Lelouch frowned heavily as his half-sister left the room. His violet eyes locked with Suzaku's emerald green. "I am not pleased with this development" he said sourly.
"I whole heartedly agree with you my majesty" Suzaku said blandly and looked back at the door.
"We can't let her run around with that power, but I would prefer not to half to kill another sibling. It's getting quite old" Lelouch drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair.
"Then let someone else do it" CC said in a bored voice and ran her thin fingers through his black silky hair.
Lelouch glanced at her and frowned again. "Like who? She had such potential to be a protector of Nunnally too…"
"What about the terrorist factions?" Suzaku added from the side. "We'll just send her somewhere and let the information leak. They either get to her or she will get to them. Either way it will benefit it us."
Lelouch glanced back at his Knight of Zero. "Fine. We'll let it play itself out for now. We also need to do something about V2…" Lelouch trailed off as stood up. He laced his fingers with CC pulling her behind him. "I'm going to go take a nap while I can still get some sleep."
X
Orpheus looked at Euphie as she came back out of the bedroom dressed. He glanced at her face that still had a bruise and the bandage on her forehead. What the hell was he thinking? He couldn't believe he was bringing her out in public like this. It was either an extremely horrible idea and will draw unwanted attention or it was a freaking wonderful idea and she'll lure V2 out. He groaned and scratched the back of his head. "I don't know if you should come with me…" he said awkwardly.
Euphie put her hands on her hips and gave him a little defiant glare. "Why is that?"
"Because you look like you had the shit beat out of you."
Euphie's lips formed into a little thoughtful pout. "But I kind of did."
Orpheus groaned and grabbed a light jacket stashing a dagger in it. "Never mind. Let's go."
X
They walked around most of the day with no headway. The next day was going roughly the same up until a blonde woman darted out of an alley and froze when she saw them. "Orpheus?" her mint green eyes went wide with surprise.
"Oldrin?" Orpheus frowned at the sight of his sister.
Oldrin glanced over her shoulder and then quickly grabbed his hand and took off running. Euphie was lost for a moment, but when she saw the Britannia military outfit, she took off running after them. Orpheus looked behind him frantically. When he saw her he reached out and grasped her hand. Oldrin pulled them down another alley and Orpheus pulled her to a stop. "What the hell?" he growled out.
Oldrin took deep breaths. "Marrybell snapped. I need to get out of here before she finds me." Oldrin's eyes darted frantically around them. Her eyes landed on Euphie and she frowned thoughtfully. Euphie averted her gaze and shifted awkwardly hoping the Glinda Knight wouldn't recognize her.
Orpheus let out a frustrated. "Ok. Come with me. Wolfey let's go." Orpheus gripped her hand and pulled her along again. Euphie followed obediently.
Somehow they managed to elude the pursuit and Orpheus gestured his sister into the apartment. After everyone caught their breath Orpheus glared at his female mirrored version. "Ok spill it."
Oldrin glared right back. "Marrybell obtained a Geass power and she's nuts. She thinks that the absolute control that the Emperor is forcing on the world is the correct answer. Her Geass power allows her to take control of a person and make them her puppet. I don't know if it has a limit like yours I didn't stick around long enough to find out. She used it on Lockhart and I had no choice but to eliminate him to escape." Oldrin finally stopped her ranting and took a breath as she flopped down on the couch. "Go ahead say it. Say you told me so. Britannia is the definition of an evil oppressive government blah blah blah."
Euphie glanced at Orpheus. "You have a Geass power? You never mentioned that."
Orpheus glanced at her before glancing away. "I didn't have a choice. The contract was forced on me when I was a child by V2."
"What is it?" Euphie asked as she tilted her head to the side. A piece of blue hair fell across her face.
Before Orpheus realized he was doing it, he reached over and pushed the hair out of her face. Euphie froze and looked at him in surprise. He quickly pulled his hand back and averted his gaze. "I'll tell you sometime…" he mumbled.
Oldrin watched the whole little scene play out with curiosity. Finding a pretty woman with Orpheus was different. Especially the way he looked at her with a slight blush on his sun kissed face. She studied the girl and her brows furrowed. "Do I know you?"
Euphie's eyes darted to her in panic. "W-what? No! Of course n-not" Euphie stammered out.
Orpheus watched as her pale cheeks dusted pink. He frowned didn't she say that she had a sister that knew Oldrin? Also, she had seemed awfully familiar with the Zevon familiar when they had met.
"Hmm… You look familiar though…" Oldrin shrugged. "I'm Oldrin Zevon. I'm Orpheus's twin sister if you haven't figured it out yet."
