Chapter 4
Emily showed Henry the ice cream store, where he got the best chocolate ice cream he'd ever had.
"Packed Chocolate Sampler" in small italics beneath Comes with a gallon of milk, you'll thank us later -Mgmt
"Why does it come with a gallon of milk?" Henry asked, "Isn't that a bit… excessive?"
Emily took the single scoop of ice cream off the counter and passed it to Henry. Henry grabbed it and strained heavily.
"Oh sorry!" Emily took it back "I forget they've updated it so much now."
Henry was still reeling at how heavy a single scoop of ice cream in a plastic cup.
"That had to have been a hundred pounds!" He exclaimed.
"Eh… give or take. This ice cream is packed which means that it's condensed. It is a sampler of every chocolate from every cocoa plant and every form of processing earth has ever made. Clever right?"
Emily sat him at a table, eager to watch Henry's reaction. He took his spoon and broke off a small piece, still much heavier than what it ought to be. He took a bite and his pupils expanded from the explosion of flavor. Rich, white, dark, and milk chocolate melding together in flavor, both standing out and working together for the ultimate chocolate taste test. The flavors were clearly mixed to perfection, and as he tasted a flavor, he could envision the care and culture that the particular chocolate originated from, even when it was first made.
With that being said, it was too rich to swallow easily, so he quickly grabbed the milk to sip to help get it down. Henry was at a loss for words, managing to only make noises of awe and bizarre murmurs, head tilting, and hand gestures.
Emily covered her mouth and giggled, with it resonating a giddy happiness around her. "Is there anything else I can help you with sir murmurs a lot?" She joked.
Henry's mind began to switch into high gear, though he tried his best to conceal his thoughts and feelings.
"Well, there is one thing…" He started.
"Another bite?" Emily quipped.
"Well, you said Jesus was an angel, and the most righteous, right?" Henry asked.
"Mhmm, the best of the best."
"Was he your leader?"
"Hm… sort of. He was the leader of the archangels, as well as being an archangel himself." Henry piqued with interest gestured for her to continue "Jesus was the archangel of righteousness, and his most trusted companions were Michael, the archangel of might, Uriel of rebirth, and Azrael of purging. After they determined that heaven needed to intervene on earth… They haven't been to heaven since."
"I see… And-"
"I'm so sorry Henry we have another resident in heaven, and I need to greet them."
"Wait! I want to know more."
Emily in a rush said "There's a section in the library but I'll find you when I have time. Just enjoy yourself! Sorry I have to go!" She said before flying off.
Henry stared as she shrank away from view, before standing up and leaving his ice cream treat behind.
Despite feeling immeasurably better…Henry was still concerned about the nature of existence. Before it was distress at believing an entirely misguided view, but now having cried all of that away, he was concerned morally. He had to know more.
Henry navigated to the library, a humble little structure by heavens standards, but still grand in its own right. However, upon entering he realized that the building did not expand upwards, but rather, it was built underground. Henry peered over the railing to see ceiling to… presumably floor bookshelves, though he couldn't see the bottom to verify. Various documents flew about, presumably documenting the events of earth since all the laws of nature only have to be written once.
How am I going to find the section I'm looking for? Henry thought.
"Section 0-0001, floor 1!" Exclaimed a voice right behind Henry.
"Ahhh!" Henry yelled out.
He turned around and a fully metallic being towered above him. This beings features were entirely sculpted from gold, a pair of diamonds lay where their eyes should be, and a permanent neutral pleasant expression was carved into it. This being seemed like a marble statue, only gold and sentient.
"Who are you?" Henry asked.
"Funny! Most ask what I am first!" They spoke. The voice not apparently masculine or feminine, nor inflecting with emotion. "I am the librarian."
I didn't know heaven had robots Henry thought.
"I'm not a robot! I am much greater in every measurable way!"
"You can read my mind?"
"More or less! I simply read a lot about people!" They replied.
"And what-"
"I'm sentient but not personable!" It said.
"Okay… And how-"
"A cloud can take you down! But don't go to section 0-0001! It's restricted!"
"Oh… Why-"
"I don't even know that!"
"So… If I-"
"I don't know! Nobody has tried before!"
"Okay but-"
"I'm always here!"
"Alright" Henry nodded, flustered from being cut off so much. Even though it was convenient for time, it wasn't very polite or pleasant to converse with. The being flew down with golden feathered wings, moving about faster than Henry could properly comprehend. Henry saw the clouds the librarian was talking about, and like many things, it just acted on its own, hovering to Henry.
Henry put his hand on it, and it seemed solid despite its gaseous state. He tried putting more weight on it, and it didn't wane at all. He stepped over the balcony landing and onto the cloud, and balancing on it was incredibly easy as it melded Henry's shoes and legs. Henry descended rather quickly hoping to avoid the librarian.
As Henry flew past, the librarian said "Anxious!" Henry looked up hurriedly, but the librarian wasn't even looking at Henry. It seems that while knowing everything on a technical level, it didn't seem to have much wisdom.
Henry descended all the way down to the bottom before gently passing through the cloud onto the floor. Henry looked up and couldn't quite make out the top, but the natural outdoor lighting helped. Upon looking around, Henry noticed that the library expanded outwardly as well, and the bookshelves were arranged in what seemed to be an intentionally confusing way. Henry noticed an archway that read "0-0001", he meandered over, still unsure how aware the librarian is.
He reached out to touch the arch, before looking up to see if the librarian noticed. Pressing further, he curled his hand around the inside, still nothing. Henry proceeded to step in before quickly stepping out. The librarian was still completely unfazed, flying about and reading, organizing, or whatever it is the librarian does. The shelves were not very orderly, which was odd for heaven. The bookshelves were all different in this section, being made of different woods, marble, among other things. They were also different heights, widths, and lengths, all disorganized into makeshift rows.
