Ch 10-To the fly.
Lelouch.
It had taken all of his willpower not to yell at Suzaku over the phone after he had contacted him and told him of his bonehead idea of bringing in the current Viceroy and head of the military into their fold.
Said idea wasn't awful in itself, but when a Japanese boy says that it would be a good idea to have a man that leads a specifically anti-Japanese organization join them, and only after one conversation which was in itself done while said man had consumed considerable amounts of alcohol, well….
"They find me, they always find me….."Lelouch muttered under his breath lamenting that his dear friend, like many other great individuals that where great, were also dangerously close to being complete and utter maddening morons and always from the same act, which could lead to both results.
"Jeremiah Gottwald, I remember few things from the past that are pleasant memories, but I do recall how my mother's guard was the epitome of chivalry and dedication to her, I also recall how you where all absent that day, tell me who was it that give you the command." Lelouch said as his right and left hand gently touched his sword and pistol hidden by his cape, ready to strike if need be, or if he just didn't like the answer.
"Yes my lord, it was….it was the Lady Marianne who gave the order for us to leave the palace the night before it all happened." Jeremiah said as remorse filled his voice.
Lelouch's eyes went wide in surprise.
"Do you have any evidence of that?" Lelouch said as he gripped the gun, anger pouring into him at the gall of this man, to say to Suzaku that he was dedicated to his mother, yet to so blatantly shift the blame for the lack of guards on her that night, squarely on her shoulders.
"I do my lord, back then our squad had recorders installed in our breast pockets for enhanced security, if I may." Jeremiah said and Lelouch gave a nod.
"Your highness we beg of you! At least allow one squad here to guard your royal person!"
Lelouch heard the youthful, but recognizable voice of Jeremiah from the small recorder; the Margrave had pulled from his pocket.
"Didn't Nelly give you my orders?"
The exiled prince's heart stopped for a moment at that, his breath left his lungs, his knees became weaker, it had been more than ten years since he had heard her voice, ten years of nothing but memories and shadows to fill the void, and there it was, a lost part of his mother, returned from the void of time.
"She did your highness, but we beg of you to allow us to remain by your side!"
"Now, now Lieutenant I can take care of myself, I am quite capable of that. Or are you refusing an order from your Empress?"
"N-No your highness! I would never!"
"Calm down, calm down, I was just teasing you, but really I'll be fine, just do what you where told! Honestly , that V.V better have good reason to…." The second half of his mother sentence had been spoken at a much lower and more bitter and annoyed volume, she must have half mumbled, half ranted to herself.
The tape stopped there and then.
Lelouch looked at it in disbelief, Suzaku was shocked, Jeremiah simply stared it in bitter regret.
"That last part has haunted me most of all. That name, V.V, whoever he was, he was the person that Lady Marianne met with that night, the last one to see her alive…"
"The one who killed her." Lelouch finished for him as he felt anger gripping his soul once more.
"Yes my lord. I immediately started searching for any clues to that name, but everywhere I went there was a dead end. It was like chasing a ghost, the Princess Cornelia did so as well, but she fared little better, after that I put my investigation on hold after I the war for Sakuradite started, but when I heard that you and Princess Nunnally had both perished…..it was clear to me that who was behind all of this, directly or indirectly….." Jeremiah's eyes started to tear up, his voice fell, he simply could not bring himself to voice the conclusion he arrived at.
"The Emperor. He's the only one who could cover this up to such an extent. The only one who could have this carried out in Arries Villa, the very beating heart of Pendragon, the centre of Imperial power. The place that took everything from me, who declared me dead and gone…But now I am back."
Lelouch's angry voice had taken the taint of demonhood, unsettling even Suzaku, but when he said the last part Jeremiah's eyes stopped their tears, his head rose from the ground, his gaze looked the young man before him.
"You…Suzaku, Suzaku Kururugi…..as in Genbu Kururugi?" Jeremiah turned to him and the Japanese gave a nod of the head.
"Your return, the rise of the new power broker, the change of the terrorist form, the chaos. It was all you! You have come back, to avenge the lady and take the throne!" Jeremiah said in elation, never in his wildest dreams had he witnessed such a scene.
"Revenge for mother? Yes! Take the throne? No!"
Gottwald's eyes widened in shock, Lelouch was pleased at the horror that he inspired in this Brittannian nobleman's eyes.
"I come here not to rule, but to shatter. Not to conquer, but to destroy! Everything, anything, all will burn! The corrupt society, the rotten government, the insanity that has gripped, I will destroy the Empire that took my mother and sister from me, I will break it down, I will burnt them all!"
Lelouch said as he slowly made his way towards Jeremiah until he was finally face to face with the kneeling man.
"Burn it all? Your highness I would have followed your mother into hell itself, I would have followed your, her son into it as well, but now that you come to tell my of your plans." Jeremiah quickly stood up from where he kneeled, Suzaku gripped his own pistol, Lelouch made for his sword, but the attack never came.
Instead Jeremiah stood erect, had over his heart, shoulder straight, chin up.
"I would support you even if your weren't the son of our great Lady Marianne! I humbly request to join your crusade against the Empire and to finally bring justice to the land."
