A yellow glow flowed over twists of wood. Slowly, the wood vibrated until the tree branch moved to one side. Another branch gripped in the same glow followed suit and another mirrored the same movement. Soon a pathway formed and two alicorns walked through it, followed by their choice number of guards.
Celestia huffed at her magical glow as she continued in what she already considered long ago as a fruitless search. Golden Williams, despite not being in a place of comfort as shown by the excessive sweat and caution in his movement, was curious about his surroundings and, above all, curious about the rumors of this forest.
They walked further before stopping at a stump. The sight of which made Celestia huff louder and drop her magical grip. "That's it, I'm blowing that stump up!" She charged up a spell.
"Now, now, now, just because this is our fifteenth time seeing that same stump doesn't mean you should lose your cool." Golden Williams quickly walked over and in front of her attack.
"You didn't jab your foot into the same stump five times in a row."
"That was yesterday and even then, you haven't done that once today."
"Doesn't mean it won't happen... again." She pushed him aside and walked further ahead.
"Okay, okay. No one besides you and Starswirl knows more about chaos theory. But that doesn't approve that every repeat will eventually lead to a crash."
"That is not how it works. It's recklessness and loss of patience combined with repeating events and occasional randomness--" Celestia stopped upon tripping over a random branch. "That leads to chaos."
"And pain. Fascinating."
"Indeed." She pushed herself up and finally took in a deep breath.
"At least you adapt quickly... Sometimes."
"Well, Starswirl has always been better at predicting chaotic moments." Celestia knocked off some leaves before turning back to the tree stump to sit down. "Really, I'm just wondering how long I have to be out here."
"Aunty said--"
"I know what she said, and I know the orders come from my father. But it has been two years since that light magic event and I have still yet to find the source. The most I have ever found was a massive trench in the ground where something might have once been."
"Yes, but that day was a wonderful find. Wasn't it?"
"How? There were no traces of magic. That much magic would have not faded away so quickly." Celestia laid her head down and let her mane fall around her face.
"Don't get too emo on me." Golden Williams walked over and leaned his elbows on her back.
"Hey, I'm not the emo!"
"Oh, that's right. Your sister is that. You're the preppy one."
"Now you are just being mean." She pushed him off and stood back up. "I'm not really annoyed. It's just that we have been out here for days and still found nothing."
"You weren't so annoyed for the first few days."
"Well, one, because you refused to follow Aunty's orders about talking to your father and joined me out here."
"I knew talking to father would be pointless now, anyway."
"And two, when I felt that." She pointed to the north.
"The bubbling of war?"
"No, that enormous source of dark magic. Don't tell me you didn't sense it."
"Actually, I noticed it when it first appeared. But it's dark magic, not light. Ergo, it serves no purpose pondering on it." Golden Williams turned away from it.
"No purpose. That source when it first shot out was easily ten times stronger than any other magical event I have ever experienced. All except for the one from the source I have been spending these days looking for."
"Yes, but again, it is dark magic, so it serves me no purpose." Golden Williams' horn glowed yellow before spinning a bold smoky blue. "This," he pointed to his horn. "Is what I desire. Not red."
"Well, I'm not a light magic user, nor am I part of that bloodline, so it serves better for me to check all forms."
"Hmm, you bring up a good quandary." Golden Williams stroked his goatee. "How to better serve both needs. Hmm..." His eyes narrowed and thoughts formed. "How about we split up teams?"
"Really?" Celestia jumped up and reached over for his hands, bringing them together between them. "Would you do that for me?"
"Of course."
"Goody." Celestia swung the hands up and down a few times before halting. "No, that's no good. Father's orders were for me to check the light source out, not you."
"Give no worry. He won't know."
"Really!" she cheered at his nodded before leaning over and giving him a few kisses on the cheek. "Thank you, thank you, cousin."
"Enough, enough. Anymore show of emotions and I might consider reattempting that old proposal from years ago." Golden Williams laughed aloud before quickly sneering as Celestia stepped on his foot.
"You will do no such thing."
"Of course, of course. You have eyes for another."
"Wait, is it that obvious." Celestia pulled away from him completely.
"Just get moving." Golden Williams couldn't hold back his laughter again before shewing her away.
"Oh, of course." She turned to her guards and nodded to them to take to the sky, and she pursued. "Thank you again."
