What You Are Is Beautiful

The Halo's Calling

"Bea!" Ava shouted as she knocked on the Sister warrior's door again. She heard shuffling from within and then finally the sliding of the latch bolt as the door swung inward revealing a slack faced Beatrice. 

Something was wrong. Her face was cold and hard, no light seeming to escape from her eyes. The stress radiated through her skin and burned in Ava's sense. Her nails were rough and jagged, unlike the usual perfectly manicured hands that were one of many staples of her usual appearance. Beatrice's skin was wet with the shine of cold sweat. A strand of her Raven hair had fallen loose and was tickling the crook of her neck.

Ava reached forward to brush the strand back. Beatrice shrunk away immediately. She still hadn't met Ava's gaze at all.

Ava's heart fell through the floor and her veins were filling with crushed ice every second that Beatrice refused to meet her gaze. "Hey," Ava murmured, carefully watching for any further movement.

Beatrice shuffled aside, allowing Ava to pass. "Hello," she responded, eye still down and to the side. As soon as the door closed, Beatrice sat down at her small desk where she appeared to be scribbling down messy thoughts and ideas. Her paper was covered in messy cursive and frustrated scribbles when she made a spelling mistake or any other minor error.

"Uhh," Ava awkwardly grinned. "What's all of this?"

Beatrice let out a long sigh. "Mother Superion and I went through with the plan while you were out. It didn't go well and now we're on our own." She set her pen down. "She needed you to bug the Pope's quarters, but she has to do it herself and got caught. I don't know how," she answered Ava's silent question, "but she did."

It took a moment for the dreadful realization to kick in. "Wait, she got caught by...the Pope?"

"Yes, the Pope and the Swiss Guard."

"Oh, those guys..." Ava trailed off. "Shit."

"Language." Beatrice stood from her seat. "In a few days, our Order is sending a group to Huelva to deal with the kappa infestation. I don't think Father Steven and Durretti are planning on sending you with the Halo's main group which is really suspicious."

"Wait, why is it suspicious and why do I need a main group?" Ava's mind was twisting itself around all the new information. What was a kappa infestation? What's a Halo main group?

"The Halo's powers are stronger when used within a primary group. Remember when I told you that with the Halo, the mental is the physical?"

"Yeah," Ava nodded. "In Jillian's lab."

"Well, when a Halo Bearer uses her powers to aid her Sisters, it's best if she has a strong emotional bond with them. It augments the power."

Ava averted her gaze upwards, trying to soak in everything she just heard. "Okay." She looked back down at Beatrice. "So that would be you and Mary and Lilith and Camila."

"Yes," Beatrice paused. "I do think it's good for you to go on missions with the other Sisters, especially after what happened with the iblis, but it's suspicious. It's almost like Durretti is intentionally weakening you." She turned back to her paper. "So I'm pulling together what we know about the iblis and kappa and Huelva missions in general." She picked up her pen and began drawing lines and arrows between the messy scribbles.