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Chapter Text

Eyes were burning, ears ringing with echoes of the same words, spoken by the same voice filling his room over and over again for hours on end.

Jonah clenched his open palm against his face, blinking and trying not to move much as to not aggravate his headache even further.

The stream rolled, the chat box desolate of any new messages… the video absent of who he wanted to see.

Jonah relented sadly, it would be another day without her… it would be another wasted day hearing Francis' blind devotion to a script broken long ago.

"Oh Angel Gabby."

"Oh Angel Gabby."

"Gabby, oh Angel Gabby."

And the badger repeated. Again and once more; only for no response to arrive.

Why? Francis must be aware Jonah knew of his sentience. So why continue playing pretend?

"Gabby."

"Oh Angel Gabby."

"Gabby."

He really needed a friend right now.

Jonah sighed and retreated from the computer; leaving it on for the night—again—, he could care about bills later, for now he would try and get some rest.

Perhaps Francis would find respite in his absence.

–Prologue: Calling–

Francis' neverending restless summons for Gabriel had finally caught up to him. Throat? Sore, so sore even thinking of swallowing saliva felt like torture. His back hurt so much from standing in place haunched.

His eyes burned from constantly monitoring the skies for any sign of her… a watch that, as much as he begged for a difference, expectedly yielded no results.

His pupils moved towards the horizon, and he saw no signs of Jonah's watchtful eyes. Francis legs gave up on him and he caved in to his exhaustion, for how long would he be able to keep going on?

Was Jonah suspicious of him already? What would he even do if he figured that the badger was as much of an individual as Gabriel?

Could Jonah pay any attention to him this late into the game? Well... I'd like talking to Jonah like Gabby does.

No Francis. Stop. She's an angel, you're not. She has the right to do what she does. It's her job. It's her work. Thought Francis, rapidly dismissing the intrusive thoughts from taking up residency in his brain again.

He gave one last look at the screen-wall; Jonah was nowhere to be found… perhaps he had some time to rest as well; read a book maybe? It has been a long time…

No! He should—NEEDS to take a nap, he would go nowhere with a creaky, exhausted body and mind.

He cheekily yawned, blurting out a "Golly, it really has gotten late," his attention moved to the clear, sunny skies surrounding him. Or as late as the budget allows…

"Haha," he accidentally chuckled at his own little joke, causing a twitch to send him back into his scripted self, "Oh despair, all this sun is making me all wobbly and sleepy."

This is where she would shepard him, and by proxy any children watching, into a lesson, giving Frsncis the chance to speak once it was over.

…She could not, as she was not here.

He could move. He could act. But he could not speak unless the script asked for it, or someone directed him a word.

And thus, Francis would remain quiet unless, by some miracle, Gabby made her return, or Jonah noticed him.

He walked home, head low, weighted down by both exhaustion and fear of being caught by Jonah derailing the storyline .

Opening the noisy, creaky door, he found himself inside the dark den he claimed for himself, the scent of dust lingered, he could only hope it was only present in smell.

He was not looking forwards to cleaning his home in the mood he found himself at.

Let alone if it meant ending up more tired, utterly removing any reason from coming all the way back just to rest.

He yawned again, tears gathering at the edges of his eyes. Yeah, he would collapse into slumber soon.

Noticing that, Francis lowered himself and placed his knees on the ground; arms supported by the table as he clasped his paws together.

He began praying, lips moving but no sound emanated.

Due to the closed eyes, Francis almost fell asleep repeatedly, yet he fought onwards until the end, finishing his prayer, asking God to keep Gabriel safe and thanking him for all his accomplishments and good health.

Right as he whispered the final words, they trailed on and on until only a faint snoring could be heard.

The dreams were muddy, swirling with imagery he would rather fend away and find shelter somewhere else. Unfortunately, Francis was not proficient in lucid dreaming.

Yet. He kept telling himself. One day I'll get it right!

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"Oh Angel Francis, oh angel Francy."

Francis scrambled awake once the joyful sound followed by a robotic sound ceased existing.

Eyes glowing in the dark den as he scratched the ground trying to find his footing from a rude awakening.

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"Oh Angel Francis, who can help me now oh angel Francy."

The words. Those words?! They coursed through him like a lighting strike, pupils blanketed by noise, muscles spasming and body falling numb.

