Chapter 2
"If you make a mess in this car, I'm going to leave you on the side of the road."
Ava ignores the threat and continues absolutely devouring the empanada she bought from a street vendor before they left. Well, Lilith technically paid for it, probably with her family's money, but from what little Ava's heard about them, they kinda suck balls anyway. This is why she also had no issue with letting Lilith begrudgingly fork over the cash for some clothes because Ava desperately needed to change from the weird futuristic tunic and wraps she'd been wearing when she returned. She's much more comfortable in the gray scoop neck tee, light-wash boyfriend jeans, and the black Converse she found at the thrift store.
"You sure you don't want one?" Ava waves the brown bag with more of the fried pastries over the center console only for Lilith to wordlessly swat it away. "Okay…suit yourself."
Whatever she was eating over in Reya's domain can't even begin to compete with this doughy, cheesy masterpiece. Her taste buds are practically exploding with flavor, probably no longer used to the amazing pleasantness of real food after going so long without. There's a sharp hum from the Halo as it reminds her to focus without actually saying anything.
Ava taps the fingers of her free hand on the dashboard and decides to voice a question she's had on her mind since first seeing Lilith again. "So, how did you figure out the whole scales situation?" she gestures at her face.
"It's the same concept as the claws," Lilith demonstrates, taking one hand off the wheel. Her fingernails turn firey and lengthen into sharp, black talons. "I figured it out after the fight beneath the Cathedral. The only thing I can compare it to is it was almost like I shed the skin—the wings I'm not quite sure about the mechanics of."
"Neat…" Ava refrains from making any reptile jokes because she knows without a doubt that Lilith will have no problem tossing her from the moving vehicle in a heartbeat. "Why are we driving again?" she asks around another bite of her empanada.
"Repeat portaling requires a lot of energy, especially over longer distances," Lilith doesn't move her gaze from the road as she explains. "Although faster, it's also impractical and draws unnecessary attention. And I thought you wanted to be discreet?"
"I did—I do," Ava sputters, "I just figured you'd want to get the sword and the crown on your own without me getting in your way while I take care of the Arc."
Lilith's eyebrows raise. "Is that what you're telling yourself?"
"Yeah, I mean, two birds and one stone and all that."
That's not entirely true as well as not the best use of that particular idiom. There's one reason Ava would rather avoid the new OCS headquarters. One very particular reason that could potentially sway her from her path and crumble her already shaky resolve to do this almost entirely on her own. Lilith purposely and knowingly calling her out on it is not helping with that.
"Oh," Lilith nods, yet there's a hint of amusement in that one two-letter word that Ava knows means a sarky comment is incoming. "It's for efficiency reasons and not to avoid a certain individual that you may or may not have confessed your undying love for.”
Ava almost forgot Lilith was there in the background while she said goodbye to Beatrice, much like Yasmine was when they kissed. How easy it is to disregard the rest of the world when the two of them are in a room together. How Beatrice just takes up that much of Ava's attention in whatever space they're in. But this is Lilith she’s talking to and Ava’s not going to expose such a vulnerable soft spot to someone who hasn’t earned back her trust. What she is going to do—although she probably shouldn't —is get defensive to deflect.
So, she glares at Lilith’s profile and says, “I don't know about you, but I'd like to prevent this holy war from decimating our world and taking with it all the people I love. Then again, maybe you can't understand that." It's harsh and unlike her, but it has the desired effect. Lilith's fingers tighten around the steering wheel and she works her jaw back and forth. Another hum comes from the Halo, more of a warning this time. Immediately, guilt tugs at Ava's chest and she sighs, "Tackling both tasks as a team is smarter, so we'll do it your way."
"Let's go over the details once more then," Lilith doesn't gloat like Ava expects her to at the acknowledgment that her plan of execution is the better one. Gets straight to business. "We'll get the sword and the crown of thorns from the new OCS location. Then, you want to destroy the Arc to prevent anyone from using it to travel to and from Reya's realm?"
