Author's Note: This was written for the Code Geass kinkmeme and is basically if daemons were inserted into the Code Geass world.
Warnings: Spoilers for the entire Code Geass series.
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or the His Dark Materials series.
Demons, Witches and Daemons
The Day a New Demon Was Born
He froze at an uncomfortable tug to his chest, turning around and scanning the dark tunnel for the one who had caused it. His eyes widened when he realized that she was nowhere to be found. "Shit. Kasumi? Kasumi!"
"Here." The Shikoku peeked out from a crevice in the wall, wiggling through the crack before bounding back over to his side.
He knelt, rubbing the top of her head and wishing that he could take his gloves off; he really wanted to feel her fur right now. But he was on a mission, and there could be poison gas in these tunnels. Wincing at the reminder, he pulled out the second gas mask, offering it to Kasumi.
She shook her head and whined. "I can't smell with that thing on."
"That's the point."
"We'll find whatever it is much quicker this way. " She glanced up at him and whined. "Besides, we sound funny with those things on."
He laughed and rubbed her head again before standing up, clipping the mask back onto his belt before gesturing for Kasumi to go first, the Shikoku wagging her tail before putting her nose to the ground. "I smelt it back there."
"What?"
"A truck." Kasumi gave him a long look. "Why would a truck be in subway tunnels? That's why I was in there." She paused to sniff at the ground, carefully padding forward, her attempt at being silent foiled by the bulletproof vest that she wore and the pack carefully belted around her middle. Kasumi growled, pacing in front of him for a moment before jerking her head up. "This way."
She bolted before he had a chance to reach down at stop her. "Kasumi! Wait!" She didn't seem to hear him.
He cursed under his breath and took off at a run, wanting to avoid the pain of having his daemon go too far from him.
Lelouch stared at his phone, not really comprehending what was on the screen before he snapped it shut and shoved it back in his pocket. Verisia whined and pawed at his arm, scrambling up into his lap when Lelouch lifted it. "No chance of calling Rivalz?"
"No." He began to stroke her, his hand following the familiar path down her back and all the way to the end of her tail, Verisia pressing close to him. They were in a bad situation, stuck in a truck driven by a terrorist, and they had no idea where they were going. Lelouch sighed, letting his hand rest on the fox's back. "No service down here."
Verisia tipped her head up. "Subway?"
"Probably."
Her tail twitched, Lelouch waiting patiently for his daemon to scan the back of the truck. Verisia remained silent for a long moment before nodding. "There's a kind of ventilation shaft, right behind the gas container." Lelouch stood up, cradling the fox in his arms and walking unsteadily across the cargo space.
There was a duct, leading to the front of the cabin, or so Lelouch assumed. It was probably used to keep the back of the truck somewhat cool since this wasn't a refrigerated truck. He reached up towards the vent, having to stand up on the tips of his toes and strain upward to pull the grate out. Verisia took advantage of his distraction to clamber up onto his head, balancing there carefully.
Lelouch winced as he felt her claws dig into his scalp, pressing his hands against the wall of the truck and remaining still. "What do you plan to do?"
"Crawl through and watch the driver." She peered down at him, presenting Lelouch with an almost comical view of her face. "If he seems sympathetic, I'll ask him to let us out."
"And, if he doesn't?"
"I'll threaten his daemon and let us out of here."
"We'd break our necks."
"He'll slow down. I'll make sure of it." Verisia gave him her best approximation of a grin before settling down on his head, ready to jump. "Alright, ready when you are."
"Right." Lelouch braced himself, trying to hold himself steady as the fox shifted on his head. It was going to hurt a bit when she jumped, and then he would have to stick close to the wall to keep himself as close as possible to her as she moved around the cab of the truck.
"Going." She never got the chance to jump, both of them upset when the truck crashed into something.
Lelouch was thrown forward against the wall, hearing Verisia's yelp of pain before there was pressure on the top of his head, Lelouch crumpling against the wall before being thrown backwards into the canister of poison gas as the truck gave a final lurch and came to a stop.
He lay dazed on the ground, his head and back throbbing from where he had hit one of the metal protrusions on the side of the canister. He looked up at the sound of claws on metal, staring up as Verisia peered down. "Lelouch?"
