As he fell up, into the universe Solomon screamed. Unfortunately, there is no air in the vacuum of space and no sound could be heard. His silent, wordless scream echoed in his mind as he fell.

The farther Solomon fell, the faster he moved. As he accelerated, The green flames that surrounded him flared up. He tore through the skies as a shooting star would.

He fell higher and higher, with his head facing the Lantern and his feet, the infinite universe everything beneath him shrunk. The circle of paths shrunk and narrowed beneath him until it became a single point in the distance.

With frightening speed, what was once an unimaginably large collection of tunnels had become another star in the void. The light from the flickering lantern was the only proof it had ever existed, to begin with.

Now that the ground he had just been standing on had become just another star, flickering in the endless universe, Solomon felt lost.

It didn't even feel like he was falling now because he had no perspective. He simply existed, while moving in the nothing that was space. He was neither moving up nor down. Forward nor backwards. Just moving.

By now, He had stopped silently screaming. What good would it do? Also... his throat hurt. Solomon wasn't sure what any of this meant. Clearly, he hadn't picked a path. So what had happened in the end?

Back on the podium, the gnarled hand that held the lantern slowly lowered the flickering flame to its side. The man in the weatherbeaten black cloak raised his face to the heavens, his eyes watching something intently.

His gravelly voice contained a hint of amusement when he spoke, "What an interesting choice, little demon. Best of luck."

Deep in the nothing of space, lit by a vista of stars, supernovas and dying galaxies. Alongside the titanic celestial bodies of the universe, Solomon floated. His metallic tail hung limply behind him, like a shattered chain that had once tethered him to the earth.

His heart was running a mile a minute, somehow, he wasn't suffocating but if he stayed here forever he would either starve or go mad. Maybe both.

First, he needed to stop moving. He could only find his way back to where he needed to be if he could control where he went. But how could he stop?

He tried praying and flailing his arms but there was no answer and nothing to get traction from. He simply kept floating.

Then, in the grips of despair, all of a sudden, in his mind he felt something click. As if a key was just turned in a lock, his mind opened wide to an endless grassy plain. A meadow teaming with life and vibrant colours.

He blinked and everything in his mind was real. He wasn't falling he was really here! Lying in an endless meadow of soft grass as the sun gently caressed his weary body. Intense smells and colours assailed his senses.

Bolting upright with a gasp, he could finally breathe. To Solomon, air was a precious commodity he had been deprived of for a long time. Greedily sucking in the clean, refreshing air of the meadow he took in the sight in front of him.

As he lay there, on the grass, picturesque hills and valleys stretched out around him. In the distance, a rabbit popped its head up from a burrow and sniffed the air.

Cautious at first the rabbit's nose twitched as it searched for danger. Looking left and right, searching for something. It caught sight of Solomon.

Standing at 5 foot 10 inches with small horns and long, curly black hair he stood there in shock. His vibrant green eyes glowed as the karmic flames around him flared up. His tail was prone behind him, viper-like, ready to strike.

The difference between the demon and the rabbit was striking. And yet, the rabbit didn't seem scared. It leisurely hopped its way towards Solomon. Sauntering up to him like he was an old friend.

Taken aback, Solomon was lost for words. It had been so long since he had come to hell. In fact, he couldn't remember anything except for that. That was his existence. Something as frail as a rabbit was alien to him.

Bending down, Solomon came face to face with the fearless rabbit. The curious creature's eyes glowed with intelligence, almost like it recognised him... or... it had been waiting for him.

Since he had never seen a rabbit before, Solomon was confused. What should he do with it? Eat it? Pet it? He didn't know what this strange interaction was.

After a moments pause, he reached out his hand a patted the rabbits head. The rabbit's eyes widened and it rubbed its soft, furry head against the back of the demon's hand.

Then, as confidently as it arrived, it left. Clearly, this was a rabbit that was very sure of itself. It turned its little head back to Solomon and blinked, then kept going.

"Does it want me to follow?" He thought out loud. "Couldn't hurt I guess."

Beneath the cloudless sky, he followed the rabbit. Past a sparkling lake, full of fish and bursting with life. Dragonflies buzzed as they dived into the water, searching for prey.

Up a mountain, sparsely decorated with trees and mounds of dirt, out of which curious moles would occasionally stick their furry heads at the sound of their passing. At the summit, he looked below him. At where he had come from and where he would go and marvelled at it all. And then, he followed the rabbit down the other side.

Into a dense forest, with more trees than could ever possibly be counted. Crawling with ivy and undergrowth, even a simple thing like walking in here was a challenge. Soundtracked by a cacophony of bird calls and crickets. He followed. Until...

They came to a tree. Blanketing the rest of the forest in the shadow of its magnificence. On the twisting bows of the tree, squirrels scurried up and down, searching for nuts and insects to eat. The crown of the tree pierced the cloud tops, unable to be seen from the roots.

