I stood guard, next to Emily, the former Princess and now Empress of the Empire. We were in the Natural Philosophy section of the Royal Palace, where Pierro, the secondary Royal Physician, worked. The reason for our, Emily and I, being here was for Emily to recieve therapy. The past dozen weeks had been traumatic for her, with the death of her mother, being kidnapped, then watching as friends of hers were killed violently, had taken a heavy toll on her. And now she had to deal with the insanity of politics, but thankfully, I was there to protect her. Its what the Jessamine, Emily's mother, would've wanted. I was distracted from my thoughts as Pierro spoke to me.
"Corvo, would you please step out for a second?"
I looked over at him, stood quiet for a second, then said with a tinge of distrust, "Why?". Pierro looked about nervously then said, "well... I want to speak to her privately, so I can get to know her better."
"And you can't do that with me in the room?"
"Well, its just that-" I interrupted Pierro before he could speak any further.
"Pierro, I have only known you for a few weeks. In that time I have learned that you spy on women who are taking baths, create strange sex devices for the golden cat, a bathhouse turned brothel, and that... he ... talks to you in your sleep. So if you think I'm going to let you alone with Emily for some time, your wrong." I leaned against the wall, and gave him a glare. Pierro swallowed, licked his lips, said, "Alright then", and turned to Emily, who had been watching the conversation with hidden interest, and began to talk to her.
"Good" I thought to myself. The whole point of Emily and I coming here was for Emily to receive Psychiatric care, which Pierro had volunteered to give. While I may have been difficult with him, I still had a begrudging respect for him. He had crafted all my gear during the reign of the Lord Regent. Granted, I never used the sword he gave me, but I found the crossbow he had made to be exceptionally useful.
Pierro and Emily continued to talk while I supervised Eventually it was time to leave, and so Emily and I left for home, The Royal Palace.
-
There was blood everywhere. Nobles ran about, screaming. The bodies of the dead littered the floor. And I was at the center of it all. My blade was in one hand, a pistol in the other. I ran about in glee, cutting through the nobles, hacking and slashing this way and that way. There would be no mercy! Jessamine was dead, Emily was gone, and I was thirsty for revenge, and ANYTHING that got in my way was destined for the void.
"PLEASE NO!" screamed a small noble-woman, dressed in white. "I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING, JUST PLEASE DON'T HUR-" I grabbed her wrist and pulled her in close, and shoved the blade up through her chest, then shoved her away, blood flying. Then the guards showed up. They were everywhere, armed with pistols, blades, even a few grenades.
I laughed.
I dropped the pistol, and threw my arm forward, palm out. Everything froze. I grabbed a grenade from my belt, primed it, and dropped it in the center of the mass of guards. Then I backed away, and unfroze time.
The grenade dropped to the floor, the guards looking about quickly, wondering what just happened. And then, the grenade went off. Bodies flew everywhere. I saw torsos, limbs, heads, everything flying into the air.
I just stood and laughed. But inside me, I was screaming at myself to stop, what are you doing, and to get a hold of yourself.
Then I woke up.
-
I launched myself out of bed, gasping. I looked about my room, and saw that everything was fine. No blood, guts, or gore. I let out a relieved sigh. It was all just a bad dream. I got dressed, and headed to Pierro's for some counseling. When I arrived, I found him at work on a wall, painting a large black oval on it. The wall itself was surrounded by various technology. I stopped and stared. I had no clue what Pierro was trying to do.
Pierro must have noticed me, because he spoke up.
"Hello Corvo. This, is my door to nowhere!"
I stared at him, confident he had lost it over the night
"Corvo, one of our times biggest problems today is trasportation between the isles. BUT, I think i may have a solution. This 'door', allows one to travel long distances via the void, almost like your blink ability."
I sighed. Yes indeed, Pierro has gone mad.
"Go on, try it! It'll take you to the Academy of Natural Philosophy, where Sokolov's door is, go ahead, I've tested it, and it works perfect."
There was no way in the void that he was being serious.
"Pierro, you've gone mad!" I exclaimed
"Please Corvo, just try it, you'll see! Just step into it, and your there! Watch!"
I watched in disbelief as Pierro stepped into the wall and vanished. I stood there, my mouth agape, when he suddenly walked right out of the wall.
"See?"
"Wow... Just Wow..."
"C'mon Corvo, Just try it"
"Fine. I will, but I swear if something goes wrong I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life."
"Coming from you, I believe it, now go on!"
I took a deep breath, approached the wall, and stepped into it.
-
The first thing i noticed, was that i was in the void.
"oh shit..."
And then, HE appeared, in all his unholy glory.
"Hello, Corvo."
"Hello, Outsider" I swallowed
"There is something I'd like from you..."
"And whats that?" I asked hesitantly.
"A favor"
I froze. The Outsider either didn't notice, or he didn't care, because he continued.
"I love knowledge. There is so much knowing something can do for you. And there is something, or someplace, I should say, that i would love very much to learn about. But, some... force ... keeps me from visiting there, so what I would like to do, is send you in my place."
I snapped out of my shock and spoke up "But Em-"
"Emily will be perfectly fine. In fact, no time has passed since you've stepped into Pierro's Door to Nowhere. And if you should chose to go, nothing will have happened. It may be several years for you, but it will only be a second for them."
This piqued my interest. Another World? Where even the Outsider hasn't tread? This should be interesting. And so, without even thinking, I said "I'm in."
The Outsider smiled. "I knew you would be".
And with a flick of his fingers, I was gone
