The Raven (Corvo Attano FtM AP MC TF)

“…. where….is…?”

*jingle*

*jingle*

…What’s that?

*jingle*

*jingle*

…Wait, that sounds…!

*jingle*

*clink*

Callu jolted awake from the realization. The little girl restrained her breath in the cold air, feeling around her neck and chest; her pendant wasn’t there. A sterile light encompassed the room, somehow leaving the other occupants asleep. She looked around, panicked and dazed; where was her pendant? She heard the same sound again, and saw that a thin man was jingling her pendant, hosting a cocked grin.

“What do you want?” she growled as harshly as her petite voice would let her. The cloaked man’s grin only grew wider and he lifted the rest of the pendant into his handI brought you here for a reason, a…. project” he whispered, “-nothing big, just some…. wish-fulfillment for you-” He held out his open palm to her, holding her pendant in the open. “-and you’re next.”

She impulsively snatched it out of his palm with her small hands, holding it close. The man chuffed, grabbing one of her hands and nudging her to follow with him. She obliged, following along at a quick pace at his large steps. She opened her pendant, which turned out to be a locket holding two small pictures; one of a collared woman, and another with a bandanna wearing girl, her face hidden. Under both were names, Jessamine and Emily. She missed Emily dearly; her big sister that never left her side. She didn’t know what happened to her after the attack that landed her in the cellar. As she looked back, she could have sworn that there used to be another person there…

As they treaded deeper down the brightly-lit hallway, the sound of voices increased and became louder and louder until it seemed to almost reach a peak in front of one door. The voices were of two men yelling, seemingly out of anger about some important matter. Callu looked up at the man that was guiding her, who shifted his head with a small smile, making a knocking motion with his other hand. She followed his motion, knocking lightly on the door. The commotion went dead silent before a hasty series of thumps sped towards the door and quickly opened it. The sight she was greeted with was strange, unexpected, and scary; it was a large, bald man clad in red and black. She hid behind her guide, but the intimidating man seemed…. oddly friendly, almost fake, with a strangely crooked smile. The man kneeled to her height, wide grin on his face. “Hello there! Are you the one for today’s test?” He chipped, holding his hand out. Callu nodded weakly; there was something wrong here, but she didn’t know what. Looking behind him, she saw another man who looked shaken; most likely the man he was arguing with. The “red man” quickly grabbed her hand and lifted her chin up. “My name is Thaddeus; Thaddeus Campbell, but you can just call me Campbell!”

Campbell. There was just something wrong about that name, and it seemed….. familiar. Campbell swiftly left the door’s entrance, dragging Callu behind him. The cloaked guide quickly followed, as if to watch what they were going to do.

Or what was going to happen.

The gruff man seemed almost giddy, in a painfully immature manner; like a young child in a candy store. Despite never meeting him before, she knew that this was not normal for him; things seemed to be getting stranger and stranger, odder and odder, and most importantly, increasingly wrong. She was struggling to keep up with his fast dash, before he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. She couldn’t stop her speed, so she crashed straight into his leg, leaving her dazed and falling to the ground, face first. She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t move; she felt like she was being held down by some unknown force.

She couldn’t move as the hallway windows rattled and shattered.

She couldn’t move as Campbell screamed for help, then in pain.

She couldn’t move as the gun shots rang out, and the splurtch sound of blood and flesh splattering onto the wall resounded in her ears.

She couldn’t move as the muffled voices honed in on her before she blacked out.

Green. That was the only thing she….. “felt”. Green and pain seemed to have anchored themselves into her small, frail body. She was groggy, and everything seemed to have a nauseating green haze to it, as if diseased. She noticed that she was in a small hole with rough ground, sealed with wood planks. She stumbled, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t even reach the planks, let alone tear them off. In her daze, she felt for her locket, and found that it was once again missing. She sat down and gargled; she definitely wasn’t feeling too well. Everything ached, but her stomach was particularly horrible; it almost felt like it was being torn apart or disintegrated, with no numbing effect. She clutched her torso in pain and hurled in a corner, showing that she was vomiting blood. What did her captors do, poison her? If they captured her, who would they try and kill her? She hissed in pain, her body feeling incredibly hot; almost incinerating. What was happening to her; what were they doing to her? These were the questions racing through her mind as her insides burned, and they were all to be answered by one that was just behind her.

“Hello, Callu.”

