R and R
AN: Another Chapter done. I want to thank everyone sending their suggestions to me for future B.O.A.R. Stories. At the moment I'm trying to make a decision. Once this Story is done and I move onto Reading of Devils of the Void should I do the next one (planned to be Hunter but if no permission is given it will be Pawns and Players of Fate) at the same time? I will make it a Poll that will last until this story is done and if you want to give a reasoning either way PM or Review.
"Now that Cas is caught up we can begin another Chapter." James said as he came back and handed Cas to Harry, who was gentle with the Angel/Cat, before turning to Lily. "While I don't mind you indulging yourself, we were sent this book for a reason and as one of the most analytical here you need to concentrate on it and not the Cat."
"But…" Lily started to protest before pouting at her husband's stern look much to the amusement of the Men, who had the good sense not to show it when the married couple sent a look their way. No one sane wanted to piss off a Marauder and his wife who keeps them in check.
"One thing before we start." Frank said before turning to Loki. "Once we're done on our end of things after this book do you want help on your end?" They blinked before cursing themselves for not offering earlier but weren't too surprised when he shook his head.
"You'll be far too busy dealing with the Aftermath of this Book to help. I appreciate the offer but I'll need to work quickly." Loki said giving the man an honest smile for offering despite the fact he would just be coming out of a war in which many of his friends and colleagues died.
"Why are we here again?" asked Sam.
Jade had all but dragged them to this small restaurant in what appeared to be an Alice in Wonderland costume.
"Japan has an Alice in Wonderland restaurant?" Lily asked in shock remembering one of her favourite films, and later favourite books as she got older.
"Not sure but we could go on vacation after everything is settled and find out." James promised making Lily cheer up despite loosing her dress up doll.
"Because I've heard about this amazing restaurant that's based on the classic bookThrough the Looking Glassby Lewis Carroll, and there is no way I am passing up seeing Loki in a Cheshire Cat costume."
Sam thought about it, before he realized that yes, the Cheshire Cat suited Loki's personality.
They turned to Loki who had changed into one complete with face paint making them all snort in laughter.
"And why am I wearing rabbit ears?"
"If Loki's the cat, then I'm the Mad Hatter and you're the March Hare," she replied.
"Of all the things Jade had to get from Lily it had to be that." Sirius whispered to Remus who grimaced in response only for them both to freeze as the woman in question turned to them with narrowed eyes.
"Is something the matter, boys?" She asked making them shake their heads so fast they almost took off from their seats. "Good."
Well that certainly explained a few things. Like why he was currently in a partial rabbit costume. Again, he was glad Dean wasn't there to see him like that.
Then he realized that there was a downside to being around Jade. He had forgotten about the fans...and cameraphones apparently.
"Oh ho, Big Bad Hunter Samuel Winchester in a rabbit costume on the internet." Loki said with a wide grin ignoring the confusion on the others faces when he mentioned internet. "He is NEVER going to live that down."
Back in America...
Bobby took one look at the pictures of Sam and Jade, and had to beat on his chest to clear the coffee he had inadvertently drank wrong. Oh there was no way he was letting Sam live this down without a fight! He quickly saved the picture onto his laptop before he started dialing other hunters. He could hear Ellen and Jo laugh when he told them where to find the picture.
Yeah, there was no way he was living this down.
Sam was hiding from the world. He had just gotten a rather embarrassing call from Jo at two in the morning. Apparently Bobby was keeping track of him through Jade's website, to his horror. And what was worse was that now Jo and Ellen knew about the March Hare costume Jade had tricked him into wearing.
"Men!" James said making all the adult males snap towards him. "Please give a moment of silence to respect the dearly departed Manly Pride that our friend Sam has just lost." The only sound heard in the next minute while the men hung their heads in mourning was Lily palming her face and Cas giving a confused Meow.
Loki still found the whole thing funny as hell. He had taken to wearing cat ears and carrying Castiel around on his shoulder.
"Look on the bright side Sammy!" said Loki.
"What bright side?" he asked.
"People all over the world know your name?" he said with a cheeky grin.
"I don't think he cares about Fame." Frank said remembering what Hunters did for the most part. It wasn't a glorious calling but one to be respected, as long as they weren't close minded idiots that tarred everything Supernatural as Evil.
