Chapter VIII
Gathering
Shang Tsung always hated Raiden's Sky Temple. The towering structure stood over a thousand feet tall atop a lone, humble peak and could be seen for miles in almost every direction. Once travelers were out of the thick woods, one needed only to look to the sky and follow the beacon in the clouds. He sneered at the sight of it.
He understood, given Raiden's status as the God of Thunder and Lightning, why he would have his temple reach into the clouds. But a sensible being would build a simple shrine atop the highest mountain. Not the garish and ostentatious monstrosity of countless floors—most of which were probably never used by anyone for anything.
It was an imposing structure, he granted it that. Although Raiden was a benevolent god who served as Earthrealm's Guardian, even Tsung wouldn't deny there was something foreboding about the massive tower. It stood like a sleeping beast, watching them approach and seeming like it could crush them at a moment's notice.
Given his history with the Thunder God, and still bound in chains, he felt like he was being marched to his doom.
"We're almost there," he heard Scorpion whisper to Sareena. "Just hang on."
The demon was cradled in his arms and already looked dead. She weakly opened her eyes and offered a slight smile. Her complexion was ashen, and the wound in her stomach resembled an ink stain with sickly tendrils stretching all over her body. To look at her, one would be forgiven if they thought she'd disintegrate into mulch.
The ninja's dedication to her was amusing. But then Tsung knew from the moment he first laid eyes on Scorpion that despite his grim and hellish persona, the ninja was nothing if not a romantic. The spectre may present as a selfish loner, but it's no surprise a man who devoted his existence to the memory of his wife and child would become equally protective of the poor demon with a pretty face.
Of course, he thought. She apparently gained the Lin Kuei ninja's sympathy as well. The girl must just have that effect on people.
He didn't care whether she lived or died, but his healing her was the best chance he had of getting free of his bonds. Then again, he would lie if he said the prospect of Raiden refusing to help her—and the conflict it would cause with Scorpion—didn't fill him with relish. Any opportunity to unmask the Thunder God as a hypocrite and blithering fool was one to be treasured.
They reached the entrance just before dusk. The weather was overcast and windy, but otherwise quiet. The massive doors were emblazoned with gold dragons and lions, and next to them was a large, shining gong with a hammer left in front of it—used to alert Raiden or anyone else of visitors.
"Ermac," Havik said. "Can you open it?"
Ermac nodded and stepped forward. He held his hand up and green energy radiated from his body. The doors rumbled and opened with a heavy creek that sounded like a growling animal.
The main hall was as hideous as Tsung remembered it—empty and dim with hundreds of unlit candles lining the walls, and a thick layer of dust coating everything in sight. In the center stood a bronze shrine depicting an ugly beast wielding drums. At the end of the hall was a metallic device with chain links and pulleys that reached into the upper levels of the tower.
"Ah, excellent," Havik said upon seeing it. "I feared we'd have to actually climb the stairs."
"Should we not have rang the gong?" Scorpion asked. "Let Raiden know we're here?"
"We do not sense his presence," Ermac said as he used his power to shut the door. "Nor Fujin. The gods are elsewhere for the moment."
"The story of Earthrealm in a single sentence," Tsung muttered.
"Let's adjourn to the higher levels," Havik said, stepping on to the lift. "We can wait for the Thunder God there and perhaps find something to ease the lady's pain."
Scorpion said nothing and joined the others on the lift, but Tsung sensed doubt from him. Havik shut the gate and pulled the lever on the side. There was a lurch, and the chains and pulley came to life, carrying them up the many levels of the Sky Temple.
The lift moved slow and swayed the entire time. Tsung didn't fear heights, but even he felt unsettled by the rickety contraption that seemed as ancient as the rest of the temple. Scorpion looked equally uncomfortably, though Havik and Ermac both appeared calm. He supposed if the lift did stall or collapse, Ermac could use his power to keep them from falling.
Though likely not me, he noted with some concern.
Luckily, it didn't come to that. They reached the top level—or close to it—and dismounted into an elegant chamber with a long, polished table. More statues, murals and shrines were visible in the surrounding rooms. The wind outside was loud, and inside felt stifling and thick. Even without the Thunder God's presence, there was electricity in the air.
Havik immediately begam rummaging through whatever books or scrolls he could find. Ermac checked out the window, while Scorpion, unable to find a place more comfortable, laid Sareena on the table.
