“Te nunc invoco, mortem” Dean intoned as he cut his hand and added some of his blood to the bowl. Casting this ritual had a strange sense of familiarity to it. He had cast many such rituals in his life, sometimes to save lives, other times to make deals, and quite a few of them to save his own skin, or that of his brother’s. But this ritual would be the last one.
“Te in mea potesteate defixi.” Dean continued. The building started to rumble. Lightbulbs started to fizzle and explode.
“Nunc et in aeternum.” Dean continued despite himself. The rumbling stopped. Dean pulled a bandana from his pocket and wrapped it around his bloody hand.
“Don’t tell me that’s queso.” Said the distinctive British accent of Death. Dean turned around. There he was, Death, the fourth horseman of the apocalypse, many a headache and a lifesaver for Dean. He was regarding the tray of Mexican food that Dean had prepared as an offering for Death.
“Yeah--yes” Dean said as he walked over to pick up the tray, then walk over to Death. “Queso and, uh, taquitos, tamales. Homemade by yours truly.”
“All with the bad fat” Dean smiled as he came to a standstill in front of Death. “Consider it an offering”
“For?” Death asked with a sardonic grin on his as he pick up a tamale to sample.
“I want you to kill me” Dean said with dead seriousness.
“What I find truly fascinating, Dean…” Death started, while he munched on the tamale, then smacked his lips “Mmm. That’s good.”
“…Is that you and I both know that I’ve been burned by you Winchesters before, yet you still call.” Death finished as he walked to the table that had the rest of the food on it.
“Yeah, I know, but not this time, okay?” Dean said as turned and walked to put the tray back on the table. “No games, No second thoughts.”
“I know you know what this is.” Dean said, pointing to the Mark of Cain on his inner forearm. Death looked at the Mark. “I know you know what it can do.”
“I’ve tried to fight it. I’ve tried to beat it on my own. And I-I can’t. I got no moves left… Except you.”
“Well, I never thought I’d see the day. My goodness. Dean Winchester has tipped over his king.” Said Death as he sat down. “but I won’t kill you, Dean” he said, sipping his drink.
“You’re Death!” Dean exclaimed weakly.
“And that mark on your arm is the first curse. Nothing can kill you.”
“Okay, well, forget killing me. Can you get rid of it?” Dean asked, exasperated.
“I could.” Death said reluctantly.
“But…?”
“Creatio ex nihilo. God created the earth out of nothing, or so your Sunday-school teacher would have you believe.” Death replied.
“What, so genesis is a lie, eh? Shocker” Dean said sarcastically.
“Before there was Light, before there was God and the Archangels, there wasn’t nothing” Death replied, raising from his seat to pace the room. He turned to face Dean and began to talk.
“There was the Darkness, a horribly destructive, amoral force that was beaten back by God and His Archangels in a terrible war. God locked the darkness away where it could do no harm, and He created a Mark that would serve as both Lock and Key, which he entrusted to his most valued lieutenant, Lucifer. But the Mark began to assert its own will, revealed itself as a curse, and began to corrupt. Lucifer became jealous of man. God banished Lucifer to Hell. Lucifer passed the Mark to Cain, who passed the mark to you, the proverbial finger in the dike.”
“Well, that is just fan-friggin-tastic, isn’t it?” Dean replied in a low voice, so taken aback that he had to sit down.
“So I could remove the mark, but only if you will share it with another to ensure that the lock remains unbroken and the Darkness remains Banned.” Death said seriously.
“I’m not doing that… not to anyone” Dean replied solemnly.
Death regarded Dean for a moment, then turn around away from his and said “What if I told you I could relocate you somewhere far away, not even on this earth, where you would still be alive but no longer a danger to yourself or to others?”
Dean was silent for a moment, before speaking “If it keeps me from killing people, then I’m all for it.”
Death raised an eyebrow. “Really? I haven’t even spoke of where I would send you.”
“I have killed people, ok? All I know is that I’m just barely stopping myself from trying to kill you. I’ve stopped caring about anything other than killing, and that makes me sick.” Dean said heatedly, before sighing in despair. “That isn’t me.”
Death regarded Dean for a moment, before moving to the food trey to eat another tamale.
