AN Notes: Ugh... I hate you – hate you all! Since most of you have requested that I continue this in some way, shape, or form, my brain has been unable to focus on anything else. Worse still is the fact that all the ideas for this – now – series of one-shots (which is quickly becoming a whole story of itself), are going to be redone in Que Sera, Sera. This annoys me. Greatly. Seeing as I'll basically be copying my own work when I get that far into QSS.
Damnit!
You. Spoiled. Little. Brats! The lot of you!
It wasn't that simple. Nothing ever was.
As Kallen stormed from the conference room to her own quarters aboard the Ikagura, she couldn't help but feel as though she had let both Lelouch and the Order of the Black Knights down simultaneously. Even though – no, in spite of the fact – that the two were at opposing ends of this entire ordeal.
Lelouch; by his very nature, was conniving and deceitful – yet radiated elegance and grace enough to be devilishly charismatic. A natural born leader. A ruler. A prince. Yet he lacked that sense of Noblesse Oblige that would have made him a paragon.
What she had gotten instead was a snake with a silver tongue; both selfish and selfless at once, contradicting his words with his actions. A two-faced, murdering, son-of-a-bitch.
"Fuck him!" She screamed.
The Order of the Black Knights; guardians of justice and peace. Individuals that had taken up the mantle of Knights to defend the weak, and uphold the ideals of Zero – a man that even the most despondent of individuals could pray for. An organization built upon the lies of the very man it just recently betrayed.
"Ohgi was right..." Kallen spoke to herself as she staggered down the corridors of the Ikagura. "Where do we go from here, Lelouch?"
"How interesting." A voice cut out from the intersecting halls ahead of her. Kallen's attention snapped forward as she gazed upon the visage of that annoying, green-haired, pizza girl.
"C.C." Kallen all but spat. "Do you have your memory back, now?"
"So it would seem." That cold, uncaring voice replied, and Kallen could feel her blood begin to boil. "Tell me girl. Where is Lelouch?"
"Couldn't tell ya'."
"Oh, decided you weren't worth the effort of keeping around, did he?" Her tone became mocking rather quickly, Kallen decided.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but it's not like that." Kallen winced at the venom in her own voice. "The Order learned of his Geass and held a meeting."
"What happened." Her voice became serious. Too serious. As much as she hated to admit it, Kallen preferred the annoyingly playful C.C.
"Dunno. He talked for a bit, we decided we need to take a breath for a bit. And, he never came back." Tears stung at her eyes; tears she could feel herself fail to ignore. "He could have left, fallen asleep. Hell, he could have been killed already for all any of us know."
"Damn." The girl – no, woman – muttered. "I take my eyes off of him for a minute and this is what he does. What a useless child, that boy."
Slam! Kallen winced as the side of her fist impacted with the steel walls of the Ikagura's corridors. The wall even dented a little – she was impressed, though pained.
"He's not useless." Kallen ground out from behind her clenched jaw.
"Still so eager to defend him." That taunting tone of voice was back. "I must say. For someone that so desperately wanted him, you never did just pin him down and ravish him."
Kallen felt the heat rise in her cheeks at that statement. It wasn't as though she never considered it before, but ... no! She mustn't think like that.
"Though, I guess a virgin like you wouldn't have even the slightest clue on where to begin." That mocking tone, oh how it just infuriated Kallen like nothing else. "If you asked nicely, he may have taken the lead. He has such a tender touch."
"Fuck! Off!" Kallen felt herself lose control at that jab. Something about the casual way C.C had said it set her off. "There is no way you slept with Lelouch!"
"Oh? And what makes you so sure, little girl?" Again with that tone. By all that was holy, how she hated that tone. "It still remains that I was his closest ally; and with the weight of an entire nation on his shoulders, how could he not seek carnal pleasure as a means for stress relief?"
"Shut. Up," Her dentist would yell at her if she ever found out how hard Kallen had been grinding her teeth at that particular moment.
"Even the greatest of men seek comfort in a woman."
/There is something you can do for me, Kallen. You can comfort me./
"By that look on your face, it seems he sought you out for comfort once upon a time." That mocking tone was there this time, but it was replaced by... something. "And you rejected him then, didn't you?"
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh... This is rich." C.C's deadpan delivery of that line stung Kallen more than she knew.
"He wasn't..." Kallen trailed off, not sure if she should even be telling this to anyone. "He wasn't in his right mind then! He had almost shot-up on Refrain when I found him."