"And everyone who knows what I do for a living is laughing at me!"
"Actually according to the fan site, which coincidentally is being visited by more hunters since you've made an appearance, they found it amusing and will mostly use it to tease you with. I can't wait to see the look on their face when they find out what the back drop for the third Raziel movie is," said Jade with a smirk.
"Is she going to tell him?" Remus asked in horror. You didn't give away a Prank to just one of the Victims.
"Given what he's been through I think it is best she doesn't spring it on his like she intended to." Lily said reasonably making him sigh knowing she was right. Sam's life was shit much like Jade's had been.
Loki's sudden increase in actual amusement and the snickers he sent Sam's way did not inspire confidence.
"What era is the third movie going to be set in?"
"This one. Crowley's tracking down one of my favorite new authors to ask if he wouldn't mind us using his series in the third 'Secret Angel' series. He's surprisingly hard to find," said Jade.
Loki rubbed the bridge of his nose wondering when his other would figure out the truth.
"What series?"
"Can I show him? Please?" begged Loki. This was too funny not to pass up.
Lily gave Loki a look to make him settle down. Being the Wise Trickster he is he took the warning with nothing more than a pout.
Jade nodded, and Loki brought out her favorite 'modern' series, considering she was a bigger fan of the classics.
The second Sam read the first paragraph, he choked.
"Please tell me this is another prank of Loki's and not an actual series," he begged.
"I'm sorry my friend but your luck is not that good." Sirius said absolutely seriously before grinning widely. "But at least Misery loves Company and you're her Favourite."
"And just why is Misery a woman?" Lily said with warning in her voice that even a deaf man could here. In a show of Gryffindor Bravery Sirius looked her in the eye as he replied.
"Because only a Woman could be that much of a Bitch!"
"Nope. You and Dean are part of a hugely popular book series!" said Jade.
"This is the setting for the third movie?!"
"It gets better. We're going to have you and Dean play yourselves!" said Loki grinning.
"Yes, because that's going to make him feel better." James said sarcastically before turning to Loki while ignoring his Wife maiming his Best Friend. "Is there anything off limits to your Trolling?" Loki's answering grin caused more than one person to shiver.
Sam looked horrified at the thought. Then he remembered how much he enjoyed the Raziel series.
"So...is there an actual Raziel or was that really something you made up?"
"Raziel is not an actual angel, at least last time I checked," said Loki immediately.
"And you would know," said Sam flippantly. He still didn't like Loki.
"Meh, I can live with that. Although I have to wonder how often my other checked after the First Movie was made." Loki said with a thoughtful look as he imagined the look on the Angel's faces as they heard of the Movies.
Jade looked at her friend/big brother (he reminded her way too much of the twins) and they had a silent conversation. Finally he decided that it was long past time they told Sam the truth. Maybe then he would lay off Loki about what happened at the Mystery Spot.
For a hunter, Sam held onehellof a grudge.
"That's very Punny." A slightly delirious Sirius joked before his consciousness finally gave out. Everyone else decided to ignore his as to not incur Lily's wrath.
"Actually, I would know. Iwasthere," said Loki.
"What?"
"Sam, there's a reason Loki appeared in the first Raziel movie. He heard about the script and when he found out what I was trying to do he had to join in. If only for the irony."
Sam thought that through, and he suddenly pinned Loki with an incredulous look. Loki wasn't sure how he felt about the expression on his face.
"You're kidding me." Loki said in shock knowing exactly what his other was feeling about that look.
"What?" Lily asked curiously. Not many things shocked him so the fact that a look did made them all curious.
"You'll likely find out later. I'm just surprised that's all."
"You're Gabriel. The real one," he said in disbelief.
"Wow, sharper than I expected," muttered said arch angel.
"So you really left heaven because you didn't want to deal with Micheal and Lucifer?" he said in shock. He remembered what Jade had said about the only fake element being her part in the whole affair.
"I know most of my Brothers are absolute pricks but is that so hard to believe?" Loki moaned to the ceiling.
"Perhaps because they don't see Angels as valuing Human Concepts they find it hard to believe that they work similarly." Remus reasoned as best he could given his limited knowledge of Angels other than Zachariah and Gabriel. "The fighting between Michael and Lucifer doesn't help either." Loki nodded as he thought it over.
