Dishonored Valkyria

Disclaimer: I do not own Dishonored or Valkyria Chronicles, they belong to their respective companies and developers who put the time and effort into them.


Far from the battlefield, Gallia's mighty capital city

In the woods outside the Gallian capital of rising buildings and smoke billowing out of their respective chimneys, a dark flicker of ash and black soot magically swirled around as it opened up to spit out a woman and a young man onto the patch of grass that covered the ground. The woman gasped out as she tried to breathe the fresh air, the young man lifting himself on his knees with his hands on the ground clutching his stomach which clenched in rejection of the astral travel.

"Ow…Trance Blink hurts like always."

Trance blink, the ultimate form of the Blink maneuver which is the common ability to teleport within the user's line of sight however he pleased part of the many gifts the Outsider's Mark of power bestowed upon their users who were lucky to meet or wake up to find it etched onto their bodies. However, there are few who had the Mark and even fewer who could tap deeper into the supernatural abilities they were given once they felt they learnt all they had to know about the Mark. Candide was one such exception to that rule. When he had first acquired the Mark he wasn't sure of his abilities due to his nature as more of a guerilla and a transporter for the Whalers who mostly were unimpressed by his personality as a Mark-user but then again, he wasn't the only one with a specialized ability. Corvo was given the ability to summon the rats who held the plague and cannibalistic nature inside them and essentially a jack of all trades, Granny Rags was the insidious woman who commanded them like a Rat Queen while Daud was the ability to share the limited power of the Mark with his assassins freely with only a single thought to guide them to him. Candide never had special powers of lethality, but he had instead gotten the power of enhancement which was applicable to only him in terms of swiftness and avoidance with his use of Blink noted by the Outsider who visited him to comment that he was on his way to becoming a master of his own level.

"What…was that?" The widow Gunthur looked left and right as she noticed the walls of the capital city only a short distance away, the woman feeling almost dumbfounded by what she had experienced in that instant when she was just seeing her two children before she felt her body tear, reappearing right near the capital on the other side of Gallia. Turning back, the woman saw Candide still shaken as he kept his head bowed to the ground as his hand dug into the dirt filling the gap between his nail and thumb, pushing his upper body as he let the exhaustion of the ability wear down. Ensuring he could breathe, the man felt his senses numb as he pushed himself to his feet ignoring the mother's efforts to help him stand.

"That was…exhausting," Candide breathed heavily wiping the sweat from his forehead pointing his finger at the wall of the capital city, a thin smile as his arm weakly flopped to his side. "There, the capital, safest place right now in Gallia with the approaching lightning invasion by the Empire. You should be safe here until the new conflict is being resolved," Candide spoke as he leaned against a tree for support.

"I don't care about that, what about my children? Isara and Welkin are still at our home surrounded by those soldiers!" The mother rebutted, her hands curling as the fingernails dug into the skin of her palms as Candide had a heavy sigh.

"Mrs. Gunthur, you may not understand but while your children are trapped there they aren't alone. That tank and my friend Corvo, those are more than efficient weapons if anything is to go by it," Candide said as he looked in the direction of the border towns his view obscured by the road across from their position, the small line of trees obscuring anyone from his use of the Blink.

"Besides, we have to get you someplace safe within the city." The young man advised as the widow suddenly held her hands around her abdomen, crumpling to her knees in pain to which Candide noticed quickly, the man going to her side as she held her mouth in the cusp of her hand. "Mrs. Gunthur, are you alright? What's wrong?"

"It's…ugh, it's coming!"

"Wait, what's coming? Mrs. Gunthur?" Candide said confused by the woman's labored breath before he looked down, noticing that his hand was placed on an enlarged stomach poking out from beneath her clothing, the fact dawning on him quickly. The mother looked at Candide dead in the eye, with small tears streaming from the corner of her eyelids.

"My baby, it's coming…" The woman muttered again to confirm it for him, Candide blinking once before the information sunk in, his jaw opened slightly unhinged for a moment followed by a choke of surprise. "What?! You're going into labor now?" Candide smacked his forehead, he had been focused on tending to their charge that the news of a birth was slow to process for him and escaped his eye, the man immediately taking off his coat and laid it on the ground. Pausing, Candide locked eyes with the pregnant woman, hesitating as his shoulders were tense due to inexperience and anxiety upon being the handler of a birth.

