A/N: All right, first of all, I don't know why, AO3 didn't let me know of your comments.
Secondly. thank you very much for your patience.
Warnings: Canon character death.


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Chapter 11

Dust in the wind

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The silence of the night was broken only by Garth's labored breath and the not-so-distant screams of the demons chasing his tail. Word had gotten out and now every demon in the nearby area was after him. A big coughing fit got hold of the hunter, bending him over. His vision was getting dizzy but he knew that he couldn't stop. Using the last of his strengths he got up and continued running. The demons where close now and couldn't afford that.

He stampeded through the door of the abandoned church that had become his headquarters. He threw some more salt to reinforce the line that had been weakened by his coming through. Garth had barely finished salting the door when he fell to the floor. He was safe for now, so maybe he could rest a bit. Just a few seconds, nothing more.

"You're not going to make it," said the demon that he had captured and chained to a chair. "You're going to die before you finish."

He's right, thought Garth through the fog of his fever, but nothing is lost in trying, isn't it?

And with that last glimmer of optimism, he fainted. He remained lying on the church's floor. No one was there to take care of him.

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They were in a motel room in Norfolk, Nebraska. Two motel rooms actually, upon Sam's insistence, Dean had complained for budget reasons and "Come on, Sammy! We're not bunnies, we know how to control ourselves." But Sam had won. Later Dean was pretty much thankful for it. There had been a werewolf case and everything had turned out fine mostly until the creature had jumped over Sam. Before Dean could react, Cas had drew out his own gun -chosen specifically for this case with silver bullets incorporated- and with a cold and calculating expression had shot the werewolf in its head with perfect aim. After over four months as a human Cas had reached again that level of perfection with his aim that made him Castiel.

Dean had stayed gaping at him like an idiot for several seconds, because though he knew that he shouldn't like the sight of Cas with guns -too reminiscent of a future he still was trying to avoid-, man, it was hot. After making sure his brother was fine, he had driven back to the motel room as fast as he could. He hadn't said anything about how he had changed his opinion about having two motel rooms. But much to his mortification, Sam could have a pretty good guess considering what he'd heard through the thin walls of the motel.

"Guys," Sam called them knocking at their door, his laptop in hand, "You awake?"

"Yes," groaned Dean.

"You have your clothes on?" asked Sam.

Before Dean could complain once more to his brother that they were not in fact bunnies, Cas said, "Just allow me to take my lips from your brother's dick."

When Dean opened the door bursting in laughter he found that Sam was red as a tomato. After checking that there was no fellatio going on, Sam spoke. "You're a bad influence on him, Dean."

"He's just learning from the best," said Dean. Cas was sitting innocently in the bed, nothing betraying his expression save for the small smirk curving his lips.

"So get this, this place has been reeking of demon omens for the last six hours," said Sam setting his laptop on the nearby table, and showing them the different sites he'd been surfing through.

"Brandon, South Dakota," read Cas.

"Shit," cursed Dean, "that's close to Jody's."

"I've already called her," Sam told them. "She's fine and she hasn't seen anything strange in Sioux Falls so far. But she says she'll keep an eye in there and in Brandon until we arrive."

"Awesome," deadpanned Dean. "Come on. Let's go," he ordered getting up and pulling Cas' shoulder so they could pack their bags. "See you in ten at the Impala."

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"Nice to see you guys after so long," Jody greeted them when they parked for once in front of an hotel which the sheriff had given them the address.

"Nice to see you too," said Sam hugging her.

"Are you still growing, boy? Just determined to make an old lady like me feel small?" Jody teased him, petting him on the shoulder after they drew apart.

"That's because the Sasquatch keeps eating his vegetables," commented Dean while it was his turn to hug Jody.

When they drew apart, the woman stared at the hunter for a while. She was trying to decipher, in the way only a mother could, what had changed in Dean. She gave up when she realized couldn't figure out if the changes were for good or for worse or both. She broke the moment.

"'s nice to meet you," she said to Castiel. "Heard a lot about you."

"I've heard a lot about you too," said Cas shaking her hand warmly.

"All good I hope," and then Jody turned to Dean with a big grin on her face. "So, congratulations, right?"

