It felt like hours when Carmen came to. Maybe it had been. Her sense of balance was completely off the walls. She opened her eyes and saw a blurry mix of colors, mostly black and gold. Her vision fuzzed around the edges and for some reason, she felt she was tied up in the dark. Her wrists still hurt as more feeling spread through out her body and she swayed slightly. Someone had propped her up to sit and tied her to the chair. It felt stiff and hard and cold underneath her. And it hurt..Iron. Her wound felt like it had been passed through poison but the more she felt, the more she realized it had closed on its own at last.
Carmen struggled on instinct, pulling and yanking, but the more she did, the weaker she became. Steam rolled off her skin and she closed her eyes, her head lolling slightly on her shoulder as her vision began to restore and she found herself in a dark room that smelled like death. Water...or something, dripped in the background, the only sign that this place was running on something.
"Don't try to move," The voice came not in front of her, but behind her. Carmen's head snapped up and she looked over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of dark blonde hair that had darkened and grayed around the edges. Angelic scents were always extremely potent. If humans triggered her instinct to kill or maim them, angels triggered instinct to capture his Grace and absolve his power. But she had long since gotten over giving into that impulse. She wouldn't have had Gabriel as a companion if that was the case.
"Balthazar," said Carmen as though she really wasn't surprised. What else was new? That certainly lowered the people who could possibly perform a rescue down by one. But who cared at this point? She didn't think it mattered now that Sam was dead. Besides, Balthazar hadn't cared to interfere...only now. And she could guess what for.
"Not the best way to reunite with an old friend, I wager," said Balthazar from the other side. They were back to back, held together. Around them, she saw the ring of fire that encompassed them, more than likely for Balthazar's sake. She couldn't see her angelic counterpart, but she wagered he was in pretty bad shape if their captors decided not to trap him anymore. More than likely he was linked against her chair with something restraining his movement and power just like she was.
"Broad definition of friend," said Carmen coldly. "This is a fine time to make an appearance, Balthazar. After all these years, you show up at the last minute. Meanwhile, I've been dealing with fucktards for the past six."
"I didn't know we were having a contest," Balthazar replied dryly.
"I know better than to tango with an angel," said Carmen in a bored voice, rolling her neck around until it cracked painfully. Her eyes snapped on to something to her right. It was a brick wall with light pulling from the spaces between the bricks. There was an odd sort of sigil locking the brick in place, keeping whatever was behind that wall inside.
" What the hell is this?" Carmen asked, sounding barely interested but speaking just to make noise. It was better than the sound of dripping water echoing somewhere in the background. That was going to drive her insane.
"It's a dimensional door...a portal," Balthazar told her. "Only a few people in the world know how to make them...And most of them are dead. It leads-"
"To the ninth circle," Carmen finished. All roads, no matter how hard. No matter who had to die. No matter what sacrifices had to be made. All roads led there. Despair made her voice crack."I really wish...Gabriel was here."
Balthazar opened his mouth and then closed it. Better she not hear it from him. The news was painful and he didn't know the extent of their friendship if she was mentioning him now.
He was spared the opportunity of doing so at all when the door opened in the far back and he caught a glimpse of some light filtering from outside. Hours ago, Balthazar was walking through that door with confidence, but stupidity, walking towards the light of the circle's focus.
They were coming closer now. Balthazar and Carmen could detect them easily. No more hiding apparently...but a new power had joined them. Dante had left Balthazar very briefly to "welcome the rest" as he put it. The rest part was what Balthazar dreaded. As they came into the focus of the one lamp above Carmen and Balthazar, they saw the entire entourage. Crowley, smiling down on the pair of them with promise. Dante, one hand companionably resting on Castiel's stoic shoulder.
It was only Castiel who remained serious. But beside him was the newcomer. Balthazar heard Carmen's indrawn breath when she looked his way. But when he looked upon the boy, he didn't recognize him. Not immediately. The more he focused, the more it became apparent. Sam. Much older than Balthazar remembered. It had been ten years after all.
