Chapter 3 Cafferalla Park
Max – Age 21 (POV)
Alex – Age 25
Bryan – Age 52
July 21st, 2017
5:03 AM
Caffarella Park, Italy
20 miles from Rome
WickDaLine presents…
My cousin, uncle, and I had just arrived in Rome as it took us a week to get to the country of Italy. Though it was only a few hours fly from Greece to Italy, we had to make a one-week rest stop in Albania to refuel Bryan's plane as it took six days for us to find the fuel we needed. We arrived here and docked the plane in Rome ten hours ago before finding a hotel room to get some rest and be on our way to the Castle Camelot Museum in Caffarella Park off the countryside near Rome.
We had also rented ourselves a 4x4 to drive ourselves to Caffarella Park in order to make it to Castle Camelot. Two of our only leads to finding the Reality Shard as found in Ezra's diary. We were suspecting ConDef to be there before us and so we drove cautiously into the park to avoid any contact or engagement with the front. And if Rachel, Frank, Fernando, and Kristen were there too, we'd have to get to them before ConDef did as well for the Reality Shard. At least the four of them would be equipped to deal with any worse case scenario with Alkaline's army.
It still shames me to fib talk Chloe three times on the phone in two weeks. It shames me even more so to be involved in a war effort I never asked nor should be involved in. No matter how so-worthy I am in this fantasy of time travel and Eternity Shards, it didn't mean I thought of myself worthy for that. And for that, I was bound to be tearing my relationship with Chloe for this petty adventure my so-dead cousin and uncle dragged me in. A risk I was forced to take.
A Life Is Strange fan fiction…
The three of us parked the rental jeep in the middle of the dirt park road to begin this long-awaited trip. Waking up as early as four in the mourning and sleeping as early as nine at night for this. We've been trying to get in contact with Rachel and the others since we started flying to Italy, but with no responses whatsoever. Either we couldn't get the proper regional reception on our phones or may have just gotten an Amber killed again dragging her and the boyfriend into this as well. I'll pray for bad reception if getting her killed isn't on my conscience. Even after a week traveling, Uncle Bryan still owed me for what my family had to do with the herd. And yet his lips were sealed.
As the jeep was parked, the three of us were trying to get a signal through the GPS on Bryan's phone to find Castle Camelot. Alex and Bryan got off the jeep to wait for a signal as I sat down in the driver's seat to take the wheel. We've already been waiting five minutes for the satellites to pick the signal up to no avail. Alex juggled a rock over her hand as she got bored.
Life Is Strange: Eternity War – Episode 3: The Great Journey
"What are the satellites saying, Dad?" Alex asked. Tossing the rock around.
"Right now, not a goddamn thing," said Bryan. Holding his phone around for the signal. "I lost the signal."
I grew tired of waiting and stepped out of the car.
"Hey, ya know what doesn't loses its signal?" I asked my cousin and Uncle. Walking up to them. "Paper."
In case the GPS never worked, we brought a map with us to mark the direction from where the road begins to the castle. I lay it down on the hood of the car to review the map with Alex and Bryan.
"Alright, this route right here should take us straight to the castle," I said. Pointing at the directions. "Might get a little bumpy though."
"Let's get the show on the road," said Alex.
"Okay," said Bryan.
"Alright."
The three of us hop back inside the 4x4 as turn the keys, start the engine, shift the gear, and hit the gas on the park trail. It was only an hour or two until the sun came up, so I made sure the head lights were on also.
Even when it was dark out, the site of the park was amazing in the moonlight. Driving down a hill past trees and a mountainside afar, I've never really had this good of a view of nature since the camping trip with Alex, Chloe, and I eleven years ago.
"So, what're we looking for out here?" Bryan asked.
"Well, the map shows all these structures around the mountainside," I said driving. "Some abandoned outposts and a handful of watchtowers."
"Watchtowers?"
"Ezra was the most wanted man in the world," said Alex. "Thanks to Arthur's one-thousand-year-old structures, Ezra was able to adapt from those. So if he was hiding something out here, makes sense he'd need lookouts."
"And one of those towers is right on the mountainside," I said.
"With the Reality Shard?"
"Fingers crossed," said Alex. "By the way Max, I don't believe I'm asking this now and haven't asked this before, but have you even thought about a backup plane in case Rachel gets cold feet?"
"No, because she won't," I said.
"Or if she got caught?"
