Supernatural: Chronicles of the Order 7
Chapter 29: The Wolf and the Eagle
(DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Supernatural because it belongs to Eric Kripke and Warner Bros. So, enjoy the show! Rated M for graphic violence, adult content, and adult language.)
I was in the war room of the main house of Kelmar Castle as I was facing an inquiry of the events that occurred last night. The assassination attempt on my life was the final straw as Kazuo was most likely to restrict my movements. I was getting fed up with being overprotected as I wanted to return with the rest of my family who were waiting for me in the Cerulean Palace on Targaryen. The boundaries were monotonous as I was backed in a corner by Kazuo's constant watch over me. It was only two of us here as this was a battle of butting heads in which it was always a losing battle against me.
"You're really pushing it Kazuo," I said as I was starting to get angry at him.
"Last night's assassination attempt on your life shouldn't be taken lightly, Sam," he said.
"Nibori saved my life and I used my raw power to save her."
"Nibori's grandmother is a witch and a member of the Vesper Guild. As for her cohort, she had run-ins with your past self in the Elder Days and again in the Sprawl on Lannister."
"You continue to spy on me every day and it's getting old, Kazuo!"
"Don't you dare raise your voice at me!" I see the Brandings of God glowing all over Kazuo's arms as he was wincing in pain. "For far too long, I left you wandering free and for what?! By having everyone wanting the raw power that you have just to abuse?!"
"I know that I've been a target, but I don't like being cooped up like a caged bird!"
"I'm trying to protect you, Sam! I don't want to lose you to the Executive Division and others who would either abuse your raw power or want you dead! This moment has lead to me doing the impossible by going against my own ethics to watch over you and do you know who entrusted me to do that? It was your father, John Winchester, himself who tasked me to protect you and I won't let any other threat hurt you again."
The Brandings of God continued to glow brighter it was starting to cause a strain to Kazuo's body. I had to calm him down as I was desperate to use my raw power to ease the pain he was forced to endure. The Brandings of God were a poison in his body as they were glowing more intense to the point we were being transferred into the past in which we found ourselves in an abandoned building. The place was a derelict as we found ourselves in a hotel that had been slated to be torn down in a few days. Looking out the window, I saw a sign that said Biggerson's in yellow letters and a red background as it was looming over another one that said "Welcome to Sioux Falls." To my surprise, I saw a calendar on the wall with a busty woman in a sexy bikini as I saw the year to be 2017. We have entered into the past as we spotted my past self running from a group of people who were dressed in red cloaks. I had a gut feeling that we were trapped in time until we returned to the present. What we never expected was that the same people in red cloaks were there before, but different, for this wasn't the first time that we dealt with other threats that weren't monsters.
"Something happened," I said.
"It was a glimpse of the past," said Kazuo as he was feeling tired.
"I saw my past self running from some people who looked like the Red Inquisition."
"The Red Inquisition is a lot older than you think and it has close ties with the Old Guard."
Without warning, I saw Kazuo collapse onto the floor as he was coughing up blood. I never expected him to be vulnerable as I gathered him up and took him out of the war room. For a long time, I was butting heads with him, but he wasn't well as I took him over towards the infirmary wing. When we reached an examination room, I gently set Kazuo down on a bed as I saw the scanner turn on to see the damage that was done to his body. He was suffering internally as his body is slowly succumbing to the poison that was emanating from the Brandings of God. After all the constant arguments and strict movements, I only had pity for the one who was overprotective of me as his condition had worsened over the years without telling anyone.
"After all those times of me being the guinea pig…," I said.
"It's a cruel irony, isn't it?" said Kazuo as he was coughing.
"I'm no medical expert, but your vitals are not normal." I see the troubling readings as I was concerned for Kazuo's health. "Your body is slowly being poisoned because of the Brandings of God all over your body."
"My health is not your concern, Sam."
"It is when you're suffering from such a fate in which the Brandings of God are slowly killing you."
"Your bedside manner is more like your father's when he took you in my office on Alecrast. At that time, he was worried for your safety."
