Ghastly shook his head sadly before getting out of the car. If he'd known his friends were so depraved and so bored recently, he might have made an effort to join up with them and steer them into less pathetic waters. On the other hand, he'd probably just end up spiking the biscuits for them, so... it was probably best this way.
Entering the church through the back had the added benefit of distracting Ghastly from what happened there earlier in the day. Entering from the back meant he could imagine he wasn't walking into the Church of the Faceless. Entering from the back meant he could believe that he'd had an unfortunate lapse in judgment and agreed to help Corrival and Erskine with another prank. It wasn't until he reached the end of the hall that Ghastly stopped, and all the pretense faded.
He could remember, in vivid clarity, exactly how he felt. Where he was standing. The pain in his fist after he'd cracked the bone of Skulduggery's jaw, pain which was still ebbing slowly away in his knuckle. He could remember which pew Skulduggery - no, Vile - threw him into, and he could remember numbly watching Gabe practically repel the shadows as he stepped forward and crashed them both into the altar.
The altar itself lay in a ruined heap on the floor at the front of the room. Someone, probably Prave, had tried to clean it up. Ghastly avoided looking at it. He avoided looking at the wall where the two different images of Skulduggery had risen, because he could also remember - all too well - feeling like he'd been slammed in the gut when he realised what they were, and what they meant.
The confirmation. That was the worst part.
Corrival turned away after only a few moments, but it took Ghastly a while to do the same. And disturbing as it was, he was actually happy for the body as a distraction, whether it was more evidence of the earlier crime or not.
"I don't know," he murmured, stepping over to see for himself. No wounds, no blood. Vile had been able to kill people - able to kill whole armies - seamlessly like this, just by standing near them, but that was Vile. That was Lord Vile at the height of his power. Skulduggery had been Skulduggery when Ghastly left; of that, he was sure. Besides which, Skulduggery didn't have the armour. He didn't have a way to channel all that Necromantic energy. Even a sharpened shadow would have left a wound.
"Crux was utterly broken," Ghastly reminded Corrival. "It's possible that he died of a heart attack, or something similar." He hesitated. "But that's a little too much of a - "
- Gabriel.
Was that considered a mercy killing, in an angel's eyes? Did Gabriel simply look at Crux, and cause Crux to collapse? He was an Archangel, and he could read souls. As an angel of the Lord, wasn't part of his duty to ferry souls? Ghastly didn't know much about this, admittedly, but somehow he didn't think releasing someone's soul from their body was too hard a task for someone like that.
All of which - even as he tried to fight it - heightened Ghastly's wariness of the Archangel.
He'd been wary before. He'd been flat-out terrified the first time Gabe so much as raised his voice. But this was the first time Ghastly had a concrete ability to be terrified of.
"Gabe was with them," he remarked, as evenly as he could. "Maybe Crux was too far gone for a binding promise."
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Entering the church through the back had the added benefit of distracting Ghastly from what happened there earlier in the day. Entering from the back meant he could imagine he wasn't walking into the Church of the Faceless. Entering from the back meant he could believe that he'd had an unfortunate lapse in judgment and agreed to help Corrival and Erskine with another prank. It wasn't until he reached the end of the hall that Ghastly stopped, and all the pretense faded.
He could remember, in vivid clarity, exactly how he felt. Where he was standing. The pain in his fist after he'd cracked the bone of Skulduggery's jaw, pain which was still ebbing slowly away in his knuckle. He could remember which pew Skulduggery - no, Vile - threw him into, and he could remember numbly watching Gabe practically repel the shadows as he stepped forward and crashed them both into the altar.
The altar itself lay in a ruined heap on the floor at the front of the room. Someone, probably Prave, had tried to clean it up. Ghastly avoided looking at it. He avoided looking at the wall where the two different images of Skulduggery had risen, because he could also remember - all too well - feeling like he'd been slammed in the gut when he realised what they were, and what they meant.
The confirmation. That was the worst part.
Corrival turned away after only a few moments, but it took Ghastly a while to do the same. And disturbing as it was, he was actually happy for the body as a distraction, whether it was more evidence of the earlier crime or not.
"I don't know," he murmured, stepping over to see for himself. No wounds, no blood. Vile had been able to kill people - able to kill whole armies - seamlessly like this, just by standing near them, but that was Vile. That was Lord Vile at the height of his power. Skulduggery had been Skulduggery when Ghastly left; of that, he was sure. Besides which, Skulduggery didn't have the armour. He didn't have a way to channel all that Necromantic energy. Even a sharpened shadow would have left a wound.
"Crux was utterly broken," Ghastly reminded Corrival. "It's possible that he died of a heart attack, or something similar." He hesitated. "But that's a little too much of a - "
- Gabriel.
Was that considered a mercy killing, in an angel's eyes? Did Gabriel simply look at Crux, and cause Crux to collapse? He was an Archangel, and he could read souls. As an angel of the Lord, wasn't part of his duty to ferry souls? Ghastly didn't know much about this, admittedly, but somehow he didn't think releasing someone's soul from their body was too hard a task for someone like that.
All of which - even as he tried to fight it - heightened Ghastly's wariness of the Archangel.
He'd been wary before. He'd been flat-out terrified the first time Gabe so much as raised his voice. But this was the first time Ghastly had a concrete ability to be terrified of.
"Gabe was with them," he remarked, as evenly as he could. "Maybe Crux was too far gone for a binding promise."