"I won't ask again, who are you?" The finely sharpened tip of Cornelia's sword/gun pressed just the tiniest bit deeper into the back of my skull, acting as an ever-present reminder of what was to come if I didn't answer the princess' question, and fast. Thinking quickly for some kind of fake name that wouldn't have an actual background to match with on an initial search, I found only one being able to come to mind as I moved my hands into a surrender position while laying on the ground.
"My name is Julius Kingsley, my lord." Hopefully, the use of honorifics would throw her off for me to turn around just enough to put her and no doubt her compatriots under the spell of geass and allow me to make my escape. Until that moment could be found though, I would have to wait and try as best I could without being discovered.
"What division are you with, I have no recollection of that name from my personal files." Answering such a question would be much tougher than simply giving a name but I still had to try.
"I from the special division, the one working on the prototype Lancelot Knightmare frame."
"Schniezals group? I don't remember inviting any staff from them."
"You didn't, that is to say, not directly. I was given orders by my superiors to accompany the extermination force and gain valuable data possible from this endeavor." The tip pressed deeper once more and I could already feel the start of liquid pouring down the back of my head in a tiny stream before it came around to drip off of my cheek.
"While I don't like the thought of someone spying on my group and what we do, that doesn't explain why you had followed myself out into the battlefield."
"I didn't ma'am, I had no idea you were out here," My voice was beginning to sound panicked as I spun the lie that came to me off the top of my head, "I survived the sudden cave-in of the ghetto but I lost the squad I was assigned to. I simply followed the sound of fighting and hoped to run into one of the superior officers." Finished with my explanation, I felt Cornelia lean forward and pull the phone that was still in my hands.
"If that's true, then why do you have a phone? Who were you texting."
"I just survived a city-wide sinkhole ma'am, I'm not a soldier, I contacted one of my superior officers from the special division for guidance." I prayed to God that Cornelia didn't have the forethought to check all the messages, and my prayers seemed to have been answered when the feeling of imminent death lessened until the pointed tip was no longer felt piercing the skin of my skull, or even so much a touching it. The lack of a bladed object didn't stop the crushing weight of Cornelia's heeled boots from continuing to push harshly on the center of my back.
"Princess Cornelia!" The sound of Guilford's cries rang from out of sight Whilst I felt the heel of Cornelia's boot shift slightly to signify that she was giving her attention to the raven-haired knight.
"I'm over here Guilford, I found a soldier who says he's from the special division. Until I know for sure, I want you to keep an eye on him until this can all be straightened out." Feeling the presence of the boot lessen, I made no move and simply waited for it to leave entirely.
"Of course, your highness." Hearing the sound of boots hitting the crumbled pavement and concrete, I was left to wait and hope for my chance to arrive. It would be close but I would need to act fast when it arrived.
When the sound of crumbled pebbles sounded to be within just mere feet of my location, I couldn't help myself but tense my aching limbs in anticipation. "Who is it that I will be guarding your highness?"
"As I already said, a soldier from my brother's pet project who calls himself Julius Kingsley." Finally, the weight lifted but I made no move then and there as I wished to wait for the princess to move just out of reach from stopping me from moving. It was at the point when a pair of colored boots entered my vision, did I make my move.
With a quick flip of my body, still laying on the ground so as to catch both in my line of sight, I stared at both of the two surprised Britannia's in the eyes to issue the order that would save my skin. "Forget about Julius Kingsley!" seeing their bodies go slack form my work taking place, I acted in their short stalling of mental prowess to retrieve my phone from Cornelia's grip and took off just is time for Dalton to notice and come running over.
Now back on my feet I ran as quickly as I was able, taking the most amount of turns possible to stay out of sight, and ran like a bat out of hell. Ignoring the aching pain of my muscles mounting and the continued gasping of my breath, I found myself to be near the outer edges of the ghetto's perimeter and continued onwards, only taking short breaks so as to stop and not run myself into the ground.
Several Hours Later
With the sweat thick on my brows, and the drenching of my sweat obvious even under the military uniform, I trudged through the front doors of the Ashford academy main building and into the toweled arms of a waiting Sayoko.
