This is the 2nd chapter. I don't own the series of Helluva Boss or the game of Tomb Raider.
old666: 1) There should be time dilation between Earth and Hell, which we all know it's only 1 year in Earth. But as for Hell, I don't know. All I can tell you is that it's slower in Hell than Earth and it's pretty complicated. 2) Yep, all three of the Tomb Raider games will be in this story.
Nightmare Begins
At the mansion in Hell, Stella, Octavia, I.M.P. are helping Stolas find the book that has the history about Yamatai that's located in Japan. Apparently, Stolas explains his reason why he wanted to go to the mansion since he remembered about the kingdom that's been lost since centuries ago and the Sun Queen, Himiko, cursed the island. It got them worried about Antauri's first expedition with Lara and her crew of Endurance since they're heading to the island that will lead them into grave danger. Once Octavia found the book, Stolas grabs it and starts reading which leading him to widen his eyes in dread.
"I was afraid of this." Stolas said.
"What is?" Blitzo asks, raising his eyebrow.
"Is it about this 'Yamatai'?" Millie asks with a question.
"I'm afraid so, and it's not just the island...this island is cursed." Stolas answered which it got them shocked. "Yamatai is an ancient kingdom in Japan, ruled by the Sun Queen, Himiko."
"Wait, the Sun Queen? What's got to do with that between him and that Sun bitch?" Blitzo asks, confused.
"She is well-known with her shaman powers, even able to control the weather." Stolas explains. "However, she granted no children but passed on to the successors and became the High Priestess, grooming them to be the leader of Yamatai. But truth to the matter is, none of them ever chose to become the next Sun Queen, they were brought to the ritual chamber in the monastery for the 'ascension' ceremony when the previous Sun Queen would transfer her soul from her body into her successor and continue her reign, meaning that Himiko ruled Yamatai, long after her natural life had reach to an end."
It got them shocked in horror after learning about the history of Yamatai and the Sun Queen, Himiko. Stella then grabs another book that involves the timeline of Yamatai as she extends to her ex-husband.
"Thank you, Stella." Stolas said, grabs the book and then reads. "During the Kamakura Period, a sun priestess named Hoshi, who's due to become the Sun Queen, knew the truth of the ascension ritual and how Himiko would in habit her body and was planning to expand her kingdom beyond Yamatai. She refused to allow the Sun Queen to succeed. Hoshi stole the dagger of the Stormguard General and hid it on her person. During the ascension ceremony, Hoshi used her ceremonial dagger and committed suicide, corrupting the ritual and trapping Himiko's soul in a decaying body. Himiko became enraged because of the failed ritual. As her anger grew, it caused a wave of storms that would guard the island so no one would ever escape and the kingdom of Yamatai fell. The Stormguard General committed a Seppeku and the Stormguard continued to guard the kingdom and their Sun Queen."
"Christ on a fucking stick...This is like a whole new level of fucked up..." Blitzo said in shock.
"Did anyone ever try to get in there?" Moxxie asks.
"The curse of the island is a deathtrap for ships and aircrafts. Throughout centuries of ancient times to modern era of ships and planes, many have ventured near the island were never heard from again." Stolas explains. "As they approached, they were immediately caught in sudden storms. And mind you all, these storms were in fact supernatural, driven by Himiko's rage, formed with speed and intensity."
"Which means escaping the island is out of the question because the intense storm that causes their planes and ships to wreck and crash on the island." Octavia guessed.
"Yes, but it gets worse, the survivors were also kept from leaving; all attempts to leave via raft or makeshift vessels were met with similar fate by death or forced them to abandon their attempts for fear of their lives." Stolas agrees.
"And during the Word War 2, Yamatai was used as a military base by the Japanese soldiers. Working with Nazi scientists and attempting to learn how to use the power of storms as a weapon." Stella adds, reading the book. "The US caught in the wind of what happened on the island and sent at least one battalion of Marines to raid Yamatai. However, a combination of destructive weather and constant attacks by the Oni, wiped out the Marines and their air support, while the remnants of Japanese soldiers garrison were destroyed in a last attempt to reach Himiko and destroy her."
