When I exited my portal I was still holding the tub of ice cream,
having... liberated it from Vinyl’s universe. You know, that old myth of comfort food actually helping a bit was true. Somewhat. I wasn’t at all feeling good, but I was calming down with every bite.

Soon though, I ran into a problem. An empty tub and no unopened one in sight. Wanting a bit more ice cream, I walked out into the hallway intent on finding the kitchens and the freezer within.

Along the way, I almost ran into a blue unicorn with a navy blue mane and tail that were braided. An odd feature was that their iris’ was white.

“Oh Grandmother, sorry to bump into you.”

“No, it’s my fault. I was thinking too much about which kind of ice cream I was going to get from the kitchens,” I said, stepping to the side to allow her past.

“Not at all, I was actually coming to look for you, I am Azure Thought, a professor at Luna’s School for gifted Unicorns and was hoping to get a chance to talk about funding. However you look a bit busy, anything on your mind?” She asked a look of concern on her face.

“Just some personal problems. It’s mostly dealing with things not in this universe right now. So, what’s your proposal?”

“Oh just some research into Neuromagic and understanding of the mind in general. I have a folder with some details you can review at your convenience.” She stated levitating a manilla folder with a silly kid drawing of a doctor pony with his hooves in a brain. “You seem busy, but if you ever need some professional advice or help we have people you can talk to.”

“I’ll look over this today and get back to you on what I decided.” I set the folder in my bag, being mindful to not set it on top of my token bag. “Thank you for the advice. If I ever need professional help, I’ll contact you.”

“Not at all, thank you for your time, and enjoy your ice cream.” Azure bowed politely and trotted off. As she went around the corner, I felt the tub grow heavier. Looking down at it, I noticed it was filled with mint chocolate chip ice cream.

I raised an eyebrow. “How did she do that?” I shrugged and turned back to walk to my rooms, my spoon already halfway to my mouth.

The very moment I turned around a translucent green drop appeared out of thin air and hit the ground, only to somehow cause it to form waves as if being a liquid itself. Before she could wonder about that though, small wisps of green began to rise from the point of impact, circling and waving around each other until they reached beyond her own height. Slowly they split down the middle and drifted apart to form an oval shape while seeming to gently lift the veil of reality itself, revealing the vast void behind it.

I tilted my head in confusion, not recognizing the portal.

Only a few seconds later a tall, slender, black figure came out of the newly formed window, standing proud on its four, bare hooves, with her head held high. A very piece of the night sky itself drifting behind her as if it wanted to caress her at all times, thus deciding to become its mane and tail. Draconic, teal eyes glowed with curiosity as she examined her surroundings, her lustrous black coat only ‘tarnished’ by a splotch of violet ink, containing a crescent moon inside. When her gaze met mine she smiled slightly, revealing fangs. “Why hello. You must be Max.”

I sighed and shook my head, saying, “You know me, but I know I have never met you. Is this an invasion of some sort?”

The alicorn mare seemed to ponder this question seriously for a moment before answering. “Well, yes and no. It could be counted as an invasion of privacy considering we entered your universe without permission.”

“We?”

Confused the black figure tilted her head, then looked behind herself, where the portal still was. “Curious. I thought she was right behind me.” Turning around she cleared her throat before shouting into the void with the royal voice. “Sephiroth? Are you lost or something?”

The tub of ice cream fell from my grasp as my eyes widened, the spoon clattering to the floor a second later. Se-Sephiroth?!

After a few moments of nothing happening, the alicorn sighed and began to move in the direction of the portal but just as she was about to reach it a new figure emerged from it. It was a tall woman with the body of an amazon’s wet dream. Toned in all the right places but not overly so. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders and back like rivers of liquid silver. She was clad in the same outfit I had first met her in even if it looked new. It was a long, form fitting, black coat, open on the front even lower than her belly button, only held together by two straps crossing over her breasts. There were metal guards on her shoulders and a pair of pants that left little to imagination completed the attire, ending in two heavy boots, that almost reached her knees. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and I noticed a feature missing. Her eyes were averted, hidden behind a few strands of her hair.

The alicorn nodded towards the figure. “There you are, Sephiroth.” Then she turned around to look back at me.

N-no. I-It can’t have been two weeks already! Why is she here? I thought, my sight growing blurry. “Se-” I shook my head, lunging forward past the pony and landed in front of Sephiroth on my hands and knees. “I’m so sorry! I-I-... Please, don’t hate me forever.”

