Told you this chapter would be better. And I reckon it's clear that I don't like China. Also, don't hate me for putting an OC into the position of Elder. She is actually quite important to the story, and after conferring with LionsandTrolls (the only one who's actually reviewing by the way. Thank you so much for that!), I reckon she's alright.
To LionsandTrolls: Pfft! Erskine's a goat XD Don't let him or Skulduggery hear that. And you already think he'd in creeper territory? Wait until Chapter 21, you'll be horrified! I'm horrified at what I've done!
Chapter 19 – Stubbornness and Broken Walls
China, Ghastly and Mesmer all stared at the man wearily. Of course he had come back to demand he be allowed to go back to work; he was Skulduggery Stubborn-Ass Pleasant; the thick-headed detective who didn't know when to quit.
"Give me a desk job if you so wish," Skulduggery pressed. "Just so long as I can do something, I'm happy."
Ghastly rolled his eyes, Loom's shoulders slumped and China was inconspicuously gripping the arm of her throne in an attempt to hold her temper in check.
"We shall request preparation of an office for you," China said through gritted teeth. "Work starts on Monday."
Immediately, Skulduggery's face lit up, followed by a smug air of triumph. "It is much appreciated, Grand Mage," he said.
"Good. Now get out, let Synecdoche finish her assessment of your condition and go home. Don't come back until Monday."
"Very well. In that case, I bid you adieu."
With a highly uncalled for flourish of his hat, Skulduggery tuned to leave. Strutting towards the door, he unexpectedly walked into the doorframe, hitting his nose painfully. Amused by the blunder, Ghastly laughed at him shamelessly, and even China allowed a small chuckle at the detective's misfortune. Lounging back in her throne, Mesmer Loom watched with a self-satisfied smirk on her face.
"Grand Mage, may I recommend that you teach your doors to remain in one place when one intends to walk through them," Skulduggery grumbled, rubbing his nose and shooting a glare in Elder Loom's direction. Ghastly was howling with laughter, and Skulduggery treated him to an indignant scowl; exiting and grumbling about Elders and their lousy sense of humour.
When Ghastly managed to calm down, he was red in the face from laughing so hard. "Well done, Mesmer," he chortled, "I think we all needed that."
Mesmer smiled exultantly. 'It was rather fun,' she signed, glad that her fellow Elder had taken the time to learn sign language so as to ease the stress of her constantly communicating telepathically.
Mesmer Loom was a powerful Sensitive, which she owed to her many years of travelling and refining her craft; learning the multiple talents found within her branch of magic. During the war, she'd aided the Sanctuary in recovering various agents and locating possible threats; going so far as to try influencing Mevolent's mind. Sadly, her endeavours had resulted in the removal of her vocal cords along with one or two toes; courtesy of Doctor Nye. She'd gained a few pounds since the war had ended, but that was understandable since she'd previously looked half-starved until a Buddhist monk had helped amend that. Her long, cherry blonde hair was currently braided with several ornamental beads, light gold eye shadow complimented pale green eyes, and somehow she managed to pull off wearing the Elder robes with little difficulty.
"As amusing as it is, I'm afraid we have other matters to attend to," China cut in. "Tipstaff, would you kindly fetch Erskine Ravel for us?" The distaste in her voice when she said the name was more than evident. In fact, it dripped with venom. "I presume he is in the medical ward. Am I correct, Elder Loom?"
Mesmer briefly nodded in confirmation; a little annoyed at China's blunt formality.
"As you wish, Grand Mage Sorrows," Tipstaff said; sounding like a spiffing toff as usual. As he left, Mesmer; ever the prankster trying to make everyone laugh; mentally prompted him to swing his hips like a sassy catwalk model. This earned her some barely contained laughter from Ghastly and a disapproving glance from China. Mesmer liked Ghastly; they'd courted briefly in their youth, but eventually decided that they didn't click that way. Now, he was more like a brother to her.
