Seeley cleared his throat. "I don't think she was planning for it. I would've heard something. She would've told me. I was always meant to escort you all back to Mortis once you got Thieron."

"Then where the hell is she?!" I snapped, too close to succumbing to despair, for my own sake. Eira squeezed my wrist, demanding my attention.

"It's not over yet," she murmured. "We still have a little bit of time."

Lumi walked over to the edge of the platform. "Can anyone see the spirits that used to haunt these woods?"

Amelia shook her head. “Not since the Reapers intervened after our first visit here,” she said, looking at Seeley. “Do you see anything?”

“No,” he replied, his concern obvious. Last time we'd been here, this entire area had been riddled with ghosts, spirits that Death had wanted to keep close. Whether for comfort or just a whim of solitude, I didn't know, but at least we'd felt like there were others around.

"You might’ve taken away our ability to spot them with a scythe, but you should at least be able to sense them. Do you? This place feels… empty, different from the last time we were here." Lumi surveyed the thick bamboo woods that guarded the waterfall platform. The thing with spirits was that we couldn’t feel them ourselves, but their presence had still made a slight difference in how we’d seen this place—as if we’d known, deep down, at least faintly, that we were being watched, that we weren’t exactly alone. Lumi was right. It felt lonely and barren, this time around.

"So, there’s nothing?" Amelia asked Seeley, as if to make sure, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Nothing at all. Not a single spirit, Reaper… nothing," Seeley said.

"Just as I thought." Lumi turned to face us. "It's not just Death who went away. I think Mortis is quite literally empty."

I glanced at Phantom, Soul, and Widow, the three of them finally reunited after all those years. Seeley stood quietly next to them, his expression darkened by concern. "What do you make of this?"

Phantom shrugged. "Not much, if I'm honest. Like Seeley, I can't feel Death here."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" Eira replied. "You said it yourselves, Brendel is coming for us."

Something thundered above us. We’d been so drawn into Mortis’s tomb-like silence that we’d not even noticed Kabbah coming down from the sky, his body glowing emerald-green. My pulse quickened at the sight of him.

“Took you long enough,” Eira muttered, prompting me to look at her in surprise.

“You knew he would find us here?” I asked her, as Kabbah landed smoothly in front of us, his back to the palace. The glow dimmed, leaving his hands alight, and his eyes burning green.

“Given our increase in strength, as Hermessi, per the ritual, I’m able to reach out to Eira, much like I would any of my brethren,” Kabbah said. I’d almost forgotten that the hostiles’ power wasn’t the only one growing. The rebels were reaching new levels of strength, as well.

“He sounded like a whisper in the back of my head,” Eira said. “He sort of already knew where we were going after what happened on Aledras, so… I just confirmed it.”

“That’s good,” I replied. “Your telepathic connection clearly comes in handy.”

“Where’s Brendel?” the Soul Crusher interjected, glancing at Kabbah.

"She's headed for Mortis," Kabbah said. I'd yet to get used to thinking of him as Kabbah, Nevertide's ancient Earth Hermessi, since he was still wearing Fallon. "I can sense her. She'll be here within the hour."

"What did GASP advise us to do?" Riza asked, staying close to Herakles.

We were all still recovering from the dream world in which Phantom had plunged us for the Phyla challenge. There were snippets of that life woven into reality, and there were moments where I was tempted to believe that Eira and I were a pair, that Eva and Varga were engaged… Phantom had certainly done a number on us.

But reality was much worse. In hindsight, I would've been inclined to stay in the dream world. It would've been better than out here, despite its intricate weirdness. My instinct never would've allowed it, though. The call of my people was too strong. Our desire for survival too powerful, impossible to ignore, regardless of how enticing Phantom's dream might've seemed.

"Derek said we must figure out a way to find Death," Amelia replied. "I'll be honest, he gave me a sense of defeat. He's having a hard time moving forward, and so is Sofia. I don't even know how the others are feeling, but I’d guess they're in the same ballpark. They're relying on us, Tae."

"Figure out a way to find Death," I said, repeating after her. "How does he expect us to do that?"

"The same way you've managed until now," Soul cut in, glowering at me as if I'd disappointed him somehow. "Your girlfriend is right. It's not over yet."

"She's not my…" I stopped, my voice trailing off. If there was one thing that had fueled me until now, it had been the prospect of a future where I could get to know Eira better. Maybe we could even make the better parts of our shared dream come true. I gave her a sideways glance and found her smiling at me, filling me with the kind of warmth I'd been yearning for. It was her quiet way of encouraging me. After all, Eira was still here, by my side, with the rest of the team, ready to do whatever it took to get Thieron back to Death. "Okay. Cool. Figure out a way to find Death. Okay. Any ideas? Reapers go first, since she's your mommy."

The four Reapers looked at one another, but none came forward. I had a feeling I was barking up the wrong tree on this one. Behind me, the palace doors felt cold and unwelcoming.

"We can’t peek inside," I said, shifting my focus to Varga. "Right?"

He frowned. "Still blocked, much like the first time we were here."

"We should still go in," Amelia said. "Maybe she left some clues in there? I don't know."

"I agree," Seeley replied.

Phantom nodded. "This is unlike Death. We should investigate."

"Fine. We'll investigate. We've only got minutes on the clock, but heck, we made it this far, right?" I blurted, then looked at Kabbah. "I trust you'll let us know if you feel Brendel getting closer."

"She's on her way, bucko. That hasn't changed," he replied.

"We'll need a place to go," Eva suggested. "We obviously can't stay on Mortis."

"True, but let's see what's inside first," I said. "If Amelia is right, and we find something that'll lead us to Death, at least we'll have a destination."

"Allow us," Widow replied, motioning for me to get out of the way.

Joined by Soul and Phantom, he took my place in front of the double doors. They took out their scythes and scratched a series of symbols in a circular pattern, whispering in unison. When they were done, they stepped back and clinked the blades together. The brief contact released a flash of light, which coincided with a small, controlled explosion between the doors, smack in the middle of the circle.

The doors swung back, revealing the long, seemingly endless hallway with paper walls and screen doors on the sides. It was dark, for the most part, with small flames still flickering in the wall-mounted lamps.

A chill ran down my spine as we went inside. "Hello?" I called out.

My voice echoed through the building, but no answer came.

We advanced through the hallway, glancing left and right occasionally. The rooms were all empty. The souls that had once resided here were long gone. "Remember the four Hermessi guarding her throne room?" Eira asked me, and I nodded in response. "I think they're coming…"

"They most certainly are," Kabbah said from behind. "I will stand guard outside and hold them back. Devil's Weed won't help you here. They all know you're looking for Death, and this is your first stop."

Glancing over my shoulder, I watched him head back, and I prayed we'd be done with this place before the Hermessi of Mortis got here.

"I wonder if they're still serving Death," Eira said. "They leaked our movements to Brendel the first time around."

"Exactly," Lumi replied. "So put no faith in them. They serve the ritual and nothing else."

"I’m still creeped out by the fact that she had spirits in these rooms," I said as we kept moving. "Purely for company."

Seeley sighed. "She gets lonely. In her defense, I can see why she'd keep souls of the living around. You're all fascinating creatures."