"Migu, take those two dresses. They're my gift to you and Vastoria." He said after a long enough pause.

"Sheep!" I tried to protest, but in the blink of an Eye...

"Hm?" Energy glanced around, "Where are we?"

"Not far from the shop, but away." Sheep sighed, "I took you two back to Migu's house. Consider this my answer to your proposal."

"But we...! We need you!" I started to tear up, "Not just to save Vastoria, but as a friend! The group will never be whole without you with us, Sheep!"

He chuckled at my troubled display, hiding away the sorrow with a fake smile.

"...Heh. I never said we can't be friends after this, did I? Just... gimme some time alone."

"And once we do, you'll come back to us?" Energy raised the question.

Immediately though, Sheep glared down at him before replying, "No. My life isn't supposed to be filled with peril and danger. As far as I'm concerned, stop by to hang whenever you want, but you should know that it was you who dragged me out of my comfort zone, not that I willingly ever joined in the first place."

He doesn't mean that. There's just no way he does! Pft, never willingly joined, yeah right! I've known Sheep for a very long time and he never... uhm, well, now that I think about it, he did complain a lot. He also used to constantly beg us to let him go back to the shop, if I recall correctly. Oh geez, I guess we did kind of force this role onto him.

"Sorry." I lowered my head down in shame, "Because of us, your body is now like this..."

"Hm? Oh no, I didn't mean you messed up my life or anything, come on now." He quickly corrected me, "On the contrary, being an archangel is very nifty, actually. Work has never been easier with this hyperspeed, haha!"

"Sheep, we'll be looking for Hats next." Energy explained, "If you're not coming with, the least you could do is take me with you for a quick flyby around the district. With your powers, it shouldn't take even a few seconds."

"I said I'm not joining you." He groaned.

"Fine, you don't have to join, jackass! Just help us find Hats and as far as I'm concerned, fuck off back to your cave of clothes!"

Sheep shot back, "What'd you say, you damned slimy bastard!?"

I'll just let those two argue in the back while I think of what to do next. Sheep isn't the spiteful type, so I'm sure he'll cave to Energy's pressure eventually and make a quick flyover to check for Hats. That being said, the moment he finds him and takes us there, he's definitely going back to his shop. It pains me to say it, but I don't think he'll be joining us on any more adventures, sadly. He's made up his mind.

"So you want me to what, help you out one last time and then I'm under no obligation to help out any further!?" Sheep made sure the deal was clear.

To which Energy shot back, "Are you dumb!? You're our friend, dumbass! You were never under any obligation to do what you didn't wanna do to make us happy!"

"Oh is that right?!"

"You bet your cluster of wings its right."

"Then y'know what? I'm gonna help you!" Sheep made a big deal out of it.

"What? You just said you didn't wanna!"

"Well I changed my mind!" He crossed his wings defiantly, "But only until I drop you off near Hats! After that, I'm gone."

"Well then, good riddance!" Energy yelled, "And thanks for all your help so far!"

"Don't mention it!"

"Hmph!"

"Hmph!"

They... somehow came to an agreement? I get the feeling Sheep's just messing with us and isn't actually planning to quit. Seriously, just look at how much fun they're having, and I'm no different. Talking like this with everyone from the group was what made exploring the mysteries of Heaven 2.0 worth it, in my opinion. It would've been so much more boring without them around.

"Ahem." I cleared my throat, "If you're done, why don't we contact Elegy to report to him?"

"Hm?" They both turned to me, "Oh, is he okay?"

"I don't see why he wouldn't be." I shrugged, pulling the walkie talkie out of my pocket, "It was his idea to get everyone back together, so I imagine he'll know what to do next."

Clicking the walkie talkie's side button, I was greeted with a loud static buzzing noise. With this, the microphone inside was activated successfully, and my message was being broadcast to anyone with a functioning talkie. I put the device close to my mouth, opened it to begin talking, and then...!

"I'm still not done, leave me alone." Elegy groaned into the mic the moment he heard my call.

"Oh, is that... so?" I stuttered, "Well hey, we just need a minute of your time to ask where-"

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Busy right now, can't talk." He just barely squeezed in a reply.

The Hell is he doing? It sounds kind of like he's... moaning? No, what am I saying? Uhh, grunting? Heavy breathing? Panting?

"You guys tell me what you think he's doing." I gave up, "My mind's too dirty to get it right."

"Well, let's see." Sheep thought about it, "He's out of breath, a bit frustrated, and he REALLY doesn't want us interrupting him. That can really only mean one thing."

"Oho, I know what that means." Energy chuckled to himself, "He just got back up into a corner and just got done climbing up to the safety of a high point, and now he's contemplating how to get out of the bad situation."

...Y'know what? Sure, let's go with that. No way that's the case, but it's more probable than whatever my mind came up with.

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***

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"Let's just ask him already." I clicked the button again, "Yo Elegy, need help?"

"Gah, I told you to stop bugging me!" He shot back through the talkie.

"What are you even doing?" Sheep inquired.

"Hm? Sheep, is that you?" His friend's voice seemed to have calmed him down a bit, "Gah, don't worry about me. Just... please stop buzzing so much, I really need to focus."

