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Character(s): Lara Croft and Goliath
Content: Lara re-enters Paixao
Setting: Muspelheim gate.
Time: Who knows?
Warnings: None yet.

It was, oddly enough, a relief to be back in Paixao again especially given the recent situation Lara had found herself in. Rather, it would have been a relief, had Lara been able to see where she was, even a little. "Oh, bloody hell. What now?" Lara muttered to herself, drawing Excalibur and attempting to look around as best as she could. She thought she recognized where she was, but there was no real way of telling at the moment.

Oh, well. She'd best make the best of it. What else was there to do? She just hoped the situation wouldn't get any worse. Nevertheless, Lara would continue on, and live as she had before. It was what she did best.

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He couldn't decide what was worse -- waking up from the curse he and his clan had been put under only to discover he was alone or waking up in total darkness in a completely unfamiliar place. That night he had the magi curse him so that he could join the others in supposed eternal sleep, he thought he'd never feel anything beside the numbing grief again. But he was definitely feeling something now. Simmering anger that was close to boiling over to full fledged rage.

Snarling as he stalked the empty path in front of him, his eyes glowed a fiery white, only slightly cutting into the damned darkness enough to prevent running into the most obvious of obstacles. He'd been walking for sometime now, certain he was going in circles but finding no respite or intelligent life.

At his limit now, his great wings spread to their full span and his tilted his head back, roaring his frustration and growing panic to the unyielding shadows.

Lara had sheathed the sword - not much sense in using it currently - but upon hearing the odd roar, she tensed. What was happening in this place? The explorer cautiously walked forward, feeling her way around. "Hello?" she called. "Who's there?" Not that she wasn't sure there was anyone or anything aside from the owner of that ominous roar. Nevertheless, if she lured the creature over to where she was, perhaps she could find some clue as to her current location, not to mention whether or not she'd need to draw the sword again.

Goliath froze, slowly turning his head to the sound of an oddly accented female voice. Eyes still glowing dimly in the shadows, he stepped towards it, head cocked at an angle. "Who goes there?" he called, his deep voice rich with an underlying growl. "Show yourself!"

Lara rolled her eyes as she stepped closer to the sound of that voice. "I would show myself," she called back, barely keeping the wry amusement from her voice, "if I knew how to turn on a bloody light in this place." She squinted, trying - and failing - to see who it was she was seaking to, "My name is Lara Croft. Who are you?" At least the strange voice in the shadows didn't sound actively malicious. Perhaps this man was just as lost as she - and it certainly sounded like it.

The amusement in her voice wasn't lost on Goliath. Relaxing only slightly, the white light of his eyes dimming completely, he exhaled quietly. Someone else lost in this cursed place? So it appeared, and though it wasn't an unrealistic expectation to find someone else stumbling about, he remained suspicious. Perhaps this was the one responsible for waking him up, for moving him to this strange place.

"I am called Goliath," he said, holding out his large hand and walking forward until he felt the unmistakable roughness of flat stone. A building? Folding his wings around his shoulder like a cape, he slowly moved closer to the voice as he spoke. "So you claim that you are not responsible for my being here?" He couldn't disguise the disbelief in his voice.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," Lara told the voice, walking closer and keeping her hand on the stones. "I just got pulled in, myself." It wouldn't be the first time, she knew, that she'd been pulled into a strange place without warning - perhaps she was back in Paixao? But this didn't seem like the city at all. Had something happened? Was she in another place entirely, or simply back in the city?

"Whoever's responsible for this mess, I don't know, but it's a pleasure to meet you, despite our current predicament."

"Pulled in?" Goliath repeated, one brow ridge raised. What an odd turn of phrase. Any further thought on the matter, however, was temporarily halted as his hand touched something that was decidedly not stone. In fact, he was certain it was flesh. He stopped in his tracks, pulling back his hand as if it'd been scalded. "Lara Croft," he rumbled, glowering into the darkness, "is that you?"

"I know it sounds dubious," Lara told him, "but this has happened to me before. In fact, I wonder if we're in the same place as the last time." She mulled this over for a little, pondering it, before feeling a rather large hand on her own and yanking her hand back, tensing up again. "Yes," she told him lightly, despite being startled, "it is."

