Prelude Part II

"Hello again, Valkyrie, welcome to the Rebirth process. This is RebirthTemple number three," greeted the memory Fae inside the RebirthTemple as Tamsin's soul entered the Temple.

The memory Fae looked like a ten year old girl, and instead of hair, she had billions of shimmering synapses on her head. They were so thin, and so long, that it almost looked like she had silver, glowing hair. those synapses were floating in the air, as if they were alive. Tilting her head a little, as if she was trying to recognize Tamsin's face, she looked at Tamsin before she said, "Valkyrie ID'd as Tamsin."

"What memories are you keeping, and what memories are you removing today?" The little girl asked in a soft, light voice, with her hands behind her back, and a smile on her face. But that smile had nothing to do with warmth, or emotions. It was just an empty smile, greeting every Valkyrie that died and came in. It was barely visible anyway, since her entire body was almost transparent. And it was the very time one would knew for sure that she didn't have a body similar to a human's, or a regular Fae's, because as transparent as she was right now, there was no bones or organs inside her. The only things that were visible, were vein-like structures in her body. And instead of going towards the heart like those in human's, or regular Fae's body, they went towards her head. Streams of memories she had absorbed from other Valkyries flowed inside her slowly, and they looked like blue blood cycling in her veins, some darker, some lighter. Under the dim lights inside the Temple, it almost looked like those blue-purple memory flows were some sort of living creatures, and they were travelling inside the girl's body, like snakes, or eels.

Tamsin sighed. The last moments of her last life came to her vividly. She no longer felt the pain, or the coldness from her blood loss. She was nothing but an image of her last living appearance, still with her bloody clothes on, and the wounds on her body.

Then the very last moment of her life washed over her. She was in Bo's arms, and the brunette was crying as if she had just lost someone important. Bo's sorrow warmed her, as much as it hurt her. She never thought the succubus would shed tears for her, because of all the shit she had put her through.

Then, she recalled the shocked expression on Bo's face, when the brunette saw her opening her eyes and standing up. For a second of two, she had seen a cheerful look lighting up those brown eyes of Bo's, like she was thrilled to see her coming back to life. She saw Bo reach her arms out towards her, like she was about to grab her and pull her back to her embrace. Then, she watched how the succubus was crushed by the fact that her arms could go through her body, as if there was nothing there. By the look on Bo's face, Tamsin knew that the brunette had finally figure out that the person she once knew was gone, and what she was seeing right now was nothing but an image of her, an image constructed by the energy she had remaining before she left for her Rebirth process.

When she started to walk away, Tamsin saw Bo staring at her. Those soft lips of hers moved a little, like she was about to say something, but she never said a word. The brunette just sat there on the floor, among dead bodies, looking at her with nothing but confusion and hurt in her eyes. She silently begged her not to go with her eyes. Pleading with her to stay, to come back to her.

For a moment, excruciating pain ravished inside Tamsin. Seeing Bo like that, she felt that she would give up anything to make that despair go away. That thought scared her, because she knew how dangerous it could get, once she decided that she would give up anything for someone. She knew she had to walk away.

And that was her last moment with Bo, her walking away, the brunette devastated.

Tamsin sighed, and walked towards the middle of the Temple. There was a pool there, filled with light purple liquid thicker than water. She stepped into the pool, trying hard to ignore how cold it was, and how uncomfortable it felt. Submerging herself fully into the liquid, and lay down on the bottom of the pool. She had done this countless times before, yet she still found it incredible that she could breathe freely in the liquid, after feeling like she was drowning for the first few seconds. Other than the cold and gloomy feeling, she actually felt somewhat safe.

The memory Fae came into the pool too. Her body was glittering in the liquid, and those synapses of hers started to move rapidly, like they were suddenly activated by the liquid. Those memories inside her flowed faster too. Tamsin knew they once belonged to some other Valkyries, like her, or Acacia.

Thinking about the elder Valkyrie, Tamsin closed her eyes, and forced herself to breathe. She thought about how Acacia mentored her through battles among the sisterhood of Valkyrie, how they had fought together in wars, how they had saved each other's lives before. Then she thought about her severed hand. She didn't kill the elder Valkyrie directly, but Acacia did die because of her. A part of her thought it was the dumbest thing ever for Acacia to have vouched for her, sure she would deliver Bo, and as a Valkyrie she knew everyone should be responsible for their own choices, but, she still felt guilty that Acacia had been dragged into this. If only she had been doing her job as she had been ordered, Acacia would still be alive.

Letting out a deep breath, Tamsin watched those bubbles coming from her mouth rising in the liquid slowly. That same liquid had now finally occupied her lungs, and it made her feel colder than ever, like her heart was frozen and it would never be warm again.

The memory Fae lay on top of her, and her synapses were entangled with Tamsin's hair. Those little tentacles were slowly piecing through her scalp, into her brain. It was not painful at all, but it felt colder than the liquid. Tamsin shivered, and closed her eyes again.

"Acacia..." she murmured, not knowing if she was begging for forgiveness, or just mourning for her.

"Acacia. I do know her," the little girl whispered to her. "She was here not long ago. She had some of the most delicious memories. Is she important to you? Do you want to carry the memories of her to your next life?"

Tamsin nodded after a long pause. Given their history, Acacia probably was one of the most important persons in her many lifetimes. She was her mentor, her ally, her friend, yet for a succubus she had known less than a year, she had gotten her killed. Like a curse, she had abandoned every rule she had ever followed, after she met Bo.

