Deep Sea Embers

The sailor becomes a special new resident of the "Witch Mansion" - but his arrival doesn't seem to have the slightest impact on the day-to-day running of the mansion.

Most of the time, this mummy can stay in one place just like a real corpse. He doesn't need to eat or sleep. If no one talks to him, he can even stay silent for two or three days. He always stayed in his quiet corner as if thinking about something. He would find a place and stay in a daze all day without moving at all.

This made everyone else in the house almost forget that there was a new "guest" here.

Only when Luni was cleaning did she exchange a few words with the mummy, and the main content of the exchange was just a few words——

"Ah, move to the side." "Hey." "Okay, move back." "Oh."

The days passed like this, and on the third day, the hostess of the house finally couldn't bear it anymore - Lucretia found the "sailor" lying in the pile of debris pretending to be a corpse in the basement storage room. : "I heard your father describe you as not being like this on the White Oak. There was a lot of jumping up and down every day. Why is it so quiet here?"

"Be quiet, wouldn't you?" The sailor sat up from among the pile of debris and looked into the witch's eyes in the darkness. "As far as I know, you are a person who likes peace and quiet."

Lucretia was stunned for a moment: "It's not...not bad. No, what I want to say..."

But she was interrupted mid-sentence.

"I'm recuperating for a long voyage," the sailor suddenly said, and the eyes of the mummy became serious for some time. "We are about to have a historic voyage, madam. Although the captain didn't say it, you should also know that he plan - then in the coming days, I have to adjust my condition. The captain asked me to rest more in the past few days, and then try to recall things about the 'Sea Song' as much as possible. I have been doing this for the past two days. Do this."

"Voyage..." Lucretia's expression changed slightly, but she recovered immediately, "Then what do you remember?"

"Captain Kalani is a good man. The mess hall on the Sea Song is terrible. The crew of the second team are always noisy. Other than that, there is fog. There is never an end to the fog," the sailor stretched. , those shriveled and twisted joints made a series of terrible sounds as if they were about to be pulled apart, and then he fell back and lay in the pile of debris again, "I disappoint you, I didn't think of anything related to the 'route' Although the captain seems to have great confidence in me..."

Few people would dare to behave in such a lazy and rude manner in front of the "Sea Witch" - Lucretia raised her eyebrows involuntarily, but soon returned to her usual expressionless look: " Dad always has his way."

The sailor lay in the debris, smacking his lips in disbelief, and suddenly the conversation changed: "What about you? Is your Brilliant Star ready to sail?"

Lucretia didn't respond, just frowned.

"You are still resisting. I can see your wavering," the sailor said calmly. "I probably know what you are resisting...but please be prepared. This may be the greatest voyage in history. It may also be the last voyage. At least this time, you can choose to set off with your father..."

A calm yet stressful look made the mummy close his mouth.

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?"

The sailor thought for a while: "...I have been here with you for three days, and I have said so much today...Okay, I won't say anything anymore."

Lucretia looked at the mummy quietly for a while, then finally withdrew her gaze and turned towards the door: "The Brilliant Star is always ready for long voyages."

But as soon as she took half a step, she was stopped by the sailor: "Hey, wait a minute, there is something else..."

Lucretia stopped and turned back in confusion: "Is there anything else?"

"Help me connect my lumbar spine and shoulders..." The sailor continued to maintain the posture of lying arrogantly in the debris, unable to move at all. "I stretched my head just now, and the joints were pulled off..."

Lucretia's expression finally changed slightly. She looked at the mummy quietly for two or three seconds, and finally turned away without hesitation: "Lie down."

…

Duncan stopped writing and looked up to the side - the night outside the window was still dark, but the bright electric light illuminated the study. Alice was sitting quietly on the armchair near the window, and the light fell on the doll's shoulders. She half-closed her eyes, as if she was about to fall asleep.

But after noticing the gaze coming from the direction of the desk, the doll immediately opened her eyes. She looked at Duncan with a happy smile on her face: "Captain! Have you finished writing?"

As she spoke, she got up from the armchair and came to Duncan's side.

"It's done," Duncan said casually. He did not put away his diary, but spread it out on the table generously - because he knew that no one in the world could understand what he wrote. Something like, "If you feel sleepy, go back to your room and rest. You don't have to stay with me all the time."

