Lost Beneath the Stars

Mordekai

Sun rays glared onto my face, warmth penetrating my skin. I opened my eyes, looking up at the clear blue sky and the circle of tree branches around the sky. Where am I?

I turned to my side, hearing the crunch of leaves underneath me. My eyes widened as I realized there was a body next to mine... Indigo. Memories flashed before my eyes, of a blue fire lighting a pair of blue eyes and shining off of purple hair. Oh.

I smiled at the scene before me- her purple hair was wild and dead leaves and twigs stuck in the strands. She rolled over, eyes flickering open drowsily.

"Huh? Where... am I?" 

"Oh, uh, we're in the middle of the woods." I stood up, helping to pull her up as well. "We should get you home. It's nearly time for me to head back."

"I can get back by myself, Mordekai," she mumbled. "It's probably best I don't show up at base with you, you know?"

I thought she had gotten over that Monochrome thing... does she still look at me that way? "No... I don't know."

She turned red. "I... Teal basically... Um... he thinks that we... you and I... have some sort of secret relationship."

"Oh." Part of me hoped that she liked me as much as I liked her. Part of me wanted her to return my feelings. And part of me... just wanted to pull her closer and wrap her in my arms. But that's never going to happen. You're just not cut out for her. You're a Monochrome, in her eyes and everyone else's. "Bye, then." Would I see her tonight? She'd come back to ask about Silver, right? Oh, why did I lie to her? Silver never said any of those things about her. 

She turned toward the Chromatic base and began morphing. A lithe black cat bounded through the woods. She didn't even look back at me. 

I began making my way towards the Monochrome base, hands in my pockets. My feet shuffled through dead leaves, my black hair tickling my forehead. I didn't want to go back to the base. I'd rather be anywhere else, but there was nowhere else for me to go. I so desperately wanted to see what Indigo saw. I wanted to be as alive as every Chromian I'd ever seen. But they'd never accept a Monochrome. 

" 'Scuse me, but are you Mordekai?" 

I turned, confused. Nobody was around when Indigo left. I only saw two ravens perched on a nearby oak branch. "Who... who's there?"

The raven on the left spoke. "I did. Are you him?"

I nodded, slowly, contemplating the reality of the situation. "And you are...?"

"Corbeau. And this is my partner, Rifinn. We were sent by-" Rifinn slapped a large, black wing in his face. 

"Shh! You're going to blow our cover." Rifinn looked at me. "We've been sent by an... anonymous figure to accompany you."

"Who, Vanta?" I felt a slight fear bubbling up in my chest. Did Vanta send these two birds to keep an eye on me? 

Corbeau scoffed. "That piece of mouse dung-"

"No need to worry," Rifinn interrupted, shooting her partner a glare. "We were sent by someone who's actually on your side, not against you. But if you wish to know, we're called AOI's. Secret agents. You've been qualified to gain our company."

"Well, I should be going." I began walking towards the base once more. Corbeau and Rifinn flew after me, soaring high above the tree tops to get a better view of the area. I could see a white building ahead of me, beyond the dead-looking birch trees devoid of leaves. The two ravens swept towards me, perching on my shoulders.

I opened the front door into the busy lounge, packed with Monochromes sitting on sofas or on chairs. I glanced around the room, catching the eyes of a slender woman who sat extremely close to some guy named Oblivion. I narrowed my eyes when I saw her. It was Shadow, the same woman who had given Indigo the nasty wound on her leg. Shadow's black eyes widened with fear as I walked by, towards Abyss's office. She jumped out of her seat, running towards me.

"What do you want?" I said.

"You're not going to tell Abyss about what I did, are you?" Shadow whispered. 

"That you nearly killed Indigo?" My blue eyes blazed with anger. "Don't even touch her, got that? I'll make sure Abyss knows what you did, I promise you that, but I'm going to leave you to suffer the guilt of what you did." I walked away from her, the two ravens still perched on my shoulders. 

"You sound pretty fond of Indigo, Mordekai." Rifinn's whisper floated through my head, mentally beckoning a blush to rush across my face. 

"Why is it super obvious to everyone that I... that I..." My voice trailed off into nothing. What was the word I was looking for? Was it really love? No, I didn't know her well enough to call it that. But it was more than a petty infatuation. So, I was somewhere between like and love. 

"You show it in your eyes, Mordekai. Eyes are doorways into someone's heart, and your doors are wide open. I saw it in the way your eyes blazed with raw fire when you spoke so protectively of her." Rifinn's beak grazed across her chest, her wing flickering over her head as she nipped at a feather out of place. "Call it what you want, but everyone can see you're in love."

I shook my head, a small smile playing with my lips. Abyss's office door was just within reach. I grasped the cold metal doorknob in my hand, twisting it, holding in a breath, and walking in. Abyss sat at his desk, and at my arrival, his head whipped towards the doorway. 

"Black. What a surprise," Abyss said, blue eyes glinting dangerously in the light from under his long, black hair. "Sit. We have some things to talk about."

I pulled out the leather chair and sat, folding my hands in my lap. 

"You were reported missing on the front line at yesterday's battle." Abyss leaned his chin on his hand, propping his arm on the desk in front of him. "I need a good explanation for that."

"I felt... something was wrong," I explained, trying to vaguely refer to the pain in my chest I felt whenever Indigo was in pain herself. "So I left, and... and found Indigo and Shadow engaged in battle."

Abyss rolled his eyes. "Of course this has something to do with Indigo!"

"Shadow stabbed her, Abyss! I couldn't just sit there and watch," I said defensively. 

Abyss's eyes got wide and he bristled with anger. "She what?"

"She plunged a knife into Indigo's calf. She fell down, and Shadow would've done more damage if I hadn't of shown up and taken care of Indigo."

"What happened next?"

"I took her down to one of the abandoned underground shelters and healed her leg and sent her back to her base."

"Is that it?"

He didn't need to know about last night. "Yes."

Abyss sighed, scratching the back of his neck. After a long moment of silence, he spoke. "You did the right thing. I'll deal with Shadow. Meanwhile, you're in charge of making sure nothing happens to Indigo. You are pretty much her bodyguard. Nobody touches her. We need each of the seven alive, but she's the most important to me."

Something in the way he had just handed over the duty of her care to the most biased person on base told me he knew how I felt, and he knew I'd do everything in my power to protect her. Something told me she meant more to him than just another pretty girl he could use and throw away. Something told me that we had more in common than I thought.