Okay, for those that will read this short A/N: there were some problems with "telling/showing" that I did not understand so most of it isn't fixed. I'm sorry if the story seems rushed but I feel like it's more of a set up for some important events in the next chapter. Some very important events. I would like to thank Bluewings for editing most of this.
Disclaimer: I own nada except the plot and some OCs
Chapter Two: Looking for Help
Somewhere in Britannia
A broken mug of coffee was lying on the floor as Jeremiah Gottwald stood frozen in front of the T.V. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide. When Anya walked into the living room with bags under her reddish eyes, she found him watching the news channel.
"Jeremiah, what's wrong?" when he didn't answer her, Anya turned to see what was making the fearless man, that raised her, paralyzed with shock.
Anya didn't notice the sound of her own mug joining Jeremiah's on the floor. She was too busy watching as Milly Ashford reported what was happening in Tokyo Japan and apparently cities around the world. There were pictures and video footage. All showing things that she hadn't seen in seventeen years; things she believed would never happen after He sacrificed his life.
Tokyo Japan
The skies of Tokyo were colored black and red from the explosions still being used. Police forces fought alongside members of the Black Knights against what they believed to be a terrorist attack. No knightmare frames were used as battles similar to this one occurred all over the world. For some strange reason, every single knightmare, whether they were used by the terrorists or by the Black Knights, was not operational. Even without the use of the robotic monsters, many civilians were caught in the crossfire. The blood of men, women, and children nearly painted the entire city while smoke, ash, and rubble covered the rest. Screams rose and fell like a demonic choir. The rest of the world only watched and hoped that the heroic Black Knights would take action; not realizing that the Black Knights themselves were in trouble as Horai Island was attacked as well. As the blood of innocent citizens was spilled on the streets of Tokyo, two males ran for their lives while holding on to each other as their pursuers chased them down those very bloody streets. One held his bleeding hand against his chest while the other covered his bleeding left eye with his hand.
~Claude's POV~
Sprinting down an alley and turning a corner, I leapt through the broken glass of an abandoned clothes store. I followed J.J. as he ducked down behind a rack of clothes right when our followers ran past the store's window. The moment we could no longer hear the voices of the frustrated, knife wielding thugs, both J.J. and I collapsed to the floor. The left side of my face was quickly being covered in blood as it fell through my fingers. There was no description for the pain that I felt. The statement "Hurt like H-E-Double-hockey-sticks" couldn't even begin to cover it. When J.J. touched my hand, I jostled it and it hurt my eye even more. I tried glaring at him but the pain made me give him a watery stare instead.
He quickly replied with: "Sorry" before he got up and moved toward the back of the store. "I'm gonna see if there is a first aid somewhere." I merely gave a small nod that helped make the pain worse.
As he moved around the back I recalled how I first got this wound.
~Thirty Minutes Earlier~
"Hey, J.J., can you please wake up?" the man still holding me only shifted a bit before asking for five more minutes. I was ready to do something so rude I felt bad just by thinking it ("Wake the heck up or I'll yell in your ear!"). Right when I was opening my big mouth, a group of guys came into the alley. From the way they were dressed and acted, I could tell they weren't here to help. I quickly lowered my head and pressed it against my savior's chest as they got closer. As they slowly passed us, they started to make stupid remarks. ("Hey, don't you think that girl is pretty cute?" I almost jumped up and killed the guy. "I mean just look at her as-" "Dude, I think that's a guy." "No way man! Only a girl can be that sexy looking!" "Who cares!? She's dead, isn't she?")
I was just about to sigh with relief when a straggler came running by. He too was about to pass us by but then fate had other plans. The straggler stepped on one of J.J.'s hands. J.J. was less than pleased with the rather rude awakening. He practically jumped up with a roar and beat the guy black and blue. Unfortunately, the rest of the gang heard Mr. Straggler's screams as he cried out for his mommy (I kid you not), and rushed to his aid. We were completely surrounded. J.J. pushed me down to the floor the moment the thugs rushed at us (minus the mommy crier). J.J. looked like he was everywhere at once. The gang members started dropping like flies. The only thing that was not helping was the fact that they did not stay down. Soon they were all up and to make matters worse, they brought out their knives. Fortunately for me, they had forgotten that I was on the floor. Unfortunately for J.J., our attackers targeted him. Though he was able to dodge most of them, one of the thugs was able to get an opening. J.J. would have had a slashed back if I hadn't stepped in. My punishment for getting in the way was that I got a slashed eye. The initial pain was so excruciating that I shrieked like a banshee.
J.J. was officially beyond pissed. So after breaking a few of their hands and/or ribs, we ran like death was on our heels. Right before we had left though, Momma's Boy decided to man up and was able to stab J.J. in the hand.
~Present~
By the time J.J. came back, I was already starting to see black spots in my vision. I felt him lightly pat my cheek.
