Ice of Oblivion Chapter 5
Title: Ice of Oblivion Chapter 5/24
Author: zoomzoomzoomzoo
Fandom/Genre: SPN AU Romance, Drama, Action
Pairing (s): Dean/Castiel
Rating: T
Word Count: ~82,000
Warnings: Underage, Mild Sexual Situation, Violence
Summary: AU. In a time of great tragedy in the lands of Mamot, the human race and the angel race are forced to form an unbreakable union that will bind them together for twenty seven lifetimes in order to stop the uprising of the demon race. In bargain they offer Castiel, one of the most powerful angels in the entire world to marry Dean Winchester, the young crown prince of the human world. The typically detached Castiel winds up falling in love with the Prince. The only problem is his brothers don’t expect Dean to live through the war. Will Castiel stay and support the man he loves despite the heartbreak that might accompany his passing or will he fall back in line with his brothers, becoming numb to all human emotions once more?
Chapter 5
The paper as well as the gene cloning took a year and a half to fully complete. The plant turned out to be a cross breed of an Iris and a Dahlia; the most curious thing was that the two flowers grew in totally different seasons. How they crossed was a mystery to everyone he’s asked but it was interesting to study. Though, by the end of two years he knew nothing of how or why and decided to leave it alone for a while.
He was really starting to miss his betrothed and friend Dean. He was starting to realize how refreshing his company was when compared to the dreary scholars and even his brothers; they were all nice and intelligent. But, Castiel got just as sick of them as they often did of him.
Dean was different; if he could stay in Inim forever with him he would. Unfortunately, he had so many duties at home and all of his hobbies were best done in his study, in his lab or in his room.
But, he was back now and he was happy.
He found Dean outside of the castle in what was previously the garden. The first person he saw was Sam. The now three-year-old boy was on the ground playing with a doll and an action figure while building blocks into the shape of a house. Castiel barely understood how quickly humans grew up, it seemed like only yesterday this little boy was a baby who cried and whined whenever his big brother so much as left his sight.
A loud bam shocked Castiel from his attention on the three year old. He turned slowly and saw across the field, his Dean. He was taller than last time, much taller and his hair grew to the point where his bangs fell down into his eyes while the rest fell down his neck. He was no longer the child that Castiel knew; he was turning into the warrior that they needed.
In his right hand he held a still smoking shotgun that was roughly his size and in the other, he couldn’t hold anything because of the cast that covered his fist and lower arm. Dean lowered his gun and strained his eyes to see where his bullet landed. Castiel smiled and approached the boy slowly, Dean heard him coming from far away and when he saw who it was the smallest of smiles formed on his face and walking forward to meet him halfway.
When they were close enough to each other, Castiel expected to find himself with an armful of bouncing five year old; instead he was only met with a stiff and hard handshake from someone whose hands were way too soft for such a hard grip.
The small talk was much faster this time around; Dean seemed too busy to even properly greet his friend and he was soon back to shooting while Castiel spoke to Sam.
The young boy proved to be stimulating company, not to Dean’s extent, but he was smart for his age and liked to talk… a lot.
“Yesterday, Dean and me went for walk around the castle, I got to see the kitchens and the gardens and the great hall and the toy room and the… uh… I got to see my old room and I got to see… uh… I saw a lot yesterday.” Sam rambled.
Castiel nodded with short ‘ah’ and ‘ohs’; he still watched Dean from the corner of his eyes and from what he could collect, Dean was trying his hardest to hit a target at the far end of the field. It was outlines with a bright white circle, followed by a black one, then another white one and so on. It was very far and Castiel was almost sure that Dean was making it pretty close to the target but in no way was he spot on. He was frustrated and looked about ready to snap; but he pressed on with the shooting and the extreme wasting of bullets.
“Sam,” Castiel started. Sam’s ear perked up at the sound of his name and he stopped talking immediately and looked at the older man in front of him. “How long has your brother been out here?”
Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. He was here before I was and I came after pancakes.”
Since before breakfast Dean’s been out here trying to hit that tiny target at the very end of the field; the one that was too far away from Dean to even see without much trouble. Castiel stood and walked away from Sam and toward Dean. Dean, as expected, heard Castiel coming from his spot near Sam, which was not significantly far, and smiled.
“Do you need something, Cas?”
Castiel shook his head. “Are you hungry?”
Dean blinked in confusion, the question catching him off guard. He lowered his gun until it was touching the floor and placed his wrapped up hand on his thin stomach. “A little…”
“Okay, I’ll join you and Sam for lunch,” Castiel cocked his head toward the castle walls and glanced quickly at Sam.
For a second, it seemed like Dean was going to agree with the idea but he shook his head slowly and raised the shotgun up to his level again. “I can’t yet… I have to shot that target. I’ve been trying for two weeks. Dad said that as soon as I can hit that target, he’ll teach me how to fight.”
Castiel understood. He really did, if Dean planned to be a warrior he would have to do things like this; but not at the expense of his health. He gave himself no room for failure and though that did often mold heroes and leaders that was not something that this child should be embarking in at such a young age. Dean went back in place and shot at the target with almost no concentration.
“You’ll never hit that target that way Dean.”
Dean’s head snapped around to Castiel and for the first time since they’ve known each other, Dean scowled at his old friend. “What do you mean?”
