Chapter 223
Valkyrie's POV
"'Sup," Valkyrie said in monotone, leaning against a cabinet. "You found something?"
"We have information about the three teenagers you and Pleasant fought in the bookshop," the lady said. She'd learnt her name years ago, forgotten it, and been told half a dozen times since and yet still continued to forget it. She was always nice, so Valkyrie liked her even if she was, for some reason, unable to remember who she was. "Their names. Kitana Kellaway is the girl, seventeen years old. You've been introduced to Doran Purcell, and the other boy is Seán Mackin. All three are seventeen with six months in age difference between the oldest and youngest. We've traced the murder with a lot of blood you saw directly before Thomas Purcell to be a young man that once dated Miss Kitana Kellaway, and we're under the impression the young man broke up with Kitana some weeks ago and she's held a grudge since. They apparently had a loud shouting match outside school teachers broke up."
"Matches her personality," Valkyrie muttered. Skulduggery nodded out the corner of her eye.
The woman whose name she still forgot continued. Per-something. Or maybe it started Par? She didn't know. "We know the school they go to now and they haven't attended in the last week and a half so it's assumable they've had access to these new powers since then."
"That would make some sense. We'll need to have some undercover people watching the school," Skulduggery said.
"Miss Ó Hallmhuráin already had us ask the receptionist to call us if any of the three turn up, and there's cars in the area for immediate action," she informed them. Miss Ó Hallmhuráin being Amanda, Head of the detectives and other law enforcement officers. "There's another thing. There's usually a fourth member of their group."
Skulduggery and Valkyrie stood straighter. "There was a fourth light," Valkyrie said quickly.
"That was my thinking from the reports we have also. We found out that the fourth person, a girl named Elsie O'Brien also their age, hasn't been seen in just as long. We don't know where she is. She's usually with the other three teens."
"She could still be hanging around them but not in public," Valkyrie said softly, thinking.
"Or she could have split and ran," Skulduggery continued for her.
"Or they killed her. Or she killed herself by accident with her powers."
"All ideas. Unfortunately, I can't help you much more than that. We did find the home address for Elsie O'Brien, but she apparently isn't home much and her parents don't seem the most attentive. They're going through a divorce at present and from the notes we got, it's a rather messy one. Both parents seemed to be under the impression she was with the other and had no idea she was missing for the last fortnight."
Valkyrie wrinkled her nose and Skulduggery thanked the lady for her help. Valkyrie copied as they left her office.
"So, we track down Elsie O'Brien?" She said.
"Yes, but first I wanted to go to see the newly rediscovered Accelerator before we leave the Sanctuary," Skulduggery said.
"Oh yeah. Didn't Erskine say something about that causing damage?"
"I remember something about an incident when it was found but I was admittedly distracted."
Valkyrie nodded and ran a hand through her hair only to notice it was coming loose from its tie and pulled it out to redo it. "Is Kenspeckle working on it?"
"I believe so, as well as everything else the Sanctuary has him on."
Valkyrie fixed her hair as they walked, using passing glass to check her reflection as they went until they got down to where the Accelerator was. When they got to the open door, Skulduggery raised his fist to knock politely but hesitated when he noticed Lament and Lenka in hushed argument.
He glanced at her and she awkwardly cringed, looking between the arguing pair, Skulduggery and behind her into the empty hallway they could disappear into.
"Oh, Pleasant," Lament suddenly said, ruining her getaway. She pretended she was shuffling instead of taking a quiet step out of view as she had been. "Valkyrie. I didn't see you there. Did you need something?"
Lenka flicked her hair and took a deep breath as she looked over a large, open topped box full of wires that might have been connected to buttons when it was fully assembled. Though Valkyrie really couldn't be sure when it was all apart as it was. She looked angry. "We were just coming to see the Accelerator," Skulduggery provided.
"Ah, I see. Well, it's here." Lament turned and went around the back of a big box-like podium and it sounded like he kicked something across the floor.
There was a pause before Skulduggery filled it. "Right."
"You can come in," Lenka said, throwing them a smile. "Don't worry about him, he's just stressy. Is there anything you want to know about it?"
"Everything that's happened so far, really," Skulduggery said, taking some steps in but staying back from the wires, tools and sheets of metal around.
