Deep Sea Embers
Deep Sea Embers - Chapter 4: Ship of the Spirit World”

It turns out Duncan didn’t need a crew at all because as long as he – the captain – was at the helm, the Vanished could set sail at any time!

Of course, he did get briefly frightened by the ghostly green flame as it rose into the air and started doing weird things, but that fear paled in comparison to the thought of not gaining control. So, his hand turned into a death grip around the wheel and refused to let go.

He’s not stupid. Duncan had figured out by now the green flame was some kind of harmless “force.” Whether or not he could recover his body later was a question for later. But at least for now, the flame was helping him, and he needed it badly!

Soon, the tsunami of cheers faded, and Duncan found his mind in a state of absolute clarity, with the ship becoming an extension of himself. Although he still didn’t have the knowledge and experience of a qualified captain, controlling the Vanished to move as he please was no longer an issue.

First, he tried turning the wheel and got real feedback from the “force” inside his head – it was telling him the hull had begun turning as he intended.

However, the speed at which the Vanished was turning didn’t seem to be enough, and that got reaffirmed by the screeching cry of the goat head through the copper pipe next to himself: “Attention, we are fast approaching the limit of reality… we’re about to fall into the spiritual world! Captain, we need….”

“I’m doing it!” Duncan yelled and cut off the goat head’s cry, “Instead of making noise down below, how about you think of something to help!”

The goat head went momentarily quiet, but just when Duncan thought the other party had finally stopped, the copper pipe suddenly came back with a hoarse and somewhat creepy cheer: “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”

Duncan: “…..?”

Talk about having reality crash down on his head. Duncan could accept coming to a ghost ship, becoming a ghost captain, and being stewed by a ghostly green fire, but what’s this, cheerleading? The goat head had always given him a dangerous and spooky feeling like that of an evil gargoyle, but now that creepy and scary figurine just became a lala, pompom cheerleader? WTF!

But the fast-approaching fog didn’t give Duncan time or chance to think about it. Although the Vanished had begun to turn rapidly, it was still no match for the gaining fog on their rear, and soon, the fog had enveloped the area surrounding the ship.

Something strange was definitely taking place in the surrounding environment at that moment. The sky had become particularly dim, and the original blue sea water had now been riddled with wisps of black lines entangling itself like a hairnet. Before long, the blue water had turned into a sea of black water as countless shadowy things emerged.

“We have fallen into the spirit world!” The loud and eerie “cheering” from the goat stopped then; instead, it had become mixed up with a spooky cohort of other voices in the background. “But the Vanished isn’t completely lost. Captain, take the helm before we sink further into the deep sea. If we maintain course, then the Vanished can still get out!”

“The premise is that I know where to go!” Duncan growled menacingly due to the crackling green flames mixed into his voice, “I’ve lost my sense of direction!”

“Intuition, Captain, intuition!” The voice of the goat head shouted through the copper pipe again, “Your intuition is more accurate than the markings on the chart!”

“….” A feeling of powerlessness surged into his heart.

Duncan had no extra strength left to argue with an evil goat head. Since the figurine said he had to rely on intuition, then he might as well get reckless.

Following the last tinge of intuition, before the fog blinded his view, he grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and turned it as hard as he could in the direction he believed.

From top to bottom, the Vanished issued out a long series of stressing sounds from the hull as the vessel drove in an arc across the black sea. Then suddenly, as the wind howled and the fog swirled around him, Duncan’s eyes caught the emerging glimpse of something.

It was a ship, a white vessel that looked smaller than the vanished with a dark chimney in the middle of the hull. As it so happens, the two vessels were on a perfect collision course with one another!

Duncan’s inner curse words: “Mother fucking chicken dinner! I’m going to sink inside the spirit world!”

He had explored this strange world for so long without seeing a living soul, yet he does so that he could die by crashing at sea? What are the odds?

……

As the wind howled and the waves raged, the Boundless Sea unleashed its terrifying might upon this world. In the face of this natural and mighty force, all would feel minuscule before it. For the unfortunate enough like the White Oak to be the bearer of bad news, the ship was currently being squeezed of its last ounce of power from those steam turbines to fight against what would ultimately be death if they failed.

The gray-haired captain, Lawrence Creed, stood in the wheelhouse of the White Oak. Despite the sturdy walls and glass windows around him, these superficial barriers did not give him any sense of security. Instead, he could hear the whining stress of mechanical gears battering against one another, which worried him as he gripped the wheel. Even worse, the ever-encroaching fog on top of the enormous waves frightened him.

The White Oak was the most advanced steamship in the current world, but even the most advanced machinery could only ensure the ship survived the “normal” sea. Beyond the murky fog, ahead was what they called the border of reality, the unknown in which evil gods lurked.

“Captain! The pastor can’t hold on anymore!” The first mate’s mournful shouts came from the side.

Lawrence could hear the slightly muffled echo from the other’s voice, indicating something was awfully going wrong. Then looking forward to where the prayer table had been set up, an ominous purple-black flame had burst forward from the incense, and the honorable cleric they brought along for the journey was frothing in the mouth. The guy was not well, and the nose bleeds and shivering only meant he was fighting whatever foul taint was invading his soul.

“Captain!” The first mate’s voice came from the side again but got cut off by Lawrence’s following order.

“Temporarily close the Holy Emblem Marker. We’ll dive into the spirit world!”

The first mate was momentarily stunned, and the man who had spent half his life at sea seemed unable to believe his ears: “Captain?!”

“Sink into the spirit world. We can spend ten minutes there and escape the fiercest wave of the border-collapse. This will give our priest a chance to recover.” Lawrence ordered again with a commanding voice, “Obey my orders, NOW!”

The first mate’s jaw moved but then gritted his teeth and complied: “Yes, Captain!”

The crew began to carry out the orders in quick and precise strides, leaving Lawrence to get a breather and focus on the big picture. The sense of protection from the holy relic had started to recede following his order, and they were quickly sinking into the “spirit world,” a space between reality and the deep sea.

It was dangerous to do this, but historically, there are cases of ships returning from that place. As a member of the Explorers’ Association, he had read numerous texts on the subject and various “survival guides” written by survivors to prove it possible.

How bad could it be, right? He only needed to let the White Oak dodge the storm at the edge of the spirit world and then use the surging power output of the advanced steam turbine to carry out a thrilling “spirit drift.” Then, if luck still cared for him, he could lead his crew back to the human world.

Afterward, he only needs to hand over the damn “Anomaly 099” in storage to the officials of the city-state of Pland. From then on, he swore he would never get mixed up with this business again.

Things couldn’t get worse….

Lawrence tries to comfort himself by muttering this until he sees the three-masted galleon larger than the White Oak. The other ship had suddenly emerged on the surface of the sea, and it was charging head-on into them like an indomitable beast!