Chapter 69

Bo collapsed on top of Tamsin, gasping hard. She kissed the blonde's neck and giggled softly, her hands gently caressing the side of Tamsin's waist. "Wow, this rebirth thing certainly...taste amazing…."

Tamsin snorted. "Get your fat ass off me," she warned, feeling a little uncomfortable of this sudden intimacy, this closeness.

"I'm pretty sure it was cute like five minutes ago," Bo teased. She rolled down and lay on her side, her eyes staring at Tamsin.

The Valkyrie tried to avoid the eye contact in reflex at first, but couldn't resist the electric gaze from Bo. She sighed softly and looked into those warm browns, her nose touching Bo's and their fingers locked together between their bodies.

Bo kissed the blonde's fingertips, one after another. Then she laid another soft kiss on Tamsin's lips.

Both of them sighed and held the other person tighter, as they surrendered their hearts and their souls. They inhaled each other, felt each other and kissed each other, like they never had before.

"So, care to fill me in on this whole end of the world situation?" Tamsin asked as she watched Bo picking the olives off the cold pizza they found in the fridge. The brunette handed her a slice after she stole a piece of meat from it.

"Well, that mask obviously had something to do with Trick," Bo said. "He captured a Pyrippus from Hell once. And that was what he had chained in his dungeon."

"A Pyrippus? For real?" Tamsin asked, shocked. "How the hell did he capture one?"

"He said he used a pair of Helskor."

"Oh, that makes sense," Tamsin said. "What does that have anything to do with the mask anyway?"

"Trick took the dark power from that horse, and made that mask with its flayed face I guess. That was the part he remembered."

"Okay...but like how would a flayed face control you to kill like that?"

"That was the part he couldn't remember," Bo said. "He's reading his Blood Sage journal. He said he might have written down some clues in there."

Tamsin nodded. She traced her finger slowly up along Bo's nose. "What about you?" She asked. "Are you feeling-"

"-the urge to devour the world?" Bo murmured in a smile. She breathed into the blonde's soft lips, before she kissed them and whispered, "to devour you, maybe."

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "I am serious, Bo," she drawled. "That Seed of Origin isn't some crunchy hazelnut."

Bo smiled. "I feel fine," she assured the blonde. "Still adjusting to the powers. They tickle me sometimes."

"Really?" Tamsin murmured, tickling the brunette's side playfully, and they both chuckled.

"I've learned to master a few," Bo replied. "Like Freyja's teleportation thing, and..." She tapped her right index fingertip on the Valkyrie's palm and created a quarter coin size snowflake.

"You've killed a Frost Giant before?" Tamsin asked, a little surprised. "Wow, I'm impressed."

Bo giggled as she spun her finger in the air, causing the snowflake to rise, float and eventually fall on the Valkyrie's blond hair.

"Cute," Tamsin commented, "but don't we have like...I don't know, an evil mask to destroy or something?"

"Unfortunately, we do," Bo replied, sitting up. She got dressed and got Tamsin some clothes from her closet. Then they picked some weapons from her weapon chest, and headed out to the Dal.

The moment Bo entered Trick's den with Tamsin, Kenzi let out a deep breath and pointed at the secret chamber with her chin.

Bo took a glance and saw Trick reading inside. "The mask," she said to Kenzi and grabbed the mask she handed to her.

"Wow, you let a human guard that thing?" Tamsin asked.

"Hey, a human is better than the Fae who turned into a killing machine when wearing that mask yesterday."

"Kenzi, I am right here," Trick complained. Then he went quiet again, reading his journal.

"Did you find anything? Any clue about the mask?" Bo asked as she entered the chamber with Tamsin.

Trick nodded at her. He moved back against the wall so there would be enough space for Bo and Tamsin to sit down. Then he placed the journal down on the floor, with the candle beside it. "I found something," he said.

"Do tell," Bo replied as she sat down beside him. She tapped her thigh playfully at Tamsin as an invitation, but the Valkyrie just shot her a cold stare and sat down beside her.

"Read this." Trick turned his journal to Bo, and traced the words with his index finger. "This was written right after I forced the truce. I believe that the darkness in me is gone for good."

"So you got rid of that dark power right after the truce."

"I believe so." Trick said, pointing to the line above it, which was in crimson color instead of the usual black ink color. Bo knew it was written by Trick's blood, and she read, "With my sacred blood, I hereby declare the end of the war, and the end of the darkness. Okay, so this is the thing you wrote to force the truce."

"Yes, but this doesn't make sense, Bo."

"What do you mean?"

"As a Blood Sage, my blood is...very powerful and valuable, so every time when I write something to happen, I try to be as concise as I can, but here-" he pointed at the line Bo had just read, "-here I said I declare the end of the war, and the end of the darkness. I wouldn't have written it that way if the war and the darkness had meant the same thing."

