Deep Sea Embers

In the company of a gravelly voice echoing from the past, Duncan picked up a flurry of metallic clattering from within the cabin, much like the hurried scramble of someone rising abruptly and consequently displacing a number of items. Not long after, the patter of footsteps advanced, and an elderly man hunched with age, sporting wispy white hair, dressed in a soiled gray overcoat, and decorated with deep lines of age across his face, materialized by the doorway.

The aged individual, known as “Old Ghost,” remained within his caretaker’s cabin, his posture stooped and his sight slightly clouded as it roved the exterior. His sight seemed inadequate to make out the silhouettes of the visitors loitering outside his cabin, yet he promptly commenced a string of mutterings, “The Queen has descended for an inspection… I am ill-prepared… The aides are showing increasing incompetency, not to mention the messengers…”

“Old Ghost!” Nemo found it necessary to intrude on the old man’s ramblings in a raised tone, “The Queen is not here! She is not due for a return! We have visitors today, esteemed guests arranged by Captain Tyrian. Enough with the rambling, they’re here to visit you.”

With these words, Nemo swiveled his head towards Duncan, expressing regret in his gaze, “I apologize. As you can observe, his mental state is rather unstable, and he often recollects incidents from the distant past. However, don’t be misled; he exhibits remarkable clarity when it comes to handling pipes and valves.”

“Lucid? I am perfectly lucid!” In the midst of their discussion, “Old Ghost” seemed to comprehend the situation and cast a glance at Duncan and his companions, murmuring, “Guests… even unfamiliar faces can access this place… Have you ensured the tokens and passwords are correct?”

“Assuredly, we have,” Nemo was quick to respond, stealing a cautious glance at Duncan, “These guests are highly respected; please treat them as if they were Captain Tyrian himself.”

“Ah, well then, enter, although there isn’t much of interest here,” Old Ghost grumbled, making room for them, “It’s nothing more than a collection of aged relics if that doesn’t bother you.”

Vanna shifted her gaze to Morris, who kept his attention fixed on “Old Ghost.”

Following a brief pause, Morris shook his head and whispered, “It’s difficult to determine. His mental condition is abnormal, and his memory seems to be sporadic.”

Upon hearing Morris’s muted analysis, Duncan’s expression remained stoic as he trailed the elderly man’s prattling into the deserted caretaker’s resting quarters.

The quarters were confined but well-illuminated by the light of a gas lamp. Predictably, the room was cluttered with an array of items, a lone bed tucked away in one corner being the only discernable piece of furniture. Even an experienced gymnast would find it challenging to navigate the disorder without injury – the floor was dominated by grotesquely contorted shelves and boxes, spilling over with an assortment of mechanical components, backup valve sets, and various tools.

“What a disarray,” Alice murmured, unable to contain herself as she took in the chaotic spectacle of the room, “I’m sorely tempted to start tidying up…”

“Oh, my deepest apologies!” The Old Ghost, previously engaged in navigating his cluttered surroundings, spun around instantly and bowed deeply, “Your Highness, I’ve been somewhat remiss in my duties of late, and as a result, the cabin is in a state of disorder…”

Alice recoiled slightly, “What?”

Duncan’s eyes flickered with intrigue, but before he could utter a word, the old man seemed to drift into a daze and murmured while trying to rise, “Odd, now where did I leave my water bottle… It’s terrible form to not offer my guests a beverage upon their arrival…”

Duncan exchanged looks with his companions.

“No need to scramble for your water bottle; our visitors are merely here to ask you some questions,” Nemo interjected, “They seek information about the present state of the secondary water channel and about your current circumstances. They’re conducting an investigation.”

“Investigation?” The Old Ghost halted abruptly and swiveled around, his expression grave, “Is General Tyrian scrutinizing his own ranks? Are there defectors? In our jurisdiction? Or within the central city district? I knew they’ve been behaving oddly of late…”

“No defectors, but there might be concealed threats triggered by a form of supernatural contamination,” Vanna intervened, narrowly avoiding a tumble over the cabin’s cluttered floor. The chaotic cabin posed a formidable challenge to her towering height of 6’3″, “Have you recently interacted with individuals from other districts? Has anyone exhibited any peculiar behavior?”

“Peculiar? Nothing quite that serious, but the contact in the central city district has been complaining about peculiar gurgling noises emanating from the derelict pipes, as if an attempt was made to reactivate the Second Waterway,” Old Ghost motioned with his hands, “As for the Second Waterway, you’ve seen it for yourselves. The infrastructure the Queen established is solid, but after years of neglect, there are several subterranean sections that are now inaccessible. Occasionally, the underground river permeates the fissures in the rocks, resulting in odd sounds, which is to be expected…”

The old man’s dialogue tended to meander off course, forcing Duncan to exert a significant effort to steer the conversation back on track, “You referred to the central city district… is that where the ore mines are located?”

