Well... Let's just say it wasn't good. He was... a little out of control.
[UNDERSTATEMENTS, EVERYONE GETS ONE, HERE YOU GO!]
I, um. Eventually, it turned him into a demon. Basically... twisted everything good and human and made him dangerous. Uncaring. Not my brother anymore, really. [He clears his throat, trying not to focus too much on that day — the day Dean died, yes, but also the day he brought Dean back from it, back home. The hate there, the vitriol. You sucked the life out of my life. He knows it was all just to rattle him, but it doesn't mean it didn't hit him hard. And hurt.] I managed to catch him, get him back home. It was kind of scary there for a second, but I got him cured.
Except the Mark was still there. Not only would it never let him die, but if he did, he'd become — that thing again. So... we — We started trying to figure out ways to fight back against the Mark.
[He rubs his eyes, sighing. And then he just goes for it.]
But there wasn't much coming up. Um. And Dean was... He was losing hope. He was losing, you know? It's hard to fight something like that so hard, for as long as he did. He was getting tired, and I was watching him slowly unravel from it, so I... I found a way to cure it — this book. A book that could unlock any curse, remove the Mark, but it had a price we weren't sure of yet. Dean didn't want to do it. But I couldn't do that all again, you know? I couldn't lock my brother up in some dungeon, spend year after year knowing he was locked in there like — that. So I...
[He deflates slightly.]
I looked into it behind his back. Cas and me and a friend, we started to work on translating it.
[She's remarkably still and quiet through this explanation. For Nami, anyway; she bites down on the desire to interrupt and ask for more, fill in the gaps, because it's a rabbit hole. It always is, with Sam.
And she cringes at the unknown price, but... it's his brother. Family. Nami has berated Luffy any number of times for not cehcking facts and consequences before diving right in to something, but she's never stopped him and she's never judged him before it after the fact. So... she's not about to start now. Just... brace herself for where this is probably going.]
...that time you came back to Adstring drunk to hell with a broken arm. You said you'd been looking for Dean.
[It's all she says. What she wonders is: did he break it?]
It wasn't Dean. He didn't -- no, he... It was fine. He'd been mouthy, but he didn't even get the chance. [Cas swooped in and stopped it from going into murder story mode. Thank god for Cas.] I'd come back after curing Dean. It was... tough on me, going all that time looking for him, and when dealing with him like that. No. Uh, I broke my arm while I was looking for information. For him. Different demon.
[He breathes in, is quiet.]
When we finally figured out how to get rid of the Mark, Dean had been... downward spiraling. He was trying to make deals with Death himself, you know? When I finally found him... I -- eventually, I agreed to what he wanted. I was going to let Death pretty much remove Dean from earth. To where, I don't know. But... Dean decided not to go through with it at the last second.
During all this, Death told us not to remove the Mark, but by the time I realized, Cas and the others were already completing the ritual to remove the Mark. Apparently, removing it... is actually like breaking a lock.
[That's a relief. Not that she'd actively be angry at Dean if he was the one who did the breaking-- not in his right mind at all-- but at least it wasn't at the hands of his own brother.]
So... you got rid of the Mark and this Darkness thing got summoned? Another huge giant cloud of death?
[It's a weak joke, and she mainly makes it to make sure he knows she's not judging him. But there are parallels to Diereadh there, given what Dean said.]
She started out as a big evil cloud, I guess — she's got a shape now, though. We've been trying to track her down and find a way to kill her, but as she is now... she's strong. Really strong. It took Lucifer and a few other archangels of his strength to lock her up at the dawn of mankind.
[Sam Sam you might not have a choice you know what will happen if I go home and say "by the way, Sam is fighting evil things back home?"
AN INVASION THAT'S WHAT
But she lets it go for now, because they're both stuck on the Fleet anyway. Only a small sniff to show she disagrees with his decision, because honestly, her attention is immediately taken with that other thing.]
From God.
I hope he's less of a pain in the ass in your world than he is in mine. What do you mean visions?
I've been getting visions of — from the Cage. Lucifer's Cage. I feel like he's... trying to tell me something about it. Like the answers could be there. After all, Lucifer was one of the four angels that put away the Darkness in the first place.
