Chapter 146

Two days later, Nadia woke Valkyrie up exceptionally early to meet with the renovators and builders that were going to be fixing their old house into something modern. She got ready and joined her brothers as they groggily followed along, and ended up sitting still and tiredly as Nadia, Erskine and Anton figured out the details. Thankfully, those three had a vision in their minds and with the architect and building manager, they decided what was happening and all Valkyrie had to do was sign the papers. Nadia and Erskine warned her that some things were still undecided and they were still choosing exact layouts and that even the illustrations she had seen a week or so ago had been changed by the professional they had hired. But that was okay with her, she trusted them to remake the house.

It did leave two problems of course. What were Fletcher and Myra doing and what were she and her family going?

That was easily solved it turned out. Without telling her, her brothers had been in contact with Corrival and they had all agreed on her initial idea of sending off the Dead Men to other countries as bait towards political peace. And it had worked. The moment Meritorious mentioned the idea to an American ambassador that had visited demanding results, the ambassador had jumped on the chance exceptionally fast and a deal had been struck that the Dead Men would relocate to America for a short time to help with a few cases of extremities as well as have the ability to look at a suspected American Spider group. The Spider part had nothing to do with the American agreement, but it was something to do.

Valkyrie had been surprised that they were moving so swiftly. With the reports from Skulduggery and Solomon that the Spiders were all coming to Ireland, she had simply assumed all the groups were gone except for the Irish dens.

The second problem of Fletcher and Myra was also fixed – Myra had finished her exams and they were ready to move if necessary, plus the two of them could do anything with Fletcher being able to teleport. So they were going to be joining them going to America. It had been, Meritorious said, a part of the deal struck with America.

And that's how the next week was spent. Crystal came over daily as Valkyrie's family was teaching her basic magical theory and helped her learn to use her magic until it was confirmed – Crystal lit a small flame in the palm of her hand.

They had all celebrated the achievement but it wasn't for long. Valkyrie's family had to leave and Crystal was left in Ireland to self-teach herself as much as she could in the months in which they would be gone. She was warned she may be left with being an Elemental out of a lack of time, but Crystal didn't seem to care. She was just glad to have magic and a different kind of life to the one she thought she was stuck with.

.*****.

They teleported to Arizona, America.

"How exciting!" Myra squealed from Valkyrie's right side. She'd excitedly attached herself to Valkyrie that morning attempting to chatter about how wonderful it was to go on holiday together and that they were going to be friends for life after this.

Valkyrie just nodded and adjusted all the bags she was carrying. Nadia had refused to put her stuff in storage so Valkyrie had five bags, four and a half of them being Nadia's belongings. There were American Sanctuary workers waiting for them.

"Dead Men," one of them said, a smiling darkly tanned man with black hair and pretty brown eyes. He looked a lot like Dexter, except completely different. Perhaps it was just the energy he gave her. "We were asked to meet you."

"Saile!" Erskine said, dropping his bag and practically jumping the man. The woman who was next to Saile rolled her eyes. Valkyrie knew who she was.

"Hi Aurora," Valkyrie greeted.

"Hi," she said, turning quickly to Tanith. "You had a kid."

"Yep," Tanith nodded, holding little Laila up in her car seat. "She slept through teleporting and everything."

"Oh my gosh," Aurora said quietly, staring at the sleeping baby in awe. "She's so cute."

"Of course," Tanith smiled. "She's not going to stay asleep much longer though, so we might want to get on."

"Oh, sure!" Aurora grinned, stepping back to greet everyone else before they all went to the nice, black minivan and got in. There were just enough seats to house all twelve of them. Erskine's seat was taken by Aurora to drive them, while Erskine and Saile disappeared into a car to follow along at their own pace.

