A day later, Rome

Although Lara, Nadia and Ben were flying over Rome, Italy, they had no idea where to go exactly, so Ben was looking on a laptop the most historical places in Rome. Lara and Nadia moved towards the front of the private jet to ask the pilots how long till they land and they had seven minutes to spare.

The two head back to Ben and they ask what he found.

"I found nothing. The crown dates back as a couple million years, evident by the Sumerian language and none of these places in Rome seem to be as old as the crown, with the exception of the Vatican. I've been to Rome a dozen times and I am no more successful."

Lara sat in the chair beside Ben while Nadia sat in the chair across from him. "Maybe," Lara began, "The best answer is the simplest answer, instead of us trying to run around in circles, we follow Trinity as they look for the crown. After all, they had a day headstart on us and they left us in the dark with the exception of the crown being in Rome. Trinity has been following me to lost cities and ancient relics, so why not turns the tables and follow them?"

"That's a good plan Lara, but how will we know Trinity from civilian?" Nadia asked. "There's a couple dozen of them and only three of us."

"We've been outnumbered before Nadia and plus, just trust when I say that I have really good instincts."

Jankovic, Zima, Kovak and twenty five mercenaries and soldiers were dressed as regular people and walked all around the inside of the Pantheon, making sure their faces were never captured in security cameras as that is something that could not be allowed amongst Trinity.

Kovak remembers Kennard Montez telling him that Lara managed to take a picture of her uncle Greg and himself (Kovak was the one Lara dubbed Blazer Bloke if you read the novel). Kennard somehow managed not to get any outside facial image captured of himself.

Even though there was a total of twenty-five mercenaries and soldiers, only one-third (8) of the group was loyal to Jankovic while the other two-thirds (17) were loyal to Zima and Kovak. Jankovic was fully aware of who to trust and he smiled at the ace he had up his sleeve.

Jankovic kept his head down as he passed through a hallway that had a lot less people than the kind on the outside or in the main room. He held the cube in his inner jacket pocket and the cube actually vibrated whenever he would walk in the wrong direction, or the right direction. Like a game of hot and cold and right now, he was getting hot. He kept his hand on the nearest wall and kept it on the wall as he walked forward, moving as far away from the crowded people as possible. "I know where I am going."

"Are you sure?" Zima asked.

Jankovic turned his head slightly, keeping his facial expressions as neutral as possible (something he was proficient at) and nodded to his treacherous friend. "I'm sure Zima, just make sure your guns are loaded for any guards or something else. We are venturing into uncharted territory, so we could meet something never before seen before."

Zima nodded (not at meeting something never before met before, but at keeping his guns loaded), with a curve on his mouth. "Sure thing boss."

Lara Croft, Ben Wheldon and Nadia followed a whole group of men from the Colosseum to the Pantheon. Every curve they made to follow the men, they would change their clothes to avoid suspicion. When they came across places they could not really cross publicly, they would use their environment, work their way around and use parkour skills to scale the rooftops.

Just as they trailed Trinity down the hallway that the Trinity took, the switchblade hidden in Lara's sleeve began sliding down her arm and nearly fell of her wrist and onto the ground, if she had not caught it in time and slid it back up her sleeve. It took them twenty-five minutes to trail Trinity and they were not going to be caught sneaking into a historical place with a weapon falling out of her sleeve.

Nadia waited to be out of sight from people before she put her aviator hat back on her head and turned to Lara. "How can nobody notice the twenty-eight walking down this hallway?"

Lara had an answer. "They're dressed like journalists and photographers and college students. The passes they have around their necks look to be laminated, which makes it look pretty realistic. They are pretty smart and are determined to not be exposed to public. Once I find the leader of Trinity, I will kill him or her and expose this organization to worldwide publicity."

"I heard that," Ben said in agreement. "I will avenge my brother."

"How far Jan?" Kovak asked impatiently. "I'm starting to get claustrophobic from it being crowded in this hallway." And he was not lying, he was actually getting claustrophobic from being trapped in the crowded hallway.

The vibrating in Jankovic's chest from the cube felt like he had two hearts and they were both beating intensely with adrenaline, the kind that can only be generated from either fear or pleasure. Pleasure, he mentally drooled.

He looked back and saw no civilians behind him while he kept his hand on the wall. He eventually came to a turn to the left and the others followed like a herd of cows. Dozens of feet behind them were Lara, Ben and Nadia.

The cube led Jankovic, Zima, Kovak and three soldiers into a dead end corner with a painted wall. The others stayed behind while the six men began analyzing why the cube led them to this dead end wall.

"Jankovic?" Kovak began.

"Check for camera, now," he snapped. Kovak told him that no cameras were in sight before he was allowed to ask his question.

"Why would this cube lead to a dead end in the wall?"

"That is something we're trying to figure out," Jankovic said. "Pete, Waldo, check the pillars beside me for any kind of secret door or passage or whatever." Jankovic began putting his hands all over the wall, checking for any loose bricks or tiles, him and the soldier named James. Zima and Kovak were just staring at them with blank looks on their faces. From their point of view, they looked like vultures clawing in vain to get their food.

Zima put his hand to the pistol on his waist holster. He was just so eager to pull it out and shoot Jankovic dead in the back and just kill all the other soldiers and mercenaries that were still loyal to him. The only thing holding him back was the fact that his gun was unsuppressed, and he wanted to make sure he acquired the crown before killing Jankovic. Don't worry, my gun is loaded. I made sure to follow your orders boss.

You think you can overthrow me Zima? Jankovic thought as he searched the wall. I know exactly what you're doing. I killed Slavik and I feel no remorse for my actions. The cube in his chest once again vibrated and this prompted him to pull out the cube and hold it in front of him.

"What is it boss?" James asked as he eyed the glowing cube. "Something happening?"

"It sure is Jim," Jankovic answered. He puts his other hand to the cube and holds it upwards until the cube glowed very brightly, almost to the point of blinding. "Looks like the cube is showing us the way. How delightful of this cube."

The painting on the wall began to slowly split down the middle and separate from itself like some kind of illusion and the bricks on the wall lowered down and transformed into stairs that lead into darkness. Jankovic was standing at the door to the entrance to the tomb and he stared with wide eyes into the darkness. "Well well well, stairs leading downwards, I can' believe it." He cracked a smile. "Kovak, Zima, you two go down first and I want you to scope the place out for me. That is an order."

Zima and Kovak both sneered and narrowed their eyes at Jankovic, but to keep up their cover, they moved forward, Jankovic taking a step to the side and allowing the two traitors down into the cave. Jankovic was so tempted into just kicking Kovak into Zima so they both can tumble down and break their necks at the bottom, but he wanted to expose the two for the two-faced bastards they were.

He had two aces up his sleeve.

Lara, Ben and Nadia made it to the very end of the hallway, made a turn to the left and they saw the hole in the wall and not a single soldier or mercenary. It became pretty obvious that Jankovic and his army became the first to discover the Tomb of the Crown of Immortality.