AN: Just for a note, I'm aware Valkyrie loses her necromancy powers after her Surge, I'm ignoring that a little and saying that she can still manipulate shadows and Shadow walk, because it's cool and I wanted to include it in my story. On with the chapter!
Chapter 6
The next morning I was awoken by the sounds of someone talking. I shot out of bed, half awake and barely aware of where I was, freezing when I heard the soft voice of my mother. Not able to make out quite what she was saying, I crept out of the room I had taken over the night before, pulling what little shadows there were around my body to keep me hidden. A male voice broke through, the words indistinguishable to me but sharp in their tone, followed by another voice, this one female.
An open doorframe at the end of the hall seemed to be the source of all the noise, and as I made my way quietly down the passage, a tall figure became more apparent to me the closer I got. As far as I could tell it was the source of the male voice I had heard earlier, a tall, dark, and broad shouldered man. He was leaning on the door frame in a manner that would look relaxed to the untrained eye. His frame held tension and as I wandered ever closer, and he began to turn to leave the room, I could finally hear what he was saying.
"-I'll go after him alone." He had an Irish accent, I noted with surprise, through it was somewhat faded, as if he had spent many years away from Ireland. I forced myself to focus as the voices started again.
"Even if you could find him," I heard my mother say, her tone calm, if somewhat annoyed. "do you really think you can just walk up to him and stab him in the heart with your sword?" Her words froze both me and the dark haired man in place, my heart thudding wildly in my chest. I closed my eyes in defeat.
Of course there is a murder plot, I thought to myself miserably, maybe all my blood relatives are destine to be blood thirsty. Thoughts of my broken reflection floated across my mind, distracting me from the conversation at hand before the man shouting brought me back.
"I deserve my vengeance!" he cried out, anger coating his every word. The other voice cut in.
"You're right." The mystery woman said in a soothing tone. "You're right. You do, and with the Dark One gone, we can search for the one magical item that can actually kill him here- his dagger." Enough was enough, and I backed silently down the hall to my room, before noisily opening and shutting my door, purposely making as much noise as I could as I made my way towards the group again. They had fallen silent, so I called out.
"Regina? Are you awake?" I faked a loud yawn into my hand as I stumbled into the room. "I- oh." I halted, forcing a bemused look onto my face. "Sorry, I didn't know you had company." The dark haired man had turned to face me, and I noted absently that he was hot, in a scruffy pirate way. A bruise covered his left eye and he was holding himself like he had been injured further.
Interesting.
I turned my focus to the other woman in the room, who stood a few paces away from my mother. She had lighter hair than Regina, was many years older than her, and several inches shorter, but they shared an undeniable resemblance.
Blood thirsty family theory proven once again.
I smiled unsurely, looking towards Regina who gazed back with a strange mix of guilt and anxiety. "Am I interrupting?" I asked, doing my best to look non-threatening, which wasn't particularly difficult given my bare feet, sleep ruffled clothing, and the birds nest that now resided on top of my head. Regina shook her head, shooting warning looks at her companions, both of whom were trying to deconstruct me with their eyes alone.
"Not at all darling." She smiled, coming closer to grab my shoulder softly. "We were just finishing up. Hook." She bit out, turning towards the man. He glared back at her. "Why don't you get a head start, we'll meet up with you soon." He nodded, giving me one last searching look before stomping out of the bedroom. Once he was out of earshot, Regina beckoned the other woman over. "Mother." She started, confirming my suspicions. "This is your granddaughter, Valkyrie. Valkyrie, this is Cora, your grandmother."
We eyed each other after this announcement, Cora's dark eyes searching me for something unknown. Personally, it took all of three seconds to realize that something was seriously off about this woman, but I grinned widely and extended my hand towards her.
"It's lovely to meet you Grandmother." I said, flinching internally as her sharp eyes met mind once more. She regarded me for a moment before embracing me in a tight hug, my arms instinctively hugging her back. She pulled back after a moment, smiling widely and keeping a firm grasp on my upper arms. Cora turned slightly towards Regina who stood at my back.
"How is this possible?" She whispered joyfully, though it was difficult to tell whether that joy was genuine or not, though the surprise in her eyes definitely was. "Who-"
"It's a long story mother." Regina interrupted, putting her hand on my back gently. "And we have a great many things to do today." Cora pulled away at that.
"Ah, you are quite right dear." She simpered, placing her hand on my cheek and gazing into my eyes. "You look just like your mother my dear." She murmured to me, squinting slightly. "Your eyes, though, they are terribly familiar…" Cora trailed off, shooting my mother an accusatory look. Regina ignored it in favor of pulling me away from my newly discovered, and slightly murderous grandmother, and began guiding me downstairs.
"Unfortunately my darling, I have a somewhat full docket today, so I'll be away all day." Regina said, directing us to the kitchen where she began pulling out items to make coffee. "I had planned on spending as much time as possible with you when I found you but… well your arrival was quite unexpected." She finished, guilt tinged in her every word. I shrugged absently, watching Cora as she joined us.
"That's alright mum, I was thinking about doing a little bit of shopping today anyways." I grinned at Regina as she turned to me with a questioning look. "I wasn't exactly expecting to be traveling so far myself, and, as such, didn't bring much more with me than what I'm wearing and my bike." Regina nodded, faint amusement dancing across her face. Cora crossed over to where Regina was to pour herself a cup of coffee.
"And how exactly did you get here Valkyrie dear?" Cora asked innocently over her shoulder, pouring milk and sugar into her coffee. I smiled tightly at her back.
"It's a bit of a long story." I finally responded, crossing my arms tightly and ignoring the concerned look that Regina was shooting me. I moved away from the counter that I had been leaning against and began moving towards the stairs again. "I'll pick up something at Granny's for dinner." I said to Regina, beginning to climb the stairs. "Text me what you'd like." She nodded, still looking somewhat concerned, and as I disappeared upstairs I could have sworn I heard Cora say something nearly under her breath.
"She's hiding something Regina. And I intend to find out what."
