Olivia was standing in front of the portal in Ft. Albany, keeping a close eye on Specialist Eubanks who was manning the station. At the moment, he was covertly picking his nose, doing so in such a coy way that if anyone noticed, he could just say he was scratching an itch. She watched in disgusted fascination as Kenshi approached her father and Uncle Tomas - who'd brought a squadron of Lin Kuei Elites with him - on the floor just below the platform. Miyuki, Olivia noticed, stood uncomfortably at the back, for all intents and purposes looking like a shy kid walking into class at a new school. Her presence was why the young Cryomancer was currently standing next to Eubanks, who was mining for gold. The Elite wanted as much distance between her and her aunt as possible.

"It's been a while since I've spoken to you, Tomas," Kenshi opened as he joined them below her. "How have you been?"

"I'm fabulous as always, Daredevil," the cyber-ninja replied as he flashed his trademark grin.

The swordsman vaguely smiled at the reference to the blind superhero, and then said, "And your family? I don't see any of them here."

Tomas shrugged. "Given the Cryomancers' prejudices towards Hydromancers, I felt it was best to let them sit this one out. Morgan was extremely put out by my decision."

"She is her mother's daughter," he said fondly.

"Bah," the other said, impatiently waving his hand through the air. "She can go cry to Fujin. I'm right about this, and I don't care if she thinks otherwise."

That elicited a soft chuckle from the blind man. Then, he asked, "And Alexander? How are things working out for him here in the States?"

Now Olivia, who'd only been vaguely listening to their conversation, perked up. Her ex-boyfriend had undertaken a mission roughly a year prior to work with Special Forces in spying on the Black Dragon's activities. He had only returned to the Lin Kuei Temple a handful of times since his activation, and each time he came back, it had been tense and awkward between them. She'd hoped that by now, they could go back to the way it was before they started dating, when they were the closest friends in the world. But he was distant, as if he was keeping her at arm's length because he no longer trusted her. That was the part that hurt, knowing next to nothing about his life these days.

"He's doing well," Tomas answered Kenshi. "He enjoys his assignment much better than standing guard at the Temple."

"Have you heard from him recently?" the Grandmaster now asked. "He was due to check in today."

"I actually heard from him last night," the cyber-ninja told him. "He seems very happy. His partner works for the Outer World Investigating Agency. Her name is Bishop. Jasmine?"

"Oh, yes, I know her," Kenshi replied. "Bishop's a real tech guru. Really smart young woman. A sweet person as well."

"That's what I gathered," Tomas said. "He told me that they've been dating for a while now, and he's over the moon for her."

Olivia immediately couldn't breathe. Perhaps this is what the stories meant when they called somebody heartsick. Her heart and stomach and whole insides suddenly felt empty and hollow and aching.

"Better tell him to be careful or you'll be a grandfather before you know it," Kuai Liang now teased.

"Wait, Alex has a girlfriend?" Olivia finally had the air to speak as she gripped the platform railing and looked over.

Now Tomas whirled around with a look of abject horror plastered upon his face. "Oh, holčička, you weren't meant to hear that."

"And when was I meant to hear that, Uncle?" she hissed. "When he sent out his wedding invitations?"

"Olivia, I'm very sorry-"

"Why?" she bristled, now acutely aware that Miyuki was watching her with concerned interest. She wasn't about to let that bitch see one ounce of weakness, so she stubbornly bit her bottom lip and tilted her chin up haughtily. "I don't care. He can marry her for all I care. I'm fine."

"And yet you seem very upset," her father chimed in, his own face pensive and worried. He frowned and crossed his arms as he looked up at her.

"If I'm upset, it's because we're still standing around in front of the portal, waiting for Raiden to show up to let us cross over to Outworld," she snapped at him. "What's keeping him?"

"A god does not have to answer to the whims of mere mortals," his familiar, booming voice sounded all around the hangar. A moment later, a brilliant blue-white bolt of lightning exploded beside the Grandmaster and deposited the Thunder God next to him. With his eyes still glowing white, he gazed up at Olivia. "Miss Sullivan, I would have you take care to remember that we gods will always come and go as we please."

