Code Geass – Euphemia of the Revelation
Of terrorists and classmates
Disclaimer – Code Geass is the property of Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment and Ichiro Okouchi, so I don't own anything afflicted with Code Geass.
Warnings – Strong language, strong violence, Euphemia OOC (obviously), yuri, possible lemons in later chapters (unsure)
It was dusk when Euphemia arrived at her home within Ashford Academy after making sure that Kallen was not following her as she had made a blunder earlier that day with her Geass and now Kallen no doubt felt threatened that her identity as a terrorist would be exposed. Cursing herself, she decided to have a little chat with C.C. about it to see if she knew of a possible explanation as to why her Geass failed when she tried to use it on Kallen a second time and while on the subject of C.C., Euphemia knew that she had still yet to interrogate her about the Ragnarok Connection, her association with Lady Marianne and other things. However, so far, she just could not find the time to spare to do that at the moment. She had promised Nunnally that she would have dinner with her tonight and she would not break a promise to her little half-sister no matter how much she wanted to know what C.C. knew. She decided to just ask her about her Geass for the moment.
Luckily for her, C.C. was waiting for her down in the main lobby of the building, much to Euphemia's displeasure.
"I thought I told you to stay in my room," she growled frustratingly, "You know if someone sees you in that restraining outfit, I could get into a lot of trouble; Nunnally and me both."
That much was true. If someone saw C.C. and reported her in, then the police or military could come to recapture her and in the process may see Euphemia or Nunnally and recognise and inform people that Euphemia did not want to know and then news could travel back to the Emperor who would undoubtably force them both to come back to Pendragon so he could use them as political tools once again to further his own ambitions and with the added threat that her role in Rochelle's death may be discovered, she could very well be executed for treason and she could not and would not have that under any circumstances.
"We need to talk Euphemia," C.C. replied, completely ignoring Euphemia's statement, much to her annoyance.
"You're darn right we do," Euphemia replied as she swallowed her frustration over the immortal's ignorance, "I'm curious about my Geass."
"Oh, and why is that?" C.C. asked, raising a curious eyebrow.
"Is there any possible way for someone to lose the power of Geass?" Euphemia asked with a demanding look on her face; making it clear that she would not let C.C. go without an answer.
"Besides dying?" C.C. said with a shrug, not that all affected by Euphemia's look, "There is one way that you could possibly lose your Geass, but it's way too early for that and besides, you'd need me for that to happen. I can assure you that you haven't lost your Geass. Why do you ask?"
"You know the pilot of that red Glasgow?" Euphemia replied as she folded her arms, "Well, it turns out that she's here as a student… probably as a cover and I interrogated her. However, when I tried to use my Geass on her a second time when I realised that I'd forgotten to mention a few things, it didn't work; so now, Kallen's out for my blood."
"Uh huh," C.C. said with a nod, not looking all that surprised, "Well I can honestly say that it must be a limitation of your Geass. All Geasses have their drawbacks and limitations. If anything, I'd say that you can only use it once on any given person. Once that person is released from your Geass, you can't use it on that same person again."
Euphemia nodded with a satisfied expression on her. That seemed logical. She could only use it on a person once before that person became immune to her Geass's effects. If that was the case, then she knew that she had to think really hard before giving commands as she'd be unable to rectify any misinterpretations or add things on that could possibly come into her mind later after the person she was commanding was released. It was a major drawback if she got it wrong and she knew that she had to be careful on how she phrased her commands and make sure she approached situations from all possible angles before issuing commands so as not to make realisations later as she'd be unable to do anything about them.
Now all she had to do was find a way to get Kallen off her back and maybe, she figured, she could turn this to her advantage and use this situation to get the much needed help she knew she would need to topple Britannia.
"Euphemia, if you're finished asking questions, there's something we need to talk about," C.C. said with a serious look on her face.
"It can wait till later," Euphemia said, waving her off as she started to walk by her, "I promised Nunnally that I'd have dinner with her tonight… and consider yourself lucky that I'm in no mood for interrogating you for the time being because I still intend to get that information out of you."
C.C. winced as she was visibly disturbed at that comment. However, she just shrugged it off for now, deciding that her problem would have to wait for now as she knew that Euphemia would not want to delay Nunnally any longer than she had to. However, she knew that if she wanted Euphemia's help, she would undoubtably have to divulge what Euphemia wanted to now as payment and that disturbed her greatly. Euphemia was too curious and suspicious and C.C. knew that Euphemia was after information that she was not ready to know just yet. It definitely was a problem. Euphemia's unpredictability was looking to be more and more of a danger. However, C.C. was determined that she would find a way out of this; not tell Euphemia everything, but just give her enough to satisfy her.
Nunnally Lamperouge sat on her wheelchair in her bedroom at a wooden circular table. Sitting opposite her was Sayoko Shinozaki, the Lamperouge's personal maid that the Ashford Family had given to them, though before being transferred to work for the Lamperouge siblings, she had been Milly's personal maid. Sayoko sat on a comfy soft chair draped in a white cover as she was busy teaching Nunnally about origami.
