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Castiel was glad that the playground was mostly empty that day. Jack didn’t mind the cold because he was half-angel, and while his powers were mostly bound to prevent… this… one thing that was not on lockdown was tolerance of more extreme conditions than your average five-year-old. He hadn’t paid much attention to the other two men at the playground, but he had noticed that one of them spoke with a Russian accent. If the little girl was his and they lived in Russia, it made sense that she would be more comfortable on the playground than your average American five-year-old.
The two men were staring in complete bewilderment, which Castiel could not blame them for. After all, for most people, “one minute my child was a perfectly normal human girl and the next she was a small dragon” was the kind of thing that just did not happen. He would probably have to do some memory modification, as much as he hated the thought.
First thing, though, was to figure out exactly what his son had done and therefore the best way to set things right. He walked over and crouched beside the boy. “Jack. Explain.”
“She wanted to be a dragon! Her name is Ryouko. It means dragon child, or dragonling.” Jack grinned, lighting up the playground. “Her parents meant it as a joke, but it’s real!”
“Jack, dragons are meant to be imaginary,” Castiel said as gently but firmly as he could. “Most people are like Dean, not Sam. They can’t turn into anything but a human.”
“I know, but…” Jack’s smile dimmed and his head dropped. “You think I did this. You think I made her a dragon. I know I’m not supposed to use my powers without permission, Father.”
“Then what did happen?” But something inside Castiel relaxed, just a little. Like all children, Jack had been through lying phases and there were likely more coming, but currently, he was honest about making mistakes or even disobeying his rules.
Jack looked over at Ryouko, who was now flapping her wings trying to get airborne. “I don’t know, Father. I thought it was natural or someone else had done it on purpose for the Dragon Child, but if you thought I did it, then maybe not.”
“Hmmm.” Castiel walked over to Ryouko, staring intently at her. His eyes widened as he realized what had happened. “Jack, are you sure you didn’t do this accidentally? I know you didn’t do it on purpose, but did you feel anything unusual?”
Jack’s pout disappeared after Castiel’s second question. “No, nothing. Why?”
“Because this was done by a nephilim, and as far as I know, you’re the only one alive. I…” Castiel shook his head. Whether Metatron had known or not, Castiel had less reason to believe he was telling the truth about Jane than that he had lied.
By now, of course, Ryouko’s parents had snapped out of things and made their way to the strange man staring at the creature whose form their child was currently in. “Excuse me,” one said. “Can you please explain what’s happened to our daughter?”
“What do you know about angels?” Castiel asked. It seemed as good as anywhere else to begin.
The silver-haired man scoffed. “They’re not what they’re cracked up to be, that’s for sure. Not if the one we know is anything to go by.”
“You know an angel? A real angel?” This was quite the surprise, although he couldn’t blame them for scoffing at angels if they actually knew one. He’d seen the process play out many a time over the millennia.
“Technically only half,” the man admitted. “His mother was human.”
“Well, that explains a lot,” Castiel muttered to himself. “Your acquaintance gifted a small piece of their power to your daughter. I suspect they meant for it to unlock when she was older, but my son here is also half-angel. I’m guessing that exposure to his power, even though it’s bound, combined with them talking about her wish to be a real dragon to cause this.”
The taller man walked off, grumbling about calling someone named Yurio and demanding he fix this. It took a lot longer than Castiel would ever admit to realize that Yurio was not his old friend Uriel back from the dead in a half-angel form, or even likely to be Uriel’s child and named for him. He’d have felt it in the grace seed inside Ryouko.
“Can your son fix this?” the other man asked. “It may take Yurio some time to get here, and in the meantime, a dragon is bound to attract unwanted attention.”
Castiel raised a hand. “I’m an angel. I can rebind her power and shield it so that only the person who granted her the power can unlock it again, as well. If that’s acceptable to you?”
“It is, thank you.” Castiel snapped his fingers, and the little girl was back.
She promptly burst into tears. “I was a dragon, Tousan! A real one!”
“Yes, you were,” he said. “And someday, when you’re older, perhaps you can be again. But for now, it’s best if you stay human all the time and just pretend to be a dragon, okay?”
“But… I was a dragon,” Ryouko wailed.
The other man came back then. “Ryouko, your uncle Yuri wants to talk to you.”
She held out her hands for the phone, and almost immediately, her eyes went glassy. Then she was talking ninety miles an hour about the new friend she made at the park, and how they played dragon and princess and even though she was obviously both he let her choose which one she wanted to be for the game and she chose dragon and got to burn everything down.
“Memory alteration,” Castiel said quietly to the two men who were staring in shock. “I think it’s probably the best way to handle this, at least for now. I assume that’s your nephilim friend on the phone?”
“Yes. And you’re probably right!” the taller man chirped. “He didn’t mean for the power to unlock until she was old enough for him to tell her what he is and teach her to use it responsibly. This way, she won’t be trying to unlock it or badger him into it.”