As she waited for Tipstaff to return with Ravel, she allowed herself to think about the Man with the Golden Eyes. Last time Mesmer had seen him had been about a month after he'd been allocated to that nasty-looking gaol. He'd been a little worse for wear, what with his broken jaw, bruised and recently dislocated (but soon fixed) shoulder, but a look in his mind showed that the walls around his mind had been no less unpassable as they'd been before then, if only a little scratched and looking as if some parts had recently been rebuilt. She hadn't been getting a look into his mind any time soon at that point.
But recently, the fleeting glimpses of his mind's defences hadn't seemed quite so unyielding any more, and it worried her somewhat. In fact, they'd seemed almost non-existent, but she wouldn't be able to confirm that until she got a proper look.
Twisting around in her throne, she tried to dismiss the horrible feeling of cold dread that she felt in her gut. Mesmer might not have been all too great at seeing the future, but she could still get slight premonitions, and she really hoped that this wasn't one of them.
Erskine had given up trying to halt his trembling fit long before it had even started; as was the case with most things in his life nowadays. He'd given up trying to fight off the abuse; given up on defying the horrifying truths that the warden and gaol inmates had hammered into his traumatised, broken mind; given up on the revolution and dreams he'd once held in such high regard.
China Sorrows gazed upon this pathetic little shell of a human being with unmasked disgust. This was the man who'd lead a revolution against the dominance of mortals? This was supposed to be one of Ireland's esteemed heroes who'd survived the tyrannical grasp of Mevolent? This had to be some sort of joke. Erskine Ravel; as much as she hated to admit; was not a quivering little weakling who couldn't even look at anyone without shattering into a screaming mess that begged over and over again for mercy he didn't deserve.
"So you understand the consequences of what will happen should you go against your word?" she questioned again, her tone apathetic but threatening and promising a lot of pain if she was defied.
"Y-y-y-yes," Erskine whimpered, refusing to let his one intact eye meet with China's icy blue ones. He was utterly terrified, traumatising images flooding his mind and making him shake even more to the point that the table was rattling.
Rolling her eyes, China stood up, relishing in the way Ravel shrank even further. Wordlessly, she exited the interrogation room, and met Clarity in the hallway.
"He's yours," she said, and the Cryptid's gaze hardened slightly. "Do as you see fit with him, just don't let him near anyone who may have been involved in his little uprising. I think it would benefit us all if that little spark of rebellion did not get a chance to flare up again."
"If it'll keep him safe, then so be it," Clarity said bluntly. "Thank you; I appreciate that you've let me do this."
China said nothing. She was already walking away, hardly caring about the fate of the traitor anymore. He was no longer her problem.
Scowling after the Grand Mage, Clarity waited for her to disappear round the corridor before entering the room to find Erskine sat, still shaking at the table, staring at his hands with wide, terrified eyes.
"Erskine?" they ventured, cautiously approaching him but halting when he snapped his head up to look at them. They knew how trauma could easily lead to violent, fearful outbursts through even the slightest of actions. "You ready to go?"
Whimpering softly, Erskine responded with a shaky, unsure nod, and Clarity carefully walked over and helped him to his feet. He gripped their arm with a terror-fuelled grip of iron, but thankfully, it wasn't the most painful thing they'd experienced. Having their leg broken as a result of getting caught in a steel-jawed bear trap probably took that spot.
"I'll get you some crutches as soon as possible," Clarity said, looking at Erskine's leg, which was encased in a thick white cast. "That way you can move about more freely whilst your leg's still in that cast."
"O-o-okay," Erskine whispered, his voice barely audible. "C-Clarity?"
"Yes? What is it?" Clarity asked.
"I-I… I wanna go home. I-I don't like it here. I'm… I'm scared."
Tears pricked at Clarity's eyes, and it took a lot of willpower not to let them flow freely down their face. They'd never expected Erskine, of all people, to beg them to go home the way a terror-stricken child would. Just what else had those bastards possibly done to him?
"Okay," they said, carefully guiding Erskine out of the room and one step closer to something he could call freedom. "We'll go home now."
