New York, New York

John woke up to the roar of the quad's engine. Cali had come back to the glade in the early morning. With Sylvia asleep in her tree, the elven huntress felt a duty to hold guard here for the next few days. Along the days, the two elves and the dryad had spent a lot of time alone together and as such developed close bonds with each other.

On his return to the castle, John was truly surprised, Tricia was already here. She had driven her van to his house after picking up Anna at hers. Shopping with friends was the convenient excuse Anna had given for leaving so early on a Saturday. More surprising was how the two of them were dressed.

Tricia was a cosplay dream of an anime that John was pretty sure didn't exist. It wasn't the dark gray steel underbust corset that showed off the barest hints of her midriff, nor the wide net of garter-like leather straps that squeezed her thighs, that made the look: it was those combined with the black mini skirt with white stripes and grey box pleats that teased near the level of her crotch, the sleeveless business vest that hugged her breasts over the corset, the slack blue tie in a half-Windsor knot, the rolled up sleeves of a dirty-gray shirt with matching shin socks... and it all came together with her terrified puppy eyes that told the world that this was not her regular garb.

Anna seemed to be wearing only a light grey sweater dress and a pair of boots. The open back was proof that she had no bra on, and after seeing that the hem stopped at the middle of her thighs, not wearing panties would have been truly brazen. John checked her equipment with Theft to be sure, and she was in fact wearing a pair of cream colored, lace panties that he had bought her at Felicity's. There was no way Anna would own such a dress, but the smile on June's face as she stood in a corner of the room totally naked gave John a good hint of where she got it.

"Ladies, you both look really stunning today, good enough to eat!" he said, walking to them and putting his arms around both their waists. He kissed them on the neck in turns, making them blush and half melt in his arms. "In truth I really feel underdressed." He was only wearing his pair of boxers. He quickly switched to his new suit and soon was dazzling between the two beauties.

"Wait a second, don't move!" said June. She ran away and came back a few seconds later holding a camera with a huge lens on it. She stood back to a wall, facing them and began to aim it at the trio. "Smile! Wait, another one!" she said after the first flash. The two ladies in his arms were beautiful when smiling, but John had another idea to make the next picture even better: the hands on their waist lowered down to rest on their butts after slipping under the hem of Tricia's skirt and inside the open back of Anna's dress.

June was quick to catch the first blush on the face of the two girls and snapped a series of pictures of the reaction from the two girls while John grabbed their cheeks and began to play with them.

"These will be beautiful, but don't you have something to do this morning? If you continue, these two will melt away or rip your clothes off. Yeah, Brenda will love this one... Maybe I should paint it or use your magic walls to display it somewhere here..." said June, mostly talking to herself by the end. Tricia recovered her composure and straightened the front of her skirt, making no move to dislodge John's hand from her booty. Vesta was standing in a corner of the room, silent, wearing a top and loincloth made of lizardmen scales.

"Here's the plan: we three will drive my van to the business district, we will go to a place where you will be transported to New York, I go back to the van where Anna helps me back here. Once at your destination you come back here, and we all follow your waypoint to the mall. There I find the two devices that I need to finish the lab and we shop for some new gear at a few places I know," explained Tricia. John had prepared all he needed in one of the small safes at the entrance of the vault, and he quickly recovered it before they left the kingdom.

A short inspection of his borrowed suit opened a setting menu allowing him to change the color and pattern of the fabric. He committed to memory the current one and changed it to one matching the colors that Tricia was wearing. It would look less conspicuous while traveling in town.

"How much will it cost?" asked John while Tricia drove them through the morning traffic towards the huge building of the business district.

"Probably around ten grand, but I'll try to get you a discount," she replied.

"That's really expensive just for a trip," he realized.

"Teleportation based magic or similar workarounds are rare and usually require an immense amount of energy. The thing you have with your kingdom and your waypoints is an aberration. Thankfully, we'll only have to only pay for a one-way trip for one. But you have to realize that most people dealing with the Abyss that have useful skill or some power will end up with a lot of money. This price really isn't that high all things considered," she explained.

"Who are they? The people doing this," he asked.

"The Fateweavers, they are an old and powerful organization. They are the masters in the art of creating barriers with custom settings. They are very rich and do business worldwide. They are trying to stay neutral, not taking part in conflicts, and so many organizations depend on them that no one would dare to attack them. We’re here! I'll park there. Anna, you'll have to wait for me, we'll use the van to disappear discreetly," she said parking her van in a small street.

