Indigo followed Red down a series of corridors, up an elevator, and through one of the many passages concealed within the walls of Elite HQ where they reached a small, neat room that lacked any remarkable features, including windows.
Athira wasn't the only one on edge as the door sealed shut behind them. Kione's gaze flicked about the room. Shift and Talia had silently turned back to back to cover each other, and Zoe remained standing uncomfortably close to Red, her eyes pinned to his head.
Raph was the exception. He strolled over to the counter along the wall and began inspecting the cupboards like he was hoping to find a coffee mug to match the empty pot on the bench.
"They have five minutes to get here before I have my team start searching the building for them," said Raph casually. He glanced back at the rest of Indigo. "Starting with the bottom floor — and who knows how many civilians with cameras will be down there?"
Alarm flashed across Red's face as he followed Raph's gaze and realised exactly what Indigo looked like. "They'll be here, but it might take—"
"Five minutes," said Raph again, giving up his quest for coffee to slowly pace the perimetre of the room. "Kione, make sure you're timing it."
Four and a half minutes later, the door opened.
The two Wardens who entered looked flustered, but fresh enough that Athira figured they'd escaped direct involvement with the chaos of the last few hours. The wary looks they directed towards Athira were enough to tell her they knew what had happened, though they didn't seem inclined to broach the matter.
In the end, it was Raph who broke the silence. "Wardens. Thank you for meeting with us. My team and I have several pressing issues we wish to discuss with you in a civil matter. We have no intentions of further violence unless we are forced to defend ourselves or others."
The Green Warden cleared his throat. "Normally, there would be protocols to follow, but given the circumstances, I suspect this isn't the time to stand on formalities." His gaze landed on Red. "Explain."
Red stepped forward, hands behind his back, and opened his mouth to speak when Zoe beat him to it.
"We've all been through a lot today, so let's not waste time pretending Red knows anything you lot don't already," said Zoe, patting Red on the shoulder as she took over. She stuck her hand out towards the Wardens. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Zoe, the Yellow Spectrum you creeps kidnapped and attempted to tattoo into submission. If you ever try that again with either me or anyone else, I will hit my breaking point and annihilate every last one of you. Are we understood?"
The Green Warden didn't seem to know what to do with that. He stood there blinking until the Orange Warden broke into a bewildered expression and chuckled.
"Yes," said the Orange Warden, shaking Zoe's hand. "We are understood, Zoe."
"Perfect," said Zoe, pulling the Warden with her towards the centre of the room where Raph stood. "Now, as my team leader said, we have certain issues that we would very much appreciate you listening to, including but not limited to how stupid your Sloth experiments in the past several months have been. I suggest paying attention to what Raph has to say, otherwise you'll be hearing what I have to say, and in my current mood, you do not want that. Okay?"
Raph held his hand out at hip height, flat palm pointed at the floor. Red spread from his fingers, shaping a circular table and chair set connected at the base.
"Given that this may take a while, I'm sure we'd all appreciate the seat," said Raph, taking his seat. "There's a space for everyone, if they wish to join us at the table."
The Wardens and Red took their place opposite Raph. Zoe dropped herself into the chair on Raph's left with a slump. Kione took the one on the right. Shift looked like he was considering it for a moment before he ultimately decided to remain against the wall between Athira and Talia.
And with that, the talk began.
All things considered, it went surprisingly smoothly. By some small miracle, the Wardens didn't push for answers about Athira's other form. They seemed mostly content to listen to Raph speak. The answers they did offer were vague and delayed at best, and Athira got the sense there was someone else on their mind link calling the real shots.
In the end, they were at least able to agree on the most important thing — that the Wardens would immediately cease all experiments, Sloth, Spectrum, or otherwise, until an internal investigation had been completed regarding Karma's influence on their operations.
It was far from everything, but for now, it was enough. Indigo were exhausted, and even Zoe's glow had begun to dim by the time they left the room.
Zoe still had the energy for one additional demand before they left, however, and while the rest of Indigo were escorted back to base, Zoe and Athira were taken to another part of Elite HQ.
They found a nearby bathroom to clean themselves up in while they waited. Fresh clothes from the Elite's training stock helped, but try as they might, they couldn't quite get the bloodstains out of Zoe's white-blonde hair.
Zoe did, however, manage to get one thing clean.
"Ta-da!" said Zoe, holding up her locket. "It'll need a new chain, but it won't be the first time I've replaced it." She looped the broken chain around her wrist, and with Athira's help and some tape, secured it in place. Zoe flashed Athira a smile. "With a little luck, the new chain will be stronger than the last one."
