A Stairway to Heaven

"We...we're... " Cyril found it hard to breathe steadily and he let go of Staniel. He shook and his face was caught between delight and horror. He could hardly take it in. Cyril shook his head. "Not Sephim," He corrected Artik, "Heaven." He whispered reverentially and pushed the doors open, sunlight fell into the TARDIS and bathed everyone in light. Cyril was the first to step out.

Makoto grabbed Stan and held him by the throat as he followed Cyril out. "So this is heaven?" Makoto looked around. "I can see myself going insane here...." Makoto looked at Stan, "You do anything and I will be even harsher on you than last time."

Artik happened to have a length of Rava chain and stuck Stan to a pillar of the TARDIS. "Do not move." He yawned and followed the others outside. "Heaven? Like, real heaven? Not Snake Way? Heaven? I..." This was a new one.

Cyril smiled and laughed with a joyful radiance that hadn't been shown in a very long time. "Oh no! Not Heaven the way you think of it! The religions of almost the entire multi-verse are based off this place! Every version of heaven has it's roots here. Just a beautiful planet in Universe 42A as it's formally known!" Cyril spread his arms and looked around, taking it all in.  "It fun to watch the expressions of pure confusion rise when you tell someone you're from Heaven!"
The twin suns shone dully and the sky was an impossibly dark blue, but still the planet was radiant. Thick forests of silver grew all around and the grass was a beautiful misty grey color, the air smelled of freshly cut grass though it grew wild and untamed. Star were somehow twinkling in the sky despite the two suns in the sky. Cyril led them west for a while before a plain opened up before them showing miles of rolling hills and simple blue meadows. Tears were streaming freely down Cyril's face. "Oh how I've missed you." Cyril smiled again and looked back at his companions. "The atmosphere is very thin and our suns are in a binary orbit. They're dwarves so they give off enough heat to keep us alive but not as much light as other suns. So this lets us see the stars during the day. Oooh you should just see it at night."

Makoto looked around and frowned. "Honestly I am not much of a fan. It doesn't really fit my nature." Looking around Makoto found a rock. He sent a small ki blast to shatter it. "It might just be my Saiyan nature but that makes me feel much better.

Artik sighed. "Bollocks on you Saiyans and that damn bloodlust. Well, you didn't get it from us." He looked around. "Tranquil." He stretched and fell back under a tree and lay on the grass. "I like it."

Cyril tutted at Makoto, "Better be careful, we Seraphs are very protective of our little slice of Heaven." He laughed at his own joke, but then made himself sad again. They hadn't been protective enough. A soft wind blew bringing the scent of apples with it. He settled near Artik. "Can you imagine it?" Cyril asked. "A year from now a phalanx of Seraphs will be right here. In full battle regalia, the grass ripping itself from the ground from the sheer power of it." His voice dropped. "The stars and the suns blocked from view by a massive warship, warriors descending from it," Cyril's voice carried a quiet intensity that grew stronger by the minute. "The planet was marred beneath our battle, our precious tranquility broken by our own creations, by our friends. Our peaceful people killed and maimed, we took no prisoner and neither did they. We fought like men possessed but we were too slow and too few, Heaven fell and the sky burned and the earth beneath us shattered." Cyril was sobbing, "And I had to watch it fall as Heaven became Hell." He finished bitterly/

Artik turned towards Cyril. "We're going to fix it. All of it. Down to the rock Makoto blew up." Artik looked back at the sky. "And who knows? Perhaps I'd Iike to call this place home. I think Auron'd like that. And Cheshire." He smiled. "Yeah. We'll get heaven back. Mark my words."

Makoto listened to the story. and shook his head. He walked over and placed his hand on Cyril's shoulder. "That is a story I know all too well. The same has happened to me." Makoto smiled at his friend. It wasn't of happiness but the smile that masks pain. "I have seen worlds burn and my people killed by one another." Makoto stepped back and looked around. "Heaven....heaven is just an idea really. The only way it can exist is if those who know of it treat it as such. The dream of an idealistic fool really." Makoto chuckled slightly. "But I guess we all need something to believe in don't we?"