"Wait, wait...hold on...You're telling us, that Antauri is about to enter the island that will lead him to death?" Moxxie asks, afraid about them to answer.
"I'm afraid so." Stolas answered with a sigh, closing the book. "But it's not just him, there's also Lara Croft and the crew of Endurance. They'll soon enter the same fate."
The I.M.P., Stella, and Octavia widen their eyes in horror as Stolas put the books back in the shelves, then walk towards them.
"Well, let's get on that ship and get him out!" Blitzo suggested.
"I'm afraid he won't leave without Lara or the others, Blitz. And even if you use the crystal, neither of us will be eligible to reach them in time." Stolas points out. "While it's true we've been watching him for the past years in the human realm, but to us in Hell, it felt like either minutes or a full year give or take."
"But if we stay here, he'll die!" Millie protests. "I'm not leaving without Antauri, even if we help him get Lara and the others out of the fucking island! Curse or not!"
Stolas can tell I.M.P. aren't backing down since they've been watching Antauri grow for 15 years on Earth and about to be in for a dangerous adventure in Yamatai. Even Stella and Octavia are worried about him, which causes Stolas to sigh since there's no way on talking them out of it.
"Very well, but Loona will have to remain here." Stolas said. "I don't want to get any of you any more trouble than you've already are because of this trial. And Andrealphus will learn of his current whereabouts in the human realm. Only you three will go find him and help him get them out of the island."
"Yeah...good point." Blitzo said since Stolas made a valid point.
"In the meantime, I will inform Queen Bee and Asmodeus about this." Stella said as she opens the portal by using the grimoire. "They need to know where he's heading."
"What about Felicia? Wouldn't she know about this?" Loona asks.
"She stayed in the human realm for 15 human years and became the renowned fashion designer somewhere in California." Octavia explains. "After telling her, she felt upset and sad for Antauri to leave, but she understood the reason. And I don't think it'll stop her for finding him in the human realm."
"I bet she's having thoughts about fucking him." Blitzo states with a smirk, much to their annoyance as they look at him with deadpan looks. "What?"
"She just didn't realize he's living in London and started his work as a bouncer and a bounty hunter. I'll go and tell her." Octavia said as she then opens the portal. "You guys head to the ship called 'Endurance'. It'll take you there."
"Right, well, let's get going. We've got a ship to get in." Blitzo said as he, Millie, and Moxxie walks through the portal.
"I'm heading out and let Felicia know." Octavia told her father as she opens the portal, then she and Stella walk through their own portals as it closes.
"I hope he makes it out alive." Loona said with worry.
"With Blitz, Millie, and Moxxie heading to the ship, they'll be there to help him." Stolas assures her as Loona gives him a nod, hoping that Antauri makes it out alive.
At the Endurance ship, Lara and Antauri were sleeping inside of their cabins in different rooms during the night since they'll be in for adventure in Yamatai after Roth and Grim turned the ship to East, heading for the Dragon's Triangle. Blitzo, Millie, and Moxxie entered inside of the ship as they look for Antauri, which all of the doors from the cabins were locked. They looked at the cabin and noticed Antauri sleeping in his bed.
"He's adorable when he's sleeping." Millie said quietly with a smile, but short-lived when the ship was rocking violently.
"Whoa, what the fuck is happening!?" Blitzo shouts in fright.
Antauri was jolted awake by the ship rocking violently because of the tide and storm which it didn't take a genius to know there's a bad storm raging. The lights above him flickered, threatening to go out and leave him in the dark. His instincts were screaming 'danger' as Antauri scrambled to his feet. As soon as he's upright, another violent tremble had the ship tilting dangerously to one side, throwing him into the wall hard. His head swam briefly from the force of impact before he staggered back into his feet.
"Hey Antauri! This ship is about to sink! Get outta there!" The voice of Blitzo was heard, shouting desperately and banging on the door.
It got Antauri confused but doesn't have time as he shuffles out of his cabin, causing the imps to get slammed by the cabin door. He quickly realized the situation was worse than he thought it would, the Endurance was already sinking. Breaking in half like the Titanic and taking on water quickly, see that the lower levels were already mostly flooded.