[It's an answer that might be so like Dean's on that same subject, but Nami sucks in a breath after, reigning in her kneejerk are you nuts? And there's more information here she didn't have. Lucifer was meant to be the devil, and the Darkness is more powerful than he is. By far. That's ... fantastic.
So intsead of following that up with nope, denied, or don't be stupid, she takes a breath and says evenly:]
That's pretty vague, Sam. You'd think he'd give you more information. Go back to do what?
... I don't know. I mean, the guy's an ass. And he sucks at handling his creation.
[And he didn't bother saving Sam or Adam and left them to rot.
But. You know. Sam gives benefits of the doubt where they're not due.]
But this Darkness, it is his sister. I think he benefits from not facing her wrath. Locking her away, y'know? So... even if I'm not sure if I trust him, I know we'd both have... intersecting interests.
God's sister. So as powerful as your God, then? [That is a power scale that would be daunting even to Luffy. She bites her lip. Logically, this doesn't make sense.]
Doesn't that mean he's probably the only one who can match her? [And you think God expects you to solve this problem? But still, maybe by dint of letting her out Sam can somehow shut her back in...? It doesn't add up, but then she doesn't have all the pieces.]
What about the other three angels? Are they still around?
Two are locked in the Cage — Lucifer and Michael. The other two are dead.
So we're working at half power at what originally locked her up. But I mean... I don't have much else to go on, other than what's happening in my head. I just don't know if God'll show himself. He didn't bother showing up when Lucifer was threatening the Earth. Dean and I and a few others — like Cas — we kinda dealt with that all on our own.
But...
Maybe this could be more personal.
I mean... This is his sister. His sibling. You know?
[He's quiet for a moment, then shrugs it off with an awkward sort of smile.]
Aaaaah, well. He had his fair share of stress relief through torturing, too.
Turns out he didn't much like me accidentally dragging him in with me. I don't know how much better he'd actually listen, either. They both wanted the same thing, to a degree.
He puts his hands up, as if trying to comfort her concern with the gesture.]
I know... I mean... It wouldn't be the first time I did something uncomfortable for the sake of — everything, you know? [UNCOMFORTABLE HE SAYS. But he's trying to be less worrisome about it. Is it working.] This is a... big problem, and I don't want to just discredit it because it —
[Reel it back. This is old news for Sam and he's not stupid, and if he wants to treat this like it's no big deal she'll just--
-- be pissed at him actually, or the situation in general, be very concerned but let's deal with the bare facts here. She pinches the bridge of her nose.]
These things were hateful enough to hurt you for that long a period of time. There's no way in hell [sob pun not intended, though maybe an edge of ghastly humour to hysteria may trickle in] that either or both of them is going to help you. If you're really getting sent down there by God, then he's deliberately throwing them a bone.
Have you thought about that? Maybe you're a price tag on them assisting God?
[He looks away from her, lulling into a thoughtful silence. Pissing Nami off wasn't on his list to things to do, but he isn't surprised. How else do you reply to something like this? He'd be freaked out if his friend told him this kind of thing, too.
He speaks softly, carefully.]
I know. It could cost me, I know that. But... if it's true, then this could be the way we stop this. I know it's not my job to always be there and fix things. But I -- I was part of breaking the lock on her. If people die, it's on me.
[Though Sam usually makes the argument that lives are always on him despite whatever the situation is, but this time he thinks it's indisputable enough that she can't exactly deny it's otherwise.]
... They could help. This Darkness -- it puts them in jeopardy, too. It's their enemy, too.
[She's keeping a lid on it, and truly she's not angry at you, Sam. Just... angry at the whole shitfest. It hurts to think about going through it all over again, maybe. It was horrifying enough to realise it happened the first time, y'know?]
I know. You're obviously thinking this through, and I don't-- [She's not there, this is surface scraping, he knows how his world works, she doesn't. She trails off, and then adds more quietly, a little pleading.]
It just feels like you're being set up. Do you have to go back into the cage to talk to them? Can you-- talk from outside?
...could you send someone else they don't want to mangle into pieces to negotiate? It's not about hiding, just... keeping the field as neutral as possible.
[Private]
[UNDERSTATEMENTS, EVERYONE GETS ONE, HERE YOU GO!]
