Day 24 (S15)

When Kin got back to Godfrey's tavern in Youngru, he grimaced at Marie once again, "So... unnatural..." he said under his breath.
"You have something to say, Kin?" Rina asked.
"I still can't believe you chose this creature over that woman" he answered.
"Her name is Marie" Rina said firmly.
Kin then looked Rina in the eye for a moment, and stormed out of the tavern once again.
"Where are you going, Kin?" Alice asked.
"I'm goin back to the Sprite Light Coven" he said, "Aurelius left one of those pouches in her pocket like a dumbass. Now the Church of Luminus will be after them. They should be warned."
And just like that, Kin used treestride to go straight to Vorovni, leaving the rest of the party behind.
"Well, Alice" Rina said, "I don't suppose you can cure Marie?"
"Yeah, I can" Alice said.
"Let me go get Gunther first" Rina said, "He will want to be here when she comes to."
Gunther was just waking up when Rina came to get him, "We are planning to restore Marie now" she said to him.
He got up without another word and went to the main room of the tavern with her.
Alice approached Marie and used Greater Restoration on her.
The black tar-like substance on her skin melted away, leaving only her normal skin. Rina got a set of clothes to cover her with, and the girls - along with Gunther - untied her and clothed her.
When she woke up, she saw Gunther first. Without a word, she smiled and hugged him tightly and they both started to cry.
"Let's give them a little privacy" Rina said to Alice.

As Gunther held his fiancée-to-be in his arms again, and Rina began to cry.
"You ok?" Alice asked her as she climbed up onto a chair to stand next to her.
Rina wiped her tears, "Yeah... it's just that... they remind me so much of me and Sebastian."
"Sebastian?" Alice asked.
"My late husband..." Rina responded sadly. "He was a Therianthrope. He got cursed shortly after we met, but I always loved him with my whole heart. Seeing these two... they remind me of how beautiful it is to love someone like that."
Alice patted Rina's arm and smiled.

After a few moments, Gunther waived the girls over to talk to Marie.
"Hi, Marie" both girls said at once.
"Gunther tells me you're the ones who saved me" she said.
"Well, Rina was mainly the one" Alice said.
Rina just hugged Marie tightly, "I'm just so happy you're ok."
"It was the Salt Slayers who told us that you guys might be in trouble" Alice said, "So we came here to find you."
"Where are the others?" Marie asked, "Where are CheepCheep, Softfeather, and Long Neck?"
Rina and Alice looked at each other, then looked at Gunther.
"They... they didn't make it" he said to Marie.
She began to cry softly.
"Well, technically we don't know about Long Neck" Alice said, "He could still be out there."
"We know you are all from Basta'Thrope'" Rina said, "But you don't seem to fit the mold."
Marie laughed, "I can transform into a bird" she said.
"You do look a little bird-like" said Alice, "In a good way."
They all smiled, almost enough for a laugh.

Godfrey then entered the room, "Good, you are all awake. It is time to head back to Castle Frey. Francis is waiting, and my brother should know of these events right away."
"Oh, is it good to see you again, my friends!" Francis welcomed them gleefully. "You seem to be missing one, and have found two more."
"This is Gunther and Marie, they're the ones we came here to find" said Rina, "Kin left on some other business. He won't be joining us."
"All good, then. I have kept your rooms the same," he said as he gestured to the party, "but I will arrange for the two of you to have your own rooms as well" he said to Gunther and Marie.
"Just one room is good for us" Marie said, holding tightly to Gunther.
"Ohhh just one room, eh?" Francis said with a smile. "Follow me, then, you two."

The trip back to Castle Frey was quiet among the party. Aurelius was silent on the ship's deck. Rina, after getting over her initial seasickness, went back to her room. Alice stayed on the deck with Aurelius, but they didn't speak. They just sat and watched the shore go by as the sun set once again.
Marie and Gunther were less quiet, and Rina shared a wall with them. She smiled, though, it wasn't a bother to her - she was just happy that they'd found each other again, and she reminisced on similar times she had with Sebastian all those years ago.

