Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Billie kneeled next to the shivering figure she had just pulled from the sea, prone on the weathered boards of the boat, sea water slowly pooling around them. The child panted from exhaustion, they must have been keeping themselves afloat on the sea for some time, albeit with the help of a scrap of wood. Brown hair, skinny but not malnourished, bruises and scrapes, their left arm was broken. A sad creature, Billie concluded. A victim of some tragedy, like any other child in Dunwall right now. Billie remained crouched next to them, unsure of what to do next. What was she supposed to do with a random waterlogged child?  That she hadn't considered when she had jumped off the ship into the water to save whoever this was.  Finally they found their strength and pushed themselves onto their good arm tipping their head back to glare at Billie.

Billie felt her body go cold, as though she had plunged into the river in the middle of winter.  A face that was burned into her brain, yelling and crying,  splashed across a canvas in dark colors. Emily Kaldwin. Empress Emily Kaldwin.  Emily Kaldwin whose mother Billie had helped murder in cold blood.  The same child whose soul she had conspired with Delilah to seal away. The child she had fished out of the sea was Emily Kaldwin and surely the outsider himself was laughing at this.

And the look in her eyes, that took Billie by surprise as well.  Hatred and anger and fear far beyond her years.  Most disconcerting; for a second Billie recognized herself in the girl’s eyes.  Not the eyes of someone ready to succumb to the sea, not the eyes of a child raised in an ivory tower. Not anymore.  The months had been very unkind to the little empress.

Despite her shock Billie acted fast and casually she glanced around the deck.  Some people were leaving the tasks they busied themselves with to see what was going on  When she had spotted the small form and clambered down the side of the ship to pluck it from the sea she hadn't made much of a fuss about it, for which she was now grateful.  Until she knew what in the void was going on it was best to not let anyone know about the child Empress on the ship.  Emily being here was trouble; trouble that Billie didn't want.  Even as she acted to protect her, Billie was reluctant.  Fleeing Dunwall was supposed to be a way to start over, to leave behind the mistakes of her past.  Surely she had already done enough harm to this child though.

Emily struggled to speak now, finding her words. Billie shrugged off the heavy brown coat she had taken to wearing and settled it over the girl.  Probably should have done that sooner, she thought. It wasn't exactly warm on deck.  Billie wasn't great at taking care of other people.

"Not here," she muttered just loud enough for Emily to hear her.  Gingerly she scooped the small body off the deck; eliciting a squeak that was half pain half indignity.

"Er, sorry," she muttered awkwardly.  As she carried the girl below deck the absurdity of the situation hit her and she felt a small sardonic grin tug at the corners of her mouth.  Perhaps a bit of panicked laughter at the back of her throat.  Why is this happening, she was tempted to just start shouting at the sky.  But Billie had long years of practice at hiding her emotions and none of it showed on her face for Emily to see.

Once in her cramped cabin she set Emily down on the narrow bed as carefully as she could, and gave the girl the flask she had on her hip, filled with water. Billie told Emily where they were and where they were going -- and she remembered to mention her name while she rummaged through her small trunk.

She could practically feel the girl’s eyes burning into her, wary and suspicious.  So, so different from the child that Billie had seen dragged screaming away from her mother.  It didn't take her long to find what she wanted, a clean shirt and her small medical kit. Emily was staring at her still wary, still angry, when Billie turned back around. Wild eyes, bedraggled hair, she looked like a feral animal, and Billie was as cautious of her as one.  Billie was the last person to underestimate a scared, angry little girl.

She set the dry clothes between them on the bed and hesitated, she had to say something. The silence was even starting to wear on her nerves, steely as they were.

"Alright, even if you don't trust me, it's difficult to defend yourself if you're too busy shivering." Emily huffed, it may have been amusement, disdain, agreement.  Billie was unsure.  But she grabbed the shirt and glared at her until she turned away.  The nobility were silly about nudity, Billie mused as she listened to the shuffling noises. There was a wet thump as Emily’s ruined fancy clothing hit the floor, the shuffle of dry cloth and then silence as she settled back down.

As Billie turned back around she opened the small medical kit.  She hoped it was enough as she held out her hand and started talking.

"My name is Billie. You are Emily Kaldwin. I'm not going to hurt you.  I would like to know how the Hell you ended up out there though.  Now give me that broken arm first"  Billie held her gaze steady straight into the deep brown of Emily's eyes, until Emily looked away and stuck out her arm as carefully as she could.  The break wasn't too severe, her gently probing fingers told her. Emily bit her lip to keep from crying out as Billie set it.  Billie was impressed, she had seen fully grown adults make more of a fuss when she set their bones. 

Billie only knew the most basic of wound care but she did the best she could to clean out the worst of the scrapes and cuts that dotted Emily's body.  Emily suffered through it with impressive stoicism, some of the cuts were already quite swollen from her time in the sea, but she didn't complain.  She barely made a sound.  Finally finished, Billie  leaned back against the wall with a sigh. 

"You look like you got hit by a trolley, frankly." For a moment Billie didn't think Emily was going to answer.  Finally though it seemed Emily made up her mind about the situation.

"I fell from the top of  Kingsparrow island tower." she muttered.

Billie let out a low whistle. Emily continued, though it seemed to pain her to say anything. 

"I, he, Havelock had me at the top when Corvo came for me. He was shouting something at Corvo and Corvo just stood there and I, he, he didn't do anything." As she said that she turned to Billie with that burning hatred in her eyes again, showing that there was still life in her even as she recited this in a dead voice. "He stood there and he. let. me. fall."

Billie didn't know how to respond to that, especially with what she knew of their relationship, and the rumors that he was her father.

"Then we fell, I think. I think the Admiral died after the first time we hit rocks,  but we were tangled up and then we were in the sea.

Billie sat there and stared at Emily. Had she herself ever looked that small? Billie knew she was going to protect this child.  Billie had wanted nothing more than to flee, to run away from this new complication in her life.  To start anew without the burdens of the past. But she already knew, the past never really lets you go. And she was startled to find a thought growing in the back of her mind.  Maybe this was better than running anyways.  Maybe this was what Daud had been searching for too, something that she had mistaken for weakness: redemption.

------

Billie panted as the battle around her slowed, they had been taken unawares just before dawn by pirates. Now the decks of both ships were scattered with corpses and what few pirates were left had surrendered.  As the cacophonous noise of battle quieted she could still hear the dull thud of a sword hitting flesh and grunts of effort that drew her eyes.  Emily, across the deck from her, a few cuts from the battle, repeatedly slamming her sword down into the large corpse of a man, though it was quickly becoming less then recognizable as such. 

Billie hurried across the deck, as the rest of the crew started to stare and those pirates who had surrendered were starting to cast nervous glances at the small gangly figure taking out her rage on the corpse.  Billie grabbed her sinewy wrists as they rose to bring the sword down again.

Emily whipped around struggling in her grasp. With blood streaked across her face and a look of rage, she seemed positively feral.  "Em," Billie used her sternest, calmest voice. It took a moment but Emily stopped struggling, her chest heaving, and the rage still in her eyes but she was listening now. Billie let go of her wrists.

"What are you doing?" Billie asked. Emily replied with a glance down at the corpse she had been brutalizing on the deck beside them, and then a defiant look back at Billie.

"Fighting."

"Battles over, kid," Billie replied, before sparing a glance for the corpse as well, the long dark hair surrounding a bloody lump that used to be a face gave her a clue as to what was happening.  She would have guessed that face had once had a strong jaw, prominent nose, with a thick brow, perhaps even brown eyes.  A reminder of past betrayal.

Billie had noticed other instances, a voice, or a face, or place that would trigger memories of the terrible things that had happened.  She had seen her fists clench and her face go pale, seen her violent outbursts.  Those days haunted her still even as they ran so far away from them.  It was hard to reprimand her, when Billie had carried her own anger at the world as a badge of pride for so many years. Her advice would ring hollow, surely.

This was not the first time she had felt out of her depth raising Emily, wondered if she would have been better off if Billie had found her someplace else to live.  A kind place, a place that would have soothed the hurt instead of rubbing raw every day as they struggled to survive.  Then again, Billie didn't think a single place like that existed in the world right now.  Not in all the chaos the rat plague and murdered Empress had left in their wake.

 She slung her arm around Emily's shoulders, and started to steer her towards the door that would take them below deck.  Emily went willingly but refused to look at her.  Billie wanted to get them out from under the gaze of so many right now.  They had only been working with this crew of smugglers for a few months now, an incident like this could see them without a job or boat again.  They did not want to be land bound with the power struggling peaking again.  Billie knew she'd have to smooth things over with the captain. But for now dealing with Emily was more important.

It was dim below deck, and Billie leaned against the cool metal wall net to the stairs and jerked her head to tell Emily to do the same.  Emily did.  Not meeting her eyes now, glaring at the floor. 

"Want to talk about it?" pushing too hard would only result in Emily becoming more closed off.  Billie pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to Emily so she could whip the blood off of her face..

"No," was her terse reply as she took the slightly grimy square of cloth and started rubbing her face.

"Alright, that's fine, but remember Em, what I told you before,

"I know, make my rage my strength, not my weakness," Emily muttered

That was exactly what Billie had told her before, after an incident a few years early in which Emily had nearly beaten three boys to death for mocking the dead Empress and the two of them had been forced to flee from the town before they could be captured.  It had been a very unfortunate event.  Billie couldn't reprimand her much then either, apart from telling her to be more subtle if she was going to go about doing that kind of thing.

"Good. We need this job Emily, we don't want to end up in another blockaded city or anywhere close to the fighting."

Emily sighed and looked up at her, the post fight high was fading, Billie could see it in her eyes, something sadder was left behind.  "Yes, I know. Just" There was a pause here.  Billie knew Emily trusted her, they had been through too much together these past four years for there to be anything but trust between them.  But neither of them were particularly good at this part.  The earnest, vulnerable part.  They spoke very little about the past.  Finally, Emily started talking again.

"He looked..." Billie saw her jaw clench, she couldn't say it out loud.  "I just wanted to destroy him, alright? Then he started taunting me, called me a little kid, all sorts of stupid shit. Well I showed him didn't I?" She finished defiantly.  Yes she had, thought Billie, and she couldn't help but feel proud at how fierce a fighter Emily had become under her tutelage. Emily might not be growing into a fine lady that the Empress would have been proud of, but she was growing into a fierce survivor, and that was the best Billie could give her, and what she needed most in this world that had forsaken her.

And Billie knew someday this rage would come to a head most likely with her as the target but right it what she needed to be to protect herself.   Billie would give her the tools to make sure that she would never feel as powerless as she must have felt floating in the sea that day.

