Arrival

Gabriel dashes through the familiar terrain at full speed, signalling that he is nearly reaching his destination. The formation of the rocks and the curves of the trees match his memory precisely. He makes a final spurt, knowing that he is close.

The human he is carrying behind him is wearing him down, and the current condition of Hell at this moment is troubling him. If he could, he would be the one to go back to Malique to support him. The thought of his only disciple being beaten, or worse, killed, frightens him to the core.

Well, Michael is strong enough to handle himself and protect Malique. But with only two against all of them, and with Lucifer still alive, he cannot imagine how it will fare.

As Gabriel wonders about it, he finally arrives at the Gate of Heaven. Unlike Hell, Heaven's gate is enormous and beautiful, decorated with gold and silver carving, appealing to anyone who enjoys grandeur.

Even the wall is adorned with gorgeous enhancements befitting a place where God rests. Upon Gabriel's entrance, the gate opens up for the superstar Angel, and three Angels are stationed there to greet him.

"Archangel Gabriel, you're back," The Garrison's head, Hadraniel, is the first to welcome Gabriel. Like Malique, his job is to be the Gatekeeper of Heaven. "Mind if we take the human with us so that he can lay his finger on God's kindness as soon as possible?"

Gabriel nods, confirming that he accepts the offer, and moves the human from his back to the front. But the moment he does that, two of the Angels there quickly take the human from Gabriel's hold and bring him inside with utmost care.

"Something happened back in Hell?" Hadraniel whispers to Gabriel as the two Angels move out of earshot.

"How do you know?" Gabriel asks, surprised. Did some kind of trouble occur in Heaven while he was out?

"I'm not seeing Archangel Michael and even Malique back here, so it's obvious that something must have happened there," Hadraniel, with his perceptive thinking, guessed correctly.

As the Gatekeeper of heaven, Hadraniel did not disappoint. Quick on his feet to sort things out and figure that this problem might be confidential at a glance, even Gabriel is surprised.

"Surely you have noticed this unsettling feeling that all of us Angels are having right now," Hadraniel adds as he describes. Gabriel also felt the same thing a while ago when he was still on the journey to Heaven. Despite overexerting tiredness and loss of power, he still managed to use some of it magnificently.

"Is there any news from God about our current situation?" Gabriel asks.

"To be fair, we haven't heard anything from Him," Hadraniel replies, shocking Gabriel.

"What do you mean?" Gabriel asks.

"I think you should see for yourself, Archangel Gabriel," Hadraniel suggests, lightly tapping Gabriel's shoulder. "I tried to get in touch with the other Seven Archangels, but they asked not to be bothered."

"Alright, thanks for the information," Gabriel responds. "Before I go, Hadraniel, listen to me and do what I'm about to tell you."

"Okay," Hadraniel agrees.

"I want you to gather every single Angel and post them here," Gabriel orders.

"But I can't have them stop and leave their work just on my instruction. If it were God's command, it wouldn't be much of a problem," Hadraniel explains, as he cannot force other Angels to leave their duties unless it is God's order.

"Don't worry. My command is also God's command. There's nothing to lose in doing this, and I'll come back later to confirm that the decree came from me. If it was a mistake, I'll take the blame and apologize to everyone," Gabriel reassures him.

"Alright, chill down. You don't have to take the blame for this," Hadraniel concedes. "I trust you, Gabriel. Your divination granted by God has never let us down."

"Thank you again, Hadraniel," Gabriel says as they both go on their way to continue their work. "One last thing, Hadraniel,"

"What's up?"

"I shouldn't keep this away from you, so hear me out," Gabriel prepares to tell Hadraniel the truth. "Lucifer is still alive and out there somewhere. That's why I want you to meet this expectation of mine, and please keep this a secret from anyone."

Hadraniel is left speechless by the unexpected declaration. Only the widening of his eyelids reveals the consternation he is feeling.

As Gabriel moves further into Heaven, he marvels at the buildings and structures made of quartz, engineered by God Himself to form the most exquisite location ever made. Flower beddings and holy fountains are scattered throughout, and everywhere he looks, his serotonin levels rise exponentially.

The parallel realm, which operates according to God's will, never ceases to amaze Gabriel, no matter how many times he has seen it. Unlimited resources flow generously to the people who live here.

Gabriel has never been to Hell, nor seen the suffering that sinners go through there. Based on how happy and healthy the residents of Heaven are feeling, he imagines that Hell is probably the polar opposite of this 'peaceful' situation.

The thought of the humans he protects suddenly being tortured and slaughtered worries him. He cannot dawdle any longer enjoying the scenery.

Visualizing how this 'peaceful' place could turn upside down if the worst comes to happen, Gabriel wastes no more time and moves as fast as he can to reach the centre of Heaven.

Here, a floating Parthenon stands still to mark the place where God and the Seven Archangels reside. Recollecting what he and Hadraniel spoke about before at the gate, he must find the answer.

When Gabriel lands on the Parthenon's pad, he sees a familiar figure walking swiftly through the corridor. The person wears medieval-style armour, like Gabriel himself, suggesting that he is an Archangel. Gabriel identifies him as Uriel by his silvery-white hair that falls just above his hip.

"Yo, Uriel!" Gabriel shouts to grab his attention, and it seems to work, as Uriel halts and faces him. "What's the hurry?"

"Gabriel, you're back!?" Uriel is stunned to see their leader in person, in front of him, in Heaven. Gabriel rarely shows himself in Heaven, but his presence is always easy to notice. After he has been gone for quite some time, the announcement of his arrival would be the first thing they would notice before seeing him.

"Missed me?" Gabriel jokes, to which Uriel replies with a 'meh' face. "Oh, come on. At least show some reaction."

"We have something more important to discuss than that non-working humour," Uriel retorts while resuming his pace towards the middle section of the vast Parthenon.

"What about God's disappearance?" Gabriel accidentally blurts out the words that have been going through his mind. Saying the word 'disappear' might be overkill, so he hopes that he did not anger Uriel away.

"If disappear is another word for retreating, then yes," Uriel remarks. "By the way, where did you hear such a report?"

"Hadraniel came out with it," Gabriel answers. "Also, he said that you guys forbid him here."

"Oh, yes, I did. I didn't mean to do it, though," Uriel comments with guilt. "I had no choice, we need to keep this a secret after all."

Well, the cat is out of the bag, and Gabriel does not have the heart to tell Uriel about this. Besides, Uriel probably just takes what he is about to say as one of his stupid jokes again.

"We've sent Camael and Zadkiel to have an audience with God long ago, and we still haven't received them back yet," Uriel continues to explain.

"Meaning?" Gabriel asks again.

"I don't know," Uriel points out. "Whether they've been sent by God to do something else in the meantime, or God decided to settle things by Himself, we're not sure."

If God decides to take things into His matter, that would be fine, is not it? Still, it would not hurt to tell us how and when or even just the reasoning of it before, right?

"The others are on standby in the auditorium, so it will just be us six with Michael not around," Uriel mentions and immediately realizes that he forgot to ask why he had not seen Michael yet.

"Where is Michael, either way?"

"I charged him to retrieve Malique back from Hell to flee from there," Gabriel notes. "There are these details I would like to discuss with us all when we arrive at the auditorium."

"Regarding the reason you sent Michael away and the current situation in Hell?" Uriel proposes.

"Spot on."

"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go."