Chapter Fifty-One

The Next Morning.

Main Palace

After having a quiet breakfast alone, Kitana began to leave the dining quarters, intending on heading back to her room. Her mind was clear from any thoughts as she walked passed the people around her, most of them chatting amongst themselves. However, she did feel her fatigue as her eyelids felt a bit heavy to her.

I definitely didn't get good sleep last night, Kitana thought as she tried to remember exactly what time it was before she had finally fallen asleep overnight.

Once she thought those words, her mind began to slightly drift off. She was beginning to have the thought of perhaps trying to sleep again once she was back in her room. That was when she bumped into someone almost head on, letting out a small 'oomph' as did the person she bumped into.

"Um, sorry…" Kitana managed to utter. She was beginning to go around the person, not even bothering to look up to see who she was ran into.

"Kitana?" a deep male voice said.

Kitana's eyes widened a bit as she instantly recognized the voice. She turned her head up to the voice. The Princess felt her heart skip a beat upon laying her eyes on Siegfried, who stared at her with what looked liked a bit of concern.

"Si…Siegfried," Kitana managed to say. She then briefly looked around to make sure neither Jade nor Sindel were around. She then tugged on to Siegfried's left arm before leading him outside the main palace, not stopping until they reached the closest statue on the palace grounds.

"Is everything all right?" Siegfried asked her. It was a bit awkward for him at this moment… only twenty-four hours ago, Sindel had told him that they had to cut contact due to personal reasons. Now here he was exactly a day later standing in front of the Princess he was not supposed to be talking to.

Kitana sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. With all that's been happening, my mother doesn't want the three of us to be in contact with…anyone. To be honest, I wouldn't mind…but not with you…I don't know why…" By then, she had looked up at Siegfried and saw the dark circles around his eyes, something that wasn't there the last time she saw him. "…Are you okay?"

The blonde man sighed a bit. "Yeah… um, I kind of had a… rough night."

Kitana nodded a little. "I know that feeling." Another sigh escaped her throat. "I guess I just want this ordeal to end."

"I understand," Siegfried said. "But there is one thing I need to know. Your mother wasn't very specific as to why she wanted us to cut contact all of a sudden."

"It's… for our protection and… for everyone else's," was Kitana's reply.

A paused lingered between them for a moment, the only sound around them were the footsteps and soft chatter from the people. Neither one of them were sure how long the silence lasted before Siegfried spoke.

"Do you want to go for a walk for a bit?" he asked. Kitana looked up and seemed to stare at him a bit. He knew what she was thinking and, after waking up to what was similar to a hangover, knew the right thing to say. "I promise I won't run off this time."

A smirk appeared on Kitana's lips. "All right. But only for a little a while. I don't want Jade and my mother to realize that I've been missing for quite some time."

Siegfried nodded in agreement. "Two hours?"

"Perhaps."

From there, the two of them began walking further away from the palace. Unknown to either of them, however, Jade happened to witness their meeting. Hiding behind one of the large plants, she watched their gestures as she couldn't hear their conversation. Jade had hoped that Kitana would eventually walk away. Instead, they both began walking away from the palace together, much to Jade's dismay. She had guessed that they were going to go for a walk.

I just hope it won't be in the forest, she thought.

Worried about the safety of her best friend, Jade began heading back into the palace, intending on warning Sindel about the situation.

Dungeons, Shao Kahn's Fortress

After what felt more like a short nap than a long sleep, Raven slowly opened his eyes. As he did, the first thing he noticed was the sound of dripping water somewhere nearby. When his vision adjusted, he was able to slightly make out the stoned ceiling above him.

That was when he remembered…he was trapped here in the Outworld Emperor's dungeons. How long he was in here… he couldn't tell.

Slowly, the agent tried to get up, but just as soon found himself gritting his teeth upon feeling the sheer pain running up and down his weakened body. He was feeling the effects of the beatings he received overnight. He could also feeling the dry feeling at the back of his throat, a sign that he hadn't drank anything in a while.

Despite the pain, Raven managed to sit himself up, leaning his back against the wall just next to the door of his cell. He sighed a bit before speaking up a name…

"Nina?" his raspy voice called out.

Raven hadn't expected to hear anything, but after about a minute, he heard Nina Williams speak from her cell. "You're… still alive," she said. Raven was able to tell that she was trying to be stubborn. However, he was able to hear the tiredness in her voice as well.

