"Why don't they ever let us go to the offices, anyway?" Asked Nuce and sipped on his to-go cup of coffee.
"They don't want us finding out which department is giving the orders, for which package", Diamond replied and sipped on hers.
"Right." He said and looked around the entrance area of the Irish Sanctuary.
Employees and visitors walked into and out of the various hallways funneling the hall, flowing like thin water around the high pillars and around each other, carrying bags, and suitcases, and files, and flowers.
Once in a while, their eyes were attracted by an especially colorful piece of clothing, or someone walking at a different pace than the rest. That way, Diamond's gaze eventually fell onto a female figure, moving quickly through the masses, dodging others and gently pushing shoulders, while still not really running.
The person burst out into a free area, and now Diamond could see that it was Valkyrie.
She did not look panicked, or shocked, but harried, and maybe a bit frustrated. Yet, there was an edge in her movements that suggested something serious was going on.
Diamond nodded in her direction. "Valkyrie Cain stressed out cannot be a good sign."
Nuce's sights fell on her as well, now. "Ah, crap", he said.
She got up and started following her. Nuce caught up with her after a moment. "Shouldn't we wait for the confirmation call?"
Diamond waved a hand. "They had us waiting for three hours. If they haven't forgotten, they'll assume we left. Which we have. Because that was three hours."
They balanced their drinks, as they scurried past some people, to the large doors, through and outside. More space stretched out, and they followed Valkyrie to the parking lot, where she was quickly stepping towards her car.
"Valkyrie!" Called Diamond after her, but she did not even notice her, just quickly got into her car.
They exchanged a look, turned, and walked to their own car. As the better and quicker driver, Nuce got in on the driver's seat for this occasion, and Diamond jumped in as a passenger. Valkyrie's car sped past them, when Nuce turned on the engine, and he had to start up the gears quickly, as not to lose her in the many cars during evening traffic.
They followed her towards Dublin, and then into a relatively poor neighborhood, on the closer, outer edge of the city.
"What does she want in this mortal's corner?" Nuce asked, while he made sure there were always a couple of cars between them and Valkyrie's car.
"Good question. Maybe it's not Sanctuary-related", Diamond thought.
"Maybe she's doing some shady deal somewhere", Nuce suggested.
"Maybe she is just driving through."
He nodded. "Probably."
And almost as if she had heard them, Valkyrie slowed her car and stopped it at the side of the road.
"Or not." Nuce said and purposefully drove past her, to park a good number of lots away.
They got out and just about saw her walk into an alleyway.
Staying at their distance, they headed into a parallel street. Looking through the gaps between the houses that connected the alleys, they caught glimpses of her, walking quickly, looking around more and more frantically. Eventually, they stopped seeing her.
Diamond halted and waited, to see if she would maybe disappear, which would have meant that she was changing course. But she heard her say someonething, talk to someone. Then, suddenly, she passed them again. This time, she was running.
"Okay, let's go", Diamond said, and heard Nuce following her, when she headed directly towards Valkyrie's path now. They sprinted, sidestepping along the route to keep up and get closer, but trying to stay as quiet as possible.
They ran for quite a while, mostly in random crisscross, as Valkyrie was trying to shake off whatever was hunting her. But eventually, she seemed to run out of breath and slowed her step.
They got closer, hiding in the alley crossing hers now, trying to breathe as deeply and quietly as possible. Valkyrie walked backwards in slow steps, keeping her eyes on someone ahead of her.
A moment later, that someone came into view.
It was a man in a black armor, an actual armor, that was emanating shadows of Necromancy. Tentacles, and clouds, and seeps of shadow flowed around the dark metal.
"That's… Lord Vile." Nuce said in a tiny voice.
Diamond watched Vile move towards Valkyrie with the elegancy of a predator. Now that he was getting closer, it was like she could feel his presence, like his magic was filling the air, making it cool and crisp, and yet not actually changing it at all. It gave her the good kind of goosebumps.
