SUPERNATURAL

THE PARCAEX RITUAL

Chapter 23 – Finale Part 2

The battle raged on, but the hunters knew that their energy levels were rapidly dropping, and they could only give Sam and Dean so much time before they fell to their knees, unable to resist the armies of Hell any longer.

Bobby had knelt down behind Ellen and Jo, who were covering him as he scratched ancient runes and symbols in the dust beneath their feet. It wasn't much, but hopefully it would be enough to hold the Demons off for just a few moments longer should the Hunters fail.

As far as they knew, there had been few casualties from their side, but the Demons just kept on coming, and hope was beginning to fail them all.

A large group of these Demons suddenly turned their eyes on Bobby, and Ellen noticed this only a moment before they struck.

She pounced forward, thrusting her arm out and slashing with silver weaponry at the approaching enemies.

But the Demons were quicker.

Ducking underneath her sharp blow, a dark-headed demon elbowed her in the stomach with intense force, and another swung their heel into Ellen's temple. She was knocked to the ground, all air expelling from her lungs as she collapsed in a heap on the ground, slipping into a heavenly unconsciousness

The Demon's must have realised that they'd created an opening, a weak spot in the wall of Hunters, because they began to swarm towards Bobby and Jo, who tiresomely stood their ground, ready for an attack.

It was Jo who drew first blood.

She pounced forward with speed unknown from her, side-stepping the first Demon's blow and slashing at another, before pulling out her single-handed rock-salt weapon out from its holster and blasting a third away. She then backed off and stood her ground, panting, but beckoning the demon's towards her menacingly.

It seems she doesn't take kindly to her family being injured.

The unmoving body of Ellen Harvelle seemed to become a striving goal for the demons, but Jo fought them off skilfully, protecting her mother with moves Bobby had never seen from her before.

He looked at her in awe, and she simply turned to him, muttering, "I lived at the road-house for most of my life, crossing paths with thousands of hunters in the process," she shrugged, "What'd you expect?"

Bobby turned to see how their fellow warriors were handling the situation, when something caught his eye.

After a double take, whatever it was that Bobby had seen was gone. He thought he'd just seen…

No, it couldn't have been.

Or could it?

First Sam sees her, and now me?

But what the heck would Bella be doing here?

Dean had no idea what happened.

One moment he had been dangling in Iahamu's grasp, utterly helpless, and in the next he'd been falling, before hitting the hard surface of the Earth with a loud thud.

Iahamu had retreated backwards, and when Dean opened his eyes, he glimpsed a bright blue light shining out towards him. He couldn't see the face of its source, but whoever – or whatever – it was controlling that power, he was grateful to them.

An incredible force radiated from this unknown visitor, powerful enough to repel Lucifer and Iahamu at once.

When Dean had finished gasping for air after his sudden release, he wasted no time curling up on the ground.

Pouncing forward, he grasped the Manuscripts of Vanatuhi firmly in his hand; it seemed that Lucifer had dropped them at his feet at the arrival of Dean's saviour.

Dean knew what Iahamu had told him, about only demon's being capable of wielding the power of the Ancient texts, but a curious thought struck his mind.

I've been to hell, Dean thought to himself, what's to say that I don't have demon blood in me too? Even just a fragment of Demon would do it for me.

Looking down at the Manuscripts beneath his fingers, Dean couldn't make out what the inscriptions meant. They were random carvings, ancient runes that meant absolutely nothing to him. He sighed, knowing that Iahamu was right. Only someone with true Demon blood inside of them could correctly decipher the Ancient Manuscripts.

If only he could have tapped into their power, he could have brought his father back into the body of Iahamu, and the three of them would have finished this battle at long last. But that would also require Sam, who was in no way capable of helping him.

The glowing Blue light dulled and Dean recognised the face immediately as it turned to him.

"Bella!" He gasped, "Why…?"

She smirked at him, "Dean, though you truly are a pain in the arse sometimes, I couldn't let you just die out here."

"Okay," he glanced over at Iahamu and Lucifer, who were – somehow – being repelled by the items in her arms, "Allow me to rephrase: …how?"

She grinned, and allowed him a closer look at the objects she held. There were three rocks with different symbols imprinted upon them, all hovering in a wide circle inside a misty blue force field of some sort, held between her hands.

"Tria Fata," she replied, "Do those words mean anything to you?"

Dean strained his memory, attempting to recall where he'd heard them before. "Yes, actually, I remember Bobby saying something about them when he described to me what the Parcaex Ritual does."

She nodded, "The Parcaex Ritual is otherwise known as Tria Fata, which is 'Three Fates'. The Parcaex Ritual, through which Lucifer returned, is an irreversible ritual, but that doesn't mean that it can't be countered. The Three Fates were Roman goddesses who controlled the - metaphorical - thread of life of every mortal and immortal, from birth to death. Their names were Nona, Decima and Morta. Upon each of these stones I hold in my hand, their own personal rune is imprinted. The power of the three goddesses brought Lucifer back, and so the power of the three goddesses can counter him."

