I need to stop thinking up things that never get done. Cuz' then I do them, and we all know what kind of mess that makes.
Demon: *A large explosion can be heard in the distance.* YES! Finally, it's mine! *Demon is waving around a piece of paper with the rights to Code Geass on it.* BWAHAHAH. It is MINE!... what am I going to do with it, though? I mean, sure, I have the rights to Code Geass in hand... but I can't really do much with it. Hmmm...
*Demon is so busy pondering, that he doesn't notice as he is arrested and dragged off to prison, the paper having been returned to it's rightful owner.*
Lelouch: Idiot. No one owns me.
C.C.: *Walks up in a dominatrix outfit, throws a lasso over Lelouch, and walks off dragging the kicking and screaming prince with her.* We'll just see about that.
Anya: ... Demon of Zero does not own code Geass. Expect the chapter following this to come out after he escapes prison.
Pendragon was the heart of Britannia. As the capital it served as the home of not only their glorious leader, the Emperor Charles zi Britannia, but also as that of his consorts, his knights, and the higher echelons of Britannian society. While various persons among this group did not spend all of their time in Pendragon, it was their home, ultimately.
The Emperor of Britannia often took visitors in his throne room within the Imperial Palace. This room was large, extravagant, well guarded, and served as the place many decisions were made by the Emperor, decisions both mundane and magnificent.
Rows upon rows of seats stretched out alongside the main floor, upon which sat a lone rug that ran all the way to the foot of the stairs that lead to the Imperial Throne. It was a grand sight to see, those seats all filled with the aristocracy and the walkway lined with armed guards. Grandest of all would be the hulking figure of Charles zi Britannia seated in the midst of it all, commonly flanked by Bismark Waldstein, Knight of One, and his two partner digimon, Agumon and Gabumon. Meetings with the Emperor were a grand affair, for sure.
This meeting, however, was not spoiled by such grandeur and pleasantries. This meeting was held deeper in the Imperial Palace, the living place of the Emperor of Britannia. Moreso, it took place within his own private study, and without the constant escort of Bismark Waldstein. For this was a meeting of great personal importance to Charles zi Britannia.
Today, he would meet once more with his late wife, Marianne.
To anyone who saw this scene, knowing precisely who the Emperor was speaking with, it would be unbelievable. Not only was Marianne vi Britannia long dead, but she most certainly did not have pink hair and she most certainly was not a child.
And yet, the meeting between Charles zi Britannia and Marianne vi Britannia carried on as though these facts mattered not to them. And, in truth, they did not matter.
"You know what you request will only aggravate the situation further, Marianne." Charles spoke, his voice lacking it's depth and taking on a more intimate tone. A tone not even the other consorts had the privilege of hearing from the most powerful man on the planet.
The small form of Anya Alstreim, Knight of Six, replied in a tone that only one woman had been audacious enough to use while speaking to Charles zi Britannia. "Of course, sweetie. It's what I do. And I want to see my son again." Hearing the Knight of Six, widely regarded as emotionless and cold, calling anyone "sweetie" was jarring. Hearing her call the Emperor something like that was utterly terrifying for numerous reasons.
Rather than be offended by the show of familiarity, something only two people on the planet were allowed to show towards him, Charles laughed. His laugh was deep and bellowing. It was a laugh that could start an avalanche, and it was a rare as an avalanche in Pendragon for that matter. This was not his practiced laugh of superiority, no, it was a heartfelt reaction that only Marianne could invoke in him. "You wish to see Lelouch for no reason other than the fact that you are his mother?" He asked her. The concept was alien to him, really. His children were nothing to him unless they had proven themselves in some way, yet she simply held a maternal care for her own children that came naturally.
"Of course, dear!" Her reply came in a snappish tone. "Unlike you I actually like to be near my children." She gave him a rather pointed glare that looked particularly out of place on Anya's face. "You never visited Lelouch and Nunnally. I had to force you to spend even a moment with them." Glaring at and scolding the Emperor of Britannia were not things that were done by anyone. Anyone but her.
"The Emperor cannot show weakness such as favoring one of his wives in particular. If you recall, that particular showing of emotion is what lead to my brother's betrayal and the death of your body." He frowned as he mentioned his brother. As much as he trusted his brother, how could he have betrayed that trust so grievously?
"Hmph. V.V. just wasn't willing to share his precious little brother with little ol' Marianne. Who would have taken him as having a brother complex?" Despite the rather grim topic of her murder and it's culprit, Marianne was unconcerned. "Back to the topic at hand, pleaaaaase assign Anya to Area Eleven?" She clasped her hands before her, a pout forming on her lips even as her eyes watered slightly. She was far too good at that. A grown woman had no right to call up that kind of expression at her whim.
But the cuteness of the gesture would be ruined by how freaky it was to see Anya Alstreim performing the puppydog pout.
The Emperor merely smirked, the image of Marianne with that look on her face imposing itself over the younger girl. The differences between the two amused him greatly. "And just how would you have me justify this transfer, Marianne?" Charles asked, hoping this would simply end the discussion. "In case you have forgotten, Anya is the Knight of Six. One of my Elite, even worthy of commanding a digital monster. What purpose would having her in Area Eleven serve?" There were so many other places a Knight of the Round could be used, sending her to Area Eleven wouldn't do anything but aggravate the already volatile state of the area, as he had said before.
Marianne threw her head back and laughed boisterously. "You? Needing a reason? Need I remind you that you are the Emperor of the Holy Nation of Britannia, and thusly can do whatever the hell you want? Since when do you need a reason to do anything?" Was that really the best excuse the Emperor of Britannia could come up with? Who was going to call him out on this? More so, who would call him out on anything he did?
"Hmph." Charles grunted in annoyance, conceding that she had a valid point. "While I needn't justify myself to those beneath me, I see no reason to assign on of my elite to Area Eleven." There was just no point to it. There weren't many reasons against it, but deploying her to Area Eleven could be a show of weakness that the EU or China could, potentially, jump at. "While Schneizel is handling the Chinese for now and Cornelia will have established Area 18 in a matter of days, there are numerous other fronts which could use the aid of a Knight of the Round." It was true enough. The Chinese especially were becoming a nuisance with that blasted Mega of theirs, which had prompted a more diplomatic approach rather than a simple invasion. While Bismark's own partners could defeat the Chinese pet mega, it could utterly demolish an entire army just from the crossfire of that battle.
Even Britannia couldn't afford the sheer loss of soldiers a mega level digimon could bring.
Digimon, such a nuisance those creatures were. Appearing from thin air with the power to slay entire armies in a flash.
This time, it surprised him slightly when Marianne began laughing. "Honey, you haven't considered the most recent monkey-wrench in our plans, have you?" It was clear to her that Charles had completely disregarded Lelouch as a threat. That was a no-no. Her son was incredibly dangerous, especially with the power of Geass. "C.C. has provided our son with Geass." Which was incredibly amusing but, as she said, extremely dangerous. "It's only a matter of time before Lelouch comes back to haunt Britannia and find the fiend who took away his mother and the freedom his sister once had. He was always a sweetheart like that." She had raised him well. Care for those who care for you and destroy those who would do them harm.
It was just a shame she hadn't been able to keep raising her children thanks to V.V.
She had a point, Charles would admit. While he had many children and many wives, Marianne and Lelouch were always those that stood above their peers. Marianne had always been his undisputed favorite, much to the ire of the aristocracy and his own brother.
But Lelouch had simply been special. The boy had a fire within him. His mind was sharper than any blade, and his will was indomitable. Had Lelouch stayed under the command of Britannia, Charles had no doubt his stalling the wars would have been much more difficult. Even with Scheizel on his side, Charles could stall all he wanted, because there was no way the man would risk drawing his ire. Lelouch would not tolerate it and would find every available loophole he could to speed up the wars, likely picking up on the fact that his father was dragging them out for some undisclosed reason, and damn the consequences.
Had Lelouch stayed under command of Britannia, Charles would have proudly invited his son to stand beside Marianne, V.V., and himself as they broke the chain of hatred that had stained the world for so long. Yes, Lelouch would have made a fine addition to their group. It was sad his brother's jealousy had taken away that chance in one fell swoop.
However, with Lelouch firmly set against Britannia and Charles unable to trust him explicitly, he would be a thorn in their side with the potential to delay Ragnarok, if his wife was correct. But he couldn't just kill the boy and be done with it, Marianne simply would not allow that at all. Much as she would deny it, she had always favored Lelouch even over Nunnally. She loved both of her children, but not equally. She had treated them both well, but it was clear to him that Lelouch had been her favorite.
He could only imagine the hell he would have to deal with should he kill Lelouch without reason enough to make Marianne herself raise her blade against her eldest child.
He laughed out loud at the realization that Marianne had already named the best course of action. However, there was still one issue that he would have to address. "Very well, Marianne. I will assign Anya to Area Eleven as a show of force to those who raised their hand against the Empire, Clovis' death will be sufficient reason." His tone made it quite clear that the death of Clovis mattered not, aside from the convenient excuse it gave. "However, finding the boy will be problematic. We've nowhere to begin our search, nor do we have a reason for Anya to actively seek him when outside of your control, let alone remain near him even if we learn of his location. And as we both know, even seven years later you can only keep control for twenty four hours before having to rest double that amount." Originally she had even less time, but after so many years of being inside of Anya her Geass had been able to secure her more liberties with the girl's body. But even with a full day of control after every two days, there was simply too much ground to cover in Area Eleven to locate Lelouch's hiding place in a timely manner. And without a reason for Anya herself to seek him out, even if they located the boy there wasn't much they could do to keep track of him.
Marianne smiled, shaking her head in exasperation. "Sweetheart, you never learn." It was just so peculiar how a man with so much power had such a blatant flaw. He just could not seem to remember the smaller details, the little people. But that was why he had her, Marianne supposed. "Do you know that Reuben opened an academy in Area Eleven before we invaded? A boy as smart as Lelouch would know the Ashfords would protect them, even from their homeland. Reuben wouldn't allow anything less." Such a wonderful man, that Reuben. Kind, dedicated, and wily as hell. He also threw wonderful parties. "And as for motivation for Anya to find Lelouch..." She trailed off with a devilish grin. "My Geass has flaws, Charles. But one of those flaws will benefit us in this endeavor." Oooh, that's right. She'd never told him this part before.
"Oh? Do tell, Marianne." Charles motioned for her to continue, smiling at her theatrics. The man had a feeling he knew where this was going, at least somewhat.
"While my presence dulls Anya's emotions and causes her constant loss of memory, there are three figures that she cannot forget no matter how I've tried to make her. They are Nunnally, myself, and Lelouch." She began, holding up one finger for each name she listed.
He knew that much, as he had needed to rewrite Anya's memories himself in order to make her forget the actual events of that night. That had, however, raised a rather pressing issue in that he could not risk using his Geass on the girl again.
Between his own Geass and that of Marianne, the girl's mind was unstable. Normally her blackouts would be just that- blackouts. She would forget what occurred for that time period and nothing more. Perhaps some memory loss could occur here and there due to Marianne's Geass, but not the near complete wipe of memories that Anya Alstreim suffered each time his wife took over her mind.
Layering another use of his Geass on top of that could have unforeseen consequences, and he wouldn't risk Marianne like that. The girl was expendable, but the consciousness she housed was not.
"Even more amusing," His wife continued with a brilliant smile, breaking him out of his thoughts "is the fact that she had a crush on my darling little boy that has never quite gone away!" The excitement in her voice was clear to see and Charles had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Marianne would be enthused by that. "She has this one picture on her phone that she constantly looks at." Marianne tilted her head in thought for a moment, before deciding the best way to carry on. "And it seems as though the restraint on her emotions loosens slightly enough that her body acts on them without her actively realizing it. Like the time she began crying while looking at the picture of Lelouch, but didn't act different otherwise. Gino was quite concerned, I recall." Marianne had grown something of a soft spot for Anya over the years, considering all the problems she'd caused for the girl. It was nice to know that she had a friend as good as Gino despite all of these issues.
Though the whole thing was rather odd. She retained memories of herself, Lelouch, and Nunnally, which had forced Charles to rewrite her memory of the assassination, but on top of that the emotional block that her presence inside of Anya's mind created was weakened somewhat when she thought of Nunnally and Lelouch. Especially Lelouch, for that matter.
That crush really was adorable.
Briefly, she wondered if it would be possible to set Lelouch and Anya up with one another. They would be cute together, for sure.
She was entirely unaware of the surrounding world unless she actually took control of Anya, so that wouldn't be an issue. If she actually saw and felt the things Anya did then she wouldn't even be considering the idea. That would just be creepy. Far too many lines would be crossed.
Charles frowned, noticing his wife seemed to be drifting off into her own little world. Knowing her she was thinking of ways to get Anya and Lelouch together.
That woman had an insatiable need to play matchmaker with her children. Charles was moderately certain she had intended to build her eldest child a little harem, considering just how many young girls had been around the boy years ago. From the Ashford girl to his younger sister Carine, almost all of the children he had associated with most frequently were female. Clovis had been the only exception to that rule. "Your Geass is unable to affect the memories of you and your direct descendants. I was aware of this, however I had believed the emotional restraint would be unaffected." His frown deepened slightly, as he noticed her coming out of her thoughts. "Then there is a chance that you will be unable to take control of Anya should the need arise and Lelouch is to be killed." Which could be problematic.
Marianne glared. "Charles, are you insinuating I cannot wrest control of this body away from a fifteen year old girl should the need arise?" Her tone made it clear that there was only one answer to the question.
And so it was with an exasperated sigh that Charles granted the request of his beloved wife. Truly, there was no other being on this earth that could exert such control over him, and the mighty Emperor of Britannia would not have it any other way.
And it was with a brilliant grin that Marianne began to dance cheerfully around his study, twirling and hopping about in joy. Her husband was whipped and he knew it, it was great! What could be better than having a darling husband who couldn't refuse your whims and controlled a third of the world?
Charles smiled. Marianne had always been the most amusing of his wives, without even taking into account his favor for her.
"Oho?" Rivalz asked, grinning slyly at his best friend as they lounged about on the roof. "Finally gonna tell me what went on that day, bud?" It had been days. He'd been worried sick when Lelouch had been driven off in that truck, even more once he saw the military chasing after said truck. Curiosity had been killing him but there was no way Rivalz was going to constantly pester Lelouch about it.
He would get around to telling him, he'd said as much. If he didn't do it immediately then he had his reasons and Rivalz would respect that.
It still hadn't stopped him from siccing Shirley on the black haired boy yesterday with the champagne. That was great, and he got to see the hot redhead covered in the contents of the bottle so that was cool too. Goodness was that girl good looking, though the whole chronic illness thing kinda killed any real interest he held for her. She was too frail for his tastes.
