#xexys

Xexys appeared in an instant, wielding an ancient sword. Apparently, the demon had been following Lukas' efforts, hoping to derail any progress they made.

"It matters not, Life god," Xexys sneered. He held the sword of the Watcher tight in his hands, waiting for the opportunity to strike. He'd never faced Life or Death in battle before, but he imagined that it was similar to fighting that assassin he'd tamed. Coby respected his place in the order of Jubilant Accosts. Lukas, on the other hand, was going to be more difficult to convince to obey.

"I summon the Timelady Rani Bachelor of Ticktop! You have abandoned your post and your sworn duty to protect the kingdom of Jubilant Accosts. I, Lukas Lane, protector of Life, call upon you to awaken once more and resume the sacred duties that were assigned to you."

Lukas scowled when the Timelady didn't immediately appear before them. Ancient medieval creatures were evidently stubborn. There were very few living things that could resist a summons from their god, Timeladies included. Lukas focused on the faint hum they could feel within the folds of time, picturing the last face they remembered the Timelady having.

"Rani, come forth. I command you."

Time wasn't part of the duties of Life, but Rani was alive even if she was hidden away. Part of why their ex-girlfriend, Hailee, had been so useful to have around was her limited ability to see the streams of time. All other safeguards of time fell to the Guardians of Time in one realm and to the Ticktop Lords and Ladies of Time in Jubilant Accosts. Lukas had done their part by alerting the Timelady that her presence was needed, now it was time for Rani to answer their call.

"My lord, Lukas, forgive me. I didn't recognize you at first. I feared that your call was a trick of the demon. I am here now, ready to serve."

A blonde woman kneeled before the deity. She was exactly as they remembered her centuries ago when they had resealed the realm with the Grim Reaper at the time. Rani may not have seen them, hidden behind the portal, but Lukas had insisted on seeing someone from a country as mysterious as Ticktop.

Lukas tried to hide their relief that they had correctly found Rani. They had been about ninety nine percent certain that they knew what they were doing and that they could rely on their powers to be accurate. They may not be able to shift into their preferred form, but at least they'd summoned a living, breathing Timelady with an ease they hoped frightened Xexys.

"Timelady, take back your power from the clutches of this demon! He's been abusing the realm of Time to strengthen his nightmares. This is your sacred duty and you've abandoned it for centuries!"

"Yes, my lord. Please understand, I had to abandon my post. After Absydee disappeared, and the rest of the reapers eventually fell, the Dream Guardian was murdered by an invasion lead by Tredony's assassin. I didn't have the resources to fight them all on my own, so I hid until you or Lord Izanami's representative appeared again. It has been a very long time since you last checked in on us."

"I was in a centuries long coma, trying to reincarnate," Lukas replied, their voice cold. They didn't need to be lectured by a subordinate about how to do their job. "I'm here now. Who the hell is Absydee and what happened to the reapers?"

"Now's not exactly the best time to catch up," Rani answered, looking anxiously over her shoulder at the demon nearby. "Though, I am compelled to answer you despite our guest. Absydee was the head of the reaper team in our realm. She disappeared the same day that our last king died. The reapers held on for some time without her, but someone came for them a few centuries ago. They are all no more. Has no one made you aware of this situation?"

Lukas ground their teeth, trying not to take out their anger on the Timelady they needed on their side.

"Again, coma. Reincarnation. I was busy. How did you manage to lose the head reaper? Izanami would have chosen the best to serve here. I wasn't created until after he'd staffed this realm with my predecessor, so I didn't know the reaper team personally. What exactly happened to them? I've never seen an entire team wiped out before."

"But you have, Life god," Xexys cackled. "Your sister and her peers were lost, or have you forgotten? The reapers here died in exactly the same way. I heard their screams myself. They begged for your Death god."

Lukas wasn't about to take the bait that Xexys was dangling before them. Some individual reapers, like their sister had been killed, but an entire team had never been lost before, and certainly not centuries after losing their leader.

