A/N: Hello! This is my first fanfiction. It's set in an alternate universe and some characters may be out of character. Anyway, enjoy as I practice to become a better writer.
Chapter 1
In the garden of the Aries Villa, a young boy could be spotted chasing a little girl. His messy charcoal hair was roughly tossed from side to side as he ran after his younger sister. On the side lines, sat his beautiful mother, Marianne. She kept a watchful eye on her younglings, as she sat there knitting handkerchiefs for them.
"Hurry, brother Lelouch! Catch me!" Nunnally called out to him, laughing all the while.
He stopped and hunched over, huffing.
"Haha! Come on, Lelouch," her childish voice called out again, "Come and catch me!"
"I-I'll catch you!" he said in breaths before running after her again.
Marianne stopped her knitting and watched at their playful figures. She chuckled at her children.
"Okay, kids! It's time to come back. We're going to head to town in a bit. Go on in and get ready to go."
The two children stopped their playing and obediently did as they were told, running back to the house.
"Welcome back, Lelouch and Nunnally-sama," a young Sayako, who looked like she was in her teens, greeted.
"Hello, Sayako-san," Nunnally replied back.
Lelouch simply nodded his head and smiled.
"Where is Marianne-sama?" Sayako asked.
"She'll be here in a moment," Lelouch replied walking after Nunnally. "Oh! We'll need to get ready to go to town, Sayako-san."
"Hai, Lelouch-sama."
By now, Lelouch was used to Sayako throwing out Japanese words here and there. In fact he was learning the Japanese language with Nunnally and with the help of Sayako.
Marianne soon followed.
"Welcome back, Marianne-sama," Sayako greeted again.
"Hello, Sayako-chan," Marianne greeted back. "You don't have to be so formal, Sayako-chan. Smile a little," Marianne advised the younger lady.
"H-hai…" she mumbled back, a blush creeping on her cheeks.
"Did you prepare for us to head out to town yet, Sayako-chan?"
"I will get to it, Marianne-sama," she said and excused herself.
"Thank you, Sayako-chan." She smiled at the young lady once again.
The town was quite a lively place, but out in the alley, it was dark and cold. Trash littered the way and stray animals lurked in the area. They would sniff the trash, seeking for any scrap of food available to feed their empty stomach.
Bags of trash ruffled and a young fiery red-haired girl's head popped out. She looked to the left and then to the right, her azure eyes were searching the dark trashed alley for food.
"Hold on, Kage!" she desperately voiced out. "Just wait for me."
Tears began to well up in her eyes, as she rummaged through the bags of garbage. Kage was her best friend, and pet, but his life was beginning to slip away from his physical body, and it scared her. She didn't want to be left alone in this cold world that she knew. She was afraid to be alone again. Orphaned from birth, she lived in an orphanage until one day she got so fed up waiting for her parents to find her that she ran off in search of them. One thought always crossed her mind: "Why was I abandoned?"
A breeze blew, and it almost sounded like Kage's voice calling for her saying, "Kallen, please come back. I can't hold on anymore."
The tears finally dropped from her eyes and slid down her cheeks. She couldn't push back the nagging feeling in her gut, telling her that Kage was close to death. Dropping her original conquest, she darted her way out of the alley and into the streets. She dashed as fast as her legs could carry her to where she knew Kage would be waiting for her.
Skidding to a stop, Kallen rushed over to Kage. He whimpered as his eyes could barely open.
"Kage!" Kallen's voice cracked, "I-I'm back." She ran over to his side.
Kage cried back sorrowfully, unable to say or do anything else.
Just like Kallen's fallen tears, Kage's eyes closed, his body ceased to move, and his life drained away.
Her voice cried out, wailing for the lost of a loved one.
Lelouch walked solemnly alongside his mother and Nunnally, with Sayako tailing behind. She was like a maid and a body guard, which was impressive, because her frame was like that of a fragile elegant woman.
Their mother stopped in front of a store, the entrance caved in. Its front door was embellished in antique carving and velvet curtains adorned the glass window from the inside, giving off a mysterious air. The sign hung above the window to the left of the door, reading "C.C.'s Shop".
"What are we doing here, Mommy?" Nunnally inquired.
"I have business with someone in here. You two hang out with Sayako-chan okay?"
Nunnally nodded, while Lelouch's eyes took in the details of the shop. "What kind of shop is this?" he thought to himself.
"Now hurry along with Sayako," Marianne ordered. "Take care of them well until I come back okay, Sayako-chan?"
Sayako nodded and urged the two children to follow her.
The trio strolled along the side walk, looking at the shops' content through the windows. Nunnally awed and mused at all the things inside the shop. They hardly ever had the opportunity to come out due to the danger that opposed them, for they were of royal blood, even though they lived far from the royal home.
