Dedicated to Solanova (you guessed it, another NaNo person!) Sammiching on Prisim's profile.
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Chapter 5 - From The Dead
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Athira opened her eyes.
I did it.
She had no idea about how long it’d taken her to do it, but she’d locked away the thing inside her for the first time in years without Talon’s help. She hadn’t even realised she was still capable of doing so with how it’d grown, feeding off the residual energy every time she used her colour. Still, she didn’t want to find out how many times she could do it solo before it consumed her.
Athira stretched her legs out in front of her, still hovering off the ground. Dried sweat coated her limbs, aching from the lack of movement and angry red skin ringed the outlines of each rune on her arm. She touched it gingerly, noting the sting. Her runes had only ever burned her once before, just before she got her amulet, and it was something she’d hoped she never had to deal with again.
But the pain was gone. The tingle was still there, buzzing through her being as it always did, but for now, that was it.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Crisis averted. Everyone, you get to live another day.
The first steps she took were unsteady, more so than usual after her meditations. How long was I in the mindscape for? It took her a moment, but they returned to working as usual, taking her over to a small pile of clothes left inside an indent in one of the walls.
Athira picked them up, examining them. They were similar in size and colour as those she already wore. She smiled as she saw the shirt. Obviously Raph had remembered how she used to wear nothing but long sleeves to hide her runes. It was probably the best course of action now, since she’d lost her cloak.
She made her way over to the door on the left hand side of the room, curious as to what room adjoined to this one. She glanced around the wall next to it. Unable to find the thing to open it, Athira shrugged and opened the door with her colour. Inside was a small bathroom, equipped with all the necessary plumbing and towels.
Why bother to keep it stocked if it’s the spare room? How often does this lot get visitors?
Still, she wasn’t going to complain. After quickly checking the room and locking the door, she stripped down and stepped into the shower. The cool water was welcome, soothing the burned skin across her arms.
How am I going to explain to Raph? she wondered as she stuck her head inside the stream of water. I owe him the truth but... how? People skills are not my thing.
Her thoughts were interrupted as a tremor ran through her being, the part of her controlled by her colour. She gave an involuntary shudder. Another disturbance. Reader was still out there doing god knows what.
I can’t go after him without my amulet. It’d be the very definition of counterproductive.
Athira mulled over it for a few more minutes before turning off the water. The events of the previous day ran through her head as if clicking for the first time. Shift. The tower. Raph. Losing Talon and her amulet to Reader. That idiot Elite who’d taken them from her a second time.
She grabbed a towel and pulled the water from her hair with a quick flick of her wrist. As always, the colour left her shoulder-length hair fluffed out past her ears.
I hope I run into that Elite again. I’ll show him exactly how much I can do with my building-shaking powers.
After drying herself and pulling on the borrowed clothes, Athira pooled together enough courage to step outside into the hall. It was surprising how vulnerable she felt without her cloak, though the long sleeves gave her some level of security and for that, she was grateful.
Briefly, she considered leaving, chasing down the source of the disturbance once more but the same feeling of responsibility plagued her. Raph deserved to know.
Her feet dragged her towards the common room.
The entire way there, Athira pored over the words she’d say to Raph in her head. The excuses she could make up, the ways to band-aid the truth, the lies that’d make it easier to hear. All of them came easily to her tongue but her mind rejected them. She owed him the truth after all these years. Why she’d had to leave him, planning to never face him again, figuring he’d prefer it if he never had to put up with her face again.
She slid the door to the common room open with her colour, not even bothering to look for the panel that opened it. The thing was stupid anyway.
The common room was empty, but noises were coming from what she assumed was the kitchen. Athira poked her head around the corner to see Shift rummaging through the pantry, unaware of her presence.
He was humming a tune she didn’t know to himself and was no longer dressed in the suit she’d met him in yesterday. Instead of the green-grey smooth material armoured with flexible metal plates, he wore jeans and a shirt with some kind of logo design on it.
