"Zell," Lara yelled through the door. "The plane isn't taking off without you on it."
"Fine," Zell ran up the ramp and through the door. "This is just a really cool private jet."
Rinoa sat in Squall's lap, giggling. Irvine was talking to Quistis. Selphie was skipping around, smiling. Lara kissed Zell and got up to help Lyla grab the plans. The jet engines started up and it slowly took off. After a few minutes Irvine broke the silence.
"So like, where exactly are we goin?" He looked around.
"Somewhere in Egypt is all I know," Squall responded.
Selphie jumped into Lara's seat, next to Zell. "I hope it's pretty," she said staring out the window. After a few minutes she started to sing. "Plane plane, take us away, take us away, far away, to the future we must go."
"Here are the plans," Lyla threw some papers on the table. "Go through them if you want. Basically, Lara is going to go to Zephyrus' tomb. He was a pharaoh in ancient Egypt. She's going to get the icon of Phrixius."
"Sorry for interrupting," Squall started. "Why do you want this icon?"
Lara stepped forward. "We believe that it will help us with our guardian forces. If it works, it should make them more powerful and faster than ever. It might even give us some of their powers or strength. We're not completely sure about it though."
"That sounds a little," Selphie gulped. "Dangerous."
Lara flashed a grin. "I live for danger."
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"How much longer?" Selphie whined.
"We should be there any minute now," Lara smiled.
After a few more minutes, the jet descended. It landed in the middle of the desert. They all walked off of the jet and looked around.
"Where are we?" Rinoa kicked some sand.
"The middle of nowhere," Squall replied.
Lara walked over to a small mound of sand and started brushing it off. It revealed a small switch. "We're here, you guys wait in the jet for me. The desert is dangerous. I should be back by dawn, maybe sooner. Love you all!" She kissed Zell and hit the switch. The sand in front of them shifted, revealing a tunnel going underground. Lara ran up to it, checking her Desert Eagle clips on her way. She turned and flashed a quick smile before disappearing into the tunnel.
"Okay guys," Lyla started for the jet. "Let's get inside and wait for her."
They all walked back to the jet. Lyla shut the door behind them. She noticed Zell's worried face and hugged him tightly. "Zell, she'll be fine. No need to worry."
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Lara walked down the path, which was lit by only her flare. She was clad in her usual attire, a green, skin tight, sleeveless shirt, short brown shorts, black leather gloves, gun holsters, hiking boots, and her back pack. She entered a small room. She looked around for something to light since the flare barely lit the room. She felt her hand along a wall and found an exit. She walked down the hallway and her flare slowly flickered out. She felt along the walls of the narrow hallway, barely able to see anything. After a few hundred feet, she ended up in a dark room. She lit another flare so she could find anything important. She searched along a wall and found a large lever. She settled her hand lightly on it.
"Wonder what this does," she said to herself. She groaned using all her strength to move the ancient lever. All of a sudden, the room lit up. Torches lining the walls lit up the entire room like it was daytime. The room was beautiful. She walked to the ledge and looked down to what looked to be about a fifty foot drop. There was a rocky surface that Lara could easily climb down then climb back up on her way out. She slowly descended the rocks, being careful not to injure herself on the jagged edges. When she reached the bottom, she heard something growling. Somewhat of an evil smile curved across her face as she turned in the direction of the growl and drew her Desert Eagle.
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"I wonder what Lara's doin right now," Selphie said staring out the window.
"Knowing her," Lyla smiled. "She's probably in a whole mess of trouble right about now."
"That's not helpin me," Zell said quietly.
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"Come on out here jackal," Lara said in an angelic tone. "I'm not going to hurt you." After she used her soothing voice, a small jackal came around the corner. Lara put her gun back in it's holster. "You're just a baby." She slowly approached it and kneeled down, not getting too close. It leaned forward to sniff her. Lara looked around for it's family. She stood up and walked over to where the jackal was growling. There was a pool of blood around an adult jackal. Lara crouched down next to it. The puppy sat down next to her and started to whimper. Lara pulled her back pack off and sat it next to the puppy. "Here little guy, get inside." She reached out to the puppy and pulled him into the bag. It climbed in as she shut the bag behind it and left it there. "Don't worry little guy, I'll get you out and give you a nice home. Stay here and wait for me." She ran off and down to the entrance to a large temple. When she passed through, a gate slammed down behind her.
