Dracord was about to move on to the library, where he originally wanted to go, but at the same moment he noticed through the ajar door that there was a young girl inside. From her appearance, Dracord was able to tell that the woman was not more than twenty years old. She had long, almost waist-length, loose and green hair, but the silver-haired prince was not sure if it was the natural color of her hair or if it was dyed.
Besides, Dracord noticed that she had a slender figure and that she also wore a gray female suit with a suitably fitting and short gray skirt. However, the silver-haired prince was unable to see anything else because the woman had her back to the door.
After a while, however, she turned to her left side, it turned out that in her right hand she was holding a slightly bitten slice of pizza, moreover, Dracord noticed that the color of her eyes was amber, and that she was amazingly beautiful. Her features were distinctly European and her skin was pale.
However, one thing that disturbed the silvery-haired prince was the expression on the face of the young girl. It was expressionless, indifferent and cold at the same time, utterly inhuman. As if this woman was a human being only physically but not mentally.
"So what are you going to do, Mephistopheles?" She asked after a moment in a voice as emotionless as her face.
For a moment, Dracord thought the question was directed at him, but the woman didn't turn to look at him, instead she kept staring straight ahead. Her eyesight was clearly focused on someone or something.
Dracord decided to approach the door a bit, after taking a closer look at the room, he noticed a boy of about the same age as she was standing in front of the green-haired girl.
The man was a young, tall, handsome, and slender man with short dark golden hair, dressed in a gray suit with black patent leather shoes on a low heel, and a black vest under his jacket.
His expression was completely different from that of the green haired girl. This man, instead of indifference, had a mischievous and cunning smile on his face, instead of indifference in his eyes he had cleverness, cunning, and also a certain well-hidden spite.
Who are these two? The silver-haired youth asked the question in his mind, but it was an unanswered question. I have undoubtedly not met these two so far, I would have remembered that.
After a while, however, he frowned and strained his mind, after a while he began to doubt whether he hadn't really seen her before. Dracord realized where he knew her from. Several pictures ran through his head in which he saw someone similar to this girl in the mansion.
The woman appeared here and there, but her gaze always seemed to be focused on the siblings and Britannia, as if she were their silent and crouching guardian angel. However, her constantly cold, indifferent and fully professional expression seemed to contradict it completely.
Was she a friend of Empress Marianne? Or at least someone she hired to quietly protect Lelouch and Nunnally? Dracord's brain was at full speed at the moment, he was really trying to find some other explanation, but it was to no avail. In fact, a theory ran through his mind that this woman might be the killer.
But the killer theory posed two questions: Why hadn't she struck yet? And what is she doing in this room?
There is still the theory that the woman is some kind of spy sent by people planning the attack. It was not unbelievable, but it prompted us to ask ourselves: What exactly is this woman doing in a room essentially closed to most of the people in the residence?
After a while, the green-haired girl received an answer to her earlier question.
"When it comes to distance, I don't know yet, maybe he'll give someone a geass, maybe he'll be some power-hungry madman, I don't know yet. However, in the near future, I intend to keep my word to my counterhand just before her death. " There was a calm male voice that was beyond doubt that of a teenager. "I will protect the twins who turned out to be her undoing."
Geass? What is this? The silver-haired prince frowned thoughtfully. And who are these two? This man is talking about the twins who turned out to be their mother's doom. Could he mean us? Me and Phobos. But why he would protect us?
Dracord quietly approached the slightly ajar door and then carefully looked around the room, he was curious to whom the voice he had just heard belonged. After a minute or so of observation, he finally saw a young man sitting on a luxurious leather sofa, dressed in a white suit with a black shirt underneath, a blood red tie, and black low-heeled shoes.
The man was - as Dracod guessed - a teenager. His facial features indicated that one of his parents was European or British, while the other parent was beyond doubt Asian. The young man in question had short and disheveled dark gold hair, green eyes and cunning eyes.
Although the young man was in a sitting position, Dracord could safely say that the man's height was probably barely more than one and a half meters. Moreover, his physique did not seem particularly impressive, the silver-haired prince could safely say that she was slender and petite.