These days, Erskine didn't laugh very often, but the sight of Tipstaff walking in with his hips swaying like a teenage diva from a hilariously melodramatic chick flick had him doubling over with hysterics. It was so surprising that Synecdoche actually thought he was having some sort of seizure, which might as well have been the case. Even Clarity looked a little concerned.
"T-Tipstaff," Erskine managed to utter between gleeful howls. "Do you… do you know what you're doing? Jesus Christ, I never realised you were so sassy!"
The Administrator just scowled at him irately, clearly not finding his predicament in the least bit funny. "The Council of Elders request your presence," he said briskly, turning to make a brief exit. His hips were still carrying out that ridiculous oscillating motion.
Erskine's laughter quickly died down once he processed just what Tipstaff had said. The Elders. Mesmer, China and Ghastly. They wanted to see him.
Glancing towards Clarity for reassurance, he reluctantly followed the Administrator towards the throne room. Anxiety rose in his throat as his guts tied themselves in knots. Last time he'd seen China, he'd almost had a fit.
When Erskine entered the throne room, Mesmer was surprised by what she saw. Fear simmered behind his eyes, and he appeared to have shrunk. Not literally, of course. His presence just didn't seem to fill the room like it used to.
Looking into his mind, she expected the same towering walls to block her entry as the ones she'd always been met with in the past. Much to her dismay, all that remained was a ruin; barely standing any more. If she'd had a mind to, she could easily pass through and look through whatever she chose, and even wreak havoc in there if she so wished.
"Erskine Ravel," China greeted, her voice dangerously level. Not a good sign.
"Grand Mage Sorrows," Erskine murmured. "Um… To what do I owe the pleasure? I didn't expect you to request my presence."
Mesmer frowned. She could see the rising wave of terror slowly approaching the shattered remains of Erskine's walls.
"I thought it would be prudent to receive an update on you, what with you having spent seven months in Miss Veil's custody."
Wouldn't Clarity be a more reliable source? Mesmer 'heard' Erskine think. No, you have other motivations.
"I see," was all he said.
"So I trust you've been behaving accordingly," China continued.
"Yes."
The walls were shaking. Pieces were crumbling away.
"There have been no… little sparks of rebellion recently?"
Large chunks were breaking off now; Erskine's raging turmoil of emotions was threatening to burst forward.
"N-no!" he protested. "No, I… I've not tried anything. Y-you have to believe me."
Narrowing her eyes, China continued asking questions, her gaze unwavering and voice sharp and blunt. As the tension grew, Mesmer could see Erskine's defences breaking down faster and faster, and it was showing, too. He was shaking violently, blinking to hold back tears, and most of what he said was lost in a torrent of fearful stuttering.
Eventually, Mesmer had had enough.
"Thank you, Erskine," she said telepathically, broadcasting the message all throughout the room so that Ghastly and China heard it too. "You're dismissed."
A frantic nod was the only reply before Erskine more or less ran out of the throne room. Nightmare images flashed in his mind, forcing tears from the corners of his eyes and before he realised where he was going, he found himself in one of the men's bathrooms, shaking and breathing heavily. He was struggling to breathe and his vision was blurring.
After several minutes of desperately trying to hold back tears and repeatedly splashing his face with water from the tap in an attempt to calm himself, he finally left and headed back to the infirmary. Hopefully no one would notice that he'd come very close to having another panic attack.
"Are you alright, Erskine?"
Erskine looked up from where he was staring out of the Bentley window to meet eyes with Skulduggery. A month, and the man was already driving again. Hopefully he wouldn't wind up crashing. Now he and Erskine were both driving back to the manor ahead of Clarity, Saracen, Dexter and the Pups, who were still with Doctor Synecdoche, receiving a check-up.
"I'm okay," Erskine murmured quietly, failing to convince the detective.
Frowning, Skulduggery gently held Erskine's hand in his, but to his surprise, the man flinched away. Confused, he remained silent for the remainder of the journey until they pulled up in front of Edgely Manor.
"Erskine, you do know that-."
"I'm fine!" Erskine snapped. "Just stop pestering me!"
