Sorry it took a while, and sorry I left on a cliffhanger, but this chapter is probably one of the longest I've ever written. I apologise for any spelling errors or grammar errors, because I'm really bad at spelling on a computer when I write fast. Oh, and to hollyleaf988 this chapter is NOT dedicated to you, because you couldn't guess what I was going to do. However, it IS dedicated to you, because your guesses made me laugh at how much you would really hate me when you find out. To the rest of you, try and guess what I've done, and please don't kill me for it.
Last time...
Hermione's eyes widened.
She has no mercy, no fear, she is death, the Death Bringer, the World Breaker, she is…
"Darquesse."
Darquesse frowned slightly, almost disappointedly, before grinning again.
"Correct." She answered. Hermione felt like falling to her knees in shock.
"After all this time" Harry whispered "you were warning us about you."
"No, Valkyrie was warning you about me. Very annoyingly so. I would have preferred for you to have been in the dark the whole time. Then when I did get set free I could have just killed you straight up." She sighed as the group took a simultaneous step backwards "No matter." She continued "I can kill you all anyway, whether you know or not."
"Wait!" Hermione was barely aware she was speaking.
"I don't have much time for waiting."
"Was it you who destroyed O'Connell street?" Darquesse was silent for a brief moment.
"Yes it was. But if you think by talking to me, or delaying me, that you'll manage to bring Valkyrie back, you're wrong. That trick has been tried too many times before, and I won't fall for it now. I'll still kill you." Hermione could almost feel her hope drifting away with the words of the sorceress as the realisation dawned on her, that they were going to die. Memories shrouded her as her brain seemed to charge ahead, working on overtime, searching for anything and everything she had seen and heard about the killer stood before them.
"Darquesse is one of the single most powerful sorceresses' that's alive today. And she's dangerous. She's cold, and calculated and sadistic, and she wouldn't think twice about killing anyone. She sometimes gets called 'Darquesse the World Breaker'. A few years ago sensitives, like psychic sorcerers, started having visions of her destroying the world, and everyone and everything on it. She would kill you, and not even blink." Their faces had gone pale with the seriousness of the conversation.
"You have to listen to me" Valkyrie continued, looking at them all "If you ever, ever, see Darquesse you run. You run and hide and don't come out until she's gone. And for god's sakes don't provoke her, or challenge her, or even engage in conversation, just run."
"Why would we engage in conversation with someone who's going to kill us?" Harry whispered.
"Just don't do it, ok? And don't try to hurt her either, don't play the hero."
"Why not, if we got rid of her then the world would live, right?" George whispered.
"It's pointless" Valkyrie said "she can heal herself. She's not restricted to a certain brand of magic like the rest of us, she can do anything she wants to, and she will. She's learned her true name. A long time ago she was just a normal sorceress, but when we find out our true name, a whole new world of magic is opened up to us. Only 8 sorcerers have ever done it, and most of them either died or killed themselves because of it."
"And that makes her invincible?"
"Pretty much, unless, you get her to revert back to her non-sadistic side, in other words, give her back her taken name."
"Well, what's her taken name?"
"You don't seem to get around a lot." Hermione said, after she finished her cereal.
"I get around a lot, just not with people my age. Usually people around 50, 60. Bad guys, good guys. They're pretty similarly aged. I mean Skulduggery's over 100, and I spend practically all day every day with him." She smiled. Hermione raised her eyebrows slightly, she highly doubting what Valkyrie just said.
"I'm sorry, I don't know your name." Valkyrie smiled again.
"Hermione Granger." She said bluntly.
"Hermione. That's an interesting name. Why did you pick that?"
"I didn't. My parents picked it."
"Really? Well, what's your taken name?"
"Taken name?"
"You don't have a taken name? Seriously? Are you crazy?"
"She said we shouldn't go looking for her." Harry said, slumping in the chair in the Gryffindor common room "she made me promise to leave it alone."
"Harry, we can't just 'leave it alone'" Hermione protested "if she's a threat to the world, and she's powerful, then we need to find out a way to stop her."
"She's not our problem." Ron drawled "We should be more focused on defending ourselves against you-know-who shouldn't we?"
"That's what the DA is for." Hermione scowled "And what if she does become our problem? Huh? How are we going to fix it without knowing everything there is to know?"
"We're not supposed to fix it." Harry said tiredly "Valkyrie said to run and hide if Darquesse ever showed herself."
