THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN LIFE AND SHADOW

The air was cold, thick, charged with a gray haze that seemed to absorb any sound. Asimil opened his eyes with difficulty and blinked, but nothing around him seemed familiar. There was no sky, no earth, just a void filled with rippling shadows and distant lights that trembled like escaping memories.

— Welcome, Asimil. —

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once. It was soft, deep, and strangely soothing, but at the same time laden with a weight that made his chest tighten.

—Where... am I? — he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

A figure emerged from the mist. Tall, imposing, ethereal in outline, with a beautiful, serene face that was almost inhuman. His eyes glowed a deep gold, and an aura of light and darkness intertwined around him.

— You are...  between worlds — said the figure. — Your body is on the verge of death. Your consciousness clung to this in-between place. —

Asimil blinked, trying to comprehend. Every word that came out of the figure seemed to touch his thoughts directly, and an icy fear ran down his spine.

— I... I'm going to die? —

—Not necessarily — the entity replied, with a calmness that bordered on terrifying. — But to survive, your mind has sealed away the most painful memories. You forgot who you are, because your soul could not bear it. —

— What... memories? — Asimil asked, his voice cracking. — I... I don't understand anything. —

The figure bowed slightly, and his golden eyes glowed more brightly.

— The memories of your past life, Asimil. Your real world, your mistakes, your losses... everything is stored inside you, waiting for you to have the strength to face it. Only by facing your shadows can you truly awaken. —

— And if I don't... can I? — Asimil whispered, with a tremor that made her whole body ache.

—Then... you will disappear. —The voice was firm, implacable. — But if you choose to risk it, there is another option. I can send you to another world: a reflection of your original world, a mirror where the echoes of your past life await you. There you will have the opportunity to recover your memories and decide who you want to be. —

Asimil swallowed saliva. Every muscle in his body ached; every thought seemed an echo of fear and confusion. The emptiness around him embraced him, sedate and cold.

— Another world...? — he answered, unsure.

— Yes. — said the figure. — But you must choose, Asimil. You can wake up back in your world and hopefully survive but you will have unbearable agony and worse, no memories. Or you can go there, and face what you were, what you are, and what you might become. —

The silence became unbearable. The fog seemed to whisper doubts and regrets. 

And yet, something inside him pushed him forward. A faint memory, a warmth he didn't know where it came from, made him clench his fists.

— I want to go. I want to know who I am. — The figure nodded, almost sadly. A halo of blue light emerged from his hand, touching Asimil's chest. The mist stirred, the sounds warped, and a sense of infinite falling enveloped him.

The world crumbled around him.

When Asimil opened his eyes again, he was not in limbo. A strange horizon stretched out before him: skies tinged with impossible colors, floating mountains and ruins that seemed to whisper ancient secrets. The mirror of the world that had been prepared for him awaited him.

And there, with no time to fully understand, their journey began.