Dyson watched as the person he loved sob against the chest of the person who had become what was probably the closest thing to a sister that he would ever have. He could feel someone lean against him, and in turn he felt his arm wrap around the small body automatically.
"She saved me." He heard a voice whisper, a small sad voice from a woman who was normally so strong, so much stronger then any of them could ever have been. "She pushed me out of the way and she saved me. She knew from the start. She knew right from the moment she pushed me out of the way what would happen to her didn't she."
Dyson sighed as he pulled Kenzi against him, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over as he watched the person who was the love of his life, the only woman to ever hold his heart truly and fully, sob into the chest of a woman who was dead. He could feel his heart ache in turn as he watched her.
He watched silently as Bo collapsed into Lauren's chest, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs. He could see her clinging to her, her face buried in her chest, one hand gripping her shirt, the other one gently resting against her cheek.
He had never seen her like this, not even when she had lost Trick had he seen her like this.
He could feel his heart constrict as he watched her, in so much pain.
"Lauren please…" He heard Bo beg before her voice cracked again and her shoulders began to shake again. He could feel Kenzi trying to move away from his side but gently he held her in place.
He could hear the sounds of the soldiers rising up again and he knew that in a minute Bo would have to get up and fight and she would have to the be the champion, the person they all needed her to be.
But for now she was a lover mourning her…
Whatever Lauren had been to Bo.
"I need to… we need to get her away from Lauren's… I should..." He could feel Kenzi chock up and gently he rubbed her back. He could feel his own cheeks becoming wet as he watched the scene playing out in front of them and he could also feel a part of his shirt becoming damp. Gently he rubbed Kenzi's back as he pulled her closer to his side trying to comfort both of them as they watched one of the most important people in their life break down.
"She needs this… she needs to cry this out because in a minute she is going to have to get up and save the world." He could feel Kenzi struggling against his grip and after a moment he simply let her go.
She could see Kenzi run over to Bo kneeling down beside her and resting her hands against Bo's shoulders. He could see Kenzi trying to pull her away from Lauren only for her to shrug her away.
"Bo? Come one BoBo…" He heard Kenzi murmur as she tried to guide Bo to stand-up or to at least move away from Lauren. "Do you think this is what she would have…"
"I love her Kenzi. I love her and she's dead."
And in that moment it hit him.
I loved you.
So this was it wasn't it?
This was what had happened and this was when she realized it wasn't it?
Or had he just been to blind to see it all along? He had to wonder as he watched Bo cradle Lauren's body to her. Sobbing into her chest as it if was the end of the world.
Alright so it was the apocalypse.
He had to chuckle slightly at that thought and for a brief moment he wanted to turn around and talk to Lauren, to talk to Hale.
But he couldn't.
Because they were both dead.
He clenched his hand into a fist and allowed his nails to dig into his palms, hoping that the pain would distract him from the scene in front of him and the ache that was settling into his heart as he watched the brunette woman cradle the blonde. The brief glimpses he could catch of her eyes speaking of devastation and torture that he could not even begin to hope to understand.
Bo had just lost the love of her life and had nearly lost her best friend in the process.
And suddenly he was awakened from his thoughts by the heavy footfalls of solid boots hitting the ground. The sounds of the beginning of the clashing of swords.
The din of battle was starting up once again. The ancient sounds so familiar to his ears, so engrained into his being. He could feel his nature's call to join in the battle, to spill blood and to appease his gods, to fight to restore the natural order.
He glanced back at Bo before shaking his head, she was still sobbing.
"I can give her a little more time Kenzi, but you need to get her to stand up. You need to get her to fight to save the world because…" He could see Kenzi nod slightly before he took a breath as he began walk towards the battle, allowing his inner nature to surge forth, for the animal within him to take form partially.
"Lauren." Bo whispered as she allowed the tears to fall as she continued to sob against Lauren's chest. She could feel hands come to rest against her back again and she shrugged them off again.
She didn't want to get up, she didn't want to stand up.
God how could she have been so stupid?
Stupid.
Maybe she could…
Slowly lifted herself up, using one arm to support herself and with the other she shifted her body forward, allowing her weight to press against Lauren's torso. And for a single second she wondered if she would hear a pained groan escape from Lauren.
But there was nothing.
It was silent.
Slowly she leaned down and pressed her lips to Lauren's for a brief moment. She wished that this was not one of their last kisses, that this was not one of their last times. She wished that their last kiss had not been moments before they were ripped apart, that it had not been moments before they had been torn apart.
But maybe she could save Lauren.
