That morning, Valkyrie awoke with the pressing instinct to call Skulduggery. She had barely hopped into her pants, when she already had her cellphone pinned to her ear.
She had promised not to bother him for twenty-four hours, but they were closing in on forty-six hours by now. And although she didn't actually feel like he was in any trouble, her curiosity and concern about the situation didn't let itself be pushed aside anymore.
Unsurprisingly, Skulduggery didn't pick up the phone. Valkyrie wondered if he was still wrapped up in dealing with Diamond, or if he was mad at her. She sighed and decided to wait for him at work.
She picked out one of her new outfits from Susanna's Tailor; a pair of blue jeans in combination with a casual blazer made from a jersey-like material of the same color. A white t-shirt and trainers broke up the pieces, or something like that Susanna had said. Valkyrie was still trying to get used to wearing more daring outfits to work, but her new tailor was doing a great job at carefully pushing her fashion boundaries.
She drove to the sanctuary, taking the car in case she needed to pick up anyone. She went to their shared office and waited there.
She waited for ten minutes... Twenty minutes... Thirty minutes. But Skulduggery didn't show up. He was late. He was never late.
Valkyrie wasn't sure whether to roll her eyes in annoyance or to be increasingly worried. She decided to go with both, and took her frustration back to her car. Then she drove it all the way to his house.
The Bentley was parked outside, and she felt a bout of relief surge in her chest as she walked up Skulduggery's driveway. That relief soon turned into disappointment and more concern, when she rang the doorbell, and there was no answer.
"Why is it, whenever you're in trouble, I always have to chase you across town?" Valkyrie irritably grumbled. "Can't you be in trouble in one spot, for once?"
The absurdity of her own statement lifted her mood just a bit, as she chuckled to herself. She got back into the Oompa Loompa and drove to her next stop.
As Valkyrie walked towards Diamond's Roarhaven townhouse, her curiosity abruptly turned into anxiety. She saw many potential outcomes to her decision of coming here. There mightn't be anyone home, Skulduggery might be here with Diamond, or Diamond might be on her own... And although Valkyrie certainly hoped to get some answers, none of these possibilities seemed especially appealing.
She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. Her anticipation almost hurt in her gut, as she tensely waited to see who would answer.
Suddenly, the door swung open and Skulduggery stood there. She breathed a sigh of relief.
He seemed surprised to see her. "Hello, Valkyrie."
"Hello to you."
"May I know what you're doing here?" Skulduggery precariously asked.
"I'm checking on you," she announced and slid past him, into the entrance hallway.
Valkyrie looked around to see if she could spot the Lady of the house. It didn't surprise her that she could not. After all, why would Skulduggery open Diamond's door, unless they knew that Valkyrie was the one knocking.
He hesitated but closed the door behind her. "Since when do you check on me?"
"I always check on you when I think you might be in danger." Valkyrie wandered towards the kitchen in order to sneak a peek inside. "And last time we talked, you were going to confront your girlfriend about being a sleeper agent. Then, you wouldn't reply to my calls for almost two days. Plus, you're late for work so... Here I am." She turned back to him and spread out her arms presentingly.
"I'm... flattered?" Skulduggery seemed to warm up somewhat. "How did you know I'm here?"
"I didn't," Valkyrie shrugged and let her arms drop to her sides. "I was at the sanctuary, then I swung by your house... This place was attempt number three, and... voila! Here you are."
"Here we all are."
"Welp, since everything seems to be in order, including your set of bones..." Valkyrie was just about to make an elegant exit, when she spotted movement from the corner of her eye.
She turned and found Diamond standing in the doorway to the living room. The door was hiding her body halfway, but her face was entirely visible. It was a very begruntled face.
Valkyrie attempted a smile. "Hey, Diamond."
The smile wasn't reciprocated. Neither was the greeting. Diamond merely mustered her up and down, like she didn't approve of who she saw.
"So, you're mad at me..." Valkyrie stated the obvious. "Which is understandable. I'd probably be mad too, if you stalked me and accused me of romance fraud..."
There was no reaction on Diamond's face, as she waited for her to get to the point.
"Now, how do you want to do this?" Valkyrie tried anew and presented herself again. "Do you want to yell at me? Hit me? Hit me several times...?"
The first word that Diamond uttered was one of unamused impatience. "Apologize."
"...I could just stand there, or I could pretend to fight back if that helps?"
Her eyes narrowed critically. "Apologize."
"Okay, fine." Valkyrie tried to keep her exasperated sigh to a minimum. Then she faced her with all earnestness. "I'm sorry that I followed you."
"And...?"
"And I'm sorry, I insinuated to Skulduggery that you might be a spy."
Diamond looked as contented as possible at this time. She nodded it off. "Apology accepted. I'm sorry for being deceptive."
