Starchild

The Third Day

Sleeping with a wounded arm is not the best feeling in the world. Add to that the fact that I don't have someone to talk to during the night, because Victoire is not sleeping here anymore, Django does not speak english, and the dead girl is, well, dead.

But not for long.

The sun starts leaking into my room through the curtains and uncomfortably shines on my face, signalling the start of my tenth day here; which means three whole days have passed since the terrible exorcism, and I am finally able to revive the girl. The wait is over. Three days, seventy-two hours, or four-thousand-three-hundred-and-twenty minutes, however you want to calculate time.

Careful with the sleeping Django, I jump off the bed, and kneel by it.

I grab the box from underneath and drag it towards me the best I can. Opening it, the body is still in a decent state, thanks to the freezing spell. Some muscles have stiffened and her limbs are red, from coagulation of the blood.

Resurrection is a complex spell or ritual that can only be performed by naturally magical beings. This is why its instructions are not written, and are instead shared orally between generations.

But I wrote them down. I conjure a small handmade book, which is filled with my annotations on different subjects, and look for the page on the ritual. It states the steps, the rules, and everything I will need.

Resurrection. Three rules;

The soul must be willing to be resurrected. Hopefully, the girl wants to come back. She should. Children usually don't want to leave their existence behind.

There needs to be a body or biological remains. Got it. Having the entire body will definitely be an advantage.

The death must have happened more than three days prior. Done.

This case follows every rule, so it must be possible to do. I continue reading the page, moving onto the things I will need. It's basic stuff. A tub and water, which I have in the bathroom. A candle, very easy to conjure. Mud or products from the soil, which, using the Sanctum's doors connecting to different locations, I can get. Blood - since it can be from one drop to a whole ocean, I can add that myself. And, most importantly, a witness.

A witness. Who can it be? Not anybody can be a witness, there are rules for them too. They must not have known the dead person for more than six hours, they have to consent to the resurrection, and obviously, they have to consent to witnessing.

Django, from the bed, starts meowing in my direction. I shake my head. —Don't judge my decisions. And no, you can't be the witness. —he turns his head to the side, —What? Do you have an idea of who can help me? —

He meows again. Animals are smarter than you would think. —Who did you have in mind? —

Struggling a little, he hops from the bed to the box and then to the floor, and walks over to the door. I go behind him and open it. He starts wandering through the hall, looking around.

—Be quick. Do you even know where you're going? —he finally starts scratching a door, and I look up; it's Strange's room. There is absolutely no way. I pick him up immediately. —No. No, boy, no way. He would kill me if he found out I'm doing this without telling him, let alone if I asked him to help me. —

I carry him as I jog us back to my room, —Maybe I can ask Barney or one of the less ethical X-Men. At least someone has to support resurrection. —

My room's door is wide open, but I did not leave it that way. Slowly, I approach it, and find Victoire standing up in front of the box. She is giving me her back, but I don't need to see her face to guess her feelings.