Castiel had never looked more part of the night than he did now. He had discarded of the old tan trenchcoat that Dean had forced him to wear years ago. It didn't go well with what he was doing and not to mention, it had succumbed to several tears and rips from his battle with three extremely powerful demons these past three years. Pride, Lust and Gluttony

Pride was easy. He was a big brute that resembled an Anema demon. Castiel had the misfortune of encountering one before. It wasn't exactly pretty. He had horns that curved above his head and stood tall at eight or nine feet, towering Castiel. The task was simply to best him in battle to gain access to the second circle. He was a very formidable opponent. Fast as well large, there was no way to hide. There were over fifteen hundred demons watching in the circular arena that resembled a roman coliseum and none were exactly cheering Castiel to win.

He only managed to best Pride through reverse tactics. The demon had encountered thousands of others and he had bested them all. Most wanted to destroy Pride if only to prove themselves. There was no simply killing him. You could never neutralize Pride. It existed all over the world and the beast was simply the embodiment of it. But he blinded the beast through both eyes with lightning spells, leaving him only to use sound and smell to strike if he could. He stumbled blindly for a few minutes, striking with huge claws that were big and sharp enough to cut Castiel in half if need be.

When he finally managed to defeat him, struck his sword in the demon's stomach, the crowd jeered and called catcalls for him as the new victor. Waves of white and red power released from Pride and entered Castiel. It was a curious thing, but he could feel his own power surging in reaction. Not exactly a bad thing...but not a good thing either. While he felt empowered, it wasn't hard to feel that his Grace had been tainted through means of corruption.

On par with the deal, Crowley appeared when the arena cleared holding the vial at the ready. Castiel consumed it without hesitation and before him, a portal opened that only he seemed to be able to see in the middle of the arena...A pit...leading directly into the second circle: Lust.

Crowley warned that he would be keeping an eye on Dante and him from now on. They were free to leave whenever they wanted. There was freedom to travel between the eight circles and to the mortal realm once opened.

Lust was not so easy to kill. Foolishly, he had insisted on splitting up with Dante when they entered. Covered more ground, he said. He was thinking tactically. But of course tactics made no difference when you're in hell. People were tortured here on a daily basis. Souls were everywhere in the form of physical people bloodied and broken that could not see or did not acknowledge them. And they had to swim through them.

Lust embodied a woman...a medusa like creature with snakes in her hair and a snake for a lower body. Only her upper body was human like at all, but like Pride, she was too large in size to be considered human. When Castiel first encountered her in a black lake, she emerged from the water, the most beautiful creature he had ever beheld. Dante had warned that they should not trust what they saw through their eyes...and that he may fall into a trance if he did. Lust had stayed in the womanly form to charm Castiel, standing just above the middle of the lake like an angel in the moonlight.

But he was not fooled...and that was when she took on a form she knew would call to him. Dean's. He had no words when he approached, merely took Castiel's face in a heated kiss that the angel knew well. Dean's blood was always hot, made of fire and hell itself. Castiel felt it every time they had touched in the past...and this illusion captured it perfectly. Or perhaps it was his own sick desire in missing Dean that compelled him to kiss back, to hold "Dean" in a tight embrace and fall into the throes of the trance.

It was only through Dante that he had prevailed. The fallen found him in the nick of time, pressed a dagger to Lust's throat to pull him away. She immediately reformed into the medusa like creature and screeched a wail that was needles in his ears.

But she was defeated, and she knew it. She disappeared, and where she left, a simple item was left behind, sinking to the bottom of the lake, this one larger than the rest. Castiel swam through to the depths to get it. It was bigger than the last item, the vial that Crowley procured...a hand mirror The moment Castiel took grip of it, he saw his reflection for a mere second before it became dust in his hands. The dust began to vanish before he knew it...but it left a strange aftermath.

This time, the effect was instantaneous, polluting into his bloodstream, darkening it. He felt his wings pull out to full form reflexively and wasn't too surprised to find that they had begun to darken from the roots. Well, Crowley had warned him. He had warned himself...

Gluttony was different. Gluttony embodied indulging too much after all. The realm was endless icy rain. The Gluttonous demon was a demon with three heads. In modern cultures, he was known as Cerberus, the three headed beast that guarded the portal to the next dimension. He was desire in it's most impudent form. A ravenous creature that knew no satisfaction, knew no end to consuming whatever being came in its path.

But Dante was poison on the ground he walked on. His spellwork was impressive to say the least. He contaminated the muddy trenches, filled their pockets with disgusting slush, giving Castiel a cryptic 'Don't ask where it came from' before meeting the monster. Gluttony engaged them without folly, writhing it's three heads violently at the sight of them. Castiel thought he was speaking, but it was not a language he knew, and nor did he care to find out.

' Fill it's mouths with the dirt of the realm. This beast cares nothing for the substance of what he consumes as long as he can consume it.' Dante had said. He didn't care to aid Castiel this time, merely taking refuge behind a black boulder, just beyond the beast's line of sight.

So he did what he was told...and it was a revolting action to speak to the beast in what he thought was a calming way, merely taming it to acknowledge he had brought tribute.

