Chapter 5

St. Francis' Folly

The city was bustling with life. Downtown Los Angeles, one of the largest cities in California, was just as active during the night as it was during the day. Lara stood motionless on the top of an elevator shaft at Natla Technologies. The city was drenched in the nighttime lights and harsh shadows. Lara had left Peru and arrived in the United States in record time, just stopping at her house to run her adventuring outfit through the wash, reload and clean her weapons, eat, and get some sleep.

She drew one of her pistols and aimed it at the steel ring connecting the thick metal rod wire to the shaft. She shot it once, and the elevator lurched downward. She adjusted her sunglasses and smiled, then shot it once more. Immediately she was flying through the air, her stomach becoming weightless. She looked up, the wind tossing her hair around. She gripped the wire, her fingerless gloves giving her added grip. As she neared the top, she lessened her grip until it left her hand completely. She hovered in the air for a split second, then landed in a crouched position in from of the gigantic Natla Technologies neon sign on top of the building.

She holstered her gun and looked around, spotting a glass skylight. She stomped it, and the glass shattered. She dropped down and kept low. She was in Natla's office. She looked around, spotting her desk and a laptop. She opened it up, and the screen light up with a prompt to either click Larson's name or Pierre's. She picked up with tiny remote and clicked Larson. A video came up of her walking down toward the main room of Qualopec's tomb. "Well, looks like yer girl found it. Lucky her, she pulled it off." Came Larson's voice. The video shifted to a close-up of his face.

"But, how do you know she won't just return ole' Qualopec's piece back to you?"

"Because," came Natla's smooth, cold tone, "she's far to obsessed with it, like her father."

The video ended. Lara frowned, then clicked Pierre's name. A video came up of an old folly, somewhere in Greece. "You have something to report monsieur DuPont?" asked Natla.

"Yes madam, I have found the location of my piece of the Scion, underneath a place called-" Lara stopped the video. "St. Francis Folly…" She whispered, touching the screen. She opened one of the drawers, and came up with a dark red book. She opened to the bookmarked spot and started to read.

"Relocated now to St. Francis Folly, new temptations torment me. Rumors amongst my fellow brothers is that entombed beneath our monastery is the body of Tihocan, one of the three legendary rulers of the Lost City, Atlantis, and that with him lies his piece of the Atlantean Scion, an artifact that wields tremendous powers beyond the creator himself. My toes sweat at such possibilities, a relic of such immense power lying so close to my mortal soul. At night, I lay awake in agony, trying to beat myself rid of these fantasies, but it is indeed a test…"

Lara pulled out her piece of this artifact, called the Scion and looked at it, smiling.

"This is it Natla, I can play dirty to…" She whispered.

Lara pulled herself up the last ledge of the mountain. She stood up, eyeing the Greece landscape, then focused her attention to the monastery in front of her. It was incredibly old, and with it being perched on a mountaintop no one had probably been inside for centuries. Except for Pierre. Lara and him had never met up close, but he was a rival archeologist, and pursued fame and fortune for his finds, while Lara was in it for the thrill and the love of tomb raiding. A small, smoldering campfire was smoking near the entrance, with several empty cans of beans littering the ground. She raised an eyebrow, then her upper lip in disgust.

"Oh Pierre, you litterbug…" She said, then stepped past the campsite and stood for a moment by the doors, then sucked in a deep breath and pulled the doors open. Inside was rather bright, with the evening sunlight splashing the sky in colors of orange and purple. The ceiling was gone, with only a few arched rafters still up there. Several columns lined the large room, and aside from them the area was pretty empty. Except for the middle of the room, which had a circular indention. She stepped closer toward it-

-and stopped as the deep, throaty growl of a large cat pierced the silence. She stopped, then turned slowly, keeping both hands on her pistols. Behind her were two large feral lions, both slender and female. They were eyeing her sharply, both ready to pounce. The one on the right suddenly leapt for her, and she dived back, pulling out her pistol and firing several shots into the animal before landing. The other one rushed at her, and she moved to the side as it clawed at a pillar. She pulled out her other gun and with both of them fired two shot simultaneously to kill the second lion.

