"May 17th, 2009. Further research on Himiko. According to legend, Himiko, the first queen of Japan was a powerful sorceress who ruled her empire through dark magic.

Spreading death and destruction, by the mere touch of her hand.

She was only stopped by a single twist of fate.

An army of her own Generals bound and dragged Himiko to an uninhabitable island in the middle of the treacherous Devil's Sea.

There she remains entombed beneath the mountains. I found a spec, on an old map that no one else has. And she's there. Waiting to be unleashed.

I have to get there first. Even if it means doing the last thing I'd ever want to do... Leaving my Lara behind.

Lara…. I knew I could trust you to solve my puzzle. Unfortunately, if you are watching this tape then…

It means that I must be dead. It will be obvious to you by now that there was more to my life than just board rooms and business deals.

Things that I could not tell you about before. When your mother died, grief nearly destroyed me.

I began searching the world, desperate for the hint of another realm. The proof that the supernatural is real.

Anything to feel her with me again. I made quite a hobby of it, sprout. Now... I need you to do me a favor. I need you to burn all my research on the Himiko project.

Just burn all of it, the notebooks, the tapes, everything. It's very important. If it falls into the wrong hands, then it could be catastrophic. So please, do it straight away.

I know you hate being told what to do, but, please promise me that.

I hope you never have to see this tape, but if you do... You found my secret calling. I hope you find yours. Dad loves you,"

Zeel stared at the crying Lara and gently embraced her.

For once, Lara was not defiant as she squeezed into Zeel's embrace naturally.

"Your father was a genius," Zeel complimented.

Richard was indeed a genius, but a borderline crazy one.

Lara removed herself from Zeel's chest and thanked him.

"There is more," She said and pressed play on the camera once more.

"October 5th. They call Queen Himiko, the mother of death. All the stories about her end in rivers running red with blood.

Bewitching people, controlling minds. Spreading death and destruction with just the touch of her hand.

The bloodshed only ended when her own Generals buried her alive in a tomb.

Sealing her away from the outside world on an Island no one could reach. History has erased its existence.

The Lost Island of Yamatai. I'm certain this is the place.

July 29th, 2011. I finally found the Captain willing to take me to the Island. I must get there first to ensure her powers will never fall into the wrong hands,"

"That's it," Lara said slumping to the ground "He left me to chase mysteries and nonsense,"

Zeel frowned, he didn't expect Lara to be so closed-minded to the metaphysical.

After all, she literally had The God of Speed and Dimensional Travel standing right next to her.

Still, being the tough girl she was, Lara bounced back quickly and made her intention clear.

"I am going to the island. I need to know what happened to my dad," she said staring at Zeel with determination in her eyes.

"Are you defying me or asking for permission?" Zeel asked since he was not exactly stopping her from doing what she wanted.

"I need someone to watch my back. You are the most skilled fighter I have ever seen. But I can't guarantee your safety…"

Before Lara could continue her statement, Zeel began laughing.

The Red Queen also giggled slightly inside his Mbeamer.

Ella and Alle, halfway across the world with Alice and Elizabeth, also felt the urge to laugh as well.

Zeel laughed at the mere outlandishness of Lara's statement.

It was akin to a shrimp confronting a shark and telling the shark "I don't wanna fuck you up!"

Suddenly, Zeel paused and stared at Lara intensely. Maybe if it was a Universe 0 shrimp, that shark would have been in trouble. Luckily, Lara was not from Universe 0.

Lara waited for Zeel's decision as she picked up a strange puzzle from the ground. She surmised it was probably important if her father left it on the table.

Zeel quelled his amusement and asked "Money?"

Lara stared at all the artifacts in the room and spread her arms wide as if saying 'Take your pick.'

Zeel smiled wryly "I can get money from your inheritance, all I need is your permission so it is not considered stealing,"

Accessing money was not a problem for Zeel, his nanites could siphon all the money from any bank account in an instant.

The problem was permission to access such funds. Everything in the world was intricately linked.

"Okay, you have my permission," Lara stated awkwardly, expecting something magnificent to happen… and it did.

Several dings on her phone alerted her to hundreds of millions of dollars that had just become available to her.

The entire Croft Industries were under her control in a single instant.

Zeel even created a cutting Edge AI to help her manage things.

"How?" Lara asked startled, but Zeel just picked her up in a bridal carry and walked outside the basement bunker.

'How' was not something he wanted to explain.

He was more eager to leave this Universe as soon as possible.

Even if he didn't show it, the mere fact that Homo-Superior Aether had been claimed by someone outside of Universe Zero, bothered him to no end.

After placing Lara's shotgun in the car, Zeel got behind the wheel and drove to the airport. It was best to get everything over with as soon as possible.

Lara snapped out of her daze "Don't we need protection? Like guns or something?"

"Why?" Zeel asked confused.

Lara was also confused. They were heading into possibly hostile territory, wasn't always being prepared what he taught her in training?

After guessing Lara's thoughts, Zeel reached into the cupboard as a small dagger appeared in his hands.

"It's made from incredibly rare metals. You can probably cut anything with it.

If you throw it, it will get shorter. But it can kill anything as far as you can see," Zeel explained the characteristics of the dagger without going into the details of the metalloid composition.

Lara accepted the dagger but had already made up her mind not to use the beautiful weaponry. She would keep it as an heirloom or something.

As for what Zeel said about the capabilities of the dagger, she simply dismissed it as his usual nonsense.

It wasn't long after that Zeel and Lara arrived at the airport and boarded a plane-flight to Hong Kong.

Zeel and Lara flew first class with all the luxuries on the plane at their beck and call.

Lara felt it was a bit too much, but Zeel indulged himself like there was no tomorrow.

He didn't know if he would be this rich in the next Universe, so Zeel thought that he might as well enjoy himself.

The flight was long and boring. About two hours into the flight, Zeel spun around, pinning Lara to the seat with her butt sticking out.

The rest of the flight was spent in mutual bliss as Lara lost herself to the pleasure and pain of being penetrated.

She bit Zeel even more intensely, and he allowed her to with little care.

Sex was to temporarily satiate his libido, not to actually enjoy himself. He was fully focused on siphoning every energy that Lara absorbed through his blood.

However, the contours of her eyes still became even more slit-like.

Lara was clearly absorbing every drip of the bodily fluid he spurted inside her.

The pleasure session lasted three hours before Lara fell limp.

Zeel carried Lara off the plane before the flight attendants could indulge in the sweet aroma that came along with Homo-Superior body fluids.

Lara fell asleep in Zeel's arm like a baby.