"And instead of sharing your bed for one night, you decided to ignore his desperate plea." There was a condescending tone in C.C's voice.
"It isn't that simple."
"Sure it is. You take off your clothes, and his; then you lay with him. How hard is that?"
Kallen's face was getting redder and redder by the minute as they had this conversation. It wasn't as if she was innocent, far from it, really. Still, she had never considered sex so casually. Even at her horniest, she limited herself to daydreaming; unable to even bring herself to masturbate.
"It's not that easy, C.C!" Kallen all but screamed. "There's other things to consider."
"Like your feelings? As if that were an issue."
"Not just that!"
"The timing? When better than when he has nowhere else to turn. If you played it right, you could have made him your slave."
"I'm nothing like that. That's just.. that's just wrong!"
"Really? I fail to see why it would be an issue. The both of you are so tightly wound that a little romp would have done wonders for your character dynamic."
"We're done here, C.C. We are not having this conversation any more." Kallen seethed.
"Suit yourself. I'm going to go find him now." C.C began to walk towards Kallen at an annoying sedated pace. "And when I find him? I'm going to pin him down and suck some of that tension out of him." Her voice came out as barely a whisper as they stood side by side for the briefest of moments. And just like that, C.C had turned the corner and vanished from Kallen's sight.
"That bitch." She muttered to herself, standing alone in the empty corridor for a minute before continuing her trek back to her quarters. The hallways of the Ikagura had never seemed so bare before; she had encountered no-one else after her aggravating exchange with C.C; to which Kallen could admit to being eternally grateful for. The isolation that is. Not that awful conversation with that damned bitch.
"There's no way Lelouch would have slept with her." Kallen mumbled to herself as she tumbled through the door to her room, and collapsed in a heap on the floor. "Absolutely no way."
"Right?" Her voice came out as a pathetic whimper.
/Tell me Lelouch; what am I to you? With you I could.../
/Keep up this lie. Keeping lying until the end. We need to you keep being Zero./
"I never said that I need you to keep being Zero." She drug herself over to the couch, pulling herself up and onto said piece of furniture. "I never said that I needed you."
"Tell me Lelouch..." Kallen's voice came out in choked sobs. "What should I do from now on?"
And so the Red Queen did lock herself away; high in the tower Ikagura – unaware of the dangers unfurling in the world beneath.
Once where she was passionate and driven, now she was hollow and devoid of meaning; for on that day did her King of Black vanish from her life, like a spectre leaving only wisps behind.
And though, and verily, did the Noble Lord of Tristan try to gain her favour; all keys to her heart hath been wrought of the Blackened One.
To what ends the Red Queen did suffer, none can say, only this do they know; Words left behind in Flourish of Ink did read:
In the stead o' mine King; a King of Black,
I do now tread this path o' thorns.
A curse did weigh upon him heavily,
A curse should none now take readily.
Kingly Power hath been granted,
O'er fields of ashen like snow.
From one of old world testament,
To He; his soul did it rent.
Mad was he driven of power wrought,
An ancient one did he bind.
And so mad did he become,
His kingdom now undone.
In the stead o' mine King; a King of Black,
I do now tread his path o' thorns.
And with the witch do I depart,
Forever with him, sealed in heart.
"And when I find him? I'm going to pin him down and suck some of that tension out of him." Her voice came out as barely a whisper as they stood side by side for the briefest of moments.
She smirked to herself as she rounded the corner. Her words were hollow, but the exchange had been amusing, if only a little.
As she continued her path towards the hanger of the Ikaruga, C.C couldn't help but wonder just where had Lelouch gone. It wasn't like him to leave her behind. Though she could see him doing it in this case, as where ever he had decided to go would be no place for her when she had locked her memories in stone.
"How odd that I should even do that." C.C mumbled to herself, as she kept an even stride. "I don't think I've ever tried to do that before. And wasn't it just an interesting experience."
"Never again."
She paused mid-step.
"Come now, Marianne, don't be like that."
"I'm not quite sure what you mean by that."
"I don't feel as though your remarks are justified."
"Perhaps I changed my mind. I am quite a fickle girl after all."
"No, I don't think you're on to anything at all."
"Oh, that?"
"I was just trying to get a rise out of the girl. Nothing more."
"Don't make assumptions."
"How do I shut you off again?"
"I suppose that's true."
"Sometimes I feel that you're more annoying than your son."
"Of course you should be offended by that. It's almost impossible to be more annoying than Lelouch."
"Marianne... don't be such a sore loser."
"Will you shut up if I admit to it?"