"I suppose your more of a dog person…" Lara looked around as the voice, thick with a French accent, floated to her ears.

"Natla doesn't honor her contracts Pierre, I'd move on if I were you." She said, raising both her guns.

"No mademoiselle, Natla and I…understand each other. I find things for her, and she rewards me handsomely. But you seek the very thing she does. That is why you are not trusted."

Lara walked slowly, keeping her back against one of the pillars and her eyes moving.

"I trust my instincts." She said, keeping her pistols trained ahead, and moving slowly.

"And that is why you are in second place. I am a professional Mademoiselle. I focus on the job, and I get paid." He said proudly. Lara frowned, furrowing her eyebrows.

"There's more to life than money Pierre…" She said, looking around the pillars. Where on earth was he?

"This isn't life Lara, it's business! Your compulsion prevents you from seeing the difference."

Lara took several steps back, toward the middle of the room, and moved her pistols around slowly.

"It hasn't prevented me from getting a piece of the Scion, how's business for you?" She asked in a mock tone.

"Touché, so then why don't we see whose compulsion gets them the next piece?" Pierre asked annoyed. Lara half smiled, keeping her guns aimed. Footsteps resounded throughout the Grecian monastery, followed by an unseen door opening and closing. She holstered her guns, then looked overhead. There was an iron grating blocking the door, and below that was a big set of green metal double doors. She stood for a moment, tightening her gloves, then started to inspect the pillars. Some of them had large cracks in them in different places. Obviously unsteady, but maybe a way to traverse the room to the upper doorway. She walked over to one of the shorter ones and took hold of the crack, getting a grip. She pulled her self up, reaching for another crack higher up, placing her feet where her hands had been.

"Almost like rock climbing, without the mountain…"

She thought, pulling herself on top of the pillar. Most of the other ones were still touching where the ceiling had once been. She saw several more cracks in a pillar ahead, and took a running jump at it. She grabbed it with one hand, fumbling for a moment before regaining her grip with both hands. Suddenly a series of crunching sounds filled the room, and the column started to leaned opposite the alcove she wanted to jump to. She had to make a lateral jump to reach the alcove, and the column crashed into the wall, breaking into hundreds of old, stone pieces. Here she could make a jump over to the iron grating.

She did so, then looked inside the chamber. All she could see was a big brass globe fixed onto a pedestal. She knelt down and slipped her fingers under the iron grating, then lifted it up. With some effort, she got it to slide and stay open. She exhaled slowly, then rolled the ball from its resting-place and off onto the ground below. With a thundering boom it hit the stone floor, then rolled toward the indention in the middle of the folly. As it compressed it, the iron doors below her opened up. She lowered herself off the ledge, then dropped to the ground. She peered into the open doorway before starting down the large, stone spiral staircase.

The walls were covered in lush green vines, intertwining with the architecture. She was deep into studying the walls that she almost plummeted off the ledge she had come to. She looked down, and for the first time felt her stomach twist in a way she had never felt before. There was no way to describe what this catacomb looked like. Partially cause she had never seen anything like it before and partially because the drop was so far her line of sight almost failed her. In the middle of the gigantic room was a broken, twisting structure. On the left and right walls were two switches with two unlit torches on either side of them. She peered down again and looked around. To the left and on down the room on the left wall was an old iron door with a big metal plate overtop of it, and carved in gold was the name Atlas, the Greek god of strength.

On the right wall across the structure a little above the Atlas room was another door, built to look the same, only the plate had Hephaestus, Greek god of lightning and craftsmanship. Lara was usually very fond of heights, but not surprised at the extreme feeling of vertigo she got when she realized to traverse this room she would have to climb up and down the structure in the middle of the room. She did a running jump to the central broken structure, drawing a pistol to the sound of flapping. She turned and saw several giant bats coming toward her. She fired off several shots, sending them to the bottom. Then she made a running jump to the vines ensnared near the ledge of a switch. She pulled herself up, then pulled down on the heavy switch with both hands.

