Fic: The Pet Whisperer (9/9)
Title: The Pet Whisperer
Author:liliaeth
Artist: rayvlin
Genre: dark fic, there are both graphic het and slash scenes in the fic.
Pairing: Dean/Castiel, Dean/oc(s), oc/oc
Warnings: AU from 701
Rating: NC17
Word Count: 66.543
Summary: The pagan goddess Despoine is widely regarded as the best trainer of human pets in the supernatural world. When the new god Castiel demands her aid in training his pet Dean, she definitely knows better than to say no.
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, but if I did, I definitely wouldn't mind having Dean for a pet.
Warnings: graphic horror, vore and gore, pagan gods, who look like humans, eating people including children. Dehumanization of what are essentially children into animals. Cannibalism. Non-con, slavery, dub-con, the pagan gods here fit the SPN mold, not necessarily that of their original mythology. Soylent green is people
17.
She didn’t spare any time, helping to carry the former angel inside to the meditation room, while calling out for Apollo to please come, please help, whatever it took. The golden god was already setting up his things by the time they arrived.
Castiel was still streaming the black goop, and Apollo didn’t even bother with his usual bartering. Instead, he got to work, setting up herbs and losing a few drops of blood to set a circle that not even a god could escape from. It seemed as if there was something bothering Apollo, especially after he put his hand on Castiel’s forehead to sense what was wrong with him.
“Dean,” Castiel whispered.
Apollo gently let go of the newer god, putting him down on the floor. Her cousin seemed to hesitate before conviction took over, and he turned to her.
“He’s right, little cousin. We need the pet. He’ll need to have something close to him that he cares about, if we want to get this out of him without killing both god and vessel.”
“No!” Despoine crossed her arms, firmly against it. “He could kill the boy.” She knew this pet; in a way, she even cared for him, risking his life after all she’d done to save him, it would be wrong, it would be animal abuse. What kind of pet trainer would she be if she took part in that?
“Despoine, if we don’t do this soon, he could kill us all. Ani included.”
Despoine couldn’t help the shudder that came over her.
“I might be able to stop that if I start now, but without the pet here to help, I’ll definitely lose Castiel, and we all gave our oath to serve him. What’s the life of one human compared to that?”
Despoine stared at Castiel, the way his vessel shuddered inside the circle, waves of energy and dark gooey slime abandoning his body, dripping into the soil around him.
She hesitated a moment before stepping through the shadows and reappearing at Dean’s crate, he stared up at her and tried to pull himself to his knees.
“Dean, we need your help.”
“How…” his voice sounded so broken that she couldn’t even blame him for his lack of decorum.
“It’s Castiel.”
Dean unconsciously pulled back for a second, and Despoine took his hand in hers, offering her support. Gently humming, easing the panic inside of him. It wasn’t until he stopped inching backwards and started leaning forwards, his head a mere inch away from her legs, that she spoke again.
“Apollo says there’s something inside of him, but we can only get it out if we have something… someone he cares about there with us.”
“Me,” Dean whispered, while getting to his feet.
“Dean,” she wasn’t sure if she should tell him, but looking at him, feeling his devotion, she couldn’t stop herself, “it won’t be safe, Dean. Castiel, the thing inside of him, it could kill you.”
Dean coughed, dark thickening slime on his lips that was far too similar to the one on Castiel. She wondered why his symptoms had seemed to worsen, almost as if he already felt his master’s pain on top of his own. “Doesn’t matter.” He stumbled, and Despoine caught him before he fell. “Please Mistress, I want to help.”
She hugged him close, letting his chin touch her shoulder, as she gently brushed her fingers over his spine, and transported them both to the meditation room. Dean stared at Castiel inside the circle, before properly turning down his eyes,. “What should I do?”
Apollo didn’t answer; he focused too sharply on chanting, but there were sigils ready for Dean to place himself on, so Despoine pointed the human pet towards them. There was something wrong with them. They weren’t Paidopagis, she was sure of that, but they looked like channels to her, and they were far too close to the circle.
Dean, to his credit, didn’t even hesitate; the only hindrance his still-present injuries.
“Dean!” Castiel cried out once again, staring up at his pet with those cold blue eyes.
“I’m here, Cas,” Dean whispered, kneeling in the middle of the sigils, his hands wide open in front of him, barely holding him up. The closer he got to Castiel, the weaker he seemed to become.
It made Despoine want to grab him up and pull him to safety; instead she bit her lip and did nothing.
Castiel stared up, seeing Dean for the first time since he had entered. Castiel started crawling towards Dean, but the circle stopped him. Dean tried to sit up, but he couldn’t, it was as if his palms were glued to the floor in front of him.
“Dean, run. I … I don’t want to hurt you.” The word ‘again’ was left unspoken.
“I know,” Dean whimpered, not even fighting the pull of whatever was keeping him down.
Despoine wondered how he could forgive so easily, but then she realized, it wasn’t even a question. Had Castiel harmed Sam, it’d be another thing, but since as far as Dean knew, the only person Castiel had harmed was Dean himself, Dean wouldn’t even consider holding it against him.
Castiel crawled closer. Dean leaned up, his forehead almost touching the magical line between him and his master, as if trying to help. The air around the circle vibrated as the new god’s vessel hit it.
Apollo kept chanting. Despoine took place opposed to him, allowing herself to grab hold of Apollo and herself to him to help with strength and words, whatever he needed. But it wasn’t enough.
Castiel kept pushing, and pushing, until his hand broke through the circle, his fingers touching Dean. Light sparkled, first from his hand, then his eyes, until his entire face glowed brightly with his grace. Dean sat kneeling before him, staring up at his master, his injuries starting to heal, while the black ooze seeped out of Castiel, attacking the walls of the circle with all its strength, flowing towards the edges, to the sigils on the floor that she now realized where heading straight towards Dean.
Despoine almost froze, wanted to stop chanting, but it was too late, and Apollo’s strength overran hers, since she’d freely given herself to his aid.
