Time Travel AU 2

Tagged as Emily Kaldwin, Corvo Attano, Daud, Jessamine Kaldwin

Creator: Whaler, Blue, Hiaen, Potes

Description:

AU where Emily keeps the time travel device thing.

Wonder if she could go back and stop her mums death. stoppi jessamines death would create one hell of a paradow. which would make an increidble concept for a fic, culminating in idk emily having 2 let her mum die to stop the world falling apart,, Or the void taking over. but then again no paradox emrged from stilton - but emily didnt go there 2 save stilton specifically

Time fuckery:

at first things seem ok, and emily is thanked for drop kicking daud into the wrenhaven. HOO but then emily has to stop delilah in dh1 timeline bc daud doesnt do it anymore,, sider is aware and talks 2 adult emily. bc if past delilah posesses child emily then adult emily... hm also, by saving jess, corvo was mever marked, etc etc and the event sleading 2 emily being marked in dh2 wouldnt happen, or the same way. i love/hate thinking about time paradoxes

Ooooh what if... when Emily changes the timeline, she notices that the timepiece is starting to malfunction a bit. And the more changes she makes, the more damaged it looks. Both as a representation of the change she's making, and as a threat that if she pushes it too far she might never make it back home. There's a limit to how much she can change things and the timeline will self-correct enough to make the whole loop possible, and she pushes too far because she can't decide where to stop "fixing" things.

what if there are like. void entities that spawn out of time anomalies and try to kill the interloper (emily). some void entities doing stuff, esp bc jess's death caused a lot of interactions between marked people and the void, and the void is somewhat independent of time (proven by sider knowing about the stilton stuff). i think the void entities exist to stop the paradoxes and we can say they're making sure things don't fuck up to the point of fucked up lööps

like, if jess didnt die, corvo wouldnt have been marked, daud qouldnt have been depressed and stopped delilaj, delilah wouldnt have been in the void and so on,, so by changing that balance... The plague wouldn't have gotten that bad, there wouldn't have been several years of the Empire being ruled by a literal child... the empire wouldnt have had that period of severe instability and turmpil. theres like. A year between jess's death and emilys coronation ya knkw. unfortunately, jess's death was pivotal for void stufd and the empire

posiably also to add that more and more void entities apoear 2 fuck tjings up as the story progresses and more intensely. The more Emily wants to "fix things" and subsequently fuck them up even more, the more aggressive the void entities are. However, as soon as Emily decides to actually fix things and let Jess die, they retreat and let her do, observing from afar. THE REALNFIXING THING IS LETTING JESS DIE, NOT EVERYTHING ELSE EMILY FRANTICALLY TRIES TO DO TO FIX THE WORLD

posiably also to add that more and more void entities apoear 2 fuck tjings up as the story progresses and more intensely. hhdh also the entitoes. Hovering around corvo, not harming, just lingering. Bc he isnt makred but.. He should be.. granny rags hurling rats at the void entities bc she doesnt take any shits

The end:

also, after saving jess, theres like a void hole thing in the gazebo where jess's murder plays out again and again and again and only emily (child and aduly) can see it. at the end, adult emily has to go back in time and watch her mother get murdered, again, for everything to realign. this somehwat mirrors the ending of the corroded man (eg emily has to somewhat face that decisjon) but much better. Keeping Jess from dying resulting in the apocalypse was part of the plot of The Corroded Man, so you ain't far off

ok but emily saying she has to go back and let jess die and jess revealing she knew emily was emily the whole time, jess being like "it's ok u gotta do it"

but ofc what would stop emily from jumping back to the present asap? ans staying? what if, borrowing hiaens idea of the time piece like corroding, but what if it straight up broke and wouldnt let her go back to the future immediately after? And sider pulls her into the void and does a cryptic, well something has chanhed and now you cant go back. But maybe you can if you... Fix things - so emily tries to get everything aligned with her actual tomeline, eg burrows to justice KILLING THE COUP CREW OMG, Then the whole delilah thing happens as she starts to fade,, meanwhile, both child and adult emily realises the gazebo event is a hole in the void through which they can both see jess being killed over and over again- for little emily, its simply a noghtmare.... Eventually, after everything, emily realises that. What she has to fix. Is the paradox of her travelling back in time to save her mum, meaning cjild her wouldnt do that as an adult as there is no mum to save... And so. She goes to the gazebo, the time piece lets her travel back again. And she lets it happen

fun epilogue but. Adult emily going to jess's funeral. bc she never got to as a child. watching ppl mourn her mother, celebrate her life...

