Chapter Text
The corridors of the Backrooms stretched on indefinitely—or, at least, they were supposed to. But as Oliver quickly learned, the Backroom's logic had long since abandoned this place. Instead of an infinite, identical maze, the space began to warp, constricting into tight, claustrophobic pathways flanked by empty, sterile little rooms. It did not look like what Oliver thought it would at first
Oliver came to an abrupt halt, his hand shooting out to grab Venti's wrist and yank him back.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Venti gasped, stumbling backward before peering around Oliver's shoulder.
Just ahead, the hallway pinched into a sharp, blind 90-degree left turn. It was impossible to see what was waiting around the corner without physically squeezing through.
"Venti, please," Oliver pleaded, his voice laced with genuine anxiety. "I'm going to say this again: this is The Backrooms. The lore I read online says there are things that live down here. I know you could probably obliterate them, but can we please not just blindly run into danger?"
Venti softened, his grip tightening reassuringly around Oliver's hand. "Fine, fine. Though I still don't quite understand what has you so terrified," he murmured. "Besides, that dark, sickening energy I was sensing was entirely Dottore, and he's dead now. So no more bad vibes pressing on my chest!"
"Yes, I know, and I'm glad he's gone," Oliver muttered, staring uncomfortably at the narrow bend. "But we're still deep in liminal space territory. You have to watch where you step—drop-offs could literally be anywhere."
Venti blinked, peering into the narrow opening. "Drop-offs?" He stepped closer to the tight seam where the wall seemed to end in a sharp drop of shadow. He hesitated, pondering Oliver's warning. "I see. Well, that would certainly be unfortunate. I wouldn't want you falling into a bottomless pit..."
"Venti, be careful!"
"Don't worry, this feels quite tame compared to—what was that terrifying thing called from the world where you got your sword?" Venti glanced back with a grin.
Oliver was very close to Venti, to make sure he'll be okay, even though he was sure he would be. "Oh! You mean the Warden? Uh... yeah, what about it?"
Venti giggled. "I'm just saying, that was terrifying. This is nothing!"
"You're only saying that because it's blindingly bright in here!" Oliver grumbled, gesturing to the buzzing, piss-yellow fluorescent lights overhead. They had flickered off briefly during the chaos with Dottore, but now they were blazing at full, headache-inducing capacity again.
"Hehehe!" Venti laughed, "So? It's bright! At least I can actually see where I'm going!"
"Ugh, Venti, you genuinely don't understand what a liminal space is, do you?!"
Venti smiled, and walked into the narrow spot, then turned right. "Huh." He said.
"What is it?" Oliver asked, still hovering nervously at the entrance. "What do you see?"
Venti raised an arm, pointing down the narrow corridor. "A way forward, I suppose. It's quite dark down there, but I can see a faint light at the very end. It's a very tight squeeze, though," he called back, looking over his shoulder. "We definitely won't be able to walk side by side."
Oliver sighed. "Figures. The Backrooms loves its miserable architecture."
Venti pressed his back flat against the wallpaper, shimmying a few inches further into the slot. He turned his head, patting the yellow wall directly beside him. "Come on over here, Ollie. We'll have to crab-walk our way in."
"You don't want me to go in first,"
"No, I just want to make sure you're safe," Venti said softly, a quiet protective edge in his voice. "Not that you can't handle yourself, but... let me head first." He looked down. 'I do not want you getting hurt. Not again,'
Venti began sliding sideways along the drywall, and Oliver immediately followed, pressing his back flush against the opposing surface.
As they inched through the narrow slit, Venti paused, glancing sideways with a look of sudden concern. "You aren't... claustrophobic, are you?"
Oliver let out a dry, exasperated huff. "You're asking me now—?"
Venti giggled sheepishly into the gloom. "S-Sorry!"
"Not really, I guess. I'll manage for now," Oliver grumbled. "Though if something jumpscares me in this tunnel, I'm going to accidentally knock myself unconscious against the wall right in front of my face..."
"Alright... let's just keep moving, then. It isn't much further, we'll reach the end in no time," Venti encouraged, resuming his slow slide. "Say, do you want to try holding my hand while we shimmy down there?"
