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(Location: Cemetery ?--- Sleepy Hollow, New York)
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Cordelia was granted one last day with those she cared about, time she used to get?‘her guy’?back on track and say her goodbyes. Something that had proven more difficult than the Seer was prepared for as the exit planned involved a phone call from the hospital that night informing her friends she’d passed away without ever having woken up. It was difficult hearing the shrill ring of the phone, knowing it signaled the end of the time she had left with her?‘蹿补尘颈濒测’?and loss of the?‘happy ending’?they all thought had come at last.
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Alas, the Powers That Be had a somewhat cruel sense of humor considering that instead of simply reuniting her with her friends on a more permanent basis…the course of action they chose was to kill her off only to bring her back to life in another world altogether. But she couldn’t afford to dwell on the unfairness of their decision, not with being forced to find her footing once again.
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She was all too familiar with?‘fighting the good fight’?having spent the first three years of her life in Los Angeles working at Angel Investigations. However, the evils of this world seemed far more dangerous, back home demons had tragic skin complexions with the occasional case of horns, while the demons of this world started out as human souls being tortured in hell. Vampires, well, honestly those were also much more menacing here.
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It took most of the last ten years to adapt to life as a hunter, fortunately a few people came into her life who were willing and patient enough to take the time needed to teach her the ropes. To them, she would be eternally grateful because without those individuals she might not have survived the last decade here.
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Most days were spent either working jobs or doing things such as hustling pool, though on occasion fate afforded her some downtime?(which she took full advantage of). Every so often someone would come into her life, offering her a fleeting distraction from all the?‘what could have been’?thoughts which had hounded her since the moment she and Angel said their goodbyes. But sadly, nothing lasting ever came of those chance encounters.
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But those things were neither here nor there as the day had been spent exploring Sleepy Hollow as a vision of what appeared to be a civil war soldier?(minus a head)?sitting atop a white horse with seemingly glowing red eyes coming up out of the river to terrorize this town had drawn her here. She had hoped that maybe her little sightseeing expedition would trigger something else… something super helpful like how in the hell one was supposed to stop a headless horseman.
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Though there was no such luck on that front. Not even the cliff notes version. Just once she would like to have had a vision that wasn’t so damned cryptic or vague that it raised more questions than answered. Was that too much to ask? Seriously just one. Her brown eyes looked about the small cemetery briefly settling on the grave of a woman named?‘Katrina Crane’?as she walked towards the exit.
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She looked human to most. A tallish slim well stacked red head in a skimpy red and black?halter and bottoms outfit with thigh?high boots?sporting sharp pointy heals.?Perhaps some could consider it stripper garb or worse, unless, of course, you didn't notice the light weight?arm guards on her slim yet strong looking forearms and what would appear to most eyes to be a long black?cloak in which she was wrapped over her shoulders. Some, perhaps with the sight would see the 'cloak' for huge bat like black wings.
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But other than that, the woman looked completely and totally human as with a serious face and eager eyes she stalked through the graveyard. A place where people had already died generally held no interest for the war demoness, but this one was different. The ground felt juicy...rife with blood yet to be sown into its soil. So many would soon be buried here...here and every where else for that matter, but it was all going to start here...and with a bang if the tingling along her senses was any indication...and it always was.
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Bending she lightly ran the tips of her fingers through the soil, giving a small open mouthed sigh of pleasure. She was of the earth and always felt IT most deeply when touching the earth. Yes much death would grow here very soon and she intended to be right in the center of it where she belonged.
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Battle was so full of energy, power, chaos...how she loved it. It was the death born of battle that she sought to bring into existence. Other sorts did nothing for her. Straightening, she continued her blissful stroll through the graveyard...reveling in the feeling of the death to come, so much more than was already present. When she caught sight of the girl seated on one of the older gravestones, her eyes widened slightly.
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She had something about her...not a something Halbrek enjoyed. IT was too strong and not in a sort of way she'd find useful. Castiel may find her useful, though....perhaps even useful enough to protect, and as the girl had plenty of power of some sort, the very thought annoyed Halbrek. Cas wasn't supposed to have this powerful of a toy! She always enjoyed playing against him, pitting their toys against one another when it was necessary, but this one was strong. Annoyingly so. If the angel did take an interest Halbrek would just have to find a strong toy of her own...which meant she'd be visiting this place more often.
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Idly she considered chatting the girl up to see what, if anything, she could learn,?so strolled closer, keeping her movements easy and casual.
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"Aren't old graves like that interesting," she asked, smiling in a friendly manner as she pointed to the stone on which the dark haired girl sat.
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Would the girl see her wings or a cloak? Would she know?Halbrek for what she was? It would at least be interesting and perhaps entertaining to find out, the demoness decided.
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Cordelia looked up the sound of a feminine voice drawing her attention away from the tombstone, taking in her appearance with a raised eyebrow. Was there some kind of?‘Xena the Warrior Princess meets stripper’?convention in town that she didn’t know about? There was a time when a question like that wouldn’t have remained a silent musing as she would have simply blurted it out, but those days had long since been put behind her?(for the most part). “I guess one could say that. Although I thought that here in the states witches were hanged…not burned.”
