From her home in the town center, Elise pulled a cart through the dark snowstorm. She arrived to Olivier’s palace, her tears froze her skin as she panted in the icy air. She banged her fist against the door and the sound was carried throughout the palace. Olivier opened and flooded the outside with a warm, welcoming light, broken only by his bird-shaped silhouette.

“Please!” Elise said, “My husband needs you!”

“Come inside,” Olivier said, “bring him to the infirmary”

Inside, Olivier and Elise took the body to the infirmary, where there are bodies in a few of the beds he was working on. Olivier threw the body onto one of the empty beds and immediately got to work.

“Plague,” he said, “you’ve taken precautions?”

“Of course I have,” Elise said, “now, I hear you can bring him back. Yes?”

Olivier ignored this question at first, he only continued to examine the bubo covered, necrotic body.

“…This man has already died…” he said.

“Yes!” she said, “Now, tell me!”

“Madame, I am terribly sorry, but it is too late. There is nothing I can—”

“Will you, or won’t you!?”

Olivier took a brief pause to collect his thoughts on this. He held back his own tears through his muffled mask, and finally spoke up.

“I never claimed such a thing,” Olivier said, “how did such thoughts get into your head?”

“After Damien passed,” Elise said, “a man visited me. A man named Adrien”

#

“This man,” Olivier said to the priest, “I have not seen this man before. Do you have a name?”

“Only calls himself Adrien,” Jean said, “We don’t have a surname. But, we have his portrait, and that’s all we need”

“What makes him so dangerous?”

“He’s preaching about necromancy!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and he targets those who have recently suffered loss. Plenty of that to go around these days”

“I see. Is that why you believe I may have met him?”

“No, actually. His rhetoric seems…medicalized. He talks of cures and diseases just as you would. So, I figured he may purport to be some sort of doctor such as yourself”

“I see, but I have never met this man”

“Perhaps he has simply not found you yet. I will continue my search elsewhere. Thank you, Doctor”

“I will tell you if I meet this ‘Adrien’ you speak of,” Olivier closed the door as the priest left.

Almost immediately, there was another knock, but this time from Olivier’s back door. It was Adrien.

“Adrien!” Olivier said, “Why do you come here!? How did you get into my garden!? Why is the priest looking for you!?”

“Yes, yes,” Adrien said,  “I must apologize, Doctor. I suppose I failed to make clear that the Catholic Church might not take kindly to our actions”

“I wish to cure death, not make an enemy of the Church!”

“Of course! Nobody seeks enemies so powerful. But remember what I said about the historic Christian schisms?”

“I understand, but I have no qualms with Catholicism, and certainly not with Father Jean. I seek only to extend life”

Adrien looked back into Olivier’s garden. Its opulence was grayed out; dried and crumbling by neglect. The only thing left alive was a single apple tree posing as the center piece of the garden, with a fresh bloom of apples decorating it.

“You once had such a beautiful garden, it seems,” Adrien said, “I have yet to receive a proper tour, why not show me around?”

Olivier hesitantly walked with Adrien into the garden.

“It has mostly withered away since Marie’s death,” Olivier said,  “she enjoyed tending to it, and often, I would join her. But when the pestilence came there was never any time”

“Too many patients for you, was it?” Adrien said.

“Indeed. But it only ever got worse. More and more they came and went, each victory being countered by a hundred deaths”

“and then,” Olivier’s voice waivered, “Marie became sick”

“That must have been difficult to deal with,” Adrien said.

“She died in a week. She was one of the longer-lived ones. Only made it more agonizing”

“And so this garden dies with her”

“But this,” Olivier said as they arrived and stopped at the tree, “this apple tree still lives”

“And that is why we do what we do,” Adrien said, “you understand that advancements made in the past were met with accusations of heresy?”

“Do you think that will happen to me? That Father Jean will accuse me of heresy!?”

Adrien didn’t answer at first, only stared into the apple tree.

