It was a darkness that seemed to go on forever all around them, thick as an infinite cavern, but they could perceive that somewhere off in the distance ahead of them was a direction they should travel. They all blinked into the blackness, unsure if they were seeing it with their eyes or sensing it in some other way.
Brian tried to speak, but no sound came out of his throat. Slightly disturbed, he tried to make some kind of sound by playing with the zipper on the backpack, clapping, whistling, anything he could think of, but there was nothing. The one thing they could perceive, other than which way to go, was where their brothers were. In fact, they could see each other perfectly as if illuminated by a gentle light, despite the fact that they were in total darkness.
Dude... are you guys... glowing? Brian sent to his brothers at last, still blinking at them. They all looked at each other and at their own hands and arms as they floated there in the void, shimmering gently golden.
I feel like I should have brought a black light poster, quipped Mike, smirking. You know the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland? The part where you’re flying over London, and you can see the people in the other ships if they’re wearing white shirts?
Barrett snortlaughed, even though the only way they heard it was in their heads. This isn’t that.
Mike mock-pouted, suppressing a grin.
No, this ride is way better. And so is the lighting, said Brian brightly, looking at himself and his very angelic brothers in a little awe. One thing they could all agree on, nothing felt frightening or bad, despite the darkness. It was more like being wrapped in a warm blanket than a cold emptiness that demons might come flying out of, B-movie style.
Special effects are first rate, said Barrett, smirking. Then he led the way deeper into the portal, toward the black unknown, a light in the darkness. Mike was already feeling more confident, having been afraid that they’d have to battle the Forces of Evil when they’d finally found the place, and he felt none of that here.
On and on they flew for what seemed like an hour at least, nothing changing around them, but with a feeling of progress somehow. Just as the first worrying thoughts of how they would get back out again began to nibble at the back of Mike’s confidence, as one they noticed a dim glow up ahead. A few more minutes and the feeling of absolute stillness gave way to what could only be described as a slight wisp of air movement and a sense of things opening up wider as the subtle light drew closer.
Okay, well, it’s less dark, noted Brian.
Mike realized he could now hear their movements, things seeming less like they were buried in cotton, and wondered when the sound had come back.
“Hey,” he said quietly, even that soft word seeming overly loud. His brothers jumped a little. But before he could say anything else, he caught a distant movement out of the corner of his eye.
Somehow they’d either drifted into what seemed like a cavern, or one had formed around them unnoticed, and someone or something was headed in their direction. Mike got in front of his brothers and spread his wings protectively, unsure what he’d do if it was some kind of supernatural threat, but ready to take it out with his bare hands if necessary to keep them safe.
“Hello,” called out the figure, holding up a hand. The cavern solidified a bit more, and the Masons found themselves standing on solid ground. “Password?”
“Password?” said Mike, completely thrown.
“What?” said Barrett, looking between his brothers and the extremely androgynous person that now stood before them, long black hair and white robe flowing in a breeze that wasn’t actually there.
“Password,” he and/or she said, calmly, waiting.
“Uh, look...” Barrett said, pushing past one of Mike’s wings as if it were a large shrub. “We don’t know about any passwords. We were kind of drawn here.”
“And guided,” added Brian, still behind Mike. “We had a stained glass map, and it showed this void, and...”
The figure held up a hand for silence, looking at them. “Highly unusual, but it happens sometimes. All right, you get three guesses, one for each of you. Go.”
Naturally, this immediately caused all their minds to go quite blank.
“Uh...” started Brian, but the figure held up a hand again.
“It’s all right, take your time. We have forever, after all.” The person fiddled with the end of a sleeve, waiting patiently. The constant flowing of hair and robes, despite the stillness of the cavern’s air, was becoming more and more unnerving.
After a brief powwow, Barrett stepped forward. “Peace,” he said with a nod.
“Nope, try again.”
Mike chewed on his lip, the discussions becoming more intense now. He stood up and looked the mysterious figure in the eye.
“Love.”
“Sorry.”
They huddled tighter, a whispered expletive here, a wing flicking with tension there. Their muttering rose and fell, then grew quiet. Brian looked over at the man-woman-person, then back at his brothers, then straightened up and faced the robed figure. He sighed, the drew a breath.
“Okay, we’re going with the clever, yet kind of smarta.... smart alec answer. Is the password ‘password?’”
“Oh. So close. Sorry.” The flowing black hair and white robes simply turned and drifted back the way he, she or it had come, finally disappearing into the mist at the other end of the cavern without another word. The Masons were left standing there, alone, speechless.
“Well... but... now what?” said Brian, starting to panic a little. “How are we supposed to get in? Do we stand here? Do we go back? Do we get another chance? What...?”
“Hold on.” Mike nodded at the mist on the other side of the cavern. A small empty boat was sliding toward them as if on water, but it simply levitated just above the surface of the ground. They looked at each other, then looked back at the boat where the same figure in white now suddenly stood, making them jump.
“I love doing that. Well? Get in.”
“But... the password...?”
