Chapter 27
"From what you've told me, this First Blade is bad, especially in Dean's hands." Remus stated, "But we do have a more pressing problem at the moment, Sam."
Sam looked up at him. "Great. What now?"
"It's the House Elves, Sam. They will begin their rounds as soon as the children wake and leave for breakfast, and we simply cannot let them see the mess in here. They will go straight to Albus in hysterics."
Sam looked around. It was quite the horror show. "Right. You take the bedroom, I got this in here." Remus nodded and took off into the other room as Sam stood and started pointing his wand and scourgify-ing repeatedly for what seemed like forever. Using the tip of his wand, he pulled the plug up in the tub and let the feted water empty, leaving the sullied clothes and streaks of red running toward the drain.
"Ugh!" Sam protested. "Hey, Remus?" he called.
"Yes?" he answered whilst repairing the damaged curtains.
"What is the other cleaning spell? Not Scourgify, the other one."
"Ah! That'd be Tergeo. Which I will also have to use on these curtains I'm afraid."
"Right. Thanks." Sam pointed his wand at the heap of clothes. "Tergeo!" Instantly the clothes twisted and the crimson mess began draining at super speed. The liquid portion ebbed away and the dried bits cracked, flaked, and disappeared.
The bathroom now looked like nothing was ever amiss. Sparkling tile, clean walls, spotless porcelain. Sam turned off the light and returned to the bedroom. Remus was carrying the chair to the correct side of the room.
'All done here." Sam said.
"Here as well. Now let's go find your brother before he hurts anyone or himself."
"Yeah." Sam nodded. "We don't have much time before everyone wakes -"
The door knob rattled and Sam cut himself off. He motioned for Remus to hide in the bathroom while he positioned himself behind the door. Both holding both their breath and wands at the ready.
The door swung open and Dean stepped through. He stopped short whet he realized his room was not in the same condition he left it.
Sam saw his chance. He shoved the door closed and rushed his brother. Dean turned quickly and caught Sam as he tackled him. The both of them hit the ground hard and fought for the upper hand. Dean rolled Sam onto his back and raised his fist to pummel the intruder.
"No, Dean! Don't!" Sam raised his hands in front of his face and Dean froze.
"Sammy?"
Remus re-entered the room during the skirmish and was now standing just behind Dean with his wand pointed at his head.
"Let him up, Dean." He said calmly.
Dean turned his head enough to see the wand and slowly raised his hands in surrender. He stood and Sam crawled out from under him.
"Look, guys. I know what this looks like. But it's actually kind of a funny story." Dean said.
Sam raised his wand. "Show me your eyes, Dean."
"What? You think I went demon again?"
"You tell me. Show me I'm wrong." he shot back.
Dean took his fingers and opened his eyes wide. "Look! See? No black! Can you put the wands down guys?"
Sam hesitated.
"I'll explain everything. Just . . .stop pointing your wood at me, alright? It's making me uncomfortable."
Sam looked at Remus and nodded the okay, and both of them lowered their wands.
"Alright then."
"What the hell happened, Dean? This place looked like a crime scene." said Sam as he crossed his arms and leaned against one of the bedposts.
"I couldn't sleep. The Mark kept nagging at me. So I went for a walk after everyone was asleep and I found a room. It wasn't there before, it just kinda appeared."
Sam straightened himself. "The Room of Requirement. What were you thinking about?"
"I was thinking I had to find a way to let all these pent up violent urges out without hurting anyone. I thought I could go out to the forest and just tear it up, but then I remembered there were the giant spiders and I'm not about to go out like that."
"The Centaurs would have probably found you before the spiders, and either way you'd have been dead." added Remus.
"So what happened?" asked Sam.
"I opened the door and inside, I . . . I can't explain it . . . but I was back."
"Back? Back where?"
Dean looked deadpan into Sam's eyes. "Purgatory."
Sam uncrossed his arms and took a step toward his brother. "Actual Purgatory or some kind of facsimile?"
"I-I don't know!" Dean shrugged. "I mean, it felt real. The smell. The way the air felt. I spent a long, long time there, and as much as I hate to admit it, it's practically a second home. If it wasn't the real thing it was a freaking perfect forgery."
"Well that explains the Leviathan blood." Sam said, clenching his jaw. "But there's still something you're not telling me."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean said.
"Where is it, Dean?"
"Where is what?"
"You know what."
"If I did would I be asking what this is about? If you got something to say, Sammy, just say it! "
Sam gulped hard. "The First Blade, Dean. I saw the shape of it in the blood. Where is it?"
"That's what this is about?"
"Yeah, Dean. It is. So where is it?"
"It's gone."
Sam and Remus exchanged worried looks.
"What do you mean it's gone? Where did you put it?"
"Gone as in it disappeared. I carried it out of the room with me, I came straight back here. I put it down so I could take off the bloody clothes and it poofed. And that's when I uh . . ." he averted his gaze and pointed to the drapes and chair and all around the room.
"The Room of Requirement." said Remus. "My friends and I, we called it the 'Come and Go Room'."
"You mean the Marauders?" asked Sam.
Remus looked taken aback. "I keep forgetting that you know so much. But, yes, we did call ourselves the Marauders. We found the room in our school days while we were up to our mischief. We even created a special sort of map. But the things we took from the room that were conjured by it, they never lasted. You can't create something out of nothing, you see. After a while they just faded away."
Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "So the First Blade wasn't real."
"I knew it wasn't real when I picked it up. It didn't . . . sing to me." said Dean.
"Sing?" asked Remus.
"The Mark and the Blade are connected. When the two come together it's like, well, not a good thing, but when they are apart they call to each other." answered Dean.
"So what happened? Why the rage when it disappeared?"