"How did you take him out though?"

Emily smiled a bit at that, the girl loved a fight more than anything Billie had quickly learned.  "I shot him in the kneecap to bring him down, and then I tried to cut his head off but the blade wouldn't go all the way through.  It was really irritating."

------

Dunwall had been dying a slow death for many years.  The rat plague and the death of the Empress had only been the beginning. During the following years, the power vacuum created by the Empress's death dragged the city further into chaos each day. Dunwall had seen much fighting during the wars, there had been fires, and more flooding.  The grey city sprawled as far as it ever had but much of it lay empty and unused now, home only for rats and Outsider only knew what else.

Despite attempts by the Noble-Merchant Coalition, the government that had formed after the war, the city had been unable to rise again, and had eventually been abandoned in favor of Karnaca.  Even after that, Billie and Emily hadn't gone back. Part of an unspoken agreement between them. Neither wished to relive any of the painful memories that the city held for them. 

Now Dunwall is exactly where they were headed.  Back to the city for the first time in fifteen years.  They were close enough to see the skyline now and Billie’s stomach clenched at the sight.  It had not been her idea to return here, it had been Emily's.  She had suggested it in an offhand tone that had not fooled Billie, over drinks as they celebrated a successful job together.  Emily hadn't mentioned that the fifteenth anniversary of her mother's death was coming up soon, but then Emily had trusted her to understand that without having to say it. 

And so Billie called below deck as they sailed closer to Dunwall for Emily to come up they were going to be there soon.  Perhaps it was because this is where it had all started, where she had found Emily, but truly she felts as if she was sailing the ship towards the end.

----

One thing certainly hadn't changed about Dunwall in the fifteen years since they had left.  It was still very dangerous to be wandering around the city at night in the dark.  They had been getting a feel for the city again, wandering through the grimy alleys, when they had been ambushed by group of gang members.  Though they had shouted their name a few times Billie had missed it, something about fish.  It didn't really matter.

Billie blocked a heavy downswing from her current opponent,  and felt the bones in her arm jar uncomfortably.  She was getting too old for this kind of shit, she thought blandly.  The large man raised his sword for another blow and Billie darted in quick aiming for his belly.  He stumbled backwards and avoided the worst of it. 

He was so sloppy he barely had any place holding a sword, and Billie took a better look at his face in the very dim light.  Outsider's eyes he couldn't be more than sixteen.  Billie sighed heavily.  Some stupid kid with nothing better to do in a dying city. 

She pulled back and he found his footing again.  Killing a kid would leave a bad taste in her mouth, instead as he swung his sword at her again she grabbed his wrist with her free hand and punched the pommel of her sword into his stomach hard enough to wind him.  It was a simple matter of choking him out after that, he might have been big and young but she wasn't so old that she couldn't deal with him.  His body slumped to the ground and she turned to look at what had become of her companion. 

Of course, Emily stood cleaning off her blade casually, two bodies laid out around her. Billie frowned.  As she walked over she could see that they, too, were barely more than children.

"You know, you could have let them live"

"They could have run when I told them too," Emily replied smoothly, "Meagan, come on, ones like these would have ended up on somebody else's sword, if not mine."

Well, she couldn't disagree with that.  Still she had been growing uneasy with how carelessly Emily treated life, and she couldn't tell if it was Emily changing or herself.  Instead she changed the subject.

"I can't believe the fighting and fires came this close to Dunwall tower.” Emily nodded in reply. They were only a few blocks away now, from the main entrance to the tower. This seemed to be the furthest point the chaos had gotten to though.

"We should see what kind of setup they had at the front entrance, but I still think our best bet would be to go round the back, through the gardens.  If that blabbermouth at the bar's information was correct and there are still some guards there I suspect they will focus on the front." Emily started walking away again, continuing the conversation they had been having before they had been interrupted as if nothing had happened.

Billie spared one more glance for the three bodies and then fell in place beside Emily.  "Perhaps we should find a route that will leave us less vulnerable to such interruptions. Most of these houses look sturdy enough still."

Emily smirked at her and agreed. "To the rooftops then." 

Billie was glad she had made the suggestion, as they got closer to the tower there were more guards patrolling the streets than they had expected.  There did seem to be a decent guard presence left this close to the tower, even if they were stretched thin through the rest of the city.  They were crouched low on a roof close enough that they could see the front gate. 

"Figures they would think it more important to keep the former seat of power from being taken over by some street thugs or other ill reputed types, than keeping the citizens of the city safe. It wouldn't look very good." Billie said, expecting a wry reply from Emily.  When none came she glanced over, only to see that Emily might have been right next to her, but she was a thousand miles away.  The casual, easy, facade she had kept up since they had started out on this journey, that honestly she used most often these days, had fallen away.

Her face was white and her jaw was clenched.  Fifteen years since she had last been this close to where her mother had been, where they had, had a happy life together. Fifteen years since she had been anywhere that reminded her so strongly of her mother's death.  Billie couldn't imagine what it was like for her to be back here. Being in the city had been difficult for her too.  So many memories brought to the surface by the familiar grey city and the ever present smell of the Wrenhaven river.

Billie reached out her hand and placed it on Emily's shoulder, she hated it that there was still so much that tormented Emily. Emily looked at her and managed a small forced smile.  She raised her hand and placed it over Billie's. She looked back at the Tower while Billie looked at their hands pale white contrasted against her dark skin, but otherwise so similar.  Roughened by hard work, calluses from hours of training with swords. Both covered in scars. So different from the soft delicate hands of a noble girl she'd had when they had first met. 

How it must kill Emily to not know who killed her mother, possessing only fragments of the truth surrounding those turbulent times.  Billie knew in that moment that it was finally time. This woman who stood next to her, who covered her hand with hers, deserved the truth of the matter.  Emily would never know peace as long as the past loomed over her, over them.  She had to tell her. Tonight.  She would do it tonight.

---------

Billie had wondered from the very first day how she was going to tell the child she was raising about her own past. Of course Billie had told her some things. She'd been part of gang in Dunwall, she led an unsuccessful coup, she'd fled Dunwall afterwards. Not a word of otherworldly powers that bound them together or witches that tore them apart. Not a word of course, about murdered Empresses and stolen children.

After seeing Emily sit in that gazebo, the look on her face as she relived painful memories. Watching her now as she attempted to read some book, clearly a million miles away, lost in a past she still hadn't come to terms with. The time was now. No, the time had come and gone and Billie had been too much of a coward to accept it. She had been too fond of the life the two of them had.  Like Emily, too afraid to face her past and its consequences. Billie had raised the daughter of the Empress she had slain, as best she could, even if she had failed in many regards. This could very well be the end of her life, she did not know if she would be able to fight back if Emily decided to end her life. 

"Do you remember how I told you I was part of a gang in Dunwall?"  Meagan said into the silence that had been nearly unbroken since they had left the tower.

"Yeah," Emily said, looking up at her from book, seeming grateful for the distraction. That would not last long Billie knew.

"I wasn't entirely truthful" She hesitated, but she couldn't stop now. "Back then, I was part of a group, called the Whalers. But we weren't a gang. We were assassins. The best in the city. We - we used to wear the masks they used in the whale oil plants." She paused here, to take a deep breath and steel herself for whatever may come. "I was there that day. I saw him take your mother's life with a knife through the stomach.  Saw him steal you away."  She would face these consequences head on, she did not let herself look away.  "I'm so sorry" her voice broke a little. 

---------

It took a second for her brain to process what Billie had said.  There was no way for Billie to know these details if she hadn't been there, been part of it.  Even as part of her refused to believe it, it still rang true. The shock spread through her body like a shiver and she repressed a shudder.  From the depths of the cold and numb that had gripped her entire body she could feel the heat rising in her belly, bubbling up.  The hatred and anger that were her constant companions kept barely at bay most days swelled until it filled every corner of her brain, howling, bursting at the seams of her self control.  Her mind was a storm.

She felt her body stand the book dropped to the floor, she was shaking, just ever so slightly.

How many nights had she spent imagining the horrible things she would do to the person who killed her mother? How many punishments had she invented, growing ever more twisted as she aged?  How much had it pained her that she had been so helpless then, that she would always be helpless in when it came to this?

Now, the target of her most desperate rage had just revealed themselves to her - and how helpless she still was because that target was Billie. 

Billie, who had fished her out of the water and raiser her. Billie, who had guided her through difficult years and kept them both alive when the world seemed to be burning. Billie, who had taught her to fight and how to be strong when the world was howling at the door.

Thinking about it made her even angrier.  How dare she. How dare Billie raise her and protect her and stay close to her when she knew what she had done, what she had started.  This new rage clouded her mind, pushed down the helplessness she felt. 

Emily knew that in a fair contest, one-on-one, they were fairly evenly matched now.  Billie was stockier and had more power to her blows, on top of her experience. But Emily knew she was faster. The world had gone into very sharp focus and her breathing was very quick.  Neither of them were very good with words  She only had one choice, her blade was laid across the table and she reached for it now. 

Billie's eyes flicked to her hand and then back to her face. What was she going to do? The cold calculations had briefly supplanted the rage, but she wondered if Billie would fight her, if she would have the gall to fight her. How dare she presume that was her right.

When Emily darted around the small table and lashed out with her blade, Billie's was there to greet it. The clang echoed through the silence of the small room, followed by a brief pause, and then a hail of clanging, as Emily and Billie traded blows in the small room.  Maneuvering around over the couch, around the table again. (fighting stuff here)

Finally, they locked blades. Emily used her superior height to push all her weight and strength down on Billie, to try to force her to her knees. 

"I'm sorry Emily, I truly am," said a voice as if from very far away

Suddenly, Emily focused not just on the fight but the face of the woman on the other side of the blades, and Emily could see every curve and plane of the face in front of her.  It was more angular and scarred than when they had first met.  A bead of sweat ran down her cheek as they struggled for dominance. Emily could see every wrinkle. She had been there when Billie had gotten so many of the scars. The last fifteen years had made this face as familiar as her own reflection and she pushed back suddenly horrified by the reality of what she was doing.  This was the woman who had fetched her from the sea and raised her, this was the woman who helped kill my mother, this was her the only family she had known for fifteen years.

"No. I." It was impossible.  Impossible.  An impossible situation.  It felt like there was a split right down the middle inside her and she could not bridge the gap. All she could do was run away. Billie was staring at her now as she stumble backwards.  It was time to leave.  The room had a balcony, she now wrenched the door to it open, and in practiced form jumped to the balcony of the building across from them and scrambled up to the roof, slipping more than she would have, had she been in her right mind.  She pulled herself up and over the edge and with one last glance backwards, to see if she was being followed, she set off across the rooftops of the city with no clear idea where she was going. Just away.

