The day he first sails to the island used by the assassins as a headquarters is a strange day for Edward. The big surprise of the day is Kidd, and Edward can't help feeling a little betrayed by his secret keeping. It's always been obvious that Kidd has his own secrets, but Edward's never suspected anything like this. He's not sure if finding out Kidd is one of them changes his opinion of the man or not.
As the day wears on, though, a bigger problem worms its way into the front of his mind. It's this… whatever it is, the thing that lives in the back of his mind. Usually, it keeps itself at a distance and watches, almost like it's waiting for Edward to let it in. And if that's the case, it can just keep waiting for the rest of its life, because Edward has absolutely no intentions of doing that.
Something about being on this island is changing that, though. It's not that the thing is forcing itself on his mind, but its feelings on this place and these people are so strong that Edward can't help feeling them. He feels weirdly at home among the assassins, like he's been here before. Or… not here exactly, but somewhere similar. He can pick out the novices from among the rest of the assassins, even if he can't explain to himself how they're different. He can tell where the order has kept up old traditions, and where they've made changes to adapt to the time and place they're in.
They're not his thoughts, and it's not okay. He can live with this thing in the back of his head- it's not exactly fun, but he's sort of gotten used to it. Normally, it doesn't do anything, doesn't say anything, just watches and waits. It comes and goes- sometimes it's like a thing in his head, sometimes it's more like being watched by someone just out of sight, sometimes it's not there at all. He's gotten used to it, but now…
He leaves the island as soon as he can. Away from the assassins, the thing in his head quiets again, and Edward can almost fool himself into thinking it won't come back. Almost, but not quite, and it isn't a risk he much wants to take. Something needs to be done if he ever wants his mind to be his mind again. That night, he climbs up to the highest point on the Jackdaw, just below the place where the ship's flag flies. It's not somewhere he would normally spend a lot of time, but he's not sure what's going to happen, and he doesn't want anyone else to see.
Once he's alone, Edward closes his eyes and opens his mind. Ever since the thing first came into his mind, he's been drowning it out as much as he can by keeping himself busy with other thoughts and more urgent issues. Now, for the first time, he stops ignoring it. He wants to talk to the thing, at least so they can get some things sorted out. It wants to watch him? Fine. Weird, but fine, and anyway if he was going to complain about it, he probably should have done that months ago. It wants to stick its thoughts in his head? Not fine. Not fine at all.
For just a second, as he opens his mind, there's another person in his head. He catches glimpses of images, memories, thoughts- and then, abruptly, nothing. The thing vanishes, leaving Edward alone. It's not the first time this has happened, but the timing is a little insulting. He makes a rude gesture at the universe at large, and climbs down to the Jackdaw's deck. He feels like a fool for even trying, and silently resolves not to make that mistake again. Talking to the thing is only going to make it worse. Ignoring it has worked so far- he just needs to keep doing that.
But he can't quite get rid of the memory of the thing in his head- the strange, overwhelming feeling of another person in a place where he'd never expected anyone to be. It only lasted a moment, there and gone too quickly for Edward to get much out of it. In fact, he only managed to grab one thing out of the onslaught of the thing's mind in his- a name.
Altair.