Chapter 4: Possession
Not everyone is convinced that Philip is really dead. If he'd lived in an evil realm with witches for 400 years, he could survive anything.
People gathered in groups and attempted to summon him back with various rituals. These would sometimes involve human sacrifices, trying to get Philip back by sending someone else to replace him in the afterlife. This was accompanied by an incantation that does absolutely nothing, but they believe it's an essential part of the resurrection process.
They needed their Witch Hunter General back... or at least they thought they did. There weren't even any witches left.
A unanimous decision was made to cremate the body, as it was already completely burnt.
Belos, without his palismen, had mutated into a deformed sludge monster. He slid into a gap in the wall and waited for someone to come near him.
One very unfortunate person arrived in the mortuary to take Belos away, when they realised that his chamber was already empty. There was some dark green sludge inside, and it formed a trail that went up the wall and into a small crevice.
She walked up to the wall and looked curiously. Suddenly, the goo shot out of the crack with a shriek and entered through her facial orifices. She felt a foreign consciousness invading her mind. Her eyes started glowing blue and she smiled menacingly to herself.
Belos put sunglasses on to hide his glowing eyes, then with his new human body, he left the hospital. He was instantly bombarded with questions about Philip and what was happening with him. He tried to get past them but they would not leave without answers.
He formulated a statement to get rid of them, "Philip is dead. But he will return. He will return in the form of somebody else. Perhaps through reincarnation, or perhaps he will possess one of us, in order to regain access to the mortal realm."
Everyone continued shouting random questions at him, but at least now he could get through the crowd.
Philip had returned to life for the second time now. First and foremost, he had to regain his power over those who followed him. Now that he looked like a random person who no one knew in any way, it would be more difficult to get people to believe him. When he arrived in town again, he saw the rituals that were being performed. If they already thought they could bring him back from the dead, then this would be a breeze.
He walked up to one of the groups, and offered to be 'sacrificed' so he could 'take Philip's place in death'. He stood in the centre of a circle of eight people who were chanting an unintelligible incantation.
When they were about to finish the ritual, Belos started to feign a possession.
After a while of thrashing on the ground, seemingly losing control of himself as Philip's spirit enters his body, he stopped and stood. He took off his glasses and people saw his glowing blue eyes. They gasped in amazement.
"It's Philip! He's back!"
He walked back to his usual announcement spot, the Wittebane statue, and shouted, "I, Philip Wittebane, have returned once again thanks to your valiant efforts to resurrect me."
Everyone was now cheering for him again. Everyone except Atlas, who stared with rage.
At that moment, Belos realised he didn't have his staff. He decided he'd go find it later. For now, he had a new plan to get started on. Before he could continue, he needed a few extremely devoted followers who were willing to do some immoral things for a 'greater cause'.
He pointed to three random people and told them to come with him into a dark alley.
"Would you three be willing to do some... not so great things, if it would help people to understand the threat that awaits-"
"You want me to disguise as a witch and hurt people so you can masquerade as a hero by stopping me? Got it. When do I start?"
"That is the general idea. But think of it more as preparing them for a real witch attack."
The other two were already gone.
"Lying to people has been my entire life. I can do this for you."
"Excellent. Now, before we get to that, We'll need some explosives. I don't know where one would find such things, so-"
"Leave that to me. I may know a few... unofficial sources..." Belos watched as he left, then he took another three people into his alley. He used all the same lines on 18 people there before he had a full team.
Belos awoke in his old, deteriorated house.
He looked up and saw eight people stood near him. "What are you- Oh yeah. I told you to meet me here at sunrise." He slowly stood, yawning.
He continued staring at them before someone spoke, "So... why did you ask us to come here?"
"...I had a staff when I died before. Do any of you know what became of it?"
"It's being studied by scientists. They're trying to understand its power and replicate it."
Belos suddenly fell to the ground. He felt his arm decaying. He shrieked in pain.
The group watched, confused.
"Uhh... What's happening?"
He got back up in extreme agony, and spoke aggressively, "I need more palismen. Find me more."
His entire body was becoming goo again.
"What's a... palismen?"
Belos, now back in his gooey monster form, shrieked and jumped at Evan, the first person he saw. The previous body he had possession of melted away into a puddle with scattered bones.
Evan's eyes glowed blue, as he felt his consciousness fading, and a new one taking its place.