Skulduggery Pleasant - Night of the Dying Rose

Chapter 16- True Colours

"Are you alright?" Skulduggery asked as he drove back to the sanctuary. Valkyrie blinked, snapping out of her daze of thoughts, looking at him.

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just thinking." She replied.

"About what?" Skulduggery glanced at her, a hint of concern in his voice.

Valkyrie hesitated. "The past." Skulduggery looked at her, saying nothing. She pushed on.

"It's just that...We've been through so much, threat after threat, loss after loss. And yet we still force ourselves to carry on. I know I chose to join this world, but when it comes to asking myself why I stay, besides from you, I can never find an answer. Little Rose could be just as strong as Mevolent, even more so, and yet we're still charging blindly forward. Why?"

Skulduggery remained silent for a moment, before replying. "Because someone has to do it."

"But why us? The things we faced are in the past, we paid for it, do we really have anything left to prove?"

"May I ask a question?" Skulduggery enquired.

Valkyrie frowned. "You may."

Before he did, Skulduggery pulled over, gripping the wheel for a moment before turning to Valkyrie.

"Since when did you grow so afraid of what we face? What's changed Valkyrie?"

"Nothing! It's just..."

"What?" Skulduggery pushed.

"I've thrown away my life by spending it with you!" Valkyrie exploded.

Skulduggery froze, looking at Valkyrie silently, his gaze suffocating. Nevertheless, Valkyrie went on, the words tumbling from her mouth.

"I used to live normally, No danger, the safety of home, friends of my own age, and not having the whole world on my shoulders. While I chose this life, I could have gone on my own at any time, created my own life! But no! You! YOU! You kept me here, you were so unwilling to let me go that I stayed with you, and while I may have loved my time here, I will always be second best to you! The great Skulduggery Pleasant! I've fought my own demons, but even then, you're the one who's suffered more! People dismiss what I've done without a second glance but if they knew that YOU were Lord Vile! They'd be throwing questions at you, they'd CARE! I'm just Valkyrie Cain, the one with the freak magic, but YOU'RE Skulduggery Pleasant. The one who will always cast a shadow over me, always bring me more danger! It was because of joining you that I found I was Darquesse, because of YOU that I killed thousands and my own sister, YOU started this Skulduggery, my demons will never leave me because you started it in the first place by appearing at Gordon's funeral!" Valkyrie breathed heavily, the words having fallen out like a rapid waterfall, part of her couldn't believe what she had said, another part of her said that it was right.

Skulduggery gripped the steering wheel in a vice grip, speaking softly. "I have my faults Valkyrie, but you seem to have forgotten that I warned you that stepping into my world would change your life, maybe not for the better, I tried to convince you to not join me, but you didn't listen. You're stubborn, more stubborn than I am. So forgive me if I say that what you're saying is very one-sided, I gave you the chance to walk away, and you ignored it. If anything, everything that has happened to you isn't my fault, it's yours. You brought it upon yourself, and you learned from it as best you could, Alice died because you killed, Darquesse was found because you remembered, the world ended because you gave up."

"You gave up as well!" Valkyrie shot back. 

"I didn't put the blame on someone else!" Skulduggery snarled, feeling his anger begin to rise.

"AT LEAST DARQUESSE ISN'T HIDING WITHIN ME, WAITING FOR HER TO BE USED AGAIN, UNLIKE LORD FUCKING VILE, YOU CAN'T LET GO!"

"AND YOU CAN'T SEE CLEARLY." Skulduggery roared, slamming his fist on the steering wheel, making Valkyrie jump.

"Do you think I WANT to see you hurt, that I WANT to see you die? If you ever say the word that you don't want to do a case, then I would let you step back Valkyrie, I would NEVER force you to do anything, because I care dammit! You don't seem to get just how lucky you are Valkyrie! You have your parents, a sister you managed to revive, and you protect them with your life...And you don't see how lucky I am to have you as a partner Valkyrie, Until The End is the promise we made to each other! You don't see just how much I CARE for your life, how I envy your luck! Hell, at one point, I thought I was in love with you, but I see now that I was only JEALOUS of you Valkyrie! JEALOUS that you had everything I lost! OPEN YOUR EYES VALKYRIE, YOU STILL HAVE A LIFE WORTH LIVING FOR, WHAT THE HELL DO I HAVE?!"

Valkyrie stared at Skulduggery wide eyes, never had he yelled at her, never had he snapped at her, or argued with her in such a way. And he...he was jealous of her. It made her heart lurch in sympathy for him, and lurch in guilt for selfish she had been, in putting the blame on him because she was scared, because she hid what she knew. 

"I'm...I'm sorry." Valkyrie said quietly.

Skulduggery waved her words away, starting the Bentley and driving on. They drove in silence for a long while. Valkyrie bit her lip, he was right, of course he was right. She was in his shadow because she was more afraid, because she still had things he didn't, it made him stronger than her in many ways, and she was going to berate him for it? Hide her secrets from him? Not anymore.

"I had a dream." Valkyrie said quietly. Skulduggery paused, looking at her.

"About what?" He asked in equal softness.

She hesitated for a split moment. "About...Darquesse returning...but It didn't feel like a dream...it felt like a vision...she spoke to me..but I felt the heat of the realm of the Faceless Ones...heard the screams...felt the pain...it felt REAL Skulduggery...and I'm scared."

Skulduggery pulled over once more, turning to her, gripping her gently and pulling her into a hug. 

"It's alright to be scared Valkyrie...it's alright to lash out..I shouldn't have yelled at you like that...I'm sorry."

Valkyrie smiled softly, attempting to joke. "The Skeleton Detective swallowing his pride and apologising? His true colours shine." Her heart lightened a little at his support.

Skulduggery laughed softly. "Don't push your luck Detective Cain."

He pulled back, holding her shoulder reassuringly.

"Dream, or vision, it doesn't matter. I will be there with you every step of the way to help you through it. You may be scared Valkyrie, but I won't let anything happen to you again...which may be an empty promise but I'll try."

Valkyrie nodded. "And I'll be there every step of the way for you too...Until The End."

Skulduggery nodded. "Until The End."

Valkyrie smiled, then frowned. "Do you actually love me?"

Skulduggery laughed, shaking his head. "No Valkyrie, not in that way, envy and love can get mixed up, I love you the way I would love family, or a close friend, nothing more, that's the way it shall always be."

Valkyrie smiled. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get cracking, we've got a psycho kid to stop."

Skulduggery nodded. "Indeed."

He started the engine, and drove like hell was on their heels to The Sanctuary.

(Whoo, this was a long chapter, but made sense for a triumphant return yet again, can't believe I'm almost at 700 reads, if you read my book, but don't follow me, feel free to follow me! A sequel will be in the works after this book is finished, which isn't too far away! Love You All! xxxx x3)