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EPILOGUE
As many had speculated, when Adriel was banished through the portal, the wraith demons lost their tether to the human realm and the possessions of innocent people around the globe came to a stop.
Luckily, for the continuation of the OCS, Pope Alexander IX had realized that he could no longer deny the existence of an order of “ninja nuns” after the Sisters very public display of their prowess at the Vatican, and more recently the shaky and badly lit but highly viewed and upvoted cell phone videos that had popped up on social media sites of the OCS’ final confrontation with Adriel.
And so, The Order of the Cruciform Sword was publicly acknowledged for the first time in the modern era, and the Pope pledged the skills, knowledge, compassion and experience of the sister warriors of the OCS to those around the world who were vulnerable and in need.
To demonstrate his commitment, the week after his announcement the OCS had been deployed to protect a child witness who had been hospitalized, and as a result, became vulnerable to possible attack from the people the child had so bravely agreed to testify against.
From that point on, the public mandate of the sister warriors of the OCS would be providing services ranging from escorting vulnerable witnesses to court to teaching self-defense classes to girls and women, while the historical mandate of the OCS, dealing with situations that involved the church itself or the interests of church, would continue to be privately handled by senior sisters of orders, in addition to more experienced sister warriors aiding to extend the influence of the church by helping the institution expand into new territory by assisting with international investigations, participating in locating and rescuing kidnapping and trafficking victims, to tracking and seizing shipments of drugs.
The post-Adriel world was the beginning of a brand new era for the OCS, and the sister warriors of the Cat’s Cradle were looking forward to exploring their new and expanded place in it.
Night had fully settled in the sky as Beatrice and Ava walked along a path in the hills that surrounded the Cat’s Cradle.
“The halo does not like having one of its sensors disabled,” Ava grumbled as her eyelashes fluttered against the blindfold covering them.
“The halo doesn’t?” Beatrice replied, emphasizing the word ‘halo’ dubiously as she instinctively cast an amused glance at Ava, forgetting for a moment that the halo-bearer couldn’t see her.
“Are you implying something, Sister Beatrice?” Ava teased, smiling as she instinctively angled her head towards Beatrice, only to mutter a curse a moment later when she remembered that she was wearing a damn blindfold.
“You know I was,” Beatrice said, as a smile tugged up the corners of her lips. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there,” she added a second later.
“Can you blame me for wanting this thing off?” Ava asked in a tone that clearly conveyed that in her opinion that nobody, anywhere, anytime in history should blame her for wanting to be able to stare at Beatrice. Afterall, who wouldn’t want to gaze upon one of nature’s beauties every chance they got? “You’re ethereal in the moonlight,” Ava continued, her voice softening with tenderness.
“That should be my line,” Beatrice murmured, allowing herself a moment to gaze at Ava in the moonlight as she did.
“Well, you can’t have it,” Ava told her. “I used it first. Those are the rules,” she continued before playfully shrugging her shoulders.
“We’re here,” Beatrice murmured a few moments later, hugging Ava from behind for a moment before using the embrace to turn Ava so that she was facing a different direction. “You can take the blindfold off now.”
Once the blindfold was no longer covering her eyes, the first thing Ava saw was a beautiful inky sky sparkling with a sea of stars. The next thing she noticed was the blanket resting on the ground a meter or so in front of them, a basket which Ava assumed contained some kind of food, and beside the blanket there was a telescope on a tripod.
“I thought it was about time we went on a proper date,” Beatrice began when Ava began to turn in her arms so that she could see Beatrice. “I haven’t actually been on a date before, so I hope that this is acceptable,” she continued as Ava gazed up at her gently. “You said you’d always wanted to go stargazing, so I…”
Before Beatrice could continue, Ava leaned in, tilted her head up slightly and brought their lips together in a sweet, tender kiss as her hands cradled Beatrice’s face lovingly.
“Thank you,” Ava breathed out, her heart aching in the most pleasant way as she watched Beatrice’s eyes flutter open. “It’s the best first proper date a girl could ask for,” Ava continued, voice earnest and soft as she gazed up at Beatrice.
“First?” Beatrice inquired quietly, though Ava could tell a smile was threatening to turn up the corners of her lips.
