Unexpected Destinies Chapter 123
Title: Unexpected Destinies
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 2,862
Summary: Teotihuacan.
PAST
From his current vantage point on one of the nearby mountains overlooking Teotihuacan, Dean was forced to admit that he might have been wrong in thinking that all old stuff was nothing more than uninteresting heaps of rocks. This place, at the very least, was actually kinda of amazing and awe inspiring. And to think that it had all been built before they had bulldozers or cranes, now that was pretty damned impressive even if magic of any kind had been involved. Not that he thought it could really have been dark magic that created this ancient city as the dark powers weren't particularly good at building- or creating of any kind for that matter, rather the opposite if truth be told. So that pretty much left light magic and tons and tons of backbreaking labor.
Man must it have sucked to have been them. Whoever they were.
"Are you sure that there are demons down there?" Dean asked as he turned back to look at the three archangels behind him.
"Yes," Castiel confirmed. "I can detect an alarming number of them."
"So why does it all look so peaceful? Most demons aren't exactly that patient."
"They have probably been ordered to be subtle," Michael stated. "Lucifer would not want his diversion to be wasted by any reckless or overt actions here."
"Good point. So what's our plan?"
"I am still formulating it."
"Ah."
Dean turned his attention back to the ruins sprawled out before him only now he wasn't looking at it in awe but rather with a far more critical eye. A tactical eye. The biggest problem that they had was the sheer size of the once powerful city. Even now in ruin and probably containing only a fraction of the original buildings, it was massive stretching over what seemed to be an area of at least thirty square miles, if not more than that. How on Earth were they supposed to find a single, unknown artifact back in this even without all of the dark magic lingering all over the place like some lover's forgotten touch, ready to blaze to life once more at a moment's notice?
"Are you sure that Crowley didn't say anything about what it was that Lucifer is looking for?" Castiel asked, coming to stand beside him, his angel's wings brushing his back lightly in greeting.
"No, Dean pushed for more information but it was clear that the demon did not know anything else," Raphael replied for him. "All he knew was that it is rumored to be powerful, for whatever that is worth."
"Gotta teach you to speak in contractions," Dean muttered, looking at his newest friend.
"Contractions?"
"Mm, make you fit in a bit more, or however much that's even possible."
"Normally I would be loath to trust rumors, but Lucifer quite definitely seems to believe them given the number of demons he has devoted to this task and the effort that he has gone to in an attempt to distract us from his true intentions," Michael stated.
"I concur," Castiel replied gravely. "We cannot risk not reacting to this."
His lover's wording made Dean pause and he bit his lip as he thought about it for a second. "But what if..."
"Yes, Little One?" Michael questioned.
"Is it possible that this could be a trap or ruse of some sort? I mean, make it look like this is important so that we'd confront the demons here on a turf of Lucifer's choosing rich in dark magic and where he has all of the advantages?"
"You mean that there might be no artifact?" Castiel asked.
"Yes."
"It is a possibility worth considering. Michael, Raphael?"
Raphael's head tilted to one side as he thought, eyes roving over the ancient city remains below them. "I do not believe that to be the case here."
"Me neither," Michael added. "Though Lucifer has no qualms using underhanded methods when it suits his purposes, I do not think that he would do so at this stage. His arrogance has always been great enough for him to believe that he could win against me in a fair fight and I do not believe that belief has changed. In the end, he would want to win without cheating if for nothing else than the fact that his pride would require it."
"So cheating on the little stuff is fine but not the big things?" Dean questioned, surprised. "Most people would flip that around entirely."
"Lucifer has never been quite like anyone else," Raphael said ironically.
"I'll say."
"Nevertheless, I believe we should move forward with the utmost caution," Castiel stated, turning to look at him.
"Oh no, nuh uh, not gonna happen, Cas!" Dean retorted, already knowing what his lover wanted of him. "I'm not sitting this one out."
"Dean, the sheer level of dark magic radiating from this place is staggering."
"Yeah, I realize that as even I'm picking up on it."
"You are?" Michael demanded in surprise.
"Yep, which is how I know how bad it must be," Dean confirmed. "But just look at all of those people down there, they're milling around just fine. Not to mention that based on the number of people here now, there must be hundreds of thousands of tourists that come here a year and yet they're all fine or this place wouldn't be open to the public."