--------

In the end, she found herself in a pub.  A very dank, dirty little place close to the river that smelled like rot, but had incredibly cheap whiskey and violent customers she could provoke easily to let off steam when the jumbled up thoughts in her head got to be too much for her to bare.  The owners didn't even really seem to mind.  It was a place where desperate people came to forget themselves, and that is exactly who Emily was right now. A desperately lonely soul.

One night, deep into her cups face resting on the cool wood of the table staring at her empty mug, she realized she had not been this lonely or lost since she had clung to that piece of driftwood, lost at sea. Until Billie fished her out and gave her new purpose.  Survive and be strong, and live however she wanted to.  It was the best way to spite those who had wronged her, to spite those who had abandoned her.  It had never been an easy life, but she had never had to face it alone since.  Now she just had one more betrayal to add to a long list of them.

But it was too painful to think about.  So she stopped.  She ran away like the coward she was, ran away from thoughts of her mother for so many years, because they were too painful, ran away from thoughts of Corvo, of anything that might have hurt.  She drowned herself in the rage and drowned out the memories. She ran and ran and ran. Now she had run away from her first chance to avenge her mother because despite everything she was still too soft. Still she ran away from thinking about any of it and ordered another drink.

-------

A week she passed in this manner until one night she got a little too vicious in a brawl.  She didn't think he was dead but, maybe. Maybe.  She hadn't held anything back.  His face, it had been so much like those Pendleton twins and even his sneer had been a near perfect match. It had been so satisfying to sink her fist into it. The bile he had been spouting, he might as well have been a Pendleton bastard. She lost her temper.  She didn't care though; dead or alive it was all the same to her. 

Her only regret is that she would have to avoid the place from now on.  It had been a good place to wallow in.  Now she wandered the riverfront. Here, at least, there was still quite a bit of life in the city.  Though all of it a little rough around the edges and frayed.  Maybe she'd get jumped again, that would be good she thought.  She was still wound up and raring for a fight.

The smell of the river was the smell of her childhood, Dunwall Tower had always smelled like it, and it was hard to ignore this close to it.  Damp, muddy, dirty, but somehow not entirely unpleasant, she supposed.  If it wasn't so nostalgic it wouldn't be anyways.

Her wandering feet had led her close to the river, as her brain began to focus she felt the ghost of familiarity. Perhaps she had come here as a child? Then nearby she heard cheerful noises and the murmur of energetic voices, though much of Dunwall was dead and quiet at this time of night.  She turned a corner and suddenly she understood why the area felt familiar.

The solid brick building stood before her, its windows glowing with a dim light, the black signs and familiar gold lettering, so much like her memory of it, though time had worn the corners away a little more, left its stains upon its stones. Before her was the Hound Pits Pub.  It was almost like a physical blow, seeing it standing there in front of her suddenly when she had been so determined to run away from the past. The place so intimately connected with those dark days. Memories flooded her vision, memories of a kind governess and the lingering stench of blood, of dreams of a black eyed man. Somehow as the city was dying this place had survived.  It was almost funny. Almost. 

The tower she had called home back then was gone, just the rubble of the base was left.  Good. 

She clenched her eyes shut, rubbed her face, and turned away. After a few steps, she hesitated. She was running away again. That’s what she was doing. Running away. Like she had spent the last fifteen years doing. Like a coward. She clenched her jaw tight and made herself turn around again. Anyways, she could use a drink. What better place to celebrate the crashing down of her entire world again than a place that had witnessed the last time.  She walked over to the large front doors and pulled them open.

Much was the same as she remembered, red leather seats in big booths, the large impressive wood bar. But it showed the passage of time as well, the grunge of year making the walls darker, the floorboards more worn, the tables and bar bearing more scars of heat and dings from hard use. But it was unmistakably the place she had passed those days in. Lingering in the door would draw attention to her, so she made her feet move towards the bar.

The place seemed surprisingly popular, the booths were full, the bar as well. Tables scattered throughout held more people.  The patronage seemed to be mostly what was left of the respectable types left here in Dunwall.  Those who could not flee, but did not rot alongside their city.  It was strange being in there.  It seemed much smaller than she remembered.  As she walked into the room she drew glances from people, clearly locals and regulars who wondered who this strange woman walking into their pub was.  She was suddenly very angry.  How dare they look at her with such glances. How dare they when she was-- She stomped the thought out quickly, before it could fully form.  She hadn't allowed herself to think that way in a long time.

Behind the bar was a tough looking woman, ginger hair and a rough face. A face that had known a lot of strife. And with a small jolt of surprise Emily realized she recognized her, out of somewhere in the depths of her memories a face and name came back to her. Cecilia. One of the maids she'd met during her time here.  Emily hesitated as she approached the bar. Even someone who had once known her would likely never realize who she used to be, how could they? There was nothing left of the little girl who had grown up safe and warm in the walls of Dunwall tower, the world had stripped away any of the gentleness and wonder.

She snagged one of the old round stools, as the large man sitting on it got up to continue the loud conversation he'd been having across the room, and leaned on the bar.  She felt dazed, by being here, by Cecilia being here.  The Hounds Pit Pub, headquarters of the loyalists, the safe place she had been whisked off to, which in the end had just been another cage for people to manipulate her in.

When Cecilia asked her what she wanted to drink she refocused. “Whiskey,” she mumbled.

It had been a mistake coming here. Memories were beating down the doors of her mind and it was all she could do to keep from thinking about them. A mask. Lessons with Callista. The Smell of Blood.  Drawing at the booths.  Her hands were clenched so hard her knuckles were white and Cecilia gave her a cautious look when she set her drink down on the counter. Emily tried to flash a friendly smile, to seem less like of a threat, but her face felt oddly inflexible and the look she received told her what ever face she had made, it was not reassuring.

Behind her the loud man who had vacated her bar seat had been getting progressively louder as had his shouting companion suddenly there were some banging noises and someone -- a very large someone -- collided with her back, pushing her hard against the bar.  The rest of the patrons were shouting, some in obvious pleasure and some with disgust at this interruption of their evening. 

Emily felt her temper flare, as her breath returned. Half annoyed, half glad, she leapt off the stool as soon as the large man was no longer pressing her into the bar. But before she could get into breaking any heads she felt a firm hand on her arm pull her away from the fight she had been about to jump into.  A woman, a head shorter than her had pulled her away. Her long red braid caught Emily's eye as she walked closer to the fight. 

"Alright boys that's enough of that," She said firmly, and set about pulling the two clumsily brawling men with practiced ease.  She dodged a clumsy blow and managed to knock the large man to his knees. The other man backed off quickly enough after that. Emily adjusted her shirt nonchalantly and sat back down as the woman threatened to kick them out if they started any more shit.  Her temper, which had flared briefly, had simmered back down into the murky depths in which she had wallowed for days. She didn't care much, It would have been a boring fight anyways.

As she started to drink her whiskey the red haired woman sat next to her, on a stool that had been vacated to avoid the fight. Clearly she must be some sort of security here. Emily was intrigued, most places went for the largest, scariest looking muscle they could find. Perhaps Cecilia didn't think this was the best policy. She racked her brain, trying to remember more about the former maid. All she could remember was she had been sweet, maybe a little funny.  Emily wondered when her memories of back then had become so hazy. 

"I'm glad I got to you in time, I don't think the two of them would have come out of it alive if you'd joined in."

Emily was surprised to find herself being spoken to, and looked over at the woman on the stool next to her. Emily was at a loss for what to say.  Openly admitting she had been about to paint the inside of the bar red with their blood seemed like a bad plan. She didn't really want to speak to anyone right now, but she found she didn't want to blow her off either. It had been days since she had spoken properly to another person, and she was so desperately lonely.

"Er, maybe," she managed.

"Could see that scary look on your face from across the bar, they're idiots but they're idiots who pay well." She continued easily. 

"Suppose you need to keep all the patrons you can in a place like Dunwall."

"Exactly, this your first time in the city?"

She hesitated, but there was no reason to lie.  "No, I was born here but it's been years. We...we fled the plague."

The woman sighed, "You and everyone else who could, and most never came back."

 "Well, suppose you can't blame them, it's a bit grim"

"I'm Alexi, by the way, and you are?" Alexi stuck out her hand to shake. Emily took it. 

"Jess." She introduced herself with the pseudonym she had adopted years ago. 

They chatted casually. About Dunwall these past fifteen years; war, riots, fire, the steady cold grey of the city. About the places Emily had seen over the years; frozen wastes and tropical beaches. It all came so easy.

Eventually Cecilia joined in on the conversation as well, when she wasn't serving the patrons of the bar.  It made Emily slightly uncomfortable, but she figured what were the chances, really of Cecilia recognizing her.

---------

Emily spent much of the next few days at the Hounds Pit, trading help around the pub for room and board. It was easy to keep the bad memories at bay with Alexi, she was excellent company.  They had developed a rapport easily while doing repairs and sparring. Alexi was good, and unlike Billie, Emily didn't know all of her moves

The nights were still bad though. This close to the memories the nightmares were worse, far worse than she had suffered in years.  In her sleep, over and over she replayed the death of her mother, the awful months spent in the Golden Cat hearing things no ten year old should have to hear, the moment her father betrayed her and she fell from that tower.  All of it now was interspersed with dreams of Billie covered in her mother's blood, Billie planning her mother's death with faceless figures. Billie as she knew her now, delivering her to the Pendleton twins.  It was exhausting, at least until Alexi started to help keep the memories at bay at night too. A job and someone to share her bed, she felt herself settling in, she was nearly content.

Somehow, the hound pits pub had once again become a holding cell, with her caught in between two places and feeling powerless.  Again, somehow, here she could pretended that there was nothing terrible looming behind her just waiting for her to let her guard down again. In fact it was a pleasant sort of living here with Alexi and repair work and helping around the bar at night.  Some delusional part of her thought maybe she would just stay here.  The moment it all came falling down came much quicker than Emily would have liked. 

It was the biggest news in the Empire for years but it had spread slowly through the isles in the upheaval that had followed.  Finally though, word had reached the Hound Pits Pub. Cecilia brought in the  newspaper late in the morning as Emily and Alexi were getting ready to get to work after their morning exercises. 

"You won't believe the news" she said in an offhand way, tossing the paper on the table as she passed them. "We've got an Empress again."

"Eh, really?" Alexi asked, grabbing the paper quicker than Emily could.  Emily had felt herself stiffen at the words. What was going on she wondered as Alexi's eyebrows shot up as she read the front page of the paper.  "Is this real?" she asked again, to Cecilia. Emily gestured for the paper, trying to act casually.  Alexi tossed it at her as Cecilia replied.

