Dean sat on the hood of the Impala and poked listlessly at his burrito. Sam abandoned the chicken caesar wrap he'd been struggling to eat.
"Where the Hell is Cas?" Dean demanded. Sam shrugged helplessly, how was he supposed to know?
"He'll show up," Sam told him. "I need to do some research on this Efnysien character." Dean squinted at him.
"You've had an idea?" he asked. Sam nodded.
"The name is vaguely familiar, I just can't remember where I heard it. I'll meet you back at the motel later." He slid off the hood and strode off in the direction of the university library, tossing the remains of his lunch into a trashcan as he went. Dean followed him and discarded his own food as well then returned to the car. He leaned his head against the steering wheel for a moment.
"Hey Cas, where are you buddy?" he whispered. He cranked the engine and drove off, not noticing the tall figure who watched him leave.
The library was quiet, not in the sense that libraries are supposed to be, but actually almost empty. Sam frowned, it was odd. When he'd been at Stanford, the library was never this uninhabited when classes were on. The librarian, a bald, skinny man in his late fifties with pince-nez spectacles that gave him a severe expression, looked up from the desk when he walked in.
"I need to see your UT ID," he said primly. Sam grinned and flashed his FBI badge but it did not dent the librarian's demeanor at all.
"I can't imagine what the FBI thinks it will find here," he said acidly.
"It's research," Sam said shortly, unamused at the obstruction.
"About what? I can't just let you government hooligans roam the library at will!" Sam wondered what this fussy little man imagined he was going to do.
"A name came up in the case we're investigating. It's a weird occult angle, probably means nothing but we like to cover all our bases," Sam said, injecting as much cool authority into his voice as he could. The smaller man blinked.
"Occult?" he said unsteadily. Sam's instincts sharpened.
"Yes. The name Efnysien came up in our investigation. I thought I remembered hearing it before but I can't put my finger on where." The librarian's eyes were bright.
"My name's Conor Byrne. Efnysien was a Welsh folk hero." Sam stared at him in astonishment and the man preened. "I wrote my master's thesis on Celtic mythology. There are many myths from Wales, Ireland, England, Scotland, Breton-"
"Wait," Sam interjected. "Where's that last one?"
"Breton? It's now part of northern France." Conor explained. "Efnysien is what we would now call an anti-hero, although the concept would not have made much sense to the Celts. A lot of what they considered heroic looks positively psychopathic now."
"OK," Sam said, thinking hard. "Can you tell me the story?" Conor looked around.
"All right," he agreed. "But only briefly. If you really want to know the whole tale, I can recommend a couple of good books."
When Dean arrived back at the motel, he found Cas lying on his bed, apparently dead to the world. He grabbed the angel's arm and shook him violently but Cas did not respond.
"Cas! Hey, wake up!" He looked around the room for any clues as to what had happened but came up empty. He leaned forward, Cas didn't even seem to be breathing. He wasn't sure if that was a bad sign or if Cas only breathed when he was conscious in order to fit in. The angel's eyes fluttered and Dean gave a sigh of relief, his breath ghosting across Cas' skin and ruffling his hair. The angel's eyes widened at the proximity of Dean's face.
"Dean?" he rumbled. The hunter gave him a wide smile.
"Hey, Cas. You're OK! You gave me a scare!" Dean's face was still really close, and Cas didn't know if he wanted him to move away or stay exactly where he was.
"I'm sorry," he offered. "I've been… busy." Dean leaned away then and took in his appearance, his coat was dirty and torn in a number of places. A puzzled crease appeared in Dean's forehead.
"I can see that," he observed. "Anything you want to tell me?" Cas sat up and looked hopefully at him.
"Not right now," he said. Dean's eyes went flat.
"I see. You just disappear, right in the middle of a case without a word or a note or anything. And then when you do show up again, you look like you've been in a serious fight and you don't want to tell me about it? What the Hell, Cas?" The angel looked away.
"It's nothing you need to be concerned about," he said. "Heaven's business. You said you weren't interested in being involved in anything to do with Heaven anymore."
"Dammit, Cas, why are you working for Heaven again? After everything those assholes have done to you?"
"I am an Angel of the Lord." Cas snapped. "Whether I like it or not. It's a small job, they've asked me to take care of it and I agreed."
"Fine," Dean snarled. "But if you're so busy with this, why did you want to come with me and Sam to Knoxville." Cas looked positively murderous.
"My contact was here." Suddenly some pieces began to fall into place.
"Lucien," Dean stated. Cas gave him a pleading look, then nodded.