This is the part of the plan that Ava's had a hard time selling her on. Destroying the Arc makes very little sense when Tarasks or wraith demons or whatever else there might be don't seem to need it to travel between worlds. Ava can't even really explain her reasoning, just that it's a precautionary measure. Not to mention that either Jillian or the OCS will have people guarding the machine which makes staying below the radar that much more difficult.
"We can't afford Reya being able to somehow access it from her side and we couldn't stop it from falling into the wrong hands over here, so why leave it to become a liability?" Ava says.
"That's fair," Lilith accepts reluctantly. "It's not like there's any reason to go back there."
They fall into silence—because Lilith won't let Ava touch the radio—as the car leaves the city limits. A rush of relief washes over her that has absolutely everything to do with getting further and further away from streets that are just familiar enough to remind her of brown eyes and terrible puns, causing her heart to ache with longing in a painful rhythm. It's taking every ounce of willpower Ava possesses to remain on her current path set forth by her brain and not follow the one in her heart back to Beatrice.
-
The Order of the Cruciform Sword's new base of operations differs greatly from the Cat's Cradle but is somehow still extremely similar. Rather than nestled in the hills of Andalucía, it's located on the outskirts of Toledo in a large Renaissance-style building that used to be an old hospital run by the Sisters of Charity. It's huge and one hundred percent fits the traditional uppity Catholic vibe of the old place. There's a spacious square courtyard surrounded on all sides by ionic columns and arches stacked with another set of columns and arches to form a second floor. Ava assumes there's a church somewhere within, but they don't have the time to find out for sure. Their focus is on the western side of the building, which previously housed the hospital's patients but has since been converted into a convent. A convent that is now conveniently empty.
"There's nobody here."
It wouldn't surprise Ava if her voice echoed; it's so empty.
"I did tell you that Superion probably hasn't brought in any new recruits yet," Lilith points out, watching as Ava straightens up out of her crouched position.
"I at least expected there to be somebody here," Ava doesn't say there's a part of her that hoped someone would stumble upon them. Longed for a glimpse of dark hair with honey blonde highlights or to hear her name spoken by a specific soft accented voice even if it jeopardizes her whole plan. "Don't you think it's weird that there isn't?"
"They've just relocated after a fight that—although they won—didn't end the way they hoped. There are plenty of things to be done. Just be glad they aren't here," Lilith moves forward with purpose down the hall, peering into empty rooms as she makes her way to the other end. Ava follows behind her, casting glances around to make sure they're really the only ones here.
Eventually, they find what they're looking for when they come across what appears to be a small office room. Like every room before it, there's no one inside, but there are papers scattered across the desk, and more importantly, a sheath that Ava's become extremely familiar with since becoming the Warrior Nun propped up in one of the two chairs that sit in front of the desk. A ray of sun shining through the window catches on the sword's hilt, reflecting off the polished surface.
Lilith must clock it at the same time Ava does because she states, "There's the sword. Now, where would they put the crown?"
Ignoring her musings, Ava steps closer to the scabbard and carefully grasps the base in one hand, and wraps the fingers of her other one around the hilt. Sure enough, the sword is already glowing a luminescent blue when she pulls it free, the divinium reacting like usual in close proximity to the Halo. The sight triggers something in Ava's brain and it's like a switch flips. She feels the Halo buzzing as the room around her falls away, and although she's still physically there, her mind plays a scene she doesn't remember experiencing but must belong to her.
Ava lands in a crumpled heap on the other side of the portal, the movement jostling her divinum-embedded body and triggering another round of excruciating pain to travel through her—only there's a notable delay between hitting the ground and the pain that follows. Almost like her brain missed the memo her nerves were firing up her spine and suddenly remembered, oh this should probably hurt like a bitch.
She's definitely dying.
As someone with more than enough personal experience in the death department, Ava knows this has to be the end. Why did they send her through the goddamned portal just so she could die alone on the other side? She'd much rather spend her last moments with Beatrice than alone in the dirt, staring up at a too-bright sky coughing up her own blood. However, maybe sparing Beatrice from watching her die again is the more selfless choice.
"Don't worry, my child, we will fix you."
