Supernatural Odyssey: Death and Rebirth

Chapter 40

There was a flutter of wings. Sam felt himself being torn through the fabrics of reality as Michael flew him across dimensions. "You will be taught the ways of your duties." Michael informed him as he pushed him down onto a hard, stone floor. "And you will have a tutor to guide you."

"One day, I swear, I'll have your head on a stake..." Sam glared into Michael's eyes. "One day, when you show up at my doorway, asking for my service, I will slam that door in your face." Around him was a stone structure with a tall dome and a throne on the far side. "Where the hell am I?" In the center of the room was an infinite Orrery of Universes, surrounded by a sphere of the various god pantheons.

"The Monitor Sphere," said Michael calmly. "Your tutor resides here." And with that, he plunged his fingertips into Sam's chest, releasing holy white light from his palm. He wailed in pain and struggled against Michael's grip to no avail; the light spread around his body, forming vaporous streaks of nigh-indestructible bonds which bound his essence to The Monitor Sphere.

Michael released him, letting him drop to his knees, panting in pain. "Over-Monitor! Come out!" Immediately, the air in front of them shimmered and a dark skinned man dressed in silvery Monitor armor flickered into existence before them. "Whatever The Over-Monitor demands, you are bound to obey!" Then, in a flutter of wings, Michael disappeared. "You are ordered by God!"

"Hello Sam Winchester." A familiar baritone voice greeted him, making him groan. A pair of booted legs walked into view. "It's good to see you again."

"Fuck you, Mar Novu, fuck you," Sam grumbled.

"Or not." Mar Novu rolled his eyes. "Shall we begin?"

"No. Let's not."

Mar Novu ignored him. Walking up the Orrery of Universes, he raised his hands, drawing one single universe from the infinitely vast crowd, and willed it to enlarge around them. They passed galaxies, stars, planets, zooming in towards its center at speeds incomprehensibly faster than light. A mere second ago, they were viewing an infinite multiverse from a bird's eye, and the next, they were standing in a small village, surrounded by thick woods.

"Come on, man!" Sam wailed, "planet Earth?! Are you trying to give me a fucking Vietnam flashback?!"

"Excuse me?"

"Nevermind." He just remembered, Mar Novu had been reformed in a new Multiverse. He did not remember the Nyarlathotep incident. "Forget it. What the hell do I do?!"

"Wait."

Suddenly, a despairing cry rang through the village. "MOTHER!!!" The older brother whom he had met briefly during his trip to this planet, the man named Klaus, came running out from the woods. "MOTHER!!!" His voice was full of pain and sorrow as he carried the corpse of Henrik in his arms.

"Oh my god..." An older woman, presumably his mother, and another young man and woman, came running from the house. "No, no!! What happened?!" The older woman demanded, "Niklaus, tell me!"

"The wolves..." Klaus said through sobs, "we wanted to watch them transform...Henrik got too close." Elijah, the young man, pressed his hands on Henrik's wounds as if hoping to stop the bleeding. There was no more blood left in him to bleed.

"Ayana!" Esther begged an older black woman, "please. You've got to do something! There must be a way!"

"The spirits won't give us a way." Ayana told her sadly, "I'm sorry, but your son is gone."

"It is your duty now." Mar Novu told Sam, "His body has died. It is time for his soul to move on."

"Over-Monitor, please." Sam sighed, "he's only a child."

"No." replied Mar Novu definitively, "you are Death. You must be there for the young and the old, those who die alone and those who die with family. Be glad he got to die with his brother at his side."

Sam looked away. The young woman, Rebekah, was now weeping over the corpse of her brother. "Couldn't I just make Nekron do this dirty work? I'm sure he's willing to." He begged, "I know the spell to bring him here."

"Yes you can, but not this time." Mar Novu insisted, "it is important that you understand all aspects of your new job, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Also, Nekron is not the one you call to reap souls. You must take him, Sam."

Closing his eyes, Sam walked up to Henrik and gently tapped his arm, severing his soul from his body. "Why?" Henrik's ghost asked quietly. "Why me? Why now? My life's barely just begun and I--my brothers and my sister--"

Sam avoided his eyes. "Blame this motherfucker." He gestured at Mar Novu, "it's his fault."

Just then, the air warped before them and a woman appeared before them, fair and beautiful on one side but like a rotting zombie on the other. In her decaying hand, she wielded a long metal scythe and wore a tattered, almost rotting, black chiton that looked like it might disintegrate in the wind at any minute. Her face, even the normal side, displayed a gloomy, down-cast appearance of detachment.

"Hello, Henrik." The woman said grimmly, "and hello, Sam Winchester. I believe you to be the newest member of the Endless."

"Uhh...yes?"

"Hela, goddess of Death." She introduced herself, extending her hand for a shake, "I serve as the reaper of all mortals who believe in Odin Allfather and the gods of Asgard." Sam shook her hand lightly before quickly backing away. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Death of The Endless."

Hela turned to Henrik Mikaelson. "It's your time to go, child." She offered an inviting hand to the frightened boy. "Where will I go?" Henrik asked. "Let's find out." Hela told him boredly, "shall we?"

The boy reluctantly took her hand. The air warped again and then they were gone. "Tell me he's somewhere happy." Sam whispered quietly, "tell me he's at peace or I'll carve your heart out, Over-Monitor!"

"His soul resides in Valhalla." Mar Novu replied, "the paradise of warriors. The boy went down fighting, Sam, to protect his brother. Odin has seen his bravery, and he will be rewarded for it." Sam looked at him questioningly. "I know because it is my job to know." Mar Novu added, "I am the Over-Monitor."