Search for Delphi

by Katie Fleming

"The Amulet of Hours." Lara whispered, staring at it for a few moments. "Hmm, hmm." Lara glanced up. Winston stood beside her bed, his silver tray held in front of him, with a white cloth draped on top.

"Good morning Winston."

"Lara," he replied, "looking wonderful as always." Lara smiled, and ran her hand through her tangled hair. She nodded towards the amulet.

"What's this doing out?" Lara questioned. Winston removed the cloth from his tray, an envelope lay underneath. He picked it up, and handed it to Lara.

"This came this morning," he said, "I think it's important." Lara glanced at the envelope. It was addressed to her, and had a message written in red ink. Read immediately. Regarding the Amulet of Hours.

"Hmm…" Lara pondered, "I wonder what this is about?" Winston shrugged his shoulders, then quietly left her room. Lara swung her legs to the side of her bed, and pushed herself up. As she ripped open the envelope, Lara walked over to her loveseat, overlooking her balcony and sat down. She carefully removed the paper inside, and began reading.



Ms. Croft,

We have been informed that you are currently the holder of the Amulet of Hours. We have found something that you'll be interested in hearing, I'm sure. Our company name is Gibson Legend Seekers (G.L.S.). Two years ago we found a stone tablet in the Gibson Desert of Australia. There are hieroglyphics on it, informing us of a twin amulet of Set. For a few years now we have been searching the desert for the amulet, but haven't had any luck.

The tablet also explains in more detail about Set's sister. We would be honoured if you would help us acquire the amulet. Please contact us a.s.a.p. with your decision.

Yours truly,

Gibson Legend Seekers



At the bottom of the letter, the companies phone number was written in pencil. Lara looked outside at the sky, just as Winston reentered her room.

"I'm going to Australia," she said. Lara looked over at Winston. "I'm going to Australia!" She jumped off the loveseat and dashed past Winston, and down the staircase…

Ring, ring. "Come on! Answer the phone!" Lara exclaimed impatiently. Ring, ri…

"Hello? Gibson Legend Seekers."

"Hello, my name is Lara Croft. I received a letter today regarding…"

"Lara! Hold on a moment!" the voice interrupted. Lara smiled up at Winston, who had finally made it down the stairs. A moment later, a woman came on the phone.

"Lara Croft?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"My name is Natalie, I’m the manager of G.L.S. I'm glad you received the letter."

"Just this morning! I am interested in talking with someone to discuss the tablet you found. I would also like to see it." Lara explained.

"Of course, but this would mean you have to fly down here."

"Sounds good." Lara replied.

"Great. Go to the airport, and tell them it's business with G.L.S. they'll direct you to the plane from there. Everything will be arranged for you by the time you get to the airport." Lara agreed, then hung up the phone.

"Well?" Winston asked.

"I have to pack right away, then I'm going to the airport." Lara walked to the kitchen, where she had a nice assortment of guns on the table. She ran her hand across the edge of the table as she scanned the weapons. After deciding on pistols, and Uzi's, Winston handed Lara a few medi packs, and a small bottle. She put the goodies in her backpack, then realized there was something she was missing. "The Amulet of Hours!" she exclaimed. Lara ran upstairs and grabbed the amulet. Then, she put on her khaki shorts, green tank top, and holsters. She quickly hurried down the stairs and ran outside to where Winston awaited her in a black limousine.

"All flights going to Canada are leaving in five minutes. Please board the planes now. All flights going to Canada are…"

"Thanks for driving me here Winston." Lara said.

"No problem. Have a nice trip." he answered. Lara said goodbye, then headed towards a nearby counter. A short lady with red hair looked up at Lara and smiled.

"Hi. I'm doing business with G.L.S."

"Lara Croft?" the woman asked.

"Yes." the woman walked around the counter.

"I've been waiting for you," she said, "I hear this is top secret!" She looked at Lara, her expression yelling, tell me, TELL ME! Lara nodded, a smile on her face.

"It is." The woman pointed her arm to a closed door.

"Just through there, hope you have a nice trip!"

"Thank you." Lara replied. She walked towards the door and took a deep breath.

About eight hours later the plane landed. Someone was waiting for Lara beside a helicopter.

"I'm supposed to fly you to the G.L.S. headquarters. Hop in." Lara climbed into the helicopter, and sat down. The trip was silent, which was ok with Lara. She was too busy re-reading the letter over and over again, her imagination creating pictures of the tablet that G.L.S. had discovered.

An hour later the pilot landed the helicopter. Lara thanked him for the ride, and he took off. A bead of sweat formed on Lara's forehead as she viewed her surroundings. She was in the middle of a desert! Lara looked around, and saw a jeep driving towards her. When it stopped, it was a few feet in front of Lara. A woman stepped out and walked forward.

"Hi! I'm so happy you could make it! I'm Linda." Lara shook her hand.