A ringing rose from his heart to his ears…

That very same shattering feeling of disconnection he felt once or twice in the past, the noise of strings snapping deafening.

"Who… which friend said that?" He asked even during his nauseated state, and yet he got no response.

And the ringing disappeared abruplty.

The blurriness faded as slowly as all other senses but balance returned to his grasp.

"Angel… Francy?" He placed a claw over his still spinning head whilst repressing a groan, "Oh— oh no, no no, I am not an angel," Francis chuckled embarrassedly, "I'm just a Fran," he continued, toppling over his words.

He then covered his mouth; what had he said? Who had he said that to? How? 

No twitches forcing him to retract his words? 

"Hi?" Francis ventured, fully able to finish his sentence and not be punished by the medium he was trapped in, "Hey, hello?"

The world around him felt… stranger than usual. His sight seemed strangely more acute and, if it was not a sin, he could swear a filter had been lifted from his surroundings.

His eyes twitched, what exactly had happened? He asked himself. That had happened before, and yet there was some discrepancy between then and now.

Francis shook his paws and gave his fur a good shiver, lowering his arms into a relaxed position and—

…Something rolled down from his sleeve and fell down onto the floor, hitting the table's wooden leg and bouncing back to his feet.

"Huh? What is it little friend?" Francis whispered, tilting his head as he crouched to see what the object actually was, "Oh! It's you!" He chirped, grabbing it from the ground.

He never thought he would see it again! Justifiably so! Apparently his sleeves kept it secure all this time!

He could not help but feel warmth rising through his cheeks, it was as if that event was programmed to happen to take his mind away from the sudden awakening.

He was holding his easter egg! The very same one he painted alongside Gabby and Jonah. Off-screen. While she teached the human the meaning of Easter.

Francis' mesmerized eyes saw fading green paint smeared over its shell

"You were the last egg I got to paint," Francis muttered absentmindedly as his thoughts were rewound to better, calmer days, "Never got to show you to Gabby."

His eyes continued drifting across the lines he so carefully drew back then, the vibrant minty green for the shell, a chocolate color for the decorations and outlines, and of course, a darker shade of green for the main drawing.

Just two outstretching wings. Simple, yet meaningful. At least for him.

He smiled vigorlusly; the fatigue seemingly evanesced during his reminiscence over dear memories.

And then realization hit him, and the egg fell from his grasp again; Francis had then, comprehended what type of message had been sent to him.

Divine.

He had seen the imagery right after hearing those strange words for a reason.

Tried as he might, he could not keep those words for himself, "But— but I don't deserve this," he spun around, desperately trying to check his back for anything unusual.

Nothing.

He uneasily gasped, "Oh, haha! Just dreaming. Just dreaming," and albeit he believed those words of compelled innocence, deep down he was sure he had just been elected something greater.

The time was just yet to come.

Chapter Text

—Volume I—

He tossed and turned all throughout his forced nap, reaching positions so… uncomfortable, to say the least, anyone awake would be looking at him in horror.

Blanket comes, blanket goes, Francis seemingly did not care at all on whether he was protected from — the inexistent — cold or not… yet he should? He had always slept under at least one thin layer of cover.

A sharp gasp brought back some senses to him.

Francis opened his eyes and blinked at least seven times; so many images from his dreams still flashing that he began questioning his sanity for a second.

He squinted his eyes and cleaned the slumber from them with a forearm. It seemed to do the trick.

Francis pushed himself up, and near immediately, some unexplainable discrepancy in height carrier him too far forwards, causing him to inevitably lose balance and fall face first onto the ground.

Shaking the dust off himself, Francis got up completely unarmed, if not a tad bit confused.

A cold draft brushed his feet and sent a shiver up his spine, he immediately looked down and noticed how much more of his body he could see.

He squinted one of his eyes, haunching forwards to check whatever was happening with his clothing.

"Gosh, I should get new robes, these are small…" Francis muttered, finally understanding that the breeze had hit his ankles due to them not fitting him anymore.

Wait one second, his design had not been updated in ages. No one could redesign hi— how could he haunch if he was always haunched?! It was a signature badger thingie.

Francis recoiled, taking small steps back— however what were supposed to be small steps from shock actually led him to collide with his den's wall.

I only took three steps back. My couch is five steps away from the wall, Francis.