"Babe, I'd love to, but... I kinda need both hands braced against the wall so I don't faceplant onto the floor..."
"Oh! Right. Oops," Venti giggled. "Alright then, no hand-holding for the moment!"
As they continued their sideways shuffle, a weathered paper sign pinned directly to the wall caught their attention in the dim light.
"Woah, take a look at this," Venti whispered, stopping once more.
Despite the gloom, the lettering was surprisingly clear. It featured a crude red arrow pointing straight down the path they were traversing, and scrawled above it in bold marker was a single label: Doctor Barclay's Office.
"Well, I suppose that confirms we're on the right track!" Venti smiled brightly. "We're getting closer!" He kicked off his shuffling pace again.
Oliver followed closely behind, his eyes locked on the directional sign. "Doctor Barclay really used the Backrooms as a walk-in storage unit... I still cannot wrap my head around that. And honestly, I'm even more confused about how he managed to physically commute to his office through here."
"Eh, I imagine he used a method similar to what we're doing right now," Venti replied casually.
"Babe..." Oliver blinked. "This is a painfully tight tunnel. Doctor Barclay wasn't exactly a thin man."
Venti snorted, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. "Hahaha! Well, perhaps he had a secret elevator or a wider private entrance. Though, part of me is actually quite glad I'm an Archon. Because if I were an ordinary mortal, I'd probably have a rather round, chubby belly after consuming all those sweet apples and rich Mondstadt cuisine, ehe! I would never have fit through here unless I sucked in my tummy for dear life!"
Oliver instantly looked down, his face erupting into a violent shade of red as a squeak nearly escaped his throat.
Venti glanced back, catching his flustered expression. "Oh, no~ Don't tell me that imagery did something to you!" The bard cackled, clearly delighted. "What, the thought of me with a soft tummy flusters you? Well, look at that—it completely took your mind off the claustrophobia of this narrow tunnel!"
Oliver groaned, wishing he had enough room to bury his burning face in his hands.
A few feet ahead, the suffocating darkness finally gave way to a pale yellow glow. But as Venti reached the mouth of the tunnel, he froze dead in his tracks. "Oliver, stop right now. Do not take another step."
Oliver slammed to a halt, his anxiety instantly spiking through the roof. "What? What is it? Do you see something?"
Venti leaned forward, carefully peering out past the edge of the tunnel into an immense, open expanse. The yellow, monochromatic hue of the Backrooms abruptly ended down below, dissolving into a massive, pitch-black void that felt entirely unnatural. The space was cavernous—a colossal, box-like abyss. It wasn't quite infinite; Venti could just barely make out distant, looming corners far across the dark, and looking straight up revealed a distant, suspended ceiling identical to the one they had just left.
Thick, giant concrete pillars jutted out from the void below, stretching endlessly downward into nothingness.
"There's... a massive drop-off," Venti finally reported back to Oliver. "Stay right there. I'm going to hover out."
Not wanting to risk summoning a powerful gust of wind while crammed inside a narrow passage with Oliver right behind him—fearing the backblast might slam Oliver's head against the wall—Venti simply stepped out into the open air and let his Anemo magic take over. He floated effortlessly, hovering in the open space just outside the tunnel.
Oliver crept to the edge of the opening, gripping the wall tight as he peered out into the dizzying drop. He shook his head, a breathless, nervous laugh escaping his lips. "I never kept a diary in my life, but I am officially going to have to journal this unhinged day." He pressed his palms against the cool drywall on either side as he leaned forward to stare down into the abyss. "Holy fuck... I am actually in the Backrooms..."
Venti drifted back down to Oliver's eye level, a fond, amused smile on his face. "How many times are you going to say that, babe? And what a thoroughly silly name: The Backrooms," he mused, shaking his head. "Is this another one of those 'games' you mentioned before?"
"Game? N-No... well, kind of. It started as an internet myth, and then people on YouTube made horror shorts about it a year ago—" Oliver abruptly froze. "Wait... no... not a year..." He groaned, rubbing his temples. "Ugh. I still keep forgetting I skipped straight from 2023 to 2026..." He sighed. "So... yeah." Oliver looked back up at Venti. He knew his boyfriend didn't know what the internet meant.
