Summary: She may succeed in rescuing her sister, her father, her life, but along the way, she will fall―and he will be there, lifting her up, saving her. [Slight AU, Emily Twinfic]

"Hope Was but a timid friend;
She sat without the grated den,
Watching how my fate would tend,
Even as selfish-hearted men.

She was cruel in her fear;
Through the bars one dreary day,
I looked out to see her there,
And she turned her face away!

Like a false guard, false watch keeping,
Still, in strife, she whispered peace;
She would sing while I was weeping;
If I listened, she would cease."

Hope, Emily Brontë

Disclaimer: I don't own Dishonored, only any original characters and plots.

Invictus
03:Jindosh Mansion

"You want to do what?!"

Maeve sits down on the barrel, the hollow sound echoing throughout the room. "I want to sneak into Jindosh's party." Pulling out an invitation she had stolen an hour prior, she hands it to the captain. "The idiot's holding a Masquerade party and inviting the wealthy to it."

Picking the envelope up, Meagan begins to read the invitation. "Mr. Kirin Jindosh request the pleasure of your company for dining and celebration honoring the return of our Grand Duke, Luca Abele." Scoffing, she places the paper back on the table as the smell of smoke drifts through the cabin air. "Do I even want to know how you got this invitation for a...Sidney Cobbler?"

"She's not dead if that's what you're wondering."

The young woman will have a hell of a headache, though.

Sighing, the Captain pulls out a large blueprint for Jindosh's house as a sound of displeasure leaves her lips. "The mask concept will definitely help to get you near Jindosh inconspicuously, but that doesn't mean the plan will work. That man has his own plan for everything and everyone. He thinks he's a target for every assassin in the Isles, so the chances are that he's not going to respond to you. Not to mention with all the Grand Guards and Clockwork Soldiers, I'm thinking that this might be too risky."

"I thought so at first but I think the risk is worth it, because I realized–" At this Maeve stands up and with a smile, hands Meagan the roster for the patrols– "There's a basement in his home that, while being patrolled by a clockwork soldier, will be nearly empty, sans the kitchen staff. I figured that after getting into the party, I'll figure out how to deal with Jindosh, right? " Meagan remains silent but with a nod of her head, she continues. "I've studied the patrols and guard shifts, so I'll leave traps that'll render them unconscious – then afterward, I can figure out what it is exactly that it's protecting."

"...You think it's Sokolov," the Captain assumes without question. The Maeve answers with a slight nod. "Okay, let's say it is the old man, but before you can do anything, you're going to have to dispose of Jindosh. How do you plan on doing that? Like I said earlier, the man won't be easy to get near, and I'm sure the Duke will be protecting his Grand Inventor, as well."

A smug smile formed, Maeve then answers, "With my brain, of course. He loves puzzles, so I just have to present myself as one. With a few drinks, even I can become irresistible to a man."

With a raise of an eyebrow, Meagan asks, "You plan on seducing the creep?"

"I guess?" Just thinking about it makes her shudder with disgust.

"...If you're going to go down that route, I say you better start doing some research on those Clockwork Soldiers of his. Just enough to where it seems impressive so when you don't know something, he'll love to teach you the rest."

"I know there's more risk, so that's why I figured we can spend the next week making sure our plan is foolproof. We'll still have to smooth over a lot of the details, change some things and get supplies, but overall, I think we got something here, don't you think?"

The captain remains silent for a few seconds but before Maeve starts to worry, she chuckles before blowing out smoke with a smile. "I think you got yourself a plan, Princess."

Days later, with several nights being dedicated to making their plan infallible to anything but the goddamn apocalypse, Maeve finds herself trying to sleep in her bed. When she opens her eyes, slightly frustrated at the fact that she will not be able to fall asleep despite the importance of the next day, she notices a familiar charge in the air that she is beginning to get accustomed to. Quickly sitting up, she looks around her small makeshift room and sees...the void.

Another visit from the Outsider?

Stepping onto the metal floor, her hand slowly reaches for the pieces of rocks that float around her – but before she can touch it, she senses another shift in the air and as a result, pulls her hand away. She turns back around, only to see something placed on her bed. And so, with careful hands, she slowly lifts it, revealing...a gown.

...Yet, calling it a gown would serve it an injustice.