"He had information I needed." To his surprise, Dean relaxed and clapped one hand onto his shoulder.
"OK. I get it. You were going to have to come here anyway to talk to that son of a bitch. You don't want to work with him, but he had the intel. That's fine, but in future just tell me what's going on." Dean squeezed the angel's shoulder and Cas felt his chest constrict in response.
"I was only trying to protect you," he admitted.
"I'm a big boy, Cas. I can look after myself." Dean reminded him. Cas shook his head.
"Not against him. And even if you could, Sam is another story." Dean's gaze sharpened.
"I asked you before what this asshole wants with Sam," he ground out. "What aren't you telling me, Cas?" The angel gave him a helpless look.
"I don't know. Until I saw how he interacted with Sam, I had no idea he cared who either of you were." Dean scratched at his stubble as he contemplated Cas' words.
"OK. Well, let me fill you in on what we've found out while you've been… busy." He summarized their conversation with Kyle and Meghan. Cas' face twisted as he listened.
"So, do you have any idea who this Efnysien guy is?" Dean asked him when he'd finished. Cas shook his head.
"No. It's not unfamiliar but I can't seem to recall where I heard it."
"I thought angelic memory was perfect," Dean said mockingly. Cas frowned.
"It is. Which is why it's so strange."
"OK, well here's another mystery for you to solve while you're at it." Dean dug the bent firing pin out of his pocket and handed it to Cas, who gasped as soon as he touched it. "What is it?"
"This is very old magic," Cas said wonderingly. "Was this the only part of your gun affected?" Dean nodded and the angel frowned. "This spell was designed to blunt the blade of your enemies. Apparently the spell is flexible enough to treat that as a concept, rather than literal intent. Your gun must have been quite close to the rune to be affected." Dean frowned and pulled his gun out and quickly stripped it down.
"Goddammit!" he swore and held up another bent firing pin. "It's gotta be in Kyle's house." Cas stood up to inspect the pin in Dean's hand and compare it with the one he held. He grabbed Dean's hand and held this two pins side-by-side. Dean watched the angel's face as he examined the pieces of metal, the intent expression on his face gave the hunter a curious sensation in his chest that he did not want to explore. He began to feel a little warm, but couldn't step away while Cas held his hand like this. Except that wasn't really true, was it? If he pulled away, Cas would let him go. He swallowed, uncomfortable and unnerved and when the motel door swung open with a bang, he thrust himself away from Cas so quickly he almost tripped over the end of the bed. Sam entered the room with a pile of books and his eyebrows raised at the scene before him, Dean scrambling away from Cas like Sam had just interrupted something.
"Uh, hi," Sam said uncertainly, the tension in the air making his throat close. "Hey, Cas. You're back."
"Yes," Cas said absently, staring at a piece of metal in his hand. Sam recognized it immediately.
"So Cas was just telling me how he thinks a rune caused this," Dean said suddenly and defensively. Sam peered at him but declined to comment on his brother's bizarre behavior. Dean held up another bent firing pin and Sam's mouth tightened. He dropped the books onto the table with a thud and pulled out his own weapon, quickly disassembling it and extracting the firing pin. He held the warped piece of metal up with dismay.
"See!" Dean said triumphantly. "It has to be at Kyle's house."
"I didn't disbelieve you," Cas said mildly.
"Wait," Sam said. "I found out who this Efnysien guy is. The librarian told me the whole story."
"Does it help us with this case?" Dean asked. "I'm not really in the mood for story hour."
"Yes. I think I know what's going on. Efnysien was this anti-hero type in Welsh mythology. His half-brother, Bran, arranged a marriage for their half-sister, Branwen, to this Irish king." He pulled out one of the books and flicked through it. "Here he is." Dean squinted at the book.
"How the Hell do you say that?" he demanded.
"Math-oh-look" Sam said.
"Actually, the sound at the end should be wetter," Cas corrected. "Like the end of the Scottish word loch. Math-oh-looch." Dean shivered at the breathy tone to the angel's voice as he pronounced the foreign word.
