Xander took a seat next to Alberton who was taking a plethora of notes and writing down various ideas as he worked his way through the D&D Magical Encyclopedia.

Alberton took a minute to notice him as he finished sketching out a diagram of the Chimes of Opening. "Xander," he greeted with a smile, "is there something you need?"

"I have a couple of ideas to run past you," Xander told him.

"What are they?" the Artificer asked curiously.

"There's a magical item called a Hat of Disguise and I was wondering if you could imbue a ring or tattoo with the magic instead. Being at least half demon, The Boys have a hard time fitting in with the normal human world, so we're trying to figure out a way to help them," Xander explained. "We're also really interested in buying Amulets of Language and Rings of Cantrips, if you figure them out."

Alberton quickly paged through the reference books, taking out a separate notebook to take notes with as he looked up everything to do with disguises, tattoos, and cantrips.

Xander waited patiently, knowing that making magical items was a lot more complicated than the manuals said, or at least he assumed it was.

"Tattoos... not something I've worked with before, but it looks like they are actually easier in some ways to create, though I'm going to have to develop the skills needed, because the quality of the art matters," Alberton said thoughtfully. "We are looking at a significant amount of time and effort, not to mention the cost in materials."

Xander grinned and picked his backpack up off the floor. He pulled out a number of vegetables and laid them out for the wizard. "Try the carrots, they're the long orange root vegetables."

"Carrots are usually white or purple and not nearly this large," Alberton said as he pulled one out of the bunch and took a bite. The mage's eyes widened and he took another bite, chewing with evident pleasure. "These are the best carrots I've ever had!"

"We've spent thousands of years concentrating on breeding the best fruits and vegetables possible," Xander told him. "Not only are they easier to grow and harder to kill, they are tastier, larger, and healthier to eat."

"Thousands of years... on fruits and vegetables?" he asked in disbelief, before taking another bite of the carrot, unable to stop himself.

"With these you can change the fate of a kingdom," Xander told him.

"It would be a huge boon to a kingdom, though the effects would take years to fully take hold," Alberton said thoughtfully. "I admit they are very valuable, but magically I'm afraid they'd only be considered slightly enhanced, possibly a little more, but not enough to be used as reagents for what we need."

Xander nodded. "How about pineapples?" he asked, pulled a can with a pull top lid out of his backpack and set it on the table.

Alberton picked up the can, eyebrows raising at the photo of sliced pineapples on it. "Is this a preservation method similar to sealing food in clay jars?"

"Keeps them fresh for decades," Xander agreed. "It's filled with pineapple slices soaking in its own juices. Pull the ring up carefully and it'll break the seal, allowing you to peel away the thin metal lid."

The mage carefully followed his instructions and smiled widely on seeing the contents. "Pineapple that you've spent countless years perfecting, stored in a way to keep it fresh and unspoiled for decades?"

"I can also get whole pineapples completely unprocessed, but since rarity is a factor I know for a fact you have nothing like this," Xander said confidently.

"This..." Alberton smiled broadly, "this I can work with. How many can you get over the next lunar cycle?"

Xander shrugged. "How many do you want? I could probably get a couple hundred cans without too much trouble."

"A hundred?" the mage asked in disbelief. "I can't imagine the cost for such a bounty, it'd be near enough to afford a pound of aluminum!"

"Aluminum," Xander said and smacked himself in the forehead, knocking himself and his chair over. "Ignore that!" he quickly called out and leapt to his feet, picking his chair back up. "I sometimes forget my own strength."

"I've had party members who were barbarians before," Alberton said cheerfully before taking a sip of pineapple juice. "Magnificent!"

"So... a pound of aluminum would cover the costs?" Xander asked hopefully.

"A pound would cover my expenses for the next decade," Alberton said with a chuckle before taking in Xander's expression. "By the gods... you're serious?"

"We are very, very good at pulling metal out of the earth," Xander said. "Aluminum... it's pretty light, so I'm not sure how large an ingot it would be, but I can get you well over a pound of aluminum without a problem."

