Notes: This chapter draws from the episodes, "Messenger from Kyoto" and "Cheering Mao."
Chapter Summary: Suzaku and Cornelia discuss Lelouch. Zero makes a pact with Kyoto. V.V. visits a friend. Nunnally is taken. Kaguya joins the Black Knights. Cornelia follows orders. Mao cheers.
Of Monsters and Men
A Code Geass Fanfic by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)
Part 7: A Killer's Contract
For most of their lives, Cornelia and Euphemia had eaten breakfast together. It was an unspoken tradition between them. Occasionally there was a need to reschedule, and when one had attended a separate school, they were forced to limit themselves to one or two shared meals in a month, but they always managed eventually. It was for this reason that Cornelia never addressed any business before she had breakfast, and Euphemia's schedule, while fairly light to begin with, almost never began before 9:30 AM.
So neither sister was quite surprised when Euphemia walked into Cornelia's office, sat down, and simply said, "Good morning," as if they hadn't had their biggest fight to date yesterday.
Cornelia made a noise that possibly could've passed for a grunt, if she'd put a bit more effort into it. She did not look away from the window she was facing, however.
It was Euphemia who broke the tense silence, more than anything because of the two, she felt the guiltiest.
"Viceroy..." she began, then shook her head lightly. "Cornelia. About what I said yesterday. I..."
"Yes?" Cornelia asked flatly, refusing to look at her.
"I shouldn't have... I didn't mean to..." Euphemia trailed off uncertainly, and them simply blurted out, "Guilford was my friend, and I miss him, too."
Cornelia paused, slowly turning to face her sister.
"I shouldn't have thrown him in your face like that, and I apologize. It wasn't fair, and-"
Cornelia waved her hand dismissively. "I know you would never purposely do something so cruel, Euphemia. It is behind us, now. But so long as you are apologizing, that was not the only thing you said that I took issue with."
Euphemia frowned at her. "I shouldn't have said it that way, but it needed to be said. I trust Suzaku with my life, and the least you could do-"
"How can he protect your life while he's in the heat of battle? It is his duty to stay by your side, unless otherwise ordered, and even then, those orders should only occur when you have sufficient protection in the meantime. He is never to take you into battle, especially not if you order it, because-"
"Why can't you just trust me?" Euphemia whispered sadly.
"I want to, but you insist on proving to me that your judgment is flawed," Cornelia answered. "You are not the first relative I have lost to lofty thinking, but I intend to see that Clovis was the last. I will protect you, even if it means your unhappiness. That is my right, both as your superior, and your older sister."
"You didn't used to be like this, sister."
"I could say the same for you."
There was a single, interrupted knock on the door before it opened, admitting Anya and a clearly panicked Suzaku.
"Anya, you can't just walk in on-!" Suzaku began.
"I have been ordered by Prince Schneizel to accompany the Second Princess and Major Kururugi to breakfast," Anya stated plainly. "With your permission, Viceroy?"
"Granted," Cornelia said at once, clearly having grown weary of the conversation.
Euphemia glared at her, but didn't resist when Anya seized her hand and practically dragged her from the room.
Suzaku lingered in the doorway, staring at Cornelia uneasily. "Your Highness, about yesterday. We were-"
Cornelia glared at him. "You knew my late brother."
Suzaku blinked, frowning. "Prince Clovis? I never-"
"Lelouch."
He paled. "Oh. Y-Yes."
"When?"
"Seven years ago. He and Nunnally were sent to Japan. My family-"
"You shouted his name yesterday. Why?"
Suzaku started to answer, then took another look at Cornelia's face. He could see now that she didn't believe him. Probably she thought that everything he'd told her so far was a lie. So what was one more?
"Princess Euphemia uses his name as a code word. It means to immediately retreat."
Cornelia's eyes narrowed. "My brother would NEVER retreat."
Suzaku smiled sadly. "I know," he whispered, startling Cornelia badly. "That's why she suggested it. Lelouch was brilliant and proud. He never gave in, not even a little. But Princess Euphemia believes that if he had learned to compromise, he might still be with you today."
"Something's bothering you."
C.C. blinked and pulled her gaze away from the van's rear window, only to find Zero assumedly staring at her. "And?"
He paused before continuing. "I know you have no real reason to confide in me, but we are partners, aren't we? Perhaps if you put your pride aside for a moment, you'll find that I can help you. If nothing else, I am willing to listen."
"How sweet," she remarked dryly. "I suppose now you're going to attempt to save me from myself?"
After another lengthy pause, Zero deliberately reached up to remove his helmet. C.C. quickly slapped his hand away.
"Don't be a fool," C.C. snapped. "Did you forget that Ohgi and Tamaki are right up front?"
"No. I was trying to show you that I'm serious, and that I'm not asking as Zero, but as your ally. Let me try to help you. It's the least I can do, considering all you've done."
She sighed and shook her head. "Did it even once occur to you that perhaps I am not the one in distress here? That maybe I am the one protecting you? I am immortal, and that means I've learned a few things about looking after myself."
"But it also means you've forgotten so much more about simply living. You've forgotten what it means to have a friend, someone who would willingly shield you from pain, even if you could survive it alone."
"And you are my friend?" she asked dubiously.
"At least I'm trying."
For some reason, his response left her uncomfortable. "Fine. There will be another Geass user targeting us in the near future, if he hasn't already. He is fixated on me, but he won't hesitate to use you or Nunnally in the process to get what he wants."
Zero reached up to tap the call button near his head. "Ohgi, how much longer until we reach our destination?"
"Another twenty minutes at least, Zero."
"Thank you." He then gave C.C. his full attention. "It would seem we have time for you to elaborate... my friend," he said calmly.
