Chapter 48: The Divine Source

Sorry for the long delay! But the main game is now finally over! Now I just have the DLC (Downloadable Contant). After that, I'm taking a long break from posting all together. Less stress. When I get back to it, chapters for Kat's story will be fully written before editing then posting. That way I have the full story in mind and right in front of me.

Now on to the show!

I don't own anything. Resident Evil belongs to Capcom and Tomb Raider belongs to Core Design, Crystal Dynamics, and I think Square Enix. The only thing I own is the changes made to the stories of the Tomb Raider games/comics and Resident Evil games/comics/CG movies, the Government branch S.P.E.L.L., the person that has taken over Kathrine Warren's life, and Rose Warren. This story also will be bloody, violent, and have cursing. It's rated T for Teen.

Country: Russia, State: Siberia, City: Siberian Wilderness, Place: Kitezh, Area: Chamber of Souls, Month: November, Day: Thursday 30th, Year: 2000, Time: 07:07 KRAT…

The three burst through the doors. Frost and snow clinging to their hair and clothes. The large room was decorated lavishly and there was gold glinting everywhere. In the center of the room was Ana. She was reaching out to a diamond-shaped object covered in a golden colored cloth.

"Ana!" Lara yelled as they ran. "Stop!"

Ana looked up from the object and began to cradle it.

"Your men are defeated, Ward." Leon voiced tightly as he pulled his gun out.

"Your brother's dead too." Kat added as she gripped her spear in one hand and her handgun in the other, aimed at Ana like Leon.

Ana stared at them with wide disbelieving and horrified eyes. "No!"

"That is what Trinity has wrought." Lara said, not having a weapon out at all. "Death." She said as Ana stood up to unsteady feet. "And that's all they will ever bring. Give this up."

Ana shook her head, holding the cloth covered object tightly. "I gave up everything for this!" She said as her voiced sounded wet with emotion. "I have no intension of giving it to Trinity! What about your father?" She asked making Lara's eyes narrow. "You're dooming him to be mocked by history. How can you let this go? When you're so close?"

Lara swallowed tightly for a moment, but she had grown even more on this survival expedition turned mission. "I'm willing to make that sacrifice. I can't let you take it." She said shaking her head.

Ana couldn't believe it. Lara had been so obsessed. She'd guaranteed it. Reverse psychology made sure Lara kept going. She got her therapy sessions and knew how obsessed she was. She had to try a different tactic if the father topic didn't work. "Think of the millions suffering and dying." She eyed both Agents, knowing they had seen suffering firsthand more than Lara, she might be able to get to them. "We can save them. We can change the world." She said in desperation, and all three could see she was grabbing at straws. "Together."

"The cost is too high, Ana." Lara voiced as she slowly took careful steps toward the sick woman. "We aren't meant to live forever. Death is a part of life."

"The universe must move forward. People are born, they grow old and then they die. It's a fact." Kat said. "What right as humans do we have to deny or change that?"

Leon smiled a bit. That partly sounded like a quote, but with her Norse accent, she'd made it her own. "Everyone has their time, Ana. There's a reason there's medical treatments out there and that the medical field's advancing every day."

Ana glared at the three of them. "That's all so easy for the three of you to say. None of you are dying." She said pointedly.

"But this isn't about you." Lara voiced. "This is about humanity. Protecting what it means to be human."

Ana turned as one of her men came running into the room.

"They're coming!" He alerted. "We're surrounded!"

The moment he said that a war axe's point came out his torso. He let out a sound of pain before dying and falling to the floor. Behind him with an axe covered in blood, was Jacob. In fright, Ana pulled her handgun and aimed at him.

"Freeze!" Leon yelled at Ana, still not fully happy with killing humans.

"Jacob, look out!" Lara yelled as Ana pulled the trigger.

Ana pulled that trigger three times. Three shots hit Jacob's chest. Blood blossomed from the shot points. He held his chest as he sank to his knees. In that same moment, Leon had shot Ana's leg, blowing out her left knee. She screamed as she fell to the ground. But still held the Source in her arms.

Jacob looked up from his doubled over position. "The Source…" He gasped out before breaking into a yell. "…is not meant for this world!"

Ana spun around to face Leon, Kat, and Lara. Only to see that the agents weren't the only ones with guns on her. Lara had pulled her dual pistols and had them trained on the Trinity bitch.

"This is your chance, Lara." Ana said, still hoping that she could convince Lara to bend to her way of thinking. "Everything I've done. Everything you've done." She said as they slowly started walking in a circle, a cornered dog against a wolf. "Another Croft doesn't have to die for this."

