His head felt like a fog had fallen over it, his body immobile. He tried to lift one of his arms, confused when it remained stationary. He tried to remember where he was, but all that came to mind was a small girl with purple eyes. He blinked in an attempt to rid the world of its blurriness, but unable to bring anything into focus. Every second made his head feel more and more like a drum being beaten.
Eventually, the pain in his head eased up, and he could see.
The girl from before was sitting across from him in a seat that looked more like a throne for a grown man than anything else. She'd abandoned her cloak, leaving it on the floor with her shoes. The dress she wore now was much looser and made of a softer material. In between them was a gold table covered in so many desserts that it gave him a toothache just to look at. Sam looked down, and saw that he was sitting in a chair identical to hers. The only other thing in the room was a black armoire. Sam tried to stand up, but couldn't.
The girl munched on a piece of strawberry cake before cheerfully saying, "Hey! How was your nap?"
"What? Who - who are you?"
"Mara," she answered simply, casually, as though this were the most normal thing ever. She started eating a brownie. When she was done, she stared at him dreamily. It was weird and creepy, but he literally couldn't look away. "And you're Sam."
"How do you know me?"
Mara opened her mouth to answer, but her expression became suddenly pained, eyes wide and skin pale. "Aghhh!" She fell out of her chair onto the floor. Sam wondered what he should do, but soon realized he couldn't really do anything, resigning himself to watching.
Mara's limbs elongated, her hair and nails growing as her teeth fell out and regrew. Her torso stretched out like taffy her weight redistributing. Her dress stretched and tore, now several sizes too small. She pulled at it as though it were suffocating her, and it might have been too. When it was done, she lay naked in a heap on the floor while taking frequent, shallow breaths. Sam tried not to look at her, but he didn't know what the hell was going on or what she was, and the sooner she got up, the better.
Mara stilled and stood up. She wasn't a child anymore, or she didn't look like one at least. She looked like an ordinary 20 year old, grinning like a maniac as she observed the changes in her body.
"Whoo! Sorry for scaring you like that Sammy, but I've been waiting for this for days now!" She walked over to the armoire and pulled it open. She pulled out a few dresses with frills and lace, quickly throwing them to the floor. "Nope." Instead she put on a navy blue tank top, black jeans, and a steel blue leather jacket. She finished the ensemble with a pair of lace-up black leather boots.
Mara sat back down and started eating again. She frowned when she realized Sam hadn't. "Why aren't you eating?"
"I'm not hungry."
"That's ridiculous. Eat." She bit into a macaroon. Sam didn't move.
Mara frowned, her expression turning angry. Her nails sharpened into claws, her teeth became sharklike. Her eyes became entirely purple with no white or black. "Eat!"
Scared, Sam picked up a cupcake and bit into it.
Mara changed back and smiled. "Thank you."
When he was sure she wouldn't take his head off at a moment's notice, Sam said, "You never answered my question."
"What question?"
"How do you know about me?"
Mara laughed. "Well of course I know you, Sam!" She grabbed one of his hands, encasing it in her own. "You're a part of me." After a beat, she continued, "No, I mean, you are literally a part of me. Eris created me using your insanity. And a couple of other things, but that's not important."
By now, Sam was incredibly confused and wondering what the hell he should do when a section of wall formed a thin gold outline. It turned into a door, behind which stood two people. One of them was a plain looking man with black cuffs around each wrist. His eyes were dead, like a shark's. His clothes made him look like a average medieval peasant. He was holding an iron chain in his hand which was attached to a plain collar that rested around the neck of a young man. He had long brown hair and eyes. He kept pulling at his collar, prompting the servant to yank him back with the chain.
The servant pulled the captive over to their table. He looked pleadingly to Mara and Sam. He tried to stand up, but Mara's power kept him firmly in his seat. Mara stood up and crouched next to the man. She smiled sweetly and lifted her hands up, placing them on each side of his head. Her fingers sunk into his skull, glowing purple. The man screamed in pain. Sam covered his ears to black out the high-pitched noise. He stopped after a few seconds that seemed to stretch on into eternity. Mara sat back in her seat, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. Her servant dragged the man away. He didn't try to escape. He babbled incoherently, staring at the goddess.
Mara started eating a sugar cookie.
Dean dialed Sam's phone number again. He heard his voice out of the speaker, "Hey, Sam can't talk right now 'cause he's waxing, like, everything, but leave a message-", Sam interrupted him, "Dean! What are you doing with my phone?!" It was a testament to how worried Dean was that he didn't even smile at the message. He just shoved his phone into his pocket and paced the motel room as he waited for Cas to come back.
"Dean."
Dean whips around when he hears the angel's voice. "Did you find him?"
Cas nodded. "He's in an abandoned warehouse on the south outskirts of the city. I tried to get in, but it's heavily warded against angels, humans, even gods."
Dean cursed under his breath. He was exhausted and felt as though lately it was just one thing after another. Although, that actually wasn't too far from what his life was usually like, so maybe he shouldn't complain like he is. He sat down on the motel bed, letting his head fall into his hands. He felt the mattress shift as Cas joined him and carefully pulled Dean into an embrace. Dean allowed Cas to comfort him for a few short moments before asking, "Is there any other way we can get in?"
"Yes."