"Well, what shall we do?" Sayoko asked as she paused from her activities, "She may be late again this evening."
"I'll wait," Nunnally said in a somewhat disappointed tone; disappointed that her half-sister was late again, "She said, we'd have dinner together tonight."
Sayoko then went back to what she was doing and finished rather quickly, having folded a pink piece of paper into the shape of a long-necked bird.
"There now, this one's finished," she said, holding it out to Nunnally by the wings with both her hands.
Nunnally rather slowly reached out her hands and felt around for it as her eyes were closed and she could not see. After Sayoko placed it in her hand, Nunnally used her other hand to feel over the top.
"Uh, a bird?" she asked curiously.
"Yes, it's a crane," Sayoko replied happily.
"Amazing," Nunnally replied, feeling rather intrigued, "The Japanese are so skilful."
Sayoko just let out a short, yet cheerful laugh. She rather liked the Lamperouge siblings and like the Ashford family, knew of their true identities and yet did not turn them over to the Imperial Family. Unlike many Britannians who saw her and her people as "Elevens", both Euphemia and Nunnally acknowledged them all as Japanese; probably due to spending time in Japan before the war, but Sayoko knew that they'd both have used the term, Japanese instead of "Elevens" regardless. Both Nunnally and Euphemia were extremely kind to her and treated her like a person and not a slave; not that Milly treated her that way when she was still in her service. In fact none of the Ashford Family treated their staff, which were mainly made up of Japanese as mere slaves. However, Euphemia and Nunnally took it further than most and regarded Sayoko as part of their family and that touched her greatly.
Nunnally suddenly turned her head towards the door to the room, causing Sayoko to look on questioningly.
"Lady Nunnally?" she said, wondering what was wrong before looking towards the door herself.
The door suddenly slid open and Euphemia came walking in with a rather apologetic look on her face.
"I'm sorry I'm so late," she apologised to both Nunnally and Sayoko.
"Hi Euphie," Nunnally said as her face burst into a rather excited smile, "Welcome home."
"Yes, welcome home my Lady," Sayoko commented as the door closed behind Euphemia.
"No place like it Sayoko, right Nunnally?" Euphemia replied with a kind and caring smile adorning her face before turning to face Sayoko, "I've already told you that I'd prefer it if you'd just call me Euphemia or Euphie. I don't like formal titles."
"My apologies," Sayoko said with a bow, "By the way, earlier one today, I thought I heard someone shouting in your room."
Euphemia groaned in surprise as she tensed up, realising that C.C.'s presence in her room may not be as much of a secret as she would like.
"However, I was listening to the radio, so it may just have been my imagination," Sayoko went on, having not noticed Euphemia's reaction, which caused Euphemia to relax, "Or it could have been something in the background."
"Thanks Sayoko, but there's no need to worry," Euphemia said after regaining her composure, "I'm sure it was nothing."
However, secretly, she was thinking about having a word with C.C. about keeping the noise down in her room.
Meanwhile, Bartley Asprius was standing with his back to the exit of a hidden lab standing before a group of scientists who were all gathered round a rectangular table. On the wall opposite the door was a line of restraining suits identical to the one C.C. wore. To the wall on the right was a table that ran the length of the wall with a row of laptops sitting on the top and to the left on a lowered floor were a row of capsules identical to the one C.C. had been imprisoned in connected at the top by a thick pipe that ran across the room. On the table were several photographs of C.C.; most of which were documenting the experiments carried out on her and one showing her fleeing from the military before her capture. Two of the five scientists sat at the table with laptops, the man and one nearest Bartley on the right and the woman to the left near the far wall with two at the left near Bartley; one standing up from his seat and a woman to the right near the far wall standing where the photographs were. The one to the left nearest Bartley also seemed to be looking over documents.
"As you know full well," Bartley was saying, "The project was a complete failure. Therefore, this research division is being gutted."
"Huh?" one of the male scientists said in dissatisfaction.
"Wha…?" another stated.
"Yes, but…" another protested.
"I've set up a place in Narita for you," Bartley replied, quelling their unhappiness and dissatisfaction, "Move everything out there."
He then paused and sighed before continuing.
"While we may have no memory of it, the fact is, the other staff officers and I left Prince Clovis and Lady Rochelle on their own," he said in a tone filled with depression and regret, "I'm going to be called out of a carpet for this back at home. When that happens… if His Majesty learns these experiments… gone on without his knowledge, I…"
"Understood sir," one of the scientists said in understanding, "We'll start prepping immediately."
Bartley sighed in relief. With the loss of C.C. and death of Rochelle, the project had been labelled a failure. He knew that Prince Clovis would no doubt pull his funding from the Code-R Research Division once he recovered from his injuries as he had been pretty much in the dark about the whole thing and learning the truth had terrified him. Luckily for him, he had thought ahead. He had money stashed away in a secret account that would ensure his research division's survival for at least three years. However, Bartley knew that unless he moved all the division's resources and equipment elsewhere, the money in that secret account would go to waste as Prince Clovis would undoubtably see to it that the entire division was shut down; even if he was no longer acting Viceroy. Bartley needed to make it look as if he had abandoned everything while continuing his research in secret… especially if the rumours he heard about the Emperor deciding to replace Prince Clovis with Princess Cornelia were true as Princess Cornelia had a fierce hatred for those who used human guinea pigs as part of science experiments following the crippling of her younger half-sister, Nunnally vi Britannia, who was now dead.