"They are not venturing into the sections of the ruins that we will," Castiel argued.
Dean bit back the immediate retort that wanted to issue forth and instead turned around to face his angel head on. "Cas, I love you and I get that you're just trying to look out for me, but you're not going to say where I can and can't go. Especially not when it's probably safer for me to be down there than it is for you. And don't even try and tell me that all of that dark magic won't affect you as Raph already told me that the last angels to venture into there didn't make it out alive."
Despite the fact that he was more than a little annoyed with his angel, Dean found that he couldn't really be angry at Castiel. Not while he still had words like Raphael's 'devastated' running through his head or his own memory of what it had felt like when his lover had been injured. No, those things made him feel far too loved and cared for to feel angry, but he wasn't going to let it stop him from helping out and doing what he knew to be right.
Dean could see Castiel fighting with a part of himself- most likely the part that felt the need to protect him- before his lover finally caved. "Very well, but I am staying with you," Castiel stated.
"Fair enough," Dean replied.
If he'd found his angel the way Castiel had found him the last time in South Africa, he'd be making the same demand so he more than understood it. Besides, he liked working with his lover and Castiel was nothing if not awesome backup.
When Dean turned back to look at the other two archangels, it was to find a small, satisfied smile on Michael's face and he scowled. "Problem, Mikey?"
"Not at all, Little One."
Although Michael's face gave nothing away, Dean knew his friend far too intimately to believe the innocent act. "Bite me."
It said a lot for how far his archangel had come that he got a smirk in reply to his snark instead of a confused look. It made him feel oddly proud even if it did annoy him as well. He was the reason why all three of the archangels were so much more human these days and he damn well knew it. With a weird pang of regret he couldn't help but wish that Gabriel were still alive to see his brothers now as he was sure the Trickster would have been very proud of them as well. He'd just have to content himself with the knowledge that Gabriel would be glad that his sacrifice had helped to lead them all here.
"So formulated a plan yet on how and where we're going in?" Dean asked, as much to distract himself from those morose thoughts as the fact that he needed to know.
"There seem to be two main areas that the demons are focusing on," Raphael began as dirt from the ground shifted and rose until a miniature model of Teotihuacan lay between them. "Here and here, both are away from the main tourist attractions."
"That is very fortunate for us," Castiel murmured before speaking louder. "We split up?"
"Yes," Michael confirmed. "You and Dean will take this location, while I take command here. Raphael will stay back and coordinate our overall efforts as well as attempt to keep an eye on anything else that the demons may try once they become aware of our presence."
Raphael looked none too pleased at his assignment, but Dean saw that it didn't look like his new friend would protest and for that he was glad. Although mostly healed, Raphael's wings were still bothering him and it was never a good idea to go into a fight like that unless absolutely necessary. He just wasn't sure if it was a history of following Michael's orders that stilled Raphael's tongue or because the archangel wasn't letting pride get the best of him. If it was the latter than Raphael was smarter than him as he knew he'd not let himself be so easily grounded, logical or not.
"How many angels are coming with us?" Dean asked.
"We are splitting a garrison between us to begin with," Castiel replied. "I do not wish to risk any more of our brothers and sisters than that until we know more about how the dark magic will react to our presence, but a further three garrisons are on standby should we require them. Raphael can decide on our best course of action once we begin our assault."
"Sounds like a plan."
As he said it, Dean leaned down to grab the duffle he'd packed before leaving home and slung it over his shoulder.
"What is that?" Michael inquired. "The bright blue item."
Dean beamed. "This? It's a water gun."
"A water gun?"
"Yep, they're normally considered kid's toys but I had an idea the other day. See, instead of filling it with regular water as people normally do so that they can play around and just get each other wet if they aim correctly, I've filled it with Holy water."
"Letting you weaponize the Holy water far more effectively," Michael realized. "A great idea."
"Thanks. And the best part of it? I can't even get into trouble for it either if a cop ever catches me with it as they'd consider it harmless if perhaps a little odd for a man my age."
