Mortal Kombat: Order's Consort

"Was it not worth it?" He asked with confidence.

"You most certainly knew what you were doing." She told him.

"I've had centuries to practice." He made a note on one of his papers.

"Centuries?" She stood up and looked at him with furrowed brows.

"One of my parent's is a god. I'm immortal."

"Oh."

"I'm assuming that your father is a god as well."

"Umm."

"White hair and control over electricity." He said with a smile. "That's Raiden. He is quite fond of humans and I wouldn't put it past him to dally with them once in a while."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I suspected it from almost the beginning. It's another reason why I know you will make such a wonderful consort. I won't have to replace you eventually."

"Yeah?"

"We will be together through the centuries." He said with conviction.

She smiled but inside her head alarm bells were screaming. There was a knock on the door.

"Come." Hotaru called.

A servant entered the room with a stack of clothing.

"In the bedroom, in the closet," Hotaru directed her.

"I had some clothes made for you." He told Rina. "I didn't procure a maid for you though. I assumed you were more like me and would rather take care of yourself."

"Yes." She told him.

The servant hung the clothes and then left with a respectful bow. Rina went to look at the clothes. Most of them were simple but elegant Kimonos.

"I had several pairs of pants and shirts made for you." He kissed her bare shoulder. "I will train you how to fight as well as harness your powers."

"I can't do anything without my siblings." She told him.

"You will do fine without them."

"I've never been separated from them for more than a night." She was already feeling the strain.

"You have me now. No more talk of your brothers." His tone told her that that was his final word and he wouldn't tolerate her pushing the subject.

"If I'm immortal than how come I got sick?" She asked him.

"You're young yet. You'll need time to build up immunities. I still become sick once in a while. It's quite miserable."

He turned her around, pushed her towel to the floor and picked her up, carrying her to the bed. He made love to her again and then left her to sleep.

Hotaru took a week off "to get her out of his system" as his captain had so eloquently put it. All they did was eat, sleep, and make love. By the end of the week he was ready to return to his duties. Inactivity didn't suit him.

"Are you alright?" Hotaru asked Rina, seeing what seemed to be strain in her eyes.

She opened her mouth to reply and then closed it. She smiled at him and flopped on the bed.

"Fine. Just tired. I think you wore me out this week."

"Get some sleep," he said and covered her with a blanket.

"Of course." She replied and closed her eyes. He closed the bed curtains and left to carry out his duties.

When she heard the doors close, she hopped out of bed and ran to the closet. She pulled out a pair of pants and a shirt and hurriedly put them on. She braided her hair and then covered it with a scarf.

She had lied to Hotaru when she'd told him that she was fine. She wasn't but she wasn't about to bring up the subject of her brothers. It was still off limits.

The problem was that Hotaru didn't understand her need to be with Josh and Jake. Apart they were pieces of a puzzle, but together they were a whole. They needed to be together. Without them, she felt as if her heart had been ripped out and no matter how hard he tried, Hotaru just wasn't going to be able to fill the gaping hole.

There was a guard out in the hall and she wanted to avoid him. She opened the window in Hotaru's office and walked out onto the balcony. She hopped down into the sparse garden and started walking like she had every right to be there.

She headed in the direction of the portal. She was being pulled there. Her brother's weren't in Seido but they were in the nexus that connected the portals. They were waiting for her, willing her the courage that she needed to make it back to them.

The closer she got, the more the strain on her eased. She was sad to be leaving Hotaru behind. She was pretty sure that she'd fallen in love with the zealot. But she knew what she had to do, and she did it. She could live without Hotaru, but she couldn't live without her brothers, who were an extension of herself.

She knew the portal was being guarded and she already had a plan. When she got close she started running as if her life depended on it.

"Help!" she cried to the two guards.

"What's wrong?" One of them asked.

"There is a man assaulting a woman behind that house!" She pointed toward a house not too distant. "He was dressed funny. Not like anything I've ever seen!"

Both of the guards looked at each other and started running toward the house.

