Meanwhile, on GaLi's side...
"So, do you get it?" He finished explaining.
"...No. What am I supposed to get?" The guy that previously attacked them responded, "You didn't even explain anything. Hell, you were just staring off into silence until just a moment ago."
"Ack, I was addressing the readers, sorry." He apologized, "Did you guys have fun with Magnes?"
"Who're you talking to, dude?" His ex-adversary couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm breaking the fourth wall, is it really not obvious enough for you!?" GaLi shouted, "Geez, have you ever read a book in your life?"
"No, never." He shrugged back, "I know that for a fact."
"Nuh uh, you only claim as much because you don't remember your past life." GaLi reminded him.
"Remember or not, I know I never read a book before."
The sheer lengths this person would go to in order to convince GaLi of this fact were damn near incredible. Had he not known any better, GaLi would have probably believed his word, but there was just no feasible way a person could have known they never read a book before if their memories were wiped. There's no proof backing that claim up.
"How, Haunt?" GaLi addressed him by name, "Please explain to me your train of thought, because I'm finding it hard to visualize-"
"I can't read." Haunt admitted, "Letters, words, sentences, they're all no good to me. Why do you think I asked you to give me my name?"
"Eh? Seriously!?" GaLi jolted, "I thought you just couldn't make out the initials because your hands are the same golden color as them! You're saying you don't actually know how to read?"
"Nope." He replied.
"So then, that sign above the female shopkeeper." GaLi pointed out, "Can you tell me what it says?"
"How could I?" Haunt sighed, "I'm telling you, I can't read a single letter at all."
"Oh..."
"Yeah..." Haunt paused for a moment, "By the way, what does it say?"
"Clothes." GaLi read what's written on the sign out loud, "It's a clothes shop. And speaking of, we ought to get you some. Being naked isn't fun anymore now that everyone's started wearing clothes."
"Was it ever fun?" Haunt asked.
"It felt liberating."
Deciding to follow through with his suggestion, the two stand in front of the clothes shop to discuss what to buy. The Gods had only implemented the shops in the previous cycle, yet most every angel was already wearing a decent outfit by now simply due to the sheer number of locales. It was practically impossible to walk more than a kilometer in any direction without finding the first ever business of Heaven 2.0. Granted, even just calling it a business was a bit odd, seeing as everything was free and didn't gain any profits from existing.
"Yo, get this fine man a matching outfit." GaLi smiled at the shopkeeper.
"Who're you to boss me around?" She clicked her tongue.
His crude manner of speech was an instant Red flag in the lady's Eyes. GaLi, having gotten the wrong impression that all shopkeepers would do as you said regardless of how you addressed them, immediately felt embarrassed by his previous greeting. Begrudgingly, the girl still did as she was told though and turned around to rummage through her inventory. It was her job, after all—A duty she had to adhere to.
"Golden arms, huh?" The girl lightly mocked Haunt, "What the hell kind of gruesome death did you go through?"
"That's what we're investigating." GaLi replied for him, "This guy here's terrified of Heaven and just wants to go back to the Living World to find out his past."
"Cheh, don't we all?" The girl cracked a smirk as she tossed Haunt his clothes, "Talking about finding out our past, of course. Who'd wanna leave Heaven?"
"I would." Haunt shivered, "It looks peaceful now, but I know the truth about this place. White Monsters come to eat you after a while..."
"...Uhhh huh." The shopkeeper glanced at GaLi suspiciously, "This guy for real?"
"I'm telling you, he's Haunted by some voodoo bullcrap, and that's apparently scaring him into wanting to go back." GaLi shrugged as well, "I'm just helping a poor tortured soul out. Unlike him, I like it here very much."
As they were talking, Haunt had finished putting on his clothes, however he did need some help from the shopkeeper to do all the buttons. A White shirt coupled with Blue overalls. The classic farmer's look, only really missing the strawhat to complete it. Once that was over, the shopkeeper turned to GaLi.
"What about you, fella?" She leaned on the counter, "Gonna hide those tits from the world or are you just the perverted type?"
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"Men can be topless without being branded perverts though." GaLi refused to put on a shirt himself, "Besides, I don't even have any nipples to show off."
"Who the hell gave you only half of an outfit, even?" She rolled her Eyes, "Look, momma's gonna get you a nice, clean shirt, so promise to wear it from now on."
"You ain't my momma." GaLi glared.
"Maybe I am." She joked, "That's the beauty of this place, isn't it? The random guy you passed by might just be the most important person in your life down there, but up here, you only think of them as a stranger."
"...Tch, I sure hope we're not related." GaLi groaned as he snatched the Purple T-shirt from her hands, "What kind of a mother dresses her son in Purple? Are you telling me to go die?"
"Not all parents wish their kids the best, sweetie." She said with a venomous smile, "Looking sharp!"
"Screw you. Come on, Haunt!" GaLi turned away, "This woman gives me the creeps."
"Is that really okay to say to a girl?" Haunt looked back confusedly.
"Suddenly you're a gentleman now?" GaLi chuckled, "Wow, it's almost like you're not the guy that beat up our crew just a few hours ago."
"Again, sorry about that..." Haunt apologized.
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***
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"Hey, I have a question." Haunt decided to continue off of the previous conversation with the shopkeeper, "What's so bad about Purple clothes?"