Dean froze. "W-who- How-?" he babbled.

"Sam told me," explained the sheriff.

The hunter glared at his brother.

"Hey, it's not like it's a secret," Sam defended himself.

"Oh, you're such a school girl, bitch," Dean scoffed at him.

"You're the school girl over the moon for a guy, jerk," Sam rebutted.

Cas watched the exchange between the two brothers in silence. Jody shook her head. "Boys, boys," she scolded them, "I thought we were here on business." The brothers glared at each other a few seconds more, and then turned their attention back to Jody. "So demons, isn't it?"

"Sadly, it is," Sam sighed.

"We just need to find out where they are and what they want," said Dean.

"And send them back to Hell," added Cas.

"And send them back to Hell," repeated Dean, some tiredness etched in his voice.

So Jody briefed them on all the missing cases of the nearby towns and Brandon. She told them of the most weird cases they got going at the Brandon's police office, for once they didn't had to sneak their way in and they could get first hand information. They wondered what demons could want in such a small and uninteresting town. They didn't had much to go on, but they decided on interviewing the few leads they've got, the most recent missing person cases that seemed to point out to demon possession. Sam and Jody went to interview Kurt Logan's husband, while Dean and Cas went to interrogate the daughter of Miriam Hurley.

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Sam and Jody had left using the sheriff's car. They had just climbed into the Impala, when Cas confronted Dean.

"Are you ashamed of me or our relationship?" he asked, not one to beat it around the bush.

If Dean had been drinking something, he would have spitted it all.

"What?! No!" he said way too quickly and too defensively.

Cas' look told him that he couldn't get off the hook that easily. Don't screw it up, Winchester; thought Dean.

"No, Cas, I'm not ashamed of you... or us for that matter. It's just that-" how could he explain the intrinsics of the society they lived in to an angel that had took years of learning the concept of sarcasm even after being mostly in the Winchesters company. "You're the first guy that I'm with and... I mean, I've been told my whole life that there are certain things a guy doesn't do. And I- I know- that being with a guy doesn't make you any less of a man, but..." he sighed. "There's a difference between knowing and truly believing it, you know?" he hoped that that would be enough.

"I've been told, trained and created to not feel emotions, yet I'm not ashamed for what I feel for you," stated Cas, the harshness of his statement absent in his voice but more than implicit in his words.

"Then fucking congratulations to you, Cas!" exclaimed Dean hitting the wheel. "It's not the same, okay? You don't have society judging you and thinking that you're a pussy just because you like to take it up your ass!" he shouted in frustration.

"All my brothers and sisters think I'm a traitor for choosing you and humanity over them. Not even when I had my Grace, they thought I was worthy of being considered an angel for what I felt for you. They hate me and they want my head."

Cas' eyes bore into his soul and Dean just wanted to cry in frustration. But he didn't because he was a man, and that was the whole point, right?

"No, I- God, I don't deserve you. I don't-" the words got caught in his throat and he couldn't put his thoughts into sentences. Not without sounding like a jerk. "It just- This stuff is ingrained in me. I know, I shouldn't care but I do and- I'm working this stuff, okay?" he sighed and stared deep into those blue eyes. "You deserve way better than me."

There was a shift in Cas' eyes and the next thing Dean felt was Cas' hand at the back of his neck and lips against his. The kiss was deep and soft, full of emotion and reassurance. Dean moaned into the kiss when their tongues brushed together. Soon he was holding to the sides of Cas' head afraid to let go.

"Cas..." he breathed debauched when they drew apart.

"You're everything I ever want, Dean," said Cas staring deep into those green eyes. "And more than what I deserve already."

"Cas, don't," Dean whispered and all he could do was kiss Cas again because words had never been his fort.

It wasn't long until he was straddling Cas, his hips moving on their own, bringing sweet friction between them.

"You know," whispered Cas against his ear, "we never had sex in the Impala yet."

Dean whimpered. Flash images of all the positions that he would like to try with Cas in the Impala came to his mind and he couldn't settle with one. Using the distraction, Cas turned them around, Dean's legs around his waist. He rolled his hips deliberately to elicit moans out of Dean.

