Felix returns

Felix slowly opened his eyes, as if after an extremely long slumber. He wasn’t quite sure where, or even who, he was. The last thing he remembered was a golden light all around him. Embracing him, caressing him, and.. shaking him? He remembered something out of place. Maybe himself? It was not his place to be. He remembered the ever so soft light pushing him away, and yet also guiding him to a better place. A more familiar place.

Then the room started to clear. He saw a green color. A dark and dirty green. It was everywhere. And it smelled funny too. A smell of sickness and despair. It reminded him of some strange creatures he remembered seeing somewhere. In some dream perhaps? Or maybe even in another lifetime?

Finally, the jumbled memories started to come together.

He was walking with his companions in this stuffy old corridor where some mold creatures attacked him.

He also remembered sacrificing his own luck and safety and praying to his Lady to help his friends instead of him. Well, apparently he got his wish.

Ever so slow, he raised himself to a seating position and smiled at the exhausted Verena.
“Thank you”, he said, “I knew you had some connection with the realm of the gods, but I never imagined it was so great a bond. Now truly do I see the blessing my Lady set upon me when she sent you and your companions to me”. I just hope that by doing so, she blessed them as well, he thought.
“And speaking of the fellas, where are they?” As he spoke that last question, he turned his head to examine his surroundings and got his answer in the form of the two bodies lying not far from him.
“Oh..”, he continued with a grave note in his tone, “Again? Don’t they get tired of dying? Oh Well.. A cleric’s work is never done..”, and he winked at Verena in additional thanks to her ‘clerical’ performance.

After a brief inspection of the bodies, he said “I wouldn’t even presume to be so favored by my Lady to be so rude and ask her to bring both of them, after she already done so much for me just in bringing me back, but I believe that in this emergency, she will grant me a single resurrection, so for now I’ll perform the ceremony for one of them, and after some meditation and rest, I’ll pray to the Lady to bring the other one”
“In that case”, Verena answered  “It would seem that the prudent thing to do, would be to resurrect Diadora. Like me and yourself, she needs to rest”, Felix did not miss her intentional emphasis on that last word, “and prepare spells. In this case we would lose only one day instead of two”.
“Very well then”, Felix said, “But before I bring her, I need to know a few more details about her, such as why she entered the maze, does she have a family or close friends and the likes”.
“You didn’t seem to need this information the last time you performed that ritual”, came Verena’s sharp observation.
“No, I didn’t. But last time I didn’t know that Diadora doesn’t want to be brought back, now did I? Now, if you want me to be able to convince her to return, then I need as much information as you can give me”.
Eventually Verena agreed, and after telling him what he needed (Trying as much as possible not to betray her deceased friend’s trust, and not telling him more then the very basics), he begun the preparations for the already too familiar ceremony. Though, Verena was surprised to see that unlike before, Felix took out four candles instead of three. While the first three where identical to the ones he used the previous time, the forth one was new. It was a thick and tall green candle.

The ceremony started the same, with the black and white candles igniting by themselves. But this time, before Felix tossed the coin, he knelt by the fourth, green candle, ignited it himself, and prayed in common:
“Diadora Greenleaf. Protector of the natural order. I call to you from the plain of the living, please hear my words. If you truly believe that your life should be over, that you have fulfilled it completely and wholly, then I shall not force you to come back. But if there is the slightest doubt in your heart, if you think there might be some small truth in that you have indeed embarked upon this Journey all too soon, then listen to what I have to say. Your life in this world are far from over. There remain many more achievements fate has assigned to you in this life, and if you stay and give in to the tranquility of death, you’ll upset the natural order. Please, you are needed here. Your home village needs you. Your mother needs you. We need you. And most importantly, Tristan needs you. Consider what will happen if you won’t return to his side and won’t restrain his fury. Think of the many Innocent people he will harm, and even kill in his rage if you won’t be here for him. I beg you, allow my Lady to lead you back to us, so that you may fulfill your duty and purpose in this life, and so that you may continue to the next journey when the time is right for you”.
After a long pause in which nothing seemed to move, not even the flames, the candle’s fire flickered twice, relying the positive reply to the much relieved cleric. Through the rest of the ceremony, the green candle remained burning, adding the hue and the feeling of nature itself to the ceremony, and guiding the druidic spirit back to where it truly belongs.