Chapter Forty: The Witch's House

It felt like his body had been thrown rather than simply transported from one realm to another as Tomas materialized outside Outworld's Coliseum. He fell on his hands and knees and tried his best to even out his breathing. But he had to admit, the spheres were way better than their previous model. At least Smoke did not feel the need to puke, yet he was in a terrible state at the time. No need to blame the teleporter for his illness.

After a few deep breaths, Tomas stood up and looked around for Soliel, which did not take long since fortunately, the girl had landed close by. She was laying on her side with her eyes closed and she let out a barely audible moan as Smoke knelt beside her. The sound surprised the silver-haired since that was the first sound he had ever heard come from Soliel's mouth. Maybe he would get the child to say an actual word someday.

"You okay, Soliel?"

Soliel nodded her head and with some help from Smoke, she was able to get on her feet.

"You are not hurt anywhere?"

The girl shook her head and made a circular movement around it with her hand.

"Dizzy?"

Again, Soliel nodded and held on to Tomas' arm to steady herself. But Smoke thought it would be better if he just carried the girl, so he picked her up and Soliel placed her head in the crook of Tomas' neck. When she was finally comfortable, Smoke came out of the shadows and was about to head into Marketplace, but he suddenly stopped when a thought came to him. Everyone in Outworld knew his face and if anyone saw him, they definitely would not hesitate to try and kill him. Especially since Tomas was in some way involved in Shao Kahn's defeat. He needed a disguise.

Spotting a clothes stand nearby, the silver-haired man made his way over to it and grabbed a black cloak that was laying on the counter. Luckily, this area did not contain that many people Tomas was able to grab the piece of clothing with attracting any unwanted attention. He wrapped the cloak around himself and pulled up the hood so it was covering his hair and eyes. Now that that was done, Smoke and Soliel walked down through the Marketplace until they found the spot where Johnny had spotted the tigore. Tomas turned around and expected to see the old house that the girl resided in.

What they found was a pile of rubble and debris in its place.

"By the gods…"

Smoke looked at the destruction in disbelief as he came closer to examine the damage. This was the result of a fire. He could see burn marks on some of the wreckage and the smell of burning wood lingered in the air. Hopefully no one had been inside at the time. Tomas stopped his examination when he felt eyes watching him from behind. In a quick movement, he took out a kunai knife and turned around to hold the blade at the stranger's throat. The hooded figure instantly froze where they was.

"I was wondering when you would come, Tomas."

The stranger took off their brown hood and revealed themselves as an elderly woman. Smoke recognized her and slowly lowered his weapon.

"Where are the children, Esme?"

Tomas was glad that Esme was alive, even if he still did not trust her after their last encounter, but he was more concerned about her kids than anything. If any of those children have been lost to the fire, Smoke was not sure what he would do. Every child was precious, no matter if he knew them or not. Esme was not at all offended by the question.

"Do not worry. They are all safe. We are staying with a good friend of mine and I left them in his care while I tried to see if I could salvage anything from… this."

Esme motioned her hand at the wreckage that used to be her beloved home. Seeing the place in ruin saddened Tomas and he could see that Soliel was upset as well through her eyes, which unlike her face, always gave away what she was truly feeling inside. He set the girl on the ground and Soliel walked over to her adoptive grandmother. She grabbed Esme's hand, feeling how sad the elder woman was, and gave it a small squeeze to try and comfort her. Smoke gave the two a moment to themselves before he started asking questions.

"How did it happen? The fire, I mean?"

"Let us just say that it has something to do with an angry mob out for revenge against this old witch."

"Witch? You?"

Nodding her head, Esme turned her head back to look at Tomas with tears in her eyes.

"I have been known to bring misfortune anywhere I go. I have been blamed for children going missing, people dying. I suppose Shao Kahn's defeat was the reason everyone needed to get rid of me. And my family."

The old lady knelt beside Soliel and embraced the child, holding her very tightly against her chest. Soliel gave no protest and instead closed her eyes and allowed Esme to hug her.

"So, in a way…this was my fault."

Esme immediately jerked her head up at Tomas' statement.

"What? No, of course not. This was bound to happen , whether you had come to Outworld or not. You are not to blame for any of this."

Smoke said nothing. He took his hood off and raked his hand through his hair to get some of it out of his face.

