Chapter 10: World on Fire
Ash was floating in the are. The reeking odor of a thousand rotting corpses reached Sam's nostrils. The city was burning, but there was silence. There were no sirens to quench the flames, no screams for help, no man looked to the sky with hope. Hope had long since died. There was only death, and darkness in this world. It existed only to be torn down. And it was all Sam's fault. It was his hands that had done this. It was his decision that led the world down this road. It was the foolish weakness of one broken soul, and the whole world burned down. There was no one left to make him pay for his mistake. There was no light that could defeat the darkness, and now that all was dead, Sam had grown tired of trying to fight it. He had nothing. Dean was gone. All of the good he had done, was nothing compared to the darkness his hands wreaked. There was no math there. He deserved death 6 billion times over. For his part, Sam would have happily taken such a punishment, his guilt so absolute.
Then through the smoke and gloom, a cloaked figure landed gracefully in the midst of the carnage. Sam did not know. He didn't care to check for life beyond his own. Had he been observant, he would have seen the man was dressed in a blue tunic, with a red cloak fluttering around him as if it had a mind of it's own. The man's smile twitched his facial hair, making him seem sinister in the gloom. Though he was more clever than the usual allowance, and far from harmless, he was not Sam's enemy.
The figure looked around the burning withered husks searching for something. This man was impossible, yet he was here in a place only of death. Suddenly the man perked up, noticing a sound through the silence. He heard crying. I he hadn't known better, he would have thought it was a child. Then in the darkness of a ruined building, he saw something move. He approached cautiously. Moving a large beam out of the way, the man saw the shrunken form of what had once been a tall man. Malnourished, and emaciated, the crying figure's long limbs tangled around each other. The thing was trying to be as small as possible. Long tangled hair hung over his face.
The man crouched down to look the creature in the eye. The creature recoiled backing further into a corner. The man got closer as the creature moaned in anguish.
The man stroked his chin for a moment as if wondering how to handle this. This creature was what this man had been searching for. He felt a great swell of pity for this tortured soul. He knew this had to be handled delicately.
"Sam?" He said.
The figure barely acknowledge him. It shuddered as if it were cold in this fire ridden waste land.
"Sam!" He said again.
The creature looked up, and beneath the sunken face, he saw two pleading eyes. The creature, losing hope again sank into despair. The man advanced and put a hand on the creature's shoulder.
"Sam." The creature looked up again, barely daring to hope. "I think you've been in this nightmare long enough."
Sam recoiled further.
"I know you feel like you deserve this. I know you have done some things you aren't proud of." the man said.
Sam hung his head further.
"But I need you to come with me. I need you to see something, and I promise after that, you will be free."
Sam's sobbing stopped. He looked up, and in the bright glow of the fires above, he saw a man with his hand reached out towards him. Hating himself for wanting an escape from his torment, he reached his frail hand out and took his hand.
The man helped him up, and half supported, half dragged Sam out of the building. Sam barely noticed the man making a circling motion with his hand, and a circular ring of fire appearing before them. They walked through, and Sam was hit with a purifying feeling that brought him back to the strong, healthy man that he was when awake. Sam fell on the ground. It was grass. He never felt something so soothing and wonderful. Sputtering, he looked up to see his rescuer.
"Who are you?" Sam asked.
"Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme." The man said. "But my name is Stephen."
"Stephen," Sam said staggering to his feet. "What happened? What was that? Where are we?"
"We are in your mind, or rather we were. That was your nightmare. I pushed your astral form out of you body. We need to talk, and I'm not welcome in Xavier's school. Don't worry, my promise is still good. If you just watch, I will help you to freedom." Stephen said. "I must say, I have been to the nightmare dimension many times, but yours beat any I've seen. That is one messed up imagination. Although, I guess you don't have to imagine any of it do you?"
Sam observed his surroundings. He seemed to be outside the campus. It was still dark. A full moon illuminated the surroundings.
Looking at the doctor, Sam said, "So you're a witch?"
Stephen looked at him, "Do I look like a hag to you?"
Sam, embarrassed, looked up again. With horror, he saw a flash of white in the gloom. It was LUCIFER! He had found him!
"We have to go!" Sam said to the Doctor. Stephen did not move.
"He cannot hurt you here." he said.
"What?" Sam said a few steps away.
"You are currently inside the Professor's school. He is able to hold that evil thing at bay, but honestly, I think he deserves some rest." Strange said looking at the sky.
"What?" Sam asked.
"You are currently asleep. This is your astral form."
Sam then realized that Lucifer could just walk into an empty vessel. He wouldn't even have to ask for permission.
"Take me back, right now!" Sam said.
"No." Doctor Strange said.
Sam began to panic. "You don't understand. I have to get my body, and get away from these people!"
"And I said 'no'." Strange countered. "You need to see this. It is the only way you will be able to accept it."
Strange then exploded into action. Using hand motions that Sam had never seen, the man lifted from the ground, his cape billowing out. "Lucifer, Son of the Morning! In the name of all those you have tormented, I sentence you to imprisonment in the Dark Dimension for all of time! May you decay in the dark until you are the tortured withered husk we wish you to be!" He yelled.
Sam saw Lucifer's essence immediately change course an fly directly towards them.
The doctor smiled and began a circling motion with his fingers. Moments before the light reached them, a portal opened to a realm of cold and darkness, and Lucifer sailed straight through it. With that, the portal closed, and the doctor drifted smoothly to the ground. He slapped his hands together as if getting dirt off of them, and turned to Sam who was barely able to stand in shock.
The expression on Doctor Strange's face softened. He put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "I brought you here because you needed to see this. He can't hurt anyone anymore. You are free. You can go live a life; you can forgive yourself."
Sam was shaking, not quite believing it was over.
"Where did you send him?" Sam said.
"it is a place much like what you call the Cage. It is the dark dimension. I have spent my whole life making it secure. Apart from my powers, there is one door in that place, and it has been sealed for millenia." He smiled.
Sam sank to his knees. Looking up, he asked, "So it's over?"
Strange smiled. "It's over."