"Jody!" Dean called out as they approached the two women. "Do I even wanna know what you're doing here?"
"Would you believe me that we were in Seattle for some quality bonding time?" she asked with a squint as they met on the path.
"The music scene's amazing, okay?" Claire added. Dean didn't argue; in fact, he lifted his brows with an impressed expression of agreement. Nevertheless, the three of them exchanged quick hugs as Dean went on.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you ladies, but Seattle's a good five hours away. What are you really doing out here?"
"Claire." Jody explained, nudging her thumb toward the girl. "She caught wind of some signs, thought we should check 'em out. Aaaaaand here we are. You know. Typical vacation."
The teen gave Castiel a quick upnod in greeting. "Hey."
"Claire," the angel replied with a nod of his own, only to be quickly met with a tight and lingering embrace from the girl.
"I'm glad you're okay," she confessed with a hushed whisper, truly relieved to see him as she let the hug linger for a moment as she continued. "This place gives off the weirdest vibe. It just doesn't feel right. There's sigils all over the place. And worse."
"Wait," Jody piped up as Claire finally released the angel. "Is this him?" she asked her, motioning to whom the sheriff considered a stranger.
"Ah, yeah," Dean interjected. "Sheriff Jody Mills, meet Castiel."
"Wow," the woman replied, half breathless as he shook the angel's hand; her eyes were practically alight with admiration. "I've heard a lot about you."
"It is a pleasure to meet you in person, Sheriff," Castiel replied with a firm grip and welcoming smile.
"Wish it could have been under better circumstances. Never is," she added.
"I've been praying to you for an hour," Claire interrupted hurriedly. "What took you so long?"
"Where's Sam?" Jody suddenly realized.
"He's babysitting an archangel," Dean replied.
"Oh," Jody said. "Is that all?"
"Yeah, well, the angel he's babysitting is kinda the one in charge of Angel Radio and this may or may not be the spot where he got zapped into his current vessel … so …"
"It complicates things a bit," Castiel mentioned.
"So you didn't bring them along," the sheriff surmised. "Good call."
"Even I am hesitant to step on these grounds," Castiel admitted.
"Yeah, well, I can see why. Angel in an angel trap."
"I'm glad you're here, though," Claire said as she dug into her pocket for her cellphone. "There's all these weird symbols everywhere. I mean, I've been studying, so I know some of these are at least warding sigils, but there's still some that I don't understand yet. I don't even think they're Enochian." Finding the images, she began scrolling through them so the angel could see. "I was gonna send them to you, but there's, like, zero reception out here."
"I recognize some of these," Castiel murmured, squinting a bit as Claire scrolled through the pictures of symbols carved into trees and stone, painted upon rocks. "These are the same symbols as Selaphiel's cloak. But Claire is right. Some aren't Enochian at all."
"Selaphiel?" Jody asked, brows arching with intrigue. "Archangel of Prayer Selaphiel? Protector of children? Presides over exorcisms?"
"Wait," Dean chimed in. "You know who he is?"
"Let's just say that since Claire came to stay with me, I've been learning a lot about angels."
"Yeah, well, Sel is Cas' big brother who's trapped in the man-made body of a woman."
"It sounds much less complicated when you put it like that," Castiel replied as he continued to scroll through the images on Claire's phone. "Where did you find these?"
"This way," Jody insisted with a tilt of her head to the north, indicating they follow her to the site. Dean joined the sheriff at her side while Claire walked along Castiel a few steps behind them.
"Soooo …" the girl began, perhaps a bit awkwardly as they walked along the path, "... big brother Selaphiel. I read about him. I mean, there's not much about him, but he seems like a pretty powerful, y'know, angel. Well, archangel, I mean …" She cleared her throat as she redirected her thoughts. "So … what's he really like? I mean, is he a doof like you? Kinda stuck up like you used to be? A jerk like Tamiel was? Or … what?"
"He's … kind," the angel replied honestly after a moment of thought. "Quiet, but kind."
"Kind. Okay … I dig it."
"How have you been, Claire?" Castiel changed the subject; perhaps he was still a bit uncomfortable discussing his brother with others, as though the archangel was still listening in. But it was also because he had been curious as to the girl's well-being. They hadn't conversed in person since last meeting in Oklahoma …
"Great!" she said, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically … though she was being honest. "I've been just great. I mean, Jody's great. And Alex is actually … she's pretty great. It's kinda like having an older sister … sort of. It's … it's great."
Castiel nodded. "Great."
The awkward silence only lasted for a couple beats between them before she added. "Nice tie."
"Thanks. Nice sword."
The girl's gaze shifted to the angel sword at her waist; mostly hidden by a custom-made sheath, but the hilt was certainly recognizable as belonging to the Grigori who had taken her mother's life. "Thanks," she replied with a mildly nervous smile. "For protection. Y'know. Investigating celestial signs and all. Thought it'd be good to come prepared. Just in case."
"Mm hmm," the angel replied with an arch to his brow.
"Hey, uh … if you're not too busy, I mean, since you're a soldier of Heaven and all … maybe later you could teach me some cool moves or something?"
Castiel gave her a curious stare for a few steps, then offered a small smile and nodded. "Okay."
"So. Quality bonding time in Seattle?" Dean asked Jody.
"Yeah," the sheriff began casually. "Alex has been looking at colleges. She's narrowed in on the University of Washington, of all places. Spending her Fall Break staying on campus. Though, honestly I think she was sold on it the moment we pulled up."
"Really? Alex. A college girl," he commented with a light smirk. "They grow up so fast. One day, they're luring unsuspecting victims to vampire nests, and the next, they're off to college."
"U-Dub has a great LSJ program," she defended with an incredulous look.