"And Iahamu too?"

"The three fates have power over every being."

Dean suddenly had a thought, "Can you help Sam?"

She moved forward towards the three victims of her spell without answering him, the light from her stones fading further. "I don't have much more time, my energy is failing me, but I can grant you this single last deed."

"Where did you get these items," Dean asked, amazed.

"There will be a time for further explanations, but that is not now." She grinned at him, "This is your fight now, Dean, and you must end it."

She closed her eyes and manoeuvred the power towards his brother. Sam dropped to the ground where he stood, undertaking the same physical pain that it took to become controlled by Lucifer, to become extracted of his power. He crawled forwards in agony, and Dean ran to him, guiding him away from the diminishing forcefeild, an anger like no other burning in Iahamu and Lucifer's eyes.

"Good luck to you both, I must take my leave." Bella whispered to them, and disappeared into the darkness.

Sam fought the pain throbbing inside his head, as Iahamu and Lucifer were set free. In an instant, Dean - not being immune to Iahamu's power - was thrown backwards once more, and Sam glanced over at the Manuscripts of Vanatuhi laying only a few metres to his left.

Lucifer realised his intentions and let out a phenomenally loud roar, diving towards the Manuscripts as Sam also lunged.

Sam had been closer.

Rolling from the ground to his feet, clutching the Manuscripts firmly in his hand, Sam began to chant the inscriptions upon the page, set out clearly for him in plain English.

He fixed his mind upon his intentions, and for the second time in three weeks he felt in complete control. The feeling was overwhelming, but as he spoke his needs through the power of his mind, he felt great agony as they took place.

Lucifer couldn't get close enough to stop Sam, for the forcefeild surrounding him was just too large.

But he tried anyway.

Throwing himself violently quickly against the forcefeild, Lucifer attempted to gain access to Sam. In one instant, electrifying shock, the forcefeild caught Lucifer off-guard, and suddenly the body he inhabited was released of his dark energy.

The true form of Lucifer had become revealed at last.

A twisting, torn mass of dark flame erupted and set itself before Sam, who gasped at the sight, almost losing his connection with the manuscripts. Its hands were flaming shadows, and the only visible parts of his body were the deep red flames of his eyes shining through the darkness. The view was horrific, and not only did he look menacing, the presence of his true form radiated immense power.

"Come on, Sam!" Dean screamed, fighting off Iahamu the best he could with the knife of Palladium.

Iahamu kept his distance, not wanting to be struck with such a weapon, but he was close enough to stop Dean from escaping too.

Sam concentrated ever harder on his goal. He knew what he wanted, and that was his father's soul, back from Lucifer, to be brought back into his regular body.

Iahamu collapsed in a heap on the hard earth, and Dean realised that Sam was succeeding. An invisible energy passed from Sam to Lucifer, and then down to Iahamu on the ground.

It was working.

It only took a few more seconds, and by the end his mind felt as if it would explode at any moment. The feeling of power passed from Sam, and his connection with the Manuscripts was broken, the deed done.

But now he was vulnerable.

Lucifer reached out to him, and though his magical abilities were incapable of affecting Sam, his physical violence was affected in no way at all. Sam was knocked backwards, a large bruise swelling on the side of his face, and Lucifer advanced upon him, nudging him slowly, ever closer to the Devils Gates. He was going to do to him what Iahamu tried to do to Dean.

"Dad?" Dean whispered, shaking the body of John Winchester, "Dad, are you there?"

The body lay silent, and Dean shook it harder. "Come on!"

Ever so slowly, John Winchester opened his eyes and gazed upon his son, tears beginning to swell in his eyes.

Dean forced himself to focus on what needed to be done, and pulled his father to his feet. John seemed to understand, and they took up their weapons. Lucifer realised what was happening and backed off from Sam, his deathly glare not even slightly intimidating them.

The cold hatred had been extracted from his eyes, replaced by something else that Dean could have sworn almost seemed like… fear.

Sam pulled himself to his feet and spent a valuable few seconds gazing at his father, whose eyes shone with deep happiness at the sight of him. Sam nodded, and Dean threw to him the knife of Ollathair.

Dean held the knife of Palladium, and John drew the sword of Amaethon in front of him. For the first time in a thousand years, the three Crusaders were united once more. The weapons glowed beneath their hands, and each Winchester spoke the Latin words upon the hilt of the weapons, thus summoning their power.

"Vox adieu mucro."

"Nex peregrinus diabolus."

"Exercitus hostilis ritus iuguolo!"

John Winchester's last words echoed through the clearing, and the swords' faint glow erupted into a blinding light before them.

Lucifer knew that his time had come.