"What do I do?" Candide asked the widow, his expression betraying the aforementioned aversion and fears as he gestured his hands to the woman's stomach.

"I'll…argh, push! Just let me…wuuarrgh, lie…down. " The pregnant mother instructed between her labor pains, Candide settling her back onto the grass while he dragged his coat closer to sit at her thighs. As the mother screamed in pain, Candide did his best to keep his eyes glued for signs of the baby's head as he tried to stay calm.

What a day, I hope the others are doing okay on their end.


Bruhl, Main gate

"Get down!" A town watchman screamed over the flurry of gunfire before he gripped the stick of the hand grenade throwing the item into the air as boots roared in rapid thuds, the watchman sticking his head out as he raised his Gallian 1 rifle firing three rounds at a column of three imperial soldiers, ducking immediately in time to see the sandbag front jitter and shake clouds of sand smoking his vision from the small arms fire of the semi-automatic rifles of the Imperial guns outclassing their primitive bolt action rifles. Cries of battle from the town watchmen and imperials were hoarsely growling at one another through the horrid mess of gunfire, with sandbags spilling their sand filled guts mixed with blood while several imperial injured from the grenades crawled out of cover terrified as bloodied stumps of missing arms and legs screaming for help as their fellow soldiers left them to their fate, a pair of imperial tanks sat in the middle of the street burning, their metal hull sheets twisted from the impact of large rounds while the fires raged.

"Imperial shock team on the left by the main gate, Alicia! We need support fire and a grenade now!" The town guardsman yelled to Alicia who threw a grenade, watching the Imperial fire teams scatter as the grenade exploded claiming several soldiers in the blast radius. Welkin meanwhile was riding in the tank mowing down the scattered teams with machine gun fire, the young man flinching with each hit and kill fighting the urge to stare blankly at the dismembered limbs torn apart from the caliber bullets. So far, the battle Welkin had entered was a disaster on the Gallian side, casualties of both civilians and militia were mounting by the second which was made worse by the appearance of tanks acting as the shock troopers crushing militia resistance who were unable to fight against their opponents' superior firepower.

"Welkin, are you there?" Corvo's voice rang in his headset as Welkin took a moment to cease fire, checking his ammo box before he brought up the signal to his headset.

"Corvo, I'm here, what's your status? Is everything alright?" Welkin asked as Corvo chuckled over the line, the sound of scuffling feet and grunts were followed by a man croaking choking on blood before Corvo answered.

"I'm fine, these men clearly are novices in the art of war."

With Corvo

Corvo retracted his blade from the throat of an Imperial heavy trooper, watching the man crumple to the ground choking on his blood which was flowing from his sliced windpipe and severed arteries as the assassin admired his work, a small alley of 45 Imperial troops and limbs were scattered all around blood splashed over the walls, pieces of their dull gaudy brown and black clad limbs and blast armor spread across the kill zone. Striding out into the main street, Corvo passed by five destroyed tanks which were crushed by him personally, their metal hulls smoking from the use of grenades. The square was a mess, with the windmill being torn down and the bodies of unprepared Gallian troopers and civilians who were caught in the initial wave of troops lay dead at his feet. Corvo reached a woman's body nearby sprawled onto the main road where the Imperials' first wave swarmed in.

"What tragedy for one so young." Corvo commented upon seeing one of the many casualties in the initial wave the assassin's black locks fluttered in the wind obscuring his eyes, the man kneeling by the corpse as he noticed a large red stain of blood with darker spots, originating from a gun. It was then that he realised her position which was hunched over something as Corvo overturned the body, curious to what this woman hid. As he did, the former Lord Protector had to turn his head away as the still body of a young girl no older than twelve laid on the ground, a clean bullet through her head as blood and brain were hidden by the brick as blood filled the small trenches of cemented gaps. Corvo immediately closed the horrified eyes of the child, folding her arms before he paused, instead bringing over the mother's body to rest by her side cupping the hands of both mother and child in each other's grasp bowing his head as he clasped his hands seeing their calm faces, eyes closed from the terror that they felt before the end.

