What If the Journey Consumes Me Completely?

The figure before us remained motionless, its presence a palpable force that seemed to grow denser with every passing second. The air was charged with an energy that took my breath away, and though I tried to stay firm, the feeling of being trapped in a surreal dream never left me.

The edges of reality were fading, and with every step I took, I was further removed from everything I had ever known.

Eduardo remained standing beside me, but his expression was distant, as if his mind were elsewhere, completely disconnected from everything around us. There was no hint of recognition in his gaze, not even a flicker of what we had once been. The distance between us grew wider with every second that passed.

The figure raised its hand, inviting us to step forward, but something in the gesture made me hesitate. The air was becoming heavier, more oppressive. There was something about this creature, something I couldn't quite understand. Its form was fluctuating, as if space itself were struggling to give it a concrete shape. It wasn't human; it wasn't anything I could comprehend.

"The moment of choice has come," it said, its voice resonating deep within me, as though each word were a burden I had to bear. The pressure on my chest grew, and my heart raced, but I couldn't move. Something kept me there, as if I were waiting for a signal, an answer.

I looked at Eduardo again, but his face remained blank, disconnected, almost as if he weren't even there. My mind was in turmoil, searching for a solution, an escape, something that would tell me what to do. What were we really choosing? Could we even choose anything in this place, in this void?

The figure made a slow movement, as if it were waiting for an answer, as if it knew we were on the verge of a decision that would change everything.

"What you seek... is on the other side of this threshold," it said, its words dragging through the air like echoes. The figure raised its hand toward what appeared to be a door, but it wasn't a door like any other. It wasn't made of wood or metal. It was an opening in the nothingness itself, a void where light and sound disappeared.

The door seemed to be the end of everything, the end of our journey, and at the same time, the beginning of something new. It was the threshold between what we knew and what we couldn't even begin to imagine. One step forward, and everything would change.

But, was I ready to take that step? Was I ready to leave behind everything I had been, everything it had meant up until now? And Eduardo? What would happen to him? To the version of him who no longer remembered any of what we had shared?

The voice of the figure slipped into my mind again, like a whisper I couldn't ignore.

"The decision is yours alone. One step forward, and everything you've known will dissolve. But on the other side, the knowledge, the power, and the answers to everything you've sought will be yours. Or you can stay. But time, as you know it, will vanish forever."

A chill ran through me. The choice was overwhelming. If I crossed that threshold, I would not only lose Eduardo, I would lose everything I had been. And yet, something inside me urged me to do it. Something told me that if I didn't, I would be trapped in this void forever, lost in the folds of a reality that no longer belonged to me.

I looked at the figure, then at Eduardo, and finally, at the door. Something inside me knew I couldn't stay behind. The door was before me, calling me. And though my mind still fought to hold on to what I knew, my body had already begun to move.

Eduardo didn't react. There was nothing I could do to bring him back to the man he had been. And deep down, I knew that, at least for now, I had to move forward, even if he was no longer by my side.

Taking a step toward the threshold, I felt a cold current envelop me. The pressure on my chest increased even more, as if space itself were testing me, evaluating whether I was worthy to cross. Every fiber of my being screamed for me to retreat, to leave it all behind, but my feet kept moving forward.

The moment of choice had come. And with it, my destiny.

The threshold glowed with a cold, unsettling light, and the figure vanished into the darkness, as if it had never been there. Only the door, the void, and I remained.