Athira was about to say something when Shift pulled out a box, dug through it and pulled out two bars, placing them on the counter. Barely able to contain her smile, when Shift turned to put the box back, she levitated the bars with her colour and flew them above his head.
Sure enough, as Shift went to grab them, a look of confusion crossed his face. He glanced at the pantry, then back to the counter before doing a complete three-sixty looking for his missing snacks.
Athira coughed. Shift whirled around, and as his eyes settled over her, she dropped the bars on his head.
He narrowed his eyes at her and picked them up. “Y’no, some people like to just say ‘thank you’ to people who helped them out.”
“And other people like to stick trackers on those that saved their lives,” she said. “I personally think my method is a little less ungrateful, don’t you?”
Shift smirked. “You win this round.”
“And every round after that,” said Athira. She glanced behind her. The common room was still empty. “I’m looking for Raph, any idea where I can find him?”
“He’s in the training room with the rest of the team,” said Shift. “I’m just about to head over there if you want to tag along.”
Athira nodded and moved out of the doorway to let him pass. Shift leaned over and took something out of a basket on the counter, throwing it to her as he passed.
She caught it without thinking and examined it. An apple.
“You’ve been in that room for a while,” he said, smiling. “Figured you could use it.”
The training room was on the first floor, and judging by its size it dominated most of it.
The overall area was sectioned off into various stations, all painted grey, white, or another neutral and then striped with the colours Athira assumed they were relevant for. Most of them contained some large machinery while others were simply bars and blocks organised up the wall or floor.
Everything was ringed by a running track.
“Pretty cool, huh?” said Shift. “The Elites come in every month or so and swap the equipment around so we’ve always got something new to practice on. Each one of us has specifically designed equipment, as well as the general obstacle courses and such to test our agility and reflexes.”
“This is for just your team?”
“More or less, only the five of us. We do host training days every fortnight or so though and other Colours stop by so it all gets used.”Shift pointed over to a cleared area where Raph was standing up against a wall. “There he is. Let’s go.”
They walked over to Raph, who was calling out instructions to the blue elemental.
“Good, Talia! Now, like that, split the rock and get it through the hoops as they pop up.”
Athira watched the elemental, Talia, as she tried to follow Raph’s instructions.
Standing on a rock hovering a good metre above the ground, Talia raised her hands. With them came a boulder nearly three times her size that she promptly split into smaller rocks and tried to get through the hoops no bigger than a spread hand before they disappeared.
“Concentrate, Tal!” said Raph. “This is about control, not flinging them off as fast as you can and taking out someone’s eye in the meantime!”
Talia set her jaw and continued in silence. Despite Raph’s advice, she continued the way she had been. The rock beneath her started to shake, and it wasn’t long before the thing dropped to the ground, taking Talia with it.
Raph sighed. “Good try, Tal. Pick it up and start again. Slower this time.”
Shift punched Raph in the shoulder. “Hey, boss. What am I doing today?”
Raph clucked his tongue. “You can work with Kione. Since he wants to come out into the field with us more you’ll have to learn to shift his colour better. Tell him to take a break from the obstacles for a bit, teach you more about his colour.”
“Oooh, orange,” said Shift, rolling his eyes. “Technology. My favourite.”
“Shut up and get on with it, Shift,” said Raph. “Tal, take a break and go back to the previous exercise for a bit.”
Shift laughed as he walked away. Athira moved closer to Raph. He flicked his eyes towards her without moving his head.
“Uh, hi,” she said awkwardly. He already doesn’t want to talk to me. How the hell am I going to do this?
“Hey,” said Raph. A smile crept on to his face, which offered her some small relief. He doesn’t entirely hate me. Yet. “I checked on that amulet for you. It’ll be available for pickup from the Elite HQ this afternoon if you’d like to come with me. I was going to go after we finished today’s training.”
The thought of hearing Talon again spurred her on. “Oh, thanks. Um,” she said, swallowing. “Raph, there’s something I need to tell you, and I understand if you don’t want to speak to me after but... but it’s about Zoe.”
