Maybe I’d just been paranoid about being followed earlier. The nagging sensation had vanished, and nothing but silence and tranquility surrounded me now. Perhaps the paranoia came with the territory of being dead and having narrowly escaped consumption by ghoul…

Several emotions tested me, taking turns making their presence felt. The anger about my passing had not subsided, but it persisted, dully, as I tried to focus on what I could still do, even in spirit form. The heartache was permanent, giving me ghostly chest pains that I often failed to ignore. There was confusion… anxiety… the constant wondering about what I had done to have ended up in a situation like this.

But the most persistent feeling was not a feeling at all, but rather a mindset. I was determined to get to the truth hiding beneath the veils of Visio. The death magic. The ghouls. The entrapment of Seeley. Whatever the Aeternae—if only a handful of them—were doing here, it was not natural, and it couldn’t have been sanctioned by Death or other Reapers.

There were no other Reapers to speak of, anyway.

Except the eight standing now in the middle of the library, curiously looking around and talking to one another. I slipped past several servants and hid behind a bookcase, trying to get closer to the agents of Death. They were the first, besides Seeley, that I’d seen here. Probably the first to set foot on Visio in a very long time.

And there were no ghosts, either… though I could easily chalk that up to the ghouls eating them. Shaking my head slowly, I moved closer, trying to eavesdrop before I came out and introduced myself.

“Rudolph, we’ve been waiting for hours,” one of the four female Reapers said to one of the males.

Their uniforms were all black and white, but the styles differed. Rudolph and two other males wore suits like Seeley’s, likely from the Earthly Dimension. The others had tunics and asymmetrical dresses, all in the same color scheme—the colors of life and death. Rudolph tapped his foot on the marble floor. None of them were visible to the servants, who went about their business as if they were the only ones here.

“And we’ll keep waiting until Seeley shows up,” Rudolph replied, clearly irritated.

“He’s not answering our telepathic calls. What if something happened to him?” another Reaper said. “He’d be here if everything was okay.”

“I’m waiting for an answer from the Time Master, as you all know,” Rudolph said. “Death will advise us through him.”

One of the Earthly Reapers scoffed. “She sure is taking her sweet time—”

“Enough, Bert.” Rudolph cut him off. “You know exactly what her condition is. We can’t just go around willy-nilly, looking for Seeley.”

“And there you go with the rhymes again.” Bert chuckled, drawing more of Rudolph’s ire.

“Seeley said to meet him here. This is a huge friggin’ planet. Do you have anything of his, even a sliver of his energy, to track him down?” Rudolph asked. He got no answer. Only silence and crickets. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So, we wait for Death to advise us on the matter. It’s not like we can comb this whole world. There’s only eight of us.”

“Then let’s get more Reapers in,” a female Reaper said.

“Dina, you heard Kelara. Death wants discretion and small numbers. She didn’t even like the eight of us coming down here,” Rudolph shot back.

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Bert sighed, shaking his head with dismay.

“Maybe Seeley will be able to straighten things out for us when we find him,” Dina said.

My spirit throbbed as I braced myself for contact. Breathing a sigh of relief, thankful that they were all still here and not wandering around this dangerous place, I straightened my back and took several deep breaths.

Moments later, I stepped out into the afternoon light and smiled at them. “Hi.”

Rudolph spun around, his eyes widening when he saw me. “What the…”

“I’m Nethissis. I don’t think—”

“Yeah, I know you. You were on the Death Crew with Seeley and the others. What are you doing here?” Rudolph’s voice trailed off as he put two and two together. “You can see us.”

“I thought you knew about our Visio mission,” I murmured, chills running through me.

“I didn’t know you were dead,” Rudolph replied, his gaze darkening. “I am sorry.”

Bert frowned. “Who’s this again?”

“Nethissis. Lamia and swamp witch,” Dina said. “She’s part of the group that retrieved Thieron. How’d you die?” she asked me.

“That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about,” I replied.

“We should reap her,” another Reaper said.

I froze, realizing that this could very well be my last moment of consciousness, as lousy as it was. Terror similar to that which I’d experienced upon nearly being eaten by a ghoul came back to wash over me in icy waves, and I took several steps back.

No matter what I did or said now, even after I led them to Seeley, they were going to reap me. This was going to be the true end of me, and I had no idea what awaited on the other side. The fear of such a cosmic unknown made me shiver. The Reaper who’d suggested it in the first place took out his scythe.

Nethissis

“No, you should not reap me, because Seeley sent me,” I said, trying to get ahead of the impending problem. Not only was I not ready to leave, I wasn’t even sure I was supposed to, given the circumstances surrounding my death. On top of that, I had no intention of going anywhere, at least until I made sure Seeley was okay.

The Reapers stared at me for a while, equal parts fascinated and concerned. Exhaling, I pointed out the obvious to get the awkwardness out of the way. “Yes, I know I’m naked. I died naked. Not my fault. Let’s move past this…”

“Seeley sent you?” Rudolph asked, politely respecting my wish. “Where is he? Why didn’t he come here himself?”

“Yeah… About that. He’s a bit tied up at the moment,” I managed, shaking like a seedling at the mercy of a raging wind.

Dina cursed under her breath. “What the hell is that SOB up to? What do you mean he’s tied up?!”

“He’s literally tied up,” I said. “At least one of the Aeternae here knows death magic. Seeley was trying to help me and—”

“Which Aeternae knows death magic?” Rudolph asked, suddenly cold, looking like he was itching for a murder or ten.

“Zoltan Shatal. The chief councilor of the empire,” I replied. “He used death magic to bind Seeley and took his scythe.”

Dina stepped forward, scowling at me. “And when did that happen?”

“Last night.”

“No wonder he didn’t show up.” Another female Reaper sighed, hands deep in her pockets. Dina shushed her.

“Quiet, Lisl,” she said, then looked at me. “When did you die?”

“Last night,” I repeated, unwillingly. “Seeley jumped in to stop a ghoul from eating me, and—”

“Are you friggin’ kidding me?!” Rudolph croaked, his expression now bordering on sheer befuddlement. I was taking them through the complete spectrum of emotions, judging by the looks on their faces. They clearly had not expected to come to something like this—and I had few answers to give them. “Ghouls, too? What the hell is going on here?!”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out, too,” I said, keeping a reasonable distance from them and their scythes.

Lisl raised an eyebrow. “Then let’s get you reaped, so we can move on to all these other issues that are clearly plaguing Visio.”

“We’ll have to tell the Time Master, too,” Bert added.