Chapter Sixty-Seven: Bitter Grief

Tomas grabbed his head and leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. His whole body felt like it was on fire, but his head was hurting the most. Whatever that dream, that vision, was, it had taken a lot out of him. But he knew he did not want to stay down here, especially with Esme and Soliel here as well. Speaking of the child, Soliel had grabbed Smoke's hand causing him to open his eyes and he saw the worry in her eyes. He tried to give her a comforting smile, but that action alone took some effort.

"I…will be alright, Soliel. I just need…a minute to rest."

Soliel may be a child, but she was not stupid. She could see right through the silver-haired man's façade and it did not help that the girl could feel Tomas' shaking under her touch. Something had seriously upset Smoke and she was not sure that being in a cave filled with corpses would help him calm down. So, Soliel gently pulled the man away from the wall and he allowed her to lead him back the way he came. It did surprise Tomas that the child did not seem disturbed by the dead bodies, but then again, he could see how Soliel's eyes were darting around the room looking everywhere but at the ground. He could not help but feel guilty that she and Esme were here because of him. Speaking of which…

"Soliel, may I ask how you knew I was down here?"

The child did not answer, but she did not have to. Instead, an itching sensation on Smoke's left wrist was the response he was given. He looked down his arm and saw a silver bracelet slowly become visible on his wrist. It did not take him long to realize what it really was.

"A bracelet? Like the ones you have, Esme?"

Tomas looked behind him to see Esme and the old woman nodded her head in confirmation. He shook his head and stopped in his tracks, making Soliel stop as well.

"I appreciate your help, but I do not want either of you risking your lives for m-"

As he was attempting to take off the bracelet, Smoke was zapped by a small stream of electricity.

"Ugh! What the fu-!?"

Remembering that a child was in his presence, Tomas stopped himself before he allowed a curse to slip from his lips. He looked back at his wrist but found that the bracelet had had become invisible again. Smoke sighed.

"It is okay, Tomas."

Esme grabbed Smoke's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.

"Soliel is not the helpless little girl that everyone believes her to be. In fact, if it were not for her, I would not have been able to get through to you back there."

"What do you mean? You were able to do it before back at your house."

"Yes, but…"

Esme sighed.

"…I lied to you, Tomas. I hated having to lie to you about this, but it was for Soliel's protection."

Tomas frowned and fully turned around to look at the old woman.

"What is it that you are not telling me?"

"Well first, I need to make one thing clear. I…am not a witch. Yes, I do know some magic, but only because it was taught to me. By her real grandmother."

Esme's eyes darted to look behind Smoke and he followed the woman's gaze. As usual, Soliel stared at them with a seemingly blank expression on her face, but again, her eyes betrayed her. And how she slowly stepped away from Tomas.

"She is not afraid of you. She is afraid FOR you."

Hearing Esme's words, Smoke knelt down so he was at eye level with Soliel and held out his hand to the girl.

"Soliel, it is okay. I do not care that you are a witch. You saved my life."

"But I have taken many more."

Tomas let out a small gasp. He had not expected Soliel to speak, but he quickly realized that was not the case. This was in his head. Soliel was speaking to him telepathically. While he was surprised, Smoke was not as surprised as he felt he should have been. In fact, the silver-haired man had known there was something special about Soliel from the moment they met. He decided to try and talk back to the girl through his thoughts.

"I am sure whatever you did, whoever you hurt, was not fault."

Tomas immediately regretted saying anything when he saw the tears streaking down Soliel's face. Her face was still blank, but Smoke knew she would soon break.

"It was my fault. All of it. The missing kids, the dead people. All those things happened because of me. Because I am cursed."

"No."

Tomas was beside Soliel in an instant and embraced her. He was glad that she did not try to run away this time.

"You are not cursed, Soliel."

Soliel said nothing more. Soon after, they all heard footsteps coming from above. Metal footsteps. Smoke turned back to Soliel.

"When you and Esme found me, did you see an old man with white hair?"

The girl shook her head. Tomas mentally cursed himself and scooped Soliel into his arms. He held out his hand to Esme.

"We need to go. Now. I cannot teleport us far, but-"

"Do not worry."

Raising her hand into the air, Soliel's eyes began to glow white and soon the trio was all enveloped in white light. They vanished just as Lin Kuei cyborgs came rushing down the stairs to where they were just standing. When the light cleared, Smoke opened his eyes and was greeted with plenty of stares from the rest of the Champions of Light. He was back in the temple. The silver-haired man gave a nervous chuckle.

"Uh…I suppose I have some explaining to do."

Tomas spent about half and hour explaining what had happened while he was gone. His comrades stayed quiet as they listened to his tale and only asked questions when he was finished. Sub-zero was first.

"So, the Oniro that is at the Lin Kuei now is an imposter?"

Smoke nodded.

"I know it sounds crazy, but I saw Oniro's dead body down in that cave. And the Oniro that I was fighting…something just felt incredibly off about him."