"OK," Sam shrugged, trying to ignore the look on Dean's face. "Anyway, Efnysien didn't know about this arranged marriage and he only found out when they were holding a big celebration. He was furious. Went kinda nuts and tortured all the king's horses to death. Of course, Matholwch was very angry and so Bran had to buy the guy off with this magic cauldron that could bring the dead back to life. Matholwch accepts the gift and the wedding goes ahead, but apparently he hadn't quite forgiven or forgotten because he treated poor Branwen quite badly. Eventually, she manages to get a message to her brother and he travels to Ireland to rescue her. This Bran was quite an imposing fellow according to legend and so Matholwch cuts a deal with him that ends with the kingdom going to the son that Branwen had borne, Gwern. The Irish lords didn't like that too much, so they hid inside the house where Bran and his entourage were staying. Efnysien worked out what was going on and slaughtered the lot of them. Then he burned Gwern alive, threw the kid into a fire." Dean's eyes widened. "Yeah, he was an all-around stand-up guy. The whole thing gets very bloody when a huge battle breaks out. Efnysien realizes the only way they can survive is to destroy the cauldron which is being used to revive the slain Irish warriors. He hides among the corpses and is thrown into the cauldron and he destroys it from the inside, sacrificing himself in the process. Only a few Irish and Welsh people survive the battle. Bran himself is slain and his head is taken back to Wales by Branwen, who later dies of grief."
"I've heard this tale before," Cas announced. "I wonder why I didn't remember it."
"So, I take it you have a theory." Dean surmised. Sam gave him a grin.
"Yeah. What if this is a good old-fashioned ghost possession?"
"Really?" Dean said as he contemplated the notion. "You think Hugh somehow raised the spirit and Reed was possessed by it? How does this explain the deaths?"
"Actually, it explains everything," Cas stated. "Think about it. Reed is possessed by Efnysien through a spell cast by Hugh, Lon and Meghan. The spirit's in Reed but is tethered through the three who cast the spell. Then Hugh has a car accident driving back from the hospital. The magical backlash would be tremendous. It could explain how Lon and Reed both died at the same moment that Hugh did."
"Wait," Sam objected. "Why didn't Meghan die? If she's as much a part of this as the other two?"
"I don't know," Cas admitted. "Maybe her lack of belief protected her somehow."
"OK," Dean said slowly. "So does that mean there's something for us to do here or not? What happened to the spirit of Ef... Effy-whatever?"
"Meghan could still be in danger. And the spirit had to go somewhere. My guess is it found another person to possess. And Efnysien is a very dangerous individual."
"Could Meghan be the one possessed now?" Sam asked urgently. Cas gave him a startled look.
"If she is, then Kyle is in trouble."
"OK, let's load up on salt and iron and head back to Kyle's place," Dean decided.
The door to Kyle's house was slightly ajar and Dean made a couple of gestures to Sam to tell him to head around the back. Cas shadowed Dean closely as the hunter toed the door open quietly and crept into the house. It had been messy before, but now it looked like a tornado had torn through. Furniture was upended, smashed glass and china littered the floor and there were several smears of blood on the floor and walls. Dean checked behind the couch and curtains before indicating to Cas that the room was clear. The angel knew this of course, but it made him feel like a real part of the team so he simply gave a curt nod and continued through to the kitchen.
This room was in just as much disarray, with several drawers dumped on the floor, their contents a sharp, steel obstacle course between here and the door to the hall. Dean heard a creak from upstairs and then turned his head to the back door where Sam was entering. He pointed upstairs and then headed into the hall. Sam watched the angel follow his brother and elected to bring up the rear.
The staircase was in poor condition, with several sagging boards that threatened to give way completely. Sam wondered how Kyle had managed to live in such a place without serious injury. The creak came again and Cas pinpointed the sound easily as coming from the door at the end of the corridor. Dean tried the knob but it was locked. After a consulting look at Sam and Cas, he leaned back and kicked the door in and leaped into the room. Kyle was gagged and handcuffed to a rickety looking daybed, his eyes wild and a streak of blood on one cheek. Meghan leaned nonchalantly against the wall.
"Look, Kyle, the cavalry's here," she drawled. Kyle's eye's rolled in his head at the appearance of the hunters.
"So, Efnysien," Sam said easily. "It was Meghan you possessed when Reed and the others died." There was a shadow on the edge of his vision and he turned his head carefully to try and get a look at it, but it slithered away.
"Yes," Meghan, or rather Efnysien, admitted. "It had to be one of those who cast the spell. I walk the earth again after a long, long sleep. Most of my enemies are long dead. But not all…"
"Begone, spirit!" Cas declared, stepping forward with his hand extended. Dean only had a second to see the look of shock on the angel's face as Efnysien lazily flicked a hand and he flew across the room. Oh shit.
"Puh-lease," she said. "You think I spent eons in the deep sleep just to be defeated by a lovesick angel?" Dean and Sam both fired their shotguns at her but only managed to get in one shot before they both jammed. Cas struggled to his feet.
