Stephen Strange Holmes: A Journey of Magic and Faith

Chapter Five: More Answers

"You must accept this and discover the truth of your situation before you come,'" Stephen softly repeated. "But what does that mean exactly?"

"Your being a Nobody?" Christine suggested. "You seemed to accept that pretty well."

"But I haven't yet found out the truth of my situation," Stephen said. "I still haven't recalled how I can be both Nobody of Sherlock Holmes and Stephen Strange at the same time."

"Reincarnation's out since it apparently happened four years ago," Christine said.

"Yes," he murmured, studying his hands. "There must be something I'm missing."

Christine kissed his temple. "I'll sort through the pile of mail you have."

"Thanks," Stephen said. They had both gotten off work within the last hour, and turned their attention to finding out exactly what Stephen was missing.

Something niggled his brain. "Northumberland." He popped into his tablet and searched Google Maps. Sherlock and thus himself knew London better than your average Londoner. Something was different about that street the last time he was on it.

He stared as he saw a building that was both the exact same and yet spectacularly different. He zoomed in, dropping the little figure onto the street so he could get a pedestrian view.

"Looks like Billy actually mailed you that file you wanted," Christine said. "Stephen?"

"This rune," Stephen said. "Sherlock never saw this in his London. Yet, I am certain I've seen it before."

"Another London perhaps?" Christine offered, joining him at the screen. "Since we're entertaining the idea of other worlds, why couldn't there be multiple versions of each world?"

The final barrier snapped. All of his memories, his memories, not memories that he shared because he was a Nobody, nor memories that came from him merging with another person, his own, personal memories, flooded back in. Helping defeat Moriarty. Feeling Molly's intense Light and True Love secondhand as she restored Sherlock to his true form. Realizing his powers were wearing on their world. Traveling with Riku. Discovering the Nobody John Watson and his Sherlock Holmes before meeting the Ancient One. Seeing the older Doctor Strange. Taking his place in order to protect the world from some future danger.

"Stephen?" Christine called, worried.

Stephen forced himself to breathe. "This will take a while to process."

"Talk to me," Christine said.

Stephen slowly nodded. "I was traveling to another world. Where I'm from originally couldn't support the magic I had. I was barely on a new world for twelve hours when I stumbled into a situation that ultimately would send me to yet another world. I met a man who looked like an older version of me. A doctor, a sorcerer supreme. He said he'd been attacked, sent back in time. Before he could do anything, he was knocked out. His spirit was too weary to do it all over again, but he couldn't leave his world to the danger it would face."

"So, his young body," Christine said carefully, "was the one Nic and I were trying to revive four years ago. Somehow, you . . . merged with that body?"

"It was a merge spell, something exclusively in the Ancient One's archives," Stephen said. "The soul and spirit that inhabited the body before me, he left for his eternal rest. My memories . . ." he drew in a shaky breath, "they were locked away as my body merged with the one that was dying."

A sob jolted out of him. His memories had been stolen. Yes, he had agreed, but why was it only afterward that he felt so betrayed? It suddenly felt as though the last four years were a lie. He'd been living another man's life! Had that other Sherlock been right? Did Stephen steal the other man's life? Maybe he shouldn't have proposed to Christine two weeks ago. Maybe he should have waited for all the pieces to fall into place.