Castiel pushed further through the circle, a few last drops of black ooze abandoning him as Apollo’s chant grew stronger. Castiel’s fingers sparkled as they reached Dean’s face, pulling the human closer to him.
Despoine screamed, her body continuing the chant, as she tried to fight what she now realized was about to happen. Apollo looked at her, begging her to continue, to stop fighting him on this, but she couldn’t do it; she couldn’t go along with it. Saving a pet, or saving its master, which was the right thing to do? She didn’t even know for sure. Then Dean looked at Castiel, devotion in his eyes, and she knew the pet wouldn’t forgive her if she didn’t do this, if she didn’t help his master. She ran a quiet prayer to Olympus for forgiveness and stopped fighting.
But it was too late.
The circle ruptured and the black ooze moved over to the closest host it could find that wouldn’t be able to fight it’s infection, flowing into it, forcing its way through the pet’s veins, until his eyes oozed black. He fell back.
Castiel fell over, his strength leaving him.
Apollo tried to get up, turning to the now ooze-infected pet, his hands shining with power as he tried to aim his remaining power towards it.
Dean, or whatever infected him, just smirked as the ball of power came hurtling towards him. He didn’t even flinch, before grabbing it in his hand and throwing it back at Apollo, the force of it pushing the god back into the wall.
Despoine screamed Dean’s name, making Castiel lift his head towards them both, whispering, “No.”
It was a moment of distraction, and by the time she turned back to Dean, he was gone, out the door, and she was too exhausted to follow.
She awoke to Castiel standing over her. Something inside of him had changed. He still had the power of millions of souls, more power than she could ever imagine, but the sheer evil of the hunger from before was gone, leaving behind a cold concern and disgust that she didn’t understood the focus of.
“Where’s Dean?”
She stared up at him, noticing that Apollo was only now getting up himself.
“What happened to him?”
“I…” She didn’t know what to say. How could she tell the god what Apollo had done without…
“It was the only way to save you my lord.” Apollo saved her from saying the words.
The anger Castiel turned towards the golden god made her glad Apollo hadn’t forced her bear the news instead. “I couldn’t fully remove that … those beings inside of you, without giving them a new Vessel. But it had to be something connected to you, something you cared about, that the filth cared about as well because of you.”
“You put that thing into Dean.” Castiel didn’t even need to touch Apollo to have him crumble to the floor.
Apollo folded in on himself begging for forgiveness, but he kept trying to explain why. That it was the only way; that he’d just been trying to save Castiel.
Castiel didn’t seem to care. “He was mine ;you had no right.” He seemed shocked at his own vehemence.
“He’s just a pet, my lord. I know you cared about him; the ritual wouldn’t have worked otherwise. But in the end, I can’t put a pet’s life over that of the god who’s health and wellbeing I serve.”
Castiel had no real response to that, even as he stared at Apollo in a way that Despoine knew by now meant he was reading Apollo’s mind.
“You are wrong,” Castiel finally said before turning to the door. “That human, for all that he is flawed, is worth a million times more than any god, especially myself, and if he dies because of this, I will end you all.”
His threat was cold, soft spoken, but she feared it more than any of Hades or Ares battle cries. She got to her feet, calling after him, begging him to wait. He didn’t.
“I know how to find him”, she finally shouted. It was the only thing that managed to stop him in his tracks.
“How?”
“The symbiote. It allows me to see through Dean’s eyes. I can use the symbiote to find him, to save him.” She added the words, knowing she meant them. Even knowing that possibly the only way to save them all would be to kill the human, and praying it would never become necessary to do so.
Castiel didn’t answer, but she could see by the way he stopped that he was letting her have her chance. Despoine grabbed hold of it. She sat down, crossing her legs and holding up her hands as if allowing the symbiote covering her to connect with all the other symbiotes in the farm.
There were dozens of them.
She skipped from one to the other, looking through the pets eyes, hoping for a sign of Dean. Some pets were sleeping and she gave them a gentle nudge of comfort, others were attending their owners. She quickly moved past the ones used for sex, not wanting to intrude her fellow gods privacy when she wasn’t invited.
She stopped for a moment as her mind arrived at the kitchen, Darcy and Minoe were helping the cook with preparing for the feast, and Apollo’s new boy, Joel, was approaching the kitchen, probably to get his master’s dinner ready. She wondered if she should tell Apollo to send him a message not to hurry. Apollo wouldn’t want the boy to waste his time. She knew the boy felt tired, his lips and hands felt sore from practicing all day. But Apollo didn’t expect anything, but the best from his pets.
She followed the pet’s mind for a second as he opened the door and froze. staring inside. The boy had to force himself to step inside, to break the constant fear of the place that kept his heart beating a million times a second. He stared at the humans waiting in the cages, fighting the urge to hyperventilate. Apollo had asked her about ways to help his pet deal with this recurring issue.
There were about thirteen humans spread out over five cages, the majority of them came from the herd and sat quietly drinking from the water bowl placed in their cage with them. They didn’t seem bothered; several of them were sleeping against the bars, and one of the cook’s aids must have given the youngest woman the stuffed doll she held to her chest. Hestia wouldn’t have allowed it in her kitchen otherwise.
The humans in the last cage, weren’t so calm though. One of them was crying in a larger man’s arms, his hands gently caressing over the butterfly tattoo visible on his lover’s back. Another man was rattling the bars, his mouth wide open with silent screams. Despoine guessed that someone had cut his vocal chords to keep the noise down. The only woman in that cage sat huddled in the corner, desperately trying to hide her nude form, staring up as she saw Joel finally move into the kitchen.
The pet swallowed before ringing the bell and kneeling. The cook didn’t like to be hurried; she wasn’t against smacking an unruly pet when needed. It was one of many reasons most pets disliked kitchen duty so much.
“What do you want?” One of the kitchen aids, a young faun, asked. Despoine was about to give up on the kitchen, unable to spot Dean, even if she did feel he was near.
