Chapter 3 – The first clue
- I think the Iris is not Cambodian – Lara said while she was still making all that suspense to Von Croy – I found something written here.
- What is written there? What did you find? – Von Croy shouted while he was approaching the edge, getting close to that circular hole. Everyone noticed Von Croy's voice echoing.
- Wait a minute.
Lara place the small backpack in between her legs while she was squatted. She pulled a camera and took some pictures of that greek writing on that pedestal. The first word was "Ίρις" and the second one was very difficult to understand. The letters were very rounded and illegible; in additional, the rest of the word was interrupted by a broken and fallen piece of the pedestal. Lara looked around that small chasm on a hopeless attempt to find the a 12cm missing piece of that pedestal. She looked back at the other remaining letters. She believed that probably they were "με". She turned on the camera and took a picture of that "Ίρις με ...", as it was some sort of subtitle to the Iris.
She put the camera inside her backpack again and jumped back to where Von Croy and Jeffrey were.
- What did you exactly see there? – Jeffrey asked, and he was less anxious than Von Croy.
- There was some sort of phrase there, but a piece of the pedestal had broke and must have fallen in that chasm. The inscription of the pedestal is in greek.
- In greek? –Von Croy asked.
- Yes. I took some photos. The only letters of the second word is written in a different way, but I think it's a "me" and "epsilon". M and E in greek.
Von Croy remained silent. He stepped back from Lara and Jeffrey while he was pushing his eyeglasses up to press his fingers in his eyes subtly.
- So the only hope of the completely history of the Iris is not here but in Greece – Jeffrey said a little excited.
- I have considered the origin of the Iris been greek once – Von Croy said - but I never found something that I could relate to Greece. And how could I do this if everything I found about it was in Sanskrit? – he was serious now. He wanted to discover more things about the Iris on his own, without the possibility of Lara confiscate it in the future.
- You're right, Werner. The Iris doesn't look like Nordic. Apparently, he's greek – Lara used her sarcasm and she was now approaching the exit.
- If I only had time to look at that pedestal 13 years ago! How I wish I could have 58 years again. If I had the chance to investigate about it at that time, look how much time I would save.
Before all of them could go frenetically to Greece, Lara suggested returning to England for a moment. Right after she was received by Winston in her home, he rushed to tell that the work wasn't over yet. She told to Winston that maybe the story about the Iris would be in Greece and, once again as if she had 16 years, she would have to travel with Von Croy… again.
- The more he gets older, the more he gets annoying – Lara said after raising her legs to her couch where she was sitting.
- When someone is rich, elderly and greedy, the tendency is to be annoying, Miss. – Winston said.
- He even took along his partner of the Von Croy Industries. What a useless thing – and now she was trying to comb a lock of her hair with her fingers. – On the other hand, if Jeffrey Hastings wouldn't there, maybe my dialogues with Von Croy would be worse. It would be a déjà vu one after another.
- I still remember that one time he was here in the mansion, talking with me while he was waiting you. He kept bragging, as always, and he said a phrase he quite enjoy to repeat it, as if he created it. "Disrespect… - Winston was trying to remember.
- … is the route of carelessness.
- Oh, that's right! Disrespect is the route of carelessness.
- If he only could follow his own advice, maybe he wouldn't get in trouble so often.
Lara stood up and warned Winston she would take a shower. She went upstairs to her room. She reached the bathroom, took off her white shirt and threw in the basket for laundry. She looked at the mirror and saw the tiredness in her face. She let her hair down and loose and threw them forward. She removed her brassiere, her jeans pants, her panties and threw everything inside the basket. She approached her shower and felt the warm water falling on her face and breasts.
While she was taking a shower, she thought about the Iris. Some theories came to her mind, but she felt she needs to do some searches in her study room. "Dammit" she thought. "What was written on that pedestal?!". Lara's frustration made her lean her head to make her forehead touch the wall.
After she finished her shower, she wrapped a towel on herself and the other she wrapped on her long hair. She dried them well and now came the boring part: comb her hair. She smiled. She remembered once when she almost died by a bear and her only mental complaining was having to wash her hair after she fell on a huge puddle of mud.
Lara remembered what Sarit told about the Iris needed a rainbow energy. She took a big dictionary that was part of a collection of dictionaries with more or less 5 languages on each book. The one she picked was volume 5. She looked for the word rainbow on the greek dictionary, but she got frustrated. Unfortunately, rainbow in greek was "ουράνιο τόξο". None of the words looked like with the ones on the pedestal.
The word "Iris", however, was in at least two languages which meant "rainbow": in Portuguese and Spanish. Although this was some sort of progress, it wasn't a big deal. She let the dictionary on the table and looked for another book.
She picked a book about primordial gods and sat down. Winston appeared with a tray with a pot of tea and a cup.
- Milady, your tea – he put the cup on the table and quickly filled with black tea. He put sugar too.
- Thank you, Winston.
- Any progress?
- I think the Iris could be linked to a greek goddess called Iris. – Lara took a sip of her tea – The tea is great as always – she smiled. – So, as I was saying… Arco-íris… Iris. It does have some connection. But a mythology so well explored as the greek have no traces of the artifact is completely frustanting. One thing is to assume that he has some connection with the goddess Iris, another thing is to imagine that in the middle of so many greek histories, there's no sign of it. – Lara sighed in frustration – When I stepped on Cambodia, I thought the Iris was Indian, really… anything like that. Its tiny story is in Sanskrit, but the inscription on the pedestal is in greek. If it is really greek, why his miserable story is Cambodian?!
- Milady, some things are lost with time. Techniques, good things, bad things… Even secrets.
After she passed the previous night searching what she could about greek mythology, Lara now had few informations that would make her have a little theory. She felt now it was a race for the secret of the Iris. She remembered that time in Angkor Wat that Von Croy bet a race with Lara to see who would arrive first at the chamber of the artifact. Right now, the race was metaphorical. A race for who would have the fastest epiphany.
As she was packing to another trip with Von Croy, Lara decided to go to her secret room where she keeps the most special artifacts. She retrieved the Iris from a showcase and held it before her eyes. She could "drop it" in anywhere in the air that it would just float. If someone held any part of it, like the "plates" for example, this part would just stop moving while the other parts would move normally. Without that energy machine from Von Croy Industries, the Iris seemed to be harmless.
She decided to walk with it to her room, but she bumped with Winston on the way.
- Will you take the Iris with you, Miss?
- Yes, I will. My intuition says it will be better if I take it with me. But I won't say anything to Von Croy.
- What did you fear?
- I don't know exactly… Maybe if Von Croy and I discover the history of the Iris, he might be completely thirsty to have the Iris back as soon as possible. Maybe he can send thieves to here, I don't know. If he wants to steal my house, I want him to try while I'm here. So I'm taking it with me. – Lara went to her room and managed to hide the Iris inside her backpack.
On the next day, when Von Croy went to pick her up to take the three of them take a private jet, he said:
- So, Miss Croft, can't you feel that we are close to the "rainbow"? – he was testing her.
- By any chance will your jet pass by one, Werner? Don't fool yourself with the pot of gold – Lara mocked him with a fake smile.
- Your mockery is depressing, but it doesn't hit me. In fact, I always like the childish story about the pot of gold on the end of the rainbow. I really hope I can find mine.
They got silent inside the car, Lara, Werner and Jeffrey. It was like Lara and Von Croy didn't want to share their personal theories about the Iris.
- Where we are going? – Athens? – Lara asked.
- No. Olympia – Von Croy said. And then, Lara was surprised a bit. "Does Werner know more than me?" she thought.
- Why there?
- When we got there, you will know, child – then he smiled.