"Yeah, it's true, I was at the shops and they were all abuzz with gossip like I haven't seen them for years."

"I'll be damned. Never thought we would see an Empress again. Any idea how it happened?"

"No idea.."  The conversation continued though Emily heard none of it.  There was a weird buzzing in her ears as she finished the article. 

It was fairly sparse, simply declaring that a new Empress had been crowned, taking control from the corrupt coalition, claiming she would return the isles to their former glory as the rightful heir to the throne as Jessamine's older sister. Half way through the article Emily excused herself as casually as she could, unsure she could hide her shaking, or the rush of emotions.  She caught the looks on their faces as she left; She hadn't been successful.

Emily was breathing fast as she closed the door behind her, as she processed what she had just read.  Someone had overthrown the current government, and proclaimed themselves the rightful Empress.  How was that possible, she had always thought it impossible. 

How many time when she was younger had she dreamed of doing exactly that, only to have her dreams of any such thing worn away by time and the harsh rub of reality day after day.  How could she and Billie ever accomplish something like that.  But someone had done it.  Someone claiming to be her mother's sister.

What in the world was going on.  Was any of it true? She wondered. Did it matter?

It did, she realized.  Behind the shock she was angry.  How dare someone lay claim to the throne that was rightfully her mother's? Her mother's sister, she scoffed, her mother had never had a sister.  The throne this pretender was laying claim to was her mothers, and by extension rightfully hers, if anyone should have stolen it away it should have been her. 

Except she was the coward who'd spent the last fifteen years of her life trying to pretend the first ten never happened to ease her own suffering.  Now someone else had come and taken what rightfully hers from the rats who had wormed their way into power in the vacuum left by her mother's death and her disappearance.  It was disgusting.  It was unacceptable. 

There was more to the article. She steadied her hand, as best she could, and finished reading.  The so called transfer of power had taken place on the anniversary of Jessamine's death. Delilah was moving the center of power back to Dunwall. To rule from the Empress’ rightful home.

Disgusting.

Emily made up her mind, her resolve solidifying in an instant. The helplessness she had felt for the past few weeks vanished.

She would kill this Delilah.  Perhaps she couldn't win back her throne just by killing Delilah. But she would not let this imposter sit upon her throne.  If it was not to be hers, she would let none have it. Chaos that it might cause be damned. What did she care? She had weathered worse storms before.

And perhaps this would make up for her cowardice in not killing Billie. 

----------

The day of Delilah's arrival was not at all auspicious. The sun shone weakly in the sky, and the grey fog that seemed ever present these days clung to everything.  Emily knelt in the weak shadow of a chimney, perched on the roof of a house near the docks. Delilah could have sailed directly into Dunwall tower, instead she had chosen to land a ways down the river in the city. Ostensibly, to 'let the people see their new Empress'. Emily sneered in disgust at the thought. More likely it was because the lock at Dunwall tower was broken, and the docks there had been ruined. Definitely not a regal place to land anymore. 

It was almost midday, and she had been sitting on this roof since just after sunrise.  She would have preferred to wait inside one of the building but this was one of the more populated areas of the city still, none of them were empty. 

Finally she saw it; a grand white boat coming down the Wrenhaven, making it look even grimier than it normally did in contrast.  That must be Delilah's vessel. It was terribly gaudy Emily decided: too white with sharp edges, and angles.  Who wanted a ship that looked like that. It sailed smoothly down the river though, mooring away from the dock. 

At the docks a small crowd of people had formed, still respectable citizens who saw a spark of hope that this might breath life back into their city, and bring prosperity into their bleak lives.  For some reason their desperation made Emily uncomfortable. Still they would be useful, she thought.  She could hide in their presence, if she needed to.

She could see activity on the ship, the crew was busy preparing a boat to bring Delilah to shore.  On the ship as well she could see. Something. Some things. They were tall, towering over the people.  What in the world could they be.  The small seed of unease that had settled in her stomach earlier began to grow.  Still, she was determined.  She wouldn't back down now.

The boat finally hit the water and made its way to shore. It seemed to take a lifetime.  Emily was devising a plan in her head.  She wanted to follow them in the city a ways, this part of town might be populated but she had to pass through less desirable bits to get to Dunwall tower.  If she could find a way to separate Delilah from the majority of her guard, then she would strike.

Just Delilah, she didn't need to kill them all, just Delilah.  She was confident she could do it, with a little luck.

The boat finally docked, and off first came a man in a uniform consisting of a short sleeved white shirt, long blue pants, and white boots. The uniform of the grand guard of Karnaca, Emily recognized it.  They had been in and out of Karnaca a few time these last fifteen years. The bulky figure was speaking to the crowd, announcing Empress Delilah, first of her name. Etc etc.  He started barking orders at the people to stand back and make room. They did so hastily to avoid annoying the large guard. 

Off of the boat after him stepped two more guards, And, two of the strangest things Emily had ever seen.  Tall and spindly, with long beaklike heads, and four very deadly looking knives for fingers.  Emily couldn't help but stare at them. What in the world had this Delilah woman brought with her. Surely they were not actually machines meant for war.  They looked impossible.  Emily could hear their heavy footfalls from here.  She was going to have to be very wary of them, until she got their measure.

Then came Delilah herself.  Tall and thin, with short dark hair slicked back.  She couldn't see her features very well from this distance but she had seen them in the papers since the first announcement often enough to know them.  A long thin face, with high arching brows and Hazel eyes.  Emily grudgingly admitted there might be some resemblance between Delilah and her family.  Enough resemblance to give credence to her story for the masses anyways. Did anyone even remember what her and her mother looked like anymore?

Delilah stepped into a carriage, of course her majesty would not walk through Dunwall, and with a mighty pop and rumble it started its way up the street.  Not as smooth and quick as those that ran along tracks, but a fair pace. Emily would have to use shortcuts to keep up with it or get ahead. It had to stick to the larger streets and Emily could use that to predict its path. Part of her guard was inside another carriage.  Emily could use that to separate them.

Nimbly across the rooftops she traveled, managing to keep just ahead of the slow moving carriages.  What she needed was a good place for an ambush, a way to split Delilah's party. She saw her opportunity as the carriage was headed down narrower streets.  There were some people lining this street, curious about their new empress, like there had been at the docks. Most importantly though, there was a large burned out building square that leaned ominously over the street beside it. One small step away from disaster. 

The carriage wasn't too far behind and she scrambled to make sure everything was ready. Out of her pockets she took several grenades, one could never have too many grenades she always thought. They were certainly going to come in handy now.  With luck they would destabilize the building just enough, and it would come crumbling down.  She waited tensely as the carriages approached, large metal soldiers stomping alongside them. Timing was key here.

She held her breath until the first carriage had just passed into the open space, and then she tore the pins out of the grenades and tossed them: down, to the side, any point that looked important, three of them.  The blasts sent a shout through the crowd, panic was already starting to spread.  For a second Emily thought her plan had failed as nothing happened.  Then the building started to fall with a mighty groan as it collapsed downwards, wooden beams breaking, shingles falling, the roof under her feet started to collapse as well and she found herself sliding down into the interior of the collapsing building.  She had to scramble backwards to save herself, jumping onto the roof of the building next to it with difficulty.  When she was steady again she looked to see if it had worked as intended. 

It had worked, the majority of the rubble had fallen on top and in front of the second carriage, and the civilians that had been standing nearby gathered there. Screams rang out as a huge plume of dust filled the air and chaos broke out people ran away, others were trapped, some were trying to help trapped loved ones.

It was hard to see through the dust but Delilah's carriage was in the thinner parts. Emily watched it carefully. The door to the carriage opened and the guards stepped out, she held her breath for a moment, and then Delilah stepped out of the carriage as well, sword drawn.  Excellent, not the type to sit back and let others do the fighting. Emily could respect that at least, even if it was going to be her doom. Emily was down the side of the building in a flash, There were still two of the metal soldiers with her but that couldn't be helped. They were probably just some fancy toys, anyways. 

The crowd that had been gathered was panicking now, swarmed around the carriage as if being near it was the best chance at safety. The guards pushed, shoved and hit the frightened people. It was too perfect. Delilah was slightly separated from the guards now. It was now she had to act. She didn't have to take out all of them, just Delilah. After that -- well she hadn't planned that far ahead yet.

She landed on top of the rubble, hidden by some large chunks of roof. Dust still filled the air, Delilah’s view of her on the ground was obscured and there were still civilians running about, Emily could easily be one of them. Using these to her advantage she headed towards the carriage. Straight towards where she had last seen Delilah.

When she found her there was one guard and one mechanical machine near her, but the others were occupied.  Now that she was this close to her goal she threw caution to the wind. She pulled her pistol, and years of training took over. She was a very good shot, she did not miss at this distance, even through the dust. He fell like a brick as the bullet went through his head.  No helmet, what a prick.  That got Delilah's attention. They were close enough to see one another now. Emily almost felt like time froze in that moment as their eyes locked.

"Delilah Copperspoon," she started, she had rehearsed what felt like a hundred different things she would say to Delilah in this moment but now it was here none of them felt right.  "I'm going to kill you," was what she finally said simply and then she lifted her blade and lunged at Delilah. Not giving her a chance to respond. Delilah's own blade was raised so quickly and neatly to meet her own it surprised Emily. Delilah's eyes searched her face as they locked blades brow furrowed in confusion, slowly they raised in shock and then she was suddenly grinning like a predator.

"Oh what do we have here? How unexpected."

 Emily was pushed away with a strength she did not think the thin form should possess. She stumbled backwards. Suddenly Delilah was on her again, and Emily barely got her sword up in time, their blades locked and she was still grinning and Emily started to feel dread. Something was wrong here. Something was very wrong her instincts screamed, wrong like the stories of monsters that she had been told as a child. Wrong.

Delilah was talking again "I can't believe it, I thought you were dead Little Princess! Now is this any way to greet your auntie?"

Emily snarled and untangled their blades to retreat a distance from Delilah. "My mother had no sister." She spat.

"Now now, that's just rude, why don't we talk about this like civilized people?"

They were still squared off, blades held at the ready.  Emily was wary of this fight now. Her mind was working quickly, she was not going to be able to kill Delilah before the other guards got over here, the large machine had stomped away but if it came back... The din around them was starting to quiet.  She needed a plan, now, she'd have to keep Delilah talking while she came up with one.  "Yeah, give up the throne to me and we can catch up," Emily said.

"Why would I give up something that is rightfully mine?"

