Chapter Text
El Salvador, October 2037
Cassandra Drake smashed the pick as hard as she could into the wall. Digging a hole with a pick into a temple in the jungles of Central America was something she definitely regretted. The wall was way too hard to dig in. Taking an expedition to El Salvador just to find an idol in one of the secluded temples was something she enjoyed but was less enthusiastic about.
After ten minutes of digging, she finally struck copper. She climbed into the temple, evaded every trap, grabbed the idol, and made bail before any boulders could chase after her.
She jogged back to the tent to find Derek Lowell talking to the lead expedition archeologist, Maria.
Maria was a short woman with blue eyes, red hair, and at the age of thirty-three.
"Yo Maria, you will never guess what I found," Cassie smiled and put up the idol.
Maria approached Cassie and took the idol from her hands and admired it.
"Thank you very much, Miss Drake. The Museum of Antiquities will be very happy about this find," She said in a thick accent Cassie couldn't understand.
"No problem, as long as it is put in a museum, I will be happy," She said. "And I get a finder's fee,"
"Of course, for you and Mr. Lowell," She finished her pockets for money but couldn't find any.
Then Derek saw something, a man standing at the tent opening. This man was not good-looking because he wore a black hoodie in the jungle. This man was probably like maybe six-foot-five, weighed maybe two-hundred and ten pounds had blond hair and blue eyes. His eyes were narrow and his cheeks were hollow and he looked extremely thin for a man who weighed two-hundred and ten pounds. He decided to dub him 'Thin Man'
Derek walked around the table and pursued Thin Man but when he saw Derek Lowell, he walked off and out of view. Derek walked after him and followed Thin Man into the jungle and away from the main camp.
He lost sight of Thin Man and decided to cut back to the camp, but he ended up grabbed from behind and felt something being stabbed into his neck. It was a sedative needle, and he was already losing consciousness.
In the main camp, Cassie was busy counting the money that Maria gave her that she didn't notice that Derek was gone until it was too late. She looked back at the entrance and was about to question the whereabouts of Derek until she was grabbed from behind and drugged with chloroform. Even though Maria saw Cassie being drugged, she made no attempt to help her, as if she has been paid.
Berlin, Germany
Cassie woke up with a bag on her face. She used every inch of breath she could to shake off the bag and when she did, she found herself staring into the eyes of Maria.
"Cassandra Drake, it has been so nice getting to meet you," she said in a thick accent, one that Cassie could understand: A German accent.
"Maria, what's going on? Why am I tied up?"
"My name is not Maria, it's Claudia Wolff. I hope my brother didn't cause you too much harm," She pointed to Thin Man and she got a good view of Thin Man. He was a tall man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and looked to be around the age of thirty-four.
"Your brother sure is ugly, no wonder he is still single," she chuckled.
"You dare insult us, Drake," Thin Man said in a thick German accent.
"Of course, you are the bad guys so why shouldn't I insult you?" she responded and Thin Man growled.
"You know, Drake, we have heard a great deal of you. You fold the Cold Iron in Bosnia, the lost tomb of Antony and Cleopatra, and I think we all know what happened this year when you traveled to France to look for the Philosopher's Stone. You are a woman of many talents,"
"Why are you doing this?"
"We have goals of our own," Claudia ripped off one section of her sleeve and revealed her bare skin. "We have been trying to find this lost city of black magic for years. And because you have found several lost cities, there is no doubt you can find this lost city."
"What lost city?"
Her smile widened like a sociopath or psychopath. "Scholomance."
"The City of Black Magic run by the devil himself. Sorry, but that is fake. It's from an old video game."
"I'm afraid not Drake, my men have found a scroll which proves that Scholomance is more than a myth and a city in an old video game," she told Thin Man to get the scroll from her desk and handed it to her.
"This scroll supposedly shows the location of the lost city of Scholomance but we are unable to decipher it. But maybe you can."
"I ain't telling you jack. All you guys will do is find the lost city and use the black magic for world domination."
"Sounds like a good plan." She calls Thin Man and she whispers something in his ear. He nods and walks out of the tent Cassie was tied up in. A while later, he brings back Derek Lowell and holds a knife to his throat.
"Now, you have five seconds to tell us where Scholomance is or my brother will cut Derek's throat," she threatens. "Five...four...three…"
"Okay, I'll decipher the scroll, just don't hurt Derek,"
And with that, Thin Man let go of Derek and cut Cassie free. Thin Man forced her outside the tent they were in and they discovered they were in a forest in Germany.
A man of average height, blond hair, blue eyes, around the age of thirty-two named Richter approached Cassie holding a silver scroll. He unrolls it and hands it to Derek.
"You better not mislead us or else Derek's guts will paint the forest," Claudia said in a threatening voice.
"I won't, I promise. Someone's got your panties in a bunch," Cassie remarked before reading the scroll.
I recognize this language, she thought, It's an old form of the Balkan languages. I can speak, read, and write over a dozen languages but there are some languages I can exclusively read.
"A Beloved City of Black Magic Lies in a place that would later be called in the future, Romania," she read aloud, "Who even wrote this, a cult group of some kind?" She wasn't asking, she was thinking aloud.
"In the mountain led by the river valley is where Scholomance is."
"That's a vague description," Claudia commented.
"The city hides behind the mountain the sun sets."
"Now we're getting somewhere," Claudia said with a smile.
"This Mountain is called 'Magie neagră'. Which translates as 'Black Magic' in the Romanian language. It says that in Scholomance, there are werewolves that guard the insides of the city. That and the key to opening it is not physically something we can hold. And the key is time itself. Well, there you go, I translated everything on the scroll," Cassie shoved the scroll into Claudia's stomach.
"Thank you, Drake, but to make sure you are not misleading us, we will personally take you with us to Romania and you will find the city for us," Claudia Wolff then punched Cassie hard in the jaw, knocking her out cold.
"You goddamn Neo-Nazi!" Derek shouted at the top of his lungs and lunged for Claudia but before he could strike, Richter and Thin Man knocked him out cold.
"You got heart Lowell, that is what I admire in both of you." Claudia laughed.