"Because running and hiding's going to do a lot of good isn't it?!" Hermione said angrily. "What if we can't run, or hide? What then? How are we supposed to defend ourselves?"
"I don't know Hermione. She's supposed to be invincible." Harry said angrily, pushing his fingers through his hair.
"What about the taken name?" Ron said suddenly "Didn't Valkyrie say something about a taken name?"
"Yes, she did." Hermione said, recalling the conversation "We just give her back her taken name, and then everything will be sorted. Simple."
Not simple. Definitely not simple. The shadows were curling at Darquesse's feet, like snakes, ready to strike the instant she became bored of them and decided killing them would be more fun.
"B-but why?" Fred was saying as Hermione tuned back into their dangerous circumstances. "Why now? I mean, y-you weren't here a few minutes ago."
"When Valkyrie's life is severely threatened I am able to push aside the barrier she has set in place to contain me, and I can surface, healing wounds she has received and gaining control of myself again." Darquesse said, scowling slightly as Hermione's eyes glanced to the deep red patch of blood on the white t-shirt over the heart. "Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to be trapped inside your own mind, unable to do anything while another walks in your footsteps? I've had a lot of time to think things over, and a lot of time to think about what I want to do. Statements are going to be made, that's for sure. But I'm being very poetic now, and I'd rather not talk unless it's to mock you as I kill you."
"How many people have you killed?" George asked quickly. 'Talking won't keep her delayed for long' Hermione thought 'What do we do?" Darquesse seemed to be momentarily in thought.
"A lot." She said eventually "I lost count after 50." Then she scowled. "Not that it's importa-" There was a low rumbling sound, and Darquesse paused mid-sentence and tilted her head slightly, listening. It travelled underneath them in the ground, and then surfaced a few meters behind Darquesse. Hermione could see what the dark sorceress couldn't – the man with the sunglasses parting the earth and rising from the hole he had created, which then closed up beneath his feet. His face was cut and bleeding, his sunglasses slightly askew, but he was grinning all the same.
"Ha!" He declared "Found you Cain! This game of hide and seek ends now!"
"Billy-ray Sanguine." Darquesse murmured, almost to herself before she swung herself around and threw her arm up, shadows hurtling themselves towards him. He screamed slightly as he was knocked from his feet, sending him falling down the hill. Darquesse glanced back.
"Don't think you've gotten away. You'll be next." She growled before turning back and after a single stride she rose into the air slightly and flew off down the hillside after the American.
"Come on. We have to go. We have to go now." Hermione said quickly, turning to the four boys. They nodded, and turned with her, sprinting back the way they had come. They didn't see any men this time, but could hear yelling and gunshots in the distance.
They managed to get to the corridors unscathed when two younger students, ravenclaws, maybe second or third years ran around the corner, screaming, one girl crying.
"What's going on?" Harry asked them quickly.
"Two men… chasing… us… run." The smallest girl panted as the two men jogged around the corner, fire in both their hands – elementals.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Came a loud voice from behind them. All heads turned to Professor McGonagall, stood behind them, composed as usual, but very pale, her lips pressed thinly together, a worried look in her eyes.
"Get to your common rooms, each of you, now." She said sternly, though her voice gave away her frightened tone. They nodded, for once welcome of the order. Then they ran.
Darquesse threw out her arm, hitting Sanguine in the chest and sending him flying backwards to the ground, leaving a crater-like impression on the ground as he groaned, struggling to his feet. She was annoyed. Beyond annoyed. They had ruined everything. She felt her anger surge as she blasted him backwards again, sending him hurtling into a tree over a pumpkin patch. They were next to a little house, surely no more than one room big, with a vegetable patch and an old chain attached to a wooden pike that looked as if it may have held an animal once. Darquesse didn't really care.
Sanguine was on the other side of the pumpkin patch, pushing himself to his feet at the base of a tree, continually slipping, legs buckling – she suspected at least one of them was broken, but the Texan wasn't letting it get to him. Darquesse didn't know whether to admire him for his courage – however idiot it may have been - or hate him for it. She chose hate.
She grasped a hold of the wooden pike and wrenched it from the ground, tearing up soil and weeds along with it. The end previously in the ground was pointed and sharp. Darquesse twirled it slightly as she strode over. With one arm she grabbed Sanguine's chest and lifted him us against the tree so his feet weren't touching the ground. She rose the pike and slammed it into his stomach, pinning him up against the tree as he howled in pain. She twisted it, the splinters snaring his flesh.
