A/N: As I'm typing this, it's May 21st – the so-called Doomsday. I just want you guys to know . . . I'm really high. No, seriously. I am.
Anyway, apologies for the massive delay and all that, but I did mention that (real) life's a bitch. I owe an apology to a certain reviewer – you should know who you are – because I promised this chapter nearly a month and a half ago. Also, I forgot who said it, but jello in my shoes would not be fun at all.
So here's the chapter, from Schneizel's POV. It's short, as usual, but my finals are here, and my hand – and my brain – hurts from writing all those damn essays. And there's still MORE next week! Gah!
Read and review while I go study! ...and possibly go hide under a rock or something...
Schneizel was a tad worried. No, scratch that, he was practically outright frowning. Anyone under his command worth his salt knew that a frowning Schneizel was a bad omen, and thusly steered clear of the twenty-one year old Prime Minister's way.
After a flurry of meetings and debates over the past week, he had finally arrived in Pendragon after his administrative duties had been just about cleared in New York City, only to receive a message from His Majesty Emperor Charles; inform Lelouch that he intended to speak with him, soon. Why it had been Schneizel that had gotten the message, only the Emperor knew.
But honestly, Schneizel was more concerned for Lelouch. In his fleeting free time, his conversations with Cornelia had implicated that the whole business with Lady Marianne's assassination had left the boy more affected than he let on. Possibly, he was even becoming unhinged in his mental state. In fact, during the last talk with his sister, she had confided in him that Lelouch had barely mentioned Nunnally, let alone make any attempts to visit her in the hospital. This went well against the norm for the young lad, as he and his only full-blooded sibling had been pretty much attached to the hip at her birth.
It seemed that he was wrong to hope that giving Lelouch some time to grieve alone would improve his emotional and mental inflictions, but apparently, some sort of intervention was to be required at this point in time. Thus, Schneizel was fully ready for his dual task of talking with his younger brother, and preparing him for whatever the Emperor wanted of him, even if Schneizel himself was somewhat uncertain about the latter.
He sighed quietly to himself. At times like this he wished that Kannon was here, but alas his aide and best friend had elected himself to wrapping up loose ends in New York City. He was a politician, for God's sake, not a mental councilor. Though perhaps he was merely over thinking things, that maybe Lelouch was actually fine. But still, to not initiate any contact whatsoever with Nunnally? That was a bit strange to say the least…
As his personal limousine came to a halt, so did his thoughts and Schneizel found himself staring up at the Aries Imperial Villa, residence of the vi Britannia branch of the imperial family, with a small amount of apprehension for some reason unknown to him.
Letting himself out, he waved absently to the entourage of guards that had poured out to greet him, quickly striding into the main foyer, towards the grand hall – the now infamous site of the murder of Marianne the Flash.
The first thing that came to mind as he entered the hall was, 'This place is far too cheery.'
And indeed it was. There were no blood splotches anywhere on the carpeted stairs, nor were any broken pieces of glass from the gunned down windows, nor were there any bullet holes. There was nothing that even suggested such an event had actually taken place here at all. Adding its own flavor to the scene, the sun shined in merrily from outside, rays of light streaming in through pristine windows, casting a warm glow throughout the rather unnecessarily large hall.
If it were not for the gruesome photographs taken professionally by the investigation committee, then he would have never suspected that this place, this far too pleasant and cheerful place was the location of a murder of the imperial family. He fully understood why the area had been scrubbed clean – after all, the death of royalty on your watch was a particularly bad stigma on one's personal record – but he half-heatedly wished they hadn't been so bloody quick about it.
He recalled that during their first conversation, Cornelia had told him that Lady Marianne – Lady Marianne herself of all people! – had expressly told her to call off the guard for the duration of that fateful night. Why had she done so? It was a well-known fact that the vi Britannia line had many political enemies, mainly stemming from the fact that Lady Marianne had been of humble commoner beginnings. Personally, Schneizel had not cared for that little tidbit of the woman's past, as she was a powerful warrior in her own right, and she was also very endearing once you looked past that – even convincing him that it was prudent to call her 'Auntie'. Of course, there were others that would dispute that passionately, going so far as to say that she had sullied the royal blood of the family with her tainted commoner blood. Unknowingly echoing the thoughts of his sister, Schneizel sourly figured that it was a petty political ploy to gain more power and favor in the eyes of the Emperor by a jealous noble or rival branch of the family.