And they would never beg for Izanami's help either. Izanami was incredibly hands off while serving as the Grim Reaper, and had always made his disinterest in management clear. The reapers should have known that Death would never come to save them; he'd let his own son go up against a cult of witches entirely on his own.

"Rani, I'm not going to ask again," they stated, glaring at the Timelady. "I don't need excuses, I need the realm of Time in the hands of its guardian. Now."

In an instant, Lukas felt the currents of Time swirl around them, following the sweeping motion of Rani's arms. Seconds, centuries, they all passed by, trailing snippets of life before the god's eyes.

The rise of the Jacobean church at the cost of all other faiths.

Two soulmates torn apart by the laws of the Proxy, and separated by this plague.

King Apophis Xechasménaeizam. The last king whose death apparently coincides with the team leader of the missing reaper team's disappearance. His name was marked with a "burning soul", was Hailee right that it might be connected to the reapers? To Riley?

No, I can't make that assumption just yet. Too much is at stake if I'm wrong. Still, there is something about this king that I need to discover. He seems to be somehow tied to all that's wrong with Jubilant Accosts.

And Izanami?

"You must know that there will be no returning once this is done. I trust you with this mission, but I need to know if you think you can handle it. I can send someone else if need be."

"No need, I've been preparing for this assignment for some time. To lead this new team of reapers in a new realm is an honour. Xexys doesn't frighten me and I have few attachments in this realm. I'm ready to do this. And this isn't goodbye forever. We can always catch up when you come to maintain the seal between realms. Plus, I'll have the rest of the reapers you've selected to keep me company. I'll be fine."

"Of course. I'm sure that you'll do an adequate job. Remember, you will be one of the only levels of protection this realm has. Its survival depends in part on you."

Oh Izanami, you sentimental idiot. She's the best you could pick? At least I know what this Absydee looks like now. That eye of hers is hard to forget.

"I wish you were dead! I want you to be dead! I don't want to share any realm with you, even if it means living in fucking Jubilant Accosts! You've already ruined any chance of happiness that I had, so piss off and leave me alone! Just leave me alone! We've done our job, so fucking leave!"

What a strange memory to pop up now, especially one that took place at the portal to this realm. I need to explore this further. This must mean something.

Lukas opened their eyes and saw the magic Rani had pulled, pooled beside them.

"This is it? This is what you need?"

When Rani nodded, Lukas began the work of binding the magic to the Timelady it belonged to. It was easy to reattach, as it had always belonged to Rani. Xexys had twisted it over the years, stretching it to suit his whims, but that was easy enough to fix. Lukas hadn't been the deity of Life when Jubilant Accosts had been sealed away, but it was their job now, and the magic of the realm couldn't help but bend to their will.

"This is my realm! I will not let you have it! Your predecessor became a demon, just as I am, while you are mortal created. You're as weak as the mortals here!"

Xexys raised his sword and rushed towards the deity. The assassin of Tredony had surrendered to this blade and so would this would be god. Xexys could remember the first Life deity and the power they had once wielded. This god had been created from mortals and had already reincarnated twice before. Xexys was certain that he could cause an third reincarnation, one that would buy him more time to defend his realm from the gods.

But Lukas had been prepared for the attack and easily knocked the demon to the ground with their staff.

"Those mortals I came from are the best swordsmen in the afterlife," Lukas laughed. "They taught me everything they've ever known about swordsmanship. I've fought wars against demons stronger than you. You're a joke without your little gimmick, and once I end this plague of yours, you'll be stuck in here with a proper defense against you. I'm not as easy of a target as I used to be."

Rani stared in awe at the power Lukas was sending to her. Her mind slowly began to remember all the laws of time and the delicate threads holding together the universe. Her fingers relearned the specific motions needed to open a window in time and the way to halt the flow of time altogether. The long centuries of hiding, powerless to defend herself faded away. She was a Timelady of Ticktop and she had forgotten herself after the destruction of her people, after the destruction of her colleagues defending this realm. She had lost so much over the years, but it was in her power to take back what was hers.

