Hope is the Thing With Feathers

Happy Halloween, ya filthy animals

PRESENT DAY

Azymis flies in before his brother can take off and plops down on the bench right next to him. "I see why he likes you so much. You're cute. Not my type, but still undeniably cute." he says. Both Castiel and Dean jump, turning towards him.

"Azymisiel, what are you doing here on Earth?" Castiel asks, confused.

"Right now? Teasing you like the good baby brother I am." Azymis replies cheekily, flipping his hair over his shoulder.

"I thought you were in Heaven? Why are you here?"

"I'm here because I live here. And I was only in Heaven because you were coming to see me. Goodness knows I wouldn't be able to see you otherwise; it's not like you have a phone. And before you ask, Nevaeh and Pura are living on one of my properties, perfectly content." Azymis replies.

"But you know nothing ab-"

"I've been living on Earth since The Garden. Earth is pretty much my domain, like how The Garden is Ariel's. It's-my-sandbox-and- you're- just-sitting-in-it kinda shitck, if you catch my drift." the archangel interrupts, cutting his twin off. Dean watches the exchange confusedly.

"How did you get into Eden?" Castiel asks, completely bewildered by the archangel before him. He wasn't anything like the archangel he thought he knew.

"Ask Remph." Azymis replies.

"I'm sorry to cut this reunion short, but ah, just who the hell are you?" Dean asks gruffly. Unperturbed, Azymis smiles brightly at him and moves to sit next to him.

"My name is Azymisiel, but you can call me Azymis. I'm Feather boy's twin. Here," He grabs a pen from his pocket and writes his number down on Dean's hand. "That's my cell, and if for whatever reason, I don't answer, pray to me. Now, I have a very important appointment with my totally delicious but unfortunately straight groomer. Call if you have any questions, but not when I'm with Marchi. Ciao!" Azymis jogs away quickly to his car. Castiel stared after his twin, looking quite lost.

"That's your twin?" Dean asks incredulously, turning back to Castiel. But Castiel is already gone, having returned to Heaven to question Remph

...

Dean looks down at the number on his hand. "She said to call if we had questions, and I have questions."

"Are you we should do that? How do you know she's not in league with Uriel and Castiel?" Sam asks. "Because, I can just tell okay?" Dean replies.

"How? How can you tell?"

Azymis flies in, and plops down on a chair. "Gee boys. With how hard you were thinking about me, I thought you were having wet dreams." he drawls.

Sam and Dean both jump, pointing guns in his direction. Dean lowers his after he sees who it is.

"How the hell did you get in here?"

"I flew in, duh. Angels fly fast enough to phase through solid objects. And I'm the fastest angel in Heaven, so a locked door ain't nothing to me. Sam, could you please put the gun down? What is this, a holdup?"

Sam's jaw ticks, but he slowly lowers the gun. "Who the hell are you?"

"Azymisiel, Archangel of Love, Childhood Innocence, Purity and Wrath. I'm not really in the bible because I didn't really participate with Heaven, just stayed out of the way. I was still a fledgling, though nearly grown. But when they mention Father's Wrath, they mean me. Castiel is my twin, Angel of tears, what you now call abstinence, the death of kings, and Thursday. You can call me Azymis. And I am a guy; most of the time anyway." the archangel replies.

"What do you want from us? Uriel and Castiel want us to stop the seals from breaking, so what do you want?" Sam asks.

Azymis leans forward, adopting a serious expression. "Same as you. To protect my home, and the good people who live in it. I've been living on Earth since The Garden. Seen the humans here flourish and thrive from a handful of primitive people to exquisite kingdoms and countries. I don't want to go back to Heaven. And I'll damned if I'm forced to."

"I'll drink to that." Dean says, tipping his bottle in the Archangel's direction.

"Don' let them bastards get you down." Azymis replies.

"I thought angels were righteous and holy? Why are they such assholes?" Sam asks.

Azymis sighs and leans back. "They weren't always this way. Father was kind, a good dad at first. Everyone was a whole lot holier before. Then Lucifer fell, and everything changed. Father grew distant, and left once the bible was finished. Heaven changed completely then. Most angels were drafted into the garrisons and were trained to be soldiers. Castiel was one of those angels. The drafted angels don't remember much about Heaven prefall, so they don't remember me. Castiel only remembers me because of our twin bond. Whenever he could get away, he would meet me in the Garden. Admittedly, that wasn't very often. First and foremost, the drafted angels are near perfect warriors, though I see now some are corrupted."

"Wait. You mean God's not in Heaven? Then who's giving the orders?"

"I honestly don't know. I checked out soon afterwards. I presume Joshua is, since he's the Voice of God. I guess Father left him instructions; otherwise, they're flying blind. It's a frightening thought; Godless angels." Azymis replies with a shiver.

"Why did you leave Heaven?" Sam asks.

"Once I was able to see Eden for myself, I fell in love with Earth. It was absolutely beautiful; and I wanted explore it all. And soon, I did. I've been all over the world, several times over. I really like this place."

"Really? Earth is better than Heaven?"

"Way better," Azymis crosses his legs underneath his pleated skirt. "Heaven was never home to me. It didn't have the warmth and love that Earth does. I was only 7 thousand years old (which is about 7 in human years), but I knew that I'd stay here for the rest of my life." he tells them.

"And you're really Castiel's twin?" Dean asks, wanting confirmation. The archangel definitely looks almost identical to Castiel, but they have different ranks.

"Yep. We were created at the same time. Cassie was completed half a second early, which makes him the older twin."

"Why do you have different ranks?" Sam asks.

Azymis shrugs. "I don't really know. Father never explained that to us. And we're the only pair of twins who are 'fraternal' in that way. Otherwise, we're identical in both vessel and Grace signature. Remph and Raziel never seemed to know why either," he replies. Azymis stands up. "If that's all, I'll take my leave."

Dean waves awkwardly. Azymis waves back and flies away.