Athira reluctantly followed Shift through Indigo base, the OmNom bar tasting like ash in her mouth.
They headed down the hall to a stairwell, descending three floors before Shift pressed his hand to a wall-mounted pad. The double-door slid open and Shift stepped to the side, waving Athira through.
The floor looked to be a training facility. Rectangular in shape, the ceiling was two floors high, with a staircase leading up to a second level that contained a variety of weights, gym equipment, and a target range. The main floor was a mostly open space covered in mats, though there did appear to be change rooms and a lap pool tucked away against the walls.
The blonde elemental from Starpoint was at the centre of the mats, floating on a sleek, metal board a few metres above the floor. Dressed in a Blue Keeper suit, she broke off chunks of stone from a larger slab in the corner and launched them at moving targets as they appeared sporadically across the far wall.
"Pretty cool, huh?" said Shift, waggling his eyebrows at Athira.
His voice drew the blonde elemental's attention. Still on her board, rock in hand, she glanced over her shoulder and fixed her scowl directly on Athira.
Athira ignored her and continued to look around the room like she hadn't noticed. "This is just for your Keeper team?"
"More or less," said Shift, glancing around the corner. "Believe me, with Raph's training regimen, it all gets used — who, speaking of, is supposed to be in here." Shift turned to the elemental and called out to her. "Hey, Talia, any idea where Raph is?"
The elemental — Talia, Athira supposed — just rolled her eyes and went back to flinging stone at the targets. "Who knows?"
"Oooh-kay then," said Shift, a hand in his hair as he turned his attention to the empty air above him. "Hey, Kione!"
A voice over the speakers answered him. "What?"
"Do you know where —" began Shift, cutting off as a door opened behind him and Raph emerged, dressed in his full Keeper suit. "Never mind, found him!"
Raph spotted Athira beside Shift and acknowledged them with a grim smile. Athira wrapped her arms tight around her stomach, unsure what to expect next, but Raph just turned his attention back to Talia. A frown creased his face as he walked to the edge of the mats.
"Talia, I leave for two minutes and you're already back to just throwing them as hard as you can," called Raph as Athira hesitantly followed Shift over. "Strength means nothing if you can't hit what you're aiming at!"
Talia scowled in reply and made a sharp hand gesture. The rock hovering above her hand split into two fist-sized chunks, and with another gesture, both went hurtling towards the hoop-like targets. One missed entirely and broke against the wall. The other struck the hoop so hard it bent backwards.
As the rock shards clattered to the ground, Talia directed a look at Athira that made it perfectly clear where she'd rather have thrown it.
Raph just sighed. "Start the sequence again. You need to be able to keep your focus — regardless of any external influences that might be around."
Talia clenched her jaw and turned back to the targets, breaking another chunk of stone off the slabs in the corner as she continued.
With a slight shake of his head, Raph turned to where Shift and Athira waited behind him.
Athira met Raph's steady, brown-eyed gaze for a heartbeat before she looked away.
Shift stepped forward, play-punching Raph in the shoulder and breaking the awkward moment. "'Sup, boss? I'm pleased to report that 'mission: don't-let-Athira-explode' was a complete success!"
Raph rolled his eyes. "Yes, thank you, Shift. I can see that." He pushed Shift's hand away when he went in for a second punch. "And now that mission is over, it's about time you got yourself to med bay. After your little incident yesterday, I need a clean bill of health for my paperwork before I can send you out again."
Shift looked at Athira and pouted. "After all I've done to reunite you both, and I'm being exiled to the med bay."
"What, getting stuck in the basement of a collapsing tower?" said Raph. "Real heroic there, Shift."
"You're welcome."
"Go."
With one last thumbs-up at Athira, Shift headed down the stairs, leaving Athira and Raph in a strained silence only broken by the sound of Talia slamming stone into various objects.
"So," said Raph, running a hand through his dark hair awkwardly. "You're the Owl? I feel like I should have known. The cloak was a giveaway, even if it isn't purple anymore."
Athira dug her fingers into her sides, her eyes on a piece of wall to his left. "I guess."
