When Skulduggery had finally finished, his hands fell back to his side once again. The song had ended rather abruptly however, as the story that was being revealed had not ended yet. While the piano uttered its final note, the story was just beginning a new chapter.

Valkyrie stood unmoving in the gentle sunlight. The vivid images that the piano had revealed were still swimming in her mind.

The soft melody echoed around the room, the images beginning to fade.

The dark hair, dark eyes. The brilliant smile.

It was her.

As the echoes of the piano died, the sound of her rapid heartbeat filled Valkyrie's head. With no more music to drown out the sound, she could truly hear and feel how fast her heart was beating at that moment.

She felt the familiar tingle of magic against her skin, although she wasn't aware of any magic being used. It made her shiver slightly and her fingers flexed unconsciously.

Valkyrie swallowed her bubbling excitement and breathed out a shaky "...Skul?"

Skulduggery's head rose slowly from the piano, and he tilted it slightly to let her know he was listening. "Yes, Valkyrie?"

Valkyrie couldn't stop the grin from forming on her face. "Whatever you just did with the piano..." She began.

He turned his head towards her slightly. "Mmm?"

"...Was absolutely amazing" She said with an enthralled voice.

Skulduggery gave a small chuckle and she could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. "Why thank you, Valkyrie." He paused slightly before continuing. "That, my dear, was magic, as I'm sure you are aware of already." He tilted his head at an angle, predicting Valkyrie's response.

Valkyrie frowned in confusion as she tilted her head, looking slightly skeptical. She finally raised an eyebrow at him accompanied with a questioning look. "Wait, magic? You used magic? I should've expected that. I knew you could play piano, but I knew you weren't that good."

Skulduggery tilted his head at a 'gee, thanks, Val.' angle.

"I've gotta say I've never heard of ..." She shrugged before raising her hands and making air quotations. "...'Piano Magic' before, Skul. Which branch of magic does it stem from? Was that an Adept technique? I don't see how it could be Elemental..." she pondered out loud.

He shook his head, amused. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

She cocked her head, bemused. "Figured what out yet?"

He dipped his head and she could tell he was smiling proudly. He left her question unanswered and just walked slowly over to the piano, running his gloved hand over the keys affectionately. Valkyrie just stood there, her arms folded, waiting patiently for a response that she was sure would never come.

After the longest time, and a few impatient throat clears from Valkyrie, Skulduggery asked her a question.

"Valkyrie, do you remember what happened when you first heard the notes of the piano?"

Valkyrie looked up at him. "Uh, yeah, sure. But you didn't answer my question."

Skulduggery ignored her last statement. "Go on, tell me what happened." He said, already knowing the answer.

Valkyrie sighed and reluctantly recalled the first moment she heard the piano. "Well, I was in the kitchen, making myself a bowl of cereal because who the hell knows why, and wondering 'where the hell has this skeleton gone'-"

Skulduggery ignored her annoyance and prompted her. "Yes, but when did you hear the piano?" He questioned.

Valkyrie sighed. "If you'd let me finish, I would have told you that while I was looking for that damn skeleton, I pulled my earphones out to yell for you...and then I heard it, I guess?"

Skulduggery murmured in agreement. "And then? Did you feel, maybe...attracted to it?"

Valkyrie made a face. "Attracted? To a Piano? Oh definitely. That white paint and those smooth curves and edges, mmmm...totally turning me on. Pianos are so hot." She said sarcastically. Haha, joking about liking an inanimate object, like I'm totally not in love with a goddamn skeleton. Valkyrie frowned. But He's not just a skeleton, he has feelings and emotions, and a hell of a lot of charm, she argued in her head.

Skulduggery snapped his gloved fingers in front of her face. "Val, you're drifting off on me, c'mon. You were attracted, right?" He asked.

She snorted and shrugged. "So hot." She said, rolling her eyes.

Skulduggery inclined his head at an angle that showed he was still slightly amused by her, but also one more sarcastic comment away from gathering the moisture in the air and dumping it onto her.

He took a nonexistent breath and continued. "So you hear the piano, the sound drags you in, then what?"

Valkyrie groaned. "Just tell me what the piano does and I won't bother you while you're playing again, please."

Skulduggery chuckled. "If you want answers you're going to have to give me some first."

Although he had no facial features, Valkyrie could tell he was smirking.

Valkyrie sighed, giving in. "Alright fine. So I'm making cereal, I hear the piano, I go to investigate."

Skulduggery motioned for her to continue, not wanting to distract her from telling the story (and because he didn't want her short attention span to focus on anything else at the moment)

Valkyrie continued. "I hear the piano, only very slightly though." She placed her hand on her chin, unconsciously mimicking Skulduggery's posture. Skulduggery metaphorically smiled at this.

"So I walk around your kitchen, and then I hear it again, this...This tinkling sound, coming from somewhere."

She walked past Skulduggery and the piano towards the doorway she came through, and stood at the window, looking at the door. The gentle sunlight shone on her through the window, making her seem as if she was glowing- like an angel. Well she's nothing less than an angel to you, Skulduggery thought as he stood there by the piano, gazing in silent awe at the girl he fell in love with.

She continued to recall what had happened. "I don't know what made me do it, but I turned into the hallway corridor..." She trailed off to glance at him.

Skulduggery said nothing, just nodded with his hand on his chin and his elbow resting on his other arm. His eye sockets were directly facing Valkyrie's face, head tilted slightly with something she couldn't quite figure out. From the looks of it, he was completely enthralled. And she had no clue why.