Stunned by the sudden outburst, Skulduggery was at a loss for words as Erskine got out of the car and stormed into the manor, having picked up the spare keys from the Bentley. After a few moments, Skulduggery followed him.
Erskine was just walking up the stairs rather noisily when Skulduggery entered the manor, and moments later, a door could be heard slamming shut.
'Idiot,' Vile muttered.
'I didn't do anything!' Skulduggery retorted.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a little at fault. Something must have happened for Erskine to be so snappy at him. He'd been distant since he'd returned from his meeting with the Elders, looking like he'd been crying.
In an effort to try and make amends, Skulduggery walked upstairs and headed for Erskine's room. Much to his dismay, he could hear weeping from the other side of the door.
"Erskine," he called, hastily pushing the door open to see Erskine curled up in the corner of the room, bawling his eyes out. Gasping sobs wracked his chest violently to the point where he seemed to be having trouble breathing, tears were already soaking the fabric of his turtleneck and the violent tremors of his body were all too evident. "Erskine, what's wrong? What happened?"
"I'm really sorry!" Erskine wailed. "I-I didn't… I didn't…"
"Hey, it's alright," Skulduggery soothed, tentatively walking up to Erskine and sitting down next to him. Immediately, the smaller mage desperately hid his face in his chest, and for once, Skulduggery didn't mind getting his suit wet. "You didn't do anything wrong. Couples get into spats all the time. Do you want to tell me what's gotten you so upset?"
It took a few minutes, but Erskine finally managed to tell him.
"I-I… China, she… I don't know what happened," he choked. "I just got so scared."
Bloody bitch, Skulduggery seethed furiously. I might have known she'd have something to do with this.
"It's okay, Ersie," he consoled, hoping that the little pet name he'd recently come up with for Erskine would help to dulcify him. "Don't worry, I'm not upset with you, sweetheart."
Tentatively, Skulduggery pulled Erskine into a warm, comforting embrace, repeatedly kissing his forehead and gently entwining his fingers in his hair, carefully teasing out the knots. Erskine kept sniffling weakly, desperately clinging to Skulduggery for reassurance. His pitiful state tore at Skulduggery's chest painfully.
Eventually, Erskine's fearful sobbing came to a close, and he gradually quieted down.
"Feeling better?" Skulduggery asked, placing another kiss on his forehead. Erskine looked up at him silently, and the sheer terror in the smaller man's eyes made him want to cry. It was like looking into the eyes of a child. "Ersie…"
"I'm scared," Erskine whispered.
Sighing, Skulduggery gave Erskine a gentle squeeze and allowed him lay his head on his lap in silence. Silence descended over them, and Skulduggery took the time to ponder how China had managed to belittle him into such a state. Clearly, the Grand Mage had used some sort of enchantment on him, much like how she could leave people smitten with her.
'Bitch,' Vile growled. Skulduggery wholeheartedly agreed.
The others got back about half an hour later, accompanied by Ghastly and Tanith.
"Hey, Skull!" Valkyrie yelled up the stairs, causing Erskine to flinch at how loud she was. "Where are you?!"
"I'm in Erskine's room," was the response.
"What the heck are you doing in there?" Valkyrie demanded, walking in to find Erskine curled up in Skulduggery's arms, looking up at her with wide, fearful eyes. "The fuck..?"
Immediately, Erskine was whimpering and desperately trying to hide his face in Skulduggery's chest.
"What the hell is wrong with him?" Valkyrie queried loudly.
"Hey, what's taking so long?" Ghastly asked, also entering the room. Upon seeing Erskine and his terror-stricken state, his expression turned grave. "Another attack? I thought Clarity told me they were becoming less frequent."
"China had some sort of effect on him," Skulduggery said bitterly.
"Can't say he doesn't deserve it," Valkyrie muttered, earning a hard look from Skulduggery.
"Valkyrie," Ghastly said, his expression cold. "I think we need to talk. You and Tanith need to know what's going on."
Before I go, I just want to say that I'd love it if you told me what you think of Mesmer. Please?