What actually exists in Henir realm?

Nobody really knew the answer unless they explored it themselves and came back alive. Over the centuries of trials and errors, the research of Henir realm was finally done. The cult that once was trying to find the pure darkness that not even Goddess Elria could light upon disappeared into void, since it was always their goal.

The research was written and published as a book, only to be considered as a conspiracy theory. Even so, the copies were still in the store. Everyone could read it, but only the most insane people would banish themselves into the realm; one less insane human. Might as well just keep copying the book at this point.

The realm was filled with blue and cyan colored cubes, nothing to interact with. A small group of El Gang was still flying around like it's a free vacation spot. "Have you ever read about Henir? I never check your bookshelf," Lu asked Chung, who seemed to be quite fascinated with the environment.

"I have. I burned the book after," Chung answered as he glanced at Nisha. Technically she read it too.

Nisha looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "If you're not telling, then I'm not telling it either."

They finally spotted a living being that looked like a person. Noah was the first to approach the person, flying downward and landing on the ground to face the woman; a long brown haired girl with a pair of blank green eyes looking at him with no expression. His wings were folded and disappeared into thin air. "Say it. Skip the useless introduction and chit-chat," the woman said, glaring at Noah and waiting for him to do something.

"Did you find anything new?" Noah asked the question that crossed his mind. The only reason she would be here was probably because she already read the book and wasn't satisfied with what was written. Henir Order was disbanded, but there was a certain member that just disappeared to nowhere. He felt uneasy, feeling that the member might still be alive somewhere.

"Oh, a question. I don't need to answer you," the woman walked past Noah and continued like he was never there.

"W-Wait! Please!" Noah ran toward the woman and walked alongside her.

The others finally caught up, blocking the woman's way. "Please tell me! I'll tell you what I know," Noah said in a desperate attempt.

The woman sighed and glared at Noah in annoyance. "I've been here for a long time. What could you possibly know that I have no knowledge of?"

"I'm friends with an angel that was lost in this realm for quite a while!" Noah smiled, startling the others because they knew who he was talking about.

Ain.

What can that angel remember when Ishmael reminded him of everything? "I know I don't have proof. My friend doesn't have proof either. But if you're ever interested in hearing a story of someone that was in complete darkness and came back alive, come visit me at Sander's clinic! There aren't many clinics around. I'm sure you can find me," Noah grinned as he took a step backward.

The woman seemed interested, but she said nothing and kept walking forward. It gave Noah a bit of hope, wishing that he would meet the woman again someday.

"If Henir was supposed to be dark, why is this place so bright? I can see everything just fine," Chung said as he looked around him. He can tell the colors, so the whole realm was definitely lightened up by an unknown source.

The first question that was thrown at Noah was obvious; how would Ain remember what happened in the past? "The memory of him in Henir realm is intact. He can't remember anything else after that," Noah answered with a confused look. Since he barely slept, Ain always told him some stories from time to time.

"Let's go back. I never tested the duration limit for us to stay here," Add stopped the discussion and opened the portal to go back to their world.

Some of the El Gang spent the night flying around the town. They were afraid to get sick at first, but somehow they didn't even feel cold. Elesis and Ciel flew to the supermarket, getting most of the night time discounted items. "Are you trying to bake something? Or cook, maybe? You're buying so many things," Elesis commented as she looked inside the full trolley. She couldn't remember what was on the bottom anymore.

Ciel nodded his head. "I found out Lu's food streams and posts always have more views than the others. I need to try a new recipe."

"Of course. Everyone loves food," Elesis nodded her head in agreement and checked her phone. Her latest streams and posts were having a lot of criticism and hate. "Adrestia was trying her best. I'm surprised she was still going on even with all these hate comments."

"Hate comments count as interaction, though. It's actually a good thing for popularity," Ciel said with a forced smile. He always hid the hate comments on Lu's streams and posts. The haters would increase in number, but not as much as new followers.

"Oh, does it work like that? Kinda weird," Elesis thought about how the internet algorithm worked, but nothing came to her mind. Was she too ignorant or it's just difficult to manipulate the system?

"When do we get to see your cosplay, though?" Ciel asked the–probably–something that the gang had been secretly waiting for. Rena said Elesis and her were cosplaying for contents, but none of them ever saw the cosplay.

Elesis' face turned bright red, her eyes were looking left and right. She was suddenly cautious of her surroundings and making sure no one was listening. "Well… There's a con at Hamel in 3 days…"

"Let me know if you need help with your cosplay. I'm home most of the time anyway," Ciel said with confidence.

Which drew suspicion to Elesis. "Huh? You can sew?"

"I can."

"Come again?"

The battle was still going on until night time. It was always fun to try new moves, even though it would be pointless in the future when they couldn't fly anymore. As soon as everyone came home, it became more chaotic.

Some people chose to just sit in the backyard and chill. "Are you sure they're trying to talk to Chung? He went to his bedroom to read his new book already," Nisha said with a skeptical look, staring at Noah who was currently eating biscuits. People that were curious about Chung's behavior were actually having fun in the sky.

