We stood in front of the door to Vastoria's mansion, and...
"Hey, hold on a second!" I jolted, "Weren't we just about to set off from the Gods' Abode!?"
"Migu, that was 10 minutes ago." Sheep looked at me concernedly.
There's no way I skipped through 10 entire minutes of travel time. Seriously, I was hyper focused on the moment, standing inside Sheep's sphere of wings, and then I blinked and I was here! I don't even remember him dropping us off.
"Of course, this much should be expected." Selz explained, "A seraphim can fly at the speed of light, so naturally a rank one step above him should travel even faster than that."
"Beyond light speed travel?" Energy reacted.
"For those of you who have not experienced it firsthand, it may sound a bit confusing." Prylos elaborated further on this, "But even though latching onto a flying seraphim as an angel feels like you're traveling from one place to the next in the blink of an Eye, the seraphim actually sees everything in a slowed down fashion so as to allow better handling."
In other words, Sheep being in super speed made it look like we were super slow for him in comparison. So that's why none of the people with wings ever complained about flying at such high speeds.
"So if that's how it is for seraphim, then archangels must be even faster." I figured.
"I was wondering why you all got quiet." Sheep laughed, "Even while I was setting you down, you refused to budge. I was actually getting worried the speed might have knocked you out."
"Hey, that's right..." I turned to the Gods, "Regular humans shouldn't be able to take such high speeds. We as Heavenly Beings don't feel anything 'cause of our bodies, but how come you guys don't either?"
"Yes, you are correct to assume as such." Selz dutifully announced, "I believe the answer to that is that we were simply going too fast for our bodies to register the inertia. Once the G forces catch up to us, we shall promptly fall unconscious in the near future."
"That's our Knowledge God! You really know everything, huh?" Pry patted him on the back before freezing up, "W-Wait, we're gonna what now?"
"Fall unconscious."
"Way ahead of you."
And with that perfectly timed remark, Pry daintily fell to the ground, twitching and spasming with his Eyes rolled back and foam coming out of the mouth. We were terrified, or at least we would be if Selzion reacted the same way.
"Alright, someone help me put him inside the Shopkeeper." He hoisted him up, "With your archangelic body, he should be lighter than a feather."
"O-Oh, right..." Sheep awkwardly obliged, "Will you be joining him?"
"Please do the same to me once I have fallen unconscious as well." He grunted, "Until then, you need someone to guide you."
We felt a bit bad for him in that moment, but he assured us that he'll be fine. Despite everything though, we were now under a bit of a time limit. He refused to give out the next part of the plan until we marked off this one, and if we didn't manage to do that before he fell unconscious, we'd have to waste a bunch of time waiting for them to get up.
"Everyone, follow me up the stairs." He walked in front.
"Hey now, careful!" I ran up beside him, "If you fall unconscious here, you won't have anyone to catch you!"
"...Stand at least two steps below me, mortal." He glared, "You are not my equal, and certainly not above me."
"Right now, you're the only mortal here." Sheep shot back, "So pipe down and take our advice. You're supposed to be wise, aren't you?"
"Nah, he's not the God of Wisdom, he's the God of Knowledge." Energy tacked on, "Book smarts mean nothing when you lack common sense and decency."
"The insolence!" Selz thundered before wobbling in place, "Ghk! My head..."
"Yeah, maybe don't get too riled up when you know you're gonna drop to the floor any second." I smirked, propping him up by the shoulders, "Here, a shoulder would do you good."
"I don't need your pity!"
"But you need me to walk." I sternly retorted, "Better get that ego in check, pal, 'cause right now we need your help to bring Vastoria back to life."
He highly disliked my choice of words, but nevertheless he knew I was right. Maybe as a God, he could get away with doing everything on his own, but like this he needs to understand that relying on others is crucial. Teamwork makes the dream work, but with the way he's acting—this is shaping up to be the nightmare of all nightmares.
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"Sheep, open the door." I ordered.
"Got it!" He flew past us in a flash, the doors magically opening before us, "Woo, this superspeed sure is fun!"
"I am glad you are enjoying it." The Knowledge God grew paler, "That is the Gods' gift to you, and for the next step, you must be sure to practice using your new powers well."
"The next step? What is...?"
"Vastoria!" I interrupted.
She was still lying in bed, her head barely attached to the rest of her body. Regardless, she was supposedly alive, albeit on the very brink of death. I wanted to run to her side, but I was helping Selzion stand up. It irked me to put her beneath him, but right now he was the most crucial part to the plan that would hopefully one day save her. I needed to be patient.
"Carry her, urp! ...within your wings." Selzion was gagging heavily by now.
"G-Got it!" Sheep followed his order, "Oh geez, you don't look so good..."
"Screw that!" Energy piped up, "God, tell us what to do next! Quickly, before you...!"
"Ah." I exhaled, "He's out."