I used my raw power as I managed to stave off the poison that was slowly harming Kazuo's body. It wasn't enough to keep the toxins at bay, but I tried further as I decided to slowly draw out some of the poison that was damaging him. With my raw power, I drew out what I could as I saw Kazuo yelling out in pain in which a blackened substance was emanating from him. More and more, I continued to draw out the poison as I instantly took it out the moment I heard footsteps approaching. What I didn't expect was that I saw Odette armed with an empty sphere as she contained the poison that was leeched out of Kazuo's body. She was aware of the malady carefully as she placed a seal onto the sphere. Staring at Kazuo, she saw him to be more frail than I was as he was trying to keep the pain at bay, for it was unbearable for him at this moment. With all that trouble, I saw the Medic General close his eyes as he was tired from undergoing such a dangerous procedure due to the strain that was put on the body.
"You manage to leech out some of the poison, but not the whole thing," said Odette as she was looking at me. "No wonder Nibori sees you as a hero."
"Kazuo's readings are stable," I said as I saw the images on the scanner screen.
"You managed to allow him to cheat death, but not enough to see the toxin out of his body."
"His suffering is far worse than mine and yet I continue to argue with him due to his constant ways of keeping me overprotected."
"The Brandings of God are a swift punishment to those who refuse accept their calling as a prophet of the Lord. Kazuo took the full brunt of it in which he was cursed with those markings for most of his life."
I went towards the closet and grabbed a blanket as I draped it over Kazuo, who was sound asleep after having some of the poison removed from his body. With his glasses removed and placed onto a table, I noticed him tossing and turning in which he wasn't in much pain as he was earlier. I had pity for him after seeing him suffer from a malady that he was forever cursed with, for this was a poison that couldn't be leeched out all the way…
Many years ago…
I was in my bed as I ended up suffering from a cold after wandering all over the place. For someone who was in preschool, I had no choice but to stay in bed as I had a fever. I was completely out of it as I heard the door to my room open. Opening my eyes, I saw Dad rushing into the room as he had Kazuo following him. Both of them were concerned about my health as I was unable to move due to my illness that I had. Dad was worried about me as he felt my burning forehead the moment I was coughing from the cold that I had.
"I need to have a look at him," said Kazuo as he got out his medical bag. "It seems that he went towards Baratheon again due to the reports about a surge of raw power saving the lives of a village."
"I was on a hunting mission to bring down a botchling," said Dad as he was staring at me. "What I didn't see was that Sam was there in which his raw power saved me from being killed by that thing. I would've scolded him, but if he didn't use what he had, I would've never made it for another day. Botchlings are the worst and tangling with one can cost you your life if you're not careful."
"He's four years old, John, but you need to put the clampdown on that room with the red rubber ball if you want to keep him safe."
"He's curious all the time. Last month, he was on Amarna in which he used his raw power to stop a trio of monsters known as the Minions of Set. Dean gets jealous of him, but he also doesn't want him to be harmed."
Kazuo got out a thermometer as he shoved it into my mouth. Getting out his stethoscope, he began to listen to my heart and lungs as he was aware that I had that awful cold. By the time he removed the thermometer out of my mouth, he noticed that I had a temperature of 100.4 and in need of medicine. He also stared at the jewelled sigil on my forehead as it was a sign of luck that even saved Dad from certain doom. With a vial of medicine in his hand, Kazuo opened it up as he sat me up and forced me to drink it down in order to reduce the fever in my body. The medicine itself tasted awful as I swallowed it without vomiting. By the time I was laid back down, I stared at Dad and Kazuo as they were concerned about my health, for I had a long day due to the raw power that was in me.
"Daddy…," I said as I was feeling listless.
"You saved me, Sammy," I heard him say to me. "I would've let your stepmother scold you, but if you hadn't used your raw power to stop that botchling, it would've ended up killing not only me, but other innocents that were in the way."
"I stopped the monster?"
"He's starting to fall asleep, John," said Kazuo. "The medicine is working, but he has to stay in bed."
"He's been through so much. Ever since he was born, everyone has gone after him due to what he has in his fragile body. It's been like this since the end of the Galvanic Uprising four years ago. I worry about him, but his curiosity can end up getting the better of him if he isn't careful."
I closed my eyes as I drifted off to sleep. With Dad and Kazuo leaving the room, I was staying put in my room as the medicine took effect the moment I stayed in the comfort of my futon. What happened to me earlier was a reminder of how Kazuo was concerned about me, for this wasn't the first time that he looked out for me…
Meanwhile, back in the present…
Kazuo woke up as he was sitting up on the bed in the examination room. Standing up, he noticed his glasses on the table as he grabbed them and put them on his face. Staggering out of the examination room, he slowly crept out into the hall as he saw me standing in front of him. I was concerned for his health as I saw him trying to maintain his balance until I decided to help him walk to his quarters. By the time I got there, I gently set him down on the sofa as he was exhausted from enduring the poison draw earlier. What I didn't expect was that Reiko was standing there as she was also worried about Kazuo's health, for she felt pity just as I did.