Olivia rolled her eyes at that, prompting him to say, "I see you have inherited much from your father. A penchant for blasphemy, most notably."

She started to open her mouth to answer him, but her father abruptly stepped in and asked, "Are the Cryomancers expecting us?"

"Of course," Raiden replied. "Their message to you suggests that something is amiss in Mòhé, and if that is the case, they are undoubtedly on edge and anxious to fight. Therefore, it would be prudent not to suddenly appear in their midst and startle them."

"Agreed," he said. He gestured with his arm to his warriors and, on cue, they stood at attention, ready for his next command. "Be ready for a fight as soon as we cross the event horizon," he barked at them as Raiden worked his magic and connected Earthrealm to Outworld.

When a stable portal had been established, the Grandmaster led them up the platform and motioned for Olivia to fall in behind him. She quickly rejoined their ranks and walked beside Tomas through the gelatinous membrane, her thoughts more on his revelation about Alex than the precarious situation she might very well be marching into. She was furious, and she quickly decided that what irritated her the most was the fact that she wasn't feeling humiliated, or annoyed, or even fooled. Betrayal was what she felt, her heart broken not just by a guy she was in love with, but also by, as she once believed, a true friend.

In the dimness they were deposited into, Livy followed her father through a cold, stone hallway that he seemed to know, and an antiquated jail fitted with small cells like dog kennels, towards a throne room where she knew Tsai Bing waited for them. Tomas and the Elites walked anxiously, ready for battle, and Miyuki stayed on the Grandmaster's heels as if she was afraid to be even just a little alone now, even as much as a few feet away. But the young Cryomancer was as calm and cool as her father, in part because her mind was preoccupied with other matters. To Olivia, everyone was only a dark shadow at best.

The throne room loomed up suddenly out of the darkness, spilling a narrow stream of light onto the passage they now walked, and it gradually opened up until at last, the Earthrealmers found themselves completely inside. The Cryomancers were not surprised by their appearance thanks to Raiden's message to them. Olivia recognized Shŭdí Tsai Bing right away. He sat arrogantly at the raised dais at the front of the room, in front of a throne made from iron fractals, ignoring everyone but her father.

On the steps immediately before him stood two young men who seemed around her age, both posed confidently in fine blue tunics embroidered with silver thread and trousers of thick whale leather that tightly conformed to the shape of their well-sculpted bodies. Those clothes - including Tsai Bing's and the other Cryomancers present in this throne room - were scored with all manner of tears and burns, suggesting they'd all gone through a battle recently.

"Hello, Tsai Bing," her father greeted the man in a calm voice. "We received your message and came as soon as we could. What is the urgent matter you wish to speak to us about?"

The elder Cryomancer - who was a dead ringer for Olivia's long-dead grandfather, according to Uncle Tomas - slowly got to his feet with his jaw set into a scowl so deep that he gave the impression he'd chew up and spit out nails without an ounce of effort. "I didn'twish to speak to you about anything," he growled.

The Grandmaster bristled at that. "Then why waste my time by bringing us here?" he growled with equal venom. "Why did you summon us?"

"He didn't," one of the two men now said as he stepped forward. "I did."

The Cryomancer smiled understandingly - gently, even - as he marched towards the Lin Kuei gathered in a block before the throne. His was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that one may come across four or five times in their life. It was the smile of an angel. Olivia found that she trusted him immediately.

Her father, on the other hand, wasn't as easily impressed. "Who are you?" he demanded to know.

"I am Xinyi," he introduced himself politely and with a slight bow. "Grandmaster, I am one of the Princes of Mòhé." He now nodded at the other Cryomancer standing before Tsai Bing, scowling. "That is my brother, Jiayi. He is the Crown Prince."

Olivia studied him with fascination. In stark contrast to Xinyi's messy waves falling to his shoulders, Jiayi's nearly black hair was short, cut into a Caesar style, framing a face women would consider a sensual feast. He practically glowed with irreverence, and there was an unholy gleam in his sapphire blue eyes that shouted how he would laugh in your face while cutting out your heart. He clearly sensed her staring at him because a moment after Xinyi introduced him, his head swiveled like an owl's towards her and she immediately dropped her gaze, embarrassed to have been caught staring.