Raph raised an eyebrow. “What about her?”
Athira hugged her waist, feeling moisture pool in her eyes. Why didn’t I just leave. I had the chance and I didn’t leave.
Images flashed through her head. The moonless night in the courtyard, standing back to back with Zoe, both unable to reach their colours. The shadows creeping in on them as they stood helpless and the noise Zoe made as she crumbled from the pipe to the back of her head.
“Athira?” he said. His brow creased in worry. “What’s wrong?”
“That... that night, I panicked after that villain caught us out, and it was my fault.” She drew a deep breath, forcing the words out. “I lost control of my colour and... and Zoe paid for it.”
She watched his face carefully as she spoke. The start of her words caused confusion to bloom, while the last sparked realisation.
He knows.
The words came rushing from her mouth. “I... I just had to tell you before I left, what really happened, why I had to leave before I hurt you too, and--“
“You’re leaving?” he asked.
She paused. “That’s what you’re pulling from this? I thought you’d want me to, after what I did.”
“After what you did?” said Raph. “Athira, I don’t know--“His words cut off as an insistent beeping started on his wrist, and he smiled. “Hold that thought.”
He pressed a button, and a holographic screen appeared in the air above his wrist. An image of a girl with long, platinum blonde hair shimmered into existence.
Athira’s heart almost stopped.
“Hey, Zoe!” said Raph. “You won’t believe who showed up when we were hunting Reader.”
She blinked furiously, trying to hold back the tears that’d formed mid-explanation to Raph. Her cheeks prickled. It... it can’t be.
The girl on the screen, Zoe if Athira dared let herself believe it, ran a hand through her hair and yawned.
“Mm? Sorry, I’m pretty out of it. The Elites kept me here all night, running tests for some project or another. I’ve been firing lazers all damned night. I just called to say I’d really appreciate someone to come pick me up in an hour or so.”
“Sure, Zo. I’ll bring our surprise guest along with me and be there in an hour and a half if that suits you?”
“Sounds like a plan. See you then, Raph.”
The screen vanished, taking Zoe’s face with it. Athira couldn’t stop staring at the place it’d been.
Raph gave her a curious look. “You okay?” he asked.
Athira tilted her head. Was she okay? She didn’t know. She felt numb, unsure how to react.
She’s not dead. Zoe’s alive. She’s alive.
The thought sounded strange in her head.
Raph bit his lip. “You didn’t know she was alive, did you?” he said softly.
Athira managed to shake her head. “I... I thought... There was so much blood, Raph.”
“Turns out our little Zoe isn’t just a walking lazer beam, she’s also got incredible self-regeneration powers,” said Raph. “Something that she’d never realised before that night.”
Athira snorted. “I still almost got her killed,” she whispered, closing her eyes.
Raph pulled her into a hug. Athira didn’t resist. “Not the way she tells it,” he said. “From what she’s told me, that psychic villain was locking down both your colours at the same time. I’m not entirely sure what you did, but she said you managed to break out of it and chase him far enough away so her regeneration could kick in.” He licked his lips. “Only, you never came back.”
Athira heard the question in his words. She bit the inside of her cheek. That wasn’t something she was ready to explain to anyone, the night she realised exactly what she was. Nothing but a walking time bomb, addicted to the substance that would eventually kill her.
He realised she wasn’t about to say anything and released her. “Still going to leave?” he asked.
I have no idea. “I think I’ll wait until I see Zoe first, at least. Though I can’t stay long. Reader’s still out there, and once I get my amulet back I’m taking him out for good.”
“So you’re not working with him, then?” said Raph. She stared at him. “I didn’t think you were, but we couldn’t be sure.”
“Definitely not,” she said, remembering the way Reader had become borderline insane once he saw her runes. “I was following the colour disturbances around the city, and it led me to him. I figured he might’ve had answers for me.”
“We might be able to help you with that,” said someone from behind.
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A/N - Wordcount - 15,403