The days Holmes and I had spent dealing with the mysterious Rifts had taken a toll on us. My dear friend would have gone back to that accursed Seven-Percent solution of Opium had not Mrs Hudson made the keen decision to hide it while we had been out and about. The mess that had been made upon his inability to retrieve it was terrible, as was the shaking he underwent upon being unable to partake of it, but in the end he was grateful for our preventative measures.
"This case will be the end of me I fear," he mused, staring out the window. His sullen demeanour left me to worry if perhaps too much fight had been taken out of him, and began to miss the screeching of his violin.
"Perhaps we should go somewhere to get your mind off things--I know that this crisis continues but maybe if we were somewhere unrelated to it your mind might--"
Holmes snapped his head towards me, as though I'd just revealed the secret to life itself. "...Unrelated. Yes. Yes! Watson, I think you've found the key! None of this is unrelated!"
"...What do you mean?”
"Have you noticed a pattern in the beings brought forth into our world by these tears?" Watson frowned. "None at all, they seem to hold no common traits whatsoever!"
Holmes gave me a smile that showed just how far ahead of me he'd already reached. "Take mars. Our very first encounter was with Miss Jhe, who of course comes from a future version of Mars. We have been to Mars, where we met the inquisitive, and inconsiderate of our time, pair of Jae Hyun and Bashrat.
• 81 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes We encountered Captain Shadow, who if you recall was born on Mars."
I pondered this. "Well, that is all true... and yet is only a tiny smattering of what we have discovered! You can't draw a conclusion from only that."
"You are correct, and yet these are not the only connections worth noticing. Take our meeting with our friend the Golden Bul Orotoro--was not your mind taken to the Bull of Heaven from Sumarian Mythology, Gugalanna?"
"No Holmes, I can't say I ever would have considered that."
"Would you have considered the providence that not only ourselves but another pair of... inferior copies in the form of Herlock Sholmes and Doctor Wilson would appear? Or that another group drawn to us would have the association of being something of pranksters?"
"Yet again, I see no connections here at all. And I wouldn't say they were something of pranksters--indeed I'd say they would benefit from taking up a second hobby--"
"My dear Doctor, I suppose you simply haven't read up on your Sumarian Mythology in general."
"I dare say, that should have been your expectation rather than the other way around!"
Holmes rose, and went to a shelf to pul down a book which he flipped to a page in, and then held out to me. Taking it, I saw an artist's depiction of a bearded man holding a mace and sword. The description read: "Nergal: God of the Underworld, and husband of Ereshkigal." Holmes' finger led me back to the other page. "Associations: Mars, Bulls, Swords, Maces."
I followed his finger further.
"...Most remembered for the myth of Ereshkigal and Nergal, where the two engage in a battle of tricks and wits which eventually results in their marriage."
I looked up at Holmes. "...Are you saying that Moriarty is working with some sort of... deity?"
• 82 •
"I am saying exactly that, Watson. Now we must ask ourselves: why. And what are the pair attempting to bring to this world?"
Holmes turned his head again, and his thoughtful expression turned to one of joy as he looked down at something on the street below. I moved to see what he was looking upon--and there below us was Miss Jhe, waving up at us from the cobblestones, jumping up and down in a most excited and unladylike manner. Several people were staring at her.
"Come then Watson, it appears that she has something that will be most interesting to us, and just in time too."
We brought her up, and Mrs Hudson brought all of us some tea.
"So, I had to get away from the safehouse for a while--I was going absolutely nuts with how that Shadow lady kept telling me what future history was like--and I was like--no, it's not. That is not the future. Gongen is just not anything like she keeps saying it is! And so I was letting off some steam, stomping around, and then I came upon it."
"Came upon what?" I asked as prompted.
She spread her arms out. "A big house! And I know that doesn't sound like it's notable, but just listen--I could feel something was wrong about it. It had that feeling like the portals, but like, bigger, emanating out of the whole thing. I could feel a chill running down my spine, and with the insane amount of stuff I have to wear supporting my spine with these dresses like, that's saying something. You guys should invent hoodies already, you will thank me."
Holmes smiled, "I'm sure we will. So, did you investigate the house?"
