Apotheosis

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.

Of course, human beings, being human beings, always tended to break the rules no matter how difficult or frightening it was to return to the mortal realm. We have already mentioned the interference of Theos like Elvis and Jesus in mortal lives. There are hundreds of other Theos who do this, go back to the mortal realm in order to gain a bit more power back in the After.

It was believed that no shade should visit their relatives in the mortal realm. They in the After would just have to be content with watching their living loved ones from afar and never attempt to try and talk to them.

Unfortunately, human beings are stubborn, unstable creatures, and most of them don’t give a damn about rules when these rules stand in the way of what they truly desire. This explains the abundance of ghost sightings throughout the world. The dead just can’t seem to leave their mortal lives behind.

Of course, this does not explain human beings like John Edward. He and other ‘psychics’ of his ilk, are in a different realm altogether. The dead do not talk through mediums. If the truly dead wanted to speak to someone, they would just visit the living mortal in person.

But we shall leave off on the After’s opinion of John Edward.

Another strange stipulation of this non-interference rule is that the Theos who are religious, God and Lucifer, are never to appear in the mortal realm. Despite evidence to the contrary, usually supplied by bored Theos with nothing better to do with their time, (Huck Finn enjoys this immensely, for example) God and his Hellish counterpart have never appeared in the realm of the living.

Lucifer wants to change all of that. He is tired of being the bad guy, of being blamed for all the evil in the world. Of course, he is the Theo manifestation of evil, and that is all he is: a manifestation. He and his entire realm was created by mortal human beings to help externalize their own personal struggles with good and evil. Good was exemplified by God, and evil was exemplified by the Devil.

Lucifer always thought that this was a bad rap. It was not his fault for anything the mortals did, and yet some people still believed that he was a powerful force in the mortal realm. He couldn’t even influence anyone if he tried. It was a stipulation, a rule.

Lucifer hates rules.

Rules took him from being a beloved angel to becoming the Master of Hell, only because someone had to be the bad guy, the nemesis.

Now, Lucifer is taking advantage of an interesting side effect of the mortals’ strong beliefs in religious systems.

He is going to be reborn as the anti-Christ. This will harbor, according to the many prophesies made by mortals, the end of the world. The Apocalypse. But Lucifer will not stop there. He wants the complete and utter anihilation of the whole of existence, Earth, the universe, and the After all destroyed in one fell swoop.

If he gathers up all the power gained from wars, all the power gained from hate and evil, he will grow strong enough to manifest himself on Earth and start a chain reaction. With all the power of the infamous Theos in his grasp, he would have enough destructive force to tear reality apart.

But he needed a body.

Mortals only really truly believe in things that have flesh and blood and bone. Mortals are funny this way. They could go on and on about how they believe in God, but then someone else could simply say that there is no proof God exists, so why believe in him at all? In the end, the skeptical mortals must be placated. They must see and feel and hear with their primitive senses. Electrical signals to the brain. That’s all the senses are. Would that be enough for anyone to believe?

Yes.

The final victims had been gathered up and taken to Bethlehem. Their souls are trapped. No longer in the mortal realm, nor in the After, the souls which Lucifer will use in his birth are truly stuck. Their blood, their flesh have already been used as a sacrifice. Now all Lucifer needs are their souls, their shades.

Except for one descendent of the innocent victims, things had been going smoothly for Caius’ ritual.

***

“But, you’re leaving? So soon?” Henry asks. “You just got here!”

“The ritual’s already begun,” Watson says. “We can’t sit idly and let the world end. Especially since Claudius went down there in a full rage. If he can’t keep control of himself, and he does have a bad temper, I can assure you of that. If he can’t keep control of himself, he’ll fall victim to Lucifer the same as all the others.”

“Well, it was nice meeting you finally, dear,” Anna grins, as both she and her husband hug Becca tightly.

“I hope I don’t have to see you too soon,” Becca says, grinning.

“Rebecca, please don’t forget us. You know what happens if you do,” Henry says.

“Forget you?” Becca asks. “How can I ever forget my own great-grandparents? I’ll never forget. I promise.”

“And we promise to remember you, dear,” Anna adds. “Not everyone realizes that, you know.”

Becca gazes at Henry and Anna with a slightly confused look on her face. What the hell did that really mean anyway?

“Farewell, dearest!” Anna takes a hold of Henry.

“Remember, we believe in you!” Henry says, tugging on a memory link. “We always will!” His voice fades away as both he and his wife speed off, following the memory link to who knows where.

“Let’s go,” Harry mutters. “We don’t have much time. Hermione? Ron? Do you remember what I taught you about flesh bodies?”