C.C. didn't want to say anything more, but she could practically feel Marianne breathing down her neck, insisting that she proceed. "His name is Mao..." she began.
Breakfast was proceeding normally (or as normally as any meal that involved Anya could) when it was loudly interrupted.
"Hey! There's my little buddy!"
Suzaku and Euphemia exchanged confused glances as a blond teenager strolled through the secluded restaurant over to their table, pulled up a chair, and sat down next to Anya, slinging an overly friendly arm around her shoulders. Even more amazing, Anya completely ignored him, continuing to calmly sip her cocoa.
"Who ARE you?" Suzaku finally asked.
"Who, me? Gino Weinberg, at your service!"
Euphemia gaped at him, instantly recognizing the name. "You're the Knight of Three? But you're so... nice!"
"Aw, you're a real sweetheart, Princess!" Gino replied happily, winking at her.
Suzaku ignored that with some effort. "How do you know Anya?"
"Oh, we met in military school. She almost beat me a couple of times, too!"
"I defeated you on three separate occasions," Anya countered, checking her camera phone to be sure. "I made a note of it, since you so frequently forget."
"Eh heh heh..." Gino laughed weakly, squeezing her shoulders. "You could just eat her up with a spoon, couldn't you?"
"And you said you two are... friends?" Suzaku asked doubtfully. From what he'd seen, Anya hadn't had any friends, up until she'd met them. Even looking at her with Gino, he wondered if Gino had just failed to take the hint that Anya didn't care what he called himself.
"Sure we are! Right, little buddy?"
Anya gave Gino a long, measuring look. "Mmm."
"That's a 'yes' in Anya-speak," Gino assured them.
"I think it's sweet," Euphemia said. "So, how did you know we'd be here, Gino?"
Gino grinned. "That part was easy. Prince Schneizel is always looking for test pilots, and us young guys usually get offered the best spots first. I heard Anya was testing out a prototype for him, and naturally, I was jealous. I also wanted to make sure everything was safe, so I went over to check it out this morning. Prince Schneizel would only let me peek for a minute, but he did mention that you three were having breakfast here. And I just couldn't deny you the unmatched pleasure of my company!"
Euphemia thought that was funny; Suzaku and Anya didn't, though for entirely different reasons.
Taizo Kirihara was easily one of the most powerful men in the world, for two contrasting reasons. First, he owned the world's largest supply of sakuradite, and therefore was one of the few Japanese that could still demand to be acknowledged as such by Britannia. Secondly, the sale of sakuradite brought him huge profits, a great deal of which was invested into anti-Britannia resistance groups.
In short, Kirihara had lots of money, and lots of sakuradite, both of which he had no problem rewarding to those that insisted on remaining Japanese, and were willing to fight for that right.
It was rather inevitable that Zero and the Black Knights would request a meeting with him. This was, of course, partially Lady Kaguya's fault: Kirihara knew very well that she had impulsively given the Guren Mk-II to the Black Knights, complete with a greeting card expressing her desire to meet Zero in the near future. It was probably not the reason Zero had requested the meeting, but there was no convincing Kaguya of that.
The recent battle in Narita had definitely caught Kirihara's attention. That Euphemia had tried to surrender to Zero was not lost on him, either. For all of her faults, on every occasion that Kirihara had spoken to her, he had noted her open-minded and giving nature. If Euphemia believed in Zero enough to place her life in his hands, then perhaps he truly did have the power to change the world. He was already doing so, for one thing, and for another, Zero appeared to have Britannia by the throat at each and every encounter.
But only so much weight could be placed in appearances, and Kirihara knew that better than anyone. For all the things that Zero appeared to be, Kirihara was only interested in who he actually was beneath the mask.
Still, Kirihara was impressed when Zero came before him with only a three-man squad as backup... and one of those was a woman, who was somehow nearly as imposing as Zero himself.
Kirihara didn't bother with pleasantries: he'd studied the files on them, and frankly, he was old, feeling his age that day, and in no mood to play nice with a man that concealed his face when he was a guest in another man's domain.
"I will make this simple for you, Zero. If you expect to receive support from Kyoto, you must reveal your face to me."
Ohgi and Tamaki looked shocked, but there was also obvious interest on their part: they clearly had no idea who Zero was, either. The woman just looked bored, so Zero's identity had to be old news to her.
"I present a counter-offer," Zero said calmly. "I will allow Lady Kaguya to remove my mask, as she was kind enough to invite me."
Before Kirihara could reply, a girlish squeal made him wince, and then Kaguya rushed past him, practically shoving one of his guards aside in her hurry. He was annoyed, having told her beforehand that she was not to attend unless he said different, but at least now he didn't have to waste time summoning her.
Zero lowered his head so that Kaguya could more easily reach his mask, and for a tense moment, nothing happened as she tugged fruitlessly. Then there was a soft snap, and the mask began to cycle away from Zero's head, dropping neatly into Kaguya's hands.
Kaguya gasped softly as she stared into Zero's eyes, and then, before anyone could stop her, yanked down the secondary, cloth mask over Zero's mouth, and gave him a firm, heartfelt kiss that lasted at least nine seconds.
And naturally, she had done all of this while effectively blocking Kirihara's view with her own head. It was only when she stepped back and to the side that he understood her behavior.
"You," he whispered in shock, but it quickly faded as realization set in. Kirihara began to laugh, loudly and freely, shaking his head as tears leaked from his eyes. He was amazed that he hadn't figured it out before. Who better to oppose Britannia than someone who knew its inner workings, someone who had grown up alongside its current leaders? And of course, Kaguya would be pleasantly surprised to learn that boy she'd had a crush on had grown into the same man that she now thought herself in love with. It was all just too perfect.
