Previously: Camael and Castiel are suspected of treason and stand trial. Camael is proven innocent when Cain turns out to be alive. Castiel, on the other hand, has yet to prove that he never made a pact with Azazel to free Lucifer and invoke the Mother of All.

oOo

Balthazar

The Archangels stand up in deafening silence.

"Castiel. Why did you wait so long to give the alarm? Why did you send your brothers straight into a trap? And why did you destroy a city with your true form? The death and mutilation of these Humans had not been written by the Sisters of Fate. Explain yourself."

"Just tell them exactly what happened, Castiel," Anael whispers to me.

His wing leaves my shoulder with a caress and he walks back to sit in the gathering next to Rachel, Uriel and Samandriel. I stand alone under the gaze of the Archangels and all my brothers watching. I'm stumped for a couple seconds, searching for the right words to say.

"I was watching over Eve. When she stepped into her house, Azazel was already there inside Adam's body."

My voice sounds stiff even to myself.

"Why were you watching over Eve and not Adam?"

"Her soul is brighter and Adam had not moved or said a single word since Abel died. I figured he was so apathetic he wouldn't be in any kind of danger. If we had known Azazel would target them, the entire Garrison would have been sent on a mission to protect them."

"How could you tell that Azazel was possessing Adam?"

"I recognized his aura, his voice and his yellow eyes."

Michael eyes me intently before he motions to the gathering of Angels.

"Balthazar, step forward."

An Angel I have never met before walks confidently to the Archangels, as if he took part in trials every day.

"Balthazar," Gabriel says. "You are in charge of a search and training mission on human vessels. Was it possible for Azazel to take control of a Human even though possession is still only a project plan?"

"Technically yes, even if it's still only a project plan, any Angel could in theory take a human vessel, provided that said Human has agreed to this. But in this very particular case, Azazel is no longer an Angel, but an abomination. I have no idea whether or not his new nature requires from him to obtain the vessel's consent."

A whisper runs through the crowd as I stare at Balthazar unblinkingly. He merely winks at me.

Possessing Humans is a project from Heaven, then? Is this the Lord's will? But why would He want such a thing?

"Why possess Adam who was under the Garrison's watch, though?" I tilt my head in confusion. "It would have been easier for Azazel to just possess any other Human. Was it revenge?"

Balthazar looks surprised and replies with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Oh. So you don't know? Hm. Well. That's awkward. Actually, Adam and Eve are not just God's chosen ones, they have a special kind of power running through their veins that will be passed on from generation to generation. This is why they could see and hear us without screaming in agony. Their soul is special too, even more so after they ate the apple of Wisdom. I could explain it all to you with diagrams and equations, but to sum it up: Adam and Eve as well as their offspring can see Angels, and to this day they also are the only Humans able to host Angels or even Archangels inside their bodies. I guess now that Adam and Eve are dead, Cain is the only one left, obviously. Good thing he didn't die after all, that'd have made the purpose of my mission obsolete. Anyway, all this to say Azazel could only choose between Adam, Eve and Cain. Any other Human would have exploded if he had tried to slip a single digit inside. Literally. Nothing filthy implied here."

I can hear Uriel chuckling. He's the only one.

Balthazar seems to be pondering about something and mutters thoughtfully: "But all of this only applies if Azazel still functions like an Angel… And he does have a tendency to hold grudges…"

Michael looks back to me.

"Continue your report, Castiel."

Taken aback by Balthazar's revelations, I struggle to collect my thoughts. Where was I again?

"Azazel... greeted Eve, she was frightened. I wanted to neutralize the enemy before giving the alarm, so he wouldn't have a chance to flee. At that moment he put his hand on a seal he drew on the wall with Adam's blood. It paralyzed me immediately and I was thrown off to the other side of the Earth, right on a human city, and deprived of all my powers for around four hours."

"Could you replicate that seal from memory?"

"Yes."

I lift a hand and let a tiny portion of my Grace pearl on my fingertips. I draw the seal in the air, as I remember each and every one of the elements composing it in great details, guessing from the blood traces I saw on the wall the exact way to recreate it accurately. The glowing circle and sigils are now floating in front of me, rippling along with air movements.

I hear an outraged gasp behind me and turn around to see the Sisters of Fate have jumped to their feet, eyes wide open and wings shivering.

"This is a banishing sigil! Its use is strictly forbidden and no one is supposed to know it!"

"It's a bit too late, sis… Sounds like Azazel knows it pretty well, and all of our brothers here do to, now," Balthazar says, smoothing his feathers.

Uriel is sniggering and Anael calls him to order with a smack of wing on his head.

The Sisters are loudly whispering among themselves, obviously furious. I clear the glowing sigil with a handwave and the tiny portion of my Grace reintegrates my body.

"Sisters of Fate, could you explain how did Azazel know of it?" Michael demands.

The Sisters of Fate rotate as a unit to face him.

"Castiel did not lie, it is indeed a seal that temporarily deprives any Angel around of his powers and sends him as far as possible on the planet. It is one of the sigils that have been forgiven because they are too dangerous and require human blood or a soul's consumption."