Meanwhile, back at the Lamperouge home in Ashford Academy, Euphemia was currently cutting up a stake into small long edible pieces while listening to Nunnally talking about her time with Sayoko before she had shown up. Both sat at a long rectangular table with rounded ends with Nunnally sitting at the end closest to the window and Euphemia sitting to her right and four chairs sat vacant; one beside Euphemia to her right, one on the opposite end from where Nunnally was sitting and the last two on the opposite side from where Euphemia was sitting.
"Miss Sayoko was just teaching me about the art of origami," Nunnally stated rather hurriedly, "Fold a piece of paper the correct way and you can make birds, boats, almost anything."
She then took a spoonful of her bowl of soup to her mouth and drank it up, though a small stream of soup trickled out the left side of her mouth and ran down the side of her chin.
"Uh," she said, noting how hot the soup was, though it was not scalding hot; just enough to startle her.
"Easy there, you don't have to tell me everything at once you know," Euphemia said in a comforting tone as she reached for a napkin and brought it up to the trickle of soup before gently wiping it away, "It's not like I'm going anywhere."
"Yeah, you're right," Nunnally replied with a beautifully soothing smile, "Thank you Euphie. Thank you for taking care of me for these past seven years. I really do still miss Lelouch though."
"You're very welcome," Euphemia replied in a comforting tone, feeling rather content despite what had happened to her recently, "And I miss Lelouch as well. I wish he were here."
In truth, there was something about Nunnally and her innocence that Euphemia found calming and soothing. Nunnally somehow managed to get her to relax and feel rather at ease with herself whenever she spoke. Nunnally still had her innocence and Euphemia was determined that she would keep it. She had lost what was left of hers in the Shinjuku battle and knew that that was only the beginning and no doubt, she'd end up killing more people and having more people die because of her actions and orders; including innocents, which she wanted to avoid, but knew that it would no doubt be impossible.
She wanted to spare Nunnally from that, knowing that she would not approve and becoming involved would undoubtably drive her into despair. Nunnally was just too innocent and pure to be brought into a horrific battle such as the one that had occurred in Shinjuku. However, Euphemia felt that this was something she had to do for both their sakes. She could not allow that man to continue his tyrannical reign of terror. She knew that the Emperor would not rest until he had the entire world under his control and then he'd force his outrageously evil policies on everyone else; which were, everything for Britannians and absolutely nothing for everyone else. He had to be stopped and Euphemia was determined to be the one to do it.
Nunnally gave a rather content and cheerfully laugh, which brought Euphemia out of her thoughts.
"I'm so happy," she said softly, much to Euphemia's surprise, "Cause last night, when you came home really late; you scared me a little."
"Did I?" Euphemia said feigning curiosity as a troubled expression appeared on her face, causing her to look down at the table as she was thankful that Nunnally could not see, "Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind, that's all."
"Hey," Nunnally said, bringing Euphemia's attention back to her as she held up the paper crane Sayoko had made for her in front of her half-sister with both her hands, "They say if you fold a thousand of these cranes your wish'll come true. So if there's anything at all that you've been wishing for…"
"No, not really," Euphemia said contently, though it was a total lie, "What about you? Do you wish for anything?"
Euphemia had a wish alright. She wished that she could kill that disgusting tyrannical man that she unfortunately had to live with being her father. She had already killed her mother and now she was going to make it her mission to kill her father as well. However, she knew that Nunnally probably did not share her wish. She was too kind and gentle and probably believed that there was good somewhere deep inside that man's cold hard exterior. However, Euphemia knew that Nunnally was just being naïve. That man did not have an ounce of goodness or compassion in his cold heart and would probably laugh at her if she told him that and then proceed to prove her wrong in the cruellest way possible.
"Just like you did to me," Euphemia thought as a furious look came over her face as she remembered the confrontation she had with her father and how he had given her a harsh slap in the face.
Nunnally looked off to the side for a moment, lost in thought as she was clearly thinking of a wish.
"Hmmm, I wish the world was a gentler place," she said after a few moments of silence.
"When the day finally comes that you can see again, I'm sure that it will be," Euphemia replied comfortingly.
"Really?" Nunnally asked, somewhat excitedly.
"I promise," Euphemia replied with a rather carefree look on her face.
"Though, the truth is, there are very few paths our future can take," she added in her thoughts, feeling rather troubled, "The Ashford Family sheltering us for now, but how long can that last? If our identities are exposed… even Rivalz, Shirley and the others will no doubt abandon us. We'll end up political tools or casualties of Royal ambition. I have to build a world where Nunnally can at least find happiness and if my role in my mother's death is exposed somehow, I'll no doubt end up swinging from the gallows and Nunnally will be left in the clutches of that evil tyrant. I won't let that happen. I must keep Nunnally away from that man at all costs."
