Chapter Eighteen (Epilogue)
The End and The Beginning
When Emily Kaldwin I took the throne, her first official decree as Empress was that the Nineteenth Day of the Month of Earth serve as a day of remembrance; that no man, woman, or child in the Empire would forget her late mother and the sacrifices she had made for them. For fourteen years this tradition has continued. However, today will mark the new beginning. Many changes will be made, by a new Empress.
She believes herself to be a gift.
She is a mystery to the known world.
She is a curse to all in her demesne.
Her name shall now be recorded by historians as Delilah Kaldwin I.
There is nothing I can do to prevent these events from unfolding. All I can do is observe. Because when Delilah sets her precious little mind to something, she has proven to be quite the formidable opponent.
Delilah rests upon a palanquin, carried to her self-fulfilled destiny by those she has enthralled. She is surrounded by members of the Grand Serkonan Guard, and the vicious creations of the mad inventor, Kirin Jindosh.
With a wave of her hand, Delilah orders the men to set her down. Her eyes lock with Corvo, and she stands. She prowls towards him, droning on and on and on.
"Jessamine took my life."
"Jessamine took my love."
"Jessamine took my throne."
She caresses his bearded cheek. He wonders how this madwoman came to be here, and he struggles to recall what transpired between Delilah and his love. But it's no surprise to me that Corvo doesn't know the entirety of the story. There are some secrets buried so deeply, that wagging tongues will never speak them.
Emily Kaldwin's face goes slack with shock. Her first thought is the threat being made towards her rule. Her second thought is for her father. She rushes to Corvo, only to be forced away by a creation of clockwork.
As Corvo brushes Delilah aside, this path is now locked.
Retreating to the palanquin, she commands the Grand Serkonan Guardsmen to attack, along with the Clockwork Soldiers. Pandemonium engulfs Dunwall Tower.
…
Corvo and Emily are forced back to back. He yells at her to run, and she does. The Royal Protector fights to defeat the Witch. He instinctively reaches for his blade, and he springs into action. Delilah was never well-versed in combat. That much was proven when she had her encounter with Daud. Before long, Corvo puts his blade through Delilah's heart. It was an effortless movement.
But it won't be enough to save him.
The Void has touched Delilah, and she has embraced it. She is something unholy and wholly unnatural.
Stunned by her immunity to death, Corvo doesn't think to keep moving. Delilah pulls the blade out of her chest, and throws it to the floor. It clatters upon the ground. Corvo tries to get away, but he is too late. The witch has ensnared him now, with the help of Bloodbriar.
He has expended his reserve of mana. He is powerless. He did not have the forethought to bring several vials of the precious Addermire Solution with him, to the day's festivities.
The Witch dances around him, a malevolent smirk upon her lips. She outstretches her hand to Corvo's. She absorbs his Mark – my Mark – into her own. The Royal Protector is now in agony, and falls upon the wet, blood-stained floor.
He is unconscious.
The Witch wastes no time in posing him. Freezing him for time memoriam.
Corvo Attano, the Serkonan Royal Protector, is now nothing more than a mere trophy to an otherworldly usurper…
The rightful heir to the throne.
…
Why am I breathing so heavily? Why am I suddenly…so anxious?
I blink my eyes once, twice…
This strand of Time…I've never seen it before. And it's clear to me now that there is more at stake than even I foresaw.
I should have rescinded her Mark. The crone's power has grown.
This…is highly unusual. I've never seen this happen before, in the entirety of my many millennia…
Not even Vera commanded this kind of power. To think, even Daud was wise enough to foresee the dangers of making an enemy of a witch.
…
The Royal Protector has put himself in front of his daughter. They are completely surrounded. Father and daughter now fight, back-to-back…
But I only saw one strand of Time. I cannot see the others. There are too many variables…
…Yes. Both may survive, somehow…One as a trophy of the crone, the other as a fugitive of the law…
I shake my head. The mortals weren't prepared for this. Time and time again, I warned Emily Kaldwin that this would happen. And she failed to heed my warnings.
Now, it is the moment of truth.
Will Corvo become the trophy?
Will Emily become the fugitive?
Or will the roles be reversed?
…
It's time for them to take back what is theirs.