Author's note: As always, I don't own any of the MK characters. Such a shame.
The Throne room, the palace of the Emperor Shao Kahn, Outworld
He reclined on the throne of iron and bone, and ran one hand over and over the hilt of the sword that lay across his lap. Finally, Shao Kahn could resist no longer. "Bring them to me!" he thundered. A Shadow Priest approached the throne, carrying an iron bound chest. He bowed low and held the chest up to his Emperor, and had it snatched from his hands. Kahn rested the box on his knees, then nicked his finger on the blade of his sword. The Emperor of Outworld allowed three drops of blood to fall upon the ornate lock, and watched as they were absorbed into the strange metal. There was a click, and the lid swung soundlessly up. A grin stretched his lips as Shao Kahn stared within at the handiwork of his Shadow assassins.
Nestled on the silken fabric that lined the box were a collection of vials, bound in silvery wire and filled with different colors of swirling mist. Lovingly, he stroked a hand over the bottles, reveling in the pain and anger that filled them. Delicately, he lifted one filled with a blue-grey mist and held it up to his eyes. "Ah, Princess," he whispered, his voice a caress filled with evil delight. "You were wrong to oppose me. I could have given you entire realms." He closed the distance between his lips and the bottle, kissing it slowly, shivering as ecstasy filled him at her disgust and loathing. As an Edenian, even trapped in a soul jar, she was aware of what was going on around her, and her soul writhed in anger at her fate.
Replacing the princess' bottle in the box, he drew another one, this one containing a dark green mist. "Quan Chi," he rumbled. Unlike the princess, the sorcerer couldn't tell what was going on outside the walls of his glass prison. He was truly trapped in limbo, until Shao Kahn decided to free him or destroy the jar, sending Quan Chi's spirit to the Netherealm as a powerless dishonored spirit. Putting the necromancer down, he lifted the last vial from the box, this one a black-shot bloody crimson. Holding the vial cupped in his hand, he closed the box and gestured to the Shadow Priest to take it away.
Shao Kahn rolled the bottle between his palms until the Shadow Priest was gone, then beckoned over one of the throne room guards. "Remove your mask," he commanded, watching as the man obediently stripped off his cloth head and returned to stillness, waiting for Shao Kahn's next command. He had straight black hair and black eyes, with a golden tinge to his skin and a youthful aura. The Emperor of Outworld gathered his energies, then uncorked the bottle, shoving the energy inside into the body of the guard. As the crimson mist surrounded his head, then man tried to scream, but it was choked off as the smoke slid down his throat and filled his body. Shao Kahn watched as knowledge filled the man's eyes, and a cruel smile crooked his lips as the guard sank to his knees and bowed his head.
"Shang Tsung. You understand what has happened?" The sorcerer kept his head bowed.
"Yes, my Emperor. I was imprisoned within a soul jar." His voice was rough, but got smoother with every word as Shang got used to his new vocal cords.
"You also understand that having captured you once I can put you back in the vial whenever I please?" The Emperor's tone was silky with threat. Shang Tsung bowed forwards until his forehead touched the bottom step of the thrones' dais.
"Yes, my Emperor."
"I don't give second chances... ever, sorcerer. Why should I be so generous towards you?" Kahn's voice filled the throne room, and it seemed the shadows danced in glee at the deadly tone it carried. Keeping his forehead pressed to the step, Shang replied, striving for neutrality but conveying bitterness.
"You hold my soul, my very existence, mighty Shao Kahn. I am your creature, and seek only to serve you." The Emperor gave a booming laugh filled with evil. "I will not fail you. Command me, my Emperor." There was a long silence, where Shang Tsung kept his pose of submission at the foot of the dais.
"Yessss..." Shao Kahn hissed, "I believe that you will not fail me... again." Again threat lay on his voice like a heavy blanket. "Rise, sorcerer." Awkwardly, still uncomfortable in his new flesh, Shang Tsung climbed to his feet, but kept his head bowed. "Look at me," Kahn commanded. Shang raised his head, and met the Emperor's eyes with his own. Shao Kahn gave another evil laugh. "The face changes, but the eyes, ah, the eyes do not. Serve me well and faithfully, Shang Tsung, and you will remain free. Fail me..." and here he held up the soul jar. "Fail me and return to nothingness." His cruel smile bloomed. "Or the Netherealm." He saw the shudder, quickly stilled by the sorcerer. "Now get out of my sight." Shang Tsung bowed low to the figure on the throne, then left, leaving the Emperor smiling in satisfaction.
The slave quarters, the palace of the Emperor Shao Kahn, Outworld
"Kimari!" The woman's voice was both angry and impatient, and the red head raced across the floor to curtsey low at her feet and kept her green eyes lowered. The woman was Mikaro, and through cunning intrigue and sheer will power, she was the most powerful female in Shao Kahn's private harem. Every woman in the dormitory feared Mikaro, and with good reason. It was only when she peeked through her lashes that Kimari realized that Mikaro wasn't alone, that a Shadow Priest stood at her elbow. She began to tremble again. "You are to go with the Priest. Now." Kimari curtsied again, and the Shadow Priest took her in tow.
