A/N: Here is chapter 3 as promised. Now this one is longer than either of the previous chapters. Thank you to Egyptprncssxox, Mtvlion2003, and foxydame for the reviews on the previous chapter. Enjoy, everyone.
Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass, to my understanding Ichirō Ōkouchi does.
...
"Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally vi Britannia are dead."
As soon as I hear the messenger deliver the news, I feel everything around me come to a screeching halt.
The pen and sketchbook in my hands fall to the floor.
Schneizel and Cornelia, my older brother and sister respectively, both stare at the messenger, as if refusing to believe his words.
Euphemia, my younger sister, of whom I was drawing a portrait, cries out and runs away.
"Euphie!" Cornelia runs after her.
I hear a door slam and another just moments later.
Schneizel says nothing. His back is to me, so I cannot see his expression. Is he saddened? Angered? Or...is he perhaps glad that two heirs to the throne are gone?
No. That can't be. Schneizel was always close to Lelouch. He is the one who taught him to play chess, a game I also played with them. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but I always lost to Lelouch. No matter how hard I tried, how much I calculated my next move, that little imp always came out on top.
The thought now occurs to me. Lelouch, my little brother and rival, is dead. We will never again play chess. I will never see him or sweet little Nunnally ever again.
...
A few days pass and the sadness still lingers in the air. First Lady Marianne was murdered and now her children are dead as well.
I finished Euphie's portrait. While she sincerely thanked me for it, it is clear to me that she is still heartbroken over our siblings.
That portrait is the only piece I have been able to do since we received the news. I can't bring myself to draw or paint at all.
Schneizel acts more distant. Cornelia has spent all of her time trying to console Euphie. Our father, Emperor Charles vi Britannia, 98th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, has expressed no care whatsoever in the loss of two of his children. He is far too busy reveling in our nation's victory against Japan, now known simply as Area 11. The very place Lelouch as Nunnally were sent as diplomatic tools merely one month before the war.
I do not know if my siblings feel the same way, but I harbor anger for my father. Lady Marianne was his favorite consort and the mother of Lelouch and Nunnally. How could he have cast them aside just after her death as if they were nothing? I don't know why I wonder that. The answer is clear: that is the way of Britannia.
...
Nearly two months have passed since we received the devastating news and I am finally able bring myself to paint again. I am trying to do a painting of Lelouch and Nunnally, but even now that proves to be difficult; every time I attempt to remember their faces, I sigh and put down my paintbrush. Lelouch's eyes, so like our father's, Nunnally's kind smile, those things are so vivid in my memories but I can never manage to capture them on the canvas. And so it remains blank, mocking me.
What little bit of my heart isn't encased with grief is filled with rage. I know those Elevens were behind this. They're the only ones who had a motive. They killed two heirs to the Britannian throne in their attempt at revenge for being proven inferior.
Cornelia and I have both agreed that it was without a doubt an Eleven that murdered them. Cornelia has sworn to one day take her revenge and I hope to do the same.
...
As each day passes, my grief still lingers but now I am able to pick up my paintbrush and I am able to successfully recreate Nunnally's kind and beautiful smile, Lelouch's raven hair and amethyst eyes. The pain dulls a little and with each stroke of my brush, my hatred for Elevens grows.
...
I have finally fully regained my ability to paint. The first piece I have completed is one of Lelouch and Nunnally together. Lelouch is smiling, his hands on Nunnally's shoulders. Nunnally is smiling and standing beside Lelouch.
When I presented it to Euphie, Cornelia, and Schneizel, they all smiled at it before Euphie began to cry. She assured me that she loved the painting, she was just sad that we would not see them alive again, but all in all the three of them understood this was supposed to help us heal.
The shocking part came when Schneizel himself stood up, placed his hand on my soul Der, and thanked me as well.
Cornelia merely smiled slightly and nodded while comforting Euphie.
I have also painted a portrait of Nunnally smiling and Lelouch with his trademark smirk, the look he always flashed whenever he beat me in a game of chess or managed to one-up me in terms of cleverness...I will deny that in the future.
These paintings have not been shown to my siblings. Especially not the smirking Lelouch. I think I'll keep this one.
...
...
I hope that chapter was a little better length-wise for everyone.
The next chapter will be out on Saturday, August 1st.
