Epilogue
Pre-Author's Note: After the scene break, all italics indicate singing.
Stephen wandered the halls of his Mind Sanctum. He had just finished putting the last memories of the day in place. Now, he just wanted to find something that would put him completely at ease as he went to sleep. Hm. Maybe he would go into his library and pull out a novel. He'd recently gone through a couple classics just so that he could truly enjoy them later like this. Maybe he'd invite Redbeard and Nemo to join him.
Redbeard was one aspect of Sherlock's Mind Palace that Stephen didn't have the heart to get rid of. Possibly a remnant of Sherlock's influence. Nemo had popped in after he'd had the pleasure of meeting the Irish Setter Cocker Spaniel mix about a week ago.
Yes, things were coming along well. Two weeks since that video call and the ladies were as thick as thieves. Sherlock and John approved of Mordo and Wong, and vice versa.
He paused as his hand hovered between Captains Courageous and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He should probably give Riku a call, just to report that while not originally where he'd been dropped, he was in fact thriving. He'd have to do that tomorrow. That decided, he grabbed Captains from the shelf and moved to the lounge couch.
He twitched. He thought he heard something. There it was again, faint but seemingly like a mass of voices. Setting his book on a side table, he left his library, hoping to discover what had invaded his Sanctum. Every few seconds, another cry was heard. He couldn't make out if the voices were afraid, expectant, or excited. His brow furrowed as he discovered that the cries came through a door that he'd never consciously opened. What would happen . . . if he opened it now?
He reached out to grasp the handle. His fingertips barely brushed the brass knob when he collapsed. A door to his subconscious then. Which meant he'd been hearing a dream.
"Wo-ah!" Feet stamped as lights flashed.
It was dark. So dark. Where was he? What was happening?
"Wo-ah!" A crash of drums this time.
Still no clue as to where he was or how exactly he'd gotten here.
"Wo-ah!" A thunderous crash as a light finally remained.
A silhouette of a man. Just enough light to catch the shoulders of his blood red coat and black top hat. An impression of some grand showman from a circus of the last century. No glimpse of his face. In fact, Stephen wasn't sure if he was staring at the man's face or his back. Then, the man started singing, soft enough to be a whisper but distinct.
"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for."
"Wo-ah!" Flashes of hundreds of faces illuminated by the white-blue light of electronic devices. Eyes scanning, reading something on the screens. All in various stages of anticipation and intensity.
"Been stumblin' in the dark," the man sang, dispersing the faces, "blood 'n' sweat soakin' through the floor."
"Wo-ah!" A crime scene. Stephen couldn't place if Sherlock had seen it before or if it was completely fabricated. The wooden room mostly empty. Blood spattered about. A sprawled figure on the floor. Then it disappeared.
"There buried in your bones is an itch that you can't ignore," the man continued, a flick of his hands revealing an elegant, knobbed cane. He snatched it from the air as he sang, "Takin' your breath, stealin' your mind, and all that you knew is left behind."
Stephen scrambled to his feet as the uniform stomping of many feet started. He edged back as the shadowed man slowly advanced. He could feel the maniacal grin even if he couldn't see it.
"Don't fight it. It's comin' for you, runnin' at ya. It's only this moment, don't care what comes after."
Stephen's feet quickened but despite the man not quickening his own pace, the distance never increased.
"Your fever dream, don't you see it comin' at ya? Just surrender 'cause you know that we're takin' over!"
Stephen spun round only to nearly race into the arms of recognizable faces. People who Sherlock had discovered to be guilty. The head of the Chinese smuggling ring. The cabbie. The Woman. Other faces he couldn't recognize. His heart stuttered as he shot into the darkness.
He skidded to a stop as the man, impossibly still in shadow despite standing directly under a spotlight, appeared in front of him.
The man sang, new energy and volume in his voice. "It's fire, it's freedom, it's floodin' open," he claimed, advancing again. "It's the detective in the stand and their blind devotion."
Sherlock appeared, standing in a court's witness stand. John and Molly gazed up at him, trusting even as the court was erupting in angry people around them.
"There's somethin' breakin' at the brick of every wall, that's holding all that you know."
Stephen barely had time to brace himself as a wall of water crashed into him. He spluttered as he slid back even as he remained upright.
"So tell me do you wanna go?" the man cried, spotlights appearing everywhere, each illuminating some horrid scene.
A whole chorus of voices, so many noticeably tainted by the evil they took part in. "Where it's covered in all the colored lights. Where the criminals are runnin' the night."
His stomach revolted as he saw the atrocities, the victims oddly silenced. No screams from those violated. No terrified tears from children. No gunshots. No cries from those beaten.
An arm clapped round his shoulders. He stiffened in shock and revulsion as he saw the ringmaster of this "circus."
"Impossible comes true," the man sang out over the others. "I'm taking over now."
"Oh," the wretched choir sang out, "this is the greatest game!"
"We light it up," the man sang, gesturing everywhere with his cane, "we won't back down!"
His cane stopped on one specific scene as the criminals rejoiced, "And the boys can't stop us now!"
Stephen would have doubled over if it weren't for the too tight arm around his shoulders. Sherlock and John lay in a mangled heap, faces pale, paler by the dark blood drying on their faces.
The man directed his gaze to another scene. Kayla and Molly battered and beaten, unclear whether dead or alive. Though Stephen feared it would be more merciful if they were dead.
The man tightened his grip even more, almost conspiratorially as he sang out, loud and clear, "Watchin' it come true, we're takin' over now."
Stephen elbowed him in the solar plexus and started running as the chorus rang again, "Oh! This is the greatest game!"
