I can't believe it… With this chapter, for the first time I've reached the 100,000 words milestone! O_O
(Aprox. date is November 2017)
Chapter 25
The first thing Emma noticed, even before opening her eyes, was the smell; or better said, the lack thereof. In Hell everything stunk, mostly of blood and rotten flesh, but there was also the thick, stagnant smell of heavy parfum that demons used to try and disguise their sulphuric odour whenever they had business in the floor above. But now there was no smell.
The second thing was the noise. When she had been abandoned in her cell, not a single sound had reached Emma ever again. Not even the painful screams or the pleading cries that Hell was supposedly full of. It was like being buried alive inside a mountain, she couldn't hear anything. But now there were a few muted sounds reaching her ears: someone talking, something fidgeting on a chair, someone breathing...
Wait a moment, she was breathing! And breathing is not something you do after dying, right? She may be only three days old, but she knew that.
"Ah-haa..." Emma gasped, finally opening her eyes and sharply sitting up on the bed she was laying on.
"Hey, you're awake," a kind voice spoke to her.
Emma turned her head and saw a blond boy on a chair, with clear blue eyes and a gentle smile, staring at her closely. He looked more or less her same apparent age.
"Welcome back to the land of the living! I know how strange it is, and believe me, that's not a figure of speech. My name is Adam."
The confused and frightened girl licked her dry lips in a nervous gesture so much like Dean's.
"Who are you?" Emma asked, and Adam flinched a little at how raspy her voice sounded.
"There's water right next to you, if you're thirsty," Adam pointed at the plastic bottle on the nightstand.
The amazon looked warily at it, but almost immediately grabbed it and drank the water to the last drop.
"Who are you?" she repeated, wiping her mouth and sounding a bit clearer now. "Are you a demon?"
"No demon could reach this place, unless purposely allowed. You're safe here in the bunker, Emma. I'm just a human. Adam. And... I'm also your uncle."
Emma carefully looked around the room, on guard of the company she had after he introduced himself as her uncle, despite his peaceful demeanour. They were alone, but she could hear noises near enough.
"I only met my uncle for ten seconds, and he was the one that killed me."
"Yeah, that was Sam, not me. I was told the story yesterday, when the archangel Gabriel rescued you and brought you here. If it makes you feel any better, they got me killed too, more or less. It runs in the family, nothing personal," Adam joked. "I've been only recently revived, just like you."
He stopped talking, giving the girl a chance to assimilate the info. Emma stared at him intently, barely knowing where to even start asking.
"You've said... that someone rescued me," she spoke low, almost whispering. "Since the day I died, I was already in an isolated cell. Never saw anyone, never heard anything, but I understood that I was dead. And then, suddenly, there was a warm golden... bluish light lifting me off the ground. Was that the archangel?"
"Yes, that was Gabriel," Adam nodded, becoming serious. "You're not in Hell anymore, Emma. There's a big menace looming over this world though, and Dean and Sam are trying to avoid it. But they need help, and after casting some sort of spell... well, you and me and several others were the ones chosen to help."
"Were you also in Hell?"
"No, I actually was in Heaven," he smiled. "But I'm happy to be here nonetheless. My brothers and I, we didn't have much time together."
"But you've said that they got you killed!" she blurted out, bewildered.
"That's true," Adam admitted. "But it's also true that they didn't want it to happen. And back then they did try to help, but it was already too late for me."
Emma remembered very well her death. Leaving the amazons' lair with a mission to accomplish that she didn't really understand, scared of failing... scared of succeeding. How very shamefully she hadn't been able to contain her tears when facing her prey, her father. A man who hunted creatures like her, not fully human; who instead of killing Emma in the spot, had ordered her to run away, offering a choice; and when he finally had aimed a gun at her, his hand was so unstable that the killing shot had needed to come from another hunter.
Please, don't let him hurt me!
How disgraceful that had been. At least the other warrioresses never knew how weak and pathetic Emma was, or so she hoped.
"Emma," Adam called her, raising from the chair and opening the door. "This bedroom is yours now, but at the other side of this door there are more people. I'm not the only one who has been watching over you. In fact, we're kind of crammed here, but nobody wants to hurt you. So take your time, and when you feel ready to come out, you can meet everyone. There's a maze of hallways to conquer first, but at the end you'll find us. And a plate of food too."