Slowly she began to breath Chi into Lauren. She could feel herself growing progressively weaker only for power to surge forth from deep within her. Something that felt dark, something that felt cold.
But it was also oh so seductive and oh so potent.
She could feel something surge through her, a new kind of anger. Blinding rage.
But mostly it was the power that was surging through her.
The power that she had not control over.
She knew that with this power she could save Lauren, she could bring her back from death, and they could rule together side by side forever. She could change Lauren, make her Fae, make her immortal, make them both immortal. They could rule together forever, and then there would be nothing stopping them from being together, nothing that could stop them from being together.
"Bo!" She heard a voice cry out. "Bo you need to come back!"
Be strong. Lauren had told her.
Before she could have even told that she loved her. Lauren never even got to say that she loved her one last time and she never even got to say "I love you" to Lauren one last time.
And now she had the chance to save Lauren. She had a chance to bring her back and to let them start over, to let them live, to give them a chance to be together.
But at what cost?
At what cost?
The one of dual eyes shall chose the fate of the world, through courage and sacrifice she shall save us or through defeat we all shall fall.
That one god damn line of the prophecy.
Through courage and sacrifice she shall save us all. Courage and sacrifice.
"Courage isn't the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important then fear."
Where had that quote even come from?
Probably Lauren or one of those crappy TV shows Kenzi had made her watch.
Lauren… it came from Lauren.
That one time… curled up in bed.
Before everything had gone south, before it had all turned bad.
It had been something that Lauren had read aloud when she thought she had been asleep. It was one of the few times Lauren hadn't been reading a medical journal or a paper on Fae of some kind or another. She had been curled up in Lauren's lap that night, dozing as she played with her hair.
She had read it aloud as she had played with her hair, and for some reason it had stayed with her. But she couldn't remember those words until now, until she needed them.
Sacrifice.
Lauren's sacrifice and her own.
She had nearly lost the person who was her heart.
And lying below her was the person who was her soul, who without Kenzi was her reason to live when she didn't have the courage to do it herself.
Courage and sacrifice.
She had to sacrifice Lauren, she had to give up on the hopes and the dreams she'd had for them, for their future no matter how short it would have been.
The idea of kids and the picket fence, of traveling the world and exploring with Lauren. Of simply living her life with Lauren.
She had to let it go.
She had to let this woman who meant the world to her go.
Because there was something that was so much more important then Lauren, then her small little world.
She had been so selfish lately. So concerned with herself.
So she needed to sacrifice her dreams and her small little world of only her and Lauren in order to save the larger world.
The larger cruel unforgiving world.
She had to save that world, that stupid and undeserving world that had taken so many things from her, she had to save two worlds, one which had raised her and one which she belonged to. She had to choose the world.
As much as it would hurt her, and as much pain as it would cause her tomorrow and all the days after she needed to "be strong" as Lauren told her.
So she pulled away, breaking the supply of Chi to Lauren and breaking any chance that they would have had of bringing her back. She allowed herself a brief moment to press her forehead against Lauren's bringing her hand up to cup her cheek for a moment before she ran two knuckles over Lauren's cheek.
"Be strong and stand up right? Be the person you need us to be? That's what you would say to me isn't it Lauren?" She murmured before she leaned down to press a kiss to Lauren's forehead.
"Bo?" She heard Kenzi whisper as an arm came to wrap around her shoulders. Taking a breath she shrugged it off again.
"I'll save the world Lauren. I'll be the champion that they need, that everyone needs." She whispered as she fought back tears, trying to calm herself as she pulled herself up and away from Lauren. She allowed herself to rock back on her knees and she turned her head back towards Kenzi, who was looking at her with tearstained eyes, her make-up running.
Reaching over Bo allowed her hand to rest against Kenzi's cheek for a moment, using her thumb to brush away the tears that were leaking from her eyes. Despite it all she allowed herself to smile briefly at the younger woman who meant so much to her, who after all this was over would be the only one able to drag her out of whatever hole she would fall down.
"I love you Kenz. So much. So much more then I can say and you mean so much more to me then I can tell you Kenz." She could see Kenzi starting to stand up before she reached out her hand and offered it to her. Smiling Bo reached out and allowed herself to be pulled up.
Reaching over she grabbed Kenzi and pulled her into a tight hug before she pulled back and looked over the younger woman, smiling at her. "I am so proud of you and of the person you've become Kenz."
"Bo. You're going to be fine but you need to go, you need to fight." She could see Kenzi pointing out into the battlefield. The bloodbath that it had become.
Fallen soldiers from both sides littering the field.
She could see lone figure fighting off an army of warriors, and further back she could see Massmio beginning to rise once again.
