Mortal Kombat: The Phoenix Verison

Chapter 24: Old Habits Die Hard

Ember slammed her door behind her.

The sound echoed through her room briefly, assaulting her ears. Striding over to her vanity, her nails clawed into the desk as she stared at her reflection.

As she did every time she looked in a mirror, her eyes zeroed in on the fading scratches and cuts decorating her face. A choked sob escaped her and she bit down on her lip, hard.

Her mind battled with her hand, the fingers releasing the desk to move to her face.

It was a little twisted, how readily her nails were prepared to inflict pain on herself. Lightly, the tip of her nails traced absent patterns on the skin of her cheek while her eyes stared through the glass.

Did this call for blood to be drawn? Or would aggressively scratching like a feral cat with dulled claws help ease the ache in her chest?

Kuai Liang's words hurt her. There was no way he couldn't have seen the impact of his words.

She had tried to do the same to him-but other than that comment about his father...he didn't seem bothered.

The fact that he actually wished she had been stuck with Quan Chi...

Her nails dug in. The sharp pain drew her mind away from her brother.

It started off with her face becoming adorned with bright red streaks of inflamed skin. But it wasn't enough.

She hardly flinched as the nails broke skin. Pinpricks of blood formed, smearing down her cheek with every drag of her claws. She could feel the mixture of fresh blood and skin building up underneath her nails.

"NO!"

Ember snapped out of it, her eyes slowly focusing on her image in the mirror. Her hands were still coming for her face. Other than the marks from previous inflictions, her skin was untouched.

"No..." she shook her head, willing her hand to freeze. After so many times, it seemed natural for her nails to claw at her face. "Enough!" She quietly shouted.

Instead, Ember gazed tiredly at herself, her vision blurring with emotion.

"...I need a drink" She released her hold on her desk and left her room, knowing Kuai Liang had most likely gone to his own room to sleep. Out in the dark hallway, Ember quietly headed toward the wine cellar.

Just one drink

She frowned. When was it ever just one?

Reaching the cellar, Ember gently blew on a few torches, providing some light into the room. Then her eyes locked onto the wall full of wine and like a moth to a lamp she was drawn in.

She groaned, it didn't seem like they had anything stronger than wine. But alcohol is alcohol.

Ember wasn't picky about her choice of drink at the moment, and took out the closest bottle to her twitching hand. Opening it, she immediately took a swig.

The more she drank of the bottle, the faster the familiar fuzziness spread through her mind. Warmth washed over her and she closed her eyes with a content sigh.

I'm making healthier choices... She reasoned, taking another long swig. It's either this or scratching...

Anytime her mind wandered to Kuai Liang and their argument, she chugged. Chugged until her mind was so full of wine that it drowned out any negative thoughts.

In what seemed like no time, a bottle was gone. She placed the empty bottle in an empty barrel, quickly moving on to another.

As she sat, leaning against the wall with her elbows on her knees and a wine bottle clasped in her fingers, Ember examined the bottle.

She liked the feeling, she missed it. Perhaps the only perk of being a revenant was that she could drink as much as she wanted and she would never be drunk or hungover.

Of course, she needed to drink more to feel anything because of it-but what did that matter?

"I could get used to this..." she sighed.

~~~

The next morning, she slept in, snoring away her hangover. As a result she missed breakfast and lunch, choosing to stay in her room in bed.

Her disappearance was noticed by the Grandmaster, but he gave no thought to it beside comparing it to a child throwing a temper tantrum.

He was busy with his duties to the clan and hadn't even realized that she stayed in her room the remainder of the day. She didn't show up for dinner either, but Kuai Liang wasn't too worried.

That night, the clan and he retired. He didn't bother trying to speak with Ember. If he knew anything about her, it was that she was stubborn and spiteful.

Ember had tried to sleep that night, but to no avail. All she could do was lie awake and stare at the ceiling in utter darkness. Restless, she jumped out of bed and did the only thing she knew would make her sleep:

Drink.

Just as she had done the night before, Ember snuck into the wine cellar. She had indiscriminately taken a bottle of wine or two and gulped down the contents, feeling the buzz turn into drowsiness. Placing the bottles in the same barrel she used the other night, Ember felt she could sleep and stumbled in a tipsy stride back to her room.

This routine continued the next day. Still, Kuai Liang had not been worried, only confused at what she hoped to gain by her isolation.

He was unaware that she spent more than half the day sleeping away another hangover. He was unaware that she was merely picking at the food sent to her room, not as hungry as before. He was unaware that once night fell, sleep evaded her.

Tossing and turning in her bed, Ember couldn't take it anymore and returned to the wine cellar. It was quickly becoming her favorite place in the temple.

The cycle repeated for three more days. By then, Kuai Liang was certainly worried-but his pride towered over his concern. He figured this wouldn't last much longer. Soon enough Ember would have to leave her room and be in his presence.

As he ate his breakfast in silence, his resolve hardened. He could hold out longer, she would eventually realize what a brat she was being.

"Grandmaster," a Lin Kuei cook entered the dining room, bowing.

Kuai Liang nodded, giving permission to speak.

"There seems to be a problem that I believe should be brought to your attention. It seems for the past five days, someone has been drinking up the wine supply."

Mildly interested, Kuai Liang put down his utensils. "Are there any suspects? Why wasn't this brought to my attention sooner?" The cook shrunk slightly at the Grandmaster's dry tone.

"N...none so far, Grandmaster. Whoever it is seems to be going at night when everyone except the guards is asleep. As for why it is so late...well we just noticed how rapidly the wine is going."

"I will speak with the lookouts, have one of them guard the wine cellar for the night."

"Thank you, Grandmaster." The cook bowed once more before being dismissed and scurried off back to his station.

Kuai Liang leaned back in his chair. A drunkard in his temple? He didn't like the sound of that...but for the time being it wasn't the biggest threat or concern.

Still, he thought he had instilled better values into his Lin Kuei.

Perhaps it was time to take a night stroll through the temple.