"Poor Uncle Kazuo," I heard her say.
"I know," I said. "The Brandings of God are an incurable poison, but it can be drawn out and treated."
"I've never seen him so frail before until now."
"I'm not frail," said Kazuo as his breathing felt labored.
"I just leeched out some of the poison from your body," I said.
"The Brandings showed us something. It was a window of the past."
"You're not well, Uncle," said Reiko.
"What I saw was in there was your husband's past self running from the people in red cloaks similar to what the Red Inquisition wore now. After that, we returned to the present, but the Brandings of God are showing me of what was there."
Without warning, I saw the Brandings of God glowing all over Kazuo's body again as I was desperate to bring him back from what was going on. It wasn't long until we returned to the condemned building as we heard footsteps approaching. Even though we were in the past, we had no choice but to interfere as we took refuge in a walk-in closet. We had to hide carefully as we heard the footsteps approaching closer the moment we spotted my past self being carted in here tied up and bloodied. The suspicious people in red cloaks were ready to do their worst as one of them spraypainted the carpet with an unholy sigil. They were ready to do something awful to my past self as I had no choice but to interfere.
"You killed our brethren who were assigned here, but our plans to see you as Lucifer's vessel will come to fruition," said a familiar face in the usual red cloak. "The British Men of Letters was our closest ally against evil, but we have other means for you."
"Your so-called 'brethren' began slaughtering other hunters," I heard my past self say. "I couldn't let that happen after what you tried to do to Jody and the others."
"I've heard of you from Toni Bevell, who died at the hands of one of our own. She had a knack for torturing you, but she had a better advantage in seducing you as well."
"You're like the demons who enjoy twisting things!"
"We're not just for 'fighting evil by moonlight.' We're here to bring back the Devil and you will become his vessel once more."
My past self was dreading the worst as he remembered that moment he sacrificed himself to save the world and endured a year and six months in Hell. I was fearing the worst as I began to pray hard as I was safely hidden in the closet with Kazuo. We were assuming the inevitable as we noticed Jack bursting into the room and was ready to go against the men in red cloaks. We watched the young Nephilim untie my past self and sent the Red Cardinal and his sycophants flying out towards a dimension that appeared out of nowhere. When we saw it close up, we noticed Jack untying my past self as he set him up on his feet. It was a close call as they were on their way back home for now.
"How did you get here?" I heard my past self saying. "You were supposed to be back at the bunker."
"I heard a voice in my head saying that you were in danger," said Jack.
"Was it Castiel?"
"No, it was someone from the future."
Kazuo looked at me suspiciously as he wasn't too happy with me in which he saw Jack walk towards our hiding place. Opening it up, he spotted us in which he bore no ill will towards us. He never saw us before until noticed Kazuo draw out a hidden dagger. I stayed his hand as he was in no condition to do battle due to the lingering ailment that he had, for I didn't want to interfere with the past for too long.
"We mean you no harm, Jack Kline," I said.
"Sam was in danger, and I heard your prayer," he said.
"You have a long way to go, Jack Kline," said Kazuo as he was struggling to stand up.
"You!" I heard my past self say to me as he recognized me from before. "You were in the bunker!"
"We're only here briefly, but we have to return to our own timeline," I said.
"Your past self suffered multiple bruises," said Kazuo as he staggered to him with a first aid kit in his hands. "The Red Inquisition was here before until they resurfaced in our future."
"They were affiliated with the British Men of Letters," my past self told us. "They also wanted me to become-"
Without further hesitation, Kazuo opened up the first aid kit as he took out some alcohol towelettes and began to clean the cuts and bruises on my past self's face and body. Jack never seen anything like it before as he saw Kazuo bandage my past self up the moment he was up on his feet. What he never expected was that I was there as he noticed us getting ready to return home to our future.
"The Red Inquisition wanted you to become Lucifer's vessel," said Kazuo as he put away his first aid kit. "It was written in our records that you faced off against them when you were visiting a close friend and the wreckage of where Bobby Singer's house once stood."
