simulsimul | another thing; w/ fafnirs and skeletonenigma; cw for suicide talk

[Skulduggery nods, but doesn't take a seat himself.] You should have seen him when he first saw an angel ornament. I thought he was having a stroke.

[Valkyrie laughs.] What, you don't like being exonerated?

If I found myself on a planet where skeletons were used as decorations for a global holiday, I doubt I'd be much happier.

But skeletons are already used as decorations for --

No they're not. [Ahem.] Ghastly, leaving aside how the mortal world at large would react, can you imagine the fights that would break out between Sanctuaries? Ireland's already on shaky ground with everything that's happened recently. The last thing Corrival needs to deal with is explaining the existence of angels.

[Ghastly puts the kettle on. The kettle is easy. He knows what to do with tea. Tea is not angels.]

[He shakes his head at Skulduggery.]

I'm not convinced I'm on solid ground. You're right. No public angels.

[This with a helplessly stern look at Kratos.]

You've already solved the language issue. What... else brings you here?

[Angel. In his house.]

Not particularly, no.

[This is grave and in answer to Valkyrie. Being worshipped is -- well. It's happened. He hadn't liked the idea beforehand and he still doesn't like it after the fact.]

I'm not sure about Skulduggery, but for me -- I command a ...

[Car planet makes his mouth pull up in amusement, but he opts not to use the phrase in light of Mr Bespoke's daze.]

... ship of explorers. This is the first planet where we've found life-forms able to communicate with us, let alone ones that are human, so I came down to investigate. It would be a pity to have to leave before we discover answers, but if our presence is truly so much of a danger, then we can.

[It's not something Skulduggery had brought up, yet, beyond 'chaos and cataclysm'. Perhaps they could use the help. Perhaps the angels would be more harm than not. It's difficult to tell, without Kratos meeting a few more people. ... How odd, though, that a detective and his brother-not-brother should be the people who decide such a thing.

[No less odd than an exiled knight, a half-elven commander and two half-elves from Heimdall being the saviours of Aselia.]

Skulduggery insisted we come to you first and foremost.

[Skulduggery gestures at Kratos, in a listen-to-him-he's-got-this sort of way, and then adds:] They're a danger, but they could also help us. We haven't figured out what to do about Darquesse when she arrives. It might help to have some angels on our side.

[It takes everything Valkyrie has not to flinch.] Sure. Neat and tidy solutions have never blown up in our faces before.

[A deep, slightly pained breath.]

Exactly how many angels are currently in orbit around Earth?

[Ghastly hates that this is a real question that he's having to ask.]

I'm sure it could help. We're just going to have to be very careful about it. Most sorcerers probably won't care as much, but when it comes to everyone else...

[He'd pay actual money to avoid being the one breaking the news. He pours hot water into a teapot and sighs again.]

[Ah, yes. Darquesse. Skulduggery had asked about her, back when Kratos hadn't been able to ask questions in return, but Kratos does recall his tone. These words compound the idea that she's a threat. And then there's his student, the girl with the very large mana, like Mithos ...

[Kratos's thoughtful gaze lingers, for just a moment, on Valkyrie before returning to Ghastly.]

A few hundred thousand, perhaps. I would prefer if they weren't obliged to fight. It would set them back. But if we must, then we can, particularly if it involves those ... evil gods Skulduggery mentioned. Is Darquesse one of them? I wasn't able to ask, before.

[There's a peculiar resonance in the way he says the name, unintentionally there; like he's slower in shaping the sounds than he is with the rest of his words, because these sounds have power, and when he says the word the power becomes audible. Like it did when he spoke Origin's name, for the oath. Like Mithos, like Sheena, when they spoke the names of the spirits in pact or summoning, and a corresponding pulse of mana in response.

[Kratos's brow crinkles, and this time he does not look toward Valkyrie.]

[Valkyrie squints at Kratos. Is it just her imagination, or is his gaze lingering on her a little longer than the others?

Skulduggery notices it too, and says nothing.] They're not all like Kratos. [This, he feels, is important to note for Ghastly. Less important to note is how they all look much more like angels.] There's only one other I've met, and that was on a phone call.

