Kaecilius stepped through a portal and quickly closed it behind him. He barely registered the surroundings, moving purely on muscle memory towards the couch.
It wasn't until he sat down that he finally realized where he had gone.
A place he hadn't been in years, everything was covered in dust and painful memories.
Once, his wife would have been mortified if she saw it like this, not because she was a neat freak, but because her mother would nag her about it endlessly.
Even now, he couldn't help but remember those days, those simple days, long before magic, long before legends. Those were simple days, but they were happy, and thinking about them was painful.
That was why he didn't come here… because he didn't want to think about it, didn't want to distract himself from his training, because… wasn't it all meant to bring this back? To bring them back?
Yet, years, years, and years and years and years had passed, and he was no closer to bringing them back…
Or he hadn't been.
Not until today.
Or maybe he had been wrong all along?
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed possible.
Why had The Ancient One taken him in under the promise of helping him, if nothing he learned under her helped at all?
Had she been lying all along?
That was something he had been thinking privately lately. He didn't want to think it, always chastised himself for it, before… if she was lying… wouldn't everything he had done have been in vain?
But… maybe like always, The Ancient One had just been seeing further than he had?
What… if the reason she took him in and taught him everything was because she had foreseen this?
Because wasn't the reason he had been able to meet with Arthuria all because of his identity as a disciple of The Ancient One? Because of his skill and mastery of the mystic arts?
That made things come full circle; he had gotten a clue, a possible chance at bringing his family back from his meeting with Arthuria, which came around from his identity, which came from The Ancient One.
Sure, it was a really roundabout way, but he could totally see it being something his teacher would do.
Still… "Resurrection." The word felt almost sacred on his tongue. The more he knew, the more he realized he didn't know.
It had been his goal for years, the single thing he moved towards since he found the mystic side of the world, yet it wasn't until now that he really realized how hard a goal that is.
As a sorcerer, he had dealt with his fair share of demons; he borrowed his power from dimensions and gods, so he knew a lot, but when it came to his goal, resurrection, he indeed didn't know much.
[flashback]
Kaecilius had just raised his request and waited, waited while Arthuria sank into thoughts.
"Kaecilius, what you ask isn't easy… to bring the dead back to life? I don't think you truly know how difficult this is." Arthuria finally said, her voice grave and serious.
Kaecilius cleared his throat, forcing the words out before doubt could silence him. "Then… the Grail. It was the Grail you used, wasn't it? To bring them back—your knights."
Arthuria's gaze sharpened, cutting through his assumption like a blade. "No. The Grail grants many things, but not that. What you saw was not resurrection. They are Heroic Spirits, echoes of what once was, not the living men themselves."
The weight of her words pressed down on him, but Kaecilius refused to yield. "But… they stand beside you. They fight. They speak. You mean to tell me they are not alive?"
"They are memories given form," Arthuria said, her voice firm but not unkind. "They are a special type of being, neither alive nor dead, and not everyone can become one; one needs to be a legend, woven into humanity's history itself."
Kaecilius swallowed, his chest tightening. For a moment, his hands trembled. "…So it is truly impossible, then? Even for you?"
Arthuria was silent for a long time before she finally answered. "Impossible… nearly. There are only two paths I know of, and both are more dangerous than death itself. One requires a power so alien, so vast, that any soul brought back would be crushed by the residue of it. The other would demand a great machine, one that can turn back time itself, yet it lies broken beyond repair. Both methods are… out of reach."
Her words were meant to close the matter, but instead they lit a spark in him. He leaned forward, desperate. "So you admit it—it is not impossible. Difficult, yes. Dangerous, yes. But not beyond reach."
Arthuria frowned, her expression softening, almost pitying. "You twist my meaning, sorcerer. If you walk that path, it will break you. Still…" She let out a quiet breath, as if weighing whether to give him anything at all.
"Any being, able to do what even I can't, to undo death itself, is not a being you can bargain with; it would be like asking me to cut off my own arm, for you to hand me my pen. Why would I ever agree to such a deal, when I could just take the pen myself without cost?" Her words were filled with warning.
Her words were crushing, his hopes here dashed, could it really be impossible? He didn't even want to think about it.
So he desperately clung to one word she spoke. She had said, What he asked for wasn't easy… not that it was impossible. "You said it's not easy, yet what you have said so far… You claim it is impossible, so what else do you know?"