She heard the sound of a door opening, and turned to see it was Atlas. Here Lara jumped back to the middle, then vaulted down to the next ledge and was now eye level with the Atlas door and one level above the Hephaestus room. The walkway to this room hadn't been destroyed by time yet, giving her easy access. This corridor was dark and turned left. Here was a metal door in front of her and a switch on the right wall. She pulled it, and the door rattled open. Set in the little doorway dozens of Greek spears retract back into the wall. She ran through, and the door slammed close and the spears came back out.

The corridor turned right, and she was faced with an odd lever that rotated with two handles. Across from that was a pit and up from the pit was a gigantic stone ramp, and at the top was the main attraction of the puzzle room. A huge statue of Atlas was on top of a small chamber, holding a giant, flaming brass globe on his back. Lara walked around the lever with a handle in hand, slowly creating a stone walkway across the pit. As soon as she let go the two stone slabs started to retract. She hurried across, wiping sweat of her brow.

"The Greeks sure knew how to give a girl a workout…"

She thought, stopping as she neared the top of the ramp. Spears were protruding from the doorway of the chamber, preventing access. She peered inside and saw a big, ornate key, with a big jade colored emerald in the handle of the key. On either side of the chamber was a lever set in a decorative wall covering. She pulled one of them, and a set of the spears slide back into the floor. She pulled the other switch, and the rest of the spears disappeared. But a low rumble quickly set anxiety into her gut. She looked up-

-and saw the Atlas statue slowly leaning forward, the giant flaming Earth rocking slowly from his grip. She stood, frozen, until the sound of the globe snapping from his back brought her from the trance. She turned and sprinted down the ramp, the sound of the globe crashing against the sides of the walls deafening. She made a flying leap across the pit-

-and caught the edge one handed. She had a split second to pull herself up and roll away from the pit. The flaming ball of doom crashed down into the black abyss, causing an eerie silence to fall over Atlas' shrine. She spun the lever again, this time locking it stuck. She clambered back up the ramp and retrieved the Key of Atlas, and stuck it in her backpack.

She retraced her steps back to the central folly and climbed up and pulled the other switch opposite the one she already pulled. This opened the Hephaestus door. She clambered down from the switch, and then leaped back to the broken central structure. Here she could make a small leap over to the platform jutting out right below the Hephaestus doorway. The first corridor of this puzzle room was built exactly like the one from Atlas. She saw the switch and the metal door with spears inside of it, but only this time there was a handhold on the door. She walked over and pulled the switch, then quickly grabbed on to the metal outcrop. The door opened slowly, and she could hear the spears retract. As soon as the door reached the top, it quickly started to plummet back down. She grabbed the opening above the door as it crashed back down. She dropped down through the other side and continued on. In the distance, she could hear a faint electric buzzing sound. As she neared the end of the dark corridor, she saw a bright blue flash of light every time she heard the sounds. She rounded the corner-

-and stopped, her mouth opening slightly in awe. A large, metal bronze ball was hanging from the middle of the room, coursing with electricity. Every so often the rust colored floor tiles would shift, some sinking into the ground and some raising above it. As the floor did this, the ball would shoot electricity in any random order across the floor. Lara leaned in closer, inspecting the lightning. It seemed it only struck the parts of the floor that were raised. Across the room was a large metal gate blocking her way further into the room. At each corner of the room, a single square tile was raised further from the rest, and didn't move when the rest of the floor did.

"So that's my key through here…"

She thought, building up some courage. She was pretty sure a strike from the glowing orb hovering above the room would surely kill her. At last, she leaped from her position and landed on the first of four tiles. It sunk into the floor, and she quickly scattered across toward the next one. As she did the floor in front of her raised up and the orb shot a strike of lightning down in front of her. She stumbled backward, covering her face with her hands.

