Halo: Let It Die (Book 4, Arbiter x Female human series)

Chapter 22: Family

Zel spoke up. "We all thought it would be wise to have some familiar faces aboard on this mission. Your father figure" he gestured at Buck. "Spartan Buck. And Spartan Bethany."

     "Your sister..."

Bria quickly frowned as she made eye contact with the Spartan. "W-what?" She was unsure if she heard Zel right.

The Spartan beamed as she smiled.

     "Did you say-"

    "Your sister." She smiled. "Hi, Bri."

     Bria frowned again. "I-is this some type of joke? M- My sister is dead."

     "My clone is dead." Bethany replied.

     "B-but how?" Bria was lost for words. Her heart felt like it nearly stopped. She looked at her over and over again. The resemblance became clear.

    "I was eh... adopted into the Spartan program. They put a clone into my place and gave her cancer. I've been training with the Spartans ever since." She said.

     Bria's jaw was probably on the floor by now. "So I did all those crimes for a clone?"

     "Woah yeah... Bria went through a lot." Cassie chimed in.

     Bethany chuckled.

    "So why didn't you tell me when you first met me?" Bria asked still stumped.

     "I didn't recognize you. I honestly thought you had died with Mom, Dad, and my clone. Plus Spartans aren't supposed to remember their family, but you know me and you aren't too fond of following the rules." She said and winked.

     Bria laughed in disbelief.

     "You still don't believe me?" She looked at Bria's wrist and held out hers. It had the same beaded bracelet that Bria never took off ever since Thel found it.

The Elite came out of the house. Bria tried her best to not look at his bloody feet. He handed her the bracelet. It was her sisters, covered in pastel pink and purple gems. Her sister's favorite colors. Bria slipped the bracelet on, making the gems shine in the sunlight. Bria held a hand over her mouth, she tried her hardest not to cry.

"Also..." she revealed the matching tattoo that both her and Bria had. And their mom. That translated into you are loved in Sangheili.

Bria started to cry and immediately hugged her long-lost sister. She held onto her tight.

     "I thought Bethany could help because she knows information straight from your mother." Zel said.

     Bria forgot that there were people in there with them.

     "This is great!" Bria smiled and wiped her tears. "Y-you look beautiful. Your so grown up... and you have hair!" Bria felt Bethany's head. "Not that bald wasn't a good look for you, but this looks great."

Both Bria and Bethany chuckled.

"I-I'm sorry. You probably remember Cassie." Bria pulled Cassie beside her.

"Ah yes, the girl who made me and Bria go to hell and back." She squinted and shook Bethany's hand.

Bria grabbed Bethany's arm and dragged her towards Thel.

"And this is my husband, Thel Vadam." She said happily.

"Husband? Oh my..." Bethany shook Thels hand. "Sis, didn't know you liked very tall, scaley, and handsome."

"Yeah guess I have more of Grandma Val in me than you do." Bria replied while Beth chuckled.

"It's not my job to judge you." Beth replied. "As much as I love this family reunion after going years thinking my entire family was dead, I do have some information that might help."

Bria straightened up. "R-right. I forgot about the whole mission for a second. What do you know?"

"Okay, first of all, keep in mind that I got taken away so many years before any of this happened. I kept track of everyone through our database and maybe a bit spying here and there." Bethany took a breath. "Mom had a secret student-teacher relationship with Kyle."

Bria's eyes grew. "You're joking."

"That's one of the reasons why she brought him back to life. Our aunt Nova also took a liking to him too, but I'm not going to get into that because some weird stuff happened." Bethany said.

That was already so much for Bria to take in.

"What's so freaking great about Kyle?" Bria realized what she said out loud.

"Young, smart, witty and attractive." Beth replied. Bria just rolled her eyes. "But, mom brought him back to life by putting him back together piece by piece." She said.

"So exactly what he did to me, just like I figured."Bria already knew most of this information from her Aunt Nova.

Beth continued. "Also while using the worms from the Mgalekgolo, and the blood of Sangheili. Hence why Kyle is a hybrid."

I've heard this before. Bria thought but didn't say it out loud.

Bria was waiting to hear some useful information from her sister before they were interrupted by a member of staff entering the room.

"I'm looking for Bria Vadam?" He said.

"That's me." Bria replied.

"You have a package of cargo from someone named, Kyle?" He said.

Bria twitched at the sound of his name. "And you allowed it?"

"Y-yes?" The man looked confused and slightly scared.

     Bria scoffed and looked at Thel, they both left for the docking bay.

At the docking bay:

     Bria looked at the small box. "He probably rigged it with a bomb." She said.

     "Don't jump to conclusions." Cassie said sarcastically. "It could be a bouquet of roses saying how much he misses you."

     Bria noticed Thel tense up.

     She approached the box, slightly shivering.

     Bria gently opened the special delivery from Kyle. At least if it was a bomb she could suffocate the explosion with her power.

     But she didn't expect what was in there...