Castiel was shocked from Dean’s rash reaction but he didn’t show it. He already saw how frustrated Dean was by the whole situation and Castiel was not willing to snap at him the same way that Dean was snapping at him. He was going to help because this was Dean and he was more important than tempers.
“Here, I’ll help you,” Castiel said.
He approached Dean slowly and got on his knees behind him. He placed his hand on Dean’s lower arm and his other on Dean’s waist. The young boy looked at Castiel as if he’d grown two heads, his mouth was hanging open with shock and the tiniest tinge of pink sat on his cheeks and neck. His arms and stomach began trembling. Castiel was a little confused by his behavior but continued on.
“What are you doing?” Dean asked through clenched teeth.
Castiel gripped Dean’s arm tighter to stop the sporadic shaking and pushed on his waist and hips to put him in the correct position.
“Listen Dean, this is really simple. Make sure your arms are straight and completely in the direction that you want it to be in. Bullets only fly straight and in the direction that you decide for them. If you want it to hit the target it’s your responsibility to guide the bullet. And make sure your legs are spread out so that you have just enough room to run if things don’t turn out the way you want. It’ll raise confidence and decrease any anxiousness that you may feel before taking the shot.”
As much as Castiel didn’t want to admit it, he felt sort of sick explaining something like this to a child.
Raising himself into in front of Dean’s ear and whispered, “Now Shoot.”
A loud bang went fell on uncaring ears as the bullet ripped through the air. From where he was, Castiel could see the bullet lodge itself into the thick target that stood at the end of the field; he smiled at the back of Dean’s head.
Dean, not having eyesight like his friend, tore away from Castiel and ran toward the target. As soon as he made it over there, he let out a loud ‘Whoop’ and threw himself into the air. He ran back to Castiel and for a second he was sure that Dean was going to give him one of his signature BIG bear hugs; but Dean did not do more than pat Castiel on the arm and smile at him.
“Thank you, Cas!”
After that, Dean ran over to his brother and they started doing some sort of strange-looking dancing ritual that probably was not a ritual at all. Castiel smiled at his the two. Their relationship was truly beautiful in the sort of way that Castiel rarely saw in humans nowadays; they were much closer than any siblings their age typically are. In the many years that Castiel has been alive, he has noted that siblings at their age usually felt jealousy and rage toward one another or at least mild resentment when their sibling is good at something.
Dean and Sam were so different. Except for jealousy, the two displayed pride in each other’s accomplishments and actually, at this stage in their life, wished each other the best. Castiel knew that somewhere Mary Winchester was proud of the bond they formed; and Castiel was definitely proud. This relationship might prove useful in the coming years.
But, somewhere inside of him, Castiel knew that this was not one hundred percent. He knew that the only reason these two had a relationship like this was because of the tragedies that happened almost three years ago. Because of that night Dean was no longer Sam’s brother and Sam was no longer Dean’s. They were so much more. It was beautiful, but it was sad too.
Dean and Sam finished their dancing and Dean was pulled Castiel back towards the castle. “Come on, we want lunch now.”
~*~*~
“Why are you reading this?”
After working throughout the day with the angels and human guards, Castiel decided to visit his friend Dean to wish him a goodnight. The moon was high in the air after all and nighttime fell long before Castiel even thought about visiting Dean. When he walked in he saw Dean sitting on a desk in his room, the smallest of candles flickering a couple of inches away from the a rather lengthy book that he was reading.
Dean heard him come in but he didn’t so much as look up, only murmured, ‘Hey Cas’ before continuing on with his book. When Castiel saw it, he knew what it was without reading the first couple of words; Strategies of War as written by Resurrectio Gonseprial, a demon from almost one thousand years ago. Castiel read it once all the way through and decided that the book was too deep for him to ever read again. But here Dean was absorbing the thing like water.
Castiel snatched the book from Dean’s grip and held it close to himself, shielding the book full of sin and blasphemy away from his young betrothed.
“Stop it Cas,” Dean hopped up from his place in front of his desk and snatched the book back out of Castiel’s hands. “It’s not like I can understand half of these words anyways.”
Dean sat back down on his chair and put the book back in its original place. Then, he continued reading as if nothing at all happened. Castiel peered over Dean’s shoulder and read the page that he was reading; it was one of the particularly gruesome ones. A group of angels were circling around his army of demons; there were significantly less angels than there were demons, so they decided to mow through the outermost corner of the angels brutally injuring them (seeing as demons still have not figured out a way to kill angels). The point was, they made it out through that corner and managed to attack the remaining angels from the offensive; effectively injuring them all.
It was so brutal to Castiel because the people who’d been brutalized were his people. He’d been there with his brothers when the angels were transported back to Himmel as no more than shadows of their former selves. Castiel remembered that time as the most stressful of his entire life; he honestly had not known that something as lowly as demons could hurt angels.
Why Dean would read such filth was beyond Castiel’s comprehension.
“Do you understand how dangerous this book is? The kind of things written in here?”
Dean rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Dean this book was written by a demon, do you call that not a big deal?”
“To beat a demon is to think like one, that’s what dad told me when he gave me this. So, I’m reading it and there’s nothing you can do about it!” Dean stuck his tongue out of his mouth and turned sharply away from the angel.
Castiel was not one hundred percent familiar with what displaying ones tongue meant in the human world, but he was sure it was not meant to be respectful. “For my sake, please… you’re too young to for this.”
