Chapter 198
Four days later
Nadia's POV
"Are you sure you want to go?" Beryl asked Nadia in her sickly-sweet fake voice.
"I am," Nadia said firmly.
"Well, here's your clothes out the dryer," she answered, placing the small, folded pile on the chest of drawers. "Did your friends say anything about Stephanie?"
"No, they have no contact with her either," Nadia repeated for the millionth time. "They said thank you for having me while they were working though."
"You're always welcome dear," Beryl grinned. "You're almost family now! Let me go get Fergus to carry your bags."
"No, no, that's… fine," Nadia trailed off, but Beryl didn't listen. Alone again with Aine, Nadia sighed deeply. "Are you absolutely sure you don't want to come with me?"
"No," Aine whispered, "but I can't leave my parents alone with those people out there."
"I know. I just… I'm just feeling awful about leaving you here," Nadia said quietly, leaning against the drawers heavily. "I know it's your home and all but you don't seem happy."
"They've always been pushy," Aine said with a small smile, referring to her parents. "But they mean well. I mean, Dad's not been that bad, and I thought he'd have worked out about my, you know, involvement."
Nadia hummed. "I think he suspects. But he doesn't want to say anything to you just in case."
"Well, I'm not going to let him know. If he does, he'll bubble-wrap me and never let me out the house again."
Nadia smiled slightly, imagining her own parents would very much like to do the same before shipping her out of the country and away from the looming fight. They heard Fergus' feet coming up the stairs and stopped their conversation. Nadia thanked Valkyrie's uncle for his hospitality and for helping with her bags. There was an awkward last cup of tea where Beryl chose to start berating Aine for not making enough money at her 'job' – which was just her cover to get magic tutoring – and then there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" Nadia cried, shooting out of the living room.
She threw the door open and saw Saracen and Dexter standing on the Edgley's front step, hand in hand. "Hey, Nadia," Dexter smiled, holding one arm open for her to hug him.
She launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his torso as hard as she could. He almost stumbled, but then laughed and held her tightly, and Saracen's arms wrapped around her too from the other side. "I missed you so much," she said into his collar.
"Nah, we missed you too," Saracen chuckled, pulling away. He looked back into the house. "I'll put your bags in the car."
There were quick goodbyes, mostly centring on Aine since she was the only one they liked, and then Nadia got into the battered, sputtering, twenty-something year old car that used to be Gordon Edgley's, and they left.
"You have to tell me everything that's been happening!" Nadia demanded from the back seat next to Erskine. He was holding her hand, much to Nadia's delight. She felt practically touch-starved!
"Nothing really has happened on our end," Saracen admitted. "Tanith and Ghastly making jokes about their past relationship is the biggest change. The American's let us leave the country easily enough, we completed all our missions, only one person made reference to the god-weapon fiasco that went down in England. A criminal insinuated Laila would grow up to work at a, err, adult dancing facility and we may or may not have tortured him slightly."
Nadia rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Led primarily by Ghastly, I assume?"
"Yep," Erskine smirked. "Tanith wasn't there on that one. Anton was the second worst."
Nadia rolled her eyes and decided she didn't need to push for details. "But what about the war? What's happening? I can't get to the Sanctuary and China was incredibly vague on her opinion of when it'll start."
The men shrugged as one. Dexter spoke for them. "That's China for you. The thing is, Nadia, we're already at war. We're fighting, both literally and politically, just not outright. When someone's going to turn around and announce we're at war is completely up in the air right now."
"Solomon predicted three weeks from now."
"It could be three hours or three months," Saracen said seriously. "It depends on the Spiders and this Supreme Council."
"Is that really a thing? Valkyrie mentioned something like that, but I don't remember–"
"It's real," Saracen interrupted, his happy mask dropping like a bucket of icy water. "Again, not officially. But China and a few other sources, that being friends of ours, have told us the Grand Mage's and most Elders have been having extended virtual meetings at the same time as each other all around the world. But again, they're not doing it outright yet. I think, and this is just my opinion, that once they announce the Council, we'll be days from war."
"And how soon are they going to announce the Council?" Nadia asked.
