*****
Trees. Green. Color had returned to the world. She wasn't moving, but the world slowly slid by. She remembered darkness. Misery. Despair. A knife had been in her hand. Why had she been holding a knife? There were people all around. She was in the middle of a large crowd of people, all moving towards something. Some would glance at her, but most were focused entirely on the light. There were other people too, but they weren’t walking with the crowd. They stayed clear of the weary travelers, dressed in clothes of pure white, pruning trees and hedges, watering flowers, pulling weeds. Some scowled at the travelers, others ignored them entirely, focussed on their gardening duties, while some looked up and smiled in welcome.
Peyton blinked away the fog that seemed to be clouding her mind as much as her sight. She suddenly realized that she was being carried. She was slung over someone’s shoulder in a fireman’s lift, watching the ground slowly pass by beneath. Peyton could see their bare feet walking over grass that was easily the greenest she had ever seen.
“Darius?” she said groggily. She immediately felt him stop and lower her gently to the ground. She managed to stand by herself, wobbling slightly as her feet landed on the grass, but Darius kept a hand on her shoulder to help keep her steady. Even through his oversized shoes, Peyton could feel that the grass was unbelievably soft, like walking on a floor made of pillows. Then she saw Darius’ feet and was overcome with guilt.
Darius’ feet were red and bloodied, skinned almost raw from running over the black rocks of the Wasteland for hours on end. Peyton could see a trail of blood leading back the way they had come, marking the otherwise green beauty of their new surroundings. Then she remembered everything that had happened.
“Darius, I’m so sorry,” Peyton said. “About everything. I don’t know what happened. I was fine, then it just seemed like everything was too hard. I couldn’t think straight, it was like being drunk or drugged or something, but… I was so sad! I’ve never been that sad in my life, I couldn’t… and your feet!”
“Don’t worry about my feet, they’ll heal.”
“But look at them!” Peyton cried. “They’re sliced! Couldn’t you have taken your shoes back? I obviously wasn’t using them and you needed them!”
“There wasn’t time. Peyton, you were dying. I had to get you to safety.” Darius smiled at her. “It’s okay. I should be apologizing to you. I had no idea the Wasteland would affect you that badly. I’m certain that if we hadn’t hurried, you would have been lost forever in your despair. It’s supposed to make the souls that pass through it feel helpless, but the Beacon is to guide them and give hope. But because you are still alive… It was different. But you’re safe now. We’ve reached the Beacon.”
Peyton turned to look at the brilliant light. She wasn’t sure what she had expected to see when they reached the Beacon, but it sure wasn’t this. The source of the bright, orange light was a tree. A huge, oversized, towering tree, full of bright leaves, more orange than leaves could get during the Fall, and each leaf of this enormous tree seemed to be giving off a bright glow, lighting up the sky and signaling those from miles away that this was a safe place to come. Furthermore, as amazed as Peyton was by the sheer size of the tree, how the top-most leaves were far too high for her to see, how the circumference of the trunk was like standing in front of the Empire State Building, Peyton was also astonished to see there was fruit growing from the branches.
“Apples?” Peyton said aloud, astonished. Darius stepped forward and, placing his hand on the small of her back, led her closer to the tree. The souls of those around were also stopping to marvel at the tree and its strange light. Darius led Peyton to the very base of the tree, branches hanging just over their heads, leaves and apples dangling around them. Darius reached up and gently held an apple in the palm of his hand, but did not pluck it from its branch.
“These are Eve’s great pride,” Darius explained. “She has cared for this tree and its fruit for as long as anyone can remember. Since the dawn of humanity, she has been the caretaker of this garden. The garden this tree stands in is a symbol of hope renewed for the souls that have come here from Purgatory.”
“Wait a minute…” Peyton said slowly. “Eve? A garden? Apples on a tree? Are you trying to tell me we’re in the Garden of Eden?”
Darius grinned. “This isn’t the Eve you’re thinking of, and this garden is far from paradise.” Darius suddenly spotted something over Peyton’s shoulder and looked nervous. “Don’t be alarmed, but we’re about to see what happens to many of those who come here.”
