"Actually," said Skulduggery, the first to speak up, "that solves several problems quite nicely. Never mind the public perception of angels. Right now, half of the sorcerers in the world are on the lookout for... I believe the phrase was 'divine figures in white' protecting us from some unknown threat." His skull tilted a fraction towards Gabe and Rafe, the meaning of which was lost even on Valkyrie. Probably some kind of amusement, though. Both the Archangels were about as far from divine white as it was possible to get. "To say nothing of the international Sanctuaries. And through no particular fault of our own, all eyes are turned towards Ireland. We do seem to be the place where things happen."
"They don't know how right they are," Erskine nodded.
"But they could. The angel statues. White statues of angels as the new defenders of the Irish Sanctuary? Thanks to these world-wide visions, no one would question it, and no one would be looking for real angels anymore. It's so neat, it works out better than the real thing. No offence."
Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at him. "You do realise anyone coming in for the first time is going to have no idea why statues of angels are watching their every move, right?"
"Your point being?"
"People are going to think you're arrogant beyond belief."
"That we're arrogant beyond belief. Like it or not, Valkyrie, you're in on their inception too."
"So we're just going to have statues of angels walking around the Sanctuary? Around Dublin?" Tanith asked. "Would they be able to talk? Because that might get a little... weird."
"It doesn't really matter, does it?" said Erskine. "Personally, I'm looking forward to having a team of Smitey McSmitertons being all smitey in our favour. Unless anyone has any objections, in which case you'd better have a better plan to go along with it."
Skulduggery didn't say anything. Neither did Valkyrie, and she was only half surprised not to hear anything from Tanith or Ghastly either. China, on the other hand, looked like she was about to say something, but thought better of it. Her face was impressively clear of any doubts she felt, but Valkyrie knew she was feeling them. China made it clear back in the church she didn't want anything to do with any of them anymore. Yet here she was, getting dragged back into issue after issue, barely putting up a fight. Now, she'd have to deal with hundreds of statues of the very thing she was trying to avoid. Of course she was feeling doubts.
The fact that she chose not to voice them spoke volumes more than her voice ever could.
Erskine nodded once, satisfied. "Excellent. Then the only question is what we call them. 'Cleavers' seems a bit undignified. I vote for Smitey McSmitertons, myself."
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"They don't know how right they are," Erskine nodded.
"But they could. The angel statues. White statues of angels as the new defenders of the Irish Sanctuary? Thanks to these world-wide visions, no one would question it, and no one would be looking for real angels anymore. It's so neat, it works out better than the real thing. No offence."
Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at him. "You do realise anyone coming in for the first time is going to have no idea why statues of angels are watching their every move, right?"
"Your point being?"
"People are going to think you're arrogant beyond belief."
"That we're arrogant beyond belief. Like it or not, Valkyrie, you're in on their inception too."
"So we're just going to have statues of angels walking around the Sanctuary? Around Dublin?" Tanith asked. "Would they be able to talk? Because that might get a little... weird."
"It doesn't really matter, does it?" said Erskine. "Personally, I'm looking forward to having a team of Smitey McSmitertons being all smitey in our favour. Unless anyone has any objections, in which case you'd better have a better plan to go along with it."
Skulduggery didn't say anything. Neither did Valkyrie, and she was only half surprised not to hear anything from Tanith or Ghastly either. China, on the other hand, looked like she was about to say something, but thought better of it. Her face was impressively clear of any doubts she felt, but Valkyrie knew she was feeling them. China made it clear back in the church she didn't want anything to do with any of them anymore. Yet here she was, getting dragged back into issue after issue, barely putting up a fight. Now, she'd have to deal with hundreds of statues of the very thing she was trying to avoid. Of course she was feeling doubts.
The fact that she chose not to voice them spoke volumes more than her voice ever could.
Erskine nodded once, satisfied. "Excellent. Then the only question is what we call them. 'Cleavers' seems a bit undignified. I vote for Smitey McSmitertons, myself."