Off the coast of Light Breeze Harbor, at the edge of the radiance of the "Luminous Geotric Body," fog condensed above the sea surface, and the imnse Ghost Ship lurked within, slowly patrolling the ocean.
A ghostly green fla flashed through the dense fog.
The Fla Portal on the deck of Holoss burst open with a roar, and Duncan and Alice stepped out from the grand doorway.
The familiar deck, the familiar masts, the familiar ghostly sails—though they had only been away for a short while, Duncan still felt an involuntary sense of relief upon his return to the Holoss. Gazing at these familiar sights, inhaling the briny fragrance carried by the sea breeze across the deck, he exhaled slowly, feeling his emotions gradually settling down.
At the sa ti, he subconsciously recalled last night’s exploration of the imnse vine—the "Dreamscape" he saw, the strange Holoss sailing amid the dark fog—
The scenes in his mory naturally overlapped with the view before his eyes, as if they were inseparable.
"...Indeed, they are exactly the sa," he murmured to himself.
"Huh?" Alice’s voice imdiately sounded beside him, "What’s exactly the sa?"
Duncan shook his head, glancing at the endearing puppet who, although not knowing what was to be done, insisted on following him, and a smile unbidden crossed his face.
"I need to have a talk with the ’First Mate’ in the captain’s cabin. You go on with your own tasks," he said.
"Oh, alright!" Alice nodded imdiately, "Then I’ll go to the kitchen and handle the fish that was pickled earlier along with the cured at. Sherry and Nina said they wanted to eat~~"
As she spoke, Miss Puppet waved to Duncan and cheerfully made her way towards the kitchen—clearly, her mood imdiately lifted upon returning to the Holoss.
But then again, she always seems to be happy, cheerful on the ship and in the City-State—did "joy" and "greater joy" form the only moods ever present in Alice’s mind?
Watching the puppet’s buoyant figure, the corners of Duncan’s mouth lifted slightly. Then he shook his head, composed himself, and turned to walk towards the stern deck.
The door of the captain’s cabin appeared before his eyes, and Duncan stopped in front of it, looking up at the doorfra.
The "Door of The Displaced" erged in his sight; the letters, ancient and forceful, their indentations hinting at a vibe of the passage of eons.
Duncan gazed at the text on the doorfra in silence—the only apparent difference between the Holoss he rembered exploring in the dark, foggy "Dreamscape" and the ship beneath his feet seed to be the writing on the captain’s cabin door.
Of course, there might be more differences between the two ships, more clues in those differences, but during his last hurried contact, he had not had a chance to notice them. The only detail he could be certain of was that the "Door of The Displaced" featured different details on each of the ships.
The "Door of The Displaced" was exceedingly special—even on the Holoss, a ship filled with anomalies and sinister secrets, this door stood out.
It served as Duncan’s only "path" back to his bachelor apartnt and was a checkpoint for verifying the "authority of the captain." The language inscribed on the doorfra belonged to no known tongue, yet anyone who saw it could discern its aning—whether it was Alice, who initially could not read, or a remote City-State native accustod only to obscure scripts.
On different "versions" of the Holoss, this door also presented various states—in the real world, this door could lead to that "bachelor apartnt"; in Subspace, it led to so strange dark space; and in the fog, the text on the door transford to read "May He Wander in the Dreamscape"—a familiar and yet foreign "Goat Head," slumbering within that door.
...What exactly was this so-called "Door of The Displaced"?
With questions and ponderings in mind, Duncan reached out, opening the door of the captain’s cabin.
In the flickering light, he saw the familiar nautical chart and shelf by the captain’s desk, where the goat’s head was creaking and squeaking, turning its head his way. Upon seeing Duncan’s silhouette, those eyes crafted from Obsidian seed to glisten for a mont, and a cheerful yet noisy voice entered Duncan’s ears: "Oh! The great captain returns to his faithful Holoss! Your loyal remainders greet you! I didn’t expect you to co back so soon. How was your stay in the city? Are you worried about the ship’s affairs, or have you returned..."
"I have sothing I want to discuss with you," Duncan approached the nautical table, speaking in a very serious tone.
The somber words of the captain imdiately halted the chatter behind the goat’s head. The bizarre black carving creaked as if snapping to attention, straining to present a serious deanor, its voice unable to hide a hint of nervousness: "Captain, what has happened? Did sothing transpire in Light Breeze Harbor as well?"
Duncan sat down at the navigation table, his eyes first landing on the sea chart with its familiar fog and routes. Then he heard the words of the goat head, furrowing his brows, "Why say ’also’?"