She looked at him, her green eyes peering into his soul. "I have heard of two other means… they seem… crude compared to the others, yet… despite that, despite my divine knowledge saying bringing the dead back should be impossible, there seems to be means to achieve it… and some of them might be possible from Earth."
Kaecilius's heart pounded. "Tell me."
"Do you know the origin of the name I gave my kingdom?" she suddenly asked, changing the topic.
Part of him wanted to dismiss it, to ask about what was important, yet he held himself back. Realizing that she likely didn't ask that for no reason.
"Albion, is the name of a legendary dragon. In some legends, it is a dragon of hope, in others, a monster of evil." He had studied every legend connected to her carefully, so he had no problem answering the question.
"Dragons… dragons are power given form, a dragon is a mighty being… my heart is the heart of a dragon, it gives me the fate of a king, and great strength. You sorcerers borrow your magic from dimensions, yet a dragon's heart is an infinite engine of power." She slowly explained.
She painted a vivid image of dragons, beings with the power to shape the world, beings with the power of god, unbeatable, unstoppable.
"Yet, there are no dragons today." He finished.
"Why not?" he couldn't help but ask. If dragons were so powerful, why had they disappeared?
"The world can no longer support them, like ancient sharks, the oceans of today do not have the food they need to survive, and the air today is too thin for a dragon, so… they left, or most did, some remained behind, unwilling to leave, too proud. Yet once they realized they had to leave… they found they no longer had the strength to leave."
"So dragons are the secret?" he asked.
"I am not sure if you know about an order of assassins known as The Hand. They have been around for a long, long time, maybe longer than even The Ancient One. They earned my interest, due to possessing a substance, a serum they call Resurrection Serum."
Kaecilius felt a lump in his throat. That was it; this was what he was looking for. "And this Serum, what is it?"
She sighed. "I don't know, not fully, I know the main ingredient is the bones of dragons, a rare and powerful substance, and why I take their claim seriously. From what I have learned, this serum does somehow possess the ability to bring the dead back to life, as long as the body isn't burned."
"What if they are damaged? Does it still work?" he asked, desperately hoping it would, since the bodies of his wife and child had suffered some damage after their death, and further decay before he used magic to preserve what was left.
"I don't know, but there are ways to restore them, I am sure. Such a thing shouldn't be too difficult."
He breathed out a sigh, indeed. Compared to bringing the dead back to life, something he had never seen anything about doing… merely restoring their bodies? He was certain he could do it. "What about the other method?" he asked, wanting to know about both methods, just to be safe.
Arthuria's eyes softened, though her voice carried the weight of iron. "The other is not of magic, but of blood. Alien blood. Years back, members of the Kree Empire came to Earth, and died here, leaving their bodies in the hands of man. And man… they grew curious… they have studied it for years, and have used science, the magic of man, to bring a body back to life… though it is not without side effects."
Kaecilius was beyond intrigued. Was it really possible that technology might be able to achieve what even a God couldn't? It sounded shocking, but since it was Arthuria herself who brought it up, he didn't dismiss it outright. "What side effects?"
"Kree blood gives Kree life." Arthuria said evenly. "Those with the blood of the Kree in their veins, they get more than life in them, madness, a terrible madness lives within them. Yet… the madness can be cured by forgetting, something I'm sure you can do; still, I am unsure how well this will work with an older body, since science often needs the wound to be fresh."
Her warning seemed to wash past him, barely slowing the feverish spark in his eyes. "Yet still, it means there is a way. The serum of dragons, or this blood of stars… methods that exist here, on Earth."
Arthuria's voice hardened. "Kaecilius, listen well. I tell you this because you have a dark fate following you, and I hope that this might avoid it. Many evil gods might promise aid, but any being who needs your aid, I tell you this: they can't give you what you seek."
[Flashback ends]
The memory faded, but her words still rang in his ears.
Kaecilius found himself staring at the floorboards, his hands clenched so tight his nails cut into his palms. The pain meant nothing compared to the weight in his chest.
Resurrection Serum.
Kree blood.
Two paths. Two chances. Where before there had been none.
Still, he had some preparations to make; he knew this help didn't come for free. So he needed to head to China and meet this warlord, then prepare spells to restore their bodies, make them ready.
"So much to do… Still, I'm close." He said as he picked up a picture and blew the dust off it. "Just a little longer, and daddy will fix everything."
(End of chapter)
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