Planeswalker Gothic 3
Part 6
Burial Site. Supernatural Verse.
I frowned as I stared at what looked like a bomb site, which until recently had been a small grave in somewhere in Illinois. Sam Winchester had told me where to find it, and I'd come here with the intention of gathering some of Dean Winchesters's DNA.
Which was as yucky as it sounded given that Dean had been dead for months now, but the only way I knew to track a person across planes of existence involved DNA, normally just a few hairs.
It might have worked since even after death there is a connection between the body and soul, that was what allowed ghosts to linger, and why burning a demon's mortal remains also destroyed the demon. I'd been hoping to use that link to find Hell and Dean Winchester.
By the looks of things there was no need, someone had crawled out of their grave here, and not that long ago. I even knew what direction the Winchester had gone off to afterwards as my wand spell old em that.
There was no need to go after him, he'd make his way to Bobby Singer's place soon enough, and then he'd track down Sam. Who for a while should belivie that I'd brought his brother back to life, which would give me enough time to copy the demon-killing knife.
Which unlike coping the Colt was actually going well. I'd been correct it was the runes on the blade that really mattered, as well as the power of the person doing the enchanting work. Although the craftsmenship did also matter as the blade had to be sturdy.
"There is no need for you to be here" said a voice.
Quickly I turned to the speaker with a mix of curiosity and irritation, right up until I realised who it was who had just spoke to me. It was Castiel.
"I have just raised Dean Winchester's soul from perdition. Your interference is unneeded" the angel stated.
The angel stared at me for several minutes, which made me feel not unlike a bug underneath a maginfying glass
"You are different from how my brothers described you" the angel went on to say.
Angels talked about little old me?
"And how to do they describe me" I asked with interest.
He didn't speak, but I did notice that he expression on the vessel's face was a little odd.
"Why do you have a constipated look on your face?" I asked.
The angel's expression did not change at all.
"I am not consptipeated" he stated.
Well he looked it.
"Why are you here?" Casitel enquired.
There was no reason to lie to him.
"I've made a deal with Sam Wincheste" I said nonchalantly "He wanted his brother back, and I decided that it was worth the risk to venture into hell to recover his soul".
Bringing Dean back to life would have been the easy part. Since he'd have had a physical existence in hell in order to be tortured all I would have to do was to get him to take one of my blank cards, then I would have left hell, and regenerated Dean here on Earth. I'd done something similar for Ageon the Conquerer back in Westeros. The hard part would have been recovering Dean, since he might be guarded by demons, still with both the knife and the Colt I could have done it.
"You will not interfere in my work with Dean Winchester" the angel stated.
This amused me.
"Oh Castiel. The angel of Thursday" I said "You really have no idea do you. There will come a time when you'll beg for my help".
Assuming I stuck around long enough to give it.
"What do you..." the angel began o say.
I then apperated away before Castiel could say or do anything else. Which is what he often did to other people so I didn't feel bad about.
(Line Break)
Singer Residence. Supernatural Verse.
Bobby shot another look at Dean, who was sitting at his kitchen table. It was still too surreal seeing him there. He'd been dead, Bobby had helped bury the body, yet here he was. Kinda freaky.
"So you're saying you just woke up in a..."
The younger of the two men didn't let the elder finish speaking.
"In a pine box six feet under" Dean said with a while sigh rubbing his hands through his hair. "I don't get it either".
This was not all that was upsetting the newly returned to life man
"Sam's number's not working, he's not dead is he?" Dean wished to know.
Bobby shook his head.
"He's alive. As far as I know" he answered.
Dean wasn't happy to hear this.
"Wait, what do you mean, as far as you know?" he demanded to know.
Bobby frowned.
"I haven't talked to him for months" the older man confessed "I call him everyday, but he doesn't want to talk to me".
The older of the two Winchester brothers was not well pleased.
"You're kidding, you just let him go off by himself?" Dean said incredulously.
