Axel thought there would be screaming.
He also expected he would see fire, chains, demons with pitchforks, and all the other things that people have been painting on cave walls and church ceilings for thousands of years. Instead, he got silence.
Not the empty silence of a void, but the thick, heavy silence of a place where sound was there but didn't want to talk. He landed on something solid, but it didn't feel right to call it ground.
It was more like thick air that was strong enough to stand on but gave a little with each step, as if the world itself was breathing under him.
Axel looked around with the same detached, analytical mind he had used for everything in life and death. The area around him was huge, but not infinite.
It was surrounded by walls that seemed to move and pulse with a deep red light. The air was warm, and it smelled like something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
It wasn't sulfur or decay, but at least it was something sweeter and more intoxicating, like wine mixed with perfume and human blood.
This was not a place to be punished.
It was a place to give in to your desires.
He felt the realization settle over him like a warm blanket. There were no screams of the damned, no rivers of fire, and no torturers who were happy to cause endless pain.
Instead, he saw shadows moving at the edges of his vision, shapes that looked like bodies intertwined, and sounds that suggested pleasure instead of pain. This hell was not meant to make sinners suffer, so they would stop sinning.
It was meant to let them be precisely who they were, without limits, judgment, or end.
Axel couldn't help but smile. "This is more like it... something that can be equalized with my libido."
"I'm glad you like it."
The voice came from all over and nowhere at the same time, wrapping around him like silk on bare skin.
It was soft and low and had a quality that made every word sound like a secret between lovers. Axel turned around to seek the source and saw her standing only ten feet away.
She had not been there a second ago.
The woman, if Axel could call her that, was full of contradictions. She was tall, almost as tall as Axel, and her body seemed to be made to catch the eye and keep it.
Her skin was pale, and in the red light, it looked almost like it was glowing. Her hair fell in waves of deep black that seemed to soak up the light around it.
She wore something that could be called a dress, but it looked more like shadows and fabric had come to an agreement. It clung to her body in ways that left little to the imagination while still looking classy.
Axel was drawn to her eyes, though, and they held his attention.
They were a deep violet color, almost black, with red flecks that looked like they were swirling and dancing like embers in a dying fire. And to be exact, those eyes were not kind.
Their eyes weren't mean and hungry for desire, like those of a predator that had found something intriguing and was deciding whether to eat it or play with it.
Axel wasn't scared, but he was just curious.
He said, "Let me guess," in a casual tone.
"You own this place."
The woman's lips turned up into a smile that promised things Axel couldn't quite put his finger on. "Among other things."
"You can call me Lustia, but I've had many names over the years."
"For example, I have been known as the Goddess of Lust, Mistress of Desire, and the Forbidden Divinity, and my favorite name, which even other gods fear to mention."
"Dramatic," Axel said.
Lustia's smile got bigger. "I've had thousands of years to build my reputation, and being humble does not make you a forbidden god."
She started to circle him slowly, moving like a cat stalking its prey. "Axel Graves, you're an interesting human..."
"Not many humans come to my domain laughing like a total predator..."
"Most of them come in screaming, begging, or so broken that they can't be recognized."
"But you? Like a man diving into a pool on a hot summer day," she said.
Axel said, "The Goddess of Life thought she was punishing me," and he turned to keep her in his line of sight.
"She just saved me the trouble of looking for a better afterlife."
"Oh, she was punishing you," Lustia said, stopping right in front of him.
She was close now, close enough that Axel could feel the warmth coming from her skin and smell the intoxicating scent that seemed to get stronger when she was around.
"She threw you into the deepest hole she could find, hoping you would suffer forever or just stop existing."
"She didn't get that abyss, or should I say... hell isn't a place where everyone suffers."
"It is a place of truth."
"Truth?"
"Heaven rewards those who go against their nature."
"Those who accept hell are welcomed there." Lustia reached out and touched Axel's cheek with her fingers.
It was a touch that made his nonexistent nerves tingle. "You didn't hesitate or feel bad about who you were."
"You chose your darkness not because you were broken, but because it was true."
"That kind of soul doesn't hurt here, Axel. It does well."
Axel didn't pull away from her touch, and he didn't lean into it either. He just watched, taking note of how her eyes seemed to darken with interest when he didn't respond.
"So what now?"
"You show me around the palace of eternal pleasure?"
'Explain the rules of damnation?"
"Or give me a job torturing the souls of those who are suffering?"
Lustia laughed, "Nothing so ordinary."
"I have an idea for you that I think you'll find much more interesting than anything the Goddess of Life had to offer."
"I'm paying attention." Axel crossed his arms.
She took a step back, making room between them, and the air seemed to be full of energy. "The Goddess of Life sees sinners as broken toys that need to be fixed."
"When she looks at souls like yours, all she sees are flaws, things that need to be fixed, corrected, and saved."
"All that kindness and hope is exhausting." Lustia's voice was almost mocking now. "But me?"
"I don't see any problems."
"All I see is promise and a soul that knows the most important truth about life, which is that desire is not a weakness to be overcome but a power to be used."
"You want to use me," Axel said in a flat voice.
"I want to invest something into you," Lustia said. "There's a difference."
"If I used you, it would mean I'm taking something without giving it back."
"What I'm offering is a partnership, a contract between two beings who are as equal as a mortal soul and a goddess can be." She waved her hand, and the area around them shook.
They weren't standing in the red void anymore.
Instead, they were in a room that looked like a throne room, but the throne itself looked less like furniture and more like an expression of power carved from obsidian and desire.
Lustia sat down on the throne in a way that made it look like she was trying to seduce someone. "The Goddess of Life turned you down because you wouldn't do what she wanted."
"She wanted to change you so that you looked like her idea of perfection."
"And for me... I don't have any such ideas."
"Axel Graves, I would rather not fix you."
"I want to let you go enjoy your freedom."
Axel felt a real interest was growing. "And what do you get out of this deal?"
"Desire," Lustia said simply. "and power."
"A representative in the mortal world who knows that desire is the best way to worship."
"The Goddess of Life has her saints and paladins, holy warriors who spread kindness and goodness like a disease."
"I want someone who will spread something that is much more true."
"And that is what I refer to as Lust."
"Not just lust," Lustia said as she leaned forward. "Desire in all its forms."
"Starting with ambition, craving, obsession, and desire. The raw, unfiltered desire that can make people great or destroy them!"
"Hope and redemption are what provide the Goddess of Life her strength. I build mine on acceptance and letting go."
"Every person who accepts their needs without shame makes me stronger."
"Every time someone wants something without holding back, it feeds my domain."
"And you, Axel Graves, will be the one who makes it happen."