Molly heard Maeve call to her and saw that she had Kaelin in her arms. Heaving a hearty sigh of relief, she hurried back to where the camp was breaking up. Junior had taken charge of the boarding process, and seemed to be handling it quite capably.

She went over to offer her help, rounding up Mr Waters on her way; he was grumbling that he had not yet solved the mystery to his satisfaction, but she disregarded his plaints and hurried him along to join the queue.

"It looks like you have things under control here, Junior; if you need assistance, let me know," and she pulled out a clipboard and began paging through checklists.

Delia wandered along beach, a bag of Takis in one hand and a set of chop sticks in the other. She stopped just short of the boarding adventurers.

"Well," she said through a mouthful, "it appears you all aren't in need of rescuing after all. And after I cut short a delightful awkward gate discussion with my ex just for you. At least Cerberus is always happy to see me. Well, let's all get aboard, then, and head home. This adventure is officially over."

She extended her chopsticks toward Molly.

"Taki?"

~~

Authors, you are welcome to discuss the aftermath of this story in the Cavern Tavern, and we invite you all back to enjoy our annual Holiday Mansion, commencing December 15th.

D. Death