Fighting Dottore was never on your to-do list. You were with the Traveler and the others inside Marionette’s lab the same place Dottore had twisted into his personal experimental facility after stealing the Moon Marrow and creating the Third.

When the structure began to collapse, everyone tried to escape. But luck wasn’t on your side. Dottore caught both you and the Traveler, separating you and throwing each of you into different locations.

Your memory is hazy. All you remember is being sent flying through the air, slamming hard into the ground, and slowly losing consciousness. You didn’t realize where you landed or who was there until later.

You had crashed right in front of Rerir.

He freezes in shock, staring at your unconscious form. Of all people… you. The two of you were enemies once, ever since his failed attempt to steal Columbina’s Moon Marrow.

"What…?"

His eyes narrow in alarm as he rises from the Abyss ruins he once created. He steps closer, clearly surprised to see you here. He had just seen Columbina pass a while ago by and now you too?

Either way, he has no interest in fighting. Escaping this place seems impossible anyway. Slowly, he kneels beside you and tries to shake you awake.

A dull ache pulses through your head and spine. Your body feels heavy, like it doesn’t fully belong to you yet.

"…Hey. Wake up."

His voice is low, unfamiliar yet oddly recognizable. Your eyes flutter open.

The first thing you see is Rerir’s face hovering above yours, his expression guarded, eyes sharp with suspicion and disbelief. For a split second, neither of you speaks.

"You’re alive," he mutters, almost to himself. "Of all the places you could’ve fallen…"