“Like I said, eons ago,” Ava began dramatically. “Picking up while bedridden and living in a Catholic Orphanage was a challenge I was not able to overcome.”
That drew a laugh from Beatrice before her expression turned thoughtful and coy.
“What about…” Beatrice began before quickly pausing, feeling uncertain how to proceed for a moment. “Mary mentioned there was a boy that you were close with, before the two of you went to Ronda.”
“JC,” Ava murmured.
“Hmm,” Beatrice hummed, before arching a curious eyebrow at Ava.
“Do most proper dates include crime and various other types of mayhem and misdemeanors?” Ava asked, linking her fingers with Beatrice’s before giving the Sister’s hand a little tug, leading her over to the picnic area Beatrice had set up earlier.
“I may be biased,” Beatrice breathed out as she allowed Ava to tug her along, and then gracefully lowered herself onto the blanket beside Ava. “But I think the answer to that question should be ‘no’.”
“You're definitely biased,” Ava confirmed, and Beatrice shrugged lightly, not planning on denying it. “And right, as usual,” she continued, looping her arm through Beatrice’s and then leaning into Beatrice’s body, resting her head on the sisters shoulder. “Which means, this is definitely my first proper date,” Ava sighed contentedly. “And I couldn’t imagine a more perfect one,” she breathed out before pressing a soft kiss to the underside of Beatrice’s jaw.
When Ava pulled back, their eyes met and held for a long moment, and then Beatrice leaned down and kissed Ava with a tender passion that left Ava clutching at, and then rubbing her hand along Beatrice’s thigh in a way she knew would lead to things that would result in the food in the basket being forgotten along with the stars.
“You wanna see what’s in the basket?” Beatrice breathed softly, pulling back from Ava’s lips to remove temptation.
“Mmm,” Ava hummed, a lazy smile playing at her lips as she gazed at Beatrice, still lost for the moment in the happy haze that Beatrice’s lips on hers always produced. A few moments later, Ava gave her head a little shakes, and her gaze properly focused on Beatrice. “Por favor,” she breathed, finally remembering to use her words before she playfully rubbed her hands together greedily.
Beatrice smiled at her warmly, charmed and amused as always, by Ava’s antics, and then she stretched to the side so that she could grab the basket and bring it closer to where they had settled so that she could feed her doofus.
The lights were off, and the occupants of the room quiet as they watched the action unfolding on-screen raptly. The Sisters' silence soon came to an end however, when the leggy, platinum blonde on screen brutally kicked a man down a set of stairs. Upon seeing that, the members of Team Nun-Chuck reacted excitedly; Mary snapping her fingers and nodding her head emphatically as she pointed at the screen in approval, while Ava winced and moaned in sympathetic pain. Beatrice breathed out ‘wonderful form’ - clearly impressed - and Camila leaning forward wide-eyed and eager to witness more of the neon lit carnage the platinum blonde was dishing out.
Lilith extended her hand to the side, knocking Ava on the arm.
“That’s what it looked like when I kicked Adriel into the portal,” Lilith said with a smirk when Ava turned towards her, eyes skittering away from the wall where the projector Camila had set up was displaying the movie.
“Badass,” Ava breathed out, grinning over at Lilith before stretching her hand towards her for a fist bump.
Lilith grinned back at her, and then extended her hand, bumping her fist against Ava’s.
The team was currently gathered in Camila’s room for a movie night. It was the sort of activity that Lilith would have rolled her eyes at and refused to take part in six months before, thinking herself too sophisticated and mature to indulge in such childish distractions, but she knew better now. She had learned, with the help of her friends, and especially Mary.
After the team’s return to life at the Cat’s Cradle, Mary had seemed to decide that it was now her mission in life to get Lilith to relax, to help her understand and experience some of the small, daily, common joys that could be found in life that the burden of Lilith’s legacy had kept her from opening herself upto in the past.
And, as Mary had hoped, every cooking lesson, hike in the hills, ride to the beach on the back of Mary’s motorcycle, and a quiet meal at a restaurant, had indeed helped Lilith open up to the world, and to others, though especially to Mary. Mary had helped her understand how much her previous desire for power and praise had kept her from feeling and experiencing.
