DON'T FORGET ABOUT YOUR JOB...
"Where... Where am I?" Said Kuai Liang as soon as he opened his eyes, meeting the morning sunshine's with the left part of his face. "I can't recall a thing... Was I dreaming?" He said to himself before someone else took the word.
"No, you wasn't" Replied Sindel, who was laying naked at his side with a warm smile imprinted on her face. As soon as he heard that, Kuai almost jumped out of the luxurious bed he was in and threw away the covers. "What is it? It looks as if you have seen a ghost! Kuai, are you feeling well?" She asked with apparent concern within her voice.
"No, no! I couldn't have..." Managed the Lin Kuei before stepping outside the bed only to realize that perhaps throwing away the covers was not a good idea. "Uh? No way!" He yelled almost hysterically.
"You might be wondering where your clothes are" Said the queen as she pointed at a wardrobe nearby. "I left them over there. However, you shouldn't be worried about that now... You see, Kuai, there is no rush".
Thus, Sub-Zero walked completely naked to the other side of the room , carefully covering his most private parts the best he could. With his face incredibly red he opened the wardrobe and put on his clothes as fast as he could. "Sin- Ma'am, may I ask what exactly happened last night? I can't recall a thing" He asked, trying to preserve his politeness.
"I believe that the best question to ask would be what didn't happen last night! Who would have thought that such a shy boy like you would be so... rough" She answered trying not to laugh.
"(No... That's it! I am done! Raiden will rip the flesh from my bones!) Fine, that's all I need to know, your highness! Now, if you excuse me, I would like to carry on with my task before my clan or others decide that my life isn't important anymore!" Spoke Kuai Liang with fear since the god of thunder could appear in any moment to take his life. Sub-Zero put on his mask and without saying a thing walked towards the door. But he hesitated as soon as he remembered that he didn't had the faintest idea of where the map could be, let alone Edenia was a gigantic realm and he didn't have the luxury of having no time limit in his quest. "Ma'am, since I was so gentle last night, would you mind telling me where exactly is the crypt my clan is looking for? All we know is that it was built by an ancient civilization before Shao Kahn invaded the realm" He asked.
Sindel suddenly gave him a cold stare and remained in silence for ten painfully seconds. Her guest was prepared to receive some energy blast, but much to his surprise she actually told him what he needed to know. "Fine, Mr. Liang. There is an old path which connects the newer part of Edenia to the old district. Just before reaching it you will get to a cascade, it is quite big so you wont miss it... The crypt you are looking for might be near that cascade since to the best of my knowledge that is where the pioneers are said to had buried their treasures". Sindel took a deep breath and with a much more serious tone she continued. "But know this, Kuai. Many have tried to uncover the riddles and mysteries of the first inhabitants of this realm... None of them managed to come back from that place".
Sub-zero swallowed hard. "(Damn it! Just what I needed! Can this mission get even more complicated?!)" thought the Lin Kuei warrior. "Uh, my queen? Is there any reason why those who go to that place never come back?".
The Edenian queen sat on her bed and covered her body with a large pillow. "Yes! As a matter of fact, everybody in this realm know about the curse of the pioneers. You see, the Edenian pioneers are famous for spreading knowledge and some sort of religion across the realms... They were said to posses the power of travelling across dimensions. Despite their attempts of teaching others all their knowledge, they only found the Edenians incapable of comprehending such amount of information. Therefore they decided to save their intelectual treasures away from the unworthy by creating a treasure vault within that cascade... At least that is what everyone believes" She explained before making a large sigh.
"I, uh-" Was all he could manage to say before being interrupted by her.
"If you value your life you shouldn't go there! You may stay here if you" She said.
"I know it could be potentially dangerous... But I just don't care, ma'am. I will go either" Said the man before leaving the room.
Once he left, Sindel remained immobile. "What a stubborn little boy..." She thought out loudly.
SOME HOURS LATER...
Sub-Zero had finally reached the so called path and stopped for a moment to catch his breath. It caught his attention immediately the fact that there was absolutely nobody around. All he could see were the myriad trees surrounding him. "I am starting to believe what she said about everybody knowing about that curse. This place is deserted..." He said to himself before getting up and continuing with his task. "Well, at least Raiden didn't discover a thing about last night. If he knew about it, then he would have killed me hours ago! Right?".
