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Chapter 13 - Child of Sin
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Shift made his way behind Athira to Raph and slowly pushed his arms down.
“Raph, the disturbance,” he said quietly. “It’s hap-“
“What is this prophecy?” said Athira. Her voice was hard.
Reader narrowed his eyes. “Why don’t you ask your precious Elites?”
Athira opened her mouth to reply when Reader’s hand shot out, purple flecks dancing through his eyes.
Shift felt a sharp pain in his mind and his knees went weak. Beside him, Raph crumpled to the floor, clutching his head while his colour-formed sword dissolved into a puddle next to him. Shift struggled to stay standing but managed to get out a word.
“Athira--“
Athira’s head snapped around. Her eyes narrowed as she saw Raph on the ground.
Black colour flickered off her shoulders as she turned back to Reader. Her eyes flashed.
“You don’t touch them.”
Athira’s hand swept through the air, leaving a trail of black colour in its wake. It slammed into Reader’s chest and knocked him back into the metal beams. The sheer force of the impact knocked some from the pile that crashed into the floor with an almighty crash, drawing Reader’s startled gaze.
By the time he looked back, Athira was on him once again. Her fingers clawed the air in front of her, summoning colour that crashed into Reader and lifted him off the ground at her command and flung him across the room. Black colour soon engulfed objects near him, turning them into missiles aimed straight at Reader’s head.
Reader knocked a few of them away with the force of his mind and turned back to her. “Yes, Athira! Unleash your wrath upon me! Bring the Kingdom of Sin closer to fruition!”
She walked towards him, boots barely touching the ground. Shift pushed himself up, stumbling after her as his world spun. I have to get to her.
“The hell is going on!” screamed Talia from the corner, arms spread wide behind her to protect Zoe and the child as Athira’s assault on Reader continued.
The building shook, and for the first time, thoughts of the true extent of Athira’s power entered his mind and how clueless everyone else was in terms of it.
We’re completely in the dark. We have no idea how to stop her.
Shift caught up to her, grabbing her by the shoulders and attempting to pull her back. His colour fizzled, parts of it forming copies of the black colour Athira was emanating.
“Athira, stop!” he said. Her eyes, no longer iris and pupil were pure black and edged with the infra red glow of Rathe, flicked towards him.
A black hand made of colour took Shift’s wrist and plucked it off her body, holding it at his side. It refused to release him, but Shift’s colour had other ideas. It took six seconds for his colour to shift it out of existence.
The borrowed colour lurked beneath his skin, heating up and igniting as he attempted to call it to the surface.
In the mindscape, he’d had her memory to guide the flow of Rathe’s energy in his body. In reality, he had no idea how to channel Athira’s. The two were strikingly similar, but nonetheless, it felt foreign, burning like embers just beneath his skin.
I think I understand why she thought weaponising the turtle was a bad idea. He looked at his hands, trying to get the colour to coat his hands like it did with Athira’s when she used it. I have no idea what to do with it and it’s eating me alive.
Athira turned her head back to Reader and rose her white-outlined hand in the air, fingers relaxed as Shift’s desired effect came effortlessly to her. The black colour lazily overcame Reader’s body, leaving only his head free of its grip.
Reader’s breathless gasps made Shift realise what Athira was doing. Under her cool stare, her colour was slowly crushing Reader’s chest without trying.
I have two seconds to do something before this situation is irreversible.
Shift forcibly pushed every particle of Athira’s colour currently in his system to his hands, managing to create a black coat around them that he knew wouldn’t last long. He shoved the air in front of him as he’d seen her do. The result was an unimpressive black blob that flew through the air and crashed into Athira’s forearm, the one raised and keeping Reader in the air.
She stumbled and her concentration broke, letting Reader drop to the floor straight on his shoulder.
At least it wasn’t his head.
Athira regained her balance and turned towards Shift, her blackened eyes narrowing while Reader tried to crawl away on the floor, one arm dragging useless behind him.
Shift held up his hands. “Athira, think about what you’re doing. Talon, if you’re in there, feel free to help any time today.”
Apparently Talon wasn’t in there, or at least wasn’t in any sort of control. Athira extended her hand towards Shift. Colour crept up his legs. Shift grabbed it, commanding his colour to shift as much of it off as it could manage but it wasn’t enough. His insides were burning, searing him into an empty shell that was causing him to lose control of his own colour.
“Stay out of this, Shift,” said Athira. Her voice was flat. “You don’t understand--“
A yellow flash caught Shift’s attention as he fell to his knees. A beam of light fired just above his head, exploding at the centre point between himself and Athira. Athira shielded her eyes, causing her grip on Shift to falter as he kicked himself out of the fading colour.
Zoe ran past him, running directly for Athira. The yellow colour crashed into Athira, though let neither of them fall. Zoe wrapped her arms around Athira’s, pinning them to her chest as burying her face into her shoulder.
“Thira, stop,” said Zoe. Her words were muffled by the cloak, but Shift heard them. “It’s okay. He’s not hurting us any more, you can stop.”