"He was dead set on it" Mr Singer replied "And these last months haven't been exactly easy, you know. For him, or me. We had to bury you"
Dean had the sense to look abashed.
"Why did you bury me, anyway?" he asked desperate for the change of topic.
That wasn't what should have happened.
"I wanted you salted and burned" Bobby told Dean "Usual drill. But... Sam wouldn't have it".
Which as it turned out was a good thing.
"Well, I'm glad he won that one" Dean commented.
Bobby had more to say.
"He said you'd need a body when he got you back home somehow. That's about all he said"
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
The older Winchester was starting to become concerned, well more concered that is.
"He was quiet. Real quiet" Bobby informed the other man "And then he just took off. Wouldn't return my calls. I tried to find him, but he didn't want to be found".
"Oh, damn it Sam!" Dean said, while resisting the urge to punch something.
Sam may not want to be found, but he was going to be. Whatever he'd done to bring Dean back needed to be dealt with.
(Line Break)
Men of Letters Bunker. Supernatural.
Creating a new Book of Shadows was no easy task, some such grimores are the work of whole families, with each generation of witches adding to the gathered lore.
My orginal grimore, which I was still using until the Book of Gothic 2.0 was finished, contained lore from across the multiverse, which I had gathered together over time in no real order. I'd simple recordered spells and information that I thought would come in handy.
The Book of Gothic 2.0, which needed a better name, was going to be a very different grimore, much more organised. So far it was empty, and that was because every page would be in the book would be copied from the notes currently scattered before me.
One of the spells I certainly be adding was called Impetus Bestiarum (attacks of beasts), or as the witch Rowena referred to it, "attack dog spell", it was a spell wherein the witch places a specially prepared hex bag in the hands of someone and recites "impetus bestiarum" turning the target of the spell into an animalistic killer who can be directed to kill a particular individual.
The spell will eventually kill the person it is cast on, so I would never use it on a human, but there were plenty of nasty things out there that needed a good killing, and with this spell should I desire I could use them as a weapon.
Still I was far more likely to just shoot the bad people, with my trusty pulse pistol, rather than cast a spell on them, but it was a cool bit of magic and worth having recorded.
Spells were only part of what was recorded in a proper book of shadows like mine, any wizard or warlock worthy of the title would keep info on potenial and actual threats within the book, and any other knowledge that could come in handy some where down the road.
At the moment I was taking the time to translate Enochian words into their English counter parts so that it would be possible for me to do stuff like summon Castiel, and with knowledge of the right symbols, it should be possible to create warding magic to keep out pretty much anything.
This work was going to take a long time, but I could do it. Assuming of course there weren't any distractions.
(Line Break)
Pontiac. Illinois.
Dean glanced at the room number one more time before pounding on the door. The click of the lock rang through the hall and the door swung inward. A young woman stood there wearing nothing but a tank top and underwear. Which was not something either of the two men had been expecting to see.
"So where is it?" the woman asked.
"Where's what?" Dean asked back.
He looked at Bobby to see if he knew what the woman meant. Which of course he didn't, he was just as clueless as to what was going on around here.
"The pizza" the partly undressed woman said, sounding annoyed "One that apparently takes two guys to deliver".
"I think we've got the wrong room" Dean said.
He was just about to go back to the lobby to make sure he had the right number when the door moved open further to show another figure.
Sam froze as he caught sight of Dean standing there in the doorway.
"Heya Sammy." Dean said with a tinge of trepidation,
Sam lunged forward and Dean tensed, ready for a fight. Instead he found himself enveloped in a tight hug. Which wouldn't have been surprising to Dean had he known that Sam was expecting him to return from the dead.
"So are you two, you know together?" the woman by the door said while giving them all an odd look.
"Huh? Oh, no." Sam said with a small laugh. "He's my brother".
"I, uh. I think I should leave" the woman said.
Which would be for the best because if she hung around too long there was a chance Dean would realised that she was in fact the demon known as Ruby.
"Yeah. That's probably for the best." Sam agreed almost too quickly.
