Athira felt like a regular kid in trouble with authority as she was escorted down Elite hallways.

She stayed near Sima as her other three Elite guards didn't seem quite as forgiving for ditching class. Though Athira hadn't confirmed Sima's statement about her lack of Purple, Sima didn't sound like she needed it. She knew she wasn't a Purple, yet she was still being escorted back to a Purple class, still being fed explanations about being a merger, which meant Sima hadn't told them.

It was enough to earn her Athira's trust, something she'd never given easily, but there was no other explanation other that Sima was trying to help her.

It took nearly twenty minutes of walking before they reached the other side of a familiar door, one at the end of a blocked-off hallway. One of the Elites pressed a hand to the Colour-pad as the scan lit up and opened the door. Inside the hallway she'd walked the previous night, the sound of excited chatter and activity inside the rooms reached Athira's ears.

It sounded so carefree, and it made her jealous. She dug her fingers into her palms. Why had she been born with this Colour anomaly? Why couldn't she have had a normal Colour, one where she could be free to push it right to her limit without worrying she'd take the city with her?

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as they stopped outside the room the rest of her Purple group was in. She made to move inside, but an Elite stopped her.

"You're not going back with them yet," he said, opening the door and addressing the people inside. "Mira, swap with Sima, please. She can take over the class again."

Sima's hesitation showed in the briefest moment of tension as Mira's name was called. No one but Athira noticed as Sima shot her a worried glance, a glance that told her she was in trouble.

And like that, it was gone, faded back into the usual motherly persona Sima seemed comfortable with. "Are you sure you won't need me to keep an eye on her Colour levels?"

"The wristlet will do that for us," said the other Elite as Mira came to stand beside him. "Just run through the rest of the exercises, call us if you need assistance since you're down a person."

Mira gave Sima a brief rundown of what they'd covered in her absence before Sima nodded and gave Athira a final look. "Shouldn't be long until lunch, I'll manage. Hopefully you didn't get them too worked up and they're still going to listen to me."

Mira shrugged, but Athira got the message. "You'll be fine, Sima, and so will we. See you at break."

The door closed.

Athira had rarely felt so exposed.

Mira and the other two Elites--a Blue Athira recognised as one Mira had spoken to the other night and a young-faced Yellow--started down the hall, waving for Athira to follow.

They led her to the end of a hall to a room that hadn't been used even for activities. As far as Athira had been aware, it'd been empty, but apparently that wasn't the case. As the Blue Elite entered, he placed his hand to a grey tile on the wall. A rune appeared under his palm, and the room changed.

Tiles flipped and changed and glued themselves together in complicated fashions like Athira had never seen, even with the Snowlily monks. They had the capability, sure, but to waste Colour like this? They'd have been shocked.

Still, it was impressive. The once-empty room now had a table with two stools beside it, several monitors, stools and other objects that couldn't have been made from the tiles resting on the benches.

Mira guided Athira to one of the stools at the table and took the other one herself. "Okay, Athira. Now, I don't want you to be worried or anything, we're just going to be running a few tests to see what kind of merger you are and what precautions we may have to take. Now, do you know what a merger is?"

Athira had never been so thankful for the near-destruction of two entire Colours. "An Indigo or Violet who was affected during the merge of the two Colours and picked up pieces of both."

"Exactly," said Mira. "I think you know by now what that could mean, having Colour that doesn't quite belong to you, that leaked into your mindscape through a completely freak occurence, so we won't go into that. I'm just going to put you through a few exercises that'll test your Purple in a few different ways, and we'll go from there. Okay?"

Sima's warning echoed in Athira's head. "Sure."

The Blue and Yellow Elites took their places beside the monitors, linking their Colour up to the system and tapping into the data from Athira's wristband. She figured they were here for damage control--just in case Athira's 'Purple' was one of the few that the precautions were in place because of.

"First exercise," said Mira. "I won't tell you the purpose of this so it doesn't skew results, you just need to follow the instructions as I give them. So we're clear, your abilities include moving objects and passing your own body through physical objects, correct?" Athira nodded. "Okay. I want you to place your arm inside the table and hold it there for the count of five."

Athira did as instructed without issue. Mira increased the count to ten, then fifteen, then thirty, all the way up to three minutes. The real challenge then was stopping her physical muscles from giving way, propping her elbow up with the other hand as she waited for Mira's word to drop it.

"Any change in Colour level?" asked Mira.

"None," replied the Yellow Elite. "Colour usage hasn't changed since we started this exercise."

Mira nodded and turned back to Athira.

"Remove your arm from the table," she said, touching a place on the table to where cubes of varying sizes appeared. "Pick up the smallest cube with your Colour, hover it for fifteen seconds, then place it on the other end of the table as gently as possible."

Athira obeyed. As she released the tendril linking her to the Black around the cube, crystals scattered across the table.

Mira picked one up, rolling it between her fingers before tapping it to a Colour-pad on the desk."A crystallising Colour. Unusual, but not unheard of. Can you re-use the Colour once it's crystallised?" Athira shook her head. "So the Colour is used once it hardens. Now we're getting somewhere. Next cube, same thing."

