“So that’s that. Belém, eh?” Sarah mused as she packed up her things. “It’ll be a nice change of pace, I guess.”

“I like Brazil,” said Simulium. As much as she loved her, sometimes Sarah wished she had... any other symbiote. Compared to the others, her own acted more like a child than anything. She often felt like she was the one providing guidance. Even when she felt like she needed guidance more than ever.

“Am I wrong to be dissatisfied, Simulium?”

“Dissatisfied?”

“I mean, at least Rachel won’t be there. But these big sanctuaries are just so... stifling. Nep won’t be coming with us, and with that... I’ll be stuck staying back. Not up on the front lines. Not saving people like I should be. That’s my job, Simulium.”

“She’s just...”

“I know, okay. I know that she... that she’s doing this out of love. In her own way. We’re both still dealing with... with what happened with mom.” Simulium landed on her slender fingers, breaking her train of thought. Sarah released her clenched fists and took a deep breath. “But still. She acts like I’m not worried, too? That I’m not aware of the risks? But we’re supposed to put our lives on the lines to save others. That’s our job. Even if our bodies aren’t built to deal with the constant attacks from the enemy.”

“Like Heidi.”

“Like all of Flight Elytra. Yeah. Man, Simulium, did you see her? Their new Archangel? She’s got such a gorgeous Imago. All shiny green and purple.” No wonder Heidi had chose to spend all her time with Flight Elytra. Instead of with... no. That wasn’t what this was about.

“Do you wish your own Imago was like that? I’m afraid some of those colours really aren’t in my repertoire.”

Sarah laughed. “No. I like my black. Well... I do wonder sometimes how I’d look in brighter colours.”

A knock on the door. “Hey. You there?” Heidi.

“The door’s unlocked.”

The handle clicked, and Heidi slowly pushed the door open. She peered into the room, adjusting her glasses and giving a slight wave before stepping in. “Thanks for getting me back there.”

“Saved your life again, didn’t I?”

“Oh, I would’ve been fine. Probably,” she said with a smile. Eyeing the suitcases on the ground, though, her smile faded. “Belém. Hm...” She hopped onto the bed beside Sarah, squeezing the blankets between her fingers.

“You’ve been to Sanctuary 2 before?” Sarah asked.

Heidi shook her head. “No, but... I’ve worked with one or two Angels from there before. It was... interesting. You do know why we’re being sent there, right?”

“To keep us from Quinn,” said Sarah. And just as they’d begun to really talk more openly. Sarah felt a pang in her stomach. But she pushed the feelings away. The Archangels were looking after the good of all the Angels, after all.

“Is it really to keep us from Quinn?”

“That’s what they said, Heidi. Do you have reason to think otherwise.”

“I don’t.”

“Then—”

“But Hylobius does.”

What? “Well?”

The weevil crawled out from Heidi’s hood, its wings opening up as he flew slowly across the room to Sarah. “You saw the nature of the attack that Sanctuary 1 was facing, today, did you not?”

“Of course. It was... intense.”

“But that’s normal for them,” said Simulium. The little black fly flew over to meet Hylobius, touching antennae. The weevil was much larger, of course, but was careful to be gentle with Sarah’s diminutive little symbiote. “It shouldn’t be normal.”

“That’s true... last time things were a little different,” said Sarah.

“And what’s more, some of the other hosts in Flight Elytra were returning from Sanctuary 2. And they had some... some words to share.”

“Yeah, my sisters in Elytra were... not doing so well. The barracks is looking really beat-up. You know how close it is to the surface. So many of the girls are tired all the time. I wanted to pick up the mood, help them clean up the place a bit. I just wanted to do whatever I could. I I was kind of afraid you’d think I was like slacking off or ignoring you or something, but I knew you’d understand.” She grinned. “You’d never get the wrong idea.”

Sarah sighed, shaking her head as she started to chuckle. “Yeah, I understood completely what was going on,” she says. “Yep.” They both broke into laughter. “So the attacks are growing stronger. So what?”

“So... you’re being sent to Sanctuary 2 for...”

“For a fight,” said Sarah. “You really think so?” She really hoped this wasn’t the case. Not only because she knew that, as.. well, as Rachel’s precious little sister, she wouldn’t be allowed to really contribute. But also because Heidi... “Will you be okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” said Heidi. “Especially now that Ecto’s gone forever. If we could destroy him, then no other Demon scares me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

The both of them lay nearly motionless on Sarah’s bed for a good while. The air was still. The room was quiet, save for the movements of their two little symbiotes and the dull buzz of wings in the atrium outside. How bad would the situation be in Brazil? Only time would tell. For now, they just enjoyed the comfort of each others’ company.

“Hey.” Heidi broke the silence and tapped on Sarah’s shoulder. “Sarah, come take a look at this.” Heidi held out her phone.

“What? More of these guys? Heidi, you know we don’t really need to bother with them. Nobody listens to them, except for crazy conspiracy theorists. They’ve been raving with their mixture of little bits of truth and complete nonsense for ages. It never gets anywhere.”

“Look, Sarah! This time, it is getting somewhere,” said Heidi. “This time, well just look and see who’s right up by the cameras today.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah crawled over, staring at the tiny screen, and seeing a familiar face on it. “No way. No way! This is...”

Heidi nodded. “Things have just gotten... interesting.”

Interesting indeed. Sarah’s mind was racing. Just what would be waiting for them in Belém?