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Shortly after this statement she inclined her head towards the tombstone for?‘Katrina Crane’?that indicated that had been the poor woman’s fate. Upon looking closer at the stranger she began to notice the cloak wasn’t exactly a cloak, something she very much hoped was a simple case of her imagination running wild as a result of living in Sunnydale for far too long. Though the chance of that not being the case had her somewhat concerned.
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It was a perfectly normal woman except for the Xena fetish. Not some winged hell creature bent on world domination. Those kinds of things didn’t happen here…THAT?was totally a hell mouth thing which fortunately had been left behind when the ever annoying Powers That Be in their infinite wisdom had chosen this place as her new home. Or at least that’s what she would keep telling herself.
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Halbrek leaned over to briefly glance at the stone, careful to remain out of the?dark haired?girl's personal space. It was just polite, after all. She didn't care for others in her personal space, nore did she truly like being that close to others. Distant and removed was Halbrek, even when it came to her own kind...Except of course when it came to the angel. A new development as a result of working together briefly, but one that had been intensely fast nonetheless. His black feathered wings touching her bat like ones, his length stretched along hers...no, she didn't mind him in her personal space at all.
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Pushing her thoughts away from Castiel for the moment, she turned her scholar's mind with mild interest to Cordelia's comment.
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"It's interesting...often it's the other way round," she mused.
"Most people know only abut the burnings, and not the hangings that are more rare than you'd imagine. But the preference is often due to what European culture said group of Americans originated from...or at least who ever is running the show," she added with a slight amused?smile.
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"Fascinating and interesting how one insane mastermind can bend the wills of so many others to share in their mania until it becomes a massive mental disease. I think it's always shocked me al the more because often they're just mortals and nothing else. Hitler, for example...Not a demon, not possessed by a demon, yet having as much sway over the masses, passing on his insanity like a deadly flu as though he were just that."
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Her tone was calm, and frank, because knowledge and the consequent connections she made of it were mostly what interested her aside from war. Of course often the two shared the same space...
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She and Castiel had been introduced for that very fact. Because a few connections,?no one?she'd go so far as to call friends, knew that she was the demoness to go when it came to rare arcane knowledge. She would've said most of what she had to Cordelia anyway, but she'd dropped the demonic comment intentionally when she may have otherwise?left it out had she not noticed the brunette spotting?her wings. She moved a few steps away from the stone, eyes scanning other near by ones.
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"None of the others seem as interesting, though," she noted in some disappointment.
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Cordelia took a step back letting the woman have a better look at the tombstone. While mentally she was still attempting to rule the whole?‘bat wings’?thing out of the realm of possibility. “Sadly, I have spent?way?too many hours with my nose stuck in books about things of that nature.” It all went back to those days at Sunnydale High after?‘little miss likes to kill things’rolled into town when there just?way?too much time spent in that old library pouring over books to find the latest?‘big bad’.
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“Sometimes I think whoever is running the show does so with a magic ball. Oh wait, that would be more of a universe thing not an insane bastard kind of thing.” She turned to look at her a bit more fully as the two talked about history. “Well, unfortunately, not every monster out there is of the supernatural persuasion. People can be just as much of a monster as the things horror movies and ghost stories teach us to fear.”
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Bringing her arms up to fold them across her chest, regarding the woman with a slightly raised eyebrow. “And for the record…might want to be a little bit more subtle about the whole wings deal.” Enough was enough. She just couldn’t take it anymore, something that lead to her finally commenting on them rather than continuing to embrace the land of denial.
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Halbrek nodded in firm agreement with Cordelia's comment referring to human monsters.
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"No other monster could do what it does, for the most part, without the aid of human monsters. So it all comes down to that really. The humans ever?seek to blame outside monsters, and to blame one another, fighting to the death over religion and who's music is better, but they won't ever?deal with the monster within...it always has to lash out instead."
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She smiled, of course not minding that vast human flaw?in the least.
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When Cordelia mentioned her wings so bluntly, Halbrek smiled once more in genuine appreciation.
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"I didn't bother disguising myself simply because I wondered if you'd be able to see...it shows your power level...good for you."
She smiled again, the words of praise?a compliment, honestly meant.
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"Don't worry. I haven't come to fight with you. That would be small, petty and boring...boring most of all. It's not a interesting game and it leaves nothing in way of sustenance. I merely wanted to check you and this place out...And the fact you're learned about things is a plus. I have so few educated individuals to talk with."
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Not that she was often the talkative sort, but if the option was there and interesting...well she'd talk some Halbrek supposed. Glancing around she added,"And I knew Cas would likely make you his project. He's watching now, I can feel him."
She frowned.
"It makes my wings itch," she grumbled, shooting an accusing look around at no one in particular, as it was intended for the angel, where ever he was hiding.
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"He's likely going to?take you under his wing as one of his pets because you're very powerful and if he thinks I wouldn't get that..."
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Enough said.
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"He's an angel of war, you see...so he has to be weighing in?on the side of right, or at least the side of heaven," she concluded with a dry smile.
She knew 2 too many angels right now not to have a bit of a skewed view of the grays in which heaven could indulge.
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"I was called in by a fox demon I know to assist him with a project recently...and after that he's just not stopped stalking me."
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That last bit was an obvious bate to draw Castiel out but her attention was still on Cordelia.
"I, on the other hand, am a demoness of war, and a scholar on the side. The name is Halbrek," she said, stepping forward with an amused smile and extending?a slim hand?to Cordelia to shake. Other than the fact her nails were more like claws, the hand appeared quite human.