They followed the same route as she had yesterday, but this time the Priest stopped her at the head of the corridor and lifted her palm in his. Kimari quailed at the touch of his cold, cold flesh, and the Shadow Priest smiled to see it. He made a gesture above her palm, then sung his hand down, his nails tearing her skin and leaving it beaded with drops of bright red blood. Something sang in her veins, and her mouth filled with an awful taste. "You will continue to come here, once a day at this time, to give the prisoner all the food that sits beside the door. Do you understand?" Kimari felt her heart grow heavy, but she curtsied in obedience. What else could she do? "The charm I just passed into your blood will allow you to open the door." With that, he turned and left her to stand alone.
It seemed to the woman that the stone corridor stretched forwards forever, but she squared her shoulders and began to walk down it. Glancing left and right as she walked, she saw other, similarly barred doors, but hesitated to look within, not wanting to see the others the Emperor had at his mercy. Stalling now, and dragging her feet, she stopped within arms reach of the door at the end of the corridor. Why me? she thought to herself, then quashed that feeling. If the Emperor commanded it, or one of the Emperor's Priests, she would obey. Or die.
Kimari hesitantly waved her hand across the prisons' door, not really expecting anything to happen. Instead, the eery green glow came again, then the door swung inwards silently. With the grace that had been beaten into her from her eighth year, she stooped and gathered the now familiar cup and bowl and stepped through. This time she did not jump as the door slammed behind her, but she did stand still and wait for her eyes to adjust to the subdued light inside the cell.
Today the former god was watching her from the moment she stepped inside. He looked no better than yesterday; in fact, new bruises shadowed his jaw and neck, but Rayden's eyes were still that incredibly deep shade of blue, and they still pierced her to her core with their despair and desperation. "So," he said eventually, breaking the silence, "they sent you back." Kimari nodded.
"Believe me, it is not my choice," she muttered as she knelt by his side and offered the water cup. His eyes studied her over the rim as he drank.
"Am I such a terrible fate in this place?" he mused aloud as she ferried a piece of bread to his mouth. She allowed herself to glare at him.
"You speak dangerous words. You-" she broke off, shaking her head angrily and tossing her red gold curls at being baited into speaking to him. To her surprise, Rayden gave a rusty laugh, but one that was filled with bitterness and hatred.
"You are a personal slave to Shao Kahn, and you're afraid of me?" He laughed again, his silken grey hair sliding back, and she head the echoes of madness in that laugh. "Believe me, Kimari, I'm harmless. Helpless. Mortal." His voice dropped. "Alone." Kimari felt a twinge of sympathy, a dangerous emotion anywhere in Outworld, but said nothing as she continued to feed the former thunder deity pieces of food. Today the wooden platter also held a withered piece of star fruit, the only fruit that would grow in Outworld. A cruel joke, she thought, as the fruit was as bitter as the kiss of deep winter. Yet she had her instructions to see that he ate all of the food, and that included the star fruit. She kept some of the bread aside and held the fruit up to his mouth.
Rayden spat and shuddered away as the droplets of juice stung his lips. Kimari found herself speaking. "I'm sorry, but I must..." She stopped herself and could have bitten her tongue out at the considering look he gave her. Then, to her surprise, he simply nodded and opened his mouth. His features twisted as he chewed and swallowed, and there was gratitude in his blue, blue eyes as she immediately lifted the water cup and gave him a drink.
"That'sawful," he rasped, leaning away from the cup. "What in the names of the Elder Gods was that?" A thin smile of pity curled the corner of Kimari's mouth, and she ignored the warning her brain gave her not to talk to the new made mortal.
"That was star fruit, the only fruit that grows here." She fed him the last of the bread. "They say it grew from the poisoned blood of the true King of Outworld after the Emperor's betrayal. No one eats it unless they have no choice."
"I can see why," he said, finishing his mouthful and swallowing. Kimari gave him the rest of the water and rose to her feet. His eyes followed her as she crossed the small cell and passed her hand over the door again. "Thank you," he added, and her eyes rounded in surprise. "Will I see you again?" Kimari found herself nodding, sending her hair swinging over her shoulders.
"But I won't free you," she said hastily. That bitter, despairing laugh was cut off by the closing of the door, and Kimari found herself grateful that it was so.
The Temple of the Elder Gods, all realms and none
Seven altars stood in a massive room that was filled with shifting shadows and beams of light. Seven figures, all different shapes and forms, argued amongst themselves, in the voices of the divine.
"He has abrogated his responsibility to Earthrealm," the Elder God of Fire argued. "Rayden cannot be found, will not answer our summons, and no longer stands as protector. He should be replaced." The Elder God of Light nodded his approval, and other members of the council shifted.
"And why can we not find him?" the Elder Goddess of Water asked, irritation in her tone. "Not since the treachery of Shinnok have we lost a god, and now the protector of Earthrealm is missing. Missing!"
The Elder God of Shadows spoke up. "What matter as to how or why he is gone? What we must deal with is that he is gone. We must now appoint a replacement, another protector of the realm of Earth."
"Then we are agreed," the Elder God of Time rumbled. "Summon the Earthrealm wind god Fujin to the Temple."