p class="MsoNormal"uspan style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"Goodbye/span/u/p
p class="MsoNormal"Valkyrie Cain started anxiously up the moaning staircase to the bedroom. Skulduggery hadn't used it for months since he was still corrupted by Smoke, but if she could find something- anything- to help him wake up and snap out of it, her life would be that much easier. But then again, she was Valkyrie Cain, the Skeleton Detective's partner; her life was em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"never/em easy. Approaching the bedroom door, which was remarkably shabby with paint peeling from the door frame, she stilled her nerves (nerves, really?) and reached for the brass door handle, twisted and gently pushed it open, stepping slowly inside./p
p class="MsoNormal"As the door clicked shut behind her, Valkyrie felt a smile snaking across her face and tears pricking at her dark eyes. The window- ex-window- was smashed in, the tiny fragments scattered over the ground like shards of diamonds. She laughed quietly to herself and recited," Doors are for people with no imagination." Facing the window was the dusty, well-worn armchair Skulduggery often lounged in after their earlier adventures, head cocked slightly to one side, long fingers steepled. It had been moved from the living room to clear space much to Skulduggery's infinite stream of futile protests. Walking past the immaculately folded sheets over the pristine queen-sized bed, rarely used even by Skulduggery himself, Valkyrie ran her gaze over a tall, thin, black door (much like Skulduggery himself) that took up the whole expanse from floor to ceiling, next to the armchair. "So, this is your famous wardrobe," she mused, grinning to herself and feeling like her old self for the first time in a good few years. She tried to imagine all the suits, tuxedos, hats and ties skulduggery had ever worn, a headache pulsing behind her brow just thinking about it. Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the door and glanced around, the memories washing over her. Vast amounts of all kinds of dress met her and she basked in their glamour. After all, Skulduggery Pleasant was a man of good taste and high standards. Valkyrie brushed her hand through the many layers of various materials as if she could soak up the last traces of Skulduggery via osmosis. But, of course, she soon remembered that it was Ghastly Bespoke, a Dead Man, a dead man and an excellent tailor who had worked his magic into the fibres of every one of these fine attires. Her breath caught in her dry throat and she choked back suffocating tsunamis of bottled-up grief as she turned to leave the suit-room- as she had decided to dub it. Suddenly, there was a dark shape blocking her exit. A em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"thin /emshadow. Skulduggery stepped into the light and Valkyrie watched Smoke's black tendrils of corruption throb in a monotone pattern around him, tinting his blazing red aura a miserable grey. He tilted his head as Valkyrie charged forwards, slashing wildly at the evil snakes of control consuming the Skulduggery she knew and loved. He elegantly dodged each mad swipe before slamming her against the wall with the air and keeping her firmly there, a seemingly bored with toying with her. "Good afternoon to you too." He tightened the hold around her neck as she struggled uselessly against the invisible bonds, "Do you mind?" She weakly gestured to her throat, which was quickly turning purple. "Oh, not at all." He released the pressure moments before she passed out and she fell in a heap to floor, gasping for air to revive her crushed throat. "Cheers," she croaked. Skulduggery shook his head sadly," Valkyrie, Valkyrie, Valkyrie," he said, shaking his head, "When will you learn that I am still me. Just because you may not be you, I am still me and I always will be. The only thing you can't handle is me desperately needing to kill you! But I still can't fathom why…" Valkyrie heaved herself into an upright position and forced a smile onto her face, "This is exactly why so many people want to kill emyou/em Skulduggery." He nodded as if deep in thought." Yes, I suppose so. Well, I suppose this is goodbye then." He took out his gun, "Goodbye, Valkyrie. Don't resurrect as a skeleton, please: it's kind of my thing."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Then a deafening blast of sound filled the air and Valkyrie's world exploded into black./p
p class="MsoNormal"Valkyrie Cain started anxiously up the moaning staircase to the bedroom. Skulduggery hadn't used it for months since he was still corrupted by Smoke, but if she could find something- anything- to help him wake up and snap out of it, her life would be that much easier. But then again, she was Valkyrie Cain, the Skeleton Detective's partner; her life was em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"never/em easy. Approaching the bedroom door, which was remarkably shabby with paint peeling from the door frame, she stilled her nerves (nerves, really?) and reached for the brass door handle, twisted and gently pushed it open, stepping slowly inside./p
p class="MsoNormal"As the door clicked shut behind her, Valkyrie felt a smile snaking across her face and tears pricking at her dark eyes. The window- ex-window- was smashed in, the tiny fragments scattered over the ground like shards of diamonds. She laughed quietly to herself and recited," Doors are for people with no imagination." Facing the window was the dusty, well-worn armchair Skulduggery often lounged in after their earlier adventures, head cocked slightly to one side, long fingers steepled. It had been moved from the living room to clear space much to Skulduggery's infinite stream of futile protests. Walking past the immaculately folded sheets over the pristine queen-sized bed, rarely used even by Skulduggery himself, Valkyrie ran her gaze over a tall, thin, black door (much like Skulduggery himself) that took up the whole expanse from floor to ceiling, next to the armchair. "So, this is your famous wardrobe," she mused, grinning to herself and feeling like her old self for the first time in a good few years. She tried to imagine all the suits, tuxedos, hats and ties skulduggery had ever worn, a headache pulsing behind her brow just thinking about it. Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the door and glanced around, the memories washing over her. Vast amounts of all kinds of dress met her and she basked in their glamour. After all, Skulduggery Pleasant was a man of good taste and high standards. Valkyrie brushed her hand through the many layers of various materials as if she could soak up the last traces of Skulduggery via osmosis. But, of course, she soon remembered that it was Ghastly Bespoke, a Dead Man, a dead man and an excellent tailor who had worked his magic into the fibres of every one of these fine attires. Her breath caught in her dry throat and she choked back suffocating tsunamis of bottled-up grief as she turned to leave the suit-room- as she had decided to dub it. Suddenly, there was a dark shape blocking her exit. A em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"thin /emshadow. Skulduggery stepped into the light and Valkyrie watched Smoke's black tendrils of corruption throb in a monotone pattern around him, tinting his blazing red aura a miserable grey. He tilted his head as Valkyrie charged forwards, slashing wildly at the evil snakes of control consuming the Skulduggery she knew and loved. He elegantly dodged each mad swipe before slamming her against the wall with the air and keeping her firmly there, a seemingly bored with toying with her. "Good afternoon to you too." He tightened the hold around her neck as she struggled uselessly against the invisible bonds, "Do you mind?" She weakly gestured to her throat, which was quickly turning purple. "Oh, not at all." He released the pressure moments before she passed out and she fell in a heap to floor, gasping for air to revive her crushed throat. "Cheers," she croaked. Skulduggery shook his head sadly," Valkyrie, Valkyrie, Valkyrie," he said, shaking his head, "When will you learn that I am still me. Just because you may not be you, I am still me and I always will be. The only thing you can't handle is me desperately needing to kill you! But I still can't fathom why…" Valkyrie heaved herself into an upright position and forced a smile onto her face, "This is exactly why so many people want to kill emyou/em Skulduggery." He nodded as if deep in thought." Yes, I suppose so. Well, I suppose this is goodbye then." He took out his gun, "Goodbye, Valkyrie. Don't resurrect as a skeleton, please: it's kind of my thing."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Then a deafening blast of sound filled the air and Valkyrie's world exploded into black./p