Chapter 400 - Track Of Time- Part 3

"What do you mean you had the fourth Grim in here and he isn't here now," questioned Goron with an unimpressed look on his face. He had his arms crossed as he looked at Winston who appeared to be in a state of shock as well as anger mixed on his face. 

Winston didn't know how it happened. He had made sure to give the highest bounty to the right person who was the easiest target out of all the fallen Grims. Barron being the youngest Grim, he would crack under the pressure and would give out answers that Winston had been looking and searching for. He knew that since the last few months, something was wrong. 

He had been monitoring every single event that was taking place in the land of the living. Getting rid of the possible circumstances, he had got his two Grims involved--the sixth and the tenth but they both turned out to fall from their position. Winston had not expected Baltimore to get caught, he was the whisperer, he should have been able to get out of it but who knew that the Grim was useless. 

Winston wanted the white witch's help. He wanted her soul-- Isabell Genevieve. 

He wanted her soul in the dead, wanting to make use of her powers. It was the sole reason he had sent Baltimore to whisper in the villager's ears and the other white witches who wanted her dead. But no. He had no idea where her soul went and the blame fell on Baltimore, resulting in him running away from his position. 

"What's going on, Winston?" 

The question was asked by Crane who was standing in front of the glass-covered walls of the tower. Crane turned around slowly to look at Winston, "When the announcement was made, you never bothered to tell us that you had the Plague bearer. Now that he is missing, you have decided to come to us?" questioned Crane. 

Winston had hoped that it wouldn't come to this. He had hoped to interrogate Barron and get the answers before someone else would, "I got hold of him before the assembly of the meeting took place. I was going to bring him directly."

Crane stared back at Winston, "Well, right now he is not here. The alert and alarm have been sent. It is only time that he gets caught. And what did you say about the bunny?" 

Winston pursed his lips and answered, "He's stuck in rabbit form."

"Why is he stuck in the rabbit form?" asked Gorron. 

"I don't know," answered Winston, stopping the urge to roll his eyes. 

Crane gave it some thought on what Winston said, "It's probably because his source of the soul is extinguishing itself. Staying far too long in the living without returning back to the dead can do that to a reaper." 

Gorron then said, "The death reapers had another report on the second bell of the tower. They found another Grim with a bounty on their head. But the Grim was already gone from there."

"Who was it?" asked Crane. 

"Cross." 

The passive look on Crane's face continued to stay there, "If you were the one who let the Grim escape, get him back."

"My bone is missing!" the rage in Winston's eyes returned.

Crane had a bored look on his face, "Wasn't there a rule that said that the bone which is given away is not yours anymore. The ownership changes and the first one is never the last owner unless it is willingly returned back."

Winston sneered, "I will get it back! It is mine!"

"Where is the damned timekeeper?" asked Gorron, "She's been out there and no one has caught sight of her?" 

It was Winston who was in charge of placing the bounty's and so far, he had spared the timekeeper and only announced the bounty on the Grims. 

"She is still being searched," replied Winston.

"For eleven years?" asked Crane, "I think it is time you add a bounty on her head. Time is of great value, in the dead or the living. There have been enough issues when it comes to time. Souls are turning more stale as reapers are unable to pick them up."

Winston didn't want that but he nodded his head. 

Once Winston and Gorron both left the room, Crane stared down at the reapers who were walking below on the grounds near the high tower. His hand went into the pocket of his robes when he felt a paper in there that made a sound. Frowning, he pulled it out to see a parchment that looked old. 

Turning it around he read what was written on it, "You are here," he murmured under his breath. He knew there was something strange when Winston had stopped the new reaper but the smell didn't come from the new reaper. It was from the ones who walked past them. A very faint old smell that reminded him of someone. 

"Created by someone and answers to someone else," said Crane and as he ran his finger over the written words, his eyes narrowed, "Guilt." In a blink of an eye, Crane disappeared from there, the only person who could still apparate out of there without the hindrance of the spilt magic. 

Back in the forest, Lucas said to Rower, "Are you sure you want to join?" 

"Why not?" asked Rower, tilting his head, "Wouldn't it be fun with all the original Grims opposing the Hawvert's work? It would make things easier." Rower did have a point there. 

"What about Edith?" asked Belle to them. It was something that was bothering her mind. Did the first Grim really betray them? Lied to her? asked Belle to herself. 

Everyone who stood around there were quiet, "I don't think Edith would do that. If she's helped you for so long with the knowledge of stars and about your death, she must have foreseen something in the future which is why she asked you to do whatever she asked."

"We need to find the witch who Winston has taken from the river of the dead. Let us see what we can find out from the person," said Lucas and everyone agreed to it. When they started to walk, some of the reapers who were walking in the forest, searching for the Grim and the new reapers came to question,

"Who goes there? It smells like newborn reapers," said one of the death reapers. 

"Catch them! Take hold of them and bring them to the high tower!" said another reaper. 

Greed sighed out of annoyance, "Isn't it easier to knock them out and go ahead. It's not like they will be conscious for the next few hours," he suggested. 

"The key thing is to avoid raising flags," replied Lucas, "We are not in the land of the living but in the dead. It will take less than a second to alert everyone around. We don't want that. The fewer people get involved here, the better." 

Belle who stood at the back was looking on the other side when she caught sight of something moving behind the trees. For a while, she didn't know who it was until the tall person stepped out and away from the trees that were covering his face. 

"We have more people," Belle whispered to Lucas, pulling his sleeve to catch hold of his attention. 

Lucas turned his sight to notice it was short and tall reapers who were making their way here. What were they doing here? Asked Lucas to himself. 

"Looks like you guys caught new reapers already," commented Edgar, bringing his short self to stand in front of the death reapers, "Oh, there you are Rower!" exclaimed the Grim and the death reapers who had not noticed the Grim reaper earlier bowed their head.

"We apologise! We didn't see you before," said one of the Grim. 

Rower waved his hand, not bothered with it. 

Moore looked around the reapers who stood next to Rower, "What are you doing with new reapers?" asked Edgar. 

"I am recruiting them," answered Rower by looking at the three reapers who stood next to him. The fourth one was hidden under Greed's robes, "I am bored rowing the boat since forever. I thought it was time I walked around when I needed to. Therefore, I am recruiting some of the new reapers to get them to know about picking up souls. Isn't that right?" asked Rower and the three reapers nodded their head in sync. 

"Ha," remarked Edgar, "Did they come today to meet you? I thought you didn't want to have new reapers."

Rower stared at the short Grim reaper and then nodded his head, "Yes, that was before. I have now changed my mind," he then asked, "What are you both doing here? I never see you here." 

Moore turned away to look at the river, "It felt like there was a breach through the river."

"Breach?" questioned Rower.

"We can only close the path of the land but not the river. The path that connects the land of the dead and the living. It felt like something or someone came through it," Edgar said while staring at Rower and Rower didn't react to it. There was no way Edgar would know about Lucas travelling because there were other creatures that camouflaged the presence of the Grim reaper. 

"I didn't sense anything in here," answered Rower with a solemn look. 

"Make sure you seal it. Now," Edgar said being pushy and Rower raised his hand to snap his fingers. 

"There. All done." 

Edgar had a look of doubt on his face. For a reaper who was short and in his Grim form, he looked like a child in oversized robes, "So fast? How do I know if you have sealed it right?" asked Edgar. 

"I can throw you in there for you to check," offered Rower to have Edgar narrow his eyes. 

"Alright. I will report the same to Winston," said Edgar and before leaving he patted Greed's leg, "Make sure you pick a lot of souls," and they left with the other reapers who had stopped them earlier.