"Ah, the vessel," said Balthazar musingly.
"Do I know you?" Sam asked, focusing on him. There was a look of strange hostility in his eyes that was unlike him. Balthazar had been in his presence before perhaps less than two minutes to understand the kid was innocent and pure and all that good stuff.
Carmen meanwhile analyzed everything about Sam. Where Castiel had cut his throat, there was nothing but smooth skin. But the blood remained. Blood all down the front of his shirt. The look of it made Carmen shudder from the horrible memory. And yet there was nothing friendly about his look as he looked at Carmen and Balthazar. He didn't know them...and he wouldn't for a long time. Considering Castiel's part in absolving his mind of them in the first place, it wasn't likely he would remember them ever again. ...Something seemed wrong with Sam, however. She could detect her own kind instantaneously. Especially pure-blooded demons like him sprung straight from the line of Fallen Angels. But she felt...nothing from Sam. As if he wasn't there.
"I'm sorry. You just have that face," Balthazar answered politely, breaking Carmen out of her reverie. "I feel like we've met. My apologies."
Sam grunted, and turned his gaze to Castiel. And that's when Carmen's heart broke in a million pieces. There was such love there, such trust. As if no one in the world mattered but Castiel. As if he was completely sure that Castiel would never harm him. She remembered the feeling herself. She loved Dean almost instantly. She was scared and had just went through supreme torture, but the bond between them was immediate. She knew right there and then that he would never hurt her.
"So Dante," Balthazar addressed the one person in the room that Carmen had never seen before. He looked oddly familiar, yet she was positive she had never seen him before. A contradiction. But he was Fallen, that was sure. Carmen had very limited experience with them with the exception of Lucifer for a short time and then of course, Castiel now. "I take it the game plan involves our demise. If that's the case, I daresay you should just get on with it. I've never been one for suspense and you do me a disservice by forcing me to stand in the presence of me treacherous pupil."
Carmen gauged Castiel's expression for a reaction to that, but there was none.
"Why would I kill you, Balthazar? I told you, I'm inviting you. Really, your twisted mockery of my intentions is really insulting," said Dante, offended. The longer Carmen looked at him, the more she realized. He looked like Crowley. This was Crowley's maker.
He had to be the one behind it all. Castiel, she understood. Sam, he didn't belong here but Castiel had dragged him. This man...what did he want?
"I'm sorry," said Balthazar, voice dripping sarcasm. "And Castiel...marking your place everywhere you go. That's always nice. I would say I taught well...but you know, I kind of didn't."
"Your teachings were never much use for what I've gone through, Balthazar," Castiel stated calmly.
"I'm glad you think so," said Balthazar lightly.
"How's the Binding Rune on your wrist feel, Balthazar? I imagine it's not very comfortable. Keep up your smart mouth and I'll place a larger one on your chest. That'll be pleasant, won't it?" said Dante coldly.
"So pleasant," Balthazar replied.
Binding Rune? Well, she couldn't see him. So there was no way to clarify, but by the way Balthazar stiffened behind her, she could tell Dante hadn't been lying.
Carmen looked at Sam, almost willing the power of her gaze to draw him to look her way, but he never did. Sam no longer recognized her. Sam had no recollection of anything that had happened before whatever lies Castiel spewed his way. Whatever his version of the story was when Sam woke up. He was looking around them, the circle, Castiel, the blocked portal. All surveyed with mild interest. Like it was all really interesting but it really didn't matter to him. That was the price of being a new demon.
"Did you explain the situation?" Dante asked Castiel.
"As much as I could. He understands," said Castiel, placing his hand on Sam's shoulder.
"Good," said Dante. "Now...it's time."
Dante moved around them and approached the portal, placing a hand over it. She commended him. Noctis was burning rock. Noctis drew the Will and magic of everyone around it. All of them, by account should have been affected but Carmen only felt a little bit of that. Or maybe her mind had shut down since Sam died and her body was catching up.
