Sister
What is perfection? Is it a sign of strength? Is it true order? Is it possible to gain perfection? Is it truly possible for beings to be sinless in a universe full of hatred?
Kitana looks over the realm of order, Seido, from the top of a large tower. She was amazed by the view, especially being atop of a structure floating above the clouds.
"Your behavior would be considered quite strange here is Seido." A woman said. Along with Kitana was a woman with long blonde hair and blue pearl earrings to match her eyes. She wore a white off-shoulder blouse that stops just above her belly button. She also wore white ruffle pants and blue glassed slippers. She went by the name of Eunomia.
"Every behavior here could be considered strange for all I know." Kitana responded. Eunomia simply grinned. "I suppose you aren't here small talk." Kitana continued.
"It's about your sister. People have been talking." She began.
"I understand. I just need a few more days." Kitana interrupted.
"You have three." She confirmed. Kitana's frowned as she continued to look upon the city.
"Although I would rather ensure the mental capacity of my sister is up to snuff, I will heed your worries and accept what I can." Kitana responds. She leans onto the rooftop's railing as she contemplates on what to do next. Eunomia decides to stand beside Kitana and look over the city as well.
"You know, this realm wasn't always like this. It had no true identity. No leadership. No real protection. But it did have something that no other realm had."
"Do I bother to ask?" Kitana questioned grumpily.
"Spirit Energy." Eunomia answered. Kitana made no response. Eunomia folded her arms and frowned. "Not interested I take it?"
"Why are you telling me this?" Kitana asked.
"Your sister is supposed to be the ruler of Outworld. Yet she has no identity of her own. Nor does she have any negotiating power to hold over people's head."
"She is the only one with knowledge of the location of the Portal Spheres in Outworld." Kitana confirmed.
"Anyone can find and secured those portal spheres if they ever stumble across one. If I deemed it necessary, I could easily use the treaty Anomaly made years ago and to rescue each and every realm that merged with Outworld, including our home realm." Eunomia confirmed. Kitana gave her a wry smile.
"With six months of training, Tanya would be enough to prevent that." Kitana joked. Eunomia chuckled a bit.
"I was the strongest of the alliance. 6 Months for her would be one week for me." Eunomia responded. "However, what I'm trying to say is that with all of those realms under her rule, she doesn't even know how to utilize their assets to keep Outworld safe?"
"Truth be told, our father never taught us much about "Economics" or "Politics" when he was alive. We have Tanya's father for that, but he's only around to keep the peace in the Castle."
"My sister use to be the same way. As a matter of fact, her realm was in the worst state of them all. But even she found a light at the end of the tunnel. Her realm provides water." Kitana was puzzled.
"We all have water. Earthrealm is made up of 71% water." She confirmed.
"Yes, but water for Earthrealm isn't treated the same as water from the Chaos Realm. In the realm of chaos, nothing is pure. My sister has never been the same since going there. The things she saw, the things she's done, the sounds she heard, the mental and physical afflictions she's felt; without the purity of their water, she would've committed Hara Kiri by now." Eunomia explained.
"But it's just water." Kitana added.
"For us, yeah. But when I sent my men to her realm to collect water for our springs, she didn't hesitate to kill them. She even canceled our treaty and declared war against her own sister just to protect her realm's water." Eunomia clarified. Kitana looked to the ground as she thought about Mileena.
"I couldn't Mileena ever trying to kill me over something as simple as water." Kitana began to walk towards the door the led to the inside of the building.
"Princess Kitana." Eunomia interrupted. Kitana paused. "I know she's your sister, but unlike my sister it's not by blood. Sindel was the only mother Eris and I had. When she died, everything fell apart between the two of us. Don't allow Shao Kahn's death to do the same to the two of you."
"Yeah, yeah." Kitana responded as she left the rooftop. Eunomia frowned as she looked to the sky.
*Later the night*
Kitana and Mileena decided to eat dinner together as they use to years ago—Earthrealm Pasta and Salmon. Mileena prepares to eat the salmon, but she's stopped by Kitana.
"That's not how this goes. As the heir to Shao Kahn's throne, you should know proper etiquette when it comes to greeting and dining with others. The Empress shouldn't eat her food before the guest." Kitana explained. Mileena slouches back and grumbles. Kitana takes a bite of the pasta first, and prompts Mileena to eat. Mileena begins to chow down like she hasn't eaten in days.
"It's also important that you don't stuff your face or finish your food before the guest does. If your guess does not finish their food, neither should you." Kitana added. Mileena groaned as she continued to eat her food. Kitana stared at her own plate.
