Thus far, all of Skulduggery's hallucinations had at least acted like normal people. Valkyrie, when she first appeared, had walked around a large slab of rock to meet him. His wife, Ghastly, the Dead Men - all had been less frequent, but just as persistent, and so characteristic of their real life counterparts that Skulduggery could hold entire fascinating conversations with them.
This was the first time a hallucination formed out of nowhere and appeared right beside him. His skull whipped towards the image of Gabriel so sharply that it almost looked in danger of spinning off his spine.
He'd honestly been expecting Lord Vile. It would make more sense to pour on the guilt in this small window of time, not to remind him of their successful escape. Yes, he'd hallucinated Gabriel before, but there had always been a purpose, a way to cut him down farther than he'd been cut before. A Gabriel who stood aside, apathetic, while Skulduggery was ripped apart; a Gabriel bearing news of either a nonexistent God, or a God who had decided on this as just punishment. Gabriel now just didn't make any sense.
The Archangel's sense of urgency washed over and bypassed Skulduggery completely, totally disregarded. For a long few seconds, the detective didn't move. He might as well have been a normal skeleton lying against the wall, for all the difference it made.
"Alright," he finally said, turning his skull to look back out at the alleyway. "I give up. I have no idea what this is supposed to teach me."
Was false hope the goal? Because if there was one person in all the universes that Skulduggery could picture pulling this impossible rescue off, it was the Archangel he'd befriended while trapped at the Institute. But he'd long since accepted that if it was even a remote possibility, it would have happened by now.
"Taking on a new form," he added a moment later, "isn't going to make me any more likely to believe you. As long as you accept that, I don't mind talking. How long do you think I have?" He tilted his head up towards the sky. "Screech, or Batu?" As soon as the words left his jaw, Skulduggery was already shaking his head. "I'd go with screech, myself. Batu just can't move that fast, and see all the open sky?"
He grunted in sudden pain as his intended movement failed to take, thanks to the missing limb. "You can't tell, but I'm pointing up."
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This was the first time a hallucination formed out of nowhere and appeared right beside him. His skull whipped towards the image of Gabriel so sharply that it almost looked in danger of spinning off his spine.
He'd honestly been expecting Lord Vile. It would make more sense to pour on the guilt in this small window of time, not to remind him of their successful escape. Yes, he'd hallucinated Gabriel before, but there had always been a purpose, a way to cut him down farther than he'd been cut before. A Gabriel who stood aside, apathetic, while Skulduggery was ripped apart; a Gabriel bearing news of either a nonexistent God, or a God who had decided on this as just punishment. Gabriel now just didn't make any sense.
The Archangel's sense of urgency washed over and bypassed Skulduggery completely, totally disregarded. For a long few seconds, the detective didn't move. He might as well have been a normal skeleton lying against the wall, for all the difference it made.
"Alright," he finally said, turning his skull to look back out at the alleyway. "I give up. I have no idea what this is supposed to teach me."
Was false hope the goal? Because if there was one person in all the universes that Skulduggery could picture pulling this impossible rescue off, it was the Archangel he'd befriended while trapped at the Institute. But he'd long since accepted that if it was even a remote possibility, it would have happened by now.
"Taking on a new form," he added a moment later, "isn't going to make me any more likely to believe you. As long as you accept that, I don't mind talking. How long do you think I have?" He tilted his head up towards the sky. "Screech, or Batu?" As soon as the words left his jaw, Skulduggery was already shaking his head. "I'd go with screech, myself. Batu just can't move that fast, and see all the open sky?"
He grunted in sudden pain as his intended movement failed to take, thanks to the missing limb. "You can't tell, but I'm pointing up."