[network] Event: Long & Lost [NIGHT 217]

[snowblindmods]

it's been so long between the words we spoke
will you be there up on the shore, I hope

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[warriorscribe]

[Enoch makes a wordless noise, something pained and bitter, but one that's quickly swallowed up in his own throat. It comes out again in his voice.]

None do. No one does.

[A pause, as he clears his mind, or at least attempts to. It's a sore subject for him, to say the absolute least. Though, it's doubtful he would find anyone deserving of such torment even if he hadn't had any firsthand encounters with it.]

...Even if somehow someone did is it worth giving the demon that much more power to take someone else?

[godsspeed]

[ Castiel thinks of some of the things to which he's borne witness in his long vigil over humanity, but says nothing of them. They all came long after Enoch's time or very long before, and even if they hadn't, this isn't an appropriate time or place to discuss man's failings. ]

No, it's not. Every soul lost to the demons eventually becomes warped into a demon themselves. It's why they were able to overwhelm us so quickly.

We should have intervened sooner. More often. I am sorry, Enoch.

[warriorscribe]

That much is true of both our worlds. The city founded by the Fallen Angels gave The Darkness an army...

[He falls silent for a while again. They aren't of the same world, and yet, Castiel's has more in common with his own than the ones he's heard of so far. It makes him feel obligated to help, more so than usual.]

...Can the condemned souls be purified?

[godsspeed]

[ Finally, something he can deliver good news about. Or maybe not good news, precisely, but it's a situation with a proven solution instead of more of the same endless confusion and despair. ]

Not by us. Angels are powerless to do anything but send demons back to the pit when we encounter them. But many humans have tried, and over time some have even begun to succeed. The process is taxing, and demands a great amount of sacrifice from all participants, but it has worked more than once.

[ There's something in his voice almost like pride or admiration, at that. That humankind was able to accomplish something that even the host of Heaven could not. ]

[warriorscribe]

[He'll find that sentiment echoed. Man possesses more ingenuity than anyone else seems to ever give them credit for. He knows, deep down has always known in some form or another, even if he had no way of knowing the limits.

He can't help it, relieved laughter escaping him as the tension does.]

Of course we would, somehow... Purification is only possible with angelic blessing so far as I know, but if anyone could somehow find a way...

[The swell of pride is audible in his voice.]

I've always known it - we have our failings, but He gave us only one directive, to care for our home and one another, and in doing so nothing can stop us.

[godsspeed]

Yes. You're right. [ Despite everything, Castiel relaxes somewhat as well. There is hope yet. ]

If anyone could take up Heaven's mantle after we strayed from the path, it would be them. [ He thinks, again, of Dean Winchester, the man so convinced that he could find a better, more merciful way that he was willing to fight the entire Heavenly Host to prove it. And then he remembers that Dean is very likely going to have to, after the stunt they pulled together. ]

I can only hope that we - all of us - can fix things before more good people are made to pay for our mistakes.

[warriorscribe]

I do as well. There's little worse than seeing to innocents being caught up in a struggle they never asked for.

[As he speaks, the pride slowly leaves his voice, and the quality that joins the strength in his tone is a soft sort of seriousness. He's trying to give advice on something he himself struggles with - but he understands it is part of his nature. Castiel's nature, not quite so much, not yet.]

Free will is being able to act on that hope. It may not go as planned, but such is its nature.