#lost wings

ثُمَّ قالتْ :

لا وجود للأشخاص السيئين، إنَّهم فقط أُناس عاديون يقومون بأفعال شريرة لأنهم تُعساء، مَخذولون، ومكسورون ! 💔

As the celebration aboard the Endless Waltz continued on into the night, Aislinn found herself with a bottle of ale in hand, sitting on one of the scattered makeshift stools and chatting amiably with a few of the passengers. Though shaken by their ordeal, they were both glad and relieved to see that they were indeed heading home. Soon, the traditional sea shanty that had been started by a few of Locke’s crew was taken up by many of them and Aislinn grew quiet, content to nurse her ale and listen to the song as it floated gently over the deck. 

She was not so different from the passengers. Like they had earlier, she couldn’t resist making her way to the ship’s edge to look out across the expanse. Below and all around, the stars stretched out before her like a carpet. She pulled the clear night air into her lungs, feeling the crisp coolness of it before letting go. 

Life had a funny way of leading her to places she had least expected. She hadn’t been looking for any of this when she had set out from the city with Barnabas all those suns ago. She supposed she should be, at the very least, irritated at being led astray. But at the moment it seemed too much of a waste to try and muster the outrage. Not with the moonsilver tinged ink of the sky before her and the soft sound of the sea shanty being sung by passenger and pirate alike at her back. Besides, she wasn’t sorry she played a part in getting Locke his ship back. Perhaps that made her a terrible former Maelstrom soldier. Aiding a pirate. That was fine. She had never been a great soldier to begin with, never had the wherewithal to stay firmly on that side of the law after Ul’dah had taught her to be so untrusting of it. Let her brother be the shining knight. She was something in between. 

From this height she could see the lights of Limsa Lominsa twinkling below in the distance. They would be there soon. She had best go gather her things, recalling that she had left it all in the engine room. She’d get a chance to see the great heart of the airship at work after all. Turning away from the railing's edge, she made her way down below. 

She watched the great engines hum for far longer than the time it took for her to shrug on her coat and haversack and grab her rifle. To her the low rumble was calm and soothing, an orchestra of many parts working in concert where most people would just hear a droning noise. Machines were reliable. Predictable. People were ever-changing. Capable of breathtaking cruelty and also great altruism. People were generally beyond her. Machines never lied, they never judged. They never grew bored or excited. They were plain spoken in what they needed from her. Easy to understand. This one was perhaps more complicated than most but given enough time she was certain she could have come to know the language it spoke. 

With a parting smile, she turned and left the engine to its work. Out in the hall, Aislinn started to make her way topside but under the muffled rumble of the engines she heard an altogether different sound as she climbed her way up to the main deck. Lilting harmonica music softly drifted down the hallway from somewhere behind her. Ever curious, she turned away from the stairs that would take her back to the upper deck and followed the sound to its source. That was how she came upon the darkened mess hall and found Locke cutting a lonely figure as he sat at the dimly lit bar. 

“What? All celebrated out already? I thought you said you could go all night if need be.” she gently teased as she made her way across the empty hall. 

He wasn't exactly expecting company, so when he heard Aislinn's voice the Captain's tune came to an abrupt halt as his gaze lifted to meet hers. A bit of time alone to his thoughts would have been nice, but the smile creeping over his features implied he didn't mind his newfound company. 

"Believe me, I can. If you'd like me to prove it I'd be more than happy to indulge you with a grand tour of my personal chambers on board." he said as his soft smile curled up into a familiar teasing grin. 

She knew an answer from her was unnecessary. He was taunting her again. Sometimes, she was all but certain he delighted in flustering her. Aislinn fought back a blush at the innuendo, annoyed she hadn’t yet become inured to his baiting. "Those comments normally work well for you, I take it." 

The wedding day battle ends in kind of a draw/continues for much longer and Ingrith’s schemes are not revealed. The order to round up the villains goes out so Ulstead gets backup.

They manage to capture Maleficent and several other important fey figures including Borra. Problem is, the Isle of the Lost isn’t ready yet and they need to keep all of the fey contained.

So do they put them in locked rooms with solid ceilings? No. They chop off their wings, and it works brilliantly. The grounded fey are too occupied with their pain and grief to even think about escape.

A little bit later, they are all shipped off to the isle... that doesn’t have any kind of nature. To fey, that’s suffocating.

Fast forward nearly twenty years, Borra now has a youngish child whose mother went insane and so he’s a single parent. Ben, having common sense in this story, invites younger children of “henchmen” to start off with. Borra’s child is one of the lucky few.

Before they leave, he takes them aside and tells them how to get to the Nest of Origin and tells them to find Udo in the hopes that they might get a decent upbringing and education. Maybe while there, the child meets a cousin or something?