"May the God of the sky and heaven bring you back home, may you know not war or transgression, but peace and a life well beyond this one, where you may never know death but everlasting life." Corvo prayed as he stood up looking at the dead imperials he left in his wake. They may have shown no mercy to this mother and child, however Corvo had paid the Imperials back in kind for their cruelty. He took no pleasure in it, but such action must be met with exactions of justice.

Reaching for his headset, the man flicked on his headset into Welkin's channel. "Right now I've cleared the main square of their assault forces."

"…You're amazing, Corvo." Welkin couldn't help but praise the man's fast dispatch of the enemy forces, the tank commander able to see the results from his position as the numbers of soldiers had thinned out dramatically instead of the blitz hordes that were storming the gates where the civilians were still being evacuated. Corvo stepped over a mess of body parts, unlucky enough to step on his Razor mines as metal strips crunched under his boots.

"I'm going to look for survivors right now, are you able to stay and hold off the Imperials until I meet up with you for evacuation?"

"Yes, only a few civilian groups are left to evacuate, with you eliminating the main force holed up at the square we'll have an easier time to breathe." Welkin assured confidently as Corvo nodded in satisfaction, the battle for survival was reaching its final stages of completion though Corvo's mind did think about the other border towns nearby who were facing the same amount of ruthlessness.

He shook his head, it wasn't going to do him good just thinking about the towns far out of reach for the Gallian military and him to react to, if he was to stay alive and take care of Isara Corvo had to focus on living through this battle. Not that he distrusted Camille, but he felt that unlike him who went through a harsh training to prepare himself for the position of assassin and Lord Protector, Camille was a simple tavern boy from the outskirts. Experience outweighed the youth.

At this moment, he noticed a figure step out of one of the buildings from the right, Corvo halting in his footsteps as he made out a Gallian militia pointing his rifle at him, the assassin noticing the trembling hands and nervous shaky breath from the soldier who cautiously kept a distance.

"St-Stop!"

"Still yourself, I am looking for survivors." Corvo monotonously spoke, eyeing the stores for more signs of Gallia's fighting force within the town as he ignored the man's hurried orders looking over him once. "Besides, your chamber is exposed, and I see no bullet."

"There's no guarantee you're with us! So stay where you are!" The militia warned the assassin, keeping his eye on the scope trained with timid fingers and shaking hands. Corvo however was not dissuaded upon looking at the rifle, the assassin easily reading his emotions.

"Gerald, that's enough! Corvo's one of us!" A familiar voice disrupted the standoff, Corvo looking to the right where a very familiar woman with raven black hair and timid posture shuffled out of the broken store entrance, holding a sniper rifle. "Corvo..."

"Catherine, are you unharmed?" Corvo asked casually, giving a sidelong glance at the militiaman who sighed keeping his rifle pointed to the ground. Catherine gave a weary nod, her eyes having been strained with dirt and smoke as evident red arteries could be seen reaching her pupils.

"Yes, but some of the militia held up here aren't. We're down to half fighting capacity now, our only goal is to get out alive," Catherine reported as a few men walked out of the store relieved that the man wasn't a threat and at the brief silence of the guns.

"I dealt with the occupying force in the square, everyone's dead."

"That's almost half a company." Catherine gaped at the number, looking at Corvo who was completely fine without any visible wounds. "I don't know what you did back there, but thank you. The path behind us leads to the town's gate, that's where the evacuation procedures are happening. If anything, I bet the rest of the militia have retreated there to hold the gate. However, those imperial tanks were part of the wave, there will be more."

"Those things you call tanks don't frighten me," Corvo spoke truthfully. He had seen the sluggishness of the Edelweiss and while he never doubted their firepower the fact that it was a method of cutting corners, serving to further damage what you can't have by negotiation was a disgusting notion.

Catherine on the other hand had a doubtful expression at his bravado towards the monstrous machines. "Tanks are bad news no matter their slow speed, the imperials utilizing those mobile units only mean that they planned to rush through the border towns and snatch as much territory to conquer us. This is a blitzkrieg, not a slow takeover."