"I'm L-lina Wolfhart" Euphie stammered out again. She met Orpheus questioning gaze and looked away in response fidgeting nervously. "Umm…I'll give you two time to catch up." Euphie hurried to the bedroom. When the door was shut she leaned against it letting out the air in her lungs. Her hand pressed against her chest trying to get it to calm down.
Oldrin raised her blonde eyebrows at her brother in question. "What's all that about?" She gestured towards the bedroom door.
Orpheus looked away and shrugged. "I don't know. She's weird."
"Are you two…well you know, an item?" Oldrin watched the rising embarrassment on her brother's face.
"N-no! I just met her and she's...well she's… it's not like that" He finished awkwardly. His face felt like it was sitting in an oven.
Oldrin smiled wickedly at her brother. "You want her…" Oldrin purred out smoothly and waggled her eyebrows.
"Shut up! Or you can find a different place to hideout" Orpheus said sourly with an irritated huff. "It doesn't matter, she made it clear that she's already attached to some guy."
"But you're letting her shack up with you? Why?" Oldrin cleaned her nails.
"I don't know… She seems lost and needs someone to look out for her. I promised I would help her to get stronger, so she can defend herself." Orpheus sat down exhausted in the plush chair.
"She does look like she's been through some shit. That's a pretty shiner on her face."
"She also wants to stop the Emperor and agreed to help me with my goals."
"I never pictured you as the big softy type, but I suppose if it involves a pretty woman, even you aren't immune."
Orpheus refused to comment further and just brooded in his chair all moody like. "What are going to do?" he asked finally.
"Get the hell out of this country and probably join Peace Mark as you've suggested so many times."
Orpheus made a hmm noise. He stood up and knocked on the bedroom door. Euphie squeaked from under the blankets and hurried to the door. She glanced out. "I'm going to head back out and look for V2. With Britannian forces out looking for Oldrin, I want you to stay here."
Euphie opened the door and fully stepped out. "Won't it be dangerous for you to go out? You two look a lot alike" Euphie said with concern.
"I'll be fine. My Geass allows me to appear as other people, so I'll be in disguise."
"Oh" Euphie chewed on her lip and then looked back at him. "Be careful ok?"
"I always am." Orpheus chose to ignore the snort of disbelief from his sister. "I'll be back by dinner time."
Euphie watched him leave and then looked at the blonde woman that was studying her again with narrowed eyes. "W-well I'm going to-"
"Come chat with me for a while." Oldrin smiled sweetly at her as she cut her off. Euphie swallowed as she walked over to the chair and sat down awkwardly.
X
Oldrin left in the middle of the night and Euphie had to admit that she was relieved. The blonde woman had interrogated her all afternoon and Euphie was exhausted by the end of it after dodging around so many pointed questions. Orpheus frowned as the door closed. He wasn't entirely sure what his sister meant when she told him to be careful of Euphie. In his opinion the blue haired woman wouldn't be able to hurt a fly at this point. Yeah she was a little shifty and guarded, but it wasn't like he didn't have a past to hide as well.
The rest of the week led to dead end after dead end. Mostly because they weren't able to run around freely with Britannian dogs sniffing around. Orpheus could only use his Geass every so often and it had a time limit. He also noticed that Euphie was unusual anxious being out in the open and whenever she saw a Britannian soldier he swore he could feel tremors radiating off of her. He chalked it up to her recent brush in with the officers. It made him feel guilty dragging her around though, so he left her at the apartment more often than not.
In the evenings he taught her how to sharpen the blades of the daggers and basic self-defense techniques. Because her shoulder was still injured, they didn't actually put any of them to the real test and slowly just moved through the motions. Orpheus ignored any stirring feelings inside of him when he would put the restraining holds on her. Like when he grabbed slim wrists or wrapped his arms around the slim soft body.
Euphie tried to soak up as much information as she could about weapons and different defense stances. She was getting better at ignoring the awkwardness of the touching and instead focused on what he was saying and telling her to do. It was easy and they fell into a comfortable routine.
By the end of the second week Orpheus was beyond frustrated. The trail for V2 had gone cold and he had even risked sneaking into Pendragon. Not that it did him any good. He was grumpily eating dinner one night contemplating what they should do next. It wasn't like he really wanted to linger near the god forsaken capital.
Euphie stared at him thoughtfully. "I'm sorry."
Orpheus looked at her across the table. "Why? You didn't do anything."
