I've decided to help Elegy, and to do that, I've been tasked with converting all of our friends to our side once more. Though, even I'm not all that motivated to directly go up against the Gods... B-But nonetheless, I can do plenty for him from the sidelines, like making Energy join me!

"Then, we're looking for Hats first and foremost, eh?" I walked through the busy streets, this time openly carrying Energy in my arms.

"What? No, why would we?" He recoiled in confusion.

"Wait, pause." I stopped moving.

He looked up at me curiously, "Hm? What's wrong?"

"Wha-!? The Hell do you mean we shouldn't go for Hats first?" I yelled, "It was your idea in the first place!"

"No? I never said that."

I scowled, "Then what did you say?"

"That you only see our friends as tools based on how useful they are." He reasoned, "That being said, it's objectively the correct option to go for Sheep first, since he has his archangel wings."

So what was all that stuff about life not always having the need to be efficient and to treasure your friends or whatever...? Old people, stop being hypocrites, please! Really, sometimes I feel he just wants to pretend he's superior and wise, but he's just an old fool.

"Ack, hey!?" He protested.

"What? I'm just giving your brain a nice massage." I dug my knuckle into him, "What's so wrong about that?"

"That's a nuggie! Nuggie!" He begged, "Please stop, it feels super weird and it's messing with my senses!"

"Don't tell me it's turning you on?"

"Not that kind of weird feeling!" He squirmed in my hands uncomfortably, "I'm hypersensitive, remember? Well, not my brain, but the senses around it."

I groaned, "That makes no sense."

"Doesn't matter. You do that again and I'll..."

He paused for an uncomfortably long time after he tried to threaten me. I stood in place, patiently waiting for him to finish his sentence, but the words just wouldn't come out. To make matters even funnier, whenever I tried to interject, he would immediately shush me, insisting that the idea would come to him soon enough.

"What's wrong? Can't think of anything?" I teased.

"I'll think of something to make you regret it!" He fussed, "Now move it along! We ought to find Sheep pretty quickly."

"Eh? What makes you say that?" I raised an Eyebrow.

"Migu, he has a job." He looked up at me disappointedly.

"..."

And...?

"...Eh? You're that naive?" He was surprised, "Migu, let me restate this—Sheep is a slave to his work."

"No, I heard you loud and clear." I shrugged.

He stuttered, stammered, mumbled then shot back, "Wh-? Y-!??! He's gonna be in his shop, you big dumb idiot!"

Oh. R-Right, in hindsight, that makes a lot of sense. And here I was prepared to stroll around the district endlessly until I saw a glint flying about in the sky. But no matter how much of a workaholic he is, I highly doubt Sheep's actually gonna return to working a dead-end job without any pay just for the fun of it.

"Ah, come on!" I shouted the moment I saw the plethora-winged bastard folding clothes neatly in his little shop, "Prove me right once in a while, would ya'!?"

"Oh, Migu." He jolted after my sudden shout, but continued to fold them clothes anyways, "Did you come here for some new clothes? I just got a fresh batch ready."

He seems at peace. This must be extremely therapeutic for him, in spite of his body not being exactly the best fit for his job. Now look, I know there was a semi-high chance that we'd find him working here just like Energy predicted, but to think I'd get to see such pleased Eyes on him... He looks way happier than when he was getting dragged around by us.

"Sheep..." I gave him a pitiful look.

"You poor fool..." Energy disliked the sight just as much, "What are you even doing here?"

"Hm? My... job?" He laughed it off, "What does it look like?"

"It looks wrong." I shook my head.

"Hrm..." His Eyes lost their glint, "Migu, come here for a sec."

Oh, I'm gonna get smacked, aren't I? Well, it's to be expected, since I did offend him pretty badly. Really, I didn't mean for it to sound so bad, but it just kinda came out like that. I'm not gonna take it back, though. An archangel fumbling around in a clothes shop with a bunch of shirts and dresses definitely doesn't look right. Ugh, here it comes...

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Hm?" I craned open one Eye to see him measuring a most wonderful White dress on my torso, "What're you...?"

"I've been thinking about how to make it up to you for just up and leaving the group like I did." His Eyes inspected the length accordingly, "And then the idea struck me—why not a wedding?"

"Come again?" Energy returned a befuddled stare.

"Heaven's a scary place. Not much good news going around." He placed the beautiful dress on the counter between us, "But I recalled you and Vastoria. Surely being the first couple to tie the knot in Heaven would be an incredible achievement, don't you think?"

"Oh." My face progressively grew bright Red, "Fueh!? You want me to marry Vastoria!?"

"Well not now, obviously." He chuckled, "Just be happy with her, that's all I can ask for. Ah, but when you're ready, of course, you'll have yourselves two dresses at the ready from your old pal Sheep." Sheep paused for an answer, "So, what do you say?"

Wow... This is, or rather, I don't know... Sheep, he really wants to gift me such a beautiful dress? Is this his way of saying he knows Elegy will succeed and bring the real Vastoria back? Oh gosh, now I'm all flustered. Gramps, help me out here!