"Do you know who he really is?"

"I am sorry, but no. He…disappeared before I had the chance to figure that out."

For some reason, Tomas decided to keep the part about his vision a secret. Even thinking about it now really scared him. Who or what was that thing that attacked him? What did it mean by becoming one again? Feeling the stress radiating from Smoke, Soliel wrapped her arms around him even tighter to comfort him. She refused to leave Tomas' side since they came to the temple.

"We must be wary of this imposter."

Everyone turned to Raiden, who had his hand under his chin in thought.

"We do not know his intentions, but it is clear that they are not good. Tomas, were you able to acquire anymore useful information within the Lin Kuei temple?"

Smoke paused for a moment to think about, but he soon shook his head. While he was still thinking about his vision and the dead bodies that were hidden within the Grandmaster's study, Tomas did not think that info would be of use in this war. It was then that he realized that the group was short of a few people.

"Hydro has not returned from the cemetery?"

Cyrax shook his head.

"Nightwolf should be there with him now. Hydro reported a spell that Quan Chi was conjuring. A spell that could mean the end of many innocent lives in Earthrealm."

"That must be a very powerful spell. Should we join them?"

"No."

Smoke turned back to Raiden, who was shaking his head.

"Your souls would be out in danger. Nightwolf will surely send Hydro back here so he can be safe from the soulnado's power."

"A soulnado is exactly what it sounds like. A tornado containing souls. Anyone near its vicinity is bound to be taken by it."

Enenra quickly explained the soulnado to Tomas as Raiden continued.

"Nigthwolf's soul is close to the spirits, so he is more suited for this task."

Just then, the entrance doors swung open and when everyone was about to pull out their weapons, they stopped when they saw that the newcomer was Hydro. The Champions of Light all immediately relaxed. As soon as he caught sight of his students, Hydro rushed towards them filled with relief seeing them all there.

"By the gods, you boys are going to be the end of me. Tomas, are you okay?"

Smoke nodded and smiled.

"I am fine, sifu. I told you not to worry."

Hydro sighed.

"I know, I know."

The blue cyborg then turned to Sub-zero and Cyrax.

"Are you two alright?"

"Yes, sifu."

"We are fine, sifu."

Both Kuai Liang and Cyrax answered. Hydro was happy to hear that.

"Good. Because there is something I must discuss with you three. Alone."

Feeling someone tugging on his pants, Tomas remembered that he still had Soliel with him. Hydro had also noticed the child and would have frowned if he could.

"Okay, whose child is that? And none of you better say it is yours."

Cyrax and Sub-zero both scoffed, but Smoke chuckled.

"Sifu, if any of us have ever bedded a woman, that would certainly surprise me. Soliel is actually with her."

Tomas pointed to Esme, who bowed to Hydro.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Master Hydro. My name is Esme."

"Please, just call me Hydro. And Miss Esme, I believe it would be best if your child stayed with you."

Esme nodded and held her hand to Soliel.

"Come, my child."

Soliel looked at the old woman's hand and then looked back at Smoke. The man nodded and with his approval, Soliel took her guardian's hand and they moved away to give the former Lin Kuei their space. Tomas then turned his attention back to Hydro.

"What is the matter, sifu?"

"I…I am not sure how to tell you this without upsetting you, but…"

Smoke, Sub-zero, and Cyrax, or at least they believed the cyborg would have, shared confused looks with each other. After a moment, Kuai spoke up.

"Whatever it is you need to tell us, sifu, we can handle it."

Hydro sighed and placed a hand on the cryomancer's shoulder.

"Alright. But this mostly concerns you, Kuai."

"Me? Why?"

"Back in the cemetery, after our call, I was stopped from pursuing Quan Chi by one of his men. But this man…this demon, he…. dammit…"

"Sifu, what is it?"

"…The man was someone we knew. A damned soul resurrected by Quan Chi for his dark purposes. He is…he was Bi-han."

Sub-zero's blood ran cold if that was even possible. His eyes darted to the floor, unable to look at his master or anyone else right now. Hydro's hold on the cryomancer tightened.

"I know he was not lying about being your brother, but…he is no longer the Bi-han we once knew. He is gone-"

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!?"

Unexpectedly, Kuai started shouting at Hydro and shoved the cyborg away from him. His outburst drew the attention of the other champions and they rushed over to see what was going on. But Sub-zero could care less about them right now.

"Even if what you are saying about Bi-han being under that bastard's control, he is still in there somewhere! We can help him, just as we did with you and Cyrax! How could you give up on him so easily!?"

"Kuai, that is not-!"

"But that is what you said, right!? He is not gone! I refuse to believe that!"

And before Hydro could say anything else, Kuai Liang stomped away and disappeared down one of the temple's hallways. The blue cyborg was about to run after his student, but Tomas stopped him.

"Let me talk to him, sifu. Please."

With that, Hydro allowed Smoke to go after Sub-zero, the air growing colder the further down the hall the silver-haired man went.