The lonely sound of wheels turning echoed throughout the petrified Heavenly realm. A vivid scent of citrus emerged as the distant trumpets could be heard roaring just up ahead.
"This is... just awful." Energy inspected their surroundings, "This all happened while I was gone?"
"Mn~, you say that." Hats shrugged listlessly, "But it really only got bad a few hours ago. Y'know, when the Gods died."
Energy grumbled at the young angel's indifference.
"I certainly DON'T know, that's why I'm asking." He replied, "And would you stop pretending that that little briefing of yours back in the Abode was in any way helpful?"
"Well, it's been a while since we last talked." Hats chuckled, "Feels like... 2 months?"
Energy's brain wrinkles shivered at the time estimate.
"That's a lot."
"I'm probably wrong. I just said it feels like it's been 2 months."
Just then, the young angel began to slowly shift the direction of the cart.
Energy noticed this, "You're veering off the path, kid."
"I know." Hats nodded, "It's just, the trumpets are coming."
He was well aware of the trumpets' timing, as well as how to avoid getting hit by the petrification. Hiding behind walls facing the opposite way of the trumpets' noise almost completely negated its effects. As the noise echoed past them, dissipating into the distance, he began to push them back onto the main road.
"What was that?" Energy inquired.
Hats sighed, "The reason we have to move around in this slow cart thingy. If that sound hits you dead on, you turn into a statue, like the others."
A petrifying sound that periodically passes by the entire area surrounding the Gods. It didn't take Energy long to figure out why Hats had alluded to their cart. Most definitely, after having his legs partially hit by the noise, he had to think up an alternative way to move. Though he wanted to praise the young boy's unwillingness to give up, Energy knew not to give the kid too big of a head.
"But we still heard the sound, didn't we?" Energy thought about it, "Sound travels through air, that's why you can't scream underwater, so..."
"Wait, why do you know such a terrifying fact?" Hats grimaced.
The brain refused to elaborate, instead choosing to continue its original train of thought.
"So it works like that, then..." He mumbled, "If we assume the strength of each direction's noise to be equal, then the area is equivalent to a circle, with the source of it being the center."
"...Huh?"
Despite the boy not following at all—Energy's geometry class checked out, at the very least in his mind. Despite his current state being no better than a fish out of water, it's still important to remember that Energy was a top tier survivalist who's faced horrors way worse than this in his previous life. The calculation isn't to be taken lightly.
"Right, placing a building inside the circle's area—no, a four sided wall—we get ourselves a blind spot to take refuge in." Energy continued, "But if we move the wall closer..."
"Ohhh, I think I get it!" Hats interrupted him, "If we move the wall closer, the blind spot gets smaller!"
Energy smirked, ready to correct the boy's misconception.
"Nah, the opposite occurs."
"What?"
"Think about it like this." He explained, "Put your palm out in front of your face."
A sudden experiment.
"Okay, now what?" Hats did as he was told.
"Blow into it." Energy emphasized, "As hard as you can."
The boy huffed and puffed, and once he was all out of air in his lungs, he stopped to take a literal breather.
"Gu-wahhh! Urk, that was rough..."
"Did the air reach the back of your palm?" Energy asked.
"Eh? No, it didn't."
"In that case, try again." The brain lectured, "But this time, put your hand a bit farther out."
Doing as he was told, the boy quickly came to the intended realization.
"I-I can feel it!" He blinked in surprise, "It's slight, and only on the edges, but it's there!"
By explaining it in a more intuitive way, Energy helped Hats figure out the secret behind the Gods' trumpets all on his own. Now, they were one step closer to neutralising the threat plaguing Heaven 2.0.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
"Like I said, sound travels through air." Energy added, "And so, they move in much the same way as well. Heaven's physics might not work the same as they do down below, but us surviving that latest encounter proved airflow is at least a thing."
Next to the boy's head was a brain rivaled by none other, at least in his Eyes. Having him back on the team was a miracle that had only now begun to kick in fully.
"You're a genius, Energy!"
"Gah, kid, you've only got the one arm!" Energy squirmed beneath his hand, "Stop petting me and keep pushing us forward!"
"But Migu said you liked getting petted?"
"That's absolutely not the case!" The brain yelled out, "Come on, keep us moving!"
Despite not wanting them to waste much time faffing about, Energy did find happiness in this brief yet reassuring moment. The childhood whimsy of a boy learning a new factoid in life is something he seldom saw in his past life, to the point where it was nigh unfamiliar to him. Before Hats, no one but Migu fit the description, though even she felt like she was moving on.
"Is it weird for me to say this?" Energy admitted, "I'm kind of digging the peace and quiet this situation brought on."
"Is it really quiet with all the horns blaring in the distance?" Hats raised an Eyebrow.
"It's... nostalgic."
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The two advanced further into the petrification zone. Hats' timing allowed for him to optimally move aside to hide behind one of the many buildings at just the right moment, all before continuing the slow journey once the sound went past them.
