Chapter Text
Oliver tumbled blindly out of the rift, slamming hard onto the ground. This drop felt completely different—the portal had spat him out at a harsh, disorienting angle rather than dropping him from the sky, with him usually rolling around. At least he didn't hit a wall.
"Ugh..." he groaned, his cheek pressed against cold, unforgiving concrete. He slowly pushed himself up, his muscles aching from the sudden impact. After dusting the grit off his knees and arms, he finally took a look at his surroundings.
He was at the top of a short flight of steps leading up to a large, imposing building. Beyond the steps lay a desolate street. The architecture looked modern—much closer to his actual home world than the blocky places or other exaggerated worlds they had traversed over the last few hours. For a split second, a wave of relief washed over him, as he thought he was back home.
But after staring at bit at the sights around, something did not feel right. "This isn't home, is it?" he murmured, the relief instantly evaporating. It was night, but it was an unnatural, suffocating pitch-black. The few flickering street lamps barely pierced the gloom, casting long, distorted shadows. An overwhelming sense of dread hung heavy in the stale air. It was definitely not his home world, this was another world off of the fictional grid.
"Venti? You... seeing this?" Oliver called out, glancing over his shoulder. "This doesn't look great. I feel uneasy... way more than the other worlds we've been to—"
He froze. He turned to his left. There was no one there.
"V-Venti?" Oliver called out, his voice trembling slightly. He whipped his head to the right, scanning the oppressive darkness. The bard was nowhere in sight. "V-Venti?! BABE?!"
His heart hammered against his ribs. Panic began to claw at his chest. Where is he? Did we get separated in the rift? Did he exit the rift at all?
He stumbled backward, grabbing onto a rusted support pillar beneath the building's awning. He forced himself to take deep, shaking breaths, trying to stop the spiral of terror gripping his mind.
BANG
A heavy thud echoed from inside the building behind him. Oliver gasped, spinning around to face the entrance. Beside the door was a large, smudged window. He stood frozen for a long moment, staring into the dark glass.
"What was that?" he whispered to himself.
Gathering his courage, he crept up to the glass. "Venti?" he hissed, hoping against hope that his boyfriend had somehow ended up inside this building behind him. "Are you in there? Babe!"
He peered through the grimy window. His eyes adjusted to the gloomy darkness, scanning a rotten lobby lined with rotting chairs and a reception desk. It looked like an abandoned medical facility. He grabbed the door handle and yanked. But the door was locked. He pushed his weight against it, but the heavy door wouldn't budge.
Stepping back, Oliver reconsidered. He could break the window, but reason quickly caught up with him. If Venti had made that sound, the bard most likely would have been at the door already trying to open it. Plus, the building was radiating a deeply unsettling aura. He didn't want look at this door, much less open it.
Oliver slowly backed away, turning to face the dark street. "I have to find Venti..."
He walked forward, taking the concrete steps down one at a time. A rusted gate stood open in front of him, leading out to the desolate street. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Halfway to the gate, he glanced back at the massive hospital.
"Is it closed? It can't be closed. It's a hospital."
Oliver's eyes slowly wandered from the doors up to the frame above the entrance. He read the name imprinted on the building:
Brookhaven Hospital.
Oliver's eyes widened. The dark streets. The decayed look of everything. The suffocating dread he'd been feeling... it all made horrifying sense now.
The diamond sword suddenly materialized in his hand. Cryo energy slowly began to circle the blade, shimmering with tiny, ethereal snowflakes. "I have to find Venti..." he whispered.
A sudden noise made him spin around. There stood Nerraw, staring at him with a painfully wide, glowing smile, his bright white eyes piercing through the oppressive dark. But just as quickly as Oliver had turned, the dark creature vanished, as if he'd never been there at all.
Oliver gripped his sword tighter. He remembered he still had the necklace in his pocket—the magical orb that Nerraw seemed to be truly weak against. But right now, his mind was consumed with worry for his boyfriend. Wherever Venti was, he didn't have the orb to protect himself.
Oliver realized he needed to pick a fight with Nerraw to stall him here, before the creature could get to Venti... if he hadn't already.
But before Oliver could shout anything, Nerraw's voice slithered through the dark.
"You think you belong here? In the Fictional Universe?" The dark voice echoed around Oliver, impossible to pinpoint. "Try to fend off this universe's dangerous foes... Then you'll see why you do not belong here."
