Chapter 20:
The Saint’s Forbidden Art
WHEN LEON’S HEART started back up, Marie slumped with relief. I guess the Guardian crest can stand in for the tool I’d need. Good. Now I can use my forbidden magic!
This feat normally involved a special tool, but the Sacred Tree had stepped in to keep Leon’s soul bound to his body.
There’s no time to waste. I need to bring him back quickly. To perform this successfully, there’s one other requirement, but I’ll take care of that myself.
Marie drew a deep breath. “While the Sacred Tree’s binding him, I’ll bring him back.” She brushed her fingers over Leon’s hand.
Julius seized her shoulders, his face full of worry. “What exactly are you planning to do?”
She looked back at him, trying her best to act normal. “What do you mean? I’m going to save him, of course.”
He and the other boys seemed dubious about her promise, as if they somehow sensed there was a greater meaning behind all this. “You keep saying that, but is bringing him back from this really possible? And wouldn’t such magic come at a major price?”
Marie was basically offering to resurrect Leon. Julius and the other boys couldn’t believe she’d accomplish a miracle like that without significant risk.
“It’s all right,” Marie said. “It’ll be fine.”
“How do you plan to bring him back, then? Explain it to us so we can understand!”
Marie had to placate them somehow. She was about to use the same magic employed when the saint Livia rescued her beloved in the third game. “I’m going to the other side, and I’ll haul his soul back. You guys on this side will need to do something about his wounds in the meantime.”
Leon’s body wasn’t in good shape.
“If you just want me to prolong his life, I might be able to—wait! He’s here. He’s finally here!” Cleare had glanced out the window. Outside, Luxion’s main ship had broken through the waves. She spun to face his motionless mobile unit. “So, you still hear me, even though you can’t move. I knew you weren’t down for the count. Hurry up and contact me, would you?” She paused. “Hm? His main ship isn’t responding to my calls. Is he having trouble or something?”
Luxion’s mobile unit was still unresponsive too.
Jilk, wrapped in thick bandages like the ship’s other wounded passengers, examined Luxion. “That’s strange. He was working just fine on the way here.”
Marie shooed him and the other boys from the room. “Out, all of you! I’ve got stuff to do!”
“All right, all right. Don’t push.”
Marie slammed the door behind them, pressing her forehead to the metal, and silently apologized to them. Sorry, guys. Thank you for everything. After brushing away the few tears that fell, she clapped her hands hard over her cheeks. “Okay! Time to get to it!” She turned back around, marched over to Leon, and grasped his hand.
“Please let me help too,” said Livia, grabbing their hands.
Marie was initially going to refuse, but seeing how intent Livia was, she gave up on dissuading her. “You help too then,” she told Angie.
“Are you sure? As long as it’s within my ability, I’ll do whatever is needed.”
Marie nodded. “You’re engaged to him, so you need to pitch in. That goes for you too, Noelle.”
Noelle swallowed her tears and smiled. “Of course! I’ll give this everything I’ve got!”
“We’re going to travel to the other side to bring back his soul,” Marie told them. “And, no matter what you see while you’re there, I must ask you not to hate Leon.” Livia and the other girls were unsettled by Marie’s implication, but before they could ask what she meant, she initiated the spell. “Here we go.”
As their bodies instantly collapsed, Yumeria and the robots scrambled to support them. The lens of Luxion’s unresponsive mobile unit flashed red for a split second, then faded to black again.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next thing Livia knew, she found herself walking in a pitch-black tunnel. “Angie?” she called out. “Miss Noelle? Miss Marie?!” She couldn’t see anything, but the tunnel felt strangely familiar.
“Over here!” Marie called to them. “Make sure you don’t get separated!”
“I’m right here!” Angie chimed in shortly after.
“Hold on,” Livia cried. “I can’t see anything!”
It was a relief that they were in close proximity to one another, at least.
“Listen up,” Marie told them. “From here on out, you need to follow my instructions. And whatever you see, don’t be too surprised. Have faith in my brother.”
“Of course we will,” Angie said. “But putting that aside, I’ve never heard of an ability to resurrect the dead. How did you learn to do something like this?”
“It’s a forbidden art within the temple,” Marie explained. “Only those who’ve inherited the Saint’s relics can learn to use it.”
“Forbidden?” Angie shook her head; that wasn’t really the part she had questions about. “So, you inherited this ability through those relics?” She couldn’t fathom how that was possible. Not much time had passed since the temple recognized Marie as the Saint—certainly not enough for her to memorize a complex spell like this.
“Could you really learn something like this in such little time?” Livia asked, as if on the same wavelength as Angie. Knowledge alone wasn’t enough to actually perform a spell the way Marie had. “Either way, I see why it’s forbidden,” she added. “The ability to freely bring people back from the afterlife could cause big problems.”
Angie nodded thoughtfully. “Something about this doesn’t make sense. You could’ve used this ability at any point before this.” She asked why Marie had waited until now.
Marie sighed. “I only learned this very recently.”
“The point is that, thanks to Rie, we can save Leon,” said Noelle. “I don’t think there’s any point grilling her about it right now.”
“Fair enough. Sorry about that,” Angie said sheepishly.
Marie was happy to let the matter go.
Livia, on the other hand, was preoccupied with thinking about it. I can see completely why the temple forbade resurrection magic, but I still don’t understand how Marie learned it so quickly. Unless performing the magic itself isn’t complicated, but requires a steep price?
As she started to piece the puzzle together, a light appeared ahead.
“There! I can finally see it!” Marie cried. Footsteps echoed around them, suggesting that she had dashed forward, though it was still impossible to see her.
Once the girls reached the light, they found an enormous gate in front of them. Marie strode right up to it and pressed both hands against the doors. “Hurry!” she called back to the others. “If we take too long, his soul really will leave his body!”
When Angie finally reached the light, her form became visible. The same happened as the other girls slipped out of the darkness behind her. Together, the four passed through the gate. A town they’d never seen spread out before them.
“Where are we?” Noelle blurted out.
The place was completely unrecognizable. The architecture looked nothing like what they were accustomed to, although it seemed to be a suburb of some sort. Pillars connected by long stretches of wire lined the streets at intervals. Those streets weren’t cobbled, but were still plenty firm, and white lines were drawn upon them alongside some sort of writing they’d never come across. The strangest part by far was how well used the area looked, although no one was around.
Angie’s jaw dropped. “This is the afterlife? I’ve never seen a place like this before. Wait—I think the architecture might be a bit similar to that island we visited for our school trip.”
Livia looked at the sky. It was occupied by an enormous black hole, beyond which she saw nothing. Whatever it was, it filled her with fear and anxiety.
“I wonder what that could be,” she said. “Just looking at it unsettles me.”
Marie had frozen as she entered. Drinking in her surroundings, she wiped a few stray tears away and shook off any sentimentality, saying, “Let’s hurry. We need to find my brother.”