"Some would say… they'd rather be dead right now," Raven said, not even sure himself whether he meant it for himself or not.

He heard a small sigh from Nina. Obviously, because he was able to hear that, her cell was close to his.

After another minute of silence, Nina spoke again. "I wonder… is all of this… worth it?" she asked in between long breaths. "I mean… for one thing… we're supposed to be considered… chosen ones… so why hide?"

An answer came to Raven. "We're hiding because when the right time comes… no one would suspect our plan."

"Yeah… now I remember…" Nina muttered. "You know… it's too bad… we told Raiden and Rose… that we wouldn't be back for… a few days… so basically… no one knows… we're here."

"I'm aware of that," Raven reminded her. He then decided to give her some sort of encouragement. "The best we can do… is hold on as long as possible. Soon, we'll try to find… a way to get out of here alive."

Once again, silence fell between the two of them. This time, it last for two minutes. During that time, Raven found himself moving a bit, eventually lying on his side. A bit of relief came over him, realizing that he was better off lying down.

Soon, Nina spoke again. "For once in my life… I hope so…"

Then, the silence lasted for hours after those words…

Cave

"Is it me or is it messier in here than normal?" Rose muttered to herself as she picked up a blue staff from the floor before placing it against the wall with the other weapons. Being bored at the moment, Rose decided to kill some time by straightening out the lounge room.

As she did, she thought about the fact that Round Six of the tournament started today. Felt like only yesterday when Round One began, she thought to herself.

Rose continued with straightened everything out when a familiar voice suddenly spoke. "Spring cleaning?"

The purple-haired psychic straightened herself out before finding herself looking at a certain Thunder God. "I suppose you could call it that," she answered.

Raiden chuckled as he walked further into the room. "Killing time I suppose?"

Rose nodded. "Well everyone else is out doing their own thing right now so I thought I'd take care of this while it was quiet."

"I took care of something of my own as well," Raiden said as he sat down in one of the chairs in the room. "I actually did a mug count today."

Rose stopped what she was doing and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Yeah really," Raiden replied. "Try to guess how many mugs we have left in this cave?"

For a moment, Rose slightly looked up as though she was thinking. "Umm… I don't know… twenty?"

"Six."

The woman's eyes widened in a bit of surprise. "Only six?! You've got to be kidding me!"

"I was just as surprised as you," Raiden replied. "The complaints really increased so I counted today… so we only have one minor problem really." He then eyed her. "I will say one thing, however… YOU are one angry woman."

Rose placed her hands on her hips as she got the idea of why he said that to her. "Hey… I'm not THAT angry. And honestly, have I thrown that many mugs at you?"

"…Yes."

A sigh escaped her lips as she placed her hands down. "They're only mugs anyway. You need to be calm about it… why don't you get yourself some Outworld liquor."

"NOW she says it!" Raiden called out throwing his hands up.

"What's the matter?" Rose asked curiously.

"Well by now, the whole Outworld liquor deal has gotten old." Raiden then lifted a single finger. "First of all, at this point of the tournament, it's best to keep everyone, including you and I, away from alcohol."

"Which is what I've been trying to tell you from the start," Rose reminded him.

Raiden ignored her as he lifted up a second finger from the same hand. "And secondly, I just got sick and tired of everyone tossing the liquor bottles in the campfire."

"That only happened twice!"

"Yes, but they say third time's a charm and I don't think we can afford the risk," Raiden said as he stood up.

"Oh fine then," Rose finally said. "I'll have our little mug matter taken care of later tonight."

"Good. I was hoping you would say that." Then, Raiden turned on his heel and began heading over to the exit. As he touched the curtain, he turned back to Rose with a grin. "You know… that was a very interesting conversation."

Without thinking, Rose smiled back. "Yes… it was."

Silence fell between the two then. Soon, they realized that they were both staring at each other for too long. With the both of them quickly turning away, Rose continued with cleaning the lounge as Raiden took his leave.

Beach Area

"So," said Asuka as she and Sakura began sitting down on the ground in front of the large body of water. "We're finally at Round Six now."

"And it starts today," Sakura reminded her. "I hear that they only have eight contestants left altogether."

Asuka sighed a little as a small frown appeared over her lips. "Including my opponent Sheeva… damn, as soon as I saw her enter the ring during my match, I knew that it was all over. I really hope that someone knocks her one, even if it's not for me."