How could he make promises to our mother when he is probably under twenty? Maybe he doesn't mean us at all.
Hearing the young man's answer, the green-haired girl sighed deeply, but she did not seem surprised by the words of her interlocutor. Of course, that didn't change the fact that Dracord had no idea what they were talking about.
"Are you really having fun giving this power away?" She asked and her voice showed clear and undisguised irritation. However, one could get the impression that despite this, she expected such behavior from her interlocutor. "Isn't it enough for you to distribute geass to people like Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Richard and Adolf throughout your entire existence?"
Hearing these names, Dracord immediately recognized her as the names of leaders who had a profound influence on world history
It probably means Alexander the great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, perhaps Richard von Britannia and Adolf Hitler. One of the most powerful leaders in all human history. Visionaries, dreamers, people who were able to sacrifice a lot for their own vision. People, on the one hand, extremely fascinating, but on another hand frightening. Certainly, ability to great sacrifices is the proof at having an extremely strong will. However, on the other hand such actions meant carrying an enormous burden on shoulders.
The young man merely smiled broadly and dismissively, his carelessness and nonchalance all too clearly visible. He didn't seem to care at all about the girl's ever-growing irritation.
The young man rose like a phoenix from the ashes and said in a slightly laughing tone: "It is not enough, it is not enough, it is still not enough. I want more chaos, more destruction, more blood, more broken lives. I want more wars! "
His last words were basically a roar, full of madness and obvious bloodlust. As if that were not enough, the expression in his eyes seemed to reflect his lust for chaos perfectly.
He talks about it as if it all amused him. Dracord sighed softly, he knew perfectly well that some people under the influence of emotionally strong events can go crazy. Knowledge of human psychology is the basis for functioning in society. Especially if you are someone who is almost at the top of the social ladder. It appears that this man's sanity is at least questionable.
After a while, he began to think again about the conversation between the golden-eyed girl and the green-eyed young man. Virtually nothing of what has been said so far made sense to the young prince with silvery hair.
The green-haired girl closed her eyes and sighed deeply, she was clearly dissatisfied with the nonchalance of her interlocutor and did everything not to lose control over herself. After a while her eyes opened. Dracord looked at her left eye and concluded that by this moment she had managed to completely calm down.
"You are bloodthirsty, reckless, reckless and childish, Mephistopheles." Green-haired beauty stated. "French Bastard." She growled after a moment.
The face of the green-eyed blonde darkened and a cold expression appeared in his eyes. "You, in turn, are a shell indifferent to all mankind, devoid of any sign of humanity, Catherine." The one who was called Mephistopheles by the woman replied, nonetheless. "French witch." He added after a moment.
Dracord could clearly feel the tension between the two starting to build up. Although they were both openly antagonistic towards each other, there had to be some reason why they hadn't torn apart yet.
After a while, the eyes of both Mephistopheles and Catherine were devoid of all signs of mutual hatred. They both smiled unexpectedly at each other and began laughing after about two seconds.
Strange people. The silver-haired prince stated in his mind that observing this scene made him think about the line that binds the two together. What if they are actually siblings? The man who has been called Mephistopheles seems to be deliberately provoking her, it reminds me of some of the interactions between me and the rest of my siblings.
The two, watched by the young prince, looked at each other for about a few more seconds, their gazes warm and warm. You might think that the argument from a moment ago never really happened.
"What did you really want to talk about?" The green-eyed young man began calmly. "Big sister." He added after a short while.
Now the theory about the blood ties of both people now had any foundation. Are they really siblings? Or maybe this man called her his sister just to tease her with words.
"It's about the sons of your deceased partner." A green haired girl named Catherine with a serious expression and cold eyes started. A green-eyed young man named Mephistopheles also wanted to say something, but Catherine interrupted him, it seemed she had preceded the question the young man was about to ask. "I mean Dracord specifically."
The silver-haired prince literally froze as he heard his name spoken by the green-haired beauty. He almost felt his heart stop for a moment, fortunately Empress Marianne taught him how to control his own heart rate and how to calm down, even in the most stressful situations.
It took him a moment to compose himself. Meanwhile, Mephistopheles smirked and said with stoic calmness: "He is wonderful. Is not it?"