She nodded, "Of course I did, I am so bored that I would recklessly walk into a bear trap for a change of pace. So I went up to the house, and knocked on the door. No reaction, so I just tried the doorknob and... surprise it was unlocked! So I was like, don't mind if I do, and slipped inside. And there was a whole hal way of doors."
• 83 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes
“Did you open them?”
She shook her head. “I could… feel the same feeling when I touched one I felt before. I knew immediately that there was something wrong with this house, that… behind each door, at least in my opinion… were likely portals, rifts.”
Holmes and I exchanged looks. “Then the game is truly afoot, I believe Miss Jhe you have found the centrepiece we have been long searching for to make sense of this mess. Lead us there posthaste, it's time to crack this case open.”
No time was wasted, and soon we had hailed a carriage and travelled all the way to the house. It stood firm and intimidating, its brick exterior more menacing than made sense for it to be.
The front door we opened cautiously, but it was unlocked just as Sang Mi had said, and the hallway beyond it just as she had described it; empty and cool.
“Well then, once more into the breach. We will likely learn much by the time we finish here, are both of you prepared to start, with all the consequences that may entail?”
Both of us nodded without hesitation.
We opened the first door, the knob was chil to the touch, and it creaked open with a slowness that matched my own hesitancy. The other side seemed familiar to a previous door we had passed through, and yet clearly was nothing like it in illogical tandem. I could well enough recognise it as Mars, but it was not the Mars we had seen before, or was spoken of by either Shadow or Sang Mi. The sky was the same shade, the ground the same shade of ochre, and even that the light was refracted through a huge glass dome. But it was not the same glass dome. Sang Mi stepped forward first, peering around with both curiosity and confusion. People walked by, their dress rather unlike her own we had met her in. Soldiers strolled by in handsome black dress coats with coloured trimming, singing jovially on break.
She stopped a woman who was walking by carrying a transparent bag that seemed to be filled with nothing but olive related products: jars of olives, dried olives, olive spread for
• 84 •
toast, truly a baffling selection. "Hey there, pop quiz from the-
-' and then she faded her voice out while making a noise, making the woman squint as though she'd missed a word, but Sang Mi did not stop long enough to allow her to think through the deception. "--all for a fabulous prize! What city are we in?"
"This is Erkh Choloo."
"On what planet?"
She laughed. "Mars of course?"
"And what's the capital of Mars?"
"Tarkanograd."
"What are your feelings on Martian independence?"
"...Well it's a good thing it happened?"
"And last question before you win our fabulous prize--who is the leader of Mars?"
"Why President Zhang Han, of course?"
"Great, thank you very much! You're our winner!" and she forced a wrapped caramel into her hand before shoving us through the doorway and shutting it.
"That version of Gongen was all wrong!"
Holmes was impassive. "It was not even cal ed Gongen."
"And yet it still won independence from Earth! But the capital wasn't Kazuki! It wasn't President Sato!"
Holmes tried to reassure the girl with a smile. "There are many versions of Mars here, in different times. I believe this is part of why we're here." He then explained to her what he had explained to me back at 221B Baker Street. She nodded along, taking it all in.
"But if all those things are connected, what does this mean?
What is Moriarty's plot?"
Holmes looked at the next door. "I cannot be certain yet, but I believe I have a.. solid suspicion as to what has been going on here. Let us examine the next door."
We stepped out onto yet another Mars, though Sang Mi seemed happier with this one. "This is home--this is Gongen!"
She looked around, at the glass dome, at the people wandering about who were already giving us odd looks. "...Or perhaps it's not my Gongen."
• 85 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes In the distance there was an incredible sight--a titan who was taller than buildings, their metal body glinting off the light.
"Yeah, this isn't right either. But it's closer to home."
We opened a third door. From our conversations with Shadow, this may have been her home. Similar to the previous door, the horizon had more towering titans of metal that wandered around. I dared not ask why these futures had such terrors. Were they some monstrous automatons that had conquered humanity? The thought seemed ludicrous, and yet I could not fully comprehend them so it was hard not to let my fears wander. A large sign read, in several languages, "United Humanity Welcomes You to Miorine City! Home of the Miorine Rascals--2200 System Cup Champions!" A strange girl with skin so pale and thin you could see the veins running beneath it and eyes and hair of an unnatural blue turned to look at us, and spooked, we slammed the door shut, before all composing ourselves and pretending that nothing had bothered us in the first place.
