Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Chapter 19

They all met in Kenspeckle's hospital with various but not significant wounds to talk.

"The good part is Vengeous has been killed, as our orders instructed," Crow recapped for them, pacing up and down the ward. Valkyrie ate her food Civet had brought her with a mock-flirty wink that had gotten him a few mocking-glares from her friends and a laugh from her. They didn't get food. Kenspeckle didn't like them enough. "The bad part is he already tasked a lot of people to search for what he wants so we need to stop them from gathering in one place and completing the process. It will be a lot easier without Dusk and Vengeous though. And that Sanguine man. I get the impression he'd have been particularly hard to put down if not for Anton."

They all nodded. "Where are we going to look?" Valkyrie asked.

He hesitated. "I'm not sure. Honestly, I thought this was going to take ages and we'd find everything with Vengeous sometime tonight. He tends to make a lot of noise, so it would be easy to…"

Valkyrie was glaring at him.

"We'll find it soon."

She kept glaring.

"I have many ideas on where it could be. We'll split up. Done by the afternoon," he promised.

She looked at him suspiciously but nodded uncommittedly.

"He'll be looking for Vile's armour too," China said from her bed. She looked elegant and put together even with mud on her face. Tanith found it too amusing and had to look away from her immediately.

Crow nodded. "We'll find all of it. The heart, the body and the armour. It'll be over before you know it."

Wolf laughed. "I thought this was going to take ages."

Erskine groaned. "This isn't fair."

Valkyrie smirked and was about to say something naughty back when Kenspeckle came in and she decided not to have her friends killed just yet. Sex, or anything sexual in any form, was not permitted to be known to her as per Kenspeckle's wishes. She liked to pretend she was wholly innocent since he was so nice to her.

Bear caught the look and smiled at her though. She giggled a little and Kenspeckle gave her a fond look no one else could see as he handed her a small box of healing stones. She had almost run out. Turning to the others, he put his hands on his hips.

"You better not let Valkyrie near that monster," he said darkly. "I don't care if it's active or not, you shouldn't take that chance. When is the last time she got to do anything someone her age should? Do you not think of what this does to a young woman psychologically?"

He kept ranting, moving around the room and checking drips and cuts, mostly on China and Wolf, everyone else was in their own beds out of habit, and Valkyrie looked at her phone. She turned it off silence and looked over the texts from Nadia. Most of them were things happening in school, that she was bored, to entertain her, then that her mother had claimed family emergency to get her out. She was currently getting her hair done and being lectured on what was appropriate to wear at a family reunion. She had been mean and sent some texts Valkyrie didn't get often and made her blush a little, asking her about things she wanted to wear that night, mainly some shorts – they were pretty tiny, she'd sent the link she'd bought them at as if to pretend sending a picture of her butt was just something normal – and a pretty flowy top she was going to wear. It would show a lot of cleavage. She'd sent a picture of that too from when she'd worn it a few weeks ago in the shop. Yep, a lot of cleavage. She went redder.

Someone coughed, and Valkyrie locked her phone and put it away. "No," she said immediately. They laughed, and she flushed even more out of embarrassment. "This isn't fair," she muttered.

"You're the one that's so obvious," Tanith snickered at her.

"Well it's not my fault!" Valkyrie said.

"Yeah, Tanith, it's Nadia's fault, isn't it Val?" Weasel laughed. Valkyrie blushed.

"I don't like you people. You don't even know what happened!"

They laughed more and even China looked like she was enjoying it. "As I was trying to say," Crow said after laughing loudly at her. "Is that you should be free to enjoy your family reunion so long as you don't mind going alone."

Valkyrie nodded. "That is completely okay with me."

Kenspeckle scoffed. "I don't like the idea of you going alone."

"But it's a family reunion," Valkyrie said. "There's no place more appropriate, surely."

He shook his head. "My dear girl, you have been telling me all about how drunk and disorderly your family is going to become tonight. Regardless of relation, a young woman needs a sober, rational person to look over them when they go out."

Valkyrie grinned at him, seeing the concern behind his grouchy words. "Don't worry, I'll be alright. It would be too embarrassing if something happened, trust me, and I'll stay away from all the drunk people. You don't have to try and protect me or anything."

"Yeah, got to impress the girlfriend, right?" Snake said quietly and that started the laughing again.

"I really hate you all," she pouted.

She and Crow left a little later to go and find one of the item's he was most certain of while the other able-bodied people – Bear was too exhausted as Vengeous had used his 'explosion' powers on the gist which had taken a lot of his power keeping it together to kill him, Dusk and Sanguine – went somewhere else to get Hound of the Black Moon. They were going to kill it, so it couldn't be used by anyone else ever again. It was sad, as it was a harmless animal all the rest of the time, but it's threat was still to great to risk allowing it to live.

Crow drove them for almost an hour, stopped to get food and then continued the drive into the countryside. There, she saw some men and women walking and driving around but none looked at them. It was a mortal village, and they parked there before walking silently up the nearby mountain.