"So," Lelouch said, his face still slightly red from Kaguya's kiss, "can I count on Kyoto's support in the future?"
"Not only can you count on it, I apologize for not giving it to you sooner!" Kirihara chuckled. "But I'm afraid you may have made a mistake in coming here. You'll never be rid of Kaguya now."
A thoughtful expression appeared on Lelouch's face as he looked at Kaguya, who had wrapped both of her arms around his right one and was gazing up at him with adoring eyes. "It would be an honor and a privilege to have the Goddess of Victory accompany me. I suspect there are those in Area 11 who have missed her dearly."
Kirihara grinned, knowing exactly who Lelouch meant.
Currently, Kallen was in a weird place, or at least, her mind was: inside of Nunnally's wheelchair.
Since the battle in Narita, Kallen had noticed that her mind was a lot more versatile than it had ever been before. For some unknown reason, she seemed able to place her mind inside of objects temporarily. This had first manifested inside the Guren, and perhaps because of that, there was no other place that Kallen felt quite as comfortable using her new power. The downside was that Kallen's body effectively fell asleep while her mind was otherwise occupied, so anyone that came across her in the meantime would think she had passed out, and have the perfect opportunity to take advantage of her.
Kallen had been experimenting with all sorts of things, but only when she was alone. Another aspect of her power was that she could detect any strong feelings imprinted on an object while touching it. This happened more or less automatically, because Kallen generally had no idea what she would find beforehand, not unless the object belonged to her, anyway.
So it had come as a complete shock when she'd come home the other night, and accidentally brushed Nunnally's wheelchair.
As she was now considered Nunnally's best friend, Kallen had just assumed that she actually knew the girl, or at least that she knew Nunnally better than most. But it quickly became clear that the Nunnally people saw from day to day was only a relatively small aspect of her.
Nunnally never told anyone how it felt to be abandoned by her family, or how the knowledge that Lelouch would spend most of his life taking care of her made her feel incredibly guilty. It didn't matter to her that Lelouch did this out of love, and so Nunnally did everything in her power to make it easier on him: she never spoke an unkind word to or around him if she could help it, wanting only to be a positive influence on him.
Kallen was still getting to know Lelouch, but she knew it would kill him if he ever knew that Nunnally felt that way about herself, even for an instant. He was that devoted to her, although she was clearly more devoted to him. Several times, Kallen wanted to bring this up with Nunnally, to assure her that all the effort wasn't really necessary, and that Lelouch would love her no less if she was occasionally sad, or tired, or frustrated with him. But it seemed wrong to do so, and if this was Nunnally's choice, Kallen had to respect it.
Worst of all, it disturbed Kallen deeply to know that Nunnally, someone who was so outwardly happy seemingly all of the time, was also inwardly very, very sad. She missed her family, the use of her legs, her sight, and above all, simpler times when she was allowed to take such things for granted.
All of this normally would've been enough for Kallen to avoid touching Nunnally's wheelchair ever again: there were many other things in life to be depressed about, and none of them made her feel quite as helpless. But so much of their friendship, not unlike Nunnally's other relationships, was based on physical contact, and Nunnally would certainly notice if Kallen started keeping her distance for no reason. Beyond that, now that Kallen was aware of how Nunnally truly felt about Lelouch, she wanted to be certain that Nunnally never had a chance to develop similar feelings towards her. And if that meant regularly getting a peek into Nunnally's past, that was just a small bonus.
Something else, however, soon became obvious from these peeks: Nunnally, and most probably Lelouch as well, were royalty, or had been at one point. So many of Nunnally's prominent memories from childhood centered around an older, pink-haired sister who looked suspiciously like the same girl that had been there the night Kallen moved in, who in turn bore a striking resemblance to Third Princess Euphemia. And even as a child, Nunnally had called her sister "Euphie," the same name that had shown up on her cell phone earlier that same day.
Even knowing this, Kallen wasn't really angry. Britannian royalty or not, Nunnally was innocent of any crimes against Japan, and certainly had nothing against the Japanese, even going so far as to still call them that. And if Euphemia was still so important to both Nunnally and Lelouch, she couldn't be all bad, either. But that was as far as Kallen was willing to be forgiving, and Zero's actions at Narita seemed to indicate the same. Cornelia and Schneizel were definitely their enemies.
But that left far too many grey areas for Kallen's liking, and without more information, she might be forced to make a quick decision in battle that one or both Lamperouge siblings might find disagreeable. Nunnally's concerns were more important to Kallen, but Lelouch was the more informed of the two, being a member of the Black Knights. At the moment, though, both Lelouch and Zero were away on business, and asking Nunnally's opinion once she finished her afternoon nap probably wouldn't hurt.
Kallen was provided with a more immediate distraction when the doorbell rang.
She quickly retreated back to her body, blinking and frowning as she pulled her hand from the empty wheelchair. Normally, Sayako would get the door, but she'd gone grocery shopping, so Kallen was on her own there. She fingered the knife tucked safely in a hidden holster along her thigh along the way. There hadn't been any hostile visitors that she knew of, but she was Nunnally's Knight for a reason.
The peephole revealed nothing out of the ordinary: just a boy about Nunnally's age, in a school uniform.
Sighing, Kallen activated the intercom. "Who are you? Do you need something?"
The boy blinked as if startled. "Oh! Um, I'm Rolo, and Miss Milly asked me to bring some assignments to the Vice President, since he missed classes today..."
"Fine, hold on," Kallen grumbled, unlocking the door and only opening it wide enough for a hand to slip through.