"I thought Tsai Bing ruled here," her father now coolly remarked. "I wasn't aware that Mòhé was actually a monarchy."

"My apologies, Grandmaster," he said. "My brother and I were in Seido when you last visited our great city. The Lord Shŭdí rules in Jiayi's name until my brother reaches his ten-thousandth birthday. That is a year away by Earthrealm reckoning, if I've done the math correctly. Our father, the king, died in battle centuries ago, when Xing the Deceiver betrayed the Cryomancers to Shao Kahn. Tsai Bing is a great man and a great leader, but he is only keeping the throne warm for Jiayi."

Kuai Liang looked dispassionately from one brother to the other before meeting Xinyi's expectant gaze. "You still haven't answered my question. Why did you summon us?"

Now Jiayi spoke. "Three days ago, our city fell under attack," he said.

"Yes," his younger brother nodded. "It has been eons since anyone has dared to challenge the Cryomancers within our own borders. No one since the days of Shao Kahn has ever been bold enough to try. The Bīnglěng Dì Dìyù, as I know you know, is unforgiving and cruel. It's almost certainly a death sentence."

"I remember," the Grandmaster drily remarked.

"It was a death sentence this time as well," he stated. "It has taken us the better part of three days to defeat them, but the invaders' bodies now stain the snow above with blood."

"Do you know who attacked you?" he asked, now crossing his arms.

"Mostly Tarkatans," he said. "Some Edenians and Zaterrans as well. All of them led by one man - a great general who learned from Shao Kahn himself: Reiko. We took him by surprise and captured him."

At the mention of his name, Olivia's blood quickened, her heart instantly pounding in her chest. She exchanged a glance with her father, who quickly looked back at Xinyi. "Reiko's dead," he snapped. "My daughter, Olivia, killed him in battle." He gestured towards her and she nodded nervously, fighting to keep her face free of any trace of her rising fear. He then looked at Tsai Bing. "Erron Black witnessed Reiko's death and vouched for her to the Emperor."

"Grandmaster," Xinyi began in that soothing tone of his, "we do not find fault or dishonesty in her testimony. General Reiko was a powerful man with powerful friends. It was rumored he was friends with many necromancers - Quan Chi, most notably. It's possible that one of them resurrected him for reasons that are unclear to us at the moment."

"Reiko was not easily defeated," Olivia finally spoke up and stepped forward. She swallowed hard as their eyes all fell to her. "I find it hard to believe he let himself be captured so easily."

"Three days of vicious warfare on the surface is easy to you?" Jiayi now growled, glaring at her.

"Where Reiko is concerned, yes," she replied as memories of her time in the Red Desert flashed to the forefront of her brain. "He was cunning. And his powers made him difficult to kill."

"But you did it," the Crown Prince retorted. "Clearly, that means you are the better warrior. Perhaps we should make you the High General of the Armies of Outworld."

"I got lucky," she replied, now seething at his tone. "My desire to protect my father gave me the strength I needed to beat him. I have no delusions that I was his better, or even his equal."

Jiayi merely harrumphed at that, almost condescendingly. She tersely inhaled through her nose to calm her rising anger, but at that moment, Kuai Liang rested his hand on her shoulder and subtly nodded at her to stand down. Then, when she exhaled her frustration and stepped back to her Uncle Tomas, he looked back to the Cryomancers.

"How do you know this General is actually Reiko?" he now asked. "This person who attacked you could be a shapeshifter such as Shang Tsung."

"We thought of that," Tsai Bing now said. "That is why the young prince sent for you. You were with Reiko in the final moments of his life. You would have knowledge of him that the rest of us wouldn't. We would like you to interrogate him. Test him. Verify his identity."

"I spent all of five minutes with him," the Grandmaster protested. "And all we did was fight. That is common knowledge that anyone could attain. Olivia knows more than I do on this matter." Kuai Liang looked to his daughter, and once again, she suddenly felt the piercing stare of all the men in the room on her.

"In that case, Lady Olivia, would you be willing to come with us to test him?" Xinyi asked, flashing that intense smile yet again, this time directed at her. Her legs instantly turned to jelly.

"Why do you need to prove it's him?" she challenged almost breathlessly. "Just execute him and be done with it."

