As Zeke crossed the threshold, the echo of a whisper reached his ears. “You hunger as I do, and you will never be satisfied. You will consume everything to reach your goals,” it sighed. “You have not escaped. You have not overcome. You have merely embraced your own gluttony – not for food, but for victory. Beware the cost of winning, for it will be your undoing.”

  Zeke tried to ignore the statement, but it stuck with him even as he proceeded through the gate and into an ornately decorated hallway. The second he left the Circle of Gluttony behind, Eveline’s presence returned to his mind. It had been some time since he’d even noticed her absence, but now that she was back, he wondered why she had chosen to remain silent.

  “It was not a choice, Ezekiel,” she said, her voice hoarse – as if she’d been screaming for days at the top of her lungs. “And I don’t have a body, much less organs like lungs.”

  “It’s a figure of speech,” Zeke pointed out.

  “You did better in that circle than I expected,” she said, changing the subject. “Gluttony was never your sin, though. For many demons, overcoming that natural instinct to consume until you can hold no more is extremely difficult. Most consider the Circle of Gluttony to be an impassible wall, beyond which a true demon can never pass.”

  “True demon?”

  “In our culture, there are those who embrace their nature to the fullest extent. They call themselves true demons, as if overcoming one’s instincts makes them less demonic,” she explained. “Those who have done so are considered impure. As if they are trying to set themselves above everyone else. It is like they are playacting as angels, begging to be included in heaven. It’s all nonsense, of course, and overcoming one’s sinful nature is usually the only way to complete the descent.”

  “I don’t think I really overcame anything.”

  “Well, you’re clearly different, Ezekiel. Most who attempt this are not blessed with a store of divine energy.”

  “Most? There have been others with access to it?”

  “Of course. Nothing is new. Nothing is unique. You are not as special as you believe,” she intoned. “The only thing that makes you different is the degree to which you can endure its touch. That is not supposed to be possible until you reach the next realm.”

  “It’s the only reason I’ve gotten this far,” Zeke responded. Indeed, without it, he would have descended into a fit of gluttony right alongside all the other monsters in the previous circle of Hell. That he hadn’t was a testament to the power of divine energy.

  “That is true,” she agreed. “But that may not always be the case. Regardless, you should certainly continue to accustom yourself to the energy. You will need it if we are to continue.”

  Zeke didn’t need the reminder. He’d leaned on that energy for some time, and he intended to continue cultivating his ability to use it. For now, though, he had to ask, “If I completely harness it, will I become a god?”

  “Perhaps. Such terms are difficult to define. What is a god, really? To those in the Mortal Realm, anyone at the peak of the Eternal Realm will appear as a god,” she answered. “The same is true of those at the peak of the Ethereal Realm, at least in relation to the one below. The gap grows wider, in fact. But the use of divine energy sets you apart. It makes you different. Know that it does not make you unique. Others have managed the same feat. In fact, I would be very much surprised if Shar Maelaine had no access to that form of power. The same is true of Oberon. Or the twin trees. Chances are that anyone who has established themselves above the rest of the Ethereal Realm’s population will have done so.”

  “I’m just putting myself on an even playing field, then,” Zeke reasoned.

  “I believe so, but you have to recall – my information is limited, Ezekiel. I have never traveled to the Ethereal Realm. I can only tell you what I remember from my studies long ago, and there is every chance that the details are wrong. Moreover, my memory is obviously incomplete. So, look upon my words with skepticism. I know I do,” she explained.

  Zeke took that into consideration. The problem was that he didn’t know anything for certain. Whether it concerned his own attributes, the nature of each circle of Hell, or how divine energy worked – he was almost entirely clueless. Often, even when things had been explained to him, he’d found that he’d only received part of the story. Or that what he’d learned was entirely inaccurate.

  It was exhausting.

  But one thing he knew he could depend upon was his own immovable nature. He could keep going through just about anything. He could endure. And he would continue to fight. That had to be enough, because he didn’t think he could fully depend on anything else.

  With that in mind, Zeke continued down the hall, and as he did, he took notice of a few factors. First, the hall itself was reminiscent of what he might expect in an ornate palace. The vaulted ceilings were decorated with various paintings that would have been at home in the Vatican, and the walls were trimmed in real gold.

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  “I believe it’s called Rococo style,” Eveline said.

  “What? How would you know that?” Zeke asked, noting that Eveline had never been to Earth.

  “I know what you know. Even if you don’t know you know it,” she explained. “You learned about it in school, even if you didn’t pay much attention to it. Rococo style is not so different from Baroque, only more playful and –”

  Zeke interrupted, “That’s a bit creepy, you delving into my memories like that.”

  “I wouldn’t need to if you would remember your own past.”

