*Zane wanders in*
Zane C: Aren't you supposed to be working on a story about now?
Zane T: Cobriana, they are trying to give the authoress some time with the calmer muses.
Me: Trusedale! Cobriana! Be the calm people I want you to be.
Both: Sure.
Kanon: She doesn't own anything. If she did my rather obvious relationship with Schneizel would probably have become part of the series.
Me: Well, here goes…something!
Jaden: You stole my line!
"Reverse Geass"
Lelouch slammed a fist down hard on the table "You are far more worried than you let on! The only way you could remain this calm, with one of your loved ones in danger is if you were heartless!" He thundered
"Or an android.." C2 threw in with mild interest.
Lelouch looked pleadingly at Suzaku for help getting some emotion out of the rosette.
Suzaku was still angry with Lelouch, but he responded none the less.
"Kanon doesn't feel the need to waste emotions." He said after a pause "He needs to be calm to deal with this situation. And he probably feels like its selfish to worry about Schneizel when the man is incapable of worrying about a county, let alone himself."
Kanon winced, the first visual sign of emotion he had made besides the slight bitter tones that haunted his voice as of late.
Lelouch winced as well. This was his fault. And now the love of his life and his loves new friend were suffering for it.
"You said you had an idea?" C2 said coolly. She always had the strange monotone sound in her voice.
"Yes, I did" Kanon said in relief. Diplomat or not he did not like awkward conversations. Or to be center of attention. A shyness Schneizel had once promised to rid him of, because, as he said,
"You are going to need to learn to live in the public eye to be with me." He had said "And with me, even if we are alone, you will always be my center of attention." Schneizel had smiled then and pulled him close. Kanon had no problem with learning to be in public, and had quickly overcome that. But being watched closely in private always made him nervous. "Don't worry, Koi !" Schneizel had laughed "Your not going to mess up, there is no way you could mess up in my eyes.
Kanon had always found that memory comforting. And now it only brought agony. He felt a familiar sting behind his eyes, and blinked it back.
The others, for their part noticed the proud Earl visibly sag, and grimaced. C2 rather liked the man from the short amount of time she had known him. He was cunning, collected, not bad looking and she could tell he was rather smart and mischievous. So she offered him a slice of pizza, a true offering of friendship.
Lelouch looked stunned, Suzaku was flabbergasted. Kanon didn't know what the hell was wrong with them.
"No thank you, I need to tell you about what I think I found." Kanon said with a gentle smile.
C2 dropped the pizza back onto her plate and nodded for him to continue
"Lelouch? When you cast geass, do you feel…drained? Like some energy has left you?" Kanon asked uncertainly
"Yeah…"
"And when someone under your geass…dies…do you feel like you get it back? The energy?"
Lelouch thought hard and long about the question. Settling finally on the incident with Euphie. When she had died, he had been distraught, but he no longer felt tired from running. At first he had thought it was just unnoticeable due to sadness. Now he realized it was because the energy he had used to compell her had returned to him.
"Yes! It does!" He said excitedly, then he sobered "We are not killing Schneizel."
The other three present looked at him like he was an idiot.
"I think each person has something that weakens the effect of geass. A certain feeling, or action." Kanon said
"Like the Dark-Hunters?" C2 said suddenly
"Huh?" Kanon was lost, Dark-what's?
"The Dark-Hunter is a type of creature from a romance series. Each of the Hunters has a weakness that makes them human, to kill them and return their soul, freeing them from the goddess Artemis." Lelouch explained
Suzaku gave him a 'you know this how?' look.
"They are good books, and C2 reads them, soooo her being the only one here, I know quite a bit from her…" He explained
"Sounds interesting, Maybe I'll try them once we're done here. But we are not, yet, so we need to focus. These people have specific behaviors that trigger mortality?" Kanon asked
C2 nodded furiously, hair flying about.
"Schneizel, as I said before, returns to himself slightly when there is moonlight in his eyes."
"Any night stronger than the others?" Suzaku asked
"Full moon." Kanon replied, smirking at the cliché "He can usually say a full sentence or two." He finished wistfully
"And you think geass can be removed at this weak point?" Lelouch guessed, suprised at the aide's genius.
"Yes, if it's the transfer of energy, I think it could be removed at this time." Kanon said
C2 was flipping through the book they had forced from the ground. "It says here you need to use geass on them again." She said
"How? It only works once." Lelouch said dazedly, the man was right. He could have saved Euphie…
"I don't think you could have, saved her I mean." Kanon said apologetically "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
Shit, he was talking out loud.
"She fought it off when I was talking to her on the airship. I think her off switch was extreme bodily pain. I don't think we could have done that to her. It was…..almost…..better, that she….died." Suzaku forced out. He missed Euphie, not as one missed a spouse or a person one was courting, he missed someone who was like a sister to him.
"How does the book say to use the geass?" Lelouch asked, firmly driving the conversation from his little sister, conscience eased greatly. But it never would be eased completely, he only retained the guilt he had before discovering it could be undone.
"It says to look the influenced in the eye at the weakest point, and say 'I call my geass back to me' sounds easy." C2 said
"Until you factor in that he needs to be in a weak state, and Lelouch needs to get to his office, which means going past all the guards." Kanon keened, this was getting hard.
"We could disguise Lelouch as Zero." Suzaku suggested "He is Zero, so that's a plus."
"I could escort him up" Kanon said, jumping on the train of thought "You would need an escort anyway."
"He needs someone to keep him calm, as well." C2 interjected "I can take a bit of the pain away, Kanon can provide emotional comfort. Suzaku can make sure this isn't interrupted."
"How do we get you in?" Suzaku said curiously
"I'll geass a guard into giving her his clothes." Lelouch said "I'd rather not use it on many people though, hence the cloak and dagger routine."
Then lets get going, tomorrow nights the full moon." Kanon supplied
"Yes, lets." C2 finished the last of her pizza. She then grabbed Lelouch and Suzaku's arms and proceeded to pull them out the door.
"Come along, Earl Maldini, you are driving."
"Please milady" Kanon said flinching at the way she said his title, it made it seem like his name was Earl. Eww. "Call me Kanon Maldini, if you must, or just Kanon if you prefer."
"Very well Kanon Maldini, come on you are driving."