No, over this way!

Death called out as his skull was on its side on the ground floor. His body was standing nearby with one arm stretched out in front of it, and the other one missing.

This is going to take a while, Death said with a sigh.

----------------------------------------

"How many?" Ted spat out in shock.

"Why, just a few dozen. Nothing too impressive," Narissa smirked as she carefully looked over her gloved hand.

"I mean, that sounds pretty impressive to me!" Ted declared with a nod.

Finally! Death cried out as he reappeared behind Ted. That took way longer than...

Death paused a moment, and looked around. Wait a minute! He shouted. Did you guys leave without me?

"How could we leave without you?" Narissa asked. "You can just show up wherever we are."

I mean, yeah but I never even said if I found my body or not! He argued.

Ted shrugged. "I mean, you were gone a good while that last time, and we figured it was a good idea to get moving since there's some dangerous guy running around here."

"Ted dear, there's no need to try and cover for me. I'm a big girl, and I can hold my own." Narissa interjected.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"I mean, I went along wi..."

"Now now," Narissa said firmly as she held up her hand. "What did I say about arguing with me?"

Ted opened his mouth, but as she raised an eyebrow he stopped. Ted slumped his shoulders and silently shook his head.

"Good boy." She turned back to Death. "Now then, I decided that you had been gone long enough, and we should move on. We are on borrowed time after all. Once that fiend is replaced, we're much more likely to be caught in here."

But what if I hadn't found myself down there? Death asked.

"Then, of course, we would have gone back immediately on your return." She said with a gentle smile. "But it seems everything worked out in the end."

Death paused a moment as his jaw shifted left and right. Finally, he nodded as he said, Alright, fair enough. No harm done, right? Well, let's get moving then!

They came upon the round chamber with the heavy black smoke that was slowly rising. The symbols and painting still adorned the ceiling, and as soon as they crossed the threshold, Ted felt that same, comforting feeling. In fact, since he had been away, it somehow felt even stronger. Like he had a taste of sugar, and was denied it for years before being able to have a single spoonful again.

Ted felt gratitude that he was back, and his desire to stay seemed to be even stronger than the last time, although he didn't quite realize that yet.

"Well," said Narissa as she eyed Ted from the side. "Now that you don't have such an urgent request, what do you think of this room?"

"I like it. It's...nice," Ted said with a smile.

"Not you dear. You." She said before she put a finger right on Death's sternum.

Death jumped back slightly. Huh? Why ask me?

"You have some strong ties to the supernatural, don't you?" She asked. "Well, is there anything strange you notice about this room?"

Death stepped to the edge and looked all around. After a moment, he took a step back and scratched the top of his head. Huh. It's weird. Feels like I've been here before.

"But you have," Ted said. "You popped in here to ask us to help get your body."

Oh yeah. Nodded Death. I guess that makes sense.

"Interesting," Narissa purred under her breath. She glanced down at the smoke that was slowly rising, and then turned back to the other two. "So, it seems I've grown fond of this room as well."

"Really?" said Ted a little to enthusiastically.

"Why yes, and I know just the souvenir." A predatory smiled crept onto her face. "I need some of that smoke."

Death and Ted moved closer to the edge and looked over. The smoke was still a good thirty or so feet below them.

"How exactly?" Ted asked.

"Well, just be sure you don't get any on your actual body," Narissa said quickly as she shoved a small glass vial into Death's bony hand.

Before he had a chance to react to his new item, Narissa closed his fingers around it. Then, in a flash, she spun him around so that his back was to the center of the room, and then shoved him over the edge.

Whhhhaaaaaa!!! Death screamed in surprise as he tripped backwards over the railing and started to plummet towards the smoke, which almost seemed to rise up towards him, like an arm stretching out towards a particularly appetizing apple.