“I was told to ask for my master Apollo’s dinner,” the boy managed to stutter out as Despoine threw one last look at the kitchen through the pet’s eyes.
“Hey, cook, is Apollo’s dinner ready yet?” The cook didn’t answer, just grumbled something, but it seemed like that was enough for the faun who ordered Joel to kneel on the pillow by the counter as they prepared his master’s food.
Joel was clearly desperately trying not to look at the cages, even if he did keep throwing glances towards them. One of the humans noticed and seemed to think he had an opportunity now that the cook and her aides were too busy to pay attention.
“Kid, please, you have to help us get out of here,” He whispered.
Joel kept his head down, his hands straining at his sides as he tried to ignore the desperate pleading. Despoine could feel the sweat dripping on the boy’s neck, his muscles tensing. She sent his symbiote a relaxing vibe, trying to help him before he did something that would only get him punished.
She couldn’t really blame the wild humans for trying. But it was too late for them, so why risk getting a poor innocent pet pulled down with them? Joel at least seemed to have gotten enough training so far to understand at least that much-gotten enough to have him stay put.
Then she felt him, Dean. She reached out for him and then…
“Did you find Dean yet?” She was pulled back in her body. She stared up at Castiel, shaken for a second as she felt his vessel’s hand on her shoulder. His touch was cold, with his grace struggling underneath his skin.
“Yes, I just. I almost had him. He’s at the kitchens. I just… there’s static; I’m trying to get to Dean, but the evil… it’s interfering.”
Castiel stared at her, then before she could stop him, he had his hand on her shoulder, and they disappeared, flying though a separate dimension until they arrived at the corridors outside the kitchen almost the same second that they’d left. Castiel seemed surprised.
“Castiel?”
“This is not where we were supposed to arrive.” The former angel said, touching the walls. “The kitchen is warded; it will take me a few minutes to break.”
She tried to open the door herself, but he was right, she couldn’t even touch the door. Fear broke out in her mind along with worry about whatever was happening inside. She quickly reached back for Joel’s symbiote, trying to use the young pet as her eyes inside.
She recoiled in shock when she saw Dean standing over the boy, his eyes crying black, veins popped, dark under his skin. “Dean,” she whispered.
Castiel froze at the whispered name.
“He’s in there, but he’s not.” She held her hand on the wall to focus herself.
Castiel didn’t listen, the force of hundreds of souls coursing through him as he pushed his way through the door, bursting it open, the edges burning in their wake. Dean stared up at them both and smiled. But it wasn’t Dean smiling, it was the same vicious grin she’d seen on Castiel’s face when he’d nearly beaten Dean to death.
The noise of the blast was strong enough that several other gods came running in, staring at the devastation in front of them. Apollo in particular screamed when he saw his pet lying on the floor in front of Dean, who didn’t even seem to care about their arrival. The humans in the cage who were capable of it were screaming, rattling the cage, and most of the aids stood at the edges of the kitchen, ready to run if Dean even looked at them.
“Useless, wasted, should just eat you now, get rid of you.” Dean said, but the way he said it, didn’t sound like the pet that Despoine had come to know.
“Dean, please. let go of the boy,” she said, trying to calm him down. But Dean just stared at her, not listening,
“Why should I? Isn’t that what he’s for, what we’re all for?” he picked up the boy as if he was as light as a feather, and Dean’s mouth grew wider and wider.
Suddenly he flinched, staring at whatever had hit him in the back, looking over his shoulder at the newly arrived gods. Hades had come in, running alongside Demeter. Both of them had raised their hands, using their magic in synch to try and stop him.
“Let go of the pet,” Hades growled. It roared through her, reminding her of the god she’d looked up to as a young girl.
Dean didn’t even answer, about to bite into the boy in his arms.
Despoine wanted to grab him, stop him, but it was Hades who moved first, pushing into Dean’s back, forcing him to drop the boy, while Demeter used his distractions to push the cages with the humans to safety. .
“We don’t eat pets!” Hades screamed, while trying to push Dean to the ground. It didn’t work; whatever was inside of Dean was too powerful to be held down, even by a god.
“Silly godling, thinks it matters, thinks it’s our equal. Nothing but an imagination of the human mind, created by their impulses, created by their thoughts. It’s all you are, silly godling. Silly little thing.”
Hades growled, but Dean just picked Hades up in the air, bringing him down to his knee, as if to break him in two.
Despoine couldn’t help a scream, looking at the god she’d once loved, the god she hadn’t wanted to see again. But seeing him stand up for the pet, seeing him come to the rescue, it reminded her far too much of the god he’d been to her before the soul hoarders stole his domain, before he became the cruel god he was today.
“Please Dean, don’t….” she tried to order the pet. But the power of the things inside Dean was too great, too ancient, for it to work. “Dean I order you to stop. Put him down now.” Despoine shook with desperation, tears filling her eyes as the pet who so hated to see those weaker than himself hurt, turned into a monster all too willing to eat anything. The monster inside of Dean just licked its lips, its mouth moving to Hades neck.
She tried to step forward, anything to save Hades.
Dean laughed in her face, his mouth stretching further until it encompassed the god’s head.
Suddenly she became aware of Castiel standing in front of her, between her and Dean.
“Drop him. Drop him and kneel.”
For a moment it was as if the black slid away to show Dean’s bright green eyes.
“Drop the god, Dean.”
Dean flinched, a ripple coursing through him, as if two opposing forces were fighting one another inside of him. But somehow it was working. A master’s orders, she realized. It was too soon, Dean shouldn’t be this close to true submission, not even close to it. But somehow, Hades ended up thrown to the side, hitting the fryer causing boiling fat to drip over him. Dean’s hands moved down his legs, muscles tensing underneath, the human soul wanting to kneel, the things inside of him in rage at the very though.
“You can’t have two masters Dean. Either you are mine-my pet, my boy, my human-or you are theirs.”
Green, Dean’s eyes were clearing.
