Apotheosis

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.

Watson swallows down his fear and mutters, “Claudius?”

The ball stirs and shudders and begins to glow a little bit brighter.

“What has she done to you?” Watson stares at the ball.

“John?” the ball says in a tinny voice.

“Yes, it’s me.” Watson replies. “Good Lord, Claudius. When Harry said you were banished to infamy, I didn’t quite believe it.”

“John...” the ball says again as it begins to stretch and pull itself out into some semblance of a human form.

“Claudius, no!” Watson holds up his hand. “Save your strength. Stay in your ball form.”

“Can’t...” the ball replies. It stretches and pulls and finally resembles Claudius’ Theo form. “It’s not...too...difficult to keep this form. It does get harder...the longer one’s been in infamy.”

Watson steadies himself to keep from falling. Where Claudius is, there is no ground or sky. Just blackness.

“Why did you do this to yourself?” Watson asks. “You didn’t have to take all the blame for what you and Harry did to that nephilim.”

“It’s not as if I had much of a choice,” Claudius replies. “We need Harry’s power. He can’t be punished. I’ve been in infamy before, though I’d forgotten how lonely it can be.”

“All right,” Watson says slowly. “Ah! It’s terrible, Claudius! Truly terrible!”

“Terrible?” Claudius wonders. “Well, I thought Mikey had a good time at that movie premiere, but...you don’t suppose he didn’t like the movie? Oh dear...”

“No, no it’s not that, dear friend,” Watson says. “The infamous Theos are not behind the Apocalypse.”

“Oh, well, I figured that out once I got into infamy,” sighs Claudius. “The others...they’re...persistent, though rather mindless. They’re always in my head, talking to me. They want to link up, but they never want me to join them. Bah, who wants to join up with them anyhow...”

“Ah, Claudius?”

Claudius snaps out of his rant. “Hmmmm?”

“About the Apocalypse...” Watson says. “It’s Lucifer’s doing.”

“Lucifer?” Claudius repeats. He places a misty-looking hand on his misty-looking chin. “You know, when I spoke to him, he seemed oblivious to what had been going on so far, though he did want the end of the world to occur. regardless.”

“And not only that. He stole Harry’s scar.”

“He did what?”

“Apparently, he reached into Harry’s head and pilfered that famous scar of his. There’s powerful evil hidden in it. Not only that. Harry’s gone blind. What are we to do, Claudius? The portents are already showing up on Earth. And the summoning ritual has begun.”

“Who’s doing the ritual?”

“We’ve no idea, Claudius. Everyone else is in Nod, with no way out.” Watson sighs deeply. “I’m at a loss about what to do.”

“We let the ritual happen,” Claudius replies.

“We...do...we let it happen?” Watson asks, a puzzled look on his face. “But Claudius, we can’t! The end of the world, and of all the realms of the After?”

“Once the infamous Theos see that they’re not to be a part of Lucifer’s plan, they’ll turn around to our side.” Claudius suddenly holds his head in pain. “AAAAHHHH! They’ve been...listening in...they...they know...Oh, NOW they wish to talk to me...Too difficult to keep this form...” In an instant, Claudius shrinks down into a ball again.

Despite the danger of joining Claudius in infamy, Watson wrings his hands and decides to listen in on the conversation. He stretches out his hand close to the ball and picks up some snatches of the strange bickering going on among all the Theos of infamy.

“...see...betrayed...destroy...too late...”

Watson feels a strong tugging on his hand, and he must remove his hand quickly before the infamous drag him down to join them.

“...too late...” the ball says. “Much...too late...”

“They’re not going to help, are they?” Watson says.

“No...they...don’t care...”

“Then it’s true, we’re doomed.” Watson shakes his head. “Claudius, I wish I could draw you out of infamy, but it’s not my choice. It’s the mortals. And I don’t think they’ll care so much about you when they find out that the end of the world is coming up very very soon.” Watson feels around the area on his chest and finds the link he has to Becca. The link is new, but very very strong. “Farewell, Claudius.”

“Wait...some...want to stop...wait...”

Watson grabs his link and wraps his hands around it to stop himself from sliding back towards the Land of Nod. “What’s the matter now?”

“Cain...Cain comes...”

Another ball of light, much dimmer and grayer than the one that represents Claudius, floats towards Watson. The ball unfurls revealing the figure of Cain. It is the form of a man haunted by his past, gaunt and ailing.