Rina's room then got cold - a familiar cold, like that of her magic.
"Enoch?" she asked, "If that's you, you're welcome to show yourself."
Agronoch appeared on her bed, as usual. "Rina! So good to see you" he said.
He paused as he heard Gunther and Marie next door, "Sound like someone's having fun."
"More fun than me" she said, "You didn't show up on day 7. I asked for you, but you didn't show."
"Rina, I can't always just show up whenever it's convenient for you" he responded.
"I'm not asking for that" she said, "you're the one who said you wanted to meet once a week. I'm just trying to stick to our contract."
"I just need you to be making progress, Rina."
"I'm trying, but it's not like this information is easy to find."
"Just... just kill the guy, Rina."
"I don't even know who the guy is!" she nearly yelled at him.
"Neither do I!" he yelled back.
"How can you, an immortal, extra powerful being, expect me to stick to this timeline when you won't even show up?"
He got up from the bed and walked over to her, "Well, let's fix that, shall we?" He sighed.
He brought up the contract, and little bits of ethereal paper around the ends and edges.
"There," Agronoch said as he attached the little notes to the main page, "now you don't need to feel so pressured about the weekly meetings."
"So, you just aren't going to show up, or what?" she asked.
"Of course I'll show up!" he answered, "But it doesn't always have to be exactly every 7 days. It'll be more like... whenever we want."
"That's it? That's all you changed?" she asked.
"What else do you want?" he asked, "I'll just put it in here, you can have... whatever you want," his mood seemed to change a little, and she could tell.
"I... I don't know" she answered, "I haven't exactly had time to think about it."
"Well, listen, Rina" Agronoch started, "I... I really just need this to work. I need... us to work."
She looked at him curiously.
"I need us to work together, I mean" he said, "I just want us to be cool, ok?"
Rina could tell the confident, cavalier persona he usually put on was fading in this moment. The pompous prince he had portrayed himself to be most of the time was not actually him. He reminded her of a prince she knew long ago, someone naive who is used to things going his way. She just couldn't quite put her finger on exactly who.
"Enoch..." she started, "why do you need me to do this for you? Why do I need to be the one to kill Right hand man of the true king of Bolgroth?"
"Because, Rina..." he said with a little annoyance in his voice - not with her, but because he didn't want to admit what he was about to say. "I can't go into The Kingdom of Bolgroth. If I try, I'll die."
"Why? How?" she asked.
"Look, I can't tell you everything, ok?" he said, "I'm sorry. I just... I need you to be happy with this. The contract... me."
She uncrossed her arms and her look softened. "There's only one thing I really want, Enoch. I asked for it on the first day, and I feel like the contract distorted it into something else."
He looked at her curiously.
"I just want your friendship, Enoch" she said, "the contract changed that to 'legal equality' or something. But really, I want you to see me as an equal. I keep trying to be your friend, but you're making it like pulling teeth."
He quickly changed back into his cavalier persona, "Well, I've never needed a tooth pulled so I wouldn't know about that. But I'll see you later, Rina!" He then disappeared in a puff of frost.
Rina sighed, unsure if she got through to Agronoch. But she now knew a lot more about him, and happily went to bed knowing he's sticking with her. And knowing she'd be stuck with him, too.

Kin appeared in the glade near the Sprite Light coven, and immediately sought out Valentine at her tent. 
“Oh, Kin!” she exclaimed, “How are-”
He cut her off, “I have an emergency situation I need to speak with you about. It concerns the safety of this coven.”
“Oh, ok,” She answered, “Let me get Abagail in here, as well. She should probably hear this, too.”
She asked a nearby coven member to find Abagail who promptly arrived. “I heard there’s an emergency?”
“Yes,” Kin answered, “We went on a mission toMt. Ivatim and ended up nearly fighting one of the Fingers of Luminus.”
“What did a finger of Luminus want with you?” Valentine asked. 
“They didn’t want us,” Kin started, “they wanted to kidnap a girl we saved from the Mountain. They got her and-”
Abagail interrupted, “They kidnapped someone from Pennislovica? Why isn’t King Frey dealing with this?”
“Sullivan Frey may not know about it all just yet, the rest of my party members are going to him tomorrow,” he said, “But I have not told you the worst news, and why this is an emergency. See, one of our party members had pouches made with ‘Sprite’s Lights’ on it… and put it in her pocket.”
Abagail and Valentine looked at each other a bit concerningly.
“So,” Valentine started, “that would send them here.”
“Exactly,” Kin answered, “I don’t know what the church of Luminus wanted with that girl, but they were willing to send a finger to get her. Who knows what she’s going through right now…”
“We will need to get the Sprite Light Coven established if we’re to gain their protection” said Valentine, “We need to contact the heads of the other covens right away to try and get this resolved.”
“Let me know what I can do,” said Kin, “I should probably get back to Castle Frey tomorrow to speak with the king.”
“I’ll get a letter out to Rizvic and the other leaders today,” said Abagail, “We will use a sending spell to let you know when we need your party to come back, Kin.” 
“Kin, for now I need you to not bring this to the other members,” said Valentine, “I don’t want to cause any panic in the meantime.”
Kin nodded in agreement.
“Also, Kin…” Valentine began, “I would appreciate - I think - if your party changed its name after this incident.”
“I concur,” he said.
“I understand that I did agree that your party name was fine in the beginning - we were happy to have you all representing us so fervently” she continued, “but I feel it would be in everyone’s best interest for that to change now.
“Can do” Kin replied, “I will need a place to rest for the night, though.”
“Of course,” Valentine answered, “We will make sure you have a tent and a cot for the night.”
With that, Valentine and Abagail got to work to expedite the establishment of the Sprite Light coven.
Kin went to sleep in his cot, alone once again - just how he liked it.

Next: Day 25 (S15)