Author's Note: So this is the sequel to Unusual Orphans posted a couple weeks later than it should have. Enjoy and good luck guessing what's going to happen! I own nothing but Nexia
Strange Fate
Chapter I, Part I
She was lying on the bed, still as death except for the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Her white blonde curls drifted around her head like a halo. Her pale skin was flawless and shimmered somewhat under the pale light. She was as vibrant and healthy looking as she had been in life, her cheeks rosy and her lips curved up slightly in a smile, and looked as if she would wake at any time. Still she slept on, blissfully unaware of the chaos outside her sheltered room. The one with the door that no one but he seemed to be able to find.
Mirage shook that thought out of his head and focused on calming his breathing. In the year since Nexia had given up her own life so that he could live it wasn't unusual for Mirage to dream of his younger sister. Most of the time he saw her smile the instant before she fell dead next to him or saw her as a child grinning at him from her bed. The last two nights had been different. He had seen Nexia lying in a bed of pale pink blossoms, sleeping, and no matter what he tried he could not rouse her. He had woke both times gasping for breath.
He had lied to Jazz about the dreams. Both times his older brother asked he had claimed they were nightmares about the day he had died. Jazz hadn't questioned any further, not wanting to upset his younger brother. It was a good thing Jazz hadn't questioned any further or Mirage's resolve would have probably broken and he would have spilled the secret.
A bang and the scuffle of feet on dirt pulled his attention back to the present. He shifted slightly while the noise was still echoing about the cavern and focused on the scene behind him. Shockwave was shipping something into an underground cavern in large amounts but no one had yet been able to figure out what. Mirage fingered the talisman hanging around his neck thoughtfully as he watched the crates being unloaded. It had been given to him by an ancient wise woman and gave him the ability to become invisible. For missions like this it was incredibly useful.
One of the delivery men said something about payment and the man helping unload the crates nodded and led him outside the cave. Mirage wrapped his fingers tight around the talisman and allowed the power to wash over him, making him vanish from view. He walked carefully across the footprint covered dirt, hoping his own footprints vanished into the chaos of other steps. He paused at the first crate, picking the lock and lifting the lid. Rocks. Dozens of crystals lay shimmering inside the crate. When Mirage picked one up it was warm to the touch, as if it contained some kind of heat. He pocketed the crystal and shut the lid on the crate, relocking it just as the pair returned to unload the last few.
Where did the rocks come from? Mirage aimed to find out. He slipped in the back of the truck just as the unloaded the last of the crates. "That's all for this week," the man said.
"All for the rest of your life," the other one grumbled and Mirage froze.
"W-what?" was all the other man got out before the knife sliced his throat. Blood sprayed everywhere including where Mirage was hiding. The guard may have never noticed the extra footprints or the missing crystal but he did notice the blood vanishing into thin air where it hit Mirage.
"Hey!" he yelled but Mirage was already darting by him, heartbeat pounding in his chest as he all but flew out of the cave. The man chased after him but paused at the entrance of the cave, obviously torn. Shockwave probably didn't want anything to happen to the crystals and if Mirage was simply a distraction the 'Con wouldn't be pleased. Mirage froze behind a clump jagged rocks, his heartbeat all he could hear until the man turned and re-entered the cave. Shockwave was definitely up to something with the rocks, but what?