Evan POV

  What the hell was that thing?” Aisha finally voiced what we were both thinking as we stood in the middle of the wrecked coliseum, rubble still settling around us.

  “My thoughts exactly,” I muttered, resting a hand on my chin.

  Okay, let’s dial it back and think this through.

  The fake me—the thing wearing my real body like a cheap costume—had said a whole bunch of terrifying stuff. Stuff like me not remembering anything that had happened before I woke up.

  Which begs the question: what did happen? Is that why I showed up in this world a whole week after Aisha and Walter? Why was it using my body? And how the hell did it summon the Moonlord like it was some kind of Pokémon, not a final boss?

  The questions just kept piling up, one after another, until they formed a wall I couldn’t see past.

  “Did it... tell you anything? When it first showed up?” Aisha asked, breaking the silence. She must’ve noticed the gears turning in my head.

  I nodded. “Yeah. It mentioned Reid—the original guy whose body I’m in.”

  I scratched my head, frustrated. “Ugh. There’s not much to go on, and it’s not like we can just hit rewind and ask him. But what I did figure out is this: the same way I’m taking over Reid’s body... that thing is taking over mine.”

  “Huh. So then... could Reid still be alive?”

  “Could be,” I said, eyes drifting toward the horizon. “But bottom line? Someone hijacked my body. And that might be why I showed up a week late—and why I’m the only one who ended up in a different body.”

  “Yeah... that actually makes a lot of sense,” Aisha said with a slow nod. “Also, let’s not gloss over the part where it summoned the freakin’ Moonlord like it was nothing.”

  I nodded. “And it was a summon, not a boss.”

  The second the words left my mouth, a lightbulb practically exploded over my head. I glanced at Aisha—and judging by the wide-eyed look she shot back, the same bulb just lit up for her too.

  “The Hero of Summon!” we shouted at the same time.

  It made too much sense. The person who took over my body could be the Hero of Summon. Heroes were already crazy powerful by default—and sure, summoning the Moonlord like that made zero sense in regular Terraria... but in this world? Totally tracks.

  “So, there's like... an 80% chance the Hero of Summon jacked my body. But why?” I muttered, looking down.

  “And it still doesn’t add up that he could summon the Moonlord unless he’s already in endgame, right?” Aisha chimed in.

  I nodded slowly—then froze as a new idea clicked into place.

  “Wait... what if the Hero of Summon is the one who brought us here in the first place?”

  Aisha’s eyes went wide with the same realization. “What if... Reid is the Hero of Summon?”

  I shook my head. “We’re stacking too many ‘what ifs.’ Let’s get the facts straight before we start connecting imaginary dots.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. My brain’s already melting trying to keep up with all this.”

  “Agreed.”

  No sooner had I said it, the ground started rumbling with the sound of hooves. We turned to see a full-on cavalry unit thundering toward us—armored soldiers on horseback, kicking up dust like a scene out of a medieval war movie.

  One of them, clearly the leader, pulled up to a stop, eyes scanning the obliterated coliseum.

  “What... what happened here?” he asked, sounding like he wasn’t sure if he wanted the answer.

  I didn’t hesitate—I pointed straight at Aisha. “She did it.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Excuse me!? You have some nerve! You’re the one who wrecked everything!”

  “Me!? I saved your ass!”

  “My butt!? We saved each other’s asses!”

  “Huh,” I shrugged, glancing off dramatically. “Guess that makes us both badasses.”

  She stared at me for a beat... then burst out laughing.

  “I hate that I laughed at that,” she said a few seconds later with deadpan eyes.

  “Umm... Evan?” someone called out.

  I blinked and turned toward the army—only just now realizing Queen Daisy had been sitting there on a horse this entire time, quietly watching our nonsense unfold like it was open mic night at the end of the world.

  “Oh hey, Daisy. What’s up?”

  She looked around, confused. “Where did that giant monster go?”

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  “Oh, the Moonlord? I killed it. No thanks to Aisha,” I said, throwing her a smug look.

  Aisha’s eyes bulged. “What the frick do you mean ‘no thanks to me’? I killed it first!”

  I wagged a finger right in her face. “The only thing you did was cast a bunch of flashy spells. Meanwhile, I was out here pulling aggro, running laps around the thing, dodging attacks, taking hits like a champ. You do any of that?”

  She looked away, grumbling. “Well... when you put it that way…”

  “Tsk tsk,” I said, shaking my head with exaggerated disappointment. “Classic Aisha. Always falling short. It’s ‘cause you suck.”

  “Oh yeah!?” she snapped. “Well—at least I suck better than you!”

  “…Wut?” I blinked.

  “…Wut?” she echoed.

  {Author’s Note: Wut?}

  Before that derailment spiraled into something unholy, Queen Daisy cleared her throat. “So... it’s been handled, then?”

  “Yep!” I said, flashing her a thumbs-up like I’d just delivered a pizza, not obliterated a cosmic horror.

  She let out a relieved sigh, then turned to one of the soldiers beside her. “Trish, gather the Magicians responsible for arena maintenance. Find Itla and the referee. Start rescuing anyone trapped under the rubble. In the meantime, I’ll be with Evan.”

  “Roger that.”

  Wait—Trish?

  That Trish? I squinted at the soldier, who was completely decked out in armor like everyone else, making it impossible to recognize anyone.

  Then, right on cue, the soldier next to Daisy removed his helmet—and boom. Sharp features, Black hair, unmistakable Trish.

  “Trish!” I grinned. “Dude! You were here the whole time?!”

  He gave me a nod and a small smile. “Evan, I’m entrusting Queen Daisy’s safety to you.”

  “Anything for a friend,” I said with a casual wave.

