Skulduggery gave up trying to reason with himself. It was the first time poking a hallucination hadn't dispelled it immediately, and he knew exactly what that meant. As Valkyrie had so succinctly pointed out, he was losing his mind. But, for the first time since regaining consciousness all that time ago, he didn't try to fight it. There was no way Skulduggery could stay sane, so it was high time he simply gave in to it. Embraced his inner lunatic, as it were.
So he began muttering to himself as he walked, for no reason other than muttering seemed like the thing to do. It broke the silence and, hopefully, kept him somewhat grounded. Valkyrie continued to pester him, and Skulduggery continued to ignore her. Everything was going remarkably well until the sound of collapsing buildings managed to drill through the haze his body and mind had fallen into.
Skulduggery hesitated a moment, then swept his hands down behind him and propelled himself up through the air to catch the edge of a rooftop. A higher vantage point, but also a greater chance of being spotted by the flyers. Skulduggery was taking the chance that whatever had caused the destruction of buildings was taking up their full attention.
To his surprise, it seemed like the Faceless Ones were causing the destruction themselves. Building after building crumbled before them, not out of rage - they had Skulduggery for that - but out of methodical purpose, like they were searching for something.
That was... unprecedented. It meant, among other things, that whatever they were searching for could hide from them.
Skulduggery hung on to the edge for a moment longer, his rusty detective instincts trying their best to kick in, but it was like trying to spin a gear rusted into place. When Skulduggery let go and gently alighted back onto the ground, the phenomenon was all but forgotten. He needed to find his right arm, after all. No distractions.
Ironically, as Skulduggery rounded the next corner, Batu became visible at the other end of the alley. Batu, with his smooth head and fleshy, jerky movements, stone dead and operated by none other than a Faceless One that slowly shambled over the rocky ground in an unfamiliar meat suit.
For the first time, fear crept into Skulduggery's calm tone. "You've changed the rules."
The vessel didn't stop, probably wouldn't have answered even if it was capable of speech. It moved ceaselessly towards him, the loud screech overhead warning Skulduggery that it had already summoned one of its pets to track him from the sky.
"Come on," he tried again, backing away. "I haven't even found my arm yet. Where's the fun in torturing someone who isn't whole?"
The unspoken answer, of course, was none at all. Fun wasn't what the Faceless Ones were after. Skulduggery took a moment to plan his route, and then took off running - towards the Faceless One.
It may not have caught the creature off-guard, but it certainly surprised it. And it did fool the flyer. While the great black beast swooped down to the corner, Skulduggery swept the air up around him and rose quickly into the sky, shooting over Batu's clear head and landing seamlessly on the other side. Then he took off running in the opposite direction of his pursuers.
It was a useless gesture, and one Skulduggery would have given up long ago if running actually tired him out. It didn't matter how far he ran or where he hid; they always found him. And yet, with no other option and no future free from pain, Skulduggery continued going through the motions, ducking through doorways and running up streets until he carefully dropped down a 12-foot incline into a large, square alleyway that offered at least some protection. He knelt against the wall under a small overhang, wary of the sudden silence surrounding him, until his gaze fell on a beaten-up old black hat a few feet away.
His beaten-up old black hat.
Skulduggery didn't move to pick it up. Instead, he slid down to a sitting position on the scorched rock with a short groan. The hat meant he'd been here before. And that meant tracking him down would only be a matter of time.
no subject
So he began muttering to himself as he walked, for no reason other than muttering seemed like the thing to do. It broke the silence and, hopefully, kept him somewhat grounded. Valkyrie continued to pester him, and Skulduggery continued to ignore her. Everything was going remarkably well until the sound of collapsing buildings managed to drill through the haze his body and mind had fallen into.
Skulduggery hesitated a moment, then swept his hands down behind him and propelled himself up through the air to catch the edge of a rooftop. A higher vantage point, but also a greater chance of being spotted by the flyers. Skulduggery was taking the chance that whatever had caused the destruction of buildings was taking up their full attention.
To his surprise, it seemed like the Faceless Ones were causing the destruction themselves. Building after building crumbled before them, not out of rage - they had Skulduggery for that - but out of methodical purpose, like they were searching for something.
That was... unprecedented. It meant, among other things, that whatever they were searching for could hide from them.
Skulduggery hung on to the edge for a moment longer, his rusty detective instincts trying their best to kick in, but it was like trying to spin a gear rusted into place. When Skulduggery let go and gently alighted back onto the ground, the phenomenon was all but forgotten. He needed to find his right arm, after all. No distractions.
Ironically, as Skulduggery rounded the next corner, Batu became visible at the other end of the alley. Batu, with his smooth head and fleshy, jerky movements, stone dead and operated by none other than a Faceless One that slowly shambled over the rocky ground in an unfamiliar meat suit.
For the first time, fear crept into Skulduggery's calm tone. "You've changed the rules."
The vessel didn't stop, probably wouldn't have answered even if it was capable of speech. It moved ceaselessly towards him, the loud screech overhead warning Skulduggery that it had already summoned one of its pets to track him from the sky.
"Come on," he tried again, backing away. "I haven't even found my arm yet. Where's the fun in torturing someone who isn't whole?"
The unspoken answer, of course, was none at all. Fun wasn't what the Faceless Ones were after. Skulduggery took a moment to plan his route, and then took off running - towards the Faceless One.
It may not have caught the creature off-guard, but it certainly surprised it. And it did fool the flyer. While the great black beast swooped down to the corner, Skulduggery swept the air up around him and rose quickly into the sky, shooting over Batu's clear head and landing seamlessly on the other side. Then he took off running in the opposite direction of his pursuers.
It was a useless gesture, and one Skulduggery would have given up long ago if running actually tired him out. It didn't matter how far he ran or where he hid; they always found him. And yet, with no other option and no future free from pain, Skulduggery continued going through the motions, ducking through doorways and running up streets until he carefully dropped down a 12-foot incline into a large, square alleyway that offered at least some protection. He knelt against the wall under a small overhang, wary of the sudden silence surrounding him, until his gaze fell on a beaten-up old black hat a few feet away.
His beaten-up old black hat.
Skulduggery didn't move to pick it up. Instead, he slid down to a sitting position on the scorched rock with a short groan. The hat meant he'd been here before. And that meant tracking him down would only be a matter of time.
Skulduggery resigned himself to the wait.