"Yes, yes, I've finally found an opportunity to inform you of the incident in it's entirety." Lelouch replied with a roll of his eyes, leaning on the railing and looking over the campus below. "I apologize for the lateness, but it's been an... interesting few days." Especially yesterday. That had been very, very interesting.
Rivalz snorted. "I'll say." He wasn't quite sure why, but it seemed like Lelouch had taken some sort of interest in Kallen. Perhaps she was more his type, it would make sense actually. As used to doting on Nunnally as he was, Lelouch would probably be perfectly alright with someone like Kallen being so frail and ill. The girl was intelligent, beautiful, and from a wealthy family. His bud certainly knew how to pick 'em.
Seeing the smirk on Rivalz' face, Lelouch narrowed his eyes for a moment. "And just what was that smirk about, Rivalz?" He knew that smirk. It was the kind Rivalz put on when he played matchmaker in his head, and it meant nothing good.
The last time he'd seen that smirk, Rivalz had gotten it in his head that he and Nina were secretly in a relationship due to their habit of working late on the paperwork that tended to pile up. The rumor mill had been buzzing for weeks and it had embarrassed Nina quite thoroughly.
"Nothin'~" Rivalz sang, snickering a bit. "Just noticed that you and Kallen seem to have been gettin' along rather well, y'know?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, smirk in place.
It was now Lelouch's turn to snort. Getting along? They'd come fairly close to killing one another. Best nip this one in the bud right now before another rumor spreads and he had to avoid getting knifed by Kallen. "Really now? Just because I can actually speak to a girl without shoving both feet and a hand into my mouth, I must be romantically involved with her?"
Ooooh, that ass. Rivalz cringed. "So cruel, Lelouch..." A proverbial stormcloud hovered over his head as the blue haired boy considered his complete inability to speak with his crush as anything more than a friend.
Lelouch sighed, feeling guilty for using that particular jab. "Sorry, sorry. You know, you have to tell her some day Rivalz." Milly already knew Rivalz was head over heels for her, but the girl was too tied down by her damn parents trying to marry her off. She'd confessed to him a year ago that she couldn't have a normal relationship and expect it to work out because of them.
But Rivalz didn't know that. He didn't know just how much those arranged meetings actually meant to Milly's parents, and how big of a fallout there would be if she just dropped them and tried to pursue a relationship with someone without those noble titles. Rivalz needed to hear it from the girl herself, because Lelouch would not be speaking of Milly's personal business with anyone but her.
The only real way to guarantee that he learned the hard way was to get the boy to confess, but that in and of itself was a horribly slow process. He feared rejection, and Lelouch was miserable with the knowledge that rejection was the only thing his confession could bring. But the sooner it happened, the sooner Rivalz could begin moving on.
"Enough about that though." Lelouch quickly changed the subject, bringing Rivalz out of his funk. "About what happened that day. I lied to Shirley about Shinjuku, that's where the truck ended up taking me."
"Damn." Rivalz muttered, eyes wide. "Seriously? The truck was being driven by terrorists then?" Shit. He knew he had a bad feeling that day, it was just good luck that Lelouch managed to get out alive.
Nodding, Lelouch picked up from where he left off. "The truck was carrying a large spherical container with vents on it, Rivalz. I think you can guess what that was supposed to be?" He would pick up on it, for sure. The boy was far more perceptive than he was given credit for.
"The poison gas." But wait. He'd said what it was "supposed to be". "... it wasn't poison gas, was it?" Rivalz was now confused. If it wasn't poison gas then what was it?
With a deeper sigh, Lelouch pushed himself off of the railing and turned to face his best friend. "No, it wasn't. That container was supposed to have contained poison gas, but in reality it was being used to transport a prisoner."
Rivalz blinked in surprise, shaking his head a bit as the implications hit him. "So, someone important to the terrorists or what?" Who in the world could have been captured that would cause such a fuss? The only single person Rivalz could think of that warranted even a fraction of the measures taken that day would be Kyoshiro Todoh. But even that would be a stretch. "Who the hell could it have been? I don't think even Todoh would have been worth... that."
He didn't have trouble believing that Britannia would order the slaughter of countless unarmed civilians- if you didn't pay attention to history class and needed to cram for a test, you'd learn a lot more than if you'd just paid attention in the first place. It was just... well, it had never been over something so trivial. A single person had warranted an actual purge of the ghetto for some reason. It made no sense.
A shallow laugh was the answer Lelouch provided. "If I actually knew who she was, I would tell you." He shrugged, shaking his head balefully. "She was a beautiful girl- it was no wonder why Clovis wanted her back so badly. But as to why she was worth an entire ghetto of unarmed civilians and the negative publicity if it got out? I couldn't tell you." A sigh slipped from him as he slumped a bit, letting some honest feeling seep into it. "Either way it doesn't matter- she was shot in the head taking a bullet for me."
This was going to be more than he had let Nina in on, but he trusted Rivalz with his life. If anyone deserved to know this much, it was him.
... and also because he was somewhat concerned of how Nina would react to the full story.
Lelouch continued. "The capsule... either it was a timed release, or I accidentally opened it. I tried to escape with the girl, but we were stopped by the Royal guard."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Rivalz had been shocked to silence up until that last bit. "Royal Guard? As in the Royal Guard of Prince Clovis? That Royal Guard? We're talking about the same guys?" He rambled on, eyes wide as he mulled over that information. Dear lord what had Lelouch managed to get roped into and how the hell did he survive it? This whole story was insane but Lelouch wouldn't make up a story like this.
He would leave out bits and pieces and perhaps bend the truth, but never flat out fabricate a story with no semblance of truth. Not to Rivalz, at least.
"Yes, Rivalz." Lelouch muttered with an exasperated tone. "Them. Those guys." With his snark filled response delivered, Lelouch continued on. "They knew who she was, and captured her. Then they stood me up against a wall and were about to shoot me."
The anger shining in Rivalz eyes brought a smile to Lelouch's face. Nina had been too set in her belief that Britannians were the good guys to really get angry about the situation, it was just too surreal for her. But, then, he also hadn't let Nina in on just how close he'd come to losing his life. Who knows how that would have made her react.
But still, Rivalz was much more realistic about his homeland and it was something Lelouch had always enjoyed about the boy.
Rivalz didn't openly state his dislike for Britannia and the methods it employed, but it was hard to miss it after so many years. That little spark of anger every time Britannians subjugated another group of people was obvious after he'd actually began to look for it. He didn't like how things were run, but there wasn't much he could do about it.
"Relax." Lelouch held his hands up in a placating gesture, before continuing. "I'm unharmed from it as you can tell, so calm down. There's nothing you can do to change the past, it's behind you and out of reach." So you should focus on the present in order to build the future you desire. "The girl... she broke free from the soldiers and took the shot for me. The guards were so distracted by it they were easy pickings for one of the rebels... who had gotten their hands on a Sutherland by the way." Well technically speaking, he was the rebel who had gotten his hands on a Sutherland, and the guards were easy pickings for him after the girl was shot. So technically he wasn't speaking lies.
He wasn't really telling the truth either, but it was closer to fact than fiction.
"One of the rebels got a Sutherland?" Rivalz mumbled in surprise. "How? Last I checked the JLF wasn't even that well armed." They had some sort of re-tuned Glasgows that they called Burais, or something like that, but not Sutherlands.
Lelouch shrugged. "It wasn't just one. By the end of that conflict, there seemed to be several of them outfitted with Sutherlands. On top of that, whoever was in charge of them must have been one hell of a strategist." The irony of the fact that he was complimenting himself here was not lost on him.
Now Rivalz was curious. "What makes you say that?" If Lelouch actually seemed impressed by someone's grasp of strategy, there was something worth talking about.
The boy in question snorted in amusement. "Because they completely decimated the military forces that Prince Clovis brought along. I honestly don't know if any of the Britannian KMF troops survived the end of that battle." This was true. Aside from the white knightmare he'd gotten into a short fight with, there didn't seem to be any other Britannian knightmares around. "One minute the ghetto is swarming with Britannian Sutherlands, and the next there were none. I don't know who could have accomplished that with a handful of Sutherlands, but someone did it."
"Just how close were you to all this, Lelouch?" Rivalz brow furrowed in concern. He was talking like he'd been right in the middle of this, and knowing him that was a possibility. Lelouch's luck had two settings; lucky as hell and absolute shit.
Lelouch shrugged. "Close enough to see a giant hole open in the ground and swallow up most of the Britannian forces. I'd say about half of their troops were neutralized in the blink of an eye." He smirked at the awed expression that had found it's way to his friend's face. "And yet I was far enough away that I could slip out of the ghetto after Prince Clovis ordered a ceasefire." This was also not technically a lie. He did slip out after the ceasefire... just not right after.
A frown replaced the awe. "So... whoever killed the viceroy got him to order a ceasefire?" It made sense, of course. Getting the remaining enemy troops, however few, to simply halt all conflict was the best outcome for any commander.
He was skeptical of the Kururugi guy actually being the culprit here, though. He was an Honorary Britannian in the military- the chances of him being anywhere near Prince Clovis in order to assassinate him were damn near astronomical, and last he checked they weren't even allowed to use firearms so getting one and holding on to it despite thorough routine inspections was also a stretch. And now he doubted it even more because that guy did NOT look like the kind of tactician who could lead a handful of troops against the numerically superior Britannian military and win. Out of curiosity, he decided to share this opinion of his with Lelouch.
"Say, Lelouch?" Rivalz asked.
"Hm?" Came the simple reply from the Vice President, as he gestured for Rivalz to continue.
"Er..." Uh, how to say this? Maybe just blurting it out would be best? Yeah. That works. "I don't really think that the military got the right guy when they blamed Kururugi." Rivalz quickly spat it out.
The reaction he got with that was actually more surprised than Rivalz had expected. Wow, he'd actually managed to knock Lelouch for a loop with that one, he'd actually visibly reacted.
Calming himself a bit, Lelouch replied in a careful tone. "To tell you the truth, I don't believe so either. From what I know of Kururugi, the kind of strategic knowledge employed by the enemy commander in Shinjuku is beyond him. That doesn't remove the possibility of Kururugi being one of the rebels, though. Just not the leader." It sort of pained him to say that, since it felt like he was besmirching Suzaku's character. Though the fact that the imbecile was working willingly with Britannia was besmirching enough... bah. After he got the idiot out of this mess he'd see just what that had accomplished for him. "However, getting close enough to the Viceroy to actually assassinate him seems a bit of a stretch."
Rivalz shrugged. "I mean, I guess he could just be one of the underlings." He hadn't really considered that. "But still. It just feels too perfect, y'know? The son of the last Prime Minister of Japan just so happened to be the guy who killed Prince Clovis, despite the heavy scrutiny he would be under in the first place, while someone from the Purist Faction is acting consul?"
It had been said before, but bore repeating. Rivalz was not an idiot. Lelouch knew this, but it was just refreshing to see someone around him who actually understood just why Kururugi Suzaku as the assassin seemed rather coincidental.
The Purist Faction had always been against Honorary Britannians. So when one of them killed the Prince, it could be used as a platform to strip others of the meager rights that the title "Honorary Britannian" gave them. After all, one of them had used the benefit of the title to slay the same prince who had implemented the system. How could they let such a breach of the trust placed in these Honorary Britannians slide?
And then on top of that, the son of the previous Prime Minister? It was rather interesting just how well things fell into place for the Purist Faction.
Perhaps it slid by the masses, but a perceptive person could at least question how perfect a suspect Kururugi Suzaku was. It didn't necessarily absolve him of guilt, but still.
It wasn't like it would matter anyway, Kururugi Suzaku would be proven innocent and set free. Lelouch would rather die than allow Suzaku of all people to take the fall for him.
"Well." Lelouch spoke up, looking over the campus once more. "All I can say is that Lelouch Lamperouge isn't going to be involved in that whole fiasco. One ridiculous clusterfuck is enough for me, thanks." Lelouch vi Britannia on the other hand... hm.
No, no... he didn't really want to identify with that name anymore. He would need to come up with a good alias to go by. Something simple and catchy. He hadn't really considered it yet.
Rivalz sighed. "Yeah. Rivalz Cardemonde feels like an awful friend for letting you run off into that mess." He really did, too. If he'd tried harder to stop him from going to check up on that truck then he wouldn't have been in such a dangerous situation.
But Lelouch waved it off, a smile on his lips. "It's my own fault for caring so much." And in the end, despite all that had happened, his arrival in Shinjuku was a good thing for him. He'd gained far too much for it to be anything but a win in his favor.
Geass. A supernatural power that could bend the wills of trained soldiers, forcing them to kill themselves at his command.
Keramon. A digital monster with whom he could merge to become a Champion level digimon, with strength that could easily tear through knightmare frames.
And then Kallen's group. While that was still tentative, the chances of those people being useful to him were quite high.
"Hey." Rivalz spoke up once more, as they began walking to the stairway door. "What's with the bag by the way?" It was odd. Lelouch just suddenly started toting around a duffle bag. Not a really conspicuously large one or anything suspicious like that, but it was just odd since the guy had never bothered with one before.
The cryptic smirk Lelouch gave him was somewhat worrisome, but it was the only answer he got.
Oh man, now he was curious. Maybe that was the plan; carry around an empty duffle bag so that people would be curious about what's inside it, bugging him for a climactic reveal... only for it to be completely empty. But maybe it wouldn't actually be empty! The reveal would have just been a ruse so that he could keep carrying it around with no suspicion!
It was evil. Positively evil. So it totally fit Lelouch.
... or maybe he just decided to carry a handgun or something and the duffle bag was due to the lack of good places to hide it on the Ashford uniform. It wasn't a large bag, so it wasn't like he had a rifle or something in it, but a handgun would fit easily with space left over.
"I'm now dying of curiosity Lelouch." Rivalz muttered dryly. "You will have to live with killing me via an overload of curiosity, can you really handle that on your conscience?"
'Well,' Lelouch thought to himself grimly, 'I've got to live with killing my brother in cold blood, so I could probably manage.' Externally, however, he simply shook his head in exasperation. "Drama queen."
"Don't call me that." Rivalz pouted. "At least let me be a drama king."
Lelouch couldn't help but smile as he spotted Kallen and three men he recognized as her terrorist friends wandering idly around Tokyo Tower, which was now little more than a museum depicting the Elevens as an unenlightened race who Britannia had done nothing but help.
In other words, they were spewing bullshit. Propaganda was something Lelouch had always hated.
He was of the mind that words meant nothing with no actions backing them. And Britannia's attempts at making the situation sound good for the Japanese were certainly not mirrored by their actions. As he made his way to the elevator, he looked out over the city.
From the tower you could easily see where the city stopped and the ghettos began. It was a clear line that, to him, read as "us" and "them" respectively.
