Rise of The Ling Empire

Dahlia Offrey's Mystic and Magic "Tent"

***YAWWNNNN*** Dahlia rubbed her eyes. She shuffled to the room and found a Siamese cat on a pillow. She screamed, and the cat hissed. Dahlia pulled out a cheap water gun, and when she tried firing it broke in half. She tried catching the cat. "COOOMEEEE HEERRREEEE!"

The cat jumped out the window. Dahlia shrugged. She didn't find Lee, so she opened Lee's shed to find THE SAME CAT! "OK, you're really getting on my nerves," Dahlia growled.

The cat purred and opened its eyes. It jumped, and hit the roof of the shed. "MMMMEEEEOOOWWWW!" the cat howled in pain. ***DANG IT, I FORGOT HOW TO CHANGE INTO A HUMAN!!!**** the cat thought.

Luckily, Dahlia's aim was pretty horrendous, so cat managed to run away for a few minutes. After a few more cheap water guns breaking in half, Dahlia cornered the Siamese cat, "GOT YOU NOW!" Dahlia snarled and pulled out her real mech-gun, set it to water and got out her thermal camera. She was about to fire but the suddenly the cat leapt onto Dahlia's head, ran down her spine and transformed into Lee.

"LEE! OH MY GOD," Dahlia screeched "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?". Lee shrugged. "I couldn't sleep, sorry!" Dahlia said muttered something. "Never mind, let's get ready," she said.

They both prepared for the day. Lee went to their cashier, which had 20 Lings in it to go shopping of that day's needs.

"DAHLIA!!!" she yelled. Dahlia went over to her, to only see 5 Lings in the till. She gulped. "So... is THIS where you got the money from?" Lee asked, impatient. Dahlia nodded meekly. Lee sighed. Since the currency was enchanted, it could NOT be duplicated. "So I'm guessing, Dahlia, today you'll starve. Unless of course, you raise more than what we previously had with your 'service'," Lee said.

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Dahlia had spread word on the AL Internet, and Lee had, taking pity on Dahlia, put up the ads for her. Jiji, from Mahajiji's store, was the first customer- she got there before A-ling. Dahlia put on a deep purple robe from the junkyard, which didn't match with her bright headband, so she hid it under the cloak/robe.

"Ahhhaaahhhh! So you claim to do what?" Jiji asked, sitting on the stool opposite a large window (hole) in the shed, facing Dahlia who was inside the shed.

"Questions... are more important than the answers. I am a person of many capabilities, thus it is myself who should be asking thee- what do you want?" Dahlia replied in a deep, voice. Jiji frowned in thought. "Well..."

Dahlia smiled. She pulled out a crystal ball on a small stand. The ball glowed. "I know, thy would like your future read? By any means, you may choose. My crystal ball can show thou, or show me thy palm, and I can read it, or, if you would really like, I could use my psychic power," Dahlia said, spookily, deep purple eye shadow glittering beneath the cape.

"Oooohhhh, the ball please," Jiji said like a small girl, swooning over ice-cream. "Jiji is thy name, correct?" Dahlia asked. Jiji nodded. Dahlia conjured up and image, slowly, slowly. "Jiji... this will cost you 10 lings," she whispered. Jiji handed over 10 Lings immediately. Suddenly Jiji saw herself, handing over more money to Dahlia, paying for a potion, it seemed.

The image faded. "Oh, you sell potions too?" Jiji said, surprised. Dahlia nodded. "Hmm, I think you have trouble sleeping at night? Your aura tells me something about you it disturbed...unable to focus?" Dahlia shotgunned. Jiji nodded. "Yes! How'd you know?"

Dahlia grinned. She reached down below her "desk" in the shelf, and pulled out a small perfume bottle filled with a maroon-colored liquid. "This, my dear, will help you concentrate. When dissolved, there will be no coloring. You can mix it with coffee, tea, water... it will only make the drink sweeter. But remember, use the pipette inside so it's only TWO DROPS a day. It'll be 15 Lings," Dahlia said, voice sounding sweeter than A-ling's tea. Jiji almost threw the cash and coins at Dahlia, grabbed the bottle, and rushed away saying 'thank-you' over and over again.

Dahlia wiped away beads of sweat, and put the money into the cafe's cashier/till. She went into her lab quickly, and turned of a boiler, poured a liquid into a small pellet and some into a tube, sealed them and tucked it into her bag. She'd need a couple more potions and taking a pouch of glitter, she climbed a ladder back into the shed.

Luckily, she shut the trapdoor before a bright gold figure knocked on the shed. It was A-ling. She didn't seem to recognize Dahlia from the previous day. "Madame, welcome. Sit, will you, Madame?" Dahlia said, pointing to a seat opposite here outside the shed. Through the large hole in the shed, Dahlia could see A-ling and she could see her.

"What is it that Madame has come to see me?" Dahlia asked. "Read my future. Oh, and don't use the ball." A-ling said, picking at her painted, polished nails. Dahlia sighed silently.

She fluffed her cloak, and told A-ling she'd need her palm. Hesitantly, A-ling put her palm through the hole. Dahlia's velvet (junkyard)gloved hands ran over A-ling's palm. "Hmm... Madame, it says... your future is bright, you may achieve your goals," Dahlia said, thinking hard. A-ling smiled. "However... many obstacles await you. The future of yours is solely dependent on your decisions," Dahlia continued, and A-ling's smile disappeared.

"But do not be distressed, Madame." Dahlia reassured, looking at A-ling's frustrated face. "How can I overcome these obstacles?" Dahlia was a little slow on this. She couldn't make THIS up. AT ALL. Somehow, she saw something in A-ling's mind. She imagined she was in control of A-ling's head. She made A-ling ask another question.

"HEY!" A-ling said, knocking Dahlia out of her dream state. "Actually, what potions do you sell? DO they work?" A-ling asked, changing her mind. Dahlia was like... WHAT? She wasn't really psychic, was she? She wondered about how Lee was doing. She'd seen some people walk up to her.

"Well, madame, let me see your aura, let me feel it..." Dahlia stammered quickly. She inhaled. "Madame, I feel that you think something is uncertain in your life... something you are afraid of? I suggest my peace potion. It is colorless, to help with peace-bringing,"

To her ultimate surprise, A-ling nodded. What DIDN'T surprise her was that A-ling snatched the bottle and threw 5 Lings at her instead of 10. Dahlia threw the glitter in her face, and chanted, 'Syl-la-money-5-more-lings,'

A-ling tossed at her 5 more lings and walked away. She smiled. How lucky!
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The only reason Dahlia could give out these potions were because Lee  duplicated them. There were over a thousand bottles of different potions and counting. "Dahlia! Close up, it's getting dark," Lee shouted from the basement "I need to cook us dinner! You don't wanna starve tonight, do you?". Dahlia drew the curtains of her "tent" and put the closed sign on the front.

Lee bought them a cheap organic salad packet, Milo (a kind of chocolate milk) and chicken breast.