Chapter 3
Bo hiked with Tamsin for hours in the pine forest. The susurrus of the solemn pines was the only thing they could hear. Eventually, they arrived at a cabin.
Bo rushed inside. Other than a bed, a fireplace and some simple furniture, it was empty.
"He's not here," she announced after having thoroughly searched the small cabin.
"Don't you think I know that? This is just the place we are going to stay for tonight."
"I don't want to stay in this frozen hell overnight! I thought we were going to see Kyron!"
"We are, but he's spooked and won't return until tomorrow. I'd be happy to kick your cute little ass out of Heaven right now, but the gate to Heaven that we had just walked through won't be open until next Thursday."
Bo clenched her jaw tightly so her teeth wouldn't clatter. She sat down right next to the fireplace and curled up a little. "So I have to stay here the entire night? Great…not only am I gonna miss my late night orgy, I'm also freezing to death."
"Hey, I'm gonna miss my late night orgy too. You don't hear me bitching about it, do you?" Tamsin snorted as she added some firewood into the fireplace and started a fire.
"Do Angels do orgies?" Bo murmured absentmindedly as she stared into the burning flames. Watching them made her feel a little bit warmer. "Or is it just a fallen thing?"
She turned to Tamsin with genuine curiosity. "Why did you fall anyway?"
"I didn't fall. I quit."
"Why did you quit?"
"I think that's more of a third date question, sweetheart," Tamsin scrunched her nose at Bo, before she threw more firewood into the fireplace. "It's gonna be a long night. If you want to get some sleep-" She pointed to the bed in the corner.
"I'm alright," Bo replied as she moved closer to the fireplace.
"You do know that you being cold has nothing to do with the temperature, right?" Tamsin asked, amused.
"Yeah, yeah, it's the fucking divine energy penetrating my demon core," Bo grunted.
"Wow, didn't know you were still in the mood for dirty jokes," Tamsin teased.
Bo rolled her eyes at her. She pulled the blankets and sheets off the bed and wrapped everything around herself, yet she was still shivering.
"You know, you could come back next Thursday."
"No," Bo shook her head. "I'd rather do it sooner than later."
Tamsin narrowed her eyes at Bo. "Why in such a hurry? Desperately seeking for dear daddy's approval or something?"
"I'm not doing this for him. I'm doing this for-why should I even tell you?" Bo grunted.
Tamsin huffed out a light laugh. She took a flask out from her jacket and handed it to Bo. "Here."
Bo cautiously took a whiff. It smelled like plain vodka. She took a sip afterwards. It tasted like plain vodka too. After a couple of sips, the coldness seemed to have become bearable.
"This is…vodka?" Bo frowned a little as she handed the flask back to Tamsin.
"Vodka, yes, and a little bit of…something that would make a good little demon happy," Tamsin breathed those words out lazily as she gave Bo a smirk.
"So this thing that you said that had been destroyed a long time ago, what is it exactly?" Bo asked.
Tamsin studied her as she took a sip from the flask herself. "Your father didn't tell you what he was looking for?"
"He said it was some ancient manuscript, but …he didn't say exactly what it was. You know what it is, don't you? Just tell me!"
Tamsin let out a deep breath. "It's the Book of the Dead."
Bo frowned a little at that name. "So...it's a book about dead people?"
The Angel laughed, choking in vodka. "No, dumbass, it's not a book book. It's written on walls or inside coffins in tombs. It's not about dead people either. It's a collection of spells."
"Then why don't they just call it the Tablet of Spells? What kind of spells are we talking about?"
"The kind that can alter life and death, protect the dead from being devoured by Hell, vanquish the indestructible souls, and revive those who are long gone."
Bo nodded. "No wonder my father is looking for it. It's really powerful, huh?"
"It's…" Tamsin trailed off a little as she quietly drank the last bit of alcohol. "It's something that a lot of people have been seeking, but…the real thing was destroyed during the war between Heaven and Hell about 300 years ago."
Bo nodded along. "You said that the scroll was a fake, but somehow the content was accurate?"
"Some of it anyway."
"How do you know that those are accurate?"
