason said, standing up, "we don't want to spend more time on this than what is absolutely necessary. After you get these two artefacts, and once we've found out the location of the next sword fragment, we're all set to go to Cappadocia."
"Good. Then let's get going, shall we?" Lara got up from the table, turning around to start heading back upstairs. She clenched her teeth as she ran her hand up the banister while she walked. How the hell was she supposed to sit by and wait? They were asking her to hold off someone who couldn't be killed, now, the last time she checked, doing that could probably kill her within minuets; no, even seconds. Did they even know her at all? She couldn't let someone else take control! She couldn't just wait for them to do the work, while she stood helplessly, waiting for them to return. What if they don't return, she thought. At this, she balled a fist, punching the banister as she continued up the stairs. The idea of being so helpless, disposable, even, drew her mad. What if they didn't return? What would she do? She couldn't let them die in there! And she'd already lost Kurtis once, she couldn't do it again. And Morgan – she was only fifteen. All this was bound to be putting a strain on her. The fact was, Lara wasn't able to help. She needed to know what was going on in there when it happened, so she could help if there was anything needed to be helped with. But outside, she would be fighting off numerous amounts of mercenaries and Karel, all while they had a 'short trip' to another dimension.
She brought her mind away from the topic as she entered her temporary bedroom, opening the door to slam it shut behind her. She immediately went to the wooden wardrobe, opening the door to grab her suitcase before throwing it on the floor, making her way over to the dresser beside her bed. She opened one of the drawers, throwing her clothes into the suitcase. She closed the drawer shut, bending down to pick the case up and she placed it roughly on her bed, zipping it shut. She heard her door open behind her, looking up to see Kurtis enter her room, softly closing the door behind him. "Hey," he said calmly
. "Hello." she returned coldly. "There is such a thing as knocking, you know." she said, lifting her suitcase up, only for the zip to come undone. She groaned, lifting it back onto the bed.
"You okay?" Kurtis asked, leaning against the wall.
"I'm fan-bloody-tastic." she muttered, trying to get to the door before she blew up. Kurtis pushed off the wall, standing in front of her, preventing her from getting any further. "Look, Lara." he sighed. "It might not be so bad; you not going into the portal."
"That's just a matter of opinion." she whispered, trying to make her way past him. He blocked her path completely. "Kurtis, you know that I can't just sit by while the rest of you go in and, well...take care of business. This is my job, just as much as it is the rest of yours."
"I know." he sympathised with her, "But there isn't anything we can do."
"Unfortunately," she sighed, looking up into his eyes, "It's Karel, I just don't know if you can handle him."
"What?"
"I was the one who killed him, at least, thought I killed him. I just feel so angry, as if this is all my doing."
"You can't possibly blame yourself for Karel rising again."
"No? Then how is it that we're in this predicament again?"
"You need to stop putting so much pressure on yourself." he sighed. "We'll take care of him."
"Pressure?" she scoffed. "If pressure is trying to save the whole human race, then I beg to differ. Karel is not to be taken lightly, Kurtis, and you of all people should know that."
"Do you not think you're overreacting a bit too much on this?"
"Hardly," she scoffed.
"I know you're afraid." he said. "I know you're afraid that something will be going on in that portal, and you can't do anything about it."
Lara searched his eyes, "Afraid? I have nothing to be afraid of."
"You're afraid of whatever will be going on in that portal, and you will have no ability to do anything to prevent or help it happen. Or even the slightest bit of knowledge."
Lara tried to hold his gaze, challenging him with her eyes to prove him that he was totally wrong. The only problem was, he was totally right. She'd never known another person who could read her like an open book like he could. "I've already lost you once." she sighed. "That's once too many. I don't know if I can do it again. If I could just know what was going on in there while it happened..."
"The fact is that you can't." Kurtis interrupted. "You're going to have to believe Mason when he says that we won't be long, and for once, you are going to have to trust me."
Lara sighed, looking down at the floor before pulling her head up to face him again. "You're right," she sighed softly. She leaned forward, slowly kissing him on the lips before she pulled away, lifting her suitcase up again. She exited the room, Kurtis following, both wanting this war that had lasted generations to end.
AN: Awww, poor ol' Lara. She just wants to be in control of EVERYTHING!
OK, so, I've changed my plans, I'll updated on different days, because this newer plan DID not work, so, I'll catch you guys on Sunday, the 27th of December...that's if, y'know, you're not away with the family :-P
Oh, and I hope you all have a nice Christmas, BTW :-D