“And if you are theirs, I’ll have no choice but to get a new pet. I’ll have to go get Sam. It would only be fair, don’t you agree.” With every step Castiel came an inch closer, not caring about his own safety, only about that of his pet., his voice ringing with authority.
She could practically feel the temperature rising inside of Dean. The struggle behind his eyes visible to all those around him.
“Me or them, Dean.” Castiel continued. “Are you my pet, will you sit at my feet and follow my orders, or will you let them use you up, until they head off and eat Sam using your face?”
“You don’t care about humans,” the things inside Dean stated, trying to fight it’s Vessel from giving in to its master, to fight Dean, as he took a step closer to Castiel.
“Really?”
“You sacrificed millions of them. Why should Dean believe you care? Why shouldn’t he just let us have him, let us protect him and his?”
Castiel flinched, even if only for a second, but then he grew stronger, taking a step forward and touching Dean’s chin, forcing their eyes to meet, the goop desperately reaching out to him as if trying to get back inside Castiel, yet seemingly stuck in place.. “Because he’s my pet,” Castiel stated, his lips touching Dean’s, kissing him with full abandon. “and I love him.” He whispered, letting go of Dean’s lips, releasing the hold of the human’s body, allowing him physical freedom, but his eyes never leaving his pet’s.
“You disobeyed my orders, Dean. You’re not supposed to sacrifice yourself. Not ever, not even for me. Now be a good pet and let them go, Dean, and kneel before your master.”
Suddenly Dean’s body fell over, light glowing throughout as Castiel knelt next to him.
“Good boy, Dean; good pet.”
Ashes of black fell beside Dean, his soul burning the black goop out of him, getting rid of it in a way that only a human soul could have done. The other gods stood frozen, staring at the scene in awe, it was a long time since any of them had felt the true power of a human soul, reminding them once again why the gods served man, as much as man served the gods.
It amazed Despoine, even as she ran to her husband, desperate for him to be well.
“Persephone?” he whispered, staring up at her, his eyes oh so familiar.
“I’m here,” she whispered, staring over her shoulder at Castiel and his pet. “I’ll always be here.”
She didn’t even bother to look as Castiel took Dean in his arms and carried him out. She cried, admiration for the pet, for true submission, a test that should have been a long time away, but had come to pass tonight in the worst way imaginable. Her heart filled with pride for having been allowed to be part of it.
Even as now, as always, she was left behind, and master and pet headed off into the future. Ignoring the kitchen aids who came back out of hiding and went right back to work, setting the kitchen back in order. Surprised to find that the cages with the humans were empty, the humans nowhere to be found.
Epilogue
The new pet was locked in restraints as he sat at her feet while she watched television. The gag keeping him from speaking up, or more accurately, yelling at her or Hades over how they couldn’t do this to him. It didn’t stop him from rolling her eyes at her, or glaring at the both of them. She was this close to ordering his symbiote to serve as a blindfold.
Her brother Areion had handed the boy over to her about a month ago, sick and tired of the kid’s refusal to obey. Two years and still the kid acted as if they were going to let him go any day now. That any day his parents would pay whatever ransom he’d expected them to pay the day Areion took him, and that he’d be able to go home, and ignore all of this. Even showing him his grave, or the look of his parents just continuing their life without him didn’t change his disposition.
Not that she expected anything else; her brother didn’t have a clue how to bend a pet without breaking it. She leaned back into her husband’s chest as Ani ran around them. Darla and Darren were laughing about something in the kitchen while preparing their food. A chicken sandwich. For Hades it was practically vegetarian.
She saw the news coming on and turned up the sound. The human in front of the camera stood wide eyed, staring over his shoulder at the god who’d arrived at the assembly. The camera zoomed in on Castiel, who spoke to the United Nations, the so-called human leaders of the world. Dean sat kneeling by his master’s side, dressed in a fine pair of leather pants and a silk see through shirt..
She smiled, it was nice to know that Castiel had followed her advice in regards to his pet’s outfit.
A few steps behind them was Becca, the newly minted head priestess of Castiel’s church. And according to the god’s words, the new head of all human religion in his honor. The girl was about seven months pregnant, and Castiel had already arranged for Despoine’s services as a midwife to deliver Dean’s children.
The human commentator finally silenced when Castiel spoke, freeing all humans to serve him willingly or not. They would have a choice as to whom they served, and it would be up to him to prove that the was the god worthy of their devotion.
“So, are you angry?” she asked Hades, her fingers playing with the boy’s leash as she whispered in her husband’s ear..
“What about?”
“That the council accepted Castiel’s rearrangement of the deal.”
No more humans could be preyed upon, outside of the few he’d allowed before, the criminal, the dying. Pets could be taken, but only among those who were lost or abandoned. But it would be Castiel’s Hunters who would keep the peace and ensured that the majority of humanity was left in peace.
Hades seemed to hesitate.
“I never cared about the gold,” he said, staring at the pet in front of them, before brushing through the boy’s hair, ignoring the human’s flinch. “That was just… I wanted to impress you, to show you that just because I lost my domain, I still mattered. I thought it would bring you back to me. I was wrong.”
“Yes. You were.” But he’d paid for that, A separation of more than a millennia, her disregard, her disdain of him, she wondered how much of it had made him worse than he’d have been otherwise. She pushed away the guilt and focused on the present.
“When Castiel released the soul hoarders’ claim on humanity’s faith, I regained what I never thought would be mine again. Tartarus, even the gardens; it’s all once again mine. As soon as I kick out that upstart Crowley. With you here, and Hell back under my control, I don’t think I mind losing out on human flesh… too much.” His hand brushed down the boy’s back, forcing him to lift his head. “Look at that pet, boy.” He told the pet, forcing him to look at Dean. “That’s everything anyone could hope for in a human.”
Persephone turned around, her lips touching her husband’s, letting him pull her closer, gently kissing her forehead.
“The bedroom?” he asked, before picking her up and carrying her away.
She didn’t need to turn around to know that Kyle was still looking at the screen, at Dean.
