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The torch flame flickers, casting long shadows across the overgrowth of the jungle. She leans over the map, tracing some path to follow, and when she stops, your hand comes to rest on hers. I see her lips moving, too far to hear what she’s saying. There’s the familiar shake of your shoulders as you laugh at whatever vapid nonsense falls from this woman’s mouth, and I don’t even need to watch to know you tuck that stray lock of hair behind your ear.
And my blood boils.
~~~
Days pass, the jungle thickens, and you grow ever closer to your new plaything. Pillars of hewn stone stand along your path, long since reclaimed by tree and vine. The woman in blue lays a hand on one of the pillars, tracing along the lichen-encrusted engravings. That damned smile plays across her face.
“Diana, look!” I’m close enough to hear her voice now. Close enough to hear this disgrace to archaeology’s heavy London accent. “These markings are the same as the ones on the key.”
“Half of a key, Lara.” You shake your head, but smile. “But with Hestia’s grace, the other half will be here.”
“It shouldn’t be much farther, Di. We’ll find it.”
Your hand comes to rest on Lara’s shoulder, and a twinge of red dances across her cheeks. “You’re doing good work.”
“Cheers,” she grins. “Now let’s quit faffing about and go get that key, yeah?”
~~~
It would be so easy to snuff her out like a candle, to take her throat in my teeth and tear the soft flesh away.
Some emergency called, as it always does for you, Princess. And you left little Lara all alone out here in the jungle. Funny how you still do this, even after everything you’ve lost. After every person you’ve lost.
The girl’s head snaps up at a small sound from the brush behind her. She’s on edge. Good.
I move through the thick bushes, deliberately shaking the boughs with each step. I want her to know I’m coming. I want her to run from me. I want to hunt.
Lara unholsters a handgun as I draw near. She fires in my general direction, the bullet whizzing harmlessly past me. I growl, deep and angry, and the girl turns and runs.
I could pounce and take her at any moment. Her movements are too slow to challenge me. But I don’t want to catch her. Not now. I just want her afraid. A stream of curses flows from her lips as she struggles to push her way through the dense foliage, sprinting when she can.
The hunt continues for 5 kilometres. Lara’s breathing is heavy as she fights against the jungle itself in her foolish hope to escape me. Her foot catches a root, sending her tumbling face first through the brush. I slow down, stalking ever closer to my prey.
It would be so easy. My claws tearing through the meat on her bones, leaving just her carcass for you to find.
But I can think of more delicious ways to punish you, Princess. So I vanish back into the jungle, leaving Lara alone with her terror of the unknown.
~~~
The ceiling drops on you, and your muscles quiver as you hold up the trap while your little pet scrambles to deactivate the mechanism. Even through your struggle, I see the way you look at her. The same way you looked at all the people you so callously discarded.
Something clicks, and the ceiling retracts, giving you a moment’s repose. You wipe the sweat from your brow, and Lara gives you a smile so saccharine I can feel my fangs rotting from here. There is the sound of stone grinding against stone, and a massive slab of a door moves out of position, granting the two of you access to the tomb beneath.
A minute passes after you descend into the depths, and another, before I follow in after you. No point in revealing my presence early, not until I can take whatever prize it is you seek out from your grasp.
The only lights down here come from the flicker of the torch held aloft by Lara and the faint glow of the Lasso at your hip. I cling to the inky black of the shadows, fully obscured as Lara retrieves half of a stone object. You pull the other half from a pouch at your hip, and my voice echoes throughout the chamber.
“Princess… Did you think you could just break your toys and replace them with something shiny and new?” Both of your heads snap in different directions, unable to pinpoint where I am as my voice bounces across the heavy stone walls. The two of you stand back to back, delicious fear evident on your faces, taking position to prepare for the worst. Your lips form that familiar silent swear to Hera. “Did you even tell her what happened to the last archaeologist you played with? Did you tell her what happened to Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva?” I can practically taste the venom on my tongue.
I pounce, emerging from the velvety blackness to tackle Lara in a flurry of claws and fangs, carving into her face as she falls. The key flies into the shadows, impacting off of some wall with a crack. I wrap a hand around your new toy’s throat and rise to my feet, holding her aloft. She kicks and struggles, desperately pulling at my grip. Adorable.
“Barbara, you don’t need to do this. I-”
I glare at you, and cut you off. I’m not finished. “Did you tell her how you abandoned Dr. Minerva, left her all alone to be claimed by some bastard of a god, to be turned into a bloody monster? Or did you just let her think you loved her, that you would keep her safe from all harm?” The torch lies at my feet, dancing flames throwing shadows across Lara’s panicked face from beneath. Your hand twitches toward your precious Lasso, and I toss your toy into the darkness, where she lands with a sickening thud. You wince, and I slink back into the inky black shadows to circle you. “That she was safe from being broken and discarded? Because that’s what you do, isn’t it? You let people love you, worship you, idolize you, and then you get tired of them and leave them to rot. To become monsters. That’s what you did to me. Hell, that’s what you did to poor little Vanessa, isn’t it?”
There is so much pain in your eyes hearing the Kapatelis girl’s name. So much sorrow.
“Oh, how she looked up to you, Princess. How she adored you. Loved you like a sister. And when she needed you, where were you? Where were you when she was turned into a mechanical monster?”
You stammer, tears form in your eyes, but not a single word comes to your defense.
“No answer. Because at the end of the day, you weren’t doing anything that was more important than her, were you, Princess? Have you even tried to help her?”
I don’t give you the chance to answer before I charge again, shoulder colliding with your back as I tackle you to the ground. The next thirty seconds are a violent frenzy, fangs meeting flesh, knees smashing into ribs, before somehow I end up beneath you, and you smash my nose with a headbutt. By the time the stars clear from my vision and I can think again, you’ve wrapped that bloody Lasso around me once again.
“Vanessa has been taken to a S.T.A.R. Labs facility in Boston. They’re… they’re doing everything they can to reverse her transformation.” You pick up the torch Lara had dropped, beginning your search for her. The light falls on her body and you help her to her feet.
Blood streams down her cheek and one eye is swollen shut as she comes back to consciousness, leaning on your shoulder. “Thank you, Di. And Barbara… of course I know what happened to you. It’s-” Her words are interrupted by a coughing fit. “It’s why we’re here. The Key of the Gods would have allowed Di to confront Urzkartaga, and with a little luck, free you from your curse. But now…” She holds up a fragment of stone, her hand covered in a sparkling grey powder. “The key was smashed to dust when you attacked me. There’s no repairing it now.”
There’s a writhing knot in my stomach. “You lie. You’re mocking me.” The taste of bile is overwhelming.
You grab the end of the Lasso of Truth, wrapping it around your hand, and look me dead in the eyes. “We came here to help you, Barbara.”
No. No, no, no, no, no! This can’t be happening. This can’t… But… With the Lasso… You can’t…
My face twists with agony and rage. The knot in my stomach turns to a pit, consuming me from within. Tears fall from my eyes and I howl with despair. And somehow you have the gall to wrap your arms around me in a hug.
“I am so sorry, Barbara.”