Xexys scowled at the Timelady's transformation. It had been hard work to steal the reins of the realm of Time, but there hadn't been a god there when he'd done it. That Tredonian assassin was still haunting his own realm at the moment, and Xexys' own son was a prisoner there. He was at a disadvantage, and he was smart enough to know when to retreat.

"So long, Life god. You won't always be so well defended, and no one can stay out of the realm of dreams forever. We will meet again with a very different outcome."

Rani gasped as Xexys vanished from sight, astounded that the demon had given up so quickly. The Xexys she remembered had destroyed everything she'd ever loved in the blink of an eye. Well, losing Absydee had been the true beginning of the end of Jubilant Accosts' defenders, but everything had begun to snowball from there.

"Thank god he left," Lukas sighed, stretching the arm holding the very heavy staff. "I'd hate to actually have to use this thing. I had to steal this from a museum and no one's used it in centuries. It's been awhile since I had to duel with a staff. I don't suppose that you have much practice with one, right?"

Rani nodded her head solemnly.

"My people were peaceful, God of Life. We manipulated time in our defense, though I have completed some training with a sword."

"Call me Lukas. We're going to be working pretty closely for the next while, and it gets annoying hearing my title over and over in every conversation I have. You can catch me up on everything that I've missed here though. Starting with the first defense to fall here. I take it that was the reapers?"

Rani lowered her eyes. Dwelling on unpleasant memories was never easy, but her superior had commanded her to do so. She had always been fond of the reapers, especially Absydee. They had had a lot of fun together.

"Yes. When the king was killed on a hunt, Absydee was sent to reap him. No one knows what took place, just that neither of their essences were recovered, and the reapers found a strange notation beside the king's name on her reaping list."

"Yes, this burning soul business," Lukas said. "Neither of their souls were found in the afterlife? I know Apophis' was never found, but the reaper's too?"

"So the other reapers said. They were lost without their leader, and couldn't travel back to their home realm to ask Death about it. Death never came back to reseal the realm either, just his associates, so they had no instructions. Later, when they were lost as well, their souls were never seen again."

"Like RIley and the others. So this Absydee could have been killed first, and her coworkers were killed centuries later? That doesn't sound right. What happened to her if the king's soul supposedly reincarnated?"

"My people will reincarnate in a way when we are faced with death," Rani suggested, hoping to be helpful. "We generate a new face and body. The Jacobeans called us shapeshifters and sinners because of it, but it's what's natural for us. Perhaps there is something in the nature of a reaper that can explain this."

Lukas shook their head, disappointing Rani.

"No, reapers have little connection to life. They can't change their form in my realm. They rely on Death's power only. Perhaps if this soul truly was 'burning' it might have consumed the reaper trying to collect it. But how did this dead soul get the power to reenter my realm? Life and Death are incompatible. There's no way for those two realms to combine at all, let alone in one soul."

"I wish you were dead! I want you to be dead! I don't want to share any realm with you, even if it means living in fucking Jubilant Accosts!"

Lukas paled as they remembered the glimpse of their past while handling Rani's power.

"Oh, shit. I think I may...but how would she...I need to confirm something. Something important. Rani, I need you to reestablish yourself in this realm. Find a place to practice using your abilities again, and wait for me to return. There's a group of teens who are from Tredony, hoping to help us win back this realm. We need to assist them, and figure out how we're going to replace a trained reaper team and a Dream Guardian. I don't know what cost the other reapers their lives, but I have a sneaking suspicion about what may have happened to their leader. There's only one place where Life and Death combine. I just need to understand what she did. I'll come find you when I know."

Except it was impossible. Roman Bellamy was presumably still in Arkhelios, an entire realm away from his son. On top of that, the room didn't look like Theo's bedroom as he'd left it. His desk, bed, and collection of pictures on the wall were all missing.

He looked around, hoping to find some clue hidden away that would make sense of all of this. There was no way that he'd traveled from Jubilant Accosts to when his father was a teenager. On top of that, Theo felt strangely at odds with his own body. He was too tall, the muscles in his arms felt like they belonged to someone else, and the ring that Adam gave him that he never took off was nowhere to be found on his hand. This wasn't his body at all.