Against her will, she feels a small smile form as she begins viewing the formal garment in her hands. She has seen her fair share of beautiful gowns in her twenty-five years of life with the dozens of galas that Dunwall hosted, but this dress…

It is a midnight-black dress, accented by a thin gold belt along the waistline, and as she lifts the gown higher, she sees that it drapes along the floor, pooling as if it were the night sky, the small gems nearly hidden in the folds of the fabric shining like stars. Although it has long sleeves embroidered with gold that look as if it will stop right above her wrist, any modesty that come with its sleeves are gone as there is an opening straight down the front of the gown, the wearers chest and stomach shown to all who will look, despite its high neckline that rests above the collarbone.

In all honesty, when she looks at it, she knows that it is a gown fit for a queen.

At this thought, hands suddenly brush along her lower back, causing goosebumps to form. "A queen...you can be."

Gulping, Maeve slowly places the gown back onto the bed as she feels the hands rest along her hips. She senses a presence behind her, a body nearly pressed against hers. "But a queen, I will not be," she answers quietly, her eyes closing.

A chuckle responds back, and as she remains standing, the hands guide her until she is facing the Outsider, only an inch separating the two. "Do you not wish for a throne of your own?" he asks.

Slowly, Maeve opens her eyes and sees him looking at her with his all-seeing eyes, the black, no matter how many times she sees it, unnerving her. "...I once did," she admits to him, although it is more towards herself. "I saw the appeal of being a ruler, once, and I remember the jealousy I had for Emily, but it's...just not for me."

"Ah, yes – because you would rather be a guardian, right? The protector in the darkness?"

"I – yes, you could say that."

The Outsider chuckles, the shards of the void that float around her shaking alongside the fallen god's laughs. "Maeve...sweet, sweet, Maeve – how life has been hard for you and those around you." He moves his hand as it now lays alongside her face, his thumb resting on her bottom lip as he continues speaking. "What will you do tonight, Your Highness? What shape will your revenge take?" She doesn't respond, and he brings his thumb down, letting it fall against her chin. He begins slowly dragging his finger down her body, his finger tracing her throat. He goes lower, his finger grazing her collarbone as his gaze follows his own movements.

Maeve remains still, never revealing just how sensitive her skin feels. "I will do whatever I have to."

He chuckles and when he looks up at her once more, she sees herself in his eyes. "I know." They remain silent for a few minutes, staring at each other until suddenly, with a smile, he slowly leans down – but instead, he disappears into the void before his lips can meet her own. The air shifts back to normal as the color returns to the world around her, the sounds of the waves crashing around the boat.

With a feeling akin to whiplash, she lets out a shaky breath, not fully realizing how tense her body had been around the Outsider's presence. She is not sure how long she remains still, her mind trying to digest her latest meeting with the rejected deity, but when she finally does turns around, there is, yet again, another gift from the Outsider: a porcelain mask alongside the now-folded gown.

With careful fingers, she lifts the mask. It will cover half of her face diagonally, its bottom edges sharp as it looks as if it were cracked, a forgotten piece of a whole mask. She can see hints of her father's old mask mixed in the various curves of its design as well, a red mixed into the marble – and as she holds it, she feels a pulse from the mask, almost as if it were alive.

"Consider it...a gift," she hears, but she knows better than to whirl around to look for the owner of the voice. Instead, she places it against her face, finding it adjust to the curves of her face. When her eyes open, the world she sees is the same, yet different. She finds that with a mere thought, her vision will zoom into whatever she looks at, the sounds around it amplified.

...A gift, it certainly is.

The following hours pass by in a blur and before she knows it, Maeve is in an abandoned apartment by the carriage that will take her to Jindosh's Mansion. Struggling to fit into the dress herself – as she always had maids to help her with this part – she stares at her reflection in the mirror after her half-hour struggle with the zipper.

The gown...it fit her body perfectly, emphasizing curves that are usually hidden under the layers of her protective gear. Like she had thought, any modesty was nonexistent – the shadows of her breasts and the sharp lines of her muscles will draw unwanted eyes to her, much to her displeasure. While galas are times to show one's wealth, many women – at least, those in Dunwall – chose to remain conservative in their wear.

To say she is worried would be an understatement.

At least...at least the mask she wears gives her some comfort; there is a piece of her father that will be with her throughout this mission, through the highs and the lows.

