Let's Go Adventuring

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we're about to begin our descent to Luxor International Airport so please fasten your seat belts, the illuminated signs should have already been lit up a few minutes ago." The captain of the aircraft announced on the loudspeaker system. Throughout the whole duration of the flight Christian and Lara took the time to reminisce about memories of the past as well as their recent ventures that have led them to take the paths they have chosen in their respective lives. It certainly felt like the good old times where they were both relaxed in each other's company and did not hold back to what they wanted to say to one another. Luckily, this happened without any eavesdropping as the other passengers were either sleeping or had headphones plugged into their media.

"…And that was another adventure which Kurtis, Ayesha and I barely managed to make it out alive after our supernatural discovery deep within one of the mountains in the Himalayas...Gosh, it's hard to believe that journey was a few years ago now, doesn't time fly!" Lara quipped as she concluded discussing about that eccentric adventure.

"I'm speechless, I can't believe you experienced a close encounter!"

"We certainly did, and of course no one will believe us but then I like it that way, keeps it a secret that only a selected few will know. Coincidentally I have arranged for us to meet Ayesha when we land and asked for her help on our quest."

"The more the merrier, and especially after hearing your recent escapades it shall be an honour to meet her."

"Yeah she is an amazing friend and she'll always be someone you can trust on. It will be good to see her too as it's been a couple of months since we last saw each other."

"I can imagine. Anyway, tell me more about Kurtis as I'm curious to what made you fall for him…was it love at first sight?" Christian jokingly questioned Lara who immediately began to blush after not expecting to be asked that .

"Ha! Unbelievable, I do not know whether to be surprised or shocked at your boldness. Wow where do I begin with Kurtis…I honestly don't know what to say!" She was baffled with the out of the blue question that had made her speechless for that very moment.

"Ah I see a tricky subject…let me try and make it easier for you, how did you the two of you meet?"

"If memory serves me correctly, we first met in The Louvre, though not under the circumstances you would expect like a romantic date or purely just perusing the fabulous artwork there. I managed to unearth an 15th century painting piece from within an archaeological dig that was being conducted by the museum to which Werner had previously researched into and jotted down in his notebook before his death. However, there were other interested parties after the painting and whilst I was avoiding these mercenaries that had sieged the place, my instincts failed me at a crucial moment where I'd been taken off guard by a cold metallic feeling of a gun barrel placed at the back of my neck."

"Oh no, what did you do in that scenario!?" Christian gasped as Lara continued her story.

"I couldn't do anything, all I could feel was my heartbeat pounding heavily as I was disarmed, and the painting artefact I just retrieved taken from my backpack at gun point by this stranger. I knew in that moment of surrender I had to do something, so I decided to swiftly turn and face my adversary whom I would later find out to be the infamous Kurtis Trent. I was ready for a fight, unexpectedly though my whole body froze, my eyes just gazed deep into his azure blue ones and I cannot fully describe how I felt…but I can tell you one thing it was enchanting. He began to move away afterwards keeping his pistol trained on me, from there my mind was racing and admittedly I rashly chased him through the galleries along with the mercenaries hot on our tail. There were a few close calls, but I managed to catch up with him through the fire exit of the museum where he just laid there unconscious on the ground…unfortunately what happened next all became a blur as I got knocked out cold."

"Ohhh, what happened next? When did you next see him?" Christian eagerly asked her, he certainly was invested in the story she was telling.

"The next time I saw him was in Prague, where Kurtis and I formally introduced ourselves to each other in a stronghold fortress owned by The Cabal and we eventually agreed to team up to stop the dreaded alchemist Pieter Van Eckhardt achieving his desired goal. Cutting a long story short after that whole ordeal we bumped into each other on several occasions, where the more we saw each other the closer we got until we expressed our true feelings. To be honest it is indescribable how I feel about him, he's a loveable enigma and I'm happy to share my life with him." Lara emotionally conveyed. Even though she had intentionally left out some detail, she certainly poured her heart out about her husband that she cherished in her speech.

"Aww that's sweet I think I get where you're coming from, I've come to learn that love truly is a unique wonderful feeling that we all experience at some point in our lives and it's absolutely mystifying. It would be interesting to hear from Kurtis's perspective how he feels about you. I can always remember how Marie and I met…we were in Greece at The Acropolis of Athens citadel overlooking the beautiful city of Athens. A group of us was there researching the site and seeing if we could find archaeological remains that were valuable. Our team leader initially put the two of us as a team for one section of the dig and I must admit we had a rocky start where we continuously argued about who is right or wrong on certain theories and it became like a competition to see who had the most impressive find."

