Deep Sea Embers

The atmosphere on the deck was momentarily awkward, and an unspeakable silence enveloped Fanna and Tirian. The shock on the latter's face hadn't dissipated at the moment, but the former had already covered his forehead with his hands.

And the silence was finally broken by a voice not far away. A few meters away, Shirley poked Nina with her elbow: "Look, I'll just say that the first sentence must be this—you owe me two ice cream scoops." gone."

"Okay, okay, you guessed it right," Nina muttered, "Two, just two... I will supply you when Frost arrives."

Shirley's eyes widened immediately: "I'm not a fool! Eating ice cream at a place tens of degrees below zero? Go back to Prand!"

Tirian blinked, and only then noticed the other people on the deck and the subtly different atmosphere here from what he had imagined. He first saw the girl named Shirley whom he had met once, and then saw the other person At his feet was a secluded hound lazily basking in the sun, and next to him was another girl who looked sixteen or seventeen years old, and an old man with gray hair and elegant temperament.

All smiling.

And behind these people are the decks, sides, masts and sails of the Lost Home.

The yellowed and broken pictures of his childhood, the memories of the brother and sister playing around, all the pleasant and unpleasant impressions, seem to emerge from a dark and lost cave bit by bit, and pass through the mist there. The colors are gradually restored in the sunlight.

There were a few new faces here, but it was the same ship he remembered—not the eerie, dilapidated, chaotically twisted ghost ship he had first imagined.

At least, the deck still looks so familiar.

Tirian knew he was in a daze, and knew what to say at this time, but he couldn't stop the thoughts in his heart from spreading. He knew that he had this kind of daze since he was a child, and every time he was in a daze on the deck, his father always Will it come suddenly from nowhere, counting behind me——

"Tirion, what are you doing here?"

The pirate captain trembled visibly with the naked eye. The momentary confusion between memory and reality even caused his thinking to stop for two or three seconds. Then he turned around hesitantly, and saw a tall and majestic figure standing behind him.

It's not a phantom that emerges in the mirror, it's not a blurry silhouette seen across the distant sea and artillery fire, it's standing face to face...

"Sorry, Father," Tirian subconsciously said, "I was a little distracted."

Duncan frowned.

I don't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that the state Tirian showed at this moment was very subtle. It was very different from the impression left by the previous contact, but there was a sense of familiarity, but soon he felt relieved.

After all, this is the first face-to-face conversation after a century of absence, and it is the first time to return to this ship. It is normal for the other party to have such a reaction.

At the same time, Fan Na, who was silent for a long time due to embarrassment, finally spoke at this time: "Captain Tirian, it is necessary to explain my status here——First of all, the situation is not what you think, I am because The church assigned to come to the Lost Country..."

"Appointed by the church?" Tirian was more confused than before, and then suddenly turned to look at his father, "You..."

"I didn't take down the church—watch your train of thought, Tirian," Duncan interrupted before he could tell what he was thinking, "do I need to say that again? I'm not the enemy of the civilized world now." , you should face me more calmly, instead of being wary of a natural disaster that will wreak havoc at any time."

Tyrian: "I... sorry."

"I accept your apology—let's talk as we go," Duncan waved his hand, and walked towards the tail of the deck, "about the reason why Miss Vanna appeared here, and the matter of the Obsidian, and that Dagger Island—we There is a lot to communicate."

Then he turned his head back and waved to a few spectators not far away: "Irrelevant people go to their own business, don't join in the fun here."

Tirian followed behind Duncan in a daze, and walked towards the direction of the captain's cabin in his memory, while Vanna walked silently on the other side.

The pictures in the memories and the scenes in front of the eyes separate and merge, sometimes overlap, and sometimes produce a clear sense of disharmony.

Back on the Lost Country again, everything seems to have deviated from the track and expectations from the very beginning.

Tirian looked around subconsciously. He was observing the situation on the ship, looking for things that corroborated with his memory, and also looking for a figure that should be here in theory.

Of course Duncan noticed the little gesture of the other party: "Are you looking for Alice?"