"We don't know. Meritorious is still well liked and influential, as is Corrival, and Feie has a small following of his own and isn't Irish. But, Corrival and Feie are most well-known for their war efforts so bringing both of them onto the Irish council is a way for people to twist our intentions."
"Oh," Nadia sagged. "So, we're still thinking weeks then? And we don't know where Val is or how long she and Solomon will be gone. And we don't know if Skulduggery will ever come back. And besides the rest of the world trying to wage war, there's still the Spiders who must be really mad at us for taking the god-weapons."
"They've been suspiciously quiet," Erskine said, frowning at his lap.
"We'll just have to wait and see for now," Dexter said darkly, joining the motorway.
.*****.
Two days later
Valkyrie's POV
Day forty-one. Just four days into Solomon's revelation and she could feel the difference in herself and her magic. Her headaches were still bothering her but to a lesser extent and she'd worked out that what she was seeing, all those lights, were people's Auras. Norma had tried to insist they were souls, but Valkyrie had point blank refused to have any association between her magic and seeing something as controversial as the soul. Luckily, both sisters understood and were calling it her Aura Vision instead.
More than that, though, was the Aura Manipulation.
It started simple enough, just her curiously reaching out and brushing the side of Helena's Aura, but she had stiffened, fallen to the floor and gotten a nosebleed instantaneously later. At first, Valkyrie thought she'd killed her and almost had a full-on breakdown, but when Helena recovered she'd been nice to Valkyrie and reassured her she was okay but to not do it again without permission. That had led to them realising if she could see Auras and touch them with her hand, she must have some strong psychic powers linked to doing something with Auras.
"Release your magic," Helena breathed, and Valkyrie did it, falling into her meditative state happily. Some moments went by and she opened one eye slightly with her Aura Vision on. Three Aura's sat before her, the larger in front of her. Solomon. "Reach out gently with your mind and feel what you can. Don't try to change anything, just feel."
She did. Her magic seeped out of her and she felt almost out-of-body as her magic reached Solomon's Aura and she gently touched it. His deep orange flinched away from her, getting light where her magic touched him as if in revulsion. She patiently waited, not leaving where she was touching him, and the Aura flowed back to normal.
It felt… warm. She could feel Solomon's essence, in a way, but she wasn't sure how. She wasn't sure what the essence of him was saying or doing, but her magic seemed happy with it and moved over him, slowly encasing his body. He felt stiff but didn't try to fight it. Helena's voice spoke quietly, keeping her in her meditative state.
Suddenly, her magic felt a snag. Valkyrie paused, eyes closed, and felt around the snag. Something about it was calling to her. She let her magic wrap around it, pulling and fighting the snag, trying to get something out of it, and a pressure was building in her head, and she heard Solomon's grunt of pain and then–
Warmed flowed through her and she opened her eyes in shock, pulling her magic out of Solomon instantly.
He cried out and put his hands out to stop his fall from his kneeled position.
Valkyrie gasped. "Sorry!" She panicked. "Oh my god! Are you alright? Did I hurt you? Say something! Oh my God!"
He sat up slowly, waving her hand to get her to stop freaking out. "I'm fine," he said. Sweat drops framed his face. "It only hurt for a moment."
"Oh," she said. "Um, this might be really, really weird, but I – I feel like… Can you give me your cane?"
Solomon raised an eyebrow but offered her the jewel side. She took it and immediately the Necromancer power flooded her veins. "I'm not sure what this means, Valkyrie."
Valkyrie stood and wet her lips before wrapping the shadows around herself and wreathed to the other side of the room, then back, then to the top of the dim, curved ceiling and stopping to look down, the shadows holding her in place on a solid, shadow-platform.
Solomon's mouth hung open. "You've never wreathed before."
"I never made one of these hoverboards either. When I felt your Aura, I felt like I suddenly knew how to use your magic. All these different things I've never even dreamed of doing before. And I can do them, just like you can!" Solomon let out a small, awed laugh and watched as Valkyrie suddenly felt the knowledge leave her body and she lost her hold on how she was making the solid platform and fell four feet before her white magic took the shadows place and guided her to the floor safely. "Err, I think I just forgot all the stuff. Here."
Solomon took his cane back. "That's incredible," he breathed. "You can't just see our Auras, but you can take our magic and use it for yourself!"
