The Descendants; The Return of the Unnamed

The dream state

Ghastly and Tanith kissing evaporated to reveal Dexter Vex running down a street calling Valkyrie's name. His left arm was soaked in blood and he looked pale. She knew what was coming next and the blush had already crept up her cheeks. He rounded a corner, a girl with dark hair turned around. She, future Valkyrie, turned around to face him. Her tattoo glowed with magic. Somehow, they'd managed to turn it back on again and she had no clue how. They hadn't even thought about it since the last time they saw the vision. The Valkyrie in the vision started yelling at Dexter.

"What are you doing here! I need to hurry; it won't last much longer! Everything's ending! It's all finished, we have nothing left. This is our last chance and I have to go!" she shouted and moved to continue her sprint to the Sanctuary. Dexter grabbed her arm, pulled her around, and tugged her into his arms.

Before future-Valkyrie could protest he kissed her full on the mouth, her arms slid around his neck and he had one of his own hands in her hair and the other caressing her cheek. She hugged him close as if it was the end of the world, but then again, it kind of was. This faded away to reveal Valkyrie and Fletcher, but things weren't rushed, and Valkyrie was in different clothes. From what she'd seen, Valkyrie assumed this wasn't her, but was, in fact, Stephanie Edgley. The sceptre in the girl's grasp confirmed this theory. They were talking.

"Things ended so suddenly, I missed you so much after you died, Stef. Are you going to stay here?" Fletcher asked her.

Stephanie looked at him sadly, "No, I have to die again. The balance has to be leveled back out. But even if I could, I wouldn't want to stay. You'll be fine without me, Fletch. You've been so strong so far. You've finally moved on and I'm happy for you."

Fletcher gazed at Stephanie with longing and heartache as Andena came around the corner and called out after him.

Stephanie took this opportunity to run off into the battle Fletcher glanced back at Andena who caught her breath.

"It's time for your part." She told him.

Future-Valkyrie bounded through the fog figures of Fletcher and Andena, wiping them away and towards the Unnamed from behind. She lifted a unicorn that she was holding in both hands and called out Azealia and Vivi's names. Future-Valkyrie shot a blast from the backend of a Unicorn plushie and it hit Azealia and Vivi after they jumped out from hiding under the fallen ceiling of a crumpled building that had landed in the street. The gun's ray of magic encased them like a shell and they glowed with bright white light. The two girls reached for each other and with their other hands tried to grab onto the Unnamed. The powerful deity - that Valkyrie could now see was obviously possessing the body of her dead Father - then lunged forward and snapped both of their wrists and caved in their heads using nothing but tendrils compiled of tiny ice-particles rising from an ugly, bloody slit in its throat. That was it. Their plan failed as easily as that. Trying to put the Unnamed into a portal was going to be impossible from close proximity. But how else would they be able to get him in the portal? Valkyrie's brain was whizzing in her mind and she knew Skulduggery's would be as well. They needed to figure this out before they arrived back at Roarhaven.

The Unnamed turned to look at where they were standing. His unblinking eyes staring straight at the present-time Valkyrie, and the fog thickened until what Valkyrie was looking at felt like she was physically there as she watched the battle around her. All her friends were there. Saracen, the Monster Hunters, Andena, Evania, Ghastly, Tanith, Sapphire, Ophelia, China, Ellion, Azealia, Vivi, Skulduggery, and Dexter. They all bounded towards the Unnamed, attempting to push him into the portal that Vivi and Alice were struggling to hold open. Future-Valkyrie was there and gave a warning yell before the Unnamed tore them all apart graphically in a number of horrible and painful ways. It was bloody, gory, and horrifying. They failed. They were all dead, the last chance at saving the world was gone and the Unnamed was free to raze it to the ground.

With a jolt she was back in the room and the steam was clearing. She felt herself grow faint and her knees weakened as her body trembled in fear. Skulduggery supported her until she was able to regain her own composure.

"That makes no sense, Skulduggery. We just saw two different futures. Two different scenarios of the Unnamed winning." She shook.

Skulduggery cocked his head. "What did you see?" he asked, interest in his velvety voice.

"What? I saw the Unnamed snap Alice and Vivi's wrists and then caved their heads in. And then everything felt more solid and real and the Unnamed...we all went at him at once, all our friends, and he killed us all. Even the people we saw had already died. Like Ellion was there, but he was killed before. It doesn't add up." Valkyrie rambled, trying to ward off the headache pounding in her temples.

"That's not what I saw." Skulduggery mused.

"What? What do you mean? You saw something I didn't? What did I miss?" she questioned, confused.

"This happened the last time we watched the vision as well. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Until now. We were seeing different things, visions. But they weren't of the future. The Unnamed was showing us our greatest fears." He figured out, clarity in his tone.

"I'm sorry what? I don't follow." Valkyrie frowned.

"Think Valkyrie. The Unnamed was contained in a pocket, or void, of time and space, but his consciousness still reached out to possess Alice. The Unnamed works outside the limits of time and space. He is a pure deity, from another world. Another world of spirit and consciousness, not a physical place. That's why the Enchantress can come and visit Alice in dreams. When we dream, our soul is said to travel outside our bodies. It must be in this state that we are able to get a glimpse of the gods' realm. The mind and soul are very powerful things. When the Unnamed looked into our eyes in the vision, he was able to use his magic of the manipulation of fear to show us our most terrifying vision. It's not a prophecy." Skulduggery explained rapidly, excited by this new discovery.

"So, what does that mean for us?" Valkyrie asked, sensing Skulduggery's mind was off to great thoughts.

"It means that if we can get into a dream state and contact the Enchantress ourselves, she can tell us how to push the Unnamed into that portal without getting too close." Skulduggery explained, and he was off, out the house, and into the Bentley.

Valkyrie rushed after him, thanking Cassandra on her way out. When Skulduggery had an idea, there was no stopping him. "How are we going to get into a deep enough dream state to connect with a deity on that level?" she asked as she buckled in her seatbelt.

"Death." He stated plainly and sped off towards Roarhaven.