"Don't worry, I've got this handle." He smiled at her leaving.
******
Nails tore forth and ripped at the meat on the plates. Bringing the flesh up to vicious teeth, the chunks were quickly shredded and swiftly swallowed. Jaws dripped with drool and juices moved with incredible voracious speed as each piece came near it. The claws at the same time did their best to keep it all moving without joining the meat inside the mouth and down to the stomach.
As this fury of motions happened on two sides, a lone figure in the center sat back in disgust. The rage was the only thing keeping this lone stallion from puking at the sight of it all. Instead, he tried to again search for any means of freedom from the surrounding room.
The tentacles that had been holding them for days had long left, but he was still stuck to his chair, unable to move. He was forced to either watch this horror or soon join in. He would rather concentrate his mind on other things like escaping and the chafing his legs had received for sitting still for so long.
He knew he couldn't give up. Sitting here all this time gave him plenty to think about and he was certain now of his capture's true plans. And he knew for certain, or at least he hoped with all his might, that this plan wasn't just to have him simply give into cannibalism.
In the end, he knew he would have to be patient and hold on to his will power for as long as possible.
On the other side of the room, a crystal hidden from all sight continued to watch his attempts with intrigue. The crystal images fed into a new room. It was certainly not the same room that had been watching them before.
This new room was a pale white room with much equipment akin to a doctor's office. There Vanity Claymore occasionally watched while working on some of Carnival Carnage's stitches. "Hmm, it seems Star Stone is still fighting it."
"Nearly ten days, nearly ten days isn't that bad for pushing one's limits," Carnival commented while lifting his arm up.
Vanity followed suit, fixing the stitches under the priest's armpit. "It will be ten full days in a few more hours, though I wish I could have given Lord Frost a better timetable for those three. Apparently, when comparing three different species, three different ages, three different health and two different genders, one can make mistakes."
"Mistakes aren't part of it." A door behind her opened and Sage stepped in. "Star Stone is one of the most stubborn beings I have ever know--" He stopped upon noticing that Vanity's tight pants were pointing right at the door. He hurried over to the monitor and far from the sight of her ass before continuing. "He will not falter easily."
"Well, maybe you can tell me more about 'that' later." Vanity winked at him, acknowledgment of his inadvertent stare. Luckily, the perverted priest in the room she was currently working on didn't catch on to the thought that crossed both ifrits' minds.
"Right..." Sage walked closer to the monitor and finally noted the obvious. "Where is Thule?"
"Oh, he is currently on the surface gathering up details since he is the only one that is unknown to the alicorns as being on Lord Frost's side and thus can hide in plain sight more easily."
“And, the Night Brothers have still yet to arrive?”
“Those two were born in luxury and then placed in harsh prisons. I’m sure those two are simply taking their time enjoying the sights. Besides, those are more of a surprise to a certain enemy rather than an extremely important part of the plan.”
“What about the inugami?”
“Oh, Bad Wolf and our hostage were sent ahead of us to the Earth Pony Conglomerate. Though I’m sure he will be back soon.”
"What about me?" Sage questioned. "No one even knows that the eight limbs are missing yet, so I shouldn't I have as much freedom as he does?"
Vanity placed down her tools and turned toward Sage. "What? Do you wish to go outside?"
"No, I was outside days ago?"
"Yes, but that was before you knew of Lord Frost's true identity." She slowly walked to him with each word.
"So just because I know he is half wendigo, I can't leave." Sage didn't even catch on to her movements.
"No, you see he has a plan special for you and you alone." She got right up next to his right side before leaping to his left side. Her eyes were completely away from him, as if she was looking for something. "I realize you are getting bored here, but your purpose will become clear soon. Until then." She reached over in front of him and grabbed at a shot that was lying on the monitor's table before walking back to Carnival. "I need to get Carnival ready for his next mission."
"Which is?"
"Oh, he needs to spread our great lord's word." She lifted the shot upward and harshly stabbed the needle tip right into Carnival's lower abdomen.
"I'm also meeting with Blue Bull." Carnival pulled in pain before jumping off the table and walking to a hanger and grabbed his clothes. Sage inadvertently noted the earth pony's naked body and noticed that despite the priest's very perverted nature, he had no lower features of any kind.
"Freaky, isn't it?" Vanity noted his confused stare. "I gave the same reaction when I found out." She leaned back onto her desk and laughed as Carnival exited.
