Can't believe it's almost been a year since my last chapter for this story. This one is going to be a three-part arc, I think. Hope you guys enjoy this.
Summary: Many Whalers left Dunwall after they disbanded, but some chose to stay and build a life among the buildings they once stalked at night. Aeolos is one such Whaler, thinking that he could remain here as long as he stayed away from his past and it stayed away from him. But as fate would have it, somethings are just intertwined, plain and simple.
Takes place about five years into Emily's reign as Empress.
Service - Part 1
The weather overhead was the same as the day Aeolos changed the course of history. The same shade as the day he ripped the current empress from the then empress' embrace.
A cold, milky blue hue. It was strangely peaceful, but also haunting.
It filled him with a deep sense of unease. The longer he examined the skies the more dreaded he felt. Like a mass of bad fucking luck was gathering, slowly swimming beneath like some leviathan predator. Aeolos tore his eyes for the window and back down to earth. There was nothing to gain from fueling the false foreboding, no matter how real it felt. This isn't the first time gloomy weather paid Dunwall a visit, neither would it be the first time it filled his mind with unnecessary disquiet.
His hands, they were fidgeting. Be still.
He dug into the bag at the foot of his locker and pulled out two flechettes and tucked them into the ankles of his boots. Come to think of it, the weather was not all that different the day they thought they had Corvo in the bag.. And what a day that turned out to be.
"Olie, Hurry up!" Hewell called out from down the hall, his voice thick with the lowborn accent. Aeolos pulled his trouser legs to cover up the flechettes, "Cap's gonna have our asses if we ain't down there in time!"
His hands, Aeolos realized, when had they begun fidgeting again? "One second!" He strapped his sword to his hip and put his City Watch helmet on.
"By the bleedin' Void, Olie, won't ya' hurry up! Where's the skip in ya' step?" his partner asked, going down to the locker room to check on him. "It's not every day the empress comes all the way down from Dunwall Tower ta' visit."
"Then ya' see why I'm nervous," Aeolos lied, quickly easing himself into the accent he'd spent the last few years perfecting. "Her 'ole bleedin' reign ahead of her and she picks this day. And all of the isles to pick from, and she chooses—"
"The Old Port District! Ain't it fantastic?"
"Fantastic?" He replied, "It's a recipe fer a soddin' nightmare. And she won't even bring more of her own troops."
"Well, well, well… aren't ya' just a ray of bleedin' sunshine?" Hewell placed his hands on his hips and looked sternly at his friend, "The empress is here on a goodwill trip. She's tryin' ta'… ya' know, reach out and talk to the people. Makes sense if she uses local law enforcement, looks better on the papers and stuff."
Aeolos liked to discredit Hewell's attempts to understand the politicking of Dunwall's higher echelons. But this time the man had a point. The Empress was nothing if not a woman of the people, she had proven nothing but that for the past five years.
"Aeolus!" The watch captain shouted as the two emerged unto the precinct's courtyard.
"Sir?"
"You and Hewell take forward positions on the convoy."
"Right next to the Cobalts? Aeolos said, slightly worried. Last thing he wanted was to be right up with Corvo and the Empress' and her closest bodyguards.
"Look, laddie, worst case scenario's some fella in the crowd shouts an insult at the empress. The crowd'll probably 'andle 'em themselves. But if anything happens I want my best swordsman to right next to the Empress and the Cobalt Guard. The rest of you take your positions by the crowd and behind the Cobalts. Look sharp, and stay on your toes, it's not every day Empress Emily Kaldwin herself comes down to our District."
-x-x-x-
"I don't like this." Corvo muttered.
"That's the fifth time you've said that." Emily replied, looking up from her journal and at Corvo—who, though he was stock still, betrayed an air of nervousness for his darting eyes.
"That's because I really do not like this idea."
"Sixth." Emily noted.
"I know your intentions are noble, and if I do so will the people. You're not doing anyone any favours by risking your life today. At me least double your security."
"And sit here another half an hour and wait."
"You've waited six months for the security reports to finally come in. What's thirty minutes?"
"That's not the issue here, Corvo." Emily straightened herself, and closed her journal—something she so often did when putting her foot down, "You remember what the Herald wrote last time I came in with half of the garrison at Dunwall Tower around me."
