Fic: The Different, SPN (Minor Gabriel/Crowley) (4/4)
Part Four
Continued from Part Three
"When the battles were finished, the Jǫtunar were destroyed. Loki had kept his children secreted with him in their home, which had been protected with strong magic from its building. Angrboða had carefully extracted promises from each of them that they would obey their father without question, that they would do honor to their ancestors.
"As Angrboða had gone into battle, Loki spoke to his children of their father. He told them of their heritage, of the dangers they would face. He told them the secrets of how they were different and spoke to them his knowledge. He taught them their patrimony and passed to them the wisdom of their mother and her kin.
"When Angrboða was slain, Loki felt it. His daughter cried out with him, for she had been wise in the ways of natural passings since her smallest years. These things had always whispered to her, and she had often made friends of those who were transient. Loki wept with his children and they mourned together. His sons begged to collect their mother's body, but Loki refused for it wasn't safe yet for them to leave.
"On a dark day Loki left his hidden children and went to the place of Angrboða's sacrifice. He cried over her body and searched for her spirit, but it was not safe for him to call out to it for it had already departed.
"He prepared his wife's body as her ancestors had done, and carried Angrboða's ashes to the garden that had been his wedding gift to her. He mixed what remained of her into the soils of the flowers she had tended, greens that never ceased to bloom, for she had loved the summer and Loki's gift to her had been summer's constant bounty.
"When he was finished his children came to him and comforted him.
"That evening he sent word to Iktomi's oldest friend, Istaqa. He asked Istaqa to come in disguise, hidden from any who might see. He said there had been a tragedy, and Istaqa was needed.
"Istaqa heard and came as asked. He traveled to the farthest lands and sought out the place he'd been guided. He found an empty land, and in it a house, carefully hidden. Istaqa knocked on the door, and it was opened by a stranger to him.
"The stranger invited him in. He closed the door and as Istaqa watched, he drew powerful symbols on the walls and frames, things which might have trapped Istaqa. When he was finished, the stranger shed his disguise and became Iktomi.
"'What has happened?' Istaqa asked his old friend.
"'I need your help,' Iktomi told him.
"Iktomi told him of Loki. He told him of Angrboða, and of his children. He told him of the war, and of his fears for his children, and of his promise to his wife. He asked Istaqa to help protect his children, to keep them safe as his wife had wished, no matter what might happen to Iktomi.
"Iktomi's grief touched Istaqa, and Istaqa promised to protect the children with his very life. Throughout the night he listened to Itkomi's experiences since they'd been parted, and Istaqa comforted Iktomi in his anguish. Istaqa, too, painted symbols on the walls when Iktomi forgot himself and Ksa emerged.
"For many days Istaqa remained, and together Istaqa and Iktomi devised a plan that would allow Istaqa to become guardian to Loki's children without suspicion. Istaqa and Iktomi taught them disguise, and to use the powers and knowledge their father no longer suppressed in them.
"When everything was ready, Iktomi emerged as Loki. Loki traveled to Glaðsheimr, the place where Odin lived and the Æsir and Vanir had gathered to laud their victory against the giants of the north.
"Loki entered the great hall, and walked towards the twelve seats of the council. His ears heard merriment and celebration as he approached. But when he was seen, the room quieted. Loki came closer, approached Odin, the king of the victors in battle.
"'Odin Sigföðr," Loki said, and he bowed and knelt before the ruler of the Æsir with a smile on his lips.
The hall was quiet, and Odin spoke.
"'Loki Liesmith,' he said. His voice was commanding and neutral, and those in the hall took note.
"'My congratulations on your victory, All Father,' Loki said. 'Your triumph was never in doubt. Your enemies lay slain in the battlefield, and your warriors fought with valor bringing honor to the great hall Glaðsheimr.'
"Loki was careful to look at no one but Odin as he spoke this, careful to keep his gaze away from Baldur, Odin's son, for the stench of Angrboða's death covered him.
"Odin was silent as he contemplated Loki's words. Mímir whispered nothing to him. 'What brings sly Lopt past Gullintanni's bridge on this day?' Odin asked.
"'I come to see the Victorious Ones! Surely you did not expect Loki to come to the field, when neither side called out his name to battle,' Loki said. 'I stood neutral only for such reason, All Father, and I stand before you now, Odin, kin to your name. Do you now deny me, for reasons pertaining only to this most recent skirmish, when before I have proven myself friend and kin to all of Ásgaðr? The protecting walls stand erect because of me, and the mighty weapons of the Æsir are held by them from my actions.'
"Odin waved to the servants and said to them, 'Bring to my blood brother a horn of ale, and a seat upon which he can rest.' This was done and Loki sat and drank ale with the men of Glaðsheimr.
"Talk quickly turned once more to the words of their conquest. Loki held his counsel until he was asked directly on his union with the Jǫtunar.
"'Bride prices cost little,' Loki said, 'but separations can cost dearly.' He finished his ale quickly. 'Indeed, it should be I bringing forth ale for you all!' He waved his hand and mead filled the cups of all present. 'You have surely saved me an excessive headache.'
"'There was beauty to be found in those northern places to be sure, but you did yourself no favor by remaining in such bestial lands. No bride of that rearing can overcome her baseness unless she is brought to the civility of Ásgaðr.' This came from Freyr, who himself had a wife of Jǫtunn blood. Loki said nothing and filled Freyr's horn with more drink.
"'Daughters of the ice fields are good for only seduction, and then one must be careful lest the burden borne is unfit for life. Such misfortune has come to more than one." This came from Thorr, who himself had a child of Jǫtunn blood. Loki said nothing and filled Thorr's horn with more drink.
"'What the sly one needs is a proper woman in his home. A woman of Ásgaðr to rid stink of Jǫtunn from your skin!' This came from Njörðr, and Loki was not as quick to fill his cup.
"'Indeed, Loki,' Odin said. 'True kin of mine should be bonded through both battle-sweat and marriage. Sigyn would make a fine companion to you.' Odin wished to bind Loki tightly to the Æsir, for the wisemen and foretellers still spoke that Loki had a part to play when the world would cease to be. They saw that if this was allowed, it would not end well for them. And so they tried to hold Loki tightly to them.
"Loki dared not call on Ksa in that moment. Instead he once more filled all cups brimming with ale. He met Odin's gaze truly and said, 'Such honors you do me, friend Odin. I could not dare refuse such a thing.'
"Loki returned to his children after three days. His youngest son saw him first. 'What has happened, Father?' he asked, for Loki did not look well. Loki called his children and Istaqa to him and together told them he was to marry Sigyn two days from then.
"'Father, you needn't do this,' his daughter told him. Loki looked to Istaqa, but Istaqa could offer no reassurances. Istaqa shook his head, for he did not believe the children were ready for the future plans just yet.
"Are you not still pained by the songs of so many voices, Daughter?' Loki asked softly, for the children were now all coming to understand their birthright and needing time to strengthen themselves to it. 'I can make this sacrifice to keep you three protected a while longer.'
"Sigyn kept her loyalty as wife to Loki, though Loki refused her attentions. He had wedding- and morning-gifted her many fine jewelries of gold and precious things, but his finest gift to her was his indifference. Loki's relationship with the Æsir was growing bitter and strained. He no longer could speak to them with a kind tongue, nor could he long stand to be in their presence. He became crueler, volatile and fickle.
"During this time Iktomi taught his children well. He taught them to protect themselves, and to hide, and to always guard one another. And then finally he knew his children would be safe to anything short of his brothers. He severed Loki's ties with the Æsir, speaking vicious and humiliating truths to them so they would no long seek him out.
"Afterwards Iktomi took his children far away from the Æsir, and let them go on their way. He did not see them often after that, but they knew he held great love for them.
"Then Istaqa put on a new face, one that had never been seen before with Iktomi, and Loki and Istaqa traveled together again for a time while Loki continued to grieve. Loki met many who had been friends to Iktomi, but Iktomi was well hidden and did not let himself be seen. Some became friends to Loki, and others did not, for Loki was deemed capricious and wild. He could warm or burn, and it was often too hard to tell when each might happen.
"Meanwhile, Iktomi could feel time Time drawing close. It nipped at his throat like a hungry wolf, and he found it harder and harder to take anything seriously as Loki, for the fires that burned within Loki were becoming those of Ksa. His brothers had been working for many years to bring the story to an end, and both had realized they could do so without Iktomi. It had been so long that both brothers even thought Iktomi had faded away and was no longer more than a memory to the both of them.
"Iktomi felt the rage his second brother felt for their father. It shook through the land, and was causing much worry. He felt the determination of his first brother to clean corruption form Mother Earth. Iktomi did not want to see either brother gain ground, for both in their own way wanted the same result. But Iktomi did not know what to do. He loved both his brothers, and he thought about talking to them, but he knew neither would listen to him."
"Might call it takin' a stand," Dean suddenly interjected. Bobby closed his eyes and suppressed a sigh.
Coyote grinned at him. "Heh. You live in a funny world, there, Hunter, where one minus two is three."
"Hey, I'm just saying that maybe if he'd stepped up sooner, things wouldn't have gotten as bad as they did."
"One night Iktomi was called to a meeting where two hunters had been caught," the old man continued, flatly ignoring Dean. "These hunters were important to Iktomi's brothers. He was called by Kali under pretense, but Iktomi knew what would happen there that evening, for no truth could be hidden from Ksa. He could feel his second brother approaching. He could feel the coming deaths. Iktomi still tried to convince his friends to leave while they could, for he knew the moment his brother arrived they would be lost.
"He did not want his friends to know he was a thunderbird, and so he wrapped the truth tightly inside him and hoped his concern and fear would make them listen. He failed though, and still not wanting to draw attention to himself, he tried to help the hunters. He tried one last time to convince the older hunter to turn away, and when this too failed, he made his plan carefully.
"Iktomi preyed on misconceptions. He had survived many times because those he encountered believed him different than what he was.