Corvo said nothing, gazing back at the direction where the gate was supposedly placed, his mind wandering to the two teenagers Isara and Welkin's safety when they had split. The town's main deterring factor from the Imperials grabbing the rest of Bruhl laid there along with their civilians, and if his ward was to be safe, he must side with Gallia in opposing these invaders. It will not become another Dunwall, he had seen enough meaningless blood and pointless acts for a lifetime, this world shall not have these imperial rats feast on the innocent.

"I'll go ahead and help clear out the enemies at the gate. You lead these soldiers out of here to the gate behind me." Corvo instructed as he wasted no time in running ahead of the group, leaving Catherine and the militia to themselves. Catherine was the first to react, giving a hand wave to the team opposite the street as they filed out.

"C'mon, everyone on me! If we're to survive, we have to follow Corvo!"


At the gate

The gate's chaos continued as Welkin knocked out a second tank which had approached the area, Isara helping to maneuver the steel giant while he fired from the machine gun emplacement near the hatch the cheers of the town watchmen resounding in the street from their positions. The imperial shocktroopers, who once had the advantage were being driven back from their objective and were repelled for the second time much to the cheer of the watchmen.

"Imperials retreating Welkin!" Isara reported from her open slot viewing hatch observing their fleeing backs, Welkin breathing a sigh of momentarily respite.

"Good, we're safe for now. They'll return with another wave of troopers, most likely reinforced with their tanks for another go at the gate." Welkin advised as Isara drove the tank towards the gate knocking over some sandbags in the corner to maneuver themselves into a fortified position the back facing the gate. Welkin sighed as he lowered himself into the interior of the tank where his sister was parking the tank observing the shells sitting in the confines of the tank. "How much ammunition do we have?"

"Enough for at least two more direct assaults on the gatehouse," Isara reported as she loaded the next shell into the tank's barrel, "but I'm not sure if the rest of the watchmen can hold the town long enough for us to do so."

Welkin considered his options. He knew that the Edelweiss is combat ready and is sturdy enough to withstand a few direct blows, the imperials would soon catch onto the fact that Bruhl's resistance would be tough and send in a portion of their main force to implement submission. And with the town guard's limited weaponry and lack of mobile artillery or mobile steel to counter the surprise offensive, this battle had been one-sided from the start. It was a miracle that he and the rest had even survived this long against the assault which had already managed to break the gate slightly, the large doors beaten down by earlier grenades which had blown some planks of wood and blackened the steel fulcrum pillars with soot.

"Where's Corvo?" Isara asked Welkin who stared at his sister, his attention turned to his headset again as he shook his head. "I don't know, I'm going to call him right now."

"What about the town watch?" Isara asked as she pointed at several injured men who were unable to hold onto their rifles, lying against the tank while several braver souls even with a limp or a wounded shoulder prop themselves against the sand barrier, using the bags as support for their rifles. Welkin was impressed, for a town watch guard they were more than determined to disregard their crippling injuries for one more shot at the enemy.

"Corvo, do you read?"

Corvo's voice soon replied crisply, his voice panting from light weariness as the former assassin continued to run, glancing back to see Catherine and her squad filing in behind him keeping a block's distance between them and him taking cover by a nearby wall. "Ah, Welkin, just the person I need right now. You are at the gatehouse to Bruhl with that lumbering metal tank correct?"

"Yes, but that's not important where are-" Welkin spoke before Corvo cut him off from asking his whereabouts, the latter's tone taking a strong vibe of authority. "Good, listen I need you to hold the gatehouse for a bit longer with Alicia and Isara, I am currently scouting ahead and having a squad of watchmen coming your way from the main square."

Welkin's eyes widened, it was a tall order for Corvo to make as Welkin looked at Isara who was overhearing the conversation giving him a nod as Welkin went to the radio. "So when are you coming over? Because the tank doesn't have long before we start running low on ammunition and most of the watchmen are drained."

"Soon, please keep holding onto your position until we get there."