"But I'm willing to." Lara said with an even tone.

"And it's three against one." Leon said with a shrug. "I like our odds."

Ana paled and broke into a cold sweat. He was right. When her back was too one of the branch offs, she heard the sound of armer clinking. Lots of it clinking. She turned around, waving her gun as if it would scare the people behind her. The Deathless didn't care for the modern weapon. She growled now as she looked back at Lara.

"Well, I'm not." She looked back at the coming army and fired off the last of her bullets.

They did nothing but plink off of armor or sink into flesh. But the army wasn't scared or deterred. Just kept their robotic march toward them. Seeing this, she pulled the trigger again. But she was out of bullets, and the gun slide just locked in position. She looked at her smoking empty gun and dropped it in fear. She cradled the source to her chest, like a mother desperately clinging to a child. She looked behind her at Leon, Kat, and Lara. They had killed them, hadn't they? They could save her.

"Please." She begged the agents and adventurer. "I'm dying. This is my only hope."

"Then it is your time. You can choose how you go out." Kat said tightly. "But it is your time."

Ana looked from the fallen Valkyrie to Leon and Lara. Seeing neither held sympathy for her, she looked at the Deathless. They still marched toward them. She looked at the cloth in her arms and reached for it, desperate for its "Lifesaving" power.

"Ana, no!" Lara yelled.

But before they could stop her, the cloth was pull and the source glowed brightly. It was like seeing sunlight suddenly. Leon, Kat, and Lara hissed as they looked away. Ana didn't look away. She peered at the Source. Its blue aura rushed into her eyes and they glowed in the mist. For a moment, it seemed like she would be accepted into the likes of Jacob or worse the ranks of the Deathless. But she closed her eyes and yelped in pain as she fell to the floor and dropped the faintly glowing crystal.

Lara holstered her guns and scooped the crystal up. She could feel how delicate it was in her fingers. That drop Ana had made had cracked it and it felt so fragile in Lara's fingers. Lara turned around and saw they were getting surrounded by the deathless. Leon and Kat had gone back-to-back, just like the partners they had been for the last two years. Both ready to fight to the death. Though Kat seemed confident that they might not fight and seemed a little disappointed by it.

She looked to Jacob and saw him still holding his chest. He seemed to be healing but much slower than before. He looked at her as the hot crystal in her hands gave off a strange sensation. Like it was pulsating in her hands as she held it high above herself. She was seeking his permission. She had figured out that Source was the literal source of the Deathless.

Ana saw the exchange as Lara looked at the floor as the room was illuminated by blue, white light. Her eyes widened as she realized what Lara was about to do. "Nooo!" She screamed but was too weak to stand and stop her.

Lara looked at Jacob one more time as she held her arms higher up.

He nodded at her. "It's okay."

She nodded and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry." She breathed, to her mother, her father, to Jacob, to his people.

She then slammed the crystal to the floor. It shattered into fragmented pieces. Just like throwing a hollow glass bulb to the floor. What seemed to be magic rushed out in a small shockwave. Sparks like a firework fountain erupted out and danced around the room like spirits or fairies. The Deathless froze in place. Jacob hissed sharply in pain. The Deathless started screaming in pain as they started smoking. They slowly and painfully started disintegrating around them. Their flesh turning to ash and crumbling to the floor. Leaving weapons and armor as they fell to pieces.

As the light show faded, the only people left were Ana (who was still on the floor close to tears and trying to understand what happened), Leon and Kat (both relieved they didn't have to fight), Lara (who looked amazed yet again at the magic that had happened), and Jacob (who remained on the ground and was holding his chest in pain).

"Jacob!" Lara gasped as she rushed over as Leon and Kat turned their weapons back on Ana. "Hold on…"

Once at his side, she helped him to a seated position, he wheezed but smiled sadly. "I've held on…" He began as he panted from the growing weakness of his body. "…for too long already."

Lara stared at him, then at Kat before looking back at him. "You knew I'd destroy it." She realized as he nodded.

"In all my years…I've met few as extraordinary as you." He said before letting out a few harsh coughs. He took in a sharp but relieved breath. "It's finally happening." He chuckled. "My ending."

Lara felt guilty. "I'm sorry." She apologized, seeing he had been linked to the Source too. "All I wanted to do was make a difference."

Jacob smiled at her. "You already have." He breathed as his body started to disintegrate, his ashes fading on the breeze. "…you already have."