"The portal to the ninth circle is sealed by Noctis rock. Now as you all know...Noctis cannot be destroyed or created by anyone other than the one who bears the crown," Dante's dark eyes settled on Carmen who glowered up at him with pure hatred.
"I don't have a fucking crown, you dick," Carmen snarled.
"No, you have a bad attitude. You have no title in Hell, when you could have had the highest title there is. You missed out on so many opportunities to steal the throne from Crowley but instead you were so focused on doing the 'right thing'," Dante clicked his tongue. "It's unfortunate. How much you are like your Father. "
"And unfortunate still that you share the same fate," Crowley remarked, smiling in a sickeningly sweet way at her.
"You may not have a crown, Carmen...but what you do possess is far more useful than Lucifer's little toy," said Dante, coming close. The flames parted and Dante entered. Bold. Yet he seemed unafraid. The angelic ring of fire should have incapacitated him like it had Balthazar. "I don't need to tell you that your sword can cut through this rock, do I? I don't need to tell you that the blood that runs in your veins is enough in itself." He leaned down at her and her face turned away just as he pressed his lips to her ear. "I don't need to say that you're going to open the portal for me. Do I, Princess?"
"I have no reason to-"
"It's a shame Gabriel had to die so he missed this moment, right here. If there's one thing Gabriel wanted more than anything, it wasn't you. It was him. He made do with the scraps because he had no other choice," said Dante coldly. "Or did he? The spell to create this portal was something I took from him. With that logic, it almost sounds like Gabriel didn't want to let the knowledge of this portal spell release to the public."
Carmen glared at him venomously as the truth of his words sunk in. "You're lying. He's not dead. You did something."
"Yes, that's what I said, Princess. I killed him. He's dead. Good riddance too," said Dante, pulling away so that they could look at each other. "Good riddance to the most useless angel in the world. Did he ever tell you that he handed off his portal spell to Dean? That Dean used it to send Lucifer and himself down into that pit? Did he ever tell you that he killed Dean?"
"You're lying," said Carmen again. Her mind refused to acknowledge it. She couldn't believe Gabriel was dead. Her companion for the last ten years...the one who had rescued her from Crowley's prison and entrusted her with Dean's sword...He could not be dead...He just couldn't be.
"Spare me your denials, little girl," said Dante dismissively. "If it weren't for Gabriel's actions, I'd have him here rather than Balthazar. Not that you aren't great company, mate."
"I'm not offended," Balthazar shrugged.
"So what's the plan now?" Castiel asked a little impatiently. "You said this was all it took. Bringing Sam here. Why can't we just open the portal now?"
"We can't," said Dante, gesturing down to Carmen with both hands. "She can."
For some reason, Dante looked at her with hard intention. Maybe Castiel still loved Dean and he was here only for him. And he would break hell or heaven and all the rules to get to him. Maybe he'd drag his old Angelic teacher down with him. He'd drag the world down. It didn't matter to him. That's the only thing that made sense to her. That was the only thing for Cas that she could actually kind of understand in a sick twisted way. She could live with believing it. It was a safer alternative than believing he had lost his mind and was doing this for Dante.
But Dante.
Dante was different. She barely knew him. She had been in his presence less than five minutes and already she felt like a fool. How could she assume that Crowley was the mastermind behind all this? After all, what would Crowley's incentive be to go to the ninth circle of Hell? Just to be a massive dick? Seemed kind of like him. Kind of. Looking at Dante, however, Carmen was pretty sure this was master supreme of this whole operation.
His eyes showed infinite patience and hunger at the same time. Whatever reasons he had to get to the ninth circle, he had fought through Hell to get there.
"Look at me Carmen, the only reason you're alive right now is because of this moment. Do you understand?" Dante asked, watching her expression. "You have no power here. You never claimed the throne, and you are no Queen. All you have is the blood of royalty that makes you of use in this final moment."
