Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.
Three days later, and now the ceremony being held in Officer Jeremiah's honor was about to take place in city hall...
Kaname Ohgi glanced at his wife, who was sitting quietly in the car seat beside him.
"...You don't have to come in if you don't want to. I mean, it'll be boring-" Kaname spoke up, trying to convince Viletta to change her mind.
"No! I'm attending this ceremony, and that's final!" Viletta snapped, and Kaname knew there was no more use in trying to talk her out of it. "Why are you so insistent on keeping me from coming here?! Do you not want me around?!"
"It's not that! Of course it isn't! It's just..."
"It's just WHAT?!" Kaname knew that Viletta's mood swings were mainly due to her pregnancy, but he still wanted to be cautious about what he said around her. However, that is not the reason why he would rather take her back home.
"It's just," Kaname continued after a pause, "I have a bad feeling about today...a really bad feeling..."
"You always say that about everything," Viletta remarked with a sigh.
Kaname nodded. "I know, but...this time, I really do think something bad will happen..."
Viletta didn't respond, and she turned her attention out the window. She saw a large group of people, all of them dressed in black, walking through the grand doors that lead into city hall. They all had such sad looks on their faces; it made Viletta feel a bit uncomfortable. She looked up towards the roof of the building, and for a second, she thought she caught a glimpse of a figure quickly vanishing from sight.
'...What the hell was that?' she wondered, but she thought no more of it as Kaname finally found a parking spot.
As he unhooked his seat belt, Kaname said, "When we get inside, I'm going to meet up with Shirley and Inspector Tohdoh at their table, to talk more about the case. I want to find out if anything's been learned from the autopsy performed on Rivalz Cardemonde. You won't mind, will you?"
Viletta shook her head. "You just do what you need to do..."
"Thanks, honey," Kaname gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and opened the car door. As the two of them climbed out, Viletta glanced at the roof again; there was nothing there, except for a few chirping birds. One of them ruffled its feathers slightly before flying off.
'I was probably just seeing things...' Viletta thought to herself.
Kaname noticed Viletta seemed a bit distracted, so he spoke up, "Uh, honey...are you okay?"
Viletta remained frozen for a moment, her eyes still glued to the roof, and then she brought her gaze down back to Kaname. "Oh, yes," she replied, "I'm...I'm fine..."
Wrapping her arm tightly around Kaname's, Viletta flashed a soft, almost forced smile towards her husband before they began to make their way into the building.
The shadowy figure appeared upon the roof once more, but this time, Viletta did not catch sight of it.
Kaname began to feel uneasy again. A light breeze blew past.
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Sitting in a rather laid-back position on the edge of the roof of the grand city hall building, was a single man. He had a leathery brown bag sitting upright on his left knee. Shoving a dirt-caked hand into the bag, he took out a small chunk of what looked like raw meat. The man then sneered to himself.
'Hmm...this Suzaku guy's flesh ain't half bad...luckily, no one else is willing to eat another human but me...leaves more food for me, then...' he thought to himself before stuffing the piece of meat greedily into his mouth. Lying beside him were three large uzi submachine guns, two of them drenched in a red liquid.
He glanced at his watch. It was almost time to begin the massacre. He ran his hands through his light-orange hair, and let out a refreshed sigh. He looked up at the bright blue sky overhead, a smile gracing his lips.
'...Soon...very soon...'
A few feet from his position, two fresh corpses laid spread out under the sun. They were the bodies of Schneizel and Cornelia, two other of Zero's followers. Their faces and chests were riddled with bullet holes, and a large black crow let out a high-pitched caw as it began to feast on the blood-stained flesh.
A small walkie-talkie was left unattended, poking out of Schneizel's left breast pocket...
At an undisclosed location...
Lelouch lowered the walkie-talkie back down to his side. "Schneizel is not responding, and neither is Cornelia...do you think they may have been discovered?"
Zero shook his head. He was now dressed in his full attire, his face hidden beneath a mask and a long black cape draped over his shoulders. a small gray tabby cat sat on the floor beside him, gently nuzzling her head against his knee, begging for food.
"I believe that Luciano Bradley may been responsible for this..." Zero replied calmly and casually. He looked up at the ceiling overhead. It was riddled with holes, allowing only slight rays of sunlight to flow in and illuminate the otherwise darkened building. The cat had a strange, glazed look in its eyes, as if they were filled with haze.
"What?! That can't be right!" Lelouch exclaimed incredulously, "But...but he is our ally! Isn't he?"
"Luciano Bradley is more dangerous and cunning than even myself," Zero explained in a blunt tone, "He is a self-proclaimed 'homicidal genius'...and a cannibal. He does as he pleases, without any petty morals binding him; not even my Geass had been able to take control of that wild, unpredictable mind of his. We should be glad we were actually able to track him down and enlist his help, even if he declared loyalty to me only so that he could 'raise his kill count'. He is the harbringer of the massacre. He is the one who will fulfill that section of my prophecy. He is allowed to do whatever he wishes, as long as he does not turn on our ideals. If he murdered Schneizel and Cornelia in cold blood, then so be it. Their usefulness was coming to an end, in any case..."
Lelouch lowered his head slightly, and his expression became unreadable. "...I understand, my lord..."
The cat let out a quiet purr, and began to crawl up Zero's leg, only to be slapped rather powerfully across the face, causing it to cry out in pain. It hissed loudly at Zero before dashing away.
"...By the way, where is Li Xingke at this hour?" Zero questioned Lelouch, who immediately stiffened his posture. Zero did not seem even remotely distracted by what had just transpired with the cat.
"He is in the lower basement, my lord," Lelouch responded, "He is training intensely for the next stage in your prophecy, which you had just written as of this morning..."
Zero nodded. "Ah, yes...a blinding flash, the blades of two warriors will connect, bringing about a spray of blood, one on the side of justice, and the other serving the king of hell. Indeed...that will happen sooner than later..."
"Do you...really believe so, my lord?"
Zero was silent for a moment. "...Yes, I do..."
Lelouch bowed, and turned to began to depart, when another question formed in his mind. It had been bothering ever since he returned to Lord Zero's side, and he couldn't stop thinking of it. Slowly, he turned to face Zero again.
"My lord, please forgive me for asking, but...where has C.C. gone?"
From behind the tinted glass of his mask, Zero smirked.
"That, my dear Lelouch, is not something you need to know..."
Lelouch grimaced, but he accepted his lord's response, and he walked off into the darkness of the shadows...