To my utter terror I saw her leap away from me and if the portal hadn’t collapsed in the meanwhile she would be gone again. Then I saw her eyes and my heart grew cold. Nothing but pain and fear was in the teal orbs, but I could only catch a glimpse before she averted her gaze again, hiding herself again.

I lowered my forehead to the floor, collapsing from the amount of pain I had caused her, whispering, “I’m so so sorry” over and over again.

For a while, nothing happened and I began to believe that she would never forgive me. How could she? But then my thoughts were interrupted by her voice. “D-don’t. At least, not yet. You left behind a token when I sent you away. And yes I met her. She helped me get my bearings again and I realized that you weren’t yourself.” There was a short pause and what she said took its sweet time to register in my mind. But then she added something more. “So don’t apologize.”

Finding my voice again I said, “But-.... I-I raped you. I fell to my lust and-....” I buried my face in my arms, crying even more.

I felt something wrap around me, and for a tiny moment I had hope, before I realized that it was a wing, a pony wing. “Sephiroth briefed me before we came here and we arrived at the conclusion that you could be possessed.” A hoof wandered under my chin and lifted it to a smiling black face. “So don’t blame yourself for something you had no control over.”

“I-if I’m possessed, how did it happen? Why am I in control right now?” I tore my gaze from hers and closed my eyes, gritting my teeth. “How could something that possessed me escape my notice?”

“Ah but that is the very nature of such a being. It has to escape your notice to slowly gain more and more influence over you. I suspect that its little stunt took all of its collected might to force you under its control, so it would have to stay dormant for a while to recover. That is the very reason we arrived as soon as possible.” There was a short pause. “It is my field of expertise after all. Or rather part of it. It’s my duty to protect my subject’s minds from harm and as such be able to undo harm brought upon them.”

“Then how come you didn’t notice your sister?”

I felt her form flinch hard and her voice turned ashamed. “It was my greatest mistake and a shame I’ll have to live with. A mistake that got me one thousand years of imprisonment on my own moon while I thought I had lost not only my best friend but my sister as well. Not only that but upon my return I was altered by the very Elements that should protect our lands. If not for the human Kat I would have never been myself again.”

“‘M sorry. I... I just don’t see how something could possess me.”

“There is only one way to find out and for that very reason Seph-” She suddenly cut off and shifted slightly, her tone the very picture of concern the next moment. “Sephiroth? What ails you?” Then it changed to alarm as I heard a distant ‘thud’. “Sephiroth!” Nightmare jumped to her hooves and I caught her staring in shock at something. Following her gaze I noticed fast what got her shocked. Sephiroth lay on the ground, clutching her head and writhing in apparent agony.

“Wh-what?”

The black alicorn didn’t hesitate any longer and rushed forward to the woman on the ground, touching her horn to Sephiroth’s forehead, already brightly glowing. In the blink of an eye she reeled back, retching slightly before her eyes snapped back to me, tinted red. “YOU!”

I slowly lowered my gaze in shame, letting her dash towards me while a scythe of unnatural black appeared behind her, raised to strike. Instead of swinging it to hit me, though, she brought it down in front of her prematurally and forced its blunt edge under my chin hitting my neck and forcing me off the ground before she slammed me into a nearby wall, miraculously avoiding to put any impact on my lower body. She bellowed with rage, right into my face. “Sephiroth told me of one occasion! Care to explain why there are memories of hundreds?!”

“H-hundreds!? I-it was only once! S-she sent me back after it!”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously and her horn began to glow. “Prove it!”

“W-why don’t you just dive into my mind? I-if I...” I shuddered at what I was about to say. “If I had done that hundreds of times, you’ll see it in my mind as well.”

The alicorn growled and touched her horn to my forehead. “That’s what I intended to do. But I despise having to force my way in, even to my greatest enemies.” Then she closed her eyes and an almost unbearable tingling enveloped the inside of my head. I didn’t know what I was expecting, maybe reliving it or being forced to think of it, but nothing like that happened. She just opened her eyes again after the tingling faded, but instead of relief or remorse there was only dread. “Sephiroth went missing after Kat freed me. Actually they both did. Oh no…” Her hold on me vanished as tears entered her eyes mumbling to herself. “Oh sister, what have you done?”

