5 Months Later
Contently, Valkyrie let her eyes wander over the various guests assembled in her house. Women dressed in gowns and men dressed in tailcoats, all in different colors, and shapes, and fabrics. Waiters were carrying plates of snacks and drinks. Along the old walls and large windows, lanterns and garlands with little poofs in rust tones; off-white and stone-grey.
This time around, Valkyrie had organized the Requiem Ball herself. To be precise, she had arranged for people to organize it for her. Skulduggery and China had given her guest lists, an event planner had taken care of the rest. But she had picked out some color schemes and such things.
She had done it, mostly, because she knew that Gordon would have liked that. And because the anniversary, after all, honored some of the friends they had lost. Which had gotten them to come back for the last week before the event, with the intention to stay and call a wrap on the break.
So, she watched on, standing next to Skulduggery. He was wearing a stone-grey tuxedo with a matching vest and hat, and she had opted for an outfit that was not a dress. Instead, she wore dark velvet pants that flowed down her legs in straight lines and a rust red, tucked-in, silk blouse that matched Skulduggery's pocket square.
At a distance, China was talking to some of the other guests, doing the socializing a Grand Mage was bound to, wearing a floor-length, peach dress with spaghetti-straps that very well displayed the elegant lines of her shoulders. Wayward was in her proximity, yet always talked to someone else, moving groups as she did.
Valkyrie did not seek out the crowd herself. Once in a while, someone came by to greet them or to thank her for her benevolence. However, many people stayed away from them, and they returned the gesture gladly. A couple looks were shot her way, but no one would dare to insult the host. And she was all too content with simply sticking to the people she actually liked.
Which made Valkyrie look up with a smile then when a familiar voice sounded next to her.
"Well, well, look who has returned from mysterious travel," Dexter Vex said.
He was wearing a night blue tux and a grin, while he hugged Valkyrie and shook Skulduggery's hand.
"Couldn't miss this," Valkyrie said. "Also, Alaska sucked."
Dexter snorted. "Alaska?"
"His fault," she said and pointed at Skulduggery. "I swear, he did that just to annoy me."
"That's the spirit," Dexter nodded approvingly.
She noticed that Skulduggery was not reacting, and when Valkyrie looked up to him, she found him staring at something across the room.
"Ah, here we go," said Dexter meanwhile, and started walking away from them.
Valkyrie looked in the direction towards the door that had attracted their attention and spotted Diamond and Nuce entering the room. They were wearing matching outfits as well, a pine green tux and a satin wrap dress in a similar but greyer color. The dress had long sleeves, her red curls softly hung over it, and a pair of chandelier diamond earrings dangled above her shoulders, doing their best to live up to her name.
Diamond breathed a kiss on Dexter's cheek, as he arrived and then shook Nuce's hand. Valkyrie watched her mannerisms. She was one of these, as Valkyrie secretly called them, fairy women. China fit that category too, although, while she moved with a daunting, imposing elegancy, Diamond moved with a gentle, smooth elegancy, as if her limbs had no weight to them. Now, Valkyrie was very aware of the fact that she, herself, was an attractive woman with excellent body control, but she was definitely not fairy-like.
Nuce didn't look too bad, himself. He had gained some muscle weight, since she had seen him last, looking less lanky. His angular, straight-lined features came out as part of his natural appearance now, rather than just a side-effect of being skinny. The hair still looked the same, however; dark blond and curly, not letting itself be tamed, even for this occasion.
When Valkyrie looked up again, Skulduggery was still staring so, she nudged him in the side. "Hey, planet earth is calling."
"Anything important being reported?" He asked absently.
Valkyrie posed as if she was listening intently. "Yes, they are saying… wait, what is it…? Mhm… mhm..." She straightened. "They say 'pull yourself together'."
Skulduggery detached his look from Diamond and Nuce and glanced back at her with an air of annoyance. But he did not say anything else, just went back to watching the rest of the guests. It did not last very long, however, as the three of them arrived.