Dean pouted. “I’m eight and I am too old enough. You know I’ll be king in less than twenty years, I have to know this stuff by then.”
Castiel released a long-suffering sigh and rubbed the sides of his temple, realizing that this was the first child-induced headache he’s ever had. He knew that John was right in having Dean read ‘Strategies of War’, not many of the books about war written by humans were as brutal or surprisingly intelligent as that one and Dean did have to learn. The fact that it had to be so early was simply a consequence of circumstance… Dean knew that he had to wait twenty years to be king, but Castiel and his brothers had no idea when the war would begin and Dean’s battle would commence.
It made perfect sense that he was reading that… but it did not ease Castiel’s conscience nor did it cleanse his guilt. If Dean’s childhood was over, ended years ago, then it was for the greater good that he learned all he could. Shooting guns that were as large as him, reading books that described images that someone Dean’s age had no business hearing about let alone seeing and skipping a couple of meals. It was all necessary if it meant them beating the demons in the coming Dark Times.
Giving up on progressing, Castiel walked closer to Dean, looking over his shoulder at the book that sat in front of him. When Dean noticed his position he turned around and stuck his tongue out at Castiel for a second time and then finished his obvious struggle with reading the difficult book. After five minutes or so of being stuck on the same page Dean looked at Castiel again with the smallest of pouts, pointing his bony finger at a word.
“Immaculate,”
Dean’s eyebrows furrowed and he cocked his head to the side.
Castiel could not fight the twitch of his lips. “It means flawless, Dean.”
Dean nodded understanding. “So… his plan was flawless he says…” the boy smiled and looked at Castiel with eyes that twinkled entirely too bright for just a human. “Cas, I think you’re imm-a-cu-late.”
Castiel could barely believe how quickly Dean forgot his anger and ended up passing it off as a human thing before what Dean said fully sunk in. He smiled and dipped his head in a bowing motion toward the future King of Inim.
“Thank you.”
~*~*~
Horror was the only word Castiel could use to describe the next twenty four hours in Inim. Placing his hand on Dean’s head, he cradled the sleeping child and sighed into his blond hair. Pure horror, it was. It all started when Castiel decided to read the Devil Book to Dean when he felt that he was having too much trouble sounding out and defining most of the words he came across.
The way that Dean’s jaw hardened and his eyes widened whenever the book got particularly shocking, at one point he spilled a hot cup of tea on his lap in shock at one particular story about the demon sending his troops into human homes and having them butcher every child five and younger. He went to check on Sam right after that and Castiel couldn’t blame him.
By the end of the night, Castiel was sure that he’d succeeded in scarring the poor child for life. Dean told him that he understood everything that was read to him and that he was not afraid of any of it.
Though, Castiel was convinced that that was not the case when Dean shot out of his bed when the sun was just peeking from the hills screaming and holding his chest with his fists.
He’d looked at Castiel with wide scared eyes before racing past him to the bathroom.
The next time Castiel saw Dean was at dinner that night.
Castiel did not eat, at least his body did not require it, but he decided to try it out that night just to be near Dean. The Hall in which the food was served was very long and wide; there were tree sized windows all spread out across the wall with red draping hanging down the sides, golden strings were designed to hold them together but they were released for the night. The shining moon from outside illuminating through the red curtains and the faint glow of the high candles gave the room a sinister appearance; Castiel acknowledged this with growing apprehension at how befitting it was for the coming times.
He tried to smile at Dean from across the table, but the boy was having none of that and simply locked his eyes on the green peas that rolled around on his plate.
Castiel knew that Dean was angry with him what he didn’t know was why and honestly he didn’t want to find out. The emotions of his little friend were way too unstable for that type of analysis and he decided to drop it. The dinner flew by without consequence. John was not there and no one said a word about it, not one advisor or even the children. They just went on with their pleasant conversations as if it was normal for the king to miss his dinners. Probably the same way it was normal for the eight-year-old Dean to miss breakfast.
By the time dessert rolled around, Castiel made the decision to leave Inim for a while. He knew what his brothers expected of Dean, he knew what John expected of Dean but he did not need to see those expectations being carried out. It might devastate his friend but it was for the best, Castiel did not want to end up speaking out of turn about the situations he saw playing out there; until he an Dean were married it was none of his business.
Just as soon as Castiel leaned over to tell Dean his decision, about six guards ran in carrying the crippled body of someone who appeared to be part of the royal army. In a completely unceremonious manner, they dropped the body on the floor closest to the table. Without missing a beat, every advisor stood and crowded around the dying man while Dean took Sam from his seat and rushed him out of the room. The man was beyond helping; his wounds were too deep and too scattered for Castiel to make any real breakthroughs. Plus, he would be leaving soon and the unnecessary energy decrease from even trying would delay that.
“I- I- there were…” The man coughed up a large amount of blood and spun onto his side, still heaving and bucking.
Every voice blared at the man at the same time; what happened, who are you, what did you see, Stop Dying and Talk, Damnit (that one was Bobby).
Castiel felt his eyebrow twitch and at the risk of saving himself from yet another headache, Castiel firmly said, “Stop!”
Not another sound was heard, no one having the guts to speak over the obviously irritated angel before them. When everyone was silent, Castiel looked the man deep and the eyes and dropped to his level.
“What happened?”
The man inhaled sharply and with a gurgling voice, he started. “We were on patrol, me and fifty others. Somehow, these demons circled us, we all ran in different directions; I don’t know how many made it out… but everyone who followed me… they were taken down.”