Despite only hearing her speak once before, there's no mistaking the melodic voice that is so distinct it seems like it's being spoken telepathically into Ava's brain. Letting her head lull to the side, she sees the figure in all white gliding toward her appearing very out of place in this desert wasteland.
The last thing she sees before losing consciousness is eyes the wrong shade of brown staring down at her with such intensity that it almost feels as if they're peering into her soul.
"Ava!"
Lilith's voice is accompanied by a resounding slap as her palm hits the mahogany desk's surface, snapping Ava out of the memory and forcing her to return to the present. With one last glance at the glowing blue metal, she slides it back into its sheath and lifts her gaze to give Lilith her full attention—well her almost undivided attention. Some of her thoughts are caught on the surfacing of that memory. Is there something about it that's important?
"Yeah?"
"The crown isn't here," Lilith announces, crossing her arms and leaning her hip on the desk. There's no discernable frustration behind her statement like she hadn't expected to find it anyway.
"What do you mean?" Ava glances around as if Lilith might've missed it, a ridiculous notion considering Lilith's extensive training and Type A personality. If anyone's going to overlook something between the two of them nine times out of ten it's going to be Ava.
"Either they're keeping it on hand or, more likely, it's properly secured somewhere not just anyone can find it. It is a supernatural artifact after all." Lilith says, causing Ava to frown. According to the Halo, the crown is an important piece in all of this, so they really do need to find it.
"But the sword was just sitting out here. It’s much more conspicuous than a small, wreath-like circle of twigs," Ava reasons weakly. Once they take the sword, the OCS is going to be on high alert. Finding the crown on their own is going to be extremely difficult if not nearly impossible to do without having to outright ask for it, which doesn't fit into Ava's Save the World playbook. If the Lilith from three days—or years for Ava?—ago were here, Ava might just suggest she come back and threaten it out of them. That Lilith had no problem impaling Ava on a sword and maybe she’s still a little bitter about it. However, she’s also smarter than that and doubts Mother Superion, or any of the others for that matter, would just hand it over to her all willy-nilly.
“That’s the Warrior Nun’s weapon,” Lilith reminds her. “It’s almost an unspoken agreement that only the Halo Bearer can wield it. And…” she trails off, holding back in an uncharacteristic way.
“And what?”
“It might’ve brought them some comfort knowing if you’d return it would glow.”
“Oh,” Ava doesn’t mean to breathe out the word, but it slips out past her lips regardless. Her heart pangs sharply at the possibility of Beatrice staring at the blade in hopes that it would turn that electric blue.
“We will just have to come back for it. At least we know it’s safe for the time being. Superion won’t let anything happen to it.” Lilith doesn’t give her time to protest, already moving toward the door. “Let’s go. We still have to take care of the Arc as quickly as possible if you want to avoid a confrontation.”
Casting one last glance around the room like the crown might suddenly appear out of thin air, Ava hefts the strap of the Cruciform Sword's sheath up over her shoulder before trudging after Lilith. She isn't wholly convinced that the taller woman won't drive off without her if she doesn't keep pace with her and she doesn't really feel like finding out. As she moves to catch up she can't help but mutter under her breath, "I'm pretty sure I'm in charge."
"Hurry up!"
Ava rolls her eyes but nevertheless finds herself picking up the pace.
-
Reaching the Arc is much more complex than strolling through an empty convent. They park a couple of blocks away from the ostentatious circular building that currently houses it in the labyrinth below and make the rest of the way on foot. It gives them an opportunity to scout the perimeter for security and in the spirit of discretion, Ava opts to leave the big, medieval sword in the car. Security on the outside is light, much lighter than the last time she snuck inside. There's one guard on the front door and another at the parking garage entrance. Neither of them is wearing a habit, so Ava assumes Mother Superion or Jillian or whoever is currently in charge of the structure has hired outside help. It is housing a machine capable of opening a portal to another very dangerous world after all.
Ava and Lilith finish a loop around the perimeter and they round the side of the building where there's much less foot traffic. They wait until the coast is completely clear to make their next move. Thankfully, Lilith doesn't question whether or not Ava's ready before gripping her shoulder and portaling into the tunnels below for two reasons.
