Hubris: Offer
Disclaimer: I don't own the Code Geass characters so please don't sue me for borrowing them….
She stood in an elegant if somewhat surprisingly comfortable room, scenic pictures hung on the walls depicting different landscapes. Soft plush couches and a small table decorated one side while a slightly larger table and two chairs stood on the opposite. A wide window peered out into a sea of clouds and deep blue skies completing the atmosphere of elegance and comfort. Lelouch stared out the window wondering what she should do next as the door opened behind her. She turned to see the man from earlier, Kannon walk inside carrying a tray of tea and cookies which he placed on the table next to the couches.
"I took the liberty of making you tea." Kannon replied with a smile, "Prince Schneizel should be arriving soon."
"Thank you, might I ask why my brother is taking so long to see me?" Lelouch asked moving to take a seat as Kannon poured tea into a cup for her.
"He begs your forgiveness but he has been busy planning strategies with the leaders of the Black Knights. He is quite eager to see you again." Kannon smiled as he handed her the tea cup.
"It's strange…," Lelouch replied taking a sip of the tea, "You smile and yet there is no truth behind it. Your smile is quite empty despite how warm you attempt to make it look."
"Try not to antagonize poor Kannon, he is trying his best to tend to you while I attend my duties."
A new voice chuckled from the doorway and Kannon instantly straightened turning with a slight bow towards the man walking into the room. Prince Schneizel el Britannia, second prince of the Britannian Imperial Family and Prime Minister of the Holy Britannian Empire. Lelouch had seen pictures of the man and heard the praise heaped on him by his admirers as the White Prince. Loved and hated by many, he was not an unreasonable man but he most certainly was a fearsome opponent on or off the battlefield. She stared up at him as he stood before her a slight smile on his face. She could feel a chill run down her spine but kept her face calm as she waited. He waved away the cup of tea Kannon had poured before taking a seat across from Lelouch folding his hands together as he watched her. Lelouch sipped at the tea as she waited for him to speak.
After a long silent moment Schneizel finally spoke, "It has been too long since we last enjoyed each other's company, Lelouch."
"I would think that being thought of as 'dead' counted for much of this time." Lelouch replied placing the tea on top of the table as she spoke folding her hands on her lap.
Schneizel chuckled, "Yes, I suppose that is true. How I missed that quick wit of yours, I suppose it would be too much to ask for a quick game while we talk?" He gestured towards the other table where Kannon was setting up a chess board.
"After you of course." She replied the two of them climbing to their feet.
"How can you be so calm?" Suzaku asked glaring at Gaius.
"There's nothing else we can do, Lelouch has to win this one on her own." Gaius sighed, "And for your information I'm not as calm as I appear still, I have faith in her."
"Faith?" Suzaku repeated the word feeling it echo inside of him.
The flimsy door burst open and a red clad figure stepped into the room a gun aimed at Suzaku's head. A familiar face framed by bright red hair glared at him from behind a tinted black visor, Kallen aimed her gun firing off one shot but Suzaku had already disappeared from where he'd been standing. She turned frantic to find him only to see a hand blocking her view.
"Kallen, you shouldn't point your gun so haphazardly."
A voice echoed in her ears as she stared into an unfamiliar face. Unfamiliar – Kallen blinked lowering her gun as she gazed up into a pair of deep blue eyes, a warm smile greeted her.
"Brother…?" Kallen whispered as tears fell from her eyes. Why had she thought his face looked unfamiliar? This man was her brother, and he was standing in front of her after such a long time. She rushed forward wrapping her arms around him as she sobbed, "Brother!" The world fell away around her as she clung to the man standing in front of her.
Suzaku blinked in surprise at the sight of Kallen clinging to Gaius, sobbing as she repeated the word 'brother' over and over. Gaius wrapped his arms tenderly around Kallen smiling down at her as he patted the top of her head whispering soothing words. He had never seen Gaius's Geass in action before and had only speculated as to what it was capable of doing. Watching Kallen crying as she clung to a man who was most certainly not her brother, he was beginning to think he hadn't even witnessed the beginning of this man's power. What more was he capable of doing?
"You needn't worry. I'll return her memories once Lelouch returns, I just didn't want the two of you to kill each other." Gaius replied calmly.
"You manipulate the memories of people, like the Emperor does." Suzaku replied.
"Not necessarily…" Gaius tilted his head slightly, "Charles needs the person to be standing in front of him and his range is limited. As far as I know, my Geass does not have a range limit nor is it limited by eye contact or hearing. Lelouch's Geass has a limit of line of sight, Charles has a similar limit but mine…" Gaius closed his eyes, "That no longer appears to be the case. You might even say that I was 'blessed' with the Ultimate Geass. At first I could only remove memories, and only if I was touching the person directly but as my power grew…it changed. Eventually I could manipulate the memories instead of just erasing them, I could even create new ones in their place. Didn't you ever wonder why some battles were easier than others? Why soldiers once loyal to their cause suddenly turned on their commanders and handed the victory over to Britannia?"
"You…" Suzaku blinked at what Gaius was implying.
"When I was Knight of Five, I did whatever Charles told me to – erasing the memories of people who stood in his way. I never questioned it, never stopped to think about what I was doing because that was what Charles wanted me to do." Gaius sighed, "I would have kept on going for as long as he required until the day I met Lelouch."
