Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Solomon – Raven

Chapter 82

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" Valkyrie asked Kenspeckle. As soon as she and Militsa got to the Hibernian Cinema and took Melancholia upstairs, his eyes had bulged and he'd had Valkyrie to put her straight onto a bed. After shooing her out, he put Melancholia into an induced coma to give him more ability to work out what was wrong and fix it without her being in pain or whatever was wrong kill her before he could fix whatever that thing was.

"Not yet," he muttered, going to his lab. Valkyrie followed him and Militsa followed her like a lost puppy. She was skittish outside the Temple, and if they hadn't been trying to save Melancholia's life, she'd have probably found it funny and endearing. But they had been, and it had just been irritating and slowed them down. She'd stopped herself from showing it, just, but it was a close thing when they crossed the fifth road. Kenspeckle started rummaging through his drawers. "I have evaluated her exterior for injuries, and her magic for any signs of defects or manipulating, and I have found multiple of each but I am not yet sure what it is that continues to cause her harm."

"Continues to cause harm?" Valkyrie asked with a frown. "So it's like a parasite?"

"It could be," Kenspeckle agreed as he pulled out large tubs and little pallets for tests. "Or it could be an infection or a disease or it could be a spell. I'm having Civet and Stentor look at her internal injuries, as I'm sure she has a few. No, I'm most worried about the damage that could have been caused to her brain."

Valkyrie bit her lip. "She was acting strangely before we got here when I noticed something was really wrong. She came up to me and held my hand – but she couldn't actually do that, so she just held my finger. She was acting like a little kid and was unresponsive after that. She was standing and doing stuff, but she couldn't talk or move."

Kenspeckle muttered something things under his breath and got under the counter and got out a large bowl and began weighing out ingredients or whatever medical powders and herbs and medicines were called when being mixed. He began mashing and then spoke. "There is a chance, although small, that the damage has only affected her brain in so far as to make it protect itself. It is much like what people with depression or other mental illnesses may do. Her brain simply switched off, so to speak, and St. Clare only did the minimal she needed to survive. As you said, she went to you for help, and when she knew you were helping, she did nothing else. Or perhaps her brain is not shutting things out but reverting to a childlike state of mind as a defence against the actions."

"What do you mean?" Valkyrie asked seriously.

"Well, if it were the first option, she may be effectively shutting her thoughts and actions down in order to escape the pain. She cannot feel if she cannot think, so to speak," Kenspeckle explained. He put down his big bowl and started rifling through draws for something again. "Or there is the possibility that people around her have done her harm and she finds that hard to cope with and that is making her act like a child because when she was a child, that did not happen. I have seen it before, but if you say she was acting like herself and it is just this morning all this happened, I do not know how likely that scenario is. I do not, unfortunately, know everything."

"People have different reactions to violence and harm," Militsa spoke up quietly, glancing at Valkyrie. "I mean, you said Cleric Wreath told you that Cleric Craven only started talking about Melancholia yesterday. Maybe it's like, a really big shock to the system?"

"That is a possibility," Kenspeckle said, using a dropper to put some purple liquid into his bowl. "And also true for all the possible things that could have happened to her. A massive shock of poison or trauma, or even witnessing something horrific, can cause people to act strangely and very different. Now, I must think about what caused her physical injuries. You must leave me."

Valkyrie nodded and waved Militsa out the room before closing the door behind them and breathing heavily.

"At least she's in the right hands," Militsa said quietly, fiddling with her top. She didn't like not wearing a robe, it seemed. Valkyrie was enjoying it.

"Yes, I think so. Come on, I need to call my family."

They went downstairs and Valkyrie dialled Crow's number. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Valkyrie," he said. "I didn't expect you to call at eight in the morning. You aren't usually awake."

"There was an emergency," Valkyrie said, sitting on one of the cinema seats and watching Militsa walk around the stage. "You remember I told you how annoying Melancholia St. Clare is and how she's really fun to annoy?"

"The one that gets very angry with you?"

"Yeah. Well, Craven decided she's the Death Bringer yesterday and she's been acting really weird. Not usual weird either, I mean, acting really strong and violent, and then she held my hand and blacked out. Craven and Solomon started arguing about her so I've brought her to Kenspeckle's."

"My, you have been busy. I'll tell the other's and we'll meet you there."

"Okay. But Crow, can you not tell Solomon?" She asked. "I know you're like, kind of with him but haven't really said it and everything, but if he comes, so might the rest of the Temple and Melancholia needs help, not a parade."

Crow hesitated and then sighed. "You're right. Give us a few minutes."

They hung up and Militsa looked at Valkyrie. Valkyrie didn't know what to say, so she closed her eyes and let herself rest for the twenty minutes it took the first of her brothers to arrive.

"Cub!" Wolf shouted into the large hall. Valkyrie jumped up and grinned at him. "Look at you, all grown up and Necromancer-y!"

She laughed and ran at him, so he ran at her and they collided in the middle and fell to the floor in a winded heap. "Love you," she wheezed.

"Love you too, babe," he grinned. He looked behind her and gasped dramatically. "And who is this?"

They stood and Valkyrie looked at Militsa. "This is my friend Militsa Gnosis. She is a real Necromancer, unlike me. So don't go telling everyone I'm a Necromancer now or they'll get confused."

"Sure thing Necro-Cub," he said playfully and strode over to Militsa. She blushed a dark, dark red and tried not to smile at Wolf, the reacting of almost all females around the globe. Valkyrie tried to hide her laugh as Weasel wrapped her in a hug. "Hello, Miss Gnosis. Do you happen to be my baby sister's girlfriend?"

