Barnabus crept along a mud-smeared cobblestone path connecting to a barren field. Across this field is an immaculate gateway pressed firmly into the concaved mountainside. Thick roots and swampy vines dance: slithering, tangling, and swelling the mountain before Barnabus. 

Staring upon the eyes of Barnabus was an unnatural creature, lacking any facial resemblance other than a frontal mask that was devoid of features. Six limbs of various dimensions morphed around the creature's gelatin-like body. The creature constantly rotated between having hands, feet, or any object of desire at the end of its limbs.

"Who are you?" asked Barnabus. He had an urging sensation that he had been here before. 

"I am all that was, all that is, and all that will be," the creature answered. Its voice sounded very familiar to Barnabus. Barnabus wondered if it was his father's voice. Maybe his mother's voice. Wife. Child. He was not sure. He heard them all. "Though my names are limitless, you may call me Serbius."

"O-okay, Serbius," Barnabus said, taking a step into the field. "I have lived on this solid rock and earth since I was a boy. Why have I not seen this door before? This must be a trick."

Serbius squirmed forth using its ever-shifting presence. Life and death flittered back and forth about the terrain as the creature's trail passed. Serbius was emotionless and chose to speak slowly. "I watch you, cradle you, fear for you, kill for you, die for you, and love you. Every time I ask my question, the answer remains the same. You and I remain the same."

Barnabus grew perplexed. If the words be a riddle, he did not understand. "I'm sorry, Serbius. I do not know how that answers my question." Serbius retreated to the gateway,  decay and rebirth following in its wake. An unimaginable brilliance pierced the gateway open, momentarily blinding Barnabus. A swarming pool of endlessness floated beyond the depths past the portal.

"You and I have crossed paths on this gateway for millennia after millennia, Barnabus. My only question is, 'what is your answer, Barnabus?'" Serbius rotates his limbs to aim at the portal. A collective and infinite display of Barnabus and Serbius expands across the otherworldly dimension.

Stumbling further toward the portal, Barnabus shook his head. "Look, I don't know what you want from me! Yes, do you want me to... Is that what you want me to say?"

Serbius encircled the confused man. From the shape of Serbius's path, life was born, grew, died, decayed, and reversed, as if every stage was unanimous and harmonious. "Yes and no do not contain an answer to the question. Traveling through the gateway will land you on your paradise."

"Paradise, huh?" Barnabus questioned. "What is in this paradise? Am I free of sickness? Am I granted eternal youthfulness?" 

Serbius stopped, inching the mask to the tip of Barnabus' nose. "If you choose to travel, you will be in your perfect paradise. You will be granted anything you desire or wish. Limitless ideas from your own fingertips." Serbius shimmied back to the gateway, twirling his mystical limbs.

What Barnabus desired never actually crossed his mind until now. He believed his world was perfect and was unsure about what perfect should be. "What will I lose?" he asked. 

"Absolutely nothing," Serbius answered. "Our journey through the realm will still have everyone and everything that you know here, and all beings will naturally transfer to the next world. Nothing is gained. Nothing is lost. You have an opportunity to escape to another world. If nothing is gained and nothing is lost, what is your answer, Barnabus?"

As patient as a statue, Serbius allowed Barnabus a long pause to digest the information. "And what if you are lying?" Barnabus challenged. "Do I accept a leap of faith by word of mouth alone? Is there no other purpose than to simply embark on a journey?" Serbius, for once, did not reply. He did not advance. He chose to do nothing and waited for a true answer. 

Nervous hands quivered as they reached out toward the opening. Shaky short breaths dissipated into the world unknown. "I believe the true question is why I would want to take a journey to another world, even if the world turns out the same as before. My answer is yes, Serbius. I want to travel to another world."

Quickly darting along the perimeter of the gateway, Serbius clapped all six hands. The fine hairs on Barnabus' arms and neck shot up almost instantly. "Before we depart, tell me why you chose this answer."

"Even if the same world is beyond the door," Barnabus stated confidently. "There are two thoughts that occur. One, you are lying to me. My human nature does not trust so easily. However, if paradise truly is only a step away, I would be a fool not to enter on the chance you are truthful. Two, I am like the curious cat who does not know any better. My human nature feeds on my curiosity. What if paradise is truly on the other side of this door? What am I waiting on? If nothing is gained and nothing is lost, I have no reason to not journey."

An icy chill shivered down Barnabus' fingers, palms, and forearms. An impulse clutched his heart and launched his motionless body further into the depths of the stars. A levitating Serbius called out to him. "Of course, I'm glad we still understand after all these years. The truth that we accept to journey because we desire to journey."

Floating peacefully within the infinite ocean of the foreign realm, the man regained once forgotten knowledge. "My name is Serbius," he said silently. "I was the king of men, I am the lord of the world, and I will be the Original Liminal of the Cosmos. My desire is to watch, to cradle, to fear, to kill, to die, to love, and to journey until I expose the boundaries of the universe. I will proceed to journey till the time is required when I, too, ask anew, 'What is your answer, Barnabus?'"