And the armor was by no means huge, or clunky, in fact, the pieces themselves were rather streamlined. And inside of that armor was a person wielding it. Was living inside of those shadows, was engulfed and protected by them, let them be part of their literal body.
Diamond realized she had been holding her breath and exhaled it silently. It was the most impressive thing she had ever seen in her life.
Her eyes were barely ripped away from the imposing entity that was Lord Vile when Valkyrie started speaking to him.
"I don't get what this is supposed to accomplish", she said, still walking backwards and drawing in breaths between the sentences. "You're obviously not trying to kill me. So, what? Is this a fight? Is this for fun?"
He just kept walking towards her.
"What happens when I pass out from exhaustion?" She tried. "Will you take me to my bed? Do I get a lullaby?"
That set off a little bell in Diamond's head. And she looked at Valkyrie Cain and she looked at Lord Vile, and back, and then back one more time, before nodding to herself.
Right. That was all making a lot of sense, now.
Diamond stepped out of their hiding place, despite the quiet protests of Nuce, and walked up to them. "Hi, Valkyrie."
She turned to her in surprise, watching her approach, like she was unsure if she was imagining things. But, once she arrived between them, Diamond turned her back to her.
Vile was still walking towards Valkyrie, not seeming all too concerned with an additional hurdle. That was, until Diamond spoke.
"Hi, Skulduggery."
Lord Vile stopped abruptly. Valkyrie and Nuce gasped from their different spots for different reasons.
"You look like you're in a bad mood", Diamond said unfortunately.
For just a moment, Vile appeared almost as if he did not know what to do. But then, he seemed to remember that his next step was to get rid of the witness. So, he threw an armful of shadows at her.
Diamond shifted her whole body, just before the knifes could slice her, instead of just bouncing off the hard, crystalized surface, as they did now. Vile tried it a couple more times, changing up the strength and the pace of the attacks, but to no avail.
While he shortly paused to change his tactic, Diamond retracted her transition and breathed out and in, shifting back immediately. Just in time when shadows shot her way again.
This time, he did not try to break the surface of her body, rather than crack the entire thing. Necromancy wrapped itself around her in strands, covering her completely in crisscross patterns. Then, they started squeezing. Diamond could make out the pressure clearly, even feeling a bit of a vibration, but she told herself she would hold. And she did, and that attempt, as well, was halted.
Lord Vile, aka. Skulduggery, seemed to decide to try out one more thing. At this point, Diamond assumed; he was just curious to experiment around with her.
The shadows flattened, melted, became one layer of swirling darkness, like a blanket that laid itself closely around her. This way, the pressure became… cozy.
The cover of Necromancy sunk deeper, even deeper, sunk all the way into her crystallized skin. It disappeared in the top layers of her body, moving like swirling dust inside the mass of diamond that was her frozen muscles.
She was starting to notice the shift affecting her now, threatening to knock her out, but Diamond calmed herself, letting the Necromancy explore the composition of her form, the system of her magic. And the flowing movements became almost relaxing, as if she were receiving a really effective massage.
'Now, aren't you fun' Diamond thought.
Once again, Lord Vile paused in surprise.
Just for a moment, she thought she could make herself move, but then the Necromancy retracted, left her body, left her consciousness, left her environment. Diamond let go of the shift and breathed deeply.
The shadows disappeared all the way towards him. Vile was watching her intently now, and she returned his visor's gaze only with inviting expectation. When nothing else happened, Diamond lifted a half-amused eyebrow and Vile tilted his head to the side curiously.
Then, the shadows retracted then even further, seemed to wrap themselves around him, around each other, shrinking, and swallowing him whole. And, suddenly, Lord Vile was gone.
Diamond nodded to herself. "That was much easier than expected", she said and turned.
Valkyrie was staring at her with wide, perplexed eyes.
"You alright, love?" She asked.
