Alexandria

Oh my god.

I was the child of a murderer.

A child of the darkness.

And no one could save me from my guilt.

I knew that Raven was chasing me, but she would never catch up with me. I found that out from the incident with Melancholia. 

I thought I was free when I entered the world of magic. Free from troubles and doubts.

I was wrong.

I was trapped.

I ran and ran, until I ended up in strange room. It had statues of people, and had the words 'Hall of Remembrance' on its wall. I looked around, and there, I saw a statue of a scarred man. Underneath it was a plaque that said Ghastly Bespoke, the Dead Men. Next to it was a statue of a large, scary-looking man, and it's plaque said Anton Shudder, the Dead Men. The Dead Men. Those were Skulduggery and Valkyrie's dead friends.

A foot step behind me made me freeze in terror. I turned on my heel slowly, my hands edging towards where my twin swords were concealed under my coat. There was a man, standing there. He didn't move, and his face was obscured by a black mask, cleverly designed to cover all his details. He looked at me, at my horrible emerald eyes, and gasped.

He lunged at me and my twin swords came out flashing, but they could do nothing to help. The large man punched me hard on the chest, knocking me unconscious, and as my vision dimmed, he grabbed me and dragged me across the floor.

I woke up in a tailor shop. It was a complete mess, with different fabric just scattered across the floor. Most of them looked expensive, and all of them looked like they were torn apart in rage. I was tied to a chair, and my swords were lying on the floor next to me. The man walked in, but then this time his mask was off.

I couldn't believe my eyes. This man looked like the statue in the Hall of Remembrance.

He looked like Ghastly Bespoke. And I was in a tailor shop. A memory of a tailor shop whipped through my mind. Bespoke's Tailors was the best place to shop, Fletcher had said. But it couldn't be him. He was dead.

I still managed a coarse whisper. "You... you're Ghastly Bespoke."

The man looked startled. "How do you know my name, child?"

"The Halls of Remembrance... But... but you're dead."

"Who are you?" he asked. He didn't look so imposing now.

"I'm Alexandria Sparrow... daught... daughter of Nef... Nefarian Serpine." I managed to say. "Please... let me go... Ta... Tanith and Val will be looking fo... for me..."

The moment I said Tanith, he jerked. "That's not true. Tanith is gone. There is no Tanith anymore. The Tanith you think is Tanith is a remnant."

"Tanith got rid of the remnant! Please! Let me go!" I was getting scared. I was anxious. This Ghastly Bespoke look-alike was so awkward, and he looked like he lost his temper several times before walking in.

"NO! THAT IS NOT TRUE! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? DO NOT LIE. WHY AM I IN THE HALLS OF REMEMBRANCE?" Ghastly was shouting now. I was freaking out in my mind.

"Please!" I said, sobbing, "Don't hurt me! I'll tell you!"

"You better." he glared menacingly. "If you say one lie, I guarantee you that your death will be slow and agonizing."

"When you accompanied the traitor, Ravel, back to Roarhaven, he revealed that he was the Man with the Golden Eyes. The cleavers you had sent were killed by the Black Cleaver, which was basically the White Cleaver improved by Doctor Nye. The Black Cleaver beheaded Shudder and Ravel plunged a knife into your back." I tried to keep my cool. "Tanith, who was still a remnant, didn't feel any pain when Gracious found the video of your death. Sanguine, however, was whooping with joy. And then Valkyrie, on a mission to save Fletcher from the Brides of Blood Tears, unleashed her true name."

"Valkyrie knows her true name?"

"Yes. She's Darquesse. Although Darquesse is usually able to sink back into Valkyrie's subconsciousness, this time, Valkyrie became the subconsciousness. Tanith, who worships Darquesse, turned on the team and nearly killed Stephanie, Val's reflection. The Warlocks attacked a newly built Roarhaven Castle and Stephanie killed Charivari with the Scepter of the Ancients. China managed, I do not know how, to get herself elected Grand Mage, because at the end of the war, Darquesse appeared and punished Ravel by allowing him only one hour free of agony. Then, I won't go into details, Valkyrie got rid of Darquesse, so Darquesse possessed Obloquy, who killed Stephanie." I rested for a second, and then, watching Ghastly's glare, continued. 

"So basically, Darquesse inhabited a newly updated Stephanie and captures Valkyrie, who is saved by remnant-Tanith. Darquesse is still looking for Argeddion, so she rips the remnant out of Tanith and heals Tanith in the mean time. Sanguine helps Tanith escape and gives the god-killers to Skulduggery. Then, in the epic battle against Darquesse, the Sensitives manage to thwart her views and created a portal to the Faceless one's dimension, and Darquesse goes in. The portal is closed, but deep inside the Sanctuary, Tanith and Sanguine were fighting the Black Cleaver. Sanguine saves Tanith's life, but is killed, and Tanith kills the Black Cleaver, although she still refuses to tell anyone how she did. The Accelerator is deactivated using Ravel's soul, because Skulduggery loopholed it and said that the soul willingly given didn't have to be his. Valkyrie retired for 6 years and just came back. Oh, and she's not an Elemental or Necromancer now. Darquesse took away her magic, so when she had her Surge in Mevolent's dimension, she can now manipulate this white energy thing."

My throat was so dry now. Ghastly looked like he wanted to believe me, but was telling himself not to. "So it's as it seems." he whispered.

"Now, please don't kill me, I just want to ask a question." I prepared myself for his rage, and asked, "then why aren't you dead?"

Ghastly glanced at me. "My reflection was killed. My reflection had evolved like Stephanie, so I used it to continue my tailoring, or vice versa with the Sanctuary work. When Erskine insisted to go back, I suspected something, so I sent my reflection instead of me." he then put on his mask. "You say you're Serpine's daughter, and you're friends with Skulduggery? Let's see how much your friends care about you then."

I gasped, and my world turned black once again.