"Also accepted," Valkyrie smiled. "Just out of curiosity though..." Her body swayed contritely and her voice moved up a pitch, "are you a spy?"
Diamond's eyes grew ice-cold again. "Have you sufficiently assured yourself of your partner's safety and wellbeing?"
"Umm..." Valkyrie turned halfway towards Skulduggery, checking again. He looked perfectly unharmed, as well as deeply uncomfortable. "Yes," she decided.
"And you don't believe me to be a threat anymore," Diamond pressed, "to you or your friends?"
Valkyrie wasn't entirely convinced of that part yet, but she could read a room. "I guess not."
"Very well. Then, if you wouldn't mind, I don't see any more reason for you to be here."
Diamond turned and disappeared back inside the living room.
Skulduggery laid a hand on Valkyrie's back and ushered her towards the exit. "Come on," he murmured and opened the door for them both.
"That didn't go terribly," Valkyrie murmured back as she was taken outside.
The front door shut behind them, and Skulduggery's voice returned to a regular volume. "About as well as is to be expected."
She made a face. "Diamond isn't one to hold grudges, is she?"
His skull swayed side-to-side with partial agreement. "Not exactly."
They headed towards the Oompa Loompa, which was parked down the street.
"Which means...?" Valkyrie wearily pressed.
"It means... Diamond is the forgive-but-never-forget type of person."
She thought about it and then shrugged with approval. "That's fair."
"Just give her a couple of days, she'll come around."
"Well, good. Otherwise, that might get awkward quick." When Skulduggery didn't reply, Valkyrie curiously mustered him. "Do you want an apology too?"
"No need," he said, although his voice didn't exactly demonstrate a sense of warmth and happiness. "You followed intel, it led you to discover concerning circumstances, you shared them with your partner. That ticks off about every step in the Good Detective Guidebook."
"That's metaphorical speaking, right? There isn't actually a Good Detective Guidebook?"
"One point redacted for that question."
"Aww," Valkyrie pouted. Then she shrugged, "I'll take two points."
"Now, that doesn't mean I'm happy about the manner, in which we went about this," Skulduggery veered. "The goal was for me to improve my relationship game, remember?"
"Yeah..." Valkyrie sighed, as they arrived by her car. She fumbled for the keys in her pockets. "I should have probably just confronted her at the secret meeting, right there and then. You know... test out the waters for you."
"That would have been one of the more considerate strategies," Skulduggery approved only halfway, "except that - should your theory have been correct - it could have put you in danger."
"But it would have looked much cooler."
His approval audibly increased. "Indeed, it would have."
She managed to free the key chain and unlocked the car. "Just for the record; I still have no idea what's actually going on."
"I will explain it to you," he promised. "Right now, however, I should probably not make her wait."
Valkyrie pointed at him. "Good point." She opened the car door and slid into the driver's seat. "But you two aren't fighting?"
"Not anymore," Skulduggery said, "I'll see you at the office in an hour."
"Cool, see ya," she called and, only for the sake of her own entertainment, "glad you didn't do a Fletcher!"
The car door shut, but Valkyrie could still hear his frustrated groan through the window. She smirked as she started up the engine and drove off, and all the way down the residential road.
Ninja Norocosul was growing up to become a remarkable young woman.
She dressed and carried herself like someone past her surge, but everyone who knew her was all too well aware; she was only seventeen. She still spoke with a soft Romanian accent, which made her R's roll elegantly, and always gave her voice a somewhat extravagant flair.
The tough teen had braved quite a few horrible years, ever since she had been trafficked at fourteen. After spending two years working at an illegal brothel, she had spent another working as an official informant for the Irish Sanctuary.
Between helping Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain track down career criminals and liberate more trafficking victims just like her, Ninja was studying to become a healer. It turned out that she didn't only have a knack and morbid curiosity for surgery, but she was also quite talented at kinetic healing magic.
After the raid on Carry's club, Ninja had spent a couple of weeks shadowing Grand Mage Paige Arrephoros. It seemed, during that time, she had picked up a thing or two about proper etiquette and how to carry oneself in the presence of Elders. After this, she had begun her training under Reverie Synecdoche.
Ninja had moved in with Betty Baisemain for a couple of months, while she had saved up to rent her own place. Betty of course had taken excellent care of her, and the two seemed to have bonded quite a bit during that time.
Now, confident and beautiful as ever, Ninja was having her weekly lunch date with Diamond. During these regular meetings, Diamond often found herself staring at her with a secret smile, simply observing her and thinking of how proud she was.
And every single time, Ninja called her out on it. "You're doing it again."
"Oh, sorry," Diamond apologized half-heartedly and sipped at her cappuccino. "You were saying?"
