Solomon frowned as he searched in his pocket for the handkerchief he knew Ghastly had tailored along with the suit. "That may be getting ahead of ourselves," he said, finding it and using it to clean himself up a bit. "We can't simply destroy the Cleavers without having a backup system in place, and that could take days to develop. If Bliss can wait a few days for me to prepare, he can wait a few days for the rest of us."
Strange, how the words simply came out. It was almost natural, just because it was something Solomon was used to doing. Of course, in the Temple's case Tenebrae's word was usually the be-all, end-all; Solomon could tell just from a morning's work with the man that Corrival wasn't like that. Either way, the words came out, Solomon involved himself in the discussion, and it didn't feel like too much of a burden.
The extra time would also give them time to come up with a plausible reason for destroying the Cleavers, though after a few moments' thought there was really no reason not to use the truth. "As for excuses, why do we have to come up with anything other than the truth?" He laughed suddenly, amused and ironic. "It's not often I say that, either, but why not? There aren't any angels involved. We just won't give details as to how I saw Bliss inside the Cleavers, and we've already got precedence as to a dead man returning to a semblance of life. People know it's possible."
"Then we're going to have Sanctuaries all over the world wanting our secret to immortality," Corrival said dryly. "Yippee. But he's right, Erskine. I'd rather we have a second force ready to be enacted before we actively destroy anything. Keep the Cleavers close and easily found, but don't herd them into camps just yet. First we need Sorrows and Grouse here to figure out what that second force might be. Renn, go ahead with Cain. Wreath, how do you feel?"
"On a surprisingly even keel." He managed to get to his feet without needing the help, but then stopped once he was up, head half-tilted in everyone's general direction. "Who's coming with me? Neither China or I have any magic to speak of."
"Take Low," Corrival ordered. "She's being very quiet back there, and this was her job back before Skulduggery swiped her for his little detective's unit. Tanith, we'll probably be needing you more in the near future, until we get our secondary system worked out."
Solomon had never really paid much attention to Tanith Low before. She didn't like him, but most people didn't. And now that he was blind, her soul was one of the most understated of the lot. It was easy to miss her in the shuffle, because she wasn't exactly a thing. She wasn't an animal, or a plant, and obviously not stone. She wasn't an element either, or a smell. She was more ... movement. A sensation of quiet presence. Not hope or comfort, or or even faith. She was just ... duty. Duty and assurance.
It was pleasant, so he curbed the urge to point out that the last time she had guarded someone it had been a Teleporter she'd utterly failed to save. "Very well. But I'm demanding the afternoon off, whatever happens."
"You won't have to demand, man," Rafe said with a wicked grin, waggling his fingers. "We've got plans for y'all this afternoon."
"That may just drive me to claim prior engagements."
Gabriel laughed. "The carnival's still on, and I promised Fletcher and Skul that we'd all go after Scarab was taken care of."
"The last time I went to a carnival was--" when Skulduggery dressed me in a fortune teller's smock and told me to go make a distraction, he'd meant to say, but before the detective's name came out it segued easily into Lord Vile's. Solomon felt a flash of that old overwhelming panic. "--a long time ago," he finished quietly, managing not to overtly turn from Skulduggery, and instead glanced at Fletcher Renn as the Teleporter reappeared. "Shall we go?"
no subject
Strange, how the words simply came out. It was almost natural, just because it was something Solomon was used to doing. Of course, in the Temple's case Tenebrae's word was usually the be-all, end-all; Solomon could tell just from a morning's work with the man that Corrival wasn't like that. Either way, the words came out, Solomon involved himself in the discussion, and it didn't feel like too much of a burden.
The extra time would also give them time to come up with a plausible reason for destroying the Cleavers, though after a few moments' thought there was really no reason not to use the truth. "As for excuses, why do we have to come up with anything other than the truth?" He laughed suddenly, amused and ironic. "It's not often I say that, either, but why not? There aren't any angels involved. We just won't give details as to how I saw Bliss inside the Cleavers, and we've already got precedence as to a dead man returning to a semblance of life. People know it's possible."
"Then we're going to have Sanctuaries all over the world wanting our secret to immortality," Corrival said dryly. "Yippee. But he's right, Erskine. I'd rather we have a second force ready to be enacted before we actively destroy anything. Keep the Cleavers close and easily found, but don't herd them into camps just yet. First we need Sorrows and Grouse here to figure out what that second force might be. Renn, go ahead with Cain. Wreath, how do you feel?"
"On a surprisingly even keel." He managed to get to his feet without needing the help, but then stopped once he was up, head half-tilted in everyone's general direction. "Who's coming with me? Neither China or I have any magic to speak of."
"Take Low," Corrival ordered. "She's being very quiet back there, and this was her job back before Skulduggery swiped her for his little detective's unit. Tanith, we'll probably be needing you more in the near future, until we get our secondary system worked out."
Solomon had never really paid much attention to Tanith Low before. She didn't like him, but most people didn't. And now that he was blind, her soul was one of the most understated of the lot. It was easy to miss her in the shuffle, because she wasn't exactly a thing. She wasn't an animal, or a plant, and obviously not stone. She wasn't an element either, or a smell. She was more ... movement. A sensation of quiet presence. Not hope or comfort, or or even faith. She was just ... duty. Duty and assurance.
It was pleasant, so he curbed the urge to point out that the last time she had guarded someone it had been a Teleporter she'd utterly failed to save. "Very well. But I'm demanding the afternoon off, whatever happens."
"You won't have to demand, man," Rafe said with a wicked grin, waggling his fingers. "We've got plans for y'all this afternoon."
"That may just drive me to claim prior engagements."
Gabriel laughed. "The carnival's still on, and I promised Fletcher and Skul that we'd all go after Scarab was taken care of."
"The last time I went to a carnival was--" when Skulduggery dressed me in a fortune teller's smock and told me to go make a distraction, he'd meant to say, but before the detective's name came out it segued easily into Lord Vile's. Solomon felt a flash of that old overwhelming panic. "--a long time ago," he finished quietly, managing not to overtly turn from Skulduggery, and instead glanced at Fletcher Renn as the Teleporter reappeared. "Shall we go?"