"Sorry. We can't add more men until we have as many girls as guys," Aishin replied blandly.

Danika stared at him.

MatchlessMinion spoke up from beside them suddenly, "Yup, that's definitely our policy."

Danika jumped in such a startled motion that she fell off of Aishin's shoulder, but he caught her. He was obviously struggling not to laugh.

MatchlessMinion continued, "And right now we only have three, er, no I guess four girls, but five guys."

Danika felt like they were making ridiculous excuses, not that she was quite comfortable just suddenly adding Magna Silvam to the guild, but Magna Silvam just rolled his eyes and exclaimed, "OK, fine! Whatever! I wanted to try it eventually anyway."

The elf began searching his storage pouches for something while Danika said weakly, "Um, can't we just…" She stopped speaking as Magna Silvam finally found what he was looking for.

The tall elf flashed a grin at her and said, "Cheers!" His voice suddenly seemed a little familiar to her, but it was like it's octave range had been adjusted like Nao1's. Before she could ask, he popped the cork out of the potion and chugged it.

A swirl of sparkles and rainbow energies enveloped the priest and a moment later a woman's voice asked with interest, "How is it?"

She emerged from the cloud a moment later. The blonde elf had lost at least two full hand spans of height, and Danika had to wonder if all of that mass had been converted into her ample bust. Her clothes hadn't magically resized themselves and were now quite tight in several areas and of a length to drag on the ground and cover her small hands.

Magna Silvam patted herself and frowned at her sleeves. She craned her head and twisted her body trying to look herself over. After a moment Danika formed an illusion of the elf in front of her.

"Oh, thanks!" Silvam exclaimed.

"Is it permanent?" Danika asked.

"Yup," Silvam agreed happily. "That's why I was saving it."

Danika glanced at Aishin's boggled expression and MatchlessMinion's wide eyes, and then she shrugged and invited Magna Silvam to join Endless Song.

Aishin opened his mouth like he was going to object, but stopped when Silvam complained, "I guess I need to buy new clothes."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Since the person Danika had been thinking of didn't seem to care what he was wearing in real life, that comment made Danika hesitate again too. She knew it wasn't Ariana or Paul, because they'd talked about their characters.

While she was thinking, MatchlessMinion circled the elf and surveyed her critically. "That's going to be a difficult outfit to replace," he opinioned.

Silvam returned his evaluating gaze and replied, "Stop appraising my gear little thief. Just because I joined the guild doesn't mean my stuff is community property!"

Danika finally came up with an indirect question and asked, "How long will the King's mother be locked?"

Aishin shot her a questioning glance, but MatchlessMinion asked worriedly "Some king has his mother locked up?"

Silvam pouted at her and replied, "Aw, it didn't take you as long as I expected. At least until after the expansion."

"Oh, it's some work thing?" MatchlessMinion questioned. When Danika nodded he didn't ask any more, instead he announced, "Anyway ZipZing, come to the city permit office with me before the day ends. I meant to log on earlier, but stuff happened."

"Okay?" she agreed questioningly. "Just me?"

"We can all go, but we need you because you're the guild leader," he explained.

"We're all going then," Aishin said wryly.

"What are we buying a permit for?" she questioned as they began to travel back toward the center of the capital.

"We need a permit to be able to purchase city owned property. I guess those buildings were just placeholders for future development," he said.

"But we can't afford one yet," Danika protested.

Aishin took a moment to point out a shop full of women's clothing to Silvam who was struggling to roll up her sleeves and walk without tripping over her outfit.

She objected, "I'm not going to let you get rid of me that easily just because I need clothes."

Danika stopped and hovered beside Aishin. She put her little clawed hands against her hips and said, "Well, there's no reason we can't add you to the party now so you can track us is there?" She looked at Aishin demandingly, but he only shrugged. "Is it ok?" she asked directly.

Aishin held out his hands, and she landed on them before he answered. "It's fine," he agreed. When she huffed an exasperated breath at him his eyes crinkled in amusement.

Danika added Magna Silvam, or rather Lin Hao to their party. Silvam said, "Ok, I'll catch up with you soon."

"Alright," Danika agreed.

Aishin silently followed MatchlessMinion away from the shop, carrying ZipZing in his hands. As the three of them continued on without the elven priest, Danika looked up at him again and asked a little sharply, "What was with you guys, saying only girls can join!?"

"Do you really not get it?" MatchlessMinion questioned with amusement.

Aishin exchanged a glance with the chinchillamin but didn't answer right away. "I don't," Danika declared after a moment.

Aishin suddenly lifted her a bit and hugged her little form against him for a minute. "It's probably childish," he admitted reluctantly. "But I'm leaving soon, why do we have to add more guys who might try to cling to you?"

MatchlessMinion snickered and Danika regarded Aishin incredulously. "Seriously? That's why?" she asked.

MatchlessMinion tucked his little hands behind his head and declared, "I just think it's more fun to have more girls in the group."

Danika shifted her position so that she could stare at the chinchillamin doubtfully. He shrugged but didn't slow down. A pair of players who were in the middle of a cheerful sounding argument narrowly avoided the chinchillamin as he darted out of the sidestreet they were on.

Aishin stepped neatly around the pair and continued on, but Danika peeked back at them and chuckled. Their names indicated that they were part of an argument older than maybe even Ryullusion: MarvelFanSteveRogers and DCFanGreenLantern.

They wove between other small groups of NPCs and players as they crossed the crowded main street, and then wound their way into the quieter administrative section. They were almost to the office they were looking for when Danika finally returned to the topic at hand and said, "Well, I don't think he, I mean she, um Magna Silvam, is someone that you want to risk offending too much."

Aishin blinked and asked, "I know you figured out who it is, but is it your boss or something?"

"Well, I'm not 100% certain," she admitted, "but I'm pretty sure. And not directly, but…"

"But someone with authority," Aishin finished for her.

She nodded, but MatchlessMinion said severely, "Don't be silly, if they haven't told you directly who they are, this is the perfect opportunity to mess with them and not get in trouble!"