It was another thirty minutes before Zoe's demand was finally fulfilled, a duration in which Athira almost fell asleep twice despite standing up.
Yet when Zac's parents walked through the doors and saw their son quietly scribbling away beside Zoe on the floor, even Athira had to admit that the delay had been worth it. Zac saw them and dropped his crayons, reaching up for a hug — the first bit of interest he'd shown in anything outside of his drawings — as his parents swept him off the ground and wrapped him in their arms.
"I don't know how to thank you," said Zac's father, his arm around his wife who refused to do anything except cradle Zac to her chest. "I never thought—"
"You don't need to thank us," said Zoe with a small smile. "I'm just glad I was able to get him back to you. Hopefully, you'll all be a little safer from Reader in your new home."
"So what the Elites said about the relocation was true?" asked the father, concerned. "We can't afford the prices in the inner city. It'd be—"
"The Elites will pay for everything," said Zoe. "Zac—well, I'm sure you've noticed his drawings are too accurate to be coincidences. He isn't as Colourless as you thought."
"What," snapped the mother, eyeing Zoe. "They intend to bribe us with housing to abuse my son's ability?"
"No," muttered Athira, half asleep from her seat on the bench. "They intend to keep Reader from abusing your son's ability, unless of course you'd rather be robbed twice a month again." She sat up, meeting the mother's death glare with a flat look of her own. "If Zac decides to help us later, fantastic. But we'll make sure the Elites don't force you into anything."
"And if you need anything at all," Zoe added, "if you have any problems or concerns with how the Elites are handling things, you come straight to Indigo."
The mother considered it for a moment. Her eyes darted to the blood in Zoe's hair. "Sounds to me like you don't trust these Elites much, either."
Zoe gave her a wry smile. "Let's just say we'll be keeping a close eye on how certain individuals are running things around here from now on."
After a few more minutes reassuring the parents, Athira and Zoe said their goodbyes and were finally escorted to an Elite rover that'd take them back to Indigo base.
Once they were buckled into their seats, Zoe reached over and gave Athira's hand a squeeze. She didn't say anything — she didn't need to — and Athira returned the gesture with a tired, lopsided smile.
Zoe tapped two fingers to the side of her face beside her eyes. I'll keep watch.
Athira nodded, and the last thing she remembered was the back of her head hitting the headrest before she fell asleep.
*+*+*+*
Athira woke up in her bed.
She laid there for a moment, staring at the sunlight that peeked in beneath the curtains. According to the clock on her side table, it was morning, but it didn't feel like a morning. Mornings were exhausting, tiring things that she often met reluctantly with squinted eyes, but right now, for the first time in a long time, she just felt... rested.
Athira sat up slowly, taking her time to stretch out her arms. The sight of them bare caught her off guard. She ran a hand over the skin, half expecting to blink and find the familiar Blue runes there once more.
She wasn't sure how she felt about their absence. They'd been a crutch, a safety net for so long she'd grown used to them and the pain they caused in warning, yet without them, she'd accomplished something she never thought possible.
She'd beaten Rathe — at least for now.
The thought sent a shiver through her, and rubbing her arms against it, Athira slid out of bed and wandered into the bathroom.
After a lengthy, warm shower, Athira made her way down the stairs. There was no one in the common room or the kitchen as Athira headed to the pantry and, after some consideration, took one of Zoe's OmNom bars. She cringed as she unwrapped it, the sound almost deafening in the unusual quiet she found herself surrounded by — not just in the base, but in her head.
It was an odd experience to have her mind to herself. Even on the days where Rathe had been quieter, Talon had always been there, his presence a constant in the back of her head, even when she hadn't been able to hear him directly. She kept expecting it, only for the guilt to crash into her all over again.
Athira leaned on the counter, doing her best to savour the OmNom bar.
She was certain she'd felt Talon for a brief moment when the Black had turned to feathers and opened the way. Somehow, Talon had answered her call, and while she didn't know exactly what that meant, it gave her hope that he wasn't gone for good despite the missing amulet.
A sound from the stairwell caught Athira's attention. OmNom bar still in hand, she walked over to the kitchen doorway and found Talia coming down the stairs, carrying a suitcase in either hand like a set of weights with ease. She wore a casual outfit that could be described as pretty, something Athira hadn't realised Talia owned. She'd never seen her outside her Keeper suit or training clothes.
