Day 40 (S30)

Day 40
The next morning, Alice and Rina were awoken by Mayoay, “Good morning, you two. I have… something for you. It’s from Kin.”
She handed Alice the letter and left.
“I’m too hungover to read it,” said Alice, “you read it.”

“To the Bound,
I have been called to a mission that you cannot help me with. Oara calls and I must answer. I have left the key and party fund along with a chunk of my own funds. I get the sense that where I am headed gold will not be helpful. Also, I have left the sending stone that has Valentine on the other side, as well as the orb used for Scrying, and a revivify stone with one charge. I would say ‘stay safe’ but that is not in our wheelhouse, is it? I will just say ‘farewell for now’. 
Kin”

“Kin LEFT us?!” Alice exclaimed.
“Yeah… I guess so,” Rina responded.
The two of them exited the tent to see Mayoay on the other side with the party fund chest and the other items.
“He wanted to sneak away in private, and not wake you to leave these things,” she explained.
“I’ll just scry on him!” said Rina, “Or maybe I’ll use a sending or message or-”
“Rina… he wishes to go alone,” Mayoay explained, “His wish was to leave The Bound to help his goddess, and he does not wish to be followed.”
“Well then… what do we do?” asked Alice.
“I guess we just go home for now,” Rina said, “I’m sure Neely is worried about us, we kind of just left her at the entrance of Matilda’s shop.”
“Oh no! Poor Neely!” said Alice, “Let’s get home, then. We do have other missions… you have your-”
“Shhh,” Rina cut her off, “I don’t like talking about that…”
Mayoay raised an eyebrow, “Well, then I will let you go on your way. Be safe, The Bound.”
"Ate two people still an Adventuring Party?" Rina asked Alice, who could not answer.

Matilda then teleported them safely back home to Castle Frey and they went straight home.
“Oh! You’re safe!” Neely exclaimed as they walked in the door. “We thought you were kidnapped, we’ve been making missing posters!” Rina hugged Neely tightly.
They looked at the posters with crude drawings of Alice, Rina, and Kin on them.
“Are my ears really that big?” Rina asked.
Alice looked her dead in the eyes, “Yes.”
They all laughed, and Daria and Tomas began making lunch.
"We have about 2 weeks until Lloyd's Competition," Rina said, "What do we want to do between now and then? I think I want to take a woodworking class or something - I need to be more creative."
“I think the first thing we should do is go get my golem in Greenwarf,” said Alice, “We kind of just left it in front of Darwin’s house.”
“Oh shit… Darwin. I want to check on him, I imagine he’s not doing well,” said Rina.
“Where is Kin?” Neely asked.
Rina just handed Neely the note for her to read, “So… he’s not coming back? Ever?” Neely asked.
“I don’t think so, kid,” Rina answered, “according to Mayoay he wanted to leave alone, and not be a member of The Bound. At least for the time being.”
“Maybe that stir up with the Church of Luminus in Greenwarf scared him off…” Neely mentioned.
“Yeah, he didn’t like being recognized… and I’m sure some people died in those magical explosions we saw,” said Alice. 
“We should look that over when we go to Greenwarf, also…” Rina suggested. 
“Well, then let’s head there after lunch and stay there overnight,” Alice suggested, “We can check some things out and get the Golem.”
“And help out those orphan kids again,” said Rina. 
“Guys… is it cool if I sit this one out?” Neely asked, “I… I really love you guys, and I have learned a lot. But I really could use a little break.”
“Of course, kid. Whatever you need,” Rina said. “Also, Neely… I don’t want you to feel like you have to be my employee anymore.”
“What?! Are you firing me?!”
“No, no… more like the opposite. You’ve proven you can hold your own, you have fought with us and done amazingly well. You earned your portion of the gold in Greenwarf. I am, of course, happy to continue paying you the 3-5 gold a week plus commissions, but… You don’t really need me. I see you as an equal in this now.”
Neely began to tear up, “You… you really feel that way? Thank you. You’ve always had faith in me, Rina. I won’t let you down!”
“Haha, ok - let me know how you want our new arrangement to be. We could still really use a secretary, so I’m still happy to pay you for that.”

After lunch, Rina and Alice used a Treestride to get to their tree just outside of Greenwarf. A few of the orphan boys were there, as usual. This time with their pointed broomsticks. 
“The goddesses are here!” one of them yelled as Rina and Alice came through.
“Hey boys!” Rina said, “I hope you’re doing well! Have any of you learned to read or write yet?”
One of the boys ran up with his quill pen and the paper she’d left, “I am learning! I’m getting better all the time!”
“Maybe one day you will write a whole book!” she said.
She and Alice both gave the kids a little money, then headed into town.

As they moved through town they got waves from many people - most were people they didn’t know.
“Look it’s The Bound! They saved us!”
“They’re the ones who fed the whole city with that giant Electric Catfish!”
“They solved the Missing Fish Mystery!”
They waved back and smiled, but didn’t stop.
They first stopped by Darwin and Guppo’s home to find the Golem covered in notices from the city to move it. Alice ripped off all the notices, some of them even included fines, and threw them on the ground. 
A nearby guard called her out, “Hey, if that’s yours, you owe the city.”
She glared at him and set the papers on fire, “What notices? I don’t see any, do you?”
He was sufficiently afraid of her, so he just walked away like he didn’t see anything.
Rina went into the house to find it empty. All of the papers with Darwin’s scribbles, the barrels of fish, the fish tanks… everything was gone. All that was left of a patch of blood on the floor where Caspian had fallen, and footprints through the blood from when he left. Alice’s Golem could sit without her, but it could not act without her - it could not stop him from leaving.

They walked by the church on their way back to the tree on the edge of town and did not see anything amiss.
“You would think there would be some evidence of all those explosions,” Alice said.
“The church is probably pretty practiced in cleaning up their messes,” said Rina.
They got up to the tree by nightfall, all of the orphans were there with them.
Alice slept in the arms of her Golem, and Rina slept in the large tree - it reminded her of where she was exactly 200 years ago: sleeping in a large tree, awaiting the day she would leave her parents and the forest she grew up in.

Next: Day 41 (S30)