"Yes, yes, no, and yes."
"Did you just giggle like a little girl?"
"Miss." A voice cut off the response. "Are you alright?"
"Thank you distraction." C.C said as she turned to face the interloper. "You've successfully shut up the voice in my head, and for that; you have my thanks."
"Uh... sure." He didn't sound so sure. "No problem." Oh, there was a problem. He just wasn't aware of it yet. "Do you need help finding your way somewhere? Perhaps to the medical lab?"
"No, I'm fine. Thank you." C.C waved the unknown off with a casual flick of her wrist. "Just got lost in my musings, I suppose." She turned and began to continue her walk towards the hanger bay.
"If you say so, ma'am." The boy said before he silently stalked off in the other direction, turning his head back towards her one last time with a lock of concern on his face.
"How cute." C.C said to herself, in regards to the young man. "To think that there could be such a nice person in an organization created by Lelouch."
As C.C neared the nearest elevator that could take her to the hanger, the chiming of the bell echoed in the small hall. The doors opened and C.C was a little surprised to see Jeremiah Gottwald step from out of the lift.
"My Lady C.C." He said with a slight bow. "What an honour it is to have you welcome me back from my search for Lady Nunnally."
"Orange-boy." C.C said with a deadpan. "I hadn't realized that you were gone." Her casual dismissal annoyed Jeremiah, it was plain on his face, but she paid it no mind. "Do you know where Lelouch has gone?"
"My Master is missing?" The soldier's voice carried with it the sound of alarm. "When and where was he last seen?!"
"Hmph." C.C couldn't help the small pout that formed on her face. "So he didn't tell you either..."
"Mistress C.C!"
"No matter. I was on my way to the hangar to begin my search."
"The hangar, my Lady?"
"If he were to be fleeing, would he not take his knightmare?"
"Now that you mention it, I don't recall seeing the Shinkirou in the bay when I returned." The former knight's voice was laden with worry now. "You don't think he could have gone out into combat, do you?"
"Lelouch, in combat?" C.C scoffed at the very idea of it. "The only time that boy has ever gone out into combat was when he had to make a point. No, I very much doubt that."
"Then..."
"If anything, I think he simply chose to distance himself from this matter entirely." There was a sense of smug satisfaction in her voice, for no real reason. "We're not going to give him the pleasure of ditching us. Are we, Jeremiah?"
"No Lady C.C." He answered in kind, a devious smile growing on his face. "No we most certainly will not."
And so did the White Witch and the Knight of Orange depart from Castle Ikagura, to chase after the wayward King. None of the Black King's court heeded their departure as their station had always been contested by those who would see the King dethroned. And with them, too, left the humour of the land; and any joy the Lords and Ladies of the Court could see.
Ikagura had become a bitter land, full of mourning and sorrow; the skies became grey eternal and the land soaked in an endless rain.
To wit the White Witch did leave a note; a parley of mockery and disillusionment.
' To those of His Darkened Court; I leave for you this;
Thou didst not see for what had truly been there,
Took him for granted, now how dost thou fair?
Words from him were like silvery snow,
Make do you now, with only hot air to blow.
Noble Orange and Dear White, do we depart,
Leaving you with nothing, but our fading art.
None of ye hath the wit to fashion yourself King,
Perhaps maybe a Court Jester; if ye can sing.
How now does it feel, sapped of your Lord,
Not knowing whom to play, like gentle harp's cord?
How doth thou plan to move on from this,
Without knowing who's ass you need kiss.
Without reservation, we leave you behind;
Perhaps, maybe we should be so kind.
Forever and Sincerely;
The White Witch and The Noble Orange. '
Post AN Note: Well... this was certainly interesting to write. The emboldened text deviates here from the norm; as instead of an archaic look into Lelouch's thoughts, this time we see into Kallen's, C.C's, and Jeremiah's minds.
As for Jeremiah's personality for this installment? I rather found myself enjoying his crazed self at the end of R1 and I was more than a little upset that he wasn't so bat-shit insane in R2; so I came to a delicate balance of devotee and lunatic. Think; Cicero (of Skyrim), only not so insane as that.
Honestly? I found writing the ridiculously unnecessary Olde English sections to be the most fun. Writing poetry and using a melding of old and new English systems was a riot; I was literally laughing myself to tears typing it out. No joke. The poem's aren't even that funny in my opinion. But they do add flavour.
Also, I'm a bit of a perv, so it was kinda fun writing that whole scene with C.C and Kallen. Just a little. Honestly.
