A New Age, A New Team
Chapter 50: Peaceful Reminders

Months had passed and seasons had changed for X², and still that night in the warehouse was a subject no one talk of. The team took the hardest blow since the original X-Men were killed. Everyone was so lost and everyone felt alone, but at the same time they felt so close.

There was constant reminders to the entire team of their unity and family values in the beautiful garden behind the mansion. Overlooking the luscious fountain was the tombstone of Seth, with his codename of Frostbite was scrolled across the top of it, while his name, birth date and death date were below. Seth's body rejected Miracle's blood which made him die of complications from the virus.

Amongst the tulips in the garden another tombstone was planted with Jazmine's name on it. Her codename was scrolled on top, much like Seth's, with her name, birth date and death date below her codename. Underneath all of that, Grace had a message inscribed on the stone that read: A friend, a partner, a sister and an angel in disguise. Jazmine had died for the same reason that Seth did, but the strange part was when her heart stop beating her wings sprouted from her back for the last time ever.

Under the large willow tree was another tombstone with Linx's name on it. However, unlike the other tombstones the only thing on the stone was her name. No one knew anything more about Linx than that, but that's all that really needed to be on it; it was fitting for her.

Each tombstone reminded the entire mansion of that night and it kept those fallen members memories alive within everyone. Noah and Arcane's blood had matched Miracle's and they had managed to stay alive, but still comatose. They had become a symbol of survival for the team, and a form of hope. Aurora (Satine) had started to recover from her eating disorder and was soon to be back in the field as soon as Jamal had given her the okay to do so. She was only bright side to X² that had happened recently.

Grace crouched down by Jazmine's tombstone and laid a small bundle of red roses on top of the stone quietly, while Sean stood behind her. Her fingers carefully traced over the cold stone as her green eyes read the stone. I miss you… She thought as she stood up and walked back to Sean. They both stood there for a minute staring at the dark stone as the different colored tulips swayed back and forth in the wind.

Grace took a deep breath in and quietly spoke, "Things have changed…"

"I think that's the understatement of the year Grace," Sean chuckled.

Grace softly laughed as she nodded her head, "I meant things have changed between us."

"I know what you meant," Sean said quietly as he continued to stare at Jazmine's tombstone.

"It's just that-"

"We're too good of friends," Sean interrupted.

Grace hung her head down and nodded, "Yeah."

Sean turned to face Grace and smile contently, "It's better this way."

"Agreed." Grace smiled back, and Sean slightly leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek.

Tonya's green eyes stared out the window of the kitchen as Sean leaned over and kissed Grace's cheek, and then she quickly turned away. She poked at her food with her spoon a couple times as she tried to ignore the weird feeling she had.

"Ya alright Tonya?" Gabe asked in his thick southern accent.

"Fine."

"Ya don't seem fine."

Tonya dropped her spoon against her plate in annoyance, "I'm fine."

The night had become Hecate's favorite time of night since the warehouse; it was peaceful, calm and she could be alone. She quietly stepped out into the garden that was lightly lit from the full moon light that reflected off of her platinum blonde hair. Everything was still and the only thing that could be heard was the wind softly whistling.

She calmly walked towards the large willow tree like she did every time she went into the garden. A chill ran over her body as her dark blue eyes locked on the dangling branches as they swayed from side to side. Every time she walked towards the willow the time that Linx said goodbye played over in her head. It was Linx's willow after all.

The branches swayed from side to side in fluid dance, and when there was a slight part in the branches Hecate's eyes grew large in disbelief. There she was standing by her tombstone in all her glory. Linx? She watched as the branches swayed back and then opened again to reveal nothing. Hecate walked up to the branches and pushed them aside in hopes that she would be standing there, but there was nobody.

Her shoulders fell in disappointment as the only thing underneath the willow was the simple tombstone that read her name. She crouched down in front of it quietly and traced her fingers over the black lettering of her name in silence. It was cold to the touch and yet it always gave Hecate some comfort every time she did it.

"I hope you're doing alright wherever you are," Hecate whispered as she studied the stone in front of her.

"I'm doing a lot better now," a calm voice quietly said.

Hecate looked up above her in the treetop branches and saw Linx sitting on a branch in her signature big long-sleeved shirt and jeans. Her mouth fell open in amazement and disbelief. She looked so different from the last time she saw her, but it still was the same Linx. Her hair was now long, but it still had her bright red highlights underneath it, and she looked older now.

"How?" Hecate gasped as she slowly stood up.

Linx carefully jumped down from the tree branch and stood in front of Hecate with a soft smile on her face, "I guess you can't kill death." She shrugged.

Hecate slowly walked over to Linx and stood in amazement and awe at her friend returning. "But…"

"I was in the Dead Realm. Many innocent people died that night and I had to do something about it." She sighed, "I also had to recover myself." She pushed the sleeve of her shirt up to reveal the once dark purple circle that was around the bone on her wrist was now a black circle that looked much like a tattoo.

Hecate let out a gasp of relief before walking over to Linx quietly and wrapping her arms around her. Nothing was said between them because nothing needed to be said. Hecate took a step back and looked at Linx for a minute; she had definitely changed, "So what brought you back now?"

"Grimm passed on some information to me that I need to research."

Hecate raised an eyebrow at her, "What information?"

"It's about Hiro."

"Ah Hiro; our fellow mysterious person of the mansion."

Linx chuckled, "That's the one."

"Then we need to go to the library," Hecate nodded her head and turned around to walk back into the mansion.

The large double wooden doors to the library quietly opened as Linx followed Hecate inside. So much has changed since I left. Linx thought as she looked around with her two different colored hazel eyes.

"Jamal made a section dedicated to mutants throughout history, including us," Hecate said as she turned down a long aisle of books where about half the shelves were filled and the rest were empty. "Here we are."

Linx looked up at the bindings of the books and side, "Alright," she said quietly as she looked around for the book she was looking for. "What would it be under?"

"His codename, so Void." Hecate said as she ran her finger of the bindings while she scanned for the right book. "Here." She whispered as she pulled a book for the shelf. "This is the one you want."

Linx walked over and looked at the book Hecate was holding quietly. She carefully took it and walked over to the nearby table to sit down. Hecate followed behind her and then stopped short of the table for a minute, "Do you want to do this alone?" She whispered.

"If you wouldn't mind."

Hecate shook her head, "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Hecate," She smiled softly before flipping the book open.

She carefully turned page after page looking for the section about Void until she finally found it. Her two different colored eyes quietly read over each word as she sat in the silence of the library by herself reading everything she could find on him, until it got to his family members. She flipped the next page and it was ripped out. Linx checked and rechecked the pages over and over again as she tried to find the missing the page, but it was no use; it was gone. Why would it be ripped out? She thought as she looked around in the empty mahogany library and then sighed. He has to be hiding something…