Preparation: Requiem
It was a quite impressive entourage; the emperor of the world, Lelouch was taking his prisoners to their execution while the world watched in a daze. Little did they know that they were in for a surprise. Z.Z. chuckled as he saw a caped figure appear in the way, his eyes gleamed, he reached for his cell phone while the people watched the events unfold.
"The information passed to us was true, you know what to do." He then turned his attention to what was happening. The man, wearing identical clothes from the legendary Zero, who was supposed to be dead, advanced at the entourage, which contained more than one knightmare and the famous Jeremiah "Orange" Gottwald.
Defying all possibilities, Zero sprinted at the knightmare, dodging every single bullet, and then getting past it by climbing it up. Z.Z. snorted, it all seemed like some badly rehearsed fight movie scene. He turned his back and walked away as Zero humiliatingly used "Orange" to jump on the emperor's vehicle.
"Zero Requiem, eh?" Z.Z. thought as he heard the shouts in the distance. "I guess the man who conquered the world turned out to be more of an idealist and fool than one might think, probably never read Hobbes." He made a mental note to himself to make fun of C.C. for that next time he met her.
"Oh, well, good for me I guess, I won't have to wait for him to die to put the next phase of my plan in action." He sighed and almost chocked trying not to laugh as another thought crossed his mind. "Not that time really matters to me."
=/=
The UFN general assembly seemed to be in complete pandemonium, with representatives of different countries shouting at the same time, some seeming close to blows. Suddenly, everything fell silent as Zero; assassin of the Demon Emperor entered the room alongside the prisoners who were released the day before.
Zero went to the speaker's table. "Welcome friends, I am happy, that despite the recent events you were all able to attend this emergency meeting. First off all, I'd like to announce that the UFN structure remains unaltered, except that you all won't be puppets anymore, and of the restoration of the Black Knights to their former glory. Now, if any of you have something to say?"
It was all pandemonium again, as most representatives turned on their microphones and started talking at the same time. "Silence!" Zero then pointed at a man. "You seem to want to say something, as you are pressing your button, however you are in silence, please share us your thoughts."
The representative of Brazil, Mr. Bragança cleared his throat before talking. "Surely you do not believe that all of us are here out of some sense of duty? For myself I can unashamedly confess that I came out of curiosity." Many other murmured their agreement. The man continued.
"I believe we can all agree that quite a few of us joined the UFN unwillingly, forced by the late Emperor." More agreement. "I'm, sorry if I may sound rude, however, the current establishment does seem too fragile, and at the same time too suffocating." More than one person was visibly nervous.
"It is a well known fact that the Black Knights were utterly defeated by the late Emperor." The members of the Black Knights who were present paled. "Moreover, the people have grown accustomed to looking down on us as mere puppets; you can all understand when I say that this structure of power has very low credibility, no?" The murmurs died as he talked, most of the people looked as if they had just been slapped.
"Military institutions are an undeniable sign of a country's freedom, I would not see this freedom stripped from my country, and I'm sure most others in this room think the same." Quite a few of the people who just recovered from their shock, murmured weakly in agreement, not quite sure if they should really support him. The people behind Zero, the emperor's ex-prisoners, seemed to be on the verge of panic.
"It is also no secret that almost all of the Black Knights high officers are of a specific nationality…" Then pandemonium broke in again, shouts of "How dare you!" and "What are you suggesting?" could be heard everywhere, once again Zero had to stop it. "Silence, all of you." He then pointed again at the man. "Mr. Bragança, I would like you to be more direct instead of throwing around subtle insults." By his voice, he was visibly shaken.
Bragança gave a bored smile. "Fine, I would like to inform the UFN general assembly of my country's decision to pull out of the UFN." He then released the speaking button, bowed, signaled the rest of his group and turned to leave. "Wait! Is there nothing that can reverse this decision?" Zero asked. The man made a sad face, and then said loud and clear. "My country's government will issue a statement about this soon, but I regret to inform that at the moment, our leaving is inevitable, sorry." The silence persisted for almost a minute after he left.
=/=
Suzaku entered his', no, Zero's room on the Ikaruga. He felt extremely tired, nervous, afraid, but most of all, hopeless. He muttered. "Lelouch, I'm sorry, I can't do this, today was just the first assembly meeting, and I was torn to shreds." Someone knocked at the door. Before he could answer, a soft voice that almost made him break down spoke. "Mr. Zero, the others are waiting for you." A guilty feeling welled up inside of him. "Nunnaly…" he muttered to himself.
He had calmed himself down by the time he entered the crowded room. They were all there: The Black Knights, members of the Chinese federation, members of the houses of Kyoto, even Cornelia, her knight and two former knights of round, Nunnaly was also present. He cleared his throat as he produced a disc from his pocket.
