A/N: This scene is from the LSODM book, chapter 59 and chapter 60. Spoilers ahead, please take note. Some of the dialogue was lifted from the book to keep in context with the scene. The quote in the summary is from poisonesse on 8tracks.
Summary
"Valkyrie," he said. He liked using her name.
He will always remember it.
The time when he lost his partner. The one time when he could not save her.
BURN THIS OUT
give me love
Skulduggery's not often worried. Not much. Not really. It's just that there has been no sign of Valkyrie. So, he worries now, just a little bit. There's always been madness in her. For her to have accepted him easily as her best friend, clearly there was something not right. Finding out she was Darquesse just made that instability sway to the dangerous side.
Now though, he thinks that she is more on the edge. As if it will take a slight push, and down, down, down, she will fall. Skulduggery remembers being Vile all too well, the heady rush of power. The thrill of blood and murder, it was wonderful. He cannot deny he has many regrets, many things to atone for.
Ghastly's mother. Ghastly. Ghastly, his childhood best friend. Anton, the droll man who fought with them. He was a detective, he should've realised that Ravel was the traitor.
But try as he may, he could never really regret enjoying the power that came with being Lord Vile. He regrets the deaths he caused, but not the power it brought.
Ajuoga is speaking. Concentrate, Skulduggery. There's a thickening of shadows, a slight shift in the air.
She's here.
"I don't think we will be here long anyway…" he says, not really keeping track of what he is speaking. Valkyrie's twisting the shadows, working it around her. He tries to peer into the shadows, to see if she's alright. He remembers her falling in the sand, pitching forward when her legs gave out underneath her. He caught her before she began to breathe in sand, swung her up into his arms. And carried her rest of the way. She was not alright, not when he left her.
"You think I would know?" Ajuoga's question snaps his attention back to her. He has to focus, distract Ajuoga. Keep her pacing, keep her walking closer to Valkyrie. He talks, does that thing that Valkyrie keeps claiming about and he keeps denying. Fletcher helps him out, unknowingly.
"I'll hold them off. You save yourself," he says. Skulduggery stares at him. After all the trouble they went through, to leave him behind? The boy had clearly lost it.
"I am not leaving you here, Fletcher." Fletcher is needed to get them out safely. Valkyrie stands still, silent, Ajuoga nearly in her range.
"Ah, go on." Those words coincide with Valkyrie's jump. There she was, dressed as a Bride of Blood Tears. Dear god, would Fletcher stop gawking? She looked good, excellent if he had to say it. There would be time for admiration and ribbing later. Right now, she needs help.
Ajuoga tumbles out of range from Valkyrie. Quick, before she recovers, he thinks.
"Finish her off—"
Ajuoga is already leaping back, snatching a dagger from her hip and slashing Valkyrie. She tries to hold her off, but Ajuoga slashes persistently. Fletcher is going frantic, getting more anxious with every slash that draws blood. Valkyrie falters; steps back on instinct to avoid the blade. He has to remain calm for all of them, be the voice of reason and help her the only way he knows.
"Don't retreat," he reminds her. "Every step backwards, you give her more room to work. Meet her. Get in close. Guard, Valkyrie. Where's your guard?"
The smart girl, she figures it out and falters on purpose. She allows Ajuoga to slip through her guard and springs onto her.
"Good girl."
Valkyrie snatches the dagger, and rains palm shots on Ajuoga's face. She steps into her space, hip to hip and twists Ajuoga onto her shoulder and throws her down. The witch breaks her fall, springs to her feet. She misjudges and falls again, this time pulling Valkyrie down with her. Then, she is holding Valkyrie in a triangle choke.
He never taught her how to get out of it. He never thought she would need it. A big mistake that he has to fix, but that is for later. Now, he needs to draw Valkyrie's attention to the dagger she has forgotten about. No easy feat, when she's turning red from the lack of air. The idiot Fletcher also is cussing the witch out, overriding what he is trying to tell Valkyrie. Oh no, she is starting to struggle less.
"Valkyrie, your dagger. Use it. Valkyrie, dagger at your hip. Valkyrie, you still have your own dagger." She heard it eventually, slipping it out of the sheath and stabbing the witch with it. Ajuoga kicks her away, shocked and in pain. Valkyrie catches her breath and claws the witch's face even as she leaps at Valkyrie. The witch shrieks and jumps on Valkyrie's back, pulling her hair and biting off her ear.
She stands and throws the witch away, pressing a palm to the side of her bleeding ear. Ajuoga runs at Valkyrie and on instinct, she snaps her palm forward. Starts pushing at the air, then Ajuoga leaps and a spear of shadows leaps forth and skewers the witch as the air settles.
Fletcher falls silent, horrified at the turn of events. Skulduggery knows better, knows it was not deliberate. Throughout the fight, Valkyrie seemed out of form at moments, missing openings. Darquesse must be rising and Valkyrie is doing her best to hold her back. Ajuoga's body floats, held up by the shadow spear.
Valkyrie instead, seems horror struck. Staring at the body, lost in her thoughts. Darquesse. No, he cannot let her suffer like he did with Vile.
"Valkyrie, Valkyrie. Valkyrie."
