Chapter Text
“Deep within the heart of India lies a forbidden jungle, the birthplace of the myth of the snake goddess. It is now a sacred place, fenced off as respect to the temple of an old goddess who supposedly still rests within that now lays in ruins. Not that far from a tribe further upstream-”
Olivia continued to scroll through the photos as the narrator from another computer screen droned on with a documentary, speaking of the mysterious temple as she browsed online following along.
The area was small, no larger than a mile wide but had possibly the most greenery she had ever seen in her life, most likely due to the lack of human interaction. Even the temple was modestly sized, its roof mostly caved in due to decay and time, vines wrapped around large snake statues that were now worn out and nearly beyond recognition as nature slowly reclaimed the temple. The ruins sat between two perfectly symmetrical waterfalls, that each spilled into its own pristine lake before that met in the middle in front of the temple steps. Perhaps once there was a bridge, but the ruin showed no signs of one as the river continued on into a singular path further into the forest.
These were all aerial shots of course, drone activity was also forbidden but those who snuck a few quick photos reported drones gone missing. Any questions regarding this were also mysteriously dropped.
It was dangerous, elusive and no one had ever come out alive to tell the tale.
There couldn’t be a more perfect place to hide treasure.
“Olivia, please. You’re not actually considering this are you?”
A hum.
The voice on the other end of the phone let out a long sigh.
“ Sombra? ”
“Oh yes, my darling sister? How can I help you today?” Olivia grinned, folding her fingers together as she placed her chin upon them finally turning her attention to her phone where a very annoyed Amelie rolled her eyes.
“You didn’t think for a single moment that maybe there is a reason this place is fenced off?”
“Of course I do! No, no, you listen to me Ame, I’ve been going through some religious texts and did some research-”,Sombra continued unfazed as Amelie let out a long sigh,“There is something there, the translations are super rough but some kind of ‘testament to the goddess’ or something like ‘a gift’? I don’t really know but no one has recovered anything from either of these lakes next to the temple and I just have a feeling that there’s something there.”
“And to think you were safer hacking into the government.” Amelie said dryly.
Olivia shrugged, swiping her phone up as she leaned back into her seat, lifting the camera up playfully and winking, “Besides! What a way to go though!”
Amelie opened her mouth to begin another protest but it was too late, there was a look of determination in her sister’s eye. Amelie shook her head,“Well, at least I can go on with a clear conscious that I tried to stop you… again.”
Olivia laughed, not that her sister was in the wrong for her worry. This was still a fairly new escapade.
Hacking her way into back accounts was fun, but after realizing she had spent so much time indoors it was time for another hobby. A few scuba lessons and accidentally running into a few artifacts hidden beneath a coral reef later, she was in business as a brand new treasure hunter.
“Ha! Thanks Ame. I already cashed in my last haul.”
Well, most of it anyways. There was a horned mask from Africa she decided to keep for herself, the beige face, black eyes and green horns were still as vibrant as if it were still new and it was probably cursed but it hung on her wall anyway.
“I heard you got into a spot of trouble awhile ago.”
Sombra hadn’t just heard of the incident, she had actually watched it live. Her fingers flashed across the keyboard, pulling up news coverage of the largest diamond being stolen by a familiar figure making a getaway on a bike. The chase had lasted for hours but the thief and her accomplice had managed to escape.
“I can send some cash your way, just lemme know which country you’re in. The exchange rate from Spain is wild right now.”
Amelie scoffed, holding her camera further, tilting it just slightly to show off bright and glittering jewels dangling from her ears. “I handled it thank you. A close call yes, but I had a bit of...help.”
“Oh? A new partner in crime? Who did you turn to the dark side? Not that I’m surprised, I bet you batted your pretty eyelashes out of prison.”
Olivia watched as the camera flipped around, taking only a moment to realize her sister was in a much fancier hotel room than last they spoke. White, clean and pristine she spotted Amelie’s long legs crossed over a large bed, a soft pink robe just barely reaching her knees but the focus of this conversation was the tuft of brown hair in her lap.
The young woman let out a long yawn and buried her face further into Amelie’s thighs.
