Second Chance - A Bone China fanfic

Dexter Vex knew something was wrong.  

He had known it since the moment that the French sorcerer offered no resistance while being taken. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be anything unusual, but this wasn’t a normal circumstance. They were at war, and in war people fight for their honour, for their people. People fight because they never know if they’ll live to tell tales of what they did. He had learnt that in the many years he had spent there thinking he wouldn’t return alive. He wasn’t proud of many of the things he did during the war with Mevolent; but war is not a time to mourn all the bad choices you have made. 

Vex was the one who was escorting the sorcerer to the room of the Council. If all went as the Grand Mage had predicted, they would have in their hands their enemies’ plans before the devil even blinked. Maybe they couldn’t have all of the plans, but they needed at least some  - enough to stay a step ahead of the others.  

The reason for the all of this was that the French sorcerer was young; far too young to have fought in the war with Mevolent, too young to have even heard his name in its true essence. Too young to know what war is. And Vex knew that the younger you were, the more hope you had, and so the boy would try to avoid being killed because he still had the hope of returning home alive. Sometimes Vex liked to be able to think that way, but he knew that right now, he was one of the lucky ones. 

Somewhere along the way, the boy stopped and took a deep breath. Vex looked at him but didn’t speak. If the boy took more than three seconds, Vex would fire a punch into him or make him unconscious. But then... then the boy turned back to look Vex in the eyes and smiled. "Seems like you’ll have to find a new leader... Again."  

Vex looked at the boy, confused - until he remembered that China was speaking with French sorcerers in the council room, and then it all made sense. A distraction. Vex ran as fast as he could, but not before leaving the boy lying on the ground, unconscious. He wanted to make sure he would be there when he returned. 

Only in that moment did Vex realise how huge the corridors of the Sanctuary were, and he found himself cursing whoever had built it. The door to the council room was open, and Dexter entered. At first glance, everything was normal; the chairs were in their places and there was nothing broken. But then he heard the sound of someone trying to breathe but not being able to, the sound of someone struggling for air. He walked cautiously around the table and saw China, on the floor, with a broken glass of water next to her. It had still had water when China had dropped it, he realised, but this was not the time to be a detective. He knelt beside her body. China clung tightly to Vex’s arm, and he looked at her. 

"Dexter..." she managed to say. 

Dexter shook his head vigorously. "Don’t talk. Try to breathe. You'll be fine." 

Saracen emerged through the door, and Vex signalled for him to call someone. When Saracen left them, China spoke again. "Surviving again would mean I'd have much more luck than I deserve." She coughed again. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to breathe. 

China took a final breath of air, and managed to say just one more sentence. "Tell Skulduggery that I love him, and that I’m sorry." After that, she tried to breathe again, but Vex figured that her lungs had stopped functioning. Her eyes rolled into the back of their sockets, the hand that was on his arm dropped, and Vex ceased to feel her pulse. Vex looked desperately at her for any sign of life but found none. He eventually shook his head, sighed and stood up. He heard hurried footsteps in the hallway, and saw Saracen emerge at the door. As he saw China’s body, Saracen’s eyes widened. He looked at the Vex. 

"Is she ...?" 

"She is," Vex uttered gravely. 

Saracen looked at his friend who in turn stared at the floor. Vex could only think about her last words, and wondered how he was going to narrate them to Skulduggery. If he didn’t tell him, he would feel that he was betraying one of the very few people he could call a "brother”. Vex didn’t know where he was, but moments later Skulduggery rushed through the door. He looked from Saracen to Dexter, and Vex knew that Skulduggery was going to ask what happened. But then he looked at the body behind Dexter, and it became official.    

China Sorrows was dead.

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A/N - HEYYYY GUYS

so, thank you so much for reading this shitty chapter!! i promisse the next one will be better. 

so, i am from portugal, so, I'm REALLY sorry if it as any mistake, or something, ok guys? thank you so much for reading, please give me your opinion, okay? thanks :)

Inês xx