Skulduggery – Crow
Anton – Bear
Ghastly – Panda
Dexter – Wolf
Saracen – Weasel
Erskine – Snake
Solomon – Raven
Chapter 65
Valkyrie got back to her house, numb and cold, and did what any other self-respecting fifteen year old would do if they'd just been dumped by the girl they loved – she purged the ice cream, found a big spoon and ignored her family.
They didn't follow her but Valkyrie didn't bother to think about it. She went to the girls' room upstairs and sat alone watching television and eating as much in each mouthful as possible to prevent her from sobbing even if tears did fall from her eyes.
She had finished two whole pint-sized ice creams and felt a little ill when Tanith came looking for her. She took one look at Valkyrie with her red, blotchy face, glum eyes and ice cream smothered mouth and knew exactly what was wrong.
"Aww, Val," she said, coming in and wrapping her arms around Valkyrie. "It's alright. It's going to be okay."
.*****.
The last week of the official summer holidays left them far behind, and although she thought often of Nadia and wondered what she should do, Valkyrie's pain eased over the months enough for her to work without suddenly breaking down in the car or randomly hugging someone for comfort. Her sixteenth birthday passed with a flurry of presents and on Nadia's seventeenth birthday two months later, Valkyrie tried not to cry.
She still bought and wrapped her a present though. She didn't have the guts to send it to her.
Christmas came up on them quickly and Valkyrie did her best with Nadia's birthday behind her to enjoy the season. She helped with the tree, she joked and laughed, she went swimming a lot with Tanith and she helped clean up the dead monsters in the caves to renovate it in the New Year. The last one hadn't been as fun or a Christmas activity, but she liked to think it was a positive help anyway.
But nothing stopped her thinking of Nadia every day and every night. She woke up thinking of her without meaning to, she had dreams about her almost every night. Most of them had turned to nightmares of her leaving her again and again, blaming her for things that were real and fake. She started taking a lot of numbing leaves to help with all her headaches, tried meditating, tried anything. But even with almost four and a half months since their breakup, nothing had yet helped.
"Cain! Pleasant!" Corrival boomed down the Sanctuary hall. "Wreath is at the door and he wants you! Sort him out!"
"What type of sorting do you think he means?" Valkyrie muttered to Crow as they nodded and made their way through the crowds to the front of the castle. It was such a huge Sanctuary – second only to the America United Sanctuary – a common grounds place for all the States to gather in and where the Grand Mage and Elders resided – which was oversized, and Valkyrie had been there to know exactly how oversized and stupid it was.
Their new Sanctuary was much, much larger than before but was not oversized. Everyone, including Valkyrie, was incredibly proud of it and had a thing about proving the American one was only bigger for stupid reasons. Patriotism.
Crow just grunted and they pushed their way to the front where Raven was indeed.
"Skulduggery," he said warmly, greeting each other with double-handed handshakes which looked very close to hand-holding before they let go and stood just a step away from each other. Valkyrie just smirked at them. "I have a case that I wanted to share with you."
"Of course. Do you want to come to our office?" Crow asked.
"Actually, I think it'd be easier to drive and talk," he said, gesturing for them to go first. They left and went to his car, Valkyrie getting in the back and the two men in the front. "Valkyrie, how have you been?"
"I've been okay," she said. "Going with the flow and stuff. You?"
"I've been well. I am glad to see you again, I haven't seen you since our lesson right before the New Year. Have you been doing the assignments I left you?"
"Yes," she said with a laugh. "I've read three of the seven books and I've been practising a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I feel like the ring isn't able to hold my magic now. Is that weird?"
"If you read the rest of your theory, you'd know," he smirked at her in the mirror. "But yes, it is. I will organise getting a new, stronger ring melded for you. You're just a very powerful sorcerer and a powerful sorcerer needs a powerful instrument."
"If they're a Necromancer," Crow argued. "Any other magic doesn't need it. Because are normal."
"Yes," Raven said obligingly, although did roll his eyes. "That is true."
They went to the Temple, a pretty place in a dark, dead way, and Solomon stopped them before they went in. "So this is the case. We've had a break in, and we haven't worked out what they've taken yet. One man, as shown on security, came into the Temple from the front gate at three in the morning last night and went down to the storage at the bottom of the Temple. On his way up he was spotted and fought his way out, killing seventeen Necromancers and injuring twenty-seven more. Most of those were minors as he took the route with our student rooms."
