Alighting just outside of the Thunder God's primary temple in wild flashes of vermilion, humble columns of soft heather grey stone erected in place of grand statues and a well-kept rock garden in the eastern-most corner, Scorpion called out to the deity, both demand and consternation in his exclamation, the uncertainty reverberating from the hollow halls back into the wraith's ears, "Thunder God, I need an audience!" He knew better than to expect to call the man's name and get an instant reply, but Scorpion was panicked beyond reason, every moment it took to find Evren a moment that could ruin whatever was left between them, "Raiden, I know that you can hear me! Answer!"
Watching the ghoul from the shadows, blue-white eyes sparking as he read deeper than the dead man's irritation, scanning through the various inflections tumbling in his words, the white-haired man appeared before the wraith, his long hair visible and tied back simply, a clean lien robe upon his otherwise bear shoulders, "Scorpion? What brings you here at this late hour?"
Given that the Netherealm had a strange sense of time, if there was a flow of time to it at all, it was impossible to know what the hour would be in Earthrealm at any given moment, but Hanzo had the feeling that Raiden was not referring to the actual hour, "I don't have time for your games! I have to find Evren now!" All Scorpion could think of in that moment was losing Evren, of what would happen after that, of how he he had to do everything within his power to prevent that outcome. It would be wrong to discount the previous feelings he had of losing everything that was dear to him once before.
"Ah." Being one of the many lifeforms invited to the ceremony, he knew of the wedding to Noob Saibot, also feeling deep within his core that danger was right around the corner if that union were to take place. "You're looking for the woman." Raiden was not completely ignorant of their situation, testing Scorpion for his reaction, "Tell me, is this an order from your master?"
Scorpion did not miss the tone in the other man's voice, gathering that he was still disappointed in him for not only killing that bastard Sub Zero, who that once was innocent - go figure - but also for allying himself with Quan Chi during Shao Kahn's invasion. He did not blame the deity for his views, but Scorpion felt at that time that there was still something he had to do, that he could not defect no matter how much he desired it - it was not that he felt inclined to join with Raiden and his band of merry men (and women); scorpion simply wished to be alone at that time, answering to no one but himself. Now, however, he felt differently, that he would rather be with Evren, living an honest life, one that was simple, where she would be safe from harm... But he doubted now that that vision would ever come to pass...
"It is," Hanzo answered sincerely, "But I have my own reasons to find her."
Peering at Scorpion as if reading the very fiber of his being, Raiden was silent for a moment, merely examining Scorpion, answering with an approving smile that did not appear right away, "Yes... " The God of Thunder did not have to delve far in the ninja's soul to see that he loved the demoness, that his only desire now was to make amends with her. "Very well, I shall assist you in locating her, Scorpion. I know not her exact whereabouts, but something tells me that you will." Raiden nodded solemnly at the thought, relaying a rather enigmatic clue as omniscient beings so often do in these personally dire situations, "Scour not the land but the heart, and once within the confines, thine purity shalt reveal the answer you seek, and so shall thine quest be done."
And that was all that he to go on... Sighing in irritation, berating himself for expecting more out of the deity, Scorpion wanted to have a word or two with the god, but predictably he was already gone, so that left the undead shinobi standing there in the middle of the spacious room, alone. Thankfully, he was not as screwed as some other people might have been with a hint like that because he had grown in a world full of the enigmatic, so it was not hard to determine that he was meant to look inwards, that he already knew where she was. His first thought was of her garden, her true form surround in all of her flowers - some of them already looking a little better with just her presence alone - her golden-white hair rayed out as she laid on her back in the field, gazing dreamily at the sky, but something told him that that was wrong...
-The Home of the Shirai Ryu-
Finding himself standing in an all too familiar location, for reasons he could neither explain nor understand, he was drawn to the home of the Shirai Ryu. Standing amid the rubble in solemn contemplation, Scorpion was visited by the vision of a lone figure bent low over the freshly made graves of his fallen comrades. Hair gleaming in the light of the moon, a sliver of waxing crescent visible in the shifting clouds, the identity of the silhouette was no mystery to the apparition - It was Evren, the very woman he sought. But stalking forward, his mission was far from done...
Longing to atone for the sins of the father, and to put their spirits at peace, Evren had stolen away to Eathrealm, more specifically to Japan, where the Shirai Ryu formerly resided, wherein the demoness had buried every last one of the deceased, offering her proper respects. While her act itself was not entirely selfless, her tearful conversation with Kana Hasahi was completely heartfelt, and what she didn't know, was not strictly private, a shadow lurking in the shadows of Scorpion's old home, or rather the remains of it...
Kneeling at the foot of the freshly dug grave, coated in all manner of grime (her face still smeared in her own blood) and in no suitable shape to be an ordinary mourner, the demoness finished her colloquy/eulogy, a hollow - to some extent bitter - laugh-like sobbing noise escaped her contemplative being, "You might think this cruel, but in many ways I think that you were lucky." The pale demon glanced forlornly over at the very next grave, "Not only did you get to know him, truly get to know him in the most intimate of ways that no one else could ever hope to reach again, but you were the one one woman that he could be happy with. You will always be his wife, the one that could give him an ordinary life, with a proper romance, a proper home, and a proper family..."
