Before anything else I'd like to apologize for how long this took to update, despite this being my laptop, my dad insisted that he and his girlfriend's profile be given administrator privileges. I let them borrow it sometimes when they need it. To make a long story short they let one of our housemates use it without asking me, and a good deal of shit ended up deleted. So this was gone with no back-ups, which is fine in the grand scheme of things because it wasn't far along, but Shattered Fate, which was much farther along, was gone too, and the backups were corrupted. So that's on Haitus if you cared and haven't seen my profile. As for this well, we're trucking on with this at the very least, so once again, I'm sorry for the wait and thanks for the support.
Anyways before we start some I'll respond to some of the reviews (the ones that grab my attention) as of right before this is posted
Dragon Silhouette: Thank you and I'll try to break up my paragraphs a bit more. Also you cannot have a disloyal Jeremiah Gottwald, for he is 250% loyalty by mass.
Konan248: The main catalysts for Suzaku's ascendancy into jerkdom were the Euphienator incident (better known as the SAZ massacre) and finding out that not only was Lelouch, well Zero, and ya know caused said attempted genocide, as well as being a terrorist and doing terroristy things. But it was mainly the Euphienator stuff. As for if Suzaku will keep his, literally, suicidal naivety? Probably not. Will the catalyst for said loss be enough to turn him into a jerk? Possibly, but at the very least he'll be a very polite cynic.
Salvare: There will be yuri shenanigans I assure you, as for actual yuri pairings? Still haven't really decided, and personally, I hate having any sort of paring just for the sake of a romantic subplot. On the other hand I don't typically plan my stories out beyond basic plot points, so subplots and other things kinda evolve on their own as I write. The TLDR of it is maybe there will and be maybe there won't be, even I don't know.
MadeInHere: I can't tell you if things are going to have a significant slowdown or not, seeing as we've basically hit the ground running, but I can assure you it won't be all planning, action and revelations. As for our Heroine not getting Geass… Not gonna lie, I actually seriously considered it, but it's just not Code Geass if the protagonist can't randomly mind control people into committing mass suicide.
Salvare: Okay, but with whom? Euphie? The Lancelot? Spin Kicks? The inevitable crushing realization that his hypocritical ideology necessitates him becoming the very thing he despises most in order to accomplish his goals? In all seriousness I don't know; refer to the reply to Salvare for more details.
Grimraven.V: Gonna be perfectly honest here, I have no idea if Gino is even going to be a really significant character in this story. As for the paring thing, well refer to the above.
Ararararararagi Rage: Thanks, honestly I worry about my grammar the most as I'm aware that my writing style can be a strange mix of modern and semi-archaic both in terms of diction and structure, so it's really nice to see people like it. As for the "For want of a Nail" trope, well the original Code Geass is arguably the result of that, personally I think it's not due to Sakuradite and the titular psychic powers that to me just make it seem like an Alternate Universe in and of itself rather than a divergent one.
As for this particular story, well there's a lot of inconsistencies about who owns what in the show and various spin offs, (An early map in the show depicting the Russian federation, well existing, despite Euro-Britannia and The Chinese owning all of modern day Russia for example), and a few things that just don't make sense within the context of the universe, like Australia, so I consider this to be more of a straight AU from Code Geass. If only because I have no idea of what the official stance on these inconsistencies actually is, so I'm going to clean them up as best I can.
Heika: Good question there, I actually made a whole little lore thing for the family, odds are they will never be mentioned again in any fashion, because hey, go big or go home.
Anyways the answer is relatively simple and based off of a combination of historical knowledge, and guesstimation at what Britannia's socio-economic structure would be like. The Bellerose, minor nobility who originally came from France, spent beyond their means in an attempt to move up in society, accruing a minor amount of debt. Now when the storm hit, it hit hard, their vineyards were destroyed, house burnt down by lightening, cars totaled, and worst of all there wine was all but lost. TL;DR they got fucked hard, and the one option left? Borrow more money and try to rebuild, which didn't quite work out, they managed to stay operating and keep the debt from growing but never paid it off, and lost quite a bit of prestige as, well they could barely keep their business afloat. So after Euro-Britannia was formed, they sold off their assets and moved there to start over.
And I agree, way too much Yaoi, nothing against homosexual pairings but there are just way too many forced and fucking nonsensical parings on this site. Then again, as stated before I hate purposely shoving in romantic subplots of any kind. Or blatant Romance in general, I like subtle natural evolutions of relationships, not the in your face LOOK ITS LUV, cringe that makes up ninety percent of the genre.
Now that we're done replying on to the story!
Chapter two: The Knight and the Maid
Sayoko was somewhat nervous, as she and Lady Asford walked to the Red Star building, it wasn't the building itself, nor what it represented, she'd been in there enough times for reasons both innocent and not so innocent that it didn't faze her anymore. No what she was concerned about was that her charge, the girl who'd become like a daughter to her over these past six years, was in there alone with someone, telling them her greatest secret and Sayoko wasn't there to protect her.
Lady Leloucia, please don't let this be another foolish impulse!
When she'd heard her mistress's plans, the Ashfords may be the ones paying her but Sayoko was only loyal to Leloucia, over the phone she'd nearly had a heart attack. Her lady's gambling addiction was self-destructive enough as it was, but going back to the Royal Family was basically painting a huge target on her back, and unfortunately the most dangerous people were the ones that Sayoko wouldn't be able to eliminate without repercussions that were equally dangerous. She reached behind her back to feel the kunai hidden there, even if the person she was meeting was a trained solider she felt confidant she could kill them should Leloucia's trust be misplaced. Her own worries slightly soothed Sayoko looked to her former mistress, even from behind her she could see the worry in Milly's tense form. Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done for it; nothing that could possibly calm her could actually be said in public.
Her thoughts moved to how odd a pair the two must look, her, a somewhat petit Japanese maid with brown hair and eyes, looking to all the world to be the very picture of serenity, and one Millicent Ashford, the buxom, tall and clearly stressed blonde haired blue eyed student of the school bearing her surname.