In the next instant, however, she found herself facedown on the floor, with three stab wounds in her belly, and blood pouring out of her.
"I'd stay still, if I were you, and wanted to live," Rolo suggested, no longer sounding nervous at all. "The less blood you lose, the better your chances. Of course, if you don't get treatment in time, I don't like your chances either way. But you'll have to excuse me, as I'm busy right now."
C.C. thought she was doing a remarkable job of remaining calm and tolerant, considering that Kaguya had been gradually converting her long, freefalling green hair into two thick braids that would no doubt take considerably longer to untangle. Once Kaguya started implying the braids might look better with ribbons on them, however, C.C. lost what remained of her patience and demanded of Lelouch, "Why is this person with us again?"
From his seat opposite them, Lelouch made no attempt to conceal his amusement. "I have no doubt that Kaguya will prove herself invaluable immediately, so you don't need to concern yourself with that. You just need to learn to deal with her quirks."
C.C. did not think ambushing a person's hair was a mere quirk, nor was it healthy or to be encouraged. In fact, she was very familiar with a certain culture in which Kaguya's own luxurious hair would be chopped off and used to bind her, shortly before she was tossed into a live volcano for such an offense (C.C. had actually invented this culture herself, while she still had her Geass, but didn't feel that made it any less authentic).
"And will Nunnally have to deal with these quirks as well?" C.C. asked, wanting to be sure she would not be made to suffer alone.
"Nunnally rather enjoys them, as I recall," Lelouch answered, only deepening C.C.'s frown in the process.
Kaguya immediately perked up at the mention of her childhood playmate. "Do you think she'll remember me, Lelouch?"
"I wouldn't worry. You're rather hard to forget, Kaguya."
C.C. almost smiled, until she realized that Lelouch only meant that Kaguya was genuinely memorable, and not just an extremely persistent pest.
"Greetings, Princess Nunnally vi Britannia."
Nunnally froze and turned her head slowly towards the unfamiliar voice. "W-Who are you? How did you get in? Where's Kallen?"
Rolo considered not answering, but after spending some time with Mao, had come to realize that he also drew a certain pleasure from toying with his victims. "She isn't dead, if that's what you're asking," Rolo replied as he walked further into the room. For some reason, he hadn't killed Kallen outright, merely stabbed her a few times. If she was careful, and very lucky, she might still survive. Maybe. Either way, she was no longer a concern of his. "But I'd be more concerned with my own safety, if I were you."
"You're not going to kill me," Nunnally said at once, causing him to stop in surprise. "I'm sure you could, but you obviously know who I am, and that I'm more useful to you alive."
"You overestimate your worth."
"Then why am I still alive?"
Rolo's left eye twitched irritably. "It is true that killing you might cause problems. However, I am very skilled with a knife, and I am keenly aware of many related tortures that, while they won't kill you, will certainly make you much more respectful towards me."
Nunnally considered that for a few seconds before asking, "You're with OSI, aren't you?"
Rolo frowned. "The more you talk, the more you give me reasons to hurt you. How could you possibly know that?"
"My mother told me about them. She said that they excelled in one thing, and one thing only. You sound like such a person, and I would expect OSI to actively seek my death. So if you aren't here to kill me, you must be here to kidnap me, so that you can more easily kill someone else."
"Correct, for the most part. Now, if you insist on still talking, you will have to do it while we leave," Rolo said, taking the handles of her wheelchair and steering Nunnally towards the door.
"You still haven't told me your name," she reminded him gently.
"Rolo," he snapped, almost without thought.
"Is it okay if I ask who you're trying to kill?"
He barely resisted the urge to strike her. "Do you know many people?"
"Yes."
"Then assume it's all of them," he replied nastily.
Nunnally stopped talking after that, on the off chance that he wasn't kidding. After all, if Rolo was really with the Office of Secret Intelligence, she had no doubt that they could make it happen.
"Headmaster Reid, your son is on line three. Shall I put him through?"
"Yes, thank you." The older man waited until he heard the expected click on the line before speaking. "Diethard, my boy. How long has it been?"
"Uh, a few years now, Dad," came the hesitant, awkward reply. "How are the twins?"
"Quite well. The latest curriculum I came up with seems to be no challenge at all for them. They ask about you sometimes."
"I miss them, too. It's just... you know I'm not like them. I never felt like I belonged when I was around you three. You had your own little world, and I wasn't a part of it."
"I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that way, Diethard. I just want my children to do the best they possibly can."
"But my best was never really good enough, was it, Dad? You never made me one of your pet projects like you did with the twins. You never... cared."
"The twins have always required a certain level of care, you know that. I never intended to exclude you, but some of that was unavoidable. I admit I took a different approach with you, but I always knew that you would stand on your own. You've become a very successful man, from what I hear."
"And most of that is a direct result of the fact that I'm your son."
"Is that really such a bad thing, Diethard? I wasn't the best father I could be to you, but I always loved you."
"Dad, I, uh... have to go," Diethard said, his voice sounding suspiciously thick.
"You can come home anytime, my boy. I know the twins would love to see their big brother again." The old man sighed and hung up the phone, just in time to hear a hidden panel in the wall of his office slide open.
"Am I interrupting, Socrates?" asked the small boy that emerged from the dark passage.
"Not at all, V.V.," Socrates replied. "I was just talking to my oldest."
"You're still hoping he'll join us? He simply doesn't have the same talent as his siblings. Even he recognizes that, so why can't you?"
"There are other capacities in which he could serve you. Besides, it would make the twins happy."
"I should compliment them," V.V. remarked, smiling. "Schneizel put their latest toy to good use."
"You were surprised?"