Venti chuckled softly. "Well... I certainly remember you talking about this 'YouTube' thing from your realm when we were trapped in that miserable, world with the scuba-suit man. And those... ugh." Venti visibly cringed. "Those disgusting, wet-sounding fleshy things. Gross. That was deeply unpleasant to look at."
Oliver squinted for a moment. "Oh! Right... when we were in Soma and Nerraw broke the entire dimension,"
Venti floated a fraction closer, extending his arms. "Do you want me to carry you across, babe? Or would you prefer to fly across using your own Cryo magic?"
Oliver took one more agonizing look down at the endless, lightless void below. Yes, he could technically fly using his new elemental powers, but the sheer psychological weight of the Backrooms was frying his nerves. He wordlessly thrust his arms straight out toward Venti like a traumatized toddler demanding to be picked up. "Please," he whispered, looking thoroughly horrified.
Venti snorted, a bright, musical laugh echoing off into the abyss. "Hehehahaha! You absolute big baby, ehe!" He drifted right into the mouth of the tunnel, wrapping his arms securely around Oliver's waist and lifting him flush against his chest so there was zero chance of slipping. "Up we go!"
Oliver instantly locked his arms around Venti's neck, burying his face against the bard's shoulder. "Okay... this is Doctor Barclay's secret commute to his lab. How the hell did he even travel through here without losing his mind...?"
"I truly believe he must have had an alternative entrance," Venti said, carrying him smoothly out into the vast open air. "This was his facility, after all. But where that hidden pathway is located remains a complete mystery."
"It definitely does..." Oliver grumbled into Venti's collarbone. "Do you have any idea which direction we're supposed to fly at?"
"Well, since you're the resident expert on this bizarre dimension, I suppose I should be asking you!" Venti teased playfully.
Oliver let out a playful sigh, keeping his grip tight. "Well, from your vantage point, do you see anything weird sticking to the walls? The Backrooms is non-Euclidean nonsense. There could be random objects that make zero physical sense—"
"Ah. Yes, that certainly tracks," Venti interrupted, tilting his head toward a distant wall. "I see a... a full-sized oak tree just... horizontally embedded into the side of the wall over there."
"Yep." Oliver sighed, keeping his eyes firmly shut. "That's the Backrooms for you." He cracked one eye open, trying to peer around Venti's shoulder to scan the surrounding void. Venti was holding him flushed to his chest, so Oliver's head was resting on his shoulder. "I don't see anything from my angle."
"Neither do I," Venti murmured, descending a fraction lower. He paused, frowning slightly. "You don't suppose..."
Oliver's eyes snapped wide open, turning his head to look directly at Venti's ear. "I—In the void below us?"
Venti was clearly considering it. "I am not certain. Perhaps I can slowly drift downward and test the depth?"
Oliver's brows furrowed into slight fear. He couldn't even begin to guess what going into an infinite Backrooms void would do to a person.
But before he could speak, much less think, there was a loud voice.
"THERE THEY ARE! BLAST 'EM!"
A lone Stormtrooper had managed to squeeze through the tight crawlspace, dragging his heavy E-11 rifle behind him as he burst into the open ledge.
"Venti!" Oliver shrieked. "There's another Stormtrooper!"
"Unauthorized personnel are restricted from entering the office sector!" the Stormtrooper bellowed, frantically shoving his blaster barrel out of the narrow tunnel opening. "Get down!" He slammed his finger onto the trigger.
Venti's eyes flashed with annoyance. He tighten his grip around Oliver's waist with his right arm, the bard flicked his left hand forward. A concentrated, violent gale of Anemo wind slammed into the Stormtrooper with the force of a battering ram.
"ARGH!" the soldier yelled, thrown completely off balance. He slammed hard into the wall behind him, scrambled wildly to regain his footing, and blindly lunged forward—straight over the edge.
"AHHHHHHH!!!!!"
The Stormtrooper screamed in absolute terror as he plummeted headfirst into the pitch-black abyss, his heavy blaster flying out of his grip and tumbling down alongside him until both vanished completely into the shadows.
His terrified shriek echoed for several long seconds before slowly, chillingly fading into total silence.