"I was involved in Shao Kahn's death. I was not the only one, but I am still at fault."

"I do not blame you or your people for what happened here. Do you hear me? I thank the Elder Gods everyday now for sending you all here to defeat that bastard tyrant! He did not deserve to…!"

Someone tugging on her sleeve interrupted Esme's rant. She looked down and saw Soliel shaking her head. It did not take long for Esme to decipher what the girl was trying to say and when she did, she nodded.

"You are right, dear."

Esme wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and looked back at Soliel with a small smile.

"I cannot speak that way in public. Otherwise, the other citizens may come after us again."

Looking over Soliel's shoulder, Tomas had extended his hand to Esme. She stared at it for a moment or two before accepting it and letting Smoke helped her up from the ground. The old woman was surprised by the action seeing that she thought she was not on good terms with the silver-haired man.

"Thank you, but…I thought you...nevermind."

"You thought I hated you."

"...Yes."

"I thought I did too, honestly."

Tomas let a chuckle and Esme was even more surprised to hear him laugh. It was a pleasant sound to her.

"But there are only a few people that I truly hate, and you are not one of them. Even so, you cannot blame me for being cautious of you. I have had too many people get into my head and I am not just going to allow someone else to do so."

"I understand. I am so sorry for what happened. Please…forgive me for my actions."

Smoke nodded.

"You are forgiven."

Letting out a breath, Esme was glad that her and Tomas were now on better terms. And now Smoke had to take his leave. He had already spent too much time here and he needed to get back to Earthrealm as soon as possible. Hopefully the silver-haired man could find the courage to talk to Kuai like he had promised. But first, he needed to make sure that Esme and her children would be okay.

"Are you sure you are safe with this friend of yours?"

"Of course. I have known him for quite some time and he has never let me down. He will protect us with his life."

"Alright then. But if you need somewhere to stay, please let me know. There are people in Earthrealm I know who will help you find a place."

"Thank you. I will keep that in mind. Let us go, Soliel."

Soliel nodded and grabbed Esme's hand again. That is when another question came to Smoke's mind.

"By the way, do you have any idea how Soliel came to be in Earthrealm?"

"Actually…"

Esme looked down at Soliel thoughtfully. The girl pretended not to notice how her guardian was staring at her, but she could feel Esme's eyes on her.

"I have not the slightest idea how she went to your realm."

"But you do you not sound the least bit worried about her absence. You did not even ask if Soliel was alright when we arrived here."

"When I saw you with her, I knew she was fine. Besides, if she were any danger, I would have known."

See the confused look on Tomas' face, Esme pulled up the sleeves on her cloak and showed him the bracelets that adorned her arms.

"Not all of these are for show, Tomas. You see these four right here?"

Esme pointed at four specific bracelets.

"Each acts like a beacon for my children. The yellow one is Soliel's and if she were any sort of trouble, her bracelet will glow. And it has not glowed the whole time she has been in Earthrealm."

"That is…strange."

"How so?"

Smoke thought about Soliel's encounter with the lion at the zoo. If what Esme had told him about the bracelets, then why did it not glow when the girl was about to be attacked by the beast? Or when Soliel had unintentionally crossed paths with Scorpion? Surely the Shirai Ryu had posed as a threat to Soliel at the time. Maybe the bracelets were broken or something, but something told Tomas that that was not the case.

"...Nevermind. I just think that glowing bracelets are a bit strange."

"Is that so? Of all the things you have seen, you find that strange?"

"Ha, ha. I am a strange person, I suppose."

"Indeed you are. But it is a…unique strange."

"Is there such a thing?"

Esme laughed. That was the first time anyone had made her laugh so hard in a while. Smoke did not understand why his question was so funny, but he let the old woman have her moment. She needed it after all she had been through. Once she was done, Tomas knelt down to look at Soliel.

"I have to go now, little one. Take good care of yourself and your family, okay?"

Soliel nodded and she wrapped her arms around Smoke to give him a hug. Tomas smiled and returned the embrace wholeheartedly. It felt like an eternity before the two let go and Smoke bid farewell to the girl and Esme. The woman trusts her comrade to take care of her and her children, so he needed to trust that they would be alright. For now, the silver-haired man had other things that he had to worry about.