The three Winchesters advanced upon him, and the devil couldn't move himself, the blinding rays of light trapping him inside a magical circle, sealing his fate. The three weapons became hot in their hands as they moved closer, but they cared not for the physical pain.

The three lifted their weapons high in the air, ready to strike, and Lucifer let out a final horrific shriek as they plunged downwards, striking his vulnerable body with the Crusader weapons, vanquishing him from the Earth once and for all.

The explosion that followed was utterly enormous, but it caused no physical damage to the Winchesters. The figure of Lucifer just imploded upon itself, and when the silence returned, he was no more.

Jo and Bobby fought to protect the injured Ellen, but their energy levels were running dangerously low and it took everything they could muster just to swing their arm out in weak defence.

The Demons realised that they'd become tired, and the Hunters had thought they had lost the battle when, simultaneously, every demon in sight began to shriek in pain, cringing and stepping backwards away from the fight.

Jo and Bobby watched in shock as the wall of Demons suddenly evaporated into a thick shadow and left the battle site, an eerie silence taking their place, the shocked hunters standing with their mouth agape.

It only took a few seconds to register, and enormous rounds of cheers swallowed the silence, bellowing out to the heavens. Victory hailed them, and they dropped to their knees, energy shortage burning within all of them, but they cared not, for they had won.

Jo leant down to her mum, who was awake but weak and sore. Tears rolled down Jo's face, curling down her thin lips as she whispered, "They did it, Mum. The gates are finally closed. Sam and Dean won."

She smiled weakly, "I knew they would. They always do."

The Devils Gates stood closed in front of them after absorbing every last demon left inside the fifty square mile Devils Trap that surrounded them.

"Do you reckon any escaped?" Dean asked, panting.

John smiled, "If they did, it's nothing you boys can't handle."

Sam and Dean smiled weakly, exhaustion overwhelming them. A single task as such had worn them out phenomenally, but they summoned every last ounce of energy they had left and warmly embraced their father.

"It's good to see you two again," John whispered, "It's been a while."

Sam nodded, "You too, Dad."

They broke apart, and John looked down at the Manuscripts of Vanatuhi in Sam's hands. "It seems that we still have a job to do, boys."

"And what's that?" Dean asked curiously.

"Why, destroy the Manuscripts of course!"

Sam looked up, "Iahamu told us, remember Dean? If you destroy the Manuscripts, then the border between Hell and Earth can never be crossed again."

"But then what about all the other demons that are still left?" Dean questioned, "Won't that mean they can't die?"

John shook his head, "No, they will pass into the afterlife. It may not be the ideal place for something of their evil, but this way they will never emerge from hell again. The population of Demons can only go down from this point on."

"But other creatures?"

"They're not Demons, and they are formed in many different ways. The destruction of the Manuscripts would not affect them in the slightest, having nothing to do with Hell at all."

"But Dad," Sam replied, "Iahamu told us that there is only one thing that can destroy the Manuscripts, and that it is very rare. He didn't tell us what it was, and so we have no idea."

John grinned, and then explained, "These weapons are what he was talking about," gesturing towards the Crusaders blades, "It's just like he said, they are very rare. The writing in Latin on the side of the weapons speaks a spell capable of vanquishing the 'Devil'. Since Lucifer is a direct descendant of Hell's creator, Vanatuhi, I assumed that Vanatuhi was also once known as the 'Devil', which means king of the underworld. If I'm right, then these weapons would have had the power to do to Vanatuhi what we just did to Lucifer.

"These Manuscripts were created personally by him when his life-force was broken, and so his last remaining strand of life attached to this earth are the scripts you hold in your hands, Sammy."

Sam let them go, and the Manuscripts of Vanatuhi dropped to the ground. He picked up the knife of Ollathair, and the other two did the same with their own. Bending over, the three stabbed downwards with the knives, slicing three direct holes through the Manuscripts.

An electrical current passed between the pages and the knives, and it erupted in flames for a small moment, before creasing upon itself and becoming nothing but a pile of ashes, to be blown into the wind and never looked upon again.

"You've done well, boys," John nodded, "But I'm afraid that's all the time we have for now."

"Why?" Dean turned to him, "Can't you stay with us?"

John shook his head, "The body that you brought me back to is not my own anymore. It belongs to a demon now, who still resides somewhere within this shell. I am simply a human possessing a Demon, which by the laws of nature just doesn't work. But I thank you deeply, for now I can rest properly in whatever place I'm sent to next, for my soul is intact and no longer bound to hell."

"Find peace," Dean nodded, "You owe us that much."

John laughed as tears began to roll down his cheeks, "I will, Dean. I will."

His physical image began to flicker, and they gazed into the eyes of one another for the last time, sealing into place their last moments of bonding so that they would never forget it.

John Winchester's body evaporated into the night sky, and tears dropped from both their cheeks, splashing onto the dewy surface below and sinking beneath the surface.