The air felt so hard to breathe that I couldn't think of anything but catching my next breath. I didn't know where I was or how I had gotten to my current predicament. I heard a voice so clear that I thought it came from my head, "Keep calm and listen to my words." Although I didn't recognize the being before me, I felt its gaze pierce me. I could not lie in its presence nor hide my past because they knew everything. The surroundings were void of color, not black, but lacking any form of shade. The entity that had summoned me had a humanoid figure with a completely black exterior and a face without any eyes, nose, or hair—a figure whose emotion could not be read. The ground felt cold, and I was in and out of consciousness.
The entity before me commanded, "On your feet."
Every movement made my entire body shake in agony. Little by little, I got up, and still unable to look at the entity's face, it said, "You have come far."
The air felt easier to breathe, and I began to relax.
With a loud voice, it said, "Why have you run from your past?"
I feared any answer wouldn't explain my situation, and as I attempted to approach, it said, "Do not come any closer." Once again, I stared down so as not to feel the pressure in its presence. "I have witnessed your bloodline and all those it has ruled. I have witnessed the tyrants and benevolent rulers, and yet you are the one who has caught my interest, Dante Giannis Ille Amadeus."
With my face looking down, a bright bronze glow shone as if still in a furnace as his feet approached where I stood. It said, "You must first confront your past before you can face your present. Now, I will show you from the beginning who you are."