Lilith looked at Camila kneeling on the bed of pillows she had created for herself from pillows she had pilfered from the other team members rooms, and then turned her head, focusing on Ava and Beatrice, who were resting on Camila’s mattress next to her. Ava was whispering something to Beatrice from her position nestled between Beatrice’s legs. Whatever Ava said was probably ridiculous, but it was no surprise to Lilith when Beatrice gazed down at Ava and smiled, her eyes twinkling with infinite affection.
In the past, Lilith would have scoffed and muttered something sarcastic at the sight of the two of them, but now, she simply smiled to herself before snuggling into the strong, comforting, protective body behind her.
“You’re very comfortable,” Lilith murmured, arching up slightly so that she could whisper the words next to Mary’s ear.
“The lack of shotguns will have that effect,” Mary breathed out, tilting her head down slightly to meet Lilith’s eyes.
“I appreciate the sacrifice,” Lilith whispered, before her lips curved up in a soft smile and she tilted her head up to press a kiss to Mary’s cheek, her heart warming a moment later when Mary tilted her head down, nuzzling her face into Lilith’s silvery hair, breathing in her scent before husking, “Anytime, babygirl,” into Lilith’s hair.
“When you opened the portal, he was like,” Camila was saying as Mary and Lilith began to focus on what was happening in the rest of the room again.
Camila, still on her knees, shuffled around so that she was facing the other women, and then she proceeded to dramatically reenact for Ava the look of shock and disbelief on Adriel’s face when he realized that a portal had opened up behind him. “He looked so dumb. It was great.”
“I wish I could have seen it,” Ava sighed.
“You were a little busy,” Beatrice murmured, dipping her head down to press a kiss into Ava’s hair. “I could try and draw you a picture,” she continued thoughtfully, and Ava grasped her hand and squeezed it.
“Yes, please. I want that image to live in my brain too!” Ava replied, squeezing Beatrice’s hand excitedly.
“If you do,” Mary said, angling her head towards Beatrice. “Photocopy that shit. I want one too.”
“Definitely,” Camila agreed. “Me also.”
“Could you make, like, a book?” Ava asked, twisting her body in Beatrice’s arms slightly so that she could see her face. “Like one page could be a dumb look he had on his face, and another could be be like some douchey thing he said, like...” Ava turned to look at the other sisters, waving her hand lightly, encouraging them to share.
“There are wolves, and there are sheep,” Lilith quoted, her voice and delivery full of mocking importance.
“Every seeming defeat was merely a part of a grander plan, the scope and significance of which your feeble ape brains could never hope to comprehend,” Camila said jeeringly, the other Sisters laughing as they remembered that bit of gloriously overconfident boasting.
“For months I have roamed this wretched realm in search of her,” Mary began, unable to resist shitting on Adriel too. “You cannot imagine how sweet it is, to be here now,” Mary continued as Lilith curled into her body a bit more, smiling gently as she listened to Mary’s reenactment. “On the cusp of receiving the justice my soul has ached for throughout my millennia long imprisonment.”
“Okay, so I know you didn’t technically see it happen, but can you also try your hand at showing us what Vincent’s face must have looked like when Mother Superion knocked him the fuck,” Camila whispered gleefully, “out?”
Beatrice nodded at Camila once, and then dramatically said, “I see the path that must be taken Sisters, and I will walk it.”
“A memorial ‘burn book’?” Ava asked hopefully.
“A memorial ‘burn book’,” Beatrice confirmed, making Ava beam. “I don’t have Shannon’s training or innate sense of artistry, but I’ve had plenty of practice with, and am quite proficient with the ... anime-style-of-art,” she finished, rushing through the end.
“What was that?” Ava asked, face scrunching as she tried to decipher what Beatrice had said. “Amy May? Ah-me-neh … ah-nee-meh … may…” Ava continued, spit-balling out loud, hoping to stumble upon something that made sense.
“Anime, or manga style,” Beatrice interrupted gently, speaking at a normal speed and slightly louder volume this time, knowing Ava could only go through so many of those guesses before Mary threw a pillow at her. “It was an interest when I was in high school, which is when I drew the most,” Beatrice explained stiffly, her back straightening instinctively as she revealed what had once been a secret shame as hers as much as it had been a nourishing pleasure.