"Pretty much. Despite how Lucifer acted towards humans, he was one of the few angels who cared about the younger set. He taught me quite a few of the tricks I still use. Lucifer cared about the younger angels, and he was my older brother. Micheal was just too goal oriented and to be blunt, he was kind of a total dick. There was no way I was going to chose which one to side with, because either way I would end up hated by the other one," said Gabriel honestly.
"That's got to be rough." James said in sympathy while keeping pity out of his voice. Loki merely made a noise of agreement in response.
Sam could see why. He remembered the expression on Gabriel's face during the scene where he chose to leave rather than fight his brothers over something he didn't agree with. That hadn't been acting...that was remembering.
"So why remake the entire fight between angels?"
"I kept getting woken up by vivid dreams, so I started making a journal. Eventually I figured, what the hell, why not make a movie script out of it...and Raziel was born. It took forever to find an angel name that I liked which wasn't already taken by another," said Jade.
"Now that I think about it there is a lot of Named Angels but only a few really stick in your head." Lily said with a frown.
"And what about Castiel?" asked Sam.
"Cas here was sent to force me to stop 'Loki' because he was taking out the problem in Europe instead of me. But we set up a ward system geared to keep angels away from me, and he got trapped as a cat. I might remove the curse on him since he has been behaving," said Jade. Cas purred under her scratching hand.
They turned to their own Cas who was giving Loki a pleading look that had James put his hand over his wife's mouth. He did not want to lose his hearing thank you very much.
"Maybe later." Loki said lazily making Cas look down prompting Harry to try and cheer him up by sharing his Lollipop Toy. Cas looked up and gave him a happy Meow as thanks.
"Here's something I don't get. Why did you change your name? I mean that poster Bobby had said 'Erika' on it."
"That's my birth name. Erika Lilian Potter. But I didn't like the way Erika was tricked and turning into a weapon, so I changed it. Erika was played a fool, but Jade took initiative," she explained. She didn't want to think about her old self ever again.
"It's going to bite her in the butt later." Sirius said matter of fact surprising the others that he was up again. It was always easy to forget that he could be quiet when he wanted to be.
"Which reminds me... didn't you leave Crowley a note once he found that author?"
"I told him that in the event Chuck adds our meeting he should use Erika instead of Jade so people didn't know he was a Seer on our end," said Jade.
"So what are we doing tomorrow?" Sam asked. He had to admit, this was the best vacation he had in his life.
"Of course it is! You're with the offspring of a Marauder!" Sirius said getting Harry and Neville to cheer and laugh at his antics, which saved him from another session of Lily's Wrath for shouting so loudly so suddenly.
It was hard to believe this was a research trip for Jade.
"Tea ceremony," said Jade.
"Count me out," said Gabriel.
"I'm in. Coincidentally does Crowley know who you are?" Sam asked Gabriel. Seeing the sudden evil look on his face, he was betting not. "Can I get a picture of the look on his face when he finds out?"
"What is this?! Has Jade and my other corrupted Sam?" Loki asked in mock shock before wiping a fake tear away. "I've never been happier."
"Considering how Crowley would react to the fact he was near Gabriel on a regular basis you really can't blame him." Remus said making all the pranksters nod sagely.
"Absolutely!" said Gabriel amused.
"Want a picture of Dean's face when he finds out an arch angel groped him?" asked Sam. Hearing Gabriel's cackle in response, he took that as a yes.
Sam enjoyed the tea ceremony more than he would admit. It was something Deanneverwould have been able to sit through, and he had to admit wearing a formal outfit was a bit strange, but fun.
Thank god cameras and phones were banned in the area Jade picked.
"Yeah, his Pride is already dead. No need to beat it while in the grave." Frank said with a grimace. That really had to be a pain for the Hunter especially as he had yet to return to America and Bobby was likely going to tease him.
Unfortunately Sam found their 'research trip' (which was really more of a vacation than anything else if you asked him) coming to an end.
That is, until he found out they were going to head to another country. Jade was enjoying her demon-free time and she knew for a fact that there was something up with the Winchesters, so it was better to keep Sam preoccupied until Dean was brought back.
The longer she kept Sam away from Ruby, the happier they would all be.
