Death Raids A Heart

Pt. VIII

After spending half an hour exploring the Hidden City, Lara stumbled upon a crowd with their back to her. While the citizens wore red garbs compared to her blue robes, she felt like the odd one out as she approached the audience when the Queen caught up with the outsider. 

"What is this?" Lara whispered as she stood on her tippy-toes to peer over the heads and shoulders of the crowd. 

"Cultists, waiting for their 'deity' to appear," answered the Queen, Unuratu. "When the catastrophes come, the god, Kukulkan, must be sacrificed to power the sun. Otherwise, the word dies." 

"Sacrifice a god?" 

"The sacrifice is my duty. But this Cult leader will take my place and attempt to become the god. He believes we can remake the world and live in a paradise of his design." 

Three words lingered in her mind, to which Lara became confused less so Unuratu when the Cult leader was presented to his subjects. While the clothing masked his true face, Lara distinguished just whose face was under the mask. 

"Behold! The instrument of our unity and salvation," announced the man Lara recognised as Dominguez. "Soon, our dreams of peace and safety will be realised." 

Unuratu leaned to her side and whispered, "They already call him the Kukulkan but his real name is Amaru. He was born here but raised - lied to - by outsiders. The people believe him." 

"But you don't?" Lara questioned. 

"My late husband, Sayri, was his brother. They had differences over the future of Paititi. When Sayri died, Amaru devoted himself to the Cult." 

While Dominguez promised an everlasting realm that which he and his followers and believers would prosper in paradise, while those who stood against him would never come to a paradise promised to them. There, Unuratu sent her son to scout ahead while Lara sought to find the Box she sought. Once through the crowd, Lara contacted David. 

"Hey, honey. Uchu and I set up camp. Everything's okay. How's things on your end? Find anything?" David responded monotonously.  

"Dominguez is here. He's the leader of the Cult of Kukulkan. That's what Unuratu's rebels are fighting." 

"Go on..." 

"He's been here for years. Trinity controls Paititi." 

"So let's flush 'em out." 

"No. Not yet. I'm going to the Eye of the Serpent. We have to get the Box before the next cataclysm hits. First the tsunami, the storm, then the earthquake, and then the volcanic eruption." 

"Uhh, yeah, about that third one... I may have indirectly caused it?" 

"What?!" 

"It's okay! It's okay. Mr Cruz has been taken care of and Trinity won't be lurking around Alexandretta any longer. I found it, Lara. I found the Holy Grail. Dad was right all along. He knew everything on how to proceed to get there; the path, the challenges, everything. Only he--" 

"He didn't know where to start, did he? I'm so proud of you, baby. Once this is over, I promise I'll retire." 

David chuckled on the other end of the line. "Don't count your lucky stars just yet. Call me when you need me, okay? Stay safe out there. And give Dominguez my regards." 

"Will do." 

Through the Hidden City, Lara discovered places of worship, celebration and festive events such as dancing and frolicking before she came back into contact with Unuratu's son, explaining that should she survive the trial ahead of her, that she could find her way back to the old irrigation system. There, Lara began her journey through the cavern, the unstable platforms and walls caused heart-drops where she witnessed a gruesome murder room of sorts where she silently killed a Cultist. 

"Lara, how's it going?" Jonah called, occupying the silence. 

"I found another Serpent with a Silver Eye. I must be getting close. You?" Lara answered breathlessly. 

"Talking tattoos with David and Uchu. You saw Unuratu's, right? It has a Heron and an Eclipse on it. That might have something to do with the Silver Box." 

"I don't think so. Is David still with you?" 

"Right here, babe! What's up?" David yelled in the background. 

"N-Nothing. Just making sure you're alright. I'll talk to you later when I find the Box." 

Closing the transmission, Lara continued to make large leaps and shoot grapples to get across to a mural with a barrier stopping her from going through the Trial of the Serpent. Lara went about to solve puzzles within a chamber filled with Mayan artefacts and the such before coming upon a room with a serpent idol within. Following a river out of the temple, Lara climbed out where Unuratu's son, Etzli, stood hidden behind a rock as he gestured for her remain hidden from Cultists when the boy was captured, forcing Lara to run as spears were thrown her way before she returned to Unuratu. 

"Unuratu, Etzli's been captured," panted Lara. 

The woman stared deadpanned at her. "I know. They're holding him at the barracks. We're working on a plan to release him." 

"I tried to get to him. I'm sorry." 

"He's a warrior. What's that?" 

Lara handed her the serpent idol. She stared at it, admiring its model whilst drifting her attention from the idol to Lara. 

"This is a key. It looks like, like it belongs to the Mountain Temple. It is adjacent to where they're hold him! Is the Box of Ix Chel connected to the barracks? Is that why the Cult occupy the Temple? It's heavily guarded. When we go in, it has to be subtle, silent." 

"Is there a back way?" Lara asked anxiously as guilt weighed down on her for Etzil's capture. 

"Th-There was one, by the salt mine... but it has deteriorated. It's treacherous." 

"I might be able to manage it." 

"I haven't been back inside since I was a child, but from what I can remember, the barracks are within an inner stronghold." 

"If I can get in through the back way, I can clear a path, and let you in. We will free Etzil then go find the Box." 

Unuratu bowed her head, staring at the idol before handing it back to the brunette. There, Lara made off to the fields where people were harvesting crops as she remained ignored by the locals as she made her way to the Mountain Temple. Knowing she was entering enemy territory, Lara tread with extra care as to avoid alerting the entire barracks of her presence. While Lara sought the Box, Unuratu was accompanied by two of her best men to rescue her son. 

Idly, David sat in the company of Jonah whilst the two failed to occupy themselves with something to pass the time while Lara was out on adventure, where she would encounter the Yaaxil - guardians of the Silver Box of Ix Chel - where she found herself in the presence of their leader. A woman that horrified her by her frown plastered on her face covered in red and white paint before a door rolled closed on her, where Lara examined murals that she translated aloud to herself. 

" 'Yaaxil... Goddesses of Protection... The Silver Box of Ix Chel was forged in paradise and brought to Earth.' Did those creatures make the Box? 'Neither false gods nor zealots shall be allowed to pass...' They're protecting it. Is that why they fought me so viciously? 'Here they keep the Box, until the sun's renewal.' Here. It has to be here." 

In the Cenote, Lara became endangered as the Yaaxil pursued her in hopes of stopping her from finding the Box. While she managed to escape the natives, Lara returned to the sanctuary of the Hidden City by climbing to the surface from the cavern where she was intercepted by David, reporting that he, Jonah and their guard were in a cave going over blueprints to assault the barracks and rescue Unuratu.