She remained frozen, staring in disbelief.
"You don't look alright", Diamond stated.
"How did you…" Valkyrie stuttered insecurely. "How do you…"
"How do I know?" She suggested. "Well, I didn't, until just a second ago. But your reactions were very telling, I have to say."
"But…", Valkyrie started, but was interrupted.
"No, no, no", Nuce said, storming towards them angrily. "You don't get to ask the questions, here."
Her wide eyes grew cool, but through endurance, rather than anger.
"Tell me how this is possible", Nuce demanded, as he stood.
"He is dead", Valkyrie said blankly. "He can use death magic."
That set off an alarm in Diamond's head, but before she had time to think about it, Nuce was already at it again.
"And… why… on earth", he gasped in outrage, "is he not sitting in a prison cell?"
Valkyrie said nothing, just returned his gaze steadily.
"Why are you not sitting in a prison cell!? He!? Makes perfect sense, actually, now that I think about it. He fucked you up, just like himself. That's charming! A real charming love story!" Spat Nuce. "I'd feel sorry for you, but then you, obviously, don't give a damn!"
When she still just stood there, he turned to Diamond and paused, noticing that she was not really listening. She had been trying to blank out the conversation to focus on her thoughts, although unsuccessfully.
"Dye?" Nuce asked, but she still did not react, just staring at the ground. A silence lay over them, as they waited. Eventually, she lifted her head with questions for Valkyrie.
"Is Lord Vile his True Name?"
"Not that I know of", she replied.
"Was he a Necromancer before he died?" Diamond asked.
"If so, he wasn't aware of it, at the time."
"Why on earth did he join Mevolent?" Nuce jumped in. "Didn't he kill his family and him?"
Valkyrie lifted a shoulder, while barely changing her numb expression. "I guess he just snapped."
"And so why return?" Diamond probed.
Another half-shrug. "They probably told him to do something he couldn't."
"Emotionally", she clarified.
Valkyrie nodded.
"So, he needs to switch his state of mind to go in and out of the armor?" Diamond concluded.
"Why are you giving her the light of day, Dye?" Nuce asked.
Diamond sighed and turned to him with a slightly disappointed look. "Do you not understand what the problem is here, Nuce?"
He snorted bitterly. "Oh, I do. He is a mass murderer! That's all I need to understand!"
She mustered him. "Do you take me for the kind of woman to base my knowledge on the bedtime stories of your childhood?"
Nuce coughed disbelievingly. "Well, I definitely didn't take you for a gullible woman."
Diamond rolled her eyes and walked over to him, grabbing his shoulders. "No matter what either of us currently feel; he is still out there. Right now. We need to stop him, which means we need to know how to stop him. Does that make sense? Can you get on board with that, you bloody hypocrite?"
More anger fell over his eyes, but he fell silent.
"Now. Tell me. What happens when something dead uses death magic?"
"Pfft", Nuce made, still frustrated but willing to listen. "It has better… access?"
"Not better", Diamond said slowly. "Infinitive. Infinite access, Nuce. Do you understand what that means?"
"It's a lot of… power", he irritably suggested. "Too much."
Diamond snapped her fingers at him. "Too much."
She turned to Valkyrie, who was watching her, still looking like she did not quite know if any of this was actually happening. "Is this the first time he's gone… rogue?"
"No." She said flatly.
"When did these outbreaks start happening?"
Valkyrie thought for a second, then sighed. "Since he got trapped in the dimension of the Faceless Ones. But most of the time, that was more or less planned. And these random ones, like now… since I left."
"That doesn't surprise me", Diamond said. She turned to Nuce. "You?"
He still glared at Valkyrie, but seemed calm enough, to quietly agree with "me neither."
"Do you know how to get him to snap out of it?" Diamond asked.
"I think so", she carefully said. "He usually manages to do it himself, eventually. I have never seen him out of control like this. I think I might be able to talk him into it, but I haven't been able to speak long enough or get close enough to try anything."