"Dammit!" Dean yelled and drew his cold iron dagger, lunging forward savagely. Efnysien turned away but the blade sliced across his forearm and he screamed. Gray smoke billowed from Meghan's mouth and she collapsed in a heap on the floor. The smoke writhed and twisted for a moment and then surged out of the room. Dean and Sam lunged after it and followed it down the stairs, but it was gone.
"Fuck." Dean said with feeling. Sam had to agree.
Back upstairs, Cas released Kyle from the bed and then tended to Meghan. The cut to her arm was not deep and healed quickly. Her eyelids flickered and she started in shock at the sight of Cas bending over her. Kyle pulled her over and they hugged tightly as Dean and Sam re-entered the room.
"We lost it," Dean announced.
"What do we do now?" Sam asked. "It's not like it's a regular ghost."
"No, but it has the same weaknesses as a regular ghost. At least, it didn't like the touch of iron." Dean pointed out.
"But it was much more powerful than it should have been," Cas said sourly. Dean grinned at him.
"Will it come back?" Meghan asked shakily. "Are we still in danger?"
"Honestly, we don't know. But it's probably best to assume so. Is there anywhere else you can stay tonight?" Kyle nodded.
"My uncle runs a motel on I-40. It's quiet this time of year, he'll let us have a room." Sam clapped him on the back.
"Good. That's good. Why don't you guys head over there and we'll check out the rest of the house?" Meghan and Kyle looked at the three of them and then shuffled out of the room.
"So what are we looking for?" Dean asked.
"Number one, the rune that keeps messing with our weapons," Sam said pointedly. "Then, I guess we have to find whatever is anchoring the spirit to this plane. I think it has to be in this house."
"Makes sense, I guess," Dean agreed. "OK, let's split up. I'll take this floor. Sam, you take downstairs, Cas, see if there's a basement or attic we need to search." Sam headed off to the stairs and Cas realized Dean was staring at him.
"Dean?" he asked. "What is it?"
"What? Oh, uh, nothing. I just, uh. Are you OK? That spirit hit you pretty hard."
"I'm fine, Dean," Cas said with a smile, the hunter's concern for his wellbeing warming him. "Let's get to work."
Sam found the rune behind the refrigerator. Cas burned it out and then concentrated to see if he could sense any others in the house.
"I think there is at least one more thing," he told the Winchesters. "I can feel the old magic, vibrating."
But a search of the rest of the house did not reveal any more runes.
"You're sure there's something here, Cas?" Dean pressed and the angel looked annoyed.
"Yes, Dean. I'm certain." Cas splayed his fingers on a wall and closed his eyes. "Maybe it is not inscribed on a wall. Perhaps it is an object."
"An object?" Sam said, looking puzzled.
"Yes, a talisman or something like that. It could be the anchoring point for the spirit."
"When you say talisman, are we talking jewelery?" Dean asked.
"Not necessarily," Cas admitted. "It could be almost anything."
"Anything like this?" Dean asked lifting up a piece of stone on a shelf. Cas' eyes widened.
"What is that?" Sam asked. "It looks like a dinosaur tooth."
"It's the tooth of an afanc," Cas said, taking it from Dean. "Where did Kyle get this?"
"Afanc?" Dean said with a frown.
"Welsh lake monster," Sam told him. "Kind of like a giant crocodile, which certainly explains the shape of that tooth."
"The afanc are extinct," Cas explained. "How could Kyle or Meghan have gotten a tooth?"
"I don't understand," Sam confessed. "It's a fossil, someone probably thought it was a T. rex or could have bought it on eBay."
"No, no. You don't understand. There were never very many afanc. Three, maybe four. No more. Do you know how improbable fossilization is? The chance that an afanc would fossilize is astronomical."
"So then it's not a fossil, it's been preserved deliberately somehow." Sam suggested.
"The last afanc was slain by Peredur, who was contemporary with King Arthur." Cas rumbled. "If authenticated, this artifact would be priceless."
"OK, so what do we do with it?" Sam said, raking a hand through his hair.
"What do we always do with it?" Dean said rolling his eyes. "We salt and burn the thing and get the Hell out of Dodge."
"Burn the priceless artifact? That's your solution?" a new voice drawled. Sam didn't need to turn around to recognize Lucien's lilting Irish brogue.
"Not you again," Dean said sourly. Lucien sauntered over towards Sam, who twitched at his approach but his focus was entirely on the afanc's tooth, which he plucked from Cas' hand.