The first being that Ava probably would've done something utterly embarrassing and offered to hold her hand like a dumbass—not that she'd want to hold Lilith's hand because just… no.
And the second—and arguably the more important—reason is it doesn't give Ava a chance to say no I'm not ready to go back to the place I experienced pain in every sense of the word. The physical agony from detonating a divinium bomb at point-blank range, the mental anguish of using the Halo to turn her friend's body into said bomb, and the emotional torment of admitting her feelings to the greatest person she's ever known and then immediately having to leave her.
But there's not enough time to even think that because in a blink the two of them are stepping out into the parking garage. They sneak through the building—does it qualify as sneaking when the place is eerily empty?—and take the elevator down into the tunnels that will lead them to the Arc. Ava is trying to ignore the uneasy feeling of deja vu that settles over her when the sound of indistinct conversation carries back to them from further ahead where the tunnel turns left.
Ava holds out an arm to halt Lilith from rounding the bend. Carefully, she peeks around the corner only to quickly pull her head behind the wall again after she gets a good enough look. Two nuns dressed in OCS standard combat gear await them at the end of the adjacent hallway. It's too far and too short a glance for Ava to decipher who they are, but she knows who they aren’t.
She holds up two fingers to show Lilith.
“Distract them,” Lilith says, shoving her past the corner and disappearing in a blaze of orange heat.
Clocking the movement, both nuns lift their heads from their hushed conversation to analyze Ava, hands already on their weapons in the event she’s a threat. In an effort to prove otherwise, she raises a hand in a slow wave.
“Sister Dora…Sister Christine…hey,” Ava recognizes them as she moves closer and sees the moment they figure out who’s approaching them. Watches them lower their weapons and feels a touch of guilt about deceiving them.
“Ava?” Sister Dora asks, her expression resembling what one might look like seeing a ghost.
“In the flesh,” Ava jokes uneasily. She takes note of the distortion forming behind Sister Dora and her smile twists into a grimace, “and I’m really sorry about this by the way.”
Lilith works quickly. She slams her elbow into the base of Sister Dora’s skull and sticks her with a tranquilizer, sending the nun to the ground in an unconscious and crumpled heap. Sister Christine barely has time to pull her gun again before Lilith is behind her, wrapping an arm around her neck in an expert sleeper hold while jamming a second tranquilizer-filled needle into her tricep. After a few seconds, Sister Christine's struggles stop, her body slumps and Lilth lets her drop to the floor.
"Seriously? You could've been a little more gentle," Ava says while moving Sister Dora into the recovery position, one arm bent at a ninety-degree angle, the hand of the other placed on the opposite cheek, turned on her side with her top leg also bent at a right angle to prevent her from rolling onto her front or back. She does the same to Sister Christine while Lilith stands there doing nothing and being super helpful.
"Apologies," Lilith sounds nowhere close to sincere, turning and crossing the threshold into the connecting room. 'Gentle' probably isn't in her vocabulary, at least not from what Ava has seen. She wonders how much of that aggressiveness stems from the influence of the Tarask DNA spliced into her genetic makeup. Sure, Lilith was borderline homicidal when they first met, but there was a certain level of respect—or maybe decorum?—shown to her sisters that no longer seems present. Or it’s hiding deep, deep beneath the surface.
With one last guilty glance at the two knocked-out nuns, Ava draws in a lungful of air, holds it for several beats, exhales, and steps into the room after Lilith.
It's clearly been cleaned since her showdown with Adriel.
The only things aside from the two of them in the cavernous space are the Arc, emitting a soft continuous glow that means the machine must still be activated in some capacity and the upside-down cross hanging above it.
But Ava only sees those in her peripheral vision because her eyes are fixed on a spot on the concrete still stained a stomach-turning rust color.
Michael’s blood.
Ava swallows thickly and blinks back tears, unable to tear her gaze from the spot. It’s clear from its lighter color that someone tried scrubbing it, but either didn’t or couldn’t finish the job. She wonders if she has the same stain marring her soul for knowingly leading him to his own death, which she hates to think, ended up not making much of a difference in the end. God, how is she ever going to face Jillian again?
