Shackles of Resurrection

Just because someone is dead doesn't mean he cannot be resurrected.

But just because someone has been resurrected doesn't mean he is alive.

Grado had been totally annihilated.

It wasn't that they had purposely gone to burn the Grado villages or anything to take revenge of the Grado civilians. It was just that all the fields were barren, the crops had long wilted from lack of care, people had died of starvation and other diseases, bandits were rampant…in short, in Prince Lyons quest to conquer the world, he had severely neglected his own country and allowed Grado to fall to ruins. With his death, all of them had breathed a sigh of relief, although Ephraim and Eirika lamented the loss of their former friend.

But with Lyon's death, there were things to be done. The dark magic materials that Lyon had once used in his evil plans were supposed to be destroyed and burnt. The Grado treaties were supposed to be found and re-established. The governmental structure was supposed to be reorganised. Instructions were to be given; relief aid was to be dispensed. Rebuilding was to take place, and the traces of the evil plot erased forever.

And that was why Marisa was stuck here in this musty library with Lord Ephraim, Tana, some warrior of Ephraim's named Ross, and a sniper named Neimi.

"I can't believe Lyon was reading all of these!" Lord Ephraim frowned. "Little wonder he had been corrupted by the evilness in the books. The dark magic in them makes me shudder!" He threw the book in his hand into the burning bonfire in the middle of the fireplace, where nearly half of Lyon's library had already been consumed and destroyed.

"I suppose we could have hardly expected him to do such a thing," Tana comforted her husband. "It's not your fault, Ephraim. You had to take care of Renais and you were occupied as well."

The sheer amount of adoration and fluffy love between the royal Renais couple made her greatly amused. They were forever speaking to each other in terms of endearment with honeyed words, much to the chagrin and disgust of Innes, who always harboured a grudge against Ephraim.

"Why do you like him so much?" Innes would shake his head as he addressed his little sister. "He's nothing more than a pretty face and a slighter better than average figure."

"He's the best!" Tana would defend Ephraim hotly. "He is so caring and so sweet and so chivalrous and so noble and so-" She would trail behind Innes reciting all of Ephraim's good qualities as he gagged.

She smiled as she pulled another book from the shelf, taking care not to breathe in too much dust. She was about to throw it into the fire when she noticed the title.

Resurrection.

She blinked. "Resurrection…" she muttered slowly. If I could read what this book says and follow the instructions, I would be able to bring Saleh back to life again! Then I would have my best friend back with me once more and I won't feel guilty towards him for dying for me!

"Marisa!" A chirpy voice behind her nearly caused her to drop the book. Tana leant over her shoulder. "What book is that? Ohhhh…resurrection…sounds cool…" She took a look at Ephraim's horrified expression. "I was kidding!" she pouted as she went over and hugged her husband.

Marisa waited until all of them had their backs turned, then slipped the book silently into her own pocket. Hurriedly, she walked towards the door, intent on getting out before anyone noticed the bulge in her pocket.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Tana asked cheerily.

"Umm…the washroom." She nodded, slipping out of the room. Closing the door, she heaved a sigh of relief. The book in her pocket weighed heavily on her conscience, but she knew that as a friend, she would have to try every means to bring Saleh back to life. She owed him that much.

The stables…right, and find Amber. She set off towards the stables. I need to get back and bring Saleh back to life.

"Hey! Marisa!"

Damn.

Joshua jogged up to her. "Where are you running off to in such a hurry? Weren't you supposed to be in the library clearing all the dark and creepy books?" He moved closer. "What's that in your pocket?" His voice seemed sharper all of a sudden. "Is it a book?"

She backed away in alarm. "It's just a normal book," she lied smoothly. "Queen Ismaire just sent a message for me to return to help her with something, so I'll be leaving first. Apologise to the rest for me."

Turning before Joshua could stop her, she fled down the dark corridor lit only be gothic looking candles.

Amber whined happily as she entered the stables.

