Ash just laid Vicki's body down, and stifled a sob.

"....right." was all he managed to say.

He then left the room, as Vicki's soul emerged from her body.

The figure then lifted his scythe and started to swing it towards Vicki's soul... only for a light blue portal to suddenly open in thin air, and an arm to come out of it, stopping the blade with a pair of fingers.

"What!?" Gregory exclaimed.

At that moment, the cloaked figure and the hand were revealed to all, and the portal widened, causing Chronos to step out.

"Shoo." he told Gregory, nudging the reaper away.

"Oh, what the hell NOW?" Gregory asked.

"You ask that as though you're owed an explanation." Chronos replied. "I said 'shoo'. Now scram." he told him.

Gregory just sighed and disappeared in a black mist, leaving Chronos looking at the scene.

"Well, this is a right mess, isn't it." he commented.

Chronos just sighed.

"Not really." he replied.

"But I'll never hear the end of it if I don't." he growled.

"I am the one with dominion over time, ITSELF. I am CHRONOS!" he then declared.

"There." he said to Sydney.

"Happy now?" he asked.

"None of you CAN interfere." Chronos replied.

"Even if you were to try." he added.

He then sighed and used his mana to lift both Vicki's soul and body up off the floor. He hovered them in front of himself for a moment, and then sent them both flying towards the closest wall. The body slammed into the wall first, and the soul was violently pushed into, before time dialated around her in a weird way, and she fell to the floor again... but landed on her feet.

"And there." he said.

"What happened?" Chronos asked.

"Fate happened." he said cryptically.

He then bent down and picked up the chain link that had been left at his feet.

"Oh, and here." he told Vicki, flicking it over towards her.

"You're going to want to keep that close." he said ominously, before making his way to the hollow husk of a body that used to be Cedric.

"In a moment." Chronos replied.

He then grabbed the top of Cedric's head, lifting him up into the air. After a moment, some blue mana seeped out into his grasp, as the body fell back to the floor.

Once he had the mana, he stepped back.

"There." he said.

"Put that pathetic wretch of a husk out of everyone's misery." he told them.

Once Vicki left, everyone else funnelled out of the room, save for Chronos.

"Right." he said.

"Good thing she's heading back home." he commented.

"Odds are her mother is going bloody berzerk right now." he said further with a wry chuckle.

"At any rate, good thing HE'S out of the picture, now." he went on, looking at Cedric.

"Headache and a half..."

Chronos just shrugged.

"Depends on a number of things." he replied.

"If someone finds that magical way to remove his soul from that chain link, and he learns his lesson should he pass on to the afterlife, then yes, he will." he told her.

"That sort of thing isn't my department." he shrugged.

Meawhile, Vincent looked over towards Vicki, looked back at Rowena, sighed, and then quickly looked back at Vicki.

"Victoria!?" he exclaimed.

"Wait..." he then muttered.

"Are you really OUR Vicki?" he then asked her suspiciously.

Vincent just sighed heavily.

"I want an explanation after this." he said.

He then left the room and made his way to the den, where he sat in one of the chairs, and buried his face in his hands.

"Ugh." he groaned.

"This... this has been a VERY trying time." he understated.

"We need a serious vacation after this."