Their eyes met through the glass of the stairwell doors for a moment before Talia's mouth set in a firm line. She put down the suitcases and opened the door, but instead of approaching Athira, Talia headed into one of the side rooms without a word.
Athira remained awkwardly standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching as Talia collected a few items scattered between the common room and study. She thought that might be the end to the encounter when, on her way back into the stairwell, Talia placed her hand against the door frame and huffed.
"Nothing to say?" snapped Talia, looking back towards Athira. "No sorry, no goodbye, no snarky remark?"
"I'm sure if I had more context about what you're doing, I could come up with something," said Athira carefully.
"I'm leaving," said Talia, her fingers tightening around the door frame. "I'm probably the first true Colourless person in history now, thanks to you. Even if I still have my elemental abilities, I don't think I can be a Keeper without my Blue. It doesn't feel right."
Guilt gripped Athira's insides. "I'm sorry."
Talia stared at the wall. "Yeah, well, you don't get all the credit. I can't stand to look at the Elites right now. Not after everything they've done." Her mouth twisted into a grim smile, her gaze flicking back to Athira. "And since I'm not one of their precious Spectrum, no one cares what I do."
"They care," said Athira. "Zoe—"
"Don't," said Talia with a slight shake of her head. "Just—just don't. When it came down to it, Zoe picked you. I don't hate her for it, but... " She trailed off into another huff. "Raph convinced me to use my vacation time before I made any final decisions, but I don't think I'll be back. You win."
As Talia turned to grab her suitcases, Athira called out after her.
"Thank you, Talia," said Athira, causing Talia to give her an odd look. "For—for helping them when I... couldn't."
Talia glanced away as she lifted her suitcases. "I did it for them, not for you." She started down the steps then hesitated, turning back for a moment. "But... good luck with that whole Rathe thing... Athira."
And with that, Talia was gone, the doors closing behind her as she disappeared down the stairwell.
Athira wasn't sure how long she stood there, guilt rooting her to the floor before she finally shook herself out of it. She decided on the training room, telling herself there was nothing a few hundred laps in the pool wouldn't make her forget.
The lights in the training room were already on when she arrived. She found Shift running through a workout on the mats. Athira watched him, debating whether she was welcome or not when he noticed her.
Shift flashed her a grin and waved at her through the glass. When she hesitated, he jerked his head for her to come over and somewhat reluctantly, Athira obeyed.
"Someone's finally awake," called Shift as she walked over, his grin turning into an amused smirk. "You'll have to forgive me for not waiting at your bedside this time. After the first day, I figured you'd already had the tour of the base and I had stuff to do."
"First day?" said Athira, frowning. "How long was I out?"
"Uhh..." Shift glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Better part of two days. We checked on you a few times to make sure you were still alive and managed to give you some water, but we mostly just assumed you needed the sleep."
"You could say that," muttered Athira, rubbing the side of her head. "Did I miss anything?"
"Oh, you know, the usual," said Shift casually. "Wardens showed up a few times wanting one thing or another. At one point they, shall we say, suggested they be allowed to take you to a 'secure location' until they were sure Rathe's influence on you wouldn't pose a danger to the city. Zoe put them in their place in record time when she pointed out they'd basically been trying to do a similar thing with Sloth's essence, only more incompetently."
Shift took a breath before continuing. "Long story short, the Wardens still think you're the Purple Spectrum who's harnessed Rathe's power to wield against the Sins, but the Herald's influence temporarily impacted your control."
Athira took a second to process that. "Who came up with that?"
"Raph and Kione," said Shift. "They had to tell the Wardens something plausible-but-not-too-threatening. They figured the Wardens would accept that, given what they were trying to do with Sloth and Zoe."
Athira glanced away. "Where is Zoe, anyway?"
"She's out on an alert with Raph at the moment," said Shift. "Kione's in his Tech lab, babysitting—sorry, monitoring—the Warden's internal investigation on behalf of the Spectrum to make sure they're doing it properly. And Talia, uh, well—"
"She's leaving," said Athira quietly. "I ran into her on the way down." She folded her arms tight against her chest. "If you want me to leave too, just tell me."
"We carried you inside and tucked you into bed after you fell asleep in the Elite's rover," said Shift with a tilt of his head. "What part of that says we want you to leave?"
Athira dug her fingers into her arms. "How could you want me on your team after what I did to Talia?"
Shift gave a soft sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "That situation is... messy, to say the least. You're responsible, yes, but at the same time, you'd never have done it without Rathe and everything else pushing you to that point. We all do stupid things under that kind of pressure, but the fact that you're feeling bad about it is a good sign."
