The glowing man smiled at me then looked over at Daniel, "I give you leave to enter the Third Heaven, Guide. Your charge is deserving of the Tribulations."
I looked away from the glowing man to Daniel, "Tribulations?"
Daniel motioned me to his side and we stepped aside to allow the first person behind me, with their glowing ring, to step next to the glowing man. He took the ring from the person's hand.
"Gabriel inspects every ring for flaws."
I watched as the glowing man, Gabriel, looked at the ring in his hand. After another moment the soft glow around him dimmed and the ring in his hand grew brighter. Another moment and the ring returned to his normal glow.
"Gabriel?" I asked the glowing man.
He smiled and held the glowing ring out to me.
"The Archangel Gabriel?"
Gabriel smiled.
I took the ring from him, stunned at the revelation of what I was standing in front of.
"When Gabriel finds a ring satisfactory someone is usually here to bring it through the door. We got lucky this time though," Daniel looked at the Archangel who was already busy inspecting another ring, "and get to bring it in ourselves."
I watched as Gabriel held the ring with both hands and did the trick where he made the ring glow brighter. Unlike the one that I currently held, however, the ring in Gabriel's hands first cracked then shattered into a million shiny pieces. They seemed to disappear as the glow dissipated and faded out of existence.
"Sometimes the Material isn't strong enough for our purposes. Now come on." Daniel turned and opened the wooden door behind Gabriel. Behind it was a large spiral staircase scored through the rock leading upwards, "And in we go."
Daniel held the door open for me and I went through it holding the glowing ring in my hands. He closed the door and we both began moving up the spiral staircase. I looked up as we took the first steps and could only see the bottom of the stairs as they spiraled upwards.
"We got a bit of a walk so if you got any questions now would be a good time." Daniel walked in step beside me up the stairs.
"Now we can talk? Isn't the little blue guy," I pointed at the Cherub floating next to my head, "Turn us in if we say anything wrong?"
"Now that we left the Second Heaven there isn't much we can say that'll get them heated. The information in Second Heaven is...restricted. For their own good." Daniel answered.
I saw a blue light float above for a second before another person, a tall woman with a short afro, appeared from around the corner. Daniel nodded at her as she passed by and down the stairs. She smiled back at him as she did.
"Someone you know?" I attempted a light hearted tone of conversation since Daniel had seemed to grow more relaxed as we walked up the stairs.
"I know everyone who travels here. It's my burden to know. Everyone in the cavern you walked through there. Every person traveling down these stairs. I've guided every single person in this section of Second Heaven here."