"I can attest, human blood and souls hold enough power to perform ill effects, especially Adam's, Eve's and Cain's," Balthazar nods in agreement.

"Ill effects… like releasing Lucifer from his cage? Or summoning the Mother of All?"

The three Sisters nod.

"Castiel and Camael never once stepped inside the library. Azazel, on the other hand, frequented it regularly. He was only a second rank Cherub and was always so considerate, witty and pleasant. Unlike all those uncultured soldiers, he was erudite and wanted to know about everything. We did not suspect a thing and after a few hundred years we stopped keeping an eye on him when he did his researches…"

Raphael huffs aggressively.

"From now on the library will be forbidden to Cherubs, except in the context of a mission. You will be held responsible of every word that is read and will report us even the slightest suspicion."

The Sisters bow penitently with their wings down. Judging by the way they're glowering at each other, I think they look forward to the moment they will finally be alone to settle their accounts.

"One last question: is there a sigil that strip all Angels present in the area of their powers, without banishing them?"

"No. As far as we know, there is no such thing."

The Archangels dismiss the Sisters and Balthazar and consult each other. Then, Michael turns his gaze to me to announce the verdict.

"Castiel. You were found innocent of the extermination of the 264 Humans you mutilated and crushed under your feet. Ephra and Yasen will be tasked with bringing them back to life, erasing their memory and fixing material damages."

He glances at my two brothers who sprang to their feet in a hurry at their names.

"Ephra. Yasen. Only bring back the virtuous Humans and let the sinners rot in Hell. Their wretched souls are not worth an excursion down there."

Ephra and Yasen nod fervently.

"You giving the alarm too late is justified, Castiel," Raphael narrows his eyes at me. "However, there is no evidence that you didn't intentionally sent soldiers into a trap in order to help Azazel. We don't think rehabilitation is required for your case, but we're removing your sector from your responsibility and placing it under the oversight of the Garrison until further notice. You will never be left unsupervised and Anael will report everything you do every day. One suspicious word or move and I will send you to rehabilitation right away. Understood?"

I humbly nod and the Archangels vanish in a rustling of feathers along with most of the other Angels who return to their mission. The Sisters of Fate are gone too, as well as Balthazar and Samandriel.

In a beating of wings, the entire Garrison surrounds me in a perfect circle. Anael is radiant when he puts a hand on my and Camael's shoulder.

"Castiel, Camael. Both of you are excellent soldiers. I never doubted you, not even for a second."

Uriel groans condescendingly.

"Cam and Cas, the spawns of Lucifer? No one in their right mind would believe such bullshit!"

"Raphael did seem to believe it," I say unblinkingly.

Anael withdraws his hands and squares his shoulders into a proper General of the Garrison's bearing.

"Castiel, in accordance with the orders, you will constantly be accompanied by a soldier until further notice. We will take turns. Levanael, Castiel will assist you in your mission today, and Miz will watch him starting tomorrow at nightfall. Then Ecaop will take over, and so on. I will keep my eye on you."

I stare at Anael unblinkingly.

"What exactly happened when I gave the alarm?" I end up asking. "Did Lucifer really break free?"

They all freeze to the spot with the exception of Camael who is probably yearning for answers just like me.

"When we arrived on the scene… We all fell to the ground before we could even land. We had no powers and couldn't even fly anymore," Anael says.

"Adam was lying in the middle of a seal drawn on the ground, body unmoving and atrociously mutilated. Eve was here, her arms and face dripping with his blood. She was no longer herself..." Siosp whispers and lowers his head.

"She was laughing, Castiel. She was howling with laughter and completing a summoning ritual with her own blood, Adam's blood and Abel's bones…" Ecaop specifies.

"Before the trial began, the Archangels said our sudden silence convinced them that you led us into a trap, and that's why they isolated you."

I mull it over, trying to picture the scene in my head.

"What about Azazel? Was he still inside Adam's body?"

"No, he was back into his true form that looks nothing like a Cherub's," Hcoma snarls with obvious disgust. "He was made of black smoke and scales, and his wings… his wings were… He mocked us and said Eve is now the Mother of All, that she would free Lucifer and together they would bring on the Apocalypse to Earth."

"The Apocalypse?"

"That's what he said. Then, Eve opened Lucifer's cage. We thought our final hour had come and we were ready to die fighting, even without our powers. We were resigned. But Lucifer merely winked at us before they all disappeared into thin air and our powers were back."

Why would Lucifer spare the Garrison? It makes no sense to me. There are many things escaping any form of logic here. Like Cain's fake death, for instance.

"Enough chattering," Anael says after a short silence. "We have work to do. Ephra, Yasen, you heard the Archangels. Orders are orders. Go resurrect the virtuous Humans immediately, I don't care if you have to look for them through all Heaven, and fix the damages on the city. Camael, return to your post near Cain and tell me if the Human acts in suspicious ways. Don't let him out of your sight for a single second. Everyone else, go back to your station. Levanael, you will be Castiel's shadow for the day."

Orders are orders indeed, so we all obey at once.

oOo

In the next chapter (next sunday, january 19th)

"So it is true!"

"Uriel? What are you doing here? This is not your sector."

"Are you joking, Cas? Humans copulating with horses? I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world!"