But even so, she had still called off her personal guard, and that was a major mistake. That was something that nobody in their right mind would have done, whether they were confident in their own combat skills or not. Narrowing his eyes at the stairs, Schneizel began to doubt his previous assessment. Highly improbable, though certainly plausible; perhaps…perhaps Lady Marianne had known about the assassination attempt? But that would be plain stupid to take down an assassin by herself, when she had been out of action ever since Lelouch was born. That was a long time for trusty skills to dull with age without practice, and he knew that Lady Marianne had kept up just enough to be in shape, although that too had also decreased when Nunnally had come into the picture.
Then maybe it was a ransom or threat of some sort? Heavens above knew that The Flash was fiercely protective of her children, especially after the incident with the Ganymede. She was making her way down to meet the 'negotiator' when the unimaginable strikes and she is metaphorically knifed in the back. He toyed with that idea for a second before dismissing it. No, Nunnally had been found underneath her, the poor thing shaking like a leaf caught up in a whirlwind, so that right there discounted that theory.
Reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose in consternation, Schneizel sighed. The whole event was completely shrouded in mystery. How…troublesome.
He was shaken out of his musings as fast paced steps echoed from the upper floors of the villa. Shouting accompanied the sound as well:
"COME BACK HERE YOU CHEEKY LITTLE BRAT!"
"MAKE ME, NELLY!"
"…WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME?"
"FOR PIZZA! …AND JUSTICE!"
Glancing around at the guards stationed around the grand hall, the Second Prince couldn't help but feel a little astonished at their totally underwhelming response to the currently ensuing racket.
"Hmm. Perchance, is this a normal occurrence around here nowadays?" Schneizel rhetorically asked himself.
He sighed and made his way up the stairs, deciding to investigate the current happenings. Idly, he noticed that he recognized two of the voices as Lelouch's and Cornelia's, respectively, but he didn't recognize the third person at all, although it was definitely a female. Intriguing.
It seemed that Lelouch was doing his best to infuriate as many women as possible…and where was Anya, for that matter? She had been relocated here just a few days prior to the whole mess, so she should still be here, right? Schneizel wondered.
The blonde received his answer as he turned to see little Anya Alstreim with an uncharacteristically stoic look on her face as she nonchalantly patted one of the royal guards on his thigh while he sobbed into his arm, the two of them walking towards his direction.
"It's all my fault!" the guard cried sadly, tears streaming down his face. "I was right there, but…but I failed and now the two of them are kidnapped!"
"There, there," the seven year old consoled the man with a voice to match her facial expression.
Schneizel, who was decidedly now a tad unnerved by the scene, cut in, "If I may be so bold, may I ask who exactly was kidnapped?"
The guard started at his voice, the owner of said voice, and immediately fell to his knees in a low bow. "P-P-PRINCE S-SCHNEIZEL!" he blubbered, "I beg for your forgiveness! It was I who foolishly allowed that green haired witch to kidnap Second Princess Cornelia and Eleventh Prince Lelouch!"
Schneizel only raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, pray tell? They sounded perfectly safe and sound a few minutes ago."
The guard raised his head, staring at the Second Prince in hope. "T-They're all right?"
He nodded. "Indeed. Although, it seems that the Eleventh Prince has two angry women on his hands."
"Two women?" the guard inquired confusedly. "Could that green haired woman have an accomplice?"
Schneizel couldn't help but chuckle at the odd situation unfolding around him. "Little Lelouch has invoked the wrath of our dear sister Cornelia." Then he noticed Anya, missing the look of abject horror on Jeremiah Gottwald's face at that revelation. "Anya, what on earth are you doing on the floor like that? A lady should have better manners."
Anya cast him a dull look. "I was following Master Gottwald. Was I wrong?" she asked in a monotonous voice, tilting her head to the side in inquiry.
"…let's just get you up off the floor," he sighed.