Chapter 23: Breathe
Corvo watched the Outsider collapse against Emily in the railcar, his right leg stretched out and breathing heavily.
Emily gently removed the blindfold, caressing his face while doing so. "Did Marzia miss something?" she asked softly.
"I was also shot in the thigh," he said tightly. "The bullet is no longer there but it was not treated."
Emily made a noise of sympathy. Corvo sighed through his nose.
"Will you tell us what actually happened?" he asked tiredly. "Elanor said that her singing must have interrupted a transportation ritual, but I don't buy it. Neither does Chopin."
The Outsider sighed, his black eyes staring off into the middle distance. "I was careless. A group of Rateaters mistook me for a witch and jumped me. They were making bonecharms that gave the wearer access to the ability to Blink, and that needs the freshly flayed skin of a witch."
Corvo could not help but wince at the description. Emily also winced, and placed her head atop the Outsider's in a form of embrace.
"I was angry and humiliated that I had been captured and wanted revenge," he laughed bitterly. "I should have figured that I was not up to the task."
"I am sure that you killed some of them," Corvo replied, finding the words an awkward comfort.
"Oh I did," a feral look crossed his face, his smile sharp and teeth still stained with blood.
Corvo immediately knew how the four corpses on the boat died. An untrained man often fought with bestial desperation, and it seemed that the Outsider was no different.
"So how did the boat end up in Lady Boyle's wall?" Emily asked, her confusion almost childlike.
"The four dead you found all possessed one of the finished Blink bonecharms." The Outsider reached into his pants pocket and tossed one over to Corvo. He caught it, looking at the pale scrap of bone and thread. "The reason I was even in the neighborhood was that there was an interesting shrine in the area, a shrine that the Rateaters had set up to make the bonecharms. I killed at least five of the bastards there before those four Blinked in and removed me to the river boat."
"Why did you not return to the safe room?" Emily frowned, staring at the railcar ceiling. "Was it not possible?"
"I was not thinking clearly," he admitted, his voice exhausted and embarrassed. "For some reason my mind thought taking the boat out to sea to be smashed by a pod of whales would be the best course of action."
The look on Emily's face was so funny to Corvo that he had to cover his mouth and pretend to cough.
"How are you still alive?" she whispered, astonished.
"Technically I died four thousand years ago," he retorted with a small smile on his face.
She lifted her head and looked at him. "Next time I get invited to something, I am going to follow my gut and bring you along."
He huffed. "I am not always such a fool. Besides, you will likely have to explain me to society."
Corvo saw Emily's eyes gleam at the challenge. She sat up straight and plastered a smile on her face.
"Speaker Flaherty, this is Owen. I found him on a whaling ship in Serkonos and he helped me retake my throne. He is also my paramour, and if you have a problem with that you can bite my ass."
Corvo found himself laughing alongside the Outsider, who was holding his stomach as he cackled. Eulalia, who had remained quiet so far into the ride, began mimicking the laugh, sounding like a crow. That just caused Emily to laugh too, and the three of them spent rest of the brief ride laughing.
In spite of the Outsider's recent, foolish, actions, Corvo found himself warming up to the deity.
Billie rubbed her temples as the captain of the City Watch stood before her, a nervous look on his face.
"I'll inform the Empress as soon as possible," she said. "You are free to go."
He gave a short bow and left. Billie leaned on desk and sighed. Somebody had set fire to a Rateater's den in the Distillery district, right around the same time a river boat was seen vanishing from its mooring. It was unlikely that such events were coincidental; she would gladly eat a rat if the Outsider did not happen to be involved at all.
She looked at the clock- it read midnight, just when the Empress was supposed to return from the Boyle's.
"I suppose it could not hurt to ask Emily if she knows what the Outsider was doing this evening," she thought. "I can leave off the news of the disappearing river boat until tomorrow."
Billie got to her feet and left her small office to the entrance hall to hopefully meet Emily.
She was in luck, Emily was just entering as Billie arrived, and the two women locked eyes. Emily gestured with her head, and Billie followed her as she was escorted by Corvo to her rooms.
"I am assuming the City Watch has reported interesting behavior to you tonight?" Emily muttered as they walked through the halls.
Billie was speechless. They came to a stop outside her door, and Emily gave her a knowing look.
"A river boat spontaneously appeared in the ballroom wall at the Boyles not long ago," she opened the door. "Come in."
Billie followed the Empress into her rooms, feeling somewhat awkward at being invited into such a private place.