Ron gives a puzzled shrug.

Hermione sighs, being a bit thankful that Harry wouldn’t be able to see that. “Yes, I think I do. And I think I can help Ron.”

“Good, because we’re going to need mortal bodies if we’re to go to the living realm,” Harry says. “Watson, do we just follow the links?”

“Yes, yes, we follow the links,” Watson says, nodding. He tugs on his link to Claudius once again, but finds it strangely slack. No longer is it the small but taunt piece of wire he followed a few moments before. “He’s not at the end of this,” Watson mutters.

Harry feels around his own memory link with Claudius. “You’re right. He’s not. But my link with Eve is strong. Perhaps she’ll know what to do.”

Watson stares at Harry for a few moments. “We can’t bring Becca with us if we go back to Home. She can’t exist in the After unless she’s here in the Land of Nod.”

“You won’t have to,” Eve says, popping in from nowhere.

“Where did you come from?” Watson asks, surprised out of his wits.

“I am Eve. I’m the oldest Theo still existing in the After. I saw the After created, my dear Watson. What makes you think I don’t know any of the shortcuts?”

“Well, are you going to blast us into infamy or wherever you want?” Ron asks cynically.

“Ron, don’t anger her!” Hermione whispers.

“I still stand by what I did,” Eve says. “It was wrong of him to treat my grandchild like that. And it was wrong of him to take the blame for you, Harry.”

Harry gulps. “Are, are you going to send me into infamy as well?”

“As much as I’d like to at this very moment, Harry, and believe me, I do very much would like to see you as nothing but a small ball of sickly gray-light...”

Here, Ron flinches and attempts to knock Eve down. Hermione holds him back, rather successfully.

“As much as I want to see you in infamy, Harry, I can’t. Your fans won’t let me. Their belief in you is much to powerful for me to go up against. Never forget the power of fame, Harry. And never let it go to your head, either. Anyhow. Yes, I do know where that idiot Claudius is.” Eve crosses her arms. “He is in Bethlehem, or at least his body his. I can’t for the life of me sense where his soul is at this very moment. Lucifer’s got it, probably, the way he has the other infamous Theos in his grasp.”

“Bethlehem? Oh dear Lord,” mutters Watson. “It’s the poem, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Lucifer always had a yearning for the dramatic,” Eve says. “Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born. He is, at that. He’s gathering up all the Theos of infamy. And he was the one who had figured out how to bring them together in the first place. How to make them share their meager powers with one another. How to become strong. Only to take advantage of them. Amazing, isn’t it? He doesn’t want to be evil and yet here he is betraying a huge mass of betrayers.”

“Bethlehem.” Watson says. “Send us there. In mortal bodies.”

“But my non-interference...”

“Fuck your non-interference!” Becca exclaims. “You don’t give a damn about all the mortals in the living realm? And you call yourself a mother! You don’t deserve that title!”

“I was wondering when you’d show your teeth, my dear,” Eve says, unfazed by Becca’s sudden outburst. “It’s agreed then. I deliver you down to Bethlehem, and you stop the end of existence from happening. That will be the extent of my involvement.”

“Why do you have this non-interference rule, anyhow?” Hermione asks. “Wouldn’t it be better if you could help humanity whenever you wished to?”

“Doesn’t work that way,” Eve shakes her head. “The more I don’t interfere, the more those mortals believe in me. Another side effect of the way religion works. Proof denies faith, and without faith, I am nothing.”

“Okay, okay, you didn’t have to quote Douglas Adams,” Becca sighs.

“Why, it was my idea in the first place,” Eve grins. “I was his muse.”

“Some muse, it took him forever to finish off his books,” Becca says.

“Would you like to meet him? Douglas is in the After, of course.” Eve smiles.

“Can I? I mean, no! This is serious. The end of the world is coming. We can’t wait while I meet an author.” Becca is standing next to Watson now.

“Very well,” Eve sighs. “Perhaps someday, if I remember, I’ll send him to you.” With a snap of her fingers, Eve sends the intrepid group down to Earth.

***

When will they get here?

“Soon, soon. That twit of a detective, no, he’s not even a detective, he’s a bloody SIDEKICK!” Caius said, pacing around and around the pentagram. “I think he’ll be clever enough to find out where Claudius is.”

I need that woman!

“And you’ll get her, I assure you. Those Theos are blindly heroic. It’s in their very essences to save the world. And here they are, right on cue. I could set my watch by you, Watson. That is, if I had a watch,” Caius grinned madly.

“What did you do?” Becca said, staring at the piles of bodies scattered around the pentagram. “What did you do? All these people! You son of a bitch!” She tried to strangle Caius, but Ron held her back.