"Thunderbird was powerful, and cunning, and patient. But he would not be patient where Iktomi was concerned. Iktomi counted on this, that Thunderbird would lose his patience with Iktomi and do something rash. Iktomi wanted to turn Thunderbird's pride against him.
"Iktomi plotted his trap fast while he sat hidden in the hunters' home. He waited for his brother to enter the inn, to begin the slaughter Iktomi knew would need to happen for his plan to work. When his brother was occupied, Iktomi touched a magic coin he had found. He knew this coin belonged to a friend of his. He rubbed this coin between his fingers, and he spoke aloud, because he knew his friend would hear his words.
"'I don't know if this will work,' he said to his friend. 'But if it does, you will need to act.' Iktomi thought of saying more, but finally he only said, 'Stay alive,' before putting down the coin and going inside."
Every eye in the room was suddenly centered on Crowley, who bristled. "What!" he snarled at them. "You think I came back for the good of my health?"
"An archangel told you to rip-off my soul?" Bobby asked.
"No," Crowley responded derisively back at him. "I only knew I needed to get that moron to the last two rings."
"Convenient that Castiel was still angel enough to clip that ring off," Coyote said.
"What exactly does that mean?" Sam asked.
"That you overcame hunger," he told Sam, staring at him. "That Michael gave up on your brother. That a piece of plastic was still wedged after so many years."
Bobby didn't know what the hell that last meant, but to Sam it must have been a lot. He lost his color and looked scared as shit.
"That the one selfish enough to help you had the knowledge to do so." Coyote was looking at Crowley when he said the last, and beside him Crowley groaned softly to himself as though something had occurred to him.
"Nobody felt him die," Crowley whispered. "That was what you meant."
Coyote smiled at Crowley, a secret and sly smile. "Architects of fate."
Bobby closed his eyes because he finally got it.
"Will somebody please explain?" Dean asked, impatient and frustrated but at least keeping a veneer of civility.
Crowley's frustration was evident. "He is saying, you idiots, that Gabriel used his death as a distraction to affect a series of minor, unimportant changes that caused enough ripples to let you toss his brothers into a cage where they weren't dead but they also weren't doing anymore harm."
"So why not just come out and fight with us?" Sam asked.
"You two boys need to start rubbing some brain cells together," Bobby said, voice raising. "Two archangels barreling head-long towards the same goal! They've all got the same powers. If they'd noticed him doing anything, they would have corrected for it and all our sorry asses would have been finished."
"Corrected, overcorrected, and torn creation to subatomic shreds," came a falsely chipper voice. "Which is pretty much what they're still angling for since they think that's the only way they'll ever see Dad again."
"Father," Jǫrmandgandr, if Bobby was right - said, and within a blink there was a lot of hugging in the middle of his living room and more of that Germanic language.
At one point Gabriel looked up over one of the shoulders at Coyote. "Thank you," he said quietly, and Coyote nodded.
"Consensus is it happened after Angrboða. You were so insistent in Glaðsheimr, so different after that. It was of course that you were now a different person, not that they had murdered your wife and her kind. They hold great sympathy for the children, believing that you fooled them as well. This view might have been helped by Hel and Gan."
Gabriel grimaced and it took Bobby a moment to get why. Coyote just laughed.
"The Vanir are particularly sympathetic."
"So you're back. Congratulations," Dean said, voice laden with sarcasm. "You gonna be going back to Heaven and helping out up there? 'Cause Cass is getting his ass kicked by Raphael."
"I realize you boys are slow on the uptake most days, but in case you didn't realize, I moved out of the family homestead a long, long time ago. I'm not going back just because the kids are fighting in the yard."
"Thought you were big on not watching your brothers kill each other. Cass too low on the food chain? Or are you just rooting for Raphael?"
"I couldn't care less which one wins. If it's Castiel it doesn't matter and if it's Raphael he wouldn't dare to challenge me without Michael backing him up."
"Wow. Not a whole lot of loyalty between you four hoity-toits who have seen the face of God."
Gabriel laughed. "You think Raphael has been in my Father's true presence?" He kept laughing, bitterly, as Hel walked into view towards them. She hugged her brothers before one of Gabriel's arms wrapped around her and he kissed her temple. Death stood off to the side, behind the Winchester brothers, watching quietly. Even Crowley seemed interested in where the conversation had turned.
Sam spoke up. "Wait. Anna said that there were four angels..."
"There were. But Raph wasn't one of them. He's 2G to Castiel's 3G, only in this case higher Gs do not equal better speeds."
"But the fourth-"
"Has been gone a long, long, long time. The end, Sam. Stop asking."
Sam closed his mouth. "What about him?" he finally asked, jerking his head to where Crowley was standing. Crowley arched an eyebrow at him. "Have you heard what he's been trying to do? Find Purgatory. Take it over like he's taken over Hell."
Gabriel let loose of his kids to walk over to Crowley, stand right in front of him. Crowley didn't seem the least bit worried with Gabriel invading his personal space to stand bare inches from him.
They stared at each other and Gabriel said, "Why should I do anything to him? Some of us even have bets as to whether he can pull it off or not."
Crowley canted his head to the side, and hell, Bobby had seen that look on Crowley's face before -
"Besides, I could make Crowley's life hell with three little words." And yup, there it was, Crowley and Gabriel fucking kissing in the middle of his living room like they had nothing better to be doing. Sam looked utterly betrayed. Dean looked wildly uncomfortable. Everybody else in the room looked various shades of amused. Well, Crowley looked like he was enjoying himself. Gabriel did too, for that matter.
Coyote looked the most amused, like he was expecting something.
Gabriel broke the kiss to whisper words against Crowley's lips. "Te absolvo."
"Bastard!" Crowley pushed against Gabriel, getting a few steps away while Gabriel laughed. Coyote, too. Crowley looked like he was checking things over, out, whatever he was doing. Probably the demon equivalent of checking his sack to make sure all the goods were still present.
"Oh, relax. I wouldn't do that to you. I'd destroy you."
"Damned well better," Crowley muttered and sat down again in his chair.
"Don't you need a priest?" Sam asked, sounding bewildered. "Confessions, repentance?"
Gabriel leveled a blunt stare at Sam. "Let's pretend for a moment that I know what I'm talking about and you don't."
"Let me get this straight," Dean said, finding his voice. "You don't want to go to Heaven. Even if you had the chance."
"No," Crowley sneered, like Dean had just offered him a pile of flaming dog shit for lunch. "Certainly not as an inmate. Definitely not as a poacher."
Crowley reached down behind his chair and pulled up a bottle of booze for his glass this time. Bobby wistfully thought that was actually a pretty handy trick.
"Why not?" Dean asked again. Whether it was legitimate curiosity or because he was alarmed that his views apparently fell in with Crowley's, Bobby wasn't sure.
"Heaven's a kennel."
Gabriel. It was like somebody had rung a gong. The biggest, meanest gong ever made. Bobby couldn't stop the shudder that vibrated his old bones.
"Fundamental Truth," Coyote said quietly. Death had moved forward to stand behind him, wearing a particularly pleased smile as he watched Gabriel.
"What do you think Heaven is?" Gabriel asked. "What happened when you were in Heaven, huh? Don't be shy. Tell us."
Sam answered. "We, we saw our families. Good memories in our past..."
"You didn't just see them. You were living them. All those happy, familial moments. The moments that you just want to last forever. You were locked into them. They play on repeat for ever and ever and you human souls have no clue. You're all kept in pretty little playhouses to be looked at and admired by your owner. Because when it comes to souls, the only difference between Dad and the average demon," he said, waving one hand towards the front window and the other at Crowley -
"Above average, thank you," Crowley interjected and took a sip.
"- is the demons at least allow you to evolve. In Heaven you're trapped as you were before you died. Pretty little dolls who don't change or grow or get corrupted from the moment you're put into the playhouse. Sometimes, though, the cage gets weak. One of the pets gets out. Puppies playing with the other puppies. And then the puppies get put down."
Gabriel had walked over to Dean and Sam saying all this, and now he leaned in, whispered loudly enough that Bobby could still hear.
"And the only reason why your friends' souls haven't been wiped off the map yet? Is because the angels are too busy with their petty backyard fighting to notice. The instant they aren't distracted anymore, the dogcatchers are going to sweep through and those misplaced souls are going to be caught and annihilated along with any other souls they may have influenced.
"Welcome to Heaven, boys." Gabriel stepped away from them, back towards his group. "Come on," he said to the others. "Let's go home."
Crowley finished his drink and stood. He tossed the bottle of scotch at Bobby and winked. "On the house."
And then they were all gone.
step-click, step; step-click, step
Everybody but Death.
YHMH, brother to YHWH. The boys hadn't been there for that part of the conversation, hadn't heard it. Dean had said Lucifer bound Death to him with a spell. Gabriel had said there was irony involved, which made Bobby wonder if Lucifer might have been able to bind God with the same spell if he'd known the connection.
Death looked at him as he moved through the room to stand in front of the boys, catching his eyes and all but giving him the answer. Bobby didn't say anything, and Death's lips curved in the barest hint of a smile. Then he looked at the Winchesters. At Dean.
"I'll be seeing you, Dean."
And then he was gone.
One day as the Great Spirit walked the land he came upon a village. At the edge of the village ran a deep river, and on the banks sat a woman washing her father's blanket. The Great Spirit looked upon her and smiled. He said, "This woman cleaning her father's blanket will be my wife. I will bring her to me and together we will walk the lands, and swim in the rivers, and fly through the clouds. We will live together as Husband and Wife."
The woman ran to tell her Father and Mother, and they were pleased. The wind spoke to the birds, and they were pleased as well. So too did the earth tell all the animals, and the water of the river tell the fish.
The Great Spirit invited the world to celebrate his happiness. He asked his many sons to invite every creature to a great feast. The Great Spirit's sons hurried to do this.
Soon enough, knowledge spread to even the highest peak. Thunderbird, one of the Great Spirit's oldest sons, heard the news. He alone was not joyful as he listened to the words. He came down from the mountain to speak to his father.
