Sheep followed the Voice to the Gods' Abode. This being the place he was being led to didn't surprise much at all, but he was quite puzzled by the welcome he was being given.
"You made it safely, I see." Selzion acknowledged him with a proud smirk.
"Obviously, with my masterful guidance!" Prylos crossed his arms.
"You two...? Actually, forget it. I'm not even gonna ask." Sheep shook his head, "How do I become an archangel?"
"Is there a need for such a rush?" Selzion replied back with a question of his own, "Surely, your allies face no immediate peril nor danger, and Vastoria's state can neither improve nor diminish by itself."
Despite this rather unexpected greeting he received from the two oddball Gods, Sheep did understand that what Selzion just said did come from a place of genuine care. After all, if Energy is no longer a problem, then he should indeed be able to take it easy.
"Come on, have a seat!" Prylos snapped his fingers, summoning forth a comfy sofa behind him, "No good discussions were done standing up."
"Good point." Selzion tacked on, "Besides, if you are the only one standing, that makes us lousy hosts. For now, we should consider you our equal."
They were bending over backwards just to accommodate him, and though most anyone would be enthralled to hear the Gods consider him their equal, Sheep could only feel off put. Prylos sounded like he might've actually meant it, but Selzion had already long since established himself as someone prideful and egotistic. Even the mere thought of being not unlike a human was vexing to him, and Sheep knew that.
"I suppose I'll take you up on that offer, then." Sheep faked a smile as he sat down, "Then, archangel business!"
"It's no use, our guest here is far too jumpy." Selzion remarked.
"I guess there's no more stalling it out..." Prylos slumped forward, "To tell you the truth, Shopkeeper, this is gonna be highly dangerous."
Finally, the Gods were honest with him for a change.
"I'm sure you'll be fine." Sheep replied.
"Not dangerous for us, dangerous for you." He explained, "Becoming an archangel requires you to do something that is of genuine help to us. In this case, we have an idea that would surely do the trick, but well..."
"It's got something to do with that Book, doesn't it?" Sheep suddenly asked flat-out.
"Huh?" They both blinked, "How did you know?"
"You've both been sneaking glances at that lectern for a while now. I knew that giant Book had something more to it than just the key to revival, and you're saying we're gonna need to use it to turn me into an archangel. It's the only logical explanation."
The two Gods were astonished beyond words at his sleuth skills. Sheep was no amateur in the art of using his brain, which came with both good and bad news respectfully. On one hand, this made explaining the plan a lot easier, as he would surely understand the intricacies at play here, but on the other hand...
"Ahem, that certainly caught me off guard." Selzion cleared his throat.
"You might have yourself an apprentice on your hands, Selz!" Prylos nudged him, "What do you say? Wanna give it a shot?"
"Ugh, I'd rather find a way to kill myself than that." Both Sheep and Selzion said in unison, and with the same annoyed tone to boot.
"It's true, we'll need the Book's help for this." Prylos hopped off his large seat to make his way to the altar, "What we will teach you by doing this is something that you must never tell anyone. Doing so will lead to many problems for everyone involved, you and your friends included. Do you understand?"
Picking up the Book from the lectern, he walked back over to the other two, only to slowly place it closed on the ground. The hard covers were far too heavy for Sheep to attempt to lift open, and the pages were almost as thick as his finger. In short, Prylos was safe to do this much, because there was no way Sheep could ever peer inside the gigantic Book.
"I get it. My main goal is to avoid just that, so it works out for everyone." Sheep nodded, "What else?"
"We're afraid to tell you more." Selzion revealed, "This could very well blow up in everyone's faces. If not done correctly, you could end up getting your soul completely destroyed."
"I'm..." Sheep resolutely agreed, "I'm willing to accept those terms."
"In that case, here is the plan." Prylos opened the Book.
Though Prylos opened it, Sheep still hadn't quite reached the "Book" part of it. That's because he only had the cover's inside shown to him, as any more was deemed too dangerous for now.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"Your task is to bring all of your friends here." He continued, "This includes Sab."
"Sab..." Sheep worried, "And just to be clear, the bounty on his head is gone, right?"
"We... will look into making that the case." Selzion had to suffer an awkward pause mid-sentence there, "Though we cannot promise you anything, Shopkeeper. If we see that he's starting to cause trouble for us once more, then we might still have to destroy him."
"That sounds fair." Sheep looked down at the heavy Book beneath his feet, "Now, if that's all, couldn't you have told me that back at the Shrine?"
"Ah, but that's not all." Prylos explained, "Because you won't be able to look for them physically. They are irretrievable, hence you will need to use this..."
Sheep was finding great difficulty in trying to understand what their plot was with this, yet the further he went along, the more it seemed like they genuinely just wanted to bring the others away from danger. Whether or not to believe them, Sheep knew not anymore.
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"You will need to bring them back here, all of them, to this very room." Selzion explained, "We shall permit you to use the Book, albeit only the cover page."