She would never admit it for a thousand years, but just the mere thought that Reiko was back frightened her more than the thought of death. Her world had changed completely the moment he first stepped foot into her life. Where once she was lighthearted and outgoing, her life then full of friends and adventures outside of Arctika, she now spent most of her days in quiet solitude in the Temple. It had been ages since she'd visited Cassie and Jacqui in New York. They used to ask her to visit them all the time, especially when they came of age and all three could legally go to clubs now. But eventually, after being rejected often, both of her friends just stopped asking.

In addition to her uninspired social life, more often than not, her dreams were stricken by night terrors. Horrible images of blood and carnage splashed across her brain nearly every night. One common image dominated all the others: Reiko stabbing her through the gut with his scythe before stealing her father's soul. Most times, she merely woke from those nightmares in a breathless sweat, her body clammy and cold from fear. But occasionally, just like she'd done often after her initial return from Outworld, she woke from these dreams screaming and scared, never quite knowing where she was. Even her mother, who'd learned much from Himavat about healing such psychic trauma, couldn't quite heal the residual pain and terror from her past experiences. The nightmares became so bad that, even though private quarters were a luxury usually only afforded to the Masters, her father gave her a small, private room so she wouldn't disturb or hurt her dorm-mates in her sleep.

Olivia's entire existence now was pain wrapped up in denial. And she was unwilling to go through yet another metamorphosis on Reiko's account.

Xinyi, as if seeing every ounce of anguish she felt over this matter, nodded sympathetically at her and then flashed that angelic smile once again. "Rest assured, he will be executed for his crimes," he said. "But first, we must know if he is, in fact, Reiko. If he is, we must puzzle out who resurrected him and why. If he is not, we must puzzle out who would want to masquerade as him, and again, why they would want to do so. Only then will we understand why we were targeted for attack."

Olivia looked up to her father who towered over her, silently begging him to save her from this plan. But he sadly returned her gaze, subtly nodding his head to indicate that he agreed with Xinyi. A tight ball formed in her throat at that, forcing tears to her eyes, but she swallowed her pain and nodded back as the prince stepped forward within a breath of her.

"Milady, I can understand your reluctance to visit your tormentor," he began. "I've heard the harrowing tale of your misadventure in the Red Desert. You're wise to fear Reiko. He is a very dangerous man. I think you're terribly courageous to agree to help your people now after all you've suffered."

Olivia looked at him, taking note of his gentle expression. She nodded slightly, breathing steadily to calm her anxious nerves. "Thank you, Your Highness," she quietly answered.

"He is chained quite tightly to the wall in restraints engraved with potent Seidan runes to keep him from escaping," he reassured her. "He will not get free without help. Even still, you will not be left alone with him. My brother and I shall be there, as well as your father, and anyone else you wish to keep you from harm." He patiently smiled as he offered his hand to her to take. "Come, Milady," he said. "Let's get this over with."

With a shaky exhalation, Olivia tucked her hand inside his and made a mental note of its warmth as well as the strength with which he held her. He paid no attention to Kuai Liang or Tomas as they followed with the Elites in a tight formation behind them. Xinyi let his older brother go first, undoubtedly in observance of some royal protocol, who led the rest of them from the throne room. The halls and the rooms through which they now passed displayed shelves and podiums of fascinating Outworld technology and wonders. Weapons, armor, peculiar mechanical devices with functions Livy couldn't even begin to guess at...But all were, in some way or another, crude. Just a little imperfect in shape, or a tad awkward in construction. Earthrealm probably would've perfected these designs by now.

"I see you're fascinated by our inventions," Xinyi said to her as they walked behind Jiayi. "The Seidans would not be impressed. Their technology is the most advanced in all the Realms. Outworld is primitive by comparison."

"I've never been to Seido," she confessed, her mind preoccupied with her mission at hand. Her heart flapped wildly in her chest, and she knew he only brought this up to distract her and put her at ease. It wasn't working.

"It's an impressive Realm," he declared. "Extremely progressive. Jiayi and I hoped to bring many of their philosophies here to Mòhé."

"Such as?"