"Let's just say that I happened to have…known a paragraph or two from the original, and I recognized some of the sentences there."
Bo's eyes opened wide. "You can read that shit?"
"A little bit, yes," Tamsin replied simply.
"Can you…tell me what they mean?"
Tamsin rolled her eyes. Somehow the genuine curiosity in Bo's eyes was irresistible. "Oh what else could I possibly do when I'm stuck here with you?" She grunted as she placed the scroll on the floor. She pointed to a line of symbols and explained, "here it says the abyss is thy name. Then, here it says 4 millions, 6 hundreds and one thousand and two hundreds spirits-"
"What does that even mean?"
"I have no idea!" Tamsin exclaimed. "This is only a very, very limited collection of broken quotes from the original, and I don't even know if the original would make sense to you, or to me. This shit is ancient, probably as old as time itself."
After a long pause, she asked, "so, why are you in such a hurry finding this…thing? I assume that your father didn't give you tomorrow as the deadline, did he?"
Bo yawned. "I had a deal with my father," she explained. "I return to Hell for a while and help him with things-"
"Things like finding the Book of the Dead?"
Bo nodded. "Then, he will return the favor and-"
She cut herself off and took a deep breath. "Anyway, the sooner I give him this thing, the sooner I can…."
She let out a few vague mumbles of words before she fell asleep.
Drifting in and out of dreams, Bo struggled in deep, green water. The smell of the water reminded her of an aquarium she had when she was a kid. Once she forgot to turn on the air pump and the aquarium eventually turned into this pool of stinky green mush.
She tried to swim somewhere, though she had a hard time figuring out where this somewhere should be. Everywhere she looked, she would find pale white rocks and underwater plants. The rocks looked like old bones and the plants floated like human hair.
She was swimming in a sea of human remains. She was trapped in those long, green hair. They strangled her, pulling her down. She couldn't breathe….
Stirred, she woke up for a brief moment. She sighed with relief as she took a glance at Tamsin.
Tamsin was sitting by the fireplace, a few feet away from her. She was too carried away to notice that Bo was awake. Her angel wings were out, resting, the feathers fluttering slightly.
The entire time, she was fidgeting that silver ring that she was wearing as a necklace. The ring sparkled while the flames flickered.
Without her arrogant smirks or bitchy retorts, she seemed quite peaceful and maybe even a little…fragile.
Somehow, the entire scene of the Angel sitting by the fire felt so comforting to Bo. She let out a small yawn, before she closed her eyes again.
The next morning, they headed back to where they had previously found Kyron.
Kyron was in a different cabin with his library. Before he tried to flee, Tamsin grabbed his shoulder and forced him to sit down.
"What do you ladies want from me? Look, I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have tried to con you, but you haven't made any payment either. No harm, no foul, right?"
"Oh shut your pie hole," Tamsin hissed. "I'm gonna ask this once. Where the hell have you seen those writings?"
"The writings on that scroll?"
"Yes, where have you seen them?" Bo asked.
"Why does it matter to you, Demon, and…" He turned to Tamsin, "easy on my shoulder, Tamsin. I have war injuries, ouch, ow, ow!"
"Answer her question," Bo demanded as she grabbed his other shoulder, "or your war injuries are going to have some very new and painful buddies."
"Ok, ok, fine, yes, I saw them somewhere. I didn't know what they meant or where they had come from originally, but they looked…real, ya know, like there was this vibe and you just knew it was legit or something. Then, I heard rumors that the King of Hell was looking for some ancient stone rubbings, I thought, hey, this would work, so…I carved whatever I saw on a stone and made the rubbing-"
"Where did you see it? In some ancient tombs? On one of those artifacts you have?"
"No, it was from a journal book."
"What kind of journal book?" Bo asked as she tightened her grip.
The man struggled, but eventually sighed in defeat. "It was a journal book that I bought from the human world, okay? I go to the human world from time to time, and when I do, I frequent estate sales and warehouse auctions. Once I bid on a small warehouse unit. It was 20 something years ago, I think. The unit was filled with junk but there was this…this journal book. It was full of symbols, writings and drawings. I found it interesting, so I kept it."
