Young Writers Society

Damascus smiled back and opened his mouth to retort, only to be cut off by James himself. He nodded, somewhat timidly.

"Everything's fine- Maahes and I just, ah, discovered that we have something in common." he gave Maahes a conspiratorial glance, and then lowered his voice as he looked back at James. "How did things go with... um, collecting the firewood?"

"Miss Runi," Cornyx greeted with a dip of his head. "Pleasure to see you again."

Darunia Vain. The first demon he'd had the good fortune of coming upon and the only friend he'd had for a very long time. They weren't on the best of standing anymore, not since Runi had turned on him to help Dean - probably due to her conscience, which, admittedly, was part of why he loved her - but he couldn't help but consider her a friend despite that. The feeling didn't have to be mutual.

James glanced down at the pile of wood he was holding in his arms.

"Well."

"We should go help prepare camp," Aquarius suggested, glancing over at his brother. A moment passed before the latter made an indication that he had heard him, his gaze sweeping across the group. It eventually settled on Boris, and Zephyrus nodded in agreement. "I'll ask Rose if she needs help with gathering food."

Zephyrus straightened and brushed off his outfit. "I'll try chatting with Boris and see if he needs any help with the firewood."

"Okay," Aquarius said, trying to push aside his unease at being separated from his brother - even if it would only be for a short period of time.


Zephyrus didn't like the idea of separating from his brother, but he had to start figuring out what the people here were like. A conversation or two would give him an idea if their previous actions hadn't been enough to clue him in. And with the idea that Aquarius had just proposed, Boris really did seem like a good choice.

He scouted out the man with ease and walked up next to him, his footsteps just a bit too silence. He couldn't help it; that sort of habit took years to break, and he had no intention in losing that carefully cultivated trick.

He tapped Boris on the shoulder.

"Hi," he said, giving him a smile. "Need some help with that firewood?"


Maahes glanced between James and Damascus.

"It's a good thing in common," Maahes hurriedly added, worried from James's tone and lack of a response that he assumed the worst. His gaze dropped down to the wood in James's arms. "Do you, uh, need help carrying that? I'm not sure how strong I am like this, but I could help if it's too heavy for you."


"Nice to see you, too, Cornyx," Runi awkwardly said, ducking her head down behind a menu. Dean was torn between feeling somewhat sympathetic and calling it karma. She had done a nice thing before with letting Lucifer free, and was doing a good deed now by offering her help. But he couldn't figure out why she had done either thing in the first place, and that left him wary.

"Do you have any idea who did this to us?" Dean interrogated her.

Runi shook her head. "No. But I can help find them!"

He raised an eyebrow. "And how do you expect to do that?"

"I don't know that, either," she admitted. She shifted in her seat and hesitantly raised her head above the menu. "But I've got a place you can stay at until you find who did it, and I think your, uh, friend-" Here she glanced over at Gabriel. "-could help with the researching part. This has to be some weird supernatural thing, right? I don't know much about supernatural things, but I can definitely help! I've been hanging around this hunter place for weeks - I've picked up on a bunch of stuff by listening in on their conversations-"

"Wait," Dean interrupted, "you've been here for weeks?"

"Well, yeah," Runi replied. She rubbed the back of her neck. "It can be a bit scary and intimidating here thanks to all the big guys with big guns, but hunters tell the best stories, and always have the neatest little trinkets!"

"You're from my reality," Dean slowly said.

"Yeah," Runi confirmed. She followed his gaze as he glanced between her and Cornyx. "Oh! Cornyx and I aren't, uh, from the same reality. I'm not really sure how I ended up there or how I got back here, but, well..." She gave a small shrug. "Somethings you just never know."

Gabriel looked at the other three at the table.

"I have no idea what you're talking about right now," the demon declared, "but a place to stay does sound like a good idea. I could swing by the hotel Real Life Free Will is staying at and pick up the other two members of my trio, if you give me the address to your place."

James mustered a small smile. "No, it's fine," he said, before turning away and setting the firewood down. "What was it you found in common?"

Damascus smiled lightly, some anxiety about Maahes knowing his past identity being relieved.

"Well, it was more like we remembered that we had met each other before- before the masquerade, that is. We were just reminiscing about how much we've both grown." His voice was casual, if not adopting a bit of a genuine sentimental touch toward the end.

