"I think it's a fitting title," Skulduggery agreed with a nod. "A little pretentious. Easily challenged, maybe. But very fitting. The other Sanctuaries don't have a hope of taking you seriously anymore."
"You mean they ever did?" An easy smile had fallen back into place on Erskine's lips. "We've been doing something wrong, then. Wreath, were you the one who told Lynott about that title?"
"Can we focus, please?" Ghastly almost snapped, drawing Skulduggery's eyeless gaze to him. Something in the tailor was stretched near to a breaking point. Skulduggery was at first surprised by the tone, but he couldn't discount that Ghastly had been through a lot, too. Only natural for his own patience to be wearing thin. "Rescuing Bliss wouldn't bring him back, would it? We either sit back and do nothing, and let our consciences rot, or destroy all the Cleavers for no reason discernible to the rest of the Sanctuary?"
"Gabe said there might be another way," Tanith pointed out. "He said we don't have to destroy all the Cleavers."
He did. Right before Merlin had whisked him away. Skulduggery thought about that, and about what Raphael had said even before that. Something about the reflections being stretched too thin for Bliss's soul to be able to inhabit one. Implying that if they were all combined into just the one reflection, he could. It wouldn't be life, and it wouldn't be a real body. But it would be Bliss's soul, able to interact with the world at large. A lot like Skulduggery's current situation, in a way.
The realisation brought with it an inordinate amount of shock.
Too much shock. It didn't make sense. Nothing overwhelming, or even very noticeable. Skulduggery wouldn't have noticed it at all, in fact, if he weren't being so very careful with his own feelings at the moment - and if he wasn't fairly sure the shock didn't originate from him.
It wasn't really shock, either. Bewilderment? Something close to it? A flash of indignation ran through it all, and that, Skulduggery knew for a fact wasn't his. It burned away the shock, or whatever that shock actually was, and left absolutely nothing in its wake. As if Skulduggery had just imagined the oddity. As if he wasn't being very careful with his own feelings at the moment.
Skulduggery tried to ignore the thread of unease it caused. "Bliss might be able to inhabit one," he told Tanith, "if they weren't all stretched so thin. Creating multiple reflections is the sort of magic that even with creative ingenuity requires the utmost precision. China was most likely the one to engineer that. And even if she wasn't, she'd be the one most likely to be able to undo it now."
Valkyrie shook her head. "China isn't going to help. We had to practically drag her to help with Gabe at the safehouse the other day. Why couldn't Merlin or one of the others do it?"
"Because," Skulduggery started to answer, pausing only for the amount of time it took to realise he didn't know, and yet he did, because a part of him knew with sinking certainty what the earlier shock was, and it wasn't too difficult to put two and two together. "Because they're not going to help, either."
They all stared at him, with varying levels of shock on their own faces. Again, Skulduggery couldn't blame them. But it made sense. Skulduggery himself had argued, towards the beginning, that Gabe shouldn't have to interfere the whole time; that they were perfectly capable of fixing their own mistakes. And now that it seemed more and more likely Gabe wouldn't be going home anytime soon, Skulduggery had been debating when and where to draw the line. Now, it didn't look like he'd have to. A part of him was glad for that. Another part of him, very much like the people still staring at him, was filled with bewildered disbelief.
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"You mean they ever did?" An easy smile had fallen back into place on Erskine's lips. "We've been doing something wrong, then. Wreath, were you the one who told Lynott about that title?"
"Can we focus, please?" Ghastly almost snapped, drawing Skulduggery's eyeless gaze to him. Something in the tailor was stretched near to a breaking point. Skulduggery was at first surprised by the tone, but he couldn't discount that Ghastly had been through a lot, too. Only natural for his own patience to be wearing thin. "Rescuing Bliss wouldn't bring him back, would it? We either sit back and do nothing, and let our consciences rot, or destroy all the Cleavers for no reason discernible to the rest of the Sanctuary?"
"Gabe said there might be another way," Tanith pointed out. "He said we don't have to destroy all the Cleavers."
He did. Right before Merlin had whisked him away. Skulduggery thought about that, and about what Raphael had said even before that. Something about the reflections being stretched too thin for Bliss's soul to be able to inhabit one. Implying that if they were all combined into just the one reflection, he could. It wouldn't be life, and it wouldn't be a real body. But it would be Bliss's soul, able to interact with the world at large. A lot like Skulduggery's current situation, in a way.
The realisation brought with it an inordinate amount of shock.
Too much shock. It didn't make sense. Nothing overwhelming, or even very noticeable. Skulduggery wouldn't have noticed it at all, in fact, if he weren't being so very careful with his own feelings at the moment - and if he wasn't fairly sure the shock didn't originate from him.
It wasn't really shock, either. Bewilderment? Something close to it? A flash of indignation ran through it all, and that, Skulduggery knew for a fact wasn't his. It burned away the shock, or whatever that shock actually was, and left absolutely nothing in its wake. As if Skulduggery had just imagined the oddity. As if he wasn't being very careful with his own feelings at the moment.
Skulduggery tried to ignore the thread of unease it caused. "Bliss might be able to inhabit one," he told Tanith, "if they weren't all stretched so thin. Creating multiple reflections is the sort of magic that even with creative ingenuity requires the utmost precision. China was most likely the one to engineer that. And even if she wasn't, she'd be the one most likely to be able to undo it now."
Valkyrie shook her head. "China isn't going to help. We had to practically drag her to help with Gabe at the safehouse the other day. Why couldn't Merlin or one of the others do it?"
"Because," Skulduggery started to answer, pausing only for the amount of time it took to realise he didn't know, and yet he did, because a part of him knew with sinking certainty what the earlier shock was, and it wasn't too difficult to put two and two together. "Because they're not going to help, either."
They all stared at him, with varying levels of shock on their own faces. Again, Skulduggery couldn't blame them. But it made sense. Skulduggery himself had argued, towards the beginning, that Gabe shouldn't have to interfere the whole time; that they were perfectly capable of fixing their own mistakes. And now that it seemed more and more likely Gabe wouldn't be going home anytime soon, Skulduggery had been debating when and where to draw the line. Now, it didn't look like he'd have to. A part of him was glad for that. Another part of him, very much like the people still staring at him, was filled with bewildered disbelief.