- 9 HOURS REMAIN -
Lorde and Royal are burnt frozen by ice.
Iggy exits the Ong State.
"...What in heck was that?" Iggy asks Pickle.
He looks at the permafrost cage he had created and the two angels in it.
"Did I do that?" Iggy points out.
"I MADE you do that. I called on DiMartino's story and taught those angel demons a lesson!"
"... Just for thinking digital art is not real art?"
"Uh... well..." Pickle pauses for a while. "Come on, Louie, back me up here!"
"Sorry, dude..." Louie says, presenting the checklist to Iggy.
"It's in Pie's kill list, so..."
"No, what I meant is, they're angels! Provoking them is tantamount to declaring war against the divine, right?"
"Oh." Louie and Pickle grunt simultaneously.
"Where did your logic go... God." Iggy facepalms.
So it goes, Iggy initiates the thawing process.
Using the campfire from their campsite and Iggy's firebending skills granted by Pickle, they carefully thaw the angels out...
...And they begin to scream again.
"aaaaaAAAAAH!" They both finished screaming at the same time.
"Oh uh, the people are awake..." Lorde realizes.
"Have we been frozen for 47 years!?" Royal asks, screaming.
"20 minutes. You've been frozen for 20 minutes." Iggy says.
The blue smoke around Iggy's body clears up.
"Sorry about the flash freeze, my friend got carried away with what he heard from you."
"Yeah! That is mean and disrespectful!" Pickle angrily replies from Iggy's stomach.
"You're one to talk." Iggy playfully banters.
"If it's just been 20 minutes, why are you awake...?" Lorde asks.
She focuses her attention on the dream creature beside the tent, flexing his muscles.
"Oh. That's why." Lorde exclaims.
"Anyway, thanks for unfreezing us~ although you're the ones who froze us first." Royal tells Iggy and Louie as he dusts himself off.
As the angels are preparing to leave, however...
"Wait up." Pickle interrupts. "Why are you capturing people based on uncreativity?"
"Orders from Cider. What does it have to do with you, talking stomach?" Lorde asks.
"...Massacre's been there, isn't he?" Pickle asks.
"What gives?"
"Because he's leaving for Nyar Har in seven days."
Lorde and Royal's hands lose sight of what it's doing.
"That's... insider info only angels should know... how?" Lorde says.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
How Iggy's stomach could've known is shrouded in mystery... unless he's the Shapeshifting Follower that The Industry has been talking about.
No... he has to be, right?
"That prediction... could it be..." Royal says.
Lorde and Royal look at each other and nod.
"Follower of The Industry." Lorde iterates.
They place their right hand on their chest.
"We have been waiting."
LATER...
Lorde is melting her still-frozen wings near the campfire.
"Wow, Louie's assumptions are spot-on..." Pickle says.
"We thought everyone The Industry sent was as good as asleep. They said it was a bloodbath up there. Hundreds of angels were slain; The Garden of Eden destroyed by a giant lava pit that keeps on growing when not fed." Royal explains.
"Valuing the life of everyone on Timeline-2, Cider announced that she'll be throwing The Industry's creatives into the pit first in hopes that The Industry could listen and find a way to solve this problem. An unintentional ransom, we know." Lorde added.
"Iggy..." Pickle asks as he looks down at his stomach. "Are we supposed to be that solution?"
"I think we are..." Iggy answers. "We have the weapon and all, and heaven has been expecting us..."
"The Industry put that much trust in us, huh?" Pickle exclaims.
"So they're finally talking about heaven..." Louie says inside his mind.
"Looks like I'm finally getting my answers..."
"...Can you teach us how to go to heaven?" Iggy asks Lorde.
"It's easy for aliens and Timeline-2 people to go to heaven; for their souls go there when they die. We can just bring you and The Follower along with us. As for dream creatures and ancient beings, however..." Lorde replies
Iggy Looks at Louie.
