penultimate chapter everyone! and reason i've been away? depressed, tired, busy, you pick whatever you like, ok little bunnies? enjoy...


Chapter 9: In Memory

It's really full, Valkyrie notices as she reaches the graveyard. A lot of people have come here. She pauses for a moment to side step an empty grave, then thinks: he would so be showing that off to me, wouldn't he? A solitary smile momentarily grows on her face then fades.

She reaches the edge of the gathering which is milling around, looking at all the faces. She doesn't know most of them. There are old faces, lots of old faces. She realises they must've fought with him before, these old faces from before even her grandparents were born. She pushes through them, trying to ignore their prying eyes and the whispers of that's the girl he took under his wing. Finally, she sees Ghastly and Tanith. "Hi." They both turn and smile when they see it's her.

"Hi Valkyrie," Tanith says, reaching over to hug her, followed closely by Ghastly. Then they stand, not knowing what to say. What can they say? "There's a big turnout," says Valkyrie suddenly. "He really was well-liked, wasn't he?"

"Oh definitely. Everybody liked him, even those who said they didn't."

"It's hard to be around our Mr Pleasant without liking him, isn't it?" They turn and see China standing a few paces from them. "It's harder to think he's not going to be around." She turns and faces the watery sun. "Very hard." Maybe it was the sun, but Valkyrie notices that China's beauty is duller. China seems less like China. Everyone seemed less like themselves. Silence flops into the air. "We should sit down," points out Tanith as the crowd begins to filter into the chairs arched around a stone podium.

The three girls take their seats in the front row and Ghastly walks to the podium. "Friends," he begins solemnly, "we are gathered here today not to mourn but to commemorate a great man. He is not dead, but neither is he here. He still exists, but he doesn't walk amongst us. Skulduggery Pleasant was one of the greatest men in the world, in every possible way. He could be friend, ally, confidant, partner and lover. He was as versatile as water, strong as earth, as superlative as fire and as necessary as air. He was my friend for many years and those years have been the most amazing times of my life. Before I met Skulduggery, I had done very little with my life. He took me with him in his whirlwind existence and I never needed to look back. I watched him as he became the most powerful elemental in the Allied world, I watched him as he fell in love and married, I watched him become a father, I watched him fight for what he believed in and die for it. I then watched as he came back to life to finish what he started. These things are what he leaves us and these things are what we shall remember alongside him. Let him be an example to us for now and for always."

He steps away from the podium and. Valkyrie watches him as he sits down heavily in the seat next to Tanith. No one had dry eyes. Why should they? Her two friends embrace and Tanith holds Ghastly as someone else walks to the podium, someone who she doesn't recognise. Her brain begins to shut down and soon she's not there but floating down memory lane.


"So that plan worked out well."

"Skulduggery, your entire plan consisted of, and I quote, "Let's get up close and then see what happens."

'All the same,' he said, 'I think the whole thing worked out rather beautifully.'"


"We're not retreating; we're advancing in reverse."


"Vengeous scowled. 'As you can see,' he said, 'you are vastly outnumbered.'

'I usually am.'

'Your situation has become quite untenable.'

'It usually does.'

'You are within moments of being swarmed by these filthy creatures of undeath and torn apart in a maelstrom of pain and fury.'

Skulduggery paused. 'Okay, that's a new one on me.'


Valkryie grinned back, her eyes bright. 'I keep telling Skulduggery he should get a bike.'

'What does he say?'

'He says people who wear leathers, like you, should ride motorbikes. People who wear exquisite suits, like him, should drive Bentleys.'"


"I find it much easier to blast them off then to put them back."


"What, a living skeleton isn't enough for you? You want more?"


All I want is you back, she thinks. It's all I want.