Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
“And how long a walk is it from here?” I asked.
“We should be there by nightfall if we make good time.”
“Well, I’m ready to go,” Julian said excitedly, turning to Simon. “Aren’t you?”
“Hell yeah,” he said, then jolted, looking at Raphael. “Shit, I just said hell. How bad is that to say here?”
“Okay,” Raphael said, smiling. “Let’s huddle up, guys.”
It was funny, like we were at one of our Sunday football games in Jael’s backyard.
“This isn’t heaven like you’re thinking.”
“How are we thinking?” Julian asked.
“Like the eternal reward for a life well-lived or whatever. This ain’t that,” he made clear. “That’s a different place. And I’m not even going to go into what heaven is when you die because that’s a whole other conversation and is dependent on an entire other set of circumstances. I mean really, heaven can’t be the same for everyone no matter what people on the earthly plane seem to think.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “So this isn’t some celestial kingdom where everything is good and perfect. That’s what you’re saying.”
“Exactly.”
“Then what is it?” Leith asked.
“This is the third heaven, which Anahel has chosen to make neutral. That means that if you’re good, you can be here, and if you’re bad, you can be here, and as long as you follow the rules, no one is going to give you any trouble. It’s why there’s a lot of traffic through this heaven because you can come and go.”
“But there are no demons here,” Leith said, sounding wary.
“Oh no,” Raphael assured him. “But there are folks who aren’t good, and they can exist here because being not good doesn’t equal evil.”
“So a regular cross section of humanity is what you’re saying,” I clarified.
“Except for the fact that you guys are the only humans here, yes.”
“Everyone looks human,” Julian pointed out, gesturing at the people walking on the road we’d soon be joining them on.
“But they’re not. They’re other…but not any form of angel.”
“This is weird,” Simon said, grinning.
“It’s weird for you, yes. Not for anyone else. This heaven is just like most of the planes in hell. Most of them aren’t places of evil. They’re places that are neutral, and those same rules that apply here, apply there. Not everything in hell is evil. Not everything here is good. Does that make sense?”
“I just have a singular idea in my head when you say heaven,” Simon told him. “It’s hard to think differently.”
“Which is fine,” Raphael assured him. “But you were originally worried about saying the word hell here, which is not a problem. I’ll tell you when to worry.”
Simon smiled at him, and after we all drank some water from the metal bottles we’d brought—Raphael had explained that plastic would crumple on our way through the planes of Ibos—we began the walk.
It was easygoing, especially since we were all in hiking boots that Raphael had insisted on, and when it was time to eat, I was surprised that there were people along the road with carts where all manner of fruits and vegetables and bread and cheese could be purchased, along with water, mead, or cold or hot tea to wash it down. I saw gold coins changing hands and wasn’t at all surprised that Raphael was prepared with coins for all of us. He was always prepared.
“Is there no meat in heaven?” Julian asked when we were moving again.
Raphael shook his head. “No. Animals are safe from slaughter in all the heavens.”
I had seen deer in the fields we passed, watched birds fly overhead, and several people had dogs with them as they walked on the road. I even saw a little girl walking with her cat perched across her shoulders.
Every now and then, Raphael would have us move over so wagons and coaches could pass, things right out of movies I’d seen. It was wild, and I thanked Raphael for making this possible.
“I had no idea you’d be interested in seeing other realms,” he told me, smiling as he ran his hand through my hair, tucking a long piece behind my ear. “I’ll show you more if you like once we get back home.”
“I would love that,” I told him, moving in close, bumping him with my shoulder. “Wait, how is homosexuality seen here?”
“Love is love in all the realms,” he assured me. “Who one loves is not judged in heaven or hell.”
“That’s interesting,” Leith commented. “In either place, no one cares?”
“Only on the earthly realm do others take note of who one lies down with,” Raphael said with a shrug. “And even if anyone cared in heaven, Deidre told you that Anahel gave refuge to the angel Sariel and his male mate and received the sigil of the path of the moon.”
“Which is what?” Ryan asked. “I wanted to know but didn’t want to interrupt her.”