Steven Universe:

I Live to Serve…

Hello, everyone! How are you all? I really don't ask that often enough, do I? Anyway, this is the prologue to my take on a Steven Universe story involving an OC I have created. His character will be further detailed and flushed out in later chapters but, currently, I am just starting with this very short prologue that I hope intrigues you lovely guys and gals to keep reading. So, no flames please, this is a little prototype and, as we all know, there is no need for any insults.

I would also like to personally thank ShadowDragon1553 for not only helping me formulate this idea but also inspire me to write it with their own story, which I recommend, called Rebirth of a Phantom. And, finally, I just want to say that you are just awesome and I appreciate everything you did to help me!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with the Steven Universe franchise but I do own the OC that this story centres around.

So, let's get started…

Prologue: Wait…

'What is my purpose?'

He continued to ponder this quite daunting question to the void before him, his vision, or lack thereof, seemed to only add to his torment; the darkness gave no answers. It never gave any answers. But… It always seemed kind enough to let him continue.

'Do I have a purpose?'

His voice did not Echo; he knew that, somehow, the Darkness was swallowing the sound from ever traversing further. The things he would repeat to himself, to the void, truly was tragic. His entire life could be distinguished by a few simple words. What little fragments he remembered of his life, anyway. Sometimes, he wondered if, with this shrouded reality being his life, maybe it was one not worth living. Maybe it truly wasn't.

A definite factor, nevertheless, was that this place was… Dark... Oh, so very dark within the small room that he had been trapped. He was unsure of where he was, but felt as if he had been compacted into the tight confines of this sealed… cell. He was unable to move, for the most part. Sitting up was an option, a painfully restrictive and slow one, but he felt as if there were little to no point in such an action as it only took a level of effort he no longer possessed and an aspect of time he did not have.

Restriction was not his main issue, though. It was the Darkness that enveloped his very being. This malevolent force that tortured him constantly was something that consumed his entire reality; his existence was plagued by its unforgiving entropy. Many times he had attempted to gaze upon his own hand and palm, only to find it also shrouded in the nocturnal entropy that surrounded him. Other times he would use said invisible appendage and press his knuckles against his closed eyes, hoping that he would create tiny pressure-smears and bring some colour to the ever present darkness; he knew it to be futile… but… what were his other options?

He couldn't call for help and, no matter how many times he tried, no one ever came...

He was not able to escape as his cage… his cell… was so compact... and yet it seemed endless…

He could not lose himself in some old memories for a moment of escapism… because he had none to remember… Well… apart from that one…

He could not even put himself out of his own misery… He was unable to muster the strength to damage his core, let alone scratch it… Not that he wanted to die… He was terrified of the eventuality more than this prison but… but… but he… He was just unable to see another way out…

Maybe… Maybe he would just have to accept that there was no hope for his future outside of this place. He would just need to give up on those persevering thoughts that drove him towards the possibility of actually escaping this perdition. It wasn't like anyone would miss him… Nor would anyone care if he were to disappear from existence… It would be so easy to just give up and accept fates cruel desires…

'No…' He whispered to the void, the taunting immaterial entity ignoring his hushed declaration and instead swallowing them whole but he was not going to let that stop him; he could not accept such a defeat, not at the hands of it. 'I won't give up!' His defiance to the inevitable could be seen as an admirable trait, along with an obviously foolish one, but he knew that a majority of it was just mere bravado and did not carry much weight.

However, that was all he could rely upon in this time… He could not give up… He would not lose to the immaterial!

He just had to… to… to wait. He felt the cold slither of tears fall down his cheeks as he forced a desperate laugh. 'Yeah, someone will come and find me eventually… Yeah! I know it…' He pulled his knees to his chest, his tears falling at a faster rate; but the smile never left his lips, no matter how fake it truly was. 'I just need to… wait…'

'wait…'

But… then he remembered…

'w-wait…'

He couldn't bear waiting any longer…

'I have to… I…'

It was breaking him…

'I… need… to…'

And he knew that he could not take anymore…

'…wait.'