I, um. Eventually, it turned him into a demon. Basically... twisted everything good and human and made him dangerous. Uncaring. Not my brother anymore, really. [He clears his throat, trying not to focus too much on that day — the day Dean died, yes, but also the day he brought Dean back from it, back home. The hate there, the vitriol. You sucked the life out of my life. He knows it was all just to rattle him, but it doesn't mean it didn't hit him hard. And hurt.] I managed to catch him, get him back home. It was kind of scary there for a second, but I got him cured.
Except the Mark was still there. Not only would it never let him die, but if he did, he'd become — that thing again. So... we — We started trying to figure out ways to fight back against the Mark.
[He rubs his eyes, sighing. And then he just goes for it.]
But there wasn't much coming up. Um. And Dean was... He was losing hope. He was losing, you know? It's hard to fight something like that so hard, for as long as he did. He was getting tired, and I was watching him slowly unravel from it, so I... I found a way to cure it — this book. A book that could unlock any curse, remove the Mark, but it had a price we weren't sure of yet. Dean didn't want to do it. But I couldn't do that all again, you know? I couldn't lock my brother up in some dungeon, spend year after year knowing he was locked in there like — that. So I...
[He deflates slightly.]
I looked into it behind his back. Cas and me and a friend, we started to work on translating it.
[Private]
And she cringes at the unknown price, but... it's his brother. Family. Nami has berated Luffy any number of times for not cehcking facts and consequences before diving right in to something, but she's never stopped him and she's never judged him before it after the fact. So... she's not about to start now. Just... brace herself for where this is probably going.]
...that time you came back to Adstring drunk to hell with a broken arm. You said you'd been looking for Dean.
[It's all she says. What she wonders is: did he break it?]
[Private]
[He breathes in, is quiet.]
When we finally figured out how to get rid of the Mark, Dean had been... downward spiraling. He was trying to make deals with Death himself, you know? When I finally found him... I -- eventually, I agreed to what he wanted. I was going to let Death pretty much remove Dean from earth. To where, I don't know. But... Dean decided not to go through with it at the last second.
During all this, Death told us not to remove the Mark, but by the time I realized, Cas and the others were already completing the ritual to remove the Mark. Apparently, removing it... is actually like breaking a lock.
[Private]
So... you got rid of the Mark and this Darkness thing got summoned? Another huge giant cloud of death?
[It's a weak joke, and she mainly makes it to make sure he knows she's not judging him. But there are parallels to Diereadh there, given what Dean said.]
[Private]
Yeah. Only... this one is on me. I let it out.
She started out as a big evil cloud, I guess — she's got a shape now, though. We've been trying to track her down and find a way to kill her, but as she is now... she's strong. Really strong. It took Lucifer and a few other archangels of his strength to lock her up at the dawn of mankind.
... So.
Work in progress.
[Private]
Sounds to me like it's on everyone, Sam. Dean was a moron, Cas helped. Dean's not gonna turn into a demon now, is he?
[Private]
No. He's cured, for better or worse for the rest of the world.
No Knight of Hell here. Now's just... fixing the thing we broke to fix the last thing.
[Private]
You got any leads? [After a moment, the corner of her lip quirks up.] Need some help?
[Private]
[Says the guy who has seen your brand of crazy.]
... But we'll figure something out.
I've been -- getting visions lately. Back home.
... Maybe God reaching out to help.
[Private]
AN INVASION
THAT'S WHAT
But she lets it go for now, because they're both stuck on the Fleet anyway. Only a small sniff to show she disagrees with his decision, because honestly, her attention is immediately taken with that other thing.]
From God.
I hope he's less of a pain in the ass in your world than he is in mine. What do you mean visions?
[Private]
I've been getting visions of — from the Cage. Lucifer's Cage. I feel like he's... trying to tell me something about it. Like the answers could be there. After all, Lucifer was one of the four angels that put away the Darkness in the first place.
[He's quiet for a long moment, anxious.]
What if he —
What if he's saying I need to go back?
[Private]
[It's an answer that might be so like Dean's on that same subject, but Nami sucks in a breath after, reigning in her kneejerk are you nuts? And there's more information here she didn't have. Lucifer was meant to be the devil, and the Darkness is more powerful than he is. By far. That's ... fantastic.