“There wasn’t one. I was just messing with you. You know how long I’ve been doing this? I get bored.”
They stood there in astonishment, Barrett taking a deep breath and letting his annoyance go.
“Why can’t we just fly?” asked Brian, getting into the boat.
“Protocol. Can’t have just any newbie flapping around in here. I’m your tour guide through the levels.”
“Great,” muttered Barrett, getting in, their middle brother following.
“Levels?” Mike looked around, squinting into the mist. The small boat began to move, the robed figure still standing up even as they sat.
“Yep. Seven of them before you get to the other side.”
“Whoa..” whispered Brian, holding onto the sides of the boat a little more firmly and leaning into his brothers.
SEVENTEEN
The small boat, just big enough for the four of them, glided into the mists smoothly and silently. Brian turned to the figure and spoke up a little more.
“Well, we’re the Masons. My name’s Br...”
“I know. Brian, Michael and Barrett. Nice to meet you.”
“Right... uh...”
“And you are...?” Barrett asked. He thought it was not only more polite to be able to address whoever this was by his or her name, but it would also avoid the awkwardness of having to use “sir” or “ma’am” or some other gender-specific title when that little detail was still a mystery.
“Yeah, that’s always a funny question.”
Barrett winced a little, but the robed figure didn’t seem to notice.
“I mean, which one do I give you?” the boat’s captain continued. “You’re not really from any culture but ‘American,’ whatever that is these days. The big melting pot and all that. But the trouble is that you guys are such mutts I can’t tap into your base culture to tell you what you want to hear. Western civilization in general, I guess?”
“Uh... start there?” suggested Brian.
Th
ey had passed from the smaller cavern into an infinitely larger cavern, the lighting a little better here. The floor seemed to have dropped out from under them so that they were now floating several hundred feet above the bottom, exactly in the middle of the huge space.
“Sure, that usually works. Most Americans have heard the name Sharon. Wait, you’re not from the South, are you?”
“Sharon?” Barrett blinked at the figure, confused and unsure if he was somehow missing something.
“Sorry, no. You have the pronunciation wrong. Charon, with a hard ‘ch’ sound.”
“Charon!” yelped Brian, then clapped a hand over his own mouth. “You mean like the guy in Greek mythology who takes you over the River Styx? That guy?”
The androgynous person merely chuckled. Barrett looked like he wanted to climb out of the boat. Mike studied the figure more closely.
“So... what are some other names? And what about the South?” asked the middle Mason.
“Well, Guede Masaka is from vodou, then you have Daena, Anubis, Pushan, Khepri, Beatrice...” He/she/it suddenly waved a hand with a little annoyance. “You’re distracting me, and I’m supposed to be showing you guys how to get through here.”
The brothers looked around in wonder at the immense space around them, bits of distant activities going on around the edges. It seemed to go on forever, and they realized that those at one side of the cavern couldn’t see those on the other side. A few beings flew through the center of the space, some with wings and some without, in and out of a large opening in the ceiling where some distant golden light was coming from. Looking over the edge of the boat, they could see that in the floor was a hole that descended into total darkness, the only signs of life being the little yellow moving dots of torches being carried, somewhat reminiscent of fireflies.
“THAT...” pronounced Charon suddenly, making them all jump a little, “...is where you probably don’t want to go. At least, not right now, and not unless you have to.”
“Is that...” Brian started to ask, but the words died in his throat.
“When people do evil of their own free will, knowing damn well it’s the wrong thing to do, but doing it anyway, there has to be some kind of consequences,” said Charon in a surprisingly soft tone. “It’s what and where you think it is. That’s one of the seven levels.”
“So... where are we now?” asked Barrett, looking more closely at the lines of people along the sides of the vast cavern.
“Judgment. The Halls of Judgment. Everybody comes through and ends up in the line for what they believe. Atheists just kind of sleep through this part. Sad, really, they miss a lot.”
The boat was guided closer to the sides so that they could see a little better. It looked like a world in miniature, each area like a little representation of different cultures and faiths.
“It’s a small world after all,” muttered Mike.
“So what is all this?” Barrett asked, leaning far over the edge in order to see better.
“Permanecer sentados por favor. I just told you. People come here and end up in the right place according to what they believe. If you’re African, your ancestors greet you. If you’re Catholic, you see Saint Peter. If you’re an agnostic, maybe it’s your grandma. See, the soul retains memories of who the person was for a while, even after the body dies. It’s a transition and sorting kind of thing.”
Brian suddenly thought to get out his phone and take a picture, but Charon just chuckled a little.
“Won’t work. Nothing will come out. You know why?”
“Uh... the same reason pictures of ghosts never turn out?” ventured Brian.
“Sort of close, but no. It’s because what you’re seeing isn’t really here. Well... it is and it isn’t. Those people down there need mental constructs, and so do you. You think that everybody that dies ends up in a big cave?” Charon snorted a little laugh as the boat rose a little higher toward the brightness in the apparent ceiling.
“So this is all a big metaphor?” asked Mike, confused and a little disturbed.