As for Energy, his theory ended up being correct.
"Try and stick your hand out just a bit closer to the edge." He yelled through the trumpets.
"This far...? Ngh, nope." Hats retracted his hand quickly, "It's more than before, but I can feel the petrification begin to show up on my fingertips if I do it."
Certainly, putting oneself in danger to prove a point is tantamount to reckless endangerment, but it was a necessary evil. Assuming they were to push on until they reached ground zero—the Gods' Corpses—it would stand to reason that they needed as much information on what they were facing up against as possible. In his heart, Hats still recalled the golden suit of armor he had encountered previously.
"Elegy is..." He gulped.
"I know." Energy comforted him, "If you're the one that found me, then that means he's been petrified too, right? Don't worry though, we'll get him back."
Jumping to valid yet technically incorrect conclusions, the brain left the poor boy a stuttering mess.
"Ahm, n-no, that's..."
"Am I wrong?"
"Well, yes? But actually no." Hats shook his head dismissively, "He's petrified, but he can move."
The impenetrable winged suit of armor Elegy was encased in made him almost robotic. Had he not saved Hats from getting fully petrified back during their battle, the boy would have been certain that was in fact the case for sure. Still, to explain this to someone like Energy would be highly difficult.
"You lost me, kid."
"Okay, so like... Imagine a suit of armor." Hats stopped pushing the cart to focus on explaining, "But biiig~"
"...Uh huh?"
"And, and... The biiig~ armor has wings!"
"Yep?"
"And it can't speak and is really strong!"
"I would assume so."
"Yeah! And, inside is, uh... Elegy." Hats smiled, "Ah, but I think he's like, sleeping, or something. Got all that?"
"Not at all." Energy sighed, "Suppose I'll just have to wait to see the guy for myself."
He hesitated on asking why Elegy wasn't with him even now. If such a strong force of nature was on their team, then surely they could use his wings to make light work of traversing Heaven 2.0. Alas, Energy's realist worldview gave him all the answers he needed—most probably, Elegy wasn't on their team anymore.
Thus, they kept moving onwards. The closer they got to their destination, the faster they'd have to react to each consecutive trumpet horn. Still, so long as Hats followed the proper timing, they could masterfully hide without even getting hit once. Soon, they figured, this idle chase would come to an end.
"We haven't exactly discussed what we'll do once we find them." Energy noted, "The Gods, I mean."
"Well, shut them up, I guess." Hats reasoned.
"And when it comes to making everyone move again?"
"We'll figure it out as we go."
This relaxed way of thinking gave Energy an uneasy feeling. Alarms went off in his head as screeches and screams filled his thoughts. These weren't memories, they were traumas. Things he's experienced so much throughout his lifetime that his subconscious merely accepted that that was how the world was at the time. A terrible sense of foreboding enveloped him, to the point where he had to speak up.
"Let's... figure it out now." Energy cleared his imaginary throat, "Okay?"
Hearing the reliable brain's suggestion, Hats' Pupils dilated as he eagerly awaited his ideas.
"Do you have something in mind?" He asked.
"Ulp-" His figurative stomach dropped, "I don't have enough info to work off of. To begin with, I can't even fully comprehend the Gods of this world being dead."
The glimmer in Hats' Eyes faded as he heard the bitter news.
He sighed, "Well, at least let's focus on getting our friends back. That way, they might have some idea of how to get everything back to normal."
That was it. Truly, that's all the thinking Hats invested into this cataclysmic event. Gather the friends, figure out the rest. Energy could tell from a mile away that this boy was not the same boy he was before his death. Hats had on his face a level of maturity and collectiveness that was rarely seen even in most adults. They say necessity brings out the best in people, and it seems the young yet dutiful angel is no exception.
"You've grown, kid." Energy chuckled, "Earlier, it felt like we had to constantly keep an Eye on you—all of us. But now, you're facing the end of the world with an unfazed optimism. That's incredible."
"Ehe, praise me more, would ya'?" Hats giggled.
"Nah, you've had enough."
Prioritizing each other's banter over the stakes at hand, they quipped all throughout the rest of their little journey. One street at a time, they began to finally see in the distance the building atop which were the Gods and their friends.
"Is that the one?" Energy asked.
"Yep, you could tell?" Hats squinted.
"The vibrations make the air shift around the top of the building awkwardly. It's impossible to mistake."
Before long, they had reached the base of the building they had set their sights on. Without wings or legs to work with, they quickly came to the conclusion that they were still far from their destination.
"Ack." Hats twitched as he took one good look at the endless flight of stairs in front of them, "I wish stairs could move on their own..."
"Or better yet, a box you could hop in and magically get sent up a few floors..." Energy flopped over as well.
The two shared a sigh, before complaining in unison:
"Oh, but that's never gonna be a thing!"