16th of April, 17 AJ

Time: 1300

Location:The Everlasting's apartment, UNSC Phoenix

POV: Dawn, age 36, The Traveler's Vessel.

"Kids! Lunch time!"

Dawn turned off the stove and grabbed several plates. Blake and Horizon were in the kitchen in an instant, but Hope and Veronica were a no-go. Looking down at Blake, Dawn frowned.

"Blake, sweety, do you know where Hope and Veronica are?"

"Nope. They might be hanging out in their rooms."

"Maybe. I'll go check."

She walked over to Hope's door and knocked. "Hope! Lunch's ready!"

No response. Dawn began to worry and as such, she entered the room. She found Hope in a dress, lying still on her bed. Her chest barely raised and Dawn would have thought that her daughter was on death's doors, if she didn't have a AmuSphere on her head.

Rolling her eyes, Dawn opened her daughter's laptop. She was currently playing World of SAO. Dawn closed the laptop and stared at her daughter, pondering on what she should do.

As she was brainstorming ideas, Dawn's phone going off brought her back to reality. She pulled it out and saw that Zavala was calling her. She tapped the answer button and lifted the phone to her ear.

"Yes sir? What's wrong?"

"Dawn. Your daughter is trapped."

"What? She laying on her bed, playing a VRMMO: World of SAO."

"That's exactly the problem. Their log-out button is gone. Every player is trapped inside the simulation, even the Titans."

Dawn gasped. "WHAT?! How's that possible?"

Cayde spoke up. Zavala must have his phone on speaker. "Someone has tapped into the systems and deleted the log-out function. And with the Titans, they have set up numerous firewalls to prevent them from safely exiting. Only Ghosts can leave, but if they do, they can't go back in. Ikora's in the game, but she doesn't have the Light."

Dawn began to pace around the house. "What should I do? I mean, can we hack the system and pull them out?"

Blake stopped eating his taco and looked at his mom. "Mom? What's wrong? Who you talking to?"

"The Vanguard, sweety. It's nothing big, don't worry about it. Just talking about some captured Guardians. Guardian Elites are enroute to the location."

He shrugged, then resumed eating. Dawn walked into the living room and sat down.

"Guardian, you can't pull them out without them suffering extensive brain damage. All we can do is bring them to a hospital. We've alerted most Guardians. Your husband doesn't know. He's in the middle of a meeting. Stay safe and keep the dream of the city alive." Zavala ended the call.

Dawn let her phone drop onto the couch as she hung her head. The door opened and someone wrapped their arm around her shoulders.

"Dawn, honey, what's wrong?" Hearth was sitting right next to her.

"I just got a call from the Vanguard. Ikora's out of commision."

"What? She died her final death?"

"No. She's trapped in a VRMMO."

"Damn. That is bad. But the Vanguard will take care of her, you know that."

Dawn looked at her husband. "That's not the biggest fish. Hope and Veronica are trapped as well. Every player who's playing World of SAO is trapped. They can't log-out."

Hearth bit his lip. "Do you know where they are?"

"Yes, they're in their rooms. Why?"

Hearth got up. "You may or may not know, but I worked on that game. I know tricks to get deep into the system. I embedded a shortcut in every entity's texture file. I can try to give the players their log-out buttons back."

"Hon. Don't do anything stupid, okay? We can't afford to lose you, too."

Hearth gave Dawn a small kiss. "Don't worry. I'm just going to hitchhike on Hope's systems as I burrow into the code. I might be in her room for a long time."

A tear rolled down her cheek. "Hearth. IF you can't get her out, at least bring them to the hospital, okay?"

Hearth brushed some of Dawn's hair away. "Okay. Get some rest."

Dawn sighed, then walked into their room. She sat down on the bed, and sighed. She waited for a long time, Hearth at one point slipping in to grab his laptop, and Dawn felt alone. She opened her drawer and brushed some random nick nacks and oddities she had collected out of the way. She found a photo in the bottom of the drawer and took it out.

She closed the drawer and looked at the photo. It was of her sleeping in bed. She was extremely young then, only five years old. She had a book covering her head and her hands poking out from under the blankets. Tao had found her like that and drew her this exact drawing when she asked what happened.