Honestly, Dean still wasn't sure where the idea had come from. He'd been in the middle of breaking into the boiler room of his apartment block so that he could sanctify the water tank and ensure that everyone who used water in the building wasn't a demon when it had just hit him. True, he had been thinking about Holy water and the benefits thereof, but that was a far cry from thinking of water guns, not that he was complaining, he'd take whatever help he could get, pure, dumb luck included. He just wished that he knew where the sudden burst of inspiration had come from so he could duplicate it.
"Let's go kick some demon ass!"
/
Dean cursed as he dove to the ground behind a convenient statue while the rock behind where he'd stood exploded in a potentially deadly shower of sharp rock fragments, desperately trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Their strategy had sounded like a plan and a good one too if he were any judge, but like so often it had gone down the shitter in no time flat. Why the hell did that keep happening to them, Dean wondered as he swapped his shotgun for his new water gun. Unlike bullets, water could travel in nonlinear lines if angled correctly and that was exactly what he needed right now as he wasn't going to stick his head out from behind his cover at the moment. Odds were high that he wouldn't get it back in the same condition if he did, if he got it back at all and he had far too handsome a head to risk anything like that.
"Dean!"
Even with all of the fighting going on around him and the general racket of swords clashing in an enclosed space, there was absolutely no mistaking that voice. "I'm fine, Cas," Dean called back, then smiled in anticipation as he pulled the trigger of his new weapon. A stream of water arched beautifully (in his humble opinion at least) over the statue of the freaky pagan god and was almost instantly followed by infuriated hissing as it found its mark. "Got ya, ya black eyed son of a bitch!"
The sound had provided him with a better idea of where exactly his target was and Dean used that to adjust his aim before he fired again. The hissing turned to screams now and that told him the demon was probably sufficiently distracted for him to risk a look around the side of the statue. With a visual bead on his target he was able to give her a face full of Holy water and she shrieked before abandoning her host. One down, what seemed like a hundred left to go.
Determined not to let the odds get to him, Dean shifted his focus to the fighting going on near him and let go of the water gun to take hold of the shotgun hanging by his side once more. There was an angel he'd never met before fighting off three demons just a little further away and he didn't think that was fair at all. A few quick shots evened those odds and he got a quick nod of acknowledgement from the angel before he had to shift his attention away towards the two demons that had caught sight of him and were moving his way. With his remaining chambered bullet he caught one of them in the neck before the other was on him. A palm to his chest sent him flying into a stone wall and he would have collapsed if the demon wasn't suddenly right there in his face, holding him up.
"Well lookie what I got, a little human pet amongst all of the angels, must be my lucky day," the black eyed bastard crowed.
"Oh yeah? Guess again," Dean stated just before he stabbed the idiot with his knife and watched the flash of light that signaled the demon's death with satisfaction. "I'm a hunter, not some camera totting tourist."
"I'll take that into consideration."
Dean hardly had time to look towards the new voice before he was flying through the air again into yet another stone wall, the knife clattering away from him in the process. And what was it with demons and walls anyway? Some kind of pent up sexual frustration or something?
"You must be Dean Winchester," the demon said, pinning his hands in place before stepping close. "Father will be so happy to see you."
"Really? That's just too bad 'cause I'm not interested in seeing him again, he's got the worst manners of anyone that I've ever met."
The invisible force restraining him tightened further and he had to gasp for air.
"You will not talk of Lucifer so disrespectfully! You will learn your place before you die, vermin. And don't think that any of your little tricks will work on me, I know too much about you to fall for any of them."
Dean snorted, eyes locked on something beyond the demon's shoulder. "There's obviously one thing about me that you don't know."
"Do you really expect me to fall for that old tri-"
The demon was cutoff mid word as Castiel ran him through with his sword and Dean rolled his shoulders as he was released. "No, but you've clearly not heard that I've got a few archangels on my side. Thanks, Cas."
His lover handed him back his knife while looking him over. "Are you injured?"
"Nothing more than a few cuts and bruises." Two fingers to his forehead quickly took care of those even before Dean could protest and tell his angel to save his energy for more important things. "How are we doing?"
"Not well," Castiel stated gravely. "The dark magic is not only hampering our abilities to fight normally, but it has already ensnared and killed four of my siblings."
"What, four?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"We are not sure, our view of it was blocked."
"Crap. What about the other garrisons, are you calling them in?"
"Raphael has done so but they cannot get in, something is blocking their passage."
"So what? We're on our own?"
