COMMISSION: Named Heir
Ch. I - I Just Can't Wait To Be King!
A strange feeling swept the gymnasium; almost an awkward stifling silence that couldn't be cut. It was the day the Britannian Empire dreaded for over fifty years; the day Emperor Charles met his end. For the last seven months Charles Zi Britannia had fallen ill. His last few weeks were filled with hospital-bed ridden outbreaks and final farewells from his heirs. Lelouch rejoiced secretly inside his mind in this fact. His enemy had basically killed himself! The entire world watched the public announcement of his death. Some countries rejoiced in his passing, others mourned it immensely. Britannia was now on the precipice of an over-taking; no one knew who the next Emperor or Empress would be. Some believed Schneizel or Cornelia would take over, but according to the current announcement that statement was wrong.
"We now will air live the will of his highness that he left behind only days before his departure." The man on the big screen said stiffly.
Ashford Academy School had all of its students assemble into the gymnasium to watch the live announcement on their biggest screen. Shirley stood directly to Lelouch's left with Rival on his right. Shirley and Rival didn't know of Lelouch's claim to the throne, the only ones who knew were Suzaku, Nunnally and Milly. Many had asked if he was named in honor of the deceased prince, but Lelouch would always claim that it was just a popular name at the time. Unfortunately after this speech the whole world would know the truth…
"I leave the throne of Britannia behind in my wake; to be picked up again by an heir. I have had much time to think of my successor. As I write this I am thinking of his glorious honor; for he and only he is worthy out of all my offspring to rule this world into the future. I declare the next Emperor of Britannia, Lelouch Vi Britannia, eldest son of my late wife, Marianne Lamperouge. He is currently away on renaissance duty in Area Eleven under the name Lelouch Lamperouge."
Everyone in the entire gymnasium turned to look at Lelouch, who could only gawk at the screen in absolute dismay. It didn't matter if this was actually happening or if it was some sort of lucid dream; Lelouch's heart flew into his head were it pounded in his ears like hammers on nails.
"Lelouch asked me to declare he and his younger sister Nunnally Vi Britannia deceased so that he may experience the commoner life for themselves. This is his personal mission to help the Britannian masses from their perspective. I accepted his plea to help the commoners by doing such a valiant act of heroism for his own country. This was one of the many glorious reasons I have chosen Lelouch to be my successor. He shall make a fine King; a grand Emperor."
"Lelou, is this….this true…?" Shirley asked as she felt her pulse also rise tremendously.
Lelouch couldn't answer; all he could do was glance around at everyone who was now whispering to themselves.
"Britannian civilians and nobles alike; wherever you are halt your progress towards the future for one moment to bow to your new ruler. All hail Emperor Lelouch!"
"All hail Emperor Lelouch!" the gymnasium echoed over and over again. The echo felt more like a hypnotism than a cheer in Lelouch's ears; and the same for Shirley as she was one of the few not bowing or cheering.
Lelouch and Shirley's eyes locked together in a moment of sheer disbelief and distrust. Shirley trusted him, or so she used to. She turned on her heel and ran out of the gym hysterically, leaving Lelouch behind to wallow in his own "glory". Suzaku from across the room didn't budge or say anything; he knew the whole speech was a lie. He knew the truth about Lelouch and Nunnally. Kallen on the other hand had no choice but to believe it. During her time with the Black Knights she knew that Lelouch was connected to the royal family somehow. Zero ordered the Black Knights to research the royal family thoroughly and of course Lelouch being the name of a deceased prince and Lamperouge was the name of the late Queen Marianne. A triangle of sheer static tension formed as Kallen eyed down Lelouch who looked to Suzaku for sympathy. Suzaku could only return Lelouch's worried stare with an equally mortified reaction. Lelouch took a couple steps back as if to run away, but Milly came running up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. She pulled him out of the gym and ran with him down the hall as nearly the entire gym followed.
"Emperor Lulu!" some girls cried out in ecstasy.
Many other praising students followed them out of the massive echoing gym and into the halls that were large enough to fit several hundred students at a time. Milly lead Lelouch to the password protected elevator where they'd be safe from anyone else trying to bother Lelouch. Milly commanded the elevator go to the bottom floor, which was well below any student-accessible basement. After the elevator stopped Milly brought Lelouch to her grandfather's main office, which resided in the lowest point of the entire Ashford campus. Milly knocked on the door and waited for her old man's reply. Once permitted entrance Milly sat the trembling Lelouch down and approached the shriveled elder man behind the desk.
"Grandpa, surely you were watching the news." Milly said in one of the most serious tones Lelouch had ever heard her speak in.
"Yes, I did." The man said as he placed his elbows on the table, folded his hands together and sighed deeply. "I didn't expect this day to come so quickly, or ever at all!" he said tiresomely. "Lelouch, have you considered this offer for even a moment? I know the announcement was made only minutes ago, but has the thought crossed your mind to accept?" he asked pensively.
Lelouch opened his mouth to speak, but only an awkward noise escaped before he closed his mouth. He slumped into his chair allowing his legs to sprawl out with his right arm dangling from the side of the chair and his left hand covering his forehead and eyes. His entire posture screamed out his internal feelings, 'nervous wreck'. Milly gave a nervous smile, she knew Lelouch was Prince of Britannia, but he had renounced his claim to the throne years ago, she wasn't prepared to ever see her darling Lelou go into office as Emperor. She had envisioned that if Lelouch and Nunnally ever returned to the royal family that it'd be as Prince and Princess or just as familiars; not as Emperor or Empress.
"Lelou, you have to have a concise answer before you even think of confronting the public. You have to know if you are completely against this or all for it." Milly said as she crossed her arms and looked down at him.
"I know that, I just don't know how I feel yet. I hated Britannia….I hated the royal family too. I don't think I could stand going back and joining them to lead this country." Lelouch breathed jaggedly, the peril evident in his shivering voice as his left hand latched onto the bangs of his hair tightly.
"Yes, you hate it all," Milly kneeled down beside him and placed her hands on his stiff left arm. "But think of this as your chance to change this country for the better! As Emperor you can do anything! You can stop the wars, feed the hungry and even help third world nations rebuild themselves! You have a wonderful heart and an intelligent mind Lelouch, and now you've been given power too! Use this chance to help those who cannot help themselves! Be the first to rule this country the right way!" Milly pleaded almost as if she were a homeless orphan begging for food scraps. Lelouch could feel the pleas of the entire world inside Milly's beseeching voice.
The chance to help those who cannot help themselves. This was an all-too familiar phrase in his mind. Nunnally was helpless, he'd always wanted to make the world gentler for her sake. Then there's the Black Knights who stand for justice, they defeat the powerful to save the weak. This was now the clearest option he could take. He could over-throw this world so fast and fiercely. A smile that Milly could tell wasn't too pleasant spread across his otherwise unmarred face.
"Milly, you're absolutely right. Why should I be scared of becoming Emperor when I can change this world? I'll do it! I'll make sure Nunnally will live in a peaceful world!" he said as he suddenly stood up valiantly as a ruler should. "Ruben Ashford, you wish to regain your status within Britannia?" Lelouch asked as he turned his attention to the elder man.
"Of course I do, but you should have more pressing matters to worry about than me." Ruben smiled at the youth.
"Nonsense! Milly said before I give the public my answer that I should be prepared, right?" Lelouch smirked. "Well I'm deciding my Chancellor right now. Ruben K. Ashford, would you be my personal assistant in all matters personal and professional?" Lelouch asked in his best dominant voice.
"It'd be the greatest honor I could imagine, your highness!" Ruben leapt from his seat and bowed to Lelouch courtesy.
"Woo hoo!" Milly cheered with her fist in the air. This was the Prince Lelouch she'd been waiting to see since she'd first met him as a small child.
"Milly." Lelouch turned to her in a less serious tone.
"Yes, my darling Lelou?" Milly giggled happily.
"Would you please become Nunnally's personal guardian, it'd mean a lot to her." He smiled at the joyous blonde.
"Of course!" Milly hugged him tightly which he returned.
XxXxX
Lelouch had it all figured out already, thinking was always his strong point. He'd had less than thirty minutes to come to his conclusions, any normal person would have lost their mind; not Lelouch. He'd continue being Zero, but he'd hold the Black Knights off from any sort of assassination attempts until after his swearing in of the royal court. He'd make it so that Britannia was no longer the enemy in the Black Knight's eyes. Lelouch sat in the upstairs principal's office, the school had sent all the students home for the day so that Lelouch may move about without getting mauled by fangirls or admirers. The press had lined up outside the school gates so leaving campus was also out of the question. Ruben and Milly were out gathering supplies to help Lelouch create a perfect acceptance speech, this left Lelouch alone inside the large office. His cell phone began to ring and he looked up the caller I.D. to make sure it wasn't a classmate trying to pester him.
