Apotheosis

Ronald Culpepper didn’t like morgues.

No, wait, that wasn’t right.

Ronald Culpepper hated morgues.

Hershel Horowitz is remembered by exactly one person still alive on Earth.

There is a special “breed” of soul in the After called a “Theo.”

The streets of London can be hazardous to someone who doesn’t have full control of their legs.

Harry Potter has had his share of jolly-good adventures while he studied magic at Hogwarts. Not only did he find out he was the offspring of two of the most powerful people in the Wizarding World, he also became the youngest Seeker in the history of the wizarding school, defeated the evil that lurked in the the Chamber of Secrets, found out that he had a godfather who was a dog most of the time, and was the youngest wizard ever to participate in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Not bad for a person who never knew his parents.

Sometimes authors cannot do anything with their characters. They have no ideas on how to bring certain stories or plots into the fray. The authors might say that it’s like their characters had gone away, and they don’t know where they went. Authors call this phenomenan “writer’s block.”

Watson stifled a yawn as he entered through the doors of the morgue. Already, the smells and utter desolate solitude of the place were getting to him. Nothing much had changed since he and Holmes investigated murders and stared at dead bodies. Only now, everything around him seemed much shinier.

“Home?” Becca began to step away from Watson. “You’re not really a doctor, are you?”

There is an old Earth saying which states that “home is wherever you hang your hat.” Unfortunately, most modern dwellings do not resemble hatracks at all. The idea of home conjures up visions of Thanksgivings spent in front of the television watching oversized novelty balloons pass through New York City (and, amazingly every year, no one has ever been mad enough to try and pop them). Others figure home is someplace one needs to get away from, because once you leave it, you can never go back.

She rocks slowly back and forth, her rhythm unhindered by anything around her. Her heartbeat is tied in with the Earth’s, it is exactly the same as the Earth’s, and so when she rocks, the Earth follows each creak. When she is quite angry, she rocks faster, and the Earth follows suit. When she is angry, the Earth gets angry, and woe betide anyone who gets in the way of her wrath. She is the cause of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and other “natural” disasters. She is mom, and you better have a damn good excuse for not visiting her once in awhile.

The history of the After can be thought of as the history of the human imagination itself, or even of human belief. When the ideas of an afterlife started to be bantered about by certain protigious “almost-humans” like the Neanderthals, the foundations of the After began to take shape. These primitive peoples, seemingly so backwards in everything, were among the first to hold funerals for their dead. They wanted to remember those who had passed away. With that first memory, the After was born.

When Claudius arrives in Hell, he is given a warmer reception than the one he got in Heaven, and that’s not just a figure of speech. Hell, for all intents and purposes, is the hottest place Claudius has ever experienced. Nothing he’s ever felt anywhere else in the After had so much fire. But there is a definite coldness in Hell as well. While one’s external shade experiences the heat of Hell, one’s heart experiences its coldness, that damp desolateness of being alone, forever, without anyone else to comfort you. That is the nature of Hell, and Claudius wonders why so many mortals subject themselves to it.

Dr. John Watson, late of London circa 1880 AD, had never been in an American hospital, circa 2002 AD. When he entered, the smells struck him first. The hospital smelled that exact same sickly sweet smell that he sensed in the morgue. It was really amazing how the past century had changed how medicine was practiced. Back in his day, anyone who was stricken with cancer was given hardly any hope to live. Now, although cancer was not an readicated disease, there were more treatments available to help the patient. Watson wished he had time to marvel at the new medical technology, but he was on a mission and could not spare a moment.

“A premiere?” Harry mutters, dumbfounded. He and Claudius are finally slowing down from their terrible pace and are now leisurely flowing down Claudius’ memory link to Nero.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Watson watched Becca make her slow way down the hospital corridor. It was only a few scant days since she had woken up from her coma, and the “medical miracle of upstate New York” was now on her way back home. “I mean, they said you could have a wheelchair. You don’t have to walk.”

Claudius and Harry arrive in Hogsmeade on the exact moment they left. Suddenly, the hustle and bustle starts up again, and the village springs to life once more.

The Land of Nod once was the sole domain of Adam and Eve’s son, Cain. Cain was the first murderer, and his brother Abel was the first murder victim. After he committed his crime, Cain was exiled into the Land of Nod, where he was doomed to wander forever, haunted by his part in the death of his innocent brother.

Tired.

“Whoa, did I do that?” Ron hurries over to a nearby boulder and examines it. The gigantic piece of granite has been neatly split into two by some powerful force. Ron’s fingers run up and down the smooth surface. “And all without use of a wand.” He smirks. “Wait till Draco sees this, eh Harry?”

Caius arrived in Bethlehem and set off to work immediately. No one stared at the strange man in robes actively seeking to visit the Church of the Nativity. Many residents of the city had seen far worse, far far worse during the conflict in the region which had raged on for almost half a century.

Watson rushes towards the infamous Theo that his hopes is Claudius. The link feels like Claudius. It is a new link, though forged in traversity. Soon, Watson begins to slow down, and he stops right in front of a small glowing ball of light.

Caius continued his summoning ritual, walking around and around the pentagram counterclockwise and repeating the same mantra over and over.

There are certain rules that the various shades and Theos of the After have had to follow in the few thousands of years that the After has existed. For millenia, it was believed that shades and Theos had no real right to interfere in mortal affairs. The dead were dead, and the living were living. And never the twain shall meet.

Watson desperately placed his hands on Becca’s gaping wound in her gut. He thought perhaps that he could stop the bleeding and keep the beast from keeping its shape. One strange side effect of a Theo attempting to do this was that the final essence of Becca’s soul was kept from escaping her body. Lucifer didn’t have all the power, yet.

Hi there, how are ya? Been a long time.
Seems like we’ve come a long way.
My but we learn so slow
And heroes they come and they go
And leave us behind, as if we’re supposed to know why.