“Why was he willing to die for this?” she mumbles to herself.
Lilith, who remained silent—seemingly to allow Ava time to collect herself, possibly out of her own guilt—must’ve heard her question, because her voice cuts through the quiet.
“Adriel once referred to him as an echo.”
“Echo?” Ava feels her eyebrows knit together as she attempts to understand what that could mean. What benefit could come from that knowledge considering Michael is dead. Still, she finds herself wanting to know. To understand. “What do you mean?”
“He didn’t go into much detail, but from what I gathered, the Michael that came back from the other realm wasn’t the same one that went in. I’m not referring to his age, I’m speaking of his state of mind. Adriel implied that Reya did something to him to ensure he would do as she wished,” Lilith explains, also staring at the stain.
Anger ignites a fire inside, spreading quickly and causing Ava’s blood to boil. She’s finally able to look away, eyes burning as she meets Lilith’s.
“Yeah! She turned him into a bomb, Lilith!” Her voice breaks on ‘bomb’ but she continues, “But that’s not what killed him in the end, is it? You did!” Ava grinds her teeth, fingernails digging into the soft skin of her palms from her clenched fists, likely cutting deep enough to draw blood, yet it’s nothing the Halo can’t fix. In an effort to calm herself down, Ava takes a shaky breath. “Fuck, I’m sorry—I mean, I’m not sorry for saying that—it’s true, but that wasn’t the right way to say it. Plus, we already talked about it…”
“Ava,” Lilith speaks before Ava can keep going. “Your words are justified. What I’ve done will stay with me for the rest of my life. The only thing I can do now is help you in whatever capacity I can.”
Her words seem sincere and Ava likes to believe she’s a good judge of character. Nevertheless, she stares at Lilith for a bit longer just to make sure. Then, she nods to herself and walks up to stand ten or so feet in front of the Arc.
“Let’s get this over with.”
There’s no doubt Jillian built the Arc with top-of-the-line everything, but Ava thinks that a direct and powerful Halo blast or two will be enough to break it into pieces. Raising her hands in front of her palms out, Ava closes her eyes and steels herself. Her eyes snap open and she pushes her arms forward.
Nothing.
Not even a hum from the Halo.
She might just be a little out of practice, so she tries again.
And gets the same result. Absolutely nothing.
“What the fuck?” Ava brings her hands closer to study them, then turns her head to glare over her shoulder at the bitch disk in her back. “Are you serious right now?”
“Are you having performance anxiety?” Lilith asks with a raised brow.
“No,” Ava tries a few more times unsuccessfully before switching tactics and moving right up to the machine, less than a foot away. She winds her arm to punch the side of the Arc instead, only her fist stops right before making contact by a force other than herself.
The Halo flares warningly at her, but she ignores it. If it isn’t going to help her, why should she do what it wants? Ava tries another punch and doesn’t even get to throw her fist forward before the heat from the Halo gets hotter and an image flashes through her mind, almost too quickly to decipher.
A cold sterile room with several large cylinders filled with a clear liquid of some kind, one of them containing a small body.
It’s gone before Ava can note any more details,
What the fuck am I supposed to do with that? Ava thinks to the Halo.
She doesn’t receive an answer.
Ava looks over and sees Lilith just watching her and waiting. “Let me just try something real quick,” she says, raising one hand and sending another Halo Pulse at the far wall, unsurprised when the Halo works this time. The blast of energy slams into the concrete wall, causing several cracks to form and the room to shake just slightly. Ava lowers her arm and stares at her hand, trying to piece together the why and coming up short.
“Well?” Lilith presses.
Ava sighs, returning her eyes to the Arc.
“The Halo seems to think we still need the Arc for something.”
Three car doors slam shut in quick succession as the women step out into the hot sun onto the dry patch of dirt making up the small, two-lane road's shoulder. Beatrice blocks out the brightness with one hand to her forehead, shading her eyes and casting a sweeping glance around their surroundings. It's nothing but long grassy hills and trees for miles. No other people from what she can see aside from themselves.