"Father," he said. "You cannot do this. Man is corrupt, and so is Woman, for Woman comes from Man and they are no different. You would ask that I call her Mother as I call you Father."
"Son," the Great Spirit responded, "I would not ask you to call her Mother as you call me Father. For she is not Mother to you. But she will be Wife to me, and we will be happy."
Days passed, and the great feast drew closer. The Great Spirit's son once more approached his father. "Father," he said. "You cannot do this, for Man is not pure, and Woman is not either. She is small and does not understand love for Man's love is fleeting and inconstant."
"Son, Man's love is fleeting because Man is fleeting. But she will live as we do. This is my wedding gift to her."
Thunderbird once again left his father. He went back to his mountain and watched the Great Spirit's many thousands of sons preparing for the great feast. He was dismayed, and went to his older brother.
"Older Brother," Thunderbird said. "How can we let this happen? Man is not meant to sit at the fire of our Father. Our Father has said they can be warmed from a distance, but now he wishes to bring one to sit next to him."
"Younger Brother," Thunderbird was told, "you speak too much against Father. We must be good sons, and obey our father."
Thunderbird flew away. He flew back to his mountain and watched as food was brought to the village, and trees were cut down to make wood for the feast fire, and grapes were crushed to ferment.
Thunderbird watched all this and then went to his younger brother. "Younger Brother," he said, "This will end in disaster, I am sure."
Thunderbird's younger brother paused in his workings and looked at Thunderbird.
"Older Brother," he said. "I cannot tell you that you are wrong. I, too, have worry. But I also cannot tell you that you are right."
Younger Brother would speak no more, and so Thunderbird again flew back to his mountain. He continued to watch, and days passed. Musical instruments were brought to the village, and gifts.
"Father refuses to see the truth of Man," Thunderbird thought to himself. "I must make the truth apparent."
Thunderbird watched Woman for several days, and then Thunderbird went to Woman himself as she collected ripe berries to eat. "Hello, Woman," he said. "I am Thunderbird.
"Hello, Thunderbird," she said. "I am pleased to meet you. It has been many days since I've seen your Father, and so to pass the time I am gathering berries."
"My father is often gone for many days. I, too, have felt the pain of that separation. I will keep you company in his stead."
Thunderbird walked with her as she gathered the ripe berries and they spoke until the sun moved below the horizon. The next day Thunderbird found Woman again, and they talked together while she washed blankets by the river. Many days passed this way, and Thunderbird kept Woman company while his father was occupied with council fires.
One day as they sat together, Woman stared over the valley with sadness in her eyes. She was missing Thunderbird's father. Thunderbird saw this in her.
"I see your sadness, Woman. We shall do more together to help you forget my Father has been away many days."
More days passed, and Thunderbird's father returned. Woman was greatly pleased to see him again, and she smiled and danced with him. Thunderbird watched this from a distance and was patient.
Soon Thunderbird's father left again. Thunderbird went to see Woman the next morning. She did not look as sad as before and she smiled brightly at him.
"I have missed you these days you did not visit, Thunderbird," she said. She hugged Thunderbird and he told her a story while she worked.
Thunderbird's father had again been gone for many days, but Woman was still not as sad as before. Thunderbird watched her closely for sadness, but there was none. One afternoon they walked together through trees.
"Thunderbird," Woman said. "We have spent many days in the sunshine together. You have helped me pick berries and wash blankets. You have taught me to work tools, and to write, and to speak the words of your language. You have shared many stories with me. Your Father has done none of these things, and he has been absent many days. I have come to love you, Thunderbird."
"I know," spoke Thunderbird. He drew Woman close to him. "Father will be greatly angered by this. He will punish me for these words you have spoken. Your love was meant for him, and now you have given it to me."
Woman kissed Thunderbird's cheek. "If he punishes you I will hate him forever."
Thunderbird smiled.
"What is your name, Woman?" he asked her.
"I was born at night, and so my Father and my Mother named me this, Thunderbird. My name is Lilith."
Five point seven miles outside the border of Globe, Kansas Crowley stops, and Gabriel does, too. He looks back to where Crowley stands, dressed ever-fashionably in his bespoke tailoring of Hong Kong wools.
"I'll be waiting here," he says. "Best not antagonize those two any more than I already have."
Gabriel walks back to him, moving into Crowley's personal space, because given that perspective it's a bit amazing he'd come as far as he had. And he has the right of it, Gabriel was forever giving him that.
He leans in, bussing his lips to Crowley's forehead; the vessel, not the soul. Not quite a benediction, but with enough power that Crowley shies back on principle, not looking at him.
Gabriel turns and continues on towards Stull, which glows with everything it does and doesn't contain. And now that he is this close, he can feel the pull, feel the anger and righteousness of his two brothers calling out to anything and everything that will listen, at the same time as they are driving them away. Devotion and Purpose, raging in unharmonious sync.
It's so much different here, a bleak and open, empty landscape compared to the vibrant, lush beauty that surrounded Lucifer's last prison.
He walks into the cemetery, walks to the spot where Lucifer and Michael fell together. Lays down in the frozen grass, spreading himself out on the ground and then releasing himself outward, touching the barest fringes of the cell.
The cacophony below him ceases, their attention drawn to him.
He rests into the dirt, letting it soak into him, feeling the sudden quiet against his cheek and body. He turns his head just enough to kiss the bare ground.
"Did you know it was me?" he asks, quietly. The silence is heavy. For a moment even the little burgh is quiet. "That first time? Is that part of why you did it?"
Gabriel breathes for long minutes, letting himself become more a part of the earth with every silent moment that passes.
"He was so angry. So mad at you. I happened to be there when He Knew. I saw His face. I could see what He was going to do. And I begged Him. I begged Him, 'Father, please,' because I couldn't lose my brother. I didn't want to lose you.
"And He looked at me, He looked into me, and whatever He saw... He was still so angry. But as he looked at me, He called to Michael and He said, 'Cast him down'. And I was so relieved, Lucifer. Because it meant you were going to live.
"And I don't know if what I asked for was right. He left us all shortly after. It wasn't just you separated from Him. He left us all. A blink of an eye. Like we'd all disappointed Him.
"And I couldn't stay anymore than He could. And the kicker is... I really do love them. Not because He wanted us to, but because I do. Every bit of them. The good, the bad, the absolutely indifferent. They are so... beautiful."
Gabriel lies against the earth for a long time, breathing in the biorhythms of the planet and its inhabitants as the world spins around the star. The cell below him stays silent.
"I forgive you," he says, eventually.
"I love you, both, still, so much. And I forgive you."
He stays there until darkness melts into dawn.
END.
End Notes for The Different
1) Paris, 1913. The precipice - and music - in question is Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. When it opened on May 29, 1913, a riot broke out on the floor of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. The subtitle of the ballet is "Pictures from Pagan Russia." Like many things when I write, I'll know 'something' about a scene and then fill in the blanks after some research. For this scene between Death and God, I 'knew' it was Paris, and I 'knew' it was 1913.
Little did I know that something lingered that so perfectly would fit the atmosphere between Death and God regarding Gabriel. Wikipedia has a nice write-up about the ballet and the riot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring. For those interested in the actual ballet (which I must utterly disagree with Death here, it is not lovely) a reconstruction of the original, riot-rousing version was done in 1987 and performed and recorded in 1990 by the Joffrey Ballet. It can be currently seen on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjX3oAwv_Fs
2) YHWH. The tetragrammaton of the name of God. I have mentally imprinted the vowel pointed pronunciation from the Masoretic Text: Yo-Vah. (Sidebar: I am certainly not a scholar on the subject, I just go by the pretty .ogg files I sometimes hear.)
YHMH in this story is pronounced Ya-Ma, as in Yama, the Hindu lord/god of death. In some instances Yama reports to Shiva, in many others he is Shiva. In terms of this story, I consider him to be Shiva, despite it not being overtly stated. At an early point of my research, I became rather enamored with the idea that followers of Hinduism (that is, Death) would be part of his ¼, given that Hinduism is the only religion even close to ¼ of the population of Earth that is not Judeo-Christian. There is also something beautifully poetic to me about the possibility that Chuck/God and Death are together Brahma.
3) Purpose, Devotion, Truth, Wholeness. Zoroastrian, four of the six Amesha Spentas, or Bounteous Immortals. (The other two being God and Death, in this story.) In order, they are meant to be: Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, and the Metatron, with God as Dominion and Death and Immortality. The Amesha Spentas are six divine sparks which were used to create. In The Different, they are the original four sons of God, and meant to encapsulate their names. Gabriel knows all truths if/when he chooses to know them. Lucifer is all that devotion is; Michael, purpose. In my head, Wholeness was killed, or died, or something prior to the creation of mankind, and when this happened, the fundamental balance of all was thrown off, and this is what started the split with Lucifer, and then with Michael.
4) Grandmother Mole. Lakota creation myth regarding the soul. I heard this a long time ago; there are two different versions floating around on the net, one by Albert Grayeagle in a story about Smiling Fox and another one that looks and is spread more like an internet trope than a creation myth. But I do remember hearing it (or something very close) before I was a teenager and still regularly attending wacipis and hearing the stories.
5) Glasyalabolas. A President or Earl of Hell who commands 36 legions. He was identified in the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and the later Clavicula Salomonis. "Glasya Labolas, alias Caacrinolaas, or Caassimolar, is a great president, who commeth foorth like a dog, and hath wings like a griffen, he giveth the knowledge of arts, and is the captaine of all mansleiers: he understandeth things present and to come, he gaineth the minds and love of freends and foes, he maketh a man go invisible, and hath the rule of six and thirtie legions." - Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.
6 Malthas. Identified in the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum as Halphas, he is an Earl of Hell and was an armorer. He controls 26 legions. " Halphas is a great earle, and commeth abroad like a storke, with a hoarse voice, he notablie buildeth up townes full of munition and weapons, he sendeth men of warre to places appointed, and hath under him six and twentie legions." - Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.