"I think you'll find it's rightfully mine."

Delilah let out a derisive laugh at this, "And where have you been for the last fifteen years Little Sparrow?" Emily had no response and when Delilah saw that she kept talking, "It was never yours, it was never rightfully my sister's! The throne should have always belonged to me, all I am doing is righting the wrongs of the past."

Righting the wrongs of the past that was too much for Emily she lunged again, they traded blows.  Emily could tell that Delilah was playing with her.  Even as her temper flared, that calm part of her honed through years of training told her she needed to run.

Then Emily heard the mechanical whirring behind her and as Delilah came at her again with her inhuman speed, Emily dodged to the side.  She wasn't fully successful she felt cuts open on her chest and shoulder. But she did dodge it. There was an opportunity she could hear the machine whirring behind her, whatever those things were perhaps she could use it to her advantage. She grabbed Delilah's arm and pivoted around to fling her into the machine behind her. Delilah fell onto the massive blades that served as the things hands  They sunk deep into Delilah's chest, and Emily felt a triumphant grin spread across her face.

Then it turned to a look of horror as Delilah did not go limp in death.  Instead she grinned, grinned and then she wasn't there the thing hadn't pulled her blades from her body but suddenly she was standing next to it with a terrible grin on her face. Emily felt a shiver of terror travel the entire length of her body, and she realized the magnitude of the mistake she had made. She stumbled back but too late the machine had lunged at her again and she realized as the feet of blades came at her they were not for show this was some new unexpected danger and they pierced her shoulder and thigh. Another grazed her side as she dodged to the side and sustained more cuts. 

She could hear yelling coming from all around her now that the other guards had realized something was going on. As the dust cleared and she could hear the distant stomping of the other machine and she felt a thrill of fear. She could practically see her death, see herself bleeding out on the cobbled streets of Dunwall cut to ribbons. The guard was yelling, Delilah was saying something she couldn't hear through the roaring in her ears and she ran for her life. Adrenaline pumped through her, she could feel her heartbeat in every inch of her body and felt as if each pump was pushing out more of her life. She ran as hard as she could through the twisting narrow streets of Dunwall with no clear idea of where she was going. She ran as the yelling voice followed her and she didn't have time to contemplate that this was the end. 

Suddenly the buildings dropped away and the river was on either side of the street. She was on one of the smaller bridges that connected the two sides of the city.  Every step was getting more difficult and her body was going cold, that she could still move was a miracle.  There was only one option she saw.  She threw herself over the side of the bridge and plunged into the cold water, the shock of it almost knocking her out. Yet she stayed conscious, forced herself down, under the water to let the tide carry her away from her pursuers. In and out of consciousness she flashed, glimpses of the shore, struggling to keep herself above the water. Grabbing onto some debris.  Pulling herself onto the banks. A desperate hope that she was hidden enough. Fumbling to rip her jacket and bind her wounds with cold stiff hands, and then nothing. 

-------

Billie hadn't been able to keep herself away from Delilah's arrival, watching her arrive in fine fashion at the docks and get into the carriage.  The sight of her made Billie go cold. Delilah, back from the dead. Feelings from fifteen years ago mingled with dread and she felt sick. Something very wrong was going on, she knew. Had known, from the moment she had learned the news. The timing had made her reel, this coup right after she had revealed her secret to Emily.  Ever since she had learned about their new Empress Billie had had the nagging feeling Emily was going to pull something. With the state Billie knew she must be in this coming so soon after her revelation. Billie hadn't gone to her though, for fear of what might happen. 

She had hoped that Emily had more sense, that she'd raised her better than that.  When she heard the explosions she knew though. She raced through the streets heart pounding, mind calm and clear, she had to save Emily, to stop her, or something. Whatever it took. When she got there though, it was too late, the dust had settled and from her vantage point she could see the blood on the ground. As carefully as she could, she crept closer, using their focus on the rubble to get close from the other side. 

When a guard arrived she overheard them, that they had chased the would be assassin, that they had jumped into the river they were searching downstream.  As much as she longed to hear more, to learn more about what was going on, Billie knew she couldn't hesitate a moment. If it was as bad as it looked, Emily was going to need help as soon as possible. 

The blood trail helped her find where Emily had jumped in.  It also made her very anxious.  It was a lot of blood.  Avoiding the guards that were searching, she searched along the river too.  Long after the guard had given up and went to report back to Delilah she looked; Long after hope seemed lost, until panic and concern had gone cold.  Until it felt mechanical, like she would always be searching for something.

She finally found her, concealed from sight. Propped up against metal that had fallen off of a decaying bridge, hidden from site from all but the most persistent and observant.  Billie slipped in the mud in her haste to discover is she was alive.  It took a moment to find it, but there it was, a faint thudding, the smallest puff of breath. Billie nearly felt dizzy in relief.  If she hadn't been able to find Emily… If Emily had been dead… Emily may not want anything to do with her anymore but Billie loved her dearly nonetheless.

At some point, Emily must have been conscious enough to try and slow the bleeding, Billie found bandages ripped from her clothes wrapped awkwardly around wounds that did not look like the kind of wounds people survived. Gingerly, she picked Emily up and started her long trek through the city.

-------

When Emily came to she was laying on a thin mattress covered with scratchy blankets, and no clue where she was or how she got there. She opened her eyes, which took effort as they practically felt glued together with gunk as they often did when she was ill. Her thoughts were muddled a she struggled to sit up. All she remembered was that she had been fighting and it had gone terribly wrong. Was it a job gone wrong? How long had she been out? Her whole body felt as stiff as a plank. A heavy hand landed on her shoulder and pushed her gently into the mattress to keep her still.

"Alright then, calm down now." The voice was warm and familiar and Emily relaxed at the sound of it, but something in her head was also put on edge though she did not know why.  She sunk back into the mattress, and as her brain began to clear she remembered.  Billie. Betrayal. Delilah. Revenge.  Finally she opened her eyes all the way and turned her head slowly.

Billie was seated on a rickety chair next to her bed. They were in the rooms they had been renting together. Emily shrugged her shoulder, to dislodge Billie's hand which rested there.  The movement was painful and she winced. Billie withdrew her hand quickly. Once, she would have found that hand resting on her shoulder comforting, now all she could see was it covered in her mother's blood.

"You? What?" It sounded stupid, it was all she could manage, it would have to do because her mouth was incredibly dry. She had to look away from Billie.  It was too soon. She was very tired.

"I heard the explosions, I was, well I was nearby. I thought. Anyways, I fished you out but I was a little late. You'd lost a lot of blood, your wounds were infected. You've been in and out for awhile now."  Billie paused here, "You are very lucky to be alive." She finally added.

Emily grunted in reply. It was definitely true, but she was also very sore, she felt utterly disgusting both physically and mentally. She had failed to kill Delilah, once again her life had been saved by Billie.  Awful. Were their fates just tied to each other's that strongly? Emily wondered miserably.  All in all she was not feeling particularly lucky to be alive. If Billie tried to reprimand her for reckless behavior she was going to drag her body out of the room if it killed her.  Emily had long put up with it, but Billie had now lost the privilege of speaking to her in such a manner.

Silence fell.  Heavy in a way silence can be only with years of history and strong emotions behind it.  It pressed down on her chest until she felt like she was going to suffocate.  Or maybe that was just the feeling of her bandages and wounds. Billie helped her sit up very carefully, and offered her some water, which Emily sipped, miserable with how weakened she was. 

"I hired a physician, a discreet woman, she said if you survived she thought you'd make a full recovery."

Emily grunted again, feeling a little relief at that.  Then the silence fell again. As Emily refused to look at Billie, she couldn't even begin to guess what she might be thinking or feeling. Emily was feeling every ache and pain in her body acutely and developing her feelings on the current situation, mostly anger and shame. Maybe some nausea, and as she started thinking back on the fight, fear. Delilah, the blades, the rest. Before she could spiral too deeply into herself Billie broke the silence.

"I knew her, years ago." Billie said. "Delilah." Emily glanced over at her surreptitiously, she was staring off into the distance, as if lost in thought.  "She was the one I worked with , when I betrayed the leader of our gang. Of the, the Whalers."

Emily knew a version of this story, but clearly nothing even close to the truth, and suddenly she was very irritated all over again. The vicious part of her blamed all of this on Billie.

"Was she," Emily searched for a word to use..."Unnatural" was the best way she could find to describe it, "back then, too?"

Billie let out a humorless laugh and looked back at her, their eyes meeting. "Yes, Delilah has been a witch for as long as I have known her."

"Fuck," Emily muttered staring down at her hands clenched in the thin worn sheets. 

If only Billie had been there to help her! Tell her these things before she had dashed off on this half assed attempt that had almost gotten her killed!

No. She didn't want Billie's help any more.  She wanted nothing to do with Billie any more.  But the instinct to rely on her was so strong.  Even during the brief times they had been separated the last fifteen years Emily knew that she could always rely on Billie.  Now though, she was the woman who had helped ruin her life and then lied to her for fifteen years.  The push and pull of this situation was torment. 

"Yes," Billie agreed, and Emily could see her open her mouth again to say something more and then seem to think better of it. Good Emily didn't want to answer any questions, hear any excuses.  All Emily wanted now was. Was revenge.  To finish what she had started.  Now her pride burned and the thought of revenge was just that much fractionally closer to her heart.

"Help me."  It was a request, a plea, a command. "You knew her, help me kill her." You owe me, she left out.  Emily had made up her mind, she was going to finish was she started.  She met Billie's gaze full on, sitting up as straight as she could, not breaking eye contact.  A moment passed, and Billie nodded finally,  agreement.  Emily felt both disgust and relief.  A moment more they maintained eye contact.  Emily finally broke it, she was suddenly exhausted, her near death experience catching up to her again.

------

Billie sat at the table, drinking, as Emily slept again, lost in her own thoughts.

Delilah.

Billie had scarcely believed what she was hearing, the first time the news had reached her. Delilah back from the grave. There had been no doubt in her mind that it was the same Delilah back from the dead. Taking the throne she had so coveted fifteen years ago. Her Delilah with pale skin and heavy lidded eyes. Thin dark lips that had whispered in her ear promising power. Delilah with paint on her hands and more secrets than one person should have. 

But, Daud had stopped Delilah in the end. Must have, or Emily would have been a very different person.  Now it was her turn to face the threat that was Delilah for the sake of Emily Kaldwin. it was almost funny, the way history was repeating itself.