"It would appear so."
Chapter 124
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 2,862
Summary: Teotihuacan.
PAST
From his current vantage point on one of the nearby mountains overlooking Teotihuacan, Dean was forced to admit that he might have been wrong in thinking that all old stuff was nothing more than uninteresting heaps of rocks. This place, at the very least, was actually kinda of amazing and awe inspiring. And to think that it had all been built before they had bulldozers or cranes, now that was pretty damned impressive even if magic of any kind had been involved. Not that he thought it could really have been dark magic that created this ancient city as the dark powers weren't particularly good at building- or creating of any kind for that matter, rather the opposite if truth be told. So that pretty much left light magic and tons and tons of backbreaking labor.
Man must it have sucked to have been them. Whoever they were.
"Are you sure that there are demons down there?" Dean asked as he turned back to look at the three archangels behind him.
"Yes," Castiel confirmed. "I can detect an alarming number of them."
"So why does it all look so peaceful? Most demons aren't exactly that patient."
"They have probably been ordered to be subtle," Michael stated. "Lucifer would not want his diversion to be wasted by any reckless or overt actions here."
"Good point. So what's our plan?"
"I am still formulating it."
"Ah."
Dean turned his attention back to the ruins sprawled out before him only now he wasn't looking at it in awe but rather with a far more critical eye. A tactical eye. The biggest problem that they had was the sheer size of the once powerful city. Even now in ruin and probably containing only a fraction of the original buildings, it was massive stretching over what seemed to be an area of at least thirty square miles, if not more than that. How on Earth were they supposed to find a single, unknown artifact back in this even without all of the dark magic lingering all over the place like some lover's forgotten touch, ready to blaze to life once more at a moment's notice?
"Are you sure that Crowley didn't say anything about what it was that Lucifer is looking for?" Castiel asked, coming to stand beside him, his angel's wings brushing his back lightly in greeting.
"No, Dean pushed for more information but it was clear that the demon did not know anything else," Raphael replied for him. "All he knew was that it is rumored to be powerful, for whatever that is worth."
"Gotta teach you to speak in contractions," Dean muttered, looking at his newest friend.
"Contractions?"
"Mm, make you fit in a bit more, or however much that's even possible."
"Normally I would be loath to trust rumors, but Lucifer quite definitely seems to believe them given the number of demons he has devoted to this task and the effort that he has gone to in an attempt to distract us from his true intentions," Michael stated.
"I concur," Castiel replied gravely. "We cannot risk not reacting to this."
His lover's wording made Dean pause and he bit his lip as he thought about it for a second. "But what if..."
"Yes, Little One?" Michael questioned.
"Is it possible that this could be a trap or ruse of some sort? I mean, make it look like this is important so that we'd confront the demons here on a turf of Lucifer's choosing rich in dark magic and where he has all of the advantages?"
"You mean that there might be no artifact?" Castiel asked.
"Yes."
"It is a possibility worth considering. Michael, Raphael?"
Raphael's head tilted to one side as he thought, eyes roving over the ancient city remains below them. "I do not believe that to be the case here."
"Me neither," Michael added. "Though Lucifer has no qualms using underhanded methods when it suits his purposes, I do not think that he would do so at this stage. His arrogance has always been great enough for him to believe that he could win against me in a fair fight and I do not believe that belief has changed. In the end, he would want to win without cheating if for nothing else than the fact that his pride would require it."
"So cheating on the little stuff is fine but not the big things?" Dean questioned, surprised. "Most people would flip that around entirely."
"Lucifer has never been quite like anyone else," Raphael said ironically.
"I'll say."
"Nevertheless, I believe we should move forward with the utmost caution," Castiel stated, turning to look at him.
"Oh no, nuh uh, not gonna happen, Cas!" Dean retorted, already knowing what his lover wanted of him. "I'm not sitting this one out."
"Dean, the sheer level of dark magic radiating from this place is staggering."
"Yeah, I realize that as even I'm picking up on it."
"You are?" Michael demanded in surprise.
"Yep, which is how I know how bad it must be," Dean confirmed. "But just look at all of those people down there, they're milling around just fine. Not to mention that based on the number of people here now, there must be hundreds of thousands of tourists that come here a year and yet they're all fine or this place wouldn't be open to the public."
