novelraw Chapter 669: Aunt Mary's Trail
Chapter 669: Aunt Mary's Trail
[Himmfast has changed so much. Strangers have taken our home; everything is different. I wanted to stay, but it is hurrying me... I must leave for the Wastelands to accept my fate.]
[Lu Li, Anna, if you're reading this letter, please don't look for me.]
It wasn't supposed to be this way.
A tempest brewed within Selika Daler.
This wasn't what they had agreed upon...
In the adventure story concocted for Lu Li, he was supposed to find the final letter. The date on it would have made it clear that all four of Aunt Mary's letters were written before she sailed from the Allen Peninsula, not after the cataclysm. The ending was meant to be a false alarm—Lu Li and Anna would return to their safe harbor, continuing their quiet lives amidst an ever-worsening apocalypse.
But now, the story had been rewritten. Instead of a conclusion, there was only a chilling hint that Aunt Mary had fallen victim to some anomalous conspiracy.
The story continued...
"What is 'it'?" Anna asked, her brow furrowed as a glacial aura seeped from her cloak.
"Perhaps the same entity that made Aunt Mary leave the ship," Lu Li replied, rereading the fourth letter before slipping the envelope into his pocket."Is she already..." Anna whispered.
"We can't be sure. We don't know exactly when these letters were written."
Still, he could make an educated guess. Sentry Post and the jungle town had clearly been ransacked. Conspicuous letters left on windowsills would hardly have survived the looting.
Aunt Mary had left, perhaps, not too long ago.
"Has anyone else been in the house?" Lu Li asked the old couple by the door and the mother and daughter standing a short distance away.
They confirmed they had barely left the house. When asked about any strange noises, the old couple recalled hearing footsteps upstairs just last night.
Their bedroom was directly beneath the study. They had assumed it was the other tenants and paid it no mind.
Perhaps it had been Aunt Mary, sneaking back to leave the letter.
After searching the study and finding no other clues, Lu Li picked up Selika Daler and left the house.
"Why would Aunt Mary go to the Wastelands..." Anna's whisper emerged from beneath her cloak, barely audible over the street noise.
"The Avitanis passes through the Wastelands," Lu Li answered.
Most ships to the Lennon Archipelago took that route. Some of the smaller vessels would stop at ports to resupply.
It was possible an anomaly had latched onto Aunt Mary at a port in the Wastelands, forcing her to go ashore.
It remained unknown whether JoJo had sailed on or, like Aunt Mary, had stayed behind. It was also a mystery how Aunt Mary, under the influence of an anomaly, had managed to return to the Allen Peninsula.
The letters indicated that she was aware of its influence.
Could she have made some kind of deal with the anomaly?
"Where do we go now?" Anna asked.
"To the nearest port."
If Aunt Mary was here last night, they might still be able to catch up to her.
But first, they needed to get Selika Daler settled.
There were spare rooms in Aunt Mary's house. He could ask the administrator of the Terraces District to let her stay there.
Lu Li asked the administrator about the nearest seaport to Himmfast. After leaving Selika Daler in his care, he headed for the southern gate.
"Miss, your name, please..." the administrator began, preparing to write down Selika's details.
"Don't bother..." Selika Daler watched Lu Li disappear around a corner, then, to the administrator's astonishment, she turned and walked in the opposite direction.
The slums.
Selika approached a woman of questionable character standing on the roadside, dressed in provocative clothing and smelling of cheap perfume.
"I can send you to the Lennon Archipelago," she said.
No one could resist such an offer.
"Why should I believe you?" the woman asked warily.
"You don't have to believe me. But you'd better believe this." Selika Daler produced a wad of shillings.
...
Anna suggested that Aunt Mary might have left clues elsewhere, like at the estate. But there was nothing there except for the hastily built barracks.
Selika Daler was waiting for them at the southern gate.
"You saved me; I want to help you," she said, limping toward Lu Li and Anna. "I just twisted my ankle. I can walk on my own."
"Don't overdo it," Lu Li said, choosing not to argue.
The nearest seaport was the Port of Hope, a new port in a bay south of the city.
However, it only had sailings to Prince Fantes's port on the Main Continent. To get to the Wastelands, they would need a transfer.
Taking Selika Daler with them, they left Himmfast. After walking a couple of miles and making sure no one was around, they flew toward the Port of Hope, fifty miles away.
...
Port of Hope.
Its name reflected the aspirations of the people.
The air was thick not only with the usual smell of fish but also with the pungent scent of linseed oil.
Everything here was new.
Lu Li and Anna found the port master. The news was encouraging: a woman named Madam Mary had indeed sailed from here about half an hour ago.
They had a chance to catch up to Aunt Mary.
The port master informed them that the next ship would depart in an hour and a half.
After buying three tickets at the counter, they went into a newly opened inn near the port.
Lu Li had a quick bite, but an unexpected wave of drowsiness washed over him after the meal. Asking Anna to wake him before their departure and to keep an eye on the innkeeper, he lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep.
The sleeping Lu Li's breathing became even.
Suddenly, a shadow detached itself from Selika Daler's feet.
Regaining control of her body, Selika first glanced at the sleeping Lu Li, a flicker of sadness in her eyes.
"That doctor... he's dead, isn't he?..."
"He is merely sleeping," a cold voice replied from beneath the cloak.
"Am I next?" There was no answer. Selika seemed to understand something. "I can see you love him... But you've lured the one you love out of a safe place, and now you're leading him into even greater danger... Is it worth it?"
Anna silently shook her head.
"He shouldn't stay at Watcher's Cliff..."
"—..." A chill of terror ran through Selika as Anna named their sanctuary.
Anna continued, "He must be a hero. He must walk through the hopeless lands, save strangers, help all who are in need, and treat all beings—even anomalies—as equals... Not hide away in a shelter, waiting for an end that could come at any time."
"Mister Lu Li is just an ordinar—"
"He must be a hero," Anna interrupted. Her ruby eyes burned like flames. "And I will help him become one."
"Like the Rope of Descent."