'Kallen? Oh this must be for Zero.' He thought as he answered it.
"Zero, the new Emperor is a classmate of mine! I have the chance to assassinate him! Just give the order and I'll-"
"Kallen, calm down. We don't know what this new Emperor will do. He could actually give us an advantage in the war should he make the right decisions." Lelouch explained in his darker voice.
"Yes, but…once he swears in as Emperor and turns out to be even worse than the last Emperor I'll have missed my one and only chance! I know this guy from school, he's a complete stoic jackass with no feelings! That whole bit about 'understanding the common man' was a load of crap!" Kallen pleaded.
Those last two lines stung at Lelouch just a tiny bit, especially considering Kallen was one of the girls he was quite fond of. He ignored it and chalked it up to Kallen being over-protective of Zero and the Black Knight mission.
"Relax, we'll have plenty of other opportunities should it come to that. Besides, you're guaranteed to get caught if you try to pull anything now. Then we'll lose our ace pilot, they'll swear in another awful Emperor and it'll all be over for us. We just need to hold off until we figure this new Emperor out." Lelouch wanted to groan in stress as he realized that many Black Knights may already have their missiles and guns aimed at the school. "Do me a favor and make a formal announcement for me." He commanded.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Tell the Black Knights that I've called off any sort of assassination attempts. No one is to interfere with the new Emperor taking throne. No one." Lelouch said sternly and a tad angrily.
"G-got it." She said then their call ended.
Within moments Milly and Ruben returned with several boxes. Milly unpacked a special computer and placed it before Lelouch while Ruben handed Lelouch a pad of special paper used for royal documents. They spent the next few hours together without break to finish a perfect acceptance speech for Lelouch. Once they had finished they all took a quick stretch as Milly left to retrieve Nunnally. She came back wheeling the wheelchair inside and Nunnally smiling brightly. To say she wasn't worried was false, she was just happy that her big brother was okay with the idea. To her it meant seeing Euphie regularly and Lelouch wouldn't have to worry about gambling and hanging out after hours with bad friends.
"Oh big brother! I didn't expect this to happen at all! What to do think made Father pick you?" Nunnally asked, this was a question that Lelouch hadn't quite pondered too hard.
"Who knows, maybe the will was written before we left and he just never changed it." Lelouch tried to lie.
"You'd think with being sick for nearly a year he'd had written up a new will." Milly pointed out as she crossed her arms and put a finger to her lower lip. "For now let's just assume it is a current will and he felt bad about leaving you guys behind. Who knows, maybe in his sickly condition the old man started to feel some guilt?" Milly laughed and shrugged her shoulders.
Neither Nunnally nor Lelouch believed that for a moment. Lelouch was pretty sure that this was his Father's way of getting back at him by exposing his location and forcing him back into the chaotic hell known as the holy imperial family of Britannia. Still, Lelouch couldn't help but think heavily that there is an underlying scheme to why he was chosen. Sincerely, Schneizel and Odysseus would have carried out his Father's wishes flawlessly, he must've known Lelouch would tear down everything he believed in. There just had to be an ulterior-motive and Lelouch would find it upon becoming Emperor.
Meanwhile; outside the school halls Shirley, Rival, Nina and many others stood just behind the roped off areas of the school impatiently. Shirley and Rival discussed possibilities that the will was wrong or that it's a hoax to make fun of the diminishing Ashfords.
"I always knew that the name Lelouch-Lamperouge was suspiciously similar to Queen Marianne Lamperouge and her son Lelouch! Didn't she have a daughter named Nunnally as well? Doesn't Lelouch have a sister named Nunnally still in middle school?" was the topic of the crowds going on behind Shirley and Rival.
"Man, you'd think Lelouch would've told somebody before! Keeping such a huge secret all to himself!" Rival said excitedly as palmed his forehead harshly.
"Yeah, you'd expect him to slip up at some point! Like tell a teacher to get out of gym class or even tell us student council members! Oh my gosh!" Shirley's eyes popped open wide as she stared at Rival.
"Huh, what?" the blue boy asked confused. "What's so exciting so suddenly?"
"Milly and Principal Ruben are up there talking to him now! Ashford was always tied to Marianne Lamperouge, I bet Milly knew this whole time and didn't say anything to us!" Shirley screeched and stopped her foot loudly.
"Wow, you might be right. Oh jeez prez…why didn't you tell us too? We've known the guy since grade school!" Rival sulked down into a squatting position.
"I bet that…he had no choice, you know…" Nina said quietly as she looked to the floor.
"What do you mean, no choice? The guy was a Prince, now he's Emperor! He can do whatever he wants!" Rival asked as he looked up to Nina.
"Well think about it…. He wanted to experience commoner life here in Area Eleven, right? He couldn't very well do that if his friends knew he was royalty, they'd begin favoring him. So maybe he only told Milly because he had to ensure he had a place to stay…." Nina explained as she began fiddling with her fingers.
"I see…" Shirley sighed in agreement. "No wonder he never told us."
"Oh cheer up guys, I bet he'll remain friends with us!" Rival stood up abruptly and put an arm around the shoulders of each girl. "He'll probably make his acceptance speech, do a little swearing in with the royal family and then come back to finish school and hang out with us!" Rival beamed brightly with hope.
"Rival…I don't think you understand how big of a role Emperor is!" Shirley hissed and pushed herself out of his grasp. Nina remained in Rival's grasp blushing madly. "He'll have to spend all day, every day doing paper work, speeches and meetings! We'll be lucky if we get a post card from Aries Castle once every decade!" Shirley huffed as tears welled up in her eyes. This very thought sent a depressing wave down Rival's spine. Finishing high school without Lelouch to be his sidekick in his motorcycle every morning?
"No! Not gonna happen!" Rival shouted as he let go of Nina and hopped the 'do not cross' ropes and bolted down the hallway.
"R-Rival stop! You'll get arrested!" Shirley shouted, but her words fell on dumb ears. She panicked and hopped the line as well and went after him.
"Oh no!" Nina pranced in place unsure of what to do. She closed her eyes and crossed the line and chased after them as well. "Wait Shirley!" she cried out pathetically quietly.
Kallen and Suzaku witnessed the train forming to find Lelouch. "Hey Kallen." Suzaku grinned at her.
"What?" she asked blinking.
"Let's go join them, obviously the student council is allowed to enter. We're part of the council, so let's go see Lelouch." Suzaku offered as he grabbed her upper arm and tugged gently.
"You're serious?" Kallen blushed at being touched. He nodded and they walked slowly together down the hall.
In an act of spontaneous friendship Rival burst through the principal's office doors in tears. Lelouch, Milly and Ruben looked up in surprise to see their dear friend. Nunnally tilted her head, she wished she could see right now, this sounded interesting.
"Lelouch, you can't become Emperor! Who will be my best friend?!" Rival sobbed as he ran over to Lelouch's arm and clung to it like a Teddy bear. Lelouch looked down in dismay at his friend and sighed.
"Rival…" he said softly as Shirley and Nina ran into the room as well.
"Lelou, we'll never see you again if you go!" Shirley whined as he grabbed onto his other arm, but with less aggression than Rival.
Nina stood in the doorway as Kallen and Suzaku walked up behind her and stood beside her. Lelouch looked around at all of his highschool friends. Highschool; four years of absolute torture, but also the best four years of your life with your friends. It was something that most were forced into, but few got the pleasure of truly enjoying. To be honest Lelouch enjoyed highschool, aside from Phys-Ed…. His fondest memories were of the student council and being at Ashford Academy.
"Everyone calm down, I'm still going to finish highschool with you all. You'll see me just as often as you do now." He reassured them with a gentle smile. Rival breathed a sigh of relief and Shirley let go of Lelouch's arm. Rival leaned up and planted a non-homosexual kiss right on Lelouch's cheek and squeezed him tightly.
"I knew you'd stay with us, ol' buddy!" he cried out half serious, half being silly. Lelouch, irritated, tried his best to pry his "friend" off of him like a spatula fighting fried bacon. This wasn't the first time Rival has smooched Lelouch, he was just glad that this time it was on the cheek.
"Alright, enough Rival! Calm down!" Lelouch said and, while laughing, Rival let go.