The air shifted, as if reality itself had warped. Oliver heard the shuffling of uneven footsteps next to him. He turned to see a woman covered in blood, her face obscured by grotesque bandages. She clutched a rusted steel pipe, staggering toward him as if she couldn't stand straight.
"Ah!?" Oliver gasped, sweeping his sword through the air. An icy blast shot from the blade, striking the Nurse. She stumbled back, her body partially freezing over. Oliver seized the opening, charging forward and slashing the diamond sword across her chest, sending her flying until she crumpled across the street.
He turned around and saw three more approaching down the sidewalk. Setting his jaw in determination, Oliver vanished in a blur of speed, reappearing behind the creatures. With quick, decisive strikes to their backs, they all collapsed to the ground.
Oliver didn't know what prompted it, but an instinct screamed at him to turn around and raise his guard. He threw his diamond sword up just in time. A massive, crushing force slammed into his blade. The Cryo energy sparked, repelling the blow and sending whatever had hit him bouncing back to the ground.
Lowering his sword, Oliver stared in shock. Pyramid Head was recovering from his knees.
The human blinked, slowly backing away while gripping his sword handle with white knuckles. The executioner picked up the Great Knife, stabbed it into the asphalt, and hoisted his massive frame upward. Oliver gulped as he stared at the iron helmet of this dangerous man.
Pyramid Head swung the Great Knife in a lethal arc. Oliver was quicker, slamming his sword against the heavy blade and forcing the monster to stagger backward. Taking advantage of the stun, Oliver sprinted forward. He stepped onto the monster's massive arm, ran up over the rusted metal helmet, and leaped into the air. Spinning gracefully midair, he brought the diamond sword crashing down.
Pyramid Head collapsed, dropping the Great Knife, and lay dead on the road.
Oliver blinked, staring at his own trembling hands. "What...? How did I just kill this guy..?"
"Just what Dark-Blade had mentioned about Mark," Nerraw's voice echoed again. "This is something I should have put more effort into anticipating... a human crosses into the Fictional Universe and gets granted power... and they become more powerful than the main characters of that realm."
Oliver tightened his grip on his sword. "You're not even doing this right," he grunted. "These monsters are supposed to be born from your own mind... you're just making me fight James's subconscious..."
"Oh," Nerraw purred darkly. Suddenly, the being of darkness materialized mere inches from Oliver. "I'm sorry, how ignorant of me. Is that what you want, human?"
Oliver gasped at the sudden proximity and stumbled back.
Nerraw vanished in a puff of dark mist, reappearing right at Oliver's ear. "Your parents died when you were fifteen, leaving you all alone. Do you want manifestations of that?" Nerraw vanished and reappeared on his other side. "What about when your past partners kink-shamed you over a stupid little fetish? What about manifestations of those?"
Again, the dark being disappeared, reappearing directly in front of Oliver's face, that horrifying smile stretched wide. "Or how about the time when you—"
"I have already gotten over those traumas," Oliver cut him off. He had no idea how Nerraw was digging into his mind, but he wasn't going to let it work. "Putting me through those would be redundant, and quite frankly, not very Silent Hill."
Nerraw froze. The wide smile instantly vanished.
"You barely understand what you're doing," Oliver snapped. "Why are you even doing this? Who and what even are you—"
Oliver's words were cut off as Nerraw suddenly seized his throat, hoisting him off the ground. "AaK!" Oliver choked, kicking his legs.
The dark creature pulled Oliver close, the dark flames of his body flashing violently. "My name is Nerraw," the entity hissed. "Created by my master from the body of Warren, I failed to have finished what my master did not complete. So now, I will destroy the Fictional Universe for good. Nothing can stop me. I will NOT LET IT—"
Desperate, Oliver jammed his hand into his pocket to grab the necklace. But Nerraw's reflexes were too fast; the creature grabbed Oliver's wrist before he could pull the orb out.
"I will not let you use that—" Nerraw snarled, hurling Oliver to the concrete.
Oliver slammed hard against the ground. The impact knocked the wind out of him, and his diamond sword clattered away into the dark. "OUCH!" he yelped.
Nerraw slowly floated down. "Is it me you want to fight? Then so be it."
Groaning in pain, Oliver tried to scramble up. He reached for his sword, but a sudden unseen force blasted the weapon away, sending it scraping violently across the asphalt until it hit the side of a building. Oliver gasped, falling back onto his hands as he tried to scramble away.
