Corvo sighed dejectedly, having recently finished bandaging up Skye and sending her off to rest in her own tent. That day, she met her. Their Warlord, the Praetor of the Blackstone Legion and subsequent Queen of the Knight's faction.
Their newest and brightest recruit saw with her own eyes what Apollyon was all about. And she did not like what she witnessed. He could see it clearly in her mannerism. She hadn't even tried to get a reaction out of him, just… sat there, quietly with a troubled look on her face.
Had he been a more caring or empathetic individual, he would have tried to help. The old him, from before all of this mess, would have attempted to make her feel better, however marginally. But he wasn't that person anymore, so he simply took care of her physical pain, without doing anything for her psychological or emotional suffering.
At least she seemed to draw some measure of comfort from his presence, given how she seemed to lean in his touch, even if it wasn't enough to distract her from her thoughts.
He could only hope that Stone succeeded where he had failed.
He was fixing everything up in his apothecary, ready to turn in for the night, when someone knocked on his post.
No rest for the wicked…
"Come in".
Ahhh… speak of Pluto and he shall appear.
Apollyon stood before him, tall and unflinching, even with the massive stab wound on her side. Judging from the size and amounts of bleeding, likely caused by a Peacekeeper's dagger.
"Sit. You know the drill by now".
The woman before him chuckled, stripping away her now ruined chest piece.
"What? Not even an hello? How rude of you, little bi…"
"Do not call me that. Only Mercy is allowed to use that name. You lost the right to do it long ago".
To her credit, she stopped right away, likely knowing that drawing the ire of the person who is about to dirty his hands with her blood was not a smart move.
He worked in silence, not really bothering to be delicate, knowing that she could take the slight roughness.
He should have stayed quiet. He knew that he should have. But in the end, in a rare case of being driven by his emotions, his indignation won out.
"How many?"
"Hm? How many what? You'll have to be more specific".
"Of the Legion you… pacified today. How many were they left alive by the end of it?"
She took a minute to answer, probably surprised by his question.
"Two. The Blackstone Legion can now count on the strength of two more wolves".
Two… of the almost fifty men and women among them… just two. The worst part?
It hadn't even been Apollyon's blade that did the dirty work. It was Skye's.
He wondered if she was beating herself up for it… if she even realized that she was being tricked.
"How much longer, Apollyon? When will you finally be satisfied?! When will this madness end?! When will I…"
He got quiet for a second.
"When will I get to see her again…?"
If the woman wearing his mother's skin understood what he was implying, she did not show it.
"When there will be war. When the factions will finally be free of the plagues of peace and cooperation. When they will admit that fighting is the only way for us to prosper. Only then, I will stop. And nothing can or will stop me. Not even you".
Apollyon gathered her things as soon as Corvo was done, exiting and leaving the young healer on one knee, trembling. A tear, unseen by anyone and unfelt by him, slid along his right cheek, falling to the ground silently.
She wheezed, laying on the ground and drawing her last breaths. Breaths that were… quite difficult to have, considering how the Champion had pierced one of her lungs. She was going to fade soon…
Good. This was good. When she'll leave, the factions will have nobody left to fight but each other. It was going to be a glorious conflict. She only regretted not being able to see it for herself. And… not saying goodbye, she supposed.
Damn it… death was taking away the persona she had built. The warmongering soldier was leaving… soon enough, only she will be left. And after that… no one else.
Footsteps from her left. Weird… the Orochi had gone to the right. Who was…
"So… is it over, now?"
Of course… who else could it be? She painstakingly opened her eyes, Corvo appearing in her line of vision. Ah well… could be worse…
"Suppose… so… young one… not like… I could… continue… even if I… wanted to…"
He nodded, crouching down and letting her use his lap as a pillow. It felt… warm. And comforting…
"Apollyon… can… can I now…"
She grunted.
"Do not… ask…dumb… questions…"
"Please! It's over now! You've won! There is no need for you to exist anymore! Please…"
He trembled, looking at her straight in the eyes.
"I haven't seen her since Caelum. Please… let me talk to her one last time. I beg of you…"
She was prepared to say no. That part of her was dead and buried, never to come back. But…
That was a lie. She could feel her, in the depths of her mind. A mother, desperately wanting to speak to her beloved son one more time, before the end.
And honestly… why not? As he already said… she won. No need to cause even more suffering, and if this was going make him happy… she was okay with that.
She chuckled one last time and closed her eyes. Drat… at the end of the day, no matter what she was… she would always be weak to his requests. Even back during their very last session, she had to basically run away from him. A fool to the very end, she was...
When she opened them again… she was back to her original self. Her hand came up, the last of strength being used for this simple task, just to bring two of her fingers against his cheek.
"My little bird… you grew… so much…"
He grasped her hand, holding it tightly.
"You've been away for a while, after all…"
She nodded, weakly.
"So… have I… and… I'm afraid… I won't stay… for long…"
She looked at him better, noting all his differences… down to something only a mother could see.
"You… have finally… realized it…?"
He blinked.
"What? Realized what?"
She grinned.
"How… you feel… about her…"
He blushed, somewhat adorably might she add.
"Makes… sense… it all… started… with her… after all…"
Her grin became a small, warm smile, feeling that her time was up.
"Goodbye… my… little… bird…"
She closed her eyes one last time, her son being the last thing she saw and heard, just as it was meant to be.
But her thoughts brought her inexorably, one last time, to the object of his affections.
Skye The Warden… she could protect. He was going to be in good hands with her around. And from there... to her own old flame...
And before she faded, she sent one last prayer... for him to find their child.
She was at peace… at long last.
"Requiescat in pace… mater".
Hello? Is this thing on?! It is?! Noice.
Welcome, dudes and gentleladies, to another episode of AHO, the show where even the villain is a human being, at the end of it all.
Apollyon had always been a bit of an enigma to me. One that Ubisoft never even bothered to attempt answering… which honestly works in her favor. Makes that much more of a cool villain and character in general. But I did always asked myself… what was she thinking? What was her train of thoughts during the entirety of the campaign? What did she think when she died? Was it planned? Or an "happy" accident? I guess we'll never know, but this one is an interpretation. Not an accurate one, by any means… but it is one.
Review responses! (I never thought that I would ever get to make one of these for this story. What a time to be alive!)
vaxel8715: Yeah, this isn't something that feels like it fits in the For Honor universe. I just wanted to write some nice characters in a different setting than normal, make a decent character arc. Guess I succeeded then! Thank you for the compliments, much appreciated!
Next time on A Healer's Oath: Skye, The Warden Queen
That's all folks! Ta-ta for now!