ECHO
The story of Euphemia's rebirth
BY: Alex Retzer
The cold steel table sends chills through her skin, gradually she awakes from the fog of sleep.
'where am I...where is Suzaku?'
She struggles to sit up, the room is dark save for the single light shinning down on her from the center of the ceiling.
Then it comes. The memories. She was laying in a hospital bed with Suzaku crying.
'why was he so sad? Why...'
A door opens causing Euphemia to pull the white sheet closer to herself.
"My my if it isn't the massacre princess Euphemia Li Britania" The character responds. He didn't look much older then her...until the eye's. Those pale gray eye's that spoke of nothing but cold calculation.
'He's a monster...Any minute I'm gonna wake up and..'
"You'll wake up and this will what? All be a dream?"
"What how could you?"
"Read your mind? Its something I can do, just like bringing the dead back to life is something I can also perform."
"Dead? What do you mean 'dead'. This isn't funny, I princess Euphemia Li Britania command you to release me at once!"
"I can do that. I'm not sure you want me to though...what with my power keeping you alive and all."
"Keeping me..alive?" Euphemia asked, a shocked expression painted on her face.
"You don't remember? No I suppose you wouldn't, After all Geass is a powerful tool...especially depending on which form it chooses to manifest itself in."
"Geass? What are you talking about..I don't."
A sad look came over the man now, he sighed before opening his mouth and speaking the words that would cause her so much pain.
"Remember."
The images flooded her brain. It was like watching a movie, seeing everything through the eye's of the actors on screen but remaining a passive audience member all the same.
"I could order you to do anything and you'd be powerless to resist." She didn't believe Lelouch, he was always one to make big dramatic gestures. She was sure he'd be coming to save her along with Suzaku and Cornelia.
"If I ordered you to kill all the Japanese." As Lelouch spoke these words a bird like shape flapped its way from his suddenly glowing right eye and toward her own. Suddenly her vision had a red tint.
'What's happening to me? I'm in so much pain...Lulu what did you do to me. Please big brother make it stop.' Euphemia thought in vain.
The pain didn't stop, it only increased and then finally ceased. Euphemia took the gun Lelouch had given her and ran out onto the stage.
Euphemia could only watch in horror as she caught sight of a lone man getting up amongst the crowd. Her words, Her orders to the Japanese, to her own soldiers. It was too much, she wanted this to stop. Why was this man making her see these horrible things, obviously he wasn't a good person.
"Princess with everything you see before you, you cast labels and assert I the evil one. Please do look on and witness your own actions."
The voice came from nowhere. She was still in this dream, this nightmare. The immense sadness and horror almost too much to bear. But she would bear it she resolved, because these images weren't real. They couldn't be.
No voice came through to counter her thoughts.
A child's head exploded a few rows back, a soldier's sniper rifle having found its mark. The mother screamed and was soon torn in half as a knighmare's machine gun shot clean through her.
Euphemia couldn't feel anything. This was just like a sick movie for her, one she'd remember for the rest of her life.
"Can't have you losing out on the full cinematic experience now can we princess."
And then she felt it. She felt her hands grip the assault rifle she'd found laying on the ground. She could smell the stench of death and bowels emptying out onto the stadium grounds.
She caught sight of herself in a broken shard of glass. She was smiling.
'No! I couldn't...I would never do this. Why are you doing this? Do you hate me? Are you using me...to get to zero!' Euphemia settled on this inner train of thought knowing that the voice would respond like it had before when she'd thought a question up.
With everything else she was seeing, She wasn't about to question how any of this could be possible.
"No dear princess I don't intend to get Lelouch. Ah look at that, struck a nerve have I? Well don't worry, your brother doesn't know about me. V.V doesn't know either...that little shit stain will get his soon enough believe me."
'Who's V.V.?' Euphemia thought questioningly.
"Never you mind, now watch."
She'd been watching of course. Nothing had paused, their was no remote control, if their was then Euphemia would've changed the channel.
Lelouch was in front of her talking, he continued to talk as he walked past her and then spun around. The gun wasn't plastic, it wasn't something that you could take a hit from and walk away.
'No! He wouldn't! Lelouch would never shoot me, he loves me, he...'
"..."
The bullet exits the gun and time slows down. Euphemia was sure this was the strangers doing, he was drawing out the most horrifying and ridiculous scene for effect.
The bullet came at her, she could make it out and over ten seconds took in her surroundings. Corpses littered the streets and her soldier's were fighting other knightmares.
'Black Knight are here but how could they get here so fast?'
"You ask a lot of question princess. Your getting answers like a damn tidal wave here. Please pay attention will you."
The bullet was inches from her skin.
