There's always a lighthouse

[wheremst]

And just like that, you wake up in the basement of a lighthouse in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There's a circle of 25 pods in the middle of the room, and two more in a room off to the side, and you can imagine who is in which.

An elevator to the side of the room leads up to the ground floor (or to the first sub-basement, if you want to check out the machine that brought you here), where you can for the first time in weeks look out a window and see the sky. Its a beautiful sunny day, with a strong breeze on the grassy ground of the island where the lighthouse stands. Have you ever been this happy to hear seagulls?

You're free. Whatever comes next, you're free and you won. Take some time to relish your victory, won't you? Reunite with friends you thought you had lost, go forth and just... well, enjoy this.

Comments

[baitless]

It certainly is.

[He pauses, taking things in a bit before continuing.]

My wife, my daughter, and I lived by the coast for a long time, so I always find myself lost in happy memories when I visit the sea.

[shieldsister]

Tell me about them. I never did ask about your family, and I'm curious.

[baitless]

[oh no aela you made a mistake.]

Ah, well, my daughter is an absolute gift. The worst I can say about Flayn is that she cannot cook at all and she can be a bit... stubborn at times, and I have no idea where she gets it, but we all have our flaws, don’t we? I can cook decently, and we live at a monastery besides. In any case, if we had access to a peaceful version of the facility in the simulation, I would imagine she would be very fond of it. She does love fish, both in terms of observing them and eating the ones we’ve caught.

My wife was much like her, really. She got along well with everyone and had a very open mind, so I was blessed to have her. I met her in what eventually became one of the biggest cities in Fodlan, but at the time it was more... provincial, I suppose. I wanted to spend more time among humans, and she was honestly much more worldly than I was. We did end up moving around the continent a fair amount, but we spent much of our free time fishing at the Rhodos Coast, since my brother lived not too far from there.

[shieldsister]

[aela has never made a mistake in her life and she certainly isn't starting now!!

Anyway, this is real cute, look at that expression...]

They've certainly been a very important part of your life. You look very happy talking about them.

[It's nice to see after how rough the past two months have been.]

I would argue that you've got a bit of a stubborn streak as well, though. I hope someday I have the chance to meet Flayn; she sounds like she's a very interesting person.

[baitless]

...I want to deny it, but I suppose I can be a touch stubborn. It’s true.

In any case, I imagine Flayn would be happy to meet all of you, as well. Hopefully that’s possible somehow; I definitely do want to get home to her, but I imagine I will want to see you all again at some point.

[........]

Zelos is not allowed to meet her, though.