They watched as the man, the Prophet vanished on the wind. Leaving nothing behind but his jacket.

Country: Russia, State: Siberia, City: Siberian Wilderness, Place: Kitezh, Area: Mountain side, Month: November, Day: Thursday 30th, Year: 2000, Time: 07:42 KRAT…

Ana coughed heavily as she was lead on the road by Leon. She was being treated like a common criminal. She looked at Lara and Kat as they walked. Kat seemed to be remining vigilant. Ana couldn't fathom why. Her squad was all gone. Leon stopped and let the ill woman rest on a rock. He wasn't cruel. She hated that she felt appreciation for his kindness. She sat on the rock as she coughed heavily, blood coming out and over her hands.

Lara sighed heavily before she slowly turned around to face the woman. "Ana…" She began making the woman looked up at her. "You said 'Another Croft doesn't have to die for this'." Ana looked at Lara with a pained expression. "I think I know what you meant. But just so we're clear…what the fuck does that mean?"

Ana stayed silent as Leon watched them both.

Lara's nose twitched as she pulled both pistols. "Was it you that killed my father or your insane brother?"

Ana looked up at the two barrels pointed at her. She was quiet for a moment before speaking. "Trinity ordered his execution…yes." She swallowed as Kat looked up at something on the ridge. "But…" Ana looked at Lara as Leon frowned at Kat. "I couldn't do it."

"So, it was your brother? Or are you lying again!?" Lara demanded harshly.

"I loved him." Ana breathed out in a painful way.

That's when Kat's eyes widened as she grabbed Leon and pulled him away from Ana. He was confused until the sound of a bullet cutting through flesh sounded and he saw Anna fall back from the rock. Red stained the snow behind her.

"No!" Lara yelled enraged she wasn't the one to pull the trigger.

"Cover!" Kat yelled as she, Lara and Leon ducked behind the rocks.

"Shit! That's what you meant. Sniper." Leon hissed as he peered over the rock, looking for the killer.

"Yeah. They're good. Like Spectre in Raccoon." Kat gritted as she pulled her own rifle.

"Can you get them?" Lara asked as she peered over her rock cover, looking for something to indicate where the Sniper was.

"If they're good, they'd already moved." Kat growled as she shifted and looked through her scope. "And they fucking moved." She hissed as she moved her gun carefully, looking for them.

"So, are we out of danger?" Leon asked.

Kat nodded. "Yeah. I remember this. They want Lara alive for now. I'm gonna assume it's the same for us."

"FUCK!" Lara yelled as she hit the snow.

Country: Russia, State: Siberia, City: Siberian Wilderness, Place: Near Kitezh, Area: Geothermal Valley, Month: November, Day: Thursday 30th, Year: 2000, Time: 07:46 KRAT…

They got back to the village. It was somber as the news was delivered. Trinity was beaten. But Jacob had perished. The three had pulled Sofia aside and began explaining to her who Jacob had been and how he had perished in greater detail.

"I know it's a lot to take in…" Lara said as she looked at Sofia on the bench.

"I wish I could have been with him in the end." Sofia said looking down at the ground. She looked up at the sky which had cleared slightly.

"Knowing your people would be safe gave him comfort." Kat told her as she looked at Sofia.

"He went peacefully." Leon assured.

Sofia smiled before she nodded. She stood and held her hand to Lara. "Thank you, Lara." Lara stood and shook hands with her. "Thank you, Leon." She said as she switched to shaking Leon's hand. "And thank you, Kat." She said as she switched to shake Kat's hand. "Our oaths have been fulfilled."

"What will you do now?" Leon asked.

"This is still our home. We will rebuild," Sofia said as she nodded at the people working around her, already in the process of cleaning up and rebuilding. "But there is much work to be done. There are still enemies in this valley."

"And there is still much to discover." Lara agreed.

"Like that Bunker." Leon added as he pulled his sat phone. "Which will be the only thing I'll report on."

Kat nodded as she pulled her own. "I'll have to report on the supernatural stuff but, they shouldn't need to make any fallow up."

"Bunker?" Sofia asked frowning.

"Yeah. A Soviet bunker from the cold war. It's somehow got a virus in it that turns only men into the undead. Though who it effects might be wrong." Kat said as she nodded at Lara.

"But given nearly everything that has happened, I'd bet on it being right. Anyone one with a Y in their chromosome should steer clear of it." Lara agreed.

Leon sighed as he came over after finishing up his call. "Which means I can't go. Which kills me."

"We'll be ok." Kat said before getting through to her people.