"Right..." Sage swung his head back and forth to get the thought out of his head. Attempting to readjust the subject, he again questioned. "So everyone in this group, whatever our name is, has a purpose."
"Well, first off, we call ourselves the Nine Families. Though there are not nine of us yet. Lord Frost chose nine beings only for this group."
"So... he knew I would join."
"Of course, he can read anyone extremely well. That gives him the right to lead us." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bottle with a red lid. "He knows all our strengths and weaknesses." She glanced at the bottle before putting away it just as fast. "And for that reason, he has a purpose for all of us."
"Even for that mare, Twil... Twil..."
"Twilight, yes." Vanity's smile quickly vanished at that name. "Even she has a purpose in his plan."
"You mean he's not finished with her."
"Nope, he has much more for her."
"What about the rest of you?" Sage finally let his guard down a little and pushed himself away from the table and to the examining area. "I mean, I'm one of the best politicians out there, and if there is one thing I know is planning. A plan of this size would take far over nine."
"You don't even know the full plan yet you are bold enough to challenge such ideas." Vanity laughed and whispered to herself, "Now I almost see the real you."
"Wait, what?"
"Oh, nothing." She shrugged. "We are nine families. We are his most important pieces, but truthfully, I believe he has agents everywhere. And even though not the most loyal of Carnival knows the entire plan, we can still follow it with no hesitation."
"And why is that?"
"Because he promised to bring us from darkness and out to the light."
"That's paraphrasing."
"Isn't it always? No matter how he or Thule said it, it always has the same meaning."
"And that is...?"
"Ha, ha, ha. So you haven't figured it out yet." Vanity walked over and padded him on the back. "Don't worry, you will soon, once you let down that guard of yours completely."
******
Far away on another doctor's examining table, Twilight laid while a bright light covering most of her apparently naked body. "Are you sure about this?" Twilight questioned as the icy touch of Lady Cat's tools moved over her body.
"You wanted me to check you over and I am."
"She means do I have to be in here?" Starlight sat in the back of the room with a blindfold over her face. "I mean, yes, I can't see anything, but really, is there a point for me to be here while you examine my teacher."
"You know her better than we do so you can tell me which of these scars are the oldest and which are the newest, so I can ascertain the strange pain you have been reporting since you arrived on this ship." Lady Cat leaned over and poked Twilight's belly button. "Huh, you're an inner."
"I already know that--" Twilight stopped at some sharp pain from the movement.
"Did I find it?"
"No, you just hit an old wound."
"Huh, old..." She poked down deeper, only bringing out more annoyance at Twilight.
"Just stop it's not there." Twilight pulled free of her straps and sat up. "Look." She took Lady Cat's hand and brought it over to a unique spot. "This scar is the one that is hurting."
"Fine, fine, fine. I'll check out that spot." Lady Cat huffed.
Unbeknownst to Twilight, through a nearby mirror, Starswirl was watching from another room. "Intriguing. Every part of her is a fully realized adult alicorn, yet she's not even reached her late twenties yet. Most wouldn't reach such form until their forties or even fifties."
"So what is this? An effect of the time travel?" Clover questioned.
"Actually, that would explain less. My time spell would have stopped their aging until after they returned to their proper timeline. It wouldn’t explain why Twilight Sparkle is so young, in not only height but even in biology."
"Is this why you wanted to bring her aboard this airship?" Clover turned away from the viewing and looked toward the wall.
"I have many reasons. This being the first reason, the second was the fact she used dark magic so close to the old altar of Agonía and lived, and third being..."
"A reason you still won’t tell us." Clover inched at her throat.
“It's so fascinating,” Starswirl snapped his fingers and puffed a cup of chocolate milk into Clover's hand and a scroll into his other hand. “If Cold Blue’s words are to be believed, this mare nearly reached a second ascension when she unleashed all that dark magic near that altar.”
“Indeed, I was nearby and the blast nearly knocked me off my feet.”
Starswirl twisted his hand about the viewing, making it change color. "But out of everything I’ve learned from this mare, what I find most interesting though they are these scars." He pointed out to one after the other. "The wound on her neck seems to be the oldest. Possibly done by a crystal rope. Meanwhile, the one on her stomach seemed to be the most devastating. It appears to have been a heavy bashing, followed by a massive stab that went all their way through. Because of the sign of tachyon particles over these spots as well, show that each one of them clearly happened on her journey through time."
