Chapter 10: A Grim Future
Before I say anything else, I want to express my deepest thanks to cerealkiller49 for his help on being my first beta-reader! He/she has really helped me out with my spelling, a subject I struggle with immensely. Thanks a ton! :) Now, on with the show...
Lelouch looked at the ghost and saw that it was not what he had expected. He had envisioned something akin to The Grim Reaper, but once again his expectations were disappointed.
The figure was tall and slim, with a long black cloak with gold trim and a high collar wrapped tightly about its frame. It threw out an arm with a flourish, revealing beneath the midnight garment an elaborate purple suit with gold trim, black gloves on its hands and a white cravat at its throat. But the thing that caught Lelouch's attention the most was the helmet-like mask that obscured the spirit's features. It was blacker then a starless night, with five prongs protruding from it and a strange bird-like sigil in gold at the chin. Where the phantom's face should have been was a single orb of purple-blue one-way glass, only further enshrouding it in mystery.
The aura coming from it was one of mystery and power. At once, it was everything and nothing, holding the power to create a dynasty or bring you to ruin, depending on your own actions. It was like... a zero.
Lelouch swallowed again. "Am I in the presence," he asked hesitantly, "of the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come?" The figure, 'Zero', nodded solemnly, never speaking. Lelouch found himself trembling in the spirit's presence. "You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen?" Again the phantom nodded. "Ghost of the Future, I fear you more than any specter I have yet met. But I know that your purpose here is to do me good. I am prepared to follow and to learn with a thankful heart." The ghost before him remained silent.
Will...will you not speak to me?" Lelouch asked. The figure simply reached out a hand and placed it on Lelouch's shoulder while the other hand pointed away. Lelouch then realized that this was a quality of the domain of time it represented.
'The future does not speak plainly. It only points the way'. (A.N. That was a quote from my brother who said I could use it.)
"Oh yes, I understand.
'The night is waning fast'.
Lead on spirit." And lead on it did.
As they walked forward through the fog, which had become stiflingly thick, Lelouch thought he could see the outlines of the city's buildings appearing on either side of them. Then the mist fled from them, revealing the sight of one of the banks Lelouch was well familiar with. From what he could see, there was nothing extraordinary going on. He turned to the specter for an explanation, and it merely pointed to a small group of men chatting in a corner. As they moved closer, they heard what they were discussing.
"Well, I don't know much about it either way" said a man that Lelouch recognized as the reporter, Diethard Ried. "All I know is that he's dead."
"When did he die?" asked a man with light brown hair named Kewell Soresi.
""Last night, I believe" Diethard replied.
"I wonder what he died from" said the third man, a handsome individual named Schneizel. "I thought he'd never die."
""Someone poisoned him, I believe" was Diethard's reply.
"Someone got fed up with the poor fellow, it would seem." Schneizel gave a bitter laugh. "You reap what you sow, as they say."
"What's he done with his money?" Kewell asked. Diethard just shrugged. "I don't know. Probably left it to his company. I just know he didn't leave it to me."
"Well it's likely to be a very cheap funeral" Schneizel said. "Upon my life, I don't know a single soul who'd go to it." The group nodded.
"I suppose we could make up a party and volunteer" Kewell suggested.
Diethard smiled. "I wouldn't mind going...if lunch is provided." This was received with general laughter.
Schneizel looked thoughtful. "Well thinking back on it, I may have been the closest thing he ever had to a friend. We used to stop and speak whenever we met. But I agree with you Diethard. I'll have to be fed to make it worth my while." Diethard smiled again. "Speaking of lunch, I'm off to mine. Good-bye." And with that, the group dispersed.
Lelouch knew the men from his business interactions, but was confused about who they could be talking about. They seemed to care little for the passing of this mysterious individual. Lelouch almost thought that they were talking about Clovis before he remembered that that was impossible. That was in the past, this ghost represented the future. However, he resolved to hold on to the words that he had heard, knowing that they would lend themselves to some moral for his benefit. The phantom stood silently beside him, and Lelouch could feel its unseen eyes gazing intently at him. Hardly a comforting thought.
Raising a hand again, Zero led Lelouch to a section of Tokyo that was far from what you would call a 'good neighborhood'. It appeared to be the absolute worst the ghettos had to offer. Diseased, ragged, horrible houses that could barely keep the cold out were crammed into narrow alleys. At the back of one such alley was the foulest excuse of a pawn shop that anyone could ever imagine. And to Lelouch's distaste, this house was their destination.
Inside was a tall young man with a white coat, snow-white hair and a purple visor covering his eyes that was held in place by a pair of purple headphones. Scarcely had Lelouch and the phantom entered when three others slunk into the shop. The new arrivals, two Japanese men and one Britannian woman, stared at one another with surprise at their all arriving at the same time. The man at the counter just laughed. "Well, well. Isn't this a treat! Three old friend of mine showing up at the same time. Come in! You know you're always welcome!"