"You ruined everything." She hissed "I was so close to breaking her, to being freed permanently, but you just had to interfere. It will take years to redo the damage I have done to her mind without her realising I am doing so. And you're going to pay for it." She twisted sharply again, sending another wave of agony through his body as he screamed. She ripped her hand away, leaving him suspended against the tree with the pike in his stomach, buried too deep in the flesh and wood for him to pull it out without causing more pain.
"You should have stayed out of it, Billy-ray." Darquesse sneered "Maybe then you would have lived to see the world when I am through with it."
Darquesse was walking casually back towards the castle when she happened across Professor Snape cursing one of Sanguine and Tanith's hit-men. She was about to kill him and carry on when he noticed her watching him.
"Miss Cain, there are men all over the grounds. Shouldn't you be rounding them up?"
"If you go down to the Black lake you'll find three quite subdued. Another near the pumpkin patch." Darquesse replied bluntly "But I wouldn't try to help him if I were you. I'd leave him right where he is." Darquesse looked around, noting the sounds of gunfire and shouting.
"Are all of the teachers out on the grounds?" She asked, turning her head back to him.
"Yes, clearing up this mess." He scowled, standing straight. Darquesse looked at him boredly.
"Have you seen Detective Pleasant?"
"I'm a bit busy right now." He scowled "If this whole thing hadn't happened then you'd know where he was, wouldn't you?" Darquesse bristled slightly at his condescending tone.
"You want it cleared up?"
"Obviously."
"Fine." She said, narrowing her eyes. Focusing her magic, she sent shadows after each living intruder on the Hogwarts grounds. The darkness pooled at her feet, tendrils snaring off as soon as she sensed one of the assassins. The first one they got to was the one momentarily disabled behind Snape's back. The man spasmed as the shadows slammed into his chest, blood spurting from his lips as they clenched around his heart and squeezed until it burst. He was dead in seconds, Snape none the wiser. In a matter of minutes, all of the12 remaining hit-men were dead on the ground, some in front of teachers, some in front of students, some with no one as their witness. The shadows withdrew from them and returned to their mistress.
"There you go. They're done with. Where is detective Pleasant? I've been wanting to speak with him for quite some time." Snape looked at her sceptically.
"Where. Is. Skulduggery?" Darquesse repeated, growing quickly agitated.
"The last time I saw him he was near the Quidditch pitch fighting a blonde woman with a sabre." Snape said, frowning slightly in confusion. Darquesse nodded sharply and began to stride in that direction. She was well over-due a good fight with him.
She rose into the air. After all, it had been a long time since she'd been able to fly and kill all in one day.
She hovered next to the centre hoop of the south side of the Quidditch pitch. Shifting the air around her, she sat in the hoop, swinging her legs as she watched the display before her. Blurs of black suit and white skull seemed to merge with that of blonde hair and brown leather as Skulduggery and Tanith fought each other. Fire blew, air rippled and gun fire sounded rapidly against the onslaught of skilled swordsmanship – or swords-woman-ship. Darquesse smiled at her own little pun as she watched with dark, eager eyes.
Tanith seemed to be enjoying herself, laughter drifting up from the pitch as she swirled and span and twisted and dodged. Skulduggery seemed to be holding back – Darquesse knew he wouldn't hurt her if he could help it, after all, she was still Tanith, and Ghastly would never forgive him if he hurt her. But then, Darquesse had never had much time for other people's feelings.
Darquesse launched herself from the hoop and felt the wind soar past her face as she crashed into the ground. Repairing her broken legs and spine took a mere second before she stood. She had created a small crater in the dirt, and she was quite pleased with herself. She stepped out gracefully and casually strode over. Skulduggery and Tanith seemed not to have noticed her arrival. It would be nice to talk to the remnant one last time before she killed it and its host for such impudence.
Darquesse snapped her palm up and the air rocketed towards Skulduggery, sending him flying off his unsuspecting feet and off the pitch completely. Tanith whipped her head around to find Darquesse less than an inch from her face. She jumped back slightly. Darquesse grinned maliciously.
"Lady Darquesse!" Tanith exclaimed, before smiling and bowing "I hoped you would rise today." She stood at full height again, black veins pulsing against her face, eyes clouded with darkness.
"As realistic as your hopes may seem, I fear thanks to your interference they will not be realised." Tanith's face went solemn, and then confused.
