Pairings: Dean/Castiel, Sam/Gabriel, past Michael/Adam, and Anna/OMC
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic AU, Fantasy, Dryads and Naiads, Future!Fic, Forest Setting, Memory Loss, Magic
Summary: The Wilds of Battlegrave are bordered by a mountain pass on the North and a sea to the East. In this vast and sprawling forest, a young dryad called Dean and an ancient water nymph named Castiel must learn to put aside their deep-seated differences and reconcile the demons of a half-remembered history if they are to have a chance of finding love in one another. Will their love survive the uncovering of long-buried memories from a time since passed, or will the truth prove to be their ruination?
Excerpt: Dean wandered around the forest in a haze. Half-forgotten ghosts of memories began to surface in his mind, but they slipped away as soon as he tried to grasp at them.
By some miracle, he found his way home. It was only then that he realized he still had the necklace in his hands. He picked it up, held it to the light, and drew it close to his chest.
Only then did he let himself fall to the forest floor. He started to sob.
Sam rushed out of their dwelling, took one look at Dean, and tutted in that way of his, lowering himself to the ground to wrap his arms around his brother. “Oh, Dean,” he said. “What happened?”
Dean turned to his brother. “It feels like my whole life is a lie,” he whispered.
“Did he break your heart?” Sam asked, gently.
Nodding, Dean searched Sam’s eyes. Someone must have loved him. In another life. An angel. He smiled, tears flooding his eyes.
“Castiel…” Dean let his voice trail off. He wasn’t sure who Sam had been to him in another life, but here, now, they were brothers, and that bond was stronger than anything else he’d ever known. “He told me things. About the Before Times. And the Great Awakening. Things I’m not sure I believe.”
“Dean,” Sam said, cautiously. “Castiel is an ancient being. All the dryads of the forest know that. I’ve met him, once or twice. I told you he was dangerous, but I don’t think he’d lie. Tell me… Tell me what he said to you.”
For a long moment, Dean hesitated. To burden Sam with this knowledge would be wrong – wouldn’t it? Or did he deserve to know? And why hadn’t anyone come calling for his hand, if he truly had been so loved by an angel in a past life? “Come inside, and I’ll tell you everything.”
And so the night went. The moon rose, the crickets began to chirp from their perches low in the grass, the stirring sounds of the waking world preparing for sleep served as a lullaby as Dean told Sam everything he knew, all at once in a rush of words and sentiments. Sam made him tell it again, slower this time, and Dean did.
By the time the stars had faded into view, both brothers emerged to watch them, forever changed. Their comfortable little life had come and gone, ruined in one fell swoop by the horrible truth – they were the remnants of a world gone wrong, and nothing could ever change that.
