Chapter 528: Reuniting with the Familiar
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.com
Pendant?
Heidi’s heart skipped a beat as she heard the voice. She looked down at the pendant resting on her collarbone, a mass-produced piece of jewelry she had picked up without much thought.
Memories rushed back. She remembered the eccentric owner of the old antique shop, the pendant her father had mysteriously acquired, and the supernatural protection it had offered during the Black Sun event. She recalled Vanna’s bewildered questions about the antique shop’s origins, and now Duncan Abnomar’s sudden appearance and cryptic comments.
As a trained psychiatrist, Heidi felt her pulse quicken. The pieces started falling into place, creating a picture that made her doubt her sanity.
“Take a deep breath and be cautious of where your eyes wander. There are things you shouldn’t gaze upon,” Duncan advised, smiling knowingly. “Your father insisted I remind you.”
Heidi’s head spun. Was this some sort of subtle mind manipulation, or just her anxiety? She held her head, trying to steady herself. “Where’s my father now?”
“He’s offering his expertise on the Vanished. He kept it from you to spare you the worry. We didn’t expect you to get caught up in this chaos.”
“How is he? Is he with you on your vessel?” Heidi blurted out, immediately regretting it as she saw Duncan’s composed demeanor.
Duncan replied calmly, “He’s in perfect health, sticking to a strict routine, and is invaluable to our crew. Anything else on your mind?”
Heidi hesitated, another event from her father’s sudden departure nagging at her. No matter how absurd it sounded, she needed to know. “Is Vanna… with you too?”
Duncan’s expression remained unchanged, yet it revealed everything she needed to know. “Would you want to meet them?”
Caught off guard, Heidi stumbled over her words. “I… Can I? Really? I apologize if I overstepped, but there are so many rumors about you… I thought…”
She was cut off mid-sentence.
From a doorway illuminated by an emerald flame, two familiar faces emerged. Morris smiled warmly, while Vanna appeared slightly abashed.
Vanna approached Heidi slowly, her steps tentative. As she got closer, she affectionately touched Heidi’s nose, a gesture from their childhood games. “It’s been such a long time, hasn’t it?” she said, a hint of nervousness in her voice. “I’m truly sorry for not telling you about my new role sooner. It’s a delicate position with many confidentiality clauses. The captain just granted permission for this visit. Are you angry with me?”
Heidi seemed momentarily frozen, her gaze fixed on Vanna. Her eyes, holding years of memories and questions, then drifted to Morris, another familiar face. After a few moments that felt like an eternity, she finally let out her bottled-up confusion, “Would either of you care to explain this baffling situation?”
Watching the initial tension, Duncan stepped in to diffuse it. “You two have a lot to talk about,” he commented, waving his hand dismissively as he turned on his heel. “Meanwhile, I’ll engage Lucy in some light conversation.”
This casual intervention left Vanna, Morris, and Heidi in an awkward triangle of unspoken words and unresolved feelings.
Unaware of or choosing to ignore the mounting tension between Vanna and Morris, Duncan confidently approached Lucretia. However, upon reaching her, he found her avoiding his gaze. Her expression was a blend of anxiety and vulnerability.
Lost in her thoughts, Lucretia had been mentally preparing for this inevitable confrontation. Her father’s unexpected appearance in this surreal dreamscape left her disoriented. As he interacted with the ‘psychiatrist,’ her mind raced to find the right words to explain her long absence and the mystery surrounding the scythe.
Yet, when he finally stood before her, words eluded her. The fierce “Sea Witch,” a title that struck terror into the hearts of sailors and pirates alike, found herself tongue-tied and emotionally overwhelmed. As she was about to speak, her thoughts derailed further.
“We can wait,” Duncan interrupted gently, signaling her to halt. He directed his attention to Heidi and her companions, who were still a short distance away. “Let’s just observe for a bit.”
Confused, Lucretia struggled to understand her father’s intentions. The phrase “let’s observe” triggered a cascade of possible interpretations in her mind, from conspiracies to elaborate schemes. However, a closer look at Duncan’s demeanor revealed pure amusement.
Following his line of sight, Lucretia tried to process the scene before her. The reality was far from the elaborate reunion scenarios she had imagined with her father over the years.