When she was gone the three left in the room sat about. Bobby and Dean eyed Sam suspiciously.
"So what'd it cost you?" Dean asked
He was eying Sam as if something about him might have altered physically.
"Dean I don't pay." Sam said with a small laugh.
The older brother was not amused.
"No Sam!" Dean said vehemently. "To bring me back! What'd it cost you? Your soul? What I'm off the hook and you're on?".
Sam scowled.
"No Dean. I didn't sell my soul, and trust me. I tried. No demon out there was willing to make a deal!" he yelled.
Things didn't calm down.
"Then what Sam?" the older brother wished to know.
Dean had noticed that Sam hadn't straight up denied being involved. He'd simply said he hadn't sold his soul. It was a detail Dean hadn't overlooked.
"Is it something worse? WHAT'D YOU DO?" he demanded to know.
Sam reached into his pocket and held out a small coin before saying a name three times.
(Line Break)
Pontiac. Illinois.
It had worked, the coin I'd given Sam Winchester months ago, it was a clever little bit of magic, a tracking charm was on the coin, and that combined with a few other little spells allowed me to teleport to whom ever had the coin. They had to be holding the coin, and say my name three times, because magic liked certain numbers, but it worked over vast distances.
"Dean Winchester, it's nice to see you up and walking about. How was hell?" I asked "Bad I imagine",
Sam looked mostly at ease at my presenece, but Dean was less happy to see me, were as Bobby just looked slightly confused.
"You the one who Sam sold his soul to?" the older brother demanded to know.
By the looks of things were in some crappy motel room, which meant we were in public so I shouldn't show off my powers. I just have to be satisied with getting to yell at Dean Winchester.
"No. Sam did not sell his soul to me!" I shouted "I'm not some petty crossroads demon. I have no interest in human souls".
Even if I had a use for the things I wouldn't deal in them. Souls were outside my area of expertise.
"Besides you being here" I said as I gestured to Dean. "Isn't my doing. So you can have your knife back".
Everyone tensed as took out the demon-killing knife and passed it to the younger Winchester. I didn't need it any longer as unlike the Colt, that knife was actually pretty easy to copy. As I'd suspected the knife itself wasn't anything special it was symbols, those in the right order were an enchantment.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, sounding confused.
I sighed. These two really did need everything spelled out for them.
"Sam traded that knife for your soul out of hell" I said to Dean "However someone broke you out of hell before I could get to you, as such I returned the knife. Is that simple enough for you to understand?".
I was just about to leave, when someone else spoke.
"Who did it?" Dean demanded to know "If you didn't pull me back then who did?".
They'd met soon enough so I figured I might as well tell him.
"You're looking for an angel called Castiel" I said just before teleporting away.
(Line Break)
Singer Residence. Supernatural Verse.
"Gothic?" I heard a voice ask.
I turned his eyes in the direction of the speaker and saw an antsy Sam Winchester who was holding a shotgun. This was not a good thing as while I had kintic barriers it was never pleasant to have a gun pointed at you.
"Fuck" I muttered.
No one had summoned me, I'd been leaving my shop and then suddenly I'd been here. I had a feeling that the angels were behind this. Stupid feathery gits.
"Bobby?!" Sam yelled.
I winced at the sound since I had a headache, and then I decided to leave. I tried to apparate, however nothing happened I was stuck firmly in the salvage yard. If the angels were behind this then they had powers more subtle and complex than I'd realised.
"Bobby!" Sam yelled again "Where are you!?".
I was wincing at the sound, and while it was tempting to silence the Winchester using magic I figured it would be better to help Sam find his sort of uncle.
With this in mind I reached out and got a sense for the spirtual energy in the area. I sensed three human souls, and what felt like many ghosts, but there was something wrong with them.
"He's in that car" I told the younger Winchester.
As I watched Sam attacked the trunk the transport with his sawn-off shogun and pop it open. Only to get flung back and hit another car's windshield quite heavily. I also saw two ghosts, the spirits of children. They felt very wrong, like black mana creatures so I blasted them with white mana, enough to drive them away. Then I used green mana to heal the damage done to the two hunters. Which was minor.