'Will I...Ahhhhh god why...the pain!'
The bullet entered through her chest and lodged itself deep inside, nicking vital organs along the way. Euphemia could feel the blood leaving her. Her vision remained red. While she heard herself voice the same thoughts she had at this very moment.
'why.'
Then it was over and she was back in this room with him. Still standing tall and seemingly bored.
Euphemia felt something wet and moved her hand to her face.
"I've been crying."
"Yes this entire time you've been balling your eye's out. I'm happy in a way, it shows your still you."
"Why would I be anyone else, how could anyone see those things and not cry." Euphemia stated as her head hung low, trying to hide her emotions from the monster before her.
The sound of foot steps made her nervous. She began to look up when it happened. Her face was buried in his chest as hugged her close to him. Euphemia went rigid.
"I'm not the monster here. Neither is Lelouch but I couldn't just let fate work itself out like this. Its why I brought you back from the dead Euphie, to save the world and your family before its too late." The man said all this before he closed his eye's briefly as if in thought.
'Get away!'
"What the..." The person thought as he was thrown to the ground and Euphemia ran in the direction of the door, the white sheet falling to the ground. A very naked Euphemia began to pound on the wooden door.
"Help! Somebody please help me! Its me Euphemia Li Britania, Please get me out!" Euphemia screamed as loud and unladylike as she possibly could. Her royal upbringing seemed to fall away with the modesty she'd left on the floor. She just wanted to escape the monster in the room.
" You can bang away all you like. If you had the strength of your sibling's you might even make it through the door. You'd just find guards...and guns and all that fun stuff waiting for you. Course they wouldn't need to shoot you." The man said to Euphemia as he gingerly walked to a corner toward the back of the room and picked up something sitting on the floor.
Euphemia's eye's went wide with horror. Perhaps the man had gone to get a murder weapon of some sort.
She spun around and looked at the man as he sat on the far end of the metallic table she'd woken up on.
"Well don't just stand their, get over here! Since you want out so bad, I'll compromise and let you see for yourself. This laptop has a wireless connection. It will tell you everything you need to know."
Euphemia didn't budge, though her hands moved to cover her crotch and breasts from view.
"Oh please like that's hiding anything. Besides when I brought you in, you'd been sitting in the ground for a month. Your eye's looked like goop and you smelled horrible, those delicate s of your looked bloated and diseased."
"No!"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Your a sick evil little man just like those nobles that always swoon over father or Cornelia trying to win favors." Euphemia revealed her breasts as she pointed an accusing finger straight at the room's other occupant.
"First of all I'm around your height, secondly I could be much larger if I suddenly desired it to be so. I'm very old and very learned in the ways of the world, Geass among the pantheon of powers that exist upon this earth. Your being naïve Just as Lelouch is selfish."
"Shut up! Don't you dare say that about Lelouch!" Euphemia screamed.
"Sorry princess but them's the bricks. Now get the fuck over here." the man said impatiently.
With the come hither gesture of his pointer finger, the man seemed to elevate Euphemia off the ground and pull her to him.
Euphemia felt cold fear well up in her as she could no longer move, she tried in vain to free herself but those cold gray eye's only grew closer. Finally she was plopped down on the steel table, still feeling restrained.
"I'm going to leave now. This computer has access to the web, to official...and unofficial video recordings. Those in case your wondering...for whatever reason, are the video recordings of you gunning down the Japanese. Your brother's made full use of his mistake."
"No...He couldn't...those are fake."
"Maybe so. Kinda hard to troll the entire world though. Britanian reprisals being what they are. Least your father was happy about your escapade. Tootles." The young man said as he faded out of existence before Euphemia's shocked eye's.
Over the next few hours Euphemia had the proverbial cold water thrown in her face. The video's existed along with others. Her funeral for one. Everyone was there, her sister, schniezel. The whole lot.
Her father called her a great patriot and vowed Britanian dominance. Websites and forums outside Britania all called her the massacre princess. She'd stepped out of her sister's shadow, the witch of Britania was nothing compared to the horrors she'd indeed committed.
In the back of her mind she knew it might be a trick...but that line of reasoning had grown weaker with each moment she spent on the web. In her heart she felt this was true. Their had been a monster in the room after all.
It was her.
Eupehmia curled up in a ball on the steel table, the sheet having been recovered. She clung to it for warmth as the tears fell and deep sadness over took her.
Outside the door the man with gray eye's turned to a subordinate.
"Give it time. C.C. Has Lelouch, the black knights and Japanese people their Zero. I'll soon have my Echo to bring into the mix."
With that the man walked off to go inquire about a certain prototype knightmare.