Oliver swallowed hard, clinging even tighter to the Archon. "Okay... we literally just watched that man fall straight to his doom. Do we really want to go down there too?"
"Something tells me we don't have much of a choice," Venti replied calmly, eyeing the infinite drop. "There are no other exits in this space, and that sign back in the tunnel indicated the office lies straight ahead. Do not worry, I have a firm hold on you."
"Okay," Oliver whispered, burying his face back into Venti's shoulder.
Hearing his agreement, Venti angled his body downward and began a slow, carefully controlled descent straight into the dark abyss.
Oliver held on tight, tilting his head back to watch the opening of the narrow passage slide higher and higher above them. The giant pillars drifted past, stretching up into the light above as they sank lower.
Venti felt Oliver's hands tighten around him. He nuzzled his cheek against Oliver's, then turned his head to plant a small kiss. "Don't worry, Oliver. It'll be okay."
Oliver kept his eyes squeezed shut, listening to the heavy silence as they dropped lower and lower. The only sound in the vast emptiness was their breathing.
After several long minutes of descending, the pitch-black void abruptly shifted, opening back up into the same open space.
"Huh?" He didn't stop descending, but he glanced up. Where the ceiling had been before, there was only darkness.
Oliver peeked at the narrow passage, now far above them as they went lower. "What the...?"
Venti looked up again and spotted the oak tree jutting from the wall. "Okay..." He looked around. The pillars were gone. "Hm... those huge, strange pillars that were sticking out of the void have vanished." He kept going down, until the darkness swallowed them again.
"The Backrooms does weird shit..." Oliver muttered. "That was... probably just a glitch or something..."
Venti lowered them further, and the room returned.
This time, the lights were off, save for a few stubborn ones. The oak tree was no longer sticking out of the wall; it was sunk into it, only the top half visible, as though the lower half had been fused into the wall.
"What the..." Venti blinked.
Oliver looked up and noticed the narrow passage had grown wider. He opened his mouth to say so, but he kept his mouth shut.
Venti went back down into the void.
After a few seconds of drifting down, the room appeared again. Now, gaping holes yawned in all four walls, acres wide and pitch-black inside.
"Oh my..." Venti muttered under his breath, glancing at them. "Wow that...?" He blinked, now wondering what was going on.
"Ugh... I cannot wait until we are entirely out of this nightmare," Oliver grumbled.
They lowered again, into the darkness below, but then they came back into the room again, all the walls were just gone. It was just darkness.
Oliver closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"You're doing good," Venti said softly. He was working hard to keep himself in a perfectly straight line. In the pitch black, it was impossible to tell up from down or left from right, so he just kept going downward without stopping, afraid of losing his path.
The room faded into view again.
This time, medieval buildings jutted out from the walls, scattered all around them. Oliver's eyes went wide. "Why do those look like Mondstadt buildings?"
"I noticed that," Venti said. "But I'm not stopping. Whatever this is, going through it is clearly doing something."
They plunged into the darkness once more.
Now, along with the buildings, the Statue of Barbatos was duplicated everywhere, some copies even fused into each other.
"Hmm..." Venti glanced up briefly before looking back down. "That's bizarre..."
Okay, now it was getting strange for Oliver. "Why is..."
But the next layer came before he could finish.
The room shrank. One side of the wall, had an oversized Mondstadt building with smaller ones jutting out from it, a line of of them all shrinking in size as they spread across the wall. The few lights still on lit only certain patches, leaving the rest drenched in shadow, and it just made Oliver feel weird.
He took a breath and closed his eyes. "This is so uncomfortable to look at, Venti..."
The next sector was smaller still. The buildings were gone.
The next room shrank again. Then again. And again.
Slowly, the darkness began to thin out, parting to reveal a solid floor waiting far below them.
Venti gasped softly, rapidly firing off a burst of counter-wind to arrest their downward momentum just as a tiled subway platform materialized beneath them.
The sudden, abrupt upward jerk of Venti's braking maneuver scared the absolute life out of Oliver.
"EAAIIEEEE?!" Oliver shrieked, clutching the bard so hard his knuckles turned white.