Castiel nodded.
“They’re all dead, man. I didn’t know what to do, I had to get back here to tell the King. I had to-“ A very sharp inhale of breath ended the man’s life and he fell limp to the floor.
He hadn’t stood a chance.
Castiel fell to his knees and closed the man’s eyes. “You can rest now.”
There were soft murmurs all around him but Castiel lost all senses necessary to listen when he turned to around and through the peak of two men he saw a wide-eyed Dean staring at the dead body with an uneven mix of confusion and deep sadness. All Castiel could do was suck in his lips and shake his head. Dean had to learn.
~*~*~
The next six hours was like Summer time in Iad. After consulting with John who had apparently been very busy during dinner binge drinking and doing paperwork - great combination by the way- the advisors sent some of their fellow angel guards out to pick up every man who was injured outside their walls. They did come back with all fifty men, but none were injured.
They stood in a line on the front lawn of the castle, John was closest to the front arches of the castle because he, of course, was the king and because he needed somewhere to lean lest he lost balance. Castiel stood in the middle of the line directly beside Bobby and Dean - yes, Dean. John insisted that Dean join them outside to greet the incoming warriors of Inim.
Unfortunately, what Dean ended up greeting were the corpses of friends and acquaintances of his.
Castiel offered his hand to Dean when the first body was rolled by, but the boy did not want to look weak. So, instead, he gripped the back of Castiel’s robes, where no one but he could see and bared the evils before him with a brave and steely gaze.
After the bodies were rolled in nobody spoke; everyone regarded the trails of blood, drops of hair and teeth that were lost during the “presentation” and before they knew it, they were off again. John clearing his throat and proclaiming he needed to “wet his whistle”, Bobby Singer putting his hat back on and yelling a string of obscenities at the King, Ellen and her husband seeking out their daughter, Missouri picking up her bible and moving back to the safety of her chapel and all of the others going back to their respective work.
Dean was a different story; he stood there staring at a piece of tooth that fell barely an inch away from his feet and the blood that surrounded it. His arm was shaking and his eyes were wide and glassy. He looked like he’d just been shot and he was wondering if it actually happened.
Castiel could understand his grief, he’d felt the same way when his fellow angels were wheeled in that night; it was a night like this one too. The moon was shining with intensity that Castiel had never seen and a couple of stray clouds littered the sky; but the stars still shone like it was their wedding day. All in all it was a beautiful night… but it was hell in disguise.
Castiel took Dean’s hand into his own and pulled him away from the scary sight that the maids were just rushing out to clean. He could not subject him to anymore of that.
He didn’t look back at Dean once, knowing that if he did he would end up staying there in Inim just a bit longer than he planned. He knew that his denying that man a chance at life just a couple of hours ago would have been for no reason. He knew that his emotions would get the best of him and he would want to stay in Inim and shelter Dean from everything he saw tonigh\t. He knew…
When they made it to Dean’s room, Sam was sitting in front of it, cross-legged with a tall book in his hands. As soon as he saw Dean, his tiny eyes lit up and he jumped to his feet holding out the book triumphantly. “I want this one tonight!”
Castiel felt a twinge of irritation. Dean did not have time to read that book to Sam; he had to get his rest, especially after the sights he just witnessed. He was about to say just that to the excited boy, but Dean spoke up first.
“Just go into your room and get ready for bed, Sammy. I’ll be there in a few.” His voice was weak and tired, but Castiel could hear the smile on his lips.
“Okay, I want you to read it to me twice, okay!”
“Okay.”
With that, Sam skipped off merrily to his room next door to Dean’s.
Castiel dragged Dean into his own room and sat him down on the bed before sitting down beside him, still not looking at him.
They sat there in silence for what seemed like hours to Castiel. But soon, Dean’s small hand found Castiel’s and he threaded his fingers in between his friend’s.
“When I become a warrior...” Dean paused and exhaled. “Will that happen to me?”
Castiel shook his head; admittedly more for his own sake then Dean’s and smiled. “No Dean, nothing like that would ever happen to a King.”
The tenseness in Dean’s grasp did not let up. After a couple more moments of silence, Dean spoke again only this time his voice was barely a whisper and dripped with sadness. “Will that happen to more people I know… or, or my friends?”
There it was. Castiel could go down the road of a responsible adult and treat Dean like the child he was; tell him that nothing like that would ever happen again and get a warm fuzzy feeling when Dean gave him one of his killer smiles. Or he could go down the road that his brother’s and John were already tracking and tell Dean the truth. He probably wouldn’t get the smile that he longed for… but Dean would know what to expect and he would make a better warrior because of it. But, his childhood would suffer one more blow, whether it would be the killing one remained to be seen.
“Yes Dean, it will.”
It was silent for all of five seconds before Dean released a whine and tore his hand away from Castiel to cover up his own face. And Castiel finally looked at him, he watched his shoulders shake sporadically and he listened closely to the incessant whimpers coming from Deab.
“Come here, Dean.”
As soon as those words were uttered, Dean was on his feet and throwing his arms around Castiel’s neck. He buried his nose into the nape of his neck and washed away his tears. Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean’s back and held him closer. Though he did not get the smile he wanted, Castiel got one thing that he’d been missing ever since he got there and that was the Dean’s embrace.