Raph clicked his tongue. "There's about a million things I want to ask you, but I'll start with the most important one. Are you okay?"
Athira hesitated, her eyes flicking up to his. "Am I... okay?"
"You looked like you had a rough time last night."
She shrugged. "I'm not about to blow up your base anymore if that's what you mean, but until I get my amulet back, I wouldn't trust it to stay that way."
"Reader has it, right?" asked Raph, to which she reluctantly nodded. "How'd that happen?" He hesitated. "You aren't working with him, are you?"
"No," said Athira, wrinkling her nose at the idea. "I thought he was causing these psychic energy Surges that my Black reacts badly to. One happened early and caught me off guard."
"Could you find Reader again?"
"Even if I don't, I have a feeling that he'll find me," she said. "But you don't owe me anything, Raph. Neither does your team. I'll figure it out myself."
Raph leaned forward a little, arms folded across his chest, an eyebrow raised. "I'm not being entirely selfless with the offer to help, you know. The Elites set Reader's arrest as a priority, and he's slippery."
"There are other villains who cause a lot more damage than Reader ever will," said Athira. "Why prioritise him?"
"He's not exactly innocent, either," said Raph, tapping his wristlet. A holographic screen appeared, projected above his forearm, scrolling through a list of Reader's crimes. Grand theft of epicores. Property destruction. Grievous bodily harm. Abuse of Colour. "He's caused more than his fair share of havoc upon society, especially in our zone, but the main reason the Elites want him is because he's involved with someone called Rathe."
Athira hesitated. "...Rathe?"
Raph glanced back at her with a cautious smile. "Don't suppose you know who that is? We figured it was a code name for a new Underground villain, but there isn't a whole lot of info on them yet. Just that the Elites want anyone associated with Rathe rounded up for questioning. I know the Owl — well, you've been asking questions about Rathe, so —"
"Is that why you brought me here? Because the Owl's been asking questions about Rathe?"
"What? No, of course not." Raph swiped the screen away, and for a brief moment, his guard seemed to drop. "I brought you back here because I haven't seen you in seven years and I was worried about you. I only mentioned it because we might have some information you can use."
Athira pressed her palms against her eyelids. Rathe was the last thing she needed to drag Raph into. "The only reason I'm talking to you is because Shift's blackmailing me with the location of my cloak. He said you had something to tell me about — about that night. After that, I'm gone."
"Ah," said Raph, running a hand through his hair as he considered his words. "That... might be a conversation to have in a little more privacy. If you —"
A head-sized rock slammed into the mat between them, startling Raph as Talia landed her board and stalked towards them.
Athira glanced down at the rock. "I think you missed the hoop, elemental."
Talia ignored her, walking straight to Raph and jabbing a finger into his chest. "I thought you'd come to your senses by now, but apparently that little bump on your head last night was more serious than I thought. The plan was to get her to lead us to Reader so we could arrest him. That's it."
Raph didn't budge. "Can we talk about this after?"
"What, after you've had your little private talk and she's sunk her claws in deeper?" Talia snorted, her blue eyes flicking to Athira. "Sister? He's never mentioned you once. Yet you show up, and he's immediately lying to the Elites to protect you and offering our team as a personal errand service."
"Talia, I —"
"Don't you 'Talia' me, Raphael Dukehart," said Talia, pointing her finger at him again. "The Owl is a known criminal! Giving her the spare room instead of shoving her in a holding cell was one thing, but treating her like she's part of this team? Discussing sensitive mission details? You're either an idiot, or she's a Purple screwing with your mind!"
Halfway through Talia's speech, Athira sighed.
It was always the elementals. Nature gave them an ability in addition to their Colour, and for whatever reason, they all seemed to think it gave them the right to be the loudest idiot in the room.
Talia fixed her glare on Athira. "Anything to say for yourself, Owl? How about some details about your Colour, or what kind of Purple you are? Are you a Psychic? Engulfer? Empath? What are you, exactly?"
Athira folded her arms and met Talia's glare with her own. "Tired of listening to you, mostly. My Colour isn't Purple."
