Life and Death

"Aghh... Fuck!" Was Bea's first words waking up. Her senses were still confused, but she heard loud noises coming from close by.

'What's going on? Where's Sera? What happened to the demon?'

Questions like this kept popping up in her head. Bea began to try and stand up, but her legs haven't grown back fully yet. Suddenly a shout could be heard, it was Lucy.

"Witch! Help!"

'Why did she sound so desperate? Is she worried for me, I will be fine in a minute or two...'

Then she turned towards Lucy's voice and her heart stopped. Will was next to her and they were really bloody. But it wasn't the demons blood. Suddenly Witchdoctor sprinted towards them, she glanced at Bea but seeing her slowly regenerating, moved on.

'Did someone get hurt? Whos blood is on their hands? And where the fuck is Sera?'

Looking around Bea saw the demon in two pieces and calmed down a bit.

'At least they managed to kill it without me...'

She was still looking for Sera when she realized her legs were fully functional already. Bea stood up with very shaky legs and made a step. She fell down on the ground.

'Shit, it still hurts...'

But she started to have a bad feeling, because of not seeing Sera anywhere. So Bea climbed on her feet and summoned the Branch of Life. With the sword's help she approached the others.

'Why are they kneeling there...'

But deep down she already knew. Bea knew why Sera was nowhere to be seen, why Lucy called Witchdoctor over with distress, and why all of their hands were bloody.

"No... No-No-No..."

Bea went as fast as she could. Finally arriving she fell on her knees. Sera was lying in front of her, there was blood all over her body. She looked so pale.

"No, this can't be! NO!"

She was screaming at this point, because the others weren't doing anything. Which could only mean one thing. Sera was dead.

"Witch why aren't you doing anything! SAVE HER!"

Instead she only gave Bea a pitying look and said in a kind voice. "I sorry for your loss..."

She couldn't finish the sentence because Bea slapped her.

"Don't you dare fucking finish that sentence! She is not dead!"

Witchdoctor wasn't even a little bit mad at her. There was only sadness in her eyes. Which angered Bea even further. She leaned over to Sera's head and whispered to her, between sobs.

"Please... Wake up... We finally got the bunker... We can have that night we always talked about... Please... Don't leave me..."

But Sera didn't wake up. Bea was scrambling for some idea, anything to help her.

'I won't accept it! I don't care if it's possible or not!'

"I!... WON'T!... ACCEPT!... IT!"

She screamed as she summoned all her power, which at some point increased. Bea used her Essence all at once. There was an explosion of energy all heading in the same direction, Sera's corpse.

Bea was about to pass out, but held on. Lucy was keeping her from falling on the ground, but she didn't care. She only payed attention to Sera and the aura around her.

Around Sera's corpse was a layer of green energy, which periodically dissipated as her corpse absorbed it.

'Please... Please, let it work...'

Her begging seemed to be answered as Sera's wounds ever so slowly closed in. It took 10 minutes until she seemed fully healed, but she was still dead. After another couple of minutes Sera's body spasmed and her chest moved, she was breathing.

Bea's body went limp with exhaustion and relief. All the others were stunned. At some point everyone came here including Killshot, Clockwork who woke up, and all the soldiers. Some of the regulars fell to their knees with relief, when they saw their Saint breathing again.

Bea didn't care about any of them. Burning all her Essence with one move, then not passing out for so long, took all of her willpower. But finally seeing her lover breathing, she gave over to exhaustion and fell asleep.

She was asleep for 10 hours. Bea awoke in an unfamiliar room. She looked around and began to panic when Sera was nowhere to be seen, but Lucy soon arrived with a smile and cleared up everything.

"Saint Bea! You're finally awake. We brought you and Saint Seraphine into an abandoned building near the bunker entrance. If you are hungry, dinner is ready."

She was really hungry, but there was something more important on her mind.

"How... How is Sera doing?"

The smile on Lucy's face turned brittle as she said.

"We are not sure... Witchdoctor said that medically speaking she is perfectly healthy. But she is in a coma."

"Where is she?"

"Next to your room, of course."

"Okay, could you send the food there?"

Lucy smiled and bowed her head.

"Of course Saint Bea. I will bring it soon."

'Why is she so weird all of the sudden? And what's up with this 'Saint Bea'?'

She thought about it, but as Bea went into Sera's room and saw her lying on the bed, she quickly forgot about it. Instead she hurried over and checked on Sera. She was clean and all her wounds disappeared but not without a trace. There were scars everywhere.

'She is only 18 years old and she has so much responsibility. Well, I'm only 20 and have the same responsibilities. But at least we are here to help each other.'

Bea was playing with Sera's hair when a sudden groan startled her.

"Uhh... Fuck! Why does it feel like I had been skewered?"

Sera was staring at Bea with a grin on her face. And that angered Bea.

"Because you fucking were, you idiot! There was a fist sized hole in your stomach!"

Sera pulled up her shirt and saw the scar there. Then she smiled again and said.

"But I survived didn't I?"

But Sera's smile quickly disappeared, when she saw the tears streaming down Bea's face and the amount of pain there.

"Did... Did I... Die?"

Her face was deathly pale and scared, as if remembering her last moments.

"Yes you did, but I brought you back..."

Sera's face was pure disbelief, but she just beckoned Bea to come to her. She went and they lay there hugging, supporting each other. After a few minutes Sera spoke.

"Thank you for saving me... I try to be more careful in the future..."

Bea looked at Sera and kissed her, then waited for the food. They were famished.