Code Geass: The Black Prince
Tenth chapter! Is that a cool achievement or what?
Chapter 10: wavering ideals
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"He was a pious soul, a man who always looked to God. He was a loving husband, and a caring father. May he rest in God's bosom for all eternity."
As the dirt was shoveled into the grave, Shirley's mother broke down, and Shirley bent down to her to comfort her.
Lelouch looked down, his face obscured to those around him. Is this what he had done? Is this what the path of blood has brought him? Shirley's father is dead, and it is his fault, and no one else's. and here he is at Joseph Fennette's funeral, acting like the rest of them, mourning for a solemn loss. But Lelouch was far from an innocent person. He was murderer, attending his victim's funeral. He had no right to be here, none at all. Did he even have a right to live anymore? Sure, it was a mistake, but what does it matter when you have taken thousands of innocent lives? All for your own gain.
"He is a coward." Suzaku said bitterly, fists clenched.
Yes, I am.
"He takes the lives of innocent people, claiming it is justice."
I do.
"He tips the world into chaos and then sits back and congratulates himself."
I have.
But despite all of that, there was a reason people have died, right? If one dies so that thousands may live in peace, is that acceptable?
"Zero is despicable."
Yes, I am. But what of it?
After the group began to leave, Lelouch remained where he was, silent and unmoved.
"Lelouch." He looked up to see Shirley standing there next to him.
"Thanks." She said to him. "Thanks for standing up to Zero all this time."
Lelouch was speechless, to her, he was a hero in a way, but he killed her father.
"I guess now I know what it's like to lose a parent, like you did huh."
Lelouch stared at her, mouth agape.
"Look, I'm sorry about last night, I didn't mean it, I was just scared. I'm sorry I put on the the spot, kissing you like that."
"No." Lelouch finally said. "I'm sorry I didn't do anything to stop it. I, I should have stopped it. It's my fault. It's my fault Shirley."
She gave him a bitter sweet smile. "Of course not, it's not your fault at all. It's okay, I understand. Thank you for everything that you've done. I hope you can finally beat Zero, for all of us."
Shirley walked away, leaving Lelouch completely alone in the cemetery.
"I'm sorry Shirley, but I'm afraid, Zero cannot lose. For the sake of a better world, he cannot lose."
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"Your friend's father, that was your fault wasn't it?" C.C. Said
"Shut up." Lelouch snapped.
C.C. Rolled her eyes, clutching her cheese-kun on Lelouch's bed.
"What happened to the path of blood? You have killed your fair share of people, they all had friends, family, lovers. What makes this one any different?"
"Shut up." Lelouch repeated, not turning toward the witch.
"Perhaps you're not as prepared as you thought." C.C. Mocked.
"I am prepared!" Lelouch out, suddenly turning toward C.C. "I've been prepared since the moment I killed Clovis!"
"Is that so?"
Lelouch tackled her to the bed, pinning her to it, an angry and bitter look in his eyes.
"I am prepared to do anything i have to, no matter the cost I have to carry on!"
"And what if someone you love were to die? One of your friends, Suzaku, Anya, Nunnally?"
Lelouch began to shake, gritting his teeth against screaming. He got up forcefully, and left the room, heading to a shower to cool off.
He could hardly feel the scalding water as he sat there, overwhelmed in thought. He hit the wall, again and again.
Clovis, Suzaku, Euphie, Shirely, Cornellia. Every one of them has in their own way, condemned his actions. Was there no one truly on his side? Not Lelouch's, not Zero's, but his. Was he alone on this path of destruction? Alone to face the giant that was Britannia, and the evils of the world? He had but one single mission, to forge a new and peaceful world. And not one person was there to help him.
"Lelouch?"
He stopped beating the wall and turned off the water.
"Yes?" He asked.
Anya opened the door a little, peaking in to hear better.
"Oghi called, he says they've obtained information regarding one of your plans. They wanted you to come."
"Right." Lelouch said. "I'll be there in a moment."
"Sure." Anya began to close the door, but then came back in. "Lelouch?"
"Yes?"
"Are we," she paused, thinking it over. "Are we doing the right thing?"
Lelouch blinked. "I, I don't know." He said. "But regardless, for the sakes of those who have died, we must carry on. I don't know what's good or bad, all I know is I will create a better world for Nunnally, no matter what I need do. I will be the demon of the world if I have to."
Anya nodded, as of agreeing.
"And what about you?" He asked. "What do you think?"
"I am your knight." Anya told him. "No matter what you do, I will follow you. I guess doing the right thing doesn't actually matter does it? The results justify the means. I'd say so. So I will follow you Lelouch. That's what I think."
Lelouch smiled. He was wrong, he did have someone. His loyal knight to be his ever constant ally no matter what would come.
"Thank you, Anya."
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"So Lelouch is going to attack the JLF, and Todoh won't be there to protect them from escaping the harbor?" Zero asked.
"Yeah, and they won't be able to survive if they don't get help. This could earn us favor with the JLF." Oghi told him.
"And a chance to capture Lelouch." Diethard said.
"And you brought us this information?" Zero asked him.
"I did, I assumed you would want to know." He answered.
"Indeed." Zero said.
Remarkable. Lelouch had no intention of letting the Black Knights know of this, but this Diethard discovered it on his own. He may prove to be an even bigger asset to most members of the Black Knights themselves.
"Right then, we will protect The JLF, and in the process, capture Lelouch." Zero declared.
He would have to find some way to benefit from this.
