Prologue
The Splitting
"If you eat of this fruit, you shall not die, but have wisdom of the angels. You will have wisdom of right and wrong." The serpent was saying. "You will have all of the knowledge of God. Are you sure you don't want that gift?"
"But God did say not to even touch this tree. I do desire this wisdom, but how do I know that I can trust what you say over God?" The woman asked, twirling her lustrous red hair around her finger. " I mean, really, if God said to do something, then I really should think about his reasoning."
"But God doesn't want to share his wisdom with anyone. The angels had to fight him for it, and didn't gain it but through the fruit of this tree." The serpent said, undulating around the woman's legs. "Let's just face the fact that God is selfish and just wants you to be ignorant about him. But if you eat the fruit from this tree, you will know the truth about God, and have all wisdom of the earth."
The woman, whose name was Eve, thought about this. It did make sense. After all, why would God tell her and her man, Adam, not to eat the fruit from this tree, and only this tree. Then he had told Adam and Eve, herself, the moment they touched the fruit of this tree that they would die. Well, she thought, God really doesn't care about our well being. Instead, he just probably wants to see if we fall for his tricks, and when we do, he'll be laughing his heart out.
"Eve," It was Adam, the man. "Eve, where are you." He sounded out of breath and worried. "There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you. You said you'd meet me at the pond by midday, and now it's almost evening. What have you been doing for this long?"
Eve glanced up at the sky, suddenly realizing that she had been gone since midmorning. "I followed this serpent into the heart of the garden. He said that there was something that we needed to see, and that once I came here, I would be able to go and meet you. Then, once I met up with you, I could bring you back and show you." She said matter-of-factly. "Well now that you found me, I don't need to look for you, now do I?"
Adam looked around. Something just didn't seem right, but he couldn't put a finger on it. The part of Eden they were in was familiar enough, but was somehow the wrong place to be all the same. Adam shrugged off the feeling of unease.
"Eve, I really don't think we should be here," he reached his hand out for hers. "Come on, let's take a walk and talk things through."
"No Adam. This feels right to me. I don't care what you do or say, I'm going to stay."
Adam finally placed what was wrong. The serpent was trying to get Eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
"Eve, don't eat that fruit. If you don't do it for me, do it for yourself."
"God only wants us to stay away from it because he doesn't want us to know as much as he does." She countered. "The angels weren't able to receive wisdom from God by asking. Instead, they had to eat from this tree. If God didn't even want his angels to know anything, what makes him so good? What makes him so pure and everything?" Anger drained her face of all color.
As Eve reached for the forbidden fruit, the serpent slithered around the tree. Adam watched despairingly as she plucked a piece of fruit from the tree and took a bite. The fruit's juice dripped like blood from her mouth and hand. He watched as she took two more bites, each time feeling a hunger for the knowledge she had hinted at.
"Let me try some." Adam said extending his hand.
Eve put what was left of the fruit in his hand. Taking a bite, he felt as though some great wave of power was surging to his head. It felt both exhilarating and frightening all at the same time. Hungry for more, he took bite after bite, until there was no more.
At the exact second that Eve had made her decision, there occurred a rip in the universe. That rip turned into another universe, another reality. That rift in space and time made one branch. But what other branches would occur throughout time.
Adam looked around. He felt as though he were about to experience an event of disastrous proportions. Something just didn't seem right, but he couldn't put a finger on it. The part of Eden they were in was familiar enough, but was somehow the wrong place to be all the same. Adam shrugged off the feeling of unease.
"Eve, I really don't think we should be here," he reached his hand out for hers. "Come on, let's take a walk and talk things through."
"Now that you mention it, something tells me that we should stay as far away from this area as we can." She turned to the serpent. "You almost had me tricked into giving into what Jehovah told us not to do. For that you will be sorry, just you wait and see." She turned her head and walked away, leaving a confused Adam to follow in her wake.