The floor she was standing on lowered and the heel of her boot bumped into a section of floor behind her as it raised. She fell backwards, and had a few seconds to roll away off the raised section of floor as the bolt of lightning struck it, the electrical sound almost deafening. She stood back up and sprinted over to another of the floor tiles. It sunk down like the other, and she made a leap over to the one nearest the metal gate. She landed on it sideways, barely missing another deadly strike. She made a run for the last one, her boots starting to stick to the floor from all the heat created by the lightning.

She made it, and as the last one sunk down, the metal gate opened, and the orb slowly loss its electrical power. She headed into the new area. The ceiling was much higher, and the room was more or less just as empty. Across from her was a small shrine with a key resting on a pedestal. Spears blocked the shrine, not that it surprised her. The floor was decorated beautifully, with a large painting of Hephaestus hitting an iron anvil, bright blue electrical bolts shooting from the end of his sledgehammer. There were three round indentions on the floor as well, each the size of a dinner plate. Next to the shrine was a bust of Hephaestus, standing about to Lara's waist.

On the back of it was an iron handle. This kicked her brain into puzzle mode. She leisurely walked over to it, awing at the beautiful room. She grabbed the handle and dragged the bust over to one of the indentions. At each circular indention there was a large golden arrow, each one pointing to the middle of the room, where the shrine was. She rotated the bust until the face of Hephaestus was facing forward with the golden arrow. It locked into place. She grinned, taking a bit of pride in her efforts. She looked away from the bust and saw that toward the left wall of the room was an enormous hammer. It was made of marble, just like the rest of the room, and was trimmed at the edges and in the middle with thick layers of gold. There was a balcony above it, and also one above her. She walked over toward the hammer, and knelt down by the floor near it. It was fixed with gears near the bottom to bring the hammer crashing toward the ground. She looked over to where it would hit, and saw that the section of floor was a different color, and sunk in a little. She kicked some pebbles onto it, and nothing happen. She placed on foot with some wait, and saw it still didn't budge. She looked up at the hammer warily, unsure if the risk was worth it. Staying on guard, she stepped on it completely-

-and did an aerobic backflip, missing the crushing blow of the hammer by inches. The entire chamber rumbled, and was plunged into quietness. She hurried back toward the hammer and pulled herself up on the golden outcrop, then reached up and grabbed the top. She pulled herself up, then surveyed the room. There was a small ledge to the left of where she was standing, and she jumped toward it. The hammer eased back up into the positioned it has been in before. Lara saw a marble and golden box on the balcony. She leaped over to it, catching the banister. She pulled up, then pushed on the box a little.

It felt hollow. She pushed it harder, and pushed it through the balcony crashing to the floor below. She looked down and saw in the middle of the rubble was another bust. She lowered herself down and did the same with this bust as with the last. This opened a section of the wall, where another box was placed. She walked over and pulled it out, then pushed it onto the trigger of the hammer. It crashed down, destroying the box. The third and final bust was inside, and she pulled it away and onto the last indention. The spears retracted from the doorway and gave Lara access to the key. It looked exactly like the Atlas key, only it had a soft lavender colored gem instead of jade. She put it into her backpack and then retraced her steps back into the central structure area.

A platform came out from the doorway, giving her a bridge back to the middle. Here she hopped down another level, then had to lower herself and drop, then catch the ledge. Here she could make out below a little better. It was partially flooded and in ruins, with a large door over in the corner. There were four glowing lights, two on each side of the door, one red, one green, one purple, and one blue.

"They correspond to the gems in the keys…"

She thought, smiling. She looked up and saw two switches, one at ground floor and another right above it. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her hook grapple and attached it to the back of her gun belt. She then gripped the hook and gave her arm several strong spins before letting go. The hook attached itself to a weak pillar, and she pulled. The grapple retracted, and the old pillar came crashing down, make a makeshift bridge across to the lever. She walked over and pulled it, and heard a door behind her opening. She turned and saw that this door had the plate Poseidon above it.

