Zeruna, Aema, Vidir and Tina walk into the adventurer guild. To everyone else, they see an Elf, a Dwarf and two Humans — it sounds like the setup for a stupid joke you'd tell a friend while your drunk. It wouldn't surprise any of them if that was an actual joke passed around the mouths of drunkards in taverns. However, this joke seems to have become a reality.

Zeruna looks around the guild in hopes of seeing the Sparrow Knights but isn't disappointed when they aren't there. It's most likely they're at the blacksmith's looking for new gear to suit themselves up with with the egregious volume of money they earned in the Sevis Dungeon or maybe they've already done their business and moved to another city..

Katherine spots the group as they come over and is, at first, confused.

"Shi, Merille, who are these people?" she asks. "Also, hello, and welcome back."

"Hi, these are two old friends of mine. We came to this town to meet them. The Dwarf's name is Vidir, and the girl's name is Amy," Zeruna explains.

"An Elf, a Dwarf and two Humans — there's a joke about that," laughs Katherine. "We have a Beastkin in the form of me. All we need now is an Orc, and we have a complete set."

"Don't tempt me," replies Zeruna. "I know a lot of people."

"So, let me guess? You want to make these two adventurers?" asks Katherine.

"Spot on."

"Where's Yulia?" Tina asks.

"I'm here, Merille!" from the backroom comes Yulia full of energy at the sound of her favourite person's voice. She stops as she sees the group. "That Dwarf is lucky, he's got himself a hell of a party."

"Please, I wouldn't dream of bedding this guy," Tina spits.

"Sorry, Vidir," giggles Aema.

"Not even you, Shi?"

"Woman have standards," states Zeruna. "You stand way below said standards."

Vidir collapses on his hands and knees and sobs for a few seconds. His sadness overshadowed by collective snickering from all five of the women. Never in his life had he been so brutally put down, especially not by so many people, especially not by females. Katherine reaches below the desk and grabs two intelligence tests.

Aema quickly picks hers up while Vidir crawls over to his, they then both make their way over to the table. Immediately, Aema sends Zeruna a mental message.

(Aema) [I can't read these markings.]

'That's right, Aema wouldn't be able to read the language here. The only way I can read it is because of my Psionic abilities/ the fact I'm in Zeruna's body who originated in this world.'

(Zeruna) [Failing the tests means you can't become an adventurer.]

(Aema) [Hmm, yes, the floor here is made of floor. Thanks for pointing out the obvious. I know how the adventurer guild works in this world; after all, I made it.]

(Zeruna) [First of all, a meme? Seriously, you live in 2080 something, how do you even know shit like that?]

(Aema) [Yep! Toy Tale is an amazing movie franchise. Stuff popular in the old days stayed popular. A lot of people didn't have the time to create new fiction during the wars, thus, a lot of old movies stayed alive. New stuff did get made in my lifetime, bu it wouldn't be as fun if you didn't get the reference.]

(Zeruna) [In my world, the name of the movie is different. Wait, why do I care about something as insignificant as that right now?! Anyway, second, we haven't decided which of our parallel worlds has a bigger influence on this world. Maybe there's even more floating around.]

(Aema) [That's an interesting claim, although, I highly doubt there are others. And if there are, the chances of us encountering more other-worlders are incredibly slim. One in a million? Probably slimmer than that.]

(Zeruna) [You said that when you died, you arrived at a 'character creation menu'. If you wouldn't mind, tonight, could you go into more detail?]

(Aema) [Perhaps.]

(Zeruna) [What do you mean perhaps? You can't be hitting me with another meme as well as blocking me like this. I need, need, need, to know more. My sanity hangs on the balance.]

(Aema) [Do you believe in God?]

(Zeruna) [What.]

(Aema) [Do you believe in God?]

(Zeruna) [That's a hard question. I'm not exactly a religious person, so no. Why are you asking me such a question?]

(Aema) [I think God, or the Gods, brought me here. The circumstances around my death were shady, to say the least. To be suddenly in the road facing a truck when moments ago you were walking on the footpath. It seems strange.]

(Zeruna) [It does. Then how'd I get here? I merely fell asleep and woke up here.]

(Aema) [Are you sure you didn't die?]

(Zeruna) [My parents were wealthy, so it allowed me to laze around all day and do nothing but game even though I graduated with decent grades. I ate healthy with the money I was given. Not doing that would inhibit my gaming skills and restrict my top performance. My only health problem was a Vitamin D deficiency, which I had pills for.]

(Aema) [Most interesting, maybe you passed away in your sleep. Or the Gods brought you here for some reason.]

(Zeruna) [Your much sharper than you let on.]

(Aema) [I used to get that a lot.]

(Zeruna) [I hate stuff I can't understand, your personality included. I don't hate you, only the way you behave. I guess it's why I loved Chroniks so much, the AI were unpredictable as hell.]

(Aema) [That why you wanted to know so much about my world? You're addicted to information.]

(Zeruna) [Correct, the aspect of another world so similar yet different to my own. It excites me. What are the differences? Any historical discrepancies? What is life like? Is technology better or worse than my own? Movies, games, tv programs, what are they like? The stuff like that is the stuff I always want to know.]

(Aema) [Agreed, situations like this are bizarre and far away from being cliché. Wait, didn't you say stuff like that insignificant?]

(Zeruna) [Aema, didn't you say how you didn't know the characters in this world's language.]

(Aema) [Stop trying to distract me from you hypocrisy.]

(Zeruna) [I'm being serious! Look at yourself!]

Aema looks down to see her arms working almost automatically. All the while she and Zeruna were talking to each other, her body has been acting in its own way. Vidir looks on in awe; her arms are moving so quickly, it's hard to comprehend. He's still stuck on his fourth question, while the youngest person here is blazing ahead with little to no effort.

(Zeruna) [What are you doing and how are you doing that?]

(Aema) [I have no idea. My body is moving on its own accord; I have no control over it.]

(Zeruna) [Try to stop.]

(Aema) [I think it'll stop when I'm finished.]

Aema immediately stops moving as she finishes the final question. Vidir attempts to look at Aema's test only to be stopped by Tina who glares judiciously at him. Aema snaps awake, her body suddenly jolting back to life.

She looks down to her paper then slowly and awkwardly looks to Yulia and Katherine at the desk. She moves over to them and gives them her tests while Vidir is practically bashing his forehead into the table with frustration. He then looks to Zeruna for help to which she responds to with a subtle shake of her head.

It'll be a miracle if he passes.