SUPERNATURAL

THE PARCAEX RITUAL

Note - Part one of two - enjoy. When this was first posted, I made sure that it was better quality than the rest. Not as much so as the rewrites, but hopefully enough to satisfy you with a good ending if I don't manage to get the rewrite done.

Chapter 22 – Finale, Part 1

The moonlight shone upon Sam and Dean brighter than they could ever remember, casting a feint shadow upon the Earth's surface. A slight breeze washed over them and the hairs on their arms stood on end, but they cared not for the cold, adrenaline pumping through their veins and an anxiety creeping into their minds as they neared their final destination.

They moved lightly and treading cautiously, but no matter how hard they tried the littered leaves and twigs snapped and creased beneath their feet, causing little noise but yet still enough to give away their location, which they knew could prove fatal to them.

Sam and Dean had continued on alone, moving on foot through the thick bushland surrounding the graveyard. Bobby, Lenore and their few anonymous companions had remained behind on the border, awaiting the largest army of hunters to ever converge in a single place ready to take on the forces of Hell itself.

"They'll be okay," Dean had assured him, "They're all trained, and know what they're dealing with."

Unexpectedly, Sam doubled over clutching his temple. A white-hot pain had seared through his mind. It felt as if something was pushing the boundaries of his brain, attempting to divulge right through it and Sam was somehow resisting its plunge, causing himself immense pain in the process.

"What is it?" Dean bent over to him with a worried expression on his face, "A vision?"

Sam shook his head, and then sighed as the pain subsided, "I don't know, but whatever it was, it wasn't good."

Dean was slightly afraid, but didn't show it. He helped Sam to his feet before continuing onwards, "I'm starting to think we should have been more prepared."

Sam nodded, "I hope we're ready for this."

Dean pulled the sword of Amaethon out in front of him and swung it about, "I kinda feel like those hero's of the medieval times, you know? Walking into battle with a sword and striking down my enemy. You know, like the whole Lord of the Rings deal?"

Sam snorted, "Lord of the Rings? You do know that it's a make-believe story, right?"

"Yeah…" Dean replied with an air of uncertainty, "I know."

Sam shook his head and looked through the trees before stopping in his tracks and holding out his arm, signalling Dean to stop.

At long last, the clearing had come into view through the thickets of trees and they took a deep breath. Sam drew the knife of Ollathair from his back pocket – Dean kept his own stored, approaching with the sword instead – and they moved into the clearing.

It was eerily silent, and they saw no one as they stepped out from the shadows. The absence of Lucifer and Iahamu disturbed them, and they moved forward cautiously, their eyes flickering behind tombstones and large trees as they passed.

They're here somewhere, Sam thought to himself, I can sense them.

"You certainly took your time."

Sam and Dean spun on the spot, turning to face Iahamu, who grinned at them and approached with an air of confidence about him that made them nervous.

They stared at each other for a moment, and Iahamu just kept on coming. Sam became nervous at this and looked over his shoulder as if expecting an ambush of some kind.

"That's it, come just a little closer," Dean urged, pulling the sword into a striking position, "I'll rip you to pieces."

Iahamu kept on coming, and smirked, "I don't think so, Dean."

"And why's that?"

"Because you didn't put much thought into this plan of yours now, did you Dean?"

He said nothing, but stared his enemy in the eyes and prepared to strike. Iahamu continued, "You know how vulnerable Sam's mind is at the current time. It was foolish of you to bring him along, considering what he could be made to do."

"Lilith is dead," Dean growled, "He can't be controlled anymore."

"Is that so?" Iahamu looked amused at his insolence. "Haven't you wondered why his abilities stopped when Azazel was killed, and suddenly began once more when Astaroth appeared?"

Dean said nothing, and so he continued, "It would have served you well to know the origin behind Sam's power. If you'd taken just a few minutes to think, you would realise that it all revolves around Lucifer and his kin.

"It began when Azazel was around, and ended with his defeat – I might add that this only infuriates Lucifer more, knowing what you've done to both his son and daughter – and with Astaroth it was the same deal.

"But they've become more common recently, have they not Sam? When Lucifer was brought back, the power increased immensely, and Lucifer even attempted to use this control to permanently place Sam under his grasp. But unfortunately, your suicidal schemes proved ill for him."

"You're saying that the whole mystery of Sam's strange abilities has revolved around Lucifer this entire time?"

Iahamu smirked, "That is true. So I know that you won't dare to attack me, knowing the kind of influence that Lucifer has over your baby brother."

Dean glared at him, "Then where is he? Where is this almighty Satan you speak of?"

Iahamu looked at him warningly, "Careful not to insult him, foolish boy. He will show himself in due course."

Sam scowled at him, "We'll be ready," he whispered, clenching the Manuscripts of Vanatuhi in his hands even tighter.

Iahamu glanced down at the artefacts in his hand, and smiled. "I thought you boys would have been smarter than that."

"How so?"

He laughed, "Those Manuscripts you hold in your hands? I'm sorry to tell you that you've been gravely mistaken. Whatever it was that Astaroth gave that Vampire to protect was not the Manuscripts, for – without her knowledge – they were switched at the last moment. It's just a small mistake like that is going to cost you greatly."