"What else is there to say? It was so epic and gross!" Ninja excitedly continued her surgery story. "I mean have you ever held a literal beating heart in your hands?!"
She had to hide another smile. "Can't say that I have, no."
Ninja brought up her hands to cradle them around an invisible human heart. "It was almost, like... poetic, you know? All I'd have to do is..." She brutally squished the invisible heart. "...And he's dead."
Diamond spluttered a discomforted laugh. "But you didn't actually do that?"
"Of course not! I just mean, you know... feels powerful! To literally hold a life in your hands. I guess, it just made me realize... how fragile it all is..." Ninja trailed off into her thoughts.
"None of that blood and gore bothers you, huh?" Diamond curiously commented.
"Are you kidding? The grosser the better!"
She chuckled with uncertain endearment.
"By the way, umm..." Ninja addressed and suddenly grew a little shy and flustered at her next honest statement. "I realized I never thanked you... You know, for adopting me."
Her endearment grew more sincere, as Diamond shot her a warm and slightly scolding smile. "You don't need to thank me for that, love. That was just a formality, so you can work at the clinic."
"Still... You once told me, you're sad that you never directly thanked your uncle, so... I guess I'm just making sure that I've said it at least once."
Diamond's smile grew, and she reached out for Ninja's hand that rested next to her recently devoured plate. "The best way to thank any type of parent is to spend quality time with them, and to make something of yourself. And it looks to me like you've got both of those down pat."
Ninja brightly beamed at the underlying compliment. "Okay, cool."
"Now, shall I pay up, so we can get back to our busy, busy lives?" Diamond cheekily offered. She received another thankful response.
She called for the bill, they finished their last sips of coffee, and they grabbed their jackets on the way out. Neither put them on, as the midday sun had recently brought some warmth to the streets of Roarhaven. They stepped out of the café and onto the sunny sidewalk.
Diamond smiled and held her arms out. Ninja happily accepted the hug.
"It's nice to see you all settled in," she told her as they embraced.
"Yeah," Ninja agreed, "I'm glad I stayed here."
"Me too. But now...?" Diamond said, and gently moved her back by her shoulders, "you better get back to work. Reverie has never been one to appreciate delays."
She snickered as they parted. "See you next week, then?"
"See you, love."
Ninja waved and jogged away, in the direction of the sanctuary. Diamond watched her disappear behind a street corner. She contentedly sighed and nodded to herself. Apart from the war that was threateningly looming over everyone, things were going pretty well in her life, Diamond felt.
Once she was done with virtually patting herself on the back, she turned and walked in the opposite direction. The Audi was parked around the corner, and she was looking forward to picking Nuke up from Alex's place. She always enjoyed his company, but Nuke was especially fun to be around, after he had spent a couple of days with his best buddy.
With a pep in her step, Diamond turned a corner. And walked directly into somebody!
Both her and the stranger yelped in surprise, as they harshly collided! A paper cup of coffee exploded between them and flew through the air! Warm coffee spilled all over her and the stranger's clothes.
"Oh, no!" the unfamiliar man gasped in shock, "I'm so sorry!"
"No no!" Diamond immediately declined, equally as flustered, "I am sorry, this is entirely my fault, I wasn't looking properly!"
The man pulled a discontented face and looked down at himself. His expensive-looking dress-shirt was entirely soaked in coffee. He uselessly wiped his wet hands over the large stain, as though he could clean it off that way.
Diamond tried to help, by awkwardly using her shirt sleeves to wipe at his shoulders. The collar of her blouse was dirty too, but she didn't mind quite as much as the man seemed to.
"Great..." he glowered, "looks like I'll be late for my meeting..."
"I really am very sorry," Diamond compunctiously said, "I'm not usually such a klutz. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Don't you worry, it's my fault, I was walking on the wrong side of the..." The man looked up and, for the first time, he seemed to register her properly.
He seemed to like what he saw. His eyes scanned her up and down. His grim expression faded and he put on a contrite smirk. He wiped his right hand on a dry spot on his pants and held it out to her.
"Hi, I'm Bradley," he gallantly introduced himself, "and you are...?"
Diamond smiled and gladly shook his hand, "Dianne."
He smirked wider and humorously gestured up and down their coffee-soaked clothes. "Well, I guess... Nice to meet you, Dianne?"
Admittedly, Diamond didn't mind the sudden flirty look in his eyes. Bradley wasn't too hard on the eyes, himself.
He was tall and fit, and appeared to be in his mid-twenties but was likely older. He was wearing a previously clean, ironed, light-grey dress shirt and black pants. As well as short brown hair, and a chiseled jaw-line below five-day stubble. His almond-shaped eyes had a nice amber color, and they twinkled with unconcealed confidence.
"Nice to meet you too," she sincerely smiled. "I hope it's not an important meeting that you're missing?"
