บท 59: Offering Resurrection
"Hmmm?" Jade wondered what his Grace was on about. Something that included both her and her daughter.
[Is this about the wedding they are planning? Do they want me to be the planner???] Jade couldn't stop herself from wondering such a thing. It wasn't.
Leslie pulled a chair up from the room, and offered a seat for Jack. He refused a seat, which made Jade feel a bit uncomfortable, but she figured he was the Witch King. He could do whatever he wanted.
"Before We start, I need to know how to address you." Jack indicated to Jade. Jade thought for a moment, and a selfish wish entered her mind. She wanted to dismiss it, but she decided to indulge herself for once.
"Just call me Jade." She replied.
Leslie wore a complex look, as she felt that wasn't exactly proper; however, seeing as she was feeling guilty about the whole situation, she didn't disagree.
[Why first name?] Jack thought. During his trip here, when everything wasn't exactly formal, he did refer to her as mother-in-law. She never countered him, or asked him to say otherwise. Now that proper introductions were made, he figured she might ask him to just call her mother... He was slightly at a loss.
"Okay, Jade... I'm not sure if you know and I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you should know." Jack started.
Jade was perplexed, but steeled herself for the worse. [Are the girls really unwelcomed here in the palace?] she hastily thought. This was the first thought that came to her mind, after all she had just had this conversation with them last night.
Jack stood ram rod straight, as he didn't know how to deliver such news well, he decided to just blurt it out. "Nicholas Grimnight, your husband and Leslie's father has passed."
"Oh?" Jade commented. Her expression was one of mild shock and wonder. It wasn't at all the expression Jack expected...
[Huh? She doesn't look that upset... Shock?] Jack made a snap judgement in mind.
Leslie looked down at the floor, and didn't see her mother's expression. She heard her voice, but didn't think on it. She felt terrible about the whole thing. She remembered having such a nice home when she was younger. Granted her father was away almost all the time, but she loved when he came home. She would tell him all about the books she read, and the gossip with the clan. Her father always loved to listen about the clan gossip, especially concerning the clan head and elders.
"Warmarshal Frostgard, at my command, has locked down the Grimnight Clan. They have been up to something as of late, but beyond that topic... We have secured the corpse of your husband." Jack continued, and paused to let this sink it.
A moment of awkward silence ensued, until Jade broke it, "Well... We can certainly give him a proper send off. We can Cremate him, and make him into a nice tombstone."
Undead of the Kingdom of Deagoth would cremate the deceased and mix the ashes with ichor of the black river, sand, and Holy bone mill. This would produce a sudo-concrete mix. It wasn't good for building, but it could make decent tombstones or statues.
Jack formulated his next words, as If anyone heard them they would be shocked. He wasn't even sure he could do it. In theory he could, but that was just that... Theory. He still felt she shouldn't have read that tome...
"I need to preface what I'm about to say." Jack said rather grimly.
This caught the attention of both Jade and Leslie, as Leslie lifted her face to look intently at Jack. Just what was he on about that was so solemn.
Jack paced for a few moments, then came back to his starting position... "I can... I can resurrect Nicholas Grimnight."
Both Jade and Leslie remained silent. Jack wasn't sure if they were shocked, or they didn't believe him. As this atmosphere lasted longer than Jack could endure, he spoke again, "That way Leslie, you can have your whole family again... Isn't that what you asked me that day."
Leslie remembered the unreasonable request she made. All Leslie wanted at that time was her family. She had always thought they could one day rejoin. She remembered the words she said at the time, 'I want my parents... I want both my f-father and mother here with me. I want them in the capital... I don't care how!'
She remembered Jack asked... 'Are you sure.'
Leslie came back to reality [He said he was willing to be my monster... Was this what he meant?]
"Yes... This is what I asked... How can you do this? Will it really be him?" Leslie asked unsure how this could be possible. It had to be known this wasn't an easy task. In most of undead culture, this was a myth. If we look beyond the undead race, the only resurrection that was widely know was taking a once living person and bringing them back as undead... Being undead was usually the last stop, before being true dead. There was a reason why is was called true dead. Even being undead, was still a part of this world's nature. With this proposal, Jack wanted to turn nature on it's head.