"Evening," said Nuce and Diamond in canon.
She went in for a hug with Valkyrie, placing her slender hands gently on her shoulder blades. "Thank you, for the invitation."
Nuce was up next, using more of his arms. She noticed the scar from a deep but small cut, above his left brow, presumably a remnant of his fight with Vile.
When they parted, she caught a glimpse of Diamond stepping back from a hug with Skulduggery. Valkyrie had to admit that she was still weary of the gentle redhead. The way Diamond smiled suggested no animosity or hidden motive, but not being able to read her did not help Valkyrie's worry.
Before she could be caught staring, she turned her attention back to the others.
"How are you?" Skulduggery currently nodded to Nuce.
He shrugged. "Can't complain."
"How is the bodyguarding business?" Valkyrie jumped in.
"Fun, I guess. But not as exciting as detective work, I'd say. Lots of walking and being quiet."
"Oh, yes, I joined Diamond for one of these gigs, before," Dexter said. "Once, and then never again."
She snorted. "Well, not every job can include fighting monsters on a daily basis."
"Which really is a shame," Skulduggery said.
"A shame of which?" Asked China. Valkyrie had not even noticed her joining before she stood next to him.
"The shame of Miss Irie's job being boring," Dexter said.
Diamond glared at him. "It isn't boring."
"It's a bit boring," Nuce argued.
She sighed and seemed like she had decided not to continue this discussion.
Skulduggery turned and held his hand out to China. "Shall we kick this night off?"
China smiled charmingly and took it, letting herself be led to the dancefloor.
"In that case…" Dexter said and turned to Diamond to do the same.
She grabbed his hand and looked at Nuce and Valkyrie. "Are you guys alright here?"
"Yeah, mum," he said teasingly, and she rolled her eyes before walking onto the floor with Dexter, falling into a dance almost immediately.
As they turned and disappeared into the crowd, Valkyrie's thoughts wandered back.
Why had they not turned Skulduggery in? Nuce had seemed adamant about it. Had Diamond talked him out of it? But why? Why insist on helping to resolve the threat, and then just leave her phone number? Valkyrie could not imagine it being all in good faith. Was she planning something?
But then, if Diamond really was planning to use Vile against them somehow, did she have plans to do something similar to Nuce? Now, that just seemed outright cruel.
Also, there was Dexter. They seemed like they knew each other well. So, if she had some sort of long game, he would have missed it for some time. But then, they had all missed Ravel, so who was to say, anymore.
"Would it be rude if I don't prompt you?" Nuce asked from beside her.
Valkyrie shrugged. "Not necessarily. Depends on the reason, I'd say."
"How about… raincheck to ten years, when I'm less of a klutz? So, I don't embarrass myself in front of the entire magic world?"
She snorted. "Sounds like a deal."
They watched the two Dead Men as they danced with their respective partners. All four of them could dance, but while Skulduggery and China were turning all of the heads again, striding over the dancefloor like it belonged to them and talking quietly and privately; Dexter and Diamond seemed like they were mostly having fun, grinning and talking about something presumably funny. It became an interesting dichotomy of energetic elegance and amicable playfulness that mixed in random spots of the floor, when they passed each other at any distance.
And even though there were plenty of other guests present, the two pairs circling through the crowd in irregular patterns made them look slow and grey in their comparable mediocrity.
"You could ask Dexter to teach you," Valkyrie suggested after a bit of watching.
"Oh, he has been," Nuce sighed. "I'm just hopeless."
She snorted with a smile. "You can't be that bad."
He mustered her for a second, looking like he had something to say but was not sure if it was appropriate to the situation. Valkyrie raised an expectant eyebrow at him, and he sighed.
"You know…" Nuce said hesitantly, "I'm sorry I blew up on you like that. I said some pretty nasty things."