"Such a wound would have killed her if she wasn't an alicorn."
"And yet she's chosen to hide as a unicorn when in public." Starswirl zoomed into a scar on her eye. "Truly amazing."
"Kind of reminds me of when I first saw Rex's scars."
"Huh." Starswirl snapped his fingers again and a strange metal cap with lights appeared on his head. "That is an unusual parallel I need to think about. All these details have been booming through my head. Hmm, I might need to think of this more in private." He lifted his legs into the air and floated toward the door. "Close up when you're done."
"I'm done? You're the one who wanted to examine her."
"Yes, but you were the one complaining of her screeches of pain throughout the night." Starswirl exited the room.
"That because you put her room right next to mine!" she yelled back at him in annoyance. Clover couldn't hold back her huffed at Starswirl leaving and finally took a drink of her chocolate milk. She quickly pulled back at the fact it tasted more like banana rather than chocolate.
Back on the other side of the mirror, Lady Cat moved her sight in closer to the fresh scar in question, much to the heavy regret of Twilight since the batpony was now rubbing her big hands all over the scar... which was just above her cleavage.
The scar was certainly different from the others. It was the freshest, but it was also a different color. It shined a dark blue much like the scar over her eye, but deep in the center of the wound, a small maroon red could be seen in the shape of a perfect vertical slit.
"Did she find it yet, teacher?" Starlight questioned aloud.
"Yeah... Uhmftpu, she found it." Twilight tried to keep herself calm, especially since she hadn't really let anypony outside of her reach into that spot in years. Last time being a one-night stand with Rainbow Dash. "Oh, uh, uh okay. Stop!" she huffed in annoyance and blush before puffing to the far end of the table. "I think you've done enough." Twilight's horn glowed and brought her clothes over with magic.
"So does that mean I can take this blindfold off?"
"Not yet!" Lady Cat gave her own huff. "I need to know about a certain scar..."
"Which one." Starlight jumped up and reached for her blindfold and attempted to get free. "I can't see anything still!"
"The one between her d cup."
"Between her... between her... Wait, Teach, you never told me you were a D cup." Starlight couldn’t hold back her laughter.
"I never considered that detail as a needed subject of your training!" Twilight pulled up her pants and dress.
Lady Cat placed her hand over Twilight's mouth and stopped everything. "Just tell me if she ever received a scar around her cleavage area."
"Well..." Starlight stopped her struggles and thought about it. "There was that moment that dark blue siren was atop of her."
"Dark blue siren?!?!" Twilight pulled free and shouted aloud. "When did I have a dark blue siren on top of me?"
"While the dark magic was overloading you. He was the one who knocked you out."
"Oh..." Twilight stopped her fears. Finally, she got her shirt over her face. However, before she could get it over her chest, Lady Cat reached over again without warning.
"Wait, a dark blue siren?" The batpony questioned as she ran her hand along the scar in an up and down motion. "Oh, you must mean Cold Blue. Fredricson mentioned him a few times. Apparently, the siren is Rex's oldest rival."
"Cold Blue, huh? Celestia never mentioned him during her stories of Rex." Twilight quickly pulled away again and fixed her shirt over her upper body. Once she was sure she was fully clothed, her horn glowed and puffed away the blindfold from Starlight's skull.
"Oh, finally." Starlight gave a sigh of relief. "So, about that scar? Any reason a wound from his blade would cause such pain."
"Huh, unsure. It may very well be that the pain isn't from the scar, but being the focal point of the pain from a different source since all I can tell is that it's just a fresh scar." Lady Cat walked over to the sink to wash her hands.
"And that source might be..." Twilight gave a long pause, hoping for some answer.
"Not sure." Both Twilight and Starlight deadpanned to her answer. Lady Cat reached into her medicine cabinet and pulled out a bottle with a red lid. "Here, take some painkillers for now." She poured out two. "This should be good for the week." She presented them to Twilight. "Just be careful, they can be addictive."
"Okay." Twilight took the pills and popped them down her throat. She stopped halfway at the sound of yelling.
"Now what?" Lady turned toward the door.
"Are you okay, teach?" Starlight padded Twilight's back, allowing her to swallow the pills.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Twilight exhaled heavily. "What is happening out there?"