“What-” I paused, taking in what she just said. I felt my magic flare with my anger as I stood up. “Celestia did what to Sephiroth?”

Nightmare shook her head. “This it not the time. We have to act, fast.” She rushed to the side of the fallen woman again, her horn ablaze once more, before sending me an impatient look. “Hurry now!”

Setting my anger aside I rushed over and connected my magic to hers, letting her use mine for the moment. Instantly I felt a great pull and I received the distinct impression of being ripped out of my body before everything went black.

I found myself in an environment that could only be described as the sickest of horror shows, my eyes going wide as I witnessed a seemingly endless number of windows, most of them sporting myself, or my male self, at least. Nightmare was right, there were hundreds of them.

I felt my anger rise again as I noticed one of Celestia ripping into Sephiroth’s stomach. “Celestia will pay.”

Another presence joined me, but I couldn’t rip my gaze from the sight. The one window I noticed being different in more ways than one. I couldn’t hear anything but it practically dipped with more… what I could only describe as ‘suffering’ than the others combined. How I knew what the thick, black substance was eluded me but it wasn’t important. A crushing urge to raise my hand and touch it tugged at my mind and I gave no resistance. But my hand was stopped just short of reaching its target. “Don’t. You can not risk sharing this pain, regardless of how much you think you deserve to. It would lead to the ultimate demise of your foal.”

I shook my head, still staring at the window. “I know it would hurt, but it wouldn’t lead to me killing myself. I... Why. Why is that thing infesting Celestia being so cruel?”

“You’ll have to enter her memory to find out. But there is no guarantee the reason will be in this one. I must admit that I don’t see why it would be this painful to her. Sure the physical pain is much bigger than being raped, but there is a pure and deep gash in her soul left behind by this one. I fear we have no choice but investigating. I know you have no reason to trust me but I may be able to shield your unborn.”

It was then that I realized what was happening in the memory. “This is more painful because-...” I put my hands over my mouth, trying to keep myself from hurling. This was the work of a true monster. Without warning I lunged forward, dragging Nightmare with me as I touched the portrait.

The very next moment I felt weaker than I had ever in my life. I tried to move but my body just wouldn’t respond. My arms were suspended behind and above me, the humming of powerful magic ever present. I was naked, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to care. The cold stone beneath me dulling the pain somewhat, bringing with it a merciful numbness. My ears suddenly caught a sharp sound beneath the hum, someone was coming and it instilled unadulterated terror in my heart. The slow approach was a torture in and of itself but at the same time I blinked and she stood before me. I had stopped to wonder how that was possible, instead opting to lift my head to peer into her magenta eyes. A show of defiance that never ceased to enrage the white alicorn, bringing the ghost of a smile to my face. But it wasn’t to last as I felt a hoof painfully connect with my side, cracking yet another rib, causing me to cough up a river of blood.

“Why do you keep defying me?!” Another blow, this time to my head, making me see stars as it snapped to the side. But I would not yield. I turned my gaze back to her spitting a glob of my own blood into her face. Her horn lit brilliantly and I knew what was to come as searing pain ripped through my skull. The agony lasted for both, an eternity and a single second, before she receded again. But her smile was what terrified me the most. She had found something that obviously pleased her and that could only mean more pain for me. In a vain attempt to flee I flinched back, triggering the enchantments of my hold, feeling all strength I managed to gather being sapped away in an instant.

Slowly she came near, her face passing mine until her mouth was at my ear. She didn’t need to whisper, nor being this close to me, but it was an additional demonstration of how powerless I was. “I know of your little secret.” I was puzzled at first but then I felt her hoof stroking my abdomen almost lovingly and my blood turned to sub zero levels. Ever since Max I was aware of the possibility but wasn’t able to check until now. “Let me help you with that little testament to his actions.” Panic and the unbreakable will to safe my unborn lent me new strength and I began my struggle anew, even finding my voice long enough to roar at the princess.

I tried to slam into her, hurt her, kill her and the enchantments flared to life once more. I didn’t care and fought for all I was worth only to scream when pain exploded in my stomach. Feeling her dig inside me introduced me to a whole new level of pain while blood erupted from me strong enough to reach the ceiling. Why? Why was I powerless to stop what was happening to me, again? With a triumphant smile on her, now blood soaked, face I felt her gripping something inside me. This smile turned sadistic when I looked up to her pleadingly, begging for some trace of the original Celestia to save my child but the very next moment she ripped it out and all I knew was agony way worse than anything could physically feel.

