The first thing I noticed was the stench. It smelled to high heaven. A smell that stuck to the inside of my nostrils and made me want to vomit. I gagged in my throat and blinked to clear my eyes. Everything appeared hazy and thick, like there was something in the air.

"What is that awful smell?" I croaked.

We stood in a small antechamber within the recesses of a small room. The portal stood behind us, dark and dormant. I cleared my throat, but the smell lingered.

"That my friend, is the stench of victory. Come on, it gets better once were out in the open. Less room to choke on." He headed towards a wooden door across the room. I followed after him. We stepped out into an open area that went as far as the eyes could see. We were centered on a hill of some sort looking down onto the land below. Thick, hazy gasses obscured the ground and I couldn't see what was under it.

"Where are we?"

"Welcome to the Realm of Gluttony. Home to some of the most vile denizens of hell." he said.

"Gluttony? Isn't that the sin of consuming more than what you ought to?"

"In certain layman terms. Mostly it means to desire something that means more to you than anything else in the world. Something more important than life itself. Other times it can mean that you desire something your way and only your way. It also can mean that you demand things from others in an excessive manner. Whichever term applies."

"So being a selfish prick. But wait, I thought it meant primarily to stuff yourself with food while others starved."

"A common misconception. Although you'll find a lot of those kinds of people here too. Notice their stench?" He spread his hands wide. My nose twitched at the smell that hung thick in the air. He was right when he said it would get better outside, but not much better.

"So where is the next portal? Aren't we close to finding Alice?" I asked. He turned his head and peered at me with fire in his eyes.

"We could be, but first I want to know some things about you. I am risking my life after all. My father would be most displeased to learn that I'm helping you."

I let out a sigh. "What is there to know? My name is Bella. I am an angel. I don't remember anything of my past life. I came here to rescue my friend and that is all."

"Such a selfless sacrifice. Does this girl mean so much to you?"

"Yes, she does. It is not in ourselves to be greedy or selfish. She would do the same for me if the situation were reversed."

His eyebrow tilted up over one glorious green eye. "Are you sure? You risk everything by coming here. Your life, your soul, your very essence. How can you say she'd do the same for you?"

I fixed him with one steely eyed glare. "Because I know her. She's beautiful, talented, and I love her like a sister; if we even had terms like that in Heaven. She'd risk just the same as me. She wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me…"

"What do you mean?"

"I was about to be Ascended. It's a certain ritual that all new angels either receive or don't. I was to become a certified angel like my mentor. Calypso was eager and didn't want to wait. She had doubts… That's why she came on this foolish mission. She thought it would somehow earn her wings."

Edward cocked his head. It made him look devilishly handsome. "Am I seeing things, or do you guys already have wings?"

"We do, but not our true wings. Wings that come from being ascended by the Arc Angels themselves. It's a true honor. Until then we are just honorary angels. Our wings are no more permanent than anything else in our world. We could lose them as quickly as a blink of an eye."

"I've heard about the odd whims of Heaven. Is your God truly just? Is He as righteous as you always hoped He would be?" I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"I don't know. I never met Him. But I can say that he is felt throughout Heaven with every second that goes by. You can feel His love at all times." I cleared my throat. "So what about you? Who is the majestic Edward?"

Edward smiled. A smile should life the face and twinkle in the eyes, except his smile wasn't warm. It was a smile like the ones I saw on Fallen Angels. A smile of the damned.

"Not much to tell. I am the son of Satan. I grew up in the Home Realm with no one but myself to talk to. Sure there were demons and imps flying around looking to torment me, but I got a hold on them soon enough. I grew up seeing the dark, thundering skies of my home. The only thing that gave me warmth was the time I spent with my mother… before she died."

"I'm sorry… I don't remember who I was before, so I can't even comprehend the pain you went through."

"Maybe you're better off that way. Her name was Seline. Her hair was the purest gold that hung down to her back. She always smelled like cherry blossoms. She was truly a being not of this place. Makes me wonder how she ever fell for my dad."

"Love has no limits." I whispered.

He looked at me and I swear it was like he was seeing into my soul. His eyes seemed to brighten from sadness to something else that I couldn't identify. "Your right. It doesn't." He tore his gaze away and looked down the hill. A beaten path wove its way down into the gaseous area. "We should get going. There's a lot of ground to cover if we want to make it to the next Realm."

He started walking forward down the path. I stumbled after him and tried to keep up. His black raven wings clung to his body and I couldn't help but admire how beautiful they were. Darkly beautiful. They made my wings look shabby in comparison. Dust and dirt clung to the feathers. I brushed them with a quick hand only to find Edward looking back at me.

