Sebastian.
Darkness was absolute.
Not the darkness of night.
Not the darkness of closed eyes.
This darkness had weight.
It pressed inward from every direction — thick, heavy, suffocating. It did not surround me. It pressed through me. Like breath had become difficult not because air was gone… but because space itself resisted being breathed.
I stood alone.
Or at least… I believed I stood.
There was no floor beneath my feet.
No wall to orient against.
No horizon.
No sound.
Only existence without structure.
Separation.
But not physical separation.
Something deeper.
Existence without connection.
Time did not pass here. It stalled. Suspended like a moment that refused to complete itself.
A voice emerged from somewhere beyond perception.
You are not required to suffer to prove devotion.
It did not command.
It reasoned.
Soft. Patient. Persuasive.
I did not answer.
Silence followed. Not peaceful silence. Listening silence.
