Okay, so after this one, there are two more chapters and then the epilogue.

Love, Keta

Chapter 14: Death's Musician

See, even though I kept singing, I was still crying alone
in the music festival where I danced frantically.
Are the sounds reaching your ears? Romeo, Romeo.
I fell in an almost magical love with a sound,
which I had finally met after years of separation,
before I would fall into a slumber and become cold.

-Skeleton Orchestra and Lilia (Hatsune Miku)

Once the morning comes, there's a box laying on the front porch addressed to the Winchesters that the eldest dutifully brings in, curious and fearful of it at the same time. "What is it?" Dean asks Cas when he sees the angel flinch at the aura surrounding it.

"It holds four powerful objects… I don't know how they got there…"

The loud voices wake Allen from his sleep, making him fall off of the couch with a loud thud. "What's going on?"

"We're not sure… Come see for yourself..." Sam murmurs and picks up the smaller box inside. "This one's for you."

"For me?" The exorcist gingerly reaches out to take it, feeling a dark, familiar energy inside. 'Death...'

His mind basks in silence for a few moments as he opens the gift to find a gothic diamond ring, and then the horseman speaks. 'What is it, little one?'

'What is this?'

'A symbol... All reapers will know that you belong to me and they mustn't hurt you.' Across the established mental link, the dark creature feels the sorrow run through the nephilim and whispers, ' you do not have to wear it until I come to collect you tomorrow... I think that is enough time to say your goodbyes, Amariel.'

'Yes, Death...' Silver eyes slide open as he pockets the ring and then looks up at his brothers. "They're the horsemen's rings: Famine, War, Pestilence... and Death."

Worry crosses Castiel's face as he understands why the objects make him cringe, but he still doesn't understand why they've suddenly appeared. "What's the purpose?"

"The four rings make a gateway to hell, more specifically, Lucifer's cage." Allen reaches out to touch the darkest of the three, feeling it pulse in joy as he cradles it. "I... I made a deal for them."

"A deal!" Immediately, his brothers are jumping to conclusions in their worry for him, especially Dean. "Goddamnit!" His hand grips the albino's shoulder, causing him to since under the pressure. "You should know better! Demons can't be trusted!"

"It wasn't with a demon... It was with Death."

"You made a deal with Death?!" For the first time since Allen returned, Castiel raises his voice, starting everyone. "What did you offer him?"

"Nothing my mother didn't already." Allen sighs and slips the daintier ring on his finger before replacing the other, a shiver going threw him as the link increases and allows him to feel the warmth from Death towards him. "He's going to take me away… Not kill me… It's all I could do…"

Adam's face falls as he realizes that it can't be long before he loses his family. "When?"

"Tomorrow night."

The dawn of the next day comes much too quick for Allen's liking, because he knows that this will be his last on Earth. He spent most of the day before avoiding his father and Tyki while trying to find a way to tell them what he's decided to do, but he knows that they have expected this outcome no matter how hard they've tried to keep him from Death.

"Shounen, why have you been avoiding me?"

Allen's head jerks up from his hands where the ring lies, haunting him. "Tyki…" Upon seeing his sort-of-boyfriend, tears fall down from his eyes, and he launches himself at the Portuguese Noah. "I'm sorry!"

"For wha-" Tyki's voice trails off when he notices the ring himself, anger flaring up inside of him, but it isn't directed at the albino. "He conned you into that, didn't he?"

"No!" Allen cries. "It was my decision!"

Golden eyes search out silver ones, not sure about what to do when he sees the truth there. "Allen… When?"

"Tonight." He leans into the Noah, clinging to an sense of familiarity he can find. In a few hours, it'll all be new, and that terrifies him.

"Then, let's make it count."

When the sun begins to sink, Allen returns to his family, finding his father's grave face among those there. "Amariel…"

"Hi… Have you come to say goodbye?"

"Yes…" Adam Millennium's face is stricken, matching the Winchesters, Castiel, and the rest of the Noah family. "I should have told you about him earlier. Your mother felt like she had no choice, you have to know that."

"I do… Death told me that it was to protect you. He told me that the other angels were going to kill you to keep me from ever being born."

Luminescent yellow eyes stare after a beautiful woman, curious as to why she's come to find him. "Hello, Alice."

"I need your help."

Whatever the Angel of Death was expecting, this wasn't it. "What's wrong?"

"I need you to protect Adam… The others are contemplating killing him to prevent us from ever having a child; they really don't want a nephilim on Earth."

The dark creature's eyes widen, not expecting that, and to show that they're on equal ground during this negotiation, he pulls down his hood. "What's in it for me, Allie?"

"My first-born... Just treat him or her nicely."

"I will, my friend." He reaches out to touch her face, marveling in the softness of the angel's skin. "I hope he or she looks and acts like you."

"Death... I-"

He smiles and murmurs, "it's alright. I love you and always will... But you and Adam are wonderful."

Silver eyes widen as a foreboding presence suddenly appears behind him. "Hello, Amariel."

"Death... Is it time?"

"Yes. Have you said your goodbyes?"

"Yes..." Allen extends his hand, showing off the ring binding him to Death. "I'm ready."

"Good..."

Adam steps forward, anger and sorrow in his eyes. "Please… Don't take him away."

Death grinds his teeth and pulls the albino to him. "You got my Alice! She was always mine and you took her from me! Now Amariel is mine!" He tucks the boy's head beneath his chin and smile, seeming not to notice as his new companion flinches. "Now, we'll take our leave." And they're gone.