Beatrice silently chides herself for being so foolish as to think they'd… what, just stumble upon Ava out in the countryside?
"Do you have the exact location?" she asks Camila, who's tapping away at her tablet intently.
"Give me one moment…there!"
Camila points north where the one hill slopes downward in the opposite direction, obscuring anything behind it from view. Beatrice feels her heartbeat speed up at how close it is. She'd expected a trek through the open landscape, not a short hike less than a mile long.
"Let's go then," Beatrice takes the lead, Camila and Yasmine falling into step behind her.
Originally, Beatrice had wanted to come here alone. She didn't want the others to see her shatter any further if this turned out to be a wild-goose chase, but Camila immediately put her foot down and refused to tell Beatrice where the theoretical tear between worlds had opened unless she allowed her and Yasmine to come along as well. And sure, Beatrice could've probably subdued Camila and then frightened Yasmine into handing over the coordinates, but she reminded herself that these are her friends and they just want to help. Plus, Mother Superion would've been extremely displeased if she returned from the Vatican, where she was overseeing the papal conclave in which the new—newest—pope will be chosen, only to find a terrified Yasmine, a ruffled Camila, and Beatrice nowhere to be found.
"What exactly should we be looking for?" inquires Yasmine, who up until this point had remained uncharacteristically quiet. Beatrice supposes it might have everything to do with her own behavior the last few days making her unapproachable by anyone who wasn't Camila. The younger nun, no longer a rookie, met Beatrice's hole of grief she'd dug herself with a warm smile and a shovel. Not to dig Beatrice out, but to dig herself a spot next to her so she didn't have to be alone.
Alone.
That's what she is now, isn't it? No matter how hard they try, there's nothing Camila, or anyone else for that matter can do to fill the Ava-shaped hole in her heart. The large part of her heart that the exuberant, strong-willed, and kind-hearted woman patiently carved out for herself without Beatrice even realizing it was happening until after Ava had already taken up permanent residence in the space.
It's the longest she and Ava have been apart since meeting and it's barely been three days. How is she supposed to keep going if the only person to ever really see her and choose to stay might be stuck in another dimension forever or worse?
No, she's not doing this right now. She needs to focus on the task at hand.
“Anything out of the ordinary,” Beatrice says, finally processing Yasmine’s question. They aren’t heavily armed. She’s got several knives on her, more out of habit than anything, and she’s sure Camila has a firearm and possibly a collapsible bow somewhere on her person. Yasmine is likely the only one of them unarmed. If this goes south, things might be a little dicey.
Soon enough, the group is cresting the hill and Beatrice feels her pulse race. Camila, who at some point must've sped up to walk beside her, comes to a halt, glancing down at her tablet and turning the device so that Beatrice can see the screen.
"This is it," the curly-haired nun declares nervously.
Beatrice looks over the landscape…and there's no one else there. It feels like a punch to the gut despite the rational part of her mind knowing this whole excursion probably wouldn’t have amounted to much if anything at all. Allowing herself to hope for something better is what left her vulnerable to devastation in the first place and she isn’t sure how much more of it she can take. It's as she's thinking this and sinking back down into the now-familiar feeling of despair that she notices something rather odd about the ground.
"Something's disturbed the ground there," she passes the others to get a closer look. A section of the grass is gone, leaving a straight trail of dirt down the hill like it's been ripped out by the friction of something moving over it. The trail is about a dozen meters long, half a meter wide and several centimeters deep, meaning whatever did it must've either been heavy or moving quickly. Beatrice crouches down to touch the dirt. "It's been done recently."
"Like today recently?" Camila clarifies.
"I'm not an expert, but the ground here is still moist along the edges and in this heat, I'd assume it wouldn't take more than several hours for it to start drying and cracking," Beatrice observes, not finding it necessary to point out that these findings coincide with the time frame of the seismic activity. Once more she feels hope beginning to sprout within her, rising up through the depths of her doubt.
