Chapter 207
Valkyrie stood in front of the little red hut with its tin roof and rugged door. She couldn't believe Skulduggery had actually found someone who had known what he was asking about in that tiny town, but he had.
"You realise whoever we're looking for might find out because of all your talking?" She pointed out. Militsa was standing until the Lemon Flowered Gum tree and inspecting its leaves. She followed Skulduggery to peer into the front window with him. "And you realise this is probably just another home of someone that got kidnapped right?"
"I'm hoping for that," he told her, taking a step to the left and pulling open the unlatched door.
"Did you bring any Rainbow Dust?" She asked.
"Of course." He took it out of his inside jacket pocket, took a pinch to throw to the left, and another to the right.
"It's showing something, but it's faint," Valkyrie noticed. She stuck her head in and looked more closely. "I don't really know what it means."
"It means no magic has been used in a while," Skulduggery said quietly as he stepped in, "but I'd say it was a few days ago."
"So I was right."
"Perhaps," he said stubbornly. "Let's not rule anything out yet. Could you ask Miss Gnosis if she feels any death here please?"
Valkyrie went out and asked her.
"No, I don't, which is strange," she said as she held out her hand that had her Necromancy object, a gold band bracelet, out.
"No, it could be good," Valkyrie said. "Oh actually… could you give me and Skulduggery a moment? It's a Dead Men secret."
"Sure," she said with a shrug, turning and going to inspect some small bushes they'd passed on the way to the hut.
"Skul, what if they're being collected," she asked quietly, "by the Spiders."
"Ah," he considered, looking up and tilting his head slightly as he considered. "That would be a good theory. Why collect Necromancers from Australia if the Magicae Furem Device is in Ireland though?"
"Maybe it's not? They might have made it so it collects magic and doesn't need to transfer it immediately. No one knows how it works anyway, so it's entirely possible. And there aren't really any Necromancers in Ireland anymore. Maybe they want to cause enough problems in Australia that the Australian's don't want to send people to help us if the war breaks because they feel they have to fight problems here instead, since we're normally allies. Or maybe they were hoping we wouldn't notice and catch on."
"All very good points. So, if we theorise the Device is in Ireland with The Torment, as it wouldn't be like him to let his valued possessions go far, how do you think they would get their prisoners from here to Ireland without making it obvious?"
"Death threats? Necromancers are way scared of dying. Or, or," she said excitedly, "they kidnapped them and attached bombs to them and shit! Like proper terrorist tactics. They're so scared of dying from the bombs they're willingly going along with the Spiders in hopes they won't die. Norma and Helena don't think people die with the Device is used anyway so it adds up."
"That is some good thinking. I'm willing to go along with this so far. How do you think this would link with the Faceless Church?"
She hesitated and sagged. "I don't know. I guess it doesn't. There's no reason for any Faceless Worshipers, let alone the Church itself, to follow the Spiders. I mean, maybe they might because if they think the Spiders have a chance they might join forces, but we haven't heard a peep from them in ages and you always made them sound a lot louder than that."
"I agree. Our secondary theory, then, shall be that the Faceless Priests are up to something. What that could be, I'm not sure, but it's something to think about," he said as he began his walk out of the hut and back the way they came towards Militsa.
"It could also be neither of them though," Valkyrie said after a moment, getting an interested hum from her partner. "Maybe it's someone that got a bit twisted. They think all Faceless Worshipers and Necromancers are evil so they're kidnapping them. Just because this guy didn't die in his hut doesn't mean they're not being killed somewhere else."
"I agree," he said simply. Valkyrie suspected he wasn't as certain of that idea as their other two. She couldn't help but feel the same.
They drove quietly to the Faceless Church after agreeing that Militsa wouldn't be a particularly useful fighter seeing as how she didn't know how to fight, a point Militsa made before they even asked, and she suggested staying at a local bed and breakfast to wait for them. After she was gone, the car felt insufferably quiet with only the air conditioning blowing out mindless white noise.
Valkyrie had never been so grateful to arrive at a stakeout. They left the car in some bushes, Skulduggery pulling up some of the undergrowth to help conceal the metal and they continued the rest on foot. The sun turned the sky orange before their eyes and the environment around them, mostly sand and patches of plants, took on the same hue.
When they came close to it, she stood close to Skulduggery so he could activate a cloaking sphere around them.
"We really need to talk to Kenspeckle about getting our own enhanced invisibility ball," she said.
"I believe Meritorious actually already commissioned him to do just that," Skulduggery said. "I think it would be best for us to sneak without leaving footprints in the ground, so may I suggest flying?"
Valkyrie rolled her eyes at his new trick. "Sure, we can." She pulled on her magic and began hovering next to him and raised an eyebrow. "Coming?"
