Duet Night Abyss story · Side stories
The Returnees Never Return
Chapter Noctoyager
2 scenes, 78 lines
1. Present the journal you found to Lady Hilin
19 linesYoung one, any news of Hamel Dickinson?
(Indeed, it is the same name on the title page of the journal you retrieved from Glevum Pit.)
(If your guess is correct, then the monster haunting the depths of the pit might just be...)
(Her cloudy eyes brighten slightly at the mention of that man. The name Hamel Dickinson clearly holds great significance for her. She is awaiting an answer.)
...
(Word by word, she silently reads through the journal. Tears stream down her deeply lined cheeks.)
(She then clasps the journal to her chest, as if embracing a long-lost beloved.)
...Thank you, young one. Thank you for uncovering this secret that's been buried for forty years.
Please see my maid Sally for your reward. I'd like some time alone.
(She turns away, her frail, stooped back towards you.)
...
Sorry, I've never heard that name. If I get any news, I will get back to you.
Okay, okay... Thank you.
I've prepared a gift. Please go to my house and ask for my maid, Sally, and tell her that Lady Hilin sent you.
Just go. May you have a smooth journey.
Child, you're Vita, the Phoxhunter, aren't you? Lady Hilin told me to pay you in advance.
Should you hear anything about Hamel Dickinson, please do tell her ladyship as soon as possible.
*sigh* She's been really going downhill since last year, and now I'm afraid she doesn't have much time left. Information about Hamel is the last remaining thing weighing on her mind.
Could you tell me more about Mr Dickinson?
2. Talk to Sally
59 linesYoung one, any news of Hamel Dickinson?
(Indeed, it is the same name on the title page of the journal you retrieved from Glevum Pit.)
(If your guess is correct, then the monster haunting the depths of the pit might just be...)
(Her cloudy eyes brighten slightly at the mention of that man. The name Hamel Dickinson clearly holds great significance for her. She is awaiting an answer.)
...
(Word by word, she silently reads through the journal. Tears stream down her deeply lined cheeks.)
(She then clasps the journal to her chest, as if embracing a long-lost beloved.)
...Thank you, young one. Thank you for uncovering this secret that's been buried for forty years.
Please see my maid Sally for your reward. I'd like some time alone.
(She turns away, her frail, stooped back towards you.)
...
Sorry, I've never heard that name. If I get any news, I will get back to you.
Okay, okay... Thank you.
I've prepared a gift. Please go to my house and ask for my maid, Sally, and tell her that Lady Hilin sent you.
Just go. May you have a smooth journey.
Child, you're Vita, the Phoxhunter, aren't you? Lady Hilin told me to pay you in advance.
Should you hear anything about Hamel Dickinson, please do tell her ladyship as soon as possible.
*sigh* She's been really going downhill since last year, and now I'm afraid she doesn't have much time left. Information about Hamel is the last remaining thing weighing on her mind.
Could you tell me more about Mr Dickinson?
Child, thank you for all your help. Here's a little something for you.
*sigh* Her ladyship's health has worsened since last year, and I fear she doesn't have much time left. Her past with Mr Dickinson was the last thing on her mind...
Though it wasn't the news we hoped for, I still want to thank you for helping her retrieve this final piece of her past.
Well... I suppose there's no point in keeping secrets now.
You might have guessed, Mr Dickinson was her ladyship's beau forty years ago. At that time, her ladyship... well, it was Miss Hilin back then, was a cheerful, lively girl.Hamel Dickinson was a miner of her age, working at her father's Glevum Pit.
As it often goes in such stories, the greater their social divide, the more stubbornly they clung to each other against all odds.
They say love burns brighter under opposition, but those stories don't tell you how quickly it can be extinguished by harsh reality!
When the master, who was the director of Glevum Pit appointed by the Aeolipile, learned about their relationship, Hamel Dickinson received a terrible thrashing instead of the master's blessing.
It was not just because of his background, the master had already arranged a politically advantageous marriage for Miss Hilin. She was supposed to marry a noble from Flagson, a perfect match that would benefit both a new money family and a declining noble line.
But Miss Hilin didn't give up. She was such a brave and assertive young lady back then. She secretly asked me to deliver a letter to Mr Dickinson, asking him to meet her at midnight on April 26th at the Silverpeace Square.
