After a week of questionable good deeds and lazing around, they were ready. With their emotions in a good place and bags packed full of dried meat and water, they set off for their 'Penance'.

Once they left the mining camp, they walked out of town and inland, away from the hustle and bustle of the endless demons and clustered tents.

Leaving behind the comfort and calm they had gotten used to, Solomon felt a deep sense of foreboding.

Each step on the black volcanic rock brought them further from familiarity and into the unknown. Perhaps the trial started now. Before you even arrived at the location itself. Your will and resolve were tested.

Hyde tried to lighten the mood with some banter while Solomon fidgeted nervously. "You actually know where it is right?" Hyde teased Fike. "This won't be like that time you brought us to your favourite restaurant last week and it 'disappeared'."

Fike looked annoyed and snapped back at Hyde "I already told you I didn't get the location wrong. The guy who owned it must have gone to a lower level already."

Hyde laughed at Fike's standoffishness "You'll have to show it to us when we get there then."

They trudged on, their footsteps heavy. Solomons tail practically dragged on the ground like an anchor expressing his internal thoughts.

Alas, time waits for no demon and, while their journey may have felt like it would never end, after 10 short minutes they had arrived.

The three nervous demons stood in front of a black marbled arch. Carved from obsidian it was overwhelmingly black, absorbing any light that dared show its face in front of the arch leaving nothing but overwhelming darkness.

Carved into the arch was a crooked sentence that didn't look like the product of a tool. As if those words had been there since the dawn of time, before that even. An ethereal ancient aura emanated from the demonic symbols and runes.

[Sinners beware. To know one's crimes, you must first know one's past, present and future]

Beneath this sentence was a carving even more ancient that glowed in the blood-red light of the cavern.

[Self-Seeker].

Behind the arch were cobbled stairs. Cracked and worn by the steps of uncountable hordes of demons. Each and every one of them had hopes of freeing themselves from the weight of their crimes and kickstarting a better future.

Solomon could feel the hopes and fears of his predecessors as he looked at the battered and worn steps that led underground into the darkness.

The darkness swallowed all that entered it and whatever came out of the other side was never the same again. Still, with trembling steps forward into the night, the trio walked through the arch and into the unknown.

Even Hyde had stopped talking now, all that could be heard was the shallow breathing of the three and the distant bubbling of lava. Hell wasn't a kind place and this 'Penance' must be faced alone.

The trio knew this and, with a cursory nod of confirmation to each other, they took that final step. Across the threshold into the dark, the unknown and the future.

When his foot hit the ground an echo sounded out in the deafening silence. He was somewhere else now. Not just somewhere else in Hell, but somewhere else entirely. An entirely new place in both time and space.

Solomon tried to breathe but there was nothing to inhale, the air was missing. Strangely, he didn't feel like he was suffocating. Here, breathing was unnecessary.

In front of Solomon, an endless corridor of black basalt stretched out into the unknown. The walls were smooth, free from erosion and any sense of time.

The ground here, of cobbled, black rock was free from the tell-tale signs of passage. It looked as though not a day had passed since it had been laid.

At the end of the tunnel was a gentle glow of light, luring him forward with its inviting warmth. Every step he took echoed off the walls, reverberating infinitely, the only trace of his passage.

His breathing would have been shallow. If he could breathe. As the glowing light neared, the pace of his steps increased and so did his heartbeat.

In his chest, his heart thundered and so did the echoes reverberating off the tunnel walls. By now he was running and the beat of his heart and sounds of his footsteps crescendoed into a deafening... Silence.

He had stepped into the light and now there was silence. The silence was so absolute that it governed this world like law.

Behind him, the tunnel he had come from disappeared. In front, were more tunnels. Surrounding him in what he presumed was a circle. He couldn't see the farthest ends no matter how hard he squinted.

Each tunnel looked identical to any of the others and they all lead somewhere different. In the centre of this circle was a podium and atop it stood a man.

Like a statue, he neither moved nor blinked. In a worn black robe with endless swirling patterns of stars and nebula etched into the fabric.

His back hunched over and his face obscured by the glow of a lantern. This lantern was the source of the light Solomon had seen earlier.

One gnarled hand clutched a battered and ancient lantern. Within the stained glass flicked a fire, The fire seemed to contain life itself. Endless joy, laughter, pain, tears and death flicked in the flame reflected in the Solomons's eyes.

Solomon couldn't tear his gaze from the lantern. He felt that, if he could look into that flame long enough he would understand the very essence of his being, what it meant to exist.

In the silence, a gravelly voice, neither loud nor quiet spoke. "Look away from the light, demon. You aren't ready to see such things yet."

Solomon wasn't sure who had spoken. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't look at the lantern bearer's face so he wasn't sure if it was him.

Plucking up his courage he asked, "Who are you and what am I doing here?" He asked in a voice that was much less impressive than it had sounded in his head.

The flame in the lantern flickered and after a moments pause, which felt like an eternity had passed, the gravelly voice spoke. "I am the lantern bearer and you are here for Penance"

Solomon wasn't exactly surprised by this reply, he had been expecting it. But, it couldn't hurt to check.

