Chapter 3
Valkyrie's POV
I sat across from Stone, glaring at him as he finished explaining what he was going to do.
"Are you sure about this Valkyrie?"
"Skulduggery."
"I wouldn't blame you if you decided not to go through with this, I'd hate to have this jackass in my head."
"Hey." Stone complained, frowning lightly. "I'm right here."
"Remember when I told you to shut up?" Skulduggery hissed, glaring as much as he could without eyes or a face. Stone's frown deepened.
"No."
"Oh. Sorry, thought I had. Anyway, shut up." Skulduggery paused. "Please."
I scoffed at the exchange, pulling Skulduggery's attention to me once more. "I'm doing this, alright? And I need you to back me up because goodness knows what this weirdo will do if unsupervised." I said, glancing up into his empty eye sockets. Even without a face, he was easy to read, at least to me. He heaved a faux sigh at me before rolling his neck.
"Fine." He muttered. I sent him a smile, then turned to Stone. Pointing a finger at him, a terrible scowl crossed my face.
"Fuck with my mind and I will make you eat your own toes." I threaten, feeling Skulduggery come up behind me to grip my shoulders.
"It's true, she's done it before." He intoned from behind me. Stone gulped, and reached his trembling fingers out to touch my temples, his eyes falling shut, and mine following suit.
The memory of my 7th birthday played once again, before a terrible pressure began throbbing in my mind, growing stronger and stronger until it released in a burst of pain exploding across my body, a cry of pain escaping my mouth. I could feel Skulduggery's hands on my shoulder, but the feeling was soon drowned out by a wave of childhood memories, filled with the two people I had seen earlier, the beautiful dark haired woman and the man with scaly gold skin. I watched them pamper me, care and love me, the memories becoming more and more fuzzy as the years turned back. And the magic! The woman, (my mother?) throwing fireballs, and the man (my father I suppose) appearing and disappearing around different rooms to amuse me.
Two memories stood out as important, and suddenly I understood why the necklaces I had always held so close to my heart were so important.
I heard someone gasping, and it took several seconds for me to realize that it was me. Eyes flying open, I met the confused gaze of Stone and my fist flew out, catching him in the jaw and knocking him out cold.
"Valkyrie?" Skulduggery's voice echoed in my ear, his hands still tight on my shoulders. I stood, brushing his arms off.
"There is something I have to do Skul," I muttered distractedly, shooting a faint smile up at him. "Be right back." And I melted into the shadows, reappearing at the entrance of the building we had found Stone in. I marched over to my bike, glad for the first time that the Bentley was in the process of being repaired, and that I had refused to drive with Skulduggery in the bright turquois mini cooper.
Slinging a leg over the dark blue motorcycle that Tanith had insisted on giving me as soon as I could drive, I grabbed the opal necklace, flipping it over to trace the single word carved on the back with my finger. I took a shaky breath in, aware that Skulduggery was noisily sprinting down the stairs towards me.
"Rumpelstiltskin." I breathed out. And all of a sudden, I was gone.
Whatever kind of magic that had taken me here was…different than how I had expected. Definitely smoother than Fletchers teleporting, at the very least. Glancing around, I found myself in the middle of a road, a few feet away from a sign. A car, obviously crashed recently, lay on one side of the road. I looked past it, reading the sign to myself.
"Storybrooke, Maine?" I muttered in confusion, not expecting to end up in America of all places. Glancing down the road, I could swear that I could see buildings in the distance, and, steeling myself, I pulled my helmet over my head. Starting up my bike with a loud roar, I road into town, slowing slightly as I passed a bright yellow Bug car heading the way that I had just come from. I could have sworn the man in the back looked familiar…shaking my head, I continued on.
Spotting what looked like a police station, I pulled into the parking, ignoring the looks that I had been garnering. Swinging off my bike, I walked up to the front door, frowning when I realized that the lights were off and the door was locked.
"What kind of town closes the police station?" I grumble to myself, resigned to the fact that this wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. I turned, nearly jumping when I noticed the woman who had been behind me. She smiled apologetically, brushing a few strands of long brown hair over her shoulder.
"Sorry." She said in an American accent, wincing slightly. "I just, were you looking for the Sheriff? He isn't in right now."
I smirked back at her, pulling the helmet off and combing a hand through my hair gently. "Yeah, I had gathered. Do you know where he might be?" I asked. She blinked back at me, apparently not expecting the Irish accent. Her smile dimmed for a moment before she brightened once again.
"Yeah, of course." She said, eyeing me a little before gesturing for me to follow her. "He's at home right now, bit of a family emergency, but I'm sure he won't mind." She turned and walked off, and, after pondering her weird reaction, I jogged to catch up, quickly falling into step alongside her. She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, reaching her hand out after a few seconds. "I'm Ruby by the way." I took her hand, shaking it once before letting go.
"Valkyrie, nice to meet you." I said, casting my gaze around me. I was stunned at the normalcy of the place, small shops and storefronts dotting the streets, a library seemingly connected to a clock tower. Not the sort of place I would think my…parents would be, what with the fire balls and teleporting. Ruby's voice interrupted my observing.
"How long are you planning to stay in Storybooke, if you don't mind me asking?" she said, still casting subtle glances towards me every few moments. I lifted a shoulder in response.
"Not really sure. I guess until I find what I'm looking for."
"And what is that?" She asked, eyebrows raised. I had to smile at her attempt at an interrogation. Tapping my nose, I looked up at the apartment building we had stopped in front of.
"Does the Sheriff live here?" I asked her back, pointing towards the building. She sighed, nodding her head, and opened the door for me. We climbed (god damn it) several sets of stairs, ending up at the top in front of a single apartment door. Ruby knocked swiftly, pushing the door open after a moment.
Following in after her, I met the bright blue eyes of a blond man, probably a few years older than my physical body (given that I had stopped aging when I was barely 20), and spotted a dark haired woman a few feet behind him. Mustering my best manners, I strode forwards with a smile that I was pretty sure didn't look entirely crazy.
"Hi, are you the Sheriff?" I said holding my hand out, his hand coming up to meet mine almost instantly. "The station was closed and I really need help with something."
He nodded gently, his eyes raking over me quickly. "Deputy Sheriff David, our actual Sheriff is out at the moment." He gestured over his shoulder to the woman who gave a wave and a smile when our eyes connected. "This is my wife Mary Margaret. Are you new to town? Sorry, I've just never seen you before."
I waved him off, releasing his hand from mine. "No worries, I am. I'm actually here looking for someone, well, two someones really."
A sharp gasp rang out from deeper in the apartment, and I turned to meet the gaze of the woman I had seen in so many of my lost memories.
"Valkyrie?"
