3 - Preparation

Veri sits at a lonely table in Ashurbanipal, books stacked up high nearby. He reads through book after book, soaking up as much information as possible. Nari spots him and approaches quickly.

"I've been looking everywhere for you, love... What are you reading?" Nari sat down across from him.

"I've been reading everything I possibly can about being a leader and various other topics... Amazingly, I can retain all of it. I also learned how to read last night, so we can add almost add 'New-worldian' or whatever the hell they call it to my languages I'm kinda able read I'll probably just use my skill to comprehend writtings. It's weird, they speak perfect Japanese and understand slang." Veri said, reaching the end of a book, he set to his right then grabbed another one.

"Wait, we're speaking Japanese? Why am I asking that? I just got an incredibly weird feeling." Nari said, looking out of it for a moment.

"Are you alright, dear? Anyway, I'll teach you how to read. It isn't too hard since we already know half of the language and your build is nearly identical to my own, so you should be able to retain everything just as well if not better." Veri said standing up, many bones cracking in the process.

"I need to take a walk. Oh right, what have you been up to?" Veri asked.

"I've been practicing with my kicks and punches. I've built up some crazy muscle memory from Yggdrasil, oh and the NPC's all remember stuff from when this was all just a game!" Nari exclaimed rather loudly... In the library.

"That could be bad, that means they remember me killing Peroronchino... Although, Shalltear didn't seem to hold any resentment... Right, we have determined this is completely real, but there's a further test we can undertake as well." Veri said, looking smug.

"Oh?" Nari responded, her interest piqued.

"Mirrors! Brains are weird or rather mirrors are weird and in dreams, they can't quite get everything right. I spent an hour staring into a mirror and studying everything around. We can also quickly shout out numbers with no thought... And if we say the same number regardless, then it's a dream." Veri said, Nari nodded.

Veri raises his hand and counts down with his fingers.

"Forty 'Fifty' Twenty-Two 'Eighty' One-hundred 'Two'" The pair said completely different numbers each time.

"So how did you beat me all those times at rock-paper-scissors?" Nari asked, still unsure.

"I cheated perfectly. I'll let you figure out how my love." Veri said in a cocky tone before kissing her cheek then walking off.

He hears her stomping off to the other side of the library and slams her hands down on something.

"Do you have any books on rock-paper-scissors!?" She shouted.

Veri walks around Nazarick completely concealing his presence to not be noticed by any maids to avoid them bowing before him and stopping their work. After a while, he spots Lupus Regina activating complete invisibility and follows her with a wicked smile. He stalked her through the hallways before coming to a stop in a large cafeteria where many maids eat food.

"Oh, that looks tasty-su!" Lupus said exiting her complete invisibility.

"Ah! Lady Regina, you scared us!" A blond maid exclaimed as Lupus laughed.

"I'm probably more frightening." Veri said, unconcealing his presence, putting his arm around Lupus sitting down.

"AH! Lord Veri!" Lupus exclaimed, startled. Many of the maids go to stand, but he just raises his hand, they all sit back down shortly after.

"How is everyone doing?" Veri asked with a warm smile now patting Lupus on the head.

"We are ever ready to serve you, master!" A maid with glasses exclaimed.

"I'm sorry I stole your trick, Lupus... But your reaction was far better than theirs when you first showed up, she blushes somewhat as he continues to pat her head.

"You got me good-su!" Lupus said Veri stopped petting her as Yuri shows up to smack her on the head.

"Lupus, mind your manners around our master!" Yuri said, scolding her sister.

"No, no it's fine it's nice to be spoken to more casually Yuri... I won't force people to speak to me casually, but I won't force people to speak to me formally or do whatever comes naturally." Veri said, slumping his arm around Lupus's side, her flinching and going red in the face.

"If you insist, Lord Veri. I will continue to treat you with the respect you deserve." Yuri said, throwing shade at Lupus.

"Can I really, Lord Veri!?" Lupus exclaimed, stars in her eyes.

"Of course, being worshiped is rather unsettling... You with the long blond hair, what is your name?" Veri asked, turning to the maid in question.

"I am Cixous, Lord Veri!" She said sitting up straight.

"Cixous how often does Lupus here scare you guys?" Veri asked, a malicious smile forming.

"At least three times a week, Lord Veri. She always shows up when we least expect it." Cixous said, still sitting tall.

"Thank you, Cixous I'll be sure to do the same. You'll never expect me, Lupus, I'm rather malicious." Veri smiles Lupus looking nervous

Lord Veri, is there anything you need right now? I'm on schedule today for tending to you." A blond maid with glasses asked.

"Hmm, though I don't need to eat, I can still taste, so I could do with some sweets and a cocktail maybe more. After you've finished eating... Though you seem to have already finished. Well, before you go to get me those, would you mind telling me your name? And hers too." Veri asked, leaning forward, Looking at another blond.

"Of course, Lord Veri, I am Lumiere. And, she is Foire." Lumiere said, standing up, grabbing her plate. She bows as she's about to walk off.

"Bring what I've asked to the spa resort on the 9th floor... Hmm, Cixous, Foire, if you wish you may assist her I'm going to see if my wife wants to relax in the mixed baths with me." Veri said, standing up and immediately concealing his presence once more.

"Boo!" Veri shouts on the other side of Lupus, who lets out an EEP as he chuckles and conceals himself once again, this time walking off.

"Oh, he really is a monster! You'd have to know exactly when I've dropped my guard, and so soon! He's so cool-su!" Lupus shouted before getting whacked on the head by Yuri once more.

"We get to see the spa?!" Foire exclaims Veri looks back to see the three maids looking rather excited, he smiles then turns away.