"By the way, I've been thinking about something. Remember when I told you about how my mother formed a team that focused on forming alliances with other realms?" she asked. Mileena didn't respond. "I was thinking of possibly reinstating the Inter-realm Alliance with You, Jade, Eva, and Tanya." Mileena stopped eating.
"Where…been?" Mileena muttered faintly. Kitana looked up and noticed Mileena drooping her head while wrapping her hand around her forehead.
"Did you say something?" Kitana questioned for clarity. Mileena whips her head up to focus her attention on Kitana. Her yellow tarkatan eyes aligned with Kitana's.
"Where have you been?" Mileena asked shakenly. Kitana froze in place. She wanted to speak, but couldn't move her lips. "You disappear for 15 years and the first thing you speak about is Outworld affairs?!"
"We already agreed that—"
"We agreed that you would disappear along with the Eva and the other Earthrealm brats. Yet one slipped through and KILLED SHANG TSUNG!" Mileena shouted as she swiped her plate off of the table.
"You're too loud, sister. If the citizens know you're here—"
"Elder Lords curse them!" Mileena responded as she slammed her fist against the table. Kitana turned her head away from Mileena as she tried to hold in her fear. She recalled what Eunomia told her before. She clutched her chest with her left hand while hovering her right hand over the magical fan she hid behind her dress.
"I know you're hiding your weapon in your dress. That was part of father's "etiquette" as well right?" Mileena stated. Kitana frowned as she continued to hover her hand over her weapon. "Of course he taught you everything. You were the one destined to take his place, not me."
"That's a lie!" Kitana shouted. She takes a deep breath to calm herself down. "He never planned for me to stick by his side as long as I did." Kitana mumbled.
"Maybe if I did what I was created to do, then I could've been the one to protect father!" Kitana's eyes widened. She wrapped her hand around her bladed fan and pressed tightly onto the handle. She tightened her eyes shut as she still heard Eunomia's words echo in her head.
"How could you say such a thing? I'm the one who gave you the life you deserved."
"The life I deserved as a fallen empress with no followers or a reliable family? Is this your way of humoring me sister?"
"You dare question my intentions? Would I ever let someone like you take my place on the throne of Outworld as a way of gaining something? A deal was a deal. You proved to be stronger than me, and therefore you were given Outworld!"
"This isn't about Outworld!" Mileena howled. Kitana turned her attention back to Mileena and noticed that her tarkatan features were returning. Shang Tsung's spell finally wore off. She notices this herself and tries to look for her face mask.
"What are you looking for Mileena? We're the only ones here." Kitana stated. Mileena made a quick glance towards Kitana and continued to look for her face mask. "Who is it that you're trying to hide from?" Kitana continued. "I'm your sister, Mileena."
"You know I can't go out looking like this." Mileena responded as she covered her mouth with her hand. Kitana walked up to her and removed her hand from her mouth.
"You can't just hide everything from those you rule over!" Kitana shouted. "You call yourself a daughter of Shao Kahn, but you're nothing like him. Yes, he taught me that appearances mean something, and he was right. But your people need to know that their Khanum isn't just a throne warmer. Sometimes, people have to see what they don't like."
"No normal citizen has seen this face besides the Tarkatans, the Shokan, Ferra, Li Mei, and Raskal."
"And did any of them resent you?" Kitana questioned. Mileena paused. "Shao Kahn only wore his mask to deceive those who dare challenged him. I would never be able to be intimidating enough to rule this Realm."
"Don't use that false humility on me, sister. You would never trade your life for mine." Mileena confirmed as she calmed down. Kitana embraces her tightly. Though annoyed, Mileena decided to wrap her arms around Kitana as well.
"If that's what it'll take for you to believe me, then I'm fine with that." Kitana responded.
"How would you do that?" Mileena asked. Kitana pointed to the nearby mirror that reflected the image of two women.
"I am thou. Thou art I." she responded. "In their eyes, I don't exist and I haven't existed in 15 years. And because of Shang Tsung's spell, even if I remove my mask, they'd still believe I was you."
"What about your dear sister?" Mileena asked.
"I told you before didn't I? I WILL give you the life you desire. I WILL make you the Empress of Outworld. And after what they did to you and our father, I WILL get my revenge."
End of Chapter 5
Alright. With this chapter out of the way, we are now entering the next arc known as the Civil War arc. As with real war, it won't end once the fighting is done. There is always an aftermath of consequences & disputes that occur and not everyone will agree with the outcome regardless of who they side with.
(Upcoming—Rescue Pt. 1)