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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The majority of humans regretably failed to understand the wider implications of war, even those paragons of perception who?somehow?had an insight into the nature of evil. Drawing on the halo of light?that?served him as?the natural extension of his aura, he?generated??a magnetic dissonace with the visible frequencies and became invisible to the naked eye. Extra sensory human?faculties might still have detected his essence hovering on the edge of awareness, to their owner's sorrow.??But he?supposed that?by now, when the tides of time appeared to flow around yet another critical point, as Michael might have poetically put it, implicit signs of his presence may be the kind of help most of his charges would need at any rate, especially if their awareness was strong enough to contain the realization of his active participation within the mundane world.??
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Sometimes resilient, even awe inspiring with their determination, the transient and imperfect vessels some of his brethren failed to appreciate, did cosider the art of battle in terms fitting for their shorter life span. As if the End of Times, if such a?phase was truly unique and would indeed arrive, ?could amount to a silly battle between two armies to be instantly decided on a battle field, in an armed conflict, no less.? If the prohesized rider of Doom did come?among the four?hypothetical heralds, no human would be ready for him, or perhaps it, because the Art of War was greater than any single battle and encompassed the entire?range of human actions as well as the motivation behind them. No human genius could prepare for a battle they would never expect on a plane transcending their understanding with the soul's value in the balance that only select few could even fathom.
Such human presumptions?forced him a long time ago to concentrate on but a few worthy human charges whose contribution could be as important?as it was quantatively lacking. But when Rafael became too?detached in his observation of humans, Gabriel thought so escape his duties and Uriel's dedication to his job became positively frightening, a dedicated Angel of War could not afford such distractions and never wavered in his loyalties. Only expressed his interest in a manner perhaps unclear to those human or witch minds trying to probe into his intentions.
Inspiring a?brooding man in his basement who no longer believed in himself. Giving courage to an expelled?police officer ?to continue his mission, even evoking a passion?in an unassuming looking girl that would force her to grow not only more capable to defend her friends but also turn her into a truer warrior on the right side. A brush here, a stroke here, no spectacular displays of power were required for success in this kind of battle where a few key players placed into important positions could determine the outcome of the conflict between his brethren above and their opposition below.
Once he would have considered the opposition to be all of lowly nature and beneath his notice, but friendly interactions and a surprising relationship taught him to see the word in a more flexible?way, to the extent that fighting on opposing sides no longer dictated a hostile approach. He certainly could never again feel antagonistic towards the demoness he currently followed, although beating her at her own game remained as pleasurable as it ever has been.
"Spoken like a true demon," Castiel retorted calmly, manifesting back into the visible spectrum and spreading his black wings, which needed the stretch due to the prolonged flight he had not anticipated. "I am an Angel of the Lord and we have no pets, unless demons are supposed to be those barking companions which humans must constantly restrain from exerting their nature," the angel quipped, injecting no malice into his words.
He would not have bothered ordinarily?discussing such weighty matters upon initial introduction but was forced to adopt the habit around prospective human charges whose smallest misunderstanding of demonic twists could lead to dire consequences. His impression of this potential key player Cordelia Chase from times of watching her may have been positive but taking risks, especially now, was not an option.
"Heaven and Hell both are but simple idealized representations of the two polar opposites. Yes, if taken too seriously, relying on the perfection of one and the utterly...hellish nature of the other,?may lead to confusion, but right does not need to depend on the definitions given by heaven and its proponents.?The concept of righteousness relates to inner values?and is best?enforced?from the inside. It doesn't make it any less significant because it doesn't strictly follow the mandate of Heaven, though I am personally of the opinion that for all its deficiencies?Heaven is largely good and its righteousness in most cases, only the wicked can denounce," Castiel expounded, his dark eyes seeming to gleam with the significance of his words, even if he spoke mostly by rote now. It just sounded convincing, to his own ears at least but hw did not mind upon further familiarity resorting to a more honest appraisal of the situation.
"There is one kernel of truth in what you said though, Halbrek. Cordelia is destined, by what she knows as the Powers That?Be while I refer to as the Will of Heavens, to work with me, and not on your side. So what, I mustwonder, are you doing here instead of working on your own charges?"?the Angel midly?inquired, not so much for his own benefit as for that of the girl that could eventually weigh in the balance of the war between the two?great powers.?
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Halbrek,? not at all surprised by Castiel's appearance, smirked in satisfaction to see he'd played into her hands yet again. Then her mouth dropped open briefly n astonishment at his over the top greeting to Cordelia. Soon the look of surprise turned into one of boredom and she heaved a heavy sigh as he continued on and on and on and on and on.
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A pointed black?booted toe began to tap impatiently on the witch's grave as Castiel spoke, the point of said toed boot raising up a small amount of dust. The dust was probably bored too, Halbrek decided.
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When he referred to demons as dogs, she scowled, tossing back her red hair in a totally girlie gesture.
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"Okay. That's good to know. You remember that later when what's between your legs begins to think of me as something else, Stalker mine," she said tartly.
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"Because lying with a man..angel, whatever, who considers me his dog...somehow it just doesn't do it for me."
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She cast a dark look at Cordelia.
"That's a man," she said in disgust.
"They give you pretty flowery words and touches like fire while deep inside thinking very little of you at all. Then they wonder why hell hath no fury like a woman insulted!"