Cas was turning into such an expert when it came to sex. He knew exactly what to do, where to caress, what to say to bring Dean apart. Maybe it was because after thousands of year as a virgin he had discovered the wonders of sex and was marveled with it. Maybe it was because he was enthralled by Dean, and like the stubborn mule he was, he was set to learn every single corner of Dean's body and turn him into a moaning mess. Maybe it was both.

Whatever it was the result was still the same and Dean as achingly hard.

"We need to- the hunt-" stammered Dean, barely able to speak coherently with Cas kissing his neck.

"Thirty minutes top," breathed Cas with his voice lower than usual.

Dean was not hard to convince -or maybe he was too hard- as he was soon trying to get rid of Cas' shirt between kisses and moans. They stumbled to get undressed in the reduced space of the car, and somehow they found themselves naked in the backseat of the Impala, Cas holding the bottle of lube and two condoms in his hand. It wouldn't do for Dean to do the interrogations with come dripping out of his ass -though the idea was tempting- and smashed all over his stomach.

"If we weren't so short of time," chuckled Cas, he watched as Dean put the condom in him and stroked himself a few times while he waited for the fallen angel to settle between his legs.

The dark tone full of promises sent a shiver down Dean's spine. His angel's eyes were dilated with lust and a mischievous spark run through them when he grabbed his hips. Strong hands raised his ass from the edge of the seat into the air. Before he would even whelp in surprise, Cas was licking his rim so when he did whelp, he whelped for a complete different reason. The fallen angel alternated between teasing the sides of his puckered hole and eating him out.

"Cas, Cas..." Dean moaned brokenly. This time he didn't had sheets to hold onto. All he had now were strands of dark hair and leather that wouldn't budge under his clumsy hands.

Dean cried out when Cas' tongue finally entered him. The feeling of being stretched open was always to much for Dean, but the fact that it was Cas' tongue made it hotter. It felt like an special kind of intimacy that Cas would want to kiss and suck his most private part. He felt too good to be ashamed when he whimpered when Cas removed himself from his ass.

"You're so addictive," Cas said softly hovering over Dean and kissing him, so the hunter could taste himself in his mouth.

A lubed finger entered him and Dean gasped at the burn. It moved fast inside him, and he moaned wantonly at it, clinging to Cas' for dear life. By the time, Cas had three fingers in, Dean was downright begging him to fuck him. Nothing drove Dean as desperate as a good rimming as foreplay.

"Please Cas. Fuck me now. Fuck," he needed more, so much more.

Cas first penetrated him with a deep stare while he rolled the condom over his dick. Without tearing his eyes from Dean, Cas pushed into him in one move. It burned but the feeling of fullness compensated for it. His nails were scratching new marks on Cas' back, but the fallen angel didn't care. He was too focused on not starting to thrust wildly and selfishly into the tight heat surrounding him.

"Move," implored Dean when he got used to the presence inside him.

Cas complied immediately because he was barely holding it together. At the beginning, he tried to go slow but soon the pace had become brutal. Cas was growing more and more addicted to the moans and groans coming out of Dean's mouth, addicted to the fact that it was him who could make his precious hunter let go so much. He tried to hit on Dean's prostate as many times as it was humanly possible to him. He kissed and sucked Dean's neck, Dean's face, Dean's lips. Dean. Dean.

"Dean, Dean, Dean," he said out load.

He stared at those green eyes that still reflected that beautiful soul and he was getting close.

And Dean was getting close too, overwhelmed by the love shinning in those deep blue eyes. This was home, this felt right. His angel inside him, around him. Both of them together trying to fuse into one. This was where he belonged.

"Cas," cried Dean.

He understood what his hunter needed, so he begun to jerk him off. He watched avidly how Dean felt apart until he came shouting his name over and over again, eventually fading into a whisper.

"Dean," and the name was a broken prayer on Cas' lips as he came too.

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They were still recovering their breaths, when Dean's phone started ringing. He wanted to let it go to voicemail, but this was his brother calling during a case, so he better pick up.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, Jody and I found a lead," said Sam. "Are you done interrogating Miriam's daughter?"

