Secrets and Sins

Chapter 21

21:~Beatrice~

Ava groaned from the mat, holding her ribs, they were back in their little private training room and had been sparing for about an hour. It was not going as well as Beatrice had hoped.

“You tried to phase through it again didn’t you.” Beatrice sighed, holding out her hand for Ava to pull herself to her feet.

“Ouch, yes. I forgot.” The Halo bearer replied, clutching her side as she struggled up.

“For the 8th time?” Beatrice asked, raising her eyebrow.

“I mean to be fair; I have only ever spared while having the halo’s abilities.” Ava retorted as she sank back into her battle stance.
“Let’s go again.”

Beatrice nodded, and sprang forward, swiping at Ava’s legs with her bo staff. The Halo bearer used her own staff to block the blow, spinning it back to strike at Beatrice who deflected it easily. Ava’s speed and strength had decreased substantially without the halo active. On top of that the Halo bearer constantly tried to phase through the strikes or make herself impervious to them. Beatrice knew that it was instinctual, they had trained for months to harness the halo during combat. Ava's go to strategy was to take a hit to draw in the attacker before striking back, her and the halo working as one.

Concerning.

Following up the deflection with a thrust to Ava’s stomach, Beatrice broke through the Halo bearer’s guard once again. The woman grunted as the staff connected with her and fell to her knees gasping for air, winded.

“Ow.” Ava gasped out, before staggering back up.
“Again.”

In the end Beatrice had to call it. Ava argued a little, wanting to continue but the other woman had taken so many hits at this point, the sister warrior was worried there would be a serious injury. To her credit, the Halo bearer got back up after every single one.

It had become very apparent to Beatrice that they were going to need to retrain from the basics without the halo. The question was, would they have time to cram years of conditioning into however long they had before the third harbinger of war.

~Ava~

Okay, that one fucking hurt.

Lying flat on the mat Ava tried to catch her breath, it had been a fortnight of training without the halo, and she still spent most of her time getting her arse kicked. The Halo bearer climbed to her feet cupping the bruise forming on her jaw with her hand. Camilla stood a few feet away looking apologetic.

“Sorry Ava but you’ve got to stop blocking with your face. Keep your hands up.”

Ava just nodded, flexing her jaw to see how tender it was. Apparently, progress was being made, or that’s what Bea, Cam and Mother Superior told her when they spared with her. To Ava it seemed like they just wanted to make her feel better about the multiple times she hit the mat during a training session.

Moving forwards Ava began trading blows again with Camilla, ducking, blocking and striking. The nun gave her most of her hand-to-hand training while Mother Superior taught her weapon skills with staff, sword or sticks. On the rare occasion Bea trained with her, it would be a mixture of both.

The sister warrior had made herself scarce during practice, Ava tried not to feel disheartened. Bea had explained that she couldn't bash the shit out of the woman she loved daily, but it did mean Ava didn’t see her as much. The sister warrior had gone back to training the recruits and researching with the other OCS members. Ava still saw her in the evenings, but the Halo bearer was too exhausted and sore to do anything more than cuddle up and sleep.
Abruptly, Ava saw an opening and swept Camilla’s legs out from underneath her, watching the nun fall to the ground.

Finally.

“Fuck yeah!” Ava said, pumping her fist into the air in triumph, before something hit her ankle hard, the world tilted around her, and she hit the deck again.

Camilla looked at her smugly from her position on the ground, pulling her leg back towards her, “Always ensure your enemy is incapacitated before celebrating.”

A snarky reply on the tip of her tongue, Ava was about to let Camilla have it when she heard a low rumble begin to build in the air around them, like a train approaching from afar. The floor began to shake underneath them. Everything hanging from the walls in the room rattled against their brackets, a few weapons fell clattering to the floor, the stone ceiling of the convent creaked ominously. Dust rained down on the women lying on the floor, but as soon as it started, the earthquake stopped.

The fuck?

"What the hell?" Camilla echoed her sentiments.

A loud siren sounded through the cradle, Ava looked at Camilla wide eyed, she had never heard that before.

"Emergency call to the main hall." Camilla explained, jumping to her feet.
"Come on!"

Following Camilla’s lead, Ava ran out of the room, the corridors were filled with convent members, everyone heading in the same direction.
Ava felt her heart clench, where was Bea, was she okay, what the fuck was going on, as each thought flew through her head, they fed her increasing anxiety.

They teared into the main hall, Mother Superior was standing at the altar used for mass, a serious expression adorned her face. Bea was standing beside her, casually scanning the crowd. When their eyes met, both women relaxed minutely. Bea quirked her lip slightly when she spotted Ava. The Halo bearer grinned back, relieved.

"As you all know Andalucia has just been struck by a substantial earthquake, there have been reports of severe damage to the local township. As members of the church, the diocese has called on the convent to lend aid in rescue and recovery efforts." Mother Superior announced to the crowded hall.

"We also have had scattered reports of wraith demon activity in the area so tactical wear will be required, heavy weapons like crossbows and assault rifles are to stay in the van unless absolutely necessary. We do not want to cause a panic, people."

"Sister warrior Beatrice has your allocated positions, please prepare yourselves and promptly gather in the courtyard for assignments." Mother Superior finished, gliding off the stage with Bea in tow.

The nuns around them dispersed. Ava moved to catch up with Bea, but Camilla caught her arm.

"Come on, you heard her, we need to change and grab our stuff."

Ava frowned, glancing back to where Bea disappeared into the crowd.

"Okay."

~Beatrice~

Tapping her pen against her clipboard, Beatrice shuffled her feet impatiently. She didn't like Ava being out of her sight during such tense situations, the other woman was a trouble magnet. Beatrice took a calming breath, forcing herself to be patient and continued to give out assignments to each sister warrior that came her way, watching as they loaded into the black vans parked around the courtyard.

Where is she?

When the earthquake had stuck, she had been sitting with Mother Superior discussing tactical squad training. It took everything in Beatrice not to race off to find the Halo bearer. Mother Superior seemed to sense her distress and reassured her that the younger woman would be fine, that Camilla would escort her to the main hall.

"Hey Bea." A tap on her shoulders startled her.

She turned to find the Halo bearer standing beside Camilla. Ava was dressed in her brand-new battle suit, the last one having been ruined by the halo burning through it. This one was the same style but navy blue instead of the steel grey. Across the halo was a built-in temperature resistant vent to stop its intense heat from disintegrating the suit again.

Beatrice couldn't help the way her eyes raked down Ava's body. The form fitting outfit again left little to the imagination. The other woman cleared her throat causing Beatrice's eyes to shoot back up to her face, a light blush spreading across her cheeks. Ava winked at her.

"So where are we heading?" Camilla asked, thankfully missing the interaction as she adjusted a buckle on her tunic, saving Beatrice from more embarrassment.

"Um." Beatrice coughed, buying some time to compose herself.
"Our squad will be heading to the town square."