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She smirked at Castiel.
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"But do not concern yourself, Stalker mine. I shall not become more angry than I already am. Instead I shall get even...you know...at work...where it really hurts."
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She chuckled.
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"And now to answer your other question...as to why I am chatting up Cordelia...why don't I have a right to make friends?"
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She mock pouted at him.
"Everyone needs friends, Castiel...you know the way even you needed sex until about 2 minutes ago when I decided you were no longer getting it."
The words held a definite promise for the dog comment hadn't sat well with her. Hurt? Had it hurt? Yes. Halbrek was intelligent enough to be honest with herself always. She didn't always like the honesty but who did? And truly honesty was a thing of demons. The ancient Greeks had understood that like no one else, for Demon, to them, meant knowledge. Often knowledge could truly be someone's true undoing.
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So yes, he'd hurt her with his comment. Was that how he truly felt? She wasn't about to get all dramatic and upset over it, though. To hell with that...Literally. She'd not been to hell in ages and had no plans to go there now. It only held unpleasant memories for her and the threat of being powerless. Perhaps things had changed, it had been ages upon ages, but did she really care enough to go back and find out, risking...well everything? No way.
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Castiel's ability to hurt her was unsettling, to say the least though. She was?a powerful war?demon and shouldn't be having bloody stupid hurt feelings. It was stupid. Perhaps it was time to pull back from her association with?the angel. Perhaps? Oh no most?definitely.
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"And what do you mean, one thing I told Cordelia was true. Every bloody thing I told Cordelia was true," she added hotly.
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"And if she's going to ally herself with the likes of you, perhaps she should know that angels totally lie when demons usually won't bother."
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She gave him a glare before turning pointedly away. Of course this couldn't have worked, but the hurt bullshit was what really bothered her. She.did.not.get.hurt! She'd have to seriously work on fixing that.
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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Dean did not know what happened. His time in Hell had been a long one. Hundreds of years, at least that was what it felt like and then just like that, he was back in what he presumed was his coffin. It was dark and the air was stale and barely breathable so he got straight to work at trying to break out. He used his elbow primarily to break through the wood and then it was a case of clawing his way through the dirt and dragging his sorry ass out.
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Dazed and confused, he brushed the loose dirt from himself, wondering how his meat suit held up so well. The last time he had been alive he had been torn apart by a hell hound, yet the cuts and scrapes he earned from clawing himself out of his grave aside, his body was in perfect condition with the look and feel of someone in their thirties, despite the amount of time he spent downstairs. Maybe time moved differently down there? Dean certainly hoped so or, chances were everyone he knew in life would be dead. Well, at least the ones he liked.
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It was at that point he looked around, his dry mouth hanging ajar. At first he thought he was in a clearing of a forest, but as he brushed the sleep from his eyes and looked again, he realised that all of the trees that had surrounded his grave had fell and there was a large mark shaped like a crucafix.
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“What the hell have you done, Sammy?” he asked out loud, causing him to cough loudly. Slowly at first, he walked passed the fallen trees toward the living ones. As soon as he felt stable enough his walk turned into a run until he finally reached the edge, where he ended up in a.....graveyard.
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“So if a graveyard is right here, why was I buried....” he said, looking back at the trees in the direction of his grave. “And more to the point, why was I in a grave at all?” he said to no one. He knew, as did his brother that on the event of his death he should have been burned to prevent anything using his meat suit. Dean carried on into the graveyard and that's when he heard voices. Not knowing where the hell he was or what was going on or even the date, he followed the sound of their voices. Finally he found them – two women and a dude in a trench coat talking. At least he assumed they were human; One of the women wore tall boots and a black cape and the guy seemed kind of....expressionless. He focussed on the non goth looking girl.
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“Hey, this might sound like a strange question, but what's the date?” he asked, “And I don't suppose you, Madame Whiplash or....Constantine here, have any water? I'm kind of parched.” he asked, attempting his most charming smile, hampered somewhat by his dry, cracked lips. That was probably not the best time to be a smart-mouth, but sometimes he just couldn't help himself.
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Shit! He'd been buried here? Halbrek felt all the color draining from her face. Son of a bitch. He'd been buried here of all places. Not good. Not good at all considering the taint in this ground. Useful for war and destruction but...
"Cas he shouldn't have been buried here," she said quietly, a note of dread filled disbelief evident in her tone and matching expression as 3 long legged strides took her to stand beside the angel, current hurt and anger at his uncharacteristic comments forgotten for the moment.
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"Someone had to have interfered," she added, tension?in every line of?her tall slim posture.
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"The point of us working together to fix that was that no one would see who did it. No one would trace the..."
She bit off the trail of words Castiel already knew to turn, peering over her shoulder at the trees from which Dean had emerged. She'd never met Dean before, but she knew him from what Castiel had said...He cared greatly for that particular human pet, yes, but the Winchester brothers were useful to him as hunters fighting the good fight or whatever. So few humans could see the monsters, she understood his point, she supposed.
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She'd neglected to answer his question or even to greet him, but there 2 others here, one who actually knew the guy well so it wasn't her problem. Her current concern, thick enough to nearly choke her, was the damage that could've been done by the man's body ending up here...
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"This ground is not good. And if a demon says that, it really means it's bad."