7) Ronove. A Marquis and Great Earl of Hell. "Ronove a marquesse and an earle, he is resembled to a monster, he bringeth singular understanding in rhetorike, faithfull servants, knowledge of toongs, favour of freends and foes; and nineteene legions obeie him." - Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.
8) Ose. Great President of Hell, commands either 3 or 30 legions depending on whom you ask. "Ose [Oze] is a great president, and commeth foorth like a leopard, and counterfeting to be a man, he maketh one cunning in the liberall sciences, he answereth truelie of divine and secret things, he transformeth a mans shape, and bringeth a man to that madnes [or, "drives insanity away"], that he thinketh himselfe to be that which he is not; as that he is a king or a pope, or that he weareth a crowne on his head, Durátque id regnum ad horam [and makes the kingdom of time endure (?).]" - Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.
9) The World Tree/Tree of Life. At one point, when this story was far, far more Norse in scope, I wanted to include Yggdrasil in the story, but couldn't figure out how to other than the initial reference later in the story. I continued having sporadic thoughts on the subject, but didn't do any real research until very late in the game. Then I started researching the world tree concept. I hadn't realized how prolific it was in mythology, and after that, fate was sealed. I was also having problems with the loose string of Wholeness, and one night I became fascinated by the idea of Wholeness having been made into the World Tree by his father, of Gabriel having a home in Jotunheimr beneath one of the branches, of the fruits and leaves and roots conveying immortality, youth, and wisdom to the gods and humans who partook.
10) Behold I create new heavens and a new earth. "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." Isaiah 65:17 (KJV) This verse is what started the true formation and basis of the back story for The Different. It's one of the earliest religious citations I have scribbled down, and for the life of me, I have no idea how I came across it. But that quote, along with Gabriel's canonical quote of "Sunday dinner" got me to thinking: what if he was being very literal when he said that apocalypses were pretty much a regular event?
11) Coyote. Coyote is a Native American trickster. He has many names and many personas, including creator, teacher, savior, wise man, and fool. Istaqa is Hopi for Coyote-Man.
11.5) Shakti. Hindu. The Great Divine Mother. Kali is one of her forms. I very much wanted to include Kali far more than the bleak three mentions she is given in The Different. When I first started plotting the story, she had a far greater role, but every time I tried to include her, it became bitter and angry. I wasn't able to do justice to whatever feelings Gabriel has/had/still has for her, and thus Gabriel avoiding the conflict they would have by avoiding her. I would imagine Coyote's discretion in the storytelling is a result of knowing Gabriel and Kali still have unresolved issues.
12) Bernie Madoff. An article from NY Mag tells how in Butner, Madoff is something of a celebrity. "In the context of prison, he isn’t a cancer on society; he’s a success, admired for his vast accomplishments. 'A hero,' wrote Robert Rosso, a lifer, on a website he managed to found called convictinc.com. 'He’s arguably the greatest con of all time.'" When I was thinking of how tricksters might react to the knowledge that Loki was really Gabriel in disguise, that quote immediately came back to me, because, yes, I could see them having that very same reaction. http://nymag.com/news/crimelaw/66468/
13) Barber-surgeon. More of an historical aside than an endnote, during the middle ages, surgery was not connected with the doctors/healers (who were often priests and clergy), but with barbers. A papal decree forbade priests to conduct surgery ('involving burning or cutting'), and since barbers were already good with razors… Come for a trim, stay for a letting! The traditional barber's pole is one of the last remaining connections modern barbers have with the old barber-surgeons' guilds. When looking for a random medieval profession to toss Gabriel into, the barber-surgeon seemed to fit him just fine.
14) Guardian spirits. Zoroastrian. "And his guardian spirits (fravâhar) of warriors and the righteous, on war horses and spear in hand, were around the sky; such-like as the hair on the head is the similitude (ângunî-aîtak) of those who hold the watch of the rampart. And no passage was found by the evil spirit, who rushed back; and he beheld the annihilation of the demons and his own impotence, as Aûharmazd, did his own final triumph, producing the renovation of the universe for ever and everlasting." - Pahlavi Text, Bundahis 6: 3-4
15) Erse. Name for Scots-Gaelic in Fergus MacLeod's time. The irony is that Crowley's first language was most likely English given the language distribution in the far north-east of Scotland. However, I find it likely that he did speak and read Erse back in the day given his profession. And also, Gabriel's being a bit bitchy because Crowley and Bobby summoned something from a prior creation.
16) Thunderbirds. A supernatural Native American bird-creature capable of creating lightning, thunder, rain, hail, storms. They are fierce, intelligent, and powerful. In a lovely connection with the Zoroastrian parts of The Different, the Lakota believe in old times the thunderbirds were responsible for the destruction of monstrous Unhcegila, dragon-like creatures. But hands down, SPN's description and portrayal of the archangels immediately brought to mind thunderbirds.
17) Merrie Monarch. Charles II of England, died Feb. 6, 1685. He liked to party.
18) Francesco Morosini and Bendetto Odescalchi. Doge of Venice and Pope Innocent XI, respectively. The deal referenced is what would become the Holy League in the fight against the Turks.
19) Red Cow. A London pub now known as the Town of Ramsgate, located very close to Execution Dock and where Ramsgate fishermen sold their catch. Supposedly named after a redheaded barmaid with a very bad temper.
20) Bobby's phone call. How did he figure out that the mysterious stranger that saved him and Crowley was Gabriel, the Trickstery Archangel? And that Hel was after the boys? He's just that good.
21) Azazel's brat. Meg, of course. She's a slippery one, that scuddery little Nephilim.
22) "I am infinite and eternal." Hindu, Shiva. "You pervade all the quarters and the intermediate directions. Thou art the universe, secondless, the infinite and the eternal. Even when this universe become extinct, there is no loss to You, just as there is no detriment to space (within a pot), when the pot is broken." - Shiva Gita, 7:34
Chapters 6 and 7 both had a major influence of my perception of Death as Shiva, and the writing of this passage. 6:30 reads: " I am truly the Praṇava (Omkāra), one, eternal and ancient because I lead (pious souls) upwards (to heaven) and send them down (when their merit is exhausted)."
One-fourth of creation is from Revelation 6:8. "et ecce equus pallidus et qui sedebat desuper nomen illi Mors et inferus sequebatur eum et data est illi potestas super quattuor partes terrae interficere gladio fame et morte et bestiis terrae"
23) Aṛta. Truth. Zoroastrian and Hindu. Asha/ Aṛta / ṛta is all-encompassing, divine Truth. Fire is connected with Aṛta, as well as with Loki and Gabriel (Yoma 21b). Asha is the name of one of the Amesha Spentas (Asha Vahishta, meaning Best Truth).
24) Ksa. Lakota, 'Wisdom'. This is the one place where I fudged mythology a little bit more than anywhere else. Ksa is the son of Inyan ('Rock'), the Creator. Wakinyan, the thunderbird(s) was/were also created by Inyan, but in some tales are Inyan's companion. Sometimes Ksa is specifically stated as Wakinyan's brother.
Ksa, through a misadventure leading to punishment, became Iktomi, the Spider-Man trickster. Iktomi is a shapeshifter, and has a propensity to use his powers against gods and humans alike. He is a friend to Coyote and is both loved and feared, for he either can bring aid or disaster. He is responsible for weaving the dream catcher, and an interesting sidenote is the belief that Iktomi's web can be construed to be the Internet and telephone network.
Fire serpents is from Enoch 20:7; "Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who presides over Ikisat, over paradise, and over the cherubim." Color red is (apparently) from Zorah 1:99a.
25) Nephilim and the fall of the Watchers. Enoch 1, Chapter 10. The fate of the Nephilim - that 1/10th became demons in Hell, is from Jubliees 10:8-9 - "And the chief of the spirits, Mastêmâ, came and said: 'Lord, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them harken to my voice, and do all that I shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.' And He said: Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation.'"
26) Fárbauti and Laufey. Parents of Loki. Loki was 'born' when, in a fit of rage, Fárbauti one day struck Laufey/Nál with a lightning bolt. There is a disputed nature-myth interpretation to this with Loki's connection with fire, as Nál means needle, Laufey may mean leaves and Fárbauti is 'cruel striker' (with lightning, remember!)
27) Mím is Mímir, the decapitated head of a Jǫtunn Odin magically keeps alive for its renowned wisdom. This is another place I fudged since there is no record or intimation that Angrboða is related to him in any way.
28) Bale Worker (Bölverkr) and Skollvaldr (Ruler of Treachery). Kennings specifically for Odin, usually said by Jǫtunns in the Eddas and stories. I'll admit, this part was rather uncomfortable for me to write, because I was writing from the losing point of view. And when the Eddas are read from that point of view, the Æsir treatment of the giants had a great deal of racial discrimination under- and overtones.
29) Vicious and humiliating truths. This is a reference to the Lokasenna, or The Flyting of Loki. I was originally going to go into much greater detail, but it dragged the story pacing down. Loki's flyting is a truly vicious piece (and can be found here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe10.htm), especially when taken in context of Gabriel. If this section hadn't been from Coyote's perspective, I would have relished going deeper with it.
30) Lilith. While doing early researching, I ran across a few fascinating theories on Lilith originally being the bride of God. I was unduly intrigued because of SPN's history between Lilith and Lucifer. I'd been working on reconciling a rough timeline of events in Judeo-Christian history (I know, pity me) and kept coming to the conclusion that Lucifer didn't really seem to have anything to do with the fall of the Grigori/Watchers. Also, the show doesn't seem to lend that much credence, either. Azazel had no clue where Lucifer's cage was, though non-fallen angels did (well, so it was made out). So where did Lucifer's caging come in? Enter page 59 of Tree of Souls: the Mythology of Judaism by Howard Schwartz, and a few more internet pages I lost. What if Lucifer stole Lilith from his Father? I couldn't let that go. This is very possibly the one part of The Different I might consider blasphemous. Just remember, though: somebody else said it first.