"Alex, she knows what kind of people we're up against. I've seen her brutalize a bunch of quantum terrorist like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. She and her boyfriend can take good care of Fernan and Kristen. Not to mention Frank himself has threatened to hurt people before and his bite will be worse than his bark at the first ConDef dickhead he sees. We passed our first assignment with them back in Vancouver. We make a solid team."
"Uh-huh."
"Alright, fine. Go ahead. Say it."
"What if she stole that shard for herself?"
"Not in a million years."
"Rachel Amber, the girl who cheated on Chloe for Frank if I'm right."
"That is a completely different story."
"And the girl who pulled a double-cross on your ass during a Chrysalis job."
"Yes, she's double-crossed people in the past. But also triple-crossed people to make up for her betrayals. Including us."
"No, including you."
"I know you two don't know each other well enough-"
"Huge understatement."
"But I trust her, alright? She's family."
Alex chuckled about calling Rachel family. When her last name wasn't Caulfield.
"No, no, no," I said. "Look, I just need you to trust her too. Bryan, do you trust her?"
"Trust is a hard thing to learn, Max," said Bryan. "But for now, I trust her."
"Alex, do you trust her?"
Alex sighed.
"Fine," she said. "Fine. Sorry I said anything."
"She'll come through for us," I said. "And if she and the others get caught, we can help them."
As I drove along the path, the road's terrain was a little muddy in some parts and I even drove over a mud puddle. The 4x4 was all-terrain itself. Built to drive on any terrain possible. Even came with an emergency winch on the front bumper.
I assumed we'd be driving by some ruins of the lookouts and outpost before we got to the castle. It wouldn't be open until 7 AM. So we need to be there in less than two hours. If Rachel and the others made it there, so could we.
"So with our luck," I said. "What are the odds ConDef got here before we could?"
"High," said Bryan. "Very high. Trust me. Europe has been at risk of ConDef activity since day one. That's the first thing I looked up when we said we were heading here. That and where to rent the cheapest 4x4."
While keeping the peddle on the 4x4, there appeared to be stacks of rocks next to the path. Cairns as they were called. Could they help us on the way to the castle?
"Wonder who made these cairns?" I asked while driving by them. "Must be a trail marker. Let's keep an eye out for them."
There did appear to be a couple more cairns beside the path we drove on. All leading up to what appeared to be a wooden bridge built between two cliffs and two hills. One of the hills marked with the path where we could drive up to the bridge itself. However, the bridge didn't look like it was built for motor vehicles.
"That bridge there is what you would call 'rickety'," said Alex.
The hill itself I drove on to get to the bridge looked promising, but unbalanced. The path was muddy and we would need some solid traction for the wheels to drive over so our vehicle would slip off the road or get stuck in the mud like driving in winter. The path itself was also a little bumpy around the edges and I drove the jeep crooked a little to drive past the slippery road. I gave her everything she got until I made it up the hill.
As I was driving closer to the bridge, I was going to need to drive with caution. Knowing how unstable the bridge made of toothpicks would be for the vehicle's weight. Even Bryan warned me so like a first-time driver.
"Okay, kid," said Bryan. "Just…don't drop us."
As soon as our tires rolled on the wooden planks of the bridge, we could hear it creek. The weight of our vehicle was even breaking off the wood itself. A sign of this bridge collapsing before us. Alex tried to steady my driving no matter how cautiously I drove.
"Hey, just – keep it slow…keep it in the center," she said.
"Yeah, there's a lot of backseat driving going on right now," I said.
And at that second, the bridge fell halfway down on us. My body jumped and shrieked as I was startled by the laws of gravity and gasped to death on the wheel. The bridge couldn't take it any longer. Lucky for us, we were less than a feet away across.
"We're good," I wept. "Everything's good."
"Jesus Christ," said Bryan. Almost giving him a heart attack.
Once we were driving back on solid ground, more trail markets were in sight. Or so you call them cairns.
"That's a snazzy looking rock pile," said Alex.
"Technically, it's called a cairn," I said.
"Yeah, I don't like to say that word. It just…sounds weird. Care…carin…car – nope. Nope, I don't like it."
I had to drive up another mudslide that would be even trickier to drive through. Onward and upward we go, I wasn't going to get too much hard traction directly up the hill. I was going to need to drive around and over where I could have the proper traction to drive up the muddy hill. And that's what I did to keep the 4x4 from getting stuck in the mud or sliding down.
Once we made it up, I was getting the hang of tenuous driving. They may not have taught me this in driving school, but they always taught me that every driver could use a backup tool for any emergencies necessary. Or rather tools for precaution to prevent those emergencies.
