Crepuscular Vies stood with his back to Omen, looking across to the West Tower, his hat in his hand. The wind was stiff and cold up here so Omen stayed beside the wall, near the door.
“You should have let this Chicane fella fall,” Crepuscular said. “He was going to kill you and, by saving him, you gave him another opportunity to do just that.” He turned. “I’m glad you didn’t let him fall, of course. Apart from anything else, you’re not a killer, and nor should you have to be. But now someone out there knows you’re a threat.”
“I don’t think he’s going to come for me, though. Or send anyone else to come for me. It sounded like he was just going to walk away.”
“And you’re willing to trust that he won’t change his mind?”
“I don’t see that I have a choice. If he wants to kill me, he knows where I am. I think I’ve got to focus on the mission.”
“On the mission Skulduggery Pleasant gave you.”
Omen winced. “Do you mind? I know it’ll probably be weird working with Skulduggery but not really working with Skulduggery. I don’t want to bring up any bad memories.”
“Bad memories?” Crepuscular said. “Like what? Like being his partner once upon a time? Like him dropping me into a vat of chemicals? Like the pain that seemed as if it would never end and the anguish that felt as if it would never go away? Like the memory of how my life fell apart and I wandered for years, piecing myself back together only to realise that I was building an entirely new person? Bad memories like that?”
“Yes.”
Crepuscular gave a little wave. “It’s fine. I’m over it. Turning Corrival Academy into one of these Pillars is not something Damocles Creed, with all his power and influence, is capable of doing alone. How did this city come about, Omen?”
“Like, originally?”
“Tell me the story.”
“Uh, well, originally Roarhaven was a small village founded by sorcerers who wanted to stage a kind of, I suppose, a coup? They didn’t like the Sanctuary in Dublin so they built another one out here, and then tried to—”
“Shorten the story.”
“Um, it didn’t work, and Roarhaven stayed a small village, and everyone here hated mortals, and they weren’t very nice, and were quite, maybe, racist? Kind of? And it stayed like that for years—”
“Shorten the story further.”
“And then the Dublin Sanctuary was destroyed—”
“Shorter.”
“And Erskine Ravel paid this architect guy to construct an entire city in another dimension and then they shunted everything over and the city, basically, fitted on top of the old village and that’s how we have Roarhaven today.”
“And the name of this architect?”
Omen hesitated. “I want to say Brian …?”
“Creyfon Signate.”
“Oh.”
“Signate designed this city. He designed the Dark Cathedral and the High Sanctuary and he designed this school – with this so-called Pillar. I think we should pay him a visit. This Saturday, what do you say?”
Omen blinked. “Me? ”
“We.”
“But … me as well as you?”
“Why not?”
“I’m not really … Like, if you go and question him, then he’ll take you seriously because, and I don’t mean this in a bad way, you’re a very scary person.”
“I am,” said Crepuscular. “This is true.”
“But if we both go then I just think my being there will kind of dilute your scariness, in a way? It’ll be like this big scary guy is taking his little brother along for a day out.”
“I think you underestimate your scariness.”
“I really don’t.”
“When Skulduggery first started taking Valkyrie Cain along on his investigations, she was younger than you are now.”
“Yeah, but Valkyrie’s Valkyrie. That’s different.”
“It’s not different at all. She was young, in way over her head, always getting into ridiculously dangerous situations that no young person should ever find themselves in. Does that sound familiar at all? You, Omen Darkly, could be the next Valkyrie Cain, if only you believed in yourself. Maybe all you need is a partner to steer you through the worst of it. So what do you say?”
“What do I say to what?”
Crepuscular stuck out his hand. “To adventure. To proving to yourself that you can do it – that you can equal, even surpass, the accomplishments of your rival.”
“Valkyrie isn’t my rival.”
“Of course she is. She’s your rival just as Skulduggery is mine.”
“But does it count as being a rival if she doesn’t even know we’re rivals?”
“It’s not about her,” Crepuscular said. “It’s not about him. It’s about proving to ourselves that we’re worthwhile. This adventure, Omen. Accomplishing this task. You and me. Are you in?”
“I, well, I mean, I suppose so, if we’re … if someone has to be in, then yeah, I could be the one that’s, like, in. ”
Crepuscular grabbed his hand and shook it. “I am loving this enthusiasm.”
“But I don’t really have any interest in being a hero.”
“That’s OK, Omen,” Skulduggery said from behind them, “neither does he.”
They turned as Skulduggery walked up. No, not Skulduggery. It was his voice, but his skull was cracked, held together with metal staples, and he wasn’t wearing a hat or a tie. His black coat was pretty cool, though.
Not-Skulduggery nodded to them both. “Hello, Omen. Crepuscular.”
Crepuscular’s whole body seemed to curl inwards, like a hand becoming a claw. “You know me?”
“Oh, yes,” came the response. “And I know that right at this moment you’re feeling an overwhelming urge to tear me apart.”
“You think I shouldn’t?”
“I’m not the man you want to hurt. I was, but no longer. You know who I am, don’t you, Omen?”
