Mist of Shadows
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Dawn and Reincarnation Part 42
🕑 Added 2021-01-02 08:16:08 +0000 UTCHarry pulled his attention away from the interesting magical printer that Dawn had found in her trunk when he heard the door open. "Mione, you should see Dawn's printer."
Hermione froze when she stepped into the Blacklight Cafe and the scent of garlic roasted beef caressed her nose. "That smells delicious."
"I should hope so, Dawn gave me enough beef to last a couple of months," Harry replied, flashing Hermione a smile. "How's your project going?"
Dawn felt her pulse rate jump as she turned and saw the bushy haired and pale skinned young woman wearing a sexy black silk dress that came down to her mid thighs. 'Damn, you forgot to mention she was gorgeous Harry.'
Hermione turned and looked at the attractive red haired young woman sitting across the table from Harry wearing a t-shirt and jeans. "She's like a leaf in a windstorm," she grumbled as she walked over.
"Leaf?" Dawn asked, curious what the other Builder was working on.
"I'm building a magical shop for a Calnarri, unfortunately she keeps changing her mind about the design and features." Hermione sat down next to Harry. "I can understand wanting a stage so the model can show the toys off but that means less room for inventory and don't even get me started on the automated weapon turrets she wants to install that aren't practical or reasonable."
"What's wrong with weapon turrets?" Dawn asked, fairly sure some defensive systems would have come in handy with the Magic Box or their house a couple of times.
"Nothing in theory, they just take up space that we can't really afford to waste and one of the station managers hates her which means getting the required permits without unacceptable levels of bribery is little more than a pipe dream," Hermione complained then sighed when she realized she was ranting and hadn't even introduced herself. "Sorry, I'm ranting and we haven't even been properly introduced, I'm Hermione."
"Dawn," Dawn replied, not exactly sure which last name to go with. "What type of toys?"
"Mostly low end magic girl devices and sex toys," Hermione admitted.
"Magical girl devices?" Dawn asked.
"The Calnarri Empire specializes in creating genetically altered and magically enhanced biological creatures and sentients for sale, trade and warfare as well as items that turn people into low grade magic girls on a permanent or temporary basis," Hermione explained, less than happy about their stance on slavery and general questionable ethics.
"Side effects?" Dawn asked as she tapped the print button on her heads up display and printed a sheet of temporary tattoos.
"It depends on the device," Hermione said as she looked at the sheet of glowing stars coming out of the printer. "Stars?"
"Temporary tattoos for the dancers and waitresses," Dawn explained as she grabbed the finished sheet. "I figured it would help spice things up and might help Harry finish his contract."
"With any luck," Harry said wistfully, fairly sure it was going to take more than temporary tattoos to get his client to open the cafe which would complete the contract.
"How long have you been a Builder?" Hermione asked, trying to avoid thinking about her problems and the contract she shouldn't have signed.
Dawn glanced over at the glowing clock on the wall. "Assuming the clock actually works, about thirty minutes."
"That's it?" Hermione asked in surprise. "How did you end up here?"
Dawn shrugged. "I'm guessing I got tossed here when I killed Diablo in the last world."
"Diablo?" the stripper asked as she walked over.
Dawn handed the sheet of temporary tattoos to the blue skinned girl. "He was basically a powerful demon with delusions of importance and immortality that wasn't quite as immortal as he thought."
"Makes sense," the stripper agreed. "Most of the methods of immortality I've heard of have a clause or flaw that bypasses your immortality."
"Or cost your sanity or humanity," Hermione added, thinking about Voldemort's idiotic method to avoid death that had resulted in him ripping his soul apart.
"Sounds unpleasant." Dawn pulled her attention off the stripper's breasts and focused on Hermione. "Is there an instruction manual for being a Builder?"
Hermione shook her head. "Not that I know of, or at least my friend's alternate didn't share when she showed up to explain the basics and kidnap her alternate."
"Is your friend alright?" Dawn asked.
Harry grinned, remembering the look of delight on his friend's face as the two Luna's sailed towards the moon on the back of a flying dolphin. "More than alright, she got to ride a flying dolphin, visit a twisted labyrinth filled with strange creatures and take a bunch of pictures for her father's magazine."
"I'm still not sure why the other Luna shouted 'For Pony!' when she dropped her off and flew into a portal," Hermione complained.
Harry laughed. "It's Luna, what were you expecting, sanity?"
"Occasionally. Did you start with any blueprints?" Hermione asked Dawn, trying to get back on track and figure out what she needed to give her to get her started.