"I'm alright." She huffed, shuffling in place as he carefully stood up, limping away from the canister to slump against the opposite wall.
"He says he's alright now. You could have broken your neck, Lelouch." Verisia jumped onto the stack of crates beside the canister, peering down at Lelouch from her perch. "Be more careful next time."
He rubbed the back of his neck, glaring at the daemon. "I can't just jump like you do. Besides it wasn't my fault." Verisia snorted and curled up on top of the boxes, flicking her tail in front of her nose. Lelouch watched her, trying not to smile fondly. Verisia cared for him in her own way, but she wouldn't come down to check to see if he was really alright for a few more minutes.
Lelouch let his hand drop to the ground, staring at the cab of the truck. "What was that? An accident? Or else…"
He tensed as he heard the door to his left opening up. Lelouch glanced over at Verisia, watching her slip back into the shadows, trying her best to hide the patches of white in her fur. He kept his gaze locked on his daemon as she stared at the door, watching her brown eyes move quickly as she scanned the area. After a long tense moment, she gave a nod. "I think it's alright."
"Good, then we use this chance to get out of here."
Lelouch got on his knees, peeking outside before carefully standing up. He checked to make sure that Verisia was right, ignoring her annoyed yip. He trusted her, but he also wanted to check himself, old habits died hard.
He allowed himself to relax a moment later, turning to look at the canister, running his hands over it.
"What are you doing?"
"Quiet, Verisia."
"Lelouch, we are getting out of here now and calling Rivalz to come and pick us up. We've run into the middle of a terrorist group without a plan."
"I'll think up a plan."
"Before or after they shoot you?" Verisia forgot all pretenses of hiding, standing up on the crate with the fur on her back bristling. "You're Britannian, Lelouch. They'll shoot first and-Move!"
He turned at her shout, only able to raise his arms to defend himself as a soldier came spinning at him. Lelouch grunted as he felt the kick land on his arms, falling over onto his back. He pushed himself off the floor only to be pinned down as the soldier calmly straddled him.
Lelouch tried to struggle, reaching up to pull the hand that the soldier had planted around his neck away. "Are you Britannian?"
The impassive helmet split at the bottom, the gas mask falling away, revealing a chin and a mouth. Lelouch continued to try and pull away, stopping when the hand squeezed and the soldier spoke. "That's enough mindless murder."
His eyes widened. "Wait, I'm not one of-"
"Planning to use poison gas? Don't play dumb with me!"
"Get off of him!" Verisia leapt from her place on the crates, landing beside Lelouch and snarling. The soldier hesitated for a moment, staring at Verisia. The fox bristled. "Didn't you hear me? I said get-"
The soldier's daemon took that moment to jump into the truck, ducking easily around the two humans on the floor. The dog lunged at Verisia, the fox snapping at it but never straying far from Lelouch. She was easily caught by the soldier's daemon, the dog snatching her up and pinning her down to the ground.
Lelouch flinched at the pain that Verisia felt, but took advantage of the soldier's distraction to kick him, getting a solid hit on the soldier's knee. He was rewarded with a yelp from the dog and the pressure on his neck disappearing as the soldier scrambled to his feet and backed away. The dog followed its human a moment later, Lelouch taking the chance to gather up Verisia and stand up, carefully searching for wounds as he held her close.
When he was sure that she was fine, he turned his attention to the soldier, surprised that the man was actually staying still. He clutched Verisia closer to him, feeling her stick her head under his chin, her favorite place to settle when she was seeking comfort. "I'm not here by choice. And if that's poison gas it was made in Britannia, wasn't it?"
He was sure that the soldier muttered something, too focused on the fear and anger that came from himself and his daemon to bother to figure out what it was. "Mindless murder? Then why don't you just obliterate Britannia?"
"Lelouch, it's me." The soldier pulled his helmet off, revealing a familiar mop of brown curly hair and green eyes. The helmet was carefully tucked under his arm as the soldier smiled. "Suzaku."
He stared at his friend, trying to process what was happening.
Suzaku had lived, he had survived through that nightmare that was Japan after the Britannian invasion and Nunnally and Lelouch had left. Lelouch could still picture his last glimpse of his friend, Suzaku standing in the middle of a destroyed field, watching Lelouch as he was driven away with one hand clutching Kasumi's scruff.
