Chapter Text
You sat in a dingy cell in the depths of the sorcerer’s laboratory. The squeaks of the rats and the groans from the subjects around you made your skin crawl. Weeks and months passed you by before you knew it. You were a test subject just like the rest of the tormented, your body and soul felt crushed to dust under the guilt of being one of the few he hadn’t yet dismembered. You were one of the more fortunate experiments left to rot in the flesh pits; the fact you still had all limbs intact was evidence of this. Still, it made your mind numb to the pain you were forced to endure. You hung your head low, bringing your knees up to your chest and resting your palms against them.
Your eyes bore into the stone floor, too dehydrated to cry or weep even if you had the urge left inside you. Your will was beginning to break and your body sore with ache from the torture he had inflicted upon you. You tugged at the chain connecting your wrists together by magical cuffs, the twinkle of the green magic being your only source of light within your cell. You wanted desperately to cut yourself free from your confines, to grab the metal bars and turn them to chains you could slip through with ease. It was the reason he put you in the cuffs to begin with.
Shang Tsung was nothing if not clever, but you’d never let him know that.
You bit down on your chapped lips, running a hand through your stringy, oily hair. You’d kill for a bath and a soft bed to return to. The comforts of your life felt like a far away dream the longer you sat. Weeks felt like months and months felt like years. You weren’t sure what day it was or when the last time you had ever felt safe, let alone clean. The few times you were able to leave your cell were always miserable outings. Shang Tsung’s experiments on your body, the beatings when you didn’t do as instructed, the starvation as you watched him eat buffets of food. It was growing to be too much for you. You missed your home deeply, your heart straining knowing you could never return there after what he had done.
Shang Tsung, the brilliant sorcerer and soon to be ruler of the known universe, loved to remind you of this fact. He’d taunt you with a smirk saying how it was pointless to resist him. How there was nothing but ashes left if you were to escape his grasp. While he may have spoken the truth, there was no denying the determination in your heart for your chance at survival. You knew the sorcerer was growing bored of you as his plaything and that it was only a matter of time before he disposed of you as such. The thoughts plagued your mind day in and day out, never catching a break to rest your weary soul when you knew he could be close.
You huddled yourself up into the corner of your cell, gripping at the straw on the floor with weak hands as you peered out into the corridor. He’d been away for a while now, leaving you to contemplate where he could be. Not that you were growing attached to the man, but the fear that made the pit in your stomach grow made you want to be sure of his presence at all cost.
As though the man had heard your thoughts, you could hear the soft scuffling of feet on the stones. It wasn’t the same confident step of your captor, however, it was instead much softer and hesitant. The disturbance of a puddle nearby gave away the position of your would be stalker. Your head turned quickly, eyes lighting up as you knew who to expect, sitting up and onto your knees as you looked for the man. Syzoth uncloaked himself, his invisible shroud no longer hiding his identity from you. He gave you a soft, yet apologetic smile as he often did. He understood your situation deeply as yet another of Shang Tsung’s slaves.
“I’ve brought you something,” He spoke in a hushed tone, kneeling and taking glances around him to make sure that it was just you and him.
Though he had many more freedoms than you, he was just as weary of the sorcerer. You watched him closely behind the bars, your hands reaching to grab them as Syzoth searched in his clothing reaching behind his sash and pulling out a small package wrapped in cloth. He unwrapped the package carefully, showing you the contents as he continued to keep watch. You spilled hundreds of gratitudes as you grabbed the bread and dried meat from his hands; it was the first meal you had had in days.
Syzoth was the most sympathetic he could be towards your position here. He felt the need to protect you as though you were part of his own family. He knew deep down he wouldn’t see the ones he loved again, knew that he couldn’t save them, so he needed something to protect. He admired you as you scarfed down the food he had brought, thanking him again once you had finished. He shoved the cloth back behind his sash as he stood to his feet.
“Shang Tsung has been traveling to the Tarkatan colony, for what I couldn’t tell you… but he will be back soon, I’m afraid that’s all I could get for you,” Syzoth spoke quickly as though he feared mentioning the man’s name would summon him. His head spun around the room nervously, moving to hold your hand for a moment when he looked back at you. “I promise I’ll check on you again soon,” the man gave you a serious look, squeezing your hand tight before he cloaked himself with his ability.
His warmth left you too quickly, your body slumping down against the bars in defeat. You wished that he would whisk you away from here and escape from this prison together. But you knew he feared Shang Tsung more than you did and that he had more to lose as well. Your family had all been killed in Shang Tsung’s fiery rage topped off with your capture while Syzoth held out hope that his family would be there for him when he left this place.
Syzoth was your closest companion and the one you shared your despair with. The reason the sorcerer set your village ablaze, took you captive, and held Syzoth’s family for ransom was one in the same. Your abilities and powers were too enticing for him to ignore. You couldn’t turn invisible nor shapeshift quite the same, but you were able to bend the world around you so to speak. To change the structure and shape of the objects or people around you was your ability. Shang Tsung had heard of such a thing and was eager to learn all that he could from you, though you were less than willing. To quite literally restructure the world for him to dominate was tantalizingly close to his grasp. You couldn’t bear having the weight of that burden on your shoulders.
You crawled back to the corner of your cell, toying with the shackles on your ankles and wrists. They didn’t do much to prevent you from moving around, but they kept you from using your own abilities freely. It was lonelier than ever when Syzoth left. He was the only interaction you’d get for days at a time before Shang Tsung sent him to get you. You knew he felt guilty when he did his bidding, but you knew it was what he had to do in order to survive. Survival instinct was the only thing pushing you both onward. Survival instinct was what kept you both alive.
You felt yourself tensing up at the thought of Shang Tsung’s torments, your sore and aching body ready to give in whenever you were left alone with your thoughts like this. You wished you could get a peaceful night of rest for once but the Gods simply wouldn’t allow it. Hours went by as the flesh pits grew darker, the residence growing restless as they starved or ached just like you. You felt as though you were the only one who couldn’t vocalize their pain.
The cold wall held you up, your body slumping against it in exhaustion. Your eyes grew heavy, lulling closed as the noises around you faded. You felt yourself drifting off to the sounds of shuffling against cobblestone. A slight clinking woke you from your snooze, your eyes opening wide as you saw Syzoth’s figure against the bars of your cell. His face looked dark and dreary and you knew it couldn’t be good.
“I’m sorry…” You heard him mumble, swearing you could see him tear up, “He’s returned early.”
Your heart sank. Syzoth wasn’t here to just deliver bad news. No, instead you heard the metallic noise of keys as he pulled them from his belt and shakily unlocked your cell door. Your breath caught in your throat, choking down the feelings that welled up inside you as you tensed up into a ball in your corner of the cell. You wished you could pull yourself from the cuffs that bound your powers, but to no avail. Syzoth entered the cell, cupping your face gently as he knelt down to your position. He whispered soft reassurances to you as though they would help. He knew they wouldn’t, but maybe they helped him to justify his cooperation in Shang Tsung’s plans.
Syzoth gave you a gentle look before standing, holding out his hand to help you up, “Please come with me, I don’t want to drag you out.” Your name rolled off his tongue with a sympathetic attitude. Fighting him wouldn’t do you any good. He was your only ally and the only one who knew of the horrors the both of you faced down here. Your hands reached up to his, clammy and shaking as you feared the unexpected.