The Outsider:

hdhdhs after emily saves her, sider pulls her into the void to be like hee ho u have fucked up hhehehee. He gives her a speech eerily close to the one he gave Daud in the main timeline. "you done fucked up. look 4 delilah lol"

sider: and so you've saved your mother, prevented the deaths of thousands others from the plague, and given yourself the childhood you always dreamed of... or have you?

outaider speech early on to emily like "15 years ago, i pulled ypur fsther into the void like this and gave him my mark. With that, he changed the course of history, saving you and the empire. But now, the flow has changed and you are here instead, trying to find the solution to this mess youve created..."

The oitsider just being cryptic as fuck, and enjoying the entertainment of emily following corvos footsteps as she tries to fix thungs, dropping subtle hints that she wont like the solution, and will she ever get home??

Losing memories to the Paradox:

hmmg also would emily flick brtween past and present?? bc like,, imagine her seeing immediatebly the consequences?? bc im thinkingndelolah succeeding in her possession or something. idk at fiest the present seems perfect,, jess is clearly alivw (idk banners or something rwferring to empress jess),, but then theres subtle things that no, its not right

Also. Emily slowly losing control, having mind blanks, as time passes and the possibility of delilah possessing child emily becoming more firm and sttuff.. Akin to marty like disappearing in bttf but more mental blanks and stuff, as physically emily will still exist ...

the crossed timeline and emily poss losing some mempries as the possbiblity of delilah possessing her beocmes more real. Forgets that. emily getting frustrated as she cant remember facts she KNOWS she knows... like she knows she knew where delilah lived, but that info isnt in her brain and basically yeah... sider taunting her like smthing smthng owo whats this??? losing your memories?? thats bc if delilah possesses u, you wont HAVE those memories uh oh! culminates in emily, right at the end as she is about 2 seal delilah in the painting, forgetting. Everything, her mothers name, who her father was,,,, all she remembers is her purpose and the void

but emily doesnt get definitely told corvo is her dad til after jess dies.... so in this au, emily forgetting who her father is,, she knows she HAS. Dad and he is warm and lvoing, butbwhy has she forgotten his name when she can still at this point remember her mother jess, her nursemaids, corvo the royal protector who always keeps an eye out,,, but she cant remember wjo her father is.. emily ending up w a fuzzy silhouette in her mind of her father, but no details, no name

the memory blanking is progressive/ so at the startz shell remember where the whalers might be, but toeards the end of finding delulah, shell have forgotten most things, if that makes sense? And i feel like finding daud for justice would b one of the first things shed do?

basically, the closer emily gets in the timeline to delilah s possession - tje event that causes emily to disappaear - the more and more memories she loses. Its like, bc after thay event, she will be completely gone so the closer it gets the less and less of her there is. In bttf, its symbolised by a photo of marty and his siblings slowly losing his siblings one by one as they fade outx and msrty himself like disappearing as he approaches the pivotal moment at the school dance were his parents really fell in love. So like . Basically. At the start - emily os all there and remembers shit. But. She graudally loses her memories as time advances. Id say she loses her most recent memories (eg dh2 stuff) first and it regresses back. And, just before delilah would possess emily, almost everytbing is gone bc once delilah possesses emily nothing will remain. So maybe like. Halfway thru the quest 2 stop delilah, emily forgets that delilah is her aunt, and what delilah did.

Identity mixups:

ok but are jess and corvo (or beb!emily, even) going to recognise that this woman is their daughter? jess finds emily hot bc emily looks like corvo and emily is like im sorry i Cannot moth- your highness

and corvo and jess figure out this stranger is an adult emily and being like. Yo.

emily wants to hug her mum really bad but she can't because. she can't. she does at the end, right before she goes back in time again to let jess die. One last hug. And to say goodbye. Because she never got to say goodbye.

emily having to be on the receiving end of one of corvo's dirty looks and being like "damn ok bitch i think i get why you sometimes make people shit themselves help"