"Seriously? You're even asking me that?" GaLi understood that Haunt truthfully didn't get the deal with it, so he set aside his attitude and honestly explained, "Sigh, how do I put it? It's not about the clothes, but anything relating to Purple in general. You've heard of Iros, right?"
"Not ringing any bells."
"Gods, how is a person with such lack of basic knowledge even possible!?" GaLi was shocked beyond words, "F-Fine, calm down GaLi, deep breaths..."
"I'm sorry."
"No, not your fault for being uneducated. For all we know you could've been a bum on the side of the road your entire life." GaLi finally seemed calm enough to explain the story, "Take a look at my Eye Color, please."
"...Black?" Haunt tilted his head upon inspecting it.
"Yep, everyone in Heaven 2.0 has the same Eye Color. Black has an even worse connotation behind it, but we'll talk about that later." He continued, "If you can recall, down there in the Living World, we had people with all sorts of Eye Colors."
"And Purple was one of them?" Haunt presumed.
"Yep, but it was said to be a cursed color, only reserved for those who were doomed in life." GaLi said ominously, "Very rarely would a person with Purple Eyes live a long or even happy life for that matter. That's why anything colored Purple was generally something to steer clear of."
"Wow, I didn't know that!" Haunt seemed interested to hear more, "Oh, but you said Black Eyes were even worse, somehow? What's worse than that?"
"Let's put it like this, if someone has Purple Eyes, their own life is doomed." GaLi put it into perspective, "If someone has Black Eyes, then it's said the entire family tree is doomed."
"In what way, exactly?"
"Well, y'see kid, you'd see people with Purple Eyes all the time." GaLi pulled him close over the shoulder, "But Black Eyes are so rare that they've fallen into myth territory. I heard it only happens once every couple hundred years, and when it does, a huge disaster befalls the world."
"That does sound scary." Haunt agreed, "Eh, wait!? But if one Black Eyed person means a great disaster, and we all have Black Eyes...!"
"Hm, I guess you're right." GaLi nodded along, "Well then, that's all the more reason to get you outta here before that happens."
"But what about you?" Haunt was panicking by this point, "Aren't you scared of what's gonna happen?! ...Gasp! It's the White Monsters, surely!"
"Again with that? Seriously, I wanna meet those White Monsters you're so scared of." GaLi didn't take him seriously, "Don't worry about the rest of us, Haunt. I can at least speak for myself when I say I chose to stay here."
It was the truth, GaLi had no intentions of throwing any White lies in Haunt's way. In truth, it seemed everyone but Haunt himself was enjoying the peaceful vibes of their new paradise, so they had no reason to ever even consider leaving. In fact, though they started off as enemies, GaLi now finds himself responsible to look after and help Haunt find a way back home. But he himself is already accustomed to Heaven 2.0—His new home.
"Of course, you could make it a lot easier for the both of us if you just decided to stay here as well." GaLi half-joked.
"Don't make me laugh. I'd rather get eaten by a bunch of goat skulls than give up on reviving."
"Why though?" GaLi looked down for a moment, "The World of the Living ain't all that better, in my opinion."
"You know so much, GaLi." Haunt replied, "You're knowledgeable about all sorts of things, always curious to know more, and I feel like you have an answer to every question I pose."
"I've still got a long way's to go, though." GaLi chuckled, "I just like learning new things."
"Me, on the other hand—I don't know anything." Haunt continued, "My name, my past, folktales about Eye Colors... Heck, I can't even read, dammit!"
"Guess those were the cards you've been dealt." GaLi shrugged.
"See that? I don't even know what you're talking about!" Haunt yelled, "What cards!?"
"E-Eh? Like... poker cards, I guess?"
"What in the world is poker!?" Haunt shouted to the skies, "You have no reason to go back home. After all, you know enough to get by in this world. But not me, I'm dumb and uneducated. I can't see myself surviving out here for longer than a day!"
Finally, it had clicked in GaLi's mind. The reason why Haunt was so adamant about wishing to go back to the Living World. It's not that he was scared of any White Monsters or felt uncomfortable and out of place in Heaven 2.0—It's that he felt unprepared. Most people carried this feeling of fulfillment in their souls as they wandered the streets of Heaven, but he still felt like he had unfinished business. A life yet to be lived, in other words.
"Tch, can't be..." GaLi muttered, "What the hell, a young kid definitely wouldn't survive getting both arms lopped off..."
"Hm?" Haunt turned around, "Did you say something?"
"I-I...!" GaLi thought of a rather simple excuse to not reveal to him the truth, "Heh, I'm just bummed that I have to help guide you back to your life again, kid."
"Ah, I didn't realize I was bugging you." Haunt meekly turned his back to him, "I'm sorry, you don't have to-!"
"Oi!" GaLi hooked his neck with his arm, "Who said anything about that, kid? Look, so long as I'm around, you're going home, got it?"
"Heh, gotcha!" Haunt returned a warm smile accompanied by fistbump.
From enemies to best friends, that's how it was supposed to be. But GaLi could no longer see his relationship as such. Haunt was but a child, naive to the ways of this world and the previous one, and he needed to be guided. From then on, GaLi vowed to protect this kid, and send him off back to the cruel world he longed for with a smile on his face. Until then, he would try to teach Haunt as much as he could before that time came...