"Yes, but not by what you might think. Apparently, Cornelia is turning out to be the more predictable of them."
Socrates blinked slowly. "That IS a surprise. Euphemia is not behaving normally, then?"
V.V. waved a hand dismissively. "It's nothing that can't be dealt with later. Are the twins awake?"
"Yes. D.D. has been searching for the next rip in time for almost two whole days now. She should be close to a breakthrough." Socrates tapped a button underneath his desk, and every surface in the room seemed to become transparent for a moment, before adjusting to show multiple camera angles of two small, blue-haired children seated at a table littered with pencils and sketchpads. Their eyes were shut tightly, their faces frozen in intense expressions of concentration.
Socrates could not help the pride that he felt each time he watched them. He had never imagined that his two children would one day become the foundation of the Geass Directorate, partially because his own Geass had never been able to confirm it. Merely by seizing a person's hand, he could gaze into their destiny, and see everything that their hands would ever create. It was only natural, then, that V.V. place him in the Imperial Colchester Institute, where he had easy access to the young, brilliant minds of each generation.
The twins had been oddly immune to his Geass, although after his failure with Diethard, Socrates had initially feared that none of his children had inherited his gift of time viewing that he and V.V. had worked so hard to recreate. But the twins had developed their Geass soon afterwards, and Socrates had begun training them to hone their enormous potential.
"I have a good feeling about this one," V.V. said, perching on the arm of Socrates' chair. "Dynamo's last design was a bit vague on some of the more important points, so much of it was guesswork, but I think this time will be different."
"Got it," D.D. murmured abruptly, reaching over to grasp her brother's hand tightly.
Dynamo's eyes flickered rapidly beneath his eyelids, and then his free hand began to move, the pencil flying across the sketchpad with ease. In seconds, Socrates could see Britannia's newest Knightmare rapidly taking form. To his surprise, it looked nothing like the last one Dynamo had drawn. Where the Gaheris was little more than a downgraded Sutherland with advanced cloaking and a cannon shoved crudely through its chest, this one had obviously been the product of far more research. This could only be a good thing: if Dynamo was able to add this much more detail to D.D.'s visions, they'd soon be moving from producing mere pictures with some detail to actual blueprints. It meant that their combined Geass was evolving.
Once Dynamo was done, he carefully laid down the pencil.
D.D. finally opened her eyes and gazed at the drawing. "You even got the fingers right. They looked funny to me, but-"
"Slash Harkens," Dynamo interrupted. "The whole thing is bigger than it looks."
"And it can still fly?" she asked in surprise.
"Of course it can. You saw it, didn't you?"
"That's excellent work, you two," V.V. said into the intercom built into Socrates' desk.
"Master?" D.D. asked excitedly. "You were watching?"
"I was. You've both earned a good rest. I'll see you when you wake up."
The light faded from the twins' eyes, and they slumped against each other, snoring softly, their hands still joined.
"I may even take this design to Schneizel in person," V.V. said, "if only to see the look on his face. It's such a large improvement, he may decide that we've been holding back on him."
"And what will you do then?" Socrates asked.
V.V. shrugged, an impish smile tugging at his lips. "If he at least attempts to be polite or subtle about it, I may even let him live a little longer."
Even though he'd had his Geass for several years now, there were times when Mao still managed to amaze even himself with its potency.
Either that, or people in general were just getting far more predictable and easier to read.
Rolo's part of the plan played to his strengths: infiltration and precise violence. He would extract and secure Nunnally, dispatching anyone in his way. Mao had been a bit confused as to why Rolo spared Kallen, but even that worked out better than either of them could've expected.
It hadn't taken long for Mao to track down Kallen afterwards: upon returning home, Sayoko had immediately taken the redhead to a nearby hospital. Curiously, Sayoko seemed to have a history with one of the doctors, and he saw to Kallen's treatment without asking any questions. At the moment, Kallen was expected to make a full recovery, given enough time. Apparently, Rolo had managed to avoid piercing anything vital.
Unfortunately, Kallen had seen Rolo's face, heard his voice, and witnessed his Geass (as much as one could, at least), so they couldn't just let her live. But Mao stumbled upon a way to take care of Kallen without getting either of their hands dirty. It was simple good fortunate that he'd bumped into Shirley Fenette, who already had a perfect motive for killing Kallen. All she needed was a mental nudge in the right direction, and within ten minutes, Shirley had gone from thinking that Kallen was merely dangerous to thinking that allowing Kallen to live was the worst thing that anyone could do. Ironically, all Mao really had to do was point out that Nunnally had only been in constant danger since Kallen had appeared in her life. Naturally, he left out that he was currently holding the girl hostage beneath the school.
Shirley didn't need to know that, and anyway, if the mental stress of killing Kallen didn't destroy her, then Mao would, once he'd drawn out Lelouch and gotten C.C. back.
"We need to go to your school," Euphemia said as she snapped her cell phone shut.
Suzaku gave her a confused look, but made no move to inform the driver of Euphemia's demand. "Why?"
"Nunnally isn't answering her phone, and I've called her five times."
Suzaku stared at her. "Is that all? She's probably in the middle of a nap, or a bath."
Euphemia shot him a dark look. "Suzaku," she said with as much patience as she could muster, "Nunnally ALWAYS answers the phone when I call her. At the very least, Sayoko or Kallen would answer and then take the phone to her. She'd never intentionally miss a call from me."
He almost said that maybe she was exaggerating just a wee bit, but when Euphemia called Nunnally for a sixth time with no answer, Suzaku started to get concerned himself.
"I'm going to call Lelouch," Suzaku finally announced, taking out his own phone. "He should know what's going on with Nunnally."