Well, a demon clown he may have been, but Zephyrus only wished to be helpful, and on principle I avoided making enemies unnecessarily, so I decided to overlook his crimes against vision, and colour, and sensibility. And demons.

"Oh, that'd be splendid, thank you."

We found a good spot of bare earth nearby, and began arranging the firewood there.

"How is your brother holding up?" I asked him conversationally.

Zephyrus glanced over his shoulder in his brother's direction, watching as Aquarius went to help Rose off of the ground. He quickly turned back to face the firewood they were in the middle of arranging. "I think he's doing relatively okay," he said. "This isn't the first time he's been in a situation like this before. He had our older brother Télos with him the last time, so he was okay, but..."

He took a deep breath and paused in the middle of readjusting the placement of one of the logs.

"It's hard not to worry about him now," Zephyrus admitted. "We've...We've been through a lot. I know he can handle himself - he has for years, and he did through the battle - but we're young. I don't know if he can handle this, and I don't know if I can."

He looked up at Boris and gave a sheepish smile. "I guess that's a little more information than what you were looking for," he said.

I had initiated this conversation as a meaningless pleasantry, but was mildly surprised to find myself sympathizing with Zephyrus, if only in passing.

"It's quite alright. War children, were you? How old are the two of you, now? If you don't mind my asking."

"I don't," he said. He straightened and observed the pile of firewood, checking to make sure everything he had arranged so far looked good. "We're both seventeen. I think Aquarius might be the older of the two of us, but it's not like Eras is going to be telling either one of us that in the near future."

"A shame, that this Eras has not been helpful to you. That's a fine age, though. 'Twas the age I went to war."

I took a moment, to think of something genuinely motivational to say, something that was true. When I had it, I told it simply, as it was.

"Surviving, like all things, is entirely different with the context of a loved one.
With someone to look up to, or someone to protect, one no longer has the luxury to give up, to say, 'I cannot do this.' There is no question of what one believes they can try, only what they know they must do. For their sake you accomplish things you might never have tried for your own sake, alone. And you can be the same strength, for them.

Even if you don't believe, you'll do it, and you'll do fine. That's really all there is to it.

He looks up to you, and he believes in you. That's all you need."


I gave him a light smile, before standing up, and observing our handiwork.

"That should do us nicely, for the night. I hope someone has matches."

"I hope so, too," Zephyrus said. He turned and studied the man beside him. He honestly hadn't expected Boris to relate to what he had said; the chosen from Earth had said war was something few actually encountered - and the war encountered wasn't anything like the type of battles he had grown up with.

He took a deep breath and rested his hands on his hips, glancing around at the others in their group. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to be carrying any sort of flint and steel - or, like the chosen had mentioned, along with Boris, matches. He would have to ask to see if anyone could light it; it was too bad Oracle wasn't here, or one of her chosen.

He turned back to Boris. "What exactly is a match?" he asked. "Renee and her friends keep mentioning them every time one of us pulls out a flint and steel, but their explanations suck."

"Who's Team Free Will?" Cornyx inquired with a raised eyebrow. The awkward interaction with Runi over, he subtly averted his gaze; having her in the room was a bit like having his conscience staring at him and he still felt bad for how things had turned out the last time.

James nodded to Damascus. "Ah. Well. That's nice. I'm not surprised - with all of these odd occurrences, the odds are high that you'd know each other somehow." He patted Damsacus on the shoulder. "I'll leave you to catch up, then," he said as he turned back towards the firewood.

Gabriel immediately perked up at the question, leaning across the table with his elbow resting on it and his head in his cupped hand. "I'm glad you asked," he said with a sly smile. "The original Team Free Will is Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester and Castiel. And, like any Supernatural-loving hunter who works in a trio, God and I call my group Real Life Team Free Will."

"That's a mouthful," Runi interrupted.

"Of course it is," Gabriel replied. "But it's worth it, since we both get a kick out of it. Our other friends don't as much, but they can deal with it. The other two members of my trio are Quinn Holt and Issac Drake. You can trust both of them, so don't worry. They're currently staying at a nearby motel, but Quinn's got a warehouse rented out near here, and I'm sure Issac can pull some favors like he usually does."


Maahes glanced between Damascus and James. "You can stay with us," he hurriedly said, not wanting his other friend to leave. While the older Damascus might have been far more morally sound than the previous one, it was James that he was the closest to here. He didn't like how much they had been separated since arriving in the church, and he wanted to remedy that as quickly as possible.