Once more she was likely not telling the angel a anything he didn't already know, but she had to get the thoughts out...the obvious out so they could perhaps begin sorting it out. Eyes full of worry she turned to regard Cas.
"This really isn't good."
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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Castiel was going to explain to Halbrek what was really going on, and why she was only presenting a skewed truth in the way only a demoness could, even if she was a special demoness for him. But then events began spinning out of control. Sam's brother suddenly coming out of the ground startled him and made him look around. He wasn't really where he'd intended to be, where he thought he would find Cordelia or Halbrek. And a strange scent of darkness that was coming off Dean Winchester or perhaps intensified with his appearance. That could be the evil his demoness was referring to, perhaps simply clinging to the Winchester boy despite his sudden release. Which brought him to the necessary consideration of timing. It was too convenient?when combined with the other?events to be merely coincidental.
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Well, he just had to make the best out of it. The angel had meant to tell Dean eventually of his involvement, to be encouraging and helping?and looked like that moment he'd anticipated finally arrived,?if not entirely the way he would have liked it to happen.
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"You look like?the picture of Dean Winchester I have seen at Sam's basement. I?don't think he?had a chance to tell you about me. From what I remember of our days together, he needed my help already after you were buried. I introduced myself to him as Caster Brown, a fellow hunter, but now I must confess it was a necessary subterfuge," he admitted, knowing from years of watching the elder brother?indirectly?that he was far more sensitive to the possibility of deception than the younger one had been and not wishing to start on a bad foot.?
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"In actuality, I am Castiel,?an?Angel of the Lord, sent here, to Earth in part to help you in your efforts?as well as those of other warriors undergoing the same trials as yourself. For that reason I am not entirely sure of the date myself, as I cannot always keep track of human calendars.?And yet, as my colleague here indicated, the time appears to be dire, whatever date it may be."
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Turning back to?Halbrek and ignoring their earlier misunderstanding entirely due to its current irrelevance, he peaceably agreed. "Yes, I sense it too. I thought perhaps Dean here brought it out with him, perhaps the Adversary has been following our tracks," he hedged implying Azazel with his oblique reference?."I also assumed it was Sam who buried Dean in here," Castiel sadly confessed his ignorance. In war,?ignorance boded death and he preferred to be on top of things.
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"Who do you think it could be then," he honestly wondered, asking the question others might find far more relevant than who Halbrek really was.
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"His body wasn't here. It wasn't supposed to be here. This ground is evil," Halbrek pronounced again, glaring around as if?to say why the hell wasn't everyone getting the bloody problem here. How everything was going wrong, spinning out of control and it all seemed to converge?in this place.
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"The ground here is evil. Tainted. This can't be good."
She found herself repeating the old words again in hopes it would perhaps sink as deeply as it should into the heads of one of the 3.
""Sorry to tell you that you rose from?really evil ground that you should not have been buried in...I really think you were originally somewhere else, but you may want to just sort of take note of it," she told Dean, then turning stalked of toward the trees from which he'd emerged.
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"I'm going to investigate it more carefully to see if I can find any specific trace," she called over her shoulder to Cas.
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"Do you know the energy signature of...our adversary?"
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She knew who he meant that was better left unnamed, but not his energy signature seeing as how she'd stayed out of hell and away from all demons as much as she could.
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A few powerful old ones close to Lucifer himself, the few loyal to him, were the only ones she'd seen in a long time. And the fox demon, but none of them felt tainted and evil like the ground did here and none of them would've openly screwed with her work like this. They'd have said something first...oh by the way...
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Not to mention she was still simmering about Castiel's dog/demon comment. He would pay for that later. Something had been wrong bout that too, though...The words, their intent to hurt? They weren't Castiel. He didn't see her as lesser...as someone to use...
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Did he? What if he did? Her emotions flip flopped that rapidly to insecurity once more. One second ago she'd been certain that Castiel had been somehow influenced by the evil tainting this ground, then in the next, she was wondering if she'd allowed the angel to play her for a fool.
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With a sudden sound of exasperation, she snapped open the large black bat wings that may have looked like the cloak on a very hot girl who'd?just returned from comicon. Lifting into the air, she hovered, then ran the same thoughts once again over in her mind. The place still felt...dark but she did feel better when not standing on the ground. Now not only did Castiel's comment seem off, but the entire exchange between the two of them, both of their actions, felt off. Of course they had more. He loved her and she was secure in that. And she loved him. She'd known it earlier but she'd not been able to feel it. Instead she'd felt hurt plenty over his lack of love, assuming it was the same. Hm, so negative emotions were more amplified here and it was easier to forget what you knew. Son of a bitch. With a sigh she landed, cloaking herself once more with her wings before realizing that unless Dean was extremely distracted he'd seen her hovering in the air. son of a bitch! Castiel would probably think that wasn't the best way for?his charge?to wake up, having to deal with...well so much at once. Well hell she didn't have charges as she didn't nurture and work like that, and she was shit for social interaction.
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"Sorry," she called to Cas with an apologetic look.
"Really. There was a point to that, though."
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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Cordelia was a little conflicted when it came to dealing with the supernatural as her experiences back home were a bit different. The man with whom she’d fallen in love had been a vampire who no one ever really wanted to see perfectly happy outside of a bunch of evil lawyers. One of her closest friends was a green empath demon who for some reason loved karaoke?way?too much. But here, mostly things were much more likely to just rip your throat out.