"So what the heck is going around here?" I asked "And should I be bringing in the Ghostbusters? Because I can actually do that".
I had visited that realm.
"Let's get inside" Bobby said "See if we can figure this out".
Dean was waiting for us within the study.
"Anyone want to tell me why an Englishmen in New York is here?" the older Winchester demanded.
Well I was Welsh not English, but this was hardly the time to correct Dean's misunderstandings. That might take until the heat death of this universe
"I think I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque" I said sarcasticly.
Dean frowned and opened his mouth to argue but Sam cut him off.
"It doesn't matter" stated the younger brother "What matters is: Why are people we know are dead popping up and trying to off us?".
Well if this was season 4, then it could one of the seals.
"Not just people we know" Dean corrected "People we couldn't save.
Yeah this had to be the Rising of the Witness, or was is Raising?
"I saw something on Meg" Dean was now saying "Did she have a tattoo when she was alive?".
"I don't think so" Sam offered.
He sounded unsure.
"It was a mark on her hand. Almost a brand" explained Dean
"I saw a mark on Henriksen too" Sam said, while thinking back.
"What did it look like?" Bobby asked stepping forward.
I waited until the symbol was drawn before filling in the blanks.
"The mark of the witnesses" I told the hunters.
The Rising of the Witnesses was one of the 66 Seals that was broken by Lilith. She forced the ghosts of people who witnessed the supernatural to rise. She specifically used ghosts of people that hunters could not save, causing them to go after the hunters and kill them. I explained this as best I could without giving too much away about how much I knew.
After that Mr Singer directed us down towards his basment.
"Where are we going?" Dean asked with confusion.
"Some place safe" Bobby answered.
We made our way down some stairs and Boddy turned leading us through a basement and down a hallway that led to a large metal door.
"Bobby, is this...?" Sam struggled to ask.
He couldn't find the words to describe what this place was. I'd gave gone with: supernatural panic room.
"Solid iron. Completely coated in salt" Mr Singer told us "One hundred percent ghost proof".
I nodded in approval.
"Demon proof too" I added.
Which made sense as the demons in this universe were just souls who'd been transformed in hell via decades or centuries of torture. Take the hell away and they were just angry spirits.
"You built a panic room?" Dean asked.
"I had a weekend off" Bobby said with a shrug.
This room was super clever but Singer acted as if was nothing.
"Bobby. You're awesome." Dean said with a smile.
While I was a supernatural creature in a sense I was not stopped by iron or salt.
"Well I guess he was telling the truth about not being a demon" Dean said once I was inside "I owe you an aplogy".
I sighed when I realised that he wasn't actually going to say sorry. These hunters needed to understand that just because someone had powers that didn't make them evil.
"Just remeber that next time your soul needs dragging out from the pit" I said to the older Winchester.
Dean's rebuke was cut off by Sam.
"What did you mean by the mark of the witnesses?" Sam asked me
I didn't answer until Bobby secured the door.
"Someone's dragging up the souls and they aren't happy about it, but the mark is a controlling device of sorts" I said.
I had explained this already, but they didn't seem to be getting i.
"They're being forced to attack. They're like rabid dogs." Bobby continued. "The mark of the witness occurs during the rising of the witnesses".
Again I'd already explain that, just in fancier words. The brothers really weren't that bright.
"The rising of the witnesses?" Dean asked.
He was now loading rock salt into a shotgun shell.
"Whoever did this had big plans. It figures into an ancient prophecy" Bobby went on to say "This is a sign
"A sign? Of what?" Sam asked confused.
"The apocalypse" Mr Singer told them.
No one spoke for a while. And who could blame them? The End of Days was big news.
"Wait. Apocalypse? The apocalypse, apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, five-dollar-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?" Dean asked.
I wasn't concerned, and people picked up on that".