Nerraw calmly walked over. "I'm done with this." He snapped his fingers.
The glowing orb attached to the necklace forcefully tore its way out of Oliver's pocket.
"No!" Oliver gasped, swiping at the air to catch it.
The necklace hovered effortlessly in front of Nerraw's face.
"I'm more powerful than all of you. It's time I act like it." The dark creature barely glanced at the necklace before it exploded into jagged pieces of glass. The white mist trapped inside shimmered and faded away into nothing.
Oliver's breath hitched, his back pressed tight against the brick fence of the hospital. He had never seen the creature do anything like this. Desperately, he tried to summon his sword back, opening and closing his hand, hoping for his pixelated blade to return. But nothing happened. Nothing worked.
Why isn't it working?! he screamed in his head.
"These fictional worlds have so many safeguards and rules... it's hard for me to accomplish anything," Nerraw mused softly. "But in this world... Silent Hill... I feel limitless."
Nerraw's right arm morphed into a massive, jagged dark shard. Oliver's eyes widened in pure terror. He kept trying to summon his weapon, but he was completely defenseless.
"All of you will pay for my failure to extract Sub-7's energy—" Nerraw raised his bladed arm, preparing to kill him.
Suddenly, a portal ripped open in the sky just a few feet away.
Nerraw stopped, slowly turning to look. Hovering over the street was a massive portal disc, angled downward like a chute meant for dumping garbage. The few lit streetlights flickered wildly in tandem with the portal's blue, liquid energy.
"What now?" Nerraw grumbled, taking a step back from Oliver and staring up. The portal wasn't even fully formed yet; it was just a swirling pool in the sky.
"To hell with this—" Nerraw aimed his arm up at the anomaly. "I'll destroy this, it's just something else to mess with my pla—"
Before the creature could finish, a colossal stone statue ejected from the portal, dropping straight down and crushing Nerraw into the pavement.
Oliver screamed as the shockwave ripped through the street. The impact shattered the asphalt, revealing the rusted, metallic Otherworld grating beneath. The iron groaned under the immense weight before snapping, swallowing chunks of the statue into the dark void below, while the largest pieces remained wedged in the street.
The portal flickered and snapped shut.
Oliver blinked, coughing through the dust, trying to comprehend what had just happened. The dark creature was gone. It was nowhere to be seen. Surely he couldn't have died from that.
Slowly, the human pushed himself to his feet. As the dust settled, he got a better look at the massive chunk of stone that had saved his life. Something about it looked incredibly familiar. The curve of a wing....
Oliver stepped forward, peering over the rubble. His eyes went wide.
"VENTI?!"
The bard was lying motionless on his side among the debris, facing away from Oliver. His signature green hat had been blown off, resting on the cracked asphalt a few feet away.
Panic seized Oliver all over again. "Babe! I'm coming!" He vaulted over the broken stone, nearly tripping over himself in his desperation. Nothing else mattered right now.
"Venti!" Oliver dropped to his knees. "Babe, are you okay?!" He gently took Venti by the shoulders and rolled him onto his back. Venti was barely moving.
The bard's attire was torn and scratched, his cape practically shredded. Oliver's trembling fingers found the pulse point at Venti's neck, and thankfully, he got a pulse.
Oliver took a shuddering breath. At least Venti was alive. But what the hell had he been through? Despite his ruined clothes, there was no sign of blood. Through the tears in the fabric, Venti's pale skin looked completely unmarred.
"Venti?" Oliver whispered, his thumb gently brushing across the bard's cheek. "Please be okay..."
At his touch, Venti's eyes fluttered open.
Oliver let out a loud gasp of relief. "BABE—"
Before he could finish, Venti shot upward, wrapping his arms around Oliver in a desperate, bone-crushing hug.
Oliver froze in shock for a second before melting into the embrace, his arms wrapping securely around the smaller boy. "Venti? Are you okay?"
"Just hold me..." Venti whispered. His voice was incredibly fragile, on the verge of cracking. "Please..."
Oliver didn't hesitate. He gently rubbed circles into Venti's back, his mind racing. "D-Did the dark creature attack you?" If Venti had fought Nerraw, he usually would have been boasting or complaining about it. This sheer vulnerability was terrifying.
"No," Venti breathed against his neck. "I didn't see him."
They sat in silence for a moment, the only sound being Venti's quiet sniffles.