"They just can't." She added. "Heaven doesn't exactly welcome the concept of sinful immortality."
"...Unless we modify the changelog, right?" Louie interrupts, twirling his quill around.
A slight shock enters Lorde's body.
"That quill..." Lorde utters in realization. "If I'm not mistaken, that's the Heaven's Plume... A peacock feather laced in heaven's gold, whose ink is that from the huckleberry fruits of the Tree of Knowledge..."
Lorde adds one more question. "...Why do you have that?"
"It doesn't matter how I got it." Louie replies. "...The only thing that matters is how I'll use it."
"But the cartridge is almost empty." Royal points out.
Louie panics. "WAIT. WHAAAT!?"
"Is that quill that important?" Iggy asks.
Royal answers his question.
"It's the only pen in the world that can write things on the golden pages of the changelog. One sentence added to the current version's page will have the power to change the world's rules." He said. "For him to have that in his possession essentially means he has the intent to modify the changelog."
Iggy curiously looks back at Louie. "...What for?"
"I've always wanted to go to heaven... Because I demand answers." He says.
"I've been waiting for another pause for a while now, and I have been planning all this time to grab that changelog..."
"...But the ancient beings won't let me." He explains.
"I've been storing all my oneiric power trying to beat them up until you and the stomach guy arrived. I thought it would be a gamble to sacrifice it all, so I welcomed you and woke you up, taking away all the built up power I've harnessed." He added.
"That's exactly why I can't afford to let you go, right here, right now."
Louie looks at the plume, spinning it around.
"The goal is simple, really."
He stands up and points at Iggy.
"I want you to help me get that changelog and change the rules so that you can bring me to heaven with you!"
A staredown between Iggy and Louie ensues.
"So, you've been using us?" Iggy asks.
Louie sighs. "Yes."
"Honestly, I don't mind getting used for that purpose." Iggy replies.
"If heaven's that important to you, I guess we have no other choice, then. We're getting that book!"
Louie sincerely smiles at Iggy.
"Rad."
"If you guys like it, we can lead the way." Royal said.
"The changelog should be stored in the National Museum. Since the pause just started, I'm pretty sure General Cider hasn't picked it up yet." Lorde explains. "I just have a little question for Follower and you guys."
"Have you ever rode an angel before?"
And so, the thrill of being carried by an angel is fulfilled.
ONE HOUR LATER...
Lorde is carrying Iggy, while Louie is sitting down on Royal. The two angels had flown from Pragma Mountain and into the grassy plains. A wide lake is in view, and Iggy takes notice.
"Woah, Look at this view, Pickle!" He exclaims.
"Can you puke me out? I can't see anything!"
Louie is posing handsomely.
"Puke and you'll die of fall damage, stomach!"
Royal's face shows signs of annoyance. "Hey, dream person! Sit normally, you're creeping me out!"
"Owp, sorry about that..." Louie adjust his pose; now he's on all fours.
"THAT'S EVEN WORSE THAN THE LAST TIME!" An even grumpier Royal grunts.
"Hey, stop with the complaining." Lorde interrupts.
"...We're close."
In the eyes of Iggy, Louie, and the two angels; a view of the Timeline-2's largest region:
Power City.
An urban paradise, Power City serves as Timeline-2's center of opeations for many of Golden Ridge's creative sectors.
From the northwest, the glamorous sights of Redwood Tower stands tall.
"Woah, that's a sick building..." Iggy expresses, admiring the view.
"That is Timeline-2's most beloved city for you..." Louie sets his eyes on the behemoth in front of him.
One hour of effortless travelling by wings...
A slow journey it was, but they had finally arrived: The museum in front of them in all of its glory.
Touchdown. Both Iggy and Louie dismount from the angels.
"Here it is... For holding the holy instruments of the angels, they laced this place with Heaven's Gold in Version 66..." Royal says.
"The National Museum... The cathedral of all nations."
- 7 HOURS REMAIN -