hey, this is just some tidbits i did for a 2nd part. i know.. finish the first first, right? ah well.
Nunnally had been waiting outside the little cell for over an hour before he stirred. Incongruently, this was her cue to start crying again. He's fine. He's fine. He's fine… she kept telling herself. Hell, how could he not be, after returning from the dead not once but twice?
But that pathetic pile on the cell's floor did not look fine. He groaned, and metal jingled as he struggled to get up. Though not impossible in a restraining suit, his slow struggles might have been comical; to anyone but his sister.
The ambassador cleared her throat. "Nii-san?"
Her brother froze, and then twisted his head in her general direction, a thick leather band obscuring his eyes; "Nunnally?" then redoubled his efforts. "Why? Can't I see…"
The young girl was exasperated. "They put a band over your eyes. They fear your Geass." She added belatedly. "Please don't move. The doctor said you bruised your ribs…"
Her brother didn't seem to heed, struggling into a sitting position regardless. "Funny. I don't feel a thing." He finally clarified; then thought a moment. "We… crashed?"
Nunnally made a vexed sound. "You were shot down, yes; by the police. And then you crashed."
He was nodding at her, slowly mouthing words, then: "Oh, god! Kallen!"
"Kallen has a slight concussion but is going to be fine. She is in the medical ward, getting treated. CC seems unharmed, but they are keeping her there too, to be sure. I- " she laughed nervously at that. "I'm sorry brother; you should be there too, in a hospital bed."
"ok…" he was swaying a little. What the hell had they pumped into her brother anyway?
"I'm so sorry, Nii-san. I tried talking to the warden; they actually are a reformed facility, no restraining suit; daily prisoner airing time… but." She steeled herself. "But when they heard they'd facilitate the demon emperor, he was going to chain you up a wall and drug you out cold."
Her brother had a rather silly smile on his face. "hmm.. As opposed to now, I'm?"
"Chained to the floor and drugged silly." Nunnally made to giggle; she hoped he didn't mistake it for a sob. "Sorry, I suppose that's the extent of my diplomatic skills."
"Oh, but I'm quite impressed; thank you Nunnally." He countered absentmindedly; "And they are afraid of my Geass?" and grinned. "That's even better."
Nunnally didn't see anything good about any of it; but he was obviously high. She tried cutting through the haze. "Nii-san. They are going to put you on trial. Now, you know the death-penalty has been abolished but –but there's even been talk of revoking that order. Brother…" she cleared her throat. "Brother, I don't think it'll come to that. But you – even then - it does not look good."
"hmmm?" he was smiling again, bangs over his banded eyes as he swayed gently. "Does this mean you are cancelling our tea party?"
0000~0000
Finny Green was, by all accounts, a good lawyer. She was at the top of her game at 33, taking cases only the brave would. It was her motto that everyone, everyone no matter how vile or inhumane, deserved at least a good defense in court. She had defended murderers, robbers and even the odd rapist to her best ability. But when offered this particular case, she had balked.
And then she had taken it anyway; hell, the publicity alone would sky-rocket her career to new heights; the woman that had defended the demon king. She would be famous, at the very least. And she would do the best job she could.
Even bearing in mind such good intentions, she had hardly had a chance to glimpse the man's files before the start of the trial. Though truth be told, she thought she knew the facts well enough not to have to plow through the immense stack of papers. What was worse perhaps was that she had not managed to see her client before court.
Why? She had a hundred reasons; other cases had demanded her attention – she had wanted to finish all her previous work so she would be able to focus on this one, big event whole heartedly now. It had been cold out, or raining, she had been tired; she had not made an appointment and could not figure how to reach the man in jail.
They were all very, very meager excuses for the truth; she had been scared. Scared to meet the demon that had literary raised the ground under their feet only a year ago. Finny's family had been well-off Brittanians; they had lost most of their assets in the demon's short reign. But they had been left with their lives. A fact she knew was not true for quite a few people.
She felt no anger at the boy emperor; or if she did, it was well hidden within her professional demeanor. But, she could not help it; she was more than a little afraid to meet this man.
So she had postponed and delayed their initial introduction until it was too late; now, she was berating herself. Not only had this little stunt completely ruined a good opening plea, now she was going to have to meet this unnerving persona in court. While on live TV- live TV! Who had let the media in here, for crying' sake!
There was no backing out of in now though; a low murmur announced the arrival of her appointed charge as the court outer doors opened and a small group of officers marched towards her. She fought the urge to stand up and gawk to see the center point of that small cluster that the cameras now trailed . The spectators in the overcrowded benches were less worried with appearances, falling over themselves to get a glimpse of this living nightmare.
When she finally did steal a peek, what she was made her heart sink.
The figure in their middle wore a dark restraining suit, hand obviously tied behind his back; a dark band ran across his face, hiding his eyes and effectively blinding him. And still he strode in regally and tall with a serene smile on his face. He somehow managed to make his police escort look like an honor guard.
He; it; the demon king.
Playing the sympathy card was probably never a very good option; but it had seemed her best bet. Now, she saw, it would never work.
The procession finally came to a stop next to her, and there was some rattling as one of the officers moved to un-cuff their charge. He seemed to be waiting for more, head tilting to the side still with that slow smile on his mouth.
She almost snickered nervously; like they'd release those eyes. Absolute obedience; Finny didn't believe in magic; but in this case she was willing to make an exception. There was just too much proof to argue any other way: men and women doing his bidding even if it meant death, murder or anything so uncharacteristic of that person it would have seemed impossible; except for his word; his eyes. And he died twice; but is still here...