"Where are we?" Lara asked.

"The Gibson Desert. Our company is located in Lake MacKay. It's not too far from here."

"Great, let's get going!" Lara climbed into the jeep and sat down. Five minutes later they arrived at the edge of a lake.

"All right Lara. Swim to about what you think is the middle of the lake, dive down and look for a flashing red light." Lara looked at Linda with an astonished look on her face. "I'm just joking!" Linda laughed. She walked over to the water, and pulled a chain that was buried under a pile of sand. Suddenly a huge piece of glass rose up from the water. Linda walked over to it, and pushed a red button. The glass let out a suction sound as half of it moved away in the opposite direction. Lara watched with amazement as a pathway was created where they could walk, being sheltered as the huge glass pieces held the large volume of water back.

"That is amazing!" Lara said. Linda nodded in agreement then proceeded towards the pathway.

"Come on Lara you better hurry. This thing only has a twenty second delay on it!" Lara sprinted towards the path, forward jumping over Linda. A moment later Lara stood at a huge glass door, impatiently tapping her foot. Linda ran towards Lara.

"Wow! You're fast!" Linda said. Lara smiled, then turned to face the door. Linda punched in a nine digit code, then the door opened, and the two stepped inside. The door shut, and Lara watched the glass pieces join together again, and the water rushed back into its place.

"Now what?" Lara asked.

"Our company headquarters is under Lake MacKay." As Lara listened to Linda, the small chamber they were in started to descend. "We have top security here. A computer always knows how many people are currently in the headquarters, who they are, and also keeps track how long they were in each room. This is extremely important for evacuation because it saves a lot of time searching for them, and right now there are currently one hundred twenty two workers at G.L.S." Beep, beep. Linda glanced over. "Ready Lara?"

"Oh yes."

"Great." Linda pushed open the door, and both stepped out. Lara closed the door, and faced Linda. "All right, I'll call for Natalie. She will help me introduce you to our members who will be assisting us on the search." she explained. Linda pressed a button on the wall. "Natalie report to main." A moment later a woman turned the corner, and smiled at Lara as she approached. Linda looked at Lara. "This is going way too slow! Let's speed things up a bit!" They motioned for Lara to follow. Natalie and Linda ran ahead, while Lara followed close behind. At the end of the hallway, Natalie paused at a door to insert her security card. The door opened, and the three entered. An odd odour filled Lara's nose once they were inside. There were two men who stood on the opposite side of the small room in front of another door, arms crossed.

"Perte, Dema, this is Lara Croft. We're here to see the tablet."

"Welcome Lara." Perte said.

"Hi Lara! I think you'll find this adventure quite interesting." Dema explained. Lara shook both of their hands. Perte unlocked the door, and the two men pushed hard to successfully open it. Lara walked into the room. There was a rather large table in center, a towel covering the stone tablet. A pad of paper, and a pen had been placed beside it.

"We'll leave you alone now. Just call if you need anything."

"Thank you." she responded. Perte nodded at Lara, then Dema helped close the door. After hearing the click of the lock she sat down, then reached for the towel…

Lara sucked in her breath as she ran her slender fingers over its rough surface. Her eyes sparkled with fascination as she gazed at the remarkable writing, that she knew so well - hieroglyphics. Lara stretched her arm along beside the tablet, estimating the length to be about half a meter. At the top in about the center, the Amulet of Hours had been sketched in the stone. Small scratches lined the bottom, seeming to decrease its beauty. To the left of the picture, the name Set had been engraved, to the right, Delphi. Lara reached for the pen, and began to translate the message.

The Amulet of Hours has a twin sister, the Amulet of Delphi. They were separated, and have to be brought back together. Fit the Amulet of Hours into the back of the Amulet of Delphi. Placed in Delphi's tomb in the Bowl of Many Secrets and the sacred water from Karnak poured onto it, will fuse the amulets back together.

When the amulets re-unite Delphi will be reborn at the age she was before the amulets were separated. She will present a nine pound solid gold statue to whoever reunites the amulets. Match each letter of her name with the number in the alphabet, add, then divide, accounting for the total number of letters in her name.

D (4) + E (5) + L (12) + P (16) + H (8) + I (9) = 54/DELPHI (6) = 9 pounds. When the amulets were separated Delphi vanished, and will remain lost until the amulets are back together.

Lara leaned back in her chair, gently tapping her pen against her slightly parted lips.

"Sounds fun!" she exclaimed. Lara looked at the scratches more closely. She squinted her eyes, straining to see if there was anything else.

"PERTE!" Lara shouted towards the door.

"YES LARA?"

"I NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS!"

"ALL RIGHT!" he echoed. The door was slightly pushed open, with a hand holding her request. Lara stood up, and grasped a hold of the magnifying glass.