"Here, girl." She gave Amber an apple from the apple barrel left carelessly by the stable boys. As the horse munched happily on the treat, she quickly saddled her and adjusted the bridle. "I need you to take me back to Jehanna quickly. Can you do it for me?"

Amber snorted and pawed the ground, anxious to gallop once more.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, opening the stable door. She needed to get back as quickly as possible. She could hardly wait for Saleh's resurrection. All the rest would be so pleased, and she would have her best friend back.

Wait for me Saleh, I won't forsake your sacrifice for me.

The morgue was cold, freezing in fact. It needed to be cold in order to keep the bodies of those who had died but had yet to be buried.

But she scarcely felt the cold. All she experienced was intoxicating warmth, from her own anticipation of Saleh's return to life and her joy at imagining the look of happy surprise on Saleh's face once he resurrected.

Her boots clicked loudly against the cold stone floor.

R…S…She examined the name cards on the rows and rows of cloth-covered bodies that lay still on their individual stone slabs. Sabrina…Safyr…Sa…Saleh.

She stopped before the white covered corpse that lay calmly on the stone table. Hands trembling, she reached forward and lifted the white cover off the body.

It was him. Stefan was right. Dark magic did preserve the victims. After spending such a long time in death, Saleh looked like he had just died. No, he looked as though he was still alive, only entrapped in a deep slumber, like of those princesses trapped in an eternal sleep because of an evil spell or curse.

She stroked his cheek. It was cold to the touch, but still smooth and perfect.

It's as though he never died in the first place.

A tear fell on his ch

eek, and she hurriedly brushed it away, afraid that water would corrode his perfect corpse.

It's not the time to cry, silly Marisa. She scolded. What happened to your supernatural courage when you were fighting Sir Alexander?

Summoning every ounce of strength she had in her body, she lifted Saleh into her arms. She had never carried Saleh before, but in death he seemed to have become lighter.

Maybe it was his soul that once used to weigh a lot, and his knowledge.

Panting, she carried the body in her arms and made her way out of the morgue slowly, to the waiting Amber outside the morgue.

She loved being a body thief.

Gingerly, she laid Saleh down on the cold marble slab in the underground cavern. In the chaos of restoring the palace, no one had seen her creep into the Jehannan palace with a large bundle on her back. Neither did she encounter any obstacles as entered the cavern that used to house the Sacred Stone and Sacred Twins.

The instructions said somewhere deep underground, cold and dark, she thought, wiping the sweat from her brow. This place is the most secret in the entire palace, and nobody can come in, so I am relatively safe and undisturbed.

Dropping the bag onto the floor, she combed through the contents to retrieve those items that she needed. She had stolen the necessary ingredients for the spell from various rooms in the palace, but no one had noticed anything.

I have to follow the instructions exactly.

She opened the musty book and placed it flat on the marble slab beside Saleh. Taking pieces of wood from the bag, she threw a lit candle into the pile of wood, which instantly caught fire. Facing the roaring bonfire, she slowly added the ingredients to feed the fire.

The leaves of the deadly nightshade…to build a connection with the dead. The flames turned black as the leaves were rapidly consumed in the fire.

A single plant of henbane…to call out to the dead and bid them return. The flames glowed for a moment with an eerie purple light as the plant was burnt.

Monkshood…to reverse the effects of death. The flames hissed and leapt up towards her as she added the monkshood, taking a step back to avoid being burnt.

Ground oleander blossoms…to bring back the colour into the cheeks of the dead. The flames changed colour from black to a vibrant hue of purple, with pink and violet nuances.

Finally, two pieces of deadly amanita…a curse to the living, but a blessing to the dead…to bring back the lost life of the deceased. There was a loud roar as a black phoenix seemed to rise from the flames, before everything became calm and serene again, almost as though she had not done anything.

Now for the last part. To complete the spell, she had to take three drops of her blood and drip it into the waiting flames. As the book had so aptly up it, she had to 'donate some of her life to the dead, so that the blood would serve as a cornerstone to anchor the life in the body'.

