They all found themselves in an elevator. Ivy pressed a button with the letter L, and within a few seconds, the elevator doors slid open. They found themselves in what seemed to be a lobby. Andrew quickly took in his surroundings once he exited the elevator. It almost looked like a doctor's waiting room. Will quickly moved to a large window and opened the blinds.

“Andrew, come here!” He yelled with excitement.

Andrew jogged over to the window and looked outside. It was a desert, except the sand was a dark grey rather than the familiar golden colour he was used to. Torches led a pathway into the distance. Plenty of people walked down the pathway, some by themselves, others in groups. They walked in a very long, twisty line that seemed to go on for eternity.  

“Where are they going?” Andrew asked.

Will looked over to him with an excited expression. It seemed as though he was a kid at an amusement park.

“They’re all going to the City of Time! It’s where all of the people who enter Purgatory go.”

Andrew asked with shock, “We’re in Purgatory?!” 

“Yeah!” Will enthused.

Will pointed to the receptionist and Ivy.

“Ivy’s a grim reaper, which is the reason why she wears that robe. When a soul is reaped they get taken here and await their given time. When their sentence is up, they either go to the gates of the Overworld in the north or the gates of the Underworld in the south.”

“You sure know a lot about this, don’t you?” Andrew said with a grin.

Andrew always enjoyed watching Will ramble. Especially when it was about a thing he really cared about. He could tell that Will really liked the idea of Purgatory. Andrew imagined Will in a classroom filled with angels as they learned about Purgatory in history. Andrew giggled, then subconsciously listened in to the receptionists and Ivy’s conversation.

“Yeah, I know he’s a human. Yes, yes, I know he’s an angel.”

“You understand that if you get caught, Ivy, the higher-ups won’t let you go again. Especially after all the hassle you gave about that little girl, what was her name again? Lilly?” The receptionist reminded with kind, tired eyes.

“I know.” Ivy said with a smile that hid secrets.

The receptionist gave Ivy a key and pressed it into her hand. The key was absorbed into Ivy’s palm and became a tattoo. This reminded Andrew of the immortality curse absorbing into my hands and he flinched. Ivy didn’t seem worried or in pain, so he didn’t question anything. Will ran up to Ivy and checked her hand.

“What’s this?” Will asked with worry.

“It’s a temporary key to the Underworld. It will go away after we use it once. We will have to find another way back out of the Underworld.”

Will asked, “What about your teleportation ability? Why can’t you use that?”

Ivy patted Will on the head, and they all entered the elevator once more. Ivy pressed the G button, and the elevator rumbled down.

“My powers only bring me to Purgatory and let me travel in the mortal realm. I cannot use my powers in the Overworld or Underworld.”

Ivy scratched her neck.

Ivy continued, “Well, I guess I can teleport anywhere, it’s not impossible. It’s just that it’s against the rules.

Will looked at Ivy with understanding, but Andrew was a different story. Andrew proclaimed, “Well, fuck the rules! Why does it matter anyway?” 

Will and Ivy both looked at him with wide eyes. Will laughed at Andrew’s stupidity and sort of agreed with his claims.

“Andrew. The rules in our worlds are way different than yours. We will face far more torture than you ever will if we dare break them.” Ivy explained.

The elevator dinged and opened to reveal the grey sand he saw earlier. They all walked in the sand for hours on end until Will began to seriously consider breaking the rules. This wasn’t his home anyway, what trouble could he get in? 

“Why don’t we race there?!” Will yelled a little too loud.

Andrew felt a grin grow on his face against his will. It turns out he was actually quite excited to race. He thought to himself, “What has Vita done to me?” 

Ivy was not impressed though.

“You want to race in a place where all the mortal souls are travelling to serve their sentence? Do you know how much trouble I’m going to get in? Also, you two don’t even know where the gate is.”

Will pointed to a massive dark gate that leaked a suspicious black mist, then he turned to point at a massive white gate with stairs that led far into the sky. It was hard to see, but even from the distance they were at, it was clear where they had to go.

“I think I got it figured out. I don’t think you will get in trouble. Some people running around isn’t going to upset anyone.” Will assured.

“Clearly, the rules are different here than in the Overworld, but I suppose it might be alright if we be careful to watch out for reapers.”