Tsung looked around in disgust, knowing this was where Raiden adjourned to rest, meditate, and sometimes train his chosen warriors. Memories of the last time he was here came to him, and with them, the desire to desecrate the shrines, destroy the statues, and burn the rest. He hated this place and wanted to be far from it.
Sareena moaned and held her stomach, but was otherwise motionless. Scorpion checked on her and said to Ermac, "She fading. She doesn't have much time. Could there be anything up here for her?"
"There isn't," Tsung said. "Why would Raiden have anything that would help a demon in his temple? Even if there was, who knows where it's kept?" Scowling, his spared a glance at Ermac and continued, "Let me free, and I'll save the demon. She needs dark sorcery."
"You're not touching her," Scorpion said.
"Then you condemn her," he replied.
"Raiden will help."
"Will he? You're so sure of that." He scoffed and spat on the floor. "Why would Earthrealm's great Thunder God, leader of the Forces of Light, guardian of all that is good, spare a single thought to some lowly demon trash from the Netherealm? One who served Quan Chi no less."
"She turned on him," Scorpion said, barely containing his anger. "Sub-Zero trusts her. She wants to help."
"And that means nothing to Raiden," he hissed. "Do you know what will happen if she dies? If she's lucky, she'll simply cease to exist—for it's a mystery even to us whether we demons truly have souls of our own."
"That's enough," Ermac said.
"The alternative?" he continued. "For a traitor like her? She'll be damned to the 5th Plane of the Netherealm where—"
Without warning, an invisible force slammed him against the wall. In the blurred patch of dizziness that came with the blow, he was then dropped onto a wooden chair and the chains binding him unraveled and retied him to it.
Ermac came forward, his glowing eyes grim. "We said: that's enough."
Tsung regained his bearings and grumbled—more upset with himself than his foes. He should've known better than to throw taunts and dire warnings. It was beneath him. He was the snake, and he should've come at them with craft.
"You don't trust me," he said. "Yet you're so quick to trust a Cleric of Chaos."
"I don't trust anyone," Scorpion said.
"Good. Then perhaps you should ask if Havik really wishes to meet Raiden here."
Scorpion hesitated. He looked into the other room where the Cleric was still looking through old books and scrolls. His eyes narrowed, and he no doubt thought back to Havik refusing to sound the gong at the entrance.
He turned to Ermac and said, "Neither of you came here to see Raiden, did you?"
Ermac sighed. "Havik believes he can find the secret of Onaga's power here. A concern—and one that we share—is that Raiden might not be the help we need him to be."
"You think Raiden would actually align with the Dragon King?"
"Not knowingly. But he may see this peace as worth defending."
"There," said Tsung. "See. They don't care about the demon either. Your quest to heal her is incidental. If you truly wish to save this creature, it is my help you need."
A scowl came to Scorpion's face, which pleased him. Before the ninja could answer, however, Havik joined them from the other room. "Not up here," the Cleric said, throwing crumpled scrolls over his shoulder. "But there is a library in this place. I shall go down there. Keep an eye on the sorcerer, Ermac."
He stepped onto the lift, and just as he was about to close the gate, Scorpion did as well. "I'll join you."
The rickety lift descended with another awkward jump. As the levels went past them, Havik seemed at ease and might have even begun whistling if he had lips. Scorpion watched him with his hand at his kunai. He knew Shang Tsung was only trying to sow distrust for his own purposes, but that didn't mean he was wrong.
"What happens if Raiden doesn't show?" he asked.
"Eh? Oh. I'm sure we'll manage."
His eyes narrowed, and he drew the kunai. When the lift stopped, he took the Cleric by the shoulder and pressed him against the railing with the blade at his throat. "Start talking."
"About?"
"You're not here to see Raiden," he said. "You don't even want him here."
Havik seemed unintimidated and even a little irritated. "I'm sorry, but did I at any point suggest otherwise? I told you we were coming to the Sky Temple for information. You were the one seeking the Thunder God."
He pressed the blade against his skin and drew a thin stream of blood. "Sareena is dying!"
"I wish no ill upon the demon. But if you think I'm going to help you summon Raiden here, you're mistaken, ninja. Who knows the state of the Thunder God in this world Onaga's conjured? Who knows whether he'll believe our story and aid us, or deem us a threat and eliminate us? We are a motley crew of ne'er-do-wells, you must admit.
"I told you no lies," he continued. "But if you must know, it was my hope to gain access to this place, find the information I require, and leave unnoticed. I wouldn't trust Raiden under normal circumstances. I would trust him even less now."