Dracord did not understand what the man meant. So far, much of the conversation had seemed meaningless to him. Does he mean my fighting skills and mind? For the silver-haired prince, this was the most likely possibility. He had no idea about his other potential talents.
"The blood in his veins is at least fifty percent the blood of those who created the geass and codes." Catherine said. "I don't need to remind you what that means."
The smile faded from Mephistopheles' face, became serious, like his older sister. "I know, my dear." He spoke calmly and with all seriousness, both in the expression on his face and the expression in his eyes. "I have not forgotten the power of my deceased partner and friend who only had a quarter of the blood of the Atlanteans."
"Then I don't have to tell you that ..." At this point, green haired Catherine interrupted her speech. Dracod's heart froze once again, it became clear that the woman probably realized that they were being eavesdropped on.
I have to go before she sees me. The silvery-haired young man, almost noiselessly, moved towards the place where he had originally wanted to go, the library. This room was the only place to which we couldn't enter.
After a while, Dracord heard footsteps coming from the forbidden room. A woman named Catherine is probably about to check out the hallway. In a fraction of a second, the silver-haired prince saw the open hatch to the ventilation shaft.
He crawled inside quickly, his size large for a ten-year-old, but still small enough to fit. He crawled up the glass for five more seconds, until he felt he had gone deep enough to protect himself from being seen by anyone who might be looking for him.
After a short but extremely intense moment, he began to hear footsteps, the sounds perfectly matched to those emitted by women's heels. It became obvious that a green haired girl named Catherine was walking towards him.
The intensity of even a brief moment at this point was almost impossible to describe. You had the impression that one second was becoming all eternity. In the end, however, the footsteps were so loud that Dracord had the impression that the green-haired woman was about to locate him.
The silver-haired young man was almost on the verge of panic, but thanks to the training he was able to control his emotions.
The numerous training sessions that he did as a prince were necessary in a potential struggle for power. It was absolutely necessary for a member of the royal family to perfectly control his emotions and feelings, after all, when talking to his supporters or opponents, he had to look like an unbreakable monolith.
However, this was not the only type of training that the imperial prince or princess had to undergo, training in planning both strategy, logistics and tactics was equally important and frequent, and considering the fact that Britannia was a heavily militarized state and determined to impose its domination on the whole it was almost necessary for the world to survive.
After a while, however, all his lessons went to hell. The green haired girl peered into the ventilation shaft, Dracord's heartbeat sped up rapidly. Although the silver-haired prince was hidden in a deep shadow, it did not change the fact that he was looking this woman straight into her golden eyes.
Calmly! Easy, easy! Dracord repeated in his head, but his face was saturated with ever increasing panic, now he could not even breathe to calm down. The silver-haired prince had to remain completely calm, being basically a meter from the person who was looking for him. The worst part is I don't know what will happen to me when he catches me. The Empress made it clear that breaking into this room would have significant consequences. In addition, the conversation between this woman and this man was completely pointless, at least from my point of view.
Meanwhile, the green-haired girl moved deeper into the shaft, it was a surprise for Dracord because he did not think that anyone dressed in quite expensive - from the perspective of a commoner - clothes could afford such a waste.
The girl was getting closer, and Dracord couldn't do anything, he couldn't even move backwards because he would be heard and probably quickly caught, especially since about a meter behind him the shaft was blocked by a windmill. The prince closed his eyes not to think about it, he could only wait for him to be caught, but that never happened.
A girl named Catherine stopped about half a meter in front of him and blinked her left eye. It was probably a signal that he was not going to release it. Moments later, she began to back away until she finally left the shaft.
Why did she do it? She was aware of my presence, so why didn't she just inform her "Brother" that I was just hiding here?
"I just thought someone was eavesdropping on us." She said indifferently. Moments later Dracord heard their footsteps, probably they were returning to the room in which they stayed moments ago.
When Dracord's footsteps stopped, Dracord hastily left the vent, but moments after he was caught on his feet, his mouth was clogged and a handkerchief was held up to his nose, possibly with poison or, at best, with anesthetic.