Bradley snorted bitterly. "It's only a presentation for the most important project of my career thus far."
Diamond cringed at the notion, "oh, wow, okay. My car is parked close-by. Can I give you a ride somewhere?"
"Ah no, thanks," he casually waved away the offer, "my car is just around the corner, too. I think I might just have a spare shirt in the trunk."
"Oh, thank goodness," Diamond relievedly sighed.
Bradley leaned down and picked up his empty coffee cup from the ground. He nodded her in the direction of his car. "Feel free to accompany me, though. I'd like to reimburse you." He gestured at her ruined expensive top.
"No need," Diamond unconcernedly smiled, "I have plenty more where that came from."
He bemusedly nodded, "I might have a spare t-shirt too, if you'd like to borrow it...?"
As she was about to get into her car and take Nuke to their Roarhaven townhouse, Diamond didn't currently see the need to get changed. However, she decided to accept Bradley's offer of company with a lasting sense of responsibility and embarrassment, and followed him towards the line of parked cars by the sidewalk.
"What is it you do, Bradley?" she asked as they walked, "what's this important meeting about?"
He shrugged unimpressed, "I work in import and export. The presentation is about ethically sourcing rare crystals."
"Sounds interesting," Diamond politely nodded.
He bemusedly snorted. "Not exactly. I've got to be honest with you...? My job isn't all that fun. It's pretty stressful, and I really just do it for the family benefits. Sometimes I think, my wife enjoys my work more than I do."
Diamond found herself smiling at his bluntness. It didn't hit like an uncomfortable confession, it rather sunk in like a natural kind of confident openness. "I see. Are you planning on a career change anytime soon?"
He casually puckered his lips and nodded. "Someday, maybe, if things go my way..."
In front of a small coffee-shop, presumably the one where he had gotten his coffee from, Bradley had parked his car. It was a shiny black Mercedes Benz of an expensive E-class.
"Let me just unlock the trunk and get some napkins," Bradley said, and walked around to the front of the car.
Diamond stood by the side of the trunk. She comfortably crossed over her arms and waited there, until the lock of the trunk door opened with a clack.
Bradley soon returned. He was carrying a pack of wet-wipes, and was currently using one to clean his hands. As he arrived with Diamond, he offered her the package. Diamond thanked him and pulled out a wet-wipe. As she cleaned her hands, he opened the trunk of his Mercedes. She looked down at herself and wiped some coffee residue off her blouse.
Suddenly, Bradley's hand was on her arm. Just as his fingers made contact with her wrist, a feeling of impending danger hit Diamond square in the gut.
But it was too late. Before she had a chance to shapeshift, her body was spun upside down, and landed in the trunk of the car.
All Diamond had the time to do, was to cry out in surprise, "HEY!"
"Whoops!" Bradley said.
The last thing she saw of him, before the trunk slammed shut, was a triumphant grin.
Diamond's hands jerked up, in an attempt to keep the trunk from closing on her. Yet, due to the shock and horror that had momentarily frozen her, she was too slow once again. The trunk door painfully hit the palms of her hands, and locked Diamond into the confining darkness.
"What are you doing?!" she pointlessly shouted, "LET ME OUT!"
A thought sprung to her mind, just as suddenly as the unexpected danger had set in.
Bradley wasn't a regular Roarhaven business man, she quickly realized. Somehow, he had tricked her magic. And she only knew of one single person, who had the ability to do this.
Diamond's eyes widened in terror first. Then, she felt her face distort with unfamiliar levels of seething hatred.
"You won't get away with this! My friends are going to end you! If you do this, you're dead! Dead, you hear me?!" she yelled at the top of her lungs and aggressively kicked the roof of the trunk. "HENCH!"
Her yelling and threats turned out to be entirely pointless. It seemed, no one was going to step in and help her, as no one was noticing any of it happening.
Diamond heard the driver's door open and shut. The engine purred to life without hassle. The trunk remained locked, and the Mercedes began moving.
And the entire time, Bax Hench was gleefully laughing at her.
They met Tanith by the entrance of the Irish Sanctuary. She showed up on her own.
Skulduggery confusedly tilted his skull at her. "Where is Dexter?"
"Oh, yes," Tanith importantly remembered to inform him, "Dexter wants you to know that he isn't talking to you."
"Ah," Skulduggery glumly understood, "I have been wondering whether he might react this way..."
Valkyrie made a face at this revelation. She still felt a disproportionate amount of responsibility for causing their first big fight. She uncomfortably shrunk into herself and sounded almost meak as she asked, "is he very mad?"
Tanith shrugged with partial agreement, "mostly annoyed, I guess?"
"Did Dexter say anything else to you?" Skulduggery wanted to know.