"Where is that journal book?"
"If you could just let me go, I'll get it for you."
Tamsin sneered. "Nice try, old man. Tell me where that journal is, now!"
"Alright, alright, fine. Second shelf to the left."
Bo gave Tamsin a nod before she went to look for the journal. After fumbling through stacks of parchment paper and musty old books, she found a journal book with a tattered leather cover. The pages inside were loose, and everything was held together by a leather strap.
She opened it. The first few pages were just random notes in English, such as grocery shopping lists and doctor appointment times. Then, it started to have pages and pages of hieroglyphs. Whoever wrote them down was in great haste and probably had very shaky hands. The writings and symbols were often broken or overlapped, and sometimes they were accompanied by song lyrics or poems. After a dozen pages, the writings disappeared and the pages were just filled with meaningless strokes. The strokes were made with such a force that the papers had been cut through.
She found the paragraph that matched the content in what her father had given her, and showed it to Tamsin. The blonde went through the text carefully, before she gave Bo a firm nod.
Bo tucked it into her down jacket pocket. "Much appreciated."
"Wait, you haven't-we haven't talked about the price yet."
"Oh, you want payment? How about two punches on your nose and one kick in your nuts. hmmm?"
"Fine, fine, just take it," Kyron grunted something in a language that Bo didn't understand, and the Angel threw him a finger.
"One more thing," Tamsin said, "the address of the warehouse you bought this journal."
Kyron let out a frustrated fuss, before he wrote down the address for Tamsin.
"This…is not the Book of the Dead, is it?" Bo asked as she examined the journal book.
"Hell no," Tamsin snorted. "Whoever wrote this must have seen the real deal, though, or at least a part of it."
"So we just need to figure out who wrote this journal. I guess we could start with that warehouse-"
"There is no we," Tamsin interrupted her. "I've held up my end of the bargain."
"Hey, I could really use your help. I mean, you know a lot about it."
"I know, but why should I help you?"
"I'll pay," Bo bit out.
"See, like I said before, you should just lead with that," Tamsin pulled her lips into a smirk as she playfully tapped the tip of Bo's nose with her index finger. "Why don't you meet me at Pale Beak tomorrow night?"
"What about the whole no-business-talks-during-happy-hour thing?"
"Well, I need drinks and you are buying," Tamsin told her. "Oh, and you owe me an orgy."
Her voice was so lazy and full of teasing, that Bo had a hard time figuring out whether she actually meant it.
Bo returned to Hell and immediately soaked herself into a hot bath to warm herself up. Then, she went to her father's throne room to report everything that had happened back to him.
He listened to her intently, with lots of nodding and occasional questions. He examined the journal book that Bo had taken from Kyron. Then, he sat there and pondered on something for a while, before he told Bo, "you did great, my dear. Are you going to investigate this journal book next?"
"Yes, I'm going to meet with Tamsin tomorrow and see if we can find out who wrote this journal."
"Right, are you comfortable working with her?"
"Yeah, I mean, she seems to know a lot about it. She could be really helpful."
"Indeed, she could be very helpful," the man nodded along with a smile on his face.
Bo rubbed her palms along the length of her thighs anxiously, before she asked, "sooo…can I see her now?"
"Oh, yes, but…I'm just going to be very honest with you, my dear. She was drowned and her body had been in the water for weeks, so it wasn't at all pretty. I'm afraid that her soul has, well, taken that unfortunate appearance."
"I don't care." Bo replied firmly. "I just need to see her."
"She has also been in Hell for quite a while now. Tormented souls are not…exactly lucid. She may not recognize you at all. She may not even be able to communicate."
"Oh…"Bo murmured, feeling her heart sink.
"If you want to see her, that is fine. I just don't want the visit to upset you. She may be very different from the person you once knew."
Bo took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I understand that, dad. I still want to see her."
"Alright, I figured you would say that. Val will take you to her, okay?"
With a snap of his fingers, a Demon appeared beside the fireplace. He was tall, half goat, half human.
"Val, my loyal servant, would you take Isabeau to...that soul I've mentioned."