“Father Jean does not need to be our enemy, Doctor,” he said, “but he is misguided. Best keep this away from him”

“He wouldn’t understand,” Olivier said.

“No. But worry not, there are many grieving families in this city alone. Perhaps, if we outnumber the Catholics, it won’t matter”

“You speak like we’re going to war”

“Only if they force us”

“I should like to see this garden alive someday,” Adrien said as he turned to look at Olivier, “wouldn’t you?”

#

Olivier arose from his bed in the middle of the night. Unable to sleep, he turned to look out his bedroom window, which overlooked his garden. Outside, the plants were back alive with orange leaves and a glowing, amber hue that outshined the stars. Olivier went outside to see the plants up close. At the end of the garden, furthest from the palace, he stopped by a hedge to feel one of the leaves. When he touched the leaf, it dimmed and turned gray in his hand. The gray spread to the rest of the bush, returning it to the withered form it took in the waking world.

The gray spread to other plants, and Olivier ran from it. He ran towards the palace door as the gray was catching up to him. As he reached the door, the gray caught him and consumed him.

He awoke suddenly with heavy breathing.

#

As he walked into town to remove corpses from their homes, Olivier heard the town crier deliver news in the town square:

“HEAR YE, HEAR YE! FATHER JEAN IS REQUESTING ANY INFORMATION REGARDING THE MAN PORTRAYED HERE, KNOWN ONLY AS ‘ADRIEN’! HE WARNS EVERYONE THAT THIS MAN IS GUILTY OF NECROMANCY, AND MUST BE AVOIDED!”

Olivier walked up to the crier and took one of the stack of papers the crier had. It was another portrait of Adrien. He thanked the crier, and made his way to the church immediately. As he left the town square, Olivier overheard a mourning resident express sympathy to necromancy.

“At this point,” she said, “would it be so wrong to undo the harm?”

“What was that?” Olivier said.

The woman did not answer, only glaring at Olivier and hurrying away to meet her husband as if she had revealed a horrible secret.

Olivier continued to the church. Upon arriving, he found Jean seated in the front pew reading the bible. The sun beamed a bright, amber ray of light onto him and only him.

“‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes…’” Jean read aloud as Olivier walked towards him from the darkness behind.

“‘…and death shall be no more,’”  Olivier said, as Jean lifted and turned his head towards him, “‘neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore…’”

“‘…for the former things have passed away,’” Jean finished, “so, you do know the  Bible as well as your medical textbooks”

“Revelation 21:4,” Olivier responded as he stopped and stood over as a barely lit shadow over Jean, “you heard me come in?”

“What’s troubling you, Olivier?”

“This man you speak of, Adrien, what makes him so dangerous?”

“It’s necromancy. It’s a dangerous act, bringing someone back from the dead”

“But this Adrien disagrees?”

“Whatever his reasons, yes”

“Is necromancy even possible?”

“No, it isn’t”

“Then what harm would there be in trying?”

Jean paused and gave a concerning look to Olivier.

“Olivier,” Jean said, “the Bible tells us not to do it. To attempt would be to commune with demons or even Satan himself”

He flipped through the Bible in his lap to find the right verse.

“Here’s an example,” he said, “1 John 4:1, ‘Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world’. This, I believe, is what Adrien is by preaching necromancy, a false prophet sent by Satan”

“And what of those who listen and believe him?” Olivier rebutted.

“Are there those who do?”

“Not…necessarily…but we live in a time where it might be more appealing to most”

“And that’s why my services are needed more than ever. Which reminds me, how are you coping with your loss?”

Olivier’s eyes darted as he thought about what to respond with.

“I’m fine,” he said, “like you said, phoenix from the ashes”

“Glad to hear it,” Jean said, “it’s good that you’re beginning to see it my way”

“Indeed”

#

Olivier made his first breakthrough: reversing decay. The Testamentum Morte detailed an elixir that could achieve this, but only now did Olivier see results. The patient was a woman who had died to plague a week prior. He watched as the woman’s wounds healed and her flesh oozed back into its rightful place. The buboes vanished into the skin and the necrotic flesh turned white. Before long, the body was as it was when she first died.