"Oh thank goodness!" Milly sighed out in relief as she smiled. "I was so worried about that too!" she looked at Lelouch who looked back sheepishly.
Kallen and Suzaku couldn't help but smile from the doorway, Suzaku was also glad that he'd still get to see Lelouch. Kallen was just glad her assassination opportunity wasn't going to close on her. She'd have a massive window of opportunity should she be given the orders. Suzaku entered the room to join the current ongoing conversation between Lelouch and the others while Kallen stepped out of the room to find a bathroom to make her phone call. She found that every room, bathroom and hall were all completely void of human life. Seeing as everything was roped off to regular students she had freelance to make any sort of devious call she wanted. She stood inside one of the bathrooms and called Zero's personal number. Back inside the principal's room Lelouch's phone rang; he pulled it out and saw that it was Kallen. The devastation of answering that call now would probably end his life. He pressed ignore and hung up, and put the phone away. Kallen back in the bathroom gave a growl of irritation and went straight back to the principal's room where she leaned against the door frame defeated.
"Who was that?" Milly asked.
"One of the students at the school, they're probably just trying to pester me." He chuckled nervously.
"I see, well we need to get you off of school campus without anyone knowing. If the press finds out they'll mosh pit you for interviews." Milly said as he peeked out of the drawn blinds to see thousands of people gathered outside of the school gates.
"There's only one way." Ruben said as he stood up and picked up his desk phone and dialed a number. "Hello, this is Ruben K. Ashford, I am with his highness, Lelouch Vi Britannia. We need a personal escort helicopter to land on top of Ashford Academy to come pick us up at once." The old man said.
It's a good thing Lelouch didn't have a fear of heights. He'd been flying around in Knightmare frames for some time now and had gotten quite used to the aerial aspects of vehicles. Once the helicopter arrived Ruben, Milly, Nunnally and Lelouch boarded while Shirley, Rival and Suzaku looked sad at their departure.
"Hey guys, the helicopter is plenty big enough for all of us! Jump in!" she cheered, she always was a party animal. At first Lelouch was against it, but Milly reminded him that Suzaku was Euphemia's knight then patted him on the shoulder. "Relax big-guy! Your friends just want to see you off is all!"
At the reassurance of Milly's intentions Lelouch allowed the entire student council to board with him. As they flew over the Tokyo settlement they couldn't help but feel mad-rushes of excitement. Aside from their close friend becoming ruler of the greatest empire the world had ever know, the view from the helicopter was quite lovely. A couple hours later they landed on top of the Britannian Palace in Area Eleven's embassy base. Once out of the helicopter they were all escorted inside the marble encased castle. They were lead down a long marble corridor decorated by many famous paintings and sculptures. They stopped to admire a painting of Queen Marianne, Emperor Charles, a young Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally playing in a flowery field together. Shirley and Rival giggled and chattered about how cute they were as kids for a while before moving along with the group. Their tour finally stopped before a massive stone double-door and the guide cleared his throat loudly.
"I'm sorry to say that none of you may enter this holy chamber in….those school clothing. You all must change into proper attire before entering. If you go through these doors just to your right then you'll be met with Britannia's finest tailors who will find you proper garments and tailor them to your sizes in no time." The chauffer said as he pointed to a basic set of wooden doors.
They all went into the tailoring room where everyone was forced to dress as regally as possible. Lelouch wore his white Emperor clothing, Nunnally wore her pink Empress dress, Suzaku changed into his Knight's uniform, Milly fit perfectly into a ruby red ballroom gown, Kallen wore the yellow dress, Shirley put on a light green gown, Nina wore a purple sleeveless dress and Rival put on an outfit that came dangerously close to a Knight's uniform. While Lelouch's Emperor outfit was being made from scratch it gave everyone time to phone home and tell their parents to watch the television for them. They knew the acceptance speech would be aired live and that everyone in the world would be watching.
"Oh my god! I so did not wake up this morning thinking I'd be sitting at the top of the Tokyo palace in a dress while Lelouch gave his Emperor's acceptance speech live!" Milly giggled excitedly.
"You and the rest of the world Prez!" Rival said as he joined her giggles of delight.
"It's so wonderful to know you're all happy with big brother's decision." Nunnally said as she came out of the changing room in her electric wheelchair.
"Oh Nunna-Chan, you must be so happy to finally get to see you older sisters and brothers again!" Shirley said as she approached Nunnally.
"I am indeed, I just feel worried that Lelouch might have a hard time seeing them all himself. I don't think he knows how to react right now." Nunnally frowned as her eyebrows tilted down with woe.
"Oh relax, you know he became a commoner to experience normal life for the sake of all of us!" Shirley said as she smiled although Nunnally couldn't see it.
"Oh, yeah Shirley, about that. I'm sure Lelouch will give you the full explanation soon." Milly gave Shirley a nervous smile.
"Why, is something wrong?" Shirley asked as she stood up and walked over to the blonde.
"Yeah, I'll let him explain himself, but let's just say that the entire royal family actually believed that he and Nunna-Chan were dead." Milly's shoulder slumped.
"Oh, oh my gosh! So Princess Euphemia and the others will be surprised then! I mean I know they'd already be surprised, but to find out their two youngest siblings are alive will be a thrill to them!" Shirley clapped her hands together once.
'Oh yeah….one happy surprise alright…' Milly thought depressingly. She knew there would be mixed feelings about not only Lelouch's return, but his over-taking of the throne. The royal courts were going to have a bitch fit followed by a pity party. It sucked to know the truth sometimes.
"Alright, let's do this." Lelouch said flatly as he stepped forth from the changing room in full attire.
"Looks good, man!" Rival snickered as he ran up to Lelouch and put an arm around his shoulders.
This time Lelouch did nothing to try and stop his friend from dragging him out of the room and across the hall to the marble doors. Everyone followed suit and walked into the hallway where the escort guard opened the door for them. The view of the inside garden met with the Viceroy's throne that had a view leading out into the Tokyo settlement. Everyone that was a part of the royal courts for all of Britannia had been gathered into the room and awaited Lelouch's grand entrance. Cornelia who sat in the Viceroy throne and Euphemia so sat beside her as sub-Viceroy both dropped their jaws. It was true; Lelouch and Nunnally lived.
"Now entering is his royal highness Lelouch Vi Britannia followed by Nunnally Vi Britannia. Escorting them is Knight of Princess Euphemia, Suzaku Kururugi. Ruben K. and Milly Ashford and Kallen Stadtfeld are also present. Many of Prince Lelouch's friends are within the group as well." The escort shouted in a royal announcing tone as everyone entered the room.
Cornelia and Euphemia immediately stood as they were approached by a vision from their past. Euphemia, for the first time since the announcement that they were alive was made, allowed tears to streak her face. Lelouch and Nunnally now stood mere feet away from them. Nunnally tried her best to smile and Lelouch tried his best to not either laugh hysterically like a mad-man or break down in fear. He'd been swallowing both of these emotions since the airing of the will this morning. Euphemia herself found it incredibly hard to hold back tears of joy when she heard the news. Euphemia was the first to break the ice and stepped forth and embrace Lelouch who returned the kind gesture.
"Oh Lelou, I'm so happy you and Nunna-Chan are alright!" she cried out gently.
"I as well." Cornelia smiled and tilted her head slightly as her purple eyes brimmed with fresh tears that had yet to fall.
"I missed you both; I missed home." He lied with a convincing fake smile. He did miss Euphie, to a degree, but the others were a somewhat different story.
"Does your presence here signify that you're accepting the offer of becoming Emperor?" Cornelia asked not wasting any time as she dried her tears and replaced her melting heart with a more serious posture.
"Yes." Lelouch stated flatly as Euphemia backed away back to her seat.
"Lelouch, please take a little more time to make your decision. This is the most serious thing you could ever do with your life!" Cornelia pleaded.
"I have had a little time and I am certain of this. I know what I want to do and what I am capable of doing." He said sternly as he looked Cornelia dead into her eyes; the same eyes they shared, the eyes they both inherited from the same father.
"Oh Lelouch, you grew up just a little too fast, didn't you?" Cornelia sighed as he bent her head down. She wasn't opposed to Lelouch returning to the royal family, but as Emperor?
"I'm so very happy to see you, little brother." Came a chilling voice from the other side of the room as Schneizel approached him. Lelouch's heart nearly flip-flopped as the blonde man approached him. "I cannot express how delighted I was to hear that you were still alive. After all this time I had begun to fear for the worst!"