Verisia wiggled out of his hold and dropped to the floor, dashing across the space between him and Suzaku to sniff noses with Suzaku's daemon, her way of confirming that what the man said was true. Lelouch turned his attention to Suzaku's daemon, some part of him surprised that Kasumi looked exactly the way she had seven years ago when Suzaku had come running up to their storeroom, saying that they had to leave. He had just thought that she had stayed that way to be able to better protect the three of them as they had traveled across the war torn island. Verisia and Nunnally's Asri had taken on the forms of a grizzly bear and a lion, respectively, for the same reason. But, apparently, something had caused Kasumi to settle that night.
That was a little disturbing, Suzaku had barely been ten for a month when Kasumi had settled, most daemons took on their permanent forms at thirteen. But that was only the second most disturbing thing about is friend. The first was… "Y-you became a Britannian soldier?"
"Yeah." Lelouch wasn't sure if it was his imagination or if he wanted Suzaku to sound embarrassed. "And what about you? You're a-"
"What are you saying?" Lelouch tensed, Verisia tensing as well. She backed away from Kasumi, heading for Lelouch. She managed to get part of the way between the two of them before the canister started to open.
Lelouch turned to stare at it, his eyes widening as Suzaku lunged at him. He felt something press against his face before Suzaku tackled him to the ground, glancing to the side as Kasumi pulled Verisia down as well, pressing herself over the fox as a form of protection. Lelouch's attention was caught by the canister again, watching as a golden light pulsed from the center before dissolving.
"That's not poison gas." Lelouch felt Suzaku shift, the soldier now lying mostly on top of him as they stared at the green haired girl that struggled to stand, ending up falling over as the straight jacket restricted her.
Suzaku was up on his feet first, Kasumi at his side as they went over to stand by the canister, Suzaku shaking his head before looking back at Lelouch. "What is it?"
Lelouch could only shrug, carefully getting back on his feet as Suzaku picked the girl up and carried her outside of the truck, Lelouch following closely. They both knelt on the ground, their daemons lying nearby and exchanging surprised glances.
Suzaku was the first to touch her, checking the buckles on her uniform as he tried to work out how to get them undone, Lelouch watching him as nausea built. Where was it? Everyone had one and it wasn't in the canister. So where was it? And how could Suzaku be touching her and not reacting? It was taking all Lelouch had to sit next to her.
"Lelouch, help me with this."
"S-Suzaku, she doesn't-"
"Hm?" He looked up at Lelouch, glancing into the truck before looking back at the girl and pulling his hands away. "Oh, her daemon? I assumed she was a witch."
Lelouch stared at Suzaku in shock. Witches weren't exactly common, not with the dual persecution of the Magisterium and Britannia. Most of the clans had been wiped out entirely or forced into hiding. Because of this, people kept their daemons even closer; they could get pulled in by the police if their daemon wandered too far, a classic sign of a witch.
What surprised Lelouch most about this was how unconcerned Suzaku seemed about this. Lelouch shivered, Verisia coming over to rub her head against his hand, an attempt to calm him down.
Suzaku looked up from trying to undo the straps, glancing at Verisia before giving Lelouch an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I know someone whose bond with their daemon had been stretched because of an accident in her childhood. I'm kind of used to this."
With that, he went back to work; Lelouch managing to rouse himself from his shocked stupor to reach up and begin to undo the straps of the outfit, Verisia curled up close to him. They worked in silence for a while, Lelouch finally able to get over how wrong the girl felt because of her missing daemon, glancing up at Suzaku as the soldier carefully unzipped the bottom of the suit to free the girl's legs, suddenly annoyed.
Suzaku had said something about poison gas before, which meant that he had been sent down with that report. Someone in the chain of command had lied to cover this up. Lelouch looked up at Suzaku, struggling with the stiff buckles that kept part of the outfit over the girl's face. "Tell me the truth, Suzaku. Poison gas? This girl?"
"Hey, it's what they told us in the briefing. I swear." Suzaku sat back on his knees with a frown, opening his mouth like he was about to say something when a shout drew their attention.
"Stinking monkey! Being an honorary Britannian will not excuse you."