“Something like that. I wouldn’t think about it too hard. You’re still new.”
“So where do they go from here?” Brian watched the “floor” drop away below them, the little colorful dots of people getting smaller and smaller as the boat they assumed they were sitting in continued to rise.
“You’ll see. Man, you’re so impatient. But, I have to remind myself, you’re still mentally on Earth time.”
They drifted through the brightness in the ceiling to another level that appeared, once again, to extend off into infinity. In the brighter golden light, they could easily see that to their left was what appeared to be something of a hospital, with angels as nurses, tending to people that lay in what looked to be the most comfortable beds in the universe. Other people in the “hospital” sat in small groups, comforted by the attending angels. To their right were larger groups of people listening with rapt attention to an angel or other glowing being that was explaining things the brothers could not hear.
“As you’ve probably already guessed, these twin places are where people come to heal,” Charon said with a gesture to their left, “and to learn.” The right side of the level was nodded at.
“Oh, look...” Brian said in a near whisper at the sight of the others like himself and his brothers. He looked up at their guide. “Are they...?”
“Yep. Some angels choose to stay on this side and help. They’re... well... like you but not like you. You’ll find out in time,” Charon said with a little smile.
Brian looked back out over the scene, bathed in a soft golden light, with an even brighter gold-white light coming from above.
“Healing,” Mike murmured, suddenly conscious of his own battle scars. “Healed from what?”
“What they had to go through in life. Physical and mental damage. And yes, some of that was in war. The interesting thing is watching how people from opposite sides of a war react to seeing each other in here. There’s a recognition, but by the time people reach here, enough time has passed that the baggage has started to fall away. You can feel it, can’t you? What the light does here?”
They nodded a little, suddenly realizing what Charon was getting at. A feeling of calm and peace was in the air like perfume, everywhere at once and almost tangible.
“Do you think...” Mike started to whisper, but Charon shook his/her head, long hair flowing gracefully.
“That is not your place.”
Michael opened his mouth to ask why he couldn’t visit the healers, but the answer appeared in his mind unspoken. He nodded a little in understanding.
“They inspire people, don’t they. The scars. That even an angel can go through pain and not just survive, but help others. Even if they don’t know what I am, people see that life can be good despite hardship...” He shook his head a little, falling silent. Charon merely smiled softly at him and nudged their attention to the teachers and students on the other side.
“When the healing is done, souls are transitioned into these learning groups, if need be. Some go straight on up to their resting place, but some people need to learn a few things while they’re here. Be shown what they did wrong the last time around, and how to do it better the next time. If they’re going through, that is.”
“Resting place? Next time? You’re losing me,” said Barrett, both interested in the scene below and puzzling over what their guide was telling them. “Do people stay here or not? Because you can’t have both an eternity in heaven and reincarnation.”
Charon snorted at him. “No? So when did you start making the rules around here? Because the answer is both. Of course some stay, and some pass through. Some become angels on this side, some are angels on the other side, most are just regular people working to get it right, and some have other purposes entirely. There are some souls that come and go from the source to do what’s needed down there, then they return when their job is over, like a drop of rain back into the ocean.”
�
�Really? You mean they’re like regular people for a little while, but they’re really not?” asked Brian, thinking of Mr. Jefferson.
“Yes and no. ‘Jefferson,’ as you knew him, was a mortal man with a bit of a gift that was tapped into for you three. Now, the other two...”
“For us?” blurted out Brian.
“Of course,” said Charon with a bit of a frown at being interrupted. “You saw all the windows he made. But the other two... they were of the more utilitarian kind.”
“What other two?” Barrett asked, looking up. Something nudged at the back of his mind.
“The man and woman that brought you forth.”
Between the way Charon’s language kept wandering from modern smartassery to a somewhat more eloquent form and back, and the slight confusion over what he or she was likely saying, the Mason brothers were struck mute for a while. Finally Barrett managed to push out some words.
“Wait, you’re not talking about... our parents, are you?”
“Yes, yes, of course. They were sent down, created you in the human world, then went back once their purpose was over. Sorry for any inconvenience. It’s always a little rough for the ones born like that.”
“Sorry for... sorry for...” Mike stammered, completely stunned. If not for the all-encompassing peace of the golden light they were immersed in, he would have, quite literally, flown into a rage.
“But are they here? Can we see them?” asked Brian, eyes widening and sitting up a bit straighter.
“No. Weren’t you listening?” Charon started to get exasperated, but then just sighed. “Sorry... I keep forgetting this is all new for you guys, and you’re coming in part way through the movie. Let me explain this again. The ‘people,’” their guide said, using air quotes, “...that physically gave birth to your physical bodies and made sure you found a safe home were just caretakers. They went back to the source once their job was over. There’s nobody to talk to.”
“They’re just... gone...?” asked Barrett quietly.
Charon looked between them, then softened and nodded a little. “I’m sorry. Their personalities were just temporary. You probably don’t really remember them, because they were only partly there in the first place. Those drops of water are back in the sea.”
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