Valkyrie smiled at Nadia and they got in, Valkyrie helping Tanith with the car seat. Once in, it was a weirdly loud trip over to their new house as the men questioned Aurora on all their American mutual friends, and Aurora questioned Tanith and Ghastly on their child. Mostly the questions were on Tanith and what it was like to give birth, to which Tanith sugar-coated the experience quite a lot. She seemed shocked that the parents had chosen Valkyrie as Laila's guardian, saying that she was so young, but Tanith defended Valkyrie easily, saying she was one of the only people she trusted to think of Laila before any other person came to mind. That was why she was her guardian. Of course, they didn't tell Aurora Laila's name, as per mage custom. They hadn't even told Fletcher or Myra, although they may have overheard it at some stage.

The house they arrived at was small but happy. It was originally some form of bunker, Aurora said, but had been changed and renovated so many times for so many different things over the last hundred years it was just a mess. Still, it was cool inside especially compared to the insane heat of the outside, and it was furnished tastefully. The Sanctuary had also gone ahead and made sure they were all taken care of. There was a gym area outside and they had set up a small nursery, and the kitchen was already fully stocked with food. Unfortunately, they were a group of twelve and there were not that many bedrooms.

"Everyone will have to share," Aurora had nodded, sitting on the sofa and sticking her feet on the coffee table.

There was a tiny room downstairs that Anton took before anyone else could, claiming it would mean he'd make breakfast and defend downstairs easier if they let him have it. There was a single, narrow bed and a bedside table within, and no more room to move. It also meant he'd have to go upstairs to the only bath if he wanted to wash, though there was a small toilet downstairs. They let him have it.

Upstairs had just four bedrooms and one bathroom. Luckily, there was a mixture of bed types. In one room there were two single beds, two bedrooms had a double bed and a single, and the last room had two doubles. With three couples with them and a baby, there was a long argument on who should go where.

In the end, they arrived at a liveable situation. Fletcher and Myra went in one double and single, taking the double bed, and got to stay alone because they weren't family and so were allowed the privilege of privacy. The other double with single was taken by Dexter and Saracen with Erskine. The room with two single beds went to Solomon and Ghastly, which allowed Valkyrie and Nadia alongside Tanith to have the room with two double beds. They had a very small bassinet type of cot for one month, two week old Laila in the corner of the room.

All in all, they were happy with the rooms and spent half an hour settling in before they went downstairs to talk. Unfortunately, there were only two sofas to they were mostly on the floor or standing. Nadia just sat on Valkyrie's lap.

"So, what're your plans?" Aurora asked.

"We have a meeting with a contact of mine," Solomon said diplomatically. "I do not know if you are aware, but the Spiders in Ireland are in possession of a Necromancy item that they stole from the Sanctuary. The Temple here has a Necromancer that reached out about this object."

"Yeah, I heard about it," Aurora said, giving Solomon a level look. Her mistrust was unconcealed.

"She was insistent that we meet as soon as possible. She indicated it would be a long meeting," Solomon told the rest of them.

"We also have a meeting at the Sanctuary," Dexter said, and Aurora nodded. "Perhaps we'll have to split up."

"I can go with Solomon," Valkyrie offered.

"You'll have to," Solomon told her. "My contact specifically said she wanted to meet you. She seems to have a theory on what your magic is."

Valkyrie sat up a bit, extremely interested in what her magic could be. The object part was also important, but her magic was more so. To her anyway. Nadia asked if she could go also and Solomon said it would be fine.

"Are the rest of us going to the Sanctuary then?" Ghastly asked.

"Think so," Aurora nodded, standing up. "I guess Erskine and Saile will meet us there. Oh and Renn? You have a meeting with transportation in, like, five minutes."

"What?" Fletcher said standing up. "Where?"

"I don't know, with transportation at the Sanctuary," Aurora shrugged.

"I've never been there!" Fletcher complained.

"Not my problem, kid," Aurora shrugged again, picking up the minivan keys. "Come on, let's go."

.*****.

While the boys and Aurora went to the Sanctuary, Tanith, Laila and Myra stayed at the house to relax. Nadia, Solomon and Valkyrie took a walk to the bus stop and after a bus, took a train. When they were off the train, Solomon took them to a side street out of sight and Shadow Walked them to the entrance of a large, white coated building surrounded in pretty white headstones, trees and hydrangea bushes. Valkyrie was immediately surprised.