"Thank you!" Lara said. The door was shut and locked once again. She held the glass over the scratches, moving it higher to focus better. Several tiny pictures were sketched into the stone. Lara excitedly wrote down the translation as fast as she could.

In the desert you shall wait, take too long then you'll be late. When the winds blow strong…it won't be long.

"The first clue." Lara whispered. She glanced once more at the tablet as she stood up, taking the paper and pen with her…

Perte looked at Lara, "The closest desert by Gibson, is the Great Sandy Desert. Why do you ask?" he inquired.

"You said you found the tablet in the Gibson Desert. Have you ever thought of looking anywhere else?"

"No, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt," he answered. "what do you think Linda?"

"I think it's a great idea! When would you like to go Lara?"

"As soon as possible. Why not tonight?"

"All right. Three more members will be joining us. Sid, Perry, and Katie. Natalie, please bring them here immediately. We'll go in ten minutes!" Lara smiled. She could hardly wait for the adventure to really get going!

Five minutes later…

"Lara, this is Sid, Perry, and Katie." Linda said. Lara shook their hands.

"I'm delighted to meet you Ms. Croft!" Sid exclaimed.

"Thank you!"

"Well, let's not waste any more time!" Natalie said. "To the chamber!"

7:05pm: Great Sandy Desert…

Lara shaded her eyes with her hand as the wind furiously blew around sand. The G.L.S. members were doing the same, as Sid and Perry set up the jeep with some communications equipment. All were going to stay at the jeep while Natalie and Perte assisted Lara. Perry handed Lara an antenna.

"When you get to where you want, shove this into the sand, and pull out the extension at the top to fully extend it. We'll be able to find you, if you get lost." Lara nodded then set off, Natalie and Perte tailing behind.

One hour later…

Lara glanced at her watch. 8:05pm.

"Are we almost there?" Perte whined.

"Well considering I don’t even know…I'd say we're getting close!" Lara smiled. Rooo, raahhh, wooo! Lara looked up. Overhead dark black clouds were billowing in. The sky's pink colour slowly began to fade, as dark grey slowly invaded. The wind began to whistle, warning all about a storm approaching. Natalie looked over at Lara, a slightly worried look on her face.

"Maybe we should head back Lara. We can always come back tomorrow." she suggested. Perte enthusiastically nodded his head in agreement.

"You can go if you like, but I'm continuing on." Perte and Natalie both nodded their heads.

"Ok Lara," Perte replied, "we'll see you later then." Natalie waved goodbye and both slowly headed back, following their footprints. Lara walked for ten more minutes. The wind increased blowing Lara's hair wildly about. The sky was completely darkened now, and the black clouds were looking heavier. Suddenly, lightning burst from the sky. Overhead, lightning shot everywhere. The whole sky was lit up, almost like watching fireworks. The light shone on Lara's face as she jabbed the antenna into the sand, twisting and pushing hard. Just as she had pulled out the extension, a jolt of lightning struck the sand behind her. Lara jumped forward, rolling on the sand, and lay on her back. Momentarily, the storm lightened up. The lightning stopped, but the sky was still pitch black. Then the rain started to fall - hard. Lara had no shelter, but a little rain never hurt anyone. She stood up, wiping the sand from her shorts. Lara looked up at the sky just as a huge lightning bolt sped towards her. Her eyes lit up brightly. The lightning hit. Lara was thrown backwards, and landed roughly on the sand. She opened her eyes, and gasped…

"The antenna!" she cried. The lightning had struck it, damaging the whole rod. Smoke drifted throughout the air, carrying an unpleasant smell. Lara walked towards the antenna, waving her arms around, and coughing as her lungs inhaled the smoke. She reached for the rod, and tried to pull it out of the sand. It wouldn't come out though, it was as if something was holding onto it. Bending down on her knees, Lara began to dig with her hands at the sand around the bottom of the antenna. Her hand touched something hard - hot! Lara took in a deep breath, and blew out as hard as she could. The sand flew in all directions. Lara looked down, and screamed…

"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed with joy. "A fulgerite!" It had been fused to the bottom of the rod. Lara carefully examined the surface. It was a shiny black and grey colour. Its surface was rough, and slightly crumbly. She moved some more sand away from the fulgerite, and peeked inside its hollow body. It was a light grey colour, and very smooth. Lara carefully grasped a hold of it, and pulled it out. She smiled as she saw what it was fused to. A small flat tablet!

"What are the chances of this ever happening?!" Lara said with excitement. She carefully separated the fulgerite from the antenna and tablet. She used her hand to dust some sand off the tablet.

"More hieroglyphics! My day is getting better and better!" she squealed with delight. Lara took out the pad of paper and pen from her backpack and translated the short message.

if you want to LocAte the amulet, you won't need a KEy. DIScover A Particular message POINTing you towards the Mouth of the tomb ENTrance.