Now, however, he was a part of "them", wasn't he? Or perhaps he simply walked the line between the two? No matter. Once he was finished, these differences wouldn't mean a thing. He wouldn't stop fighting until the line between "them" and "us" was no longer an issue. For that to happen, the Darwinist Society that Britannia prided itself on must cease to exist.
That was one sacrifice he would be happy to make. Stealing one last glance before he got on the elevator to the bottom floor, being the only one on it, he couldn't help but whisper to himself. "This is why I'll fight them." It wasn't just for Nunnally, or for revenge, not entirely. Maybe at one point, but not now.
He truly wanted to make the world a better place. A gentler place. Somewhere Nunnally could be safe and happy, yes, but also somewhere he could be happy.
Lelouch knew that Nunnally only wanted to live peacefully with her big brother and her friends. That would be enough for her. But it wasn't for him. "I'll change this rotten world."
Words were powerful, but not without the backing of actions. Simply saying something won't make it true. And so, he would use his words and his actions.
And he knew Kallen and her friends would help him do it. He just needed to motivate them.
It wasn't like it would be hard. Freeing Japan was the first step of his plan, after all.
As he left Tokyo Tower, Lelouch couldn't help but smile. Things were changing. After seven years of stagnancy, it was finally time. He would never have to fear being sucked up by Britannia and losing his will to fight. No, he was going to fight now while the fire for justice and the thirst for vengeance were still fresh.
Soon, Lelouch was on the proper train. He had spotted the rebels boarding the specified train car, looking as discreet as a Britannian schoolgirl and three Japanese men can when boarding a train in close succession. Show time, then.
"Excuse me!" He shouted, drawing the attention of the passengers. His Geass flared to life. "I'd like all of you to follow my orders for the duration of this trip."
"Yes, my lord."
"Face the front of the train car, and look to your right. What do you see?"
Kallen peered that direction, seeing the edge of the settlement passing them by. She whispered into the phone so as not to be heard by the other passengers. "I see the Britannian city. Built upon the corpses of the Japanese."
"And to your left?"
"I see our city. A broken husk that was left as a reminder of what the Britannians think of us."
This answer seemed to intrigue the voice, as he paused for a moment. "What do they think of us?" He asked, curiously.
"They think we're worthless. Nothing. That we'll lie down and die if they force us into the ghettos." She replied.
"I see. Good answers. Head to the front train car. I'll be waiting." How ironic that she would have used the word "nothing", just before meeting him.
Her eyes widened slightly. He was on the train with them. She signaled for the others to follow, and they did. After a few moments they realized no one was paying any attention to them whatsoever, but they paid it no mind. Soon, Kallen had reached the final car. What she saw inside of it gave her pause, a brief gasp escaping her.
Standing at the front of the car was a single figure. Their back was turned to her, but she could make out a black cloak held around them and a helmet upon their head.
"It was you?" Kallen asked, as Ohgi, Sugiyama, and Yoshida stepped into the car right after she did. Ohgi and Sugiyama stood shoulder to shoulder with her, while Yoshida stood slightly behind them, peering quickly into the cars preceding them.
"Were you the one who caused Clovis to withdraw his forces from Shinjuku?" Kallen asked once more.
The figure said nothing. "Come on, say something already!" Sugiyama demanded.
Still the cloaked figure said nothing. Suddenly, the car went dark and the masked figure turned to look at them. "My name is Zero. How did you like my tour?" He asked in a heavily modulated, masculine voice. Seeing their confusion, he continued. "I wanted you to grasp the two. The settlement." He threw out his left hand, revealing slightly more of the man beneath the cloak. "And the ghetto." With that his right hand was thrown outwards, revealing the outfit beneath. He gave off a regal, somewhat intimidating feel.
On anyone else, the outfit would have looked ridiculous. But there was something about this man, an aura about him that just made him seem like a predator of some sort.
"No way it was this joker..." Yoshida muttered. In truth, the entire atmosphere was getting to him somewhat. Something felt off, and his eyes were darting about trying to spot what it was. Had he seen movement under the furthest seats?
Ohgi stepped forward. "We realize there is a difference between the two of us, and that is why we fight them." He spoke firmly, full of belief in himself and his cause.
"You're wrong." Zero replied curtly. Before they could retort, he continued. "Such a weak reason for fighting will only carry you so far. Your enemy is not the people of Britannia, but the corrupt nation itself! Meager terrorism is nothing more than a gnat biting at the hand of the Emperor! To truly fight Britannia, know your enemy and take up your sword. Fight for justice!"
Kallen growled. "Easy for you to say! Hiding behind that mask of yours? Why don't you show us your real face, huh!?" She shouted. Mutterings of agreement came from Yoshida and Sugiyama, though Ohgi remained silent.
"I cannot show you my face. However, perhaps if I reveal to you something else you would be more willing to trust me." He snapped his fingers, and a glow came from under one of the furthest seats.
As the four rebels prepared for the worst, a voice called out. "Hiya'!" The cheerful greeting came from a blue jellyfish-like creature with two long arms and a massive mouth.
"Allow me to actually introduce you to Keramon, my digimon partner." Zero stated, patting Keramon lightly on the head.
The digimon didn't mind it at all, but felt the need to comment. "I'm not a housecat you know." Keramon griped in false protest, deflating slightly as Zero stopped. Damn it. He should have kept his big mouth shut.
The rebels were quite shocked. Not even the JLF had Digimon under their control, and they were the most well equipped of all rebel organizations. To see another with one of the monsters, this time on their side, it was something rare. Unheard of.
Of course they had seen the bizarre creature in Shinjuku, but seeing the rookie level Keramon before them, standing beside the man who had killed Prince Clovis...
All of a sudden, the realization that there was a digimon on their side hit them full force. It was such a massive realization. Those creatures that could cut through hordes of enemies nonstop, that seemed like unstoppable juggernauts... one of those creatures was now fighting with them.
And from what they had seen in Shinjuku, this one was something special.
A convoy of four Sutherlands and a military transport were being driven down a street lined with jeering Britannians, all of whom had been brought there that night for only one thing. To put on a show. Because that was all this was, nothing more than a circus act. And Diethard Reid was a corrupt as any of them.
And yet, the blonde man couldn't help but feel it was all so dull. How disappointing it was that their government had decided to put up a scapegoat rather than seek out the actual murderer of their prince. Knowing this, Diethard couldn't help but feel cheated. This wasn't a story, it was just elaborate fiction. They pin the blame on a scapegoat- but no, not just any scapegoat! An Honorary Britannian! How surprising that the Purist Faction would capitalize on the death of their beloved prince to further their own agenda.
Diethard hated fiction like this. He craved facts. He wanted, no, needed a story. Something, anything at all to break the cycle of this humdrum world. Something that was truly inspiring, something that was real. He was going to go mad if he had to keep settling for falsified accusations and faked emotions.
It simply wasn't worth his, or anyone's, time. And yet these people were being fooled into believing that they were here to show support for their wonderful Prince.
Diethard would shed no tears for that pompous airhead. He couldn't remember the number of that buffoon's parties he'd covered, but it was too damn high.
Hopefully the next Viceroy would actually get things done and give him something worth recording.
Not likely, though. Every good story needed conflict, but the battles between Britannia and the remaining Japanese weren't conflict so much as one sided massacres. They weren't worthy of a story either, no matter how real or truthful they were. It seemed like he would be stuck in his worthless cycle of events for the rest of his life.
But then a spark of hope appeared.
And it's name was Zero.
The convoy escorting Private Suzaku Kururugi had stopped abruptly.
"H-hey! They actually stopped, just like he said they would!" Sugiyama muttered, shocked.
"Told ya' so!" Cackled Keramon, who had remained with the rebels, smugly. Doubting his human? For shame.
"It's a coincidence." Tamaki assured him tersely, unable to believe it himself.
"But he said Jeremiah would try to hog the limelight by making a show of it, what if everything else is right too?" Yoshida interjected mildly.
"COINCIDENCE!" Tamaki shouted, eyes still firmly attached to the TV. "They're not gonna pull this off. They'll be lucky to escape alive, let alone with Kururugi."
But still, despite his words, Tamaki felt the same spark of hope they all did. If he pulled this off, what else could this mystery man come up with?
This man who was so confident in his planning that he had left behind his trump card, a Digital Monster, because he was certain that he wouldn't be needed.
This man who had handed Britannia their first defeat since Itsukushima, who had made it look simple to do so.
For the first time in a long time, their group had someone to rally behind.
And his name was Zero.
Within a darkened room inside of Ashford Academy, a young girl prayed quietly for the life of a friend long thought dead. As the man on the radio spoke, her heart dropped and her prayers hastened. Tears gathered in her eyes as she begged someone, anyone, to save the life of her friend.
Suzaku wouldn't kill Clovis. He just wouldn't. She knew it deep in her heart, Suzaku was innocent. There wasn't even any way for him to get to Clovis as a Private, so how could he have? Why did it have to be him, why Suzaku? Hadn't he been through enough after all these years? How did he deserve any of this?
He was innocent and deserved to be free, not bound and paraded towards his demise like a criminal.
And so she prayed, hoping someone would finally answer.
The answer to her prayers came.
His name was Zero.
"I am Zero." The masked man announced, staring down Jeremiah as though he wasn't held at gunpoint. As though he had nothing to fear. As though they were never going to pose a threat to him.
He would never admit it, but Jeremiah had been unnerved for just a moment by the sheer confidence of the masked man before him. Instead, he shouted at him. "How dare you desecrate his Highness's transport! I hope you had your laughs, Zero, because the joke is over!" A round fired from his pistol and four more Sutherlands dropped around the vehicle.
Zero was completely unaffected. "Take off that mask and I MIGHT think of letting you off with a light sentencing." Jeremiah threatened, though honestly he was rather impressed that anyone could stare down a group of Sutherlands without so much as flinching. He wasn't sure if his own resolve would hold quite so firmly in the face of these odds, so Jeremiah could at least say that this man was either insanely brave or simply insane.
A gloved hand reached towards his mask, as though moving to remove it, before raising high over his head and snapping.
To Jeremiah it was like that sound was a gunshot. His blood ran cold as he saw just what this Zero had unveiled. The capsule said to contain poisonous gas. The one that had gone missing in Shinjuku.
"Lord Jeremiah! Be careful, he has the-!" Villeta cut herself off, not wanting to cause a panic unintentionally. That was the last thing they wanted.
"I know..." He muttered angrily, fists clenching and teeth gritting. This was not good. Each and every Britannian here tonight was here because he had requested it of them. If that bastard set off the gas, each and every death would be on his hands. "He's taken every person here hostage and they don't even know it..."
After failing once in his duties, Jeremiah knew he couldn't handle the deaths of all these innocent Britannians on his hands. Behind him, he vaguely heard the prisoner shouting but he couldn't care less.
"You're a madman!" Jeremiah yelled, pointing his gun at the masked man.
This seemed to amuse him even more. "You know full well what you risk aiming that weapon at me, Jeremiah Gottwald. Surely you know what will happen if you miss?"
The Margrave growled. "FINE!" He shouted, holstering his pistol. "What are your demands?" It almost caused him physical pain to ask that question, but there was simply no other choice. Saying that you wouldn't negotiate with terrorists was all fine and dandy, but there was simply no way Jeremiah would let his pride or even the pride of his nation doom so many innocents. What kind of leader would decline to negotiate with terrorists when it meant the deaths of so many?
Zero extended a hand, as though to shake. "This," He stated, gesturing to the capsule. "For Kururugi Suzaku. An exchange." His terms were simple, and spoken firmly. He would not budge on his terms, and this was clear to all who heard his voice.
Jeremiah's eyes narrowed. 'I'm caught in my own lie! Bastard...' Rather than saying this, he yelled "Like hell! He's charged with high treason for murdering a prince, I can't hand him over!" Damn it all to hell. If it really, absolutely came down to it, Jeremiah would exchange Kururugi for the lives of these people. But for now, he would try to get the man to change his terms. However... Jeremiah didn't believe there would be any alteration to what the man asked. No more, no less. Zero's goal was simple.
Zero outright laughed, a foreboding sound. "Still clinging to that pathetic little cover story, Jeremiah?" He noticed with glee that a cameraman had run up to get a closer view, and obliged him gratefully by turning to regard him. "How sad that the Britannian Military spent all of their time framing an innocent man. Had you not, perhaps you would have caught the real culprit." He allowed himself another brief laugh. "Instead of that, I presented myself to you and there is nothing you can do about it."
Jeremiah's eyes widened. "Are you saying-!"
"Yes!" Zero interrupted Jeremiah's outraged cry. "The man who stands before you now is the same man who killed your beloved Prince Clovis!" Zero announced, pausing for a moment to let the severity of the statement settle in.
"For one innocent "Eleven"," He spat the word "eleven" like it had left a bad taste in his mouth, "you can save scores of your precious Britannians. I find that to be quite a bargain, don't you?" The bastard sounded so smug.
And for the life of him Jeremiah couldn't blame him for being smug. This son of a bitch had admitted to regicide and there was nothing he could do about it!
"He's MAD I tell you! Disguising that truck to look like his Higness's, he'll pay the price for mocking the crown." Jeremiah shouted, causing the Sutherlands to train their rifles on him. Still, though, their hands were stayed by the capsule. Truly, Zero held all the cards in this exchange, and Jeremiah was quickly losing what little ground he had by stalling, but there was just nothing he could think of to turn this situation around.
Zero remained calm through it all. "Careful, Jeremiah. You wouldn't want the public to learn of Orange, would you?" Beneath the mask, the smirk on Lelouch's face was positively demonic. 'Oh he will hate me for that one.' He thought to himself. However, the name had the desired effect and Jeremiah actually flinched before the confusion set in. It was too good to be true. 'He'll be useful to me later, so I'll keep from destroying his reputation entirely. Paint it out to look like he was protecting Clovis's reputation from something. Yes, that will do nicely.' He tapped his foot on the top of the vehicle, cueing Kallen to drive forward.
"If I die, it will all go public. You wouldn't want to tarnish your precious Prince's reputation with something as unsightly as that, would you, Jeremiah? Just imagine how people would react..." He played it up until he reached range to use his Geass, at which point the glass over his left eye slid back, revealing a violet orb to the world. "If you value your Prince's memory, you will do everything in your power to allow us to escape with Kururugi."
The spell fell over Jeremiah, and he calmed significantly, seemingly resigned. "Very well, you win." He turned to the guards. "Release the prisoner." He ordered grimly.
"B-but sir..." One of the guards stuttered at the sudden declaration.
"NOW." Jeremiah asserted.
Kururugi Suzaku was met halfway by Zero and a woman dressed in a white chauffeur uniform with a visor obscuring her face. The brunette attempted to speak, forgetting the collar that shocked him half-way through his sentence.
"I see. It's as I suspected, you weren't allowed to speak." Zero noted. "How like Britannia." Rather than letting him explain his side of the story, and potentially punch through the holes in the Purist Faction's ruse, he'd been denied the right to defend himself.
