AUTHOR'S NOTES: In February 2007, I decided to completely rewrite this story. It was previously called "Future Mist". This looks next to nothing like the original version. If the original wasn't so terribly written I would have left it up as a separate story.

This is based on Mortal Kombat: Conquest, the TV series, NOT the MK games or movies. Some details may be different from canon simply because of my limited knowledge.

DISCLAIMER: My 'original' characters Oberon and Titania are based very very very loosely on the faerie king and queen from countless tales. And yes, their homeland is based on the magical realm from the movie The Labyrinth. There's no one named Fog in MK:C, so I'm claiming him. That's about it though.

QUICK SUMMARY: [Mortal Kombat: Conquest] In episode 4, our heroes find a strange red crystal with the power to travel to any realm. Rayden says peaceful strangers who came long ago died and left the crystal there. What's the story behind the crystal and how will it affect the future? [Rayden&OC, Rayden-centric]

Prologue: A Long, Long Time Ago

Live without the sunlight
Love without your heartbeat
I, I can't live within you

Once upon a time, two children lived in a castle at the center of a great labyrinth. They weren't really children, any more than any immortal being with neither beginning nor end can be a child, but their hearts were young and they ruled their lands kindly and generously, if not always wisely. Their people, elves, dwarves and all manner of faeriefolk, lived in relative peace and happiness.

Titania, all golden hair and twinkling eyes and gaiety, was well loved by all. Gifted with foresight, she granted guidance to any who asked and delighted in passing her advice in the form of riddles. Riddles and tricks were her passion, and though she occasionally rumpled feathers with her pranks, none could hold the grudge for long. She always seemed to have a playful smirk on her face. Only her brother knew the sadness that darkened it when she was alone.

Oberon had a solemn countenance, dark where his sister was fair, though they had the same pale skin and eyes. He took his people's welfare seriously and was ever holding court and issuing proclamations. He had a gift for finding truth and it made him a fair and just ruler. In spite of this, he had an easy laugh that tended to startle his subjects when it broke through his somber mask. Titania delighted in teasing smiles from him whenever it was least appropriate.

Though Oberon found comfort in his daily tasks of ruling, Titania found only loneliness. In all the land, of all the variety of creatures, there were none like her save for her brother. She longed to visit the neighboring realm, Earthrealm, as so many of their subjects did. Denied that, she withdrew from the world to spend hours with her magic crystals, lost in visions of the mortals.

Titania's wish became Oberon's, for he could not bear to see his sister so forlorn. He determined to grant Titania her heart's desire. Unable to abandon his kingdom, he sent his goblin servants to Earthrealm, bidding them find an unwanted human child to bring back with them. When they returned with a babe wrapped in rags with eyes that matched Titania's, Oberon pronounced himself pleased. Then, much to everyone's shock, he ordered them all out of the castle and barred the doors.

Distraught and without leadership for the first time in their long existence, the people fell into confusion. They wailed and wept. They squabbled over every decision. Charlatans emerged, claiming to possess the foresight or truthsense of their beloved leaders. Lies and deceit threatened to tear the realm apart.

At last, when all hope seemed lost, the castle gates swung open. A new king emerged, a man the people had never seen before, a man not of their world. A man with one brilliant blue eye and one forever darkened by its enlarged pupil - the sign of one who had wielded too much magic for far too long. Possessed of Titania's impish temper and Oberon's dark brooding nature, the new king wielded magic unlike any other. He had neither truthsense nor foresight, yet he managed to tame the land into a semblance of obedience.

He claimed no knowledge of the previous rulers.

Brother and sister were never seen again.