"Cut the chatter, Mao" one of the men said with a huff. "I don't like the looks of this Britannian woman."
His fellow companion, a man with black hair and a large forehead sighed. "You don't like the looks of any Britannian, Kusakabe." The other man sneered.
"Quiet, Sawasaki" he retorted. The woman, who Lelouch recognized as his cleaning lady Alicia Lohmeyer, looked like she had similar feelings about the Japanese. (A.N. She's Nunnally's adviser in R 2.)
Before the situation could escalate any farther, Mao simply laughed and held up his hands. "Now, now. Let's not get hasty here. We should try learning from the example of our poor dead 'friend' and try to follow his only redeeming quality."
"What quality could that man have that could possibly be redeeming?!" Kusakabe asked. Mao just gave off a devilish smirk as he answered. "He was no racist. Far from it in fact. He hated everyone equally!" He followed this statement up with an insane cackle of laughter, causing Lelouch to doubt the sanity of the speaker.
"Well," the cleaning lady said, "the fact that we're all here is proof enough of that."
Mao grinned. "Well said. Now, who's to be first? Don't be shy. That dead man isn't going to miss them, after all."
Sawasaki went first, producing his spoils: a pencil-case, a wrist watch, and a broach. Mao examined and appraised the loot, then paid him what it was worth, which wasn't much. Kusakabe went next and produced sheets, a few towels, and two old-fashioned silver tea spoons. His account was dully paid as well. Then Alicia's turn came. She dropped a large cloth bundle upon the counter, and after Mao had undone the many knots that secured it, he gave her a surprised glance.
"What's this? Bed-curtains?!" The woman nodded. "You don't mean to say," Mao continued, "that you took them down, rings and all, with his corpse lying less than a yard away?" His face then contorted into a fiendish grin. "You'll certainly be making your fortune today."
"That's not all that's in there" Alicia interjected. This caused Mao to take a closer look at the contents.
"His blankets too? Hope he didn't die of anything infectious, eh?"
Kusakabe snorted. "As if he would ever get close enough to another human to get something like that in the first place." This was followed by general laughter from the others.
Mao then inspected a very fine shirt that was the last item in the pile. "You can look at that shirt till the end of next year and you won't find a hole or threadbare place on it" Alicia bragged.
Mao grinned. "You saved this shirt from being wasted, I dare say." The others asked what he meant by 'wasting it'. "They'd have buried him in it!" Mao laughed. He then paid the woman what she was due.
"Well, this is the end of it!" he cheered, laughing and clapping his hands like the lunatic he was. "He frightened all humanity away from him in life, only to profit us by his death!" The others present joined in his insane laughter eagerly, causing Lelouch to look on in pure disgust.
He then turned to the specter beside him and asked "Is there no one that feels emotion for this man's death?" The black fog covered them instantly, and then dispersed to reveal a new scene. They appeared to be in a small apartment with a young Britannian woman sitting by the fireplace and gazing intently at the door. Soon enough a young man walked in and she immediately rushed to him.
"Is it good news, or bad?" she inquired of her husband.
"Bad I'm afraid" he replied.
The woman's face was downcast. "We are ruined, then?" she asked.
The man shook his head. "No. There is still hope."
She gave him a humorless laugh. "If he relents, there is. But it's more likely that pigs will fly then for that to happen."
"He is past relenting," the husband said. "He is dead."
The woman uttered a 'Thank God' before she could stop herself. Though she repented afterwards, none could doubt which her true feelings were.
"Tell me everything" she implored while she led him to his chair.
The man took his seat. "I went to see him, so that I could ask for a week's delay on the repayment of our loan, but the drunken cleaning-woman wouldn't let me in and said that he was ill. I thought it was just an excuse not to see me, but it turned out that he was not just ill but dying that very moment!"
His wife frowned. "To whom will our debt be transferred, then?" "I don't know, but this gives us the time we need to get the money. There's no way his successor could be as bad as he was." The husband stood up and embraced his wife. "We can sleep with light hearts, tonight."
"Lelouch was silent. Pleasure. The only emotion the spirit could show him over the mysterious man's death was pleasure. Then Zero placed a hand on his shoulder as the fog enveloped them yet again.
Again, I want to thank my bata-reader for his help! Hope you guys liked this one. I was a little more book-oriented due to writer's block at the time, so I hope you guys don't mind.
I hope you liked how I did Mao. I'v been waiting to put him in that role for a long time! Hope I did good enough.
Please feel free to drop a review or comment! As always I will see you guys next time! Merry Christmas! :)