"Well, you know it was made back when this Sanctuary was built. And it was rediscovered when Tyren, Vernon and Kalvin told Dexter and Erskine about it, and they told your Elders. Elder Deuce and Meritorious came to look at it and triggered some activation codes when they did, and it set off some sort of trap at the same time. I've looked and it wasn't anything to do with the machine though, it was something added by someone else. It was created by Doctor Rote, did you know? He was really talented. I don't know if I know enough to inactivate his machine. But Tyren's been doing some digging, and he thinks that Doctor Rote made a separate machine to control the Accelerator."
"Oh? That sounds important."
"I think it is. It's called The Engineer, with a capital on 'The'. I assume it can tell us how to work this thing."
"Okay, and I presume that is something exceptionally easy or something exceptionally hard to find."
"I'm betting on hard," Skulduggery said, putting his hands in his pockets.
"We don't know where it is right now," Lenka said seriously.
"So really hard," Valkyrie nodded. "What does this thing even do?"
"It blows up the entire solar system, or maybe more," Lenka said casually, looking back at the box of wires. "It works by taking magical energy from the 'Source of All Magic'," and she said that phrase in a mocking voice, "to power itself. It's been dormant until recently so I don't think it's been used but seems to be in working order. In theory, Doctor Rote's notes indicate it can take that energy and put it in other people to give them a boost."
Valkyrie and Skulduggery both paused. "Oh shit," Valkyrie said, looking at the podium thing with a small amount of nervousness.
"That's not unlike the Magicae Furem Device," Skulduggery said quietly.
"I've heard of that from Doctor Kenspeckle. It seems to have some similarities, but it's not exactly the same. The Magicae Furem Device, if it works the way we assume it does, takes people's magic and transfers it either exactly as it is taken with that type of magic limiting it and puts it in another person, or else it just takes the power itself and gives the receiver that. If it's just the power, it's similar, yes. But the Accelerator would be way more powerful. It would give people god-like powers every time."
"Why would Doctor Rote make something like that?"
Lenka shrugged. "I don't know. I just have to figure out how it works and stop it. Tyren might know, but he's being a baby right now."
"I am not," Lament's sulking voice came from behind some things not far away.
"You are."
"I just don't think you're making smart decisions right now."
"You're judging me on something that has nothing to do with you. So stop being a baby about it."
"I'm trying to look out for you."
"You don't need to do that. I have my own eyes. And they work really good. I'd know, because Doctor Kenspeckle looked in them with a really bright light and he said they were good."
He sighed and Lenka looked over her shoulder in Lament's general direction with a frown before slowly going back to what she was doing.
There was a sound behind them and Valkyrie turned a few moments before a Cleaver came in, followed a few moments later by a haggard Meritorious, with more Cleavers at his back. Him not being allowed to wander without escort indicated how on edge he was. He wasn't someone she'd ever viewed as weak or worried. He was strength and power and that was all. "Pleasant, Cain. You've broken in again. What do you think?"
"Is it breaking in yet?" Skulduggery asked.
"Technically, I think. But I really don't have the energy to care what the Supreme Council think of the Dead Men. I would like both of you on finding The Engineer, but we still need to put focus on finding our three newly gifted teenagers."
"I agree," Skulduggery said, crossing his arms.
"I want to put yourself, Skulduggery, and Tyren on finding where The Engineer ended up. Valkyrie, I need you to continue focusing on the teenagers with your brothers."
"We should work together on the teenagers," Skulduggery argued immediately.
"That would be ideal, but the Accelerator has solar system ending properties, so I think it might just be a little important," Meritorious said somewhat rudely. "We don't have enough people power to keep our best people together right now. This is how it needs to be."
Valkyrie frowned but nodded. "It makes sense but these teenagers are literally supercharged crazy people. We're going to need a lot of people to keep it out of the way of mortal populations. Especially since they probably think this is a great game."
Meritorious nodded but shrugged. "We'll do what we can as we can. You always have the Sanctuary's support, and things are getting easier now we aren't getting new reports of magic from more mortals, but we're still stretched too thin. With any hope you'll corner them and the stars will align and everyone will be free at the exact moment to help. But you know how that goes."
"It doesn't tend to happen."
"Precisely. I want to leave Bazaar on figuring out what she can on the Accelerator until then, and keep Kenspeckle on the mortals and his other tasks he's graciously helping us with, and I know Valkyrie, you are capable of dealing with these children. I have confidence in you."
"I'll try my best," she nodded.
"I know. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work. If we can't secure more Cleavers or Reapers soon, we'll have to resort to Hollow Men. Which is not a good look."
Remus Crux: Shh, I can play Sims in fanfiction if I want to! I have plans for the non-fighters, no worries, but I won't spoil it.