"They were onto me," my past self said. "They attacked out of retaliation for the British Men of Letters who came here."
"It was when they were killing other hunters, wasn't it?" I said.
"Who are the British Men of Letters?" asked Jack.
"They are an organization that show no mercy," said Kazuo. "As the bastard son of Lucifer, you're a target, Jack Kline. Thankfully, you have a better influence from the ones who have morals. In the future, you'll learn more than just morals, but compassion as well."
Without warning, we heard extra footsteps approaching as we had to go immediately. Kazuo was ready to return us to our future as the Brandings of God glowed all over his body. When we disappeared back to our own timeline, my past self and Jack saw the door to the hotel room open up as they saw Castiel coming towards them. He was concerned about the situation as he saw an aura of the future emanating from the closet.
"Was there someone here?" he asked.
"No," my past self answered as he was staggering to keep his balance. "As for the Red Inquisition, Jack banished them."
"They were gonna force Sam to become my father's vessel," he said. "I heard a prayer from the one who looked like him in which I came and stopped the Red Inquisition before they did the deed."
"Dean's waiting for us back at the bunker," said Castiel. "The two of you had a long day."
"I don't feel like going for a beer run right now," my past self said. "After what happened, I just wanna go home."
And so, the group left the building as they were ready to return home as planned. As for what was about to happen next, we had to wait and see in this matter of affairs soon enough…
Kazuo and I were in a condemned home that was charred as I was using my raw power to ease the pain in his body. Even though we haven't returned home to our future yet, we found ourselves in the past again as we were in the place where Bobby once lived in. The burnt remains of his home were all that was there as the sign saying, "Singer's Auto Yard," was on the ground with burn marks on it. Picking it up, I saw it to be caught in the crossfire as I once read about the records of how the Leviathans burnt it to the ground. By the time I helped Kazuo to his feet, we began to observe the surroundings as the sight of burnt books and trinkets were scattered everywhere. I knew of it to be a mess as I also went towards part of a ceiling that had a much advanced Devil's Trap painted onto it. I knew of it to be the Key of Solomon as it was a Devil's Trap that was once used in the Elder Days, for it was a reminder of the past that was once there.
"This was Bobby's house," I said.
"The Leviathan attack was a reminder of how the Winchesters of old and their mentor were dealing with further danger," said Kazuo.
"I know all about Leviathans because I dealt with them on Gehenna. I even dealt with them in the Sprawl on Lannister as well."
"Leviathans are fickle creatures, but dangerous. As for the Vesper Guild, they have the weapon that killed Dick Roman in their archives. Now, if you don't mind…" Kazuo spots a beige Oldsmobile approaching from outside. "We should get going, for we can't linger any longer."
"You're right about that…"
I helped Kazuo as I used my raw power to amplify the Brandings of God on his body. By the time we finally returned home to our future, we were gone as Castiel rushed into the burnt building. He knew of it to be Bobby's place as he saw the walls burnt to disrepair. To his surprise, he saw a wall that remained intact in which the dour wallpaper was peeling off. Tearing off the wallpaper, he saw a mural of me with my raw power and silver hair praying as he was thankful that my voice reached Jack to save my past self from harm. There was a connection of the past and future that was crucial as my presence was set in stone, for this was fate that had a voice to guide all of us indeed.
"To the one from the future," said Castiel. "Thank you for your help. You guided Jack to save Sam from the ones who were affiliated with the British Men of Letters in which they were adamant into forcing him to become Lucifer's vessel again. You prevented a catastrophe from happening and I am eternally grateful that your prayer reached Jack in the nick of time. I never met you before, but I will someday meet with you in the future that you came from."
Castiel shed a tear from his face as he was happy to see hope in the form of my future that was painted in the ruined wall of Bobby's house. As for what was there in our timeline, it was etched in stone as there was a long way to go indeed…
Kazuo and I were back in our timeline as we were in the infirmary wing of Kelmar Castle on Atreides. Both of us were exhausted as we were being examined by members of the Medical Corps in a hospital room. With Reuben on the warpath, he was examining both of us as we were no strangers to our own set of predicaments. With Kazuo examined first, he was struggling with the pain within him as Reuben was injecting him with medicine to keep his condition stable. By the time he was stabilized, Kazuo sat up in the bed he was on as he saw Reuben calling the shots, for he was too weak to chew him out right now.
