Chapter Text
Ava found herself in the bathroom of a ferry again, although it was going to Norway this time, and thanks to Camila she actually had a ticket with her.
She wondered whether it was a stupid decision to go to Norway after everything that happened last month, and after she decided that yes, it was pretty stupid, she got the ticket either way and found an installation to stay.
She was washing her hands when the commander's voice informed that they had successfully docked at the coast. Not that she was very surprised, since she had to fight for balance when the ferry was coming to a stop. She exited the small bathroom and headed to gather her things and leave the vehicle.
The ferry itself was stupidly pretty, and she was in one of the VIP rooms usually reserved for rich and famous people. Camila was the master behind it all and despite Ava saying explicitly that she was ok going economic, the girl insisted on giving her this one “gift” as she said, because it was Ava’s first big trip after all, and she should have all the good and the best. And Camila also had some strings to pull.
A massive chandelier jutted out from the ship's roof, and a glamorous staircase full of diamonds separated personal accommodations from the casino, bar, and open areas throughout the transport. The casino room was always full of people and Ava couldn’t understand how rich people were so anxious to lose money. On the first day at the ferry, she entered that room to try and see the fun in that and she almost lost all her money if it wasn’t for a very nice lady that stopped her from betting on a game.
After that, the casino was a big no to Ava. She couldn’t afford to lose the money she spent so long saving for this trip.
She said goodbye to the room she stayed in last week and with only her backpack and an exaggerated handbag, she went to try and find where everyone else was going.
One thing she learned from Lilith in the good old Adriel hunting days was that waiting in line was useless when you know everyone is going to get out anyway. But who would be Ava if not the person to stay at the center of the chaos, even though she could be sitting in peace somewhere else?
After having braved the huge sea of people on the ship’s only exit, she found herself stunned by the darkness of the city at nothing more, nothing less than midday. Surely her clock was mistaken, was Norway always like this? There was no sun and it was just… beautiful.
The mountains seemed to embrace the city and a few particles of snow indicated that it wasn’t long that they had actually fallen. The narrow streets were an indicator that people did most of their things on foot, and Ava could have sworn with all she had that the Norwegian air smelled different... it smelled like-
“Get out of the way!” An angry shout followed by a horn woke Ava from her stupor, and she hastily got out of the middle of the road. It turns out maybe not all people were as friendly as they seemed.
Ava typed the hotel’s address on her phone and got the localization set only to find out that it wasn’t that far away from where she currently was, but she still needed a drive to get there. The halo bearer found an uber not more than 2 minutes far from her and soon she was on the way to the hotel where she would spend the next few days.
She got in the uber and spent the rest of the drive looking out the window and taking mental notes to go back to some places later. The radio was playing fast-paced national songs and the guy was drumming the steering wheel in the rhythm altogether, him and his long black hair and a Hawaiian shirt.
Soon, the driver parked in the front of the destination, and Ava took a quick glance over the building, looking again at her reference picture and then again at the building. The hotel wasn’t really a hotel, it was someone’s house that they made as a hotel, and apparently, some part was even under construction still. Ava didn’t mind, as long as they didn’t have any monsters under the bed nor try to kill her in her sleep.
“Hi, it’s Ava. I booked a room here for the weekend?” Said Ava, adjusting the strap of her backpack.
“Incredible, please come in. Check-in’s on the right corner!” She heard the husky voice of the other woman on the intercom, picked her things, and did as instructed, not before taking another look at the propriety itself.
The lady who apparently spoke to her was taking a key out of a cabinet while Ava herself was absorbing the atmosphere of the place. Despite the odd-looking front of the building, inside it just felt normal. They had a reception and a room for breakfast - that Ava was sure she’d like -, some open area bathrooms, and a corridor for the guest rooms. As far as one knows there was only one floor, and it was very cozy.
“All set, here’s your key and the key to the entrance door, just in case nobody’s here to let you enter.” She got back carrying the keys and a local pamphlet conveying the main attractions of the city and showed her where her room was located. “There you go, whatever you need, I’m Astrid, you can just call me using the room’s phone, disk one.”
“Perfect, thank you so much for the reception, Astrid. See you later!”
