"What exactly are the Seals of Agalor, or Silent Sleep, or whatever?" I sighed, feeling as though our troubles were only getting bigger and nastier as we advanced through this suffocating ordeal.

"We had them as a contingency plan, a long time ago," Dream said. "When the first batches of Reapers that came after us were made. It's something we, among the First Ten, thought we might use to… punish Reapers who might—"

"Color outside the lines," Nightmare added, giggling.

"Right. If they broke one too many rules, for example. It had been Death's policy at the time that they all had to serve a specific term, which varied from one circle to another. When a Reaper stepped out of line, repeatedly, we'd invoke the Seals of Agalor to put them to sleep, to isolate them for a certain number of years."

"The Seals were freshly placed on Time, here, and were probably meant to last for at least a couple of centuries, which was the usual minimum," Nightmare continued. "We could wait it out, but that would obviously not help our cause. So, to break it, we need certain protocols, which we are now engaging in."

Dream began a series of chants in a language I didn't recognize. Nightmare noticed my confusion and did not hide his amusement.

"What?" I replied. "It's weird. Answer this, then. You guys have been off the grid for a long time. Who enforced the Seals of Agalor on Reapers who got out of hand, in your absence?"

"The instances of using the Seals were ridiculously scarce. I’m sure the Spirit Bender would've handled them, discreetly," Nightmare said. "Or Death herself. I mean, she taught us the spell to begin with."

"I'm still shocked I haven’t heard about the Spirit Bender among our ranks for so long," I replied. "Surely, the word would've gone out. I thought all of you were just… I don't know, the stuff of legends."

Dream grinned, but continued her chants.

"Spirit is elusive by nature," Nightmare said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he manipulated Reapers into forgetting who he is. He can bend spirits to his will. No one thought he'd use it against his own kind, though. He never gave reason for suspicion, even with all that bitterness regarding his fate as a Reaper."

Herbert let out a low growl. "You mean to tell me he's betrayed everyone because he's pissed off about being a Reaper?"

"That's pretty much the consensus, yes," I replied.

"It's what we make of it, at least," Nightmare said. "Frankly, I'd love to hear it from the horse's mouth, but, as you can see, we've got a missing pony."

The Time Master's eyes popped open as he sucked in a breath. Light flashed through him for a split second, and Dream and Nightmare moved back to give him some space.

"Never underestimate my skills again," Dream hissed at me. "I'm very good at what I do."

"Yeah… I can tell," I murmured.

"Hello, brother!" Nightmare chuckled as the Time Master pulled himself up into a sitting position. He blinked rapidly, taking deep breaths as he tried to reacquaint himself with his surroundings. Whatever that seal thingy was, it had done quite a number on him.

"What… Ugh, what am I… Where am I?" Time asked. "What are you two doing here?" He looked at me next. "Who the hell are you, and why is there a ghoul still standing in our presence?!"

He fumbled through his tunic, the color draining from his face as he froze, downright horrified.

"What's wrong?" Dream replied.

"My scythe. Where's my scythe?" he managed, spiraling into a fit of sheer panic.

"Calm down, brother. One question at a time," Nightmare said and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "First of all, pace yourself. You've been under the Seals of Agalor for at least a year or two."

I groaned. "That's what you meant by 'freshly placed?'"

"Who put a… Oh…" Time seemed to remember some things. "That bastard. That scheming, two-faced son of a bitch."

"I take it you're confirming the Spirit Bender's involvement?" Dream asked him.

He nodded. "Yes. I'd been investigating him, though I kept all my endeavors under tight wraps. I've had suspicions since Thieron was stolen, but I was never able to prove them. A couple of years back, I caught a lead."

"And had you also established yourself as a god on Astram, during that time? You know, while you were at it?" Nightmare retorted.

The Time Master sighed. "Yeah. That aside, I started digging deeper. One day, Spirit summoned me, which came as a surprise, but he said he needed my help with something. I went with my guard up, of course, but I didn't for a second think he would use the Seals of Agalor against me. I admit, I was foolish."

"Then he brought you here and dumped you, making sure all the specters he left behind would keep others away," I concluded.

"Yes. Without the First Ten keeping an eye on things, and with Death lacking Thieron, millions of souls have gone unaccounted for," he said. "In this instance, Spirit was able to build an army of specters for the sole purpose of keeping other curious Reapers at bay. When I got here, I was astonished that no one had bothered to check on this world after the asteroid hit."

Dream scoffed. "Why would they? The holier-than-thou Spirit Bender had said he'd handle it. What reason was there to doubt him, if you were silenced and unable to do anything?"

"He hates Death more than anything," Time said. "He'd been planning this long before Thieron was taken. Hell, the whole number with Brendel was simply the perfect opportunity. He's been looking for ways to hurt her from the moment the Reaper circles were established. Imagine you were made a First Tenner against your will, unable to retire and move on, to then be rendered obsolete by Reaper hierarchies. He flipped. He just flipped."

"He may not be able to kill her, but he can destroy everything she wants to protect," Herbert murmured, glancing into the crimson horizon. "The living, the dead, everything in between. I suppose the Hermessi's ritual felt like the perfect opportunity."

The Time Master stared at him for a moment. "Seriously, why is he still alive?"

"Technically speaking, I'm as dead as you," Herbert hissed, narrowing his black eyes.

"Be thankful, brother. He and his friends helped us clear the army of specters that were keeping us from getting to you," Dream conceded.

"You're abominations. How are you even coherent?" Time said to the ghoul.

"Herbert has served the living for a long time. He's been immensely supportive, even before he brought his cohorts here," I replied. "He's against the Hermessi winning this, much like us."

"He's also looking to score brownie points with Momma," Nightmare added, shooting Herbert a cold grin.

"As much as I hate to admit it, we'll need the ghouls, going forward," Dream said as she got up. "Spirit is likely to have hordes of specters watching his back wherever he's gone."

Time joined her, his brows pulled into a dark frown. "I don't like this."

"Well, tough one, buddy. Because A, you don't have your scythe anymore, and I'm going to guess Spirit took it, and B, he also took Death. We need all the help we can get!" I replied.

His jaw dropped. "What?"

"Are you shocked about the scythe part or the Death part?" Nightmare asked, and Time glowered at him. "Okay, the Death part. Gotcha."

"How did that happen?!" Time asked.

"We don't know! She was supposed to be on Mortis," Dream said. "Imagine, after five million years, there's a bunch of people who've actually managed to retrieve Thieron for Death, and she vanishes into thin air. A tad suspicious, don't you think?"

He nodded. "It was definitely Spirit. He's moving into the endgame now. I need my scythe back from him, otherwise I cannot do much against him."

"So you're not at all surprised that there's a Hermessi ritual going on? I mean, you've been out of it for a couple of years," I said.

"It was bound to happen. It was never a matter of if, since Brendel had succeeded in stealing Thieron. It was a matter of when," Time replied.