I shuddered and wrapped my arms around my stomach. “S-Sephiroth hates when a child dies,” I whispered. “T-that-...” I shook my head and buried my face in Nightmare’s coat.

The alicorn remained silent, but enclosed me into a feathery hug with both of her wings. We stayed like that for a while, neither one of us moving. Finally I found my voice again. “That thing infesting Celestia better say its prayers. I’m never going to stop until I have it in its own body and place it in an infinite loop of nothing but agonizing torture built specifically for it.” I felt my magic flare around my real body as my anger returned ten fold. “No one. No one. Hurts my family, not me, not a sadistic, sociopathic, rape-loving, TORTURING BITCH; NO ONE!”

She let me vent, but then she began to speak with extreme sorrow in her voice. “If only we could prove the memory false, then we could neutralize its suffering.”

My head snapped around to look at Nightmare. “I used two spells before she made me leave. One was a weak abortion spell, used in the few minutes after fertilization to make sure the egg doesn’t take, the second one was to make my semen infertile to prevent a second egg from being fertilized.”

Her ears perked and, without asking for permission this time, touched her horn to my forehead, ripping the memory from my mind. It hurt, yes, but it was bearable. She threw a glowing orb from the tip of her horn at the window, which was promptly consumed into its surface. At first, nothing happened, but then a spiderweb of cracks build on it. It did not shatter, nor did it vanish, but the thick, black liquid disappeared around it. Before I could examine further I found myself in a bone crushing hug. “Brace yourself. There will be an aftershock.”

I grumbled at the treatment, but surrounded us with a bubble of my magic anyways, reinforcing it with all but what I would need to switch from night to day.

The very reality around us shuddered and I felt the strain it put on my shield but it came to an end way before it could even so much as scratch the barrier. Nightmare let go of me and seemed to examine our surroundings before she nodded. “I can take care of the rest on my own. I already have the memory to let her see that all but one are false. She won’t come out of it fully recovered, not even slightly. But at least she can begin to.” She hesitated for a moment before looking right into my eyes. “I may have discovered the reason behind all this. There is a memory she guards vehemently, but it reacted when you used your magic. I think she would want you to know.”

I lowered the shield, still looking Nightmare in the eye. “Once my son has been born, nothing - not even death - will keep that possessing whore’s daughter from me.” I looked away, searching for that memory she mentioned. “I know I’ll never be able to help Kat be released from her torture, but at least I can keep the rest of my family from suffering too much.”

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and turned towards a moving window, to be precise it was moving towards me and my eyes widened at what I saw. It wasn’t very complex, in fact, it only held two small spheres. Both glowing ominously. One being of the same colour as the wisps from Sephiroth’s portal, a gentle green that brought warmth just by looking at a memory of it. The other one absorbed the light around itself in a way that it seemed to glow in a black light, bringing with it a feeling so cold that it could only be described as death. I recognized them but I didn’t want to believe. In both, awe and dread, I muttered almost against my will. “The black and white materia…”

Nightmare’s voice pierced through my stupor. “You know what those are?”

“Yeah, they’re what Final Fantasy seven revolve around,” I said distractedly. “If she’s seen them, there’s a good possibility she took them to make sure they didn’t fall into the wrong hands. Such as Celestia’s.”

“Do they really hold that much power that it could be what the being is after?”

“The Black Materia - the black one - summons a planet to ‘hurt’ the one the caster is on. Then the caster can suck life and power directly from the planet’s Life Stream.” Nightmare gasped loudly, but I wasn’t finished. “The White Materia - the green one - was actually meant to bind a whole race to the planet itself, essentially forcing it to acknowledge the race as a part of itself. It’s purpose was to save an entire species from annihilation, but if a being like the one possessing Celestia were to use its power, it would become the very paragon of the planet, merging with life itself and thus corrupting the entirety of it at once.”

Silence followed my statement, the alicorn staring incredulously at the two unassuming spheres.

“Yeah, the White Materia can also be used to counteract the Black one. I’d be worried if Celestia got the Black Materia, but I’d just throw her into the Void if she claimed the White one.”

Slowly the mare shook her head. “We couldn’t… even if there is just an infinitesimally small chance for it reaching another world. We would basically condemn it as to not have to deal with the consequences of our own mistakes.”