"Because there were incidents with Prand and Frost before..."
Duncan stared into the goat head’s eyes, "You talk as if I’m so kind of wandering disaster."
The goat head seed a bit startled, "...Aren’t you?"
"I have always been dedicated to improving the image of the Holoss on the Endless Sea, and I have been quite successful in Prand and Frost, with the leaders of both City-States being very friendly towards . To this day, I haven’t received a single complaint or grievance from any City-State—As my first mate, I hope you can see our venture with a progressive eye," Duncan said, waving his hand, "Of course, that is not what I want to discuss with you today. I want to know what you were doing last night."
"Last night?" The goat head was taken aback, not understanding why the subject had suddenly shifted in this direction, but it quickly responded, "Last night I was following your orders to look after this ship, as we’ve been drifting away from the official sea lanes, and making sure to conceal ourselves with fog to avoid startling those easily frightened fellas..."
Duncan was not surprised by this response.
From his exchange with the ’mysterious goat head’ last night, it was clear that the other did not recognize him; the two goat heads were obviously not the sa.
However, there must be so other connection between them.
After a mont of contemplation, he broke the silence again, "I want to understand so things about you—your origins, your past, and your... essence."
His tone was extrely serious, his expression unusually stern, and his slightly leaning forward body seed to release so unspoken pressure.
He chose the most straightforward approach to discuss this matter with his "first mate," rather than opting for covert investigations or indirect interrogation.
He didn’t need these tactics—at least on this ship, he had learned the Holoss’ operational patterns and had derived his own "rules" of conduct here. In fact, he knew that as long as he did not take that overly dangerous step, both the goat head and the Holoss would remain in so sort of "stable" state, similar to a type of "containnt."
Anomalies cannot be "contained" like aberrations, but there are always exceptions and phenona in this world that exceed "conventions": Anomaly 005-Holoss, in fact, is now under a kind of containnt—Duncan himself is the condition for containing this ship.
The goat head seed frightened.
It was accustod to the captain’s usual mild and friendly deanor; it knew that while the captain could be extrely terrifying, aboard the ship, facing the crew, the captain had always been a dependable and amiable person. Now, the attitude Duncan had presented and the questions he posed made it feel a certain... unease.
"...Why are you suddenly asking these things?" it blurted out instinctively.
"I never asked before because there was no need to know these things," Duncan spoke slowly, "But now, sothing has happened. In Light Breeze Harbor, there has been a peculiar phenonon associated with you, and I had no choice but to seek you out for an inquiry."
The goat head’s neck swayed slightly from side to side, as if to alleviate tension.
Duncan, however, still stared into its eyes, while slowly placing his hand on the navigation table.
Threads of pale green fla spread from his palm, seeping into the floors and walls of the captain’s quarters, into every crevice of the ship. A low creaking sound ca from deep within the cabin; it appeared as if the "atmosphere" of the entire ship was subtly shifting.
"I am Duncan Ebnomal, the captain of this ship," Duncan began, his voice low as if he were beckoning back to the day he first took the helm, asserting his identity to the entire ship, "I command this vessel to voyage across the Endless Sea. I, in the capacity of captain, am asking my first mate a question. This is rely a conversation—the ship will not sink back into Subspace because of it, nor will other changes occur during this exchange, for—I am Duncan Ebnomal, the captain of this ship."
Flas of pale green fire blazed and diffused from Duncan’s entire form, his body transmuting into a ghostly and terrifying Spiritual Body, his voice echoing throughout the ship—
"My first mate, where exactly do you co from?"
The goat head lifted its head, calmly eting Duncan’s gaze, "I co from Subspace."
"More specifically? Subspace is too vague a concept; you know that’s not what I’m asking."
"Subspace is a vague concept, but also the only concept. Subspace doesn’t differentiate ’places,’ captain. Beings in Subspace have no past or future," the goat head answered, seemingly without hesitation or fear this ti, "I do not know my own origins, nor do I know what happened in the past. You want to know my ’essence’—but even I don’t know my ’essence.’ I... have forgotten."
"Well, what do you rember?"
The goat head fell silent all of a sudden. Under Duncan’s gaze, it was as if it had beco a real wooden carving, frozen in place. After what seed like an eternity, it finally ca to life again, its throat issuing a hoarse and gloomy voice, "’Rember them.’"
"’Rember them’?" Duncan was montarily taken aback, frowning, "What does that an?"
The goat head gently shook its head, "I don’t know, but that’s the only phrase I rember. I have to rember them, I must rember them, but... I don’t know who they are. I really... have forgotten."
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