From the Ashes We Rise...Chapter 1...

Okay! Here's the first chapter of the sequel, these chapters are going to be shorter than those in Wistful Kisses, but hopefully just as good! R&R as always is appreciated, and I hope you all enjoy it!

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Dust. Rubble. Screaming. Alice Pleasant woke up panting, the nightmare terrifying her as it did every night. She sat upright and rubbed her eyes, her back aching after sleeping on the uncomfortable, lumpy mattress she used as a bed.

Fifteen years had passed since Notorious came to power. Fifteen years since Alice and Valkyrie had been orphaned. Even after such a long time, Alice couldn't forget. She'd been six at the time, and she'd watched her parents burn while she remained untouched. She'd sat and screamed as a wall of black had slammed into Haggard and soaked into her family, melting them right in front of her. She always saw their faces as they died, the way they screamed, how her mother had reached for her father's hand as she died. How she'd never quite managed to get hold of him.

Alice didn't resent her sister for it. Valkyrie punished herself enough for a thousand people most of the time, and besides, without her, Al would've starved or been killed shortly after. She'd only survived because she too was magic, and Valkyrie had found her alive and crying. For some reason, the energy her Val held inside her had only killed those who were purely human.

So Alice's Great-uncle Fergus was still alive, and so were the twins, but Beryl was dead. All Valkyrie's friends were still alive, and so was Skulduggery.

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Speaking of Skulduggery, he entered the room with a quiet knock.

"Hey Skul," Al grinned.

"Alice," he nodded, and she felt his smile. It was easy to see why Valkyrie had fallen for him in the first place. Alice her self found him enormous fun. He was like the big brother she'd never had and a father all rolled into one.

"Where's Val?"

"Out again. Same as always." He sighed, and Alice patted the space beside her. Skulduggery tilted his head and sat down with a sigh. Even in a world that had been ruined by evil and was slowly working its way back to something resembling civilisation, Skulduggery's suits remained immaculate. He wore a light grey one today, with a black shirt and tie.

"Tell me what's wrong, Skul."

"I feel like she doesn't need me anymore." He shrugged. "We hardly speak. She's so focussed on killing Grimm that I never see her. We used to do everything together. Now I'm lucky if I see her once a day, and that's usually when she's getting up at dawn to leave again."

"You don't see her on a night?"

"Not often, no."

"You sound like you need a hug," Alice told him, and opened her arms. He sighed again and hugged her back, holding her carefully. Even through his clothes, she felt the snapped rib. It was a stark reminder of just how close to death Skulduggery had gotten at the hands of Notorious Grimm. Part of it was missing, and nobody knew where it had gone. Val herself suspected Grimm of taking it as a trophy. Alice wouldn't be surprised if Valkyrie was right.

"When is she coming back?" Alice asked when he pulled away. He tilted his head and looked at her for a moment; she looked so much like Gordon it was almost unnerving; same light, soft blonde hair, same blue eyes. But she had Melissa's features; fine bones and a creamy complexion.

"I don't know. She's normally gone until it gets dark."

"Maybe you should start going with her, Skul. Spend some time with her; don't give her a choice in it. I know you've never forced her to do anything before, but you're married to her, for God's sake! You spent, like, two days being a proper wife and husband, and then all this happened. You two have never had the chance to be happy. You need to make her speak to you. Show her that this isn't her fault, Skulduggery."

"This is Valkyrie we're talking about. When does she ever listen to me?"

"It's about time she started. Make her listen, and if you don't, I will." Alice hopped out of bed and grabbed a jumper off the floor, tugging it on over her vest top, and jammed her feet into a pair of boots, before bounding off in search of her other sister, Emma.

Emma wasn't actually related to Alice, but she might as well have been. Her whole family had been killed in the Reckoning, which was what the remaining mages had come to call the day Valkyrie's power killed humanity. Ever since, Emma and Alice had been inseparable, and Skulduggery had been happy to treat Emma like his own daughter. She'd even taken Pleasant as her last name, and she called him and his wife Mum and Dad. Valkyrie hadn't really been around much to see Emma, which pissed Alice off no end.

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"Moo? You in here?" Alice called out, wandering into the makeshift library. The mansion had managed to withstand the worst of the Reckoning, but it hadn't gone undamaged. The last fifteen years had seen plenty of repairs, and the ballroom had been turned into a public library because China's place had been destroyed. The plus side to this was that the shelves didn't move, so no one ever got lost.

"Over here, Al," a muffled voice called from the left of the library, about four rows back. A head of curly brown hair popped out from behind one of the shelves and Emma waved at Alice, a thick book in one hand. She frowned. "You look pissed. S'up?"

"Val, as usual. She's never here. She's losing her husband and she doesn't even notice."

"In all fairness, they were married properly for, like, a day, before Grimm surfaced and killed a bunch of people. The world hasn't exactly been normal since. She hasn't really had much of a husband to lose."

"They were married for two days, actually, and she spent every day with him for eight years, Moo. That counts for something, right? I mean, she must have loved him from day one if she didn't run away screaming."

"Yeah, she was twelve when she met him, Al. She probably thought it was one big, hilarious adventure. Anyway, you were six when you met Dad, and you didn't run away, but you're not in love with him." Emma put down the book. "Just because she didn't run away doesn't mean she fell for him straight away."

"No, I know, but he's practically my whole family all rolled into one. He's your Dad too. Admit it; we both love him in our own way, Moo."

"I know, I know." Emma bit her lip, her mind changed. "Maybe she did fall for him right away and didn't realise. Either way, it doesn't matter because she's never around."

"We need to make her listen to him. Or to us, at least. She can't keep doing this. Yeah, her power killed humanity. It killed my parents, it killed half my friends, it killed your family, but she wasn't the one controlling it. Grimm was. We get it, she feels bad, but this is ridiculous."

"Fifteen years." Moo let out a low whistle. "That's a long time to hate yourself."

"Too long," Alice agreed with a nod, and started pacing. Emma sat on the floor and opened her book again, ignoring her agitated sister for a while, just waiting for her to calm down. When she stopped pacing and slumped against shelf, Emma looked up again.

"Where's Aunt Tanith?" she asked, and Alice shrugged.

"Sulking, probably. China's been winding her up again."

"If anybody can make Mum listen, it's her." Emma always called Skulduggery and Valkyrie Mum and Dad. It'd taken Al a while to get used to it, but nowadays she barely even blinked.

"That's a good point. Any ideas where she'd be?"

"I have one, yeah," Emma said, and put down the book, holding a hand out to Alice. She took it and they vanished with a soft 'whump'.