He stumbled through the forest clutching at his arm as he went, his feet seemed unwilling to cooperate with his will as he fell to the ground. Breathing heavily through the haze clouding over his eyes, he struggled to push himself upright. Just a little bit more. His injured arm throbbed, a heated pulse of pain etched a path through his nerves as he clenched his teeth together in frustration. Just a little bit more. He would not fail; he could not fail.
"Hey…"
A soft voice echoed in front of him as a shadow fell across his vision. A surge of adrenaline pushed him upright, his only useful hand grabbing hold of the figure wrapping itself around the small throat. He tried to squeeze but found he had no strength to do so as his vision cleared for a moment and a pair of shocked lavender colored eyes stared up at him. Small fingers brushed against the side of his face and he found himself falling into those beautiful colored eyes. The muffled sounds of voices and footsteps followed him down into the depths of darkness.
He woke to the sound of machines beeping and a soft white light filtering in through an open window. For one brief moment he lamented his near brush with death and the gentle gaze that had followed him into unconsciousness. A door opened somewhere in the room and he tried to sit up in order to see who it was that approached.
"Lie back down before the doctor gets angry at the both of us, Gaius."
The calm familiar voice of Marianne stopped his attempt as she approached the side of his bed staring down at him with a slight smile on her face.
"How very close to death you were, Knight of Five." Marianne's eyes danced with laughter as she spoke, "Well, you survived so this must mean you have a report to give?"
"Apologies, Lady Marianne," Gaius replied, "I have found –,"
The door opened before he could complete what he was about to say and a small figure stepped into the room. His eyes were drawn to the small girl all but gliding into the room, her long black hair flowed behind her like a cloud of smoke but it was her eyes that bewitched him. Those lavender eyes, a soft light glimmered out of them as she approached not the mocking laughter of Marianne's but rather a gentleness that exuded warmth and genuine worry. She stood beside Marianne staring down at him curiously as if trying to decide what to make of the mostly half-dead man she had come across.
"Gaius, this is my eldest daughter Lelouch, Lelouch this is Gaius the Knight of Five." Marianne replied gesturing towards Gaius with a smile. "You'll be interested to know Gaius, that you owe my daughter your life. Had she not found you when she did you would most certainly be dead."
Gaius stared at the child as he offered her a slight bow, "You have my thanks Princess."
"I quickly learned that her angelic appearance was but a mere façade, hiding a sharp mind that more often than not spoke truth whenever possible." Gaius chuckled, "But it was too late, I was intrigued by the child with lavender eyes. She saw a world different from what I had seen. I could not look away, or maybe I just didn't want to look away."
Suzaku listened as Gaius carried Kallen to a cleared corner of the house and laid her softly to the ground, she had fallen asleep while Gaius had spoken of his first meeting with Lelouch. This man had known Lelouch from before the death of her family, and for that Suzaku was somewhat jealous. By the time he had met her, she had grown slightly darker in her view of the world and bitter at the exile she was to endure. There was still a light in her eyes, blazing and bright but it was tainted by the memory of the death of her mother and sister at the hands of an unknown enemy. She had just begun letting that taint go when Britannia had attacked Japan eight years ago.
He could feel her gaze on him as he sat watching the flames slowly consume the body of his deceased father. Suzaku could not bring himself to look at her, his hands clenched tightly together as he struggled to calm the torrent raging inside of him.
"Suzaku…I – I will obliterate Britannia." Her voice whispered against his ear as she turned and raced away from him. Suzaku looked at her then, watching her retreating form before she disappeared from his life. I'm sorry Lelouch, I have no right to see you.
"I killed my father because he would have killed Lelouch." Suzaku whispered remember the feel of the knife he had used to stab his father. The crazed look in his father's eyes as he had declared that he would use Lelouch in order to put a stop to Britannia's attack. The slick feel of blood covering his hands as the blade cut through skin and sinew. The guilt of what he'd done had made him unable to look Lelouch in the eyes. When he had next seen her a year ago, the dark shadow was all he could see in her eyes the light but a dim far off glimmer. When he had faced her as Zero the hatred had all but consumed what little gentleness remained. A hand touched his shoulder and he looked up to see Gaius staring down at him a severe gaze in his eyes.
"It's time to go save our little princess, and this time we will do it together." Gaius replied.
She could feel the back of her neck heating up as she stared at the chess board, Schneizel was a formidable opponent pushing her mind to the edge with his tactics. Her desire to win, to beat this man sitting across from her pulsed in her veins.
"I can see you have lost none of your ability during the past few years, your style of play remains as straight forward as usual." Schneizel replied.
"It is nothing compared to your skill brother, I find myself at a loss as to how to proceed against you." Lelouch responded, "No wonder the Black Knights movement have become so much more defined."
Schneizel smiled back at her, "Ahh, but of all my siblings yours has always been the sharpest mind. Had it been anyone else the Black Knights would most likely have failed to go very far, although I must admit the added skill of your Geass must have something to do with your wins."
Lelouch shrugged, "Perhaps, but this is a war after all and my goal has not changed."
"Ah, but perhaps I might offer you a new goal? One that will most certainly benefit the both of us as well as the rest of the world." He replied calmly. "What if I were to tell you that Father is planning something that would destroy the whole world, and that he is very close to his goal. Would you join me to put an end to this plan of his?"
"And what will I gain out of all this? I am a princess in exile, dead by all accounts and thus have nothing more to gain from joining you." She replied tilting her head slightly.
Schneizel smiled as he extended his hand towards her, "I will give you this world to do with as you want, all of Pendragon will bow before the Empress Lelouch."