Five days ago, High Command

"I'll be sure to pass on the message to our mutual friend when the time comes, Major General." A male voice reported as he exited the office and into the hallway, a single figure in a Gallien uniform saluted before the door was closed. The soldier walked steadily down the hallway holding a plain white envelope in hand, stuffing the delivery into his pocket as he saluted the high ranking officers who passed by, the man briskly walking down the hallway before entering the shadow of a corner removing his soldier's cap.

"That was simple," the soldier echoed as the world around him suddenly began to contort and twist, the windows shattering in unison like a chorus of quiet screams while the walls creaked, bending away leaving the sky's blue expanse to overtake the clouds and sun in an unnatural overlap of blue, the sight was equivalent to paint being spilt over the natural features of the universe. Almost at once, the soldier's own uniform and body began to distort like a ripple in a lake, the feet of his black boots consumed by black flame as the soldier hovered above the air the soldierly mirage rippling against the fabric of reality.

"Such ambition, but not worthy of my time," the disguise withered away to reveal the Outsider who was clutching the envelope with interest weighing the light paper in between his thumb and arc of his index finger. "Not that I needed to know what is written in here, I already knew your game before it started, Major General. Though I must say, the plans that humans can create from the space of their imaginations are indeed interesting to observe."

Looking at the letter, the Outsider continued to roam the now crumbled floating ruins which consisted of his realm, the letter hanging in his hands. "This is certainly an opportunity, and herein lays the turning point for the chain of events which is set to occur, in my own hands the continent's direction will be steered," the Outsider marveled at the envelope. For any human who held such a lifechanging decision which would affect not only themselves but the whole continent, such a decision would be weighty on their conscious. The Outsider actually found that it was good beings like him existed, or perhaps a curse to have to make decisions humans would mostly want nothing to do with and rather continue a blissful illusion of unawareness. But the Outsider knew his role in the world, the shadows and the whispers knew theirs and served him according to the roles of intelligence gathering, once so did the Valkyur. The Valkyur however broke the roles they were assigned to do, forming and affecting the continent in ways they could never imagine possible. An inexcusable task, yet one the Outsider found fascinating as they ravaged the continent where the humans existed and founded their totalitarian regime until their…untimely disappearance due to their violation of the roles. It was too bad the Outsider was more focused on the chessgames of the Isles' nobility and the common's troubles, though the Outsider in truth enjoyed every one of them. The intrigue, the plots, the twists none so better played between the late Empress and the spymaster, the ultimate fate being the latter's victory and the former's death playing Corvo into his hands to do so as he wished. If only both had seen how valuable this one rook could be, to bring an entire kingdom to its knees and cause the death of an Empress…an interesting memory indeed.

However, much as the Outsider would have wanted to hand it over to the right people and prevent the war from dragging on, the events which would conspire against Gallia presently and the future had merits. With war, the Gallians would be provoked with future questions regarding their past and bringing the truth closer to the continent, and along with it the wiping out of corruption and infestation of the Yggdist legacy left behind by the Valkyurs. This was in all logical trains of thought tragedy of course, but to the Outsider, it was the perfect scheme to observe and see the twists to come for the villains, the one chance for the heroes to truly find out the complications of the world and purge its demons of flesh and blood. The Outsider's thoughts were distracted as he felt ripples of change beginning to shake the very blocks of ruins and moments in time, the force of which caused a few scattered moments frozen in time to fall away into the depths of the void.

"…" The Outsider stashed the envelope away, intent on completing his self-assigned task. Before that though, the Outsider had one stop along the way. Flicking his finger, the soldier's uniform that clothed him disappeared as a long brown coat and a simple white shirt with black pants replaced them, the Outsider taking a short breath stepping through the shadows of his realm.


Night time

The Outsider stepped out of the realm's fog veil into a small garden in front of a two floored house of brick, the small indication of civilization was a window in front of him above his head, the supernatural being glancing at the glass pane before he noticed a small ring of stones and pebbles in a semi-circle the neat flower bed caused a slight uplift of his lips. Picking up a stone from the ring, the Outsider observed the smooth surface before he raised his hand, and lazily threw the pebble onto the window with surprising accuracy.