“Steady, it’s what he wants, remember?” Ron muttered softly. “You’re the last one.”

“Claudius?” Watson said slowly.

“My dear, sweet, misguided uncle is lying in a pool of blood right over there,” Caius pointed over to one of the points of the pentagram. “Most of his Theo power hadn’t disspiated yet before Eve sent him into infamy. He was a good choice.”

“Claudius?” Harry called out. “You killed him?”

“Oh, my. Harry,” Caius said. “Still as blind as a cavefish I see. Oops! Sorry about that.”

“I could still defeat you,” Harry said. “I can and I will.”

“Now, how are you going to do that?” Caius asked. “You’re blind. Your famous scar is gone. How is Harry Potter going to try and save the world this time?”

“I have one thing you don’t have, Caius,” Harry said slowly.

Caius raised his eyebrows. “And what, pray tell, is that one thing?”

Harry smirked. “Friends.”

Ron, Hermione, and Watson all pooled together their powers and sent a blast towards Caius that sent the man flying into the nearest wall.

“Oh, very clever,” Caius said. “But, who needs friends when you have power?” He threw a blast of energy back towards the group, sending Ron and Watson flying. They both landed with a sickening crunch onto a pile of rubble.

“Ron!” Hermione exclaimed, rushing towards his side.

“I can pick you off one at a time,” Caius grinned.

The girl!

“What?” Caius said.

The girl! She is unguarded!

“Right!” Caius scrambled to get near Becca. He grabbed her by the shoulders and struggled to get his knife out.

“Let go of me! Bastard!” Becca bit down hard on Caius’s arm. He didn’t even flinch.

“Foolish woman, do you think I would be afraid of pain?” Caius growled. “Say goodbye to your body.” He drew out his knife and was about to plunge it straight into her gut.

Harry managed to grab Caius’s legs and threw him off-balance. He lost his hold on Becca and she scurried away from him.

“Blind bastard!” Caius said, struggling to get up from his back. “I’ll kill you myself!”

No! The girl! She must be sacrificed. She is the last one!

Caius scowled in Harry’s direction before going after Becca again.

“You stay away from me!” Becca yelled. “You son of a bitch better stay away from me!”

Caius managed to plunge his knife into her gut. He twisted it, flicking his wrist one way then the other. “Does it hurt? Good...”

Becca howled in pain, and Harry followed the sound of her voice.

“Becca?” Harry yelled.

“Harry? John...” Becca sighed weakly.

“No!” Watson stumbled towards Becca, even though he was bleeding from wounds all over his makeshift body. “Becca...” He managed to gather enough energy to blast Caius away from Becca’s side.

“It’s too late, John,” Becca said. “It’s too late...”

“Becca? No,” Watson said. “It’s never too late, in the After.”

“But, we’re not in the After,” Becca said. Her blood was flowing freely now, seeping and joining with the pentagram on the floor.

“Becca?” Watson began to shake her. “Becca? Becca! BECCA! Open your eyes! Please, for pity’s sake, open your eyes. Becca? BECCA!”

“She’s gone now,” Caius said, leaning against a small boulder. “You can’t reach her. She’s part of him now.”

The ground began to rumble and shake, throwing everyone off-balance. Hermione, sitting next to a prone Ron, was thrown on top of him. She blushed furiously before scrambling off of him. She hoped Ron was unconscious enough to not notice.

“It starts, now...” Caius said, coughing up blood. “And now!” He plunged his bloody knife into his own gut. “Take my power as well!” He fell prone in the center of the pentagram, his blood joining and mingling with the rest.

The pentagram began to glow with a bright red light. The light soon grew intense enough to become fire.

Watson watched from Becca’s side. “Harry! Step backwards! The floor’s opening up in front of you!”

Harry did what he was told. He backed up until his was up against a nearby wall.

Something began to claw out from the pentagram. Something very very large. Its wings, pitch black and feathered, spread out from the hole first. Then the rest of the body followed. Its skin was scaled with reddish pieces that seemed to shine like rubies. Its face was that of a man. A very beautiful man. However, the rest of its body proclaimed it a monster. Its hands ended in claws, its feet were hooves. It was evil incarnate. Hermione cowered. She felt afraid of it, and yet she felt drawn to it at the same time. What was that power?

Watson had to look away as well. The monster seemed to be able to draw anything remotely sentient towards it just by the virtue of its wickedly human gaze.

“Honey,” Lucifer said, spreading his wings wide. “I’m home.”

Posted by Michelle at November 28, 2002 8:39 AM