"You're dreaming little demon. Such interesting dreams you have in that empty head of yours. Magic has changed so much in your realm since I was last there, and I would greatly love to see it for myself. You cast magic like the Great Demons of old, but your friends are more modern, aren't they? You are the fulfillment of Dorhack's deepest desire despite the scorn of his peers. I remember when Dorhack was young-what dreams he had!"

Theo blinked and his father's bedroom vanished from sight. It was quickly replaced by what Theo hardly recognized as his loving room. All of his things were gone. Renarde and Too's bowls were no where in sight. Abe III hadn't scribbled on these walls with permanent markers. Was this how the house looked when his father was his age?

Theo was a little morbidly curious about his grandparents and great-grandparents. All them had died in his early childhood, leaving Theo without a clue about his heritage. There were some pictures of Theo being held by his Grandpa Omar that Theo had found shoved in a scrapbook one day, but Theo had no memory of him and his father chose not to discuss his parents with his children. The closest Theo would ever get to answers about his dead family members would be whatever the spirits told Rien about them, and the spirits weren't always talkative, especially if it was Theo asking his sister the questions.

"What's going on here?" Theo demanded, looking around the unfamiliar room for the source of the voice that'd spoken to him before. "Am I still dreaming?"

"Of course. My control spans what sliver of the dream realm I was granted in my exile. It's a small dominion, but it's all mine. I have borrowed from the other powerful guardians of this realm as well, and I happily also wield their powers as well."

"Xexys?" Theo guessed. He wasn't sure if the voice echoing in his mind was the Dream Demon or one of Rien's spirits who may have been locked in here with him by accident. He wasn't sure which one of those options he was hoping it'd be.

"Who else could match my power, little demon? Of course this is Xexys, lord of dreams! Lord of Jubilant Accosts, defeater of the Proxy, the creator of the dream sickness that you've come here to destroy."

The voice waited for the fear and trembling that would surely overtake the teenager hearing these words. A minute passed where the little demon hybrid said nothing, frustrating Xexys considerably. He was used to the citizens of Jubilant Accosts fleeing from any sign of the demonic. This teen didn't seem to be frightened of the threat Xexys posed.

"So what happens now?" Theo asked, looking bored. "Are we going to have to fight in this dream? Why did you bother bringing me to when my parents were young? There aren't any scarier places you could dream up?"

Xexys paused for a moment, stunned at the behavior of this Arkhelian child.

"You dare question my nightmare realm?" he repeated incredulously. "This is your origin, this time point filled with danger. With your grandmother, the daughter of Dorhack!"

The image before Theo shimmered slightly, revising the scene to include Kamalani Bellamy.

"Is that my grandmother?" Theo asked. There wasn't any sign of fear on his face to Xexys' horror. "I've seen some pictures of her growing up, but Dad doesn't let me look at them for long. Did you know her? You said that you knew her dad, right? Is this nightmare version of her really close to who she was? I'm curious to see what she says about me now that I'm older."

The image of Kamalani froze, eyeing this teenager curiously.

"I have taken hold of the Timelady's prize," Xexys said carefully. He wasn't sure how to frighten the teen when Theo was more curious than afraid of what he had conjured. "The sands of time guide my nightmares. They pull ghosts from the past; specters of long gone shadows inhabit my creations. They-"

"So they are historically accurate then," Theo replied. "You're using time magic to make your nightmares feel more realistic, so I can ask my grandmother all about herself and get a realistic answer?"

The image of Kamalani slipped as Xexys lost control over it. Kamalani continued across the room to hug her mother in law, Malika Bellamy. Theo stared in awe at the opportunity before him.

"My great-grandmother too? I bet they have a ton of dirt on my dad!"

The curse. The curse. The curse.

The words rang out inside of Theo's head, pounding like a drum, silencing all other thoughts.

The source of your power. The curse. The pact forged in blood. Dorhack's grand experiment. The curse.

Theo could feel tendrils of magic curl across his mind looking for weakness. Xexys had assumed that Theo would be terrified of his ancestors, but they hadn't been able to hurt him even as a baby. Theo was curious about them and little else.

