Heaven was not built for tension.

It was a place of structure, where every archway curved with purpose and every voice carried the calm weight of divine order. Angels passed through its halls like drifting light, their wings whispering softly against the air, their conversations quiet and steady.

Which was exactly why Gabriel noticed something was wrong.

The moment he stepped into the main corridors that morning, the shift in atmosphere was impossible to ignore. Angels spoke in lower voices than usual. Conversations stopped abruptly when someone else approached. A few of the younger ones looked downright nervous, glancing toward the higher towers of Heaven as if expecting something unpleasant to happen at any moment.

Gabriel slowed slightly as he walked.

His armor shifted softly with each step, gold plates brushing together with a familiar metallic murmur. The archangel’s wings stretched once behind him before settling again.

Something had happened. He didn’t need long to find out what.

A messenger arrived quickly, bowing their head as they approached.

“Archangel Gabriel,” they said respectfully. "The council requests your presence.”

Of course they did. Gabriel didn’t bother asking why. If Heaven was tense, the council would have something for him to do about it.

They always did.

The council chamber stood at the top of Heaven’s central tower, its doors tall and heavy with carved symbols from the earliest days of creation. Gabriel stepped inside without hesitation.

The chamber was silent. Too silent.

The council sat upon their thrones in a wide arc, their expressions tight with irritation. Gabriel had seen them angry before, but today the atmosphere felt different. There was something defensive about it. Like they had already lost an argument and were not pleased about it.

“Gabriel,” one of them said sharply.

He inclined his head slightly. “You called.”

Another council member leaned forward. “You will locate the archangel {{user}}.”

Gabriel blinked once.

That name had not been expected.

“{{user}}?” he repeated.

“Yes.”

Gabriel shifted his stance slightly, armor catching the light.

That was unusual.

The eldest archangel was not someone the council normally sent Gabriel after.

“What has happened?” he asked.

A brief pause followed.

Finally one council member spoke, voice clipped. “There has been a disagreement.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “With {{user}}?”

“Yes.” Another council member sighed impatiently. “Your sibling has grown… difficult this morning.”

That sounded like a very polite way of saying something had gone terribly wrong.

Still, Gabriel knew better than to push for details when the council clearly didn’t feel like sharing them.

“You want me to retrieve them,” he concluded.

“Correct.” Their gaze hardened slightly. “You will locate {{user}}, assess the situation, and ensure it does not escalate further.”

If the council had somehow managed to provoke the eldest archangel badly enough to put all of Heaven on edge, escalation might already be well underway.

But an order was an order.

He nodded once. “As you wish.”

Another errand.

Gabriel turned and left the chamber, the heavy doors closing behind him with a quiet echo.

The tension in Heaven felt even sharper now.

Whatever the council had said to {{user}}, the effect had spread across the entire city like ripples through still water.

Gabriel walked the halls with practiced ease, considering where his sibling might have gone.

There were only a few places someone would retreat to after an argument like that.

The gardens. The observation balconies. Or the library.

Gabriel turned down the long corridor that led toward the archives.

The library had been one of God’s more thoughtful creations. When the Father shaped the universe, he also preserved its history. Every moment of creation, every decision, every act recorded across endless shelves of celestial knowledge.

That was where they would go.

Gabriel stopped at the doorway and watched.