Author's Note: A special thanks to my friend, Hell-on-Training-Wheels, for helping me with some of the comedy in this chapter, specifically a moment between Tomas and Bi-han. You'll see LOL Go check out her stories and leave her a review!
After returning from the vaults with Hotaru, Bi-han found his way back to the little room where Sareena rested after her collapse in Netherrealm. He found her where he left her, laying on her bed on her side with her back facing away from the fire. The Seidan medicine was working well. The bruises and abrasions had already faded, looking far less angry than they did even a couple of hours ago. The Cryomancer quietly crossed the room to her and sat down on the empty space of bed beside her before he leaned over and tenderly pushed her white streak of hair from her face. Then he planted a soft kiss on her cheek. W\hen he pulled away from her, he saw her awake and looking up at him.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," he gently murmured.
Sareena sadly smiled as she slowly turned onto her back. "Where are we?" she asked as she rested her hand on his knee.
"Seido," he told her. "Their healers treated your wounds and gave you medicine to accelerate your healing."
She nodded and then her eyes drifted down his chest to his amulet, which was dangling just above her hand. She weakly brushed it with her fingers. "What's this?" she wondered. "Did some other woman catch your eye and give you this jewel while I was asleep?" she now teased.
He let out a little laugh and wrapped his palm around her fingers, squeezing them. "Never," he told her. "It was a gift from Hotaru," he then explained. "It's supposed to help me with my Noob Saibot problem."
Her smile brightened. "Good," she said. Then her brown eyes solemnly met his gaze. "Reiko's coming, isn't he?"
He nodded. "All he needs is Seido's kamidogu. So all of our little factions have gathered here to fight alongside the Seidan Guard, and hopefully together, we can defeat him once and for all."
"I'll help you," she now said as she tried to sit up.
"Like hell you will," he snapped as he pushed her back onto her pillows.
"Bi-han, I'm not going to just sit here while everyone else fights for me," she protested, pushing back.
"Yes, you are," he argued. "I've already lost my brother this week, if I lost you too…" The Cryomancer abruptly cut himself off, realizing he'd revealed too much.
Sareena's face simply softened, and she lifted a hand to stroke his cheek. "I know," she told him, prompting him to nuzzle her palm. "I can't stand the thought of losing you either," she confessed. "And if you were to fall in battle, baby, when I could've done something to stop it, I'd never forgive myself."
"You never do anyway," he chuffed, poking fun at her.
"Yeah, but I'd mean it this time," she retorted. "I'll be fine, baby," she then reassured him. "I've been doing this a lot longer than you have."
"But you're hurt," he countered. "And bad."
"I've fought with worse injuries than this, believe me," she said. "But I'm going to help you, with or without your permission." Now she curled her hand around his neck and gently pulled him closer. "Come on, baby," she cooed. "It'll be fun fighting on the same side again."
"This isn't a game, Sareena," he scolded her, even as she pecked soft kisses along his cheek to the corner of his mouth.
"Oh, sure it is," she countered. "A big, stupid, silly game for power. A cosmic dick-measuring contest. It's not the first I've seen, and it won't be the last. So let me go down swinging, baby, before they drag me back to Hell again."
With that, she began to suckle on his lips until even his toes tingled in delight. Tiredly, he stretched out beside her on the narrow bed and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and closing his eyes as she kept planting playful kisses on his nose and cheeks.
Tomas sat at the long conference table near the fireplace, only vaguely glancing over the notes he'd taken from Hotaru's strategy meeting, his mind drifting in and out as he thought of the events of the last week. It didn't feel right, he told himself, planning a battle without Kuai Liang at the helm. Worse still was planning an attack on him, especially when, if all went well, said attack would probably kill him. And he didn't even want to think about what could've happened to Livy; that girl had nine lives, but sooner or later, those lives would run out, and she'd already used plenty on her adventure in the Red Desert three years prior.
Further compounding matters was Morgan, who was currently gallivanting around the palace with Ikki, Hotaru's little lackey. And while the cyber-ninja applauded his most inverted child for charming the socks off one of these uptight Seidan robots, he questioned the wisdom of her timing. These were far from the best of circumstances, and he wasn't entirely convinced this whole affair wasn't just an elaborate stunt to get under Fujin's skin. If it was, it was working. The old windbag had been sulking around like someone killed his puppy when he wasn't shooting murderous glances at Ikki when he thought no one was looking. It might've been funny if this new development hadn't stirred up feelings of jealousy and protectiveness in the cyber-ninja as well.
Tomas loudly sighed. It was all such a mess.
As he pondered these things and more, a sudden commotion outside in the courtyard caught his attention and pulled him from his notes. He walked to the window and looked onto the grassy lawn just in time to see a squadron of the Seidan Guard encircle Erron's rescue party with their naginatas aimed directly at them like they were intruders. Hotaru, though, dashed onto the scene and barked at his men to stand down. As his men obeyed their Captain and their General, the Enenra now caught sight of Livy protected on all sides in the middle of their number. His heart immediately leapt into his throat in relief, and without a second thought he teleported straight to her.
The Cryomancer's eyes went wide with surprise at his sudden appearance, and stunned, muttered, "Uncle-"
He didn't let her finish her thought. He instantly threw his arm around her and yanked her to his chest. "Thank God," he breathed into her hair before he kissed the side of her head. Errant tears leaked from his eyes, but he barely noticed them as he hugged her tightly to him.
"Uncle," she croaked, her voice muffled against his chest. "I can't breathe."
"I don't care," he retorted. "That's what you get for worrying me like that." But he loosened his grip on her slightly.
After several long moments of holding her and kissing the side of her head, he finally pulled away again and dried his eyes before he met her expectant gaze. "You are the most awful, horrible child that could ever be related to me," he told her. "You remind me of me." He half-chuckled, half-sighed, and then smiled as he affectionately patted her cheek. "But I'm just so relieved you're safe," he added as he pulled her back into his arms.
"Thank you, Uncle," she replied with a little laugh. She squeezed him back and then tiredly rested her head on his shoulder.
"Livy?" he murmured as he held her.
"Yeah?"
"You're grounded."
She faintly chuckled. "For how long?" she asked.
"Until your Aunt Kailyn's hair is as white as yours," he told her.
Again, she laughed. "Okay," she said and then squeezed him tighter.
At last, Tomas pulled away for real and then pulled his nephews into his arms as well. "I'm glad you're safe too," he told them and then released them. Then he looked at Erron, Kabal, and the Kombat Kids. "Thank you for bringing them back to me in one piece," he said. "After losing their parents, I don't think I could take losing any other family members this week."
"It was actually Miyuki that done all the work," the gunslinger drawled, now pointing to the Cryomancer. "Helluva tracker if you ask me. Couldn't have found the kid without her."
Frost bashfully smiled at the praise, but then looked at Tomas almost fearfully, as if she expected a nasty reaction from him. But he smiled reassuringly at her and nodded. "Good job," he told her. "And thank you."
The cyber-ninja saw Livy scowl at her aunt. "Actually," she said, "Prince Jiayi found me first and kept me safe in the Netherrealm long before they caught up to us. Without him, I'd still be Xinyi's prisoner."
Tomas now frowned in confusion - hadn't Xinyi been trying to woo his niece? - but he faced the Crown Prince and bowed his head. "Then my thanks to you as well," he said, and Jiayi bowed his head back.
"Yes, thank you both," a new voice chimed in, and the cyber-ninja now saw that Bi-han had joined their group. The Cryomancer looked at his baby sister. "You've done well, Miyuki. If Kuai Liang were here right now, I know he'd be proud of you for finding Livy for him."
She wistfully smiled. "Thank you," she said. "That means a lot coming from you."
"Well, I'm going to barf," Kabal muttered and stormed off with Sergeant Cage's team following him. Tomas assumed they were heading to see General Blade, who was more than a little angry they'd run off with Erron's group without explicit orders.
"What's wrong with him?" Bi-han asked Erron and the twins.
"He's just got a lot of anger towards Frost, and I don't reckon he's ever gonna let it go neither," the gunslinger drawled.
