When the gate opened before them to reveal Reiko, Kuai Liang was aware of the two princes sliding into the small room at the edge of his vision, and of Tomas squeezing past, leaving his squadron and Miyuki behind them in the corridor, but all the Grandmaster could really see was Olivia. She stood in the doorway, her face pale and lined with stress. Fear held her, as well as the pain of battles remembered. He should've said no to Tsai Bing, he cursed himself, even though he knew verifying Reiko's identity could mean the difference between life or death for billions of people. He wanted to protect her from everything, not be the architect of her suffering.
Gently, though, he grabbed her arm and let his hand slide down to hers, holding it fast, tugging her slightly along. She looked at him with eyes full of blue fire, and he felt her hand squeeze his tightly before she exhaled a long, shuddering sigh and then release it, confidently marching forward with all the courage her heart could muster. For a moment, he watched his oldest daughter in proud admiration, and then he stepped over the threshold into the cell as well.
Reiko looked precisely the same as Kuai Liang remembered, if not a little worse for the wear after his fight with the Cryomancers. As Xinyi had promised, he was bound to the wall, wrapped tightly in iron chains etched with little sigils. Kuai Liang recognized some of those strange symbols, having seen them before on Hotaru's weapons as well as restraints, though he could only guess at their meaning. His head drooped nearly to his chest, his longish black hair cascading around his face like a dark waterfall. Clumps of mud and soot streaked through it and formed globules at the end.
As Olivia entered the cell, however, he slowly lifted his head and looked at her with a bruised and battered face. When his eyes fell on her, a small, wolfish grin spread across his lips.
"Well, hello, Olivia," he greeted in a dry, scratchy voice like sandpaper. "I wondered if you'd come to see me."
"Wouldn't miss an opportunity to see you in chains," she drily remarked.
"I haven't seen you in a long time. I'd almost forgotten the pleasures of your flesh. Almost." Reiko's tongue crossed his chapped lips, sounding like stone on rough leather.
The young Cryomancer's face flushed red in humiliation as a surge of burning anger scorched Kuai Liang's heart. Before he even knew what he'd done, he'd already backhanded the General across the face. A loud crack echoed through the cell as Reiko's head flailed to the side. He started laughing as blood exploded over his bottom lip.
"Oh, Sub-Zero, did I strike a nerve?" he chuckled. "Don't like to think about the night I shared with your dearest daughter? You know, if memory serves, she didn't complain."
The Grandmaster started to take a step forward to deliver another blow, but Xinyi abruptly held up his hand to stop him and then touched a certain rune etched into the wall beside him. Immediately, a convulsion wracked Reiko from head to toe, as if he'd been cracked like a whip. His smile fell from his face as the prince then lifted his chin with his finger to meet his gaze.
"This woman carries within her the noble blood of the ancients," he silkily cooed in Reiko's ear. "You will treat her properly, with all the respect due to a Lady of her position."
That prompted him to chuckle once again. "There was nothing ladylike about what she did that night," he panted around a mouthful of blood.
The wail that left Reiko burned Kuai Liang's ears like despair ripped from his living heart.
"Enough!" Olivia now barked as she scowled at Xinyi. He nodded and released Reiko from the rune's magic.
The General panted and struggled to breathe, and then he gazed at her with a crocodile smile. "Let me guess, Olivia dear," he said. "They dragged you to the darkest depths of Mòhé to test me, to see if I am, in fact, Reiko."
"Pretty much," she agreed, crossing her arms.
He laughed. "Then, what are you waiting for? Test me."
Olivia thought about it for a long moment. "I killed you," she finally said, her tone accusatory.
"And I killed you," he shot back.
His candor startled Olivia. Kuai Liang saw it clearly on her face. But she held her ground and said, "How are you alive?"
"How are you alive?" Now he winked at her, noticing the frown on her face. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Child," he admonished. "Did you honestly think you were the only one who was capable of resurrection?"
"If that's true, then who resurrected you?" she demanded to know.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes," she growled. "I want to know why they'd do such a stupid thing."