"Well not everyone. I'm sure Ruby and Lilith will be pulling their hair out over it." Loki said with a nasty grin on his face. He didn't know much about Ruby beyond the book but Lilith targeted children, who were known to be one of his triggers.
"Where are we?" asked Sam.
"Italy. Specifically Rome. Loki mentioned something hilarious about the Sistine Chapel, and there's no way I'm passing up seeing it. Even if the church is a bit miffed about the Raziel movies for some reason," said Jade.
Loki let out a laugh after running that through his head but motioned for them to continue. Why ruin the surprise?
There was a reason why no one had been brave enough to do a movie entirely about angels. Or about heaven.
No one wanted the religious nut jobs after their ass just because someone didn't like the way it was done.
"Yeah, it isn't like the Bible was written right anyway." Loki moaned and the others widely kept their mouths shut. They didn't know what was or wasn't true and considering the 'thou shalt not suffer a witch to live' they really didn't care if people insulted it. Any reasonable religious person knew that some parts were not literal or that the translation changed meanings.
Jade had broken that pattern by making a movie about the war between Micheal and Lucifer from a third-person POV, which was why Raziel had been so insanely popular, because she had shown both sides of the fight. Gabriel had just acted like himself, which had made him popular among the fans because he hadn't exactly been acting aside from his conversations with 'Raziel'.
However some of the clergy didn't like it because the main character had been female. Even if she did try to stay as close to actual events as possible.
"Sexist bastards." Lily muttered while the men wisely stayed silent.
They especially didn't like the fact she had chosen Joan of Arc for the second movie, even if it was an easy choice. Not many outside of France or history buffs had been aware that Joan had been killed by the Church, despite the fact she had done everything with God's approval.
"They're tits like that." Loki said as he had met the Saint once. A sweet girl that should have lived a long life.
Jade couldn't wait to see their reaction to the final movie. And the fact that Gabriel was going to return and reveal where he had been hiding for the entire world to see.
They all turned to the surprised Loki before deciding not to bother him.
"So what was so hilarious about the chapel?" asked Sam.
"According to a certain pagan, there was something hilarious on that panel," said Jade, pointing.
Sam looked. It was one near the center...his jaw dropped.
"Is she flipping them off?"
They slowly turned to Loki who was biting his knuckles as he nodded. That set them all off much to the confusion of the Babies and Cas who shared a look of confusion that would have set Lily off again if she wasn't laughing herself to tears.
"Loki said one of his 'brothers' (and from the way she rolled her eyes he knew she meant angels) took offense to a statue done of him so he spelled the chapel to show the most offensive gesture at the time."
Sam couldn't help it, he chuckled. That was kind of funny.
"So... since we're on the topic, exactly how did naturals hide from the Church?"
"Most moved to new areas, and eventually we just...faded away. I mean the whole hysteria was actually caused by demon-witches. There's a reason why no real magical would dare make a deal with a demon, because they're the reason we went into hiding. The flame-freezing charm...which I totally used to prank everyone in the last Raziel movie for laughs...let us slip past them."
"Wait, is that true here?" Lily asked Loki who waved his hand from side to side.
"It was that and the fact that some Purebloods believed it was their right to rule over those without natural magic. It was what led to Salazar Slytherin hating normal people. They killed his parents and little sister." Loki said stunning them as they didn't know that about Salazar and couldn't really fault him unless he went on a killing spree.
"Wait, you were on a real pyre in that scene?"
"Yup. Crowley set it up because he found it just as hilarious as Loki and I did, and the blue bell flames were totally my doing too. It was actually just a visual queue for the special effects guys on their computers, but the look on the audience's face when they saw Raziel show up from the blue flames and scare the Church..." she said giggling.
That had been her favorite part of the movie. When the computer geeks managed to digitally impose Raziel in the fire ascending and leading to her reincarnation into a new body. The look of shock on the preacher's face was absolutely perfect.
She was well aware that the church hadn't been happy with that one, but to be perfectly honest she could care less what they thought. It was one of the major reasons why the fans loved her movies.
"Too many Movies are ruined by them trying to cater to others rather than letting the Movie speak for itself." Remus said making the others blink in surprise as they didn't know he was a Movie buff.
"He's not wrong." Loki said knocking them out of their shock.
She was entirely unapologetic about what she chose as the subject matter...in this case the unfair persecution of the Church against the Maid of Orleans.