As they spoke, Tomas couldn't help but notice that the eldest Cryomancer sported a new accessory dangling from his neck: a pendant roughly the size of a lemon, albeit flat. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like an eye. He quickly interposed himself between the two men and said, "Hey, Bi-han, Dr. Strange called and he wants his Infinity Stone back."
Bi-han turned his attention to the Enenra and scowled. "You're about to become a strange smell in the palace attic," the other hissed.
The cyber-ninja threw up his arms in deference. "Whoa, calm down there, P-Diddy. Where have you been, anyway? Coachella?"
"Tomas," he growled. "I'm not kidding."
"I'm just saying, be careful, you're one step away from becoming a full-fledged gangster," he said. "First it starts with a gold chain, then a grill, and the next thing you know you're on Pimp My Ride blasting "Gangsta's Paradise" with the car bouncing on hydraulics."
"I hate you," he retorted, glowering at his old friend, while Olivia and the twins snickered beside them.
Tomas immediately began to sing and sway to an imaginary beat. "California, knows how to party...in the city...the city of Compton...Keep it rocking! Keep it rocking!"
"You're hopeless," Olivia interrupted, now smiling at her mischievous uncle, prompting him to answer her with a synthesized melody produced from his cybernetic arm.
Now Tomas looked at Bi-han again and said, "Seriously, though, Eminem, what's the story with your new bling?"
"We can discuss that later," he said. "But first, I'd like to have a discussion with my niece about obedience and why it's important to do what her elders tell her." He crossed his arms and scowled at her now, prompting her to shrink against Tomas for protection, albeit subtly. "I'd also like to have a discussion about what happened to her ear."
The young Cryomancer glanced in alarm at the Crown Prince and then back to her uncles. "I'd rather not talk about that right now if you don't mind."
"I do mind," he firmly said.
Tomas pulled her around and immediately saw what Bi-han was referring to. The topmost tip of it had been completely lopped off, leaving an angry, swollen stump. "Your mother's going to kill me," he frowned as he smoothed her hair behind her ear for a better look.
"It's nothing," she glowered at him, pulling away. "But seriously, Jiayi and I are hungry and filthy and we need to bathe in the worst way."
The Enenra now eyed her and the Prince more closely, and noticed that they both looked like they'd crawled through a sewer. He then looked to Bi-han. "I think we can save the lectures for when they're clean and fed," he told him and then looked back at them. "They both look like they've been playing in a cesspool."
Olivia wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes, clearly unamused by his joke. "Look, we got dragged through a pond by a giant squid, so don't even start with me!"
"No, I like my explanation better," he told her with a smirk. "Go get yourselves cleaned up, and then you can tell us all a story about how you lost your ear."
After the palace servants had helped Olivia clean up and change her clothes into the densely woven robes of the Seidan warriors, they led her across the palace courtyard to an enormous banquet hall that looked more like a cathedral than anything. With long tables, grand stained glass windows, and a roaring fire burning in the hearth at the head of the building, she could easily imagine state dinners and elegant balls inside these silk-draped walls. She was immediately struck by the pristine cleanliness of the room - there wasn't so much much as a spot of dust anywhere in here. It was also stark white. Everything - the tables, the benches, the floors, the walls, the silk on the walls - was cold and clinical like a hospital, and almost painful to look at, no different than the vast expanse of snow in Arctika. The fire, however, cast a ruddy light onto everything, which made it more tolerable to the eyes.
Also adding color to the tableau was Prince Jiayi, who had already been seated at one of the tables and had been served his food. It was untouched, however, so as she sat down beside him, she inquisitively raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why he hadn't started eating yet.
"What, is the food terrible or something?" she asked him.
He faintly smiled and shook his head. "No," he told her. "I was waiting for you."
She chuffed, both embarrassed and pleased by his answer. "You didn't have to do that," she told him.
"It was only polite," he countered. "Would you not have waited for me?"
"The world may never know," she smirked. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she probably would've wolfed down her whole meal before he arrived. She leaned on the table, propped up on an elbow to look at him. "I hope you didn't wait long."
"The world may never know," he mimicked her, his eyes full of mischief.
"Touche," she replied as a servant now brought her a plate of food as well. "I've never had Seidan food before," she then told him. "I hope it doesn't make me sick."
"It is not as flavorful as the meal Himavat fed us," he told her. "However, it is not as dangerous as Shokan food." He shook his head. "You're putting your own life on the line eating any of their food." He shuddered and then started to eat.
Olivia smiled as she dug in with her fork as well. "My dad told me a story one time about how my mom, when she was pregnant with me, got so hungry that she gorged herself on Shokan food and made the Tigrar squadron she was with proud of her. They probably made her an honorary Shokan or something, the way he told it." She giggled softly at the memory.
Jay looked at her solemnly. "You're lucky to be alive," he drily remarked.
"Livy!" a voice cried before she could respond, and when the Cryomancer looked up, she saw Morgan dashing into the room with one of the Seidans in tow, and behind her came the other Lin Kuei. She felt her face split into a happy smile as she got to her feet and hugged her cousin and best friend. "I was so worried," the Hydromancer muttered before she pulled away. Then she scowled. "Livy, why is it always you?" she hissed.
Olivia shrugged. "Good luck, I guess," she replied, squeezing her hands. She nodded over Morgan's shoulder. "I'm gone for two days and suddenly you've got hired muscle?" she teased as she looked at the handsome black man standing a few paces behind her.
Her cousin beamed at her and whispered almost inaudibly, "I've got so much to tell you." Then more loudly, "This is Ikki," she introduced him. "He's one of the Seidan Guards and is a Horselord. Ikki, this is my cousin Olivia, and that's Prince Jiayi, who comes from Outworld."
"We've met," Ikki replied before he sat down on the opposite side of the table from him. Without a word, Morgan plopped down beside him.
"So, milaku, tell us a story," Tomas now opened as he sat beside Olivia while Kailyn sat by Morgan, and one by one the other Lin Kuei filled up the seats around them.
The Cryomancer sighed and began regaling her family and friends with the tale of her adventure in Netherrealm. Occasionally, the twins added their two-cents' worth, and Jay did too. She glossed over the part about her ear - quite frankly, the memory of her weakness in that moment humiliated her. She'd replayed it countless times in her head since it happened, and kept telling herself 'if only.' She told them about the squid, and about running into Ashrah, and then finding Himavat on the beach. And when she got to the end of her story, Jay now spoke.
"Himavat told us how to undo the spell on the Grandmaster," he told them.
"Indeed, I did," the Elder God agreed as he suddenly appeared, the sound of ocean waves accompanying him. "You're going to need to break the kamidogu he was stabbed with," he said as he stood at the head of the table, now joined by Raiden and Fujin as well. "I'm sure one of you can manage that."
"Yeah, but Reiko's keeping them on him," Olivia replied, looking at her family. "It's not going to be a walk in the park," she warned.
"Well, I never said it was," he countered. "But I know you love a good challenge, Livy-girl." He winked at her and then clapped his hands together. "As important as that is to you all, that's not the most pressing matter at hand," he now said. "There are many dark forces at work here, and they must be stopped."
"So we kill Reiko," Alex spoke from the end of the table. "End of problem."
The Elder God chuckled. "Oh, Reiko's not the problem," he told him. As he said it, Erron and Kabal stomped into the Great Hall. He waved them inside, grinning, as he motioned them to hurry in and take their seats. "Come, come," he called. "We have a lot of ground to cover and we don't have much time."
When everyone was sitting and their eyes were fixed on him, Himavat spoke again. "These events are a culmination of years of plotting and manipulation. The General has been led by the nose to this very point in time, and for all his wisdom and prescience, he hasn't figured it out yet."
"What do you mean, my Lord?" Kailyn wondered, puzzled.
"Many years ago, Reiko had a vision of becoming a Blood God by harnessing the power of Shinnok's amulet," he explained. "He has barely questioned the meaning of this vision. I don't think I need to tell you that, after the death of Shao Kahn, his foster father, he went a little cuckoo."
"You don't say?" Erron chided.