Ava was long gone in her own world, reading the attractions pamphlet as if it was gold in her hands. She stumbled towards her room, tripping on some plants along the way, and entered hastily, throwing her bags on the bed and finding the library she saw earlier on the second page titled “worth to see”. Must be a big thing for them.
She noticed that there was a park not so distant from the library and the pamphlet also said that it was the perfect place for shopping and buying touristy gifts. Guess she was settled for the rest of the afternoon.
“Fiction books, I’m coming for you.” She got whatever important documents, put the pamphlet in her pocket like a treasure map, and followed her way out.
Ava had docked at Stavanger, one of the most visited cities in Norway, and she was now skipping through the largest shopping street she would ever get her eyes on in that country. Despite having a wide variety of stores there, her first stop was at a huge library crossing the street and right in front of a Starbucks.
First thing she noticed was that she could spend her whole stay in that building and she could even sleep at the top of some bookshelf or in the middle of her favorite corridor, although she doubted they would allow such craziness or that she would be able to hide from the staff near the closing. But the sentiment was the same as that childhood dream of being trapped inside a closed market and having all that food there to eat, same thing.
The roof resembled a huge cupola and its coverage in glass indicated that in the sunlight, the library used Norway’s natural light. Everything looked so imperialistic and golden. The light coming from the reflectors exposed the beauty of the place, and the details on the bookshelves, tables, and even the pillars were eccentrically unique, similar to baroque art.
She was walking across the fiction section when she suddenly felt some bad energy, she felt eyes on her back as if someone was watching her and the halo brightened under the lays of clothing. A shiver ran down her spine, the hairs on her arms stood out and she shrugged to get off the wrong feeling. Ava put the book she was holding back on the bookshelf and took a mental note to go back there the next day when she’d feel less spooked.
If only she’d looked back, she’d seen the mirage of eyes fixed on her movements. The figure dissolved once she left.
Back in the streets, Ava pulled her scarf closer to her body and took a deep breath before walking the rest of the street down to the end where it opened up to the city park and she could see people sitting on benches or walking their dogs. The park was called Breiavatnet and it was a scene right out of a movie.
She could see a huge lake with its opening to the Norwegian sea in the Atlantic ocean, and far away there were mountains with snow atop them. Some benches were placed in the front of the water and the streets were made of gray tiles. A couple occupied one of the benches and people crossed the streets with bags or friends.
“Uh… miss? Would you…” said the man with a white t-shirt and slicked long hair, holding a camera.
She was so fixed on the scenario playing in front of her that she didn’t realize she was being called, by another group of tourists apparently. “Sorry?”
“Uh, would you take a picture of us, please?” He asked, pointing to the statue at the center of the park where a family was organized in a row and preparing for the photo.
“Sure, yeah!” She agreed and patiently waited for the family to get ready to pose again.
"More to the left, please." Ava went to frame the family of tourists on their digital camera, capturing just the perfect spot. The family contrasted well with the statue, and some of the mountains were visible as well. Finding a position in which both the family and the scenario appeared became a somewhat difficult task and when she finally managed it after long insufferable seconds, the father frowned and - she swore to God - stared at her soul, almost as if…
You really didn’t think just a sword would put me down forever, did you?
Adriel’s voice. Loud and clear in her head. The camera hit the floor with a thud, and replacing the frowning face of the man was a worried one. How was that even possible, Ava thought. They had ended the war, she had seen with her own eyes the sword piercing through him, she had done it herself. Damn, she could still sense his organs splashing and disintegrating everywhere, she saw him vanishing in the air.
She was hyperventilating, she could feel her heartbeat increasing and it was just a matter of time for the halo to activate and reveal itself. She was quick to retrieve the camera from the floor and give it back to the owner, whispering apologies and tracing a hasty escape from there.
She was running so fast that all she could see was a mess of brown wavy curls whipping her face.
She ran, stumbling over everyone who came her way, passing through streets crowded with people living their lives, passing through open stores and restaurants full of customers, and passing in front of cars (resulting in loud horns).
She was running so fast that her legs were burning along with her throat.
Surely she was delusional, it was all in her head because it couldn't be true, he couldn't be back. She remembered the months after the war clearly. She remembered the paranoia, the feeling of being watched, the nightmares, the white elephant in the room.
She was running so fast that her head was spinning and she wanted to throw up.
