A/N: The next chapter is here.

I just want to give you a heads-up that thee is a lot of untranslated Spanish in this chapter. I thought about translating it before I remembered a segment in Uncharted 4 where the characters spoke untranslated Spanish so I decided to go that route. Plus, it helps with the immersion.

Don't worry, after this chapter, there are only two more chapters left in Eric's origin story before we get back to Cassie.


ACT I

January 2026

Temple of the Warriors, Mexico

"Are these our teammates?" Eric asks as he looks down at the two bodies. He rolls them on their backs as gently as possible before he searches them. "What were their names?"

"We're not too sure," Vasily answers as he looks over the bodies. "We have no way of identifying them."

Eric looks at them. "How is that possible?"

"A general does not know the name of every soldier."

"But they should," Alexa argues, "even if it is impractical. These people are fighting for us; they should know that they have a name and aren't some cannon fodder."

"So, does that mean we're getting dog tags?" Vasily asks.

"No," Eric shakes his head, "we're not soldiers."

"We're terrorists, according to the media," Vasily snarks.

"We're freedom fighters," Eric says firmly. "We fight against those who are corrupt." Eric feels something in one of the soldier's pockets. Pulling it out, he finds a notebook of some kind. An old, rotten notebook with Spanish writing. Flipping the book open, he checks to see what the contents are inside before he sees a name he recognizes on the front.

"Franciso Vásequez de Cornado?" he reads. Eric looks over at Vasily. "These soldiers of ours, what were they doing in this part of Mexico?"

"I sent them on a recon mission. They were part of a four-man squad. They were supposed to do a recon of cartel territory in the area and report back."

"What were your plans with this cartel?"

"Strike a deal with them." Vasily sits down on a bench.

"And here I was, thinking that you were going to destroy them." Eric stands up, pocketing the notebook. "What is the cartel doing all the way out here? I thought the cartels were headquartered primarily in the city. What's going on with this Warriors' Temple crap?"

"This is what got our attention in the first place," Alexa answers. "All of the cartels in the city have a pattern which they follow to maintain the status quo. All but one cartel: Los Rapaces."

Eric narrows his eyes. "You sent a four-man team to this temple and... only two bodies are found."

A soldier approaches them, wearing black. "Apologizes, my superiors, but we've found no sign of the last two soldiers in the group. I'm afraid they must be considered MIA."

"If this is Los Rapaces' territory, then chances are, they got our two missing soldiers," Vasily says.

"Let's go find them," Eric says. "If this is that cartel's territory, then let's go get them back. Let's destroy them all if we have to."

Vasily holds a hand up. "Eric, that was not our intention."

Alexa nods. "True. By eliminating so much as one cartel, there will be a power vacuum. Who knows what will happen?"

"But we have the numbers," Eric says, "let's just..."

"That's not our intention," Alexa speaks up, "our goal is to preserve the peace, not incite a war."

"There will eventually be a war as long as -"

Alexa grabs his shoulders. "Listen to me. Listen to me very carefully, Eric, no matter what you do, no matter how many people you kill, or how many structures you destroy, Vito and Mira are never coming back alive."

Eric pauses, going silent and looking down at the ground.

"I get it; you're still grieving over what happened to them but destruction is not the answer. Remember, we were raised to be killers; now we're trying to be better. I didn't like what we did in Belgium with all those diamonds but it was necessary to fund our army. Inciting a war for no reason is just..." Alexa lifts his chin. "Hey, try and help us save these two soldiers."

Eric remains silent and feels his shoulders go rigid. When Alexa rubs her finger down his chin, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Alexa pulls away carefully before looking at the soldier.

"Los Rapaces, where is their territory?"

"A turncoat from Mexico claims that their headquarters are about two miles north of here. However, they keep their prisoners in Mexico City."

"Alright. Four diamonds. We're going to trade four diamonds to get our two soldiers back." Alexa pauses. "And have snipers on standby. And have soldiers native to this country on standby."

"What for?" the soldier asks.

"I'm just preparing for several contingencies. Infiltrating, assisnation, we gotta be prepared for anything."

"Roger that, ma'am."

"Come on, prepare the car," Alexa orders.

Eric follows his teammates to the jeep where the soldier hops in the driver's seat and takes off.

Eric sits in the back passenger side and looks out the window. He rests his chin on his hand and closes his eyes.

Hey, Eric, Vito's voice rings in his head. We miss you, Eric.

When are you going to come back? Mira asks. Please come back, Eric.

Please, both twins beg, we promise to be good. Please.

Eric sighs heavily and rubs his hand over his forehead. No, please, I don't want to think about this. To distract him, he reaches into his inner jacket pocket and opens the notebook once more. He clears his throat as he begins translating the Spanish in his head.

"What are you reading?" Vasily asks. "What was the guy's name again?"

"Coronado," Eric answers. "He's a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He traveled through Mexico and the United States, searching for the seven cities of gold. You may know that the seven cities of gold as Quivara or Cibola. The other five, I can't remember off the top of my head."

"Is that Coronado's real journal?"

Eric flips to the first page and shows it to Vasily. "That's his signature. And you can tell by the texture of the book. It's old, rotted, and still full of dust. And the letters are too faded to be modern."

"What was this soldier doing with Coroando's journal?"

"Given how dusty the journal is, I'm going to assume that he found it in the temple." Eric flips through the pages before he finds a word that stands out. "Aztlán."

"What's Aztlán?"

"Oh, it's the origin place for the Aztecs. It's a mythical city, said to be located somewhere in Mexico."

"And Coronado had Aztlán in his journal hidden in the temple that our soldier found."

"Exactly." Eric ponders for a moment. "You know, if we play our cards right, we can trade this for something valuable. We can use this to buy our soldiers back. This cartel... Los Rapaces has our boys and if we trade this journal for something good, we can buy them back."

"Are you sure you want to go down that route?" Alexa asks. "We want to get our soldiers back but we don't want to give this cartel too much power or eliminate them. I already explained the power vacuum that comes with killing this cartel. And... giving them too much power could upset the status quo. Remember, we don't want these cartels to be making a mess here in Mexico."

"Again, my original argument for killing all the cartels in Mexico is still an option."

"No, who knows what could happen. We may be a big group but we're not big enough. We'll attract unwanted attention. Remember, we still need to build up our army if we want to change the world."

Eric pauses and looks down at the journal. "How about I trade myself for their services."

"Huh?"

"These soldiers, they're trained but they managed to get captured with some getting killed by this cartel. If I prove my worth, I can trade myself for them."

"And then what?"

"I don't know. Just..."

Alexa narrows her eyes. "What are you planning, Eric?"

"Nothing. Just... I can make a deal with them. I'll show them what I'm capable of, they'll want to keep me and then, I can work from the inside."

"I heard Los Rapaces is a tight-knit group. Unlike those cartels you see in the media, they're not the kind to kill their own while at the same time, accepting new members."

"But I guarantee they would rather have me as a friend than an enemy."

"And how will you get back to us?"

"You'll figure it out." Eric kisses her cheek. "You've always been the smartest one out of the three of us."

A few minutes later, they arrive at Los Rapaces' headquarters in the city. The driver parks a block away while Eric steps outside and removes all his equipment. He takes the four diamonds from earlier and tucks them in his inner jacket pocket where the journal is.

"Snipers on standby," a voice comes through the earpiece.

"Good."

Eric approaches the mansion and holds his hands up to the cartel guards.

"Gringo!" the first guard yells. "Detente ahí, gringo."

"No te preocupes, no quiero hacerte daño," Eric responds.

"¡No muevas ni un músculo!" The guard moves forward and pistol-whips Eric. Eric falls to his knees, where he feels the guards place handcuffs on him. The guard frisks him. "Tienes algo que le podría gustar al capitana." He looks to the guard. "Llama a la capitana."

The second guard nods before using his radio. After conversing with the person on the other end, they drag Eric in through the mansion and pull him through the front doors. They put a bag on his head and dragged him to an elevator. They take him down to the basement floor and push him through.

The basement has several cartel members standing over two Hispanic Overlord soldiers, bleeding from their forearms and tendons as they wield machetes and look at the newcomer with interest. A conversation happens between them before they force Eric down in a chair. They quickly tie him to the chair before removing the bag.

"Well, well, well," a voice comes through with a slight Spanish accent. "What do we have here? A new bullet sponge for target practice? Now that's what I'm talking about."

Eric looks at this person speaking English and sees a tall Hispanic man with shiny brown eyes, pearly white teeth, and a C-shaped scar under his right eye. He has a clean shave that makes him look like a teenager even though this man was clearly in his twenties.

