As the night grew. The day withered. And for some reason, it felt lively. Warmth started brazing the air, more visible souls walking each corridor.
But Kalliste felt bored. She wandered into the hallways. Exploring as her inner demon suggested. She couldn't enter the Dead Pool anymore as security increased. Even being an ally. She didn't earn access to it. Already this place was deemed more interesting than anything before. Maybe Shang Tsung's island was grand, but this was slightly more occupied and different.
She stopped to see a large opening outside. A balcony you would call it. It was grand and allowed the pure, midnight sky to seep inside.
With obscure eyes watching. She could sense heels hitting against the floors. When she turned around to see who was approaching. The dark revealed the figure of a woman. Medium red hair, crimson attire. She came forward with a cunning smirk. Kal immediately recognized her. The vampiric woman seemed to have a fondness for blood.
"Greetings, newcomer. Come, let me see you." She says. Kalliste understood her intentions. She continued to stay still.
"There is no need of hesitating, girl." Her eyes grew heavy with yearning. But it slowly drained as Kalliste was remaining still, disobeying her words. She sighed. Curling her hands at Kalliste, proceeding to draw her blood right in front of Kal. It was a quick exchange, it hurt for a bit. Gave an overwhelming feeling just for a moment. The woman in red consumed Kal's blood. Many faces appeared.
"-Bitter, but most savory." Her words curled like a hungry cat. Now putting on a more serious expression. "So, Shao Kahn has summoned you into his court. I wonder how long you will be able to comprehend his rule. I do not trust you, nor that parasite you have inside you." She continued to spat. "Silent ones always keep obscurity in them."
"Who are you...?" Kalliste asks. "I am Skarlet. Shao Kahn's favorite assassin. Moreso, a blood mage."
"And what brings you here?" Kalliste leans against a pillar. Trying to get a read on her.
"Nothing but my yearning for your blood."
"You've already gotten a taste. Now leave me alone." Kalliste crossed her arms and walked away. Until a sudden sharp whiplash hit Kalliste's leg, dragging her against the floor. Kal turned around in slight anger. Annoyed by all of these sudden assaults from Shao Kahn's allies. Of course, being new meant lots of picking and mocking; along with suspicions gathering.
"I also wish to test your skills. What of you interests Shao Kahn...?" Skarlet walks over to her with that sultry demeanor. She prepares herself as Kal stands up. They both adjust their stances, glaring at one another.
Fight!
Skarlet jumps in the air and summons a bloody scythe; swinging it at Kal. She barrel rolls backward, charging at Skarlet as she manages to kick her stomach which threw her off a little. She grunts in slight vexation. Gazing at her; Skarlet proceeds to dash forward giving a crimson whiplash giving high damage. Kalliste winces. Who knew blood magic could hurt?
Taking in the slight impact, Kalliste rushed for an uppercut. Successfully hitting the woman. She quickly rises from it and begins her marrow massacre. Ending it with a bloodshot. Skarlet was good. She indeed drew blood from Kalliste but she had only begun.
"Your blood will satisfy my needs." Skarlet taunted.
Kalliste clenched her face and began drawing organic black magic, pulling in Skarlet that was similar to her cell siphon. As she is pulled into contact, Kalliste's organic strings shove Skarlet towards the hardening floor.
Kalliste walks over and offers her hand. Skarlet snares her face and kicks Kal's legs. Interfering with her balance, she falls while Skarlet immediately pins her. Smiling down at her. Kal's face had a visible blood wound. Skarlet moves her head closer to hers and gives her a lick on the cheek where her blood was seeping through. Kalliste winced and roughly kicked Skarlet in the groin, pushing her body away from hers.
As tension broke, a voice tore the heat apart.
"There you are." They both looked to their right. There appeared to be an unknown man. He wore leather black, a cowboy hat, and a mask that covered half of his face. He walked over. Gives his hand to Skarlet. Skarlet's face was slightly lit up by the sight of the man. Putting two and two together. They seemed to have a relationship.
Kalliste felt baffled and a bit awkward. The man looked at Kalliste who continued to give a delicate, uncomfortable face.
"Well, howdy there, sunshine. Ain't seen you before." Kalliste scoffed.
"Hold on, sweetheart. Seeing a new face around here sure is something. How you doin'? I'm Erron Black." Kalliste looked down at her hand which he offered. She sighed and shook his hand. He smiled underneath his mask. Skarlet's face had a hint of envy and disgust. Putting her hand against Erron's shoulder, she lets him face her.
"What is it you need..?" Skarlet asks.
"Just wanderin' where you ran off to. - I sure am feelin' a bit... lonely." His voice curls. He appeared to be a man of desires. Her lips pouted in aversion. Now she understood that she was no longer needed here. She sighs and proceeds to leave the two alone.
Walking past a large room that seemed to be a training ground. She stopped and began to observe the many different fighters in training. All from different races. Tall, short, scaley, large, and bulky. Most of them were men, with little sight of women. Wandering around the room. There was a crowd gathering around a battle.
