Chapter Text
The tears wouldn't stop falling, blood stained his priestly robes, but he didn't care about himself at that moment except for having a frozen empty look with Jono dead in his arms. His damned father had planned it all because he wanted freedom in the hands of a man who would liberate it and give it life, but he not only corrupted his son's life but also destroyed it out of pure selfishness, the blond boy's body all bloody, pierced by knives since the man used them to attack in an attempt to see if he was man enough to survive and defy his own father in search of the freedom that Jono so desired while having a forbidden relationship with a priest from Atem's palace.
This wouldn't stay like that, not at all anymore, not after losing Kisara and then Jono with whom he fell in love for the second time in the hope of marrying him. The boy, who was known as a 'puppy' because he was considered too obedient for slave labor, especially coming from his own father who raised him as a slave and mistreated him, sometimes for disobedience and disagreements or even out of boredom, and used Jono as his own toy to hurt him.
Jono's body was injected with cedar extract, due to his low social class, having grown up in Kul Elna and having been involved in many fights to try to earn money, and even engaging in gambling between luck and bad luck. The process was faster and cheaper than the mummification of a commoner, which took days. The body would be returned to the family, but Seto refused to see Jono's body returned to the same demon he killed in front of him, knowing that the same man had fled and there had been no further news within the country.
Even so, the priest had a plan to have Jono back, without the pharaoh finding out about the man's idea of circumventing the rules of the afterlife; resurrection would be taboo and would lead Seto to face the consequences.
That night, Seto stole the wooden sarcophagus where Jono was, his organs dissolved after being injected. The sarcophagus was open after he had placed it on the ground, revealing his beloved all covered in bandages.
It would be a risky act, but Seto took Mahaad's book since it contained teachings on magic. He used a book that had been kept away from everyone, a book of magic with words of Osiris' resurrection.
Two white candles stood at the foot of the sarcophagus, and hieroglyphs were written on the floor between the right and left sides. Seto recited each word about the darkness inside the brick-built structure, hoping to see Jono in his arms again. He listened to him laugh and make a stoic priest laugh with his ridiculous jokes, a moment that even annoyed him slightly, he also missed and longed to witness again. Holding his hand, pulling him closer, kissing his face and lips as Seto spoke of how much he loved that boy with a red-eyed spirit inside.
He spoke endlessly the forbidden magic words, a bright light shining on the floor where the blond boy's body lay, radiating a red hue. He paused for a moment and gasped. Seconds later, Seto slowly walked to the blond boy and laid his head on Jono's chest, shedding a tear as he bared his teeth.
— I know i've never told you this before, but... I miss you, i don't want to lose another person i loved too much, after what i went through with Kisara as well. — he murmured.
A cold hand landed on the man's dark head, causing the priest to recoil in fright. His dilated eyes, with his blue irises said it all, observing Jono's corpse with its bandages undone, revealing his face, hair, and parts of his skin exposed, such as his shoulders, torso, and legs.
Of course, Jono had become an undead.
He's alive. Jono had a second chance at life thanks to the work and effort, with the determination of a Priest who felt like a God. It was him, no one else, only him, who could resurrect the corpse of someone he loved very much.
Seto had never felt so proud of himself, he smiled broadly with joy and touched Jono's cold cheeks when he saw the same blond boy raise his body further, still sitting on the sarcophagus in an L-shaped position.
— You're back...
— What happened? Wait... S-Seto?!— he gasped.
— You died in the hands of your own demon... I mean, your own father, but don't worry because i'll be here with you and protecting you... but you have to agree not to go anywhere without my supervision, unless you're with me somewhere so you won't be discovered.
Jono realized what had happened, his eyes widened as he looked at his own hands, legs, and his own bandaged body. However, in a state of decomposition where the tan was faded from the consequences of death's decomposition.
No, Jono was still dead, but he had been resurrected by the magic of Osiris from Priest Seto. Jono bit his own lips as he stared at Seto.
— But... I'm dead, i'm a monster now in the eyes of people and even you, how can you love me when i'm in this state? Because... I'm no longer the boy you used to see.
Seto grumbled and pulled him into a warm embrace against his chest, leaving the mummy boy confused and a little more uncertain about his new life as an undead.
— For me, you're still the same Jono, and i still love you... I was just so agonized because you're a different person with a dragon spirit whom i loved, i didn't want that to happen again, always losing people i love... as if it was a curse!
Seto allowed Jono to step back a little further, and the older man kissed his cheek, not caring about his beloved's current state. Love is blind as they say, and a priest was blinded by love for a commoner who died at the hands of his own father.
No, the priest was also blinded by pride as if he were some kind of God, even though that was utter blasphemy.
And as days passed with Seto having secret encounter meetings with his mummy being kept in secret while only being allowed to go outside with Seto next, everyday he turns more and more obsessed over a low class boy who was enslaved and trafficked for having a spirit of red eyes inside, the man with brown hair couldn't see anything more if there's not Jono involved.
But could love mean to drag someone back to yourself instead of accepting them fate at let go?