Lara reread it two more times. "Discover a message…"

"LARA?!" a voice called. Lara looked up, and saw the G.L.S jeep driving towards her. She waved back, and smiled. All the members jumped out, and came rushing towards Lara.

"Are you all right?" Linda questioned.

"Oh yes, never been better!" Lara beamed. "You would never guess what I just found!"

"What?!" Perte questioned.

"A fulgerite!"

"Really?!" Natalie asked.

"Wow! Lucky girl!" Linda said. Lara bent down and picked it up from the ground, and held it out for everyone to see. They all oohed and ahhed at it for quite sometime.

"But that's not all." Lara said.

"You mean there's more?" Dema curiously asked.

"Mmm hmm." Lara held out the tablet in her free hand. Their eyes all widened, and huge smiles lit up each of their faces.

"Unbelievable!"

"How did you find that?!"

"You're great!"

"Amazing!" While Lara was being showered with compliments and questions, her mind continued to ponder about the message. How was she supposed to find the tomb? What was the message? She shook her head to become focused again.

"…does the message mean?" Linda asked.

"Pardon?" Lara responded.

"What does the message mean? Have you figured it out?" Linda repeated.

"I think I have an idea. I need to sit down somewhere." Natalie motioned for Lara to hop in the jeep. After a few minutes she smiled. "I've got it!" Lara said. Linda came rushing over, the others following behind.

"What does it say?" Dema asked. Lara pointed to the message that she has copied down on the pad of paper.

"See how some letters are capitals, and the others lowercase?"

"Yeah…so what?" Linda said.

"Within this message is another one. Watch." Lara began underlining all of the capital letters. "See? It spells out something."

if you want to LocAte the amulet, you won't need a KEy. DIScover A Particular message POINTing you towards the Mouth of the tomb ENTrance.

"L-A-K-E- D-I-S-A-P-P-O-I-N-T-M-E-N-T."

"Oh, I see!" Sid exclaimed. "That's so neat!"

"Great job Lara!" Natalie said. Lara smiled.

"The amulet is in Lake Disappointment, that's where Delphi's tomb must be." Lara said. "Perte, can you draw me a map of the areas we've been?"

"Sure, Lara." She handed him her note pad and pen. When he was finished drawing, he handed it back to Lara, and she studied it.



Lara pointed to the circle, "We're here right now, and we want to…" then ran her finger down, "…get here." she said, pointing to the triangle. Everyone nodded their heads. Lara glanced at her watch, 9:10pm

"Well, Lara. Should we head back to the headquarters then go back out tomorrow?" Perte asked. Lara shook her head.

"No stopping now!" she smiled, then motioned for everyone to get into the jeep. "Natalie, about how long will it take us to get to Lake Disappointment?" She questioned.

"Probably a good two hours. So, let's go!" Perte started the jeep and drove off, leaving the ruined antenna behind.

11:26pm: Lake Disappointment

Linda stretched her arms out in front of her as the jeep slowed down to a stop.

"We're here Lara!" Perte said. Lara unbuckled her seat belt and jumped out. As they walked to the edge of the water, Lara looked over at Linda.

"Ok, where's the cord?!" Lara asked. Linda laughed.

"Do you think the tomb is under Lake Disappointment?" she asked.

"Yes, but how do we get into it?" Linda shrugged her shoulders then sat down on the smooth sand. Lara suddenly faced everyone, and spoke in a serious tone.

"I like to work alone. I prefer if no one else is with me, because I don't like to be slowed down. I'm not stopping you from coming, but I'm telling you now how I like to work." Dema nodded his head.

"What if we promise to keep up?" he asked.

"Then come along! But if you think you can't do it, speak up now." No one said anything. Lara nodded her head. "Great!" Swim to about what you think is the middle of the lake, dive down… Lara recalled what Linda had said to her before they went into the G.L.S headquarters. She turned to Dema.

"Do you have a flare?" he nodded, and threw one to Lara. After lighting it, she ran through the water, and dove down.

After about fifteen seconds, she reached the very bottom of the lake. Lara moved the flare in front of her, looking for some kind of trigger to allow them into the tomb. After seeing nothing, and needing air, she swam up to the surface and inhaled deeply.

"Find anything?" Natalie asked. Lara shook her head.

"I'm going to have another look." She took in a deep breath, then dove down once again. When she reached the bottom once more, Lara saw a large granite rock that had been chiselled. She swam closer, using the flare to inspect it more closely. In the center of the rock, there was a square that had been cut out. In the middle of that, pictures had been dug out. It looked like something was meant to fit into it. The tablet! Lara thought. She removed it from her backpack with her free hand, then placed it into the square. She pushed down hard on it, then surfaced for more air.