Verisia moved to stand in front of Lelouch, Lelouch feeling her struggle to keep herself looking neutral. Neither of them wanted to attract the attention of the soldier's daemons. Verisia would have been torn to pieces in moments by the array of Dobermans and Mastiffs that were snarling at them.
Lelouch focused on the captain, his gaze landing briefly on the black Belgian Shepherd Dog that was standing by the officer's side. He shifted his hold on the girl, about to reach out for Suzaku only to discover that his friend had jogged over to face the captain, Kasumi slinking after him, the Shikoku shooting longing glances back at Lelouch and Verisia.
"But sir, I was told this was poison gas."
"How dare you question orders?" Both Suzaku and Kasumi cringed, Lelouch's eyes widening at that. Neither Suzaku nor Kasumi were acting right. The Suzaku that he had known would have glared at the man, and Kasumi wouldn't be standing with her head lowered and her tail between her legs, a painfully artificial show of submission that no one else seemed to recognize.
The captain seemed pleased with this display, clasping his hands behind his back as his daemon stopped glaring at Kasumi. "However, in light of your outstanding military achievements I'm going to be lenient." The captain pulled something out from behind him, Verisia growling at the flash of light off metal. "Private Kururugi, take this and execute the terrorist."
"But he's not a terrorist." Suzaku was obviously struggling not to look at him, but Kasumi was drifting slightly behind her human, placing herself between Lelouch and the rest of the soldier's daemons. Kasumi would have a better time against the daemons, but she still wouldn't be enough to prevent them from being killed. Lelouch swallowed and rested a trembling hand on his daemon, the other still wrapped firmly around the girl's shoulders. "He's a civilian who got caught up in all this."
"You insubordinate little-That's an order! Didn't you swear your loyalty and life to Britannia?"
"Suzaku…" Lelouch tightened his grip on Verisia's fur. They would be in more trouble if they revealed that they knew Suzaku, it would bring up questions about his past and, maybe, get him brought to the wrong people.
"Yes but…I can't."
"What?"
"I won't, sir. I won't shoot a civilian." Suzaku turned to look at Lelouch with a smile, Lelouch and Verisia relaxing at that. It was too easy to fall back into their normal pattern around Suzaku. That smile meant that everything was fine; Suzaku had used it when they were crossing fields of dead bodies and he and Kasumi had scouted ahead. "I can't follow your orders, sir."
"Very well."
Lelouch saw the captain lift the gun, grasping it properly before aiming it at the place where Suzaku's bulletproof vest didn't cover the shirt. Suzaku's eyes widened, Lelouch feeling Verisia slip out from under his hand just before the gun was fired.
"Suzaku!"
He expected the crack of the gun being fired, but not the squelching sound as the bullet hit flesh soon afterward.
Suzaku dropped to the ground, Kasumi whining and slumping as well, Lelouch's heart beating faster when he saw that Kasumi hadn't burst into a shower of gold particles. It meant that Suzaku was still alive, at least for now.
Verisia dashed across the floor, nearly crashing into Kasumi before starting to nip and nudge at her, Lelouch hearing her frantic cries to their friend. She gave him a few helpless looks, pawing at the muzzle of the Shikoku, that enough to get Lelouch to move, Verisia's frantic worry spilling over into him.
It was a simple matter to rush over to Suzaku, kneeling down to pull his friend's head into is lap, his fingers shaking as he felt for a pulse. There was one there, but it was slow, too slow to be healthy. But at least Suzaku was alive.
Lelouch let out a shaky sigh of relief, grabbing fistfuls of Suzaku's shirt as he tried to calm himself back down. Suzaku was still alive, for now, but they had to get him help fast. He was already bleeding out through the wound, and there was no telling what the bullet had ruptured. It was just a matter of getting a radio and…
There was a decisive click as the gun was cocked.
"What an appropriate location for a terrorist to meet his end."
Lelouch looked up at the captain, feeling the cold metal of the gun against his forehead. He swallowed and glared up at the captain, hating the man's smile. "You scum."
The captain frowned, Lelouch glorying in his small victory before the gun was turned around, Lelouch grunting at the end slammed into his head.