Maybe its forbidden to organize them because they are so old.
Henry tried touching a book before pouring over the place. He peered out and the librarian, true to form, did nothing indicating it was bothered. Henry began going back and forth, looking for more answers. The only way he could orient himself was the light originating from the center shaft, there were no other light sources in this section. Henry passed many books, but one caught his eye: Lucifer the Apostate. Henry opened it to read:
Once upon a time there was a glowing city protected by golden gates known as heaven, it was ruled by beings of pure light, angels that worshipped good and shielded all from evil. Lucifer was one of these angels, he was a rebel with terrible desire for shaping the world into his own image. The angels expanded the universe, creating Adam and Lillith, though Lillith did not cooperate with the vision of the angels. It was in her rebellion that Lucifer found her, and they became lovers, tainting Eve, Adams new wife. With this disobedience, humanity spiraled, and was shattered by Lucifer. For this, Lucifer and Lillith were cast out of earth into heavens new creation, hell, where they were allowed to dwell, as well as all the deplorable spirits that followed their influence.
Henry heard voices coming from the center shaft.
Fuck Henry thought. Looking from side to side. I knew they monitored this area.
Henry snuck behind some shelves in the darkness. As the voices drew closer, he heard an all too familiar voice. It was Adam. Though, nothing about his tone suggested he knew he was there.
"We should see about finding their secrets" Adam said.
A feminine voice spoke, but Henry didn't recognize it.
"Sir, it says restricted."
"And I'm Adam! First FUCKING man. They'll make an exception…. If they find out" Adam said laughing.
"What is it that you hope to find, anyway?" The other voice asked.
Henry tried to move opposite of where Adam's voice was, towards the shaft to escape.
"The most ancient information is down here, including everything about the archangels, and if we're going to be going back in six months then I'm going to make it worth my time."
Henry heard the sound of books being thrown and shelves being overturned.
"Sir, last extermination was more successful than any other."
"They BECOME more successful BECAUSE we innovate LUTE" Adam said, spitting out his impatience.
Henry was making progress from the further end of the library, following the light while keeping as much distance from Adam and Lute as possible.
"Ah fucking hell. This will take forever. LIBRARIAN" Adam yelled.
Henry froze, seeing the shadow whisk across the shelves in front of him.
"You rang!"
"No, you fucking idiot I spoke, dumbass" Adam replied. "Where the fuck are the books about archangels?"
"I don't even know that. I'm not allowed here, and neither are you." The librarian responded.
Henry must've been halfway to the shaft from his starting location.
"Well, why don't you take your stupid little nose and start searching?"
"I canno-"
"Listen pal, heaven let us exterminate hell, so you're going to find the section for archangels for me."
Henry's eyes widened. They exterminate the residents of hell?
"Aha of course…" The librarian paused. "Fear."
"The fuck?" Adam said.
Henry heard shifting like they were alert.
"Sir, I think someone is down here."
Fuck
Henry scrambled for a new hiding spot, knowing he was much slower than winged angels.
Henry didn't hear them speaking anymore. They weren't making noise at all. Henry's one tool for knowing where they were was now gone. At last, he found many crooked shelves that made a hiding spot that didn't obviously look well hidden.
Henry snuck inside, surrounded by books forward, both sides, and backwards. Henry heard whispering, but he couldn't hear what was being said.
"I've read 304,783,921,569,006 words since I last spoke to someone in the library! How should I know! Books are more my th-"
"Shut up!"
Henry saw a light growing brighter. One of them must be close. Henry looked around in a panic for any last potential escape routes just in case he needed to run. Henry noticed that behind him were books about hell. Not only that, but this bookshelf also wasn't solid, he could see throw the gaps of the books stacked together that they connected to the next section.
The light turned, clearly in the same row as Henry's hiding spot. Henry heard quiet footsteps someone sneaking close to him. Henry pressed as close to the shelf as possible, making it as difficult as possible to see any sign of him.
Henry caught a glimpse of one of his pursuers and held his breath. Remaining still. The figure remained there for what felt like an eternity, probably looking around this disorganized mess of bookshelves all around.
It was of the same black and white apparel he'd noticed on the angel with Adam when Henry first arrived. Henry only caught a glimpse of the foot, perhaps it was the same angel as before.
Finally, the figure moved on, still searching around.
Henry seized the opportunity and slowly started removing books from the shelf behind him, revealing more and more of the adjacent section. He kept moving books until there was a gap large enough for him to crawl through without creating any noise.
Henry snaked his way through the much more orderly section, presumably 0-0002. He passed books that were titled things like quantum mechanics, gravity, and other applied sciences. Henry followed the light to the main shaft, peering out to see if he could see Adam, Lute, or the Librarian.
Henry didn't see anything so he slinked over to a cloud and began flying as fast as he could to the top. After making it to the balcony landing, Henry took off sprinting outside.
"How do we even know somebody was here in the first place? This librarian seems like an idiot." Adam said.
"Sir, look what I found." Lute said.
Adam flew over, Lute was squatted down next to some shelves. Adam picked them up and threw them to the side, revealing Henry's hiding spot as well as the shelf he escaped into the next section with.
"If one of those DAMN RATS from hell came here I swear-" Lute said in a rage.
"I don't think so, I've never known a hell rat that could come here." Adam said.
"Nobody can enter heaven except through the gates!" The librarian exclaimed.
"I think we might have a resident in heaven that is trying to find out more than they should know" Adam said, with an evil grin painted across his face.