“There’s a bigger chance she’ll be found by a denizen of the Void. They’ll possibly destroy her, or send her back to where she came from. And let’s face it, if she did come back to your universe, by then you’d be ready.”

Her head sunk a little. “I’d rather not take the chance of her gaining the Materia in the first place. Maybe there is a way to destroy them?”

"Not unless you want that knowledge yourself. Materia is nothing but crystallized knowledge, so in order to destroy it, it has to be absorbed completely."

Nightmare straightened her posture as her horn began to glow. “We have to discuss this at a later moment, preferably when Sephiroth is conscious again. Until then we should commence with the original intent of this visit. I will return you to your own body and do everything that lies within my capabilities here.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes in exasperation. “Look, I’m not possessed! The only way I would be is if the Nightmare - no offense - from my universe somehow survived the elements and hid in....” I trailed off, wondering why I was considering this. Why was I even thinking that it might not be possible? I facepalmed. “I forgot the one thing every brony agrees on.”

“No offense taken. I learned that my name recently turned into a rather dark meaning and Sephiroth informed me that it’s common in more worlds.” A bright, blue flash and I found myself back in the hallway as if nothing had happened. Nightmare still touched her horn to Sephiroth’s forehead and had her eyes closed, whereas the woman on the ground had relaxed visibly. Her hands, which were pressed against her head before, now laid on the ground. She looked rather cu- unconscious, that was totally what I was going to say!

“Why don’t we get Seph comfortable before we proceed?” I suggested, part of me- no, the Nightmare was nervous.

The alicorn did not react, at first, but opened her eyes after a few minutes while the glow around her horn ceased. “Yes, that is a good idea. She’s in an enchanted sleep that will help her rest. The wounds on her mind and soul are deep but they will heal with time and care.” She rose to her hooves and took a step back. Obviously she thought that I would rather carry Sephy myself.

I nodded and bent down, picking Sephiroth up like she was a baby and turned towards my rooms. “I think I can feel the thing possessing me. And I think it knows as well.”

Nightmare nodded. “I don’t doubt that you are capable of expelling it yourself, but I offer my assistance, still. Not just to exorcise but to eliminate the being. Admittedly I’m a little egoistical with this request, too. As it will give me the chance to examine the being while it’s still comparably harmless. Maybe I can even find a way to free my sister.”

“Oh no, I don’t want it eliminated. I want to give it its own body so I can tear it limb from limb for making me hurt Seph. We might be able to modify the transformation spell a bit to turn something like a pile of oranges into a body for it.”

The mare next to me tilted her head in thought. “I can understand that. But to create a fully functioning body out of nothing but oranges? While not impossible it would take an enormous amount of magic, not even counting the additional materials which would have to be created from scratch. If you so much as forget to seal a single blood vessel in its brain then it will just die away, essentially freeing the being again.”

“We have the strength of three alicorns between us and two others we can call on for assistance. Besides, I know of a hydra that’s been a nuisance in a bog near the Everfree. We can get as much meat, bone, and brain matter as we need from him.” I paused to open the door. “On top of that, I can control time and physics. If such a problem arises, I can just pause time to fix it.”

Nodding, Nightmare paused at the door to my room, not taking a single step over the doorsill. “That would make things way less complicated. I take it that you don’t care about the hydra’s inert magic, which will carry over to an extent. To what effects, we will not know until finished.”

“Not with the transformation spell from this universe,” I said as I set Seph down on my bed. “It changes the- whoa!” As soon as I tried to step away Sephiroth grabbed me and pulled me onto the bed, almost completely on top of her. I froze for a moment before grabbing something that broke off from my magic, placing it in a containing spell. “The damn thing almost went over to Sephiroth!”

“Feeling its imminent demise, or rather future torture, it’s only likely that it would try to escape. Sephiroth is not in any state to withstand a possession at the moment and maybe it even knew of the materia from you. I’m glad that you caught it, but at the same time I’m more than a little disappointed. I thought I could study it more and now I won’t be able to perfect the process of expelling it.” Her voice sounded agitated but she managed to keep at least a little calm.

“Well, at least we know how to get it out of her now. Just make her immobile and give it another body to move to.” I grumbled, wishing it would’ve put up more of a fight. It wasn’t even trying to escape now.

Nightmare glanced over the two of us and couldn’t hide a small smile. “Seeing as you are a little... preoccupied, can you give the being to me? I would very much like to examine it until we are able to create a body for it.”

