This is the 6th chapter. I don't own the series of Helluva Boss or the game of Tomb Raider.
Draconic Fan: Possible, but there's no telling what's going up on Alastor's mind.
Crying For Help
After patching up Roth's wound and given the imps an introduction, both Lara and Antauri are resting on the campsite to take a breather before heading to the transmitter. They're recapping about the survivors they met along with Mathias, who's the one behind on turning the group into a cult by recruiting and killing people. What do they want? What are they looking for? They then salvage their guns, reinforcing the port vented slide for improving accuracy. Lara turns to Roth and spoke to him.
"What the hell is happening on this island, Roth? Who do you think these people are?" Lara questions.
"Yeah, I mean, I've been people done shit before, but these guys are just plain bat-shit crazy." Blitzo adds with his raised eyebrow.
"Violent fanatics...some kind of cult. But they're organized, they were ready for us." Roth answered.
"I'm worried about Sam." Lara said.
"We all do, but these people are insane. We can't dwell on what they're capable of, we need to focus on the task." Antauri points out which Roth and the imps agreed.
"But I just can't believe Whitman just surrendered like that." Lara said with disgust.
"No shit, I got a half of mind on killing that son of a bitch!" Antauri snarled angrily.
"Get in line, because we want a piece of that dipshit." Blitzo adds which Roth can understand that.
"You never know what someone is going to do in a situation like this." Roth told them. "Though I wouldn't say the good doctor's reaction is a surprise."
Antauri already knew of Whitman's true colors after watching him during the time at Endurance and on the island. Even Blitzo, Millie, and Moxxie were watching his actions by surrendering and having both Lara and Antauri dragged into their camp at the ruins.
"Are you going to be okay here, Roth?" Lara asks, worried about him.
"Don't worry about me, I've old friends to keep me company. Same with them." Roth replied. "Best get up to that tower, we need to broadcast an SOS."
"And don't worry, we'll keep an eye on him." Millie assures them.
Antauri and Lara nods as they head to the cliffside, which they'll have to brush up on rock climbing. Lara starts first, climbing up with the axe and heading for the top. Antauri decided to follow her, while letting her take the lead a bit more. She'd have to learn how to survive without someone helping her all the time, and only then would become a stronger person. They scaled the walls quickly and reached the top with ease, as they sprint onto the wing and then climbs up on the cliff to the other, but the white hellhound noticed a cave at the falls. He and Lara went inside to investigate while climbing up. Lara takes the lead by lighting the torch, guiding to the tomb that has skulls, candles, and bones along with the platforms that has a pulley and the golden Japanese statues.
"Hmm...gilded figures...servants of the Sun Queen..." Lara muttered, looks closely. "Sacrifice...murder...There's no record of these kinds of rituals in ancient Yamatai. Unless it was erased from the texts."
Antauri was able to cut the hanged corpses while loosen the weight and getting the platform elevated a little. Lara then pushes the metal cage down, causing the platform to go up as Antauri jumps into the wall and starts climbing up while she follows him. But soon as they reach up to the top, they began to realize what it is.
"This may have built in honor of her priestesses." Antauri said in awe which Lara agreed to that statement, then opens the chest and it made them slightly gasp.
After they're able to discover a tomb, they zipline down to the ground and decided to head to the camp inside of the cavern while salvage up their guns with the muzzle brake, an attachment that delivers more round accurately. They then get out of the cave and continued on climbing on the cliffside, jumping over and then climbs on the other cliff, but when they got here, they quickly found themselves among more unwanted company.
"Hey, you find anything?"
"No! Nothing!"
"What?"
"Nothing! There's no one up here! They never make it up this far!"
"You bastards are about to be surprised!" Antauri growled lowly.
"Should we head back to the bunker?!"
"Nah, let's wait out the storm!"
"Got it!"
"Stay alert!"
"Let's move inside!"
As they rotated their positions, both Antauri and Lara hid behind the wooden box while overhearing a different conversation.
"This is a good idea?"