She had to smile a bit in appreciation but shrugged mostly nonchalantly. "They were also mostly fair things."
"Tsk," Nuce made. "Who am I to judge? I mean, if we're being honest here, it's just a matter of time until some Sensitive or whoever finds out my name again. Technically, I should be locked behind bars for public security, too."
Valkyrie could not help but grin a bit.
He frowned lightly. "What?"
"Mh," she shrugged. "Just fun to hear you talk normally."
"Oh, you mean other than ranting or saying, 'I don't know'?" Nuce asked humorously.
Valkyrie snickered. "Exactly."
Nuce mustered her again, but this time with amusement. His gaze fell back on the dancing couples in front of them, following Skulduggery around as he twirled China.
"So…" He started unsurely. "You and the skeleton?"
"What about us?"
"Is it... serious?"
Valkyrie shook her head. "No, why?"
He raised a brow. "Why not?"
She shrugged again. "Just isn't the relationship we have. Besides, I was twelve when we met."
"Riiight…" Nuce made.
She mustered him back. "How about Diamond? Is she with Dexter?"
He shook his head. "Nah, they're just friends too. And before you ask, no, we aren't dating either."
"Why not?" It was on her to ask.
He lifted a shoulder. "I think we have very different ideas of what a romantic relationship should look like."
"Right," grinned Valkyrie, not having a hard time wrapping her head around that.
Nuce sighed and watched the guests again. "Look at all of us, single like a group of bachelors."
She looked at him from the side and wondered if that had been some kind of hint, but before she could react, Dexter arrived back with them.
Valkyrie looked up and noticed that he was on his own, so she glanced around and spotted Diamond dancing with Skulduggery.
It was an interesting switch from the previous image, while still making sense at the same time. They were mixing the two previous styles now; him moving with the usual dignified elegance and her fluently and softly, being easily moved around, but still smiling and talking along. Her expression was a bit different now, however; friendly, but less amicable, and maybe even a bit coy.
"Would you look at that, Dexter said contently. "Two of my best students conquering the dancefloor."
Nuce sighed quietly and Valkyrie grinned at him.
The dance seemed to end fairly quickly when the music lead from one song into the next. Yet instead of returning, Skulduggery and Diamond headed off the floor in a different direction, stepped through a door, and disappeared onto one of the balconies.
"Welp," Nuce said, "there they go."
"Great." Said Valkyrie without either annoyance or excitement.
"Well, then," Dexter said and turned to her, holding out a hand. "How about we just keep at it, until we are complete again?"
"That might take a couple of songs," she replied.
He smirked. "I have no issue with that, whatsoever."
Valkyrie grinned and took his hand. She threw Nuce an apologetic look, but he did not look bothered, and let herself be led to the floor. The song was about at a medium pace and she took some time to get her body moving from standing around for that long.
"How are you?" She eventually asked.
Dexter shrugged a single shoulder lightly, while leading her around a turn. "Getting there."
Valkyrie nodded to the reply and then to the light scar on his throat, that was running from underneath his bowtie up to his chin. "How's that feeling?"
Another half-shrug. "I definitely notice it still, sometimes, when I talk for a longer time. Like right now. But it healed fairly quickly. Just the recovery process was…" He grew large, annoyed eyes. "Endless."
"Right," Valkyrie said. "What did you have to do?"
"Well… nothing. I wasn't allowed to do anything. Work, walk, talk, eat… And then, once the actual injury was sorted, re-learn to do all of it."
She made a face. "Sounds exhausting."
"It was, and it was also incredibly boring," Dexter agreed. "As you can imagine, the not-talking part was not an easy exercise for me."
Valkyrie chuckled. "I can imagine that." She paused. "Did you do all of that on your own?"
He shook his head and twirled her.
"So, who do I get to thank on my knees?" She asked jokingly.
Dexter sniffed and nodded to the balcony door across the room. "You have one guess."
