Death Healer

Lily climbed the steps of the same church where Elysium’s grandfather had been sent off into his next life. She still remembered that day and what Elysium had looked like when he came to ask her to go to the wake with him. Elysium had loved his grandfather dearly. Since his parents were often out of town on military campaigns or monster-cleaning missions, he was mostly the only one raising Elysium.

And now that the boy was gone too, the image of them being reunited in the afterlife was the only reassuring thought Lily could muster.

She walked through the heavy wooden doors that stood at the front of the cathedral and pushed open one of the second set of doors that led further within. The door’s old hinges groaned, and the sorrowful laments of mourning women welcomed her in.

Lily swallowed and took a few deep breaths before entering. She didn’t want to start bawling the moment she entered; the last thing she wanted was for people to immediately notice an unsupervised child and pay attention to her instead of Elysium’s family.

For the first time in a long time, Lily felt her true age weigh on her as she walked into the Gothic building.

Spread throughout the church, flickering candles served as beacons of hope in the gloom. They stood solemnly on the altar and the windowsills and nestled in the many alcoves, each casting an amber halo of light that gently danced against the cold stone walls.

The scent of incense was stronger than usual – heavy and potent – as if trying to mask the bitter smell of loss that hung in the air. Amidst the old parchment and ancient stone, the silent echo of a life lost too soon seemed to resonate.

Rows of pews, usually vacant, were filled with sorrowful faces. Each was etched with a grimace of regret and grief.

Many people, most in heavy armor, shuffled around, all the metal on their frames clinking and turning each step into a stomp. Some wore their [Templar]’s helmets and stood by the walls of the small church.

The Guardians of the Wake.

It was a [Templar] tradition to guard the body until the Quiet.

The Quiet was a moment where the body of the deceased person was not to be disturbed – something that was believed to give them time to plead their case with the God of Light. No one was to enter the place of rest, not even the [Priests] who celebrated the rites. Disrespecting the Quiet was a big taboo in the Church, and ensuring it was one of, if not the most observed traditions.

Lily walked silently, trying not to get trampled by the colossal armors walking around. It took her a few minutes to shuffle through the crowd and finally see the casket. At the heart of the church, under the watchful eyes of the holy effigies carved in stone, was a small coffin.

There, a white sheet covered Elysium.

Oh, no, Lily felt her heart jump into her throat.

The only reason that could have motivated the body to be fully covered was its terrible condition. A pang of guilt suddenly hit her: she hadn’t been there for him.

So, mom wasn’t lying about this...

Lily had promised herself not to cause a scene, not to attract any attention. But she felt the weight of the world suddenly come crashing down on her shoulders. She thought of everything she had never explained to Elysium because she had assumed that there was no need and that she would always be by his side. She had never told him she was really an adult who came from another world and that when she said she knew better, she really did.

Well, she should have known better.

The air wasn’t entering her lungs anymore, and her vision began to swim. She stumbled into a pew, sitting down shakily, and putting her face in her hands, focusing her entire being on taking deep breaths.

She tried hard and thought only of breathing, even trying to eliminate Elysium from her thoughts for long enough to feel sane again.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

An icy chill assaulted Lily as she trembled. The space felt hollow, mirroring the gaping hole Elysium’s death had left in her heart.

You should have done more! You were the adult! You shouldn’t have acted like a child! You were the adult! You were the adult!

It felt like the kind of thoughts Lily used to have back on Earth when anger would take over her, when something terrible invaded her mind and drove her to think of unspeakable things. She had not experienced those thoughts in a long time and had hoped they would never return again.

Amidst the relentless onslaught of self-blame by her inner thoughts, she quietly wept to herself. There was nothing she could do. She had ignored the boy, drove him away. And now, she stood powerless in front of the altar where his dead – and probably putrefied – body lay in eternal rest.

She was crushed.

But then, a hand touched her back, and she looked up to find her father wearing gold-framed glasses. For a moment, fear coursed through her, scared to receive immediate retribution for what she had said to her mother. However, he gave her a brisk nod and looked ahead, muttering a prayer under his breath.

Lily cried silently as her father scrutinized her clothes from behind his glasses. She watched as he gently passed the fabric between his fingers. Even in this moment of great pain, she was reminded that she donned the colors of the enemy.

“You’ve grown taller,” her father said, attempting a smile.

Knowing that her father had come here for her sake warmed her heart. She crashed her face into his shirt, crying as her father’s embrace kept her from losing her mind. Her father was a mystery to her. But what was not a mystery was the fact that he cared, and at this moment, it meant everything to Lily.

“It’s ok, Aurora,” Lucianus whispered, “he’s in a better place.”

…

Several hours had passed since their arrival. Lily’s tears had run out.

“Do you want to stay?” Lucianus asked.

She shook her head. Her throat felt raw, and her eyes were stinging.

What had happened between her and her mother before she had made her way to the church came back to the forefront of her mind.

“Dad, I’m really sorry about Mom, I-”

“Your mother didn’t say anything to me,” her father cut her off. “I spoke to her before coming here. She just wanted to make sure you were ok.”

She was quite sure that her father was lying through his teeth but decided to go along with it anyway.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Do you want to come home?” He asked her. Lily knew that he meant their home and not the Papal Estate, but still...

During the hours she mourned, her prayers for Elysium's next life became overshadowed by darker thoughts. Her unchecked grief momentarily plunged her into agony—and those moments lingered on long enough for troubling thoughts to arise. The last time she felt this way was when she’d expressed to her former mother her ambition to be a doctor. However, her past sentiments seemed much more grounded compared to Lily's current reflections. The gravity of this death had given birth to much more sinister thoughts.

More specifically, thoughts about Death Magic.

During all those hours of crying, wailing, and hearing the quiet steps of the Guardians of the Wake, she had been reminded that perhaps, there was still something she could do.

“I need to go,” Lily told her father. “I—I need to... can you take me to the library?”

...

Lily had left the Book of the Dead inside the Forbidden Archive, a fitting resting place for the book as no one was allowed to visit there. At this juncture in time, she did not have one care in the world; so much so that even if the [Pope] had seen what blasphemy she was about to commit, she would not have stopped.

She took out the book and gently laid it on the table. Hieroglyphs danced on the faded ebony leather, and the ornate gold designs weaved in and out, centered around a singular emblem that represented a radiant sun encircling two serpents around a cross. Below, a majestic deity with outstretched wings looked at Lily with an almost familiar gaze.

She picked up exactly where she had left off while studying the tome. The only visible page of the book, the description of the ritual, a chant, and a terrifyingly complex mandala, stared back at her. This was the ritual she had been thinking of.

A ritual to resurrect the dead.