"They were. At least Lu is with him now," Noah responded.

"It's better that way. We can't just interrogate him and expect him to give actual answers," Add said as he stared at the battle in the sky. The gang seemed to be more friendly toward each other after a spar. Maybe they weren't the kind of people that speak through words after all?

"Lu said it might be his way to cope with his father's death. Who knows?" Ciel shrugged. Because Lu wasn't around, he definitely wouldn't be able to join the battle.

Nisha sighed heavily and looked at them with a frown. "All of you are disgusting. I'll tell you this; Chung doesn't like getting attention. Stop talking about him," she said in an annoyed tone and held her head with her right hand. Why did the gang love gossip so much instead of talking directly to the person? "He's not even being weird. He's just different from Chung on other timelines. Why can you guys tolerate Morpheus being delusional but not Chung being expressionless most of the time? Stop this nonsense."

"We're just curious about his relationship with Bloody Queen. They seemed very close," Ciel said about everyone's main concern. The part where Bloody Queen dragged him to her timeline became the main topic.

"Because he sucks at making friends and Bloody Queen was overly friendly, so he likes her. That's it," Nisha sighed and glared at Ciel, who was ready to ask more questions. "I refuse to elaborate, since you guys only care for him very recently. Bug me instead if you want to know. Maybe I'd consider it."

"Laby and Nisha really care for him. That's nice of you," Noah smiled as he patted Nisha's mirror.

"Why do you care so much for that woman, Noah? Are you still trying to get information on Titania?" Nisha asked in curiosity. Titania was definitely a name Add never heard of before.

Noah gave an answer with a single nod. If they somehow managed to lure the woman to the clinic, maybe some of Noah's nightmare would disappear.

"Titania…?" Add muttered to himself and used his Dynamo to search for information. It seemed that Noah would talk more if he somehow knew more about Henir.

Flap, flap…

Chung and Lu had been trying a lot of yoga poses from Bat Yoga. Sadly they weren't flexible enough to do all the poses correctly, resulting in back and leg pains.

"N-No, no more… not even my wings can help me…" Lu let herself fall face first into the bed. Her whole body started aching due to trying to move more than she could.

"This is impossible. Maybe Ara could do it," Chung said as he flipped through the next pages. As a martial artist, Ara should be having a flexible body.

Lu stared at Chung, wondering about what the group said about him today. Was Chung always like this? She only hung out with him recently. He was way more talkative in Bloody Queen's timeline, though. "There, there. Maybe one day," she smiled and patted his head.

Chung's face flushed red in embarrassment, but he didn't move away. He closed the book and just laid down on the bed while being patted. "You know everyone is talking about you, right? Is there something in your mind?" Lu asked.

"No. I can't think," Chung answered as he opened the book again. Lu asked once more in a serious tone, hoping for an actual answer. With a sigh, Chung closed his book again, resting his head on the bed and covering his own face with his arm. "Nothing. I'm fine."

But obviously, Lu doubted him. "Really?"

"There's something…" Chung muttered as he got up and opened the door. "Do you want to come along?"

"AAAAAAAH!"

Loud screams were echoing in the backyard as most of the gang lost their wings and fell to the ground. Compared to all the fights with the demons, somehow falling from the sky was nothing more than a minor injury. "I may not have wings but I can float!" Aisha laughed at them as she landed on the ground safely. Ara was also safe in Ain's arms as they landed on the ground.

"Ow, ow… I feel old…" Rena whimpered as she rubbed her own back. She should've positioned herself better during the fall, but Elesis' sword caught her off guard.

"Welcome back to reality," Nisha welcomed back and looked at them with a straight face. What's so fun about flying anyway? She didn't find it fun or exciting.

Eve giggled as she looked at her drones helping Elsword from fall damage. She looked around and, obviously, not everyone was there. "Lu and Chung left. Not sure where to," Ciel informed them.

"Nisha!" Rena approached and sat next to her with a smile like nothing happened. Even though everyone was still not gathered, Nisha was also one of the people they wanted to talk with. "How's your day? I heard you went with Add and Chung."

"Why are you friendly all of a sudden? I'm going to sleep," Nisha stood up and left instead. The mirror hesitated, but it eventually followed her.

Add sighed heavily, folding his arms and stared at Rena with a disappointed look. "What are you guys up to? I know we're all wondering what happened to Chung lately."

"We just want Nisha to open up a bit," Eve said as she looked at Nisha going to the bedroom. The girl had no intention of becoming close to them, but somehow she managed to make friends. How did Raven and Chung become friends with her anyway?

"I'm lonely too!" Rose picked up Add's body and sat on his chair, making him sit on her lap instead. "You can't force Nisha to open up. She chose the person."

"D-Do I not look friendly then…?" Rena whimpered and hid her face with her palm.

"Care for Laby, then Nisha will care for you," Aisha smiled at them, showing the horribly made friendship bracelet on her left hand. "Care for Noah, then Nisha will care for you!"