"Just a minion tree and a blueprint for making something my home base," Dawn admitted, pulling her attention away from the stripper that was sticking glowing star tattoos on her breasts. "Do you want a copy?"
"I have a blueprint for a home base but they might be different and I'd love a copy of the minion tree. You can never have too many patterns." Hermione gestured and summoned her blueprint case from its extradimensional resting spot. "Luna gave me a decent collection of patterns that I can share."
"Thanks," Dawn replied as she mentally hit the print icon on her HUD, printing out a copy of her minion tree blueprint. "What's the etiquette about scanning things?"
"Complicated," Hermione started to explain before Harry cut in, "Don't get caught."
Dawn glanced between Harry and Hermione. "That's it? Don't get caught?"
"It's generally easier to ask forgiveness if someone notices you scanning something than it is to get permission," Harry explained. "As for Builders, you're generally fine as long as you're only copying the technical schematics of traps or technology but it's generally better to ask permission, if only because they have a decent chance of noticing and might object."
"In other words, don't cause trouble?" Dawn asked as she handed the blueprint to Hermione.
"Basically," Hermione agreed as she glanced over Dawn's blueprint. "Huh, this might actually let Harry finish his contract in a reasonable amount of time."
"Oh?" Harry asked as he started reading the blueprint. "Yeah, that's a lot better than I was expecting. Sorry, that came out wrong," he explained when he noticed Dawn's raised eyebrows. "I was expecting a spawn point, not something that let you mix and match traits."
"Let me guess, it's useful?" Dawn asked.
"It would let me acquire an elven magical researcher without taking a couple of weeks playing with my Adventurer's Guild and getting lucky," Hermione explained as she scanned the blueprint.
"Elven magical researchers?" Dawn asked as she scanned Hermione's blueprint of a magical shop, figuring she'd basically given her permission.
Hermione finished scanning it then handed the blueprint to Harry. "Harry and I have minion specialties which basically results in a boost in effectiveness and quality for certain types of minions, mine are elves, magic users and researchers which means I get a large boost from elven magic researchers."
"I can see why you'd want to stack things." Dawn double checked her list of abilities, fairly sure she didn't have a specialty. 'I guess we can't have everything.' She glanced between Harry and Hermione. "If you wanted scans of decent ships and magic girl equipment where would you start?"
"That depends on what you have to trade, you can get some halfway decent scans just wandering around the docks but you'll probably want to take a trip on one of the pleasure ships if you want detailed scans. Of course, you'll want to be careful which ship you take a ride on because some of them aren't particularly safe or nice," Hermione warned her.
"Just make sure you read the fine print," the stripper suggested.
"Always a good idea," Dawn agreed. "Harry mentioned gold and gems were practically worthless but that I might be able to sell some magical trinkets for a decent amount, any suggestions on where to sell things?"
"The stat boosting rings would sell for a decent amount, especially with a large amount of elemental resistance," Harry pointed out.
"Valin's Quality Goods would be my choice unless I was trying for in store credit then I'd probably go with Salboria's Sex Shop, she's at least halfway honest and has some nice magic girl items and a decent collection of spell books," Hermione suggested as she started pulling blueprints out of her case that Dawn would probably need.
"I'd probably take a walk through Squig's Emporium, if only to get a bunch of scans of dangerously cursed items and aliens," Harry suggested, knowing Hermione disliked the place because of Squig's personality and the fact that he sold slaves.
"Just don't sign anything with him," Hermione warned her as she sorted through her collection of blueprints. "If you don't mind sharing, where are you from?"
"Take your pick, Edmond's Field in the Two Rivers or Sunnydale, California," Dawn replied, not really sure where to call home anymore.
"Emond's Field, Two Rivers? Sorry, I've never heard of it. California as in America?" Hermione asked, wanting to make sure.
"Last I checked," Dawn replied.
"What year?" Harry asked, knowing some of the versions of Earth were slightly faster or slower than his own.
"No clue, I was on a bus and there was a flash of light and then I woke up with a new life and body in Emond's Field so it's anywhere from 2003 to 2023 depending on how everything fits together," Dawn offered, trying not to think about what she was going to do if she ever made it back home or what happened to the rest of the Slayers.
"Sounds like reincarnation," the stripper mused.
"Here." Hermione handed Dawn the stack of basic blueprints. "I'll need them back but feel free to make copies."
"Thanks!" Dawn quickly started scanning the first blueprint, trying not to break into a fit of giggling when she realized the first pattern would let her build a lab that she could assign researchers to in order to improve blueprints and research various topics.
"Where does the demon lord fit in?" Hermione asked, curious about her fellow Builder.