"You guys?" Yasmine calls from where the gouge in the ground ends, her voice wavering. "I think you should see this."
Exchanging a brief glance with Camila, Beatrice easily rises to her feet to investigate whatever the newest OCS member has found. Yasmine is a little on the anxious side for a Sister Warrior, but after all she's been through with them, Beatrice believes her findings must be significant if it's got her wide-eyed and chewing on her bottom lip so nervously. Her eyes follow Yasmine's line of sight to the grass where there are several sets of large circular indentations positioned around the end of the strip of ripped-up ground. Upon closer inspection, they appear to be cloven hoofprints, yet much much too large to come from goats or sheep. A size that could only belong to one type of dangerous and otherworldly creature.
"Are those…"
"Tarasks," Beatrice confirms for Camila, looking between the prints and destroyed ground that's suspiciously straight and distinctive, brain connecting the dots.
"You mean those giant beastly demons with skull faces that appear as though they have fire burning inside of them?" Yasmine asks uneasily, wincing when Beatrices gives her a sharp nod. "I was afraid you were going to say that. What would they be doing here?"
"It seems that they were either chasing or following something," Beatrice doesn't say that there's a high chance it could be someone the Tarasks were after. Camila, on the other hand, has no qualms doing that herself, raising an eyebrow when Beatrice shoots her a warning glance.
"What? You and I both know there are very few things the Tarasks would be after. It's okay to have a little bit of hope, Bea."
Yasmine is quick to put together the unsaid part of the discussion which Beatrice would be fairly impressed by if the topic of conversation was anything else but this.
"You think they were after Ava," Yasmine states slowly.
"Something or someone came out of the rift. I'm not saying it's definitely her, but I'm also not going to say the possibility is unlikely. Tarasks don't register on the seismic scale for whatever reason and their tracks aren't at the breach coordinates. Whatever it was came through at the top of the hill there and made an impact with the ground here," Camila gestures at the path of destroyed earth for emphasis.
Her hypothesis is sound, Beatrice knows that, and at first back at the Cat's Cradle 2.0—as Camila's dubbed it—she thought it had to be Ava. But the more time that ticked by between then and now, the more doubt crept into her mind. The spike and drop in adrenaline paired with days of intense grief and little sleep has exhaustion seeping into her bones and curling at the corners of her mind. So, she's more receptive to Camila taking the lead, especially because the other woman is much more clear-headed than Beatrice herself.
"What do you suggest we do?" Beatrice asks.
"There's not much we can do at this point," Camila shrugs apologetically. That's exactly what Beatrice was afraid that she was going to say. Doing nothing leaves her too much time to get lost in her thoughts, replaying moments and wondering if she'd done anything differently whether that would've made a difference or not. Fortunately, Camila continues, "We can monitor social media and news outlets for any abnormal reports. Mother Superion might have contacts we can reach out to, as well. Maybe we should wait for her to—"
"No!" Beatrice can't wait around and twiddle her thumbs even though she's fatigued nearly to the point of having hallucinations. An idea comes to her and she finds herself running with it. "Madrid is the closest city in proximity to this location. All of the neighboring towns between here and there are spaced out and small. And if it is…" she forces out the name, " Ava, that's where she would go." At least, that's where Beatrice hopes she would go.
"You want to go to Madrid?" Camila studies her, eyes flicking between a nodding Beatrice's. For what, she doesn't know. Whatever it is, Camila must find it because she relents. "Okay."
Yasmine raises a hand, "Madrid?"
"Yup." Camila tosses the car keys to her, watching as Yasmine fumbles to catch them before she adds unnecessarily, "You drive."
"...great."
-
The drive to the city is quiet aside from the occasional rambling from Yasmine. Beatrice can tell from the way Camila bites at the inside of her cheek that there's something she wishes to say. However, the youngest nun stays quiet from her spot in the passenger's seat. It lasts until they're getting off at the highway exit and there's a sudden beeping noise emitting from Camila's phone.
