The wagon’s canvas was cool against Charlie’s back. He leaned against it, sitting beside Merlin as the wagon hurriedly bumped along the dirt road. Marvin was working at a quick pace to pull them as fast as he could. But after a long day of fleeing from the knights, he was slowing down. They’d left quickly after Orb’s warning and since then had managed to stay ahead of the knights. But Vetica was confident they were still being followed. She said there was a way to detect when a scarlet hex was being used on you or something around you. Whoever was behind them had homed in on them with magic.

She sat on the driver’s bench on the wagon’s front. It had become her usual spot of late since Marvin still hadn’t forgiven Merlin for abandoning him outside Sange. Orb was watching Bleedy and Mousifer work. They were busy reorganizing the satchel Bleedy always carried. They’d added a few emergency provisions to it, and removed the things they didn’t think Bleedy needed to carry around all the time. Orb floated above them, micro-managing the entire process.

Merlin scratched at his face. His thin facial hair had blossomed into an unruly beard from all his time in Sange, plus their recent travels. He hadn’t found the time to shave at all. “Being on the run sucks. I really need to trim this down,” Merlin said, pulling at his beard.

Charlie nodded. “Me too. It’s so itchy! How do you deal with this all the time?” Charlie adjusted his own beard.

“Well, I mean, you just have to…” Merlin paused. He turned to look at Charlie. Charlie’s thick brown beard surprised him. “Uh, Vetica, you should see this…” Merlin said.

She turned and looked over her shoulder and smiled. “That’s cute. It suits you, Charlie.”

Charlie giggled.

“Cute?” Merlin looked around at Orb and the two minions hard at work. “Am I the only one wondering why the baby has a beard? It’s thicker than mine, for System’s sake!”

Charlie laughed so hard he lost his balance. He fell on his side and kept laughing, holding his stomach. The side of his beard peeled off.

Merlin scoffed. He reached over and pulled the rest of it off. “Charlie, I told you not to mess with my wig collection!”

Charlie sat up, worried he’d upset Merlin. But after a moment, Merlin cracked a smile. “Okay, fine, it was pretty funny. Sorry, I’m a bit on edge.” He turned to look out the back of the wagon. “I’m just not sure what we’ll do if they catch up to us. We’ll be outnumbered and underpowered.”

Charlie frowned. Even though Merlin was the only one who said it out loud, Charlie knew the others were concerned as well. Vetica was really confident in her abilities, but even she had seemed way less eager than usual to fight. Bleedy and Mousifer were working diligently to distract themselves, instead of napping or running around the wagon like usual. Orb wasn’t cracking nearly as many jokes. His friends were nervous, and he hated he couldn’t change that. But the hex knights were powerful.

When the mayor and the core guardian in Sange had turned the hex knight Sir Albert into some kind of super limbling, the creature had defeated Brel in an instant. But despite the fact it had killed the rest of the hex knights, Fiona had managed to defeat it and escape with the king unharmed. Vetica said it was unlikely Fiona would be the one chasing them. She was known for being one of the more powerful hex knights and for remaining by the side of the king at all times. It wouldn’t make sense to send the king’s most trusted bodyguard after Charlie. But that didn’t mean the others they sent would be weak. His powers were still recovering, and everyone in his party was running on very little rest. He didn’t like their odds if it came down to a fight.

Merlin leaned over to inspect the foot of Charlie’s onesie. He squinted. “Hey Charlie, do you remember when I spilled my drink on you at the cafe in Sirra?” he asked.

Charlie blinked. That was an odd question to ask all of a sudden. “Yeah, it made me sad because this is my favorite onesie.”

“It’s your only onesie,” Orb corrected without turning to face them.

Charlie stuck his tongue out toward the floating dungeon core.

“Well, I was just wondering who had cleaned it. I figured maybe Geron, and the others had, but I guess maybe one of your friends in Sange could’ve helped, too?” Merlin said.

Charlie tilted his head. He looked at the foot of his onesie where the brown liquid had stained it all that time ago. Merlin was right. The stain was gone. “No…no one ever cleaned it. I just got kind of forgot about it. Maybe it went away on its own?” he said.

Vetica turned back toward them, raising a brow. Merlin exchanged a look with her.

Now that Charlie thought about it, when he’d run into Merlin, his signature purple cloak had some tears in it as well. Merlin had been wearing kierstone armor underneath it at the time. He’d since removed it and stored it inside of his wagon’s hidden compartment. But the odd thing was, the scratches and tears of the purple fabric were gone now. “Your cloak is fixed too! Did you stitch it back together?” Charlie asked.

Vetica lowered Marvin’s reins, ensuring there was enough slack, and then wrapped them around a rein holder near her feet. Marvin knew to keep traveling in the same direction. Honestly, Vetica mostly sat up front because she enjoyed it and not because it was necessary. She stepped into the back of the wagon and sat down, leaning against the back of the bench she’d just been sitting on. “Charlie, were you wearing that onesie when you came to this world? Or did Richard and Mary give it to you?” she asked.

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“I think I already had it. That’s how they knew my name,” Charlie said.

Orb bounced in the air to affirm Charlie’s story. “Yup. He’s had it the whole time.”