Talia rolled her eyes. "Yes, Raph told us about your mythical little Colour. Unfortunately for you, everyone above the age of five knows you're lying, because Black isn't a Colour." She smirked. "This whole routine would almost be cute if it wasn't so painfully obvious what you're doing. Even before Violet and Indigo merged and formed a bunch of super hybrid Purples, there were criminals running around pulling this crap."
"Yet here you are, wasting your time arguing with me."
"Tal," said Raph with a heavy sigh. "It doesn't even make sense. If she were a Purple, why of all things would she try to convince us that her Colour is Black?" He pressed a hand to his forehead. "Hues, what's the code phrase? Rainbows needs no elementals. I'm not being influenced."
Talia narrowed her eyes, flicking her gaze towards Raph. "Maybe you are just an idiot, but I'm not taking that risk." She looked back towards Athira. "There's a reason every Keeper team has an elemental. We're resistant to Purple, which is probably why I'm the only one who has any damned sense when it comes to you."
Athira pressed her lips into a tight line. The Black pushed as her patience thinned, but she held it in check, digging her fingers further into her folded arms. "Why don't you use those elemental powers of yours to Grip the rocks out of your head for two seconds and pay attention. My Colour is Black. Not Purple."
"Then convince me," said Talia, reaching behind her. The head-sized rock on the ground levitated in Talia's elemental Grip. "Show me exactly what your pretend Colour can do in a sparring match — unless, of course, you're actually a Purple, and you're too busy using your Colour on my team to defend yourself."
It was tempting. So, so tempting to shove this elemental's face into the floor until she apologised, but one slip and Raph's team would need a new elemental.
"Fortunately for you, I don't have my amulet," said Athira. "Without it, I can't promise I'll stay in control. Otherwise, you'd have been convinced already."
Talia took a step towards Athira. "Is that a threat, Owl?"
"No. It's a fact."
"Talia, she's not lying." said Raph. "Let it go." Then quieter, into his wristlet. "Get back here. Now."
Talia ignored Raph and took another step, one that placed her directly in front of Athira.
Despite barely coming up to Talia's shoulder, Athira refused to budge.
"Back off," said Athira, unable to keep the snarl out of her voice.
Talia just smirked down at her, twirling the end of her golden-haired ponytail around a finger in a taunting fashion. "Make me, Owl."
"I don't have my amulet," Athira said again, mostly to remind herself. In her mind's eye, this elemental was already on the ground, begging for — she cut the thought off as flecks of Black escaped her skin. "And despite how tempting it is to put you in your place, I'd rather not hurt you in front of your team."
"Both of you need to take a step back," said Raph, his voice hard. "Right now."
Athira dragged her gaze away from Talia long enough to look at Raph.
He stood a few steps away, his expression hard. Red glowed beneath his palm, ready to be shaped at the first hint of this fight evolving past words.
He looked so much like the Raph she'd left behind at fourteen. The olive skin, the brown eyes. His dark hair was even styled the same way, yet there was no denying he'd grown. Not only did he now stand taller than even Talia; there was a new depth to his gaze — a gaze that was now firmly fixed on hers, silently asking her to stop before this went any further.
Because last time, they'd lost their light.
They'd lost Zoe.
"The big, bad Owl wouldn't be scared, would she?" said Talia, making no move except to bat her long eyelashes towards Athira.
A hundred different snarky replies came to Athira's mind, but with Raph's eyes still on her, they all felt worthless. She'd already destroyed his family once. If nothing else, she owed it to him to at least try and leave this one intact — even if it meant backing down from an elemental.
Athira turned and walked away.
It'd been a mistake to stay, cloak or not. She'd find another way to get her amulet back from Reader. She couldn't get Raph involved — not again, not after what the first time had cost him.
"You think you can just leave?" said Talia, but Athira kept moving towards the door. "After what you did to Zoe?"
"Talia," said Raph.
Athira stopped.
The monster in her mindscape growled, its fire twisting into her thoughts.
"Or maybe I should say what you didn't do," continued Talia. "Were you planning on doing the same thing again? Manipulating a few more people to help you until they get —"
"Talia, that's enough," snapped Raph, cutting her off.
