Chapter 6
Survivors
It felt like a lifetime since Kitana had been to Edenia. Every time she returned home it was like the first time in a very long time. She could smell all of the plants for days on end when she left. She could hear the silent rumble of the waterfalls and feel the soft mist on her face. The song of the birds sailing overhead brought back happier times in her mind. Her childhood in Outworld for the most part, but finer times when she was ignorant to everything happening outside of her childish view of the world. Never questioning things, only imagining them to be how she saw them. If ignorance was bliss, she preferred that bliss to be exactly like Edenia.
Two lifetimes had gone by, and barely anything changed. There was a rich history to her realm, and she had given it away to its rightful owner. All was right in her heart, but she still missed it. It was difficult to not waste time taking in the sights and sounds, so Kitana utilized her weakened thunder ability to move to the courtyards of Edenia where a meeting was taking place. Her sudden arrival was startling, as Jade not a few moments ago spoke of meeting with Kitana and the others.
"Well I'll be damned." Erron Black said while removing his hat out of respect for the thunder goddess. "We are humbled by your arrival, Lady Kitana. Truly." The mercenary put his hat back on and stepped back to allow Kotal Kahn to take point in front of them all.
"Lady Kitana, Earthrealm's protector," Kotal took a knee and placed his fingertips on the ground. With a bowed head, the proud man spoke. "I do not do this lightly. Outworld needs your help. I need your help."
"I am aware," Kitana bowed her head to Kotal. "My people have been put up to date on events happening in Outworld. Though it is not a realm I protect, I recognize you seek to bring it to peace, yes?"
"That is correct."
"Then Kotal is the only Kahn I shall recognize as the true Kahn." Kitana motioned her hand for him to stand. "These are your people? Well then, Outworlders of all shapes and sizes, Earthrealm will aid you in ridding you of these tyrants. Not only for your benefit, but for our own realm's interest as well. There are things at play that call for immediate action."
"Kitana." Jade interrupted as she moved through the small crowd and past Kotal Kahn. "A private word, old friend?" She motioned to Nido to keep the Outworlders at bay while she led Kitana far away from the gathering in the courtyard. "I saw what happened to you. I saw what happened to Mileena. I saw many things that are troubling me, Kitana. The woman in black that attacked Mileena-."
"I know," Kitana sighed. "I have yet to run afoul of this kidnapper-."
"She is Edenian." Jade said with both hands on her friend's shoulders. "and human."
Kitana froze in place. Her eyebrows lowered and her lips pressed together. "A hybrid? How do you know her lineage?"
"Edenian and human blood has a low compatibility. The children are said to often grow sick as you know. Sometimes fatally sick." She spoke cautiously, knowing it was going to bring pain to her friend's heart. "We do not get ill so easily. A virus that takes an Earthrealmer a month to overcome takes us a mere few days. She coughed in a way I have never heard an Edenian adult cough. She is sick because of her blood."
"Who do we know that could have courted an Earthrealmer?"
"Very few." Jade looked over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being listened to. "I can do some digging. This girl is fast. She is able to enter spaces she should not be able to. She cannot be related to Tanya, I do not think. Perhaps Rain?"
"One way to find out is to ask him ourselves." Kitana exhaled through her nose and considered their next plan of action. "My son hasn't gotten very sick yet. Mileena's daughter has some mild health issues I am told. While she is in custody there is no promise her health will be maintained. What is your choice of action, Queen Jade?"
"Outworld." Jade said without hesitation. "Fortify an alliance with the Shokan and Tarkatans. We need people on the inside if we are going after the others. You know who the 'Kahns' are, yes?"
"Reiko, Rain, and Noob Saibot. A three-way war is going to be taxing on our resources." Kitana started pacing from side to side slowly in thought. Mileena had the better approach for war strategy, but Kitana played her hand best she could. "We need to pick one to dismantle first, we may have to forge an uneasy alliance. But there is no promise that the side we choose to ignore will not attack us either."
"This is unknown territory for us, for once." Jade chuckled. "All war is fought with deception; maybe we go into our old playbook?"
"A MARK-9?"
"A MARK-9."
"What about our MARK-10, I loved that one."
"Maybe the 11?" Jade suggested. "Though that one wouldn't involve Mileena."
"We need her or it won't work." Kitana stopped pacing. "So, we run MARK-9, it is more fitting. Mileena can pose as me to infiltrate one Kahn's camp and I take care of the other. Maybe. But we still need to find her child and that assassin…"
"We need someone who knows Outworld well and can stay hidden. Other than me." Jade suggested. "Hanzo?"
"Hanzo."
