Hello everyone! This is a sequel to *Castiel the Avenger*! There's no way that this would have come about if not for the oh so amazing Bornrider2! They came up with the idea and asked me write it, so this is a collab operation. As such, some parts, or even *chapters*, may be written by me or them. (Not sure yet as we just started [kinda not anymore {I've been procrastinating big one}] this, but we'll sort it all out). If I could put a link to Bornrider2's profile, I would.


Takes place in Thor: The Dark World.

Long before the birth of light, there was darkness. And from the darkness, came the Dark Elves. Millennia ago, most ruthless of their kind, Malekith, sought to transform our universe back into one of eternal night. Such evil was possible through the power of the Aether, an ancient force of infinite destruction.

Algrim, a Dark Elf, approached his leader: Malekith. He spoke in elvish. "Malekith, the Asgardians attack."

The noble armies of Asgard, led by my father King Bor, waged a mighty war against these creatures. But Asgard was not alone in defeating the Dark Elves. Stories speak of a great warrior, more powerful than anyone they'd ever seen, even the King himself. With the help of the warrior, the Asgard ripped the weapon from Malekith's grasp, and without it, the Dark Elves fell. With the battle all but lost, Malekith sacrificed his own people, in a desperate attempt to lay waste to Asgard's army.

"Through their sacrifice we will survive," Malekith hissed to Algrim. "It will not be in vain." The two board a spaceship, leaving the army to their fate.

Malekith was vanquished and the Aether was no more. Or so we were led to believe . . .

A soldier piped up from the bloody and wasted battlefield. "Sire, the Aether. Shall we destroy it?"

"If only we could," King Bor said grimly, "but its power is too great. Bury it deep, somewhere no one will ever find it."


"I'll take my leave," Castiel said, and was gone, leaving Dean growling and yelling:

"Freakin' angels!"

Castiel stood outside the restaurant; a small cafe. Reapers crowded the streets and sidewalks around the area. It seemed like Lucifer was here; all the signs pointed to that. He glanced around, searching for any demons. There were none he could see, so he moved forward. His trench coat swayed behind him, rhythmically following his motions.

The reapers numbly watched the angel as he weaved through their midst. Castiel knew he had to keep his guard up, or else he might end up in the wrong place. He didn't want to be ambushed or attacked. Glancing around, Castiel prepared to enter the cafe, when he heard the faintest sound of wings behind him; only a trained observer could have noticed the disguised angel.

"Heya Cassie!" Castiel turned from his target to see Gabriel waving for him to follow.

"Gabriel, why are you here?" Castiel asked. He walked over to the archangel. His eyes scanned the reapers, keeping a close eye on things.

Gabriel chuckled. "You can't sense it? It's the convergence, Castiel!" He threw his arms out, as if in humored disbelief that his brother couldn't sense it. "This hasn't happened in almost 5,000 years! I just thought maybe you should go check on your little Asgardian friends. You know, the ones that have stories about you and stuff? If you do go, say hi to Loki for me. I love that kiddo!" Gabriel disappeared, leaving Castiel to ponder his words.

The next moment he was in the healing chambers of Asgard, watching as a human was looked over by their healers. Thor was the first to spot him and waved him forward.

"Castiel! What brings you here? Loki is still imprisoned," the thunder god boomed. The others in the room glanced over, questioning who the stranger was, but didn't say anything. If he was with Thor then obviously he was safe. Castiel drifted off, instead focusing his attention on the human. Her soul was pulsing in a way he hadn't seen in almost 5,000 years . . .

"No," he whispered before disappearing to the hiding place of the Aether. All was silent; the force of darkness was missing.

The sheer horror of the situation dawned on him. Castiel's mind flashed back to the war. Images of people dying bloody and being sucked up into miniature black holes, bones cracking and shattering filled his brain, causing him to give a gasp of terror.

In a moment, Castiel was right next to Thor. "The Aether! How did she get it!?"

Thor jolted, taking a step back. "The Aether? But that was destroyed thousands of years ago! What has stemmed this outburst?"

Just then, Odin walked in, looking quite displeased. "My words are mere noises to you that you ignore them completely?"

Thor took his attention off of Castiel and instead directed his gaze at his father. "She's ill."

"She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait." Odin didn't seem to notice the startled angel-who was quite smaller than most Asgardians in the room-standing behind Thor.

"I brought her here so we can help her."

"She does not belong here in Asgard any more than a goat belongs at a banquet table."

Jane sat up, just turning away from talking about the 'Soul Forge.' "Did he just-" She looked at Thor in disbelief. "Who do you think you are?" She glared at Odin.

Looking at her in disdain, he replied firmly,"I am Odin. King of Asgard. Protector of the Nine Realms."

Jane hesitated. "Oh, well, I'm . . ."

"I know who you are." He glanced about idly. "But I do not know who this is!" Kind Odin said suddenly, his attention now on the angel in the room. Castiel looked up, his gaze as stony and same as ever. "Name yourself or you shall be killed!" The King's guards surrounded the seemingly defenseless warrior.

"Father, this is Castiel. He is an ally," Thor said, putting a hand out towards the said man that was currently staring nonchalantly at the spears directed at him.

"Why did you bring him?"

"I didn't. He came here of his . . . own accord."

Castiel ignored the guards and faced Odin. "The Aether is missing. And it's in"-the angel pointed fiercely at Jane-"her veins, pumping through her. I don't know how she got it, but it must be returned to its place."

Odin looked down at the human female laying under the Soul Forge. Quickly going around to her arm, he placed his large hand just over her skin. Red light flickered and shone like sunlight reflecting off the ocean showed through.

"It's impossible."