Peyton turned to see what Darius was looking at. A few feet away, she saw a man in an expensive suit standing under the branches of the giant apple tree. He looked to be in his mid-fifties and was reaching up to an apple that hung over his head. The man was staring up at the apple as though it was a precious gem. His eyes were wide in awe of it and he was smiling, but not in a way that suggested he felt humbled by the beauty of the tree or the garden it resided in. It was more like the smile of a burglar who had just worked out how to break into Fort Knox. Reaching up, he gently wrapped his fingers around the apple and pulled. The branch seemed unwilling to give up the apple at first, but then finally let go and snapped back, the leaves rustling quietly. The business man held the apple in his hand and was staring down at it in wonder, but as Peyton watched, a dark substance began to ooze from the branch, from exactly where the apple had been picked. The substance was jet black and moved through the air like a gas, but looked exactly like liquid. It flowed through the air, twisting and turning like water from a stream. It moved so fast, Peyton was barely able to track its movement. It spouted from the branch and wrapped itself around the business man’s wrist. It ran over his body like bath water and enveloped him in its impenetrable darkness. The man never even had time to utter a sound. He was instantly sucked into the tree branch and was gone, the apple he had picked now returned to its place in the leaves.
Peyton gasped and looked around. No one else seemed to have noticed, but she saw several others picking apples all around. She turned to Darius.
“Shouldn’t we stop them?” she asked. “What’s happening? Why isn’t anyone reacting?”
“They are all in a trance,” Darius replied. “They don’t notice anything that’s happening around them. This tree is the final test of the soul. Those who take from the tree… fail. Tartarus takes them to face their punishment and Eve, well… Those who know not to take the fruit, Eve will reward. Look. This soul knows better.”
They walked together towards an elderly woman who had wrapped her hand around an apple, but was now letting go and lowering her hand, staring at the apple, shaking her head slightly. As they watched, the woman began to smile. She began to glow as bright as the tree itself. When the light that seemed to illuminate from within her grew blinding, it suddenly dimmed and the woman was gone. Peyton looked at Darius, silently asking for an explanation.
“She has gotten another chance,” Darius said. “She will be reborn and will live again.”
“Reincarnation?” Peyton asked. Darius nodded, but then another voice spoke.
“Yes, of course.”
Peyton blinked and suddenly found herself no longer looking at a giant apple tree, but a much smaller garden, somewhat darker, as though the sun had set some, but it was only due to the sudden disappearance of the light given by the enormous tree. Even Darius looked surprised by the sudden change in setting. They looked around and came face to face with the owner of the voice.
“Eve,” Darius smiled, sounding pleased to see her.
“Hello Darius. My, what are you doing here? Reapers never come here.”
“Wait, this is Eve?” Peyton asked.
The person standing before them was a woman, but barely. She was a teenage girl, maybe just past seventeen or eighteen years of age. She was skinny and petite, shorter than Peyton by almost a head. She was smiling pleasantly at Peyton, wearing a lipstick of bright red. Her red hair, though, was even
brighter. It almost glowed with a red light, shimmering as it hung freely around her shoulders. Eve had her hands folded together in front of her at her hips, and wore a gorgeous white dress, much like the kind worn by young girls at debutante balls. Peyton noticed, however, that she was barefoot. The final thing that Peyton noticed about this girl was her brilliant green eyes, that seemed to sparkle under the light of this strange garden.
“You seem surprised, Peyton,” Eve said kindly.
“I’m not surprised that strangers know my name, anymore,” Peyton said, almost to herself. Then to Eve she said, “I’m sorry, I am surprised. Darius told me that you’ve been here for, I don’t know, I guess centuries. But you look like a teenager.”
“By the standards of an Angel, yes, I am a teenager,” Even smiled. “We do age, but far slower than humans. I’m actually millions of years old.”
“Whoa,” was all Peyton could say.
Eve giggled. “Come this way, Peyton, please. I have something for you.”
Peyton and Darius followed Eve as she walked into a small clearing, filled with flowers of various vibrant colors, shapes and sizes. Peyton slowed down to admire a row of flowers that were almost as tall as she was. When she first looked, they appeared to be violet, but as she moved, the color of the flower seemed to change. It shifted from violet to blue, then green, then orange, before becoming violet again. These flowers, and many more that were far beyond Peyton’s ability to comprehend, let alone describe, were beautifully placed all around the field, made up of so many colors that Peyton didn’t even know existed.