"My Lady?" She didn't have time to inquire fully before Darquesse's hand was at her throat, lifting her off the ground, grasp tightening.
"I have been working for months ensuring Valkyrie has had no sleep, no freedom and an unstable set of mind, to the point where soon she may not have been able to tell fiction from reality, and would have subconsciously released me – for good. Now, she can see everything that goes on in my head, just as I can see everything that goes on in hers, and she will know of my plans. It will take years to deconstruct the new barriers she will set in place once she is in control again – for there is no doubt she will. I will tell you what I told the Texan before I left him to bleed to death: you should not have interfered."
"Miss Cain!" Darquesse ignored the voice of McGonagall coming from across the pitch.
"I have only ever had faith in you my lady." Tanith choked.
"Then you should have enough faith to know I would sort this out, myself." She growled before throwing Tanith backwards, her body ricocheting off the ground at least four times before coming to a halt. Tanith tried to pick herself up, despite her broken bones, before she was shoved down again. Darquesse stood over her, the skin of her hand bubbling, turning from pale pink to silver, fingers morphing to a sharp blade.
"Miss Cain!" Darquesse thrust her arm forward, impaling Tanith just below her heart. Tanith screamed, the remnant rushing to the surface of her skin as Darquesse held out her palm, sending tendrils of pure magic into the wound, searching for the remnant clinging desperately to Tanith's heart. She latched into it and ripped. The remnant came away screaming as a black mass. It clawed at Darquesse's hand as it screamed.
"You've been a very pesky creature," Darquesse murmured, holding it up before her ", and frankly, I'll be glad to see the back of you." Darquesse sent the magic into the very remnant itself and tore at its core, its screams emanating across the pitch as an inhuman screech before it exploded into a thousand bits of dust and ash. Darquesse stared at her hand for a moment, clenched her fist and looked down at the unconscious body of Tanith Low.
"And what do I do with you?" She murmured to herself. She didn't want to kill Tanith while she was unconscious – where would be the sport in that? But she didn't want to let her live either. "Decisions, decisions." She muttered to herself. To kill or not to kill?
"Miss Cain!" She turned her head to McGonagall, who was stood near the centre of the pitch, Madam Hooch close by her. Darquesse sighed and glanced to Tanith.
"I'll come back to you later." She muttered to the unconscious woman before fully turning to face the professors. She felt the blade mould back into her fingers, the steely silver returning to pale white-pink. Darquesse had been working a long time on what powers she would like to harness – after all, she had access to a lot of spare time – and this one, morphing particular parts of her body, seemed to be turning out quite well.
"Miss Cain, what do you think you are doing?" McGonagall demanded, her face full or worry. Darquesse did not reply – her name was not Cain.
"Well? There are men all over the grounds, they need to be dealt with!"
"I think you'll find them quite subdued, Professor. In fact, I'd say they won't be bothering anyone ever again." Darquesse said calmly. McGonagall seemed slightly confused, but didn't get the chance to say anything else before Darquesse was flung from her feet, rocketing into one of the stands, wood impaling itself through her, despite the jacket. Looking down, she saw one beam of wood protruding through her chest, causing quite a bit of pain, but Darquesse didn't mind. Grabbing the wood around her, she slid off, gritting her teeth as the splinters snagged on flesh. She landed on her feet steadily, back on the pitch, then focused on healing the wounds and replacing the blood she had lost as she looked across the pitch.
Skulduggery was stood next to Tanith, propping her into a sitting position gently. Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch were next to him, talking quickly.
"Detective pleasant," Darquesse said loudly, causing Skulduggery to stand and look at her, placing himself between her and the teachers. "So lovely to see you again." She said mockingly.
"I wish I could say the same." He said coldly. Darquesse grinned.
"Same old, same old."
"Indeed. Are you going to give Valkyrie back yet?"
"Do I usually allow Valkyrie back willingly?"
"I'll take that as a 'no' then?"
"What is going on?!" McGonagall demanded.
"I'll explain later." Skulduggery muttered quickly, hushing her before turning back to Darquesse. "You have nothing to gain by being here. Let Valkyrie back and things will get a lot easier a lot quicker."
"You really are no fun. Why not put on the suit, and we'll go a few rounds? Maybe level another street. That was fun."
"I'm not here to play games."