I shifted a little, embarrassed by what I was about to say and immediately felt the grip around me tightening. “Yeah, about that... I don’t know how to move the spell I have it in from where it is. Didn’t get that far in the book.”

The mare did not answer for a few moments and instead blinked incredulously. “Are you serious? Oh heavens, you are.” She facehoofed before sighing. “What spell are we talking about exactly? A simple shield or something specific?”

“It’s used to hold beings that can fade in and out of the material realm. Holo gave it to me as an early wedding present.”

“I don’t recognize the spell itself, but I know of one that should be suffice. Trapping ethereal beings is not new to me.” A new layer appeared around my own shield. “But to be safe create a new one around my shield, big enough for me to move the being around a bit to see if it will stay contained within.”

Doing as instructed, the shield was now visible around my head. I felt the being expand, only to run into Nightmare’s shield and stop completely once more. She then proceeded to violently vibrate her shield in a wide enough arc so that the being was bounced around inside, to make sure that it hadn’t just pretended to be stopped from the mare’s shield, only to escape the second it was out of my sight.

“Stop, you’re making me dizzy as well!” I said as I dispelled my shield.

She shot me an apologetic smile and let the being drift over to her side. “Sorry. I’m leaving the two of you alone then.” Snickering slightly she began to turn, only to stop mid movement. “You probably should enjoy it for as long as it lasts. There is no way to tell if she will be okay with touching you after waking up.”

“I think she thinks I’m you, really. I’m glad that I could help her.” My expression darkened. “But that thing infesting your sister better be turned over to me. I will find my way to your universe and take it by force if I have to.”

“That decision is not mine to make, not after what she has done to Sephiroth.” The black alicorn resumed her turn and took a step before pausing, again. “Max? For your own sake I’m going to say this to you. Her heart is in turmoil, not just because the rape happened…” Her staying silent for a while was downright torture, but I refrained from interrupting. “... but that she actually enjoyed it and hates herself for it. Do her a favor and make sure she stops thinking of herself as some kind of freak or whore.” With that she left, not waiting for an answer.

I sighed and whispered, “I’ll try...”

I lay there for a few minutes, trying to think of how I could get Seph to come around before Sol walked in and caught sight of Sephiroth cuddling with me. “Should I come back later?” She asked.

“No, in fact there’s something I’d like you to check,” I said, explaining about Aurora and what I was planning on doing for her.

Sol was deep in thought for about an hour before she finally said, “Well, as long as we don’t put any programming in the actual body and use magic to tether her to it, it will work assuming that she can actually possess a living thing.”

“Then please start at once and let me know if you have trouble with any part of it. Also, once you know when the body will be ready, please let me know.”

Sol nodded. “We will. So who’s this?”

“Sephiroth. I... messed up. I had thought the Elements destroyed the Nightmare that was in Celestia, but they didn’t. I doubt they even touched it. It was in me ever since she gave me her power and it took until Seph came here to realize that.”

“Ah, well... uh...”

“Don’t worry, you had no way of knowing about it. Anyways, I’m going to be stuck here for... I don’t know how long, but if you see a black-ish alicorn around, don’t mess with her. She’s from a different universe and used to being treated like royalty.”

“Yes, commander.” With a relieved look in her eyes, Sol turned and left the room.

Once the door closed an envelope appeared in front of my face and hit me hard enough for the sound to be heard. “... Ow.”

I peeled the letter off of my face and opened it, noticing it had a slightly yellowed appearance.

To Miss Maxine Caulfield,

Hi Max I hope you’re doing well… I was just wondering if I could fly an airship… Since I read that you were making one… That is though apparently not directly connected to my magic which means resting for me, but still it would be nice if I could get to fly one again.

From Captain Edward Kenway.

Huh... wait, how did he know about the carrier? I thought, levitating paper and quill over.

Captain Kenway,

I don’t know how you heard of my plans, but I was searching for a captain for a vessel and I was thinking that anyone piloting this vessel would need... a different perspective than a pony or griffon. I shall summon you later so you may see the ship for yourself, or you may make your way to my universe on your own.

Sincerely,
Max

With that, I rolled up my response and dug his token out of my bag. I stuck the scroll into the eye socket of the iron scroll, watching in partial fascination as I pushed the entire scroll in all the way and was left with an empty skull once more.