Athira closed her eyes. Her posture relaxed as she sank into Zoe’s embrace, her breath ruffling the blonde’s ponytail as she released it all at once. When she opened her eyes again, they were no longer black, but the heartbroken, grey irises Shift recognised her for.
She looked at Shift without saying a word, dropping her gaze back into Zoe a second later as if she couldn’t stand to look at him.
For the countless time in the last twenty minutes, Shift regained his normal standing posture and walked cautiously towards the two girls. Zoe still hadn’t let her go.
He was about to speak when movement drew his eye.
“I was right,” said Reader. The villain had managed to stand, but leant heavily against the side of the warehouse wall. His grapples were ready in his hands, one cord already attached to the roof and ready to pull him to safety. “Even the Spectrum can’t save you now. You’re too far gone. Attacking the only people who dare befriend her.”
Zoe lifted her head and glared at Reader. “She didn’t attack anyone but you, jerk. And if you ask me, you probably deserved it.”
Reader raised an eyebrow at the venom in her voice. “I’m sure your green friend there would disagree,” he said, gesturing at Shift.
Zoe glanced at Shift, who shook his head. Athira looked up but still refused to meet Shift’s eyes, shying from his touch as Zoe released her and planted herself between Athira and Reader.
“You’re not going anywhere, not after what you did to that child,” said Zoe.
Reader saluted. “Oh, but I am.”
Reader’s grapples clicked, and the cord attached to the roof retracted, taking him with it. Shift wasn’t game enough to try and shift Athira’s colour again, and even as Zoe fired off a laser in Reader’s direction, he knew it was going to miss.
Shift ground his teeth. He’s escaped.
Athira raised her hands.
A black dome dropped into existence, sides extending from the point above Athira’s head to the floor and effectively trapping Reader inside it with the rest of Indigo. It didn’t sever Reader’s grapple cords, rather once he reached the dome’s walls he slammed into it face first and hung there.
“He’s not going anywhere,” said Athira quietly.
Shift wanted to talk to her, but instead Raph grabbed his shoulder and pulled him forward to stand underneath the spot where Reader hung by his hand. Raph held out a hand which Shift took and allowed his colour free reign. Soon enough, red colour flooded his system and both he and Raph had morphed it into a whip.
Reader’s feet were against the dome, desperately trying to break his grapples free, but to no avail. Shift and Raph pulled him down quickly and attached the binders to the villain’s hands, sealing his colour away until they were removed.
Raph dragged Reader to his feet and tried to move him over near the entrance to the warehouse where Kione was guarding the rest of the captured goons. Shift followed behind, throwing a glance at Athira’s shaking form.
As they passed Athira, Reader broke out of Raph’s grip and lunged towards her.
“You may have regained control this time,” said Reader as Raph re-established his grip. “But you know how it has to end. Your search is for nothing, child of Sin!”
Athira’s eyes went wide at the last word. Her skin paled, barely the colour of ash on a dying fire as Raph pulled Reader away from her. She watched him move further from her with eyes Shift couldn’t read.
He approached her carefully, extending a hand towards her own. “You okay?”
She jumped at his voice, palms closing before she realised it was him and released a shuddering breath. She closed her eyes and directed her head at the ground, once again avoiding his gaze.
Where the hell is Zoe when you need her?
“We got him,” said Shift slowly. He took her wrist, gently pushing it downward. “You can drop the dome now.”
Athira nodded and lowered her hands. The dome vanished, returning the outside world to its normal hues and shades. She stood there, frozen and leaving Shift unsure of what to do.
“Whatever he meant by that, the child of sin thing, it doesn’t mean anything,” said Shift. He slid his hand down to hers and squeezed it. “Whatever you’ve done, nothing is so bad that we can’t help you. What just happened then, that was Rathe and the disturbance.”
Athira shook her head. “That wasn’t Rathe, Shift.” She held on to his hand like it was the only thing keeping her up. “That was me.”
“Reader’s a villain. You can’t listen to him and you can’t trust him. We don’t know his motivations. He’s more than likely insane.”
“If you knew what I know, you’d understand why I know he’s not lying,” whispered Athira. “I hurt you.”
Shift frowned. “You can’t agree with him--“
“Well well, it seems like there’s more to you than meets the eye, my little building shaker,” said Discord as he strode into the warehouse. “I was just about to order my team inside when this extraordinary black shield just popped into existence right in front of us. Good thing I didn’t start blasting it, I guess.”
Athira dropped Shift’s hand as her fingers found the edge of her cowl and pulled it up over her head, once more masking her features in shadow. “I can put one around you right now and let you have all the fun you want trying to break your way out,” she said dryly.
There was no hint of the fragile girl she’d been a moment ago in her voice, buried beneath this sarcastic exterior the rest of the world got to see.
“I can only hope that one day we’ll get the chance to go head to head,” said Discord with a smirk. “I already know the outcome, but it would be amusing for the while it lasted. Speaking of which, cloaks are banned from being worn with the Colour uniform I assume Raphael has given you, as I assume he informed you when he did so.”
“You talk too much,” said Athira. “Please refrain from doing so in the future unless you have something worthwhile saying.”
