Disclaimer:Mortal Kombat and its characters are owned by their creators and producers at Midway and New Line.

Author's note: It's been SEVEN YEARS since this story was last online. I published it on several fanfiction sites in 1998, but I took it down in 2000. But after reading XiahouDun84's rendition of Kitana's life in "Kitana: Redemption," my love for Mortal Kombat and its ninja princess was revived. So I decided to return to the world of MK fanfiction. Thank you, XiahouDun84! So now, in 2005, I present a fanfiction about Kitana that I started back when I was only 13 years old. I've only made a few minor adjustments, but I really haven't edited it since the day I posted it seven years ago, so please bear with my childish fancies.

Sunsets in Edenia (formerly titled "And So It Begins")
By Embittered Flower (formerly known as LilPrincess)
Published 1998
Taken offline 2000
Reposted 22 October 2005
Last edited and renamed 25 October 2005

Chapter One: When Death Pays a Visit

Grasping the locked and embellished ceramic box to her chest, a young girl with dark chocolate hair cautiously laid her miniature hand on the double doors. Wearily, she looked to her left, and then to her right.

No one was there.

Princess Kitana pushed open the towering doors to her bedroom and slipped inside. Brushing aside the long skirt of her sky blue gown, she closed her doors and hurled herself onto the bed. She stretched for her nightstand, pulled out her mother's ornate skeleton key from the drawer, and unlocked the gold and white chest.

"Now," whispered the 5,000-year-old girl. She reached inside the chest and pulled out the scroll that lay within. Was this the ancient prophecy that her elders spoke of with fear? It was brown and torn along the edges, signs that the document was just about ready to fall apart. "What do you have to say?"

Kitana's parents, King Jerrod and Queen Sindel, ruled the Kingdom of Edenia for countless and prosperous millennia, but from what she had been overhearing, there would soon be a major change. The Edenian armies had just lost their tenth consecutive Mortal Kombat tournament to the evil conqueror known as Shao Kahn. And according to the traditional legends, once a realm lost ten tournaments, the new victor would gain power and control.

But Kitana couldn't comprehend what all the fuss was about. All the talk about the Conqueror taking Edenia was just nonsense. There was no way that a simple martial arts tournament could possibly decide the fate of any world, let alone hers.

Or was there?

"Don't worry, child," Kitana's parents had responded once she began to show concern. "You're still too young for all of this."

On the contrary. If I can read, she thought as she unraveled the scroll, then I'm not too young at all.

BOOOOOOOM!

Kitana dropped the scroll in surprise and lunged to save the ceramic chest from falling to the ground. Was that an explosion? She jumped off her bed and looked around, wondering what had happened. Realizing that it had come from outside, she started toward her balcony and peered through the window.

Looking up, she saw the color of her gown in the sky, and the three glorious suns were all out. Two were overhead, while the largest of the three was about to set.

Cautiously, she opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony. She approached the railing and looked down at the world below, and there stood her father, King Jerrod, locked in a fighting stance with two of his guards behind him.

An explosion sounded again as a portal appeared, and out stepped the Conqueror himself. Kitana gasped in fear but remained silent to intently listen to the scene below.

"Greetings, your Highness," Shao Kahn bellowed.

Jerrod sneered at him, still keeping his stance. "What do you want of me this time, Kahn?" he demanded.

"Oh, you know what I came for, King Jerrod," Kahn responded. "My forces are victorious. I have defeated your Chosen Ones, and so I have won Mortal Kombat."

He came right up to Jerrod and peered down at the King of Edenia. His large figure totally shadowed the man he stood before.

"And now," Kahn continued, "Edenia is mine."

Jerrod's two guards rushed forward from behind to protect their King. "Not so long as we're around, Kahn!" one yelled.

"As you wish." Kahn raised an arm. Instantly, two blasts of energy flew out of his palm and sent the generals flying backwards. They hit the ground loudly, unconscious.

"You see, Jerrod," Kahn turned to him. "There's really no use in resisting. I could do the same to you... much worse, actually."

Jerrod stared up at the Conqueror defiantly. "You know just as well as I do that I refuse to let Edenia go without a fight, tyrant."

Kahn snickered in utter sarcasm. "Another battle? Must we end this in violence?"

"Bite your tongue, Kahn!"

The Conqueror laughed maniacally as he abruptly landed a hard punch in Jerrod's stomach. The aging king collapsed to his knees and eyed Kahn. But no sooner as Jerrod raised his head, Kahn kicked him in the face, sending him flying backwards.

Jerrod wearily rose and faced Kahn. "You will never take Edenia!" he spat. "Never!"

"Oh, never say never, Jerrod," Kahn laughed. He hid his hands behind his back, and a large spiked mallet mysteriously materialized in his hands. "Besides, I already have."

As Jerrod struggled to stand, a shadow fell over his tired, powerless body. He looked up and saw the Conqueror's figure looming over him. His eyes widened in fear as Shao Kahn revealed the mallet to him. He watched, terrified as the Conqueror raised the mallet over his head.

Kahn delivered Jerrod's death brutally, thrashing the Edenian King over and over. Finally he dropped the mallet, and began to laugh hysterically once again. "FATALITY!"

Jerrod's death replayed in Kitana's mind. She watched in horror as Shao Kahn brought the mallet down on her father's head, crushing it to pieces. She was frozen with the sickening sounds of the crushing of a skull and a gush of blood echoing in her ears. She blankly stared at her father's body, lying lifelessly in pool of his own blood.

Father... dead?

As soon as the child realized what had happened, her jaw dropped. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Kahn looked up in surprise, his glowing eyes red with evil as he searched the area for his unseen witness. He turned around just in time to see the horrified child running off the balcony back into the palace.

He smiled evilly. "You can run, young Princess, but you can't hide!" he yelled towards the palace. He looked down at the dead king and his guards one last time with an expression of victory and triumph.

And as he began to approach the Royal Edenian Palace to claim his prize, the largest of Edenia's three suns slipped away beneath the horizon.

End of Chapter One