It really was just like Britannia to do such a thing so blatantly. Who among the masses would even care that he'd been denied his right to self defense? That his side of the story went unheard? To the masses, he was the killer of Prince Clovis simply because he'd been accused of such by the government.
And the government would never lie to them, right?
"Zero, it's time to go." The chauffeur muttered.
"Very well." He pressed a button on the remote he had been holding.
And then all hell broke loose.
A collapsed theater was the setting of yet another meeting later that night. "I see they treated you rather roughly." Zero mentioned, after having freed Suzaku from the shock collar. He currently stood upon a large piece of rubble, staring at the sky through the hole in the ceiling which had originally housed that particular stone. "Now you know just what they're like, I suppose?" He asked, gaze traveling to his old friend. A friend he had thought dead twice over.
It was so, so satisfying to know that he had saved him. For so long, Lelouch had been powerless. Without enough resources to put his plans into motion, there really was nothing he could have done for another few years at least. But Geass and Keramon had empowered him, allowing him to gather the few soldiers he needed to make a difference. It was thanks to these things that he'd been able to save his friend from this mess, even if it was a mess Lelouch himself had made in the process of gaining these things.
Suzaku rubbed his wrists to work out the stiffness, before looking up to Zero. "So it's true, then. You're the one who killed Clovis?" He seemed to take offense to it.
Lelouch suppressed the immediate urge to say something sarcastic, as Suzaku began to bring him down from the cloud of happiness he was riding. "Clovis was an enemy commander, and had ordered the slaughter of countless unarmed Japanese. Do you believe he didn't deserve to die for those crimes? Why?" Clovis had done something absolutely horrifying in Shinjuku.
"And the gas?" Suzaku accused, switching subjects as soon as it became apparent that there was really no argument to justify what Clovis had done. "Those were innocent civilians you know!"
Beneath his mask, Lelouch raised a brow. 'He was there when the capsule opened and surely he isn't stupid enough to believe I have the resources to procure that much poisonous gas.' It wasn't like the stuff was something he could buy at the super-market. Chemical weapons were one of the few things that every nation agreed upon not killing each other with.
Which was kind of odd considering that the digital monsters with the power to topple entire cities on their own power were fair game, but whatever. He hadn't made these rules.
"Nothing more than colored smoke to help along the bluff." Zero replied easily, with a dismissive wave. "The result? Not a single casualty and all mission objectives fulfilled. Exactly the kind of operation I strive for." And it was. Really, if everything he did went as well then this rebellion would be over in a matter of months with very few casualties on either side. That would be absolutely amazing, though it was far too unrealistic.
"The result, huh? I suppose that's all that matters to you?" While he had said it mostly to himself, Lelouch had still caught what he said.
It didn't sit right with him. Here he was, the man who had just rescued a man unfairly convicted of regicide without a single casualty on either side and in an extremely peaceful manner, and yet Suzaku was acting like he had killed his puppy.
"I apologize, Kururugi, had I known you wanted to remain a captive for a crime you didn't commit I would have left you alone. Surely, those few people who inhaled the smoke will forever be scarred by the few coughs they may have uttered. How ever can I live with myself for the pain I have caused them." Was it necessary? No, no it wasn't. But here he was after pulling off something NO ONE would have expected possible, with not a soul even slightly injured, and Suzaku was bitching at him about his methods. Methods that, once again, had civilian safety as a priority. He shook his head slightly, calming himself. Damn his friend for bringing out the sarcastic side of him.
"Come, Suzaku." His hand stretched towards the boy. "Join me. We can work together and change this rotten nation. Surely you understand after what they've put you through? You were accused of my crime simply because of who you are." Which still annoyed Lelouch immensely. How dare they accuse him of all people, just to further their own agenda. Any other Japanese would have done just as well as a scapegoat, or even an Honorary Britannian if they really had to try and further their own goals, but Suzaku? Really, the son of the last Prime minister, and an active member of the military?
The purists had been reaching really far on this one.
"I'm sorry, Zero, but any ends gained through contemptible means are worthless." Suzaku replied simply, turning to walk away.
"Contemptible means?" Zero muttered, fists clenching. Since when had his friend become such an utter idiot? He was stupid, sure, but never this bad. What part of his means were contemptible? He hadn't even threatened the life or health of a SINGLE person that night. How the hell was that contemptible? Wait... "Wait, where are you going?" He asked, noticing Suzaku walking away.
"My court martial is in an hour. I'd try to bring you in, but you'd just kill me then, wouldn't you?" Suzaku replied, not slowing even slightly.
What? Had he just said that he would try to bring him in... for saving him from execution? And now he was going back to them. His teeth grit. Kill him? Kill Suzaku? Why would he kill the fool after saving his sorry ass from death for a crime he hadn't committed?
Lelouch growled. "Kururugi!" He shouted, finally causing the boy to stop in surprise. "What is it you hope to achieve by submitting yourself to their whims after I had just freed you? Surely you know that the judge, prosecution, jury and even the defense are all against you? If you go back to them now, my confession may not save you. You would die needlessly." Come on Suzaku. See reason. Don't be an idiot.
"If I don't go back, they'll start cracking down on Elevens and Honorary Britannians. I can't let that happen." The brunette spoke with conviction.
Lelouch froze. Suzaku had just referred to the Japanese as Elevens. There was no reason not call them Japanese in this situation, and yet he still used the term Eleven.
Seven years had changed Clovis from a pompous yet caring prince to a monster who would bathe in the blood of innocents to protect his secrets. What the hell had it done to Suzaku? "You... you IDIOT!" He shouted. 'Please, please no... Has Suzaku lost his mind? Don't make me have to kill him too...' As a Private, Suzaku would live and die uselessly for Britannia. Lelouch may even order his death on accident. That wasn't a fate he wanted Suzaku to have. He deserved so much better, after all he had been through. If they worked together, they could accomplish anything. He was sure of it.
Even after seven years apart... no, especially after seven years apart, Lelouch didn't want to lose Suzaku again. After all he'd gone through to save him, losing the idiot would just be awful.
The boy stopped, looked up at the sky, and chuckled. "An old friend of mine used to say that to me a lot." Suzaku recalled with a smile.
"Did you ever listen?" Lelouch asked, despite already knowing the answer.
"No."
Beneath his mask, a few tears slid down Lelouch's cheek, soaking into the cloth facemask.
"Goodbye, Suzaku." He whispered to the wind, his old friend long gone.
He could only hope the fool would come to his senses before Britannia destroyed him.
All chatter between the rebels stopped as Zero walked out from the back of the theater, without Kururugi. "Kururugi Suzaku has decided to return to his court martial."
The initial onset of outrage was halted by his raised hand. "He did this so that Britannia wouldn't have an excuse to further clamp down upon other Japanese and Honorary Britannians. Despite the annoyance I felt from our efforts being in vain, I understand his reasoning and respect him for it. Thankfully, with my confession he should be acquitted. Should Britannia execute him now, the public will be in an uproar. After all, if they couldn't at least get the real killer, why should they kill their scapegoat? Especially now, when more and more people will begin to question just why Kururugi Suzaku of all people was chosen as the scapegoat." He could see the realization dawning on the faces of the rebels gathered before him, as they considered it themselves.
Without another suspect, the government had been given free reign to set up a scapegoat. It could have been anyone, but in the end the scapegoat had been someone chosen specifically to further the political ambitions of a single group.
Even in Britannia, there were enough self-aware people to call the Purist Faction out on that. The negative publicity would set them back immensely should they have Suzaku executed. It would seem as though they hadn't looked for the real killer at all, and had just used the Prince's death to their benefit.
Zero sighed, allowing his shoulders to slump a bit in a semblance of relief. "I'm glad that we at least managed to protect the meager rights given to the Honorary Britannians. Had the Purist Faction executed Suzaku, they would have launched a platform against Honorary Britannians in general while public support was still high. The few lucky enough to claim some of their lives back would have it all robbed from them once more." And here he was covering for that fool in case he ever came to his senses.
While Lelouch would admit that his reasons for returning weren't awful, it was incredibly annoying that he had to justify the idiot's actions to these rebels in case he ever realized just how stupid he was being. Suzaku could have at least stuck around to do that himself, but the fact that he didn't seemed to point towards his belief that they were the ones in the wrong here.
Either way, it didn't matter. Suzaku should be safe now, after his confession and the display of competence he'd put on there was little chance anyone still believed Suzaku had killed Clovis. Zero had been introduced to the world and was a legitimate threat to Britannia now, having already killed a Prince and humiliated the military on two separate occasions, one more widely known than the other. And on top of that, Kallen and her group saw that he was actually capable of fighting Britannia, and that Shinjuku wasn't just some fluke.
All in all, this had been a good night.
A few nods and murmurs of agreement met his ears. "What a pain in the ass, though." The redheaded male, Tamaki, muttered. "You guys risked your lives for the guy and he just walked off?" Even if he had fairly good reason for it, that was just lame.
"Yep, seems that way. Kekeke." Keramon, who had been resting lazily atop one of the bits of rubble, exclaimed. "Geeze, Zero, did you have to leave me behind for that mission of yours? If I had nails I would've been biting them to the nub, you scared me you ass."
As a show of trust, Lelouch had left Keramon with the rebels who had decided not to come along for his operation. Originally, this had shocked the group before Zero had assured them, quite simply, that he wouldn't need Keramon's help for this particular mission. Tamaki had been quite adamant that they would fail, especially now that he had decided to leave behind his partner.
Now the lot of them were just impressed. Having his partner there really would have been unnecessary.
"My apologies, Keramon. I didn't want to reveal you to the entirety of Britannia quite yet. As of now, you are our ace in the hole." Zero stated. "Rest assured, your time will come." Britannia as a whole was unaware of Keramon's existence. The only ones who had known of Infermon's part in the battle were also the ones who had abandoned Prince Clovis with no recollection of how or why, and as such their information would be under heavy scrutiny, if anyone believed it at all.
But, then there was the white knightmare... either way, he hadn't needed Keramon for this operation, and having him along wouldn't have helped. Leaving him behind helped foster trust with the rebel group, and since he was a man in a mask trust was something he needed a lot of.
Sugiyama spoke up. "You know, it's weird seeing an actual Digimon actually holding a conversation. The few I've seen have either been complete robots or rabid beasts. It painted a pretty bad picture of your kind."
Yoshida chimed in aswell. "Yeah, I was in one of those digital fields once. The thing that came out was a frothing maniac with nothing on it's mind but killing. Good thing it was just a rookie, or I may not have been able to down it with my pistol."
Keramon nodded. "Bio-emerging is disorientating process. If your will isn't strong enough, you'll go berserk. But it's still safer than the alternative in many cases."
"What's the alternative?" Ohgi asked curiously.
Keramon giggled in a demented fashion for a moment, visibly unnerving them. "Deletion, absorption, and reincarnation as a baby digimon. Sometimes the last two steps are skipped, depending on who chased you down. That's what is causing Bio-emergence to skyrocket, digimon running for their lives and escaping to the human world. Sometimes alone. Others with their pursuers in tow..." He trailed off.
"So, what about you then?" Kallen questioned. "Were you chased here too?"
Keramon glanced at Zero, silently asking for permission to divulge this information. Zero spoke next. "Feel free to tell them, Keramon. While some secrets are necessary, I don't want to foster distrust between us." He was actually very grateful for Keramon being here. It allowed Lelouch to reveal information about his partner in order to sate the curiosity of his new allies, allowing him to seem less secretive while not giving away anything terribly useful.
"Alright." The blue digimon replied. He turned to the rebels once more. "I arrived in the Human World on the same day you stole that bomb from Clovis. Zero found me fighting uselessly against the Angemon that had chased me out of the digital world, and... well." He grasped for words for a moment. "Something about him called to me. Next thing I know, boom, I digivolved." He shrugged. "But it's kinda weird how that goes down. Rather than digivolving to the usual Champion level form of my species, I became Infermon, an Ultimate."
"An ULTIMATE?" Was the loud response from the gathered rebels. Ultimate level digimon were exclusive to the Knights of the Round in Britannian hierarchy. Anyone with an Ultimate level digimon on their side had immense firepower.
"Sort of. I didn't feel like an ultimate, I wasn't strong enough to be an ultimate for sure." Keramon admitted with a shrug. "Zero and I have theories on how, exactly, it happened... but nothing concrete. It's a really weird process, but for the moment my strength is about that of a Champion." Keramon snickered, before switching topics. "Say, do you know why it's so rare to find a Britannian-controlled Digimon that can reach Ultimate or Mega?" He asked.
Seeing their hesitance to answer, he continued. "It's because mosta' them are enslaved. Reaching Mega isn't just about power, it's about emotion. You can't fight at your best for a cause you don't believe in, y'know? That's why China's famous Black Gabumon is so powerful, he's fighting willingly. For whatever reason, this digimon has decided that he wants to fight for China." Keramon could only wonder just what had happened to make such a fierce creature so loyal to that nation. Perhaps not the nation itself, come to think of it. Just someone else who was loyal to China.
"Only four of the Rounds have digimon that aren't emotionless last we've checked. Those would be the digimon partnered with Bismark Waldstein, Anya Alstreim, Gino Weinberg, and Nonette Enneagram. It's why they're the strongest Knights." Yeah the other Knights digimon could reach Ultimate... but they just weren't anything compared to an Ultimate digimon with their own motivations and beliefs. Though the fact that they could actually reach ultimate without that was rather disconcerting. It meant that the digimon partnered with the remaining Knights were already capable of reaching Ultimate freely before being enslaved.
The things that implied could be troublesome.
At the mention of Nonette, Lelouch had to force down a chuckle. Yes, he remembered her alright. The only person other than the Emperor who Cornelia was point-blank terrified of. Lelouch had heard stories from the Knight of Nine on just what she did to scar Cornelia so badly.
Needless to say, he'd kept his distance from that point on.
"Emotions are powerful things." He noted whimsically, startling the rebels by speaking so abruptly. "Anger can drive a civilized man to become little more than a rabid beast. Sorrow can drag even the most stalwart to their knees in despair. Envy can tear a rift between even the closest of friends. And love can push a person beyond the limits of their body for even the briefest of moments. Emotions are the driving factors behind all conflict, and yet also the force that keeps the peace." He sighed, having experienced a few of those instances personally. "So, to me, it's no surprise that they play such a large part in the power of digimon. Come, Keramon, we're heading out."
Keramon slinked on over to Zero, tentacles coiling around his shoulders and trailing along behind the man like a demented balloon. The digimon waved enthusiastically over his shoulder at the rebels. "Later!" He liked those folks, really. They were pretty cool people and he was hoping they'd become regular allies.
"We'll keep in touch. Keep the phone you picked up, Q-1."