"This is the Temple?" She gasped.

"Yes," Solomon smiled, looking around also. "This one of the more beautiful Temple's, although the very best has to have been the Romanian Temple some three hundred years ago. It was a grand Temple. Unfortunately, it was destroyed many years ago."

Valkyrie just nodded and a moment later, a woman answered the door. She looked far younger than Valkyrie expected.

"Mr Wreath?" She asked, a smile tugging on her lips. She was wearing the black robe, but underneath it was a simple but pretty deep red dress. She was incredibly beautiful, her skin a healthy olive and plump cheeks, her body curvy and short. Her smile was perfect and made Valkyrie smile without meaning too. Was this what it was like for other people meeting Dexter for the first time? A pinch to her arm took it away and she looked down on Nadia. She was frowning at Valkyrie.

Oops. Valkyrie wiped the smile clean right in time to shake the ladies hand.

"Hello, Miss Cain, my name is Normandie Gwydion, but you can call me Norma. And who is…?"

"This is my girlfriend, Nadia Robin," Valkyrie introduced, wrapping an arm around Nadia. "We were both quite interested in your ideas on my magic. It's been a struggle learning to control it without knowing what it is."

"Yes, yes," Norma nodded, shaking Nadia's hand quickly. "Well, you should come in and I can explain my theories."

They did do that, Norma leading them through the beautiful, bright building to her office upstairs. It turned out that this Temple was partnered with a second. This one focused on the academics and learning and took a lot of work to get into. Norma resided there with her sister, who was a year younger than her and youngest two people in the Temple. The other Temple was much larger and dealt with general teaching, activity and where everyone else could live. As such, there was no Priest at this Temple and they were trusted to continue their work alone. It was obviously a big honour. However, to keep space, Norma's office was also her living area and only a bedroom and very small bathroom connected, so it was more of a homily room they went into than a study.

"Come in, you can sit down," Norma encouraged, and they did that. She made them all coffee and then she sat with them. "So, I think it's best I start by thanking you for coming. I called on short notice but I only just received word of what those Spider terrorists stole from your Irish Sanctuary."

"Yes, although it was meant to be a secret," Valkyrie told her. "We know it is very powerful, or it's rumoured to be, but we don't have any information."

"Yes, well, that is also a secret," Norma told her coyly. "The 'Toute la capacité de puissance', translated as All Power Capacity, hasn't been touched in years but there was a lot of research on it before this. The war against the Irish sparked a lot of debate about the 'Toute la capacité de puissance' and whether it should be opened to use against one side or the other within the Temple. However, after the Temple's were attacked and our numbers were decimated in Europe, the debate stopped as the necromancers became neutral."

"And what did they think the All Power Capacity thing could do?" Valkyrie asked, not attempting to try to say its real name.

"Well, that's the entire theory," Norma smiled. "The most basic idea of the theory is this. Based on research, past papers about the construction of the object as well as notes and letter by its engineers, we believe the object is meant to remove the magic from one person and hold it. It would leave the victim magicless. The theory is that the person whose magic was taken would have it come back to them over time, as it naturally does. However, the most important part of the object is this – we believe the object can be used to put that stolen magic into another person, making them more powerful."

Valkyrie nodded, a deep frown on her face. "So it just transfers it?"

"Essentially, yes. The theory is well respected and accepted. The problem with this is that it's held by a terrorist. He could take the magic of any person and make them powerless, in a literal sense. A mage's main self-defence is their magic. That's why the Dead Men are so impressive, of course, because you are all so capable at fighting."

Valkyrie paled as she imagined the horror of what someone like The Torment could do with powerless mages. "He could destroy the entire Sorcerer community. I mean, even if the magic comes back to us, so many people would be killed in the time it took for it to come back."

"Exactly," Norma nodded. "Usually, this wouldn't be something too exceptionally bad as the object seems to be incapable of holding a large amount of magic, only that of one averagely powered person. Unfortunately, there has been theories and plans on how the object could, potentially, in theory, be made exceptionally more powerful."