'Shit, I gotta find Lara and fast!' Antauri mentally thought as he started running, looking for Lara.
Soon as the door slowly opens, the I.M.P. groaned in pain while rubbing their heads, but quickly recovers as they started running. Though, the white hellhound hadn't gone far when he heard muffled groaning, a sound associated with someone being underwater. Glancing toward the sound, he saw Lara trapped under a lid leading down to the lower levels. The water was already almost completely over her head and she was under the threat of drowning, her hands scrambling to open the lid.
Thinking fast, Antauri grabbed a long metal rod and pried the lid open enough he could reach, pulled it off his hands. Once the lid was off, he reached in and pulled Lara from the water.
"You okay?!" Antauri asked over the roaring storm as she coughed out the seawater she'd swallowed.
She managed to nod after dispelling the water and he hauled her to her feet.
"No time to rest, Lara! We gotta move!" Antauri shouts.
They both jumped and dodged the debris as they made it to the split. On the other side was Roth with his hand out, yelling at them.
"You go first, Lara! When he gets you to pull up, I'll follow!" Antauri yelled, but Blitzo, Millie, and Moxxie are fallen behind.
Lara nodded, stepped back to get a running start, and jumped the huge gap with Roth barely managed to catch her and struggling to pull her up.
'She's not gonna make it!' Antauri mentally said grimly.
Sure enough, the second Roth lost his hold and Lara plummeted to the water below, Antauri was in after her after leaping off the other half of the ship.
"Antauri!" Millie shouts, running and jumped off the ship to get to him while Blitzo and Moxxie did the same.
Swimming against the violent swirling currents, he managed to locate her and pull her to the surface. His eyes darted around, looking for a place to swim to and then, he saw land.
"Land! Hold onto me, Lara!" Antauri yelled as they're fighting through the waves, he pulls her to shore.
He and Lara worked to get their bearings back when they heard a sound coming from above.
"This one's bleeding out..."
"Hello?!" Lara called out.
"...put some pressure on it!" Reyes said frantically, but Alex is doing the CPR.
"Come on...come on! Breathe, goddamn it!" Alex said, trying to get him recover while both Lara and Antauri tried to call for help.
"I knew something like this would happen!" Whitman said, looking at the area. "Where the hell are we?"
"Come on, Doctor! Help us out here!" Reyes shouts.
"Reyes! Jonah!" Antauri (Carl) called them. "We're here!?"
But before they could get them, they apparently spotted something. A split second later, a man knocked both of them out and starts dragging them somewhere dark. Blitzo, Millie, and Moxxie were able to swim ashore, trying to catch their bearings after swimming against the currents, noticing a man dragging them to the cave. It got them mad that Antauri and Lara is being captured, dragging them into a cave.
"Oh no you don't, bitch!" Blitzo growls. "New plan, we're going inside of the cave and rescue them!"
Millie and Moxxie nods, agreeing with the plan as they follow the man to the cave without getting caught by blending in the shadows.
Lara gasp, starting to regain her consciousness and noticed that she's bound, wrapping around in some kind a cloth and rope which made her panic. And next thing she knew is she's been hanged upside down, starts to swing her body.
"Help...Jonah? Reyes? Antauri? Help!" Lara called, swinging her body and bumping a body which the cloth is burned by candles, gasp in panic when she noticed a skeleton flying down. "I can't die like this. Got to get down."
She then saws a part of the ship mast is burned, not liking the idea but decided to take the risk since she wants to get out.
"This...is gonna hurt." Lara said to herself, swings her body to the burnt mast.
The cloth is burning which made her grunts, then screams as she's fallen to the ground. However, once she falls into the ground, the metal spike impaled her right into her left side which causes her to grunt in pain. Slowly sats up to her knees, Lara grabs hold of spike and pulls it out with a scream as she slowly gets up with a pant while feeling light-headed. As soon as she's upright, Lara holds her wound while tried to run and look for her adopted brother.
Antauri is slowly regaining his consciousness, noticed that he was bound in between the cloth and a rope. The next thing he noticed he's handed upside down like a pig in a slaughterhouse.