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She carefully studied the woman for a moment following the declaration their little graveside encounter was about satisfying a curiosity instead of the?‘blood and mayhem’?thing which was a plus. “That’s kind of creepy.” Though which of those two things was creepier was something the jury was still out on. “Also, not a pet.” Shuddering at the memory of her time spent in Pylea.
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“Now why is this all starting to sound like the set up to some bad?‘an angel and a demon walk into a bar’?joke?” The former being something that as of yet the Seer had never encountered while the latter mostly proved to be a gigantic pain in the ass. Just when she parted her lips to respond to the introduction given their conversation had been cut short by the arrival of who perhaps was supposedly going to become some kind of mentor or whatever.
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Okay. This was definitely not how she’d expected this day to turn out. Solving the mystery of the ever cryptic visions or more accurately becoming even more frustrated by them was pretty standard these days. But meeting people who introduced themselves as?‘an angel of the lord’?was so far out of the realm of normal?(even for her).?
Her brown eyes slowly drifted back and forth between them as she listened to the little speech being given about the pros and cons of heaven. Not that the former cheerleader felt even remotely tempted to wave the?‘go hell’?banner. “Obviously someone up there has a rather strange sense of humor since they pluck me from a world where the visions are used to guide a vampire named Angel and dropped me into one where I’m?‘诲别蝉迟颈苍别诲’?to work with an actual angel.”
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Was that the reason behind them being so adamant about her life there coming to an end? All of this brought back the memory of her final conversation with Angel where exact words had been?‘I’m just on a different road – and this is my off-ramp.’?It was the best way she could think to explain the situation even though she hadn’t quite understood their decision herself. So many questions, though she doubted anyone had the answers to them.
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“Wait. What?” The change in subjects not one she’d been prepared for under the current circumstances. “And here we go with the Dr. Phil segment….which for the record I am so not a balding middle-aged Texan man whose purpose in life seems to involve couples’ therapy.” The pop culture reference would probably be lost on them but it seemed to fit the moment perfectly. And so she welcomed the distraction the new arrival provided though his having the appearance of someone who had only recently dug themselves out of a grave was a bit alarming. Then again, one could easily blame that on spending?way?too much around cemeteries during her Sunnydale days.
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“September 15th, 2013.” Cordelia offered forgoing any further commentary upon noticing the other woman’s reaction.?‘That can’t be good’?was the first thought to enter her mind because as a general rule when something freaked demons out things were undoubtedly about to take a turn for the worse. “Care to share with the rest of the class?”
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She watched as Halbrek took off then turned her attention to the angel once more. “While I’m generally opposed to the idea of making things more confusing for the formerly dead hottie there’s the matter of a vision that brought me here. Maybe you can explain why the Powers are flashing images of a headless horseman dressed like some old civil war soldier riding on a white horse with these creepy glowing red eyes coming up out of the river. It feels like something that’s about to happen. I kind of hoped my little sightseeing trip today would trigger something more but sadly I’m coming up empty.” Generally speaking she tended to avoid bringing up the fact she had visions because it made her sound like a total nut job but circumstances being what they were she hoped the angel could shed some light on that one.
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"Doctor Phil is most definitely an agent of hell," Halbrek quipped dryly.
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She headed slowly back toward them, walking on the ground now, but not happily. Her gaze rested on Cordelia as she nodded when the dark haired girl asked if she cared to explain to the rest of the class. Fitting as Halbrek was the sort to be an A student for sure.
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"I don't know everything for sure and that's another unsettling thing...that it's not so obvious to a powerful demon or angel," she admitted.
"?But I've figured out enough to sit up and take noticed? to say the least. First of all, he shouldn't have risen here," she said, nodding to Dean before her gaze returned to Cordelia.
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"Bad ground, bad place to be, bad energetic connections, so makes me wonder if it will...matter for him."
She flicked Dean another glance, one that was almost sympathetic, but her steady gaze returned to Corddelia in a flash. She'd been the one to ask the question, after all. At least someone was paying bloody attention.
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"There is a demonic signature back there in those trees that I can't trace, but seeing as how I don't have many friends that's not surprising."
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That lack of friends, demonic in nature or otherwise was by choice, but it wasn't talk about Halbrek day so she continued without elaborating.
"Not to mention, that unfortunate situation brought to my attention the fact that this place is...has more than just death and a big?impending war to come going on with it. Something in the ground is worse..."
She scuffed the earth with the toe of one pointed boot.
"It's just..."
She looked at last to Castiel, expression blank momentarily as if to say she hadn't words for it.
"It's the reason you and I were misunderstanding everything the other said. Why everything was coming out wrong, Castiel."
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She still didn't like knowing...feeling how much the angel could hurt her if he chose, but that would be an unpleasant mess for another day hopefully...or not. Never would do. Never would be just great actually.
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"It messes with our perceptions and emotions. Us Castiel and neither of us should be susceptible to such. We should both be far stronger than that...so you want to wonder why," she said, gaze moving back to Cordelia, almost hoping the girl actually had an opinion on the matter.
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"If demons will probably be here fighting, maybe angels too, why would one risk its own being effected?"
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Unless they wanted both sides out and only the mortals to have a go, but truly no one ever wanted to miss the fun.