"Hey, come on. Stay with me. I need you awake for this." I gave a small nod and sat up as far as I could. J.J. quickly came to my side and propped me up against him. He brought out a gauze from the kit that he had carried from the back.
"Okay, I need you to take deep breaths because—I'm not gonna lie—this will hurt like a bitch. When I say three I'm gonna put it on okay?"
I weakly glared at him with my remaining eye. "You shouldn't curse-"
"Three."
I then proceeded to say something that I deeply regretted afterwards. "SON OF A BITCH!" I held as still as possible as J.J. began to use medical tape to keep it the gauze over my eye. When he was done he put a hand on my shoulder. And then broke down and cried.
"I'm sorry! I should have protected you! You just should have let me take the knife! You should have just run away when you had the chance. But now you're hurt! And it's all my fault." Now he was sobbing and I was mad.
"What the heck are you talking about!? I couldn't just let you die!" I pointed to the front of the store with my eyes getting watery. "There are already plenty of people out there that are dead or dying! I need you to be added to that list! I! I just! I…I don't want to be alone…" J.J. stared at me as tears began to fall from my eyes.
"I…I don't even know where my parents are. Heck, I don't even know if they are still alive! I don't know if Suzie-chan is running around being scared or if she is being used as a GPS to find me! If you died, then…I'd be alone…so don't leave me…please don't leave. I don't want to be alone. I drew my knees up to my chest and hugged them. "Pro-promise m-e. Promise that-at you won-t leave. And that you-ll help me fin-d my paren-ts. Promise!"
J.J. simply stared at me before he gave me a smile filled with pity. He saved himself from being horribly maimed when he gave me the answer that I wanted. "I promise." I sighed with relief the moment those words left his mouth.
Then, suddenly, J.J. stood up and started heading toward a rack of clothes in the men's section of the store. "We should probably change. Unless you want to be in clothes practically dripping in blood." I slowly stood up, knowing that, if I looked down, I would see blood covering my shirt and jeans. I was reminded of something very important.
"Wait! What about your hand!" when I walked towards him, J.J. quickly moved back and waved his injured hand in front of me. Or at least it was the hand that was supposed to be injured.
"Oh don't worry, I 'm all healed up! It's a pretty good perk about being immortal I guess!"
I stayed frozen for a good five seconds before I rushed towards him. "WHAT!?"
I held his hand to the light and looked on both sides. Nothing. On the off chance I chose the wrong hand I looked over the other. Still nothing. I backed away slowly from J.J. and made sure not to trip over anything. "Alright, answer me honestly. Were you even hurt?"
J.J. looked confused and said "I don't even understand what the fuss is all about."
I gaped at him before I exploded. "What do you mean you 'don't even understand what the fuss is all about'? What the fuss is all about is the fact that your hand has completely healed even though it was practically cut in half! Normal humans need time. At least three months! Yours practically healed in ten minutes!" I watched as J.J. looked at his hand looking rather mystified.
"Hmm…you're right. That is rather odd. It usually takes at least an hour and a half to heal something like this but it only took less than half to heal." He began to pace what little room was available. I stared at him with my mouth open even though I knew I should close it. When he finally stopped pacing, J.J. turned to me and shrugged.
"I have no idea why it would heal so fast. Either way we should go before those idiots come back." J.J. reached his hand towards me but I quickly walked behind some manikins.
"Stay away from me! I don't even know who you are or what you are, but I know you're not normal and probably not safe! So just leave me alone. You can go or stay but just…go away!" J.J. sighed before he walked towards me again.
"And here you were begging me to stay with you. Look, I'm not here to hurt you in any way. I just want to help you. Heck, I like you! You're pretty innocent compared to a lot of other kids your age. So if I'm gonna help someone, I want it to be you. I don't care if you like me or not but I'll make sure that you're safe. Besides…" J.J. paused in front of me. I stood up slowly and looked at him wearily. "…you feel different." Now that threw me off.
"What!? What do you mean I feel different!?" I started to pat myself down; looking for any strange bumps or dips. I looked up when I heard J.J. start laughing.
"Like I said: you are very innocent compared to a lot of kids your age. And what I meant is that your aura feels…different. Like it stands out amongst other people's auras."
I then said something that I felt didn't fit J.J. at all.
"Idiot."
…
I had ended up changing into some baggy jeans, black running shoes and I had a blue hoodie over a black short sleeved turtle neck. J.J. had questioned my choice of attire. In return I asked him why he had chosen brown shorts, black running shoes, and a black jacket over a brown t-shirt. He said touché.
As we walked down the side walk, we noticed that the fighting has either moved to another part of the city or was coming to an end. J.J. turned towards me and started to walk backwards. "Okay Claude, I think it would be best if we head towards the nearest hospital to get that eye treated. I don't want it getting infected." I nodded and fingered the medical tape and gauzes I had stuffed into my pocket. I kept walking for a while before I realized that J.J. had said my name even though I never told him it.