"My friend..." Venti whispered.
Oliver's hand paused on Venti's back. "Your friend?"
Venti buried his face in Oliver's shoulder. "I don't know how long you and I were separated... but... there was this town with fog—" Venti's voice broke. "And... these monsters. The monsters weren't the problem, but it was what... the things I saw. It was... as if it was a reflection of every single bad thing that has ever happened to me in my long life..."
Oliver's eyes widened in sudden, horrifying understanding.
"I felt like it had been hours... hours of being reminded of everything that I failed to do as an Archon—"
Oliver's heart broke for his boyfriend. He knew exactly what Silent Hill had done to him. "Venti, no. You're not a failure."
Venti sniffled again. "You're really the only person who tells me that. Everyone else just calls me a tone-deaf drunkard, but—"
"No—" Oliver interrupted gently, pulling back just enough to look Venti in the eyes. "In my opinion, you're the best Archon in Teyvat."
Venti blinked at him, tears clinging to his eyelashes. "I am?"
"You are," Oliver said firmly. "Your nation is one of the only places where everyone feels genuinely free. That was your goal, wasn't it? To free your people. And you did exactly that! You freed them, and ever since, barely anything has touched Mondstadt. Everything is always peaceful there, even while the surrounding nations are constantly crumbling in flames."
Oliver leaned forward, pressing a tender kiss to Venti's lips. "Who cares if you're drunk all the time? An Archon who accomplished that much deserves all the wine breaks in the world."
Venti wiped a tear away, a watery smile finally gracing his face. "I... I really don't deserve you."
"Hey, don't steal my lines," Oliver murmured, resting his forehead against Venti's.
Venti let out a wet chuckle, hugging Oliver tightly again. "We were both there for each other..."
"Yeah. If it wasn't for you helping me out back in Teyvat, I'd probably be dead meat probably,"
Venti sighed, resting his chin on Oliver's shoulder. "I don't know what that place was... it was so foggy, and all I saw were signs I couldn't really grasp. Then there was this weird... alarm sound? Everything warped around me and turned blood-red. I was so scared, I don't even know how long I was trapped there—"
Oliver kissed him again, softly silencing the panic rising in Venti's chest. "Shh. It's okay. I'm here now. This is Silent Hill. That's... what this place does. It reads your mind and morphs the town into your worst traumas..."
"You mentioned that name before," Venti recalled, his breathing finally steadying. "When we were back in that blocky world. You said something about finding keys or something." Venti pulled back, sitting up straight with an exhausted sigh. "I had to use my powers for so many things just to survive, I'm totally spent..."
He shook his head in disbelief. "Ugh, this is another one of those 'video games' you play in your world? Why would anyone put themselves through this torture?"
Oliver offered a small, apologetic smile. "Horror is amazing until you actually go through it in real life."
"I prefer the fictional stories... take me away from the real thing," Venti said.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Venti."Oliver looked at his boyfriend worriedly.
"It wasn't your fault, baby," Venti reassured him, resting a hand on Oliver's cheek. "For what it's worth, you were my beacon of hope. You were always on my mind, and that's why I pushed through that nightmare. I kept telling myself that I would see you again. That I'd get to experience your sweet kisses, and you playing with my belly button again."
Oliver giggled, a flush creeping onto his face. "Does my belly button fetish really matter that much?"
Venti nodded earnestly. "It does. It's a thing that connects us both. So I cherish it. I cherish everything we do together."
Oliver smiled warmly, leaning in for another kiss as they sat together amidst the rubble.
When he finally pulled away, Oliver looked around at the massive chunks of stone scattered around them. "What was this?"
Venti swallowed hard. "My statue. The Statue of Barbatos. It was a dark... a weird version of Mondstadt. The sky was red, but it didn't look like an Abyss invasion. This... this was different."
"Silent Hill definitely had it out for you..."
Venti nodded. "Yeah."
Oliver sighed, his expression twisting into disgust. "Honestly, this entire thing... I've felt this way since we got stuck inside Minecraft, but actually being physically trapped inside the fictional worlds I've played... it makes me never want to look at fiction the same way again." He looked up at Venti. "I feel like I don't ever want to touch a video game again if I get my normal life back."