  He nodded again, then turned to the troops. “Alright, everyone! Regroup on me—we’ve got people to rescue. Move out!”

  Trish quickly ran out with the rest of the soldiers when Aisha suddenly Private Messaged me.

  Aisha: You Know Them?

  Evan: Neighbours.

  Aisha: Oh… Wait, Isn't she a Queen?

  Evan: Yea?

  Aisha: How are you in a neighborly relation with a Queen?

  Evan: Cuz I'm Awesome.

  Aisha: Ah, Makes Sense.

  {Author Note: No, It Doesn't!}

  Daisy dismounted her horse and stormed up to me, her face scrunched in righteous fury.

  “I will never forgive you,” she snapped.

  “H-huh!? What did I do?” I blinked, caught completely off guard.

  Aisha helpfully chimed in like someone throwing gas on a fire. “Oh yeah, I saw her bright red when you were goofing around with the other contestants. Honestly, it looked more like a circus show than a fight between high-level mages.”

  “Ohhh, that’s what this is about?” I said, glancing toward the small, pink-haired royal whose face was now matching her hair one blush at a time.

  “Do you have any idea how humiliated I was in front of my entire family!?” Daisy shouted. “I talked you up—called you my champion—and then you go out there doing somersaults and slapstick like it’s a show of some kind!”

  “Pff—” I clamped my mouth shut, doing my absolute best not to laugh.

  I failed.

  “DON’T LAUGH LIKE THIS ISN’T YOUR PROBLEM!”

  Ahh… how I loved pissing people off. Still, I clapped my hands together in a mock-apologetic pose.

  “Alright, alright! I’m sorry, okay? Forgive me, Your Royal Grumpiness.”

  She glared at me so hard I thought my hair might catch fire. But after a long, angry sigh, she finally cooled off.

  “Fine,” she muttered, letting the steam out. “I wanted to tell you two things. One, we’ve found some leads on who’s been abusing the lives of our citizens using those creepy Happy Dolls you mentioned.”

  “Oh, nice,” I said, nodding—then paused as she gave me a look. “And just to be clear, I’m not helping you catch them. I’m just the guy who pointed it out. The rest is your job.”

  She sighed and crossed her arms. “Figures. Anyway, the second thing is—my dad’s decided to officially grant you the title of Professional Grandmaster Mage. You’ll also get permanent access to the royal library. That means every magic skill, spellbook, and arcane research doc this kingdom owns is now yours to study.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, my brain short-circuited from pure joy. I literally started drooling.

  I turned to Aisha, eyes sparkling. She grinned, and without missing a beat, we high-fived like we’d just won the lottery.

  Yes! Finally! Access to every spell, every technique, every secret magical doodad hidden in dusty scrolls—I was ready to become a magical god.

  I was glowing. Radiating pure joy.

  So of course, Daisy tilted her head and frowned at me, like I was the weird one here.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Evan...” Daisy said, her voice trailing off like it was heading into dangerous territory.

  “Ask away,” I replied, one hand casually resting on my hip like I had nothing to hide—which was probably the wrong energy.

  She pointed straight at Aisha. “What’s your relationship with her?”

  Both Aisha and I snapped our heads toward each other, wide-eyed.

  “Damn, Evan. Even an underaged girl?” Aisha said, squinting at me like I’d just confessed to a felony.

  “WaitWaitWaitWait!” I blurted, hands in the air. “This is a huge misunderstanding!”

  “What are you guys even talking about?!” Daisy said, blinking. “I just want to know how Evan knows the Hero of Magic.”

  A long, glorious sigh of relief escaped my lungs.

  “You should’ve led with that!” I snapped, nearly collapsing.

  “H-Huh?! What did you think I meant!?” Daisy yelled back, looking offended and somehow more confused than before.

  Both Aisha and I turned to her with perfectly timed smiles.

  “Well, our relationship’s actually pretty simple,” I said.

  “Yup,” Aisha nodded. “He’s just my brother from another mother.”

  “And she’s my sister from another mister.”

  We were so in sync, I was this close to giving her a high five—but I held back to preserve our dramatic mystique in front of the princess, who was now just staring at us, lost.

  “W-What does that even mean?” she asked, visibly struggling to math her way through our nonsense.

  “Well, we both have the same last name,” I explained. “When we found that out, we started joking that we’re long-lost siblings.”

  “…And that’s how our relationship works,” Aisha added, finishing my sentence like a pro.

  I knew what this was really about. Daisy was trying to sneakily fish out whether I was also a Hero—but I wasn’t about to drop that truth bomb just yet.

  “Fine, whatever,” Daisy muttered like she’d just decided to stop fighting the chaos. “Let’s just go to the library.”

  She hopped back up on her horse with royal dignity.

  “Oh wait!” I blurted. “I still have to regroup with my family!”

  Luna, the kids, the panicked evacuees—it all came rushing back. Oops.

  “Oh right! The kids must be freaking out by now,” Aisha added, smacking her forehead.

  Daisy let out a deep, world-weary sigh, the kind only people who’ve dealt with me for more than five minutes understand.

  “Alright, I’ll go with you. I need to talk to the head librarian anyway. They won’t let you in without me.”

  {Author’s Note: And thus, they all forgot about Itla under the rubble.}

  “I call shotgun!” I yelled, immediately leaping onto the horse behind Daisy.

  She flinched and let out a surprised squeal. “W-What are you doing, E-Evan!?”

  I grinned over her shoulder. “Sorry, Aisha. Looks like you’re walking.”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it!” she shouted, and in one smooth motion, vaulted onto the horse behind me.

  And just like that, I was sandwiched between a tiny, angry princess and a smug old friend.

  Daisy sighed. “Let’s just… get it over with.”