Another we only briefly stared into had a Martian landscape of chalk-white monstrosities, octopoidal beings arming themselves for war like something out of the imagination of H.G. Wells, when suddenly they vanished in a chemical flash. Sang Mi slammed the door shut, explaining to us she feared us inhaling a toxic miasma from the blast. The scene haunts me still.
One more led us to a yet stranger Mars, where animals with machine parts labelled “Altern Corporation” were attacking the residents of Mars… who did not appear to be human. We left nearly as soon as we had arrived.
Finally we opened a door onto a familiar space. Jae Hyun and Bashrat were there, almost as though we'd walked in on them moments after the last time we'd seen them, only it clearly wasn't, as they were not wearing the same clothes.
"...Kalingkata?" Jae Hyun said.
"Oh, uh," Sang Mi replied. "Hi guys. What is... up?"
"Why did she get a cool new outfit?" Bashrat asked.
• 86 •
"...Well I sort of thought you'd be asking why I just opened a door through reality with Holmes and Doctor Watson but whatever."
"Oh, we already met them," Bashrat said with the air of someone who had eaten too much of their favourite food and grown tired of it.
Jae Hyun nodded. "...Wait but uh, we just saw you a few minutes ago?"
The door opened, and Sang Mi entered in, looking as slovenly as we'd first seen her, drinking some beverage in a rectangular container through a straw, which she promptly dropped.
"That's me."
"Oh hey," our Sang Mi said. "So there is a perfectly rational explanation for this."
"...I have so many questions. Are you really my Victorian AU version? Is this real?"
"No, I'm not your... wait that was the first conclusion you came to?"
Holmes coughed. "I believe this is not what we are looking for either."
The other Sang Mi looked at Jae Hyun, "Babe, what is going on here?"
"So, I guess I've got some stuff to explain honey..."
Our Sang Mi's eyes went wide. She glanced left. "...Babe?"
And right. "...Honey? ...NO. NOPE, there's no way!" she shoved us back and slammed the door shut. "We're not opening that one again."
Holmes and I somehow found it impossible to argue with her tone of voice.
We opened every door one by one, until only one was left-
-the door at the end of the Hal way. Perhaps it could have been the first we opened, but thoroughness was necessary in our caution.
Of all of them, this was the most different, for instead of the landscape of an alien world, there was a stone staircase
• 87 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes leading down into the dark. Stone gates blocked the path at certain areas, and cages with a glowing blue orb of light lit the abyss and its long winding path.
"What is this?" I asked breathlessly.
Holmes took the first step, his footfall echoing into the dark. "Welcome my friends, to Kur, the Sumerian Underworld."
I exchanged a look with Miss Jhe, and together we followed through. The three of us began our descent down the steps, into the land of death away from the stars.
Things whispered where they should not have been able to whisper, and the corners of my eyes seemed filled with things that followed us, but when I turned there was nothing but empty space and my own fear. When we reached the first of the stone gates, that was when the real test began. The whispers grew in volume, till they were deafening and yet no easier to understand. Then they fell silent and one booming voice rose clearly up from the depths.
"TRESPASSERS ON THE WORLD OF THE DEAD, WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE? SPEAK NOW OR
FACE THE WRATH OF NERGAL."
I trembled, and Sang Mi took several steps back as though trying to sneak away from us and run away, before I looked at her and she awkwardly came back forward to stand with us.
Holmes did not waver.
"You ask this of us, as though our presence is not what you desire, am I not correct?"
There was a silence, which grew somewhat awkward.
"...DO NOT DARE TELL THE GODS WHAT THEY
DESIRE."
Holmes was smirking now. "Perhaps Ereshkigal could offer us her wrath instead?"
There was another silence.
"WELL, I MEAN, SHE WOULD, BUT SHE'S DOING
OTHER STUFF RIGHT NOW."
• 88 •
Holmes sighed, "Let us call off this charade, I know what is going on, and would rather discuss this face to face, wouldn't you?"
A final pause, and then the gate crept open. We descended through the rest of the abyss on that stone walkway, until finally we reached the base: a grand but dark throne room filled with cages containing blue lights. Two thrones sat at the end of it, one empty, and one containing a swarthy man with a braided beard, and wearing a skirt woven with fine metals and jewels. In his hand was a mace with the head of a lion.