"I'll be taking that," he said superciliously.
"You can't!" Sam exclaimed. "We think the spirit of Efnysien is bound to it. We need to destroy it."
"Nonsense," Lucien said, turning the tooth in his hands and examining it. "I can deal with one badly behaved Welshman." Sam saw Dean make a small urgent gesture to Cas, but couldn't interpret it. The angel clearly understood him, as he whipped his hand out and grabbed the tooth back from Lucien and Dean plunged his cold iron dagger into Lucien's back. Sam gasped in horror and dismay, and struggled to conceal his conflicting emotions from his brother and the angel. But their attention was focused on Lucien, who shoved Cas back hard enough to send him tumbling to the ground, cracking his head hard on the corner of the coffee table. He fell to the floor and lay still. Lucien whirled around and grabbed Dean by the throat, pushing him up against the wall and holding him there suspended. Dean bucked and thrashed but could not escape Lucien's grip.
"Lucien," Sam begged. "Please. Let him go." Lucien turned to regard him, his green eyes savage and angry.
"Why?" he demanded. "Why should I let any of you interfere with my plans?" His eyes bored into Sam, who squirmed under the relentless gaze.
"Look, we've blundered into whatever you were doing here. And we're sorry. But saving people is what we do. I'm not sure that's your priority but there has to be a solution here that doesn't involve us trying to kill each other. We're on the same side, when you think about it." Sam didn't want to beg Lucien for Dean's life. Who knew what this mysterious creature would reveal if he did? Lucien regarded him curiously.
"Who are these people to you?" he asked. Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Lucien was listening, which meant he had a chance. Dean made a strangled sound.
"If you let Dean go, I'll explain," Sam offered. Lucien gave a bark of laughter and then dropped Dean, who collapsed into a choking pile on the floor. Sam dashed to his side.
"Are you OK?" he asked urgently. Dean nodded, unable to speak and flicked a hand at Sam. He looked back at Lucien.
"We do this because we can, we're good at it and nobody else will."
"There are other hunters," Lucien objected.
"Yes. But not enough. Not nearly enough for everything that's out there." Sam explained sadly.
"But why do you care?" Lucien said, sounding frustrated. "These people you help, how many of them are really grateful? How many even know just how much they owe you?"
"They don't owe us anything. Nobody asked us to do this. We just do. Gratitude doesn't matter. The job needs to be done and we do it." Lucien shook his head at that.
"Is it worth it?" he asked sadly. "You've given up so much. And for what? To do it all again tomorrow?" Sam gave him a bitter smile.
"Is it worth it? I don't know. But I have to keep believing that I'm making a difference." He gestured to himself, Dean and Cas. "That we're making a difference. I guess that's what matters." Lucien stepped closer to him and he stood his ground.
"I think I understand now," Lucien said uncertainly. "I always wondered why he did it. It made no sense to me before. But I think I understand now." Sam looked at him in confusion. Who was he talking about? "Don't worry. I will deal with Efnysien. The human he possessed and her little friend are safe."
"What are you-" He didn't get a chance to finish. Lucien had disappeared, taking the afanc's tooth with him.
"Dammit!" Dean croaked and he crawled over to where Cas lay silently. He gripped the angel's shoulder and shook him gently.
"Hey, Cas," he whispered. "You OK?" Cas groaned and blinked open his eyes.
"No," the angel said laconically. "Not really. Where's Lucien?"
"Gone," Sam told him. "He took the afanc's tooth with him. He said Meghan and Kyle don't have to worry, that he would deal with Efnysien's spirit." Cas frowned.
"That's odd," he commented finally. "Why did he say that?" Sam looked puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
"The fates of a couple of humans are as nothing to him. Why would he care about whether they were safe or not?"
"I don't know," Sam admitted. "He asked why it was important to us and I explained. He seemed to accept it." Cas looked totally baffled.
"I don't understand," he complained. "This is not typical behavior for Lucien. He always has an angle." Sam shrugged.
"Are you saying he's lying?" he asked. Cas shook his head.
"I don't think so. If he says Meghan and Kyle are safe, I believe him. He cannot lie, although he can evade or conceal the truth."
"Really, Cas? We're gonna start just believing the monsters now?" Dean drawled and Sam bit the inside of his cheek to contain his reaction. Did Dean have to split the entire world into monsters and not monsters?
"We have no choice," Cas pointed out. "Lucien is gone, the afanc tooth is gone. We can go and find Meghan and Kyle and make sure they are unharmed. But what else do you want us to do?" Dean growled and stamped away.