Valkyrie blinked as her words escaped from her and she stuttered out, "W-well uh, I found th...is corridor- I-I mean I found this doorway that had totally never been there before, and I was pretty damn sure there was a bookcase there before, because I was thinking to myself that I've explored this old house countless times, and..." She tripped over her words, trying to hide her embarrassment from being completely listened to.

Skulduggery laughed softly, whether it was at her or at the words she said, she was unsure of. "Ah, yes. That doorway. I've done an excellent job of hiding it from you, haven't I?" He said. Too bad the doorway wasn't the only damn thing you were hiding, he thought.

Valkyrie replied with a slightly shaky laugh, "You sure have, Skul." He wasn't the only one hiding something then, she thought. But I guess a secret doorway doesn't really compare much to a crush on your best friend, now does it?

Skulduggery sensed the tension between them and took the opportunity to finally explain what the piano does. "So, forgetting about the doorway for now. I'm sure you're wondering what on earth caused you to see those images caused by the piano. No, I didn't put drugs in your coffee this morning-"

"Oh, joy." Valkyrie grumbled.

"Instead," He continued, "I technically put drugs in the piano's coffee!" He raised his hands in the air for effect.

Valkyrie peered at him strangely for a moment before muttering something under her breath that sounded like 'maybe you drugged your own damn coffee' before shaking her head. "Okay, you've lost me."

Skulduggery fixed his tie silently. He does that whenever he's frustrated...whoops. Valkyrie thought.

"You seem to have a very short attention span today...Maybe I did drug your coffee...hmm..." He said seriously.

Valkyrie blanched when he didn't crack up in laughter. "Wait, what?! Oh god please don't tell me I'm hallucinating because you drugged my coffee."

Skulduggery shrugged nonchalantly and Valkyrie narrowed her eyes. "Why are we even talking about drugging coffees, what's going on?"

"...We may have strayed off track slightly, let me explain. When I said I drugged the piano's coffee, what I meant was that I charmed it. You know, placed a spell on it? All of that 'abra cadabra' jazz."

"How the hell does that have anything to do with coffee at all?!"

"Honestly, I haven't the foggiest idea. It seemed like a clever thing to say at the time."

"I swear to God, Skul-"

"Okay, okay. Let me tell you why this piano does what it does. Before I had this piano, I was cheated on."

Valkyrie's eyes darted towards him and immediately turned protective. "Cheated on? By who?"

"By an old woman who I met during the war."

Valkyrie narrowed her eyes and made a face. "...What? Was it really that hard to find love during the war?"

"Oh trust me, if you were fighting in the war, no one wanted anything to do with you. Basically, they viewed you as if you were on your deathbed."

"But an old woman? I didn't know you were that desperate for love."

"I didn't have any interest in this lady, Valkyrie. I had met my wife later on. I did, however, have a lot of interest in what she was selling."

"And that was?"

"...A suit of armour."

Valkyrie turned apprehensive all of a sudden. "Are you talking about..." her voice softened, "...Vile's armour?"

Skulduggery nodded once. "Our side was losing, and I figured we needed a big weapon, and we needed it fast. So I went searching, and found this old lady who was selling a suit of armour that was supposedly infused with the darkest Necromancy magic."

Valkyrie sighed gravely, knowing what he was about to tell her.

"Unfortunately, she scammed me and gave me a box that supposedly contained the armour, after I handed her thousands of dollars. I gave her the money, opened the box, and before I could even register what was inside, she had vanished and left me with a wooden charm in the shape of a small frog."

"Skul, we've all done things we r- wait, what? Oh my god, are you kidding me? And I thought you were smart, honestly. Tricked by an old woman. Typical."

Skulduggery chuckled darkly. "I still got that armour, don't you worry. But I'd rather not elaborate on how I acquired it. " This shut Valkyrie up.

"Anyway, after the war was over, I joined the Sanctuary, as you know. And one day, I had stumbled upon the charm that I had stowed away all those years ago. I realised then that I actually had no clue what it was for, and took it to Kenspeckle for examination. After a lot of mocking laughter from him after I explained how I got the charm, he informed me that the charm could cause reality dissociation when used correctly."

This caught Valkyrie's attention. "Reality dissociation? Is that what happened to me earlier? When I was hallucinating or something?"

Skulduggery nodded. "That's basically what dissociation is, hallucinating or seeing things that aren't really there. In this case, the charm allowed the holder to control what others saw-"

"Skul that's messed up. What did you use it for? Nasty things, probably."

"You didn't let me finish. Kenspeckle also told me that the charm could work only if it was associated with some sort of music. Hence, the piano."

Valkyrie took a few moments to think about it. "That's awesome. So if I play the piano, I can make you see stuff?"

"Sure you can. But the holder still needs to know how to play the instrument they're using. Do you know how to play the piano?"

Valkyrie grinned and waved a hand at him. "Suuuure I can. I mean, how hard can it be?"

She sat excitedly at the piano, taking the small frog charm in her hand. "Hmm, you kinda look like a Charles. Can I call you Charles, Mr Frog?" She turned to Skulduggery, "Can I call him Charles, please?"

Skulduggery looked at her for a good ten seconds before slowly nodding.

Valkyrie smiled and hummed softly before asking, "So I just play? And Mister Froggy here'll do the rest?"

"Yes, but you'll need to have an image in mind of what you want the charm to allow me to see. You must be very careful to only think of the things you want me to see, alright?"

Valkyrie nodded, took a deep breath, and turned back towards the piano and began to play.