Indigo (NaNoWriMo13)

Chapter 28 - Trust Issues

“I knew this was a mistake,” she muttered. “Bringing you here. I thought I could trust you to--“

“What,” said Shift. “Sit there like a good little Colour while you flitted around doing whatever you like without so much as an explanation? If that’s what you expected, you read me completely wrong.”

“--to trust me,” Athira finished after he was done. Her glare almost made him flinch, akin to something of an injured lioness. “I brought you here because I thought I could trust you to trust me to make the right decision. Apparently, I was wrong.”

“Excuse me if I got a little tired of being dragged around and saved,” said Shift dryly.

“Am I on that list, Shift?” said Athira. “Is the Owl on that list?”

The calmness of the question took him off guard. “Unless it’s changed, I think so?”

“Knowing me now,” she continued in the same, flat tone. “Would you place me on that list?”

Shift hesitated. “No, but I know you. You’re not a villain, you’re doing the right thing... most of the time, anyway, even if it’s a little distorted how you get there.”

“Glad to know you don’t think I’m a complete monster,” she said dryly.

“No, but you have to give me some kind of explanation rather than just expecting me to go along with it!” said Shift. “I do trust you, Thira, but sometimes you expect too much of that trust and it needs a reason or two to keep going rather than more trust!”

Athira was quiet for a moment, her eyes on the floor. When she started speaking, it was a low, quiet voice Shift had to strain to hear.

“Before I met you, ran into Raph, found out Zoe was alive,” she said. “I had my own list. Whatever people didn’t deserve to walk the streets, the Owl removed them and left them for the Elites to clean up. Not every person I left was a demon in the guise of a human, some just made the mistake of annoying me. But for the most part, I removed those that no one else could. The ones that the Colours and Elites couldn’t get to -- or so I thought.

“When I arrived at Sirah, I made my list, as I did for every other area. Word spread quickly through the Underground that the Owl had arrived, and after I caught my first prey the others went into hiding. I found another two in my spare time while looking for Reader, which was when I ran into Raph and somehow ended up on Indigo.

 “I thought, great! Maybe I could get some leads into where the rest of my list was hiding.”She shook her head. “So, can you imagine my surprise when I get my first glimpse of the Elite’s most wanted list, only to find it full of all the wrong people?”

She looked to Shift, obviously waiting for a reply.

“So, you and the Elites had different priorities?” said Shift, not believing it himself. Athira might not do things to the letter of the law, but when she explained herself, it was rarely a lie. Grim perhaps, but truthful nonetheless.

She blinked, not buying it for a second. “Shift, the people on their list were people who’d annoyed or taken something from them personally, complete with lies about what crime they’d actually committed. A few colourless who I suspect are on there for a different reason, but it’s a list for their own designs, not for the people they’re supposed to be protecting.”

Shift chewed his lip, thinking it over. “Is it possible these... Underground people are lying to you about their activities?”

“Why would they bother?” said Athira. “It’s a point of pride among them. The Underground isn’t legal, and getting one up on the Elites is considered heroic.”