"Oh, you're still here?" He glanced behind himself, "I uhh, I thought you'd, y'know, go outside. Take a break, get yourself a cuppa' joe."

Clock's ticking, and Elegy was making damn well sure each second was properly wasted. Talking to the audience instead of focusing on the issue as usual...

"Alright, alright! I get it, you all wanna find out what happens next!" He interrupted himself, "Well, lucky for you—so do I. First though, I really gotta figure out how to open this Book in the first place."

Large as it was, more than twice his size even, the hard covers made it nigh impossible to even flip open a single page, much less all of them. Still, he reasoned, if the Gods didn't want him opening it, then it has to contain something incredible.

"Alright, let's use some physics." He nodded, barely lifting up the very end of the Book's cover and sliding the pickaxe inside, "Heh, how you like them apples! Way better leverage, tonnes easier to open!"

Now he had the Book just barely opened, and even a few blotches of ink could be seen already. This was it, now all he had to do was move the pickaxe's handle closer and closer to the spine, increasing the cover's angle slowly but surely.

"Okay, that's step one. I'm sure you're screaming praises at me from wherever you're reading this." He winked, "But now, we still have some work to do. Namely, I gotta apply some good ol' fashioned elbow grease as well to get the rest of the job done."

Propping himself inside the Book's cover, he put his back up against it and increasingly pried it open even more—this time with his body. It was difficult, his body felt like it was burning hot like lava, but he felt the strain was well worth it the moment the large cover flipped past 90 degrees. After that, gravity took over and the cover had been successfully flipped open. He could now finally read the words inscribed within this mysterious and powerful Book.

"...Huh." He nodded, "I can't read this."

An ancient script? A foreign language? Bad handwriting? All of the above? Maybe it's the last one, but in reality the answer was a lot more complex. Letters moved around the page, switched positions with other letters, appeared and disappeared, and constantly made it impossible to actually decipher it. Elegy was dealing with this chaos all at once.

"My head's starting to hurt the more I focus on the letters..." He rubbed his forehead, "Huh? Wait a second, did I just...!?"

"T-The words!" He pointed at the top of the page, "If I Focus, I can actually make them stay in their correct positions! But how...?"

No, now wasn't the time to investigate how or why this was the case. In his heart, he knew there had to be an answer, a way to decrypt the dubious Book, but to think it'd outright reveal its secrets to him just like that. He felt extraordinarily lucky, and it was this euphoric feeling he had carried with him for the rest of the time he was reading.

"The Book contains a collective summary of all that has been and all that will be in the Universe's Cycle." He read aloud, "All characters are fictitious in nature and mustn't be taken into consideration as anything but characters. This world holds no kings, peasants, dictators nor common men. There is no poor, no rich, no gifted, no talented. There exists merely a protagonist and the world around him."

For what it's worth, the Book was at the very least being transparent with him, at least at a glance. Elegy was given the truth behind this world on a silver platter—a truth most would have difficulties understanding or accepting. And his reaction?

"Pft, that's kind of disappointing." He sighed, "And here I thought the Book would give me more info on who I am, but if there's no such thing as anything but a hero and a setting, then it doesn't even matter that much."

Though, he reasoned, his Eyes just couldn't stop inspecting the text that was progressively revealing itself to him. Like a curtain slowly being pulled aside, each word—nay, each letter—having been shown off masterfully. It teased him with the truth, knowing his thirst would guide him to greed for more.

"But if there's a protagonist, then who is it?" He wondered.

He'd like to imagine it was him, or at the very least someone from their party, but it could also make sense for it to be one of the Gods. Or maybe he had it all wrong, and the main character was someone completely unrelated to their saga in general. In the end, the only way to figure this out would be to read on further.

"A protagonist is identical to this world. Ever changing, forever adapting to the Eyes of its Beholder."

"In other words, I'm my own protagonist." He rolled his Eyes, "If the Gods made this world, then they really did make it cliché to a fault. What is this, a fairy tale? I don't want life lessons, darn it, I want to know what I shouldn't be allowed to learn!"

And so, as if hearing his honest demands, the Book responded in kind by heeding his instructions. The next page slowly flipped with him still standing on the current one. It covered him up and made him have to roll out to the side, but he eventually climbed back on properly. This time, the Book's enchanted lexicons had already deciphered themselves to him. The answer was clear as day.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"The protagonist's name was-"

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***

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"Elegy!" A voice from the walkie talkie rang out, startling him.

"Gyah! I said not to...!" Elegy paused, understanding the dire tone of the voice, "Wait, who is this?"

"Never mind that! Run away, right this instant!" The voice instructed.