The young man grabs a hammer and touches Eric's forehead with it. "Am I going to play Whack-a-Mole?" He pretends to make a winding sound as he raises his hammer above his head. "Am I?" He makes the same winding sound as he slowly brings the hammer down, stopping two inches away. "Am I?" Winding sound upward. "Am I?" Winding sound downward. The young man laughs as he removes the hammer from Eric's forehead and pulls a chair out. "Well, it's not often we get such gringos as yourself in our home. It's lovely, is it not?" He looks to the two Overlord soldiers. "Is he with you?"

The soldiers nod.

"Good." He looks to the guards. "Take them to the other room while we chat with our guest in private."

As he finishes speaking, a young woman speaks through, having chin-length black hair and dark brown eyes. She glares at the gringo in the room before turning to the guards. "¿Qué esta haciendo él aquí?"

"Él tiene algo," the guard answers. "Revisa el bolsillo de este gringo."

The woman snatches four diamonds out of Eric's pocket as well as the journal. She looks at the diamonds with disdain and tosses them aside but keeps the journal.

"Abandonar la habitación," the woman orders.

The guard flinches. "¿Capitana?"

"Abandonar la habitación!" the woman repeats, finally making the guards leave, with only the tall quirky man remaining behind.

"As I live and breathe," the woman smiles, "if it isn't Overlord itself. You know, I had doubts but to find out that you were real is something else."

"You've heard of us?" Eric asks.

"Yes. We saw the symbols on your soldiers but we didn't want to believe it at first. After all, false flag operations are common." Her tone darkens. "The diamonds confirmed that you are Overlord. My name is Frida Hidalgo and this ugly bastard behind me is Antonio, my brother."

"Her handsome older brother," Antonio snarks.

"My name is Eric. And... I came here to negotiate the release of my fellow soldiers. We were going to give you diamonds, four diamonds in exchange for our two soldiers."

"Wow," Antonio awes, "four diamonds for two soldiers? That means... one soldier is equal to two diamonds." He smiles. "Man, isn't math so much fun?"

"What makes you think we want those diamonds?"

"The Temple of the Warriors. We heard that your cartel was digging around. We sent soldiers to investigate and you killed two while abducting two others. We figured that you're interested in looking for treasures to expand your empire."

"Those are blood diamonds and we will not use those diamonds," Frida said firmly. "I'm afraid you have nothing to bargain with."

Eric flinches. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't think I know about these diamonds? The blood that was spilled, the dirty handshakes, the corruption behind these diamonds? I will not stand for these diamonds." Frida looks away at her brother. "Hold this."

Antonio catches the journal. "Hey, sis, do you know what this is?"

Frida looks back. "Coronado's journal. It looks like we captured the wrong soldiers."

"Oh, so that's what you were looking for," Eric nods. "Coronado's journal. Why, because of it's historical value? I gotta say, cartels aren't usually focused on the past."

"Terrorists focus on the past, cartels focus on the future." Frida sits in the chair and smiles. "As a terrorist, you should know."

"I'm not focused on the past."

"Then why did you bomb that government house in Belgium? You pulled a kamikaze on it and stole diamonds. Everybody knows about it."

"It's not what you think; we only bomb a portion of that government house that had the corrupt people inside. The people who killed..." he gulps... "who indirectly caused the death of a couple of kids."

"I'm afraid I have no sympathy for you. I'm going to have to ask once again what you have to give us because those blood diamonds aren't going to cut it."

"I just want my soldiers to return safely home. I'll offer my services in exchange for their safe return."

"Services?"

"I may be one man but... I've been told that I have enough fight in me for ten people. I'm also in my prime so I can keep up with you."

"Los Rapaces are no pushovers and even so, we don't take in new members. Besides, we've been doing fine on our own, considering that we're one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico."

"But with me, you can be even more powerful."

"Cool," Antonio yelps suddenly, "Man, this writing system is so freaking cool. Sis, look at this!"

"Hermano, cállate."

Antonion mopes. "Okay."

Eric narrows his eyes. I can get out of these zip ties, no problem, but these guys are an interesting lot. These guys aren't regular cartels; I could tell by the way an average guard was able to restrain me. And these guys are interested in a different kind of power; I just got to figure out what. My goal here is to get my two soldiers back but at the same time, I want to destroy these bastards.

"I used to be part of Task Force: Orphan."

Frida looks at him. "What's that?"

Eric presses his lips together. "Nothing, I guess."

"Nothing public?" Frida demands. Frida sits up. "Speaking of publicity, there is something I have to ask. How many snipers are waiting outside this mansion? Three, four? How many entrances are they covering? And I have to ask: what do you plan on doing once you come raiding this place with your terrorist group?"

"I don't-"

"You are terrorists and you're well-known all throughout Mexico. You may not believe this but every cartel in the country fears you because of your destructive capabilities. We also noticed something else; you're not one to target innocent people or cause the death of innocent people. You know what that means? You have a weakness, a weakness that we can exploit. At our last conference meeting, the cartel leaders came to an agreement. A fail-safe if you please. We agreed that in the event that Overlord takes down one cartel, then all the other cartel members are to massacre everyone they see, innocent people of all kinds. The police are too small and not noble enough to stop us. The military and police are both on our payroll so to stop us completely, you would have to wipe out the entire country of Mexico. Even if you destroyed every corrupt person, it's only a matter of time before a civilian picks up a gun and becomes a drug lord. This is a no-win situation with you, Overlord."

Eric clenches his hands. These cartel guys are different from anyone else I've ever faced before.

"However... I am willing to negotiate with you." Frida sits back in her chair. "If you can offer me your insights and help me, then I will release you and your soldiers."

Eric licks his lips. "What?"

"Coronado, man," Antonio answers, "what do you know about the Coronado? Come on, man, give us your insights."

"Why?"

"My brother failed history school and I'm trying to educate him," Frida rolls her eyes. "These are our conditions. Tell me what you know about Coronado and I'll release you and your soldiers. We won't bother you again and we'll even give you money to pay for the prisoners' medical treatment."

"Why?"

"It's the least we can do-"

"Why are you so interested in Coronado?" He narrows his eyes once again. "Does it have something to do with Aztlán?"

Frida leans back in her chair. "Aztlán? Do you know about Aztlán?"

"I've read the journal."

"And you've understood the ancient writing system?"

"I'm something of a history buff."

"You know about Aztlán, Coronado, and you understood some ancient writing system; I'd say you being a history buff would be an understatement. It took my brother years to understand the system and even then, he is still flunking."

"I hated the world so I decided to immerse myself in the past. Honestly, I wish I lived in the past where things seemed to be much brighter, where there was hope."

"Don't we all. Anyway, my offer still stands. If you can help give us some information on Aztlán, then we'll let your soldiers go."

Eric sighs. "Do I have your word?"

"Sí."

Eric groans.

"I can tell that even so, you are reluctant. Ver para creer. Or 'seeing is believing' as you gringos say. So..."

Antonio removes the zip ties from Eric before putting them back on. The two lead Eric to the other room. Opening the door, they watch gleefully as Eric's facial expressions adopt one of horror.

The other room where the captured soldiers were taken, was now filled with more than just those two soldiers.

Bound and gagged on the ground, removed of all their equipment and jackets, was Alexa, Vasily, and the driver from earlier.

Eric panics and struggles before Antonio pistol-whips him again. Eric falls to his knees where he sees several more Overlord soldiers on the ground. The snipers they set up lay unconscious on the ground, bruises around their throats, indicating that they had been choked out.

"The price just went up," Frida says. "Aztlán for your entire unit."

These aren't regular cartels, Eric realizes, they captured Alexa and Vasily. Or, wait, maybe Alexa came up with a plan so we all walk away happy. If so... "This isn't my entire unit." He looks to Alexa. "Alexa? Τι συνέβη?"

"Μας έπιασαν απροειδοποίητα," Alexa grumbles.

"Ублюдки!" Vasily shouts.

So it wasn't their plan, Eric internally growls.

"Uh, excuse me," Antonio calls out, "this is Mexico, we speak Spanish, not, whatever language you guys are speaking so we would appreciate if you-"

Eric breaks out of the zip ties and headbutts Antonio in the groin. He shoves him back and pushes him over a crate. Two cartel members quickly rush Eric.

Eric punches the first one, knocking him out instantly before the second cartel member tackles Eric to the ground. The second cartel guy pins Eric down and puts him in a chokehold before Eric sits up and punches him in the face. Eric's opponent loses his state of mind for a second before Eric wraps his arms around his hips, picks him up as he stands, and bodyslams him.