"What the...?!" He tried to shout, but in the end it was only a muffled growl. Moment after moment his strength began to drop until he was unable to move anymore and his eyes began to close.
Losing consciousness, he heard a few more sentences between a girl named Catherine and a man named Mephistopheles.
"Take him to ..." and "Make it look like a sudden loss of consciousness caused by ..." For a moment, Dracord even had the impression that he saw the emperor, his father was standing over him, but with all his strength he concluded that they were just hallucinations.
Decay, death, dirt, nonsense, pain, despair, emptiness, decay are the words that best reflect the nature of the world in which every human being comes to live. Since the dawn of history, the world has only rotten, soaked with decay, but nevertheless it continues, humanity continues to develop. Despite - or rather - despite all despair and hopelessness, humanity evolves and changes, at least biologically.
What is this? The question crossed the silvery-haired prince's head as soon as his perception of reality returned and the prince opened his eyes. His thoughts were still chaotic and his sense of sight was not fully functional, but it did not change the fact that the image, although blurry, was at least strange.
The silver-haired prince realized that he was lying, probably on some lawn. It may have been Aries Villa's garden, but as he looked more closely and his eyesight returned to normal, in the next few seconds he saw something he had never expected to see.
For Dracord could see a vast plain, covered with thick and bright green grass and numerous flowers, vast forests were visible in the distance, and mountains beyond them. The sun was shining so intensely that the colors were extremely bright. One could get the impression that it all constitutes the archetype of Arcadia, the land of eternal happiness, a paradise on earth, Eden.
"Where am I?" He asked aloud, but softly, you can even say that he froze. His voice was breaking, and no wonder the sight was so magnificent that it was unreal, unreal in his world of eternal decay.
He ducked his head and noticed that he was wearing the same light gray suit he used to be in every day. His clothes were soiled, however, and lying on the lawn had left a few leaves of grass here and there.
Draord looked around, concern on his face. "I am certainly no longer at Villa Aries." Indeed, he stated, the area did not resemble anything he knew, and the young prince had seen it so far. "But how did I get here?"
He tried to remember something, but the last thing he remembered was his march towards the library after his departure from his siblings in the gardens. After that, however, literally a black hole, nothing, zero. He didn't even remember starting to pass out or faint.
After a moment of intense thinking, a certain theory appeared in the head of the silver-haired prince, which explained how he got here. What if I'm dead? The theory, although crazy, was possible, after all, none of the living had ever known what awaited us after death. What if I was assassinated or otherwise murdered and now I'm in paradise?
Dracord has never really been particularly religious. Even more, he was never even a believer. However, with what was happening to him at that moment, he couldn't be sure of anything, absolutely nothing.
Not knowing what to do with himself, he decided to simply move forward with a certain step, forward and not without unnecessary looking back. His march, however, raised a certain question in his mind, a question completely inadequate to the situation, but it still filled his confused mind.
"Is this how everyone should live their lives?" He spoke the question aloud, his face blank, various feelings at that moment engulfing his mind. On the one hand, he was confused and scared by the whole situation, on the other hand, he felt free and delighted with the whole landscape and its unreality. "Should I walk through my life without looking back and without paying attention to whether what I am doing is right or not? Should I press forward without pause until my final victory and my own happiness?"
After a short walk, he almost stumbled to see what made him almost fall, he bent down and knelt down. Diamond? The question crossed his mind as the silver-haired prince saw it, which nearly brought him down.
It was indeed a diamond crystal, or something very similar to it. Dracord took it in his hand, and upon examining it closely, he had no doubts what it was. It is undoubtedly a diamond in the rough. He looked around the nearest land and found there was so much more to it. Why is this so much here?
After a while, however, he felt pain, his head began to ache so much that he put his left hand on it, the pain was so intense and unbearable that eventually Dracord fell pitifully to his knees, like a slave before his master, a slave waiting for his orders to do so. which one belongs. Moreover, the diamond in his hand fell to the ground.
"My head!" He screamed in pain like a lion being torn alive into tiny pieces. It was ironic considering that Phobs sometimes jokingly called him a dragon. Dracord himself realized the irony, but it did not improve his situation, a situation that was indeed still unenviable.
