Requiem: Chapter Five...

oO0Oo

Several days went by without drama and Valkyrie found Tanith to be enormous fun. She had a wicked sense of humour and an easy smile. It put her at ease in a sense she didn't expect. The idea of a roommate made her uncomfortable, but she soon found that she enjoyed the company of her new friend. She managed to avoid Skulduggery, though he called Tanith regularly with updates on the case. Valkyrie's phone was returned to her, presumably by him, and Andromeda insisted on visiting to meet Tanith. The blonde woman smiled and answered An's quick fire questions as best she could. Valkyrie had sat and giggled the whole time.

She was standing in the living room of the mansion as she thought of it. Tanith had agreed to come with her but had chosen to stay outside and keep an eye out for anybody returning to harm her. The sigils that had been placed on the doors and windows were still active which meant nobody unwelcome had broken in since Valkyrie left. Satisfied that she'd be safe inside on her own, Tanith had disappeared around the back of the house. It was strange to be back there alone again.

She ascended the stairs slowly, compelled by the urge to go to the study. She'd done the same walk so many times, even after the Echo Stone stopped working and she no longer saw Gordon. It had been like losing him all over again. She didn't know why it happened. One day the stone just seemed to lose power. After that the mansion became the loneliest place in her life. She pushed the study door open and yelped in surprise when she saw somebody standing in the room.

"Ah. Hello again." Skulduggery Pleasant turned to face her. He was holding the stone.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was searching the house to see if I might find a clue as to who the Infected were, but I had no luck. Now I'm trying to find out why the Echo Stone doesn't work. What are you doing here?"

"I came to collect some of my things. I guess Tanith forgot to tell you."

"It seems she did."

"Do you think you know what's wrong with the stone?"

"The cradle was the problem, the stone seems fine. In theory a cradle can power an Echo Stone indefinitely but I've always questioned that. The magic inside a cradle is sustained by the sigils carved on its outside. If the sigils become damaged or they expire then the cradle stops working. Cradle sigils are designed to last for many years, but there's no way to tell how old the cradle is. If the theory is correct then recarving the expired ones should fix it." He turned to the desk and Valkyrie saw the cradle on its top, having been removed from its secret room. He placed the stone back in its place, cocking his head to the side when nothing happened. She watched in fascination as he picked up something that looked like a pen but ended in a sharp scalpel blade. He traced an existing sigil, carving it ever so slightly deeper into the surface. As she looked she noticed other symbols had gone through the same delicate treatment. He must have been there for hours.

"Wow," she breathed as the stone flared blue. "You did it!"

"Excellent. The stone itself will need to charge, and that can take anything up to a year depending on the personality inside. Once it charges we should have Gordon back with us." The lump in Valkyrie's throat took her by surprise.

"What made you decide to do this now?" Her voice cracked.

"You moved out. I'll admit the vision played a large part in keeping me away. As much as I missed Gordon, I knew he would prefer you to stay alive. I saw a chance to try what I've learned from China while you weren't here." He waved his hand at her. "And yet here you are." Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. "Are you alright? You look like you might cry."

"I might." He was talking as though he'd done something as simple as returning a missing purse, with no idea how much it truly meant to her. She hadn't known a cradle could break, let alone that it could be fixed. Before her brain could catch up, her feet carried her across the room and she threw herself at him, burying her face in his shoulder. "Thank you." He froze, and then his arms came around her gently as he hugged her back.

"You're welcome," he said softly. He held her for a moment longer before stepping back and putting a hand on her shoulder. "I should go. We're supposed to be avoiding one another."

"Wait," she said as he turned to leave. He stopped and looked back at her. "Did you really not find anything in the house?"

"Not a thing. They didn't even break in. I believe either the Vampire that sent them, or one of the Infected themselves, is an Adept capable of unlocking doors like Tanith." He sighed, though Valkyrie wasn't sure how since he had no lungs. "Unfortunately that's as far as I'm getting. There are no links between the Infected. It seems they were just there at an ideal time to be bitten. They're a mix of mages and mortals and people are still disappearing even with Argent Bright being detained. My only certainty right now is that you are most definitely still at risk."

"You know more than I managed to figure out. I thought all the Infected were mortal."

"It's my job to know. You did well enough to find out what you did."

"Tanith told me that in another life I'd have made a good Arbiter," she smiled. Skulduggery's head tilted again, but she wasn't sure if he was smiling or if it was something else. It was hard to tell when he didn't have a face.

"I think so too."

"I thought I heard voices," Tanith said as she poked her head around the door. "Sorry I didn't call ahead, I forgot." She smiled sheepishly.

"It's alright, I don't have the urge to commit an atrocity at the moment so I think we'll be fine." His tone was amused again.

"What were you doing in here anyway?"

"He fixed the cradle for Gordon's Echo Stone," Valkyrie answered.

