She had to take her chances—more of the men (whom she had learned were named Tarkartan) were coming through, centaurs and four-armed people following them. She stayed as close to Quan Chi as she could, following his orders and providing as much information as she could. She still wasn't sure on whether or not he was human, but so far he was the closest thing to one.

All the citizens of her area were either dead or nearly so. Which made her think—why was she so special? Why was he protecting her? He eyed her as if he could hear her thoughts.
She shivered. Never had she thought that these people were real. Besides his name, Lace had found out that he was a Sorcerer—a Necromancer to be precise, and apparently he had already successfully raised two spirits.

One of which was staring at her now.

"Saibot," Quan Chi began. "Take her to Nekros, make sure that she is tended to and is kept safe. You'll find that you have some…interesting similarities." Saibot bowed and turned to her.

"Follow me." He said and began to walk. She looked at Quan Chi one last time and did as she was told. Eventually they came to the dead-end of their track, and with a wave of his hands, Saibot opened a portal.

"Show-off." She muttered and he spun to her immediately. She looked down and mumbled a thank you before nearing the portal. She looked at it cluelessly, then at him with the same expression.

"What do I do now?" she asked, as if she was a first grader looking at a complex scientific equation. He crossed his arms. She blushed and looked down quickly. Biting her lips she looked at the portal. After a few more moments of oblivion, she looked back at him.

"Umm…I still don't know what to do." Although she was facing him, her eyes were looking down, and as she dared to look up he raised an eyebrow.

"And what are our similarities exactly?" he stated. She shrugged cautiously. He looked at her in a way that made her want to cry, then grabbed her by the arm and took her through the portal.

.

When she heard the word 'Nekros', she though that it would've been an ancient Greek or Roman city, with fountains and happy people. A city that was built of marble and gleamed with heavenly light…

Never had she been so wrong.

From what she understood, Nekros was one of the major cities in the NetherRealm, which to put bluntly, was Hell. It was built by Sorcerers some 28 million years ago as a safe haven and energy regenerating home. Saibot, whose full name was Noob Saibot, led her to one of the inns. After seeing twenty men with no arms, twelve winged demons eating rotting meat and seventeen legless bodies, she didn't know what to expect. And when the door opened, everyone turned to see the new girl. Silence built in the room, and she could hear her breathing as she followed Noob to the counter. The…thing standing there looked at them.

"We need a room." As soon as Noob finished his line, Lace stared at him open-eyedly and shook her head. Seeing this, the half/man half demon smirked.

"Fresh meat, eh?" he seized her hand and felt her arms. "Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've seen skin like yours?"

Lace blinked. "An afterlife?"

The creature looked at her angrily. "I'm not dead-!"

Before he could harm her Noob spoke. "She is under the protection of the Brotherhood. Lay a finger on her and you will be dead." Lace looked at him gratefully, but if he noticed she didn't know.

The demon gave them a key and Noob led her up to the room. Once they were in, he shut the door and sat her down.

"Don't waste my time." He started. "Why is Quan Chi protecting you?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. He said something about similarities and-"

"Don't insult me." He said defensively. "If there were any similarities between us I would've known by now."

She didn't know whether or not to be offended. "Perhaps we're related?"

He chuckled. "Unlikely. There's no resemblance whatsoever."

There was silence. Breaking it, she shook her head. "Is Noob Saibot your real name?"

He looked at her as if she knew a secret, and she was quite shocked when he said "No."
"It is my name in the afterlife. My real name and it are nothing alike."

She frowned. "So then what was your name?"

He looked at her emotionlessly. "Bi Han."

At this she stood up. Seeing her reaction he tilted his head.

"Did you…like the cold?" she asked.

"Like it? I was the cold. I was the Grandmaster of a group of cyromanic assassins in Arktica called the Lin Kuei." She looked down. "Why do you ask?"

She stared at her feet. "I…my neighbour has—or had—a son…she said he was very fond of the cold and-"

He frowned and stepped forward "What is your neighbour's name?" he cut.

She looked at him. "Lin Han."
She saw the light in his eyes flicker. After a few moments, however, he sighed and dismissed the issue.

Once again, he asked. "What is it that makes you so valuable to Quan Chi?"

She shook her head and looked to the side. "I don't know." She said.
The light from the window shone in her eyes, and Noob noticed their colour.

He folder his arms. "Your eyes…"

"They're violet. Surprise." He looked at her a little more cautiously now.

"What is your name?" He asked.

She waited a few seconds. "Lacrymosa." She said. "Lacrymosa Liang."

His eyes widened. "Liang…" he muttered, looking to the side. Once he received his epiphany, he looked back at her.

"I knew someone else who had purple eyes." He said, obviously holding something back. "Do you have any siblings?"

She nodded. "One older brother. But he got lost in a snow storm."

Noob eyed her. "Your brother wouldn't happen to be Kuai Liang…?"

She looked at him surprised. "How did you know?" she asked, shock filled in her voice.

He sighed and turned around. "He was my successor."

-o808o-

"I must warn you, if you tell Scorpion about Kuai being Sub-Zero, you will not be a happy person."

"But why did you kill his clan-"

"I DIDN'T!" He screamed. Looking at her expression he sighed. "I was framed. I don't even know who did it."

She looked down. "I'm sorry. For everything—the trouble I've been and-"

"It's nothing." He said. "Come, I'll show you around."

.

When Lacrymosa had been told that Heaven and Hell were endless, she found it very hard to believe. Now, however, endless might be a slightly too useless word.

Not much.

Just a lot.

While walking she couldn't help but look around. It was strange. It was real—she knew it was real, but it was like a really bad dream. Every few metres her eyes past she look back down, either from the shock of seeing so many tortured bodies, or out of boredom (of seeing so many tortured bodies).

After a while they reached a building.

"This is Scorpion's lair. It is about time you meet him." She nodded in appreciation and followed him inside.

They walked through a long, stone hallway, until they got to a round room where there was a man in yellow honing on his martial arts. He stopped once he saw them and bowed as they came.

In the centre of the floor was the symbol of the Shirai Ryu, and that was where they were standing.

"Scorpion, this is Lacrymosa. Lacrymosa, this is Scorpion."