Antonio picks himself up and draws two revolvers. He aims at Eric and fires.

Eric's back hits the wall as four bullets from each revolver fire at him. Eric feels bullets whistle past him and looks at the gunslinger with wide eyes.

"Bullseyes, baby," Antonio laughs.

Eric briefly looks back, seeing the bulletholes in the wall making a perfect outline of his head. Eric looks forward, eyeing Antoino once again. He ducks when Antoio aims both guns again. Antonio fires in the center of the head-shaped outline, making an X with the last four bullets before holstering his guns.

Frida draws two knives and throws them at the X, hitting them dead center before making a fist and smiling.

"Bullseye, indeed," Frida laughs.

The cartel quickly aims their gun at the Overlord soldiers, making sure to cock their guns loud enough for Eric to hear.

Eric clenches his fists and looks at Frida and Antonio with a glare.

"The offer still stands," Frida tells Eric, "if you help us, we will release you and all of your companions. But after we do that, you must leave Mexico and never return."

Eric says nothing for the longest time and simply stares at Frida and Antonio, not forgetting that his classmates are at the mercy of the cartel.

I should've killed them. I should've killed every single cartel when I had the chance. Alright, I'll play your little game. I'll help you find Aztlán and then once we're done... I'll kill you and every single cartel out there.

"Do I have you word that you'll spare Vasily and Alexa?"

"I'm not sure who they are but based on their names, I'd say they're the Greek girl and Russian boy."

"And all my soldiers."

Frida puts a hand on her heart. "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a knife in my eye."

"And a bullet in mine," Antonio adds.

"Better hope I'm not the one who does it," Eric growls.

"Well, it looks like we have a deal."


With Frida and Antonio

After locking the Overlord soldiers in the jail cell, Frida and Antonio ride the elevator to the top floor of the mansion. Frida pulls out her radio.

"Fantasma-1, ¿todo despejado?"

"Reina Fantasma, aquí Fantasma-1, el área está despejada, cambio."

Frida smiles. "Excelente. Estén atentos, Fantasma-1. Reina Fantasma fuera." She puts her radio away. "Esta noche podremos dormir bien, Antonio."

Antonio reaches out and wraps his arms around her, holding her tight against his chest. "Bien, porque nada me encantaría más que dormir contigo." He reaches out and strokes her soft hair. "Eres tan hermosa Frida."

Frida turns back and strokes Antonio's chin. "Tócame, así sin más. Por favor."

"¿Cómo puedo resistirme?" Antonio kisses her jaw. "¿Te veré esta noche?'

"¡Sí Sí!" Frida says desperately, kissing her brother on the lips.

The elevator doors open, forcing Frida and Antonio to separate. Antonio steps out before looking back at Frida.

"Te amo."

Frida smiles. "Te amo." The elevator doors close.


ACT II

"How is it that the journal leads us here?" Antonio asks Eric.

Eric looks ahead at the pyramid-like temple before him, shaking his head. "I'm not sure. But I've done my job. My job was to help translate this journal and help you find the lost city of Aztlán."

"I thought Aztlán would be much bigger," Frida says, looking over the temple. "We get a lot of temples in this part of the town but to have a temple such as this..."

"Have you seen this temple before?"

"Nunca."

"Good, then we're both on familiar lands in uncharted territories." Eric looks behind him and sees two platoons worth of cartel members surrounding the area, all wearing fatigues and wielding firearms of varying types from machine guns to shotguns. A sniper in a ghillie suit climbs a tree and takes position. A jeep with a machine gun in the back pulls up with several cartels stepping out. They say something to Frida in Spanish.

"My men say it is all clear; no prying eyes around the temple." Frida looks ahead. "Now then, open it up."

Several cartels run to the front of this temple towering over them and they plant several explosives. After getting clear, they detonate, sending debris flying everywhere. The cartels turn the flashlight on their guns and head inside the temple. They sweep the area like a military squad and come out, nodding to Frida.

"All clear. Now, let's step in."

Eric follows after them, keeping a distance between them as Frida and Antonio step through first.

Looking around them, Eric gazes in awe at the architecture of this temple. The temple features several wheels and dials on the wall, depicting Aztec figures. The designs have not been touched in years, given the dust and nature overgrowing the structure but that was obvious, even from the start. Eric internally smiles.

Man, I'm in an Aztec temple, one that human hands haven't touched in years. It's so beautiful. Man, I wish I got to take Vito and Mira-

He silences himself in his head, his smile vanishing instantly.

Eric waits patiently as the cartel quickly sweeps and clears the temple of any potential threats. One of the cartels steps on a tile that descends into the ground and small darts shoot out of the wall. The dark hits the cartel in the chest, who immediately retreats and runs back.

A medic comes along and pulls the dart out. The medic rubs its hands over the dart before checking the cartel's chest. "Era un dardo envenenado; Tu chaleco te salvó la vida."

The cartel laughs. "Gracias a Dios por los chalecos antibalas."

Eric narrows his eyes. "Huh, looks like even the Aztecs set traps up. And I thought that was only in the movies."

"Their traps may have worked in the past but this is modern times, amigo," Antonio laughs, "it's dos mil veintiséis; times change, friend."

Frida turns to a cartel. "Ramírez, toma punto."

The cartel nods before taking point.

"Are you okay with letting your men die?" Eric asks Frida as he follows her. The cartel lady steps exactly in Ramírez's footsteps. "Do you see them as expendable because I heard that you cared about your cartel?

"It's not about seeing them as expendable, it's about trusting them." Frida looks around. "It's about trusting your men with a task."

Eric looks behind him and sees several more cartels aiming up and down the temple.

"Are you military?" Eric finally asks.

Frida pauses, as does Antonio and the other cartel.

Frida stares back at him. "Ex-military."

Eric flinches. That explains it. I've been trained to be a killer since I was a kid but I don't have military experience. Pastor Castle was NOT a veteran; no wonder these guys took down my teammates so easily. I can see why they're one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico. But what is their goal here? What is their endgame? Why are they so deadset on looking for Aztlán? Either way, whether Aztlán is a myth or not, I made a deal with these guys and I have to honor it.

"Aww man," Antonio laughs, "don't you just love the way the dark makes you feel like a giant?"

After several more minutes of sweeping and clearing the temple, while admiring the Aztec art and architecture, they finally reach the end of the temple where they stumble upon some kind of coffin. After securing a perimeter, Frida and Antonio stand over the coffin and run their hands over it.

"Wow, look at this beauty." Antonio blows dust off the coffin. "When I die, I want to be buried in a cool coffin like this; it's on my bucket list." He pauses. "When this is done, I'm going to start working on my coffin. Hector, you're going to help me design a cool-looking coffin."

"Who is this?" Frida looks down at the coffin.

"That writing system..." Eric looks at the coffin. "I think it's... Moctezuma the first."

"The Aztec emperor?" Frida narrows her eyes. "Wasn't he murdered or something?"

"Something like that."

"But if he was murdered, what is his body doing out here? As an emperor, wouldn't his body-"

"Unless it was removed from his original resting place," Eric realizes. "They dug him up and then they carried his body here."

Frida gives an order to the cartel to open the coffin, to which they comply. Looking inside, they find a skeleton inside with Aztec jewelry covering him. They also find something of a journal inside. Eric reaches in and removes the journal.

"Another journal." He opens it and flips to the first page. A cartel provides him with a flashlight to help him read. "Oh my god," he gasps after looking over the journal twice. "This is Diego Durán's notebook."

"Friar Diego Durán?" Frida questions. "What the hell is a friar's notebook doing in Moctezuma's coffin?"

"Is it me or does this seem like some kind of conspiracy?" Antonio asks. "Now, I live conspiracies as much as the next guy but honestly, this is getting a little complicated."

"But I thought you like complicated," Frida smiles.

Antonio matches her grin. "That I do, Hermana."

Eric takes out Coroando's journal before holding up both journals in his hand. "What do the two journals have in common and how is Moctezuma connected?"

"Didn't dear Friar Diego say he never found Aztlán?" Antonio questions.

"That's what he told the public but obviously, there is something else in store."

Frida looks around. "¡Asegura el templo!" Frida orders. "Eric, you better get to work on those journals and make it quick though."

"I'm going to need some time." Eric sits in front of the coffin and looks down at the journal. "And I would like some privacy please."

"You will but don't think we won't be watching you."

"And I wish to have Alexa and Vasily in attendance. Please, I work better knowing they're within arm's reach."

Frida and Antonio look at each other before nodding.

"No es una buena idea, hermana," Antonio whispers.