"No way, really? That's great," Tanith grinned. She glanced between them. "We should probably get your stuff and go Val."

"Okay, give me a minute. I'll meet you outside." Tanith hesitated, and then nodded and left them alone again.

"You know, one would usually try to avoid their killer. Yet you keep putting yourself into situations where you're alone with me." He folded his arms across his chest, head cocked at an angle as he leaned against the large desk.

"In the last week you've saved my life twice and restored power to my uncle's Echo Stone. That's a lot of effort to go to for somebody you want to kill." She hesitated, almsot unwilling to voice her opinion in case it was a silly one. "I've been thinking about it a lot over the last few days and I think in the vision you're being manipulated."

"What brought you to that conclusion?"

"Well, when you hugged me that weird shadow in the background moved and you pulled away. When you tried to speak it moved again and you shut up and then shot me. Not only do I get the impression that it's really difficult to shut you up, I also don't think you wanted to let go of me." She frowned. "There was more to it than you just wanting to kill me. You were shaking like you were in pain." He stayed quiet for several minutes, appraising her with his empty eye sockets.

"Interesting," he said eventually. "It seems you've considered an angle that failed to cross my mind."

"Is it possible to be manipulated by magic?"

"I know of a couple of Neoterics that can do it, yes. But the question that remains is why I would be forced to shoot you. And of course the possibility is still there for you or I to take a turn towards less savoury tendencies. I could suddenly want to shoot you. You could suddenly want to do things worthy of getting you shot."

"But it's another thing to look out for, right?"

"It is indeed. Although if you're correct you may already be in danger whether you avoid me or not."

"Why?"

"I spoke with Sacrament yesterday. He saw the vision again. He still couldn't see the figure in the mist but the surroundings were clearer. He said nothing else changed."

"If it's still the same then what's the issue?"

"Clearer visions mean the time of the event is in the near future. He couldn't be certain but he suggested it could occur within the next few weeks. It also means that our current efforts have made absolutely no difference to that future. That leads me to wonder if the vision and the Infected are linked." His words made her stomach twist.

"Linked how?" He paused, working through his thoughts slowly before giving them a voice.

"It's entirely possible that the Vampire in control of this is also the same person manipulating me, if that's what is actually happening in the vision. If that is the case then that Vampire is already aware that I have arrested Argent, and that you helped me to do so." His head tilts. "It could be an act of revenge against the two of us for harming one of their kind." The puzzle pieces clicked into place one by one as he spoke, and she could sense him forming an action plan as he mulled it over. "I'm going to look into the Sanctuary information on the Vampire population in this area and on Neoterics with that ability. Hopefully I'll find a link."

"It's a start, right?"

"Yes. I think to be safe we should still limit our contact, but..."

"But?"

"Perhaps bumping into each other by mistake isn't the worst thing that could happen." He straightened up and activated his facade. "I'll head to Roarhaven now and update you on whatever I find."

"And I'll try not to commit treason so you don't shoot me next time I see you." He arched an eyebrow, a smile tugging at his lips. Valkyrie was impressed by the sparkling green eyes and the faint five o'clock shadow framing the chiseled jaw of his face. She could see sandy blonde hair poking out from beneath his hat, but as always the high cheekbones reminded her that it was him and not a stranger.

"You're staring at me," he said, cocking his head.

"I like this face. It suits you."

"Of course you like my face. I'm dashing as a skeleton so I imagine having skin makes me positively irresistible." He winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Moron. I meant it suits your whole...look. You know, the suit, the hat, the pocket watch. It just seems to fit."

"I've never actually settled on a face," he mused, still smiling.

"What about your old face?"

"A lot has happened since I died. I'm not that person anymore." He shrugged. "It wouldn't feel right to wear it again."

"I think this one is definitely more you anyway. It's the first one to catch my eye at least." His grin broadened. "I should go before Tanith comes back up here and drags me outside. See you around, Skulduggery Pleasant."

"Until next time, Valkyrie Cain," he answered, tipping his hat to her again. She ducked out of the room and gathered a bag of clothes and a couple of books before heading downstairs. She found Tanith sitting on the counter tapping on her phone.

"Finally," she muttered. "I was beginning to think you were never coming down. Let's go before we cross paths with Skulduggery and you get side tracked again." She took Valkyrie by the arm and led her to the sleek black motorbike outside. She tugged a helmet on as her roommate revved the engine. A cloud of dust and pebbles kicked up behind them as they sped off down the drive, and Val clung on as tightly as she could without suffocating her new friend. They dropped her things off at the apartment and then Tanith suggested they go to the Sanctuary to train.

"You need to keep up to it," she said. "Working out is fine but you can't waste energy in a fight for your life. Especially if Skulduggery is the one pointing a gun at you."

"I know, I just know that the Sanctuary is where he's headed right now."