Such was the situation when they walked into the building; Milly moving to head straight for the elevators, even though she didn't even know what floor Lelouica's office was on. Sighing, Sayoko gently grabbed her arm and guided her to the chairs, "Please take a moment to collect yourself, Lady Ashford, I'll make sure Leloucia is ready for us." It was an excuse and they both knew it, Sayoko had the basic layout of the entire building committed to memory, and while Milly didn't know that, she definitely did know that Sayoko would never allow the younger girl to do something like this without having totally free and unrestricted access to her.
"Hello Ms. Shinozaki, if you're here to see L.L she's meeting with a Margrave right now, not the kind of man who seems like he'd appreciate interruptions if you catch my drift." Gregory said, in all honesty Sayoko liked the man, easy to get along with and totally non-discriminatory, rare traits for a Britannian.
"Of course, she called us here for that reason; do you mind calling and confirming everything though? Milly is very upset right now and needs some time to calm down a bit."
He nodded quickly picking up the phone "L.L, Ms. Shinozaki is here with a girl named Milly…"
Sayoko tuned out the rest of the conversation, instead going over to Milly to check on her, "Lady Ashford, are you sure you're alright?"
"Truth be told?" The girl asked rhetorically, "I'm absolutely terrified by what she's planning, but I know there's probably no dissuading her now."
Unfortunately Sayoko knew Milly was right, one could convince Leloucia to back down from a particularly reckless plan before she started, but once she'd set a plan into motion she didn't stop until it succeeded or failed. What made Sayoko truly worry was her mistress's lack of impulse control, while she was a veritable genius who could probably outthink almost everyone in the world and charismatic enough to talk her way out of most situations, she relied on well thought out plans, subconsciously breaking everything down into its smallest units and working up from there. Her entire way of thinking revolved around this, it just came naturally for her, and allowed her to make massive leaps in logic few others could ever follow, but she was also impulsive, more often than not the one thing she could never plan for was herself. Leloucia can't fight, not with her leg and lack of stamina, yet she constantly throws herself into potentially dangerous situations without a second thought.
"Okay Ms. Shinozaki you can go on up." The voice of Gregory broke her from her musing
"Thank you." Milly broke in before she could respond.
"Don't mention it, and you should relax a bit, L.L can see how tense you are all the way up in her office." The jovial receptionist joked.
The two moved over to the elevator, Milly leaning against the wall, chewing her lip nervously, while Sayoko hit the button for the forty-ninth floor.
"Who do you think she could have chosen for a Knight Sayoko?" Milly asked her, "I know she kept tabs on anyone looking for her, but who would she actually trust enough to ask to be her Knight?"
"I don't know Lady Ashford, Lady Leloucia had any attempt to find her sabotaged, even Viceroy Clovis gave up a few months ago. She keeps a far lighter eye on those who gave up, in fact there's only one person who's still actively searching, one Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald." The maid answered.
"I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before… do you think she'd ask him?"
"I believe so, she has several plans listing him as a potential asset that I have been made privy to. The man is rather persistent, she's even had to ask Master Ashford's help in throwing him off the trail several times before, I wonder what drives him…" Sayoko trialed off, pondering that very question as she once more felt for the knives on her person. I will deal with him myself should his drive for finding her be anything even slightly dangerous.
The elevator arrived for the third time in a day to its human cargo to the appointed floor. Stepping out first, as Milly had never so much as set foot in this building, Sayoko led her former charge down the hall to Leloucia's office. As they walked the maid looked at her out of the corner of her eye, Lady Ashford loves Leloucia like a younger sister, always trying to keep her happy, trying to help her make friends in school. The girl was indeed a surrogate older sister, constantly encouraging and prodding Leloucia into social situations, always a willing distraction for when her darker memories threatened to overwhelm her. Indeed half the reason Leloucia was as well-adjusted as she was now was due to Milly's untiring effort.
After everything she's been through and seen, the fact that the only real noticeable psychological issues she has are; a definitely unhealthy case of paranoia, that damned gambling addiction, and the nightmares is a miracle. It really was, Britannia wasn't big on therapists in general, due to its views on Social Darwinism, and to make things even worse there was no therapist that could actually be trusted to help the girl, given her situation. The two came to the small lobby in front of Leloucia's office, and saw Ms. Wright typing away on her computer, the young woman briefly looked up as if she was about to say something, before noticing Sayoko and going back to her work.
Sayoko nodded to the secretary and knocked on the door to the office, before opening it without waiting for a response. This caused both Ms. Wright and Milly to raise an eyebrow; normally Sayoko was the picture of formality when it came to Leloucia especially around other people. Even Sayoko herself was surprised by her brazenness, or at least the fact she did it in front of an audience, no matter how small. I need to calm down; acting rashly won't help convince Leloucia to abandon this foolishness. She took a deep breath, and held the door open for Milly, closing it in a much gentler manner than she'd opened it once the girl was inside.
The maid's heart clenched when she saw the scene inside, Leloucia was slumped in her chair, totally ignoring the various holographic screens of her computer; her face screamed exhaustion even as her body was racked with occasional tremors. Turning her attention to the other occupant of the room, Sayoko saw a well-tanned man with turquois hair, his light orange irises were surrounded by puffy redness, and his face marred with tear stains. She quickly saw the picture in his hands, held with reverence as if it was the most precious thing in the world, a sentiment she deemed appropriate, though only a copy of the original kept in her residence at the Ashford student council hall that photo was quite literally Lelouica's most treasured possession.
"Hello Milly, Sayoko," Leloucia's voice brought her out of her examination of the man, though Sayoko noted her Mistress sounded just as tired as she looked. "This is Jeremiah Gottwald, you might remember him as one of the guards at Aries Villa Milly."
Jeremiah set the picture down gently before doing a full bow to the two, "I thank both of you from the bottom of my heart for taking care of my Princess for these past six years. I am in your debt."
Milly who'd seemed ready to confront Leloucia on the way, instantly switched gears, "I remember you now! Leloucia used to gush about you almost every time I visited!" She teased with a gross exaggeration.
Leloucia didn't even verbally respond, instead lightly rolling her eyes at her surrogate sister-figure. Something that worried Sayoko to no end, as her normal reactions tended to be at least somewhat exaggerated. The maid immediately went around the table and checked her charge for any signs of a fever, "Are you alright Lady Leloucia?" Admittedly she normally wouldn't be this paranoid, but since Leloucia had been alone with a person Sayoko had just met, she erred on the side of caution.