Or maybe what had once been Massimo would be better?
Because it sure as hell didn't look like him anymore.
She could feel that power that had surged through her moments earlier return, offering it's energy to her. Offering it's power at a cost.
Those same thoughts filling her head once again.
"Your eyes." She heard Kenzi whisper.
Taking a breath she fought back the power as she put herself between Kenzi, Lauren and the battlefield.
It was time to end this. It was time to take revenge and to end this.
The source of Massimo's power had been cut off. The portal to the Pyripus had been cut.
And all the energy left must have transferred into her.
"Kenzi… run." Bo shouted as she began to walk towards the battlefield, stopping for a moment to pick up the sword that she had dropped in her rush to get to Lauren.
"I'm not leaving you and Dyson!" She turned around to see the stubborn young woman bending down to pick up an errant piece of wood. She shook her head and smiled before she bit her lip in an attempt to suppress the voice that was rising up, the power that was shooting through her.
She needed to stay in control or she would fall.
And if she fell then the world would fall with her.
She glanced down at Lauren before she took a breath and looked back at Kenzi. "You are my heart Kenz. I've already lost my soul and whatever pieces of my heart that you don't have. I can't lose anymore. And I'm going to lose control in a minute." She murmured as she pulled the younger woman into a hug quickly.
"So I need you to go in there, to grab Dyson and to run because I don't want you in the line of fire. Okay?" She asked as she gripped Kenzi's shoulders.
She could see Kenzi look up at her, defiance in her eyes, a burning desire that she hadn't seen since Hale died. "You'd better come back alive Bo." Kenzi said as she poked her in the chest. "Because I just lost the love of my life, I can't lose my best friend to."
Smiling Bo nodded. "Grab Dyson and run. I'll try and distract them as best I can okay?"
"Remember that we love you Bo. No matter what we love you, so come back to us." She heard Kenzi yell before she ran off into the battlefield, right into the middle of the fray. Taking a breath Bo followed her a few seconds later.
The moment she emerged from the somewhat sheltered platform she was greeted with the sights and the sounds of the battlefield.
She could see thousands upon thousands of soldiers, all in different uniforms, fighting against the few that were left of the numbers she and Rainer had had. She slowly walked towards the centre of the battlefield, trying to ignore the sounds of clashing swords, the sounds of bullets, the screams of pain and of the dying.
She walked around them all, her sword brandished, but none seemed to be attacking her, they didn't seem to even be paying attention to her. She could see in the distance Dyson and Kenzi surrounded.
She averted her gaze a few moments later as she continued to walk towards the centre of the field. She could see Massimo slowly beginning to stand-up, one hand at his side.
She could feel the power surging through her as she dropped the sword, spreading her arms and tilting her head backward, allowing the feelings that always followed this part to fill her. But this time she fought back the darkness that surged forth with the power.
She could remember the first time that this was triggered, the reason that this power activated for the first time.
It was to save Lauren.
One piece and perhaps the most important piece of her world.
She had lost control then.
But this.
This time she would be control.
This may have been her father's power's originally. Her blood maybe the source of her darkness and her father may be the source of whatever was surging through her.
It was no one's power.
But the moment it merged with her.
It was hers.
And this time she would save the world.
Because her world had already crumbled, it was crumbling around her just like the pyramid behind Massimo was crumbling.
But the world still stood a chance.
Everyone else's worlds still stood a chance.
She opened her eyes and her mouth, allowing a smile to slip onto her face as she inhaled, calling the Chi in the room to her.
She could feel her blood beginning to sing as she called the power towards her. The darkness within her fighting for control.
It was so tempting to just give in. To let that darkness take control and to finish the job, to take revenge on Massimo, on the powers that he wielded.
For the pain he caused Kenzi.
For everything he had done to Lauren and for causing her to have to sacrifice herself in order to save them all.
But she couldn't.
She could feel the power beginning to pulse through her as the Chi reached her, allowing her to inhale the first dredges of the power.
It tasted stale.
Dead.
But so powerful.
So. So. Powerful.
So. So. Dark.
She could feel power pulse through her and rebound out into her limbs, distributing it throughout her body. She could see the soldiers around her beginning to collapse, the swords they held in their hands clattering to the ground with the sound of metal on concrete.
She could hear two pairs of footsteps thundering against the concrete and she smirked to herself slightly.
Kenzi and Dyson had gotten away.
Good.
She slowly closed her mouth as the last of the Chi entered her. She could literally feel the power thrumming through her as she looked over at Massimo, she could feel a smirk settle onto her face as she looked at him, only to see him disappear.