"Huh, that's strange." From her angle in the backseat, Beatrice can't see the expression on Camila's face as she speaks, meaning she can't decipher whether her statement is negative or just an observation. Yasmine, too, turns her head slightly to cast a questioning glance at Camila who's hunched over to get a closer look at the phone screen. "I gave myself remote access to the live security feed from Adriel's Cathedral while we're figuring out where to safely store the Arc. Motion detectors picked up movement in the parking garage, which nobody should be in," she pauses, and turns her body to face Beatrice, holding out her phone, "and the cameras caught this."
Beatrice slowly moves her gaze from Camila to the surveillance video on the screen. The lighting is pretty bad due to the lack of direct light in the garage, but she can make out two figures, one noticeably shorter than the other and also wearing a cap. Neither of them shows their features to the cameras, obviously aware enough of where they were to avoid them. It's clear from the direction they're moving in that they're heading towards the elevator to the underground tunnels where the Arc is. She feels her breath hitch, caught somewhere between her diaphragm and her lips. For a beat, her brain malfunctions and Beatrice tries to take another breath instead of exhaling the previous one, resulting in teary eyes and a cough she muffles into her sleeve. Beatrice leans forward and puts a hand on the shoulder of Yasmine's seat.
"Yasmine, I'm going to need you to drive faster."
It takes a little more than ten minutes to pull up in front of the building, no one even flinching when the car jumps the curb a bit in Yasmine's haste to park. During the drive, Camila tries to contact either Sister Dora or Sister Christine, who are currently guarding the Arc, but neither of them responds. Beatrice reasons to herself that reception down in the depths of the building is spotty, although can't help but feel like it's not a coincidence.
Without waiting for the others, Beatrice throws open the door and hurries up the steps, where a security guard holds out a hand and asks for ID in Spanish. She's about to use that hand to flip him over her shoulder to remove him from her path when Camila cuts in between them and holds up a lanyard with a keycard. The guard eyes Beatrice with understandable wariness but allows them to pass all the same.
It feels like it takes years for the elevator to reach the underground floor and she can't help but remember days ago when she rode this same box down albeit with a different urgency. That one because she was terrified of being too late (she was) while this sense of urgency stems from the need to know.
Finally, the elevator stops and the doors slide open. Simultaneously there's a loud boom that echoes from up ahead. Not deafening, yet powerful enough that the walls and the ground trembles. The three of them exchange glances before moving forward to investigate. Instinctively, Beatrice draws a knife from her boot and Camila pulls the gun from her hip. Yasmine reaches up to grasp at the handle of the hidden blade in the OCS pendant Superion gave her. Quickly, they turn the corner to see both nuns that were on guard duty motionless on the floor.
She thinks she hears quiet voices from the room beyond the hall but stops short to bend down and check Sister Christine for a pulse. It's there, strong and steady which means she's just unconscious. Yasmine, who's stooped by Sister Dora, gives a nod to let them know that she's alive as well.
Beatrice notices Camila cup the base of her neck, but her attention is drawn by a feminine voice reaching her ears.
"...for something."
The hairs on the back of her neck rise and shivers run down her arms as goosebumps erupt in their wake because Beatrice knows that voice. It's achingly familiar, one that joked loudly when training got a little too intense and exchanged hush whispers in the darkness of a small, Swiss apartment. That spoke to her and about her in a way that no one else ever has. That she hasn't heard in more than three days—which may not seem like a long time but felt like a meaningless lifetime to Beatrice.
Her feet carry her to the entryway without her telling them to, eyes roaming the room to land on the figure standing in the center, facing opposite her and resting a hand on the Arc. She barely registers Lilith's tall form off to the side. Certainly doesn't take note of the absence of wings and scales. Because she can't look away from the person before her, the curves of the body she knows almost as well as her own from hundreds of hours of training and nights sleeping next to one another sometimes even wrapped up in each others' arms, hair that's longer than three days ago and falls just below the shoulders, and a dark green baseball cap fit snugly on the top of their head, that she's almost seen before, only instead of green it was grey.
Beatrice opens her mouth, though it takes a minute to find her voice. When she does, it's softer than she intended and falters on the second syllable. Like if she says it loud enough, it'll scare her away.
"Ava?"