Resonance of the Soul
It was an odd thing for Castiel to be introducing Charlie to something.
There were some things that Cas was better at when it came to introducing topics. Normally though, he would be talking about lore or history. He really wasn't the most up-to-date with pop culture stuff, so he normally relied on Charlie, the Winchesters, or the information from Metatron's download.
That's why Cas was so proud to be introducing something new to her that was actually part of pop culture.
He had found the show Soul Eater while he was on Hulu looking through the anime section. The art style had looked different from other things he had watched and the title in and of itself was intriguing.
The angel had clicked on the first episode just out of curiosity.
And three hours later, he'd still been watching it.
The show took a fairly common theme in anime and twisted it a bit. There were plenty of shows about schools and students, even a lot where students trained with weaponry. However, a show where the weapons were actually people? That was certainly new.
Castiel had finished the show and started on the manga, which was even longer, but he felt that he needed to share this with Charlie after everything she had shared with him.
Luckily, the redhead had been totally up for it.
"Weapons who are actually people, and they can only be wielded by certain people who basically touch their soul?!" Charlie's eyes were practically shining as the first episode ended. "Me likey."
"And this is just one of the introduction episodes." Cas explained.
"Really?"
"Yes. The manga started with three one-shots that took place in this universe and each one introduces one of the focus partnerships. This is shown in the first three episodes of the anime."
"I see." Charlie said thoughtfully as Black Star and Tsubaki were introduced. She snorted at the ninja's antics. "Still, it's a really interesting concept."
"Indeed." He fell quiet as they were sucked back into the show.
It was a few episodes later that the redhead spoke up. "Is that what souls really look like?" She gestured at the stitched up, giant ball that was Stein's soul.
"No, not really." Castiel admitted, eyes not leaving the screen. "It is a fairly good interpretation though. All souls truly are unique and often show things about people that cannot normally be seen."
"What's mine look like?" Charlie asked excitedly, moving so she was fully facing the angel.
Slowly, he turned to look at her, slipping his vision into the state which would allow him to see souls. If one looked at a soul outside of its body, it would seem, to most humans, to be a ball of light being clasped within one's hands. Of course, if there were a plethora of souls, such as when he consumed the souls of Purgatory, it would seem like a giant, roiling stream of blazing light.
Angels saw more than that, and some demons as well. The soul was centered in the chest and its influence spread from there until it caused a person to glow. Charlie's soul was a bright red and gold, shining with bravery and loyalty as if she were a member of the Gryffindor house rather than Ravenclaw. Yet it gave off a comforting warmth, like a hearth fire as it burnt down while still providing heat. It was an open and caring soul, epitomizing the nerd perfectly.
Castiel smiled. "It suits you perfectly. Open and caring and exceedingly warm."
Charlie beamed before the confrontation with Stein drew back her attention.
Cas stared at her for a bit longer though, until he finally sighed and "turned off" his soul vision.
It had actually been a while since he had actively looked at anyone's soul. Sometimes he did it subconsciously, and it always amazed him when he did so and watched humanity walk by, but Dean had always seemed to be able to sense when he used it and had appeared to be uncomfortable with it. After Raphael had killed him and he'd Fallen, he'd gotten into the habit of not using it as much in order to not alienate his human allies.
Looking at Charlie's soul had reminded him of why he loved it. He absently wished that he could gaze at Dean's soul again, but he already could guess the hunter's reaction. Things had been tough enough lately already.
"Soul Resonance is cool too." Charlie commented absently. "I wish that could happen in real life."
"It does." Castiel said, and he ignored the redhead's look of surprise as he explained further. "Not the way it happens in Soul Eater though. Have you ever noticed that you suddenly feel stronger when you're working with others towards a common goal?"
Charlie, as smart as ever, quickly connected the dots. "You're all focusing so hard on the same thing that your very souls resonate?" She sounded a bit awed. He nodded to confirm her hypothesis and she huffed out a chuckle. "Amazing."
Of course, Cas didn't mention that he would never feel the sensation because he, as an angel, didn't have a soul. He had seen it several times throughout history though. He had even seen his human friends resonate before. He almost wished that he'd had an opportunity to work with his friends like that when he was human, so he could have experienced it though he would have been unable to see it.
But as he watched Soul and Maka battle their way through monsters, murderers, and fear, a small part of him admitted that there were times when he felt that he almost could resonate with his friends and comrades. Even when he was an angel.
It was, as Charlie said, amazing.
AN: This is another anime that I enjoy, though I prefer the mange. The manga just goes a lot more in-depth and I find the ending more satisfying. I have a lot of issues with the anime's ending, but like with most animes based on manga, they had to come up with something as the manga wasn't done yet. Oh, well. Sorry this is so late. I'm working on editing a one-shot for Carry On. I recommend that book to anyone who has a m/m pairing in any fandom. It's highly satisfying, funny, and witty. See you later!