Continued from Part Three
"When the battles were finished, the Jǫtunar were destroyed. Loki had kept his children secreted with him in their home, which had been protected with strong magic from its building. Angrboða had carefully extracted promises from each of them that they would obey their father without question, that they would do honor to their ancestors.
"As Angrboða had gone into battle, Loki spoke to his children of their father. He told them of their heritage, of the dangers they would face. He told them the secrets of how they were different and spoke to them his knowledge. He taught them their patrimony and passed to them the wisdom of their mother and her kin.
"When Angrboða was slain, Loki felt it. His daughter cried out with him, for she had been wise in the ways of natural passings since her smallest years. These things had always whispered to her, and she had often made friends of those who were transient. Loki wept with his children and they mourned together. His sons begged to collect their mother's body, but Loki refused for it wasn't safe yet for them to leave.
"On a dark day Loki left his hidden children and went to the place of Angrboða's sacrifice. He cried over her body and searched for her spirit, but it was not safe for him to call out to it for it had already departed.
"He prepared his wife's body as her ancestors had done, and carried Angrboða's ashes to the garden that had been his wedding gift to her. He mixed what remained of her into the soils of the flowers she had tended, greens that never ceased to bloom, for she had loved the summer and Loki's gift to her had been summer's constant bounty.
"When he was finished his children came to him and comforted him.
"That evening he sent word to Iktomi's oldest friend, Istaqa. He asked Istaqa to come in disguise, hidden from any who might see. He said there had been a tragedy, and Istaqa was needed.
"Istaqa heard and came as asked. He traveled to the farthest lands and sought out the place he'd been guided. He found an empty land, and in it a house, carefully hidden. Istaqa knocked on the door, and it was opened by a stranger to him.
"The stranger invited him in. He closed the door and as Istaqa watched, he drew powerful symbols on the walls and frames, things which might have trapped Istaqa. When he was finished, the stranger shed his disguise and became Iktomi.
"'What has happened?' Istaqa asked his old friend.
"'I need your help,' Iktomi told him.
"Iktomi told him of Loki. He told him of Angrboða, and of his children. He told him of the war, and of his fears for his children, and of his promise to his wife. He asked Istaqa to help protect his children, to keep them safe as his wife had wished, no matter what might happen to Iktomi.
"Iktomi's grief touched Istaqa, and Istaqa promised to protect the children with his very life. Throughout the night he listened to Itkomi's experiences since they'd been parted, and Istaqa comforted Iktomi in his anguish. Istaqa, too, painted symbols on the walls when Iktomi forgot himself and Ksa emerged.
"For many days Istaqa remained, and together Istaqa and Iktomi devised a plan that would allow Istaqa to become guardian to Loki's children without suspicion. Istaqa and Iktomi taught them disguise, and to use the powers and knowledge their father no longer suppressed in them.
"When everything was ready, Iktomi emerged as Loki. Loki traveled to Glaðsheimr, the place where Odin lived and the Æsir and Vanir had gathered to laud their victory against the giants of the north.
"Loki entered the great hall, and walked towards the twelve seats of the council. His ears heard merriment and celebration as he approached. But when he was seen, the room quieted. Loki came closer, approached Odin, the king of the victors in battle.
"'Odin Sigföðr," Loki said, and he bowed and knelt before the ruler of the Æsir with a smile on his lips.
The hall was quiet, and Odin spoke.
"'Loki Liesmith,' he said. His voice was commanding and neutral, and those in the hall took note.
"'My congratulations on your victory, All Father,' Loki said. 'Your triumph was never in doubt. Your enemies lay slain in the battlefield, and your warriors fought with valor bringing honor to the great hall Glaðsheimr.'
"Loki was careful to look at no one but Odin as he spoke this, careful to keep his gaze away from Baldur, Odin's son, for the stench of Angrboða's death covered him.
"Odin was silent as he contemplated Loki's words. Mímir whispered nothing to him. 'What brings sly Lopt past Gullintanni's bridge on this day?' Odin asked.
"'I come to see the Victorious Ones! Surely you did not expect Loki to come to the field, when neither side called out his name to battle,' Loki said. 'I stood neutral only for such reason, All Father, and I stand before you now, Odin, kin to your name. Do you now deny me, for reasons pertaining only to this most recent skirmish, when before I have proven myself friend and kin to all of Ásgaðr? The protecting walls stand erect because of me, and the mighty weapons of the Æsir are held by them from my actions.'
"Odin waved to the servants and said to them, 'Bring to my blood brother a horn of ale, and a seat upon which he can rest.' This was done and Loki sat and drank ale with the men of Glaðsheimr.
"Talk quickly turned once more to the words of their conquest. Loki held his counsel until he was asked directly on his union with the Jǫtunar.
"'Bride prices cost little,' Loki said, 'but separations can cost dearly.' He finished his ale quickly. 'Indeed, it should be I bringing forth ale for you all!' He waved his hand and mead filled the cups of all present. 'You have surely saved me an excessive headache.'
"'There was beauty to be found in those northern places to be sure, but you did yourself no favor by remaining in such bestial lands. No bride of that rearing can overcome her baseness unless she is brought to the civility of Ásgaðr.' This came from Freyr, who himself had a wife of Jǫtunn blood. Loki said nothing and filled Freyr's horn with more drink.
"'Daughters of the ice fields are good for only seduction, and then one must be careful lest the burden borne is unfit for life. Such misfortune has come to more than one." This came from Thorr, who himself had a child of Jǫtunn blood. Loki said nothing and filled Thorr's horn with more drink.
"'What the sly one needs is a proper woman in his home. A woman of Ásgaðr to rid stink of Jǫtunn from your skin!' This came from Njörðr, and Loki was not as quick to fill his cup.
"'Indeed, Loki,' Odin said. 'True kin of mine should be bonded through both battle-sweat and marriage. Sigyn would make a fine companion to you.' Odin wished to bind Loki tightly to the Æsir, for the wisemen and foretellers still spoke that Loki had a part to play when the world would cease to be. They saw that if this was allowed, it would not end well for them. And so they tried to hold Loki tightly to them.
"Loki dared not call on Ksa in that moment. Instead he once more filled all cups brimming with ale. He met Odin's gaze truly and said, 'Such honors you do me, friend Odin. I could not dare refuse such a thing.'
"Loki returned to his children after three days. His youngest son saw him first. 'What has happened, Father?' he asked, for Loki did not look well. Loki called his children and Istaqa to him and together told them he was to marry Sigyn two days from then.
"'Father, you needn't do this,' his daughter told him. Loki looked to Istaqa, but Istaqa could offer no reassurances. Istaqa shook his head, for he did not believe the children were ready for the future plans just yet.
"Are you not still pained by the songs of so many voices, Daughter?' Loki asked softly, for the children were now all coming to understand their birthright and needing time to strengthen themselves to it. 'I can make this sacrifice to keep you three protected a while longer.'
"Sigyn kept her loyalty as wife to Loki, though Loki refused her attentions. He had wedding- and morning-gifted her many fine jewelries of gold and precious things, but his finest gift to her was his indifference. Loki's relationship with the Æsir was growing bitter and strained. He no longer could speak to them with a kind tongue, nor could he long stand to be in their presence. He became crueler, volatile and fickle.
"During this time Iktomi taught his children well. He taught them to protect themselves, and to hide, and to always guard one another. And then finally he knew his children would be safe to anything short of his brothers. He severed Loki's ties with the Æsir, speaking vicious and humiliating truths to them so they would no long seek him out.
"Afterwards Iktomi took his children far away from the Æsir, and let them go on their way. He did not see them often after that, but they knew he held great love for them.
"Then Istaqa put on a new face, one that had never been seen before with Iktomi, and Loki and Istaqa traveled together again for a time while Loki continued to grieve. Loki met many who had been friends to Iktomi, but Iktomi was well hidden and did not let himself be seen. Some became friends to Loki, and others did not, for Loki was deemed capricious and wild. He could warm or burn, and it was often too hard to tell when each might happen.
"Meanwhile, Iktomi could feel time Time drawing close. It nipped at his throat like a hungry wolf, and he found it harder and harder to take anything seriously as Loki, for the fires that burned within Loki were becoming those of Ksa. His brothers had been working for many years to bring the story to an end, and both had realized they could do so without Iktomi. It had been so long that both brothers even thought Iktomi had faded away and was no longer more than a memory to the both of them.
"Iktomi felt the rage his second brother felt for their father. It shook through the land, and was causing much worry. He felt the determination of his first brother to clean corruption form Mother Earth. Iktomi did not want to see either brother gain ground, for both in their own way wanted the same result. But Iktomi did not know what to do. He loved both his brothers, and he thought about talking to them, but he knew neither would listen to him."
"Might call it takin' a stand," Dean suddenly interjected. Bobby closed his eyes and suppressed a sigh.
Coyote grinned at him. "Heh. You live in a funny world, there, Hunter, where one minus two is three."
"Hey, I'm just saying that maybe if he'd stepped up sooner, things wouldn't have gotten as bad as they did."
"One night Iktomi was called to a meeting where two hunters had been caught," the old man continued, flatly ignoring Dean. "These hunters were important to Iktomi's brothers. He was called by Kali under pretense, but Iktomi knew what would happen there that evening, for no truth could be hidden from Ksa. He could feel his second brother approaching. He could feel the coming deaths. Iktomi still tried to convince his friends to leave while they could, for he knew the moment his brother arrived they would be lost.
"He did not want his friends to know he was a thunderbird, and so he wrapped the truth tightly inside him and hoped his concern and fear would make them listen. He failed though, and still not wanting to draw attention to himself, he tried to help the hunters. He tried one last time to convince the older hunter to turn away, and when this too failed, he made his plan carefully.
"Iktomi preyed on misconceptions. He had survived many times because those he encountered believed him different than what he was.