"Nothing wrong with a bit of competition, sometimes it may bring out the best in people." Lara remarked as she smiled at him.

"Indeed, and throughout this little competitiveness we began to share our common love of archaeology and from then on our feelings to each other grew so much that overtime as the relationship moved forward I managed to pluck up the courage and ask her to marry me. Funnily enough I asked Von Croy to be my best man which he happily agreed to and our wedding day was the best day of my life and I knew from that day onwards our lives would be full of adventures. It's a shame Marie, Kurtis and Werner are not here joining us to what I hope will be a breakthrough..."

"True, I would have liked to have met Marie as she sounds like an intriguing lady. Not that I am making excuses for Kurtis's case, but he only got back to the manor the day before yesterday so I'm sure the last place he wants to be is flying on an aeroplane."

"That's understandable…"

At that very moment Lara thought back to yesterday's conversation with the Lux Veritatis warrior during when she was making the necessary preparations ready for travelling to Egypt.

"What do you think to my decision earlier?" Lara queried him as they were alone in their bedroom.

"Sceptical, but it is your choice and I won't stand in your way."

"I know there is a level of uncertainty surrounding this, but I am genuinely captivated as to what could be hidden in this location. Besides, I know Christian very well we may have had a falling out in the past, but after hearing what he had to say for this instance I am willing to let bygones be bygones."

"But how well do you really know him though is what concerns me...how do you know he hasn't changed since you last spoke on good terms and what if so far his personality has been all for show just to get you on this trip since he knows you can't resist the lure of an adventure?"

"Trust me if he tries to double-cross me, he will regret it so don't worry I know how to handle Christian. You forget this is not the first time that I've trusted a stranger like this and look how well that turned out previously!" She hinted by raising her eyebrows at him.

"Hey that was a different situation and we both had a unified goal that we accomplished together."

"We certainly did, by the way are you coming with us?"

"Nah I'm going to stay put for now, someone's got to keep Winston some company."

"Fair enough, you'll be missing out though." Lara drew closer to Kurtis wrapped her arms around him in a romantic way, likewise he tenderly put his arms around her waist, and they moved to kiss each other passionately.

"Just assure me that you are going to be careful and you're going to watch your back, I believe there's more to this than meets the eye." Kurtis voiced his further concern to her, and it seemed Lara was in deep thought as he looked into her eyes.

"Hang on to that thought, I might have a plan…" She then picked up the phone from the charging cradle on the bedside cabinet and dialled in an international number connecting her to an old friend.

The plane landed at on the runway of Luxor International Airport and both Christian and Lara made their way through security checks and managed to get their belongings from the baggage carousel.

"Lara!" The sound of Ayesha's excited voice was heard as they exited the terminal.

"Ayesha my friend! It is so good to see you again!" Lara cheerfully greeted her friend in a warm hug.

"It's great to see you too, you've changed a bit since I last saw you." Ayesha told her and Lara winked in response.

"Let me introduce you to Christian Schneider, an old friend of mine and fellow student to Werner Von Croy."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Ayesha, Lara has told me all about you during the flight here."

"Haha I see…Hopefully what she's told you is that I'm a ray of sunshine to be with, and if Lara has said otherwise please do tell me so me and her can have words about this, hehe I'm only joking. Did you both have a good flight?"

"Yes thanks, it gave us plenty of time to catch up on things."

"That's good to hear. Follow me to the car park and we'll drive to the hotel where you'll be staying."

The ride to the hotel was pleasant as both Lara and Christian enlightened Ayesha of their revelation about the mysterious scroll and in turn she informed them of the tour she had booked the three on around the Valley of the Kings later on that day, giving them a chance to survey the site and if they could pick up the clues leading to the supposed concealed chamber. Once they had been assigned their separate room numbers, they both unpacked their cases and got themselves freshened up whilst Ayesha waited in reception drinking a soft beverage at the bar. Christian and Lara eventually met halfway across the corridor, as each had changed their clothes from before. Lara was dressed in her favourite iconic attire with plenty of sunscreen in her backpack whilst Christian wore a beige explorer's outfit complete with a hat.

'Almost resembling his idol Von Croy …' Lara had thought to herself as they made their way to the entrance of the hotel where Ayesha was waiting.

"I see you are both ready to go. Now you both will be on your best behaviour as we go on this tour, won't you?" Ayesha cheekily said with a little giggle, and they both reacted very similarly by facepalming.

"We will."

"Great, let's go adventuring!"