Nina went back to her room to sleep. In this world, most people go to bed early and rise with the sun. The time after sunset is dangerous; the faint light from the world's creation can twist reality to its peak. Even with city lights for protection, people must be careful when night falls.
There aren't many ways to gather outside, and entertainment options are limited. Reading at night, while safer than reading on the sea, can still lead to mental fatigue and hallucinations. Sometimes, it even attracts unwanted attention in the dark. So, the safest choice is to sleep early and wait for the sun to rise the next day.
But Duncan couldn't sleep at all. He turned off the lights in the room and stood by the window in his shirt, casually admiring the night view of Prand City while recalling his conversation with Nina after dinner.
Nina remembered a great fire, and Duncan had a memory of it too—he recalled a six-year-old girl being rescued from a burning building by "him." The streets were filled with panicked crowds and swirling fog.
However, only the two of them remembered this fire. Nina had mentioned it to other adults, but they dismissed it as a child's confused memory after being scared. Eleven years ago, the newspapers clearly stated the "truth": a factory leak at the intersection of Prand's lower district and Cross Street caused mass hallucinations, with no records of any fire.
Duncan frowned slightly. Another question arose regarding "himself." According to Nina, "Uncle Duncan" also didn't remember the fire. Only she had held onto that memory. When she was younger, she had even mentioned it to Uncle Duncan (who should have been "Ron" back then), but he thought she was just confused.
Now, however, Duncan's memory included images of the fire—remnants of the original owner's memories buried deep in his mind.
What was the issue? Why did Nina remember the fire while her uncle didn't? Did Nina's uncle lie all along? Or had the memory been locked away until a ghost captain took over this body, causing the deepest memories to resurface?
Duncan absentmindedly tapped his fingers on the window frame, piecing together the timeline in his mind. He compiled the information he had gathered from the sun worshippers:
Eleven years ago, sun fragments first appeared within Prand City, causing extraordinary phenomena that might have affected a large area. At that same time, Nina became an orphan. In her and Duncan's memories, there was indeed a fire in the lower district—but everyone else seemed to have forgotten it, and there was no evidence to prove it ever happened.
After that, the sun fragments lay dormant in the city, with no further disturbances. The only record left from that time was the "Cross Street Factory Leak Incident."
Over the years, Nina had relied on her only family member. Four years ago, the sun god's followers in Prand attempted to awaken the sleeping sun fragments with a dangerous ritual, but the newly promoted apprentice judge, Vanna, led a team to stop it. The cult suffered heavy losses and was expelled from the city after a massive crackdown.
Even though the ritual didn't reach its final step, the cult's attempt to "awaken" the fragments might have caused some effects, as the fragments began to stir from their slumber afterward. Around that time, Nina's "uncle," who had been her only companion, fell ill and gradually succumbed to temptation from the remaining sun worshippers in the city, becoming a cult henchman.
Recently, news of the sun fragments moving attracted the sun worshippers back to the city. The cultists, who had been lying low for four years, resumed their sacrificial rituals, and then Duncan got involved.
Throughout the timeline, many events seemed connected but lacked crucial evidence. The most suspicious part was what extraordinary phenomena the sun fragments triggered eleven years ago. Did that fire even exist?
Did the city authorities cover up the truth about the incident and erase all traces of the fire? Did they then publicly declare it a collective hallucination caused by a factory leak to maintain order?
But this didn't explain why so many people had no memory of the fire—unless the authorities went to great lengths to reshape everyone's memories.
Moreover, in this world, abnormalities and phenomena are publicly acknowledged. Even children know about the existence and dangers of extraordinary events. The authorities clearly understood this and maintained a policy of "informing the public in advance to ensure citizens can protect themselves." If it was just a fire caused by extraordinary forces... why hide it?
Unless... there was a bigger issue behind that fire, one that could lead to uncontrollable dangers simply from the news being disclosed.
Duncan suddenly frowned. Or there was another possibility. The nature of extraordinary phenomena is strange; often, the harm it causes isn't just physical. It can even distort people's perceptions, altering evidence that is already on paper. What if people's memories of the event, their understanding, and even the records kept by the city authorities and the church were all tainted by the sun fragments?
Duncan felt like he was thinking too far outside the box. As someone who was still a novice in the field of abnormalities and phenomena, his imagination might be running wild. But once that thought crossed his mind, it was hard to shake off.
People's memories, the authorities' records, even things written in black and white in archives from years ago can be twisted and replaced. He might not have believed this before, but now he believed it more than anyone else.
Because he was in a place now called "Duncan's Antique Shop." Everyone here knew their old neighbor, Mr. Duncan, who ran the antique store.
Duncan let out a soft breath. He looked down through the second-floor window at the street illuminated by gas lamps.
Now, there was only one question left. Regardless of whether that fire existed eleven years ago, or if the sun fragments tainted the memories of those involved and the records left by the city, one crucial point remained:
Why did Nina remember that fire?
In the upper city, in a mansion belonging to the governor.
Vanna woke up from a nightmare. But this time, the nightmare had nothing to do with the black sun, nor did it point to the ship returning from the void—she suddenly dreamed of her childhood.
On that night filled with fog, smoke, blood, and frantic crowds, twelve-year-old her was carried away by her uncle, escaping from the attacking mob.
In the dream, she felt like she was back to being helpless and vulnerable. The skills and powerful divine abilities she was proud of vanished, and she could only flee in panic from the madness and shadows, crossing over pipes and valves above the factory with her uncle. She looked down in fear at the city through the thick smoke and heat, seeing endless flames rising everywhere, engulfing the entire district...
The young judge, dressed in a nightgown, sat on her bed, taking a deep breath as she looked out at the sky. The faint light of the world's creation still hung high in the sky, and the clock near the window showed it was just past midnight.
She felt like she had been trapped in that nightmare for a century.
Vanna got up, turned on the light, and went to the vanity to look at herself in the mirror. She softly recited the name of the storm goddess, finding inner peace before sighing, as if comforting herself: "At least I won't dream of that ship again..."
Just as she finished speaking, she suddenly heard footsteps in the hallway outside, followed by a knock on the door: "Vanna? Did you have a nightmare?"
It was her uncle's voice—the most respected governor of the city.
"I'm fine." Vanna steadied herself, adjusted her clothes, and went to open the door.
Dante Wayne stood at the door. This gray-haired, gray-eyed, not very imposing middle-aged man had just woken up too. He casually threw on a coat and looked at his niece with concern as the door opened.
Having lost an eye in an incident, he now had a ruby eye that revealed intricate golden patterns inside, and the surrounding eye socket bore the terrible scars from eleven years ago, giving him a fearsome appearance.
But Vanna was used to it. She knew her uncle was actually a kind and fair man.
"I had a nightmare," she rubbed her eyes, sounding a bit helpless, "I didn't mean to wake you."
"It's nothing. As you get older, sleep becomes lighter," Dante Wayne looked at Vanna with concern, "Did you dream of your childhood again?"
"Yes, I dreamed of that time again."
(End of Chapter)