The curse.

The tendrils of magic paused in their search, suddenly distracted by what they'd uncovered.

The curse. It...it's....

The next thing Theo knew, he was in a room with his parents. It looked a bit like the spare guestroom in Grandma Elaine's house, which made since since his parents used to live there when he was young. Of course his parents were being all mushy with each other and hugging. Theo fought the urge to roll his eyes at the sight or yell at his teenage parents that they were embarrassing him in front of the Demon of Nightmares.

Theo could see from the baby bump on his father that Abe was a very pregnant teenager at this point. Very pregnant with Theo.

It weirded out Theo to acknowledge that he was the fetus growing inside his father, especially since his parents were barely older than he was now when he was born. They looked happy, he decided. Scared to death but happy. Probably the happiest he remembered them being when he was young. There were no arguments about affairs or money or what to do with the son with abilities they couldn't manage.

The demon was focused entirely on the scene before him, staring entranced at the two teens in the same way that the demonic sovereign had stared at Theo before his powers were stabilized. His hunger for the energy displayed was palpable. Theo could feel the pull in his mind as Xexys slobbered at the thought of being near the source of that power. He might have been an ancient demon from another realm, but a demon was a demon it seemed. Like the sovereign, Xexys coveted the energy before him with his entire being. Xexys had tried to frighten Theo, but now Theo had him at his mercy. No demon could turn away from the power that coursed through Theo's blood.

Dream Roman gently kissed Dream Abe, and the entire nightmare began shaking violently. A brilliant light burst from them, bathing the room in demonic energy.

For the first time in his life, Theo felt the enormity of his abilities through the eyes of a stranger. No wonder why the demonic sovereign had taken him under her wing as a child. No wonder the Maricourt family regarded him with suspicion. This was the power that needed to be grounded by Adam, and fixed by a god. It was wild, chaotic, and completely untamed. That unborn infant blazed across time and dreams, uniting Abraham Helios and Salem Bellamy's blood within him. Theo's parents echoed the curse when they touched, like a ripple in an impossibly deep pond.

So this was what people saw in him. Lukas had been right; no one should have access to this much power on their own. Suddenly, all the times that Theo had barely escaped being torn apart by its uncontrollable nature made sense. Why he'd had to go to Shadowvale to learn how to control it.

Theo paled at the thought of what this power had done to Adam. How had he survived magic this lethal? He was lucky to have only walked away with a scar and the ability to perform the most basic dream magic.

No wonder why Adam had pulled away from him after the accident. Why touching Theo paralyzed him with fear. Why he'd kissed someone else just to see if it was safe with someone other than Theo.

Like his father, Theo was slow to admit to his own faults, and according to everyone in his life, his mind tended to default to his own desires before thinking of others. Adam had always been the asshole who cheated on Theo in Theo's mind, but now that Theo was face to face with the magnitude of his power, suddenly Adam's fear made sense in a way that it hadn't before.

So I was wrong about your fears. You fear the loss of this Adam.

Theo gulped at the return of Xexys' voice. Clearly, he had moved on from lusting after Theo's power.

"As a friend!" he protested weakly. "I'm here to save my real love, Sebastian. Not Adam. He's just a friend."

Just a friend?

"Adam!"

Theo blinked and in an instant, he was transported to a field where Adam lay, covered in blood and gasping for breath. Theo was at his side in an instant. He could feel blood seep from Adam into his own clothes. His hand slipped against Adam's with all of the slick, dark blood pooling onto it.

"Adam, what happened?" All rational thought flew from Theo's mind at the sight of his ex-boyfriend. He faintly remembered talking to someone, but who and what about? Had he been dreaming, only to wake up to this? There were patches of the Void blazing around him, so this must be an attack by demons. Why would anyone attack Adam and why hadn't Theo been there to help him?

Theo could have sworn that he heard faint laughter, but he didn't have time to deal with that. Not while Adam was dying in front of him. It didn't make a lot of sense, but Adam was undeniably here bleeding to death before him and that's what mattered.

