Skulduggery Pleasant fan-fic: The Cradle of Magic (UNDER EDIT)

The almost empty shack

-Skul

I reminded myself of batman. By night I trained Valiance, un renowned to my fellow companions, and by day I was the normal, well, far from normal, me, solving crimes I had set out for myself to crack, so that the mystery that was unfolding worked to a state where I could control what everyone else; except China, Bliss and I, thought about the situation, so the plan would work for us. Other people can just deal with it in their own annoyingly pessimistic way, just as long as they didn't divert the plan.

According to everyone else I was crime solving, Val had gone off researching because I asked her to and Ghastly, Erskine and Aurora had gone to sort out Sanctuary stuff. Because that's what they do. I wasn't however doing what I do. I drove the car up the gravelly driveway and left the engine on as I got out, closing the door behind me. I sauntered up the drive and towards an old, now abandoned house where weeds grew in the roofing. I took my revolver out of the holster as neared the door. I knew it was in here somewhere. I kicked down the door and dust flew up from the rotting floor. Dead magic lingered in the room, the kind that leaves traces even after ten years or so; I could still feel it's power feed through my bones.
I stepped into the house and clicked a flame in my other hand, the shack was dark and I didn't want to trip and ruin my suit. Or evenly my beautifully tailored ego. I swept my hand around the corners of the room, picking up broken pieces of china and ornamental pictures. These of course were probably fake, I man like Batu would have no time for family.
I came to a window at the far end of the house; glass lay on the shattered window pane and on the floral curtain which now lay in shreds on the floor. I then noted the dry blood splattered over the whitewash and on the rug and remembered leaving Valkyrie here not knowing whether I would see her again; whether we would survive. Leaving her there was a mistake of course, there I was thinking it was keeping her safe and in fact I left her with one of the most insufferable psychopaths on the planet. I could have got her killed. But it was all fine in the end, so no harm done really. I walked over to the wall and unhooked a shattered, faded photograph. It was almost certainly a fake but I couldn't help finding myself hurting inside. Deep inside.

The picture was of a little girl, around five; she wore a dress and plaited her hair down the side with a bow near the end. The girl sat on the lap of her mother, she looked around thirty with long, fair hair and a pale dress with a silken ribbon around her waist. The woman sat smiling down as the girl played happily with a small daisy chain resting on her lap.
I stood looking at them, I sighed deeply; a sigh that would usually sting your eyes with tears and clamp down on your heart; I however had neither of those.
I could remember my own.
I could hear her laugh, the laugh that found joy in everything I ever did or said. I remember her smile, I remember the smile she gave me when she told me she was pregnant; I remember holding her tight and kissing her. I remember my daughter, our daughter, our beautiful baby girl that brought me as much joy as she did. I remember she was like her mother but with my eyes. I remember holding her and rocking her to sleep in my arms, singing a soft lullaby in her ear.
These were the things that gave me joy, but memories are all I have left of them both.
But with happy memories also come the darkest moments.
I also remember their screams as they were tortured, the tears in the eyes of my little girl as she screamed to her daddy to help her. She died crying for me. She died crying for help, the help that I couldn't give her.
Those are what I cling to, those memories are what keeps me sane.
Valkyrie is like my little Elizabeth, I am there to keep her safe and this time I will save her; I will not let her die. Not like last time. I will not let that happen.

I found myself sitting on a battered chair and removed the picture from the frame, folding it up and placing it in my blazer pocket. I stood up and brushed the broken glass from my suit, I continued looking and entered the bedroom, or what was left of it.
We needed an anchor, at first we had a problem; last time we had the grotesquery the time after, my head this time I was looking for a particular item of jewellery.
A vast amount of blood had dried into the floor boards around the torn up bed, it was here, in this room; I could feel it. I kicked aside a dusty bed sheet and there it was, in the place it had been put all those years ago. I picked it up, and turned it about in my fingers. It was actually pretty disappointing, a plain, gold ring nothing special or immaculate about it really. This ring had however been used by Batu as a tracking device and would now be used by me as an anchor. Because Batu's corpse lay in the other dimension there was a link between this ring and him; also known as a sure fire way of opening up the portal. Funny that.
What people assumed though was that there were no more anchors and so the portal must be opening from the inside, by the Gods. Yes there were Gods on the other side, and yes we were pretty stupid trying to break through but it would all turn out fine. At least probably. We needed what was on the other side though. We needed that God killer weapon, the weapon that had been left there all those thousands of years ago. How did we know it was there? China's resources, Who would go in there to retrieve it? A girl so powerfully linked with the Gods that they would not be able to detect her, at least that was what we hoped, and How would we open it? Well that was now sorted, because we had the anchor. Now all we needed was for the Sanctuaries to create a distraction whilst we let Valiance sneak in and find the weapon.

The plan was going to work. The only problem we had was an annoying prophecy that came with it. Days ago China discovered a manuscript which spoke of the Nightshade Armageddon. At first we ignored this, it was almost ten years ago. At the end of the passage, written in newer ink,

it spoke of the two girls coming back and obtaining a weapon which concealed great power, as one of the girls went into the portal, the other went in after her, both becoming injured but returning with the weapon. The portal is unable to re-close and the girls are followed by a trio of dark forces which turn the minds if those who place their eyes upon them. Using the weapon the girls kill off one of the Gods but injures one of the girls, one of the girls leaves the other as one advances upon them she uses he weapon but it fails and the girl is lifted into the sky. The two fight using powers of dark and element. The earth shakes and all is blown from the surface. The girl becomes weak, and is caught unawares. She lifts her head and uses her last form if defence before falling weakly. The God looks down at the limp body and laughs before burning in a ball of fire. The other god is sucked back into the portal and the world is silent once more.

This scares me more than anything else. And I know I can't prevent it. I cannot stop this happening, but can only put it off in my mind for as long as possible.
I head back to the car and look over to the field where hell broke. This is where many loved ones and friends died all those years ago, and in a weeks time it will all happen again.
I sigh and start the engine, driving back down the gravel drive; slipping the ring in my pocket.

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=D hope u liked that my shmallows!
I shall now answer a FAQ,
"Bliv, how could you kill yourself off??!"
"Hmm, well I got a little bored with my character... So um yeah.. Sorry bout that.."
Heh.. XD don't forget to like and comment, press that lonely star.. It loves u..
Bliv xxx