He tsked. "Oh, my dear, you disappoint me," he said with that wolfish half-smile of his growing slightly. "In our time together, did you not learn anything from me? Everything is about perception. What you perceive as stupid merely because it is inconvenient for you is what others would perceive as profound wisdom. Every great general knows this, counts on this, and anticipates a course of action based on it. And you are well aware that I am a great General."
"I am well aware that your ego knows no bounds," she hissed.
"It's not egotistical to speak the truth," he countered. "I have proven myself to be a cunning General time and again."
"You're in chains," she reminded him.
"For now," he winked and smiled dangerously.
Olivia recoiled, and for a moment, her features twisted between astonishment and rage. "If you're so great, Reiko, then why would you even bother to attack Mòhé?" she asked. "The Cryomancers have nothing you could possibly want."
"Don't they?" he said pointedly. Now he swiveled his around and looked at Xinyi. "Or is it possible there's more to Mòhé than meets the eye?"
"And what would that be?" the prince scoffed.
He flashed a subtle glance at Jiayi, one almost imperceptible to everyone in the room except for Kuai Liang. The Grandmaster frowned, scratching his stubbly chin in thoughtful puzzlement. What was that about?
"I am not interested in playing mind games with a war criminal," Jiayi now growled at everyone else. "He's trying to deceive us."
Again, Reiko laughed. "All warfare is based upon deception, young Prince," he scoffed. "When an army can attack, it must appear like it can't; when using its forces, it must appear like it's not; when it's close and ready to attack, it must make the enemy believe it's far away; when it's far away, it must make them believe it's close." He sneered. "Whatever did Hotaru teach you in Seido? Shao Kahn taught me this when I was a mere boy."
Jiayi tensed at the mention of the Emperor. "I would rather have a single lesson from Hotaru than a thousand from Shao Kahn, because at least Hotaru has honor," he shot back. He looked at everyone in the room. "This is pointless. He's only here to play mind games with us, and I am not anxious to indulge him. Let's go."
The men in the room shifted to leave, but Olivia took a step forward and cried, "Wait!" Immediately, everyone else paused and looked at her in surprise. She turned her head and met her father's gaze. "You brought me here to find out if he's Reiko," she whispered to him.
Kuai Liang nodded his approval at her. "Yes, I did," he agreed, his voice soft and barely audible as well. "So find out," he commanded her.
Olivia inhaled deeply and faced the prisoner. "You look like Reiko and sound like Reiko. But what proof do you have that you are Reiko?"
That wolfish grin crept over his expression once more. "Would telling you something only you and Reiko know be acceptable proof?" he asked.
"It depends," she said cautiously, her tone indicating that she didn't like where this line of dialogue was going. "It'd have to be pretty compelling evidence."
"When last I saw you, I know you wondered how you and your father even arrived at that place," he began. "You thought, how is it that the same man who held his infant daughter and kissed her tiny face could one day be so determined to punish her merely for growing into a woman as nature intended? You were certain that, even when you reached out to him in distress - Please, Dad, come get me, come save me - he would abandon you to your fate." He chuffed at his own wit. "I recall telling you then that every child grows up thinking their father is either a hero or villain until they are old enough to realize that he is just a man."
Olivia sucked down a deep swell of air, markedly tensing in a second and Kuai Liang knew Reiko spoke the truth. Their relationship was fractured then, a rift of his own making and one of his greatest regrets. It had very nearly cost him that which was most dear to him. He was lucky that he got her back. He started to speak, but now Xinyi stepped forward.
"We need concrete proof, Reiko," he snapped, "not your usual philosophical ramblings."
The prisoner smirked again at that. "In that case, Young Prince, I seem to recall a birthmark in a very specific spot on Olivia's body," he began. Immediately, she tensed but Reiko continued. "It looks something like a bulbous star, like a splatter of blood in a drop of water. It's small and subtle." He now gazed at the young Cryomancer again, a lion hunting a gazelle. "I've often wondered if you even knew about it, seeing as it's on the underside of your right buttock just above the crease where your leg meets your torso. Impossible for anyone to see unless you're completely naked."
