Secrets and Sins

Chapter 27

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~Ava~

"Ava, will you please sit down, you're making me anxious." Bea whisper shouted at her.

Ava stopped dead on the well-worn path she had been taking across the room.

"Sorry, I'm just nervous." She apologized sheepishly.

They were waiting in the room at the institute that contained the cell. Bea was sitting beside the computer desk. Ava envied her ability to be calm, the only sign of nerves was the sister warrior's fingers drumming relentlessly beside the keyboard. The Halo bearer on the other hand had been pacing the length of the room.

"Remember that this was your idea, Ava." Bea said, stilling her fingers and fixing her with a piercing stare, the Halo bearer's heart clenched, she hated disappointing Bea.

"Sorry I'm late. I was just rechecking the calculations. " Dr Salvius announced, striding into the room, puncturing the tension.
"Was I interrupting?" She asked, finally noticing the emotional strain between the occupants.

"Not at all." Bea said, looking away and going back to her drumming.

"Right well Ava, time to head into the cell. Have you removed anything you could harm yourself with?"

Ava gulped, the earlier conversation about self-harm hadn't been a pleasant one. But she knew it was necessary.

"Yep, no shoelaces, belt, or anything sharp on my person." Ava chirped, trying to hide her anxiety.

"Excellent. Did you want to…ah…say goodbye?" The doctor glanced at Bea.

Ava wasn't exactly sure where she stood with the other woman, Bea had agreed to be with her during this, but she definitely wasn't her biggest fan right now. The Halo bearer shuffled her feet, pouting in Bea's direction, the sister warrior kept her eyes down, boring a hole in the floor. When it became clear Bea wasn't going to move from her seat, Ava sighed.

"Nope we are good to go."

Ava turned to head into the cell, just before she walked through the doorway, a calloused hand grabbed her wrist. Bea tugged her around to face her, pressing her lips firmly against Ava's. The Halo bearer froze with surprise before her hands came up to Bea's face, cupping her cheeks. Ava returned the kiss slightly desperately. She was stunned the sister warrior had embraced her with the doctor standing right next to them. Eventually Bea pulled back and pressed her lips, feather lightly, to Ava's forehead.

"I love you, Ava." She whispered.

Ava felt her body warm as it usually did whenever Bea said that to her.

"I love you, Beatrice." Ava replied, voice cracking slightly.

Dr Salvius cleared her throat awkwardly, "Sorry, I don't want to rush you, but the others will be here very shortly."

Ava nodded at her, "Okay, I'm ready."

She stepped into the cell, listening to the door shutting and locking behind her.

Ava sat tensely on the bed, tapping her toes on the floor. She couldn't be still no matter how hard she tried. Bea was watching her sympathetically through the glass. Camilla, Mother Superior, Vincent and Yasmine walked into the room preparing to record the encounter. Camilla was carrying a crossbow loaded with darts that had a cerulean blue head. Ava was really starting to feel nauseous now. She got up and began to pace again, moving helped alleviate the stress, sort of.

What the hell was I thinking?

"Okay Ava, are you ready?" Doctor Salvius' voice sounded through the speakers.

This is such a bad idea.

Ava couldn't speak, she just tipped her head once, finding and holding Bea’s gaze.

"Good, remove your bracelet."

Taking a deep and steadying breath, her eyes never left Bea's as she unclasped the chain on her wrist, letting the piece of metal fall to the ground, she kicked it into the far corner.

The Halo hummed through her body, Ava felt the instant relief of her shoulder knitting together, healing like nothing had ever happened to it.

"All okay so far Ava?" Dr Salvius checked in.

"Yeah, just halo healing right n…"Ava's sentence halted abruptly as the Halo flared, the painful burn bringing her to her knees.

"Ava." The disembodied voice growled.