Castiel’s perfect pet.
fin
Previous
Author:liliaeth
Artist: rayvlin
Genre: dark fic, there are both graphic het and slash scenes in the fic.
Pairing: Dean/Castiel, Dean/oc(s), oc/oc
Warnings: AU from 701
Rating: NC17
Word Count: 66.543
Summary: The pagan goddess Despoine is widely regarded as the best trainer of human pets in the supernatural world. When the new god Castiel demands her aid in training his pet Dean, she definitely knows better than to say no.
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, but if I did, I definitely wouldn't mind having Dean for a pet.
Warnings: graphic horror, vore and gore, pagan gods, who look like humans, eating people including children. Dehumanization of what are essentially children into animals. Cannibalism. Non-con, slavery, dub-con, the pagan gods here fit the SPN mold, not necessarily that of their original mythology. Soylent green is people
17.
She didn’t spare any time, helping to carry the former angel inside to the meditation room, while calling out for Apollo to please come, please help, whatever it took. The golden god was already setting up his things by the time they arrived.
Castiel was still streaming the black goop, and Apollo didn’t even bother with his usual bartering. Instead, he got to work, setting up herbs and losing a few drops of blood to set a circle that not even a god could escape from. It seemed as if there was something bothering Apollo, especially after he put his hand on Castiel’s forehead to sense what was wrong with him.
“Dean,” Castiel whispered.
Apollo gently let go of the newer god, putting him down on the floor. Her cousin seemed to hesitate before conviction took over, and he turned to her.
“He’s right, little cousin. We need the pet. He’ll need to have something close to him that he cares about, if we want to get this out of him without killing both god and vessel.”
“No!” Despoine crossed her arms, firmly against it. “He could kill the boy.” She knew this pet; in a way, she even cared for him, risking his life after all she’d done to save him, it would be wrong, it would be animal abuse. What kind of pet trainer would she be if she took part in that?
“Despoine, if we don’t do this soon, he could kill us all. Ani included.”
Despoine couldn’t help the shudder that came over her.
“I might be able to stop that if I start now, but without the pet here to help, I’ll definitely lose Castiel, and we all gave our oath to serve him. What’s the life of one human compared to that?”
Despoine stared at Castiel, the way his vessel shuddered inside the circle, waves of energy and dark gooey slime abandoning his body, dripping into the soil around him.
She hesitated a moment before stepping through the shadows and reappearing at Dean’s crate, he stared up at her and tried to pull himself to his knees.
“Dean, we need your help.”
“How…” his voice sounded so broken that she couldn’t even blame him for his lack of decorum.
“It’s Castiel.”
Dean unconsciously pulled back for a second, and Despoine took his hand in hers, offering her support. Gently humming, easing the panic inside of him. It wasn’t until he stopped inching backwards and started leaning forwards, his head a mere inch away from her legs, that she spoke again.
“Apollo says there’s something inside of him, but we can only get it out if we have something… someone he cares about there with us.”
“Me,” Dean whispered, while getting to his feet.
“Dean,” she wasn’t sure if she should tell him, but looking at him, feeling his devotion, she couldn’t stop herself, “it won’t be safe, Dean. Castiel, the thing inside of him, it could kill you.”
Dean coughed, dark thickening slime on his lips that was far too similar to the one on Castiel. She wondered why his symptoms had seemed to worsen, almost as if he already felt his master’s pain on top of his own. “Doesn’t matter.” He stumbled, and Despoine caught him before he fell. “Please Mistress, I want to help.”
She hugged him close, letting his chin touch her shoulder, as she gently brushed her fingers over his spine, and transported them both to the meditation room. Dean stared at Castiel inside the circle, before properly turning down his eyes,. “What should I do?”
Apollo didn’t answer; he focused too sharply on chanting, but there were sigils ready for Dean to place himself on, so Despoine pointed the human pet towards them. There was something wrong with them. They weren’t Paidopagis, she was sure of that, but they looked like channels to her, and they were far too close to the circle.
Dean, to his credit, didn’t even hesitate; the only hindrance his still-present injuries.
“Dean!” Castiel cried out once again, staring up at his pet with those cold blue eyes.
“I’m here, Cas,” Dean whispered, kneeling in the middle of the sigils, his hands wide open in front of him, barely holding him up. The closer he got to Castiel, the weaker he seemed to become.
It made Despoine want to grab him up and pull him to safety; instead she bit her lip and did nothing.
Castiel stared up, seeing Dean for the first time since he had entered. Castiel started crawling towards Dean, but the circle stopped him. Dean tried to sit up, but he couldn’t, it was as if his palms were glued to the floor in front of him.
“Dean, run. I … I don’t want to hurt you.” The word ‘again’ was left unspoken.
“I know,” Dean whimpered, not even fighting the pull of whatever was keeping him down.
Despoine wondered how he could forgive so easily, but then she realized, it wasn’t even a question. Had Castiel harmed Sam, it’d be another thing, but since as far as Dean knew, the only person Castiel had harmed was Dean himself, Dean wouldn’t even consider holding it against him.
Castiel crawled closer. Dean leaned up, his forehead almost touching the magical line between him and his master, as if trying to help. The air around the circle vibrated as the new god’s vessel hit it.
Apollo kept chanting. Despoine took place opposed to him, allowing herself to grab hold of Apollo and herself to him to help with strength and words, whatever he needed. But it wasn’t enough.
Castiel kept pushing, and pushing, until his hand broke through the circle, his fingers touching Dean. Light sparkled, first from his hand, then his eyes, until his entire face glowed brightly with his grace. Dean sat kneeling before him, staring up at his master, his injuries starting to heal, while the black ooze seeped out of Castiel, attacking the walls of the circle with all its strength, flowing towards the edges, to the sigils on the floor that she now realized where heading straight towards Dean.
Despoine almost froze, wanted to stop chanting, but it was too late, and Apollo’s strength overran hers, since she’d freely given herself to his aid.