"No intentará nada," Frida replies.

"¿Usted confia en el?"

Frida looks at Eric. "No. Y es por eso que podemos dejarle ver a sus amigos. Sabe que no le quitaremos los ojos de encima así que no hace nada." She switches to English. "You may have your friends within arm's reach."

Eric sighs happily. "Gracias."

"De nada," the drug lords reply.

A few minutes later, several cartels drag Alexa and Vasily through the temple and shove them to the ground five feet away from Eric.

"You may have your friends but you are not to make contact with them."

Eric grounds his teeth. "Well, I guess it's better than nothing."

"Volver al trabajo."

Eric flips her off.

Eric looks down at the journals before him and sets them on his lap. He closes the journal from Cornoado before opening the one from Duran. He quickly reads it over, skimming through it before looking for symbols that may stand out. One page shows a heart with two knives sticking in it. This prompts Eric to stand up and take a look at the necklace on the corpse. The necklace was a pendant, kinda looking like the Heart of the Ocean with two knives piercing it. He carefully removes the necklace from the dead emperor's throat and holds it carefully in his hand.

Eric looks up to see Vasily and Alexa staring at him uneasily. They manage to make themselves smile, giving him some comfort before Eric looks down. When he looks up again, he flinches.

Vito and Mira were in front of him.

Eric, Vito calls out, It's us, remember.

We haven't forgotten about you, Mira adds, please don't forget about us.

Eric breathes heavily and looks down. He slaps his forehead before looking up, Vito and Mira vanishing with Vasily and Alexa taking their place.

They're not here, Eric tells himself, they're gone, they're not real.

Meanwhile, Antonio reaches in and removes a ring from the corpse. He heads back to his hermana and places the ring on her finger. He pulls her hand up and kisses her. "Mi reina."

"La bella y la Bestia," Frida replies. "Si alguien te llama bestia, le arrancaré los pulmones."

Eric reads over the page with the heart symbol and narrows his eyes.

'The great kingdom of Aztlán cannot be seen by human eyes; It is not a discovery meant to be discovered. It is a hell born of a dictator with a disturbing mind. A place where one loses one's heart before losing one's head and finally one's soul.' Eric flips to another page. 'The riches of Aztlán will be worth millions in the future but the hearts with which the gold is made should not be in anyone's hands.'

Heart. Eric holds up the necklace. He quickly flips to another page.

'The door to Aztlán can only be opened with the heart of Moctezuma.'

Eric closes the journal. "Moctezuma's heart," he says aloud.

"¿Qué pasa?" Antonio steps forward. "¿Qué pasa, Mufasa?"

Eric chuckles. "Moctezuma's heart. I think it's this necklace."

"That's an emperor's heart? I mean, I always knew that some people in this world had cold hearts but a heart made of some kind of diamonds is something else."

"The notebooks warned us that we shouldn't look for Aztlán."

"Ooh, a little eerie vibe thrown into this Aztec conspiracy; I like it."

"We're not believers in that evil spirit mumbo-jumbo," Frida tells him. "And what's this about Moctezuma's heart?"

"I've seen this symbol several times throughout the friar's journal, which makes me think this is more than just a necklace; it's a key. A key to some kind of structure or temple or whatever."

"Really." Frida kneels and looks at the necklace. She quickly snatches it from Eric and looks it over. Narrowing her eyes, she takes out her radio. "Reina Fantasma a todas las unidades, pasen. Tengo órdenes para ustedes. Todas las unidades, estén atentos a estructuras o templos en todo el país que tengan el símbolo de un corazón con dos cuchillos atravesándolo. Estas estructuras deberían tener más de doscientos años. Repito, un corazón con cuchillos atravesándolo." Frida puts her radio away.

"What did you say?" Eric looks at her.

"I put a lookout on all temples and structures in the city and countryside for temples that have this symbol. Aztects love their symbols and using symbols on their temples so if we're going to be looking for Aztlán, then we need to look for a temple with this necklace symbol."

"Just like that?"

"This is the advantage of having a big group working with you; easier to divide and conquer."

Eric looks at her, saying nothing. "I've done my part. Would it inconvenience you to let my friends go?"

"I believe it would." Frida pulls back. "Vasily and Alexa aren't going anywhere until we get an update from one of my men."

"But what if they have to go to the bathroom? Are you going to have them go in this ancient temple?"

"There's already skeletons here," Antonio points out, "I'm sure the gods won't mind if we use their shrine as a toilet."

Eric steps up. "Can I have the necklace back?"

Frida pockets the necklace. "That's not going to happen. Stop pretending you're in control here, gringo, you're not. But I do appreciate you looking out for your men."

"I'm not the leader; Overlord doesn't have a leader."

Frida laughs. "¿Un grupo terrorista sin líder? That won't work, blanco. There must be a leader; every group must have a leader. A democracy means too many decisions, too many oppositions, and too much time wasted between a group of people. A leader, on the other hand, can make things más fácil."

"I don't want to be a leader."

"Ooh, I do," Antonio says excitedly while jumping up and down with his hand in the air like a schoolboy. "I want to be the leader. Please, por favor, I promise to do a good job."

"I thought you already were a leader."

Antonio smirks. "Astute observation, gringo, I am a leader and you are not."

Eric rolls his eyes.

XxXxXxX

Two Hours Later

Two hours is a long time to wait for a reply to come back but Eric makes it work by looking over both journals and mentally recording as much data as possible. Once Eric is halfway down re-reading the journals, Frida gets a call on her radio. Eric doesn't hear what the voice on the other end says but based on Frida's reaction, they strike the motherload.

Frida smiles before using her radio again. "Todas las unidades, aquí Ghost Queen, prepárense para partir. Repito que todas las unidades se preparan para partir." She turns to the cartels around her. "Todos ustedes, muévanse ahora."

"Ay ay, capitana," Antonio salutes. "You heard her; move out, now."

Antonio and three cartels head over to Vasily and Alexa and drag them away. Eric clenches his fists and prepares to go before Frida holds a blade to her throat.

"We are not done with you, white boy," Frida reminds her. "Remember, we still own you and you still owe us something good in exchange for your soldiers."

Eric narrows his eyes. "You must have a destination." He pulls back and rubs his neck. "Where?"

"Somewhere far away from prying eyes. Isla Ángel de la Guarda. In case you can't understand that, Archangel Island."

XxXxXxX

After clearing out, the cartel secures the rest of the temple before abandoning it completely. They load up in trucks and jeeps before driving into the city.

Eric sits in the back of the jeep with Frida and Antonio and looks to the right to see Vasily and Alexa in the back of another jeep.

Alexa looks over to him and smiles, showing that she is okay. Vasily holds up his middle finger and waves it playfully like he's saying hello. Eric manages to laugh and copies his gesture.

Just get these guys what they want and we can leave Mexico.

As they pull to a stop in front of a checkpoint with the military standing guard, an officer approaches the driver before Frida hands over her license. The officer looks over her license before looking at the girl with wide eyes.

"¿Reina fantasma?"

Frida looks at the officer, offering him a scowl before he returns her license and turns to his men.

"Ellos son buenos; dejalos pasar."

Eric watches the back of Frida's head as they drive off with the remaining jeeps following in. "How did you do that?"

"Tengo una reputación," Frida answers. "I have a reputation," she translates.

"Oh man, did you see the look on that officer's face?" Antonio laughs. "He looked like he was going to shit himself! Oh man, I can't. Man, I love this gig too much. Hey, why don't we drive back to my old school and you give the teacher that gave me an F that glare."

"We'll see, hermano."

"Awesome. Oh, and Salazar," he turns to the driver, "remind to bring the camera to record it. Recuérdame traer la cámara. I'll probably post it on YouTube."

Frida reaches into her pocket and pulls out the necklace once more. Looking down and smiling, she places it back in her pocket before turning to Antonio. As she was about to say something, her world goes black.

A pickup truck rams the left side of the jeep and spins the vehicle around.

The driver, Salazar, dies from the impact while Frida, Antonio, and Eric lose their senses and almost lose their consciousness. Eric shakes his head before looking up and seeing several more trucks ram into the jeeps, including the ones with Vasily and Alexa inside.

"Lex, Silly!" Eric yells. He quickly hops out of the jeep, ignoring the frantic Spanish cries around him before he reaches the jeep. As he was about to pull them out, a bullet whistled past his head. He pulls Alexa and Vasily out as quickly as possible before taking cover behind the jeep. The driver in his companions' jeep was also dead so Eric quickly took the AK-47.

Eric grabs two magazines and tucks them away.

Gunfighting breaks out between Los Rapaces and this unknown group of attackers.

