An idea I came up with as I was working on chapter four of Kakumi no Rai, and couldn't get out of my head. Based upon a piece of fan art of Rai dressed like a Knight of the Round.
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or Code Geass: Lost Colors.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Knight of Eleven.
An ironic title if ever there was one.
A constant reminder of the place he had once called home. Of a life he once lived. Of the people he had left behind, abandoned. Betrayed.
He held no illusions on that subject. Though he had originally began his military career to aid them, to "change the system from within," as his comrade would say, that goal had long disappeared, along with the one he called friend.
Indeed, Suzaku had changed. Gone was the cheerful, optimistic youth Rai had come to know and respect. In his place was someone darker. Though he would smile and pretend like he was the same as ever, there was always pain lingering in his eyes. Pain from that day. The day she died.
Princess Euphemia li Britannia, the woman Suzaku, her knight, had fallen in love with- and she, him- was dead, her name forever stained with infamy, known as the Massacre Princess.
Slain at the hands of Zero- no, Lelouch.
Eyes darkening at the thought, the young man known solely as Rai pondered his friend's actions.
From the start, Lelouch, his friend, had been his greatest enemy, as the revolutionary hero Zero, leader of the Black Knights. When he had learned of this, he was, for lack of a more appropriate word, shocked.
He just couldn't understand why Lelouch would go to such extreme lengths. Though Suzaku had explained everything to his fellow Knight of the Round, from Lelouch's hidden past to the time they had spent together at the Kururugi household, he was no closer to understanding the fallen prince.
Worse, Rai felt as though he couldn't understand anyone anymore.
He had discovered Zero's identity when he had followed Suzaku's Lancelot to Kamine Island in pursuit of the Gawain, Zero's Knightmare. It was there he had watched in horror as the two faced each other at gunpoint, raged etched upon each of their faces. All he could do was watch as they fired at each other, neither miraculously managing to so much as injure the other. Instead, Lelouch's pistol was ripped from his grasp, as the air rang with the sound of a bullet ricocheting.
Lelouch was swiftly captured and taken prisoner and delivered to the Emperor himself, where Rai watched in silence as Suzaku bargained for a position among the Knights of the Round in exchange for his former friend.
That was when Rai first noticed a change in Suzaku, or at least that he had recognized the fact that he didn't know his friend as well as he had previously thought.
And now here he was, among the most skilled Knightmare pilots in the Britannian Empire, the Knights of the Round, as the Knight of Eleven.
Rai sighed as a feeling of loneliness washed over him. Though the title had bestowed upon him a certain degree of power and respect, it also served as a constant reminder of what had been sacrificed to get him there. A reminder of all the people left behind. Of friends betrayed. Of friends lost to themselves.
Despite all that pain he carried, he refused to give up his role. As long as he held his position, he would do whatever it took to make those sacrifices worth it.
Readjusting his silver-gray cloak, Rai strode forward, a familiar determination settling in as he made his way to meet with his fellow Knights, who were undoubtedly waiting for him.
He was, after all, the Knight of Eleven.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
And there you have it.
If you'd like to see this turned into a longer story, let me know, I'll put it into consideration.
See you next time!
GraveBreaker, signing out!