He reached up to press a hand against his aching head, the soldiers taking advantage of that to pull him to his feet and shove him away from Suzaku. Lelouch stumbled backwards, his hand shaking as he saw them kick Suzaku out of their way, his friend discarded like a piece of trash.
A sudden bout of cursing drew his attention to where Verisia was, the fox perched on top of Kasumi, snarling at the daemons and men who tried to approach them. It was an impressive display from the little daemon, but not enough to deter them for long.
He expected a daemon to force Verisia away. He didn't expect the captain to simplely reach down and pick up Verisia.
Lelouch fell to his knees at the touch of the man's hand on his daemon, wrapping his arms around himself and shivering even as Verisia went limp in the man's hold. He clawed at his arms, needed the horrible feeling to just go away, that and the nausea that was building up. He just wanted the captain to stop touching her. "P-please…"
The captain laughed, throwing Verisia at Lelouch.
Lelouch rushed to catch her, missing by a couple of inches and shouting in pain as Verisia landed hard on the concrete. They didn't waste time checking to see if she was alright, Verisia fleeing into his arms. Lelouch cradled her close, ducking his head to press his face into her fur as he tried to forget the horrible feeling of violation that he had gotten when the captain had touched her.
He looked up as the captain laughed, feeling Verisia press herself closer, the fox giving an unconvincing snarl towards the captain before pressing the top of her head against the underside of Lelouch's chin. That just caused the man to laugh again, leveling the gun at Lelouch. "You call us scum and then beg for mercy? You're a weak boy." Lelouch flinched at that, his gaze never leaving the gun that was pointed at is forehead. "This will be a mercy, an eradication of bad genes. Want to beg again, boy?"
Lelouch shook his head, his hold on Verisia tightening. He didn't want to die; he had too many people to live for. Nunnally needed him to take care of her, to be her family. Suzaku was bleeding out just a few feet from him; he needed to be taken care of. And he had just found him. But he couldn't beg, not again. It had hurt his pride enough just to stutter out that word once, he wouldn't do it again.
Movement from his right startled Lelouch. The girl stood up and threw herself between him and the captain. "He mustn't die!"
The gun went off a second later, Lelouch falling back and nearly letting go of Verisia as the girl tumbled to the ground, blood pooling around her from where her skull had cracked when she hit the cement. "You shot her."
He vaguely heard the click as the gun was cocked again, Lelouch too busy staring at the blood that was leaking out around the girl, trying to scoot away from it. It was disgusting and messy and too much like his mother. Lelouch squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his hold on Verisia, trying to calm himself down. He wouldn't die like this; he would die glaring at his captives, not a frightened teenage boy.
Lelouch swallowed and went to stand, surprised when Verisia scrambled up onto his shoulders, steadying herself here. She leaned forward to nuzzle his jaw, using the sign of affection to hide the fact that she was whispering in his ear. "I don't want to die alone."
He reached up to pet her, gasping as the girl on the floor moved, one of her hands wrapping around his wrist. Lelouch jerked, feeling Verisia trying to keep her balance as he moved. Then he couldn't feel her claws digging into his shoulders anymore, he couldn't feel anything, couldn't see anything but white.
Lelouch turned, just seeing more of the endless white around him, one hand reaching up to check his shoulders for Verisia, panicking a bit when he couldn't find her. She had to be there unless the captain had taken her again, but he would have felt that as well.
"You don't want it to end here, do you?"
He froze at the sound of the voice, feeling that it sounded much too amused for the situation that he was in. But his mind couldn't work past the fact that he couldn't find Verisia, and that it didn't hurt to have her so far away.
"After all you've sacrificed, after how hard you tried. You still have a reason for living."
He turned in an attempt to find the voice, but came up with nothing, settling for wrapping his arms around himself and just listening.
"I propose a deal. In exchange for power you must agree to make my wish come true. Accept this contract and its conditions and, while living in the world of humans, you will live apart from them. A different providence. A different time. A different life. The power of the king will condemn you to a life of solitude. If you are prepared for this-"
"I hereby accept the terms of your contract!" Lelouch cut the voice off before it could finish, shaking. He could get out of this, continue to take care of Nunnally and make sure that Suzaku was properly treated. He could get revenge on the man that had dared to touch his daemon. And he could find out who killed his mother.
