Many discussions and revelations.
"Ok...we have about an hour and a half to sort ourselves out and talk before we're to meet with Lynne." Karen said, glancing from Jason to Raphael as the former came back to the room, "That is if we are all going to meet with her."
Jason answered. "I am not sure that Raphael should in his/her present condition. We probably have sufficient Essence between us to at least partially heal both Raphael and Selindeal. But it would probably be best to have at least some if we go to meet our mysterious celestial friend."
Speaking directly toward Raphael, Jason continued "Raphael, do you think you would be better healing yourself if we gave you the Essence to do it, or would one of us be better doing it? Also, what would you suggest about healing Selindeal? Regardless of what path we choose, I think we would get the best results from preparing the song for as long as possible."
Karen said, "I think perhaps the first thing we should worry about is healing. Both Melanie and I have the capacity to try and heal, or perhaps we can simply lend you the strength, Raphael, for you to do the healing? I know Melanie feels your pain - that's partially how we managed to find you, or at least how we knew to look. Also the pain in the mind of Selindeal is all too obvious to all of us..."
Raphael nodded quietly. Without further comment, She/He leant back and opened His/Her mouth, wetting perfect lips with blood tinged tongue. It began low, as a rumbling base, at the edges of hearing, even for those who listened to the sounds of Symphony all their lives. Then it built, carefully, gently, in a welling crescendo of perfect sound, cleansing and purifying all the pain and suffering in the area around. Raphael gently gathered essence from all about into the Song, leaving behind the smallest of amounts, but enough for now. There was no pause for breath, as each in turn joined in to the sound, adding their experience and power, mingling the tones and phases into a miniature replica of one tiny perfect refrain reechoing through time ever since the concept of pain and healing came into creation.
It was some moments after the Song had ended when each opened their eyes and looked about themselves. Not much has changed... save Raphael and Selindeal. In the room, upon the table before them, rested a crystal orb of light, and coiled within, a resting Serpent of Light and Vision, six wings folded and six eyes closed. Selindeal's Heart had survived whatever trauma it suffered, and now, healed, manifested openly before those that cured it. Selindeal itself rested within the sphere, without vessel, was unable to corporeally become present, without essence, unable to summon celestial form.
Raphael bleeds no more. Once more perfect of form, He/She remained where She/He sat. Yet the eyes remained closed, and each person was aware that the energy or power was not sufficient to cure the Ill Fate that Raphael had absorbed from the young painter - to - be.
Never the less, Raphael smiled. "One step is done. At dawn I may try again. I accept my blindness. It is fitting, till we disclose a course of action that shall open all our eyes as to what has transpired."
Karen regathered herself first., and gently directed the conversation back to the facts at hand. "As for what we know about the Silence and the disruptions to the symphony, well most of it comes simply from things Melanie have been able to work out ourselves. At the moment it happened I blanked out. I felt the Symphony pause, a long moment of silence. I was stunned, but when I gathered myself together again I realized that all essence of creation was gone from me, and that..." She pauses, holding her hand to her breast and glancing at Melanie "my heart was beating within this vessel."
Karen took a deep breath. "It seems however that the reaction was different for those with a lesser attunement to the Symphony. Melanie felt like everything had changed, felt the essence of creation draining away from her, heard the symphony change slightly in key. She also felt physically weak and noticed the lights dim." Karen smiles reassuringly at the silent Melanie before continuing.
"This dimming of lights was apparently a true power fluctuation. We investigated this a little, however it was apparently covered up by some celestial force. When Melanie initially spoke with the people at the local station, they were concerned about it, and calling back along their chain of command, but when she called for an update, the guy on the other end acted like she had never called him in the first place. When we went out and visited the station I felt evidence that the engineer had been tampered with in some way, and also that there had been a specific disturbance in the Symphony at the power station. Unfortunately I couldn't pinpoint the causes of either."
Karen looked decidedly disturbed as she mentioned, "I suspect that the effects of the Silence on the Archangels is even more profound than it's effects on angels, however I�ve not had any opportunity to follow my hunch on that."
Karen shook herself a little, looking from person to person in the room and then getting on with the story: "After that I also attempted to find other celestials to try and figure out more of what was going on. Of those I knew I have only managed to speak with Shebbath, who is a Kyriotate of Laurence. She was the one who asked me to look in upon Nathaniel. Apparently he has not been heard from in some time...at least since the silence. Apparently Laurence�s people, or some of them at least, are meeting in Paris to discuss the silence." her voice gains a note of impatience "I expect we shall discover the results of that meeting as soon as one of them figures out what a phone is."
She added "I have also left messages with two others I know in California, although I don't expect them to be checking in on their mailing systems terribly soon."
Again Karen paused, frowning as her mind turns towards her conclusions "One thing is certain... the bands of demons are running rife. We have seen this wherever we have been. Something I�m not sure of, but am beginning to gather some evidence of is a connection between something I was working on for Jean at the time of the Silence, Pastor Nathaniel and one or more entities from the Shedim band of demons.�
She then paused, waiting for the comments of others before continuing.