"I'm fine Sayoko; it's just been a draining day is all." The exiled Princess brushed off her worries.
"Indeed it has, My Lady." Jeremiah concurred, "Perhaps it would be better for you to return home and rest?"
Sayoko narrowed her eyes at him, once more assessing the knight searching for some hint of deceit in his eyes. What she saw was a burning rage, eerily similar to Leloucia's own, to her own whenever her thoughts strayed to the monster that dared call himself a father known to the world as Charles zi Britannia. It's obvious she talked about her sister and the war, probably why Lady Ashford hasn't pushed her to stay, that would just turn into a shouting match that Leloucia doesn't need right now. Deciding it would be better to give the man the benefit of the doubt for now she instead turned to her Mistress. "I believe that is best Lady Leloucia, I'll make you tea when we arrive home."
"Fine, but we're going to talk about this tomorrow. Can you get off Jerry?" She asked, as she'd rather bring them all up to speed of her plans at once, and the next day was perfect as it was a Saturday.
"I'll be able to leave the base around two or three, tomorrow is mostly just paper work and arranging who won't get St. Darwin's day off." The Knight hesitated for a moment, "With your leave, Princess, I also would like to look into the whereabouts of Suzaku Kururugi, my search for you should be adequate enough cover, seeing as you stayed with his family before the invasion."
"He would be a person of interest to Britannia wouldn't he?" She trailed off, "If you find him, please make sure he's okay."
He nodded, "Of course, My Lady."
"That's great and all," Milly interrupted, "but getting back to the here and now, Leloucia is more likely than not gonna fall dead on her feet by the time we get to Ashford." The heiress' blunt declaration caused said girl to glare, though it lacked its normal venom.
"We can take my car." Jeremiah offered
Sayoko looked over at him once more, "That is… acceptable." Putting aside her own misgivings about it, she acknowledged that it would be significantly better for Leloucia to ride in a car than worry about her going through public transit in her tired state.
"Before we go… Jerry, do you know anything about my mother's murder, anything that could possibly give us a clue as to what happened?" Leloucia abruptly changed the subject.
The Knight grimaced, "Unfortunately no, however, I do know that whoever did it was either someone Empress Marianne trusted, or someone who was very close to them." He continued as all three women gave him their full attention following that statement. "The day before her murder, she ordered the guard to leave for the night, several of us naturally protested, myself and Princess Cornelia included, but she would not be dissuaded. The only times she did this was when she was meeting with a close confidant, though unfortunately I don't know who she was meeting that night."
"I can't think of anyone, according to Grandfather everyone that close to Lady Marianne ended up losing everything; my family were the lucky ones." Milly added her own thoughts to the analysis.
"Everyone save for one man." Leloucia began, "After all, how do you make the Emperor of Britannia fall out of favor?" The question was angrily bit out.
Jeremiah nodded, "Either the Emperor ordered her death, or he is connected to those that did."
Sayoko felt a cold terror wash over her when the group followed what scant but telling evidence they had to its logical conclusion. Despite the fact that she'd love nothing more than to kill the Emperor for everything he'd done to both Leloucia and Japan, she knew that he was the one man on Earth she could do absolutely nothing against. "Please, Leloucia, please, don't do this. Remain here in Japan, where you're safe. He'll surely kill you once he finds out you're still alive."
"No, my father doesn't kill those he can use and my activities these past few years will make me a very tempting tool indeed. Besides, Britannia is woefully short of actually competent generals, it's the only reason he's hesitating with the invasion of Australia." She smiled a predatory smile, "Even if it means becoming something I hate, I won't be held back, I will destroy the cancer that plagues Britannia, no that plagues the entire world, and remake it anew. But even more than that Sayoko, Japan will be free."
Sayoko was stunned to silence by the declaration, even having known of Leloucia's hatred for years she still never guessed that she'd go so far.
"Australia?" Milly blinked confusedly.
"Yes, they're part of the EU in all but name, despite their vaunted neutrality, combined with the fact they're actively choking out the Royal Navy's ability to enter the Indian Ocean from anywhere but Cambodia and Area Ten in Indochina, which is itself a route easily blocked by the Chinese Federation. As well as the recent discovery of several Sakuradite deposits that they are selling to the EU at a discount and Britannia not at all, the only reason that they haven't been invaded yet is because it their coastal defenses would incur massive casualties and give the EU a major advantage in the inevitable war with Britannia." She explained, before yawning loudly.
"Well, someone's a sleepy-head, you need to get your rest young lady, otherwise you'll never catch up with Shirley and I." Milly flew back into teasing, which was her unique way of showing both concern and support, that just so happened to have the added bonus of being amusing for her.
Leloucia's glare was much more threating than the last one she'd given, though unfortunately for her it didn't have the effect she was looking for, as Milly simply matched it with mirth filled eyes and a smirk.
They held each other's gazes in a contest of wills for a few more minutes, in the end though Leloucia was the one to break, tearing her eyes away from the older girl's with a huff.
"I hate you." It was said in the light hearted tone of someone sore from a loss.
"Love you too Lulu~!" Milly sing-songed in response.
Sayoko gained a smile at the byplay; it was really a unique talent of Milly's to turn around any situation, even if it meant blowing a disproportionate amount of money on some ridiculous festival or another, nothing would stop her from putting a smile on the faces of Ashford's students, and more importantly her surrogate sister.
"Well, I suppose we should get going," Leloucia sighed while taking out her remote and opening the hidden closet in the wall. Sayoko was there gathering her discarded uniform before she was even halfway out of her chair, the maid's sudden and silent transition from one point to another caused Jeremiah to jump before looking from her to the place she'd been standing in confusion.
"How did you…" He started to question before being interrupted by Leloucia sighing.
"You do know I could have taken care of that myself Sayoko?" Light hearted exasperation tinged her voice.
"You would have taken too long Lady Lelcouia, besides; you know what the doctors said about putting too much pressure on your leg." The maid admonished her Mistress.