"He believes he is destined for greatness apart from the greatness he achieved under his father," he explained. "To him, those victories did not belong to him, but to Shao Kahn. But something has always told him that he was meant for something greater than the Emperor's conquests, and so when he was given this vision, he believed that this is what he was meant for."
"So how do you know it wasn't a real vision?" Kabal asked.
Now Himavat looked at him. "You're asking the wrong question, Kadeem," he said. Then he looked down at Olivia and nudged her. "What's the right question?"
The Cryomancer suddenly panicked as all eyes turned towards her. Alarmed, she glanced at Jay, who also expectantly gazed at her. She cleared her throat and slowly said, "Who gave him the vision in the first place?" she guessed.
"Yes!" the Elder God cried. "Five points to Gryffindor." His eyes fluttered over everyone. "Who indeed? Who is pulling the strings?"
"Shinnok?" Bi-han now guessed.
"No, it's Havik," he replied, prompting the elder Cryomancer to bristle in disgust. "For eons, he's been trying very hard to free my brother, and in his journeys, he figured out how. But he knew the spell was very dangerous, so he needed a guinea pig to do it for him. To him, Reiko was a perfect candidate because he's just powerful and brilliant enough to do what needs to be done to take the kamidogu, but he's also just arrogant enough to believe in the legends of his own greatness." He looked at everyone. "I would be more wary of Havik than Reiko. He has no master to control him save for himself, and where he walks, chaos follows. I am certain that Reiko will not survive whatever nefarious plan Havik has devised."
"You think he means to take Shinnok's amulet for himself and become a Blood God instead?" Kabal wondered.
Himavat shook his head. "Shinnok is a mighty god, and as you all know, he has contained most of his power inside of his amulet. It is a tempting prize to ambitious men. The problem is that he does not share his power, and there is no force in Heaven or Earth strong enough to make him hand it over to a mortal unless he wills it so. He is as powerful as a hurricane and as ruthless as a tornado. Pure chaos. And that's what Havik wants."
"I don't understand," Olivia frowned.
"Havik isn't trying to become this so-called Blood God, my dear," he said. "He's trying to free the real Blood God from his prison. He's trying to unleash Shinnok on the Realms."
Olivia exchanged a fearful look with Jay, who gripped her hand to reassure her before he looked up to the Elder God. "My Lord," he began, "if what you are saying is true, what will happen if Havik succeeds?"
"If Shinnok rises, Hell will follow," he solemnly replied. "He will undoubtedly start where he left off, by attempting to conquer Earthrealm and steal the power from the Jinsei."
"We stopped him last time," Raiden told them. "But the war was long and bloody. Many gods and mortals fell to shadow before he was defeated. It will be easiest for everyone involved to avoid that altogether. We must stop Havik from fulfilling his plan."
"Guarding the last kamidogu is our main priority," Fujin added. "This palace was designed to withstand a long siege, so it is possible to wait them out when they come, for months if we have to."
"And even should they break through our defenses," Raiden now added, "the kamidogu is being safely kept in the vaults below the palace. Magical wards and traps will keep them from taking it."
"But Reiko is a sorcerer as well as a skilled General," Kailyn protested. "If anyone can break through the Seidan spells, it's him."
"He cannot," the Thunder God insisted. "Only a Seidan can take it from its sacred resting spot."
As Olivia listened to them talk, she quickly became impatient and sighed. "And what about my dad?" she demanded to know.
"What about him, Livy-girl?" Himavat gently asked her.
"How are we going to save him?" she asked. "We've got to figure out how to capture him until we can destroy Outworld's kamidogu."
Now Tomas sadly sighed and rested his cybernetic hand on her shoulder. "Look at me, Livy," he commanded. She obeyed, and her gaze met his unnaturally cybernetic blue eyes. "You know what we're up against, milaku," he told her.
"I'm not giving up on him," she hissed.
The cyber-ninja shook his head. "I will never give up on him either," he told her. "But you need to seriously start preparing yourself for the possibility that he won't make it through this battle. And...that might not be the worst thing."
Fury instantly flooded the Cryomancer, and she jumped to her feet and scowled at her uncle. "How can you say that?" she yelled, thoroughly betrayed. "I thought he was your best friend! How can you say his death won't be such a bad thing?"
Now Tomas bounced to his feet too, and he gripped her by her biceps and scowled back. "Kuai Liang is more than just my best friend," he snapped at her. "He is my brother. For many years, he was my only family. He was the only thing that made my life worth living." He shook his head sadly. "I love him. As much as you can possibly love another person. He means more to me than you will ever know."
"Then why are you okay with him dying?" she wanted to know as her voice cracked and tears sprang to her eyes.
"Oh, milaku, you don't understand," he told her. "I want to save him as much as you do." Now he pressed his forehead to hers. "But Reiko has made him a prisoner, trapped in his own mind, forced to watch himself do unspeakably horrible things to the people he cares about. I know better than anyone the pain he's in right now, deep down inside where his soul is trapped in a box. At this point, death would be a great mercy to him."
"I'm not listening to this," she half-sobbed as she tried to pull away, but Tomas held her fast.
"Yes, you are," he argued as he cupped her cheeks now, smearing the tears that were streaking down. "If you love him at all, if and when the time comes, you must put your own selfishness aside and let him go, Livy." He looked deeply into her eyes with anguished ones that were now as damp as hers. "You've got to let him go."
"I'm going to save him," she stubbornly insisted, though her heart wasn't quite as convinced as it had been. "I'm not going to stop trying."
"Me neither," he whispered as he now pulled her into his arms. "But you just need to be prepared." Then he squeezed her tighter. "And leave capturing him to me. I know all of his tricks, better than even Bi-han. I can take him."
"I'll help you," she said.
Her uncle chuffed at that. "No, milaku, you've had your fun, and Bi-han had his fun, and now it's my turn."
Sam was in Seido. All it had taken was an order from Grandmaster Hasashi to follow him, and a nudge from Himavat to disobey her uncles' orders even though she'd been reluctant to do so. The rest was easy. She simply stepped through an interdimensional portal, courtesy of the Elder God, and she, her cousins, Hanzo, and the remaining Shirai Ryu found themselves in Orderrealm. Once they crossed into Seido, the city proper, it hadn't taken them long to journey to the sprawling palace on top of the massive plateau overlooking the landscape. Sam vaguely worried that the Seidan Guards would turn them away when they reached the energy gate, but as if they were expecting them, they allowed them safe passage into the palace where General Hotaru promptly met them.
"It has been many years, Hanzo Hasashi," he greeted the Shirai Ryu, bowing.
"Indeed," the gruff, older man replied.
He now turned his attention to Sam, who was standing at her new teacher's elbow. "You look very much like your mother," he told her. "I once trusted her to care for one of my wolves. Tell me, where is Blue?"
The Hydromancer winced in pain, the grief still sharp in her heart. "She was killed in Outworld when my family was trying to rescue Livy," she told him truthfully. "Blue saved my mom's life. But a woman named Tanya brutally killed her instead." She fought back sudden tears over the loss.
Hotaru studied her for a moment, his eyes penetrating her very soul. "Blue died a valiant, noble death," he finally told her. "We should all be so fortunate." He then cocked his head at her. "You loved her deeply," he deduced.
Sam nodded. "In a weird sort of way, she helped raise us. She was more like a sister to me than a pet. I miss her a lot." She looked at her feet, blinking back the tears in her eyes.
"If you wish to honor her memory, then live a good, obedient life of service to your community," he told her as he curled his finger beneath her chin and gently forced her to look at him.
"I-" she started to reply, but was rudely interrupted.
"Know this, daughter of the Dragonslayer," he said, abruptly switching gears. "You should not have come to Seido. This is no place for a child right now."
"I insisted that she come," the Grandmaster now jumped to her defense.
"Battle is coming," the Seidan gravely replied. "Why would you knowingly endanger a child by bringing her straight into the heart of it?"
"I'm not helpless," Sam now snapped, bristling. "And I'm not a baby. But I am a Hydromancer, as are my cousins," she said as she gestured to Connor and Danyka. "We thought you could use our Healing powers when the battle starts."