"LSJ?"
"Law, Societies and Justice."
He chuckled. "She's goin' to law school?"
"She wants to be a public defender," Jody replied with a modest shrug.
"You're kiddin'. That's a step up from smokin' grass under the bleachers-" He stopped suddenly, attention deviating to their surroundings. "Whoa."
The beige and rocky ground had ring upon ring scorched upon the earth, creating what surely appeared to be a target from above, burned into the surface of the earth, every ring several feet in width and each circle larger and larger, spanning from what appeared to be the center, the remnants of what appeared to have been a large pile of dust, nearly washed away by the previous rains.
"Yeah," Jody remarked as the four came to a halt on the outside edge. "That's what I said. Whoa."
"Cas?" Dean urged as he looked over his shoulder to his friend. But Castiel's expression was one of confusion, more so than usual as he appeared to be looking everywhere but the rings in front of them.
"This is … bizarre …"
Claire scoffed. "And what's more bizarre than a bullseye burned into the ground?"
"Bullseye?" Castiel asked as he turned his attention to her.
"... you're kidding me. You do see it, right? It's right in front of you." She grabbed his arm, directing his attention toward the scorched earth.
"I don't see anything," he protested, shaking his head.
"Cas?" Dean asked.
"There is … nothing here," he replied. "Nothing at all. No earth, no rocks, no light, no … anything."
"... that's a frightening concept," the sheriff added. "Pocket of nothingness."
Claire shook his head. "The sigils must be working like some super angel camouflage or something."
"But he could see them on the phone, right?" Jody asked.
Dean snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. "Claire. You ever seen Hell Hazers 2?"
"What?" the teen replied with a scrunch to her nose. "That was a terrible movie."
"Yeah, well, you remember the camera phone thing?"
"Oh!" her eyes lit up as she whipped out her cell again. "Good call!" Activating the camera on her phone, she held it before Castiel so he could look, and as the angel took the device from her, his eyes widened as he could finally see what the other three saw.
Jody glanced around quickly as the angel became acclimated to their surroundings. "So why don't we find some of those symbols and scratch them up? Wouldn't he be able to see just fine then?"
"Yeah," Dean agreed, but shook his head his protest. "Him and the other angels. But the last thing we need right now is to become a blip on their radar."
"What? I thought you guys fixed things up there. I thought angels were supposed to be the good guys."
"At least one of them is not," Castiel commented as he took careful steps forward, using the camera as a filter. The others followed suit, studying the ground closely. Dean walked between the scorch marks and found what appeared to be the edge of something metal protruding from the dirt.
"Cas." He motioned the angel over as he crouched to pull the piece from the ground, brushing the flecks of earth from its surface to reveal an engraved bronze medallion bearing the emblem of a tree with winding branches and roots that seemed to intermingle with each other. "Can you see this?"
The angel peered over his friend's shoulder, using the phone still as a lens with which to see. "It's Yggdrasil."
"Gesundheit."
"Yggdrasil?" Jody asked. "What's that?"
Castiel explained, "According to Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the Tree of Life …"
"Didn't Gabriel masquerade as Loki for a couple thousand years?" Dean asked.
"I strongly doubt Gabriel has anything to do with this," Castiel disagreed. "He wouldn't do anything to endanger Selaphiel …"
"Yeah. And this definitely is not his style," Dean confirmed as he stood, continuing to look about. "He seemed pretty passionate about not watching his family die."
"Gabriel …" Claire started, brow scrunched with confusion, "the archangel … was Loki, the Norse god of mischief?"
Dean smiled apologetically. "Long story. I'll tell you later."
"... right."
"Hey, guys?" Jody piped up as she found another half-melted piece of alloy, half-buried in the earth several feet away from the group. She held it out to them, Dean's eyes widening as he took it from her grasp.
"I know this," he murmured, distance in his gaze … laced with just a tinge of sadness and pain. "This is a key to Oz … or what's left of a key to Oz."
"Oz?" Claire asked.
"Like Emerald City, Munchkins and the Yellow Brick Road kind of Oz?" Jody added.
"Yeah," Dean confirmed. "I thought there were only six of these in existence. And one of them was destroyed, so how did-?"
"Wait," the teen interjected. "Oz is a real place?"
"Oh, sweetheart, you're still learning." He shook his head and slipped both items into his pocket. "There's a ton of things out there you wouldn't believe."
"Oz? Norse gods?" Jody spoke up, slightly exasperated. "Angels? What's going on here?"
Castiel looked worriedly to the others. "Someone was clearly trying to destroy the evidence of whatever happened here."
"Cas," Dean spoke, "you said Sel's presence extended to many realms. Does that include the Nine Realms of Norse mythology?"
The angel thought about it for only a moment before nodding. "Yes. He did mention those worlds on occasion."
"And Oz? Does he have a presence in Oz?"
Still thinking, Castiel seemed to be peeling his mind for the memory. "It's possible, but I am not certain. It hasn't really come up in conversation."
"What are you guys talking about?" Claire asked.
"Humor me, Cas," Dean went on, "but let's just say … hypothetically speaking … Sel's energy or whatever was present in all these realms. Asgard, Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Oz … who knows what else? That theory about using him to access all these other worlds is starting to look like like more than just a theory."
A beat of silence fell among the group and Jody's eyes widened before she sighed and just shook her head.
"That's it. Next vacation, we're going some place normal. Like Disneyland."
{{ To be continued in Chapter 12: I Won't Shed a Tear ... }}
{{ Author's Note: To be honest, chapters 11 and 12 were originally one chapter … but after realizing just how long it would be (this is only about a third of what I had written), I decided to divvy it into two separate blocks. So here, enjoy a little filler until Chapter 12. }}