He took a handful of her dress and threw her towards the portal, wrenching her free of her chains. Her legs burned, skimming over the fire before she collapsed to her knees.
Dante. Dante's Inferno...She remembered holding the book all those years ago. The book that spoke of Dante not being man but angel, journeying into the nine circles of Hell. She saw a mark on his wrist. "IX". He was that Dante. One and the same. He had implanted that book onto Walker's desk...possibly brainwashed the good doctor along with Moore and everyone else she had saw in the prison that harvested Dean's soul fragment. From the very beginning, he had planned this. He..was the cause of all this. Anger boiled inside her. His voice spoke volumes. He had somehow convinced Castiel that he was doing the right thing, he had brought upon Sam's death. And for what? She didn't know. She didn't care.
"Open the portal," Dante commanded.
All she could think about in that moment was Dean.
Dean. Her maker. The one she had unwillingly joined ten years ago. Her blood. The only family she had and the only family that mattered. They shared the same blood, the same traits, the same power. He was the King and she was his heir. She had never even considered what that meant, had never really given too much thought about what she could do with the power that was all by all rights hers. Crowley was King in name only. He had never earned that throne. He was probably Dante's puppet king meant to carry out his orders.
She may not have had that power. Because Dean died before giving her that power.
But Dean had not died. Not truly. He had given himself for the world, a part of him remained in this world, yes...He wasn't dead. He just wasn't here right now. All this time, seeing his fragment, knowing what had happened. It had done very little to change her mind, to sway her to see that he was needed. But looking at all of them. Of the demon Castiel had created that was once Sam Costigan...of the angel who did it. If this portrait was repainted with Dean, it would be an empty canvas. They would never be where they are without him.
That was his effect.
She stopped believing in him.
Her human parents had once told her of the power of prayer and naturally she just shrugged it off to embrace her own trivial human problems. But maybe there was truth there. If one person...believed. Well and truly believed.
Just because you stopped believing in the devil doesn't mean he stopped existing.
Like a mantra, she repeated his name in her head. Dean. Dean. Dean. If there was anyone. If there was anyone that could put a stop this madness, it was him. Dean. Dean. I'm sorry, Dean.
Carmen closed her eyes and envisioned him in her mind. Not as a memory. Not as anything but what he was. Ten years had not diminished what ran through her blood. It was him, with his cool green eyes, brighter than hers. With a cocky smile that said "I'm better than you." His famous smile that could dazzle anyone. The defiant stance he always took, with crossed arms and crossed legs leaning against some wall. The black jacket, the black tank top. Even the crown that was on his head made of bone and silver. It fit him. He never wanted it, but it fit him.
I'm sorry, Dean. I'm sorry. I stopped believing in you. I was the only one. Gabriel died believing in you. Castiel believes in you...but I need you too, Dean. I always have. I always will. You didn't deserve what happened. We need you here.
Dean..I wish you were here.
She focused with all her might on the untapped power...She knew it was there. It had always been her. No wonder she preferred sword to Will magic. It was hard thing to admit that she didn't know any spells, that she had never bothered to. Her knowledge was limited to Jumps and hiding her sword on her back. That was it...But now...This required all of her focus. It required everything. Angels and demons probably spent centuries perfecting will, augmenting it to their weapons and augmenting it to their bodies. Dean had spent that time until he became a master of fire arts.
She had no knowledge of how to use fire. Guess it was up to her to improvise. She focused on the fire before her, squinting. Fire existed everywhere, in every realm. It could be shaped. It could be manipulated. It was the deadliest weapon known to man yet even humanity had found a way to use it. Her eyes focused on the ring behind Dante, behind his shoulder.
They were talking, oblivious.
"You said it would take Sam's death. That's all you said," Castiel was saying, his voice hard. "Isn't this sufficient?"
"Yes, it takes treachery to get into the ninth circle, Castiel. I'm a man of my word," said Dante smoothly.
"Then what are you waiting for?"