That much was true, she knew. The Ashford Family could not shelter them both forever. Sooner or later, someone was bound to recognise them and report their whereabouts to the Imperial Family and then they'd be right back where they started; that man's political bargaining chips and he'd no doubt separate them and that was something Euphemia would not stand for. Nunnally was so helpless and fragile and for her to be shipped off to who knows where to some foreign leader who would do who knows what to her… it was something Euphemia just could not bear. She loved Nunnally as if she was her full-blooded sister and Nunnally was all she had. Losing her was something she just could not think about. Sure, in the past before their exiles, they had their arguments and disagreements, but that was just natural sibling rivalry; like one time when they were younger, they argued over who would marry Lelouch, but they never hated one another. In fact, back then, Nunnally and Lelouch were the closest of all Euphemia's half-siblings save her full-blooded sister, Cornelia.
There was also the added threat of Euphemia's role in Rochelle's death being discovered as she knew that Clovis may accidentally reveal something or someone who was really smart and suspected him may force the information out of him and then she'd be arrested and executed for treason, leaving Nunnally at that horrible tyrant's mercy and that was something that she was looking to avoid. Nunnally just could not deal with that man. He would undoubtably chew her up and spit her out with her philosophies. Nunnally would undoubtably end up a ruined and broken individual if faced with the wrath of that man and Euphemia was determined to avoid that scenario; even if it meant resorting to drastic measures.
She moved her hand over the pink paper crane and Nunnally took both her hands and manoeuvred her right hand so that her pinkie hooked round Euphemia's pinkie and their hands were beside one another with hooked pinkies.
"Huh?" Euphemia questioned curiously.
"Sayoko taught me this the other day," Nunnally explained with a rather kind smile, "It's called a Japanese promise."
"Really?" Euphemia laughed with a sweet smile.
"Cross my heart, hope to die, eat a thousand needles if I lie, pinkie promise song," Nunnally sang as she shook her hand up and down, taking Euphemia's with hers before releasing her pinkie and gave her half-sister a kind giggle.
"Hmm, well that's scary, I may have to eat a thousand needles someday," Euphemia said with a laugh.
"That's right, so I better not catch you telling lies, okay?" Nunnally said in a jokingly serious tone as she brought her hand closer to her face.
"Don't you worry, I'll never lie, I swear," Euphemia said with content assurance
"Not to you anyway," she added in her thoughts as her eyes took on a hard serious look.
Outside in the hallway, C.C. was leaning against the wall next to the door and had heard the conversation in its entirety.
"A promise to never lie, eh Euphemia?" she thought with a rather serious look on her face, "You really shouldn't make promises you don't intend to keep. It may come back to haunt you later. Promises are almost as fragile as trust; easily broken."
The next day, Euphemia stood on a bridge that ran across a stream that flowed through the academy grounds and she stared down at her reflection in the water with a serious look on her face and her stare focused on the reflection of her Geass eye as she briefly activated it.
"This is the only weapon I have," she thought to herself, remembering the events of the previous day and what C.C., "And I don't even know how to use it properly."
"Euphemia," a voice came, bringing her out of her thought and she looked up to see one of the teachers walking towards her, "Class'll be starting any minute you know."
"Oh, yes sir," Euphemia replied, realising that she had lost track of time.
Her look became serious as she decided to try a little experiment with her Geass in order to confirm if C.C. was right or not.
"Um, sir, what are the topics gonna be for the essays on your next exam?" she asked curiously as she activated her Geass.
"The Humiliation of Edinburgh, the transfer of the Capital and North and South War topics," the teacher replied rather obliviously as Euphemia noted the red glowing circles that highlighted his irises, meaning that he was under her control.
"So, I haven't lost the power then," she concluded as she deactivated her Geass, "Not that I believed that I had; still, it's nice just to be sure."
The teacher then looked momentarily surprised as he felt that he had just woken up from a sleep, knowing that something must have just happened.
"Sir," Euphemia said, grabbing his attention before he had a chance to think as she reactivated her Geass and looked him directly in the eye, "What exactly are the topics gonna be for the essays on your next exam?"
"Right, very funny," the teacher said as he started to walk off with his hands in his trouser pockets, forgetting about his brief reality lapse, "Maybe you should try studying eh? Just apply yourself and you'll do fine."
"Yes sir!" Euphemia called out to him as she briefly stood firmly upright, making it look as if she was standing at attention before relaxing.
"It's just as C.C. said and just as I suspected," she thought rather contently with a content smile, "I can only use it on a person once. Now for the other matter I need to deal with."
Meanwhile, Kallen was leaning on a balcony looking over the Tokyo Settlement as she spoke to Ohgi via her cell phone. Needless to say, she was not too happy about remaining in school and wanted more than anything to just ditch the academy permanently and stay with her real friends in the resistance group. However, Ohgi was having none of it, though he was worried about her and called to check up on her as he had promised Naoto that he would take care of Kallen if anything were to happen to him before he was shot.
"So, how's campus life treatin' ya?" Ohgi's voice came over the phone.