Athira turned around. More than a few flecks of Black drifted off her skin, and she had little desire to rein them in. Her heart pounded in her chest, loud enough to make her ears ring. "What did you say?"
You can't hold it back forever.
"Glad I finally have your attention, Owl," said Talia, smirking as she levitated a Gripped rock above her palm. "Sparring match. You and me. Now." She reached into the pouch that hung at her side and pulled out something round and silver. "I'll even give you a consolation prize when you lose. Got it off Reader at Starpoint."
Her amulet.
The anger. The rage.
It took every scrap of Athira's self-restraint not to blast the elemental into oblivion right there and then. Through gritted teeth, she managed one word.
Unleash it.
"No."
Talia snorted. "I'm not giving you a choice." She spread her fingers, splintering the Gripped rock above her palm into shards. "Catch!"
The shards speared towards Athira.
Raph shaped a shield onto his arm and lunged between them. His shield caught some of the shards, but as the rest continued straight towards Athira, she reacted out of habit.
She swiped a wall of Black into existence with her palm that swallowed the shards on impact.
That was all it took. The Colour she'd been so desperate to control was free, and Athira's better judgement drowned in it.
This elemental wanted to be convinced?
Fine.
She'd make sure it was the last thought that ever went through her pretty blonde head.
Athira coalesced the Black into a shard-engorged tendril tethered at her fingers. Her runes burned, but she hardly noticed. One flick of her wrist, and Athira's tendril sent the shards hurtling back towards Talia. Talia didn't try to catch the shards, instead using her elemental Grip to deflect them to the side. Even so, she staggered under the transferred momentum, backing up a few steps.
That smirk was still on the elemental's face as Athira sauntered towards her.
"You can move objects, so you're at least part Engulfer," said Talia. "And judging from the way you're influencing Raph and Shift, I'd say you're part Psychic too."
From the corner of her eye, Athira saw Raph approaching. He wasn't her target, but neither did she want him getting involved. With half a thought, she coalesced untethered Black around his ankle and crystallized it, anchoring him to the training room floor.
"Athira! Athira, stop."
His voice barely registered inside Athira's head as she fixed her attention back on Talia, who'd Gripped another, larger stone the size of a torso from where it lay behind her.
Athira coiled the Black around her arm. "Throw that at me, and I'll show you exactly how much of an Engulfer I can be."
"My pleasure!"
Talia split the stone into three pieces, launching them one after the other with that same, reckless strength she'd broken the hoops with earlier. Athira caught each piece of stone in her tendril, stopping them mid-air. She felt the pathetic tug on the stones within her Black as Talia attempted to regain her Grip.
Worthless, just like all the rest.
Just for fun, Athira let her have one. When a cocky smile dominated the elemental's expression once more, Athira took it back and savoured the way that smile cracked.
Talia tried to get to her board. Athira cut her off with Black. After that, Talia continued to give ground, throwing rock after rock as Athira herded her towards the corner with her stone slabs. The tendril swallowed anything it was fed, and when Talia gave up pelting it, the tendril snaked along the ground, consuming any loose stone still laying nearby.
Athira knew desperation had kicked in when Talia attempted to use her Blue. Talia pulled something from the pouch at her waist, and after a brief flare of Blue, threw it at Athira's feet. Some kind of trap rune appeared on the ground where it landed, only for the Black flickering off Athira's body to immediately erase it.
"How are you doing this?" yelled Talia, now crouching atop the stone slabs. In any other situation, it would have been a strong position for her. She had the high ground and stood on a literal pile of her element — but against Athira, it didn't matter at all. "Once an elemental has — "
" — has Gripped a piece of their element, their control is near impossible to break," finished Athira, stopping just short of the stone slabs. "I hear that every time I fight one of you. You always think you're special, that you're important because you have an ability outside of your Colour."
The tendril encircled Talia and squeezed the remaining space. Talia panicked. She slammed her palm onto the slabs and Gripped a large chunk of stone, attempting to escape by riding it high into the air, but Athira wasn't done. With her other hand upturned by her side, Athira claimed the rock under Talia's feet with untethered Black and held it in place.