Valkyrie shrugged.
"Do you have a headache?" Norma asked quickly.
Valkyrie paused. "Not really, no. I thought I would but I feel sort of, I don't know, different? Like I have more headspace to think."
The sisters grinned massively. "That's amazing!" Norma congratulated. "A return to normal health can only mean you're on your way to having accessed all your magic!"
"Not necessarily finished," Solomon clarified quickly, before putting a hand on Valkyrie's shoulder and squeezing it. "But it sure looks like we're close. I'm proud of you."
Valkyrie grinned.
.*****.
Same time
Nadia's POV
"Can I have a look?" Sermon asked Nadia in her soothing, soft American voice. Nadia didn't know where she was from, but she wanted to go there and be surrounded by people with her accent.
"Sure," Nadia swallowed, handing the letter over.
"Do you mind if I read aloud?" Nadia said that was fine. "'To Mum and Dad. Hi. How are you? How is Daadii and Daadaa? I don't really know what to tell you in this letter. I don't know what I want to tell you. My therapist told me to do this letter, and it seems like a good idea to try and help you see how your actions are hurting me, but I feel ridiculous. I don't think you'll listen, and even if you do, you'll just use my words to try and manipulate me into doing what you want.
"'I've realised something since you first sent me to Finishing School. I spent a long time just sitting on my bed, thinking, feeling numb. I realised that you've always done things to manipulate me. When I was young, Mum always made me do things I didn't want to, like wearing clothes I didn't like and talking in ways I didn't want to. As I got older and started to fight back, Dad took over and you were more subtle. Such as, I'm allowed to wear what I want with you, but there's always this requirement that it has to be proper and something that Daadii would like. You push the blame on other people so I can't see you manipulating my opinion. I never noticed it and really, that made you right when you called me naïve, uneducated and too young to understand. You've always used that to your advantage.
"'I do know that you want the best for me, at least to an extent, but I feel that you've gotten so used to forcing me into everything that you've forgotten I'm your sentient daughter that has emotions of my own. If I want to act on my thoughts and feelings, I shouldn't be manipulated and emotionally blackmailed just because you don't agree, even if you think it puts me in some danger. I am an adult now. I think, really, the main thing I want is some independence. Every time I thought I had it with you, it was just me thinking I had control when I was actually being manipulated by you. Honestly, I feel like so much of my life with you is just a lie. I feel violated. I feel I cannot trust you or your word. I want to desperately, but I know full well that I'm just in denial. The moment I let you back in, you're going to slowly start pushing me to do what you want again, and I can't do it. Even though I want to.
"'There is so much I want to say, but I don't know how to even put it on paper. I am so betrayed and upset with you. How could you leave me in that school? Why didn't you care? Why didn't you come get me? Why didn't you ask how I was even once when I was still answering your messages? The only answer I can come up with is desperation to control me, even if it means weakening me to the point I am harming myself. You want to lower me to the point I am a malleable tool you can command without having to fight. And I think, despite how much I love you and want us back together again to be a family, I hate you. And I hate myself for wanting you back.
"'Nadia.' It's a powerful letter."
"It's a bit long," Nadia swallowed.
"It's good. How do you feel about sending it?"
"No," she said instantly. "It would hurt them. I don't want to put any more fuel in the fire, you know?"
"You said something similar in the letter to them," she smiled, pointing to the table. "Do you want to dissect it with me today, or leave it for another time?"
Nadia thought about it for a moment. "Today I think. While it's fresh."
Things are happening, and it's progress!
I had to call the police halfway through editing this chapter for you because I saw a man get into his car potentially under the influence. He had blocked someone into their drive and gone to I believe the off-licence on our street and the car was honking so I looked outside as he came back to his car and got in and drove back to let them out, and then I saw him open one of the tall, black cans and drink from it. It might have been an energy drink but I still called them because you know what, drink drivers are dicks and he gets caught (doubly so if it was alcohol). Plus he blocked that person in, what an asshole move! There were other parking spaces too!
Sorry, rant over.
ValkyrieP: Aww, you're a sweetheart! I really appreciate the support and reviews, getting messages pop up really help motivate me to keep writing! :D