"Stifling," Kallen replied with a hint of frustration in her voice, "I was stuck in history class yesterday."
History class was her most hated subject, as it did nothing but glorify all of Britannia's achievements; twisting them in such a way that made Britannia out to be in the right and everyone else was in the wrong. Kallen found it downright sickening. It absolutely repulsed her to no end. This was Japan, not "Area Eleven" and the natives were Japanese, not "Elevens". This country belonged to the Japanese; not the Britannians and for the Britannians to claim that conquering Japan and demoting its native people was the right thing to do… it left a rather bitter feeling in the pit of her stomach and what infuriated her more was that the Britannian students all went along with it; no questions asked. Britannia seemed to believe that because it was so powerful that it could do whatever it wanted and step on whoever it wanted and that it can get away with it. That notion left Kallen feeling a rather bitter hatred for Britannia and its people. She just could not stand being around them despite the effectiveness of her façade of a girl with a weak constitution.
"Look, maybe I should just head back," she said, wanting nothing more than to leave this wretched school.
"The army's on a high alert right now," Ohgi said from the group's hideout in the basement of a warehouse in the Shinjuku Ghetto with a Japanese flag pinned on the wall behind him, "Stay there and let things cool off."
"But, I don't know… what about the voice on the radio?" Kallen's voice came over Ohgi's cell phone.
"You can't go looking for a voice," Ohgi replied simply in a serious tone as he glanced behind him and looked at a picture that showed both him and a younger Kallen with a man with the same colour of hair as Kallen sitting between them wearing a red headband similar to those worn by the members of the resistance group, "Besides, Naoto would be happy to see you back in school."
That was a low blow and he knew it. However, he knew that it was the only way to get Kallen to listen to reason. All he had to do was mention her dead brother and she would give up on her arguments. It was rather effective and Ohgi did promise Naoto that he'd look out her his sister.
Back at Ashford Academy, Kallen flinched at hearing Ohgi's statement and had to admit that he did have a point. Naoto would have wanted her to stay in school and probably would have wanted her to socialise as well as unlike her, Naoto did not blame all Britannians for the war and believed that there were some who were opposed to what their people were doing. However, it was hard for Kallen to believe that. Every Britannian she had met so far looked down on the Japanese and saw them as nothing more than trash or punching bags to relieve their stress. She had yet to meet someone who proved her brother right; but nevertheless, mentioning her dead brother did succeed in making her see reason.
"Forget about Shinjuku for now," Ohgi's voice came over the phone, as he continued on from his last statement, "I'll be in touch."
The sound of him hanging up was heard before Kallen let out a defeated sigh.
"Shinjuku… I guess he's right, but…" she thought as she closed up her cell phone before her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered her encounter with that pinkette girl the previous day.
"Don't tell anyone about Shinjuku," the pinkette had told her.
"No, it couldn't have been her voice," she thought rather fearfully with a seriously determined look in her eyes.
She had to admit, that girl's voice kind so sounded familiar, but two days had already passed since the Shinjuku massacre and her memory of what the voice on the radio had sounded like had already left her, so she could not be a hundred percent certain if it had been that girl or not.
Later in class, Kallen listened carefully as the same pink-haired girl was giving a talk on the Britannian aristocracy as she stared at the girl's reflection through a mirror on the back of the lid of her pencil case.
"It could be…" Kallen thought, noting the similarities between that girl's voice and the mysterious woman's voice during the whole Shinjuku affair, "No… I can't remember well enough to be sure."
The girl finished her talk and moved to sit down.
As Euphemia finished giving her talk on Britannian aristocracy and sat down, she glanced over at Kallen who was sitting a row down from her near the centre and noticed her closing over her pencil case and saw the mirror on the bottom of the lid as she completely blocked out the teacher's lecture.
"All I did was mention Shinjuku," she thought with a serious look on her face, making it look as if she was embroiled in the lecture, "But…"
"If she knows who I really am, then," Kallen thought, letting her eye travel to the girl.
"At the first opportunity…" Euphemia went on in her thoughts.
"I need to take care of her," Kallen concluded as her eye glanced at the girl as she made up her mind.
She'd get the girl alone and then just kill her anyway. If she was right, then she would have saved herself from exposure and if she was wrong… well, the girl was Britannian, so she did not care either way. It would simply mean one less Britannian in the world for it to worry about.
Meanwhile, a group of Sutherlands surrounding a transporter travelled down the road en route to the airport as part of a convoy.
Inside the transporter was a coffin draped in a Britannian flag. The coffin contained Rochelle's body and Bartley sat off to the right watching over the coffin and overseeing its journey to the airport to be flown back to the homeland.
"And the research centre?" he said, talking to someone over a communicator.
"Transferred to Narita last night," the man's voice came over the communicator.
"Right then," Bartley said in a quiet distraught tone with a hand on his forehead as he wallowed in his failure to protect both Prince Clovis and Rochelle… well for Prince Clovis, definitely. However, Rochelle… he could honestly say that he had absolutely no sympathy for her whatsoever.
That woman, in his opinion had gotten what she had coming to her. She had clearly been insane and beyond reason.
