Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or Akatsuki no Yona. That much is obvious.
Secondly and more importantly, I am NO WRITER! Dx
No, seriously, I read a lot, of multiple languages, and I do like to imagine alternative endings to stories and have fun dreaming up a fantasy world at night... But no, I'm no writer. Writing is my second last favourite subject...
Why am I here then? Cause I want to read! And yet no one wrote it! Dx
So all my drafts... "stories", are adoptable. They're only a little better than brainstormed ideas. No plot kneaded, no ending in sight. I'd love if a kind person can come and show me the world I wish I could see, but lack the skills to create. ;w;
...
Chirp.
...
Lelouch's consciousness slowly surfaced. Like any other half-asleep non-morning person, it took him some time organizing his thoughts and memories, separating them from his unconsciousness. Piecing the information together, he slowly made out his situation... or what was his situation.
If he recalls properly, he was in the sky, falling straight out of it in Shinkiro.
Right, he was betrayed by his dear knights he has raised.
Is this... the dead then?
But for that, it had seemed like his thoughts were a bit too clear. No use pretending as if he was asleep to the world, Lelouch thought, as he slowly opened his eyes.
Before him, however, was just about the last thing on his mind.
"Ara, you're awake!"
A redheaded girl peaked into his face. No, not the same redhead that he had just left behind. Much younger. Yes, about his sister's age. His, late, sister.
The girl had short, wavy hair, about ear-length, too short to reach her shoulders. Large lavender eyes, lighter than his own, and a colour close to him that he had not seen for years, reflected his own face.
Thoughts again trapped in the loop of grief, Lelouch had forgotten he had yet to reply to the girl's question. He was quickly reminded however, by the girl in question.
"...ello? You hear me?"
"Ah, sorry, what was that?" Snapped out of his thoughts, he reevaluated his surroundings. Lush green forest, narrow dirt path to the side, and a clear blue sky. The sun a painful reminder of where he should be, at lunch.
Lucky fall...?
But for that, Shinkiro seems nowhere to be found.
"Mou! And there you go again! Were you not taught to look at people when they talk to you?"
It seems like Lelouch had drifted off into his thoughts again, and it had not impressed the lady. Cheeks puffed, she sat on her quarters and showed her dissatisfaction with her whole body.
"Ah, sorry. I was a little... confused of my situation, if I must say. May I ask the lady's name? And if I may, where exactly am I..." This time, he did not forget to look directly into her eyes.
Yes, directly.
"I am Yona, the first princess of the Kouka Kingdom. This is the outskirts of the Fire Tribe's land, of the northern Kouka."
Girl, now named Yona, changed her tone abruptly, as if fallen into a trance. But even so, she answered Lelouch's question dutifully.
Slam.
"What did you do to the princess!?"
"Let go!"
Once again, a red sigil flew involuntarily out of Lelouch's eye. The man released Lelouch's neck obediently, as if nothing happened from the start. The distinctive blank look he wore, was the only giveaway.
"Princess! Thunder Beast!" Another voice rang out.
"Witchcraft!?"
"His eyes! It's his eyes, cover them up!"
Things happened quickly. Before Lelouch knew it, he found himself again pinned back down, eyes covered and hands restricted. Lelouch had to admit, having a man on top was not the most pleasant experience.
"Don't move. Or your head will fly. What did you do to the princess!?"
"Huh? What happened...? Kijya?" Yona wondered out loud, blinking into consciousness.
"Princess, please back off! This man just cast a spell on you, we don't know what else he's capable of!"
To the side, the bodyguard who had attacked Lelouch first recovered as well. Shaking his head, he adopted a battle stance.
"Hak?" Yona, still seeming slightly out of situation, turned to look at her guard, and then at her surroundings, before fixing her eyes on the man she called Kijya once more.
"Kijya, let the man go. He's not resisting, is he?"
"But Princess!" Kijya, looking awfully off-put, objected. Quite similarly, the other two members also wore the same doubtful look.
"Princess, you can't be too careful. It's inarguable that he had just attacked you and Thunder Beast. You had just revealed your identity under his control. Who knows what he's planning next, it's too dangerous," a boy added, filling the confused princess in.
"Oh, I did that? But still, it won't get us anywhere keeping him pinned down like that. How about, we'll release you if you can promise not to resist." The last sentence was obviously meant for Lelouch, as her turn of head also suggests.
