Chương 19: Episode Two Hundred and Sixty-Three: Indigo Shenanigans

That first sip of my latte made me smile, especially since everything moved in slow motion. My morning routine took longer than normal, and even walking down the stairs was slow. The smooth vanilla-maple flavor helped wake me up, even when the extra hot shower hadn't. The smell made the shop feel even more cozy than normal. Maybe I could sell candles that smelled like this. That'd be a great gift for my mom, for when I actually decided to call her and hopefully have her not freak out.

Everything inside me paused for a moment, as I studied the shop in front of me, actually paying attention. It was dark. Like, actually dark. My head snapped up to the skylights, which usually funneled bright sunshine into the shop, unless it was raining. But most days that golden glow helped. They were gone. Wooden planks had replaced them. No glass, or any sign that they had ever been there. The front windows were still there, but nothing hovered outside them.

There was only darkness, and bits of stars in the distance.

"Betty?" I asked in a whisper. Then, I held up my bracelet, looking for the charm. The battery symbol blinked at me.

"What the heck happened…" Just yesterday when we went to bed, we'd been almost full, or at least what I assumed was full. The connection to the Dragon Lands had helped, along with the one from the Cat's domain. Now, we were at this. I carefully clutched my mug to my chest and turned to the kitchen. Half the space was gone. Everything had moved closer together. I didn't dare linger, and the doorway to the storage room wasn't where it should have been. I dashed up the stairs, making way more noise than normal.

The rooftop deck was still gone, but the Cat's doorway remained. The archway to the living room sat in its normal space, and appeared like it had last night. Sir Henry poked his head up from the couch as I peeked in.

"Sable?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

"Why is Betty draining so much from you?" Any lingering drowsiness vanished, as I glanced inside myself at my bonds. Betty was pulling magic from me. Not a ton, but a constant pull that left me a little lethargic.

"What happened last night?" I asked, pausing on the balcony. Another thought came to my mind, one which caused me to frown.

"Indigo!" Her name echoed around the open area. One second passed, then another, before a purple streak finally shot out of her hideyhole and into the open area. She darted up and hovered in the air before me.

"It's early," she said with a yawn.

"What's for breakfast?"

"What did you do last night?" I asked, being direct. She blinked twice, then turned a brighter shade of purple, but she said nothing. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Indigo, Betty is really drained. Did you open a doorway somewhere?" I asked, trying to not sound frustrated.

"I went flying," she finally said.

"I used to do it all the time. It's a safe world without any magic, and nothing soars through the air. I'm fine."

"But Betty isn't," I said, before I could think about it. Indigo's head tilted to one side, and she glanced around, finally noticing the changes.

"Oh no," she whispered.

"Can we go back to the library?" A cool rumble rose from the floor.

"I don't think we have the energy to spare right now," I muttered, trying to think of a place that we could go that would give us a boost. Something innocent, and brighter than this.

"The coffee shop," I said after a moment.

"Betty, can we do that?" A lukewarm blast was her response.

"Give me a second," I said as I rushed to my bedroom, flinging the door open behind me. I fumbled with my fanny pack and yanked out two of the gems of condensed magic.

"Eat these," I said to Betty. The gems vanished as soon as I set them on my bedside table. The drain stopped for a moment. I swallowed hard, and nodded.

"Let's do this." The shop shifted, and everything shook. Indigo cried out as she dove for the floor, gripping onto the wooden boards. Henry stayed on the couch, while I thudded down to my bed. Everything settled. Magic funneled in from the front door, like a refreshing breeze through the entire shop. Nothing else changed for a moment. I stood and belted on the magical fanny pack, then gave Betty a pat.

"Good job, Betty. Let's restrict Indigo's ability to open doors for the moment, ok?" Indigo flew into my room with a frown.

"I'm sorry!"

"I know, and everything worked out, but we need to talk about opening doors right now. We can't do it whenever we want." Disappointment flickered through me. We'd worked so hard to get Betty's levels up yesterday, and now that was all gone. But we did it once, and we could do it again.

"Now, you've learned, and that's okay."

"What about breakfast?" she asked, landing on my shoulder.

"That, we can do," I said, hoping it was true. The kitchen remained smaller than before, and Indigo chirped with a lower tone than normal when we entered. Henry flew behind me, before darting around and landing on the island. He nodded his head at Indigo.

"Flying is amazing, you were right." She climbed off my shoulder at that comment, and sat beside him on the island.

"It is good. Flying outside is even better, but I will need to figure out a better way to do that. I hurt Betty and Sable by not asking."

"We all make mistakes," said Henry.

"Now, you just need to learn from it. Which it sounds like you are." Indigo nodded. I opened the fridge and pulled out some eggs. Some easy scrambled eggs and toast were all I had in me. They didn't require much thought, plus they were simple and fast. The shop, while not open, did sit in a busy spot in this world, and it would likely be a busy day. By the time we finished breakfast, Indigo had shifted back to her normally chatty self.

Henry didn't talk much, but he ate plenty of toast, and some tomatoes I cut up for him, along with a little cheese. He really liked cheese.

"What about creating a door like Betty has with Lord Felix?" he asked, as I stood to walk back to the front of the shop. Indigo's eyes went wide.

"Do you think we could?" I hesitated. She glanced between me and Henry a few times.

"I could hang out with Aurora and the others, plus get plenty of flying time. I bet Lady Twilight would let you use her library…" she said, almost begging.

"That's a pretty big ask," I said, wondering what the dragon would think of that.

"She gets nervous when she can't reach us, which is more often now. Before, when the Cat was here, she could figure out where we were. Now, not as much. Grandpa had to tell her to relax."

"Lord Bennet had to tell Lady Twilight to relax?" I repeated, a little shocked. She felt so solid.

"He told her to go soak in a hot spring, which is the same thing," said Indigo, like it wasn't a big deal.

"She told him to go practice his own advice. We ended up checking out the hot springs in the Clan Lands. It was fun, with plumes of smoke to fly between and race one another around."

"Once Betty has filled up, we can ask. Though, I don't know how the Cat did what he did to establish that link to his lands. We'll need to figure it out." I could figure it out, I was sure. Well, mostly sure. Hopefully.