"Shame, because I'm in the mood to play. Catch me if you can, Skulduggery." Darquesse grinned before jumping. She disappeared amongst the clouds, feeling the wind against her skin. The air was fresh above the cloud line, the sun dazzling bright on the horizon. Darquesse would have thought it pretty – if there had been black plumes of smoke rising into the air from burning cities below that would have made it all the prettier, but there wasn't, so she would have to make do. For the moment.
Then the clouds parted, and Skulduggery rose through them, hovering above a particularly white cloud.
"Finally decided to play?" Darquesse grinned.
"Playing isn't my style."
"Shame." She grinned, and lunged.
There was an almighty crash from the Forbidden Forest that could be heard from the Gryffindor common room. The windows were completely surrounded with Gryffindor students of all ages. Trees fell as the ground rumbled, each face at each window as shocked and curious as the last. Harry, Ron and Hermione were all watching from the boys dormitory window.
"Do you think that's her?" Ron whimpered. Another crash sounded.
"Yep, that's her."
"We have to give her back her taken name." Hermione whispered "We have to turn her back into Valkyrie."
"How?"
"I - I don't know." She hated being clueless, and mentally kicked herself. She had been so focused on finding out the taken name of Darquesse that she hadn't even begun to contemplate how to give it back. She was trembling, face pale, heart pounding. No one answered her as another set of trees toppled, a string of smoke flitting to the sky. Neville ran into the room.
"Guys, are you seeing this?" He asked, a mixture of concerned and excited in his voice "What is it?"
"It's Valkyrie." Ron murmured.
"No it's not." Harry replied instantly "It's Darquesse."
"Who's Darquesse?" Neville asked.
"Someone like Valkyrie, but, not, Valkyrie."
"It's the same person, but two different personalities." Hermione muttered. "Do you think the teachers knew?"
"No, Skulduggery said there were only a handful of people in the whole word who knew what we did about her, and that was before we found out she was Valkyrie." Harry responded before falling silent again. They all kept their eyes on the window before something black came shooting out of the forest, slamming into the ground of the field, sending mud and grass flying into the air.
Darquesse stood from the crater, mending broken bones and snapping joints back into position before summoning fire that raced as if with a will of its own towards Skulduggery, who had emerged at the tree line, suit ripped, one arm hanging loosely at one side.
He threw up a wall of water to deflect the fire and then doused it before it could reach the other trees and set the whole forest alight.
They couldn't hear the talking from the tower – all they could see were the two small, dark figures – but if they had been able to hear, the conversation would have sounded like this:
"I'm enjoying this you know – you can't beat me."
"Let Valkyrie go."
"You know if you just asked nicely…"
"Ok, please let Valkyrie go."
"No."
"Now that's just not being fair."
"I never said I'd say 'yes' now did I?"
"You won't win. Valkyrie's too strong for you."
"I highly doubt that."
"Then why have you been trying so desperately to make her weaker?"
"Ah, but we're talking in different tenses now. She was quite strong, yes. Not any more."
"She's still strong enough to fight you."
"Yes, but fighting and winning are two entirely different things."
"Yes, you're about to find that out the hard way."
"I don't think so. In fact, I think you're the one who's about to learn something."
"Oh really? And what would that be?"
"Never underestimate Darquesse."
They lunged at each other, Darquesse pushing at the air and striking at the skeleton detective with more force than an F3 tornado, sending wave after wave of shadows slamming into him, raging red fire burning. All Skulduggery could do to stop it from killing him – if a dead man could be killed again – was to continually deflect the blows with air and water. There was no chance of return attacks from him.
"He's going to lose." Harry muttered.
"But he can't lose!" Ron protested "If he loses, then…"
"Then Darquesse will kill us all and destroy the world." Hermione finished the sentence for him, feeling sick and bitter. Harry began muttering to no one in particular, until he blinked rapidly for the span of no more than a millisecond, and turned to the others.
"Darquesse said she'd had a lot of time to think things through."
"Yeah, so?" Ron shrugged his shoulders.
"So, she also said she was going to make a statement."
"Harry, will you please just speak English."
"Don't you get it? She wants us to see, she wants everyone to see, that includes Skulduggery. She's going to make a statement, and she's going to make sure we all know it." Hermione's eyes widened slightly as she ran it through in her head. It made sense. She knew they were there when Valkyrie was shot, she knew they could see her killing the men. She did it because she could. To show them she could. She talked to them because she wanted to. She could have just flicked her hand and killed them all instantly, but she hadn't. Everything was done for a reason. How had she not seen it before? Was shock really that thought hindering?