Valkyrie rolled her eyes with a smile. "What a surprise."
He stared at the door a bit longer, before they turned again, dodging another dancing pair. "What do you think they are talking about?"
"Hm," she made. "No clue."
Dexter mustered her curiously. "You know what they are talking about, don't you?"
She shrugged one shoulder. "Maybe."
He slowly grinned. "Tell me."
Valkyrie made a clueless face. "Tell you what?"
He sighed, still amused. "Sometimes, I would just love to take a peek into that odd head of yours."
She snorted. "That would probably not be a very good idea."
"Yeah... maybe not," Dexter admitted.
They fell into silence for a bit, just dancing along. And first, Valkyrie was looking for a conversational topic, but she noticed that he was not seeking one out himself. It made her realize that the previous comment had probably been a little hint and he was actually tired of talking, currently. So, she relaxed into the silence and they just danced, until they saw Skulduggery and Diamond passing them on the floor again.
There were already a good number of pairs of eyes that Diamond noticed watching her, when she danced with Dexter. But most of the observing guests had their sights on Skulduggery's and Sorrow's splendid dancing. She only caught glimpses of them, as they passed them at a distance here and there, but she could tell it looked very graceful. She mostly blocked it all out, however, focusing on her own conversation.
The current song and some of the dancing faded and, as if they had known each other's position without checking, the two Dead Men exchanged a look over the dancefloor. Skulduggery released Sorrows to go back to regular chitchat, and then walked towards them, through the crowd, as people picked up their dances again for the next song.
And once he had arrived with them, that was when people truly started staring.
"I would pass her on, but then that would be like selling a princess to a frog", said Dexter to him.
Skulduggery inclined his head a bit. "Maybe it's an incredibly funny frog."
"Hm, I wouldn't be too sure of that", Dexter said pensively.
Ignoring his half-serious attempt of disruption, Skulduggery held a gloved hand towards Diamond. "May I? Provided, you aren't unsettled by frogs."
Diamond smiled, taking his hand. "Oh, I'm just a humble tadpole, myself."
"Don't be too nice to him." Dexter advised her, as he retreated off the dancefloor backwards. "It will get to his head."
She snickered at him, before he turned and walked back to Nuce and Valkyrie. They were already a good bit into the song, so she let herself be turned right into the dance, rather than dealing with the formalities of getting into position.
"How was the trip?" Diamond asked.
Skulduggery hesitated. "It was… interesting."
She raised an impressive brow, before he gave her a first twirl. "That fun, huh?"
"Valkyrie was with me so, it wasn't not fun... I suppose I'm just used to doing several of things at the same time, at any given time. Focusing myself only on the trip, well..." He hesitated.
"Let me guess. The places were all interesting, but you were bored, anyway?"
Skulduggery snorted. "That, pretty much, hits it right on the nail."
"What's Skulduggery Pleasant like, when he's bored?" Diamond bemusedly wondered.
He shook his head. "You probably wouldn't much enjoy his company."
"That's to be determined." She smiled. "I get it, I'm pretty terrible at handling boredom, myself. It tends to make me a bit… bitchy."
He turned his head a bit, as they moved along over the floor. "I cannot say I could imagine you being 'bitchy'."
Diamond hickuped a laugh. "Only to friends, I'm afraid." She paused and frowned. "Hm, that came across wrong."
"Oh, I've heard worse." Skulduggery replied nonchalantly.
"You say that like it's a good thing," she said with a raised brow and let herself be turned again.
He inclined his skull as if he were smiling with something she did not understand, even though she did, and then switched topic. "How is working with Nuce?"
She smiled. "Pretty great, actually. We get along well. I admit, his magic has been tricky. But he's getting better every day."
Skulduggery nodded in his approximate direction. "How much, on a scale from one to ten, should I expect him to hate me for that scar on his brow?"