He blinked rapidly when the white suddenly disappeared, leaving him in darkness for a moment until the sharp press of Verisia's claws on his shoulder brought him back. Lelouch looked down at the girl, surprised to see that she hadn't moved. He could have sworn…
Lelouch glanced up at the gun that was aimed at his head, raising a hand to steady Verisia as he stood. "Say… how should a Britannian who detests his own country live his life?"
The gun waved for a moment before the captain steadied it, his daemon growling. "Are you some kind of radical?"
Lelouch couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up, feeling Verisia tense under his hand. She quieted a moment layer, laying down over his shoulders with her tail draped down his chest. Lelouch could almost feel the smirk from her as she glared down at the captain's daemon, the dog snarling louder. He had to raise his voice to talk over the snarling daemon. "What's wrong? Why not shoot? Your opponent is just a schoolboy. Perhaps you've finally realized, the only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed."
There was a slight burning in his left eye, Lelouch tightening his hold on Verisia as he felt her nearly slip from him, feeling her tremble under his hand. He didn't know what was making her react like that, but he would find out later. Right now his whole attention belonged to the power that he had been given, concentrating entirely on the men in front of him. "I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you, all of you, die!"
For a moment Lelouch thought that it hadn't worked, trying to remain calm as he watched the soldiers take out their guns. He barely heard Verisia whisper into his ear "Look at their daemons" before the captain was laughing.
The man brought the gun up to the side of his head. "Happily, your highness! Fire!"
Ten guns when off, Lelouch blinking as some of the blood splattered on him, watching the soldier's daemons explode into golden particles. He stared at them until they disappeared, shivering at the memory of the look of horror on the daemon's faces in the moment that the guns were fired.
He was snapped out of his daze by a whine from Verisia, quickly dropping to his knees and rifling through the captain's belongings for a radio. He couldn't forget about Suzaku. A glance to the side showed that Verisia had gone back to prodding Kasumi, probably trying to get her up again. But at least she was still there; it meant that Suzaku still had a chance.
"Who is this?"
Lelouch nearly dropped the radio at the sound of the voice, glancing at Verisia before clearing his throat, letting his voice waver and crack. "I-is this the military?"
"I'll ask you again, who is this?"
Lelouch licked his lips. "I-It was just a dare from one of my classmates, to walk into the ghetto and get out alive. But then there were these terrorists and they said that had poison gas."
"Poison gas?"
"Yes sir. They threatened me and I ran. I found a small group of Britannian soldiers, but they were shot. Oh God, they're all dead."
"Calm down, son." Lelouch flinched at the fatherly tone the man on the line took, making a face. "Can you tell us where you are?"
"I…I don't-"
"Activate one of the tracking devices on the soldiers' vests."
"A-alright." Lelouch carefully walked over to Suzaku, searching a moment before finding the button, pressing it and allowing himself a moment to check his friend's pulse. "Done. Wait, I think one's still alive!"
"Alive?"
"I can feel a pulse."
"Alright, son, we'll be down there. Just stay where you are."
Lelouch stammered out a reply, switching off the radio before throwing it away from him. He would be leaving now, despite the urge to stay and wait to make sure they got Suzaku. He wasn't going to risk being found by Britannian soldiers.
A soft touch to his hand got his attention, Lelouch crouching down on the floor to gather his daemon in his arms, glancing between Suzaku and the girl before walking off down the tunnel.
Verisia scrambled at his chest before slumping. "They can't find us."
"No. For Nunnally's sake we have to hide."
She didn't respond for a while, Lelouch content to carry her through the tunnels until they got out, hoping that it would get rid of that horrible feeling that still lingered in his veins. As if reading his mind, Verisia turned around, stretching so she could rest her paws on his left shoulder to lick his cheek, getting the soldier's blood off before licking the skin under his eye. She continued for a while before pulling back. "That felt weird."
"Did it hurt?"
"No. It just felt like you went away for a while, but I wasn't worried." She tipped her head to the side, her eyes narrowing as she thought. "We can do this."
Lelouch nodded. "This power moves our plans forward."
"We can do this." Verisia bounced excitedly in his arms, her eyes gleaming. "We can destroy Britannia!"