She gave the elemental about three seconds of wide-eyed realisation.
"I'm here to remind you that you aren't."
Athira closed her fist.
Inside her Black, the stone shattered. The elemental raged as she fell. A metre from the ground, the same Black that'd sent the elemental plummeting caught her around the waist. It dangled her feet just out of reach of the ground as the rest of the Black unleashed a barrage of the same stone shards she'd thought to control.
There was no trace of the elemental's smirk left now.
Somewhere behind Athira, people were yelling. Her runes had burned through her sleeves, leaving their outlines a blazing white through her Black. She didn't care. Nothing mattered in this exhilaration of the Colour she commanded — nothing except this elemental's reckoning.
Break her, piece by piece, until she begs. Until her pride is broken, and she —
A flare of bright, Yellow light punched through the thought.
Athira turned with a hiss of pain, expecting to see Indigo's Yellow Keeper attempting to join the fight. She coiled Black to her hands, ready to obliterate them — and hesitated.
A girl her own age stood in the doorway, wearing a Yellow Keeper suit like she'd been born to it. Her long, white-blonde hair was swept up into a high ponytail that reached just past her hips, and her eyes — eyes that Athira knew would be a deep, forest green — were wide with shock.
Athira knew she'd finally gone insane.
The girl dropped her bag and ran forward. She lifted a hand and fired a second Yellow laser directly at Athira, striking her shoulder. The light cut through the monster's roars, giving her a second of clarity from the haze of rage that'd swallowed her, from the anger that demanded vengeance and blood.
Athira expelled and crystallised every last bit of Black in her body. Its absence brought a sudden, searing wave of pain that staggered her, but she hardly cared. The only thing going through her head was the name the monster had never been able to take from her after everything else had gone numb.
Zoe.
Athira was still staring at her when someone tackled her from the side, caging her body in stubborn arms and knocking them both to the floor. Hands pinned Athira's wrists to the floor above her head as she lay on her back, stunned, and found herself looking up at Shift. Shift, who'd tackled and pinned her, who was leaning over her and breathing hard, his face lined with pain.
Had she hurt him, too?
As Raph ran over to the elemental — to Talia — Shift shoved something round and cool into Athira's hand. Athira knew what it was the instant her fingers closed around it.
Thira? Talon's voice echoed inside her mind as her amulet instantly warmed against her skin. What the flock happened in here? Are you —
"Thira?"
Athira turned her head.
Zoe stood over her.
Her Yellow glowed around her, haloing her in light. Her eyes were wide. Disbelieving, like she couldn't believe the sister that'd left her for dead so many years ago had finally reappeared, only to do this.
But she was alive.
Snuff out the light.
Athira arched as more Black rose and ripped through her, searching for a way out. It swelled at every flicker of anger and rage that bit into her mind, and even with Talon now helping restrain it, Athira knew she couldn't contain the Black for long when they weren't the only ones trying to wield it.
"Let me go," she said, teeth gritted as the Black pushed through her skin, reaching for anything it could claim. Her ears were ringing. Her veins were filled with fire. A piece of the floor beneath her vanished as the Black devoured it. "Let me go!"
Athira broke free of Shift's hold. She shoved him aside and pushed herself into the air, where she hesitated, stealing one last glimpse of the Yellow Keeper glowing beneath her to burn that light into her memory.
She didn't know how Zoe had survived that night, but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered now was that Zoe was alive — and that Athira would do anything to keep it that way.
An enraged roar — both a demand and a promise — dragged its claws across her mind as Athira covered herself in Black and fled through the walls of the base, blindly soaring out into the midday skies.
She'd find Reader. She'd rip the answers out of him and anyone else who had them if she had to. There was nothing and no one that would stand between her and a chance at saving the sister she'd already failed once, because to protect Zoe, Athira would become the nightmare the Underground believed her to be.
For Zoe, Athira would embrace the true depths of her darkness.
But first, the monster had to be silenced.
*+*+*+*
A/N - The Athira vs Talia fight is back, now with extra Zoe intervention and Shift-pins!