"Never thought I'd feel bad about an elemental," muttered Athira, her grip loosening a little.
"All you can do after you make a mistake is apologise and try to do better next time," said Shift, nudging her on the shoulder to lure her gaze up to his. He gave her a concerningly amused smile that immediately reminded her of the day she'd learned what taking the monorail entailed. "Besides, it's official now."
"What's official?" asked Athira, suspicious.
Shift's smile only grew as he tapped his wristlet and brought up the social media site she'd seen everyone on Indigo using occasionally. He showed her the post in question, which included her Keeper ID photo that Raph had forced her to sit for a month ago, as well as a few action shots from various alerts and the caption, 'Today, we're pleased to officially announce Indigo's Purple Keeper: Athira Dukehart! What questions would you like to see her answer?'.
"It's been posted," said Shift as Athira just continued to stare at it. It was dated an hour ago, and there were already so many comments the counter had stopped at 999+. "There's no taking it back now. There's a hashtag and everything."
Athira just blinked at it. "Waking up was a mistake."
Shift laughed and closed the site. "You'll get used to it, and I'm sure the hype will die down eventually—you know, after all the interviewers and journalists have had their fill of your particularly biting wit. Maybe even sooner once we get the new addition to the team—whether we want them or not."
Athira narrowed her eyes at him. "Which means what, exactly?"
Shift waved the question off. "Something to worry about later. For now, how about a little sparring practice? No Colour allowed, first one to pin the other wins." Athira shrugged and nodded, and Shift took up his stance with a grin. "And this time, no going easy on me."
"Of course," said Athira as she unlocked her arms and mirrored him. "I can't have the Owl's reputation ruined by an incompetent apprentice. You almost lost to Crush, of all people."
"Because he was cheating," said Shift. "But I'm glad you brought it up, because I was thinking. I can't just be called the Owl's apprentice forever. I should get my own, cool, Underground code name."
"Like?"
"I was considering keeping the bird theme," said Shift, circling her. "Like the Crow, or the Hawk—but you know, cooler. Any suggestions?"
Shift struck in the space Athira was considering her reply. He was quick, but she was quicker, dodging his attempts to catch her until she found a space to retaliate with her own. In a few, precise movements, Athira had Shift pinned on his back beneath her.
"You're a lyrebird at best, copycat," said Athira, smirking down at him. "Though right now, you're a turtle, who's stuck on his back until he says please." Shift made one decent attempt to free himself before he gave up and just laid there, looking at her. "I take it back. Please go easy on me again."
"Giving up a little quickly today, aren't you?"
"Me?" said Shift with mock outrage. "Give up? I'll have you know, I've never given up on anything in my life." He paused, considering something. "Although..."
Athira raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to finish the sentence when out of nowhere, he flipped her. She realised what had happened too late — that he'd slipped his arm slightly to the side while she was distracted and used it to effectively pick her up — and in a heartbeat, it was Athira on her back instead.
"Please," said Shift, leaning his face down close to hers.
Athira glared at him, but there was no anger behind it. "Now who's the cheater?."
"Excuse me," said Shift. "I didn't specify 'no distractions', and how does that saying go? All's fair in love and war."
"Uh huh," said Athira, holding his gaze. "And how does that apply here, exactly?"
Shift just smiled, letting her up after a moment longer as he retook his stance and backed off a few steps. "I'm not sure yet. Let's find out, shall we?"
*+*+*+*
BOOK ONE: END
*+*+*+*
A/N - And with that, Book 1 of Indigo's Owl is officially complete <3
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Normally, this would be followed by a long, rambley A/N, but I find myself lacking the energy right now, so as always, thank you for spending your time with one of my stories, and I hope you've enjoyed it <3
✨Please consider leaving me a comment letting me know what you thought of Indigo's Owl, especially if you've read the previous version of Indigo!✨ I love comments, they genuinely make my day. Favourite character? Best moment? Did you enjoy the upgraded Shifthira content? ANYTHING IS GOOD
Also there's a Colourverse Discord server>>
🦉 discord.gg/ZEmVwTY 🐢
((Also I've started working on the sequel and LET ME TELL YOU THERE IS SOME STUFF THAT HAPPENS IN IT. Unsure if it'll be posted to Wattpad, but we'll see how things go <3))
And once more, thank you again for joining me <3 Hopefully I'll see you around here again ;D
Art by Kiba Price
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