Author Note: My apologies for the wait in update. I have been busy with college and Christmas, etc. I am going to have a Christmas themed chapter here. This entire fiction is based after Death Bringer though China has been forgiven by Skulduggery and Valkyrie. Not going to ruin it anymore so I shall get on with this. Review please 3
Skulduggery pulled up to an old, rickety, dreary building. The grey stone was chipped away and the windows were caked in dirt it was impossible to look through them. The trio walked to the door and Skulduggery withdrew a handgun from the holster under his jacket. Valkyrie brought shadows into her hand from her new ring; the last one was destroyed by Melancholia St Claire. Nero stood awkwardly, not knowing how to call upon his "powers" and standing with no weapons. He sighed as the realisation hit him that he was useless. He closed his eyes and wished for a weapon of any kind. A bright white light shone in his hand and he opened his eyes as the light died down. In his hand was a small katana with a black hilt and a shiny black blade. Valkyrie looked down at the weapon, bemused at where it came from.
"Skulduggery, why do we have weapons?" asked Nero.
"I always bring mine out, I wonder what you are doing with that one?" said Skulduggery.
"I wished for a weapon and it appeared, not what I was wanting though," replied Nero.
"Beggars can't be choosers," smiled Valkyrie. Skulduggery kicked the door off its hinges and stormed into the house followed by Nero and Valkyrie.
Inside the house was a middle aged man, sitting in an armchair, his body hanging loosely. Nero brought his sword up to his face and stood defensively in front of Valkyrie. Skulduggery aimed his gun at the body.
"Solomon?" he asked, nudging the body with his foot.
"What took you so long to get here?" asked the body, his voice dark and deep.
"Traffic?" whispered Valkyrie, loud enough for Solomon to hear her.
"Valkyrie, have you come to resume training, you only have another few months before you are 19 and then you'll need to choose," said Solomon.
"I've chosen to be an Elemental."
"Ah, well, no comment."
"Good." Nero cleared his throat to gain the attention of the pair.
"Nero," said Solomon, rising from his chair.
"Yes?" asked Nero.
"I wish to fight you to see what powers you hold," said Solomon, grabbing a cane from beside him.
"No offence, sir, but I don't wish to fight an old man," smiled Nero.
"Well then, thankfully I'm not an old man," laughed Solomon, sending shadows towards Nero. The shadows caught him off guard and he was sent flying through the window, landing on the road outside.
"Try not to hit the Bentley, it's just been washed," murmured Skulduggery, holstering his weapon. Outside another bright white light appeared in Neros' hands, removing the katana from existence. Solomon stalked through the doorway looking at Nero. He sent sharp shadows straight towards Nero. Nero turned and sprinted away from the shadows and jumped out the way of the attack. He slid behind the Bentley and Skulduggery began shaking with fury.
"Scratch that car and I will put a bullet between your eyes Wreath," he warned. Nero felt a weird power surge through him. He leapt from them car and sent the power shooting towards Wreath. The power was shadows and they hit Wreath square in the chest sending him flying backwards. Wreath landed on the chair he was originally sitting on and began breathing deeply.
"Valkyrie, with training and guidance, Nero could become as powerful as you at Necromancy," sighed Wreath, gaining his breath again. Nero jumped through the window and forced the air to attack Wreath and the air done as it was commanded and ploughed into Wreath. The older man was sent flying into a wall and was winded.
"Yes," heaved Wreath, "with proper guidance he will be the true Death Bringer!"
"What's a Death Bringer?" asked Nero, confused but still in an offensive stance.
"A Death Bringer is someone who is to kill 3 billion people to bring forth something called 'the Passage'," began Valkyrie, " it stops the barrier of life and death, meaning there is no death and everyone lives forever."
"That's insane!" shouted Nero, "Who'd want that?"
"Nearly every Necromancer."
"We're leaving," ordered Nero.
"Not before I do one thing," replied Valkyrie. She ran up to Solomon who was rising to his feet and gave him a swift kick to his face. Solomon fell back, unconscious.
"That's for the kick you gave me in the Temple," growled Valkyrie. The trio left Solomon and walked to the Bentley. Skulduggery and the pair drove off to their next destination.
"Where are we going now?" asked Nero.
"Back to Ghastly, we need a dress and two tuxedos," laughed Skulduggery.
"Why do we need these?" asked Valkyrie.
"There is a ball we are all going to," said Skulduggery, "one better than the Requiem Ball and with fewer dangers."
"Oh, I've never been to a ball before," smiled Nero.
"Well you have a date for it," grinned Valkyrie, hooking her arm around his.
A few hours later Skulduggery pulled up to a majestic mansion, brightly lit Christmas decorations scattered around the garden. Nero looked up with amazement at the decorations. Valkyrie gripped onto his hand and squeezed. He turned to her and smiled, flashing pearl white teeth. Valkyrie blushed slightly and smiled back. The pair got out the car and used their hands to flatten their clothes. Nero was suited up in a black tuxedo with a white shirt and black tie. He held his arm out to Valkyrie who was clad in a black strapless dress with a frilly bottom. She hooked her arm around his and began walking to the mansion.
They entered the mansion foyer and the room was head to toe in Christmas decorations. Nero spun his head around checking out all the decorations. All around there was couples chatting to other couples.
"Skul, what we here for?" whispered Nero.
"There is a friend here, he wishes to meet with me to discuss some things," replied Skulduggery.