She lowered herself down to the ledge where the last switch was. She pulled it, and the final door, which was also here at ground level, opened. It had the plate Damocles above it. He was the famous king who slept with a sword above his head, and Poseidon is the god of the sea, so she could kind of realize what the puzzles would be based on. She decided to take Poseidon first, since she had always been the top of her class when it came to swimming. She vaulted back up onto the broken pillar and headed over to the doorway. Just like she suspected, the opening corridor was built with the same door and switch style as the other two. Only in this one there were puddles of water everywhere. She pulled the switch, and it opened with no problem. She walked through and it closed, spears appearing and all. She continued on down the dank corridor until coming to a room with a square pool of water in the middle. It reflected beautiful crystal blue lights throughout the room, lighting up the four pillars at each corner of the pool.

She slid off her backpack, boots, and placed her pistols on top of them, then slid into the icy water. She tried to look for the bottom, but saw the pool was too deep and narrow. She took in a deep breath, and began swimming furiously downward. The rushing sound of water filled her ears, and the murky liquid stung her eyes, but she pressed onward. Finally she reached the bottom and quickly surveyed the depths. There was a lever to her right and straight-ahead was the key of Poseidon, blocked by spears. She pulled the switch, and felt the water current switch. The doorway opened, and she swam over and quickly snatched the key, which had a shimmering Sapphire colored gem set into the handle. Now her lungs were starting to give her the warning she needed air, fast. She started swimming back up the deep shaft, and found out she was now swimming against the current. She pushed her arms and legs faster, seeing the top inch closer and closer. She pushed off the sides with her legs, trying to gain momentum.

Her lungs were burning, her brain screeching for air. She was on the verge of a blackout when she pierced through the surface, filling her lungs with live giving air. She laughed quietly to herself, pushing away the fact her life was once again in the balance. But it didn't matter, she got the key. She placed it in her backpack and gathered her gear, then quickly exited the watery shrine. Lara noticed that each time she would complete a puzzle, the torches by the doorways and corresponding switches would burn out.

"And now, one more to go. C'mon ole' gal, your doin just great."

She made her way back to the bottom of the chamber and entered the shrine of Damocles. The first room was very high, with pillars going the length and width of the room. In the middle of the pillars were hundreds of horizontal slots, and the floor changed from marble to metal. She hurried across it and entered the antechamber. Here was the final key, a beautiful Ruby colored gem set into the handle, high on a circular pedestal. Above it was an array of different rusty swords, all set in a circular fashion on the ceiling, blades pointed downward. She stepped up onto the pedestal and snatched the key-

-then quickly rolled off as the death blades crashed into the ground, each one sliding easily into the hard marble, making a thunderous boom. Then it was like the whole shrine was set into motion. She saw the gate that lead into the shrine slam close, and blades quickly protruded from the floor through the horizontal slots. She made her way back toward the first room, but noticed something different. There were square marble tiles lying on the floor now, in a specific pattern. She remembered the tale, and looked up.

"Oh, wonderful…"

Covering the ceiling now were dozens of swords, each one spinning precariously. She took a step forward-

-and froze as a sword bigger than her crashed to the ground, sending marble pieces and sparks flying. She cried out and stumbled backward, covering her face. But as she did she stumbled into the path of another ceiling sword. She had to jump to the side as it too crashed to the ground, missing her by inches. She froze, eyeing the ceiling. There were none in the middle of the room, but to get through the middle of the room she had to dodge the blades that would periodically pop up from the floor in different random sections. Any other time blades were blocking the way. She had to navigate it carefully. The first set retracted back into the floor, and she stepped onto it. Several more rose up, but in front of her another section retracted, giving her room to move around. Near the end, she leaped over the last gap-

-and then dived forward into the entranceway to dodge another sword. She paused, taking in a deep breath.

"Now this is a workout, I'll have to install some of these in the gym…"

The switch to reopen the gate was on the balcony above her, and to get there she just have to climb up the vines, and dodge another sword. It was a little easier than she thought to coax it to fall, then she easily climbed up and reopened the gate, then made her way back. She walked over to the door at the bottom, and unlocked each lock with the corresponding key based on the color. Each time she did so, a metal bar would retract from the door. Finally, all were gone and the door opened. She smiled with satisfaction, and continued on.