Sally Copperspoon
As promised, the story of Percy Jackson if he was created and raised by Sally to destroy the Kaldwin family in the name of revenge for what Emily did to Delilah. If you've got no idea who any of those people are, don't worry. A decent amount will be explained in this chapter, but I do highly recommend reading through some Wiki pages, watching some YouTube videos, and just playing the games yourself. Dishonored came out all the way back in 2012, and Dishonored 2 came out in 2016, so both games should be relatively cheap, along with accompanying DLC.
Anyway, onto the new story!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or Dishonored
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Sally Jackson was a mere five-year-old girl when the Rat Plague struck Dunwall. Like all major diseases, the emergence of the rats was treated with an upturned nose. Just some rats, they said, they'll be killed eventually. Yes, they were killed, just not the rats. Not even two weeks into the emergence of the plague and Empress Jessamine declared it to be an epidemic with how fast it spread and how quickly it killed, or worse.
First spread through rat bites and the bites of the critters that lived on them, or unintentionally consuming food contaminated by the disease-bearing rats, then through the air by infected coughing and sneezing, and up close through saliva and sweat, and really close through sexual contact, the plague spread through the whole city in days as it took a while for the symptoms to show, infected people going about their daily lives without knowing until they started coughing.
Two main cures for the Plague came from the minds of Anton Sokolov, the Empire of the Isles' top scientist, artist, and philosopher, and the overshadowed runner-up, Piero Joplin. Both cures were originally titled "Sokolov's Elixir" and "Piero's Spiritual Remedy," and both were further originally very expensive and hard to get a hold of for the common folks of Dunwall, leading to massive casualties amongst the poor and middle-class citizens. Sally's parents were among the middle-class.
The Rat Plague hit hard. Out of ten-thousand people, it was extremely optimistic to expect that just one person would live through it. A victim of the Plague could be expected to have a high fever and cough raucously and painfully, lungs filled with fluid, similar to the flu or pneumonia. There would be weight loss, discolored skin about the face, thinning hair, and eventually lung and brain damage. The lucky ones died at this stage, and the others got to experience what it was like to bleed from their eyes and have insects come and nest inside their bodies.
People with that level of infection became known as Weepers due to their bloody tears and pained moans as they slowly wasted away in a state of life like that of a zombie.
Sally was five when the first reports of the Rat Plague shotgunned through Dunwall, and she was seven when she had to run for her life out of her house. Her father had caught the Plague, her mother musing that it had to have happened when he was at work in the Rothchild Slaughterhouse, but in truth it was because he had visited the Golden Cat during his lunch break, though that would never be known.
The weeks caring for him were hard. Getting him to eat and drink, trying to keep his coughing as quiet as possible to avoid having their door busted down by the City Watch to haul them all away for the sake of curbing the infection, managing his fever, all the while trying not to get sick themselves and still bring in enough income to at least survive. Sally's mother had to resort to a taxless occupation in order to make money, while Sally herself managed to make a few coins selling little crocheted things, like doll dresses, handwarmers, mug holders, etc., assuming, of course, bullies didn't kick her and steal her money.
And "bullies" wasn't a term limited to a group of mean little boys, either. Sometimes it was the City Watch throwing their muscle around, and sometimes it was even the Overseers taking her money and wares on the grounds of them needing to be investigated for witchcraft. Sally didn't like the Overseers; not just because of their behavior and hypocrisy, but because of their creepy masks…
For the longest time, it seemed things were going to be okay. Daddy didn't seem to be getting any worse, and Mommy didn't seem to be sick at all despite how she was in close contact with Daddy whenever she was home, Sally forbidden from seeing him to the Plague. Things weren't always what they seemed to be, unfortunately.
Sally came home that fateful day after having her money and crochet set stolen once again by the City Watch. She had tried to fight the full-grown men, only to be easily thrown to the ground and reminded of her place by way of the biggest, meanest guardsman bringing up his huge leg to bring down hard on Sally's lower midsection. The blow knocked out her wind, made her puke her lunch, and it shocked her bladder into releasing, making sure her underwear, pants, and even the bottom of her shirt got soaked.
The guards had laughed and spat on her, and even kicked her again so she rolled into the puddle of her sick. Sally had laid there for a long time, crying, heaving, in a massive amount of pain, the weight of the world settling hard onto her shoulders. In the years to come, she'd consider herself lucky all the guards did was kick her and spit on her, but right then, with no one coming to help a poor girl, Sally was forced to pick herself up and limp home, a hand on her bruised stomach area, wet clothes clinging to her, adding to the stink of vomit in her hair.
Sally tried to be optimistic. Mommy would be home, dinner would be ready by now, their plumbing still worked great, and so she'd get to take a nice long shower, maybe even a bath and Mommy would wash her with her gentle hands, hug her and whisper sweet things in her ear and promise her treats later, and then a warm meal, then a night in her cozy bed. She'd wake up, it'd be a new day, and she could get back to work on her sewing.
Sally smiled at the thoughts, the promise of a better tomorrow. She saw her house, produced her key, opened the door, and heard the pained moaning and groaning from within. It sounded worse than Daddy's regular sounds, louder, more pained, and…like there was a second source. Sally carefully went treading inside, leaving the door opened.
She crept through the house to her parents' room and gently opened the door to see two hunched figures taking slow, pained steps about the room, their hands curled in front of them. A sharp gasp escaped Sally on reflex, and as quiet as it was, it was loud enough. The two in the room stopped and turned at the door. They charged.
Sally went running as fast her little seven-year-old legs could carry her, the clamminess of her pants, underwear, and shirt, and the pain in her abdomen not even a registered thought as adrenaline surged through her blood as she was chased by the Weepers that used to be her parents.
No one knew why Weepers were hostile towards non-infected people. Since no one could ask a Weeper, conclusions had to be drawn from observation. Some said that Weepers, with their addled brains, were desperately seeking help from someone they thought could help them. Others said it was because the Weepers became cannibals at that point, and they were trying to kill and eat you. Others still claimed that Weepers were agents of the Outsider, born from his rat army to destroy Dunwall.
Theories varied, but the general consensus was that it really didn't matter why Weepers attacked healthy people. They were beyond any kind of help and needed to be utterly destroyed so they couldn't advance the Plague with their vomit and bugs.
Sally ran down the streets, yelling and screaming for help that never came, at least, not in the form of citizens or city personnel. That wasn't to say her cried went unheard, with many actually opening their blinds to see the commotion, only to quickly shut them and run for a safe room when they saw a little girl being chased by Weepers at this time of dusk.
Sally went running into an alley, hoping for things to knock over or for somewhere to hide, only to run right into a dead end ten feet away from the sidewalk. Sally would've wet her pants then and there if she hadn't already due to the stomp from earlier.
The Weepers came barreling around the corner, arms outstretched, black vomit staining their chins, blood stains on their cheeks. Sally shut her eyes and screamed as loud as she could one last time. It was a scream of terror and panic, a scream of desperation, and a scream of outrage and fury that this was actually happening. She'd had her money and things stolen from her by the men who were supposed to protect her from criminals, and when she tried to get it back, they'd kicked her and spat on her and left her to die in the dirt in puddles of her own pee and puke—that man could've really killed Sally with his strength, and she wasn't convinced she didn't have something wrong with her tummy these hours later—and after she'd crawled back to her feet and staggered home, she'd found her parents dead, turned into Weepers that were now going to kill her.
