Treurenbloem Rouwdottir, a Sea Wolf roegadyn, sits in the reading nook of her apartment in the Perfect Flow company house. She puts a hand to her ear and frowns distractedly. "Hello?" she calls into her linkpearl.
Largo's voice emanates softly from the pearl, along with the faint rhythm of ocean waves. "Ah, good morning, Treurenbloem," he begins pleasantly. "Meet me at the aetheryte plaza in Moraby," he tells her. "It's urgent. Oh, and dress for a day at the beach."
Treurenbloem stands, looking around the room. Urgent business... on a beach? What could it be? At a loss, she shrugs and walks toward her bedchamber.
Treurenbloem arrives a short time later, as instructed, at the Moraby Drydocks. She is wearing a black bikini, but looks uncomfortable doing so, as she looks around the plaza. She thinks to herself, "Gods, I really need to buy myself a less-revealing swimsuit."
Largo stands a short distance away, dressed in a floral-print red shirt, shorts, and sandals, along with a small hat and sunglasses. He is beckoning to her. Baldin, the ferry captain, waves as well. "Come on," Largo calls out. "The boat is waiting."
They arrive, later that day, on a small island, somewhere in the Cieldalaes Archipelago. There is no dock; they simply land the boat on the sandy beach and pull it out of the waves. Largo strides across the sand, with Treurenbloem following behind. "We make for the lighthouse," he instructs her. "I think you'll like it."
As they crest the first hill and enter the main square of a small village, apparently inhabited by mammets, Treurenbloem can no longer resist the looming questions: "Why did you bring me here? What is this place?"
Further up the path, Largo finally answers, "What else this place is matters not. It is, most essentially, beautiful. And that, Treurenbloem, is the point of this little excursion."
They arrive at the summit of a ridge which encircles the village. A lighthouse in the Lominsan style stands on the precipice. They ascend the long winding staircase to the observation deck of the lighthouse, and Largo leads Treurenbloem toward the railing. The look out over the ocean, bright blue in the midday sun. Largo speaks again, without looking toward her, "No matter what else we've been through, the sorrow, the agony, the pain that never goes away, there is still beauty to be found. Peace. Hope. Wherever you can find it, grab it."
The two stand there, silently, as waves lap gently at the beach far below. All around them, palm trees and exotic flowering bushes sway in the breeze. The ocean between Vylbrand and the Cieldalaes glistens in the sunlight. Treurenbloem reflexively touches the scar on her left cheek. Her eyes have welled up with all-too-familiar tears, but she is smiling. Largo puts his arm around her shoulders, and she leans into the embrace despite herself.
"Thank you," she whispers.
#Junelezen2025, day 28: Hope
Largo is something of an expert on despair. And yet he finds himself indulging a strange obligation to alleviate it for the newest addition to the Argonauts crew.
#FFXIV #Junelezen #gpose #WoLcomics #elezen #roegadyn #femroe #SadGothPirate #IslandSanctuary