"Don't be bummed," Sakura said. "You did the best you could. And you know… you made it pretty far, spanning more than half the time the tournament's been going."

"Speaking of time," Asuka cut in. "Though it's really hard to believe, we actually only have eight days left of the tournament itself."

"So that would mean that we'll go home some time after that… depending on the situation in the aftermath." Sakura then sighed. "Time sure has gone fast."

"Feels much slower to me," Asuka said.

The two young women fell silent then, eventually finding themselves staring out at the water in front of them. The water itself was quite calm at the moment with the surface slowly sparkling like glitter from the early afternoon sun's rays.

Neither one of them were sure how long the silence lasted before Sakura's dark eyes lightened up as a thought came to her. "You know what I find funny?"

"What's that?" Asuka asked as she looked up at the lavender sky above.

Sakura found herself chuckling a little. "It's silly really… but I didn't really think about it until just now. Have you noticed that you and Jin have the same last name?"

"I noticed the first time I heard his full name," Asuka said.

"Do you think you two could be related somehow?" Sakura questioned curiously.

"Honestly, I really think it's coincidence," Asuka answered. "If anything, we probably have a common ancestor somewhere in the family tree." She turned her head and eyed Sakura. "You definitely have quite an interest in him, don't you?"

As Asuka spoke, Sakura leaned forward a bit before picking a small red flower from the ground. She stared at the flower for a moment, noting the six petals that were on it. The young woman then began slowly picking the pedals and found herself chanting slowly in her mind… Ryu… Jin… Ryu… Jin…

Sakura then stopped for a moment as she realized what she was thinking. Ryu? she thought. Damn… even after trying, I still can't get over him.

Asuka watched as her friend picked the flower until she picked off the last pedal. Sakura sighed a bit.

Jin.

"Oh what's the use!" Sakura said as she tossed the pedals and stem in the air. "I admit with shame that I took too long in saying anything to him. Now he's with Cammy."

"Well, the bright side is, there are plenty of more fishes in the sea," Asuka reminded her.

Sakura looked up at the sky. "Yeah… perhaps."

Shao Kahn's Fortress, Sleeping Quarters

"So how long have you been serving Shao Kahn?" asked Anna Williams before slowly sipping a cup of tea into her mouth.

Sitting in front of her at a small table, Ivy Valentine also took a sip from her cup of tea before placing it down on it's base. "Ever since before the tournament began," she replied. "What brought you here?"

"Shang Tsung," Anna answered. "He made me an offer just after the first round of the tournament. I can safely say now that he kept his promise and I'll continue to serve the Emperor."

"That's good to hear," Ivy said.

Anna sipped her remaining tea from her cup before placing it down. Only a half hour ago while off duty, she ran into Ivy in the hallway of the sleeping quarters. Ivy too was off duty. The two talked about their future assignments since they were partially working together. Eventually at some point, the two women found themselves in Ivy's room sitting at her small table drinking tea. Anna herself wasn't much of a tea person, but this particular tea was made here in Outworld, and she figured that she might as well try it just for the experience.

"Other than that, I've been having my fun," Anna said. "I admit that my time with my round two opponent Yun is quite fun if I say so myself." A smile came over her face. "However, I have even more fun lusting after Vega."

"The bodyguard with the long hair?" Ivy questioned. "He's all yours, dear. He's not really my… cup of tea."

Anna then decided to change the subject slightly. "Don't mind me asking… but I've come to notice that the Emperor calls you down to his throne room a lot, at least ever since I came here. Why is that?"

"Hmm… I'm not sure," Ivy said, unsure of how to really answer that question. "It's a wild guess to me, really."

Before Anna continued with the discussion, the door to the room suddenly opened. The two women looked at the open door and saw Tanya walking in. Within her hands, she had a silver platter with a new teapot on top of it.

Ivy smirked. "Well it's about time," she said. "I was beginning to wonder when the next pot will come in."

"Same here," Anna said. She then extended her arm out with her empty cup in her hand. "Could you pour me some tea?"

Tanya grumbled underneath her breath, but knew that she would receive more lip if she didn't obey, especially with Ivy a foot away. She placed the platter on an empty spot on the table before taking the pot in her hand and poured some tea into the content.

Anna smiled afterward. "Thank you," she said.

