Shit hits the fan
Corvus was done with the night. The heist had gone well, overall. They had useful information and Skulduggery had figured out that they had to go back to Gordon's house to search the basement to try and find the lock for their missing key. His big issue was that he was sore all over. He could remember the pain of one side of his body being completely broken, but even though the bones had healed, he could still feel the pain. That and all of his muscles ached, like they had been worked at a higher level than he could manage. He was pretty sure all the muscles in both legs had been torn and repaired rapidly.
And then there was his magical level. Skulduggery had told him how while unconscious, he had apparently activated his shadow armour technique at a level higher than he had managed consciously, and managed to subdue the vampire that had attacked him. Corvus reckoned that his magic had responded to keep him alive, healing his major injuries while also getting rid of the danger to his life. It was the theory he shared when asked, at least. He didn’t want to share what had happened in his subconscious. His true theory was whatever entity was inside his magic took over his body and kept him safe while healing him. While he was thinking of this theory, a sense of rightness flowed through him, but it was slightly disconnected. Like it wasn’t his emotion he felt. The entity must be active still then.
The drive to Gordon’s should have only taken half an hour, but it felt much longer. Between the aches and pains his body was racked with, and the cold rage that Stephanie was aiming at him, Corvus was having a rough night. After 5 minutes of driving, he couldn’t stand the silence.
“So what happened to you?” He asked Stephanie, hoping to ease the atmosphere a bit.
“Nothing much. Ran into the other vamp, but it was sleeping. Skulduggery caught up after a few minutes and got you out before coming back to get me.” Steph replied coldly.
Corvus held back a wince at her tone. “Well I’m glad the sleep charm worked at least.”
“Yep.” She replied, which sank the car back into silence. Corvus sighed softly, before focusing on drawing as much magic in as he could to replenish his core. By the time they reached the house, his core was out of the dangerously low range, but only just. His core had been stupidly close to being empty. He didn’t fancy another three day coma, thank you. He had only emptied his core once, with Kenspecle watching over him as an experiment to see if it was dangerous. He was really glad he had planned ahead for that one.
After carefully and stiffly extracting himself from the car, the trio made their way down to the basement of the old manor. The single lightbulb didn’t illuminate the room very well, but Corvus wasn’t wasting any of his remaining magic on creating a light. Luckily, Stephanie had the presence of mind to conjure her own light orb, revealing the corners of the room for Corvus to check over. Stephanie and Skulduggery were having their own conversation which he tuned out. Instead, he focused on spreading his magic out, trying to detect anything in the basement. It was fortunate that this trick didn’t cost too much magic to perform, only noticing a miniscule drop in his already meagre reserves. His magic finally pinged on something, when Skulduggery exclaimed a smug “Aha!”
Walking over to the same spot, he could barely make out the smallest indent for something to slot into. Something to think about after he had rested for his usual four hours.
“Couldn’t you just break it?” Steph asked Skulduggery, who cocked his head slightly.
“I could, but then it wouldn’t work and the door will stay closed.” The skeleton replied.
“I meant break through it.” Steph replied with a huff.
“Ah, potentially. If this was the door itself, and even that isn’t guaranteed.”
“So we need the key?”
“We need the key.” Skulduggery nodded
“Can we just get going? I’m barely staying awake here.” Corvus grumbled.
Skulduggery nodded again and they made their way out of the basement and into the living room, where a man in an old styled suit was waiting for them. He had neat black hair and thin lips that pulled into a smirk when he saw them. He raised one hand that was skinless and glistening with blood and wet muscle.
Before he could even react, there were two loud bangs coming from next to him. He hadn’t even seen Skulduggery pull his gun out. The man had been prepared for this, and the air tinted a slight purple in front of him, stopping the bullets in their tracks. “RUN!” Skulduggery screamed, and Corvus grabbed Stephanie’s hand and dragged her the other way towards the kitchen and the back door. This had been predicted, however, as a heavy hand shot out from behind the wall, slamming into his face and knocking him down.
