“These people needed me, Valkyrie. They looked upon me as a saviour. It has been a lot of responsibility and I … I admit it, I’ve made mistakes. How many mistakes did I make, Harmony? Let’s count them, shall we? There was Flaring, and Shakra, Ashione and Kallista, Luciana and Rosella and Rapture, and—”

“A lot of mistakes,” growled Harmony.

“But finally I came to my senses,” said Serpine, “and we found our way back to each other. Now Harmony is in charge of holding my coat.” He shrugged out of it and held it out.

Harmony’s lips tightened, but she took his coat and didn’t drop it as she walked away.

Valkyrie had had enough. “Why did you get me out of there? What do you want with me?”

Serpine motioned to a table, and they sat down. “That magic-sucking gun Mevolent used on your evil doppelgänger,” said Serpine. “He’s been working on it since the last time you were here. That’s what I want. You owe me that.”

Valkyrie frowned. “I don’t owe you anything.”

Serpine leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “I had the Sceptre in my grasp – my only means of defeating Mevolent and his psychotic, shadowy lapdog. But Darquesse took it back with her into your reality. So now you owe me one unstoppable weapon.”

“How am I meant to get it?”

“I have a plan.”

She shook her head. “I don’t have any magic any more.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I’m not going into details, but my magic was taken from me. It’s gone. I can’t help you.”

“Someone took your magic? With a weapon like Mevolent’s, or—?”

“No. It was something else.”

“That’s … awful,” Serpine said. “No wonder you were defending mortals. You are one. Oh, that must be soul-destroying. You poor, pathetic thing …”

“Whatever,” snapped Valkyrie. “So I can’t help you.”

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t need any magic. You just have to do what I say and try to be convincing.”

“Convincing as what?”

Serpine’s smile reappeared. “As Darquesse, of course.”

“What?”

“I want that gun. The only way Mevolent will bring it out in public is if Darquesse shows up again. From what I’ve heard, though, it looks like she’s run off back to your dimension with her tail between her legs. But has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like her?”

“How do you expect that to work?” asked Valkyrie. “He’ll know it’s me when he attacks and I die horribly and don’t get up again.”

Serpine shrugged. “We’ll just have to make sure you don’t die, then.”

“I’m very eager to hear how ‘we’ll’ manage that.”