Four trucks.

"Come on, let's go!" Eric yells.

"No," Alexa quickly says.

"We can't run yet," Vasily adds.

"Why not?"

Alexa decides to answer. "If we run, who knows what the cartel will do to the soldiers left in the mansion? We can't risk it." Alexa narrows her eyes. "Kill these attackers. Help Los Rapaces, who them that we're on their side."

"What?"

"Think about it, the more Los Rapaces trusts us, the more options we have, and the easier it is to manipulate us. If we want to win, we have to play the game. Take out these enemy forces, show them that we are more than terrorists."

Eric clenches the gun before looking behind him. He looks over the jeep and spots two more trucks coming in with several men in wife-beaters stepping out.

Alexa has a plan; she has always been the smartest one out of the three of us. I trust her.

Eric leaps out from cover and fires on two attackers, hitting them square in the head. Eric leaps back to cover and waits. Leaping out once more, he shoots an incoming attacker in the knee, dropping him, before he finishes him off with a headshot. Eric runs to the ground, uses his body as a bullet sponge, and shoots at four attackers in the feet, dropping them and allowing him to shoot them in their hearts.

Hearing gunshots and shots coming from behind him, Eric rolled over the dead body and flipped it over so it was covering him from the other end. He fires at the three attackers closing in on him and drops them. Eric quickly reaches into the holster of the corpse beneath him and removes a pistol. He tosses it over to Vasily.

Vasily catches it with one hand and counts the bullets inside.

"Fifteen bullets, nice," he smiles.

Vasily leaps to his feet and provides covering fire for Eric. Eric gets up and presses his back to Vasily as they cover each other's six.

"Lookie, lokkie," Anotnion points out while hiding behind his destroyed jeep. "Those terrorists actually do have a bite to their bark."

"And so do we." Frida opens her jacket, revealing the inside of her jacket to be full of throwing knives. "Mátalos."

Antonio produces his two revolvers and wields them in both hands. "¡Oh, esto es tan emocionante!"

Antonio leaps upward and fires a single round from both revolvers into one incoming attacker, hitting him square in the chest before shifting his aim upward slightly and fires a single round from each revolver once against and hits the attacker square in the head with a double headshot. He leaps back to cover.

"Another one bites the dust to the 'Antonio Mozambique-o."

Frida leaps out of cover and throws a throwing knife at an attacker's groin. She rushes him and stabs him multiple times in the stomach before disarming him with his gun and blasting him full of lead. Frida leaps back to cover while opening fire at an oncoming truck. Running dry of ammo, she shoots the windshield out before ripping a throwing knife out and tossing it at the driver.

The driver gets a knife to the forehead before crashing several feet away from Frida.

"¡Capitana!" a cartel soldier yells before moving in to cover her. A small squad follows him as they surround the truck and open fire. They quickly sweep the truck and check for any survivors. Any survivors they find, they put a bullet in their head.

"Barre el área," Frida orders. "No dejes sobrevivientes."

The soldiers move out and clear the surrounding area. After a few minutes, the soldiers return, finding no signs of the enemy. They give their captain a thumbs-up before attending to the wounded.

Eric sighs heavily after he removes the empty magazine from the gun and tosses it away. "Fifteen men. I killed fifteen men."

"Eight," Vasily inputs. "A lot less than what we usually did, right, man."

The cartel soldiers quickly surround Eric and Vasily, holding them at gunpoint.

Frida and Antonio approach the pair, smiling.

"I'm surprised you guys didn't run off. Why is that? Why did you decide to stay?" Frida hands her gun to a nearby cartel soldier before pulling out two throwing knives. "What are you getting at?"

"We're on your side," Eric says simply.

Frida shakes her head. "No, you didn't do this out of the goodness of your heart; you did this because you know that if you piss us off, we're going to kill your terrorist friends."

"Eric suffered a tragedy," Alexa says, standing up. "A trauma involving a car accident." She stands by Eric and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Recently, he lost someone near and dear to him, someone we would consider our niece and nephew. Eric never got over it. When these cars crashed into us... I'm sure the first thing going through his mind were those kids of his."

Eric clenches his fists and looks at Alexa. Why are you telling them this? This is NONE of their business. Why are you bringing up those kids?!

"Eric couldn't stand to see his best friends die in a similar car wreck. That's why he protected us. That's why he picked up a gun and shot up these people."

"These people are my competition," Frida says, "rival cartels. The checkpoint was the border of their territory. We entered their territory and they sent an S&D team to kill us. But they underestimate us."

"What you said about us not helping you is true but I think in another way, it proves something else. The fact that Eric here was willing to pick up a gun and shoot your rivals proves his loyalty to his friends and soldiers. He is not willing to put us at risk; we are too precious to him."

Frida smiles. "So, you're saying that we can trust him to not slit our throats in our sleep?"

"I'm saying you can trust Eric to not put his friends in jeopardy, which works well in all of our favors."

Frida presses her lips together and nods. "You have a point but what is it you want?"

"We want to be treated less as prisoners and more as partners helping each other out. Overlord did not come here with the intent to destroy you, only to help negotiate the release of two of our soldiers. Now it's gotten a little more complicated than that. We want to be partners so we can help each other."

"What do I stand to gain in this exchange by letting you into the ranks of my men?"

"Weapons. We came from an orphanage where we were made into weapons, whether we wanted to or not. You saw what Eric and Vasily are capable of so to have them within your ranks, especially when going onto an uncharted island, could be useful, beneficial."

"And why would I need these human weapons when we're going to an uninhabited island?"

"You never know what could be on there. After all, if Aztlán is on this Archangel Island, who knows what dangers lurk around the corner?"

Frida laughs. "You drive a hard bargain but... I accept your terms. But know that as long as I don't hurt your teammates, your teammates won't hurt mine. We're a tight-knit group."

"yeah, tight!' Antonio nods. "Reall tight. Like, Siamese twins tight. The invisible hip conjoins us. We're all brothers and sisters, some more than others, and we love each other. Some more than others."

"We understand," Alexa smiles gracefully.


ACT III

Archangel Island

"I'm sorry," Alexa finally says, "I'm sorry for what I said."

Eric stands in the middle of the camp the cartel set up. He looks away from Alexa while crossing his arms over his chest. "Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry for bringing up your trauma in front of them," she whispers. "I didn't want to do it."

"But you did." Eric finally turns to her. "You did bring up my trauma in front of them. That was none of their business and you went and made it their business. What is wrong with you?!"

The cartel soldiers look over at them but none of them speak English so they simply ignore them.

"I had to get us on the cartel's good side. In the long run, it can be beneficial. I'm sorry but-"

"You keep saying you're sorry but nothing is ever going to change what you did. I have been trying to do everything I can to avoid thinking about Vito and Mira. I..." he chokes. "I wish I never met them in the first place because at least, it wouldn't hurt." His voice cracks as he begins crying. "Those two children... their face... their smile, their eyes is all I remember of them."

"And you shouldn't forget about them. Those kids meant a lot to you; I could tell. You shouldn't forget about them but you should remember and honor them. Those kids... you wanted to -"

"No," Eric snaps, "shut up. I don't want to talk about Vito and Mira; stop bringing them up!"

"Eric..." Alexa reaches out, in tears herself.

Eric shoves her back. "Stay away from me." He turns away. "We were supposed to fight injustice and corruption; not make deals with devils. This is all your fault and I hate you for it." Eric walks away.

"Wait, Eric-"

Vasily puts his hand on her shoulder. "He's emotional; let him cool down."

"But I didn't mean to bring up bad memories; I had no choice."

"Your words are genuine but he needs some time to himself."

XxXxXx

Heading into the main tent of the camp, he finds himself in a room with Frida and Antonio. Antonio pulls his hand away from Frida's backside as Eric walks in and stares him down.

"Hey there, partner. You look lost; need a compass?"

"Just leave me alone, Antonio."

"Ahh, emotional state. I'm going to assume it was about that little car wreck your sister said."

"Alexa is not my sister." He pauses. "Not anymore."

"Ahh, the fighting. I remember having fights with my sister. I don't know why she would even bother because I would always win but it was nice to see how try and dominate me."

Frid looks over. "¡Cállate, Antonio!"

"See, she's still mad at me."

Frida straightens her back and looks down at the map. "I've had all my men scout the island for any outside threats before we head to this temple. So far, it all seems ot be clear but I don't want to take any chances." Frida looks over at Eric. "You're from an orphanage? One that turns you into killing machines?"

"What's it to ya?"

"Just making conversation."