“This place is beautiful,” Peyton said, looking all around.
“Thank you,” Eve said. “I’ve always been comforted by plants and flowers. I like to think that the souls who pass through here enjoy them too. Ah, here we go.”
Eve turned around to face Peyton and was holding an armful of neatly stacked and folded clothes. Peyton recognized a pair of blue Guess sneakers resting on top of the pile.
“Are those my clothes?” Peyton asked.
“Yes. I hope you don’t mind, I thought you might need them,” Eve said. She glanced at Peyton’s purple pajama pants and smiled. “Looks like I was right.”
Eve held out the clothes to Peyton, who took them graciously. “Thank you. But how did you know I’d need them? Did you know we were coming?”
Eve nodded. “I saw you coming through the Wasteland. I briefly left the Garden to get you some essentials. Shame on you, Darius,” Eve suddenly scolded. “Making a woman run all around in her pajamas. What were you thinking?”
“There wasn’t time for her to change,” Darius explained. “And it wasn’t safe for her to return home.”
“Ah, of course,” Eve nodded. “Azrael.”
Darius looked surprised at Eve’s mention of Azrael. “You know?”
“Please,” Eve smirked. “Of course I know. Azrael entered the Wasteland several hours ago. He’s hunting you. I can feel his thirst for you, Peyton. I’m mortified at his betrayal to us all and I will help you however I can. Starting with some more appropriate clothing.”
“Thank you,” Peyton said gratefully. She was tired of wearing the clothes she had been sleeping in. She glanced around the field, then turned back to Eve. “Is there somewhere I can change?”
“Of course, one moment.”
Eve turned and looked up at the top of a nearby tree. In an instant, thick tendrils began to snake their way down to the earth. Dozens of leafy branches began to entwine and quickly formed a large partition. Eve turned back to Peyton and gestured towards the thick green curtain. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
Grinning, Peyton walked around the branches to change. “Thank you.”
When Eve turned to face Darius, he was smiling and shaking his head slightly. Eve grinned up at him. “What?”
“You just couldn’t help showing off in front of her, could you?” Darius chuckled.
“It’s not often that I get to speak to anyone that’s still alive, Darius,” Eve huffed with mock annoyance. “Besides… I saw your little stunt in the Wastelands. Carrying Peyton all the way here? Tell me, Darius, why are you so determined to save this human?”
“Because Azrael has broken the design,” Darius answered. “Peyton is supposed to live, not have her soul devoured.”
“And is that the only reason?” Eve asked sweetly.
“What other reason could there be?”
Eve smiled knowingly and patted Darius on the arm. “Never you mind, Darius.”
At that moment, Peyton came back around the green curtain, fully dressed in a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and her favorite pair of Guess shoes. “That’s so much better.”
“Much,” Eve agreed. “Now, about Azrael. I will help, but I cannot stop him. He has grown too powerful. He is slowed down by the Wasteland of Purgatory and its ability to prevent certain powers from being used, but he is still not far behind you. I expect you came here with a plan, Darius?”
Darius nodded. “Yes. I need you to show me to Fate.”
Eve was silent as she considered this. “Darius,” she began slowly. “No one has seen Fate in tens of thousands of years. And it is incredibly dangerous to get there. Fate does not like to be trifled with and has made the way almost impossible. You will face dangers that might even kill you, not just Peyton. Are you sure this is what you want?”
“It’s the only way I can think of to stop Azrael. Only Fate can stop him.”
Eve sighed. “Very well. I will show you the way. But please, rest a while first. You must both be exhausted. I know Peyton must be.”
“I am a little,” Peyton admitted, cheering silently for Eve for suggesting they rest. She may have slept for the journey to the Garden, but Peyton was still beat.
Darius looked unimpressed. “Fine. But then we need to move. If Azrael isn’t far behind…”
“Don’t worry, Darius,” Eve said, rolling her eyes at Peyton, who hid a smile behind her hand. “You worry so much. I might not be able to stop Azrael, but I can at least slow him down when he arrives. Now sit, please. I expect Peyton has a lot of questions. I must say, you are doing exceptionally well.”
“How do you mean?” Peyton asked as she sat down on the soft grass with Eve and Darius.
“Well, think about it,” Eve shrugged. “Did you ever imagine any of this was real?”