The Bamides of the MEF (Middle Eastern Federation) were terrifying hunks of metal held up on three tripod-like legs, with large cannons mounted on their front and the size of four knightmares. The range of their guns far outstripped those of Britannia's tanks, their armor withstood direct strikes from aforementioned tanks, and they also could outmaneuver the tanks on the constantly shifting desert sands.
And so, when the tanks began falling, the MEF were quite assured of their victory today.
Princess Cornelia, the Witch of Britannia, had something to say about that.
From the smoke of the most recent Britannian casualty, several Gloucesters dashed out onto the field, greatly surprising the MEF combatants. Within moments, and without even the faintest struggle, the Bamides were disabled and their cores were on the verge of explosion.
The leader of the MEF forces saw one last thing before his Bamide was destroyed, evaporating he and his crew in a brilliant fireball.
A single customized Gloucester stood in the midst of what was their fort, but was now nothing more than flaming ruin. And deeper into the smoke, a large draconian shadow lurked, maw gaping wide and spewing even more fire to the sky in victory.
"Victory is ours." Cornellia stated from her knightmare, two screens showing the faces of her closest advisers. "Area 18 is established."
"My lady." Darlton spoke, drawing her attention. "About our next course of action..." He trailed off.
"Sorry for making you clean up my fool of a younger brother's mess." The Witch replied with a frown.
"Please don't apologize, my lady. We live to serve and our place is with you." Darlton assured her.
She chuckled. "Tell me, Darlton. Do you think Area 11 will need our usual treatment?" Cornelia's tone made it clear that she hoped so.
"Yes, my lady." Darlton earnestly believed that the iron fist approach was the best to settle the rising conflict in Area Eleven. The fact that it pleased his liege was merely a bonus.
"Good."
And behind her, the gargantuan shadow of some monster became clearer as a hulking orange and blue beast stepped into view. It snorted, and a brief gout of flames flew from it's nostrils.
The Witch of Britannia was coming to Area 11. And she had a dinosaur.
Shit was about to get real.
Lelouch trudged drearily down the hallway to the dining room, knowing that Nunnally would still be practicing her origami there. She had taken to it like a fish to water, despite her handicap. She had been making the cranes almost none-stop for whatever purpose.
The door opened, and Lelouch greeted his beloved younger sister. "Nunnally, I'm home."
"Welcome back, Lelouch." Called a voice that was not Nunnally.
His eyes darted to the source of the voice, and his mind promptly ceased working.
Sitting in the chair next to his little sister was the girl from Shinjuku. Making origami cranes with his little sister and under the watchful eyes of Sayoko. And she was alive.
Despite taking a bullet to the skull and bleeding out, she was alive.
"Oh good, you're back. I was so worried." Nunnally spoke, placing another finished crane on the table.
"I assume you ate out tonight, judging by your appearance." The girl noted.
She was alive. How? That didn't make sense at all. He saw her die. She took a bullet for him and died. But here she was now, talking to him. "Bwah?" Was all he managed.
Despite herself, Sayoko couldn't help but be amused by his reaction. It wasn't often you got to see Lelouch Lamperouge speechless with a clueless look on his face. It was cute in a way, though she couldn't help but wonder just what about this girl was causing his reaction. It was certainly suspicious, but her master seemed more confused than threatened. Truthfully, it seemed as though he hadn't expected to ever see this woman again for whatever reason.
"Thank goodness! I had been worried you were caught up in the uproar caused by that man, Zero. I tried calling you but you didn't answer your cell phone. I wanted to tell you that miss C.C. has been waiting here as well." Nunnally spoke up, greeting her beloved brother cheerfully.
He blinked. "C.C.?" He murmured. So her name was C.C.? How peculiar. But not as strange as the fact that she was alive and well, and making origami cranes with his little sister in the dining room.
Nunnally giggled, a cherubic little sound, before speaking. "Your friend is so strange, going by her initials alone."
"Uh.. yeah." Come on Lelouch! You're looking like an idiot here! But she is supposed to be dead for fucks sake! Lelouch was a man of logic, and this was not logical in the slightest! How do you react to this!?
"Uhm... I was just wondering." Nunnally paused a bit, almost nervous. "But, is C.C. your girlfriend?"
"Huh?" He gasped. That was a ridiculous notion. She had been Clovis's prisoner, not that Nunnally would know that, and then died. And now his little sister was asking if she was his girlfriend?
"He made a promise to me about our future together." The green haired woman replied blandly, before turning to regard him with those golden eyes. "Isn't that right, Lelouch?"
His brain was finally getting over the fact that C.C. was alive and moving on to the fact that she was in his house. And that she had just said something very easily taken the wrong way.
Which is exactly what Nunnally did. "A future together? Like marriage? But you're so young." She said, jumping to the wrong conclusion due to the vague statement of the apparent immortal.
"No!" Lelouch exclaimed, his mind finally coming back to him. "No, no. That's not what she was talking about. Uh, she was kidding around." Damn. Was that the best he could come up with?
"No I'm not." C.C. countered immediately in that same dull tone.
Lelouch twitched as Nunnally began going on about how different people lived their lives different ways, glancing to Sayoko and making a hand signal. 'Stay quiet.' was what he said, as he walked forward and grabbed a teacup. Giving one last apologetic glance to Sayoko, he threw the cup down hard enough to shatter it. "Oh, no, C.C.!" He started, grabbing her arm forcefully. "You're soaking wet. Here, come on, let's get you into some dry clothes. Sayoko, could you please take care of the cup and help Nunnally get ready for bed?"
The boy signed one last message as he pulled the lackadaisical girl out the door by her arm. 'I'll handle this, don't worry.' and Sayoko couldn't help but giggle at his further denial of them being in a relationship. She was a strange girl, but she didn't seem dangerous to the kunoichi. And Nunnally liked her, Nunnally being the best judge of character Sayoko knew. Just taking someone else's hand in her own seemed to reveal their entire being to the girl.
So, Sayoko trusted Lelouch could handle the situation on his own. Especially considering he still carried the duffle bag containing Tsumemon, on top of the weapons hidden on his person, which ranged from a handgun to several knives.
The most "unsafe" thing she could think of happening would be...
Sayoko giggled again, a light blush on her cheeks. She needed to stop reading those erotic novels in her spare time.
But then Milly wouldn't have anyone to talk to about them, and that would just be a shame.
"Who are you?" Lelouch asked, his voice glacial. The woman sat herself on his bed, looking him over casually.
"She said my name. I'm C.C." She pointed out matter-of-factly.
He grunted. "I know that. But-" He was cut off.
"I'm supposed to be dead, right?" She asked, a coy smile on her lips. "I get that sometimes. At any rate, how do you like the power I gave you? I hope it's not disappointing."
"Quite the opposite, as a matter of fact." Lelouch replied, still eyeing her warily. "Thanks to you, my plans have been moved up greatly."
"Plans?" She wondered aloud, interest evident in her tone.
"Yes." He said, hand raising to cover his right eye. "My plans to obliterate Britannia. I would have had to wait much longer to make the initial move if not for you."
"You think you can defeat Britannia just because of this power?" C.C. asked, flopping onto his bed and staring up at the ceiling. Was he one of those types, then, who got a little power and let it go to their heads? Boring.
The hand covering his eye brushed over his hair, this time gesturing around his left eye. "I intended to do so without Geass." He revealed with a smirk. "And now, I have not only this power, but an ally who I can trust my life to in a heartbeat."
C.C.'s eyebrow raised. "You don't mean me, that much is certain." Her attention was drawn to the duffle bag that her contractor had been carrying throughout the entire night. It had been set on the ground beside the dark haired prince, and he was now kneeling to unzip it.
As soon as it came unzipped, there was a flash of purplish light. "Bwahaha!" Keramon cackled, springing up out of the bag like a maniacal jack-in-the-box. "Hiya. I'm Keramon." He greeted cheerfully, entirely unconcerned with the previously tense atmosphere.
The immortal's eyes lit up suddenly, as something of great interest was presented to her. "Oh my." She smirked. "He's cute." Her gaze shifted back to the ceiling, and it seemed as though, for a moment, she was speaking to someone else. "I just knew he'd be a fascinating guy."
"So what will you do now?" He asked. "I'm sure the military is after you."
She frowned. "Not the entire military. Just a small faction of it. If I'm careful, I can hide from them easily." Her frown shifted to a smirk, and she removed the leggings to the prison outfit she wore, tossing them casually to the floor. "I can make do here." She finished, throwing the sleeves off as well. She gave him a look. "A gentleman would sleep on the floor."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Lelouch gasped in shock. "You can't stay here!" He said, climbing on to the bed to hover over the green haired girl who had pulled the covers to her chin.
"My getting caught would be trouble for you, too." She argued. He would admit that was a good point. She knew where he lived and that he had begun to oppose Britannia, her being caught and interrogated would be problematic. On top of that, if there was any chance of Britannian soldiers receiving this Geass power... he didn't even want to consider the problems that could cause.
"It's dangerous to stay together." Lelouch said firmly. But then he had a point of his own. How in the world was he going to hide another person in his residence? Especially considering Nunnally and Sayoko both knew of her? ... As if he could hide her from Sayoko in the first place.
"If I wander the streets, they'll find me." Replied the green haired girl. Though, she didn't seem worried at all about such a thing happening.
"This isn't about you. This is my situation." He responded, purple eyes gazing into her own gold.
C.C. turned over. "I hate stubbornness." She muttered.
"Hard to believe considering how well you practice it." He said, shifting his weight so that he could fall over her and on to the other side of the bed, where he continued to regard her.
The girl gave him a dull look, and he decided that it was more trouble than it was worth to try and rid himself of her. With that in mind, he made her an offer. "Alright. You can stay here, but I want some answers in return." At least he would get something out of this.
"There are some things I can't tell you yet, you realize." C.C. replied in a bland tone. "And that can all wait until morning, can't it?"
Lelouch frowned. "Very well. Tomorrow morning." He said, shifting to a sitting position to remove his shoes and socks. He removed his jacket next, throwing the offending piece of clothing across the room unceremoniously. The shirt soon followed.
C.C. inspected him as he did so, curious. "You know, for someone with so little muscle mass you certainly have a strong grip." She noted. Seeing the boy stretching his arms over his head, she spoke again. "I already mentioned that a gentleman would take the floor, didn't I?" The girl asked pointedly.
He gave her a dry look. "I've had a long day and it's turned into a rough night. I think, for once, I can afford not to be a gentleman. Keramon, hit the lights please." Lelouch would allow her to use the bed- it didn't really trouble him, and moving her would be far more effort than he was willing to put forth right now.
However, if she though he was going to sleep on the damn floor she had better think again. It was his room damnit.
"Got'cha." He switched off the lights, blanketing the room in sweet darkness just as Lelouch lied down, allowing C.C. to keep the blanket to herself. The digimon then retrieved the small turquoise pillow Lelouch had placed in the duffel bag for his comfort, moved it to his chosen spot on the desk, and degenerated back into Tsumemon to get comfortable. He fell asleep almost instantly.
Lelouch looked over to the girl who he was currently sharing a bed with, seeing her eyes still wide open and inspecting him. He smiled lightly, amused by her gaze. "C.C., thank you for saving my life that day in Shinjuku." He had never thought that he would be able to thank the green haired girl for that, considering she was dead. At least this arrangement allowed him to properly show his gratitude.
Her eyes widened, before she regained control of her emotions. "I'm not able to die. It's not like it mattered to me." C.C. muttered dryly.
He chuckled at the reaction. "Yes, but death does mean something to me. If it wasn't for you, Nunnally wouldn't have an older brother anymore. That means something to me, it means a lot to me in fact. So, I won't say this again. Thank you." He rolled over, turning his back to her.
'A fascinating guy, indeed. Your boy is more interesting than I originally thought, Marianne.'
Morning came quickly for Lelouch, and soon he was at his computer typing away. C.C. had woken up before him and, apparently, stolen his credit card to order a pizza. Which she was now enjoying on his bed, dressed in nothing but one of his shirts.
Less than a day and she had already become a nuisance. "So, what was Orange, anyway?" She asked, having read about the scandal surrounding Jeremiah Gottwald. The man had lost his position as acting consul and was now humiliated and dedicating all of his time towards locating Zero.
Lelouch smirked at her. "You know, I still haven't gotten around to getting my answers from you." He mentioned offhandedly.
She huffed. "Fine, tell me what Orange is and then ask away. But like I said, there are some things I will keep to myself."
Lelouch rolled his eyes. "Orange is a hoax I came up with because I remembered Jeremiah from my childhood." His smirk returned as he saw her blink. "Yes, the man was one of my mother's Royal Guard. He was raised on an orange plantation and eventually became so disenfranchised with the fruit that just mentioning it yesterday made him flinch." He chuckled. "That will certainly lend credence to the rumors. However, I intend to recruit Jeremiah to my side if at all possible, and so I made it out to seem like he was protecting Clovis's reputation. If anything, it should grant him a bit of protection from the persecution of the higher ups. Especially if the next Viceroy is who I hope it will be."
"And who do you hope the next Viceroy is?" C.C. asked.
"My sister, Cornelia li Britannia." He replied. "I need answers and she can give them to me. As the head of my mother's Royal Guard, Cornelia may know something about her death. Clovis pointed me towards her as well. Considering Area Eleven is seven years old and the resistance is still fierce, they cannot simply send another incompetent to be Viceroy. If not for my brother's status as a Prince, he would have been stripped of the title long ago and replaced by someone more capable." He shrugged. "Either they'll send Cornelia to break the resistance, or I'll keep offing the Viceroy's until they do."
She grinned. "How vicious of you." Not even the slightest bit of hesitation in that statement. This one was a keeper.
"All's fair in love and war, though I hold no love for my homeland." Lelouch replied dryly.
C.C. surprised him with her next question. "And do you intend to kill Cornelia?" She asked. "When you killed Clovis, it was because he ordered the massacre of Shinjuku, was it not?" She saw him flinch. "And you still regret it?"
"I do not regret killing Clovis." Lelouch answered firmly. And it was true. "As much as it may have hurt to kill one of the few family members I held positive feelings for, I don't regret my decision. As far as Cornelia goes, however... I do not know whether or not I will be able to capture her alive. If I can't, I will not allow my feelings to jeopardize my mission." He'd already had this debate with himself.
"I see." The girl mumbled, hugging one of the pillows.
Lelouch gave her a look. "You know, I still didn't get around to asking you those questions, C.C."
"You get sidetracked to easily. It's time for you to go anyway, isn't it?" She asked cheekily, clearly having intended to stall for time with the questions about Orange and his family.
He grinned deviously at her. "I can skip a day of school." He'd actually been intending to anyway, hence why he had let her lead him on in the first place.
C.C. grunted. "Fine. Ask." Brat thought he was so smart.
"What does our contract entail?" He asked, cutting straight to the heart of things.