Jason interrupted, "Perhaps this would be an opportune time to tell you what happened at the church." Jason takes a deep breath, seeming to involuntarily shy away from an unpleasant memory. "I went to talk to Karlial, as I mentioned, then went to see Hablashim, an Elohim of Marc. He was apparently called off to Paris last night as well. I saw imminent, celestially caused death in his secretary. I then went to see Nathaniel at his church. I found a pair of young boys desecrating the church. I tried to scare them off, and managed to get one to flee, but the other was Azazel a Shedim...a word bound Shedim. He was the Angel of Inspiration before the fall, serving Eli. Now he is the Demon of Despair. Hopefully you will not be too astonished to find out that he was a much better fighter on this plane than am I. And with my heart in my vessel I was more than a little worried about getting off-ed here when I didn't even have enough Essence to ascend. So I barricaded myself in a room while I tried to get some information from him. Apparently he was here for Nathaniel. He was to bring Nat back to his master."
Jason sighed, "Unfortunately I was not aware of all of this, and in the room I found some bottles of alcohol and some First Aid materials. I fashioned some molotov cocktails and when Azazel broke through the door I threw the fire-bombs and set the barricade and Azazel's vessel ablaze." Jason's voice began to crack and he begins to shake with a mass of emotion. It is awhile before he controls himself enough to continue.
"Unfortunately, he was a Shedim, a servant of Kronos. It was the Destiny of Josh, the vessel, to be a great painter, and I gather his Fate to have his eyes burned out in a church that he had just defiled." Jason is again having a great deal of trouble controlling the quavering of his voice, but he continued.
Jason: "Azazel left Josh's vessel, leaving me, in his words, the choice to 'heal or hurt'. There was nothing to put out the fire, so I pulled Josh from the blaze and beat the fire off him with some curtains. Then I pulled him from the room and did what I could to heal him. Both using normal methods, and then using the one Essence I had to Sing a Song of Healing. It quite possibly saved his life, but was not powerful enough to save his eyes. If you are interested in how damaged they were, look at Raphael. It was at this time that Raphael came and took the wounds upon her/himself."
Jason walked over to Raphael and put a hand upon his/her shoulder. Raphael smiled gently in the direction of Jason. "I called an ambulance and the Fire Department. But obviously not in time to save the church. I have tried in vain to get in touch with Nathaniel. So we came back here where Raphael would be able to recuperate." Jason bowed his head, there were tears streaming down his cheeks and his shoulders were shaking slightly.
"Peace, brother. Hear your own words. We each do as we are able. That is all we can do." Raphael's voice was soft, gentle, as blind eyes blinked into nothingness.
Karen watched, silent, tears in her eyes.
Jason gave Raphael a hug, saying "I hear them, and I understand. But when I close my eyes all I see is Josh burning on my bonfire. But that is OK too. It is not a lesson I will quickly forget, and not a mistake I will repeat." He took a deep breath and looked back at Karen.
Karen nodded and smiled - an attempt at reassurance towards Jason.
Jason spoke, quietly moving the topic. "It is nearing 9:30, should just the two of us go, or Melanie as well? I would still be cautious about bringing Raphael until the morning. I want to be back by mid-night if possible so I can spend the night studying."
Karen looks carefully at Melanie, trying to determine how well she was dealing with this. Since Raphael's healing she seemed to have gathered herself together. Karen smiled, and on Melanie's nod she said to Jason "I think Melanie should come with us. She tends to have a different perspective to what she sees, and I value her opinion greatly.�
She then looked over to Selindeal, resting in it's heart. She asked Raphael "Will you and Selindeal be all right now? There is still the chance for more healing if it is needed."
Karen finally nodded to Jason "We should be heading off soon, but perhaps before we do go, Raphael" She turned to gaze on the blind eyes "you might be able to tell us what you know of the Silence? Of what you know about any of these matters. If there is no time now, well then, perhaps once we return. But I feel that my greatest need at the moment is for information. I need to figure out what happened and who was responsible and what can be done about it. I think this need is something we all share."
Jason looked down at his watch, "It is getting close to time, I actually discussed this at some length with Raphael this morning. How about if I brief you on our conversation as we walk to the cafe?"
Karen nodded, standing up and smiling at Raphael and Selindeal "We won't be too long hopefully, so perhaps you can both rest for a while in peace and quiet" She then got ready to leave, Melanie following her lead.
Jason willed his heart from his chest and put it in Raphael's hand. "It would reassure me greatly if you would hold onto this. I don't know any other who I would more willingly trust with it. It will also allow you to keep track of us if necessary." Turning back to Karen, he said "Shall we be off?" Looking back at Raphael he said "Raphael, Ashikel says 'Hi.' If you want to chat with her for awhile she is in the Fiction section reading some Dickens."
Karen watched in silence as the heart was handed over, smiling at Melanie as she remembered earlier events.
Jason lead Karen and Melanie to the door and starts through the Library. He stopped by where Ashikel and Brad were reading. "Ash, I would like you to meet Melanie, I believe you have met Karathiel before. Karen and Melanie, this is Ashikel." He gave them a chance to exchange pleasantries before continuing.
Karen nods at Ashikel, though her smile of greeting is hesitant and somewhat worried. "Hello Ashikel. It's been a long time."
Ashikel blinked at her nervously, and nodded once. �Sure has...�
Melanie hovered in the background, eyes alert.
Jason broke the growing uncomfortable silence. "Ash, we have to go meet someone, but I expect we will be back before midnight. You should be OK here until we return. I told Raphael where you were, so s/he might stop by."
Ashikel managed to tear her eyes from staring at the extremely present and dangerous looking aura surrounding Karen. �I am sure I will be fine.� She muttered, and waved good-bye once, tersely.