Noah was looking at them as he ate his ramen. He noticed Nisha cares for him a lot, but he just thought it was friendship and nothing more. "Care for Aisha, then Nisha will care for you!" he imitated Aisha and smiled at her.

"Do you count?" Elsword asked as he stared at Raven, who had been saying nothing at all and just listening to the conversation. Raven had the friendship bracelet too.

Ciel raised his one eyebrow. "Chung doesn't count. She got mad when we talked about him."

Add thought about what Nisha said while the others were discussing it. Nisha said something about Chung not liking to be a center of attention, while he's also being a crossdresser at the cafe, which was contradictory. Back when they left him to read his book alone, he didn't really show any weird behavior. When Nisha attacked Aisha after diving too much into Chung's memory, they started talking about him. Nisha merely expressed what Chung wouldn't do–according to her, of course.

For someone that disliked attention, Chung had been doing a lot of contradictory actions.

"What are you thinking about, Add?" Rose asked in curiosity.

Add didn't answer yet. He thought about it all over again and recalled what Nisha said earlier.

"All of you are disgusting. I'll tell you this; Chung doesn't like getting attention. Stop talking about him."

"I refuse to elaborate, since you guys only care for him very recently. Bug me instead if you want to know. Maybe I'd consider it."

"I have a guess, but this will be a whole bullsh-t if it's true. It's so stupid," Add said, getting everyone's attention. "We're bothering Nisha to know about Chung too much, to the point it became too obvious even for Chung. He's doing all that weird stuff so we'll divert our attention to him and leave Nisha alone, but guess what, Nisha doesn't like us bothering him. This thing will keep repeating unless we change something."

The gang turned silent. That did sound like a stupid reason, but it made sense why both of them were behaving like what they were at the moment.

"So… do we just ignore Chung from now on?" Ara asked with a confused look. She didn't know what was happening anymore.

"Let him be and don't ask Nisha about it. If nothing changes, then my guess is wrong," Add said as he looked away from everyone. "As for Nisha, I don't know yet. I need to talk to her more."

Rena pouted. "Not fair. Why did she talk to you and not me?"

Add simply directed his finger at Noah. "Just bring him."

After the talk, everyone went to their rooms. Rena and Elesis were in the closet, discussing their cosplay costumes. "Elesis, what did I–Prophetess do?" Rena asked with a scared look. Her heart was beating faster as she waited for Elesis to answer her.

"What do you mean? Both of us work on our accessories," Elesis answered with a confused look.

"Who's 'our'? Whose size is this?" Rena showed a piece of paper in her hand, containing the size of someone's body to measure their clothes. She showed a bunny girl set that didn't fit her at all. "Eve may be flat, but not this flat. Lu and Nisha are too short for this. Who's this for?"

Elesis was startled, her head felt hot as her face flushed red. There was that certain moment where Prophetess measured… Chung. Now that she looked at the set again, that might actually fit him. She would love to see him wear it at least once.

"Um… Maybe for Celestia? I think she forgot to bring it back with her," Elesis lied. Rena would definitely get hyped if she knew who it was for, but after what the gang discussed earlier, it's best to not let her know about it.

"Is it? Isn't he a bit taller?" Rena wondered about it as she kept the set in the wardrobe again.

Poke, poke.

Nisha slowly opened her eyes, waking up from her sleep. She couldn't really tell what's poking her in the dark, but through the bit of light from the outside, there was definitely someone near her. "Come with us. Bring your pillow," Lu said as she walked out of the room.

Without asking what it's for, Nisha picked up her pillow with her mirror following her from the back. Lu waved her hand silently and walked upstairs, so she did as well.

The fluffy carpet from the living room was brought up to the empty space on the second floor. Chung and Noah were covering themselves with a single blanket and reading Bat Yoga that Chung hadn't finished yet.

"We're having a sleepover?" Nisha asked as she laid down next to Noah and covered herself in the blanket too.

"Thank you for coming. I like it better when I'm not alone," Noah smiled while Chung closed the book.

"I'm turning off the lights," Lu said as she turned off the lights and laid down next to Nisha. The four of them were sleeping next to each other under the same blanket.

"That's unusual. What's wrong?" Nisha asked as she faced Noah.

"Last time we were camping, I didn't have nightmares," Noah muttered, covering half of his face with the blanket. "I just want to sleep…"

"Do you want me to put you to sleep by force?"

Noah was startled with Chung's question. "Huh–No! I-I might need it though…" he muttered, imagining how nice it would be to be just knocked unconscious to get some rest.

Tap, tap, tap…

There would be only one person awake when everyone was asleep. Noah looked up, facing the angel. "Ain, I need your help. I'm sorry, I-I won't ask too much after this! I–"

"Now?" Ain asked as he created a cyan blade in his hand.

"N-No, it would be some time during the day. I'll go to the cafe," Noah informed.

Ain nodded his head. "Fine. Just visit," he said before he left.