"Silly idiots without the slightest idea about managing a security detail."
"You're missing the point! I need to send a message: That I, Emily Kaldwin, is not afraid to get down and dirty with the people. That I'm not going to ride my high horse and wish the people of the lost Districts a speedy recovery. I have to show compassion, I can't do that with a hundred armed guards interfering with my pathos."
"Fifty."
"It was hyperbole, Corvo. The Cobalt guard is more than capable of my security and so is the Old Port District Watch."
Corvo let out a long tired breath, he wasn't getting anywhere. Besides she was his liege, and he was under her orders. Another few months and she would be a full adult and he would no longer hold regency. Time had come for her to take control of her life, and from the steely resolve her eyes reflected in her eyes, she was more than capable of it. The two shared a warm smile, before finally, "Fine. Be Empress they need you to be."
"Thank you."
-x-x-x-
"And you say that the piping underneath the District is still bothersome?"
"Not to slight yer' highness—"
"And you run no risk of slighting anyone, Mr. Hudgens."
"The City Watch keep sayin' that the sewers are clear and the weepers are gone, but no inspector has gone down there in ages. The Local boys try, but the lads don't understand what needs to be done, yer' highness."
"I will see to it that the city's officials deal with the problem quickly. And the soup kitchens, Mr. Hudgens, how is the business going?" Mr. Hudgens pleasant expression broke for one second as he searched for the words. "Well, I hope?"
"Yes, your highness."
"Good, the Hound Pits offered me a home and comfort during dark times. I delight to see the rest of the Old Port District be able to find the same comfort in their difficult times." The man's pleasant expression never fully returned. A fraction of his attention always seemed to be someplace else as the rest of the pleasantries were exchanged.
"Was it just me or did Mr. Hudgens in there seem…"
"Distracted?" Corvo crossed the threshold first and scanned the street with hawkish eyes before he let Emily step outside, "My agents say the local gangs haven't taken very kindly to the soup kitchens, neither have the merchants."
Emily's eyebrows crested into a frown, "One day you and I are going to have to have a talk about these agents of yours."
"Of course your highness. I will have to—"
"Corvo?" She looked back at him to find his eyes had gone entirely black, from the pupils down to the whites. He had tucked his left hand deep into his pockets lest the crowd she them shine with the most dreaded symbol in all the Isles. He grabbed her hand and rushed forward, whilst still scanning the streets with his Dark Vision.
He pointed to two of the nearest Cobalt, Guards. "Higgins! Trelov! The carriage!" The two swung into action quickly. The former climbing into the driver's seat and the latter opening the carriage door as well as pulling out his pistol. As soon as Corvo slammed the door close behind him, the carriage rabbited forwards on it's tracks. The horse mounted Cobalts flanked either side. But those on foot, the rest of the Cobalts and some City Watchmen, lagged far behind. Although it wasn't for long. He saw the smoke crawling through the streets before he saw the blockade, wooden furniture stacked high and burning hot. The Carriage grinded to a halt.
"Higgins?"
"I can't sir, even if we could ram through the tracks up ahead are torn up."
"Get the horses."
"Corvo—" She stopped as she saw the blade unravel and expand into being in Corvo's hands. So it had been since she saw that blade unfold. "The people, make sure they're alright."
"They're being evacuated as we speak. Right now, you are my primary concern."
"Horses are ready sir." Trelov barked in his familiar Tyvian accent.
"You're riding with me Emily." The smoke wasn't thick, but Emily couldn't see the tops of the buildings, and that worried her greatly. No sooner had she stepped outside the carriage, a Cobalt threw himself in front of her and landed on the ground. He clutched his chest, which was oozing streams of red. Corvo swooped her up in his arms and then the world around them blurred in a vortex-like fashion. A blink of an eye, and she had traveled five feet and up unto her horse. If the maneuver surprised any of the Cobalt Guards, they showed no evidence of it. Higgins and Trelov swung behind them, somehow already on their own horses. Emily had been through crises before, many since her rise to the throne. By now, she had expected some of the edge to wear off. It hadn't.
