While still, Belle was in the past, looking at the events that were unfolding again in front of her eyes, in the present, Lucas and the other Grims watched at Belle who had closed her eyes.

"Does it work?

" asked Greed to Lucas. Two minutes had passed by and Belle had not opened her eyes. They didn't have the time to stay here, as the other two Hawverts would make an appearance in the house as Gorron had sent out a signal message to them.

"It works,

" replied Lucas. His eyes had not moved away from Belle. Usually, it didn't take this much time.

Somewhere, he was worried, why Belle had not opened her eyes yet. If he wasn't wrong, the memory of seeing what was happening in the past was equal to the dream time. One hour in the dream was equivalent or less than a minute in the actual world.

"Why do you think Winston has been keeping her here? More like hiding,

" asked Rower, his head tilting to look at the soul that was unconscious,

"She looks pretty though.

"

Greed who had turned to his mortal form frowned at Rower's words,

"She looks almost transparent.

"

Rower chuckled,

"When you have lived in the river of the dead with the floating bodies, you learn to differentiate between the souls. If you want to learn more, you can swap places with me.

"

"That's a depressing place,

" Greed rolled his eyes,

"I prefer the land.

"

When they heard the sound of the floor creak from the other side of the house, Lucas said,

"They are on their way.

"

"Now only if the gatekeepers would open the portal, things would be so much easier to escape,

" stated Rower, pulling out his scythe and readying himself for the Hawverts who were much more powerful than Gorron. Tricking Gorron was easy but the same could not be told when it came to Crane and Winston,

"How long do you think it's going to take for Belle to return back?

"

"Hopefully in less than a few seconds,

" said Lucas. At the same time, the three Grim reapers smelt something rusty in the air. When they looked at Belle, their eyes fell on her hands which were coating itself with blood that started from the tip of her fingers. It started to move up her wrist.

"Is that blood?

" questioned Rower.

"Belle?

" Lucas called her name. He didn't know what was going on in the past and why the past was linking itself to make its mark in the present, but Lucas didn't want to take a risk. He brought his hand forward and placed it on Belle's face,

"Wake up, Belle,

" and Belle's eyes snapped open.

She looked as if she was in a daze, not speaking a single word nor looking at anyone who was in the room.

"Miss Belle?

" Rower called her name but Belle didn't react or respond to it.

Belle was too stunned to speak, with the overwhelming emotions that consumed her mind with what she just saw in the past. She could still feel the heat on her body because of the fire that the black witch had set on the village, burning it that led to people screaming. Belle eyes fell on Preciosa, and she gasped. Her hands were wet with the blood that belonged to the girl.

She exhaled air through her lips that came like a shuddered breath. Her eyes filled itself with tears at the thought of what happened, what she clearly saw.

The Grim reapers didn't know what happened. Lucas stood up from where he was sitting in front of her. Walking around the girl's soul, he sat down next to Belle. Without a word, he put his hand around her shoulder and the tears that was in Belle's eyes fell down to look at Lucas.

"You need to keep her away from Winston,

" said Belle to Lucas,

"She's-

" before Belle had the opportunity to speak what she saw, the house blew up at the opposite side of where Lucas and the others were.

"Get out from here!

" Greed shouted to leave the house and Rower followed him. Lucas took hold of Belle and the girl along with him to get out of there through the ability that Lucas possessed. But they couldn't go far away as there were restrictions placed on where the ability could be used. If Belle hadn't gone to use her ability, Lucas would have taken her away and out of this house.

Belle looked at the house that started to crumble down and she flinched when it made a loud crash,

"We need to keep her safe!

" Belle said so that Lucas would know who she was.

"I think our safety is more important compared to hers now, Belle,

" Lucas said who had his scythe ready. The gatekeepers arrived out of the dust that was formed because of Winston's house being broken down.

"She will be our saving ticket!

" Belle informed and Lucas turned to look at her,

"She is important to Crane. Like I am to you,

" she quickly said using fewer words while delivering the idea. Lucas frowned hearing this. He didn't question or doubt her because only a few minutes ago, Belle had gone to see the death of the girl's soul.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Edgar and Moore who were approaching them. The Grim reaper who was short commented,

"I cannot believe we met and I couldn't recognize you, Cross! I thought you were just normal being in the mortal world.

"

Belle's eyes snapped to look at Edgar whose attention turned to her now.

"You were busy eating the bloody ice. I thought it would be impolite to disturb your mood. After all, it was the time of Christmas,

" Lucas shouted back from where he was. Edgar seemed to narrow his eyes at this.

Edgar played with his scythe,

"Very funny. I wonder if it will be funny, when the Hawverts find out that with the other rules being broken, you even stole a soul from the river. Not to mention what the new reaper stole.

"