Suddenly, Lelouch's ears picked up on something weird amongst the crowds' chattering and shuffling. It was a mourning cry, full of sorrow and grief.
"Sayako-san," he suddenly called out, halting the older one.
"Yes, Lelouch-sama?"
Nunnally snapped from her daze and looked towards her brother, "What is it, brother Lelouch?"
He stood there quietly, listening again for the wail. Then he heard it again, and certain of it, he decided to point them to it, "I think I heard something odd."
Sayako tried to pick up on it, standing there quietly and concentrating. Nunnally was trying to do the same thing too. "I don't hear anything," Sayako says after a moment of concentrating.
"Let's go see. I'll lead us," Lelouch announced, eager to find the source of the wailing.
Kallen couldn't stop her tears from flowing and her voice from crying. Hugging Kage's body for the last time, she took her ragged blanket and covered his black and white furred body. It was hard to be leaving him behind without a proper grave, but it was difficult to find a place for him. Closing her eyes, she slowly got to her feet, willing herself to stop crying.
She took a deep breath, and slowly opened her eyes, hoping that she would find a better place awaiting her. Her vision was blurry at first from the tears that hadn't been shed, but when it cleared, she gasped.
In front of her view stood three figures, two charcoal-haired and one dirty blonde-haired, their eyes were peering curiously at her. They didn't look dangerous, but Kallen's defense skills kicked in and she quickly went into defense stance.
"What are you guys doing here?" she growled.
Sayako reflexively moved in front of the two children, "Stay back, Lelouch-sama."
"So you were the wailing voice I heard," Lelouch mumbled back.
"What was that?" Kallen questioned with a scowling expression on her young face.
"Nothing…" he trailed off.
"What are you doing here?" Sayako questioned Kallen, her expression borderline of concern and alert.
"This is my place. Stay away," the fiery girl warned.
"This is your place? This is no place for a young lady like you to stay," the maid replied.
The red-head stood there silent.
Nunnally viewed the whole situation taking place clueless, but she could feel the tension. Breaking out into a sudden smile, Nunnally popped out beside Sayako, "Hello, I'm Nunnally vi-," she stopped herself, "Lamperouge. Who are you?"
The two older figures sighed in relief. Kallen was taken aback, but recovered shortly.
"K-Kallen…" she mumbled back, she could feel her defense starting to relax.
Seeing this Sayako let her guard down a couple of notches too. As for Lelouch, the genius that he was, immediately drew up a conclusion as his eyes scanned the place.
"I take it you have no home, Kallen?" Lelouch interjected.
Kallen glowered at his direct statement, silent.
"What should we do, Sayako-san?" Nunnally pulled at Sayako's sleeve.
She looked down at the little girl and smiled, "Nunnally-sama, I don't really know what to do."
The trio suddenly got into a little circle and began chatting within themselves, which shocked Kallen because they had their backs to her, and she had posed herself as a threat to them, which just violated the rule of "never turn your backs on your enemy".
"What do you mean nothing can be done?" Kallen could hear Nunnally wail.
"Shush, shush, Nunnally-sama. I'm not saying that absolutely nothing can be done, it's just we can't-"
"We can. We should take her in," Lelouch interrupted Sayako before she could finish.
"But Lelouch-sama, what will Marianne-sama say to this?"
"I know! Mommy will agree," Nunnally cheerfully answered.
It was difficult to get Kallen to come along with the trio, but Sayako and her strength finally got the fierce girl to succumb. Lugging the younger girl over her shoulders, the trio headed back to C.C.'s Shop.
Just as they reached the door, Marianne exited the building.
"Oh, you three are back," she chuckled, "How was it like to walk around town?"
"It was fun!" Nunnally chirped running over to her mother and hugging her.
"I'm glad you had fun, Nunnally. What about you, Lelouch?"
Lelouch smiled, "Interesting…" he trailed off, "But what interested me the most was this girl," he finished pointing to the luggage over Sayako's shoulders.
Marianne gasped, "My! Sayako-san. Who is that?"
"It's an orphaned girl."
"Orphaned?"
"Hai, Marianne-sama. When we found her, she had been crying."
"Mommy! Can we take her in?" Nunnally pleaded.
"She isn't a pet," Lelouch injected.
"That's true, Lelouch. Nunnally, we can give her a home and our hospitality, but I can't say that she'll stay," Marianne explained to Nunnally.
"It's okay, Mommy. Nunnally understands." She really did understand that much.
Marianne nodded to Sayako and the group of four started off to the carriage that had brought them to town.
A/N: There you have it. My first fanfiction. There will be more chapters, I hope!
