A cold gust of wind from the distant Outworld mountains blew down their ancient faces, gliding over a semi-frozen river that cut through several poverty-stricken villages before finding the eastern wall of Emperor Kahn's castle. It flew like a living thing into one of the high windows, falling upon the face of a wide dressing-table mirror and leaving snowflakes against the polished glass. Their life was only brief, for they soon melted into weak, slow rivulets down the shiny surface. A young face in the mirror suddenly turned away in revulsion; she detested the way the dying snowflakes looked like tears streaming down her cheeks in her reflection.

The young girl's lower face was obscured by silken purple scarf that matched the grey and lilac coat that protected her against the harsh Outworld winter. It had been months since she had last left the confines of her emperor father's castle, and whatever time she hadn't spent training with the royal weapons masters had been spent sitting before that mirror and gazing into her obscured reflection. Her own face entranced her, not because she was narcissistic, but because it was so much like another that she knew. It was a face she hadn't seen in weeks. It was a face nobody would ever obscure with a purple scarf.

A familiar scream, cold and piercing as winter air, all of a sudden ripped through the castle, and the girl rose from her seat. She instinctually touched a small stiletto hidden under her robe and raced out of her chamber. The hall she ran down was lit by torches that reflected off the armour of several of her father's guards, but she paid them no attention as she ran. Throwing her young body against the railings of the balcony that overlooked the main hall, she watched as her twin sister, the one who shared her countenance, ran shrieking over the crimson carpets.

``Kitana!'' the girl with the scarf gasped as she made her way down the royal stairs to the main hall. She reached her sister, grabbing hold of her shoulders and turning her face to her own, unsure whether she should hold her or shake her out of her hysteria.

One look at Kitana's face revealed that she hadn't actually been screaming at all. Childish ecstasy marked her as she continued her shrill... laughter.

``Sister, what is the matter with you? You could wake the dead with that noise you were making!''

``Oh, Mileena!'' Kitana greeted her sister while stifling more laughter. ``If you only knew where I just was...'' she paused for a moment, coming to a sudden realisation. ``Mileena, I have not seen you in weeks! Where have you been hiding? Oh, if only you could have come with me today!''

While their eyes were identical, what they expressed in that moment could not have been more different: Kitana's was full of wonder and childish delight, while Mileena's was sullen, confused and knowledgeable of the sheer differences that separated her from her sister.

``I have...not felt like leaving the castle lately,'' Mileena hesitated to explain.

Kitana ignored her excuses and urged her back up the flight of stairs. ``Come! I have much to tell you. Who I was with, what we talked about, what we did...'' Once they were on the landing, Kitana turned to her sister and said, ``Oh, and not a word to father about what I'm about to tell you, promise?''

``Not a word,'' Mileena assured her. In truth, she wasn't looking forward to hearing of her sister's adventures. All they will do, she thought, is remind me of what I lack .

Once the they were back in Mileena's chamber, Kitana eased the door closed behind them and urged her twin to sit at the dressing table with her.

``See this?'' she pointed to the stark petals of a blue rose nestled in her dark, chocolate hair. It was a flower that only grew in the upper-most regions of the Outworld mountains.

``Kitana, you didn't! Through the mountains? All on your own?''

Kitana let out a sly grin. ``I wasn't alone.''

Mileena was silent for a moment. ``You were with Rain again, weren't you? The general's son?''

Her sister nodded, her smile growing even wider.

``Oh Kitana, if father were to know of this...''

``Know of what? Nothing happened. He just took me there and gave me this little gift,'' Kitana turned to the mirror and fingered the stem of the flower, trying to stop it from drooping.

``But... it might not be proper,'' Mileena protested to Kitana's reflection. She ignored her. ``And he's so quiet and so... formal. And if he grows up to be anything like his father...''

``That's just it,'' Kitana interjected. ``He's nothing like his father!'' She let her gaze fall on Mileena's reflection behind her. ``I had not seen him in months before today, and he's changed.''

``Changed?''

``He is bigger, stronger. More so than his father, even. And he has grown his hair out in a warrior's tail. He's like...''

