You were to bring the necromancer meals, and so you did. Sometimes, after you had delivered them, you would continue to lurk outside the door, to try and discover what devilcraft and dark sorcery he was using. It was one of these moments where you were discovered.

"You can come in, you know." The dark sorcerer's voice was soft. "Even necromancers can become lonely."

You had ventured in, grasping the silver warding cross hung around your neck that your mother had given you.

He saw the motion, and laughed lightly. "Silver and crosses do no good against the dark. Come, put that down and sit by me."

Feeling slightly foolish, you released the cross but made no move to take it off. You realized that the rotting-flesh smell was gone now, but you still dared not look at the inert body of your late Lady. You dared to tread closer, but did not sit down beside the necromancer.

"You see, Janx – that is your name, is it not? Yes, Janx, the dark is not evil. It is merely knowledge that we fail to understand. And in our fear of what we do not understand, we label it as witchcraft, as sorcery. I see what others do not – that the dark is there to be harnessed. I and the many other scholars of the land merely seek to understand it so that it may be used for good."

The words were out of your mouth before you could stop yourself. "G-good? You are bringing a body back from the dead! It is blasphemy!"

"And is that not the trademark of the holiest? Was it not the ability to resurrect that belonged to the most divine of them all?"

You shook your head. "Not like this. Never like this." But your mind was racing. It was true; the priests old were rumored to have powers to bring back the dead. Was this – this perverted ceremony – truly all that different?

One of the silvery instruments he had brought rung out, creating a clear and bold tone.

"It is time for me to begin again. Stay if you wish, I would appreciate your company. And your master is beyond reason. Should you bring him news of this ritual, he will merely ignore it."

You chose to remain. Spellbound by his hauntingly soft voice, by the runes he drew into the ground, you could not tear your eyes away.

Though his voice was gentle, it held the unmistakable ring of authority.

"Skuld of the Norns, release this single thread from the woven Word. It has been cut and tied, but the knot may yet be undone."

With a flourish of his hands, he completed the ritual.

You glanced skeptically at him. "And yet the Lady still lies dead and motionless. Be this dark sorcery or holy resurrection, it is not very effective."

He laughed. "Be patient. I cannot weave so many enchantments upon her in so short a time. Her body would not be able to take it."

And so it was that every day you watched him perform a new ritual.

"Oh kind Baldr, heal this mortal body of wound and decay. Let her become whole once more."

"Wise Bragi, give your powers of words to her, so that she may speak."

"Ravens of Odin, I humbly ask you to bring back her memories and thoughts."

"I call upon thee, Gleipnir, never-breaking chain. To the faithful husband shall she be tied, and as he lives she shall never die."

He told you of the gods of old, the ancient ones who lived by the sacred ash tree. You scoffed and told him there was only one God. But you had begun to question your own faith by now. If your God was the one true God, why was it that when he invoked his gods, they replied?

In his spare time, he did little else than read from one of the many tomes he had brought with him. He seemed forever thirsty for knowledge, soaking it up quickly, but always hungering for more.

Finally came the day when he spoke the phrase that would bring her back from the dead.

"Give her life, fair Idunn. A single apple is all that I need."

The lady of the house moved.

Her eyelids opened mechanically.

Her jaw dropped open a little too wide, her grin a stretched a little too far, she muttered a single word. "Darling…"

A/N: I almost hurled writing that last sentence...Uncanny valley ftl. Reviews are loved! Also, I'll be gone for about a month, summer program in a place w/ iffy internet connection :P