Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 832: Welcome Home

Lucretia and Vanna traversed the moving platform beneath the lighthouse complex, navigating the dense fog along well-known paths and bridges during the night. The weak lighting around them shone like distant, dim stars in the mist. Amidst the soft glow and shadows, a figure stirred nearby.

A harbor guard, his complexion ghostly white, brushed past Vanna. He was dressed in a sharp uniform and held a lantern that still shone brightly. His face was marked by a precise, careful expression, yet he seemed completely unaware of the two unexpected visitors in his path.

As the guard disappeared back into the fog, Vanna observed him with a troubled expression. Once he was out of sight, she turned to Lucretia and whispered, “He wasn’t breathing.”

“Yes, the person we saw earlier wasn’t either. Most here no longer breathe,” Lucretia replied quietly, her face cast in shadows, “Even those few who still breathe show no signs of noticing our presence.”

“Everyone seems to be in a state of…” Vanna started, struggling to find the right words, then paused, finding it difficult to articulate her feelings. After a moment, she resumed, “A sort of stupor, a pervasive ‘unawareness.’ They continue with their routines, even handling shifts with precision, but they don’t acknowledge us at all.”

Lucretia just hummed softly and didn’t respond further, instead surveying the shadowy surroundings through the fog before they made their way toward the church at the lighthouse’s base.

Inside the church, the atmosphere was similarly subdued, with fewer people around. Apart from a few individuals sitting or praying quietly, only a priestess in a black nun’s outfit was present, cleaning the main hall. She appeared slightly more aware of Vanna and Lucretia’s presence, pausing and looking their way briefly before resuming her task nonchalantly just as Vanna was about to address her.

Lucretia and Vanna then walked across the church’s main hall and entered the tower that connected to the lighthouse through a side door. They climbed a dimly lit spiral staircase, checking several vacant restrooms and storage areas until they came upon a door left slightly open.

From behind the door emanated a bright light and a soft sizzling noise.

Vanna moved to push the slightly open door further and entered a small room filled with various devices, the air fragrant with incense. In the center of the room, a small brass incense burner hung from a steam pipe, seemingly freshly lit.

As they passed by the steam pipe, almost in unison, a figure rose from a corner of the room and walked directly towards Lucretia.

Lucretia was taken aback when the figure stood up, previously unnoticed in the corner of the room. It was a middle-aged man clad in a priest’s robe, who eerily lacked any signs of breathing or a heartbeat. He appeared completely unaware of their presence, almost like an inanimate object, so much so that Vanna hadn’t even realized there was another person in the room.

Without acknowledging them, the priest passed by Lucretia and Vanna with an expressionless demeanor and sat down at a table at the far end of the room. His movements were mechanical as if he were programmed to perform these actions. Clearing his throat, he pressed a button on the table and positioned a microphone in front of him.

“Calling Vanished, calling Bright Star, this is the border lighthouse. The current time is the twelfth month of 1902. We await your return voyage… Repeat, calling the voyagers, this is the border lighthouse, the current time is… we await your return…”

He repeated the message three times, then paused and pressed the button again to repeat it several times before switching the device to listening mode. Afterward, he stood up from the table and returned to his original spot, passing Lucretia and Vanna again without even a glance to the side.

“That’s the call we heard,” Vanna said, watching the scene unfold. She spoke softly, turning towards Lucretia, who was also observing intently.

“I had heard my father describe the Boundless Sea, but I never fully imagined what it would be like,” Lucretia shared, her voice tinged with complexity, “It’s even more… more…”

She faltered, struggling to find the right words to convey her feelings.

“…The situation inside the city-state shouldn’t be this severe,” Vanna commented after a moment, shaking her head slightly. “This lighthouse is in the deepest part of the border, where order dissolved the earliest and where the influence of the gods’ ‘corruption’ is strongest. In the city-state…”

“Yes, the conditions might be better there, although they will likely worsen over time,” Lucretia interjected seriously, “Let’s not dwell on it too much for now.”

