"We are gathered here today to mourn and honour the passing of Andrew the Guide and Harry the Golfer," James the Clothier spoke, dressed in a black coat and hat. "Harry was a skilled golfer, but also fought gallantly during the Goblin Invasion and against the Wall of Flesh. And as for Andrew, he was here since the beginning. He guided William, Sid, and... Robyn, to the fine heroes they... are today."

William couldn't help but notice the way his voice cracked upon mentioning... her. He knew they had been close friends. Somehow, he suspected James was far more devastated at what had happened to Robyn than those for which this funeral today was for. She had been cursed by the same people who had once cursed him.

The graveyard was situated some distance from the Forest Village, on a plain with sparse trees about. A few gravestones already existed, mostly for animal critters that had been killed by rampaging but indifferent zombies in the night, all of which had been set up by Hayley. There was also one that had been set up by the Arms Dealer, labelled 'Vera'. William wasn't exactly sure who that was, but Sid reckoned a gun that had been broken in some incident was what was buried there.

He looked around the grey mist that seemed to always hang around the graveyard, which kept the sky overcast and cast a grayscale hue to the area. Sid and Meg stood near the back, somber looks on their faces. Zop'a the Witch Doctor stood with Paddy the Tavernkeep, Durim the Demolitionist, and Akbar the Dye Trader. Mrunok and Kayla were holding hands in the middle, though Kayla was blowing into a handkerchief and Mrunok was staring at the grass. Conversely, Emily and Tony were standing as far apart as they could – they seemed to have split up again.

"Now, a few people are going to say some words," James said.

The first person to step up to the podium was the new Guide, Jeff. His presence still unnerved William – clearly the Order of the Guide had sent Jeff to basically replace Andrew. He had begun telling them about some new things they could craft, such as pointing out that William's Night's Edge could be upgraded using Souls of Might, Souls of Sight, and Souls of Fright into the 'True Night's Edge'. William had never heard of any of those items before and had no clue how any were obtained.

New items, new weapons, and new enemies far stronger than anything they'd encountered before... he felt about as weak and helpless as they had at the beginning. As though the world had started over.

"Now, I can't speak for why my predecessor spontaneously burst into flames," Jeff said, "But hopefully it doesn't happen to me. What I can tell is how much he meant to you all, some of you more than others. As Guides, it is our role to guide communities like this one and the individuals within, using the knowledge we have. I never knew Andrew, but I bid him farewell. He served his purpose well."

William sighed to himself. Jeff seemed completely oblivious to the weight that was held on everyone's shoulders, especially himself. Andrew's death had made the world change forever.

And... his world change forever, too.

Hayley the Zoologist stepped up next, but couldn't get out any sentences before collapsing and whimpering like a scared puppy. Sid and Meg spoke too, but William couldn't concentrate. His thoughts were in another place. A very dark place.

After the funeral was over, two new gravestones made from black stone and gilded with gold now set out on the plain, William watched the Mechanic and Goblin Tinkerer walking along, both looking uneasy, Kayla especially.

It was at that moment that a new sense of determination snapped inside of him. He'd built this community of citizens. He'd had doubts as to whether any of this was real before, whether any of it mattered, but he could sense how badly it affected everyone. It felt very real to him.

Robyn's friendship with James had been real. Hayley's sibling bond with Harry and feelings for Andrew had been. All of the relationships that flowed between each and every one of the citizens and with William, Sid, Meg and Robyn were as real as ones that had been forged in real life. So what if the setting was different?

He was not going to let any of the other citizens come to harm. The Cultists had already slain two of them, one to further their own goal, and the other basically as collateral. And he had a good idea of which citizen they'd come after next.

"Kayla," William said, approaching her.

"Yes?"

"Listen," he paused, thinking how best to put his thoughts. "As you know, after we defeated the Wall of Flesh and... and Robyn got possessed, we're concerned that the Cultists are pushing forward in plans to bring back Cthulhu."

At his saying this he could see Kayla's already grim look get even more tense.

"I've been worried about the same thing," she said.

"They killed Andrew," Mrunok added. "If there's anyone they're going to come after next, it's... well, it's her."

"Yeah," William said. "And I'm not going to let that happen. Not on my watch. Kayla, Mrunok, you've been living together in the Snow Village. That's geographically the closest to the Dungeon. I could move you two to another village, but that's not going to stop them. The only thing I can think of is... to hide you."

***

And hide the Mechanic, they did. William took them to a rarely-traversed part of the forest and dug a deep hole downwards. From there, he constructed a bunker, built from several layers of brick. He made sure to make it big enough to have room for the two of them and the engineering work they tended to find themselves doing. Using wiring that the Mechanic lent to him, he rigged the entrance with traps, and filled in the hole completely with dirt, but including actuators so that it could be opened and closed. He thought about placing down a secret lever, but decided against it, instead opting to keep a lever in his inventory and to place it down in the spot where it would connect to the actuators, and toggle it only whenever he needed to enter the bunker. He hoped the Cultists would never be able to find Kayla there, and she and Mrunok felt the same.

Upon returning to the Forest Village he found Sid and Meg had just returned from a mining expedition. William himself had only been underground with them once since Sid had destroyed the Crimson Altars, and they'd spent most of that time traversing old mining caves looking for the new ores. The caves they knew felt like they'd been given a fresh coat of paint, especially since some of them had been infected by the Crimson and even the Hallow spreading underground, the Crimson turning the stone blood-red while the Hallow gave the rock a pearly sheen.

"Did you find much?" William asked.

"Still no Titanium," Sid said. "According to Jeff it's the best of the three new ores. I think we need to go deeper, but it's mad difficult to do so with the new enemies down there. My summons still can't do anything much against them."

"We got a few Souls of Night and some Ichor from the underground Crimson," Meg added. "Not enough to do anything with, but Jeff can at least tell us what we can use it for."

"Also the spiders in the spider cave dropped some Spider Fang items," Sid said. "And speaking of the spider cave, we found a new citizen!"

It was then that William noticed the wizard in the bright purple robes and long grey beard standing some distance away, talking to Jeff.

"Didn't you find the Stylist in the spider cave too?" William asked.

"Yeah. Seems like the spiders just love snatching up unsuspecting prey. It's practically a farm for citizens at this point. Come, introduce yourself while we show Jeff these new items."

The three of them approached the Wizard, who was talking with Jeff the Guide.

"Ah, welcome back!" Jeff said. "What did you find this time?"

As Sid began handing Jeff items, William turned to the Wizard.

"How do you do? Are you here for a peek at my crystal ball?" he asked.

"Um..." William murmured, extending a hand to open the Wizard's shop. Nothing particularly of interest really stuck out to him, though he suspected Meg would find his stock of Greater Mana Potions useful.

"Oh, excuse me, I must apologise. I haven't introduced myself. I am Merlyn."

"Merlyn? Spelt with a 'y'," William muttered upon reading his label.

"Someone once told me friendship is magic," Merlyn said. "That's ridiculous. You can't turn people into frogs with friendship."

William was about to say something right as Sid went, "Woo-hoo!"

He turned, glee and excitement in his eyes. "Will! The Spider Fangs can be crafted into new summon weapons and armour!"

"Oh! That's great news," William said.

"I don't have nearly enough to do anything with them yet," Sid said. "But I figure, if I spend some time near the spider cave, I can get kitted out without needing to find any Titanium at all!"

That was when they heard the explosion, followed by a chorus of screaming and shouting.

And people yelling, "Arrr!"