Sam looked over to Dean, and then down to the manuscripts in his hand. They looked real, but he knew that Iahamu spoke the truth: They no longer had the heaviness of great power they once owned.

Iahamu smirked, "You know it's true, don't you. Like I said, it was foolish of you to come so unprepared." He paused for a second, "You came here with the false impression that you held the upper hand. I gave you information enough – true though it was – that blinded you to everything else.

"With the power that you believed you had, you were too confident to pay enough attention to what was right under your nose. A complete copy of Vanatuhi's Manuscripts."

"Where are the real ones, huh?" Dean growled, and Iahamu smiled.

"Lucifer," he called behind him, "It is time."

"Do you have them," replied a deep, booming voice, "Did you bring me the Manuscripts of Vanatuhi?"

Dean looked shocked, "You have them? And you're giving them to…" he shook his head, cursing himself, "Damn it!"

"Yes," Iahamu nodded, "I told you everything I knew about the manuscripts, and every word of it was true. When Lucifer holds these in his hands, a power will be unleashed upon the world that not even you Winchesters can stop."

The sky above them turned a blood red, and a flash of lightning exploded around them, blinding them all as they covered their eyes with their arms. A shadow erupted from the clouds, and with a deafening blast Lucifer appeared on the ground before them.

Dean and Sam stood their ground, knowing that they stood no chance against Lucifer without the full power of three Crusaders. They needed Iahamu, and now had no idea how they were going to do it. This definitely hadn't gone the way they had planned.

Iahamu knelt down on the ground in front of Lucifer, who stood tall and menacing above him, his inhabited body lean and muscular, spreading a dominant force through the air around him. Iahamu held up the Manuscripts and Lucifer reached out his arms, taking them into his grasp.

The fake Scripts, which Sam held in his hands, dropped to the ground and Dean – in his anger - struck them with the sword of Amaethon, an electrical current spreading through the page, and after a brief flash of light it became a small pile of ashes.

A distinct power radiated from Lucifer as he held the Manuscripts in the air, and his voice echoed throughout the clearing as he began to chant out aloud.

"Agaetí Blödhren atra esterní ono thelduin mor'ranr lífa unin hjarta onr Un du evárínya ono varda"

Sam screamed aloud and fell to his knees, gripping his forehead in immense pain. Excruciating agony befell him as Lucifer kept on chanting. Dean didn't get a chance to register what had just happened, for he was violently thrown backwards and pinned to a small tombstone, incapable of moving as he watched his own brother undergo terrible agony.

"Atra gulíä un ilian tauthr ono un atra ono waíse skölir fra rauthr nosu vardo fra eld hórnya gala ó wydra brunhvitr abr beründal vadre-fódhr burthro sem oro un lam iet ignasia hlaupa sé mor'ranr ono finna"

Sam twitched and jerked on the ground, bellowing at the top of his lungs. The cry echoed through the sky and symbolised the wrath Lucifer had brought to the earth. Tears streamed down Sam's face as he screamed for it to stop, and then all of a sudden, it did.

"Vel eïnradhin!"

Lucifer finished chanting and Sam stopped jerking about on the ground. He shuddered violently and after a few seconds slowly pulled himself to his feet, a disturbing grimace on his face.

Sam's eyes flamed red, a burning hatred etched into his face, and Dean realised what had just happened. Lucifer was now in control of Sam.

"NO!" He protested, "What've you done to him!"

Lucifer smirked, "Don't worry, Dean. I'll take good care of your brother."

Dean could only watch as Lucifer led Sam over to the Devils Gates, and whispered something into his ear. Sam nodded and rummaged through the pack slung on his shoulders.

Dean suddenly thought of something, Where's the Crusaders knife?

And he saw it. Gleaming in the moonlight on the deadened grass less than five metres from him. It seems that Sam had dropped it as he writhed upon the ground. He just hoped that Lucifer didn't realise its absence. Their only leverages were those three knives, and they couldn't lose that, not yet.

"It is time," Lucifer repeated Iahamu's earlier statement, "Now, Sam, it is time to re-open the Devils Gates, and unleash my true power upon the world once more."

Obeying, Sam pulled the Colt out and without a second of hesitation, without the slightest chance of being stopped, he inserted the barrel into the gates.

It took only seconds, and for the second time in Dean's life, he saw the Devils Gates become thrown open. Hoards of Demons swarmed through the exit, heading straight forward towards the southern end of the devils trap, the one vulnerable place in it's structure, protected only by the vast arm of hunters that await them.

Dean just hoped that it would be enough.

The swarm of hungry demons met the hunter's head on, and a raging battle began. The number of hunters strayed somewhere between two and three hundred, whereas the demons just kept on coming. With every passing moment, more and more demon's passed through the gates, and the hunters knew that they couldn't hold them off for too much longer.

Where the heck are the Vampires, Bobby thought to himself as rock-salt weapons blasted and ancient chants filled the air around them, fending off the enemy.