Not even getting up, Corvus banished a knife from the kitchen worktop, into the man that had attacked him, slashing open his skin. Instead of blood being released, a foul gas was, deflating the man rapidly, like a demented and sadistic balloon. Fucking Hollow Men.
Gingerly staggering to his feet, Corvus was about to leave through the back door, when he heard the sound of shoes on the hardwood floor, just outside of the kitchen door. The man- Serpine, he now realised- was approaching, hand already raised to torture or kill at a moment’s notice. Pulling Stephanie behind him, Corvus clicked his fingers, ready to throw a fireball, when an indescribable pain racked through his entire body. It felt like he was being stabbed by millions of fiery blades over every inch of his body. The scream that he unleashed was completely against his will. He didn’t even realise he had fallen to the floor, until the pain stopped. Panting, he looking into Serpine eye’s, seeing a malicious glee before the man’s eyes flicked to something behind Corvus. Stephanie, his mind supplied.
Summoning the last dregs of his magic, Corvus created a portal beneath Stephanie’s feet, which she quickly began to sink into. “What are you doing?!” She yelled, as she was being submerged, already waist deep.
Serpine raised his hand at the sinking girl, at which Corvus leaped in the way of, taking another round of excruciating pain. Determined not to give the bastard anymore pleasure, he grit his teeth and refused to scream. With a throaty growl he replied, “Raising cain.” And then she was gone. Knowing she was safe, the portal dissipated, leaving Corvus with just enough magic to not fall into a coma. But now he was defenceless. He heard heavy foot steps approach him, and the last thing he felt was a heavy fist lash out at his head. Then the world went dark.
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The black portal spat her out onto a surprisingly comfortable sofa, not that she could really appreciate this, as she quickly rolled off of it, only to look up and see the portal dissipate before she could even attempt to get back through it.
In a desperate attempt to go back to the fight, Stephanie tried to bring her own necromancy powers to the surface to create a portal. She felt the energy rise to her skin, but no amount of willpower would force the power to activate. Feeling her panic rise, she brought the rest of her magic to the surface, ready to try a last ditch effort, but was stopped by a dainty hand landing on her shoulder. In her adrenaline fuelled state, she grabbed the hand by the wrist and span, a small fireball in her hand ready to burn her presumed assailant, only to see the beautiful face of China Sorrows.
China stood there, stoically staring into her eyes, until Stephanie finally calmed her erratic breathing and snuffed out the fire in her hands. Once calm, China gave her a brief nod, before walking to her kitchenette and preparing some hot drinks. Stephanie sat on the sofa, silently going over everything that had happened in the last ten minutes. How did everything go so wrong so fast?
Stephanie was snapped out of her thoughts, when China placed a slightly aromatic tea in front of her. She let the pleasant smelling tea consume her for a moment, before nodding to China in thanks. China nodded back, lips twitching upwards slightly, before she spoke.
“I assume, that since you arrive in my living room alone, that Corvus and Skulduggery are in a spot of bother?” China asked, sounding perfectly at ease.
“We were ambushed. A man with a group of these people like things caught us at Gordon’s house. Skulduggery was holding him off so that we could escape but Corvus was exhausted from...something. One of the things cut us off in the kitchen but Corvus summoned a Knife that made it deflate like a balloon. But then the man caught up and he just sort of waved at Corvus and he collapsed, screaming. He was then going to use it on me but then Corvus got in the way and sent me here. Was that Serpine?” Stephanie explained in a rush. China, to her credit, took her seriously. A light frown appeared on the woman’s face, before her face set neutrally again, so quickly that Stephanie almost thought she imagined it.
“Yes. That would have been him. Since they haven’t turned up, we can only assume they have been captured.” She said calmly, as if discussing the weather.
“So what are we going to do?” Stephanie asked angrily. The woman’s calm attitude was stating to piss her off. Didn’t she care about Corvus at least?
“I will notify the Council. That’s really all I can do.” China said, as she placed her tea down and moved out of her seat toward the phone.
“That’s it? Are you not going to help them yourself?!” Stephanie didn’t even realise she had gotten to her feet.
“I’m doing all I can do. I’m sure the Elders will scrounge together a few people to solve the issue.” She replied, still sounding infuriatingly calm about the situation.