Ivy then looked up at Tanya. "You look quite tired dear. Would you like to join us?"

It was an offer Tanya wouldn't mind saying yes to… but not with Anna around. "No thanks," she said while trying to be humble.

"All right," Ivy said. "In that case, you have the rest of the day off."

As Tanya turned around and began heading back to the door, Anna spoke. "You know what really bothers me about this world? It's the fact that some people actually don't have colored eyes." She followed with a hearty laugh, indicating that she was joking. Though the comment was a bit childish, Ivy couldn't help but smirk with amusement, especially considering that Tanya, who has transparent eyes, was only a few feet away from them.

Unknown to either of them, Tanya clenched her teeth with anger as she suppressed the urge to clench her fists as well. I think I'll kill Anna while I'm at it as well! she declared in thought.

Beach Area Near Main Palace

"Thanks for walking with me," said Kitana as she and Siegfried passed by the beach line. As they walked, they began to slowly head back towards the palace. Though the palace itself was in view, they still had about a twenty-minute walk before their reached the palace grounds.

"You're welcome," replied Siegfried. He ended up looking up at the sky, sighing at bit in the process. "I definitely needed the fresh air."

"Same here," Kitana agreed. "I didn't really get to go outside yesterday so it's nice to be able to get the chance to get out."

The two fell silent as they continued walking. As they did, Kitana briefly let herself listen to the sound of the wind as it slightly began to pick up, causing the leaves of the tree to sway.

Unknown to her, a frown slightly appeared on her face. Siegfried had noticed this when he turned to her. "How is… your situation now?" he asked.

Kitana blinked a couple of times, almost forgetting what he was talking about. Once she remembered, she stopped in her tracks, as did he, before facing him.

"I'm… not sure," she replied feeling a bit weary suddenly. She then decided to make a small confession… one that wasn't exactly related as to why her mother wanted her to not see him again, but it would seem close in Siegfried's eyes.

"Well," she began to say. "We have been having a bit of a problem since we got here."

Siegfried stared at her as he listened in for what she had to say.

"Let's just say that Jade, my mother, and I were once… Outworld residents. Our world of Edenia was once merged with Outworld many years ago, but of course we've since been freed. Shao Kahn, the current Emperor of this world…. he knows we're here. A couple of times, as you know from a previous incident, we've been ambushed. The three of us know that we can take care of ourselves… but for how long, I sometimes wonder."

Siegfried had begun to open his mouth to reply, but as he did, Kitana had turned her head to another direction, followed by a soft gasp. He turned around to see what she had seen. In a short distance, he saw a glimpse of both Jade and Sindel heading over near their direction.

Quickly, Kitana grabbed Siegfried's hand and pulled him further into the group of trees that were near them so that they weren't seen. Once they were behind the trees, the Princess spoke. "I'm sorry-"

"I understand," Siegfried quickly cut in. "I'll take my leave before they see us."

Before he could even move, Kitana placed her hands over his cheeks and, to his surprise, leaned in to kiss him. The kiss lasted no more than two seconds, but even then, time seemed to slow a bit. Siegfried never closed his eyes as she had, but he was able to briefly return the kiss before she pulled away. For a moment, he stared at her, until he heard the footsteps from Jade and Sindel got closer. Having no other choice, he took his leave, going in another direction.

As he completely disappeared, Jade and Sindel appeared. They seemed to look around for a bit before Sindel spotted her daughter standing a couple of yards away. "There you are!" she called out as she ran over to her with Jade following.

"Where have you been?" Jade asked her friend.

Kitana sighed a bit before answering. "I'm sorry I didn't inform you right away. I decided to go for a walk at the last minute."

Sindel eyed her. "You didn't happened to be going walking with a certain Keisei knight, were you?"

The Princess swallowed. "What do you mean-"

"Don't deny it," Sindel said. "I knowyou were with Siegfried."

For a second, Kitana was trying to figure out a way to continue her denial, but figured by the seriousness in her mother's voice that it wouldn't be worth it. Then she tried to understand how in the world Sindel figured out why she went out for a walk.

That answer came quickly upon looking at her green-clad friend. The nervous look in Jade's eyes and the fact that she was trying to avoid eye contact with her gave the hint.

It took a moment for Jade to notice the shocked look in the Princess's eyes as well and figured that Kitana figured out who gave Sindel the tip. "I'm sorry Princess… we thought that your life was in peril."