"...Welcome to Kur, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and Jhe Sang Mi."
Holmes bowed, and we followed suit. "You honour us with your grace, Nergal."
He waved off the niceties. "Tell me why you think I have allowed you here."
Holmes rose to his full height, eyes sparkling. "Because of course, you're looking for your wife."
I stared at Holmes. "...What do you mean?"
Nergal sighed. "...I see. You truly are as wise as your reputation."
"I was put off at first by Moriarty's involvement, until I realised that it was not in fact part of the puzzle itself, but a side effect of trying to solve it."
I tried to keep up with him. "...But Moriarty seemed to be the heart of this case?"
"Because he was, as I consult for Scotland Yard... he was the consulting criminal for the god Nergal. This may be presumptuous of me, but allow me to speculate?"
Nergal nodded.
"We have seen other worlds, other realities. Other paths of history that diverge from our own, sometimes radically. In one, Moriarty bested me during our encounter at Reichenbach Falls, only to become bored when he reached the top of the mountain. Controlling the entire underworld, he soon gained more power and money, and more power and money, but each time gave his heart diminishing returns. There is nothing so
• 89 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes torturous for one who loves the struggle to become King but to win before you are satisfied with the journey, after all. He wanted a challenge, and found the world wanting. He wanted another chance to conquer a stronger and more agile foe. So he turned to the occult, and delving deeper into those arts, made contact with you. It was not that Moriarty was a key to this case, but that Moriarty was... readily available to you, am I on the right track?"
Nergal sighed, "You are frustratingly accurate, mortal."
"So when your wife ran out on you--"
"HOLMES!" I exclaimed. Sang Mi was trying to keep herself composed and covered her mouth.
"Calm yourself my dear Doctor. He is well aware of his own problems. And this is the problem, is it not?"
He nodded, though I could see him seething.
"With no way of telling where in the vast cosmos she had gone, you began making tears in reality, taking you to places where you could find associations with her. After all, your power is in the end, actually hers is it not?"
Sang Mi and I both tensed, and were not wrong to do so.
The god rose, his eyes filling with an unending shadow. "YOU
DARE SPEAK THAT WAY TO ONE BEYOND TIME
AND SPACE? ONE WHO COULD RIP YOUR SOUL
FROM YOUR SKIN WITH A FLICK OF MY HAND?"
"Yes," he replied. "Because I can give you what you want.
I can find your wife."
Nergal stopped, frozen in place in surprise. "You are associated with Mars, but that association must be Ereshkigal's as well. In fact, it must come from her. After all, her sister is Ishtar, sometimes called Inanna, who holds sway over Venus.
It would make more sense for her sister and rival to be associated with with Mars, yes?"
Nergal sat down, he was clearly filled with rage, but he was deflating. "You speak no lies."
"So you searched countless Marses, allowing Moriarty the power to explore a new London, and giving you a hub to work from. You even brought in other detectives, like Herlock
• 90 •
Sholmes, and tried to lure us into the case without telling us your problem."
"Why would he do that?"
Sang Mi answered before Holmes did. "His pride. He didn't want to be shown to have screwed up. If you don't communicate the problem, it isn't real because it isn't spoken."
Nergal hurled his mace against a cage, knocking it over and causing the light in it to flit around against its bars. "If I did not believe you I would kill you where you stand."
We waited for his rage to cool. Sang Mi looked at me with some worry as he kicked and thrashed, knocking about the cages which I began to suspect contained nothing less than human souls. Finally, he let out a great cry, and became something close enough to calm.
"Alright then, Sherlock Holmes. Where is my wife?"
His wry smile grew, "Let me ask you a question first. Our world, our London, it was the location that Moriarty asked to travel to, correct?"
Nergal nodded, but I wondered if his patience would continue to hold.
"She has been right under your nose this whole time!"
Nergal's eyes and my own travelled to Sang Mi.
"What? NO! No I am not into Nergal, I am not into Jae Hyun, I am not--no!"
Holmes coughed into his fist. "...No, not Sang Mi. Rather, Moriarty knew this entire time where she was. He was stringing Nergal along until the moment he no longer needed his help."
The god's eyes went wide. "...I have been tricked."