"How the heck did you know my name was Claude!?" J.J. turned around and shushed me. He pushed me into the shadow of a nearby building right when some weird soldiers passed by. They wore a uniform similar to that of the Black Knights except it was in red and white.
J.J. looked around the corner before he sighed and crouched down.
"You'll need to hold your questions until we reach a place where we can stop and rest. As for your question, I know your name because I saw the picture you have in your back pocket." I stared at him before I quickly reached down into my pocket. I saw what he meant. It was a picture of me, Mother, and a puppy version of Suzie-chan. I looked at the back and noticed it had the date, and all of our names.
"Your mother is very beautiful." I nodded as I wiped away at the tears that were beginning to fall.
"Yeah she is." J.J. watched me before he gave my back a pat
"We'll find your family. I promised you remember?" I nodded once more before I stood up again.
"Okay let's get going."
~ Omniscient ~
Kamine Island
After making sure that everything was on and acting correctly, Zero made his way to one of the unused rooms that were carved into one of the walls of the cave that held a Thought Elevator. After he had made sure the room was locked and secured, the world's hero proceeded to shed the things that made him that hero. The helmet. The cape. The coat. The vest. Everything that made him Zero.
After all that was stripped away, a man that appeared to be in his early twenties was left. The man had the image of one that had died seventeen years ago. The same brown hair and the same green eyes. The only difference was that everything about him seemed lifeless. Even his skin tone didn't seem as vibrant as it used to be.
With a small, quiet sigh, the thirty five year old man went to the drawer beside the small, cold and empty bed. He opened the drawer and pulled out a small photo book that was titled 2010-2018.
The brunette opened the cover and began to leaf through the pictures. They were of the now famous news reporter Milly Ashford and her husband Rivalz Cardemonde. It had pictures of the cheerful girl known as Shirley Fenette and a shy (now confident) Nina Einstein. There were pictures of the girl known to the rest of the world as Princess Massacre. There were also pictures of the Black Knights' ace Kallen Kozuki alongside her husband Gino Kozuki. Pictures of Britannia's 100th empress, Nunnally vi Britannia also filled the book. After Zero finished looking through the photo book, he got on his knees in front of the drawer. He then slid his hand into the opening underneath and grabbed the book that was hidden there.
This book was simply titled with the kanji for Lulu. Inside it, there were all kinds of pictures of the Demon Emperor. Some were him with Lelouch. Other pictures depicted Lelouch being hugged randomly and his surprised face. There were images of Lelouch in normal clothes and others in the clothes of an emperor. The closer it got to the end, the more pictures there were of Lelouch as a child along with Empress Nunnally.
By the end of this book, tears were freely flowing down Zero's face. Zero felt glad that no one was able to see this side of him. All because he had to live up to the expectations of being Zero. Zero didn't cry over the dead. Zero didn't have emotions or memories. Zero only existed to give people hope and to give them a push in the right direction. Yet, all that this Zero wanted to do was die and join those that remember him for the boy he used to be. He wanted to be with the people who understood him as Suzaku Kururugi. But those people were dead and he wasn't allowed to die. All because of a wish from someone very important to him.
…
C.C. woke up in her own bed. She looked around the room until her eyes fell on G.G.'s sleeping form. She gingerly let her feet touch the cold floor and walked over to G.G. The moment she touched him, the male immortal woke up.
"I see you're awake. How are you feeling, C.C.?" C.C. sat back down on the bed before she answered.
"I feel better than I did before I fell asleep. How did I get here anyways?" G.G. looked at her curiously.
"You don't remember?" At this, C.C. shook her head. The pink haired immortal then proceeded to tell her that he had told the people in the pub not to worry and that she only needed rest, carried her back to her apartment, put her in bed, and stayed beside her up until now. A C.C. took this information in; G.G. became the bearer of bad news.
"There is something else you should know." The pinkette stood up from his seat and walked toward the small TV in the room. The moment it turned on the news channel flashed and the horrible news was delivered. C.C. quickly stood up and snatched the remote control from G.G.'s hand. She then began to quickly change the channel but they were all the same. They all showed that the peace Lelouch gave his life for was over and it only lasted seventeen years.
After watching and flipping through the channels, C.C. turned off the TV and went over to her small closet. G.G. watched as C.C. brought out three luggage bags and proceeded to start throwing in random clothes in them. When C.C.'s under garments went flying in there as well he finally asked C.C. the question he had been meaning to ask. "What are you doing?"
Without a pause, C.C. said "Packing."