"They are not venturing into the sections of the ruins that we will," Castiel argued.
Dean bit back the immediate retort that wanted to issue forth and instead turned around to face his angel head on. "Cas, I love you and I get that you're just trying to look out for me, but you're not going to say where I can and can't go. Especially not when it's probably safer for me to be down there than it is for you. And don't even try and tell me that all of that dark magic won't affect you as Raph already told me that the last angels to venture into there didn't make it out alive."
Despite the fact that he was more than a little annoyed with his angel, Dean found that he couldn't really be angry at Castiel. Not while he still had words like Raphael's 'devastated' running through his head or his own memory of what it had felt like when his lover had been injured. No, those things made him feel far too loved and cared for to feel angry, but he wasn't going to let it stop him from helping out and doing what he knew to be right.
Dean could see Castiel fighting with a part of himself- most likely the part that felt the need to protect him- before his lover finally caved. "Very well, but I am staying with you," Castiel stated.
"Fair enough," Dean replied.
If he'd found his angel the way Castiel had found him the last time in South Africa, he'd be making the same demand so he more than understood it. Besides, he liked working with his lover and Castiel was nothing if not awesome backup.
When Dean turned back to look at the other two archangels, it was to find a small, satisfied smile on Michael's face and he scowled. "Problem, Mikey?"
"Not at all, Little One."
Although Michael's face gave nothing away, Dean knew his friend far too intimately to believe the innocent act. "Bite me."
It said a lot for how far his archangel had come that he got a smirk in reply to his snark instead of a confused look. It made him feel oddly proud even if it did annoy him as well. He was the reason why all three of the archangels were so much more human these days and he damn well knew it. With a weird pang of regret he couldn't help but wish that Gabriel were still alive to see his brothers now as he was sure the Trickster would have been very proud of them as well. He'd just have to content himself with the knowledge that Gabriel would be glad that his sacrifice had helped to lead them all here.
"So formulated a plan yet on how and where we're going in?" Dean asked, as much to distract himself from those morose thoughts as the fact that he needed to know.
"There seem to be two main areas that the demons are focusing on," Raphael began as dirt from the ground shifted and rose until a miniature model of Teotihuacan lay between them. "Here and here, both are away from the main tourist attractions."
"That is very fortunate for us," Castiel murmured before speaking louder. "We split up?"
"Yes," Michael confirmed. "You and Dean will take this location, while I take command here. Raphael will stay back and coordinate our overall efforts as well as attempt to keep an eye on anything else that the demons may try once they become aware of our presence."
Raphael looked none too pleased at his assignment, but Dean saw that it didn't look like his new friend would protest and for that he was glad. Although mostly healed, Raphael's wings were still bothering him and it was never a good idea to go into a fight like that unless absolutely necessary. He just wasn't sure if it was a history of following Michael's orders that stilled Raphael's tongue or because the archangel wasn't letting pride get the best of him. If it was the latter than Raphael was smarter than him as he knew he'd not let himself be so easily grounded, logical or not.
"How many angels are coming with us?" Dean asked.
"We are splitting a garrison between us to begin with," Castiel replied. "I do not wish to risk any more of our brothers and sisters than that until we know more about how the dark magic will react to our presence, but a further three garrisons are on standby should we require them. Raphael can decide on our best course of action once we begin our assault."
"Sounds like a plan."
As he said it, Dean leaned down to grab the duffle he'd packed before leaving home and slung it over his shoulder.
"What is that?" Michael inquired. "The bright blue item."
Dean beamed. "This? It's a water gun."
"A water gun?"
"Yep, they're normally considered kid's toys but I had an idea the other day. See, instead of filling it with regular water as people normally do so that they can play around and just get each other wet if they aim correctly, I've filled it with Holy water."
"Letting you weaponize the Holy water far more effectively," Michael realized. "A great idea."
"Thanks. And the best part of it? I can't even get into trouble for it either if a cop ever catches me with it as they'd consider it harmless if perhaps a little odd for a man my age."
Honestly, Dean still wasn't sure where the idea had come from. He'd been in the middle of breaking into the boiler room of his apartment block so that he could sanctify the water tank and ensure that everyone who used water in the building wasn't a demon when it had just hit him. True, he had been thinking about Holy water and the benefits thereof, but that was a far cry from thinking of water guns, not that he was complaining, he'd take whatever help he could get, pure, dumb luck included. He just wished that he knew where the sudden burst of inspiration had come from so he could duplicate it.