“The idea I have in mind, Dean, is to find another world, far from this one, with a power strong enough to seal away the Mark.” He said, munching away his tamale. “You would still have to bare the Mark, nothing can change that, and you would still never die or age. But you would be free of the Mark’s destructive urges, and would be able to live a normal life, or at least as normal a life you can live as a Winchester.”
“Like I said, if it keeps me from killing people, I’m all for it.” Dean said.
“Good.” Death replied “But while this food is exceptional, it is not enough for me to go through with this.”
“Yeah? Fine, what do you want.” Dean practically snarled. Death was unfazed.
“Only one thing. Sam Winchester must go with you.” He said.
Dean was confused.
“What? Why?” he asked.
“If there is one thing I have learned in watching and dealing with you Winchesters, it’s that both of you are too loyal to each other for your own good. I have no doubt that Sam would do everything he could, both to get you back, and free you of the Mark, which as I have said cannot happen, lest the Darkness be set free.” Death replied, turning to face Dean. “This way you two can be together, and it is one less headache for me to fix.”
Dean frowned, considering. He had hoped not to involve Sam in his deal with Death, but it looked like that was going to be impossible, that or let the Mark have control over him, which was something he could not allow.
“You promise not to hurt him or put him in danger, right?” Dean asked.
“I promise not to deliberately hurt him or put him in danger. Any harm or danger he comes to after you and he arrive at your destination as a result of his own actions will be his own fault.” Death replied.
“I guess that will have to do.” Dean said, and pulled out his phone.
--
“So, let me get this straight.” Said Sam. He had arrived at the abandoned bar about half an hour earlier, and after lot of pleading and accusing, Death had actually managed to explain the situation in full to him.
“The Mark of Cain is actually a seal made by God to keep away something even worse than Lucifer, so you can’t get rid of it, but you take us someplace that can seal the Mark away so that it doesn’t make Dean want to kill people, but you can’t do it here. Is that right?”
“A simple explanation, but yes.” replied Death. Sam frowned.
“Ok, um, it’s just… why can’t you do it?” Sam asked
“I’m sorry, but you will have to expand on that, Sam, I’m afraid I don’t understand you.” replied Death.
“Oh, why can’t you seal the Mark?”
“Oh. well, I am not proud of it, but even I am not strong enough to seal something as powerful as the Mark of Cain.” Death said, frowning.
“So, if the Mark is so powerful that even you can’t seal it away, what makes you think this other ‘power’ is strong enough to?”
“You will just have to trust me on that.” Said Death. “At the very least, it is better than the alternative.”
“The alternative?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.
“The alternative… is that I send you both to a primitive world with no society to speak of, and the very real risk that Dean will kill you, regardless of his intentions.” Death replied.
Sam’s eyes widened, as if the concept of Dean killing him was completely foreign to him. “Dean wouldn’t do that!”
“No, Sammie, I would.” Said Dean from across the room. “If you were the only person around, I don’t think I could stop myself from killing you.”
“Hence, our current working solution to this conundrum.” Death interjected before Sam could start a new argument. “So, will you go through with it or not?”
There was a heavy frown on Sam’s face as he considered it. The truth was, this deal sounded too good to be true, and that was exactly why Sam didn’t like it. He had been caught in too many bad deals that had seemed like a good idea at the time, but bit him in the ass later, to take deals like this at face value.
“What’s the catch?” he asked suspiciously.
“None, as far as I can see.” Death replied “Unless of course, you consider having to live on a completely foreign world, adapt to a completely foreign culture, and live in completely foreign bodies to be the catch. Then yes, there is a catch.”
“Wait, you said nothing about having new bodies” Dean spoke up from the across the room.
“I thought you said you were all for it, Dean?” Death asked, eyebrow raised.
“Well, yeah, but you should have told me that sooner. I don’t want to live in a meat puppet.” Dean replied.
“You misunderstand me, I did not mean that you would be possessing someone else, only that I would change your current bodies to resemble the local populace.” Death said.
“Oh.”
“So, wait, this will be a completely new species that we will be living with, and you will change us to look like them?” asked Sam
“Yes, and I will inject knowledge of their language into your mind before we go.” Replied Death
“What will they look like?” Asked Sam.
“I don’t know, I have to find them first. And before you ask, I will make sure that it is not unduly dangerous for you.” Replied Death.
