Suddenly, nothing was holding her up, and Valkyrie stumbled back into the wall behind her with that same dizziness and her own head still pounding. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on taking deep, long breaths to try and clear her head faster.
She also tried hard not to think about the fact that if Gabriel didn't respond immediately to her prayer the way he did, she'd probably be dead.
"I'm fine," she murmured, slowly peeling her eyes back open. "I'll be... Gabe?"
Against the far wall, Sanguine groaned. Valkyrie ignored it, forgot about her own pain, and rushed to Gabe's side. She had no idea how to help, but offered him her support anyway, trying to gently pull him back up to his feet. She hadn't had time to think about this. She hadn't had time to remember that Gabe was injured, and there was a reason Fletcher was the one Teleporting them everywhere, and that realisation now paved the way for a flood of sudden and drenching guilt.
It wasn't all about Gabe, either - although that was a good majority of it. Part of the guilt was over her Necromantic ring.
She didn't have it with her today. And she'd never thought to check. She took the extra power it provided her for granted, never even gave it a second thought. And Valkyrie knew she'd almost always done that over this last year, especially as she slowly grew more powerful, but it still felt bearable then. Mostly. It didn't feel wrong to take strength for granted.
Now, all she could remember was Skulduggery talking to her about Vile, back at the safehouse. He'd told her about when he started forgetting a time when he didn't have Necromancy at his disposal. When he took the power for granted, assumed it would always be there, assumed it always had been there. He'd forgotten, and soon there was nothing left but the Necromancy, and pretty soon after that Skulduggery was also forgotten. Lord Vile stood in his place.
The thought terrified her to her very core. If she'd focused on her Elemental powers this last year, and not Necromancy, she might never have been in the position to need Gabriel's help.
"I'm sorry," she told Gabe quietly. "I didn't mean for you to..." The Necromancy, she remembered. He'd had a visercal reaction to it, both in Skulduggery when they first met and in the graveyard when he and Solomon first met. "If it helps, I want to destroy my ring when this is all over."
The words stunned her the instant they left her mouth, but... it was true. She did. She didn't want to end up relying on Necromancy the same way Skulduggery had. She didn't want to be able to use something so evil that it could hurt an Archangel, or cause her mentor to give up magic entirely when he saw the truth of it.
She didn't want to become a Necromancer.
"Who," Sanguine gasped as he dragged himself back up using the wall, "the hell are you?"
He didn't look happy, and it wasn't just because of the blood running down the side of his head or the ginger way he held his left arm.
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She also tried hard not to think about the fact that if Gabriel didn't respond immediately to her prayer the way he did, she'd probably be dead.
"I'm fine," she murmured, slowly peeling her eyes back open. "I'll be... Gabe?"
Against the far wall, Sanguine groaned. Valkyrie ignored it, forgot about her own pain, and rushed to Gabe's side. She had no idea how to help, but offered him her support anyway, trying to gently pull him back up to his feet. She hadn't had time to think about this. She hadn't had time to remember that Gabe was injured, and there was a reason Fletcher was the one Teleporting them everywhere, and that realisation now paved the way for a flood of sudden and drenching guilt.
It wasn't all about Gabe, either - although that was a good majority of it. Part of the guilt was over her Necromantic ring.
She didn't have it with her today. And she'd never thought to check. She took the extra power it provided her for granted, never even gave it a second thought. And Valkyrie knew she'd almost always done that over this last year, especially as she slowly grew more powerful, but it still felt bearable then. Mostly. It didn't feel wrong to take strength for granted.
Now, all she could remember was Skulduggery talking to her about Vile, back at the safehouse. He'd told her about when he started forgetting a time when he didn't have Necromancy at his disposal. When he took the power for granted, assumed it would always be there, assumed it always had been there. He'd forgotten, and soon there was nothing left but the Necromancy, and pretty soon after that Skulduggery was also forgotten. Lord Vile stood in his place.
The thought terrified her to her very core. If she'd focused on her Elemental powers this last year, and not Necromancy, she might never have been in the position to need Gabriel's help.
"I'm sorry," she told Gabe quietly. "I didn't mean for you to..." The Necromancy, she remembered. He'd had a visercal reaction to it, both in Skulduggery when they first met and in the graveyard when he and Solomon first met. "If it helps, I want to destroy my ring when this is all over."
The words stunned her the instant they left her mouth, but... it was true. She did. She didn't want to end up relying on Necromancy the same way Skulduggery had. She didn't want to be able to use something so evil that it could hurt an Archangel, or cause her mentor to give up magic entirely when he saw the truth of it.
She didn't want to become a Necromancer.
"Who," Sanguine gasped as he dragged himself back up using the wall, "the hell are you?"
He didn't look happy, and it wasn't just because of the blood running down the side of his head or the ginger way he held his left arm.