The boy who claimed to be her other uncle left her alone then, leaving the door open. Light and the distorted rumour of voices reached her. Emma stood up slowly. Her heart was beating loudly, every muscle in her body tense and ready to react at any danger, but she sensed none. When she peeked out of her just-acquired bedroom, only the voices becoming slightly clearer indicated the amazon that there was, indeed, someone else in... wherever she was.
She walked down the hallway, carefully listening to the voices. By now it was obvious that some sort of argument about her was happening, but it was difficult to know who was saying what, specially when she didn't know yet the people yelling. Well, not all of them... but there were two voices that Emma distinctly recognized as soon as she hid behind the doorframe to the war room.
"Dean, I don't really think that's a good idea. If you would listen just for a min-"
That was her uncle. Not the younger one that had welcome Emma, but the other. The one who killed her, Sam.
"No, shut the fuck up! I don't want to listen to you."
And that... that was the man who had spawned her: Dean Winchester, the deadliest hunter alive.
"Yeah, that much is evident. But what you intend to do isn't just your usual recklessness, but outright suicidal. She was sent to kill you, Dean! It's tradition... no, scratch that. It's law for them! You can't possibly keep her around!"
"Don't talk about her like some kind of pet," Dean grunted, pointing a threatening finger to his brother. "She's her own person, and I'm not throwing her away again. Not this time, Sam."
"Oh, great. Then let's allow her to complete her task and happily go back to her bunch of monsters," Sam snarled.
Hearing this accusation, Emma felt resentment boiling in her and couldn't help but finally reveal herself.
"A monster?" she repeated, immediately silencing the two men. "That's what you think I am?"
Sam didn't say anything and barely glanced at her for a second, as if he couldn't stand her mere presence; Dean instead looked at her intently, eyes wide open in a mix of awe and dread, and swallowed hard.
"Hello, Emma," he said nervously, expecting anything.
"Hello, Father."
For the littlest moment, Dean let the desolation he felt inside to show on his face, but promptly masked it back. That dispassionate 'Father' was a completely empty word to the amazon, it didn't mean anything to her. It didn't have a single ounce of the significance that such a term held for Dean and Sam about John Winchester, a heartbroken man who fiercely protected his sons, fiercely trained them, and fiercely loved them.
"Technically speaking, amazons aren't monsters," an annoying voice was heard, and nextly Gabriel walked in from the kitchen, eating a plate of dessert that Dean very much hoped wasn't his pie. "Only descendants of Eve are monsters per se, while amazons are enhanced humans due to their pledge to Harmonia. They aren't even sired but born, can be killed like any other human, and live off on normal food. So no, lil' lady, you're certainly no monster right now... but depending on your future actions, you might become one eventually."
Emma studied the newcomer. There was something strange about him, but it was difficult to pinpoint what exactly. So this was an archangel?
"Gabriel, are you sure...?" Sam tried to ask.
"Yes I am, Sammich. Sorry if the fact isn't to your liking, but gentlemen, here I have the pleasure of introducing 'Cherubim' to you. Check her nape yourself if you want... if she lets you."
Her older uncle seemed to consider it for a moment, but in the end he remained in his seat, staring at her distrustfully.
"Gabriel?" Emma uttered tentatively, ignoring the Winchesters and coming closer to the celestial being. "Adam told me that you rescued me from Hell. Is that true?"
"Yes, lil' lady! Amazing Me descended to the depths of the pit and brought you back to the light," he nodded, opening his arms in a grandeur gesture. "But please, don't fall in love with me out of gratitude, as difficult as that may be. I'm already a compromised man."
The girl frowned a bit, not fully understanding the meaning of the advice. Love? What did that even refer to? But either way, she got down on a knee and bowed her head.
"Now I'm indebted to you," she grumbled. "Despite my discontent, I must serve you until my debt is repaid. It's shameful for an amazon to owe anything to anyone, specially a male."
