That... was frankly terrifying. The way Solomon described it, it sounded like he could manipulate souls. Manipulate people. Like controlling someone's true name, changing the basics of what made them who they were. Ghastly rose slowly to his feet while he listened, even though a part of him had gone numb, and most of him was still tense.

Manipulating souls. Like Gabe. Like what Gabe had done to Skulduggery, in the church. It was all a little too confusing in the heat of the moment for Ghastly to realise what was going on, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense - Gabe intervened, touched Skulduggery's soul, and drove them both into the back of the church to jolt Skulduggery back to his senses. Would Solomon eventually be capable of that?

He couldn't imagine China was too happy with the prospect. But at the same time, Solomon hadn't meant any harm then, and he certainly didn't mean any now.

It wasn't quite enough to stop Ghastly from jerking away when he saw the light.

That jerk wasn't quite enough to stop... well, whatever it was that the light caused.

It felt like a rush of cool water. A liquid balm. As if the raw ache really was just a heated scar on the surface of Ghastly's soul, and while it had never healed - and probably never would - the pain of it was eased slightly, for a moment. Ghastly's breath caught in his throat, and he nearly sank right back down to the floor, but was stopped by a feeling. A feeling he... couldn't even remember the last time he experienced. Sometime before the war. A thorough, certain, and solid knowledge that everything was going to be alright - and more than that, that everything already was.

Ghastly's hands were practically gripping the wall behind him to keep him upright. He forced the caught lungful of air down his throat, closed his eyes, and breathed. Just breathed, until he had a handle on himself again.

"That," he managed, "is quite a trick."