As I delved deeper into the oppressive darkness, the light faded, replaced by a palpable heaviness. The air grew thicker, almost suffocating. My breath became shorter.

Ahead of me, the black mass I had glimpsed earlier began to take clearer shape. Its form was neither fluid nor solid, undulating like smoke but with a density that made it menacing.

It throbbed like a monstrous heart, emitting a kind of dark, eerie glow. Each pulsation seemed to drain the energy around it, as if it fed on fear itself. There was something alive within this shifting shadow, but also profoundly disturbing, as if it had been waiting for centuries for me to come to it.

At its center, on the ground, lay a compact and sinister mass. It stood there, flush with the ground, an immobile yet terrifying presence. Its outline was blurry, and yet one could make out a vaguely humanoid shape, like that of a child. The absence of a face heightened the strangeness of the scene, but despite this, something in me resonated with this creature. It felt as though I had seen it before, or at least… knew it.

I stood there, petrified, trying to comprehend what lay before me. My mind spun with hypotheses, but I had no time to think further. Suddenly, without warning, the monster moved. Slowly at first, it took a few tentative steps toward me. Then, all at once, it lunged at me with disconcerting speed. I had only a fraction of a second to react, barely dodging its attack.

My heart was pounding wildly. I hadn’t anticipated this. Why had I come here without a plan? Why had I thought I could confront this monster? I was utterly unprepared, with no weapon or strategy. I had nothing with me, no means to fight it. It was foolish. How could I have ventured so far without any preparation? Panic overtook me.

The monster, however, gave me no respite. It continued to harass me, its repeated attacks forcing me to dodge incessantly. Finally, I had no choice but to face it head-on. As it charged again, I grabbed its forearms—or at least what seemed to be its forearms—thinking I could overpower it. It was small, frail in appearance… but that was a terrible miscalculation on my part. I had underestimated its strength.

To my great surprise, despite its diminutive size, it exuded phenomenal power. Before I could grasp what was happening, it reversed the situation in an instant. With a sudden, forceful motion, it knocked me backward. I crashed to the ground, pain radiating through my back as the air was knocked from my lungs.

Before I could react, the entity was already upon me, its dark hands closing around my throat with unrelenting strength. Air began to escape me, and the more I struggled, the tighter its grip became, draining my energy further. Nothing I did had any effect. It was as though all my vitality was being siphoned by this creature.

As it held me down, slowly strangling the life out of me, it began to murmur something—an ethereal, chilling voice piercing through the silence:

“You can’t break free… because you don’t want to… You don’t want to leave this world… You have no will to fight…”

Its words seeped into my mind, insidious, terrifying… but terribly true.

The words resonated within me, like a cruel truth I dared not confront. Was it really so? Why had I come here, after all? What was the point of fighting? I had no answers to the torment racing through my mind.

A wave of despair washed over me. I had no strength left to continue. This world, this moment of peace I sought… all seemed so distant. My body and spirit craved rest. I wanted to surrender to this darkness for eternity.

Slowly, I let go. My hands, which had been trying to push the entity away, slid limply down its arms. I was giving up. This was the end, and I accepted it.

I felt my strength ebbing away. My breathing grew fainter, the air no longer entering my lungs. The scene before me blurred, the darkness settling in definitively. I was at my limit, ready to relinquish everything. I closed my eyes, feeling my mind dissolve into nothingness.

But suddenly, everything changed.

As I lay there, ready to surrender to the darkness, the pressure around my throat abruptly disappeared, as though the shadow itself had released its grip. I gasped sharply, cold air flooding my lungs, scorched by the lack of oxygen.

A fresh breeze brushed against my skin, lifting strands of my hair. The grass beneath me was soft and welcoming, tender against my weary body. I opened my eyes, dazzled by a gentle light.

A voice, soft and familiar, pulled me from this liminal state.

“Yui, my dear.”

