So I figured that the first chapter should be something that ties it all together, this is what I got.

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than my laptop and my copy of MS Word. See the foreword for the full disclaimer.

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"Talking."

'Thinking.'

"Ethereal voices."

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"This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper." -Hollow Man, T.S. Elliot

A young man sat on a lawn chair on the top of a decrepit skyscraper that had long been needing repairs as it was falling apart. He drank a cold beer, a Guinness if he remembered correctly, as he looked out upon the city that had once been one of the centers of all human civilization: London. Oh, London had come quite a ways over the years since he had been alive, as had the rest of the world. Next to him was an elderly man: the last man on Earth. He too had a beer and a blunt he was smoking.

"So, this is it?" the old man asked with a gruff voice that showed his age. "This is the way humanity dies."

"You have to admit, you blokes had a pretty good run," the young man replied. "I particularly enjoyed the twenty-second century: the second sexual revolution."

"I heard of those times," the elder reminisced, "orgies in the streets around the clock, a new baby boom, and the curing of all STIs."

"It was as wild as the history books said they were. I remember being in a reverse gangbang where each girl was from each major ethnicity group, it was fun. It was like going to an X-Rated Epcot," the younger man also reminisced.

"You're older than me, but you're hornier than a teen," the elder laughed.

"Guilty as charged," the younger joined in with his own infectious laughter.

Their laughter eventually died down as the sun began to set. "So what's it like to die?" the elder asked.

"I don't know, I've never died. Or at least I've never completely died," he corrected himself.

"How do you only die half-way?"

"You've known me long enough to know the answer: magic."

"That still doesn't answer anything."

"Some things, even if you've studied them for lifetimes, still remain a mystery."

Silence passed between the two as the sun set. Beers were drunk and ash of cigarettes fell into the wind. "Hey, you still there?" the younger asked. He looked over to the elderly man to see that the elderly man's eyes were closed and that his chest wasn't moving.

"He has moved on," an ethereal voice said next to him. He turned to see a figure cloaked in a black hooded robe that hides the face.

"That's everyone, isn't it?" he asked, taking the last sip left in the bottle.

"Indeed it is, master," the figure replied before pulling back the hood, revealing a pale yet beautiful woman with long black hair, pouty lips covered with red lipstick, and high cheekbones.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" he said, standing up to look at her.

"You could have called upon me at any time, master."

"Yes, I could have." He looked out at the long desolate city. "So, what happens now?"

"As I told you a long time ago, you will only be able to pass from this world once the last human on it has died."

The two vanished in a flash of light, leaving the desolated city behind. Within microseconds later they reappeared in another flash in a chamber the man had not seen in many years. "The Veil."

"Yes, it is the physical bridge between this world and the afterlife."

He approached it and stopped right in front of it, staring into the water-like motion the Veil's barrier was making. "So what? You want me to walk through it?" he asked.

"Unless you'd rather me use my scythe on you," she said as she brought out a scythe that featured the staff being made out of several spines connected to a skull, the blade of said scythe was coming out of the skull's jaw. "Yes."

"Is it painless?" he asked more out of curiosity.

"For you? Yes."

"For me?"

"Those who aren't my chosen or those who committed vile acts that would earn them a place in every religion's version of hell experience varying levels of pain when passing through the Doorway, the latter experiencing the pain they put those they hurt through."

Harry looked at the Veil once more. The thin doorway itself was still flowing serenely as it always had, like the day that Sirius went through it. "Once more unto the breach," the man said before walking through the Veil. He felt something akin to ice water flowing around him. When he opened his eyes he saw inverted trees of light. It was oddly beautiful.

"Welcome, Harry Potter, to the nexus that links all dimensions and universes together: Death," she announced standing next to him.

"Nexus?"

"Regardless of what universe beings with a soul reside in, they're all connected by one thing: death, my domain."

"Why am I here instead of the afterlife?" Harry, slightly annoyed, asked. After all, he was looking forward to reuniting with deceased loved ones.

"Because you've seen so much I wanted to give you an offer. Being my master allows you access to all and every one of these realities."

"All of them?"

"Do you see the tree behind you?" Harry turned around. There was a massive stalk on the top that leads to other branching 'branches' that branched off into multiple others. "That is the Reality Timeline for you, Harry James Potter born of James and Lily Potter. Every branch below is a separate reality where something different took place, however, you were still prophesized to defeat Voldemort. You could have been born a girl or been into men, or you could have died, but the end result was that you still defeated Voldemort and the world was better off for it. That one next to yours?" she pointed to one that was close to his but only a few branches branched from one to the other. "That is a reality where somehow you died in one way, shape, or form and Voldemort ended up ruling the world, there's a reason why I hire interns: for sociopaths like that."

"What exactly are you getting at?" Harry asked, looking at all the 'trees' all around him that extended into an incomprehensible distance away.

She stood in front of him and raised her arms, "All this is yours. Every dimension, every universe, every conceivable and inconceivable reality is yours to explore and even meddle with if you desire."

Harry had a dumbfounded expression. "So you're telling me that I could go into another universe and kill Voldemort before he kills my parents?"

"Hypothetically? Yes. You wouldn't know the people who are biologically your parents, but you'd be assuring a better life for an alternate you. In fact, that line over there is where you actually did that," she replied as she pointed to a specific line that belonged to the 'prophecy fulfilled' line. "This alternate you grew up strong despite an occasionally meddling Headmaster getting far too interested in your affairs for his own good. He eventually grew up and married his childhood crush after defeating Voldemort and later died of old age surrounded by friends and his children and grandchildren."

"So you're saying I can't change my destiny," Harry stated more than questioned.

"No, but you can change others' should you wish to. You can even screw over many villains' plans should you desire to."

Harry snorted a laugh, "It always fun to defeat evil villains plans." He paused before asking, "Where should I go first then?"

"That's up to you, master," Death replied.

To be continued…

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So there we go, there's the prologue. Before I take off I do want to add one note. The timeline trees I mention are a direct reference to both to the Yggdrasil tree of Norse mythology and to the timeline trees seen in the anime STEINS;GATE. The whole premise of that anime is time travel and the Butterfly Effect and people wanting to control the future. The tree itself refers to the variations of what might happen in a timeline; like what I mentioned here there might be a universe where Harry was born as a girl but still fulfilled the prophecy. In the anime, a similar event happens, but the same end result happens over and over to such an extent the main character goes insane from undoing all he did so the destiny of one of his friends doesn't come to pass that is destined to happen in that timeline. It's a really great anime and you'd be missing out if you don't watch it. You can watch it right now on the Funimation website if you want to.

Other than that I don't have any other notes to really mention for this chapter. If you have any suggestions of what universes Harry could go meddle in for either a comedic effect (for the lulz) or for a more righteous purpose, let me know. See you guys all next time!