A pregnant pause, then Goliath spoke once more, the weariness in his deep voice palpable. "Forgive me. Much like yourself, I cannot see." He felt her presence now, like a field of static around her that put him even more on edge. "What place were you pulled in before? Is this magic?" He nearly spat out the word "magic" as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Lara nodded to herself. "It isn't your fault," she told him. It's the fault of whoever caused this bloody mess. First Helheim and now this? Maybe it was time for Lara to take a break. It wasn't as though she had much to do at the moment, aside from moving to one of the other two manors she owned after the first one had been completely destroyed by Lara's doppelganger.

Mentally shaking herself free of those thoughts, Lara turned her attention to Goliath again. "I was pulled into Paixao - and yes, I do believe this is magical," she replied. Hopefully she was in Paixao once again, and not somewhere else (or worse).

He sighed, a deep grumble of a noise that stirred the air around them. "Paixao," he said quietly, the deep command of his voice replaced by some subtle emotion too enigmatic to understand. "I do not know this place, nor would I ever wish to. I am supposed to be..." He trailed off, lowering his head in the darkness.

"No matter," he said gruffly after that pregnant pause. "What is this...Paixao like? How did you escape it?"

Supposed to be...? Lara raised an eyebrow in Goliath's general direction, although he wouldn't be able to see it in this cloying darkness, but didn't pry. It wouldn't do when she didn't know if the stranger could be trusted, and besides, it wasn't polite to pry where one was not welcomed or wanted to.

"It was quite beautiful," she answered, "at least on the surface. There were quite a few threats to the city and its people, not to mention it wasn't quite right in some areas." Still, it was pleasant enough, especially after the strain of her last mission. If she found herself in Paixao again, it would give her time to think and gather herself up again. "And I don't really know how I escaped. I simply awoke in my own world again."

Frowning, Goliath lifted his head to gaze up at the sky...or what he assumed was the sky, since it was the same color as the ground beneath him and the wall his hand rested against. "You're rather informative, Lara Croft," he replied. "I wish to see your face." To see your eyes and judge for myself the truth of your words. "Do you know of no way to bring light to our predicament? I can't even tell if we are inside or out."

"I wouldn't mind taking a look at you, myself," Lara replied. "It's rather odd to have a conversation with someone when they can't be seen, don't you think?" She wasn't lying to Goliath, not when she had no reason to lie. "Perhaps if we could find our way indoors, we could discover a light source of some sort." The woman mulled that over for a few moments, pondering a bit. "There must be some way to be able to look around."

Merely grunting his agreement, he turned to place both hands on the wall and began moving in the opposite direction of Lara's voice. The rasp of his hands over the rough stone and his footsteps on the ground was soft in the quiet of the night. After a moment, he called out, "I have found a door, but it appears to be locked." This was followed by the very loud crack of splintering wood.

"I have found our entrance."

Lara was amused. "It's probably not a good idea to go around smashing things," she told him, albeit without any anger or even annoyance in her voice, "especially when we have no idea if anybody's home." Nevertheless, she followed him, noticing that the darkness was drifting inside quickly, although it would be long enough for them to find another room. "We'd better move quickly, she told him, blinking as she realized she recognized the building. We're definitely in Paixao, she thought to herself, running up to the counter and snatching the key to the room she'd held before, depositing some money onto the counter in return. "I recognize this place. Follow me."

With that, Lara moved quickly towards her former room, not bothering to look back at Goliath. There would be plenty of time for conversation once they were in the room.

The same instincts and observation that fueled Lara served Goliath as well and he wordlessly followed the human woman, despite any misgivings. What choice did he have? If she was leading him into a trap, he would deal with it then. The darkness was closing in even as they ducked into a seemingly random room. He slammed the door behind them as soon as they were in and stood with every muscle tensed for possible attack.

There. That was better. Although the room was still rather dark, it wasn't terribly so, and Lara went about the room, making sure the curtains were closed, just in case. Thankfully, there were a few candles in the room, and Lara managed to find some matches and light them. She turned to face Goliath, and... Well. That was unexpected. She blinked, but managed not to stare, and chuckled. "Well, there you are," she told him amusedly. "It's nice to finally be able to see you." She was still dressed in her body-length drysuit, her guns strapped to her thighs (As usual) and the sword on her back.

Being pulled into another world rarely gave one time to change their clothing.

Goliath gazed down at Lara impassively, appearing much larger than he was in the room built for smaller residents. Eyes dark with mistrust, he glanced around his surroundings, slowly relaxing. "You seem very well aquainted with this building. Is it what you suspected, then? We are in Paixao?" The name of the world felt strange to say, foreign. He didn't like it.