Diamond spluttered a laugh. "Oh, a three at most. He's very proud of it. Also, don't they say real men have scars, and all that?" She lifted casual a shoulder at him, as they took a turn. "Not that that applies here."
"I've got a couple good scrapes."
She snickered. "That'll do."
The song started fading out and she exhaled as she looked around for an exit. "Anywhere I could get some fresh air?"
Skulduggery pointed at a far door that presumably went out to a balcony. They walked out the last steps of the dance before parting and heading towards it.
"Don't like crowds?" he asked, as they walked amidst the active and parting dancers.
"Oh, no, crowds are ok;" she said, "about a hundred people staring at me, as I dance with Skulduggery Pleasant, that's a different thing altogether."
"I see," Skulduggery said, and it sounded like he might have been smirking, as they stepped through the door and entered the balcony.
Cool air engulfed her, and Diamond breathed it in, as she walked up to the railing and looked over at the large garden, with a large lawn, precisely cut hedges and tamed rhododendron bushes.
"Nice place, she's got here," Diamond commented.
"It is, indeed. It was her uncle's property." A smirk entered his voice. "We met at his funeral."
She blinked, and then snorted surprisedly. "No kidding. Interesting thing to have in common."
"Not exactly, it was at his funeral service, really." he admitted.
"And not exactly, in my case, either."
"He wasn't actually the uncle." Skulduggery jumped in.
Diamond grinned, her eyes still on the garden. "Exactly."
"He was your father." he then said.
She felt her face drop but nodded anyway. "Yeah."
"What happened to your biological parents?" Skulduggery asked.
She sighed at the empty night ahead. "I don't know."
There was a bit of a quiet moment.
"You don't know anything?" He probed, then.
Diamond shrugged. "They gave me to my godfather in trust and adversity when I was two days old. That is all. I swore an oath to him, to look and ask no further. And since he gave up his life to raise me, I intend to honor that."
Skulduggery leaned sideways on the railing. "What was he like?"
"As a person, or as a father?" She asked.
"How about both."
"Well," she sighed with a smile. "Alvertos was strict. Respect and etiquette before all; fairly traditional that way. But otherwise, a modern and open mind. I think… I believe to his friends he was… friendly? I never got to see them, though."
He nodded to her. "He was a Mage but he raised you as a Mortal."
Diamond sniffed, admittedly, surprised at the assessment. "What gave it away?"
"Just the way you talk about the magical world," Skulduggery replied. "When did you enter?"
She sighed, not quite comfortable with that admission. "At twenty-one."
"You seem embarrassed by that," he noted.
Diamond lifted one shoulder. "Well, it can be, when I have no idea what I'm talking about."
He pointed a hand at her. "It does give you a very unique perspective on this world."
She snorted. "That it does."
"For example…" Skulduggery started, but faded out.
Adjusting her stance, she turned herself around to him, resting only one arm on the slim metal bar of the balcony fence. "For example?"
"For example, you did not seem fazed when I was…" He paused, but just for a split second, as if he were rephrasing halfway through the sentence, "…attacking you."
A little smirk snuck onto her face. "That's not what you were going to say."
Skulduggery cocked his head attentively. "That is what I said, however."
"Which is a degradation of the truth", she shot back.
"But only, if the truth is to be believed as something that could have happened, rather than what did happen. Which would then assume that the possibility is the truth, which would make the truth an infinity of different possibilities, rather than the possibility of the single truth of what actually happened."
Diamond blinked at the little rant and assumed that he was probably trying to confuse her. And so, out of principle, she looked up into the dark night sky with a frown, letting her eyes hop along, as she worked through the single points, so she could confuse him right back.
"That would be so, if you relate the unspoken word of a single subject to an infinite array of possibilities, when it rather is a process of conscious decision-making and subconscious associations, leading to the selection of the subjective truth through the subject's consciousness", she echoed finally.
For some reason, Skulduggery seemed rather surprised by this. "Right…" He said slowly, not moving anything other than his jaw.