"Sayoko, I am not a bloody cripple, I'm perfectly capable of doing such things on my own." She stubbornly defended herself.
"Yes, but what Imperial Princess, would ever be caught dead doing such things?" Milly's teasing tone was mixed with barely contained disapproval.
The undertone was not missed by said Princess, who merely sighed and shook her head, "Let's get going I'd rather not get stuck in traffic, even if it is a relatively straight shot from here to Ashford."
At that the quartet walked out of the room, Jeremiah holding the door open, having removed the evidence of his earlier fits of emotion during the long conversation.
"Ms. Lamperouge? I've sent the response to Viceroy Clovis as per your instructions; do you want me to forward any response to you as per usual?" Ms. Wright spoke up as she saw the group start to walk past her desk.
"Yes, thank you Rebecca, and don't pull any overtime tonight, go home and spend time with Karen and Colin." She waved to the older woman as she walked down the hall towards the elevator; Milly, Sayoko, and Jeremiah in tow.
The elevator ride was made in relative silence by the group, broken only by the occasional yawn from Leloucia, as each contemplated the finality of the secretary's statement.
So there is no turning back, very well then, be it Japan or Pendragon my duty has not changed. I will protect Leloucia, from anything that may threaten her. Sayoko accepted that there was nothing to be done, and resolved to continue her duty to the best of her ability
Jeremiah's thoughts carried a quite similar sentiment. Lady Leloucia, I promise this, even if it costs me my life, nothing will harm you. Now then, I have a month long window, but what is the best way to go about convincing Villetta? I need to avoid drawing the suspicions of Kewell and the other Purists or I risk exposing the Princess prematurely. Suzaku Kururugi is at least an easy write off thanks to the investigation, a blessing really, as there would be no other way for me to approach him otherwise.
Milly was quickly falling back into her previously worried state. Leloucia you idiot! Can't you see Grandfather and I are happy with you here? I don't care about the noble titles; I just can't stand the thought of losing you!
Leloucia on the other hand, was going over her plans, already preparing to make her next move, I need some way of influencing things behind the scenes here in Japan… Tazio and Kaguya, they should be able to at least convince the other members of the Six Houses to allow me to make my case if nothing else. I'll need to get that done as quickly as possible; I'll call Monday and see if I can't arrange a meeting of some sort. She interrupted thoughts with another yawn, just as the elevator reached the ground floor. The four stepped out of it with her leading the way.
"I have to admit L.L that's the most people I've ever seen go up to your office at once, you normally don't let anyone but Ms. Wright and Ms. Shinozaki in there." The jovial voice of Gregory broke through the group's introspection.
"Family business Gregory, though I'd appreciate you staying quite about that. Besides, I'm sure it'll get aired everywhere following the Viceroy's St. Darwin's day ball." Leloucia said to the receptionist.
"My lips are sealed ma'am. But you finally accepted one of the Viceroy's invitations? That's unexpected." His eyebrow arched a little in curiosity.
"Well I'm pretty sure if I said no one more time the Viceroy would just send his Royal Guard to drag me to the ball." She joked with him, trying to ease her own trepidation.
The older man chuckled, as she waved to him and went out the front door, once more held open by Jeremiah.
Outside the three females got their first look at the Margrave's car, a sleek four door Phantom that was painted a dark blue with silver trim that contrasted with a black racing stripe running across the top of the vehicle. Sayoko however did wasn't appreciating the vehicles aesthetics, and was instead looking for any sign of sabotage or tampering on the car.
Leloucia had a far off look on her face as she took in the paint job of the car, the colors having taken her back to the past.
Milly's giggling broke her out of her stupor rather effectively however. "Really? You used Lady Marianne's colors for your car?"
"I originally intended to have my Knightmare incorporate the scheme, but the Purists wouldn't allow it, so the car was the next best thing." The Knight wasn't even being defensive, just explaining it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Ohohohoh do I smell a case of hero worship… or perhaps something a little less innocent?"
Jeremiah stiffened as he began to get in the driver's seat, causing Milly to burst out into full blown laughter as she and Leloucia got in the back.
"Don't respond Jerry, that's the best thing you can do when she gets like this. And Milly, you are not to psychologically torture my Knight!" Her stern tone of voice only caused the Ashford heiress' laughter to become louder. Sayoko for her part just sighed and shook her head in the passenger seat, having seen this back and forth too many times to really be surprised.
"Ah, come on Jerry Boy, it's not all bad, I know for a fact that Cornelia shared your plight," The heiress sighed dramatically, "Oh unrequited love, such a cruel yet beautiful thing."
It's a good thing they hadn't moved yet otherwise Jeremiah's sudden tensing, much worse than his last reaction, would have led to a rather severe crash.
"You're talking about my mother and my sister Milly! Where on earth did you even GET that idea!?" Leloucia's disturbed exclamation was all Milly needed to continue
"Well, you see, when we were visiting Aries Villa one time I may have overheard a certain conversation between Cornelia and Nonette Enneagram, something about a dream involving a very comfy bed shared by the Princess and-"
"DO NOT PUT THAT IMAGE IN MY HEAD MILLY!" Leloucia's shout interrupted the scandalous story the girl was quickly becoming very immersed in telling.
"Oh come on it's not that bad, at least they weren't related; besides aren't incestuous relationships kind of the Royal family's thing?" Milly's face was lit up in amusement as she teased and prodded her fellow Britannians.
"Please don't remind me…" While extremely rare in the modern day, it was still actually acceptable for two members of the Royal Family to marry and have children, this practice rather predictably lead to some interesting defects, such as Leloucia's stamina problems.
Jeremiah seemed to take this as his cue to start driving, after he made sure everyone had buckled in of course. Milly eased off on the teasing when it became clear her target was starting to drift off, and try as she might, Leloucia couldn't resist the siren's call of Morpheus and was soon using the older girl's shoulder as an impromptu pillow.
Sayoko looking back at the two via the rearview mirror felt a smile come to her face. Leloucia and Milly's contented peaceful faces warming her heart, yet at the same time, the thought of what the future held brought conflicting feelings of both pride and worry, pride in that she was willing to take such a risk for her ideals, and worry about said risk.