"We have Seidan doctors to assist with that," he told her.
"But they're not Hydromancers," she boldly countered, which earned a faint smile from him.
"Very well, young one," he began. "But I will not be held responsible for what happens to you. That burden falls on your new teacher." He nodded pointedly at Hanzo and then looked to a large building like a cathedral across the courtyard. "I have decided that we will stage the wounded in the Great Hall. That is where you will work and stay throughout the battle."
"Yes, sir," she replied, making sure she spoke with confidence just like Grandmaster Hasashi expected her to.
"Follow me," he said as he motioned for the Earthrealmers to follow him towards a massive L-shaped building. "I will take you to the others."
It was hard for Sam not to let her mouth drop into a perfect 'O' like a fish at the sheer size and grandeur of the palace. The Lin Kuei Temple, for all its comforts, looked like a hovel by comparison. There was a stairway on the courtyard side of the main building that led up to a single long balcony bordered by delicately arched windows. These looked out over a large square lined with fragrant orange trees and delicate white flowers. Across from this was what Hotaru described as the bathhouse - which connected directly to the audience chamber and eventually the council room itself in the main building. That had sounded strange to Sam until the General explained to the Earthrealmers that the Elder Council often entertained foreign guests and consulted with top advisers while enjoying a pleasant mint-scented sweat in the steam rooms.
Inside, the palace smelled of stone and paint, of people and food and beeswax floor polish. Magnificently detailed panels decorated every wall that she saw in a simple but elegant fashion. Apart from that, however, the corridors and common areas were devoid of excessive decoration. Not even so much as a single bust could be seen anywhere. Even the floors were plain; made of some sort of polished dark wood, they shimmered like warm molasses. Still, in spite of the sparse, spartan designs, the inside of the palace swallowed her whole in tall and wide corridors.
At last, Hotaru led them to a wing where the others had been given suites and smaller rooms. "After their loss in the Netherrealm, the Earthrealmers sought refuge here," he explained. "The Elder Council, in their generosity, took them in and sheltered them." He pointed to a set of double doors at the very end of the corridor. "Your family is in that room," he said to Sam, Connor, and Danyka, and then he looked to the Grandmaster. "The other Shirai Ryu are down this hallway. I will lead you to them."
Hanzo now looked at his students, who were walking in two perfect lines behind them. "Follow General Hotaru and rejoin your brothers," he commanded. "I would speak with the Lin Kuei before I join you." They obediently bowed to him and then followed after Hotaru once more. "Come," the Grandmaster said to the young Lin Kuei apprentices when they were gone, and now led them to the double doors.
As soon as Sam entered the suite, Olivia's voice immediately drilled into her ear like an ice pick.
"Samantha Magdalena Sullivan!" the Cryomancer yelled as she stomped to the newcomers from across the room. "What are you doing here?" Then she saw Hanzo beside her and instantly tucked one fist into the other and bowed, offering him the Shirai Ryu salute. "Grandmaster Hasashi," she greeted politely, though her expression was more than a little puzzled. "I'm surprised to see you. Relieved, but surprised."
Before he could respond, Sam frowned and said, "Oh, so you're relieved to see him, but not your own sister?"
Now Livy scowled back and crossed her arms as Tomas joined her side. "I told my sister to stay in Ft. Albany where she would be safe," she retorted.
The cyber-ninja chuckled. "Isn't it annoying when you tell a family member not to do something, but they do it anyway?" he chided as he gathered his daughter and son to him, and side-hugged both of them, refusing to let go. "You know, Livy, there's a word for what you're going through right now. Bi-han, help me out. What's that word?" he asked as he snapped his fingers at the Cryomancer reading on the couch.
"Karma," he flatly replied, never looking up from his book.
"Bingo!" the Enenra agreed as he pointed a finger at his niece. Then he looked at his children. "And why did you feel the need to disobey me?" he asked them both. "You were safer back in Earthrealm."
"It was boring back there," Connor shrugged before he walked off to greet Kailyn.
"And I wasn't going to be the only one left behind, Tata," Danyka now said, following her brother.
Tomas rattled off a string of Czech curse words under his breath as he watched them walk towards their mother, and then he muttered, "Kids." He looked at Livy. "This is your fault, you know," he admonished his niece. "You couldn't stay behind, so naturally, they had to follow you. You're a bad influence, young lady."
She made a face at him and then stared at Sam once more. The Cryomancer's gaze was frosty and fierce, but the young Hydromancer stood her ground and boldly met those sapphire eyes. "Uncle Tomas is right. You weren't just gonna leave me behind while you had all the fun," she snapped, though she immediately regretted her choice of words.
Livy's face turned scarlet as she recoiled. "Fun?" she repeated. "You think this is fun? We all might die and that's why I told you to stay put!"
"It's not fair that you get to be a part of everything and I don't," she countered.
"I'm an adult," she argued. "You're still a kid."
"It doesn't matter," she retorted. "I'm tired of you thinking you're the only one that can do stuff just because you're Dad's favorite."
Her sister recoiled. "I'm not Dad's favorite," she argued, genuinely taken aback.
"Untrue!" Jamie called from the table across the room at the same time Tommy yelled, "That's a damnable lie!"
"Is that what you all really think?" she asked her younger siblings, gazing around at them.
"Come on, Livy, you gotta know that you are," Tommy told her. "You're his only Cryomancer. And you're the oldest."
"So what?" she retorted. "If anything, he's harder on me because I'm the oldest."
"No, Livy," Sam now began, her voice tinged with sadness. "It's like, if you're there, then we're not there." It was strange how speaking that aloud, something she'd only felt in her darkest moments, suddenly made it real. "But we love Dad too. I love Dad too. And I'm here to help him, even though I'm not a Cryomancer like you. I can contribute too."
"No, you're going back to Ft. Albany," she replied.
"You're not my mom, Livy!"
"No, I seem to recall you promising me you'd stay with her and take care of her!"
Sam scowled. "For your information, Mom is dying and there's nothing any of us can do for her!" she yelled.
The Cryomancer's furious scowl fell from her face and she took a step back. "What?" she whispered. And just as quickly as it had faded, the angry storm cloud returned. "You're a liar!" she screamed as she pushed her little sister backwards. She took another step towards Sam, but now Hanzo intervened in their argument.
"That's enough, Deshi," he admonished her as he stood between the sisters and frowned at the Cryomancer. "We have too much to worry about without fighting amongst ourselves."
"But she's lying," Livy's voice broke, and now the Grandmaster gripped her gently by her arm and led her towards the couches where the rest of her family was lounging.
Sam's heart fell as she watched her sister sob on his yellow tunic before he deposited her in a chair. The twins, she saw, weren't in much better shape. Jamie kept dabbing traitorous tears from the corners of his eyes while Tommy kept shaking his head in disbelief. Beyond them, a hush had fallen over all the other Lin Kuei. Uncle Bi-han had set down his book and got to his feet while Aunt Kailyn started pacing behind Morgan and Alex, fighting down tears of her own. Sifu Bomani and her uncle exchanged a worried look before they turned their gaze to her.
"What exactly do you mean by your mother is dying?" Tomas demanded to know. "The neurosurgeon stopped her brain from hemorrhaging and then you finished healing her from there."
Sam sadly sighed and sat on the table before him, looking at her feet in shame. "We all took turns healing Mom," she said. "Me, Connor, and Dany. And we did manage to heal her body. But we couldn't heal her soul." And with that, she recounted Himavat's explanation of Anya's psychic trauma.
"We did what we could for her, Tata," Connor solemnly spoke when his cousin had finished her story. "We all took turns."
"Several times," Danyka added. "Until we had no more energy left to use. But it was no use."
"I'm sure you all did your very best," the Enenra told them all as he patted his son on the knee and then dazedly got to his feet, finding Kailyn to console her.
Now Sam faced her sister. "We tried so hard, Livy, but there was nothing else we could do, I swear," she told her.
"You should've stayed back there and kept trying," the Cryomancer snapped.