Hermione paused. Why was it so quiet? Where was the sound of rushing air and crackling fire? Of screaming and yelling and exclamations of surprise?
Her attention turned back to the window. There were no shadows. No water. No fire. Everything was still.
Darquesse was gone.
She ceased her attack and let the shadows sink back into the ground, the air dissipate, and the fire die. Skulduggery looked up and his working arm drifted to the other one to clench it in place before it splintered off completely.
"But there's time for fighting later." She said gracefully "I plan to make you suffer until the very end, Skulduggery. Only after I've put you through every ounce of pain imaginable, and have you begging on your knees for death, will I kill you."
"You're going to be waiting a while then." He responded.
"I'll wait as long as it takes." She shrugged "but that's enough pleasantries for now. I'll be seeing you soon, though. Very soon."
"Planning on going somewhere?"
"Yes actually. I'll tell you all about it when I get back."
"You know I can't allow that."
"It's a good thing I'm not asking your permission then, isn't it."
"You won't get beyond the school gates."
"I wasn't planning on it. You might say my time – Valkyrie's time – with Fletcher was most… illuminating." She smirked and gave a little sarcastic wave.
"Darquesse!" She clicked her fingers before Skulduggery could lunge forward and grab her, and she was gone. "When the hell did she learn to teleport?!" Skulduggery growled, standing still "God damn it!"
He waited a few moments more, as if expecting her to suddenly re-appear again, fresh faced and happy – as Valkyrie, Darquesse long gone. But hoping for things like that was unrealistic, so he began to walk away, back in the direction of the Quidditch pitch where he had left Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch with the unconscious body of Tanith Low.
It was getting dark, just after sunset. Darquesse had been sitting on the edge of the bridge over the River Liffey for quite a while, occasionally drawing a stare or two, but none of recognition. She wasn't that surprised – she was not well known by people other than sorcerers, and the reflection didn't have many school friends who might have mistaken the reflection for Darquesse.
She was quite pleased with herself. She had refrained from killing anyone other than an old man who saw her arrive, not to mention her grand exit. She knew she would not have scared Skulduggery, or even intimidated him. He was foolish. And annoying. And downright rude. And – why was she thinking of him?
She snarled slightly. She would make him writhe in pain. She would force him to witness the destruction of everything he had ever known. It would be like the Mevolent War all over again. Except, they would not win, and the devastation would be on a scale far higher, especially when she pushed Skulduggery's buttons. And Darquesse knew exactly how to push Skulduggery's buttons.
That line of thought linked to another line that had been awhile in the planning. Darquesse swung her legs back onto the bridge and slipped from the side before striding down the pavement. She knew where her target was – it had been easy enough to track her down even without the obvious location, as small time sorcerers had been moving in and out of the luxury hotel all day, bringing in items, bragging of the money they would receive and coming back out with a sort or surprised look on their faces – no cash, and no item. It was quite amusing really. But Darquesse knew while precautions might seem non-existent on the outside, there would always be protective spells inside. Not that she couldn't handle them.
She walked casually into the lobby, glancing to the CCTV camera in plain view in the top right corner of the room. She looked away and continued past the reception desk until a small voice stopped her.
"Excuse me, you can't go up there without credentials." Darquesse turned her head to the receptionist, who had stood out of her chair and was leaning slightly over the desk. Darquesse narrowed her eyes slightly as she thought how stupid the woman was to cross her, before remembering people did not know her yet.
"Do you have ID?" The receptionist asked again. Darquesse smiled a fakely sweet smile that reminded her slightly of the pink blob and turned to her.
"Of course." She strode up to the desk, and with swift speed, raised her hands to the woman's head and twisted, snapping the neck with a satisfying crack. She sent a knowing smile to the CCTV camera before turning, hair flipping slightly, and continuing up the staircase. After only the first floor she encountered a security guard, whom she successfully flipped to the ground and punched hit chest with such force it broke through every rib and exploded his heart. She didn't lose momentum though, and just carried on, climbing the next staircase, and the next.