With a small nod of certainty, Castiel decided that he would stay if only for a little while longer.
Next
Author: zoomzoomzoomzoo
Fandom/Genre: SPN AU Romance, Drama, Action
Pairing (s): Dean/Castiel
Rating: T
Word Count: ~82,000
Warnings: Underage, Mild Sexual Situation, Violence
Summary: AU. In a time of great tragedy in the lands of Mamot, the human race and the angel race are forced to form an unbreakable union that will bind them together for twenty seven lifetimes in order to stop the uprising of the demon race. In bargain they offer Castiel, one of the most powerful angels in the entire world to marry Dean Winchester, the young crown prince of the human world. The typically detached Castiel winds up falling in love with the Prince. The only problem is his brothers don’t expect Dean to live through the war. Will Castiel stay and support the man he loves despite the heartbreak that might accompany his passing or will he fall back in line with his brothers, becoming numb to all human emotions once more?
Chapter 5
The paper as well as the gene cloning took a year and a half to fully complete. The plant turned out to be a cross breed of an Iris and a Dahlia; the most curious thing was that the two flowers grew in totally different seasons. How they crossed was a mystery to everyone he’s asked but it was interesting to study. Though, by the end of two years he knew nothing of how or why and decided to leave it alone for a while.
He was really starting to miss his betrothed and friend Dean. He was starting to realize how refreshing his company was when compared to the dreary scholars and even his brothers; they were all nice and intelligent. But, Castiel got just as sick of them as they often did of him.
Dean was different; if he could stay in Inim forever with him he would. Unfortunately, he had so many duties at home and all of his hobbies were best done in his study, in his lab or in his room.
But, he was back now and he was happy.
He found Dean outside of the castle in what was previously the garden. The first person he saw was Sam. The now three-year-old boy was on the ground playing with a doll and an action figure while building blocks into the shape of a house. Castiel barely understood how quickly humans grew up, it seemed like only yesterday this little boy was a baby who cried and whined whenever his big brother so much as left his sight.
A loud bam shocked Castiel from his attention on the three year old. He turned slowly and saw across the field, his Dean. He was taller than last time, much taller and his hair grew to the point where his bangs fell down into his eyes while the rest fell down his neck. He was no longer the child that Castiel knew; he was turning into the warrior that they needed.
In his right hand he held a still smoking shotgun that was roughly his size and in the other, he couldn’t hold anything because of the cast that covered his fist and lower arm. Dean lowered his gun and strained his eyes to see where his bullet landed. Castiel smiled and approached the boy slowly, Dean heard him coming from far away and when he saw who it was the smallest of smiles formed on his face and walking forward to meet him halfway.
When they were close enough to each other, Castiel expected to find himself with an armful of bouncing five year old; instead he was only met with a stiff and hard handshake from someone whose hands were way too soft for such a hard grip.
The small talk was much faster this time around; Dean seemed too busy to even properly greet his friend and he was soon back to shooting while Castiel spoke to Sam.
The young boy proved to be stimulating company, not to Dean’s extent, but he was smart for his age and liked to talk… a lot.
“Yesterday, Dean and me went for walk around the castle, I got to see the kitchens and the gardens and the great hall and the toy room and the… uh… I got to see my old room and I got to see… uh… I saw a lot yesterday.” Sam rambled.
Castiel nodded with short ‘ah’ and ‘ohs’; he still watched Dean from the corner of his eyes and from what he could collect, Dean was trying his hardest to hit a target at the far end of the field. It was outlines with a bright white circle, followed by a black one, then another white one and so on. It was very far and Castiel was almost sure that Dean was making it pretty close to the target but in no way was he spot on. He was frustrated and looked about ready to snap; but he pressed on with the shooting and the extreme wasting of bullets.
“Sam,” Castiel started. Sam’s ear perked up at the sound of his name and he stopped talking immediately and looked at the older man in front of him. “How long has your brother been out here?”
Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. He was here before I was and I came after pancakes.”
Since before breakfast Dean’s been out here trying to hit that tiny target at the very end of the field; the one that was too far away from Dean to even see without much trouble. Castiel stood and walked away from Sam and toward Dean. Dean, as expected, heard Castiel coming from his spot near Sam, which was not significantly far, and smiled.
“Do you need something, Cas?”
Castiel shook his head. “Are you hungry?”
Dean blinked in confusion, the question catching him off guard. He lowered his gun until it was touching the floor and placed his wrapped up hand on his thin stomach. “A little…”
“Okay, I’ll join you and Sam for lunch,” Castiel cocked his head toward the castle walls and glanced quickly at Sam.
For a second, it seemed like Dean was going to agree with the idea but he shook his head slowly and raised the shotgun up to his level again. “I can’t yet… I have to shot that target. I’ve been trying for two weeks. Dad said that as soon as I can hit that target, he’ll teach me how to fight.”
Castiel understood. He really did, if Dean planned to be a warrior he would have to do things like this; but not at the expense of his health. He gave himself no room for failure and though that did often mold heroes and leaders that was not something that this child should be embarking in at such a young age. Dean went back in place and shot at the target with almost no concentration.
“You’ll never hit that target that way Dean.”
Dean’s head snapped around to Castiel and for the first time since they’ve known each other, Dean scowled at his old friend. “What do you mean?”
Castiel was shocked from Dean’s rash reaction but he didn’t show it. He already saw how frustrated Dean was by the whole situation and Castiel was not willing to snap at him the same way that Dean was snapping at him. He was going to help because this was Dean and he was more important than tempers.
