The Gathering

IV: the Lamb and the Lion

            Jonah's head still throbbed as he took his seat in the courtyard for Seraphiel's instruction the next day. As sat down to his right as usual. He looked to his left and saw Muriel sitting a few seats down.

"How's your head?" Muriel asked, talking in more of a hushed whisper, even though Sera hadn't started speaking yet, everyone afraid of incurring her wrath.

Jonah shrugged, "It's better than last night... I think" he said, rubbing the side of his temple, "sorry for going a little overboard with the shield, by the way."

"Nah, I deserved it", chuckled Muriel, "we're all good. Maybe we can have a rematch sometime so I can properly kick your ass without you kicking it yourself!"

"Sure" chuckled Jonah, glad to have made what seemed like another friend in cadet training. As had been his only friend here until now, they knew each other from childhood, long before either enlisted, but they had somewhat grown apart over the years and had picked up their friendship as if no time had passed.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the clinic after class?" asked As, also whispering. "maybe you should ask Raphael if you can sit out the drilling today."

"Already did," informed Jonah, "Asked him this morning, he wasn't happy but he said he didn't want me to get too concussed on his watch."

"Relax, meet me in the courtyard afterwards and I'll give you a rundown of today's lesson", invited As. Jonah was about to speak until Sera abruptly broke the room's relative silence, her voice intimidating as always.

"In three days, I will begin taking each of you in groups of two to perform your first gathering." 'So soon...' thought Jonah, it wasn't gathering he had an issue with, it was Sera's... well, everything about Sera. Though he was still anxious about gathering, Samael's lessons really did help ease some of that fear, he just hoped Sera would be able to teach them some of her own practical experience before they departed for Earth.

"As you know, I am the highest ranking gatherer in His Father's service, I have been doing this for five hundred years, I have seen every scenario and how quickly they can devolve into chaos... Today I will be discussing the two different kinds of gathering scenarios you will encounter: 'the Lamb' and 'the Lion,' as they are colloquially known to us." Jonah had recalled Phanuel once asking a superior 'Is it a Lamb or Lion?' before, he hadn't known what he meant until now.

"The Lamb is the easiest, yet rarest style of gathering, a 'soft target', if you will." This made sense, he remembered Phanuel seeming exasperated when his superior had replied 'lion.' "In the 'lamb' scenario, the humans below will greet you as if you were God himself, you can reveal your presence fully, and the gather will be plentiful. The flocks will drop to their knees, praying, adulating, worshipping at your feet as you gather their souls." Sera spoke these words with a mocking tone, she had made her feelings towards humans clear before so it wasn't shocking to Jonah. "You will be able to infiltrate and exfiltrate with ease, treated as saviors. These humans are usually devout in one of the many Earthly religions, so we can mask our presence to them as being one of their various gods' servants. These targets are most often their places of worship, or affiliated care facilities." Jonah had read about the human religions, some were similar to the reality of the angels' presence, but none had it exactly correct. He knew he should feel bad about tricking the humans into believing an angel of their god was in their presence, but he felt oddly numb about the entire thing. 

"Now, the Lion. The most common type of mission you will undertake as a gatherer. During these missions, the humans you gather will not be selfish and shortsighted, unable and unwilling to grasp the truth of God's will. During these encounters, one must be shrouded at all times, as not to raise alarm, do not reveal yourself until the point where they are rendered unable to alert other unfaithful humans. It is during these missions that humans will instinctually use their souls' memories as a countermeasure against our incursion." Jonah hadn't been told about these 'lion' type gatherings before, when he had enlisted to be instructed in gathering, what had been described to him was that of only 'lamb' missions. But he supposed it didn't matter as long as humans couldn't see him. The worries and trepidations that had so worried and confused him just a day ago seemed to have settled, Jonah had made up his mind and was fully invested in his upcoming duty.