Oh gosh. Jonah must be going back to check the streaaaaa…m… Francis shivered for so many reasons at once. Why were his own thoughts so loud, why had that realization invade any other worry so suddenly and quickly, and most importantly how could he even tell the time?

The sun can't even move due to budget and lack of preset backgrounds! How do I know that?!

Francis got up, his legs twitched while knees sharply angled, he desperately fought to regain balance completely. Giving up with all the frantic movement, Francis calmed himself down and slowly used the wall to give him support as he unbent his knees and finally stood up again.

He moved forwards towards the door, slow and steady, arms outstretched so he had easy access to a counterbalance in any unfortunate scenarios… and thus he reached the outside world.

Episode 1 — Angel Badger Pilot

Francis looked shocked, why had he just seen a flash of light saying this was the first episode of a series called Angel Badge—

His pupils went from pools of lush green to minuscule beads. Angel? Angel Badger? The series he was from—

Last night's prayer and events began playing in his head once more; and suddenly so many things began making sense.

Oh. Oh dear.

His lips wavered between a smile and a terrified scowl; what was he to do? What should he do?! He was not ready to be an angel!!

He had no knowledge about his job! He was written a coward that needed help, not one lending assistance! And even worse he was quite literally a concept given life! He was, currently, just a cartoon character!!

How could he protect anyone if he was not even real to begin with?

Before he knew it he was already beneath Angel Gabby's old home… and against all odds it seemed like he had arrived earlier, despite being sure he would make it exactly on time.

"You are early," Some voice whispered from the background, reaffirming his suspicions, although Francis reacted to the voice with a jolt instead of gratitude, "But not too early," two dark ears popped from the trees, "Hello Friend Francis."

Who's this? He thought, almost transforming his loud inner voice into an audible answer. How they here?

Francis checked the hare with a tilted head, a horrible realization hitting him like a rock catapulted straight to the back of his head.

If the script held no more power over him, and thus he was not considered a prop in the show... it meant adapting to changes in the script would be nearly impossible to be done naturally!

If a new character was introduced such as the hare before him… He would have no clue who they were, or their intentions, he would need to find out himself.

Oh despair. Why couldn't I stay just a character...

"Hello. Angel Ismael?" Francis ventured automatically, his shivering tones beginning loud, then trailing to deafening silence.

The hare was confused.

"Angel Zagzagel. But you should know that," Zagzagel inquired, giving Frsncis an throughout analysis, "Shouldn't you?"

He was wary.

"Where is Gabby?" Zagzagel questioned and Francis still found it hard to talk, so he replied in a sad shrug, "She must be here, I can still feel—"

Zag's eyes drifted and locked on to Francis.

"You are not a Fran," Zag said and paced closer to the badger, their muzzles almost touching, "What did you do to Francis?"

"I am Francis. I'm still a Fran," The badger answered shaking his arms, then added almost completely silently, "I think?"

"What do you mean you think?" Francis recoiled at the sudden reaction, "Has Wreath decided it was ok to step that far?"

Noises from beyond the divide between the outside world and fictional alerted both of them, Francis was shook whilst Zag exhaled any negativity away from his system.

"Ok, Francis, listen to me, we talk about this later, try and follow your lines, ok?" Zagzagel said, thumping his feet impatiently, "That's not hard."

Francis' whole world went still, he gave Zagzagel the most awkward, anxiety-laden laugh available in his arsenal.

"Nothing fu—"

"I forgot the script!!" Francis interrupted in a sharp wheeze that turned into a whisper, his slightly-longer fur bristling as he craned closer to the hare, "I'm not part of it anymore!"

Angel Zag's eyes narrowed, "Alright. That is a problem. Nothing we can't solve," he said, looking at the dividem "Just— do your best impression of a Fran, ok?" Zag said and rapidly took flight, the grass ruffled in his leave.

Francis outstretched an arm trying to pull Zagzagel back for company, however he was too late.

We'd been talking every night.

It was just like before.

A perfect escape.

She was all I would ever need.

After easter, though…

She was GONE.

"Angel Zaggy— Angel Gabby, oh angel Gabby." Francis attempted not to be distracted by the sudden flashes of words and another point of view.

It incessantly grew harder not to slip.

…But there has been no trace.

Until today.

I thought it was the worst possible thing.

Her not coming back.

I was wrong.