* * *
Nergal flew into a rage, and we quickly departed. Once we had exited Kur, the three of us stood in that strange hallway of doors to other worlds, catching our breath as though we had just run."...I get it now. The myth of Nergal and Ereshkigal has a few versions, right?" Sang Mi said.
• 91 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes Holmes nodded. "And what is true in all of them?"
"They all have a contest of wits between Nergal and Ereshkigal, but in none of them does Nergal win with wits. He either loses and Ereshkigal makes him become her husband, or after losing he threatens to kill her and she agrees to marry him in exchange for her life."
Holmes nodded. "Correct, Miss Jhe. Moriary did not simply find Nergal, he targeted him. Perhaps even showed Ereshkigal herself a way out."
"Why though?" I asked. "What game is he playing?"
"I may have misled our associate Nergal there into thinking that I was the foe that Moriarty wished to best. The actual solution is Elementary my dear doctor: to paraphrase Milton, better to rule in Kur than serve in heaven?"
* * *
I had many questions for Holmes as we returned to Baker Street: were there other gods, other pantheons? What of the god I worshipped each Sunday? Holmes merely answered curtly, "We know nothing other that there is one world where those gods are real, just as there is a world where Sang Mi has fallen for the young Jae Hyun.""--Which is extremely unlikely!" she cut in.
"Entirely my point," he replied warmly. "We can only know what we find evidence for in the places it applies to.
Nothing more. Regardless, it is time to gather our allies. One in particular wil prove invaluable in settling this matter.”
After we had rallied those allies as Holmes wished, an affair not worth recounting in detail, we assembled a sort of council at Baker Street. Miss Jhe continued to refer to it as “The Fellowship of the Rifts” something which amused her to no end for reason I could understand, but Holmes seemed to accept this name, perhaps simply to amuse the girl. Gathered in the room were: ourselves, Sang Mi, Captain Shadow, Agatha and Orotoro (whom we had had a small adventure retrieving from where they had left to, but one which has no bearing on
• 92 •
any of the following events, aside from Agatha acquiring a new hat), as well as Herlock Sholmes and Dr Wilson (who made sure to complain about the inferiority of our apartment at every occasion they could muster). Mrs Hudson did an excellent job of bringing tea to everyone, and somehow had found an appropriate snack for Orotoro, perhaps having hoped he would return again.
“Excellent, now that we are all here, allow me to explain our predicament.” Holmes went through our recent adventures, and detailed our meeting with Nergal and the implications of it.
“So what is it you need all of us to do?” Herlock asked.
“Moriarty has no doubt been planning his own final gambit, one which we must interrupt, implementing our own before he can adjust.”
“I don’t quite understand why I’m needed ‘ere mister Holmes,” Agatha said. “I presume it's just ‘cause you needed Orotoro…”
He cast his gaze up on her with a superb confidence, “My dear Miss Banksley, you will be the lynchpin of this whole operation.”
“So where is this Queen of Kur, Ereshkigal, anyway?”
Captain Shadow asked.
“As I said, she has been under our noses. But I have exactly what we need to draw her out.”
* * *
The Emerald Eyes Music Hall was not the most reputable of establishments, but it was a profitable one. I had been made aware of it before on a previous case, and of course even been there recently during an investigation into Moriarty’s activities.
But I did not expect to be going there again, let alone with such a colourful cast of characters.
Orotoro was nervous to walk around so openly, but upon our reassurance, he became something of the centrepiece of a parade, with Holmes and his cane leading this strange circus.
• 93 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes We reached the music hall, and each of our entourage did their best to sell the bull to the crowd, with Miss Jhe (against her wishes) standing on a soapbox acting as the main barker.
“Yes, you too can meet Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven!
The legendary golden beast—it's not a trick ladies and gentleman and others—not that you probably hear the third one said much in the 1890’s? Anyway—look! It’s a bull! It's golden! Gugalanna! That’s a name!”
Both Holmes and Sholmes were looking with Eagle eyes at the windows of the music hall. Most faces had a look of interest, confusion, or wonder. But one had a very different expression: one woman thrust her head out the window with a look of utmost concern and worry—as though the police had finally found her hideout. In unison, Holmes and Sholmes pointed, and her face soured, and removed itself from the window.