"How many students were killed?" Valkyrie asked nervously.
"Ten."
Valkyrie bit her lip. Did she know any of them?
"Have the bodies been moved?" Crow asked.
"Yes, but I'm heading the investigation, so rest assured I handled it," Raven told him with something like a smile. "It was a butchering. He used just his hands and it was too dark to see his face. He's an Adept, I believe using a Bonebreaking strand of magic."
"A Bonebreaker," Crow muttered. "We need to see the storerooms you spoke about."
They did that, going down to the storerooms at the bottom with side looks of disapproval, approval, anger and all those too strong emotions that came with friends and family dying. The storage rooms, three of them, had been smashed up. "He tried to hide his tracks," Valkyrie muttered, looking in the three rooms briefly as Crow looked over her shoulder. "Do you have a record of what's in here?"
"Yes," Raven said. "But we're still trying to account for everything considering the damage."
She hummed. "What type of stuff do you keep here? Not food. Artefacts?"
"Some," he said slowly, glancing at a frowning man out the corner of his eye. "We keep a lot of things in here, none perishable."
She went into the furthest room and looked around. "He took it from in here," she announced, bringing Crow in from the other room.
"I agree," he said immediately. "The least amount of damage indicates he found what he wanted."
"But what did he want?" Raven said from the doorway.
"We don't know that without a name," Crow muttered looking over the shelves with Valkyrie. "But we can work out what they took, which may be a clue to lead us to a name. Here."
Valkyrie was already looking at it. "Something kind of big."
"How do you know?" Raven asked in bewilderment, coming right into the room.
"See the broken things on the ground?" Valkyrie asked, indicating to the empty shelves and the massive amount of damage on the floor. "Right here there's not much on the ground. Also, look at the shelves. There's dust in the shape of a square here, like something was picked up, but everywhere else the dust is moved from where he's thrown the things to the floor."
"Yes," he said with surprise, agreeing with her. "I see. I can't believe I didn't notice."
Crow turned to the man with the clipboard. "What was placed here?"
The man glowered. "We don't know inventory as of yet–"
"Yes, but what was placed here? I'm not asking if it is still here, just what once was."
He sneered but checked his sheet, flicking through pages back and forth. The three stood with their arms crossed glaring at him but it still took a small crowd and nearly three full, silent minutes before he spoke. "That item is classified."
"Classified?" Raven frowned. "I give permission for these detectives to hear that information."
He glared more. "This item is of the highest classification. It does not even say the name on my sheets. You can only get that information from High Priest Tenebrae."
Raven sighed but nodded and the three made their way to the High Priest's office, which was surrounded by the Cleric's offices. They didn't find him there but did catch him on his way over to his office looking grumpy and irritated as per his usual.
"High Priest," Raven said, bowing. Valkyrie and Crow didn't bow. Valkyrie did gave a nod but that was all it was and she hoped he knew that. "Do you have time for a short meeting?"
He sighed. "Wreath, what is the skeleton detective doing in our halls?"
"High Priest, I brought my friend Skulduggery in to help in the investigation of the attack last night when we hit a dead end on leads. I have been given permission by yourself to bring other detectives in," he said smoothly as they were led back down the hall to Tenebrae's office. "They have successfully found the missing item, however, its identity has been classified by yourself."
"What's the item number?" He asked.
Raven told him.
"Ah, yes," he said, sitting at his desk. "Close the door." They did. "This particular item is top secret, Wreath. However, if Pleasant and Cain are willing to take an Oath of Silence, I would be willing to talk to them. Otherwise, I will have to deny all knowledge of its existence."
"What could you have the Sanctuary doesn't want to know about?" Crow asked silkily. "After all, the Temple and Sanctuary are already on rocky terms. Surely you'd do nothing to jeopardise that?"
Tenebrae glared at him. "Take the Oath or you can forget about it, Pleasant. This is a one time offer, and only because I fear more for the safety of the world than our own treaties."
"We'll take the Oath," Valkyrie said before Crow could ruin it for them.
Tenebrae nodded and they went through the Oath, which was bound to their magic but in no significant way, as that would be illegal – it merely meant Tenebrae would know if they broke it, it held them to nothing. One of two legal oaths allowed worldwide.
"What is the artefact?" Crow asked as soon as the Oath of Silence was finished.
