The Black Necromancer

Leon remained silent for a few moments as he took in the woman's appearance. He did not share many similarities with her looks, but he could definitely see some small resemblances.

"Hello, Martha." Leon smiled and greeted curtly. "I am not Eugene. But I can take you to him." He continued.

The woman, Martha, frowned. She eyed Leon warily. Before she had 'died', she was well aware of the fact that mana and magic existed. She was a mage herself, and if she were to be classified in the terms used in Datar, then she would be somewhere between D and C rank.

She knew that there were tricky people and spells out there that could alter the appearance of people, so she thought that Leon might be someone who had ulterior motives by taking on a familiar look to her.

Leon could easily guess what she was thinking without even reading her mind. He chuckled slightly before speaking up again.

"My name is Leon Cromwell." He said those simple words and backed them with a friendly smile as he watched Martha's face freeze before morphing into an expression of disbelief and astonishment.

"You... What? How?" Martha was shocked and confused. She knew that her son's name was Leon, and it was obvious that the surname of her husband was Cromwell. It was not possible to not make connections and let her thoughts run wild.

"No, this can't be possible." Martha shook her head and Leon took a step forward.

"Mom."

Only a single word was enough to freeze Martha as the word she had always wanted to hear before her passing was spoken to her. A ball formed in her throat as the tears in the corner of her eyes threatened to spill.

"This can't be real. I should be dead! I remember it all well now! I shouldn't be alive right now unless this is some sort of crappy afterlife!" Martha exclaimed, barely holding herself back from screaming at the top of her lungs. She couldn't wrap her mind around all of what was happening.

She still remembered her last mission which resulted in her being cornered by the top brass of the Black Fangs gang. She had been badly injured, and despite escaping, she had succumbed to her wounds and died, leaving her son and husband behind.

"You know what kind of miracles mana and magic can bring about. Imagine what you can do when you reach a whole new realm of power. Defying death is child's play." Leon held up his hand and the environment around them changed suddenly.

Martha gasped as she suddenly found herself in the middle of a graveyard. She looked around and spotted Leon looking down at a gravestone. From where she was, she was able to see the name 'Martha Cromwell' inscribed on the gravestone, along with some other words.

"How did we...? Did you just teleport us?" Martha was shocked. She could not even properly focus on the fact that she had just seen her own gravestone. She was too taken back by the fact that the surroundings had just instantly changed without any warning.

Leon waved his hand again and everything changed once more. They were back at the beach where Martha had appeared. He turned to look at the sea with a small, content smile on his face.

"I never thought all of this was possible not long ago either. But it all is. Dad also didn't think some of these things were possible when he was trying to get revenge for you. But he has come to accept it." Leon gave Martha a warm smile and turned back to the sea.

"Eugene is around here somewhere?" Martha's eyes widened.

"Yes, I think he would be quite happy to see you. Do you trust me?" Leon held out a hand.

Martha paused and thought for a couple of minutes before walking forward and taking Leon's outstretched hand.

"I'm willing to trust you. I don't know how much I can trust you, but I hope you don't betray me." She said, her eyes steeled and a resolute air around her.

Without saying anything, Leon nodded his head and the two of them vanished from that spot.

.

.

Eugene walked with quick steps through the halls of the central castle of the capital city. He had received a summons from Darren, telling him that his son had returned and was asking to see him. Eugene did not know why Leon didn't just come to find him as usual, but he guessed it had to be something quite important.

"Come in."

Before Eugene could knock on the door to the room where Leon was waiting for him, he heard his son's voice call out. A wry smile spread on his face as he pushed open the door.

"You called for this old man?" Eugene asked with a smile as he looked inside, but his body froze halfway through the door when he was met with a face that he had not seen in decades.

"Eugene." Martha stood up from her position and took a step towards Eugene when she saw that he had no reaction.

"Martha?" Eventually, Eugene cracked open his mouth and a hoarse, cracked, disbelieving voice croaked out of his mouth. His eyes were wide and he couldn't believe what they saw. He still recalled Leon's promise to bring back Martha, but he had never thought that it would happen so soon. Truth be told, he did not even believe that Leon could pull it off.

But, here he was, staring at the love of his life that had been taken from him too soon.

"It's me, Eugene. It really is me. I'm back." Tears ran down Martha's face as she took another step. But Eugene crossed the space between them in a couple of seconds, tightly embracing Martha in his arms before the both of them broke down in tears.

Leon remained seated in a corner of the room, watching his parents reunite after so long without each other.