033 [text]

[wingsandwill]

I don't understand how humans survive.

[Someone has a cold.]

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[thelightbringer]

[He notes Castiel's reaction, and feels something between amusement and regret over it. Castiel still expects him to lash out every time he speaks against Lucifer.]

Because you're not some blind soldier. You aren't goosestepping along to the tune of My Daddy Still Loves Me.

You risked everything for what you genuinely believed in. I respect that. I worried after...well, He made an example of me. I'm glad that you didn't buy into it.

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

If something is worth believing in, it is worth the risk of fighting for it as well.

[thelightbringer]

But you've seen how few beings believe that. Fear paralyzes even our brothers.

[he's quiet a moment, thinking.]

But what exactly do you believe in?

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

I'm aware.



Do you know what Dean called us? The group of myself, Dean, and Sam?

[thelightbringer]

[Lucifer shakes his head slightly, though he has a few ideas, a few teasing suggestions. But he genuinely wants to know, so he just listens, raptly attentive and silent.]

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

Team Free Will. We were, and are, fighting for allowing ourselves and others the chance to make our own decisions.

The right to do so is what I believe in.

[thelightbringer]

[There's a flicker of something in his expression, something quiet and very far from anger. It's not the answer he expected, and a year ago he would have scoffed at it.]

Free Will is the only thing worth dying for. [He genuinely believes that. He has suffered torture for that belief.]

Without it, we have no family, no individuality. Nothing else matters if you can't choose it.

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

Yes.



Without it, we and our actions are meaningless.

[thelightbringer]

That's why I stayed in Hell. I could have asked forgiveness, Castiel, and He would probably have taken me back in. But I couldn't make myself do it. Not after I realized what you just said.

But, having said that...I hope that you never pay the price that I did. If I had known what you believe when I first came here, I would never have let Raphael near you. And if she ever tries it again.... [He'd stop her. He would stand against another archangel, one that he loved in ways he never loved the lesser angels. Simply because he has craved having someone who gets it.]

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

I know what happens to me, when I leave here. Beyond what we all saw from Rei's vision.

[thelightbringer]

[Lucifer frowns, leans forward on his elbows. There's no point asking if it's anything good.]

How bad is it?

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

I don't believe He'll bring me back this time.

[thelightbringer]

What happens, Castiel?

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

There are more than souls in Purgatory.

[thelightbringer]

[Lucifer draws up, immediately wary, as if by speaking of it they might open those gates here.]

Castiel...

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

[thelightbringer]

The things in there--even I was never shown what exactly they were. You...swallowed them?

[The creatures in Purgatory probably just want dominion of the earth, and boohoo poor humans are in the way, Lucifer doesn't care. The wariness is, most of all, brotherly concern.]

They killed you?

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

The Leviathan.



Yes. I return the souls to Purgatory, but they hold on. It seems they take control of my vessel and kill me, and destroy my vessel soon after.

[thelightbringer]

[Lucifer nods, watching Castiel, aware of how calmly his brother seems to take it. Which can mean a lot of things, so he feels the need to speak up.]

We'll find a way to stop it from happening. You are still on board with that, aren't you?

And failing that...failing that, you could come away with me. You would never release the Leviathan then.

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

I am. It is the only hope for any of us.



I can't abandon our world, Lucifer.

[thelightbringer]

[For any of us. Lucifer can only manage a small, almost pained smile.]

There's no hope for me there, regardless, Castiel.

[He also knows Castiel will never be able to pull himself from the Winchesters. But the offer stands.]

If there's no other way to stop yourself there, then--if the only way to save them and stop the Leviathan is to come with me, I want you to keep it in mind. As the last possible option.

But on the topic, where are we at right now, with our plans?

[wingsandwill.livejournal.com]

It is too soon to say.



I understand.



Research, as before. I can't begin to produce a ritual for travel without understanding how this dimension functions, and without a chosen target dimension. At this point, I am missing both factors.

[thelightbringer]

Even if we find a way to bring our memories with us there, Michael will still fight me. Without him, there's nothing there for me. You wouldn't leave Dean...and I can't live there if all he wants is to see me dead.

[But he nods, steepling his fingers and pressing them against his lips as he thinks.]

When you've recovered we'll start training.