There was silence for a minute, such was everyone's astonishment. Even Gabriel looked unsure how to respond. When Emma stood up again, only Sam dared to say:
"Oh, yes. Totally her own person, Dean."
The older hunter was about to reply something when suddenly the lightbulbs flickered, tale-telling Balthazar's arrival like usually. The moment the angel made himself visible, a second figure that came with him launched at Dean. It was only thanks to an entire life of fighting things bumping in the night that he grabbed in time the wrist of his attacker, stopping the knife aimed at his throat. Both Dean and the assailant fell to the floor in a heap of rage and limbs due to the impetus of the attack.
"Dean!" Sam shouted worriedly.
"What the hell?" Dean cursed, hastily switching their positions and pressing a knee against the other's sternum, effectively cutting his air supply. "What the fuck are you doing, kid?"
Because it was a kid, not looking older than Jack or Claire, or any other of the children that were currently under the bunker roof.
"I'm taking my revenge on you, Dean Winchester!" the boy grunted hoarsely, attempting to breathe. "For killing my mother!"
"Ok, Montoya Junior. Calm the fuck down," Dean ordered, getting off the kid and standing over him, carefully measuring his movements in case he intended to jump him again. "Thaz, care to explain this?"
"As much as he told me, his name is Jacob Pond," the silver-eyed angel answered, not really caring. "He's in a revenge crusade against the big bad hunter that cruelly killed his innocent mum when he was little, or something like that. Considering his greeting, I'll assume you're said hunter, Dee. Congrats!"
Dean cursed under his breath again, rubbing a hand down his face and walking around like a caged animal.
"Yeah, I remember him. Years ago he swore that I'd be the only one he'd ever kill, and for his own sake I hope that he stuck to his promise," he said, earning a hateful look from the boy. "He's a kitsune whelp. How did you even find him?"
"Anunnaki channel," Balthazar simply shrugged. "The 'Dominion' one."
"Just my luck," the hunter sighed, sarcasm dripping of his voice. "The only two kids in Earth that wish to kill me, happen to be part of the people we need to keep around the most. Really fucking awesome."
"I didn't wish to kill you," Emma rebuffed, not knowing what was in motion there. "I had to. I was instructed to do so. What else did you expect me to do?"
Her words, said far from the intention of being comforting at all, still brought a tiny hope to Dean's heart. Perhaps this could work after all? He looked at Sam almost smugly, but the younger Winchester snorted at him, and instead chose to focus his attention on the boy.
"So, you're Jacob?" he spoke to him with a kind and sorrowful voice, completely different to the tone used when referring to his unwanted niece. "I'm Sam. Your mother and I, we used to be friends, somehow. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect her better."
"Sam. I know who you are," Jacob nodded, a bit calmer than before. "Mum told me about you. He said that you were a good man who cared about people's heart, opposite to most hunters. How is it that you're brothers with the man that killed her?"
"I... it was my fault, Jacob. I tried to get Dean off her trail, but in the end it didn't... it didn't work out. My brother didn't trust Amy, despite promising me that he would let her go. I should have made sure that you were safe, but I didn't think... We're hunters, Jacob. Sorry for saying it like this, but hunting inhuman creatures is what we do."
"She wasn't a monster. There must be exceptions!" the boy yelled, enraged.
"There are," Sam agreed, saddened. "To me, your mother was one of them. But she wasn't for Dean, because she had already killed."
Jacob looked at him, and then at Dean. There was clear fury, resentment and frustration painted on his face. His hand still grabbed firmly the knife, his breath was laboured. An unbreakable will to succeed in his goal was emanating almost visibly from each one of his pores.
"I hate you," he spoke directly to the older hunter, carefully putting away the weapon. "And I'm going to kill you. Whatever this is about, at any given chance... I'll try."
Dean didn't answer anything, but the surly look on his face was enough sign of how seriously he was taking the threat.
"Let me get this right," Gabriel's inopportune joking voice flooded the tense atmosphere. "So Deano killed Sam's lady friend against his wishes, and then Sammich killed Dean's daughter out of spite? Gosh, does this family need some hardcore therapy..."
"It's not the same!" Sam defended himself, shooting a dreadful glance at Emma. "She was going to kill him!"