“Well, no, to be honest,” Peyton said. Then added as an afterthought, “Sorry.”
Eve laughed. Her laugh was sweet and for some reason made Peyton think of Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. “There’s no need to be sorry. I expect you to be curious, though. Yet, you don’t seem to ask many questions.”
“I guess I felt like it might be rude,” Peyton shrugged. “I mean, I kind of have no idea who you are. I first thought you were Eve from the bible story of Adam and Eve, but Darius said you weren’t.”
“Well, I am and I’m not,” Eve said, smiling that secretive smile of hers. “You look confused. Let me explain. I am an Angel. The youngest of all the Angels when they first arrived in this universe.”
“Arrived?” Peyton interrupted. Then looked embarrassed at having done so, but Eve smiled patiently.
“Yes, we came here from another plain of existence. The one you would know as God created this entire universe for us to live in, and he also created the Earth and humanity. Now, I was so young at the time, no more than a child, with the maturity of one as well, I might add. Anyway, God had a plan. He wanted humanity to grow on its own, to mature gradually, to slowly become self aware and then to start considering the external parts of the universe and what makes them what they are. But I felt sorry for them. They seemed like abandoned puppies to me. They looked so lost in their primitive state. So helpless. The first time I saw them enduring a vicious winter, I decided to do what we had all sworn not to do. I gave them knowledge. I gave them the fruit of knowledge, as you might recognize from the Bible and such, a metaphorical term and no more. I helped them become self-aware
and intelligent, so that they might be able to make their lives that much easier in the unforgiving wild of the Earth. For this act, I was punished.”
“Why?” Peyton asked. “It sounds like you were trying to do a good thing.”
“Thank you for saying so, but no. I was foolish. Tell me, what do you know about butterflies?”
“Um, not much,” Peyton frowned, confused about the mention of butterflies.
“Well, when a butterfly is emerging from its cocoon, the struggle it endures to do so is helping it develop the muscles it needs to move, to fly, to survive. It is strengthening itself. So, do you know what happens if a child were to help the butterfly out of the cocoon?”
Eve paused, smiling secretively again. When no one answered, she finished.
“It dies. It will not have developed the necessary requirements to survive on its own. You may help it out of the cocoon, but it will not be capable of flight. It will simply sit there, unable to move, until it dies. This is what I did. I helped humanity get out of it metaphorical cocoon. I nearly wiped out humanity. All because I thought I knew better.”
“Well, you didn’t mean to,” Peyton said. “You thought you were helping. And anyway, humanity is fine. We survived. It couldn’t have been that bad.”
Eve shook her head, like a teacher humoring a misinformed student. “If you only knew how close you came to destruction. I deserved my punishment.”
“How were you punished, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Eve gestured all around them, to the tall trees, the soft grass, the beautiful flowers that surrounded them. “I was told to leave Heaven for a thousand years. I was to come here. Because of what I had done, there were those humans who grew selfish and cruel. Their deeds tarnished their souls and were no longer able to enter Heaven once they died. It became my job to guide them from Purgatory and into the Garden. From here, I needed to reeducate their souls. Teach them the error of their ways and send them back to Earth to try again and live good lives of decency and kindness.”
“So, reincarnation?” Peyton asked, to which Eve nodded. “So, wait… I’m sorry, but I’m still confused about something. You’re Eve… and you gave humanity knowledge, against God’s wishes. A crime for which you - Eve - were punished. I’m sorry, but I thought Eve was human and the Devil corrupted her and humanity.”
At this, Eve was instantly on her feet and extended her wings to their full length. The feathers on her wings were a brilliant pearly-white, but seemed to be tinged with flecks of red. She floated above the grass, he toes now several feet above the ground. Her green eyes blazed brighter and caused Peyton to almost fall backwards in surprise.
“Don’t call me that!” Eve shrieked, her voice echoing all around them, but then, as suddenly as she had exploded, Eve looked surprised and then folded her wings back into her shoulders and out of sight. She settled back down on the grass, looking ashamed.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean… I just… I don’t like that so many think of me that way.”
“It’s okay,” Darius told her. “Peyton didn’t mean it that way.”
Peyton was shaking her head, trying to force her heart to stop thumping so hard. “No, of course not. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Eve took a deep calming breath. What followed was an awkward silence.
