The sky was not empty. It was crowded, noisy, and perpetually in disagreement with itself. The gods lived there in a heaven that looked like a vast, floating palace made of light, palm fronds, and the occasional stubborn cloud that refused to move. Music drifted from every corner—talking drums arguing with flutes, rattles laughing at gongs, voices praising, cursing, negotiating, flirting. Thunder rolled when someone won an argument.