“Right, let’s not dwell on it too much now,” Vanna agreed, pausing briefly to gather her thoughts and suppress her worries. Just then, footsteps echoed from outside the room.

The two instinctively turned their heads as the previously ajar door was pushed open by a man in a guardian’s uniform.

He might have been searching for the middle-aged priest.

As Vanna had grown used to the peculiar “environment” of this place, she stepped aside to let someone pass, but just as she did, the guard dressed in black reacted with a sudden startled expression. It seemed he had only just noticed the two women in the room. His body trembled slightly, followed by a look of sheer excitement and joy.

“Miss Vanna, and Lady Lucretia!” the guard exclaimed with enthusiasm, rubbing his eyes as though in disbelief, “Is it really you? Have you returned?!”

Vanna was visibly confused by his reaction, taken aback for a few seconds before her expression shifted to one of surprise: “You’re still ‘awake’?”

“Awake?” The guardian initially looked puzzled but quickly caught on to her meaning. He checked himself, glanced at the other figure resting in the corner of the room, and smiled with a mixture of emotions, “Yes, I am awake, and there are others who are awake too. Everyone would be thrilled to see you…”

“Are there other ‘awake’ people?” Lucretia interjected, clearly surprised, “On our way here…”

“Yes, the awake are few, so we’ve gathered in the residential area below the lighthouse for mutual support and to monitor each other’s condition. We only venture out to patrol, restock supplies, and assist any others who awaken,” the guardian explained with calm precision, “And… to see if you had returned.”

He paused, his gaze shifting to the middle-aged priest seated in the corner of the room.

“The communication device is now controlled by ‘them,’ and disrupting their routine can provoke severe reactions, sometimes even madness. Therefore, we only approach during specific ‘window periods’ to check the monitoring antenna’s records and verify if any ships are navigating back through the deep fog from the top of the lighthouse. Today, it’s my shift. But honestly…”

The guard’s smile was tinged with complexity and joy: “Honestly, I never thought I’d actually witness your return. I look out at that fog every day, but it’s always just fog. Have all of you returned? What’s the situation like at the world’s end?”

Vanna and Lucretia exchanged looks, and after a brief hesitation, Lucretia nodded slowly, “The situation is quite complex now, and explaining it would take some time. Please, take us to your ‘shelter’ first.”

“Of course,” the guardian responded immediately, nodding, “But before you enter the shelter, you’ll need to undergo a ritual inspection – it’s necessary, given this is the border, and you’re returning from the fog.”

“After that, Her Grace Helena’s avatar will personally welcome you.”

Vanna’s expression brightened at the mention: “The Pope’s avatar is here?”

“She was originally stationed at the mobile port where the Eternal Veil and Boundless Sea meet, but she moved here when the situation deteriorated. Her presence has been crucial in maintaining the shelter—she’s been with us throughout this ordeal,” explained the black-clad guardian, gesturing invitingly before leading Vanna and Lucretia towards the exit.

As they approached the doorway, the guard halted abruptly, turning to face the two travelers who had just returned from the edge of the world. His expression, initially filled with joy and excitement, gradually softened into a warm smile.

“Although the situation at ‘home’ is far from ideal right now…” he said earnestly, “welcome home—it’s been a tough journey.”

Vanna returned his smile: “Yes, we’ve come back.”

…

Upon receiving Lucretia’s message again, Duncan finally felt a sense of relief.

He and Alice were still on the island of the Leviathan Queen, where they had been for several days.

Now, the island was engulfed in flames that shimmered like stardust, creating an illusion reminiscent of a star-forming nebula. These “flames,” mimicking the faint mist emitted by a nebula, enveloped the entire dark island. They seeped from every crack in the stones, each joint between bricks, and from every pillar and rooftop, saturating everything on the island and even spreading to the surrounding sea, reaching the carcasses of the Leviathan-like islands.

Duncan sat calmly on a large stone at the edge of the plaza in front of the black temple, his eyes fixed on the flames as they infused the very “foundation” of this world.

Behind him stood Alice, silent and still.