There is a parchment tacked up on the front of the clubhouse. The rather fanciful lettering reads:


Hey Red (and whoever the &^%$ else cares)...


I have left Rhydin by now but I JUST had to tell you about the gift I got the "Relic". I rebuilt the Less Crowded Inn. By now, he and Shortstuff should have learned about it. Drop by sometime. I am sure the Old Man would LOVE to have you there ASAP!

Merit
The Multiverse's sexiest albino ArchMage

PS: Can you let Blondie and some of the other ladies know?! You always seemed good at spreading news.

Jewell was sitting at a table on the porch of a swanky restaurant in downtown RhyDin, across from a man she had met no more than an hour before on an impromptu shopping excursion. They had locked eyes--bright blue and moody grey--over a rack of clothing and she had invited him to join her for dinner. He wasn?t quite her type, being both blonde and mortal, but she threw caution to the wind, and it had worked out for her so far. He had suggested a lovely dining facility that had a weather controlled porch--perfect for outside dining during the current cold weather. The conversation had not been lax or overly awkward, it was even interesting at times. It was going so well, in fact, that she was considering a playful game of footsies when an incessant beeping sound broke the romantic mood.

*Beep.Beep.* *Beep.* *Beep.* *Beep.* *Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep.Beep!*

?What the?? Jewell exclaimed, scowling first at her innocent and confused looking date, who?s name she thought was Pavlo, to the culprit of the noise: her small pocket book. She gave one of those embarrassed little laughs, ?Hah ha..excuse me,? that was barely heard over the continued beeping, as she grabbed the pocket book and started to rifle through it.

Countless items began to crowd the table top as she dug deeper into the small bag that apparently was made by the same company Marry Poppins went to with her accessory needs. Jewell and Pavlo, along with everyone else trying to enjoy the romantic setting, endured at least two more minutes of the beeping noise before Jewell gave a triumphant yell of, ?Ahah!? as she raised aloft her Harpie Communicator. Another moment of fiddling with the faux mirror compact and she had it open.

All she needed to see was the little red light glowing--indicating that Tara was trying to get in contact with her--and she was immediately standing up, shoving everything in a haphazard manner back into her bag. ?Sorry, duty calls; I must be going. It was really lovely meeting you.? With a semi-insincere smile, no offer to pay for the dinner, and not even a hint of, ?Let?s meet again sometime,? Jewell was dashing out of the restaurant and running as fast as her heels could take her towards the Forsaken Blades? Clubhouse.

She arrived in a record breaking 10.5 seconds, huffing and puffing as she stumbled on sore feet to the doorstep. She was holding the communicator aloft, as if to say: ?Look, it worked!? as she got to Tara?s side. ?What?? wheeze ?seems? puff ?to be? huff ?the problem?? She took a big gulp of air, ?Is it that freakin? thing laying eggs on our clubhouse again!??

Usually Jewell could verbally keep up with Tara but not when she was out of breath. At first, all she managed to return was the hug during the verbal barrage or accusations and quirky statements. She certainly didn?t remember going off into the wilderness to find herself, unless New Haven counted as the wilderness and her extended shopping sprees at Koy?s Heavenly Boutique could be called finding herself. She supposed that, in a certain light, it could and decided not to argue with the red head.

She had just about caught her breath by, ?How?s that goin, anyway?? and was opening her mouth to respond--finding herself was not going too well, and did Tara have any idea where she may have left herself by the way?--when the topic had changed as swiftly as it ever did with the Blades and her attention was being called to the parchment tacked to their front door.

?Whatever do we have to repent for?? Jewell snickered, not really desiring a list as, between the both of them, it would take a life time to rattle off. She moved towards the parchment, exercising great caution as notes that proclaimed the end of the world was coming could not be trusted!

She spent several minutes reading it and several more just staring at it for no other reason but to build anticipation in her pig-tailed counterpart. ?Um? unless the Less Crowded Inn being reopened signals the end of the world--which it may, I?m not really sure--I think we can probably skip repenting for our sins and go right back to racking up more.?