video;

[strangelic]

Um... I'm Castiel. Some of you know me, obviously. I sometimes show myself at the clinic--I'm a healer. Well. [ He looks down into his lap. ] I try to be. The ailment that so badly hit us last month was beyond my ability to remedy, and for that I am deeply sorry.

However if there is anything, any scrape, any...broken leg, or incurable sickness... I should be able to resolve it. Should be. Given the state of my powers here, it does seem to be a game of chance. But I have healed far worse in the past. It's better, surely, to let me try than to live with pain and scarring when I might help with both.

But that isn't what I was here to say, not really. I wanted to... I want to...

I haven't been very clear, and I feel that it's important, given the way things were, and the way things will likely be again. I hear you, all of you, when you turn to prayer. It's impossible to avoid, and while I understand that it is private... I just wanted to apologize, either way.


[ ooc: Castiel doesn't hear all character's prayers since you can opt out of that on his permissions post, however! It's a fun way to make new CR with him if you're interested; just drop him a prayer in his IC inbox! ]

Comments

[hotspurred]

[The displeasure in Henry's tone is replaced by a mix of complete surprise and skepticism. There is enough of a pause to suggest that he is torn on whether to believe Castiel.]

You would claim to be an angel...? Have you proof?

[strangelic]

I do claim to be an angel, because I am.

Is there a burden of proof? That always seems so unfair. What are you? Do you have any proof that you are what you say you are? Does anyone?

[hotspurred]

I am not sacred. It is one thing for mere men to be dragged here, and another entirely for [there is a pause] your holy kind.

[strangelic]

If anything, my innate links with magic make me much more biddable. Angels can be controlled, imprisoned, summoned--if you know how.

[hotspurred]

Who would dare commit such a loathsome offence?!

[He's scandalised by the mere suggestion.

But if he is going to believe that Castiel is truly an angel, then that brings up a whole host of questions. Starting with:]

Came you to be here by the same means as the rest of us?

[strangelic]

[ He dips his head minutely. ]

Yes, of course. I came through the door, just like everyone else.

I believe it's some kind of multidimensional portal.

[hotspurred]

Have you experience with them? Be there... aught you can sense about this wretched place that we mortals cannot?

[strangelic]

Other realities aren't...we don't usually interfere. It can be dangerous. There are worlds without magic, worlds with no way back. So while the magic exists, it's generally speaking avoided even so.

I don't think I know more about this place than anyone here. I suppose that doesn't make my powers much use at all.

[hotspurred]

[Henry scoffs at that latter remark.]

I would hardly call the power to heal useless.

[He would call the abillity to hear prayers invasive, but not useless either.

There is a short pause -- a hesitation -- before Henry quietly asks:]

...Are we far from God's reach?

[strangelic]

I suppose. If God's reach is only considered in His direct influence.

[ He lowered his eyes, quietly. ]

I think that God is in all of you. With all of you. I know it's not the answer that you're looking for.

[hotspurred]

'Tis... something.

[Henry doesn't know what he seeks in truth. Reassurance, perhaps. Just some mention of God supported by belief. Answers to the existential questions Hadriel arises.]

Whence I came, faith was at the heart of daily life. Here it is almost absent.

[strangelic]

And yet feeling breathes life into the gods that reside here. There is no need for faith when you see its effect--when you feel it, pressed under the thumb of their next scheme.

Faith is for things that you cannot touch, that you have not seen.

[hotspurred]

You would call our captors divine? Imply that faith is without value because we are trapped and subjected to their influence?

[While taken aback, his disdain is still evident.]

Why bother to give apology for hearing our prayers at all?

[strangelic]

No. No I would call them exactly the opposite. The fact that they call themselves gods means nothing. They're monsters, creatures, just like everything else. Yes, with a power to manipulate us for their own gain, but that is the nature of a parasite, not a deity.

[ He narrows his eyes minutely. ]

I've come to respect the privacy of the other people here. It's less...it's less invasive when you can hear the prayers of billions. I feel like I know everyone here too well; more than they would prefer.