IT WASN'T FAIR!
She was a good girl! Her Mommy and Daddy said so! And they were good too! They never stole anything, or lied, or cheated, or killed; they paid their taxes, obeyed the laws of Empress Jessamine, showed only respect to the Watch and the Overseers; no, Daddy never took them to the Abbey and they didn't have any texts about the Seven Strictures, but they obeyed them and they certainly did not have anything to do with the cursed Outsider, the evil god that was hellbent on destroying Dunwall and the lives of those who lived here.
They were good people, so why was this happening!? Why were Mommy and Daddy Weepers!? Why was Sally subjected to this fate!?
What had she done!?
Sally's scream died in her throat not because the Weepers got her, but because there was a whooshing sound followed by a sound like that when Mommy chopped the head off a hagfish—metal cutting through meat. There was a series of thuds on either side of Sally, and after a few seconds of silence, she dared open her eyes.
Standing above her was a goddess. Pale skin, midnight hair cut short and pushed back over her scalp, sharp, intelligent features and dark eyes, wearing a black dress shirt with a wide, high collar, and golden embroidery of vines and branches, with black pants tucked into black boots with high heels. Rose bushes seemed to grow on her body, with roots snaking about her legs, torso, and arms, roses of magenta, violet, and marble white blooming around her chest and neck.
In her hand was a bloody sword that looked like it was made of bone.
Sally pressed herself against the back of the alley, afraid and at a total loss as to what she should do.
The woman got down on a knee and set her sword aside. She had a sincere expression when she extended her hand. "Come here, child. I can see you've been through so much."
The face, the tone, the words, the body language—Sally crumbled. She didn't care about her smell or appearance; she just flung herself into this woman's arms and bawled. As for the woman, she readily accepted Sally, looking past filthy hair and wet clothes as she provided comfort and love.
The moment was shattered by the sound of a man's voice. "I know you're here somewhere, scum!"
Sally's breath hitched in her throat when she heard that voice, and the woman heard it.
"Do you know that voice?"
"H-He k-kicked me a-and ma-made me pee," Sally choked, still crying and now livid. "He s-stole my money a-a-and my st-stuff. And he kicked me again!"
"Did he now? I think we should teach him a lesson, don't you?"
Sally looked at the woman who looked back at her and then made a motion with her chin. Sally looked at the sword and rapidly went through a crisis as she was torn between the teaching of her parents and the basic, primal, eldritch desire to inflict pain on those who hurt you. Sally looked at her dead parents, their heads face down, clothes splattered with blood and sick from the Plague, remembered all the things they told her were good and right, and then remembered all that happened in the past weeks.
Daddy sick, Mommy coming home haggard and limping, Sally getting robbed and beaten in the streets by boys and City Watchmen and Overseers, all culminating in today's horrible events. If this is what happened to good people, then…
Sally looked at the woman, worried. "He'll kill us."
A beautiful laugh, just like how Mommy used to laugh. "Come and see, child."
She motioned for Sally to grab the sword, and grab it she did. It was heavy for her, and she had to carry it in both her arms like a rifle, the flat across her skin. The woman smiled a reassuring smile, as if telling her that she'd be able to carry it proper one day. Sally didn't know how to feel about being able to properly wield a sword one day.
Sally followed the woman out of the tiny alley and into the street, right in front of the squad of five guardsmen. The leading Officer with his red and blue uniform, two Guards with their brutish bodies, and two scrawny Lower Guards.
They recognized Sally.
"Well, well, boys, look who we have here," taunted the Guard that had stomped on Sally. "We got reports of a disturbance in this area—never thought it'd be a mudlark like you. With a friend too."
"Take them alive, men," the Officer instructed, a gleam in his eyes as he looked over the woman that had saved Sally's life.
The woman smirked, cruel and evil. The sun was below the horizon, its last vestiges of light turning the clouds the color of a bruise with small bits of orange rays slipping between the houses and apartments. It was getting chilly out, and standing right here, the streetlamps starting to come on, it was almost downright freezing.
Sally shivered, and then gasped in shock when the woman made a motion with her hand. A pool of shadow erupted under the feet of the guards, and out of these shadows came several gnarled, twisted branches that glowed red in places. These bloody briars ensnared the guards, vines holding them in an "X" pose, a vine curling up to cover their mouths to muffle their screaming. They struggled and writhed, their fear palpable.
Sally trembled at this display. "Y-You're the Outsider," she stuttered.
"Oh, no, child, I'm not the Outsider, but I do have his mark." The woman showed Sally the palm of her hand. At first it was just pale skin, and then a symbol burned to life. "With this mark, I am able to do a great many things. One of those things is give power to other people. People who have lost everything they have, people with nowhere to go, people who need help…people who are beaten up by those stronger than them. This mark lets me tip the scales."
Sally swallowed. She might've been just seven, but she was smart enough to do crochet, determine prices, make profit, and work the economy. That intelligence applied to other areas as well, and as such, Sally knew exactly what was happening.
She was being offered a choice, and there weren't any alternatives that she could see.
The woman regarded little Sally. "What are you willing to do?"
"To do what?"
"Anything."
Sally's heart beat hard in her little chest. Suddenly, the smell of her puke-ridden hair became strong in her nose, coupled with the stale urine smell of her clothes. Her underwear felt uncomfortable, making her itch in places. Her tummy hurt and pulsed, reminding her of the boot-shaped bruise on her body. Her ears became sensitive, picking up the buzzing of the insects that had infested her parents' bodies. She looked at the alley, seeing the blood leaking down into the street from the curb of the sidewalk.
Good things happened to good people, they'd said, and bad things happened to bad people. Were her parents bad? They must've been, or else this wouldn't have happened. Daddy wouldn't have gotten the Plague if he was a good man, and Mommy wouldn't have gotten it either if she was a good woman. But they were so kind, so sweet, and caring and loving. They helped others, provided for Sally, were always at work on time, paid taxes—everything. Despite all that, they became Weepers.
Therefore, somehow, someway, they must've been bad people. Maybe behind their door they did bad things, or maybe at work they did bad things, but whatever the case, they must've been bad people. That's why the Plague got them. And if everything they did that was supposed to be good was actually bad, or they did bad things in secret, then Sally wasn't going to end up like them.
She wasn't going to catch the Plague, she wasn't going to become a Weeper, and she wasn't going to chase her daughter down the streets and end up with her head chopped off.
Head chopped off…
Teach them a lesson…
Will…
Power…
The mark.
Sally made her decision. She hefted the bloody bone sword as best she could as she marched up to the brute that had stomped on her. The tree holding him maneuvered him about to where his face was parallel to the ground, his neck exposed and vulnerable. He trembled and shook, breathing fast and hard into the vine in his mouth. He tried to turn his head to beg with his eyes, but the vines wouldn't let him budge.
Sally stood next to him. She smirked when she heard the splattering of liquid and saw the yellow waterfall streaming from the center of the guard's pants. She looked at the woman one more time, who was giving her the critical eye. She gave an encouraging nod.
