A/N: This was originally inspired by the quote, "It sounded better than, 'nine pieces of whatever we happened to have in our pockets at the time'" from Pirates of the Caribbean III and me wondering what ever happened to the Horsemen's rings. Then it got a bit darker.
You're looking for me. Or rather, what you think I have.
Don't worry, kid. The fear wears off in a decade or so.
I know what you're after. Yes, I can see you looking at my fingers. Here. Look. No rings. Disappointing, I know. Do you even know why you were looking for them? Didn't think so. The last ones trying to stop an apocalypse didn't either.
Oh.
You really have no clue, don't you? Chuck's books must be dust by now. Only a few copies ever printed of the Winchester Bibles, and even fewer kept in a full set. It's doubtful you have more than one. Probably just the one detailing that the rings are important, somehow. Maybe not even that much, or you would have know someone else had tried it before. Too bad; they would have warned you the living cannot sneak up on Death. I always know where you are.
They wouldn't have told you what happened to the rings, though. You'd still have been sitting here with that scared rabbit look on your face either way. Let me shed some light on the situation. They used to exist. The previous horsemen had them, each one unique, bound to their powers. Until my brother and I teamed up with an angel and a demon and took them all.
Yes, I used to be human too.
Y'see, we took them and shoved Lucifer back in the box using the rings – but you seem to know that. What you don't know, what I didn't know either, all those years ago, was that the rings weren't just symbols of their power. They were Lucifer's chains around the Horsemen. Ironic, right? Each one trapping the other.
Like any chains, they couldn't just take them off. They had to wait until some poor schmuck would take them instead, assume the role of Devil's jailors and Devil's bitches. But they had to be careful, because they can't simply hand them off to people who would abuse the power. That's where –
You are a brave mortal, aren't you? Interrupting Death. I used to be just like you.
The rings were destroyed. Once we realized what they meant, we tried. I took Death, my brother Famine. The angel took War and the demon Pestilence. We couldn't give them away, because there was nobody else to assume such responsibility in the interests of Earth alone, over Heaven or Hell. So we bashed them apart and melted them down and threw them in volcanoes. But once the rings were destroyed, the chains just leaped to our most prized possessions.
Ah – I see you're looking for it now. In my case, it's this necklace. Interesting design, isn't it? Legend had it that this would burn hot in God's presence. Cas – War, now – carried it across every inch of the world and it never once heated up.
Tell you what – here. Have it. You've learned that the only side worth fighting for is right here. I trust you to use it prudently. I won't fight you. You can take it, fully aware of the fine print. I can't stop Lucifer – these chains prevent me from overt sabotage. But you can. And after you become the jailor, you become the slave. You can save the world. Question is, can you accept the consequences?