"I can see that, but where are you going?" At that question, C.C. stopped and turned toward him. When she noticed that he would not leave her alone on the subject, she sat down on the bed and motioned him to do the same. She gave him a good long stare before she sighed and began by asking: "You know about the Zero Requiem right?"
When G.G. nodded, C.C. continued. "Lelouch thought that, if his sacrifice didn't last as long as he planned, there should be a backup plan just in case world peace did not last more than at least two hundred years. He asked me to—"
~Claude~
We had been running for almost an hour I heard a familiar sound. "J.J.! Wait!" When J.J. turned around he looked pretty annoyed.
"What now?"
Instead of answering, I scanned the area for anyone that looked familiar. That was when I was talked to the ground by something big and furry and familiar.
"SUZIE-CHAN!"
Suzie-chan wouldn't stop licking me and, truthfully, I didn't mind. Suddenly Suzie-chan was yanked off me and I saw J.J. glaring at Suzie-chan while she was growling at him. I was about to get right in between then when I heard a kid's voice saying "DOGGY!"
Suzie-chan stopped growling at J.J. and ran off in the direction of the voices. At the corner, she nearly crashed into two kids; one was a boy and the other was a girl. As I walked toward the little group I took in the kids' appearances. The eldest was a girl, probably around ten and had pink hair that went down to her shoulders. She had a unique looking set of bangs that were off to one side of her face. Her eyes seemed to be blue violet in color and she wore a torn orange dress. The boy had hair that was a sandy brown and his eye color was similar to my own except a bit brighter. He looked to be around seven years old and wore dirty yellow shorts with a long sleeved white shirt that had a dirty baby blue jacket over it.
When they finally noticed that they weren't alone they quickly hid behind the corner they had just turned. I knew they were still there because Suzie-chan was still sitting there with her tail wagging.
"Hey there! I promise we won't hurt you." When they didn't answer I tried a different approach.
"I see you found Suzie-chan. I hope she didn't cause too much trouble." That did it. The girl poked her head around the corner and talked back to me.
"Her name is Suzie-chan?" the little girl then slowly walked out from their "hiding" place and towards me. I smiled kindly at her.
"Yeah, she's mine." The little girl suddenly glared at me.
"How do I know you're not lying?" I stared at her in surprise before I let out a breathless chuckle. I then reached into my back pocket and held out the picture. The little girl stared wearily at me before she took the picture and scrutinized it.
She then handed it back to me and said "I believe you. So what's your name? Mine's Mia. And the boy over there," Mia pointed to the little boy that was slowly inching away from around the corner, "is Toketsu*. He's a friend of mine."
I looked towards Toketsu and held out my hand. "Hello Toketsu, Mia. My name's Claude and that bozo behind me," I pointed towards J.J., "is called J.J." I then noticed something.
"Are you guys alone?" It was apparently the wrong question because Mia and Toketsu immediately backed up and looked ready to run. Mia was the one to answer me.
"Why do you want to know?" Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Toketsu had a small pocket knife in his hand. If I didn't fix this then things will go south very quickly.
"I just wanted to know because you guys shouldn't be alone. And we were going to find help at a hospital so if you guys needed help with anything…so…yeah..." I finished weakly. Mia and Toketsu stayed staring at me and J.J. for a while before they nodded.
Mia then said "Okay I believe you and that's only cause Suzie-chan trusts you. That and you guys are too stupid to survive without us. You guys were heading in the wrong direction. It's that way." Mia pointed in the opposite direction and I turned to glare at J.J.
"What!? I thought we were going the right way!" after giving J.J. a final glare I turned to the kids.
"Alright lead the way."
After a good half hour, I asked a question that had been bugging me a while now.
"So, are you guys looking for someone?" Toketsu slowed down a bit and started to walk alongside me.
"I'm looking for my big sister. She's a member of the Black Knight's and is married to Tohdoh. Her name is Nagisa. Mia is looking for her big brother, Shane and her parents. Her mom's a nurse so we were heading to the hospital anyways." I was a bit shocked to hear that the kid's sister was a member of the Black Knights. I remembered the video I had seen yesterday. The reason for Zero day. I was too deep in thought that I didn't hear Toketsu ask me a question of his own.
"Hm? I'm sorry I was thinking. What was your question?" Toketsu gave a small laugh before he repeated his question.
"Are you guys looking for someone?" Even though I knew he didn't mean it to, that question still hurt.
"Yes. Well, I am. I don't know about J.J." When I realized that Toketsu expected me to explain I merely sighed and did so. "I'm looking for my parents. I lost them when this all started." I made a sweeping motion with my hand to show that the chaos is what I had lost them in.
"Do you think you'll find them again?" I looked at the little boy that had gotten closer to me than I had realized. I smiled down to him.
"Of course!"
Comments:
*Toketsu means "frozen" in Japanese. And Mia is a part of one Code Geass character's name. . Hopefully this gives you a clue on who they are.