"We can avoid him, I'll remember to call this time. Besides, he's rarely in the training area. He doesn't have muscles to train and he's got four hundred years of fighting experience."

"Alright, you've convinced me." Valkyrie grinned and jumped back on the bike, clinging to Tanith all the way to the Sanctuary. She didn't even need to show her ID at the gate thanks to her relationship with Ghastly.

"Hey Skulduggery." Tanith spoke into her phone as they walked through the palace-like building. "We're at the Sanctuary but we'll be sticking to the gym." She paused as she waited for him to answer. "Sure thing." She ended the call and smiled. "He told me to tell you to go for my legs." Valkyrie chuckled.

"I don't know whether he's trying to help or trying to get me kicked in the face."

"Probably both. He's funny like that." They reached a changing area and Tanith took the bag from Valkyrie's shoulder, pulling their sport wear out. They changed quickly and walked out into a large room with punch bags lining one wall, various pieces of equipment and treadmills down the other and a wide space in the middle for sparring. Tanith stepped out into the space and raised her fists. "Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough," she taunted.

Tanith's sheer speed was unexpected. Every punch Valkyrie threw was blocked, every kick was deflected and she spun and ducked and twisted out of every hold. Valkyrie was panting and sweating before she'd managed to land a single hit, but she managed to block more than half of Tanith's strikes. She found that her roommate was skilled at goading her into making the right decisions, and as her body began to respond to her opponent she got faster and smarter.

Valkyrie's back hit the ground for a third time and she grunted and got to her feet immediately. Tanith lunged for her and Valkyrie remembered Skulduggery's tip. She waited until Tanith was close and then she ducked and swept her legs from beneath her. The blonde woman landed on her back with a surprised 'oof' and Valkyrie pinned her.

"Damn that skeleton," she muttered, but she was grinning. "That was fast, well done Val."

"I suppose he can be helpful sometimes." She held out a hand, helping her friend to her feet.

"To you maybe," Tanith snorted. She stretched, cracking her knuckles over her head. The muscles of her arms flexed and Valkyrie touched her aching jaw. She'd experienced Tanith's right hook first hand.

"Who taught you how to punch like that?" she asked.

"Ghastly. He likes to say his mother was a tailor and his father was a boxer, but it was the other way around."

"You almost hit hard enough to take off my head."

"I know, it's a Bespoke specialty. There's a rumour that Ghastly's mum actually did it once." She grinned. "You didn't think he got those muscles from sewing did you?"

"Obviously not. Do you mind if we take a break? I'm starting to ache." Her newly-healed ribs were still tender and beginning to protest.

"Sure, we could go get coffee if you like?"

"Sounds good." Valkyrie hesitated. "Do you mind if we invite Andromeda? You know how much she likes you."

"It's always good to get an ego boost once in a while. Sure," Tanith smirked. Val chuckled and rolled her shoulders to loosen them. "You know, for somebody who's practically self-taught you're a good sparring partner. I'm surprised at how fast you learn."

"The potential for life-threatening situations is a good motivator," she shrugged.

"You can say that again."

oO0Oo

Andromeda wouldn't stop bouncing her knee. Her pink hair was piled in a messy bun on the top of her head and she was shaking so much that it was starting to come loose. They were back in Val's favourite coffee shop in a booth towards the back, and Tanith sat opposite them. She leaned against the pleather seat with an easy smile on her face, watching Andromeda's excited grin.

"Sit still, would you? You're going to spill my coffee," Valkyrie grumbled.

"I'm just excited. It's not every day you get to have coffee with a living legend."

"You weren't this happy to see Skulduggery."

"Would you be happy to see the guy that wants to shoot your best friend?"

"He doesn't want to shoot her, the vision just suggests that it's possible," Tanith interjected. "He's a good guy once you get past the ego."

"Is it possible to get past an ego that size?" Val asked. Tanith chewed her lip thoughtfully.

"Probably not, no." That drew a giggle from all three of them. "But seriously, and if either of you tell him this I will kill you both, he's a nice guy. There's nobody I'd rather save the world with."

"You say it so casually and yet it's still so cool." An's grin was so wide it looked like it might actually split her cheeks.

"God, you're such a dork," Valkyrie muttered, nudging her. An shot a scowl at her before turning back to Tanith.

"What was it like going up against China Sorrows?" She leaned forward eagerly, wrapping her hands tightly around her iced coffee.

"Irritating," Tanith answered. "She's not the best fighter but those symbols of hers pack a punch and she knows how to use them. She almost killed me."

"Why did you fight China?" Valkyrie frowned. China was an Elder in the Roarhaven Sanctuary and Skulduggery had mentioned she was kind enough to teach him something about sigils when he was fixing the cradle.