"Thunderbird was powerful, and cunning, and patient. But he would not be patient where Iktomi was concerned. Iktomi counted on this, that Thunderbird would lose his patience with Iktomi and do something rash. Iktomi wanted to turn Thunderbird's pride against him.
"Iktomi plotted his trap fast while he sat hidden in the hunters' home. He waited for his brother to enter the inn, to begin the slaughter Iktomi knew would need to happen for his plan to work. When his brother was occupied, Iktomi touched a magic coin he had found. He knew this coin belonged to a friend of his. He rubbed this coin between his fingers, and he spoke aloud, because he knew his friend would hear his words.
"'I don't know if this will work,' he said to his friend. 'But if it does, you will need to act.' Iktomi thought of saying more, but finally he only said, 'Stay alive,' before putting down the coin and going inside."
Every eye in the room was suddenly centered on Crowley, who bristled. "What!" he snarled at them. "You think I came back for the good of my health?"
"An archangel told you to rip-off my soul?" Bobby asked.
"No," Crowley responded derisively back at him. "I only knew I needed to get that moron to the last two rings."
"Convenient that Castiel was still angel enough to clip that ring off," Coyote said.
"What exactly does that mean?" Sam asked.
"That you overcame hunger," he told Sam, staring at him. "That Michael gave up on your brother. That a piece of plastic was still wedged after so many years."
Bobby didn't know what the hell that last meant, but to Sam it must have been a lot. He lost his color and looked scared as shit.
"That the one selfish enough to help you had the knowledge to do so." Coyote was looking at Crowley when he said the last, and beside him Crowley groaned softly to himself as though something had occurred to him.
"Nobody felt him die," Crowley whispered. "That was what you meant."
Coyote smiled at Crowley, a secret and sly smile. "Architects of fate."
Bobby closed his eyes because he finally got it.
"Will somebody please explain?" Dean asked, impatient and frustrated but at least keeping a veneer of civility.
Crowley's frustration was evident. "He is saying, you idiots, that Gabriel used his death as a distraction to affect a series of minor, unimportant changes that caused enough ripples to let you toss his brothers into a cage where they weren't dead but they also weren't doing anymore harm."
"So why not just come out and fight with us?" Sam asked.
"You two boys need to start rubbing some brain cells together," Bobby said, voice raising. "Two archangels barreling head-long towards the same goal! They've all got the same powers. If they'd noticed him doing anything, they would have corrected for it and all our sorry asses would have been finished."
"Corrected, overcorrected, and torn creation to subatomic shreds," came a falsely chipper voice. "Which is pretty much what they're still angling for since they think that's the only way they'll ever see Dad again."
"Father," Jǫrmandgandr, if Bobby was right - said, and within a blink there was a lot of hugging in the middle of his living room and more of that Germanic language.
At one point Gabriel looked up over one of the shoulders at Coyote. "Thank you," he said quietly, and Coyote nodded.
"Consensus is it happened after Angrboða. You were so insistent in Glaðsheimr, so different after that. It was of course that you were now a different person, not that they had murdered your wife and her kind. They hold great sympathy for the children, believing that you fooled them as well. This view might have been helped by Hel and Gan."
Gabriel grimaced and it took Bobby a moment to get why. Coyote just laughed.
"The Vanir are particularly sympathetic."
"So you're back. Congratulations," Dean said, voice laden with sarcasm. "You gonna be going back to Heaven and helping out up there? 'Cause Cass is getting his ass kicked by Raphael."
"I realize you boys are slow on the uptake most days, but in case you didn't realize, I moved out of the family homestead a long, long time ago. I'm not going back just because the kids are fighting in the yard."
"Thought you were big on not watching your brothers kill each other. Cass too low on the food chain? Or are you just rooting for Raphael?"
"I couldn't care less which one wins. If it's Castiel it doesn't matter and if it's Raphael he wouldn't dare to challenge me without Michael backing him up."
"Wow. Not a whole lot of loyalty between you four hoity-toits who have seen the face of God."
Gabriel laughed. "You think Raphael has been in my Father's true presence?" He kept laughing, bitterly, as Hel walked into view towards them. She hugged her brothers before one of Gabriel's arms wrapped around her and he kissed her temple. Death stood off to the side, behind the Winchester brothers, watching quietly. Even Crowley seemed interested in where the conversation had turned.
Sam spoke up. "Wait. Anna said that there were four angels..."
"There were. But Raph wasn't one of them. He's 2G to Castiel's 3G, only in this case higher Gs do not equal better speeds."
"But the fourth-"
"Has been gone a long, long, long time. The end, Sam. Stop asking."
Sam closed his mouth. "What about him?" he finally asked, jerking his head to where Crowley was standing. Crowley arched an eyebrow at him. "Have you heard what he's been trying to do? Find Purgatory. Take it over like he's taken over Hell."
Gabriel let loose of his kids to walk over to Crowley, stand right in front of him. Crowley didn't seem the least bit worried with Gabriel invading his personal space to stand bare inches from him.
They stared at each other and Gabriel said, "Why should I do anything to him? Some of us even have bets as to whether he can pull it off or not."
Crowley canted his head to the side, and hell, Bobby had seen that look on Crowley's face before -
"Besides, I could make Crowley's life hell with three little words." And yup, there it was, Crowley and Gabriel fucking kissing in the middle of his living room like they had nothing better to be doing. Sam looked utterly betrayed. Dean looked wildly uncomfortable. Everybody else in the room looked various shades of amused. Well, Crowley looked like he was enjoying himself. Gabriel did too, for that matter.
Coyote looked the most amused, like he was expecting something.
Gabriel broke the kiss to whisper words against Crowley's lips. "Te absolvo."
"Bastard!" Crowley pushed against Gabriel, getting a few steps away while Gabriel laughed. Coyote, too. Crowley looked like he was checking things over, out, whatever he was doing. Probably the demon equivalent of checking his sack to make sure all the goods were still present.
"Oh, relax. I wouldn't do that to you. I'd destroy you."
"Damned well better," Crowley muttered and sat down again in his chair.
"Don't you need a priest?" Sam asked, sounding bewildered. "Confessions, repentance?"
Gabriel leveled a blunt stare at Sam. "Let's pretend for a moment that I know what I'm talking about and you don't."
"Let me get this straight," Dean said, finding his voice. "You don't want to go to Heaven. Even if you had the chance."
"No," Crowley sneered, like Dean had just offered him a pile of flaming dog shit for lunch. "Certainly not as an inmate. Definitely not as a poacher."
Crowley reached down behind his chair and pulled up a bottle of booze for his glass this time. Bobby wistfully thought that was actually a pretty handy trick.
"Why not?" Dean asked again. Whether it was legitimate curiosity or because he was alarmed that his views apparently fell in with Crowley's, Bobby wasn't sure.
"Heaven's a kennel."
Gabriel. It was like somebody had rung a gong. The biggest, meanest gong ever made. Bobby couldn't stop the shudder that vibrated his old bones.
"Fundamental Truth," Coyote said quietly. Death had moved forward to stand behind him, wearing a particularly pleased smile as he watched Gabriel.
"What do you think Heaven is?" Gabriel asked. "What happened when you were in Heaven, huh? Don't be shy. Tell us."
Sam answered. "We, we saw our families. Good memories in our past..."
"You didn't just see them. You were living them. All those happy, familial moments. The moments that you just want to last forever. You were locked into them. They play on repeat for ever and ever and you human souls have no clue. You're all kept in pretty little playhouses to be looked at and admired by your owner. Because when it comes to souls, the only difference between Dad and the average demon," he said, waving one hand towards the front window and the other at Crowley -
"Above average, thank you," Crowley interjected and took a sip.
"- is the demons at least allow you to evolve. In Heaven you're trapped as you were before you died. Pretty little dolls who don't change or grow or get corrupted from the moment you're put into the playhouse. Sometimes, though, the cage gets weak. One of the pets gets out. Puppies playing with the other puppies. And then the puppies get put down."
Gabriel had walked over to Dean and Sam saying all this, and now he leaned in, whispered loudly enough that Bobby could still hear.
"And the only reason why your friends' souls haven't been wiped off the map yet? Is because the angels are too busy with their petty backyard fighting to notice. The instant they aren't distracted anymore, the dogcatchers are going to sweep through and those misplaced souls are going to be caught and annihilated along with any other souls they may have influenced.
"Welcome to Heaven, boys." Gabriel stepped away from them, back towards his group. "Come on," he said to the others. "Let's go home."
Crowley finished his drink and stood. He tossed the bottle of scotch at Bobby and winked. "On the house."
And then they were all gone.
step-click, step; step-click, step
Everybody but Death.
YHMH, brother to YHWH. The boys hadn't been there for that part of the conversation, hadn't heard it. Dean had said Lucifer bound Death to him with a spell. Gabriel had said there was irony involved, which made Bobby wonder if Lucifer might have been able to bind God with the same spell if he'd known the connection.
Death looked at him as he moved through the room to stand in front of the boys, catching his eyes and all but giving him the answer. Bobby didn't say anything, and Death's lips curved in the barest hint of a smile. Then he looked at the Winchesters. At Dean.
"I'll be seeing you, Dean."
And then he was gone.
One day as the Great Spirit walked the land he came upon a village. At the edge of the village ran a deep river, and on the banks sat a woman washing her father's blanket. The Great Spirit looked upon her and smiled. He said, "This woman cleaning her father's blanket will be my wife. I will bring her to me and together we will walk the lands, and swim in the rivers, and fly through the clouds. We will live together as Husband and Wife."
The woman ran to tell her Father and Mother, and they were pleased. The wind spoke to the birds, and they were pleased as well. So too did the earth tell all the animals, and the water of the river tell the fish.
The Great Spirit invited the world to celebrate his happiness. He asked his many sons to invite every creature to a great feast. The Great Spirit's sons hurried to do this.
Soon enough, knowledge spread to even the highest peak. Thunderbird, one of the Great Spirit's oldest sons, heard the news. He alone was not joyful as he listened to the words. He came down from the mountain to speak to his father.