"Dammit, looks like I'm gonna have to find another way out." She said as she felt along the metal bars. She walked further into the temple, being very careful. Lara heard something large drop behind her. She turned to look and saw a giant boulder rolling towards her. She sprinted down the narrow path as fast as she could.
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"I wish I knew what's happening to Lara," Zell gazed out the window towards the tunnel.
"Zell," Lyla looked at him. "She's been doing this most of her life. She knows what to do and she rarely gets hurt. I'm sure she's fine. All we gotta do is be patient."
"Yeah," Irvine shifted in his seat. "She'll be fine. It's Lara we're talkin about."
"I hope you guys are right," Zell whispered to himself.
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Lara ran until she came up to another room. She jumped and rolled to her right as the boulder barely missed her. She got up and dusted her off shorts. The room was lit, the switch she through more than likely lit up the entire temple. She walked towards the center of the room where there was a large whole in the ground. She looked over the edge and saw exactly what she came for.
"There it is," she smiled. She looked around for way to get to the icon of Phrixius. She noticed a row of five switches and writing on the far right of the switches. She walked over and started translating. She read that each element could raise the icon. She slowly walked over to the switches and dusted them off. They were all there, earth, fire, wind, and water, but the center one was an ankh.
"That must be life," Lara pushed her bangs away from her eyes. "Let's see here," she paced from side to side. "If I pull them in the wrong order, something bad will happen. Which one do I start with? Well, I'll just hit whatever and hope for the best." She honestly had no clue which to pull first. She pulled down the earth switch first. The ground rumbled from the force of the icon's base rising. She ran to the edge and looked down. She saw the elements circling the base with the icon siting on an ankh. She ran back to the switches and threw them in the order she saw on the base. Wind, then Fire, then Water.
Now the icon was hers for the taking. She ran up to it and touched it. Nothing happened. She grabbed it but it would not move.
"Last time I threw a switch with an ankh on it..." Lara trailed off as she ran back to the ankh switch and threw it. She wasted no time in running back and grabbing the icon. The temple started shaking and crumbling apart around her. She shoved the icon in her holster and sprinted for the door.
"Who dares take my son's icon?!" a eerily monstrous voice boomed throughout the temple.
Lara turned back to the direction of the voice. "Sorry love, busy girl, got to go." She ran at top speed up the path with the boulder. She ran all the way to the top but the gate was blocking her path.
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"She sure is taking a long time," Rinoa brushed her hair.
"I know Lara," Lyla gave a serious look. "She'll be here any minute."
"Lara," Zell whispered. "Please be okay, I love you..."
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"Damn!" Lara yelled as she hit the bars.
"You won't get away that easily," The monstrous voice boomed behind her. Lara turned to see a beam of blue light flying directly towards her. She dropped to the ground as the beam flew over her, freezing the bars. Lara jumped up and kicked the gate, making it shatter to the ground. She ran out, jumping down the crevice to grab her back pack. She quickly climbed up the rocks as the entire temple was crumbling to pieces. She jumped over the last part and sprinted down the hall. She ended up in the small room she started out in. It was completely lit with three other doors.
"Let's see," Lara paused. "I took a left when I came in so I came through that door!" She ran towards it and sprinted up the stairs. She was almost hit by falling ceiling pieces. She heard a loud boom and knew something was following her. She jumped out of the tunnel at the last step and a huge fireball shot straight up into the sky.
"Lara!" Zell shouted from the door.
Lara ran to the jet and handed her back pack to Zell. "Zell, keep this safe." Zell nodded and handed the back pack to Lyla just as the tunnel crashed down.
"Is it over?" Selphie stared at the remains of the tunnel.
"I think so," Lara said as she stepped into the jet. A huge explosion was heard as a monster crashed through the remains of the tunnel. Lara pulled her gun out. "You guys wait here," She ran back outside to face the demon. "Zephyrus, do you really wanna fight?" Lara walked down the stairs.
"You stole my son's icon," Zephyrus' voice boomed. "You will pay!"
"I will gladly return it after I'm done with it," Lara bargained.
"Interesting," Zephyrus grinned as Lara holstered her weapon. "Why do you human's want to borrow my son's icon?"
"We believe it will help us with something back home. We will return it within this week if you want. Maybe even within the next few days. May we please borrow it for that long?" Lara asked.
"Return it by the next full moon, or else..." Zephyrus disappeared. Lara walked back up to the jet.
"Let's go home." She smiled.