"Tell me what you learned," Emily unfastened the gauzy cape that draped from a collar and tossed it on her bed. The little bird on her shoulder darted off to its cage.
Billie stood by the door, tucking her hands behind her back as Emily ducked behind a screen.
"The City Watch reported that a known Rateater hideout was set on fire shortly after a river boat vanished from its moorings nearby."
The Outsider suddenly materialized on the bed, wearing a pair of rather ugly pajamas. There was a large bruise on his jaw, and he was smiling like an angry cat.
"It was set on fire?" he interjected, excited.
"So you did cause all the chaos," Billie did not know why she was surprised. With each passing day the Outsider seemed less like an all knowing god and more like a particularly powerful teenager. She sighed. "I thought the whole deal with you was you could see the consequences of people's actions. Why have you done something so phenomenally stupid?"
The Outsider blinked. "The funny thing about getting hit in the back of the head by a metal pipe is that it does not improve your ability to think."
Emily snorted from behind the screen. "Neither does getting angry and wanting revenge."
He blushed and ducked his head. "Yes, that is also true."
"Will you please just tell me what happened," Billie pleaded, exasperated. The Outsider looked up, his face serious and a touch sheepish.
"You may or may not be aware of this, but I have been displaced from the Void. I hear it best at the shrines people have erected around the city, and feel bound to visit one every now and then. I chose one to visit in Rateater territory, and I decided to wander around the riverfront for a bit. I did not think anyone would bother me, especially because I went as myself, not Owen."
Billie could understand that rational. Gang members' worship of the Outsider was an open secret, and it was unlikely one would even think to assault a god.
"It was dark out, and I suppose I relied far too much on people being able to identify me. In any case, I was surprised by a group of Rateaters who knocked me out. They mistook me for a witch."
"Wait," she held up a hand. The Outsider stopped talking and regarded her patiently. "You can get hurt?"
"I have a physical body now, so yes," he replied. "As for me being killed, I honestly do not think I can be, at least not by any normal weapon."
"So if I cut off your head, you would recover?" Billie asked skeptically. Emily made a noise of distress as she emerged from behind the screen, wearing pajamas. She got on the bed and sat next to the Outsider, placing her arms around him. He leaned into her, a thoughtful look on his face.
"It would hurt an awful lot, but I would recover."
"Are you sure?" Emily asked, sounding truly worried.
He smiled at her, a fond look on his face. "I certainly am not planning on testing it out anytime soon. I have had my fill of fighting."
Billie pinched the bridge of her nose. The two of them were disgustingly sweet, cuddling together and being worried about safety and health.
"So, I am guessing you ended up fighting your captors, and due to your initial excitement at the fire being reported, you did not start that fire?"
The Outsider nodded. "A bunch of Rateaters had made bonecharms that allowed them to Blink. I have saved one for you (you will get it later). They wanted a witch's skin to make more. Four of them seized me and took me to a boat."
"And what happened to the boat?" Billie found herself crossing her arms as she listened to the story.
"I am getting to that," he replied testily. "I, in my infinite wisdom, did not want the four to have backup so I thought relocating the boat roughly thirteen nautical miles out to sea was a good idea."
"Where it would be smashed by a pod of whales," Emily added with a smirk.
He was quiet for a moment before adding. "Yes, that was my plan."
Billie decided not to comment on that part. "So, how on earth did it end up in Lady Boyle's ballroom wall?"
Both Emily and the Outsider shrugged. "I felt like I was being pulled in a certain direction, like how a piece of iron is pulled to a magnet, and I could not escape." He said, a thoughtful look on his face. "It was very strange."
"Very strange indeed," Billie murmured. Emily loosened her embrace on the Outsider and leaned forward. His dark eyes shifted to look at her, and a wary expression replaced his previous thoughtfulness.
"Billie, starting next week I would like for you to train the Outsider how to fight. Corvo and I will join you as often as possible."
The Outsider did not look pleased at all. He did not open his mouth in complaint, however. In Billie's opinion, Emily's request was reasonable, and the Outsider knew it. It was just too much of a risk to leave him untrained, particularly when he proved that his judgment was poor in a fight. Improving that was a top priority.
Outwardly, Billie nodded stiffly. "Alright, consider it arranged."
Emily smiled and inclined her head. "Thank you for your time, you may leave."
The Spymaster bowed and took her leave, eager to go to bed. At least when training the black-eyed bastard he wouldn't be going off and causing trouble.