A moment later she felt something connect with her back, pain exploding from her spin as she fell to the ground. She could feel a hand come down on her head, a knee hitting her already injured back.
She could feel something surge through her as she struggled against the hold Massimo had on her. "Why don't you just quietly go to your death succubus? Join your human lover?"
A growl escaped from Bo as she turned struggled against him for a moment before an idea struck her. She began to pull Chi again, trying to draw Massimo's from him, only to feel the pull in reverse moments later.
She began to thrash as she reached for her sword only to feel another hand press down on her reaching hand.
"Ah ah ah. Were you going to try and stab me honey? I don't think you want to do thank BoBo. " She could practically hear the venom in his voice as he spoke cutting off his Chi intake. She could feel him shift the weight against her back, beginning to crush her. The hand that was holding hers at the wrist cutting off the circulation, making it go numb.
She could feel a growl escape as she struggled against him before her free hand came into contact with something. "You should just give up succubus. I can end it quickly and you can join your lover. Just have to let the world fall, that's all. I can end it in seconds."
The wooden branch Kenzi had been holding earlier she realized as she felt the familiar texture of wood. "Are you sure Massimo? Are you sure?" She asked as she gripped the branch before she swung it at his head.
A moment later she felt the force of the branch connecting with his skull and at the same time she could hear the sickening crack of something breaking. Moments later she heard a scream of pain as the pressure on her back eased, the hand on her wrist and head moving. Quickly she scrambled out from under him, dropping the branch in the process as she stood up.
She reached out to grab the sword before her momentum failed and caused her to crash to the ground again. She gasped at the impact onto the hard concrete of the ground, her grip on the sword tightening.
She could feel a weight settling against her abdomen and when she looked up she could see Massimo grinning down on her as he straddled her. "You really shouldn't have done that." He whispered as he leaned down until they were almost face-to-face.
She could feel him trying to pull at her Chi again before she felt a hand on her chest, over where the mark had been placed.
Suddenly she felt something pulse through her as she tried to buck him off of her.
A darkness surged through her.
It's energy, it's power so strong and so seductive.
So tempting.
"If you join me I can make you strong, stronger then you've ever been." She heard a voice whisper in her mind.
No!
"You would be able to save your lover." It's sweet seductive voice whispered in her mind.
She froze in that moment as she stopped struggling, visions beginning to assail her mind, Lauren standing beside her a crown on her head, a huge beautiful smile on her lips.
Another of Lauren holding a small blond toddler on her hip. "Mama!" She heard the small girl's voice cry out in delight.
A house.
A job.
Immortality.
The world at her feet and the dreams she wanted so desperately.
Kenzi by her side, safe and ever young.
Dyson her loyal knight and general.
Tamsin standing bright and strong in armour she had never seen her in before, her wings spread behind her full and strong.
Lauren smiling at her, white robes wrapped around her, two snakes intertwined weaved onto them.
Trick smiling at her, books in hand an old crown on his head. His posture more regal then she had ever seen it.
Herself, a simple circlet on her head, everyone else bowing around her.
Cities burning.
People running.
But ultimately happiness
No more light and no more dark.
Just her.
Be strong.
Remember we love you no matter what.
I'm so proud of the person you've become Kenz…
Kenzi find Dyson and run.
Lauren.
"I love you Bo and you have to be strong."
Strong.
Give up her world to save everyone else's.
Suddenly she felt something move against her neck.
Something cutting off the contact between Massimo's hand and her chest.
A little piece of metal.
For giving me the freedom to love.
And I do. Forever.
-Lauren.
Free.
Everyone deserves to be free until the end of it all, until they chose their own ending, or they chose to belong to someone, to tie themselves down.
But the world can't burn.
It can't be ruled.
"NO!" Bo yelled as she reached out and grabbed her sword, angling it upward and stabbing Massimo through the chest.
And a few moments later she felt a body collapse on top of her own, the heavy weight of it and her sword digging into her abdomen. She could feel Massimo gasping for breath on top of her for a few moments before he stilled.
Quickly she pulled herself out from underneath him, standing on legs that had begun to shake severely as she looked around. All she could see were corpses, the dead bodies of both sides, of people who had once had families and friends.
She glanced down at Massimo, his dull eyes open and staring up at her lifelessly. She could feel her body beginning to tremble as she stumbled backward, whatever power had been surging through her leaving.
All around her she could see were corpses, seas of bodies floating in crimson red oceans of the blood that stained the concrete floor of the hall.
She stumbled backward and fell on her back as what she had done hit her.
Just how many people she had killed or caused to die.
So many lives needlessly ended.
Oh God.
Oh God.