Castiel pushed further through the circle, a few last drops of black ooze abandoning him as Apollo’s chant grew stronger. Castiel’s fingers sparkled as they reached Dean’s face, pulling the human closer to him.
Despoine screamed, her body continuing the chant, as she tried to fight what she now realized was about to happen. Apollo looked at her, begging her to continue, to stop fighting him on this, but she couldn’t do it; she couldn’t go along with it. Saving a pet, or saving its master, which was the right thing to do? She didn’t even know for sure. Then Dean looked at Castiel, devotion in his eyes, and she knew the pet wouldn’t forgive her if she didn’t do this, if she didn’t help his master. She ran a quiet prayer to Olympus for forgiveness and stopped fighting.
But it was too late.
The circle ruptured and the black ooze moved over to the closest host it could find that wouldn’t be able to fight it’s infection, flowing into it, forcing its way through the pet’s veins, until his eyes oozed black. He fell back.
Castiel fell over, his strength leaving him.
Apollo tried to get up, turning to the now ooze-infected pet, his hands shining with power as he tried to aim his remaining power towards it.
Dean, or whatever infected him, just smirked as the ball of power came hurtling towards him. He didn’t even flinch, before grabbing it in his hand and throwing it back at Apollo, the force of it pushing the god back into the wall.
Despoine screamed Dean’s name, making Castiel lift his head towards them both, whispering, “No.”
It was a moment of distraction, and by the time she turned back to Dean, he was gone, out the door, and she was too exhausted to follow.
She awoke to Castiel standing over her. Something inside of him had changed. He still had the power of millions of souls, more power than she could ever imagine, but the sheer evil of the hunger from before was gone, leaving behind a cold concern and disgust that she didn’t understood the focus of.
“Where’s Dean?”
She stared up at him, noticing that Apollo was only now getting up himself.
“What happened to him?”
“I…” She didn’t know what to say. How could she tell the god what Apollo had done without…
“It was the only way to save you my lord.” Apollo saved her from saying the words.
The anger Castiel turned towards the golden god made her glad Apollo hadn’t forced her bear the news instead. “I couldn’t fully remove that … those beings inside of you, without giving them a new Vessel. But it had to be something connected to you, something you cared about, that the filth cared about as well because of you.”
“You put that thing into Dean.” Castiel didn’t even need to touch Apollo to have him crumble to the floor.
Apollo folded in on himself begging for forgiveness, but he kept trying to explain why. That it was the only way; that he’d just been trying to save Castiel.
Castiel didn’t seem to care. “He was mine ;you had no right.” He seemed shocked at his own vehemence.
“He’s just a pet, my lord. I know you cared about him; the ritual wouldn’t have worked otherwise. But in the end, I can’t put a pet’s life over that of the god who’s health and wellbeing I serve.”
Castiel had no real response to that, even as he stared at Apollo in a way that Despoine knew by now meant he was reading Apollo’s mind.
“You are wrong,” Castiel finally said before turning to the door. “That human, for all that he is flawed, is worth a million times more than any god, especially myself, and if he dies because of this, I will end you all.”
His threat was cold, soft spoken, but she feared it more than any of Hades or Ares battle cries. She got to her feet, calling after him, begging him to wait. He didn’t.
“I know how to find him”, she finally shouted. It was the only thing that managed to stop him in his tracks.
“How?”
“The symbiote. It allows me to see through Dean’s eyes. I can use the symbiote to find him, to save him.” She added the words, knowing she meant them. Even knowing that possibly the only way to save them all would be to kill the human, and praying it would never become necessary to do so.
Castiel didn’t answer, but she could see by the way he stopped that he was letting her have her chance. Despoine grabbed hold of it. She sat down, crossing her legs and holding up her hands as if allowing the symbiote covering her to connect with all the other symbiotes in the farm.
There were dozens of them.
She skipped from one to the other, looking through the pets eyes, hoping for a sign of Dean. Some pets were sleeping and she gave them a gentle nudge of comfort, others were attending their owners. She quickly moved past the ones used for sex, not wanting to intrude her fellow gods privacy when she wasn’t invited.
She stopped for a moment as her mind arrived at the kitchen, Darcy and Minoe were helping the cook with preparing for the feast, and Apollo’s new boy, Joel, was approaching the kitchen, probably to get his master’s dinner ready. She wondered if she should tell Apollo to send him a message not to hurry. Apollo wouldn’t want the boy to waste his time. She knew the boy felt tired, his lips and hands felt sore from practicing all day. But Apollo didn’t expect anything, but the best from his pets.
She followed the pet’s mind for a second as he opened the door and froze. staring inside. The boy had to force himself to step inside, to break the constant fear of the place that kept his heart beating a million times a second. He stared at the humans waiting in the cages, fighting the urge to hyperventilate. Apollo had asked her about ways to help his pet deal with this recurring issue.
There were about thirteen humans spread out over five cages, the majority of them came from the herd and sat quietly drinking from the water bowl placed in their cage with them. They didn’t seem bothered; several of them were sleeping against the bars, and one of the cook’s aids must have given the youngest woman the stuffed doll she held to her chest. Hestia wouldn’t have allowed it in her kitchen otherwise.
The humans in the last cage, weren’t so calm though. One of them was crying in a larger man’s arms, his hands gently caressing over the butterfly tattoo visible on his lover’s back. Another man was rattling the bars, his mouth wide open with silent screams. Despoine guessed that someone had cut his vocal chords to keep the noise down. The only woman in that cage sat huddled in the corner, desperately trying to hide her nude form, staring up as she saw Joel finally move into the kitchen.
The pet swallowed before ringing the bell and kneeling. The cook didn’t like to be hurried; she wasn’t against smacking an unruly pet when needed. It was one of many reasons most pets disliked kitchen duty so much.
“What do you want?” One of the kitchen aids, a young faun, asked. Despoine was about to give up on the kitchen, unable to spot Dean, even if she did feel he was near.