"You nearly bit a bullet just now," said Reuben.
"I've been to the past," said Kazuo.
"You need to lay down, Kazuo," I said as I was laying on the other bed. "You almost died from going back to our future. Luckily, I used my raw power to amplify the Brandings of God so we can return home to our own timeline."
"You took a bold risk, Sam," said Reuben sternly. "You may have helped Kazuo return home, but the raw power that you have also made you exhausted as well."
"Kazuo should be in the intensive care ward to recover. The Brandings of God may be poisoning his body, but he needs to rest after you gave him the medicine."
Reuben looked at Kazuo as he was concerned for his health. The condition he was in alarmed him as he had no other choice but to relieve him from active duty until he recovered from his condition. I also stared at Kazuo as he was feeling defeated by what was going on with him. I only felt pity for him after suffering from the worst karma imaginable, for this was a fate that could never be reversed, regardless of what was going on so far.
"Kazuo Mitani," said Reuben. "As of now, you're being relieved of active duty as Medic General of the Medical Corps until you're fully recovered."
"No, I won't be replaced by some useless boy," he yelled.
"You nearly died, Kazuo. And for the record, I'm not useless in which I know of the Brandings of God that are etched on your body. I also know of the lore because I have my reasons for delving in medicine and everything else." Reuben unbuttons his tunic and pulls the collar of his shirt to reveal the Winchester sigil tattooed on near his left shoulder. "I have my reasons to help those in need, even you."
"You're not fit for the job as Medic General." Kazuo coughs as he laid down in his bed. "Do you have what it takes to help those in need all over the galaxy?"
"You may have the typical 'it's just a flesh wound' baggage, but I'm not buying it. The evidence that Odette Clarke from the Vesper Guild gave us was more than enough to incapacitate your sorry ass."
"Odette is a witch who happened to get involved when she is on the trail of finding and bringing down Sawney Masbath. There's no need to bring her into our fight!"
"Enough playing around, Kazuo! I'm taking command until you recover from your illness, is that clear to you?!"
Kazuo didn't say another as he was overwhelmed by Reuben's words entirely. He was defeated by the words of my half-brother as he wasn't messing around. Still, I didn't blame Reuben as he was on call to make sure that everyone was cared for. When I saw several members of the Medical Corps wheeling Kazuo out of the room while in his bed, I was the only one remaining as I was also not out of the woods yet. I had my own electrodes on my body as I was unable to move due to my own exhaustion, for I was in the same boat as the one who kept me on a shorter leash.
"You didn't have to act defiant towards your superior," I said.
"Kazuo's illness is taking a toll on his body and mind," said Reuben.
"Is it about the poison that the Brandings of God have wracked him with?"
"Kazuo's suffering is the tip of the iceberg of his ill health. His condition is similar to what your past self has dealt with during the time of the demon trials in the Elder Days. He's been coughing up blood, he has been feverish, and his body has been wracked with pain in which he refused to tell the higher-ups in the Order about his condition. His behavior reminds me of your past self, Sam. In the record books, your past self started experiencing multiple ailments in which he started coughing up blood after he killed a hellhound."
"All this time he was trying his damnedest to protect me too much. Even though it was at the behest of our father, his condition has worsened after we travelled to the past and back again."
I saw Reuben walk towards me as he was seeing the readings of the scanner that was near my bed. Although my readings were stable, I had a hand into prolonging Kazuo's life as I was also starting to get tired. After all that trouble, it was getting hard to process as I began to drift off to sleep. With Reuben near my bed, he noticed me tossing and turning as I was in the throes of either a vision or a bad dream, for I wasn't out of the woods yet…
I woke up in my room as I found myself in a futon with only an intravenous drip inserted into my arm. I was more than likely to get up out of bed until I heard the door open up. To my surprise, I saw Reiko coming towards me as she had a tray of food in her hands. The sight of dango and ginger tea was more than enough to be hungry for as I sat up the moment I was handed the tray of food. The taste of the dango brought back memories as I was happy to have the food the moment I heard my stomach growling.
"You outdid yourself," I said as I finished up one of the dango sticks.
"You were exhausted after you brought Uncle Kazuo back," said Reiko.
"He's been ill for a while and he never told us." Reiko gasps in shock. "The Brandings of God are taking a huge toll on not only his body, but his mind as well."