"Ms. Shinozaki, is there anywhere specific I can go without drawing too much attention?" Jeremiah broke her out of her thoughts, "I've only been to Ashford once before and unfortunately the parking lot is quite exposed. Given how…" He paused trying to find the right words, "driven, I've been in trying to find Lady Leloucia, it would raise suspicions if I were seen dropping off a girl who is clearly within her age range and bears a striking resemblance to Lady Marianne, along with the Ashford Heiress."
"Leloucia and her friend Rivalz use the service tunnels to get in and out of the school undetected. The Student Council has free access so we should have no trouble getting in, the one they use the most has a public parking lot near it that is normally quite deserted." The maid sighed, "It's not ideal but it should do for avoiding anything more than cursory scrutiny."
Jeremiah listened to the maid's instructions and was pleased to note that she knew several shortcuts. He was able to avoid the stop and go traffic of the main roads quite easily, something he was quite grateful for as he didn't wish to wake Leloucia. However, even despite the various short cuts and side paths in the city it still took the better part of half an hour to arrive at their destination. As he pulled into the public lot, he noticed that true to the maid's word, nary a soul could be seen and other than a few scattered cars there was nothing to break the flat grey and yellow of the ground.
In truth, this particular lot actually did serve a larger purpose than mere public parking as a place for maintenance crews, along with military and police personnel, to have easy access to the Settlement's superstructure, not that anyone actually ever went down there save for routine checks of the tiered city's infrastructure. However that larger purpose was also probably the reason it was typically empty, people most likely avoided using it due to the off chance of getting on the bad side of a military or police officer. The irony of his own status in that equation was not lost on Jeremiah.
"Leloucia… wake up you sleepy head." The Knight heard Milly trying to wake the sleeping Princess in the back, "We're here." He heard a low grumble of a response but couldn't make out heads or tails of it, he could however, make out the soft whine of protest Leloucia gave when her human pillow pushed her off their shoulder.
Once Leloucia was awake, with much teasing from Milly about how cute she was when she was asleep, she lead the way to the service entrance, and quickly opened the door. The ease with which a teenage girl got into what was supposed to be the most secure part of the settlement bar the military bases and Viceroy's palace, even taking into account just who said teenage girl was, made Jeremiah sigh.
"Someone could easily take advantage of the absolutely abysmal state of security of the Settlement's tunnels to escape any sort of pursuit, I know, Rivalz and I have had to do it more than once." Leloucia talked as they began to walk through the well-lit tunnel large enough for several Knightmares to share comfortably, "It's like Clovis is trying to get himself killed, honestly if the JLF didn't control about ninety percent of all competent resistance leaders in Area Eleven he would have been offed years ago."
"Believe me my Lady I know, I've pointed out the lax security of the Settlement several times and was rather quickly dismissed for it." Jeremiah agreed, "If I may be blunt, if the terrorists and resistance fighters of the Area weren't so incompetent themselves, the Prince's own short comings would have led to a downgrade in status a long while ago."
He paused for a second, "But what's this about you having to escape via the tunnels, Lady Leloucia?" It was a pointed question.
"Well, I go out with him and gamble against the local Nobles, that's actually how I got my start with R.S.I, and well, some of them didn't exactly appreciate being beaten by a teenage girl…" She trailed off when she saw the looks the other three where giving her, "What? It's not like I never expected that kind of thing to happen, I always have an escape route planned."
"The fact you say that so dismissively is what makes me worry, Leloucia…" Sayoko sighed resignation.
"Now, now, you can't fault our dear Leloucia, it's not like she'd ever lose in any mind game, in fact that's the reason our dearest Nina is so absolutely infatuated with her." Milly wrapped an arm around her shoulder, teasing grin once more directed at the younger girl.
"Please don't bring that up Milly, I still haven't figured out how to let the poor girl down without utterly destroying what little self-esteem she has." The princess lamented, "I don't even know why she's so taken with me; all I did was comment on her work and have a few discussions with her."
"If I may," Sayoko said, "That's exactly why, you noticed and understood her work when no one else could, and you proved yourself to be an intellectual equal, but more than that, you went out of your way to interact with her. To someone like Nina, that's more than enough."
"Don't worry about poor little Nina, Leloucia, she'll grow out of it." The Heiress assured, "Or she'll latch onto someone else, the whole lying about being a normal student thing should be enough to break the crush, or at least make it seem like you're entirely too far out of her league to even consider."
"You're having entirely too much fun with this…" Leloucia drawled, having long since resigned herself to Milly's antics.
"But of course, my dearest Leloucia, how else am I supposed to get my entertainment?" She asked as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
The good natured back and forth continued as the group walked through the tunnel, eventually reaching a central hub for the water system, if the massive waterfall and reservoir were anything to go by, as for the most part the Settlement's water distribution system was heavily modeled off the Roman Aqueducts. The room, with its various entrances and exits could be used to get almost anywhere in the Settlement, ideal for Leloucia's extracurricular escapades.
A scant few minutes later they reached the elevator, only to see Ruben Ashford himself waiting there for them. The seventy-seven year old man with well-kept silver hair was dressed in a brown suit and red tie, an outfit that emphasized his large and muscular build, though age had started to take a toll on him years ago. His piercing blue eyes traveled over the quartet and when his gaze landed on Jeremiah they took on a mischievous gleam and a smirk grew on his lips.
"Ruben, why do you look like the cat that got the cream?" Leloucia's head was tilted slightly in curiosity.
"Oh, just reminiscing on old times, you know, Marianne was considering assigning Jeremiah here to be your personal guard. Given how you seemed to favor him over literally every other solider in her employ, save Cornelia of course." He responded, the teasing glint in his eyes matched by the jovial tone of his voice.
The Princes huffed, "Cornelia is my sister, and Jerry was the only interesting guard, not to mention the only one who was any good at chess, the others couldn't even last five minutes!"
The Knight cracked a smile at the memory of his first chess match with Leloucia.