Euphie frowned. "I know. That's why I'm saying sorry. I don't want to be a burden to you and I promised to help, but all I've done is get in the way."
"You're fine." Orpheus took another bite of food. "I'm going to go back into Pendragon one more time and if I don't find any new leads, we are leaving this place."
Euphie nodded her understanding. "Can I come with? I want to help" she asked hesitantly. She held the surprised green eyes as they studied her. Orpheus nodded and resumed eating.
X
Euphie was grateful that Orpheus had lent her some money to buy some decent clothing. Not that the other clothes weren't fine, but she didn't want to draw attention to herself walking through Pendragon. She glanced around nervously as she tried to appear calm. The world tinted slightly behind the sunglasses. What had she been thinking? She wasn't ready for this. Which instantly became clear as the Knight of Zero surrounded by other soldiers strode by.
Euphie's entire being froze as she watched the slim toned body dressed in black pass on the street. It was like the entire world slowed to a crawl as she absorbed the emerald eyes devoid of any emotions. The sun danced softly on the tan skin and his brown haired swayed with the slight breeze. A slow buzzing started in her brain as it became deprived of oxygen. She swayed slightly where she stood and when those emerald eyes flicked her way momentarily the world blurred.
Euphie snapped back to reality after a moment. She blinked a couple of times as she came to. She became aware of mint green eyes looking at her with concern. Her body was wrapped in muscular arms and pressed gently against a muscular chest. She took in a deep breath quickly and pushed away. "W-what…" Her eyes darted to where she had last seen Suzaku, but he was no longer anywhere to be seen.
"Wolfey are you ok? You practically just passed out" Orpheus asked in concern. His hands hovered around her, but he didn't touch. Her lavender eyes were flicking around in panic and he didn't want to startle her.
A choked sob escaped Euphie and she cradled herself with her arms. Suzaku had been right there! She could've gone to him. She could have touched him and held him. She could have talked to him. She could… She fell to her knees and rocked slowly. Why? Why didn't she go to him? He was a part of her soul and she had let him slip through her fingers…
Orpheus noticed the people staring at them. "Alright come on Wolfey, I'm taking you home."
Euphie let another choked sob out. Home. Home. She wanted to go home. Her home was in the palace surrounded by her family. Her home was wherever Suzaku was. Her home was lost to her because Lelouch had stolen it from her. She held herself tighter.
Orpheus slowly knelt down next to her. "Wolfey…hey look at me…" he said soothingly and gently grasped her chin making her look into his eyes. "It's ok…shhh… we have to leave now before we draw more attention to ourselves… please?"
Euphie blinked and stared into the handsome face and kind green eyes. She nodded meekly and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She allowed him to wrap an arm around her waist protectively and guide her through the crowds.
X
Suzaku frowned at the memory as he climbed the steps to the Emperor's throne room. He had no idea why he had felt drawn to look to his right as they walked through the street. He had no idea why his eyes had been drawn to the dark blue haired woman in the background. Her hair contrasted sharply with her porcelain skin and delicate face. Why did he feel like he should know that woman? He had been tempted to go and talk to her to ease his curiosity, but then she fainted and some blonde man had caught her. Suzaku had let the brief moment go, but it was still nagging at the back of his mind.
He mentally shrugged and pushed it completely out of his thoughts. Lelouch gave him a fond smile as he walked in. CC climbed off of Lelouch's lap and exited the room.
"How's everything with Marrybell?" Lelouch asked indifferently.
"She just left with her Glinda Knights about 20 minutes ago."
"Hmm… I guess we'll see what happens…" Lelouch pursed his lips thoughtfully.
"How's the hunt for V2?" Suzaku asked as dropped to sit on the steps next to Lelouch.
"Going nowhere… I would expect nothing less from my uncle… but he can't evade me forever."
X
Euphie sat down on the couch and stared at the white wall in front of her. Orpheus sat down in the arm chair and studied the vacant stare. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore. "Wolfey I think it's about time you explain what that was all about?" Lavender eyes darted to him before focusing back on the wall.
"Suzaku…" she mumbled quietly.
Orpheus frowned. What? He didn't understand. First, Suzaku what? Second, why the hell was she referring the Grim Reaper by first name? "Care to elaborate?"
"He's…I…My heart hurts…It is missing pieces that he took from me…" she mumbled again as tears started trailing down her pale cheeks.
"Oh" Orpheus answered dumbly. It took a moment for the words to sink in and then he was staring at her with wide eyes. She was in love with the Grim Reaper of Britannia. What the actual fuck!? How the hell does that even happen!?