Venti gently covered Oliver's hands with his own. "I don't think you should view it that way, babe. Sure, it was terrifying being here, but it shouldn't drive you away from the things you love. It's no one's fault that a fictional story sparked a separate reality. The story itself—what you read and play—is its own thing... you understand what I mean?" Venti gave a small, encouraging giggle.
"I... think so," Oliver said.
Venti hugged him again.
"The dark creature was here," Oliver said after a moment.
"Nerraw?" Venti looked up in surprise. "He was? I didn't see him where I was. I thought all the horrifying stuff happening was his doing, but I soon realized it wasn't."
"We got separated," Oliver said.
"Yeah." Venti looked around at the oppressively dark street. "It wasn't this dark. All I saw was fog. Not even the Abyss looked this pitch-black."
"I wonder if it was like when we were in Soma... just without the world-destroying part," Oliver mused. "We went into two different sub-dimensions."
"The Sub-Dimensions?" Venti asked. "Well, if it matters, I remember the sub being 7414."
"Huh—" Oliver tried to recall the number before he first landed. "I can't remember the exact number, but it definitely wasn't 7414. It was a single digit—oh! Wait, it was 1! Sub-1, yes."
"Sub-1?" Venti blinked. "Would that make it like... the prime world, then? I mean, for it to be 1,"
"I have no idea," Oliver said. "But it sounds right on paper, I guess."
Venti pushed himself to his feet. "My word, I am so ready to leave."
Oliver quickly stood up beside him. "I can tell you're still not feeling great."
Venti, despite how he usually tried to play things off, shook his head honestly. "I can't pretend. I'm not. The whole thing shook me up pretty badly. But... in a weird way, I feel closure?" Venti offered a weak shrug.
Oliver nodded, "I think seeing your traumas forcibly played out like that does bring a weird sort of closure. I am glad you feel that way, though. You must have had all of that bottled up inside you." Oliver took Venti's hands. "When we get back to my realm, we're cuddling immediately."
Venti let his hands be held, a genuine giggle escaping him. "Cuddle? Where? In that dingy breakroom?"
"Hey, emergency cuddling doesn't discriminate against the setting!" Oliver joked.
Venti laughed, squeezing Oliver's hands. "Haha! Oh my word. I just hope you didn't see anything close to what I saw."
Oliver looked up at the pitch-black sky—if the Otherworld even had a sky. "I think Nerraw had complete control over this sub... though he didn't understand what the hell Silent Hill was supposed to be. I jabbed at him that he wasn't doing it right, and he went full petty and read my mind. He dragged up past traumas that I've been over for years, like losing my parents—"
Venti gasped, placing a hand over his heart. "Oh babe—" he looked stricken. "I had no idea you were an orphan—"
"Hey, don't worry about me with that," Oliver smiled, waving it off easily. "I already moved past it. Nerraw was just being an idiot, thinking he could use it against me. The dumbass even tried to use my exes breaking up with me over my belly button fetish as ammo."
Venti's expression instantly shifted to indignation. "He is an asshole for doing that!"
Oliver chuckled, waving Venti off again. "Also, past that. Well, maybe I wasn't completely over it before meeting you. But since then? You've been so sweet to me regarding what I like. So, trauma healed!" Oliver smiled brightly, leaning forward and planting a loud kiss on Venti's lips. "Muah!"
Venti giggled against him, kissing back with a bright laugh.
Oliver pulled away, shaking his head. "That dark dumbass didn't even do the trauma horror right. The town is supposed to morph into my insecurities. Not have a dark flaming bitch just recite them to my face."
Venti snorted, covering his mouth. "Hehehe. Yeah, what a dumbass. A Hilichurl would have done a better job." He looked around the ruined street. "Where is he, anyway?"
"I don't know," Oliver admitted. "You made quite an entrance with your statue. It slammed straight into him, and then he just noped out of existence."
"Well, knowing him, he's definitely not dead," Venti noted grimly.
They stood together for a few more minutes, catching their breath. There wasn't much else to do, and neither wanted to panic just yet.
Suddenly, the air rippled. A small portal tore open, and a familiar figure stepped through.
Venti and Oliver both jumped back.
Blue crystal shards jutted across the creature's body, while a tough, black obsidian-like material obscured most of his face. A blue cape bearing the number '1' draped softly from his shoulders.
The crystalline creature, Thomas, instantly summoned his golden Keyblade. "Where is Nerraw?" he demanded.
