Shout out to Rosalie Storm – Awesome writer and… just plain awesome! =D Hope she doesn't mind me writing this. ^_^
I thought I'd make this one slightly less serious. It's a Shakespearian tactic. Go all dark and gloomy, and then add a little comedy to keep the readers… undepressed? Is that even a word? BOB! Is that a word? No? ...Oh. Aww...
Skulduggery wrapped his bony skeletal arms around Valkyrie's pale, lifeless body. Tanith was standing, pacing the width of the bus shelter. Tears were threatening to break the barriers of her eyes but she fought them back. "She can't be dead." She muttered to herself.
"Well she is." Whispered Skulduggery.
Tanith glared at a friendship bracelet Val had gotten her. It was a get-well soon present for when she was in hospital, getting rid of the Remnant. It was black and purple. It shone in the sunlight, reflecting the golden rays onto Tanith's face. Images of the past memories with Val suddenly flashed into her mind. Going Christmas shopping, beating up the bad guys, trying on dresses, training…
A few tears escaped and dripped onto her wrist. She wiped them away immediately.
"Ghastly should know about this…"
Fletcher cried, kneeling on the wet ground rocking back and forth. "Why did she have to die?" He cried. "I loved her!"
Skulduggery and Tanith glared at him.
"…I loved Valkyrie Cain."
Silence.
"Don't refer to her in the past tense." Tanith scorned. "She's still alive."
"How is she?" Fletcher sniffed.
"…I-I don't know…"
"She has to be." Skulduggery interrupted. "She's my partner in crime. She's Valkyrie Cain. Brave, courageous, smart-"
"Don't forget gorgeous." Fletcher added, still crying his eyes out.
"-Gorgeous and… she's…" He trailed off. He didn't know what to say. He'd usually say something witty, and she'd get up. She'd wrap her warm arms around his bony ribcage and tell him she was okay, but she wasn't going to…
"Let's get her to hospital!" Tanith suddenly snapped out of her trance of regret and sadness.
Fletcher looked up at her with red puffy eyes. "I-I'll take her." He sniffed. Tanith nodded as Skulduggery let her slip out of his arms into Fletcher's, her head resting on his lap.
"Need a ride, Skul?"
Skulduggery sighed and kissed Valkyrie's cold forehead gently. "You better not be dead." He whispered. He brushed away a few strands of hair from her face.
"Let's go." He said, standing up and brushing himself down. Fletcher disappeared with a dead or dying Valkyrie and the other two climbed onto Tanith's motorbike, ready to zoom off to their friend in need.
-Meanwhile, somewhere else-
Valkyrie's eyes shot open, as fast as a dog chasing a rat. She jumped to her feet, making herself slightly dizzy. She was in the bus stop where she passed out or something. The rain had stopped and the sun's rays smiled down on her. Ambling away in the direction of Gordon's house, she saw the Bentley parked outside.
Skulduggery!
As she got closer, she saw his Bentley was… bright… PINK?
What on earth's going on?
Skulduggery ran out the door and stopped half way. "Val! You're back!"
"What happened to your Bentley?" She asked, dazed.
"Tanith Low." He sighed, staring at his Bentley longingly. "Apparently it was a dare from Fletcher but I don't believe her."
"So, how are you two getting on? Resolved your differences now?"
"…She still might turn back into that THING." He growled.
"Oh come on. She was cured in hospital. She's fine!"
"…Hospital? What're you talking about? She forced that thing out herself with help from Bespoke, remember?"
No, I was there when she was in hospital! I gave her my other bracelet…
Valkyrie glanced at her friendship bracelet.
And then she shot her wrist up close to her face. Inscribed on it were the words "Acta est fabula.".
Latin? Valkyrie thought.
"Hey, Skul…"
"Yeah?"
"Did Gordon have any Latin books?"
"He had a Latin dictionary I gave him for his birthday. He told me he wanted one to finish one of his books. Elder of the Decades or something."
"Do you know where it is now?"
"Why wouldn't it be in his study?"
Skulduggery was acting slightly odd. He wasn't asking why she passed out…
She pushed past him, through the door and to her surprise…
Gordon's house had black and purple décor.
Skulduggery ran after her, closing the door behind him. She realized his scarf was neon pink. Too bright to be a washing machine mistake…
She shoved him into the door. "Ow."
"What the heck's going on?" She demanded.
"What'd ya mean, Val?"
"WHAT'S GOING ON?" She bellowed.
Skulduggery was obviously taken back by her rage. "Fine! Don't tell me, you gay skeletal freak!"
"I hate you, Val! I always have!"
Val cringed.
That isn't true. That isn't Skulduggery. This isn't Gordon's house.
She stormed off, heading to Gordon's study.
"Hmph!" Skulduggery straightened his suit, scarf and hat, then left, slamming the door in a mood like a little girl would throw. It wasn't like him at all.
Valkyrie kicked the study door open and examined the titles of the books at a radical speed.
"Frustration Matters, Blonde Saviour, The Man with No Face, Elder of the Deca-"
She stopped herself, looking at a book titled "Elder of the Decades." She glared at it.
"I thought it was Decade of the Elders…"
She carried on, having no time to lose.
"Ah-hah!" She picked up a dusty book on Gordon's desk. She blew the dust off the top and opened it, flipping through the pages.
"Acta est fabula - So ends the story. So ends the story… So ends the story…" She repeated, pacing.
"So ends the story-"She stopped, as a sudden realization stared her in the face. Gordon's rusted green type writer.
So ends the story! My story!
