Chapter Text
The night the Outsider came to him in his cell, Corvo readily embraced its gift.
He left Coldridge like a silent ghost, moving through reality with a single Blink past guards unnoticed and behind those he choked out. Warm and snoring bodies littered his path behind. They were not worth staining his hands.
No, for the idea of having Emily, still alive and wailing for him and her mother in his mind's eye, back in his arms once more fueled his actions. He could not waste any time on those men, although he did promise himself to make the new Lord Regent pay.
Corvo took to the sewers where the rats whispered to him, of hidden places and a path to safety.
'Further down, follow the pipes. Come with us.' they called to him from his place on a ledge, away from their snapping fangs and hungry red eyes. Grey, black and bits of white fur swarmed below him while Corvo tried to rest, wet clothes chilling him to the bone as their high-pitched whispers continued, 'Come down, Lord Protector. Come to your Emily.'
In the end he followed them, sticking to the pipes and handlebars even as they hissed and crowded under him. The path Corvo took led him out on Endoria Street and he breathed. The night air, while cold and heavy with the scent of streets, dirt and garbage and a hint of death, was still fresher than the sewer air and Corvo felt his steps lighten as he ducked into a dark alleyway.
He didn't recognize the road until finding a map, the Distillery District to Wrenhaven River on its far left, houses clustered with rubbish and junk all around. Corvo felt the back of his left hand burn as he blinked harder than teleporting would need, and opened his eyes to a world of odd orange, yellow rats sniffing at his boots and two figures in the distance. If he were able to see himself in a mirror, Corvo would had suffered a mini heart attack at the sight of his own blacken eyes staring back.
Taken aback by the sudden change of vision, Corvo stumbled a few steps against a wall, ripples echoing under his feet and it clicked—Dark Vision. Corvo looked around for guards, finding two blurry dark shapes further down the street behind him when he blinked again and the world became dark and rightly colored. He rubbed his eyelids, feeling a slight burn behind them before shaking his head to brush it off.
Corvo stepped out of the dark and made his way over to the two life forms he had seen. Civilians, judging from their clothes and figure, talking. He climbed up a pipe and spotted a balcony overhead, quietly maneuvering over to it when he caught the tail end of their hushed voices.
"-'s kid? The one who went missing months back?"
His hand nearly slipped and Corvo lunged at the railing, gasping as he clambered up onto stable metal. Corvo gave a quick glance behind him at the room, before leaning against the railing with a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.
"Yeah, they found her. Can't believe it either. I heard rumors, but for them to just suddenly find her in a puddle of her own blood just like that? Poor girl, so young too."
He stopped breathing, eyes wide and feeling numb as confusion and cold horror gripped him tightly and slowly.
"Shame. Now they're saying she was kept in some rich noble's place or sumthing. But then she got out and there were flowers when she died."
"Of course there were flowers, idiot. She even if she wasn't gonna be the Empress, she was her kid."
"No, no. I mean like, fucking blooming from her blood and body. My sister knows this servant who works for those ratshit Pendleton's and she says that flowers appeared on the girl's body when they found her. Never saw the culprit though."
"Who knows, could be that damn Corvo. Fucking Serk, already killed the Empress—bless her—so what's a little kid to him?"
The two continued to talk, but Corvo wasn't listening. He didn't even move as they walked away out into the street, his brain trying to process and understand. He could barely hear his heavy gasps for air over the loud beating of drums in his ears as his knees turned weak.
...No.
"Em-" His voice was thick as he slowly looked down at his hands. He could see her clearly in his mind's eye, so small and shaking in fear for someone to help her. See her laying in a pool of red, just like Jessamine on that fateful day and he hear her crying for him to save her-
They lied.
Rage bit and clawed at his chest alongside dread and fear, like a hurricane inside ripping and tearing his heart out. Corvo threw himself down from the balcony and Blinked right in front of them. He landed heavily but it didn't matter. Not a sound left him as he ripped out the stolen sword, snagging one of the men by the collar. They both cried out, the skinny man in his grasp falling to his knees while the other tried to run pass him. Corvo whipped out the gun and shot the other man in the leg, ignoring the screams as he shoved the first man down next to his friend.
