Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass
...
"I must say that I am grateful for your company during this time," said Euphemia, the trio of young women settled around a table now that the greatest of the threats were over. They were not the only people in the room however as the ever faithful Sayoko stood by the door.
"Please it was nothing," said Shirley as she waved her hands back and forth frantically. "I should be the one saying thank you for letting me stay here."
"You are my friend," said Nunnally reassuringly. "It would have been wrong of me to allow you to go back out into the chaos."
"I just hope Kallen's alright," said Shirley praying for the red haired girl's safety.
"Do you know why she would risk going back out?" asked Nunnally, unable to see the orange haired girl stifen slightly at the question. Euphemia however was able to see the small change in movement but opted not to comment on it as it clearly upset the girl. Hours earlier she could recall how Kallen had marched out of possibly the safest place in the country to join the fray, whether to be with loved ones or to fight was hard to tell. Her determination though was as clear as day and there was nothing any of them could have done to prevent Kallen from leaving.
Shirley was spared answering the question as the door to the room opened, Euphemia's older sister walking through. "Your highness!" exclaimed Shirley as she stood up in order to properly greet the member of royalty, despite the fact she was already in the presence of two other members of the imperial family.
"Is everything alright sister?" asked Euphemia noticing that her elder sibling looked a little paler than usual.
"Just stress," said Cornelia as she took a seat at the table, rubbing at her temples.
"I can imagine," said Nunnally. "I might not have been able to see what was going on but I could still hear it despite how far away we were from the conflict. I am sorry for the burden my brother placed upon you sister."
"You shouldn't apologize for what Lelouch did," said Cornelia as Sayoko poured a cup of tea for the princess, the purple haired leader accepting it without a word. "I'm still unsure whether this bloodshed will have been for anything, I wouldn't be surprised if he had something planned out for after this; after all we've only just managed to cut the broadcast which had been looping for hours on end. We could have had it done sooner but as you can imagine we were preoccupied with other things."
"So what's going to happen now?" asked Euphemia.
"Well all things considered, we pulled out of everything relatively easy as there is still riots overflowing into full on wars in different parts of the world. I have been asked by several Governor Generals to send reinforcements to help them in battle. I refused all of them," stated Cornelia.
"How come?" asked Shirley before covering her mouth sensing she may have said something inappropriate.
"If I may ask, who are you?" asked Cornelia only now really paying attention to the orange haired schoolgirl.
"This is Shirley," said Euphemia introducing her friend for her. "She's a part of Ashford Academy and was on the student council with Lelouch."
"Ashford? Then I take it you know Rivalz."
"Rivalz, of course, he'd always drive Lelouch around to go gambling," said Shirley before realizing she may have mentioned something that was not meant to be stated.
"Gambling?" asked Cornelia arching an eyebrow.
"Well," said Shirley slowly knowing that she couldn't lie to royalty, especially to their face. "From what we gathered, the Ashford family would allow Lelouch to use some of their finances knowing that he would more than likely succeed and double the funds."
"Might I ask what my brother's gambling specialty was?" asked Cornelia knowing full well that her brother wouldn't risk money unless he was certain that he would walk away victorious.
"Chess."
"Ah, that makes sense," said Cornelia recalling how much of a prodigy her brother was on the chessboard, having only beaten him when he had been learning the game and even then the games were tight. "I imagine if he and my brother were to have played recently the game would have been quite entertaining to watch."
"Excuse me, but could you tell me how you know Rivalz?" asked Shirley.
"Your friend drove up here earlier with some important guests, acting as their chauffeur," explained Cornelia. "Having learned of some of his actions through the day I deemed that he and the rest of the Ashford Student Council will dine here sometime in the near future when everything has calmed down."
"Really?" exclaimed Shirley.
"That sounds lovely," said Nunnally.
"I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of the council," said Euphemia with a smile spreading across her face. "I'm sure it will be a wonderful night."
"Speaking of nights, I believe it is high time for us to go to bed," said Cornelia as she stood from the table. "There is much more to be done tomorrow."
