I DIDN'T POST YESTERDAY AND I'M SORRY.

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Also, when did this hit 100 reads?! I totally missed it!!! Eh, well, thank you all anyways!

Warnings are in the comments --->

WC: ~1500

Enjoy!

"W-wh-what?!" Xay sputtered, in complete disarray after seeing the thing in front of him. "That's not supposed to exist!!" Hels snickered.

"Oh, I've forgotten you've never seen one of these," Hels replied. "And it certainly is supposed to exist."

"But Nether Portals are just a fantasy!" Xay shrieked. "And that is a Nether Portal!"

"And you can access the Nether with it," Hels explained with a small, amused sigh.

"I read fantasy books about these!" Xay yelped. "About wither skeletons and blazes and pigmen having wars!! About people who access the portals and ride on striders!! None of that is real!" Hels looked Xay up and down, then smirked again.

"Cute," he remarked.

"DID YOU JUST-"

"Nether Portals are in fact real," Hels cut him off. "As you can tell. And going through them will take you to the Nether."

"No scud, Sherlock," Xay grumbled. "Tell me something I don't know."

"End portals also exist,"

Silence.

"You're speechless," Hels pointed out. "So I assume I succeeded."

"Oh, shush you,"

Xay stared at the portal, still unable to believe his eyes. It really was real, in all its purple swirling glory.

He was standing in front of a fantasy.

"Do we go through?" Xay asked, approaching the Nether Portal. He cautiously put a hand though, then quickly retracted it at the sudden warmth.

"Yes," Hels replied. "But be careful. Everyone has a different reaction to being dumped in the Nether."

Xay nodded, then after a moment of hesitation, stepped through.

It was the same feeling he got when he stepped into fire.

Overwhelming heat, but also oddly calming at the same time.

When he stepped out, however, on the other side,

The reaction was instant.

Pull.

That was the best word Xay could use to describe what he was feeling.

It was a pull, a yank in a thousand different directions.

A shriek escaped his lips as a migraine blistered up.

It wasn't until he looked around that he realized what was going on.

Is my magic being pulled...

TOWARDS EVERY FIRE SOURCE?!

Xay pressed his hands to his head, his eyes squeezed shut. Sudden pain exploded inside of him like fireworks, and Xay felt himself crash to the ground. A whoosh behind him signalled Hels's arrival.

"Woah, Xay, what happened?" Hels asked, a new tone of worry in his voice.

"F-fire," Xay managed. "I c-can't-"

Somehow Hels managed to understand him.

Somehow.

"Okay, uh," Hels mumbled. "Blazes, I've never seen this before. Okay... I think..."

But the rest of what he said was cut off by an earsplitting screech.

At this point, Xay could only register certain things.

He whimpered softly as the pain seemed to kick into gear again, making it nearly unbearable. Warmth surrounded him, but not the thick heat of the Nether.

Something else.

Xay tried to open his eyes, but spikes of pain like needles forced them shut again. The images of the fire danced almost mockingly in his head, casting lights of pain that weren't even supposed to exist.

A fiery warmth suddenly came to Xay's hand, the same feeling that he got when he snapped his fingers.

Did I just snap?

"Focus on the fire here, Xay,"

Hels?

Unwilling to ponder it any longer, Xay directed all his concentration to the warmth, like targeted weapons. Pulling away all the other strings that were tied to the other flames, until,

It was over.

Xay exhaled in relief as the pain and pulling subsided, and he slowly opened his eyes,

To a face full of silver fabric.

Wha-

Xay pulled back, to see...

Oh flames no no nonono-

Why, just why did I have to have a breakdown in Hels's arms?!

Xay swallowed back his embarrassment and carefully scooted away, his heart pounding in his chest. And Hels's face, genuine worry and concern and even fear written all over it.

Those are some emotions I never thought I'd see from Hels.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked. "I- I didn't think you'd react like that- I've never seen anyone be that overwhelmed..." he trailed off, clearly unable to find words.

"Well, whatever you did to fix it worked," Xay pointed out, realizing that he was still subconsciously anchored on the fire. "What... what did you do?"

"I cut off all of the passageways your magic was making to other flames," Hels explained, holding up his hand to display a flame. The one he pressed into my palm. Turns out I never generated any fire...