"Stay there." One of them yelled to her.

When they were out of sight she surveyed the land one last time and saw Hotaru, his captain, and several guards headed her way, and they were fairly close.

"Shit!" She jumped into the portal.

Josh and Jake were waiting there in the nexus for her. They took her in their arms, hugging her.

"No!" She pushed them. "We have to hurry! He's coming."

They ran toward the earth portal just as Hotaru and his men came through into the nexus.

Just as they were about to jump through, Hotaru managed to grab the neck of Rina's shirt, dragging her back. Josh and Jake stopped to try to help and were grabbed by Tanaka and the guards. The triplets fought like wild animals trying to get to each other. Tanaka finally hit both men over the head with his sword hilt, knocking them unconscious.

"Stop fighting me Rina" Hotaru gritted out. "Or I'll have Tanaka kill them." She froze.

Hotaru dragged her back through the portal to Seido, followed by Tanaka and his men, dragging both of her brothers. They made their way back to the palace and she was separated from her brothers. Tanaka threw them in the same cell from before and Hotaru dragged her back to his quarters.

He pulled a long piece of rope out of his desk and tied it around her hands then attached it to a hook in the ceiling and one in the wall and hauled on it until her arms were stretched above her head and she stood on her tip toes. Then he left the room and didn't come back until his duties were done at the end of the day. She was hanging, her legs having given out hours ago.

"I'm very disappointed with you Rina." Hotaru said unhooking the rope from the wall and letting her fall to the floor.

"Do you know how much it hurt me to do this to you?"

"I'm sorry." She looked up at Hotaru. "I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't live without them."

"I wasn't enough for you?" He asked in quiet anger, reaching down to grasp the back of her neck.

"I love you, Hotaru," Rina slurred a bit and he let her go.

"If you loved me you would have heeded my words!"

"They are part of me." She said trying to make him understand. "Only together are we whole. Being away from them is like having my heart ripped out and even you can't fill the void."

"Is that so?"

"I want you Hotaru." She moved her hand to touch his foot. "But I need them."

"You won't need them if they are dead."

"Hotaru, if they die, I die!"

"Gods!" He growled.

He picked her up, took her in the bedroom, and put her to bed. She was asleep within moments. He stalked down to the dungeon and sought out her brothers. They sat huddled together on the cold floor of their cell. He looked at them and couldn't help but note that they were the male versions of Rina. They all looked alike now that their hair was all the same white color.

"You should put her in the bath," Josh said to him.

"She won't sleep very long." Jake said. "He arms are hurting too bad."

"And before you ask, we just know." Josh shrugged.

"Her pain is our pain." Jake told him.

"If I were to kill you?" Hotaru asked.

"Rina would die too." Josh said rubbing his shoulders as if they hurt.

"We can't live without each other." Jake said.

"She said that she loves me," Hotaru said.

Both brothers closed their eyes but Hotaru could see that they were moving rapidly behind their eyelids.

"She does love you." Josh said finally.

"In her mind, were you?" Hotaru asked sarcastically.

"If we're within a quarter mile we can read each other's minds and speak telepathically." Josh said with a shrug.

"Her capacity for forgiveness is endless for those that she loves." Jake told Hotaru.

Hotaru left then, slamming the cell door shut.

Tread carefully, Josh sent the thought winging to Rina who had woken and was taking a shower. He is hurting and angry.

I will take care. She promised them.

When she stepped out of the shower Hotaru was there holding a robe open. She stepped forward and he enfolded her in it. He took her in his arms and held her tightly.

"I'm sorry." He finally told her.

"I might have enjoyed it had you stayed." She said smiling up at him.

"I won't let you leave me." He said roughly. "I will give your brothers their own quarters. I will train all of you."

"I meant what I said earlier." She touched his cheek. "I'm in love with you."

"I," he paused. "Care very much too."

"Good enough for me." She pushed the robe off her shoulders. "I'd appreciate it if you'd take me to bed now."