"I think I got it!" she said. Suddenly, huge bubbles rose from to the surface of the water. It looked like the water was boiling! An instant later the bubbles stopped. Lara waited. Nothing happened. Perte raised an eyebrow at Lara. She looked back at the water, ran forwards, and did a swan dive into the cool dark water. Her flare started to die as Lara reached the rock once again. It looked like half way down the rock had been cracked! She reached out, and pushed on it. The top part crumbled away, leaving a hole visible. Lara reached her hand down, and grasped a hold of something. She brought it up, and looked at what she had found. The Amulet of Delphi! She did a little underwater dance, then reached her hand back down. Her fingertips brushed across a small button. She pushed it, then instantly the ground opened up into a hole. Swimming to the surface as fast as she could, Lara felt a force pulling her down.

"You guys! I got it! I got the amulet! And, there's a hole in the bottom of the lake. I'm pretty sure it's the entrance. Come on!" Lara gasped, out of breath from the swim. Everyone came rushing into the water, splashing and yelling all at once.

"On the count of three!" Natalie said.

"One."

"Two."

"THREE!" Linda yelled. At the same time, everyone plunged into the water, all following Lara. When they reached the entrance to the hole, she motioned for everyone to follow then kicked once, letting the force pull her down…

Lara felt a rush of adrenaline as her body sped down, faster and faster! Suddenly, they were falling through air. Lara sucked in a deep breath as she continued to fall. A moment later they all landed, on a large soft pile of white cloth.

"Nice landing!" Perte said. Lara grinned, then stood up. She removed the Amulet of Delphi from her backpack, and showed everyone. They all had large smiles on their faces. It looked exactly like the Amulet of Hours, but as she turned the amulet over, she saw that the back had been dug out so the Amulet of Hours could fit inside. With one last satisfying glance, Lara put it back into her backpack, and looked forward. A large black door stood before them. She pushed it open, and stepped into the first room…

Lara's face began to sweat. Lava spurted and boiled in front of them. You could see the heat rising off the surface, warming the air. There were small stepping stones on the lava. As Lara stepped onto the closest stone, she heard a soft rumble, and it began to rise out of the lava! She looked around as all of the stone pillars rose out of the lava, raising Lara higher and higher! As she ascended, Lara saw ropes, monkey bars, and poles suspended from the tall ceiling. She looked to her left, and saw a six sworded statue - currently frozen, to her right, a huge steel ball. Suddenly, the pillars stopped rising.

Lara was about 100 feet above the boiling lava. She turned to her left deciding the statue, would die first. Lara grabbed her Uzi's and began firing at him. Suddenly, the statue came alive, his eyes glowed a bright red. Its two bottom hands turned their swords horizontally, and their fingers began to twirl the swords around. As the swords turned faster, the statue began to rise, and slowly flew towards Lara. She quickly did a back flip off of the pillar, grabbing a rope behind her. The statue was getting closer. Lara pushed with all her strength towards the wall behind the statue.

She outstretched her legs towards the wall, and when Lara hit, she jumped upwards, flipped around and grabbed the rope again. She swung back towards the statue, shooting at him with an Uzi. He threw a sword towards Lara, as hard as he could. Wasting no time, she put away her Uzi, and let go of the rope with one hand. She swung her body on a 90º angle with the rope, and the sword whizzed under her. Up ahead, Lara saw some monkey bars conveniently a short distance away. She jumped forward, and grabbed a hold of the first rung. As Lara reached for the next rung, a low voice interrupted her from doing so.

"Moah ha ha!" She looked behind her, and saw the statue gaining on her! He wasted no time and used his advantage, throwing another deadly sword at Lara. Just as fast as he threw the sword, Lara kicked her legs up into a perfect handstand. The sword was heading right for her legs! She dropped her legs into a V and felt the sword rush right through. Lara swung her legs back down, then safely made it to the end of the monkey bars. When she was hanging from the last rung, she turned around. The statue was right in front of the first rung! She hoisted herself up on the rung onto a standing position. BANG! BANG!

"Argh!" he yelled. Lara hit him in his right arm, and he dropped his sword. Lara raised an eyebrow, and nodded with a grin on her face. She shot forward abruptly and ran across the top of the monkey bars, careful not to lose her footing. The statue moved towards Lara. On the last rung, Lara and the statue were face to face. She smiled at it, then forward jumped over him and grabbed a hold of a rope. She turned in the air and shot at the statue again. BANG! BANG! Then, she put her Uzi's away.

"Ha ha ha!" he laughed, "You can't kill me that easily!"

"Is that so?"

"Mmm hmm." He pointed behind Lara. She looked behind her, three razor sharp swords sliced through the air, aiming right for her! Pushing with all her strength, she swung towards the blades. She aimed for the first blade, swinging by it and catching it with a free hand. The second blade looked sharper than the first. Lara swung towards it, her teeth clenched, her face determined. Lara successfully caught the sword between her feet. The last sword sped towards Lara's face. Instantly, she let go of the rope, and began to fall. The sword zipped by Lara's head. She continued to fall closer and closer to the hot molten rock.