"Welcome home, Zero-sama." Unable to help myself, the tiredness I was feeling finally took its toll and I could no longer keep my eyes open or my thoughts coherent enough to even try and stay conscious. After such an intense day of warfare, as well as having to carefully navigate the back alleys of the prosperous settlement, not to mention everything I had been doing beforehand, I couldn't say that I felt bad for falling asleep like I did.
The only thing to linger in my mind by the very end, and just before my mind became the muddled mess it always did as I slept, I couldn't help but utter a single sentence. "I want to go back to school."
The Next Evening
"Oh, my aching head." That was the first sentence to be uttered as I finally regained the consciousness, the second sentence to leave my lips as I laid upon the comfortable bed was, "Oooooowwwwww."
My entire body was like a like that of a recently abused pincushion and from that I could see so far as the blanket that covered me wasn't fully stretched out, I looked it too as many points on my body were covered in bruises and my arms covered in bandages to help heal the scrapes I had gained from jumping through a window, and a single set of bandages could be felt wrapping around my head.
Unable to move a muscle as the sheer amount of sore that seemed to emanate from my body was simply too much for me to handle, I stayed where I was, trapped on the bed and waiting for someone, anyone, to come and help me. As I waited though, I could just barely move my head the tiniest bit and looked over to see that the current time displayed on the clock was just past 5 in the afternoon.
"Where is everybody, they should be here by now."
"That would probably be because they're stuck with after-school activities, such as Lelouch's position as a member of the student council." Having heard the statement emanate from the door, I watched as C.C., in the same dress she always seemed to wear, opened the door and entered the room and holding a box of delicious smelling pizza. The smell was so delicious that my stomach rumbled loudly enough for both I and the green haired immortal to hear and to let the normally aloof girl chuckle at my predicament. "If it wasn't for the fact that I've been around so long, I would almost call this Karma."
"Karma, what did I do?" At this, she walked over and took her seat on the edge of the bed and opened the box to remove a single piece of the cheese filled rolls that made up the outer edge of the pizza before sticking it in my mouth and then digging into herself.
"Well let's start with the obvious then shall we, you helped kill dozens of people, destroyed the homes of thousands of civilians, and last but not least, you apparently messed with time itself when you changed the events that were going to have unfolded."
"Oh," Having finished the single piece of food, I wanted to beg for more but I knew that was what C.C. wanted me to do so I was left having to be strong and not giving in to the temptation, no matter how delicious it tasted. As I laid there though, I thought about what she had said and I found myself becoming nauseous at the thought at what I had accomplished. "I helped killed a lot of people didn't I."
C.C. nodded her head, the green locks bouncing up and down as she did so while she finished her next bite of pizza and swallowed. "You really did, but that's what you were signing up for wasn't it when you decided you would help Lelouch."
Relaxing back into the bed, I answered her. " I guess it was, I just never thought of it being real and everything; especially after yesterday. Sure, I was around when Lelouch helped Shinjuku but there was just so much going on I guess I never really stopped to think about it all and what it all really meant. At that point, you were all still just cartoon characters to me."
"Then that means your thinking about it now. Does it also mean that you are giving up as well?" Thinking on the question, my mind drifted to all the events that had to take place for the original timeline of Code Geass to come to pass before shaking my head.
"I can't, not after everything I've done. I need to see this to the end so that the end becomes better."
"So you say." With that last line, C.C. got up from her seat on the bed and left the room as well as her pizza box behind with a mostly uneaten pizza still inside. Eyes wide at how much was left considering The green haired immortal's obsession the circular Italian dish, I figured she was simply going to do something before she came back to finish it.
As much as I tried to believe as such though, it didn't stop my mind from wandering back to it and my gnawing hunger pains. I so wanted to grab the whole box and down its contents for myself. Unfortunately, though, I wasn't in the best of positions to do so.
And another chapter done folks and with it, more development for furthering the story along. Before I sign off though, I have a challenge for all you loyal readers. In this chapter you'll notice something my OC says that'll have greater impact on the story later. Those that get before I write the next chapter and put it in the reviews (with a name of some sort, username or otherwise), will be commended for noticing in the next chapters A/N section.
As always, Follow, Favorite, and Review this chapter and I'll see you all in the next one.