She frowned. "In exchange for the power of Geass, you must now grant my wish. My wish is something I won't share with you yet, so don't think you can get rid of me that easily."
Lelouch sighed in exasperation. "Fine, then. Why did Clovis decide to keep you contained?" As soon as the question left his lips he regretted it, seeing her reaction.
The girl actually flinched, voice turning softer... vulnerable. "Please don't ask me about that again. Those are years I'd like to forget." On top of all the other horrible, nightmare inducing things she had to live with, there were now memories of being some mad scientist's guinea pig.
C.C. was honestly surprised she had slept so well last night. It had been a long time since she'd had such a peaceful sleep.
The boy cringed slightly, and his gaze softened. "I'm sorry for that." He sighed again, feeling awful for bringing that up. She was apparently an immortal human being. Who knows what kind of horrible things she had been put through for the sake of research? There were movies about that kind of thing and they were not pleasant. "Are there any other Geass users, and are they all the same?" This was also important. Especially the first part.
"Hmmm..." She seemed to be debating on whether or not to tell him. Eventually, she made her decision. "There are other users of Geass, and none of them are the same. Each on is tailor made to suit the recipient."
"How many are there?" Asked Lelouch, somewhat concerned. If his own Geass could be used to give a single command to any person that they absolutely could not disobey, what other kinds of powers could there be? It was incredibly disconcerting.
"There is only one other living person I've given Geass to, and hopefully you'll never need to worry about him." She trailed off. How much would she give him? Perhaps a bit more, just because he'd been so kind as to thank her. "If you're worried about running across Britannian soldiers with Geass, don't be. The only other person capable of forming these contracts is in a high position in Britannia, but they're not given to soldiers." Only his little pet assassins, but they weren't going to be Lelouch's problem for a long while, even if his rebellion finds some success. V.V. wouldn't be wasting those little pets on such trivial matters.
He grunted, relieved that encounters with other users of Geass would be scarce... however, the knowledge of a second immortal in Britannia was disconcerting. Nonetheless, he had enough information to work with for now, and it would be best not to pry too hard lest he give C.C. a reason to clam up. "Good enough for now."
And then Lelouch smiled brightly. "Seeing as how I've decided to skip school for the day, I think now is a good time to go gallivanting about the city. I could use some relaxation after the events of last night." Last night was hectic. Between Suzaku and C.C., he could use some stress relief.
"The expression on your face was priceless, by the way. You look so cute when you're clueless." C.C. pointed out with a coy smile.
"Urk..." He grimaced. "Anyone would have reacted the same. Seeing someone who took a bullet for you sitting at your dining room table folding origami with your little sister is... I can't even think of the proper words to describe how confused I was." It defied all sense of logic.
"I'll have to take your word for it. I've never had such an unusual happening in my life." She replied. "But, still, I think I'd like to see that look again. I'll have to think of something..."
"Please don't." He had enough to worry about.
It was a beautiful day, Lelouch noted as he walked down the streets of the Tokyo Settlement. He was dressed in his usual casual wear, the simple black duffle bag over his shoulder as he walked. He had already blown a good amount of his day after visiting his favorite cafe in the settlement to compete in a chess tournament they were holding.
It was a simple affair, one he had heard of on his last visit, and he had been debating whether or not to skip school in order to compete for a few weeks actually. The entire incident with Shinjuku, and the situations that followed, had simply made the choice for him. He needed something to relax with after all of that, and what better way to relax than to play a low-stakes game of chess for once?
His opponent in the final game had been good. A man named Clark Mackinzy, he had certainly been a cut above Lelouch's usual opponents in the Nobility. Most of the noblemen were hardly intellectuals, the only reason chess was so competitive among them was due to the fact that they all played at around the same skill level.
However, as with almost everyone who faces Lelouch in chess, Mr. Mackinzy lost the match. After being given the prize, a fifty dollar gift card to the cafe, he had stuck around for a bit and decided to check on Suzaku's court marshal once more.
After accessing one of the computers provided for costumer use, and eating his cherry turnover, he breathed a sigh of relief. Suzaku had been acquitted. It was a load off of Lelouch's shoulders to say the least.
After finishing his business in the cafe, Lelouch stood and headed out the door of the establishment. He felt movement in the bag as he left, and reached down to unzip it slightly. "Yes?" He whispered, after the occupant of the bag had calmed down.
"Digital field!" Tsumemon hissed back at him. "It's off to your right, way off. It's really faint but I can feel it!"
After stopping to actually look what was in that direction, Lelouch felt himself sigh. "Shinjuku. It just had to be Shinjuku."
And indeed it was. Shinjuku was about a ten minute walk from his location. "How much trouble do you think it can cause in ten minutes?" Lelouch asked, taking off towards the area in a steady jog.
Tsumemon made a noise. "If I can feel it from here, it's a champion at least. Could be an ultimate... unlikely, but possible." Whatever it was, he had a distinct feeling of... heat. "I think it's a fire based digimon."
Lelouch frowned. As Keramon had said before, they weren't an Ultimate as Infermon, despite Infermon being the usual Ultimate of their digivolution line. As of now, they were on the higher end of the Champion level. They would have to get there and hope for the best, first. "And to think, I had wanted to relax." The exiled prince muttered in annoyance.
But he couldn't just leave it to wreck what was left of Shinjuku, nor would it be wise to allow Britannia to potentially claim it.
Minutes later, Lelouch had entered the proverbial badlands known as Shinjuku. He frowned as he saw numerous makeshift memorials erected in remembrance of those who had perished. His fist clenched. 'This should never have happened. Shinjuku should never have been demolished like this again...' He leaped over a fallen piece of rubble, darting into a ruined building to catch his breath for a moment. "Tsumemon, are we near it?"
The little digimon's antenna were standing straight up, it's single eye narrowed in a glare. "So close I can taste it. Keep going the direction you were heading. Drop the bag here for a second, I need to digivolve."
Lelouch sat the bag down, fully unzipping it as Tsumemon hopped out and digivolved. A moment later, Keramon stood before Lelouch. "Alright." The boy muttered, arm extending for Keramon to hold. "Let's go." Keramon coiled himself once more around his partner, and the duo were off as fast as Lelouch's body could go in the direction of the digital field.
"It's been about ten minutes since you first felt the field, let's hope that whatever popped up isn't too dangerous to it's surroundings..." Lelouch muttered as the fog came into view.
Something roared loudly, and the air was heating up quickly. "Shit. Keramon, now is the time." The boy grabbed his digivice from his pocket, holding it in front of him. "Digivolution."
The flash of light from the sudden intrusion distracted the beast that had just come in to view. A feeling of shock coursed through the veins of Infermon, courtesy of Keramon, as he got a good look at the enemy.
It was a reddish orange lion with a golden mane. Parts of it's body were covered with red and white armor, some of which seemed to be generating fire. From it's tail came another flame, and the most interesting part of the lion would be it's two orange wings, located just behing it's front legs. "Firamon? But, those are supposed to be extinct. Unless... have we stumbled into a battle between Apollomon and something as strong as him?" Infermon didn't have time to ponder further, as the Firamon had locked on to him and was now charging with intent to kill.
A quick dodge left the lion overextended, something Infermon took advantage of by striking the side of Firamon with his whiplike legs. "We need to end this fast." Infermon noted. If there was any chance at all that this digimon could digivolve to ultimate, they were fucked. Flaremon was not to be trifled with in their state.
Firamon recovered, roaring at them once more. "FIRA BOMB!" He shouted, sending a blast of intense flame at them from the fire generated in his headdress.
Infermon took a risk. "Network Grenade." The limbs retracted, leaving only the cocoonish shape of Infermon, which blasted forward and pierced through the fire attack. It hit Firamon dead on and sent him flying into a building, which promptly fell.
After a few minutes of nothing happening, Infermon skittered over to check the wreckage for his foe. "Nothing?" He muttered. "Seems we've defeated it..." Defeated, but not deleted.
A flash of light later, and Lelouch stood next to Keramon once more. "For one of those Olympians, this Firamon wasn't terribly strong." Lelouch pointed out, fishing for information.
Keramon shook his head, happy to provide said information. "Lelouch, that was Firamon, the champion level of Coronamon. Apollomon is the mega level that is among the Olympians. However, this couldn't just be some random Firamon, because those were all wiped out in what we've called the Eclipse War. Long story short, all of the digimon from the Apollomon and Dianamon lines went to war with one another, before they were attacked at their weakest by an unknown force. Apollomon went on to join the Empire, whereas Dianamon went off on her own and eventually joined with the Seven." He paused. "Every time Apollomon and Dianamon come across one another, the damage it causes is insane. Entire mountains have been destroyed under their battles before." He shivered, remembering the scenes of their battles as they were vividly described to him by survivors of that chaos.
Lelouch frowned thoughtfully. "So, then... could Apollomon and Dianamon have battled one another and stumbled upon a tear between the worlds, emerging here?"
Keramon nodded. "It's possible. It's also possible that the bio-emergence could degenerate them, and force them into a frenzy. Dianamon and her line are known for strength of will, though, so it's also possible she avoided that fate and fled."
"Which is why we only found a rampaging Firamon?" Lelouch asked.
The digimon shrugged. "It's a theory." He continued after a moment of thought. "But, if we're right, that means that two digimon with vast potential have entered the human world. I know we didn't destroy Firamon that easily."
"Maybe," Lelouch began, "when he was sent into the building, Firamon's mind cleared enough that he decided to retreat?" It would explain why the fight was so short. Really, it had hardly been a fight, more a brief scuffle.
"Once again, possible." Keramon agreed. "For the moment, we should look out for either of them. They could be valuable allies or frightening enemies." Apollomon, while a member of the Empire, was not nearly as much of an extremist as certain other Digimon. He valued strength, and was willing to respect and accept others who displayed this strength. In his time as a member of the Empire, he had become famous for his manner of taking territory.
Apollomon would challenge the strongest Digimon available to defend the territory and battle them one on one, under the terms that the winner would claim the territory. It would spare civilian casualties and property damage while proving that should he desire to simply conquer the territory, he could do so.
Frequently, the battle would be so one sided that Apollomon would simply spare the weaker digimon after proving that they could not defeat him. These displays of strength followed by shows of mercy quickly made Apollomon one of the most known digimon in the entire Digital World.
From what Keramon knew of Apollomon, it was possible to get him on their side despite his allegiance to the Celestial Empire. Though that would fall apart if they ever intended to defeat the Empire in the Digital World.
As for Dianamon? If they had a good cause, Keramon was fairly certain she would lend her aid. She had been known for her kindness back in the Digi-world, something of an oddity in the Demon Lord Territories.
Lelouch looked to the sky, recalling something he had wanted to do. The truck driver, Nagata as he had learned from the rebels in conversation. He had mentioned paying his respects to the man should he survive the ordeal, and now seemed like a perfect opportunity to do so.
"Keramon, I believe there was a large memorial site nearby here. I'm going to visit." He wouldn't visit the actual marker for the man, even if he wanted to. A Britannian schoolboy standing in front of a grave-marker in the ghetto wouldn't go over well at all with the locals, so he would simply visit the site itself and remain near the edges of it.
As much as Lelouch would like to actually stand in front of the marker, he didn't want to cause any misunderstandings with the locals of Shinjuku. Considering how high tensions were after the massacre, it could escalate quickly and spiral out of control.
Walking down the broken streets of Shinjuku, Lelouch couldn't help but feel pangs of sadness. He remembered Shinjuku before the war, despite being there only a few times. He remembered it just after the war as well, stench of corpses and blood sickening to him even now. And he saw it now, desolate and almost completely abandoned. Most of the locals had decided to try their luck elsewhere, making the trek to the other ghettos.
It was disgusting that they were forced to live like this.
And it made him angry, but at the same time sad. Why could people do this to other people without caring? What gave Britannia the right to push the Japanese into cities that they had broken in a war they had started? Ask almost any common Britannian and they would give you an answer, often without even thinking on it.
Because Britannia was strong. And because the Elevens were weak. The strong were meant to tread on the weak.
Because Britannia had won and Japan had lost. The winners chose how the losers got to live their lives, or if they even got to live at all.
Or, worst of all, simply because Britannians were better than Japanese. Better than everyone.
These were damning answers that showed just how far Britannia had fallen in terms of human decency. "Is it right to be strong?" Lelouch asked himself. "Is it wrong to be weak?"
He sighed, cutting off his musings. Ahead of him he saw what he assumed to be the memorial site. It was a park, at some point. Now all that remained was a broken statue on a hill overlooking a garden of graves and memorials for those who couldn't be found. He found himself drawn to the treeline near the outskirts, running a hand over the bark of one of the trees.
"It's full of life even in a place as desolate as this." He noted somberly. The boy sat his duffle bag down behind the tree, and leaned against it. He allowed his mind to wander, drifting back to fonder memories of simpler times. He was drawn into a memory of his stay at the Kururugi Shrine.
A young Lelouch is wandering about the wilderness outside of the Kururugi Shrine, far away from prying eyes. He has a specific purpose in mind and nothing will stop him from accomplishing what he set out to do.
Even if it was just him picking flowers for Nunnally. But, really, that was a task more important than anything else he could think of. Nunnally loved the smell of these flowers, so of course he would pick them for her. It was just how he was.
However, he overheard something. Some sort of annoyed grumbling if he was correct. He supposed even his ever important task could wait for a few brief moments as he inspected this new source of noise. "Who's there?" He asked.
A squeaky yelp confirmed that there was, in fact, someone here. "Come over here."
Moments later, a young black haired girl with green eyes wandered nervously out of the treeline. He frowned. "What's a little girl doing out here? Are you lost?" The boy asked.
"A-are you the demon who kidnaps children and eats them?" She stuttered.
The purple eyed boy raises a brow, before smirking as he decides to have a bit of fun. "Maybe." He offered a small shrug.
"D-do you eat flowers?" She asked, noticing the bunch of nejibana in his hand. "Are you going to eat me too!?"
Lelouch rolled his eyes. "I'm picking the flowers for my sister. She likes their scent."
The girl's face scrunched up in confusion. "Demons can have sisters? And they like flowers?" She had calmed down significantly.
Lelouch figured he could fix that. "Yes, flowers taste terrible but smell good, and my sister loves them. My specialty is eating children, though." He said it nonchalantly, as though he hadn't just claimed cannibalism.
She squeaked in fright, pointing at him. "You are going to eat me!" She yelled, eyes wide and fearful. "Y-you don't want to do that! I t-taste terrible!"
"How would I know that if I didn't try?" He asked, licking his lips. This was fun.
The girl, being young as she was and easily tricked, was quite terrified at the moment. So she fell back on the one thing that had always been a constant for her. "I-if you do that, th-then the Sumeragi family will not rest until they get you for it!"
