The light crackling of the burning incense was like the rustling of the wind through a dense thicket. The smoke from the incense burner wafted out from its top, scattered by the afternoon sunlight streaming in from the window. The heavy curtains hanging nearby gently swayed in the breeze.
A hand pressed down on the table, long fingers gripping a quill pen, diligently writing ancient text. The bracelet worn on the wrist and the golden tattoos on the arm indicated his exceptional standing.
A clatter echoed as an earring brushed against something. The long black ears atop his head flicked slightly, Anubis narrowed his eyes, casting his gaze towards the document at hand.
"Lord Anubis! I'm here to collect today's headcount!" Another wolf-headed figure, resembling Anubis, entered the room.
He rubbed his ears, bared his teeth a bit, and then said, "Business is busier than ever lately, we should not have agreed to handle the reception duties. Of everyone in Heaven, we are the busiest. Those people in Asgard would rather brawl in the square than help us..."
"Stop complaining." When Anubis spoke, his voice was very hoarse, making his words nearly indistinguishable. He glanced at the document on the table and asked, "What's going on with the registration staff? Why did you record so many duplicate names?"
"Duplicate names?" The wolf-headed man by the door perked his ears, tilted his head a little, approached, took a look at the document on Anubis's desk, and then said, "Oh, you mean these, these are members from Heaven, their names always come with peculiar titles..."
"For example, this word, if translated into our language, would be 'General'—this one's a pretty important General, not so much this one. It's the same with this one, this word likely means 'noble' or 'minister' or something..."
The wolf-headed man shrugged and said, "This is a system they've developed over the last few years. There are different ranks for Generals and ministers. The repeated entries are about their ranks, not their names, the names come after..."
"Why have so many of them arrived all of a sudden?" Anubis flipped through the document and asked in a slow voice.
His subordinate shook his head, "I don't know, but Lord Archangel told me to inform him if they began arriving in large numbers. Oh, and when you're done signing, I need to get these documents over to Lady of the Crown."
The wolf-headed man showed his teeth once again and said, "Recently, since Lord Khonsu has not been around, Lady of the Crown has had to take over his workload. She's been very busy and grumpy, if we don't work faster, she might come looking for you again."
Anubis's hand stilled on the document, then he passed the pile of documents on the table over, saying, "Go ahead, no need to bring any more lists like this to me. Their names just give me a headache."
The wolf-headed man took the documents and nodded, turning to leave. Anubis turned his gaze to the window and out beyond the intricate curtains— the sun was shining brightly on the square garden.
"Eat this!" Steve threw an elbow behind him and then ducked to avoid an incoming punch. He spun around, hooking his arms around his opponent's waist and slammed him onto the ground.
The man on the other side, a burly bearded man in armor, was unwilling to stay down, and rose, shaking off his arm, "Midgardian, you've got skills, let's go again!"
"Hold on, we've been at this for six or seven rounds now, why not give others a chance? I'd like to try your long spears, I've never used such a cold weapon before..."
"Peter! Peter! Come here and spar with this general. Did you know, he's the champion of Asgard's grand combat games and has been commended by His Majesty Odin, hurry over."
Peter glanced around with a bit of reluctance, "But, Mr. Stark wants me in the lab..., he said that the building that Dr. Schiller constructed is like a primeval cave, he plans on remodeling it, and he wants me to handle the building structure parts..."
Steve stood on the stage, hands on hips, just looking at him. Peter hesitated for a few seconds, then finally set the document down on the long bench by his side, hopped onto the stage in two strides, and rotated his wrist saying, "Let's go, it's been a while since I've fought..."
The burly bearded man eyed Peter, "What's with this shrimpy kid? He's as lean as a bean sprout, you should go eat more instead of... OUCH!"
Watching Peter rush off the stage with his opponent pinned beneath him, Steve shook his head with a helpless smile. Peter's appearance was extremely deceptive.
Despite appearing thin, with smooth muscle contours, he still seemed like an agile person, but in fact, his physical strength was terrifyingly strong.
As such, when he said "fight," what he really meant was pummeling his opponent into submission. The reason he hadn't fought in a while was that everyone knew this about him. After having two of his combat mechas destroyed by Spider Man, Stark never sparred with him again.
"Hey, hey, break it up! Peter, you're cheating! You need to mind your manners. You can't pull at his beard…" Steve called out to him, laughing. Peter rose from atop his opponent, shrugged, and said nothing.
"I'll take you on!" An armored female warrior approached. "Since receiving His Majesty's message and being transported directly from Sakaar to Valhalla, I haven't had a chance to spar, let's go!"