"We got some time. Might as well relax. They'll probably put us on wreck duty later."
"So, what do you think they use it for?"
"What, the radio tower?"
"Yeah. It still works, right?"
"Probably. We got people up there guarding it day and night."
"Shit. Of course they're up there." Antauri groaned.
"Father Mathias doesn't want anyone going near it."
"That bastard!" Antauri growled.
"You think he has a line to the outside?"
"Why do you think no survivors ever make it up this far?"
"What do you mean?"
"Mathias knows exactly when a new ship is coming in. We always have time to prepare."
As this was said, Antauri was faintly aware that Lara took out the guard and shot the lantern, burning him alive before focusing back into the conversation.
"So, he's fishing. Using that tower to lure ships."
"Exactly."
"But why?"
"I think he's trying to find her...the key."
"The key? Do you really believe in any of that?"
"I...I don't know. Look, we shouldn't be talking about it. Let's just get some rest."
"Yeah, you're probably right."
Lara and Antauri fired their pistols at the two guards in the head. With the guards down, they spread out to look around. Antauri was able to find the materials to salvage and an ancient scroll about the Chinese Ambassador spoken to the village about a rumor of the Sun Queen's communion with the spiritual world and commands the sun and rain, that her lands abundant by her will alone. Though, it's sometimes true because the intense storm while learning about survivors been stranded on the island proves it. He catches up to Lara, who's able to get the materials while climbing up on the ruin and noticed an artifact known as Yagen.
"A kind of mortar and pestle. Probably used for preparing medicinal herbs." Lara muttered while investigate it further. "There are small bone fragments in the mortar well. Hopefully animal bones."
Lara and Antauri then climbs at the ruin, makes a fatal jump while jamming the axe into the cliff to prevent them on falling. They then start climbing, scaling the cliffs since they've got nowhere to go but up. Soon as they reached the top, the remains of the bridge look weak and ready to fall apart.
"Get a running start and jump. I don't think this will hold us." Antauri advised Lara, who responds with a nod.
At the same time, they took a running start as the remains under their feet cracked and broke apart. As it collapsed, they jumped, jamming the axes into the cliff to stop their potential fall. She then began to pull herself up the cliff, Antauri following suit. As they pulled themselves up, Reyes radioed in.
"Lara...Carl...are you there?" Reyes asks.
"Reyes! Did you find Sam?" Lara replied.
"We're still on her trail." Reyes answered.
"Carl and I are going to try and send an SOS from an old radio tower up here. Any tips?" Lara said as Alex's voice was heard.
"Hey, Lara! You and Carl are gonna need to find the communications console. It'll look like a bunch of old schoolboards." Alex explains to them.
"Got it. We'll radio back when we find it." Antauri replied.
The transmission ended and they zipline down the rope using their axes. When they landed, however, they weren't given a warm reception.
"Hey! Hey! Wake up, we got intruders!"
"Dammit, really?!" Antauri growled as he and Lara ducked down while the guards advanced on them.
"Come on, grab them!"
"Please, you don't need to do this!" Lara begged.
"We're beyond that at the point, Lara!" Antauri called from his position on the other side.
"How'd they get up here?!"
Antauri shot the molotov from the guards' hand, burning him alive and killing him after the scream. They jumped up and ran headlong into the fray, dispatching two of the guards. They then collect the materials they need for salvaging, Lara lights the torch and burned the net, and collect the materials. She then guides Antauri to the tunnel in front of them, squeezing through a tight space wall as they came upon more wreckages on the other side.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Lara murmured which Antauri nodded in agreement.
They paused at the campsite to warm up and rest. There, Lara turns to her adopted brother since she didn't get the opportunity to talk to him.
"So, Antauri, didn't have get the chance on getting a girl you like whenever you're not too busy?" Lara asks.
Antauri couldn't help but chuckled a little, seeing that it's a rhetorical, but decided to humor her.
