A Daughter's Rebirth

Streams of electricity arced from powerful transformers to the various receivers on the pod that stood before the group. The pod slowly began to fill with a bright light as the liquid inside the pod seemed to also have electricity run through it. Huh. So this liquid conducts electricity? Wonder what it is? John thought as he watched the process. The light got so bright that John and the others had to shield their eyes as they tried to peek through their fingers at what was happening in the pod. The electricity seemed to cover the window in the pod that made John believe the liquid had been replaced with just electricity. Since everyone was so engrossed in what was happening in front of them, all but one of them was surprised when a hand suddenly jutted onto the glass window of the pod.

“OH MY!” exclaimed Brenda as the handle startled her quite good.

“The hell is in there?!” asked John, just about ready to summon his weapon and slash the pod and perhaps even Professor Reynash.

“Something that I lost long ago and have finally been able to regain again!” he said happily, his voice soft and seemingly full of love.

“What do you mean?” John asked, wanting a direct answer. Before the professor could answer, the pod let out a hiss as the electric arcs stopped and Reynash pulled the switch back down to its off position.

“Come now, my king, grab the opposite side and you will receive your answer,” he told John as he rushed to the side nearest him. John looked over to his mother, who gave him a nod, and he went over to the side opposite of Reynash.

“I believe I know what you did, professor. I wondered why you were so obsessed with necromancy, but this would make the most sense,” Brenda admitted.

“As a parent, I knew you would understand,” replied Reynash as he undid the latches on his side. John followed suit as he listened to their conversation.

“The love of a parent for their child knows no bounds. We would go to the ends of the earth for them, do whatever we could to make sure they lived a long and happy life,” Brenda told the two men as they did their work.

“That we would, that we would,” Professor Reynash said. That was the final clue John needed to connect all the dots.

“Wait, you don’t mean…” John started but was cut off as Reynash hit the button and opened the pod.

“Yes! I spent 30 years on this! Return to me my beloved daughter, Adele!” exclaimed Reynash as he ran to catch the girl that stumbled out of the pod. “My sweet, baby girl! Oh how I’ve missed you!” Reynash said as he cradled the girl in his arms. He stroked her hair as the girl seemed to be not responding to any of the various stimuli that she was being presented with. Her eyes were glazed over and mouth wide open.

“Professor...is...is she ok?” asked John, who was worried the girl did not come back to life like Reynash had thought.

“Oh, yes, she is. It takes some...time…for the soul to settle back into the body,” explained the old father. “Stitches!” yelled Reynash, which caused his trusty flesh golem to come sauntering over with a towel that it threw over Reynash and his daughter.

“Stitches help!” it said.

“Yes, yes you did, old friend,” said the older man as he wrapped Adele in a towel and gave her to Stitches. “Take her to her room, will you?” he asked.

“Stitches take Addy to room!” he said happily as he wandered off towards the room’s door.

“Thank you, my king,” Professor Reynash told John as he stood up. “You allowed me to regain my greatest treasure in this world. I pledge to you that I will do anything and everything in my power to assist you from here on out, only if you promise that my daughter will be safe here,” the father told John, who could see his parental protection burning in his eyes.

“Of course, Reynash. I will protect your daughter like any other member of my kingdom. I”ll give her a King’s Seal later, once she’s regained her senses,” John told the man.

“Thank you. Truly, thank you,” was all he could say.

“You are welcome. And you can start your repayment to me immediately,” John told the professor.

“Oh? I suppose that’s why you are down here anyways. I wasn’t planning on waking Adele so soon, but seeing you two here spurred me into waking her up in the moment,” he informed John.

“I see. Sometimes we all get caught up when lifelong passions are coming to fruition,” John told Reynash.

“Yes, yes, exactly! I’m glad you understand,” he told his king.

“Oh, of course. Now, as for what I need,” started John as he tried to get the conversation in the direction he needed, “Idena has laid an egg and wishes to take the egg to her nest back in her mountainous home. However, we do not know if the egg will be safe if I place it into my inventory and we do not want to risk moving it conventionally. Do you have anything that could preserve the egg while it is in my inventory?” asked John as he explained the situation to Professor Reynash, who had been so busy with his own machinations he did not know the latest news of the castle. A smile crept across the old man’s face as he heard John’s problems.

“Well, young man, it seems that my achievement will help you with your achievement!” he expressed happily. “My pod that held my dear Adele will be perfect for your egg. I’ll just need to do some modifications to allow the egg to survive in it as opposed to a human, but it should not take long. I’ll get to it immediately. By the time I am done, Adele should be back to her senses and I can reconnect with her while you go to hatch your first child,” Professor Reynash deduces as he goes to grab his tools.

“Thank you, professor. I appreciate it,” John told Reynash.

“Now, now, my lord. We have been over this. I am forever in your debt for allowing me to regain my most precious treasure. I shall create anything and everything you want,” he reaffirmed his stance.

“Then we will take our leave. Good luck, Professor, and congrats on getting your daughter back,” John told Reynash, who smiled at the words.

“Thank you King John, may your reign be long and prosperous!” proclaimed Professor Reynash as he gathered his tools and began to work on the pod. John and Brenda turned and left the scientist to his duties as the two began their return trip to Idena and the egg.

“You did a great thing today, honey,” Brenda said while beaming.

“Really? All I did was provide him a lab in return for his service. I had no idea he was gonna reanimate his daughter,” pointed out John, not wanting to take away from Reynash’s achievement.

“I know. But you gave him the opportunity to do that. You are not a parent yet, sweetie, but you will soon know the love of a parent has for their child. We will go to the ends of the earth to protect our child. And, in Professor Reynash’s case, he went to the afterlife and got his daughter back,” Brenda informed her son. She knew she’d do anything to save John, for she loved him wholly as a son and a lover.