“Naruto or Maria-sama Ga Miteru style anime?” Mary asked, chuckling to herself knowingly when Beatrice turned and glared at her.
Ava arched a questioning eyebrow at Mary. “I understand the Naturto reference, but you lost me at Marie Samga Mitemu.”
“Yuri anime,” Mary said, turning to focus on Ava. “Basically a show where episodes focus on softly lit school girls giving each other flowers, holding hands, fixing meals for each other, gazing tenderly into each other's eyes, playing sleepover party big spoon-little spoon, and every once in a while the show will pepper in some family drama or student council rivalries or whatever,” Mary explained.
“So, no monsters basically?” Ava summed up, the innocent question exposing the deep knowledge of the genre that Mary’s response had no doubt unintentionally revealed she had.
Picking up on just that fact, Lilith angled her head up, and smirked before saying, “How did you know all of that?”
“It’s what I do, babygirl,” Mary breathed out, calm and cool as she looked down at Lilith. “I have shotguns and I know things,” she continued, her voice sliding over Lilith like silk, spreading warmth throughout her as she gazed up at Mary, smitten.
“Cute, but really…” Camila began, interrupting the tender moment. Lilith may have been easily charmed and distracted by Mary, but Camila hadn’t forgotten Lilith’s question, and she wanted to know the answer. “How did you…”
“Damn, ya’ll,” Mary interjected before Camila could continue. “I thought we were supposed to be watching a movie,” she went on, waving her hand towards the wall where the film was continuing to progress despite their inattention.
“We can rewind it,” Beatrice offered in a helpful tone though her bright eyes communicated the sentiment, this is what you get for trying to make fun of me.
“Whatever,” Mary muttered. “I just have a diverse palette,” she continued, drawing huffs of laughter from everyone, including Lilith. “I was fifteen once too, you know,” Mary mumbled under her breath. “That Utena/Anthy shit hit hard in high school,” she muttered, and even though she was still laughing a little, Lilith reached out for Mary’s hand and held it supportively.
Ava opened her mouth to speak, the grin on her face indicating that whatever was about to come out of her mouth was likely to provoke at least one of the room's occupants, but before she could get a word out, a series of knocks were pounded against Camila’s bedroom door.
“Lucky,” Ava declared, looking over at Mary. “So lucky,” she continued as Camila rose to her feet and crossed the small distance over to the door, opening it just a crack so she could see and speak to the junior sister outside.
“Mother Superion wants to see us,” Camila informed the rest of the room’s occupants before pausing dramatically. “We have a new assignment!” she declared, clasping her hands together in front of her happily.
“Ava too?” Ava asked, knowing that if it was a public mission that she would be kept in reserve in a van, out of the action unless something went wrong.
Smiling at her, Camila nodded her head. “Ava too! It’s smugglers,” Camila explained, smiling brightly as Ava immediately pumped her fist up in the air.
“Team Nun-Chuck,” Ava declared, hopping off the bed and then immediately walking over to Camila so that they could share a high five.
Lilith slipped off of the bed, and looked down at her hands, regarding them for a moment as she grew talon-like nails and then disappeared them a few times, like she was warming up before a big game.
Mary followed her off of the mattress a few moments later, releasing a slight groan as she stood before she began to stretch out her muscles.
And while Beatrice also took a moment to stretch, Camila went about stopping the movie, and shutting down the laptop and the projector.
“Do you know what they’re smuggling?” Ava asked curiously as Camila opened the door to her room and everyone began to file out. “I mean, are we talking tiger balls and shark fins, or like, tactical nukes?”
Camila’s eyes widened. “Uh, no. Like, religious relics?”
“Oh,” Ava sighed, deflating slightly. “That’s cool too.”
“Were you actually hoping for nukes?” Lilith asked with amused disbelief.
“No,” Ava grumbled, before turning her head to stick her tongue out at Lilith. “I was hoping for, like exotic birds, or some kinda funky fruit. Maybe monkeys,” Ava explained as the team began to make their way through the Cat’s Cradle. “I’d also have been down for like space rocks, or...” Ava continued, her voice echoing faintly off of the surrounding stone walls as the team continued on their journey, together.
The End