Oliver looked at Venti, then back to Thomas. "I don't know. He was just here, and then he disapp—"
Thomas marched past Oliver before he could even finish, his eyes locked on the rubble of the Barbatos statue scattered across the asphalt.
Before anyone could speak, another portal flared open. Mark stepped out.
"Ah! There you are!" Mark sighed in profound relief, rushing over to Oliver and Venti. "You have no idea how long I've been searching for you two! The others back at the lab were getting incredibly worried. I jumped into Sub-7414 and panicked when I saw it was Silent Hill. I couldn't find anyone, but then my scanner picked up another reading. I jumped through another rift, and here we are! I am so grateful you're both safe."
Mark paused, noticing Thomas glaring down through the broken metal grating into the abyss below. "Oh! You're here too? I thought you went back to the lab to keep an eye on the others."
Thomas tightly gripped his golden Keyblade. "He's here..."
Mark blinked. "He? Uh... Nerraw?" He glanced urgently at Venti and Oliver.
Oliver nodded. "He was here, but he disappeared. I don't know where he went."
Mark immediately summoned his own Keyblade, the magical weapon flashing into his hands. "Okay. We need to be on high alert. Oliver I threw you all a necklace as the portal closed back at the lab. Did either of you pick it up?
"Well... Yeah, venti did... We did use it but..." Oliver winced guiltily. "I... uh... Nerraw somehow broke it."
Mark's eyes widened in horror. "What?!"
Thomas whipped his head around from the grating, staring at Oliver. Even Venti looked shocked.
"Well, that is incredibly bad news," Venti muttered. "That was the only thing it was actually weak to."
"Okay," Mark said, raising his Keyblade high. "Let me make another one... ohhhh, I just hope the light of Kingdom Hearts can reach us way out here—7414 is pretty far out from the leak..."
Mark swung his weapon upward, aiming at the pitch-black sky. He took a deep breath. "LIGHT!!!"
A blinding white beam shot down from the heavens, piercing the Otherworld's oppressive dark. A giant heart moon appeared in the sky. It was so intense it almost blinded them. Mark gripped the Keyblade with both hands, slowly twisting it in the air. Like turning a lock, the massive beam of light slowly condensed, simmering down until it was nothing but a glowing, marble-sized morsel hovering in the air.
"Thomas, quick. Give me a casing," Mark ordered.
The heart shaped moon in the sky vanished.
Thomas rushed over, pulling an empty glass pendant from his cape and holding it up. Mark gently guided the speck of pure light into the casing, sealing it tight before dismissing his Keyblade. Thomas secured the pendant and handed it straight back to Oliver.
Oliver took it, completely in awe of the magical display. Beside him, Venti looked equally stunned.
"How did he destroy it?" Mark asked, his brow furrowed. "I've never seen him manage that before." He looked at Thomas. "Has he ever done that with yours? Wait, no—what am I saying, of course not. Yours transformed into the Keyblade you're holding."
Oliver stared down at the glowing orb in his hand. He frowned, remembering what the creature had said.
"These fictional worlds have so many safeguards and rules... it's hard for me to accomplish anything... but in this world... Silent Hill... I feel limitless."
Oliver quickly repeated Nerraw's exact words to Mark.
"Limitless?" Mark blinked. "I wonder..." He quickly pulled out his scanner, tapping the screen a few times.
"Interesting," Mark muttered.
Oliver tilted his head. "What's the matter?"
"We're in Silent Hill... Sub-Dimension 1," Mark explained. "I already went over this with the other boys, but not you and Venti. Sub-1s are practically blank slates that aren't supposed to exist for travel. I theorize that this is exactly what Nerraw meant. In a Sub-1, the normal rules of reality don't apply. He can do almost anything he wants here. Despite Sub-1s being a linear world, if outsiders do mange to come, they can... be free,"
Oliver's eyes widened. He didn't fully grasp the sci-fi mechanics of Mark's explanation, but he completely understood the terrifying implication of Nerraw 'doing whatever he wanted.'
Venti clearly felt the same way. "So... wouldn't it be extremely wise to get out of here? Go to literally any other realm? Especially if we end up having to fight him again?"
"Yes." Mark snapped his fingers at Thomas. "Come on, any realm is better than this one."
Mark quickly slashed his Keyblade through the air, tearing open a fresh portal. Thomas didn't waste a second, aggressively ushering the bard and the human toward the glowing exit.
Nerraw was still missing, but none of them had any desire to stick around and find out where he went.