Merlin and Vetica exchanged a look. “Charlie, I didn’t fix my cloak. It fixed itself. Do you know how dungeallis crystal and kierstone can be used to make weapons and armor? Well, there are other materials like it that are used for clothing. Magic materials that can be used for fabrics, clothing, robes, and all kinds of things. This cloak was a gift I received a long time ago, from someone very important to me. When it’s damaged, it repairs itself slowly over time. When it gets dirty, it cleans itself. I asked about your onesie because, well, if the stain disappeared on its own, it’s possible that…”

Charlie’s eyes went wide. “You think my onesie is made from something similar?” he asked.

Orb, Mousifer, and Bleedy turned to look at them. This was getting interesting.

“Squea?” Mousifer said.

“Yeah, what exactly are you saying?” Orb asked.

Vetica stared at the floor of the wagon, lost in thought. “There are two possible answers, maybe more, but these two seem the most likely. One, the world that Charlie is from, has a similar material in it. If that’s the case, it may be more readily available there. That’s the only thing that would make sense, considering they used it for baby clothing. The other possibility is…well, maybe the onesie didn’t come from that world at all. Maybe it came from this one.”

Charlie stared at her. “I don’t understand. Like my parents somehow bought clothing from this world?” he asked.

“Or they were originally from this world themselves,” Merlin said.

This was a lot to take in. Charlie didn’t know anything about his parents. He was from another world. He had to be. Orb had told him about a place called earth. Merlin had said that interfaces were typically given to people from other planets. Would it really make sense if his parents had somehow started in this world and later moved to earth? If that was the case, why would he have been summoned here on his own? It was a lot to process.

But it made sense that his clothing might be a little special. He’d damaged it plenty of times before during previous fights. Plus, he’d spent a decent amount of time crawling around a dungeon. He should be way dirtier than he was, and his onesie should be nothing more than a few pieces of scraps at this point. He’d just never really thought about it before.

For some reason, thinking about it all made Charlie a little sad. He still didn’t know very much about his past. This just created more questions for him.

Vetica seemed to pick up on his mood shift. “Maybe we can find a tailor or shopkeeper who could tell us more about your clothing the next time we’re in town. We could try to figure out exactly what it’s made of,” she said.

Merlin sighed. “In just a few more days, we’ll be in Arcadeya. We should stay focused on finding this dungeon researcher. That Richard fellow has convinced Charlie that this is the path forward, and it’s too late to change course now. But maybe we can look for a tailor if there’s time afterwards. Either way, I hope Arcadeya is as safe as you think it will be. I need a warm bed and a long night’s rest.”

“To be honest, I’m still a bit confused about this whole thing,” Vetica said, inspecting her nails. “If Charlie has an interface, why exactly does he need a dungeon researcher?”

“That...” Merlin paused. “…is actually a good point. Why can’t Parent break all of this down for you?” Merlin asked.

“Parent helps with a lot, but he says that it’s almost like a lot of his knowledge is locked away. He knows a lot about my skills and can keep an eye on the dungeon for me, but there are still a lot of questions he can’t answer. The dungeon researcher will be able to help! Richard said this is what we should do, and I trust him,” Charlie said.

Orb floated over to him. “Richard was a hex knight, so he probably knows what he’s talking about when it comes to dungeons.”

Vetica and Merlin’s heads both snapped to look at the floating dungeon core.

Merlin turned back toward Charlie. “Wait, you were brought to this world and adopted by a hex knight? Someone in the same group that is currently chasing us through the forest?!” he asked.

Charlie pursed his lips. “Well, technically, he’s a retired hex knight.”

Merlin palmed his face. “That doesn’t make me feel better. What if this is a trap or something?”

“Stop that, Merlin. If this Richard fellow wanted to turn Charlie in, he could’ve done that already. Hex Knights delve into dungeons all the time. If one of them thinks this dungeon researcher can help, he’s probably right. Besides, Arcadeya is a large city. It’ll be easy to get the hex knights off our trail there, as long as we’re smart,” Vetica said.

Merlin sighed but didn’t protest any further.

Charlie crawled toward Vetica and reached up toward the bench. She smiled and picked him up and stepped over to sit on the bench with him in her lap. Marvin was moving at an incredible pace, and Charlie was wondering how Merlin had ever found such an incredible horse. To be honest, there was still so much he didn’t know about his friends. But he’d have time to figure that out.

For now, he focused on the road ahead. Though Charlie was keenly aware that the hex knights wouldn’t be far behind them, he believed it would all work out in the end. Soon they’d reach Arcadeya. The city he’d set out for from the very start of his journey.

When he’d left Troa under the direction of Richard and Mary, there had been just four of them. Charlie, Orb, Mousifer and Bleedy.

He hadn’t had any idea what his adventure would consist of at the time. But he’d met a lot of great people, and now he had more friends than ever before. He was closer to answers than ever before. Soon he’d know more about his dungeon, and hopefully find a way to fill the gaps in Parent’s knowledge. If he wanted to become someone who could protect others and use his powers to their maximum potential, Arcadeya was an important step.

And they’d be there soon.