"After I helped defeat a dark god and an alien abomination," Dawn replied as she carefully set the first blueprints on the table in front of Hermione.
"Alien abomination?" Hermione asked warily.
"One of the worlds I ended up on had heroes and villains and extraordinary powers, sort of like Marvel, you've heard of Marvel, right?" Dawn asked as she continued scanning the blueprints.
"Comics?" Hermione asked, wanting to make sure.
"Yeah," Dawn agreed. "To make a long story short, the first parahuman was actually an alien abomination that was using humanity to stress test powers and was planning on destroying the Earth and every alternate version he could reach when he was done with his experiment."
Hermione shivered. "Please tell me it's dead."
"Dead and gone," Dawn assured her. "Of course, destroying it started the counter on jumping worlds which is how I ended up in Tristram."
"Which is when you killed the demon lord?" Harry asked, trying to piece things together.
"It seemed like the thing to do," Dawn replied with amusement. "In other words, I'm not sure how much time has passed back home. Best case, none, worst case, enough that the sun went supernova. I'm hoping that it's only been a couple of weeks but that's probably being overly optimistic."
Hermione shook her head. "You're probably being overly pessimistic about the sun going supernova but twenty years wouldn't be out of the question considering you spent twenty years in the other world."
"If it makes you feel better, you could always scan a time machine," Harry suggested.
Hermione shook her head. "You should avoid playing with time, it's dangerous."
"Says the girl that used a time turner to take extra classes," Harry teased.
Dawn felt like kicking herself when the pieces lurched into place. 'He must have removed his curse scar or maybe you're just reading too much into things.' She went back to scanning the blueprints, not sure how to ask someone if they were a character from a book in a way that didn't make her sound insane.
"That's because the Ministry is insane," Hermione said, thinking about all of the various things that could have gone wrong with giving a thirteen year old a time turner.
Harry glanced at the clock and winced. "On that note, I should probably get back to work and you should probably head out before the client gets here, she's prickly and I don't need more trouble."
"Sorry," Dawn offered as she handed the rest of the blueprints to Hermione.
"It's not your fault and I'd love to trade stories when I'm not working," Harry assured her.
"I'll certainly have to come back once it's open for business," Dawn said as she glanced around the well crafted room.
"You should," the stripper said as she headed back over to the stage to work on her routine.
"I can show you around," Hermione offered as she worked on putting her blueprints back in her case.
"Sounds good." Dawn stuck her printer and trunk in her inventory then stood up, watching the stripper spin around one of the poles. 'Yeah, the stars were a good choice.'
"Let's start with Salboria's shop, it's closer." Hermione banished her blueprint case with a thought and headed for the exit.
"Works for me," Dawn agreed with a grin as she followed Hermione out of the club and into an area that looked like someone had combined a mall with a futuristic space station then hosted a goth convention mixed with a healthy or unhealthy dose of cat girls and aliens that ranged from near human to a walking and talking slime with arms that seemed to be waving around some type of alien blaster. "Is this normal?"
"Close enough," Hermione replied as they headed away from the club.
Dawn tried not to act like a tourist with her head on a swivel but it was hard, mostly because of the mix of alien fashions and stuff that she'd see at a rock concert. "So much for Star Trek humanoids."
"It's a lot closer to Star Wars when it comes to species," Hermione replied as they passed a shop filled with human-like androids.
Dawn frowned when she glanced up at the sign over the door and realized the 'letters' or symbols didn't make any sense. "Let me guess, no one uses English?"
"Now and then, most people use Calnarrian which is decently close to Quenya if you're interested in learning," Hermione explained as she stopped in front of a shop showing life sized holograms of dancing girls.
"The fictional language that Tolkien came up with for his elves?" Dawn asked, fairly sure Andrew would be in heaven if he got to talk to people that used it as a living language.
"Yes," Hermione replied as she walked inside the shop and smiled at the girl behind the counter wearing a green and blue jester's cap.
"Weird." Dawn pulled her bag of rings and amulets out of her inventory then walked into the shop and stopped, staring in surprise when she saw the naked purple skinned girl floating behind the counter, mostly because her legs had been replaced by leg shaped sections of purple mist that started at her upper thighs and started fading out at what would have been her knees if she'd been human. 'Genie or something else?' she mused, wishing she had a cheat sheet.
The girl behind the counter smiled at Hermione and Dawn. "Back for more books?"
"That depends, do you have anything new?" Hermione asked with a smile.
Dawn glanced over at the back wall where she could see a large collection of brightly colored dildos, collars and whips of various styles then glanced over at the collection of books in the corner.
