"...Chicken?" The Gods furrowed their brows as they looked to the other two for answers.
"Ah, she lost a lot of blood, don't mind her." Vastoria explained, "Not everything she says is gonna make sense."
"But the first part is true." Sheep kept staring at them seriously, "We demand to get revived, since Gale's spot is vacant."
"Nope, if that'll be all then-"
"That will not be all, dammit!" I shouted again, "Ngah... My head..."
"You've endured the entire night without a wink of sleep." Prylos immediately noticed, "Though commendable, we must ask you to go to rest soon. It is not safe for your body."
Heh, yeah right! I know more than anyone that my body is being forced to go through an uncomfortable experience like this, but if I let my guard down, I'll surely lose all my memories. At the very least, I need to help Vastoria and Sheep extract as much info from the Gods as possible.
"Why did you promise Gale such an offer?" I asked, slightly calmer than before, "For the Gods to give an angel the possibility of revival, you surely must have had an important reason."
"Hrm... We can talk more about this inside." Prylos motioned for us to follow him.
"Hey, Pry!" Selzion got pissed, "Will you stop letting your guard around them?! Don't make me remind you what happened last time they were here."
"Are you afraid of the three ants and what they can do?" Prylos smirked, "Oh my Me, don't you know it's rude to turn down weary guests?"
"Hmph!" Selzion stared at us as he moved aside as well, "I got my Eyes on you."
"How swell..." We chuckled uninterestedly.
Walking into the large church-like interior for the second time in waking memory, I couldn't help but notice the jolting sound of the Gods snapping their fingers in unison. Within the blink of an Eye, a comfy looking sofa appeared before us as they nodded for us to take a seat.
"We won't be staying long, thank you." Vastoria shook her head.
With a listless sigh, the two Gods glanced at each other before snapping their fingers again. The sofa was gone, and in its place stood three White plastic chairs that looked significantly less comfy. Damn, now I kinda regret not taking the sofa. They could've at least given us some mats as well...
"Throne, where is he?" Prylos suddenly asked.
"A-Ah!" I jumped in my seat, "That's, uhm..."
"He's dead." Sheep confessed without remorse, "I killed him."
"Did you do it inside the Shrine?" Selzion raised an Eyebrow.
"Just outside of the entrance, but that still fell within the barrier's effects. He's not waking up from that."
How could he face two Gods, stating such a sin so bravely without a hint of fear?! Sheep, I gave you less credit than you deserve, but I don't think now is the right time to play the hero! What if they punish you for it!
"H-He did it in self-defense!" Vastoria piped up, "And Migu too, had he not killed Throne, then Throne would've...!"
"Okay, that's good." Prylos nodded, "No need to explain yourselves, let's just say mission accomplished and move on."
"Mission..." I cocked my head back, "Accomplished...?"
"You're talking to the First and Third smartest Gods of this world, do you really think we didn't expect Throne and Gale to not be at each others' throats the entire time?" Prylos chuckled.
"Third place is kind of pushing it." Selzion figured, "You and Allucius are pretty similar, but she's far more mature."
"The exact details don't matter!" Prylos bashfully shot back, "Point is, we sent Gale in there with him knowing full well how this was gonna turn out. The main goal was always to get rid of him."
The main goal of the mission... was to get rid of Throne? No, but wasn't it to save us? Why didn't they just tell that to Gale from the start? A-Ah, I guess it's because he probably wouldn't have gone through with it. Even at the very end, Gale kept trying to get everyone to safety, yelling for Throne not to re-enter the Shrine. So then, had I not rushed out and gotten him eaten by the White Monster, he wouldn't have satisfied the Gods anyways?
"I'm not vindicating you for wanting to kill that prick Throne, but I gotta ask why you couldn't just kill him yourself?" Sheep rocked back in his chair with crossed legs.
"The Shrine is the only place left that we can use for the assassination to work." Selzion explained, "And Throne is as smart as he gets, barring his ego. He wouldn't have died in there by himself. We needed a proxy to do it, among other things."
"What are those other things?" I asked without skipping a beat.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"...Of course, I totally forgot, but..." Selzion looked around, "Where is the other one? Sab, was it?"
"Answer the ques-"
"I am answering the question!" He cut me off angrily, "But I need to know first—Where. Is. He?"
Putting his hand on Selzion's chest to stop him from freaking out too much, it appears Prylos already surmised roughly what had occurred from context clues. With Eyes shrunk back in horror, the Meditation God gulped as he repeated the events back to everyone.
"H-He didn't..." He stuttered, "Once we snapped Gale to Sab's house, the only way he could've gotten there was with a pair of wings..."
"...That stupid, insolent moron!" Selzion realized it too, "Dammit, we shouldn't have entrusted such an intricate plan to a buffoon like him! Sab was supposed to come to the Shrine with you all!"
"And why is that?" Vastoria instructed all of us to get up, worrying we might be facing the brunt of these two's rage.
"Throne and Sab are the catalysts to a very terrible disaster that might happen in the future." Prylos held out his fingers as he was about to snap us back home, "We need both of them gone so that Heaven 2.0 can continue operations without issues. Now that you know all this, we trust you will help us get the rest of the job finished."
"W-Wait!" I shouted as I heard an ear-piercing snap, "What's in it for us-!"