~Beatrice~

If Beatrice thought the idea was terrible in theory, the actual reality of it was much, much worse. The moment that the halo flared, and she heard Ava cry, she clenched her hands into fists, feeling her nails cutting into her palms. The sister warrior was standing to the side of the room, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, expression carefully controlled. She could feel the odd glance her way from the group witnessing the transformation, but Bea’s eyes never left Ava.

The Halo bearer whimpered in pain as she fought Reya's control; they had agreed that in order to throw the deity off the scent of what they were after, Ava was going to have to fight as hard as she always did to stop from turning. The younger woman was now on her hands and knees on the floor of the cell, the halo burning brightly on her back, she turned her face up towards Bea, bloody tears running down her cheeks. The sister warrior’s heart clenched, and she swallowed thickly, Ava hadn’t cried blood tears since the first time she had transformed. It must have been from the smoke of the burning metal surrounding her at the time, now she was in a cell lined with it, Bea's stomach dropped.

Having it all around her must make it more excruciating.

Suddenly, the halo let loose a huge blast of power, throwing Ava backwards into the glass wall behind her with a sickening crack and completely disintegrating the cot. The room collectively gasped, but thankfully the glass was still intact.

Beatrice struggled with the urge to call it all off now. Ava stood slowly, her left arm was definitely broken, bone breaching the skin of her forearm, blood pouring down her wrist, but as they observed her it straightened and healed. Ava raised her head, golden eyes surveying the room through the glass.

Dr Salvius started the timer, “120 minutes, beginning now.”

Beatrice shuddered watching the golden eyed Ava cock her head as she observed them all.

This is going to be the longest two hours of my life.

~Ava~

Ava gasped in a breath as she opened her eyes. Darkness surrounded her. She was curled into herself, lying on her side. Fighting that transformation hadn’t been particularly enjoyable, the halo throbbed across her back.

“Well, well, well.” Reya appeared in front of her in a blinding flash of light.

Fucking show off.

“I’m impressed Ava, managing to slip through my grasp last time was quite the feat.”

“Well, I would take a bow, but you know, the molten piece of metal in my back makes that rather difficult.” Ava struggled to her feet, breathing through her nose to control the pain.
“Speaking of slipping through your grasp, when I escaped you, did you know that I saw your army? I mean man, all those tarasks, that's gotta take some serious power to control.”

Reya was silent. Ava couldn’t read her expression.

“So many more wraiths on the other side though, can’t see your tarasks having much of a hope in hell, if you excuse the pun.” Ava grinned.

“Silence! You don’t know what you're talking about, child.” Reya snarled, making the halo blaze through her skin.

Ava grimaced, but managed to continue, “Isn’t that why you need me? The Halo bearer can destroy multiple wraiths at a time.”

“The meat sack bearing the halo has nothing to do with it. The halo itself and its explosive power is what will win this war for me.” Reya scoffed.

“Ouch meat sack, so hurtful. Right, so I’m just a delivery girl, taking the halo to wherever this portal is so it can…"

Reya literally teleported forwards, grabbing Ava by the throat, “When that sinkhole opens up and that portal spews forth that bitch's wraiths, you will be there! I will rip the halo from your back and use it to destroy her portal and wipe out the armies of hell…"

A rumbling noise started around them. Ava felt relief flood through her.

Thank God for my friends.

“Okay so just so I can write it in my diary. Where and when is this portal supposed to open? Don’t want to double book.” Ava choked out around the tightening grip on her throat.

“You will not escape me again.” Reya replied coldly, hand clenching tighter.

Ava was getting close to passing out. She could feel herself being pulled from Reya’s place but couldn't seem to be drawn back to her body with the goddess holding her.

Oh fuck, didn’t think of this.

The Halo bearer needed to make her let go, summoning up the last of her strength and as much of the halo she could control, Ava twisted hard in Reya’s grip using all her body weight and at the same time aimed a kick at the deity’s knee. It was just enough to slacken the grip and free her.

Ava smiled as she fell into the black void, “See ya next time.”

Reya’s scream of rage followed her into the darkness.