In some alternate universe, Evren might have seen herself as a mother, as a normal wife, but not in this one - even if he never said it, wasn't there some part of him that might have wanted a family again? Maybe not, but even if they could have been together the way that she wished, and by some chance he did want that, the demoness was skeptical that she could give him that on a biological level. Sure, the Netherealm was filled to the brim with demons, but a large number of them had been made, not born - truth be, not even Quan Chi knew if a third generation litter could be possible, as the numbers of second generations like his daughter were rare, and no records had been kept... She would be more than happy with the two of them, but what if he wanted more one day? And what if she couldn't give it to him...? No, she shook her head, now was the time to dwell on impossibilities...
Looking down, her hands almost pitch black from all of the digging she had done, the nail polish she wore chipped away to near obscurity, the daughter of the Necromancer steeled herself for the confession that no one else was likely ever to hear, "I don't know if it helps, but you should know that I'm sorry - I'm sorry that I fell in love with your husband when he was still devoted to you, because I can can see how much its made him suffer. I would rather die for an eternity than watch poor Hanzo suffer for a single moment!" Calming herself down somewhat, Evren went on, clearing her throat a little, "The fact that I've caused so much pain hurts worse than you can possibly imagine, but I thought that I was doing a good thing - trying to save his life. It doesn't make up for what I've done, nothing ever will in my mind, but you have to know that it's all been for him. It might have been better if we had never crossed paths, easier even, and for everything I've caused a part of me wishes that it could be that way, but my heart...?" Exhaling, the succubus stood up, whispering to the air, "I don't know why I had to tell you all of this, what difference it will make... I can't have him, not ever... It was a fool's dream, because every time, it would have been you chose, and every time I would standing there alone, watching like an idiot. But he would have been happy, and that would have been enough for me..." Looking at her hands once more, Evren wished that she had studied the black arts better, "If only I knew a little bit more, I could brought you both back to him... Rules be damned, he deserves something to go right for him!"
As much as the female hellion might have wished she could bring a smile to the man she loved, not even her father could bring back someone outside of his jurisdiction... The Shirai Ryu had been slain, but it was with an innocence on their souls, so they had ascended to a better place. If they had perished with even a slight taint, there might have been a chance for resurrection, but as it was...
"You would really do that for me?" Drifting just within earshot of the whimpering woman, Scorpion made his presence known to her, and what was worse was that she had no idea how long he had been watching her, how much he had heard, but he didn't give her the chance to dwell on it. Taking her in his arms, her body too weak from everything to fight back, he pulled her into the tightest possible embrace, whispering in her ear, "Something already did, but I was the one who fucked it up."
Restraining herself, knowing that every time they were together was only bringing him that much closer to death, Evren did her best to fight the warmness of being enveloped in his arms, "Don't do this to me... I know that's asking for more than I deserve, but please, don't..." She couldn't hold out much longer, the caution ebbing away with every heart beat they shared, "Please..."
"Finish it." He could tell before she had more to say, and he needed to hear it.
Closing her eyes, Evren realized that there was just no fighting it any more, so she gazed into his eyes, "Fuck it, I'm not strong enough to do this anymore..." She really was at the end of her rope with everything, and she just couldn't keep it in any more, her voice wavering, "My heart knows that we were destined to meet, that even in another life we would meet, and I would be drawn to you each and every time, always without fail. I can feel with every fiber of my being that I would fall in love with the same person in every life, and because that person is who it is, I wouldn't have it any other way. It might be easier to have never known you, but easy isn't in my vocabulary, not if it means even one life without you, Hanzo Hasashi. I'm sorry that I'm not the woman you deserve..." Her mind fluttered back momentarily to her earlier worries, but they were small enough to be shoved aside for the time being, "I'm frightened of losing you, but I think even more, I'm terrified that I will never feel half as good as I feel in your arms. Being who I am, how much I've hurt you, I know that I don't deserve to feel this way, but you should know the truth, that through all of this, my heart beats for only one man... You."
A/N: Alright, this chapter took a little longer than it probably needed to, but I had to take a day or so and just step away. I have a lot of ideas for this, and I doubt that we want to see me burn out on this before we can see them come into play! Yeah, I so just adapted his arcade ending! Anyways, for my next MK fic, I was wondering who you'd rather see in it? Kano or Kabal? Either PM me with your answer, post it in the review, or go to the poll. Granted, I don't plan on having the story out right yet, but probably at some point during the month, most likely near the end, if I had to guess. The word ghoul is used loosely. To all those Raiden fans out there (here's looking at you, dear Obelisk of Light), I'm sorry that his part was so small, but on the bright side, I promise that he shall appear again before this story ends! I wanted to go a bit more, but this is kinda perfect the way that it is... Aside from the fact that I didn't want her to come clean (so tp speak) until later!
*Update: 8-9-13* Courtesy of Obelisk of Light, as always. Seriously, whenever anyone notices even one slip-up, please, please, please tell me! Granted, I was really eager to this chapter out, so it's my bad. Alright, grammar, word choice, spelling - just your typical typos.
Disclaimer: I don't own Mortal Kombat. That honor goes elsewhere. Like (but no limited) to Netherrealm Studios, the WB (or whatever they're calling themselves over at Warner Brothers), and Ed Boon. There might be more, but I'm no lawyer, and I'm certainly not versed in ownership rights, so I don't know exactly who owns what. I can, however, lay claim to Evren, Blaanid, Serik, and all the other minor nameless characters, and I do.