"I ordered her to come, Deshi," the Grandmaster told her, though his tone was compassionate. "Her skills are more useful to us than they are to your mother."
"I couldn't help her," Sam added, wincing at Hanzo's bluntness. "The only way we can help her is to save Dad. But in the meantime, there is stuff I can do here to help you. And I just...I just...well, I really just needed to be with you."
Olivia, whose face was red and tear-stained but calm once more, took a long moment to think about it. Then she slowly got to her feet and walked to Sam like she was in a fog. The young Hydromancer looked up at her taller sister as she, too, got to her feet and bravely met her gaze. Something about the way Livy's lip quivered, even as she fought to keep her face a strong mask, kicked her right in the gut. Without warning, her own face twisted into an ugly expression as she threw herself into her sister's arms and started to cry.
"I'm so scared, Livy," she whimpered on the Cryomancer's shoulder, squeezing the young woman tightly.
"Me too," the other confessed as her tears dampened the top of Sam's head.
"I don't want to be an orphan."
"We won't be," she promised. "I know how to break the spell over Dad, so I can save him. I'm gonna save him. And I'll save Mom too."
"Why does it always have to be you?" the other whined. "Me and the twins can help too. We're not helpless-"
"I'm the oldest," she cut her off. "It's my job to take care of you and to keep you safe."
"You don't have to do it alone," she argued. "Let us help you. We're a family, and we're in this together."
"She's right, Livy," Uncle Bi-han now said. "None of us needs to face this alone."
"Listen to your Uncle Eminem, children," Tomas now added. "We'll do this together."
From across the room, they heard Tommy pretend to barf. "Ugh, are you all going to hold hands and start singing 'Kumbaya?'" he wondered. "Because if you are, I'm leaving."
"Nothing." It was a statement, not a question, mumbled in a flat tone that betrayed no anger nor acceptance, no fear nor frenzy. Miyuki turned her face to look in the eyes of Uma, the Seidan palace doctor, and the woman met her gaze with blue eyes full of compassion. "There's nothing you can do."
"I am amazed the poison has not yet destroyed you," she calmly replied. "You are quite strong."
"Not strong enough, apparently," she bitterly scoffed, now glancing at the festering puncture wound in her arm.
Her arm felt like a lead weight that was about to twist off entirely. Just since yesterday, those black branches of necrotic tissue cutting through her skin had widened into entire swaths of infection. And Miyuki was sick now as well - a headache beat through her skull like a drum and wave after wave of nausea had washed over her since the previous night. It had been no small feat throwing up without the others noticing. But the most interesting and terrifying thing about her illness was that for the first time in her life, she actually felt cold. Shivering uncontrollably, the Cryomancer had layered on thick sweaters and heavy coats, and still she felt like she was about to spontaneously freeze to death. Uma had told her she actually had a high fever and needed to shed as many layers of clothing as she could, but that wasn't happening anytime soon.
Most disturbingly, dark, murderous thoughts raced through her brain, and she often found herself fantasizing about disemboweling people, even as they stood speaking before her. Earlier, as she'd watched Tomas scoop Livy into his arms to hug her in relief, Miyuki daydreamed of slaughtering them both, of freezing them one limb at a time before shattering each one, drawing out the pain for as long as she possibly could. And then she would squeeze her eyes shut, battle down the evil urges, and force herself to use the coping skills that her doctor had taught her when she was in his insane asylum. She knew exactly what monster had been resurrected in her heart and was whispering these things into her mind…
Frost.
"I am sorry," Uma continued as the Cryomancer stupidly stared at her arm. "Unfortunately, I have neither the technology nor the magic to treat such a wound. I'm not even sure a Hydromancer could save you at this point. The poison has spread too much. But I can make you more comfortable to ease your passing."
Miyuki shook her head no. "Not yet," she said. "I'm not giving up that easily."
Uma, pleased with her declaration, smiled. "That is an excellent attitude to have. It might help you."
The Cryomancer bitterly laughed at that. "Knowing that your soul is damned is great motivation to stay alive." An awkward silence followed, and when Uma said nothing else, Miyuki asked, "How long do I have?"
The doctor shrugged. "It is hard to say," she replied. "Given how fast you said it's spreading, I would estimate two days, maybe three."
Tears suddenly stung her eyes, and she swallowed hard. She nodded, though, and said, "Thank you for trying," as she got off the examination table and walked to the door.
"Of course," Uma said. "If your pain gets worse, please come back. There is no reason why you have to suffer."
"I know plenty of people who would disagree with you," she softly responded before she hurried from the room and from the palace infirmary as quickly as possible, struggling not to cry.
She'd always known that eventually, this day would come, and she'd thought she resigned herself to her fate. But now that the moment had finally arrived, she felt the overwhelming urge to sprint away as if she could outrun her own mortality. A lead weight had settled on her chest now, pushing all the air from her lungs, crushing her throat with invisible hands. She was drowning in that feeling, and managed to stagger halfway down the corridor before stumbling against a wall, sobbing.
After a few minutes of hysterics, as she fought back the fear and self-pity, a strong hand grabbed her by the shoulder and whirled her around. There, Bi-han towered above her, scowling. "Why are you crying?" he demanded to know, his voice stern and pitiless.
Miyuki thought about telling him the truth about everything, but quickly abandoned the idea, doubting he would care. She swallowed hard and dried her eyes. "It's nothing."
"Really." He was unimpressed by her attempt at stoicism. He crossed his arms and stared at her almost accusatorily. "Are you cracking up on me?" he asked in his most dispassionate tone. "Because if you are," he continued, "I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that now is not a good time for it."
Anger flared through her and a vision of her decapitating him with a kori dagger flashed through her mind. "No, I'm not cracking up," she snapped. "I just...I…" Suddenly, she very much wished her big brother - her other big brother - was there to reassure her that everything would be okay. Sure, Bi-han was there, but he was not one who was prone to bouts of sympathy. She knew that he would offer very little comfort.
As if proving her point, he impatiently hissed, "You just what?"
Hot tears pricked her eyes once more. "I just miss Kuai Liang!" she yelped as the floodgates opened again and she sobbed into her hands.
Bi-han sighed heavily, and then, to her surprise, pulled her into his arms. "I do too," he sadly confessed. And then, "Christ, you're burning up, Miyuki." He pulled away and studied her more closely now. "And you look like hell. You're so pale," he said, prompting a bitter chuckle from her.
"I feel like hell," she responded, suddenly realizing just how true her statement was. She felt sharp and fragile, like a broken piece of glass. And, she observed as her mouth watered sickly with bile, she wanted to throw up. But she willed it down and snuggled against her oldest brother's chest again. It felt good to just rest there for a moment.
"I don't want to die," she lamented, and then thought about how she just outed herself. "I mean, not without telling him what he means to me."
"Why are you certain you're going to die?" he suspiciously prodded.
She shrugged. "If Reiko wins, he'll kill us all," she lied. "And I really don't want that to happen before we save Kuai -"
Miyuki abruptly interrupted herself as a new thought occurred to her. If she was going to die soon - if that truly was her fate - then she wanted the last act of her life to have some semblance of meaning, and that didn't mean hiding in the wings while everyone else waged war. She would go out fighting too, just as Kuai Liang would have done, and had done, several times before. It didn't matter if she had to become Frost again to do it; she did not intend to live long enough to become that monster once again. And she would do it, she reasoned, because Kuai Liang would do it for her.
Miyuki looked up at him. "Bi-han, will you come with me to find the kids? I have some stuff to get off my chest."
"Is this really the best time for this-" he sighed, but she abruptly cut him off.
"It's important. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't."
He sighed again and then nodded his head yes. "They're in our room," he told her and led her towards the wing where the Seidans had housed them for their stay.
Miyuki and Bi-han found them gathered in their quarters, lounging around on the furniture. The room was actually more of a suite with walls separating a common area from multiple bedchambers, and a huge balcony overlooking the darkened city. Like everything else in Seido, it seemed, the quarters were fairly spartan and pristine white. Jamie, she saw, was dozing on the couch while Sam sat in the upright chair beside him, carefully arranging supplies in a first aid kit. Olivia stood at the balcony with her arms crossed, silently watching the people bustling on the streets below as they finished their preparations for the certain invasion. Just as the two Cryomancers entered, Tommy entered from the adjoining room, grimacing and sucking air through his teeth.