The Outsider heard a shuffle and the loud thump of the window being lifted hitting wood. A small head with red hair popped out of the window, glancing over the air before descending to the ground, spotting the inhuman entity standing in the middle of the garden.

"Did you throw that?" The Outsider heard the person call out, identifying the figure as female as he kept his stance of passiveness, his hands hanging at his sides.

"Valarie Aynsley?"

"And who are you?" The woman called Valarie answered cautiously while the moon reflected a dim shining light from her glasses highlighting her scowl, the Outsider hearing a small click from the shadows within the room alerting him to the presence of a firearm. Cautious and poised to kill if necessary indeed, considering her circumstances and what she's dabbled in makes her dangerous.

"Someone who has deep interest in your research on the Darscens' history, Miss Aynsley…may I come in to discuss this from prying ears?" The Outsider asked gently, he wasn't too particular about getting shot at in the first place. Valarie looked around nervously before she stared distrustfully at him. "And why should I just let someone who I don't know into my home?"

"Because curiosity is a rare treasure in this country, especially when it comes to the search of true history behind the veil of simple natural order. That is why you were found in the royals' castle were you not?"

"How did you-"

"I'm not of the Gallian military police or their…other services, simply a fellow researcher who is curious about your expeditions into forbidden places and what you've learned that could possibly counteract our understanding of the world." The Outsider reassured, Valarie glancing left and right before she lowered the gun she'd hidden on the windowsill, the non-human entity taking it as a cue when his shadows alerted him to the click of the front door in front of him, Valarie leaning her head from the open door.

"Get in," the Outsider didn't stop to reply as he briskly walked inside, the door latch and lock holding the door in place behind him as Valarie met his front with her inquisitive eyes. "Spit it out, how do you know about my incident at the castle?"

"Secrets are never kept quiet for long, and like you I am a hunter of knowledge, specifically about the Valkyur race." The semi-omniscient being admitted to Valarie as he paced the small hallway, feeling the weight of the tense stare behind him as he nonchalantly brushed them aside, his eyes falling to the room on the left secretly taking notes of a desk sitting at a boarded up window. "Their history is very vague, without explanation they appear as the saviors of the world, a truth of this continent's knowledge that is without question fact. However, your snooping around the castle has proven to me that you are more than just a simple researcher with ambitions for blackmailing the royal family, am I right to say this?"

Valarie eyed him quietly, her hand resting at her thigh before the Outsider held up his hand. "I'm afraid that violence is not what I seek, nor will I oblige to partake in blood spilling tonight. I can help you."

Valarie held her gun securely, keeping it pointed to the floor. "How? You're not exactly a notable scholar that I recognize, nor are you a person of high standing. In fact, you look just like a Darscen now I have a good look at you. Who's to say the royal family isn't sending their own to silence me?"

"A Darscen…so that's what your people have taken to calling them now I see," the Outsider mused to himself before he chuckled at the image of his two Mark bearers. While he would have chosen another form had he been picky for practicality, there was value in being one with the crowd or taking the form of the stigmatised and outcasts to suit his position. Plus, it was much more fun that way to play around with the ever imaginative machinations of the human speculation. Sweeping his hand across to gesture at the room, he replied with bemusement at her speculative theory. "You insult me with such a callous accusation…you can say, to the Darscens I am their Guardian and their friend, or maybe not. But that detail to you is irrelevant right now."

Valarie narrowed her eyes, glaring at the Outsider for a moment before she laughed, a coarse laughter devoid of amusement but mocking followed with a bitter growl as she aimed her sidearm. "And with that, I am more convinced of your intention to kill me. So this is how I meet my end, is this what awaits me for uncovering the real history behind our continent just for a little truth?"

"Oh? Who is to say I can be a Darscen with the family, but an interested party who has simple wishes to have those whose eyes and ears have yet to be aware around them?" The Outsider inquired as he leaned forward to look at the history researcher dead in the eyes. "Throwing theories is a fascinating hobby of man, but they don't understand what they ask, nor wonder why they're not allowed to view things which are prohibited and inaccessible to their limited capacity."

