Royal End

Chapter 4

Sage looked around, dragging her sword along the ground as she felt the calming winds of a realm that was slowly re-building itself. She could admit that it wasn't in its perfect state since their war against Earthrealm, but seeing people returning to their normal lives was good enough. As long as Earthrealm isn't in danger again.

This wasn't home. No, Outworld was less of a place to live and more of a visiting thought in her mind, but even she wanted to keep away from this place. Well, it wasn't entirely their fault for the lose of her family, especially her father, who was still a Revenant in evil's control, but she still held a vendetta against them. She hated this place. She didn't plan to come here, but she needed to talk to someone.

The quicker she finished her task, the quicker she can leave.

Ten minutes of walking through the markets avoiding eye contact with potential enemies, she started to grow hungry from all the travelling. A sigh escaped her lips as she returned her sword in it's hilt and stopped by one of the stands that stores many foods that she was familiar with.

'Well, at least Outworld isn't completely different...'

"Hello, little lady," an older woman says with a gentle smile. "How can I help you?"

The old lady's smile seem to have an effect on Sage and she couldn't help but crack a smile back. "How much for your fruit?"

"Well, it depends on what you are getting. Some apples? Pears? All freshly picked."

"Just an apple."

"Then it will be 3 gold, miss."

'That's not too bad...I've paid more...' she thought as she reached into her bag and grabbed a few gold coins, only to suck her teeth at the amount she had. Damn. Only 1. "I'm low on money. I'll come back next time."

As she was getting ready to leave, a familiar young male who was standing behind her walked over to the stand. He had pale skin, silvery white short hair and one of his eyes was a hazel color. The other was covered by a black cloth. His attire was black with some gold lining around it, but what really caught Sage's attention was the blue choker around his neck. "Allow me. I'll pay for both of us, Ma," he said to the woman as he picked up a pear and gave her a few coins.

"Oh, my little Ash has grown up to be such a gentleman. Your mother would be so proud of her son," she says while taking the money, then turned to Sage. "You're a very lucky lady."

Sage quickly shook her head. "No no, you've misunderstood. I'm not his partner."

The male cleared his throat in embarrassment before leaning over to whisper something to his grandmother, in which the lady gasped in surprise. "Oh, do forgive me. These eyes of mine are growing weak. I thought you were the young lightning princess Ash told me about."

Lightning princess? Did this lady really think that she was Raiden's daughter?

Ash nervously chuckled. "You will meet her soon, Ma. Now, I have to go. I'll be back later."

"I'll make you a delicious dinner when you return," she says before planting a kiss on his cheek.

Sage couldn't help but chuckle herself at the scene. It kind of reminded her of her own mother giving her kisses on her forehead when she was younger. Gods did she miss her. She snapped out of her memories and grabbed an apple that had been paid for. "Um...thank you, ma'am."

"Please, you may call me Blanche. I don't mind. Any friend of Ash is a friend of mine."

Once the two said their goodbyes and were walking away from the stand, Sage turned to him with a stone-cold expression. "I've come to warn you about Lord Raiden."

Ash glanced at her with his good eye. "I figured you would. I'm worried about Alina. There's something going on that's she's not telling us."

Sage seem to scowl at the thought. "So you noticed as well?"

"How can I not? The dark feeling looming over her wasn't difficult to miss."

She looked down. Alina was good at keeping things hidden from loved ones as a way to protect them from whatever danger that plagues Earthrealm. However, since Shinnok's defeat and Raiden's sacrifice, she noticed that something dark lingering around the Sky Temple. Around him. "She says everything will be okay, but I can't help but feel like something is wrong. If something is going on, I fear Outworld may be in danger."

Ash seem to scoff at her words. "I thought you didn't care for the fate of this realm."

Being an Outworlder obviously wasn't easy for Ash, she understood this. Losing his parents back to back was bad enough for him and at the time of Shao Kahn's rule, it was hard for him to care for both himself and his grandmother. As much as he loved his only living family member, he didn't like being under the rule of such a despicable leader, which was one of the reasons why he left Outworld for a short while.

Meeting Alina is what made Ash want to fight for Earthrealm. It was tough to get Sage and Usako to trust him at first, but seeing how close they become and how willing he was to protect her, Sage grew to trust him. Without him, Earthrealm would still be under Shinnok's control.

The raven-haired assassin rolled her eyes before speaking again. "I don't, but we still have allies here. And besides, Alina would die if anything happened to you."

His lips curled into a smile. He'd admit that he isn't the toughest, but he would do anything to keep his allies and lover safe. With the events of Shao Kahn's rule and almost losing his life to Shinnok, he knew he wouldn't be here without her aid. But he didn't think that he needed her aid at this moment.

As the two allies tried to make sense of the princess's change of aura, dark and stormy rain clouds had blocked the sun of its warmth, casting a shadow over the realm. Thunder roared and red lightning crackled above them as the sounds of idle chatter had turned to screams of horror as the two stopped in their place. Without warning, they had their weapon in hand as Edenians and others alike ran past them in fear. According to Ash, Outworld rarely get storms, and none of them were like this, so it was not much of a surprise when she figured out who could be behind all this.

Both assassins were definitely shook to their core when a very familiar, yet darkly unfamiliar booming laughter echoed the sky, making it known to everyone who it was.

"Raiden..."

And sure enough, as the two followed the sound of the thunder and lightning, the Elder God himself can be seen levitating above them, but he doesn't seem to notice them.

What worried them the most was that his daughter was nowhere to be found. She would always accompany him on his journey, but not seeing her meant one thing.

"Alina could be in danger..." Sage said. "I need to return and quickly."

"Go. I must stay and protect my home."

Sage was almost surprised by his words. He called Earthrealm his home, but remembering the old lady, she only nodded. "You better not get hurt."

He smirked before turning back to the stand where his grandmother was. Once he was out of her sight, Sage started towards the chaos in hopes of finding a way back to Earthrealm.