Brought Back

Chapter 3

(Songs 6 and 7)

Marvin pushed himself out of bed, falling to the floor. He lay there for a moment before standing, rubbing his tired eyes. He made his way to his study, not even bothering to eat breakfast. Maybe he could find a spell to help his abundance of emotion. As he searched for a book, he paused, placing a finger on the spine of another. He pulled it out, the whole book was bound in leather. He thought he might know what this book might be about.
Marvin set the book on his desk, taking a seat and opening the cover. Sure enough, the first page read 'Necromancy'.
Marvin's heart fluttered. Did he dare?
He had to. Marvin knew it. He couldn't exist without Jackie, he knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer if Jackie wasn't alive. Marvin took a shaky breath, flipping the book open to a random page. He skipped past the chapters describing the history of Necromancy, not only the success people had had when attempting, but also the dangers it had caused in the past. He didn't care, not when he was so close to having Jackie back.
Marvin glanced over the large warning that took up a whole page, the information melting out of his brain, retaining none of it. He turned the page, and there sat the spell, in all its glory. He carefully read it, making sure he memorized every word, every action he needed to take to reassure he would do this perfectly. He wouldn't be like those other people, who made their loved ones into the walking dead, bent on revenge, to murder the one that brought them out of their eternal rest. Jackie wouldn't come back like that. Jackie couldn't come back like that. Marvin would make sure of that.
All he had to do was make a potion with very specific ingredients, one mistake would ruin the entire thing. Then go to the graveyard, dig up Jackie's body, pour the potion into him, in any way possible, although preferably through the mouth, and recite the very specific spell. One mispronounced word and Jackie would spend the rest of his days hunting down Marvin. Not that Marvin would let that happen, anyway.
Marvin tucked the book under his arm, teleporting outside with a flash of blue. His stomach was drowning in butterflies, his heart pounding against his ribs. He ignored it, starting on his mission.

Hours later he returned home, absolutely exhausted and bleeding from several scratches. It was worth it though, Marvin was one step closer to seeing Jackie again. His agony had almost disappeared completely, replaced with the sense of hope that he had felt the moment he picked up the book and some stress that had been annoying him for the fast few hours. What if he messed it up? What if Jackie came back but he was... wrong?
Marvin shook his head, trying to push the negative thoughts away. No, he could do this. He knew he could.
Marvin headed to his study, immediately getting to work on the complicated spell using the ingredients he had suffered to get.
It took a few tries and many hours, but he finally got it right. It glowed green in the large vial Marvin had stored it in, an unnatural color, but apparently that was correct. Marvin threw away the missed attempts, making sure to keep a careful watch on the correct one. Everything was over if he lost that attempt.
The light outside was fading, the sky turning dark, stars winking to life, dotting the sky. A streak of lightning cracked across the sky, clouds rolling in and covering the large moon, darkening the night significantly.
Marvin's heart skipped a beat nervously. Perfect weather for a grave robbing.
Marvin grabbed a bag, settling the vial and book inside. He knew the vial would be safe, there was nothing that could break it, he'd made sure of that.
He made his way outside, where it had started to rain, fat droplets of water dropping out of the sky and landing on the ground and Marvin's head. Marvin pulled the hood on his cloak up, shadowing his face.
Marvin walked to the graveyard, taking a while to find Jackie's grave, disoriented in the dark. The graveyard proved very easy to break into, all Marvin had to do was hop over a low stone wall.

After a few minutes, he spotted Jackie's grave, the dirt still freshly churned. Marvin's hands lit up, illuminating the surrounding ground, but shadowing his face even more. He lifted the massive amount of dirt out of the ground, piling it next to the now open grave, with only a little bit of difficulty, the dirt a bit heavier than he had originally thought.
He dropped down into the open grave, standing in the narrow gap between the coffin and the dirt wall. Marvin pried the coffin open with a flash of blue, his heart stopping in his chest the second it popped open.
Jackie lay inside, looking for all the world like he was sleeping. Marvin's heart squeezed, the shattered remains of his heart barely keeping him alive.
Marvin's hand lit up with blue and he gingerly opened Jackie's mouth, holding his hand out in front of him while he grabbed the vial from his bag, pouring the potion into Jackie's mouth. Jackie began to glow with a faint green light and Marvin quickly dropped his hand, the magic flicking away from his fingers. The vial fell to the ground and Marvin grabbed the book from his bag, flipping to the marked page, starting to carefully read the spell.
He repeated it a few times, getting more and more confident with each pass. The first time he read it, Jackie glowed an even brighter green, progressively growing brighter and brighter. Until finally, the fifth and final time Marvin had to read it. He said the last word and all the green light radiating from Jackie immediately disappeared, sinking into his skin as though it never existed.
Marvin held his breath, watching in anticipation. Slowly, Jackie's chest began to rise up and down, his eyelids fluttering slightly.
"O- oh my god..." Marvin breathed, almost dropping to his knees as his legs weakened.
But he couldn't. He was so close. He set the book back in his bag and grabbed Jackie's hand, lifting them both out of the grave. He dropped Jackie into his arms, holding him while with a flick of his finger, the dirt fell back into the grave, burying the evidence that he had been there. In one last act of desperation, Marvin teleported them back to the house next to their bed. He set Jackie in bed, his knees giving out at the last second. Marvin fell to the floor, absolutely exhausted. He had never really needed to use that much magic. He climbed back to his feet, stripping off the muddy, wet clothes he had on, not caring and dropping them to the floor. He changed into an oversized t-shirt and fell into bed next to Jackie, passing out almost immediately.