"Hmm... We still hadn't got to it," answered Dean unable to find a proper excuse.

"How lon-" but Sam stopped abruptly when he did the math. "You guys are bunnies," and Dean could practically hear the bitchface through the phone.

"So you said you got a lead?" asked Dean trying to divert his brother's attention from his sex life.

"Yeah," Sam affirmed, also glad at the chance to change topic. "The conversation with Logan was a dead end, so we went to the police station. Jody found a report that someone made a few minutes ago about strange noises they heard in an abandoned church on the outsides of Brandon. It's worth checking out."

"You owe me!" Dean heard Jody shout to the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, tell Jody that we'll take her out to dinner later," answered Dean.

"She said that she'll hold you to it," Sam sighed. "Sadly, you now have to come to pick me up so we can all go to that church."

"Go with Jody," Dean suggested disdainfully.

"She can't go," his brother told him, "she has to go back to her station."

"Sorry, boys!" Jody shouted once more. "If you're still at it tomorrow I'll help you! But I have to go back for today."

"It's okay, Jody, don't worry," said Dean. He waited until he was sure his brother was back on the phone. "So wait there. We'll be there in fifteen minutes."

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They had said goodbye to Jody with the mandatory hugs. Dean had promised over and over again that they would indeed take her to dinner. Cas and Sam had to promise her also that they would make sure that Dean would choose a nice restaurant for the four of them. Then, the youngest hunter was only convinced to travel in the Impala once they had swore to him that the passenger seat had not been victim of any devious activity.

When the bullets had impacted the Impala, perforating the metal and shattering the windows into a thousand pieces, it was only Dean's superior driving skills that stopped them from crashing and spinning into the roadside.

"What the fuck?" Dean exclaimed angrily, "Sam? Cas? You fine?" he asked with his back curved trying to hide most of his body behind the metal of the Impala, but in a way he could still see the road.

"Yea, yeah, I'm fine," answered Sam.

"No apparent wounds," informed Cas.

When he peeked out again to the sides of the road, Dean saw about a dozen persons surrounding them. A single one was standing in the middle of the road.

"So the Winchesters are in the middle of it as always," the guy that was talking was far away, and as night was closing in, his face was covered in shadows. But Dean had enough training to recognize the black eyes of a demon even in the distance. "Why am I not surprised?" said the demon.

"Okay, this is going to turn into a damn GTA," Dean announced.

He pressed the accelerator and went forward with his car. When the demon hit the hood of the car, he winced for the damage his baby was sustaining and all the repairs that she would have to endure.

"The church," said Sam.

"What? You want to confess or something now?" asked Dean.

"No," Sam pointed, "either the demons are protecting something there or they want to get in there for some reason."

"We need to get there, nevertheless," added Cas.

Dean parked the Impala right in front of the church's door to give them some cover from the demons -as well as a fast escape in case the church was extremely crowded with demons-. Despite the rush, it didn't escape to his senses the old van parked a few meters away. One thing was sure, they had company.

In cue, when they were about to kick down the doors, they opened and Garth's face welcomed them.

"I was hoping you guys didn't find out," he said while he stepped aside so the three man could come in. He closed the door after them and turned to face them. "You are Castiel, right?" The ex-angel nodded. "Nice to finally meet you," he said and proceeded to hug Cas.

Garth's eyes were closed, welcoming the warmth, and his smile, though wide as always, had a certain sadness attached to it. Dean stared at Garth and payed attention to his aspect. He noticed the bags under the hunter's eyes and how the skin of his cheeks was sucked against his bones. He got worried about the gray color that adorned his face and that was accentuated by the dim light of the church. He then saw the demon chained to a chair in the middle of the church, and the marks on the demon's neck.

"Garth, what have you done?" his voice was slick with worry.

"What had to be done," shrugged Garth, stepping away from Cas.

Sam looked around and did the math.

"No," he mouthed.

"It's almost done now, anyway," said Garth.

"Garth, you don't have to this. You can stop it now, it's not late," Sam told him, almost as if he was begging him to stop. As he saw it, this was his responsibility, he was the one who started it in the first place and who didn't go through it.