Discord raised an eyebrow at her. Zoe and Talia came up behind him. The child Reader had most likely abducted was once again firmly seated on Zoe’s hip, clinging to her arm with his head buried against her neck.
“The light, the light.” The boy’s mumbling was almost incoherent, but the words that Shift could make out were even more nonsensical. “You have to go towards the light or you can’t see in the dark... the sleeper is waking up, but he doesn’t like the light, you have to--“
“And who is this?” asked Discord.
Zoe frowned and stroked the back of the boy’s head. “Reader had him when we arrived. Kione says he’s colourless. The poor thing seems terrified, he keeps mumbling about broken rocks and pools of fire, and how ‘he’ will break through and make our world like his own.”
“And the sleeper,” said the boy, his eyes closed. “The sleeper is waking. They poked him and now he’s waking up.”
Discord’s eyes flashed. “Colourless, you say?” He nodded, tapping something into a band around his wrist. “He’ll need to come with me. We’ll make sure Reader hasn’t affected his mind permanently and be sure to return him to his family.”
Zoe glanced at the boy uncertainly but nodded anyway. Discord waved one of his purple Elites forward and signalled for Zoe to pass the child over, which she did albeit reluctantly. The purple Elite’s eyes shimmered, and a moment later, the boy was asleep in her arms.
“Raphael!” called Discord.
Raph jogged over from the warehouse entrance where Reader was being prepared for transportation. “Yes, Discord?”
“I expect the usual report detailing all happenings on this mission, and you will report into HQ for a meeting two days from now. Additional details will be sent to you, as well as any other people in Indigo required to attend. And Athira, I suggest you don’t go too far.”
With that, Discord turned on his heel and left.
*+*+*+*
Athira stepped back into the Rainbow and sat in her seat without saying another word.
Nausea gripped her being. She’d never felt anything like it. The searing of her colour was fine, she was used to that. Knew how to deal with it. But this weakening, dizzy feeling that she couldn’t shake off? That scared her more than she cared to admit. It meant something was different.
Reader’s words wouldn’t leave her mind the entire way back. Child of Sin. Shift had thought Reader was referring to something she’d done, a past action that birthed her current self in blood or betrayal. She almost wished he was right. No, the only fault she’d made was existing in the first place.
It was easier if he thought that anyway. Didn’t realise exactly how much of a monster she was, controlled by her nature.
Inescapable. It all comes back to you.
Athira buried her face in her hands. The cowl still covered her face, giving her a sense of security from Shift’s worried glances. She didn’t want him to be worried. She wanted him to hate her, to tell her Reader was right, that she was beyond saving. Anything that would make the guilt easier to bear.
How can he even stand to be around me after what I did?
Athira? Talon’s voice echoed around her mind, drowning out Reader’s mocking words for a moment. Are you okay? Your part of the mindscape, it’s crumbling and I can’t hold it together.
She was barely able to think the words. I hurt him.
Who, Reader?
Shift.
Talon was silent for a moment. I think you need to explain.
We found Reader and I was getting my answers, but then he hurt Shift and... and I don’t know. I was just so angry, I wanted to slam Reader’s head into the ground, crush his body within an inch of his life.
She felt Talon wince but couldn’t stop the rambled words. Shift knew I was about to kill him so he took some of my colour and hit me with it to stop me. I dropped Reader and picked Shift up, only wanting him to stay out of the way but it just escaped me and I hurt him, Tal, I didn’t mean to but I hurt him.
And how does Shift feel about this? asked Talon cautiously.
He doesn’t understand--
He understands a great deal more than you’re willing to see, Athira.
Athira shook her head. This is exactly why I left Zoe and Raph in the first place. I can’t be trusted. I gave in to wrath and I hurt people I let myself care about.
Not intentionally.
I need to leave, Tal, I can’t--
And what is running away going to solve, exactly? asked Talon bluntly.
Didn’t you hear Reader? This can’t be solved, Talon! No matter what we do, everything on Thols is screwed!
Don’t yell at me.
Regret twinged Athira’s heart. I’m sorry, Tal.
Forgiven, said Talon, his voice softer. But, you’re staying with them. This is beyond us now, and you can’t keep yourself separated from the world forever. We need to figure out how Reader learned so much, and anything we can about this Spectrum alliance.
Reader mentioned something, recalled Athira. About my mindscape having secrets hidden within it, do you think...?
Definitely another possibility, said Talon. I’ll start exploring different places, seeing where I can get into. Meanwhile, instead of you directly coming in all the time, I think it’s a good idea if you find someone with a similar ability to Reader, seeing the mindscapes. It’ll help you maintain your stability.
Athira nodded. They had a plan. A flimsy one made out of fishing wire held together with hope, but a plan nonetheless. Any idea on how much time we have until Rathe’s essence comes back?
Talon was silent for a moment, and Athira got the sense he was double checking. Rathe is still knocked out. Shift really did a number on him. We have time to deal with this before he comes back in full force into the mindscape.
How much time? asked Athira.
Good question. I’ll break out the timer and ask him, shall I?
Athira’s lips pulled into a smile. I’d like to see that.
*+*+*+*
A/N - Wordcount: 44,270 [5.7k left, can you say HELL YES?]