Rocking the Boat
Ava and Beatrice settled into life at Cat’s Cradle smoothly. Ava could almost see the weight lift from Bea’s shoulders as they established a routine. If Bea was anything, she was a creature of habit. It was good for her to be back in the familiar setting, which Ava knew she hadn’t seen since they had left to train at Arq Tech all those months ago.
For Ava, living in Cat’s Cradle for the first time surprisingly felt like returning home after a long vacation. As much as she loved Bea and would be happy spending time with only her and no one else for the rest of her life, Ava had to admit to herself that there was comfort in being surrounded by her adopted family.
Her mornings were spent training with the sister warriors. Sometimes Bea trained with her and sometimes she would be working with the newer recruits. Ava for her part spent most of her time working with her friends, mostly on hand-to-hand combat, sometimes with weapons. Camila had established a series of tests for Ava and was able to determine that Ava had tapped into a new level of power with the Halo.
“So typically when you drain the Halo,” explained Camila as she paced the yard; Ava was lying in a crumpled heap next to her on the ground, “it takes seven minutes to recharge.”
“Yes I know, Cam,” responded Ava, feeling annoyed. “Do you think you could…”
“But sometimes, you’re able to push through your normal limits,” Camila continued, ignoring the Warrior Nun, “either past the point you’d normally have to recharge, or using more power or accomplishing more difficult feats.”
“Yeah I got it Cam. Would you please…”
“Based on what we’re seeing from our tests, it would seem that when you do this and then drain the Halo, the recharge time quadruples. I think this is the reason it took so long for you to heal when you were sent back. The Halo transported you and then had to keep you alive.”
“Camila!” Ava shouted, finally getting the young nun’s attention. “That’s great! Will you please help me out here?”
Camila looked down at Ava to see the Warrior Nun lying face down on the ground where she crashed after her last levitation test, half under a hedgerow, arms and legs splayed in odd directions with dirt covering her face.
“Oh! Sorry Ava!”
Ava’s favorite mornings were spent sparring with Bea. The prospect of seeing the best in the OCS go up against the Warrior Nun never failed to attract a crowd, many of whom were now growing comfortable enough with the pair that they began cheering over well executed moves or, much to Ava’s delight, well executed puns.
“Am I getting under your skin, Bea? You seem a little ‘punchy,’” taunted Ava one morning in front of the crowd. She loved the spectacle that she and Bea created when they sparred, especially today when she had been holding her own and Bea was starting to let her frustration show.
“Get you ‘kicks’ in now, Ava, before I kick your ass.” Bea’s response drew a combined laugh and gasp from the crowd at large, leading Ava to give her a bright smile.
“It is a bit unfair, isn’t it?” asked Ava as she circled with the sister warrior. “I have to hold back so I don’t hurt you but you can do what you want because the Halo will just heal me.” She was deliberately needling Bea now. They’d had this discussion many times.
“Are you really complaining that I can’t actually hurt you?” Bea retorted. “Are you the Whining Nun now?” Ava just grinned in response. It was nice to see Bea letting loose more in front of the sisters.
Just one more push. “I’m not so much whining as regretting that beating you is getting to be too easy.”
She watched Bea’s eyes narrow as she charged at Ava. Perfect. Instead of waiting to meet her, Ava charged as well, phasing just as Bea reached to grab her and passing right through the other woman. Halfway through she turned and successfully rematerialized behind Bea with her left arm around the woman’s throat while her right pinned Bea’s arm up. She was reaching her right hand behind Bea’s head as she forced her to the ground, ready to declare victory once she completed her hold.
But her joy was short lived as she realized Bea wasn’t so much falling to the ground as she was pulling Ava down. Bea grabbed Ava’s hair with her right hand and the back of Ava’s shirt under her armpit with her left; pitched her weight forward and flipped Ava right over her head. With Halo enhanced agility, Ava used the momentum to land on her feet. She had an instant to realize her mistake as she felt Bea’s foot on her backside as she careened forward and onto her face.
The crowd reacted with a mix of cheers and groans. Ava’s pretty sure she heard some familiar laughter in there as well. She rolled over to see Bea kneeling next to her, a huge grin on her face.