"Don't bother. They'll stand out less looking dirty than they will clean. Plus, you'll only make them dirtier as we go along. Gluttony is no place for the clean and well mannered."

I dropped my hands to my side. "Shouldn't we be a little more cautious? We're strolling down the well-lit path so to speak."

He laughed, "You'll understand once we reach the plateau."

After a few moments of trying to keep up, we finally reached the bottom of the hill. The thick air made it hard to see, but you didn't need perfect vision to see the chaos all around. We appeared to be in some kind of large open field, except it looked more like a farmers market of sorts. A much larger one of course. Creatures screamed from all sides, yelling out phrases in so many different languages it was hard to understand any of them. Huge humanoid shapes struggled their way through the crowd, knocking things over with their big bellies. It would be comical if this wasn't a Realm in Hell.

"What is this place?" I whispered to Edward.

"This is where all these souls that can walk come to buy their… pleasures."

"But where's the pain? The screaming? The torment?"

Edward smiled, "Oh it's still here if you look carefully. Most of the people up and moving won't be for long. You see down here we don't have money to buy things anymore. These people have to sell whatever it is they have left in order to get what they want. One year of slavery for a handful of worthless gems. Ten years down in the slave mines for five 'priceless' paintings. Fifteen years in the cesspit for five minutes at the Endless table. There's many things to choose down here, especially when it's for these unlucky sods."

"Who in their right mind would spend fifteen years in the whatever you called it for five minutes at the table?"

"You'll see soon enough. Stay close to me. We don't want any unwanted attention. Usually they look away when they see me coming, but you're bound to pick up someone's notice. A pretty girl never goes unnoticed for long."

My tongue caught in my throat. He thought I was pretty? How could that be. I knew I must have looked like a train wreck. I could feel the dirt clinging to my sweaty skin in all the wrong places. I bet I didn't smell too good either, but down here could he even tell?

I clung to his side as we made our way through the throng of people. I ducked and sidestepped around the Gluttons filling the space. They hardly seemed to hear me. Too intent on purchasing their torment for years to come, instead of watching out for a girl the size of their left leg. I skirted around a woman the size of a small minivan and accidently bumped into her. She didn't move an inch but her bulbous eyes peered down at me.

"Who do you think you are? Do you know who I am? I am the Queen of England. How dare you touch me even for a moment. Guards! Guards!" the fat lady shrilled.

Edward appeared around the other side and grabbed my hand. We left the fat lady behind, I arched my neck to look back to where she was still screaming for the guards. Whoever they were. My companion seemed to be laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" I accused. A part of me was offended. That lady had just scared the crap out of me.

"Your face. It was priceless. You appeared to be concentrating on what to do next, like you had so many options to choose from. All you had to do was walk away. That Queen is no Queen of anything anymore. She'll keep screaming until she forgets why she was screaming in the first place. Then she'll go back to her routine."

"Edward she scared me! I thought somebody was going to come and chop of my head or something."

"You don't have to worry about anyone like that. Only the demons and of course the Fallen. Otherwise just walk by them. It's not like she could chase after you, it would take her too long to get started."

"That's not very nice."

"But it's the truth. Didn't you ever hear that the truth is never nice? No matter how much we really want to hear it?"

I bit my lip and didn't continue. We made our way through the groups of people in silence. We walked by every shade, color, and shape of human being imaginable. Some were the size of houses, waddling along on their tiny little legs. Others were elongated to the point they were almost as tall as the shacks around us. It was weird seeing these people like this. It wasn't just their shapes or sizes it was the looks on their faces. All of them had their eyes on something no one else could see. Some mumbled phrases under their breath as they walked along, others simply just walked at a brisk pace to a destination only they could see. I was dumbstruck at all the commotion going on.

Luckily it seemed as though Edward knew where he was going. We turned left down an alley, right down a street, and took a few more left and right turns before we came to a stone wall that ran out into the distance. A lonely door was cut into the surface. Edward made his way toward the door and opened it. I could hear gurgling sounds on the other side and also a feeling of fear.

I halted in my steps and Edward turned back to face me. "What's the matter?"

"I don't like what I feel coming from that door."

He walked back towards me and took my hand. His skin was blazing warm under mine. It brought a blush to my cheeks. "It's not pleasant. I'm not going to lie to you. This is the next part in our journey and we have to continue or else we'll never make it to the next Realm. Just think, Bella, we're almost there. Calypso is so close."

"I know I appear all majestic and tranquil, but if I'm being honest. I'm a little afraid. I know I shouldn't be telling you this, but it's the truth."

His eyes peered into mine. "Nothing is going to happen to you. Whatever happens from here on out, I will protect you. My father be damned."

I allowed myself to smile. "Twice?"

He chuckled softly. "As many times as it takes."