"Hanzo." Jade and Kitana said at the same time.
"I will ask if he will help," Kitana placed her hand at her friend's shoulder and squeezed. "Who are we to meet with first in Outworld?"
"Baraka may be the hardest sell, especially with Mileena around…" Jade said with concern. "We should try Baraka first. If he is not compliant, it at least gives us leverage to get Sheeva's support. Ever since the Shokan returned to Outworld, I believe she has become much more of an influence than anyone before her."
"Speaking of politicians," Kitana looked toward the palace. "How is mother? Father?"
"The curse or whatever Skarlet put on him is still taking hold. Ermac's body is strong, but even he has his limits. You should see them."
It did not take much convincing. Soon after the friends parted ways for the time being, Kitana roamed the halls of the palace and touched the smooth golden interior with fondness. She greeted Knaives and Sable as they guarded one of the doors and bickered among themselves. After waiting on them to stop for a few moments, Kitana opened the door to her mother's private chambers without a single knock.
"Mother I-."
Sindel paused with Ermac entirely enveloped in her hair with her heeled boot pressed against his spine. She was wearing little more than a bath robe with lace garments beneath it that had zero modesty to them.
Kitana held the doors open.
Sindel stared with her mouth agape and eyes wide.
…..
…..
Kitana slowly shut the doors and stood outside.
Within the next thirty seconds, Sindel opened the door wrapped up in her lavender robes with her hair pulled back in a tail.
"Kitana! Dearest! It's been so long!" She hugged and kissed her daughter on the cheek, much to her disgust.
"Where has that been?" She said under her breath while getting pulled inside the royal chambers with the door closed by wayward tendrils of Sindel's hair.
"Don't be so childish, girl." Sindel released her and returned to the bedside of Ermac, who had assumed the physical form of Jerrod thanks to the mages of Edenia. "Your father and I were just talking. He needed some physical therapy due to his ailment."
"Right."
"He's sleeping again. For his health." Sindel snatched away a sleeping potion bottle with her hair and tucked it into her robe's pockets. "So, daughter. This is unexpected. How are you? How are things?"
"Things are going poorly. I am sure you've heard about everything. My son is safe, but Mileena's daughter was taken." Kitana went on to explain the entire situation to get her mother up to date. Though once finished, she found herself feeling more dreadful than usual. "But I wanted to ask you, do you know any Edenians that may have had children with Earthrealmers?"
"None that I can think of." Sindel's playful expression was gone, but she placed her hand to Kitana's forehead to check for a fever. "You need to get some rest soon. You're burning up."
"I'm fine, mother."
"Say 'ah'." Sindel said as she inspected her daughter's tongue for discoloration. "Did you brush your teeth today?"
"Mother!" Kitana scowled.
"I am only fooling with you, child. In all seriousness, this all sounds very dire. Your father only has energy in small spurts, so we make the most of it. It would kill me to lose him again. I would join you if he did not need my monitoring."
"I understand."
"You do what you must. Remember, you are a Goddess with or without that electricity." She placed her hand under Kitana's chin and elevated it. "You are a Princess forever in my eyes. This threat? These problems? They will be sand beneath your feet in due time. You always know what to do."
"A friend said I spoke as Shao Kahn would," Kitana lamented. "I lost control of my temper. I still want to kill Shang Tsung – I know he had something to do with Shen-…"
"Worry not. Shao Kahn was many things. While a good man through and through may not have been one of them, he was sure of himself. If he felt something was right, he could not be told otherwise. Shang Tsung is a snake. It would be foolish not to assume he is involved in the unexplained. He and his wife are manipulative monsters. Kitana, sometimes being the person in charge means making a call no one agrees with, because they lack your foresight. You have to see what is needed to be done and if it benefits your subjects more than the alternative. You are a survivor, daughter. Always will be. I trust your choices."
"What if it costs me respect?"
"People who respect you will understand your choices. Trust me. I could never lose respect for you, even if you carve that snake up for an audience. I would do it myself but alas, I am held up here being a loving wife."
"I should be off. It was nice seeing you, mother. Tell father I'll be scrubbing my brain relentlessly until I see him next." Kitana said in parting.
Later…
Kitana teleported Jade, Nido, D'vorah, and Ferra-Torr to a meeting point outside of a controlled gateway to Outworld in the nexus. With Earthrealms greatest warriors at their side, and some of Kotal Kahn's most trusted warriors, there was little fear going forward.
Kitana stood between her sister and Jade as they faced the swirling mass of light and energy.
"Mileena, we're going to do a MARK." Kitana said while rolling her shoulders.
"Which one? Tell me it is not 10." Mileena side-eyed her sibling.