"Once, I use to date Felicia when I was a pup. We got off to a bad start when I first met her at the Gluttony Ring, where Queen Bee rules there and where the party took place." Antauri said. "She's not a party animal, like Bee, and she's mature enough to put her on a short leash. Though, I barely knew her and never thought she's a stalker."
"That didn't sound like a good thing." Lara points out.
"No, and we made up after I told her of my living and how I kill people who commits a sin. She even helps out at the Hazbin Hotel." Antauri said which made Lara remembered about the hotel he mentioned. "We hang out sometimes, and...she even took my first kiss."
It made Lara giggled at that.
"That sounds like she likes you." Lara stated as Antauri chuckled. "But what happen between the two of you?"
"We...lost in touch ever since I left." Antauri answered with a sigh. "And if I know Felicia, she probably moved on and found someone she likes."
"Well, you won't know until you see her." Lara told him.
"I guess." Antauri said with a shrug. "But Alundra, I'm sure you met her during the enrollment at the University."
Lara nods, remembering about her and Antauri meeting with Alundra.
"She's like Octavia, a bird demon, and once I notice her scent, it got her flustered. Her secrets are safe after I gave her an explanation and she told me about her backstory." Antauri explains. "And let me tell you, she's a princess, an heir to the throne and had a sister named Elsa. Though, Alundra chose her career as a curator of the British Museum."
Lara just frowned, remembered about them making her father a laughingstock which Antauri understands that.
"Then, there's two hellhounds named Sabrina and Fifi, both of them are poodles and they're pole dancers at the bar." Antauri continued. "I'll admit, they're pretty alluring when they dance, not to mention attractive."
"I take it they're trying to get your attention?" Lara asks with a giggle.
"More like trying to get into my pants when I'm on the job and try to be professional." Antauri groans in annoyance. "Just lucky my boss was able to help me out and keeping them in check, shit. I've been dealing with them for a long while, and they still tried to get me to fuck them. I kept refusing them when I'm on a job, including working as a bouncer. After telling my boss about this, he sent me to another bar that doesn't involve with either of those poodles."
Lara couldn't help but just laugh, after hearing about his job at the bar and the two poodle hellhounds. Unknown to the two, Roth, Millie, Blitzo, and Moxxie were overhearing the conversation with their walkie-talkie which got them laughing of his unfortunate encounter with Sabrina and Fifi.
"And what happen after trying to get away from Sabrina and Fifi?" Lara asks.
"Well, I got to enjoy working with my different boss while keeping it professional and keeping an eye on people. Though, both Sabrina and Fifi aren't too happy about my transfer consider they're harassing me during my work." Antauri answered. "But they didn't give up and somehow, found me while became customers which I wasn't too happy about it."
"And your other job?" Lara inquires.
"I've been keeping tabs whenever I was working at the bar or listening to the police scanners." Antauri said with a shrug which Lara can understand.
"But you love one of them, do you?" Lara asks.
"I doubt it, and I don't even know how I feel about them." Antauri answered. "Also, if I ever a get chance to see them, I just have to reject them calmly and move on."
Lara was quiet for a moment, processing of his feelings about the girls. She can understand when it come to them meeting Antauri as first and love at first fight, well except the two poodle hellhounds who wants to have sex with him, but him rejecting their friends would hurt them if he doesn't even get to know them better or try to date them. Her words left him stunned.
"You should give them a chance to get to know you before you could reject their feelings in return." Lara told him. "I understand you have other priorities, but Antauri, you're in your 20s and those women you told me about, I can tell they like you. I know you're waiting for the right one to ask you out, but you need to be careful of your choice. Because there's no going back if you reject their feelings. Also, if you ever like one, or in Hell's case, all of them, you can introduce them to me, but if not, then you'll break their hearts."