Billie wondered though, if helping Emily reclaim her throne was the right thing to do.  She loved Emily, but she had raised her to be a fighter, a survivor, not a leader.  Maybe this is what she should have been doing with the last fifteen years anyways, putting Emily back on the throne, instead of taking her away from all that.  Maybe going on swashbuckling adventures with her young ward had just been what she wanted to do even if times had been hard. It wasn't the first time she'd wondered that. Daud had found his redemption through trying to help Emily retain her throne, perhaps she should have too. Still, Emily had been the one that wanted to leave that all behind her back then. Billie had given her what she wanted. She thought Emily would never want to return to that world of deceit and betrayal, power and responsibility. 

Well, Billie suspected this was not about the crown, not about being in power. For Emily, surely, this must be more about her mother, her past, and her own way of coming to terms with it finally.  She'd almost asked why Emily had done it, but she decided against it.  Knew she'd get at flippant answer at best, and just make her mad again at worst

Beyond all of that though, Billie mused, Delilah was not going to make a very good empress. Maybe she wouldn't have agreed when she was younger and blinded by the sheer force of power and personality that was Delilah. But she had done a lot of growing up since those days. Delilah was a powerful witch, obsessed with her own success, if she stayed on the throne, the empire would suffer, crumble even, with the delicate shape it was in now.  At least, she had to try to stop that.  Who else could go against Delilah now, apart from herself, who had known her so well?

None of it mattered now, right or wrong, she had made the promise, and as she drank at the small table where not long ago she'd confessed her sins and watched Emily sleep fitfully, she sighed.  Coming to Dunwall had been the end of everything she was fond of, everything she was comfortable with.  Now they were both thrown into fray once more. 

There was a lot to plan and prepare before then, and she'd have to make sure Emily took enough time to actually get well. That would be a monumental task indeed. They promised to work together on this but Billie knew she was not forgiven, not even a little.  It was going to be terrible to be so close, yet so far away from Emily, the one person who had stuck with her the longest of any of them. Billie had finally managed to lose her too, it seemed.

Billie refused to lose herself to melancholy over this now, now she would plan.  They would need supplies, and a way of getting out of Dunwall without attention. After Emily's failed assassination attempt there was no doubt that security in the city was going to be beefed up significantly. There was too much to do, to lose herself to melancholy.

------

Emily opened her eyes and knew instantly something was very wrong.  The ship was not rocking.  She had spent enough years at sea for this alone to make her blood run cold. There was no sound of an engine. Had they run aground? No that would have woken her. Then what was going on she wondered as she sat and swung her feet over the edge of the bed.  Cautiously, she stood up.  Nothing happened.  Her room looked perfectly normal, and she slowly made her way to the door. She pulled gently on it at first and then yanked it harder when it wouldn't budge. She was getting ready for a third even hard yank when she felt a very small whoosh, and a change behind her. 

Slowly she turned around, but no amount of caution could have prepared her for what she saw. The side of the ship ripped out, a jagged hole where the wall of her cabin had been, And beyond it. Beyond it.  Insanity.  That's all she could think of.  A swirling grey mass of nothing that's all she could see. It was not the sea, it was not ground, it was not the night sky it was nothing. Yet something.  What else could she do? She crept over and peeked out. Beyond the hole was a path of smooth layered grey stone leading out into the mad grey space beyond. Though there was no breeze she could still feel the air shifting around her. It had a cold salty smell, like the ocean in winter, but with an undercurrent of something else.  Maybe something floral? 

A thought occurred to her. This was the void. That is what this place was; it came to her with sudden certainty. The topic of countless essays and obsessions, the world that existed parallel to theirs and housed the heretical entity known as the Outsider. Emily hadn't been a very devout person, nor had she ever particularly felt a pull towards the occult. Why was this happening now?

Emily knew that if she wanted answers she was going to have to follow the path that had been laid at her feet. Beneath the fear there was a thrill of excitement, she had always been the most excited by the most dangerous jobs. And so she stepped out onto the stone. The stone was cool, and solid beneath her feet, and she began to walk forwards.  Cautiously she peaked over the edge of the wide path, it was nauseating.  The endless drop into nothingness made her head spin a little and she backed away from the edge.

The path sloped upwards and, though some rock jutted off from it, the path was clear to follow there was no other way to go way. Nothing happened as she walked, though she half expected the stone to fall out from under her. She felt something looming behind her, watching her, coming nearer and nearer. Finally, when she walked through an archway of stone, a strangely familiar face materialized in front of her.  Like a dream she had forgotten, but knew she'd had. Though she didn't know why she knew it. She knew again with sudden certainty who this must be, or what this must be. This was the Outsider.

"Hello Emily." The black eyed figure greeted her with a cold smile and she shivered at his voice, it was like cold water running down her spine  "What an interesting turn of fate you've had. I never expected I'd have the chance to meet you." And suddenly he was several feet away, she jumped slightly at the sudden transposition and watched him even more warily.

"The little empress that has only ever know Betrayal, setting off to take back her empire after so many years. Of all the possibilities I saw, this is the one I least expected of you, after you ran away for so long." Before she could react and process the subtle jab, he was suddenly to her left, she turned quickly to keep facing him. Keeping her face calm, though her heart was pounding with excitement and uncertainty.

"Ran away, but you never really got far very far from it in the end. Raised by one of the those who killed your mother.  How that must make you feel." Again, he vanished and reappeared. His comment about Billie pierced deep.  He was right she had run away and never gotten far.

"I gave up on you, you know, after your father's failure. Not even my gift to him could change the tides of fate." As she tried to process this, he was suddenly sitting a few feet away on some piled grey stone.  What had he meant about his gifts? What did the outsider have to do with her father? Her mind raced and a dim memory came to mind, something she had seen when she was at the Hound Pits pub as a child.  Corvo in the courtyard and then, suddenly, not. She had forgotten, and she had brushed it off back then as something she had imagined, not mentioned to anyone.  But then she remembered flashes of other, little things, and… Perhaps. Before she could finish thinking The Outsider was speaking again.

"Now though, it seems you will have your chance to try. With Delilah on the throne, and the duke at her side. How interesting it will be to see what choices you make. You've lived a brutal life, down among the dregs. Now you have a chance to change all of that. I wonder what you will be willing to do, what you are willing to become."

As he spoke now a huge whale soared through the space behind him, and Emily couldn't help but follow its progress as he continued, awe filling her as the behemoth glided past.

"I once asked your father that question, fifteen years ago.  This was the moment that changed him.  Now it's your turn Emily." And then he was gone, in a shimmer of energy and strange stone.

She wanted to refuse this gift.  If her father had also been offered this and taken it, then she wanted nothing to do with it. Of all the things she hated, she hated him the most of all. He had promised to keep her safe, to give her back her throne. Yet, when it came down to it, he had let her fall to her death. He had been unable to protect her, he had been unable to protect her mother, he was the what she hated most in the world.

But.

Could she really afford to turn down an offer like this? Power. Power like Delilah had. How could she stand against witches and machines and the entire Grand Guard with just the strength she had now.  Even as she burned to turn down the offer, she knew she wanted it, that she was consenting by admitting it.  Her success was more important than her pride. Now she was on this path there was no turning back and this would seal her fate completely. There would be time for pride and regrets later. After she had succeeded. A burning pain erupted on the back of her hand and she saw a strange symbol etching her flesh. The heat and pain seemed to bubble up from inside. As soon as the pain had started it was gone, as if it had never been there. With that she was branded, chosen, a heretic.

She looked up from her hand after the burning had calmed and the mark had solidified there. Looking back she saw the ship where she had climbed out into the void, but something in her knew she had to move forwards. There was more she needed to see here. More to learn. In front of her the path she was on fell away, but she could see another path higher up than the one she was on, far too far for her to jump to.

Even as she started to wonder how she was going to get across the gap she realized that she knew what to do. It was as if she had always known. She focused on the ledge and reached out her hand, which turned into black mist and extended out to grab the ledge, and then she was flying towards her destination at incredible speed, yet she reacted easily in time to land crouched on the ledge. For a moment she stood very still and then she started to chuckle. 

Oh, what wonderful power she had obtained and all she felt it had cost her was her soul. A small price to pay for the power to destroy any and all who would dare oppose her. Every single person who stood against her would pay dearly in blood. The world that lay at her feet and was now hers for the taking and she was going to do just that. Onwards into the void she made her way, using her new power when needed, flying through the void each time with a thrill at the feeling of it, musing on what other kinds of powers would she be able to obtain, because there must be others.

Eventually, she came to a tall beehive like structure of stone and as she made her way up through it something in her resonated, something in her heart ached as she climbed and she felt like she was drawing near to something very important. The feeling reached a fever pitch at a shrine. She recoiled at what lay on it, a human heart, yet changed, modified. It was meant for her, she was to take it, but suddenly she was afraid. What was this heart that echoed so strongly within her even from this distance.  Gingerly she picked it up, it was warm in her hand. Almost instantly a figure shimmered into existence over the shrine and. And. And even fifteen years of running, fifteen years of trying to forget, she knew her instantly. Once upon a time she had been the center of her world. Her mother.

Then she started to speak.

"I know you. Do you remember?  It's been so long and you have tried so hard to forget. Run so far." Her mother's voice was gentle, far away almost, but even still the words felt like a slap, hearing them in that voice like an echo of her past coming to hit her like a speeding rail car.  It was true. "Even so, it is good to know you are there."

Words caught in her throat as she tried to speak, but it was impossible. Even if she had accepted this strange pace and the existence of the outsider in a form so very visceral as the one she had met, this was more than she could have ever imagine coming from such a desolate place. A chance to see her mother again.  Hear her voice.  She did not deserve this.  Finally past the swell of emotion that had closed her throat she managed "Here but, not.  In my hand but..." she trailed off.

It was almost difficult to hear the words her mother was speaking, she was so caught up in hearing her voice again.

"Only the last of my essence with you for awhile.  If I could only reach across this great expanse and take you into my arms. But I have this to offer my gift and my curse. Summon me to your hand and I will guide you when I can."

Her mother shimmer out of existence again, leaving a void above the shrine. Emily realized she had been reaching out her hand towards her mother with the hand that did not hold the heart as if she could have grabbed her back from where ever she had vanished to. The heart beat disconcertingly in her hand. She released her grip on it and it vanished. She was grateful it was gone. 

Emily stood there for another moment, lost to her thoughts and the storm of emotion.  Fifteen years Emily had been working to pretend, to forget, and she had been very successfully as she had discovered when she tried to think of her mother these past weeks.  She had not been able to recall her mother's face, not the one on the posters and memorials, her real face, the one Emily had once known. That had been gone. A terrible truth she'd had to face. Now though, she recalled moments from her childhood with clarity. A sly smile as her mother excused her latest adventure or a kiss as she went to bed, or when she had read to her. 