"Since we're making conversation, what is it with you and Aztlán?" Eric looks at her, his face puffy with tears. "What are you after?"

Frida smiles. "The gold of our Aztec ancestors."

"Gold, is that what you want? And why is that? You rejected our diamond deal yet you want gold?"

"Because Aztec gold isn't blood money. Those diamonds of yours are blood money. The money we make from selling coke is money we're not satisfied with using."

"But money is money, right?"

"Money is money but what good is money without honor? What is the difference between a man going to work for money and a man selling illegal drugs for money?"

Eric pauses. "A clean conscience."

"Exactly. You go to work at an office job from 9 to 5 and you get paid every week or two, that is money you earned. You worked hard for that check, you deserve it. But when a man sells drugs or makes deals with bad people, there is no honor in that money. That money is being used for something that could harm someone."

"But as a drug lord, should it concern you?" Eric wipes dry tears away. "How does it bother you?"

Frida looks at him, a stern look in her eyes. "Do you think I wanted to be a cartel? Or my hermano, or any of my men?"

"Well..."

"Do you know why we do the things we want to?" Frida turns to him, shoulders facing him as she clenches her fists. "We used to serve in the Armed Forces. The Mexican Army. We did a couple of tours of fighting cartels in our neighborhood. My unit was one of the few organizations in my neighborhood to not be corrupted by the influence of the cartels. We gained ourselves a reputation, a reputation so great that we were reassigned to the Cuerpo de Fuerzas Especiales. In case a gringo like you doesn't understand, that Mexican Special Forces. We became a very special unit, one dedicated to wiping out cartels completely. We were led by someone off the books and we were forbidden to maintain contact with our old superiors. We received special training, tactics, and weapons to do so and we even gained our own name."

"Los Rapaces," Antonio answers. "My nickname in the corps was 'Los Doce Cilindros' because I could fire two revolvers."

"And I was called 'Dos Cuchillas'." Frida produces two knives.

Anotnio smiles. "In case you didn't notice, we're both ambidextrous."

"I see," Eric nods. "So..."

"We had ourselves a reputation," Frida continues, "a fearsome reputation. A fearsome, specific reputation. We had very specific tactics for how we killed our enemies." Her smile vanishes. "And someone decided to copy our tactics. We're not sure who, maybe a rival cartel, but a small village in the mountains was destroyed, wiped out completely like no one was there. The enemy copied our tactics to near perfection and framed Los Rapaces. Our higher-ups knew the truth; they knew that we were back at camp by the time the attack happened. They knew we were innocent." Frida looks down at the ground, growling. "They knew we had nothing to do with it... but they didn't care. They had a reputation to maintain. They may have been off the books in their military life but their civilian life was something else entirely. To save themselves a public relations nightmare, they branded our unit as traitors. They cast us out and abandoned us, all while making us out to be a cartel in the making. We were wanted by the police, military, cartels, and anyone else interested in the bounty on our heads. But the person who abandoned us made a mistake."

"We're the best of the best," Antonio says smugly. "We don't get taken down by lowlives so easily." He stands behind his sister and wraps his arms around her. "Our superior branded us a cartel and eventually, we became a cartel." He rests his chin on Frida's head. "It was the only way for us to survive, after all. we made money and our reputation grew even more fearsome. Nobody messed with us."

Eric stares at them, blinking a few times.

"But it's not a life we want." Frida touches her brother's hand, caressing it. "We want to make enough money where we could run away and never have to worry about working. We can't and won't do that with money we make from our cartel business."

"So that's why you want the gold from Aztlán."

"Precisely. Also, we wish to preserve the status quo. Our neighborhood is relatively the safest of all the neighborhoods thanks to our very special training and the way we operate and innocent people don't get caught in the crossfire. We want to use the gold to live a free life while also preserving the status quo in our neighborhood."

Eric sighs. "You guys have more honor than I thought." He looks down. "I was turned into a weapon by some pastor who didn't like the way the world operates. I was trained to kill, me and every child in that orphanage. I've done horrible things that I still have nightmares of." He pauses, feeling his eyelids go heavy before deciding he's got nothing to lose. "I killed him but my friends, Vasily and Alexa, wanted to use their killing skills for something better. They started up this group called Overlord, whose main objective is to fight corruption and injustice. I wanted no part of it so I drove as far away as possible. Last year, I was in Belgium, visiting this castle. When these two children came up to me." His voice chokes. "These kids, they were raised as killers, just like me, but they were young; ten-years-old. They were bought by this... asshole named Camper... and he was using them to steal these blood diamonds the government had. Blood diamonds these suits in the government for killing people and other illicit activities. I took these two kids in and I wanted to show them that there was more to life than just killing. I wanted to show them that there was happiness ahead of them.

"And then..." Eric clenches his fists, "Camper... hired a drunk police officer to drive him out of town... and that drunk driver killed Vito and Mira." He closes his eyes, shaking his head.

Eric, Vito and Mira's voice ring in his head once more. We're waiting for you.

"They had their lives taken way from them and they didn't even get a chance to live anything. They died because someone wanted to extort and exploit someone's shady dealings." He rubs his head. "I couldn't take it. Those two kids... what they did wasn't their fault. I wanted to save them and they took that away from me! That kamikaze attempt last year was revenge for Vito and Mira. I orchestrated it and... I don't regret it. I joined Overlord because I want to change the world and destroy the corruption that breeds in this world." He looks down at the map. "I wish we lived in the past like the Aztecs of Aztlán, where life was simpler and there was less corruption."

Frida and Antonio simply stare at Eric as they continue to subconsciously caress the other. After a while, Frida steps forward and hugs Eric.

Eric's eyes widen. "What are you doing?"

Frida pulls away, saying nothing before returning to her brother. "Get ready to leave in cinco minutes."

XxXxXx

Finally making it to the site, Eric takes off his socks and shoes before stepping into the seawater. Leaping into the water, he shivers and covers his arm. "Brr, cold."

Alexa and Vasily take off their socks and shoes before they run down the beach and jump in the water.

Eric decides to get out when the water proves to be too cold for him until he spots Alexa and Vasily standing before him.

"Hey," Alexa begins, "it's been awhile since we went to the beach, right?" She waits patiently for Eric to say something, only that he doesn't. "You probably don't want to-"

Eric splashes water at her.

"What the hell?" she screams at the scalding cold water.

"You got a little dirt on your face," Eric smiles. "And there's some more dirt on your face." He splashes her again.

Alexa laughs. "Now you're going to get it." Alexa splashes Eric.

Eric laughs before picking up a scoop of water and hauls it at Alexa, hitting her shin. She retaliates by kicking more water at her.

Vasily laughs and splashes water at Alexa. "Boys vs girls!"

"That's not fair!" Alexa retorts before splashing him.

"Life's not fair, sis." Eric continues to scoop up water and splash Alexa. He turns his attention on Vasily and splashes him.

The three of them splash each other, no one on teams anymore, and do whatever they can to drench the other as quickly as possible.

Eric scoops up wet sand and makes a mudball. He throws it at Vasily, who manages to dodge it. Vasily quickly tackles Eric into the water with Alexa leaping on both of them. Sitting up in the water, the three laugh before they stand up, soaked to the chest in ocean water but this only makes them smile more.

"We should go to the beach more," Vasily suggests. "Let's go to California."

"Well, we're in Baja so," Alexa points out. "So..."

"Hey, I hate to interrupt your psuedo-battleship battle but we gotta go," Antonio tells them. He turns to Frida. "Hey, sis, why don't you dive in?"

Frida shakes her head. "You just want to see my shirt wet."

Antonio stares at her with wide eyes. "Más que solo tu camisa."

"Shut up," Frida blushes.

The three orphans head back to shore with one of the cartel soldiers providing them with some towels and dry clothing before they head to one of the cliffsisdes near the far end of the beach.

"This is our final destination, hopefully," Frida tells them.

The soldiers gaze upon the heart symbol in the middle of the cliffside wall in front of them. Frida removes the necklace from her pocket before turning to her men. "Explota la pared."

After getting clear, a soldier with an RPG blows up the wall.

"Whoah," Eric gasps.

"Are we going to speedrun this?" Vasily asks. "In the movies, the characters take their time exploring temples so..."

"We are," Antonio nods. He draws his revolvers. "But don't worry; the Antonio will protect mi hermana; everyone else..you're on your own."

With the structure open before them, they find themselves in a cave with cobwebs and bats dangling upside down. The soldiers shine lights on the bats to scare them off and quickly clear out the place before Frida and Antoio come in.

"What's with all these symbols on the wall around us?" Alexa asks.

"Aztec architecture," Eric reasons.