Her heart pounded so hard she could swear her ribcage rattled with each beat. Corvo's face remained stoic, Higgins and Trelov as well. Even as their assailants emerged, like ghosts, from the curtain of smoke—they remained stoic. One lurched backwards and fell, courtesy of Higgins' pistol. Trelov had his own pistol out, but before anything could happen an inhuman war cry emerged from behind them. Trelov pulled his pistol back as a figure rushed from behind them and meet the attackers with such ferocity they were pushed back. Vanished in the smoke. She felt Corvo reverberate with a chuckle. Then she recognized the voice screaming.
"McKenna?"
Corvo nodded, "She'll give us the time we'll need." He kicked the horse forward and back down the road they went through.
"We're just leaving her?"
"I know Commander McKenna. If anything, it's those men and women I'm worried about. There'll be nothing left of them by the time she's done." He turned to the two Cobalts following them. "We'll circle around and take the long way to Kaldwin's Bridge." Higgins and Trelov answered in the affirmative and rushed their horses forward. Two hundred paces down the road, another pile of furniture, burning high, blocked the road. Left and right, men and women in grey clothes emerged from the old buildings. It was lucky some of the City Watch and the Cobalt Guard had lagged behind. Or else they would have been scattered as the four of them doubled back. Trelov and Higgins peeled off and went down an alley, before shouting the affirmative. Emily didn't have time to look back, but she had already seen enough. The Cobalts themselves were struggling. The lower Watch barely had any training coming into the force, they were getting slaughtered.
Down the alley they were travelling another wall of smoke seemed to appear out of nowhere and engulf the four of them.
"What the hell?" Higgins exclaimed, reeling his horse back. as the ground beneath them began to unravel "It's the sewers, they're cutting us off from the sewers—" From the smoke a net was thrown and the two Cobalts went down. A crack of pistol and down went Trelov, clutching his leg. Higgins went to defend his fellow Cobalt when their assailant made his entrance and ended Higgins' attempt with a bayonet. They were surrounded.
"Emily. Stay here."
"Wait," She turned to grab Corvo's hand but reeled back when they stung with something akin to electricity. His hand was glowing with arcane light; Corvo's eyes had gone steely cold. "Don't go. Not yet—"
"Outsiders eyes—"
"In the name of the Void—"
The voices abruptly ended with grunts and gurgles. From the direction of the street, the assailants were rushing out of the smoke. But not to attack, they were retreating. Or they were trying to before a figure cut them down. Several of them but the smoke betrayed little to Emily's eyes. Then figure shot out of the smoke. Running at full speed, the man slid under their horse and emerged from the other side to engage assailants who tried to cut them off. He cut away the net that caught Higgins and Trelov, then vanished in the smoke.
His fighting, however intense did not disturb the smoke. His movements seemed to swirl with the smoke, his sword moved with fluidity that wasn't all that foreign. Emily's memory ticked with the vaguest familiarity at the sight. His uniform wasn't Cobalt, as she expected though. They were the grimy blue of the City Watch. The Watchman locked swords with one gray clothed attacker, then slid the sword aside. The attacker lost his balance and fell forward, into the path of another that tried to sneak up on the Watchman. His sword cut once then stabbed once and the attackers fell. Without missing a beat, he turned and locked blades with another.
"Get him!" The Watchman shouted, and Emily thought he was speaking to them, but the man's partner emerged from the smoke and helped Trelov up.
"Emily, change of plans." Corvo whispered to her and dismounted. His eyes searched the ground until he found what he was looking for. Manhole, down to the sewage tunnels below Old Port District.
"You," Corvo shouted at the Watchman holding Trelov.
"Milord?"
"This way," Corvo pointed down the hatch. He pointed to Emily and Trelov, "Them first."
As Trelov gave them the all clear, and they successfully lowered Emily, the Watchman turned back to his friend. "Olie!"
"Go, Hewell, I'll join you shortly."
Corvo, knew the resolve of a man determined to keep fighting when he heard it. "Go," he lied, "I'll get your friend."
To his horror as soon as Hewell landed on the Sewer floor, Corvo jumped down and pulled the key from the lock. "What are ya' doin'?"
"You friend had made his choice," Corvo mentioned, as the door grinded to a close. "His sacrifice will not be in vain."