He sneered. "What can the Sumeragi do to a demon? I'm exempt from your human laws."
"Be silent! I-I'm the heiress of the Sumeragi clan." She seemed to have been channeling all of her courage for that little outburst.
Lelouch grinned in a sinister fashion, leaning in towards the girl slightly. "What does any of that mean to me? I'm a demon, remember?" He chided gently.
"B-b-but... the Sumeragi clan would... uhm..." She seemed to have trouble coming up with just what her clan would do to a child-eating demon who wandered the forests.
Lelouch snorted, deciding to stop messing with her. But not entirely. "Fine, fine." He muttered. "I get it. If the Sumeragi were to come after me it'd be a pain. I wouldn't be able to pick flowers for my sister as easily. I won't eat you, just go back to the shrine nearby."
At the mention of the Kururugi Shrine, the Sumeragi Heiress promptly plopped down on the ground and refused to move. "I don't wanna go back."
A curious pair of purple eyes regarded her for a moment, before he returned to his work in finding more of the corkscrew flowers. A few moments later he had enough, and turned to leave.
Yes, he was going to leave a young girl to wander about the woods on her own. If he knew Suzaku, then the boy would already be looking for the missing heiress. She was, after all, his fiance. He knew exactly who this girl was. Sumeragi Kaguya.
"W-wait!" She called after him, drawing his attention back to her. "Uhm.. are you going back to your village?"
"Yes." He lied blatantly. "Why?"
It was his turn to be surprised, as Kaguya suddenly got up and walked over to him. He simply raised a brow, before she reached up, grabbed his upper lip, and pulled upward. "Huh. You don't have fangs." Why did she sound so disappointed by that!?
He pulled away from the girl, and gave her glare. "Fangs or no, I'm really rethinking my decision not to eat you."
She frowned. "If you promise not to eat me, I'll let you abduct me."
He blinked. Just what the hell had they been putting this girl through at the shrine if she was willing to be kidnapped by a demon and taken to a fictional village of them? "You know, you should only do the things you really want to do." He told her. "I'm a demon, and yet I'm out here picking flowers for my little sister because I want to."
Kaguya's face scrunched up again. "But, since I'm a Sumeragi I can't do that."
Smiling like an old man about to impart an ancient wisdom, he replied. "Then wouldn't it be better not to be a Sumeragi?"
The girl stopped entirely there, and seemed to be deep in thought for another few minutes. "I... I can't do that. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't a Sumeragi. It's all I've ever known."
Well, for ten years of his life Lelouch had only known the comfort of the Aries Villa and the love of his family. He had, inadvertently, chosen his answer to the question he had asked her. The moment he had gone up to the Emperor, he realized it was better not to be known as that man's child. So he had renounced his claim to the throne.
Now he lived a relatively peaceful life in a shack on the premises of the Kururugi Shrine. Life was funny like that.
"I see. It always goes back to that. If you weren't a Sumeragi, you couldn't use your trump card, right?"
"S-shut up!" She shouted.
"You can't make me." He replied, smiling in a manner that always managed to infuriate Suzaku. "No one will want to kidnap you. You're just an empty person with nothing but a name."
Seeing her start to tear up, he sighed inwardly and changed his tone to a more comforting one. Damn it he couldn't handle crying girls. "So don't just be a name anymore. Become Kaguya instead of the Sumeragi Heiress. Then I could kidnap you." It was amusing how that seemed to comfort the girl, he noted with a bit of exasperation.
He heard someone trampling through the forest and rolled his eyes, knowing Suzaku was on his way. "Goodbye, Kaguya." He waved over his shoulder and disappeared into the brush just as he heard Suzaku's voice calling out for her.
The last thing he heard before walking out of earshot was Kaguya begging Suzaku to forgive her for bullying him.
He smiled.
That had been his first meeting with Sumeragi Kaguya. Their next meeting was spent with her freaking out over the fact that there was a demon living in the shrine. He never bothered to confirm or deny any accusations of his less then human origins.
Eventually Kaguya grew out of accusing him of being a demon who ate little children. Though he wasn't sure if she ever stopped entertaining the thought.
Lelouch looked back towards the statue, wondering idly how long he had been sitting there reminiscing. He noticed the sky turning orange, a clear sign of sunset. "I've managed to blow an entire day between the chess tournament, the digimon, and this. It feels kind of good." Just accomplishing nothing for a day, after his hectic immersion into rebellion.
His attention was then drawn to two familiar figures, clad in Ashford Academy uniforms, laughing and jeering as they took photos of the scarred earth around them. Yes, he knew those two. One of them was the guy from the camera club who had mentioned wanting to visit the ghettos after the purge. His face set into a stony glare as he saw them making asses of themselves here of all places. This was a graveyard for all intents and purposes and they were out here treating it like some sort of museum piece, but with less respect.
Before he even realized what he was doing, his feet were carrying him towards the duo. Unknown to him, three other men were approaching from the other side of them, hidden from Lelouch by the hill.
He arrived just as they did, and blinked in shock. 'Tamaki, Yoshida, and Sugiyama?' He thought to himself, inwardly cringing at his luck. So much for avoiding locals. Of course he would stop by the day they decide to do so as well. Either way, it didn't matter. He came over here, leaving the cover of the treeline, for a reason.
He saw the shock on the faces of the two photographers as he came into their line of vision, and he glared at them harshly. "What the hell are you two doing?" His tone was positively glacial, and the boys actually shivered a bit.
The trio who had been coming to send the idiots packing had also stopped at the particular tone of his voice. Tamaki had stopped practically in the middle of a punch, blinking at him in obvious confusion.
It still didn't matter. "Why. Are. You. Here?" Lelouch demanded. "This is a graveyard. You two are insulting everyone who died in Shinjuku right now."
As soon as Lelouch saw the superior smirk on the face of the chubbier one, he knew exactly what was going to be said. "C'mon, Vice-President, they're just Elev- OOPH!" His sentence was cut off by an angry black haired boy.
Lelouch buried his fist in the stomach of the boy with enough force to knock him off of his feet. "It's a good thing you didn't finish that sentence. If you had, those three may have done more than just watch me knock some sense into you." He nodded vaguely at the trio of rebels, who were still gobsmacked by the fact that some random Brit was so angry over the disrespect.
His skinny friend looked at Lelouch with unveiled anger. "What the hell, Lamperouge? You sucker punched Mike in the gut over a bunch of... uh.." He trailed off as Lelouch's gaze fell on him, having left his friend who was spluttering and coughing on his knees.
The prince glared at him. "You don't even get that each and every one of those random bits of pipe or wood are markers for people who died, do you? Or do you just not care that you came parading through here snapping pictures of everything like it's some tourist attraction? People died here, and you think it's funny or cool?" His fist was raised, ready to bring yet another fist down into one of his classmates, before a familiar voice cut in.
"Hold on, no violence please!" Kururugi Suzaku was rushing up towards the group, not having identified anyone in it yet.
Tamaki, Sugiyama, and Yoshida were all just staring in shock. That Britannian kid had just knocked the living hell out of one of his classmates, if the way they reacted to him were to be believed, for the exact same reason they had come over to scare them off. It wasn't often you saw that.
Lelouch sighed. "Hello, Suzaku." He greeted, waving at the startled brunette with an air of exasperation. Good grief. Suzaku too? Really? His luck was awful sometimes.
This further surprised everyone involved, even the chubby boy who had been knocked for a loop by the less wimpy than suspected Vice President. He knew Kururugi? How?
"L-Lelouch?" He muttered, eyes wide. "What are you doing here?" The entire situation had been forgotten in favor of figuring out just why his oldest friend was in Shinjuku. Again.
"I came to pay my respects to the dead." He replied smoothly, not being completely dishonest. "I lost track of time reminiscing about the good old days, and when I came-to I spotted these two oafs making a mockery of this place." The raven haired boy turned to regard the two he had mentioned. "Speaking of..." His back turned to Suzaku, and he angled himself in such a way that his face wasn't visible to the three rebels who had yet to act. "You two will return to Ashford, delete these photographs, and continue on with your day. There will not be a repeat of this incident. Understood?" Unseen by the four Japanese, the crest of Geass lit up in his left eye and the two boys fell under it's trance.
"Yes sir." They echoed lackadaisically, before heading off in the direction of the settlement quietly.
Tamaki, Yoshida, and Sugiyama were conversing quietly among themselves.
"Wow." Kento muttered. "Never expected another Brit to send them packing." Who would have, for that matter? Though it certainly helped what little faith he had in Britannians. He was honestly tempted to go introduce himself just for the novelty of speaking with a Britannian that wasn't an asshole with a superiority complex.
Yoshida nodded, muttering his own agreement. "It is weird, isn't it? Looks like this one knows Kururugi, too." How would some random Britannian know the son of Japan's former Prime Minister? Maybe a childhood friend or something? Despite some hostilities between their nations before the war, a decent amount of Britannians had made lives for themselves in Japan before the invasion.
The red head of their group surprised the other two by remaining quiet, seemingly lost in thought. This surprised his friends because the idea of Tamaki Shinichiro lost in thought was almost as ridiculous as the thought of Zero being a Britannian prince. And that was just a stupid suggestion that the very same redhead had thrown out last night to amuse his comrades as they pondered over Zero's identity.
Suzaku blinked at the dark haired boy, honestly surprised that he would go out of his way for that. "I see." He replied. "So, uhm... how have you been?" They hadn't had much chance to talk in their last meeting, what with him getting shot and all.
Lelouch turned to him with a small smile. "I'm well. Nunnally and I were both worried until we saw news of your acquittal." He was certain that Nunnally had learned of his acquittal far before he had, as he had put it off for quite some time. Earlier that morning the news hadn't been out, but he hadn't learned of it until about noon.
The emerald eyed boy laughed jovially, unconcerned with the group of locals that were still nearby taking the bizarre scene in. "I hope I didn't worry her too much. Is she well?"
"Yes, she's adapted well." Lelouch replied. "And you? You're fine as well?" He, on the other hand, was much more aware of their presence. Though it didn't particularly bother him, as he knew the three well enough from their brief interactions with Zero. The only reason they were still around was probably the novelty of the fact that a Britannian schoolboy and the son of Japan's former Prime Minister were speaking to one another cordially, as well as the fact that they had likely come to pay their respects to the dead.
"I'm doing great. Was just acquitted of a crime I didn't commit, and spent the day escorting a pink haired girl around the settlement. And then she asked me to bring her here. I said it wasn't a good idea, but she was going to go on her own, so..." He noticed his old friends violet orbs widen, and turned to see just what had caused this expression.
Standing a few yards away from the two was a pink haired girl with blue eyes.
Her own eyes were wide, and her hands clenched her dress in surprise. "Lelouch, is that you?" She asked, breathlessly. Surely, it couldn't be? Was this really her brother? He looked just like Lelouch.
Suzaku blinked. She knew Lelouch? How could she know Lelouch?
His teeth clenched and he frowned heavily. 'If I run now, then she'll inform Cornelia. Her being here means that Cornelia is confirmed as the next Viceroy. I'll have to stay and either convince her I'm not her brother, or at least not to tell her sister of this. Last resort is Geass. But still, at this rate she's going to want to oust me as a Britannian prince in front of three of Ohgi's men.' The exiled prince sighed in an exhausted manner, trying to think of some way out of this situation. What in the world had he done in a past life to deserve these horrible shifts in luck?
A large explosion could be heard, distracting all those present. In the moments following, a large military transport pulled up while a silver haired man leaned out and began waving jovially at Suzaku. "The Purists are having a silly little squabble." The man exclaimed in a foppish manner. "Oh, sorry to hear about your acquittal." He added as an afterthought, a sly smirk on his lips. "Because that means you'll be back to working with us."
Suzaku ran up to the man. "Lloyd, wait. Let me take the Lancelot and break this up. After all, isn't a good chance to get battle data?" He had learned quickly how to appeal to this man.
"Ohoho." Lloyd Aspund giggling could only mean bad things.
After the arrival of the military transport, the three rebels had made like bananas and split. Suzaku had departed, and now Lelouch and Euphemia were left with only a foppish earl and his motherly assistant to watch over them. While the woman, a purple haired woman with blue eyes and a concerned expression, was monitoring the functions of the Lancelot quite intently, the other member of their group was not so concerned with Suzaku.
No, Lloyd was more intrigued by what seemed to be happening nearby his merry little transport. It would seem Princess Euphemia was making all sorts of friends in Area Eleven today.
"Lelouch, it is you isn't it?" Euphemia asked, moving towards him slightly. "We thought you had died."
Oh? A Lelouch whom the princess had suspected dead? His eyes panned over to the stone-faced boy, who was in turn inspecting him. Oh my, how interesting indeed. Lloyd was currently leaning against the side of his transport, an innocuous smile on his lips.
The boy was standing only a few feet away from the princess, and had yet to speak. He seemed to be trying to glare him away in favor of speaking to Euphemia.
Lloyd found it positively fascinating.
"Lelouch, please!" Even the ever-ambiguous scientist was surprised by this little outburst, the black haired lad even more so judging by his expression. "It's been seven years, please tell me it's you. Don't crush my hopes again..." Oh dear she was crying now.
The boy seemed to think over his next course of action, however a glance at the tear streaked face of the pink haired girl Lloyd saw his stony expression break apart instantly. Seven years, hopes up again, Lelouch, purple eyes.
'Call me crazy, but I think I just stumbled onto a meeting between Royalty. Oh goody.' The Earl of Pudding was a man who liked information, and amused himself by monitoring the emotional decisions of normal people. Normal not saying they were below him, per se, simply that they weren't like him. Because nobody was quite like Lloyd Asplund.
His thoughts were all but confirmed when the boy wrapped his arms around the Princess, whispering something into her ear.
Only a member of the Royal Family would hug Euphemia li Britannia like that.
The pieces fell together and Lloyd couldn't help but grin.
Looks like the death of Lelouch vi Britannia was greatly over-exaggerated
"It's me, Euphie." Lelouch whispered into her ear. "I'm alive."
He could feel her trembling, and hear the tremors in her voice as she spoke. "Lelouch... You're alive. You're alive." She kept repeating herself, hugging him tightly. He sighed and held her tightly as she buried her face in his chest and sobbed.
"Yes, I'm fine." He spoke. "I'm sorry for trying to ignore you. It's just..." He trailed off, searching for something nicer to say than "I didn't want to be found."
"You didn't want us to find you." She cut him off. "You wanted to stay hidden, right? You don't want to come back home." Her tears were soaking his uniform as she cried into his chest.
He felt indescribably guilty now. Here was one of the few members of his family he cared for, the one ranking just under Nunnally for that matter, and he had gone and made her cry. And worst of all there was a smirking scientist silently observing their reunion. He would have to use his Geass to erase the man's memory of this. Thankfully, his apparent assistant didn't have a line of sight to them at the moment, and was otherwise occupied with Suzaku.