"D-!" Energy fumed from inside my clothes, "Dammit! Wake the hell up, you stupid God of supposed Knowledge! Hey, you hear me!? Selzion...!"
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***
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In the end, we failed. Well, it's not too big of an issue, since they'll wake up soon enough, I'm sure. At least we can use this time to rest up a bit more.
"Hey, since we're stuck here until they wake up, why not set Vastoria back down on her bed." I suggested Sheep, "I wanna see her face again."
"Uhhh, you sure?" He remained hesitant, "It's not a pretty sight. Her entire head is-"
"I know. Doesn't stop me from wanting to see her."
A tad uncertainly, he belched her out from his body made up entirely of wings and Eyes. You would expect this to be a rather clumsy job, but he was actually quite dextrous in making sure she was laid out flat on the bed safely. Carefully, anxiously, I approached her, this time not having to worry about taking my time or helping prop up a stupid God.
"Vastoria..." I felt tears well up within me as I gently poked her cheek.
"Oi." Energy called out, "I wanna see her as well."
"Right, I've been meaning to ask this, but..." Sheep glared, "Why are you even here with us? You do know you're the entire reason she's like this."
"Sheep." I turned to him, "It was... a misunderstanding on his part. No one's at fault."
"Except he obviously is." Sheep refused to accept that, "Migu, he stabbed her through the throat with a stake. Alive or not, you can't just forgive him for doing that to her!"
I never said I was gonna forgive him, at least not entirely. That being said, he was tricked by the Gods to do so, as he thought he had no other option.
"Hey..." I realized, "Come to think of it, it's the Gods fault she's like this!"
"Huh?" Sheep tilted his wings.
"I suppose you could look at it like that, yes." Energy replied, looking down from my hands at the comatose Vastoria, "It doesn't matter now, though. Nothing to be done about... Ah."
It seems he came to the same conclusion as I did. The Gods are human now, meaning they're prone to death, just like any other human. Along with this, they are right here in this very room with us, lying unconscious and defenseless. It would make finding a way to save Vastoria a bit more uncertain, but apart from that, it wouldn't detriment us too much.
"Sheep, barf out those two morons as well." I commanded.
"Why? They haven't woken up yet."
"That's the point, now do it."
"Descendant, you're letting emotions blind you again."
"Shut it, gramps!" I hissed back, "They had this coming for a long time!"
Sheep refused to budge, so I had no other choice but to lunge at him. I tried prying the wings open, but he was faster than me by a long shot. I couldn't even catch him once, nor could I even see where he was for that matter. Of course, once he enters flight mode, I'm stiller than water to him.
"Migu!" Energy shouted.
"Hrm..."
"Migu!"
"You must be mad at them too, aren't you!?" I flipped around, "They made you almost kill Vastoria! Hell, you almost wiped all of us out because of their lies!"
"Migu, think about it." He sat there on the bed, next to the sleeping Vastoria, "As someone who comes from a world without Gods, trust me when I say you do not want this."
His words shook me to my very core, but more importantly than that was the sudden twitch of Vastoria's finger. I immediately stopped attacking Sheep to run to her side, holding her hand gently as I called her name.
"Vastoria!?" I shouted, "Vastoria!"
"Huh? What happened?" Energy sat confused.
"I saw it as well." Sheep floated slowly behind me, comforting me despite my earlier outburst, "She's clinging onto life even now. Doing her best to not let go."
"Vastoria..." I sniffled.
"Migu, I'm sure you're well aware of this by now, but you need to work with the Gods." He continued, "If you could forgive Energy, then you can forgive them too. At least until she's awake."
But... the only reason I forgave Energy was because I turned that hatred towards the Gods. If I can't be mad at the Gods either, then... who?
"Oh, speak of the devil." Sheep chuckled.
"Insolence! He dares call us Gods devils!" That familiar annoying voice echoed from inside him, "Let me out this instant, archangel! I am fine now, so I do not wish to be inside your disgusting skin any longer!"
Barfing them out with ease, Sheep stepped back to give the Two some space. Prylos was rubbing his head, followed closely by a few close gags as well. Sheep recalled Vastoria had cookies and tea in her pantry and took him downstairs to recover. The Knowledge God declined the offer, however. He had something he wanted to know first.
"You didn't kill us?" He turned to me directly.
"..."
"......"
"...Sigh." I picked Energy back up and put him in my clothes, "Why would we?"
It seems even someone as stuck up as him wasn't ignorant to his own mortality. Makes sense, he's supposed to be smart. That being the case, I guess you could say he trusted us to not off him while he was down. If he can do that... then we can trust him with this mission too.
"You're not gonna say goodbye to Vastoria?" Energy asked me as we left her room.
"I don't plan on it." I replied, "I'd much prefer welcoming her back."
The Knowledge God was walking in front of me, so I couldn't quite make out his face. However, I did catch a small glimpse of a smirk growing on it. Maybe, just maybe, he might have a shred of common decency in him yet.