He tilted his head to indicate his grin and manipulated the air to join her. Together they carefully flew around a large cluster of trees that wrapped around a large bolder and Skulduggery guided them to a surface covered in thorns. "I've never been here before," he said slowly, "but as far as I know, this is the only entrance to his particular Church. Well, only known one anyone's ever mentioned. I'm sure there's dozens."
"So… are we going to wait here?"
"If we do, we'll see anyone coming in and out and can arrest them for questioning. Potentially stop someone from being kidnapped or murdered by following them to bait out the criminals if they happen to be a Necromancer. It would be a good plan."
"But we could also break in and sneak around."
"That wouldn't make for a very good stakeout."
"But it would be more fun," Valkyrie countered.
Skulduggery was silent for a moment, then shrugged and held a hand out to test the air. While he worked out how to get them through the secret door, she flicked her Aura Vision into place and looked around only to reel back.
"Valkyrie?!" Skulduggery gasped, grabbing her before she could completely fall out of their slowly disappearing bubble.
"I tried to use my magic, but you're red! You're Auras red!" She cried out, scrunching her eyes closed. She'd turned off the magic but the bright red light had left blotches of colour in her vision. "Oh my god. I just didn't need to use it since we got back to Ireland and I was standing so close to you it was like I was inside it and it's really bright."
"It's alright, nobody heard you. Take a moment and we'll begin again."
Valkyrie took some deep breaths and hugged Skulduggery for a moment, breathing in the faint scent of his cologne. A part of her felt awkward over it, because she knew perfectly well being as intimate with him as they previously were made her uncomfortable still, but she loved him just the same. She chose to ignore that discomfort. She knew Skulduggery and she loved his hugs and no matter the new relationship they had, his smell and his arms around her made her feel better in ways nothing else could.
Sighing deeply, she pulled away, not looking at him in the face as she turned back to the rock to try again. Skulduggery returned to finding the door and Valkyrie much more carefully looked into the gigantic boulder with her Aura Vision in place. She didn't see anything at first, but Skulduggery muttered for her to look down also and she tried that, straining to see through the ground into anything that might have people in it, until she ultimately gave up.
"This could be good though," she said as Skulduggery finally found where the door was, and, not a moment after that, the signal that removed the plants and patch of rock. He pressed it.
"I'm a genius," he said simply.
"You're a dead guy that found a hole."
"I'm a genius."
"You didn't do anything special."
"I found a secret entrance."
"That's been around for hundreds of years. We could have found that way easier if you had just looked from the start instead of using the air. If anything, you're an idiot for not doing it the simple way."
He shook his head. "Where's your positivity? We found a secret entrance Valkyrie, let us enjoy it and do crime."
"I do rather like crime," she said more chipperly and they went in together. "Trespassing is a rather boring crime to be fair. Do you think we could, like, steal something? For fun?"
"It depends what you want to steal."
"I don't know. A priceless book maybe. If there's anything on signals I could give it to Nadia."
"Ah, she is learning the discipline under China," he stated.
"Yeah she's enjoying it. Right, shut up, we need to focus."
They both nodded to each other and began into the rock, going down the short corridor and down a steep set of stairs quickly so they wouldn't have to encounter anyone on them. At the bottom there were wooden floors, painted walls, and lights through signal's in the ceiling. Valkyrie doubted they had electricity at all, much like the Necromancer Sect she had stayed at.
They went quietly and slowly, sticking to the shadows when their bubble shrunk around them and activated it as soon as it was entirely gone. They didn't encounter any room of significance whatsoever, finding only entirely empty rooms with no lights on or furniture and a kitchen that had no food in any of the cupboards when they looked around. They frowned at each other, Skulduggery in his skeletal way, and continued down into the spiralling labyrinth.
On the third or fourth floor down, Valkyrie heard light voices and they moved forwards quickly, pocketing the cloaking sphere entirely to get ready to fight. She crouched and stuck her head around a doorframe.
Inside, four people knelt on the floorboards, backs up straight and staring at a large painting of a black orb that had half engulfed a screaming man. It was partially like a Dementor, but it had a more chaotic look to it. The longer she looked at the man in the painting, the less he seemed to be having his soul removed, and the more it seemed as if the Faceless One was going into him, merging the two into one.
Looking away from the gruesome image, she tried to profile the four people. Three women, one man, different races, all wearing black robes not unlike Necromancers.
She turned and shrugged at Skulduggery. Worshipping the Faceless Ones was not a crime, and she couldn't tell if they were Necromancer's. Skulduggery leaned around her and looked for himself before shaking his head and they quickly moved past the door. Some way down the hall he very quietly muttered to her, "We need to be deeper. All Faceless Church's have dungeons, and one this old will hold a lot of secrets."