"So you think this darkness you ended here, is not a metaphor of the war, but the power you had got from the Pyrippus?" Bo asked, her brows raised.

"I think so," Trick said, his eyes filled with fear.

"What is it, Trick?" Bo asked, concerned.

"We all know that...the whole Garuda thing was the consequence of me forcing the truce with my blood," Trick explained, "but...what if it's more than that? I mean, if I did force two different things to happen, there would be consequences for getting rid of the darkness."

"And that would be…?"

Trick didn't answer Bo's question. He was drowned in his thoughts for a long time. Then again he checked those pages that he had written around the time the war ended. He read through every line, deliberating every word. "The war took everything from me, my Isabeau, but thank Gods, the last piece of the evil spawn was gone with it too," he read, frowning. "The last piece of the evil spawn, I think I meant the mask. The mask was gone after the war ended, Bo, and so was the darkness in me. The evil power I consumed disappeared with the mask."

"Meaning...like the mask absorbed the power of the Pyrippus after you cast it out?" Bo asked, frowning hard.

"No, not that simple," Trick said. He read through those pages for a few times, before he gave up and said, "I don't know, but we know now for a fact that the mask has the power of a Pyrippus, and once you put on, it controls you. It might just be...the aftermath of me forcing the darkness out with my blood. I got rid of the darkness, but it didn't disappear. It somehow got absorbed into the mask, seeking for its host."

"Okay, well," Bo said. "If that was the case, the mask would be...the Pyrippus, or at least part of it. Why would it call itself the Blood King though? Why would it be searching for my grandmother?"

Trick sighed. "That is the part I don't understand," he admitted, sucking on his bottom lip.

"But, you kinda have a theory?"

"You know...when I was wearing that mask yesterday, I felt that...I felt like I was the old me again."

"What do you mean by the old you?" Tamsin asked.

"The old me during the war," Trick explained. He paused for a second, as if he felt too embarrassed to continue.

"What about the old you?" Bo asked.

Trick sighed, before he answered,"the old me right before the war ended, was…a huge mess. My mind was a chaos, and when I put that mask on, I felt the same thing. The need to revenge for the losses I had. The anger. The deep, deep sorrow. The need for power. The thirst to kill, to seize, to destroy everything, everyone."

"So back then you were angry, sad, and you wanted revenge," Bo concluded. "Do you think maybe...that was how you felt after losing grandma?"

"It's…I guess it could be. I mean, it felt like me, but it felt too chaotic to be me," Trick replied. "Yes, after Isabeau's death, I was angry. I wanted to revenge her death. I even wanted to rewrite the history to bring her back. But…it wasn't...I knew I shouldn't do it, because it was wrong. And I didn't. I dealt with losing her, and I...learned to let go of the hatred eventually."

"So, the feelings that mask gave you, was…?"

"It was much, much crazier and more chaotic," Trick said, "but it does feel like my own emotions. I could even hear the mask grieving Isabeau inside my head."

"So that's why you thought the mask was a part of you," Bo said. "Like...it might actually be a part of you, I mean, it actually contains your real feelings?"

"It certainly felt to me that way," Trick said with a nod.

"But how could it be possible? How could the mask have absorbed your feelings?" Bo asked, confused.

"Maybe because those feelings were considered part of his darkness," Tamsin said after a long pause. "When he changed the history, he didn't specifically say he wanted the power of the Pyrippus out of him. He said, the darkness. There a lot of things that could be considered as darkness. A crazy revenging heart. The hatred and sorrow for losing someone you love. The lust for power. The need to kill."

"You think by writing that the end of the darkness thing, he actually got rid of all the darkness out of him, not just the power of the hell horse?"

"Well, ancient magic like the power of the blood from a Blood Sage was-"

"A little unpredictable and mystic," Trick completed Tamsin's sentence. "And yes, it makes sense. The dark power, the negative emotions, the bad feelings, can all be considered as one's darkness."

"So, basically you got rid of the hell horse's power, along with your negative emotions caused by the losses you had during the war, and those things together fueled that mask into a mask...possessed by all kinds of dark...things?"

"It certainly sounds...reasonable," Trick said, swallowing hard.

"And that would also explain why it was looking for dear grandma," Tamsin said to Trick, "that mask was part of you. It wants her back, just like you."

"Right, but it was only part of me, my feelings mostly. It probably didn't really know that she had been gone forever," Trick said.

"That was why it kept searching for her," Tamsin murmrued, nodding. "That was why it kept searching for someone with eyes both brown and blue, heart both strong and gentle, someone who was lustful but also faithful, someone...perfect."

"Well, that's because...my grandmother was perfect in Trick's eyes," Bo said as she looked into Tamsin's eyes. She saw the reflection of the candle flame in them, giving those pale blues a hint of warmth. That warmth blaze her blood and her soul.

