A/N:It's about time this story got updated! Prepare to see some new plot twists! I've been watching Gundam Seed lately, and it inspired me to update.
Chapter 12 Complications
Cornelia li Britannia, the current Viceroy of Area 11 emitted a frustrated sigh as she stared at the pile of papers stacked up menacingly in front of her. Each kept on printing the same thing over and over: more Elevens signing up to become part of the "Special Administrative Zone of Japan". There were literally thousands and thousands of them on her desk now, and each day, more of these letters came into her office. So instead of weeding out the Eleven terrorists like she ought to be doing, she was stuck allowing all these disgusting people to colonize in one area?
She frowned. This was all Euphemia's fault. Euphemia was a nice, charming girl, but she was just too spoiled and naive to really be a princess; nor would she ever really understand the way the world worked. Not all of these "Numbers" would automatically get along with Britannians simply because they were given the right back to be called by their names. It was something that even the stupidest person would understand: Britannia was not well-liked in the world. Most of the Royal Family seemed to understand that, and dealt with it.
Some, like her father, Charles, forced change upon other nations by mobilizing armies and invading them for little reason. She disagreed with this rather barbaric idea of forming colonies, but she never really bothered to protest because he was the Emperor of all people. The Emperor was not someone you wanted to offend. Unless your name happens to be Lelouch vi Britannia...
The purple-haired princess pulled down a stack of the offending papers and got a very unfamiliar object; a pen, and started reluctantly signing them. It wasn't like she hated her sister Euphie; it's just that she found the idea rather unorthodox and heretical by Britannia's standards. No wonder her sister had gone mad and exiled herself. She wondered briefly whether her associations with that filthy boy; Kururugi Suzaku; had led to this scene of events. She smiled to herself, knowing that her suspicions were probably right. It was all that Eleven's fault; tainting her sister's pure mind with bad ideas.
No, Kururugi was not the one to blame here. It was probably Zero, the man who had tortured her beloved half-brother for years and had held him prisoner, who was to blame. She frowned then. Who was to blame, really? Euphemia had always been rebellious and critical when it came to Britannian authority and ways of life. She was the one who always asked why the Numbers were fit to be persecuted and looked down upon, when in her eye, she had always seen them as human beings.
It was for that pure and simple reason that Cornelia also longed to protect her dear sister Euphemia from the critical and judgmental eye of the outside world. As long as it took, she wanted to protect Euphemia from the harsh eyes of the Britannian court, who would no doubt scandalize her sister's pure heart, like they had done to everyone who stood in their way. However, she had failed her sister. Her sister had gone and exiled herself from Britannia, thanks to that stupid terrorist Zero.
Cornelia never once suspected that her sister had formed an alliance with Zero at all, but now that she thought back over her sister's behavior during the past few weeks, she realized that perhaps, she didn't know her sister as well as she thought she'd had. Her sister had mostly been raised under Cornelia's protective wing for most of her life, and suddenly here she was, at the tender age of sixteen, suddenly spreading her wings and making her own decisions. It was all very bewildering to the older sister. "Have I...raised her right?" She thought aloud.
As if someone had read her mind, the door opened to reveal her closest companion. A tall man with glasses and a red coat came in through the door, stopping a few times to rearrange his tie, before pausing to look at her. "Well, my lady. What's on your mind?"
Cornelia smiled softly. She would only save this kind of face for the likes of her sister Euphemia, her siblings Lelouch and Nunnally, and perhaps even Schneizel...it was her gentle, delicate face. A face that was not often seen that much on the "Witch of Britannia". "Gilford, my knight. I was wondering...about Euphemia. I sometimes wonder if I have done...my duty as an older sister right."
Gilford paused, as though he were recalling something. "My lady...of course you have raised her right. She has grown up to be a fine young woman, of course! Sometimes, you two may have disagreements, but you will always share a sisterly bond, and nothing can change that!"
Cornelia's violet eyes widened as she looked at her fine, regal knight, taking him in. "Gilford, I admire your attempts at making me feel better. However, just out of curiosity, do you have any siblings?"
Gilford's eyebrow arched ever so slightly as he collapsed in a chair beside Cornelia's desk. "Yes, I have a younger brother. He is much younger than I am, and the two of us tend to disagree every time we see each other. So much, that sometimes I just do not understand him that well."
"Really?" Cornelia asked, quirking an eyebrow at him. "You never struck me as the older brother type. Just now, though...you sounded like such an expert on siblings." Cornelia remarked sadly, staring at him in wonder. "Why would my sister go and exile herself?"
Gilford shook his head. "She's growing up and becoming a young woman now, my lady. It's only natural that she's going to start disagreeing with your ways of doing things, because that's what all children do as they get older. They all start to follow their own hearts and try to find their own path throughout life." He explained solemnly.
"I see. So, it's only natural that I believe that Euphemia is drifting away from me, each and every day? What about Lelouch? He, too, seems to have become so distant..." Cornelia's voice was a strained whisper, full of distress and agony. "Even I don't understand that boy...he's so much like our father." She whispered.
Gilford remained silent, and just nodded reassuringly. His presence was in itself a comforting factor, since he seemed to know when she needed to be with others, or when she needed to be left alone.