"I guess I should be going then, I think it should be safe enough to head home," said Shirley.
"Nonsense, you can stay in one of the guest rooms here," said Euphemia. "They're usually used for diplomats but with everything that's happened I'm sure it'll be fine for you to stay in one."
"Very well then," said Cornelia. "Euphemia if you would like to escort Shirley to one of the spare rooms that would be much appreciated."
Not bothering to listen to the rest of the conversation or even bid any of the girls good night, Cornelia left the room, grateful that she had avoided Shirley's earlier question. While she had said earlier that they should all head to bed there was a bar on one of the lower levels where she knew Tohdoh was sitting with a bottle of sake. After everything that had happened, drinking with your former enemy didn't sound strange at all.
...
Inside the halls of Ashford Academy, Milly looked through the gaps between the boarded up windows at the night sky, various orange glows in the background showing that a number of fires still needed to be extinguished. Now though with the help of the combined forces of the Britannian Army and the Black Knights she had no doubt that the situation would be rectified by morning.
The question she was most curious about was what would happen next? Years had gone by since Area Eleven had once been known as Japan but undoubtedly there would be some discussion in the future in regards to if the country would revert back to what it once was. While it was difficult to comprehend such an outcome after what had happened throughout the day would raise, the stability of the Britannian rule would be questioned. Whether or not Lelouch's statements about his father having been the one to send him on this quest were true or not no longer mattered. Within a single day the world had been turned on it's head and there was no turning back.
Realizing that she had no place in such complicated matters, Milly shook her head from side to side before using the back of the hammer in her hand to start prying off the wooden boards in front of her. Needless of how the world turned, Ashford Academy would do what it had always done and teach it's students, one way or another.
...
"Your majesty, what shall we do?" asked Odysseus of his father. The giant throne room was completely vacant other than the two members of royalty currently residing within.
"We shall do nothing," declared the Emperor.
"Nothing?"
"Of course, allow the rats to wallow around and believe that this is the time to stand proud," stated Charles zi Britannia. "Their might cannot begin to measure up against the strength of the Britannian Empire. As they march past the fallen bodies of their comrades the hopelessness of their situation will dawn upon them and they will fall to their knees and pray for us to spare their lives. We will show those who stood before us no mercy and execute them in front of their families to install fear into future generations; Britannia will not fall!"
"Well said father," said Schneizel, the second prince announcing his presence having entered the room at the beginning of the speech.
"Schniezel, are you well brother?" asked Odysseus, the elder brother happy to see that his family member was unharmed considering everything that had been going on in the world.
"Thank you for your concern brother," said Schniezel. "I am fortunate that we were already airborne when Lelouch gave his speech. Had I been on the ground I fear that I may not be so lucky."
"Schniezel, my son, I trust you are not affected by your brother's words," said the Emperor as his second son knelt before him.
"After the initial shock that Lelouch was indeed alive, I understood his reasoning as to why he would do such a thing. With his death he wanted to take one last swing at you, a final play before the inevitable fall," said Schniezel as he knelt before the leader of Britannia. "I must say however that I am proud of Cornelia for not allowing her feelings to get the better of her. Had she decided to execute him beforehand in secrecy however this entire mess could have been averted."
"I must admit I had not expected Lelouch to take this route but it matters not," said the Emperor as Schniezel got to his feet and stood beside his brother. "All he has done has spur the flames of dying nations to push themselves towards their own destruction."
"It will take years to reverse these effects," stated Schniezel.
"It would appear that there are some ill events ahead of us," said Odysseus. "If luck is on our side than all shall quell itself soon."
"I'm not one for believing in luck," declared Schniezel as he pulled out a handgun from his back pocket. Before Odysseus even had the time to raise his hands, Schniezel had shot twice into his brothers chest.
"SCHNIEZEL!" bellowed the Emperor as he stood from his chair. "What is the meaning of this? What are you doing?"
Schniezel smiled a little as he pointed the gun at his father, Odysseus collapsing to the ground next to him. "Writing history."
...
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