Upper Management

Just as Gabriel passed the clouds he stopped ascending. This was as far as he needed to go. Heaven isn't what people expect of it. The consensus is that it's up. That's only partially correct, as only the entrance to Heaven is up. Heaven itself exists in the same place as Earth, a parallel of it. To open the entrance you need to be imbued with angelic energy, that only opens it halfway. The rest needs to be done by the angels that guard the gates. So as Gabriel came to a stop thousands of meters above the USA he, for a moment, showed his true angelic form. A form of pure angelic energy, that can only be looked upon by other angels or God as it would burn the eyes of those not worthy. As the light lit up the sky around him Gabriel heard a rumbling voice.

'Welcome home, brother' the voice rumbled as the distinct sound of harps started playing. The angel admitted that the harps were a little over the top as the gates appeared. The harps were meant as an announcement that an angel had returned. As the gates were opened by the guards the angel took flight past them, heading straight for the admission room. Over the years, Heaven has been remodeled multiple times, from a 'farm' theme to a more modernized look. What hadn't changed was the admission system. Every returning angel had to go to a small building near the entrance to sign themselves in and receive any messages.

Once he saw the building the angel was glad to see there wasn't a queue. Not that he expected one, not many angels venture to Earth these days. They prefer to watch, rather then interfere. "Let us see here. Gabriel, Chief Watcher, assigned an...Angel blade," The winged man at the desk said whilst looking at a form. "Yes, that is correct. Any messages?" The watcher replied, summoning the blade as proof that he still had it. The angel with the form ticked something before checking another piece of paper. "Oh my, it seems you have an appointment with upper management...You are to meet the with the archangels at your earliest convenience," he continued, looking rather sorry for Gabriel. After he was done he extended his arm towards the rest of Heaven and welcomed the watcher home.

Leaving admissions, Gabriel wondered what upper management wanted with him.

Heaven is organized like a business. You have the everyday workers at the bottom, angels who don't have assigned jobs and do whatever little job they are given. Then you have management, angels who act like mentors, teaching and punishing the ordinary workers. Above that exists upper management, the archangels who work with their father to keep Heaven running. Other levels exist of course, for example admissions. Gabriel was a Chief Watcher, one of four. His job was to keep the security of Heaven in check, using the rest of the Watchers. Despite this Gabriel could not have spent less time doing his job, as soon as he was assigned a post he used that power to leave Heaven. In all his time there, home always seemed too 'stuck up' for the Watcher.

Gabriel's first stop was the archives, more commonly known as The Library, it contained all records of Heaven's history. Due to this it's records can only be taken off shelves by the scribes. When inside The Library, you may be a little overwhelmed. It measures at about 2 square miles, and is the height of the Chrysler building. The Watcher headed towards the first scribe that he recognized, Azorath, the scribe upon hearing footsteps turned and smiled at Gabriel. "Welcome home brother, what is it you seek?" Azorath spoke in his smooth voice, putting down the books he had been holding. The Watcher tensed, if he had never heard of The Valiard or The City of Gold then that means someone went to great lengths to hide it. The approach had to be careful as it may raise suspicion. "Can I have...the earliest records of Heavens history, along with the book of existing creatures the letters U through Z," The Watcher responded calmly, sheathing his wings as he got closer to the scribe.

The scribe mentally jotted the request down and showing his pure white wings flew up. In the meantime Gabriel looked around. He skimmed through the titles on the shelves - various books on the angelic hierarchy - he peeked at what the scribe was holding before Gabriel got here, nothing interesting. "Here they are, though I don't see why they'd be of use to you," hinted Azorath as he descended next to Gabriel, the Watcher could tell he really wanted to know. "Something was brought to my attention as Chief Watcher, I need to do research on it," answered Gabriel as he took the books and moved to a spare desk. Deciding on 'The History of Heaven Vol 1' the angel placed his hand on the book and closed his eyes. Then with his eyes still closed, Gabriel thought of the City of Gold and opened a page. Letting the book and the heavenly host find the page.

To his surprise the page that opened was the last one. Skimming through the page Gabriel found that right at the bottom where it read, 'The City of Gold wa-', there was a massive rip in the page. The angel frowned, vandalism of the Library's book was a capital offense in Heaven, so who would do it? Quickly the angel picked up 'The Collection of Creatures Vol 5 U-Z', then doing the same thing except thinking of the Valiard, Gabriel opened the book. What he saw was the entire page for creatures beginning with 'V' ripped out. In anger the angel punched the table, getting the attention of both scribes and normal angels alike. Hearing the slam Azorath ran over to the angel, "What seems to be the problem?" he whispered, looking around and apologizing to the others, "Some of the pages are missing, the ones that I need," the angel complained, showing the books to the scribe. The scribe swallowed, looking at the books then back at the angel, "Uh, yes. It was the under the request of Upper Management."

Gabriel laughed to himself. "Of course it was, those sly feathery idiots" Gabriel denounced, as he said that thunder rumbled in the distance and the sky turned black, everyone in The Library stopped moving. All frozen in fear, Gabriel sighed, "Yes, yes, my apologies. Forgive me," he announced stepping out of The Library. Instantly the thunder was gone and the sky cleared to a light blue. Gabriel was annoyed, he knew Heaven had the answers and now it wasn't giving them to him. He decided that since the Archangels wanted to see him, he might as well give them a piece of his mind. His wings appeared suddenly as with a determined look on his face Gabriel flew to the Garden. The Garden was right in the center of Heaven and was home to the auditorium where all meetings took place. Landing among the trees Gabriel spotted two Archangels sitting on stone chairs upon the stage. Walking up, Gabriel noticed that there were indeed only two, Raphael and Zadkiel. Michael was visibly missing.