"I don't know..." Starlight looked toward the door as Lady Cat exited. "Wait, Silver Pear?!" She jumped away at the sound of his voice.
Both of them ran out the door. Down they moved through metal hallways until they came to a large room with an arena in the center. Once they saw what was happening, their fears quickly faded.
Silver Pear was fighting Rex in the center of the arena. This had happened four times now since they arrived on the ship and it was clear this fight would be no different.
"They don't give up." Starlight leaned a bar.
"Well, we have always known Silver Pear to be pretty stubborn." Twilight smiled and took a seat. "Plus, I read in many books how Rex always stood forward in battle with the strongest will of any warrior."
"Strongest Will, huh?" Clover's voice peeked in their ears. "Is that how you know of Rex in this future you herald from or is he alive in your time too."
"Well, the truth is I don't think I've met him in person before now."
"You don't think. What do you mean by that?" Clover could only raise an eyebrow at the alicorn's words.
"I mean, this is the first time I've met him." Twilight leaned over and held her head up with her hands and seemed to hum. "But, it feels like I've always known him."
"Well, if it is indeed true, you have always known him." Starlight laughed. "I mean, he is your--" She was quickly stopped by some cotton candy appearing in her mouth.
Starswirl appeared out of nowhere and laughed at Starlight. “Clearly, you don't get the concept of spoilers."
"No, master. I want to know!" Clover moved closer.
"I'm sorry, but that is up to Twilight." Starswirl looked at Twilight and shook his head. Twilight replied with her own nod.
Getting no once more only brought anger to Clover. Especially at the sight of Starlight getting free and leaning over to Twilight's ear and whispering something. Clover filled her horn with magic and deep inside, her eardrums widened. For a moment, she could hear the whispering.
"Is the reason you won't tell them is that you think Clover might be..." Starlight stopped before she could finish as if Twilight knew what her words would be. Twilight only nodded and giggled heavily at what Clover could only tell was an incredible joy.
Clover leaned over to hear more by then. The signal went completely silent. She looked up at her horn and only became more confused at the sight of the glowing light still in place. She raised her hand up to her ears, hoping to get an answer, only to pull back at the touch of fluff.
Quickly feeling again, she found pink earmuffs covering her skull. Her eyes raced over to Starswirl before pulling them off. She huffed at the bunny ears on the top of them and threw them to the side.
She dropped the spell and watched the fight.
Silver Pear swung forward and Rex quickly ducked into his shadow and popped out of Silver Pear's own shadow behind him. The earth pony followed by flipping his claymore backward incredibly fast and blocked the attack and jumped. Silver Pear smiled as he spun back around and threw his claymore right at Rex. However, before he could even realize it, chains pulled his legs down and bashed his head into the hilt of his claymore, changing direction. Rex didn't need to duck again and simply smiled as the claymore barely missed by mere inches.
The claymore bounced over and nearly hit the crowd. Starlight jumped back, while Clover and Twilight kept their place with no sign of fear at all. The blade tip stabbed right into the ground between them.
"Careful!" Starlight shouted.
"Sorry, Lovely. Didn't see you there." Silver Pear waved at her with a bold grin before slamming into the ground.
"Looks like I win again." Rex stretched his arm toward the claymore and its shadow opened up and the weapon fell inside and pulled out through Silver Pear's shadow. "Next time, don't assume the reckless route. It only makes you lose quicker." He held out his hand to the earth pony as his chains released.
"Thanks for the tip." Silver Pear took the help and stood up. Placing his claymore back in his coat, he moved to dust himself off.
Rex retracted his chains completely and walked over to the group. "I think that will be it for today."
Starswirl placed his hands together and smiled. "Indeed, nighttime will be here soon."
"Speaking of which," Fredricson walked in, "We will arrive at the capital of the Unicorn Providence by tomorrow morning."
"Good," Rex walked over to the exit. "The sooner we talk to Princess Platinum, the better."
All of them took those words with a huff of annoyance, as some of them were actually enjoying the fight. They got up either way and made their way to the exit. All except for Silver Pear, who instead looked off to somewhere else.
"Silver Pear, you coming?" Starlight questioned as she was the last one out the door.
"Sure, if you will join me," He gave her an evil grin.
"NO!" she yelled. "I was just curious since it looked like your mind was somewhere else."
"Nah, it's okay. I'll get to bed in a minute." He quickly shewed her away.
