A/N- Hey fanfictioners! Chapter 5, come get it while it's hot!
You: Do you ever make sense?
Me: No, I do not!
So, don't forget to review! It makes my day :3
I do not own Skuldggery Pleasant. Derek Landy does. I AM NOT WORTHY!
On with the story!
"Ah, London," Skulduggery said as we stood in the middle of the street, "Beautiful city, this." He had his facade on. This time it was a man with grey eyes and brown hair.
"It's raining," I said.
"Rain is good. It helps stuff grow, cools you down and disguises your scent from hungry vampires."
"Yeah. And it's so like you to look on the bright side," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
"It's just London brings out some memories," he said.
"Well, the sooner we can get out of here, the better," Fletcher muttered.
"I thought London was your home-town," I said to Fletcher.
"There's a reason I moved to Ireland," he said. He didn't give a further explanation.
"Come on," Skulduggery said as he started walking, "the London Sanctuary should be up here."
We walked down the street, Skulduggery manipulating the water around him so he stayed dry and me manipulating the air around me and Fletcher to stay dry. A few drops of water dripped through my sheild but I didn't mind. I made a mental note to get Skulduggery to teach me water manipulation. Soon.
We went down an alleyway covered with amature graffiti. We reached a dead end.
"Here we are," Skulduggery said, stopping.
"That's a brick wall," Fletcher said.
"But not an ordinary brick wall," Skulduggery said matter-of-factly.
"How so?" I asked.
"It's a magical brick wall."
"That's what you said about China's stairs. But it turned out they weren't magical in the slightest."
"This brick wall is absolutely magical," Skulduggery insisted, "just watch."
He tapped some bricks in an unknown order with his finger. The bricks folded outwards and a small doorway appeared.
"It's like Diagon Alley in Harry Potter," Fletcher breathed.
I turned to him, "You read?" I asked, eyebrow raised.
"No. But I do watch movies," he replied.
"This is, in fact, Diagon Alley. The mortal J.K. Rowling overheard some sorcerors talking about it and took it on as her own idea. Nobody confronted her as it would've been taken on as completely fiction," he said, shrugging.
He walked through the doorway, leaving me and Fletcher with our mouths hanging open. We soon took after him.
We entered a long, dark corridor. Skulduggery had to manifest a flame so we could see. We soon entered a large cavern. Across the cavern was another door. We walked towards the door and it opened automatically, revealing an administrator.
The administrator smiled. She was a pretty lady, her brown hair up in a bun and her mouth painted with bright red lipstick. She wore a white ruffled blouse along with a tight black skirt that went up to her knees. She finished the look off with huge black high-heels, a pearl necklace and a pearl bracelet.
"We're here to see the Grand Mage," Skulduggery said.
"Do you have an appointment?" The administrator asked.
"I don't know. Grand Mage Ravel might have booked us one," he replied.
"And who are you?" she asked.
"Oh. I'm sorry. I still have my disguise on," Skulduggery said.
"Disguise?"
Skulduggery tapped the two tattoos on his collarbones and his face melted away, revealing his gleaming skull.
"Oh. The Skeleton Detective. You do have an appointment. Right this way," The Administrator said, leading the way.
The london sanctuary was more organised than the Irish sanctuary. The corridors didn't branch off randomly as they did in the Irish sanctuary, for example.
Many sorcerers stared at the strange trio that passed them. But we ignored them. I focussed my gaze on The Administrator. How she walked in those high-heels was a mystery. The more I stared, the more I decided she walked like a penguin.
We soon arrived at the custom waiting area outside the Elder's council room.
"Just wait here. The Grand Mage will be with you when he can," she said before walking off.
"I thought we were done with all this waiting when Erskine became Grand Mage," Skulduggery muttered.
A half hour later, a tall old lady walked out of the council room. She had hair as black as night and a small nose. But she had wise, pale blue eyes. She looked like she was in her mid-forties.
"Ah, Mr Pleasant," she said, "what brings you to London?"
"Hello, Grand Mage Cerulean," Skulduggery said, "before I answer your question, though, I think we should get away from anybody who might be listening to our conversation."
Grand Mage Cerulean nodded and gestured for us to follow her into the Elder's council room.
The London council room was identical to the Irish one.
Grand Mage Cerulean sat in the middle chair. The other two were empty. The elders were probably out on business.
"Before you go on, why don't you introduce me to your companions."
"Oh. Right. Grand Mage Cerulean, this is Valkyrie Cain, my partner and Fletcher Renn, the last teleporter. Valkyrie, Fletcher, this is Grace Cerulean, the Grand Mage of London."
"Nice to meet you," I said.
"Valkyrie Cain. What an unusual name. And the last teleporter. You have quite the group, Mr Pleasant."
"Yes. They are quite extraordinary. Not as extraordinary as me, of couse. But pretty extraordinary."
"Cheers," I said.
"No problem."
"So, now we have got to know each other, why have you come here?" Grand Mage Cerulean asked.
"We've come to find out where Travis Gunn was last seen," Skulduggery said.
"Whay would you want to know that?" she asked, "he's been missing since Friday."
"He was discovered two days ago."
"Oh. Well the last time I saw him, he was on a case. There were a few murders 6 kilometers north from here and he went to check it out. We haven't heard from him since."
"Well, at least we have a lead now," Skulduggery said.
"Is that all you came here for?" asked Grand Mage Cerulean.
"Yes."
"Then you are dismissed. Good luck."
"Thank you," Skulduggery said with a small bow, and then he left, with us trailing behind him.