Lelouch had just stepped into his quarters at the Black Knights' base when his cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Sighing, he pulled it out and glared at the name on the screen before answering. "Suzaku."
"Euphie's worried about Nunnally. She isn't answering her cell phone. Is she with you?"
"No," Lelouch said slowly, frowning as C.C. entered the room behind him. "Kallen isn't picking up, either?"
"No, and neither is Sayoko. I was about to call Milly and ask her to look in-"
"NO!" Lelouch shouted, before remembering himself. "No. Don't ask anyone to do that, Suzaku. I'm on my way right now, and I don't want anyone to interfere."
"But this is Nunn-"
Lelouch snapped the phone shut and threw it across the room.
C.C. watched him warily. "Kallen wouldn't have been a match for Mao. He isn't the kind of opponent that can be outmaneuvered easily, so her Geass would be virtually useless against him. The good news is that he's only doing this to get your attention, so he won't hurt Nunnally, yet. He'll want to introduce himself to you before he goes that far."
"And you're certain you can get Nunnally out of this unharmed?"
"Lelouch, don't worry. I understand that Nunnally is important to you. I'll do everything in my power to help you get her back safely."
His eyes narrowed. "You didn't answer the question, C.C."
"You urged me to trust you. Perhaps you should do the same."
"I'm not willing to bargain with Nunnally's safety. If she is harmed, I will consider our contract null and void."
C.C. glared at him. "You would throw away your Geass, and everything you've worked for, just for-"
"I know you're lazy, but I thought you were at least paying attention!" Lelouch snapped. "Everything I do is for the realization of a world where Nunnally can live in peace. If I lose her, there's no point to any of this. And don't bother trying to scare me with threats. If you could take away my Geass, then you could've taken away Mao's, and we wouldn't even be in this situation. Either help me or stay out of my way, but don't think for a second that you and your desires are more important to me than Nunnally."
A long, tense silence stretched between them, and C.C. was the first to look away.
"I understand now," she murmured softly. "I will rescue Nunnally."
Lelouch was surprised to hear her give in so easily. "You're agreeing, just like that? I thought you'd have abandoned me, or at least forced me to compromise."
"Despite what you may believe, I am not a spoiled child, Lelouch. I am not going to walk away over one difference of opinion. Besides, I am constantly learning more, the longer I stay with you."
"And what have you learned just now?" he asked.
"I have learned that we are allies," C.C. replied, her expression betraying nothing, "but not friends."
Lelouch could not say why those words bothered him, but so long as C.C. was committed to saving Nunnally, he could live with them.
Cornelia had never admitted it to another living soul, but the ghosts of Lelouch and Nunnally had haunted her ever since their passing. In quiet moments, she recalled how easily Euphemia had bonded with them, and cursed herself for not taking more chances to do the same. She missed Lelouch's brilliant mind and Nunnally's overwhelming warmth, despite never really being comfortable with either back then. Lelouch had been too clever for her tastes, and Nunnally too adorable. Those were dangerous traits for potential competitors for the throne to have, and primarily the reason Cornelia kept her distance. Her admiration of Lady Marianne forced her to overlook their commoner origins, but she'd already doted on Euphemia, and that was the only weakness she would allow herself.
She hated to admit it, but a small part of her had been relieved when they turned up dead. It meant that Euphemia would never again plead with her to play with Nunnally, or to challenge Lelouch to a game of chess. And Cornelia could stop feeling like she owed them anything, once her investigation of their deaths turned up nothing significant.
She could move on. Or she could try to pretend she had.
But Cornelia never had to wonder why Euphemia refused any appointments that fell on their birthdays, or why Euphemia gave so much money to charities that focused on war orphans. She didn't have to ask about the special pink and black chess set in Euphemia's room that had never been used: Lelouch had given it to her, as a symbol of his commitment to teach her how to play.
Still, Cornelia had only been able to accomplish as much as she did in her life because of one, simple fact: there was nothing she could've done to save Lelouch or Nunnally. All she could do was live in such a way that their memories would be honored. She hadn't liked them much, but that didn't mean she hadn't loved them. As such, she reacted harshly towards the few people that had ever been foolish enough to disrepect either of Lady Marianne's children in front of her. It was too little too late, but somehow Cornelia never felt that way in the heat of the moment. She would die before she saw Lelouch or Nunnally dishonored.
Perhaps it was the earlier conversation with Suzaku that had left her so angry, but Cornelia was in no mood for surprises as she glanced through Ashford Academy's surveillance tapes for that day. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, but had made a habit of viewing the tapes, just in case Euphemia decided to pop in for another visit.
As usual, there wasn't much of interest. There was something odd, however.
A boy literally vanished from view outside one of the buildings, only to reappear several minutes later with a wheelchair-bound girl. There was no audio needed to see that the girl was clearly unhappy about the situation.
Cornelia might have ignored it even then, except that the camera angle provided an excellent view of the girl's face.
The school's records identified the two "students" as Rolo Haliburton and Nunnally Lamperouge. Nunnally's file was fairly normal, and so was Rolo's, up until she tried to pry deeper. Then her access was blocked, and there were very few organizations who could do so without Cornelia's knowledge. This particular block was of the same type that OSI typically used, which only made Cornelia angry. Had it been Schneizel, she would've had a chance of getting more information, but there was no reasoning with her father on such things.
However, Rolo was easily tracked by a few cameras that Cornelia herself had added in the last few days. He wasn't disappearing anymore, possibly because moving Nunnally at the same time made that more difficult or impossible. The final camera revealed that Rolo had taken Nunnally to a special elevator, one that he shouldn't have had access to, which Cornelia knew led to a tunnel beneath the school. From there, there were only so many places they could go.