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Viletta Nu walked though the hall way of the government building, a very heavy and disturbing topic weighing on her mind. She decided to speak to the one person she trusted the most, to get his opinion on the problem
She opened the door to the office of Jeremiah, and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
"Yes Viletta?" Jeremiah asked.
"Jeremiah, I have something important to tell you, I wasn't sure who else to take this to."
"And what is that?" He asked again.
She sat down in front of him. "I have reason to believe Lelouch may be involved with Zero somehow."
Jeremiah raised an eyebrow. "And what do you mean by that?"
"Well, when I lost my memories back in Shinjuku, I thought I remember seeing a boy there. From what I recall, he looked a lot like Lelouch, and was wearing an Ashford uniform. I checked with the school and a few of his friends, they said he wasn't at school. And Anya mentioned Lelouch ditched her after a truck crashed near them. That part took a little effort to get."
Jeremiah frowned. He had no reason nor desire to suspect his lord of anything of the sort, but that did bring up a strange thought.
"Listen Viletta, I like you, so I'll tell you this: whether you're right or wrong, if the wrong kind of people hear you, you'll end up dead. I advise you drop this, before you get too deep in." Jeremiah told her.
Viletta sighed. "I guess you're right. Thanks Jeremiah."
Once she left, Jeremiah began to think. Lelouch was missing that day in Shinjuku, and if he did see that truck, and somehow boarded it...the royal guard was sent to retrieve the gas, and they were found dead where Viletta, and presumably Lelouch were. But there was no way. It wasn't possible, was it?
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"Commence the operation!" Lelouch ordered as marine knightmares dived into the ocean and headed toward the tanker.
It was late at night, and Lelouch and Anya stood at the harbor, watching as what would soon become a chaotic battle began to unfold.
"When will the Black Knights come in?" Anya whispered to him, so no one else could hear.
"I'm not entirely sure, but after the tanker is gone."
"Lelouch!"
He turned to see Matthew approaching him.
"Hey, haven't got to talk to you much. They didn't deploy me, so I decided to come and find you."
Lelouch nodded. He chose not to deploy all his troops, it would be unnecessary. The only reason he was here was to cripple the JLF, then offer them support.
"I myself may join soon, you can accompany me." Lelouch told him.
He checked his watch, in two minutes C.C. Acting as Zero, would order the Black Knigts to attack, which meant the tanker would need to go soon.
He reached into his jacket and pressed the trigger concealed inside. In the distance, a blinding light erupted, and a massive shockwave soon followed. The sheer force from the explosion sent everything into disarray
"What the hell?!" Lelouch faked surprise.
A few moments later a messenger came up to Lelouch.
"My lord, the Black Knights have been spotted!"
Lelouch gritted his teeth. He leaned to Anya. "I'm switching sides. Take command of my Aylesham."
"Sure."
Lelouch turned to leave, entering through a back door and out to a truck containing both a Gillingham knightmare and his Zero costume. Once he was changed and in the frame, he contacted C.C.
"What's going on now?" He asked.
"The Black Knights have begun to assault your position, none of them suspect foul play at all. They are coming to capture you now."
"Right. I have Anya posing as me. Matthew will be able to fend off the weaker Black knights fairly easily, now I just need to create a match between me and Zero."
He activated the Gillingham, and set out to join the battle.
He found Anya rather easily, joining the rest of the Black Knights without any suspicion as to his previous whereabouts.
singling out the Aylesham that Anya was piloting, he made a beeline to confront it.
"Zero!" Kallen called to him over the radio. "Do you want any help?" She asked.
"That won't be necessary, just keep any one else away."
The fight itself was completely theatrical. Neither combatant was truly trying to win, and yet to anyone else it looked real and dangerous. It actually resembled a practice fight Lelouch and Anya would often have to practice. After a few minutes of close combat, Lelouch backed off, pointing a gun at the Aylesham, ready to strike. But he hesitated as he saw someone staining behind the fighting, hiding behind a building.
"Shirley?" Lelouch thought, confused at her presence.
The hesitation was all Suzaku needed to strike against the distracted foe. He came down from above, tearing an arm of the weak Gillingham frame.
"Suzaku?! Who deployed you?!" He screamed to himself on frustration.
He couldn't take on the Lancelot with just an Alpha model, it wasn't fast enough. He was forced to leave the beta behind in order to switch out mid-battle.
Before he could react, the Lancelot struck again, propelling Lelouch across the docks. His frame bounced against the ground, ripping apart as it did, activating the forced eject. The pod rocketed away from the battle, leaving everyone else in shock by the sudden turn of events.
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It was him. This was the man who had killed her father.
Shirley had come here because that woman told her Lelouch might have been in danger, that he was in trouble. In reality, she had lied to Shirley, to avoid causing any problems, but Shirley came here out of fear Lelouch actually was in danger. And Viletta hid close behind.
But all that was forgotten. The pod had crashed close to where Shirley was hiding, and when she came to check on it, she was shocked to see the one inside was Zero.
She backed away, fearful of the infamous terrorist despite his unconscious state. She hit something with her foot, and turned to see a gun. Without thinking, she picked it up and pointed it at the pod.
Torn between a weak feeling of revenge, and fear of what might happen of she did, her shaking hands started to squeeze the trigger.
Until the mask came off.
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Attention! I'm sorry that I haven't updated anything in a while, I've been running into various problems lately, it's been rough. Im going on vacation this next week, and won't be updating for that time, but after that, it's summer! I'm going to be writing a lot and maybe ill finish some stories, sound good?
Thanks for reading, please review!