"I'm fairly confident. I would need to do some special things, but yes. I can get his soul back from beyond and put it back into his body. We just have to make sure that his body is in a condition where it will not leak his soul again." Jack was glad that he finally got some kind of response to break the silence.
"Then... Okay. I trust you." Leslie said, though her voice was a bit shaky. She dared not believe Jack could actually do this.
Jack looked to Jade, waiting for her input. "Well... Jade, what do you say?"
"Uhhh...." Jade looked a bit confused, as she looked to her daughter, "Do you really want him back?"
Taken back, "What kind of question is that mother?" Leslie asked quickly! Of course, she wanted her father back, to have her family back. She asked the next question that came to her, without even thinking, "Don't you?"
"I..." Jade glanced at Jack and then back to Leslie. Jade never thought someone could be resurrected. She knew that those that had not died could be brought back from entombment, but this was true resurrection the Witch King was talking about. This wasn't a new soul to be used, but one that had already departed the body. When humans or other races died and turned zombie, their souls didn't depart their bodies. They would be tethered to the body using magics... But to return a soul that has already left to the body... Jade wasn't sure what to say... but she did know that she didn't want this.
"I don't think so..." jade finally said, after some hesitation.
Jack was stunned... Leslie was stunned... They both looked at Jade. Both had the same question that floated in their mind... Why?
Jade could see Leslie's questioning face, and she could assume from the Witch King's movements that he too wondered.
"You didn't know your father very well... Honestly... I didn't either until after you were exiled. He... I... It's a long story." Jade said with some emotion.
Leslie's face was full of questions, and her mind was rapidly working wondering what was going on...
Jack had offered resurrection. This wasn't a cabbage on the side of the road offer. He was going to try and bring back Leslie's father, because of her request, but never did he expect the wife of the husband to resent him... What had happened in Leslie's family???
He wasn't sure if this was information he should hear, or should he leave.
"I don't care if it's a long story, just what happened to make you say this?!" Leslie was in shock, and barely able to keep her emotions together.
Jade shook her head, "I can tell you... If you want, but it's not going to be a story you're going to like." Jade's voice was steeped in bitterness.
"Alright... Did... Did father cheat on you?" Leslie was wondering what was so bad.
"If it was only that, it wouldn't hurt so bad." Jade looked up to the Witch King, "You may wish to pull up a seat for this."
Given the go ahead to stay, Jack was very interested to know what happened, as well. He went over and pulled a chair from table by Jade and Leslie. Again, the chair was a bit on the small size for him, but he made due.
Jade seen that both were ready, she began, "Nicholas Grimnight... Haaaa~ Let me start from the top... You know my family name, Glowminer. We were called this as we were one of the small families that worked the Little Gloom Glowstone mine. My father was even a foreman. We rarely ever seen a direct descendant of the Grimnights. Almost always it was a person of the branch families that would visit to collect the ores and treasures."
The two remained silent. Leslie had heard a bit of this before, but she never head the full story.
"In fact, it's because of our families' mining that I was named Jade... For my eyes, even in my child body before my coming-of-age ceremony I had green eyes, but I digress. We had a small family, and my parents could only support one child, so I had no siblings. I was regulated to taking care of the other workers at the mine. Providing food or preparing burnt offerings for break times, and among other mundane tasks. It was this happy, but boring time of my life I met your father."
Jack could tell that this was indeed not going to be a good story. He had heard intros like this before, but in a rare case, he did not try to figure out the end. He remained silent, and let Jade finish her story. Leslie was engrossed, just the same.
"He was so handsome. He came to the mine to oversee the tasks, taking over for the last old undead overseer. He was aloof, but after he saw me... He would go out of his way to talk to me, to be beside me... He pursued me, and I let him. He was a very charming to me." Jade said as she sighed. Her face even darken slightly from a blush. The pair, Jack and Leslie, could tell she still has some feelings.
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