Though its hasty tone was convincing his body to move impulsively, Elegy's mind was sharp enough to deduce the situation from the vocals alone. Male voice, albeit a tad on the weaker side. It had to be someone with a walkie talkie, so the Gods were out of the question. Migu too, as her voice was far too feminine to match the description. This left a smaller group of people to pick and choose from, though he already knew it wasn't Sab nor Nerys. Sab's voice was sharp and strong, and Nerys' accent would've given her away. Sheep and Energy too, since they were with Migu there was no way it was either one of them. This left only one possible suspect.

"Hats, or rather—cherubim." Elegy smirked, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Not the time, leave this instant!" Its panicked, quivering voice persisted from the speaker.

"Sure, right before the big reveal." He cackled, "Ahem, the protagonist's name...!"

"You'll revive!" The cherubim revealed.

Silence. An unexpected revelation that was all too sudden for him to process. Revive, is this not what Elegy's goal was from the start? And if figuring out his name and past identity would truly revive him, then why in the world should he not do so?

"The protag-"

"If you revive, you'll be leaving the others to fend for themselves up here!" The cherubim further elaborated.

"Oh. Should've said so from the start." Elegy finally peeled his Eyes off the Book he stood on, "Right, and this all is bad for my health... why?"

"Elegy..." It took a moment to realize this fully, "I am not long for this world, it seems."

"And now you're wallowing in self-pity? To think the guardian of Heaven is such a wuss..."

"Your prediction, nay, your prophecy... It may yet bear more fruit than I had originally assumed." It continued, "Your ally is on his way, Sab was it? He shall best me in the not so distant future. I... I pray for your aid."

From taking control of Hats and coaxing him into meeting back up a second time, to now begging Elegy to save him. The cherubim's goals were as puzzling as its own appearance was. And this news of Sab, it was foreign to Elegy just a moment ago. Another trap? Or perhaps misguided information? The cherubim spoke truthfully, its tone coarse and terrified.

"So if I read my name out loud now and find out my identity, I'll revive and finish what I set out to do here." Elegy reviewed, "But that'd mean leaving my friends to fight against the Gods without me."

"Are you not hearing me!? Sab will-!"

"Where is he right now?" Elegy interjected.

"...D-District X, he's trying to find his way over to you, but is having difficulties traversing the Gods' Abode teleportation system." It explained, "The moment he stumbles upon District A, wherein I am located... it will spell my doom, for he is the one Catalyst of mine destruction."

Finally, it clicked inside Elegy's head just what the meaning of these words meant. A prophesized ending, one that is unavoidable so long as the conditions are met. These conditions most probably are that Sab and the cherubim meet. Of course, the cherubim dying is one of their goals, as its head is required for Vastoria to be cloned, or so the Gods suggest. But Elegy an alternative idea in mind...

"Alright, I'm coming over." Elegy dangled his legs off the side of the lectern, "But I've got some demands as well."

"Anything, just name it!"

"Firstly, free Hats." He stated, "Give him his motivation back too, he's on our side now."

The cherubim bit its tongue, "Done! A-As soon as this conversation is over, he will be free to do as he pleases!"

"Good, next up—I might need your help against Sab." He continued, "If I'm gonna be helping you, don't expect to be made into the pretty princess that does jack squat while her White knight swoops in to save her."

"I had no such intentions anyways!"

"In that case, final demand..." Elegy could barely hold back a wry smirk, "I'm planning on dissolving the pickaxe and using that gold to create a proper neck for Vastoria."

"T-that's-!?" It raised its voice, "No, it's impossible... Only the Gray room's machinery could operate on Heavenly Beings, a spoof amateur operation as the one you suggest would most certainly not work!"

"Is that a fact or an assumption?"

"As..." The cherubim finally paused, taking a while before laughing from the other end of the line, "You are a once in a millennium child, fool."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Now, wait for me."

Ending transmission, Elegy plopped the walkie talkie back in his back pocket before slowly turning around to climb down the same lectern face he carved a path up from. With the sharp end of the pickaxe, the climb down was a cinch. Though it's a shame he had to purposefully hold off on his main goal, one that was even within arm's reach in this case, he still didn't mind it.

"This is for everyone else's sake too." He muttered to himself, "Can't be selfish, L."

As he ran out of the mansion and into the spacious yard, he recalled to go back in and visit district G briefly.

"I can't run that fast with this thing on me, plus I might accidentally hurt Sab with it." He said, digging a small hole in the clouds before placing the pick inside, "Migu and the others will take way better care of it anyways."

And with that, he ran back inside the mansion, causing it to shift his location. Stepping out at the exact 26th of a second, he had found himself once again at the cherubim's district—this supposed Center of Heaven.

"Looks like Sab still hasn't made it yet, I'm on good pace." He nodded, that confident smile of his disappearing in a second, exchanged to that of slight worry and disgruntlement, "Or maybe he's already there..."

A leisurely stroll turned into a walk. The walk turned into a gait. The gait, a jog—and then he ran. As fast as he could, until it was a sprint. The cherubim's life, as well as all of their happiness, was in grave danger.