Sally brought the sword around in an overhead arc starting from her hip, bringing the blade down with an angry, furious cry. All the emotions she felt at him for stomping on her, making her pee and throw up, spitting on her, laughing as his friends kicked her too, stealing her money and crochet, and all the rage she felt at her newfound circumstances—orphaned and alone—she projected all of that on him too. This culminated in Sally's vision tinging yellowish red as she let out a high-pitched, prepubescent war cry.
The sword cleaved through skin, muscle and bone in one chop.
The head hit the ground and blood rushed out of the uneven opening, the still-beating heart causing rapid spurts of blood to go shooting out of the open veins and arteries.
Sally stared at what she'd done. She'd killed a man, cut his head off and everything. She could hear her Daddy in the back of her head, yelling at her, Mommy crying. She told them to shut up. This was their fault! If they'd been good people, they wouldn't have caught the Plague, and she wouldn't have been forced to sell crochet, putting herself out there to be robbed and kicked! She was in this position now because of them, and they were dead, and so they couldn't say anything to her anymore.
Sally looked at the sword in her hands. The blade was red with fresh blood, and it didn't feel as heavy anymore. She looked up at the other four guards, and they all started fervently thrashing and groaning into their vines, eyes wide with fear. The same fear Sally had felt when they all loomed over her.
The branches positioned them one by one, and Sally went down the line, one head after another until the whole squad was dead.
The woman waved her hand. The branches receded down into the shadows they'd come from, taking the bodies and the blood with them. She extended her hand to Sally. She went up and grasped it in her own. The woman's was so much bigger than Sally's.
"What is your name, child?"
"I'm Sally."
"No last name?"
"Not anymore."
"I see. My name is Delilah Copperspoon. If you want, I will take you to my house and introduce you to my coven."
"What's a coven?"
"A sisterhood of girls and women that are loyal to a leader, one who has given them the power to escape from the fate they were destined for."
"You're the leader?"
"Indeed, I am," Delilah smiled.
Sally nodded. "Okay, let's go."
"Just like that? There's nothing you want to bring from your house? No toy or blanket?"
"No."
"What about a bath and a change of clothes?"
Sally flushed. "Um, yeah, I can do that."
Delilah smiled at her, warm and kind. She took Sally's hand, and then they were gone from the street and suddenly inside the house. Sally swayed, dizzy, but Delilah caught her.
"Wha…huh…?"
"Blink," Delilah said, and so Sally started to blink, making the witch giggle. "No, silly. What I just did is one of my powers. It is called Blink. It allows one to cover a distance in the blink of an eye."
"I feel like I was just squeezed through a keyhole."
Delilah giggled again. "It is disorienting the first few times. Go, now. Get cleaned up."
Sally nodded and went away down the hall, going to her room to grab a clean set of clothes, and then to the bathroom to draw a bath. She shut the door, stripped naked, and entered the hot water, enjoying its cleansing embrace as it washed the muck out of her hair, the dirt from her face, and the dry pee from her privates.
And while Sally was showering, Delilah was musing to herself.
Building a small army of supernatural women took time, patience, an eye for talent, and just a little bit of manipulation. If Sally had known Delilah had been watching her for the past few days, standing by as she was robbed and beaten by rowdy boys, Overseers, and the City Watch, and had known about the Plague gripping her parents, knowing that they were Weepers before she got home, then she'd be trying to hack off Delilah's own head with the sword she'd taken with her into the bathroom.
It was a dangerous game Delilah played, taking this particular route. She'd done it with prostitutes, watching for days before stepping in to save them from a particularly brutal client, and the same with the girls that were abused by their fathers, mothers, and siblings. Obviously, she didn't tell any of them that she'd been standing there, just watching for a decent amount of time, as that would lead to an enraged spat along the lines of "Why didn't you save me sooner!? Why did you just stand there and let (insert horrible thing here) happen to me!?"
To which the response would be, "I was waiting for the opportune moment to present itself, that moment being when you were in true danger, and my arrival would cement you as a loyal follower."
Obviously, Delilah couldn't tell them that unless she wanted to fight the majority of her growing coven.
Of course, she'd had her fair share of failures pursuing this strategy, timing it wrong and accidentally getting some poor girl killed, or the girl she saved had no interest in being a witch and instead chose some other path, leaving Delilah to restrain herself from lashing out in frustration and anger at having her time wasted and her offer refused. Sometimes she failed in that particular endeavor, and other times she was fortunate enough to just happen upon someone at the right place and time.
Sally was obviously not on the receiving end of such fortune, having Delilah happen across her at the moment. Nope, she was subject to Delilah's plans, and she would never know it. At least, as long as Delilah had a say in it, little Sally would never know it.
As the girl continued with her shower, no doubt having to really scrub her hair to get her vomit out of the healthy strands, Delilah decided to explore. There was bound to be something of some use in this house, some trinket or item or whatever.
She went to Sally's room first. Since she was going to be keeping the girl, she figured it best to get to know her by way of her clothing and toys. You could learn a lot about person based on their clothes, especially their underwear, the most intimate and secretive item a person had. For example, Sally's wardrobe consisted primarily of tough cotton items, like shirts and shorts and pants, no skirts, and only two dresses that were for nice occasions. This indicated that Sally was a rough and tumble girl who didn't mind playing in the mud. However, all of Sally's underwear had character prints of a show primarily meant for children even younger than she was at seven. This indicated that despite Sally's tomboyish outer appearance, on the inside was a sweet little thing that didn't mind substituting the sandbox for dollies and a tea party.
As it so happened, Sally did indeed have a tea set in her closet, and on her bed were numerous plush toys, some animals, some dolls.
Did Delilah feel bad about indirectly ruining this little girl's life by standing by and letting her be abused by the City Watch, letting her parents waste away into ravenous Weepers? Not at all. She had seen Sally's potential as a powerful witch, and she had just seen it in action in her series of beheadings and how she'd underwent Blink with no experience or power, only feeling dizzy and disoriented instead of passing out. Delilah had now set Sally on the path of purpose and meaning, made her strong through the deaths of her parents and the revenge she attained against the guards that beat and robbed her.
Instead of scraping for some life in this broken world of unfaithful husbands, cruel shop owners and factory foremen, greedy perverts, and selfish, self-centered men, Sally was now primed for a life of power and freedom.
Under Delilah.
The witch found Sally's crochet stuff, what hadn't been stolen, and kept it. She'd give it to the girl later as a surprise. Delilah continued going through Sally's things without a care for privacy, keeping her ears alert for the sound of the shower being shut off. She didn't find anything interesting, unless you counted an old pack of toddler training diapers buried at the very back of the closet to be interesting.
After Delilah was done in Sally's room, she moved to the girl's parents' room, not even a hint of hesitation about entering the Plague-ridden space for several reasons. One, the Plague-carrying rats and insects wouldn't come near her. Two, there was nothing in here to cough or puke on her, or get their sweat or saliva on her, and certainly not their sexual fluids. Three, the virus needed an immediate host to survive and incubate inside of; any virus left to linger too long in the air or on any surface without a host would die in minutes. Finally, with her powers and knowledge of the arcane arts, Delilah was both immune to the Plague, and had her own cure for her coven.
She could've saved Dunwall overnight with her cure, but why do that? Why save the broken city when she had greater, bigger plans for the whole world?