Bo. It was a short, simple name. Her lips touched together once, and the sound just came out, like a whisper, a kiss, a plea. She heard her own whisper, and suddenly the image of the brunette filled her mind. That warm smile of hers. Those brown eyes, that would sometimes turn into bright blue. Her fingers circling on the back of her waist. Her soft, sweet lips. Her tears.

Tamsin could almost feel those warm lips falling on hers right now. Like that night when she had stayed in her shack, and they had kissed in the kitchen. She almost hoped that everything could just stop right there, right then, so she could have the brunette in her arms forever, and nothing would be destroyed.

A dull pain passed through her chest, suffocating her. She laughed at her own thoughts, like if she had stayed there, something would have actually happened. Like if she had stayed there, she wouldn't have to be heading to her destined death, or her next life, like she actually could have had a choice.

She didn't even know what exactly it was that she wanted from Bo. Maybe nothing, or maybe everything. She was just drawn to her, like a moth to the flame. And no matter how hard she tried not to fall, before she realized it, she had already fallen for her warmth, her charm, and her gentle soul.

"Bo?" The memory Fae asked, with a confused tone, "I don't know her. Is it another Valkyrie?"

Tamsin shook her head. As she moved, her hair flowed in the liquid with those silver synapses. "Just someone I knew, from… my most recent lifetime."

"You seem to have a lot memories related to her," the little girl said. "0.0027% of your memory is consumed by information directly related to her, and 0.0086% by those indirectly related to her. The time stamps on these memories cluster on a 6-month period starting from 6 months ago. It is significantly high in proportion, considering it is only 0.0008% of how long your most recent life has lasted," she said as she closed her eyes and raised her head a little, like she was enjoying reading Tamsin's memories. Those synapses of hers trembled in the liquid, and sent a cold rush to Tamsin's brain. Tamsin shivered again, and murmured Bo's name for a second time.

"Is she important to you? Do you want to keep the memories of her into your next life?"

Tamsin didn't answer her. Do I want to keep the memories of Bo into my next life? She asked herself, and then she found that it was hard to answer. In fact, she didn't even know why she was going to accept a next life. Every time her life ended like this, and every time she thought maybe she should just stop here, and just be dead for real, for good… every time, she still proceeded to the next life. She wasn't sure if it was because she had nowhere to go in the first place, or it was because that somewhere deep down her heart she still had this pathetic tiny little hope, that maybe next time she would find something meaningful in her life. But, what is meaningful exactly? She thought, meeting Bo and falling for her, does that count? Or having someone like Dyson as a buddy, does that count? Or that happy sunshine gang which annoyed me from time to time, does that count?

"Is she important to you? Do you want to keep the memories of her into your next life?" The memory Fae asked her again, with the exact same questions. Even her tone had not change a bit. It was like a prompt on a computer screen, unless Tamsin entered a correct answer, it would just keep popping up endlessly.

Tamsin sighed. She knew how badly she wanted to keep those memories to herself, but it was exactly why she knew she shouldn't keep them. Bo's father was dead, and that succubus deserved a life, one without shadows from her past, or dark clouds above her. She could just be happy with Kenzi, or Dyson, or her doctor girlfriend, solving crimes, kicking asses, pissing off the Morrigan as well as her own grandfather. She had entered the succubus' life abruptly, with an evil agenda, yet the succubus had still cried her heart out for her. It was more than enough, and all she needed to do right now, was to let go.

Tamsin was drowning in her own thoughts, and she missed the questions from the memory Fae for the third time. The little girl went into a trance, and whispered in a tone of apathy, "During the rebirth process, the Valkyrie are allowed to choose whether to keep any memories from her most recent lifetime. Such a process is irreversible. Once a Valkyrie chooses to abandon one piece of memory, such memory is then put into my possession, and she can no longer retrieve it. Due to the memory overload problems that may occur to a Valkyrie if she keeps too many memories from her different lifetimes, I strongly recommend you choose wisely and give up those memories that can hurt your, or burden you, or endanger you, or..."

Tamsin knew that the sole purpose of choosing not to remember something, was to make the next lifetime easier. That way, what happened in this lifetime, stayed in this lifetime. And if anything should endanger a Valkyrie, it should stay behind. Just like how she gave up her own life to save Bo's, knowing it was against everything the Valkyrie's creed stood for. If she carried memories of Bo over to her next life, she would continued to do the same thing for her over and over again.

It was just too dangerous, and she had to let go. No matter how soft those lips were, or how warm those eyes were, or how gentle those touches were, she had to let go. It was her one and only choice. She had to forget.

The memory Fae was still mumbling about the rules of giving up a piece of memory. Tamsin cleared her throat in the liquid, and it sounded like a muffled moan. The little girl stopped, and faced down to her.

"Have you made your decision?" She asked.

"Yes." Tamsin nodded and repeated, "Yes."

"Do you wish to keep the memories of Bo?"

"No," Tamsin said. "I don't want a single bit of it."

"Are you sure? Because once the erasing process starts you can not abort."

Tamsin closed her eyes. She pictured Bo for one last time. Strangely, it wasn't the image of her crying after her death, or when she approached her for the kiss. It was an image of Bo smiling with a drink in her hand in the Dal. She wasn't looking at Tamsin, but she looked so warm, and so perfect, that she didn't even look real.

Letting out a deep breath, Tamsin said, "I am sure. I need all memories related to her erased."

"Memory erasing process start. Initializing..." was the last thing Tamsin heard, before she fell into the long, deep sleep.

A/N: I wrote a pretty long prelude for this story, just to set up some things and such. The main story will start in the next chapter, and there will probably be a lot of changes on the relationship between Valkubus.

Anyway, hope everyone enjoy this story!