“It was wet. Also, one eats the other. When looked upon like that, the main points are practically identical.”

“Um,” Scrutinous said, “could we start talking about how we’re going to lift the curse if the man who started it all is dead?”

“Yes,” Skulduggery said, “of course. All is not lost. While it would have been easier to have Maybury simply cancel the whole thing, that is only one way to solve the problem. Davit Maybury was not an evil man. He was a weird one, by all accounts, but not evil. As such, it does not make sense that he would want many people to die, when all he was after was revenge on the one man who had stolen the woman he loved.”

He took the wooden box from his jacket and opened it. Hesitating only a moment, he took the pen from the box. “Well,” he said, “now we’re in this together, Geoffrey.” He held the pen in both hands, and twisted. The outer shell cracked and he pulled it away. He murmured something, then held up the pen for Valkyrie and Scrutinous to see. Four symbols had been cut into the inside. “The curse,” he said. “I think Maybury made a mistake. Instead of the curse afflicting the first person to touch the pen, it has instead afflicted every person to touch the pen. Maybe he used the wrong symbol or misjudged the depth or the width… Every aspect of these sigils has to be perfectly judged.”

“How does that help us?” Valkyrie asked.

“It means we don’t have to lift the curse – we just have to correct his spelling.”

“He carved the wrong symbol, so now we have to carve the right one?”

“In theory, once we do, it will mean the curse will have fulfilled its purpose the first time it was used, and all this will just… stop.”

“In theory?” Scrutinous pressed. His teeth were chattering.

“Yes.”

“That doesn’t s-sound very certain.”

“It’s a very strong theory, Geoffrey. In much the same way that gravity is a very strong theory. It’s almost certainly true. If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“I have ten m-minutes left. The water has reached the ends of my shorts. There are f-f-fish swimming all around me and the floor has changed to a s-seabed. How do you expect me to not w-worry about this?”

“By taking deep, calming breaths.”

“Do you know how to correct it?” Valkyrie asked.

Skulduggery picked up the scalpel from the side-table, before opening the book. “This is obviously what Maybury used to start it all, but because he got it wrong I would be disinclined to trust the same instructions he followed. We’ll have to ask China.”

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. “But China isn’t here.”

“Your b-boyfriend,” Scrutinous said. “He’s a tele… porter… He can bring her.”