Someone sat down on the bed with her and when she turned to look, she saw that it was Horizon.

"Hey Mom. Who's that?"

Dawn chuckled. "Me, when I was five. I was living with my uncle Tao back then."

Horizon took a better look at the photo. "Heh. Looks like you were as huge a bookworm then as you are now."

Dawn smiled. "Yeah. I remember finding that book the night I wandered into Sanctuary. Tao had found me early in the day and cleaned me up. I was all beat up and cut, a result from my trip. He took me to a special restaurant and I remember crying almost the whole day. I only calmed down when he brought me to a secluded space, right next to the Eternal Waterfall that sits in the heart of the city."

"Dang. Wait, you took a trip when you were five?"

"I was five when I arrived, but I was a lot younger when I took the trip. It was out of necessity."

"Why? You told me that you had been a part of a tribe, so what happened to them?"

"That's... not something that you need to know."

Little one. Amethyst's voice comforted Dawn.

Yes Amethyst?

Put the subject away. Your secret is still safe with me.

I know.

"Horizon, has Dad told you of where we first met?"

"Uh, no, he hasn't. I never bothered to ask."

Dawn chuckled. "Welp. We first met at my house (which I've sold) in Sanctuary, then I led him to that waterfall Tao had showed me."

Horizon snickered. "Lemme guess, that's where you guys first kissed."

Dawn smiled. "You're right. I took him by surprise when I kissed him."

Horizon laughed and rested her head on her mother's shoulder. Dawn smiled and put the photo away, then wrapped her arms around her daughter. They sat there for some time before the Traveler spoke to Dawn. [writer note: "bold" is conversation between Dawn and Traveler.]

"Vessel. I require your aid."

"Traveler? What's wrong?"

"Bring your active family, minus Hope and Veronica, of course."

"Something's happened, hasn't it?"

"Yes. I have found a way to free Hope, but I need the help of your family."

"Really? How?"

"Rip her out of the system. It will hurt briefly for her, but she will survive."

"Traveler. You know things like this needs the stars to be aligned and Lady Luck on our side."

"Yes, I know. In a week, bring them to my shell. Hope will be ripped out of the simulation, but where she will end up, I can't say."

Dawn sighed. "It's better than nothing."

Horizon looked at her mom in confusion. "Mom? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, sweaty. I was just holding my breath on accident."

"Reallllllllllllllllly? Are you talking with a dragon?"

Dawn raised her hands, faking defeat. "You've got me."

"Quick thinking, Dawn."

Horizon rolled her eyes, then laid down in the bed. "Hey, Mom? Is it okay if I sleep with you tonight?"

Dawn smiled and laid down as well. "You won't hear any complaining from me."

Horizon smiled and rested her head on her mother's chest, just like she used to, six years ago. They fell asleep and when Hearth finally gave up hacking, he chuckled at the two. He climbed into bed and wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter. They fell asleep and spent the rest of the week trying to free Hope and Veronica with hacking.

On Saturday, when the family was sitting down for dinner, Dawn spilled the beans. (not literally.)

"I've got something to tell all of you."

Hearth raised an eyebrow and put down his fork. They had been eating spaghetti. "Hm? What's wrong?"

"A couple of days ago, the Traveler contacted me. It's found a way to free Hope, but we need to be in the Last City for it to work."

Horizon stopped eating as well. "Sh-"

"It told me not to bring Hope or Veronica with us, for obvious reasons. It asked only for the four of us."

Hearth glanced at his bracelet. "When does it want us there?"

"By tomorrow."

Hearth laughed a tiny bit. "Lucky for us, we're already enroute. We should be there in the hou-"

The lights flickered and Hearth bit his lip. Blake looked up from his food and smiled.

"What were you saying Dad?"

"Looks like we've arrived. Let's go."

Dawn smiled and left the clean-up to Hearth. She walked to the hanger and got a Pelican ready. As she was working, she convened with the Traveler.

"Traveler. Can we rush the spell a little?"

"Yes, we can. We're all ready. We've been ready for several days now. The week prep was so you didn't felt rushed."

Dawn's family walked up and they all boarded the craft. They took off and gathered under the Traveler. They took their spots, then began the spell.