Diamond did her best to be careful while asking this. "And you are sure, that he actually… does… want to stop this? Or could it, theoretically, be that he's… accepted it?"
Valkyrie shook her head with conviction. "I am sure he doesn't want this."
"Alright", she replied slowly. "So, what do you think we should do now?"
She mustered her. Her eyes snapped to Nuce, who now looked faithless more than anything, then back to Diamond. "You knew the Necromancy couldn't hurt you."
She nodded. "I have trained with Necromancers before."
Valkyrie looked uncertain again but seemed to ask the question anyway. "Diamond, I need to know how you figured this out."
A shrug. "Like I said, I've worked with Necromancers before. When I shifted Skulduggery a couple of months ago, I could tell he was one. But at the time, I wasn't sure if I was just getting confused by the fact that he's dead."
She mustered her intently. "You can tell the discipline of someone, by shifting them?"
Now it was on Diamond to hesitate with her response and she knew Nuce was watching her doubtfully, but she guessed, it was too late now, to keep this covered up.
"Yes. I protect the magic of the sorcerer as well, not just their form", she replied.
Valkyrie's eyes were cautious now. Cautious of her. "Can you affect the magic in any other way than shifting it?"
She shook her head slowly, holding her gaze. "Not that I know of."
"Can you protect someone from someone else affecting their magic?"
Diamond gave her one nod. "Yes, but only for as short of a time as I can keep their body transformed. I can't shift someone's magic, unless I'm connected directly through both of us being transformed. And that can never last longer than a minute or two, before becoming dangerous."
She sighed a bit, at Valkyrie's analytical eyes, that were hopping, as they tried to formulate a plan. "I can't separate Skulduggery from Vile, if that's what you are hoping…"
She did look a bit disappointed at that but focused on another idea. "Do you need to be in physical contact with someone, in order to shift them?"
Diamond nodded once again. "Yeah."
"Could you get me close to him? Like all the way into his space?"
She had to smile just a bit at that choice of words. "I believe so."
Valkyrie nodded and looked around a bit, thinking, before returning her attention. "I need to surprise him."
"Who else is in on this?" Nuce asked now, and even if he still sounded very much angry, his voice was mostly calm.
"I can't be sure", Valkyrie replied. "But, as it stands, just me and…" She faded out.
He raised a brow, not seeming like he would let her get away with that response. "Yeah?"
"Grand Mage Sorrows and I."
Nuce snorted and shook his head at her in distaste. "So, all of you are just as criminal as any of the people you lock away on a daily basis, yeah?"
Valkyrie nodded once. "Yes."
"Yeah", he sniffed with a bitter grin, then turned to his partner. "I assume; by the time this insanity is resolved, we are turning them in, yeah?"
Diamond still had her eyes on Valkyrie, watching her. Nuce looked at her disbelievingly from the side. "Right!?"
She kept ignoring him, kept observing her reactions. "Why now?"
Valkyrie seemed to wait for the elaboration on that question, even if she probably knew what she meant.
"The draw of power must have been there the entire time, right? Why is it now, suddenly, too much to handle when it wasn't for centuries?"
She could tell that she knew the answer, but still seemed hesitant. Diamond assumed; this was a question that overstepped not only theirs, but specifically his privacy.
"Valkyrie, this cannot be all", she tried. "As far as I understand, if he has been dealing with this since Mevolent's war, there must be more to it than just some secret blood-lust."
She watched her still, but with no more defensiveness in her look. "The armor is a flood-gate", Valkyrie then said evenly. "A way to turn off everything for a bit."
Diamond nodded. "So, relief."
Her face pulled together lightly in general despair. "How do you think of all this stuff?"
She sniffed a bit, lifting a shoulder. "It's pretty obvious, isn't it? The load was already really heavy, but then, you live through something that is shockingly similar to this and then leave. Of course, the walls are going to crack. Eventually, even Skulduggery Pleasant is going to break."