"W-what?" Lelouch said in disbelief at the Brittannian, the Brittannian nobleman who just pledged himself to help destroy the Empire.
"Your mother was the best of us all. If even she could fall to wickedness then what hope does the rest of us have, I want to avenge him my lord. I want to make it so that the worthy are no longer cut down, that the chivalrous are not fell by the craven and that virtue is not usurped by sin! If you would have me, it would be my duty, an honor and a privilege to serve!"
Lelouch could only stare in astonishment at the man before him. Everything seemed so simple before, Brittannia was the enemy, Japan was where he would gather his army.
But just like what he told Kallen only a few short hours ago that felt like days if not weeks past, nothing was ever so simple in war or in life.
"If you wish to commit high treason against everything and anything that the Empire stands for, then I say to you welcome Jeremiah Gottwald."
"I thank you my lord…No! I thank you my liege!" Jeremiah said and kneeled down.
"A pact!" Suzaku bellowed out all of a sudden.
"We are ain't a holy place, we must make a pact so that the heavens will bless our cause! I pledge to fight so that no longer will the innocent suffer, so that no longer cruelty, blood, tears and pain will be the way of the world!" Suzaku said and thrust forward his palm.
"I pledge that no longer will the weak be prey for the strong, that cruelty and hatred will no longer reign. But kindness and compassion shall be our kind and queen!" Lelouch said and placed his palm over Suzaku's.
Not missing a beat Jeremiah quickly placed his own over theirs.
"I pledged that no more will the worthy die and the godless reign. That no more will villain reign instead of heroes, that our great country will be the home of the greatest men and women in the world! That the worthy, that the best and brightest will live, prosper and rule us all!"
"A new world where all can live in happiness!" Lelouch said.
"With liberty!" Suzaku added.
"And justice for all." Jeremiah ended their oath.
As all of a sudden the ground before them became ablaze with light, it shock, making them loose their balance as the hard floor of the Kururugi shrine revealed itself to the an elevator that started to slowly descend.
"Lelouch, the sword!" Suzaku said and gestured to the sword and the disk that where now pulsating with glowing energy, the same one as the descending elevator.
It continued its way down into darkness, down into the abyss.
Then it stopped.
It stopped and the trio found itself engulfed by darkness, the fading light of the elevator being their only means to see around them.
"What is happening my liege?" Jeremiah said to Lelouch as the former prince drew the broken blade from its holster.
"Sam thing as you witnessed before Jeremiah. Same thing as I said to you only a few moments ago." Lelouch said as he held up the sword, which was more than a sword, closed his eyes an concentrated.
"What was once though dead and forgotten, now has returned!"
Lelouch said as he let his mind go blank, let his instinct take over and a wave of energy pulsated away from the sword.
All around them the dark cavern was lit by light that streamed from what could only be described as small suns, levitating all around the vast underground cave.
Which wasn't a cave at all, for as the light vanquished the darkness shapes and sizes, both familiar and foreign where witnessed by the 3 men.
"W-what? This is…..this is….."
"An ancient bunker Jeremiah, created by a long lost civilization, now found once more!" Lelouch said as they gazed at the rows and rows of age old armor, beasts of war, ancient magical constructions that sprang to life after their long slumber.
"But why now? Why did it awaken, why us? Why ?"
"The shrine." Lelouch answered Suzaku's enquiry . "Shrines, temples, churches, all are built on holy sites! And what could be more holy that this!" Lelouch said and gestured to what seemed to be endless rows of weapons, armors, vehicles, that all sprang to life.
"Our ancestors must have considered this place holy, since it was locked up by whoever built this, when we were up we must have triggered the unlocking mechanism !" Jeremiah said starring at a suite of armor that seemed to the bare eye to be nothing different from its brethren found in museums all around the world, but as he got closer he could feel, he could feel something beyond sound, touch, smell, eyesight or even taste wash over him. A sort of sixed sensation that showed him this ancient armor was powerful, he almost felt like when he stood before the first battle worthy Glasgow that was finally good enough to be placed into combat, the sensation of a new power that would shake the world's foundation.
"At it is all ours!" Lelouch said and laughed with glee as he held up the broken sword in triumph, as a cell phone started to ring throughout the ancient base.
One that belonged to Suzaku.
The Japanese boy took his phone out of his pocked, much to the surprise of both Lelouch and Jeremiah, it really was a very odd time for someone to call another.
"Yes.." Suzaku said and a moment latter his eyes widened in shock as he slowly removed the phone from his ear and gave it to Lelouch.
"It's for you." Suzaku said fearfully.
Lelouch took it hesitantly, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, massaged his forehead in preparation for who could be on the other end. There was but a handful who could be calling him by means of Suzaku, and Lelouch was seldom wrong.
"Hello Mr Kirihara." Lelouch said jovially.
"I'm afraid that's a point against you little brother." The voice of Schneizell was heard from the other line.
Which just goes to show you that even a prince made mistakes from time to time.
"You can't even pay for entertainment like this." Mao said from his viewpoint as he munched on a pizza.