"You give away worlds for the barest of mysteries, of course you'd have riches beyond imagining," Alberton said, shaking his head. "I keep forgetting you are more than you seem."

"More than we seem," Xander said with a thoughtful frown as he considered everything they'd done and what they'd learned to do. "Maybe a bit," he agreed.

"As if the library wasn't enough of a hint," Alberton said with a laugh.

"Only some of these books apply to your world, other worlds use other books," Xander said. "Stick to the ones labeled TSR, the ones that apply to your world."

"I can browse your shelves?" Alberton asked, wide eyed.

"Of course," Xander assured him, "I just gave you those three books to look through because they best fit you."

The mage considered that looking seriously conflicted, making Xander laugh.

"The books aren't going anywhere, they'll be there when you finish with what you're working on," he assured him.

"Maybe a peek," the mage allowed.

"You have fun with that," Xander said. "Let us know if you need more notebooks, I'm going to go get you that aluminum."

"Yes, a sound idea," the mage said absently as he approached the bookcase with the reverence of a catholic priest watching a miracle happen in front of him.

Xander entered the hub and found the girls watching The Princess Bride with Elan and Brack, a bored Jesse perking up at the sight of him.

Jesse held a finger up to his lips and gestured for Xander to follow him as they exited the hub into Jerry's spice shop.

"Okay, aluminum is really valuable on their side of the door so I've made a deal with Alberton to have him make the items we need," Xander explained.

"What kind of items?" Jesse asked eagerly.

"Tattoos for The Boys so they can fit in with the normal world when they need to, Amulets of Languages so we can speak, read, and write any language we run across, and Rings of Cantrips because they are hella useful," Xander listed off.

"Cool," Jesse said. "Water breathing, flight, regeneration, free action, and sustenance," he rattled off.

"Wish list?" Xander guessed.

"Wish list," Jesse agreed.

"It takes years to make magic items," Xander told him, "but as long as you don't mind waiting we can add them to the list."

"No rush, though Rings of Sustenance cuts down on the amount of sleep we need," Jesse said, "so that would be the first of the extras I'd want."

"A pound of aluminum is getting us my list, your list would probably cost another two," Xander said.

"For each of us?"

"Altogether," Xander told him.

"Damn," Jesse said. "So it's more valuable than platinum to them."

"Much," Xander agreed. "I figured I'd go buy some cast aluminum parts from my uncle's wrecking yard and we're golden."

"Wait... doesn't he have that aluminum engine block that turned out to be a custom piece he can't find a buyer for?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, he keeps saying he's going to sell it for scrap if the price of aluminum ever gets high enough," Xander said, before grinning. "Pretty sure we can buy Alberton's soul for that much aluminum."

"Bro, the look on his face alone will be worth it," Jesse said. "Two hundred bucks and we've basically paid for anything we can think of."

Xander laughed. "Let's do it!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"That was a great movie," Elan said with a chuckle, "I'll have to get Alberton to watch it."

Brack chuckled. "You do know he'll end up taking notes partway through the movie."

"The apocalypse cloak, sword to guide the way, or miracle pill?" Elan asked.

"Yes," Brack deadpanned, before they both burst out laughing.

Xander and Jesse entered with a gleaming silver engine block between them and wide grins on their faces.

"What are you two up to?" Willow asked suspiciously.

"Breaking the mage," Jesse said with a laugh.

"I think we'd prefer him unbroken if it's all the same to you," Elan said, trusting they meant it humorously.

"Alberton said I could fund his operations for a decade with a pound of aluminum," Xander explained, "and since there are a number of magical items we want, I figured I'd pay him for everything in advance."

"That's aluminum?!" Brack exclaimed, wide eyed.

"It's between eighty five and ninety two percent pure," Xander said, "and weighs one hundred and twenty nine pounds."

"That's... that's more than a king's ransom," Brack said in awe.

"You really should have checked with me first," Willow said.

