[Josée's Note: This was the second part of Emily's pre-game canon, once again posted on the livegame's LiveJournal community originally. This was posted in August 2011, with the subtitle "Emily recovers from her run-in with the "mysterious man"."]
"Invictus."
That was all the knowledge she had been left with - a tiny scrap of paper that the man had thrown behind him as he left her in the street. He hadn't even looked back...hadn't the time nor inclination to take a final glance at the young woman he had left in his wake, the one standing in a torn black jumper, and jeans covered in dirt and mud...her face stony, and body bruised and battered.
"Invictus."
She shoved the scrap into her jeans pocket. What was she meant to do with that? She didn't even know where to start! And even if she had...would she have wanted to? For all she knew, it could be some kind of place used to keep trophies...prizes. Besides...Invictus...didn't that mean "victory" or something in some other language? Was he simply sneering at her...his victory...her loss?
The damaged girl dropped on to all fours, her head drooping forwards, eyes staring coldly at the floor...her hair hanging limply over her shoulders. She thought of home...of all she had left behind...of those who needed her...those she had lost. Letting her facade of strength go...her anguish got the better of her. Howls swept through her body, tears flowing thick and fast.
Her strength sapped, she let her arms go limp...and then her legs. She was laying back on the cobblestones once more. She sobbed, and curled herself up into a ball; not caring what would happen to her if the wrong people found her...and almost wanting the sunrise to come. After what felt like hours, her tears had ceased, and she lay there motionless.
It was then she heard footsteps behind her. Her breath caught, and she tried to remain as still as she could.
"Miss..." She heard; a whisper...barely audible. "Miss..." The voice was male...and gentle. She felt her arm being shaken, and she shivered at the touch. "Miss...you alright?" She heard, as the man bent down at her ear. She shifted...not knowing if it was the sensible thing to do. "Mmm..." She replied, her own voice cracking as it got used to speaking again. She felt the man try and lift her by the arm, and she slowly staggered up to her feet, completely unbalanced. "You haven't been drinking have you?" The man asked.
"You can't be more than sixteen..." Emily found her voice at this point. "Seventeen...almost eighteen...actually." Her voice harsh and almost defiant. He grinned. "So you've got a voice then!"
He held her arm gently, as if to stabilise her. "So...what happened? Got some nasty cuts and scrapes about you, you have." She stuttered as she tried to come up with a reasonable response. "I...I...don't know. It was all such a blur..." She tried to find some reason for laying on the floor like that. "...there...were these men...and...and..." She suddenly had an idea. She began to look around in different directions, running her hand across her shoulder. "...My bag! They...they must have..." The man looked around on the floor.
"They...mugged you?" Emily, feigning complete confusion (which wasn't too hard) looked at him 'stunned'.
"I...they...they must have. All...all I can remember is being knocked to the floor...and...nothing much more..."
The man seemed to be pondering something, and then he turned to her and spoke. "Where are you from?" She looked at him, confused. "Well...just...you don't seem like a local." She shook her head, gently. "Kent. Came here for the day...but got lost. I was hoping to be home by 9pm...what's the time now?" She asked, realising she had no idea where she was nor what time she had left out in the streets. "Way past that, I'm afraid...gotta be getting towards 1am...maybe later..." She frowned. She had no money, no place to stay, no cover from the morning sun...no nothing. She was completely alone.
"I got a friend you can stay with." The man offered. She was taken aback...how could he have known...? Seeing her complete confusion, he explained. "Well...you're not local, you haven't mentioned a friend or a place you're staying...I just gathered....you know...you might want a roof over your head." She sighed in relief. "But...it's one a.m...won't your friend be asleep?" He laughed. "She's a right night owl. She'll take care of ya. Now, come on - it's getting cold!"
She stood there...she had no real way to refuse. For all she knew she was about to walk "home" with a bloody axe murderer... She then snorted derisively at her own stupidity - making her "friend" jump. "What's so funny?" He asked, worried. "Oh...nothing." She replied, a small smile on her face. She wasn't like them any more - whether she wanted to be or not. She had a far better hold of life than them. She was damn near immortal...and that was a sobering thought.
"I did realise something, though." She said, suddenly. Seeing the man's face, she half smiled at him. "I don't even know who you are." His eyes widened and he clapped a hand to his forehead theatrically. "Alex." He replied, apologetically. "And my friend is Lucy. My manners completely left me - I'm so sorry!" She laughed. "Don't worry about it." She held out a hand. "Emily." As he shook her hand, she smiled.
"Where does your friend live?" She asked, trying to figure out where she was (which was no use at all...she'd never been to "Norwich" before...) "Down near Anglia Square." He replied, and then noticed the blank look on her face. "Sorry! Ok...I found you in a little street in Tombland, right?" Emily's face remained blank, and then she nodded...not knowing anything about what he'd just said, though finding the name highly ironic.
"Well..." he began...not knowing whether carrying on was worth it or not. "...we're now headed towards Anglia Square. We'll be there in...a few minutes or so. Lucy lives just beyond that, so we'll get to hers in...the next ten minutes or so?" Emily shrugged her shoulders, confused. "You'll be fine. Just follow me."
As she did so...her mind began to wander. Invictus...Norwich...Kent...how were all of these things connected?
What the hell did "Invictus" even mean? And why Norwich? Why now?
Why her?
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