Suits and Shields

Chapter 2: Myths and Legends

Tanith looked Dan up and down. Noticing her confusion, the ghost spoke. "I think you scared her, Dan."

Tanith held up her hands, shaking her head. "No, it's fine. A living skeleton isn't too out of the ordinary for me. I happen to know one."

Dan tilted his head. "You're not scared then?"

"Not at all,"

Dan made a heaving sigh of relief. "You know, you're the first person who's had that reaction to me." He turned around, gesturing to the two people who'd been there when Tanith entered. "These are my friends, Professor Hamilton Kift and Winston Chapelmouth the ghost."

The ghost, Winston, approached Dan. "So what's your line of work then, miss?"

"Especially since you mentioned a living skeleton wasn't out of the ordinary for you." Kift added.

"I work for a Sanctuary here in London," Tanith began. "Our job is to keep the mortal population and magical populations from, clashing with each other."

Dan placed a bony hand on his where his chin would have been. "Fascinating," he mused. "What about this skeleton you know? I could've sworn I was the only living skeleton in the world."

"The other living skeleton I know works for the Irish Sanctuary. His name, is Skulduggery Pleasant."

"He sounds familiar," Kift replied. "Has he visited this country by any chance?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Tanith admitted. "He usually sticks to Ireland. Sometimes America, but mostly Ireland."

Kift turned, and headed back to his desk, with a laptop sitting upon it. "Let me see if I can find out anything else on this friend of yours, miss Low."

"What does this Skulduggery guy do, exactly?" Winston asked with curiosity.

"He's a detective. A very egotistical detective who's quite full of himself at the best of times, but a detective nonetheless. On top of that, he also fights, both with weapons and elemental abilities and such."

That last bit really got Kift's attention. "Elemental abilities?"

"There's magic users in my line of work; Elementals, like Skulduggery, Adepts like myself and finally Necromancers."

Dan frowned at the mention of necromancers, his crooked jaw contortioned into a serious scowl.

"Did I say something to upset him?" Tanith queried.

"No, no miss Low." Kift assured here. "Dan here has just had in run-in with some nasty necromancers in the past. One of which, Zarok took his life, all the way back in 1286."

"The Battle of Gallowmere, right? That info was in Dan's exhibit on a plaque."

"Precisely my dear," Kift replied, smiling. "The other one was-"

"Lord Palethorn?"

"So you were reading the info from my exhibit, then?" Dan asked.

"Of course. It was certainly interesting."

"Tanith," began Winston. "Would you mind explaining what Adepts and Elementals do?"

"We're already quite familiar with necromancers and necromancy," Kift added.

"Sure!" Tanith replied, leaning against a desk.

"Elementals are, as the name implies, magic users that manipulate the elements around them; earth, wind, fire and water. Skulduggery often uses it to hurl projectile fireballs at opponents."

"And what about Adepts?" Dan piped. "What do they do?"

"As an Adept myself, our abilities are about focusing on one set of abilities. You could, for example, make yourself immune to fire, but in turn, you'd be weak to any kind of water. Other Adepts can use abilities such as healing, tunnelling, teleportation and, in my case,"

She walked over to a wall, and slowly began walking up the wall with little effort. Before long, she was standing right above them. "Wall walking." She finished, before walking back down to the floor. "Heck, necromancy counts as an Adept ability."

"My, my," Kift said, his face now looking akin to that of a startled fish. "That sounds amazing." Dan and Winston both nodded.

Suddenly, there was the sound of bare feet on stone approaching them, getting closer by the second, causing Tanith to tense.

As the steps grew louder and louder, a new figure appeared in one of the doorways. A tall, female body with deep blue skin, wrapped in mummies bandages, a red jewel in her belly and a black headdress similar to that of an Egyptian queen.

"Kiya," Dan said happily, approaching the newcomer, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Dan?" Kiya asked, her voice sounding Egyptian. "Who is that? I heard the professor talking to you and someone whose voice I didn't recognise."

"No need to fear, Kiya." Dan replied, taking her by the hand and approached Tanith.

"Tanith," he continued. "This is my beloved, Princess Kiya. Kiya, this is Tanith Low, we met earlier this evening."

Tanith held out a hand to shake. "Nice to meet you, your highness."

Kiya returned the gesture, taking Tanith's hand and shaking it. "Likewise, Tanith."

"Tanith was just telling us about a skeleton she knows," Winston said.

A look of shock covered Kiya's face. "Another living skeleton?"

"Yes," Tanith confirmed. "In fact, it's partly because of him I'm here."

"Let me guess," Dan asked. "When we met earlier, you said I matched a description someone gave you. I take it this 'Skulduggery' character is the one that gave you the info."

"Yeah, Skul told me. He thought your disguise and the fact you were hanging around the museum made you a bit suspicious."

Dan nodded. "Understandable, really. My disguise definitely turns a few heads."

Tanith took out her phone. "Better let Skul know what I found then."

Meanwhile in Haggard

Skulduggery's phone beeped, signifying a text message. He took the phone out of his pocket.

Valkyrie looked up. "Did you get a response from Tanith?"

"Yes," Skulduggery replied. "She found out the identity of our mysterious man; another living skeleton."

Valkyrie's eyes shot open. "Another living skeleton?!"

"Yes it seems that way." He scrolled through the message. "According to the message his name is Sir Daniel Fortesque."

Valkyrie shrugged. "Never heard of him."

"Tanith says here he wants to meet both of us in London."

"Sounds fun." Valkyrie replied. "Should we go now?"

Skulduggery nodded, putting his phone in his pocket. "Yes. I'll book us a flight."

An hour later, Valkyrie and Skulduggery landed in London, where Tanith was waiting for them. Skulduggery had his facade activated, this time giving him short black hair, a round nose and green eyes.

"Hi Tanith!" Valkyrie said, hugging her.

"Good to see you two," Tanith replied.

As the three of them left the airport, Tanith began leading them to the museum, which was open to the public. Walking through the many exhibits, they passed Sir Daniel Fortesque's exhibit, where Dan was waiting them in his disguise.

"Hello!" Dan greeted them with a wave.

"You must be Dan," Skulduggery replied, tilting his head.

Dan looked around him. "Come, I can't show myself without my disguise in public." He walked to the door that led into the basement.