[Valkyrie snaps to attention. It's a movement that's impossible to miss, even when one isn't an observant skeleton. She takes a breath, shudders, and rubs her arms, like she's just a little cold and that's all.]

...No, [says Skulduggery,] Darquesse isn't one of them. Darquesse is someone many of our Sensitives have seen destroying the world sometime in the future. Valkyrie, would you like a coat?

Hm? No. I'm fine.

[There's something about the way Kratos says Darquesse that just unnerves Ghastly.]

[He resists the urge to shudder and stares at the teapot instead. Steep faster. Steep faster.]

The Faceless Ones aren't a... current problem.

[But they have been, and Ghastly is not enough of an optimist to think that's not going to come up again somehow.]

For now. I just want to know what the risks are. I-- assume we're not going to have a few hundred thousand angels descend at once.

[A half-turn, to Skulduggery.]

Not all like Kratos?

Most angels are -- lifeless beings. They had the capacity for emotional reasoning taken from them. That's why we're out here; I'm trying to prompt them into reclaiming their --

[He considers, searching for the right word in this new language. It's not that he doesn't have options. It's that there are, like the radio transmissions, so many.]

Their hearts, I suppose, through the glory of discovery. But even the ones who have begun to do so wouldn't reveal themselves without orders. The one Skulduggery met was my brother, back on Aselia.

[Skulduggery adds to Kratos's answer.] There are two of them back at my house, guarding a teleportation pad. That's all. We won't need to worry about a few hundred thousand angels descending at once. As for other risks, we can't be the only ones who've noticed something is strange. If Kratos's descent didn't raise an alarm anywhere, there are always strong Sensitives having prophetic dreams they choose not to ignore.

[Valkyrie seems to shift out of a trance.] -- wait, did you say a teleportation pad?

And as Kratos's descent was powerful enough to crack the street, I think we can assume someone somewhere noticed it.

Reclaiming their hearts through the glory of discovery. That's... no small order.

[If Ghastly even understands what that means. He's going to focus on this instead of the teleportation pad. Teleporters: not new. Just assume it's a small, flattened teleporter.]

[Sure. That's great.]

--If someone else has noticed in any detail, you'd think we'd have heard yelling about it by now. Loudly. At a distance. Blaming you.

No. It isn't.

[Kratos says it simply, as if it's only to be expected that he, an angel, should be taking on something that isn't a small order.]

It took me most of the night to get to my ship and back. A teleportation pad simplifies egress.

[Someone else's night has been very long. Someone else's night involved being woken and receiving reports from various people, including a couple of Sensitives and Finbar Wrong, who rambled for about ten minutes on pretty sparkly wings that Corrival thought belonged to some kind of exotic magical butterfly, or faery, until the word 'angel' was mentioned.

[Which is why Skulduggery's phone rings. Angrily. Persistently. So does Ghastly's. Both ring at once. Corrival has two hands and ten fingers, after all.

[Kratos pauses. Is there a kind of magic here which can manipulate spacetime too? That seemed ... coincidental.]

Where is your ship? If it's in orbit, wouldn't someone have spotted it?

[Valkyrie, who hasn't seen Kratos's wings, doesn't yet understand how fast he can traverse distance. Skulduggery's about to answer her when his phone rings. Seconds later, so does Ghastly's.]

That's odd. Why is he calling you? Did you become one of the Elders when I wasn't looking? [Skulduggery takes his phone out as he says this, and his next words are for Corrival, who he knows is the caller without needing the caller ID.] Hello, Grand Mage. What have you heard?

How do you know who's calling me? It might be someone else entirely. Someone who doesn't assume I'll be party to whatever this is shaping up to be.

[Probably not a disaster. Yet.]

[Ghastly looks at his phone, and tries not to sigh about Skulduggery being right. ...Well, Skulduggery's answered it, and they're in the same place, and this isn't at all Ghastly's fault...]

[He doesn't answer the phone.]

So how's the glory of discovery... going?

I've heard a Finbar Wrong soliloquy about an angel's beautiful butterfly wings, and something about a massive discharge of magic over Dublin with an accompanying cracked road. What the bloody hell do you know, Pleasant?

[As always, Corrival starts out strong.]

It's hidden behind the moon.