At the last second, she caught a hold of the rope, not becoming the lava's next victim. As Lara furiously began to climb the rope, the statue flew down towards her. She aimed very carefully, her arm muscles tensed. She threw the sword up as hard as she could. He didn't have time to move. It sliced right through between his eyes. He dropped the rest of his swords, and fell downwards. Lara quickly grabbed the sword between her feet, and hurled it down. It just passed the statues head as he plunged into the lava. As he hit, the hot molten sea of rock seemed to explode from beneath him. The hot liquid showered around Lara, as she continued to climb the rope.

When she was high enough, Lara jumped to grab the monkey bars again. She pulled herself up on top, and sat comfortably while she swung her legs back and forth. Eee…EEE! Lara heard a horrible screeching sound. She looked to her right and saw that the huge steel ball was being lowered. A moment later, it was half submerged in the lava. Then, it started moving back and forth stirring the liquid. Suddenly, the ball opened up, and five paddles came out, flicking small amounts of lava in the air. It was beautiful to watch, but dangerous at the same time.

Lara motioned for the G.L.S. members to come up. Some had very impressive looks on their faces, the others concern and fright. Very slowly, they each started to climb the rope.

"You're going to have to hurry!" Lara called down to them. A huge amount of lava was thrown upwards. It was headed for Sid!

"WATCH OUT!" Lara yelled. Sid didn't hear her. The huge wave like shape wrapped itself around them, like a large blanket. It pulled him down into the hot bath. Sid's screams echoed throughout the room. The rest of the members jumped onto the monkey bars. Lara jumped for a pole and climbed up, then out of the room. Moments later, the others joined her…

Lara glanced at the new room they just entered. It was long and narrow. Torches lined the walls, nothing more. Her eyes searched the room carefully.

"What are you waiting for?" Perry asked, "Come on!" Then proceeded into the room.

"Don't go in there yet!" Lara warned. He ignored Lara, and Katie followed in as well. Linda tapped Lara's arm.

"Why aren't you going in?"

"There's something about an empty room that makes me stand back, move cautiously, and carefully observe my surroundings." Linda nodded her head, then both focused their attention back to Perry and Katie. They had reached the center of the room, and looked back at Lara.

"See? It's all right!" Perry yelled. Lara gave them a suspicious look. Was it ok? Should she go in? A sound of rushing water convinced her otherwise. Wwwooohhh, wwwooohhh!

"Lara, what is that? Water?" Perte asked, a slight frown on his face.

"It's not water." Just as Lara had replied, tiny holes opened up in the walls on either side.

"RUN!" Lara yelled. Perry shook his head and ignored her. In an instant, jets of acid shot out into the room, showering Perry and Katie. The acid sprayed their arms and legs.

"AHH! OWW!" They screamed, as they moved around, frantically trying to get out of its way.

"DO SOMETHING!" Dema yelled.

"I can't! We just have to wait." Lara looked up, Perry and Katie looked into her eyes. Their skin was being eaten away, their faces peeling and sizzling as their unbearable cries echoed throughout the room. Lara continued to watch as they helplessly fell to the floor, chunks of their skin fell to the acid covered ground. A moment later all that was left of their bodies was bare bone, and some loose flesh. Katie's left eye hung loosely over her cheekbone. A strong bulging vein sprayed blood out of small punctures. The acid stopped shooting in and a acrid smell filled Lara's nose.

"We have to move on." Lara said as she touched Linda's arm. Dema nodded and cautiously moved forwards. Wwwooohh!

"RUN!" Lara roared. This time everyone obeyed. She darted forwards, as the acid repaid a visit to the tombs guests. One stream of acid suddenly shot right in front of Lara. She reverse rolled under, and continued to run forward. More jets burst out at her feet. Lara jumped over them, as if playing hop - scotch. After making her way safely to the other door, and taking a quick breath Lara turned around and watched the other members.

Dema jumped over the last jet of acid, and ran towards her. Perte was holding his arm, and was screaming. When the rest made it to Lara, Perte showed his arm to her. Some acid had obviously hit it. Perte's arm was a slight reddish colour, and small bubbles formed on the surface. Lara took a small medi pack out of her backpack and carefully bandaged his arm. He gave Lara a reassuring smile and thanked her.

"Come on now," Lara spoke, "let's continue!"…

Lara and the four remaining members entered a square room. On the side opposite to them, a tall stone door stood closed. In the very center of the room, there was a huge gold square. Lara walked over towards it, and took a better look.




It appeared to be some sort of a game board. It had a total of sixteen squares, 4x4. Each square was numbered one through sixteen. Different symbols were carved in each square. In the center, there was a black shiny circle. Beside the game board was a small gold plaque. Lara sat down beside it, and began reading it to everyone.