“Here, I’ll help you,” Castiel said.
He approached Dean slowly and got on his knees behind him. He placed his hand on Dean’s lower arm and his other on Dean’s waist. The young boy looked at Castiel as if he’d grown two heads, his mouth was hanging open with shock and the tiniest tinge of pink sat on his cheeks and neck. His arms and stomach began trembling. Castiel was a little confused by his behavior but continued on.
“What are you doing?” Dean asked through clenched teeth.
Castiel gripped Dean’s arm tighter to stop the sporadic shaking and pushed on his waist and hips to put him in the correct position.
“Listen Dean, this is really simple. Make sure your arms are straight and completely in the direction that you want it to be in. Bullets only fly straight and in the direction that you decide for them. If you want it to hit the target it’s your responsibility to guide the bullet. And make sure your legs are spread out so that you have just enough room to run if things don’t turn out the way you want. It’ll raise confidence and decrease any anxiousness that you may feel before taking the shot.”
As much as Castiel didn’t want to admit it, he felt sort of sick explaining something like this to a child.
Raising himself into in front of Dean’s ear and whispered, “Now Shoot.”
A loud bang went fell on uncaring ears as the bullet ripped through the air. From where he was, Castiel could see the bullet lodge itself into the thick target that stood at the end of the field; he smiled at the back of Dean’s head.
Dean, not having eyesight like his friend, tore away from Castiel and ran toward the target. As soon as he made it over there, he let out a loud ‘Whoop’ and threw himself into the air. He ran back to Castiel and for a second he was sure that Dean was going to give him one of his signature BIG bear hugs; but Dean did not do more than pat Castiel on the arm and smile at him.
“Thank you, Cas!”
After that, Dean ran over to his brother and they started doing some sort of strange-looking dancing ritual that probably was not a ritual at all. Castiel smiled at his the two. Their relationship was truly beautiful in the sort of way that Castiel rarely saw in humans nowadays; they were much closer than any siblings their age typically are. In the many years that Castiel has been alive, he has noted that siblings at their age usually felt jealousy and rage toward one another or at least mild resentment when their sibling is good at something.
Dean and Sam were so different. Except for jealousy, the two displayed pride in each other’s accomplishments and actually, at this stage in their life, wished each other the best. Castiel knew that somewhere Mary Winchester was proud of the bond they formed; and Castiel was definitely proud. This relationship might prove useful in the coming years.
But, somewhere inside of him, Castiel knew that this was not one hundred percent. He knew that the only reason these two had a relationship like this was because of the tragedies that happened almost three years ago. Because of that night Dean was no longer Sam’s brother and Sam was no longer Dean’s. They were so much more. It was beautiful, but it was sad too.
Dean and Sam finished their dancing and Dean was pulled Castiel back towards the castle. “Come on, we want lunch now.”
~*~*~
“Why are you reading this?”
After working throughout the day with the angels and human guards, Castiel decided to visit his friend Dean to wish him a goodnight. The moon was high in the air after all and nighttime fell long before Castiel even thought about visiting Dean. When he walked in he saw Dean sitting on a desk in his room, the smallest of candles flickering a couple of inches away from the a rather lengthy book that he was reading.
Dean heard him come in but he didn’t so much as look up, only murmured, ‘Hey Cas’ before continuing on with his book. When Castiel saw it, he knew what it was without reading the first couple of words; Strategies of War as written by Resurrectio Gonseprial, a demon from almost one thousand years ago. Castiel read it once all the way through and decided that the book was too deep for him to ever read again. But here Dean was absorbing the thing like water.
Castiel snatched the book from Dean’s grip and held it close to himself, shielding the book full of sin and blasphemy away from his young betrothed.
“Stop it Cas,” Dean hopped up from his place in front of his desk and snatched the book back out of Castiel’s hands. “It’s not like I can understand half of these words anyways.”
Dean sat back down on his chair and put the book back in its original place. Then, he continued reading as if nothing at all happened. Castiel peered over Dean’s shoulder and read the page that he was reading; it was one of the particularly gruesome ones. A group of angels were circling around his army of demons; there were significantly less angels than there were demons, so they decided to mow through the outermost corner of the angels brutally injuring them (seeing as demons still have not figured out a way to kill angels). The point was, they made it out through that corner and managed to attack the remaining angels from the offensive; effectively injuring them all.
It was so brutal to Castiel because the people who’d been brutalized were his people. He’d been there with his brothers when the angels were transported back to Himmel as no more than shadows of their former selves. Castiel remembered that time as the most stressful of his entire life; he honestly had not known that something as lowly as demons could hurt angels.
Why Dean would read such filth was beyond Castiel’s comprehension.
“Do you understand how dangerous this book is? The kind of things written in here?”
Dean rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Dean this book was written by a demon, do you call that not a big deal?”
“To beat a demon is to think like one, that’s what dad told me when he gave me this. So, I’m reading it and there’s nothing you can do about it!” Dean stuck his tongue out of his mouth and turned sharply away from the angel.
Castiel was not one hundred percent familiar with what displaying ones tongue meant in the human world, but he was sure it was not meant to be respectful. “For my sake, please… you’re too young to for this.”
Dean pouted. “I’m eight and I am too old enough. You know I’ll be king in less than twenty years, I have to know this stuff by then.”