After eighteen months, Ava was finally getting her bearings, she had a stable job at a local flower shop, she had gotten an apartment with her own money and spent every day outdoors, breathing the air she couldn't after so long trapped in a bed. Why was this happening again?
She found a dark alley after a random clothing store and punched the wall. And then did it again.
The halo flared.
She punched it again, and a mark was left on the wall. Her knuckles cracked.
She was panting, shaking, maybe even crying but the only thing she felt was her heart pounding in her chest. It was so loud. Deafening even. It was like it was not only pounding in her chest but on her eardrums too. It was making her dizzy. She had nothing to hold onto and the world was spinning so fast around her that she fell to the ground. But even the hardness of the ground wasn’t enough to anchor her to the world. To reality.
But she really needed it.
-– x –-
“Something’s wrong.” Lilith stopped from where she was in the kitchen and turned off all stove fires. “Something is terribly wrong.”
“What’s wrong, Lil?” Camila furrowed her eyebrows and put the book she was reading on the sofa, turning to the kitchen.
“Ava, something is wrong with Ava.” The woman rapidly crossed the room and grabbed whatever weapons she could get hidden in weird places around their living room. Lilith saw Camila grab a gun from behind the drawer.
“Come on.” Lilith reached out to Camila and so they disappeared into the darkness.
TW: anxiety attack
Getting in the alley, Lilith automatically pulled out her claws and Camila held out her pistol, both shoulder to shoulder, looking for any threat, but they found none.
Instead of that, they encountered a sobbing Ava curled onto the floor alarmingly bleeding.
“Ava, what happened?” Lilith braced the woman’s shoulders, trying to look at her eyes, but failing miserably as Ava was long gone in her thoughts.
Camila kept her guard up, providing them with some space.
“Stop. Focus.” Lilith forced herself to calm down to help Ava, instructing her next words very carefully. “Listen to me.”
Ava couldn’t calm herself. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t stop breathing. She couldn’t feel her hands.
“Clear your mind, Ava. I’m here.”
She couldn’t feel her body. She was so cold. Her mind was screaming. Adriel’s voice. Adriel was screaming, laughing.
“Ava, please.”
Silly little thing. Where’s Beatrice huh?
“It’s you and me, Aves. Inhale. Hold. Exhale.” Lilith kept massaging Ava’s sides, her nails long back to normal.
He was back. It hurt. Everything. Her head. Her soul.
“Fuck Silva, don’t make me throw you in the nearest fountain.” The half-demon cleaned the sweat from the other’s face, more worried by the second. “Again. Inhale. Hold. Exhale.”
Inhale. Hold. Exhale.
“Do you see me, Ava? Again.”
Inhale. Hold. Exhale.
“Focus on me, just on me. Take my hands.”
Inhale. Hold. Exhale.
“It’s okay, Ava. It’s going to be okay. I’m here. We’re together.”
END OF <TW: anxiety attack>
-– x -–
She slowly blinked.
Lilith.
“Welcome back, Aves.” Lilith smiled, her eyes glistening.
She was back. Her hands squeezed Lilith’s fingers.
“I’m sorry.” Ava croaked, still sobbing.
“Shut up,” Lilith replied softly, cupping Ava’s face in her hands. “It’s okay, Ava.”
Was it though? Because she felt like her head was about to explode, and yet she couldn’t think about anything. Her brain was empty. And her heart still ached. And her mouth was dry.
“I’m thirsty,” Ava said.
Lilith chuckled, “No shit.”
“We can still throw her in the fountain you know.”
Ava jumped in surprise before turning her head to look behind her. She realized that she was sitting between Camila’s legs. At some moment, Camila figured the place was safe from danger and helped Lilith to ease the woman between them.
When she met her gaze, Camila smiled softly and winked.
Ava let out a heavy sigh… God, she had missed them.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Lilith said, standing up. “You look even shittier than last time we saw you..” She offered her hand to Ava to help her get up.
“Fuck off, Lilith.” Ava grinned.
“She’s definitely back,” Camila said happily.
Ava nudged her with a little smile.
They started walking and Ava felt better.
Not great. But not bad either.
And she was thankful to see both of them again.
She felt better, apart from…
He was back. Adriel was back.