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Reins of the Tomb Raider	By : HunterOpera Category: +S through Z > Tomb Raider (all) > Tomb Raider (all) Views: 38203 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Tomb Raider and make no money from this. Also, this is not a happy story. It will not have a happy ending. You have been warned.

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“Please, sit.”

The words were in heavily accented Japanese, but Sam understood them perfectly. Himiko was not the desiccated corpse she had been on Yamatai, not here – here she was beautiful, serene, as she must have been in life. She was kneeling before a table, dressed in a red kimono with white trim with her shining black hair hanging loose, a small smile partially concealed by the tea cup she held. Another cup of tea sat opposite her, clearly meant for Sam.

“Where are we?” Sam asked. The only thing she could see was the table, the tea, and Himiko. All else around them was darkness, an endless darkness that spread out into infinity. The light that draped down around the table had no source, the ground beneath her feet lacked all definition.

“It pleases us to be in our mind, Nishimura-chan,” Himiko said. “Sit, please. Let us be civil.”

“Get out of my mind,” Sam said, backing away. She looked around, wondering if there was some place to run – if this was a hallucination, or a dream of some kind, she might be able to control it-

“We can hear you thinking,” Himiko said. Her tone was even. She set the tea cup down and folded her hands in her lap, demure and controlled. “You are clever, but your sort of cleverness is a quality we have encountered and overcome in the past.”

“Why are you speaking like that?” Sam swallowed. She could feel a subtle push, her feet moving closer to the table.

“We have studied your mind at length,” Himiko said, refilling her tea. “We understand the cultures and morays of your time, and have since influenced your decisions.”

“Then why are we having this conversation?”

“The troubles we encountered so long ago have corrupted the ritual.” Himiko paused, allowing Sam to sit. She struggled against those subtle pushes but found herself trapped. Himiko frowned. “It is not so simple as it once was.”

“Meaning you can't,” Sam whispered, staring at the ancient woman, the sorcerer who had thought herself a god.

“Foolish child,” Himiko smiled, small and sad. “We could force the issue, but there is a chance this could corrupt the ritual further. With you, Nishimura-chan, there must be a choice. We have studied you. So long as hope exists within you, your choice will be contrary to our best interests.”

“Lara knows,” Sam said. “She will save me from you.”

“I rather doubt that,” Himiko said.

... around them, the blackness changed. The world became color around the two of them, giant projections of the times they had known – their chance meeting, the times Sam had talked Lara into leaving her dusty old books for the light and sound of the clubs, the flashing light and throbbing base – Lara's hands, warm in her own, fingers entwined and then dancing along her back, lips meeting in the rain...

“Miss Croft is experiencing certain... difficulties,” Himiko said. The world around them faded back into blackness and silence, and Sam shuddered at the sudden loss of sensation, the taste of Lara Croft, the shy blush of her.

“How could you know that?” Sam spat.

“Even trapped within you, some of our power can influence the world,” Himiko answered. “We can hear every living breath, focus on the whispers carried by the winds. We have used this in times past to listen to our enemies and far off empires. Your Miss Croft is an exceptional woman, and one whose voice I listen for.”

Sam licked her lips. She knew that Himiko was speaking the truth.

“Where is she?”

“Croft-jukeisha is now in a country called Parmistan, in a range of mountains called the Hindu Kush,” Himiko answered. “She was looking for treasure.” Sam mouthed the suffix jukeisha, trying to remember the meaning.

It came her to at once: convict.

“Yes, Croft-jukeisha will not be coming for you,” Himiko said. “She has troubles of her own.”

... and around them the world exploded, not in vision but in sound: Sam could hear the sentence Lara had been dealt, her her cries and screams, the crack of the whip, the orders of a sadist named Drasha and the betrayal of James Berners, the Earl of Faringdon, the trick he had used to take everything from Lara Croft...

And then, silence.

Sam had huddled over herself, weeping. A hand brushed through her hair.

“She has nothing,” Himiko explained. “You have nothing. No hope, not escape. Your British royalty has abandoned her and left her to her fate, embarrassed by her excesses in their post-colonial fatigue. The days of exploration are done with, the days of raiding tombs taken from her. She will not save you, and no one else could. Sleep, child, and let me have this body. Wash away your pain with the peace of oblivion.”

“No,” Sam said. “No, no, no...”

“What else is there for you?” Himiko asked. Sam pushed herself back up, knocking the woman's hand away. “Trust us to do what is best...”

“You're not using the royal we, are you?” Sam said. Himiko paused, her smile growing. “You couldn't care less about British etiquette. You're speaking for us. Both of us.”

“So what if I am? What difference does that make?”

“It gives you leverage, but I still have to let you out,” Sam said, thinking furiously. “You have some control, but if you could have everything you would have by now.”

“You see the shape of our mind,” Himiko said, nodding. “Do you know what must happen now?”

“I do,” Sam said, meeting Himiko's eyes. “And I accept your offer.”

*

Okay, so, this changes things slightly. The story sort of did it's own thing, which is nice and means this is heading towards a similar but different ending to where I thought it was going at the start, and it's always fun when a story takes over. I was debating having this chapter as a separate beast, but it ties directly to the ending and isn't strong enough to stand on its own, so here it goes and here it belongs. If you've got feedback, thoughts, or reviews, everything will be responded to here: http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/36931-metroid-the-bergman-affair-feedback-comments-and-workshopping/page-10 - in the meantime, thanks for reading and we'll be back with more Zamir tomorrow.
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Reins of the Tomb Raider