"I'm glad to see you too, big brother." Lelouch said apprehensively. Schneizel laid a hand on Lelouch's shoulder and turned to face Cornelia.
"Please Cornelia; allow us to bring Lelouch back to Pendragon so that he may make his announcement in the Britannian homeland rather than in an area colony." Schneizel nearly smirked.
"That's actually a good idea. It'd take a couple of days for us to reach Pendragon, thus giving Lelouch more time to think." She agreed.
"No, Japan is a perfect place for me to make my stand, and I am completely ready. I don't need more time to stall." Lelouch said as he looked up into Schneizel's icy eyes. The royal audience, even Suzaku, Milly and the others as began whispering about the fact that the Emperor of all people had referred to Area Eleven as Japan.
"Is that so?" Schneizel glared down at Lelouch who returned the grim look. Cornelia could sense the tension between them as Schneizel's hand fall from Lelouch's shoulder gently.
"Well then, I guess we should make the proper arrangements to have a stage set outside the Tokyo Palace." Euphemia said abruptly showing her support for Lelouch.
XxXxX
The stage was set; Lelouch stood at the podium with Nunnally to his left and Ruben to his right. Milly stood to Nunnally's left as she held her hand. Milly was quite happy to be Nunnally secretary, she'd be tending to Nunnally's political life throughout her reign as Princess. Lelouch intended to give Nunnally a special role, but hadn't quite thought of it yet. The curtains we drawn around the small balcony that they all stood on; this balcony protruded out of the Tokyo Palace and loomed over the masses of millions of Britannian and Japanese civilians below. News and camera crews swamped the area, security helicopters swarmed the skies and royal guards lined every nook and cranny of the surrounding area. It was less than ten minutes before Lelouch would make his acceptance speech and the world would tremble before a new King.
"We're all set over here, the cameras are ready to roll and the guards have everything on lockdown." Suzaku said as he walked into the back scene with Euphemia. Lelouch allowed his closest friends to join him on the stage behind him for the announcement; Shirley, Rival, Nina, Kallen, Suzaku and of course Arthur the cat tucked away in Suzaku's arms. Cornelia, Euphemia, Schneizel and the entire other royal family sat to the very sides of the balcony in seats made of pure marble. As the moments ticked by everyone anticipated the moment those curtains opened to reveal Lelouch to the public eye for the first time in nearly a decade.
"Alright this is it." Milly clenched Nunnally's tiny hand. The clocked showed twelve seconds until the curtains opened.
"Lelouch my boy," Ruben began as placed a hand on Lelouch's upper back. Ten seconds. "Do your best, not just for Lady Nunnally or this country, but for the entire world."
Six seconds left. Ruben handed Lelouch the acceptance speech document they'd come up with together. Three seconds left.
"Thank you." Lelouch smiled at him genuinely. Zero.
The curtains flew open to reveal the millions of commoners lined up in the Palace square and connecting streets. Like an over sprinkled confection the Britannians and Japanese loitered the joint. The sheer volume of the masses bellowing and cheering rabidly hit him full force. He wasn't entirely convinced that they were all happy to see him, but he reminded himself that Britannia loved their royalty and he was their Prince. Lelouch allowed himself to shake slightly for a moment before regaining his composure and speaking into the microphone.
"Attention Britannia and all colonial areas!" he shouted democratically.
"Damn! He has a good kingly voice!" Rival whispered to Shirley who nodded.
"I am accepting my father's, Charles Zi Britannia's, offer to become Emperor of the holy Britannian empire. My sister Nunnally and I have locked ourselves away in the depths of the commoner's life. I did this for the sake of better understand my followers and their needs. I have seen what it's like to have nothing in a desperate moment. I have witnessed the struggles of the ordinary man and woman whose only desire is to survive in this world. I will heed your call and fulfill your needs as Emperor." Lelouch said as he raised his fist in the air. The crowd loved it, they cheered and screamed like fangirls seeing their favorite band in person.
Shirley and the others behind him marveled at this new god that has suddenly taken hold of their dear friend. How it wasn't obvious to them before that Lelouch was a natural born Prince was now incomprehensible. They should have noticed this spark in him before.
"I vow to make Britannia a better country, both from inside its government and to its civilians. To do this I will set forth a new law starting from today." He dropped his fist and the crowd silenced to listen to their god-like Emperor speak.
"Wait a second, Lelouch that was supposed to be the end of your speech!" Milly whispered in surprise. Lelouch gave her a sideways grin.
"Inside of all colonial areas such as Japan you must refer to them as their native terms. No more racial slurs for numbers. The Japanese is their proper name and you will use it as such. Anyone caught using the old numbers may or may not receive a penalty." The power in Lelouch's voice never left, but the power in the crowd's cheering trickled to a halt.
"That's why he wanted to have the announcement in Area Eleven!" Cornelia whispered angrily to Euphemia.
"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Euphemia smiled. Cornelia looked to Euphie, her beloved Britannian sister, with disappointment.
"Euphie, you can't be serious about following such a ridiculous law…" Cornelia frowned.
"Ridiculous?!" Euphemia shouted as she stood up. "What's ridiculous is that we ever called them Elevens in the first place! We took their home and names away, it's about time they got back a piece of their pride!" Euphemia shouted at a wide eyed Cornelia loud enough for the microphone to carry her voice to the audience. Euphemia then walked over to Lelouch and requested the microphone which he obliged.
"Britannia, this is your Princess, Euphemia, speaking. I beg of you to comply with Emperor Lelouch's new law! The Japanese people are citizens just like you and I! No more bullying or name-calling of the other colonial races!" Euphemia spoke sternly, unlike Cornelia had ever heard. In fact the world had only known dear Princess Euphie to be a gentle and soft-spoken young girl, but today she was a fearsome leader; a true Princess of Britannia.
Upon Euphemia's words Britannia cheered, but very quietly. That's when she decided enough was enough. "Japanese people in the audience, I know you're there! Please, let your voice finally be heard." Euphemia's voice travelled to the audience, but not many made much noise. The Britannians were too scared to retort and the Japanese too terrified that it was all a trap.
"Japanese." Lelouch took the microphone back. "I command you to accept your birthrights back. Japan will remain a district controlled by Britannia, but not as an area number. Japan will be an allied nation in which Britannians and Japanese can finally live together without prejudice!" with that said every Japanese person jumped up and screamed, their prayers were finally answered. The audience, which consisted of half Japanese and half Britannian, was suddenly lit ablaze. Some Britannians joined the Japanese in cheering, but most remained completely quiet and unmoving.
"My father once said that this is a world of extreme prejudice and that only the strong survive; that not all men were created equal, that some were born more athletic, some more beautiful. This is not the truth that the world seeks." That was the final note that send nations across the world standing to their feet and clapping. To see Britannia, the world's greatest empire, admit to such things was nearly the second coming of a god.
"I was right for picking you to be the Vice President of the student council!" she cheered and hugged him briefly. This is when Milly started clapping herself, even though she was Britannian by birth and life, she was a free spirit who knew that each race deserved its own justice. Lelouch had just delivered that justice.
XxXxX
That was the night the world rejoiced and Britannia's entire way of living was thrown into question. The entire Britannian royal court was now scratching their heads and leaning over toilets vomiting in disgust. Euphemia joined Lelouch and his friends in a small personal celebration party while Cornelia, Schneizel and the others sat around pondering the meaning of Britannian life. Their ways were doomed if Lelouch stayed in office, they simply had to confront him about such wild ideas. Cornelia stood up from her comfy lounge chair and headed straight for the party room and hovered in the doorway. She crossed her arms and smiled very slightly as the sight of her dearly once-lost younger brother. She loved him, no questioning that, but he wasn't fit to be the Emperor of Britannia by any means. She had to put an end to this.
"Lelouch, may I speak to you a moment; alone." She said harsher than she meant.
"I'm sorry big sister, but I'm awfully tired. I'm going to bed now. You should get some rest yourself." He lied knowing that she was actually just going to lecture him.
"Alright, but first thing in the morning you and I are going to have a chit chat about politics." She said rather rudely then left back to her personal quarters.
"That was mean!" Rival drunkenly gawked at the door.
"Yes, she's a racist herself. She probably thinks she can talk me into undoing my new law. That won't be happening." He smirked and laughed a little. Lelouch may have had just a little too much to drink, he was beginning to venture into the realm of beyond 'tipsy'.
"You know, I always knew you weren't a racist. I just always assumed you were going with the flow of society." Rival belched out.