"Think of it like channels. When you entered, the magic or urge was trying to go to every flame at once, every channel. But, by focusing on one channel and cutting the rest off, or zeroing in on a specific flame, it can help with the overwhelmed thing that happened to you."

"Well, thank you," Xay mumbled. "You've saved my life twice now, that's just plain unfair." Hels chuckled at this.

"I wouldn't say 'saved your life'," he admitted. "But I'll take the praise anyway."

"Wow, Hels. Just wow."

"What?" Hels asked with a grin. "But, crisis averted, time to take you where I planned to."

The two lifted them up from the netherrack (turns out fantasy books were more helpful than Xay thought, who knew?), and Hels slipped behind the portal to grab something from a chest that Xay hadn't even noticed.

While he was doing that, Xay took a moment to appreciate their surroundings. They were on a cliff overlooking a lava lake, with a biome full of scarlet trees nearby.

"That's a crimson forest," Hels told him, noticing where Xay was looking. "We're in a nether wasteland. And we're heading to a basalt delta."

"I still can't believe this is all real," Xay breathed.

"Mhmm," Hels muttered. "Come here and gear up." Xay blinked in confusion, then walked over to Hels.

Surprisingly enough, Hels had equipped armor, shining silver metal that reflects the orange glow that surrounds them. However, he wasn't wearing any sort of chestplate.

"Here," he said offhandedly, handing Xay a bundle. Inside was a set of armor, once again missing a chestplate of some sort. Ignoring the odd occurrence, Xay slipped on the red armor, surprised at how light it was.

"Erm, why do we need armor?" Xay couldn't help but ask.

"Because, otherwise, you'll get mauled by the pigmen, ghasts, and potentially even blazes. Depends where you go." Hels explained. "Here, put this on."

Is that...

"Wings?!" Xay yelped, bewildered. "But- I- what?"

"Elytra, actually," Hels corrected. "But basically wings, yes. You'll need rockets to power them, but thankfully I have them already. I don't understand how you all get around on foot instead of wings."

"We use cars," Xay mumbled sheepishly as Hels took the elytra and went behind Xay, carefully but expertly harnessing the wings to Xay's back. After buckling them in, he went to put on his own.

"Do- do these actually work?" Xay stuttered.

"Of course they do," Hels replied. "I'm not one to play pretend." As he spoke, a flame lit on his helmet, surprising Xay.

"I use this flame to zero in on," Hels explained. "Although I don't break down completely like you, it's nice to have just one to project on. Snap your fingers to generate your own, then divert your focus from the flame I gave you." Xay nodded and did as he was told, and a tiny flame rested on his shoulder for him to focus on.

Hels clipped on his own elytra, then handed Xay a bunch of firework rockets. Hels then fired one, and to Xay's shock, powered up into the air.

"Just try it," Hels advised. "Once you get it, it's pretty self explanatory."

Swallowing back his fear, Xay fired a rocket like Hels had...

And launched into the air.

"I'm not sure I like this!" Xay shrieked as he launched another rocket to keep up with Hels.

"Don't look down," Hels warned. "Not only will you fall, but it's also mildly nerve wracking."

"Thanks," Xay snapped, forcing his eyes up. Hels snickered, then powered off on a sharp turn, Xay closely following.

A little while later of flying, they came across a basalt delta, and Hels landed gracefully on one of the spikes of material. Xay tried to land nearby, but ended up crashing onto the blackstone, earning a fit of laughter from Hels.

"Pinnacle of grace," Hels snickered.

"Burn in hell," Xay grumbled, lifting himself up.

"Close, but not exactly what we're doing," Hels replied unexpectedly.

What-

"Follow me," Hels continued.

And then he jumped into the lava pool in front of them.

Xay stared in shock for a second, then, unsure of what else to do, jumped in after him.

Falling.

He was falling down, down,

"USE YOUR ELYTRA, IDIOT!" Hels shouted, making Xay's face flush from embarrassment. Spreading the wings, he and Hels glided down the tunnel, and into... a room.

The first thing Xay noticed were the people.

A boy with brown hair and a yellow 'i' on his black shirt.

Another with dirty blonde hair and a red sweater.

The last had dark hair, a green sweatshirt, and one cyborg eye.

The Missing.

Credits to kpeskybirdcat, who's theory about The Missing was half-right, half-wrong!

-Storm