"Square scare. For the door to open, you must win this game. The first one to get to square sixteen wins. Take the gold die and roll it, making it land within the circle. Move your playing piece, the number of squares that is written on the die. If you land on a square with an arrow, move your piece to where it points. An X means danger, and an O means safe. Roll the die for yourself, and me. Highest goes first. Good luck, and watch out…" Beside the rules were two small gold game pieces and a die. Lara placed the figures beside the first square.

"Seems like a pretty easy game!" Natalie said.

"Looks like it, but there's always a catch." she replied. Suddenly, the circle changed its colour from black to a dark royal blue. The game had begun! Lara shook the die between her closed hands, then let go of it. It bounced on the circle, then stopped.

"Three." Perte said. Unexpectedly, the die was thrown upwards from the board, spinning around in the air! It fell back down and landed on the circle.

"Four." Dema whispered.

"So they go first?" Linda questioned. Lara nodded her head. Once again, the die was thrown into the air, and landed on a five. Lara moved their piece.

"One, two, three, four, five." Perte tapped Lara's shoulder.

"Lara? What happens if we don't win?"

"That door won't open." she replied.

"Then let's cheat! To make sure we win!"

"WHAT?!"

"We could set the die on the board to what number we want."

"Are you out of your mind?! It will know if we've cheated!" Lara exclaimed.

"Ok, skip the dice part. Let's just move our piece to the last square?"

"You do that Perte, and we'll probably be killed!" Natalie cried out. As fast as lightning, he sprang forward, grabbing their game piece.

"DON'T!" Linda yelled. He put the piece down hard on the sixteenth square. All of a sudden, the floor where Perte was standing shifted, and he fell into a hole… into a hole with spikes! One spike punctured and shot through Perte's leg.

"Oww! Ahh! LARA HELP ME!" he wailed. She ran for the hole, and reached her arm towards Perte.

"Grab my hand!" she said. He reached up, and tightly grasped a hold. Lara began to pull upwards.

"Ahh! Lara stop!" Perte screamed in extreme agony. The spike was tearing his leg even more, and fresh warm blood trickled down his leg.

"Natalie, I want you to carefully go down to Perte and pull his leg out of the spike. Then, bandage it with this." Lara handed her a large medi pack, then returned to the game. She placed their game piece back at the beginning, and rolled the die. Four. She moved their piece, and Dema asked,

"What's on the square, Lara?"

"An arrow pointing towards square fourteen!" The die flung into the air once more, spun and twisted around, then fell back down. "Three." Lara moved the opponents piece. "Six, seven, eight. Guys! There's an arrow on this one…pointing to square fifteen!" Lara moved their piece. "It has an X!" Without warning, a huge boulder fell from the ceiling above Natalie and Perte.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Lara screamed. There was no time to move. The boulder landed on Natalie first, instantly breaking her back, then on Perte. Lara clenched her teeth, and Linda gasped. Blood, and body fluids squirted out of the corners of the hole. Dema and Linda looked over at Lara, their eyes swelled with tears. Lara turned back around, and rolled the die.

"One." Dema said.

"No, that one doesn't count. It didn't land on the circle." Lara explained. She rolled once again. "Two! We won! We won!" She squealed with delight. "There's a safe circle on here, and a X!"

"That's not good." Linda cried out. Lara nodded her head. Linda looked up, and gasped. "Lara, look!" Lara tilted her head up and saw a huge cage that was being lowered. A minute later it stopped about a foot off the ground, and its metal door swung open. Lara proceeded towards the door, and climbed inside. Dema and Linda hesitantly followed. As soon as all three were inside the cage, the door swung shut. Inside the cage at the top was a single metal bar.

Unexpectedly the cage started to swing.

"Woah!" Dema said, as he reached up and grasped a hold of the bar. Lara and Linda did the same. The cage swung over top of the game board, knocking the opponent's piece over. They swung back, quickly picking up speed.

"HOLD ON!" Lara shouted. They swung forwards again, heading towards the door.

"WE'RE GOING TO BLAST THROUGH!" Linda shouted, her voice full of worry. Lara smiled. The cage sped forwards once again, going faster and faster! Lara clenched her teeth together, and tightened her grip. SMASH! They hit the door! The cage stopped 3/4 of the way through, and the door fell open. Lara let go of the bar, and jumped out.

"I have to get one of these at the mansion. It's better than drinking tea in the morning!" Lara exclaimed, cheerfully. She dusted off her shorts, and blew off a few small stones on her shoulder. Dema and Linda shakily climbed out of the cage.

"What's wrong?" Lara asked, "A little smashed up today?" She laughed as she turned around, and gasped. Another huge door stood before them. There was a gold circle in the center. Within the circle, was a small button. Lara eagerly reached out and pushed it. The gold circle started to spin counter clockwise, then clockwise. It spun faster and faster, and glowed brighter and brighter! Lara's eyes widened in awe as she stood there, almost hypnotised. Then the circle stopped. It was pushed outwards, then turned to the right. Lara heard the door unlock, then the door suddenly crumbled away!