Antauri just sat there, silently stunned with his eyes widen. He couldn't believe it, out of all people, Lara gives him a scolding and some advice about women's feelings. While he appreciated that she didn't judge him, but how could she even give him advice whenever she never dates anyone because of her studies? Then again, he has no room talk because of his studies in college and his job. Since they're currently living their own nightmarish experience, they could at least try to talk about their past lives. And it was the first time Antauri ever brought up Felicia, Alundra, Sabrina, and Fifi since his time in London. He responds with a nod and Lara smiled at that, pulls out Sam's camera. Antauri shook out his thoughts and watched silently over her shoulder from behind.
Reyes was working on the ship with Alex flipping through a magazine nearby.
"I'm telling you, Reyes, it's mechanical, not an electrical problem."
"Now, Alex!"
Alex shook his head and threw a switch, coughing as it emitted more smoke than there already was.
"This looks like it might be an electrical problem."
"You think?"
"Oh, hello. Hey, who's this little fox, huh?"
"She's cute, huh?"
"Very cute."
"That's Alisha."
"Alisha. I like that."
"It's my daughter."
"Oh."
"14 years old and smarter than you'll ever be."
"She must...must get that from her father."
"Don't give him the attention. And...yeah."
"I'll take a look at this...probably electrical. From her father...nice one."
The camera then shows Grim, who's telling his story.
"So, I was on the loch, right, doin' a spot of midnight fishin'..."
Roth cuts him off.
"Hey, Grim. Time to batten down the hatches."
"Aye, I'll be right with you. So...I was on the loch, right...an' this thing comes looming at me, looming outta water, it was! So, I gives it the old Glasgow kiss. You know...gets you out of trouble nine times out of ten, that does! Took me a week to sleep that night off and I've not touched a drop since! See you at dinner, Sam!"
Then, he left the cabin.
Antauri couldn't help but chuckle a little at Grim's story. The camera then panned to the left, catching Reyes and Roth in an apparent private moment.
The scene then cuts to the day Jonah was teaching Dr. Twitman how to cut a fish. After he stormed off after cutting himself and Sam went after him, Antauri came into the shot. He had been unaware that the cameras were still rolling as he helped Jonah out until Whitman came back.
The camera cuts again to Lara speaking to Roth.
"I've studied them so much, I can see charts on the back of my eyelids. But if I'm not right about Yamatai being in the Dragon's Triangle.
"I remember when you found that on one of your father's digs. You ran up and showed it to me dressed in your penguin pajamas."
"I was five years old. It was my first find."
They paused against the railing.
"You've got great instincts, girl. You and Carl just had to trust them."
"That's what my father used to say."
"Now there was a man that ran on instinct...for better or worse...He would have been so proud of you, Lara."
"We're getting closer to the storm."
"Well, whatever's coming, we'll get through it, eh?"
Then, they noticed Antauri at the bow, watching the horizon.
"Don't be too hard on your brother, Lara. He had his reasons why he doesn't like Whitman. I mean...he has good instincts, and he knows how to trust them."
Lara glanced between the white hellhound and Roth for a moment before going over to talk to him.
Lara puts the camera away and stood up, Antauri already on his feet and waiting.
"Okay, Lara. Pull yourself together, they're counting on you and Antauri." Lara mumbled to herself, though Antauri caught it and allowed a brief small smile to grace his face.
"Shall we?" Antauri asked, motioned down the pathway.
Lara nodded and trotted off down the path with him a few paces behind her.
That's it for the chapter. Here's the scroll about the Chinese Ambassadors discovery.
Discoveries
I have spoken to some of the villagers on the island. I was expressly forbidden to leave the palace, but this did not stop me. My duties here are clear, I must learn the truth! But the stories I discovered defy belief. Rumors abound of the Queen's communion with the spiritual world. They say she commands the sun and the rain, that her lands are abundant by her will alone. This is certainly nonsense, but what can be the cause of such whispers? Is this how she controls her people, by engaging their primitive superstitions? I saw absolute reverence in their eyes when they spoke to her, yet I also sensed fear. Her people are treated with fairness, taxed reasonably and are well protected by her Stormguard. No wonder some of them even pray to her! It's as if she were more than just a Queen of them. Spreading discontent through her people may well be a harder task than I imagined.