Diamond frowned a bit in incomprehension. She did not think her response had been all that shocking. "Don't worry," she sniffed therefore, putting a coy hand on her hip. "You aren't the first Necromancer to 'attack me'."
For another moment, Skulduggery did not move and just stared at her. And before he could say anything else, the door opened and Nuce stuck his head out, onto the balcony.
"Everything alright?" Nuce asked.
Diamond nodded at him. "Be right back."
Nuce disappeared again and she turned back to Skulduggery, noting that she was running out of time to do this gallantly.
"So? Did it work?" She asked, therefore. "Your vacation?"
"For now." he said.
Diamond lifted a brow. "And what about after that?"
Skulduggery lifted a shoulder in response, and when it dropped again, it did so heavily.
She sighed and mustered him. "Magic still follows rules. It isn't random. There has got to be some kind of sense to this."
"That's what I used to think, too", he said.
She frowned softly, shaking her head. "I've seen plenty of Necromancy in my time, and I've never seen it manifest in this way before."
"I'm dead," Skulduggery reminded her matter-of-factly.
"I understand that," she said clearly, "but if death is a more natural part of you than for other Necromancers, shouldn't you be more connected to it?"
He tilted his head with a hint of defensiveness. "What do you mean?"
Diamond shrugged. "What it doesn't explain, is why you need to switch into this aggressive mindset, in order to use it."
Skulduggery mustered her for a little while. "I can still use it without donning the armor."
She raised a brow. "So, why don't you?"
"It's… limited," he admitted.
Diamond snapped a finger at him. "Exactly."
He did not seem overly enthused about her evaluation.
"Eighteen-fifty," she recalled, keeping her eyes on his skull that shone lightly in the yellow light pouring out from the windows of the house. "That's when you disappeared."
Skulduggery nodded quietly.
"So, what's the trend?" Diamond asked, leaning her hands backwards against the railing. "What's the commonality, between now and eighteen-fifty?"
"I was dead then, and I am dead now." He replied in a cold tone. "What is it you are trying to get at?"
Diamond sniffed. "Nothing. I really don't know enough, to form any kind of theory."
"Then, why don't you just ask the question you want to ask?" Skulduggery shot back.
She mustered him curiously, shaking her head at him. "You want to know what I think? I think, I don't live in a world with alter egos. How do I know you aren't stringing us and Valkyrie along, until you can disappear again, to do what you actually want to do?"
"How do I know you aren't stringing us along, until you have use for the information?" He hissed.
"You want me to prove myself?" Diamond put a hand on her hip. "I spent the past months reconsidering my decision, waiting for your return like some abandoned puppy, and I'm the untrustworthy one?" She chuckled incredulously. "Sorry, did I miss something?"
That seemed to, at least, make him hesitate.
"Look," she said sharply, but then closed her eyes and sighed off the tension instead. This was getting ridiculous. When she was done calming down, she opened her eyes again. Skulduggery seemed to have followed her example, was watching her quietly. But when she spoke on, Diamond kept some of the sternness his defensiveness had brought out of her.
"You helped Nuce and I out, we helped you and Valkyrie out. As far as I'm concerned, we're even. Yet, there is this big, black elephant in the room, which happens to be friends with my friends. I don't take that lightly. So, I'm not going to prove anything to you, until I know you won't murder them. Is that a fair position for me to have, in your mind, or would you like to see my papers first?"
She could almost see Skulduggery literally swallow his ego and Diamond had to admit, it did give her a good amount of satisfaction. "Perfectly fair."
Diamond sighed exaggeratedly but had to smile regardless. "What a relief." She put on a teasing but mostly pleading look. "Now, could we please go back to having a good time?"
He inclined his head and pushed away from the fence. His voice sounded smoother again. "Gladly."
She sniffed and made her way back to the ballroom.