"The doors of Hell have to be closed," stated Garth shrugging with a care-free attitude, as if he was talking about dishes having to be washed.

"And what turns it into your responsibility?" asked Cas who had never met Garth personally. But Dean had told him about the scatter brain hunter. And he knew how Dean was actually fond of him, though he'd never admit it.

"Why not?" said Garth, an edge of sadness appeared in his eyes. "It's not like I matter."

"No, Garth, you matter, believe me, you matter," Sam said, desperate for Garth to believe him, and to stop this madness.

"It's not like anyone needs me," and the true sadness that he had always carried inside him was now fully visible. "You guys have each other, Kevin left and is done being a prophet, Eugenia left too as soon as she was angeled up, and I have no friends. There's no one to miss me."

"We'll miss you, Garth," said Dean, scare to lose yet another friend. This was his fault, he had stopped Sam, he had made the selfish choice. It seemed that no matter what, he would end up losing someone for the cause. "You're my friend."

Garth's smile to Dean was warm. "You'll get over it," he said softly.

"Besides," he added after a while, "I've made it alive this far because of sheer luck. Well, and my mum." When he saw the question forming in the Winchesters' eyes, he continued. "She was a hunter I was seventeen when he ran into yellow-eyed demon's business. Mum traded her soul for me to be safe..." he trailed off. "She's in Heaven now," he added with a smile.

The demon groaned in the chair, Garth checked his watch.

"It's time for another shot," he said.

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Sam had called Eugenia in the meantime, he wanted her to come to help them convince Garth to avoid committing an insanity. She was in Peru, but she had swore that she would fly her wings off to get there. Sam hoped that she made before it was too late.

The time for the last shot was up.

"What have I done?" implored to know the demon, "What kind of monster I am?"

"I won't let you do this," Dean threatened him, his voice slow and heavy with the warning.

"What will you do, Dean? Tie me down?" asked Garth tiredly.

"If I have to," Dean said angrily.

"Garth, please, don't do this," begged Sam. "You deserve way better, please."

"Somebody has to do it," Garth simply stated.

"It doesn't have to be you," said Sam.

"Why not?" asked Garth, grabbing the syringe with his blood.

"We can find another way," offered Cas.

"This is a way," answered the hunter walking towards the demon.

The demon offered his neck for the shot, seeking to be human again, and maybe, a way towards forgiveness too.

Dean had slowly sneaked behind Garth. Using to his advantage that the hunter was distracted while he attempted to give the demon the blood shot, he was about to raise the hand that held his gun to hit Garth in the head with it and knock him out. However, Cas held his arm, gently, but hard enough that he wouldn't let him move it without a bit of a fight that would alert Garth.

The window of opportunity was over then. Garth smiled one last time to Sam, then turned around to direct his smile to the other two. He then injected the blood to the demon and covered it with his hand that he had previously cut. He looked away and said the final words that sealed the spell.

Screams were heard outside, and something alike thunder was heard. Every demon was sucked back to Hell, and the Gates were closed behind them.

On the floor of the church, Garth lied lifeless.

"What have I done? What have I done?" cried the demon now turned human. Dean tore apart his eyes from Garth's body and looked up slowly towards the ex-demon. His eyes were cold, filled with anger and hurt. "Is there anyway that I can seek redemption?" the ex-demon asked looking back at the hunter with desperation.

"Yes."

Dean aimed his gun at the ex-demon's head and shot.

And just like that, with the death of a friend and the seal of a bullet, all the cracks in Dean's soul that had been repaired in the last months reappeared. He had become once more a man without hope.

Dean turned his cold stare towards Cas.

"Why did you stop me?" When Cas didn't answer immediately, he repeated himself. "Why. Did. You. Stop. Me? Why didn't you let me knock Garth out?"

"It was his decision," answered Cas.

"'It was his decision,' says the little puppet from Heaven. Like you didn't manipulate enough people's lives. I don't remember you caring so much about people's decisions when you opened the door to Sam so he could free Lucifer, or when you went all God-like," Dean said with so much poison in his every word.

"How dare you?" Cas' voice didn't raise, just slowed down with anger. "After everything I've done to redeem myself, after everything we've been through, after everything I've done for you, do you still think of me in such fashion?"

