All around him were globes of light. Thousands of them. Soft and wispy around the edges as if they were made of luminous smoke, but with brighter cores that flickered and danced like candle flames in a breeze. All different, all with a slightly different mix of colours and internal structures, strands of light branching and connecting like impossibly intricate spiderwebs. Souls, thought Gloom. That's what souls truly look like when all the illusions have been stripped away.

     Looking at all the souls around him, he was somehow able to get an impression of their characters and personalities, similar to the way that pieces of music could sound sad or happy, peaceful or angry. Mostly there was anger around him, he saw. Righteous anger in some, outraged anger in others. There was also fear, though, particularly among the defenders ahead of him, as well as surprise and uncertainty. Among the damned souls behind him he saw confusion and betrayal at the sight of their leader enjoying the peaceful company of their enemies. He saw the fear that Lucifer was about to give away everything they'd gained, that the purpose of the whole war had been to benefit him in some way. Everything they said about him is true, he saw them thinking. He deceived us all.

     The biggest surprise, though, came when he looked at the two Archangels standing ahead of them. The hideous demon and the glorious angel were gone, and in their place were two souls, differing from human souls only in being far larger and more powerful. Humans and angels were the same, he now saw. Differing only in magnitude, the same way that a candle flame is the same phenomenon as a forest fire.

     In Lucifer he mainly saw vast relief. The relaxation of great tension now that things were turning out the way he’d hoped. Whether that was good or bad for mankind, he couldn't say. He was encouraged to also see a willingness to speak truth to power, though, and that could only be a good thing. In Gabriel he saw determination. The firm resolve that the situation would not deteriorate any more than it already had. Gabriel was acting out of a motive of damage control, he saw. He hadn't come around to Lucifer’s way of thinking, whatever that was. He had simply decided that returning things to the way they had been was not an option and that, reluctantly, a new balance had to be found. Looking up at the other two archangels circling above he saw the same thing, except that he thought one of them was happier about it than the other. Was that Michael? he wondered. Relieved that he no longer had to try to defend God's excesses? At the moment he could only speculate.

     He looked at Benson and Nacoma and found that he was somehow able to pick then out from the others. The patterns of light of which they were composed were as familiar to him as if he'd been able to see them this way all the time. He felt a great wash of warmth and affection at the courage and loyalty he saw in his former manservant, and in the Cherokee he saw such compassion and mercy that he once again felt a great wash of anger towards God that he would dare to damn such a man.

     “Did it work?” asked Benson, seeing the look of wonder in his friend's face. “You did it! What's it like? What do you see?”

     Before Gloom could answer, though, Gabriel spoke, and his voice was so powerful that it was heard by every soul in Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. If he'd wanted, he could have made himself heard on Earth as well. That was the purpose for which he had been created, after all. To be God's messenger. To deliver His proclamations. Now, though, he was delivering a proclamation of his own. One that would almost certainly not be pleasing to God.

     “The war is over,” the archangel declared. “We have reached an understanding with Lucifer and the other rebel leaders.”

     “We're not going back to Hell!” cried one of the damned souls angrily. Others shouted their agreement and a great roar of protest rose from the invading army.

     “Some will go back to Hell,” replied Lucifer. His voice didn't have the same ability to travel to all parts of creation, but it was heard by every member of the invading army. “An agreement has been reached...”

     The roar of protest rose even higher and the damned souls surged forward angrily, but the other two Archangels dropped to swoop low over the human souls and the invaders ducked to avoid their speeding wingtips. Cries of anger followed them as they returned to their places, circling high overhead, but then the damned souls fell into a sullen, angry silence as they waited for their leader to speak again.

     “We have achieved what we set out to achieve,” said Lucifer. “Those who have been unjustly damned will be granted leave to remain in Heaven. The injustice which has angered us for so long will be corrected.”

     “And who decides who’s been unjustly damned?” another human soul demanded.

     “Let him speak,” demanded Gabriel. “All will be explained, but he must be allowed to speak without interruption.”

     “We will hear nothing from the Father of Lies!” declared one of the popes. “His very presence in this holy place is a...”

     “Silence!” roared Gabriel, a command that hit the entire mass of souls like a thunderclap, and the pope fell silent, staring in astonishment. “You can disbelieve, you can condemn, but first you will listen!” The archangel looked around at all the human souls, damned and blessed alike, and nodded in satisfaction when no other voices were raised. He gestured for Lucifer to continue.

     “Every soul will be judged again,” said Lucifer. “Human and angel alike. Their previous judgement by God will be set aside. Everyone, myself and the other Archangels included, will be judged by our actions only, whether those actions took place on Earth, Heaven, Hell, Limbo or Purgatory. Religious beliefs and other internal mental states will be considered irrelevant. Those whose actions are judged to have been good will be granted leave to remain in Heaven. Those judged to have committed crimes will be sent to Hell, even if they were previously denizens of Heaven.”

     “Judged by who?” demanded someone.

     “By us,” replied Lucifer. “By the eight archangels. Even if one or more of us is judged by the others to be deserving of Hell, he will remain a member of the Tribunal of Archangels.”

     “We won’t go!” someone shouted defiantly. “You can't make us. We've proved that.”

     “Those judged to be deserving of Hell will go,” replied Lucifer. “The majority of angels, including those wrongly called fallen, agree to this.” He pointed behind the mass of damned souls, where thousands of angels and demons, no longer grappling with each other, were assembling. “You stormed Heaven with the assistance of rebel angels. The majority of those angels have agreed to enforce our judgement. Those who have not shall join the damned human souls in Hell until their sentence is complete.”

     “Their sentence?”

     “Hell will no longer be for all eternity. It will become a place of confinement and rehabilitation, as well as punishment. When we judge that a soul has been punished enough and is fit to rejoin the community of Heaven, he will be released. We foresee a time when Hell will be entirely empty and can be turned to another use.”

     “And what does God say about all this?” asked one of the saints. Gloom thought it was Mercurius, newly healed and back in one piece, but he couldn't be certain.

     “God will abide by our decision,” said Gabriel.

     “God does not abide!” cried Mercurius furiously. “He commands, and we obey. He will send every single angel to Hell if you defy him. He is God. You are not.”

     “God is no longer what He once was,” said Gabriel. He indicated the popes and the eldest of the blessed souls. “They know the truth, and they have concealed it from you. It is now time for everyone to see what He has become.”

     “No!” cried one of the popes, though. “Have mercy! His dignity is all He has left!”

     The comment brought a flurry of astonished murmuring from the assembled souls, damned and blessed alike, and Lucifer raised his hands until it subsided. “It cannot be avoided,” he said, “but we will endeavour to preserve His dignity as far as possible. No matter what He has become, He remains the creator of us all. He has earned our gratitude for that.” He and Gabriel turned to face the Throne of God, and the Catholic dignitaries reluctantly made way for them.