"I'd like it if you went now, Gilford." Cornelia whispered softly. The mask of the Third Princess of The Britannian Empire; Cornelia li Britannia was now in place, and there was no room for emotions in Britannia. All of the nobles in Britannia wore masks. That was simply how their world worked.
She heard the door close softly behind him, and she cast one last glance at the slips of paper for the Special Administrated Zone of Japan, before her eyes narrowed. She picked up one of the pieces of paper and threw it into the open fire, watching in fury as it burned. "Sorry, Euphemia, but I'm afraid I still don't want those vermin living on the same land I live in." She muttered harshly.
Cornelia li Britannia was not yet ready to invite Elevens into her world. That was not a given. She simply didn't like the idea of those filthy, depraved monkeys sharing the same office with her. She was not about to let her sister Euphemia hear that, however. She would simply keep that sentiment locked away, deep within her heart, and allow that emotion to slumber, until the time was right to express it.
"Something has to be done about this whole fiasco, before it's too late." She whispered to herself.
The sunlight came in through the windows of the apartment, causing its occupant to flinch. The occupant groaned at the sight of the bright sun and rolled her covers on back over her lithe frame. She was not currently in the mood to wake up and play outside.
One golden eye opened lazily before the figure sat up and stretched, her long, silver hair falling in her eyes before she brushed her hair aside. The woman was now awake and reluctantly, she gave in to the urge to get up, and heaved herself out.
"I wonder what Ohgi's up to." She mused lazily. The silver-haired woman sighed and turned off her alarm, before turning her attention to the window outside. Sure enough, a whole family of sparrows were outside on a tree branch, happily chirping at the sight of the sun. The sight made a light smile crease her face.
A thoughtful smile crossed her intelligent, dark-skinned face before vanishing. She whipped away from the window and crept down the hall, before making her way to the kitchen. "It must be here somewhere..." She muttered to herself, golden eyes scouring every nook and cranny in the kitchen for where the hiding place of her mysterious item could be. "I think it's...right here!"
She exclaimed in delight as she brought out a crumbled-up bag filled with little pieces of...bread. "They'll have quite a picnic, I gather." She remarked to herself as she opened the bag and studied the amount of crumbs left before sighing and opening her door. She tossed out a few pieces of bread and watched as the excited birds came flying down to claim their prize.
The woman smiled pleasantly upon seeing that the sparrows were all delighted at her gift. "It looks like I'm popular even in the bird community." She joked. This woman was called Villetta Nu; however she had acquired amnesia and was known as Chigusa. She did not remember that she was a Britannian soldier, or a member of the Pure-bloods. Here, she was merely a woman.
Chigusa smiled faintly upon seeing the portrait of her boyfriend with another girl; a girl with spiky red hair. She had such brilliant blue eyes full of vigor and youth...but also seemed to be filled with happiness. "I wonder who she is..."
She mused over it briefly before shrugging. Then, the phone rang, and she was surprised by who answered on the other line. "Hello? Oh, Ohgi?"
"Chigusa. I was wondering, there's something you must know. I'm not a teacher, in fact...I work for the Black Knights." He confessed. "It's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while."
Chigusa's jaw dropped slightly before a kind smile made its way onto her face. "That's all right. Zero is a hero, isn't he? He supports the Special Zone, after all." She replied, not even noticing the worried tone that her boyfriend had.
"...I suppose he is. Lately, I've been having doubts about Zero. Is that natural?"
Chigusa frowned. "I'm probably not the person to tell you this, but maybe you should talk to Zero about it. Everyone has doubts, you know. I would like to join the Special Zone of Japan as well."
"Why? It's sponsored by Britannia."
Chigusa sighed. "There, it won't matter who's a Britannian or who's a Number."
There was silence over the line for several minutes. Then, Chigusa spoke. "Who's the girl in the picture with you?"
"A friend's sister. She used to live near us, but then she moved away. My friend died a while ago, so I haven't seen her since."
Chigusa thought that perhaps he was lying to her. Why would he, though?
Ohgi hung up and sighed. "She took that rather well." He said to himself. Why did I lie about Kallen to her, though? It's not like I suspect her or anything, right?
He blushed upon thinking of her worried face. "I shouldn't worry her so much. I just need to talk to Zero. I can't erase these doubts I've been having."
Euphemia was also not content, either. She had been receiving more applications for the SAZ, which was a good thing. But she had also been receiving several complaints from the Japanese about...disease. It startled her. How could this happen? She thought that the Japanese would all be safe and secure.
She frowned to herself as she wondered over how Cornelia was doing. The pinkette had tried various times to contact her sister and Suzaku, but both seemed to be unavailable. She wondered why. Surely, Suzaku should be by her side at all times.
She turned to a guard. "Can you bring me my knight?"
The guard bowed, and said, "Yes, your highness."
A few seconds later, Suzaku Kururugi showed up, looking rather pale and wan.
"What's the matter, Suzaku?" She asked.
"...It's Lelouch. He's been attacked by the Black Knights." Suzaku exclaimed.
Euphemia's eyes widened, and she dropped the stack of papers she had been holding. "What? How could that have happened?" She asked, feigning stupidity. She knew it was part of Lelouch's plan, but she had to go along with it.
"I don't know. I just received feed from Zero, and he has Lelouch!"