Suddenly, Valkyrie lifted her hands, covering her face with pressure. Her breath went flat, like she was fighting tears.
Diamond exhaled and walked closer to her. She pushed Valkyrie's hair back off her shoulders, out of the way. "You were a child, love."
She shook her head, without lowering her arms or breathing.
"Are you responsible for the outcome of your own actions? Sure. Responsible for him being four-hundred, dead, and insane? Come on, now." Diamond rested her hands on her shoulders. "Just breathe."
Valkyrie gasped out the air with effort, her shoulders slumping, then inhaled shakily, but slowly, calming herself underneath her own, concealing hands.
Diamond looked around, noticing that they were still standing in the dark alley. And since there had been no other movements around, other than their own, she had almost blanked it out, through the excitement of the past moments. Her gaze fell on Nuce, who did not look happy, but not angry anymore either.
"How about we get you home and figure this out indoors?"
Valkyrie nodded and dropped her hands, taking another deep breath.
"Okay", she then said airily. "Let's go."
They returned to her house and flicked some switches, shooting light into the dark rooms in the night. Valkyrie saw Diamond look around, her eyes flying over the furniture and decoration, while staying perfectly neutral. They headed to the kitchen, to drink some water and sit down, breathing out some of the tension. Nuce was sitting on one of the stools next to Valkyrie, and she could tell he was not comfortable, at all, with the physical proximity, but he did not complain either.
"Alright", Diamond eventually said,, staying on her feet near the door, with a good view over the unfamiliar room. "Let's go back a couple of steps."
Valkyrie did her best not to sigh.
"During the last war, Vile was active a couple of times", Diamond recalled.
She nodded quietly.
"And he fought Darquesse."
Another nod.
"Who wasn't a defective reflection."
Valkyrie froze.
Diamond nodded to the telling reaction, the second one today, and Valkyrie wanted to slap herself, but it was too late now.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nuce frowning. "Wait, what?"
Valkyrie went through a couple of options, before nodding to Diamond. "What did Dexter tell you?"
"Oh, nothing", the Shapeshifter shrugged casually. "Just the official story. But it did strike me as curious that he was so very interested in you, when he was possessed by the Remnant."
Valkyrie was quiet now, watching her with dull eyes. When would this woman stop guessing her secrets?
"Also, judging by the amount of destruction Darquesse caused, I just cannot wrap my head around the reflection idea…"
Diamond mustered her with a light, knowing smirk. "Would you like to tell us what actually happened?"
"No", Valkyrie replied coolly.
Nuce snorted bitterly. "I don't really think you have a choice, Cain."
She mustered him, and he looked expectantly back.
"Look, I'm sure there are good reasons why you guys are keeping this secret, but if we want to help you, we need full disclosure", Diamond elaborated.
Valkyrie exhaled and let her head hang, to stare at the kitchen counter. Of course, she could just make something up. But to what point? Lifting her head again and looking at Diamond, she could tell that she would not buy anything other than the truth. So, really, the decision was either to throw herself in head-first, or to leave and take on Vile on by herself, always wondering when the day would come, where those two would tell someone else about this. Dexter, for example.
She took a deep breath. "Darquesse was my True Name."
Nuce looked at her, stunned. "What?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Diamond just nodded again, holding her gaze. "What happened?"
Valkyrie swallowed the dread and made herself speak on. "I found it out through a magical object called a Dream Whisperer. After that, I sealed the name."
This time, the ginger frowned. "How?"
"Doctor Nye." Valkyrie curtly explained.
Next to her, Nuce rested his face in his hands.
"Okay, and on?" Diamond pressed.
She exhaled but kept going evenly. "Well, by sealing the name, Darquesse became a sort of… separate person. She took over once or twice and then, finally, during the war when I was…" She paused but could not find a better way to say it. "…dying. And from that moment on she was in control."