"Theo, it hurts," Adam whimpered, holding one of his many wounds to stop the bleeding. "Why weren't you there to save me? If you're so strong, why didn't you help? The demons were too strong for me, but they'd be easy for you to...to beat." He coughed up blood on Theo's shirt and shuddered. "I thought that you loved me."

Theo held Adam even tighter in his arms, tears beginning to run down his cheeks, mixing with Adam's blood.

"I'm sorry," he cried. "I am. I'm really sorry! I love you more than anything! I don't know why I wasn't here or what I was doing, but I'm here now. Just hold on, and maybe your dad or Evren can help heal you. I dont know a lot about healing magic, but I can try until someone better gets here. Just stay with me, please! Adam, I can't lose you! I love you!"

The words poured out of Theo as fast as he could think them. He couldn't stop to process how he was feeling; he would deal with that when Adam was okay. Emotions jumbled up inside of him, spilling deep from his heart at the terrible scene before him. Who cared about what Adam had done or what Theo had said when Adam might be out of his life permanently? If they ever got home from Jubilant Accosts, Adam's dormroom and desk would forever be empty. He'd never see Adam again. Ever.

"Adam! Adam, wake up! You're starting to scare me."

Theo stirred from his place on the couch when Despina began screaming. When had he drifted off? He couldn't remember. One minute, he was reading Despina's ancient tome on dream magic, and the next, he'd been thrown deep into a nightmare.

"Theo! You'd better be dead if you're not coming to help me!"

"I'm coming, just give me a second!" Theo snapped. "I think Xexys came to me in a nightmare, and I need a minute, okay?"

"Adam doesn't have a minute!" Despina shouted back. "He's thrashing around like crazy and I can't wake him up."

You fear the loss of this Adam.

Xexys' words seared panic into Theo as he realized that he might not be the only one that Xexys visited. Was Adam really in danger, like in his dream? His stomach churned at the thought.

"He's immune to the plague. He can't be overcome by it. The coven said it couldn't hurt him!"

Just stay with me, please! Adam, I can't lose you! I love you!

Theo's breath hitched, remembering what he'd shouted in his dream. How it felt when it looked like Adam was slipping away from him.

It was all too complicated to think about, especially when Despina needed him. Adam was not going to die, and Theo only thought of him as a friend. Those were solid facts that he could rely on. His heart might break if they were proven false.

"Theo! I think he's having a seizure, get your ass in here! I've never practiced dream magic like this before and you at least have a connection to his magic. I'll never forgive you if my cousin dies and you could have saved him. Get in here now!"

"I'm coming!" Theo grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Nothing bad is going to happen."

It wasn't easy to be the consort of Xexys, the Demon of Nightmares, but it was a role Xylona cherished. Had her love for the demon consumed her life to the point of losing her family and friends, even her very name? Well, yes, but Xexys was worth the sacrifice. She could barely remember the faces of her family and the name they'd once called her. Those memories were an unpleasant dream from a time long ago without Xexys.

"Your move, beloved. Don't think that I've missed the way you focus on your rook. I'm quite prepared for your attack."

Xexys wasn't conventionally attractive, but the charm he wielded against those who stood against him usually did the trick. There was something about the way he spoke that soothed the most irritable soul, drawing them into his inescapable web of dreams. There had been a time once, millenia ago, where he had roamed all the realms, taking whatever he wanted, just like he'd taken control of the Proxy's home. He was using the Proxy's chess board, eating his food, and displacing his family.

Simon Klein may have been the Proxy for the Watcher, but he'd been a terribly boring opponent for a demon of Xexys' talent. He'd begged and pleaded when Xexys graced Simon with his presence, and had surrendered to the cold embrace of Xexys' nightmares far quicker than anyone had in centuries. The man mistakenly assumed that his god had blessed him with this world when really, he had been condemned to this hellhole just as much as Xexys had been. Jubilant Accosts was a prison made by the gods in their own image: cruel, isolated, and fond of sacrifices made in blood. Long ago, Xexys had been free to take as much as he could from the mortals, to watch as his dreams overtook them until they were either dead or praying to be.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, perhaps I should try another move," Xylona replied with a cheerful tone.