And Athira repeated. Six cubes, new tendril every time. The Elites gave report of increased Colour useage, and Athira was starting to think they were trying to tire her out, to see if her Colour became increasingly unstable as she used more of it based on the way they'd have her hold her arm in the table inbetween times.

When she remained steady, Mira leaned back in her chair, a thoughtful look on her face. "Report on Colour levels?"

"Steady. No sign of stress."

"Stage two?" asked Mira, an almost hopeful note to her voice.

It was the Blue Elite who replied this time. "Stage two."

Athira wasn't sure she wanted to find out about stage two, but she remained, waiting for the next instruction. As Mira fiddled with something on her wristlet, Athira distracted herself with thoughts of Zoe, wondering what she'd be doing around this time, what their next conversation would be.

Hey, Zo.

Hey, Thira, didn't see you at lunch.

Yea, the Elites decided to give me a private lesson in case I was going to blow up the rest of you. Also did you know I'm a Purple? Flames be praised it's a miracle, I'm just a really volatile merger. Hooray!

"Athira," said Mira, jolting Athira out of the daydream. "Cubes again, same thing, same order, other side of the table with a fifteen second arm-in-table hold in between."

Athira went to pick up the first cube, but something was different this time, something she assumed was a result of stage two. She opened that tap in the wall to her Colour, but the Black didn't stick as easily as usual, and it took a conscious effort to lift. She still managed to complete the task, placing her arm in the table--a table that felt a little more like mud than its usual watery sensation as she slipped her arm inside.

One down, Athira turned her focus to the next cube, sweeping crystals off the table. Another drop of Black from the tap surrounded the next cube easily this time. When she went to lift it, the tendril strained and snapped, crystalising and shattering across the table.

Surprised but not deterred, Athira once again allowed the tap to drip, preparing a second just behind it to reinforce this next tendril. The cube felt ten times heavier, which was impossible. Physical weight didn't affect the Black. Only size and how much she needed to cover the surface area did, so how--

She caught Mira's eyes. Her irises were no longer the dark colour they'd been before, but a light, striking violet that was trained directly on Athira.

Mira smiled. It wasn't a Zoe smile. It wasn't even a Sima smile. It was the same smile she'd seen Miela's 'friend' Felicity wear, only Mira didn't try to hide it behind a gaudy shade of lipstick.

"Lift the cube, Athira," she said. "Other side of the desk."

It didn't feel like an instruction. It felt like a dare, and Athira had never been one to back down from an adult who thought they knew better. Most of them weren't any better than a maturing thirteen-year-old, even if they acted like it. They didn't know anything. They'd never have to wrestle a quarter of the control Athira struggled to keep daily.

An ember of determined anger burning through her stomach, Athira let the tap drip--once, twice, three times--and swelled the tendril with the Colour. Though still heavy, the cube lifted off the table, rising cleanly through the air until it settled down once more.

When Athira placed her arm inside the table, she held Mira's widened gaze.

The third cube was harder still. It didn't hit the table quite as gently as the previous two, landing with a thud. Whatever Mira's Purple was doing, it was some kind of inhibitor, constantly fighting athira for control, but Athira refused to lose. The fourth wobbled in the air as she lifted it up, and by the fifth, there was sweat on Mira's forehead.

Athira got the cube halfway before she relented her relaxed position. Her hand shot out of her cloak, shortening the tendril, bringing it completely under her will as she guided it with her fingers to its resting place.

So caught up in her victory as she turned to see Mira's expression, Athira didn't notice the stinging on her arms until the three gazes of the Elites were on her arms.

More specifically, on the glowing runes of Blue that were shining through her sleeves.

Athira retracted her arms, but it was too late.

The Blue Elite was on his feet, pincering Athira between himself and Mira. He held out a hand. "Pull up your sleeves and let me see your arms."

Athira sat on her hands. "I'd rather not."

"I'd rather not threaten a thirteen year old, so please," he said, hand still out expectantly.

"I don't think there's many threats you can make that I'd actually be scared of."

Mira was the one to reply, the same emotion behind her earlier smile now in her voice. "Maybe we should ask your friend, would she know anything about them?"

Athira held out her arm.

The Blue Elite pulled back her sleeve, running his fingers over the runed skin of her forearms. Athira winced at the contact, but his grip on her wrist was iron. She couldn't escape it, even with her Black, which annoyingly enough didn't go through people.

"Where did you get these runes?" he asked after a long, agonising minute.

Athira's mind was racing. What should she say? Would placing herself with the monks be okay? Would it make them realise that she'd been the child who'd escaped? "I've... always had them, I think. I don't know."

"When do they appear?"

Athira opted for the lie. "Randomly."

"Only randomly?"

"I guess they appear more when I use a lot of Colour."

"What do they say?" asked Mira, her normal coloured eyes on Athira's runes.

