Barron tried to squeeze himself against the tree to get the water out of his rabbit suit that had dipped itself in the lake of bones,

"Where are Belle and Lucas?

" asked the rabbit to Greed who stared at the lake, who didn't take a step to dip even the tip of his shoe in the lake.

"Gone,

" came the bland reply compared to Barron who looked agitated with the sudden pull into the lake.

"What do you mean gone? Huh?

" asked Barron,

"Could you get this thing squeezed? It's going to be years before I am able to get rid of the water from my body,

" grumbled Barron to have Greed turn around to walk towards the small stuffed rabbit. Picking it up, Greed twisted both his hands to wring the water out of Barron's body. Without a word, he dropped the rabbit to fall flat on the snowy ground.

"How did you bounce back?

" asked Greed, staring at the rabbit because he had witnessed how both the girl as well as this Grim reaper had been pulled inside the lake. Before Greed had turned to look at Lucas, the thirteenth Grim had dived to get Belle back, but they hadn't returned.

Barron looked at the lake which looked calm right now,

"How would I know? I thought Ophelia was dragging me,

" and remembering the name, Barron was about to step near the shore to be picked by his ear as Greed had put him away so that no other creature would drag this troublesome rabbit back,

"Ophelia?!

" the rabbit shouted, but the ghost was nowhere to be seen,

"Do you think it was her who took Belle away?

" but then she would have taken him along too.

"I doubt it. It looked like a creature of the dark took her away,

" answered Greed staring at the foggy smoke now.

"What do you think we should do?

" asked Barron. Ophelia had disappeared and whatever was lurking at the bottom of the lake had taken Belle, and also Lucas was not here with them.

"We should go back home and see if we can get the other rabbit to talk again. Going to the land of the dead is equal to wishing for your existence to end up in the oblivion.

"

"Eh?! What about your undying admiration for Lucas? What if something happens?

" asked Barron seeing Greed who started to walk away. Barron quickly followed the Grim,

"Are you not worried?

"

"He can handle himself. If he isn't, then it would be a good lesson to let go of the girl, proving my point, why he should not associate himself with other people,

" answered Greed.

"Belle bought you a muffler!

"

"And look what happened,

" Greed's blue eyes looked down at the rabbit,

"She wouldn't have got the muffler, and you wouldn't have been dragged into this place.

"

Barron was ready to walk back, dive into the lake and bring both of them both back with his heroic nature even though he would only sink in the lake after his cotton body would absorb all the possible water in it. And when he turned around, Greed caught hold of Barron's ear to drag him with him.

"Let me go! What do you think you are doing, you bastard!

" shouted Barron.

Barron somehow turned around and bit into Greed's hand to free himself.

"You little piece of **!

" growled Greed and Barron stared back.

"Are you speaking about yourself?

"

"You dumb wit cotton,

" Greed rolled his eyes,

"Lucas is capable of bringing the girl back. We have other things to do. You jumping into the lake is not one of that. We need to go and see if Edith has any information.

"

Barron stared hard at the Grim Reaper who stood in front of him because Greed was nothing but a selfish reaper in his eyes. After a few minutes of staring, the rabbit said,

"I think I know why I came back and Belle didn't,

" Greed waited for the answer,

"I am dead and she is not.

"

"We will be able to confirm that only when we find answers from Edith,

" Greed started to walk, and Barron was quick to follow him, his tail moving left and right as he walked. Barron had hoped to know and speak more to Ophelia, but with their current change of circumstances, he had to wait again before he could talk to her.

Back in the land of the dead, Belle, who had fallen asleep finally woke up for her eyes to flutter open. She looked up at the vast and tall trees, which looked strange. Sitting up, she rubbed her forehead as a bump had formed with the sudden collision to the ground. Remembering she was in the land of the dead, Belle pushed her hand on the ground so that she would stand up and she noticed how there was a greenish fog that surrounded the forest and the river which was murky to look at.

The more she took in her surroundings, the more she came to realize that it wasn't just trees, but there were pillars that stood straight. Belle took a step forward when she saw the surface of the water move near her. Her red eyes staring into it and out of nowhere, a ghost-like soul appeared to float up and then go down.

"I didn't know we were having a mortal here. How rare,

" came the whispered voice from afar and Belle turned to see who had spoken.

And then she saw the light amid the fog, that appeared closer and closer until she finally caught sight of a lean looking old boat, that had a big broken skull placed at the front of the boat. Two torches of fires were placed at the front. In the boat stood a reaper who had worn a hood over the head with long tattered robes, holding a long staff to row the boat.

It was the ferryman, the seventh Grim of the Cards.

Rower.

.

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