Gold pieces fell sparkling all around them. Lara held her hands out in front of her collecting bits on her palms. The gold stopped falling down, and the air was left shimmering. Lara looked forwards through the sparkling air. Her eyes widened. Her jaw dropped. Her eyes glistened and sparkled, as she stood there, looking at the unbelievable sight…

A gold coloured mist slowly drifted through the room. All of the walls were solid gold. There were several torches everywhere, their hot fire reflecting off the walls. Gold pieces lay scattered about, and different coloured jewels. In the center of the room, on a raised platform was a fairly large gold bowl. Lara walked over to it, and looked into it. A few hieroglyphics were sketched in the bottom. Delphi. Lara ran her hand along the smooth inside of the bowl. Her hand brushed something rough. It was a small handle. Very carefully she turned it, and pulled it towards her. There was a small secret compartment! Lara reached inside with two fingers, and pulled out a red gem. Again there were hieroglyphics on it.

"The Bowl of Many Secrets." Lara whispered. She put the gem in her backpack, it was too beautiful to leave behind! As she did this, Lara felt the small bottle that Winston had given her with water inside. Craving a drink, she took it out and opened it. A very sweet, perfume smell stopped Lara from taking a sip. That wasn't water! She looked at the bottle. On masking tape in her handwriting, the words Sacred Karnak Water were written. Lara smiled. That's what the tablet said she needed to fuse the amulets together! She took both amulets out of her backpack, and set the bottle carefully in the bowl. Lara held the Amulet of Delphi in her left hand, and the Amulet of Hours in her right. She took in a deep breath, then fit the Amulet of Hours into the back of the other amulet. She set them in the center of the bowl, and picked up the bottle containing the sacred water. Very carefully, Lara poured the water onto the amulets.

She stared down at them, as the bowl glowed, almost blinding Lara. She shielded her face until the light faded away. She reopened her eyes, and looked down. The amulets were completely fused together. They formed one amulet. Lara picked it up, and her jaw dropped as she looked at the hieroglyphics in the bottom of the bowl. The Amulet of Delsetphi. Lara's whole face lit up. This was amazing!

"Dema! Linda! Come see this!" Lara called. They ran over, and looked at the amulet, and its name in the bowl. They just shook their heads. No words could describe how they felt at that moment. With Lara, unbelievable things became believable. The impossible was possible. The unlikely was likely. Lara looked up suddenly. Small pieces of gold that were scattered on the floor began to rise upwards. Lara looked around the room, they were slowly floating together. They floated around the room spinning, twisting, and shimmering. The moment was magical, peaceful, indescribable!

They whizzed around Lara's feet, circling her legs, then the rest of her body. She turned around in circles as they spun faster and faster around her. Lara cried out in joy as they suddenly burst apart, and left sparkling gold to fall upon Lara. She closed her eyes, and smiled. This was truly her best adventure! She reopened her eyes, a large smile on her face. In front of her a beautiful woman stood. It looked like she was made out of shimmering gold! She smiled at Lara.

"Thank you!" she said, "You have saved me! My name is Delphi. Three thousand years ago I disappeared. Now I am free to roam the world once again! I am forever grateful." Lara grinned.

"It was my pleasure." She handed Delphi her amulet, and she took it gently from her hands.

"What is your name?" Delphi asked.

"Lara Croft." Delphi smiled, then held out her hands. Suddenly, a gold figure stood on them. Lara gasped. It was of Lara and Delphi! Lara beamed as Delphi held it out for Lara. She took it then frowned.

"What's wrong Lara?" she asked.

"It weighs more than nine pounds!"

"Your right. That's because it's not just my name that determines its weight. Yours counts too." She bent down, and with her finger she drew in the sand.



D E L P H I = 54/6

L A R A = 32/4

9 + 8 = 17 pounds



Lara grinned. "Thank you so much!"

"No," Delphi corrected her, "thank you." Lara nodded her head.

"How do we get out of here?!" Dema asked suddenly. Delphi looked at him.

"Like this." She blew in their direction, and again gold sparkled around them.

G.L.S. Headquarters:

"Lara, we can't thank you enough for helping us! I had the time of my life!" Linda exclaimed.

"Yes, and Delphi even gave us a small statue!" he held it up for Lara to see.

"Wow! That's great!" she exclaimed. "Anytime you need my help, you know my address!" Lara turned around and hopped into an awaiting helicopter. She waved down as the helicopter lifted her off of the ground. Dema held Linda and his small statue up to his lips, and gave it a big kiss.

Lara laughed and blew some gold dust off her hand out into the air above them. It sparkled for a long time against the sky as the sun was beginning to rise.





Search for Delphi is ©Katie Fleming 2002. Tomb Raider and Lara Croft are © Core Design and Eidos Interactive