"Hm? Don't look at me, I don't understand the point of love." Energy grumped back, "In my time, people only married 'cause they felt most reproductively compatible with a specific partner. Otherwise you'd mix and match."

"O-Oh." I yelped.

"Way to ruin the mood..." Sheep groaned.

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***

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"So, you up for taking it?" He tried to course correct after Energy's horrible comment.

"O-Of course." I cleared my throat, "Thank you so much, but..."

"I see." He nodded knowingly, "It's okay, if you don't like the Colors, we've got this in Red, Blue..."

"That wasn't what I was gonna say." I sighed, "Sheep, we need your help."

"Oh, so it was that after all..." He went in the back to grab something, "I kind of guessed the moment I saw you two approach the shop, but I didn't wanna believe it."

"Why not?" Energy inquired, "You know damn well that Vastoria stands no chance of getting properly brought back without your hyperspeed."

"Which is exactly why I can't help you." He shook his wings, "You were there as well, so I'm sure you saw it. The cherubim."

Huh? So he knows he's been affected by the cherubim as well? He's smarter than I gave him credit for, I kind of feel bad for doubting him now.

"It twisted our fates so that we physically feel repulsed by the idea to rejoin the fight." I explained, "It's not our fault we're doubtful right now, but Elegy managed to convince me to rethink it!"

"You don't sound too confident about that, though." Energy said with a deadpanned gaze.

"Urk, at least I'm trying my best..." I gulped.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't help you." Sheep was adamant, "Everyone has a job to do in this world. For Elegy, it's saving Vastoria directly, for me it's this."

"But he won't be able to do his job if you don't abandon yours!" I shot back.

His Eyes contained the very epitome of guilt within them, but he nonetheless refused to budge on this. He returned to the counter with a second dress, this time made of a material that resembled pure gold. It was, without a doubt, made for Vastoria.

"I don't remember what my life was like back while I was alive." He recalled thoughtfully, "But I remember vividly the strong and heavy emotions I felt on my first ever day of working."

"Where is this going?" Energy complained about him wasting our time needlessly.

"I remember wanting to quit." He said flat out, "And not just my job, but everything else as well. I don't remember what that job was, nor what I was doing to mess it up so badly, but I just recall telling myself over and over how much of a screw-up I am."

Ah, he's... kind of like me.

"That feeling when you look at yourself in the mirror, and the sad, pathetic excuse of a kid stares back... Looking back, that poor kid's Eyes were terrified." He chuckled, "He was scared of the future, afraid that he'd never do things right and fail. The thing about failure is that it's very easy to chain another failure after that, then another, and then another... Before long, you get the feeling there's no more fixing things. Your life is over."

"Hrm..." Energy kept the harsh comments to himself for now.

"Still, I have no recollection of ever experiencing that moment I had so dearly hoped for." Sheep revealed, "The moment where everything just clicked. Or the moment someone perfectly swooped in to teach me. I just... kept grinding through the days, until I had no more strength to grind with."

"And then?" I gulped.

"And then... Who knows?" His Eyes stared emptily into the distance, "Maybe I died of old age, maybe I croaked of overwork. Or maybe we just get too caught up in our daily routines to ever notice a change takes place right from under our noses."

Energy got it wrong. This guy isn't a workaholic... He's traumatized. Sheep, just what in the world happened throughout your life to make you feel trapped by your workplace this much?

"You're nothing more... than a whiny, useless waste of space!" Energy suddenly shouted out.

"Huh?"

"You never figured it out, huh? Never met anyone who had it figured out, is that it!?" He continued, "Well guess what, moron! We were all in this world for the first time in our lives!"

"Energy, calm down, he's just venting..." I tried to quiet him down.

"The fuck is that!?" He lividly lashed out, "Venting!? You vent a fireplace, not a human! This idiot is just complaining about his so-called tough life, but he doesn't realize how good he's had it!"

"Oh yeah?!" Sheep got offended back, "And what makes you say tha-!"

"I've eaten human meat to survive!" Energy screeched, "I've had to run and hide from countless hordes of cannibalistic humans turned monsters my entire godless, damned life! Every single night, I'd have to climb a tree and cover myself up in a blanket to not get sniffed out by the Rotted! I'd have to rummage through dead men's pockets for anything to get me through the next day! All this without anyone telling me how it's done!"

"..."

"You lived in a peaceful era, where you could work for another person without them pulling out a shiv and stabbing you in the back right before your payday!" He kept going off on him, "When life gives you lemons, you make it work!"

"E-Energy..." I uttered, "You took it too far. Your situation is different to Sheep's."

"No, Migu. We are the exact same." Elegy replied, "This rat bastard doesn't understand that not everyone can get cradled by the world. You wanna complain about how your job traumatized you through to the afterlife? How 'bout you suck it up like the rest of us and do what you want for a change."

Sheep was speechless. No, rather, he looked like he had nothing to say. His Eyes were closed, not allowing us to get a peek in at his true feelings. I would assume he was angry, but he didn't even give us the satisfaction of finding out. He had now fully closed himself off to us.