In her musings, she had visualized a dramatic encounter between her eternal self and the ‘Vanished’ returning from the void, much like Tyrian’s experience. She had foreseen an epic showdown between the Bright Star and the Vanished, the nefarious entity wreaking havoc reminiscent of the devastation on the thirteen islands of Witherland at the frontier.
In her softer, more whimsical dreams, she had painted an entirely different picture.
She would visualize her father’s genuine return on a serene afternoon or as evening descended. The chosen location resembled a cliff they had visited during her childhood. She couldn’t recall the exact city-state, but the memories of gentle sea breezes and fields blanketed with white flowers were vivid. They would be perched atop the highest rock, her father sharing tales of far-off events while she presented her “Bright Star” adventures, her state-of-the-art laboratories, and her cherished book collection.
However, these scattered dreams evaporated in the stark light of reality, like soft murmurs carried away by the wind.
She hadn’t anticipated their actual reunion would unfold like this: immersed in a seemingly endless dream and listening to gossip…
Yet, as time passed, Lucretia seemed to piece together her father’s motives.
She followed his line of sight, observing the psychiatrist, family members, friends, a worried daughter, a father clumsily attempting to make amends, and a friend who seemed out of place.
Her father’s suggestion, “Let’s watch for a moment,” began to resonate.
It seemed Lucretia was catching on.
However, Duncan’s sudden remark made her second-guess herself. “I did counsel Morris earlier to approach Heidi for a chat. Sadly, the right moment never came. But perhaps this is a blessing in disguise; had he cleared the air sooner, I’d miss out on this intriguing drama.”
Lucretia wondered if she’d been too hasty in her assumptions.
Amidst this fleeting confusion, she remembered an observation Tyrian had shared in a past conversation—
Her father had rediscovered his human essence.
Yet, perhaps, a tad excessively.
At that moment, she couldn’t decipher her brother’s cryptic comment. But now, understanding dawned. The entity that emerged from subspace resembled her father but not entirely in the manner she remembered.
“Lucy, what are your thoughts?”
Duncan’s voice broke through, jolting Lucretia from her reverie. Her focus shifted to her father, whose eyes probed her for an answer.
The whirlwind of emotions and the dissonance between past memories and present reality momentarily dissipated. The “Sea Witch” felt a newfound clarity: those tangled conundrums seemed inconsequential. The man before her was perfect in his imperfections.
After all, life isn’t bound by the rigidity of academic scrutiny; not every riddle demands a solution.
“Miss Heidi is more than capable of managing the current situation. Although our interactions have been minimal, I recognize her logic-driven approach. And Mr. Morris? Don’t worry, he’s on your vetted list of consultants…”
“Oh, I’m not referring to them,” Duncan dismissed with a gesture, his gaze shifting towards the vast expanse of a forest. The woods were bathed in a perpetual “twilight” glow, yet surprisingly, they stood firm and unwavering. “This feels like a dream, doesn’t it? But there’s a unique aura about it, quite distinct from any dream realm I’ve ever ventured into…”
Caught off guard, Lucretia hesitated. Duncan’s perspective seemed tangential, a stark deviation from the pragmatic and calculated man she fondly recalled. Pushing aside her momentary disarray, she refocused her energy, filtering out the distant murmurs and whispers of the crowd. Collecting her thoughts, she began, “Our entryway into this surreal dimension is through Scholar Taran El, the static figure stationed over there. His consciousness is dormant. Let me outline the events that transpired…”
She then proceeded to distill the vast swathes of information at her disposal, providing Duncan with a crisp overview. As he listened intently, the gears in his mind started to turn.
“So, if I grasp correctly, this forest acts as a mere veil, concealing the actual essence of the dream. While the core of this dream realm remains hidden deeper within, the puppeteer behind the strings isn’t the elvish Scholar Taran El but rather, a ‘third dreamer.’”
Lucretia nodded gravely. “The existence of a third dreamer doesn’t negate the possibility of a fourth, or even a fifth entity influencing this realm. Heidi’s accounts suggest that the tendrils of this dream reach out and intertwine with other realms, potentially connecting to myriad dreamers. The forest’s uncanny ability to self-regenerate and shroud its secrets… is something we might never have encountered before.”
Duncan’s response was a deep, contemplative silence.
Then, in an unexpected twist, he noticed a subtle movement from the corner of his eye: Scholar Taran El’s eyelids fluttered open with a sudden blink in the distance.