John followed the lead of Tricia, holding his right arm. They were walking towards a tall tower of glass and steel. On the front, in huge letters, John could read Lache Sys followed by a logo depicting some wheeled mechanism.

"Wait, I know this company. They are an IT firm, they do tech support," he said, standing in front of the large doors.

"It's both a front and a way to get some income that doesn't have to be explained," replied Tricia. They entered, and at the front desk, a very nice receptionist recognized Tricia. Another young girl led them to an elevator that didn't seem to move but yet opened on another room a few seconds later.

"Miss Kislev, a special request, I heard. We were expecting you. And you are?" the woman talking was maybe one or two years older than John, with black hair, black lipstick, a black dress, a black fishnet shirt, and black boots. The only things not black about her were her pale white skin and her brown eyes. Her body was slim; she had small breasts and overall little obvious muscle. She looked surprised by the outfit Tricia was wearing and then turned to John, her eyes shooting daggers at him. John used Observe on her.

Hannah Sterling
Lv. 15 Umbramancer
<Fateweavers>
RP: -10

"John is my partner. I mean, we very recently met, but we have been experimenting together. You know, mixing DNA, that stuff. We had a good time at his place with all the gear he has, but we need to buy a few more pieces. I was so excited to play with all the things he had installed in his dungeon that I could spend a whole night there," explained the innocent young scientist. As she continued talking, John could feel an icy blade burrowing in his guts. He checked again to see that he had dropped to -30 Rp with the goth girl.

" Really... And where do we send you today?" she asked, her voice chilling John's bones.

"Ohh, it's just for him. He needs to buy something at the Mall," explained Tricia.

"New York? OK, we have a node there from which he'll be able to directly enter it. It's one of our cheapest routes since we have headquarters in New York and need a link to there. This will be ten thousand dollars for the trip," said the Fateweaver.

"I was hoping that we could get a discount, either using my account or because it'll be his first trip with you. He'll have to spend a lot of money today, and it's not that small of a sum for our budget," said Tricia.

"I'm rather new to the Abyss you understand. Even the simplest things are huge investments until I manage to get a stable income. This trip is vital; if I don't get those parts, people will literally die. Anything you can do will be greatly appreciated," said John bowing slightly. The look on the face of the goth girl changed. What John had said, probably coupled with a charm or spell to detect lies (that most people doing business in the Abyss should probably have in John's opinion) changed her understanding of the situation.

"Ohh, you're doing research to save some people? Well, that changes everything. If it is a charity mission, I think it can be arranged. Exceptionally I'll let you use the 20% discount of Miss Kislev's account and the 20% discount for first time users. But it will be only good on a single trip. I can't guarantee that our office in New York will do the same for the return. Since it will be your first time, I have to warn you: you won't be able to open a barrier or get out once in the Mall, except at the entrance points," she explained. While doing so she began channeling energy into a metallic orb floating in the room. John got six grands in hundred dollar bills from his inventory and handed them to her.

"How does it work? Are you teleporting me?" he asked, curious to learn more.

"No, it's a workaround. We'll create a barrier from Springfield to New York. From the outside it will be an hair’s width, from the inside just big enough to take a step. On my go you will cross the line on the ground and once in take another step, that will make you exit on the other side. There will be a marked wall at your destination, crossing it will make you enter the Mall. Understood?" she asked; John just nodded. On her signal he did as instructed, and after recovering from the dizzying experience, he realized that he had traveled hundreds of miles in two steps.

He waited for the message on his phone and blinked to his kingdom, returning with three beautiful girls and his suit set back to his colors. The four of them crossed the wall and found themselves in a gigantic structure that would make the largest real life mall look like a bodega in comparison. John looked over a security handrail to see floors upon floors above and below, all full of shops and stands for various products. There were signs, ads and branding everywhere, but one thing was repeated nearly everywhere: a wreath made of thorns and electric cable and the word Thorne beside it.

A huge sign was hung above where they appeared, stating:

Welcome to the Thorne Trade Center

"Wahoo, this is big. A lot bigger than the castle! And look at all these lights, what are they for? Can we get some food? These things cooking at the stand there smell delicious."

John turned around, recognizing the now familiar voice and was faced with a small red creature with a big smile and eyes like those of a kid let loose in a candy store.

Dargon had somehow managed to follow them here. John face-palmed to the hilarity of the girls, asking himself how he didn't see it coming.