“I was told to ask for my master Apollo’s dinner,” the boy managed to stutter out as Despoine threw one last look at the kitchen through the pet’s eyes.
“Hey, cook, is Apollo’s dinner ready yet?” The cook didn’t answer, just grumbled something, but it seemed like that was enough for the faun who ordered Joel to kneel on the pillow by the counter as they prepared his master’s food.
Joel was clearly desperately trying not to look at the cages, even if he did keep throwing glances towards them. One of the humans noticed and seemed to think he had an opportunity now that the cook and her aides were too busy to pay attention.
“Kid, please, you have to help us get out of here,” He whispered.
Joel kept his head down, his hands straining at his sides as he tried to ignore the desperate pleading. Despoine could feel the sweat dripping on the boy’s neck, his muscles tensing. She sent his symbiote a relaxing vibe, trying to help him before he did something that would only get him punished.
She couldn’t really blame the wild humans for trying. But it was too late for them, so why risk getting a poor innocent pet pulled down with them? Joel at least seemed to have gotten enough training so far to understand at least that much-gotten enough to have him stay put.
Then she felt him, Dean. She reached out for him and then…
“Did you find Dean yet?” She was pulled back in her body. She stared up at Castiel, shaken for a second as she felt his vessel’s hand on her shoulder. His touch was cold, with his grace struggling underneath his skin.
“Yes, I just. I almost had him. He’s at the kitchens. I just… there’s static; I’m trying to get to Dean, but the evil… it’s interfering.”
Castiel stared at her, then before she could stop him, he had his hand on her shoulder, and they disappeared, flying though a separate dimension until they arrived at the corridors outside the kitchen almost the same second that they’d left. Castiel seemed surprised.
“Castiel?”
“This is not where we were supposed to arrive.” The former angel said, touching the walls. “The kitchen is warded; it will take me a few minutes to break.”
She tried to open the door herself, but he was right, she couldn’t even touch the door. Fear broke out in her mind along with worry about whatever was happening inside. She quickly reached back for Joel’s symbiote, trying to use the young pet as her eyes inside.
She recoiled in shock when she saw Dean standing over the boy, his eyes crying black, veins popped, dark under his skin. “Dean,” she whispered.
Castiel froze at the whispered name.
“He’s in there, but he’s not.” She held her hand on the wall to focus herself.
Castiel didn’t listen, the force of hundreds of souls coursing through him as he pushed his way through the door, bursting it open, the edges burning in their wake. Dean stared up at them both and smiled. But it wasn’t Dean smiling, it was the same vicious grin she’d seen on Castiel’s face when he’d nearly beaten Dean to death.
The noise of the blast was strong enough that several other gods came running in, staring at the devastation in front of them. Apollo in particular screamed when he saw his pet lying on the floor in front of Dean, who didn’t even seem to care about their arrival. The humans in the cage who were capable of it were screaming, rattling the cage, and most of the aids stood at the edges of the kitchen, ready to run if Dean even looked at them.
“Useless, wasted, should just eat you now, get rid of you.” Dean said, but the way he said it, didn’t sound like the pet that Despoine had come to know.
“Dean, please. let go of the boy,” she said, trying to calm him down. But Dean just stared at her, not listening,
“Why should I? Isn’t that what he’s for, what we’re all for?” he picked up the boy as if he was as light as a feather, and Dean’s mouth grew wider and wider.
Suddenly he flinched, staring at whatever had hit him in the back, looking over his shoulder at the newly arrived gods. Hades had come in, running alongside Demeter. Both of them had raised their hands, using their magic in synch to try and stop him.
“Let go of the pet,” Hades growled. It roared through her, reminding her of the god she’d looked up to as a young girl.
Dean didn’t even answer, about to bite into the boy in his arms.
Despoine wanted to grab him, stop him, but it was Hades who moved first, pushing into Dean’s back, forcing him to drop the boy, while Demeter used his distractions to push the cages with the humans to safety. .
“We don’t eat pets!” Hades screamed, while trying to push Dean to the ground. It didn’t work; whatever was inside of Dean was too powerful to be held down, even by a god.
“Silly godling, thinks it matters, thinks it’s our equal. Nothing but an imagination of the human mind, created by their impulses, created by their thoughts. It’s all you are, silly godling. Silly little thing.”
Hades growled, but Dean just picked Hades up in the air, bringing him down to his knee, as if to break him in two.
Despoine couldn’t help a scream, looking at the god she’d once loved, the god she hadn’t wanted to see again. But seeing him stand up for the pet, seeing him come to the rescue, it reminded her far too much of the god he’d been to her before the soul hoarders stole his domain, before he became the cruel god he was today.
“Please Dean, don’t….” she tried to order the pet. But the power of the things inside Dean was too great, too ancient, for it to work. “Dean I order you to stop. Put him down now.” Despoine shook with desperation, tears filling her eyes as the pet who so hated to see those weaker than himself hurt, turned into a monster all too willing to eat anything. The monster inside of Dean just licked its lips, its mouth moving to Hades neck.
She tried to step forward, anything to save Hades.
Dean laughed in her face, his mouth stretching further until it encompassed the god’s head.
Suddenly she became aware of Castiel standing in front of her, between her and Dean.
“Drop him. Drop him and kneel.”
For a moment it was as if the black slid away to show Dean’s bright green eyes.
“Drop the god, Dean.”
Dean flinched, a ripple coursing through him, as if two opposing forces were fighting one another inside of him. But somehow it was working. A master’s orders, she realized. It was too soon, Dean shouldn’t be this close to true submission, not even close to it. But somehow, Hades ended up thrown to the side, hitting the fryer causing boiling fat to drip over him. Dean’s hands moved down his legs, muscles tensing underneath, the human soul wanting to kneel, the things inside of him in rage at the very though.
“You can’t have two masters Dean. Either you are mine-my pet, my boy, my human-or you are theirs.”
Green, Dean’s eyes were clearing.