"Don't we break some religious rights laws doing this?" She asked equally as quiet.
"Of course. That's why we need to not get caught?"
Valkyrie almost rolled her eyes but saw a movement out the corner of her eye and Skulduggery pulled her back into another empty room. Unsure of what they were waiting for, she held still and listened. Only a moment later, soft footstep started coming towards them.
Skulduggery, feeling the air, silently moved towards the open door and waited, still as a statue. When the steps were on them, he darted out, locking an arm around the man's throat and cutting off his ability to cry out. Valkyrie instantly snapped one cuff around one of his hands, cutting him off from his magic, and then rushed to close the door for privacy.
"That was fast," she complimented with a wicked grin.
"Ubumnyama Isono," Skulduggery growled through gritted teeth. "You've been wanted for a long time." The man gurgled and tried kicking backwards at Skulduggery, so he kneed Isono and pushed him to the floor, kneeling on his back and not taking his arm from around Isono's neck. Valkyrie reached between them and put the shackle around his other arm so he was fully shackled. "I would love to put a bullet in the back of your head, but in consideration that we're here on a larger mission, I'm going to make a one time deal. If you tell me what I need to know and don't cause any attention, I'll be willing to let you go. If you agree to this deal, stop struggling. If you try to shout or don't cooperate, I won't hesitate to kill you."
Valkyrie held herself get anxious goosebumps from his words. Isono stopped struggling after a moment and gave a slight nod of the head. Slowly, Skulduggery sat up, giving the man room to breathe and speak.
"Pleasant," he rasped. "I thought I'd never see you in a place like this."
"In a place filled with criminals?" He asked sarcastically.
"You've always hated the Faceless Church," Isono spat. He had an accent Valkyrie couldn't identify. "You have as many prejudges as any of the rest of us, but you've always thought your so much better than everyone else. Even if I wasn't who I was, I have no doubt you'd want to kill me simply for being in this building."
"I don't have time for your banter," Skulduggery said in a forced monotone. His voice was slightly too deep for it to have been genuine. "Who's the leader of this Church."
"The same as ever. Damocles Creed. You're losing your touch if you don't even–"
Valkyrie took a step, crouched and punched his head into the ground. He didn't pass out but his eyes glazed over for a moment. "Where is he right now?"
His throat gurgled and then he answered thickly. "I do not know."
"Where might he be?" She asked in a hard voice.
He grinned, dark eyes flicking up to look at her face. "My my. You must be the infamous Valkyrie Cain. A pleasure. I had hoped to meet under more… private circumstances."
The look in his eyes made her stomach roll but she didn't look away from his gaze. "Answer my fucking question, bitch. And before you think of continuing your monologue of all the ways you would want to violate me, think about how my partner would torture you for laying a finger on me before you decide if it's worth it."
He attempted to chuckle darkly, but Skulduggery applied pressure to the back of his neck and he went red as he was deprived of oxygen. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at him and he more willingly gave into her question when he could next speak. "I don't know. Maybe his office or workshop. I don't know much about him."
"But he offered you sanctuary," Skulduggery commented.
"Anyone can come here, it's a Church," Isono snarled. He spat over his own face in the process. Valkyrie's sneer turned disgustful. "Not everyone are bigoted savages."
"You mean not everyone is willing to accept a war criminal wanted for cannibalising the enemy," Skulduggery said. "You're hardly someone most people want to be around."
"Technically," he said slowly, "I didn't cannibalise the enemy. I just cooked them and served them to other people. There's a fine difference."
Valkyrie rolled her eyes and Skulduggery chose to simply render him unconscious and they left him in the darkest corner of the room. They continued the same way as before, keeping an ear out for any noises. Valkyrie had expected more traps or people, but she considered as they walked through the spiralling building that there were better locations, and locations further away from a mining non-magic town. As Faceless Worshipers tended to be inherently anti-mortal. This Church was just a relic, something to preserve but not use the way it used to be.
When they got to the seventh floor down, and after Valkyrie had to pop her ears from the pressure, they started finding a few new people. The biggest change was the Hollow Men. The partners took them out quickly, trying not to draw attention to themselves in the process, going around them for the most part to avoid detection. Finally, on level nine, there were no lights. No sounds. No anything. The temperature dropped at least ten degrees between the level above and their current one, giving Valkyrie a sense of impending success.
They stood for a moment at the bottom of the stairs and then silently walked forwards, following the labyrinth around the level. This one was different, however, instead of following around to another staircase, this one was a short hallway and directly to grand, black wood double doors.