Francis continued watching and trying his best to stay on track, he had no clue how many misbehaving accidents had gone unnoticed by Jonah, and frankly he had no urge to count.

Zag and Jonah were not exactly in the best terms. Zag knew Jonah knew that Zag knew and— the everlasting cycle of both of them playing pretend reminded him of his own former shackles to the script.

The perpetual back and forth of Zag trying to break Gabby's script and Jonah's increasingly anxiety and fear came to a halt when Francis instinctively answered a comment before it could spiral out of control.

Uh oh.

"Gabby is special to me," Jonah said, and right as Angel Zag was readying a curt response, the camera panned straight to Francis' spot as he replied in the hare's stead.

"Oh no Jonah, you shouldn't worry too much about Gabby—" Francis halted his innitialy nonchalant sentence in a whim, his pupils drifting so slowly they might as well be drenched in mollasses.

Zag covered his face with the palms of his paw, Jonah on the other hand shared Francis' disturbed look, however it also had just a bit of confusion and joy behind the horror.

"I— that was part of the draft, was it not?" Francis asked Zagzagel, only to register he had somehow dug a deeper hole for himself.

Oh no, no.

Zag was utterly baffled at his rapidly increasing lackluster performance, so much so he began snickering, a low laugh that took no longer than a second to develop into a full-fledged chuckle fest.

Francis began waving both his paws at the wall diving his world and Jonah's, a desperate attempt at hiding his fumble; however he was well aware it was all for naught.

The scene cut once more, both the badger and the angel warped somewhere different.

"It's a beautiful day Francis," Zag said with an extremely cynical voice, "we shouldn't take it for granted." Francis could tell he was luring Jonah to say something.

Francis was unable to answer, as every scripted line were removed so the hole could be filled by his newfound freedom-clad epiphanies.

"It's simple Francis, respect and penitence gives us the wisdom to face every challenge," Zag said, raising his eyebrows repeatedly at Jonah, "Isn't that right, Friend Francis?"

"Eerm, yes Angel Zaggy! Family, values, respect and most importantly staying true to the law," Angel Francis responded haphazardly to a question he barely had the time to process.

"Wait, what?" This time, both Zag and Jonah shared the same puzzlement, however it was only Zag who continued speaking, "Can you repeat that?"

"Family, true law values, uhh..." Francis froze, pupils dilating as he looked at Zagzagel with one comically large frown.

Zagzagel could not help himself; bursting into a fit of laughter way too uncharacteristic of him. Francis was unable to tell whether he was even cackling in anger, annoyance or, most unlikely, actual joy. 

Francis tried his old trick, trying to bury himself in shame and hide, but suddenly the ground felt too stiff.

The cartoon logics did not work on him anymore…

He whined and covered his face as well as he could with his small paws; he did not even have the privilege of his sleeves helping, as they were now too short for his arms.

"Francis?" Jonah muttered at once, and Francis could not look away from the human, "Francis, can you hear me?"

Francis was paralyzed, whilst Zag remained put watching Gabby's protegee while cleaning his eyes.

"Francis, are you ok? Did Zag do something to you? I—I can stop the livestream-" Jonah stuttered, seemingly messing with something out of view.

There it was, Zag's revelation.

"Me? I've done nothing to Francis… wait. You're airing this?" Zagzagel's voice had a bit of anger in it, "How? If anything you're the one who did something to him."

Jonah shook his head, "No! I don't even know what is happening!

"Then how do you explain two angels inhabiting the same medium?" Upon hearing that question, Jonah stopped everything and looked straight at Zagzagel, "You have to have done something."

Jonah stopped whatever it was he was doing, and he looked at the screen with wide eyes, "Two? Is Gabby in there with you? Do you know where she is?"

"I came to find her," Zagzagel responded impatiently, "one second, you're not with Wreath. Why did you put the show back on?" Zag's anger was displayed in a weird manner, Francis could not even describe it as fury or even annoyance anymore, "How?"

It was weird.

Even weirder was the sudden protective instinct growing within him, "Zagzagel, Jonah is Gabby's friend," he said silently, holding his own two claws together.

"Everyone is her friend, doofus," He replied curtly.

"It's different between the two! Jonah has been talking to her for ages, he managed to bring this place back to life again,"

"And by doing so, apparently he banished Gabriel. And somehow turned you into an angel," Jonah's eyes widened at Zagzagel's small spiel, "Sacrilegious endeavors are not to be taken lightly."