'This is just great.' Antauri mentally thought sarcastically. 'I gotta get loose, look for Lara, and get the hell outta here. Hopefully, I'll track the others, too. If they're alive...'
He then changed into a hellhound, using his claws to free himself by cutting the cloth and rope, and lands on his feet to the ground. He noticed there were candles everywhere in the cave along with the faded painting. He then heard footsteps that's close, blends in and getting ready to kill when he heard a familiar voice.
"Antauri? Where are you?" The voice of Lara called him.
"Lara? Is that you?" Antauri called back, not loud so to alert the possible guards but enough for her to hear him as he gets out of the shadows.
A moment later, Lara Croft rounded the corner.
"Antauri? Are you alright?" Lara asked, sprinting over to him and hugs the hellhound.
"Just peachy." Antauri said. "We better get outta here before someone shows up."
She nodded and they started to leave while try to find a way out of the cave. Lara grabs hold of the torch to light the way when they heard a noise.
"Oh no...he must have heard us." Lara said in panic, slides through the crack which extinguishes the fire while Antauri slides through. "Oh, damn it."
They then check the environment and began to notice a red barrel with the parts of the ships mast on top of it. She then lights the torch, passes on to Antauri who grabs it and climbs up to the wooden platform, lighting the cloth which leads a trail to the barrel along with the wooden debris, explodes and leaving them an exit. It causes a tremor as they quickly climb up to the wooden platform and the rock was about to cause a cave in, crawl down when a deranged man about to grab them, shot in the head as three imps quickly pushes them before the big rock lands on the ground.
"Shit...that was a close call." Blitzo said with a pant. "One second and we're flat like fucking pancakes."
"Blitz! What are you three doing here?!" Antauri exclaims in shock.
"Talk later and more getting out of here! Like now!" Blitzo suggested.
Without thinking twice or asking questions, Antauri, Lara, and I.M.P. crawls while getting into the water. Lara is still on the torch and her head up along with Antauri and I.M.P., but noticed a water at the cave when they reached to that direction which causes the fire to extinguish again.
"Not again!" Lara groans but feeling the tide is coming at the outside as they noticed the environment filled with explosive minefields and barrels. "The tide...need to find a way out!"
"Hmm..." Blitzo pondered a bit, then snapped his fingers with an idea.
"Sir, what are you planning?" Moxxie asks, thinking of his boss planning something reckless.
"I have an idea, but you guys might want to find a spot to hide." Blitzo suggested which they knew something but decided to do what he says as he pulls out a pistol, aiming at the minefield. "Fire in the hole!?"
He then fires at the minefield, which explodes and Blitzo is sent flying when Antauri quickly grabs his tail, but the loud tremoring sound was heard.
"MOVE!" Antauri yelled.
Without hesitation, they quickly make a run for it, running out of the water and avoiding the debris. They then followed the path which causes the ground to break a part, making them slide down into the lower ground again. But they quickly stood up and continued to run to the pits, avoiding the rubble when they noticed the exit. They jumped over to the ledge to ledge, crawl out of the tight space and then ran and jump over to the ledge, but Lara barely makes it and holding on. Antauri and Blitzo pulls her up, but then they quickly started climbing while dodging the rocks, then quickly heading to the exit.
Avoiding being crushed by another cave-in, they finally made it outside. For a moment, they lay on the ground, coughing and catching their breath. Then, they slowly got to their feet and looked around, stood on the cliff side and the sun barely rises which cast a pretty glow through the haze of a storm along with the crash sites. But they didn't have time to enjoy it because they've got survivors to find and finding out where they were.
Rounding the first corner, Lara paused to lean against the tree. Antauri, Blitzo, Millie, and Moxxie stopped as well to wait for her. While she got her bearings, they looked out of the cliff side again, where the wreckage was everywhere. Planes and boats alike. Lara gasped, apparently spotted something important. Following her gaze, Antauri and I.M.P. spotted it as well down to the shore.
"The lifeboat! But where are they?" Lara questions with a pant.
"They must've gone inland." Antauri replied. "We should keep moving if we're gonna find them."