"He never told us, did he?"
"Reuben knew about it the moment he saw the evidence of the poison that I drew out of Kazuo's body. He's very much damaged in many ways in which no angel or member of the Medical Corps can heal. The Brandings of God are killing him and there's no way to reverse the damage that is ravaging him."
"It's such a shame that Ginryu and the others never knew about it…"
It wasn't long until we saw Reuben enter our room as he was concerned about the situation that we were all in. Sitting down on the floor next to the futon I was in, he was grateful that I was alright as he was aware that my appetite had returned due to the food in front of me. The look on his face was of both worry and uncertainty as he was starting to feel the weight of responsibility that was put in front of him.
"I have bad news," I heard him say to me.
"Is something wrong?" asked Reiko.
"Sorry to say this, but Kazuo's dying."
"I knew it," I said gravely. "Then there's the point of no return..."
"There are meds that will alleviate his suffering, but his body is trying to shut down."
"Kazuo… He's been there with me from the beginning and now he's there at the end. He was fighting that illness for years and none of us knew of it until now. He ushered Mom and Dean to safety during the First Galvanic Uprising while Dad was still fighting. He was also the one who helped to deliver me out of Mom's womb that day when the war finally ended. Now that I've grown up, he's been trying to protect me from the likes of the Executive Division and those who would either abuse my raw power or have me killed. He wanted to protect me from uncertainty, but it all came to fruition when I was forced to live most of my life on Gehenna until I returned home."
I was thinking of the worst as I was starting to regret all those arguments that I had with Kazuo. I wanted to forgive him for putting me through the worst as I slowly got up and left my room while holding onto the pole that had the intravenous drip. I had to say my goodbyes as I didn't want this all to go in vain, for I owed him so much over the years…
Kazuo was laying in his hospital bed as he was on the brink of death in his room. The sound of monitors beeping were too much to bear as he wanted to get out of bed and chew Reuben out for his insubordination earlier. The Brandings of God were taking a heavy toll on him as his body was starting to shut down. He wanted to get up. He wanted to be there for the Medical Corps. Sadly, it was all crashing down due to his ill health catching up to him. Just as he was about to use the pull cord next to his bed, he saw an image of my past self sitting next to the window as he was dressed up in a tan jacket with a hoody under it. He had a feeling that he would meet death soon as he was desperate not to go just yet.
"I don't know you," he said as he was straining to stay alive.
"I know who you are," my past self told him. "You were there with the guy who looked like me while was about to be killed by the Red Inquisition at that condemned hotel in Sioux Falls. The last time I met the guy who looked like me, his hair was long, but after that, it was silver. As for you, I know of you as Kazuo Mitani, the High Elf with red hair and glasses."
"You look ridiculous in that hoody."
"And you look smug trying to move. Your brother told me about you in which you were the most stubborn High Elf that ever lived in the Mitani Clan. He was right, after all."
"All those years I've refused to accept my role as one of the Terran God's prophets, losing my younger son, making and breaking a deal with Crowley, and even forcing my own kin to celibacy just to prevent them from their father's mistakes."
"Wrong. You forced your grandchildren to celibacy just to appease Milverton. As for the demon deal you made with Crowley to prolong your life to ease the Brandings of God? Your wife, Meizo, cornered him to break the deal because of the fact that the King of Hell at the time was afraid of getting his eyes melted out of his skull. Still, the Sam Winchester of this present has a long way to go and you can't just force him to be sealed away like a caged bird. Even Dean with all his classic rock albums on tape was not too thrilled to see you keeping him on a short leash despite the fact that he's got a long way to go." Kazuo sees his vitals starting to flatline. "It's time to go, Kazuo. Ippei and Jun are waiting for you. They even have a Bacchinalia of your favorite peanut butter cups." The sounds of footsteps are heard as Kazuo was backed in a corner. "You can go now. There will be no pain, I swear."
And so, Kazuo closed his eyes forever as the monitors next to his bed finally flatlined. By the time I got there to his hospital room, it was too late as I saw him lifeless. Reiko and Reuben followed me in there as they were saddened by Kazuo's passing. Unbeknownst to us was that his spirit was out of his body and out of pain as he followed my past self out the door and onto a grassy field in which they spotted the Impala that was parked on a dirt road. When they stopped, Kazuo was staring at the old car as he got in on the passenger's side. The selection of old rock in tape form was something that he never expected to be in a car as he was looking through them carefully.