“Um…” Peyton faltered. “So, if the Garden was your punishment, why do you seem to enjoy it so much?”
Eve seemed to still be too shaken up to respond, so Darius answered for her.
“She only needed to remain here for a certain amount of time, until she fully understood what her actions had done to humanity. When she had served that time, she understood all too well. So she decided to stay and guide the souls of humanity for as long as they needed her. A fact her father wasn’t too pleased with, but at the same time, I understand he was very proud as well. Eve gave up eternity in Heaven so that she could offer guidance to these poor souls.”
“Couldn’t her father have come, too?” Peyton asked. “I mean, technically she was still a kid, right? Doesn’t a little girl need her father?”
“Unfortunately, Eve’s father couldn’t leave Heaven, as he had a lot of very important work to do there,” Darius replied. “Being the creator of the universe and all.”
“Your father is God?” Peyton gasped. Despite her still-pounding heart from Eve’s outburst, she was impressed. “You gave up Heaven for humanity?”
Eve managed to smile. “I suppose so. These souls… They need guidance. They can be good, they just need to be shown how.”
“How do you do it?” Peyton asked.
“Tartarus,” Eve said simply.
“Tar-Tartarus?” Peyton repeated, unsure if she was pronouncing the word properly. “What’s Tartarus?”
Darius shrugged. “No one knows for sure. It has simply always been.”
“My father discovered it here, in this universe,” Eve explained. “It seems to be drawn towards those with tarnished souls, those who have a dark place inside themselves. You may have seen Tartarus by the tree. The black substance?”
Peyton remembered the man that was engulfed by the dark ooze and shivered. “What does it do to them?
“Tartarus imprisons them,” Eve said. “It used to be that he would trap them and never release them. This was what my ‘help’ had caused. Where all souls once ascended to Heaven, there were now those who drew the attention of Tartarus and they would be trapped forever. But my father somehow managed to communicate with Tartarus, as much as anyone can, anyway. To this day, no one knows what happened between Tartarus and my father, but he now releases those who learn from their mistakes. Here, at the edge of the Garden, the green ends and Tartarus begins. He is as big as an ocean, stretching far into the distance. He reaches out and takes the darker souls and keeps them within his depths. They don’t seem to be aware, but Tartarus is able to give them visions of their lives, from the perspective of those they had hurt. That way, they may learn how their actions have affected others. Once they have learned this, Tartarus releases them into my care. I then have them help me tend to the Garden. In caring for the plants that grow here, they learn to value the lives of all living things. Once they have proven themselves to me, I allow them to be reborn.”
“It sounds very complex,” Peyton said.
Eve shrugged. “Not so much. After the first thousand years, it became a really smooth process.” Then she grinned and stood up. “Now, I have to go back to it. There’s a group of souls fresh from the depths of Tartarus that need me to show them how to best care for the hydrangeas. You rest. I’ll return soon to show you the way.”
“Thanks for your help, Eve,” Peyton said.
“Yes. Thank you for everything,” Darius added.
Eve smiled at them both, then turned and walked away into the trees, seeming to glide across the grass with limitless grace. When she was gone, Peyton sighed loudly and fell back on the grass, looking up at the blue sky above. Darius moved closer and sat beside her, looking down at her face.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
Peyton nodded, remaining on her back. “Yeah. It’s just… mind blowing, you know? Like, this is Hell? Really? It’s beautiful here. How can the churches have gotten it so wrong?”
Darius thought for a moment before answering. “It’s not so much about being right or wrong. It’s just as time goes on, people form different ideas and opinions. Those ideas get mixed up and confused with the truth, creating many of the stories that are in all religious texts. It doesn’t make them false and it doesn’t make any religions more or less right than the others. It’s just that people have forgotten that they all came from the same place at one point. That they are all connected, despite their beliefs. See, one thing that I have learned above all else since I became a Reaper is that the details of any particular religion or belief is not what’s important about faith. Strip all of the stories and particulars away, you are left with a simple mes
sage of kindness, of being good to one another. That is what people often forget.”
Peyton nodded, considering Darius’ words. She suddenly felt like her eyelids were exceptionally heavy. She felt too wired to sleep, but she was physically and mentally exhausted and the grass was so soft and comfortable. Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep, with Darius watching over her.