"I'll go get him," Elan said, stepping through the door that led to the study room.

"Why should I have checked with you first?" Xander asked.

"You'll see," the young red head said smugly.

Elan led Alberton into the room. "Trust me, you'll want to see it," she assured him.

"See what?" he asked.

Xander gestured to the engine block. "One hundred and twenty nine pounds of aluminum alloy of at least eighty five percent purity."

"It's... beautiful," Alberton said, entranced as he stumbled over to it, running his hands along it.

"Wish he looked at me that way," Elan teased.

"I feel much the same," Brack said with a grin.

"The precision that went into every facet of its creation," the mage said in wonder as he examined it.

"And that's why you should have talked to me first," Willow said smugly. "He's an Artificer and that's the most finely machined piece he's ever seen. He'd never be able to bring himself to melt it down."

Xander and Jesse exchanged glances and shrugged.

"Still worth it just to blow his mind," Jesse said.

"Money well spent," Xander agreed.

"It's like the Mona Lisa to him," Amy realized.

"Well, it is a work of art," Sharon said, "just the art is machinery and not paint."

Willow pulled a large wooden trunk out from under a table. "Aluminum is valuable in their world, but it's better if it's pure and in small enough units to use for trade." She opened up the trunk and it was filled with penny sized grayish coins. "The Japanese yen."

"How long have you been collecting them?" Xander asked.

"Since we found Elan," Willow replied. "I actually ordered them from the currency exchange for face value plus shipping."

"What could you possibly want that is worth this much, an artifact?" Elan asked.

"Aluminum is cheap here," Xander told her, "we're really good at mining. We want probably a dozen common magic items each."

"You've drastically overpaid," she said, "something I've noticed you tend to do."

"And you are understating things a mite," Brack said dryly.

"Different worlds have different prices on things," Willow said. "As far as we're concerned we're getting everything cheap, really cheap."

"Finding magical items is nearly impossible and would cost far more than we're willing to pay," Amy said. "Plus, they always seem to have some curse to balance out their blessing unlike what you can make."

"Your world concentrated on science rather than magic," Elan said to herself as she considered things.

"Exactly," Amy said. "So trust me, we are both making a huge profit as far as we're concerned."

"We could pay you less, but why would we?" Sharon said. "Both of us being rich in what we want seems a fairer deal."

"There is truth in that," Brack said, "and wisdom."

"I'm going to found a kingdom," Alberton said, hugging the engine block. "With the new vegetables and this wealth... a kingdom of magic is not out of the question."

"New vegetables?" Willow asked Xander.

"Our vegetables are superior to the ones developed during the middle ages," Xander replied. "When the farmers are healthy and well fed, so is the kingdom."

"A rising tide lifts all ships," Willow said with a nod, causing Brack and Elan to exchange side glances.

"I have so many ideas from the books you've allowed me to read and with the riches you've given me I'll be able to hire and train a dozen apprentices," Alberton said. "While I may be joking about creating a kingdom, I'm probably going to end up creating a college. It's going to make creating magical items so much easier!"

"I can't spend all my time ferrying you back and forth," Elan told him, "King Then'tal still has claim on my services for another seven years."

"I'll make a box we can pass things back and forth through," Xander said. "You guys probably wanted to see us in action and that's a good excuse for it."

"Most mages are rather secretive about their work," Alberton said.

"And think of how much more advanced your magic would be if you'd shared what you'd learned with each other," Willow said.

"Magic colleges advance magic more rapidly than solitary practitioners," Alberton agreed thoughtfully.

"Sharing knowledge allows it to grow," Willow told him with a smile as they all filed out through the door to their workshop.

Elan and Brack met each other's eyes once more as they followed the children and they didn't need telepathy to know what the other one was thinking. 'Willow is definitely a goddess of wisdom.'

Typing By: Abyssal Angel

Beta By: Abyssal Angel and Mist of Shadows

TN: Heh, considering the law of magical contagion and the power of belief, if enough people keep thinking these things about these three, they're going to actually become these things.