When Castiel had thought of castles, he'd always thought of gold and silver, dragons and Camelot. He certainly hadn't thought of a stone mansion on top of a quiet, quaint lake with a stone bridge to connect it to the real world. It was too beautiful to describe with human words and he felt he needed instead the words of an angel.

It was brighter outside than it had been before, and the lake shone with the sunrise of early morning, yellow and gold. The stones were a duller kind of beauty, but he loved them all the same. It was much different from what he was used to.

Dean walked beside him, not letting him get too far ahead or behind. He wasn't stupid and he'd learned from the last time. "Think your dad'll give me the ransom?"

"He is not my father," reminded Castiel. He had no clue why anyone would think that he was the prince, but he had no place to sleep, and he could think of no better place than a castle. "But I am sure that he will give you the ransom, if he thinks I am who he is looking for."

"Cool," said Dean, squeezing his lips together in a way that Cas thought was ridiculous. Then he started humming some high-pitched song as he walked to the beat.

Cas still didn't know what was going on, but he was hoping that he could find a phone when he got to the palace. He had to call Kali, Jo, and Balthazar to ask them what happened and make sure that they were alright.

After a few moments of silence except Dean's humming, they got to the edge of the palace where a grand door was sitting musically in the entrance. He couldn't see inside but he was sure that the interior would be just as grand as what he'd seen so far.

Dean knocked hard on the palace door and the door opened. At first Cas thought that it had been unlocked, but then he saw the girl behind the door, opening it.

Dean gave the girl a look that Cas didn't understand and said "do you have a sunburn? Or are you always this hot?"

Cas realized what was happening before Dean did. He had no idea how Kali got to the castle, or why she was opening the door, but he was also pretty sure that Dean was going to get his ass kicked.

"No," was all that Kali said.

Dean blinked. That must not have been a usual response from girls. "Yeah, I was just..."

"I understand," said Kali cooly. "And no."

Cas offered Kali one of his very rare smiles and was instantly filled with joy. He had been worried that Kali might be hurt, but it seemed that she was unharmed and as wry as ever.

"Where are Jo and Balthazar?" asked Castiel, his smile disappearing as he realized that they were nowhere in sight. One of his friends was alive and well, but he was unsure about the others.

Kali just shook her head. "I don't know and I don't care. Where are we, Castiel?"

Cas was instantly disappointed. He was sure that she would know what was going on. She hadn't been as inebriated as he was. "I am unsure," he told her with a sigh. "I was hoping that you would."

Dean watched them with an incredulous expression.

Kali looked over to the grand stairway, her brown eyes echoed with hints of the gold that surrounded her. Cas didn't think he'd ever seen her without makeup, but she still had a warm glow to her soft skin.

"Stop staring," she said curtly. "Follow me."

Cas looked back at Dean who was being strangely silent, and who had a tense expression on his face. "You know that chick?"

Cas, who did "know that chick," followed her up the grand staircase. It spiraled in a way that Cas thought was unnecessary, but the higher off of the ground he got, the more of the small palace he could see.

The walls themselves were not extravagant. They were white with blue, painted designs, but there were expensive paintings adorning every wall and golden vases expressed the top of the tables made of a silver metal. It was not simple, but he found it as beautiful as if he'd designed it himself. There weren't too many stairs and he soon found himself at the top of them.

In the large, cream colored room, sat the man who would be King. He wasn't handsome, but he was unusual looking. He reminded Cas of his own father before he'd died.

The Trickster was watching who Cas assumed to be the King with an unusually solemn face, as if he were trying to be as Kingly as the King, but was failing miserably. He ran his fingers through his brown hair and said in a light-hearted tone "Cassie's gone bonkers."

Now that Cas knew that Gabriel wasn't some kind of gang member trying to deceive him, he realized the situation a bit better. Clearly "The Trickster" was a Prince, but Cas still had no idea why they thought that he was as well. He was a high school Junior with a mediocre grade point average.

"I would like to object to that statement."

Gabriel turned around as if startled, but he somehow made it look flamboyant. "Hey! There's the mad hatter!"

"I do not believe I am insane," grumbled Castiel.

Gabriel gave him an incredulous look and laughed in a high pitch. "Bitch, please."

"I think there has been a misunderstanding," asserted Castiel. "I am nothing remarkable."

While Gabriel came up with a response to that, the King watched him with a small, sheepish smile that Cas thought was extremely unkingly. He twisted a golden ring on his finger in what seemed like anxiety-if Cas hadn't known any better- and said "Well-um-I guess not really."

Gabriel pressed his lips together but didn't say anything to defend Cas.

Castiel nodded quickly and took a step forward, tapping on his jeans with his finger. "Yes. Do you know who I am, Mr…"

"Chuck," filled in the King.

"Mr. Chuck," finished Cas.

Chuck's eyes darted around and he said "Gabe, would you mind leaving the room? Castiel and I need to," he paused suddenly "need to talk."

Gabriel shrugged with one shoulder and rolled his maple-syrup eyes. He seemed annoyed at first, but soon a fake smile rose to his face. "Only if servant girl comes with me."

"Servant girl," or Kali, glared at him in a way that made Cas sure that Gabriel was going on her hit list.

"Um-sure," said Chuck in a high-pitched voice. "Can you leave? Please?"

Kali glared at Gabriel one last time before walking off with him. Cas was fairly sure that he was never going to see the Trickster again.

Chuck cleared his throat once they were gone. There was an air of nervosity emanating from the King; it wasn't something that Cas would expect from a King, but he didn't think much of it just then. He just wanted to get answers. Where was he?

Cas turned his head to Chuck, but just as he was about to speak, Chuck said "I-I may have messed up."

"What do you mean?" asked Cas, tilting his head.

"You're not my um…" he stopped abruptly again "my son."

"I noticed," agreed Cas, beckoning him to keep talking. It was like pulling a string to get information out of him. Things kept getting stuck in his throat.

"Well I," Chuck giggled nervously "I was casting a spell to look at other dimensions and I may have accidentally sent my son there and you…"

"The existence of magic is highly illogical," Cas informed him.

"Well it doesn't exist in your dimension," said Chuck, swallowing hard. "And that's where I accidentally put my son."

"Suppose I believe you," said Castiel. "That means that your Castiel is in my dimension and I am in his?"

"Um," started Chuck "I guess that's pretty much it. Yeah."

Gabriel hadn't really left the room. Kali had walked out with him, but instead of walking down the stairs with her, he immediately fled back towards the room and put his ear to the door.

Kali told him that he was an idiot and promptly did the same thing as he was doing, the only difference being that she couldn't hear anything and he apparently could because he hissed "well color me purple and call me Celie."

She looked back at him, narrowing her eyes. "What?"

Gabriel just leaned against the door with a raised eyebrow as if he'd heard the strangest news in his life. "How about this, servant girl. I buy you a drink."

Kali thought about this for a moment. "No."

"A martini?" tried Gabriel. "You seem like a martini girl."

Kali paused and tried to talk herself out of it. "...It'd better be a good martini."