"The Soul Catcher," he told them, tapping his finger on the desk annoyingly. "With the Remnant safely inside it. We got it accidentally – the security was attacked on their way to dropping it off to whatever safe place it was meant to go to and it fell out the van. Neither the assailants or the security saw it, and neither did any inquiries ever happen as to where it went. So we kept it here as, until now, it was obviously safer."
Crow grunted. He said reluctantly, "I'll be asking questions about that. But I suppose you were in the right to mind it, however, it was and is Sanctuary property. You should have brought it forward."
Tenebrae shrugged. "You were obviously not interested in it and we knew the destructive powers it held, as can be told by our joint student her, Miss Cain. So we kept it. Now you know what it is, I expect it to be retrieved and at the very least have this thief and murderer brought to a more… Dead Man style of justice."
"You want us to kill him," Crow stated evenly.
"I am not an executioner," he said, sitting forwards, "but I am old enough to know that there are occasions when it is acceptable to give someone a little of what they paid for. The thief and who he works for should feel that wrath from me. Understand?"
Crow put his hat on. "I'll see what I can do. This sort of case is delicate as it has the deaths of multiple minors. This is also a Sanctuary operation, not a Dead Man mission. But I shall keep it in mind."
Tenebrae nodded slightly at Crow. "That is acceptable. I hope now this can be finished quickly, hum, Wreath? Remember what we discussed."
They took their leave after that, headed out of the Temple and back into the car. "What did you discuss?" Valkyrie asked immediately, looking between the seats at the two men. It was the only time she had to sit in the back.
"It was about you," he said. "All apprentices and learners of the Temple must remain in the Temple until they are at least twenty-five, usually, but you are, naturally, a special case. I have been working to make the High Priest allow you to continue studying Necromancy without staying in the Temple or a commitment to the Temple in any way, but it is difficult. Each member has a purpose and a job they will grow into. You have expressed your wishes to learn but likely not take Necromancy after the Surge. This makes it difficult to convince the Temple as a whole, not just the High Priest."
"What does that mean for Valkyrie?" Crow asked.
"Just that I am fighting on her behalf," Raven said as they made their way to the mansion for whatever reason Crow had decided. "He wishes to acclimate Valkyrie into the Temple and slowly convince or manipulate her into staying. I have said multiple times that Valkyrie shows incredible power and skill, as well as a moderate interest in the theory. However, he would much rather show Valkyrie the more intimate side of the Temple."
"I don't think I want to even know what the intimate side of the Temple is," Valkyrie grimaced.
Raven smirked at her in the rear mirror. "Very funny. The Temple is a family. Every member works together to keep things running, so each person is close to another. The High Priest wants you to feel that first hand in an effort to convince you to become a full Necromancer. Unfortunately, the Clerics came up with a very convincing middle grounds I have had trouble arguing as I would enjoy it myself. They want Valkyrie to stay in the Temple like any other student for a month to experience it and then allow you to decide. They are confident it will work. I would enjoy for you to experience it myself, like I said, but I have been arguing for you at any rate."
They sat in silence for the next half hour of the ride back and stopped under the shelter at the mansion.
"I wouldn't mind it," Valkyrie said slowly.
Crow turned and looked at her. "You wouldn't?"
"I guess," she shrugged, looking at her lap. "It's something different. You always say to try new things. I still want to go with Elemental, or maybe some type of Adept I haven't found yet, but if it's really as nice as Solomon's saying, and he'll be there as my teacher too, then I wouldn't mind. Honestly, I – I need a break from the house. Maybe a reset staying somewhere else with a culture shock is what I need to start feeling better again. You would be there all the time, right, Solomon?"
Raven nodded. "We would have morning classes every day, and we can talk after your other classes, and your weekends are free to spend with me if you'd like. I can organise for you to sleep and live in the room next to my own rather than with the students if you wish."
She bit her lip. "Can I think about it? I'll tell you in a week or so. At least after this case anyway. I don't want to go anywhere until this Remnant business is sorted."
"Good idea," Crow said, brightening up and getting out the car.
"He doesn't like it at all," Valkyrie said quietly to Raven.
"No, I don't think so either," Raven agreed quietly, looking at the man out the window.
What a change in story! First they break up, and now the Temple if trying to get Valkyrie to be a Necromancer? And who is this strange murderer stealing the Remnant? Find out next time on My Weird Fanfiction That Will Have A Happy Ending, Don't Worry, I Mean It! See you then!