"There's one thing that bugs me: how is Coronado and the friar involved?"

Eric narrows his eyes. "I'm not too sure."

Alexa rubs her chin. "Okay, so Coronado goes hunting for this Aztlán, as does this friar guy but for some reason, after finding Aztlán, they decide to turn back, and hide their journals, why?"

"Something about this place being ungodly or something." Eric draws a cross on his chest.

"So, Moctezuma is the emperor of Aztlán, but after dying, his body was dug up, and then carried out. Then, the friar finds Moctezuma's coffin in Mexico and, most likely after finding Aztlán itself, decides that something in the city is too horrendous that he turns back and hides his journal in Moctezuma's coffin. Then, some years later, Coronado finds Moctezuma's coffin but after reading the friar's journal, decides to leave it behind, seal the Aztec temple, and then hide his journal in another temple. If you ask me, it sounds like there's something in Aztlán that the conquistador and friar didn't want the public to know about."

"The journal said something about the gold being made from people's hearts," Eric remembers. "I'm not quite sure what that means."

"Maybe it's something superstitious," Vasily suggests, "this was in the 1500s, a time where people still thought the world was flat or something. A time when people believed that the earth was the center of the universe."

"And in the same century, Galileo would discover that we're not the center of the universe," Eric points out.

"Hey, pay attention," Frida orders, "we can't afford to be distracted. Especially when we're in enemy territory."

Antonio smiles. "Hey, did anybody see the latest Indiana Jones movie that came out two years ago? Can you believe the direction they went? I missed the good old days when Indiana Jones was something of a supernatural fantasy rather than science fiction. I mean, how can God and intergalactic beings exist at the same time? And the whole idea of Archimedes dial being-"

"Antonio," Frida turns to him, "hush."

"Yes, mi hermana."

As they continue to move through the pathway, they stop at a door with three blocks as big as the ones on the pyramid in the center of the door. Frida orders her men to remove the blocks and it takes about four of them to pull the blocks out. They move out of the way in time as the blocks come down and reveal three keyholes behind each block. One of them has the same shape as the necklace.

The necklace is tossed to one of the soldiers, who inserts it into the keyhole and turns it. Two handles appear from the other two keyholes, prompting two soldiers to grab and pull the levers at the same time.

The soldier takes the necklace back as the door opens. The soldier mutters something in shock before giving the necklace back to Frida.

"Now that is something you don't see," Eric gasps.

"How do they make the doors so big?" Antonio wonders aloud. "I would love to have a door this big."

the doors open all the way, letting everyone get inside and sweep the area for any potential threats. there's a bridge before them, one with a stream of water from a waterfall to their left.

The cartel soldiers quickly walk across the bridge, mindful of any potential traps, and make it across without harm. When they do get across, they stumble upon another door and a large, rotating mechanism appears in the center of the room with a large handle sticking out for them to push and rotate this mechanism. Two soldiers rotate the mechanism before three bells appear out of the wall. Old, rusty bells.

"I think we have to ring the bells at the same time." Eric heads to the lone bell on the left while Alexa and Vasily head for the one on the right. Eric counts to one in English, Alexa to two in Greek, and Vasily to three in Russian before they ring the bells at the same time.

The large doors towering over them finally open up and show what the fuss was all about with all these complicated doors.

"Wow," Eric gasps, gazing at the city in front of him. "Look at this."

Aztlán, the city and origin home of the Aztecs. A city sitting decaying inside a cliffside with a temple somehow reaching towering heights with all kinds of Aztecs symbols. There were four buildings and in the center of them all, a commercial district of some kind full of wagons, carriages, and other various objects Eric couldn't describe.

"Oh my god, this is beautiful," Eric gasps. 'We're in a lost city." He smiles. "We're ina lost city. Vasily, Alexa, we found a lost city."

the two nod.

"We did," Alexa smiles, "it's amazing. beautiful."

'Wow," Vasily gasps, "I never thought I'd see the day when I would actually be inside a lost city. I feel like a true action protagonist in some story."

"Don't we all."

Frida and Antonio look around, ordering their men to move out and follow behind. As they head into the distract, Antonio whispers into Frida's ear. "Frida, ¿qué tal si buscamos una antigua cama azteca y nos divertimos en ella?"

Frida kisses Antonio on the lips. "No te preocupes hermano, habrá mucho tiempo para eso más tarde."

The two separate before they head to the center of the commercial district. One of the soldiers stumbles their way into one of the houses and opens up a cabinet and several gold pieces fall out. Picking up the gold pieces, he marvels at them with awe before gasping suddenly. He drops the gold pieces before stumbling back, tripping over a chair and falling on his ass. His companion soldier comes inside the house to check on him, the first soldier pointing at the gold pieces with worry.

The second soldier picked up the gold piece, which was big enough to fit in both hands. He gasps upon realizing what the gold was shaped of. "Capitana Hidalgo!" He races out, holding the gold piece.

Frida takes the gold piece and weighs it in her hand. Her eyes widen, dropping the gold piece and jumping back like a child scared of an insect.

"What's going on?" Antonio looks down. "¡Madre de Dios!"

In the center of town, Eric instinctively heads over to the obelisk, where he rubs his hands all over the Aztec writing before making a fist. He tilts his head, spotting something. "Vasily, Alexa, come take a look at this."

Vasily and Alexa join him and spot the scratched-out Aztec symbols on the obelisk. Without saying a word, they look at him.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that someone scratched out these Atec symbols. I can't read it but..."

Turning over, he sees a commotion going on with the cartel soldiers. Multiple cartel soldiers who went off exploring the great city of Aztecs come back holding some odd-shaped object of gold. Three of the soldiers came back with an entire chest of gold. Eric and his two friends decide to join the cartel soldiers and gasp upon seeing the gold.

"Is that..." Eric's eyes widen, "a-are those hearts?"

The gold pieces were hearts. Human hearts. Well-preserved hearts that had been turned to gold somehow.

"This is disturbing," Alexa says, "deeply disturbing. I can't even comprehend how disturbing."

"I've seen a heart before," Vasily says, looking away, "but... it wasn't covered in gold. And... it was still inside someone's chest."

"Task Force: Orphans at their finest," Eric snarks without thinking.

Alexa closes her eyes, finding the will to keep her stomach contents inside before opening them and looking at Alexa. "If this the Aztec gold of Aztlán, then, I think I have a theory as to how the timeline went about."

Frida looks over. "How?"

Alexa clenches her chin. "Aztlán was a peaceful utopia but somehow, outsiders came in and made this place their home. Evidenced by the scratch marks on several Aztec symbols on the small obelisk; Aztecs were never desecrating their own architecture, even if they were mad. This was their home so they would never do something like that. Anyway, as I was saying, outsiders came in, and made this place their home by killing people. I have no way to confirm this but it is possible that the gold in this place is made from the Aztects themselves that have been preserved somehow and covered in gold. Moctezuma I was the ruler of Aztlán before his death. The fria discovered Aztlán, discovered the golden hearts and assumed that it was due to a civil war in the lost city rather than an invasion. After getting the wrong idea that it is a place of madness, he hides his journal in Moctezuma's coffin. Coronado found the temple, read the friar's notebook, and then made the choice to hide his own journal."

"All this... because someone made the mistake in identifying attackers?" Antonio groans. "I don't know about you but it sure sounds familiar."

"Someone ruined their reputation," Frida growls. She shakes her head. "We can't take this gold. ¡Soldados, nos vamos! ¡Despeja la habitación, coloca los explosivos y sella la entrada a mi señal!"

"Sí, capitana," a cartel soldier nods. "¡Escuchaste a la capitana Hidalgo, muévete!"

The cartel soldiers immediately run off and begin planting explosives at the entrance of Aztlán. Frida and Antonio stay behind with the three terrorists.

"What's going on?" Eric demands. "I thought you would've taken the gold."

Frida shakes her head. "No, I'm sorry, but I can't. I can't take this gold knowing that this is literally someone's heart I'm giving away. And if someone were to trace it back to Aztlán and get the wrong idea about the Aztecs, I couldn't forgive myself."

"I thought you wanted money to retire."

"I do. But not blood, especially if it is money from a blood-pumping organ."

Eric stiffens. "We came all this way... to get you the gold so you can release our soldiers."

"And your soldiers will be released and provided medical attention."

"Hey, how about we spin it in a way that makes it sound heartwarming?" Antonio suggests. "These golden hearts are literal proof that the Aztecs had hearts of gold. Doesn't it just warm your heart?"

Frida ignores him. "We are leaving."

"So this was all for nothing?"