A smile grew on both of the boys' faces, and they zoomed into the horizon. They stayed clear of the path, but close enough to see the torches. Will had not brought out his wings and he only ran on his feet. Andrew felt disrespected by this.

“Use your wings! Don’t go easy on me, loser!”

Will looked back and said, “But, then you would be running all alone. Ivy must be walking, and I don’t want you to be lonely.”

Andrew scoffed, “Just fly, you baby. I'm not even going my max speed yet!”

Will’s white wings sprouted like a flower blooming from his back. They were larger and more magnificent than mine. Will propelled forward so fast that it caused a wave of sand to fly in Andrew’s face. Andrew choked on the sand and looked ahead at Will who was sticking his tongue out. Andrew felt his competitiveness take control of his body, and he began to run double as fast. Still, he could not catch up to the cardigan boy in the distance. Andrew was still terrified of jumping, but he remembered the amount of distance he could cover, so he decided to give it another shot. He leaped into the sky. He jumped so high that he could see the City of Time in the distance. The city was full of bustling markets despite it being night. The little people down below moved in swarms. Among the people were reapers. They wore their robes and held their scythes. They ordered people around and acted as though they were police officers. Will turned behind him, expecting Andrew to be far away in the distance, but he was surprised to see that Andrew was only ten feet away.

Will screamed, “Ah! Go away!”

Andrew seemed to forget how high in the air he was, and he gave Will a sneer. 

“Vita’s faster than you! Unless you can fly faster than that, slow poke!” Andrew yelled.

Will’s face grew dark, and he began to go faster once more. Andrew slightly regretted mocking Will because he was now growing tired. Andrew returned to the ground, almost tripping in his step. He leaped up into the air once more. This time with more control. After about ten minutes, both of the boys made it past the gigantic City of Time and arrived at the gates of the Underworld. Standing at the gates was Ivy, looking at them with dead eyes. Will lowered himself to the ground with sweat running down his face. Andrew flopped to the ground and almost turned into a puddle. 

He struggled to say, “You won, Cardigan boy.”

Will laughed at Andrew’s state and ran over to Ivy.

“You won, dear. I didn’t even see you go by! So fast!” Will complemented.

Ivy looked at him dead in the eyes with the most judgmental expression in the world.

 “I told you I can teleport. I could have teleported the both of you, but you guys kept on not listening to me. Why would I want to walk for hours when we need to be somewhere urgently?”

Andrew let out a sound of agony, and Will almost had a heart attack.

“Ah, whoops.” Will laughed. 

Andrew grabbed Will’s leg from behind and tripped him. Causing Will to slam face first into the ground.

“You idiot!” Andrew raged.

A reaper guarding the gate of the Underworld walked over to the rowdy group.

“Oi, Ivy? What’s goin’ on here?” He asked.

Ivy looked at him with panic showing all over her face.

“Ah! Hello Kyle! I’m just taking these sinners to the Underworld!” She lied as she grabbed both Andrew and Will by the shoulders.

Kyle looked them both up and down.

“These aren’t souls.” Kyle said as he lifted his wrist to his face. 

On his wrist was some sort of communication device. Ivy quickly tapped her lower left palm and pulled out her scythe from her veins. She quickly hit Kyle on the side of his head with her scythe and knocked him to the ground with a thud. Andrew and Will were both taken aback by this sudden development. She had hit Kyle so powerfully that he was knocked out before he landed. 

“Oh my… That was hot.” Will admitted.

Andrew backed away from his best friend out of disgust. Ivy pressed on the doors of the gate with her hand, which was imprinted with the key tattoo. The doors opened and showed a staircase that seemed to go on for eternity, surrounded by darkness.

“This will take us to a lord of the Underworld's nation. The Lord of Waste. He is in charge of punishing sinners. We will have to somehow find a way around getting caught by him.”

They all gulped anxiously, then Will went first after a long breath. He turned back with a smile.

“Let’s go.” He said with determination.

The group stepped forward and the gate slammed behind them. The stairs that they were standing on faded away and they all tumbled down into the never-ending darkness.

“It tricked us! Stupid fucking stairs!” Andrew swore loudly as he braced himself for impact.