Venti slowly lowered himself back down until his bard shoes touched the carpet, holding Oliver tightly the whole way so he could never slip. But that sudden, girlish scream had been so hilarious that he wanted to laugh so badly. This was a very serious moment, though, so he knew he shouldn't.
Oliver coughed loudly into his fist, frantically trying to play it off. "That... we... uh... handled that gracefully."
Venti lasted exactly as long as it took to set Oliver down on the carpet. "BHAHAHAHAHAH!" He doubled over, laughing his cute laugh. "Oh my gosh! I'm sorrhahahahrrryy, I'm sorry!!!" He wheezed. "Oh, that was definitely funny after all that tension!"
Despite himself, Oliver started laughing too. "Pffft—okay, fine. It was funny," he snorted. "I—I honestly thought you lost your grip! I was mentally preparing to plummet into the infinite void!"
Venti snorted, floated up a little, then leaned in, wrapped his arms around Oliver, and kissed him. He giggled as he pulled away. "Sorry about that, hehe~ Hopefully my kisses make up for it~" He peppered Oliver's face with little smooches. Oliver giggled and kissed him back, until their lips met and the little kisses melted into a real one. Venti's giggles softened, and he slid his arms around Oliver's waist, pulling him closer.
After a long, comforting moment, they finally parted. Venti opened his eyes, offering a radiant, loving smile, before gently setting down onto his feet. "Feeling somewhat better?"
Oliver smiled, nodding warmly. "Much better. Though... I think I'd feel even better if I got permission to poke and play with your belly button—"
Venti let out an explosive snort. "Hahaa!" He threw his head back in delight. "Oh, he finally asks without me even offering! True character development!" He winked cheekily.
"Ventiiii," Oliver whined, flushing bright red and immediately looking away. "I do want to, but—wait. What the hell is that?" He stopped dead in his tracks, staring past Venti's shoulder. "A TRAIN?!"
"Eh?" Venti blinked, turning around to follow Oliver's gaze.
Resting on a set of gleaming steel tracks that emerged from the dark tunnels of the station was a dingy, fully operational subway train idling quietly at the platform.
Venti giggled. "Goodness. You traded my belly button for a train? Now I truly feel rejected." He teased with a bright grin, walking side-by-side with Oliver toward the platform edge. "A train? How curious. Never seen one like that before."
"Should we... board it?" Oliver peered cautiously through the sliding doors which were opened. Inside the old, dirty passenger car, a small digital information screen flickered to life above the aisle.
NEXT STOP: BARCLAY'S OFFICE
"Venti, I think we use this to get there," Oliver said. "Since when do the Backrooms have an automated subway system? And more importantly... why on earth did we just pass through floating Mondstadt architecture to get here?" Oliver looked straight up, half-expecting to see the surreal abyss, but found only a completely solid, normal concrete ceiling.
"Wait, there's no darkness anymore..." Oliver muttered.
Venti hopped up lightly, floating an inch off the ground, and casually punched his fist upward against the ceiling. "Yep. Solid as solid rock." He dropped back down to his feet, dusting off his hands.
Oliver shook his head, staring at the subway car doors. "You know... in stories, whenever characters go through something, but it's basically nothing, they always just sigh and say, 'It's a long story.'" He looked over at Venti with an exhausted smirk. "When the guys back at the lab finally ask us what we did today... this is literally the definition of a long story."
Venti threw his head back and laughed, a rich, ringing sound that banished the last lingering echoes of dread from the old station. "You are entirely right, haha!"
Without a second thought, the bard grabbed Oliver's hand and pulled him right toward the opening subway doors.
"Woah!" Oliver gasped as they crossed the threshold.
The moment their shoes hit the interior linoleum flooring, a crisp, automated chime echoed through the empty car:
Doors closing
Ding-dong
Oliver instinctively grabbed onto Venti's arm as the heavy doors slid shut with a hiss, locking them securely inside. He looked around the empty carriage, letting out a breathless laugh. "Well... I always wanted to ride the New York subway... I just never expected my first time would be deep inside the fucking Backrooms with Venti from Genshin Impact."
Venti smiled warmly, leaning his head affectionately against Oliver's arm. "Come on, let's go sit down over there!"