The Doctor, having not been alerted to Sam's disappearance, was happy to lay on the floor and pretend to focus on the TARDIS's engine. If he was being honest with himself (he wasn't), he was trying to distract himself from thinking about the Master. It was not working.
He sighed and decided to stop "working" on the engine before he lost his hand completely. Again.
Unwillingly, his thoughts turned to his best friend turned enemy. He remembered the way the Master had looked at him at the gala, as though he were an animal that had finally caught its prey after many unsuccessful attempts. Fear had flooded him at the sight, but also a strange sort of joy that he knew he shouldn't feel. The Master had enslaved Earth, tortured his friends, and turned the entire human race into himself. He shouldn't be happy that he was here. If Jack or Martha, or hell, even Wilf knew, they would be disgusted. They would hate him, uncaring of his shame, uncaring of the pain he felt every time the Master refused to come with him. It was as though every time he hurt someone, it was a physical blow to the Doctor.
But this time, he'd smiled at him. Sure, it was the creepiest, most sadistic smile in the history of facial movements, but it was real and it had made the Doctor feel a flicker of hope, fed by the recent memory of the Master saving his life from Rassilon. This feeling did not last.
He allowed himself to wonder what would have happened if Eris hadn't found him. Would he still be alive? Would he have joined Gallifrey in the time lock? Would the Doctor have been able to find him?
Someone knocked on the TARDIS door.
The Doctor sat up and called out, "Who is it?"
"Castiel."
A bittersweet pang went through the Doctor's hearts with a matching smile arranged itself on his face. He opened the door.
"Hello! What are you doing here? Do you need something?"
Cas stood out from the isolated forest, his back as straight and stiff as a ruler. His face was expressionless. He looked incredibly awkward and uncomfortable. He explained that Sam had been kidnapped and although Cas knew where he was, no angel or human would be able to enter the building.
"Blimey. That's a bit of a mess."
"Yes it is. But there are no wards against Time Lords."
"Ok." They stood without speaking for a few seconds before the Doctor realized why that was important. "Oh! You want me to go inside the building?"
"Just to disrupt enough of the warding for Dean and I to get in. We should be able to find and save Sam." A beat passed before he added, "You do not have to do this. I'm sure we will be able to find another way to save Sam if you're uncomfortable working with us."
"Are you kidding, of course I'll come! Just let me get my coat." The Doctor quickly grabbed his coat off of the chairs next to to the console. He checked the pocket to make sure the Master's ring was still there. He wasn't sure why he kept it. Sentiment, he supposed and laughed inwardly. Sentiment for a madman, how like him. Without entirely knowing why, he slipped it onto his finger. It was a bit loose, but it would stay on if he was careful enough (he was tempted to put it back in his pocket after thinking that).
He rejoined the angel outside. "Ready to go."
The building was three stories tall with several hulking doors, only one of which you could actually open. It was made of weathered concrete covered in dirt, soot, and graffiti. There were many windows, but they were all boarded up, allowing no view inside. The entire area smelled of burnt trash.
Castiel kept his eyes on the door warily with Dean on one side and the Doctor on the other. He could see the wards that coated the walls, glowing bright white in the darkness. He was hesitant to send the Doctor in, but recognized that they had no choice. "You need to disrupt one fifth of the wards. They should be visible on the wall. If you cannot find any within 5 minutes, come back out."
"Easy peasy." He smiled uneasily before walking to the door. It was heavy enough that he had to use all of his weight to push it open and made his back ache. When he was in, he rested against the wall, breathing heavily. "I need to start working out," he complained, then laughed lightly at the thought. After 20 seconds, he started to walk around.
For all that the outside's ruinous appearance, the inside was beautiful and ornate. The walls had sapphire blue wallpaper with a slightly darker damask design before it's cut off by black wainscoting with silver panels. Every 10 feet there were lanterns hanging on the walls with ivory candles that gave off a soft glow that made the empty corridors seem almost homey. The flooring was made of black bamboo, but there were strange streaks of random colors, such as blue and purple and silver.
So far, he hadn't seen any wards. Getting an idea, he took a paint scraper out of his pocket (hey, you never know) and used it to scrape the wallpaper off.
"A-ha!"
Under the wallpaper are sever sigils drawn in blood, with a quarter of a foot in between the geometric designs. He started to scrape them off before stopping suddenly, completely frozen. He tried to say something, but his throat wouldn't cooperate. He tried moving his legs, but they were locked in place. He heard someone walk towards him.
A girl in her late teens or early twenties stepped in front of him, grinning widely. Or at least, he might have thought she were an ordinary girl if he couldn't see her Godly nature. Her spirit glowed a deep royal blue and tyrian purple, whirling around each other as though battling for dominance. Flecks of sparkling silver and gold pepper them, egging them on to worse violence. Her eyes were the same purple throughout with no white or pupil. Her features were twisted in such a way that, while not really ugly, were definitely not human. Her hands are clawed and her teeth are sharpened into points.
She traced a finger along his jaw and eye, scratching slightly, drawing a thin line of blood. There was no mercy in her eyes, only satisfaction and curiosity. Her gaze flicked to the Master's ring. She edged her finger along it, taking in the texture and colors before facing him again. Finally, she said, "I knew you'd come."