“A civilian and she actually has quite the knack for this life”
Olivia couldn’t contain her smile as she spotted her sister’s hand reach out and gently stroke the brown mess of hair, each of her fingers adorned with a diamond ring before the camera flipped back. She didn’t miss the small pleased smile on Amelie’s face, and it wasn’t due to the new flashy jewelry on her person.
“Oh I can’t wait to meet her.” Olivia grinned, putting the camera aside on her desk as she reached out to grab her bag and begin packing.
Amelie waved her hand,“Get back safely from your death trip and we’ll discuss it over tea yes?”
Olivia’s eyes lit up, her snorkel and flippers in her grasp as she paused to gasp, “It’s been awhile since we met for tea, I do love that little place in London.”
“I’m buying, should you return in one piece.”
“Sounds like a date.”
_______________________________________________________________
If Olivia was being honest, she was secretly hoping that there would be nothing to find.
Stealing artifacts from countries rich in folklore, religion, and history was always a little tricky to get away with. Entire groups of people were dedicated protection, although they did rather poorly in the many cases, Olivia made off with some sacred text and sold it to the black market. A part of her truly did feel bad for stealing a piece of history- until she was paid, that is. Most guilt went away after cashing in.
Amelie was right, it was more dangerous but also far more adventurous than sitting behind a computer by a mile. The traveling, visiting different places and eating new food from all over the world was more than worth the pain and struggle of smuggling the occasional relic.
But as Olivia flew across the ocean, landing in a bustling city and nearly getting run over three times by scooters, she couldn’t help but hope and pray that the beautiful scenic lake was just that, a secluded piece of heaven for her to swim and enjoy all by herself.
The supposed forbidden temple wasn’t far but would be quite the hike through the jungle, more extensive than her usual escapades. Most of her heists were in heavily populated areas, famous museums, or temples. There were at least ten miles of nothing but dense jungle around the temple.
They truly wished to make it as difficult as possible to get anyway near this sacred ground and it was working.
Olivia was hot, sweaty, tired, and worst of all, she was running out of bug spray.
Olivia grumbled to herself, tying her hair back into a high bun, re-applying a bit more spray before continuing on the hike. Pushing aside large leaves and hopping over rough terrain, she glanced down at her map and double checked her coordinates.
Even out here in the middle of the jungle she had managed to secure some semblance of a signal to keep her phone working. Hacking her way into satellites proved to be useful for this trip, so being lost wasn’t the problem. It was just far .
“Ugghhh are you serious!?” she groaned, staring at the map. She wasn’t even close and she had only a few more hours of sun and no intention of staying in the jungle overnight.
“Uh...hello?”
Olivia froze in place as a heavily accented male voice called out to her.
It was a bit early to be going crazy wasn’t it?
“Who's there?” she demanded, whipping around just in time to spot a young man with a large pack and a warm smile approach her through the thick brush.
“Oh! What are you doing way out here? Are you lost?” he asked, smiling politely.
She stared at him for a moment. She wasn’t expecting to see someone this far out and she had made it a point to not tell any locals where she was going in case they wanted to stop her. But before she could bat her eyelashes out of this he pointed at her bag where her flippers were tied to the strap, dangling at the side.
His eyes lit up with excitement.
“Are you searching for a lake? To swim yes? There is a beautiful one nearby! I can take you to it!”
“I’m…sorry...uh friend…?” she paused, holding her hand out to him, staring at him expectantly. He nodded and bowed furiously as he took her hand in a tight grip, his hands were clammy, though she shook it off as the humidity.
“I am Sanjay, pleased to meet you. It’s very beautiful! Saanpwala lake is the most beautiful lake in the world and surrounds an old temple. Very secluded. Private.”
Red flags stood erect and waving in her mind. It was not only the exact name of her destination but he was far too willing to take her to a supposedly forbidden place. But she forced out a smile, raising the tone in her voice just enough to sound like a gullible tourist.
“Oh really? I would appreciate that so much Sanjay!”
His flashed a bright grin and motioned her to follow him excitedly as he led her through the jungle. She could have sworn there should have been something here, every single one of her maps including satellite images indicated there being a mountain that would have taken her hours to get around and yet he showed her path cutting right through it.