"I don't understand," said Sam. "Is the portal not working?"
"It's working fine. But she has to open the portal. It always had to be her," said Dante a little impatiently, his eyes remained on Carmen where she could feel his gaze burning a hole through her. His voice dropped so only she could hear him. He drew closer to her, right over her shoulder. "Come on, your highness. The entire realm is waiting for you."
Carmen spoke, but it was not only by her own will that she spoke. Her lungs worked by themselves to draw breath, to issue out a single string of words in dreadful tones. "You want in there so badly...Fallen...You'll get your wish."
"What-?"
Carmen lunged at him, wrenching her sword free from behind her back. All that could be seen was a flash of red steel before her blade thrust into his stomach and they were close, shoulder to shoulder, his face just inches from her own The ghost of a bone crown rimmed her forehead. Dante's eyes widened as he met her gaze, pale and horrified. He felt the heated breath of a dragon on his neck before Carmen twisted the sword and the wound seared horribly as she released him. He fell into a kneeling position, clutching a wound that bled freely into his hands.
"Dante!" Castiel cried out, rushing forward, but stopping dead.
Carmen held up the bloody sword to him, head tilting. Her eyes were burning with wrath and fury. It was a challenge. He could feel building heat in the room and knew he was no match, which should have been impossible. A Fallen trumped a demon, no matter what class any day of the week. But looking at her now, he recognized the power that came from her as easily as it was his own.
"Crowley! Stop her!" Dante commanded. "Don't let her go through before us!"
Castiel could have spoke then, but shock crossed his features, froze him like ice. What happened next was almost too fast for Castiel to catch. One moment Carmen was there, looking right at him, wearing a smile that was not her own but too recognizable. The next moment she spread her arm wide and the fire around Balthazar and herself was gone, instead absolving into Carmen which she captured into her fist and thrust towards the charging demon. Crowley was thrown off his feet, spiraling into the darkness in a blaze of fire. Crowley screamed and screamed, desperately trying to douse himself.
Balthazar broke free of the binding rune that Dante had placed on his wrist when Carmen sliced through the flesh as though it was nothing. Balthazar leaped to his feet, held up a fist and a blinding light obscured them all. Painful. It burned his eyes like white fire. He covered them instinctively with his arm and covered Sam next to him, shielding him with his body.
But Sam was pulled from his grasp, hard.
"No!" Castiel yelled, but it was too late. The moment the light faded, he saw Carmen standing before the portal, her sword plunged into the Noctis Rock, willing it to break, all around her sword, it began to crack. One hand grasped Sam's in a tight manner, fingers clasping as though they were a couple. Sam's eyes flickered to Castiel for the briefest second, panic-stricken and afraid.
Carmen hand flattened on the middle with a whisper Castiel could barely catch, surprisingly gentle and lacking any other presence. "Dean. I believe in you."
The portal cracked as though made of glass. The light that he originally thought was behind it changed, shifted into black vapor that took up the entire room. Heat of hellfire, he knew. Taking Sam with her, Carmen drew him up to full height and pulled him into the darkness.
From the depths of the portal, a dreadful voice spoke in a language that Castiel did not recognize, but it hurt worse than Balthazar's blinding spell. It thundered in his eardrums, rattling him, shaking the ground with the force in which it was wrought.
Balthazar watched her fall, visibly shaken as well from the booming sound. "Carmen!"
He rushed after her and Castiel grabbed his arm, clasping it tight. In that split second, he felt disembodied. Like half of him was inside, and the other half not. He looked behind him and felt the blackness overlap, curl around him as though physical. He saw Dante, struggling to his feet, a bloody hand trying to stem the blood flow of his wound.
They looked at eachother, and something fierce burned in Dante's expression. "You know what to do."
Castiel managed the faintest nod before he let himself fall, colliding painfully with the angel he held onto until he saw nothing more but darkness, the Dimensional Door beginning to turn into a mere speck above him, until it was nothing but a microscopic bit of light in a sea of black.