"You could have fucking told me that was going to happen!" I yelled as I felt around my sides blindly for anything to orient myself.
Without any warning the blinding light suddenly vanished and I saw something that surprised me even more than the spires of silver and angels that were taller than infinity.
People.
***
"Welcome to the Second Heaven." Daniel said.
There were people everywhere. Hundreds and hundreds of people standing around, each with their own white clothing and glowing blue cherub. All of them appeared to be waiting around for something as they stood in place silently. I looked up to find that we were in some sort of building as this place actually had a ceiling instead of open sky.
"Where the hell are we?" I asked.
Daniel sighed, "I told you. The Second Heaven. Specifically, the Material room."
I looked around the room. Two of the walls appeared to be made of the same flawless marble the gates were made out of. Against the left wall of the massive room were a number of small pillars separate from the wall. While I was looking at the small pillars a bright light flashed on top of one of them. Where nothing had been before now was a small glowing cube just big enough that it took two hands to hold.
One of the glowing blue orbs in the crowd started bobbing in place until a silent person to it's right looked at it. This seemed to appease the little bastard because it flew over to the glowing cube sitting on the pillar and began bobbing up and down. The man, who looked to be in his twenties and in perfect health, walked over and grabbed the cube.
"And we are here why?" I asked.
"Because I have to do my job and my job is to guide you to where you need to go. And you need to be guided through the Second Heaven. And that," He pointed at the cube the man was holding, "is the Material. Hence, Material room."
I looked as another flash of light lit up on another pillar, leaving behind another identical glowing cube. Another bobbing blue light led another silent person to the pillar to pick it up just as the first person was exiting the room through a corridor on the other side of the room.
"Why isn't anyone talking?"
Daniel looked as the new person, a blonde woman, started walking to the end of the room with her glowing cube, "Follow me."
Daniel turned and waved me towards him, "Come on before your little guy decides you're taking too long."
I followed him into the corridor at the end of the room.
"Are we prisoners?" I asked.
Daniel turned and looked directly at the glowing blue cherub to my left before answering, "None of us are prisoners here. We do what we do because we know our purpose here." His meaning was clear enough by the fact he never broke eye contact with the glowing ball.
If either of us said the wrong thing then this little blue bastard would report us to the nearest Seraphim.
Daniel continued walking into the corridor and I followed. After a short walk behind a line of people carrying cubes in front of us and empty handed people heading into the room to our left we entered a massive cavern that stretched far enough that I had no estimate for how big it actually was. The ceiling was fifty feet above as we exited the corridor and entered the cavern proper. In front of us, in long ordered rows, were what looked to be marble anvils about three feet tall. Rows and columns stretched far into the distance, nearly every one occupied by a person.