"That is the better between the last three." Jade chimed in with a finger raised. "The 9 is evil impersonation, the 10 is benevolent impersonation, and the 11 is Kitana impersonating you. Which never goes well in my estimate."
Kitana pulled her mask over the lower half of her face. "We'll see. It may not come to that, but be prepared if we must."
Side Event: #01
Tessen
A chamber door opened.
The sniffling of a child filled the prison area as Mo Chou sat behind prison bars with a plush pink bed and plenty of dull-edged toys around her on the floor. The woman who entered held a platter in her hands with a steamy bowl of spaghetti on it as well as an old beat-up looking book.
Mo Chou wiped her tears and backed up into the corner of her cell.
"It's just me, Tessen." The black-clad woman said as she slowed down in front of the cell. She crouched down with the platter held close. "I brought you some dinner. It took a while to get everything right. They don't have a lot of things in this section of Outworld, so I had to improvise a little." Tessen spoke softly. "May I give you food? You look hungry. A little sleepy too."
"I want my mommy." Mo Chou whimpered and coughed into her fist.
"I know. But you're safe here for now. I'll bring you some playmates. Promise. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Okay…" Mo Chou had little to no choice, so the girl just hugged her knees to her chest.
Tessen dropped through a black gate under her feet and appeared inside the cell. She placed the platter on a table and set aside the dulled eating utensils for the little girl. "I brought your favorite."
"How do you know that?" Mo Chou asked while cautiously approaching the table with her plush sized teddy bear in arms.
Tessen paused and stepped back. She sat down across from the child and crossed her legs Indian style in her chair. "I had a friend who loved them. You remind me a lot of her actually. So, was I right about he spaghetti?"
"Mhm." The child sat and whispered a silent prayer with her fist over her heart as the Lin Kuei did. "My papa likes the rice stuff better. Like with shrimps and stuff. And, and sometimes, um, we have like um…" She stammered trying to remember the name of different foods. "He has the cooks make us lots of stuff. Are my parents ok?"
"They're fine," Tessen promised. "You will be back with them soon. I just had to get you out of harm's way." Tessen coughed into her arm and turned her head away. "Now go on, eat up. Then I'll read you a bedtime story okay?"
"What do you have?"
"The Frog Prince." Tessen smiled. She gave the old book a light pat. "They had an extra copy hanging around somewhere I visited. It's a good book. It's about keeping promises, staying true to your word, as well as being persistent. Integrity, some would say. If you have the power to change something, you should trust when someone asks for your help. All that."
"My mom reads that," Mo Chou said after eating a bit. "it's about a princess kissing a frog, what are you talking about?"
"You are absolutely right." Tessen laughed to herself. "May I share the spaghetti with you? I'm starving."
"Yeah. I can't eat all this by myself."
"Ah ha. So, my plan worked!" Tessen teased. The two laughed among one another.
The moon was high in the sky over Outworld. A light tinge of red mist floated past the moonlight and the clouds and gave it a red glow for only a split second.
Elsewhere
"She came out of nowhere, and you trust her?" Tanya said as she stood outside of the dungeon doors.
"Tessen is useful. She gets results. We need every advantage we can get against Saibot." Reiko Kahn said while putting on his Shao Kahn replica helmet. "She gave me a fantastic gift as well." With his right hand, he summoned forth a massive hammer that was recently stained in Tarkatan blood.
"Be that as it may, I am your advisor, Reiko Kahn." Tanya stepped away from the dungeon and clenched her fists tightly. "Rousing Earthrealm will not do us any service."
"I am thinking bigger than Outworld. Tessen has a plan. Earthrealm is quick to aid, which is a weakness we can exploit. They're the caring type, swooping in to save the day ignorantly. When a realm needs them most, they will be lured into Mortal Kombat. Then when we beat them, Earthrealm will belong to us as it should be."
"There is no promise any plan will work." Tanya grunted. "At least consult with Rain Kahn before you do anything foolish."
"Rain and I have a back-up plan, due to old legends." Reiko paused. "He is looking into it. Hopefully he is back before Earthrealm gets here. When they do? Things will be very interesting. Especially when I get to finally utilize my true power." The Kahn said while squeezing his armed fist to a crunching close.
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(A/N)
Fixed an error in a previous chapter. No one will know the difference! Haha! I used the wrong realm in an earlier chapter but now it's fixed. I comb over my own writing a lot more these days and I still missed that one! Thanks for all the great reviews, while this chapter had no action I hope you enjoyed!
*EDIT
I took out the MK 9 X and 11 joke. It didn't quite land with me so I switched it to something that is more in-character appropriate.