Valarie paused, her finger inches away from pulling the trigger on this man, the Outsider glancing at the gun before he stepped forward causing her to lift the gun higher, though with both hands to steady her weary hand. The omnipotent being held his hands behind his back, almost like a bound prisoner at the mercy of his executor.

"What good does this point out to me?"

"What I am pointing out, is that as scholars you've scoffed at your religion, turned up your noses to listen to the academic tunes of the present, and ignore the past. Humanity has always failed in everything, understanding their own minds, the world, taking control, knowing natural laws and spiritual laws, an attempt to be immortalized. Truth lies within every story, however there is an aversion, a rage, hatred towards understanding what is religious or natural law…and from the very beings who dared to point at their world and ask 'Why?'" The Outsider laughed seeing Valarie's face turned shades of red, knowing that he had caught on to a bit of her own personal beliefs as he continued to speak, seeing her inability to form any words.

"The shadows of these walls speak of disbelief, cold logic, uninteresting, boring rants from a woman who is so caught up in the moment of knowledge, she finds herself at a loss when all is taken from her. Your personal frustration and endless determination was rather interesting to watch, and what caught my attention to you."

"Get to the point," Valarie growled out at the Outsider feeling infuriated at the man's words which were finding her weak spots, the Outsider rapping the walls of the house echoing thuds across the silent house losing his smile to a neutral thin line. "In short, you were interesting for all your faults. You represented the image of a different scholar, one who is just curious but misunderstood, practical but yet not the typical traitor to reveal royal secrets."

"My instincts tell me not to trust anyone, that has been the nature of my work since I made that discovery, yet here you come in telling me that you can help me escape the shackles of the Gallian leadership?" The Outsider could easily understand her thinking, he had after all once played on the minds of the unbelieving while they were still young in knowing of his existence for centuries, he knew all their fears, their apprehensions and what keeps them awake at night. Having to choose people of interest who are destined for great things are far and few between, however Valarie had a sharp level head around her from her run ins with the government which made her an asset too valuable to lose.

"That is correct. But I don't only want your skill, you'll have to do a little something for me should you accept my help," the Outsider spoke as he kept his hands behind his back seeing the obvious darkened cloud over her eyes. As usual, her eyes gave away her non-surprise at his trade off. "The choice is up to you to believe my words as a fellow researcher, but know this. I do not let interesting characters slip between my fingers."

"…" Valarie thought for a moment before she stretched her hand out, considering all of her benefits for this nonsensical gamble. "Fine, I have nothing to lose anyway."

"Anything for the sake of knowledge," the Outsider smirked as he saw Valarie's composure weaken just a little, showing her nervousness for him at his perceptive nature, the supernatural being clasping her hand in a gentle touch. "I can respect that to a certain degree."

"So what happens now?" Valarie looked at their handshake, the Outsider giving a smile as he snapped his fingers, the world around them beginning to break apart as Valarie looked around in wonder, awe and most of all absolute surprise at the walls of her home fell away into obscurity, the bleak night outside turning a shade of darkened blue reminiscent of the sea. As the air began to freeze as well as the temperature, the Outsider began to levitate from the ground smirking at her fascination upon stepping into his realm of reality.

"Now…now I grant you the first step to knowing what your world truly was."


End

Author's notes: Sorry for the long ass delay, it's been months or perhaps even a year? I haven't been keeping track. Anyways, I'll be aiming to update my old stories as much as possible in the meantime, I have been busy doing some extracirricular activity for my own stories and making new horizons to test the limits of my writing ability. I apologize if this isn't longer as I wrote this in a hurry and have procrastinated for months with the initial draft.

Either way, I pray my touch hasn't gone away for this one.

Why did I pick Valarie for this? Well to me, I felt that someone like her who made a discovery about the royal family which would lead to the events of the sequel would be worthy of the Outsider's attention in search of knowledge and being curious about the real history of the continent challenging the legends of Darscen heritage. After all, I had the small tinges of Pierro when I considered her as candidate, so it had contributed partially to my decision. But what her ultimate goal with the Outsider is another story altogether, you'll have to find out for the future installments.

Have a good one guys.

VI