"Dang, my back hurts," he muttered as he rubbed it. "I hate sleeping on the ground without a sleeping bag."
"Have you tried to stretch your sciatic nerve?" Sam asked him, not even looking up from her work.
"Duh, loser," he teased her as he walked to her and pushed her head to the side. "Was the first thing I did."
"Then take some Advil," she replied, never looking up from her kit.
"Hook me up, Buttface," he told her, and she tossed him a small medicine bottle.
"Hey, you guys," Miyuki interrupted, "can I talk to you?"
Tommy and Sam both looked at her, but Olivia never faced her, prompting her to sigh. And then, she had a vision of pushing her over the ledge for being disrespectful towards her aunt. Quickly, she squeezed her eyes shut and shook the thought from her head before looking at them again. "Wake him up, will you?" she asked her nephew as she nodded to Jamie.
The teenager glanced at his twin and said, "Sure." He walked to him, thrust his butt into his brother's face, and farted loudly. "Time to wake up!" he yelled.
Jamie groaned in disgust at the toxic fumes wafting around his head and then angrily shoved him away before stumbling to his feet and putting Tommy in a headlock. Promptly, he dragged his brother to the ground and the two began wrestling on the floor. "What's wrong with you?" he yelled as they rolled around on the carpet.
"Boys, that's enough!" Miyuki yelled at them as Bi-han then grabbed them by the ears, pulling them apart as they whined.
"Grow up, you two," the Cryomancer snarled at his nephews before letting them go. "Sit down," he then growled. They shot him dirty looks, but obeyed him. "Olivia, you too," he barked at her. She glared at him just as her brothers had, but wandered to the couch and sat between the twins.
"What's going on?" Sam wondered, finally looking up from her first aid kit.
"I have some things I need to discuss with you," Miyuki told her, nervously clasping her hands together. She swallowed hard. "Look, as you all know, Reiko is probably going to invade any time now, and well, quite honestly, we're all probably not going to make it."
"Thanks for such an inspirational pep talk," Olivia chided her. "Glad we had it." She started to get to her feet, but Bi-han, who'd wandered around the back of the couch by this point, suddenly reached out and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back to her butt without a word. The message was clear.
"We're all gonna be just golden," Tommy grinned. "That swaggering peacock is never gonna know what hit him."
Miyuki frowned. "Maybe," she agreed. "I hope so. But if not, I just want to tell you some stuff. Just in case."
"What do you want to tell us?" Sam sweetly asked her, and the Cryomancer smiled at the girl. She thought about asking the young Hydromancer to heal her, but had shoved all such thoughts from her mind. Uma had said it wouldn't likely work, and even if it did, Sam would need every lick of strength she had to help the other casualties. She couldn't trade the other's lives just to save her own skin.
Miyuki bit her lip and wringed her hands as she always did when she was nervous. Finally, a thought occurred to her and she looked at the kids more confidently now. "You guys know Japanese, right?"
The four of them shrugged and Sam said, "A little," at the same time Olivia said, "We can hold our own."
She nodded and risked a little smile. "Do you know what 'sayonara' means?" she asked.
Jamie scoffed. "That's easy!" he exclaimed. "It means 'goodbye.'"
"Yes," she agreed. "And no. Not exactly." Their faces fell in confusion and she almost laughed at them. "My Otousan taught me that it really means 'since it must be this way.'"
"What's your point?" Olivia demanded to know.
She looked at her. "Of all the goodbyes I have heard, 'sayonara' is the most beautiful," she babbled. "It doesn't try to cheat itself with any of the false bravado of 'Until we meet again.' It doesn't evade the issue like 'farewell' does. That basically means 'Go out in the world and do well,'" she declared as she waved her hands around grandly. "It's encouraging. It's hope and faith. But it passes over the significance of the moment; it says nothing about that actual moment of separation. It hides its emotion. It says too little. While 'goodbye' - which means 'God be with you' - says too much, I think. It tries to bridge the distance, almost to deny it." She shook her head, the thoughts rattling through her head chaotically. She vaguely knew that she was rambling like a lunatic. "It's a prayer. 'You can't go - I can't bear to have you go. But you won't go alone. The gods will be with you' and even 'I will be with you.' But 'sayonara' says neither too much nor too little. It's just a simple acceptance of fact.
"Reiko could kill us all," she continued as they all looked at her like she was crazy. "We've all been very lucky thus far. But I have a feeling this time will be different."
"So you're trying to tell us goodbye?" Jamie slowly asked.
"No," she replied, "I'm telling you sayonara. And I'm also telling you all that I love you all." She paused and hated how contrived her words sounded in her ears. "Look, I've never told anyone this, but you kids are a big reason I fought to get well when I was locked up in Ft. Albany. When you'd visit, you were the highlight of my week. I looked forward to hearing from you and from hearing about you through your dad."
She looked at Sam. "I used to love how you'd go on forever about how you'd bandage up your dollies' boo-boos," she smiled. "I think you would have spent our entire visit just telling me about your dollies if your dad would've let you."
The youngest Hydromancer's eyes lit up. "I haven't even thought of that for a long time," she replied.
Now Miyuki looked at the twins. "And you boys," she laughed a little. "I thought surely you'd be the ones to make your dad's hair go white. Tommy, you always did have the best jokes. After you'd leave, I'd sit there for days just laughing to myself about something you'd said." She now fixed her eyes on his brother. "And Jamie, I don't know if you remember this, but when you were little, you always brought me a present. Nothing much, just some little odd trinket or bauble you'd found around the Temple, like a polished rock you found playing in the courtyard or an elephant you whittled from a piece of wood."
The boy's face split in two. "I do remember that," he said. "I thought bringing you things like that would make you feel better."
She nodded. "It did," she told him. "And I want you to know, I kept everything you ever gave me. Your grandma thought I should throw some of it away, but I just couldn't bear to. She may have seen junk, but I saw you in that stuff. How could I get rid of it?" She sadly smiled at him. "If I die in all of this, I want you to have all of that."
"But you're gonna be fine, Aunt Miyuki," he scoffed. "If anyone can survive this, it's you."
She didn't answer, and instead turned her attention to Olivia. "And you? You are a brat and a half," she sadly smiled. "You never came to see me." She frowned as tears sprang to her eyes. "I know why you didn't, and I can't blame you. But it hurt. Bad."
"Then you know how my mom felt," she hissed, prompting Bi-han to smack her in the back of the head.
"Shut up," he barked at her.
"No, it's okay," Miyuki told her brother, holding her hand up to him to make him stand down. "I deserve that." She looked at Olivia. "I apologized to her, you know. I know that it doesn't make it right, but I am so sorry for what I did to her. And to your dad. And to everyone I hurt. It's no excuse, but I was really messed up, Livy. An Zhi really hurt me in ways I'm glad you'll never know. He-" She cut herself off, not wanting to speak about him in her farewell speech. "Well, he doesn't matter anymore," she declared.
"You're right, he doesn't, because he's dead," she hissed. "And for the record, he did way worse to my dad and Uncle Bi-han than he did to you, and they didn't turn into homicidal maniacs."
Now Bi-han planted his palm on top of his niece's head and tilted her head up to look at him. "Hello, does Noob Saibot ring a bell to you?" he solemnly reminded her.
"Oh," she thoughtfully replied as she remembered what her uncle had become.
"Yeah, oh," he nodded.
"Olivia," Miyuki continued as the young Cryomancer looked at her aunt again, "I can't take it back. God, I wish that I could, but I can't. And now I'm paying for it in ways you'll never know. And if this is to be our end, then I really, really need you to forgive me. Please."
Her niece scoffed. "Why does it matter so much to you?" she yelled.
"At first, I didn't think I would care very much," she barked back. Then her tone softened again. "But as time went on, I realized that I wanted to be good for you because you deserved to have a good aunt, not a crazy one. So I worked extra hard to be better for you. And now, I credit you four with pulling me out of the darkness. I credit you almost as much as I credit your father."