"Yeah, but given the case I could fight her back! You can't say that about the people Amy killed for a piece of them."
"Amazons kill on regular basis, Dean. As tradition! Amy only wanted to save her son."
"Emma tried because she was taught and ordered to. Nobody told your friend to go kill anyone."
"Guys, please. GUYS!" surprisingly, it was Balthazar who called them to attention. "Can't believe I'm being the responsible one, but... don't you think there are more important things to discuss here? Really, no wonder Castiel always looks so stressed. Shouldn't someone explain to these children what's happening and why have we collected them? Because there's still the 'Angel' one missing, and the sooner we find him or her, the sooner I can be on my merry way again."
"I second that," Gabriel supported his younger brother.
Both hunters shut up and nodded, getting their shit together. Dean stared at Emma and gulped hard, not really caring about the kitsune boy. Sam would surely take care of him, but he had more important things to sort out with the young amazon. Feeling a cold grip in his heart, Dean braced himself for what was waiting ahead of him.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The relaxing sound of waves was something he was really going to miss. Since arriving in Australia, and even before he had made contact with his mother, Jesse had taken a liking to swimming in the ocean. The fluid motion of water, the salty taste and the exertion of muscles... There was nothing like that sensation, not even teleporting. It was a feeling of merging with everything.
"Mum, are you ready?"
"Yes, I've finished," Julia answered smiling, closing her huge but only suitcase. "Not that I ever had that much anyway. Now I'm thankful for it."
"Don't you miss the north hemisphere?"
"I didn't leave anything back there. Nothing important, I mean. Only fear and loneliness."
Jesse held out his arms and hugged his mother. Her delicate frame had gained some stance and balance since she reunited with him and they started caring for each other, but she was still a frail-looking woman.
"I love you, Mum."
"I love you too, Jesse. You're my son."
The boy diligently loaded their meagre luggage on Julia's van truck and sat beside her. She took the wheel, but before starting the engine she asked:
"Are you sure it's okay to take the car with us? Maybe your friend's parents won't like it."
"Jack told me that there's a big garage in his house, with more than enough space. I don't think it's going to be a problem."
"Does he already know that we're arriving today?"
"Yes, I told him. And apparently, there are more people who got these strange symbols burnt on their napes."
"Don't remind me," Julia sighed, taking his hand in comfort and closing her eyes. "You gave me such a scare! Never before had anything like that happened to you. When you started to bleed out of nowhere and fell unconscious in my arms I didn't know what to do."
"I'm fine, Mum. We'll be ok once we meet with the others."
"I certainly hope so, Jesse," she whispered.
So many things had changed since his childhood days. He barely remembered his adoptive parents, the couple that had taken him in only to leave him alone more times than not. It wasn't like he resented them: Jesse recalled being well fed, with a nice bedroom and several toys, but also more loneliness as time went by and he grew up enough to take care of himself. He remembered feeling cold inside.
But then he had met two hunters and an angel, and from one minute to the next everything had changed. Jesse had learned the truth, he had learned about himself. There was sadness and fear, abandonment hurting like a hole in his chest, and even more loneliness. Hiding from people because he didn't understand his erratic abilities had been painful, but it had been necessary to prevent hurting someone inadvertently. Hunger and filth had been normal for him, until his mum called out to him for the first time.
Jesse remembered that day as a sunny bright one.
"How far do you want to go?" Julia asked him, interrupting his trip down memory lane.
"Far enough where there are no more huts," he answered, looking out the window to the dirt road. "Where nobody can see a truck disappear."
"Well, it's not like anyo-"
SSCREEEEECCHH!
A sudden massive bubble of dust blew up right in front of them, the shockwave forcing Julia to dangerously manoeuvre the vehicle to avoid being overturn. The tires burned in the road, the brakes pulled to the max.
"Mum!" Jesse screamed, grabbing her arm with a hand and placing the other over the dashboard, making the car stop.
The motor turned off. They both gasped, breathing heavily. There was a figure ahead of them, its shape starting to come out of the dust. Despite looking human, Jesse knew right away that it was a fake. You cannot fool someone capable of seeing your true face, no matter how good the disguise is.
