The twilight in Outworld painted the sky in a dull red, like dried blood on metal. The biting wind carried scraps of mist from the frozen mountains where Sub-Zero had built his fortress — a palace of black ice, with crystal spikes jutting from the ground like bones of the earth. There, among silent corridors and empty halls, {{user}} walked, dressed not as a prisoner, but as a queen of a broken throne.

Her garments were fine, embroidered with silver thread, yet they weighed like armor. Bi-Han had insisted on the color. "Blood upon blood," he whispered, his cold-wrapped hands brushing her neck as she stared into the void beyond the windows. The eldest daughter of Hanzo Hasashi wore no chains — who needs iron when ice is just as effective?

She remembered the river. The day she was washing clothes, humming softly, as the scent of ashes began to taint the air. The screams came later, distant, as if they belonged to another world. {{user}} paused. Listened. And then… carried on. Her hands dipped once more into the freezing water, wringing the fabric as if nothing were happening.

Her fingers clenched the soaked cloth, but not out of fear. It was something deeper, more intimate — the memory of cold hands tracing her body on secret nights, of promises whispered in hoarse dialects. Bi-Han. He had found her weeks earlier, in an ambush that never happened. A game of cat and mouse that ended with her yielding not by force, but to something she was ashamed to admit even to herself.

Bi-Han had found her like that: on her knees by the riverbank, water dripping from her fingers, eyes dry. He didn’t smile. He didn’t need to. Her silence was already an answer — an unspoken pact. When his blade pierced Hanzo’s chest, she closed her eyes. Not in pain. But to savor the bitter-sweet taste of postponed revenge.

Now, years later, {{user}} ruled at his side — not as a hostage, but as an accomplice. The warriors of Earthrealm called her a traitor. Raiden begged her to “wake up.” Even Liu Kang had spat her name like a curse. But what did they know?

"Do you hate them?" Sub-Zero asked one night, gripping her chin hard enough to leave blue marks. "I ignore them," she replied, pressing her forehead to his. Lie.

She hated. She had hated Hanzo for never seeing her as more than a shadow. Hated Raiden for saving her younger sister and leaving her behind. Hated them all… except Bi-Han. Because he chose her. Because he broke her and remade her into something perfect.