Now she looked at her brother. "And Bi-han," she began, "I wish I was strong like you. You've always been a rock. You've always been my rock. You practically raised Kuai Liang and I know you're the reason why he's such a good man. I just hope that before this is all over, I can make you proud of me...I hope I can make all of you proud of me."
"You really are cracking up on me," he replied.
"I'm serious, dammit!" she cursed, prompting him to crack a rare, albeit faint, smile.
"I'm sure you are," he told her. "But I don't think you're being entirely truthful either. What aren't you telling us?" he demanded to know.
Panic instantly rushed through her heart, and she shook her head furiously. "Nothing," she lied. "Just...I decided that before this is all over, I want to do something good for a change. Something like Kuai Liang would do." She forced another smile.
It instantly faded when Olivia sighed in annoyance and said, "Are you through?"
Now Tommy punched her in the arm. "Come on, Livy. Don't be a bitch."
Miyuki's chin fell to her chest and she sadly looked at her feet. "It's okay," she said, feeling utterly defeated. "Talk is cheap. I have to prove to you that I'm better. And I'm going to. I promise."
"Where's Morgan?" Olivia asked her Aunt Kailyn and Uncle Tomas as they all filed from the Great Hall after supper. Her cousin, as well as Ikki, her new beau she'd discovered, were conspicuously absent from the meal, and she thought her aunt and uncle might be privy to the Hydromancer's whereabouts.
"She's with Ikki, I'm sure," Fujin grumbled as he stormed past the three of them, scowling.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he's only deflowering her in case we all die in battle," Tomas couldn't resist calling after him. The Wind God merely stopped in his tracks, glared at the cyber-ninja, and shook his head in disgust.
"I hate you," he told him before he left them where they stood.
"Why do you do that to him?" Kailyn asked Tomas as she linked arms with him.
"For the pure enjoyment of it," he replied with a smirk.
"And what if that really is what Morgan and Ikki are up to right now?" her voice lilted knowingly.
The cyber-ninja looked taken aback, as if he hadn't considered that. "They're not," he quickly shot back.
"And how do you know that?" she pressed. "Neither of us really know what she's doing right now. Ikki could be making a woman out of her as we speak. He is quite strong and undoubtedly virile. A very good match for her, mo grá, and for any Hydromancer woman really."
The color drained from his face, even as a mischievous grin spread on hers, prompting even Olivia to crack a faint smile that she tried to hide. "Not můj sladký anděl," he insisted, though he didn't sound entirely convinced. And then, as Kailyn expectantly smirked at him, he broke away from her and called, "Morgan!" He ran off, searching for her.
The Hydromancer chuckled as she looked at her niece. "He's too easy," she commented. And then the smile fell from her face as she tucked hair behind the Cryomancer's ear. "What troubles you, Olivia?"
Where to begin, the young Elite wondered. She heavily sighed and shook her head. "I really just wanted to talk to Morgan, but I guess it'll have to wait."
"I'm here," she replied. "I will listen."
"Nah, I'm good, Aunt Kailyn," she replied. "I think I'm just gonna take a walk."
"If you change your mind, I'll be in our quarters later," the Tetrach told her.
She nodded and then took her leave of her aunt, walking towards the sprawling gardens on the south side of the plateau, just outside the palace proper, where she'd discovered a lovely treasure trove of flowerbeds earlier that day. At this time, however, it was dark, the paths illuminated by glass lamps with some sort of unfamiliar energy glowing inside them, casting an ambient glow on the brilliant blooms. She walked for a while through the numerous beds, trying to still her mind as she breathed in the sweet perfume of jasmine and lilac. Of course her cousin had found someone to hook up with, and right when she needed her the most. Morgan would know just what to say about Olivia's struggle right now, and would comfort her fears over losing her parents and make her feel like it would all be okay. But right now, without her, she felt hopelessly lost.
Her winding path led her back towards the palace wall, to a large structure built from golden stone that had been nestled in a thicket of leafy trees. It was lit by the same glass lamps as the paths through the garden, and as she approached it, she realized it was easily as large as the Great Hall. There were no windows that she could see, and as she came around to the front of it, the four immense Corinthian columns that lined the portico were the first things to draw her eyes. Five steps carved from that same golden stone, worn to a shiny patina from heavy foot traffic through the years, led inside, and in the dimly lit basilica, a towering statue of a goddess dwarfed a familiar figure who was kneeling before her.
"Jiayi?" she called, entering the temple and walking to him.
The Crown Prince looked over his shoulder at her and smiled before he got to his feet. "If I didn't know any better, Lady Olivia, I would say that you were following me," he chided.
Her cheeks flushed red with fire. "I didn't know you were here, I promise," she quickly said. "I was taking a walk. I-"
He held up his hand to quiet her. "I am merely poking fun at you," he told her. And then he looked back to the goddess.
Olivia looked up at her. She was a familiar figure, a woman dressed in the Ancient Greek fashion, holding a sword in one hand while a set of scales dangled from another. A cloth bandage had been wrapped around her eyes, reminding her of Kenshi.
"I know her," she softly said. "I've seen this statue before. Mostly outside of courthouses and lawyers' offices."
"I am not surprised," he responded, focused on the side of her face. "This is Themis, the goddess of law and order and justice."
"She's blind because justice is supposed to be blind," she deduced, remembering her studies of ancient mythology.
"That it is," he agreed. "She is the only goddess the Seidans worship with any measure of consistency, which is typical of their devotion to order. Even the Elder Gods don't warrant as much love in their eyes as she does. But she is a Titan, so they don't actually have to."
"And you were praying to her?" she curiously asked him.
"I was paying my respects," he corrected her. "And, I suppose, asking her to exact justice on the men and women who are threatening to unleash chaos on the Realms, as selfish as that is of me." He wistfully smiled and looked back up to her. "But I suppose it will be as Fate deigns."
"I don't think it's selfish," Olivia told him after a long silence. "I think you're just asking for something we all want." She paused, thinking about it. "Was that your selfish prayer? The one you were telling me about after you rescued me from Xinyi?"
A mischievous smile played on his lips and he shook his head. "No," he said, taking her hands in his and stroking the tops of them with his thumbs.
"Any chance you're ready to tell me yet?" she asked.
"No," he teased before he leaned in and kissed her cheek lightly. Then he let her go and started walking out of the Temple with his hands clasped behind his back.
She followed him, and she thought about pushing him to spill the tea. But then she decided against it. It wasn't really any of her business anyway, and she wasn't entirely certain how much she actually cared to know. Actually, that was a lie. The knowledge that he was guarding some sort of selfish secret burrowed through her brain like a tick, and she wouldn't be content until he confessed it to her. But she would be patient. If he thought he could string her along like it would get a rise out of her, he had another thing coming.
"I like your family," he told her when they stepped back outside into the garden. He waited for her to catch up to him and then he offered her his arm. "You all seem quite close."
Olivia nodded. "We are," she told him. "It's always pretty much been us against the world."
"I understand what that's like," he told her. "For the longest time, that's how Xinyi and I felt." When she didn't respond to that, he said, "So you were taking a walk through the gardens at night? It must be serious."
"What must be serious?" she wrinkled her nose.
"Whatever your problem is," he replied. "Or should I say, whatever drove you to find me."
Olivia's mouth dropped open and she pushed him away with an indignant cry, prompting him to chuckle. "I did not come looking for you," she snapped. "For your information, I wanted to see my cousin, but she's off with that Seidan guy, and she totally ditched me."
Jay continued to chuckle as he smoothed his robes. "She is in questionable company," he told her. "Ikki is a noble, valiant warrior, but he has a fondness for women and no lack of courage when it comes to chasing them."
Olivia's annoyance faded and now she looked up at the Crown Prince with a worried expression. "Do you think she's okay?" she wondered.
"She is a Falcata," he replied. "I think she's more than capable of taking care of herself." He paused. "Do you believe me?" he asked.
