Time for chapter 6. Shorter than usual, but it's been a hectic week. Enjoy!
Chapter 6
Sam kept following the river. There was still no sign of Dean or the boat. For a moment, he allowed himself to get lost in the fear that maybe the boat had capsized. Maybe Dean was in the river. Maybe he was…Sam shook himself out if his destructive thoughts. It could not be that. Whatever had happened, they had been meant to be separated, not harmed. Of course, that was not exactly a comforting thought, either. They were in Tuonela, the Land of the Dead, and they were not allowed to face it together. Why? Who had made sure Sam and Dean went their separate ways? Was it Mielikki, who wanted Sam to finish his third favor alone? Was it Lempo, using the age-old divide and conquer rule? Had it been the land itself? The dead stood alone. Sam and Dean keeping together was an anomaly. And maybe it could not be tolerated.
Whatever it was, Sam had absolutely no intention of going along with it. He would find Dean and they would continue their journey together. And they would go home together.
He stopped briefly to get his bearings then went on, still following the river. He was feeling slightly light-headed and wondered for how long he had been walking. Ole had told him time moved differently in Tuonela. It seemed longer there, and Sam had enough experience with places in the afterlife to know how they worked. He had no idea how much time had passed in the real world, though. How close were they to the deadline Ole had mentioned, anyway? And, more importantly, what would happen if they reached it and he and Dean were still apart? Sam supposed it was best not to dwell on that one, for now. As far as he knew, he still had plenty of time to find his brother, rescue Mielikki, and get the hell out of there.
It was getting dark. Tuonela was always cloudy – at least, that was Sam's experience of it – but this time it seemed that some terrible storm was approaching. Lightning seared the sky. Sam pushed on. He hoped Dean was out of the boat by now and not somewhere in the open. He himself knew that he had to find shelter, but there was nothing but empty fields all around him.
He stopped suddenly. Sam was a hunter, and Tuonela was the kind of land that placed a hunter's instincts on high alert. He had heard something in the tall grass, a noise that told him he was not alone. That he was being followed. Sam grabbed his gun and twisted around. He could see nothing, but he knew there was something out there.
"Who is it?" he called. "Come on out and I won't hurt you."
"No," a voice said from behind. "But we kind of want to hurt you."
Sam froze. He had not heard anything sneaking up behind him and the idea that he had been caught unawares like that terrified him. He twisted round in time to see a hiidet smirking at him. Then, he felt something hit him on the back of his head. His last conscious thought was that they were not trying to kill him. They were trying to get him alive. And the notion worried Sam. They wanted him for something.
xxxXXXxxxx
The first thing Sam was aware of when he came to was the headache that threatened to split his skull in two. The second was the certainty that he was not alone.
His eyes sprang open and he sat up, fighting the wave of dizziness that made the world swim in front of his eyes. He took several deep breaths until the world righted itself once more. Then, he could take stock of his surroundings.
He was somewhere in a small room with stone walls and only a small window above him. The grey light of Tuonela barely made its way in. Mielikki sat at the opposite end of the room, watching him impassively.
"Please tell me you're here to spring me," he said.
Mielikki raised his eyebrows.
"Hardly," she said dryly. "I'm a prisoner myself. And Lempo warded this place against me. I can't get out."
Sam let his head drop against the wall.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Mielikki asked.
Sam shook his head.
"Rescuing you, actually."
Mielikki looked far from impressed.
"What is it you humans say? Bang up job you're doing."
Sam felt himself flushing in embarrassment.
"I would have done better if you haven't separated me from Dean."
Mielikki frowned in confusion.
"What do you mean I separated you from Dean? Why would I do that?"
Sam looked pointedly at her.
"I don't know. Maybe me trying to do you a third favor with Dean there went against your rules."
Mielikki smiled tiredly.
"We do have rules. But sometimes, even we are desperate enough to bend them, Sam Winchester. You on your own are a force to be reckoned with, I won't deny that. You with Dean together are formidable. And I needed the best. Lempo is…Lempo has to be stopped."
"What's Lempo's deal, anyway?" Sam wanted to know. "He's been quiet for thousands of years. Now he wants to establish himself as king of the new world order?"
"There are not many left, are there?" Mielikki pointed out. "And I'm not talking only about Luohi's death. The truth is – you've been killing things that were never supposed to be killed for a very longtime, Sam Winchester. The Princes of Hell, Lucifer, an entire army of angels…an assortment of gods…demons…The world is changing. You're changing it and dragging us along for the ride. You can't blame those that are left for wanting to take the wheel."
Sam huffed.
"So this is my fault?"
"That was not what I said. You are doing the best you can – so am I and so is Lempo. The problem is…in Lempo's case that might lead to the end of the world as we know it."
Sam knocked his head against the wall.
"Great," he muttered. "It never ends."
He met Mielikki's stony eyes and wondered if she was not regretting that circumstances were different and she could not take him out – seeing as he was such a pest to every god in every pantheon imagined.
"Tell me something – where does Elias stand in all this? This is about him, isn't it?"
Mielikki froze.
"About him? I wanted to keep him safe. Pekka was keeping him safe. I knew Lempo could find out Pekka was one of those I bargained with and I was afraid of what else he might discover. I told him to get as far from Elias as he could. He was not pleased."
It was ironic, Sam thought, all the theories from distraught fans about why Pekka had left Apostles of Shadow, he was supposed "because the goddess of hunting told him to" did not even make the top twenty.