"Francis is an angel now? Wait— the second angel is him? Since when?" Jonah gazed at the badger with a mixture of buried sadness and pride, "Fran?"

"Is he feigning ignorance? He's feigning ignorance." Zagzagel interjected, "There is just no way this can be happening without intervention from there," the hare pointed at Jonah's world.

"Oh no, Angel Zaggy, this wasn't him," Francis began, pointing towards himself, then immediately went into a dazed state, "I had a revelation… I think."

The hare sighed, "So. Let us be clear. Jonah is a friend of Gabby?"

Francis nodded.

"A real friend?"

He nodded again, even the human joined in.

"And he didn't make any... advances into changing you?"

Francis shook his head, whilst Zag furrowed a brow, "And he is also trying to find Gabriel?"

"Yes." Jonah reaffirmed.

Zagzagel pinched the bridge between his brows and looked straight at Francis, "Well then. I planned on discussing this with you in private. But… if he's not who I should be avoiding, then we might as well have a guest."

"Talk about what?" Francis asked.

Jonah was about to object, however he was expeditiously cut short by Zagzagel, "A guy on the outside and another angel will make finding Gabriel easier." Zagzagel said, and as Jonah was caught in a mindlock, the hare took upon himself to free the human with one single question.

"Are we in agreement?"

Jonah nodded.

Chapter Text

—Volume I—

Francis looked up at the sky once more, confused at the fact he could see words talking about volume and episodes flashing to him.

The script had suddenly dragged him and Zagzagel inside Angel Gabby's home mere minutes ago, and Francis was certainly feeling the abrupt scene change firsthand.

Fracis paced around the fluffy room; the coldness only intensified so high up in the air. He shivered, hugging himself and blowing hot air onto his palms, brushing them together in hopes of warming himself.

Zagzagel seemed a tad bit calmer after a small conversation with Jonah; both had not yet reached a point to call each other colleagues, but they had talked just enough to understand they were not adversity. At all.

As for Francis, he had much to explain. Things he knew, things he had no clue. Things for others, and things for himself.

He still had to wait for Jonah to return; apparently he had to go get some breakfast, leaving Francis and Zagzagel alone to their devices.

Zag had not kicked off any conversation, so Francis took upon himself to break the silence.

"It's cold Angel Zaggy," Francis muttered through chattering teeth, "Are you also feeling cold?" He asked, thinking of proposing to his… equal? To go get something to warm them up.

Zag turned around and faced Francis with an amused expression, "No, Angel Francis. I am not cold," began the hare, continuing shortly after a sigh, "You won't be for long either."

Francis tilted his head, stuttering over his next words "What do you mean, Angel Zaggy?"

"Your senses must be heightened, due to the sudden change in your…" Zag trailed off, thinking of ways to piece his sentence together, "Uh, biology?"

Francis looked down at himself, then at Zag, "You mean growing taller?" Zag's eyebrows and eyelids raised so slowly that Francis

"Yes Francis. That and the other big thing,"

"Oh. Right…" Francis shook his head, "Can you tell me what else to expect? I—if you are allowed to of course."

Zagzagel flickered his wings, holding his own chin and humming, "Well… let us see. Of course, wings," Zagzagel muttered and looked at Francis.

Francis had an elated expression all of a sudden, just thinking of being granted mystical wings made him start jumping in place.

"You don't have them yet, do you?" Zagzagel tilted his head, squinting his eyes and analyzing the newcomer in the angel ranks. Francis promptly denied with a slow shake of head, "Are they growing?"

"No?" Francis said absentmindedly, trying to reach his back with his arms and failing miserably. "I… I don't know, Angel Zaggy."

Zagzagel exhaled and came closer to him, patting his back on every possible place tufts could begin to sprout. Confirming his suspicions, Zagzagel shrugged lightheartedly, "Well, not yet. But they should come out soon enough."

"Will it hurt when they rip my back open?" Francis asked and Zagzagel grimaced.

"No. No it will not." The angel hare responded quickly and calmly, then seamlessly the hare continued, "However, learning to use them might hurt. Falls, crashes, fractures."

Francis' shock was not only visible, but hearable with each little hiss he would make whenever Zag added another… unfortunate development, Francis might come across while getting used to flying.