Sindel frowned a bit. "Tell me this at least… why did you disobey me?"

Before Kitana could answer, Jade suddenly lashed out her staff from behind her. Sindel and Kitana looked at her with surprise and they watched as Jade jabbed the staff in between them… knocking back an incoming tarkatan.

Immediately, Kitana took out her two fan blades and Sindel, cursing herself for leaving her Kwan Do back at the palace, placed herself in a fighting stance. Even with the handful of tarkatans, all with their blades out, surrounding them, the three Edenians remained calm.

"Seems that Shao Kahn made plans for us today," Jade said.

"You're telling me," Kitana agreed.

"Well hopefully," began Sindel. "This matter will be taken care of quickly."

With that, the tarkatans jumped forward after them and the three Edenians prepared to defend themselves once again.

Forest Area

"This is nice," said Yang as he placed a blanket down on the ground. "How did you find this place?"

As he sat down on the ground, Maki placed down a dark blue carry-on bag that belonged to her before sitting down. "When we first came here," she said as she unzipped the bag. "The girls and I were exploring this area and we found this place. We got a bit of a nice scare after hearing about the 'living tree' incident and only came in the forest when we needed to."

Yang nodded as he looked out at the clear lake a few feet in front of them, briefly admiring the luscious green and purple plants that surrounded the body of water. "And I assume you just decided to bring me here and have a picnic?"

Maki smiled as she took out two sandwiches, both wrapped in plastic bags. "Yup."

Yang smiled at her as he took one of the sandwiches in his hands before opening the plastic. "Well, this was definitely a good idea. As much as I like having lunch at the cave grounds and the palace dining quarters, I do like to go to different places once in a while."

"Same here," Maki agreed. After opening up the plastic, she took a bite of her sandwich. After swallowing the contents, she spoke again. "Can you believe that the tournament is really close to ending?"

Yang swallowed his food before replying. "I always had a feeling that it was going to go quick. I know Yin's happy about it. She doesn't mind visiting, but she's starting to miss her friends, our family, her way of cooking… and a window in her room."

Maki chuckled. "I know that feeling. And after being here for over a month, it might take a couple of days for me to adjust to a blue sky again."

"I think so too," Yang agreed with a nod.

After taking another bite, Maki placed the sandwich down on the plastic bag to get a bottle of water from the bag. "Well…there's really only one reason why I don't want the tournament to end so soon."

"Why is that?" Yang asked.

Maki took out the bottled water and opened the cap. "Well," she began, taking a quick sip before continuing. "It's the fact that I'll be returning to Japan… and you'll be returning to Hong Kong…"

"I know," Yang said as he looked at her. "But don't forget about our plans once we return to Earth. We'll visit each other for a week every month until we decide what we want to do whether that's you moving to Hong Kong or me moving to Japan."

"That's true," Maki said with a small sigh. "Long distant relationships can be a pain, but it's worth it if we try."

Yang nodded as he took her hand into his own. "I'm sure that it'll work out."

"I'm sure of it too."

Yang sighed a little. "I'll admit though… I have one reason to get out of here. I'm kind of sick of Yun running off with that Anna girl he met during the second round."

"How many times has he done that?"

"Three times," Yang replied. "But only twice was he gone for hours on end."

"Well hopefully it's an Outworld thing," Maki assured him. "I'm sure that once we all leave here, he'll be over it."

Yang squeezed her hand a bit before pulling his away. "I hope so too."

For another hour, the two continued with their conversation and picnic while enjoying the view in front of them.

Courtyard

Sitting at his throne, Shang Tsung looked over at the match that was taking place in front of him. Having just sat down after calling for the match to begin, Shang Tsung had the feeling that the match wasn't going to last very long. That was because the match was between the Shokan Sheeva and one of the new Outworld Forces recruits, Viper.

Briefly, the sorcerer looked on at Sheeva who maneuvered herself from one of Viper's attacks. Last night, an overnight brawl was held. Since there were more tournament participants than they were expecting and the fact that Shao Kahn wanted to keep the number of rounds at eight, many of the remaining fighters were brought to the Underground Lair with only the knowledge of a night brawl.

Not everyone was invited to the brawl of course. Seven fighters… Viper, Jin Kazama, Sektor, Kenshi, Ivy Valentine, Siegfried Schtauffen, and another fighter whose name he couldn't recall…were left out of the brawl for the purpose that if the things worked out according to plan, they could at least finish off the tournament with these fighters.