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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“No argument there.” Cordelia certainly wouldn’t have been surprised to learn the before mentioned television personality was an agent of hell. It would actually explain?so?much. But that was a possibility to be considered at a later date what with everything else that had been dropped on her plate here recently. “Okay, see, that’s not the most comforting thing you could have said.” She already had a whole host of reservations of her own without knowing there was something neither angel nor demon could explain about this place.
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“Really hoping all that bad mojo doesn’t have anything to do with my vision because honestly I’m still desperately clinging to the hope that my guy is nothing more than a good old fashioned spook.” Even as she said those words aloud a part of her very much doubted the odds were in favor of this being the case. Something about the way this vision made her feel that suggested otherwise.
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“Maybe one side or the other is tapping into powers they can’t quite control.” Now there was another alarming thought she wished hadn’t occurred to her. “Or at least not at ground zero.” If that were the case she seriously needed to be on the first plan out of here, and yet, running away from danger seemed to have worked itself out of her nature years ago. Now she was one of those crazy people who went rushing headlong into it.
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Castiel only shrugged in response to Halbrek's objection of Dean's rising. "I just assumed that his brother buried him here. I suppose rising from Hell is difficult enough and one cannot shake off the stench of torment clinging to one's soul, even when they are trying their best. No offense intended of course, Dean," the angel slowly commented with a frown?recalling what Sam had been trying to instill in him of human interactions.
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It was a fortunate train of thought too, reminding him of the demoness possibly taking offense as well, based on her response. He should have known better, knowing her as well as he did, but for some reason it didn't occur to him that she might take his retort the wrong way, against the meaning they were trying to connote. Her ideas of the taint explained perhaps why he was pulled toward such a reckless attitude and had not foreseen the consequences they?had caused.?
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But now that Halbrek brought his attention to it, he remembered the taint. He had indeed experienced it before raising a soul special to him from Hell. To get to it he had to traverse the?difficult terrain of the nine circle where the?tendrils of treachery emitted such a palatable energy that seemed to pervade every soul entangled and every inch of space that even Castiel found it difficult to severe the ties while?concealing his essence from his lower level brethren.
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It?might have been there that he first experienced that energetic pattern unless of course it was?lower still, in the domain of all devouring Abaddon. For some reason his memory was very much confused on the matter, likely due to the effects of that very taint Halbrek sensed earlier.
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But then with a start the angel realized that it was his protégé who possibly unintentionally triggered?something in his mind, something that almost escaped his notice. "I may not be familiar with this antics of your Dr Phil," the angel freely admitted with a conspicuous sparkle in his darkly gleaming eyes, "but I might have idea on the nature of your vision, Cordelia? The red and white colors?you have seen?comprise an omen from the past.?
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That combination is often encountered in various wars and?forebodes conflict on a global scale. It is probably just as meaningful that?your horseman?symbolizes civil war for you, because the spirit of war is something he brings, I suspect. Without having any direct knowledge of such entity, I surmise from the colors that the conflict he brings is of a very special nature,?likely to erupt even between close associates and from?what my friend here tells me, it might be related to the taint in this very place, governed by it somehow. That could at least explain why we have all been brought here today, to?battle that evil power that may corrupt even?such resilient entities as demons..." the angel thoughtfully suggested, realizing there was more to it, a greater level of complexity he could not verbalize just then. ??
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When Cordelia explained that 'that' wasn't the most comforting thing Halbrek had said, the demoness arched a red brow curiously.
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"Which? About DR. Phil or the state of wrongness in the?ground here? Cause if it's DR. Phil I suppose you can just undo whatever advice?he gave you. There is still time."
She couldn't suppress a smile of amusement.
"As for the ground I'd love to see what holy water would do but I doubt it'd be much...hopefully wouldn't make it worse," she added, that last bit coming out in a tone of worried trepidation.
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"I can say I'm far far far older than I look and I've never seen anything like this," she added, sliding a brief sidelong look to Castiel.
"Then again...I don't work with others so it's not as if I've had opportunities to study what sort of taint specific sorts of demons or demonic workings can leave behind on a place."
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The more she focused on the problem the creepier it became. Not liking to feel girlie and still a little annoyed with even though he...they had been effected somehow by this place she inched closer to Castiel nonetheless. Slipping her arm through his she leaned lightly against his side taking comfort in the contact...in the familiar feel and smell of his long coat against her wings. Though to be honest she did prefer him?without it.?Appearance wise it did give him a proper unangel like style, though, which was acceptable.
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Halbrek listened thoughtfully to Castiel's theory explaining Cordelia's vision.
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"So are you saying Dean rising here could be a good sign...if we're fighting whatever this is here? I'd like to think that but I just don't know," she concluded doubtfully, sliding a mildly apologetic look in Dean's direction.
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Glance then moving from Dean to Cordelia, then over to Castiel with her arm linked through his she chuckled. "This sounds like the beginning of a joke. 2 humans, a demon and an angel walk into an apocalypse...and fight on the same side."
She chuckled again.
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"But really more than one demon?would fight against world destruction. For more than one of us in the world and those who inhabit it are our play ground. If someone tears it all up, where's the fun then?"
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She pouted prettily, but not being the sort the expression was only fleeting even for a joke.