Once again forgoing any notion of respect for privacy—besides, these people were dead anyway—Delilah rifled through the drawers and closets, learning about who Sally's parents were. They were modest people, able to live comfortably by staying within their means. Mom had a few sets of lingerie for the times she and her husband were feeling sexual, and it seemed Dad had some problems getting it up if the pills were any indication. A diary was kept by Mom, and now it was Delilah's to read and use to her advantage in molding and training Sally into being the most powerful witch in the coven, rivaled only by Breanna.
Delilah found a hidden stash of coins, no doubt saved up for emergencies, and left it. A witch had no need of money, especially coins with the despicable Regent's face on them. Whatever material thing a witch needed, she took, and cut down anyone in her way.
Delilah heard the shower go off and so Blinked back to where she'd been standing before Sally went to wash herself, making it appear that she hadn't moved. She did bring out her own journal and start writing some drabble down to make it look like she hadn't just been standing there the whole time.
Minutes after the shower went off, Sally emerged, hair still damp, clothed in a beige t-shirt and denim shorts, socks and simple running shoes.
"Are you sure there's nothing you want to take from here? No favorite toy or special blanket? An heirloom, perhaps?"
Sally shook her head. "Everything here is all Old Me. I don't want to be Old Me anymore. I'm gonna be New Me forever."
Delilah's lips quirked up. "Very well, then. Come, and I'll introduce the New You to her new family."
Sally didn't look particularly thrilled about the idea of family, her perspective on the world and all its meanings soured and tainted by what had happened to her parents. Still, she took Delilah's hand and they were gone.
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The Dishonored calendar was comprised of thirteen months, each month with 28 days. The months went as such:
Month of Earth
Month of Seeds
Month of Nets
Rain
Winds
Darkness
High Cold
Ice
Hearths
Harvest
Timber
Clans
And finally, the Month of Songs
The story of Sally, formerly Jackson, would go unheard of by nearly every being in existence compared to the small number of witches that made up the coven she joined. Not just because of how insignificant she was, just a girl who was abused by the City Watch and chased out of her home by her Weeper parents, but because the Month of Earth was marked by an event far worse than Sally's story, at least, far worse on the grand scale of the Empire.
Empress Jessamine Kaldwin was assassinated and her daughter Emily was kidnapped, her personal bodyguard, the Royal Protector Corvo Attano held responsible for both acts, when in reality the entire plot was orchestrated by the appointed Lord Regent, Hiram Burrows, in order to consolidate power, deal with the Plague in his own way, and desperately cover his tracks as the one who brought the Plague to Dunwall in the first place in a despicable ploy to kill off the poor and impoverished people of the city. The Lord Regent accomplished the task of killing the Empress with a whole lot of money, and the services of Daud, the foremost assassin in the Empire thanks to his powers, gifted to him by the Outsider just like Delilah.
The biggest kicker to all of this was that Delilah's little sister was the late Empress.
Yes, Euhorn Kaldwin, the previous emperor and father of Jessamine, couldn't resist the allure of a kitchen made in Dunwall Tower, the effective palace of the empire. Delilah was born as a result, and the status of her birth as the illegitimate princess kept a very close secret. A year after Delilah came the proper princess, Jessamine, daughter of Euhorn and his wife Beatrix, who would unfortunately die in childbirth the next time around, leaving Euhorn widowed and Jessamine with an older half-sister. While Delilah was allowed to live in the Tower with her sister, growing up with her and playing together with her, she was denied the same privileges that Jessamine received as the princess, such as participating in matters of court.
One day, when the sisters were playing together in the Tower, Jessamine accidently broke an expensive item, an urn containing the ashes of the empress before her father, Larisa Olaskir, last of her line which was why the Kaldwins were in power. They got caught by the spymaster of the time, and Jessamine, in a show of the utmost childish petulance, blamed Delilah.
Euhorn couldn't resist the opportunity to finally wipe clean the living stain on his honor, integrity, reputation, vows, and throne. He gave the spymaster permission to whip Delilah until she was bleeding in the back of a greenhouse, and then cast her and her kitchen maid mother out of the Tower and onto Dunwall's filthy streets. No money, no bed, no food, nothing except for each other, and that fact alone was what kept them alive.
Until Delilah's mother died of injuries sustained by having her jaw broken by one of the guards in the debtor's prison they ended up in while Delilah was out begging for the money needed for a doctor. Weeks went by while Delilah's mother slowly died, and when she finally did, alone in her old, dingy, dirty, smelly cot, Delilah came back and was cast out of the prison, back onto the streets, this time truly alone.
Bitter, furious, anguished, despairing, Delilah swore her revenge against the family that destroyed her when she looked at the Tower, gleaming and bright in the night from the darkness of the streets. As such, when news reached the dilapidated Brigmore Manor, base of Delilah's witches, the only reason Delilah was so angry was because she wasn't the one who got to drive a sword through Jessamine.
As for Sally, Delilah became her world. Breanna, the first of Delilah's witches and the second-in-command, was nice, but she wasn't Delilah, nor were any of the other witches. Sally received power through the ability Arcane Bond, an ability that allowed Delilah to bestow powers on others. It was unlimited and came at no cost to her own powers, but the drawback was that she had no control over what powers someone Bonded would get.
Sally turned out to be blessed above and beyond. Through Arcane Bond, Sally instantly got the three main powers of the coven, Blink, Thorns, and Blood Briar, the movement power, a series of conjured projectiles, and the summoning of the deadly trees that Delilah had used. On top of those three powers, Sally had two unique ones that she dubbed Swap and Void Razor.
With Swap, Sally could mark on object or person, and then swap places with it. For example, she could mark a rock, throw it, and then use Swap to switch places with the rock. Useful in combat in that she could just throw things everywhere and then gain position advantage, and in stealth, in that she could leave a marked object in one spot, and then use Swap to get out of a tight situation.
Void Razor was certainly a messy power. Sally named it as such after being taught what the Void was: not exactly a place, and much older and stranger than anyone could ever know except for the Outsider. Because the Void was so unknown, it was a place of evil in the eyes of the Overseers, the effective cult dedicated to hating and destroying all things surrounding the Void and the Outsider. The Outsider himself wasn't necessarily the god of the Void, and not exactly its emissary or avatar, but he certainly had all the Void's powers and all of its knowledge. With those two things, the Outsider would choose certain individuals, giving them his Mark which granted them access to the magic of the Void, and they could use this magic at the cost of newfound spiritual energy known as mana.
Certain powers cost a certain amount of mana depending on how strong the magic was. For example, using Blink to cross a room hardly came with a cost, but using Blink to travel from one end of the street to another could drain a person's whole mana reserve, though once you were out of mana you didn't die, you just had to wait for your reserve to supernaturally regenerate. Like a muscle, reserves could be built up with time and effort—magical exercise, as it were. Then there were powers that inherently cost more mana because of how much more powerful they were. For example, the power to stop time itself cost a lot of mana, so much so that many couldn't even use the power because their reserves weren't big enough to execute it.
Swap worked in that Sally had to place her palm on the object, and then the further she was, and the bigger it was, the more mana was required to switch with it.