“So difficult...to speak...so long...without a voice...without a name...” Cain whispers slowly. “I had forgotten...how much it hurts. The guilt. It’s easy to forget things...in infamy.”

“What have you got in mind?” Watson asks. “As it is, I think we’ve just about exhausted all the other options.”

“Let Lucifer be reborn,” Cain’s voice creaks. “Once he has a flesh and blood body, it will be much easier to defeat him. I’ve watched that one for a long time. Watched him and waited. Once he gathered up the infamous ones, it was easy for him to start the Apocalypse rolling.”

“Is that all we have to do? Wait?” Watson asks.

“Yes, watch and wait. He will be reborn soon. The summoning ritual is long, but almost over,” Cain says. “Caius is a shrewd one, but awfully gullible.”

“Caius???” the ball that used to be Claudius shudders and unfurls into a human-like form. “This is Caius’ doing???”

“Yes, your nephew. It seems, dear emperor, that you’ve got a rather uppity family tree, haven’t you?” Cain manages a rather misty, glowy smile.

“I shan’t respond to that,” Claudius growls. “Your mother sent me here in the first place.” His aura suddenly glows brighter and brighter. “I must deal with my nephew.”

“Claudius, you can’t. You’re in infamy...” Watson says.

Claudius now glows so brightly that he looks like he’s aflame. “Damn him!” His form becomes more and more defined until he actually becomes as solid as Watson.

“Good Lord!” Watson mutters. “Have you just broken out of infamy?”

Claudius glares furiously at Watson. “I’ll pound that idiot into pulp! How dare he dishonor our family like this! My own brother’s son! He has no right to be called Caius...”

“I think he’s angry...” Cain says, raising his eyebrows.

Watson nods warily. “I’ve never seen so much rage in a Theo before. It’s not wonder he broke free.”

“Let’s go,” Claudius grunts. He signals to Watson to follow him as he tugs and follows his link to Caius.

“Yes,” says Watson, eying Claudius as if the Roman’s hair had just turned a bright shade of pink. “But, Harry, and the others, they’re still in the Land of...”

“WE GO!” Claudius bellows, grabbing his link and riding down towards Earth.

“This is madness,” Watson says softly. “Well, I do thank you for you help, Cain. I’m sorry you’re in infamy.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, Watson,” Cain says, curling back up into a glowing ball. “Rage...is the key...”

Watson shakes his head before following Claudius down towards Earth. He now marvels at the strange twists and turns his After-life had taken since that moment Claudius arrived at 221B Baker Street. Watson never thought he’d visit present-day Earth, or even meet someone like Becca.

Becca!

“Claudius! I can’t go with you! I’ve got to get back to Becca!”

“Why do you care about a mortal?” Claudius growls, his rage still in full effect. “She can’t be with you in the After! Not until she’s dead!” He turns away from Watson and speeds faster towards Earth.

“Blast!” exclaims Watson. “God in Heaven, Claudius. Don’t you know a man in love when you see it with your own two eyes?”

Claudius eases his speed, slowing down enough for Watson to catch up with him. “In love? With a mortal? You’re a bigger idiot than I am.”

“I...I don’t care,” Wwatson replies.

“Look at you,” Claudius sighs. “Simpering like a schoolboy. It’s made you weak.”

“Weak? But...isn’t it the links of love and friendship which strengthens us Theos? Love gives us power...”

“I believe I’ve just proven that rage is the most powerful emotion of all, John.” Claudius smirks and speeds off so quickly that Watson can’t follow him.

Watson watches as Claudius disappears from sight. Then, he grabs his link to Becca and begins the long ride back to her.

***

“Maybe we could try using our own powers to help him,” Ron says, still staring at Harry’s dead eyes.

“How would you feel if you had two powerful lightning bolts aimed directly at your skull?” Hermione snaps.

“All right, all right, I’m sorry,” Ron says. “It was just a thought, that’s all. It’s so hard to stand around and do nothing while the world’s about to end.”

“Would you please stop saying that?” Hermione says.

“Saying what? The end of the world?” Ron says. “It’s going to happen, isn’t it? That, whoever it is is going to be born. All I know is that he’s going to be more powerful than You-Know-Who and all of his Death Eaters put together. He’s going to destroy the world, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Because we’re here, and Harry’s gone blind!”