Finny caught herself shrinking back; willed her back straight as she dug her nails into her arms. She cursed herself for choosing a short-sleeved shirt now, as she shivered. But with a hand she steadied herself, bringing it back over her head to re-arrange an errant strand of hair and continue down to re-adjust her glasses.
The demon had seemed to think better of it now, and lifted his head in a slight shrug to shake his head and gracefully recline into the chair behind him. Then, he turned to stare at her. Directing his empty gaze right at her; her breathing stocked. No; he can't see me.
"Oh?" he said, in a slightly amused voice, placing a elbow on the table and moving his head to lean on the now supported hand. "Lucky me, I get this beautiful lady to represent me."
A thousand warning lights went off in her head now; she squinted warily at the dark leather covering his eyes. It rand from eyebrows to cheekbones; it looked tight enough. No light would filter through. How…? No. he simply already knew who would represent him; don't be fooled. She snorted loudly. "Hardly; flattery won't get you anywhere with me."
His eyebrows rose in comical innocence "What a shame, a woman immune to my charms; and you are so my type. I mean look at you-" this was the moment the judge entered the room, and all rose as ordained; except the demon. He looked a moment at her, as she stood at attention. Then he got up too, and made to whisper in her ear. "what, 28? And already a renowned lawyer; you must be a clever one."
As the judge seated himself, everyone else in the room sat down. Again, the demon was late – was he doing it on purpose? – seemingly only to be able to continue his private conversation with his lawyer. ".. and pretty besides."
The judge cleared his throat to address the defendant, starting with a long sum of titles: "Lelouch vi Brittannia, son of.." Finny gritted her teeth. Great; her charge had not only managed to antagonize the entire court before the trial had even started; he was hitting on her, completely ruining her credibility; "I'm 33." She paled slightly as he feigned shock. "No. really? I wouldn't give you a day over…" basic courtesy dictated one would guess a lady's age a nice 5 years too young, didn't it? Did that mean..? No. he found out my age somewhere… he can't see. I'm safe!
The judge went on:"..and legal chairman of the board of nations, you have been charged with inciting rebellion, performing acts of terrorism, fratricide, illegal usurpation of the throne…"
But Finny was doubting; feeling a distinct pang in her gut that she recognized as fear, where would that leave the judge the jury? This was a worst case scenario; the demon king was supposed to be a genius, right? Or maybe a madman. He couldn't possibly believe he could cow the entire court into submission using fear, could he?
"…misleading the public, coercion, and genocide. How do you plead?"
Finny curse again. She had not even had a chance to ask how to plead; she should at least ask, though it seemed a formality now. As she turned to address the demon, she noticed with some trepidation that he was standing though, nodding impeccably in the direction of the judge. "Yes your honor. I would first like to point out however, that I do not recognize the authority of this court. Furthermore,…"
The judge snorted, hard. "You get this, or I turn you over to the mob outside. It's your choice."
The demon king did his wounded innocence look, only slightly marred by his obscured eyes; a hand to his chest. "yes, very well. How did it go again? Oh yes. Guilty, guilty. Guilty and proud of it. Ascending the throne by murder is practically our family tradition, so innocent if you believe it. Then, guilty, guilty, and lastly – well, if you'd just gone for mass murder I'd say guilty but genocide implies singling out some minority while I believe I went about killing all men equally so.. Innocent!"
He smiled a triumphant smile then, and slid regally back into his chair. Then he turned to regard her; a hand flawlessly traveled to her face, picking a loose lock of her hair from her face. "You should wear your hair loose, when you come to discuss my case tonight."
Finny cursed herself and her foolish pride for ever accepting this job.
0000~0000
"And then" the black knight was close to tears now. "And then it turned out he was actually a Brittannian prince. Using us, for god sake!" the man sniffed, and the judge made to pat the man's arm. When Finny glanced to her side, she thought she was an expression of contempt on her client's face, but it was quickly smothered by that slightly amused smile.
The judge looked their way warningly, trying to comfort his bawling witness, calling with a clipped voice. "Is there anything the defendant would like to say for himself."
The demon, for once, kept his silence, sitting back with a slough – Finny thought at that moment, he really looked like the derailed teen he was supposed to be. "Apologize!" she hissed into his ear.
For a moment, she though he was going to refuse; giving her that eyeless stare. Suddenly he stood though, proclaiming in a flat voice. "My lawyer suggests I apologize to the witness." He quickly sat down again; Finny could not believe it.
Before she could form a reprimand, he was on his feet again though, proclaiming: "wait!" he huffed, balling a fist in what seemed a rather comical pose. Finally he proclaimed. "Drowning kittens!"
The judge was, quite understandably confused. He opened his mouth to question; but was interrupted again. "No! Kicked puppies!"
The demon started huffing again, in a rather worrying fashion. "Miss Green.." the judge addressed her, and she met the old man's eyes; just as the ex-emperor proclaimed "Kicked blind puppies with a motory defect!"
What was she to do? "Mister Brittannia?" she asked, not quite capable of touching him yet.
He ignored her completely though, half collapsing before taking on a pose of anguish, one hand clamping his chest, and the other concocted into the air. Tears were streaming past the leather band, as he screamed: "I'm really, really sorry!"
Then, the howling demon was replaced by the pleasantly smiling boy again, as he plopped himself back into his chair, radiating his brightest smile on her. "Better?"