Castiel released a long-suffering sigh and rubbed the sides of his temple, realizing that this was the first child-induced headache he’s ever had. He knew that John was right in having Dean read ‘Strategies of War’, not many of the books about war written by humans were as brutal or surprisingly intelligent as that one and Dean did have to learn. The fact that it had to be so early was simply a consequence of circumstance… Dean knew that he had to wait twenty years to be king, but Castiel and his brothers had no idea when the war would begin and Dean’s battle would commence.
It made perfect sense that he was reading that… but it did not ease Castiel’s conscience nor did it cleanse his guilt. If Dean’s childhood was over, ended years ago, then it was for the greater good that he learned all he could. Shooting guns that were as large as him, reading books that described images that someone Dean’s age had no business hearing about let alone seeing and skipping a couple of meals. It was all necessary if it meant them beating the demons in the coming Dark Times.
Giving up on progressing, Castiel walked closer to Dean, looking over his shoulder at the book that sat in front of him. When Dean noticed his position he turned around and stuck his tongue out at Castiel for a second time and then finished his obvious struggle with reading the difficult book. After five minutes or so of being stuck on the same page Dean looked at Castiel again with the smallest of pouts, pointing his bony finger at a word.
“Immaculate,”
Dean’s eyebrows furrowed and he cocked his head to the side.
Castiel could not fight the twitch of his lips. “It means flawless, Dean.”
Dean nodded understanding. “So… his plan was flawless he says…” the boy smiled and looked at Castiel with eyes that twinkled entirely too bright for just a human. “Cas, I think you’re imm-a-cu-late.”
Castiel could barely believe how quickly Dean forgot his anger and ended up passing it off as a human thing before what Dean said fully sunk in. He smiled and dipped his head in a bowing motion toward the future King of Inim.
“Thank you.”
~*~*~
Horror was the only word Castiel could use to describe the next twenty four hours in Inim. Placing his hand on Dean’s head, he cradled the sleeping child and sighed into his blond hair. Pure horror, it was. It all started when Castiel decided to read the Devil Book to Dean when he felt that he was having too much trouble sounding out and defining most of the words he came across.
The way that Dean’s jaw hardened and his eyes widened whenever the book got particularly shocking, at one point he spilled a hot cup of tea on his lap in shock at one particular story about the demon sending his troops into human homes and having them butcher every child five and younger. He went to check on Sam right after that and Castiel couldn’t blame him.
By the end of the night, Castiel was sure that he’d succeeded in scarring the poor child for life. Dean told him that he understood everything that was read to him and that he was not afraid of any of it.
Though, Castiel was convinced that that was not the case when Dean shot out of his bed when the sun was just peeking from the hills screaming and holding his chest with his fists.
He’d looked at Castiel with wide scared eyes before racing past him to the bathroom.
The next time Castiel saw Dean was at dinner that night.
Castiel did not eat, at least his body did not require it, but he decided to try it out that night just to be near Dean. The Hall in which the food was served was very long and wide; there were tree sized windows all spread out across the wall with red draping hanging down the sides, golden strings were designed to hold them together but they were released for the night. The shining moon from outside illuminating through the red curtains and the faint glow of the high candles gave the room a sinister appearance; Castiel acknowledged this with growing apprehension at how befitting it was for the coming times.
He tried to smile at Dean from across the table, but the boy was having none of that and simply locked his eyes on the green peas that rolled around on his plate.
Castiel knew that Dean was angry with him what he didn’t know was why and honestly he didn’t want to find out. The emotions of his little friend were way too unstable for that type of analysis and he decided to drop it. The dinner flew by without consequence. John was not there and no one said a word about it, not one advisor or even the children. They just went on with their pleasant conversations as if it was normal for the king to miss his dinners. Probably the same way it was normal for the eight-year-old Dean to miss breakfast.
By the time dessert rolled around, Castiel made the decision to leave Inim for a while. He knew what his brothers expected of Dean, he knew what John expected of Dean but he did not need to see those expectations being carried out. It might devastate his friend but it was for the best, Castiel did not want to end up speaking out of turn about the situations he saw playing out there; until he an Dean were married it was none of his business.
Just as soon as Castiel leaned over to tell Dean his decision, about six guards ran in carrying the crippled body of someone who appeared to be part of the royal army. In a completely unceremonious manner, they dropped the body on the floor closest to the table. Without missing a beat, every advisor stood and crowded around the dying man while Dean took Sam from his seat and rushed him out of the room. The man was beyond helping; his wounds were too deep and too scattered for Castiel to make any real breakthroughs. Plus, he would be leaving soon and the unnecessary energy decrease from even trying would delay that.
“I- I- there were…” The man coughed up a large amount of blood and spun onto his side, still heaving and bucking.
Every voice blared at the man at the same time; what happened, who are you, what did you see, Stop Dying and Talk, Damnit (that one was Bobby).
Castiel felt his eyebrow twitch and at the risk of saving himself from yet another headache, Castiel firmly said, “Stop!”
Not another sound was heard, no one having the guts to speak over the obviously irritated angel before them. When everyone was silent, Castiel looked the man deep and the eyes and dropped to his level.
“What happened?”
The man inhaled sharply and with a gurgling voice, he started. “We were on patrol, me and fifty others. Somehow, these demons circled us, we all ran in different directions; I don’t know how many made it out… but everyone who followed me… they were taken down.”
