"You need to keep the secret first of all," Christopher said. "If they need you immediately, you should stay, unless we override that. If they may need you soon, you should come now. As you become more experienced, you will learn to see the difference."

Cailin didn't seem all that convinced, but nodded, trusting Christopher. “Alright.”

She took an instant to focus on De La Vega, then asked, “I hope I can explore in the meantime?” She had seen next to nothing of the place after all, and that was something she intended to address as soon as possible. “Starting with my own place? In fact, is there a guide or something?”

"Yes, you can explore," Christopher said. "Or I can show you around, if you like."

Cailin didn't hesitate and nodded. “Thanks, after you then.” She smiled and followed: with Christopher showing her the main points of interest, she'd have a good starting points for her own explorations later on…without risking missing something that was thought as necessary to know: the best of both worlds, so to speak.

As they walked, she asked a question: “How long have you been an Angel?”

"Centuries," Cristopher said.

He started by showing you to your quarters. It wasn't much, but there was a door. Inside there was a bookshelf, a desk with a chair, and a chest of drawers.

"Is there any place, in particular, you would like to see?"

“Uh… Well…” Cailin frowned. She didn't know what there was to see at all. “Is there a central plaza or something?”

After a second, she asked in a small voice, “Can I see my mom?”

"Yes, there is," Christopher said and showed you to a large area made of pink marble in the same style as everything else you have seen in the Citadel. You could see a number of angels across this plaza gathering in groups here and there or crossing it on their way to somewhere else.

"We'd have to go visit her to do that," Christopher said. "And if we change our faces, she won't recognize you. You cannot make a habit out of visiting her though."

"No, unfortunately, we cannot do that."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:44, Wed 01 Apr 2020.

As they walked, Cailin looked around, not quite like a tourist, but… Alright, maybe she did look like a tourist. Sort of anyway. She didn't know if she was a fan of the colour scheme though: not that she didn't like pink, but… Everything in pink could become quite tedious after a while. “Where are they going?” She asked about the other angels she could see. “Are they Guardian Angels too?”

“Oh.” To say that Cailin was saddened would have been the understatement of the century. "Why?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:52, Wed 01 Apr 2020.

"Like they don't have access to the Citadel, we don't have access to their realm," Christopher said.

"Everyone in the Citadel are Guardian Angels. And I couldn't say where they are going."

“Oh.” Cailin frowned. “And I don't suppose it'd be possible to send a message some way? Isn't there a sort of meeting place, some common ground where everyone can go?”

After a second, she tilted her head to the side and asked, “What is there around here beside us anyway?”

"Unfortunately not," Christopher said. "There is no contact between the various estates and no way to send a message."

"I'm not sure I understand your question."

“Oh...” Cailin looked disappointed as well as puzzled. “That's weird.” After a couple of seconds, she shook her head, “Anyway. What I meant is, there are us, Guardian Angels. Are there other types of angels? Cherubs, messengers or whatever? The 'normal' deads? A pantheon?”

"That's how the mansions were organized after the war," Christopher said. "No contact. As for a pantheon, there is only God. The 'normal' dead live in their various mansions. And there are three kinds of angels. The Protectors, who you can think of as the military. The Messengers, who are sent forth by God to various people on Earth. And then there's us. The Guardians."

“Messengers, Guardians and Protectors, uh?” Low, Cailin grumbled. “I bet they have the flaming swords...”

After a moment, clearly hesitating, she asked, “So... Whose god is it? And which war are we talking about? The whole Underworld vs Heaven one?”

"The Protectors do have flaming swords," Christopher said. "That's kind of their thing."

"He's everyone's god and he loves all of his children. As to the war, that was the War in Heaven when Lucifer rebelled and tried to take over. He and the third of the Host of Heaven that followed him were cast out."

"The current war between Heaven and the Underworld is not even close in comparison."

"Damn, they could share..." Cailin grumbled about the Protectors having swords.

After that, she considered asking more about that "God", but simply muttered under her breath for a bit before switching to a more comfortable topic. Sort of. "Lucifer, eh?" That sounded awfully close to Christianity - which was easily in her top three of least liked religions - but she didn't want to get there. Yeah, it was probably best to not go there either, at least for the time being.

Instead, she completely changed the topic to ask, "So, how long have you been here? And in the Guardians, there are the rookies like me, the elders like you, and... Is that all?"

Christopher laughed. "That wouldn't be like them at all," he said.

"I've been here for centuries. Other than Elders and rookies there are those that are neither. Most are neither."

“That's not very neighborly of them.” Cailin sniffed disdainfully. Still... Well, since the Protectors could have those flaming swords, all hope wasn't lost: who knew, she might find a way, somehow.

“Neither, uh...” That didn't provide much in the way of details... “I suppose there are more ranks among the Protectors? And are there layers above you, or are you...well, it?”

"I would assume that is the case," Christopher said. "Above the Elders is only Raphael, the Archangel. But he hangs out with god, so he's never around.

“So there's no Gabriel, Michael, and...” Cailin frowned, mumbling, “There's a fourth one, right?”

After a while, she shook her head. “Anyway, alright. What do you do when you're not on Earth helping someone? I mean you in general, not just you specifically.”

"Michael is the archangel for the Protectors and Gabriel for the Messengers," Christopher said. "There is no fourth. As for what others do here is up to them. There is much to do. Much to study. Books, art, music, drama. Growing. Learning. Resting."

“Oh, right.” There probably had been a fourth - at least - in the person of Lucifer, but it probably was better to not mention that just now... Not that it was much of a problem considering that there were lots of things to talk about other than that. “So there is a library I suppose? Or do we just go to Earth for that? And what do you mean by 'growing'?”

"There are libraries here," Christopher said. "I meant growing intellectually and spiritually. Introspection. Melding with the greater whole."

“Oh, can we go there?” Cailin asked, then frowned, pensive. “'Melding with the Greater Whole'? What does that mean? Or more precisely, what's the purpose of that?” In other circumstances, she probably would have simply dismissed that as some new age bullshit, but... Well, those were definitely not other circumstances....

"Of course," Christopher said. He headed in another direction. There didn't seem to be much variation in the architecture though. Large plazas and pink marble seemed to be how things were here.

"As for melding with the Greater Whole, that is understanding God better, grooming your personality after His. So that when you act, it is as if God acted. So that what you do is what He would have done."