"Well well well, you have been quite busy haven't you?" Raphael sneered as the Watcher stepped up onto the pedestal. Raphael was wearing a sleek black suit, his voice was deep and stern. Zadkiel sat with saying a word but he gave Gabriel a warm smile. "I have asked you here because despite my express wish for you to stop meddling in affairs beyond you, you continued," Raphael said his voice cold and stern. Gabriel raised an eyebrow, the message he received was from Michael, which means Raphael either lied, or he forced Michael to sign it. Only the former seemed possible, "The message I got was from Michael not you or did you simply just sign it as Michael?" the Watcher asked, he wasn't afraid of Raphael. He might be an Archangel but that doesn't mean he was invincible. "You little, disobedient, worm. How dare you talk to 𝘮𝘦 like that!" boomed the Archangel jumping off the stage and walking towards Gabriel. Smiling the Watcher stepped off the podium and met him halfway. He wasn't going to let his brother boss him around like this, he was already angry at his interference.

"You dare stand against me? I represent father boy and if-" began Raphael.

"Raphael, what is the meaning of this? Why wasn't I informed about this?" A voice behind the pair said, it was stern yet somewhat concerned. Gabriel turned his head and saw his eldest brother, Michael. He was wearing a golden suit that contrasted his black hair. He glanced at Gabriel momentarily, and as he did the angel heard a voice in his head. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. The voice was stern and not one that should be messed with, so the angel stepped away from Raphael who suddenly appeared back in his seat. "I believed the matter to be too trivial for you brother," Raphael spoke as Michael appeared in his seat between the two. "You believed wrong," Michael replied, not taking his eyes off Gabriel. Raphael leaned back in his seat, he was clearly annoyed by the intervention of Michael. "Now...brother, as I understand you uncovered some things on Earth. Convey them to us." The main Archangel said as he leaned back in chair.

"I discovered the prophets who call themselves Born of Fire and they seemed to be using life essence to power a prophecy. The one that was imbued told me about a Valiard that's coming and how the City of Silver would fall like the City of Gold. Yet when I looked in The Library both of those were removed from the records," Gabriel ranted, crossing his arms and awaiting some sort of explanation. Michael stared at the Watcher. He was impressed, the Watcher had used his initiative well and found out more then anyone before him. He thought about what to tell him, or whether to just kill him there and then. "The City of Gold...The Valiard...You speak of fairy tales. Rest assured Watcher, Heaven is in no danger, Lucifer is no closer to getting in. Prophets are unreliable their prophecies may take centuries to take effect and are always cryptic, but we'll take what you've said into consideration." Michael finally assured with a smile.

Gabriel didn't believe his brother, something wasn't right. "Now, go Gabriel. Enjoy your endless life," Michael finished firmly, directing his attention to Raphael and whispering something to him. The Watcher just stood there, did Michael just threaten him? After a moment, Michael turned his head back to the Watcher, "Unless you have something to say, I suggest you leave," Zadkiel spoke up finally, his voice much more timid then the other two. He was looking at Gabriel, almost urging him to leave. So Gabriel took his advice, he spoke up, "I want to speak with father."

Zadkiel closed his eyes. Raphael raised an eyebrow and let out a small laugh. Michael on the other hand sat there, watching the angel closely. Gabriel was determined, his expression didn't falter. If the Archangels weren't giving him answers then maybe his father would. Michael narrowed his eyes at his brother, "That's not how it works, you know that Gabriel" he announced finally, hoping the Watcher would back down. Michael couldn't simply take him to his father and demand he talk to him. "I.Want.To.Speak.With.Father," repeated the Watcher, inside he was terrified. He was defying a direct order from multiple Archangels to leave the matter alone. This could get him demoted from Watcher in general, it would revoke his Earth privileges. Michael frowned, clenching his right fist slowly. He could smite the Watcher right now, end it all here. He would never know any more of the plan. "A miracle saved you once, it won't happen twice. Leave," Michael uttered raising his hand and pointing at Gabriel.

Michael was referring to an event that happened when Gabriel was much younger. He was severely hurt when Lucifer first attacked Heaven, he was only a kid and he tried to stop a demon from escaping. The demon cut him with a sword and left him to die. Due to the nature of the blade, God couldn't heal his son. When one day on the brink of death, the angel suddenly woke up. Completely healed, many chalked it up to God finding a way to heal him. God on the other hand, did nothing to cause it. God didn't know what healed his son, what he did know is that when he was around Gabriel, he felt no differently then he had before. It was a miracle. One that even God didn't predict.

A whole minute passed as Gabriel did not move, Michael sighed and even Raphael turned away. Then there was a sudden crackle in the air as storm clouds formed above Gabriel. Then with an immense crack, a lightning bolt shot down from the skies. Heading straight for Gabriel. As it drew closer to Gabriel it evaporated. Michael cursed under his breath. He couldn't kill his brother, it was against everything he believed. Instead Michael appeared next to Gabriel and grabbing his arm, they both appeared inside a white and gold room. It had a bed, a door that was labelled bathroom, and a fridge. It took Gabriel a moment to realize where he was, just as he did he turned to Michael, "No,no,no,please!" he begged as Michael stepped back and disappeared. Michael had taken Gabriel to the jail cells. The walls were impenetrable and only an Archangel could teleport in and out.

Gabriel was stuck.