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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“Honestly thought this place would be a little less hellmouthy but then again that was a small town too. Why does evil always pick those anyway?” Cordelia thought it curious that big cities weren’t the first choice of things of that nature, though maybe less populated areas were somehow more beneficial to the?‘Big Bads’. But then that didn’t entirely make sense either. “Trust me, not missing a whole lot there.” More than once she’d been cooped up in some hotel room on a rainy afternoon with nothing else to do but watch daytime television. Dr. Phil tended to have her wanting to reach through the screen to smack the living daylights out of most of his guests.
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“Nature of the vision is better than nothing.” He had no idea how frustrating that vision had been since she started having it two weeks ago. Things would have gone so much more smoothly if the brunette still had access to the vast amounts of books on prophecies and what not that were among Wesley’s collection. But would they include anything about this, what with it being a whole other dimension? Shaking those thoughts off so she could pay attention to any information either of them might have in regards to her vision.
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“Great. Just great. So things are going to get bad on an epic scale.” Why couldn’t it have just been some run-of-the-mill spook? Course since when did the Powers That Be ever send her a vision of something that could be easily fixed by digging up and torching some corpse. Not that digging up corpses was something she enjoyed all that much. “Okay, so, this horseman is some kind of bad ass. Who would summon or raise something like him?”
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Sending a quick glance towards Halbrek giving a reply to her question. “I would have to say the wrongness of the ground here because honestly the Dr. Phil bit kind of explains a lot.”?IF?there really was a?‘storm coming’?then she honestly hoped there was more than just the three of them to deal with it because she got the feeling that wouldn’t be enough. “Think we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
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OOC: Sorry for the delayed reply, I've had a busy week and a half. I promise to post at least once a week from now on!
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IC:
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Dean's head was swimming. He was seriously dehydrated and his stomach was growling so loudly, he didn't know how his body had enough energy to even stand there, let alone anything else. He didn't know if it was that or the flurry of information he was both hearing and seeing but it was giving him a headache and confusing the hell out of him! So he tried staying quiet, trying desperately to take it all in.
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He did not say anything when he was told it was 2013 – around six years since he had died, goodness knows what kind of shenanigans Sammy had been up to in that time. Captain trenchcoat claimed to know his brother and then went on to the ludicrous notion that he was an Angel! Then to top it off, and Dean didn't know if it was the malnutrition or his mind was playing tricks, but Miss succubus seemed to float and then went on to say they were on evil ground and that he, Dean Winchester, was some kind of darkness bringer Anti-Christ! It was all proving to be too much for him. The anger inside him had been building up inside and he was about to boil over!
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“OK, ENOUGH!” he shouted. He hadn't been able to track everything that was being said, but just how much information could a guy freshly out of a grave take?
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“Let's get this straight? OK? It's 2013. You know my brother.” he said, pointing to Castiel. “And you're an Angel, which is bullshit by the way!” he said, before turning to Halbrek. “Then there's....what ever the hell you are.....you say this is evil ground and I'm some kind of.....second coming?”
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“Firstly, Sammy would not have buried me......where ever the hell here is.....and I don't know how I'm back, how I got here, or what is even happening, but I can tell you one thing. My mouth is dry as sound paper and I'm so damn hungry I could eat a horse and that tell's me I'm human. Now could one of you kindly tell me where I am, and WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!”
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Halbrek looked thoughtful as she took a moment to truly consider Cordelia's question.
"On one hand it does seem logical that a larger city would be more suitable. Bigger, better and all that. But a small town is easier to get a complete hold on I think, and for some things, a complete chokehold is preferable to bigger and better that may only partially be yours."
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At Cordelia's next question, who would raise someone like the horseman, Halbrek had an answer she didn't have to consider at all.
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"Someone bigger and badder who needs minions, of course."
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"I'm not accustom to asking for help or even needing it, but I"ll put my mind toward that endeavor," Halbrek said when Cordelia spoke of needing all the help they could get.
From one of the traces Halbrek had known in this graveyard recently, someone else was already aware and hopefully moving on it. She'd not seen this particular demonic signature in a very long time, but it was most definitely Lucifer...but if that was so, who the hell was bound? The fact someone else was, and he'd been busy lying low and watching world wide live T.V as ages passed did amuse Halbrek, but the trouble going down here sort of dampened it a bit. She flicked a glance to Castiel, knowing they'd have to have a talk on the topic of help before direct actions were taken. They usually kept work and their relationship separate and thus far had done very well, but now...this was different. In this they'd do well to work together, at least as much as they could.
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Looking to Dean, Halbrek arched a brow.
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"Cordelia...you want to take him to McDonalds or Burger President or whatever it's called?"
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As Castiel and she didn't need to eat, they tended to forget. Castiel had to feed the body but that was different than him specifically wanting the food for his own angelic sake, so he could easily forget such things. That she could understand. Eating was a weak mortal need.
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"I assure you he's telling the truth about being an angel," she told Dean with an ironic twist to her lips, eyes amused.
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"If there are demons, it only stands to reason, yes? Be grateful you have him and that your brother had him while you were gone. Also it may not hurt to be grateful to the 2 of us for snatching you out of hell. Though I assure you it was neither of our doing that you ended up..."
She gave the ground a disgusted?disturbed?look.
"Here."
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She hoped it was alright to let that cat out of the bag as it were. The boy needed to show a little gratitude, though. Though had she not assisted Castiel...had she not been asked to, the two never would've worked together and thus never would've...well many things, so she was, in her way, grateful to Dean for getting himself into hell to require being gotten out.
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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.
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Kat