“But what if she runs?” I asked.
“She won’t, for the same reasons Nergal didn’t attack us.”
I frowned, “Your careful planning?”
“Unfortunately not, though I wish I could take credit for it. No, I realised fairly quickly I could count on one thing with these timeless beings.”
“And that is?”
“More than anything, they’re bored. She’ll want to see why we came.”
We entered into the music hall, Orotoro hunching down to get through the doors, and we were ushered into a parlour by some of the staff where a young and beautiful woman with hair as rich and dark as the night sky, and skin of light brown.
Her eyes seemed to shine as though stars were buried deep inside them. She wore a cheerful yellow dress, and many silver accessories.
“So, what exactly is your deal then?” she said, tapping a finger on the table.
Holmes gave a deep bow. “If you wouldn’t mind me skipping through our pretences, it is an honour to meet you, Ereshkigal, Queen of Kor.”
• 94 •
She was startled, but settled very quickly. “I see the jig is up. Did Nergal send you?” She let out a long sigh that sounded like the wind itself had become tired.
“We have just recently visited with him,” Holmes said.
“Well, I’m not going back,” she said.
“Right now, our world is having quite a few issues related to your absence.”
Agatha frowned, and Holmes turned to her, “You have something to add, Miss Banksley?”
“…Well I heard your story about her, and if that’s even half true, I don’t think it's right to send her back to him. I understand that was a long time ago and all, but I don’t think being threatened into marriage is alright.”
Ereshkigal nodded, “Yes, listen to her! And he couldn’t even stay faithful. How many other goddesses did he marry?
And he just kept coming back so he wouldn’t lose his boons of power… I mean when we started I was sort of into the whole strong bad-boy thing but it turned out he was just a slimy jerk.”
Sang Mi chimed in, “You deserve better than that, there’s no reason you should have to put up with a cheater!”
Agatha crossed her arms and nodded. “Or a man who threatens you or hits ya!”
Shadow moved over to this growing faction. “And every person deserves the chance to live in freedom without feeling bound by obligations they cannot escape.”
I was moved to concur as well, “Yes Holmes, I know that there are terrible things going on, but it doesn’t feel right to send a woman back to a terrible husband, goddess or not!”
Orotoro’s big head bobbed in agreement with me, and Sholmes and Wilson even joined the accord.
Holmes looked pleased.
Ereshkigal looked between the group. “…You’re right. I was just hiding out here, but why should I let him have Kur?
That’s my kingdom.”
• 95 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes There was a chorus of affirmation for her standing up for herself, which was only broken by the echoing sound of a single man clapping.
“Fantastic, absolutely fantastic. You know, somehow I didn’t see this eventuality coming until it was too late, but I see I’ve underestimated you,” from among the music hall staff who had led us in, a man pulled off his disguise, revealing a familiar older man: The Napoleon of Crime, James Moriarty himself.
Holmes held a hand out, signalling for us to stay back, and stepped towards his foe.
"Moriarty. It's strange seeing you so alive."
"I could say the same. And as quick as your reputation, it seems you've figured out my plan."
Holmes' gaze was unwavering. "I knew you were a proud man, but I never took you for the hubris of replacing a god."
He merely shrugged. "Frankly I'm saddened to see that you were not bothered as much by losing the challenge of me as I was of you."
"And yet what would you have done when you reached the peak of yet another mountain? These gods seem miserable in their own ways, always struggling to relieve their itch of boredom. For a man who claims that this was his great burden, you seem keen to take it on again."
Moriarty's face was grim. "Do you suggest I die?"
"Nothing of the sort. Though I am prepared for you to do so. You have already died here once, we set a precedent so to speak. But may I suggest, this has no need to be your last battlefield?"
Moriarty narrowed his hawk-like eyes. "You're saying I simply leave?"
"I am saying that you have gained knowledge that the cosmology of existence is far bigger than you ever imagined it to be. I offered Miss Banksley over there a similar deal, despite her own crimes. You have yet to find satisfaction in your pursuits. Perhaps you can try something else, somewhere else."
• 96 •
Inside that head was a mind that had once calculated the movements of objects in space with a precision that had astounded scientists around the world, and now through the veil of his eyes, I could see the human abacus's beads moving back and forth, counting and calculating. Finally, with a grimace, he nodded. "In another life, I would have considered the risk of winning here worth it."
