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IT WASN'T EVERYDAY MORRIGAN RETURNED TO XANDAR. In fact, the last time that she had stepped foot in the city which served as the capital of the Nova Empire was over a decade ago, when she was nothing more than a small child. It was strange to see all of the happy, smiling families when she had just come from a slave planet days before. She looked over at a little girl, running and laughing as what seemed to be her brother chased her. The girl shrieked, and giggled as he got closer.
(suddenly mor isn't in xandar anymore, she's back in neapra, hiding in the shadows as another strikingly similar little girl runs shrieking and flies straight past her, but this is no game, and moments later three hounds pass by as well, hunting down their prey with a terrifying savagery)
(mor still remembers how she looked on at the scene in horror as they catch the child, and rip into her with no mercy)
Mor took a few deep breaths to clear her head (it's not real,it's not real). Her nails dug into her palms, and she felt the slight sting as they sliced open her palms. She squeezed her eyes closed tightly and shook her head. The little girl and her brother ran past, and they were gone (just like the child from her memory). Mor laughed bitterly as she kept going (children here don't need to worry about running for their lives- must be nice to have that luxury).
She tugged her coat tighter over her shoulders, and stood up from the plain bench she'd been sitting on. The planet's warm air had gained a more sinister chill to it, and Mor didn't want to stay here any longer than she had to. She blinked her left eye, activating the server embedded into it. She looked around the virtual map of the city, zoning in on the shop where Yondu said Quill would be. He mentioned something about a sphere too, but considering she wasn't getting paid for that, she had just hung up.
✶✶✶
Standing nearby the shop, close enough she could watch anyone coming in and out but far enough that they couldn't see her, Mor lay in wait for her target. She knew a little about Peter Quill but fortunately, she had only crossed paths with him once many years prior. He was an arrogant prick with a mind for no one but himself, and she was glad that at least this time she would have to endure his presence she would be getting a pretty hefty paycheck.
Seeing all of the happy families made Mor wistful, as she remembered the days when she could've been one of them (days so long ago that they were fuzzy in her memory, practically of a different life where she was just a curious little girl, bickering with her older brother behind their parents' backs). She forced herself to look away as another little girl went bouncing by, dragging her father behind her. Those memories were becoming a distraction, one that Mor needed to put behind her if she was going to ever accomplish this mission.
"It would appear as if Quill has arrived at a meeting with the contact." Mor jerked back to alertness at WINNIE's voice. "If you do not wish for him to escape, I would advise heading to intercept him. Not that it matters to me, but I believe you were looking for a nice vacation on Kahu."
"You know WIN," Mor replied, earning strange glances from the few strangers around her as she appeared to be talking to thin air, "I miss the days when you were just a voice assistant. You've always been a pain in the ass since you went sentient. One of these days I'm just going to mute you from my audio channels and then we'll see who's the smug bastard."
"I regret to inform you boss, but without my assistance your missions have a less than 12% chance of success." WINNIE cut back, obviously unimpressed by Mor's empty threats. Mor simply shook her head, following the directions overlaying her vision to the shop.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Pull up the surveillance feeds from inside that shop." Mor double tapped the outside corner of her right eye and dragged her finger underneath it towards her nose, switching her vision from the current world around her to viewing the security cameras inside the Broker's shop.
She watched as Quill tried to pawn the orb, and froze when he mentioned he was attacked by a man working for Ronan. Mor and him had a long history, easily over two decades of hostility between them both. Suddenly, that orb was a whole lot more interesting, because anything that would piss off that blue bastard was easily worth Mor's time.
Mor added a reminder to make a few calls if she did happen to get her hands on the artifact. After all, pissing off an intergalactic space tyrant was always best done with friends.
Mor unfroze and quickly sped up her stride, hoping to get to the store before the transaction finishes. She nearly jumped with joy as the building came into view, noting Quill was still yet to exit. Quill was suddenly shoved out of the shop, and Mor went forward to make her move.
Before she could reach him, he turned to another woman, who, in her haste, Mor had completely ignored. She froze. Her facial scanner started running instantly, but she already knew who the green-skinned woman was. The software merely confirmed what Morrigan already knew; Peter Quill was speaking with Gamora, daughter of Thanos.
Well, fuck. Knowing who Gamora was, that orb now seemed a lot less innocent and amusing than it had a few minutes ago. There was absolutely no way the other woman was there because of a coincidence. The orb could only be one thing in the universe, for Thanos to send his prized daughter to collect such a seemingly innocuous object, and Mor was filled with dread as she knew what she had to do.