"This must be a pretty important person if they have Cleavers and Rippers here," stated Valkyrie, checking out the sets of black and white humanoids with scythes. The Rippers were black with a pair of black scythes.
"They're mercenaries, remember?" asked Skulduggery.
"Oh, yeah," laughed Valkyrie. Beethoven's' OP. 80 began playing and Nero held his hand out to Valkyrie.
"May I have this dance, m'lady?" asked Nero.
"Of course," replied Valkyrie, taking his hand. Nero gripped Valkyrie's hand and spun her towards him, her hands landing on his shoulders. He placed his free hand on her waist and the pair began to sway. As the song began picking up pace, the pair began dancing more vividly. Nero pushed a little bit and Valkyrie spun around away from him. He pulled his hand and she spun back to him. Nero felt a sensation rush through him and made Valkyrie lean backwards, his hand at the bottom of her spine. A fireball passed over Valkyrie, missing her by millimetres. Nero looked around and saw a pair of hooded figures shooting elemental attacks towards the pair. Nero brought Valkyrie up and they began firing elemental attacks back at the attackers. Suddenly another Cleaver fell through the roof and began slicing at the other Cleavers and Rippers.
"Nero, watch out for that one, it's a White Cleaver," yelled Valkyrie, firing another fireball at the attacker.
"What's a White Cleaver?" asked Nero, shooting an icicle at one of the attackers. Gunshots rung through the room and Skulduggery ran over to the pair with his handgun firing bullets at the White Cleaver.
"A White Cleaver is a normal Cleaver brought back from the dead with the power of Necromancy," shouted Skulduggery, sending a wave of air straight towards the attackers. The air hit them on the chest and they flew through the wall. The White Cleaver sliced through the remaining Ripper and turned to Nero and Valkyrie. The music still blared through the room as the White Cleaver leapt into the air and spun around, its scythe cutting through the air. Valkyrie pushed Nero out of the way and the White Cleaver's scythe collided with the marble floor, creating a crack in the tile. The White Cleaver brought its weapon out of the ground and smacked Valkyrie with the pole of the scythe, knocking her to the ground. As she tried to get up the White Cleaver pressed its foot on her chest, forcing her down again. It raised its weapon and was about to deliver a kill attack but before it could finish the attack a figure rugby tackled the creature to the ground. Valkyrie looked up to see Nero firing punch after punch at blinding speed at the creatures face. He turned to look at Valkyrie and her face fell with terror, his irises were blood red and he was like a feral beast. Nero turned away from Valkyrie and began pummelling into the White Cleaver, the creatures head making a bigger indent into the marble floor. He forced his hand through the creature and pulled out the creatures' spine. He then gripped onto the White Cleavers' arms and ripped them from the sockets. The Cleaver yelled in pain and he proceeded to rip off the Cleavers' legs. Valkyrie climbed to her feet quickly and tackled Nero off the White Cleaver. She looked into Nero's eyes and they changed to their normal cyan blue colour.
"What happened?" asked Nero, blurred and disorientated.
"You just went mental and ripped the White Cleaver apart," said Valkyrie, pointing at the White Cleaver, who was moaning in pain.
"Maybe you're powers are like Darquesse, only come in time of dire need," said Skulduggery, helping Valkyrie off Nero then helping him off the ground.
"Darquesse last came out when I was near death, Skulduggery," said Valkyrie.
"Well we won't dwell on that part of our lives," said Skulduggery, "we'll take him to a hotel; I suggest you stay with him."
"Okay, we'll go to the Premier Inn; much cheaper," said Valkyrie helping Skulduggery get Nero into the car. Skulduggery sat in the front seat and pressed his foot on the pedal and drove away from the mansion. In the back seat Nero had his head on Valkyrie's lap and his eyes were closed. Valkyrie lay back and began stroking his hair lightly.
After an hour of driving they pulled up to a nice building with a purple sign above the door. Valkyrie took Nero and held him up. Skulduggery pressed the symbols on his collar bone and suddenly his face began covered in skin and facial features. His hair was brown and his eyes were bright brown. They walked into the building and were greeted by an awfully cheery receptionist.
"Welcome to the Premier Inn, a room for three?" asked the receptionist, moving her blond bangs from her face. Her eyes were emerald green and her lips rosy red.
"No thanks, just a single room with a double bed please, I am leaving my daughter and her boyfriend here while I go and pick things up," said Skulduggery, handing a credit card over to the receptionist.
"Well here we go, this is your key," said the woman, handing a key over to Skulduggery, "please, enjoy your stay."
Skulduggery thanked the woman and walked with Nero and Valkyrie up to the room. He opened the door for them and then handed Valkyrie the key.
"Thanks, I'll see you in the morning," said Valkyrie.
"I'll bring your clothes with me."
"No need, replied Valkyrie, pulling out her jacket and clothes from a small purse, she then brought Nero's clothes out as well.
"What?" asked Skulduggery, baffled?
"China gave it to me when we were proper friends, every lady's most needed accessory," laughed Valkyrie.
"Goodnight Valkyrie."
"Night, Skul." Valkyrie closed the door and laid her and Nero's clothes on top of the drawers. She sighed as she began taking the now sleeping Nero's shoes off. She pulled his trousers off, not wanting them creased. They slid off very easily and then she unbuttoned his shirt. She pulled off his tie and shirt, along with his jacket. His chest muscles were exposed and she slid out of her dress and put a large t-shirt on. She climbed into the bed and laid her head on Nero's chest as the darkness of sleep welcomed her.