"....it's worth a lot, to me." Chris responded.

"....." he was then silent, before grabbing one of the pictures from the box.

"...this one... I feel... I should have this one." he told her.

"Is it all right if I have it?" he asked her.

"I know you said that I could have any of the ones here, but... I feel I should get permission."

"...I feel this would be a needed reminder for me." Chris told her.

"Just... yeah. I feel that I should have this one." he reiterated, before seeing some of the paintings that seemed to reference her ex... and he felt sorrow upon witnesses them.

"....I guess I should go now, assuming I'm allowed." he then added.

It was at that point, Gregory reappeared, and removed his mana from the door.

"Go." he ordered him.

"...right." Chris mumbled.

He then met Casey's eyes once more, gave her a small nod, and slowly left the room, the painting going alongside him.

"......." Gregory was silent, before sighing.

"...ever since he showed up... and... it's been getting worse ever since you found out..." he said, trailing off a bit.

"Your mother's been getting harder and harder to locate." he told her.

"I'm having difficulty finding her. I only see her when she wants to be seen." he informed Casey further.

"And you KNOW that I can find anyone when I need to or want to." he said.

"...it's concerning me." he then admitted candidly.

"Greatly."

Gregory just crossed his arms over his chest.

"...it's not good." he confirmed.

"She IS dead. And she DOES perform reaper duties, with myself as her... well... supervisor, I suppose?" he went on. "In theory, she should be VERY easy to find. She shouldn't be able to hide from me at all." he continued.

"So it's been concerning me greatly that I've been increasingly unable to reliably contact or find her." he said further.

"Part of me wondering if Chris has something to do with it, or your unease and anger or what-have-you is causing her to be like this, but... I dunno. I thought it might help." he admitted.

"....." he was then silent, before looking away some.

"There's one thing that comes to mind when I try and come up with a reason for this." he told her absently. "But it can't be that... it just can't..." he added quietly and ominously... almost... worriedly.

-Some time later-

The man sighed as he appeared a fair distance away from Chris, who was sitting down outside, just trying to appreciate the nature that surrounded him, but felt increasingly uneasy. Almost as though the coldness of the grave was washing over him.

However, the one that had just arrived was not interested in Chris... even though he was going directly towards the man. As he started to get closer, he made sure his presence was concealed, so that no living being would sense he was there.

But one would. And he intended for them to.

"All right." he said when he was close enough.

"You having fun?" he inquired.

"...." the man was silent, before pursing his lips.

"I'm here to maybe stop you from ruining a lot of lives right now." he told her, stepping up closer.

"I've noticed you're... spending a lot of time with him, lately." he went on, glancing at Chris.

"Any reason why?" he inquired.

"Didn't think you cared so much about him." he said further.

"So why are you hovering around him like this?" he wondered aloud.

He then narrowed his eyes slightly... he knew what he would need to do here... but maybe the woman could see what was happening without his help. That would be optimal... but he doubted it.

Still... he was giving her a chance.

"....." the man was silent, before sighing heavily.

"I guess I REALLY AM needed here." he muttered quietly.

He then raised a hand above his head, and a sword materialised in it. It wasn't Rafael's sword by any means, but it was still a sword that belonged to an archangel, and it contained imposing power, nonetheless.

He then swiftly pointed the blade between the woman and Chris... which caused something to come into view.

A chain.

A chain that was connected to the two of them. It wasn't quite solid, but it was definitely noticeable now.

"THAT." he told her.

"Are you prepared to spend the rest of your afterlife as one of THEM!?" he exclaimed.

The man, Uriel, just shrugged.

"Beats me." he admitted.

"...all right, that's a lie." he then said.

"Seems as though you have... maybe a month at most?" he commented.

"And after that, the chain will solidify, and you will forever be with Chris, unable to interact with anyone... or anything else." he told her.

"A wraith."

"And that is all I can do." Uriel replied.

"I wish I could do more, but... well... there's only so much that can BE done in a situation like this." he admitted with a small sigh.

"Regardless, the ball is in your court." he then said, before pausing. "To be more clear, the ball was always in your court, you just now know it." he clarified, before clearing his throat.

"And I am off." he told her.

"May you make the right decision." he said.

"Or... at the very least, one you feel you can live with."

Uriel dissipated his sword, and nodded.

"Right." he said.

"I'm going now." he told her.

"As I said, now you know the ball is in your court. What you do now is entirely your decision." he finished.

With that, a pillar of light shot down from the sky, engulfed him, and he disappeared when the light dimmed, causing Chris to suddenly scan his surrounding area, as though he'd just missed something.

Uriel appeared in the heaven realm, and just sighed.

"I did it." he told the one that he knew was behind him.

Uriel was silent for a moment, before sighing heavily.

"All right." he said.

"I appreciate it." he told her.

"...all we do now is wait." he then mumbled.

"Just because she's now aware of this, doesn't mean she'll beat it." he reasoned.

"...I hope she does." he told her candidly.

"She's too nice a person to become a wraith."