The seven that were left out were chosen by the fact that they were believed to be the strongest fighters.

Of course, Sheeva was also automatically in the next round… that was unless one of the brawl participants was strong enough to take her on. The purpose was that all chosen participants get to fight Sheeva. If they lose, they don't move on to the tournament. If they did, they can move on.

As he, Shao Kahn, and his minions had hoped, not one chosen brawler was able to take on Sheeva. Therefore, they were able to not only keep her in the tournament, but also keep in track of their original plans.

Sheeva has definitely proven herself, the sorcerer thought.

He then looked over at Viper, who had avoided a stomp attack from Sheeva. Though he knew that Sheeva's win was inevitable, he was impressed by the fact that Viper was able to hold her own in what may be her most challenging fight. He noted the stern look in her blue eyes as she kept her concentration on the battle.

Shang Tsung knew that this young woman was under some spell-like influence and was assured that she was well under control. It was almost like the women of his harem back at his palace, only she didn't need a jeweled collar to be controlled… and she was a better fighter.

Perhaps I could ask Vega how he keeps her in his control,he thought sadistically.

The fight between Sheeva and Viper continued, but not much longer after the sorcerer's thoughts. At one point, Viper jumped up to try to grab Sheeva's neck with her legs. However, the female Shokan managed to grab one of her ankles before slamming her down on the ground on her back. After letting her go, Shang Tsung realized that the impact against the ground had rendered Viper unconscious.

As he normally did since the first round, the sorcerer stood up his feet and looked at the first winning participant moving on to Round seven. "Winner: Sheeva!"

One match down, three to go, he thought.

Near Beach Area

Steel, punches, and kicks collided as Kitana, Jade, and Sindel continued fighting off the Tarkatans who were attacking them. None of the three were quite sure how long the fight was lasting. All they knew was that at this point, they had taken down half the group.

Eventually however, the three of them began to slightly grow tired from the constant self defense, giving the tarkatans their opportunity. Eventually, all three women were knocked down to the ground. Though they tried to get themselves back on their feet, the tarkatans maneuvered themselves closer to them, raising their blades to their neck so that they no longer had the chance to get up.

Kitana, Jade, and Sindel glanced at each other, expressing worry in their eyes. "What do we do?" Kitana asked as she looked at her mother, deciding to let her be the one to make whatever call she had to made.

The Queen of Edenia let out a slightly shaky sigh. "I don't know…but then I don't want to-"

"Give it up!" one of the tarkatans called out. "There's no running off now. Surrender now."

Sindel tried to think of a way to get out of this situation. There only seemed to be two choices at this point. It was either surrender with the possibility to once again serve the black-hearted Emperor… or resist and die.

All hope of any sort of survival seemed lost.

Before the Queen could come to a final decision, however, a suddenly purple light began to surround the group. The light was bright enough to force Sindel, Kitana, and Jade to shield their eyes. The tarkatans were confused as well… at first. That was until the light hit them, casting a shadow over each one. All the tarkatans seemed to cry out in agony for a moment. Then, the voices seemed to dim as the light disintegrated their bodies to nothing.

Soon, the light disappeared, giving the Edenians a chance to open their eyes. Confusion was written on their faces as first until, at the same time, they spotted a woman with purple hair coming over to them.

Only five minutes ago in the cave, Rose got a quick vision of these three women fighting the tarkatans. Not looking more into this prediction, Rose quickly left the cave to attend to the situation, killing the tarkatans and saving the Edenians' lives.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked them as she reached them.

The three managed to stand up. "We're okay," Sindel replied. "Thank you for saving us."

"You're welcome," Rose replied. She then sensed it… their pure hearts and souls…

Potential chosen ones, Rose thought. But why haven't I seen these three women before. Despite the thought, she made the decision to take them back to the cave as she had a good feeling about them.

"Come with me," Rose suggested. "I can't explain it at the moment, but when we get to my location, I'll explain everything."

"Is something wrong?" Kitana asked.

Rose was silent for a moment before replying. "In a way, yes. Follow me."

The soul psychic began walking then. The three other women were a bit reluctant at first, but then Jade began walking forward. Feeling a little confident now, Kitana and Sindel began to follow as well.