Return of the Legion

Ava's POV
The next day, I wake up feeling pretty good about our plan. I don't understand why I was so worried last night, then again, I might have to thank The Mourner for that.

Ivy and the others are already waiting for me by the entrance, when I head out, talking quietly amongst themselves. The Deviant laughs at something The Destroyer says, before wrapping an arm around Ivy and kissing her hair. What's that about?

"Hey, Ava!" Ivy squeals happily, breaking free from The Deviant and flying into my arms, "Ready for today?"

"Umm...Y-Yeah. What's gotten into you?" I inquire, furrowing my brow at my sister, thrown off by her playful attitude.

"Oh, this? It's nothing, just excited about the mission," She replies, smiling at me, as she leads me to the others. They greet me joyfully, then we head out for the City of F.E.A.R.

Upon arriving at the State Building, Ivy parks the van out back, then The Prophet leads The Mourner and me inside. Ivy stays behind with the others, to suit up, and I silently wonder how we're going to get past the woman at the desk.

The Mourner walks in front, grabbing her shoulder when she goes to stand, causing her to collapse, now unconscious. he takes her badge, while The Prophet leads me to the computer on the desk. Keeping watch, he offers me time to hack the system internally, as Ivy and the others walk in.

They look ready for anything...belts loaded with knives, pistols and stun batons. Ivy has two thigh pockets that I assume hold more weapons and a large gun in her hands. The Deviant's belt holds two grenades along the back and a long blade is strung along his back. The Mystic has some kind of bow and arrow set on his back and The Destroyer only wears the belt and a smirk.

Quickly I finish what I'm supposed to do, then tell them, "We're cleared until the fifth floor, then I'll have to hack the next five floors and so on, until we reach the 20th floor. That's where we can broadcast from."

"Alright, let's move," The Prophet commands and like a finely choreographed dance, everyone moves in sync.

To my surprise, we don't run into anyone until the 19th floor.

"Ambush!" The Deviant calls out, pushing me back.

In slow motion, I watch The horror unfold before me. Two bullets come flying at me, as Ivy dives to try and stop them. Too bad she's a couple seconds too late.

I gasp as they enter my body, burning pain radiating from their entry points. Falling back, I feel someone's hands on me, breaking my fall and looking up, I spot The Destroyer. He says something but I can’t make it out.

When I look down, I see blood pooling up out of the wounds, one hitting my collarbone, the other striking me in the abdomen. I'm going to die...

"No!" Ivy screams, her face stained with tears as she looks at my wounds. A look of anger replaces the shock, as she barks out an order and The Destroyer carefully picks me up. He takes me into a deserted room, setting me down on one of the desks inside.

Ivy's POV
Damn it all! I won't let my sister die! Not here! Not now! Please, God, help us!

My mind screams as I allow my anger to consume me, taking aim and mowing down all the bastard's who stand in our way. Once they're taken care of, I grab hold of The Mystic and drag him into the room I told The Destroyer to take her.

"Heal her!" I demand, releasing his hand and brushing her sweaty hair from her face.

"I can't," he whispers.

"What do you mean you can't?" I growl, glaring up at him, "You can. You've healed me before."

"The bullets are still inside her!" He shouts, causing me to flinch back, "Even if I healed her, she'd die!"

'I've heard your prayer, Priestess, and you're right. Ava is not meant to die today,' I hear a man's voice calmly state inside my head, 'As the daughters of Eve: The Divine, I have given you two special abilities as well. Rest your hands over the wounds and focus on removing the bullets. I will handle the rest.'

I gasp, looking up at the ceiling, slowly realizing what just happened...God spoke to me...

I nod, then follow his instructions, focusing all my energy on this one thing. I hear Ava cry out as the two bullets fly out of her, into my shaking hands.

Clutching my hands into fists around them, I pull them away from her and slowly open them to see the blood covered, asymmetrical balls of lead.

Meeting The Mystic's eyes, I say, "Now you can heal her, so do it."

Shakily he nods, looking between me and the bloody bullets in my hands, before setting to work.

"What the...?" The Destroyer whispers from behind me, staring in awe at the two balls of lead in my hands.

A loud bang alerts us, we're not alone, as two men race inside, guns ready to fire, but before they can my hands shoot out. The blood covered bullets fly out of my grip, straight into their foreheads and they crumple to the ground. What the hell is this? I have...abilities?

"Ivy?" Someone asks, but I can’t respond. I'm too shocked by what just happened.

"Ivy," A different voice coaxes and I jump when they touch me. I look up to see The Prophet with wide, inquisitive eyes, looking down at me. He then asks, "What just happened?"

"I...I don't...God...He..." I stammer, unsure of what to say...what to think...

I stretch out my hand again, focusing on a small jar of change on one of the filing cabinets. It shakes, then explodes, coins flying through the air, five landing in my outstretched hand. I toss them in the air, stopping them from falling, then picture them morphing into a cross.

The metal begins to melt, slowly combining into one large glob and forming the exact cross I had imagined. It hovers before us and I slowly take hold of it, as my breath hitches in my throat.

It's cool to the touch as I examine it, then I turn back to Ava, who's now sitting up on the desk, staring at the metal cross in my hands.

"Umm...neat party trick," She says, shakily laughing.

"That's not a party trick," The Mystic whispers, staring at me in awe, "So this is The Priestess's ability, huh?"

"Must be," The Prophet states, taking the cross from me to examine it himself. He passes it back to me after a moment, then calls out, "Let's move! Quickly!"

We all fall into formation, keeping a look out for anymore F.E.A.R. sympathizers. We run into a few, but quickly take care of them and make it to the 20th floor.

I carefully watch Ava as she makes quick work of the system, then says, "You're on. You have 10 minutes before they try to shut it down."

The Prophet nods, walking over to the large computer and popping some kind of small metallic disk into the towers drive. Music fills the room, music unlike anything I've ever heard before.

I listen carefully to the lyrics, quickly realizing it's the song he sang on his way to execution. The next is one I've heard many times before. One my mother would softly sing to us when we were sad or scared...

"You've been running for so long, still breathing. Hoping soon to find a song worth singing. Every chapter of this note they're reading. But you're slowly losing hope on bleeding. I'll carry you, my darkest desire. When life sings to you, through devil's choirs. F.E.A.R. won't steal what burns in you. I'll carry you away from the fire!"

Ava and I look at each other, thinking the same thing at the same time.

"Mom," We whisper together, as we fall to our knees and start crying. We hug each other, sharing our pain, remembering how sweetly mom would sing this to us as she held us on her lap, rocking us back and forth.

They may have been terrorists, but they were good people and great parents. Everything they did was for a reason, and it's only now I realize that reason was us.

"I miss them so much," Ava sobs into my shoulder.

"I do too," I whisper, my tears falling faster.

Notes