Deep Sea Embers

Suddenly, a sharp “crack” sound came from Sailor, startlingly indicating that a bone had just snapped out of place as the mummy twitched.

Then, Anomaly 077’s voice filled the air with dramatic pleas: “Captain! Captain, please, I beg you, don’t scare me like this! I promise I’m loyal, diligent, honest, and truthful! If I’ve made a mistake, just tell me, and I’ll correct it. There’s no need for this kind of intimidation… Or, if you prefer, you could just load me into a cannon and shoot me away…”

While begging, the mummy tried desperately to drag himself toward the ship’s railing as if he might throw himself over at any moment. He actually managed to swing his body over the railing, but before he could jump, a rope quickly shot out, wrapped around his ankles, and pulled him back onto the deck, tightly coiling around him.

Duncan approached with a half-smile that seemed more mocking than genuinely amused. He stopped a short distance away, simply watching.

Anomaly 077’s cries stopped suddenly. He shivered, pulled his neck in, and froze, eventually managing to say, “If you’re looking for entertainment, you might as well cook me… I could even do sit-ups in the pot for you…”

“There’s not a pot on board that’s big enough for you,” Duncan replied lightly, though his brief smile faded as he became more serious, “I’m serious, I have some experiments in mind.”

The change in the captain’s behavior and voice caught Anomaly 077’s attention, prompting him to look up at Duncan with a puzzled expression. “…Experiments?”

“Release him,” Duncan said casually. The ropes, which seemed to have a life of their own, started unwinding from Anomaly 077, making a quiet rustling sound as they retracted.

Sailor, now standing and visibly confused, managed to fix his dislocated joint (explaining the “crack” noise Duncan heard earlier) and began to follow the captain, filled with both curiosity and worry. He eyed the ropes cautiously and approached the dark steering wheel but hesitated to touch it. After a moment of hesitation, driven by curiosity, he finally asked, “This experiment you’re talking about… what is it?”

Sailor seemed to ponder for a moment, a hint of realization crossing his face.

“I know you don’t remember the course. Lucretia told me,” Duncan continued, locking eyes with Sailor, “but I trust the observations Captain Caraline recorded in her log. She believed that the experiences you’d have upon returning to the Boundless Seas would change you. She met the gods herself and was fundamentally transformed before she ‘recovered.’ She gained ‘knowledge’ that goes beyond what’s normally understandable.”

Duncan motioned towards Sailor as he spoke.

“Now, I need to understand ‘you’ and discover the truth behind your various ‘qualities.’ Just like Captain Caraline’s logbook that was found with you, I suspect you’re a kind of ‘medium.’ And for this experiment… letting you use your ‘power’ seems like the best way to get answers.”

Sailor looked down at his hands, pondering, “My power…”

With a tone of clinical curiosity, Duncan shared what he learned from the church’s documents about “Anomaly 077—Sailor’s” unpredictable abilities. “When ‘Anomaly 077’ is active, it tends to ‘take over’ the nearest ship, causing it to teleport to random places in the Boundless Seas,” he explained, “and each teleportation brings the ship into a storm. This behavior particularly interests me.”

Sailor began to understand what the captain was suggesting. Looking at the helm, his hesitation was clear, “But if I actually touch the helm…”

“Don’t worry, the Vanished isn’t really affected by your powers. I just want to study how they work,” Duncan assured him casually, “and even if ‘teleportation’ and a ‘storm’ happen, it wouldn’t be much of a problem for this ship, nothing more than a breeze.”

“Uh, you misunderstood me,” Sailor quickly corrected, looking around anxiously, “I was worried the ship itself might fight back against me… I’ve noticed this ship seems to have elements that could start a fight easily. In just two hours on board, I saw at least three fights break out…”

As he spoke, Alice showed off her pride on the side.

Duncan’s face twitched when he saw the doll’s smug expression, “What are you so proud of!”

Alice proudly tilted her head, “I won my fight with the bucket!”

Duncan: “…”

Ignoring the doll’s strange behavior, Duncan refocused on Anomaly 077. “I’m in charge of everything on this ship, and I’m allowing you to take over the steering for now. Don’t worry about any negative consequences. But if you’re hesitant, I have another ‘research strategy’ we could use.”

Sailor immediately looked happier. “You have another plan?”

Duncan didn’t say anything but raised his hand, showing a small flame flickering at his fingertip.

