Warrior Nun Season 3

Zachariah 1:3

"Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty."

The first time Ava died in front of her was also the last.

Beatrice aimed to keep it that way.

They had been leaving the hotel that the conclave was held in, the bloodbath that they rescued Duretti, Mother Superion, and Yasmine from, when they looked up at the sounds of Ava's cries.

Beatrice was unsure why Ava was so distressed. She was hovering ten stories up, the Halo gifting her flight. And then she saw the flicker of power on her back, the ring's illumination dying out. And with it, Ava's aversion to gravity.

She fell--no, she sunk, was more like it--to the ground, gathering pace and more speed. Beatrice called out, breathless already, unsure how she was even able to form words. She was already running toward her, willing God to give her just a bit of Her strength, just a tiny bit of power, to propel her forward and be the one to cushion Ava's fall.

But alas, there was only room for one divine entity in this group.

And Beatrice was not it.

The sound her body made as it impacted the ground has haunted Beatrice's dreams since that day. A sickening thud. There were no cracks of bone, just a singular sound as her entire body connected with the earth, and that somehow made it worse. That in an instant, Ava was finished.

And the warm feeling that ever-followed Beatrice was simply no more. It wasn't replaced with a chill or a heat, it was just gone. There was nothing at all.

Beatrice fell over her, eyes flicking across her face for signs of life. Her hands grazed her neck and throat for a pulse. She whispered her name over and over, its own prayer. And when she could not find the beat of her heart beneath her skin, couldn't hear the sounds of her breaths she had memorized so intimately, Beatrice sobbed.

She took Ava up into her arms, holding her limp body to hers and wishing that they could trade souls. That Ava was the one who was holding her, lifeless and saintly. She rocked them back and forth, fingers gripping tighter, chest heaving. This could not be it, she thought, feeling Ava's slack face pressed into her neck. But it is, a smaller voice said.

"Please!" Beatrice pleaded. "I know the world is hard and unforgiving. And I know that Warrior Nuns die. Please don't leave me." She shook her head against Ava's, cradling the back of it where it was splintered. "I don't want you to die."

She was amazed that for all the fighting that just occurred, all the trauma and heartbreak, Ava still smelled like Ava. A rich leather from training, a mint from her soaps, and a girlish scent that seemed unable to leave her since her childhood. Beatrice didn't know why she thought she wouldn't be able to smell her. She thought everything of Ava would be lost in that moment, but here she was, clear as day.

And so Beatrice tucked her nose into the nape of her Warrior Nun's neck, so distraught and unfeeling that she didn't notice Ava's chest swell with a breath. Didn't notice the Halo glow with life.

"You know, I'd like to avoid that myself," the girl muttered, melting into Beatrice's arms.

She pulled back, only enough to look her in the eyes, to see her life, and her warm feeling came back in a rush. Ava had returned, alive and breathing, and it was like the Second Coming to Beatrice.

She lunged forward, somehow squeezing her harder than before she had died, and Ava sucked in a gasp of pain. "Easy, easy," she warned, but Beatrice could hear her smile.