"Why am I not allowed to see the rest?" Sheep wondered.
"That is not something you need to know."
They were being secretive about certain topics, which Sheep greatly suspected. Then again, if all it takes for him to become stronger than a seraphim—not to mention recreate the bed to heal everyone—is for him to round his allies up, then Sheep had no qualms about it.
"Right." Sheep intently stared at the Book for a good few moments before looking back up, "...What do I do, exactly?"
"The Book has two main functions, of which you will be utilizing only the second." Prylos elaborated, "You will be given a pen to write with. Inscribe inside it your wish to see all of them in this room."
"So it's a wish-granting Book?" Sheep raised an Eyebrow, "Can't I just wish to become an archangel then? Or better yet, just wish for a new bed."
"It is not so simple."
Though, it sounded pretty simple to Sheep. Regardless, the Gods then went on to explain to him the real power behind the Book.
"If you may recall, it was with this very Book that we have returned Vastoria and Energy from the fourth floor." Prylos reminded him, "In essence, consider it like a... teleportation Book of sorts."
"Oh yeah! Speaking of that incident, it wasn't true at all!" Sheep called him out, "You two previously warned us that falling asleep on that bed will make you sleep for eternity, but now you're fully admitting the fact it can heal Vastoria and me! What's the deal?"
The Gods, panicking, had to think up something on the spot. Sheep wasn't willing to let them go without giving them a hard time first.
"Does the journey matter in the face of results?" Selzion retorted, "We gave you that shallow lie to deter you from getting hurt in that Shrine again. You disobeyed, and look what happened."
"Yeah, if you had just listened to us from the start, we wouldn't even have to be doing all this to fix you guys." Prylos pouted, "We're doing everything in our power to make everyone happy, and you're just causing more work and worry—for you and for us!"
"..."
They got him there.
"You guys gotta understand, I wanna trust you—I really do—but how can I know for sure that I can?" Sheep asked.
"Just think about it for a moment and the answer will come to you." Prylos suggested, all smiles, "Or Meditate, if you will."
Finding his on-brand advice enticing, Sheep briefly sat there thinking about it. Choosing not to trust them will mean he'll have to go back to find his friends without their help, and the Gods will also reinstate the headhunt. On the other hand, if he chose to trust them, then they'd definitely help him get his friends, and the headhunt will at the very least be paused until a repeat offence. By that point, even if something bad did happen, he really couldn't see the issue in putting a little bit of faith into the Gods.
"So, did you come up with an answer?" Prylos saw Sheep open his Eyes once more.
"Tell me what I need to do." He nodded.
The plan was simple. Sheep would be given a pen to write with, and he would write down exactly what the Gods told him to write on the Book's cover page. After that, if nothing goes wrong, everyone in the party should be brought to the Abode, thus turning Sheep into an archangel.
"Are you ready, Shopkeeper?" Selzion asked him once more, "I feel the need to ask just once more if you are skillful with the pen."
"If you're asking if I know how to write, the answer is a resounding yes." Sheep groaned.
"Messing up even a single letter, nay—even a single word—could spell disaster for everyone." Prylos explained.
"If you're so uncertain, then why don't you two write it down?"
"A person can only use the Book once for someone else." Selzion shook his head, "We used it to bring Vastoria and Energy back."
"Oh."
"If that's all, then please listen." Prylos began to dictate, "In their most inopportune of times, the heroes of this tale beeth summoned by the protagonist to an Abode of the Gods' belonging."
"...of the Gods'... how do you spell belongings again?" Sheep glanced up.
"Gyah!"
"Heh, just kidding! Got you good, didn't I?"
"You...! Did that Elegy's stupid demeanor—us forbid—rub off on you!?" Selzion stormed.
"Shopkeeper, you must understand that this is a very serious ritual. If you were unsure, you should have warned us..." Prylos breathed a sigh of relief.
"Never mind that." Sheep glanced around, "Why aren't they here yet?"
Fretting for a second or two that he actually did mess up his spelling somewhere, or perhaps his handwriting had gotten the better of him here or there, he double and even triple checked for errors, only to find none. This in fact only fueled his worries more once he realized nothing was happening even if he got everything right.
"Give it a few minutes." Selzion smirked, "I'm sure they will be arriving soon enough."
"And what will we do if they don't?" Sheep inquired.
"There is no need for such a fuss." Prylos chuckled, "They will arrive without question. It might be in a few minutes, or a few seconds, or even... Right now!"
Snapping his fingers as he struck a dramatic and cool pose, Prylos embarrassed himself in front of the other two for not calling the timing correctly. In fact, he only made himself look worse by remaining in that same pose indefinitely.
"You gonna sit back down?" Selzion facepalmed.
"They will arrive soon, and when they do, this will count." Prylos blushed.
"How the hell does that work!?" Sheep shot back, "You can't just keep posing for hours and say you got it right, dammit!"