At the night after her encounter with the mighty Cerberus, Lara’s dreams were more vivid than usual. She had always known—in all her reincarnations—that she was a Guardian, a protector of the world against the forces of chaos, but she had never really<i>known</i>, not until today. Lara had often questioned herself whether or not it was all just in her head; maybe she had simply made up all those memories of her past lives and the times of the old kingdom, just like she made up things in her lucid dreams that she had every night. But now that she had actually seen another Guardian after eons of uncertainty, her subconscious adjusted itself to realize the fact that it was all very real indeed.<br/><br/>Flying over an infinite cityscape in her dream world, Lara sensed a powerful cry for help coming from somewhere far away. She focused her mind to let the vast metropolis below her zoom itself closer to her, taking her towards the ground without moving at all, as she had found it very difficult to travel someplace specific by natural means in a surreal world. The distant noises of cars and yells of people became closer, and suddenly she found herself surrounded by it all—an endless crowd of unrecognizable characters amassing itself around her. Lara began to walk to the direction of the cry, and eventually had to start swimming as the ocean of people became thicker and thicker. When she realized she wasn’t getting anywhere, her mind wished away the crowd and she found herself in the middle of an empty square. Now the sound that called for her was much clearer and seemed to come from a distant building, so she pulled the walls towards her and appeared at the top of a stairway that led into a deep basement. Every step she took downwards somehow made it all seem more and more familiar, and as she finally stepped on the bottom floor, she suddenly realized she knew where she was. The door in front of her burst open, and there was an imminent sense of something horrid rushing straight at her—but on that instant the dream was gone, and Lara knew she had woken up.<br/><br/>After barely a breakfast, the sleepy girl shambled into a hot shower. While lingering there for nearly an hour, the memory of the dream faded away, but a nagging feeling of the strangeness in the basement started to bother her to the extreme. When she wasn’t able to think of anything else anymore, she finally left the steamy bathroom and started to dress up for a trip outside.<br/><br/>Today, Lara decided to go for slightly heavier clothes, and put on boots instead of shoes. They were made of black leather, and with multiple large straps along their length, they reached all the way up above her knees, almost as high as the socks that she had worn last night. Now even more skin of her gorgeous thighs would’ve been left exposed had she put on the same black skirt, but after a while of walking around wearing nothing but the boots, she finally decided on another, longer skirt, which was just as black, but was made of leather. Its hem was quite a bit narrower, which made moving slightly more cumbersome. However, the memory of those innocent puppy eyes staring up her skirt was enough of a reason to make that sacrifice.<br/><br/>The topless image of the well-tanned girl in the mirror stared back at Lara, and looked as if she was pondering what to wear to cover those huge tits. First, however, Lara grabbed the locks of her dark brown hair that hung loose over her shoulders, and pinned them together as a ponytail at the back of her head. Then she split the hair in two to see how she’d look with two tails instead of one, and while holding them there with her hands, she narrowed her eyes and went ‘Hmm…’ After letting some of her forelocks loose, the pigtails seemed much more desirable, and once she decorated her face with narrow rectangular glasses, she had found herself a winner.<br/><br/>Trying on different leather jackets one after another, Lara realized she needed something to hold her wiggly boobs still or she wouldn’t be able to leave it open. She wrapped a black, elastic top around her bust, so small that it left the bottom of her breasts exposed, and reached just low enough to hide her bright red nipples. Now, wearing a leather vest became a much more suitable option, and she finally decided upon a sleeveless one with slightly padded shoulders. Her black, shoulder-long leather gloves would eventually seal the deal, but they had to wait a little while longer—as did the safety of the world—while she gave her final touch to her carefully applied makeup. Then she licked her red lips, smiled at herself, and went to make sure she had everything she needed in her purse before turning off the lights and stepping out of the door.<br/><br/>The streets were crowded, but Lara knew where she was headed. Besides, people seemed to avoid her presence as some kind of an instinct, and the path ahead of her staid clear. When she reached the secluded building that she had seen in her dreams, she was convinced that no one would’ve come there with her even if she had asked, because everyone knew that dreams didn’t really show you the reality. She had also decided that she simply had to go even if she had no help, so this really seemed like the only option she had.<br/><br/>Lara slowly descended the bare cement stairs until she reached the bottom, and stood in front of the door for a while. This was it, the moment of truth. Was it just her mind playing another trick, or was there a real reason she had been brought here? Then there was the question that she had failed to ask herself—that if there was indeed a reason, was it because someone needed her help, or because someone simply wanted here<i>there</i>.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>