"The intermixing of various races, for example," he said, "or even this petty feud with the Hydromancers. The Seidans rightly call such hatred and intolerance chaotic, and chaos created by the Old Ones' archaic thinking must be purged from Mòhé for the good of our people. Thankfully, most of the younger Cryomancers such as myself and Jiayi have like-minded opinions on this matter. We want things to change here. Modeling Seido is one way we can do that."

"It sounds like you're a huge fan of their work," Tomas now spoke up from behind them.

Xinyi glanced over his shoulder at the cyber-ninja, nodded, and then looked ahead again. "Seido is extraordinarily peaceful. Outworld can learn much from it."

"Yes, Hotaru seemed like such a peaceful gent," her uncle drily remarked.

That earned a chuckle from the prince. "Hotaru is the Captain of the Guard and the High General of Seido. He does his job very well."

"Oh, we know," he replied. "We've met."

"He trained us both," Jiayi finally said as he turned and scowled at the Earthrealmers. He said nothing else, but the message was received regardless.

They walked in silence for a few minutes after that, drifting past monolithic stalagmites and bulging columns, the only real indication that they were covering any distance at all.

Finally, Jiayi came to a halt before a gaping hollow in the rock in a mixed cloud of ancient dust and roiling mists stained blue with cold. This far from the throne room where Tsai Bing held his court, the reasonably civilized city had taken on a much darker, more hellish aspect. It was a maze of frozen tunnels, icy crevices, and frosted prison cells that made the kennels near the throne room look like a tropical paradise by comparison. Here, portions of the icy stone had been worked by tools. Cryomancers, their specific features long since worn away by the harsh environment, half emerged from the walls and columns supporting the ceiling. They were ancient sentinels, their vigils long ended.

The cave where Jiayi had halted was flanked by two of these vague figures. The floor here was worn smooth by the passage of many feet over the course of several ages. The opening itself gave some sign of having been worked, for it was just a bit too symmetrical, a bit too smooth. The Cryomancer removed a burning torch from its sconce on the wall before he entered the new tunnel with the others in tow.

The corridor took on an even more artificial aspect as the group progressed. The floor grew smoother and the walls grew more symmetrical. When the stone abruptly ended and the steel began, it wasn't jarring to Olivia at all; it just felt like a natural stage of progression. The steady illumination had no clear origin, but it seemed to emanate from points upon that metal as though it were reflecting an otherwise invisible light source.

At random intervals, small sigils had been etched into the otherwise seamless metal. Olivia looked at them in interest, but both of the princes ignored them. She assumed they weren't dialed in to their presence, but were probably meant to prevent someone from leaving rather than entering.

They continued down, now two abreast, bypassing several side corridors until they reached a massive door of black iron glazed over in thick ice. If the corridors had boasted the occasional rune, this door was essentially a mass of runes with iron ridges between them. Even though Olivia boasted no magical powers save for her Cryomancy, she could sense the magic radiating from this door, a physical atmosphere that made her skin tingle in anxiety.

While she and the others looked on, Jiayi ran his hands over the door from one rune to the next, almost as if he was entering a combination in a lock. In a moment, she heard a massive bar slide aside slowly, but a moment later, the door drifted open on massive hinges, still utterly silent.

When it opened wide enough, she saw him there, chained to the wall as Xinyi had said: Reiko.

MKDemigodZ-Warrior, yeah, it's a little bizarre writing her so demure. But it's an interesting new challenge for me, and I definitely have a lot in mind for her as the story progresses :)

The Titan's Shadow, is it wrong that I hope my update didn't ease your insomnia too much? LOL

Obelisk of Light, oh, yes, Frost is much better behaved now than she was back then, but she's still Frost ;)

Daniel Barga, thank you! And you feel that way because I'm notorious for things like that. I'm glad you like this version of Frost. She's done a complete 180 in my timeline of things.

jonty2600, well, the focal point is definitely going to be more on Frost and Olivia's dynamic, but I'd actually planned on including her siblings more in this one than I did in Ascension. We'll see how it goes. ;)

Westcoast Witchdoctor, you're all good, I'm glad you found the notification! XD I'm glad you're loving it (I just sang the McDonald's jingle in my head as I wrote that LOL)

ROCuevas, thank you!