Waves of pride and surprise washed over Olivier. This moment proved that the theories of the Testamentum Morte were not just theories, but that there was something real to necromancy.

Later that day, Olivier stood in his garden, arms held behind his back. He stared at the apple tree. As an apple fell from a branch, Adrien joined him at his side from behind.

“I have made a breakthrough,” Olivier said.

“Is that so?” Adrien responded.

“Yes. Step one has been achieved: reversing decay”

Adrien’s face stretched into an slippery grin.

“Excellent!” he said, “What did I tell you, Doctor? It is possible, you should take pride in the progress you have made”

“Of course I do,” Olivier responded, “I must admit, Adrien, even when I took your offer, I still had some doubts that it was possible. Early experiments yielded poor results”

“I understand, it would be hard to believe with the life you have had, the things the Church has taught you. There are some assumptions that must be unlearned, which you have done”

“It goes beyond that! The ability to reverse decay changes everything we know about the very nature of life and entropy!”

“Indeed. Isn’t it wonderful, all of God’s gifts to us for extending life?”

Olivier did not answer. His face grew solemn and worried.

“Something wrong?” Adrien said.

“I spoke to Jean earlier,” Olivier said, “he believes you are Satan, or sent by him”

“Ah, of course, he would say such a thing. Don’t worry about Jean, he can’t interfere with our work”

“He is asking the townspeople if they know anything about you”

“And now you see why I visit your garden”

“Is it true? Are you spreading ideas of necromancy to them as well?”

Adrien leaned over and picked up the apple from the ground. He felt it with his fingers as it sat in one hand.

“You’d be amazed how easy it is,” he said, “though, maybe not given the circumstances we find ourselves in. I do visit people after a loved one dies. I tell them about my philosophy on death, much like I did with you. Of course, you’re the only one with that old book I gave you”

“Why me?” Olivier said.

“Well, Doctor, you’re the most important piece to this puzzle. I need you more than I need anyone else; you’re the only one with the means to actually achieve this”

“And everyone else?”

“Consider them your future patients. A doctor who can cure death must have patients to cure”

Adrien took a bite out of the apple as another fell to the ground. This one, Olivier picked up and held onto.

“When we first met,” Olivier said, “you mentioned having suffered loss. You knew of Marie, but who was yours?”

Adrien held onto the half eaten fruit as he glared at Olivier with the slightest twinge of contempt. This face was quickly tucked away in favor of one more friendly and cordial.

“I had a wife myself once,” he said, “taken from me long before this plague. That’s how I started, just the way you did. That’s why I’m so invested in your success. Your success is my success”

Olivier looked at the apple in his hand before looking back at Adrien.

“And if I cure others of death,” he said, “their success is my success”

“Precisely,” Adrien said.

“Then send me some patients,” Olivier bit into the apple, “but be discreet”

“My friend, discretion is what I’m good at,” Adrien said as he took another bite from his apple.

#

Olivier escorted Elise to the study, where Elise tried to sit in one of the chairs. Olivier stopped her as he brought out an older, wooden chair.

“No,” he said as he put down and motioned towards the chair, “not that chair. Sit in this one”

Elise switched chairs as Olivier sat in his usual seat.

“So you were sent by Adrien?” Olivier asked, “What is  your name?”

“Elise,” she said, “Elise Espoir. The man upstairs is…was…my husband, Damien.”

“Madame Elise Espoir, and Monsieur Damien Espoir. Such beautiful names. I won’t let your marriage die.”

“We’ve met, haven’t we?”

“Have we?”

“In the town square, just the other day. The crier talked about Adrien being a wanted man, but you overheard me siding with Adrien. You even tried to speak to me”

“That was you?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want others to know I’m seeking out a necromancer”

“I understand. But, your husband, this is the most recent passing?”