"Father," he said. "You cannot do this. Man is corrupt, and so is Woman, for Woman comes from Man and they are no different. You would ask that I call her Mother as I call you Father."
"Son," the Great Spirit responded, "I would not ask you to call her Mother as you call me Father. For she is not Mother to you. But she will be Wife to me, and we will be happy."
Days passed, and the great feast drew closer. The Great Spirit's son once more approached his father. "Father," he said. "You cannot do this, for Man is not pure, and Woman is not either. She is small and does not understand love for Man's love is fleeting and inconstant."
"Son, Man's love is fleeting because Man is fleeting. But she will live as we do. This is my wedding gift to her."
Thunderbird once again left his father. He went back to his mountain and watched the Great Spirit's many thousands of sons preparing for the great feast. He was dismayed, and went to his older brother.
"Older Brother," Thunderbird said. "How can we let this happen? Man is not meant to sit at the fire of our Father. Our Father has said they can be warmed from a distance, but now he wishes to bring one to sit next to him."
"Younger Brother," Thunderbird was told, "you speak too much against Father. We must be good sons, and obey our father."
Thunderbird flew away. He flew back to his mountain and watched as food was brought to the village, and trees were cut down to make wood for the feast fire, and grapes were crushed to ferment.
Thunderbird watched all this and then went to his younger brother. "Younger Brother," he said, "This will end in disaster, I am sure."
Thunderbird's younger brother paused in his workings and looked at Thunderbird.
"Older Brother," he said. "I cannot tell you that you are wrong. I, too, have worry. But I also cannot tell you that you are right."
Younger Brother would speak no more, and so Thunderbird again flew back to his mountain. He continued to watch, and days passed. Musical instruments were brought to the village, and gifts.
"Father refuses to see the truth of Man," Thunderbird thought to himself. "I must make the truth apparent."
Thunderbird watched Woman for several days, and then Thunderbird went to Woman himself as she collected ripe berries to eat. "Hello, Woman," he said. "I am Thunderbird.
"Hello, Thunderbird," she said. "I am pleased to meet you. It has been many days since I've seen your Father, and so to pass the time I am gathering berries."
"My father is often gone for many days. I, too, have felt the pain of that separation. I will keep you company in his stead."
Thunderbird walked with her as she gathered the ripe berries and they spoke until the sun moved below the horizon. The next day Thunderbird found Woman again, and they talked together while she washed blankets by the river. Many days passed this way, and Thunderbird kept Woman company while his father was occupied with council fires.
One day as they sat together, Woman stared over the valley with sadness in her eyes. She was missing Thunderbird's father. Thunderbird saw this in her.
"I see your sadness, Woman. We shall do more together to help you forget my Father has been away many days."
More days passed, and Thunderbird's father returned. Woman was greatly pleased to see him again, and she smiled and danced with him. Thunderbird watched this from a distance and was patient.
Soon Thunderbird's father left again. Thunderbird went to see Woman the next morning. She did not look as sad as before and she smiled brightly at him.
"I have missed you these days you did not visit, Thunderbird," she said. She hugged Thunderbird and he told her a story while she worked.
Thunderbird's father had again been gone for many days, but Woman was still not as sad as before. Thunderbird watched her closely for sadness, but there was none. One afternoon they walked together through trees.
"Thunderbird," Woman said. "We have spent many days in the sunshine together. You have helped me pick berries and wash blankets. You have taught me to work tools, and to write, and to speak the words of your language. You have shared many stories with me. Your Father has done none of these things, and he has been absent many days. I have come to love you, Thunderbird."
"I know," spoke Thunderbird. He drew Woman close to him. "Father will be greatly angered by this. He will punish me for these words you have spoken. Your love was meant for him, and now you have given it to me."
Woman kissed Thunderbird's cheek. "If he punishes you I will hate him forever."
Thunderbird smiled.
"What is your name, Woman?" he asked her.
"I was born at night, and so my Father and my Mother named me this, Thunderbird. My name is Lilith."
Five point seven miles outside the border of Globe, Kansas Crowley stops, and Gabriel does, too. He looks back to where Crowley stands, dressed ever-fashionably in his bespoke tailoring of Hong Kong wools.
"I'll be waiting here," he says. "Best not antagonize those two any more than I already have."
Gabriel walks back to him, moving into Crowley's personal space, because given that perspective it's a bit amazing he'd come as far as he had. And he has the right of it, Gabriel was forever giving him that.
He leans in, bussing his lips to Crowley's forehead; the vessel, not the soul. Not quite a benediction, but with enough power that Crowley shies back on principle, not looking at him.
Gabriel turns and continues on towards Stull, which glows with everything it does and doesn't contain. And now that he is this close, he can feel the pull, feel the anger and righteousness of his two brothers calling out to anything and everything that will listen, at the same time as they are driving them away. Devotion and Purpose, raging in unharmonious sync.
It's so much different here, a bleak and open, empty landscape compared to the vibrant, lush beauty that surrounded Lucifer's last prison.
He walks into the cemetery, walks to the spot where Lucifer and Michael fell together. Lays down in the frozen grass, spreading himself out on the ground and then releasing himself outward, touching the barest fringes of the cell.
The cacophony below him ceases, their attention drawn to him.
He rests into the dirt, letting it soak into him, feeling the sudden quiet against his cheek and body. He turns his head just enough to kiss the bare ground.
"Did you know it was me?" he asks, quietly. The silence is heavy. For a moment even the little burgh is quiet. "That first time? Is that part of why you did it?"
Gabriel breathes for long minutes, letting himself become more a part of the earth with every silent moment that passes.
"He was so angry. So mad at you. I happened to be there when He Knew. I saw His face. I could see what He was going to do. And I begged Him. I begged Him, 'Father, please,' because I couldn't lose my brother. I didn't want to lose you.
"And He looked at me, He looked into me, and whatever He saw... He was still so angry. But as he looked at me, He called to Michael and He said, 'Cast him down'. And I was so relieved, Lucifer. Because it meant you were going to live.
"And I don't know if what I asked for was right. He left us all shortly after. It wasn't just you separated from Him. He left us all. A blink of an eye. Like we'd all disappointed Him.
"And I couldn't stay anymore than He could. And the kicker is... I really do love them. Not because He wanted us to, but because I do. Every bit of them. The good, the bad, the absolutely indifferent. They are so... beautiful."
Gabriel lies against the earth for a long time, breathing in the biorhythms of the planet and its inhabitants as the world spins around the star. The cell below him stays silent.
"I forgive you," he says, eventually.
"I love you, both, still, so much. And I forgive you."
He stays there until darkness melts into dawn.
END.
End Notes for The Different
1) Paris, 1913. The precipice - and music - in question is Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. When it opened on May 29, 1913, a riot broke out on the floor of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. The subtitle of the ballet is "Pictures from Pagan Russia." Like many things when I write, I'll know 'something' about a scene and then fill in the blanks after some research. For this scene between Death and God, I 'knew' it was Paris, and I 'knew' it was 1913.
Little did I know that something lingered that so perfectly would fit the atmosphere between Death and God regarding Gabriel. Wikipedia has a nice write-up about the ballet and the riot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring. For those interested in the actual ballet (which I must utterly disagree with Death here, it is not lovely) a reconstruction of the original, riot-rousing version was done in 1987 and performed and recorded in 1990 by the Joffrey Ballet. It can be currently seen on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjX3oAwv_Fs
2) YHWH. The tetragrammaton of the name of God. I have mentally imprinted the vowel pointed pronunciation from the Masoretic Text: Yo-Vah. (Sidebar: I am certainly not a scholar on the subject, I just go by the pretty .ogg files I sometimes hear.)
YHMH in this story is pronounced Ya-Ma, as in Yama, the Hindu lord/god of death. In some instances Yama reports to Shiva, in many others he is Shiva. In terms of this story, I consider him to be Shiva, despite it not being overtly stated. At an early point of my research, I became rather enamored with the idea that followers of Hinduism (that is, Death) would be part of his ¼, given that Hinduism is the only religion even close to ¼ of the population of Earth that is not Judeo-Christian. There is also something beautifully poetic to me about the possibility that Chuck/God and Death are together Brahma.
3) Purpose, Devotion, Truth, Wholeness. Zoroastrian, four of the six Amesha Spentas, or Bounteous Immortals. (The other two being God and Death, in this story.) In order, they are meant to be: Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, and the Metatron, with God as Dominion and Death and Immortality. The Amesha Spentas are six divine sparks which were used to create. In The Different, they are the original four sons of God, and meant to encapsulate their names. Gabriel knows all truths if/when he chooses to know them. Lucifer is all that devotion is; Michael, purpose. In my head, Wholeness was killed, or died, or something prior to the creation of mankind, and when this happened, the fundamental balance of all was thrown off, and this is what started the split with Lucifer, and then with Michael.
4) Grandmother Mole. Lakota creation myth regarding the soul. I heard this a long time ago; there are two different versions floating around on the net, one by Albert Grayeagle in a story about Smiling Fox and another one that looks and is spread more like an internet trope than a creation myth. But I do remember hearing it (or something very close) before I was a teenager and still regularly attending wacipis and hearing the stories.
5) Glasyalabolas. A President or Earl of Hell who commands 36 legions. He was identified in the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and the later Clavicula Salomonis. "Glasya Labolas, alias Caacrinolaas, or Caassimolar, is a great president, who commeth foorth like a dog, and hath wings like a griffen, he giveth the knowledge of arts, and is the captaine of all mansleiers: he understandeth things present and to come, he gaineth the minds and love of freends and foes, he maketh a man go invisible, and hath the rule of six and thirtie legions." - Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.
6 Malthas. Identified in the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum as Halphas, he is an Earl of Hell and was an armorer. He controls 26 legions. " Halphas is a great earle, and commeth abroad like a storke, with a hoarse voice, he notablie buildeth up townes full of munition and weapons, he sendeth men of warre to places appointed, and hath under him six and twentie legions." - Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.