"Why did you go to such great lengths for him, though?" he asked. "Elias doesn't even know you. So he says."
Mielikki looked away.
"Sometimes," she began. "It happens that I meet someone – a hunter most of the time. I always tell them who I am – they always know what they're getting into. And we…well, we keep each other company for a while."
That was way too much information in Sam's mind.
"So…" he began cautiously. "Elias…?"
Mielikki nodded.
"His real father was killed not long before I met him. When I realized I had his child I went to a family of hunters that owed me. I asked them to take my son and raise him as his own. They were hesitant at first. They already had a daughter. But in the end they agreed. And they did everything to protect Elias – and when they couldn't, they gave him to Tahtinen, who did the same. I didn't know that, though. For a long time I was certain Elias had died with them. Pekka's third favor was to find out if Elias was still alive. He tracked him down, infiltrated his band…then the next time I met him he told me Elias was happy and had no idea about his legacy – and that maybe we should keep it that way."
"Sound advice," Sam said. "If hunters were to find out…or the British Men of Letters…"
Mielikki eyed Sam carefully.
"What about you, Sam Winchester? You're a hunter yourself. And you have no cause to love me. What will you do when you see Elias again?"
Sam had to wonder if she really knew him as well as she claimed she did when she felt the need to ask him that question.
"I know a thing or two about people expecting you to go down a dark path just because that's what they chose for you at birth," he pointed out. "Besides, Elias is a friend. I'm not going to do anything to him. Right now, I'm having doubts if I'm even gonna tell him."
Mielikki's face cleared.
"You're a good man, Sam Winchester. Seems I've chosen you well."
Except we're both locked in here and I don't know how to get either of us out, Sam thought darkly. And Dean's hell knows where.
He rubbed his forehead tiredly. Suddenly, he stiffened. A jolt of pain passed through him and he gasped, clutching at his head. He found himself trembling, on his knees, with Mielikki's concerned voice in his ears. Sam had no idea what was happening to him. He suspected it was something Ole was doing to his body back at the cabin. And, if it was so, he had no way of stopping it from where he was now.
xxxXXXxxxx
Dean followed Pekka towards the fortress. He had tried to ask Pekka a few times about it, curious about what they would find inside. Pekka had been vague.
"It's surprising you're here, you know," Dean commented. "I was sure people no longer got to the pagan lands of the dead. I thought Heaven and Hell was a given for everyone."
Pekka snorted.
"Not when you've got connections with Mielikki. It wasn't my first choice – but I'll take it. I like the ambiguity of it. I don't have to wonder whether I've done something wrong in life to deserve this place. I'm not doing any kind of penance for old sins. I've let go of who I was – completely."
"And yet you're helping me," Dean reminded him.
Pekka chuckled.
"I suppose it's hard to let go of being a sentimental old fool – despite the fact that was what got me killed."
"What did happen?" Dean wondered. "How did you die, I mean?"
Pekka grimaced.
"I died," he said bluntly. "End of story. Beginning of another, apparently."
Dean knew there was no use pressing on. Pekka was not going to give him more. He supposed he could not blame the guy. He rarely wanted to talk about his many deaths, either.
When the pain assaulted Dean, it was so sudden, he hardly registered it at first. He staggered and then fell to his knees clutching his head. He could feel Pekka's hand on his shoulder, shaking him.
"What the hell's the matter with you?" Pekka asked.
Dean shook his head, clenching his teeth against the waves upon waves of agony that assaulted his body. He caught a glimpse of Pekka's wide eyes.
"It's your body – back in the real world I mean," Pekka discovered. "Something's happening to it…You're dying."
Dean remembered Sam saying something had felt off with Ole. He wondered if the old man hadn't decided to kill them.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Being dead gives you some perks," Pekka pointed out. "You might still have a while yet – but you're dying."
Dean bowed his head. The only thing that was worse than the searing pain was the notion that, if this was happening to him, then it was definitely also happening to Sam.
xxxXXXxxx
Piru watched the two sleepers for any signs that his plan wasn't working. So far so good, though. While Sam and Dean were still breathing, their breaths were slow and almost imperceptible. No one would have been able to wake them up. A doctor would say they were both in a coma. Piru had trapped their souls in Tuonela, and only he could get them back.
He knew he was playing a dangerous game. But Luohi had been right about one thing. The world had overturned itself and had become unpredictable and dangerous. Old allies could easily become enemies. Lempo was looking to overturn him just as much as he wanted to get rid of Mielikki. And Piru needed to survive. Nowadays, surviving meant having the best weapons at one's disposal. The Winchesters were such weapons, and Piru intended to use them. As he had told the brothers while he was playing his game with them back in Gatlinburg, it wasn't personal. It just was.
Part one of his plan was done. It was time for part two. Piru took one last look at the brothers, then turned and walked out of the cabin.
If he had possessed Luohi's ruthlessness he would have done something extreme – such as stab Sam and Dean in their sleep or set fire to the cabin. After all, it was their souls Piru needed and their souls were safely tucked away in Tuonela. But he could not bring himself to go to such lengths. Call him an idealist, but Piru did not believe in kicking those who could not defend themselves. If Lempo stumbled upon the bodies by chance…well, that was a different matter altogether. He could do whatever he wanted to the bodies. For now, their souls still belonged to Piru.
That's all folks. Join me next week to see what Piru's up to (and to get the brothers reunited). Enjoy the rest of your day.