"Okay..." She closed the door and left him completely alone.
With the room empty and the lights slowly dimming, Silver Pear could only sigh before whispering, "Good night, mom."
******
Miles away in the dimming evening sky, a small shine could be seen. The sky was clear enough that this glistening light was distinctly red. However, it was not the same red of the red snowflakes that Indigo Frost took the form of, instead the hue was more brown in tone, reddish like rust.
The rust-colored shine traced across the sky at incredible speeds before landing on the ground in front of four mighty towers. A closer look revealed the shine was coming from a massive orb. The orb was perfectly shaped into a spherical almost egg shape devoid of any imperfections at all. It was one solid color, somehow even keeping its hue despite the fading light.
Without warning, it opened up and yet still gave no sign of imperfection in this new movement. Stepping out was an all too familiar alicorn. Blood Diamond quickly popped his neck and adjusted his body upon exiting. "It seems we have arrived..." He stopped and mused. "That unicorn didn't show up to meet us. We would almost consider it an insult if we weren't supposedly at war." He stopped his words with a pause and looked around.
After a quick look, he pulled a crystal out of his pocket and smashed it on the ground. Smoke puffed up from the shattered remains and twisted into a swirl in the sky. Out of the swirl, Cold Blue landed.
"Thank you again, my Lord Blood Diamond, for this fast travel." Cold Blue noted with a bow.
"Well, I knew you would rather travel by teleport than the Celestial Orb." Blood Diamond turned around and waved his hand over the orb. The orb's door closed and the entire thing shrunk down to the size of a marble.
"Of course, but why use such travel, anyway. Your gems are far faster."
"A sign of respect. Respect of which the Princess of the unicorns doesn't seem to share." Blood Diamond twirled his hand, and the orb floated up to his hand and then to his pocket.
"How unfortunate..." Cold Blue rose and kept his hand to his guard. "Do you which for me to find her?"
"That won't be necessary." Blood Diamond held up his hand to his chin. "For now, follow us. We need to find a way into this clearly abandon monument." His horn glowed a green hue and the dust in front of him and his next steps were quickly brushed away.
"If your brother was here, he would certainly have fainted at this sight."
"Indeed, Golden Williams often had a weakness toward dirt and grime. A weakness we simply don't care for. But?"
"But?" Cold Blue was indeed questioning unneeded questions, but he knew his master always would rather have someone to talk to, or else he would begin talking to himself. Cold Blue, however, also took good care in each of his words, for though Blood Diamond was not as easily offended as Golden Williams, he did indeed have a temper.
"Rather, the fact this place has not had a good upkeep is a complete disrespect for all alicorns." Blood Diamond reached out his hands to the steps and even statues once they came into view. "This place was once the center of unicorn and alicorn relations."
"A meeting place?"
"A place of peace, now only caked in the dust of war." Blood Diamond dragged his fingers over the rails and pulled back. He gestured to Cold Blue.
Cold Blue pulled out his dagger-like ocarina and looked up at the sky. Playing a few notes loud and clear made clouds gather around them. The clouds darkened until the rain poured down over the entire area. The water quickly covered every single spot, soaking in thick amounts.
Blood Diamond frowned at the mud gathering around his boots. His eyes glowed, and a crystal rose from the ground and lifted him above the mud and water, and it drained past him. "More." He gave one word, and the music played louder. The water followed suit, pouring down harder over the land.
He looked up to the towers and smiled at the color slowly returning. However, something was missing. He raised up his hand and Cold Blue stopped playing. The rain quickly stopped, but the clouds stayed in place.
Blood Diamond brought his hand into the sleeve of his other arm. Pulling back fast, dark blue liquid poured forth into the air from each direction he swung to. The liquid flowed through the air, yet never touched the ground. "Crystal Spell Number Nine, Crystal Waves." He swung his arms about faster than his horn glowed brightly.
Shredding sounds followed...
******
The sounds echoed loud over the land in all directions. Many wondered what it meant, while some others didn't seem to care. One, in particular, was watching the source closely.
Upon a balcony far from the ground stood a mare that had eyes on the towers ever since she saw the orb flying through the sky toward the long-abandoned place. She could only frown at the sounds and the sight of that place. "So, it begins."
"Indeed." a shadowy figure appeared from nowhere. "Are you ready?"
"Yes, I am. The deal will be upheld."
******