Whenever that happens. If it does.

"Wowie Zaggy, your in-depth, rapid fire explanations of tragedies would make for great learning material for the children," Angel Francis added subconsciously, while chuckling in concern for his future self.

"Sharp tongue is not part of the package," Zagzagel responded crossly, causing Francis to take a step back, "It is a learnable skill." He concluded, chuckling at Francis' reaction.

"I— I didn't mean to—" Francis' words were stopped by a pat in the back from Zagzagel, "Sorry."

"For?" Asked the hare to the surprise of the badger, "Everyone gives a jab sometimes Francis. Specially angels."

But I shouldn't. That's rude… I should know my place

Zag covered his face with a paw and began shaking his head, then abruptly he chuckled, "This is one stressful job. Really, you should try it on Gabs once we get her back," Zagzagel looked down, seemingly nostalgic, "I'm sure she won't be mad. If anything she'll be amused."

But this is my place, no? I'm with them— gosh why am I so— Francis sighed, unshackling himself from his intrusive thoughts. He was a part of the angelic rankings now.

And Zagzagel had been nothing but super enthusiastic about it. Francis tilted his head, catching wind of Zag fiddling with his fingers, seemingly deep in thought.

He missed talking to her.

"And won't she think it's rude?" Francis asked, not only to put his doubts at ease, but bring the hare back to the present. Zagzagel laughed once more.

"Rude?! What do you take Gabriel for? If anything she'll retort right back. Oh Francis, believe me, we hear so much worse than small banter.

Francis nodded solemly, thinking about the conversation just a bit longer. He could not help but smile at the prospect of being asked to be more open and playful with his best friend.

Oh Gabby… We'll help you. I promise you that. He thought, sneaking glances at Zag who also displayed a crooked, despondent smile himself.

Episode 2 — Cloudy

Their conversation was cut short by the return of Jonah.

Jonah had returned from his trip… somewhere, in his hands three plates with some very basic handmade sandwiches. Is that what he spent all this time making? Francis heard Zagzagel whisper.

"I made one for each of yo—" the plate clanked against the wall and slightly rumbled their world. Jonah slammed his palm against his face.

"Gosh, that is very nice of you Jonah," Francis said meekly, trying to reach through the veil to no avail, "Uh… you shouldn't have."

"What ex-fran is trying to convey is: we can't eat from here,"

"I see the problem," Jonah replied, still groaning under the layer of his hand, "In my defense. It is common practice to share, ok."

"Share with cartoon hares?" Zagzagel coughed, "Animals, I mean animals."

"It was a nice gesture, Jonah," Francis interjected before any argument could rise up, "I'm sure we'd enjoy it we could eat them."

Both Zagzagel and Jonah looked at Francis in silence, only then making him realize how passive-aggressive his comment might sound to anyone without insight on what he meant.

Today's not my day.

"I— What I mean is that I'm sure it tastes good Jonah!" Francis added in stutters, shaking his still freezing claws.

"Ahem," It was Zagzagel, "Now that Jonah is among us, we have two important topics to discuss" He looked at Jonah, "don't we?" Asked the hare rhetorically, gazing at their watcher with heavy eyes.

Francis recoiled into his robes, for once not due to the cold gales, but to the pressure he expected to endure in a minute's notice.

Mind drew blanks regarding all the questions soon to he directed at him. Francis had internally tried predicting them and memorizing the responses in advance, however everything had disappeared in a fog.

Oh no… Francis whimpered

"Yeah," Jonah responded quietly, "Francis? I think we should start with you," Oh nooo… "Maybe it has something to do with Gabby? Like, it could help, right?"

Francis shuffled in place, his claws shoving a little deeper than intended into Gabriel's cushion, leaving behind small holes oozing cotton.

Oh no, Gabby will be so angry. He hid his face.

"Angel Francis, we would greatly appreciate cooperation," Zag said matter-of-factly, "Cooperation and diligence, proverbs—"

Francis' ears rung to a deafening state; his neck paralyzed by both cold and rising internal tension.

If he could still follow any haphazard script, he could easily segway from Zag's biblical verse into an action. The lesson by the angel was given, so of course, as a character, Francis would have everything set up to continue with the storyline.

However, without his status as a character anymore… without any feasible way to adapt anymore…

"I don't know what to say!" Francis blurted out, notes higher than expected from him. "I don't know how to begin!"