She wasn't even out of breath by the time she reached the 10th floor – the top floor, and no alarms had been sounded. There was only a single door on this floor, the most luxurious of them all. Darquesse smirked, and knocked. The door was opened by a burly man nearly the size of the doorframe, arms folded – almost like a bouncer. Darquesse paused to think on this for a moment before morphing her hand into a blade and slitting his throat. The bouncer fell to the ground and Darquesse stepped inside. She would have thought it a lot easier to dispatch one of the bodyguards of this place, but it seemed not. The penthouse type suite was large, gloriously furnished, not a spot out of place – save for the red puddle now staining the carpet in the doorway. Darquesse smiled slightly, morphing back her hand as the woman's voice echoing from the living room area.
"Jenson, who is it?" The voice called. Darquesse strode through the entrance and faced her. The woman recoiled slightly at the sight of her, eyes wide, yet still she managed to be the most pristine beautiful woman on the planet.
"Valkyrie? How did you find me?"
"I don't think you're in a position to ask questions right now, Miss Sorrows." Darquesse sneered, grinning "I'd be much more focused on what's going on behind you." China instantly whipped her head around to see… nothing. She turned back, and Darquesse was less than an inch from her face, stabbing a dagger into China's stomach. 'Honestly, that's the oldest trick in the book' Darquesse thought to herself. China gasped slightly from the pain as Darquesse smirked before smacking her across the face, sending China crashing into the wall. She struggled to her feet faster than expected, but Darquesse was faster, swinging her arm at China's legs and taking her back off her feet. Grabbing China by the hair, she pinned her up against the wall.
"V-Valkyri-" Darquesse grabbed her by the throat and squeezed, choking China's words short.
"There's two things you need to get straight." Darquesse growled, squeezing tighter "One, I am not Valkyrie. You will not call me by that name. Two, if you try to resist, or struggle in any way I will kill you in a way more painful than you can ever imagine. Be thankful I haven't done so already." China gasped for breath as Darquesse sneered and released her. She collapsed on the floor, coughing and gasping.
"Do you understand me, Miss Sorrow-" China flung her arms up and tapped the tops of her biceps, sending a wave of energy blasting towards Darquesse. Darquesse smirked in the second she had before the energy wave hit her. If it had hit any other sorcerer or sorceress, it would have knocked them out cold. Darquesse merely grinned and dissipated the wave with a slight flick of her hand. China furrowed her perfect brow slightly but stood and tapped more symbols. It became a race of how many torrents of attack China could throw at Darquesse against how many times Darquesse rebounded or deflected the blow. Darquesse grinned wildly as she threw out both her arms, repelling an entire wall of white fire back at China, who dodged expertly, but to no avail. Before she could blink shadows grabbed her wrists and ankles and slammed her into the wall.
"You fight admirably, but pointlessly. There's no defeating me. Now, you've chosen to do this the hard way." Darquesse said, grinning "But I wouldn't worry. We'll be seeing each other again very soon. Until then, try not to die." And with that China melted into the shadows and was gone. Darquesse sighed in a contented sort of way before turning and walking out of the suite (dragging the body of the bouncer just inside the doorway so she could close the door) and began her descent back down the stairs.
It was a few hours from midnight when Darquesse teleported to the graveyard. It wasn't anything remarkable. Nor was it the hideout of a NecromancerTemple. In fact, there was absolutely nothing that would distinguish this particular graveyard from any other, just there was nothing that would distinguish this particular grave marker from any other. But Darquesse walked up to it all the same and got down on one knee. She brushed the dust from the marker, tracing the words with her fingers before placing her palm flat on the ground. She focused and poured magic into the earth, stretching it out before it reached the body. It seeped into the rotting skin, wrapping itself around disintegrating organs and bones. Painfully slowly, the cells began to multiply, regenerating their target. It would have been fascinating to watch – flesh growing over bone, organs beginning to form, blood beginning to flow. And the heart beginning to beat.
The man's hand shot out of the grave, grasping at the air his lungs began to crave. Darquesse grabbed it and pulled. The soil parted like the scene from an apocalyptic movie as the body rose like Dracula out of the coffin before falling to his hands and knees on the ground, coughing and gasping as Darquesse let go of his hand and bent down to his level. He raised his head, thin grey hair mingled with dirt.
"Valkyrie?" He coughed again. Darquesse smiled slightly – though not her usual cruel prepare-to-die smile, it was more of a kind smile, or as kind as Darquesse could be.
"Not exactly. A lot's changed over the past few years. You've been dead for quite a while."
"Dead?"
"Yes."
"Then, how…?"
