What You Are Is Beautiful

Prayers Before The Wisteria

Mother Superion approached Beatrice who had been standing just around the corner waiting for her.

"How'd it go?"

"As well as it could have gone. A success but a close one." Mother Superion flashed a tense smile before lightly patting Beatrice's shoulder to signal their departure. "Let's go."

That's when they heard Durretti's harsh call resonate through the corridor, shaking them both to the core with such volume that they could've sworn the vibrations webbed their way out into the walls, floor, and ceiling of the holy building, threatening to demolish it with that one shout. But even more than that, the call was one full of nothing but the purest icy fury. The walls holding Beatrice and Mother Superion seemed to narrow. The air seemed to thin. And time slowed until Beatrice felt herself live an entire lifetime through each breath.

Time slowed and her mind wandered to all the possibilities, none of them good, until time came rushing forward once more. Mother Superion being surrounded by the Swiss Guard, Durretti's scowl, the barked commands, the shocked but almost expectant despair written on her superior's face. The world seemed to swirl and swish around her in one, big chaotic storm, filling her lungs to the brink with water and surrounding her ears, only allowing her to hear the muffled sound of harsh indignities and verbal abuse towards the one person in this world she felt she could rely on.

Beatrice stood and watched as Mother Superion was taken away, head held high and scowl as cold and scary as ever. The young warrior suddenly felt ages smaller as she absentmindedly wandered down the hall to who knows where. She didn't have a direction for her feet, only one for her mind. And all her mind wanted was down. So she walked herself down the stairs and to the main level of the prison she had previously called a home. She had a mission, but no one to lead her.

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Ava stumbled through the halls of Cat's Cradle still drunken from the effects of her brief comatose and the nauseating dream that had plagued her in her sleep. She needed to find Mother Superion and report her findings...while asleep. And figure out how to explain that her dream wasn't just a dream.

Ava passed familiar faces that she had seen briefly before. The questioning and judging glances followed her like usual as she wandered around in a pair of sleep shorts and the silk button down, collar popped and top buttons undone. Ava didn't pause to make eye contact, but instead searched the spaces she stumbled into, desperate to see one of her friends or anyone who might know what to do next.

She passed the courtyard and caught a glimpse of braids tied back into a knot and the shine of a leather jacket through the window. A small piece of silver shone bright in her hand as she knelt down in front of the wisteria back in the corner of the yard.

"Mary," Ava breathed to herself in relief before leaning into the heavy mahogany doors.

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Mary kneeled before the wisteria, marveling at the purple bloom. The Japanese wisterias bloom in mid spring but don't accomplish their full bloom until months later. Mary knew that this bloom was coming to an end and that the brilliant purple pedals would soon be cascading down to cover the ground in a fairytale carpet.

Mary had always loved the outdoors. Trees and vines had always been her favorite parts of nature with their strong sturdy forms that told a story in their limbs. She had lived in a small apartment in Mérida with her mother and father as a child. Their building was overcrowded and small and always smelled of mold, weed, and spices. But it was her home and her family couldn't afford any better, and quite honestly, it gave them what they needed: a place to prepare meals and sleep at night.