Scorpion growled and stepped away. As frustrated as he was, he couldn't hold any blame against the Cleric. He had made no assurances, and neither had promised an alliance. "What can I do?" he asked. "She still needs help."
"I overheard Shang Tsung," Havik said, brushing himself off. "You could let him heal her."
"You expect me to trust him?"
"Trust is in short supply, Scorpion. What makes you think any of us trust you?"
He hesitated.
"Two demons, Ermac, myself," Havik continued. "We still exist here because we're unnatural. But what of you? Onaga made you Hanzo Hasashi again—granted you your family and clan. Yet you remember the old world and knew to believe Sareena. How?"
He tried to speak, but nothing would come, and a chill went through his blood. If the Dragon King remade reality, why did he remember the old world while no one else did? Why was he fed a story about food poisoning to explain his memories, while the likes of Sub-Zero, Smoke and Bi-Han questioned nothing?
"What are you accusing me of?" he asked.
"Nothing. Yet. I just find it curious you alone seem to have retained your memories despite being remade with all the rest. Perhaps you should ask yourself the same question."
"I don't know," he said. "I have no answer for that."
Another earthquake rumbled through the land. The tower began to sway, and both Scorpion and Havik quickly stepped off the lift in fear it would collapse. Though it didn't, books fell from their shelves, statues toppled over, and from somewhere came the sound of something fragile shattering. When it subsided, an unsettling, eerie silence except for the creaking of the lift was all that remained.
"We have greater concerns," Havik said. "Listen, if you will not allow Shang Tsung to heal Sareena, perhaps the library may have something you can use."
He turned and headed into the rows of books before them. Scorpion did the same, hoping to find something to help Sareena, but his thoughts were plagued with questions. Why did retain his memories? If he was unlike Havik, Sareena, Ermac and Shang Tsung, what set him apart from everyone else?
And was he the only one?
Traveling through portals is never pleasant. One gets used to it if done often enough, but it's a wretched experience. Kitana likened it to walking through a field of burning lightning and coming out into bitter cold. It would always pass quickly, but there were times she felt stepping through a portal to another realm shaved at least a year off her life.
Luckily, she thought, rubbing her arms. I have plenty to spare.
She and Mileena emerged into Earthrealm on a narrow pathway surrounded by some woods and mountains. The Sky Temple, with its absurd size, was the first thing to be seen in the distance, and she was amused to find it was dusk on Earth where they left Edenia in early dawn.
"Is that really where Raiden lives?" Mileena asked.
"I wouldn't say he lives there," she replied. "But I understand that is where he meditates and trains."
"I'd make a comment about compensating for something, but I'm better than that."
They began following the path that led to the Sky Temple. The overcast sky darkened, but there was no thunder to be heard. Kitana hoped Raiden was in and would have answers. And hopefully then, he would contact their allies. With everything that was happening, the prospect of seeing Liu and the others again offered some comfort.
But her mind returned to Jade, and guilt and dread hit her stomach. She kept seeing the desperate hope in Jade's eyes and wondered if she'd made a terrible mistake. Suppose it all went wrong, would she ever forgive her? But more than that were the other questions.
What if the others were like her—aware of what was happening and complacent? What if it turned out Raiden was in league with this Dragon King? Or even Liu? Or what if she was just wrong about the whole thing? What if the Dragon King was a benevolent figure giving them what they desired? And what if her resistance only made things worse?
Jade had her family back. Edenia was restored, and the realms were at peace. Her Earthrealm allies likely had their own wishes made true. Was she willing to deny them of all that because she couldn't accept a good thing? Was Jade right, and she was just being selfish? Again, the question came to her: was a beautiful lie better than the ugly truth?
You see something broken, and you have to fix it, her father said. But what if this time it wasn't the world that was broken—just her because she couldn't accept it? What if in trying fix this, she only ruined it for herself and her loved ones?
"Mileena," she said. "I … I owe you an apology."
Mileena stopped in her tracks. She stared at Kitana a moment and then looked around like she expected an ambush or trick. "You what?"
"Your face and … your memories. I think … maybe I should've let you be."
She said nothing. It seemed she couldn't decide whether to resent Kitana's pity or bask in the petty glow of her taking the blame for something. For as long as she hated her "sister" … as much as she blamed her for everything … having finally gotten an apology, Mileena seemed too stunned to respond.