That day happened to be the master's birthday, and all hands would be busy preparing for the celebration. Miss Hilin saw it as her only chance to escape her father's control.
She made up her mind that if he showed up, she would run away with him, no matter the destination.
That's right. Miss Hilin waited there till dawn, but only her furious father showed up. Soon after, she was sent away like a parcel to Flagson.
Thank goodness that her husband, his lordship, treated her well, and she spent forty peaceful years with him. She never mentioned those days again, as if Hamel Dickinson had never existed.
A year ago, his lordship passed away, and her ladyship's health began to fail. One day, she suddenly told me she wanted to return to Icelake in her final days, to find the answer she deserved. That's when I realised, she had never forgotten Hamel Dickinson, he had become a missing piece of her heart.
So we moved back to Icelake, but no one knew of Hamel Dickinson's whereabouts. We managed to track down a few old miners, but after racking their memories, the last time they remembered seeing Mr Dickinson was forty years ago...
*sigh* I wonder if her ladyship will see her final wish come true.
Well, it's all in the past. I've been talking your ear off for so long... Guess I'm getting on in years.
You're a Phoxhunter, must be quite busy with your commissions. I won't keep you any longer.
(She will probably not get the answer.)
(Hamel ventured deep into the pit for Hilin, where he became a Filthoid, a creature so terrifying it became a legend over forty years. His fate was sealed when he was finally slain, a truth too harsh for an old lady with little time left.)
(The cruel truth would remain buried forever in the depths of the pit, with Lady Hilin carrying on with hope until her last days. Perhaps this is as close to a good ending as one might hope for.)
...I never expected the truth to be like this! Turns out Mr Dickinson didn't stand her up, and it was because of Lady Hilin that he went to that pit... I don't know if this means consolation or more pain to her.
...I really don't know how to console her ladyship at the moment...
Ugh, my head hurts! I should go prepare dinner now. I just hope my soup might make her feel a little better.
(Although the truth is harsh, in her final days, she has finally found the answer that was forty years late. At least, she won't have to step into the grave with doubts and regrets. Perhaps this is as close to a good ending as one might hope for.)
Well... I suppose there's no point in keeping secrets now.
You might have guessed, Mr Dickinson was her ladyship's beau forty years ago. At that time, her ladyship... well, it was Miss Hilin back then, was a cheerful, lively girl.Hamel Dickinson was a miner of her age, working at her father's Glevum Pit.
As it often goes in such stories, the greater their social divide, the more stubbornly they clung to each other against all odds.
They say love burns brighter under opposition, but those stories don't tell you how quickly it can be extinguished by harsh reality!
When the master, who was the director of Glevum Pit appointed by the Aeolipile, learned about their relationship, Hamel Dickinson received a terrible thrashing instead of the master's blessing.
It was not just because of his background, the master had already arranged a politically advantageous marriage for Miss Hilin. She was supposed to marry a noble from Flagson, a perfect match that would benefit both a new money family and a declining noble line.
But Miss Hilin didn't give up. She was such a brave and assertive young lady back then. She secretly asked me to deliver a letter to Mr Dickinson, asking him to meet her at midnight on April 26th at the Silverpeace Square.
That day happened to be the master's birthday, and all hands would be busy preparing for the celebration. Miss Hilin saw it as her only chance to escape her father's control.
She made up her mind that if he showed up, she would run away with him, no matter the destination.
He didn't show up?
That's right. Miss Hilin waited there till dawn, but only her furious father showed up. Soon after, she was sent away like a parcel to Flagson.
Thank goodness that her husband, his lordship, treated her well, and she spent forty peaceful years with him. She never mentioned those days again, as if Hamel Dickinson had never existed.
A year ago, his lordship passed away, and her ladyship's health began to fail. One day, she suddenly told me she wanted to return to Icelake in her final days, to find the answer she deserved. That's when I realised, she had never forgotten Hamel Dickinson, he had become a missing piece of her heart.
So we moved back to Icelake, but no one knew of Hamel Dickinson's whereabouts. We managed to track down a few old miners, but after racking their memories, the last time they remembered seeing Mr Dickinson was forty years ago...