Chapter 19
The Angelic appeared back on the battlefield surrounded by unconscious and dead warriors, and blood. Skin burned to crisp, but healing rapidly. She gasped, crying out in pain as her body started to quickly heal from the burns. She didn’t expect this raw power from such a small child, even if it was of Angelic origins. She pushed herself to her feet, turning back to the hallway window. She sneered up at the window.
From the corner of her eye she spotted something gold flying towards her. She narrowly teleported to the left a metre away from the building. A sharp hissing echoed in the battlefield. She turned to her right and the flying gold disc was heading straight for her. She threw herself aside as it passed. The ends of her hair clipped the disc as it passed.
“You made a mistake coming after them!” Ava’s voice growled.
Reya followed the disc and was met with the sight of Ava storming towards her with Halo welding in her healed hand. Reya’s eyes widen as she scurried to her feet. “what in the gods” she shuddered. “you’re dead”
Ava’s body was overflowing with power. Surrounding her frame in light. Her veins were glowing with intense gold light, from her toes to the mass gold light from her restored hands. Her eyes were narrow and burning like the sun. Beautiful, intense and too bright to look directly. Even her open snarling mouth was filled with the same light. The Halo’s hissing filled the courtyard with song, a warning song to all her enemies.
Ava disappeared in thin air. Reya summoned her sword and the moment it appeared in her hand, Ava appeared directly in front of her Halo raised. Reya blocked Ava’s, but the shockwave from the collide sent Reya flying across the field and crashing into the stone wall. Reya groaned. Crawling away from the wreckage she starred shocked at the warrior before her. “What are you?”
Ava grinned.
Reya sneered “WHAT ARE YOU!” she shouted.
“the Godless one!” Avas voices spoke as one.
Reya howled, gripping her sword and ran at Ava.
‘Ava’ a man’s voice called from beyond. His voice, sweet words, but his tone was powerful and deep. It carried a familiar meaning Ava wasn’t focused enough to understand. She only listened to the voice as she watched Reya run at her. ‘Cut her down, make her bleed. My friend is waiting for her, cut her down Ava’
Ava grunted, she gripped her Halo then raced forward.
At the last moment, Ava vanished.
Reya’s eyes widen as she looked around. She briefly registered the flash of brown hair and blazing gold eyes beside her before they disappeared behind her. She stopped in place and a crack of thunder followed, rupturing in the sky. A pain burned across her stomach, small at first, then grew with intensity. She looked down and watched in horror her stomach open up and mass of blood that followed. She looked behind her to see Ava’s outstretched bloodied Halo and emotionless eyes starring cold at her back. She gasped, dropping her sword and clutching onto her waist. “no, no” she choked.
Everyone on the field started to awaken, moving to their feet slowly and their eyes drew first to each other, then Reya’s bleeding form. Beyond that, they noticed a crack appear mid air, crackling like live wire before expanding into a dark portal.
Reya looked back to the portal behind her, then to Ava, watching the woman walk around her then stop at her front. “DO YOU REALISE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE YOU FUCKING CUNT!”
“Do you?”
Reya growled, she shifted forward with one hand expanded outward and the other pressed against her stomach. If this was the end to her mission, she was sure to take Ava down with her.
Suddenly, a hook and chain flew out from the portal, around Reya and slammed into her shoulder. The Angel grunted at the impact, eyes widen to fear as more hooks and chains flew out from the portal slamming into her body. Then the chains tighten and started to pull. Pulling the Angel backwards into the awaiting portal.
“NO NO NO!” Reya shouted again and again, fighting back the chain.
The rest looked beyond Reya into the portal. There was two people standing at the other side, one they recognised as Faith, the other wearing armour of a Warrior nun. Hood raised to obscure her identity.
Reya continued to scream as she was forcibly dragged away.
The gold light in the Halo and Ava’s faded, along with a solemn whisper of the man in her head ‘it’s done, thank you for accepting my help Ava’
‘Thank you for helping us’ Ava replied.
‘Yes, thank you’ Other Ava spoke.
‘This won’t be the last time we chat, remember, I am here anytime you need me. All you have to do is reach out and I will answer to you’
Ava blinked and suddenly her friends were by her side and her Mother’s grip on her shoulders felt overpowering yet comforting to be held. She looked to her friends, then her mother and leaned into her grip. Sneaking her Halo back into her back.
“You scared me back there” her mother whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“You are not the only one”
Mary wondered forward confused, standing in front of the others. Yet her attention wasn’t on Reya or Faith, but the Warrior Nun inside the portal.