All of it tinged with guilt, over trying to forget.  Eventually she shook her head to try and clear it.  Thinking on her mother's words she looked down at her left hand and realized she knew again, a slightly different tingling in her palm and she knew if she focused on it she'd summon the heart again  That terrible heart that had once beat in the chest of her mother, and loved her still. Then, then she'd be able to hear her mother's voice again.  Wonderful and terrible, she felt more alone than she ever had and like she had gained a immeasurable gift.

She clenched her fist and steeled herself.  She couldn't fix the past but she was going to set this right she was going to right the wrongs of the past.  Whatever the cost she was willing to pay it.  Whatever Corvo had failed to do years ago she would fix his mistakes. Now she had the tools, the knowledge.

The rest of the void passed in a haze. Forms frozen in time, a mutilated corpse, Delilah surrounded by her cronies, a rune.  And then.

-------

She awoke in her bed and lay perfectly still for a moment.  It hadn't been a dream, she knew.  Her perception of the world around her had shifted ever so slightly.  Everything seemed just ever so slightly less real, almost like she was somehow aware of the world that existed in tandem to theirs and all the places they touched just out of the awareness of normal people.  A result of her new powers, she had no doubt. It was disconcerting, but Emily knew she would adjust.  She could adjust to anything.

Sitting up she inspected her hand and the new symbol on it.  Ran her fingers over the lines of the unfamiliar form.  It tingled slightly. It was hard to know what to make of it, apart from as a reminder that she had just most certainly become a heretic.  She chuckled with grim pleasure;  now she was just like Delilah. Just like her father.  A small price to pay to take back what they had both taken from her.  Tried to take.  She would see Delilah pay for what she had done, her and anyone who had helped her.  Anyone who got in her way.  Now she truly had a way to do this.

Apart from that though, it would be very inconvenient  if anyone saw it, she mused.  She would have to wrap her hand.  The very last thing she needed at this point was to be hunted as a heretic.  It was still some time before dawn but Emily knew she would not sleep after what she had just been through. Instead she changed her clothes and slipped into her boots.

As she made her way out into the cool night air on deck, she saw she was not the only one awake at such an hour.  There was light from Billie's room and part of her longed to go to her, to tell her what had just happened, to talk to her about everything that was going on.  Yet she couldn't, instead she leaned on the railing of the ship, staring up at the stars.  She yearned to try out her new powers, to see what she could do now, but she wouldn't risk being seen by Billie.  It would have to wait.

Instead she lost herself in thoughts of the past, present, and future.  It seemed as if they were following a script, with different actors upon the stage.  She had been gifted powers , just as her father had been.  Just as her father had been trying to reclaim her mother's throne, She was going to try and take it back as well.  Were there even more parallels she was unaware of?  Well, this time the ending would be different.  She would succeed where her useless father had failed. She would reclaim her mother's throne.

Finally she worked up the courage to summon the heart to her hand, and as her mother's voice echoes in her head about the secrets, wonders and terrors that lived in the she she promised her that she'd make things right.

----

The Karnacan skyline looked familiar to her still, as they sailed into harbor in the glowing early morning light. The city stretched from end to end of the bay, and spread up into the hilly terrain. The sparkling waters of the sea gave the impression that the entire city glimmered gently. Of all the ports in the empire, this one had weathered the wars and discord the best, helped along by the men who ran the city; the old duke and Aramis Stilton. Good men both, Emily knew.

Emily hesitated  as she stared at the city, and gave a furtive glance around the deck, Billie was nowhere to be seen. She reached out and triggered that now familiar feeling, the heart appeared in her hand, flesh and machine made one.  She barely remembered the feeling of repulsion she initially felt when she had held it.  She raised her hand and pointed at the glittering city

"I knew this world, fifteen years ago. Some part of me remains, but the world seems strange."

There hadn't been much to ask the heart about while they sailed yet that hadn't stopped her. She wanted to keep hearing that voice. There was really only one question she had not asked her mother; she refused to point it at Billie. The thought of what the heart might say filled her with several different kinds of dread.  No matter what the heart said it would just end up hurting her more and those wounds were still too raw to stir up.  Maybe someday.

"It is strange mother, I have to agree," She murmured and let the heart go. Staring out at Karnaca again.

She didn't know really what had been happening down here these last few years, work had been better up north, but she had heard whispers about this new duke, and if he was in alliance with Delilah she was willing to believe every single nasty whisper about him. Taking him down would be a pleasure, a boon for the Empire.  Her Empire, she corrected herself, but it still didn't feel right thinking that.

The plan they had thus far been able to come up with was to take down Delilah's inner circle, one of whom must know how to kill her, and then, they would head back to Dunwall to take down the Empress herself.  Not much of a plan, and their leads were thin, though they did have a few threads to follow.  The Duke had been involved in her rise to power, the dreadful machines were the work of Kiran Jindosh.  There had been murders committed by what people were calling the Crown Killer In addition they had discussed spreading rumors that the one going around the city causing the ruckus was Little Lady Emily come back from the dead to reclaim her throne. If people would believe Delilah's tripe about being Jessamine's sister, surely they would believe that as well. Or, well, that’s what Emily thought anyways.  Billie seemed more hesitant on the idea.

They moored far from the harbor, and as dawn ended and the day proper began they took the small skiff into the docks. Today all they planned to do was get the lay of the land. To hear the news of what has been happening in the empire, they were out of the loop. Emily toyed with a plain black bandana as they sailed closer to the shore. Should she cover her face, she wondered. She had attempted to kill the new empress, but then again she was a nobody who was probably presumed dead.  Would have been dead if not for Billie. It might just draw more unwanted attention to cover her face. Her hand was wrapped up neatly in black scraps of fabric she had cut from old clothes.

Emily had seen Billie's eyes linger on her wrapped hand, and she wondered if her companion had guessed what it hid. Billie knew of the powers given by the outsider, had once possessed some form of them herself Emily wondered how Billie would react if she knew. Would she be jealous, that she now possessed the powers Billie had once hungered for? Or would she be angry at Emily for taking them on so recklessly? Emily didn't know, and she wasn't going to find out. Let her eye her wrapped hand and wonder. Emily would give her nothing anymore. 

Billie dropped her off at the docks in the part of town she was scoping out today, heading herself to a landing further inward to visit their old friend Stilton.  He would surely be a great resource for them trying to figure out what had been happening here in the last few years perhaps he would even ally with them if they told him that Delilah would be awful for the people of the isles, he was the type that would care.

Today, Emily was to scope out several black market shops and keep her ear to the ground for any important gossip she might hear from the cities more sordid types.  The day was bright and unbearable warm in her opinion as she set off.  The people of Karnaca might don light fabrics in bright colors, but Emily's own fashion sense had always clashed with the climate here.  The dark coat she wore was one of her favorites, but she cursed it now.  The black cloth tied around her neck didn't help, but she wanted it handy if she did need to hide her face.

The city was a stark contrast to Dunwall.   People on the streets did not seem so burdened by fear. The tall buildings that rose up around her as she made her way away from the docks did not seem to loom quite as ominously as those in Dunwall, what with their cheery colored facades.  She could smell the blood of whales, the smell of cooking coming from a kitchen somewhere, the smell of filth in the gutter.  No smell of mold, decay, of ash and the lingering smell of death.  Still as she listened to the conversations around her she smiled, people at the very least were the same everywhere, she caught snippets of conversations about the guard, fees, and criminal doings. All in all it wasn't the worst way to spend the day she figured, and it was a outright gift to be off the ship and away from Billie, and in a city that did not seem to be actively dying. 

-------

It was a miracle that she dodged the first blow, result of years of training and perhaps her new supernatural powers.  Emily threw her body out of the way as the form crashed down from above right where she had been previously  She stumbled a few feet back, regained her footing and looked at her attacker.  Clearly human but somehow strange, the posture somehow hunched and extended, the hands tense and claw like.  Then it twitched towards her and she saw the face, covered by a hood wrapped in bandages.  Their eyes met for a brief second and Emily saw the glinting yellow eyes and felt her body go a bit cold. Those were the eyes of a wild animal, not a human. 

Then she was forced to defend herself once again. The attacker lunged claw like hands coming at her face, growling out "My mistress says hello, dear nie-".  Emily got her leg up in time, before the hands got a hold of her and kicked away with all her might.  She stumbled back and Emily found her footing again drawing her blade.  An agent of Delilah's.  Now was not the time to worry about how she knew Emily was alive and in Karnaca.  Now was the time to try not to die.

"Oh you want to play well, fine I will enjoy ripping your limbs off one by one."  Emily could see a mad grin through the bandages, thin lips stretched taught over teeth in a way that might have also been a snarl.  Against a single typical unarmed opponent Emily knew would have been assured an easy win. But underestimating this one would be a bad idea, this was not a normal person, if they were a person at all.  And, she realized, if this one worked for Delilah, capturing them alive should be her priority, but it was going to make the fight more difficult. She sighed, she was already so warm. 

Then her opponent came at her again and she didn't have time to think as her attacker launched herself through the air at her. Emily tried dodging to the side, to take a swipe at her legs.  She misjudged the timing though, and a hand slammed into her shoulder, tearing her jacket at the seam.  A flick of her blade at the last moment and she was able to make a cut on the thigh.

They danced through the wide alley like that for a moment as Emily read her opponent, and she pulled herself behind her target with her new powers. Instead of eliciting fear her opponent cackled joyfully, yelling more disturbing lines at her. 

"Why won't you fight me for real little girl?" She finally shrieked, after this had gone on for a few minutes more. Clearly her opponent was catching on to the fact that she was pulling her punches for some reason. Then Grim Alex launched herself out of the alley onto the nearby balcony and then the roof, and Emily again wondered what kind of monster Delilah had sent after her. 

"Does the pray wish to become the hunter then come and get me,” she yelled from the rooftops and cackled, setting off across the roof.  Emily swore, launching herself onto roof as well.  Was it to be a chase through the city under the sweltering sun?  It was certainly was. As she clambered over the ledge she saw her attacker turned target scrambling away over the roofs having clearly waited until she had gotten up there to start off.  Emily gave chase. 

They clambered over the roofs, alternating between chase and clash as Grim Alex ambushed her wherever she could think to hide, a clash of supernatural strength and speed.  Until finally she was able to get the jump on her and landed behind her on the balcony where she had planned to ambush her from yet again.  Quick as she could she got her arm around her opponent's throat exactly as Billie had taught her too so many years ago.

