If Ghastly let himself think too hard about anything that was going on, he'd stop. Just... stop. Become less than useless. So he didn't, and he focused on the task at hand, and life became a little easier to handle. Frighteningly surreal and dreamlike, but easier to handle.
So Ghastly didn't bat an eyelid when the other three appeared in the middle of the circle the way they did. He watched, fascinated and curious in turn, but he wasn't planning on letting it strike him into frozen awe. It was because of that that Ghastly was able to answer Merlin's question so readily. Or about as readily as someone who barely knew what the answer was could, at any rate.
"Skulduggery won't leave," he agreed with a nod. "Certainly not because an Archangel tells him to. No one knows why he didn't die, least of all him. He was killed by a Necromancy technique, blocked from moving on, and tied back down to his body after they burned it. He isn't keeping himself alive, as far as we know."
At least, not with magic. But Ghastly realised with a jolt that Skulduggery was actually the cause of being reattached to his own skeleton. The detective had said as much, back during the talk with Corrival and then again later when the two of them were alone. He'd been forced to watch the war, he said, watch them losing until the anger and the frustration became too much and formed an anchor.
In a way, he was keeping himself alive. Ghastly was about to explain that, after a brief pause, when the others came back.
There were several things Ghastly noticed right away. The first, which struck him immediately, was the absence of love. China commanded it, always and without fail, and any good sorcerer braced themselves for it. That was what Ghastly had done. And nothing wormed its way past his defences.
He understood that. It took him a moment, but then he remembered China's foolishness before, and a part of Ghastly didn't see a problem with this new development. Nothing wrong with China having to rely on things other than inherent magic to get what she wanted.
The second thing he noticed, immediately afterwards, was Erskine. Erskine Ravel. Ghastly frowned, wondering what the fellow Dead Man was doing here, and not with Anton. "Erskine?"
Erskine jumped, looking from Merlin to Ghastly, back over at the two Archangels, and then back to Ghastly again. He tried to say something, failed completely, turned his full attention back on Merlin, and nodded firmly. "Erskine Ravel. Pleased to meet you."
Ghastly's heart went out to the man. This was a lot to take in all at once.
China, impossible to surprise or startle, barely even glanced at the circle. Instead, she smiled. "It's true, what they say about chivalry. You must be Merlin, then."
She did see God, Ghastly reminded himself. And he shivered slightly when he wondered at how that must have overwhelmed her so badly she didn't even blink at the sight of two fully revealed Archangels. Ghastly had been overwhelmed, and he'd really just met someone in a bar. Hadn't even known who they were until later.
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So Ghastly didn't bat an eyelid when the other three appeared in the middle of the circle the way they did. He watched, fascinated and curious in turn, but he wasn't planning on letting it strike him into frozen awe. It was because of that that Ghastly was able to answer Merlin's question so readily. Or about as readily as someone who barely knew what the answer was could, at any rate.
"Skulduggery won't leave," he agreed with a nod. "Certainly not because an Archangel tells him to. No one knows why he didn't die, least of all him. He was killed by a Necromancy technique, blocked from moving on, and tied back down to his body after they burned it. He isn't keeping himself alive, as far as we know."
At least, not with magic. But Ghastly realised with a jolt that Skulduggery was actually the cause of being reattached to his own skeleton. The detective had said as much, back during the talk with Corrival and then again later when the two of them were alone. He'd been forced to watch the war, he said, watch them losing until the anger and the frustration became too much and formed an anchor.
In a way, he was keeping himself alive. Ghastly was about to explain that, after a brief pause, when the others came back.
There were several things Ghastly noticed right away. The first, which struck him immediately, was the absence of love. China commanded it, always and without fail, and any good sorcerer braced themselves for it. That was what Ghastly had done. And nothing wormed its way past his defences.
He understood that. It took him a moment, but then he remembered China's foolishness before, and a part of Ghastly didn't see a problem with this new development. Nothing wrong with China having to rely on things other than inherent magic to get what she wanted.
The second thing he noticed, immediately afterwards, was Erskine. Erskine Ravel. Ghastly frowned, wondering what the fellow Dead Man was doing here, and not with Anton. "Erskine?"
Erskine jumped, looking from Merlin to Ghastly, back over at the two Archangels, and then back to Ghastly again. He tried to say something, failed completely, turned his full attention back on Merlin, and nodded firmly. "Erskine Ravel. Pleased to meet you."
Ghastly's heart went out to the man. This was a lot to take in all at once.
China, impossible to surprise or startle, barely even glanced at the circle. Instead, she smiled. "It's true, what they say about chivalry. You must be Merlin, then."
She did see God, Ghastly reminded himself. And he shivered slightly when he wondered at how that must have overwhelmed her so badly she didn't even blink at the sight of two fully revealed Archangels. Ghastly had been overwhelmed, and he'd really just met someone in a bar. Hadn't even known who they were until later.