'Hmm, I have a moment to think to myself... A lot of my friends must have liked blonds, there's a rather large amount of them. I can't imagine what Peroronchino would subject everyone to if he were here, him or Ulbert...' Veri thought to himself.

He continued down the hallways, thinking upon what he had read throughout the night. He nearly bumps into people too busy focusing on what he had learned. Before he realizes he's at the spa. He contacts his wife using his earring.

"Yes, love, do you need something?" Nari asked in a cheery tone.

"If you're not busy, would you like to join me in the spa? I have several maids available to get us whatever we want. I was thinking we should have a romantic getaway where it's just you and I... Well, and the maids, but I don't intend on sleeping with them, just spending time with you. And we need to discuss what comes next." Veri said entering the spa resort.

"Just like our first date, huh? You spent way too much money on that, having the staff wait on us... OH, NO!" Nari shouted, startling Veri.

"What!? Where are you? What happened!" Veri said getting ready to sprint.

"We can't get drunk here! Alcohol is just poison, right?" Nari said Veri let out a sigh of relief.

"Dear... Please don't do that, I genuinely thought you were in danger."

"Sorry Veri... It just suddenly hit me. I figured out how you cheated by the way you're horrible! I'm going to kick your ass the next time we play." She said the call disconnecting.

"That woman is going to be the death of me... un-death? Life? Whatever." Veri said entering the spa.

A couple of minutes pass as Nari finally arrives with the three maids from earlier, she quickly strips down and enters the bath sitting next to Veri. The maids set various trays on the edge of the bath. They are piled high with sweets.

"Ah, you maids sure are all individually treasures." Veri said, spotting his cocktail, which he takes a sip of. It tastes fine, but he still looks disappointed.

"I'm sad we can't get drunk and make sloppy love... Could one of you maids go and get a full bottle of... Hmm, wine please?" Nari takes a sip of Veri's cocktail and makes an approving nod.

"Dear, what do we do from here on out? I'd like to see the world first hand... Though I'd like Nazarick to remain incognito for as long as possible, I have no delusions that others haven't been here, perhaps there are some here already. We'll probably have to kill them if there are any... You come to a New World where you have unbeatable power, what do you do?" Veri asked.

"You either take over the world or defend it from others, maybe your friends if they've come with it and their race drives them to be evil... We are somewhat numb with our empathy but not completely, thankfully... Though ruling the world with you might be fun, love." Nari said, taking an eclair from the plate.

"Perhaps, we might just be able to live somewhat peacefully, making an appearance every once in a while... Except for destroying the Slaine Theocracy, they irk me deeply, and we should slaughter them once we confirm their power." Veri scowls as the water heats up until Nari places her hand on his face.

"What if the gods they worship are from Yggdrasil, be it people or NPCs? That might make sense, in which case we threw a stone at the hive." Nari said, munching down on much of the sweets.

Veri looks to be considering something as he finishes his cocktail setting on the side and grabbing a cream-filled donut with powdered sugar resting on the top.

"I liked the thought of the adventurer's guild, it reminds me of those games where you would hunt monsters... I can't quite think of the name, it's weird we remember everything here perfectly but of the other world and before is rather flawed. What do you think we should do, dear?" Veri asked.

"If we did pose as adventurous, we would have to change our looks and height. And breathe properly even though we don't need to breathe, we still have to take in air to be able to talk. I have to remind myself to breathe sometimes... I also discovered my heart will start to beat again when I breathe for an extended period of time. The bad thing is that it isn't automated because we're undead, so it might come off as forced." Nari explained long-windedly.

"I never really thought about that before... I'm still subconsciously breathing in to talk. Sounds like a pain in the ass to breathe to get our hearts pumping. Okay, so we need to have the perfect disguise in mind. We need to shrink down a foot first and foremost... and black clothing, black hair, and blue eyes." Veri said, receiving another cocktail from Foire. He smiles and nods at her as she blushes.

"If we use items, we could make it as if our current look is our true form and make our 'Human' form what we use for exploration... We need to adjust our faces, maybe make them a little more like the real us. I'll work on changing my appearance and then share how with you, dear." Veri said, recalling his appearance from the 'real' world.

He stands up out of the bath naked, the maids quickly avert their glances, he chuckles and walks up to Cixous who was holding the bottle of wine for Nari.

"Cixous thank you for not interrupting us as we talked, but you should give the wine to my wife now, please." Veri said Cixous looking back at him completely red she nods nervously, accidentally looking down.

Veri then left the room, reclothing and returning to his bedroom. He sits at a black wooden desk and reaches into his inventory, pulling out a multitude of items. He sighs deeply, then proceeds to experiment for hours on end.

"Ugh, I'd rather read than mess with this useless shit I've picked up over the years... Maybe I should have remained a mage, it would have made all this so much easier." Veri said, stressing out as he continued for several more hours.

He stands up immediately, noticing everything looks much larger than before. Veri then walked to the mirror and began laughing. He looked vastly different from before, his hair was black, but his eyes were orange instead of blue like he wanted. His white clothing still fit him perfectly as it changed shape. Nari entered the room and stopped to stare at him. He turned to face her, looking cocky.

"Is your..."

"Yes, it's the same size, don't worry... Sheesh, you're a bigger pervert than me, dear." Veri said, interrupting Nari who smiled.

"Pft, I'm not the one attracted to monsters love... Show me how you did all of that, and then we need to vigorously test it out, the hint of your real self is doing it for me." Nari said, spotting all the stuff on the table.

An hour passes of Veri using many items to change Nari's appearance, after finishing he looks somewhat conflicted. He brings her to the mirror, then she makes a perverted face. She looks almost identical to him, just incredibly feminine.

"We look like siblings, my love... Let's do some brother, sister role-play." Nari said striping down immediately.

"Oh... Great... You're lucky I love you enough to go along with this" Veri said, looking unenthused.