Chapter 2: Terrance Pickerd
Well my foot ligaments enflamed, and it hurts like crazy. On the plus side I have tons of free time to catch up on my writing.
Fourteen year old Terrance Pickerd rubbed his hazel eyes in hopes he could shake the exhaustion from them. The blond haired youth had tossed and turned all night long in his canopy bed , trying to escape the horrific dreams that haunted his subconscious "Ugh" he groaned propping his elbow up on the oak writing desk, his usually strong shoulders now slumped "three days…three days and all I dream of are walking corpses, and twisted monsters" Terrance sighed heavily and stared blearily out the window, at least the weather promised to be nice "Maybe I should tell Master Corvo, Emily told me he used to have weird dreams all the time" surely the kind assassin would help him. Or at the very least give him a strong sleeping draft (he was forbidden to use his sleep darts outside of duty).
No sooner had he thought this, the very man he wanted to see walked into his room (after politely knocking of course) with the little Empress Emily in tow. Terrance smiled tiredly and stood up to greet them "Good morning sir, good morning my Empress".
"You look awful this morning Terrance" Emily frowned putting her hands on her hips "are you eating your vitamins?"
"W-what? You mean those nasty tasting things Sokolov and Piero are pushing on all of Dunwall? I'm sorry to say I am" Terrance smirked "I'm just really tired is all, I keep having these disturbing dreams every night and I have not been able to rest".
Corvo suddenly felt his insides turn cold by his apprentice's words. Could it be The Outsider was toying with Terrance, or perhaps trying to contact him? Or was it The Vertraut already plying for influence? "Describe these dreams Terrance" he urged trying to keep the hardness from his cultured voice.
Terrance was now a bit confused. He did not expect the Serkonan man to act so troubled about a simple nightmare. But then…maybe he was having them too? "Well…all my dreams start out the same. I'm back in the Flooded District where you found me Master, except there are no weepers or people about, alive or dead…at first. Then the dead just burst through the ground grasping and flailing and I can't…I c-can't!" the young apprentice hadn't realized he was shaking until Corvo held his shoulders in a reassuring grip. Hazel gray met chocolate and Terrance was calm once more.
"It's going to be okay Terrance, I recently had a bad dream as well. Which is what I want to discuss with you both, it involves a delicate matter" Terrance was wide awake now.
"Did…uh you know 'that man', talk to you?" it was the one thing Terrance couldn't openly talk about with the Lord Protector. To think that Corvo his beloved mentor, his teacher was Void touched. There were many people in Dunwall and throughout the Empire Isles who feared and hated The Outsider; that ancient mysterious being who dwelled in the abyss of dead leviathans, spreading his unique gifts to a select few mortals. Just his legend alone had driven men to the brink of madness, and over the edge to a grisly death.
But not Corvo Attano, his master never cared for his powers and thus hardly delved into the subject. It was especially risky for a man in his position to pursue such a subject on the count of the Overseers. Oh how he hated those psychopaths and their supposed elitist faith! It always baffled Terrance that the people would support a religion that allowed the kidnapping of their children and the vicious assaults and murders on those they deemed heretics.
Or perhaps the people were just that afraid of the old ghost who constantly watched from the shadows. The former street waif learned long ago The Outsider was no boogieman ready to curse the unwary and ignorant, there were far more trifling problems on the mortal plain. The like being hiding from weepers, criminals, and the City Watch, all the while scavenging for preserved food and water; The Outsider wasn't interested in someone as small and insignificant as he.
"Yes he did in fact" Corvo nodded shifting his feet "and I believe…there was another." Terrance blanched and Emily stopped smiling.
"What do you mean Corvo?" she asked almost dreading the answer.
"The Outsider told me there is another like him. He calls her The Vertraut, she tried to send her minions after me in the Void but I was able to escape them; I don't what I did to offend her but there is little doubt The Vertraut is stirring up trouble. Supposedly I am to watch out for her fox spies, I'm telling you both because I need you to be cautious".
"I have never heard of The Vertraut though sir, what does she do?" Terrance asked with baited breath. Could there really be another like The Outsider? It seemed so ludicrous to conceive.
"I am told she is the one who initially gave Delilah Copperspoon her powers."
"Oh mercy…" Terrance sighed. He remembered clearly when Corvo finally allowed him to read some of Daud's old journals, within he spoke of the beautiful Delilah. An artistically talented yet bitter woman who commanded the elemental forces of nature, she even discovered a way of possession through her paintings. The same man who orchestrated Empress Jessamine's murder had taken upon himself to rescue her daughter from the machinations of a witch. Somehow the Empress and her little princess touched something in the old assassin's heart, changing him. Hopefully the Whaler leader had changed for the better?
"Who is Delilah Copperspoon Corvo?" Emily asked bewildered.
"Oh! She was a dangerous witch the Whalers killed. Apparently she was granted magical strength by The Vertraut; ultimately she got on the Whalers bad side so they killed her. Free of charge of course*cough*" Corvo explained hastily.
"Huh…ok then".
"So what does this new entity want with you master?" Terrance had to know.
The lines on Corvo's face deepened "Last night…I believe she was testing me. I dreamed I was standing in a field outside of Potterstead when foxes attacked me".
"So The Vertraut can come in your sleep like The Outsider can" Terrance hummed.
"If I were so bold to interpret this encounter I would say-" Corvo did not get to finish his sentence as the screams of people could be heard outside the hallway "Emily stay here!Terrance, with me!" he growled whipping out his blade.
"Yes sir!" Terrance snatched up his short sword by his bed and dashed out with his master. What awaited them in the corridor they did not expect.
End Chapter
Done~, please review.