There was also the fact she openly admitted she wasn't religious outside of some nods towards her father's patron god Loki. Her father was a pagan worshiper, and she had no idea who her mother prayed to.
Lily paled a little hoping that it wouldn't come out. James would never let her live it down.
(She later found out that it was Gabriel. She found it ironic that her parents worshiped the same entity under a different name when she finally dared to ask her mother a few years later.)
"Well what do you know?" Sirius said mirth dripping from every word as they all turned to the horrified woman. "Perfect Lily Evans, Bane of Pranksters everywhere, prayed to one all this time."
"Leave her alone Padfoot." James said rolling his eyes surprising her. "So what, it wasn't like Gabriel is portrayed as a Prankster. I don't think that would have changed her mind even if she did know." It was times like this that reminded Lily of why she gave him a chance. It had nothing to do with the fact that he could make her body sing, nothing at all. Okay that was a small factor but it was things like this that allowed her to find out about that.
"So where are we now?" asked Sam a month later. They had spent two weeks in Rome before Jade was swamped by fans, some of whom took offense at the Raziel series.
"Wankers." They all said in unison, all of them annoyed with the idiots that couldn't let anything that differed from their opinion stand. Diversity is what made life interesting.
"Well someone is an avid fan of history...so look around and take a guess," she said impishly.
It looked a lot like Rome, but there were a few changes. It wasn't until they walked into the Parthenon that his eyes doubled in size.
"We're inGreece?"
"Please tell me the Greeks don't exist." Frank pleaded with Loki, who ignored him, as he remembered a fraction of the crap they did.
"Not that big a jump, and to be honest I've always been a fan of Medusa. I used to snake speak you know," she said shrugging.
Actually she still could since Loki had given her the ability back for her birthday last year, but she had never used it since leaving England.
"You're not bothered by her being a Parselmouth?" Loki asked James who just deadpanned at him.
"That's my Daughter. It doesn't matter if she can speak Parseltongue, Mermish or Cockroach. She's my daughter. Besides, I'm a little jealous given some of the non-speaking applications of a vibrating tongue." James said with a wistful look at the end.
Sam and Jade spent hours debating Greek myth, and Sam was surprised to find that Jade openly felt sorry for Hera.
"She was tricked into marrying Zeus, then he goes around sleeping with almost anything that has two legs and a hole behind her back, then insults her by parading his demi-god children to her. I'd be pissed as hell too if my husband or boyfriend chose me then started sleeping around like a man-whore behind my back. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned after all," she said sensibly.
"That's…actually an interesting take on Hera." Lily said in surprise. "I usually didn't like the fact that she went after the children of Zeus rather than Zeus himself. I have to wonder though, if Zeus was castrated would it grow back or would that be the end of it?" The men looked at her in horror for daring mention the C word while they crossed their legs. They just hoped that they could point her at Zeus if she decided to grab a knife.
Sam could see that. If there was one thing she took very seriously, it was loyalty and honesty. If you didn't want her to know something, then it was easier for all parties just to tell her flat out the reason why. Otherwise she was like a shark to blood and found out anyway. And she took betrayal as a personal affront.
"So where were you planning on going next?"
"Egypt. Not a fan of the mythos, but I want to see it anyway."
Sam perked up at that. Jade seemed just as interested in history as he did, which was kinda neat. Dodging fans left and right, not so much. Neither was the demon guard, once they left Japan.
"You know, I get the feeling that they won't get together." Sirius said making the others look at him in surprise.
"What makes you say that?" Loki asked curiously while remembering the look his other got from the Hunter earlier.
"A gut feeling mainly." The Dog in human form admitted. "Sure he was attracted to her, where she not my goddaughter I would be too, but they haven't really built on it. If they were compatible I think that the comfort would be a bit more…" He looked a little sick as he tried to get the word out. "…physical."
"That Ruby Demon would have taken advantage of that." Frank pointed out trying to stop the inevitable explosion from James at the thought of his daughter being like that with anyone, Frank doubted he would be happy even if she found companionship with a woman.
"Jade isn't that cruel but I think Sirius is right. Now why don't we call it a night?" Lily said grabbing Harry and Cas while James sighed and followed with Neville.
"I'm going to have cat hair all over my bed, aren't I?" Sirius asked the room already knowing the answer.