Void Razor was certainly the most mana-intensive power Sally had, costing more mana as a base than any other. It worked by manifesting a ball of purplish, writhing Void energy in her palm, and she could set this spheroid on the ground, on ceilings, on walls, or throw it like an actual ball, or attach it to objects and then throw the object. When something living and large enough got close enough, the Void energy would erupt in all direction in paper-thin tendrils that sliced up all organic matter within a certain radius.
While Swap's mana cost depended on size and distance, Void Razor's cost was set at 35% of Sally's mana. Blink also depended on distance, while Thorns depended on how many Sally wanted to fire off, and Blood Briar depended on the size of the tree and how many she summoned.
And by the Outsider was there a whole lot of jealousy that surrounded little Sally.
At seven, she was the youngest witch of the coven by ten years. At seven, she had a reserve of mana comparable to the high witches below Breanna's level. At seven, she had the favor and attention of Delilah that no one else had, something that burned so many witches because they all like to think that they had special favor with Delilah in some form.
As for why Delilah favored Sally so much, well…she reminded her of the days a lifetime ago, when she was a happy little girl living in the Tower with her little sister. Yes, Sally reminded Delilah of the days when she and Jessamine were next to inseparable, without bringing up the bitterness associated with the late empress. Sally accepted this view, not seeing Delilah as a mother, but as her big sister, despite how the woman was almost five times her age, thirty-three to her seven.
That's why Sally started calling herself Sally Copperspoon.
From the end Month of Earth, the first month of the year, to the first few days of the Month of Ice, the eighth month, a solid seven months, Sally was personally trained by Delilah in all facets of their witchcraft. Swordplay, resourcefulness, precision, magic, potions, poisons, how to craft Bone Charms and Runes, and a physical training regimen of cardio and body-against-body workouts, like push-ups and squats. On top of this, Sally managed to learn two more powers, Fog Caller and Foresight.
The first was simple enough, it just allowed the caster to summon a fog of varying thickness and size, and the second was slightly more complex. It allowed the user to separate their spirit from their body, stopping time as they did so, and then go zooming around the place, going through walls, floors, and ceilings, being able to see people and important objects through those barriers, and then retain sight of these things when the power was cancelled and they returned to their body.
It was extremely useful for stealth and recon.
Truth be told, Sally's natural aptitude and skill, deep reserves of mana, and plethora of magical powers had Delilah hoping the little one would be marked by the Outsider himself, and could then be in a far more beneficial position to her, not burdened by the fact that all of her power stemmed purely from Delilah's Arcane Bond.
It didn't seem to be, however, as tragedy, as Sally saw it, struck the coven hard.
The reason for just seven months was because of Daud, the assassin that killed Jessamine. It wasn't enough that he robbed Delilah of her rightful revenge, but he had to come after the Brigmore Witches as well, right as Delilah was putting her finishing touches on her ritual painting, the keystone to her grand plan of reshaping the empire and the world in the image she saw as best. Daud turned the ritual against Delilah, and trapped her in the Void.
With her in the Void, the power of her Arcane Bond was almost completely cut off from her coven, rendering all of the women next to powerless. Including in that was even Breanna, Delilah's first bonded and closest friend in the coven, and Sally, who was completely devastated to the point that for a time, she was totally unresponsive and useless. Breanna took responsibility for the girl, and eventually got her to turn herself back around.
Some of the witches committed suicide, unable to handle being powerless once again, their trauma coming back full force. Others found lives for themselves in other occupations, some honest, others not so much. Others still, the minority, stayed with Breanna and Sally, all of them vowing to find a way to bring Delilah back from the Void.
Breanna managed to land herself the job as curator for the Royal Conservatory in the city of Karnaca, the capital of Serkonos, the southernmost country of the Empire, thanks to her connection with Luca Abele, son of the Duke of Serkonos, Theodanis Abele, through the young man's childhood friendship with Delilah. The other former witches all received "good" jobs in other parts of the city—good as in they didn't have to spread their legs for anyone that asked.
Sally stayed with Breanna at the Conservatory in the official capacity of an aid to the woman. She didn't have her powers anymore with Delilah banished and Arcane Bond with her, but she did have the undying resolve that one she'd have them back, and in the meantime, she needed to continue getting better. Get better she did.
With Luca's connections, Sally was able to train to become a member of the Grand Serkonan Guard, the elite military, police, and personal bodyguards of Serkonos and her Duke. Even more training in how to use a sword, access to the best food and the best teachers, the best workout facilities, and when she didn't have duty, Sally was with Breanna. They might not've had their Void powers right then, but you didn't need its powers to study it, reading all the books and reports that had been written on it in centuries past, nor did you need the Void to craft Bone Charms and Runes.
Runes were no good unless you were strengthening supernatural powers, but Bone Charms could be used by anyone. Both could crafted by anyone given the right materials and knowhow, which Breanna and Sally certainly had from their time with Delilah. In secret, the two crafted a supernatural armory for their beloved sister's return, stockpiling Runes for the returning and new witches to immediately boost their powers, and Bone Charms for themselves as they waited and researched, on top of more and more for just that much extra oomph for the future coven.
Years passed one at a time until the year 1849 reached the world. In the Month of Seeds, the second month of the year, Breanna and Sally began hearing whispers. They'd be doing something and then a little wind would pass their ears, carrying a faint, barely legible message. It would get louder and louder as the days went by, until they were finally having dreams. Dreams of Delilah in the Void, telling them that she'd found the way back and given them instruction on how to do it from their end.
The witches were beyond ecstatic, Breanna and Sally, having bonded strongly during their time, literally hugging and crying together at this wonderful news, the rest of the Karnaca coven doing the same when they were told about Delilah's impending return. Luca Abele, now the Duke of Serkonos since 1847 when his father legitimately passed away of old age at 72, also heard Delilah's whispers, and so he arranged a séance at Stilton Manor, home of Aramis Stilton, a man that had worked his bones to almost to powder to attain wealth and status, and was an old friend of the late Theodanis. This séance was conducted by Breanna, with the help eager help of Sally and Luca, along with unexpected allies in one Kirin Jindosh and Grim Alex.
Both were tied to Luca, the former being a disgraced genius expelled from the Academy of Natural Philosophy for a heinous experiment gone totally wrong, and the latter being the darker, cannibalistic, homicidal other half of renowned physician Alexandria Hypatia, born from an experimental serum meant to cure a disease. Both owed their lives to Luca, the Duke giving Jindosh the position of Grand Inventor, allowing the man to flourish as the brightest mind in all Karnaca, perhaps even the world, and protecting Grim Alex from being discovered, arrested, and then executed, using her as a weapon to eliminate particularly stubborn people throughout the southern country.
The reason they attended the séance was because Jindosh was fascinated by all things, including the occult despite his scientific mind, and Grim Alex was just crazy.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Where is Stilton?" Breanna asked Sally when the nineteen-year-old captain in the Grand Guard returned from doing one last round through the manor.
"He's passed out in the backyard," the young woman responded with disdain and annoyance. "Apparently bringing Delilah back from the Void was too much for his nerves."
"Oh, well," Breanna dismissed. "His presence wasn't necessary with you amongst us, Sally."
"Are we ready? Is everything prepared?" Sally asked, bubbling with excitement and anticipation.
Breanna laughed, "Silly child! You helped me prepare everything. You know it's all ready."
