"They set up a cell for Sokolov in the old kennel, shackles and everything. It'll be a shock, him waking up in the straw and old dog poop. But from what I hear he's woken up in worse places. Guess we all have, at that." Samuel stated.

"I don't drink." Axton replied, looking off into the distance, to the other side of Dunwall. "But I used to sleepwalk. Daud saved me from falling off a twelve story building once..."

"Oh." Samuel said with surprise. 

"I don't anymore though."

He took off his mask and set it on his lap, staring at it. To him, it was his identity, this mask was him. He was a Whaler, and he used to be proud of it. But because of recent events, he doesn't know anymore. 

Samuel parked the boat in silence, Corvo took off his own mask and stood just as the Admiral came. "Well done. I doubt a dozen soldiers could have done it better."

"A dozen soldiers wouldn't have been furtive." Axton said with a shrug as he stood. 

"Sokolov's knowledge will enable us to strike at the Lord Regent directly, and ultimately help you get your life back. Soon, we won't have to hide in the shadows. The Royal physician is brilliant, but he was a fool to protect the Lord Regent. Sokolov gave us the elixir, the war machines- he could have made us a great nation. Now he pays the price for siding with a tyrant. You have my thanks. If you two wish to get some sleep, now is a good time." 

"Yeah, but we should wind down, and say goodnight to Emily." Corvo replied as he stepped off the boat. Axton stood too just as Martin stepped forward and grabbed Sokolov. He followed close behind Corvo, who turned to him as he approached. "Was lock-picking something they taught you too?" He started.

"Yeah, It's easy enough once you get the hang of it." He replied. They walked past Lydia, who was holding a trey of food for Samuel as they passed. She scrunched up her face and turned to the pair.

"Halt right there you two!" Corvo and Axton stop, turning to Lydia with confusion. She set the trey down and folded her arms. "You two smell awful, like a Weeper, no, like a pair of week dead Weepers! When was the last time those clothes where washed? When was then last time you bathed?"

"I think sometime before Coldridge?" Corvo replied just as Axton said. "I don't even remember."

Corvo turned to Axton and rubbed his face. "I don't remember either."

"Boys!" She exclaimed as Admiral Havelock came by and looked on with curiosity and humor. Piero was watching since the beginning, acting like he was reading. "You two are going to give me those clothes right now, and you two are going to take a bath. No exceptions."

"Ummmm.... strip here? In front of everyone?" Axton said. She rolled her eyes. "No, inside in a bathroom. There is one in the servant's quarters so you'll have to go one at a time. Scrub yourselves good, and leave you clothes in front of the door."

"I don't have another pair." Axton says.

"Me neither." Corvo pointed out.

"Don't worry Corvo, I can lend you some of mine." Admiral Havelock offered as he added. "Of course after you bathe. I thought that stench was coming from Sokolov."

"And I can lend some to you Axton." Martin replied as he came from the area of the kennels. "If you don't mind looking like an Overseer for a night that is..."

"See, problem solved, now march!" She ordered. Corvo and Axton turned away and made their way into the Pub. They turned to each other as they walked down the hall and up the stairs. They couldn't help themselves, they started to burst out laughing.

~☆~

Bathed and re-clothed, Axton and Corvo felt refreshed. Corvo wore an outfit one will see an officer of the City Watch wearing, while Axton wore the coat of an Overseer. 

"Ironic." Corvo complemented. "Who knew an Overseer's outfit would look good on a Whaler."

Axton tugs at the sleeves uncomfortably, then messing with the coat's collar. "I guess it has something to do with wearing the same style coat for about... 15 years now? But this thing is uncomfortable as wearing a coat made of plague rats. But I guess I could be wearing worse. I could have borrowed Pendleton's fancy pants." He shivered at the thought of that then turned to Corvo. "So, we going to say goodnight to Emily or..."

"Yeah." Corvo replied. "Let's go."

They made their way up the stairs, talking as they did. They spoke about swords training, how Axton was flawed when it comes to open combat. "I can teach you to fight." Corvo had offered. 

"That would be great, I can find twenty creative ways to slit a person's throat stealthy, but an actual confrontation.... I can hold my own but I doubt against let's say five, without magic obviously. But as a wise man once told me, I can't rely too much on magic." 

"Sounds wise indeed, you seem to like to show it off though."

"Showing off is one thing, reliance is another." Axton said as they stopped before the door to Emily's tower. 

"Well, lets just say I'd be more than happy to teach you how to properly wield a sword. When this is all over." 

"I'll like that." Axton said, smiling. Corvo returned it and opened the door. 

"Please be as quiet as you can." Callista started. She was sitting on a chair directly next to Emily's bed, a look of sadness or pity in her eyes. "It took forever for Emily to fall asleep."