"My pleasure, Your Majesty." Val bowed to him. Then he bowed to Bo. "Please come with me, Your Highness."
After the two of them left the room, the King sat in his throne quietly for a while, pondering. Then, he snapped his fingers again.
This time, with a puff of pale, thin fog, a small figured female Demon showed up. She bowed to him, holding her head down.
"Raim," the King turned to her. "I'd like you to look into this Angel again."
"Of course, Your Majesty," Raim replied. Her voice resembled the tweeting of a bird. "But, I thought we had already done thorough research on her."
The King clasped his hands and rested his chin on top of them. "Yes, but the investigation we have done has been mostly about her past as an Angel and her clients. This time, I want you to focus on her lineage."
"Her lineage?"
"She was able to read some of the…things I thought no one could," the man explained. "I want to know where she was from before she ascended. I want to know the names of her ancestors. Can you do that?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," The woman bowed again. When she straightened her body, she shapeshifted into a large jackdaw. She beated her wings and flew through the window behind him, quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Bo followed Val into a section of the castle that she had barely visited. According to Val, it was for souls that would receive special treatment.
Val stopped in front of a room. "The soul you requested is in this room," he said with his head lowered. "Please don't get too close, Your Highness. If you get so much as a scratch, I will be punished."
"Of course, Val. I won't get too close," Bo told him.
As the door to the room opened, a sudden rush of anxiety seized Bo. She almost turned around and fled.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a brief moment before she walked in.
In the corner of the room, there curled a soul. Her body was severely swollen and was covered in moss green underwater plants. Her tousled hair did not look much different from those underwater plants.
Bo inched forward and took a closer look at her. The soul seemed to have sensed her presence, and shuddered while muttering something.
Bo listened closely, but couldn't understand a single word from her. She tried to talk to her, but that soul did not respond.
She reached her right hand out, despite Val's warning. Just before she touched the soul, the soul hissed and squirmed back until she tucked herself tightly into the corner of the room.
Bo sighed, her eyes brimming with tears. She stood there for a while, before she eventually gave up with a heavy sigh. "I'll come back later," she said to Val.
"Will you be returning to your suite, Your Highness?"
"Yeah…yeah I guess."
Bilith was munching on mini chocolate bars when Bo entered the suite. He quickly stuffed everything into his mouth and swallowed them.
"It's okay. I'm too depressed to kick your ass right now," Bo told him. She threw herself into the bed and lolled.
"What happened?"
Bo let out a deep sigh. "I saw her today."
"He finally let you, huh?"
"Yeah," Bo nodded.
"I take it that the meeting with her didn't go so well?"
Bo sighed again. "She looked…different."
"Of course she would. She's been in Hell for years now. Hell might have already taken everything from her, including her humanity-"
"No, she will never give up her humanity," Bo stopped him. "Once she-once she's brought back to life, she will be fine."
Bilith rolled over with his belly facing up. He looked back at Bo with his head tilted. "Did he really agree to let her soul go?"
"That was the agreement I had with him. I would help him with whatever he needs and he'd give her back."
"That is a…big agreement, Bo. Even for the King of Hell, he has to go through a lot of hassle to release a soul back to its mortal vessel."
"I know, and that is why I have to help him with all these missions."
"Don't you think that…the dead should probably just stay dead? Something is just not yours, or hell, not anybody's to tamper with."
"I'm just trying to make things right. She shouldn't have died."
Bilith sighed. "How was your trip to Heaven?"
"It was cold as fuck, and I didn't get what I needed from there. Got some clues but…"
"Are you feeling alright?"
"No, I'm not...I think I'm gonna need a lot of booze and sex tonight."
Bilith sat up and put his front right paw on her knee. "It's all going to be okay, Bo," he purred.
Bo gave him a heavy smile as she gently stroked his back.
A/N: The Book of the Dead was an actually ancient Egyptian manuscript. Some of the lines in this story will be from the real Book of the Dead, but the description of it in this story will probably be made up mostly. It will get explained repeatedly and a lot more in upcoming chapters, as it's very important to the plot.