Stephanie couldn’t take it anymore. She stormed to the front door, her hand landing on the handle ready to throw it open, when China’s voice cut through the room like a knife.
“Stop, Stephanie.”
Stephanie felt her body seize up. A wave of cold fear ran through her. She was powerless. Even with her magic thumbing through her, she couldn’t do a thing.
“Sit on the sofa and listen to me, Stephanie.”
She couldn’t stop her body from moving back to where she had been. She could feel tears prickling at her eyes, but she wouldn’t let them fall. Not now, she had come too far to be so weak right now. She forced herself to look China in the eyes, trying to project her rage through her eyes and into China’s.
“You can be angry with me all you like. Corvus sent you to me to keep you safe, and that is what I will do, because it is something I can do. You don’t have to like me for it. Hell, you can even hate me for it, but I will not betray his trust. Now, you a free to remain here in my apartment or peruse the library for anything you wish. However, you are not allowed to leave the building in anyway, Stephanie.” China said, a stern undertone to her so far neutral voice.
“How-“
“How did I know your name? Gordon could never stop praising you and Corvus, anytime we spoke. I knew who you were the moment I met you.”
“So why now? Why not when I first met you?”
“And turn my favourite person away from me? Besides that, there was no benefit to me at the time. Now however, I am both protecting you as Corvus wanted, and I am preventing you from bringing war to my doorstep. If we get the Council too riled up, they will gather all their allies, whilst Serpine gathers his. I will not be dragged into this unprepared.”
“So it’s all about you? You and your best interests? I don’t see how someone like Corvus can even look at you.” Stephanie responded scathingly, feeling sick satisfaction on seeing a brief flicker of pain appear on China’s face, before the graceful neutral mask was firmly set back in place.
“Corvus knows what I am about and has accepted it. Now, I’m tired of this. Go learn something useful, Stephanie. And tell no one about what we discussed in this room.” China ordered, a flinty steel in her voice.
Stephanie took the opportunity with both hands and practically fled the room, heading straight to the library. Once there, she began to traverse the labyrinth of shelves, looking for any magic that she could hopefully learn in only a few hours. She just needed something. Something to give her an edge. She could already manipulate a few of the elements, including light, but that wasn’t enough. She needed something more offensive. She picked out a random book on a whim, huffing in frustration as it was written in a language she didn’t recognise before putting it back. She was about to reach for another book, when a strong British voice called out next to her.
“Need a hand?” Stephanie looked her over. She had long tousled blond hair, pretty but hardened blue eyes and visible strong arms, accented by the fact that she wore a sleeveless tunic.
“Just looking for a book on magic.” She responded neutrally. She wasn’t about to start trusting a stranger after all.
“They’re all books on magic.” The woman said, a smirk threatening to break out on to her face.
Stephanie huffed. “A book on learning magic. Probably for beginners. I’m new to all this.”
“Two rows over, you’ll find mostly what you’re looking for. It could just be that you can’t use magic. It’s one thing knowing about it all, another to be born with the ability.” The woman said with a shrug.
Stephanie allowed a small grin to appear on her face. Lifting her hand and clicking her fingers, she summoned a small fireball. “I’m pretty sure I can do magic, thanks.” She said, before snuffing the flames out.
The woman through her head back an laughed. “Well, you certainly have the basics down. I’m Tanith Low.” The woman said, as her laughs died off. She held out a hand.
Stephanie took the hand and gave it a firm shake, trying not to wince and the surprisingly strong grip she received in return. “Nice to meet you. I’d tell you my name but I haven’t picked it yet.”
“I’d get on that. Names are powerful. Since you have the basics, I would knuckle down and pick one before moving any deeper into our world.”
Stephanie grimaced slightly. “I’ve been thinking about it, but I just haven’t had the time.”
“Well you seem to have time now. Over in that corner is a reading area. Burn some of the incense and try meditating. Maybe something will come to you.” Tanith said, before walking away.