Jeremiah's face was scrunched up in concentration, in the ten minutes the game had been going on, the young princess had stripped him of all but four pieces, a Knight, a Pawn, a Bishop, and the all-important King. He'd managed to do significant damage in return of course, taking a little over half of her pieces. However, the newly appointed guard knew that he had little chance of winning this match, but he'd at least managed to keep his King out of check, running a merry chase across the board the past four minutes while using the other three pieces to chip away at her ability to keep up. In truth he'd only even lasted this long because she'd sacrificed her Queen early on, using it as bait in the trap that had decimated his options in the match.
That had almost been the end of it as well, but he'd managed to use his own Queen to stop the intended checkmate, before sacrificing both Rooks and his other Bishop to keep her from stopping the escape. But the damage was done, Leloucia's pieces were steadily closing in, and with one more move of her Bishop he'd be in check with only way to escape, something she likely planned for. Still if he could get his pawn just a little further, he could promote it to a Queen and the situation would be vastly improved. Deciding to take the risk he moved his pawn forward, only to have her Rook take it, leaving said piece in the perfect position to get a check should he avoid the Bishop.
The game only went on for another six turns, before he found himself checkmated by the two main threats and her King. He looked at the timer, twelve minutes; he'd lasted a measly twelve minutes against an eight year old girl.
"You did well." His gaze returned to his opponent, her violet eyes showing genuine approval. "You sacrificed your Queen to get out of the trap, most try to protect their Queen almost as much as the King." She nodded to herself, "That was an interesting game, Guardsman Gottwald."
As she got up to leave, Jeremiah couldn't help but feel that even though he'd lost he somehow passed some sort of test.
He was snapped out of his reverie by Ruben speaking to him, "Speaking of Jeremiah, I'd like to apologize for misleading you about Leloucia's survival. We thought you trustworthy enough, but we couldn't take the risk."
Jeremiah nodded, "I understand, the more people who know a secret, regardless of how trustworthy, the more likely it is to be exposed." It was a basic tenant of all Companies, Militaries, and Intelligence Organizations that the risk of something being exposed increases exponentially with each person who knows about it. The OSI had a very nasty habit of eliminating any and all witnesses specifically because of that fact.
The group entered the elevator, and Ruben, after sliding in an identification card and inputting a code, pressed the button for the ground floor.
Sayoko did what she did best, stay silent and watch, indeed ever since entering the car most of her attention had been focused on Jeremiah, trying to astern his motivations. Seeing as even Master Ruben trusted him she'd decided that the Britannian was someone that could be trusted, if only for the time being, after all the Old Man would never do anything to put Leloucia at risk. He'd very brutally dealt with those elements of the Ashford clan that had attempted to go against his decision to shelter her in secret. No, she was more curious now, to see exactly what inspired such trust, both from her young Mistress and the Older Ashford, as neither of them were particularly trusting people.
"There is one thing Leloucia," Ruben's voice suddenly became stern, "You will not be leaving Ashford Academy without graduating."
Once again, her head tilted to the side, "But I'm only in my second year."
"Leloucia, you and I both know your attendance is only a formality, you could easily graduate and be on with your life," Ruben spoke, doing something he rarely did and putting his foot down, "And that is exactly what is going to happen, I'm giving you carte blanche to take as many days off as you need to ready for your big debut, but you are taking the Advanced Tests and passing before you leave."
"Very well, I suppose that's fair." She knew better to argue with the Ashford Patriarch when he used that tone of voice. "At least Britannia's idiotic polices of Darwinsim work in my favor in this case."
"Do you mind coming over to the clubhouse tomorrow? I want to explain everything to all of you at once." She requested.
Ruben nodded, "When exactly?"
"In the afternoon, Jerry is stuck on duty until then." She responded.
The group went back to the clubhouse that served a dual purpose as Leloucia's residence; a brief stint in the dorms had convinced them that it was better to keep her away from the rest of the student population. Too many questions about her nightmares were asked in too short of a time, and while the curiosity had waned overtime; thanks Milly using a combination of her prodigious influence over the student body, and a massive amount of blackmail to keep things relatively quiet, they deemed it too much a risk to try again.
The group entered through the ballroom entrance, and walked to the back of the overly large building and to the living area. Ruben and Milly excused themselves, though the latter insisted on staying the night and as per usual rather quickly got her way, while Sayoko retreated to the small kitchen to get the tea ready. As she set the water to boil, she was alerted to another presence by the sound of heavy footsteps. Quickly spinning around while subtly reaching for the kunai still on her person, she saw the man her Mistress had taken on as her Knight.
"Sir Gottwald." It was both a greeting and, in several ways, a challenge.
"Ms. Shinozaki," he said, "you do not trust me." The blunt statement was followed by something she honestly didn't expect. "That is good."
Her eyebrow rose in curiosity for a split second before she forcefully brought it to a neutral position.
"Most would be offended by that sentiment, Sir Gottwald, not approve of it."
"I will be blunt Ms. Shinozaki, I'm sure Lady Leloucia or the Ashfords have already informed you of just how much of a vipers' nest Pendragon is. There is simply no one who can be trusted absolutely, once we are there assuming everything goes according to whatever plan she has concocted, Leloucia, and by extension us, will never be able to fully let our guards down, even when we are alone." The Knight spoke in a tone used for telling the harsh truth.
"The duties of a Knight of Honor extend far past being a mere bodyguard, and it is likely there will be times that I'm nowhere near Leloucia by her own order. In that case it will be solely up to you to protect her, and there will be many who try to eliminate her in some way, be it politically or violently." It was a blunt admission; however what he said next shifted her opinion of the Knight.
"However, your role in protecting her is far more important than mine. I'm visible and despite my own skill, a known quantity, you are not." Once more her eyebrow rose only for him to continue, "Any plan to assassinate her will likely take me into account, and either by somehow circumventing me, or more likely outright killing me. In that case protecting her will fall to you. I failed to protect Lady Marianne, I failed to protect Lady Nunnally, but so long as I still breathe I will not fail to protect Lady Leloucia.
I know I am not invincible, and that there are many capable of overpowering and beating me. Should it come to it then I will fight to my last breath, even if all I accomplish is wounding the enemy, they will still be less of a threat by the time they get to you." It wasn't posturing or anything like that, just a rock solid statement of intent.
She looked him in the eyes noting the irony that she, a Japanese woman, was approving of one of the Purebloods. "You would sacrifice yourself in order to protect Lady Lelouca?" It was honestly a redundant question at this point but she wanted to be sure.