Skulduggery seemed to examine her, as he followed along. "I should probably apologize for not calling," he then said.
Diamond dismissively waved. "Oh, please. I didn't actually think you would."
"That really makes me look no less like a fool," he replied, and opened the door ahead of her.
She smiled sarcastically over her shoulder, while she stepped back inside, the noise and heat of many guests engulfing her once again. "Well, let that be a stark lesson to your insubordinate infidelity."
Plenty of pairs of eyes immediately jerked right back over to them, attaching themselves, while they walked back to their friends.
"What are they looking for?" She asked curiously.
"A reason, as to why a woman like you would be talking to me, I presume," Skulduggery replied casually.
Diamond threw him a half-disapproving smile and, out of principle, hooked her elbow into his, as they approached Nuce again. She could see him move his skull in her direction someway and people turning their heads, but she kept her eyes on Nuce.
They passed between a dancing Valkyrie and Dexter and a couple groups of people standing along the sides of the dancefloor, now staring at them even more. Even though that had caused the opposite of what she was comfortable with, Diamond felt a good amount of satisfaction about it.
When they arrived, Nuce held a glass of champagne her way.
"Ouh," Diamond made excitedly and freed her arm to take it. "Thanks."
"Aren't you going to dance?" Skulduggery asked him.
Nuce shrugged. "Nah."
Diamond smirked a bit. "Nuce isn't a big dancer."
"Most of all, I'm a crappy dancer," he added.
"And there we thought we had lost you," said Dexter, stepping around to stand on Diamond's other side, in an empty spot of the formation. Valkyrie stood opposite, mustering Skulduggery and then her.
"Just looking at the garden," Diamond said, returning her gaze. "It's beautiful."
She smiled. "Thank you."
"So," Diamond then announced. "Are we going to hear a Dead Men story now, or what?"
Dexter snorted. "Smooth segue, Dye."
"Thank you", she replied with feigned sincerity. "Thought so, too."
"Well, we do need a specific one that fits in Anton, Ghastly and Saracen," Valkyrie said pensively. "Any ideas?"
"Oh," he said. "I've got one. Remember the slides, Val?"
She laughed a bit. "Oh, yeah. Those were fun."
"For us," Skulduggery threw in.
"Exactly, which is what made it even more fun," Dexter grinned.
Nuce looked back and forth between the three of them. "Which slides?"
"Well, we tried to get into an underground base, all… seven of us. And the only way to get there was to use several, parallel quasi-tunnels, leading right down," he explained.
Diamond felt herself smile and settled into her stance comfortably to listen quietly.
"We had to all ride them like slides," Skulduggery added, "which, for us three, was not much of an issue. But Anton was the tallest of us, Ghastly was the broadest and Saracen was…" He hesitated.
"The fattest," Dexter finished for him cheerfully.
Nuce and Valkyrie snorted simultaneously.
"The most opulent of us," Skulduggery corrected amusedly. "Which made them the right size to still make it down there, but too large to do so, without getting into contact with the edges."
"Basically, they kept hitting the walls on their way down," Valkyrie summarized.
"Literally hitting them," Dexter agreed, moving his champagne energetically side to side. "Ricocheting."
Diamond's chest fluttered with a silent chuckle at the image and Valkyrie and Nuce were grinning widely, at this point.
"And all the while, the rest of us were having lots of fun racing each other," Skulduggery said.
Dexter pointed at him. "You and Ghastly got to cheat, though."
He gave him a lamenting shrug. "Well, next time you have your Surge, go for something more practical."
Dexter shook his head, bemused, then went back to the story. "Either way, we all arrived down there, relatively in one piece. But they were obviously shaken and stirred."
"And probably concussed," Valkyrie added.
"And probably jealous. And they were just arriving…" Dexter put himself slightly in pose, one hand on his forehead and the glass of champagne held out, like he was feeling dizzy. He stumbled around a tiny bit. "Like this, roundabout."