As expected, Gluttony ate the mud from Castiel's hands. Appearing satisfied, a wolfy smile began to cross his features before he began to spit, thrashing violently. Castiel carefully dodged the hurling ice and spikes until Gluttony stopped altogether, all three heads bowing before Castiel as though he was royalty, docile and still. At their heads, a black pear appeared, beating as though it was a heart.

'Indulge,' was all Dante said.

But it was an immense surprise to find three years had passed since he had fought Pride. Dante explained that time worked differently in Hell and he already knew that. But the transition between circles of hell had a tremendous effect on time in Hell. Three hundred years had passed for Castiel already. And though mentally he was able to recount his battle with Pride as short time ago, physically the effects were showing..the power he gained was different. He still had his own Will, the untainted part of him that utilized lightning as a key element, that utilized flight.

But new clicks seemed to form in his head. Dante explained that he was tapping into darker magic...exclusive to Fallen. Not even demons had these abilities with the exception of the high class Imperials. If he could read minds before, he could now control them if he wanted. They experienced this first hand by returning to Earth where Castiel managed to influence the mind of a lesser being, a simple bartender, into skimming over asking for payment for their drinks.

Moral code should have dictated this was wrong...but Castiel didn't think so...In fact, he found it amusing.

Like killing the mind of a dumb animal.

Returning to Earth had sound reason. He could have continued. In fact, maybe he should have continued onward even if it meant a hundred years passing every time in Hell and one more on Earth. That was how time worked in Hell after all. One hundred years there meant one going by topside. He shouldn't have been surprised that things were different when he arrived back on Earth.

The angels were looking for him, but it wasn't their top priority. They were still on patrol, still shielding themselves from human and demon eyes so as to travel safely, but that didn't mean Castiel wasn't wary of them. He had shut off the Link long ago to stop receiving orders, and there was no way to tap back in in his current state. The Link was the method of communication between angels that helped them keep formation. A lot of times, they needed only to close their eyes, picture their surroundings in their mind while Linking to show where they were to the other person and receive aid or update the situation.

Balthazar had more than likely put Castiel as a lost cause and said he died in battle. Or maybe he knew. But he obviously didn't deem Castiel a threat, otherwise there would be more angels patrolling the dimensional doors. Especially the one that Castiel came through with Dante.

Dante had thought Castiel stupid for coming back. He wanted to keep going but Castiel insisted he needed a bit of a break. Could the Fallen really blame him? After dispatching Pride, Lust, and Gluttony he thought he was well within his boundaries to take a rest.

Of course angels didn't really require sleep but that was besides the point. He came here for Sam.

The boy was troubled, that much was sure. Castiel didn't come here to take note of something so obvious. He had grown in the last three years but not well. He was obviously unpopular in school and it was more than likely because of all the events he went through with Dean and himself. Castiel felt slight guilt for that. Dean did say in his last words to simply erase Sam's mind of everything for a chance at a better life.

But he couldn't do the task. Oh, he knew the spell well enough...it was just cruel to take it away...and Sam himself wouldn't have wanted it to be that way.

That was his thinking. Three years ago.

Now, things had changed. He was absolutely sure the boy was in no danger here in Lawrence with his adoptive parents. He even had a crush on the girl on his block and wasn't exactly subtle at hiding the fact though she seemed to be blissfully ignorant. His parents loved him or at least loved the idea of their adopted son. They watched out for him and wanted what was best for him as any parent would. Already Dad had a college plan lined up for Sam in Stanford University.

He was still unhappy. Castiel tapped into the conversation of the doctor today from a distrance during his therapy session with Sam and found something troubling. Sam was having dreams...visions of Dean burning in Hell. Whether this was premonition, the present or just something of Sam's imagination, it didn't bode well for his future or his mental health in the long run if continued.

Castiel watched Sam from the shadows of a row of trees across the street from where Doctor Walker had his sessions with him. It was late when Sam emerged and the sky was black with a few stars already puckering out. He wouldn't see Castiel even if he looked his way. But he wanted to provide the boy with some comfort. Something to let him know that he wasn't insane as everyone else seemed to think he was. He was alone now...and Castiel couldn't interfere with his life...but he could give him something.

That something was in his hand, held tight within his palm It was a silver ring that Dean's deceased Guardian demon, Merrick, once owned. The ring later passed on to Dean after his death and he altered it somehow to reflect the names of the people that he cared for the most. Sam. Castiel. Merrick. Cursive letters on the inside.

It would probably give Sam great comfort to own something of his deceased loved one, even though Castiel cherished it just the same. But he had to remember his own task. He was going to be seeing Dean soon anyway, or at least he told himself that...so let the boy have the ring to know that he was still loved...and that his favorite demon was coming back to him one day soon.

He made to move from under the tree. Planting in the backpack, invisible to his eyes seemed like a good idea.

"Are you serious right now?" The voice made him jump and turn. Just like the first time Castiel had seen him, Dante was lounging in a high tree branch above Castiel.

"What?" Castiel hissed. "What, are you following me? I told you I needed a few minutes to be alone."

