Billy-Ray let out a long sigh of relief, mostly for show - although a piece of it was startlingly genuine. "Oh, well, if you're on the side of the angels, then I guess I must be safe." He tipped his cowboy hat to the stranger, then pushed it back with a satisfied smirk. No one could out-cowboy him. "Thanks for clearin' that up. Where'd you lose your hat, by the way? Could always do with a back-up."
"Where are you taking him?"
"D'you mind?" Billy-Ray snapped back at Pleasant. "I asked... him a question." This was said with a jab of the cowboy's thumb over at the barefoot man, who seemed entirely too grouchy for someone who walked around in cold weather wearing clothes like that. Or maybe because of that, actually. Guy had to be freezing his bits off. "Him whose name is what, by the way? Don't think I've ever seen you before."
~~
It wasn't an unfamiliar question. But it was the first time Father O'Reilly didn't have a ready answer.
Consequently, it was probably the first time he'd ever received the question from someone who really meant it. Not just because Solomon Wreath had done much more than simply sin in his extended lifetime, or was a lot more than simply misguided. Father O'Reilly had the distinct impression that if he answered 'yes,' Solomon would accept it without anger or disbelief. And in the grand scheme of things, why shouldn't he? As Solomon himself said, everything Necromancy stood for was opposite to everything Saint Gabriel represented.
But Solomon wasn't Necromancy. He wasn't an inherently evil force. He was a man who used the inherently evil force to achieve his own ends, like a tool. And now that his end goal had changed, why couldn't the tool? You couldn't hammer in a nail with the wrong end of the hammer.
The priest would have to pick his words carefully, though. The tiniest change in his tone could shut this conversation down, and that was the last Father O'Reilly wanted. "That depends, Solomon. Not on Necromancy - " he had to work strangely hard to make the word come out at all, let alone not sound choked or hesitant, " - but on you. And frankly, if you have to ask... if you're wondering at all, I believe you're already on the right path."
no subject
"Where are you taking him?"
"D'you mind?" Billy-Ray snapped back at Pleasant. "I asked... him a question." This was said with a jab of the cowboy's thumb over at the barefoot man, who seemed entirely too grouchy for someone who walked around in cold weather wearing clothes like that. Or maybe because of that, actually. Guy had to be freezing his bits off. "Him whose name is what, by the way? Don't think I've ever seen you before."
~~
It wasn't an unfamiliar question. But it was the first time Father O'Reilly didn't have a ready answer.
Consequently, it was probably the first time he'd ever received the question from someone who really meant it. Not just because Solomon Wreath had done much more than simply sin in his extended lifetime, or was a lot more than simply misguided. Father O'Reilly had the distinct impression that if he answered 'yes,' Solomon would accept it without anger or disbelief. And in the grand scheme of things, why shouldn't he? As Solomon himself said, everything Necromancy stood for was opposite to everything Saint Gabriel represented.
But Solomon wasn't Necromancy. He wasn't an inherently evil force. He was a man who used the inherently evil force to achieve his own ends, like a tool. And now that his end goal had changed, why couldn't the tool? You couldn't hammer in a nail with the wrong end of the hammer.
The priest would have to pick his words carefully, though. The tiniest change in his tone could shut this conversation down, and that was the last Father O'Reilly wanted. "That depends, Solomon. Not on Necromancy - " he had to work strangely hard to make the word come out at all, let alone not sound choked or hesitant, " - but on you. And frankly, if you have to ask... if you're wondering at all, I believe you're already on the right path."