"Oh. My. God," Valkyrie said into Weasel's shoulder, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Err, no, I'm just her friend," Militsa said with a nervous laugh. "We met at the Temple. Well, you probably know that, what am I saying? We're good friends now. We talk after class and have tea a lot."

"That sounds cosy," Wolf commented hopefully.

"It is," she said before her eyes got wide. "But we're just friends. Only friends. Good friends. I swear."

Valkyrie decided then was a good time to intervene as Crow and Snake came in. "We really are just friends," she said calmly. "So stop trying to interrogate her. It's her first time out the Temple, why don't you just show her stuff instead."

He gasped dramatically again. "First time out the Temple? That sounds like a celebration!"

"Dexter, we need to focus," Crow said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Valkyrie, tell us what happened to Melancholia."

Valkyrie did, and also said what they'd discussed with Kenspeckle. After agreeing it was highly suspicious and that Craven was either the cause of the damage or else he was using it for his own gain, so he may yet know where it came from. They all also decided to believe she was not the so-called Death Bringer as, if she was, she wouldn't have passed out on Valkyrie. She'd have slaughtered her for how annoying she'd been to her. Even Militsa nodded.

And right as they were about to go upstairs and see if any more progress had been made, Raven turned up.

"Valkyrie, Skulduggery," he said quickly. They turned to greet him but stopped short when they saw how panicky he looked. "They're searching for you Valkyrie. You need to hide."

"What do you mean?" She asked quickly.

"You attacked Temple members within the Temple," he said, out of breath. "It's against our law to do that if you are our guest. They're searching for you and they'll put you on trial."

"But I didn't attack anyone," Valkyrie said and then slowly turned to Militsa. "Militsa did."

"No, Valkyrie. Craven has told the Temple as a whole that you attacked St. Clare and abducted Miss Gnosis. They're out searching for you."

Valkyrie looked at Crow and he nodded donning his hat. "Saracen, do you have any ideas?"

"Not really," he said. "But I'd suggest telling Kenspeckle to be on high security. If they genuinely believe one of their students, which he also probably said was the Death Bringer, is right here, they'll break the doors down."

"Agreed. Dexter, go tell them." Dexter shot off up the stairs. "Erskine, call Ghastly and Tanith and tell them what's going on. Valkyrie, could you call the Sanctuary and tell them also?"

She did as ordered and walked to the other side of the room to make the call, glancing at Militsa who was watching her from Crow's side as he and Raven spoke in hushed tones. The phone rang a few times and was then picked up.

"Detective Cain," Tipstaff said formally. It was nice having an Administrator that used a mobile, "what have you done now?"

She frowned. "Why would I have done something?"

"Because you're not meant to be calling the Sanctuary."

She tried to find an excuse. "Okay, yes, that is true. But this isn't my fault. Or completely anyway." She told him the situation with the Temple coming out in hordes after her and the situation with Melancholia but didn't tell him where she was being kept, though she assumed he'd take a correct guess anyway. "I also have a friend from the Temple with me. They think I abducted her."

"Did you?"

"What did I do to make you think I'd do something like that?" She asked hotly.

"You didn't, I just like annoying you," he said with a smile in his voice. She scowled. "If you get your friend to the Sanctuary, we'll put her in a secure room and organise for her to go to a safe house until this is sorted. I'll also inform the Grand Mage and Elder's."

They rang off at the same time as Snake did with Panda and Tanith, and they met back in the middle, Wolf running back down the stairs at the last moment to be a part of the group. He had a massive grin on his face and immediately flung an arm over Weasel. He was too happy. It wasn't fair. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"We need to talk to the High Priest," Raven said to them. "If we talk to him, we can get him to tell everyone else what's going on. But Craven convinced him to put the Temple on lockdown. No one else knows. If they do, I expect they'll panic since almost all the Necromancers, even ones that have never left before, have already left to search."

"Is there another way in?" Valkyrie asked.

"There's the deliveries entrance," he suggested uncertainly. "But they know I know about it, and I doubt they'll let me near considering my connections with you all."

"And what connections they are," Wolf grinned at Skulduggery, who didn't even look at him.

"We'll try and get in from there. Should we expect resistance?" Crow asked.

"I don't know. Craven was telling them I was encouraging Valkyrie to harm St. Clare, so I doubt anyone will be happy to see me. I only overheard what he was saying, I left before he sent them after us."

"You should stay with Ghastly and Tanith," Crow told him in a gentle voice, stepping closer to Raven. "I don't want you getting hurt."

Raven smiled at him with a twinkle in his eye. "I'll be fine. I just worried I wouldn't get to Valkyrie in time. I want to help fix this. If you, and I assume Valkyrie, are going into the Temple, I want to help keep people busy on the ground."

Crow looked as if he might argue for a moment, but Raven gave him a look and he stopped himself. It was funny seeing Crow attempting restraint.

"I suppose that would be useful," Crow admitted. Raven grinned.

They were so adorable.

Okay, yes, I know I haven't been uploading in the last few days but it's not my fault okay! I have a very busy schedule of literally nothing and I just don't have time to do things I enjoy in between. Okay? Good. I'm glad we understand each other.

TheBelowAverageAuthor: I like your ideas! Do you watch RWBY? It's an amazing anime, I highly recommend since you like SP, it's my favourite, and the character Yang is what comes to mind when you described the child (assuming we have a female). She's super sassy, super strong, and if you fuck up her hair, she'll kill ya. I think we're on the same brainwave for this kid haha.