"You lie," hissed Corvo as he held the blade to the skinny man's neck, the man letting out a stream of pleads and apologies as he struggled and yanked at the hand on his collar. A thin line of red colored the flesh and Corvo snarled in his face, voice breaking just the slightest at the last bit. "She's not dead. She can't be."
"I-I don't know anything! It's just rumors, I swear! H-he's the one who knows!" the man blurted with a finger pointing shakily at his friend, who in turn looked at him with a horrified look.
The former Lord Protector felt the bone-grinding urge to slide the sharp metal against the coward's throat but dropped him in favor for the wounded man. He stepped over him and yanked him up by the shirt, holding the sword to his eye as the other scrambled away into an alleyway. Corvo let him, having seen it was a dead-end from above and focused his attention back on his target. "Talk."
"Please don't hurt me! My s-sister's working for Brisby and she loves to gossip, she knows this lad under the Pendletons who was one of the servants they had to clean up the mess! They say it happened a few days back when they brought back a little girl, kept her locked in a room upstairs 'cause she did something and were gonna bring her to the Cat when they found her dead outside on the stairs bleeding out. And t-there were flowers, the guy swears to the Outsider, in her blood!"
"Who did it."
"I don't know, I swear, I really don't!"
The man stared at the pinpoint of the blade as the hand holding it grew unsteady, the tip coming so close to his eye that he didn't dare blink, when he was suddenly released. He crawled away, right leg dragging uselessly behind him and a wet stain on his trousers as his friend helped pull him into the alleyway. They watched from their corner as the ragged-looking lunatic swayed somewhat, as if lost before suddenly disappearing with a flash of blue and black tatters. All seemed safe, until the sound of screeching and chatter came with rats emerging from the drain across them.
Corvo was slammed against the wall by force of the Blink he used and the pipe beneath his feet groaned. He forced himself up onto the balcony and slumped down. Covering his mouth, he squeezed his eyes tightly shut when a pained sob managed to get out and simply tried to focus on breathing. Corvo pulled his legs to his chest as the burning in his lungs increased, like something digging out from his ribs. His throat threatened to choke him. His eyes grew hot and wet.
They're gone?
Gasping quietly, he reached up and pulled at his dirty long locks harshly. Jessamine's gone. Emily's gone. He shook his head while yanking at his hair, trying to gain some control with whispers of 'no' as tears began to flow.
No, he had to stay in control. He had to keep focused. They were rumors, just rumors to scare people, make them lose hope but something told him that it wasn't.
They are gone.
He'll Blink all the way to the Estate District to prove it wrong, damn it all! It couldn't be true-
Dead, cold and lifeless, all because he was too weak. How scared she must had been. Emily, how long had she been alone, how long had she waited, how long had she cried for her mother and him, how long had she been his light? The fact that she might be alive somewhere out there waiting for him kept him alive, gave him the will to live through the hellhole he was in for six months.
He choked and clawed at his face, letting out a low distressed noise as his voice spoke in broken words. "Emily."
"I'm-" Corvo sobbed and curled into himself, seeing the image of her broken body staring at him. Eyes so filled with laughter, hope and innocence, now dull and wide with dead fear. Below him, the screams and yells of the two civilians fell upon deaf ears. "I'm so sorry."
Something inside, dotted with cracks and holes, weighted down by stress, pain and heartbreak finally snapped and it burned.
Corvo cried himself to sleep, too tired and worn out that he didn't stir to the soft, careful touch of cold knuckles against his eyelids or how the air in the room dropped to freezing. Fingers followed the trails of wet sorrow down his eyelashes, past his cheek and pausing at the lips to brush against the cracked flesh before slipping under the jaw.
The shadows shifted and shivered as the Void crocked its head in curiosity. Black eyes revealing nothing as it leaned down, dead lips against the shell of Corvo's ear and whispered.
Under the deity, the former Royal Protector's brows furrowed and limbs twitched in his sleep as if unconsciously trying to escape. A pale hand cradled the back of his neck prevented him so, before the Outsider gave a brief smile. The Outsider pulled away back into the shadows, but then Corvo opened his tired eyes to lock onto those black ones.
"Is it true?"
The Outsider crocked his head as Corvo licked his lips, voice hoarse and weak but they both knew what he meant. Silence filled the agonizing moments of waiting and Corvo stopped expecting an answer. He let his eyes fall shut once more.