Panting, Valkyrie looked at the quiet man. "Crow?"

He was silent, as if not hearing her, and then turned to her surprised. "Valkyrie?"

She stopped. "Crow, are you alright? Skul, I've stopped walking. You aren't being yourself."

He stopped and sighed, looking at her almost pleadingly.

"What do you need?" She asked her friend. "Come on, I can help."

"It's not that simple," he said darkly.

"Neither are you but I'm still here, aren't I?" She pointed out. "You know I'd do my best." He nodded and opened his arms. She came forwards slowly and put her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I will always do my best. You're my best friend. You can tell me anything and I'll do what you need."

He gripped her tighter and picked her up like a child and she wrapped her legs around his waist like she used to with her mother, Gordon, and probably her dad too. He lifted them with his magic and they floated up to a small ledge that had been recently blown up judging by the precarious rubble that would probably fall down the hole and hill when a storm next came.

They held each other a little longer and then he knelt down in front of her and held her face in his hands. "Valkyrie, this isn't a small thing. This isn't a forgivable thing. It – you might not be able to look at me the same way."

Valkyrie frowned, getting more worried. She stroked his cheek, just like she'd seen a couple in the hospital once do, trying to show him comfort. "I might just be your friend, Crow, but you're my family. You're my brother, my closest friend. I'd die for you right now if I had to, you know that. I love you. I promise, I will always love you."

He leaned forwards and laid his head on her shoulder, and Valkyrie felt him draw on her strength. A moment later, he spoke. "I killed a lot of innocent people. Remember when I said I went away for five years after my wife and child was killed?"

"Of course."

"I spent that time in a rage, killing everyone I shouldn't, aiding the other side. I was Lord Vile. I still am, technically."

Valkyrie stood there, thinking it over. Obviously, she knew what that meant – he had killed so many people, but more than that he had killed Ghastly's mother. He would be betrayed, devastated. But she also knew how much Crow regretted that time. She had heard him so many times say how much he regretted what he'd done, regretted how he acted. She knew he'd spent all this time since trying to make it right again, even if Valkyrie wasn't sure when it would be better again. That was before she knew about Lord Vile. Previously, she had through he judged himself too harshly but now, it did make sense. She didn't feel any panic or anger though, just felt honestly bad for him. It was very easy to forgive someone that so obviously ached from their regrets every day. Someone remorsefully.

Even if he was right and she didn't know if it was forgivable. It was far too big for her to know something like that.

She wrapped her arms around him and although she couldn't say it was alright, she did hug him and said, "I love you."

He held her tightly for a moment and she was sure he was trying to be less emotional and then stood up and took her hand. He had never let her do that so it was nice to have gained that little bit more trust.

They entered the hole in the side of the mountain and slowly went down until it changed into a mining tunnel that went down at almost a complete drop for what felt like miles, Crow holding her and letting them fall at a rapid speed before using the air again to pull them to a halt and touch down gently.

He led her in the pitch black through the tunnel, or cave, or wherever they were, to a place that had been sectioned off with rope at some point. In the middle was a very old leather looking bag which Crow revealed with magic, and inside Valkyrie could see movement.

She had seen Necromancer magic from Elder Crow already, so she knew the tell-tale signs of the twisting and turning of the shadows within the bag. Only the owner, Valkyrie knew, would be able to go near it. Usually it was only the owner that could touch the Necromancer object at all, but Valkyrie didn't think that was the case this time. There was far, far too much power, which she could feel even from where she stood metres away.

Carefully, Crow moved forward and picked up the bag. Through it, the shadows wrapped around his fist. He looked at her, and they left, him pulling her out and then back down the mountain.

They travelled again but this time, Valkyrie was dropped off at a salon on the way with Crow's debit card and he told her to get whatever she wanted, letting the assistant know it was a free for all – as she thought of it – but that he wasn't going to be there. He left a moment later to hide the armour and Valkyrie looked at the young assistant.

"So what do you want to get done, love?" She asked. She was very pretty, and if Valkyrie didn't know Nadia, she might have tried flirting with the girl. As it was, she thought of what Nadia was getting done and made her list.

"Well, I'm going to need my nails done, and definitely hair, but I don't think it needs cutting or anything. I don't know if I'm allowed, but I'd maybe like to have my legs waxed?"

The girl nodded and looked on her computer to see how she'd fit. It was lucky that there was enough time with each type of person to get everything she wanted. First, she got her nailed done, just a paint and nothing too much. She got a pretty pastel pink on her fingers but let the lady, who was thankfully quiet except for a short conversation about her sweet dogs, do a French pedicure on her feet. As soon as they thought it was dry, she was told to strip off and she did that and lay on the bed.