"I know, but…did you double check it all? Triple check? No one's been in here and none of those idiots touched anything?"
"Yes. Everything is as we left it when we finished."
Sally released a shaky breath. "I'm so nervous. What if-"
"Shh, little one. We do not concern ourselves with ifs in our line of work. Now, come. Our dear sister awaits us."
Sally followed Breanna through the room and down the stairs to the adjacent room. Candles were absolutely everywhere around the perimeter walls, and there uncountable arcane symbols drawn on the floor in a circle, with certain positions marked with more complex symbols, lines of sigils and figures leading from the symbols to designs on the walls. There was a stature of an angel in the corner, big and ominous.
Luca, Jindosh, and Alex were all standing in their assigned places. Breanna took hers, and Sally took her spot as well. Everyone spread their arms. The symbols began glowing and flickering violently.
"Focus on the Void behind the world," Breanna instructed.
Sally pushed all distracting thoughts from her mind. She didn't think about how much she detested these other three, the lecherous Duke, the arrogant Inventor, and the bloodthirsty Murderer.
The Duke's thoughts of Sally were far from unknown. The man was a pervert and a borderline rapist. He never actually forced himself on a girl, but he wasn't shy of using his status as Duke to belay a kind of warning to any girl that refused to share his huge bed. His desire for Sally was obvious in the way he looked at her, the way he stared at her ass, the way the front of his pants would tighten if he stared too long. He kept his distance though, because he knew that Sally would slice him to ribbons and that she had Delilah's favor.
Jindosh had the brains to back up his arrogance. He had designed and built a battalion of mechanical soldiers and a deathtrap of a mansion that housed a workshop in which he designed and built weapons and other innovations for Luca's regime. He looked down on everyone not as smart as he was, which was just about everyone in the world, including Sally. However, Jindosh also kept his distance from Sally, because no amount of brains were going to prevent him from screaming like any other man if an anvil was dropped on his balls.
Grim Alex was just disgusting, even by a witch's standards.
Sally focused on Delilah. She focused on all the good memories she had with her big sister, like the times they spent reading books by candlelight, the way she beamed when Sally achieved success, the gentle, firm guiding hand that Delilah possessed. The symbols glowed just a bit brighter as Sally's happy smile got bigger and bigger, water gathering in her eyes.
"By the stars!" Luca exclaimed as a pool of black began to gather in the center of the room. "This is more exciting than any orgy I've ever attended!"
Sally didn't allow that unneeded comment to sour her mounting mood because stuff like black mist was rising out of the pool, taking shape. Sally felt a huge pull out of her, and then it was over.
"I am back," Delilah declared. "Back from the cold. Back from forever."
"Delilah!"
Abandoning all pretenses of professionalism and image, Sally went running and jumped. Delilah caught her with a delighted laugh, spinning the young woman around as easily as she did when she was a child.
"You've grown so much!" Delilah gasped.
"You look like you haven't aged a day! I like your new clothes, though."
The witch set her beloved junior down. "Thank you. Time in the Void is vastly different than what it is here."
The statue in the corner opened its wings and arms. Delilah faced it and spread her own arms. Black wisps began streaming from her and into the statue, making it glow bright. There was a flash, the statue closed back up, and Delilah collapsed. Sally caught her, worried.
"Not to worry," the witch said. "Now my spirit is safe inside this thing. Luca, you must hide it."
Delilah saw the look on Sally's face at Luca being tasked with something so important as hiding the statue that was somehow containing her sister's spirit, and touched the young woman's shoulder.
"I have more important things for you, little sister."
Sally brightened.
"Ah, yes," Luca said, showing his own feelings regarding his allocated task compared to others. "I will hide this in the most secure place in my palace."
"Thank you." Delilah stood, placing a gentle hand on Sally to let her know that she could stand on her own. She regarded the rest of the congregation.
"Well done, Breanna. I'm so happy to see you again."
"My lady," Breanna gasped, the ritual having taken a lot of energy out of her. But she could feel her mana starting to return to her.
"Kirin Jindosh," Delilah observed. "A younger, wilder Sokolov with less of a regard for human life and a more imaginative mind. I look forward to working with you."
Jindosh bowed in an exaggerated manner, but lost his balance and fell over, tired from the ritual's drain on him.
Delilah smirked and turned her attention elsewhere. "Grim Alex, the better half of Dr. Alexandria Hypatia. Your skills will be useful to me."
Delilah looked around the room. "And you."
Brows furrowed at the comment.
"Delilah?" Sally asked. "There's someone else here?"
"There is, but-"
Sally instantly activated her newly returned power of Foresight. Time stopped as her spirit left her, and all things became revealed. The persons in the room glowed, their fields of visions becoming visible. Sally moved about, going up and around the room and into the adjacent one upstairs, then through the walls into the outer foyer where the other members of the Grand Guard were, their own forms glowing through the eyes of Foresight.
Sally frowned. There was no one that could've been listening or invisible, unless they were able to hide themselves from the eyes of Void.
"Dearest Sally," Delilah said.
The spirit form of Sally whipped around, and was totally stunned to see Delilah there behind her. She didn't glow like the other people, and she freely moved about even though time was supposed to be at a stop right now.
"Return to your body, child."
Sally did so, cancelling her power, blinking as the colors of the world around her shifted to reflect what she'd seen in Foresight, all the glowing bodies and their vision cones. It was rather disorienting up close like this, until Delilah motioned with her hand and Foresight's effects instantly shut off, returning the world to its proper lighting.
Sally gasped, amazed and awed, and just a little bit frightened that her power could be cancelled just like that.
Delilah smiled at her reassuringly. "My time in the Void was an invaluable learning experience. My powers are far beyond what they used to be. Because of that, I know we have a little visitor. She is hidden, but I know who she is, and when she is."
Delilah looked at a spot in the room, smiling a very dangerous smile.
"You have seen my return, and there's nothing you can do about it now. Just know that I'll come for you, and there's nothing you can do about that, either."
The mysterious intruder, somehow hidden from Sally's powers, must've taken her leave, because Delilah turned and faced everyone else, eyes full of determination and focus.
"We have work to do."
And work they did.
With Delilah back, the witches felt their powers return and knew what it meant. Many came flocking to Karnaca, eager to be part of the coven once more, but some stayed away, content with their new lots in life. Delilah took her power back from those witches, and all was well. New ones took their place.
Jindosh got to work on creating more of his deadly Clockwork Soldiers and was paired with Breanna to work on the device known as the Oraculum, which, in theory could be used to distort the prophetic visions and power of the Oracular Order, the sisters of the Overseers of the Abbey of the Everyman, whose prophecies are used to guide the Overseers in what is and isn't heresy…more or less. Delilah's plan could be totally foiled if the sisters of the Oracular Order were able to see her return and report it to the right people.
Luca took the spirit-housing statue and hid it in his secret, nigh-impenetrable vault in the bottom of his palace, guarded by steel, a code only he knew, and Clockwork Soldiers within in the odd event anyone managed to get inside. On top of that, Luca was charged with keeping the Royal Conservatory, the new base of the reborn Brigmore Coven, protected and closed off from any and all prying eyes, with Breanna aiding that endeavor with her status as curator by closing the Conservatory down in the name of a mite investigation.