"Last year there was a sorcerer called Argeddion who resurrected some of the recently dead. I've become a lot more powerful as of late, and decided who better to test that power on, than such an old, missed friend, as you."
"Very flattering."
"I'm glad you think so. Come on. We've got a lot to do."
"What do you mean?"
"Well for one we have to get you some better clothes. Some food and water. Maybe a shower. What do you think?"
"How old are you?"
"18."
"When I last saw you, you were… 15. So, I've been … dead, for three years?"
"Amazing, you can do maths." Darquesse said sarcastically as she pulled him to his feet "Come on, let's go."
"Where are we going?" He asked, squinting in the darkness.
"That's for me to know, and for you to find out."
It was past midnight when Darquesse teleported herself and her new comrade (fully dressed, fed and showered) to an all-too-familiar pier, which brought back less than fond memories for Darquesse as the sound of the waves lapping around her entered her ears.
"Wait here." She said to him sternly "I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Where are you going?" He asked as she turned on her heel.
"Unfinished business." She replied shortly before parting the shadows and stepping through. She shadow walked to the hallway of a nearby house and smiled slightly. It was quiet inside, and dark. There were no lights on, in any of the rooms, but that suited Darquesse just fine.
She walked through the kitchen, running her fingers along the desk on the left near the table, before it got caught on something – a slightly open drawer. Darquesse paused and looked at it for a moment, before pulling the drawer open silently. A brown envelope looked like it had been thrown in hurriedly, a corner preventing the drawer from closing properly. Darquesse lifted it out, not remembering it being there before. The seal had been broken. Darquesse opened it and reached inside, picking up the contents. It was photographs, several of them. Darquesse could see the blurred images of what looked like herself and Fletcher, the Bentley parked across the street. Most were rubbish, not clearly taken of depicting anything of importance, but a small shock wave went through her none the less. Had they been spying on her – or at least, spying on Valkyrie. She put the photos back in the envelope and closed the drawer, taking it with her.
As she strolled silently through the room to the staircase, she began to ponder on just how much she knew, just how powerful she was, or could be. Argeddion, though not intentionally, had opened up a world of possible magic Darquesse could delve into, a whole new trunk of toys to play with. She had managed teleportation, transfiguration and resurrection, just by focusing her mind and magical energy. She was a necromancer, and elemental, on top of what she could do already. She wondered just how much she was capable of. She had knowledge, magic, she was smart, she could plan, and most of all, she had no conscience. She could do anything she wanted to, and not feel guilt or pain on the behalf of others. They couldn't appeal to her humanity. That was how she was able to be there, in that house, that night, doing what she was about to do, without feeling physically sick or distraught.
She reached the landing, and looked around. The layout was so similar, yet so distant, like a fading memory. The room on the left, across the hallway was a bathroom (temporarily unoccupied), with a bedroom next to that. Almost directly facing the staircase was another bedroom, and on the left at the other end of the hallway, the third and final bedroom, (also temporarily unoccupied). Darquesse stepped slowly across the hall to the door and opened it slowly. The nightlight showering the room with a low blue glow, illuminating the crib pushed up against the left wall. Darquesse walked in quietly, running her fingers along the wood of the crib before looking in. The toddler was sleeping soundly, a peaceful look on her small face. Darquesse ran a finger across the toddler's cheek gently, feeling the soft skin. The toddler shifted slightly, stretching one leg and rolling her head to the side, but stayed asleep. Darquesse retreated, leaving the door ajar and moved to the other bedroom. The door creaked slightly as it opened, but did not wake the two sleeping occupants in the double bed.
Darquesse stepped up to the end of the bed, and sneered slightly before holding up the envelope in front of her with one hand. Using the other, she clicked her fingers and summoned a bright orange flame, flickering pulsing shadows off the walls and floor. Darquesse dipped the corner of the envelope into the flame and watched the fire take hold of the flimsy brown paper. It began to crackle as Darquesse extinguished the flame in her hand and watched the small fire begin to crawl its way up the envelope. She snickered and threw it onto the bed. It landed softly, but with a low 'hiss' as the flame jumped from the envelope to the bed covers. The woman in the bed stirred slightly, but didn't wake as Darquesse turned and strode from the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
She paused for a moment outside of the toddler's room with almost a moment of inner confliction before hearing a low muffling from the other room. She shook her head and shadow walked from the house, back to the pier. The man looked to her, stood right where she had left him.
"Done?" He asked.
"Done."