"I was residing in Japan before the war broke out." Lelouch commented then took a sip of his champagne.
"About that, Lelou….Are you going to tell everyone about…you know…" Milly nodded her head towards a painting of Queen Marianne.
"Oh, I suppose I should at least let my closest friends know." He sighed and sat down. Everyone followed suit as they listened to the story of how Lelouch's mother was murdered and the king threw him and Nunnally to Japan where they met Suzaku. He noted how the three had to trudge through fields of dead bodies. Shirley and Rival cried like babies, but Suzaku smiled. Euphemia broke out into a full on hysterical bawl-fest as she hugged Nunnally. Kallen felt a pang of guilt and understanding as she heard his story. She had no idea that he had lived such a life.
"I dethroned Nunnally and myself for the sake of starting a new life and finding mother's assassin. I never got very far, but now that I'm Emperor I can find out whoever did it. I'm tired of Britannian's laws saying that the weak should be punished; the defenseless left behind to die. I couldn't stand being a Prince of that kind of nation." Lelouch's teeth grit together in frustration. "I don't actually know why my father lied about me hiding as a commoner for research…I feel guilty for using it in my speech at all to be honest."
Shirley walked over to Lelouch and sat beside him where she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. When she first met Lelouch she thought he was some sort of stoic, arrogant fool. After she witnessed him help an elderly couple with the same bored expression on his face that he always had she began to wonder what he really thought of inside his mind. What did he think of the world, what did he want to do with his life? Now she knew and she had wished she'd known sooner. The torture Lelouch and Nunnally had when growing up must've been a heavy load to carry around all these years.
"Oh Lelou, it must've been so hard on you and Nunna-Chan." Shirley whispered so quietly that only he heard her.
"It's alright. I was okay with having just Nunnally around." He smiled up at her.
Kallen excused herself to the restroom, this was just an excuse to give Zero another call and see if he'd answer. Lelouch noticed this and immediately excused himself as well. He went into the men's room where he was disgruntled to see two other politicians inside chatting it up. Upon seeing Lelouch they immediately tried to strike up a conversation with him, but he dismissed them and nearly flew out of the restroom.
"Who knew, the new Emperor is toilet-shy!" one laughed out and the other let out a hearty laugh to follow suit.
Lelouch knew he had to find an unmonitored and completely desolate location for when his phone rang from Kallen. He had to make no mistake that he wasn't to be observed while he and Kallen spoke of Black Knight matters. He rounded a corner and ran smack into Schneizel's chest. Lelouch stumbled backwards and fell on his bottom in pain. Schneizel leaned down to help him up.
"Where are you going in such a rush?" Schneizel chuckled at Lelouch's panicked face as he stood up.
"I…" Lelouch panted. "I'm no athlete…" he choked out.
"I can see that. Perhaps it'd be best if you did some training." Schneizel gave the younger a slight smile.
Lelouch's phone began to ring at this moment and Lelouch was certain it was Kallen. He had to get away from Schneizel immediately.
"I'm sorry, I have to be somewhere." Lelouch said then took in a deep breath and ran away again. This left Schneizel with a cocked eyebrow.
Lelouch was tempted to answer his ringing phone while running, but he refrained himself. He finally found a janitorial closet and hid into it. He answered the phone immediately.
"H-hello….this ….this is Zero…" he panted heavily.
"What are you doing that's making you breathe so hard? Oh my god…You're not having sex are you? At a time like this?!" Kallen hissed madly.
"No….I was…I was exercising…" he half lied, that run was his monthly allowance for exercise.
"Oh I see. To the point then, you heard the speech didn't you?" she asked.
"Of course….I did. I was…in the audience…" Lelouch could feel the energy slowly returning to his body.
"What do you think?" she asked as she gave a hopeful smile. She suddenly no longer had the desire to assassinate Lelouch mercilessly.
"Well…." Lelouch paused and took a couple deep breathes. "Let's see how this whole thing pans out. Right now it's only day one and it's far too early to tell what will happen. As it stands you'll just have to keep a close eye out." He smirked, but his smirk fell when he realized he was leaning against a wet and dirty mop that left a smelly stain on his sleeve." Gross!" he called out.
"What's gross?" Kallen asked,
"Nothing never-mind." He said. "Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?"
"Oh yes, he told only us as his close friends that he's staying in high school. So I'll have many chances to take care of him should it need be." Kallen felt something stab at her chest, but she couldn't quite decipher it entirely.
"Most likely won't be necessary, just don't do anything out of the ordinary unless I order you to. Did you tell the Black Knights to lay off of the Emperor as well?" he asked, this was something that was nagging him all night.
"Yes, they understand. I'm pretty sure they're happy with the speech Lelouch gave as well. I wonder if it'd be alright to tell my friends I'm half Japanese." She smiled again.
"That's up to you personally, the law has been upheld and you shouldn't face any harmful comments or consequences." He explained.
"So, were you excited about the speech too?" she resisted the urge to giggle in joy.
"Yes, I was probably the most excited person in the world at that moment." He let out a quiet laugh with her. "Kallen, just try to enjoy normal life for a little while. Don't be too worried about Britannia's new chain of command. I highly doubt the new Emperor will try to attack the Black Knights right now."
"What makes you so sure of that?" Kallen asked.
"He's only just come into office today; he won't be issuing any attack commands for quite some time. Besides, if he wanted to destroy the number-area system so badly that it was in his acceptance speech then he doesn't want a conflict with Japan. He won't be giving any hostile commands out for a while yet. So you and the Black Knights can take a rest." He reassured her. He could hear her soft sigh from the other end.
"Alright, that's a good point." She agreed and that's where their call ended. They exchanged goodbyes and Kallen hung up and was about to leave when someone walked into the bathroom.
Lelouch on the other hand had a slight problem. How was he to explain the stench that now befell him? He opened the janitorial closet door and came stumbling out followed by the wet mop and several dirty push brooms. After he struggled, but managed, to get all of the mops and brooms back into the closet he shut the door and pressed his back to it. He sighed and stood up properly as if to walk away, but froze when he saw Schneizel standing only feet in front of him with a most dark expression on his face. Lelouch felt fear well up into his chest, neck and face as Schneizel closed in on him. This was one of the few people on this planet that Lelouch actually feared when it came to being unveiled. Schneizel was one of his biggest obstacles and would need to be forced into submission should he show any sign of resistance.
"Why was the Emperor inside of a broom closet?" he asked flatly.
"For privacy; I had a personal phone call to make." He said truthfully.
"To whom?" Schneizel inquired.
"Why does it matter to you?" Lelouch asked with a frown. Schneizel grabbed Lelouch's upper arms and held on tightly, as if preventing him from escaping.
"I know your dirty little secret now, Zero. You're not going anywhere." Schneizel whispered darkly as his upper lip crunched. To say Lelouch nearly had a heart attack was an understatement; his heart literally skipped a beat upon those words. He began feeling dizzy, but remained in control of himself. The only bit of emotion he allowed himself to show was a slight bit of surprise. Schneizel's grip on Lelouch's arms tightened harshly. There was only one clear-cut option for Lelouch to take, he didn't enjoy taking it, but he felt he had no other choice in the matter.
Lelouch looked straight into Schneizel's eyes and returned the glare. "I, Lelouch Vi Britannia, command you to forget that you ever heard my phone call or any knowledge of me being Zero. You shall ignore all further proof that I or Kallen are tied to the Black Knights. Furthermore you shall support and acknowledge me as your Emperor."
Geass, it's a grand thing to possess. Schneizel's eyes lit up bright red as the Geass took hold of his mind. "Yes, your highness." Schneizel said as he let go of Lelouch's arms and kneeled before him.
"Now, go find me a suitable replacement for this disgusting wardrobe." Lelouch commanded.
"Yes, your highness." Schneizel repeated as he began walking towards the tailoring room. Lelouch followed him and he was given a new outfit to wear for the remainder of the evening.
Lelouch returned to the party room where Milly and Shirley were sound asleep on the comfy couch. Suzaku and Rival were at a table playing some card game, but Nunnally, Nina and Euphemia were nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, where is everyone?" Lelouch asked.
"Oh uhm…" Suzaku started then looked at Rival who shrugged. "Euphemia went to put Nunnally to bed, Kallen's in the bathroom still and Nina then went to find Euphemia. I don't know if Nina ever actually found Euphie, but they've been gone a while." Suzaku now pondered.
"I see, so it's just us three and the two sleeping logs over there." Lelouch smiled as he sat down by them so that they made a triangle across the circular table.