She knew that Xexys didn't consider her to be his equal, but unlike so many other mortals, he indulged Xylona. He made her the mother of the only children he had ever had in his long life. She was never going to be equal to the majesty he embodied, but just being in his prescence was enough for Xylona.

Their son, Xanthos, wasn't inclined to worship his father the way his mother did. Unlike his father, mother, and brother, Xanthos wasn't interested in being a demon or messing with the mortals and their dreams. Because of his family, Xanthos was forced to live on the outskirts of Jubilant Accosts, far away from the devout and non devout mortals just the same. No one wanted a demon walking among them, even if he was harmless.

It was because of his affection for the mortals that Xanthos was trying his best to counteract what he could of his father's plans. When Xexys had taken the Klein house for himself, little Simona Klein was still in her crib, completely unaware that her parents were no longer there to protect her from the demon. Xanthos would deliver the child to a sympathetic home in the night, away from his father. Surely, the devout Jacobeans would take in their leader's daughter. The humans were cruel to demons, but they were supposed to care for each other. It was that benevolence that Xanthos clung to when he thought of his own little girl, hidden among her mother's kind.

Lukas tried their best to understand what they were seeing in the random house they had stopped by to check. The Jakobsson household wasn't anything like they'd expected to find, even in a place as odd as Jubilant Accosts.

A man and a vampire woman lay dead in the room down the hall from Lukas' hiding place. The deity was certain that they were hidden from sight from the mortals; centuries of shadowing the living had made certain of that, but someone clearly wanted these bodies to be seen by somebody.

None of the other plague victims were posed in such a dramatic manner, and none of them had had pools of blood around their bodies either. The plague certainly didn't involve a sword, so that was an unexpected element as well.

"What in the world?"

Lukas almost wished that they could send their husband a photo of this scene through the barriers separating this realm. This reminded them of some of the early work they had done in their first few centuries together. During those wars, some cases stood out amongst the rest of the battlefield. Cases that were just a little too specific to the details of a battle report. Cases that felt staged.

"Oh, for Watcher's sake! My husband! He's dead, fallen victim to the unholy sickness!"

A woman shouted, drawing the attention of her stepdaughter, Siv, who gasped in horror at the scene.

"Dad? This can't be! He can't be dead!"

Håvard Jakobsson hovered in the air, suspended by some kind of foul magic.

"He has the diseased eyes," Jacobina Jakobsson stated, as if the cause of death should be obvious.

"And the sword?" Siv didn't dare challenge her stepmother openly, but even she could see the sword had done far more damage than any disease.

"Well, there's a vampire next to him. Clearly, he fought her off while weakened by the disease. We're all fortunate that we were not here when she attacked. Her kind is getting desperate these days, and we're vulnerable with the disappearance of our Proxy. Praise the Watcher that we were spared."

Widad Yun was no stranger to Jakobina Jakobsson or the Jakobsson household for that matter. Too many nights Håvard had disappeared into the dark without explanation. Too many days Jakobina had noticed telltale puncture marks on her husband's neck.

Lukas didn't need to see anymore of this household. There wasn't any need for their intervention. The matriarch of the family appeared to have everything taken care of. Life was their job, murder and death were their husband's.

Maybe killing the infected before the disease could spread was actually helpful. None of the other members of the household seemed to be developing the film over their eyes synonymous with the illness. If someone was killed and their dreams ended, did that also end the threat of the disease spreading?

It was too dark a plan for Lukas to present to the Grim Reaper, and far too close to the edge of the boundaries of their own role for Gee's comfort. Lukas would just have to keep searching for a cure while also keeping an eye out for any sign of the supernatural team assigned to Jubilant Accosts.

The Timelady might be the easiest to find. Xexys controlled dreams, not time, so there was a chance that this creature from Ticktop had sealed herself away, lost in time. It wouldn't be an easy task, but it was the one that made the most sense.