"Oh I do kinda like the idea of just straight up working for an angel..." Are any of the others angels?

They are not. There is a very old and nameless pagan goddess of motherhood who thinks Rebecca would be good at motherhood and should try it. Probably some other 'helping people be mothers' tasks. There's also a pagan goddess Kalstra who cares a lot about women who've been battered, raped, or abused and is under the impression that Rebecca qualifies and stood up real well, would she like to help other women with those situations?

"Uh. To be clear, everything I learn here is a secret I won't share with anyone without your permission."

"That one is super confusing! My family is great and I don't even have a boyfriend or anything!"

"Um," she says, and starts massaging her temples, "that's... worse, actually. I've never known gods to be wrong, but they see the world differently, so... that's going to happen. To you. Eventually. Probably not very long in the future. ...This makes my head hurt even when it's happier prophecies."

"What! Why!"

"I don't know! Prophecy is weird. They try not to say things like this to us because it's so weird. Uh, be careful with your choice of g- boys, I guess? That will probably put it off for a while. Or something. Normally I'd say 'don't worry about it' but actually this is worrisome."

"I guess! I don't think I want scary pagan gods who think I'm a battered mom waiting to happen in my life though." She takes another look at the angel.

"That's fair. Patrons give you gifts - rare artifacts stuck to your soul. Let's see what Selaliel's offering..."

Several things that would help someone covertly watch over someone and sneakily answer their prayers. A Longing Mirror that lets you scry on people, and communicate if they can see your scry-eye. A Master Key, which can open doors even where there aren't any doors. (Even through the Longing Mirror, actually.) Violet Lenses that let you see how people feel about each other, or X-ray or thermal vision. A Nymph Vessel which will pour incredibly pure mineral water or a milky water that cures infections and stress. A HexVPN connection, which is a fantastically good magic internet plan. And a few generally-useful things. A Gem of Renewal, which is essentially an extra life that takes all wounds and damage on your behalf and heals the same as you. A Yaga Root that can grow into a small home which can summon chicken legs and wander around on command. And a pair of Golden Fish - some magic requires the sacrifice (for bright magic, a willing one) of a human or magihuman life, and with a pair of golden fish, every five years you'll have one of their children, and the life of the fish can substitute for a human, for magical purposes perfectly.

"I'm guessing you're not a very sneaky person," Gwen says with a smile. "And she would need you to learn, but give you tools to succeed."

"Why would I need to be sneaky?"

"Because you'd be answering mortal prayers and you'd have to do it without them knowing there was a witch involved."

"Oh, that makes sense. Do I get all this stuff if I work for Selaliel?"

"Yes, and they'll be stuck to your soul - appearing in your hands when you want them, or vanishing when you don't. Patrons are pretty generous with their gifts - one witch I awakened was offered a flying fortress, like a cruise liner crossed with a battleship but as a magic zeppelin instead of a boat. She didn't take it, but it was a real offer."

"Wow. Why didn't she take it?"

"She really didn't like the idea of being dependent on a patron, went with sorceress instead. The patron in question was Spider Anansi, who is pretty much as much of an annoying and callous prankster as stories portray him, so I understood the decision."

"Whoa, he's real too? Is Selaliel good to work with?"

"Most of the gods you've heard of in myths or history are real, though some of them are not exactly the same as described. There are also a bunch of gods that only live behind the Veil. I mostly only know about the archangels collectively, not Selaliel personally, but I've never heard of any of the archangels... using warlocks in ways that betray their consciences. They pick people who believe in the same virtues they do, even if you don't live up to those virtues all the time. And they only give you tasks you can achieve without betraying those virtues. Not to say there might not be shortcuts by doing something a little nasty, but that won't be her goal for you, she'll have expected you to do the harder, better thing."

"I'm not always good at that."

"Well, you'll get practice, if you choose Selaliel. The harder it is for you, the more your magic will grow as a reward."

"Really? Huh. Is there... any downside to taking the cool stuff and the angel boss, besides it being harder to learn all the elemental things?"

"Just because the harder tasks give you more, doesn't make them not hard. And they will get harder, and you can turn down some of the tasks but you can't keep turning them down, your patron won't desert you but they might eventually decide they're not ever going to give you another chance to grow. And even when you reach the limits of your potential - much more than when you start, but everyone does have limits - you'll still have the patron watching and pushing you. I hear it's not pleasant to have an unsatisfied patron pushing you to go questing for them, even when there's nothing actually on the line for you if you refuse."

"I... guess that does sound annoying..."

"Also the magic that has an affinity for warlocks is mostly the creepy stuff. Curses, necromancy, demon-calling. It's not all bad, transformation magic and divination is warlock-y too, as is the angel-summoning magic the Watchers teach their members, but all the creepy magic has an affinity for warlocks so if you're avoiding it, there's fewer low-hanging fruits for you to pick."

"Oh. That... does sound bad." She looks at the magical swag again. "I can decide later, right, if I want to go sorceress or do angel errands?"

"Yeah, even if you tentatively pick it now, you can change later."

She tentatively takes the Selaliel option. "What's next?"