Callu paused (or the closest equivalent) and looked around franticly, trying to find the source of the voice. When she turned around, she found a strange, dark soot cloud floating above the rough ground. Something seemed to be forming in it; only skin and clothes, like a shell being created in haste. In the end, a young man floated in front of her; someone who almost looked normal, save for his jet-black eyes. He smiled, yet did not seem to be reveling in anything.

“I am the Outsider,” he paused “-and you have been brought to the “Flooded District.””

Outsider? Flooded District? She threw up more blood, this time including flesh, but before she could say anything, “the Outsider” continued on.

“Now, I am not the one who brought you here – some truly despicable people did, and I feel that you could save yourself….. with my help.”

Callu was barely paying attention because of her intense pain; the burning inside her seemed to only get more intense, and she felt as if her skin was being stretched. She clutched her side and hacked up more flesh and blood. The Outsider had crooked, yet weary smile.

“You are not in my realm; I’ve come to yours to do this. I’m making a deal, something that you can’t refuse…. because you’ve already taken it. I’ll give you power, the identity to escape and help bring Emily back, while you, ehem… “teach them a lesson” for me.”

Callu hissed, the pain of her organs shifting and reforming themselves almost too painful to bear. She choked out, “..T-each w-who….i-identity…..Emily?!”

The Outsider seemed to wince. “I will give you the power to deal with your kidnappers however you wish, but you’ll have to take up the identity that is…. not you, and I’ll help get Emily back; I’ll bring her to you.”

The sound of bones cracking resounded through her ears, yelping in pain. The Outsider shifted his hand in one of his suit pockets before pulling out a golden locket, engraved with a strange “compass” symbol. He stretched his hand out to her, and with a click, it opened and showed two familiar photos; Jessamine and Emily. He closed it back up and began holding it by the chain.

“Consider yourself lucky that you get this opportunity, because between you and me-“ he boasted, before getting close to her ear “-you’re very interesting, a special kind of interesting.”

In almost an instant, Callu snatched the locket from the Outsider with her left hand, who proceeded to vanish in his supernatural cloud. Callu almost instantly regretted her decision.

A searing pain permeated her, starting with the hand she grabbed the locket with, but quickly spreading to the rest of her body. All of the previous processes seemed to be going twice as fast; her bones cracked and expanded, some even fusing together. Her structure’s feminine figure seemed to melt away, and her body size was growing rapidly. The growth was what seemed to cause the aching and burning pain, causing her to sweat profusely, her skin already red. Her skin seemed to age just as rapidly to an age that she didn’t understand. She snarled in pain as she felt something form between her legs. She grabbed her torso and kneeled over in pain as a thin layer of coarse hair grew on most of her body. Her normally short, young-length hair became wispy and slightly grey, and her jaw contorted as a thin beard grew. She cried in pain as her entire body aged, including a now-wrinkled visage.

With even more odd magic, new clothes that fit him formed; a dark navy blue undershirt and pants, with a black hood forming over those. Socks and a pair of black, belt-looped boots formed on his feet, and a fingerless glove appeared over his left hand. Finally, a jagged, faceted mask formed to fit over his face, with multiple lenses to see through.

Finally, it was done. She- he ached all over, and was curled up in pain. His skin was red, and he felt strangely numb at the same time. He stood up slowly, bumping his head on the stone part of his enclosure. He was definitely not used to his new body; he was definitely taller, and he walked with a crooked gait, trying to get used to his new anatomy and form. After standing up, he went into the corner to vomit; at least it wasn’t blood or flesh this time. He didn’t remember…. anything; he felt like he should remember something, but not what. He noticed the glove on his still-clenched left hand, and opened up his hand to reveal his locket. The locket still had the strange mark on it; it seemed to be synonymous with the being that did this. opened the locket to see if the pictures were still there, and he smiled weakly; they were still there.

Things were coming back; everything seemed to be coming back! He was framed for the murder years ago, why was he back here, in the Flooded District?! The pictures broke his heart; Jessamine, the old empress, and Emily, his daughter. He closed the locket and put it in one of his pockets. He pulled off his glove to let his hand breath; it felt stiff and like it had fallen asleep. His mark, the one that the Outsider gave him years ago, was still branded on his hand. He took off his mask; it was getting stuffy and hot under there.

After putting his glove and mask back on, he looked at the wood planks keeping him in. He already knew how to get out; he grabbed one of the bricks off of the ground and chucked it at the planks, shattering and splintering them.

Delilah though that she gotten rid of Corvo, but just like in the beginning, he broke from his prison to save his kingdom. This time, he broke from death.