"Even though it was a cheap imitation, it gave me a sense of control. The Room did it's job. It gave me exactly what I needed to get it all out. I flipped because that was my outlet and it literally disappeared."
"And how are you now?" Sam asked cautiously.
"I feel great! Better than I have in a while. Whatever it was that was pent up, I think it's gone."
"For now." Sam added.
"Well it's better than taking it out on the kids."
"Okay. Fine. But why did you leave again?" Sam asked.
"To make sure I didn't leave a trail."
"Alright." said Remus. "You have your outlet should you need to use it again. However, you ran a big risk by leaving a bloody doorknob and your room in shambles. Had the House Elves seen what we had, your home and jobs here would have been terminated. And don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Heaven knows I'm not one to pass judgment with my own affliction."
"Thank you, Remus." said Dean earnestly and shook his hand. "And I know, I shouldn't have left it like that. I scared the crap outta you guys and I'm sorry. And I'm fine, really!"
Sam stepped toward his brother and embraced him tight. "I'm just glad you're okay, Dean. I thought I lost you again."
"I don't know how much sleep you guys got, but I'm exhausted." he said patting Sam on the back. He walked over to the drawers next to the bed and opened one. He retrieved a small bottle, popped the cork and drank it. A moment later and Dean shuddered as if his body had been jolted.
"Woo! That stuff packs a friggin' punch."
"Is that the Pepperup Potion?" asked Remus.
"Yeah, why?"
"One of the ingredients is Mandrake." he warned. "Too much of it can cause some unfavorable side effects."
Dean looked at Remus, then at the empty bottle in his hand. "How much is too much?"
"Well, you should be fine if you aren't taking it every day."
What followed was akin to the low growl of an angry grizzly bear that emanated from Dean's midsection.
"Or on an empty stomach." Remus added.
Dean's belly roared again.
"I might need to take a Sick Day. Excuse me." Dean disappeared into the bathroom and the door slammed with gusto. A moment later Sam and Remus exited the room altogether simply to save themselves from the sounds coming from the bathroom.
Once in the hallway. Remus turned to Sam. "Speaking of Sick Days, I have decided to take a few off myself. I need to regain my own strength."
"I figured you might. I mentioned to Severus that you may need to and he said he'd talk to Dumbledore about it."
"Well, it seems you've done my dirty work for me. Many thanks. I am on my way to speak with Albus myself. As for Dean?" Remus looked over his shoulder at Dean's door. "He'll be fine as soon as he gets it all out of his system."
Sam scoffed. "Yeah. In more ways than one."
"One day at a time, Sam. Remember, patience is a precious commodity, and is appreciated by those who need it the most."
"Thanks, Remus. Get some rest."
"I will, thank you. And I'll – uh, tell Albus that Dean is feeling . . . under the weather."
Sam chuckled and the two parted ways. He went back into his room and looked at the mess of books and scrolls on the bed and was immediately reminded of the fact that Severus would most likely be poisoning him later.
Sam groaned and looked at his watch. There was only about 15 minutes left till everyone would start to wake up. He wanted sleep. He wanted food. He wanted more time to study. He wanted to not get poisoned.
He began to pack up his books and research into his bag when there was a knock on the door.
Sam dropped the heavy bag back onto the bed and opened the door.
"What did you forge -" Sam jumped back.
"Hello again, Moose." said Crowley.
The King of Hell let himself into Sam's room with a slow swagger. "All settled in I see."
"What do you want?" Sam asked defiantly.
"I came here on a matter of security."
"Security?
"Well, rather a breach of security. Someone managed a jail break, and naturally, I came to investigate."
"What?"
"Well, I was going to ask my favorite Winchester if he knew anything about it but he is currently . . . occupied."
"What are you talking about Crowley?" Sam pressed.
"Thick as a brick, as per usual. Where do you think you are right now, Moose?"
"Hogwarts. You said you created this world."
"Mm-hm. And how do you think I managed that?"
"I dunno. A spell maybe?"
"Well, yes. But you need a place to put said world. You can't put one world inside of another, it doesn't work that way. Not unless you like black holes. Since I took the throne, I have been able to upgrade my dominion, per se. There is a lot of construction, caution tape, and sheets of plastic in hallways with signs that say 'Do Not Enter'."
"Meaning?"
Crowley rolled his eyes. "I really do have to spell it out, don't I? I created it in an unused level of Hell."
Sam stared wide-eyed at the demon.
"Hell? We're in Hell right now?"
"On the nosey!" Crowley feigned excitement.
"So this jail break you're talking about. Dean actually crossed over into Purgatory?"
"Well it is Hell adjacent. It took a while, but you finally got there! Never doubted ya for a second, Moose."
"That's why the blood didn't disappear like the Blade."
"He's on a roll!"
"Knock it off, Crowley."
"Again. You. No fun."
"Okay so why are you here?"
"Obviously, to stop it from happening again. I can't have anyone here slipping through the proverbial back door of the prison."
"Prison? So. . . all of the people here?"
"Are all lost souls of Hell. With new memories of course. Every single one of them is a deal maker, I own them I get to do with them as I please. I got all the best lookalikes centuries of tortured souls could offer. I complete makeover! And people claim I'm cruel. I gave all these people a vacation from eternal damnation just to give you both some R&R. I really am brilliant."
"Well, even if someone from here did go through, they'd just end up in Purgatory. And then probably torn to shreds."
"Exactly. If anyone is tearing them to shreds it's gonna be me."
"Goodbye, Crowley." Sam said and opened the door again.
"What? No goodbye kiss?"
Sam stood silently.
"Dean would have said something clever." he said and exited the room. "Just make sure that nobody leaves through that portal. Or your vacation here will be a permanent one."