"Yep, just us." Suzaku said as he re-dealt the cards to include Lelouch.
"Hey, Lelouch. I have a question." Rival gave his friend the 'you know what' smirk.
"Oh good lord, what could you possibly have to ask with that face?" Lelouch smiled nervously.
"As Emperor you could have any babe in the world, not to mention as many wives as you want-"
"Stop it right there!" Lelouch turned bright red as Suzaku nearly dropped the deck he began laughing so hard.
"Oh come on! You're gonna get married eventually, right? Why not live the life now that you've got the chance!" Rival smacked Lelouch harshly on the back.
"I'm not saying I'm against getting married, I just….I .."
"Aww is Lelou shy?" Rival grinned widely. Lelouch growled lowly at him. Suzaku had finally managed to stifle his last few laughs enough to finish dishing out the cards.
"So Lelouch." Suzaku spoke up as he laid down the first card. "Since she's not around….Do you and Kallen have a thing going on or something?" he asked with a small grin.
"I…that is…uh….not exactly." He half lied. He and Kallen were quite close as Q-One and Zero, but not at all as Lelouch and Kallen. "What makes you even think that?" Lelouch evidently blushed.
"You're always just skipping school on the same days. It's like you two plan it or something. As soon as Kallen would excuse herself from class and never come back you do the same. When she shows up late for morning class so do you. It's just like you two are hanging out together. Like just a little while ago as soon as Kallen went to the bathroom you got up and left as well; and for a long time at that!" Suzaku pointed out.
"It's a coincidence! Speaking of Kallen, I wonder why she isn't back yet. Maybe she's gotten into…trouble…" a horrible feeling just befell Lelouch. If he got caught by Schneizel then maybe Kallen did as well….
"See, you're so worried about her!" Suzaku grinned and pinched Lelouch's cheek. "You look so upset that she isn't here!"
"Oh cut it out!" Lelouch shrugged out of his hold and stood up. "I'll go find her, but only because she's been gone for almost an hour now. That isn't normal, especially since she's in an unfamiliar palace."
"Then we'll all go look for her." Suzaku offered and Rival agreed.
"No, I'll do it by myself. You guys keep playing. I'll be back soon." Lelouch then left the room again.
Suzaku and Rival sat back and continued playing the game. "He so has the hots for her." Rival grinned.
"He does!" Suzaku snickered and nodded his head.
Lelouch walked densely down the hallway looking for the women's restroom. It wasn't until he was standing before it that he realized he couldn't just waltz in. He settled for knocking on the door and calling out her name. When no answer came he got the idea to call her, but his phone comes up as "Zero" on her end and it'd be a mess if that happened. He could always call her as his Zero persona, but then he'd have to give an excuse for calling. Then he'd have to come up with another excuse for why he wanted to know exactly where she was. Suddenly an idea hit him. He walked over to a pay phone, pulled up Kallen's number from his phone and called it with the palace phone.
"Kallen?" Lelouch asked as he heard the phone being answered.
"Hello?" she responded a little confused.
"This is Lelouch, everyone is just wondering where you are. You've been gone so long." He said honestly slightly worried.
"Oh uhmm…I bumped into a Knight of Round in the bathroom and she is showing me around the palace! I'll be back soon, don't worry!" she pretended to be happier than she actually was.
"Alright, Shirley and Milly fell asleep on the couch already. They're so clumsy!" Lelouch giggled. "I'm going to set everyone up in a hotel just down the street in an hour, so be back by then okay?"
"Oh wow! Thank you! I'll be back very soon!" she said excitedly. "By the way, I don't recall giving you my phone number…" she whispered suspiciously, but more or less jokingly.
"Oh that, heh…I got it from…either Shirley or Milly I think. It's been sitting my phone for a while now!" he lied.
"I see, well I'll let you go for now." She hung up. Kallen didn't recall giving her phone number to either Shirley or Milly, but she shrugged it off. It wasn't really all that important. Lelouch returned to playing cards while Kallen followed Anya and Gino around the palace.
"This is where Luciano and I got wasted one night and banged a couple of hot chicks!" Gino giggled hysterically. Kallen wanted to punch this man; so much…. "Oh and this room is where I passed out after the over taking over Osell Tower! I was so drunk!"
"Gino, aren't you a minor?" Kallen asked hoping to end these crazy stories.
"Well yeah I'm seventeen! You're used to life in Area Ele- I mean Japan where the legal limit is still twenty-one. In the mainland it's sixteen! " Gino said as he turned the corner behind Anya.
"I see…perhaps I should ask Lelouch to alter that…" she said through grit teeth. Milly and Shirley were shining examples of why minors shouldn't drink; passing out in the palace while still wearing formal attire wasn't appealing to one's reputation.
"You refer to his royal highness by nothing but his first name?" Gino stopped and turned to her in confusion.
"Yes, we're….good friends." She said slowly and cautiously.
"Oh kickass!" Gino screeched in delight as he ran up to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "You gotta introduce me!" he begged.
"First of all…" Kallen struggled to get out of his grasp. "You're a Knight of Round, you can meet him almost anytime you want. Secondly I'm going up to meet him now. If you want to follow me then do so. I'm heading back to his party room now."
"Sweet! Anya come join us!" he said as he grabbed her by the arm to turn her around and follow Kallen.
Kallen reentered the room with Gino and Anya behind her. Much to Gino's dismay Lelouch was already passed out with his head down on the table. Suzaku and Rival were the only ones in the room even awake. Gino took a seat next to Suzaku who was actually quite pleased to see him. Anya sat next to Rival and Kallen next to Lelouch, the unconscious god.
"Man, Lelouch sure loves himself a good nap. He's an expert and sleeping in class!" Rival snorted jokingly.
"You're his classmate?" Gino asked amazed.
"Yes, and the two girls on the couch over there are as well; they're Shirley and Milly. Nina is with Euphemia right now, I don't know when they'll be back. Maybe they fell asleep already…" Suzaku pondered.
"Oh boy, it looks like Emperor Sleeping Beauty has a lot of female friends! Are they all going to be his consorts like Kallen?" Gino asked excitedly.
"I am not Lelouch's consort!" Kallen hissed as she slammed her fist onto the table far harder than she intended to.
Lelouch was successfully scared into consciousness. Suzaku, Gino and Rival burst into a fit of laughter at the look of confusion on Lelouch's face, along with the red mark on his forehead where a playing card was stuck.
"I just had the weirdest dream that I became Emperor…" Lelouch said as he rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"Wasn't a dream, your highness!" Gino laughed as he smacked his hand roughly onto Lelouch's shoulder. Lelouch's eyes popped open and looked around.
"Oh…well then…" he looked to Suzaku. "I guess I am Emperor." Lelouch said stupidly.
"You always act this way when you're sleep deprived. Why don't we head over to the hotel now?" Rival suggested. He knew Lelouch well enough to know that he would be able to think much clearer in the morning.
"Right, what time is it?" Lelouch asked as he looked around for a clock, but couldn't find one.
"It's two-thirteen in the morning." Anya informed him as she checked the time from her digital diary.
"Damn we stayed up late!" Rival said as he stretched his arms and back.
"I'll go call for an escort car. You guys wake the girls up. Kallen would you go find Nina for me?" he asked and she agreed.
It was almost three in the morning and everyone was standing around in the pitched-black street in front of the palace. Lelouch didn't like the idea of sleeping in the palace on the first night so he opted to stay with his friends at the most famous hotel in Tokyo; the Imperial Hotel Tokyo. They all shared a conjoined hotel suite consisting of four suits with connecting doors and one living room. Suzaku talked Lelouch into allowing Gino and Anya spend the night, but it was actually Kallen who needed the convincing. Euphemia and Nina shared a bed to giggle and talk to one another, Shirley and Milly shared a bed, Nunnally and Anya shared a king sized bed to themselves. Lelouch and Rival managed to quit harassing each other about "consorts and wives" long enough to share a bed in which they slept with their heads at opposite ends of the bed. Suzaku wasn't fond of bedding another guy, or anyone in general really, but Gino promised to not disturb him. Kallen was the lucky one, she got a bed all to herself.
They all slept off their drunken minds until a very sober noon the next day. Room service was actually the one to wake them at noon for lunch call in which everyone sprang out of bed nearly starving. They had no choice but to re-wear their formal attire from the previous night to the lunch table. After Rival gave Lelouch another hour's worth of "pick a wife" and "my little sister is single and has always had a crush on you" they all left back to the palace.
