He waited and waited, in the darkness, alone. For how long, he did not know, but it was long enough for him to feel the numbing in his soul, the aching in his essence, the weight of time slowly eating away at his mind. At the same time, he felt as if no time had passed at all; as if time had frozen still and stopped short. It was contradictory; something was surely wrong, he knew it. He felt it. And he couldn't take that feeling anymore.

He had failed again. It was his second failure, and it tasted like dirt in his mouth. He had been so sure, that once they had figured the way around Transient tactics, it would never happen again. That it was just a matter of outsmarting the enemy, of being careful and constantly watching their backs. How very wrong he was. He didn't even know the enemy. He didn't even know the reality. That last assignment was only the beginning for him. The beginning of so many things.

He needed so badly to share his thoughts with someone, but the void was his only companion. Not even a café room this time, only silence. No jazz music playing in the background. No background.

No Sapphire.

The childlike entity had thought them both amusing, but Sapphire less so, and had dispatched her to an unknown fate. Forgotten, he presumed. But he could never forget her. He longed to know where she was, reunite with her and find their way out of this mess together. That was his wish, but a wish he had lost all hope in obtaining.

The entity hadn't spoken to him for quite some time now; not even a cackle from it had been heard of since. Perhaps it had grown bored of him, and had found something more fun to play with. Perhaps it had grown up. Perhaps it was no longer a playful little child.

Or, perhaps, it had grown into something even more sinister, and was silently observing him, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

The thought of it triggered a sudden fear in him. Partly out of that fear, and partly out of curiosity, he called out,

"Are you still there?"

Silence was the reply.

He later found his fear to be irrational. What more could the entity do to him? Even death seemed like a more liberating alternative to the trap of darkness he was currently in. Nothing could possibly be worse.

To his relief, a familiar laughter echoed through the void.

Did you really think I'd leave you alone, Steel? How could I leave you, when I love you, love you, LOVE YOU?

Steel couldn't help but cringe in annoyance. Internally. But the entity was his only way out. He wished he had known that sooner.

"Contrary to what you're saying, you did leave me alone. Where have you been?"

How very nice of you to care, Steel! I thought you'd never miss me.

"Actually, I don't. I just want to know where you've been."

You're so very stubborn, Steel. So very, very stubborn. I always knew you were a challenge.

"Answer my question, where have you been?"

Am I supposed to be entertaining you now? Aren't you supposed to be the one entertaining me?

Steel decided to play along with its game. "That's right. I was supposed to be your plaything. Your toy. Your source of fun and entertainment. But you abandoned me. Why did you abandon me?"

I never abandoned you.

"Then where have you been?"

The entity fell silent, and Steel couldn't help but find it very uncharacteristic.

"You mean... you don't know?" he realised aloud. "You don't know where you've been!"

I never said that.

"But it's true, isn't it? You're confused. You don't know what's been happening. Admit it!"

Ha ha ha ha! Steel, Steel, Steel, don't be ridiculous.

"I am never ridiculous. There are things happening, strange things that even you can't explain. There's been a missing period of time. I lost that period of time, and so did you. That's why you've been away."

I didn't leave you. I'd never leave you.

"You didn't mean to leave. You left involuntarily. Something, or someone, has taken time away from you. Away from us. For a period of time we ceased to exist."

I don't cease to exist. I always exist.

"Oh, do you? How can you be so sure?" Steel challenged. "I've always thought that I existed in reality. It turns out that isn't true. I exist in a trap. In a fiction. So does Sapphire. So does goodness knows how many others! What if... you... What if you're in a fiction as well?"

Who, me? Excuse me, I am...

"You lost time! Both of us did! We both ceased to exist. We are both trapped in fiction, and we lost time when someone stopped playing us!"

You're joking! Ha ha ha, very funny, Steel!

"You are fictional!" Steel affirmed. "We're all fictional! I'm not any more trapped than you are! You're not real!"

Ha ha ha ha ha...

The laughter droned on and on and drowned out all his thoughts. A white light pierced through the darkness, blinding him, and opened up into another world...