Tamsin thought she was perfect, because she loved her. That thought made Bo smile and her heart flutter.

"I don't know though," Tamsin said. "So the mask has the Pyrippus' power, and your dark emotions, maybe even some of your memories. And I get it that it probably could appear and disappear like a possessed object. Why did it choose Bo's father specifically? I mean, that mask probably had been on that island for a while, but why no one had heard its...calling?"

Bo sighed. "I think I know why," she said. "That connection was probably triggered by the need to save the person you love. I'm sure that was Trick's biggest wish once, that he could somehow save my grandmother." She paused when she saw Trick nodding. Then she continued, "when he heard the calling, my mother was about to die. And when I heard the calling, you were about to die."

"And for me, since it was a part of me, I guess…the connection is just...natural and doesn't need a trigger," Trick said. "And that explains why I felt this strong urge to wear it."

All of them went quiet for a while, before Tamsin eventually said, "so now we solved the mystery of what it is, where it came from, why it does what it does and how it works. Let's move on to the next question. How do we destroy this damn thing?"

Trick fisted his hands on his knees for a while, before he eventually got enough courage to take the mask from Bo's hand. He tried to burn it, cut it and tear it, but the mask seemed indestructible. "It must be the power of the Pyrippus that is fueling this thing," he finally concluded. "It is the power of a hell spawn, and that power can not be destroy by anything in the living world."

"But?"

"To make a Pyrippus' power perish, one must burn its flesh in the hell fire. The flame burning in the deepest pit in Hell is the only thing that could destroy it."

"So we need to go to Hell," Bo said, nodding.

"No," Trick said, shaking his head. Then he let out a deep sigh, and continued, "I need to go to Hell."

After freezing there for a second or two, she shook her head and said, "oh no, Trick. No, you are not gonna do this alone."

"We only have one pair of Helskor," Trick said. "And it's probably the only pair that still exists."

"Then I'll go," Bo said. "Just give me the shoes, and the mask, then I'll be on my-"

"No, Bo," Trick said. "I created this whole mess. I created this mask. I...screwed up. I screwed up because I was too blind. I was a fool, to believe that the things brought to me by power were the things I really wanted. And by doing that, I lost your grandmother, Bo. I lost my Isabeau. If anyone should do this, it should be me."

"No, Trick," Bo persuaded. "I can't let you do this on your own. It is too dangerous."

"It's just a roundtrip to Hell, Bo, and when I put on the shoes, I am there," Trick joked, "I won't even have jetlags."

"It's not that-"

"What? You worry about me not being able to kill the monsters on the way to the fire pit? I've done it before, and I'm sure I could do it again."

"No," Bo explained. "I mean, I can't leave that mask with you. It's-what if…."

Trick went silent. Then he sighed and grabbed Bo's hand firmly. "I know, it has this natural connection with me, Bo, but I think I can be strong enough to resist it now, after learning that I created it. I will not let my past control me again. I will not let the darkness in again."

"But what if-"

"Don't worry, if however, I really failed to resist it.I'd be possessed by the darkness and wandering in Hell. Since there is no living thing in Hell, I wouldn't be able to harm anyone anyway even if I wanted to," Trick explained.

"Then you'd be stuck there forever," Bo said, grabbing her grandfather's shoulders. "You'd be stuck in Hell forever!"

"Then so be it," Trick said, sighing. "I took something that didn't belong to me. I invited the darkness into me willingly. I've killed so many. I've done so many bad things that I am ashamed of."

"Please, Trick," Bo said. "This is not the time to sort out your guilt."

"Bo," Trick said, taking a deep breath while placing his hand on his granddaughter's shoulder. "We only have one pair of Helskor, and it is the only way to travel to Hell. We can't not wait, because this mask is too dangerous."

"Trick, please," Bo pleaded.

"I can't risk your life and your future for something I've done," Trick said. "I have to make things right, and end all this, once for all."

"No, Trick," Bo begged, although knowing that her grandfather had already made his decision.

Trick gave her a firm hug. Then he nodded at Tamsin.

"Trick..." Bo murmured.

"I will be back. I promise," Trick said with a bitter smile. He looked down at the mask, his hands shaking. For a second or two, he wanted to close her eyes, but he forced himself to look at it. "I've changed," he said. "And my past can not control me anymore."

Bo shook her head, watching Trick picking up a pair of crude, plain shoes from one of the chests in the chamber before putting them on.

Bo grabbed his hands, but couldn't come up with a single word. The elder Fae smiled at her bitterly, before he emitted a bright light and vanished in the air.

- A Few Months Later -

"Hey, bartender," Tamsin said flirtily as she sat down on one of the bar stools in the Dal. "A bottle of vodka with a Succubus on the side."