“You don’t even know where you’re going to send us yet? Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Death had an annoyed look on his face. “The Universe is a big place, Sam. Rest assured, while death may be universal, I am only an incarnation of death, and as such I have only existed here on earth since this vessel agreed to let me inhabit him. So yes Sam, I have to look for a place that is suitable before we can go there. Do you have any other inane questions for me, Sam Winchester, or can we get started?”
“Just one.” Said Dean from across the room.
“Oh? And what question is that?” asked Death impatiently.
Dean smiled asked “Can we take the Impala with us?”
It was a very cross Death that replied “No”.
--
Dean woke with a start. The first thing he realized was that his body felt different. The last thing he remembered was Death snapping his fingers. There had be no warning, no preparation, just one moment he was in the decrepit bar with Sam and Death, the other he was somewhere else.
Dean remembered Death saying something about changing their bodies, and so tried to get a feel for his new body. It felt… strange, like he only had one finger on each… arm? And one toe on each leg? All of his digits felt like they were an extension of his limbs, instead of as part of his hands or feet. Also he felt… other limbs, two on his back and one on his rump. And his skin felt weird, as if it had a lot of hair on it.
It was a moment after he noticed these things that knowledge flooded his mind. Knowledge of how to walk with these new legs, how to fly with what apparently were wings on his back, how to speak a language that he didn’t remember learning, and various other things.
Dean opened his eyes. He appeared to be on the shore of what looked like a large lake. Surrounding the lake was flora that would not have looked out of place at a scenic park in Everytown, USA. In other words, it looked like the world that he was familiar with and used to.
Dean Winchester was not sure what expected, but it was not this. He had thought that an alien world would look, well, alien. It was when he walked, on all fours, to the lake to look at his reflection that he spotted the most alien thing he had ever seen. Namely, himself.
His eyes were enormous, so large that they looked like they might drop out of their eye-sockets with their weight. His head wasn’t proportioned anything like a human’s head though. Instead, his head seamed to extend out of his neck like a dog’s head, or a horse’s head, and he had a large nose and mouth. His ears extended out of the top of his head and were pointed, like a cat’s ears. He turned his head to look at his body. He appeared to have a greyish blue fur and feathers, and a dark blond tail and mane. A word appeared in his head. Pegasus Pony. That was the name for his new kind.
It was then that he noticed the Mark. It was no longer on his inner forearm, instead it was on his rump, burning with a lower intensity than he was used to. In fact, the dark urges that had grown every time he had killed from the time he had gotten the Mark seemed weaker somehow. He could ignore them more easily.
“Dean!” a voice called to him from his right. He looked in that direction and noticed another one of the strange alien beings about 100 meters down the shore of the lake. It had silvery white fur and a dark brown mane and tail. It didn’t have wings like Dean, but it did have a horn growing out of its head. Another word popped into his head. Unicorn Pony.
“Dean! Is that you?” the alien called again. How did it know his name? then Dean realized something.
“Sammie?” Dean called.
“Dean!” exclaimed the alien that was Sam. They started running to each other. When they met in the middle, they wrap each other awkwardly in a hug, their new alien biology making it difficult to figure out.
“What happened?” Dean asked after they had let go of the hug.
“I don’t know, last thing I knew, Death snapped his fingers, then suddenly I’m here, looking like this.” Sam replied
“How did you know it was me?” Dean asked.
“I saw the Mark on your flank.” Sam said.
Really, that was the only explanation needed, as the Mark was very distinctive.
Looking around them, Dean asked no one in particular “Where are we? Where is Death?”
“You are on the world Equuis, in the country of Equestria.” Replied a beautiful, majestic voice above them. They looked up to see what looked like a giant alien, that had white fur, a rainbow mane and tail of soft colors, and also both wings and horn. It was adorned in golden finery, and was gently flapping it wings as it descended down to meet them. Another word popped into Deans head. Alicorn Princess.
“As for Death, unfortunately, he could not accompany you here due certain restrictions in place. However, he has told me all about you, and your plight.” The alien continued.
“Who are you?” asked both Winchester brothers at the same time.
The alien laughed softly, before saying in a regal voice “I am Princess Celestia, one of the ruling diarchs of Equestria, and Goddess of the Sun and the balance of life and death.” She paused, before saying ”In essence, I suppose you could say that I am this worlds incarnation of Death.”