Driving forward, I spotted some tire tracks up a rocky slope with another cairn at the top. If that was where the trail was taking us, I was going to have to drive our vehicle up on the limestones used as a driving ramp. When we had driven to the top, Alex spotted some ruins up on another hill twenty feet ahead of us.
"Hey, look up there on the hill," she said. "Got a tower or something."
"Now we're talking," said Bryan.
I assumed it had to be one of Arthur's or Ezra's watchtowers that looked only half built. Or rather half damaged as the top half of the tower was missing. And that where we drove to next.
"Hey, Dad," said Alex. "What were you arguing with the rental guy about?"
"Oh, your cousin insisted on getting a 4x4 with a winch," said Bryan.
"So you sprung for the winch, but you couldn't spring for the suspension. I got it."
"Hey, it's important," I said. "Going off road, it might rain, might be muddy."
"I'll bet we go through this whole goddamn thing and never use that winch," said Bryan.
"So, Max," said Alex. "You're thinking Prescott, Blackwell, and some other big-shot herd members pooled their shards, and came out here because…why exactly?"
"Who knows," I said. "Maybe for protection? German forces were closing in on them."
"Sure, maybe he helped them disappear? I mean, the guy clearly had a knack for hiding things."
The ruined watched was just a click ahead of us. Upon approach, we were tasked to drive up or biggest, longest, and most slippery mud hill yet. Going with my boldest, but dumbest move, I directly drive up the heavily muddy hill in hopes of a shot in the dark.
"And…go," I said. Hitting gas drive the car up. And as I suspected, the tires struggle against the mud and cause the jeep to gradually slide down over.
"And…no," said Bryan.
"Ah, it was a valiant effort," said Alex.
I park the car by some stair steps built beside the mud slide and take us to the tower. Alex and I hop out to check the tower out and find a way for the jeep to drive up the muddy slope. And here Bryan thought we'd never have to use the winch. Don't say I didn't warn him.
Alex and I walk up the steps to check the tower and find a way up. Even with a chunk of tower missing, it was still in decent condition after thousands of years.
"It's in pretty good shape for something several thousand years old," said Alex.
"Yeah," I said. "They're definitely from Arthur's era."
When taking a peak inside the ruined tower, there was a sigil of a dragon marked on the floor. Could it have been related to one of Ezra's members of the herd?
"Alex, look," I said.
"That's Christoph Carter's sigil," said Alex. "Captain of the Fiery Dragon platoon for Ezra's army. Operated out of Italy around Ezra's time. So…maybe Ezra recruits military captains…to what? Be his lookouts? They don't make any sense."
"No, it doesn't."
"Well, maybe each member was responsible for a tower. Along with providing the men for it? Whatever the case, this certainly isn't our final stop on the tour."
I walked out of the tower to resume my search for something to help us get the jeep up here. I had seen a tree trunk with it's bark stripped away. As if something held onto it. I inspected it to prove the winch useful to what I was looking at.
"Huh, barked stripped away," I said. "Something was wrapped around this tree."
I walked down the stair steps to return to the 4x4 and grab hold of the winch on the bumper. I would need to drag it up the steps so I'd be able to tie it around the tree trunk.
"Hey, did you know our car came with a winch?" I teased my uncle. Waiting in his passenger seat.
"No, really?" Bryan teased with me. "I didn't know. Watcha gonna do with it?"
"Not sure yet."
I grabbed the winch's hook, dragged the winch's wire up the steps, and tied around the trunk. Using its hook to attach the wire around the trunk and for the winch to hold it together. Then the jeep was ready to be pulled up the hill.
"There, that oughta do it," I said.
Alex and I hopped back in the car as I got it started to be pulled up the steep slope. I hit the gas peddle as hard as I could as the 4x4 vehicle's winch helped gravitate the tires up the steepest and slipperiest hill. Keeping it steady on the peddle and behind the wheel. And just what we were expecting, we were at the top of the hill proving the winch successful after all. I laughed with glee.
"You see, Bryan?" I asked. "Winch. Totally worth it."
"We cleared a hill," said Bryan. "It hasn't exactly paid for itself."
"Well, not yet. Small victories."
"Yeah, well, I'll celebrate the big ones."
We now drive on more sturdy ground and the trail. Within less than ten seconds of driving, we were now arriving to our most glamorous view of Castle Camelot in the moonlight. We had arrived at our destination. But we still had another mile of distance to drive closer to the castle for our best entry.
"Feat your eyes, ladies and gents," said Alex.
"Wowser," I said.
"Spectacular," said Bryan.