"Not much, no... He just rolled his eyes and sort of snorted," she recalled, her face contorting to reenact Dexter's glum look of disapproval. "And he said; 'welp! That's what he gets for poking the bear in the sore spot'."
Skulduggery sighed in defeat.
"Did you ask him why he's never mentioned Diamond to us, until Nuke came around?" Valkyrie asked her.
"Yeah," Tanith confirmed but already made an apologetic face at her lack of knowledge. "He just replied that it isn't his place to tell."
"Right..." she sighed.
"Well, then," Skulduggery annoyedly announced, "let's focus on what we came here for, shall we?"
It was clear that all three of them felt the same about the situation; too guilty to let it go, too busy to chase it down further. They walked in through a pair of big double doors of the sanctuary, and he led the way through the lavish halls, to the filing room.
Valkyrie realized that the word 'room' wasn't exactly a fitting description for the place they soon walked into. Giant three-story shelves lined the walls and created a maze between them. The space was so elaborate and splendid, she decided that 'library' was a more adequate description.
As there was an actual library located in the same building, Valkyrie found it both fitting and ironic, that China had decided to build two giant libraries inside her sanctuary.
Although she had been here before, both herself and Tanith looked around in awe at the impressive sight. They spotted a handful of other sanctuary employees that were looking for documents. Some had climbed onto tall ladders and searched high up above them. All of them seemed to know what they were looking for, but none of them looked ready to help them search.
"So... How are we going to find anything in this labyrinth?" Tanith asked.
Skulduggery didn't reply as he already had a plan. He walked up to a stone podium close to the entrance, which looked almost like a fancy info-board. Instead of a phone line or an interactive screen, it had only one big red button.
"Ooh, a big red button!" Tanith expertly detected, "those usually make big things happen! What happens when you press it? Does it blow something up? Does it give you the wisdom of a librarian?"
"It can't be pressed," Skulduggery said.
"Oh..." Tanith looked disappointed first and confused next. "Wait, why is there a big red button, then? Why have a button, if it can't be pressed? That's silly! China Sorrows is a silly woman!"
"It can't be pressed, because it's not a button." Skulduggery placed his hand on the red sphere. He grew still and quiet, and seemed to focus on it.
"It's a psychic directory," Valkyrie quietly explained to Tanith. "You just focus on what you're looking for, and it will light up the areas with the relevant files. China had it specially coded so that Skul could use it too."
"Ooh," Tanith approved, "that's so convenient!" Immediately afterwards, she seemed to remember what and who she was approving of, and immediately stopped. "I mean... okay. Cool. Good for her."
Valkyrie tried her best not to mischievously smirk at her. Instead, she turned to Skulduggery, as he took his time with sharing all of his current intel with the big red button. "What are you looking for?"
"Mother..." he absent-mindedly replied.
Both women frowned in confusion.
"You're looking for... Your mum?" Tanith hesitantly guessed.
"No," Skulduggery murmured, "not the word. The title."
They were no less confused by this, but they waited for him to finish the process.
The red button lit up, and Skulduggery removed his hand. From the button, a bright glow emerged. It was a little orb of pure white light, which arose from inside the stone of the socket, and hovered up to level with his eye-sockets.
From there, the orb moved towards the many files; floated away from them and in between two tall shelves. Skulduggery followed it, and Valkyrie and Tanith followed him.
"It should be somewhere in row D14," he informed them.
Tanith frowned. "If you already knew that, why did you even ask the unpushable button?"
He shrugged. "I like to be proven right."
Friendly eye-rolls and a short silence followed on the women's end.
As they walked along, he decided to explain further. "Tanith, I'm sure you've met Major General Stein?"
Her face lit up at the mention. "Yes I have, a couple of times. Lovely man, quite smart!"
Skulduggery agreeably nodded. Then, he looked at Valkyrie to fill in the gaps; "it's unfortunate that I haven't had a chance to introduce you. General Stein is quite the celebrated war hero, you should know. He has led the British troops, as well as some of our own, through countless battles for many centuries. Ireland is heavily in his debt."
Valkyrie interestedly nodded along. "Cool, so what does General Major Stein have to do with the monster-attacks?"
"Nothing in particular," Skulduggery clairified, "but he gave me some useful information on them. After the war with Mevolent, Stein had decided to retreat from war-efforts, and focused on a new project. He was tasked, by the British Sanctuary, to start an agency. To be specific, the magical subdivision of MI6."
Tanith impressively raised her brows. "That's pretty cool!"
"Quite cool," he agreed with some type of secretive smirk in his voice. "This also means that Stein has hundreds of secret agents at his disposal, which have been bringing him lots of useful information. The information he has decided to share with us, is that the perpetrators of these attacks have a leader. And they refer to this leader as, Mother."
"Which is why we're now looking for records of the title Mother," Valkyrie concluded the circle of logic.
