Merlin lay curled in his makeshift bed of straw, trying to get comfortable. The room was large, yet small, all concrete. It was so concealing, sometimes he tricked himself into thinking he couldn't breathe. Flipping to his other side, he realized he would never be comfortable in this dark cavern. Winnie the Pooh was in the corner, playing with an empty jar of honey. Bilbo Baggins was talking in hushed voices with Katniss and Dean Winchester. Merlin was entering his fourth year in The Cave, this little place we call home.

A figure had been fading into view in the center of the room for the past four week, slowly at first, then faster. Now we could all see who it was: Sherlock. The Doctor had taken some calculations, and had found that today was the day of his arrival. Merlin rose to his feet as the man finally solidified. He glanced around wildly, and Merlin could practically see the wheels turning in that magnificent brain of his.

"Alright." he said after a while. "You've stumped the Great Sherlock Holmes. I was in Vanessa's mind just a second ago with Harry Potter.. Wait. Merlin? Doctor? Katniss? This is where you went when you disappeared!" Merlin nodded his head sadly. "So…." Sherlock questioned after a moment. "Where am I?"

Katniss staggered up to him drunkenly. She had taken on her mentor's vile habit when she had realized where she was and why she was here. She stared into Sherlock's face, then nodded slowly. Finally, she started laughing.

"Congratulations. I was hoping it would be Moriarty, but no such luck! Ah well. Welcome to The Cave of the Forgotten!" She said bitterly, flopping down on her gunnysack.

"I'm…. Where?" Sherlock asked. I clapped him on the shoulder, guiding him to the bed we'd made for him.

"Welcome Sherlock. We're The Forgotten. The representatives of the fandoms Vanessa is no longer a part of. Whenever a fandom becomes dead to her, one character, that's you, is sent here. You're the embodiment of the entire forgotten fandom. Congrats on being chosen! If you find yourself fading again, it's probably because you're going to another boy or girl who's gotten into the fandom! Some of us are from Vanessa, like myself and Katniss and you, but Dean, the Doctor, Winnie, and Bilbo are from different minds entirely. Look, another one's already forming!" Merlin exclaimed, pointing towards the center of the room.

There, another figure was forming. It looked like he had four horns, a yellow symbol on his shirt, and red and blue glasses. Katniss groaned.

"Another Sollux?" She sighed. "He's our third one!" Merlin turned to Sherlock to explain.

"Someone else has just left the Homestuck fandom. You'd be surprised how many people do that. The popular representatives seem to be Sollux, Karkat, Terezi, John, and Dave. It's especially sad when it's one of the four latter. John and Dave are apparently 'Matesprites', and so were Terezi and Karkat… so they're what you'd call an OTP. When it's one of them, they're just sad, and whenever we ask what they're thinking of, they respond with the other's name. Poor things. Anyway, welcome!"

Sherlock stared at Merlin, aghast.

"So.. John isn't going to be with me?" he asked. No one spoke for awhile.

"Well…" Italy said. "I'm going to reunite with Germany when another person takes up Hetalia, so it will probably be the same for you!"

"And how long does that usually take?" Sherlock asked, voice hoarse.

"Well…" Italy responded again. "Most of us have been here from between four to seven years. The Doctor's the newest: been here for a year."

Sherlock didn't respond to that so well. He sunk to the floor, getting what we all knew to be the Sherlock Thinking Position. I crouched down next to him.

"Sherlock…"

"I'm finding a loophole. There's ALWAYS a loophole." Sherlock responded without looking up.

"Sherlock, I'm sorry-"

"There is ALWAYS A LOOPHOLE. I HAVE TO GET TO JOHN." Sherlock snapped at Merlin, who responded by throwing his hands in the air.

"Fine! Just keep doing this! Well, I've been here for four years looking for a loophole! There isn't one, Sherlock! Face it! Take a nap for the next four years. That's what Ariel did!" Merlin shouted, gesturing towards the girl with the mermaid tail, completely submerged in a fish tank.

"So.. I'm stuck here." Sherlock said after three hours of pondering.

"Get used to it. We've been abandoned. Welcome to the darkness." Merlin responded. Sherlock slowly locked away, leaving the younger, moody boy to his own depressed devices.