Seeing this, Sailor’s excitement faded. “I think I prefer the first idea…”

Duncan flicked his finger, snuffing out the flame, and subtly motioned towards the steering wheel. “Go ahead and do what needs to be done before I change my mind and bring the flame back.”

Feeling resigned, Sailor took a deep breath, puffing out his chest as if drawing courage from the cool night air. He clenched his teeth, stepped forward, and with a decisive motion, reached for the steering wheel, his eyes closed.

The moment Anomaly 077’s withered, claw-like fingers touched the wheel of the Vanished, it was as if the first mate of the Sea Song was taking command of his ship.

Likewise, as soon as Sailor’s hand touched the wheel, Duncan heard a surreal, thunderous noise, like a huge ship launching into the ocean for the first time, surrounded by massive waves, with the sea itself shaking and breaking around the Vanished.

At that moment, the ship seemed to be caught in an unexplainable “force,” and Duncan felt this “presence” trying to take over the ship.

Normally, such a “presence” would have caused any regular ship to be swallowed by a dimensional rift, lost to some random location in the Boundless Seas where a storm would be taking place. However, the Vanished continued on its path across the waves, under Duncan’s careful command, immune to the mysterious force trying to alter its course.

Duncan’s concern grew as he felt an odd influence on the Vanished. Then, he suddenly sensed something out of the ordinary and looked around.

At that moment, a figure that blurred the lines between being there and not being there appeared in a corner of the bridge. Agatha emerged from the mirror realm, steadying herself on the railing with a sway. She looked at Duncan, her expression a mix of confusion and worry. “Captain? What’s happening? The spirit world here is…”

Before she could finish, Duncan quickly closed the gap between them. “Agatha, I need your ‘eyes’.”

Caught by surprise, Agatha understood what he meant and reached towards her eyes. “Okay, just give me a second to take them out…”

Duncan, startled, quickly said, “Stop! You don’t have to do that!”

Confused, Agatha responded, “Ah?”

Duncan wasted no time in explaining further and conjured a spectral green flame, placing it gently on Agatha’s forehead.

“Just stay calm; it won’t hurt you.”

Before he could even assure her fully, the connection through the flame was established.

Now, Duncan could see through the gatekeeper’s eyes.

Suddenly, everything around Duncan seemed to shake briefly and intensely, as if the very light and shadows around him were shifting and realigning. Duncan’s vision flipped rapidly, then stabilized, giving him a unique view unlike any shared vision with Alice he had experienced before.

He found himself in a black-and-white world, looking up at the ghostly reflection of the Vanished in the “sky” above the sea. He saw unseen currents swirling violently at the edge of reality and illusion. In this strange, overlapping realm, he watched the sea’s surface in the distance continuously break apart and then reform.

In front of the Vanished, the sea acted like a faulty mirage, caught in a loop of breaking down and coming back together. Waves appeared and disappeared out of nowhere, and the entire surface of the sea would suddenly vanish, leaving a huge “void,” only to fill back in and reappear seconds later. The scenery in the distance kept getting misplaced, and with each second, this pattern repeated as if stuck in a never-ending reset loop.

From the back of the mirrored Vanished, Duncan looked out at the ever-changing “landscape” before turning his attention to the helm.

There, a faint, nearly invisible figure could be seen holding the wheel, its features blurred and fading, like a lingering echo tied to the helm.

Next to Duncan, within this mirror world, Agatha appeared much more solid.

As she watched the incredible scene on the distant sea, she asked, “Captain, what are we seeing?”

“…It’s the course,” Duncan replied quietly, “the true path from the ‘border’ to the ‘outer barrier’ set by the gods.”

Agatha’s eyes widened in amazement.

“Duncan continued calmly, “As Captain Caraline noted in her log, she passed the course to her first mate. The course hasn’t disappeared,” Duncan explained, “Anomaly 077, he is the embodiment of the course.”

Again, the distant surface of the sea went through its cycle of breaking down and rebuilding, with a ghostly roar filling the sea as if resonating with the entire world.

“This phenomenon, which has been misunderstood as Anomaly 077 taking over and causing the ship to teleport randomly, is actually a form of guidance. It’s the Sea Song’s first mate trying to steer the ship towards the ‘destination’ ingrained in his memory. However, this effort could never succeed within the Boundless Seas, hence…”

He paused briefly, then added softly,

“Hence, the creation of those storms.”