Gus stood over the bed he kept in a back room of the inn, wearing his chiton, belt and cloak as he picked over the items he planned to take. He was unused to dressing like this by now, so much more used to his shirt and trousers. But the clothes he came into this world wearing were still in good condition, somehow, perhaps preserved by the magic of their world other than slight fading to the colours.

Whether there were restrictions on what he could carry as well as what he could wear, he didn't know, but he considered his options carefully. Lord Henry had made no declarations on what time he should leave for the world below, so he had some time, at least, to dither other whether to take the dagger or the sword.

"Take it all if you can," Mary Louise said from the doorway.

Gus looked over at where she stood, no expression on her tired face in the early morning light.

"I did not realise you were watching. That is not a good sign of my observation skills today."

She scoffed. "You're too used to me being around, is all. The underworld will overload you with new things to notice. How do you feel?"

He stretched his face into a smile. "Cold."

"I'll help you wrap up a blanket, then. If you need one up here, you'll need one out there."

"I won't say no to that."

She hurried in and set to packing his bag. The blanket was already in her hands; clearly she had foreseen this circumstance.

"Are you sure those clothes are what it means by going into that world as you came into this one?" she asked.

"It's as possible as anything," he said. "I don't know what else it could mean."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

*

By the time he left the day was bright, the sunlight unseasonably warm.

He tested spots on the map that looked promising and it didn't take long to find a cave that took him down into something, whether or not it really was the world below. As he went down the world got cooler, darker. The hair on his arms stood up.

When it grew dark enough he lit a candle and put it in the lantern Mary Louise had made him take. He thanked her as the cave walls around him grew light again.

And he walked down further still, until he reached a bend, and saw someone come up to meet him.

A stranger, dark hair hair and dark eyes glittering in the candle light. The stranger wore some kind of uniform, with belts and straps and pockets everywhere.

"Are you sure this is where you want to be?" the stranger asked. His voice was deep.

"I have a mission I must undertake," Gus said. "It may be down this way."

The stranger stepped closer and smiled. He was tall, maybe as tall as Tiger, and narrow in build, but his presence seemed to take up the whole width of the cave. It could be he was one of the monsters Gus would have to face.

"I could be your guide," the stranger said. "It's easy to get lost down here. I don't want that to happen to you."

Gus had to hold himself back from stepping forward to say yes. Something told him he should be cautious. And yet, something else was drawing him forward.

"Why not?" he asked.

The stranger's mouth widened into a smirk. "You look like someone I should get to know. I like you already."

Gus blinked, stepped back where the air was more fresh. From behind he heard a noise like thundering steps. He whirled around, hand going to his belt where his dagger was hanging just in case.

But it was only his friends and nothing to fear. They were blurry in the distance and the dark, but he could recognise them by their body language after all these years.

Tiger got close enough to be clear first. The clothes he wore were of fine materials, beautiful things that Gus had never seen him wear before, layers upon layers of sleeves. But he held the same sword he always used, and smiled in the familiar way he always did.

"Why are you here?" Gus asked. "This is not your mission."

"You didn't think we'd leave you behind, did you?" Tiger said. "Anyway, we overheard what that old gasbag was saying to you. You don't have to take every dangerous mission he sends you on, but if you will, we're here."

"Overheard?"

"Followed you and eavesdropped," Ada said, her voice clear and blunt.

"You're dressed like normal," Gus said.

"Of course I am," Ada said. "You wouldn't catch me in the dress I came to this world in. Even if I could wear it, if I hadn't burned it a hundred years ago, I still would not wear it. These clothes are who I am."

Gus nodded. "In that case, I can't stop either of you from following me, so we should work together." He turned – the stranger was already gone. "I'm sure this is the right way. I saw a mysterious being earlier that must have a strong and terrible power, but he disappeared as soon as you arrived."

"What kind of power?" Tiger asked.

"I don't know, but it made my chest hurt." With a pain he hadn't felt for centuries, as his heart beat only once.