"And then, Valkyrie turns around and says…", Skulduggery probed and pointed a hand at her.
She thought a second before grinning. "'Want to go again?', probably."
Nuce and Diamond laughed, and Dexter seemed content at that.
"Cannot really blame you, though," he then said. "Adventurism is always welcome."
"Even at the expense of half of the group?" Diamond probed amusedly.
"Especially, then," Dexter grinned, and she smirked back. "Which is why they took it like champions, of course."
Valkyrie raised her glass to the center of the group. "To Ghastly, and Anton, and Saracen."
The commemoration echoed through the group and they clanked their glasses, all except Skulduggery of course. After she had taken a sip of her champagne, Diamond leaned her head against Dexter's shoulder. He put an arm around her, and they took simultaneous sips.
"Did I miss the toast?" Sorrows' voice asked, walking up from behind her.
"Just about," said Valkyrie, "but you can cheers me, anyway."
She smiled and clanked her glass against Valkyrie's. Dexter held out his as well, and she did the same, looking bemused while drinking.
Diamond had a hard time not staring at her. She had heard plenty of stories of China Sorrow's influence and succubus-like beauty, but that hadn't prepared Diamond for facing her radiating perfection.
Sorrow's mustered Nuce and held her hand to him. "Nuce Evans, correct?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he said politely and shook it. "Thanks for letting us break your Sanctuary hall."
The Grand Mage sniffed amusedly, however, Diamond thought to spot a look in her eye, as she listened to Nuce's reply. It seemed as if she were waiting for something. Yet, whatever Sorrows had expected to happen, it did not seem to, because a hint of curiosity flickered over her face. A peek at Valkyrie told Diamond that she, too, seemed surprised at Nuce's reaction. But before she could put a finger on it, the moment immediately passed by.
"You are welcome," Sorrows replied graciously. Her gaze moved on to Diamond. "I do not believe we have officially met."
"Ah, let me do the honors," Dexter jumped in. He took his arm back from Diamond's shoulders, to point back and forth between the women. "China; this is Diamond Irie, a dear friend of mine, Diamond; Grand Mage Sorrows, who of course, doesn't need for more introduction."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Diamond said with smile. "I'm also Nuce's partner."
"Oh, yes, I remember having heard that some sort of alliance was forming there," Sorrows acknowledged. There was an odd, mustering look in her eye. Diamond wondered if she knew about their run-in with Vile. "Personal Protection, was it?"
She nodded, holding her gaze securely. "Although, the protection part is usually my responsibility, while Nuce, well…"
"Blows stuff up," he finished for her.
Sorrows seemed to find that amusing. "I see."
"Anything interesting being discussed around here?" Valkyrie asked her.
"Goodness, no," said the Grand Mage exasperatedly. "Only the usual amount of chitchat and rumors and political discussions. Nothing to miss."
"Rumors are fun," Dexter disagreed. "Anything outrageous?"
"Oh, lots," Sorrows nodded. "My favorite one, so far, is that the Japanese Sanctuary is going to start a war with us, over the abuse of cultural heritage."
"Abuse of which cultural heritage?" Skulduggery wanted to know.
She gave a light shrug. "I am not entirely certain… Mangas maybe?"
Valkyrie and Nuce snorted simultaneously, again. She looked at him. "Stop that."
He glared back. "You stop that."
Diamond had to smile, and she caught Skulduggery's look. The others went back to a conversation about the recent rumors. But Diamond remembered the little speech she had given Skulduggery about these kinds of stories, those many months ago. And while this story had been truly fun and, besides the natural sadness over these people being gone; Diamond had also noticed the purposeful omitting of any mention of Erskine Ravel.
She assumed; Skulduggery was probably thinking something similar or, at least, something regarding their previous discussion, and so, she smiled at him. He inclined his skull at her and held it there for a moment, before straightening up again, plus a bit more than before, and they turned their attention back to the others.