“Shut up, Ron!” exclaims Hermione.

“Stop it! Both of you!” Harry shouts. “What good is it to be fighting each other?”

“Uh, guys...” Becca says slowly.

“We can’t just sit here!” Ron says.

“Guys,” Becca repeats.

“What else can we do?” Hermione says.

“Guys!” Becca says clearly. “There’s something watching us. Over there.” She points towards the east.

“Get ready, Hermione. Harry, aim a bit to the right,” Ron says. “We can all hit it if it gets too close.”

“Okay,” Harry says, spreading out his fingertips towards the far-away threat.

Hermione nods briskly. “Stay behind us, Becca. We’ll protect you.”

Becca rolls her eyes slightly and gets in the venter of the circle formed by the Trio. Getting helped by three characters from a popular line of children’s books wasn’t her idea of a great day, but then again, she didn’t want to die today either.

The nightmare, if one could call an oversized chocolate cake a nightmare, and some do, was minding its own business, haunting some child’s mind after said child had over-eaten. It was a normal cake, with creamy frozsting and flowers made of icing lining its sides.

The cake had just finished another successful nightmare, frightening its creator so much that the child had to wake up, go to the bathroom, and then walk into mommy and daddy’s room begging to sleep with them. Then came the obligatory scolding, the “Didin’t I tell you not to eat so much” and the silent realization that the married couple will never have enough privicy for, ahem, other personal things, ever again.

Now the cake was content to sit in the Land of Nod and await the next time little Billy overate, when suddenly a strange urge came opon it. It was the urge to find a certain woman who was in the Land of Nod at that very moment. The cake had no idea where the urge was coming from. ONly that the urge was strong and that it was close to its target.

The cake, having no real mind of its own, decides that yes, perhaps today is a good day for a kidnapping. It lumbers towards its selected target. At first it wonders how it will trap the woman, since it has no arms or legs to speak of, but then it begins to change. The same urge that was telling it to go and get that woman also begins to mutate the cake. The cake grows to humongous proportions, and a mouth appears betweeen each of its three layers.

Yes, realizes the cake, that will do quite nicely.

Ron is the first one to see the monster clearly. “It’s huge! It’s mounstrous!”

“It’s a cake,” Becca says quite slowly.

“So it is,” Ron replies, with all the surprise of someone soaking wet who has just been told that it’s raining. “Um...this shouldn’t be too hard.”

“We shouldn’t underestimate it,” Hermoine says. “These nightmares are after Becca for a reason.”

The cake propells itself forward like a slug, leaving a trail of sandy frosting behind it. It lets out a sticky roar from its two mouths before rushing towards Becca. Bolts of power emit from the Trio’s fingertips, but the sugar in the cake appears to absorb it all.

“What’s happening?” Harry asks.

“It’s not working,” Ron sighs.

“Try a more powerful blast!” Harry says.

“All right. Harry, aim up!” Hermione exclaims.

The Trio attack the gigantic cake once again, and once again their attempt has been thwarted by the cake’s sugary interior. The cake blinks its frosting flower rosette eyes at Becca, as if sizing her up, and then lunges at her. The cake swallows her in one gulp. Becca hardly has time to scream before her shouts are muffled by chocolaty goo.

“NOOOO!” Watson comes charging across the desert, blssting away crazily at the cake.

“Watson! Stop! You might hurt Becca. She’s inside that bloody thing!” Ron says.

Watson stops dead in his tracks, his arms hanging limp. “I’ve failed her.” He sits down dejectedly, watching the cake lumber away.

“We’ve got to follow it,” Hermione suggests. “Maybe it’ll lead us to whomever wants to get a hold of Becca.”

Ron nods and calls over to Watson. “Excuse me, but if you don’t mind, we’re going to try and rescue Becca. Do you want to join us or not?”

Watson gives a determined look at the cake before getting up and following it.

“I suppose that’s a yes,” Ron sighs.

Hermione grabs Harry’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Ron blinks at Hermione’s action before realizing that someone had to lead the now-blind Harry. And Ron was sure he didn’t want to take a hold of Harry’s hand. “Yeah, alright,” mutters Ron as the Trio takes off in a run to catch up with Watson.

Posted by Michelle at November 27, 2002 8:57 AM