She ran outside, flipping up her phone and calling Tanith, Skulduggery and Ghastly to Uncle Gordon's house.
A few hours later, they arrived. She invited them in. Tanith seemed more aggressive, Ghastly more light-hearted and Skulduggery… Well, he seemed queer…
-Back with the real gang-
Skulduggery followed the hearse in his Bentley.
"I can't believe she's dead…" He sighed.
"Come on, she'll be back… She's Val!" Fletcher patted him on the shoulder, leaning over the seats. They were both in black suits and ties. Fletcher's hair was still sticking up in a masterful way. Skulduggery's hat was plain black and had a broach pinned to it Valkyrie had given him for his birthday. It had a blue gem in the middle which made rainbows in the sunlight. Its silver outer framing glinted and reminded him of her.
Hugging her, feeling her warm embrace, laughing at her jokes…
He sighed.
"I can't believe she's dead!" He slammed his hands on the steering wheel.
"Calm down…"
"No! No I won't calm down! She dies of some random heart attack at a young age and no-one will remember her in a few years' time!" He sighed again. "No-one but me."
They arrived at the cemetery, driving over the cobblestones covering the car park. The rain plummeting from the grey, cloudy skies set the atmosphere and the wailing of Valkyrie's father, Desmond Edgley, certainly pulled at people's strings as well as hurt their ears.
Her mother put her arm around Desmond as he buried his head into her shoulder.
"She was only young!" Fletcher heard him cry. "Why did she have to die?"
Fletcher felt terrible. He never told her that he loved her before… before she died…
Skulduggery oddly felt exactly the same way.
Wait… what?
Skulduggery didn't know how he would be able to live without seeing her cheeky smile every day or hearing her stupid jokes. It was just like losing his beloved all over again-
Footsteps sounded behind him. He spun, ready to throw a punch.
"China!"
"What?"
"What're you doing here?"
"…It's Val's funeral, isn't it?"
Skulduggery stayed silent. China was in a long black dress, just above her ankles. It seemed to be made out of velvet and her hair was tied back in a bun. Her designer shoes easily glided over the cobblestone car park. Fletcher noticed the rage in Skulduggery's eyes, so to speak. Fletcher grabbed his arm and dragged him, following the crowd of few. Val didn't have much time to make friends.
"Fletcher…"
"She wouldn't have wanted you to kill her. Not here. Not now."
Skulduggery pulled away from Fletcher, quickening his pace. Fletcher did his best to catch up.
"She shouldn't be dead." Skulduggery scowled. "This is all my fault…"
"Come on, Skul…"
"It is though, isn't it?"
Fletcher stopped to think. "No, it isn't."
Skulduggery quickened his pace again, Fletcher running to catch up.
"Fletcher, I understand you want to help-"
"I'm trying to comfort you, here!"
"Fine, Fletcher, I understand you want to "comfort" me but you're just making me angry. Please, just leave me alone."
Fletcher stopped, watching Skulduggery as he walked into the distance.
What am I meant to do now? Fletcher thought. Images of Valkyrie's parents flashed into his head. And then suddenly, Valkyrie's voice slammed into his head like a ton of bricks.
"Fletch!" It said.
"Val?"
"It's me! What's going on? Skulduggery's got a neon pink scarf! It's hilarious!"
Fletcher's eyes widened fractionally.
"A… A what?"
"A bright pink scarf!"
"…A-And does he act… kinda gay?"
"…Yeah…"
Fletcher's eyes widened to the size of tennis balls.
"Val, don't freak out but… you're meant to be dead… I'm talking to myself in the middle of an empty cemetery car park at your funeral."
"Whut…"
"…You're dead."
"…But, I'm right here… I'm on the phone with you…"
Fletcher looked around. "No, you're not… You're in my head…"
Valkyrie paused.
"S-So... I'm dead? I died in the bus shelter?"
"…Well, yeah… You can only contact me 'cause I'm a teleporter and I once met this odd guy in a red bowtie and a fez."
"You've been watching Dr. Who with Skulduggery again, haven't you?"
"I met him! We traveled in time! Oh and, Val… soon you're gonna see me riding a giant flying unicorn."
"What? You're breaking up!"
"Val?"
"Fletch!"
And then he lost connection.
-Back with Val-
She flipped her phone down and sat on the purple and black sofa in Gordon's house. The others smiled at her, casually.
"Took your time noticing." Ghastly commented.
"Well DUH." Tanith said, punching Ghastly on the shoulder. Ghastly looked genuinely hurt.
"Guys, what's going on?" She sighed as she slumped back.
"Just think about it. Acta est fabula." Skulduggery repeated.
"What?"
"I left you a clue on your bracelet. You don't belong here, Val. Our Val's dead, not yours."
Valkyrie glared at them all.
"Can someone please explain what the heck's going on here?" She pleaded.
"Well, Darling, I'm gay because-"
"Don't call me darling. "
"Well, love-"
Valkyrie sighed. "It's Val."
"Oh ex-cusseee me! As I was sayin', darling, this is the story world. It takes the imagination of people and their stories and uses it to make… us!"
Tanith and Ghastly smiled at each other, then back at Val.
"So, why are you gay?"
"Someone must have written a bit of your story, love."
"…FLETCHER!"
She ran outside and flipped up her phone. She was about to call Fletcher again to see if those crazy nutters sitting in Gordon's house were telling the truth when Fletcher landed on a white unicorn right beside her. He had a pink suit on and levitated on butterflies, obviously struggling under his weight.
"What… the… fuck…"