Plot stuff:

emily knows burrows is dirty,, after saving jess she deals with him - either finds evidence that JDHDHS HOO IDEA! emily bribes whalers for evidence of burrpws hiring daud and brings that to jess and corvo. emily tries to give herself the childhood she dreamed of... i say bribes, i mean kicks their asses and gets yhe evidence. Daud is like "it's against my professional ethics but honestly fuck Hiram, here's all the evidence you need"

emily wants to bring burrows to justice - > spends longer in the past - >ecentually starts... forgetting and THATS WHEN sider is like hee hoo delilah :P

emily trying to get sokolov and pieor to work together snd she knows they solve tje rat plague djshhss can u imagine?? ends w emily slurping pieros solution and sokolovs simultaneously like LOOK IT CURES THE PLAGUE PLEASE MASS PRODUXE THIS OH MY GOD

i wanna think about,, how emily stops daud from killing jess in the first place. like, does she swoop in when corvo is incapacitated and right before daud stabs jess?? OR does emily fight alongside corvo from the start

hhfh emily foghting alognside corvo, knowing his moves, they move as one unit, both corvo and jess are suprised and cofused at this masked stranger, fighting to save them, who came out of nowhete but fights like corvo. child emily is just in awe at this woman with a sword and is like #lifegoals

its kinda hard to get this aligned w the dh1 timeline bc u know. 6mlnths corvo was in jail, but id say things maybe move slowly to start with as emily sint sure what needs done, and her memory doesnt start to fade until much later, around whenever sider would have given daud delilahs name, so idk maybe at first meily is just milling about, trying to remember what happened during that turbulent time in her life that might be important.

also - emily stopping hiram from trying 2 kill jess in other ways. if emily is stuck in the past, what if she gets a position from jessamine, like a job. so she does that while she tries 2 figure out how to get home, but also tries avoid interfering w jess, corvo and child emily too much. adult emily gettin sad seeing herself as a child w jess and corvo as a family, knowing thats what she was denied...

Innofficial Spymaster Emily. Jess is smart enough to figure out burrows is trying to coup. But she doesnt want to spook him more so she and corvo pretend to be Stupid™️ and put adult em to the job of gathering evidence etc. bc that also. Leads nicely into the concept of emily having to deal w the coup crew, like corvo did. but this time, more officially. and is eventualy able to bring the evidence to fully tske hiram down. More arresting and judging, less "fate worse than death". em still going to likr the boyle party for example (bc she reall wants 2 oarty!!) but also bc info gathering - heres proof waverly boyle helped fund hirams coup.

And jess cant let corvo handle the investigation bc that would give burrows an opening for another attempt. Corvo has a v stressful time

hhfh also, the void creatures trying 2 fix the timeline stuff. Start to threaten EVERYONE

enily confronts daud relatively early on (like within 1 month post not assasination), and gets the proof from him of conspiring to kill jess. And she takes it to jess and corvo but its not enough - jess says that hiram is too powerful in parliament , he has too much support that this isnt enough - and daud is covert, a myth, and his word/evidence/idk a letter from hiram alone isnt good enough yet, bc that could be faked, is what hirams supporters would say. So emily needs to remove hirams support - basically corvo missions but with more motivstion beyond just setti g the timeline right - emily needs to figure out whos who and what roles they have to play. She starts by investigsting campbell bc he is known to be close w hiram - from there, she gets the black book, detailing the Pendletons were supposed 2 take the abducted emily (for the sake of this making sense lets say emily as an adult doesnt really remember who is was who held her during that time)... And so on

tl; dr emily still has to weaken hirams support sysyem before taking him down bc yeah

hmm emily at the boyle party, approached by brimbsy, and realises the decision corvo made in the past,,,, boyle party also takes place like. Immediately after defeating delilah so emilys memories r fresh once again,, amd emily is think "wait wavelry boyle... Isnt she the one who was abducted and ended up in morely?? corvo couldnt have had anything to do with that.. right??" and then brimbsy alproaches emily at the party and it all makes sense

emily partly. Disgusted. but also, wonders how desparate corvo was to be covert and clean to do that. bc corvos place in dh1 is of desparation and just a diff context/motivatjons to emily in this au - corvo has LOST everything while here emily is trying 2 maintain that,,, she returns to the tower and she knows that this time's corvo didn't do that, but she's still looking at him funny. because she knows corvo COULD make make decision... once emily has fixed everytbing and is back in the present,, she asks corvo about it and he is far from proud and very ashamed... This is an emily kills brimsby au btw xo

The whole thing gives her a lot to think about on the topic of "what can the same people do when put in a different situation/given different choices". Like she sees the very rotten decisions Corvo took when he was desperate, but that he would never have done before Jess's death, nor long after, when he is reinstated. On the opposite end of the scale she sees Daud who in her timeline fucked things up catastrophically (and who probably stuck in her mind as the monster under the bed for a while), but here she sees that his motivations were pretty neutral and that it was... not that hard to convince him to change his mind.