Lelouch, to be honest, had not a choice. It was not as if he intended to antagonize his new company from the start, everything that happened had been peremptory outside his control. Her suggestion was not unwelcome.
Lelouch nodded slightly in answer to Yona's not-very-question.
"Great! Kijya," no one moved. "Kijya!" Yona ordered again. Kijya retreated from atop of Lelouch, noticeably reluctant, and plenty prepared to reinforce his lock at any moment, should Lelouch suggest any suspicious movement.
Yona clapped her hands, happy that her wishes went through. "Now, let us try this again. My name is Yona, as it seems like I already introduced. What is your name?"
"Lelouch... Lelouch Lamperouge," Lelouch answered, uprighting himself while keeping his hand over his left face. Lesson learned, though admittedly painful.
"What had happened to me and Hak just now?" Yona continued. Probably a question that is at the heart of their situation, as well as one her guards desperately wanted to know.
Lelouch sighed. There wasn't getting out of it now that he had wasted two geass, and caught red handed and all. With his poor physical abilities, Lelouch could not see a way to escape unscathed with his greatest weapon sealed in their wariness. All in all, it seemed smarter to come out straight. "Geass. You obeyed my order because of my geass. It makes any individual obey a single order from me. I usually keep it blocked, but it seems like my contacts have fell out of their place..."
"So it was not on purpose?" Yona confirmed, "Can you promise me not to do it again? I'm afraid the guys here are a little overprotective of me. Things didn't start out on the right foot, but they aren't bad guys. If you don't attack us I'll guarantee your safety."
Lelouch exampled the girl, Yona, again. For some reason, a pink themed terror screened itself behind his eyelid. Yes, it reminded him terribly of his sister. His other sister. They have the same eyes, Lelouch thought to himself.
The girl may resemble Nunnally in her appearance, but the look in her eyes was closer to Euphy. The situation being similar was not helping either.
Without knowing, Lelouch's expression softened. "I will promise, Princess Yona. It is a power that limits its use to once per person, so it won't work on you again anyways. But as I said, I lost my contacts. Unfortunately, I cannot control my power without it."
"Contacts?" Yona cocked her head at the repeated mention of the unknown word.
Lelouch blinked. "Uh... yes, my contacts...?"
"What are contacts?"
Lelouch blinked again. What sort of question was that? Until, he realized, Yona was not the only one who has questionable memory about certain terms. More specifically, Lelouch cannot recall a country that goes by the name "Kouka".
Arriving to the truth of his problem, Lelouch had to resist the urge to facepalm. Lelouch was a prince. Young as he was, Lelouch was a genius. It goes without saying that his princely education about world geography was not lost in the years of his exile. Not to mention, how could anyone not know of the world's most genius invention!? A new urge to release a groan besieged Lelouch as he caught on the identically puzzled looks of the rest of their small group.
"Contacts are uh..." Lelouch starts, "A transparent film. You put them in your eyes to support eyesight, or simply for aesthetics for the ladies. I use special ones to suppress my geass."
"Oh... um, it must be terrible to loose them then! Uh, how about, a mask, or an eyepatch?" Yona seems to have given up to understand, but it doesn't stop her from offering her help.
"Or we could just dig out his eyes."
"Hak!" Yona protested at the unprovoked interruption.
Lelouch couldn't help a shudder at the dangerous statement as well.
"Don't worry, we won't do such a terrible thing!"
"Yes... Of course... Um..." Still a bit out, Lelouch found himself in one of those few times he was at a lost of words. Picking himself up, he reattempted his response, "An eyepatch will work nicely. Again, I apologize for my rudeness, even if it was unintentional."
"No, it was the boys who were rude." Yona glared at Hak and Kijya, who flinched and averted their eyes.
"Let's start from the top. My name's Yona, this is Hak, my servant. That white hair over there is Kijya, and beside him is Yun."
Reintroduced, Lelouch got a better look at his company. Yona was, as mentioned, a young girl. Red hair, small frame. On second look, perhaps a little older than Nunnally.
Hak was a fairly tall man, half a head taller than Lelouch. In general, he looks like a warrior. Even more so than Lelouch's own warrior sister, with the large spear Hak kept at his side being of no help to his image.
Yun was a young boy, also looking to be around Nunnally and Rolo's age, with reddish brown hair and blue eyes.