Tirian was stunned for a moment before he remembered that it was the name of the doll lady—he always thought that the other party was still called "Lee Nora": "Ah, yes, is she on the boat?"

"Yes, but she should be busy in the kitchen at this time," Duncan nodded, "Alice is in charge of the meals on board, you can try her cooking today - we have fresh vegetables and freshly caught fish, they It's not often seen on ordinary ocean-going ships."

"Food..." Tirian subconsciously repeated the word, almost saying "Father also eats people", but in the next second, a series of exclamations and panicked footsteps suddenly came from A sound came from not far away, interrupting his distraction.

"Help, save, save—"

That was Alice's exclamation.

Tirian looked around in astonishment, and saw the gothic puppet running across the deck not far away, holding a kitchen knife in his hand. A wooden barrel filled with carrots and green vegetables.

Duncan watched Alice running around on the deck expressionlessly, watched Nina and Shirley try to help, and finally turned into three people and a dog running around on the deck being chased by a bucket of vegetables. Patted Tyrian on the shoulder.

"Sometimes, it's more lively here."

Tirian turned around with a blank expression, and the corners of his mouth twitched twice: "...Is the ingredients on the boat a little too fresh?"

"It's because of the barrel - it has its own views on storing vegetables, so it often conflicts with Alice in terms of ideas."

"Don't you need help?"

"No, Alice has a good heart."

"But it seems to me that she is asking for your help..."

"It's okay, I'm relieved."

Tirian's expression seemed a little stiff. Even the pirate leader who commanded an entire undead fleet seemed to be a little unable to keep up with the daily rhythm of the Lost Home.

Duncan was not surprised by this, he just patted Tirian on the shoulder: "You have to learn to adapt - if I go to help every time Alice calls for help, then I don't have to do anything every day. In fact It proves that her own adaptability and vitality are actually quite tenacious."

Tyrian wanted to say something more, but the captain's cabin was already here.

Among all the memories of childhood and adulthood, this is the most impressive place on the whole ship.

When I was a child, my father's captain's cabin was a mysterious and slightly scary room. He and Lucrezia could mess around in most places on the ship, but they were strictly forbidden to step into this place, even the most talkative ones on the ship. Sailors would also mercilessly block the two brothers and sisters at the door.

As adults, my father's captain's cabin was a tense and serious place to be, and even as captains of the Seamist and Bright Star respectively, Tirian and Lucrecia would still instinctively step into it. Get nervous—my father made all the great exploration plans here, marked the islands and visions newly discovered by the lost fleet on the sea chart, and completed the planning and dispatch of the entire fleet here, while in the big Sometimes, I and my sister are just responsible for listening to and carrying out orders.

My father didn't like other people's advice. In my memory, he was a dogmatic and stubborn person.

The door opened, and the slightly dark indoor environment compared with the deck came into Tirian's eyes.

In the next second, his eyes fell on the edge of the nautical table, on the dark and weird goat's head.

The pitch-black goat's head with wood texture creaked and turned around, and a pair of hollow and deep obsidian eyeballs fixedly stared at the visitors who stepped into this place.

"Hello, first meeting, Mr. Tirian."

Tirian was taken aback, and turned his head subconsciously: "This is..."

"This is the chief mate on the Lost Country, and he can be trusted," Duncan introduced, "You can just call it Goat's Head."

"First Mate?" Tirian blinked, then turned to look at the weird "wood carving", enduring the strangeness in his heart, he accepted what his father said, and tentatively greeted him, "Hello, goat head ……gentlemen?"

The goat head shook its neck, as if it was about to say something, but in the next second, Duncan interrupted it in advance: "Shut up, and keep quiet while we are talking."

Tyrian gave Duncan a startled look.

"When talking to it, you must be familiar with the operation of interrupting in advance-don't let it speak unscrupulously, this is my advice."

Hearing his father's warning, Tirian's expression quickly became serious.

The mighty "Captain Duncan" can be treated so seriously and cautiously, this goat head looks as strange and dangerous as its appearance.

As a matter of course, Tirian regards the goat's head as some kind of extremely dangerous "anomaly", and making him shut up is obviously the sealing requirement of this anomaly...