"I know it hurts, Kallen. But if you don't act now, Nunnally will die."
Kallen grunted and opened her eyes, frowning. She remembered that she had been stabbed. Only it didn't feel like she had been anymore. She couldn't feel anything at all, really.
C.C. was standing in front of her, although that was a bad choice of words. There was no floor that Kallen could see, so C.C. was more floating than anything else. So was she, but that wasn't as important as the fact that they both appeared to have forgotten their clothes.
"Maybe you really are a whore..." was the first thing out of Kallen's mouth.
C.C. scowled at her. "Did you not hear me?"
Kallen blinked. "Nunnally... I think that guy that stabbed me took her! But I don't know where-!"
"Zero has placed a homing beacon in her wheelchair. The Guren can track it."
Kallen's face fell. "But the last thing I remember was Sayoko taking me to the hospital... I think. So how do I get to the Guren?"
"How, indeed," C.C. murmured, reaching out to caress Kallen's cheek. "The power I have given you is adequate, but you have yet to discover its full potential. Because you first activated it in the Guren, that is where you are at your most powerful. As such, if you call to the Guren, even in your current state, it will have no choice but to respond to your commands."
Tamaki was seconds away from shooting Kaguya, Ohgi, or both of them.
Someone had come up with the brilliant idea of giving Kaguya a tour of her latest investment (no doubt it was Zero, just to get her out of his hair). Someone ELSE had decided that Tamaki should be her tour guide (that had definitely been Ohgi).
The problem was, Tamaki didn't have all the information that Kaguya wanted, and what little he did know (for example, how much of the funds he had spent on lavish dinners over the past week), he wasn't about to share with an annoying brat like her. By about the third muttered answer, Kaguya had taken out a notepad, which she wrote down a comment on every time Tamaki failed to provide a satisfactory answer.
She'd filled up five pages inside three minutes.
And the whole time, she had that stupid, innocent expression on her face, as if she could do no wrong.
Tamaki ended the tour at the Knightmare storage bay, where he was hoping to quietly lose Kaguya among the patrolmen, track down Ohgi, and throttle him.
But in that moment, the Guren suddenly stood, rising to its full height.
Tamaki just gawked. "Kallen, what are you doing in there?! I thought you were supposed to be at school!"
The Guren turned towards him. "Tamaki," Kallen's voice said in a no-nonsense tone, "open the bay doors. Now."
Tamaki just stared, trying to decide if he should obey or not. It wasn't really against orders, but somehow letting their ace pilot take off with their best Knightmare on an unknown mission sounded a lot worse than blowing money on expensive food.
Suddenly, there was a loud beep behind him. Tamaki whirled around, only to find Kaguya standing suspiciously close to the controls for the bay doors... which were now slowly opening.
"What did you just do?!" Tamaki cried in outrage as the Guren ran through the doors.
"Me?" Kaguya asked innocently, even as she jotted down more on her notepad. "If I remember correctly, you were my appointed tour guide, which makes you responsible for what areas I have access to. This incident is YOUR fault, and I will be sure to notify Zero-sama immediately." With a smile, she turned and headed for Zero's quarters, a noticeable skip in her step.
"I think I understand why Kyoto was so eager to give her away," Tamaki grumbled.
"You don't need to worry, Sayoko. I'll stay with Kallen until you get back."
Sayoko said nothing as she took in the odd smile on Shirley's face. It seemed false somehow, or at least completely unlike the smiles that had been there before today. She knew perfectly well that Kallen and Shirley didn't get along, and that Shirley had stopped visiting with Nunnally some time ago as a direct result. But Sayoko also knew that Shirley had a gift for seeing the good in anyone and everyone, and that usually took some time. Perhaps Kallen being hurt had reminded Shirley how short and painful life could truly be.
Sayoko wanted to believe that, at least, but she didn't. Not completely, and certainly not to the point where she would risk leaving Kallen alone with Shirley. But she had to locate Nunnally, and that wouldn't be possible if she were with Kallen. All she could really do was ask the doctor to keep an eye on them. In the end, both Lelouch and Kallen would consider Nunnally's life far more important, so there was little choice in the matter.
Of course, it hadn't escaped Sayoko's notice that no one had been told of Kallen being stabbed. That Shirley had known of it, anyway, could mean nothing good.
And sure enough, the moment Sayoko had left, Shirley turned towards Kallen's unconscious body with an unreadable expression on her face, gripping the handbag that held her father's service pistol much tighter.
Rolo could already sense that his partnership with Mao, despite proving to be extremely effective, would soon be coming to an end. To put it simply, Mao was able to calculate everything, even when given the smallest amount of information possible. He would need to kill Mao before Mao killed him, for that was the only way that people such as themselves ended such deals.
Even though Mao could not read Rolo's mind effectively, he was still able to predict, with maddening accuracy, the way Rolo would react in most situations. This made it nearly impossible to surprise Mao with anything, and certainly he would be extra wary of any situation that might end in his own death.
While Rolo couldn't predict the way Mao could, he could stil guess at the way that Mao worked. An uninformed person might consider Mao a mad genius, but that was only true to a certain extent. Really, Mao was just amazingly resourceful. Having had his Geass for years, he could easily hone in on the most knowledgeable people within range, extract all the needed information, and move on to the next mind, all within mere seconds. This task was made even easier by the fact that they were beneath a school. Rolo guessed that it was as simple as focusing on a likely area, such as the library, or a teacher's lounge. Unfortunately, Rolo was not the only OSI agent on the grounds, and they certainly did not have Geass to shield themselves from Mao's mental probing.