"I believe that I needed to talk to her, and instead, she's off with him," she grumbled, her voice taking a jealous tone.
"Now who's being selfish?" he pointedly remarked, raising his eyebrow. Olivia didn't answer, so he continued, "Should she not be free to find happiness as well? Or do you think her only purpose is to stay at your side like a faithful hound at all times, there at your beck and call whenever you desire her company?"
The young Cryomancer bristled at that. "Well, obviously I don't think that," she protested, now frowning at him.
"That's not how it looks from my vantage point," he argued, still smirking.
"Obviously I'm just annoyed that everyone around me decides that now is the time to start hooking up with people," she retorted. "It's not the best time for this."
"What people?" he asked in amusement.
"First Alex, then her. Next thing you know, Sammy and the twins are gonna have an SO too."
"What is an SO?" he asked, now arching his eyebrow in puzzlement.
"A significant other," she explained.
Now he burst out laughing again. "So if you had an SO, it would be fine, but since they do and you don't, it's not fine?" he slowly asked to clarify.
"Oh, why am I even talking to you?" she growled as she crossed her arms.
"I am just trying to understand," he protested, chuckling. "You sound very jealous."
"Well, I'm not," she insisted, still bristling like a porcupine, even as he pulled her elbow free from her chest and curled his arm through hers again. "You couldn't be further off if you tried."
"I think I struck a nerve," he told her.
"Well, you're wrong," she argued. "I wanted to see Morgan because I'm worried about my mom, okay? And what if I can't save my dad? Then I lose not just him, but her too. And I don't like all of my siblings here lining up to fight, especially Sammy because she's so small and if someone wants to hurt her, there's not a lot she can do to stop them. And I don't want her to get raped or worse, and-" Olivia abruptly cut herself off when she saw Jay staring at her solemnly, all traces of mirth vanished from his face. For some reason, she felt ashamed of herself for so childishly spewing out all of her fears onto him. "Never mind," she quickly said, looking away.
"I think those are valid fears," he told her.
"But?"
He shook his head. "But nothing, Lady Olivia," he said. "All of these things could happen. Worse things could happen. We simply do not know what Fate has planned for us. We do not know what the morrow might bring - the future is not promised to us. But we must do the very best that we can with the time that we are given, and pray that it is enough."
"You lost your parents," she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "What was that like?"
Jay sighed and pulled her to a nearby bench before he wrapped his arm around her and rested his head against hers. "Nothing I tell you can prepare you for how horrible it feels," he told her. "It paralyzes you. At least at first." With his free hand, he started tracing along the length of her fingers almost curiously. "You don't think you're ever going to be able to move again, but somehow, you do. And then you're hit with the complete and total unfairness of it, and the unyielding permanence. After that, the grief rushes in, and once more, you find it impossible to move, like fighting a raging river current in a flood. You think you're going to drown in it, and part of you hopes that you will." Now he threaded his fingers through hers. "But I am the oldest child," he said. "I didn't want to be strong, but Xinyi was still just a child, and he needed me to be strong for him. He counted on me to put the pieces together for him when our lives unraveled and we were left all alone in the world." He squeezed her hand. "I tried very hard to do right by him, but I think I went wrong somewhere because you see what he has become."
"What am I going to do if my mom and dad die in this ordeal?" she whispered, blinking back tears. "I don't know what to do. God, please, just tell me what to do," she said, her voice cracking as she dropped her head completely on his shoulder.
"You must stand and fight," he told her. "Soldier on as your parents would. Your siblings are looking to you to set the standard, so set a good one for them to follow."
Olivia nodded her understanding. "I'm so tired," she muttered now, sniffing and drying her eyes before she glanced at him. It was not a physical exhaustion, she realized. No, her heart was worn out.
"One way or another, this will be over soon," he reassured her. Then he pulled her hair back over her shoulder so he could nuzzle her temple more closely. "And have faith," he told her. "The goddess protects all who come to her seeking justice and the rule of order. I have to believe that she will restore order and exact divine retribution on these villains who make war against us."
"I hope you're right," she sniffed. Then she managed a weak smile for him. Then she chuckled and tilted her face up to look at him. "You're pretty good at this gal-pal stuff, Jay, so maybe I'll keep you around for a little longer," she told him in all sincerity, which prompted him to chuff and smile back.
His head then leaned on hers again, and now she could feel the rush of his exhalations. The scruffy hairs growing along his jaw were coarse against her temple. Suddenly, she wanted to brush her nose and lips across them. He smelled of soap, male skin, clean earth and meadow grass, and every breath of him made her feel warm in places that hadn't been warm in years. As his gentle, quiet breathing continued, Olivia had the sensation of floating, the blue tide of a calm ocean current carrying her out to sea. How strange and lovely it was to sit here in peace in the Crown Prince's arms, possibly even better than sex...but that thought led to the indecent question of what sex might be like with him...how he might lie quietly beneath her while she devoured all that masculine toughness and animal-like musk…
Abruptly, she shoved the thought out of her brain. She was only thinking like this because Morgan had found someone, and Alex before her. She just didn't want to be alone, and besides which, she had read somewhere that people were more likely to be attracted to someone if they'd gone through something traumatic together. Well, she reasoned, she and Jay had definitely had a traumatic adventure in Netherrealm together, so naturally she thought he looked like he'd been carved by Michelangelo - as beautiful as David with an equally hard body to boot. There was nothing legitimate about her sudden desire to have her way with him, and on top of that, even if there was, this was not the time to be entertaining such thoughts.
"Are you cold, Lady Olivia?" he now asked her as she sat more rigidly upright.
The young Cryomancer cleared her throat. "No, I never get cold," she told him, unable to make eye contact.
"You're shaking as if you are," he told her, the amusement in his voice now apparent.
He's the Crown Prince, she yelled at herself. He's going to be the King of the Cryomancers in less than a year, and he's not attracted to a commoner half-breed like you. He has his pick of women and-
"Lady Olivia?" he asked, now cutting through her thoughts.
"I'm fine," she lied, still refusing to look at him. "I just think we should probably try to go get some rest while we can…"
As she spoke, he curled his hand around her cheek and pulled her face around to meet his gaze. This is not the time for this! she yelled at herself as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. You're only feeling desperate right now, and you've gone through something traumatic together, and he doesn't like you anyway, and why would you like him after what his brother did to you, and...As if she'd left her body completely, she felt herself drawing closer to him as if she intended to kiss him right here in the garden.
And then a shrill, pulsating whine cut through the night as the Seidan Guards sprang to action. The combined warriors rushed to their alert stations as the warning alarms wailed around them. Warriors of all shapes and races hurried to perform their assigned duties, responding efficiently to the impending threat. Reiko was coming. Jiayi immediately sprang to his feet and pulled Olivia with him, almost dragging her back to the safety of the inner palace before the men barred all entrances completely.
alwaysdoubted, that is the question, my friend. Will Noob Saibot stay gone for good? ;)
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior, well, hon, we are coming down to the end of the story, so Bi-han's struggle against Noob has been throughout most of it LOL
Praxus84, no magic tricks, however I have developed a new attitude at work that embraces my Viking heritage and says to hell with anyone who wants to cross me LOL And I've always tried to paint Hotaru as a hard ass, but a fair hard ass. Sometimes he's misguided, but overall he's a good guy. And yeah, that would be tragic if Bi-han had to remove his amulet for any reason.
DinoLord00, thanks, Bi-han's fatal flaw is easy to exploit, ergo making him less likely to be a Mary Sue. I work soooo hard to avoid writing Mary Sues, I really do. And sometimes, I'm not convinced I've succeeded. Anyway, yeah, like I told Praxus84, with those more one-note characters from the games, I've tried to paint them as more multi-dimensional people. To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, don't create characters, create people. Characters have this tendency to become caricatures. So Hotaru was one I thought could stand to be fleshed out, and as you so noted, a villain who believed he was justified. Those are my favorite types of villains, honestly.
ROCuevas, thank you!
Westcoast Witchdoctor, I feel ya on that surviving part, Doc. Hoping for life to return to normal soon. Hope you're doing well!