"You didn't," she stammered. "I'm not …" She fidgeted and shifted her weight. "Save your apologies. I told you already: I'm not Edenian. I don't belong there."
"You looked happy at the ball," Kitana said. "I've never seen you like that. If I took that away from you … I'm sorry. I truly am."
Again, she looked off balance—as if the apology did more damage to her than a blow to the head. Standing there, trying to find words, Mileena looked like her armor fell off.
"Okay, what is with you?" she asked. "You pour your heart to me last night and … and now this. What are you trying to do?"
"I'm not trying to do anything. I guess … with everything that's happened recently, I've been reconsidering things I've taken for granted."
"Well, stop it," she snapped. "I don't like it."
There was a flash, following by rumbling, and for a moment Kitana thought it was the thunder and lightning of Raiden. But she turned and saw the portal behind them reopened. Without needing to tell Mileena, they both took cover off the road in the neighboring woods and watched as figures emerged.
She expected to see a legion of Seidan Guard, but instead found a growing number of four-armed warriors thick with muscle appear. "Shokan?!"
"Looks like it," Mileena said. "I see ten already and more are coming. And … Reptile?"
Kitana watched in shock as more Shokan came through the portal. They were indeed accompanied by Reptile and what appeared to be more of his kind. When the portal closed, she counted twenty Shokan, a half dozen Zaterrans, and a woman in white she didn't recognize.
"This is a raiding party," she said. "They came for a fight."
She and Mileena looked at one another. They then looked toward the Sky Temple, and neither needed to speak.
Wasting no time, they both ran for the temple as fast as they could.
"I knew it!"
Scorpion had no luck finding anything that could help Sareena. He found a section of the library that dealt with medicine and healing but nothing he thought would be beneficial to her. Although he barely scratched the surface of Raiden's library, he doubted he would find any texts dealing with demon health even if he had time to search every book.
He heard Havik call out from the other side of the room and went to him. What the Cleric had was less a book and more a box holding ancient scrolls. The paper was so dry and rotted, he wouldn't have been surprised if they burst into dust at the slightest touch.
"What is it?"
"I once encountered a man," Havik said, still looking through the scrolls. "In another time. He claimed to be on a quest—seeking powerful relics. I thought little of it then, but once I discovered the Dragon King's return, I realized they were connected."
He showed Scorpion the scroll. The text was barely legible, but of note were six symbols or runes arranged in a circle with a drawing of what appeared to be Shinnok's Amulet in the center.
"The Kamidogu."
"I thought those were magic daggers," Scorpion said.
"As did I," he replied. "But whether due to Kronika's meddling or perhaps even Onaga covering his tracks, those daggers were false Kamidogu. The real thing … they were something much more."
"Which is?"
"These scrolls speak of a time long ago. When there was nothing but the Elder Gods and darkness. The Gods crafted a device which they used to forge reality. Afterward, it was split into six pieces and hidden on one realm apiece—forgotten to time and history, remembered only as relics.
"But Onaga knew what they were," he continued. "He's been planning this for much longer than any of us. It's as I feared … while all were occupied with Shao Kahn's invasion, Shinnok's return and Kronika, no one thought to stop the Dragon King's resurrection. And no matter how much the timeline's been rewritten, his goal has always remained the same. He's acquired the Kamidogu, and we are living in the result."
Scorpion rubbed his neck. He felt hot, and his back ached, but this news chilled his blood. In the abstract, the idea of someone actually remaking the world was daunting and even absurd. But to hear how Onaga might have done it—and right under everyone's noses—made it feel real. This ancient creature had supplanted gods and Titans and wielded a weapon that could change reality itself.
"So what now?"
"Shinnok's Amulet is the key," Havik said. "That's the trigger that activates the Kamidogu. If we can get to it, we may have a chance."
"Great. And how are we supposed to do that?"
Before Havik could reply, a gong sounded in the distance. It was repeated and even frantic, and he could already guess it was coming from the entrance. They went to the window and looked down, but from their height, only saw a blurred blue and purple dot. Whoever it was, they were desperate to get in.
"Ah," Havik said, finding a viewing scope. Upon looking down out the window, he added, "Why it's Princess Kitana and her clone."
"What could they be doing here?"
"I can make a guess, but …" Havik trailed off as he looked up. "Oh, bother."
Scorpion snatched the scope from his hand and looked to the distance. Marching up the pathway from the portal was a battalion of Shokan warriors, all armed and ready for battle. His assessment was blunter:
"Shit."
End of Chapter VIII