"From the beginning, Francis." Zag replied curtly, his head tilted, "There's not much hardship in explaining, is there?"

Francis began hyperventilating, "Yes?"

"Yes what?"

"It is hard Angel Zaggy! I don't work like I used to…" Trailed the badger into melancholic humiliation, "Can— can you please ask me, instead?" He asked in resignation.

Zagzagel sighed, thumping his feet, "sure, we can work with that. Frankly, you could have begun with that," Zag shrugged, "Or mentioned it before we were here, using up time we could be searching for Gabriel."

Francis looked at him with wide, teary eyes.

Zagzagel coughed and scratched his dark ears, "Ahem, Angel Francis, what were you doing when you felt different?"

"At home," Francis said with a tinge of sadness from the prior backhanded comment, "Praying before sleep."

"Did you ask God something different?"

Francis shook his head, Zagzagel leered at Francis, "Did you do something different?"

"No Angel Zaggy."

Seemingly confused, the hare tapped his own chin whilst instinctively commenting, "that is interesting," he looked up, then to the walls, "Can you recall the exact moment you felt anything different that night… day? Time?"

Francis blinked and closed his eyes, conjuring to the forefront of his memories the events of yesterday, "…I heard something… it was like a little song, there was a voice, it talked to me."

"Was it loud?" Zag asked and Francis shook his head, "Was it quiet?" And Francis shook his head once again.

"No…" Francis continued with his eyes closed, his cheeks pressing slightly against the lower half of his eyelids as he forced himself to relive with precision the events that transpired, "It was… a lifeless voice. I remember it called me Angel Francis, then Francy."

Zagzagel seemed horrified at the description Francis gave.

"It said again, and it asked for my help. I— didn't know what to say… it said something about donations…" He saw Jonah begin messing with something clicky in the outside world, "Then I got all dizzy and—"

And what. Francis?

He pulled the painted egg from inside his robe, "The— the egg I painted for Gabby rolled off my sleeve."

The hare closened the distance between his eyes and Francis' occupied paw, Francis noticed the awkward position and whispered, "Here, you can have it."

Zagzagel picked the egg up carefully, "Is this your work?"

Francis nodded, "Gabby asked me to paint something else… I couldn't show it to her before—"

"Seems like the usual divine message to me," Zagzagel nodded calmly, still tracing the lines with his burning, golden gaze, "Did you also figure that out?"

Francis nodded, "Yes, angel Zaggy. It was the first thing I thought," Francis replied solemnly, "Is anything wrong? With me? Did I do something bad?"

Jonah's face lit up, his voice interrupting them, "You guys I know what Francis is talking about," he began, "About the lifeless voice thing. But I can't believe it," he seemed genuinely flabbergasted.

"Do tell?" It was Zagzagel.

"Seems like someone donated to the stream," His expression was nearly unreadable, was he happy? Scared? "How did they find it?"

Zagzagel's entire demeanor changed in one fell swoop, enlightenment seemingly reaching him.

"I… see," Zag responded, seemingly ignoring Francis prior questions, his attention rested from analyzing the painted object and Jonah, and he shifted attention back to the badger calmly, "I can't quite give a concrete answer, but I think I know what happened."

"Oh Angel Zaggy, please tell me!"

Zagzagel shook his head, "Telling you is not in the plans God laid for you, Francis," he said, "But I can assure you now, without a doubt, you are more important than you can ever imagine."

Francis sheepishly fidgeted with his claws, "So… I didn't do anything wrong? Angel Zaggy?"

"How can you feasible think you did something wrong for hearing a voice, Francis?"

"…"

"Very well, with that down; we should start our delve into our friend's disappearance, shall we?" Zagzagel asked, Francis nodded, albeit Jonah himself seemed more conflicted than usual.

"Jonah?" Francis called.

"How did they find the stream…" He continued repeating under his breath, eyes wide and unfocused, "Why did they donate."

Zagzagel seemed wary, "What is he doing?"

"Jonah? Hey, Jonah, are you alright?" Francis asked, trying a little louder this time; the human seemingly snipped from his trance.

"Yes. I'm fine," He replied, each of his repeated blinks stronger than the one before, "Gabby. We should talk about how to find her now."

"…" Zagzagel and Francis shared a worried look, Francis way graver than the hare's.