As if that wasn’t suspicious enough, within the hour he pushed aside thick leaves and vines to reveal a convenient hole in the tall metal linked fence.
There was no way this could have been this easy.
“Whoa...look at this fence, are you sure it’s safe?” she asked with a smile.
Sanjay paused for a moment in thought,“Well…”
But Olivia gasped, fake but playful as she laughed,“I knew it!”
“No no please do not misunderstand, the fence is to keep outsiders away from damaging our oldest temple. You seem very trustworthy!” he was already suspicious enough but not a poor judge of character too,“However I shall give you this, a symbol of protection! Free of charge.”
The young man innocently pulled out a necklace from his pocket, a beautiful large jade stone with a bronze snake surrounding it all and tied to a simple leather string.
“Wow it’s beautiful!” she gasped, eagerly slipping it around her neck with a simple tie in the back, she grinned, looking down at her chest where the gem sat, she even gave him a little pose, “How do I look?”
“Stunning. Have a good time!” Sanjay already had his feet pointed in the other direction as he threw out one last comment before walking away.
Olivia pouted, over exaggerating her lower lip as she called out, “Aww, you’re not coming?”
Sanjay turned around but continued to walk backwards to reply,“Ah, no you may enjoy it yourself. Farewell!”
The moment the man was out of sight she quickly removed the necklace, as beautiful and charming as it was something in her gut screamed with red flags and bright warning signs.
He knew too much for a forbidden place, he knew exactly where to go and the broken fence? His refusal to go in?
She had half a mind to turn back now while she had the chance but with the sun threatening to descend over the mountains and the soft hiss of a distant stream she was too close to her destination to just leave.
With a heavy sigh, she stuffed the trap necklace into her pocket, adjusted her pack and continued on.
The remainder of the hike gave way to a slight hill going downwards, it was difficult to see from aerial photos with thick trees blocking the view but the temple seemed to be in the middle of a bowl almost. The fence surrounding the area crested a hill that fell downwards where the waterfalls and lakes lay at the bottom before spilling out into the center river.
Olivia watched her step, the steep hill nearly catching her off guard once or twice as she followed the sound of rushing water.
Any preconceived doubts she had with Sanjay was immediately washed away as she pushed aside heavy leaves to have her breath taken away.
Just as beautiful and peaceful as she imagined from far away images online, two gorgeous waterfalls roared, the sound amplified by its position in the natural bowl as they spilled into a crystal blue lake that sparkled in the sunset. Perfect and untouched by humans, though not for long.
But as she slowly scanned the area, taking it all in she noticed something was off. Her eyes narrowed at the ruins sitting in the middle of its own little island in the lake and was taken aback when she realized just how perfectly symmetrical it was. The two waterfalls on each side of the fallen ruins...and the ruins themselves were strangely perfectly matched.
Broken stone, a hole in the roof, leaving jagged lines along the walls matched on the opposite side, as if there were a mirror directly center of it all.
Her curiosity was far stronger than the return of the warnings in her head as she dropped her pack and began to strip.
Wearing her small swim wear underneath wasn’t the wisest decision during her hike in a humid jungle, however now in a moment of impatience and excitement, she threw off her shorts and shirt before making a run for it towards the water.
She was sweating, miserable and tired but with a running start and a wide grin on her face she leapt into the lake with reckless abandon.
The drastic difference in temperature against her skin sent shock waves throughout her body as she scrambled up to the surface. Gasping for air Olivia lay on her back, quietly floating for a moment as she sighed in relief of the cool water.
Treasure or not, this was perfect.
But it was still worth a try.
Taking in a moment to bask in the water staring up at the sky as it began it’s change, indicating she was short on time to play. Olivia returned to the edge of the water to retrieve her gear, snorkel, goggles, and flippers for now.
Perhaps it was the underlying mystery of this place, or the strange silence finally sinking in is what made her tense. Recalling Sanjay’s words and strange behavior maybe, but regardless all of these things were to factor in when something moving beside her caught her off guard and caused her to jump up and curse.