7) Ronove. A Marquis and Great Earl of Hell. "Ronove a marquesse and an earle, he is resembled to a monster, he bringeth singular understanding in rhetorike, faithfull servants, knowledge of toongs, favour of freends and foes; and nineteene legions obeie him." - Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.
8) Ose. Great President of Hell, commands either 3 or 30 legions depending on whom you ask. "Ose [Oze] is a great president, and commeth foorth like a leopard, and counterfeting to be a man, he maketh one cunning in the liberall sciences, he answereth truelie of divine and secret things, he transformeth a mans shape, and bringeth a man to that madnes [or, "drives insanity away"], that he thinketh himselfe to be that which he is not; as that he is a king or a pope, or that he weareth a crowne on his head, Durátque id regnum ad horam [and makes the kingdom of time endure (?).]" - Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.
9) The World Tree/Tree of Life. At one point, when this story was far, far more Norse in scope, I wanted to include Yggdrasil in the story, but couldn't figure out how to other than the initial reference later in the story. I continued having sporadic thoughts on the subject, but didn't do any real research until very late in the game. Then I started researching the world tree concept. I hadn't realized how prolific it was in mythology, and after that, fate was sealed. I was also having problems with the loose string of Wholeness, and one night I became fascinated by the idea of Wholeness having been made into the World Tree by his father, of Gabriel having a home in Jotunheimr beneath one of the branches, of the fruits and leaves and roots conveying immortality, youth, and wisdom to the gods and humans who partook.
10) Behold I create new heavens and a new earth. "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." Isaiah 65:17 (KJV) This verse is what started the true formation and basis of the back story for The Different. It's one of the earliest religious citations I have scribbled down, and for the life of me, I have no idea how I came across it. But that quote, along with Gabriel's canonical quote of "Sunday dinner" got me to thinking: what if he was being very literal when he said that apocalypses were pretty much a regular event?
11) Coyote. Coyote is a Native American trickster. He has many names and many personas, including creator, teacher, savior, wise man, and fool. Istaqa is Hopi for Coyote-Man.
11.5) Shakti. Hindu. The Great Divine Mother. Kali is one of her forms. I very much wanted to include Kali far more than the bleak three mentions she is given in The Different. When I first started plotting the story, she had a far greater role, but every time I tried to include her, it became bitter and angry. I wasn't able to do justice to whatever feelings Gabriel has/had/still has for her, and thus Gabriel avoiding the conflict they would have by avoiding her. I would imagine Coyote's discretion in the storytelling is a result of knowing Gabriel and Kali still have unresolved issues.
12) Bernie Madoff. An article from NY Mag tells how in Butner, Madoff is something of a celebrity. "In the context of prison, he isn’t a cancer on society; he’s a success, admired for his vast accomplishments. 'A hero,' wrote Robert Rosso, a lifer, on a website he managed to found called convictinc.com. 'He’s arguably the greatest con of all time.'" When I was thinking of how tricksters might react to the knowledge that Loki was really Gabriel in disguise, that quote immediately came back to me, because, yes, I could see them having that very same reaction. http://nymag.com/news/crimelaw/66468/
13) Barber-surgeon. More of an historical aside than an endnote, during the middle ages, surgery was not connected with the doctors/healers (who were often priests and clergy), but with barbers. A papal decree forbade priests to conduct surgery ('involving burning or cutting'), and since barbers were already good with razors… Come for a trim, stay for a letting! The traditional barber's pole is one of the last remaining connections modern barbers have with the old barber-surgeons' guilds. When looking for a random medieval profession to toss Gabriel into, the barber-surgeon seemed to fit him just fine.
14) Guardian spirits. Zoroastrian. "And his guardian spirits (fravâhar) of warriors and the righteous, on war horses and spear in hand, were around the sky; such-like as the hair on the head is the similitude (ângunî-aîtak) of those who hold the watch of the rampart. And no passage was found by the evil spirit, who rushed back; and he beheld the annihilation of the demons and his own impotence, as Aûharmazd, did his own final triumph, producing the renovation of the universe for ever and everlasting." - Pahlavi Text, Bundahis 6: 3-4
15) Erse. Name for Scots-Gaelic in Fergus MacLeod's time. The irony is that Crowley's first language was most likely English given the language distribution in the far north-east of Scotland. However, I find it likely that he did speak and read Erse back in the day given his profession. And also, Gabriel's being a bit bitchy because Crowley and Bobby summoned something from a prior creation.
16) Thunderbirds. A supernatural Native American bird-creature capable of creating lightning, thunder, rain, hail, storms. They are fierce, intelligent, and powerful. In a lovely connection with the Zoroastrian parts of The Different, the Lakota believe in old times the thunderbirds were responsible for the destruction of monstrous Unhcegila, dragon-like creatures. But hands down, SPN's description and portrayal of the archangels immediately brought to mind thunderbirds.
17) Merrie Monarch. Charles II of England, died Feb. 6, 1685. He liked to party.
18) Francesco Morosini and Bendetto Odescalchi. Doge of Venice and Pope Innocent XI, respectively. The deal referenced is what would become the Holy League in the fight against the Turks.
19) Red Cow. A London pub now known as the Town of Ramsgate, located very close to Execution Dock and where Ramsgate fishermen sold their catch. Supposedly named after a redheaded barmaid with a very bad temper.
20) Bobby's phone call. How did he figure out that the mysterious stranger that saved him and Crowley was Gabriel, the Trickstery Archangel? And that Hel was after the boys? He's just that good.
21) Azazel's brat. Meg, of course. She's a slippery one, that scuddery little Nephilim.
22) "I am infinite and eternal." Hindu, Shiva. "You pervade all the quarters and the intermediate directions. Thou art the universe, secondless, the infinite and the eternal. Even when this universe become extinct, there is no loss to You, just as there is no detriment to space (within a pot), when the pot is broken." - Shiva Gita, 7:34
Chapters 6 and 7 both had a major influence of my perception of Death as Shiva, and the writing of this passage. 6:30 reads: " I am truly the Praṇava (Omkāra), one, eternal and ancient because I lead (pious souls) upwards (to heaven) and send them down (when their merit is exhausted)."
One-fourth of creation is from Revelation 6:8. "et ecce equus pallidus et qui sedebat desuper nomen illi Mors et inferus sequebatur eum et data est illi potestas super quattuor partes terrae interficere gladio fame et morte et bestiis terrae"
23) Aṛta. Truth. Zoroastrian and Hindu. Asha/ Aṛta / ṛta is all-encompassing, divine Truth. Fire is connected with Aṛta, as well as with Loki and Gabriel (Yoma 21b). Asha is the name of one of the Amesha Spentas (Asha Vahishta, meaning Best Truth).
24) Ksa. Lakota, 'Wisdom'. This is the one place where I fudged mythology a little bit more than anywhere else. Ksa is the son of Inyan ('Rock'), the Creator. Wakinyan, the thunderbird(s) was/were also created by Inyan, but in some tales are Inyan's companion. Sometimes Ksa is specifically stated as Wakinyan's brother.
Ksa, through a misadventure leading to punishment, became Iktomi, the Spider-Man trickster. Iktomi is a shapeshifter, and has a propensity to use his powers against gods and humans alike. He is a friend to Coyote and is both loved and feared, for he either can bring aid or disaster. He is responsible for weaving the dream catcher, and an interesting sidenote is the belief that Iktomi's web can be construed to be the Internet and telephone network.
Fire serpents is from Enoch 20:7; "Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who presides over Ikisat, over paradise, and over the cherubim." Color red is (apparently) from Zorah 1:99a.
25) Nephilim and the fall of the Watchers. Enoch 1, Chapter 10. The fate of the Nephilim - that 1/10th became demons in Hell, is from Jubliees 10:8-9 - "And the chief of the spirits, Mastêmâ, came and said: 'Lord, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them harken to my voice, and do all that I shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.' And He said: Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation.'"
26) Fárbauti and Laufey. Parents of Loki. Loki was 'born' when, in a fit of rage, Fárbauti one day struck Laufey/Nál with a lightning bolt. There is a disputed nature-myth interpretation to this with Loki's connection with fire, as Nál means needle, Laufey may mean leaves and Fárbauti is 'cruel striker' (with lightning, remember!)
27) Mím is Mímir, the decapitated head of a Jǫtunn Odin magically keeps alive for its renowned wisdom. This is another place I fudged since there is no record or intimation that Angrboða is related to him in any way.
28) Bale Worker (Bölverkr) and Skollvaldr (Ruler of Treachery). Kennings specifically for Odin, usually said by Jǫtunns in the Eddas and stories. I'll admit, this part was rather uncomfortable for me to write, because I was writing from the losing point of view. And when the Eddas are read from that point of view, the Æsir treatment of the giants had a great deal of racial discrimination under- and overtones.
29) Vicious and humiliating truths. This is a reference to the Lokasenna, or The Flyting of Loki. I was originally going to go into much greater detail, but it dragged the story pacing down. Loki's flyting is a truly vicious piece (and can be found here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe10.htm), especially when taken in context of Gabriel. If this section hadn't been from Coyote's perspective, I would have relished going deeper with it.
30) Lilith. While doing early researching, I ran across a few fascinating theories on Lilith originally being the bride of God. I was unduly intrigued because of SPN's history between Lilith and Lucifer. I'd been working on reconciling a rough timeline of events in Judeo-Christian history (I know, pity me) and kept coming to the conclusion that Lucifer didn't really seem to have anything to do with the fall of the Grigori/Watchers. Also, the show doesn't seem to lend that much credence, either. Azazel had no clue where Lucifer's cage was, though non-fallen angels did (well, so it was made out). So where did Lucifer's caging come in? Enter page 59 of Tree of Souls: the Mythology of Judaism by Howard Schwartz, and a few more internet pages I lost. What if Lucifer stole Lilith from his Father? I couldn't let that go. This is very possibly the one part of The Different I might consider blasphemous. Just remember, though: somebody else said it first.