"It is the wise man who knows when to fight another day."
"Or the foolish man who wishes to face Nergal on his own.
Farewell again, Sherlock Holmes. I doubt these versions of us will meet again."
"We won't. But I do get the last laugh."
Moriarty had already begun to leave, but turned his head slightly to hear what Holmes meant by it.
"After all, you're very wrong that I'l be facing Nergal on my own."
Moriarty didn't reply, just turned his head back and disappeared from our sight, and our lives. Presumably he stepped through a crack in the world, and went somewhere else. I'd like to imagine he learned something of enjoying the world beyond his infernal machinations, but I am also too much a realist to entertain the idea particularly strongly.
Holmes spun around, positively giddy. "You did amazing, Agatha. Just what I hoped you'd bring to this affair."
She looked around. "...I don't know what you mean, but I suppose you're welcome?"
He bowed again. "Now then, divine Ereshkigal, if you would give us the honour, we will help you, if you will help us."
She sighed again. "I was enjoying just being a singer here, but I suppose you're right. It's time."
The windows to the building were suddenly darkened, as though an eclipse had come. People ran in from the streets for shelter, and soon we ran out to see what they were screaming about--the sky had indeed gone black, when moments before it had been a sunny blue sky. The stars that should have been scattered across it had formed the shape of a man, his voice booming down into minds.
• 97 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes
"ERESHKIGAL. IT IS TIME TO RETURN HOME TO
ME."
She stepped forward, and with every step she shed some part of her human form. She was robed in a cloak of funeral flowers, a crown of iron on her head whose prongs reached up a full foot above her brow. In her hand was a fearsome spear, whose tip seemed to cut the air leaving a line of darkness and stars behind it.
"NERGAL!" She screamed at the sky. "I. WANT. A.
DIVORCE!" She grew, both in size, and in abstraction, till she too was a being of stars in the night sky. The two titans of light and shadow began to fight: his lion mace against her spear--or at least what I assumed were them, as now they were as constellations, but weaving and moving through the firmament above us.
"You can do it, miss!" Agatha yelled.
"Beat the snot out of the cheating bastard!" Sang Mi yelled.
"Cast off your chains, win your freedom!" Shadow yelled.
"Yes, I too hope you win! Fight hard!" I found myself crying out.
"Stop him from taking an unfair portion of your powers and possessions!" Herlock said, a little out of the mood we'd been building.
It was barely a whisper, but I could swear I heard Sherlock say a single word as he stared at the sky: "Win."
The Lion-Mace and the Spear clashed, the sound rippling across London like a siren. Soon my comrades were calling on the other passersby to cheer for Ereshkigal. Most did not understand, but as it seemed to be the popular thing to do, the cries grew and spread. Orotoro carried Agatha as she called it out, and Shadow seemed to be using some piece of technology or magic that amplified her own voice.
But soon more voices than I could count were calling up.
And as they did so, it seemed that Ereshkigal became stronger-
-then with a blow like thunder, the spear went through the starry chest of her foe.
And just as suddenly, there was no world.
• 98 •
We stood in a stark and empty whiteness, where Ereshkigal stood, bloody spear in hand, her crown somehow more regal than it had ever been before. Her cape of flowers caused the white nothingness to sprout blossoms as it dragged along it.
Nergal lay before her, eyes fearful, clutching the wound on his side.
She held a hand out, and he clicked his tongue, and with some pain, held his own out. Something passed between them, like raw power and authority, and I felt myself dropping to my knees.
"Hail the Queen of Kur," I said, in unison with my comrades, without realising the words had been about to pass my lips.
She nodded to us. "You have done me a great service, in return, I shall heal the wounds of your world. If you pass through the gates of Kur, know that there will be an honoured spot for each of you. Farewell."
The white grew stronger, brighter, and then there was nothing. Suddenly, with a gasp, I found myself in 221B Baker Street. Holmes was there in his own chair, and... surrounding us were our comrades in this whole endeavour. I touched my face, as though to see if I was still real.
That was when the door opened, and Mrs. Hudson entered in, and dropped her tea tray as she cried out.
"Mr Holmes! This is too much, far too much! I have permitted many things--too many things, but bringing a bull into your apartment is too much!"