Cheers began to rise louder in volume. Kalliste was intrigued by how brutal these fighters were. She had to expect and examine just how the tournament might turn out.
The distant cheers and roaring had become distant as she wandered into the corridors and the guards stood idly by. As she turned the other corner of the halls she began to hear commotion that echoed throughout the next hall. She swore she heard the familiar clinking of coins and baggage nearby and she decided to follow through.
As she reached the end of the corridor she saw the pair in the middle of a heated argument. She watched as a guard was being confronted by a familiar being. She peeked to see that it was the Nakadan creature berating one of Shao Kahn's men, they appeared smaller than Kollector, intimidated by him. Kalliste couldn't hear the conversation between them but knew it was unpleasant for the had made him dismissed where he returned his gaze upon the empty hall, there he noticed her from afar. Kalliste quickly averted her view from him yet it was already too late. He had seen her.
"You," He said finally reaching her from her hiding spot behind a corner. He spat with abhorrence, a bitterness that was unexplained to her.
Kollector looked down at her, "What is your business here?"She frowned, he had a strange accent and an odd appearance, it grew a certain investment in her. His attitude was the result of Shang Tsung's confrontation as it was not needed.
Kalliste didn't need him to depend on, she could handle her battles."I wish to talk to you." She said simply.
He continued to give her a look of disdain. "Of what? Here to vocalize your perils from your master?"She shrugged. "I do not need him to speak for me, I can manage."
Kalliste glanced at him, "What are you?"His eyes narrowed almost taken aback, "I am Shao Kahn's debt collector, I fuel his banker in his rule."
She smiled, "That's it? I thought you were someone exceptional..." Kalliste was disappointed and this was just her mocking him. He continued to give her a look of an annoyance then almost jumped at her, "I'm only jesting with you. You are quite easily angered."She frowned.
"You enrage me, you do not know me." He spat.
"Maybe but I can know you... You see, I don't get to talk to many I encounter. Perhaps we are the same?" He tilted his head in disagreement.
"You see me as an equal? I see you as a slave." He stated.
She shrugged then pursed her lips. "Perhaps we are."
His eyes narrowed, "You're an odd one."
"Am I?" She answered back,
Kollector snarled, he was getting tired of her. He then began to step away from the hollow conversation but when the loneliness within them appeared again Kalliste wanted to pursue him, so she decided to continue her inquisitiveness.
"Where are you going?" She asked and then once more the irksome feeling in him returned shortly after.
"Do not pester me." She frowned. This was a most peculiar feeling. She knew this feeling well. It was a certain sadness, a longing. She pursed her lips. The feeling had been building up in her for a time now.
She rushed to him, "Tell me something, how long have you been in service for the emperor?"She asked and then paused as he looked at her, "Why must you question me?" He says with a bit of irritation. Kalliste looks at him and shrugs, "I'm curious."
His eyes grew distant, "Long enough to forget the ways of the street and the paths of your masters." He says and continues to walk away. Kalliste purses her lips, "Streets? Were you poor?"
He finally stops in his tracks, "I have grown from poverty, empty riches and wealth. Indeed I was wretched but my station improves." A smile grows from despondency and into confidence. "Do you know its feeling?" He then asks.
Kalliste stares back at him, "Yes, I was also the same. Until Shang Tsung became my... master." She said and once more she shrugs, "I have become something I did not know. A thing created to fulfill his will. I do what he says." She says with an expression of solemnness.
"It is what we must do to rise in our status. Though, I am curious to what you profit." Said Kollector. It felt that the tension between them settled as they shared their connection in all things, it was a sharing that was comforting and a feeling that was foreign to Kalliste. Kollector then continues on his path.
She lets him go this time and watches his figure dread deeper into the halls before she turns her gaze back to the arena. She sighs and pours herself into the darkest part of the corridors, where the shadow was beginning to question herself, her role, and her being. How come she never realized it before?
She was being exploited and experimented on like a slave for Shang Tsung... And at such a young age too. It was a wonder she was able to stand at shook her head and clenched her fists, "No!" She mutteredin grim defiance.
The power grows deep inside of her... Long ago he had a history of experimenting on others and found the innocence in her to be tantalizing. To give her purpose and a sense of ability, he had infused dark magic inside of her, the dark souls of the netherrealm, the fiendish powers that made her different yet stronger. To her it was just a power that she had, she didn't question its presence, it simply was.
She had been molded into a killer. She had been given a reason to be honest she hadn't much of a choice. She never had a family to begin with... Poor, hungry, and devoid within the streets of Outworld. She was lucky to be taken into a home but unfortunate enough to be experimented first, she couldn't stand it, the violence, the darkness, the despair, the hopelessness... But she learned to deal with it, to embrace it. She had to. Without it she was dark energy engraved into her left arm, covering it with a black marking almost like a tattoo, it was an emblem of sorts, a symbol of her power.
It was a dark gift given to her but she was not weak. She was a killer.
She was a champion.
She had a purpose.