That voice… It was familiar, comforting, filled with a tenderness I hadn’t felt in so long. My heart raced as I realized who had spoken my name. A bittersweet melancholy pierced my heart.

I sat up abruptly, searching for the source of the voice. And there, in a vast, verdant plain, a field of dandelions stretched out as far as the eye could see. Before me stood my grandmother.

My heart pounded so loudly I could hear it in my ears. Was she really there? Had I finally found peace, or was this an illusion? My entire body trembled with emotion.

“G-grandma…?” I managed to whisper, my throat tight with the tears threatening to spill.

I stood, my legs unsteady, before rushing toward her, tears streaming down my cheeks. Without thinking, I threw myself into her arms. Her embrace was soft, comforting, exactly as I remembered it.

“Grandma! Grandma, it’s really you, isn’t it?” I cried, clutching at her clothing as though afraid she might vanish at any moment.

She held me close, her tears silently tracing down her wrinkled cheeks. She looked at me with that sad smile I knew so well, a smile full of melancholy and infinite love.

“I’m so sorry, my dear, for all that you’re going through,” she murmured, her voice trembling.

I shook my head, trying to smile, my vision still blurred by tears.

“No, everything is fine, Grandma…”

But she gently cupped my face in her hands, her eyes filled with both tenderness and sorrow.

“No, Yui… nothing is fine. If everything were fine, you wouldn’t be here, lost between life and death. Look at yourself… you’ve lost your way. But it’s not a weakness to admit it.”

My tears flowed anew, and I lowered my gaze, unable to meet her eyes. All my life, I had followed paths imposed by others, never leaving room for my own desires. I whispered almost inaudibly:

“I… I never had a choice…”

She sighed, her fingers gently wrapping around mine, her gaze full of infinite understanding.

“I know, my sweet. But it’s no life to silence your heart. It’s not a crime to want to be yourself, to express who you truly are.”

She took my hands in hers, squeezing them softly. Her words carried a deep wisdom, a wisdom I had always admired.

“This world, like life, will confront you with shadows that seem insurmountable. But do you know what’s most beautiful about fighting against the darkness?”

She paused, a slight smile lighting her weary face.

“It’s not the victory, nor the light at the end of the path… It’s the act of walking, again and again, of rising every time you fall. That struggle, that’s where you’ll find your true strength, Yui. And on this journey, you will never be alone. There will be hearts, like mine, beating in unison with yours. Allies, friends you may not have met yet.”

I felt something shift within me, my tear-filled eyes lifting to hers.

“I’m scared, Grandma… What if I fall again? What if I can’t do it…? What if I fail completely…?”

She smiled gently, as though she had been waiting for this question her whole life.

“Falling is part of the journey, my sweet. It’s not the fall that matters, but the courage to rise again. The pain, the doubts—it’s through them that you’ll grow. Every scar, every tear you shed will be marks of your resilience.”

She leaned in slightly, her eyes gleaming with ancient wisdom.

“But to do that, you must awaken your heart, my child… That heart that has remained silent for so long, imprisoned by others’ expectations. Listen to it, let it guide you. By awakening your heart, you will find the strength to fight, to discover your path.”

I remained silent, moved by her words.

“So… fight, not just to survive, but to truly live. Let your light shine, even in the darkest moments. And you’ll see, my dear, even in the deepest shadows, you will always find a spark of hope.”

I closed my eyes, feeling a weight lift from my heart.

Grandma embraced me one last time, with infinite gentleness, and whispered in my ear:

“Never forget, Yui… Your heart is your greatest strength. Awaken your heart, let it speak.”

As I returned her embrace, I felt the warmth of her body gradually fade. I opened my eyes, and beneath my fingers, the silhouette I loved dissolved slowly, like a breath carried away by the wind, with dozens, then hundreds of blue butterflies rising to the sky in a gentle, silent dance.

The butterflies swirled around me, their luminous wings brushing my face tenderly before scattering in the breeze and disappearing into the vastness.