Dishonored: The Ties That Bind

Chapter 13

   "...I'm afraid I don't." Danin said after he'd paused thoughtfully. "Have you tried contacting the Embassy there? They might release that sort of information to one such as yourself."
Elaine knew that they wouldn't, but she appreciated Danin's thought. "They wouldn't do it, but thanks anyway. Do you remember any other families who might have had access to that sort of magic? I can't, so far."
   "Theirs was one of the oldest, I'm afraid."
She suspected that too. At least it saved a long journey. She put down her cup and got to her feet. "...I see. Well, thank you for taking the time to talk to me."
   "What sort of research was this for, again? You might want to try one of the libraries near the edge of town."
   "That's where I'm going next. Thanks, though."
   "Will you be coming back soon?"
   "Hopefully, I just...there's still things to sort out."
   "I'll pass it on to Robert for you, I'll see him later on. Please give your family my fondest regards."
   "Thank you."

As she left the Academy building and headed to a sheltered area in preparation for some blinking, she did her best to quell her rising impatience. That had been a complete waste of twenty minutes. It was one more thing ruled out, however. Going to Danin and suffering his epic, drawn-out lecture had let her bypass searching the entire Academy's book collection. Danin knew it all, the man was a font of knowledge on what the place kept. But, that was where his help had abruptly ended so she took to the rooftops and began to make her way towards her next target.
She was going to stop by Martin's office next, but she'd changed her mind after Danin had mentioned those two libraries, thinking those to now be far better targets. She was trying to save time wherever she could. Even though Emily might now have plenty of it, there was one person who still didn't.

As she neared the Fields Cheesery, seeing the tall chimney stacks in the distance, a sudden commotion caused her to stop moving and look about for the noise.
Below her and not far away, two men were facing off in the middle of the street. They were both armed with knives, and circling each other while spewing out waves of curses. One of them was wearing a top hat, onto which a red button was sewn.
That's a Hatter, she thought with surprise. What are they doing around here? They don't own this turf now.
That thought led her to believe that the other man, a skinhead in white shirt, brown trousers and red braces, was a member of the Bottle Street Gang. Uh-oh. This could get ugly.
She decided to stay absolutely still, until the whole event had gone one way or the other. Inside of her, she was secretly rooting for the Bottler to win. She already detested Hatters.

After more circling and yet more threats, both men dived for each other, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent her gasp at it being heard. They rolled over and over on the floor, knives flashing and stabbing as they repeatedly used them on each other. Each stab was accompanied by a jet of blood and a sickening sound each time a knife got pulled back out to make another hole somewhere else.
After a minute, both men stopped stabbing. Both dead.
She felt sorry for the Bottler, but also felt glad that the Hatter had been put down. The closely-following emotions made her feel slightly light-headed for a few seconds.
A few people opened their doors to look at the resultant mess, the two bodies almost embracing each other with blood splattered all over the cobbles, and quickly slammed their doors again. The Watch would arrive soon. All they'd be able to do is get a mop and two body bags out, it was done with.
She wondered then, if that Hatter might have clues?
The red button looked oddly familiar, too.
Taking a gamble, she quickly put on her mask and swooped down to land next to the dead Hatter, searching his jacket and cutting the button off before getting away from the scene.
She kept blinking until she was ten houses away, then leant up against the back of a nearby billboard and pulled the mask off.
Her heart was pounding, and she'd not even fought.
She wanted to laugh at herself, and would have done if the thought of that hadn't felt so bitter.
She then looked at the button; straight from a tailor shop. There was nothing unusual about it...so why did it seem so familiar?
After pocketing the small item, she decided to push on towards the first of the two libraries, putting it down to shock.
She'd got far more important things to do.