Lost and Found

28 (The End)

"Jacob, my apologies. It won't happen again."

Richard spoke into the silence, staring at the man  in awe.

Elyse examined the man intently, while she slowly stood to her feet from the crouched position she'd been in, with Desmond following suite.

He had long, blond, hair, and a thick beard. He seemed about the same height as Desmond, and he wore a long, white, robe with golden embroidery. She looked down and noticed then that he walked the tile on the ground with bare feet.

He had a starkly peaceful nature about him that Elyse couldn't quite explain, it reminded her of Richard a bit, but less mysterious and intense, just deeply calming.

"Hello Richard. Thank you for doing what I've asked of you, I know it wasn't without sacrifice."

He replied in a deep, melodic, voice, diverting his gaze to Ben now.

"Leave the temple now, and don't ever return."

He told him sternly, causing Ben to stare up at him in terror from the ground and quickly jump to his feet, bumping into Desmond a bit.

"I-I'm sorry Jacob. I was just-"

He began, keeping his distance from him while he begged for mercy. Elyse had never seen Benjamin cower beneath anyone before that way.

"Enough."

Jacob cut him off instantly, waving his hand lazily toward the large door they'd just come in through, causing it to instantly swing open.

"You've been spared, so long as you leave and never return."

He added calmly while he watched him expectantly.

Ben looked between the group in shame before quickly running through the door, before it slammed violently behind him.

Desmond walked over to Elyse's side now to take her hand again, while Richard and Jacob stood across from them.

"Thank you two for coming, I'm sure you're very confused as to who I am. I want you to know you're safe here, and I'm going to fix what has been broken."

He explained, reaching his hand forward for the bag that Desmond still had clenched in his left fist.

"What do ya mean? 'Fix what's been broken?'"

Desmond asked him hesitantly, keeping the bag at his side while he stared at Jacob's outstretched hand.

"As you know now, due to the extreme amount of electromagnetic energy you encountered when the hatch exploded, this is not the first time you've existed in this timeline."

He began, retracting his hand for a moment to start pacing calmly while he spoke.

"Elyse has used the device that's in that brown bag to turn back time, therefore she's tampered with not only the past, but the future."

He added, circling back to stand across from them once again, only a few inches from Desmond now.

"I have to reset the device to before she pushed the button, and then destroy it so that nobody else can use it."

He finished finally, reaching his hand out again to wrap his fingers around the bag, just above where Desmond's hand held it still.

"To right before? But we were going to die right before I pushed the button!"

Elyse cried and her heart began to pound. Was this their fate coming full circle? Jacob was going to take the device from them, and they would wake up in the middle of the ocean just to drown.