Kuai Liang didn't need to hear more; he knew right away that this person was Reiko. Olivia had been born with the birthmark he'd described, and he'd even seen it himself when she was a baby and he'd changed her diapers. He looked at his daughter then as her face flushed in humiliation yet again, and she stood there in silence as he saw embarrassed tears creep into her eyes. To her credit, she didn't let them fall, even though her father knew all too well that she was deeply ashamed of herself for her dalliance with the General, and he knew what a struggle it was for her to maintain her composure.
But Reiko still saw her distress anyway. "I can see that I've passed your test, Olivia," he said. "Now, tell me...where does that leave us?"
She refused to answer, and the Grandmaster suspected it was because if she spoke, she'd start to cry. Kuai Liang looked behind him to Miyuki and his Elites. "Take Tundra back to the throne room," he commanded them. "Smoke and I will be up shortly."
"But, Grandmaster-" Xinyi started to say.
"You got your answer," he cut him off, scowling at the prince. Then he gripped Olivia's elbow. "Go with them, Tundra."
She swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes, Grandmaster."
He saw that she was shaking. His heart lurched in pain for her and he wanted to scoop her up in his arms to make it all better. He would talk to her later, away from all these people and especially Reiko.
When she and they had departed, Kuai Liang crossed his arms, seething with hatred for the General as Tomas and the princes both looked at him to make his move. The cell hummed around him, faintly but consistently, with the crackling of the candle flames. He remained silent, his attention focused on the prisoner chained to the wall in front of him, the only meaningful source of sound in the cell. In the darkest recesses of his heart, the Cryomancer enjoyed seeing Reiko struggle to breathe through the blood dribbling down his throat.
Reiko looked up at him and smirked. "Oh, is Daddy Dearest going to teach me a lesson for embarrassing his little girl?" the General sneered. "You know, Sub-Zero, she's the one who seduced me."
Kuai Liang refused to take the bait even though every shred of his brain was screaming at him to beat him with a kori baton. "Why?" When he finally spoke, his voice was laced with ice. Contempt, given speech. "Why are you here, Reiko? What do you have to gain?"
"I thought I'd made that clear." His words, in contrast, were thick, sultry, somehow enticing and repulsive at once.
"Clear as mud," Tomas now said.
He shrugged, causing the chains to jingle lightly as they shifted. "Well, Sub-Zero, the truth is that I have unfinished business to attend to, namely with poor, distraught Olivia."
Now it was Kuai Liang's turn to sneer. "I never took you for a fool, Reiko," he started, "so you'll forgive me for thinking you a liar."
"It's foolish to seek retribution and justice against the one who killed me?" he challenged, raising his swollen eyebrow. "Revenge is the greatest motivator in all the Realms."
"It's foolish to attack the Cryomancers in Mòhé with a miserably small army just on the off-hand chance she'd be here," he replied. "You're not that careless. You're after something else. I want to know what."
"I told you, Sub-Zero," he shrugged again. "Revenge is a perfectly acceptable reason to attack Mòhé. These Cryomancers are your kin, and I had a strong suspicion they'd contact you for help. Truthfully, it was a gamble on my part, especially whether or not you'd bring Olivia. But then again, I owe you a debt as well."
"I'm not playing games with you," he snarled. "I-"
"Grandmaster, allow me to motivate him," Xinyi offered. Without waiting for Kuai Liang's response, he closed his eyes, his lips moving in an inaudible mumble as he ran his hand over a different section of the sigils. Reiko began to groan as if a great set of hands had clamped around his body, prompting his own eyelids to close so tightly it seemed as if they must fuse together. As the prince worked his spell, he shuddered and tensed as if he was gripped in the throes of a seizure.
"Quickly now, Grandmaster," Xinyi said, his own eyes still closed in concentration as a pathetic squeal escaped Reiko's lips. "I can only do this for a few moments before it kills him completely, and for now we still need him alive."
"What is your purpose here?" he demanded to know. "What do you want from the Cryomancers?"
"I was sent here," he gasped.
"Sent here by whom?"
"Havik…I was sent by Havik."
"I'm not familiar with that name," Kuai Liang told the others, frowning.
"He's a cleric and a potent necromancer," Xinyi answered. "From Chaosrealm." The scorn through which his words struggled and swam left little doubt how he felt about anyone from Chaosrealm.