Grim Alex's tasks wouldn't come for another few months, but she was instructed to do what she did best: kill people. Her targets were all outspoken critics of the new empress, Emily Kaldwin, Jessamine's daughter, many of them calling themselves "Regenters" after the late Lord Regent, Hiram Burrows, believing the audiograph of his Rat Plague confession played by Corvo was a fake, that his arrest and execution were unjust, and that the authoritarian style of his reign was far better and more prosperous than that of the Kaldwin dynasty. Killing these Regenters made easily made Emily look bad, souring public perception of her. Eventually, Grim Alex came to be known as the Crown Killer by the media of the Empire, something that really didn't help Emily's position.
As for Sally…
Did she get the part of assassinating Emily, to sneak through the Tower and kill the young Empress, potentially having to deal with Corvo, the Lord Protector? No.
Did she get the part of field leader, third-in-command of the coven and first over all witches not directly under Breanna for the sake of dismantling the Empire across the map, assassinating key individuals, stealing powerful artifacts, etc., essentially leading an army of witches in accordance with Delilah's will? No.
Nope, Sally was Delilah's ace in the hole, the card up her sleeve, her backup plan.
Daud's incursion at the manor and his subsequent imprisoning Delilah in the Void had shown the witch that she was not unbeatable, and even with her new, greater powers thanks to her bond with the Outsider that she'd formed while trapped, she did not think herself yet invincible. Her spirit might've been tied to the statue in Luca's vault, but it wasn't entirely safe. Someone could break in, disable the Clockwork Soldiers, and either destroy the statue or suck Delilah's spirit out of it.
It wasn't impossible, but improbable.
Granted, a very low probability, but still not zero.
And Delilah was not a gambling woman.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"This is doesn't make sense!" Salle lamented, angry, confused, and distraught. "We're playing chess against an opponent that doesn't even know it! That little bitch has no idea who her opponent is—you!—or where the pieces on the board are, or even which pieces actually belong to her, or even what pieces you have! I'm like a second queen on your side of the board! Why would you move me off and hide me, when you could use me to totally crush the Kaldwins?"
Delilah listened to this with patience and understanding. When Sally was done, her big sister spoke.
"Chess is a better analogy than you realize, dear Sally. Yes, Little Emily has no idea what game she's been caught in, but she is a dangerous player, nonetheless. She's been trained by Corvo Attano, the man that took down the Regent, the Loyalists, and Daud, and bears the Outsider's Mark. She herself may one day come to bear the Mark, and if that happens, then the threat she poses will increase many times over."
"All the more reason to let me go and kill her now," Sally insisted.
"NO!"
Sally flinched backwards at the furious hiss of Delilah. The witch softened but remained no less firm and resolute.
"Emily and Corvo will be dealt with in my way. It is my family they destroyed, my mother that was left to rot away and die, and then buried in a mass grave with other wretches not worthy to even kiss our feet, and me that suffered through it all—a bastard of a father that was glad to cast me out the first chance he got, damning me and my mother to years of suffering and torment. I will make Emily suffer. I will make her watch as her father is destroyed before her eyes, as her empire—rightfully mine—is torn away from her and she is cast out. I will see her scrubbing floors and washing pans, dressed in rags, begging for gruel and scraps, a toy for the worst kind of men to use and throw away. Only when she's experienced the suffering that my mother and I went through, only then will she have my permission to die."
Sally didn't know what to think of that. The fate that Delilah described was exactly the same as so many of the coven. What sense did it make to rescue all of them from that fate, and then subject Emily to it? A better question: what did Emily do to deserve this? Killing her was one thing since Jessamine's life had robbed from Delilah by Daud, and then Daud had been robbed from her by Corvo, so it made more sense to focus everything on Corvo.
The irony was not lost to Sally how she had no problem killing Emily, but she had her reservations about subjecting Emily to the lifestyle of an impoverished whore. She'd been a mere child only a few years older than Sally when Jessamine was assassinated right in front of her eyes, then she was kidnapped and deprived of any kind of comfort and healing after witnessing that kind of traumatic event. Then she was moved from location to location with no one to call friend or ally, right up until they locked her in the Golden Cat whorehouse and Corvo finally recused her. Then she had the weight of the Plague-ridden Empire dumped on her shoulders at the ripe age of ten.
Yeah, killing the Kaldwin filly Sally could do in a heartbeat—little bitch was in Delilah's way.
Throwing her onto the streets to beg and scrounge and get raped because she was in Delilah's way? That was just a bit much.
"Besides," Delilah continued, "I have seen Emily's futures, and proper care and planning is needed. She was the presence I sensed the night of my return, watching us, on a crusade to undo what I'd done the year she was spying on us. She's seen you, will prepare for you, and will hunt you. Being unable to find you, not knowing where you are or what you're doing, will drive her to the point of madness as paranoia sets in as she wonders in vain what your plan is, totally unaware that your plan is my plan. My will."
"I still don't like this," Sally sighed. "Our sisters-"
"Are ready and willing to go through with this. They've made their choices, little sister. It is time you make yours. Will you obey me and do as I ask, or will you not?"
"I think it's pointless. I think it's stupid. I think I can be put to a batter use. But…" Sally sighed, hung her head, straightened up, and squared her shoulders, looking every bit the captain in the Grand Guard that she was officially ranked as. "…I will do it. If, Outsider forbid, you fail and Emily or Corvo or someone else somehow manages to destroy your spirit and kill you, then I will be there to avenge us all and bring you back."
Delilah smiled, putting her hands on Sally's shoulders. "If Emily somehow achieves checkmate, it will only be after the board is almost empty. That is when you, my secret queen, will storm forth from the shadows and destroy her."
"Yes," Sally said with conviction.
Delilah nodded. "Let's begin."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Delilah's backup plan was a complex ritual involving so many witches and one more.
After her return and her Arcane Bond resumed, in addition to the witches that flat-out didn't come back, there were some that came back just to personally tell Delilah goodbye, that they'd found a good life for themselves and didn't want to complicate things by rejoining the coven. Showing benevolence, Delilah accepted their resignation, but not before demanding one last thing from them.
There were twelve witches in this party, each one having been in their early twenties when they'd been Bonded with Delilah, and now, the thirteen years later at this point, Delilah's last order was coming into effect.
The twelve witches stood in a circle around Sally, thousands of symbols not at all unlike the ones painted for Delilah's return all over this secret chamber. Delilah started a chant in a language no on recognized, no doubt learned from her time in the Void, and the symbols glowed. The thirteen witches were seized as they felt the power grip them, the power flowing out of them, and in Sally's case, into her.
The symbols glowed incredibly bright before there was a flash and a snap. They went out, and the witches collapsed, Sally staggering before Delilah Blinked next to her and caught her, concern all over her face.
"Are you okay?"
"Nope," Sally wheezed. "Feels like bubbles in my body. Not fun."
"Oh, good. That means it worked."
"Fuck you."
Delilah smiled. "Goodness, Sally, I didn't know that was how you viewed me nowadays."
"Go hump a cactus."
"No, I don't think I will. Thanks for the suggestion though."
"Urgh…" Sally finally passed out.
