Indigo's Owl [Indigo Rewrite]

Chapter 11 - A Line Once Crossed

"I don't want to hear your deluded ramblings right now," said Athira, slamming another wave of Black into his mind. Something new snapped. His eyes lost focus. "Where do I find the Wardens?"

A wild, split shred of thought bounced through Reader's head, too erratic, too unpredictable to catch. Wardens, Wardens, where to find them indeed? Everywhere, everywhere indeed, which means only one place! Yes, yes, one place that makes sense for everywhere. "With Colour like yours, I'd be surprised had they not found you already, my dear."

Athira pushed deeper into the maze.

The closer she drew to the centre, the more cracks appeared. The Black wedged its way into everything it found and broke them open, leaving memories and thoughts once stashed in dark corners spilling out into the maze, replaying upon the broken, gleaming shards that lay strewn about the mindscape.

The flicker of fire. The desperate words of a promise to never speak of what he'd seen. The agony in his mouth, the blood that dripped from it, the words he could no longer form.

Another wave of Black.

The heat as his face was forced closer to the fire, the scream that didn't need a tongue to rip from his throat.

Another piece cracked.

The silence.

The stillness.

The truth he'd missed before.

Everything began to blend together. A hundred memories split a thousand ways through, so fractured and detached that they were little more than a cacophony of noise, too tangled to even begin to make sense of. His insanity was a far greater defence than any wall, but among it all, flickers of clarity still existed.

Can't know. Not yet. Too soon. If the Wardens stop Rathe — no, no. The true Kingdom shall come to pass. Always comes to pass, through one sovereign or another.

With little but ruin behind her, Athira reached the heart of the maze.

"Last chance, Reader," she said. "Yield or break."

"I sacrifice myself to the Kingdom," said Reader, a fanatical edge to the thoughts that twined with his rambling words. "I sacrifice myself to the freedom of all, to the Kingdom, to —"

Athira rolled her eyes. "How about the peace and quiet of the universe?"

She rallied her Black around the final, inner sanctum of Reader's mindscape and prepared for the blow that would shatter its defences when a new, yet achingly familiar voice called out.

"Athira?"

Athira's mind went blank.

Even if she'd been prepared, if she'd known who was about to enter the room, Athira couldn't have stopped herself from turning to look at Zoe.

Her earlier glimpse of Zoe in the training room was seared into her brain. Athira still wasn't entirely convinced she hadn't imagined it, but Zoe was right there, right now, standing in the doorway. The yellow of her Keeper suit was bright in the dim light of the stairwell. Her platinum blonde hair was in the same high ponytail it'd sat in when they were fourteen, only now it was longer, and bound with an indigo ribbon.

Athira just stared.

Zoe was alive.

It hadn't been a lie.

She hadn't imagined her.

A smile broke out onto Zoe's face. Her glow intensified as she started towards them. "Thira!"