"I pray you forgive me Your Highness," he went on as he let out a disgusted sneer as he looked at the coffin, "As for you, I'm not so sympathetic about your passing you demonic bitch. I'm just thankful that His Highness is still alive. You on the other hand, got what you deserved for that massacre you instigated."
He then gave the coffin a rather violent kick to emphasise his lack of sympathy for the former Imperial Consort.
Back at Ashford Academy, classes were finished for the day and Euphemia was busy putting her books away in her schoolbag as she glanced over at Kallen who was surrounded by her "friends" who were suggesting that they all should go out together. Shirley came up to Euphemia, hoping that she would join her.
"Hey Euphie, you comin' along?" she asked with a smile on her face.
"Sorry, maybe some other time," Euphemia replied somewhat harshly as she walked off towards Kallen with Shirley feeling that she had been rather cruel.
"Yeah, I though so," one of Kallen's "friends" said after Kallen declined their offer.
"You gotta go straight home, right?" another of her "friends" said in understanding.
"What do you have, a curfew?" a third asked rather jokingly before they all noticed Euphemia walking towards them.
"What's up?" one of the girls asked in a polite tone.
However, Euphemia ignored her and walked in front of Kallen's desk, staring down at her with an unreadable expression on her face.
"You think that you could spare a minute," she said in a tone that made it clear that she was not asking, "I need to talk to you."
"Huh?" Shirley, who was still in the room said in confusion as she suddenly remembered what she had seen the previous day.
Apparently, all four of Kallen's friends were just as curious as Shirley was, though they were not jumping to ridiculous conclusions.
Kallen just calmly pushed her seat back and stood up, giving Euphemia an equally unreadable expression on her face.
"Sure, I was wondering when you were gonna ask," she said in a neutral tone with just the tiniest hint of excitement laced in with it.
"Huh?" Shirley exclaimed as Kallen's four friends all let out loud surprised screams as they were also taken aback.
Now Shirley being Shirley had this rather bad habit of jumping to outrageous conclusions and given the fact that she had witnessed Euphemia and Kallen behind a bush the previous day, plus the dialogue she just heard between them just now; it only served to confirm her thoughts. However, Kallen and Euphemia had already left the room before she could say anything about it.
Back with the convoy, a Sutherland's head was blown off as the convoy had come under attack by a group of Sutherlands belonging to the Purist Faction.
"I hope you can see how determined we are now," the voice of Jeremiah Gottwald boomed over his Sutherland's PA speakers as the other Sutherlands surrounded the transporter and stood guard over the area to ensure the area was secure as smoke rose up from the decimated Sutherlands
"But, I already told you," Bartley said from inside the transporter as Jeremiah's Sutherland tore open the roof with its hands.
"That you don't remember," Jeremiah's voice boomed as he ripped open the roof completely and threw it to the side, "Still clinging to that ridiculous excuse?"
The back of the Sutherland opened up and the cockpit seat moved out to reveal Jeremiah glaring down threatening at Bartley.
"Just ask the others… they'll testify," Bartley pleaded as he backed away fearfully; scared that Jeremiah was intending to kill him.
"Ducking the blame, you're pathetic," Jeremiah said in a disgusted tone, clearly not believing what Bartley was telling him, "You shalln't remain at her Royal Lady's side another minute."
"B-b-b-but I…" Bartley stuttered, never having been more fearful over anything in his entire life.
"Oh quit your blubbering," Jeremiah said as he rolled his eyes, "Luckily for you, it wouldn't look good if I just killed you, so consider yourself lucky. I'm only sparing you because your death would prove bothersome to my ambition."
Back at Ashford Academy in Euphemia's room, C.C. sulked at having to spend another day held up in here cooped up and unable to get out and enjoy herself. She had been meaning to talk to Euphemia about that as she did not want to stay in her room all day long. It was stifling and frustrating to say the least. C.C. found herself lying on Euphemia's bed looking up at the ceiling as she mused over her long life since medieval times over in what was known today as the EU or more specifically, the South Coast of France and Italy before Napoleon Bonaparte's revolution led her over to the original Britannian homeland and she came over to the present day Britannian homeland among those who had fled to the Americas after Napoleon's forces won the Battle of Trafalgar.
"I'm so bored," she said with a frustrated sigh, "I need to get out more."
However, Euphemia had been insistent that she remain up in her room. The last thing she wanted was for the military to be all over the academy and for her to possibly be arrested for aiding and abetting and C.C. did not want that either. The risk of Euphemia being exposed was just too great, plus now that she knew that V.V. was aware of Euphemia's whereabouts and was sending some of his cronies over to keep an eye on her, things would undoubtably become more complicated. She had to ensure that Euphemia survived. It was imperative that she survived. Euphemia was the key to the entire plan; despite her unpredictability. C.C. knew that they would just have to make do.
"Oh, it's you," C.C. said, obviously being contacted by the mysterious person she had been talking to before, "So when will you be arriving here?"
There was a moment of silence before C.C. sighed.
"After Rochelle's funeral, huh?" she said, shaking her head, "You do realise that by then, V.V.'s agents will already be here. I still think you're taking a huge risk."