Taking a deep breath, she unsheathed her shamshir. To accomplish a daunting task, sacrifice was always needed. When she had wanted to merge the Sacred Twins, she had to chain her soul to the Sacred Weapon. Thus, if she wanted to revive Saleh, she would need to give three drops of her blood as a bargaining item.

"What the heck do you think you are doing?" An angry voice called out from the darkness behind her. A hand shot out from behind her and wrestled her shamshir from her grip, flinging it away to the side of the cavern. Another hand clutched her wrist in a crushing grip, fingernails biting into her flesh.

She cried out. "Joshua! Let go of me!" she hissed. His musky scent made him easy to identify, even without looking at his face.

He tightened his grip around her wrist. "Not until you know the error of your ways," he said with gritted teeth.

"What do you know?" She retorted scornfully. "You don't even have any idea what I am doing."

He dragged her away forcefully from the burning bonfire. "Look Marisa. I know you miss your friend a lot, but you cannot try and reverse death and bring him back to life! Life doesn't work that way!"

"He's not just a friend." She struggled. "He was the best friend I had in my life and let go of me!"

His face was grim. "And just because of that you are going to cast dark magic and attempt to resurrect him? You don't even know how to perform magic, how are you going to control the magic you unleashed?"

"I will have a way," she replied stubbornly. "You don't want me to resurrect Saleh because you are jealous of him! You didn't like it that he hugged me and professed his love that day in front of you, and thus you don't want him to revive!"

A vein throbbed in his temple. "That's nonsense, Marisa. I hardly wanted him to die anymore than you do. I just don't want you to make a mistake of no-return."

"It's not a mistake!" She shouted. "Everyone misses him and everyone wants him back alive. How can you say it's a mistake to resurrect him?"

"It's not your intention that is a mistake! It's your method!" He yelled. "Haven't you ever wondered why people mourn for their loved ones after their deaths, but no one asks to resurrect them even though it's possible? It's because resurrection is evil, Marisa, evil! Do you know what you were doing when you nearly gave your blood to the fire? You were almost selling your soul to the devil, Marisa! Why did we ask to burn all of Lyon's books? It's because it was evil, it corrupts mankind, and we don't want another person to end up tragically like him!"

She folded her arms around her. "I'm different."

"Lyon was the greatest necromancer in Grado, what makes you think that you can handle whatever that will come?" He continued. "Why don't you understand? When you nearly gave your blood, you were nearly giving half of your life away to the devil. Do you know what will happen? You'll become another lackey of the devil, and so will Saleh. Is that what you want?"

She bit her lip, willing herself not to cry. He was right, and she was wrong. Very nearly, she had set out on a path of no return. But all she had wanted to do was to revive Saleh, how could something so innocent be so wrong sometimes?

"Marisa, let it go…" His voice was gentle as he took her in his arms. "There are some things in life that we cannot change, no matter how much we desire it to be different.

Let it go…The words breezed past her ears mournfully. Would she ever be able to let go of the past, let go of the dream of opening a cherry patisserie with Saleh? There were some things that were so deeply etched in one's memory that no matter how hard one shook their heads, it was impossible to pretend as though nothing had happened.

How do I let it go when I have spent the last decade of my life this way?

A tear fell, then another. Is there really no way for me to fulfill my dream any longer? Is there really no way for me to bring Saleh back to life? Why…

"Let it go…" Joshua patted her back, as though he was comforting a little child. "You don't have to remember the past. It'll only make yourself miserable. Even if your friend is gone, you still have other friends who will love you and take care of you. You still have me."

She smiled bitterly. Just how reliable were the rest of them?

He misinterpreted her smile. "Well then, let's bring your friend back to the morgue, shall we? He deserves a grand funeral, as do all the other heroes who perished in the battle. That's the most we can do for him, but that's also the best that we can do for him."

She nodded. He could hardly offer any other words of comfort; he had not known Saleh intimately, and thus he could hardly imagine how much Saleh meant to her.

Nothing more. None of them could do anything more for Saleh.

Her heart sank.

Nothing more.

This author has nothing to say except that she is tired. Yawn.