“Ore mines? Ah, yes, indeed. Everything is concentrated there. The cathedral, the palace, and the mines, which delve several hundred meters deep,” Old Ghost lowered himself onto his bed and slapped his thigh abruptly, “Ah, that’s it! The sounds must be originating from one of the levels in the mine. The secondary waterway runs in close proximity to the mine… I’ve always maintained that the contact assigned to that area is overly anxious, forever suspecting something amiss…”

The elderly man once again began to mumble under his breath, but this time, Duncan refrained from cutting him off as he had fallen into a deep contemplation.

He recalled his inaugural arrival in Frost, his first incarnation here — a laborer who had tragically met his end in a fall within the ore mines. What the rescue party had retrieved was a fabricated body, made up of primal element.

Now, Old Ghost had shared that a “contact” hidden away in the central city area had reported hearing peculiar sounds originating from the Second Waterway, as if something was coursing through it. Furthermore, the proximity of the waterway to the mines was particularly close.

Given that both were “relics” from the Queen’s reign, dating back half a century, Duncan began to suspect that the relationship between the two was more substantial than merely being “extremely close.”

Could it be that those pipes were interconnected?

He swiftly noted this potential lead and proceeded to inquire, “Is there a direct path from this location to the underground area of the central city district? How do you usually coordinate with the contact?”

“From here? That’s unfeasible. There’s an entirely pitch-dark, polluted road in between, and all the alternative routes have collapsed, so we have to travel above ground. But now, there are rebel lackeys lurking everywhere on the surface, so one must exercise extreme caution…” Old Ghost rambled but abruptly shrieked, “Queen’s Guard! The rebels are on the move; we need to obliterate the vertical shaft immediately!”

The elderly man jerked upright from his bed, scanning his surroundings anxiously as if expecting a rebel onslaught at any moment. However, he paused and turned his gaze towards Alice.

“My apologies, I was mistaken; the Queen is evidently safe…”

Alice was visibly disconcerted and hastily waved her hands, “I… I’m not the Queen…”

Duncan’s gaze grew intense as he watched the elderly man standing next to the bed, who quickly sank back into his previous trance-like state. After a few seconds, he peered at Alice with a somewhat vacant look, “Young lady, who might you be?”

“Old Ghost, you’re seriously confused now. This isn’t merely a repercussion of the toxic smoke from the past but also a manifestation of your failing vision!” Nemo’s voice punctuated the peculiar silence. The informer, Mr. Nemo, gave Duncan an apologetic nod, “I apologize, Old Ghost usually exhibits some eccentricity, but he appears exceptionally so today. He likely hasn’t had any interactions with outsiders in a long time, and the sight of you has excited him, leading to a mix-up of past and present events.”

“…It’s alright,” Duncan responded impassively, slowly shifting his gaze away from the elderly man.

He wasn’t overly concerned about whether the old man truly perceived a semblance of the Frost Queen in the disguised Alice— was it a brief lucid moment amid his muddled mental state? Had he seen through the pretense? Or was it merely a random jumble of memories? In the grand scheme of things, it was immaterial.

If the senile old man truly perceived an inkling of the Frost Queen in Alice, and this perception bestowed upon him a fleeting moment of tranquility, then that was a welcome outcome.

Suddenly, Nemo appeared to recollect something important, his forehead creasing into a deep furrow, “Odd, why hasn’t Crow returned yet?”

“Crow? He ventured off to inspect the northern passage,” Old Ghost gestured nonchalantly, “That fellow is notoriously sluggish; he habitually takes his sweet time whenever he ambles off into the exterior.”

Nemo’s brow didn’t unfurrow at this information, “…No, even factoring in his habitual slowness, he should have returned by now. The lighting in that region is notoriously unreliable, and his lantern lacks the longevity to last for such a duration… Old Ghost, when exactly did he depart?”

“Two or three hours ago?” Old Ghost pondered for a moment, his demeanor appearing to take on a hint of seriousness, “Now that you bring it up, it does seem he’s been absent for a prolonged period.”

“I have a bad feeling; Crow has been submerged within the waterway for far too long,” Nemo’s tone shifted to a considerably grave one, and he lifted his gaze to meet Duncan and the others, “I believe I need to go in search of him.”