She turned back to Emily, who was tossing and turning, her face twitching like she was dreaming about a fight, or having an awful nightmare. 

"Poor dear." She said, "It's okay, Emily, I'm here."

Corvo nods and was about to leave, when Axton entered the room and made his way to Emily. He sat down at the side of her bed and reached out and grabbed her hand with his left, then made to stroke her head with his right. He hummed the tune he did before and she instantly relaxed. He turned to Callista and Corvo, who stared at him with shock and amazement.

"How?" She asked. "I was trying to calm her for hours. And even then, she fell into a fitful sleep..."

"She's used to my presence." Axton said, staring back at her and continually stroking her hair as he's done six months ago. "I was there in her waking hours till she slept."

"That tune... It's... it's an old Serkonian song. A song my mother sang to me before..." He sighed, then shook his head and looked back at Axton. "Where did you hear it?"

"Cincellia." Axton replied. 

"Of course." Corvo said with an exasperation. "I should have known, she was Serkonian too."

He smiled and stared down at Emily. She was defiantly sleeping deeper now, but he didn't want to leave her side. He turned to Corvo, then Callista. "You don't mind if I stay here... do you?"

"No." Callista replied, brushing a stray strand of her auburn hair behind her ear as she spoke. "in fact, please do. It seems that your presence helps her sleep."

"Then I guess I'll be leaving then, good night." Corvo said as he closed the door.

~☆~

The Heart thrummed against his chest, each time was when he was in close proximity to Axton. It was startling, and he had enough of it. As he closed Emily's door, he pulled it out and glared at it. 

"You really wan't to tell me about Axton don't you?" He whispered to it. It remained still. but he knew what it wanted. He crouched and blinked to the window facing the Hound pits, pointed the heart to Axton and let her spew whatever it is she wanted to spew.

"He loves her to death, he'd do anything for her." It started, stating about Emily and Axton's relationship."The more he sees you work, the more his admiration grows."

"He's afraid of the sounds of whips, the sight of old women, and spiders." Corvo frowned, she was starting to get off track.

"That scar on his face, he gained that from a whip. The same whip that killed his best friend."
Corvo paused, he felt his heart sink. "The man's name was Lord Bruntson, but the Children called him Mr. B."

Bruntson? He died by suicide years ago... MY son fell victim to him once too? For the first time, Corvo had felt indebted to the Assassin named Daud. If Axton lived at that factory then... then all I can say is that a life as a Whaler seems like a childhood dream...

"He still cried for his friend, though he never did in front of Daud or the other Whalers."

"His friend's name was Skippy."

"Bruntson was his first contract and When he was killed Skippy's spirit was free at last."

But he wasn't... then it hit Corvo, he had just witnessed his son's work and had not even know it. How many others where there? Accidents.... Suicides.... He shuddered at the thought of it.

"The mistress at the orphanage he stayed at for a year was a pedophile and a whore."

"He had just turned four when he saw her take a twelve year old friend into her chambers, he didn't mean to peek, but what he saw scars him to this day."

"She'd touch all the boys inappropriately, ou- your son was no exception."

"He was glad to kill her. This one, he framed as an accident." Corvo wanted her to stop, but he knew the heart will continue to pester him until it was finished, so reluctantly, he continued to listen.

"He used to dream about killing those who've wronged him, now, his dreams are full of his guilt of what he's done to his mother."

"Trust his word about people, he can read them all like an open book. Well, almost all."

"He has trouble reading you... and Daud..."

"He doesn't trust the Lord, the Overseer, or the Admiral, but he dislikes the Lord most."

"Lord Pendleton had just added another addition to Axton's Arsenal of physical and mental scars. That can never be forgiven."

"Some can argue that he is an Emporer amongst Whalers."

"I... I can't see much on his time with the Whalers, but I can see that he revers each one like a member of his family... and they see him in a similar manner."

"He likes strong women, he wants to love someone who will be his equal."

"He is a master at mimicking voices, at forging documents, at striking the fear of the Outsider into men, and at soothing young Emily in times of peril."

"There are many things Axton hates, but nothing more than Overseers and Nobles. Though there are always exceptions."

"It's not just him. Nobles can't be trusted, just ask any Whaler."

"Axton hates alcohol, though he will drink sweet wine when he has to."

"He has terrible allergies, even just the smell of cigars can make him sneeze and cough like he has the plague."

"He will soon discover powers that he doesn't completely understand."

"He's always wanted a pet. A hound, or a snake. Or perhaps even a white rat."

He thought she was done, until she whispered one last thing, a message to Axton himself."Mommy loves you."

It caused him to tear up, everything she had revealed did. His past, two terrible years that no child should go through. He should have been living like a noble... a prince...