Finally, a response. She tilts her head, still not looking away from the body.
"Valkyrie, look at me." She turns and meets his gaze. She looks blank, absent as if her body works but not her soul. Where's the snark?
"Put her down, Valkyrie. Put her down."
She shifts a little, allows the shadows to dissipate gently. He stands straight, remains firm, remains calm. He needs her to break the binding circle, break the necklace. He looks at her, this blank thing that wears her face.
"Valkyrie. I need you to break the necklace. Can you do that? Break her necklace and we can get out of here now. Come on now. Someone will have heard. They'll be coming." They are already coming, he feels the air shift yet there is time, precious little but there is time. She turns on her heel, walks to the witch and looks down.
"Valkyrie, I can hear them. They are coming. Break the necklace. Valkyrie, Valkyrie. Valkyrie." She nudges Ajuoga while crouching to break it.
"Look out!" Fletcher cries out. She stands, fluidly moving to attack the newcomers. Ajuoga's body is closer now, he drags it into the circle using her cape. Suddenly, the newcomers are down. Valkyrie is fleeing out of the room.
Darquesse.
He grabs the necklace off, puts it on the ground and drives an elbow into it, shattering it. His magic is finally back and he is free. Time to find Valkyrie. But first, he must deal with these witches. Fletcher finally proves useful. He helps him clear the way. It becomes a blur, the fight. He is brutal, efficient in his strikes. There's no time to be kind or merciful, he has to find her now, find her fast before she gives in.
Fletcher and he follow the trail of bodies, their way practically clear. Well, almost. They encounter resistance and he dispatches them easily. Fletcher wisely holds his tongue. Why did Valkyrie go further down into the pyramid? That is where the trail leads but he has no time to question this. She has to be found. Now.
A scream, wild and loud echoes through the passageway. Skulduggery starts sprinting, not caring about Fletcher anymore.
Valkyrie!
Whatever he imagined to be the cause, was far more kinder than the reality. Valkyrie hovers in the air, suspended by the magic of the witches. A leg has been ripped off and now, her left arm is gone. She continues screaming, the pain must be unimaginable. Even if he rescues her now, she will die of blood loss. Valkyrie, his partner, his best friend will die by this. Such a meaningless death, when she should have gone out in a blaze of glory or died in old age.
Valkyrie shrieks now, a higher pitched wail that rings in his skull. A sound that will haunt him, scar him for life.
Darquesse will emerge soon, subsuming Valkyrie. He needs to do something, to stop it. That nightmare that she has been haunted by for years. And he knows this slip will truly be for good. Valkyrie's just a girl, a girl who has had her family stolen by her doppelganger. She can't fight for long against Darquesse, especially when she has not much reason left to fight anymore. The fight drains her and Darquesse.
Darquesse grows ever stronger.
She never really tells him this but he knows her. He also knows what it is like to have such great power at your beck and call, better than most people. He knows what it is like to have it sing to you, what it is like to give in finally. To let your pain, your worries, your fear, your confusion all be just taken away. He knows.
Fletcher catches up to him and nearly falls when he sees it. Skulduggery tries to think, for once, he has no plans. The witches take off another arm. Fletcher throws up.
Skulduggery pushes a palm out, sweeping away the witches directly in front of him. He will rescue her and Nye will fix her. She cannot die, not now. Not for a very long, long time to come. He's too late though, Valkyrie slumps even as he clears half the way.
Suddenly, she straightens. Her posture is different, more fluid and arrogant. Darquesse. Her time has come. She regrows her arms and leg. The witches are confused. Darquesse smiles down at them and Skulduggery drags a retching Fletcher back.
She snaps the magic holding her up and descends, the rest is carnage.
"Fletcher, when I tell you, teleport me over to her and grab her. Then, teleport back to Roarhaven." Fletcher nods, wipes his mouth on his sleeve and sucks in a breath.
All the while, Darquesse inflicts death on the witches. One witch tries to burn her alive, she twists her palm and the witch splinters apart. Another tries to stab her through and all she gets is her heart ripped out by Darquesse. The numbers begin to dwindle. Skulduggery nudges Fletcher, tells him to get ready. He needs to pull Valkyrie out of Darquesse. The longer Darquesse remains, the more Valkyrie disappears.
"Now," he whispers. Fletcher grabs his shoulder and they are face to face with Darquesse. She tilts her head at them, in a gesture that echoes of Valkyrie. She reaches out, touches his jawbone.
"Skulduggery. Fletcher," she says.
Even as Fletcher reaches out to grab her, she jumps into the air, out of his reach. Fletcher grabs him again and teleports up to meet Darquesse. When they get there, she is already flying out of a hole in the pyramid ceiling.
They have lost her. He has lost her.
His best friend, his partner.
His constant.
He's lost Valkyrie Cain.
A/N: I wrote this scene because I wanted a fic where it showed Skulduggery's reaction to the moment when Darquesse takes over Valkyrie. I hope this was in character, not much wit though because I felt this was a serious scene. I am going to write a few more scenes from the series from Skulduggery's POV. Mostly all around Valkyrie, cause I really, really love their relationship.
Please review and let me know what you think. Thank you!