“Is that?” Camila asked confused.
Lilith nodded.
Soon Reya was pulled into the portal screaming as she vanished into the other side. Faith wrapped the chains tightly around Reya then escorted her into the dark. The Warrior nun didn’t follow her. She waited at the gates of the portal. She watched Mary wonder forward and waited further till the warrior was close before she pulled down her hood. To reveal her true identity.
“Shannon?” Mary whispered surprised.
Shannon smiled, she nodded sadly. She raised her hand flat palmed against the portal gate. Mary followed suite until they were as pressed together as the gate would allow them. Not close enough to touch, but close enough to feel each other’s presences. At this close, Mary could see the tears welling up in Shannon’s copper eyes. She watched the tears stream down Shannon’s face as she starred at Mary, unblinking. “I’m sorry my love” she whispered. Then pulled back and walked backwards into the darkness.
Mary didn’t chase her, she instead walked backwards, never taking her eyes off Shannon’s retreating form as the portal closed in on itself. Leaving nothing to trace its existence.
Lilith raced over to Mary, taking the woman into her arms. “What did she say?”
“She said I’m sorry”
“For what?”
Mary sniffled, shaking her head. “I don’t know”
Ava watched the couple confused, then her eyes widen “Bea!” she bolted from her mother’s grip and raced back inside. The crew hot on her tail. Running past fallen Sister warriors.
Soon they came across the infamous hallway and the burned carnage that remained.
Despite the obvious sign of an explosion, none of the people in the hallway were touched by the flames. Battered and bruised, but not burned. Then came the sight of Beatrice. The Crew skidded to the halt at the sight of the infamous Sister Warrior.
The other end of the hallway, the rest of the OCS gathered kneeling around her body. Mother Superion held Jillian in her arms, trying to comfort the hysterical woman while she too cried into her shoulder. Sister Cara knelt at Beatrice’s still body and prayed for her soul. Hanna, laid curled protectively in her mother’s grasp, crying in her arms.
“no” Ava whispered.
“Ava” Michelle gasped.
“No!” Ava shouted. She raced to her family’s side. Her knees collapsing beside Beatrice’s still chest, starring fearfully down at her lover. “No please, Bea, Bea wake up please” she shook her lover, but there was no use. The body was already pale and the blood stopped dripping. She started to rock her body crying out Beatrice’s name. She turned to her child and picked the baby up, cradling her against her shaken body. “it’s okay” she whispered into her child. “It’s okay sweetpea, mummy is going to fix this”
The crew fell around what was left of the family, slowly moving closer to the fallen friend.
“Ava” Michelle spoke, trying to keep herself together for her daughter’s sake. She knelt by her daughter’s side and grabbed her shoulder. Forcing Ava to shift gaze to her. “It’s over”
Ava shook her head.
“No my child, it’s over, let her rest”
“She’s not dying yet, not today” She handed her daughter to her mother, then stated determined. “Not today” Her eyes shifted to blazing white and electricity of the same passion came sparking out from her skin. “Not today!” she spoke. She turned to her lover and began CPR. Each compression sparks flew from her body into Beatrice. “I. AM. NOT. LEAVING. YOU. BEHIND. TODAY!” She grunted with every compression. She paused to give the body air, more of the energy from Ava’s core flew into Beatrice’s still body.
Nothing.
“DON’T GIVE UP BEATRICE!” Ava shouted. She leaned down and blew more air into Beatrice’s lungs. She pulled back and continued.
Again, nothing came from it.
“DON’T GIVE UP MY LOVE, COME BACK!”
Michelle watched her daughter concerned. Eyes widening fearfully at the amount of energy coming out of her daughter adsorbing into Beatrice. The glow of the Halo came forth as strong intensity as her daughter. She knew her old Halo like the back of her hand. She knew this much use takes a price and that price was a soul. With one hand wrapped protectively around her granddaughter. She held her other steady against her side. She knew by heart the very sound the Halo made before it demanded a soul for feast upon. She was ready to pay the debt the moment the call was made.
Soon Ava shifted to slamming her fist into Beatrice’s chest. Each thump caused a mass shock wave of power adsorbing into the body. “WAKE. UP. BEA!”
“Ava, she’s gone” Michelle advised, her tone distraught, but hopeful she was wrong.
“NOT YET!” Ava grunted. She breathed another round of air into the body’s lungs before she pulled her head back just an inch and screamed “WAKE UP!” at the top of her lungs, slamming her fist into Beatrice’s chest again.
This time an explosion of Halo light followed blinding everyone in the room and when the light disappeared, a single gasp followed.