On your right, you have Daud, ruining everything:

I love how, given that the whole thing was solved relatively diplomatically with the Whalers, there's zero reason for Daud & co to be involved with the rest of the story so... without a change of mind concerning their life choices, they're probably gonna keep being assassins for the rest of their lives. and no billie betrayal.

we will stipl give daud his depression arc bc that was inevitable just killing jess triggered it. daud has time 2 think after emily stops him and is like. Hm. Maybe i will have 1 (one) moral. and maybe think about who he kills. But he still ass ass inating :)

i think daud wouls mope and b angry like a teenage boy, and then depressed. i love the idea of daud and the whalers still business as normal, kinda reeling from the failed assassination and daud is pissed bc corvo wasnt supposed to be there and who thr fuck was that woman??

in this version I don't think anyone knows where the Whalers are holed up? Like I doubt Em remembers that detail from 15 years ago, Corvo obv doesn't know, the overseers knew because Delilah told them because Billie told them which doesn't happen here... but the overseers were gonna do a sweep anyways - billie just gave them the exact location. she might remember that intel said the whalers were in the flooded district (em probs tried to study the whalers after it all) she just doesn't know where.

ok also, w the whalers and stuff, jess being angry and stuff, emily is like hm. I wonder wDJHSHS IDEA. billie tells emily in dh2 about living in the flooded ddistrict and stuff, and later that she was a whaler, and emily can put 2 and 2 together. emily somulatenously trying 2 bring daud and burrpws to justice and find delilah. emily searching the flooded district,,,

Also I'm not sure she'd even... want to go after Daud, once she's saved Jess from the Whalers. She probs have other things to do than pick a fight with the Whalers at the height of their power? thrn again, if she wants evidence that burrows hired daud to get ride of burrows asap.. like, the longer burrows is around the more danger jess is in, but also getting him exposed for what he really is and causing the plague is better than just killing him.

daud and emily encounter properly and he csn see shes marked but also,,, out of place. And deduces who she is. Daud has a brain and doesnt try again for a while because he is not that dumb to try and murder the empress with everyone around spooked already

Fuck, daud would probably sell burrows out, especially once he hears rumors abt burrows and the plague. Burrows is exactly that kind of noble he would want to murder. Getting him arrested is the next best thing that doesnt risk his fam. Dauds plan: 1) Double Cross Burrows, because fuck em, 2) grab the kids and get the fuck out. ..the latter part probably doesnt work out as always

but emily confronting daud, her pain and anguish, but also knowing that. Daud hasnt killed her mother now. But still wanting revenge. Like the dual choice there. Emily ultimately lets him walk bc she can see hes depressed, regretting his life anyways etc... And daud also realised that emily is from the future etc etc

Daud trying to stay neatly out of it at least until he gets a better idea of what the fuck is going on; but then getting dragged back into it because the void entities are coming for his ass as well. what if at first he wants to stay out of it, then Emily confronts him properly and he's like ay I could sell out Burrows, I hate the bastard and it'll keep time-travelling sword woman off my back, and then he does that and the void fuckery increases because it fucks up the timeline even more. every big decision/target etc emily foes, just fucks the timeline up more abd more and emily is just,, so frustrated at why it keeps getting worse.

The plan was sell out Burrows (to get Emily to leave him be) then fuck off to Serkonos with the kids; but selling out Burrows fucks things up so much that he has to stay (maybe if Daud and the Whalers get too far from Dunwall they start fading away or something? but they're stable if they stay in town because it's where they're supposed to be)

i feel. Like daud would stay out of it and lie low for a while, and orobably grappl w his emotions for a bit - this is the first time hes failed - and also, he still ha s his repressed emotions etc... And then i think hed come to and when runours about the olague origin reach him, he gives intel on burrows. But he has 2 do it discreetly - if word got out he was giving away clients details hed lose business lol

smthngsmthng emily realising she cant do this all alone theres too much and she doesnt want to endanger anyone, but daud is trash and useful so. emily hates his guts so much the inage of him killing her mother is seared into her brain, but maybe he can be useful to help set things right. nd then whenever outsider does the delilah speech emily learns or realises that daud also saved her, and she doesnt know what to think about thay. Because how couls the cold hearted man who murdered her mother also have saved her?

Really wondering how that cooperation would work though, because unlike most "daud and imperial fam team up" scenario, here daud is not powered by regrets and atonement, and won't defer to Emily. He'll take convincing.