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***
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Back in Sab's house, the seraphim effectively turned angel was seething in his room. After the reset, his house was brought back to its original state before Gale destroyed it completely. Everything, even the pillow cases they used as a makeshift rope to transport them to the Shrine, they were all brought back. Everything was still there... except for his wings.
"He's dead. Oh, he's so dead once I get my hands on him!" Sab kicked a pillow into the wall in frustration, "The bastard, he's gonna regret messing with me! Ugh, it's about time the reset happened."
Without his wings, he really couldn't have done much to find his newest arch-enemy. His best bet was to wait until the next cycle began so that he could jump him at his own house. Theoretically, everyone gets teleported back to their bed once the reset happens, so all he could do was exercise patience until it was the right time to strike.
"And that time is now!" He shouted, slamming his front door open before rushing out into the yard, only stopping once he realized, "Ah, I don't actually know where he lives."
He first met Gale as GaLi while him and Maggie (then Magnes) bumped into him on the side of the road. They never showed each other their addresses, and the chances of finding Gale randomly out and about on the street a second time were less than favorable. Thinking back, he recalled how he had met Gale back in Throne's house, which is exactly where he had set off to go.
"Excuse me, coming through!" He pushed aside the crowd of people walking aimlessly through the streets, "Move out the way, dammit! Unf!"
As it always seems to be the case in Heaven 2.0, being a rude idiot that constantly pushes random people on the street aside, you're bound to stumble across someone who refuses to budge. In Sab's case, though his anger was more so directed at getting to Gale as soon as possible, he instead ran into a golden armed fellow with a livid expression that made his own anger look like a child's tantrum. This angel, with the familiar initials H.T, was about to show Sab the true meaning of pain.
"...Careful, sir." He was instead surprisingly chill, "M-My arms... They're kinda strong, so I hope you didn't hurt yourself on them."
"E-Eh? No, not at all." Sab cocked his head back in utter confusion, "S-Sorry for bumping into you. Cool arms, by the way! What's your name?"
"Name..." The burly man looked at the initials on the back of his hands before bashfully muttering, "Hatwell."
"Pfft-!"
"Oi, don't make fun of it!" Hatwell raised his fist threateningly, prompting Sab to shut up.
"Nice to meet you, Hatwell!" Sab stiffened up, extending his hand out for a handshake.
As the two were about to exchange a pleasant handshake, a sudden intrusion spelled the end for their carefree moment. Climbing atop Hatwell's wide back, a man with intense agility and strength straddled his neck and began to choke him.
"Y-You!" The man addressed Sab, "Run away! This guy caused a rampage yestercycle and almost killed my friends!"
"W-What are you...!? Khk!" Hatwell cried out in pain, "Argh, lemme go!"
The two men initiated a full-on brawl in the middle of the street, with Hatwell just trying to survive with his head on his shoulders, and the other guy constantly yelling for others in the vicinity to run away. Everyone obliged, of course, except for the gobsmacked Sab who kept standing there, glaring at the man attacking his new friend like an idiot.
"...Gale?" He muttered under his breath, "Tch, let go of him, he's not harming anyone!"
"H-Huh?" Gale took a better look at the man standing before him, "Are you... Sab? Throne's apprentice? I thought you had wings-"
Alas, this moment of hesitation cost Gale plenty as Hatwell flung him into the ground until it made a dent. Thankfully for him, the ground was made of clouds. Not so thankfully for him, Hatwell's body was not.
"Ngah!" Gale whimpered as the large man sat on him to disable him, "H-Hoo..."
"Your name." Sab squatted down to meet his Eye level.
"Heh, at least tell your buddy here to get off me..."
"Your name." Sab asked again with the same serious tone.
"...Gale."
"Derived from?"
"Uhh, my initials?" Gale barely freed his hands to show him, "L.G"
"L.G, huh?" Sab donned a mischievous smile on his face as he gave him a new identity, "Isn't Elegy better?"
"Dude, I don't care what name you give me, just get this fatass off me!" Elegy begged.
With a continued silence, Sab walked around to signal for Hatwell to let him go. Begrudgingly, and with a lot of protest, he eventually did as he was told. Sab was now in a prime position to get his revenge, and not just on Gale, mind you, but on everyone who had ever seen him as nothing more than just a pair of wings. It was time for the Catalyst of Heaven's Fall to make his debut.
"What I'm about to tell you is called gaslighting in my time." Sab hoisted Elegy back up on his feet before extending a handshake, "Hi, my name is Sorbet. Nice to meet you, Elegy."
"That's not my... Well, whatever. Sorry about this, I thought you were someone I knew." Elegy returned the handshake before turning to the other one, "And you?"
"...Hatwell." He bashfully muttered.
"Oh, cool name!" Elegy smiled brightly, "Sounds like a detective!"
"Y-You think so?" Hatwell smiled right back.
"Hey now, I can't help but fall back on that thing you just said." Sorbet feigned a worried expression, "You... remember your past?"
"Oh no, just yestercycle." Elegy explained, "Actually, I was just about to go find my friends and ask them why..."
"I haven't met anyone that remembers anything about their past." Sorbet did his best to curb his devious smirk, "Are you sure you weren't just... dreaming?"