Lara nodded. "Yes, it is," she replied, "although it's never been like this before." She thought for a moment, pondering how to figure this out. "I wonder if the three who attempted to take over the city are responsible for this," she murmured, half to herself. "I wouldn't put it past them. You see, they've been causing some trouble lately - or they were before I was pulled back into this world."

He made a noise that seemed part sigh, part growl and stepped further into the room, his tail trailing on the floor behind him. Eyes narrowed, he made a quick scan of the room once more before turning to face Lara again. He numbly registered her calm demeanor and casual attitude, not just regarding his appearance but being brought back to a world that wasn't her own.

The silence stretched as he gazed at her blankly. He discovered he felt nothing at this news, no drive to vanquish this "three" who were responsible for...whatever this was. Should he storm their gates and demand to be returned to his world of orgin, what would he be returning to? His scant clan members, still frozen in stone, and he without the option to join them in eternal sleep once more? No...there was no point in fighting now. There was no point to anything.

Truth be told, Goliath wasn't the first odd being Lara had ever seen in her life, even before she had come to Paixao - and even within the city, that honor had belonged to Sonic (not that she minded the hedgehog; in fact, his cheerfully gung-ho attitude was rather refreshing). As for her own seeming lack of care about the situation, well, exhaustion of all sorts had gotten to Lara by this time, and although she felt sure that with a bit of rest and some tea she'd feel fine, this was not exactly an optimal situation she'd found herself in. Oh, well. She'd deal with it and that would be that.

The woman looked evenly at Goliath. "Is something the matter?" she asked him. Well, besides the obvious hurdle of being pulled into a completely unfamiliar world, that is.

Any urge to tell this woman his tale was easily squashed. He broke eye contact with her, turning to lift an impressively thick tome, head cocked to the side as he read the title. "...this is your dwelling, then?" he asked quietly, absently flipping the cover over gingerly with his taloned finger. "For not being of this world, you have settled in fairly well." Not lifting his head from its bowed position, his eyes snapped up from the book to meet her eyes, the distrust in them quite noticeable.

"One manages," Lara replied. "I had been here for at least a few months before being pulled out again, and I'm usually traveling all over the world." A sigh, half-amused. "I suppose I'm used to this, having done this for years." Oh, yes, she noticed that look, but didn't so much as bat an eyelash. Whenever one mistrusted so quickly and easily - especially as Goliath clearly wasn't human - it was best to simply work towards trust rather than take offense.

"Years," he repeated thoughtfully, closing the book with one hand and setting it aside with the careful respect of a bibliophile. How exhausting to deal with such magic so often, how deplorable to be away from ones home so often. He did not understand it.

Goliath walked to a closed, shielded window, staring at the curtains as if they would part and reveal a path. "...this darkness, then, is not a common occurance in this place?" he asked wearily, his expansive back to Lara.

Lara appreciated Goliath's putting the book back so carefully. It was obvious by the way he handled it that he loved reading and respected books and the knowledge they had to offer. As for staying away from home, Lara loved traveling and learning, having very much grown up as her father's daughter and sharing in his passion. She smiled briefly at the memories before being tugged from her reverie by Goliath's question.

"It's never happened here before, to my knowledge," she answered with a slight frown. "I have no doubt in my mind that one of those responsible for the troubles in this city is the cause of this, too. I intend to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."

Goliath frowned at the curtains in response. He turned his head so that it was in profile to Lara, eyes still distant and cool. "Then you must do what you must. Perhaps the citizens will appreciate your efforts." His body turned as well and he headed toward the door as he spoke. "I thank you for your information, Lara Croft." It was obvious from his tone that this was his way of saying good bye.

One thing after another, and as if things weren't already annoying to begin with, here was the darkness, cloying and stagnant, invading the senses and suffocating. Lara wasn't one to get involved in other peoples' problems, but this was her problem, too. How could she explore as she wished, if this continued? Furthermore, who knew what could happen if this continued? It truly seemed one's work was never finished.

"You're welcome, Goliath," Lara told the gargoyle. "Maybe we'll meet again." Although stoic and uptight, Goliath didn't strike her as the bad sort, not in the least. She wouldn't mind speaking to him again, she decided.

He nodded and even smiled slightly, though the barest curve of his lips wasn't enough to bring any light or any real friendliness to his eyes. If he had any say in the matter, he'd not see anyone again...not that the woman hadn't been exceedingly useful and polite. The idea of interacting with humans again, trusting them in this strange dark world, made a cold fist close around his heart. Never again.

He opened the door again and closed it quickly, heading out once again into the blackness.

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