"So. What do you guys want to check out first?" He yawned and stood.

"Well." Cyril composed himself, "Heaven is a beautiful planet, anywhere is as beautiful if no more than anywhere on your universe's planets." Cyril smiled ruefully and got up slowly. "You haven't even seen the water yet have you? I know just the place c'mon!" Cyril set off at a brisk pace back into the forest. "There's this beautiful cliff, called the Stairway to Heaven. A magnificent misty cliff that rises almost vertically at some points, there are special flowers adapted to live at odd angles. They only grow on the Stairway and so we call them Steps. A waterfall drizzles down the west face and during the day it's simply gorgeous!" He told them about the Stairway animatedly. "And at night many of us come and sing as the last sun falls beneath the horizon."

Artik followed Cyril. Because, filler.

They arrived shortly at the Stairway to Heaven where a small crowd was already gathering. There was a buzz in the air. He lead them through the crowd and to the small lavender pool. The water sparkled brilliantly as it fell from the cliff and the dark blue sky framed it perfectly. "Welcome," Cyril whispered to his friends, "To the Stairway to Heaven!" He sighed happily at the peaceful scene. "Do you hear it?"

Artik followed Cyril, weaving through the crowd. "Hello. Hi. Pay no mind to the orange man in a waistcoat with a monkey tail and ridiculous hair, wearing a crown." He grinned when he saw it in all its glory. "It's... terrific. Beautiful." Artik turned his scouter on different frequencies. He frowned, "Hear... what?"

Makoto looked around at the landscape. "Something feels wrong here..." He turned to Cyril. "If this is before the great disaster why is there no one around?"

Cyril looked back to Makoto, "There are plenty of people around," he gestured to the crowd around them, "Though there are few. Most of us travel around everywhere."
He noticed Artik was trying to hear what he was hearing. "Basic Telepathy 75." Cyril whispered to him. Cyril's face lit up in delight, "We're singing. Isn't it beautiful?"

Artik shrugged, taking it off. He concentrated. "Hmm. Yes, yes it is." Artik beamed around at the crowd. "Why don't all of your peiple have wings like those gents over there?" He nodded in there direction.

Cyril glanced in the direction Artik was pointing. He saw a small clutter of Seraphim with various amounts of wings. "They are more older and powerful. As Seraphim mature they gain wings. The most we can have is six, though not many of us ever reach that level." Cyril paused. "Even I only had four before the incident."

Artik grimaced. "Wait. Where are you right now?" Artik gulped.

"Right besi-" Cyril stopped suddenly, "It's... but this is August." Cyril followed Artik's gaze. "I come home for August." There he was. Cyril, the old Cyril. He was standing across the lavender pond from their group with 4 angelic wings.

Artik stiffled a yelp. "Here!" Artik threw a slightly racist Obama mask over Cyril's face. "I always have it with me." He grinned.

Cyril put the mask on hesitantly, "This is ridiculous Artik!" Cyril was anxious to get away from here, a paradox is nothing to mess about with.

Artik yawned, ignoring Cyril's nervousness. "Right then, you two. I'm about to do what I do best--- risk the whole of reality for a nice chuckle." He concentrated for a moment and his appearance mimicked a Sephie next to him. Artik walked over to old Cyril and whispered something to him, patted him on the shoulder and walked back to the group. "Right then, chaps. Let us away?"

Makoto however was intruiged. He walked over to the Seraph and began speaking with them. He spoke of different planets he had seen and listened to their stories of the multiverse. They asked him who he was and he responded that he was the heir to the throne of Vegeta.

Cyril watched Makoto interact with the Seraphim, Cyril could tell Makoto was taking a liking to Cyril's species. He turned back to Artik and began laughing, "I seriously changed my suit because of that comment." Cyril took in one last breath of the warm, slightly scented air of Heaven. Of home. "C'mon Makoto, places to be, people to meet. Ever onward."