All of Dracord's thought processes were drowned out by overwhelming pain, for a moment the silver-haired prince had the impression that his brain and head were literally torn apart by the use of enormous force.
"Arghh!" After a short while the prince began to growl, growl like a mad dog. The comparison was very accurate, for now the ever-increasing pain made him furious.
And suddenly something strange happened. This unimaginable pain seems to no longer affect the whole head. Slowly his brain and head stopped hurting him, now the pain was present in his left eye and it wasn't as intense as before.
"Why?" Asked Dracord, he still didn't know where he was, didn't even know what was actually going on. Still, he wanted to know the answer to that question, so after a while he rose, "phoenix from the ashes," and walked on, boldly and confidently, despite the pain still present in his left eye. Why has this happened? Is this a dream? Or have I passed out and all I see is just a product of my subconscious?
After a while, he noticed a pool of water with his own reflection in it. He decided to stop pressing on his left eye with his hand, wondering if the pain would give any physical signs.
In a split second, he lowered his hand and… He literally froze. There was something in his left eye that he would never have expected there. Now his left eye wasn't just an iris, pupil or sclera, now a symbol had been added to all of these, a symbol shaped like a bird in flight. A symbol that for Dracord could symbolize freedom, a symbol in a light and silvery color.
No. Upon closer inspection, the silver-haired prince noticed that his left eye had completely changed. The place of the purple iris and black pupil was completely taken by the symbol of a silvery bird, proudly spreading its wings in flight. The sclera completely changed its color from white to dark purple.
"What is this?" Another question that will most likely remain unanswered. This strange symbol that appeared in his eyes for no reason really scared him. What have I become? This question was most appropriate because his new left eye was not at all human, so it was natural to doubt what he had become. Is it just my eye that has become inhuman? Or maybe I stopped being human? What if I've never really been human?
The thought of losing his humanity terrified him, for it meant he was no longer like the rest of his family. Undoubtedly, this meant that Phobos, Lelouch, Cornelia, Nunnally and Euphemia were no longer his siblings, if only half siblings.
"Am I Still Human?" He asked, and his heart and mind were completely saturated with despair, in the purest sense of the word. The prospect of losing his humanity was truly unbearable for him. For humanity was what connected him with the world of people, it was undoubtedly what formed his bond with other people, the loss of it would undoubtedly make him different from others, that he would no longer fit them.
"No!" Suddenly and unexpectedly there was a woman's voice that probably answered his last question. However, the female voice had one and unquestionable advantage, it was usually able to soothe a male heart. Nevertheless, the words that had just rang out did not soothe Dracord's heart because of their grim content.
It took him quite a long time to process this information, but it wasn't because he didn't understand it. He just couldn't believe it. It was beyond doubt the last thing he wanted to hear at the moment, and even when it reached his ears, he couldn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it.
Why did I even care about this? The question popped into his head quite quickly and was completely rational. There is no rational reason why I should listen to the voice of my subconscious mind, which most likely expresses only my concerns. After these words, he looked up at the fully exposed sun. He was completely calm now.
"Are you sure about that, Dracord di Britannia?" The voice was heard once again, but this time it was not omnipresent, instead the silver-haired prince realized that the voice was coming from his right.
Upon realizing this, Dracord immediately turned to the direction from which the sound was heard. What he saw caused him contradictory feelings. On the one hand, what he saw disturbed him, on the other hand, he felt a certain relief because now he knew that he was not alone here.
After turning abruptly, he saw a young girl, probably not more than twenty years old. The aforementioned girl exuded an overwhelming aura of indifference. She was wearing a rather unusual black outfit, which consisted of a black blouse with a deep and rose-trimmed neckline that many men - or even women - would find her attractive, of course some bigots would find it immoral and most likely would like to burn a woman at the stake.
Although Britannia was one of the most developed countries, it was also at least old-fashioned and backward in some respects, the best example of this was the fanatical conservatism omnipresent in Britanni society - although it should be noted that in recent years there has been a sexual and moral revolution in the empire, initiated by Playboy magazine.
However, going back to the woman, she had hair which was mostly jet black, only the tips and areas around it were pink. In addition, pink eyes that seemed to pierce the person opposite right through.