"Not as impossible as once thought, it seems," Castiel said gravely. Odin turned around swiftly. He began a brisk gait down the halls.

"Come with me."

Odin led them down the hallways toward the Hall of Science. The tree of Yggdrasil sat at the center of the room, but they continued into the library wing. There on a table was a thick book, enhanced with magical properties. The King opened it.

"There are relics that predate the universe itself. What lies within her appears to be one of them. The Nine Realms are not eternal. They had a dawn, as they will have a dusk. But before that dawn the dark forces, the Dark Elves, reigned absolute and unchallenged," Odin began.

Castiel narrowed his eyes. "We should skip the obviously long story telling. Getting the Aether out of her body is the priority."

Odin glared at the haughty angel with a look that would have normal Aesir down on their knees. "And who are you to question my authority?"

"Who cares if this simple human understands what is inside of her? We must destroy the Aether."

"Simple? You are messing with the wrong-" Jane's quickly approaching slap was halted as Castiel flung a hand back, his bright blue gaze still on the King. The woman held back a gasp, settling for a sharp exhale through her nose and her eyes widening.

"There is no way to extract it without killing us. Even I cannot do it," Odin murmured.

Thor tilted his head at Castiel. "Surely you can do it? You've done so much."

Castiel sighed, his shoulders drooping just a bit. "The Aether transforms matter into dark matter. My Grace, in its entirety, is pure soul. If it were to be touched, just barely, it would destroy my being. I don't know how much, but I'd rather not take any chances."

"I see. So there is no way we can extract the Aether from Jane?"

Castiel shook his head. "No."


Castiel sat on a wall, high above Asgard. His feet dangled beneath him, the distant Aesir below looking like ants. A slight wind blew the angel's overcoat array, the straps that would've held it to his body flapping. Two dark blue eyes stared out at the emptiness.

"Castiel."

"I am aware of your concerns," Castiel regarded levelly to the golden warrior standing next to him.

"I believe you should tell the Allfather who you actually are," Thor said. He dropped down to Castiel's level. His cape billowed out behind him.

"Why am I to care who he thinks I am?"

"You are an angel; surely he's heard of you and your kind."

Castiel sighed loudly, earning a questioning look from Thor.

"What's ailing you?" the thunder god asked.

"You may think me just an angel, but do you actually know the legend of the battle between your people and the Dark Elves?" Castiel asked softly.

"Of course I do. Every Aesir does."

"Tell me it." He paused. "Quickly."

Slightly puzzled, Thor gave him a quizzical look but complied. "Well, the Dark Elves wanted to bring eternal night, but we stopped him. King Bor led a legion against Malekith with the help of a warrior. Malekith sacrificed his own kind in the process to defeat our army, and after that, King Bor destroyed the Aether afterwards. Well, supposedly. It's hard to think that now after what happened."

The angel nodded. "Describe the warrior."

"Describe? Surely this is a jest."

"I know your books have some sorts of descriptions," Castiel urged, "now tell me."

Thor exhaled through his nose, thinking. "I heard that the warrior had the heart of a soldier. He was completely battle trained, even though the Asgardians hadn't trained him."

"Go on."

"He had the deepest blue eyes, some said."

"Good. Continue."

"This last part was the oddest, but in a book about the war, there was a report that he was as fast as light. They'd see him one place and then the next moment, he'd have slain ten elves somewhere else-"

Thor stopped talking, his mouth having fell open as the gears clicked together in his mind. Castiel met his gaze briefly before turning away.

"You"-Thor jumped to his feet-"You're the great warrior!"

Castiel stayed where he was. He didn't look up at Thor, just stared into the distance. "Yes."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why would I want to?" Castiel whispered. His gaze fell and Thor's shock changed to worry. "The war was horrible; there was much blood and violence. The devices the Dark Elves had to kill with were demonic. I fought with your kind so the universe would not die. I never said I enjoyed it."

"I am sorry. I didn't know you felt this way."

"Of course you wouldn't. You didn't even know." The angel continued staring at the faraway horizon.

"You should still tell the Allfather. Then he would listen to you! He would trust your advice."

"Maybe so. But I'd rather go without his."

"Why? He knows more than you give him credit for." Thor gave the smaller man a stern glare, which was promptly ignored.

"I don't doubt his knowledge." He paused. "It is his ideals that worry me. He does not know what is going to happen."

"My father does indeed understand the graveness of this situation!"

"Are you so sure? One does not always know what is best," Castiel responded levelly.

"And you are saying you do?" Thor snapped.

"Possibly. But never assume."

"I do not assume, I know!"

Castiel snapped his deep blue gaze up to the Asgardian. "Are you actually saying you know?"

"Yes- wait, why hasn't anyone else mentioned your wings? If they'd seen them, surely they'd know who who you are," Thor pointed out, his eyes narrowing.

"I hid myself. They know not what or who I am. Best it stays that way," Castiel answered absentmindedly with a wave of his hand.

"You've got to be the most stubborn extraterrestrial being I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."

"I very much doubt it."

Thor raised an eyebrow. "The part about meeting you was true. The stubborn part- mostly true. You have your own code and your own rules. You're barely part of this world."

"I'm not. So you are correct." The angel held no amount of mirth in his voice.

"Serious."

"Of course."

Thor watched Castiel for a few more moments. The angel seemed pensive, his hands together and eyes scanning the beautiful Asgardian horizon.

"I shall go for now. Jane is most likely searching for me. I have been gone longer than I intended," Thor said. Castiel nodded silently. He didn't meet the god's eyes nor did he turn his face away from the golden sky. Thor stood quietly, then finally turned away. He leapt from the pinnacle.


Alright, first chapter done. Buckle your seat belts, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.