Skulduggery approvingly snapped his fingers in her direction. Yet his gaze remained attached to the glowing orb, as they followed it deeper into the labyrinth of shelves. "Stein also filled me in on something else," he informed her. "When he started this agency, he decided to take on a protégé. Someone who could put together the team for him, who could be his eyes and ears out in the field. Someone, who would become the very face of that subdivision, for about four decades."
"Okay...?" Valkyrie puzzledly pressed, "and this protégé is relevant, because...?"
Skulduggery looked somewhat irked, that she hadn't caught on yet. Irregardless, he meaningfully concluded his point. "Well, Stein gave that protégé a codename. That codename was; The Diamond."
Both women's face instantly dropped in surprise, as they quickly clued in. They glanced at each other, then back at Skulduggery.
"Wait..." Tanith blankly said.
Valkyrie blinked. "You're saying... Diamond? Diamond is the protégé? She started the agency with Stein?"
He nodded affirmatively, "yes."
"Oh, wow!" Tanith exclaimed in awe. "That explains a lot, including why she seems so brilliant!"
Valkyrie stared at Skulduggery for another moment, yet nodding with meaningful agreement. "Yeah, no kidding. Has she been working with him, this entire time?"
"No," Skulduggery said with certainty, "she resigned, twenty-one years ago, as I have confirmed with Stein. Someone else holds her position now."
"And this meeting she went to? Who were those guys?"
"The shorter one is Salient Clutch, the bigger one is Ulysses Denman; they're two of her former colleagues. It seems they were some of the first agents that Diamond employed. Clutch mentioned they were part of a crew called The Core Four."
Tanith looked especially excited about that label. "Ooh! You know what? I actually think I've heard of the Core Four before!"
"Really?" Valkyrie's curiously asked, thrilled about getting more information on the mystery. "What were they known for?"
"Actually, seeing now that they were MI6, that makes an awful lot of sense..." Tanith thoughtfully murmured to herself, before replying, "the Core Four were known for never being spotted. They would come and go, do their thing, leave behind a bunch of unconscious guards... And no one would notice until they had already left."
"Huh. That's pretty neat," she commented.
"Yeah, no one even knew what they looked like, what their disciplines are, if they were men or women... All that was known about them was; there were four of them."
Valkyrie directed her next musings towards Skulduggery. "Dye was core member number one, Clutch and Denman were number two and three... So, who is Core Number Four?"
"She didn't say," Skulduggery replied, "but I would probably be close in assuming that number four was Diamond's former partner of fifteen years. She didn't tell me his name but, my guess is; he was the one to take over her position after her resignation. Based on how she talks about him, whatever happened between them... It wasn't pretty."
Valkyrie felt herself growing confused again. "So, if all that is true... Why hasn't she told you until now? That sounds like a cool job, why would she keep that from you?"
He unfortunately shrugged. "That part, I'm still unclear on, myself."
She raised a disbelieving brow at him, "and that doesn't bother you?"
Skulduggery hesitated. Before he had the chance to form a response, however, they were distracted by the ball of light.
It stopped, moved upwards, and passed by several lines of shelves. Somewhere in the upper third of the wall of files, the orb halted and touched against a specific folder.
Skulduggery turned around to the women behind him. "Whatever the reason, I'm beginning to think... Maybe, it's better if I don't dig any deeper for now. I'm sure, being the head of a government agency involves learning lots of crucial intelligence. As we all know, and as Diamond has apparently realized... Once I get my hands on a crucial piece of intelligence, it's hard for me not to take advantage of it."
Valkyrie was only minorly reassured by this series of explanations. Tanith seemed to agree, as they exchanged another meaningful glance. Yet, they soon accepted his apparent decision to move on.
"So, in summary, you trust Diamond to have your best interests at heart?" Tanith suggested with a cautious smile.
Skulduggery thought about this for a second. Then, as he replied, he did so especially in Valkyrie's direction. "Yes, I do."
Valkyrie agreeably pouted. "You don't feel paranoid about her anymore?"
"No more than about anyone, I suppose."
"Okay," she shrugged nonchalantly, "that's good enough for me. But if you find out anything else, I wanna be the first to know."
"Naturally," Skulduggery nodded, as his feet lifted off the ground. He floated upwards, like the glowing orb had a moment earlier.
They watched him pause on level with the orb and hold out his hand. The correct file slid out from between the other folders and ended up inside his hand. Meanwhile, the light of the orb faded and soon disappeared.
As he floated back down to them, Skulduggery opened up the file. He already began to read before he had even touched down to the ground.
"Interesting..." he murmured to himself.
"What is," Valkyrie asked.
"The Queen Mother," Skulduggery importantly read aloud. "The matriarch and leader of the markets, inside a West African commune."