"The tapes are outdated," he said.
"They're my brother's tapes," my past self said as he got in on the driver's side. "I looked at them when I reunited with him while going against a woman in white back in the day."
"Take a good look at this crap: Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Motorhead?"
"I know what you're thinking. I called it mullet rock."
"And we're in the Grey Havens on a dirt road that leads to nowhere."
"And another thing, Kazuo Mitani," my past self inserts a key into the ignition. "Driver picks the tunes while shotgun shuts his cakehole."
At that moment, the Impala was started up as it was driving down the dirt road. Kazuo felt the wind in his hair as he was being spirited away to the Grey Havens where he belonged. Seeing the lights shining in the sky with a castle in the distance, he was on his way home, for he would never be in pain again…
I was in the war room as I was ready to meet with other dignitaries who were given the message of Kazuo's passing. Dressed in my funeral robes, I was shocked to see Kazuo dead in his bed as if someone had the gall to pluck him from this galaxy. What I didn't expect to see was that a reaper was standing in front of me as she wasn't too thrilled to see Kazuo dead before his time, for she was a familiar one that was once spotted by my past self in the Elder Days.
"It's too little, too late to give Kazuo his last rites, Billie," I said.
"It wasn't Kazuo's time to go, Sam," she said.
"He was dying and the Brandings of God were slowly killing him."
"Kazuo was the conduit to restore the damaged pillar in the Order's main headquarters on Alecrast. He was needed to repair the pillar, but he ended up dead before I can find him."
"Is there any proof or pieces to fix the pillar?"
"Kazuo had two crucial pieces of the pillar infused into his body in order to put Lucifer in his place, but it all went sideways."
"His funeral is today, and if his remains are cremated, then I'll sift his ashes to find the pieces that fit in the pillar."
"You better do that, for you have three days to get to Alecrast and fix your problem before it festers in the other pillars on Drakonus, Westeros, and Valinor, is that clear?"
I reluctantly agreed as I noticed the two pieces that Billie mentioned earlier. When I saw her leave, I noticed Jack appearing out of nowhere as he saw the two pieces of the pillar that were there. When I picked them up, I was examining them as they were part of an incantation to keep Lucifer in place as Jack was aware of their power that kept his father in prison by Torune Mitani centuries ago.
"Kazuo's dead," I said somberly.
"I know," said Jack. "The pillar pieces in your hand are crucial to seal my father in his prison before he causes havoc in the Ashizoka System."
It wasn't long until Jack grabbed my arm and quickly teleported to the Order's main headquarters on Alecrast. The place was a wreck as I saw the pillar glowing and slowly flickering away. Both of us saw the etchings of Torune Mitani's magic starting to fade away as we both placed the fragments into the pillar the moment I used my raw power to restore it and keep the Devil in his cage for another millennia. Jack was grateful that I restored Torune Mitani's seal as it was glowing more brightly than before, for he was afraid of his father more than all of us.
"You averted another catastrophe, Sam," he said.
"It's a miracle that the pillar is restored," I said.
"My father was a monster. His tyranny over Alecrast and other planets have been atrocious in which I summoned a High Elf to contain him before he caused further damage."
"According to the records and those popular Supernatural books, you had a better influence from my past self and those around him."
"I know… As for your own mission, you're not just a man born with raw power, for you and Lady Reiko are the new god and goddess of the Ashizoka System. As for me, I am the King of Heaven who had a positive outlook coming from those who had morals and clarity than what my father had. I saw the slaughter of Torune's Shaolin brethren in which he swore vengeance on my father, for he was getting out of control and ready to burn every planet in the galaxy. I wanted him stopped and I summoned a High Elf of the Mitani Clan to put him in his cage by using four pillars to seal him up forever. Now that you restored the fallen pillar after I did to put everything together, it's time for you to stop those who are banking on the Second Galvanic Uprising altogether."
"And I'll do it."
It wasn't long until Jack teleported me back to the war room in Kelmar Castle on Atreides as I saw multiple dignitaries arriving. The somber day was about to begin as I had to do my part into paying my respects to the former Medic General of the Medical Corps. I was saddened by Kazuo's passing, but I was also worried about the future of the Medical Corps in general, for that group was needed after all…
To be continued...