He had to get away. He had to get out. When and where did this nightmare end?!
He could feel the man's focus on him, entreating him. "It's everything you ever want. It's everything you ever need. And it's here right in front of you! This is where you wanna be."
"No!" Stephen screamed, finally finding his voice. "No! This isn't. This isn't my place! It will never be my place." He skidded to a stop, staring into Sherlock's focused eyes as he contemplated some intense puzzle.
The man's voice quieted, not as quiet as when he initially started, still very intense. "It's everything he'll ever want. It's everything he'll ever need. And it'll be right in front of him. This where he'll wanna be."
Stephen shook his head. "No, it won't. This isn't for him. I understand him well enough to know that."
"Well, then," the man whispered in his ear, causing Stephen to shudder. He sang, even softer than before without truly whispering, "It's everything I'll ever want. Everything I'll ever need. And it's there right in front of me. This is where I wanna be."
Stephen whirled round only to freeze as the shadows were finally removed from the man. The crazed eyes. The sardonic smirk. No. No. He was dead! They'd killed him. . .. Hadn't they?
No. It was his heartless they killed. Which meant . . .
Stephen's heart stopped as the realization hit him, his eyes widening as his mouth dropped open in horror.
"Miss me?" Moriarty's Nobody asked.
Stephen shot up, gasping for air. He wrestled against his tangled sheet and blankets. "Wong! Mordo! ACH!" He landed on the floor, just barely avoiding knocking his head on the hardwood. Finally freeing himself from the wretched covers, he stumbled out of his room to meet Wong and Mordo at his door.
"Stephen, what is it?" Mordo asked. "An attack?"
"Not yet," Stephen gasped. "But I fear a warning of one."
"What do you mean?" Wong asked.
"I-I," Stephen gulped. "I might have had a vision. I need all the information possible about dreams, visions, whatever. I fear we don't have much time."
"We'll go immediately to Kamar-Taj," Wong said, leading the way with his oil lamp. "Tell us the nature of this dream."
Stephen told them everything as they left the New York Sanctum and entered the library of Kamar-Taj.
"This is serious, Stephen," Wong said. "You are right. We need to gather all the information we can. We also have to alert Sherlock and the others."
"The wedding may get postponed," Mordo said.
Stephen sighed. "We can mention it to Christine, but I think that we may agree that unless the bad guys decide to crash it, the wedding will go on."
"Stephen."
He turned to Wong just in time to catch the stack of books thrust into his arms.
"You and I will study," Wong said. "Mordo will return and guard the Sanctum until our research is done."
Mordo nodded. "That may be best. I'll check in every few hours or so."
"Thanks, Mordo," Stephen said, dropping behind a desk. He sighed as the final traces of fright slipped away. "I should have suspected it was too good to be true."
"What was?" Wong asked, Mordo pausing his departure to hear.
"A slice of normal, of peace," Stephen said. "Ever since I've really emerged, it feels like I haven't had a chance to properly breathe."
"We'll find a way to get you at least a semi-normal life," Mordo said. He half-smiled. "Study hard."
Stephen rolled his eyes before opening the first book. "Just make sure nothing happens to my city." He didn't quite catch Mordo's response as he dived into the book. One day life would calm down. Even if he had to create an army and fight for it to happen.
The Interlude
Author's Note: A teaser to the fact I intend the sequel proper to be a musical. If you didn't already guess. I modified/parodied "The Greatest Show" from The Greatest Showman (from the first five minutes of the film). So, if you weren't familiar or didn't catch on, you have the option of returning to the dream and "singing" the lyrics now.
And now, this is perfectly bookended by The Question of Faith in Baskerville, which itself is bookended by the epilogue of The Case of the Missing Heart. So, I shall soon be working on the sequel: The Case of the Wandering Soul.
I think I managed to locate all the random scenes and notes I've jotted down for it. I actually had to pretty much write this epilogue from scratch because I'd momentarily lost a notebook. I had already jotted the dream down quickly, even if I hadn't fully edited the song. But thanks to the fact that renovations are still ongoing, most of my notebooks are still packed, and I couldn't find the notebook I wanted. Thankfully, the altered lyrics were already on my laptop, and I still remembered roughly what I was wanting. But now, I have managed to dig up all the notebooks I need and have a fairly good idea of what order I want the random scenes to go in.
I'll be presenting Part 2 of my story The Two Hobbits after this. Hopefully it, and using it as my NaNoWriMo project, will give me a good jumpstart while I tackle this extended crossover. And yes, extended. Since I will be playing more with the Kingdom Hearts aspect of the crossover, this will include popping into various worlds. Stephen's world will no doubt be visited, various Disney films (especially some of the older classics), and a couple Ghibli films (please, no protests. Disney distributes the English dub for a vast majority if not all of the titles to my understanding). There are also worlds unique to the games themselves that can be visited. I do want to keep in mind that some worlds are just not compatible to Sherlock's logic-based mind. For example, I doubt he would survive in Wonderland or Sword in the Stone.
I also have various songs in mind. Some will be altered, others may remain fairly unchanged, all depending on the circumstances and scenes. I actually shared a couple of the altered songs with a friend already, and it was our ensuing conversations connected to them that kickstarted my brain to actually continue the series that I had initially doubted I would continue.
Since the cataloguing is pretty much everywhere, once I have the sequel complete and ready to publish, I will insert a special notice in all three stories, directing what stories need to be read if missed, and to announce the upcoming arrival of the new one. For now, feel free to browse my other writings or reread the other two "books" in this series.