The Blue Elite turned Athira's wrist over. "Suppression runes, I think. Though they speak of redirection and flow rather than a straight-up halt, which is likely why she can use her Colour at all." Athira kept her mouth shut. "From the looks of it, I'd guess someone caught on to her merger abilities and decided to fix it themselves by runing it off. We've had a few cases like that before. People freaked out after the merge, didn't know how to handle the new Purple."

"She'd barely have been four," said Mira. "Would her abilities have shown at four?"

"Unlikely, not impossible," said the Blue. "Either way, these runes have likely done more damage than they've stopped, and since we don't know who runed them, we'll have to take them off to be sure they aren't affecting the Purple adversely."

Athira snatched at her wrist, but the Blue Elite's grip didn't budge. "You can't take them off. They have to stay there!"

The Blue's tone switched to that of dealing with a two year old throwing a tantrum. "I know it's scary, but you have to understand. Those runes could be causing havoc with your Purple in so many ways. Since we don't know who applied the runes, we have to assume they were an amateur, albeit powerful, and that they've been placed incorrectly. If necessary, we can reapply them later in the proper manner."

Athira knew enough to know that the monks had studied the runes and application methods for over six months before they'd placed them onto her skin. They helped. She knew they did and she refused to believe otherwise. No other Blues, Elites or not, were going to manage it better than the monks. "They're fine. Trust me."

"I'll have to veto your decision on that one," said the Blue Elite. "I have extensive experience in this area, and I fear the sooner we get these off, the better--"

"Don't think so."

Athira ripped her hand from the Blue's grip and retreated until her back hit the wall, still cradling her wrist. She had to get out. It didn't matter that they'd follow her, they couldn't remove her runes. They couldn't let her Colour run that wild, that unrestrained again. Never, ever again. Too many people had been hurt the last time she lost control without her runes.

She coated herself in Black and pressed into the wall behind her--only her Colour couldn't get through.

The Black wouldn't go through the tiles.

Athira turned, pounding her fist against the wall as panic rose up her throat. Other than a stab of pain through her wrist, nothing changed. The wristlet fizzled and died, its Orange sparks grey under the Black around her wrist. She lunged for the door, but Mira was in the way, the Purple back in her gaze as the Black Athira clung around her grew heavier, harder to hold up. It fell to the floor, crystallising around her feet.

"Athira, stop," said Mira. Her words were dragging Athira down, making her want to listen, but she knew better. The Black filtered it before it hit her ears. She could hear the deception. "Athira, drop your Colour. Sit on the floor and listen to me."

Athira didn't.

The Blue Elite nodded at Mira, and it was then that the world turned dark.

Not dark like the shadows around the hall last night as she lay beside Zoe, no. This dark was so complete it needed no shadows. It clung to her movements as a strange noise vibrated up her throat and she flailed her arms, trying to find some recognition that she still existed inside this shadow. That it hadn't consumed her, hadn't swallowed her whole like the last time down in that tomb with the scratching and the scrapings and whisperings as she wandered blind for infinite hours alone with nothing but the monster scratching and scraping and scratching and scraping--

Something grabbed her arm.

Athira lashed out.

A broken scream filled her ears. In one blinding flash, the world returned in every flame-kissed detail, every beautiful Colour and shade. With her fractioned sight, she saw Mira on the ground, clutching her arm where a brilliant well of crimson that smelled like copper spewed from her skin. The Elite's foot thrashed against the second tendril with its crystallised edge lacerating her leg as it climbed.

There was nothing in her head aside from the part of her that latched onto the colours of the room. The Yellow of the Elite's suit, the Blue at the others hand, the red pouring from Mira's body. Nothing else mattered. Every other thought turned to ashes. The ember that'd smouldered in her stomach an eternity ago had blossomed into searing, burning agony pulsed through her body with every beat of her heart, slowly melting her control down piece by piece.

The Blue Elite, rune in hand--oh, what a beautiful Blue!--pressed it to the tendril on Mira's leg, dispersing the Black, pulling her away as it chased her down. Lumps pushed their way through the skin of the Black, lengthening and twining themselves into slender tendrils that kept the world away, killing the colours of all that it touched.

Athira's cloak lost its indigo dye in the embrace of the Black. The Elite's suits turned a dark grey, skin highlighted by the a lighter shade. The Blue of the Elite's runes became a dirty white.

The world became a monochrome prison as the Black swelled up over her eyes. She clawed it down, but the Black only built higher. It only knew the fear that drove it to protect her, the same fear that tore deeper into her panic with every shadow, every object bleached of colour that she used to know that she wasn't trapped in that tomb where colour didn't exist.

Her mind fell apart as she collapsed on the ground clutching her head, the dissolved sound of her screams nothing but vibrations in her throat.

*+*+*+*

A/N - Aaaaand goodbye sanity. 

This prequel is exploring so many damned things I hadn't realised about Indigo. This whole memories thing is turning out to be a loooot more detailed/interesting than I had planned but.. yep. It might end up being a huge factor in Indigo sequels O_O

Vote/comment, pleeeease => Pinfeathers is doing well in the rankings, better than it ever has before =D Wew! I love you guys <3