"Let's go kick some demon ass!"
/
Dean cursed as he dove to the ground behind a convenient statue while the rock behind where he'd stood exploded in a potentially deadly shower of sharp rock fragments, desperately trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Their strategy had sounded like a plan and a good one too if he were any judge, but like so often it had gone down the shitter in no time flat. Why the hell did that keep happening to them, Dean wondered as he swapped his shotgun for his new water gun. Unlike bullets, water could travel in nonlinear lines if angled correctly and that was exactly what he needed right now as he wasn't going to stick his head out from behind his cover at the moment. Odds were high that he wouldn't get it back in the same condition if he did, if he got it back at all and he had far too handsome a head to risk anything like that.
"Dean!"
Even with all of the fighting going on around him and the general racket of swords clashing in an enclosed space, there was absolutely no mistaking that voice. "I'm fine, Cas," Dean called back, then smiled in anticipation as he pulled the trigger of his new weapon. A stream of water arched beautifully (in his humble opinion at least) over the statue of the freaky pagan god and was almost instantly followed by infuriated hissing as it found its mark. "Got ya, ya black eyed son of a bitch!"
The sound had provided him with a better idea of where exactly his target was and Dean used that to adjust his aim before he fired again. The hissing turned to screams now and that told him the demon was probably sufficiently distracted for him to risk a look around the side of the statue. With a visual bead on his target he was able to give her a face full of Holy water and she shrieked before abandoning her host. One down, what seemed like a hundred left to go.
Determined not to let the odds get to him, Dean shifted his focus to the fighting going on near him and let go of the water gun to take hold of the shotgun hanging by his side once more. There was an angel he'd never met before fighting off three demons just a little further away and he didn't think that was fair at all. A few quick shots evened those odds and he got a quick nod of acknowledgement from the angel before he had to shift his attention away towards the two demons that had caught sight of him and were moving his way. With his remaining chambered bullet he caught one of them in the neck before the other was on him. A palm to his chest sent him flying into a stone wall and he would have collapsed if the demon wasn't suddenly right there in his face, holding him up.
"Well lookie what I got, a little human pet amongst all of the angels, must be my lucky day," the black eyed bastard crowed.
"Oh yeah? Guess again," Dean stated just before he stabbed the idiot with his knife and watched the flash of light that signaled the demon's death with satisfaction. "I'm a hunter, not some camera totting tourist."
"I'll take that into consideration."
Dean hardly had time to look towards the new voice before he was flying through the air again into yet another stone wall, the knife clattering away from him in the process. And what was it with demons and walls anyway? Some kind of pent up sexual frustration or something?
"You must be Dean Winchester," the demon said, pinning his hands in place before stepping close. "Father will be so happy to see you."
"Really? That's just too bad 'cause I'm not interested in seeing him again, he's got the worst manners of anyone that I've ever met."
The invisible force restraining him tightened further and he had to gasp for air.
"You will not talk of Lucifer so disrespectfully! You will learn your place before you die, vermin. And don't think that any of your little tricks will work on me, I know too much about you to fall for any of them."
Dean snorted, eyes locked on something beyond the demon's shoulder. "There's obviously one thing about me that you don't know."
"Do you really expect me to fall for that old tri-"
The demon was cutoff mid word as Castiel ran him through with his sword and Dean rolled his shoulders as he was released. "No, but you've clearly not heard that I've got a few archangels on my side. Thanks, Cas."
His lover handed him back his knife while looking him over. "Are you injured?"
"Nothing more than a few cuts and bruises." Two fingers to his forehead quickly took care of those even before Dean could protest and tell his angel to save his energy for more important things. "How are we doing?"
"Not well," Castiel stated gravely. "The dark magic is not only hampering our abilities to fight normally, but it has already ensnared and killed four of my siblings."
"What, four?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"We are not sure, our view of it was blocked."
"Crap. What about the other garrisons, are you calling them in?"
"Raphael has done so but they cannot get in, something is blocking their passage."
"So what? We're on our own?"
"It would appear so."
Chapter 124