As Peter turned to face her, a small robot with a Stark insignia flew in. From it, Mr. Stark's voice was heard:
"Stop fooling around! Get back here... If you're interested in this boring play... Beam in."
Peter and Steve looked at each other, then both headed towards the Heavenly Temple on the hillside.
Meanwhile, almost simultaneously, the temple where the souls had been initially transported was suddenly flooded with newcomers.
Numerous bewildered souls, still frightened and stunned from their sudden transition from life to death, filled the temple.
After a while, as the bright light before their eyes dissipated, they began to look around, somewhat at a loss as to where they now found themselves.
At this moment, from the doors of the Sanctuary emerged two wolf-headed men. Each in their hands clutched a list. They scanned the sea of souls in front of them before one called out, "General Gerard! General Gerard! Are you here?"
One of the men jerked into consciousness. He answered instinctively, "Yes, I'm here...but where is this? Wasn't I just..."
"McEwen? Member of Parliament McEwen?... Ah, here you are..."
Name after name was read out, awakening bewildered souls. The clamor echoed throughout the Sanctuary and all present felt an immense confusion.
"Didn't I die? Someone attacked the safehouse. There was a big explosion...painful, I saw my own limbs…"
"My God, where is this? Is this heaven? But why are there so many people around? Why didn't God's messenger come to receive me alone?"
"Oh my, Cassandra? You're here too? Is this hell? Jesus, save me…"
"Lord, I served you so devoutly. Have I finally returned to your embrace?"
"Quiet! All of you, quiet down!" One of the wolf-headed men raised his voice: "No noise is allowed here. Maintain silence!"
"What on earth is happening? Where are we?" The general furrowed his brows, examining the surroundings. The wolf-headed man cleared his throat, brandished the long spear in his hand, and said, "Line up everyone, someone wants to see you! We need to take you to the meeting room!"
"Enough chatter, this is heaven and you're all dead. Settle down and get in line!"
Everyone was in disbelief, but the glittering long spear held by the wolf-man was too piercing to ignore. Some lowered their heads to find their bodies had turned semi-transparent.
Souls with insufficient activity could not maintain a complete physical state. Some of the older generals had almost turned completely transparent.
"Am I truly dead?? Is this my soul? He just said that this is Heaven. I made it to Heaven? Oh, merciful Lord…" One of the younger generals crossed his chest in prayer. Outcries of weeping prayer echoed through the crowd, seemingly voicing their gratitude to God.
I died for my country, I deserve to be in Heaven!" one of them proclaimed. "The Lord is just and merciful..."
"That's right, I haven't committed any sins, I've lived a diligent life, I've donated millions to charity... It's only right that I'm in heaven..." Another man exclaimed.
But the general furrowed his brow. He knew something wasn't right. Putting aside their actions and whether they deserved Heaven or not, it made no sense that they were all huddled together. Was this because they had died at the same time?
Besides, some of the people here followed a different branch of a religion. Their beliefs were fundamentally contradictory. How could they all be in the same Heaven?
"Alright, follow me quickly. Like I said, there's someone who wants to meet you all. I can't be held accountable if you're late," the wolf-headed man said.
After speaking, the wolf-headed men herded everyone out. Most of the people hadn't reacted yet, but some voiced their doubts, "Shouldn't angels be receiving us in heaven? Why do these figures resemble Egyptian jackals?"
"What is a meeting room? Shouldn't the Lord be greeting us?"
The crowd left the initial sanctuary, finding themselves in a large garden. It was indeed beautiful, but many still furrowed their brows. They felt that this place, unlike the sacred and bright vision of Heaven, seemed more like a private estate.
While everyone's imagining of Heaven is different, the vast majority agreed- Heaven should definitely not have a pyramid.
The most eye-catching structures near the garden were a pyramid and a Sphinx statue.
Originally, the Egyptian Pantheon took over the comprehensive Valhalla reception and registration work, hence their buildings were nearest to the sanctuary.
The deities in the Egyptian Pantheon preferred grandeur, and as such, in the entire garden, you could only see a huge pyramid standing proudly.
Those with strong faith convinced themselves, crossing their chests and whispering, "The Lord's glory spreads across the world, we are all God's people..."
When they reached the high temple on the halfway up the mountain, they sighed in relief at the sight of the very church-like church, thinking that the previous scene was just a mirage.
But the moment the elevator doors opened, many started to feel uneasy and seeing the unmistakable Stark logo at the bottom of the elevator only escalated their anxiety.
When they disembarked from the elevator and the corridor, identical to the ones in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Base, appeared before them, most felt as if they had been smacked in the head and became dazed.
When Doctor Schiller appeared before them shortly after, all their beautiful fantasies about Heaven were thoroughly shattered.