Mortal Kombat 9: Ember Edition

Chapter 24: The Water Maiden

Quan Chi led Ember farther into the temple where the only light came from the evil glow of green magic. He spoke incantations that kept Ember under a trance, her body moving involuntarily while she herself was unconscious.

As her boots dragged on the floor, the sorcerer and she neared light at the end of the dark corridor. They entered a big room with several seats swarmed in a circle around what appeared to be a glass cage, not much bigger than a shower, with a large pump attached to one side. Above the cage, which sat in the center of the round room, was a chandelier that was currently lit. Scriptures of a foreign language were carved into the walls alongside pictures of the scales of justice.

They walked past the more ornate seats and desks towards the glass cage. The closer to the center the two got, the lower they were as the room dipped in the middle.

Manipulating this sorcery further, Quan Chi said with a tone full of insincerity "I'm sorry it had to come to this, dearest Ember." With a sickening smirk, he opened the door to the glass cage and waved his hands towards the inside. Like a puppet, Ember entered the cage.

Well, it was more of she fell into the cage. Quan Chi snapped his finger and the green aura around her dispersed, snapping her out of her trance. By the time she came to her senses he had shut the door on her.

"I hope you will forgive me." He smirked, eyeing her one more time before adding "I will see you very soon my dear." Then he turned away and teleported out of the room.

As soon as she got on her feet she tried the door, but there was no handle or knob she could use, so she tried pushing. Nothing.

Slamming her fist on the glass, Ember shouted "DAMN YOU! YOU PASTY SON OF A BITCH!" as loud as she could. There was no response, no evil and obnoxious laughter. Nothing.

Going down her list of ways to escape, she took a step back from the door and thrusted her flaming fist at the glass, hoping it would melt. Instead, it just deflected her power back at her.

'This thing is flame-resistant!' She realized, startled because she didn't understand why this ancient temple needed a flame-resistant glass cage.

Backing away from the door as much as possible, her back hitting the other side of the square she was trapped in, the heel of her boot got stuck in something. Looking down, panic grew.

Her boot got stuck in a drain.

'What kind of cage is this?' Out of fear she pulled what remained of her bomber jacket tighter to her, feeling the holes and tears in the material. Her pale hand reached up to feel for the two name tags, that eased her a bit as her hand wrapped around the two silver circles and their engravings.

While she had Bi-Han and her tags, her doll and picture were missing from her person and all panic returned like a punch to the stomach. Fortunately before Ember hyperventilated she remembered where they were.

Once they all arrived at the temple and Raiden's orders had been given, all possessions that everyone brought with them had to be left in main room. Ember had been reluctant to let go of her doll and picture, even if it was temporary, but Johnny had reassured her that he'd keep them safe in his expensive suitcase with tons of locks.

Her eyebrows furrowed, coming back to reality, as she realized her boots felt cooler.

The color drained from her face, her breathing became erratic and the knot in her stomach was twisting and turning and doing acrobats. Ember tried to keep calm but the panic was too strong.

Water.