  “Forgive me if I don’t immediately recall pointless architectural lessons from decades ago,” he muttered to himself.

  “Centuries.”

  “What?” Zeke asked.

  “It might have been centuries. At least from your perspective,” she stated when he expressed some alarm. “There is some evidence that the passage of time during the descent is subjective, but you can guarantee that you have been here for quite some time. By the time you emerge, you will find an entirely different world waiting for you. It is possible that…”

  Zeke tuned her out. He didn’t want to think about such things, though he found it difficult not to consider the reality that he might complete his descent only to find that his companions had all died of old age. Or from some other tragedy. The Eternal Realm was no stranger to war, after all, and his friends weren’t invulnerable.

  But if he let himself dwell on those sorts of things, he would never be able to reach his chosen goal. Besides, there wasn’t much he could do about it. It wasn’t as if he could simply turn around and return the way he’d come.

  So, he distracted himself by focusing on two other details. The first was the incredibly ornate décor, which seemed both rich and tasteless, and in equal measure. Certainly, Zeke could appreciate it for what it was as well as the skill it had taken to create such masterpieces. At least on an individual level, he could. However, he also recognized it for the gaudy whole it represented.

  It was like walking through a house where a suddenly-rich teenager mistook expensive for stylish.

  In any case, he was far more concerned with the other glaring detail. His body was absolutely wasted, and if he’d had to guess, he would have approximated that he’d lost more than half his body weight. It would have been more, but his skeleton wasn’t affected by malnutrition.

  In a couple of the reflective surfaces, Zeke caught a glimpse of his face, and he was appalled by how terrible he looked.

  But there was some hope. With every pulse of [Hand of Divinity] – as well as the divine energy that preceded it – he regained a little of his former stature. It would not be a quick process, but he was optimistic about the prospect of a full recovery.

  It would have been much easier if he’d had access to his spatial storage, but as had been the case since the beginning of his descent into the various circles of Hell, that access was restricted to only his hammer, which wouldn’t help him in his current situation.

  Slowly, he traversed the hall, and throughout, he continued to let the divine energy flow through him. It was still just as destructive as always, but his body seemed on the verge of passing a threshold of acclimation.

  Or maybe that was just blind hope.

  In any case, he knew that just like his recovery from extreme malnutrition, the inoculation of his body against the power of divine energy would be no quick process. Indeed, if it ever truly happened, it would only be at the end of decades of constant effort.

  So, Zeke continued his task – almost by rote – and kept up the pace as he followed the long, ornate hallway.

  In the end, it took almost a week of consistent walking before he reached the end of the hall, which was characterized by a simple if predictably ornate door. The dark wood was carved with a symbol depicting a set of scales.

  “What do you think it means?” he asked, staring at the carving.

  Eveline gave him a mental shrug. “If it follows the order I was taught, we should find ourselves in the Circle of Greed next,” she answered. “Likely, I will be forced to retreat while you do what you must. So, get any questions out now while you can.”

  Zeke did have plenty of queries, mostly concerning what he should expect. However, aside from the name of the circle and its nature, Eveline had little in the way of real information. She did have one piece of advice, though, which she conveyed in a single order, “Take nothing. Ignore the greed in your heart.”

  “I’ve never been very materialistic,” he said in response. “I think I’ll be okay.”

  “Greed can take many forms that have nothing to do with money or material possessions, Ezekiel.”

  That tracked with what he’d found in the previous circles. In fact, it seemed that there was a common thread of selfish desire that connected each circle to the others. What was the true difference between gluttony and lust, save for the object of desire? It was a good question, but one for which Zeke had no answer.

  Neither did Eveline.

  So, it wasn’t long before she retreated into the fortress within his mind, leaving Zeke with one task – he needed to enter the next circle of Hell, conquer whatever sin it represented, and then continue on.

  Before he did, though, he spent another few days in preparation. Even as his body continued to recover, so did his thoughts come into focus. Because even if each circle was meant to test his physical endurance, the solutions for each usually had more to do with his mental state than the strength of his body.

  It took another week before he felt that he was ready.

  Finally, he rose from where he’d been sitting before the door. His body still hadn’t entirely recovered to its former glory. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him, which made the muscle he had regained look even more prominent than ever before. More importantly, he felt that he could display his full power, so he had no more reason to delay.

  He took a long, deep, and steadying breath, centering his mind and readying his body for the trials to come. Then, he reached out and pushed open the door. It swung on its hinges, revealing a level of darkness that defied any attempt to make out what was within the room on the other side.

  Zeke stepped through, and the second he crossed the threshold, bright light bloomed from above, bathing the room in blinding illumination. At first, he could see nothing, but after blinking away his temporary bout of blindness, he saw that he’d entered a realm of riches unlike anything he’d ever seen before.