Chapter 20: The Wish
"Holly," Cas poked Holly's left shoulder gently He almost leaped for joy when Holly groaned loudly and opened one eye, and then the other.
They were still in the lobby of El Sol de Mañana, but it had stopped raining, and soft moonlight shone through the cracks between the boards covering the windows.
"What happened?" Holly asked, wincing as she sat up. She still felt sore, even a couple of hours after hitting the mosaic floor.
"After you got rid of the fire, Gabriel charged at Azazel, but Azazel just... Vanished. Just poof, into thin air." Cas began.
"He's not dead, is he?" Holly sighed.
Cas laughed. "Nope, I highly doubt it. Anyway, after that, Gabriel said something I couldn't understand, and there was this really weird, echoey booming sound. Then he took away the jade chains, and told me that he was going to take Jonathan back home. That's the evil djinn that Azazel was going to sacrifice along with you. He's my cousin, apparently." Cas's face soured at the idea.
Holly sighed and rubbed her eyes with her left hand. "What time is it, anyway?" She asked. "I left my phone with Mark and the others."
Cas checked his watch. "It's 9:55. The sun just set, you missed it."
Holly yawned. "Will you help me get up?" she asked tiredly. "I'm not entirely sure if I can walk by myself."
"Sure thing. Nimrod's just across the street, right?"
Holly nodded as Cas carefully helped Holly to her feet. He pulled her good arm around his shoulders, and began walking towards the door, with Holly leaning heavily on him. Cas carefully opened the door, carefully, because he was worried about what might come crashing down on his and Holly's heads if he was not careful, and dragged Holly out into the street, where the slick, rain-soaked cobbles shone in the moonlight. It took all of about a minute to cross the street, and stopped in front of Diego's shop.
"Is this it?" he asked Holly, but before she could answer, Nimrod and Mark burst out of the front door, in step with each other.
"Holly! Cas!" Mark shouted, laughing in relief. "I'd give you a hug, but I'll probably end up hurting you more than you already are."
Nimrod took a much less joyous reaction to Holly's and Cas's return. He stopped about two feet in front of them and crossed his arms, remaining silent for so long it was almost painful.
"Well," Nimrod said finally. "While you did manage to accomplish what we came here to do, I simply cannot stress enough the absolute foolishness that led your actions, young djinn!"
Holly didn't have to pretend to feel ashamed of herself as Nimrod continued lecturing her, but she kept reminding herself that she had a noble cause.
She was feeling so down that it came as an enormous shock when Nimrod suddenly stopped lecturing and embraced her. Holly was even more surprised to discover that he was weeping.
"What? Nimrod!" Holly protested, trying without success to push Nimrod away with her good arm.
"We just found each other, Holly." He said into her hair. His voice was shaking. "I didn't want to lose you again so quickly." Nimrod relinquished her and cleared his throat awkwardly. Holly edged towards Mark, who in turn put his arm protectively around his little sister's shoulders.
"Are you okay, Nimrod?" Mark asked cautiously. Nimrod cleared his throat again and blinked the tears from his eyes, readjusting his glasses awkwardly.
"Yes, quite, thank you, Mark. Why don't you go inside and help Holly get cleaned up a little? We'll be heading back in just a bit."
"Got it. C'mon, kiddo. What did you hurt this time?" Mark half pulled, half carried Holly into Diego's shop.
After the door shut, Nimrod turned to speak to Cas in relative private.
"Cas," Nimrod sighed, using Cas's nickname for the first time, "It's time that you told me what has happened to you."
Cas related his story, telling Nimrod everything that had happened to him since Azazel had kidnapped him, not even a week before.
"It was horrible," Cas finished. "I was sure that he'd snap and kill me before long. I'm really glad that that's over and done with. Doubly so, since I think that Gabriel must have destroyed the Red Sun."
Nimrod sighed. He had been absolutely silent while Cas had been speaking, but now he shook his head.
"Cas, you're aware, I'm sure, that Azazel did not die. I'm not positive what he did, but no djinn just vanishes when they're killed. The odds are, Azazel will continue to pursue you. And if not him, then certainly another Ifrit. They're quite fascinated by you, you see. As am I, to speak the truth. I've never met an Ifrit that didn't want me dead before, much less one who turned out to be my daughter's best friend in the world."
Cas felt like a freak, the way Nimrod was talking. It wasn't Cas's fault that Castiel and Janax had taken him away when he'd been an infant. Cas still didn't know why, and it seemed that only God knew this. Perhaps it had been fate.
In any case, Nimrod seemed to realize that Cas's mind was still in turmoil, for he added quickly, "This is why I'd like you to make me a promise. A djinn promise is binding, you see. I'd hate to think what would happen should you break one."
Cas remembered something. "Right before I sent Holly back on her way, I promised that I'd always be her best friend. Was that binding?"
"That depends. Did you really mean it? More importantly, did you wish it to be so?" Nimrod returned.
Cas thought for a moment, reflecting on the exchange he'd had with Holly, what seemed like ages ago. Finally, Cas nodded. "Yeah. I did wish that I'd always be best friends with Hol. It was kind of weird. I've never actually wished that hard for anything before."