A thin, long black snake seemed to pay no mind to her and continued to slither away, conforming to the shape of her bag as it went and disappeared into the brush.
Olivia froze, grasping her goggles in a tight grip before she unwound and sighed.
“Oh, right, snake lake.” she huffed, pulling her eyewear over her face to dangle around her neck.
“Alright, what do you have for me hm?” she mumbled to herself before diving back into the waters.
The first hour went to be as expected, some fallen stones from the temple’s rooftop fell into the bottom of the lake but nothing extravagant as she gently dragged her fingers along the old brick now covered in a layer of moss.
Otherwise there was nothing to be found although fish seemed to avoid her. Despite her research and worries of water snakes they didn’t seem to care for her either. Swimming by without a care which was a relief but she couldn’t shake the strange feeling of something being off about this place. She even followed one for awhile, swimming just underneath it to watch how it coasted through the water as easily as if it were on land.
Following it however led her directly to a hole in the ground where it peacefully swam into leaving Olivia behind as she stared at it flabbergasted. There were multiple holes just perfectly big enough to swim into, a series of small tunnels in the bottom of the lake made of earth and tone.
She quickly swam back to the surface for another gulp of air before diving right back down to explore.
The lake was beautifully clear, as she grasped the sides of the rock and propelled herself forward. Fish and snakes alike continued to ignore her as she happily weaved between the rocks into one hole and out another as pockets of light pierced through the surface to the bottom, making it easy to find a way out but honestly...it was just fun.
She had completely forgotten about the treasure hunting, about the dangerous waters, and forbidden temple as she brought her feet together and kicked, a mermaid in her own little cove.
However her bliss was short lived as she reached out to grasp rock and pull herself up into a large alcove but realized too late it wasn’t quite as solid. She lifted her feet up to stop herself against the wall and turned back.
Her heart dropped into her stomach, what she assumed to be the trick of the light or perhaps her goggles were fogging up but she had just touched were large scales on a large body and it was moving. She slowly followed the long body and realized too late she was surrounded, the length completely encompassed this small alcove, dipping and weaving into other holes just as she was moments ago she couldn’t seem to find an end to this impossibly large creature.
Until a shadow blocked the light behind her, Olivia gulped and whipped around only to be twice as confused. Where she expected a huge head of an anaconda and it’s gaping maw she was instead face to face with the most beautiful woman she had ever seen looming over her.
Staring back looking just as confused.
Her long dark hair wisped behind her, flowing with the current. Her chest was completely bare with light traces of scales continuing up her torso and along her arms.
But before Olivia could blush, it was her eyes that caught her attention and brought her back to the danger at hand.
Intense yellow eyes with black slits trained on her, looking over her as if searching for something.
Olivia refused to move as the mysterious snake woman moved in closer, staring specifically at her neck.
Was he right all along? Did he know about this? Was the necklace meant for protection or-
The woman scowled, her face scrunched up in disappointment.
Something wrapped around Olivia’s leg, holding on tight and before she knew it was being pulled away. Bubbles escaped from her mask as she screamed, clawing at the ground to hold onto anything but nothing could stop her from being yanked out of the alcove, scraping along the walls as she went.
Soon she wasn’t even in the water any more but airborne as the snake woman tossed her out of the lake and into the brush.
Olivia landed hard on the ground, lying there motionless as she groaned in pain and whiplash as her goggles sat askew on her face and snorkel was long gone.
“What.” she finally asked the sky and herself before sitting up slowly,”The. Fuck.”
Ripping off the goggles and wiping her eyes furiously with the back of her hand she stared back out at the lake.
Did she fall and hit her head while running for a dip in the water? Did she just dream all this?
But no, as she stared out into the water she found the very same woman, her nose just barely under the surface of the water just...glaring at her.
As if offended by her presence before slowly dipping back underneath and into her cove.
Olivia blinked, her jaw hanging wide open as the surface of the water broke slightly as a long snake body slithered after her and out of sight.
Leaving it the little piece of heaven Olivia had found it.
Her mind was reeling, sitting there not as alone as she thought with far more questions than she was anticipating.
But mostly, one major question was on her mind.
“WHAT THE FUCK??”