Coming to a stop at the base of this ridiculously large tree, the rabbit paused and looked up. Its eyes twinkled as it looked at a branch lower to the ground. The twisting branch was at chest height and adorned with a single apple

Bending low under the weight of the single apple the branch nearly touched the ground. Beneath the branch, stood the rabbit, its eyes urging him to pick it. 'Pick the fruit'

Compulsively, Solomon reached out and grabbed it. With the sound of flesh tearing, the apple came off the branch. Now it was in his hand. He took a closer look at the apple and found it curious.

Glowing red, almost like it had dipped in blood the apple pulsed. 'Did apples always pulse?' Solomon thought his mind clouded with fog. He wondered if any of this was real. Perhaps, he was still falling. How had he gotten here anyway?

A sound snapped him out of his stupor. The rabbit was glaring at him, its golden vertical pupils narrowed impatiently. "Eat it!" Hissed the rabbit.

Impulsively, Solomon bit into the Apple. His sharp Canines pierced the skin and blood gushed out into his mouth, down his throat. He almost choked on the blood that burst out of the apple and forced its way into his stomach.

Confused, he looked at the rabbit, what was going on? Why was he eating an apple? Why did it bleed? He couldn't string two thoughts together no matter how desperately he tried. fighting his malaise with everything he had, he focused on the rabbit until his nose started to bleed.

Suddenly, In Solomon's eyes, The rabbit wasn't a rabbit anymore, a snake was wrapped around his arm with a knowing gleam in its eyes. In his mouth, wasn't an apple, but a beating heart. The tree wasn't a tree but a corpse with a gaping hole in its chest. He had plucked out its heart.

In horror, he spits out the heart. "It's too late!" hissed the snake with glee, "Since you have eaten Adam's heart, you must take his place. You'd better open your eyes. If you don't want to die, that is."

And then, he woke up. He was still in space, in the void, but something had changed. Something was different. He felt like... Yes! He could control his movements.

'What the fuck was that rabbit!?' Solomon swore internally. 'I'll never trust a furry creature again.'

Now that he could control his movements he paused for a moment. Solomon was unable to fathom his current position. He was free. He could go anywhere, do anything. It was kind of scary actually. If he could do anything, did anything have value? Without struggle, was there meaning? He wasn't sure.

However, as sudden as it came, his freedom was whisked away. He felt something pull at his feet, some sort of gravitational force was yanking him from the bosom of the universe and back into the cruel clutches of reality.

Slowly at first, he fell back down. Picking up speed he approached a faint light in the interstellar backdrop. The light flickered, glowing a brilliant orange and gradually filled his vision. Blotting out all the other cosmic lights like a sun.

Every time he blinked, the light grew closer and closer. Soon, something was illuminated by the light. A circle of black stone. Surrounded by snaking and overlapping tunnels. All centred around a podium. On that podium stood a cloaked man. In his gnarled, outstretched hand, a lantern was clutched.

The lantern guided him, as a lighthouse would until he was on the ground again. He knew he should have been relieved. He had finally stopped falling, this should be a cause for celebration. But, beneath his feet, the ground felt... disgusting.

His once blazing karmic flames petered out as his feet came into contact with the ground. Returning to their translucent state. He felt chained.

Solomon raised his head to look at the lantern bearer. "What now?" He asked.

Silently, the Lantern flickered. No reply came. The cloaked man simply pointed. His ancient, wrinkled hand stretched out in front of him, pointing into the distance.

Turning to look at where the Lantern bearer was pointing, Solomon set eyes upon something that hadn't been there before. In front of his baffled gaze was an altar.

Fashioned from obsidian and bone the altar was blacker than night. Much like the arch had, it absorbed any light that dared to show itself in the altar's presence.

On the front of the altar were ancient, crooked words, carved with what was probably a claw. [The Lethe]. In the centre of the altar was a wooden bowl. Stained with time the bowl looked as old as the altar itself.

Inside the bowl was brilliant white water that sparkled in the starlight. For some reason, Solomon knew he had to drink this water if he wanted to leave.

Solomon walked up to the altar hesitantly. He paused, a question stuck in his throat. It seemed unlikely it would ever be answered.

Lifting the bowl to his face he got a better look at the water. It was extremely clear, with specs of starlight floating within. If he focused on each piece of light he would see a vision. Memories of a life once lived, that existed only within this light.

His heart started to beat like crazy again, unwillingness blossomed within. He didn't want some memories of a previous life. He simply wanted to remain him. Wouldn't that be enough?

Sadly it wasn't to be. The overwhelming silence crushed his protests before they could even form. In the end, he just drank the water. It was all he could do.

However, he swore then. Right as the water passed his lips, that he would never let something like this happen to him again. He wanted to be in control of his own life. Not to be led around by a rabbit and a lantern. He made himself a promise then...

To be free.