"I believe all to whom this letter might be of interest have gathered, I must apologize for delaying in relaying it's message, but the last couple of days have been busy, it is extremely important and it like to ask that its knowledge does not go beyond this room." They all nodded. "Then I shall give to you all the last message left by Lelouch vi Britannia 99th emperor of Britannia."
At the mention of the dead emperor nobody seemed surprised. "If you are watching this, then Zero Requiem has proceeded as planned, and I am dead." He seemed tired. "I would ask you all to trust the man before you, know that he has my trust, but please do not inquire much about his identity, I think he has the right to remain anonymous if he so wishes. Right now the hatred of the world is probably concentrated on me, something which most likely will continue to be for quite some time. I would like to believe it was a success, however this is probably the biggest gamble I've ever made. I will leave it to you all to keep the world in order." His expression suddenly turned even graver and he took a deep breath before speaking. "I never told this to anyone in life, probably because nobody would believe me anyway, and this way I won't have to deal with any reactions, I know it sounds cowardly but it is not something I like to speak about." He took another deep breath. "The incident with Euphemia… Was an accident, I wish it could be erased, but I can only try to realize her dreams. Please forgive me." By the time the screen blacked out they had all started crying silently.
=/=
On an island near Kaminejima Z.Z. walked at a brisk pace to the meeting place. The strange stone structure seemed to be only ruins, however at a touch to the right spot the stone seemed to come alive and descended into the underground. After a long corridor that took innumerous turns, he entered a great chamber with many entrances, the illumination was enough to not stumble on a rock, however not enough to see a hooded person's face. Around a circular rock table on the floor sat a man and a woman, both hooded as Z.Z. himself was.
The other man started the conversation with an overly friendly tone. "Oh my Z.Z., you didn't trust my information and went to see that sham, didn't you?" Z.Z. smiled, even though he knew it wouldn't be seen and replied in the same tone. "You old fox E.E., the only thing I would trust about you is that if I gave you a knife and turned my back on you, you would backstab me!" The other man chuckled. "Well, we both know that would have no meaning, eh?" Z.Z. scowled this time, and continued with the same tone. "That wouldn't stop you from doing it for laughs anyway, would it now?" Both burst out laughing. "You are right about this though, damn, I thought I could convince you to actually test it." Nobody watching them could read the deadly undertones that meant both would really kill each other if they could.
The woman coughed a few times, both quickly ended their laughs. "Well, now that I have the attention of both you illustrious gentlemen, I would suggest we discuss more important business." Despite seemingly matter of fact, her words dripped with venom. "C.C. and the successor of V.V.'s code, Charles zi Britannia tried to activate the sword of Akasha, obviously they failed, but since she is apparently alive, she must have changed her mind at the last moment, V.V.'s code is gone also."
E.E. sighed. "Ah! I never tire of your marvelous voice, M.M., even if the words you use have no meaning." The darkness hid a fierce scowl. "Certainly, it doesn't hold any meaning to me, except that that green-haired annoyance continues to roam this earth, and she apparently decided she doesn't want to die after all, I wonder what it means to both of your plans though."
Both man were silent for a few moments, Z.Z. spoke first, his noticeably more serious. "So long as you deliver me that which I asked to be fixed." She replied in a sulky tone. "Don't worry, my Sara can fix just about anything. The world might be in for a surprise one day. And the man you pointed for me did end up with an interesting Geass." E.E. acted curious. "Oh my, the two of you conspiring together? I'd better go about building a nuclear bunker. You wouldn't want to share the details with me by any chance?" Z.Z. chortled "My, my, the master of secrets asking for others to open up? How funny. Consider what you have heard payment for that piece of information. This meeting is finished. Ten years."
As they left the chamber at the same moment, all three had the same thought. "The next act is mine; if I can help I won't come here as I will be the last one standing."
=/=
Suzaku looked at the map of the world so wrapped in thought he didn't hear the soft rumble of the wheelchair that drew closer. "What are you doing Suzaku; shouldn't you be with the other discussing about the recent happenings?" He woke from his thoughts with a start. "Oh, Nunnaly, I'm just… I don't think I'm cut for this." He seemed quite nervous. "Lelouch thought I could do it by using Schneizel as an advisor, but with those bastards from Russia pressing for his imprisonment on charges of using the FLEIJA on Pendragon and being responsible for Damocles he is useless until we can convince them to pull out the charges." He took Zero's mask from the table and looked at it apologetically. "I'm sorry Lelouch, I have failed you…"
He continued on as if speaking to himself. "It has been one week and your plan has already crumbled to dust. Not a single former area of Britannia with the exception of Japan have remained in the UFN, among the countries that remain, all of them except the former Chinese federation try to thwart us at every turn and I don't even know to stop them. Some even accuse the black knights and even the UFN itself as a tool aiming for Japanese supremacy…" Nunnaly broke his monologue. "Suzaku, Look at me!" He turned and saw her eyes, and it surprised him, they contained steel that easily rivaled her brother's. Her voice suddenly contained a quality of command that only those born to rule were able to make. "I will not accept that my brother's death was in vain and I will also not accept that you, the one who killed him, even if at his request, think such a thing!" Suzaku smiled, and kneeled. "I'm sorry. As you command, I shall not give to despair, on another note; surely you should be able to become a great 100th empress of Britannia like this." Nunnaly blushed. "Suzaku!"