[Kratos smiles slightly at the tentative question, not at all giving off the air as if he's eavesdropping in on that phone conversation -- even though he absolutely is.]

Not badly. Some have already recovered their hearts. Others are on their way. Some still need a little help, but I'm confident.

[More confident than he had been, now that some have recovered.]

You have a beautiful solar system.

[Skulduggery curses. He's still not sure that meeting Finbar Wrong can ever be counted as a good thing -- powerful Sensitive or not, he's a scatterbrained man with his head in the clouds who wouldn't remember a favour asked of him if his life depended on it -- and right now, Finbar's well-intentioned report to the figures of authority whom he previously mistrusted is only going to cause them more trouble.

Skulduggery lifts a finger at Kratos.] Don't learn that. Forget I ever said it. [Then, to Corrival:] Nearly everything. No one's in any danger, don't worry. Has any other Sanctuary asked you about it yet?

[Behind the moon. This sure is one of the weirdest conversations Valkyrie's ever had. In reply to Kratos's last comment, she laughs.] Thanks! We condensed it ourselves.

[Quietly enough that it hopefully won't be picked up by Corrival:]

Don't teach the angel to swear.

[Come on now, Skulduggery.]

... I'm... glad you like our solar system. It's the only one we've got.

Not many solar systems maintain a balance of so many planets.

[Without a flicker in expression, Kratos files that word away for future examination. Unfortunately for both Ghastly and Skulduggery, something is said loud enough to at least catch Ghastly's voice.]

Not yet. Ghastly's with you? That had damn well better be why he didn't pick up. Who's he talking to?

[He may not have been able to hear the words, but Valkyrie Cain and Ghastly hadn't been talking to each other, that's for sure. ... Oh, hell. There's really only one person it could be.]

Skulduggery Pleasant, do you have the angel with you right now?!

Yes, Ghastly's with me. I imagine he didn't pick up because he was too impressed with my astute prediction of you having called both of us at the same time.

[The next question gives him a little pause. If no other country's contacted them yet, that's a good step in the right direction. Still, Skulduggery feels about as comfortable talking about sensitive things over a phone line as he did back when phones were first invented.]

Angel? I don't know what you're talking about. I can, however, come brief you in person about the incident of the cracked street if you'd like.

[Damn. Found out.]

Yes, that's why I didn't pick up.

[Not, you know, shoving all possibility of responsibility off on Kratos.]

How many planets do most solar systems have? Have you seen many?

You have a goddamn angel with you right now.

[This is said very flatly, if intensely on the emphasis, and coupled with that undercurrent of resignation which says Corrival's already made a choice which annoys him.]

I'm coming over there.

[Kratos is still pretending not to eavesdrop.]

Yes, a few hundred. Most solar systems don't have more than three or four -- though there are some with more.

[There's a short pause.]

Corrival, you're the Grand Mage. People pay attention to where you go. I'll come to Roarhaven and brief you in person about the cracked street incident. If you don't believe me, I can put Ghastly on and you can order him to make sure I do that.

[Valkyrie's still staring at Kratos.] Do you fly there, or do you have a spaceship?

[Ghastly, too, is pretending he can't hear anything from Corrival. Maybe it will work. Maybe he can just ignore the phone if Skulduggery tries to hand it to him.]

[He hopes.]

So when you say we have a nice solar system, it really means something, is what I'm understanding here.

Give me to Ghastly.

[No such luck, Bespoke. Your eminent Grand Mage wants to talk to you.]

I have a car-planet, yes.

[Very deadpan, and Kratos nods toward Ghastly.]

Not all solar systems have such a broad range of planets in one area -- or so many.

Of course.

[Skulduggery holds the phone out to Ghastly. He does this fully aware that Ghastly didn't answer the phone because he doesn't want to be involved, that he's perfectly happy not to accept any responsibility whatsoever, and that the last thing he expected when he woke up that morning was to be speaking to the Grand Mage in an official capacity about angels. But no one can avoid that now, and there's an apologetic tilt to Skulduggery's skull as he holds the phone out. It's at least partly his fault, after all.]

You have a -- a what? A car-planet? [Valkyrie looks torn between disbelief and laughter.] Seriously? Like, with an engine and everything?

another thing; w/ fafnirs and skeletonenigma; cw for suicide talk

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