Skulduggery glanced at her but Valkyrie strode forwards as if they were meant to be there despite holding her breath. She quietly opened the door, pushing it confidently. It was perfectly dark as the two of them went in. Skulduggery clicked a flame to life and Valkyrie realised they were on a balcony looking down into a theatre type of room. For a moment her eyes couldn't adjust to the darkness, and then she smirked. Valkyrie pulled on her magic, whipping it out in great gusts around the room with her eyes closed to concentrate and when she opened them to see how astonished Skulduggery would be, she was instead met with a gargantuan room below her packed full of thousands of people in straight, uniform lines.
She shrieked and Skulduggery put a hand over her mouth. "Quiet! They're just experiments!"
That didn't help whatsoever, and she turned her panic eyes to him, yanking her head from his grasp. "What the actual fuck does that mean?!" She said as she looked back down at the now once again dark pit below.
"This is what the Faceless Church did with the help of Mevolent," he said lowly. "They believe that the Faceless, when they were on our planet, possessed people and then bred. The children, though the centuries, became normal humans but deep within there is something called the Faceless Gene. If the correct person was tested on, they thought they'd activate the Gene and it was the most realistic way they would bring the Faceless back to our planet to rule. But they never managed it and the practice was outlawed."
"And these people…"
"Failed attempts."
"And they kept them. All these thousands of people."
"It's said they're still alive. But not human."
Valkyrie went back to the balcony railing on shaking knees and sent a shot of light out the end of her finger, watching it dart to the floor harmlessly. A section of people were illuminated.
They were faceless.
She put the power off and stood back in horror. "Why?"
He shrugged. "I can't say I understand."
"Smart people believed in this. China believed in this. How?"
"Sometimes it's easier to follow someone than having to do it alone. If you had been punished for thinking independently, for wanting a life outside of your parents control, you would grow into an adult that was incapable of free thought in the same way a person like yourself has been raised. It is why now China defends her freedom away from many of Mevolent's old supporters so viciously."
Valkyrie paused to take in his words, trying to understand how a person could grow from such an insane doctrine of thought into someone smart and well respected, but it was cut short by the sudden slamming open of side doors on the left and right of the balcony and Hollow Men gushing out at them.
Immediately they launched themselves into the throngs. Valkyrie jumped into the air out of their reach and pushed magic out of her palms, melting through the things. They unravelled at the slightest touch of her magic. In the middle of their stomping feet, her pounding heart, Skulduggery's gun, the consistent ripping of the Hollow Men's skin and the hum of her magic, she heard in the distance a girl screaming.
"Skul, I hear someone!" She called, pointing at one below her and sending a beam of magic straight through it. His skin cracked and ripped in half. "I'm going to find her!"
He gave a muffled shout that could have been an agreement and she sent a wave of magic to clear a path, flying through them as fast as she could even when her eyes were watering and she was holding her breath. Getting through the left door, she heard a sound again and followed it, falling to the floor and grabbing her flip blade to stab her way through the now thankfully more sporadic Hollow Men.
Running quickly, she dove under a heavy fist, slamming the knife into what would have been the Hollow Man's gut, not stopping to see it deflate before jumping onto the next and the next. They never learnt her pattern and she sidestepped them and ran too fast for them to overwhelm them.
Unfortunately, she didn't consider that the trail led to a trap before she was already in it.
Isono's grin was the first thing she saw when she swung around the corner and she immediately tried punching him in the face only for him to lean to the side very slightly and let his companion roundhouse kick her in the side of the head. Her ears rang and toppled over with a small cry to the sounds of multiple people laughing. Before she'd fully recovered, she forced herself to her feet and sent a stream of magic at her assailant. It hit him in the chest and he jigged once before collapsing from the strength of it.
Six men and two women remained. One of the woman, dark skinned with a Glasgow smile that went past her docked ears, pressed a finger to the wall and Valkyrie felt as her ability to use magic left her. She almost sagged.
"We can talk about this," she said pathetically before turning and running.
Not a single second went by before she felt her face in the floor and her nose crunched on impact. Screaming unintelligibly, she didn't make out what any of the people said, even after she had gritted her teeth and stopped screaming. They put duct tape over her mouth, grabbed her nose and wiggled it like an annoying grandparent might do to a child's cheek and put a black bin bag over her head. They laughed loudly, mocking her, but all in a different language. She foolishly imagined that Skulduggery would do something to help her as she was marched away and thrown into a room close by. She sat on her knees waiting, straining to hear something useful, only for the group to get loud jeer when their companions came to meet them. The door opened and Skulduggery fell on top of her with a grunt.
The door slammed shut.
I live with a constant state of panic. I have not finished my essay. It is in soon. OMFG. I'm writing fanfiction instead. Guys, I might quit before they kick me out ngl.
Review :)