Lara nodded and they set off again, which the first obstacle came in the form of a thin frail-looking fallen tree. They'd have to use it as a makeshift bridge to cross over. Lara approached it first with Antauri, Millie, Moxxie, and Blitzo behind her.
"Okay, take it slow." Lara murmured as she starts first.
Struggled to keep her balance, Antauri, Millie, Moxxie, and Blitzo waited until she's halfway across, where she slipped nearly tumbled from the tree before slowly but following after her. He pulled her up and they quickly got across while the tree creaking warningly under their weight.
"Okay, guys, one at a time!" Antauri called them.
They nodded as Millie starts first, keeping her balance and made it across. Moxxie is next but not liking the height that would lead him to his death when he splashes into the water. He's struggled to keep his balance, trying to get a cross and Blitzo groans impatiently.
"For fuck sakes..." Blitzo said, walks across the log and keeping his balance while lifting Moxxie in the air. "Just move it already, you fucking baby-dicked shithead!"
He then tossed Moxxie to the others, and Blitzo finally got across.
"Been a while since I did the circus act. Now, let's move along people!" Blitzo said as they resuming their trek into an unknown territory.
After clearing a small gap into the waterfall, they came upon an old American plane wreckage stuck in the branches.
"Huh?" Lara said, puzzled.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Blitzo groaned.
"Okay...we can do this." Lara told him as she approached the wreck.
"We got to be careful; this thing looks pretty old. We should scale it one on top of the other. If it should fall apart, the last thing we need is to be separated in an unknown place." Antauri warned her as Millie climbs onto his back while Moxxie climbs onto Lara's back, followed her over.
Lara nodded and grabbed hold of a makeshift ladder rung, but nearly losing her grip. Antauri and Blitzo quickly followed and wasted no time getting across, but the wing was nearly falling on top of them when they got on solid ground. They then quickly sprint before the wing falls apart.
"Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right." Antauri said with a pant.
The path around them became narrow as they inched along the cliffside. Getting around without much difficulty, they scrambled themselves up a high wall, and in the clearing below, she spotted another familiar object.
"Sam's pack!" Lara said.
They jumped down, landing a bit roughly, and sprinted over it. Antauri kneeled next to it while Lara cupped her hands around her mouth.
"Sam!" Lara called.
"They must've come this way." Antauri said, standing with Sam's pack in his hands. "We gotta be on the right track if we found her stuff."
Lara, Millie, Moxxie, and Blitzo walked over to him as he took some of the items from the pack. He handed Sam's recording camera to Lara, put a box of matches in his pocket for safe keeping, and the last useful item he found was a two-way radio, which emitted a lot of static and background noise when he switched it on.
"Sam?! Roth!" Lara called in the device.
"Can anyone hear us?!" Antauri said, but no response as he lowered the radio. "No signal."
They sighed and looked into the path in front of them.
"We've got to find them." Lara said.
"We will." Antauri assures her.
Millie, Moxxie, and Blitzo can tell he really cares about Lara, which they're pretty close as siblings since he took care of her whenever Roth is busy. Lara jumped and grabbed the ledge she'd been looking at, but she lost her hold and slid down the embankment below with a surprised cry.
"Lara!" Antauri, Millie, and Moxxie yelled, surprised as she was as they quickly followed after her.
Finding her near the bottom and not seriously hurt, they, except Blitzo, sighed with relief. They then looked up toward the sky.
"Let's out of this rain, we're soak and wet as it is." Millie suggested.
They nodded and they wandered around the nearby narrow path. They stumbled upon a cave structure that's perfect for using shelter and there's even a fire pit.
"Looks abandoned." Lara said.
"Goddammit my jacket is all fucking wet from this rain!" Blitzo complains. "Wish it was nice and dry outside!"
"Ugh, my fur is all wet and I'm smelling like a wet dog." Antauri groaned. "But good thing they did find me in this form."
Lara got herself a drink from the rainwater drizzling over one part of the cave side, then turned on the radio again.
"Is anyone listening? Please respond." Lara said, but still no respond and only static with no signal.