"And you come back to Lawrence," Dante wasn't joking. He looked extremely annoyed. "Of all places to have a good time, you spy on a child. Really, I'm beginning to think you deserve going into the bowels of Hell."

"He's not just a child," said Castiel scathingly. "He's part-"

"He's part of your past. He's part of Dean's past. He means something to you," Dante finished, hopping off the tree and landing neatly beside Castiel. "Did you not hear our steward king lovingly say that he's going to be keeping an eye on you? We're being watched, Celestial. If you honestly think Crowley's not making good on that, you're stupider than you look."

"I don't care about Crowley," said Castiel. "I just want to give the boy something before we leave."

"What, that ring you're holding?" Dante replied smugly when Castiel at him in some shock. "Come on, Castiel. I'm going to be spending over nine hundred years of my life passing through circles of Hell with you. If you don't think I won't know your deepest darkest secret by the end of it...I didn't even have to reach out to sense you. This is the only place you can go that actually holds some value to you."

"What are you getting at?"

"This kid is a target. As long as you know him, as long as you come here. He's a target. Bigger still if you keep him in the know, if you know what I mean. He knows the truth about the world. He knows there are dark places where the shadows make demons and the light makes angels. If a demon, any one...knew where he was and that he knew...Oh, he's getting dragged into Hell for sure."

"I won't let that happen," said Castiel firmly.

"You can't make that promise," Dante laughed. "You can't make any promise on this plane. You're not going to remain on here. You're going to Hell. Again and again and again. You have nothing to do with Sam anymore. You have an agenda of your own. Tell you what...You want my advice? Forget about him. And while you're at it, might wanna make him forget you too. Make him forget you...Dean...demons...fucking angels. Make him forget it all."

"I can't do that," Castiel admitted. "He's all I have left that's alive from my past. Sam means something to me...and I'm doing him a favor already by not getting involved or getting him involved. The least I can do is give him something that belonged to Dean so that his mind stops creating these...visions."

"His mind is not creating anything, Castiel. Your boy shared a bond with Dean that was of mutual effect," said Dante in a bored voice, leaning against the tree and crossing his arms. "It transcended the norm. The visions he's seeing are real...as long as he knows Dean exists and believes in him, he'll never be free. You want to do him a favor, do him the best one and erase his mind of Dean forever. As long as the faintest flicker of their bond is there, he will always see Dean...and that's unfortunate."

"But...It's cruel to take away his memory."

"And you're a cruel Fallen now. Think of it as an investment in a brighter future for everyone," said Dante. "Trust me, you can always just lift the enchantment if something goes wrong...but for now...chuck that ring away, and erase his mind."

"I...," Castiel began feebly, running out of an argument. Dante was right. He wasn't doing Sam any favors by standing here and watching him suffer. He should have done it a long time ago when Dean requested it in a final breath. It was cruel itself that he hadn't obeyed before. If it was Dean's last wish, how could he deny him?

The tight hand around the ring loosened and he heard it fall and roll away off the dirt mound they stood on, into the street. But Castiel wasn't watching that, he was watching Sam until the boy left his sight and headed into a park. It was now or never...He wouldn't come back after this. He would press on as he was meant to do...and he'd leave Sam to live the life that he was meant to, untouched by magic and darkness.

"Give me a second...I want to be the one to do it," said Castiel, turning his head briefly to Dante who gave him a curt nod. With that said, Castiel vanished and took flight at the speed of lightning.

He waited until Sam was in his house having dinner before he stopped next to a car and watched. Using his extensive hearing, Castiel caught wind of the conversation. The boy uttered a few words to his parents regarding his day at school and session with Doctor Walker in a dull voice. It was obvious he didn't want to linger on either subject...and Estelle and Mark didn't press him, just requested he do his homework before bed.

So Sam did, for a good twenty minutes he finished what little homework he had before closing his light at the top floor and sliding into bed. Castiel entered soundlessly through the window. It didn't take long for Sam's nightmares to close in on him. He twitched in his sleep under the covers and trembled.

"Dean," Sam murmured.

Surely, it would escalate from there.

Pressing a hand to his forehead, he felt the warmth of a fever. This tiny connection with Dean caused his temperature to skyrocket when they were linked in Sam's dream. His touch would feel cold but Sam didn't wake up to it. He had already gone too deep into sleep. Sam twitched and shook under his hand. More visions...

It was a horrible thing to tamper with someone's memory. Castiel had done it before to no avail, but it was a split second move. He had done it to a girl that Dean would later make his demon child: Carmen. He had made her forget her encounter with Dean but the demon had killed her moments later and drained her energy to heal wounds he had received. She died...and was born again Demon.

She was an accident. And she was somewhere in the world, who knew where. Castiel wondered if she too, shared a connection with Dean like this. If she too, had visions of his suffering in Hell.

He couldn't stay on this realm to find out.

"Forget," Castiel whispered the word. And it was easy to pull what he wanted Sam to forget. Everything in his youth with Dean and Castiel and Merrick. Everything about being Lucifer's vessel and holding his power...All of it. He destroyed it all, scattered it until the remnants simply disintegrated inside his mind.