Back in the graveyard, Lucifer smirked as the ground shook uncontrollably. The force was incredible, and Dean was shocked to see that neither Lucifer, Iahamu nor Sam were showing the slightest reaction to the earthquake.

Iahamu turned and whispered something to Lucifer, who nodded curtly. Iahamu walked towards Dean and held out his arm, an unseen force gripping Dean by the neck and lifting him into the air. He couldn't breathe, and it was in that moment that all hope faded from his mind.

Iahamu tossed him with a strength that could be matched by no human, onto the ground many metres away. A look of hatred was etched upon his face as he slammed a boot into Dean's ribcage, who fought the urge to scream in pain. He couldn't show weakness, and he couldn't give up.

Not yet.

With every kick Dean took, his body edged ever closer to the open doors of Hell, and Iahamu threw himself upon Dean, a ferocious hunger in his eyes. But he just stared Dean with immense hate, and moved within half a metre of Hell's deathly plunge.

Dean struggled for breath as he felt the heat upon his hair. He forced himself to look at Iahamu, and he saw the face of his father staring back. But the loving father he once knew was gone, and this thing, this evil, twisted monster stood in its place. But maybe, just maybe, his father was still in there somewhere.

Somewhere.

Dean summoned all the energy he could, before throwing a single word into the air in an attempt to catch Iahamu off-guard.

"Dad?"

Iahamu laughed at his pitiful words, "Haven't I already told you this, Dean? I'm not your father, and nor is any part of him still dwelling inside of me."

He stood up and watched Dean writhe helplessly on the ground, allowing him to swallow his last few breaths. Using them, Dean spoke again, "Come on, Dad! You're in there somewhere. You wouldn't kill me, I know you wont!"

He hoped.

"You never give up, do you?" Iahamu looked down at him in shame, "Your Dad will never come back, because his soul still belongs to Lucifer here. The only reason that you left Hell with everything intact, Dean, was because Sam used the Manuscripts of Vanatuhi to do it, which snatched your soul from Lucifer and brought it back too.

"Your father, on the other hand, came back as a Demon. Me. There is no way for anybody to leave hell as a demon and yet still be who they were when they went in."

Dean thought for a moment before retaliating, "What about Ruby?"

"Ah, yes," Iahamu grinned, "The famed Ruby. Ruby, though even she wouldn't remember, was once an Estonian Goddess, who – in fact – fought in the battle against Lucifer last time 'round. She underestimated the power of Lucifer, and was killed in battle. When Lucifer eventually fell, he personally made sure that the only valuable casualty from this fight would suffer the same fate as he.

"She spent the full length of time in hell, but she kept her sanity using the power of her mind. She was stronger than anyone who had ever been cast into the depths before, and she came out, not necessarily the same person, but not exactly evil. She'd strained her mind to its limits, attempting to keep herself a good person; for she knew that one day she would emerge from hell. She didn't come out exactly the way she'd planned, for she did have some evil inside of her, and she didn't recall anything from her experience. But all in all, she saved herself from the worst of it."

Dean took all of this in, but he had little time to mull over it, because Iahamu continued, "As I was saying, it is – in John's case at least – impossible for him to come out in any way resembling how he was when he entered."

"So, you are my father then?"

"Technically, yes," he replied sourly, "I was once your father, but he has been gone for a long time now, and I have replaced him. Be under no false hope that he can return, for it could not happen. His soul remains with Lucifer, and only the power of the Manuscripts of Vanatuhi could possibly reverse what has been done."

Dean became curious at these words, even in what was sure to be his last moments, he realised that there was some hope, all along. "But Sam tried to save Dad!" Dean exclaimed, "When he first tapped into the power of the Manuscripts, he tried, and it failed."

"At that time, I did not exist," Iahamu replied, "And because I didn't exist, there was no body for John to go back to, and so his soul remained in hell. It has only been since I came out that you have had the slightest chance of bringing his soul back. But don't even attempt it Dean, it would just waste valuable energy, and you can't control the manuscripts."

"But Sam can." Sweat dripped down Dean's forehead, the heat of the pit burning his face.

"Somehow, I can't see that happening," he ginned, "Unless I'm quite mistaken, little Sammy is under the influence of Lucifer now, and there is nothing that can stand between Lucifer and his prey once he controls the Manuscripts of Vanatuhi.

"But enough talk now. I'm sorry to say that you, Dean, will never see the sunlight again, never know the smell of clean air. Once the Manuscripts of Vanatuhi are destroyed, the Devils Gates will close once more, never to open again, and you will be left to rot inside that dreaded hole for all eternity."

Without any further words, Iahamu lifted Dean up with his bare hands, the phenomenal strength of his arms bearing the weight of Dean's entire body. Dean hung limp in his hands, knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop him.

The fiery pits of Hell burned beneath his feet, and the heat was overwhelming. It beckoned him, hungry for some fresh meat to torture, to watch in content, as Dean would suffer the worst possible pain, until the end of time itself.

Dean shocked himself as a prayer hit his lips in his last moments, but it came out in less than a whisper among streams of tears.

Iahamu waited for the final signal as he held Dean's life – quite literally - in the palm of his hands, and at last it came.

Lucifer nodded.

Read on!! ^_^