Who was the pilot of that white Knightmare frame, the Lancelot, but that could wait until later.
So could the scientist, for that matter. Now was Euphie's time.
"Yes. I'm sorry, but I didn't want Nunnally to be used as a political pawn by the Empire again." He stopped as a petite fist lightly beat itself against his chest, looking down at his teary-eyed sister with a bemused expression.
"Stop apologizing, you dummy." Euphie looked up from his chest, a bright smile on her face even as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I've been waiting seven years to hug you again, Lelouch. Let me enjoy it."
She was beautiful, he realized. Even with tears streaming down her cheeks, that dazzling smile of hers could melt ice. It had been so long since he had seen that smile, and it brought a soft smile of his own. Yes, Euphemia hadn't changed in the slightest. She was the same girl he loved.
Hopefully, however, her old habits had changed.
She huffed. "You know, this is going to make marrying you a lot more difficult, Lelouch." He could hear the pout in her voice.
Lelouch groaned in exasperation. "You're still on about that? Nunnally won't be happy about it at all." He should have known she would still end up pestering him about this. Seven years or no, of course this would be one of the first things Euphemia would bring up.
"Nunna's had you all to herself for seven years." The smirk was audible. "I've got a lot of catching up to do."
Wait. Catching up? He didn't like the way she said that. "What do you mean by "catching up"?"
Her hands moved from around his chest and snaked their way to his head, and she pulled him closer.
Shocked by the sudden forcefulness of his half-sister, he was tugged right along.
And right into Euphemia's waiting lips.
In a moment that felt more like an hour, Euphemia pulled away and smiled brightly at him. "I've wanted to do that again for years." She said in a content tone.
"E-Euphie..." Lelouch muttered, blushing like mad. "We're not kids anymore, you know..." It had been cute when they were children. She was still cute, for that matter, with the way her cheeks puffed out in annoyance and she glared at him.
"I don't care. If I want to kiss the boy I always wanted to marry, I will." Something in her tone was just daring him to argue.
He didn't. "You are incorrigible." If Euphemia wanted something, he pitied whatever fool tried to stop her.
She smiled at him. "And you're almost prettier than me." The girl was quite certain this would irk him.
Lelouch gave her a dead-pan look, confirming her suspicions. "Doubtful." He was not fond of being called pretty. At all. Too many times he'd been forced into crossdressing because someone had thought he would make a pretty girl.
His sister just kept smiling. "Does that mean you think I'm pretty?" She asked innocently.
The boy's eyes rolled. "Any man who doesn't think you're beautiful is either blind, stupid, or gay." He really felt that way, too. Euphemia had grown into a lovely young woman over the years. Even with personal preference taken into account Lelouch just could not see how anyone could question Euphemia's beauty.
Euphemia blushed prettily at his comment. "Flattery will get you nowhere."
"That's fine. I like where we're at right now." Lelouch pointed out with a smirk.
"And you said I was incorrigible." She giggled.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to hug my beloved sister, is there?"
"Not a thing." She agreed.
"Ahem. Sorry to interrupt." The voice of the silver haired scientist cut in. "But Suzaku just finished settling the Purist's little spat and will be back any moment, and for the sake of your Highness's privacy I felt it was best I cut in." He nodded towards the front seat of the transport, where Lelouch spotted a blushing woman in an orange uniform trying her best not to look like she had been watching them.
Euphemia pouted as the two of them separated from their hug. She turned to the scientist. "Earl Asplund, as Third Princess of the Holy Empire of Britannia I ask that you keep this entire meeting secret. That goes for your assistant as well."
Lelouch blinked. That was probably the most "official" thing Euphemia had ever said.
Lloyd smiled. "Of course. I know how much the royalty value their secrets. Isn't that right, Prince Lelouch? Oh don't look at me like that, I'm not going to tell anyone. If I wasn't executed for treason I'm sure you'd kill me yourself, right?" He chuckled. "Cecile will keep quiet too." The man looked over to the woman who was trying to shrink into her seat. "Right, Cecile?" He asked.
"Yes sir!" She replied hastily, looking everywhere but at them. She had stopped monitoring the Lancelot just in time to catch Princess Euphemia locking lips with some random black haired teen who, as it turned out, was a Prince who was supposed to be dead.
Seeing the situation with the scientists taken care of, no noble would be foolish enough to disobey a direct order from a Princess, Lelouch decided to run a bit more damage control before the situation spiraled out of his control. "Euphie, please don't tell Cornelia about me being alive. While you may understand my reasons for wanting to stay hidden, I don't know if she would." He was surprised by the smile on Euphemia's face as she replied to him.
"Lelouch." She began gently. "Cornelia is the one who told me that you wouldn't want to be found if you were alive. She misses you just as much as I do. Please reconsider?"
He frowned. Cornelia was going to be Viceroy, and he was going to be opposing Britannia openly as Zero. If she learned of his existence, she may piece together just who Zero was from his actions alone. It would be dangerous for him and his allies.
But that damn pout of Euphie's was getting to him... And he really did want to see his older sister again, damn the risks. But he couldn't... He could use Geass on her, maybe... No, he wasn't sure about what it's long term effects would be. He was already feeling guilty for Geassing that girl to mark on the walls of Ashford after realizing that his power wasn't simply short term. However... well, he was at least glad that he'd thought to give a definite end to the command. Once that wall was marked entirely or destroyed, she would stop.
Back to the topic at hand, Lelouch wasn't sure what to do about Cornelia. "Just don't tell her for now, Euphie." She deflated, but his next words perked her up a bit. "I'm going to school at Ashford Academy right now. Call the principle if you want to talk to me, ask for Alan Spacer. He'll know what it means." Reuben had been informed of the alias he often used to gamble, and after hearing a Princess asking for him Reuben would piece things together.
"Alright, fine." She pouted again. "I won't tell Cornelia. But you have to let me visit you and Nunnally some time."
"I will." He replied. Of course he would, how could he not let her visit Nunnally? He would have to have some precautions set up, and she would have to remain unfollowed, but considering she had already escaped her tagalongs to go wandering the city today she should at least be resourceful enough to lose them on her way to Ashford.
"Good. I'm going to want another kiss when I come to visit, so you may want to get some practice in."
"Urk."
After a quick greeting to Suzaku, revealing to Suzaku that he had been escorting the Third Princess around all day, and making sure that Suzaku knew that he and the members of Camelot were not to reveal the fact that he had met with his sister, Lelouch had retreated back into the treeline to retrieve his duffle bag and the rather put off Digimon inside.
"You left me." Tsumemon said simply, leveling a dead-pan stare at the apologetic Lelouch.
"Sorry." He replied sheepishly. "I hadn't expected this to take so long." And boy, he really had not expected any of the things that happened today. Wasn't he supposed to be relaxing?
"Meh." The little blue hand attempted to shrug, not that Lelouch could even see it with him being inside of the duffle bag. "I'll forgive you. Never let it be said I'm a bad guy."
"Thank you, Tsumemon."
A small creature, mainly white but with lavender accents along it's large rabbit-like ears, stumbled along the roads of Shinjuku. It had a pair of pink ribbons coming over it's shoulder, crossing over one another and connected by a grey broach with a smiling crescent moon on it. It's pinkish red eyes were half closed as it wandered aimlessly.
As the creature stumbled forward and fell, a pair of gentle hands caught it. "Poor thing. Are you alright?" It heard a voice ask.
No, the creature was not alright. It was injured heavily from a conflict that was centuries old but simply would not die out. Not until one or both of them were deleted.
The creature was unwilling to go down alone. But for now it needed rest. It was so weak. Even weaker than it's foe had been.
It was through sheer luck that the two of them had been brought into the Human World. The creature had been caught off guard and nearly been destroyed before Lady Luck had smiled upon it.
"Come on, I'll take you with me. You must be exhausted. Are you hungry?"
The creature remained silent, but a subtle growl from it's stomach was all the answer it's savior needed.
"You'll be feeling better in no time, don't worry!" The voice assured the small creature.
With a small voice, the creature spoke once before passing out. "Thank you..."
The creature's savior smiled softly, cradling it in her arms. "You're welcome. Let's go home now."
As she spoke, a group of men who could only be her bodyguards took up positions around her.
And then they departed.
"So, you knew all along that Prince Lelouch survived?" Cecile asked Suzaku, sitting in the back of their transport with the boy and her boss.
Suzaku blushed a bit, scratching his cheek. "Yeah. The three of us traveled through the war zone together until we were forced to separate. It had been Lelouch's idea, he said that a mixed party wouldn't find help from anyone."
"He was right." Lloyd cut in. "Britannian's would probably have shot you even if they knew that you were with the prince and Princess. And then I would still be without a devicer for my Lancelot!"
Cecile smacked him. "Lloyd, is that all you're concerned about?"
The man paused thoughtfully, as though pondering what he should say. "No, of course not. If Suzaku had died I would never have had the pleasure of meeting him?" The way he said it worded it more as a question than a statement.
Cecile nodded exasperatedly. Lloyd clapped giddily like a child who had guessed the correct answer to a test question, furthering Cecile's exasperation. Suzaku smiled at the scene, starting to feel like he was genuinely a part of something.
Of course, with Lloyd it was literally to be taken as a "part", Devicer to be specific, of his Lancelot. But, still, it was a place to belong. He hadn't felt like he belonged in seven years.
And then the transport shook as though something was ramming it. Lloyd fell over while wailing dramatically, having been leaning against the wall in a very precarious manner. Cecile kept her balance, eyes shifting around to observe the situation within the transport.
By that point, Suzaku was already outside and seeing just what had rammed their vehicle.
It was... a lion?
A small, coming up to about his waist if he had to guess, bipedal lion looking creature was punching the wall of the transport rapidly, beginning to leave dents in the metal after it concentrated it's effort.
"Damn it damn it damn it!" It shouted, fists slamming over and over into the metal. "I almost had that wench Dianamon! What trickery did she employ, sending us to the world of Humans!? How doth she cheat me so, to deny me my glorious victory! And even worse, I find myself in this pathetic ROOKIE form! RAHHHHHH!" The punches doubled in speed, threatening to actually bust through the wall.
Suzaku wasn't willing to let that happen, and proved it by ferociously kicking the digimon away from the transport. "Bah! How dare you raise your hand to me! Thou shall pay for besmirching my honor with your underhanded strike!" And then the digimon leaped towards him, small fists flying at insane speed.
Suzaku abused his reach to avoid the punches, slipping kicks in through the shoddy guard of the digimon who was obviously unfamiliar with needing to block.
Another punch came, this time the creature had overextended too far. Suzaku made note and took advantage.
The fist was grabbed, and the digimon was lifted above Suzaku's head, before being slammed down on it's stomach with it's hands restrained.
"What? Bested in close combat by a human? I am shamed!" The digimon shouted. "To think such a mighty warrior as myself hath been reduced to mere fodder..."
"Hold on!" Suzaku yelled, drawing the attention of the sulking digimon. "Why were you attacking our transport? We did nothing to provoke you."
"I doth not care for your transport. I wished to vent my insurmountable anger upon something and grew tired of breaking apart rubble." It replied petulantly.
The Japanese boy was confused by the manner of speech this digimon was using. It was a bizarre mix of Olden English with more modern speech habits. Very peculiar. "Oh. Is that all?" He asked.
"I shan't repeat myself once more, knave. Yes, I hath no ill will to bear against thine kin. Now release me so that I may sulk in peace."
"Oh. If you want, we could keep fighting? Think of it like a spar. Release some of your pent up anger." Suzaku offered, having enjoyed the brief opportunity to use his hard earned fighting skills for something other than restraining his old friend on accident. It wasn't really often that he got to cut loose and actually move like that. The little creature was really fast, and strong too if the dents on the transport were any indication, so he actually had to work a bit to beat it.
The digimon stiffened for a moment, before it seemed to find it's spirit. "Very well then, fellow warrior!" It said, a distinct change from it's earlier dismissive tone. "I see now that my combat prowess hath deteriorated from many a Sun of superiority over my foes. You shall aid me in rekindling my flame!"
"So, what should I call you?" Suzaku asked, releasing the small digimon from the pin.
"Thou may refer to me as Coronamon! Now, ready thyself and let us begin our next match!"
And then they fought again. And again. And again.
Cecile looked on in awe as their newest recruit got into repeated brawls with a digimon that could dent the thick metal walls of their transport.
Lloyd grinned widely, chucking at the absurdity of the situation and imagining what kind of luck he had.
First he had managed to find the perfect devicer for his Lancelot, the pinnacle of his work in the field of Knightmare Frames.
And now that same devicer had managed to befriend a digimon. As the man who had invented the original Britannian Digivice, the mass produced version of which had been modified far from his original design mind you, the Earl of Pudding couldn't wait to see where this would go.
Stuff happened this chapter, I made a pretty big divergence from canon I guess. I've said it before, but this Lelouch is going to be more emotional, since emotions tie so deeply into Digivolution in pretty much every rendition of Digimon I've ever seen. Heartless, cold, logical Lelouch would fare about as well as the Digimon Emperor from season two. He had emotions, they were just negative ones. And Lelouch tends to gravitate towards negative emotions too in the anime. But yeah, he's gonna be more feelsy and that lets me throw in conflict between his emotions and his logic that is greater than canon over things that aren't nearly as big as the things that invoke emotion in him in the anime.
Suzaku won't be getting Guilmon, for those of you who guessed him. Keep trying, Guilmon won't be appearing for a decent amount of time. Instead, he's gotten Coronamon while a mysterious person has retrieved Lunamon, both of whom are the formerly Mega level digimon who had been involved with the warring factions of the Digital World.
On the note of the Eclipse War (Har har I'm so good with naming things), it's a cliche for sure. But it works for my needs. Lelouch and friends will not be going to the Digital World for a while, but they will be going there.
Uhm, nothing else really left to say. As far as Euphemia kissing Lelouch, I'll leave you on your own to speculate whether I have plans for that to go deeper or whether it's just Euphie being Euphie. If you'll recall, in canon she had believed Lelouch to be alive and be Zero for a while before Kamine. So, there, it wasn't so much of a shock as it was Euphemia confirming what she already knew. Here, the emotions are fresh and she doesn't suspect him of being Zero, so there's less to think about and more emotion coming to the surface.
I'm trying to be impartial to Suzaku, considering I REALLY don't like him. I don't want to blatantly make things suck for him any more than they did in canon, but... meh. So am I doing a good job not making him look like any more of an ass than he is naturally?
Also, I really really like Lloyd. He's just an awesome character and I wish he was used more often. I have things in store for him, especially now that there is a Digimon in the midst of Camelot.
And don't forget to review. Because reviews make me happier than Columbus with speed boats.
And that's happy.
EDIT: Chapter three, fully edited by yours truly. Nothing much to say here. Carry on.