"Well I suppose we ought to get back to our classes. I mean we've already missed four hours today, that's bad enough." Milly shrugged her shoulders at Lelouch as she smiled.
"I need to get back too. I've already informed the courts that I won't be active until next month. I just need time to adjust my life around." He said as they grabbed their school uniforms from the tailoring room where they'd left them yesterday.
Everyone changed back into their school clothes and piled into a limo that would escort them to school. Unluckily for them the front gates leading onto campus were absolutely swarmed with the media and by standers. The Japanese filled the streets, out-numbering the Britannians by over five to one. Everyone was eagerly awaiting Emperor Lelouch's entrance to school that morning. He grimaced, how were they supposed to get inside? Suddenly people began knocking on the windows of the limousine and screaming gleefully. They all made sure that the doors were locked and rolled the windows all the way up. There was a group of Japanese folk holding up a sign that read "Long live Emperor Lelouch of Japan!" which to Lelouch's surprise was purple and glittery. Upon reading the sign Kallen's heart wanted to melt, she envisioned Lelouch being Emperor of Japan. Something inside of her mind clicked awkwardly, but she couldn't tell exactly what she was feeling at the time.
Suddenly the entire scene to her was like a black and white slow-motion film from the twentieth century. The banging on the windows was slow and deep in volume while the screams of Lelouch-fans echoed obnoxiously. Everyone in the limo had a surprised look on their face, but to Kallen Lelouch's face was the most surprised. The only thing that struck her heart was the feeling of "fondness" when she saw the excitement in Lelouch's violet eyes. It's like she was suddenly tunnel visioning in on just his beautiful, purple eyes. Lelouch's attention was turned to Kallen who was starting directly at him with a wondrous, curious look upon her face. For the lucid moment they shared they became entranced in each other, for reasons unexplained Kallen felt the urge to get up and go sit next to him. Lelouch knew he wanted to be next to Kallen, but he refrained himself and forcefully tore his focus away from Kallen to look back out his window at his new "fans". Kallen's movie like moment suddenly vanished and she was back into the realm of reality where everything was in color and moving at regular speed.
To her it was a moment she'd never forget as long as she lived; riding in the back of a limousine as she locked eyes with the Emperor romantically. 'What the hell did I just think?!' she caught herself in her daydream. She mentally slapped herself and pulled her mind back to what was important; the Black Rebellion and making sure Lelouch doesn't do anything to hurt the Japanese populous.
As the limousine turned around it headed back for the main highway. Lelouch questioned the driver's actions who replied that he was taking them back to the palace to be air-lifted back onto the rooftop of the highschool. Back at the palace there were a few camera men who tried to interview Lelouch and the others as they reentered the marble palace.
"Emperor Lelouch! Just a word please!" one begged.
"Emperor! What are your plans for rebuilding Japan? The Japanese want to know!"
"Have you picked a wife yet? Are you dating anyone?"
"Have you chosen a Knight yet?"
"Would you please come to C.N.B. for an official interview this week?"
"I'm sorry everyone." Lelouch stopped. "I'll speak to the press later this month. Right now I have personal issues to deal with." He explained then proceeded to enter the palace.
"Miss Milly Ashford! Would you like to give a few words?"
"Oh no thank you, it's my grandfather you should be interviewing, not me!" she smiled and waved to the cameraman as she followed Lelouch into the school.
"Woman! Please! Redhead, please give us just a single statement!"
"I uh...I'm sorry I must be going…" Kallen sheepishly replied as she pranced into the palace.
"Sir Suzaku Kururugi, have you and Princess Euphemia formed a romance connection yet?"
Suzaku blushed madly, but ignored the comment and he was the last inside the palace. Everyone else already made it inside without getting bombarded with questions. They quickly made it to the rooftop where they were met by a helicopter similar to the one that had originally dropped them off. They all boarded, Euphemia, Gino and Anya included who wanted to enjoy normal high school life for once. Once they arrived at the school they did their best to get to class without too much interruption. Ruben had barred the school from allowing anyone inside that wasn't a student attending class or a teacher that was teaching that day. Aside from that only staff were allowed entrance and were given a briefing on not approaching Lelouch or any of the student council members without good reason.
They all piled into class, four hours late for school, but there were four more left in the day. As soon as Lelouch and the others entered the room the entire class erupted in cheering which could be heard throughout most of the school. Other classrooms heard the cheering and knew immediately that it meant Emperor Lelouch was back at school. Some bolted out of their classrooms and over to Lelouch's just to get a glimpse at him. After teachers quelled the chaos Lelouch sat down in his regular seat by the window with Shirley to his right, Rival in front of him, Suzaku on the other side of Shirley and so forth. Gino took a seat next to Rival to goof off with him, but got yelled at several times by the teacher.
"I don't care that you're a Knight of Round or that Emperor Lelouch is here! You do not speak while I'm speaking!"
Gino frowned, he'd never been yelled at by a commoner before, but Rival helped him swallow his pride and accept it. Almost the entire class giggled and snickered at Gino, but in a playful way. Class went on as usual, even the girls staring dreamily at Lelouch was considered normal. As soon as the bell rang to symbolize that fifth period was over many classmates jumped from their seats and tried to make conversation with Lelouch and the others.
"So Shirley, how was the palace?" a girl asked.
"Did they make that green dress I saw on you on television just for you for that night?" another asked.
"Well the palace was big, and it was made of marble. The dress was tailored to fit me as soon as I arrived. It took a half an hour for them to get it small enough to fit around my waist though." She explained with a silly smile.
"You're so lucky!" the girl huffed her cheeks out.
"Shirley." Lelouch said and the orangette turned to face him. "I'm going to the student council room to meet with Milly. I think the entire student council should get together for the fifth period meeting."
"O-okay!" Shirley stuttered, but regained her composure. These fangirls were getting to her, she was beginning to view Lelouch like a super start that she was forbidden from speaking to. It was kind of exciting to be honest, but she didn't want to feel distant from Lelouch. She and everyone else followed Lelouch back to the student council room. Lelouch lead the group like a true leader as many bystanders watched him walk through the halls. Among the many whispers of the other students praising Lelouch, most were incredibly jealous of Shirley and Lelouch's other friends. There were very few students in the entire campus that weren't jealous of them all at this point. Once they were all inside the student council room they all sat in their usual seats. Ever since Lelouch became Emperor everything seemed different, like it was suddenly extra special. Lelouch was just glad that the student council room was exactly as it was before; besides one thing.
"Milly…" Lelouch blinked at the girl with long, puffy light purple hair and soft blue eyes sitting beside the blonde President. "Who is this?" he asked as the girl giggled and winked at Lelouch.
"This is Lucina Arwik. She's a Junior, like yourself, and she's about to join the student council if you approve it; Mr. Vice President!" Milly said as she waved her hands around Lucina as if she were a car being flaunted in a sports show.
"Hi there!" Lucina chirped.
"Alright, what are her credentials and intended roles?" Lelouch inquired.
"She's part of the math and science clubs, she's wicked good with math and numbers!" Milly then gave Lelouch a knowing smirk. "Since you've become Emperor my grandfather has been getting money from interviews like mad! So the school's budgets have increased immensely! With all this extra money coming in I figured we'd need a second accountant! Ta-da! Assistant Secretary of Treasury!" Milly giggled. "Not to mention she's one of the girls you went on a date with last year during one of you episodes."
"Episodes?" Lelouch questioned.
"You know, when you went around dating every girl who flew themselves at you!" Milly huffed and frowned.
"Oh right…that….." Lelouch sighed nervously, of course now she looks familiar….
"Well I don't see a reason to oppose, anyone vote no?" Lelouch asked and everyone else remained silent.
"It's settled then! Welcome to the student council Lucina!" Milly shouted cheerfully and a few other followed her. "Alright, it's time for some real work guys!" Milly said as she flexed her arm and grabbed onto it tightly. "We're almost a week behind in our work and since we have extra help from Euphemia and the Knights of Round we can get it done by tonight if we're lucky!"
"Ready when you are prez!" Rival chided as he sat down next to her.
As Milly and Lucina calculated that their school budget had increased from a measly twelve thousand dollars to nearly a million this made budgeting easier in some way, yet a whole new level of harder.
"Oh geez! The drama club wants to hire a royal tailor now that they know we're rolling in cash! I don't think that's going to happen!" Milly crossed her arms and was about to write "rejected" on the form, but then a thought hit her. "Unless…." She gave an evil grin which Lelouch immediately recognized as "Lelouch will have to do something embarrassing".