“And if you are theirs, I’ll have no choice but to get a new pet. I’ll have to go get Sam. It would only be fair, don’t you agree.” With every step Castiel came an inch closer, not caring about his own safety, only about that of his pet., his voice ringing with authority.
She could practically feel the temperature rising inside of Dean. The struggle behind his eyes visible to all those around him.
“Me or them, Dean.” Castiel continued. “Are you my pet, will you sit at my feet and follow my orders, or will you let them use you up, until they head off and eat Sam using your face?”
“You don’t care about humans,” the things inside Dean stated, trying to fight it’s Vessel from giving in to its master, to fight Dean, as he took a step closer to Castiel.
“Really?”
“You sacrificed millions of them. Why should Dean believe you care? Why shouldn’t he just let us have him, let us protect him and his?”
Castiel flinched, even if only for a second, but then he grew stronger, taking a step forward and touching Dean’s chin, forcing their eyes to meet, the goop desperately reaching out to him as if trying to get back inside Castiel, yet seemingly stuck in place.. “Because he’s my pet,” Castiel stated, his lips touching Dean’s, kissing him with full abandon. “and I love him.” He whispered, letting go of Dean’s lips, releasing the hold of the human’s body, allowing him physical freedom, but his eyes never leaving his pet’s.
“You disobeyed my orders, Dean. You’re not supposed to sacrifice yourself. Not ever, not even for me. Now be a good pet and let them go, Dean, and kneel before your master.”
Suddenly Dean’s body fell over, light glowing throughout as Castiel knelt next to him.
“Good boy, Dean; good pet.”
Ashes of black fell beside Dean, his soul burning the black goop out of him, getting rid of it in a way that only a human soul could have done. The other gods stood frozen, staring at the scene in awe, it was a long time since any of them had felt the true power of a human soul, reminding them once again why the gods served man, as much as man served the gods.
It amazed Despoine, even as she ran to her husband, desperate for him to be well.
“Persephone?” he whispered, staring up at her, his eyes oh so familiar.
“I’m here,” she whispered, staring over her shoulder at Castiel and his pet. “I’ll always be here.”
She didn’t even bother to look as Castiel took Dean in his arms and carried him out. She cried, admiration for the pet, for true submission, a test that should have been a long time away, but had come to pass tonight in the worst way imaginable. Her heart filled with pride for having been allowed to be part of it.
Even as now, as always, she was left behind, and master and pet headed off into the future. Ignoring the kitchen aids who came back out of hiding and went right back to work, setting the kitchen back in order. Surprised to find that the cages with the humans were empty, the humans nowhere to be found.
Epilogue
The new pet was locked in restraints as he sat at her feet while she watched television. The gag keeping him from speaking up, or more accurately, yelling at her or Hades over how they couldn’t do this to him. It didn’t stop him from rolling her eyes at her, or glaring at the both of them. She was this close to ordering his symbiote to serve as a blindfold.
Her brother Areion had handed the boy over to her about a month ago, sick and tired of the kid’s refusal to obey. Two years and still the kid acted as if they were going to let him go any day now. That any day his parents would pay whatever ransom he’d expected them to pay the day Areion took him, and that he’d be able to go home, and ignore all of this. Even showing him his grave, or the look of his parents just continuing their life without him didn’t change his disposition.
Not that she expected anything else; her brother didn’t have a clue how to bend a pet without breaking it. She leaned back into her husband’s chest as Ani ran around them. Darla and Darren were laughing about something in the kitchen while preparing their food. A chicken sandwich. For Hades it was practically vegetarian.
She saw the news coming on and turned up the sound. The human in front of the camera stood wide eyed, staring over his shoulder at the god who’d arrived at the assembly. The camera zoomed in on Castiel, who spoke to the United Nations, the so-called human leaders of the world. Dean sat kneeling by his master’s side, dressed in a fine pair of leather pants and a silk see through shirt..
She smiled, it was nice to know that Castiel had followed her advice in regards to his pet’s outfit.
A few steps behind them was Becca, the newly minted head priestess of Castiel’s church. And according to the god’s words, the new head of all human religion in his honor. The girl was about seven months pregnant, and Castiel had already arranged for Despoine’s services as a midwife to deliver Dean’s children.
The human commentator finally silenced when Castiel spoke, freeing all humans to serve him willingly or not. They would have a choice as to whom they served, and it would be up to him to prove that the was the god worthy of their devotion.
“So, are you angry?” she asked Hades, her fingers playing with the boy’s leash as she whispered in her husband’s ear..
“What about?”
“That the council accepted Castiel’s rearrangement of the deal.”
No more humans could be preyed upon, outside of the few he’d allowed before, the criminal, the dying. Pets could be taken, but only among those who were lost or abandoned. But it would be Castiel’s Hunters who would keep the peace and ensured that the majority of humanity was left in peace.
Hades seemed to hesitate.
“I never cared about the gold,” he said, staring at the pet in front of them, before brushing through the boy’s hair, ignoring the human’s flinch. “That was just… I wanted to impress you, to show you that just because I lost my domain, I still mattered. I thought it would bring you back to me. I was wrong.”
“Yes. You were.” But he’d paid for that, A separation of more than a millennia, her disregard, her disdain of him, she wondered how much of it had made him worse than he’d have been otherwise. She pushed away the guilt and focused on the present.
“When Castiel released the soul hoarders’ claim on humanity’s faith, I regained what I never thought would be mine again. Tartarus, even the gardens; it’s all once again mine. As soon as I kick out that upstart Crowley. With you here, and Hell back under my control, I don’t think I mind losing out on human flesh… too much.” His hand brushed down the boy’s back, forcing him to lift his head. “Look at that pet, boy.” He told the pet, forcing him to look at Dean. “That’s everything anyone could hope for in a human.”
Persephone turned around, her lips touching her husband’s, letting him pull her closer, gently kissing her forehead.
“The bedroom?” he asked, before picking her up and carrying her away.
She didn’t need to turn around to know that Kyle was still looking at the screen, at Dean.
Castiel’s perfect pet.
fin
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