"I've heard of him," Jiayi now said, "but I've never felt any pressing need to study him."
"At least we have a name," Tomas replied. "It's a good place to start."
Suddenly, both Xinyi and Reiko shuddered as one at what Kuai Liang could only surmise was an unexpected tug on their souls. "Time is running out," the prince announced with a labored pant. He looked into the Grandmaster's eyes. "Hurry, while there's still time!"
He nodded at Xinyi and then looked at Reiko once again. "What was your purpose here? What did you hope to gain from the Cryomancers?"
It took so long for the General to answer that Kuai Liang was certain the prince would have to release him from his magical grip before he could answer. Eventually, however, Reiko spoke again. "The means to claim Shinnok's mantel and become a blood god."
Even had Xinyi not stopped his magical compulsion already, Kuai Liang's line of questioning would have ended at that exact moment, for the Grandmaster's heart shattered like glass on a tile at the revelation. It wasn't a scheme he'd ever heard from any of the Outworld villains before - not even Onaga - and that's the part that scared him. He knew that 'Shinnok's mantel' could only mean one thing.
Kuai Liang spun with an abrupt cry, drilling his clenched fist across Reiko's jaw. It landed so hard that the General's body, even though it was chained tightly to the wall, lurched violently to the side as a tooth and a spray of blood exploded from his mouth. He immediately struck him again, this time in the opposite direction, and gore now spattered both of the princes. He probably would've punched Reiko repeatedly had Tomas not intervened then and caught one of his wrists to pull him back.
They carried on a silent conversation with their eyes in the span of a second, his lieutenant ordering him to calm down. So the Grandmaster stood, shoulders heaving. The need to lash out and punish Reiko for even thinking of such a thing burned at his soul; a kori sword was in his hand now, and he couldn't even recall forming the weapon with his powers. Slowly, deliberately, he forced himself to calm.
"What is it?" Jiayi asked once Kuai Liang had visibly composed himself.
"The amulet." His voice was barely a whisper. "They're after Shinnok's amulet."
MKDemigodZ-Warrior, well, the Cryomancer monarchy is just something that came to me one night LOL
Obelisk of Light, how does a Cryomancer monarchy explain his characterization in CotDM? Anyway, maybe Livy's not ready for a romance, maybe she is, but either way, you're right about Subby's upcoming dilemma putting a damper on any feelings she may or may not develop. As for your question about Raiden, like I told you in a message, it's my head canon that the Earthrealmers' portal technology is limited to Earthrealm. So they still need Raiden or another god to open up portals for them to other Realms.
Daniel Barga, well, it's not so much that Livy's angry that Alex has a new girlfriend, it was that it was hard for her to think that her first love had moved on, even though it had been a few years and even though she's the one who ended it. It kind of hurts when someone you cared about so deeply has moved on, and I just wanted to depict that to make her more relatable as a human being.
The Titan's Shadow, I'm glad it helped make your day good. :) To answer your question, it looks pretty cool so far and I'm intrigued by this new character, Kronika. If she can go back and erase the debacle that was Cyber Sub-Zero, I am here for it. But Sub-Zero himself? I'm on the fence. His fatalities look a little blah in comparison to some of the others'. Also, I'm glad to see that NRS finally synced up his name to his Chinese heritage. But on the same token, because he'd nearly always been previously shown as white, and that's the depiction I've always run with in my stories for the last eight years, it got me accused of racism this week and I very nearly deleted all my stories. So, now I'm kind of salty about talking and/or thinking about the new game. :(
ROCuevas, I'm glad to hear it!
Westcoast Witchdoctor, oh, you know Tsai Bing is such a hoot, especially towards women. So we'll see how that goes. As for Reiko, he can't die because I'm not done telling his story yet LOL
en-lumine, that is so sweet and you have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that. It is just really kind and it is that kind of love for my work that made me want to write again. And you talking me off the ledge this week is another reason as well. It inspires me to be the best kind of writer for you and others. That's the part that makes this whole thing worth it. I'm glad you're enjoying what I've done so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy it through to the end. I have a lot of exciting things planned that I can't wait to sit down and write. :D