Heaven is not a physical place one can reach. It is a part of the universe, but inaccessible to most. The physical universe and the other realms, such as Heaven, Eden, Hell, Purgatory, The Realms of the Sephirot, and Limbo, are all stacked on top of each other, like the layers of a cake. Moving from one layer to the next is less about physical travel, as it is reorienting which direction is “up” to you.
Humans cannot do this without help, even as souls. It is an ability reserved to God, the Angels, and a few categories of Demons, such as Succubi. Other Demons must be summoned or called from Hell (though they can easily return)...for the most part. A few high-ranking Demons possess the ability to travel the worlds, either under their own power, or by using the Backroads.
When God Created the universe, it didn't exist yet. All that existed was the Void, a place lacking energy, mostly empty, with floating bits of protomatter. The Void is seemingly infinite, and the universe exists within it. This means, if one were to leave the physical universe, you would find yourself in what remains of the Void.
From here, you could theoretically re-enter the universe at any point, even at different times, if one knows the trick to it. However, it is far easier to become lost in the Void, never to return. God lost several Angels that way before creating the Backroads- preset routes that, if followed, will lead you specific locations of importance.
Even most Angels, and fewer Demons, knew about the existence of the Backroads. Ironically, Raphael didn't even know about them (and she knew much) until 1981.
She'd been on a date with Raziel, the wisest of all the Angels. Raziel had been an Ophanim, or Throne, an Angel with a bizarre true form- in Raziel's case, twin rotating wheels, one inside the other, with rows of eyes on the outside rim of the wheels.
Raphael's Ban, as the divine decree was known, had changed all that. Now Raziel had a humanoid form, and she had become endlessly fascinated with humans and their culture. Taking the form of a brunette girl of 20, Raziel had asked Raphael to go with her to see a new movie.
Raphael had always liked Raziel- she didn't hold Raphael in any awe, or feel the need to show her any special respect. That's because Raziel understood- she was regarded by other Angels with abject terror.
Raziel knew just about everything there is to know, and the burden of all that knowledge was that it made other Angels nervous as...heck. Which was really unfortunate, because Raziel was gentle, soft-spoken, and a great listener.
They had gotten some looks as they had entered. Raziel's human form, while pretty, was a little unassuming. She dressed like a college nerd, complete with glasses. Raphael was still using her previous form at this time- a tall and positively radiant blonde girl of 18 (it was some time after this that Raphael decided her friend had the right idea, and adopted a less conspicuous appearance).
The movie was called 'Time Bandits', and it had been directed by Terry Gilliam, of Monty Python fame. So Raphael was expecting it to be rather absurd, but by the end, even though some of the plot points had eluded her, she rather liked it. It was rather charming.
But Raziel, afterwards, had gone on for hours, excited about the film. Raphael had been confused, until Raziel showed her the Backroads.
“Think of it. A human mind not only grasped the possibility, but they were very nearly right! And what's more, a map like the one in the movie exists!” Raziel's eyes had gleamed with her excitement.
It was later that Raziel showed her the map, and allowed her to study it. While making a copy was dangerous, Raphael was an Angel, and possessed a rather sharp memory.
Which is why she was traveling the Backroads at the moment. Sure, she could travel to Earth the normal way, but she had another destination in mind.
It took some doing, but eventually she appeared on Earth, ten years ago. As long as she didn't interfere with the past, this was relatively safe- she would remain intangible and out of phase with the rest of the universe, passively observing.
A quantum physicist will tell you that even observing an event can alter the event, but fortunately, Angels are exempt from this facet of reality.
Raphael journeyed to the Ryan family home, and waited until after Gemory left for Hell, Tony Ryan's soul in her possession.
It was unfortunate that she couldn't do anything about it, but from her perspective, those events had already happened. Instead she went to the attic and took a good look at the conjuring circle. It wasn't the best work, but the fact it was functional spoke a great deal about Tony's talents. It was probably copied out of a book, the style was definitely Hermetic in origin. It even featured some Enochian symbols.
Another great mystery- how John Dee and his collaborators had managed to divine even a flawed version of Angelic writing. Called Enochian, after the Angels who descended to Earth at Mount Harmon, as described in the Apocryphal Book of Enoch, the language had been shared with humans in that ancient time, but the knowledge had been utterly lost until Dee published his (rather abridged) version in 1584.
Something about the circle was bothering Raphael. It took her a few minutes to see it, but there it was. One of the Enochian glyphs was a true Angelic sigil. There was no way a human could write that unaided, and obviously, Gemory hadn't.
Someone had gone out of their way to make sure the Duke of Hell would be summoned to this location...and to make sure the circle would retain it's power for the next decade.
“Curiouser and curiouser,” said the Angel.
She returned to the Backroads, and moved forward.
Her goal now was to observe the Succubus Toni when she arrived on Earth. While Succubi could travel from Hell to Earth, they always arrived naked, forcing them to procure clothing until they could restore their strength- such travel was rather taxing to a Succubi.
Rather than bothering to clothe herself, however, Toni elected to remain immaterial (just as Raphael was doing now). Good for spying, obviously, and it used up less energy.
But the Succubus girl could have easily found a human and regained her strength. Angels have many more eyes than can be seen- these eyes have no physical manifestation (well, except for some of the odder Angels, like Thrones), and are typically closed, as even an Angel's senses can be overloaded.
Raphael opened a few of her other eyes, allowing her to perceive the emotions and thoughts of the tiny demoness. Worry. For herself. For her mistress. Is she alright? Does she need me? Will she grow tired of me? Discard me? Love. Unequited.
Raphael settled down to watch. It didn't take long for Amielle to appear. The Angel had also made the decision to be discrete at first, but using her hidden eyes, she was able to perceive the Succubus. The Angel watched for a little while, then manifested, making herself visible.
Amielle's mind and emotions were interesting as well, if a bit, well, incomplex. Must do well. Make Diane happy. Make me happy. Sex with Diane is good. Should I have sex while on Earth? No, must do well. Make Diane happy. Ooh! How adorable! A demon? Is she a Succubus? I want to meet/talk/have sex with her!
Woven in and out of this stream of consciousness, of course, was her love for God. Upon seeing Amielle, Toni's aura lit up, and the two, realizing Gemory was gone, decided to go entertain themselves.
Fortunately, Amielle's senses were not well-trained, so she couldn't perceive Raphael, who followed them, invisibly. Upon finding a hotel room, the two wasted no time in getting to know each other better. Toni quickly found she couldn't feed on an Angel, but rather than break off the encounter, she persisted, and both tried their best to please the other.
For Amielle's part, that was her nature- pleasing others gave her pleasure. But this was all-new ground for Toni.
Raphael gave the two their privacy. Already, the sparks of love were present. It wouldn't take much fuel for a fire to start. What she really wanted to do next was see Incident 01 with her own eyes, but there was no way she could remain hidden.
No, instead, she decided to catch up with Natalie Western after Gemory and her associates left the premises...