Elise was silent as she teared up. The only sound heard was the rhythmic thudding of a large clock in the corner.

“Before,” she said, “it was my brother. Then both of my sisters. Then my mother. And when you met me, my father had died that morning”

“I see,” Olivier said, “this is a very severe case. I will help you. Damien’s body is fresh, much easier to recover than the others”

“Doctor, what exactly is the procedure?”

“Yes. The procedure itself.”

Olivier grabbed the Testamentum Morte from the table next to his chair and kept it in his lap.

“I have found a way to reanimate a corpse,” he said, “that is, in theory. I have only been able to reverse decay, but with more experimentation I believe I can reach the next step”

“Reverse decay!?” Elise said, “You have yet to bring someone back!?”

“I promise you, I will not return Damien to you until he is as he was before: alive and without pestilence. But you must understand, this is still new to me. The bodies you saw in the infirmary, those are my experiments”

“And if he dies again?”

“I am the one who cures death, Madame. If he dies again, just bring him back”

“And how do you do it? How do you ‘cure’ death?”

Olivier was very careful to answer questions like this.

“It’s…complicated…” he started, “one may need education in medicine to understand”

“You think I am stupid?!” Elise said.

“No. Of course not. A stupid person would give up after death. You did not”

“Then tell me!”

“…This book,” Olivier held up the book, but only so that Elise could see the back, not the title, “it has secrets to life: including preservation, creation, and recreation. What we are interested in is the recreation of life. There is an entire process to it. Reverse decay, reanimate, and bring back the soul”

as Elise thought about this.

“Bring back the soul?” she asked.

“Yes,” Olivier said, “I believe one possibility would be to accidentally create a husk, a revenant, of a person. Not ideal, but progress nonetheless”

“…Are you a man of God, Doctor?”

“Of course. Nothing I do goes against scripture. I merely have a…new interpretation of it”

“You read the Bible?”

“Often”

“So, you can read?”

“What man of medicine would I be were I illiterate?”

“Right it’s just…I was taught the whole of my life that to commune with the dead is a sin…”

“Depends on your interpretation of God’s will”

“…But I never saw those words myself, did I?”

The clock gave a sudden, loud, rhythmic chime as it struck midnight.

“Give me one week,” Olivier said, “I will have progress.”

“One week?” Elise said, “Nobody yet knows Damien is dead! What will I tell the others!?”

“He has gone on a trip to Paris for business. You know him better than I, perhaps you can make up something far better.”

“I suppose. Fine. Same time in one week. Do not disappoint me.”

#

As Olivier slept he dreamt again of the garden. This time, he saw the apple tree, or what was left of it. It was gray, withered, dead as the rest of the garden. Olivier, wearing his plague doctor outfit, approached the tree and touched the trunk. As he did this, the tree came back to life, quickly regaining its lost color as flowers bloomed into amber apples. Olivier’s smile could be felt through the mask, but this smile was quickly extinguished by what happened next. The tree combusted into flames, spreading quickly to the rest of the garden and to his palace. Olivier stayed outside, but witnessed everything burn around him and his palace be destroyed. Eventually, he was left surrounded by ashes.

#

When Olivier was collecting the freshly dead in his cart for the day, he encountered Jean at one of his stops.

“Now, this is not necessary!” he yelled as he was pushed out of the house into the mud. The door slammed shut as he got up and turned around.

“Father,” Olivier said as he dropped the cart and ran to him, “what happened?”

“It’s Adrien!” he said, “That agent of Satan has convinced people to hope for necromancy!”

“Such as this family?”

“Yes! Their son just died, and when I tried to read him his last rights, they wouldn’t let me. They just got angry and pushed me out”

“Yes, I saw. You’re sure they’d rather have the help of a necromancer?”

“They said something about learning the truth, that my sermons are lies. Who else could it be but Adrien?”