In fact, three things had disturbed Dracord at the sight of this girl. These were, in turn: her presence in this place, her completely expressionless or emotional behavior - which for some reason seemed strangely familiar to the silver-haired prince, but he was unable to remember why - and the last thing was what seemed to be a tattoo on on her neck, it was the same symbol that Dracord now had in his left eye - except that the tattoo engraved on her neck was pink.
Dracord looked her straight in the eye, he stared, and he was unable to get a single word out of him, even a single and meaningless one. The current situation - and it didn't make any sense whatsoever - meant that the silver-haired prince didn't know what to say, didn't even know what to think at all.
He didn't have to say anything because it was the girl who spoke first. "So you finally encountered the work of those to whom you are related after your mother, haven't you?" Her voice was completely cold, without any particular expression.
What the hell is she talking about? Dracord stared at her with an obvious question mark on his angular face. "What do you mean?" He finally asked, but his voice cracked, he hadn't expected such a question.
The pink-eyed girl blinked twice in surprise, before she managed to control her emotions. It became obvious that this was not the answer she expected from him.
Dracord finally managed to control his emotions enough to be able to think fully rationally. Those with whom I am related after my mother? It was a really mysterious question for him, the girl might have meant some old bloodline whose blood had at some point combined with the blood of House Thargryn.
It is rather impossible, or at least highly improbable. At this point, his mind had fully returned to its normal efficiency. At last, prince Dracord di Britannia began to carefully analyze - with the help of his extraordinary mind - the entire situation.
What is actually going on here? The question was similar to the previous one, which unfortunately has not been answered so far. Like the previous one, this question was fully justified. The silver-haired prince had never before met anyone like this pink-eyed girl with a strange tattoo under her neck. I have no doubts about it.
On the other hand, it could not have been a dream. I dreamed many times, didn't remember much after waking up, but never what I saw was as accurate and clear as it is now. All his reflections and - a few conclusions - ultimately lead to a simple, albeit absurd, conclusion.
"So what I see is some form of vision?" What the hell am I saying? Visions are a phenomenon that only occurs in the creations of fantasy culture, or at least on the border of fantasy. Something like this can't happen in the real world, it's just impossible.
But so far there was no other "logical" explanation for the whole situation. The young prince never thought that the most absurd conclusion would be the most logical. Nevertheless it happened. Apparently, only a fool tries to make sense of everything.
"You've finally started to see it as something that makes sense." Said an unfamiliar girl, with a "tattoo" under her neck. "But you are wrong, it is not a vision. Now I'm not even going to try to explain it to you because you're not ready for it yet. " She stated directly, but her voice was still unnaturally indifferent, and her eyes literally pierced the silvery-haired youth through, like a mighty shell of armor that is too weak to cause a ricochet.
It is not a human being. Dracord, for perhaps the second time in his life, genuinely shivered with fear. He was not afraid of human beings or anything inhuman that people call a monster. This time, however, there was something physically human in front of him, but in terms of behavior, this being did not seem to resemble a human at all.
The silvery-haired prince's eyes began to tremble with terror, and his left hand trembled. "Who..." He tried to say, but the mounting panic prevented him from doing so.
"Who am I?" She said what the silver-haired prince wanted to say. The girl smiled, but there were no feelings in her eyes.
The sight terrified Dracord even more. After a while, however, he remembered his father's words from two years ago and that moment. Your mother came from a great line that was called the lineage of the dragon. But what I see here is not a dragon, what I see is not even a dragon chicks ... Dracord remembered his father's words, the words that had been uttered on the day the prince felt real fear for the first time.
On that day, Dracord was summoned to the court before the emperor. His father was very dissatisfied - to put it mildly - with his lack of attention from science, both in learning fencing and in learning about history and strategy.
The silver-haired prince still remembers what his father said to him, he even remembered the smiling faces of court snakes, and most importantly, he remembered the emperor's terrifying anger. What I see is just a broken little brat, who is considered smarter than all the people around! Dracord still remembers how at that moment the emperor rose from his throne, the young prince stepped back a few steps, then turned over and fell backward.