"But you fought her." Diamond reminded her.
"Yes. I was the one during the Warlock attack", Valkyrie explained, as steady as possible. "But, eventually, Skulduggery managed to separate us with a Soul Catcher."
She decided to keep out the unnecessary details, for several reasons. "That's when she took over my reflection, who was helping Skulduggery, at the time."
Diamond breathed out heavily and crossed her arms, eyes on the ground. She looked thoughtful, turned away and walked in a small circle for a moment. Nuce lowered his hands from his face and laid them flat on the counter. When Valkyrie peeked over at him, his eyes were down too, glued to the wood but staring into nothingness.
Eventually, Diamond stopped walking, dropped her arms and looked at her again. "Darquesse taking over, would you compare that to Vile taking over?"
"I would say it's probably close", Valkyrie replied. "It's not really like he tells me details on that."
She looked truly curious now. "And as far as you know, how would that present itself? A voice…? A draw...?"
Valkyrie shrugged lightly. "For me it was a voice."
She felt Nuce's side-glance.
"But, sure, using that kind of magic has a draw to it", she added.
"And when she took over, did you just feel like a different person, or like another person was controlling you?" Diamond asked.
"Neither." Valkyrie responded flatly. "Both."
"So, you had a conscious awareness of you and Darquesse being separate identities? Something you could maybe push through and stop?"
She nodded. "I did, a couple of times. But eventually… I guess, she was just stronger than me, in the end."
Diamond was still mustering her with this carefully curious and yet somber look. "So, you guys have a history of talking each other out of these mindsets?"
"Yes", Valkyrie said. "Which is why I am hoping I can get Skulduggery back, if I can get close enough."
"But Vile might be too strong at this point", Diamond added.
Even though it was the logical conclusion based on what she had told her, the evaluation made Valkyrie's organs pull together. She felt her face losing the previous blankness as well. "He might", she replied quietly, with no more coldness.
"I'm sorry", Nuce suddenly said.
She looked at him with surprise. He was returning her gaze with cool, but calm eyes. "Not for him. But for you."
Valkyrie blinked at him, unsure if she was glad about that or not. "Thanks…"
"What happens, then?" Diamond threw in, her voice soft and warm. "If he were to stay like this?"
Valkyrie shrugged and now also looked down onto the countertop underneath her hands. "China would take care of it."
Diamond gave her another understanding nod. "How much time do we have?"
"Another day", she replied.
"Okay", the Shapeshifter said decisively. "Then you should get some sleep now."
Valkyrie felt her brows pull together in defensive surprise. "What? No."
"Yes", disagreed Diamond with unwavering eyes. "You can barely see straight, let alone take down Lord Vile. We need you awake and alert."
She shook her head lightly. "I doubt I will be able to sleep."
Diamond turned and walked out of the kitchen and the house. They could hear her unlocking the rental car, opening and closing the trunk. She came back carrying a handbag and pulled out a little glass jar that had round, dark blue pills in it. Diamond walked over, pulling out the cork and carefully tilted it, teasing out a single pill, which she handed Valkyrie.
"This is Obdormiscere-Melatonin. It's not a sleeping medication, it won't make you sleep differently, but it will help you fall asleep."
"Is that mortal medication?" Valkyrie wanted to know.
She sniffed. "No, it's magical. But I'm sure they found some inspiration in regular melatonin."
"Never heard of this", she noted.
"It's not poison", Diamond bemusedly assured her. "I would take one for demonstration, but I do have to stay awake."
Valkyrie sighed, looking down at the little blue pill. She was not feeling tired. She was not even feeling like sitting here. But she also knew that this had a lot to do with the current circumstances. She also did not feel like any more discussion, so she simply put it in her mouth, washing it down with the remaining water in her cup.
"I'll wake you in a couple of hours." Diamond said contently. "We'll hold the fort."