Karen's story, Jason's summary, and some interresting speculation.
Karen was hesitant, but then shrugged "Ok...where to start? I guess, about 2 months before the Silence, I was introduced to and entrusted to protect a woman called Sonja Morgan. You see, Jean frequently assigns this sort of job to me, as i am by nature a protective person." She shakes her head and smiles wryly "And, as is the nature of Jean, I was left little by way of reasoning or explanation for why Sonja had to be protected. I was told only that it was essential for me to make sure that Sonja remained safe until she could attended a particular convention in D.C. Jean impressed it upon me firmly that it was my responsibility to make sure she made it to that convention. Apparently she and Denis were to meet at this convention and then i was to protect both of them in the months following their meeting."
Karen continues "I discovered that Sonja was a postgraduate student, working and studying in a medical laboratory associated with a company called Caltech. Her research focus revolves around developing cures to currently terminal diseases. In the time i had to know her i gathered that her project was not turning out well. I now know that together Denis and Sonja were supposed to come up with something like a cure for AIDS. I guess this goes a little way to explain the motivation of the demons to prevent their meeting. AIDS causes so much suffering and hopelessness through the world that to give even the hope of relief would be a major downfall for them."
Jason interjected "Something that I am sure the Demon of Despair would not want to occur."
Karen's expression became pained as she continued to speak "About 10 days before the Silence, Melanie's daughter, Sally, was taken from her day-care centre. Of course as soon as i felt this Melanie and i gave chase, and we eventually found her late that night, dumped by the side of a freeway outside of New Jersey City, apparently unharmed, but very frightened. However, as I picked her up, I felt my attunement to Sonja break."
She slowly shook her head and sighed, close to tears from the retelling of the story and the memories dredged up "By the time i got to the lab she was long gone. The whole place had been trashed. Several people outside mentioned seeing three men enter the building and leave with a young woman, but none remembered seeing how they left the building. Witnesses also gave descriptions of a tall white woman and a medium sized black man in the area. Inside the lab I found the door to a closet, which i can only assume Sonja hid herself within, fragmented into grey powder. There were also reports of lost time, and seeing lights and such from the witnesses. As i said before, these signs point towards a a Shedim and a Kalabim demon working together."
Jason went over and put an arm around Karen's shoulder, comforting her. "The only way I know to break an attunement is to remove the object from the Corporeal plane. The fact that she seemed to be hiding is a good indication that Sonja probably went unwillingly. I would not be at all surprised to learn that Sonja is not even aware of the Demon's plans to use her against Denis. Humans have an annoying habit of not following orders." Jason said with a chuckle.
Even Lynne smiled wryly at that. She looked over her notes again. "Door in powder? Calabite of Fate, possibly." She added, with a touch more sympathy, "It has been a rough couple of weeks I.. know you don't need me to tell you about the balance your soul is in and the need to be careful." She trailed off and chewed the end of her pen, then just shook her head and didn't continue, or interrupt.
Karen sighed deeply, then continued. "So anyway, the convention is scheduled to take place in just less than one month's time from now. I can no longer feel any trace of the link to Sonja." Her voice began to waver again and caught as she added "I can barely feel the others i'm attuned to at the moment. Unless i'm touching the person and actually using Essence, i doubts i'd get a day of warning about anything bad happening to any of them. When i attuned to Denis I used all the Essence I had and was nearly overwhelmed by the feeling of danger coming in his near future. I felt the virus within him. I also felt that 10 days from today he will meet Sonja, who will be carrying the influenza virus that will lead to Denis's death. I also know that this whole thing is planned, but i can't tell whether Sonja is willingly or unwillingly working towards this end. I also felt the hand of Kronos deep within this plan. If it isn't him directly, then it must be one of his foremost servitors."
Jason added, "Hmmmm, this would certainly fit with Azazel. I am begining to get a bad feeling that I might know what is going on, but I don't want to jump to any conclusions just yet. And of course I could just be seeing everything in terms of Destiny and Fate."
Taking a deep breath, Karen tried to relax, and concluded "That's about all i know, or at least all i can recall. Perhaps if you ask questions i might remember something more, but..." She looked doubtful, staring at her damaged hand and then continued "I guess i don't have to point out the consequences of not finding her and carrying out my duties." Karen hung her head, absently picking at the edges of the bandage on her hand. Her damaged aura was brightly evident around her form: the broad black head drooping as much as that of her vessel, wings lax and dragging on the ground.
Jason tried to be reassuring. "Well don't worry. Once I have done some research in order to get a better idea of what this weapon is, and maybe talked to Novalis, we should be able to heal you up. Unless you have anything to add" he looked over at Orli "I'll summarize Ashikel, the events at the Library last night, the Silence, and the events in LA. Then I will tell you what I think is happening." With a quizical eye he said "Good?"
Orli scanned the page which she had been scribbling notes on quickly and nodded to Jason without looking up. "Yes, fine. But I think we /should/ heal Dennis tonight, whilst we are all here. Karen needs that and we need to have faith that God will provide us with the strength for the fight ahead."
She glanced at Karen and said, after a brief pause. "You know, nothing in the world would please Dennis more than knowing that his work might contribute towards saving lives. If you feel up to it, I'd tell him that you think it is his destiny -- I think he'll want to help with that. And.. he doesn't mean to seem awkward, or distant and unfriendly, he is just having trouble dealing with all the people who want to help him. I bet in a few years time he'll mellow a lot and pick up some better social skills." She smiled quirkily, and her eyes drifted to the bedroom, then she nodded again to Jason and looked back to her notes.
"OK, I think for clarity's sake I should start with LA, because I am not sure how that fits in with the rest, but I see links between Ashikel, the Library and possibly the Silence. So here is what we have figured out about LA."