Suddenly a lightning landed behind him and the figure of the god of thunder materialized. "I heard that, Sub-Zero" Said the god.
"Damn it! How...!" Said Kuai as he awkwardly jumped to face Raiden, almost losing his balance on that one.
"What did I tell you, Lin Kuei? You mustn't disobey the orders of a god! Now I must obliterate you and erase you from this world, forever!". Raiden then gathered lightning energy on his hands and prepared to turn Kuai into a pile of ashes.
"Have mercy, lord Raiden! I am being ordered to retrieve just an old map from a forgotten crypt! I am sorry if I couldn't stay away from the queen, but somehow I couldn't help myself! In fact, I cannot remember a thing about last night-" Said Kuai before being interrupted by the enraged god of thunder.
"If you insist on creating lame excuses, then so be it. However, that does not change the fact that you might have caused a conflict between realms. Thanks to your weakness many will die!" Said Raiden with a severe tone.
"B-but I didn't cause any trouble! As a matter of fact, the queen seemed pleased with my... presence last night... Even though I can't remember a thing" Explained the Lin Kuei before sighing in relief when his eyes saw how the energy on Raiden's vanished. Somehow he managed to appease the thunder god.
"Fine... I will spare your life this time. Nevertheless, you will find nothing but a bitter end if you continue with your quest, Sub-Zero" Said Raiden with his usual cold expression on his face. "I will be watching your progress to ensure the safety of this realm. But know this, if you ever see the queen again or spread the word about that cursed place and its treasures, I will personally send you to the darkest and most miserable pit of the netherealm where you will spend an eternity of endless pain and suffering!".
"Beg your pardon, lord Raiden. But are you threatening me? That definitely wasn't a simple warning!" Exclaimed the blue ninja.
"You can think of it as both, Lin Kuei... I must go now" Replied the god before disappearing in a volt of lightning.
"(At the very least he could have told me why is that place so damn important! And to make matters worse, I must carry on with my quest knowing that my life will likely end by the hands of some enraged god, that strange queen or even my own clan!)" Thought Kuai Liang as he resumed his journey. He had been walking for three hours by that moment and knew pretty well that the infamous cascade was nearby due to the powerful and intimidating noise of the water colliding with the stones at the bottom. "Well, at least I am already here... What?!" Thought out loud the man before tripping over an old sing on the floor. He quickly regained his composure and read the sing. "Beware, unworthy and foreigners! This is no place for you. Nothing but darkness and eternal doom lies ahead! Everyone who shall dare to enter this sacred place will find their skill, courage and strength tested to a level beyond their comprehension! You have been warned".
At this point Kuai couldn't help but to feel a mixture of anxiety and insecurity within his chest. He took a deep breath and with his freezing powers created an ice path to the bottom of the cascade. As he got more and more near the waterfall he could see that a tunnel was waiting for him on the other side.
After reaching the tunnel's entrance he could barely read some words which adorned the rocky ceiling. "Death shall decent to your soul if greed is what lead you here" Said the inscription. The blue ninja stopped for a moment and actually reformulate the whole situation. "(I can't turn back now! Lets see if those legends about treasures and immense knowledge were true...)" He thought before stepping in. As soon as he entered the dark tunnel a giant stone fell behind him, trapping him inside. Kuai almost panicked, but luckily for him, several torches lit before him. "Here we go...".
MEANWHILE...
"I believe I warned you, Sindel" Said a male voice from the shadows.
"It wasn't my fault! I tried to warn him but he wouldn't listen!" Said the queen defensively.
"It doesn't matter way way or the other, he will not get out of that crypt alive... I can assure you that" Replied the voice.
"(...Kuai...)" Thought Sindel with sadness.
TO BE CONTINUED...
HOW WAS IT? I KNOW IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE I LAST UPLOADED FOR THIS STORY. YOU SEE, I WAS FOCUSING OF MY PRINCE OF PERSIA FIC (WHICH TURNED OUT BEING LARGER THAN I THOUGHT)
ANYWAY! HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE READ!