Shrugging to herself, she walking two shelves over to see if she could find any books on meditation. Not find one after a few minutes, she settled with picking a book titled The Three Names and wandered over to the reading corner. Seeing a box labelled “meditation” Stephanie opened it, finding a few incense sticks. Shrugging to herself, she lit the stick with a click of her fingers, and placed it into the holder.
Sitting down with the book, she noticed sigils in the floor briefly flash and watched as the smoke from the incense stick float up, before seeming to hit an invisible wall. Assuming this was a measure to ensure that no one else would be disrupted by the incense, she settled back and read the small passage on how to meditate, before setting the book down and getting comfortable. Taking deep breathes, she felt her mind begin to settle down from any background thoughts, and she closed her eyes.
Sinking slowly into a peaceful meditative state, she felt her mind slip deeper and deeper into her subconscious, almost like her entire being was sinking in a thick liquid. She opened her eyes, and was very surprised to not see the library, but a vast off-white space that she was still floating through. Looking down, she could see a pitch black floor, which she soon landed on. Not seeing anything or anyone, she was about to sit down and continue her meditation when her instincts screamed at her to move. Throwing herself to the side, she was startled to see a spear of light embedded in the black floor.
Looking up, she could see a figure in flowing white metal armour. The armour itself was a shock, it looked reminiscent of Corvus’ black crow-like armour, but this one looked closer to heavenly. With a solid white cape and almost feather like protrusions flicking out of the arm guards and soldier pieces. The helmet looked almost Norse inspired. The name of the specific mythos was floating in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t focus on it, as the figure launched a second light spear at her, forcing her to dodge. The figure launched two more spears of light at her, before Stephanie had her chance to respond. She clicked her fingers, ready to throw a fireball, but was shocked when she realised she couldn’t. Staring at her hands in confusing, she almost missed the figure land and dart towards her with a sword of light. Throwing herself, once again to the ground to dodge, she kicked out, sending the warrior to the ground.
The sound of metal skittering along the ground rang out and Stephanie was once again shocked, when the figure stood and faced her, revealing her own face staring back at her. “Well then, Stephanie.” The figure began. “What will you do now?”
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Meanwhile, deep in the lower floors of a castle in the Irish countryside, Corvus and Skulduggery sat in cells opposite one another. Both were chained to the walls, their magic suppressed. They weren’t able to sit idle or plot, however. Once they had been secured in the cells, Serpine made his appearance.
“Well, well, well. Here we are again, Skulduggery. You at my mercy. Me, poised to inflict any number of excruciating experiments as I please.” Serpine said smugly.
“Just like old times. How about we skip to the part where you run away with your tail between your legs?” Skulduggery retorted, slumped against the cell wall looking almost relaxed.
“Ah, but where would the fun in that be? How about we relive some of the good times?” With that, Serpine raised his hand, and Skulduggery screamed. This went on for a few seconds before Serpine abruptly stopped.
Turning his head, he looked straight at Corvus, who was glaring at him defiantly. “How could I forget? The junior detective. You caused quite a stir when you entered the field. Barely 8 years old, and helping fight crime. Tell me, why did you become a detective?” The man asked, seemingly curious.
Corvus glared the man in the eye, unblinking. He could see the sick pleasure the man got by having them at his mercy. If he hadn’t had his magic bound, he would have tried fighting his way out, but he hadn’t recovered enough for that. At the least, he learnt that he could still draw magic in whilst his magic was supressed. So he could build up his reserves whilst he waited for the opportune moment to attempt a breakout.
Apparently deciding he had waited too long for an answer, Serpine aimed his hand at Corvus, grinning viciously when Corvus screamed. “It is impolite to ignore someone. I’ll ask again. Why did you become a detective?”
Corvus couldn’t answer right away, trying to catch his breath for the agonising scream and thrashing he had done whilst under Serpine’s magic. Unfortunately, his captor took this as insubordination, and set him through another round of the torture magic.
Skulduggery finally couldn’t hold his metaphorical tongue anymore. “Stop. If you keep going, he won’t be able to answer you!” He called out.
Serpine looked over at the skeleton with a grin. “No, but last time, I didn’t have this option with you. So, where is the key? And don’t lie to me. I don’t think the boy can take much more.”
