"This is just so damn creepy," Raphael said, looking up. He briefly checked me from head to toe, gently gripping my arm just below a deep gash. "It'll heal by the time we reach Strava."

"I didn't even feel it," I replied.

"You guys, do you think we should get the heck out of dodge before Brendel gets to us?" Phantom asked, floating through the water like a lit-up firebug. She was glowing white, and I couldn't help but marvel at her appearance. The remaining Shills around her turned away, apparently blinded by her peculiar shimmer.

It gave Varga and Eva the opportunity to pulverize them and clear the path for us below. We didn't hesitate, resuming our swim to the bottom, while the orange light grew brighter above.

"She's coming!" Kabbah announced. "Brendel! She's here!"

"Yeah, figured that one out already," I replied dryly, moving my arms and legs as I followed Taeral and Raphael deeper and closer to the intense white light waiting for us at the end of the underwater tunnel.

We slipped through it, one at a time, and found ourselves suspended in the white space between worlds. Once more, the shadow of melancholy brushed over me. It seemed like years ago… the last time we'd been here. Oh, what a trip that had been, with the Hermessi coming after us.

"They'll follow us through!" I shouted, remembering Brendel's previous attempt to catch us in the white space. "Brendel! She'll come through!"

Phantom shook her head. "Your friend Kelara was right. Hermessi shouldn't be able to do that. Not without help."

We floated through the blankness as I thought of Strava. Phantom, Widow, and Soul joined forces and gathered round the pink water hole of Mortis. They put their hands together as the wormhole began to close, the liquid inside it turning bright orange—a sign that Brendel was awfully close.

"What are they doing?" Nethissis asked, staring at them.

"I… I'm not sure," I replied.

"They're sealing the wormhole," Seeley said.

Varga was the first to express his astonishment, while the rest of us were simply baffled. "What? How? Can they do that?!"

"Obviously we can, since we're already doing it," Soul replied, his gaze fixed on the wormhole.

"I thought you weren't supposed to meddle in the affairs of the living," Herakles said. I couldn't see his mouth beneath that breathing device, but I knew he was smiling. Heck, so was I. This was a much-needed reprieve.

"The moment Death vanished, all bets were off," Seeley explained. "Perhaps I am not as brave as the First Ten, but even I can see why they're doing this. Once we find Death, I'm sure we'll answer for our law-breaking, but until then, I'm completely on board with their endeavor."

"At least Brendel won't come after us this way," I concluded.

The wormhole closed up completely, vanishing into the white space, never to be opened again. The Soul Crusher, the Widow Maker, and the Phantom floated toward us. While Widow's expression was concealed by his gimp suit, I could easily tell that both Soul and Phantom were satisfied with their actions.

"Brendel is obviously worried you'll find Death before it's all over," Soul said. "I, for one, have discovered that I take great pleasure in tormenting her."

"Which makes you the perfect ally." Lumi chuckled softly.

"Mind you, there are things we still cannot do," Phantom warned us. "We cannot bring back the dead or whatever, but we can still help you end this quest."

"We must find Death, first," Widow added. "She is still the key to everything."

I was shaken to the core by everything we'd just witnessed. Months ago, I would've thought a dinner party at The Shade with lots of people was my greatest challenge to overcome. Yet here I was, battling Shills and Hermessi and all kinds of horrible products of the universe, desperate to save my world from destruction.

Months ago, I wouldn't even have imagined someone like Raphael coming into my life and turning it all upside down. Now, I couldn't even think of a future where the two of us weren't together. However, before we could get there, we'd have to finish the job. We'd have to get Thieron back to Death.

And, as Widow had so clearly put it, we needed to find her first.

Floating through the white space and headed toward a new wormhole that would lead us into Strava's pink waters, I made that my primary objective. Find the one entity that dominated the cosmos and give her back her powers. For only Death could save us now.

Eva

We reached Strava effortlessly after we got out of the white space and through the local pink water hole. Amelia communicated our position to Derek and Sofia, then we made our way to the top, reaching the peak of an old mountain. Around us, one of Strava's many islands unraveled in strips of golden beach and lush green jungle. Birds chirped from the bushes, and the ocean lapped at the shore with slow and lazy waves.

The sun was up, so I was quick to put on my hood, mask, and goggles, much like Varga and Amelia. But it was beautiful. I would've given anything to feel the warm light on my face again. Maybe I would, once this was all over. Listen to you, so optimistic.

It wasn't a bad dream to hold on to. I'd chosen vampirism because of the powers it offered, but its downsides had started to weigh on me. I knew I would never be able to consume any food besides blood ever again, but the prospect of GASP figuring out a way to replicate Derek's day-walking protein was still on the table.

"Is everyone okay?" Lumi asked, checking each of us with motherly care.

"In one piece and as pissed off as ever," Raphael replied, hands resting on his hips.

Varga pulled me into his arms and held me close for a sweet moment. "I know we've yet to talk about that dream, and that it may be a while before we get to do so, but… I just want you to know I liked our part of it."

"Yeah, I'm partial to it, too." I giggled, my face hidden in his embrace. I could hear his heart thudding nervously in his chest. It echoed mine.

"Well, that was interesting," Herakles said, pursing his lips at the three First Tenners. "Now, would you like to tell us more about your brothers and sisters? If Kelara went after the traitor among them, she might obviously be in trouble. The more we know about them, the better."

"Kelara is a fighter and a survivor," Seeley replied. "She'll be in touch as soon as she can."

"Did you not see what that Reaper did to the others, back in the throne room?" Herakles asked, downright exasperated. "What if the same happened to her?!"

Seeley wasn't moved. He stood by his statement, not allowing himself any kind of fear—at least, none for us to see. "I trust her. She'll contact me when she can."

"That's Seeley-speak for 'I'm crapping my pants,' just so you know," Soul muttered. It earned him a scowl from the much younger Reaper, but, as usual, Soul wasn't even remotely fazed. "Anyway, I think we have bigger fish to fry with finding Death and whatnot."

"Also, we might have trouble," Kabbah said, nervously glancing around. "We are not alone here."

"Ugh, great. What now?" I sighed, following his stilled gaze. About fifty yards to our left, standing atop a stony ridge, were four Hermessi figures. It didn't take a specialist to identify them as Strava's elementals—Aya included among them.

The Reapers swiftly moved into a defensive position, while we clustered together, ready to teleport out of there at a moment's notice.

"How'd they find us?" Taeral asked.

"As we are so close to the ritual's completion, communication among the Hermessi, even across the galaxies, has been significantly improved," the Fire Hermessi replied. "We can talk to one another now, almost in real time."

"Brendel has put out a warning for you," the Air Hermessi added. My skin crawled just from hearing her name. "We were all advised to stay close to our planets' pink waters."

"So here we are," the Earth Hermessi said. "Staying close to our pink waters. Just like she asked."

Instinctively, I moved closer to Varga and Taeral, ready to link hands if needed. Yet something told me to wait it out. Something felt… off.

"Are you here to fight us, then, Aya?" Taeral asked the Water Hermessi.

She'd been an ally before. Could she have given in to Brendel's demands, along with the others? Would she really sell us out to that flaming chunk of evil? My mind operated at fast speeds, but I couldn't be sure of the answer. The Hermessi didn't have faces of their own. I couldn't analyze their expressions or their heartbeats to figure out whether they were being deceptive or not.