"Even if you escaped days earlier, you still would not had been able to save her, Corvo."
"Who did it."
"You'll find out soon enough, where's the fun in me telling you?" Releasing a shaky breath, Corvo didn't react when the presence moved closer. "It is unfortunate, for in the many other realities I see, this never happened. I had seen ones where little Emily Kaldwin lives happily as Empress, ones where she rules with an iron fist and ones where she dies because you were too slow.
"Yet, here she dies prematurely with or without your inference. Her death will affect the story-line greatly, as her mother's did, and many new doors that should had been closed now welcome you." It lingered as he began to slip into the heavy yet weightless abyss called sleep, an odd sound of whalesong in the distance but Corvo forced himself to stay.
"You knew, didn't you."
"I know a many great things and all its possibilities, but I do not write the book itself. I merely observe as things unfold, and this twist as depressing as it is to you and this breaking city, will be interesting." The Mark shone bright with otherworldly colors as its deity smiled. "Sleep, my dear Corvo. I will be watching and I know that you will not fail to please."
He was greeted with the taste iron and salt and a folded piece of paper in his right hand, feeling nothing as he stared up at the grey sky when he opened his eyes again. There was a foggy dream at the back of his mind, drowning in icy water and two distant voices of a harsh woman and a frightened girl auguring but the more he thought about it, the further it drifted from his grasp. He gave up after the third try, a hollow hurt in his chest and glanced at the paper.
Prying it open, he saw the simple crayon artwork of a child—a woman dressed in black and a tall man in blue holding hands with a little girl in between the figures, hanging hands and smiling. Corvo stared at it for nearly a full minute before quickly, but carefully putting it away, the urge to burn it countered the unwillingness to even crumple it.
Morning, midday, Corvo didn't care anymore and settled for simply laying there until the sky grew darker with a promise of rain. Only then did he considered moving when it started to pour, wondering if staying dry was worth getting up from his spot.
To be honest, he didn't think he had anymore tears to shed after the fourth month in Coldridge.
Numbly, Corvo forced himself up and into the room, collapsing into a creaking wooden chair and dropped his head on the dusty table. He counted the beats of his heart (still beating, unlike them) and lost count somewhere around two hundred and four when he finally lifted his head enough to give the room a look.
Smaller table, candle, Piero's remedy, a piece of stale bread and some canned hagfish. Behind it were some thin mattresses thrown about and a closet, which Corvo dragged himself over to. After a long minute or so, he held up an old white dress-shirt and some thin brown pants, along with a simple dark waistcoat which fitted him nicely. Corvo changed out of his sewer damped clothes, but hung his Lord Protector coat on the chair. He couldn't bare to burn it, let alone toss it away despite not holding the title or right anymore.
Instead he moved on to the bread, hand mechanically ripping it into smaller pieces.
Tear, chew, swallow. Tear, chew, swallow.
He stopped thinking, just letting his body move on autopilot until he was standing over the balcony looking down. Corvo could see the dried bloodstains of the two men last night, the rats gone elsewhere for another meal and felt nothing. Slowly, he raised his left hand and the mark shone in azure and gold, boots landing lightly on stone pavement of the street.
"There is a way," Corvo recalled the quiet whisper and cold breath chilling his cheek and neck as the shadows sunk its claws into him. "There is always a way,"
There was a small urge to jump when he perched the railing and stared down at the ground, a wonder of whether he would survive the fall when came the loud sound of speakers being powered.
"Attention Dunwall citizens: With sad hearts, the City Watch must announce the death of Lady Emily Kaldwin, daughter to our beloved late Empress. Anyone with information regarding her death are to report to the Watch immediately. The funeral will be held tomorrow at Dunwall Tower and will be opened to certain guest only, may she rest in peace."
Without another thought, Corvo let himself fall. However, his body instinctively caught itself, resulting in landing with only a small grunt and the stab of pain in his legs.
A couple of rats sniffing and scratching in an overturned dumpster looked up when he walked by, before following and squeezing into a crack in a wall of the building he climbed into by a balcony. Corvo blinked hard to activate the otherworldly sight, finding the shape of an old lady downstairs moving cutlery around.