So 1) daud will need a good incentive to work with Emily, 2) he's pre-regret arc so generally a huge asshole, especially to someone of Emily's social class, 3) Emily meanwhile has a lot of trauma regarding him and doesn't particularly want to talk to him a lot, 4) he's at the height of his power and the Daud & Whalers vs. Emily isn't that clear-cut of a fight imo, and 5) he's probably gonna be very wary of a fellow marked given his beef with sider

yeah - he wont be powered by the regrets of what he jas done to emily etc - but also i think its naive to think that killing jess alone made him feel bad, there may still be lingering regrets etc about his job and path in life in general,, and if someone is offering an alternative to killing then maybe, with some convincing sure. i think, emily, would have daud at the end of her sword. Daud is faced with death. And maybe he would want to die fhhsba. Or maybe, he sees the anger in her eyes and wonders at first what hes done to her...

oh but what if the void entities start just going after the marked and something fucks up w the marked, so daud has an incentive to help em.

i think emily would have 2 work very hard to take daud down. I think it would take a lot of planning and time. bc she would need to get daud at a time when he was more vulnerablr - he s larger than her and a skilled assassin

I could see her getting to daud through the whalers. She's ruthless enough, and has enough emotional intelligence to see that the bastard cares about his men. Maybe not hold a knife to their throats, but maybe something like "i know where you live, I'll send the overseers on your asses without a second of hesitation". Not direct threats, but "I'll make your life very difficult". less i woll personally kill them and more it would be a shame if overseers founs u and u had 2 fight. Ties up neatly with Informal Spymaster Em too :). Like. Some threats that Daud knows he would survive, but the losses/injuries/difficulties risks are too high compared to just... Selling out Burrows. He doesn't even like the guy.

WHAT IF she manages to catch one to steal their fit and LO AND BEHOLD IT'S MISS BILLIE LURK. billie's wacked out when the woman who just called her meagan then knows her actual name, despite billie always wearing a mask and nobody knowing her face/ it not being on wanted posters

Honestly here's how I see it go:

Emily: I can pay you to betray Burrows

Daud: I hate the guy as much as anyone with a pulse, but selling out a client is bad for my reputation

Emily: Also if you don't do it I will make sure you guys aren't safe anywhere

Daud: You know what I'm sure I can make up something about how he refused to pay and we had to make an example

tbh tho as well, daud wouldve wanted more money off burrows BECAUSE of corvo being there (that wasnt the deal) - so he could probably see to making an example of burrows "haha now u mention it, i WAS trying to extort more money off him bc he said the empress would be alone and she wasnt,,, so i guess i COULD say were making an example of him". that would actualy boost dauds reputation among clients as well, lile holy fuck he doesnt csre WHO you are, if you cross him he WILL expose you

Daud is nothing if not pragmatic. That man doesn't have a shred of honor in him by any definition of honor; at this point of his life (and to a certain extent, even post regret arc) his motivations are extremely selfish. his own survival is his main goal. like pre emily being like time 2 die bitnch, he still wouldve taken mor emoney off hiram as compensation for corvo being there rtc,, but as soon as emily offers him an alternative that works for him just as well and avoids him like. Dying. Hes like :)

Although since the assassination wasn't even carried out here, I think the cover story (which is barely a cover story at this point) would be "you said the Empress and her daughter would be alone, instead the Lord Protector and a fucking ninja lady were there; I conclude that you betrayed us big time and we're coming for your ass now".

Archives:

jess: thank you for saving me, stranger. what's your name?

emily:

emily: [looks at child emily] uhhhhhhhhhhhhh

emily, panicking: uhh it's greg

jess: greg?

emily: yep, it's greg. greg... greg

jess: your last name is greg?

corvo: [folds his arms] your full name is greg greg

emily, sweating buckets: it sure is

sider: years ago, after the murder of your mother, daud the assassin felt... regret. and so daud, went to save your life, emily. but now, who will carry out that hidden role in history? I'll give you a clue like i gave daud all those years ago - delilah

emily: WAIT MY FUCKIN EVIL AUNT????

Emily, Delilah, Jessamine, Corvo: time-travelling, body snatching mess

Daud and the Whalers, living their best lives: The fuck are they doing over there

emily: i've got these two hands a load of childhood trauma. daud watch the fuck out

The Outsider: There's another Marked coming for you

Daud: What have I done to them

The Outsider: Here's the funny thing, you haven't done it yet!

Daud: WHAT

emily: ok moth- empress jessamine, your spymaster hired the assassin, dont ask me how i know but please believe me

jess: ok that makes sense given everything, hey u wanna b the new spymaster??

daud: what makes you think I want to help you? I don't give a shi--

emily: I have stacks of cash and a knife at your throat

daud: sure thing boss whatever you say boss

corvo: i love you

jess: i love you too

jess: but uhm are those going to be here all night? it's not very romantic

corvo: uh i don't know

the void entities: O_O

emily: [takes off mask] meagan?!?!

billie: who the fuck is meagan?