"...right, you'll be wanting any empty room to eat." Ty said. "You said you're doing that first, so come on, we'll find an empty conference room and use that for a bit." he said further.

"Then you'll need to find one of the ritual or testing rooms we have." he went on.

"Then the requisitions department." he continued.

"And then, finally, your dorm." he mumbled.

"Only other place I can think of is the cafeteria." he then said.

"I can show you there as well, but the blue panels on the walls are an interactive map if you get lost."

She made her way past her security, and they made sure she stepped through the door and fully closed it, before stepping in front of it to bar anyone from getting in. When she turned on the light, she saw that she wasn't alone in the room.

Someone was sitting in the high-backed chair that was there, and she couldn't see who, as they were turned away from her.

However, before she could call for help, or act with her own mana, the chair swung around.

"Hello." the man said.

"Sorry to pop by unannounced." he apologised.

Gregory just sighed.

"Yeah... seems I lost my scythe." he told her.

"Traded it in for a heartbeat. And a heart. And lungs. And blood. And everything else." he said further.

"Consider this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Desiree." he went on.

"I'm Gregory Xeccan. Human. Alive and kicking." he announced.

"...a man with nowhere to go."

Gregory just shrugged.

"Beats me." he said.

"I was waiting for a plane crash to happen, and the next thing I knew, things blacked out, and when I regained consciousness, I was in the middle of a park, in pain, without my reaper abilities, and access to my mana from when I was alive." he told her.

"So... yeah, that's the story." he muttered.

"Something happened, and I'm not a reaper any longer." he went on.

"I'm my portal mage self. It's how I got here." he continued.

"You were one of the only people I felt I could turn to." he said further. "And before you ask, I knew you were here because I saw a poster on a telephone pole advertising the show."

"..." Gregory was silent for a moment, before she saw him practically raid the appliance for the fruit.

"THANK YOU." he said.

"That's another thing I noticed. I have hunger again. Human hunger. I need food." he told her.

"It's been SO many centuries since I last ate." he went on, devouring one of the apples completely.

"And yes, being with the Fyranes would be very uncomfortable for me." he continued.

"Mostly because of the phoenix."

"Necromancy." Gregory said between bites.

"Extremely potent necromancy." he elaborated.

"Whoever did this was using some extremely powerful necromantic mana, I can tell you THAT." he said further.

"And yeah, not certain, but odds are I'm not the only one affected." he then told her.

"There's a high chance ALL reapers are alive once more."

"Mmhmm." Gregory mumbled between bites.

"You do that." he said.

It wasn't long, only a few seconds, before she received a text in response.

Heard something about that, going to find out more info if I can right now. it read.

I'll keep you updated. the next one told her.

"Odds are he'll get the info." Gregory said. "He's the son of an archangel, he has connections that are unparalleled. That network probably knows everything that's going on." he went on.

"As for who has that kind of power? As far as I know, nobody." he answered.

"Only person I've ever known that could do that on their own is Madison." he continued.

"Beyond that, pretty sure we're looking at an amalgamation of various different necromantic manas." he then guessed.

"Odds are this was calculated and deliberate." he said.

"...or it was a mistake of epic proportions."

Gregory had finished most of what he had... and his stomach was still growling.

"...ah." he muttered.

"Well, my stomach has a mind of its own, and it's declaring an acceptance of your offer..." he told her, before sighing.

"...seriously, thank you." he then said, his voice a lot softer now.

"I don't have a lot of people in this realm to rely on." he muttered.

"You're one of them."

"The fruit will do me for now." Gregory said.

"Don't make haste on MY behalf." he insisted. "It took the edge of, I'll be fine for a little bit." he assured her.

"Go and do what needs doing." he finished.

- - -

Sydney was sitting at the entrance of the guild, just inside the doors. It was a rare shift where she was to guard the entrance, and let people in or refuse them, and things had been very slow for the better part of the day.

Until she smelled blood. A lot of it. And it was a familiar 'spicy', 'dark' scent to it.

Before she could say or do anything, the buzzer went off.

"...yo." Ash's voice said in a strained manner. "Mind if I... get inside?" he asked.