Deep Sea Embers

In front of the statue of the storm goddess Gomona, the blessed candle burned serenely as the faint skylight shone through the tinted glass dome overhead, giving Bishop Valentine a divine halo around his figure when he said the last word

Vanna hissed sharply as the thunderous boom shattered from within over the senior’s words. The goddess’s blessing was finally taking effect and granting her power, which manifested itself in the sound of battering waves in the ear.

“The existence of the Vanished is historically recorded, and the omen from your dream is an objective fact granted to you by the goddess. With all these guidance, you still doubt the existence of that ship when the first reaction should’ve been to seek a solution to the problem. This means your subconsciousness is actively avoiding the threat placed before your eye.”

“Inquisitor Vanna, from the look of things, that ship is already swaying you with its powers.”

Vanna felt a fine layer of sweat on her forehead, but the “drapery” that had confused her all night had disappeared, giving her clarity that the bishop was right.

When did I get affected by the Vanished? When did it happen?!

This was exactly what many visions and anomalies with horrific tendencies possessed: making the contact cognitively confused until they’ve completely fallen into a state of denial. It’s an intelligent creature’s mean to protect themselves. By denying something, one could avoid being tainted further.

As an inquisitor who often deals with supernatural powers, Vanna knows this knowledge very well, but she never thought that she would fall into this “psychological trap” since she’s known to have strong willpower.

“I don’t know when I was affected,” she said frankly.

In the presence of her fellow devout bishops, Vanna did not shy away from the weakness she had exposed this time. It was perfectly normal to fall into a psychological abnormality due to anomalies or visions, and shame and concealment would only make the issue worse.

“I came here directly after waking up from the foreboding dream. I didn’t talk to anyone, nor did I touch any books or relics. I cannot think of a point when I got corrupted.”

“But you have just shown a deliberate avoidance of the omen you received in your dream… So, the corruption should have happened earlier than that,” the bishop gazed intently at Vanna’s face as if observing her changing eyes and breathing fluctuation would reveal the secret. “Have you been exposed to anything abnormal lately? That could have been from the Vanished… directly polluting your subconsciousness ahead of time.”

“Recently…” Vanna frowned and then suddenly recalled the “sacrifice” that had fallen at the scene of the Black Sun ritual. That time she encountered the flash of green flame shooting out of the corpse’s eye and causing her to sever a finger as a consequence.

Jerking to attention and showing a shocked face: “The day before yesterday, I led a team to clean up the black sun sacrificial site in the sewers. Did you get my report about the nameless corruption I found at the scene?”

The bishop shook his head: “… No, you directly went back to your place after sending over the cultists.”

Vanna became startled at the truth, “Did anyone else who participated in the operation that day report about this?”

“Nothing, the church did not get any report about your finding. All the reports we had were about the Dark Sun heretics.”

Under the witness of the storm goddess’s statue, the bishop and inquisitor both exchanged a nod at the realization.

“It seems that we have found the point at which the corruption first came ashore,” the bishop exhaled softly, his expression still calm but grim, “In the name of the goddess, do you swear that your memory of that night is still complete and clear?”

Vanna took a deep breath, “In the name of Gomona, I swear that all I say and remember is the truth and nothing but the truth.”

The bishop nodded, then turned and lit the special incense set up in the rear. With a calm and divine voice, “Go ahead Inquisitor Vanna, the goddess is now watching us. No corruption shall taint this room.”

In the following confession, Vanna revealed everything she remembered about what happened in the sewers that night. She spared no detail, and under the reinforcement of the special incense in the room, the memories were so vivid that it sounded like she’s reliving that night in pristine clarity.

She still remembers how the green flame flickered in that sunken eye socket when she pried it open, then of how the guardians and clerics all went quiet afterward despite performing the purification procedure on themselves. All of that was as she remembered, but what happened next was the freaky part that got covered up. Instead of their usual rowdy behavior of bringing the prisoners back to the church, everyone at the site had marched out of the sewers like they’ve been possessed. Puppets, that’s how they were walking through the streets in the middle of the night.

Vanna found herself numb to the bone looking back at things. If the other party wanted to kill everyone then, it would’ve been easy taking.

“…… The ghost flame infected your soul so the physical purification you performed in the sewer is ineffective, that’s how you all got deceived. What you all should’ve done is sprinkle holy oil on the ground and create a temporary holy ground to call upon the goddess’s power with your prayers. That would’ve purified your ‘spirit’ and cleansed the corruption.”

“…… “It’s my fault,” Vanna said in a heavy tone, “I should have been more vigilant and alert.”

“It’s a mistake, but not a fault,” the old man shook his head, “you have great strength, but as an inquisitor, you’re still lacking in experience. Fortunately, we have now cured you of that influence, which means the corruption on that ‘corpse’ is not too strong. It only managed to interfere you at a psychological level so the source must’ve been cut off that night.”

At this point, Bishop Valentine paused as if weighing something: “The guardians who were acting with you at that time will likely return to normal in a few days according to the feedback from the incense. What we need to worry about is what’s to come, the future.”

“The future…” Vanna repeated the bishop’s last words, her expression slowly becoming serious.

Yes, in the future, this matter is not over yet.

The picture of the omen from my dream warned of a storm coming. The event last night was merely a prelude to that.

“The Vanished has not been sighted for many years, and most people believe the ship is lost in subspace for good. But it appears that’s not true. Captain Duncan’s obsession with the real world isn’t finished yet…”

Bishop Valentine recited his finding slowly while turning as he gazed up at the statue of the Storm Goddess.

“A century ago, the Vanished crashed into the depths of subspace. Although there is no clear evidence, many eyewitness reports mentioned that there was a major storm hovering in the nearby waters that caused it to fall… The storm, that’s the authority of our Lord.”

Vanna frowned, “You think that Captain Duncan is going to… exact revenge on the goddess?”

“It’s hard to say. Even if the ghosts returning from subspace are out to seek revenge, but gods are gods, they live in the kingdom of heaven above our own. Never has there been a case of something climbing up to the higher realms beyond reality, only descending downwards. But if Captain Duncan is seeking revenge on our Lord’s human emissaries… the danger this poses would be endless. Our church’s influence may stretch to every part of the world because we represent the Storm Goddess, but if there’s going to be a target, it would likely be here in Pland. We are the heart of our faith on land, and the Holy Cathedral of the Storm is difficult to pinpoint.”