After another moment of silence, C.C. just shook her head and let out a sigh of frustration.
"You may be willing to risk it, but supposing Euphemia discovers something too soon, what then?" she said aloud, "I'm in a position where I need to keep an eye on her, but in order to do that, I'm going to have to tell her something to ensure her cooperation… no I won't tell her the things she's not ready for; just enough to satisfy her curiosity for the time being."
She then let out a sigh.
"I'll do my best," she said simply, "It's just that it's really hard, you know. Euphemia's nothing like Lelouch. Her curiosity could prove problematic in the future and I think Charles's plan may work a little too well."
C.C.'s eyes suddenly widened in shock and she almost rolled off the bed.
"What, are you serious?" she said in a quiet, yet shocked voice, as she knew that raising her voice could lead to her being discovered and that could lead to potential problems later, "He's actually planning on doing that if things get to that point? That could prove dangerous in the long run, are you sure about this?"
C.C. winced and looked somewhat troubled.
"I-I suppose so, you do have a point," she said before she collected herself and a serious look washed over her face, "But what about Euphemia. If it comes to that point, the damage she could suffer could be rather devastating."
C.C. winced again as a look of concern came over her face and then she sighed.
"I understand; very well then," she said, sounding somewhat defeated, "But I think you're making too many assumptions and you overestimate Euphemia's resilience. She's only human after all. I'll continue to observe her and keep her from harm. However, if I feel that the plan may prove dangerous to her, I'm telling her everything."
She looked very troubled. This was not what she had expected. It seemed that to her conspirators, the success of the plans was an even higher priority than Euphemia's well being and in C.C.'s opinion, they were making too many assumptions with nothing to back them up and just plain blowing off her concerns like Euphemia did not matter. For the first time, C.C. had to wonder if what she was doing was right. She was all for the plan, but she had to wonder if it was really worth the possible price that Euphemia could possibly have to pay. She'd do her part for now, but like she had said, if she felt that it would get out of hand with regards to Euphemia, she'd tell Euphemia everything. After all, what was the point of the plan if the one meant to bring it to its conclusion was unable to? Of course, the obvious solution would be to find a replacement. Lelouch was the original "key", but he ended up dead by accident and Euphemia was chosen to replace him. Who would be able to replace Euphemia? The answer… C.C. shuddered just thinking about it.
V.V. sat in his room in the Imperial Palace as he mused over recent events. He knew that Euphemia li Britannia was still alive and that she had killed her own mother in "Area Eleven"; not that V.V. was sympathetic towards Rochelle or anything… far from it in fact. He absolutely despised Rochelle and wondered why Charles had chosen her as an Imperial Consort. The only thing V.V. could say that he and Rochelle had in common was that they both hated Marianne vi Britannia, albeit for different reasons.; Rochelle hated her for her commoner status and the fact that she was better than her and V.V. hated her because she had taken Charles's attention away from him. In truth, he could care less about Marianne's birth status. He only hated her because Charles had spent more time with her than with him., plus he saw her as a hindrance to their plan. However, that was in the past. Now the problem lay with Rochelle's youngest daughter, who was not supposed to be there that day and V.V. feared that she may have seen too much.
"Master V.V.," a voice came, causing him to turn his head to stare at a monitor showing the face of his female subordinate, "Everything's ready. We're ready to depart for Area Eleven. All we need now is your orders."
"Thank you Eleanor," V.V. stated with a sinister smile on his face, "Your orders are to observe Euphemia and report her progress to me. However, you are not to interfere with her. Just leave her to her own devices for the time being. Wait until I contact you before doing anything else."
"Understood sir," the woman, Eleanor said in a professional tone, "Rolo's already been assigned to go undercover as a student at Ashford Academy to keep an eye on her at school."
"Excellent," V.V. said with a nod, "And what of Charles? Is he aware of your position in the Office of Secret Intelligence?"
"No, Charles isn't aware of my activities in the OSI," Eleanor replied, shaking her head, "I can assure you that no one will take notice of my absence from the Royal Court. As far as Charles and my fellow Imperial Consorts are concerned, I'm off somewhere in the Chinese Federation on some diplomatic venture, which reminds me, if you'd be so kind as to call me Elaine Goodwin."
V.V. raised an eyebrow at this.
"I take it that that name is your alias," he said with a chuckle, "Though Elaine does kind of sound close to your real name, Eleanor el Britannia."
"What can I say sir?" Eleanor replied with a shrug, "Me and the El are just destined to be with one another."
V.V. nodded, deciding to play along for now.
"Yes, well you have your orders," he said as his expression became rather serious, "Remember, you are to just observe her, not interfere with her for now. I'll contact you when the situation changes. Now remember, you're not supposed to be in Area Eleven. If your cover's blown…"
"I understand sir," Eleanor said in an understanding tone, "Do what you must."
V.V. nodded as the monitor switched off and V.V. smirked.
"Okay Euphemia, the ball's in your court now, just what will you do?" he said with a sinister chuckle, "How far are you willing to go in order to uncover the truth? I look forward to our eventual meeting… that is assuming you survive that long. Regardless, I can hardly wait."