Staring at the view of the castle got me a Game of Thrones vibe. Or perhaps someplace out of the Elder Scrolls games series and Lord of the Ring movie series. Anything fantasy drastic I could think was how it felt to be overlooking King Arthur's massive castle. Wish I could assume Ezra once used as his fortress of his own. And now it's just a museum of the castle itself in our modern-day lives.
I continued driving the 4x4 to take us down the hill to Camelot and find us an entry at close quarters. Just as long as there was no sign of ConDef forces occupying Arthur's fortress.
"Just imagine," said Alex. "You've come here, a well-to-do archeologist, far away from your oppressive Germans-"
Bryan laughed.
"Poor, oppressed herd," he corrected. "All they wanted to do was to murder and pillage in peace."
"No, no," said Alex. "They wanted to live as free men. It was World War I, Dad. Whaddya expect? A stalemate between one oppressive people and another?"
"Well, if you're gonna pick a place to run away from society," I said. "You can do a lot worse than here. Not mention the Saxons during Arthur's time. And what did they knights of Loomis do before the herd? History only repeated itself centuries later."
"We've arrived at our destination," said Bryan. "And yet it's taking us forever to get to this castle."
"Patience, Dad," said Alex. "Patience. Do you know how those knights and herd members got here? They had to start in England, sail to Brazil, then cut back across the Atlantic to southern Europe…"
"Alex-"
"And they figured all that out with paper, charts, and by looking at the stars."
"Hey, you're describing sailing to a former squid."
"The point is, we got it pretty easy."
"Yeah, well, still taking a long time."
"We're almost down this hill," I said. Quelling the argument. "There's some more cairns up ahead."
"Rock pile," corrected Alex.
"Sorry, Alex. Right, rock pile."
"Thank you."
"You know, someone worked very hard to stack those rocks."
"You know, no one's told me what our family had to do with the herd and I'm stilling waiting for the answer after a long week of silence."
"I told you before, Max," said Bryan. "I would tell you when you are ready. Now quit asking and keep driving."
We were almost down the hill. Closer than ever to our destination and figured this may be a good stop for this 4x4 just to find our entrance. Luckily.
"Well," said Alex. "Would ya look at that-"
Suddenly, a loud explosion was seen and heard from the castle. We were startled and I immediately hit the brakes as Bryan warns me too.
"Oh, shit!" Bryan panics. "Stop! Stop!"
Once the vehicle made it's stop, it didn't take us more than a second to realize who was down there. None other than Alkaline's army themselves. The Continuum Defense Front was in the house and already raiding the castle before we could. As we anticipated them to.
"I see 'em," I said. "Here."
I reach for the binoculars in the compartment and take a good look around through the lenses. I was seeing ConDef troopers on my scopes rounding up dynamite and C4 to rig the castle's walls to blow just to get inside. If Rachel, Frank, Kristen, and Fernan were here, we needed to find them quick. The place was already overrun by Continuum's soldiers and surely Rachel they others must be aware that they were here if they were there likewise.
"What do we got?" Alex asked.
"Military types poking around," I said.
"Alkaline's guys?"
"Yep."
"Son of a bitch."
"Looks like they found a way inside. Through a hole they just blew."
I hand my uncle over the binoculars so he would see for himself.
"They haven't found Rachel and the others, right?" Bryan asked.
"From my understanding, that's the good news," I said.
"That means there's bad news."
Bryan looked through the lenses and saw Alkaline's men hoping out of cargo trucks by the front gate of King Arthur's fortress. No sign of Rachel and our other three companions however.
"The route inside is straight through them," I said.
"Well, shit," said Bryan. "We do have the drop on 'em."
"What's the play here, Max?" Alex asked.
"Before we go anywhere," said Bryan. "I think it's best if only you girls go in without me. While you two go find that shard and the others, I'll ready an escape vehicle."
"Sounds like a plan," said Alex. "Max, whaddya say?"
"Just follow my lead," I said.
Note: Before we exit this chapter, I'd like you all to know that we've finally received the announcement we've all anticipated from DONTNOD at E3. Or so have we thought. The moment of truth is here. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit! The prelude to Life Is Strange Season 2, baby! Available for free on June 26th! And not for $30/40 like Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes! Like MGS5 before this, it would seem that's the route DONTNOD is taking. No matter what occurs in season 2, my fanon still stands as always and as I may have spoken before. Plus, I got started on DONTNOD's Vampyr and it's okay for the most part playing the first hour of it.
Until next time, stay tuned and golden!