"Well, I'd be damned," Dilek said as he looked at the city ahead of him—a huge city near the sea, with ships roaring against the season and vendors screaming to sell their goods.
"What do we do now?" Marcus asked as he looked ahead.
"I know. In times like this, we need to go to the Adventurers Guild," Dilek smirked. "But of course we cannot embarrass ourselves by going there and then they ask for a joining fee. We will get money by ourselves." He smirked again as he looked back at them.
"Hello, sirs, can you please spare some change?" He spread his hands outward, begging for money, as passerby stared down at him in pity.
"WAIT A DAMN MINUTE! WHY THE HELL ARE WE BEGGING?!?" Nandita stood up. "DIDN'T YOU SAY WE CAN'T EMBARRASS OURSELVES?!? AND BESIDES, HOW THE HELL DID WE EVEN COME TO THIS? JUST A MINUTE AGO WE WERE ENGULFED IN WHITE LIGHT!"
Marcus gasped. "That must have been the will of the heavens. God called for us."
"No, Marcus, that wasn't the will of the heavens. If it were, why would they bring us here? Is this heaven to you?" Nandita said as she looked at Marcus.
"Well, I mean, the huge circle did engulf us, but when we opened our eyes we were in front of the city walls along with, like, 20 other people I guess? And most of them ran away from the city being chased by guards for wearing modern clothes?"
"Then what are we wearing?" Nandita asked Dilek as she looked down—at her Michael Jackson T-shirt and pajamas.
Marcus was wearing shorts and a normal magenta shirt.
Dilek, with pants and a green shirt, shrugged. "Well, I'm not sure. Maybe they just thought we looked cool and left us."
"Hah, look at them—bunch of weirdos." Two boys laughed as they passed by the three. "Wonder if they're gonna bring up a religion. Who even is their god anyways? That guy?" They pointed at Nandita's shirt.
Nandita looked at them, then at Dilek. "Well, they consider us weirdos and best to be left alone. I suppose there's our answer."
Dilek stood up. "Well, no one is giving us spare change here."
"Are you sure they even use coins? Like, what if they use the US dollar bill?" Marcus asked.
"Oh, c'mon Marcus, not everything needs to be American. There is no way anyone here will hand us a US dollar bill."
"Good point," Marcus sighed—just as a tanned man approached them, smiling. Wearing a coat, he said, "Here, bless you," as he handed them a US dollar bill. "It's good to bless people before going on a voyage."
"What in the actual fuck…" Nandita said as she stared down at the bill.
"Bon voyage!" Dilek smiled, waving at him. The man looked at Dilek as if he were a freak—most likely because they didn't know French. And neither did Dilek.
"Well, I'd be damned. Let's go, fellas—to the Adventurers Guild," Dilek said as the three headed toward it.
They got lost six times before finally arriving at the guild around 50 minutes later.
Slide— Dilek slipped the dollar bill on the counter. "Here, we would like to join the guild," he said as he looked at the man at the counter wearing a uniform.
The man's skinny arms grabbed the dollar and looked at Dilek.
"We would like to join the guild, you see," Dilek repeated.
"Uh… then why would you give me a lucky charm?" the man asked.
"Lucky charm?" Marcus came from behind. "BOY, THAT IS THE US DOLLAR. AN AMERICAN DOLLAR. DO YOU KNOW ITS VALUE?" Marcus looked at his nametag. "PERCY!"
Percy looked at his own nametag before looking at Marcus and Dilek. "Look, you two, don't waste my time. I don't know what you think, but this is a lucky charm people give to beggars—for themselves and the beggar. And clearly, you are the ones looking like one."
"What…" Dilek looked at Percy as Percy sighed and handed three papers.
"Fill out this form. I'm covering for you. Just pay me back when you earn later."
Nandita, Marcus, and Dilek walked away from the counter and sat at a nearby table. None of them looked at each other, only at the paper.
"Okay, let's fill it out," Dilek said.
"Wait, we need a pen. How do we get a pen?" Nandita asked.
Dilek pulled one out from his pocket and started writing.
"Hey, where did you get the pen from?" she asked.
"I brought it to this world," Dilek said. "I normally carried a pen wherever I went back on Earth, so yeah, I carried it here as well."
"So, you were brought here the same way?" Nandita asked.
"Uh yeah, randomly reincarnating in this world while walking around? Yes."
"Transposition," Marcus corrected.
Dilek turned to Marcus. "Dude, don't use funny words with me. I've never even heard a show use that term."
"Anyways, I'll fill it out first, then you guys fill it."
Name: Dilek
"What, no surname?" Nandita asked.
"It's not needed."
Age: 18
"What, you are 18?!" Marcus looked at Dilek in shock. "How are you that young?"
"Well, I'm actually turning 19 in a couple months, so yeah."
Nickname:
"Wait, why is there a nickname anyways?" Dilek asked the two. "Like, what do people call me? Or I can make something up?"
"I mean yeah, not like 'moron' or 'fatty' wouldn't work for a nickname, would it?" Nandita said.
Dilek and Marcus looked at her as Dilek sighed.
"You're right. Neither would 'feudalist pig.'"
"What did you call me?" Nandita grabbed his collar.
"Oh, add hypocrite as well."
Marcus pulled Nandita back. "Let's just fill it out. Add whatever you want."
Nickname: —The Ly—
'Wait no… I can't let them know my ability. I gotta choose something different… something saintly.'
Nickname: The Saint of Purity
"Did you really just choose that as your nickname?"
"Shut up, I did," Dilek said as he looked at the next one.
Class: Saint
"Didn't you say you were a cleric?" Marcus asked.
"Saint sounds better."
Team members: Marcus, Nandita
"Woah woah woah, how come we are team members now?" Nandita asked.
"Well, aren't we? We fought the troll together. And like they say, brothers born from blood suc—"
"NO NO NO, DON'T SAY THAT," Nandita stopped him. "It's not the correct thing. Besides, Dilek, we don't know each other. We randomly met each other. How can we be a team?"
Dilek looked at her. Even Marcus was confused.
'Of course trust doesn't come that easily. People build it slowly. But he didn't want to let go, at least not of them. Two people who could be with him till the end. A feeling… he had a feeling he couldn't leave them.'
"You're right," Dilek sighed. "But… I don't want us to be separated. So what if we met each other just a couple hours ago? What if a relationship lasts only for an hour—if in that hour it's genuine, then why can't it last? Why should you only choose someone who has lived with you for years, and even they end up leaving you?"
"But… but what if we are the same?" Nandita asked. "What if we want more—money, fame, power—so much so that we are ready to leave each other after years?"
Marcus fell silent for a second, looking up, before Dilek spoke.
"It's alright. I'll give my share. I don't care much about those anyway."
'Yeah, that's right… I don't think I ever desired so much of anything.' Dilek thought.
Nandita looked at him with concern, but before she could speak Marcus interrupted.
"I… I wanna be here too. I wanna be with you two as well. Maybe I have been selfish all my life. Even if I need to learn to be selfless, can I be selfish once again?"
She looked at Marcus and Dilek, then sat down. She looked down, then looked up and sighed.
"Then… who am I to stop? Let's stick with each other till the end."
Dilek and Marcus smiled. In that moment, the cold hall felt warm as the three filled their forms:
Team members: Marcus, Dilek, Nandita