Antauri and Millie got to work gathering wood, grass, and leaves for the fire. They were soaked from the rain and needed to get warm. Piling up dry wood, leaves, and dead grass, he reached for the matches.
"Great, only one match left." Antauri said sarcastically.
He struck the match and quickly dropped it into the pile. The fire took off rather quickly, and they sat down close to the heat, sat in silence watching the flames dance around.
"I know this is a bad time, but my names Millie. I'm an assassin from I.M.P. in Hell." Millie greets sadly as Lara turned to her.
"Oh, so you're those imps Antauri told me about." Lara said which left them surprised. "He told me about you, Hell, his life, everything. And don't worry, I didn't say a soul to anyone because my father may get the wrong ideas, and they won't believe me."
They then turned to Antauri, who shrugs since he got nothing to hide.
"Well, I get we should introduce ourselves. The names Blitzo, the 'o' is silent." Blitzo introduces himself.
"What 'O'?" Lara asks, confused.
"Aw thanks, I like you already." Blitzo said with a smile. "Of course, you've already known the sturdy bitch, Millie. And of course, the baby-dicked imp is Moxxie."
"P-Please refrain...sir." Moxxie groans in annoyance, shivered while Lara giggled.
"I'm Lara Croft, and as you know, I'm planning to be an archeologist, but as it turns out...adventure found me." Lara said. "Also, I've also adopted Antauri in London when I was a child, and my father took him in and raised him."
Millie, Moxxie, and Blitzo smiled at that, since they were watching Antauri grow in London, but the signal on the radio briefly came through, but went as quick as it come. Lara reached for Sam's camera and flipped it on. Antauri and I.M.P. leaned over to watch.
"Here's the soon-to-be world-famous archeologist, Lara Croft, in her native habitat."
The camera panned up to a mirror where Sam could be seen as she continued speaking.
"She's on the hunt for the lost kingdom of Yamatai, home to the fabulous Himiko, mythical Sun Queen and ancestor of yours truly."
The camera panned back down to Lara.
"Sam...this is serious."
"Oh sweetie, I know. I'm just trying to lighten the mood here. Everyone's so on edge! What are you so worried about?"
"I'm close to something. I'm sure of it. I just don't know if the others will listen...Or even if they should..."
"Lara, you know this stuff better than anyone! Seriously. I'm not just saying this to make you feel better. I trust you...Carl trust you...Roth trust you! You got this. Now let's take a break, okay?"
"Okay, okay! And Sam...thanks."
The camera was then turned toward Sam.
"She's not always this serious, you know?"
The scene cuts to the mess hall where everyone was making small talk, the day where Lara argued with 'Twitman' about their hearing. They watched the argument again, which made Blitzo, Millie, and Moxxie laughed at that as the recording cuts off. They didn't move or respond as they decided to rest up for now and the stormed lasted well into the night.
The next morning, they exited the shelter.
"We can't just sit here. We've got to find something to eat." Lara stated as her stomach rumbled.
"I smell hunting lesson." Antauri quipped, and his stomach growls as well.
"Oh, that's fantastic, we should track it down and kill something." Blitzo said with a smile, happily pulls his gun.
Following the path down into a slightly open forest, they spotted a deer running away from them.
"There's our target. Too bad I can't rely on a hellhound trait, and we still need to find some weapons." Antauri pointed out.
"Oh god...what's going on here?" Lara questions with a gasp, looking up.
Following her gaze, they spotted a corpse tied up in the tree upside down with a bow across his back.
"I've seen worse than that." Antauri said as three imps nodded with agreement.
"Wait, I can use that bow!" Lara said when she noticed a bow.
And with a quick climb up to the tree, tried to pull the corpse down which made her land roughly. Millie checks up on her which Lara stood up with an appreciative look as she grabs the makeshift bow, then gives an experimental tug. Still sounded brand new, in hellhound's opinion. While she fetched the bow and Moxxie tosses the quiver of arrows to her since she'll be needing it, Antauri managed to find a hunting knife left in a tree with the sheath on the ground under it. He grabs it and hangs it onto his belt.