"Without hesitation," The response was immediate and much like his previous declaration made as a statement of absolute fact.
"Then I believe we have an understanding Sir Gottwald." Sayoko walked across the room and extended a hand to the Knight, receiving a firm handshake in return, as brown and orange irises met, both carrying a similar steely resolve.
Breaking the gesture Jeremiah spoke, "Thank you Ms. Shinozaki. It is good to know that there is someone I can rely on to protect Lady Leloucia should I fall."
With that he turned and left the room, heading for the exit rather than the sitting room where Lelouica was. Sayoko was about to question his departure before the teapot began to screech, signaling the water was done heating. Thus she became immersed in her more domestic duties as opposed to her, now more benign, curiosity about the Knight.
A few minutes later the Maid took the tea to her Mistress, who was sitting slightly turned in her chair near the window, looking out over Ashford Academy. As the young Princess in exile looked out over the school grounds, Sayoko silently moved forward, nary a sound was produced until the metallic tray was set on the coffee table. Upon hearing this Leloucia spoke without looking back, "Sayoko? What do you think of Jeremiah, honestly?"
The maid blinked, considering how exactly to answer her Mistress, before choosing the most simple and honest one, "I approve of him." Sayoko spoke as she poured the tea, noting how Leloucia's head titled as she pondered the wording.
"You approve? Not like or trust, just approve?" She asked, trying to gain some sort of insight into the kunoichi's line of thought.
"I haven't spoken to him enough to know if I like him or not, as for trust, I trust that you and Master Ashford are willing to place your trust in him." Sayoko responded simply.
Leloucia shrugged, apparently accepting Sayoko's reasoning, before taking her tea and taking a sip.
"I didn't realize until just now, exactly how much I'm going to miss Ashford… I'm not going to be able to see Rivalz, Shirley, Nina, or even Milly much, if at all, after we get started." She sighed, looking down at her lap somewhat despondently. "No more cutting class to gamble with Rivalz, no more teaching Shirley to cook, no more late night discussions with Nina, no more of Milly's festivals. These things I just took for granted, they aren't even gone yet, but I already feel sad."
Moving around to fully enter Lelouica's line of sight Sayoko spoke, "Well we'll just have to come back once everything is said and done."
The princess hummed in agreement, "Something to look forward to then."
Sayoko smiled and turned away to attend to other things, leaving her charge to gaze thoughtfully out the window.
Leloucia was in deep contemplation of her moves for the coming month and potential allies for her return to Pendragon while she sat.
Once I'm back in Britannia the situation will be almost entirely out of my control. Euphie and Cornelia are natural allies, and Clovis will be fairly easy to manipulate, but Schneizel is a major unknown. He also presents the greatest threat of them all, I will have no allies when I go back and he has enough clout to easily stop me from gaining any, not to mention that he can easily keep up with any plans I make. But I'm getting ahead of myself; Kyoto will probably force me to give them some immediate aid to prove my sincerity. Bah, too many variables I can't predict; still, assuming I'm able to overcome the immediate risks, the long term benefits will be well worth it.
Further plotting was interrupted by the sight of Milly walking up the path to the clubhouse, so Leloucia quickly finished her tea and went to go greet her. Just as she got to the ballroom she saw Sayoko already speaking with Milly, she assumed the blonde girl had just instructed the maid to order pizza as she was want to do whenever something requiring food for more than the strange domiciles two residents required food. I swear she does it just because she finds it funny.
It was true as both Sayoko and Leloucia were fairly good cooks, and tended to be somewhat proud to share their food with others. Thus Milly insisted on ordering out because she found their subtle, or in Lelouica's case not so subtle, ways of protesting funny.
"Hey Leloucia, don't bother cooking I already ordered the Pizza on the way here. Oh, and here's the money Sayoko." She pulled out two bills and quickly shoved them in Sayoko's hands, savoring the small pout that formed on Leloucia's face as she spoke.
"You know that really isn't necessary Milly, I could easily cook something for the three of us, or Sayoko could if you need me for something." Unlike normal where Milly would simply tease her more and dismiss the notion out of hand, Leloucia received a pointed look from the older teen.
"I suppose you want to talk then?" She asked with a sigh.
"I did say we would be having words Lelouica vi Britannia, and words we are going to have." She put her hands on her hips and gave a stern look at the princess, looking all the older sister she proclaimed herself to be.
Well there's no avoiding it I guess, oh well, probably better to just clear the air now than to let it fester. Leloucia thought to herself.
The younger of the two nodded, leading the way once more to the sitting room, this time sitting properly in her chair as Milly took a seat on the couch on the other side of the coffee table. Sayoko appeared with another tea cup, filling it and Leloucia's before vanishing just as quickly.
Leloucia sat silently, sipping her tea while waiting for Milly to start speaking, she'd already said her piece earlier and now was simply content to listen to the older girl.
"Why do you always insist on making me worry Leloucia? First you use your mother's maiden name for an alias when your family, people who know her maiden name are actively searching for you. Then you decide that gambling against Nobles and Mob bosses for kicks is so much more important than school. Or maintaining a low profile, you know because you're trying to hide from the royal family, and have people actively searching for you."
She took a deep breath before continuing her tirade, "Yet as if all of that was somehow too mundane for you, you then somehow get the bright idea to buy out a mega corp, using said illegally earned gambling money. Of course doing this with the even flimsier alias of L.L, you manage to get the attention of Clovis, you know, Viceroy of Area Eleven, your half-brother, the last person you on this hemisphere you want to notice you? But I stayed quiet about all of that, if you want to remember your mother that's perfectly fine. I even put up with that gambling addiction of yours,"
Milly who'd gotten up and started pacing gave Leloucia a sharp look, "Don't you look at me like that, you're an addict and we all know it. I didn't object when you did the absolute dumbest thing I've ever seen someone trying to hide do and, I repeat, buy a mega corp. This though, this is just too much."
She stopped, turning on her heel to look Leloucia right in the eye, "You want to go back to Pendragon, where I might add, you have no allies, no resources, no contacts, and no way out. To the Emperor of Britannia, a man who is not only most likely complicit in your mother's murder, but who will have every right to simply kill you outright, and you want to try to overthrow him." She took a deep breath.