Castiel nodded.
“They’re all dead, man. I didn’t know what to do, I had to get back here to tell the King. I had to-“ A very sharp inhale of breath ended the man’s life and he fell limp to the floor.
He hadn’t stood a chance.
Castiel fell to his knees and closed the man’s eyes. “You can rest now.”
There were soft murmurs all around him but Castiel lost all senses necessary to listen when he turned to around and through the peak of two men he saw a wide-eyed Dean staring at the dead body with an uneven mix of confusion and deep sadness. All Castiel could do was suck in his lips and shake his head. Dean had to learn.
~*~*~
The next six hours was like Summer time in Iad. After consulting with John who had apparently been very busy during dinner binge drinking and doing paperwork - great combination by the way- the advisors sent some of their fellow angel guards out to pick up every man who was injured outside their walls. They did come back with all fifty men, but none were injured.
They stood in a line on the front lawn of the castle, John was closest to the front arches of the castle because he, of course, was the king and because he needed somewhere to lean lest he lost balance. Castiel stood in the middle of the line directly beside Bobby and Dean - yes, Dean. John insisted that Dean join them outside to greet the incoming warriors of Inim.
Unfortunately, what Dean ended up greeting were the corpses of friends and acquaintances of his.
Castiel offered his hand to Dean when the first body was rolled by, but the boy did not want to look weak. So, instead, he gripped the back of Castiel’s robes, where no one but he could see and bared the evils before him with a brave and steely gaze.
After the bodies were rolled in nobody spoke; everyone regarded the trails of blood, drops of hair and teeth that were lost during the “presentation” and before they knew it, they were off again. John clearing his throat and proclaiming he needed to “wet his whistle”, Bobby Singer putting his hat back on and yelling a string of obscenities at the King, Ellen and her husband seeking out their daughter, Missouri picking up her bible and moving back to the safety of her chapel and all of the others going back to their respective work.
Dean was a different story; he stood there staring at a piece of tooth that fell barely an inch away from his feet and the blood that surrounded it. His arm was shaking and his eyes were wide and glassy. He looked like he’d just been shot and he was wondering if it actually happened.
Castiel could understand his grief, he’d felt the same way when his fellow angels were wheeled in that night; it was a night like this one too. The moon was shining with intensity that Castiel had never seen and a couple of stray clouds littered the sky; but the stars still shone like it was their wedding day. All in all it was a beautiful night… but it was hell in disguise.
Castiel took Dean’s hand into his own and pulled him away from the scary sight that the maids were just rushing out to clean. He could not subject him to anymore of that.
He didn’t look back at Dean once, knowing that if he did he would end up staying there in Inim just a bit longer than he planned. He knew that his denying that man a chance at life just a couple of hours ago would have been for no reason. He knew that his emotions would get the best of him and he would want to stay in Inim and shelter Dean from everything he saw tonigh\t. He knew…
When they made it to Dean’s room, Sam was sitting in front of it, cross-legged with a tall book in his hands. As soon as he saw Dean, his tiny eyes lit up and he jumped to his feet holding out the book triumphantly. “I want this one tonight!”
Castiel felt a twinge of irritation. Dean did not have time to read that book to Sam; he had to get his rest, especially after the sights he just witnessed. He was about to say just that to the excited boy, but Dean spoke up first.
“Just go into your room and get ready for bed, Sammy. I’ll be there in a few.” His voice was weak and tired, but Castiel could hear the smile on his lips.
“Okay, I want you to read it to me twice, okay!”
“Okay.”
With that, Sam skipped off merrily to his room next door to Dean’s.
Castiel dragged Dean into his own room and sat him down on the bed before sitting down beside him, still not looking at him.
They sat there in silence for what seemed like hours to Castiel. But soon, Dean’s small hand found Castiel’s and he threaded his fingers in between his friend’s.
“When I become a warrior...” Dean paused and exhaled. “Will that happen to me?”
Castiel shook his head; admittedly more for his own sake then Dean’s and smiled. “No Dean, nothing like that would ever happen to a King.”
The tenseness in Dean’s grasp did not let up. After a couple more moments of silence, Dean spoke again only this time his voice was barely a whisper and dripped with sadness. “Will that happen to more people I know… or, or my friends?”
There it was. Castiel could go down the road of a responsible adult and treat Dean like the child he was; tell him that nothing like that would ever happen again and get a warm fuzzy feeling when Dean gave him one of his killer smiles. Or he could go down the road that his brother’s and John were already tracking and tell Dean the truth. He probably wouldn’t get the smile that he longed for… but Dean would know what to expect and he would make a better warrior because of it. But, his childhood would suffer one more blow, whether it would be the killing one remained to be seen.
“Yes Dean, it will.”
It was silent for all of five seconds before Dean released a whine and tore his hand away from Castiel to cover up his own face. And Castiel finally looked at him, he watched his shoulders shake sporadically and he listened closely to the incessant whimpers coming from Deab.
“Come here, Dean.”
As soon as those words were uttered, Dean was on his feet and throwing his arms around Castiel’s neck. He buried his nose into the nape of his neck and washed away his tears. Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean’s back and held him closer. Though he did not get the smile he wanted, Castiel got one thing that he’d been missing ever since he got there and that was the Dean’s embrace.
With a small nod of certainty, Castiel decided that he would stay if only for a little while longer.
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