She got a wax on her eyebrows – they had really needed doing – her upper lip, underarms, full legs, bikini… everything hurt but since she had only gotten a basic bikini line and nothing else 'down there,' it wasn't so bad. Not that she planned on anyone seeing it, but she didn't think she'd have time to shave at home and there was nothing more unattractive than fluff sticking out of underwear in her personal opinion. Sure, body hair was natural and she wasn't going to cry if anyone saw or she saw it on someone else, but it made her feel significantly better about herself when it was done.

Feeling a little sore, but knowing the healing rocks would fix that later, she got dressed and got her hair done by someone else in loose curls. It was pretty and still long, going down her back to her elbows in dark waves. The girl did a small plait and added something sparkly into the back which was really pretty and then she paid for it all with a flourish. Crow was back by then and was ready for her.

"You look beautiful," he commented when she got in the car, trying not to make a gross look on her face when her skin on her legs kept rubbing on her trousers. The wax had left residue on her legs and it was really not nice!

"I know," she grinned anyway. They drove back and got to the mansion just in time and Valkyrie rushed upstairs to throw on her dress. Tanith was there waiting for her. With a little help, they got Valkyrie's top over her head and, after using a flannel to wipe the healing stone over her and fix the waxing areas, put the dress over her head.

She was pretty in the end, letting Tanith play dress up on her with all sorts of make-up, slowing drawing a crowd as more of the Dead Men came to her room to watch Tanith play. Right when the party was about to start, Valkyrie got on her shoes and got a call from Nadia.

"Hello," she said, gently dabbing the lipstick on as she went. "Are you there?"

"Almost," Nadia confirmed, sounding happy. "Did you do everything you said yesterday?"

"Yeah, it's sorted and good. I'm about to leave, I'll be ten minutes."

Wolf suddenly grabbed the phone and started running. "She thinks you're really pretty!" He said down it.

"Dexter, you dick, give it back!" She shouted, unable to run in her heels. "You're an idiot!"

Unable to get her phone back she could only listen and walk after them down the hall. "She likes you a lot", "She would like to kiss you", "When are going to get married?", "Are you in love?", "Are you wearing something cute for Val?", "She's in a dress", "It's tiny."

"It is not," Valkyrie muttered, pulling it down a little. She got in the car and finally got the phone back when Bear grabbed it from Snake who'd joined in with Wolf and Weasel's teasing. "I'll be there soon."

Nadia was laughing still, and it almost made her smile but then she glared at the boys and said good-bye. They hung up and she got laughed at for a little while before Bear stepped in when she looked at him and gave him puppy-eyes. He told them to simply shut up and silence ensued. Valkyrie smiled.

When they were getting into Haggard, Weasel looked out the window and back at her with a somewhat serious look. "No kissing."

"Or holding hands," Snake said. Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

"Guys, please," she said, holding her hands up. "I'm going to be surrounded by family I barely like. I'm mostly going to say hello to my many, many grandparents and eat a lot. It's fine."

She got looked at suspiciously by Snake and Weasel.

"I still think maybe we should stay," Snake said sulkily.

They pulled up outside the golf place the reunion was at. The others, except Tanith who was on pickup duty, were going to look in on a lead where a lot of vampires were being kept after Dusk reportedly bit them. She waved at them when she got out, and soon they were down the street. She turned and went to the car park where Nadia's parents had just parked.

"Hi," she said when Nadia got out. She was immediately in a hug and held her girlfriend tightly.

"Hi," Nadia said quietly, smiling sweetly. She had a light blue dress on, down to her knees, with a sweetheart neckline and thin straps, not anything like the kind of revealing pictures she'd sent her earlier. It was very feminine unlike the last and only other dress she'd seen the girl in, and Valkyrie already knew it was her style in her mother's colours. Her hair had been done up in a twist of some type with little curls here and there, and light makeup except on the eyes, where she had a light pink and black smoky-eye, thick eye-liner and perfect mascara. Valkyrie felt a bit of a mess next to the older girl, and young considering Nadia had much larger breasts she'd had a chance to grow into unlike Valkyrie who was unfortunately still somewhat in between. It wasn't a fair comparison, and she knew that, but everyone at her school was making a big deal of breast size at the moment and it made her feel a little bad.

"You look incredible," Valkyrie whispered, looking her up and down without thinking. Mrs Keena cleared her throat and Valkyrie looked over at the same time Nadia rolled her eyes.

"I'll see you later mum," Nadia said forcefully, taking Valkyrie's hand.

"Tanith will drop Nadia home after the party," she said. "In the car, not the bike."

Mrs Keena nodded. Mr Vinay stuck his head out the window. "We're going to be late," he reminded his wife. Mrs Keena nodded and got in the car and with a wink to Nadia from her father, they were gone.

Woohoo! I did another. And soon we'll have part two of the reunion where we see a little more of Gordon and then kissies and Nadia and cuteness yay! I hope you're as excited, tell me what your thinking or what to happen or think will happen! Not next chapter obviously, I just said that... :D