"Nothing you'd want, just a cookbook for various Batarian dishes," the shopkeeper replied with a grin, showing off her pearly white teeth.
"No thanks," Hermione replied. "My friend is looking to unload some magical items, are you willing to give her a decent deal?"
The floating girl turned her attention towards Dawn. "That depends on what she's selling and what she's looking for in trade."
Dawn pulled her attention off the girl's legs and walked over and set the bag of rings on the counter so she could look things over. "Mostly stat boosting rings and amulets with a couple that boost energy resistance and I'd like to see your magical girl items and spell books."
"Books are in the corner. Are you interested in defense, offense, changing your appearance or clothes and equipment?" the girl asked as she poured the magical rings out on the counter and started examining them.
"All of the above?" Dawn asked hopefully.
"That generally boosts the price but you have a decent collection of magical rings so we'll see what we can do," the girl said thoughtfully as she mentally reviewed her collection. "I have a nice ring that temporarily turns you into a catgirl that you might appreciate, it gives you a second equipment loadout and boosts agility and strength. It also allows you to manifest claws which is a fun trick. I have a magic wand that changes you into a naughty magic girl that can toss blasts of lightning without draining your mana pool and conjure glowing tentacles of doom."
"Tentacles of doom?" Dawn asked with raised eyebrows.
"Great for parties and holding people down," the girl replied with a grin. "I also have a hat that comes with a second equipment loadout and some physical boosts that I'll toss in."
"What's wrong with it?" Dawn asked as she scanned a remote controlled viberator that was on the shelf.
"Wearing it causes you to feel slightly tipsy and you tend to break out into song," the girl admitted.
'So like a Disney villain in a musical, gotcha,' Dawn mused as she swapped to scanning some of the other toys. "Sounds perfect for a friend of mine," she said, figuring she could always reverse engineer a better version.
Hermione sighed. "How much are you cheating her?"
The girl behind the counter smiled at Hermione. "As I was saying, I'll even toss in some books on sex magic and a glowing buttplug."
"Sounds good," Dawn replied, figuring she could always give the sex toy to Willow for a gag gift and sell another bag of duplicated magical trinkets to the next shopkeeper for some spending money.
"Let's see what we can find," the girl said as she floated over to the collection of books she had for sale.
0o0o0
Elayne glanced up from her book as Egwene walked into their tent. "You look like you could strangle someone."
Egwene scowled as she stripped off her sweat stained dress and tossed it in her clothes basket to deal with later. "I just spent the last half an hour listening to Aes Sedai rant about how we're not creating ter'angreal fast enough and how we should be taking things slow and listening to Tower 'wisdom' when it comes to channeling. Is it too much to ask that they actually make up their minds?!"
"Probably," Elayne replied as she placed her bookmark in her book. "You should take a swim in the ocean and or take a shower and relax."
"One of them would probably just follow me," Egwene grumbled as she walked over and grabbed a glass of water from her desk. "It's not my fault that Dawn didn't want any of the woolheads to have the talent."
"No but you're friends with Dawn and Faith and they're used to getting their way," Elayne pointed out.
Egwene nearly choked on her water. 'Yeah, you've got no room to talk princess.' She took another drink. "It's not like I could help them even if I wanted to, most of them pissed Faith off enough that there's no chance she'd help them unless Xander ordered her to and he wouldn't."
Apple grinned as she walked in and saw Egwene. "We need some type of currency or something worth trading, it makes things easier."
"I'd say weaves but we have plenty of people that can teach," Egwene mused, not sure how to deal with the more annoying Aes Sedai.
"You could always ask Moiraine for suggestions," Apple suggested, knowing her aunt was normally good at coming up with interesting solutions and this version had experience dealing with the Tower's shit.
"It's worth a try," Egwene said after finishing her glass of water. She sighed as she glanced down at her breasts. "Dawn would be laughing and telling me to jump in the ocean and not care what people think."
Elayne shook her head. "I'd never hear the end of it back home."
"You're not in the palace," Apple pointed out. "Besides, it's not like anyone cares or objects."
Elayne snorted. "Just Nynaeve and some of the Aes Sedai."
"Point…" Egwene trailed off with a grin as she realized that she didn't care what they thought, it was far too damned warm for wool and she didn't have time to sit around in the shade complaining like most of the more annoying Aes Sedai liked to. "In that case, let's take a swim then we can talk to Moiraine about ways to get the Aes Sedai to behave."
"That's the spirit," Apple agreed as she followed Egwene out of the tent, looking forward to when they had the next town built so they could get rid of some of the more annoying Aes Sedai or at least leave them behind somewhere.
0o0o0
