The angels were all singing out of tune...(rp for castingout)

[hiscatalyst]

She vaguely remembers what it was like to be burned alive. She remembers the events before with much more clarity: the shock of the moment, when Bradly had entered her apartment, the pain of the invisible knife slicing wide across her stomach, the feel of the slick slide of blood down her skin before she had to comprehend the fact she was pinned by

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[castingout]

The great libraries of Heaven were a figment of imagination, an idea given form in some long forgotten memory. They were real, of course, and filled to bursting with ancient knowledge of not only Heaven but Earth and the prison that became Hell after the Morningstar was cast down, but they were not places such as any human would immediately recognize.

Books of various shapes, sizes, and textures lined insubstantial shelves, some, by far, oversize and would surely have toppled from their place if they had held any weight as mortals thought they should. There were volumes of every known scripture kept in aumbries with gilded doors and silvered locks. The Prophets, as the tomes penned by mortal hands and transcribed by angelic ones, were kept in large receptacles with ornate fastenings and protections only those with authorization were allowed to breech. Castiel was one such with permission.

He sat - and how human, mortal, a concept since angels were far above such things, but they weren't so far removed from their cousins - at an alter affixed in the corner of one of the libraries, pouring over an ancient text written by a Brother that had long since passed. Strategies for battle played havoc and bloody across the page, descriptions of evils Heaven had fought against in wars before Castiel was newly made. He read them in an effort to better his own knowledge in hopes of improving himself for use by his garrison. It was his skills with a blade and spear that was needed more as the Hordes rose ever steadily, but he knew that pouring over engagements past would give them, his garrison, an edge they would need in battles to come.

It was between one Epic and another that he heard the soft, lyrical tone stretch across his senses, drawing him away from the battles and back to the present. If he had but eyes they would be blinking owlishly in the twilight that his spot had fallen in as time, as it were in Heaven, passed. Castiel shook himself and turned away from his research to look upon who had called him, knowing at once the familiarity of another angel and the prescience of one that was very much not like him - the Brother was an Angel but not as he was. This creature was one of the Cherubim made soldier to bolster the ranks in fights to come.

"Iessiel."

[hiscatalyst]

She moved forward slowly, fingers drawing absent lines along the spines of books and tombs, feeling the low hum of knowledge and power beneath their leather and paper and wood coverings, each with a different pulse of feeling, each with its own secrets to impart upon the seekers that came here. To her, it felt like a refuge, even though all of this was new - it--it seemed to spark something in her, a sense of homecoming.

Her eyes moved, instead, to the fellow angel that had called out her name, recognizing instantly the bright shine of his grace, the steady pulse of the power of it, and it warmed her, knowing that this was the one they'd sent her too, young though he was. He was at least many centuries older than her, this newest angel, and she had no doubt he'd be able to help her learn.

"Michael sent me to you," She offered when she was close enough, able to see those bright blue eyes, almost able to bask in the warmth and comfort of his grace, "he said he would have warned you about me,"

[castingout]

"He has made me aware of his expectations of me in regards to you, yes. I am to help integrate you into your new role," He answered plainly. Micheal had not spoken directly to him but his message had reached Castiel all the same. He was to take and impart knowledge, to train, Iessiel as he himself had been taken in and taught by Annel.

[hiscatalyst]

Iessiel nodded at that, ducking her head slightly. He obviously was the more experienced of the two of them, the one with the knowledge of what they were to do in the world and further their role in the hierarchy of heaven. She was to be trained by him in the sword, in the strategies of heaven's battles, in the order of the garrison, so that she would be effective in the battle when it happened. She was to be Castiel's shadow until he deemed her ready for her rightful place in their garrison.

"And know that I am thankful for your time, Brother,"

[castingout]

"It is by His will that I am to share what I know and it is by my duty," He stated. "Praise our Father, mind thy teacher, and never forget what you are. These are the things you must keep within you at all times."

Castiel knew that he would not have much time with Iessiel before he would take her to the battlefield. The hordes of demonic forces would not slack in their self-imposed task of taking down as many of Heaven's forces as they could nor would they merely be content with keeping the battle from the mortal realm. He needed to be back there, helping his garrison, but this task had been appointed to him by Michael and he would raise to the task. Castiel was both humbled and grateful to be given this honor.

"Come," He motioned towards the archway towards the back of the library. "You must first learn of what is expected of you now, Iessiel, and what you are now to become for Heaven." He spoke of becoming a warrior, another soldier to wage war against the Hordes. Iessiel would not know more than was necessary to wield a blade and strike true, but her Grace would sing of Heaven's glory and bolster her Brothers in battle.

[hiscatalyst]

If she had been herself, as she was before, when she was human, she might have been fighting back an affectionate laugh at the seriousness in his tone, the overplaced formality in his words. It was obvious that Castiel was an angel who took his job seriously, who believed whole heartedly in the Heavens and the Father to which they both belonged.

As it was, Jessica was no more, and Iessiel had no frame of reference for anyone speaking differently. Her encounters so far had consisted of solely Michael and Uriel, who both spoke only in commands and admonitions. "I'll remember," She assured, wanting rather badly to please her new teacher, to prove herself in this new place. She felt impossibly young next to him, impossibly clumsy, but she knew she would learn, hoped she would please him, and hoped that she would be a benefit to her siblings in the battle to come. The battle was important to her - that much she could understand, because the need for it sang under her skin like some version of a siren's song, driving her forward, pressing her into action.

She followed Castiel willingly toward the archway, matching his steps (if they were steps, a human might call them as such) with her own.