"You shouldn't have left Heaven," spitted Dean.

"Guys..." Sam called them, there were tear tracks on his face.

"We have things to take care of," said Cas.

There was poison in the looks he send to Dean. He understood the hurt and anger that the hunter felt. But there was a big difference between understanding and knowing. Knowing that Dean still resented things he long thought to be closed hurt. He had barely known the man named Garth, but he was sorry for his death. Despite not being an angel anymore, and so having lost the capacity to see people's souls, he had gotten good at noticing them in a person's eyes. And he had seen that Garth had a gentle soul. Most importantly, he had been Dean and Sam's friend, one of the few who had been still alive. But after screwing it up for so long, he had learned to respect people's choices. A lesson that Dean still had to learn.

Dean ignored his boyfriend when he bent down to pick up Garth's body. Anger was easier than sorrow.

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Eugenia arrived when Dean was carrying Garth's body across the doors of the church. She helped to prepare the hunter's funeral in silence. She did not spoke when Dean threw disdainful comments at her, nor when the flames started to consume her friend's body. It wasn't until the fire was starting to die, that she finally spoke.

"It's my fault," she confessed, and before Sam could tell her that she shouldn't blame herself, she continued. "I was the one who told him how to do the trials. I didn't thought there was any risk. I told him everything about the show, how it had started and how last season had ended. Everything. I mean, I was just new at this and I just wanted to know that I hadn't imagined it all back then. I just needed him to listen and-"

"But you weren't there when he needed you," Dean interrupted her sharply.

"I know," sighed Eugenia.

"What were you doing in Peru?" Dean demanded to know.

"I was on my way to- It doesn't matter now. I found the answers I was looking for."

"What answers?" Dean continued to press her to speak. He wanted her to find her guilty not just of Garth's death, but also of his fight with Cas, and of every damn thing that was wrong in his life.

"The answers don't matter when you don't even care about the questions," sentenced Eugenia, and she didn't speak again for the rest of the night.

Dean was about to say something more but the look that Cas sent his way made the words die on his mouth. Maybe because he didn't want to make things worse with his boyfriend, maybe because he was tired of fighting, or maybe because he just wanted to mourn his friend in peace. He said no more.

When the last flame finally died and there were only ashes where Garth had been, the three men left. Eugenia stayed, standing in front of the rest of the pyre.

Sam sat on the passenger's seat. Inside the car, neither Cas nor Dean said a word to each other, which considering how angry at each other they still were, Sam thought it was for the best. When they drove past Sioux Falls, Sam said nothing.

Jody never got her promised dinner.

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A/N: Okay, so this is truly the end of the happy times. No, it isn't the end of the smut (there's still a bit more in store) but yes of the happy times. Things are definitely wrong from here on. Again, this sex scene appeared out of nowhere, but suddenly it was there and again, it fit. Up to this point Dean was still talktive, wanting to do things right. Is was something that I had to acknowledge. Dean had grown during season 8, I destroyed him a bit during this fic, but he was temporary fixed after he started beign with Cas. But all that has been destroyed now.
Jody wasn't meant to appear in this fic. But again, suddenly she was in. And I must admit, that when she came out of the story I sighed in relief. I like her, so I'm glad she's out because that means I can't kill her (or so I hope).
Now, Garth. When I pictured Garth in this fic, over a year ago, I pictured him with this in mind: "The happiest people are also the saddest." And maybe, I'm just projecting but I always had this feeling of Garth. Now, while I was writing the handwritten version of this chapter Robin Williams killed himself, reinforcing what I thought. So, Robin, this episode is dedicated to you, thank you for so many laughs.
I tried to approach this from the point of view that Garth's depression finally won over him. He's tired from fighting every day to see the bright side so he gives up. In a way, he's comitting suicide. He's sacrificing himself for the greater good, but he's still killing himself. I hope I represented it well. (I'm not tagging it as suicide, but if you think I should, let me know).
So now, there are only four chapters left. So it means that it's the beggining of the end. This goes very much into a four-chapter ending. All this 11 chapters have been leading to Endverse, and in the next chapter, the Endverse begins.