“You did well,” she said. “You might have had me if your taunting actually hit home.”
Ava groaned. “You were faking it.”
Bea’s smile widened. “The day I can no longer beat you, with or without the Halo, is a day I look forward to, Ava. I will never find the idea of losing to you upsetting.” She reached her hand out to help the Warrior Nun off her back. Ava, however, had other plans and pulled Bea down to plant a kiss on her right there in front of everyone.
Another mixed reaction from the dispersing crowd and Bea pulled away, red-faced but with a soft smile. “Come on,” she said, “let’s go again.”
For as much as she enjoyed the morning training sessions with her sister warriors and not in the least her sparring sessions with Ava, Bea’s favorite moments were afternoons spent with Ava pouring over the Sororis ad sororem, looking for any information that Ava’s predecessors might have added about the Halo’s powers. The morning after their discussion, she and Ava went to Mother Superion about Ava’s idea. The older woman listened with interest and agreed to contact Jillian.
“Dr. Salvius, understandably, hasn’t been that responsive to us lately. It might take some time. I’ll let you know when I hear from her.” It was the only thing she would say on the matter, making the argument that she hadn’t held the Halo long enough to really experiment on it. “At this point, you know more about it than I do.”
So Bea and Ava found themselves quiet spots in the convent every afternoon. Most days, they researched the journal, other days they researched each other.
Bea felt her face heat up as she reminisced about a particular day they had been caught by a newer nun in what she could now admit was probably too public a setting.
“You okay over there?” asked Ava, a knowing smirk on her lips as she was watching Bea from across a table in the library. They had been going through older passages in the journal that required some more difficult translations. Pens, scribbled on notepads and balled up scraps of paper littered the table.
That woman can read me far too easily.
Bea quickly cleared her throat. “Yes, I’m fine,” she responded and then quickly changed the subject. “You know, you should really start adding to this.” She indicated the journal. “All the Warrior Nuns before you have entries, and with the things you’ve seen…”
“Ugh,” Ava groaned. “No thanks. I think I’ve got enough to worry about without taking on writing assignments.”
“Ava,” responded Bea, getting annoyed, “this is important. You’ve done more with the Halo then possibly any other Warrior Nun in history. The information you could add would be invaluable after you’re gone.”
Ava stayed silent for a moment, a contemplative look on her face. “You know my writing isn’t that great still. And you know my story as well as I do—couldn’t you do it for me? Please?” Bea watched in amazement as Ava pouted her lips and batted her eyes.
“Are you really trying to get me to do your homework for you?”
“I have certain bribes I can offer you,” replied Ava, leaning far more forward on the table than was strictly necessary and giving Bea a view down her tank top.
Bea found herself licking her lips and had to shake her head to force herself to look away. “Stop that,” she said brusquely. “I’m serious. Now I can help you with some of it, but a lot of it is the individual Warrior Nuns’ thoughts and feelings. Only you can write about that.”
“Ok fine,” Ava relented. “You put in the facts and I’ll add the feelings,” she paused thoughtfully. “Boy, talk about a metaphor for our relationship.”
“Hey!” Bea said as she threw a crumpled piece of paper at Ava’s face.
They had been back at Cat’s Cradle for less than a week when Mother Superion called them into the mission room. “There have been reports of wraiths. A small town about two hours north of here has had suspicious activity. I’m told possibly upwards of twenty. We’ll be sending Ava, Beatrice, Dora, Camila, Eileen and Rosemary to deal with the threat,” she told the room at large.
“That’s a lot of us for a twenty demons when we have the Halo Bearer,” said Sister Dora.
“They are capable, but I expect Eileen and Rosemary to mostly observe. It’ll be on you four. Also, we can probably expect the FBC to show up given recent history.”
“Dora and Beatrice should hold off the FBC if they show up,” added Camila. “That will buy us time to quickly deal with the wraiths. They’ll be prepared for us, but they won’t be prepared for Ava.”
“Is anyone ever really prepared for Ava?” asked Mother Superion, smirking.