Hm, I take it he has a reason for not telling us explicitly what exactly he's doing. Elegy's smart like that, so he wouldn't withhold information for no reason. As for his current condition, I'll just have to assume he's trying to climb up someplace. Either that, or he's in a rush to get somewhere.

"We managed to convince Sheep to help us for the time being, so we just wanted to tell you we'll be going for Hats next." I added.

Immediately, a loud crash could be heard on the other side, followed shortly by his panicked shouts.

"Don't!" He yelled, "Hats is, or rather, Sab and Nerys are on it!"

"Oh yeah, they weren't with us when we encountered the cherubim." Energy recalled, "Hey, are they on the line with us right now?"

Elegy's voice sounded worried, "They're... I don't know. I met up with them earlier to give them the order to go find Hats for me, but I haven't heard from them since."

"Eh? Even with the walkie talkies?" I tilted my head.

"Probably broken or lost." Sheep figured.

Elegy finished it off with a quiet, anxious mutter, "Let's hope so... Oof, okay. One more time."

Some ruffling and grunting could be heard from his side before a couple of cloth plaps, then his mic cut off. Presumably, he got up off the ground, did a mental reset, then dusted himself off and tried... whatever it was that he was attempting once more. Of course, I'm not gonna pass up the opportunity to mess with him.

"Still not gonna tell us what you're doing?" I clicked the button a few times.

"Gah!" A scream, followed by a loud, painful sounding thud could be heard, "What did I just tell you about not messing up my rhythm!?"

"Seriously, the hell is he doing?" Sheep sighed.

"Look, we did everything you told us, but you don't seriously expect us to just sit back and relax after this." I told him flat out, "We need orders. What should we do next?"

"...Sigh, fine." He sounded peeved, "You can... Actually, no, that'd ruin everything. Maybe if you went to where I'm at... Nah, but that'd be far too risky. Hmm..."

"If you're done, I'm gonna head back." Sheep added.

"No!" Everyone unanimously yelled, Elegy included.

"Okay, okay, I got it! Something you can do that's definitely gonna prove useful for the mission." Elegy thought of something, "Where are you right now?"

"My house." I replied.

"Oh, that far? Then again, you got Sheep now." He reasoned, "Okay, let's see, that's... vasta of your house's front."

Whoa, our made-up directions are making a comeback? I thought that was a one time gag, honestly.

"Oh, so forward." I nodded.

"No, that's skip. Vasta is to your house's left if it's easier for you to look at it that way." He adjusted for my sake.

"It's easier for anyone but you..." Energy groaned tiredly, "And come on, you just made all that up. There's no way you know exactly which way her house is facing."

"Hm? Why wouldn't I?" He asked with genuine sincerity, "Just pay attention to vasta at all times and you got yourself a compass."

This guy's too good at navigating! Elegy, your extreme competence levels are showing again... and I don't like it! Seriously, he's really trying his dang best to get it to stick. Just say left and right like a normal person, no need to be pretentious!

"In any case, go there and you'll find a hole with screams of the damned echoing out of it." Elegy explained.

I was terrified, "Why is that there?"

"More importantly, what possible business could we have with the damned?" Energy winced as well.

"The voices will try to escape into the surface level. If they do, we're toast."

So that's the situation. I don't remember ever encountering or even hearing about this horrible hole before. How did Elegy even stumble across it?

"I take it this has something to do with those Two?" Sheep assumed.

"Two?" I turned my head to him.

"They shouldn't be making an appearance anytime soon." Elegy figured, "But you never know what they're capable of. That's where you guys come in, I need you to stall for time IF AND ONLY IF they somehow make it out of the hole."

"Wait, I'm still lost." I shrugged, "Who are we up against exactly?"

The boys didn't seem to want to spoil the surprise for me, or at least that's what I think their reaction suggested. Way more probably, they just didn't want to waste more time explaining when we can just go there and see for ourselves. Elegy especially, I can tell from the hasty replies that he just really wants to hang up and go back to doing whatever he's been doing for the past while.

"Alright, go now." Elegy cut the convo short.

"So left of the house and then straight ahead?" Sheep made sure for good measure.

"Yep, can't miss it. Bye-bye, now."

"Elegy." I squeezed in a final reply.

"Gods, what is it!?" He snapped.

Sulking, I whimpered out a response, "I just wanted to say good luck..."

"...Yeah, you too." He said after an awkward pause, "Now come on. Let's all do our best so that we can enjoy Heaven together with Vastoria again."

Sheep scooped Energy and me into his embrace before tattling on me.

"Yep, then these two can finally tie the knot as well!" He teased.

"I-I never said...! I-!" I panicked.

"Oh, you're getting married?" Elegy sounded pretty calm despite that, "Congrats. Every good story needs a satisfying happy romantic end to it in my opinion."

We stared blankly at the walkie talkie.

"Eh...?"

"One day we'll get him to crack..." Energy sighed.

Sheep chuckled.

"But not today, it seems. For now, we got some souls of the damned we need to hold back!"

Wow, when you put it like that, doesn't it kind of sound like we're headed for the gateway to Hell? Suddenly Elegy's original suggestion to just chill and do nothing sounds a lot more tantalizing...