I only just now noticed a message saying that Chapter 2 had been lost to formatting, and of course we can't have that! Anyway, here's chapter 2 for real this time. Expect a third soon, it's still in progress :D
It was a still night, not a sound; even the wind had stopped. A slender shadow was gliding swiftly and entirely silently through the trees surrounding the Night Raid camp. A pair of red eyes were all that could be seen of the girl named Nia as she flew toward the small shelter that the Night Raid assassin's were hiding in.
I must take out enemies of the Capital, she thought to herself as she slipped into the camp, undetected. She leapt into the tree nearest the cabin and stepped onto the roof. She immediately lay down, distributing her weight to keep the wood from creaking.
Nia cut a small opening in the corner of the roof, just large enough for her to slip through. She landed in a small bedroom, in which all the furnishings were covered in black sheets. The walls were bare with only a single mirror. When she looked at it, she saw the reflection of a massive explosion. She stifled a gasp. It was clear that she had just glimpsed something from the past. Someone died in that explosion. The person who lived in this room must have died in that blast, Nia thought to herself. No matter, I should focus on the mission. She thought, shaking her head. She took once last glimpse at the mirror before slipping through the door and into the hall.
Mine jolted awake. She thought she felt a burst of energy. There's no way that anyone's using the mirror I gave Akame, she thought to herself.
~flashback (Mine's POV)~
1:27 AM
"It's hard to believe that this is an imperial arms," I thought as I polished the mirror for the umpteenth time. "Well, the boss said that it can show flashes of the past and future of the person who owns it; when that happens, the previous owner can feel a burst of energy. If all that's true, it'll be the perfect gift for Akame's birthday." I placed it in the box and labeled it. I then placed the box on a tray, covered it with a place mat, and arranged the tea, pie, and silverware on it, disguising the gift as the tray itself. I carried it toward Akame's room, careful not to wake anyone. I opened her door and set the "tray" on her nightstand. "She better like it," I thought.
~end flashback~
Lubbock stirred, but didn't wake. Just a dream, she thought. She sighed and lay back. Just then, the floor creaked right outside the door.
Nia froze. There's no way I just fell for that, she thought. Being used to creeping across tiled floors, she hadn't thought to be careful on the wooden floor. She slunk back as she heard someone moving in the room she had been about to enter. Crap, not now...! She backed into the shadows and bumped into something solid. She sighed silently, then some unseen force grabbed her arms.
Tatsumi switched out of stealth mode once he had restrained the intruder. "Cut it out!" he growled at the girl as she writhed in his grip. She didn't answer, just continued struggling. "Gah, I said stop!" he snapped, slamming her into the floor and pinning her there. Mine stepped out of her room with a lamp and her eyes widened, her lips forming a word Tatsumi couldn't make out. He looked back at the intruder and gasped.
"Akame?"