“Hey!” replied Ava indignantly. “I’m right here!”
“Ava, Camila and two rookies going up against twenty wraiths?” asked Beatrice, concern evident on her face.
“Don’t worry, Bea,” said Camila, “the new SOP keeps us well away from danger from the wraiths. It’s really the FBC showing up that’s been the problem lately.”
“Yeah don’t worry Boo-Boo!” chimed in Ava, excitedly. “We got this!”
The entire room went silent and stared at Ava and Beatrice. Camila and Dora both had to work at hiding their smiles. Bea just frowned at Ava and shook her head. Ava had been trying to come up with a pet name for her for three days now.
“Never again,” said Bea, simply.
“No?” asked Ava again, her face falling a little. Bea again shook her head in response.
“It’s not fair that you have one for me,” complained Ava as she sat next to Bea in the middle row of the van. Camila was driving with Dora riding in the front. The two rookies sat quietly in the back row.
“Your name for me isn’t even a name, darling,” responded Bea. She was happy to have a random inane topic before a mission. In her experience, it typically eased everyone’s nerves. “It’s simply a letter. It doesn’t get much easier.”
“Personally I liked Beazlebee,” piped in Camila from up front. Bea shook her head as she heard the two nuns behind her snicker.
“You’re not helping, Camila.”
Bea could see the mischievous glint in Camila’s eyes as she met them in the rearview mirror. “I’m not trying to Beazlebee.”
“Alright eyes on the road, Cam,” said Dora. “Leave Boo-Boo alone.”
Beatrice dropped her head to look at her feet as the rookies in the back of the van broke into laughter.
“Alright already,” said Ava, sounding a little miffed. “I get it, I’m bad at nicknames.”
“You’re just trying too hard, Ava,” replied Camila, “you can’t force it. It just has to come naturally.”
Beatrice turned in her seat to look at Sisters Eileen and Rosemary in the back seat. “I swear we were not like this before she became the Halo Bearer,” she indicated Ava. “We were much more professional before.”
“Says the former nun who recanted her vows to have sex with said Halo Bearer and keeps getting caught in compromising positions with her all over the convent,” put in Camila. Bea could only grunt and put her face back in her hands to hide her blush.
“That’s right, ladies,” added Ava happily, putting an arm around Bea, “stick with me. I’ll steer you right.” The entire van broke out into laughter.
“Okay, seriously now,” said Camila, “what’s the situation with you two? Are you dating? Are you girlfriends? What’s going on?”
“I don’t think we need a label,” responded Beatrice, she looked over at Ava who nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, Cam. We’re just us.” Bea saw Camila glare at them through the mirror. “Fine,” agreed the small warrior nun. “But I’ll get it from you eventually.”
“Fifteen minutes out of town,” said Dora. Just like that the atmosphere in the van changed—it was as if the temperature suddenly dropped twenty degrees. Gone were the easy smiles, the teasing jibes and the laughter. These women were professionals and they took their work seriously. When asked about it later, both rookies could only describe the awe they felt as the four ridiculous jokesters in front of them, who spent most of the ride acting like silly, gossipy teenagers, instantly transformed into dispassionate and lethal warriors.
They reached their destination without incident. The town was quiet and the six women filed out of the black van quickly. Beatrice approached the rookies. “What are your responsibilities here?” she asked them.
“To tranq anyone the Halo Bearer points out,” responded Eileen quickly.
“To watch the Halo Bearer’s back,” followed Rosemary right after.
“Do you engage the FBC?” Bea asked.
“Only if we have to,” answered Rosemary again.
“They got it, Bea,” cut in Ava. “Let’s move.”
The six women fanned out through the town square. It was not long before they were met by a crowd of possessed.
“That’s—more than twenty,” said Sister Eileen.
“Steady,” said Dora, “still not more than the six of us can handle.” As she said it, a dozen or so FBC members walked into the square from a street off to their right carrying bats and steel bars. Landing on a roof above them was a winged woman dressed in black.
“Lilith,” whispered Beatrice.
“Well this just got more interesting,” said Ava.