"Let's see if this thing still works. Just remember Roth's training." Lara said to herself, which they overheard her, and Roth's lessons running through their head.
'You can have the best form and technique in the world, but it won't mean a thing if you can't focus. The key to using any weapon is focus.'
"He sure sounds like a wise man." Millie stated beside her as they then follow the path again.
They found the deer, and Lara tries out the bow without getting caught since she's far enough, pulls out an arrow, aims at the deer, and release the arrow and shot the deer in the head. They approached it carefully.
"Sorry." Antauri said lowly to a dead animal before taking the knife and stabbing into its belly, cutting it open and took a couple handfuls of meat before standing. "Let's head back to camp and get this cooking."
Lara nodded when Millie, Blitzo, and Moxxie grabs hold of their own meat which they're able to hunt the deer on their own.
"What? We're hungry, you know." Blitzo told them as Lara and Antauri remembered what Roth told them.
'Alright, Lara, Antauri, you won't always have some fancy gadget to tell you where you are. If you can learn to read the land and the stars, you'll always be able to find a way home.'
They then trek back into camp, started cooking the food while Millie is making a fur skin coat.
"So, care to tell us how did you get into the ship? Oh, wait a minute, you didn't use that Asmodean Crystal, did you?" Antauri questions with a serious look.
"The opposite actually, Stolas' kid and Stella uses the grimoire to open the portal for us. Saves me a lot of trouble by the way." Blitzo answered which it got her attention.
"Grimoire?" Lara repeats.
"A book that use to open the portal, but it does more than that." Antauri told her which she nods with an understanding since he told her and Roth about his life in Hell.
"Anyway, Stolas filled us in about Yamatai and...well, you know the rest since you guys already got there realizing the trouble you're in." Blitzo finished the sentence. "And here we are."
"Here, I've made this for you since we'll be in the rain soon." Millie gestured as she offers a cloak to Lara.
"Thank you." Lara said, wraps herself in the cloak as they start eating their fill, waiting for the signal when they heard Roth's voice coming through the radio.
"This is Conrad Roth, captain of the Endurance. We are shipwrecked on an island inside the Dragon's Triangle."
"Roth!" Lara called him.
"Lara!"
"You're alive!" Lara said.
"Easy, easy. Are you okay? What happened?"
"I remember the beach...then it went black and I woke up in a cave...There was this crazy man, Roth...and a dead body." Lara explains.
"Did you find Antauri? I couldn't tell them his real name since he kept his identity a secret after he told us."
"He's with me." Lara answered, extends the radio to him as the hellhound takes it.
"Roth, this is Antauri. Where are you?" Antauri asks.
"Not important. Listen, both of you. Where are you now? Are you safe?"
"It was so horrible. It's all my fault, this is all my fault-"
"Lara! Listen to me. I sent an SOS from the Endurance before I abandoned her. Hopefully someone caught it. I've spoken to the others. We're regrouping at my location."
"Please come and get us..." Lara begged.
"I have to stay here. You can do this, Lara. Remember when we climbed Snowden? You said the key was knowing all you've got to do is just keep moving."
"Keep moving..." Lara said it with him before he continued.
"Remember I've taught you and Antauri everything, Lara. You're ready for this. And keep your radio on."
"Okay." Lara said, breathed and then Roth's voice faded from the radio.
Antauri came over to her.
"He's right, you know." Antauri said, agreeing with Roth. "He taught us well and I know you're ready for this. We'll make it through."
And with that, they packed up camp and started heading out.
That's it for the 2nd chapter. Here's the diary about a Japanese soldier mention about an Oni.
Soldier: Oni Stalkers
It...It happened again. Private Kosuke. He was on gate duty last night. No one heard anything. And this morning, they found this helmet...nothing else. No tracks of his leaving, no blood, no shell casings, nothing! The others are talking about Chinese partisans, maybe even American G.I.'s. Damned fools! They have no idea what's happening here. It is the Oni who stalk us. The restless, evil spirits, they live in the old places of this island. We are trespassers here, and they are watching us, waiting. All these wrecks, the ruins...this entire island is a graveyard. It's only a matter of time, the Oni will come for us.