198 The Gate (1/2)

He fell. For a long time, or a short time? He could not tell. He did not know how time was passing. He did not know what he was. He tried to move his body, but nothing moved. He did not even know if he even had a body.

There was only an infinitely stretching darkness, and in the midst of this void, there was only the thin speck of his lonely consciousness.

”The gate…”

A voice echoed through the darkness. It was so very faint. A mere whisper. It sounded so faint, so weak, as if uttered an unimaginable distance away.

”The gate…”

It became louder, a little closer, but still so very far away.

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-̶̿͒̈́͆̐̎̇̚̚-̶̞͍̜̱͓͚̼̫͇̟͍͉͉̰̱͎͕̫̼͖͉̜͌̄̑͂̏͝I̷̡̢̧͖̮̯̪̮̍̂̽̈́̐̓̒̀̿̀̃͛̿͆̈̄̓͘͘ ̵̮̮̹̮͙̭̯́́̐̽̿̏̒̓͊̓̈́̈́̔̓ẖ̸̡̡̛̜̟̓̓̌̇̉͛̈̈́̈́̐̐̕̚ą̸͖̦̝͎̟̫̻͖͖̤̮̤̤͓̱̖̑̅͗͋͌̂̐̂̎̒̍͘̚͜͠ͅͅv̴̡̡̩̤̪͇͎̣̘̱̯̞̻͎̖͍͓̗͉̟̎̇ę̴̧̧̭̫̹̥̤͍̯͙͇̫̩͓͕̳͍̠̹̓̃̅̒̃͜ ̷̡̛̭̥̪̝̣͎̟̖̜̯̻̘̖̜̲̭̝͖̹̼͆͆̿̄͋̔̋͛͐̀͐̅̋̾͒͂͑́̅͜͜͝͝b̶̧̧̡͈̫̻̥͔͕̜͚̽͒̊͛̏̍̈́͛̈́̃̀̄̃́͑̂̂́̈͜͠ę̶̧̠̪͍̹̙̮̦͖͇̲́̿̋̈́͗̍͆̈́̆͆̆͊͆͊̃͛̀́̄̕͜͝ę̵̢̫̘̱̰͙̗̥͕̯̝͉͉̔̈́̅́͗̌̀̔̓̊́̄͌͝n̴̹̼̪̟̪̠̹̜̤̘͚̞̩͓͔̣̹̏͋̀̀̽͋̏̕͘͜͠ͅ ̶̨̢̲͖̬̠͖̝̳͈̥͙͎̳͔͇͕̯̞̲̠͗͂̍͋̾̔̊͂̀͛̓̏͆͊̽̊̽̃͋͛̚ͅe̶̫̲̍́̀͠x̶̡̭̩͖̼̫̠͙̗͎̬͓̟̖̤͈̓͐̊́̈́͂̃̽͒͛́̚͘̚͜͝ͅp̵̢̡̟͙̖̼̩̣̫̦͕̪̈́̎̿̂̑̋̉̋̿̊̋͜͠ę̷͉̤̣͖̙̱͉̥̠͍̣̰̘̽̐̉̒̆̀̌́̏́͌̎̎͜͝ͅc̶̠̟̎̇̑̏̉̐t̶̝͔͚̮̠̫̫̳̻̠͖̰̏̌̉̊̈́̚̕i̸̬͍͐͗̄̐͌͆̈́̀͂̆̕͠͠͠n̴̯̤̻̱̘̳͐̅̊g̵̡̳̫̠̼͐͌̈́̉̒̂̚͠ ̸̙̺̤̮̰̞̖͎̺̬̘̾̒̆̃͒͗̽͊̐̒̑͝y̶̨͔͉̻͔͇͓͓̟̝̹̮̒͂͛͒̄̃̊̈́͜ŏ̷̖̪͖̰̏̓̆̉̔̄̃͐͌̈́̽̌̀̃̍̚͘͝͝͝ư̵̖̳̘̞̟̹̥̜̤̰̈́̈́̾̔̀̃̂͌̉̉̑̍͊̈̉̈́̔͌̂͘-̸̡̰̲̼͓̲̫͙͍̬̞̞̟̯̒̇̄̂̀̊̽̈́̃͑̉̕͘͝-̴̢̨̭͈̲̝̙̦̞͇͕̮̠̗͖͇̄̐̍̑̾̍̒̄̆̓̔̀̊̎̍̓͌̈̐̈́͝

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A different voice. Much louder. Much closer. Right next to Li, or rather, was that voice within him? Inside of his consciousness? He could not tell.

What did it say? He could not tell. It sounded garbled, so utterly alien and distorted in a way that it was incomprehensible to him.

A brief pause. Or was it long? He could not tell.

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-̸̛̙̺̤̩͉̊̍͑̔͝͠͝ͅ-̷̥͎͚̟͉̜͓͑͊̃̏Ş̷̛̮̠̦̲̯̈̈p̸̳̱͓̫͓̙̩͛́͛͋̋́ea̵̡͙͈̙͖͌͌̃ḱ̵̄-̸̪̼͌̀-̴̰̪̮̋̅͝

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”Who are you?” said Li. He was surprised his voice could even project, but in a way, he had an instinctive understanding that this was the mystery entity's doing.

”I am All in One. One in All. The Boundary. The Threshold. One who is Open. One who is Closed. The Gate and the Key. I am you. You are me.”

The voice was completely comprehensible now, and it gained a human tone. It was a long, droning male voice, not very deep and completely devoid of any intonation or inflection, like an alien trying to pilot human vocal cords.

In a way, the voice was soothing, welcoming. Beckoning.

In the eternal darkness, thirteen points of light flickered in front of Li's consciousness. They wavered, and then expanded, forming into thirteen circular doorways that orbited around each other in complicated and chaotic patterns. Each doorway was of a different color, and the light they emitted was never constant, always flickering and shimmering and wavering like desert mirages.

”What does that even mean?” said Li. ”I am…you?”

”Yes.”

Li waited for a further explanation, but he did not find one. He did not sense any hostility form this voice. In fact, he actually felt some measure of comfort in it. It felt so very familiar, and yet he had never before heard it.

”What do you mean by that? What is this place?”

”This place is you. My form is true darkness incarnate. I am all that lies between the edges of the cosmic and the Outer. You are me, thus, you too, are darkness incarnate. This sprawling darkness is you.

What you truly are. Not the puppets and dolls that you pretend to be.”