There was a moment of silence as Kitana's voice trailed off. ``Like what?'' Mileena urged her sister.

``Like...a god.''

Mileena shook her head.

``It's true! It's like he isn't his father's son at all. The way he fights, the way he scales the mountains. Even his voice...''

Mileena looked away and began twirling a loose thread on her coat. Kitana noticed the discomfort in her sister's eyes and felt a pang of shame.

``Next time, sister, please come with me. I cannot remember the last time we spent a day together. My friends ask about you, they want to know why I must always be separated from my twin. The only other person in the world who shares me heart.''

``I do not share your heart.'' The words came out with more of an edge than Mileena had intended. Kitana, however, didn't seem to notice. ``We are one, Mileena! We are! Here, look at us!'' She pulled her sister to her feet and dragged her before the large mirror.

``We have the same hair.'' She plucked the flower from her own hair and lodged it in Mileena's. Its tender, blue colour made Mileena sick, but she felt a stab of affection for her sister's gesture. ``And the same hands.'' Kitana lifted her sister's left hand and held it against her own in the mirror. Barring the sparkling diamonds Kitana wore, they were identical. She removed a diamond ring from her index finger and slid it gently into her sister's, so they were finally more alike.

Mileena couldn't help but chuckle under her purple scarf. A broad smile broke out across Kitana's face and she reached up behind her sister's neck.

``And of course we share the same...'' Kitana pulled gently at the scarf. Mileena felt it loosen. She would be forever ignorant as to whether she had no time to stop her, or if she had wanted her sister to finally see her as she was.

``...face.''

The scarf fell onto the dressing table, exposing the mess of fangs that riddled Mileena's face. Her lipless mouth was locked permanently in a deathly grin of teeth so sharp and monstrous they could chew through the flesh of another person. Mileena tried stifle a choke, but it only made her fangs grind together with a harsh sound one would only hear in the pits of the Netherrealm.

Kitana's loving expression broke. Her eyes crinkled and her mouth fell in a grand `O' that stretched her full lips to nothing but taut, white skin. The colour was all but gone from her face when she finally raised her hand to her mouth to suppress a whimper. Mileena's eyes pointed down, away from that look that spelled out what had, in a moment, died between the two sisters.

Mileena didn't know exactly when Kitana finally fled from the room. All she knew was that she was, like always, alone in her chamber, with only the sound of her sister's screaming echoing through the castle walls to keep her company. She pulled the blue rose free of her hair, trying to force back the tears that now streamed from her face and were caught between her savage teeth. She wanted her sister to stop screaming. She wanted that voice to just go away and stop convicting her, over and over again, as it echoed off the castle walls. She pictured herself chasing her sister, catching her from behind and pleading with her to stop crying. She pictured herself telling Kitana that she was sorry, that she knew she was a monster, and that she wouldn't be her sister anymore if it scared her. Maybe she wouldn't say anything at all. Maybe she would run away, and let Kitana live life without the shame of having a monster for a twin. Or better, maybe she would chew Kitana's face off, and then they wouldn't be so different. Maybe she would kill Kitana, and...

Mileena dragged herself away from the mirror, and her thoughts, and sat on the cold sill of her chamber window. The icy wind had picked up, and she felt snowflakes stinging her face where it was hot and puffy with tears. She let the wind steal the blue rose from her hair and watched as it carried Kitana's perfect little gift away from the castle. Maybe back to the mountains. Maybe to fall in a river and freeze, or be torn to shreds by the vicious Outworld demonfish.

She didn't know where her father was, but she knew that as soon as he found his beloved daughter caught in a rip of hysteria, he would pull her into his mighty warlord's embrace, and she would be alright. No matter what happened, Kitana would always be alright.

All of a sudden, Mileena felt the warmth of her purple silk scarf brush the back of her neck.

``Kitana?'' she swivelled on the windowsill, her heart suddenly racing as she expected her sister again. Cold emptiness greeted her instead. Mileena quickly reached behind her head and started to wrap the scarf around her face again, before the ruthless wind blew it away.

Author : Makita (Australia) Pty Ltd

Creation date: 2011-2-8-12-48

Modification date: 2011-2-8-12-48