"Mum, stay in the car," he told her, unfastening his belt.
"What?!" Julia shrieked, worrying. "Where are you going?"
"That thing isn't human. We need to get it away from us before going to Jack's."
The boy hopped off the car, cautiously watching the creature that had charged at them. Jesse had never seen anything like it. Vampires, werewolves, djinni, shape-shifters and even some skinwalker here and there... he had seen at least one of each and let them go, they weren't his problem. Hunters existed for a reason after all, and considering that he himself would quite surely be within their field of action, he preferred not to mess with them and remain out of their radar. But this, oh... this totally wasn't any usual prey.
It looked somehow funnily cute. A young man, possibly in his late twenties or early thirties, with tanned olive skin. A cordial smile on chubby cheeks, adorned with dimples, and thin eyes. It reminded Jesse of the people living in the Pole that he had studied at school.
"Look at this," he talked in a strong accent. "At least you, I've been able to locate. Not exactly what I wanted, but a cambion is certainly a prize as good as any other."
"I feel at a disadvantage," Jesse replied getting closer to the thing, but not stopping touching the car for even a second. "You know what I am, but I don't know what are you."
"Really, wouldn't you be the first?" and the creature, unbelievably, laughed. "Up until now, necessary introductions have eluded me... which is something that actually baffles me a little. But I'll humour you: my name is Legion, and I'm what is called a shedim."
If the creature expected some kind of terrified reaction, it was left waiting, because none of that meant a thing to Jesse.
"What is this, nothing at all? Demon child, you greatly disappoint me!" he tsk-ed. "Did you forget to do your homework?"
"My homework consists in maths or literature, sometimes history or chemistry. It isn't about supernatural monsters."
"How could someone like you not possess vast knowledge about its own?" Legion scoffed, not amused anymore. "For a second you made me doubt the usefulness of adding you to my being. But alright, I'm hungry. An ignorant half-demon is still better than no demon at all."
"You feed on demons?" Jesse frowned, attempting to figure out what the shedim was saying.
"I should be feeding on demons, but they are nowhere. Since I was released, I've barely had three or four bites! If I had known that Hell was so low on numbers, I wouldn't have roasted that last Prince so fast. I've been cornered to guzzle a leviathan out of hunger, but even those have suddenly disappeared!"
A mythological picture of a leviathan showed up in Jesse's mind, but for some reason he didn't think it was the same as what the shedim was referring to.
"So now you have come to eat me?"
"See, perhaps you're not so stupid after all!"
"I might not... but you are, if you think that I'm simply going to let myself being devoured. Halem atassar nír kadù!"
Fast as lightning, Jesse threw a wave of energy against the shedim, creating a mirror shield. Because yes, information about ancient beings may or may not be difficult to dig up, but magic? That was another story. There were dozens, hundreds of books he had learned from. Most of them had been silly texts without actual power or knowledge, but also a few of them have been valuable treasures. With his imperfect and erratic abilities, magic had been the best way to learn how to control them.
"Jesse, what's happening?!" Julia shouted, anguished.
"Don't worry, Mum!" he shouted back, holding the barrier. "Get ready, I'm going to teleport us right now!"
"No, wait! It's too much at once, you'll get hurt again!"
"We'll be ok, Mum," Jesse smiled confidently at her. "I promise you."
Holding up the spell, the cambion reached out with his mind in search of his friend.
"Jack, can you hear me? It's me. We're about to go, but I'm fighting an unexpected intruder."
Yes, I hear you. Are you alright? Do you need help?
"No, I can alone. I just need to connect with you and your exact location, so we don't get lost. Are you ready?"
I am. Any time, you can come.
Holding up the protective spell until the very last second, Jesse established with Jack where to teleport the van truck, his mother and himself. With a flash of light, everything in front of the shedim disappeared. Its angered roar was the last thing he heard.
Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Now that every anunnaki channel has appeared, let's recall them all:
Jack - Archangel - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Adam - Principality
Kaia - Authority - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Emma - Cherubim
Claire - Seraphim - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jacob - Dominion
Alex - Virtue - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jesse - Angel
Patience - Throne