"You wouldn't have anything to do with this would you?" Dean asked suspiciously.
I did not.
"This isn't exactly a first for me" I told the hunters "A while back I had to stop these guys called White Walkers from creating their own ice age. They had an army of the dead, it was a thing. This is just a load of demons and angels battling it out, they're doing that in loads of planes of existence, this is nothing new".
There was more silence for a while.
"Okay so what do we do?" Sam said turning to Bobby.
"There's a spell." Bobby said while flipping through the book he was referrencing "It'll put the souls back to rest. If I translated right we've got everything we need in the house".
Pretty much as I remembered this epsoide.
"I don't suppose we can do the spell here?" Dean butted in.
"What? You thought our luck was gonna start now?" Bobby said "The spell has to be done over an open flame".
I could provide fire, but since what was needed for the spell would no doubt be scattered around the house we might as well do it Mr Singer's way.
"Doesn't have as much appeal as a ghost proof panic room." Dean said with a frown.
Bobby took no time to let any comment on that.
Sam upstairs linen cabinet. There's a red box. Get it" Mr Singer ordered "Dean kitchen, silverware drawer. There's a false bottom".
He then turned to me.
"You watch my back while I do the spell" he ordered.
For once I was fine taking orders.
(Line Break)
Singer Residence. Supernatural Verse.
"Hemlock. Opium. Wormwood" I read out "Really opuim".
Wouldn't burning opium get us all high?
"Got it all" Dean said as place things on the desk.
I watched Bobby laid salt lines. Only he didn't do them fast enough. Those child spirit had reappered.
"You could have sa..."
A blast of white mana caused them to fade away, but I knew it wouldn't last.
"Is there a particular way the fire has to be lit?" I asked.
Bobby glanced over his shoulder at me.
"No" he answered.
He'd barely gotten the word out before flames filled the fireplace. All i had taken was a wave of my wand.
The door to the kitchen slammed shut, as more ghosts appeared. I gathered more white mana and blasted them all.
"Dean!" Bobby called.
"I'm fine Bobby!" came Dean's reply. "Keep going!"'
Every time a ghost even started to manifest I would just blast it, and was so glad that I'd claimed so many rich sources of white mana during my travels. Since I was in no way a necromancer I could not control these ghosts, all I could do was banish them, and because of Lilith's spell they kept coming back. Right up until Bobby's spell took effect and ended the wholet thing.
"Well, that was mildly entertaining" I commented.
Three sets of eyes turned on me with incredulous looks. I just turned on the spot and was happy to discover that I could teleport once again.
(Line Break)
Singer Residence. Supernatural Verse.
Hours later as Sam and Bobby were sleeping a conversation was taking place.
"So you knew about all of this?" Dean asked
Castiel's face remained completely blank.
"I was made aware of it, yes" the angel answered.
Dean was not happy to hear that.
"Well gee. Thanks for the heavenly assistance" he said. "I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wing, halos".
There was the slightest flicker of annoyance in Castiel's eyes
"Read the bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier"
Dean wasn't sure about that.
"Yeah? Then why didn't you fight?" he asked.
"I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had bigger concerns." Castiel said while moving a bit too close to Dean for comfort "Besides we sent Gothic here to aid you, as a sort of test".
"A test?" Dean said, almost laughing. "Well did we pass your heavenly test?".
"I was not a test for you" Castiel said with a slight frown. "A test for him. We had to make sure he would aid you if push came to shove. We needed to know where his intentions lie".
Dean saw a chance to gain some information.
"Seriously what is he anyway?" the Winchester asked "He's not a demon, but I don't buy the whole wizard thing. I mean he's not like Merlin or something. Is he?".
Dean had seen many strange things in his, so he wasn't totally willing to rule out the idea that Gothic was in fact Merlin.
"He is a Planeswalker" Castiel told Dean "But I am ensure of what that means, but I do know that is more than a mere wizard, and that is not on the side of hell. Of course that doesn't mean he's on the side of heaven".