"West Africa, like, Ghana?" she recalled, "isn't that one of the Cradles of Magic?"
"In that region, yes. The title is especially prevalent in the culture, religion, and magical discipline, called Vodun."
"Voodoo magic?!" both women surprisedly asked.
Skulduggery thoughtfully shook his head, as his gaze continued to slide over the papers in his hands. "No, Voodoo is mostly practiced in the Caribbeans. It originally evolved from a West African discipline called, Vodun Magic. Spelled with one O and one U."
"But it's also a religion, you said?" Tanith recalled.
"Yes, in the magical world, the practice of the Vodun is both a faith and a discipline. You can only practice this magic, if you also practice the relevant spiritual beliefs."
"Kind of like Necromancers or Children of the Spider?" Valkyrie guessed. "It's a discipline, but it's also a culture?"
"It's similar." Skulduggery looked up at them, as his knowledge seemed to now exceed the contents of the file. "The magical vodun faith believes that their magical abilities originate from the vodun spirits, also simply referred to as The Vodun. You may compare the Vodun to polytheistic Gods. Just as you couldn't practice necromancy, if you don't believe in the existence of death... You cannot practice vodun magic, if you don't believe in the existence of vodun spirits."
"Only that the existence of death is pretty easy to believe in," Valkyrie added.
"Precisely. Although, as history - including recent history - has proven; it can be just as easy to believe in the existence of Gods."
"Huh," Tanith interestedly said, "and we're assuming, our mystery monsters are being created with vodun magic?"
"Or maybe with some perversion of it," Skulduggery partially affirmed. "I have never heard of any Frankenstein-type of ability, as part of the vodun discipline. This Queen Mother might be tapping into either ancient or brand new forms of magic to accomplish this."
"How about the ability to make people forget things?" Valkyrie suggested.
"That sounds more like it. The discipline branches out into complex sets of abilities, including sensitive magic. However, as the practice of the Vodun is mostly limited to the African Cradle of Magic, I wouldn't presume myself to be an expert in the matter."
"But we have a real lead," Valkyrie contentedly concluded.
He nodded. "We have a real lead."
They took the file with them, and walked back towards the library entrance. Valkyrie hadn't paid attention to the route, as they had made their way into the maze of tall shelves. She therefore let Skulduggery and Tanith take the lead, when it came to finding the way out.
"What's our next move, then?" Tanith curiously asked him.
"Well, as this intel originated from Major General Stein, I believe we should extend the courtesy, and..." Skulduggery began to say, but then he paused.
He suddenly stopped walking.
Valkyrie and Tanith stopped as well, and looked at him in waiting.
Skulduggery tilted his head to the side. He looked like he was listening to something in the distance.
"Skul?" Valkyrie eventually asked, "what's wrong?"
He shook his head, like he usually did when trying to get rid of an intrusive thought. "Nevermind," he said and started walking again.
The women worriedly glanced at each other and followed behind.
Skulduggery picked up his abandoned sentence. "I believe, we should extend the courtesy, and let Stein know about this theory. He might have something else useful to contribute."
"Do you have his contact?" Tanith skeptically asked. By her tone, Valkyrie could tell that this wasn't a likelihood.
"I don't, but I'm sure that Diamond..."
Skulduggery abruptly stopped walking again. His skull tilted in the same odd manner as before. His demeanor soon reminded of a vegetative psychiatric patient, dazedly staring off into the distance.
"Umm... Skulduggery?" Tanith uneasily asked.
He didn't respond. He just kept listening for something that neither of the women could hear.
"Okay, now you're just acting weird," Valkyrie exasperatedly told him. "What is going on with you?"
"I... don't know...?" Skulduggery confusedly mumbled. He now sounded lost deep in thought. "Something's not right..."
Before either of the women had time to respond, his cellphone rang. Skulduggery jumped a bit at the unexpected sound. Then, he quickly dug his cellphone from his pocket, checked the caller, and instantly picked up.
"Nuke, what's wrong?"
Once again, Valkyrie found herself exchanging another concerned glance with Tanith. At whatever Nuke was saying, Skulduggery curtly looked up at them. Valkyrie didn't like the shock she had seen in the movement.
Skulduggery pulled his cell away from the side of his skull and activated the speakerphone. "I'm with Tanith and Valkyrie. Tell us exactly what happened."
"Umm, hi," Nuke's voice nervously responded, "I dunno, something just seems off? Diamond was supposed to pick me up from Alex's place, over an hour ago. She hasn't texted, she isn't responding to my calls... I'm pretty sure that both of her phone numbers are switched off...? This just isn't like her."
Now, all three of them looked at each other with mounting concern.
"Did Diamond tell you where she was going, before she was supposed to pick you up?" Skulduggery asked him.