"What is this place, if I may be so bold?" Solomon asked curiously.

The flame in the lantern glowed a bright red at his question and, after another eternity, which lasted only a second, the gravelly voice responded.

"In the endless samsara, of life and death, of rebirth and extinction, there are infinite Paths. In front of you are those paths. Interwoven like fabric, they stretch out into forever. Some cross over each other, some meet and some never will." Great bells seemed to intone as The lantern bearer spoke.

"To walk a Path is to exist. At the end of each path is meaning, an answer to why you exist and what you are doing here. Your first penance is to find your path and prove you are worthy to walk it "

After the lantern bearer finished speaking, silence reigned once again. Solomon stood in this silence while confused. How did he know which path was his and what did choosing one mean? He was plagued with uncertainties and the unknown.

Before Solomon could ask another question the Lantern Bearer spoke again, "Once you enter this place, you are given five questions. You have asked three already so ask sparingly." He warned.

Solomon's question froze in his throat. What should he ask if he only had two questions left? What was important in this sort of situation? What could the lantern bearer tell him? He didn't want to waste a question on something unnecessary or something that couldn't be answered.

He looked up and saw a crescent moon surrounded by infinite galaxies and stars, twinkling with the flame of life and possibility. He felt small. So small.

After some thought Solomon turned his attention back to the silent lantern bearer. He was so quiet and still, you would be forgiven for mistaking him for a sculpture. The only thing that gave him away was the gnarled hand that grasped the flickering Lantern.

"What does a path mean to the person that chooses it?" He asked. He had thought of innumerable questions, but he needed to know exactly what he was choosing and what it meant.

The lantern flickered fiercely and The gravelly voice intoned deeply. "Since the beginning, there was life. Life strived to live, to reproduce and find meaning in its existence. However, life was cursed to die. To live and die endlessly. Reborn again, and again, and again."

"What was the point of this cycle of rebirth? Some asked. To suffer forever seemed too cruel a fate. Was there a way to escape this meaningless cycle?... There was." With each word the Lantern bearer spoke, his voice got louder, louder and deeper as massive cosmic bells toned.

Louder and louder, the lantern bearer spoke, revealing the secrets of existence. "To become endless. Tread the path of immortality and throw off the shackles of the mortal coil. To live is to seek enlightenment. To die is to seek atonement. Either way, the end goal is the same. Immortality."

Reaching a crescendo the bells toned painfully loud and the flame in the lantern billowed a brilliant red. "The path you choose is the one you will walk forever. Becoming immortal and freeing yourself from suffering. So be careful, lest you choose wrongly."

With this final word of warning the lantern bearer stopped speaking and silence returned to its rightful place as king here.

Solomon looked at the infinite tunnels surrounding him in awe. Each and every single one led to a new and vibrant future of endless possibilities. Problem was, only one of them was right for him.

When he had first arrived, the tunnels had seemed monotonous and identical, but now. If he looked closely he could see a light at the end of each one. This light glowed with individuality and life, enticing him.

How was he supposed to choose his future like this? Should he just walk up to any of the paths and take a leap of faith. What sort of idiot would make such an important choice about their future like that?

Now that he looked closer at the paths he felt a weird feeling in his chest. His heart, which had calmed down since earlier, was racing faster than it ever had before. At the brink of exploding out of his ribcage.

Like a warning bell, it banged at his ribcage. For some reason when he looked at all of the paths laid out in front of him, he sensed danger. Like if he went down any of them, he would be making a huge mistake.

Was your future supposed to be so structured? To live forever in just one way. Decided by some tunnel. It seemed deeply wrong to him. He felt like he would be shackling himself to such a predetermined path.

With the very fibre of his being rejecting these paths, he could only ask his final question. "What if I don't choose a path?" Asked Solomon with bated breath

The flame in the lantern roared a vibrant yellow at this question and the gravelly voice gained a hint of amusement, "I'm afraid you will never leave this place then, existing here forever. Outside of time and space. Alone, for all of time."

Solomon sighed and looked back up at the brilliant sky where the cosmos flickered in all its glorious splendour. "Does it even matter what I choose then? If they are all wrong anyway?" He muttered. Basking in the glow of the universe.

In the void, the stars littered the sky, like drops of spilt milk. 'Perhaps that was why our galaxy was called the milky way.' Solomon wondered. (Sidenote- It has something to do with baby Hercules biting Hera's boob... no don't ask.)

Solomon looked at all of the stars and frowned. Since whatever he chooses would be irrelevant and he didn't plan to spend eternity here by himself. He closed his eyes and took a step forward. He would let fate decide.

"That's weird, why don't I feel anything beneath my feet." He mumbled.

When Solomon opened his eyes, He was falling.

The ground rushed away from him. The Lantern bearer grew distant and the paths, the tunnels, Became smaller and fainter. Beneath him was the endless galaxy.

He was falling up. Into the universe. Into forever. And as he fell, unchained by gravity. He started to scream.