A good thing, too, because she had no idea going into this that the other witches were now dead, nor did the other witches have any idea that they were going to die either. The ritual had taken all the years that they all had lived, and added them to Sally's lifespan, meaning she now had a guaranteed 408 years left to live. She would never die of hunger or thirst or of any disease, not even cancer or STDs, nor would any injury be able to kill her, not even fire, acid, poison, decapitation, explosions, having a mountain dropped on top of her, or being thrown into the depths of space. The cost was the lives of the witches involved, however, something Delilah would have to deal with.
Right now, the final preparations for Sally needed to be made.
Officially, Luca was sending the young captain on a special, top secret, long term assignment out of the country. Unofficially, that assignment was by order of Delilah to grow in power and knowledge, learn everything there was to know about the Void, the Outsider, magic, weapons, combat, and the world, so that should the fateful day ever arise that Delilah should fall, Sally could return with all the strength needed to exact vengeance, and all the expertise required to bring Delilah back either from the dead, from the Void, or from what/wherever.
The idea wasn't that Sally wasn't just going to be a secret queen on the board, but an entire set of secret queens. Especially so since the ritual unbound Sally from Delilah's Arcane Bond, cementing the powers that she as her own with the drawback that she couldn't develop any new powers, leaving her stuck with Thorns, Blood Briar, Blink, Foresight, Fog Caller, Swap, and Void Razor.
To be fair, that was more than enough.
Of course, what no one could've predicted was that Delilah's fall would've come about not even a full three years after her resurrection, being brought back in the fourth month of 1849, and then sealed into her own painting by Emily's resourcefulness, botching Delilah's world-altering ritual, in the third month of 1852. Delilah's ritual had involved a careful balance of Runes and Corrupted Runes to turn her paintings into reality, and so Emily, without ever being seen the little coward, and disrupted the balance of Runes to Delilah's final painting, "The World as it Should Be," and trapped her within her own alternate reality without Delilah ever realizing it.
It was the best of both world, really. Delilah got her justice, her own world in which she was supreme, and Emily reclaimed her throne, freed her father Corvo from his status as a statue at Delilah's hand, and routed the coven that had taken up residence in Dunwall Tower. With Delilah once again trapped, this time seemingly forever with no way back this time, Corvo regained his powers and the coven lost theirs.
Daughter and father, the former steeped in the mercy and compassion of her mother, chose to spare the former witches and gave them a choice to be pardoned and find better lives for themselves, or they could not, in which case the heavy hand of her father showed through. If the former witches tried to attack or seek revenge, they were killed on the spot.
With Emily once again Empress, the Empire went through a drastic reformation. Emily and Corvo had both seen firsthand what people with the powers of the Void could do: Delilah and her coven, Daud and his assassins, the odd individual like Granny Rags, and the powers of Bone Charms could be used by anyone who had them. The chaos and devastation that could be wrought by these people and items could not be allowed to remain, and as such, Emily and Corvo spearheaded an Empire-wide extermination of every Rune and Bone Charm that could be found, and they had a plan in place in case they encountered anyone that had the Outsider's Mark.
What Delilah had done to Corvo, taking his Void powers, was perfect for the so-called Mark Bearers. Delilah had been kind enough to keep a journal of her secrets and powers, intended for her followers to study, but Emily and Corvo took the liberty of reading and finding out exactly how to perform Eraser, as Delilah had called it. The two didn't actually come across any Mark Bearers with which to use the power on, something they were honestly thankful for, until Sally got wind of what had happened in Dunwall one day almost a year after the fact.
And she basically fucked herself.
If she'd come up with an actual plan, took the time to observe, think, and determine a strategy, she would have won against the combined might of Emily and Corvo, both of whom had gotten stronger in their own ways since Delilah was banished to her own reality. Instead, Sally, blinded by emotions, had gone speeding right up the front steps of Dunwall Tower to blow the front doors right off their hinges in the middle of the day, and took the father-daughter team on right in the foyer.
Granted, the battle moved all over the place, resulting in dozens of casualties and the destruction of Dunwall Tower as a whole, and Sally landed her fair share of nicks, cuts, and bruises, and even broke Corvo's arm and punched out two of Emily's teeth, but the witch ultimately lost. In turn, immortality proved to be not as great as so many people thought it was.
Sally's immortality was actually the only thing that had made it possible for her to last as long as she did against Emily and Corvo, the two having learned how to coordinate and compliment their powers and skills in a way that made them a two-person army capable of conquering a whole country. Sally had been shot, stabbed, blown up, sliced, cut, eviscerated, immolated, decapitated, pierced, knocked through walls, floors, and ceilings, electrocuted, choked, and had her neck broken during her battle, even with all of her own skills and powers and expertise in using them.
Emily and Corvo together were just that good.
But like it was stated, if Sally had devised a plan, like actually taking the time to sneak into the tower to catch one in their bed while they slept, or even tried to separate them and fight them one on one, she would've won. She had what she needed to kill one of them by themselves, but taking them together was too much. It was a battle of attrition thanks to Sally's immortality, her body regenerating from all her injuries and wounds, and the two eventually wore her down, her huge mana reserves depleted to zero.
Now, one might've thought that Sally was immune to the power of Eraser thanks to the ritual, and you would've been right. Except that Delilah had come up with that ritual. Delilah had created that power. The reason it took a year before Sally underwent the ritual was that Delilah was working out all the kinks, making sure that the immortality would remain even if Eraser was used. What Delilah came up with was that the ritual made one immortal for the duration of the stolen years of the materials, but left them vulnerable to Eraser, should the target have any Void powers.
Delilah did this for the same reason she made the ritual in the first place: she was paranoid and did not gamble.
The probability of Sally betraying her was low, but not zero.
As such, things took a turn for the worse for Sally when Emily and Corvo used Eraser on her, destroying her connection to the Void. They were going to execute her as well for all the people she killed during her assault and because she was one of those witches who was never going to give up in trying to avenge Delilah, making her too much of a threat to let live. The reason they failed is that the witches that were allowed to live after Delilah's banishment were still witches, still sisters, and so was Sally.
In a way that mirrored Corvo's own escape from Coldridge Prison a lifetime ago during the time of the Rat Plague, the former witches arranged for Sally's own escape. After that, the witches helped Sally escape Dunwall, urging her to find a new life for herself away from magic, the Void, and most importantly, away from anything related to Delilah.
With a broken heart and crushed morale, Sally just wandered from place to place, making some coins on the side for odd jobs like theft, murder, or intimidation, coping with the fact that she had four centuries of life in her before her lifespan picked up where it left off at twenty years old, right up until one day, in the mud of a riverbank, she found a little trinket of singing bone.
The mission began again as a new plan formed in Sally's mind.
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I'm going to call it here at an opening chapter of 12k+ because there's probably another 6k left before we get started in earnest. Now, you're probably wondering just where Percy comes in, and how this story will tie back into the Riordanverse, and that will be answered in the next chapter.
You're also probably wondering what exactly is going to happen in regards to the Riordanverse given what Percy is supposed to be in this story, and that will be answered in the chapter after the next one. Probably. Maybe.
In the meantime, lots of content here to digest and think about. Sally's origins, Delilah's manipulations, her twisted sense of love, Sally's powers and skills that were introduced but not really shown because they were mentioned merely to be mentioned and shown later on by someone else, and other things.
Fav, Follow, and Review please!