“I see…in any case, I should collect the body”

“Well, don’t let me stop you, but know that they might. I should get myself cleaned up”

Olivier knocked on the door. An older woman opened with angry tears pouring out of her. But, upon seeing Olivier, her mood quickly lightened.

“Hello,” Olivier said, “I’m here to collect your dead”

“It’s you!” she said, “Come in! Come in now!”

She pulled Olivier into her house and shut the door.

“This is an oddly welcoming experience,” Olivier said.

“Doctor Pourriture, yea?” the woman said, “Adrien said you would be here!”

“…Right! Of course! You understand the nature of the services I provide?”

“Just take the body before that priest tries to come back! I know what you’re offering, I just want my son back!”

“Of course, I’ll see to it”

Olivier brought the body to his cart and tossed it in with the rest. Jean returned mostly cleaned up.

“Glad to see they let you do your job,” he said.

“Jean!” Olivier said, startled, “Yes! Yes, they were…difficult to deal with, but we certainly can’t leave the body there. They…eventually saw reason”

“I’m worried though. This family was the most hostile to me, but the sentiment is becoming common. I think Caen is being taken over, Olivier”

“Taken over? By Adrien?”

“Yes. It sounds absurd, I know, but what I see is a single man preaching ideas of necromancy and convincing an entire town to abandon God’s will”

“Have you found him?”

“No. And this change in consensus isn’t helping”

Jean stared off a bit while Olivier prepared to leave. As he picked up his cart, Jean spoke again.

“Have you met him yet?” Jean asked.

“Adrien?” Olivier said, “I don’t know”

“It just doesn’t make sense. You should be his best disciple”

“What makes you believe that!?”

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to imply anything…I just mean he should think you are. You’re a doctor, and he would need someone like you to help him”

“Why not try to convince you?”

“Why would he try to tempt a priest?”

“Perhaps you would be more valuable than you realize. If he can convince a priest, someone so Godly as yourself, to turn against God, then he could convince anyone”

“Hmm…I did not consider that. Perhaps he thinks I’m too close to God?”

“And perhaps the same can be said for me”

Olivier sluggishly walked off with a cart full of dead bodies.

#

As Olivier worked on Damien, as he completely reversed any decay that may have occurred and eliminated the presence of plague in him, he got to the next step in the Testamentum Morte: reanimation. The book described a way of jolting the body back to life with an electric charge, the only issue Olivier had was achieving the right voltage. Too little, nothing would happen, too much risked destroying the body, both mistakes he had made before.

That was until tonight, one week since meeting Elise, when he reanimated Damien. Damien rose from the bed and stared empty into Olivier. He walked out of the infirmary, but at a pace sluggish enough to compare to an injured snail. He limped mindlessly across the palace, seemingly without any purpose.

“Damien?” Olivier said as he followed him, “Are you ok?”

Damien did not respond.

“Damien!” Olivier continued, “Can you hear me!?”

He grabbed Damien’s shoulder from behind, and Damien just shrugged him off and let out a harsh grunt. He continued his limping.

There was a knock at the door. Olivier broke off from Damien to answer. It was Elise.

“Tell me you have something,” she said.

“I do!” Olivier said, “Come inside!”

Olivier and Elise found Damien in the kitchen, where he was foraging for food.

“What is this!?” Elise said, “Why is my husband acting as an animal!?”

“I know, I know how it seems,” Olivier said, “This is not yet the man you knew, but he is the first patient to be reanimated! I believe we can safely say he is alive, if not himself”

“I don’t want to bring that thing home!”

“You don’t need to, all I need now is to return his soul to him, and your husband will be cured!”

“You can do that? Do you know how to yet?”

“…No. Not yet. More work needs to be done for him”

“Fine. I’ll leave you to it, then”

As Elise opened the front door, she encountered Jean.

“Oh,” Jean said with his fist in air just before he was able to knock, “I wasn’t aware Doctor Pourriture was having company today”

“Father Jean!” Elise said, which grabbed Olivier’s attention, “I was just leaving, what brings you here?”

END.