"Don't feel guilty. He'd have been dead before he could turn one, if you kept him."

Out of curiosity, he turned The Heart to Emily.

"They share a connection, but not only in a familial manner."

He frowned, not knowing what that meant. He sometimes hates it when she was cryptic.

"She sees him as an older brother, if only she knew how accurate her perception was."

"He's afraid she'd hate him if he hinted to their blood ties, if only he knew that it'd only make her love him more."

She went silent again. he blinked to the other side and pointed it at Callista.

"She suspects there's a blood bond, she has already noted the similarities between them."

That's unnerving, Corvo thought as he blinked down to Piero's. He decided he'd see what the heart had to say about the other Loyalists regarding Axton before going to bed.

For Piero, the Heart said. "He knows."

He assumed that had to do with Callista suspecting Emily and Axton's familial ties, but Piero actually knows.

"He doesn't fear Axton, he never has."

"The Outsider had told him the Whaler was coming, and to prepare."

He heard a commotion outside and snuck to it. Pendleton was having a heated argument with Wallace about blankets. He pointed the Heart to Pendleton first. her tone dripped with venom.

"He despises everything Axton Attano Represents." Hearing his own last name attached to his son felt both unnerving and good. 

"Despite how he acts, he is afraid of the Whaler."

"He doesn't actually believes Axton will try to kill him. He thinks he is safe because he helped save your life. How wrong he is."

"Lord Pendleton will make Axton so angry, that he will hold a sword to his throat and debate on killing him." That last statement didn't sit well with Corvo. He shook himself then pointed it to Wallace. 

"If Lord Pendleton doesn't like him, neither does Wallace."

"He knows what type of threat Axton holds."

Admiral Havelock and Overseer Martin started coming out as they questioned Pendleton and Wallace about the racket. Corvo pointed the Heart at Havelock. "He both fears and admires Axton."

"He has no idea that Axton hates hard liquor. And that's probably for the best."

Curios still, he points it to Martin. "Despite being an Overseer, Teague Martin actually likes Axton."

"He finds humor in his remarks, and the way Axton and Trevor Pendleton bicker."

"He might be more friendly, but he is just as wary of Axton's power."

"He knows Axton could kill them all within seconds, so he plays nice."

He blinks to the other side of Piero's shop and finds Samuel talking to Cecelia, who seems to have been the one to bring the food the rest of the way.

"He thinks the trips with you and Axton are extremely awkward."

"He will soon begin to respect your son as much as he respects you."

He then aims it to Cecelia.

"She likes Axton, romantically speaking." Corvo paused, he glanced at her, she looked about mid twenties, so it wasn't too far of an age gap. It wasn't quite what he was expecting the Heart to say though. So far, it's been respect, blood relations, and fear.

"The other day, Axton Complemented her hair, she blushed like mad."

"Too bad she doubts herself, if she tried, she could definitely be Axton's type."

Corvo then saw Lydia scrubbing Corvo's coat like mad, mumbling about the stench as the water his and Axton's coats where stained black. Though he could also see that Axton's was turning red. He frowned at that. His coat was red? Why did it look black? Was it THAT dirty?

Then another thought struck him. If the Whaler's colors are like those of the City Watch and Overseers... then red means leadership... was Axton more than just another Whaler in Daud's gang? He didn't know, a part of him didn't want to know. He shook himself from his thoughts and pointed the heart at Lydia. It only had one thing to say. "She knows Cecelia's crushes on Axton, she teases her about it every night."

Well... that was enlightening. He thought as he returned the Heart to it's rightful place. He then stood and blinked to his room before anyone could notice him. He sat down on his bed and rubbed the sleeves to his borrowed coat. It's been a while since Corvo had worn any form of City Watch clothing. He had grown accustomed to his own coat, it's flaws and everything else. The Coat Jessamine had given him to distinguish himself from the other guards. A coat that had said, 'I am the Lord Protector, touch my Empress and I will find, and I will kill you.'

Corvo sighed, laying down and lacing his fingers behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. Everything the Heart had said echoed in his brain like an announcement from Dunwall Tower. Axton's troubled past and the opinions of his allies. He didn't know why the Heart was so adamant about sharing these secrets with him, what where they going to accomplish? Axton would have told him all of this when the time was right...

Wouldn't he?

I didn't mean for this to be all the Heart, but I just LOVE writing Heart quotes. Now, I have to add ANOTHER chapter so I can write what this chapter was ACTUALLY supposed to be about lol. Sorry for the filler feel, but I let my curiosity to "What would the Heart have to say about Axton? What will the Heart reveal about the other's opinions of him?" Had to be quenched. The NEXT chapter will get into the juicy stuff !   😉