She forced herself to stand up as the tears began to run down her cheeks as she surveyed the damage that she had done to this place. How much more could have been done to the world.
She forced herself to turn around and walk back towards Lauren, back towards the body of her lover.
She was planning on carrying her out, making sure that she was able to get a proper burial, but the moment she reached the body her legs gave out, causing her to collapse in a heap beside Lauren's body.
All she could do for a long moment was lie there and cry silently as she stared at the body of the woman she loved so much.
So much damage.
So many lives ended.
Slowly she forced herself up onto her hands and knees, crawling over to Lauren's body before she collapsed on top of her. She wished so much that she could feel Lauren's warm skin against her own, even if only for a brief second.
She wished that she could be alive, to tell her that she was not the monster that she felt so much like in this moment.
How was she able to end so many lives so callously? So cruelly?
Monster.
Her father was one.
Maybe she was one as well.
"Please…" She begged the tears in her eyes beginning to fall down her cheeks once again as she pressed her forehead against Lauren's. But instead of the warmth that she was so familiar with all she could feel against her skin was the coolness of death, Lauren's skin absorbing her heat, her warmth, but nothing came back.
She was cold when she was normally so warm.
So warm and so loving and so loved.
Be strong.
"Please." She whispered, an arm pulling Lauren's body close to hers as if she could shield her lover's body from the chaos and the destruction that surrounded them. Their only safe place, their island in a sea bodies that surrounded them.
But despite it all, despite her begging and he pleading, despite everything she had tried this was all that was left of her lover.
Only a body.
What had once been an incredible mind, a genius in so many ways. The insatiably curious human doctor.
The incredible, selfless woman who had loved her so much.
So much more then she deserved, so much more then she had ever deserved.
Who had saved Kenzi, her best friend, her sister, and her heart, at the cost of her own life.
And she had known.
Lauren had known what she was doing the moment she had broken her bindings.
She had known that she was going to die the moment she had taken off across this hall, the moment she had pushed Kenzi out of the way and charged into the portal.
She had known the entire time and yet she had done it anyway.
She held Lauren close to her as she leaned down to press a kiss to her lips one last time. They were slack as she moved her lips against those that were cold, firm, unfeeling, where they had once been warm, soft, responsive, and loving. She allowed her fingers to stroke along Lauren's cheek, feeling the cool skin under her fingertips where there had once been warm, soft flesh.
She pulled back from the kiss and moved upward in order to press a kiss to Lauren's forehead. She allowed herself to drift there for a single moment, suspended in time as she inhaled the scent of Lauren's hair for the last time.
As she pulled away she allowed her mouth to drift over to Lauren's ear, and for a brief moment she wondered if her breath would warm the skin of Lauren's ear, if somehow she could breath life back into this woman she loved so much. But she couldn't she realized as her breath continued to hit Lauren's ear.
She could only feel the cold press of Lauren's skin against her own. She allowed her face to press into Lauren's hair, her mouth covering the unhearing ear. "I love you."
For one instant, for one single moment she could have sworn she felt Lauren's chest rise against her own. But when her hand trailed under Lauren's shirt, reaching, searching for her heartbeat, she felt nothing.
No warmth
No signs of life.
Only cool skin, absorbing her heat and radiating none of it back to her.
Cool, rough, skin.
Not warm, soft, smooth, like she was so used to.
"Thank-you Lauren." Bo whispered against her ear before moving to press one final kiss to Lauren's cheek, her voice cracking as she spoke. "For letting me love you." She murmured as she closed her eyes.
"It was the greatest gift I could have had." She whispered as she leaned down to press one final kiss to Lauren's lips.
She was about to pull away when she felt a hand drift into her hair and an arm wrapping around her waist.
She felt lips moving against her own.
It couldn't…
She pulled away and but kept her eyes closed, willing this not to be a dream, that this was not some kind of she could feel the skin under her hand warming.
Thump. Thump.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump…. Thump.
She could feel a steady rhythm underneath her palm.
She slowly blinked open her eyes, praying to whatever gods there may be that this was not a dream, that this was not some kind of dying dream or a hallucination. That her darkness had not taken over or that this was some kind of dream or an illusion that she had trapped herself in.
She allowed her eyes to open fully and when she did she could see brown eyes staring up at her. A look of pure disbelief in them as she felt a hand came to rest against her cheek, a thumb stroking it gently.
"Hi." She heard a weak voice croak.
She could feel a smile break out, as a feeling of absolute joy spread through her as a laugh escaped, the tears that had stopped beginning to cascade down her cheeks. She leaned down and captured Lauren's lips in a fierce kiss.