"Yeah, she said she was going to have lunch with Ninja, at noon. But that was four hours ago now, and umm... Guys? Ninja isn't picking up her cell either."
Valkyrie anxiously covered her face with both hands. She felt Tanith's hand resting reassuringly on her shoulder.
"I just have this terrible feeling... What if this has to do with Hench...?" Nuke dreadfully insinuated.
Valkyrie pulled her hands away from her eyes and looked at Skulduggery.
"Do you know where they meet for lunch?" he pressed.
"I'm sorry, no, I just know that it's somewhere in Roarhaven, close to the sanctuary. They meet during Ninja's lunch break, so... Maybe Reverie knows something?"
Skulduggery abruptly turned and began running. "We'll call you back!" he barked into the phone and hung up.
Valkyrie and Tanith instantly broke into a sprint, in order to keep up with him. They quickly found their way out of the shelf maze and exited the filing library. As the medical bay was a good distance away, Valkyrie soon begun to appreciate the regular jogs, which she had integrated into her morning routine. Tanith didn't seem to have any problems with keeping up either.
A couple of Sanctuary employees curiously glanced at them or stepped out of the way, as they ran past. None of them seemed especially alarmed about anything, other than them, which was modestly reassuring to Valkyrie.
As they arrived in the medical bay, and Skulduggery barged through the swinging double doors, the assembled staff and patients stopped and stared in surprise.
Skulduggery's gaze locked onto Doctor Reverie Synecdoche. She was already coming their way, as the three of them stormed towards her. "People!" she surprisedly said, "what is all this commotion about?"
"Doctor," Skulduggery immediately shot out, "has Ninja come back to work from her lunch break?"
Synecdoche blinked at him. "Yes, she has. She's been assisting a surgery for several hours. Why, what seems to be the..."
Just as she was about to finish asking her question, Synecdoche had already lost Skulduggery's attention. Another set of double doors had opened nearby. Those doors led to the surgery halls. Ninja walked in and towards them.
Valkyrie gasped, ran over to her, and pulled her into a frantic hug. "You're okay!"
As she was let go, Ninja looked at her and the others bewildered. "Umm... Hi, guys? I'm fine?"
Skulduggery naturally wasn't in the mood for hugs, or for pausing his questions. "Ninja, did you meet Diamond for lunch today?"
She looked even more confused, "Yes, why?"
"Did she drop you off at the Sanctuary?"
She snorted, "no? The cafe is like... five minutes away from here. I walked."
"Did you see her drive away?"
"No?" Ninja said again, and she clearly was beginning to get worried about the stress on everyone's faces, and the sharp tone in Skulduggery's voice. "Guys? What's going on?"
"Ninja, answer the question," Valkyrie said in an equally urgent, but more gentle tone. "Did you see where Diamond went, after she had lunch with you."
She shook her head with wide eyes. "I didn't, I'm sorry... I was gonna be late for work, so I just ran off. Is Diamond okay?"
"We don't know," Valkyrie replied, "in either case, you should stay here in the sanctuary."
Skulduggery nodded and sharply turned towards Reverie, who had been warily observing their cross-examination of her student. "Doctor, make sure no uninvited guests can get into this bay. Ninja might not be safe, here or anywhere else."
Synecdoche had apparently clued in on what was likely happening. She nodded affirmatively. "I've got my eye on Ninja. You go find her."
"Wait!" Ninja called out in shock, when the same concerned dawned on her as harshly as on the rest of them, "guys, what's happening?!"
They didn't get the time to explain anything, or even to turn around and run back out the doors of the medical bay.
Suddenly, there was an unbearably shrill noise, ringing from every direction!
Each and everyone in the room jumped, groaned in pain, and quickly clasped their hands over their ears. Even Skulduggery flinched and pressed his hands onto the sides of his skull.
After the first moment of shock had passed, Valkyrie tried to lift her head to look for the origin of the terrible noise. It came from all around her, yet oddly, it also came from below her.
She patted down her body and found the vibration of her phone, inside her pants' pocket. She struggled to pull it out; free hand pressed onto one ear, exposed ear pressed against her shoulder.
Many others, including Tanith and Skulduggery, seemed to have noticed this as well and began to pull their various phones from their various pockets.
A couple of seconds later, the shrill sound cut off.
It was replaced by the sound of an unfamiliar male voice, which cheerfully talked to them through each and every speaker in the room.
"A-ha, here we go!" the voice said, "ahem! Ladies and Gentlemen, excuse the brief noise. That was, as they say in show bizz; an attention grabber!"
Valkyrie and most others had managed to pull out their devices and were now staring at the image on their screens. This seemed somewhat redundant now, as every large screen in the room, which had previously shown news and mortal reality tv-shows, was showing the exact same image.
All of the screens were showing Diamond. She was tied up to a chair.