“I...can do this...all day.” Corvus said between breaths. “Question is...can you?”
Serpine frowned momentarily, before breaking into an amused smirk. “Look at that. The child has your stubborn humour. I wonder how long that will last.” He said, before aiming his hand back at Corvus, who screamed and convulsed once more.
“I don’t know where the key is! Just leave him alone!” Skulduggery called out, tugging on his chains, attempting to break out futilely.
There was a moment of silence, as Serpine lowered his hand and stare at Corvus. His face flat and void of emotion. “I believe you.” He said quietly, then aimed his hand back at Corvus, whose screams had started to break into silent agony at this point.
“Then why-“ Skulduggery began, before being cut off.
“Because you all need to know your place. Because you all need to realise who is in charge.” The man said with a growl, before his voice changed to light and cheery. “And, quite frankly, it’s fun.” Before he put Corvus through one more round of agony.
It was another ten minutes of torture, before Serpine seemed to get bored. He left with a promise that he would be back in a while. Skulduggery quickly moved as close to the door as possible, desperately trying to see Corvus’ condition from where he was, but the boy was curled up, obscuring his body and face from his guardian. However, even from his cell, he could see his ward’s body convulsing intermittently, thanks to the lack of his shadow jacket.
It was another minute or two before Corvus seemed to gather the energy to pick himself up slightly, and drag himself so that he was slumped against the wall, facing Skulduggery.
“Well that happened.” Corvus said after another minute. “How fucked are we?”
“Well you managed to get her away. Hopefully, rescue will arrive in a few hours. Maybe a day at the most.” He replied, before he cocked his head. “How are you so...ok?”
“Every time he stopped, I flooded my body with magic, healing anything damaged internally. My body aches and my skin feels like it’s on fire, but I’ll heal all the surface stuff really quickly once we are out. I just need to stay on top of my internal condition.” Corvus responded, before his eyes grew heavy. Despite this, he tried to stay awake.
“Can you transform? Maybe you could slip out of your chains and escape.” Skulduggery asked, before receiving a sluggish shake of the head. “Then sleep. You need to recover as much energy as possible.” He didn’t get a response, as his charge had already fallen asleep. Sitting back against the wall, he decided now would be a good time to meditate on the case at hand, and maybe figure a way out in the meantime.
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Stephanie ached all over. She had been fighting her light armoured doppelganger for what felt like days. She had mostly been dodging, only getting the occasional hit in when the opportunity arose, but she was finally starting to tire out. Her breathing was laboured, and she was now only to avoid attacks by the skin of her teeth. Annoyingly, Norse-Stephanie wasn’t even breathing hard. In fact, she still looked as fresh as when they started.
Norse-Stephanie levelled her blade to Stephanie’s face, glaring in contempt. “All of this fighting, yet you still haven’t the important question.”
“Yeah?” Stephanie huffed, trying to catch her breath. “What’s that then?”
“You know. You’ve been wondering it this whole time.”
“Fine. Who are you?” Stephanie asked, only to receive a kick to her chest, sending her sprawling to the floor.
“No! “Who are you?” That is what you should be asking!” Norse-Stephanie shouted in frustration.
“Who am I? I know who I am! I am Stephanie Edgley!” Stephanie shouted back in confusion.
“Not since you found magic. You even gave the name away to your reflection, knowing that it wasn’t truly yours anymore!” Norse-Stephanie argued back. Her doppelganger pushed a finger against her head. “Think! Really think! You have always known the answer.”
Stephanie looked back in confusion and opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off as her counterpart lunged, plunging the blade into her chest. Stephanie could only look back in shock, before everything faded to black.
Expecting to be dead, she was surprised to open her eyes, recognising the room she now occupied. The many bookcases, filled to the brim with books and transcripts and loosely bound pages of draft stories. The comfy chairs around a mahogany desk. The hideous, yet supremely comfortable sofa at the other end of the room, perfect for reading or naps. It was Gordon’s study, but from years ago. He had replaced those chairs with even more eccentric ones, and the desk when it had mysteriously broken.
