Metamorphosis

Chapter 16: Arriving in Nairobi

Nairobi, Keyna.

The first location on the list of places the Stones of Power were last recorded at.

Phoenix stepped out of the plane and breathed in the hot air. It was surprisingly humid. She'd thought it was going to be hot, bleeding hot, and dry like a desert, but it was slightly overcast, and a bit chillier than she'd expected.

"Wow. Not what I expected," Nyle commented, stepping onto the asphalt.

Mira came out after him. "The Jomo Kenyatta Airport is right there. I think we're supposed to wait for someone to come pick us up since we're not exactly close to an entrance."

Phoenix looked and saw that it was true. They were separated from the airport building by a series of roads, and ditches. "Does anyone know why we're so far out?"

Leroy popped his head out of the plane. "Nope," he said, popping the P. "But we are, so we should wait for instruction."

Adam clapped a hand on Leroy's shoulder. "The van should be here any minute. I contacted the driver a few minutes ago."

"Where's the fan?" Nova asked, yawning. "It's hot!"

"We're in Kenya," Freya said wryly, coming out after Nova. "In the summertime. It's going to be hot. And it's not even that hot. What are you complaining about?"

Nova huffed. "I'm just saying it's hot out."

Saige came out wordlessly with Parker, and didn't say anything. Parker whispered something to Nyle, who frowned. They both watched Saige as she walked over to Mira.

"What's up with Saige?" Adam asked Phoenix.

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. She's not usually so... Quiet. Maybe she didn't sleep well."

He nodded, not completely convinced, but dropped the subject. "Ah, there's the driver."

A large black van pulled up to the side of the plane. The outside was glossy and reflective, like it was brand new. The passenger's side window rolled down, and I was surprised to see a young woman driving. She looked to be no more than twenty years old if that, and she had dark coffee brown skin. Her eyes were pools of onyx, and her lips were a pale pink. She had long, frizzy black hair that was styled in small braids, like corn rows.

She stopped the car and smiled at them. "Good afternoon, agents," she said. She had a low, smooth voice, and a very thick accent. "I will be taking you to our Kenyan base. My name is Amana. Please load up your belongings and we will depart as soon as we can."

Freya smiled at Amana. "Thank you. We'll try to be quick." She turned to Brendan. "What are we going to do with the plane?"

"Another SHIELD agent is going to come and get it. It will be kept here until we're done here," Brendan replied.

She nodded. "Alright. We should get our stuff into the van. Does everyone have their things? I don't think anyone put anything in the bottom of the plane, right?"

They shook their heads and started to load their things into the van. Nyle took Mira's for her and winked as he placed it in the back.

She tried to play off the pink rising in her cheeks by rolling her eyes and walking back to Saige. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked, seeing the vacant look in Saige's eyes.

Saige sighed. "I just had a rough night."

Mira didn't miss the glance Saige shot over at Nova. "Saige... What happened?"

"It's nothing. I'm fine."

"You know, whenever someone says their fine, everyone knows they aren't. The scale goes: great, good, okay, meh, not great, bad, terrible, fine," Mira scoffed. "Come on. I'm your best friend. We tell each other everything. You even told me about that time you had a crush on Nyle."