Once the angel had vanished, and Dean had a moment to think he realised that at least now he had something to research: Planeswalker.
(Line Break)
Chuck's House. Supernatural Verse.
I'd done some very odd things during my life as a traveller of the multiverse, but this had to get into my top ten, maybe even my top five. I was sitting with God having a cup of coffee. Yeah this was odd.
Our meeting had also been strange I hadn't known what do to upon seeing him. He didn't register as anything special to my senses, but if anyone could fool a Planeswalker it would be him.
As it turned out God was nice, and he made a decent cup of coffee.
"So" Chuck said, he wanted to be called Chuck "What can I do for you?".
Well that was why I was here.
"I came here for your help..." I started to say.
Chuck sighed.
"Look, James" he said "Can I call you James?"
How did he know my real name? Wait he was God.
"Listen I don't answer prayers" he told me "So if that's what you came for then you're out of luck. I just want to live a normalish life, can you understand that?".
Actually I could.
"No I get you" I said, working to stay calm "I'm an ascended being. I've been nagged about interfering with one cause or another".
I remembered Westeros, the demands made of me, the offers of child brides, and all those nobles who'd wanted magic artefacts. Granted Chuck must have dealt with much bigger concerns, but I could see where he was coming from.
"You see I want to make my own world" I started to say "Somewhere like Earth, but...
Chuck didn't let me finish.
"Trust me" he was now saying "You don't want to make your own Earth, looking after a world like this is a 24/7 job. You'd be better off with something simplier. Like purgatory, only without all the monsters".
I'd not considered making a sort of afterlife.
"Can you teach me to do that?" I requested "I'd be very grateful and...".
I remembered something I'd thought about before.
"Maybe I could sponser your books" I offer "You know pay for them to be published".
I'd read them and had been left wondering why Metatron wasn't more of a fan. They were hardly classics but as escapist fiction went they were pretty good. I didn't know why Chuck just didn't snap his fingers and put the books on the best sellers list, but those books were his work. He was free to do with them as he wished.
"Sure" agreed Chuck "But you have to promise not to tell anyone that I'm here. The last thing I need is more people asking me for favours".
Chuck leaned forward and tapped me on the forehead, and what happened next caused me to black out.
(Line Break)
Singer Residence. Supernatural Verse.
"I found something online" reported Bobby.
Hearing this pleased Dean because he'd found nothing in any of the lore books about Planeswalkers. It was like they didn't exist, but he couldn't understand why Castiel would mention them if they didn't.
"I found a referrence to them in a card came" Bobby was now saying "It says that Planeswalkers are among the most powerful beings in the multiverse. They can be born at random in any sapient species, with no outward signs of their latent power as there is an incredibly remote chance that any given sentient, natural being will be born with a planeswalker's spark. When that being is put through a period of extreme stress—in many cases death—the spark can trigger, causing the individual to ascend and become a planeswalker".
Sam and Dean exchanged looks.
"A card game?" asked Sam.
"What's a multiverse?" asked Dean.
Bobby decided to answer the harder question first.
"A multiverse is like a collection of universe " he attempted to explain "Our world is part of the universe, but its not the only one. Hell is a different plane of existence, a Planeswalker could just walk into hell".
Sam considered this.
"He did say he could get you out of hell" the younger brother pointed out before turning to Bobby "Are you sure its just a game, maybe Planeswalkers are based on something else, like how vampires in movies are kinda like real vamps but not".
Bobby just shrugged.
"It also says that Planeswalkers had incredible magical capabilities, surpassing all but the most powerful mortal wizards. Their lives could last indefinitely, and their physical forms were matters of will as they were energy projections of a center of consciousness" he was now saying "But they changed, while they are powerful mages, which fits with what we've see, they are still physical beings that can be harmed, and need the same sustenance as other mortals. But we don't know if that change is just part of this game or the truth. Either way I don't think we should piss this guy off".
Sam looked at the screen.
"Magic: the Gathering" he read out "Guess we need to find out more".