It took us some time to calm her down, but the reality soon became apparent, as we went out and asked several passersby about the events of the last few weeks.
For the rest of London, it was as though no such events had occurred. Though for those who had touched a rift, they remembered. Whether those memories were a blessing or a burden is not for me to say. Neither did those who died return from death, but the reasons for their deaths were all remembered now as normal things, if sometimes grizzly.
• 99 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes We sat there together, piecing this together in our heads, when Sang Mi spoke what al of us were thinking but afraid to say: "...So Ereshkigal put the whole world back the way it was supposed to be, but forgot to send us all home?!?"
As if on cue, another knock appeared at the door, and it was opened to once again reveal Mycroft, who congratulated us on fixing the problem so completely, and then had another revelation.
"We've used the vast resources of the British Government to get in contact with the authorities."
"Aren't you the authorities?" Agatha asked.
"The authorities of existence."
"Ah."
Following him in were a pair of women, both in garish clothing.
"Hello there, I'm Lady Aesculapius of the Firmament! You all knew I was going to make an appearance before this whole thing finished up right?"
"I have no idea who you are, madam," I said.
She deflated. "Oh. Well, that's disappointing."
The other woman coughed to bring attention to herself,
"And I'm Jesslyn Swift, of OOPS, that's not a mistake the organisation is cal ed OOPS."
Lady Aesculapius dragged the spotlight back on herself,
"AND! We're here to take everyone back to your proper place-
-or wherever you want to go. I even brought my girlfriend Blanche to help with your luggage!"
A voice from outside the room who was clearly done with this whole scenario called back, "Don't bring me into this Aesc."
She smiled back at us. "So let’s get this sorted, say your goodbyes, and we'll all be off."
We said our farewells. The principled Shadow, the brave Agatha and Orotoro, the clever Sang Mi, and... well Herlock and Wilson were also here, I suppose.
• 100 •
Tears were shed, and many handshakes and embraces given. I shan't recount it all, but even I found my eyes watering.
It had been a strange time, but one which I would never forget.
"Oh right--one last thing," Miss Jhe said. "There is this guy named Arthur Conan-Doyle, yeah?"
"Right, he edits my works and helps get them published."
"He's going to claim he wrote all of them someday, that you weren't real."
I laughed. "That's preposterous. Of course we're real, I mean, I'm as real as you are."
She smiled back. "Well, I'll remember that. Thanks for everything." She pressed something into my palm--it was a coin with a foreign symbol on it, presumably from her home.
I was going to protest--after all time had been finally set right after so much work, but she had hustled out of the room before I could. I have kept that as a token of those days--and on many long nights it has become my great comfort. I can clutch it close, and remember that I am not mad. These things did happen.
Holmes ceased to speak on the matter after a few months.
I knew he stil remembered, but the details of these cases proved... troublesome to his work on cases that were not so focused on the cosmology of existence. And so I have been left alone with my memories, and this small token of it all.
I doubt that these manuscripts will be published, if I were my own publisher, I doubt I would even consider them. But I needed to put these words down, as proof I was real. As proof that I really did meet so many strange and wondrous beings and have such wild adventures. No one will ever believe me.
But if, perhaps, you find these words someday long after I have reached my grave, I hope you too can look to the sky and know that there are things beyond our understanding waiting to bring wonders to us.
Yours sincerely,
Doctor John Watson
• 101 •
The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes
• 102 •
This book would not have been possible without the generous help of the bril iant people who helped us edit and transcribe these lost stories to be released: 1. The Adventure of the Empty Heart – by James Wylder 2. The Adventure of the Piscine Pranksters – by Lupan Evezan
3. Sherlock Versus Herlock – by Callum Phillpott 4. The Hole in Things – by Sean Dillon
5. The Adventure of the Stellar Sailing Ship – by Christa Mactire
6. Dark Dealings – by Callum Phillpott
7. The Adventure of the Golden Bul – by Aristide Twain 8. The Adventure on the Red Rock – by Dillon O’Hara 9. The Adventure of Time and Place – by Nicks Walker, with thanks to J. Cobwebb
10. A Study in Spectres – by James Wylder
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The Cosmology of Sherlock Holmes
PREVIEW: Academy 27
~The Great Novelist~