Hearing an unforgettable voice coming from the hall, she turned, only to come face to face with her uncle. Her eyes prickled slightly, but she noticed he was holding hands with a young girl. Herself, maybe five or six years old.
“So, what do you want to do today, kiddo?” her uncle asked her younger self.
“I wanna read your new book!” young Stephanie exclaimed.
Gordon chuckled slightly, and moved to one of the shelves. He purposely acting like he didn’t know where his newest book was. Eventually, Gordon made a grand showing of finding the book, and presented it to her younger self dramatically. Young Stephanie giggled (and when was the last time she did that?) and happily grabbed the book, laying on the sofa and started reading.
She looked back at Gordon, who was frowning at his phone, before he quietly stepped out of the room to take a call. She looked around the room as she half listened to the muffled conversation through the wall. The study hadn’t changed much over the years, but it was one of her favourite places in the house. She stopped looking around nostalgically as she noticed a box on the shelf. A box she hadn’t noticed before. Maybe she would have to come back and have a look for herself at some point.
The door opened behind her, and she turned to see Gordon crouched by her younger self. “Hey kiddo. Something’s come up. I’m gonna have to call your mum to get you.”
“But I just got here!” her younger self whined. Actually whined!
“I know. And I’ll make it up to you. But this something I can’t put off. Someone might actually be in danger!” Gordon said in fake seriousness, causing her younger self to gasp.
“What happened?” young Stephanie asked, genuinely worried, causing herself to snort ruefully.
“A friend of mine adopted a child, and he is the last person I would expect to look after kids.” Gordon said with a smirk, and Stephanie burst out in laughter, knowing now who Gordon was on about.
Her younger self just looked upset. Gordon noticed and put and hand on her head and ruffled her hair. “Hey now. I’ll see you tomorrow. No one is more important than you, my little Valkyrie.”
On that last word, the world seemed to freeze and the floor fell out from beneath her. She fell through and inky black void. Flashes of memories passed by as she fell, showing times gone by with Gordon , her mum and her dad. She even saw the time Corvus was in the kitchen fixing the radio. She felt her body begin to slow as she spied one finally memory. Corvus, laying on the floor in pain, sending her away with a portal. His final words rang out, “Raising Cain” and everything clicked.
Her body rocketed upwards, going faster and faster, before she opened her eyes. Staring straight back at her Norse self. She stood, with the light sword still impaling her, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt warm. Like she had been missing something. In a flash, the sword disappeared, but the warmth stayed.
She held her hand out to her Norse self, getting a smile and a handshake in return. As soon as they clasped hands, her doppelganger glowed white, bits of light flaking off and flowing into her body. Before she faded, her Norse self grinned. “Kick ass, Valkyrie Cain.”
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In the castle dungeon, Corvus sat in light meditation, not trusting his surroundings enough to truly sleep, but still recovering his stamina slowly. He could feel his magic more clearly now, but with it bound, her couldn’t accurately determine how much he had actually recovered.
The door to the dungeon suddenly burst open, and a clattering cart was wheeled in by a slumped Hollow Man. Its feet dragging slightly due to its odd posture, rattled the cart further. When it came fully into view, Corvus raised an eyebrow whilst stomping on his panic. Tools of all kind line the three shelves of the cart. Rusted spikes, power tools, hand saws, daggers and surgical tools were what he could see. And then the doors burst open again and he could hear another cart rattling with even more tools.
Finally, he could hear the calm steady footsteps of someone living, revealing to be Serpine, his sadistic smirk firmly in place. Serpine unlocked and opened the cell door, grabbing a scalpel off of the cart as he passed.
“It seems that you have recovered far too well from my own power. Let us see how much it takes to break you.” With no further warning, Serpine slashed Corvus from his left collar bone to his right hip. Corvus grunted, but would not cry out if he could help it. Worryingly, Serpine’s malicious grin grew, as Corvus didn’t bleed.
“I see you still have a few tricks up your sleeve. No matter, I look forward to making you bleed.” And with that, Serpine plunged the surgical blade deep into Corvus’ shoulder, marking the beginning of this new round of torture.