“You’re Cadaver Cain,” Omen said. “You’re Skulduggery from the future.” He glanced at Crepuscular. “I meant to tell you about him.”
“Skulduggery of the future or Skulduggery of the present,” Crepuscular said, shrugging, “it doesn’t matter to me.”
“It should,” Cadaver replied. “We are, after all, two distinct people. Skulduggery isn’t the same person who left you for dead all those years ago, and I’m not the same person who’s running around with Valkyrie Cain right at this moment. We change. That’s what people do. I don’t have to tell you that, surely.”
“You talk like you know me.”
“Oh, Crepuscular, I do know you. I know everything about you.”
Cadaver held his hands up and the air started to ripple around the two men. Omen couldn’t hear what was said within that bubble, but Crepuscular tensed, like he was expecting a fight. Cadaver, however, merely lowered his hands and the rippling faded.
“Do you believe me now?” he asked.
Crepuscular grunted.
“I think back over our time together as partners,” Cadaver continued, “and I regret my behaviour. I failed to appreciate everything you had to offer. I failed to value your obvious talents. That was a mistake. I apologise.”
“You think an apology is going to make up for what you did?”
“No. That will be a process where I’ll have to earn back your trust.”
“You don’t get to earn back anything,” Crepuscular sneered. “You left me to die.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“Obviously, you were wrong.”
“Obviously. It won’t mean anything to you, but I’m proud of the person you’ve become. Taking on young Omen Darkly as a partner of your own is an inspired move.”
“I know,” said Crepuscular.
They weren’t looking at him, but they did mention him, so Omen felt obliged to respond. “Thank you,” he mumbled.
“You work well together,” Cadaver said. “You’re a better team than we were. There is genuine trust and affection between you. It reminds me of my time with Valkyrie.”
“We’re going to be better than you and Valkyrie,” said Crepuscular.
Cadaver shook his head. “No. You’re not. You won’t get the chance, I’m afraid. In six days, you will both die, screaming, as your skin melts on your flesh, your flesh melts on your bones, and your bones melt on your internal organs. Which have also melted.”
Omen cleared his throat. “We’re, um, we’re going to stop it.”
Cadaver looked at him. “You’ll try. I can see all possible futures, Omen, and, sadly, in the one we’re heading into, you will fail. If it’s any consolation, all that melting will happen in a moment or two, so you’ll barely be aware of your failure before your thoughts shut down. Unless we change what’s about to happen.”
Crepuscular folded his arms. “You’ve come to us for help.”
“No, but I have come to offer my help to you.”
“Why do you need to help anyone? If you know everything, can’t you just do what needs to be done on your own?”
“I have access to all knowledge – that’s not quite the same as knowing everything. It takes time to sort through the – sometimes infinite – amount of possibilities. I could spend the rest of my days searching for a better way to overcome a single obstacle – or I could make a decision early on, and then fight to ensure that decision was the right one.”
Omen frowned. “Your brain sounds complicated.”
“I don’t have a brain,” Cadaver said, “but yes, it is.”
“So you make a decision early on,” said Crepuscular. “Out of all the ways you stop Creed, you picked what looked like the best one, and now we’re on this path you want to help, is that right?”
“Yes.”
“No deal.”
“Um,” said Omen, “maybe we should consider it?”
“No,” Crepuscular responded. “We don’t work with him.”
“You partnered up with Omen here to prove a point,” Cadaver said, his voice softening. “You wanted to demonstrate that the two of you were a better team than Skulduggery and Valkyrie ever could be. You needed to know that you could achieve more. You needed to be the type of mentor that Skulduggery never was to you.”
“I didn’t need a mentor,” Crepuscular said.
Cadaver’s head tilted. “Didn’t you? Granted, you were a hundred and nine years old when you became Skulduggery’s partner, but we never grow out of needing approval, do we? He let you down. It was a betrayal. And, because of this betrayal, you left your old name behind you – you abandoned it and everything that came with it. Your family. Your heritage. You struck out on your own, but you could never quite escape him, could you? You could feel his shadow over you at all times, blocking out the sun, preventing you from growing into who you were meant to be.”
“You claim you’re not him,” Crepuscular said, “but you sure like to hear yourself talk as much as he does.”
“Yes, I do,” said Cadaver, amused. “I’m here because your team will need my help to do what needs to be done. Skulduggery and Valkyrie are trying to save the world their way. I want to help you save the world your way.”
Omen couldn’t speak for Crepuscular, but he quite liked that little speech. He felt excited – inspired, even – despite the fact that all this would probably result in him being plunged into far more danger than he was comfortable with. Which was zero. Zero danger.
“What’s your agenda?” Crepuscular asked, somewhat grudgingly.
“There are many players in this particular game. Damocles Creed wants his Activation Wave. Skulduggery Pleasant wants to stop it. Serrate wants his new Necropolis. The gangster, Christopher Reign, wants power. My agenda is simple: prevent the future from happening, no matter what.”
“Well,” Omen said, with some hesitation, “we are thinking of asking Creyfon Signate some questions—”
“—on Saturday!” finished Cadaver happily. “And I would love to accompany you!”
“Yay,” said Crepuscular.