"Prez…no…whatever you're scheming; no!" Lelouch pleaded.
"Sorry, it's going to happen! The drama club will get their kingly-tailor if they allow us to have you cast as the lead role in their next play!" Milly cheered.
Only one clear path would ensure Lelouch not be humiliated yet another year by Milly's torture; he'd have to Geass the head of the drama club.
"Don't think about bribing the chairman with a date either!" she giggled manically. Lelouch groaned, Geass was truly the only clear answer for these situations.
After the budget was finally balanced and Nunnally had come over from the junior high it was well after school hours and the sun was starting to set. The student council usually stayed for some time after school ended and this was right around the time they all started going home or to the dorms. Lelouch stretched his arms out and yawned. Milly took note of how tired he was and decided it was alright for the meeting to end. Lelouch wasn't sure what to do, he wasn't sure if he should go back to the dorms and risk someone bothering him or if he should go back to the palace. He sat and pondered it for a few minutes while everyone was getting up and getting their things put away. Milly couldn't help but notice the deep-in-thought look upon Lelouch's face.
"Lelou, is something wrong?" Milly asked even though she knew that a million things could be wrong right now.
"I just don't know if I should go back to my old dorm room or go to the palace. If I stay here I risk someone breaking in or being stopped in the hallway. But if I call for a helicopter to escourt me and Nunnally back to the palace then we'd have no home setting. We don't have personal bedrooms set up there yet." Lelouch explained.
"Madam prez, he's got a point." Shirley said as she pointed out the window. "I don't think any of us are going to get the chance to leave campus. There's just too many people still out there!"
Milly sighed in dismay, she didn't need to look out the window to know that there were hordes of people outside waiting for them. "I've got an idea!" she shouted and slammed her hand onto the desk. Everyone turned and looked to her expectantly. "We'll order a construction crew to build us a tunnel under the school that leads out to a secret location so that we can get on and off campus without being bothered!"
"Yes, great plan. But what are we going to do about tonight?" Suzaku asked.
"Well we can call a helicopter to grab us and drop us off at our houses individually for now." Milly suggested.
"Seems like a lot of time and work just to get to and back from school everyday." Gino sighed. As much as he adored this new school life, this idea sounded tedious.
"Why don't we skip school for a while? You know just until the underground tunnel is built." Lelouch suggested.
"And go where? Home? I don't think so!" Shirley moaned. "My mother called me this morning and told me that over eight different news crews showed up at her door looking for me!"
"Yeah, same here. Mom and Dad said there was a bunch of reporters asking to interview me." Rival sighed.
"Well then stay at the palace with me until then. I'll call in for spare rooms until things settle down." Lelouch offered. To commoners like Nina, Shirley and Rival this was a dream come true; living in a palace with the Emperor!
"Does that include Lucina? I mean has she been getting harassed by the press as well?" Rival asked as he pointed to the purple haired newcomer.
"I don't care." Lelouch sighed tiredly.
"I'm alright, for now. I hope I don't get swamped like you guys did, I just remodeled my room…." Lucina sighed.
"Well if you're seen with us often enough you will be!" Suzaku frowned. "Besides you're on the student council now. As soon as the school tells the press this you'll instantly be linked in with us!"
"Then it probably is a good idea, should she choose it." Lelouch offered as he looked to her.
"I'd like to try and stay at my house first, it may not happen at all." She smiled at the offer.
"Alright I'll go make the phone call, I'll be back." Lelouch said as he stood up and left the room.
"Lucina, why are you turning down a perfectly good chance to live in a palace full of royalty?" Milly asked, most teenaged girls would throw their lives in front of a bus for the chance.
"Well like I said, I just remodeled my room. Plus my big sister bought me a new kitten and I doubt I'd be able to take it into the palace with me." She sighed.
"That's not true, Arthur here lives with me at the palace!" Suzaku purred as he snuggled the grey cat.
"I can keep P-Chan?" she asked excitedly. Suzaku nodded at her with a smile. "Okay then! I'd love to come live with you guys at some big, fancy palace!" she pumped her first into the air.
When Lelouch returned they all packed their school belongings and then headed for the rooftop where they were yet again met by a palace helicopter. Lucina had never ridden on a helicopter before and was quite nervous. They were each dropped off at their houses to collect valuable things and bid their farewells to their parents. Most of them had to dodge the news reporters, some however got caught up in them. Rival for one managed to actually do a whole twenty minute interview before Milly pulled him away from the camera forcefully so that they could go to the next house. Finally they all made it back to the palace and unpacked what little they could manage to bring. Luckily the palace was so big that everyone got their own bedroom and bathroom so there would be no bickering about personal spaces. An entire wing was dedicated to "Emperor Lelouch and his friends" or so Euphemia put it. That night everyone crashed dead asleep; too tired from the day's events to worry about staying up and doing homework and whatnot.
The next three days were spent getting to know one another and just hanging out without real reason because Lelouch had a whole month until he had to fulfill any royal duties and because their secret underground tunnel was being built. The only useful or constructive thing they did was plan for school meetings and club events. The last night they all shared at the palace before they'd have to return to school was interrupted by Cornelia herself.
"Lelouch, I'd like to extend a most generous invitation to you and your friends." The purple haired Princess said with a smirk from the doorway.
"I'm listening." Lelouch said from his slumped position on the cozy couch.
"We've organized a formal ball in honor of your ascending the throne. It is to be held next Friday here at the palace. You may invite whomever you wish, but I'd avoid inviting too many commoners; they tend to not know how to act in the presence of their superiors." She said darkly as she looked at Shirley and Rival in particular.
"Now hold on a second Cornelia!" Euphemia stood up. "That's no way to talk to someone that you've never met! As a Princess you should be courteous to all whom you grace with your presence, not go around calling yourself superior!"
"Then tell me this Euphemia, what is the purpose of being royalty if you cannot call yourself superior?" Cornelia crossed her arms and looked down her nose at Euphemia. Lelouch stood up, he'd had enough of this.
"To serve and protect them! You're given money, free food and a castle to live in; safe from the woes of every day life. That is what you get in exchange for being royalty, not superiority." Lelouch shouted at her and dismissed her.
"I can't believe this…" she muttered and turned on her heel out of the door.
For once Euphemia couldn't stand her sister's presence, it was as if the old Cornelia was freezing into the hard bitch she'd just seen. It was like witnessing the murder of your own sister. A tear welled up in Euphemia's eyes that Suzaku wiped away. Lelouch could only look to the ground, this is the very thing he was trying to avoid.
"Euphie…" Lelouch spoke softly. Euphemia turned to face him. "Ignore her, she's not like you and I. She hasn't experienced normal life outside of a castle. She just doesn't understand normal people."
"I know that, but please don't hate her for it Lelouch. I swear she's a nice person underneath her pride!" Euphemia smiled at him.
"Aren't we all?" Lelouch laughed once at himself quietly.
"A ball, huh?" Milly asked herself out loud.
"Next Friday right?" Shirley asked just to be sure.
"You all should invite your parents, it'd be a good chance for you all to see them again since you won't get to see them much from here on out." Lelouch advised.
"Lelou, what are we going to do about Cornelia?" Euphemia asked sadly. "She's still going to the ball isn't she?"
"I don't know, I imagine she would. I'm not going to ban her from it if that's what you're asking." Lelouch assure her and he was rewarded with a sweet smile from her.
"Big brother." Nunnally came out into the living room in her wheel chair. "Look at the news, I can't see it but I can hear what they're talking about." Nunnally frowned. The television was quickly turned on to the news channel. It had been days since any of them watched the news, they feared what may be on here.
"…and now to our celebrity reporter. This week during the Emperor Lelouch speech we caught a glimpse of what the new harem might look like!"
"Turn it off!" Lelouch screeched as he reached for the remote, but Milly withheld it.
"Nuh uh! I wanna see this!" she smirked as she played keep away with the remote
"It appears as though the new Emperor already has a long list of consorts. We have confirmed Milly Ashford, Shirley Fenette, Kallen Stadtfeld, Nina Einstein and Euphemia Li Britannia are all seemingly standing along with the Emperor."
"Ew." Euphemia said flatly at being called her own brother's consort.
"This sounds like the beginning of another consort-marathon just like his father the late Emperor Charles had! He reportedly kept over one-hundred eight royal consorts! Only seven of which bore his children."
"One-hundred eight!?" everyone shouted in unison.
Dirty old man…