He then turned to a picture sitting on a brown wooden circle table that showed him and a man with brownish blonde hair standing behind him with his hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry Charles," he said with a sigh as he shook his head, "We're both striving for the same outcome. However, your plan leaves just too much to chance. Euphemia was not supposed to be there and neither was Lelouch. I honestly can't understand what went wrong. Lelouch wasn't supposed to die that day. Someday though, you'll thank me for this and realise that my way is better. Older brothers know best."
Eleanor el Britannia smiled as her communication link to V.V. was switched off. She then turned to face a boy standing behind her with short brown hair, purple eyes and he wore an Ashford Academy boy's uniform.
"Ah Rolo, do you understand the mission being assigned to you?" she said with a smile, knowing exactly what his answer would be.
"Yes Miss Goodwin, I'm to pose as a student at Ashford Academy and observe the target, Euphemia li Britannia," the boy, Rolo said in a rather obedient professional tone.
Eleanor nodded. Already Rolo was getting into the swing of things, addressing her by her alias.
"Now remember Rolo, you are to simply observe her, nothing more," Eleanor said as she gave the boy a hard stare with a seriousness in her voice that told him that he was not to do anything reckless, "Do not under any circumstances interfere with her activities, but rather observe them and report them back to me and then Master V.V. will handle the rest, are we clear?"
"Yes ma'am," Rolo said as he stood at attention.
Eleanor chuckled as she walked over to him and placed her hand on his head before ruffling his hair.
"Ah Rolo, your outward appearance makes you the perfect undercover agent the OSI has to offer," she said with a kind heart-warming smile as she pulled him into an embrace, "You look harmless; like a troubled boy who could easily pass off as being an easy target for bullies. However, in truth, you're nothing more than a ruthless killer who'll kill anyone that stands in your way."
"It's my job Miss Goodwin," Rolo replied simply, "I only do what the OSI tell me to do."
Eleanor nodded with a smile. She really adored Rolo. In the OSI, wherever she was, Rolo was not that far behind. He was loyal to her and Eleanor knew that Rolo's loyalty was to her and her alone. Not even the Emperor or V.V. had his loyalty, but she had. She supposed it was because she had raised him as if he were her own son ever since V.V. handed him over to her when he was still a young child. He was definitely more of a son to her than her biological son, Schneizel ever was. Schneizel did not get on well with his mother, that much was certain. In her opinion, he was just too… perfect; not that she had anything wrong with that, it was just that he came off as rather arrogant and cocky and let that power go to his head; much like Rochelle had done, though nowhere near the same level as Rochelle. However, it rather annoyed Eleanor how her son was just so perfect and let it go to his head and not once did he spare her a even a moment of his time. Rolo had filled in for Schneizel quite well.
"Of course you do," she said in response to his statement, "However, this is not an assassination mission… at least not yet anyway. The situation may change in future, but for now, just concentrate on observing her."
"Understood Miss Goodwin," Rolo said as Eleanor released him.
"Truth be told Euphemia, I can't say that I'm upset over your mother's death," she thought with a smirk, "In fact, you did a lot of us a favour. I never liked Rochelle that much anyway, so she won't be gaining my sympathies and as for you… when the order finally does come to kill you, I'll make it as painless as possible as a token of my thanks for removing that wretched thorn in so many of our sides."
It was true that Rochelle li Britannia was not well liked among the other Imperial Consorts and no doubt, very few would mourn her loss. Heck, even her younger sister, Danielle absolutely despised her and it was all due to the fact that Rochelle had developed this delusion that she was simply the best of all of the Emperor's Imperial Consorts and could not stand being proven wrong by anyone, whether it was Lady Marianne, whom Eleanor had to admit, though she did not like her for her commoner status, she had the utmost respect for due to her Knightmare piloting skills or the other nobility. They were all the same to Rochelle… inferior to her. Eleanor knew that she had given her sister hell because Danielle was younger than her and yet, better than her and that was something she just could not stand.
"I very much hope that you rot in Hell you repulsive bitch," Eleanor thought as a sneer crept onto her face as she remembered Rochelle's smug look whenever she walked around showing off.
Even her oldest daughter Cornelia was more popular than her.
Author's Notes – Another chapter done. I can honestly say that I've put in differences from the anime; such as introducing Rolo, the OSI, V.V. and Anya early. However, for the moment, they won't have a big role. They'll mostly be in the background, though Anya's presence will undoubtably cause problems for the OSI, which I have under Schneizel's mother, Eleanor who's secretly loyal to V.V. Euphemia will deal with her in due time. As for C.C.'s origins, it did say that she was around since medieval time, but it never specified where she actually came from and since this is an AU fic, I'm going to make her origins lie in the area of the French/Italian border on the Mediterranean Coast because it's a region my family and I went to for vacation twice and C.C.'s intended name, Cera sounds like it could be French. Anyway, next chapter, Euphemia and Kallen's situation will be resolved as well as Jeremiah forwarding his plan to gain control of Japan.