She had her arm around the woman's neck cutting of the flow of blood to her brain she knew, for much longer than it would have taken on a normal person.  All the while the woman kicked back at her, clawed at her face.  Emily worried that who ever lived in the house would come out to find out what was going on and get in the way but as they went crashing through the door Emily was relieved to find that the place seemed to be deserted.  Finally the woman went limp. Emily let her drop, breathing very hard from the effort. 

With a quick glance around the deserted apartment Emily dragged the unconscious form of her attacker further into the room, where they were less likely to be spotted. Sweat was dripping down her face. She had forgotten how much more difficult fighting was in heat like this, even with supernatural powers it was damned unpleasant.  And that had not been an easy fight.  What in the Outsider's name had just attacked her?  Such speed and strength surely not human, perhaps marked like herself… It was amazing that she had managed to go twenty five years without ever knowingly coming into contact with people who held these strange powers and now her count was up to two in such a short period of time.

A hood and bandages still covered the face of Grim Alex.  Emily hastily tugged both off.  She was shocked to find a perfectly normal looking face; a handsome woman. Maybe in her mid forties, with dark brown hair. It was anticlimactic. A monstrous visage is what she had been expecting, to match the level of bile that her attacker had spewed during their fight.

Well it didn't matter now.  She needed to get to the place she was meeting Billie, without being seen and without the crazy woman waking up. She used the woman's own clothes to bind her wrists and ankles and slung the body over her shoulder with a grunt.  Lucky she was so skinny, she didn't fancy trying to carry one of those fat guards she'd spotted earlier all the way to the docks.

------

One of Billie's eyebrows went up.

"Busy day then?"

"You could say that." She grunted and threw the body less than gently into the boat.  Skinny as she was Emily had been an awful long way from the docks even across the rooftops and frankly she had started considered cutting a few bits off  of the woman to make the journey more manageable. 

"Who is she?" Billie asked as Emily scrambled into the boat.

"What is she more like? More animal than human." Emily settled herself into the small boat grimacing at where the prone form pressed against her leg, she tried kicking it away but there just wasn't much room

"Why did you bring her back then?" Billie asked as she started the engine up.

"Delilah sent her, she claims."

"Interesting..." and Billie gave the woman now pressed into the wall of the boat a better look.  "I don't know her face, she must be a new ally of Delilah's.”

"Well then, Delilah sure knows how to pick them." Billie gave a hollow little chuckled and nodded.

"That's true she does, how lucky though, that she just happened to fall into your lap, hmm?"

Emily glared at her, in a terrible mood.  "She attacked me, I decided to capture her."

"Good thinking," Billie nodded approvingly.

"Any luck on your end?" Emily asked as they started across the harbor.

Billie's eyebrows drew downwards, and she frowned.  Emily knew she wasn't going like what she was about to say. "Nobody has seen Stilton in three years, he locked the door to his manor one day without notice and no one goes in or out. Some local gangs have been hired to feed him, but that's it."

Emily just stared at her for a second, and then shook her head.  Nothing was ever easy, how could she have forgotten.  Surely that was too strange and out of character to not be related to current events. "We have to get inside."

"Yes we do."

"It has to be related to Delilah."

"I agree, I think it does. We'll see what this one has to say." Billie nudged the prone figure in the bottom of the boat with her boot, "and then we'll make a plan from there."  

"I thought Delilah would think me dead," Emily muttered as she looked down again at the prone form she had carried through the city.  They were going to have to be so much more careful now, she wondered how many people knew her face.  She hadn't seen any wanted signs today as she wandered the city, but that didn't mean they were not out there.

"Delilah is not the type to be that careless, if she couldn't find your body she would assume you were alive. It was careless of us to assume otherwise."

Silence fell as Billie started up the boat and they made their way back across the harbor. For a moment it had seemed normal between the two of them.  Now that silence had fallen between them all Emily found herself giving in to dark thoughts and she tried to will the boat to go faster, so she could escape back to the isolation of her cabin. 

The city of Karnaca looked beautiful in the late afternoon light as they sped across the water, warm wind blowing her hair back off of her face. Yet the whispers and rumors she had heard today told her that beneath that was the ugliness she had seen inhabiting every corner of the world.  It was always there.  Fighting gangs, guards high on power, nasty nobles, the abuses of the overseers, and caught in-between all of it the people of Karnaca. And they had better prepare themselves, she thought grimly, there was no doubt it was only going to get worse as this went on.  When those in power were threatened they tended to lash out at anyone and everyone they could, a fact Emily knew all too well.

------

They tied the woman to a chair when they got back to the boat, and cleared out a space to put her in one of the spare cabins; Emily went to her cabin to tend to the few wounds she had gotten in the fight while Billie sat with their prisoner.  It wasn't too long though, before Billie was at her door, brows furrowed.

"She's awake, and..." Billie trailed off.  Emily looked at her, expecting a comment about the woman's strange vicious nature.  "Very confused."  That wasn't what Emily was expecting. "You'll see, come on."  Billie left and Emily put down her pen to follow her, very confused.

She soon understood though.  It was the same woman she had fought, they wore the same clothes, they had the same hair, and though the face was not twisted with viciousness it was the face she had found beneath the bandages. The woman spoke in softer tones, her face was clearly very frightened and trying to hide it, remain composed.  She did not strain at her bindings.  It was a different person, but it wasn't.  It was very, very odd.

"She claims, she has no memory of attacking you, that she would never do such a thing, that she is a doctor," Billie explained as their captive watched them.

"I would never attack anyone, I wouldn't, please, look if it's medicine you need I would never turn anyone down," the woman pleaded.  Their captive seemed quite frightened to find the two of them looming over her. As far as Emily could tell it seemed genuine. They stood side by side, a united front against her. Emily assumed they were very intimidating and menacing, they had a lot of practice at it.

Billie was staring at her and then at the woman again.  Emily shrugged and shook her head, baffled.  They turned their backs on the woman and walked a few feet away.

"I thought you said she was vicious and deranged like a wild rabid animal," Billie said softly.

"She absolutely was," Emily muttered.

"Did you bring the wrong body back?

"Really Lurk?"

"Well there has to be some explanation"

"Well, I guess we'll just have to ask her." Emily turned around and barked. "What is your name?"

"A-alexandria Hypatia" she stammered.

"The Alexandria Hypatia who works at the Addermire Institute?" Billie asked turning around as well, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Yes, that's me."  She looked as if she was going to try asking a question, but Emily cut her off.

"Do you know Delilah Copperspoon?"

"T-hat’s the name our new Empress grew up with, isn't it?"  Hypatia looked even more confused at this question than she had before. "Really, I don't know what you wa-"

"Be quiet," snapped Emily, not feeling particularly generous at the moment. Hypatia fell silent.

Billie gave her a disapproving look, which irritated Emily even further, and both turned around again.  They were silent for a moment, both trying to figure out what was going on.

"What do we do now?" Emily finally asked not bothering to try and keep her irritation from her tone.  She has worked hard to not kill this woman in the hopes it would lead them in the right direction and now it looked like it might have all been for naught. She was at a loss on how to move forward, and feeling very put out about it.

"Hmm, perhaps," Billie finally said looking back at Hypatia again. "It could be a spell of Delilah's. We could see if it is possible to wake up this other side you fought."

Emily nodded and without hesitation, or even a hint of warning, Emily strolled over and slapped Hypatia across the face, and before she could properly react to that she grabbed the front of her jacket and hauled the woman up, chair and all and brought their faces close together.

"Stop pretending you crazy fuck, you work for Delilah and you tried to kill me earlier today." Emily tossed her back down and Hypatia slumped in the chair.  For a second it seemed like this had no effect except to possibly breaking their captive, then she started struggling against the chains that bound her to the chair and the face that turned up to stare at Emily's was entirely different from the one that had been there before.  The mad yellow eyes and feral grin had returned.

"Like I would tell you anything, little princess, come on now untie me and we can have some fun! So rude you are, to cut our fight short. I didn't even get to make you bleed."  She stretched out the last word.  She continued rambling, rude and disturbing things shouted as Emily turned back to Billie, her face clearly saying 'I told you so'.

"Well, I see what you mean now. I think she might have been more useful to us the other way even if she didn't know anything,"  Billie finally said after a moment. The rambling was continuing in the background. "Still it was good you captured her, with what I found out today we have a start at least." Billie made a disgusted face as the-thing-that-was-also-Hypatia made a particularly rude comment about what she'd like to do to both their corpses.

"This is unpleasant, should I put her out again?"

"Yes, please do."

This time Emily decided to make it easy on herself and use a sleep dart.  It ended up taking three.

------

Billie sat at the large table that filled the middle space of the main cabin of the ship, while Emily paced in front of the large boards covered in maps, articles and pictures -- a collection of everything they knew up to this point.  Notes about her attacker and Stilton added now.

"So we're agreed then?" Billie asked, leaning back in her chair and stretching her legs out in front of her.

Emily nodded, glancing between two spots they had marked on the map. Addermire Institute and Stilton's manor in the dust district.  "Yes, what you learned about Stilton today is disturbing.  We need to figure out what is going on there."

"And if she really is Hypatia then perhaps we can find out more about Delilah and what she has been up to at the Addermire Institute."

"Yes. So do you want take the institute, and I will head to the dust district and find a way into Stilton's place?"

"Sure, but you can't take too long, I will need you to come pick me up at Addermire. You know we don't have to do them at the same time, it might be better if we didn’t."

"No, we need to move more quickly, they will certainly know I am in the city now that Hypatia hasn't reported back."

Billie hummed agreement at that, and it was settled. So they had a plan now. The day had not been wasted, at least.  Emily was almost surprised.  This morning she had wondered how long it would take them to find anything and here they were. 

"One more thing, one of us will need to go feed our prisoner."

Emily scrunched up her face in displeasure "How about we throw something into the room and see which one of them reacts, if it's Hypatia I'll do it."

Billie chuckled. "I'll do it tonight, at least I didn't have to fight her today."

Emily nodded in reply relieved that Billy was willing to do it tonight.  Taking a prisoner was much more of a hassle than she had previously considered.

Now that the discussion and planning had ended they both fell silent. Once it might have been companionable silence, but no longer.  It was so strange how easy she found it to talk to Billie still, but without the distraction of necessary topics of conversation Emily couldn't bear to be in the same room as her for long. 

At times, the sight of her made Emily feel sick to her stomach even, which just made her feel even worse.  The same old argument that had been running through her head for the past few weeks of recovery and travel started up again.  Emily got up to leave.

"Goodnight," Billie called to her back as she walked away and Emily could hear the sadness there too.  She nodded awkwardly back at her and left the room quickly.  Making her way back to her cabin, she would add the day's events to her diary and then sleep.   Hopefully there would be no strange voyages into the other tonight.