As for Kijya, he was around Lelouch's own height, white head not mentioned but more eye-catching was his giant scaled hand. Lelouch could help but stare, feeling a cold breeze blow across the spot where it had been on his own neck.
"As it seems like I've told you," Yona continued, "I am, or was, the princess of this country until... Until a little while ago. We are traveling to find companions for certain reasons."
Yona paused, lowering her eyes to her hands. Lelouch took note of that this might not be the best conversation to bring up during teatime.
It did not take long until something seems to have clicked in the girl's mind, as she quickly lifted her head and stared into Lelouch's covered eye.
"Lelouch... You said your geass came from your eye right? You don't happen to be the Blue Dragon do you?"
There was shifting noise in the background.
"No, he's not the one. I can feel the Blue Dragon still some distance away," Kijya cut in before Lelouch could answer, not that Lelouch would have one.
Yona looking just barely disappointed her suspicions were off the mark, returned to her usual self and commented, "Is that so? Well, it can't be helped then. But then, Lelouch, what were you doing? We found you collapsed on the road."
Lelouch considered a little, before deciding to go with the partial truth, "About that, I'm not quite sure myself. Before I knew it, I was here, and the rest is as you know."
"Eh? Don't you remember anything?"
Lelouch shook his head, "Well, I obviously remember my name. But if you ask if I have any idea of how I got to where I am, or where this is still, I have no idea. Unfortunately, I'm as good as lost as any other to my knowledge."
Yona took a moment to think, before looking as if the brightest idea had just dawned upon her. "Lelouch, what do you say if you come with us? You don't have a place to go right? Yes, that seems like a nice idea," Yona confirmed herself.
"Princess! This person is too suspicious!" usual interruptions from a certain white head.
"No... it might be a good idea. It won't do to have a 'suspicious person' who knows our identity to wander around out of our knowledge. I agree with the princess, though on a few conditions," the boy Yun who had stayed silent for most parts thought out loud with a hand on his chin, considering. "Don't get me wrong, I don't trust you. But if what you said is true, the princess and the Thunder Beast over there are immune to your, 'geass'. That's fine and all, but problem is again, we have no proof what you say is the truth. I want reassurance that the princess is safe, as well as a way to keep your power from going berserk again. Also, you'll need to pull your own weight. We're traveling with a goal, not on a luxury vacation."
To that, Lelouch had a simple solution.
"Sit." Lelouch ordered, uncovering his eyes and turning to the spear-wielding man.
Nothing happens.
Moving his hand back, Lelouch answered Yun's question, "As you can see, it only works once per person. I will wear an eyepatch as suggested. As for your other question, I have to admit I'm not the most physically adapt, nor do I know what might be required of me."
Somehow, Lelouch felt a deja vu. No, he was not useless.
Yun nodded, pointing to the party members. "The guys there are fighters, not much else they're good for but plenty enough at what they are. Yona... Yona's fine. As for me, cooking, sewing, first-aid, hunting, anything of the sort you can throw at me, I do learn fairly quick. Oh and, I'm a pretty boy as well."
Lelouch sweat-dropped at the last. "I can manage the first three as well, though I won't be of much help in hand to hand fighting, as I mentioned and as you can tell from earlier."
"Hmm... Anything else? We're overlapping."
"From your stories, I can guess that your faces must be known, and that you do not wish to be found. In that case, it will be useful to have an unknown face around. I'm also decently capable in matters such as information gathering."
To be fair, Lelouch had many uses. Lelouch was a strategist, one of the best the world, or at least his world had to offer. But memories of the occupation came along with things Lelouch did not want to be reminded of, at least at this moment. Much less, to people who bore hostility, Lelouch can tell with his knee that it would not make a wise move. They already knew too much.
Fortunately, it did not mean that Lelouch was good only as a strategist. To prove so, Lelouch's other identity as L.L. swam in the ranks of nobility, who are famous for their deceiving as well as forceful ways. Lelouch knows how to manage the speech, enough to manipulate human hearts without suspicion. It was his greatest weapon before his pizza-addicted accomplice came into his life.
Yun nodded again, slightly more satisfied this time. "Good enough, rather, it'll have to do. You'll share some of my chores as well, the rest we'll see as we go," he said. "Welcome to the party, Lelouch."