Nimrod smiled and nodded. "I believe that you did make a binding promise. But now you need to make another one."
"So I have to promise that I'll be good, is that it?" Cas asked, trying to comprehend what Nimrod was asking him to do.
"Essentially, yes. However, as I already said, you have to truly wish it for the promise to be potent, even decades later. A promise made under duress is a promise all too easily broken." Nimrod explained.
"Should I make a wish?" Cas asked.
"It's not necessary, but it certainly does help." Nimrod looked up to the night sky for some inspiration. "We ought to work out the wording very carefully before you say this wish aloud, though. No loopholes are allowed."
Cas and Nimrod discussed exactly what Cas ought to wish for at great length. About a half-hour passed before they had come to a satisfactory conclusion.
"I'll write it down for you. Just a moment, please. QWERTYUIOP!" Nimrod conjured up a tablet and fountain pen, and scribbled down the wish. After he had finished, he handed the tablet to Cas, and put the pen in his pocket. "Whenever you're ready, Cas." Nimrod said. Cas read over what Nimrod had written a few times, and then cleared his throat.
"Okay," Cas said, and took a deep breath before beginning his wish. "I wish, that in the event that I ever become truly evil beyond redemption, that all of my efforts come to nothing, and I burst into flame and die before my spirit can leave my body." Cas took another deep breath, wishing with all his might, before closing his eyes and uttering his focus word. "APOGEOTROPICAL!"
Cas felt a small tug in his gut, and realized, feeling somewhat disturbed, that it was his own djinn power leaving him to grant his wish. It concerned him because Cas supposed, not without merit, that if he was destined to never become a truly evil djinn, then no djinn power would have left him. Would it?
All the same, Cas was glad to have a fail-safe option. If he couldn't work for Good, then Cas had no business existing at all.
"Well, now that we've done that, what say you to seeing how Holly is? She didn't exactly look unscathed from her bout with Azazel." Nimrod smiled at Cas, seeming worried, but not willing to allow this worry to consume him.
Cas grinned back and nodded, following Nimrod into Diego's glass shop.
About an hour later, Nimrod was (tiredly) steering his flying carpet through the dark skies, with Mark, Cas, Holly, John, Philippa, and Groanin onboard, back to London.
Holly turned to Philippa. "There's one thing that I don't quite understand about this whole djinn adventure, Phil." Holly said to her cousin. "You mentioned that you were useless. You're djinn, aren't you? Why haven't you used djinn power at all on this trip?"
"Yeah, I was wondering a little about that," Cas chimed in. "What's the deal with that?"
Philippa exchanged a glance with her twin brother, and they both smiled. "Perhaps we ought to start at the beginning. You see, it all started when John and I were twelve..."
As Philippa related her narrative, with John jumping in with a helpful word here and there, Mark stared moodily down at the black waters of the English channel. Nimrod, tired as he was, noticed this, and turned to Mark.
"And what are you thinking of over there, Mark? You seem rather down in the mouth."
Mr. Groanin, who was reading the day's edition of The Daily Telegraph, eavesdropped covertly.
Mark sighed. "Well, a lot of things, really. Holly's right arm is still broken, Cas might suddenly turn evil, but most of all, now both of my parents are dead. And my stepmother. I know I'm technically a legal adult, but I have no idea what I'm supposed to do! I've been in school practically all my life! Plus, I've still got Holly to worry about, and on top of that, my house has been burned to the ground. We haven't got anywhere to go..."
Nimrod snorted, a sound that earned him a pair of raised eyebrows over the top of the newspaper from Groanin. As usual, though, Nimrod ignored Groanin. "Poppycock! You can stay with me, Mark. We may not be related by blood, but you're still Holly's brother, and by extension, it's my responsibility to keep you both educated and well-versed in culture. You could work for me, if you really wanted to do something. Groanin has quite enough in the way of duties as my butler to keep him going, even if you divvied up the chores."
Groanin looked over at Nimrod and Mark, and gave his opinion on the matter. "Much obliged if you'd do that, sir. You're quite right that I've got too much to do for you already. An extra pair of hands is certainly welcome." He rustled his newspaper and continued pretending to read.
Mark nodded amiably at Groanin, feeling better, but still inclined to feel depressed, and not without good reason.
"What about Cas?" Mark asked Nimrod, changing the subject.
"I'll arrange for it so that he can stay with us in London. There's going to be far too many legalities for my taste, what with adoption and immigration to get through, but it'll all work out in the end."
"I assume Holly's going to stay with us in London, is she?" Mark said.
Nimrod nodded. "Yes, she is. It's quite strange, but I never thought for a moment that my own daughter would turn out to be a prophet."
Mark laughed. "Yeah? She's my little sister. I've known her almost her entire life. I'm the one who's really surprised! Though, I guess what with djinn existing, and all this supernatural stuff going down, I can hardly claim that it didn't cross my mind that angels and prophets might exist, too. It just seems so unreal for this stuff to exist in this day and age."
"All the same, we know that at least one archangel is looking after her. I wonder, though, why Holly discovered that she was a prophet now, and not later."
"You think it could be the Apocalypse?"
Nimrod sighed. "I don't know, Mark. Some days, it feels like it is."