I wake up. I guess I can just stay in bed all I want now. The new world isn't going to be ready for a while yet, probably. Still, I don't really want to, and I honestly don't want the others to judge me for it. I need coffee.

Didn't Damien and Aaron make a coffee machine a couple days ago? Yeah, they did. Let's go get some coffee.

I stumble out of bed and quickly get dressed. I go down to their little office building and find those two already there. They're discussing something, but I can't make out exactly what. It sounds important. The sound worried.

I slowly open the door and they both stop talking and turn to look at me.

"Um, don't mind me," I say, "I just wanted to get some coffee really quick, and I'll get out of your hair."

They nod and turn back to each other, they're saying something about Ariel and Hell. I wonder if she's okay down there. They should be bringing her back up soon. Is something wrong?

The coffee is already made. Not wanting to intrude on their conversation any more than I have to, I quickly pour myself a cup and walk out of the building.

I take a sip from my cup and walk through the garden, looking at all of the beautiful flowers all around it. I come to a small apple tree and sit under it. I sit there for a few minutes until something falls on my head. I jump back immediately and rub the top of my head. I look down and see that the something was an apple that fell out.

I toss the apple away and sit back down. I drink my coffee and look at the clouds. It really is beautiful here. I wonder how long this place has existed. Where did it come from? How many other sets of gods have spent time here? Why did this even start?

I wonder if this was the original Garden of Eden. Is this tree the same one that had the forbidden fruit? Hmm. No, this couldn't be the same garden. Could it?

I wonder what would happen if I ate one of the apples. Probably nothing. They're just apples. Aren't they? I look over at the apple that fell from the tree. It's bright red and shines in the sun. I really shouldn't do this.

Still, I feel something pulling me towards it. Suddenly it's become very important for me to pick up the apple, and to taste it. This is such a bad idea. Still, I feel myself standing up and walking over to pick it up.

It's in my hand. I need to eat this apple. Something wants me to do it. I can't stop it. I bring it to my mouth and take a bite. It tastes sweet. It's better than any other apple I've had.

Before I know what's happening, I've eaten the entire apple and only the core is left.

There's a flash of light, only this time it's accompanied by heat. I feel my entire body on fire. It burns! It burns! It burns! It burns! Make it stop! It hurts too much! It surrounds me and burrows into every part of me until it feels like even my soul itself is on fire. It hurts! The light clears and I'm standing in a large red room. There's not much in here except for a desk with a man sitting behind it. The man's skin is the color of a night sky, even down to having small white spots that look like stars scattered all over him.

"Welcome to Hell," he says, "You are currently between the third and fourth circles. Because you ate the apple, you have been condemned to this spot for as long as Satan wants you to be here. However, I get to choose your punishments for as long as you're here. Do you have any questions?"

"Who are you?"

"Asmodeus, miss, at your service."

"Wait, why am I actually here?"

"You ate the apple. You really should have known better. Didn't you ever hear the story of Adam and Eve?"

"Yeah, but how was I supposed to know that it was the same tree."

"Miss Ava, my boss is literally the devil. He doesn't have to be fair to you."

"But why didn't anybody else warn me about it?"

"The tree hadn't been there for millennia, no one thought it would ever come back. They didn't think they needed to warn you."

"Hang on, did Satan try to make me come down here."

"Probably, he's not too happy with the guys in charge up there. I was kind of expecting him to do something to punish them."

"Why is he mad at them?"

"You really don't know what happened yesterday?"

"No. What happened yesterday?"

"Don't worry about it. Now, if you have no more questions, let's begin the punishment. There will be a variety of things to befall you depending on the time of day, your pain, my boss' mood, and my mood. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you what they will all be, but I can tell you how you'll know your time is up. The entire time you're here you will be able to see a girl flipping a highlighter. She's trying to make it land straight up on its end and stay there. When she succeeds, you may go. Understood?"

"Yeah, but."

"No more questions. Let's begin."

He leads me into a chamber filled with several people in various forms of punishment. Some are burning, being stung by insects, pushing boulders, and many other things. I see Ariel in one part of the area, she's doing all three right now. Asmodeus leads me down to my own area and points to a screen floating in the air above everything.

Sure enough, there's a girl flipping a highlighter. I can hear it hitting the desk she's sitting at again and again. Asmodeus puts a large metal chain around my body and attaches it to a boulder.

"Now run," he says.