The Resurrected

Cassius remained by Melinoë's side all through her dying moments, along with their son, whom they had named Nathaniel.

"Cass...ius...take care...of our...son..." the light was already fading from Mel's eyes. She reached out a shaking hand to touch Cassius' face. "Please...don't...hate him."

Mel's arm shuddered, threatening to crash down onto the bed at any moment, never to move again. Cassius, who was now Grand Duke, picked up her hand and gingerly lifted it to rest on his cheek.

"I won't. I promise, Mel. I will never, ever hate him. For as long as he remains my son, I will never find any reason to despise him."

Then, her final wish satisfied, Melinoë closed her eyes, slipping into the endless sleep that would lead her soul into the grasp of the cold, dark unknown. Her arm went limp in Cassius' hands.

An agonized wail shook the entire Chevalier estate.

"No, no, no!" Cassius cried, head in hands and nails digging into his scalp. "You were supposed to stay with me forever! You promised."

Suddenly, the Grand Duke's eyes lit up with a chaotic, insane glow, sending young Nathaniel backing into a corner of the room, wrapping his arms around himself and quietly weeping into his hands.

"Yes...yes...that's right..." Cassius maniacally scrambled to the bookshelf like a deranged creature let loose, pulling out books, crazed expression never leaving his face, until he found what he was looking for. "They can't stop me...she promised...you can't stop me!"

Shivering with insanity and expectation, Cassius threw the book open, old rotten covers barely holding together, as he picked his way through the pages, searching for something...

A resurrection spell. The resurrection spell.

It was the only spell ever created that was capable of bringing back the dead. Made by a deranged sorcerer obsessed with messing around with the extremes of magic, it was quickly discovered and banned for being far too taxing on the user, as well as yielding...unsatisfactory results.

Cassius fumbled with the book, dropping in onto the floor, where it lay, cover facing up, the words Experiments of Sorcerers Lost standing out amongst the many other books of orthodox magic. The Grand Duke closed his eyes, seeming to calm down for a moment as his hands danced through the air, pulling in strands of magic and carving out runes and wrapping them into the loops of the magic circle. As he completed his final stroke, the circle began to glow with a wicked, demented light. It shone through the room, digging into the mind of young Nathaniel, shuddering alone in a corner.

Peeping through his fingertips, the little boy watched his father disregard every rule about magic he had ever taught his son as he attempted to do the impossible. Nathaniel gazed at his father, his beloved father, cackle in a manner unbefitting of his status as an immortal, as he went against the way of the world. In that moment, something inside of that innocent little boy broke, shattering alongside his idea of justice and his belief in his father's honor.

Cassius waited expectantly for his love to be summoned back through the magic circle, but the spell was not complete. All of a sudden, he felt a pulsing pain in his chest, seeming to claw at the edges of his soul, never digging its claws deep enough to kill. But he would be scarred. Cassius felt his life force being drawn out of himself, and fed into the spell. He reached up a trembling hand, lifting a lock of his hair, watching as the deep violet strands faded to a deathly white.

The spell had demanded its due.

The Grand Duke gasped, clutching at his chest. The pain had finally faded, but he had felt it. It felt like death. Had he not been immortal, he would likely have been dead already. Collecting himself, Cassius looked up, only to be met with a woman, sitting primly on the edge of the bed, shriveled white hair falling down her shoulders in thin, snarled strands. She watched him curiously, gloomy pupil-less eyes staring into his soul, as her cold blue lips parted.

"Cassius?" Her voice came out raspy and hoarse, a look of recognition flitting across her face. "What did you do?"

The light that had briefly shone through her eyes disappeared almost immediately. Her voice came out monotonous and bland, sending chills down Cassius' spine. "You weren't supposed to do that."

"W-what do you mean? You're fine now, aren't you?"

"No, not when I've seen the end so clearly. Nobody could ever be the same again. Resurrecting me was a mistake. A mistake that you should never make again."

"B-but I'm sure...! I completed the spell! Everything should have been fixed..."

The woman shook her head. She looked around the room, unblinking, until her eyes landed on Nathaniel huddled in the far corner of the room. "You are not powerful enough. Infinite souls have traversed the darkness ahead of me, and more will after me. And amongst them all, only one has ever truly escaped the clutches of death."

The woman stood up, thinning white hair drifting along after her, as she walked past Cassius to approach the little boy crumpled in the corner. Kneeling before him, she reached out a hand and wiped a tear of the child's face. "You know who I speak of. The Mad Emperor was his name."

"You mean that Lucien Lumen, the founder of the empire who lost his mind, isn't dead?"

Ignoring Cassius, the woman patted Nathaniel on the head. "I feel a strange connection to you, child. I do not remember you, but it seems that I may have possessed some sort of affection for you when I lived." She ruffled the little boy's hair. "Don't cry. Your mother would hate to see you like this."

The Grand Duke watched her stand and meet his eyes. When she spoke, her voice contained a inhuman ringing that echoed throughout the room.

"You will meet fate's fugitive in due time, but you must know that he has yet to commit his crime."

Her message delivered, the goddess released her hold on Cassius' wife. Energy spent, the frail woman collapsed into the Grand Duke's arms, cloudy eyes closing, and lips still once more. Cassius carefully lifted her onto the bed, wrapping her chilling body with the covers.

Suddenly, three voices tolled through the room.

"You have found your love and filled your coffers..."

"Abide by our rules..."

"And you shall not suffer."

Cassius frowned. "Not suffer my ass!"

Turning, the Grand Duke met Nathaniel's eyes. His son, forever scarred by an experience that should have never happened. He sighed. "If for my family, and my family alone, I will abide by your rules. Gods know I've suffered enough for all of us."