But even this information left Rolo at a sizeable disadvantage. And now that Second Princess Cornelia was rapidly approaching their location, Mao had access to thousands of advanced military strategies, from full-scale war to solo, unarmed combat. True, Mao was not the most athletic person, but when he could see any attack coming minutes away, he didn't have to be. He'd had the makings of a perfect assassin long before he'd met Rolo.
It was no surprise that Mao assigned Rolo the task of "greeting" Cornelia. Mao himself was far too busy verbally torturing Nunnally with vivid descriptions of what he would do to her brother. Even with that, he was far more effective than Rolo had been, and truthfully, Rolo had found it increasingly difficult not to just kill Nunnally and get it over with. Something about her just rubbed him the wrong way, though he had no idea what it was. Besides, awaiting Cornelia gave Rolo more time to think of ways to end his partnership with Mao, without dying in the process.
Unfortunately, even when Cornelia did find her way to the door that Rolo was guarding, he was no closer to finding a winning strategy. But with any luck, Mao would be forced to focus on her, as she was obviously very, very angry at the moment.
"Welcome, Viceroy," Rolo said as she stomped towards him. "I am-"
"OSI, I know," she snapped, stopping and glaring down at him. "Now get out of my way."
"You misunderstand, Viceroy. I am not here to stop you. I am merely here to warn you."
"About what?"
"That you may not like what lies beyond this door," Rolo answered.
"I'm sure I can manage," Cornelia growled, pushing him aside and shoving the door open.
But just as Rolo had warned, she did not care for the sight that awaited her.
Nunnally was on the other side of the room, still in her wheelchair. Mao had tied her up, more for dramatic effect than anything else, and was currently taking great delight in poking her with all manner of objects he'd gathered. At the moment, it was just a broom, and he wasn't putting much effort into it, but Cornelia could already tell from the way that Nunnally was cowering that he had been before.
"You're not really the relative I was waiting for," Mao said without turning around, "but I suppose it's alright if you join us for a while. I imagine the Second Princess has plenty of ideas about how to torture someone for information, right? Not that I can't get it on my own, but I bet your way is a bit more physical and fun to watch!"
Frowning, Cornelia ventured closer, all but ignoring Mao as she stared at the restrained girl before her. The resemblance to her late sister, if she'd lived, was uncanny in her mind, but there was still a chance that this person was an imposter. Slowly, Cornelia reached out and brushed the back of her hand against Nunnally's cheek. Instantly, the girl shrank away from the touch, afraid of being jabbed again.
"Do you claim to be Nunnally vi Britannia?" Cornelia asked softly. "Is that what you would have me believe?"
The girl froze and looked towards Cornelia's voice. "B-Big sister Corny?" she whispered uncertainly.
Cornelia stepped back in surprise, unprepared for that old nickname, and for the memory that accompanied it.
"Big sister Euphie!"
Cornelia barely hid her distaste as Nunnally came hurtling across the grass towards them, flashing her signature blinding smile just before she collided with Euphemia, as was her way. For some reason, Euphemia only smiled and laughed as she lifted the smaller girl into her lap.
"Hello, Nunnally," Euphemia replied warmly, kissing the girl's cheeks and then her nose.
Nunnally giggled and flung her short arms around Euphemia's neck. "I made you a present!"
Euphemia gasped loudly in delight. "Really?!"
"Yup!" Nunnally thrust one of several flower wreaths hanging from her arm into Euphemia's face.
"Oh, it's lovely! Would you put it on for me, please?"
Grinning wider, Nunnally carefully slipped the wreath over Euphemia's head, being sure not to tangle it in her long, pink hair.
Cornelia rolled her eyes, about to turn away from the disgusting sight when...
"Big sister Corny! I made this one for you!"
Forcing herself to smile, Cornelia slowly accepted the flower wreath that Nunnally held out to her. "Thank you, Nunnally," she grumbled. She hated that nickname, less because Nunnally didn't know what it implied, and more because Lelouch did, and still encouraged Nunnally to use it.
"Try it on!" Nunnally said eagerly.
"Yes, I think you would look positively stunning in daisies, Cornelia," Euphemia agreed, smothering a giggle behind her hand.
"Cornelia?" Nunnally gasped, her voice hopeful but still wary. "Is that you?"
The Second Princess said nothing, not out of conscious choice, but because she had lost the ability to speak, if only momentarily. The reason for this was twofold: first, Cornelia was simply shocked that years after the girl's supposed death, she still recognized that voice as being uniquely Nunnally's. Aside from that, no one but Lelouch or Nunnally would dare to address her with that childish nickname.
But the second reason was that deep within Cornelia's subconscious, that recognition had triggered a preprogrammed set of orders: to terminate anyone claiming to be, or bearing a strong enough resemblance to, Nunnally vi Britannia.
And while Cornelia would retain no memory of this later, Nunnally would never quite forget the coldness in her older sister's next words.
"You are going to tell me why you are impersonating my late sister, and how you answer will depend on the nature in which I send you to join her."
End of Part 7.
Next Chapter: Birth of the Black Queen
Euphemia is faced with an impossible choice: siding with Cornelia and watching Nunnally die, or betraying her elder sister to save the younger one.
Endnotes:
I don't know how realistic it is to believe that Anya could ever beat Gino. But I thought it would make a neat back story, anyway.
Socrates and the twins are original characters, just so no one's confused.
Obviously, Nunnally could still see and walk in that little flashback of Cornelia's.
Maybe I'm overthinking the scope of what Mao's mind can do. Any thoughts?
To be clear, the Guren will probably be the only object that Kallen can control with her Geass remotely. Anything else, she would need to be able to touch directly first.