So intsead of following that up with nope, denied, or don't be stupid, she takes a breath and says evenly:]
That's pretty vague, Sam. You'd think he'd give you more information. Go back to do what?
[Private]
... I don't know.
I've been, uh... asking him, but...
[Private]
[Trusting God. Well, it's a concept.] I mean, what if he's just pissed you let this Darkness out and is telling you that you deserve to be back there?
[And if your answer to that is in that case maybe I do then so help her, Sam.]
[Private]
[And he didn't bother saving Sam or Adam and left them to rot.
But. You know. Sam gives benefits of the doubt where they're not due.]
But this Darkness, it is his sister. I think he benefits from not facing her wrath. Locking her away, y'know? So... even if I'm not sure if I trust him, I know we'd both have... intersecting interests.
[Private]
God's sister. So as powerful as your God, then? [That is a power scale that would be daunting even to Luffy. She bites her lip. Logically, this doesn't make sense.]
Doesn't that mean he's probably the only one who can match her? [And you think God expects you to solve this problem? But still, maybe by dint of letting her out Sam can somehow shut her back in...? It doesn't add up, but then she doesn't have all the pieces.]
What about the other three angels? Are they still around?
[Private]
So we're working at half power at what originally locked her up. But I mean... I don't have much else to go on, other than what's happening in my head. I just don't know if God'll show himself. He didn't bother showing up when Lucifer was threatening the Earth. Dean and I and a few others — like Cas — we kinda dealt with that all on our own.
But...
Maybe this could be more personal.
I mean... This is his sister. His sibling. You know?
[Private]
What's Michael like? He's not... is he like Lucifer?
[Maybe you're meant to go see him and not the devil.]
[Private]
Aaaaah, well. He had his fair share of stress relief through torturing, too.
Turns out he didn't much like me accidentally dragging him in with me. I don't know how much better he'd actually listen, either. They both wanted the same thing, to a degree.
[Private]
...
...
[Yeah. Give me a second so I can get this calm, neutral voice.]
You were stuck in a cage with two people who hurt you over and over for two centuries. And you think god wants you to go back there?
[Private]
He puts his hands up, as if trying to comfort her concern with the gesture.]
I know... I mean... It wouldn't be the first time I did something uncomfortable for the sake of — everything, you know? [UNCOMFORTABLE HE SAYS. But he's trying to be less worrisome about it. Is it working.] This is a... big problem, and I don't want to just discredit it because it —
[Scares me to death.]
— makes me nervous.
[Private]
[Reel it back. This is old news for Sam and he's not stupid, and if he wants to treat this like it's no big deal she'll just--
-- be pissed at him actually, or the situation in general, be very concerned but let's deal with the bare facts here. She pinches the bridge of her nose.]
These things were hateful enough to hurt you for that long a period of time. There's no way in hell [sob pun not intended, though maybe an edge of ghastly humour to hysteria may trickle in] that either or both of them is going to help you. If you're really getting sent down there by God, then he's deliberately throwing them a bone.
Have you thought about that? Maybe you're a price tag on them assisting God?
[Private]
He speaks softly, carefully.]
I know. It could cost me, I know that. But... if it's true, then this could be the way we stop this. I know it's not my job to always be there and fix things. But I -- I was part of breaking the lock on her. If people die, it's on me.
[Though Sam usually makes the argument that lives are always on him despite whatever the situation is, but this time he thinks it's indisputable enough that she can't exactly deny it's otherwise.]
... They could help. This Darkness -- it puts them in jeopardy, too. It's their enemy, too.
[Private]
I know. You're obviously thinking this through, and I don't-- [She's not there, this is surface scraping, he knows how his world works, she doesn't. She trails off, and then adds more quietly, a little pleading.]
It just feels like you're being set up. Do you have to go back into the cage to talk to them? Can you-- talk from outside?
...could you send someone else they don't want to mangle into pieces to negotiate? It's not about hiding, just... keeping the field as neutral as possible.
[Private]
... Maybe I could figure out a way to talk with them. Outside of the Cage.
[He says it to at the very least give Nami some peace of mind.]
[Private]
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