She will admit, though, that she feels extremely naked. It is not because of open split on her chest but because of her weapons – or lack thereof. Many of her trusted weapons lay open in front of her as if they were mocking her with their presence. It was just impossible for her to hide any weapons inside of her dress – while she does has several daggers hidden underneath her skirt, strapped to her leg, that is all she will be able to bring, not wanting the guards to find anything worse than that.

Although, if the Grand Guards were to find her with weapons, her plan will be over anyway.

Taking in a deep breath, she takes one last look at herself in the mirror, steeling herself for the night.

Jindosh Mansion

The Outsider

He is there, watching her, as Maeve struggles to carry the bodies of the Grand Guards despite the train of her dress. He is there, watching her, as she destroys the machines that roam around the Clockwork Mansion with only her gifted powers and a dagger strapped to her thigh.

And he is there, too, when Kirin Jindosh is no more.

Maeve continues to struggle with the choices she makes, but one thing that he finds interesting is her decision to spare those she comes across. Every person she comes in conflict with, she silently drags them to the darkness that surrounds her and chokes them, only the sounds of their faint gasping reaching her ears as unconsciousness drowns them into darkness.

But she is no hero, no merciful avenger. In her path of vengeance, she is cruel, her punishments sadistic. Those who truly wrong her, those like Kirin Jindosh, she gives them a fate worse than death. She finds what they fear most and uses it against them, toying with them. There is a part of her that the Outsider knows enjoys this, torturing her enemies with no hesitation.

She is no innocent princess – she has done things that would make Corvo rethink his decision of ever teaching his daughter the secrets of an assassin.

"P-Please – Princess, we can work together!"

"Hmm…" Maeve plays with the point on her dagger as she circles Jindosh in his electroshock chair. Her mask was placed onto a nearby table, allowing the Inventor to see the sadistic rage that she typically kept hidden. She swore that they would feel her anger, her betrayal, and her anguish, and she will always live up to her promises. "We can?" she asked innocently, her voice dripping with sugar.

"Y-Yes, w-we should! I can t-tell you the plans that the Duke h-has planning!"

"By the gods – really?"

"Yes!" Jindosh frantically nods his head, not truly understanding the sarcasm behind Maeve's answer – it's sad, it really is, knowing that such a smart man can be so stupid.

There is a second of silence between them until, in a blink of an eye, Maeve stabs her dagger between Jindosh's legs, the knife only a hair's breadth away from his crotch. She never breaks eye contact with him and as she nears his face, she gives him her answer. "No thank you – your services to everyone are no longer required."

"W-Wait–"

She straightens her dress and walks over to the switch on the wall. Her hand hovers over the switch as she smiles. "Any last words, Jindosh?"

"Please–" The man is sobbing at this point and there is something inside Maeve that cracks – she doesn't notice but the Outsider does. Yet, he isn't quite sure what this fracture is – is it her humanity? Her ability to sympathize? "My brain is worth more to you working than fried!"

"Oh?" Maeve tilted her head in mock surprise. "You think I'm just going ruining your mind?" She laughs as if this was the funniest thing she has ever heard.

"W-What?" Jindosh stops pulling against his restraints. "I thought–"

"You're going to die in that chair, Jindosh – and I will be the last thing you see." She blows him a kiss and before he can say anything, she flips the switch.

As Maeve walks out of the room, the party outside is too loud for anyone to hear the painful screams of their host. She places her mask against her face and breezes past the guards and the ignorant guests who dance to the playful songs of the band. Her dress is still beautiful, catching the attention of the several bachelors at the party as she leaves the mansion, her dagger strapped to her thigh once more.

...She doesn't look back.

Jindosh Mansion – End

A/N: This chapter has been in the works for over a year – I'm so sorry. I've had a helluva year and while I have been writing/posting other stories, I just haven't felt the best, in terms of writing. I played through Dishonored 2 again and I still love it – it's one of the best games I've ever played! I went back to this story and rewrote both chapters – they're a lot better and longer, I guess. This chapter isn't too long but I just want to put something out. Please please check out the first two chapters - there are new plot points to it!

I haven't forgotten about this story so please leave a review and a follow/fav. if you haven't already :)

If you want to check out my other stories, please do! I just posted a one-shot of Joel and Ellie for the Last of Us and I've posted stories for a lot of other fandoms!