The bartender, Bo, chuckled as she handed her a bottle. Then she leaned over the counter and gave the Valkyrie a kiss.

Tamsin poured herself a drink. She held the glass in her hand and shook it slightly, watching the clear liquid flowing inside. "So, still haven't heard anything from Trick, huh?" She asked.

Bo shook her head. "I don't think they have cell signals down there, you know," she joked, yet her heart a little too heavy for a joke.

"He'll be back, soon," Tamsin said. "The traffic in the underworlds can be bad sometimes, you know. And...it's a large place."

"Yeah, I know. He will," Bo replied, nodding to reassure herself. She wanted to say something, but before she could, she saw Kenzi and Vex walk through the door.

"Good grief, this bar could totally use less lighting," the Mesmer grunted as he snatched a bottle behind the counter and found a seat for himself so he could start drinking.

Kenzi sat down beside Tamsin at the bar and tapped her hands on the counter. "Trickster is still in Hell, huh?"

"It...certainly looks that way," Bo replied. She took a glance at Vex, before she asked Kenzi, "how was that secret decoding thing going? Are you two ready to spit out the things you've heard from that Chest of Secrecy yet?"

"You tell me, how is the processing going, the Queen of the Valkyries?" Kenzi countered.

"Please," Tamsin said in a mocking chuckle. "Like a stupid little Succubus could actually be the Queen of the Valkyries."

"Well, should I remind you that I am the one and only who has the power to turn a Valkyrie soul into a real Valkyrie, or vise versa?" Bo retorted, giving the blonde another kiss on her lips. Then she pressed her lips on her ear and whispered, "and don't forget someone did call me the Queen in bed this morning when begging for her release."

Tamsin rolled her eyes and huffed, and Bo chuckled before she turned back to Kenzi."Yesterday Herja told me the tech team was almost done with the process and soon they'd be able to interpret those mumbles from you and Vex, but since you said it wasn't really anything that important-"

"It's actually something you've already known, so whatevs," Kenzi said, "but it'll be fun to tell that secret I guess. And speaking of which, are you really gonna be the Queen for like… forever?"

"Nah," Bo shook her head. "Once they find a successor, I'll just go through the process and give her the power. I'm so tired of looking at different naked Valkyries every day and pamper their weak asses."

Tamsin coughed loudly before she downed her drink.

"Great, once you are free from your Valkyrie reborn duties, we can finally working on cases again I guess," Kenzi said. "People have gone missing. Douchebags need to be punched. Bodies are discovered in the woods. Ya know, our old daily routine."

"You mean like extremely underpaid, sometimes even unpaid, mud wrestling with some ugly under Fae who would drool all over your cute head?" Tamsin asked, her nose scrunched. "Sounds really fun."

Bo slapped the Valkyrie's shoulder with a smile. "Hey, maybe you should join us," she suggested. "A PI firm with a Valkyrie, a Succubus and a human. It'll be fun."

"Is that your slogan?" Tamsin said. "It's probably the worst I've heard, in any of my many life times." She downed her drink, before she added, "what would my share be, if one day I hit my head too hard and decide to join you two, you know?"

"Well, you and Bo are a couple now, so you two together get 50 percent," Kenzi said. "And I get the other half."

"What?! That doesn't make sense!" Tamsin exclaimed. "I at least should get 1/2."

"Nuh uh," Kenzi shook her head. "You always get to choose what to watch on TV. You steal my food at night. And don't get me started on those night noises you two make-"

"That has nothing to do with the share," Tamsin argued. "And don't forget I'd be doing most of the ass kicking…."

Bo smiled as she listened to Tamsin and Kenzi bicker while sharing a bottle of vodka. Then her attention was drawn to the person walking through the front door. She froze there, before she finally smiled at him, feeling that all the weight on her chest had suddenly vanished.

She ran to her grandfather to hug him, and burst into tears.

[The End]

A/N: Wow I can't believe I actually finished writing this story, and I hope everyone likes this ending.

I did plan originally to have Bo and Tamsin to go to Hell to destroy the mask, but I feel that it's more logical that Trick should step up at least once to make things right.

I know it probably looks like I should have Bo and Tamsin working on how to destroy the mask for like 10 chaps with a lot of fluffy scenes and monster slaying, but I feel that I've written similar things in By Your Side and I wouldn't want to repeat again.

For me the most important part in the Valkubus relationship is when they finally tell the other person "I love you", and after that, things would just work out, because they are perfect for each other. So, I feel it's great for me to end the story here, right after they told each other "I love you".

I'll probably work on my other two fics for now, and watch 508 before the hiatus. Then, I probably will start a new Valkubus story. It is gonna be AU, and definitely will be filled with S3 Valkubus hate-flirt chemistry.

Thanks for everyone who has read this story!