"Yours is called Dark Vision, dearie," The old quivering voice of the woman made Corvo freeze on the steps of the stairs, her bright yellow shape moving to stand by the doorway as his sight returned to normal. She smiled at him with glazed unseeing eyes, but moved with confidence not of her place. "Come, come! Granny has some tea ready, how exciting it is to have a guest again. It's been so long, and more so, He sent you."
She dragged him into a small room lit by rat lights by the arm, quietly chattering of rats peeking out from dark corners of the room as she brought out a kettle and a small box of leaves to prepare. "He visited me last night, my prince. We talked and talked for hours, and he asked of me to teach you. Oh, the things we can do, he showed me. His gift to us change over time, did you know? It changes to suit us, to help us become better.
"I can't wait, I can see all the things we shall do. Maybe you can even help Granny choose her new wedding dress, so many choices and so many beauties." Corvo opened his mouth to speak, but the elderly lady shoved a little pot of cookies and a cup of brewed tea at him and went on, "You're wondering what I'm talking about, hm? Well, patience, my love. Rest assure, Granny will teach you all what you need, yes she will.
"Meanwhile, would you kindly take care of some visitors for me? Those gentlemen callers. They've been rather rude, not like how they used to be." Granny Rags trailed off, presenting a key in her hand. As if on cue, knocks came from the main door. Corvo glanced back at the her, then at the stairs and heard the whispers of the rats from deeper in the building. With a frown, he cautiously took the key from her open palm and walked to the door.
"Well done, dear one. He will be so proud of us," Corvo barely heard her say over the sound of the cut-off screams from the 'visitors', her voice filled with glee and his hand burned. "So proud..."
When he returned, she offered him his present and more tea which Corvo took with much discomfort.
"And about the little one's wake," Granny started and he tensed in his seat, "I suggest you don't attend. Of course, there's the fact that you can't stroll along the waterway freely unlike me, it's best that you don't. Stay here and rest, love, while I head out to do something. I won't be long."
Corvo didn't go to the funeral, out of denial and out of shame and the fact he was still wanted to believe that this was just a nightmare. That he would wake up any moment and find himself back in Dunwall Tower with Jessamine and Emily. Instead, he sat by and watched from the more isolated parts of the river. Listening to the sounds of a band playing far away, the quiet prayers of the people of Dunwall and angry mutters of blame.
"They mourn for her," A little white rat chirped at him, beady pink eyes watching him from its cover by the rocks. "Can you hear them?"
The former Royal Protector ignored the tiny creature, but didn't step on it when it followed him back after nightfall. He waited until the moon was high up before heading off, walking through the sewers with the rat leading him. Never mind what Granny said; the funeral was over hours ago.
Dripping wet and exhausted from Blinking all the way, Corvo stood in the gazebo, staring down blankly at the memorials surrounded by grand flowers. It had been left untouched by the Lord Regent's construction of an ultimate safe house—out of respect for the late Empress, he hoped.
Her Majesty Jessamine Kaldwin.
He glanced at the one next to it, stone newly made and whiter, where more bouquets were placed.
Young Lady Emily Kaldwin, sweet child who never deserved such an early end.
Corvo dropped to his knees, a hand over his chest and head bowed. His whispers were near silent and broken, apologies and pleads for forgiveness as he quietly mourned. The little lone white rat watched from the bushes, a good distance away and listening for the sound of guards. The Lord Regent had ordered that nobody was to be out after dusk on the tower grounds, and guards were only allowed to patrol inside for this particular day.
He stayed there until the beginning of light peeked out from the horizon, bones creaking as he slipped something out of his coat. The paper from earlier when Corvo had woken up with, it hurt to look at it so he slipped it under a loose tile in between the two memorials with his head down. Hesitantly, he reached out to caress both memorials with great care before forcing himself to turn away.
A raven crowed loudly from its perch above the gazebo as Corvo picked up the white rodent and Blinked away, not noticing the figure in red walk over to stand in his place seconds later. The stranger pulled off the whaler's mask as he gazed at the carved stones, glancing at the direction of where the former Royal Protector went, before kneeling down.
In the morning when the maids came to remove wilted flowers, they found a small bouquet of wild flowers under the late Empress's memorial and a bag of sweets by Lady Emily's.