"So you're saying the magic-stealing object could be made to take even more magic? Why on earth would someone make plans like that?"

"To see if we could," Norma nodded seriously. "Of course, my main field of study is in the Theory of Pure Magic, but an object like this has come up in several works because an object that takes power goes hand in hand with Pure Magic."

"I don't know what that means," Valkyrie told her.

"That's quite alright. The Pure Magic theory is the idea that magic comes in one form, a pure form, and each person is only capable of using a small amount, which is why we have a Surge to allow us to direct that magic into something usable. The Pure Magic is the same magic in the ground of Cradle countries. It's the most potent magic you could imagine. That is the magic I believe you have, Valkyrie."

Valkyrie took a deep breath and nodded. "And if I get hit with the Power thingy object after they enhance it…"

"It could, if I am correct, take Pure Magic, and Pure Magic is so powerful it would be the equivalent of taking upwards of a thousand mages worth of magic. All someone with possession of this object must do is take you captive and continuously take your magic, wait for it to return, and do it all over again," Norma told her. "Of course, it would depend on how much magic you as a person can hold, how powerful you are, and there is no definite way of testing if you have Pure Magic, so this may be very wrong. The human body may well be too weak to have that type of magic, certainly I doubt any person could hold a lot. The theory on the 'Toute la capacité de puissance' may also be incorrect."

"I'd rather not find out," Valkyrie told her.

"Exactly. Now, I do have another idea, although this one is told off the record so to speak," Norma said, voice lowering and leaning in. "It's an illegal practice and considered a rather exceptional thing to do to one's self. It's called Magic Keeping."

"Norma," Solomon said warningly, his voice hard.

"I know, Mr Wreath, but I feel I have to say it, at least once," she said quickly, pleadingly. "I'm sorry. Magic Keeping is where someone goes through a ritual to stop people from using their magic against them. I do not know if you have been taught this, girls, but magic can be used and joined for a variety of reasons, including that of making a child with two people that otherwise couldn't, to give another person enough magic to do a particular action, or even to create wards of protection. It also means that someone who does this is protected from objects like the 'Toute la capacité de puissance' from taking your magic."

"You're suggesting I have this done to protect myself," Valkyrie concluded.

"Exactly," she quietly said. "It's a risky and difficult procedure, but certainly possible. It's not something I could do–"

"The procedure was created by Doctor Nye," Solomon told her firmly. "You do know who that is?"

"Yeah," Valkyrie said warily. Nadia nodded beside her. "You want me to go to Nye and have my magic protected?"

"I don't want it, necessarily," Norma said quickly, a frown forming on her forehead. "But if my theory is correct, which it may well not be, it would keep your magic from being stolen and creating a super-powerful maniac Spider, yes."

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "Seems like I have little choice."

"You do have a choice!" Solomon snapped suddenly. "Even if this wasn't done by Nye, it has extreme risks to your health, your future and if it ever got out what you did every person in this room would be persecuted."

"Then you'll have to be very quiet," Valkyrie told him firmly. "If this is what it takes, it's what it takes. Even if The Torment doesn't get my magic, it may one day get out that I potentially have Pure Magic, and there would be hundreds of people after me for all sorts of reasons. This could be a massive risk if I don't do it."

Solomon shook his head and glared at Norma.

"If it helps, you cannot have the procedure yet, at any rate," Norma nervously said, looking between Valkyrie and Solomon. "You have to have very good control of your magic first. My sister and I would be willing to train you, and we were going to offer anyway! As long as you don't mind us making some personal notes to add to our research on Pure Magic."

Valkyrie nodded. "Some instruction would be useful. Thank you."

Solomon and Nadia crossed their arms unhappily.

I'd say oof but that's for next chapter. How do you like the idea of the American Section? Those that read the last few books of the series (the original series) will get that I'm trying to bring the book elements in but in very different ways. There's just so many people to keep an eye on though. I still have the Shunters existing somewhere, and there's Peregrine, the second teleporter I mercifully allowed to live. Eventually, it will come together in a nice little bow. Hopefully.