"If anything, I'd say this was all for nothing on our side. After all, we're the ones who have to walk away with nothing. You get to walk away with your friends." Frida turns and begins to walk away.

Antonio sighs. "Parece que no podremos divertirnos en una cama azteca, hermana."

Frida rolls her eyes. "Tenemos nuestra propia cama, hermano."

As Eric watches the cartel soldiers walk off, he thinks back to how this all started. They came here to negotiate with the cartels to prevent an all-out war and soon, it escalated into a treasure hunt, a genre completely beyond anything Eric has encountered. he thought that looking for Aztlán would be a waste of time but after stepping foot in the lost city of Aztlán for the first time, he couldn't help but feel a wave of relief washing over him. Like, he finally found peace for the first time in a long time since Vito and Mira-

Eric shakes his head.

No, I'm not at peace and I never will be. I got to find a lost city from ancient history but Vito and Mira didn't. Had I just killed Camper, then they would still be alive and they would get to see history itself.

"Wait, stop!" Alexa yells suddenly. Frida and Antonio turn towards her. "I have to ask, what is your plan now that Aztlán is a bust?"

"Go back to the status quo I guess," Frida answers.

"Yeah," Antonio nods, "because everyone knows the status quo is God." He draws a cross on his chest. "Everybody loves the status quo, especially us criminals."

"How long do you think you can get by?" Alexa steps forward. "Surviving? Think about it, when you entered enemy territory, you were ambushed. You thought your reputation would save you but it didn't. You may have come out of it alive but do you really want to live that way?"

Frida narrows her eyes and begins walking down the door. "What are you planning, Alexa?"

Eric climbs the stairs. "Come with us, join Overlord."

Frida turns toward Eric. "Why would we do that? We were branded as terrorists and you expect us to join terrorists?"

"We are not terrorists, we are people using our skills to kill as skills to save. Our goal isn't to rule as dictators. Our goal is to purge this world of injustice. You've seen injustice yourself, right, experienced it. Your power was stolen from you and you resorted to living as a cartel because it was the only way for you to survive. What do you want in life, Frida, Antonio?"

The two look at each other, nodding before turning back to Eric. "Each other," they both answer.

"And what of your men?"

Frida answers, "For them to go home to their families without the fear of letting their guard down."

"Right, and we can give you that. Overlord is international. We have money, resources, men, everything we can to fight World War Three but what we don't have is training. Sure, some of us, like myself, received our own training to kill when we were little but your cartel managed to overpower us. Think about what could happen if you joined us and gave our men the same military and special forces training that you were given. You would still be in command of your soldiers but ultimately, your goal would be to eliminate the corruption in Mexico."

"And what's in it for us?" Antonio crosses his arms over his shoulder.

"You will have each other." Eric groans. "As much as I don't to admit it, there is definitely something going on between you two. You two are brother and sister and you're..." He groans again. "I don't want to think about it because it's disgusting but then again, I can't really judge because technically, me, Vasily, and Alexa are practicing polygamy with each other and that is a crime." He clenches his fists. "You can live with your brother, Frida, you can make sure that the false accusations that happened to you won't happen to anyone else."

Frida and Antonio look at each other, some sort of silent conversation going on between them before they look back at the cartel soldiers standing at the entrance. They nod before turning back to Eric.

"If we're going to be working for you, then don't de-value what we are capable of."

"You'll be working with us," Eric corrects, "Overlord doesn't have leaders."

Antonio shakes his head. "Bad idea, man. An international organization without leaders is dangerous. If there's no chain of command, who knows what could happen?"

"He's correct," Frida replies. "We care not for leading an international group but we will make sure there is a chain of command. My men could never function without a proper leader and it is better to realize that now. We are willing to operate as a lieutenant and head of the Overlord cell in Mexico but aside from that, no."

"I think having no leader would be better," Eric argues.

"And that is where you are wrong. Groups need someone to look up to, a face. Someone they can trust. I will say this, however, whoever is leading an international organization is going to have a very big responsibility. My advice would be to have multiple lieutenants that the underlings report to and then have the lieutenants report to the leader."

"Chain of command?"

"Chain of command, gringo. If you want us to join the group, then you're going to need a leader. So, who is it going to be the leader of Overlord?"

Neither Eric, Vasily, or Alexa could answer that question, even after they vacated the lost city, blew up the entrance, and cut off Aztlán from the rest of the world.

My goal was to destroy this cartel and every other cartel in Mexico but after seeing these guys take out my guys, I realized I coulnd't defeat them. But as they say, 'if you can't beat them, join them' but I decided to do the reverse. If you can't beat them, then get them to join you. I still can't stomach the idea of working for the cartel but... if we want to purge the world of injustice, we need to evolve.


Epilogue

Present

October 2042

Maui, Hawaii

"Congratulations, Cassie Drake," the guard named Leon spoke through the bars, "you got a prisoner. They're very interested in talking to you. Come on out."

Cassie climbs out of her bed and puts her handcuffs on before she is led to the visitation center where other prisoners are meeting with their families. Cassie sits down at a table where her parents sit and look at them somberly.

"Hey, kiddo, how's it going?" Nate asks.

Cassie shrugs nonchalantly. "Well, it could be better but the food here isn't too bad. I don't think I'll be able to go back to Kid Cusines after I get out of here."

She manages to make her parents chuckle; a win in her book.

"How is it going on the outside? How's Derek and Evan doing?"

"They miss you terribly," Nate answers. "We all do."

"When's my court date?"

"They haven't decided yet." Elena leans forward. "I'm trying to get them to issue a court date immediately so you can prove your innocence."

"I'm not going to be proven innocent, ever, Mom. I killed a man in the heat of the moment."

"Self-defense. You said he shot you and-"

"He shot me a week before I killed him."

"Our lawyer is saying the best defense is a timeline. He got the phone records and said that he could use the phone records to establish a timeline. And Derek and Evan are going to act as witnesses in your defense."

"If I lose the court case, I'm going to be sentenced to life in prison."

"At least it's not a Panamanian or a Turkish prison," Nate says.

"There's a prisoner in here named Sonia Vega; she's a serial killer and she's out to get me."

"We're doing everything we can to get you out of here, Cassie, we promise."

"We will get you out of here," Elena says firmly.

"I can't stand it in here. Everyone in here hates me. They want to kill me and my cellmate is a goddamn terrorist." She clenches her knuckles. "I could've had everything in my life. I had a good life but it wasn't enough. No, it wasn't enough to go on adventures; I had to go on dangerous adventures, ones where my life was at risk. You told me to stay away from this life and I didn't listen." She grinds her teeth. "You guys understand the dangers of that life and you tried to keep me away from it. I've killed so many people, lost friends, been targeted by the most ruthless bastards I've ever met, and a worldwide terrorist group has been getting under my skin for the last six years. What happens to me doesn't just affect me; it affects you. You guys suffered because of this life and now because of me, you're suffering again." She looks down, closing her eyes, sobbing silently. "I didn't mean for anything of this to happen. I'm so stupid. I don't know what to do anymore."

"Cassie," Elena grabs her hand, "you are not stupid."

"I am," Cassie looks at them, her face puffy with tears, "I experienced the dangers of treasure hunts countless times yet I continued to pursue it. I could've looked for different solutions to deal with these guys or I could've walked away and not dealt with them at all. And now, I have an unfair reputation, people will look at me like I'm a murderer, even if I am declared innocent, and your legacies will be destroyed because of me. Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher will be known as the parents of the daughter who murdered Marcus Cote. And Derek and Evan, their reputation could be ruined because of me. I wish I never got into this treasure-hunting life. I wish I could go back in time and slap stupid fifteen-year-old me and tell her not to open up your cupboard."

"Hey," Elena grabs her hand, "you made a mistake, we all make mistakes. What matters is that we correct those mistakes. I promise you, Cassie, no matter what, we will get you out of here. We will get you home to see your son."

"Yeah," Nate nods. "Let's be honest; the only one the best at raising our grandson is you. Just hold on a little bit longer, Cassie, and we will find a way to get you out of here. The lawyer likes us, he likes you, he is willing to stake his entire reputation on the line if it means getting you out. Derek and Evan won't give up on. We won't give up on you."

"Are you going to give up on yourself?" Elena asks.

Cassie looks at them, still crying before bowing her head, sobbing more. Taking a moment to compose herself, she looks up, a look of determination on her face. "I won't give up. I will go home to see you all. I promise: when I get out of here, I will never go on another treasure hunt again."

The End of Chapter 23


A/N: Oh Cassie, there are still seven chapters left in your life and you still have one more major installment coming up.