"Not sleepy, not sleepy!" Alice immediately waved her hands, and then her eyes involuntarily fell on the captain's diary out of curiosity, "Is this your diary? Uh... why can't I understand a word... "

Duncan smiled and shook his head. Without explaining anything, he just asked casually: "Do you want to try writing a diary?"

"Me?" Alice was stunned for a moment, but quickly shook her head, "I can't... I don't know what to remember, and it requires knowing a lot of words..."

Duncan laughed: "Just write down some things that you think are meaningful or interesting. You don't need a lot of words to write a diary. The vocabulary you have now should be enough - if not, you can draw it."

The puppet listened quietly, and some light seemed to gradually appear in his eyes.

"I can draw!" she said happily.

Although the upper limit of what she said "can draw" is that people can tell whether the painting is a man or a woman, a human or a dog - but ever since Duncan taught her the most basic painting skills, she has been very proud. I think I already "can draw".

Duncan just smiled, then reached out and took out a new diary from the desk, put a pencil in the diary, and handed it to the puppet in front of him.

"Here you go, I brought this from the ship," he said. "You can write down what you want to remember on it."

Alice happily accepted the "new gift" given to her by the captain. She flipped through the blank diary and then lay down directly at the desk. It seemed that she was about to write something in the diary, but she just picked up the pencil. Then he thought of a new question and looked up at Duncan: "Why do you suddenly want me to write a diary?"

Duncan was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect the puppet to ask this question suddenly. After thinking briefly, he nodded: "We will set off soon. This time we will go to a far away place. We may see various kinds of things during the journey. All kinds of things...memory is short-lived. If you don’t want to miss the scenery during the journey, it is necessary to record them securely.”

Alice listened to the captain's words with a vague understanding. She didn't know what the puppet was thinking at the moment. After a few seconds, she nodded "Oh", then lowered her head and carefully used a pencil to write on the bottom of the diary. There are a few words written on the title page - "Alice's Diary".

"It's done!" She happily showed the name she had just written to the captain.

That line of letters was crooked, but it was indeed the best she had ever written since learning to read and write from Duncan.

"Very good," Duncan smiled and nodded, but then he couldn't help but remind him, "But the diary is usually not allowed to be seen by others casually. You have to keep it..."

Alice tilted her head and pointed to Duncan's diary on the desk: "But you showed it to me."

Duncan's expression froze: "...This is because I know you can't understand the words on it."

"...Oh," Alice scratched her hair and looked at her diary with some trepidation, "Can't I just show it to you?"

"No," Duncan said seriously, but he immediately noticed the confusion and confusion in the doll's expression, and after thinking for a while, he added, "But if there is something you really want to share with me, just Okay—other than that, I won’t read it, that’s your secret.”

The puppet became happy again: "Okay!"

Duncan only felt a little helpless, but in any case, having this puppet interrupt him, he felt a lot better.

Alice didn't think much about it, but she could feel that the captain's mood was getting better, which made her very happy. She watched Duncan put away the diary on the table, thought for a while and asked casually: "Captain, what are we going to do next?" Are you going to the border?”

Duncan glanced at the puppet in surprise.

"Miss Vanna told me," Alice said immediately, "She also said that we will leave in two days - we need to bring enough food and water on the boat this time, because the place we are going to may be very special..."

Duncan nodded slightly: "Yes, it will be very special there...a place where even I don't know what it looks like and what will happen."

"...further than the previous 'Holy Land Island'?"

"It's further than that."

"oh--"

Alice lengthened her voice, as if she was trying to imagine what a place farther than Holy Land Island would be like, but she couldn't imagine it.

"Aren't you worried?" Duncan looked at the puppet in front of him curiously. He seemed to not see any uneasiness in the other person's clear eyes.

Alice held her head and shook her head vigorously.

Duncan thought for a while and deliberately made the matter a little more serious: "We may get lost beyond the border, and we may encounter a time gap. Even if we are fully prepared, it may take a long, long time for us to return...or, we may not be able to return at all. "

Alice still shook her head, and then suddenly broke into a smile——

"Don't be afraid, I will bring you back."

"You? Take me back?"

"Um!"

Duncan laughed in surprise and helplessness: "How are you going to bring me back?"

"I don't know!" Alice replied without hesitation.

Duncan: "..."

He looked helplessly at the puppet in front of him who always seemed to be confused, and looked at the other person's obviously confused head but an extraordinarily confident smile on his face.

But suddenly he seemed to think of something, and when he looked at Alice again, there was a hint of thoughtfulness in his helpless expression...