Jason took a deep breath and started counting things off on his fingers. "Between around 2AM and 4AM yesterday in LA Uriel covered a 5 Mile radius with an Ethereal Song of Shields and set off two blasts designed for utter destruction. The Song somehow prevented the disruptions from the blasts from flowing normally across the Symphony. Instead they were joined and merged with the Dawn and came all at once, without the normal ripples you would expect. The destruction appears to have been an attempt at carrying out a Judgment that appears to have been against an ArchAngel."
Sighing Jason continued. "So who was Judged? We can rule out Jean, Gabriel, Michael and Novalis, as they have all been seen since the incident, in relatively good shape. Yves and Dominic are possibilities, I think Laurence is in charge of his troops, so he probably is not. It could be Eli, it is doubtful that Blandine would have been on the Corporeal Plane. Other than that I just don't know." Jason shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe it doesn't matter for the moment, though. I think we have enough other mysteries about, and some of those may be solvable."
"Anyway, Gabriel is out there, and she was in New York yesterday. As were Michael, Baal and in some sense Yves. One of the reasons that I think this might be a center of some of the activities that are behind all of this. That is about I all can think of relating to LA."
Jason walked over to the kitchen and gets some water, offering the others a choice of beverages. Coming back into the living room he continued. "Now on to Ashikel. She and I worked together for a long time prior to the Fall. Both servitors to Raphael, her a Mercurian, and me a Cherub. She was seduced by Lucifer's personal symphony and fell. I did not see her until a few years ago. I first saw her hanging around an OD victim. When I recognized her she fled. A couple of months later I was checking out a Symphonic disturbance and saw her again, this time she was hurt. We agreed to meet at a small Cafe, and have done so a couple of times a year since then."
He was quiet for a little while before going on. "I guess I wanted things to be as they were. It hurt me to see her resonate as a demon. I found out some useful information once-in-awhile, but that was not really my purpose. I wanted to make her whole again. I knew that Raphael could, and would, do it if she asked. It was just a matter of convincing her. I guess in the end it worked." Jason smiled.
"Apparently she was working for Baal and they were setting up a tether in NYC that she was to guard until a Seneschal was placed there. All was well until Gabriel, Karl and a few others popped by. She would have been no match for them, so she took off. I had left her a message to meet me last night in the hope of getting her perspective on things. She came to ask for help. She knew that Baal would string her up for failure, so she was desperate for anything she could get. I brought her back to the Library for protection.�
"It appears that when Karen and I went to me Orli, Ashikel called on Baal, who appeared. Raphael redeemed Ashikel and gave her my heart and his/her own. Baal appeared with a Djinn, Benedisiekra, and a Habbalah who cut up Ashikel. Baal took off with Raphael, presumably to Hell, leaving the others for us. When we arrived, you two took care of the Demons and I called on Yves, who appeared through Josh."
Jason sighed heavily. "Yves sounded very messed up, and among his statements were two that I feel are especially significant. The first is that he can see his Fate and Destiny coming together and the second is that God's plan appears to be unraveling. The Revelations given to John are falling apart.�
"I am not sure if you are both aware of it or not, but Kronos still has the power to see the Symphony as Angels do. Or at least in a way that Demons do not. He has the power to cloak a demon entering Heaven, and the reading of Destinies and Fates. He embodies the Fate of the Symphony in the same way that Yves embodies the Symphony's Destiny. The outcome of the War is very much a battle between these two. More so than one between Michael and Satan, or Laurence and Baal. Of course, this is the opinion of an Angel of Destiny, so I guess you can take it for what it is worth."
Jason chuckled. Turning somber he said "I get the feeling that Destiny is losing. For Baal to walk into one of Destiny's tethers is a Major move in the War. Unthinkable a couple of days ago. Even when the Seneschal is without corporeal vessel and the tether not going to Heaven, it is a bold move. Mostly with Raphael there.�
"Maybe I should say a few words about Raphael. If you read..." he stopped himself and smiled "...if you Were to read the bible and other texts relating to Angels and the like you would find Raphael's name pretty easily. S/he is listed all over the place as one of the first ArchAngels. The Angel of Healing, the Guardian of the Tree of Life, the head of Guardian Angels, the Angel of Sunday, the Angel of Wednesday, One of the 7 Angels who are 'released' upon the world by the breaking of the 7 Seals, and possibly most importantly as a Guide through Hell. It seems somewhat ironic that s/he who is the guide is now blind and in Hell." Jason did not appear to be smiling at this particular irony.
"Obviously you can't believe everything you read, but none-the-less, Raphael is *not* an Angel to be trifled with. Maybe blind and with no Essence, but even so not in a tether to his/her superior. Unless of course that has already been taken care of. As it appears that it has.�
"While we are on the subject of reading, if you look up Azazel you will not have too hard a time either. He is one of the few demons listed in books on the subject. Remember that before the Fall he was Word-bound, and pretty powerful at that. To last 6,000 years in Kronos' organization is not a small feat. To say that he has about twice the forces any of us has would not likely be an exaggeration. To think that his Will and Perception are not very high would be tempting Fate, as it were. If all three of us take him on, with a good bit of knowledge, the thorn that Benedisiekra used on Karen, and full Essence, we have a decent chance of defeating him. Allowing him to retreat to Hell will have us rid of him for a few days. I think we have to keep him from taking over another host for about 2 hours and send him back to Hell for a *long* time. Or we could try to strip a few forces. But those may be well beyond our powers."
Jason sat heavily, allowing the others to think about what he has said. "The upshot of what I am saying is that I think we have moved from a Cold War to a Hot one. And I don't think we are winning...."