She looked at her watch, "We do have some time to check the lighthouse before the game starts." The exited the building and returned back to the subway.
As the subway train passed through a narrow passage, Raine spoke to Akko, "At one time the ship yard didn't expand this far out, or maybe they didn't care much about child safety. We used to be able to walk from the lighthouse along the tracks to the exhibit. There was a low fence to the shipyard, and we used to climb over it and cut through the shipyard. The old shipwrights of course didn't care as long as we were just passing through and not you know... disrupting them. In hindsight it was kinda dangerous, with all the metal and chemicals, but we didn't know back then," she added with a chuckle as they passed through.
Akko chided Raine, "Raine ... if I met you back then, I'd probably scold you for trespassing on the premises. Well, at least you don't do dangerous things like that anymore."
Shortly afterwards they reached the end of the line. Beacon Way Station. Unlike the other stations, this station was painted red. Or rather, the structure was completely red. "Beacon Hill Lighthouse is the name of the lighthouse," she said as they entered an elevator. Since its at the top of a hill, they put an elevator to the station instead of the usual stairs and escalator. Well there are stairs, but it would be a while hiking them," she laughed. "I've run them before, its a solid five minutes of climbing, and I'd rather not subject us to that."235Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7SqBmKWbN
At the top of the elevator, they exited at the top of the hill which overlooked Raine City Harbor to the west. A short way away was a flat, alter looking platform. "This was part of the original structure, before it burned down. A lighthouse keeper forgot to keep the fire in check. We then imported red clay stone from Sol Province and built the lighthouse on the right here," she motioned to the nearby building. That's why the station below and everything around here is red. They used a lot of stone and rebuilt most of this hill top. She ran to the railing and leaned on it and motioned for Akko to come over.
"This is the best view of Raine City, other than going up to the lighthouse proper. We can't go up now because they are preparing for their night shift. But this beacon was on the corner of Raine Harbor to the west and on the east over the ridge is the Ukonen River. There is another beacon over on the far side of the Ukonen River, and where the Raine Municipal Tower is was the second marker for the port," she said as she motioned to a tall tower near the seaside a little to the right center of the skyline. "There are poems in Numeria about the relief of seeing the Three Beacons of Safety after the long sail from Jorg Bay, or from Svezjacael. They used to say when lost in the gales at sea, nothing brought more calm to thee, than the beacon overlooking Raine City. Despite all the things that changed, it alone remained." She paused as she looked at Akko and smiled before looking up towards the lighthouse proper. "I don't know who started the kids coming up here, but every St Synelia Day, we used to come up here and the Lighthouse Keeper, who is as old as the city itself, used to tell us stories. Stories about the lighthouse, about the look off. How this light was more important than the other two, for the other two could only be seen close, but this one could be seen far away. How in that sea where waves could be taller than a person's house, you could see this light and know that you were close to safety and warmth. It welcomed Raftfleet back home after defeating the Blizzarians. It was there when the ships were scuttled and sunk. It was here to see the whaling ships leave, and it saw them back here when they returned. We often asked, why wasn't Raine City's team named the Beacons or Lighthouse." She looked back to Akko and smiled at him, "The response was that the Lighthouse gives hope to those who are lost. A symbolism that was too important to relegate to mercantilism and sports. Raine's Beacon is a beacon of hope, something that gives people faith and light in a world of dark and uncertainty."
"Here, lets take a picture overlooking the harbor," Raine smiled as she pulled out her phone. "They say its good luck to have a picture here, with the Raine Beacon guiding you towards hope for a better tomorrow."
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