"LELOUCIA VI BRITANNIA WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Her voice which had not risen into above a normal conversational level suddenly skyrocketed to a shout.
Leloucia recoiled from the shout, briefly squashing down her combative instincts, before sighing and walking over to Milly. She wrapped her arms around the girl who'd been nothing less than her sister for over six years now.
"I can't do it Milly, I can't keep living this lie, Lelouica Lamperouge, gifted but lazy student. I can't keep living that life; I can't keep lying to our friends like that. Milly wearing that mask of mediocrity day in and day, it's crushing me. That's why I gamble, why I play the markets, it lets me get away from that, lets me apply myself, but even then it's just another mask, another lie. I want to be me Milly, more than whenever we're alone, I want our friend's to see me, the real me, I want, I want… I want so many things that are just unachievable if I stay."
She felt Milly return her hug, and buried her head in the crook of the older girl's neck, unable to bring herself to look at her face as she spoke.
"I want vengeance for Mother, for Nunnally, and for Japan. I want a world where my sister could have been happy, where no one will have to go through what I did. I want to be able to be myself, to not have to constantly look over my shoulder and lie to the people I care about most. Those things, they aren't possible here, they aren't possible unless I make them possible. You understand don't you? I need to do this. Please, please, understand Milly."
The desperation in Leloucia's voice was palpable as she begged for her surrogate sister's understanding.
"I understand Leloucia, I don't like it at all, but I understand." Milly softly spoke, running her hand through the younger girl's hair.
Leloucia found herself relaxing into the embrace as Milly continued speaking.
"I just wish there were some that didn't involve you being at the mercy of Charles and the Imperial Court, that didn't involve you leaving." She gave a long drawn out sigh, "I was devastated when you and Nunnally were exiled, then when I heard the announcement that you were dead, it destroyed me. I cried and cried until I couldn't produce tears anymore. Then you came back, starving, sick and hobbling along using a stick, but alive. I was so relieved; that I didn't even notice Nunnally wasn't there, I just thought that since you were alive she must have been too."
The Princess' hold on the Heiress tightened significantly as she buried head further as if to block out the unpleasant memories.
"After that, seeing you so broken, it made me afraid that'd I'd lost you even if you were still breathing. You didn't eat, weren't responsive, the only time you showed any signs you were still you was when we moved her body. I just… I lost Nunnally, I lost everything I had before the war, I don't want to lose you too."
The two simply stayed like that for a while, Leloucia trying to process a response to reassure the older girl, and utterly failing, as none of what Milly had said about the risks of her plan were false. All she could really do was repeat her earlier assurances and even they were dependent upon the Emperor's mood.
Eventually the two broke the embrace, having mostly aired out their respective worries and burdens. They moved to the couch and began to talk about other, far more light hearted things. As the night wore on they moved on to eating the pizza and joking about Rivialz and Nina's crushes on the two. Eventually retiring at nearly midnight, they shared Leloucia's bed as the younger girl curled into the elder's unconscious embrace, and gaining a rare peaceful night of sleep from the presence of her sister figure.
AN:
And there we go, Chapter two done. God this took forever, but sadly as noted above shit happened. And as for July, well I was in Dallas visiting my Grandmother on my mom's side and my niece. Then my other Grandmother got sick and signed a DNR, that's Do Not Resuscitate for those of you who don't know, and passed away. So that's depressing as shit. But at least she went peacefully, so small blessings I guess. So between spending two weeks worrying about Her health, mostly waiting on updates from my Grandfather and Uncle, and another five days in Dallas I didn't really get to write much. Assuming I could have scrapped together the motivation to go on a really long several dozen hour writing spree like the one the first chapter resulted from. So this was written in smaller chunks and therefore took longer, but it's finally done.
So with all of that depressing personal crap I'd like to thank everyone who's followed and favorited this story for your patience. Hopefully I'll be able to deliver chapter three much faster. And further more thank all of you for the support; just knowing that people liked this was enough of a motivator to power through and get this chapter done. Though I do feel as if the overall quality of this Chapter has suffered due to aforementioned things and I apologize profusely for that. I seriously considered rewriting the Chapter but two months is just too long to update in my opinion, so unfortunately this will have to do. Though I may come back and redo it sometime in the future.
Anyways moving on to the more interesting things, characterization here has been a bit tough, not because of the complexity of the characters, but because of their psychological health. You see, Code Geass' character development and psychological element is mostly dependent on other characters. Mao is obsessed with C.C. Lelouch makes C.C want to live, Euphie and the Live command drive Suzaku totally insane. Nunnally tries to be the ideal sister for Lelouch. and so on and so forth. Removing one of them from the equation, actually rather complicates things. But overall the differences for Lelouch, or in this case Leloucia, that I think make sense are as follows. They'd be much more willing to take risks, higher bets, less safe opponents, as well as being far less willing to go on with the mediocre mask, Lelouch only really did that for Nunnally's sake and to throw off Suzaku in R2. As well as being generally less inclined to find Marianne's actual killer, and more going the route of finding out who's innocent and then killing off the remaining possibilities just to be safe. Their Anger would be much more focused on Charles and Britannia as a whole, less inclined to change it, as much as getting simple vengeance.
Now, the basic premise of this story is that without Nunnally being a factor Lelouch, or more accurately Leloucia, would have several more pragmatic options open to them. The important thing to remember is that they operate by the premise of High Risk and High Reward, in the series Geass simply became a crutch that allowed Lelouch to take that to massive proportions and make up for his lack of numbers, equipment, and experienced troops. This making him the foil to Schneizel who prefers low risk and far more long term plans, but I digress. In doing the gender swap it makes things slightly harder on me, as while I want to stay true to the character of Lelouch, I also recognize that with such major difference's Leloucia wouldn't just be Lelouch with boobs, but rather an extremely similar yet inherently different character. Honestly I quite like the challenge, as it is a good test of my skills, trying to stay true to both Lelouch and the inherently different development of this story. Time will tell if I am able to rise to the challenge, or if I'll fail.
Anyways I've rambled enough, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.