=/=
Jeremiah Gottwald felt devastated, what was he supposed to do? Surely he would not be able to contact the Black Knights, if anyone learned of a connection between them and the late emperor's personal bodyguard it would be a scandal, and god knew they were already at a delicate position as things stood. Besides how would he tell them that Lelouch's body was stolen? The memories of what happened were extremely foggy.
He had been able to run away from the commotion with a few escort guards as planned. But something did not feel right; somehow he was sure they were being followed. He turned back and saw someone important, someone he knew from the UFN assembly. "You! What are you doing here?" Then he and the guards were suddenly blinded. In the few seconds that he took to realize it was a Geass something stunned him, his thoughts started spinning, a Gejhun Disturber! How could someone know his weakness? Then he heard the man whisper to his ear. "Please don't look so surprised or angry. I hope you don't mind if I help myself to the emperor." Unable to move, Jeremiah was only able to curse with his mind. "Damn you! Do you intend to defile Lord Lelouch's corpse?" The man spoke again in a mocking tone. "Don't worry, this disturber is weak enough that you won't die and will turn off in a few minutes. What is with this face? Angry that you failed yet again, Orange?" This ignited a rage Jeremiah had not felt for a long time, and he was able to shout once before blacking out. "Curse you!"
His thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder, to which he reacted unconsciously by drawing his blade and running the man through. His shock at what he had done was quickly replaced by an even greater shock. The elderly man smiled and started talking in a cheerful tone. "My, my, britannians sure are feisty, that is the fourth time or so that one has done something like this to me." Jeremiah's thoughts started to get out of control and he could only stare slack-jawed at the realization that this man was an immortal, his thoughts settled as the man coughed. "Eh, could you please pull out your blade? It tickles." Jeremiah wasn't sure if there had been any other moment in his life as awkward as this was.
"So, what does a bearer of a code want with me? Are you a friend of the witch?" Jeremiah asked sternly, his composure back. The man replied in the same cheery tone as before. "Oh, so you know about Geass and codes! This does make the talking easier, oh, that mechanical eye. Is that the famous Geass Canceller that V.V. was working on?" Jeremiah tensed, the man was good at dodging in a conversation, and he seemed well informed. Jeremiah couldn't let his guard down. "I asked you two questions, feel like answering them?" His tone was menacing. The elderly man feigned being scared. "Oh please, young man, what if I don't? You will kill me?" At that last sentence he started laughing. He stopped once realized Jeremiah was not amused. "My, my, so grumpy, aren't we? It's just that immortality is such a good fuel for jokes, I just can't let them get past." Jeremiah tried not to be provoked, but he was trembling as he spoke. "Please, just ask my questions." The man suddenly seemed disappointed. "No jokes?" Jeremiah managed a calmer tone. "None please." The man seemed crestfallen and started mumbling. "Aw, nobody appreciates my jokes, damn." Jeremiah contemplated running the man through again, not like it would kill him anyway.
The man assumed an overly serious tone. "Is that fine?" Suddenly Jeremiah felt that only running the man through wouldn't be enough. Just… Answer… The questions! Please!" The man smiled assumed a more serious countenance. "Okay, first of all, I am no friend of that girl C.C." The girl was pronounced with an intense derision. "And second, the business I need to talk to you about is not something to be heard by just about anyone." He approached and whispered to Jeremiah. "It concerns your precious Emperor; you should be able to find clues in South America." Jeremiah was stunned. Was this man involved in that attack? Should he be trusted? "No, I am not the one responsible for his body being taken." Jeremiah felt like he was a puppet, and before he realized the man had attached strings to his every limb, but he could not sever them, he decided to play along for the moment. "Who are you anyway?"
The man chuckled. "For the last two thousand and some years I called myself by E.E., as for my true name, I'm afraid I will refuse to tell you." Jeremiah couldn't decide if he should believe it. That the man was immortal seemed obvious enough. "Well, I shall take my leave then, have a good day." Jeremiah felt weak, two thousand years old or not, he felt foolish for being so easily manipulated by that man, but for some reason he had an uncontrollable urge to go to South America. "Certainly a remarkable man, even though I don't think I want to ever again see his face."
Preparation end.