"She made herself 'Supreme Mage'," the blonde answered, making air quotes and pulling a disgusted face. "She tried to manipulate the council so that she'd have complete control. She's always been ambitious, and unfortunately it makes her ruthless. We confronted her about it when the City Guard started acting out against mortals that knew about us. It wasn't the usual fist fighting we're used to but it was an intense political row that took months to sort out. We gathered enough evidence to topple the whole 'High Sanctuary' and 'Supreme Mage' crap. She got angry and tried to kill us. She actually sent assassins after us." Tanith wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"How did you get out of that one?"

"We had a big fight and she was gonna kill me and I was gonna kill her and then Skulduggery came up with a compromise." She frowned, obviously not happy with the solution. "We had more proof that she was bad news for the city and we planned to destroy her reputation. He was worried that if we did that she'd continue to come after us. And if she didn't then the Church of the Faceless Ones would."

"There's a religion for the Faceless Ones?" Valkyrie felt her face go blank with surprise.

"Yeah, they're all a bunch of whackos. She legitimised the religion while she was Supreme Mage. There was a whole thing about it. Anyway, we were fairly certain that they'd take revenge on us for her if she couldn't take it herself. So Skulduggery asked her to disband the City Guard and reinstate the Cleavers and Sanctuary Detectives as law enforcement, and in turn we wouldn't release what we knew so that she could stay on as an Elder."

"And she agreed?"

"She did. She even let Skulduggery have some say over it as an Arbiter. She fell in line beside the other two Elders and dropped the stupid titles in exchange for retaining some of her power. It's a much fairer system and the mortals are happier because of it." Tanith glowered. "I still would've been happier to see her rot in the Goal, but without her to undo the damage she did we'd have had no hope. Somebody just as bad would have stepped into the chair of Supreme Mage and we'd be no better off."

"The detective said that Roarhaven used to be a crappy little town and the sanctuary used to be a little grey building. I've always avoided Roarhaven because I hate it. It seemed to spring up out of nowhere and suddenly there was this huge palace and the city was massive. What happened?" Andromeda didn't take her eyes off Tanith as she spoke.

"Well that's hard to explain. The palace and part of the city are from another dimension that runs alongside our own. In that dimension Lord Vile never disappeared and Mevolent won the war. A man called Silas Nadir was an Adept with a natural ability to Shunt back and forth between dimensions. He managed to shunt the alternate version of the city here somehow and the two combined."

"That's insane," Valkyrie muttered. "An entire city? Where is he now?"

"Silas? No idea. And I don't know who gave him the idea to do it but China was certainly pleased with her new palace." Tanith rolled her eyes and sipped her coffee. "I'm just glad she isn't all powerful anymore. Having two other Elders to balance things out helps a lot."

"Who's the third Elder?" Valkyrie asked. Andromeda glanced at her like she couldn't believe she'd heard the question, but kept her mouth shut.

"Now that's the interesting bit," Tanith grinned. "Do you know of a man named Dexter Vex?"

"He was one of the Dead Men right?"

"He was. Now he's an Elder in the Irish Sanctuary. Skulduggery insisted that if China were allowed to stay in power she should have two people with unshakeable morals beside her. They were the people agreed upon. It took a while to convince Vex but since then he's risen to the challenge."

"He's so attractive," Andromeda murmured, misty eyed. "I'd love to meet him."

"Good luck with that. He prefers a more hands on role in life so he's the one that travels to the other Sanctuaries around the world. He's rarely here and when he is it's for business." Valkyrie's phone buzzed in her pocket, making her jump.

"Hello?"

"Steph? It's mum."

"Oh, hey mum. What's up?"

"Can you babysit for me tonight? Your father booked a table at a restaurant and told me it was next week but it turns out he booked the wrong date. We can cancel if it's too short notice." Her mother's voice was filled with barely concealed hope. Valkyrie couldn't help her smile.

"Sure, I can do that. No problem."

"Thank you sweetheart. Drop by this afternoon and then either you can stay with her or she can stay at yours. How's the apartment by the way? I'm sorry I haven't had chance to come look at it yet."

"Don't worry about it. It's great. I have a cool roommate too."

"A roommate?"

"Yeah, I decided I didn't like living alone and she was looking for somewhere in Haggard."

"Is she nice?" Valkyrie glanced at Tanith, who wiggled her eyebrows.

"She's great," she answered, fighting a grin. "I'll come by in an hour or so."

"Can't wait to see you, bye sweetie." The line went dead and Valkyrie slipped the phone back into her pocket.

"Did you just sign us up for babysitting duties?"

"Only for one night. My parents are going out to dinner and my sister is too young to be home alone."

"Seems fair. I have to insist on babysitting at the apartment though. I can protect you both much more easily from there thanks to the sigils around it." She drained her cup and folded her arms across her chest.

"That's alright. We can take my car though. I can't put Alice on a bike."

oO0Oo