Tomb Raider: - Unfinished Business.

This is my first story so please be fairly nice. I am sorry if there are any discrepancies within this story. Also to understand this better you may wish to watch Deus Obscura and Deus Manifestum (a fan film) on YouTube as this is based after those. Happy reading (hopefully)! I would greatly appreciate any advice that you may have to give me.

Disclaimer- This is a fan fiction and is not intended for profit. The characters depicted in this story belong to their respective owners. Thank you.

Chapter 8: Assistance Required.

Rome was now bathed in the glittering silver moonlight. Everything was still. The silence occasionally punctured by the odd drunken shout. Since his argument with Lara, Kurtis had not left his room. He lay in his bed, facing the ceiling, wishing he could turn back time. His mind dwelling on what he had said and he hated himself for it. Even from his room he could hear Sully snoring in the living room and Nate tossing and turning. "I need new sofas" he thought, listening to the ongoing creaking of the worn sofas.

Nate couldn't sleep knowing he had come so close to Marco Polo's journal and that he never had the chance to read it. A part of him wanted to punch Kurtis for his part in the argument with Lara. She didn't know Nate so he highly doubted that she would ever ask him for help if she needed it.

Feeling tired and fed up Nate turned over vigorously knocking a bottle off of the coffee table causing it to roll under the sofa Sully was fast asleep upon. The clattering of the rolling bottle made Sully stir. Nate froze staring at Sully praying that he didn't wake up. "If he wakes up I'm dead." Thought Nate remembering the last time he woke up Sully without a good reason. That time the tired, grouchy Sully kept snapping at Nate which infuriated him.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, Nate slid off the sofa and stretched his arm under Sully's sofa and began to feel for the bottle.

"Are you looking for artefacts underneath my sofa Nate? You'll only find pennies and possibly the odd sweet." Kurtis was stood in his bedroom doorway, arms folded and an eyebrow raised. Once again Sully stirred as Nate reached further feeling something soft.

He pulled out his arm in disgust not knowing what he felt. "I knocked a bottle off the table and when I went to reach for it I felt something else" whispered Nate gesturing to the sofa. Kurtis shrugged his shoulders. Clearly he didn't really care for things to be spotlessly tidy.

With a sigh Nate moved out of the way and nodded indicating for Kurtis to feel for the item. Getting to his knees, Kurtis reached under the aged sofa feeling around for this soft object.

"Okay I feel nothing but carpet" stated Trent slightly annoyed. But as he continued to feel around he found the suspicious item. His brow furrowed as he pulled it out from underneath.

It was a book, a tattered, weather beaten book. In fact it was the same tattered, weather beaten book that Lara had shown them. Realising this Kurtis and Nate exchanged excited yet confused looks.

As Kurtis got to his feet to sit on the sofa, Nate slapped Sully's legs off of his sofa causing him to jolt awake. Sully wasn't exactly pleased.

"What did you wake me up for?! I was having a lovely dream about…" he trailed off seeing the familiar book in Kurtis's hand.

"May I?" Nate asked holding out his hand. Kurtis was happy to hand over the book. As he held it, it just reminded him of how much of a jerk he had been to Lara.

Nate eagerly flicked through its pages, stopping occasionally to read something that had caught his eye. Whilst Nate read the journal, Sully rubbed the sleep from his eyes and Kurtis went to put the kettle on.

"So kid…what treasures was Marco Polo hiding?" asked Sully, taking a cup of coffee from Kurtis as he returned from the kitchen. Nate's smile had grown wider the more he had read on.

"Kublai Khan." Nate looked up and saw their confused faces. "The Disc of Malevolence. It says here that it would grant the wielder…" he was cut off.

"The power to command an army of almighty demons" Kurtis had finished off his sentence with his head in his hands. Now it was his turn to explain further. "It's a Veritatis thing. If I'm right whilst Polo was on Kublai Khan's Privy Council he found an enchanted disc. As he and what remained of his crew, most had died retrieving the disc, were returning to China one of the crewmen was drawn to the disc. When he had touched it he couldn't let go. The power overwhelmed him and his heart packed in."

Nate and Sully were listening intently. Kurtis continued "No one knows how Marco Polo got back to China but he certainly didn't have the disc with him."

As he finished his story Sully had finished his coffee and was sat back on the sofa whilst Nate hadn't even touched his. Silence followed as Nate began to flick though the journal again hoping to find any clue to the disc's location, Sully washed up his and Kurtis's coffee cups. Kurtis was, once again in his own world, praying that Lara was alright after getting herself into another life threatening situation.

Nate suddenly stopped flicking through the pages of the worn journal after stumbling on something odd.

"What is it Nate?" questioned Sully as he sat back down. Kurtis re-joined the reality as Nate but the book on the table for all to see. There was a sticky note stuck to a picture of a map. The writing on the note didn't match the writing of Marco Polo.

Kurtis recognised the writing on the note "Wait that Lara's handwriting. Go here, I may need help." They all exchanged confused and worried looks. Kurtis began to panic "She wanted us to find this. We need to help her! Jesus Lara!" he began to pace the room with worry, his heart beating frantically.

Sully was tidying up as Nate was examining the pages closely "This looks like Polo went to an island just off the coast of China, a small island that Polo called Cascata. The disc has to be there."

As soon as Nate finished Kurtis flew off the handle. "The disc? What about Lara?! I won't leave her again."

Nate got to his feet and put his hands on Kurtis's shoulders and calmly said "She will most likely be going there herself." This seemed to calm Kurtis somewhat. He regained his composure. "We need to hurry. Get what you need, Sully and I will find a plane to…commandeer."

Kurtis turned to go back into his bedroom while Nate and Sully grabbed their things and headed for the door. They waited in the reception but they didn't have to wait long as Kurtis soon appeared beside them with a small bag. "Let's get going then. She needs me…us."

As they left the building Sully leaned over to Kurtis and whispered with a smile "Tell her." This took Kurtis be surprise and he stopped dead in his tracks, his mind wrestling with itself.

Did he or didn't he. Kurtis just couldn't make up his mind. His mind was fighting with his heart. Did he love her or not?

"C'mon man, hurry up!" Nate shouted causing Kurtis to run.