Andromeda took the bag of glass shards emptying it out on the map. Closing her eyes she waved a hand over the glass covered map. The map began to curl and turn black as smoke wafted from holes burning in the paper. And as if someone poured gasoline on the map it went up in an inferno. Smoke blew into Dean’s face causing him to cough and step back.
Blinking the tears out of his eyes Dean looked back at the table on fire. The fire was out. In its place, the shards of the mirror had melted into a blob in the middle of the table.
Andromeda picked up the blob of glass and brought it to her lips and kissed it. Cracks began to appear in the glass the quickly filled with gold.
As she handed it to Aggie she said, “This trinket will light the way to where the mirror once lead. After that, you will be on your own to find Nameless.”
Aggie bowed deeply then hand the magical compass to Dean. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out 3 wooden tokens and handed them to Andromeda before shifting back to his cat form.
“With this, our deal is done and paid,” Aggie said.
Andromeda smiled sadly at him and bent down to kiss him on the forehead before saying, “only for now.” Turning to Dean a familiar silver cigarette case appeared in her hand. Opening it she plucked 3 silver nails that were identical to his iron ones. “These are for you but I will hold onto the others until Nameless is back with me.”
Then she gently kissed him on the cheek. Euphoria exploded inside him as all the feelings of a spring love flooded his system. And as quickly as it began it was gone and Dean was left there standing with his eyes closed. Grasping feebly at those fleeting feelings of happiness he finally gave up and opened his eyes to say goodbye.
Instead, he found himself standing in an unfamiliar field. Andromeda was gone along with the gazebo, table, and chairs. Turning around in a circle nothing looked familiar but, in the distance, he could just see a tree line.
“Which way oh noble knight,” Aggie asked in his normal condescending tone.
“Uh,” Dean replied before holding his globe up and turning a circle until It lit up. “This was,” Dean said as he began to forge a path through the field of flowers.
“Stop,” Aggie commanded stopping Dean in his tracks. “This is the Grimmlands so you should only take paths that are clearly marked.”
“It's just a bunch of flowers,” Dean countered. “What can they really do?” he asked feeling smug as a bug in a rug.
Aggie shrugged his shoulders in a superior way only a cat could and stayed in place on the trail.
Turning around to continue Dean felt a burning sensation on his free hand. Looking down he saw a razor thin cut welling up with blood. The plants around him began to undulate in excitement. Dean felt another burning sensation coming from his leg. The plants started to move around him like sharks smelling blood in the water.
Vines began to wrap around his legs, thorns biting into his legs through his pants. Reaching down and pulling at the vines failed to free him. Even stabbing them with his new silver nails failed to free him. Beginning to panic his new nails reacted to his subconscious. Spinning fast enough to be a blur they began cutting through the plants like a hot knife through butter.
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Crawling away from the plants being weed whacked by his nails. He collapsed on the trail covered in superficial wounds and shaking like a baby deer. Looking up at Aggie with his smug grin on his cat face as he rolled over onto his back.
“You could have warned me,” Dean said as he calmed his breathing.
“Ula did,” Aggie replied, “You just need to listen better.”
The nails flew back to Dean hovering over him protectively after mowing through the plants. With little effort or will Dean began to make them spin faster until they sounded like angry bees before suddenly stopping.
As they hovered perfectly in still in the air, “These nails are amazing. So easy to control,” Dean said.
Aggie scoffed at that saying, “It's because we are in the Grimmlands. Magic moves here much more naturally with reality putting limits on it.” Then added, “Now get up your wasting time.”
Standing up then dusting himself off Dean he felt the note from Santiago. Pulling it out of his pocket he opened and read 4242 written in sloppy handwriting. Something niggled him about that number until he thought about the day so far.
“I think Santiago gave us the new keycode to that door in the tunnel,” Dean said.
“I don’t think we will need it,” Aggie replied as he started walking down the trail. “Not until we talk to Dorios about what I heard down there.”
Dean followed him, occasionally swinging the glass orb around. It only ever lit up when pointed at the field of man-eating flowers.
“Hey Aggie,” Dean said as he pointed at the field, “What type of flowers are those.”
Aggie looked at the field. “Those aren’t flowers. They are most likely nothing but an amalgamation of myths, stories, and legends about plants that consume flesh made substantial. Everything in the Grimmlands are merely reflections of the world made physical. Strong emotions, history, and even legends that have been shared enough can become physical here,” Aggie said in his most professor like tone.
“So could we see Spiderman or Batman here?” Dean asked.
“That is possible but nobody but small children believe that those are real. The reason legends and myths become real is that before science that is how things were explained,” Aggie replied. “Children tend to not have the ability to focus long enough for something to become real.”
“So Santa Claus wouldn’t be real here then,” Dean replied as they continued walking.
“No, Santa Claus is definitely real here. He is based on a real man that has blended with countless myths,” Aggie said. “But he is more like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
“What does that mean?” Dean asked.
“It means if you ever meet him you better not be on the naughty list,” Aggie said. “And that you need to read more of the books we got at the library.”
Before Dean could reply to that their world shifted to a dark and dreary city landscape. Their trail became a pitted road, with skeletal vehicles parked along it. A light drizzle of rain came through the fog that obscured rooftops. Dean could see parts of the building had been burned and the smell of mold and earth filled the air.
“Looks like we are in Pioneer square,” Aggie said quietly.
“Why do the buildings look burnt?” Dean asked back in the same hushed tone. Something about this area felt reverent. Like a church or library.
“Most likely from the war Dorios waged in 1889 to become the Baron of Washington,” Aggie said. “I was in Egypt at the time but the news even reached there.”
“What did he do,” Dean whispered back a little too loudly.
The sound of a can being kicked echoed from an alley causing both of them to freeze. Holding perfectly still, Dean had his new nails ready if anything came at them. Glowing eyes blinked open and watched them for a moment before closing as if they lost interest. Dean and Aggie slowly backed away until they felt a safe distance away.
“From what I know is that Seattle, Ellensburg, and Spokane all burned that summer from battles,” Aggie began. “Battles Dorios fought alone against insurmountable odds and came out on top. That is how he became the Baron of Washington by his own hand.”
“Then why was he working as a barista,” Dean asked. “If he is so strong.”
“That is something you should ask him then,” Aggie replied. “Now quit asking so many questions and see where that bauble wants us to go.”
Dean lifted it up and pointed in the direction that the field of flowers would have been. The bauble refused to light up even as he shook it. Spinning around in a circle it finally lit up. Back in the direction of the alley with the glowing eyes that were again staring at them.