The emperor's next words forever stuck in Dracord's memory, the words and the accompanying strong tone of his father's voice. I don't need weak and lazy idiots, what I need is someone who can be useful to the empire in any way! So it will be better for you if you start learning to become strong and useful, otherwise you will be disinherited and abandoned! That's all, now you can walk away. Dracord stood there speechless for a few seconds, then stood up, bowed, turned on his heel, and headed for the door.
The young prince remembers that moment very well. Now it felt exactly like when he stood completely speechless before his father's throne. The resemblance to those times was only too obvious.
The young girl sighed, and thus knocked Dracord over to reality. "I'll answer your question one day." Her words intrigued Dracord a bit, he forgot his fear for a moment and he was able to calm down. "But now focus, in a moment you will see the fate of those to whom you are related thanks to your mother's blood."
Draord didn't have enough time to ask her what he meant. Before he asked the question, the area around was changed, the formerly vast area was replaced by urban buildings. However, the buildings and infrastructure were nothing like anything modern.
Dracord looked around with undisguised puzzlement. He did not understand it, but after a brief look at the buildings, he came to a simple conclusion. The style of what surrounds me resembles ancient buildings. Then he looked at one of the nearby houses. These columns seem to be taken straight out of the architecture of the ancient Greek Polis. Most likely ... Mycenaean architecture. For Dracord, figuring it out was a test of his knowledge of the history of architecture and art.
After a moment of watching, he decided to move forward and take a walk through the streets. Everything he encountered appeared to be perfectly cared for. It wasn't long before he met people, tried to talk to a few of them, but none of them paid any attention to him and they just continued their march. One of them literally passed through the Dracord as if the prince did not exist.
After a few moments, the pink-eyed girl reappeared in front of him, with the same expressionless expression on her face. She looked straight into Dracord's eyes, but this time the young prince kept his composure. I come from a lineage whose members were considered dragons, nothing will ever scare me again. He looked back, this time exuding even stoic calm and steely determination.
"What does it all mean?" He asked, his voice becoming as calm as his expression, but the tattooed girl remained unmoved. "I already know that everything I see is not real." And he pointed to the surrounding area. "You admitted it yourself. However, this is not a vision. So what is it actually? A dream or something extremely similar? "
What I am doing is most likely just a dream, and I began to consider it more than a product of my subconscious mind. Dracord rebuked himself.
"This is a dream." The pink-eyed girl answered quickly and without thinking. "Yes, you are dreaming. But what you see is not a figment of your imagination, what you see has been strictly imposed by me. "
Dracord remained calm. I don't think I will find out what she is, so I will ask her something else. He thought, the expression in his purple eyes became firm. "What are you actually showing me?"
"As soon as it is all over you will understand." She answered his next question with the same indifference in her voice as before. "Now watch and be proud of your ancestors."
Dracord said nothing more, instead began to watch everything again. This time he completely devoted himself to what was to be presented to him.
He continued to watch everything. For many minutes he walked the streets of this ancient city, admired the architecture, looked at most of the people he met here, and he had no doubt that it was Polis, who at that moment was at the height of her power and wealth.
He was surprised, however, by some inventions that held some of the inhabitants in their hands. These "things" did not seem to fit with the technological developments of the time, yet somehow in the hands of some Dracord saw some devices shaped like a ring and with what looked like a sakuradite core.
Besides, the silver-haired prince noticed that some of them were literally talking to these devices and, even stranger, were getting an answer. They're kind of like phones? Or maybe it has a different application than I think? However, no other use occurred to him.
His attention was soon drawn to a young and expensive woman, escorted by several guards with white weapons. After a while he saw something in her left eye that made the silver-haired prince stop in surprise. Why does she have the same bird mark in her eye as me? Then he looked at one of the nearby puddles, the same damned mark was still in his left eye, and it seemed to emit a silvery light. What the hell is that? What is this cursed curse?
After a while, however, a thought crossed his mind. However, is it possible to use it somehow. The question was absolutely justified. The previous thought gave rise to another. Can it make me useful to the empire? And for the di Britannia line. My line.
His thoughts were fully justified. Phobos was undoubtedly his older twin brother, he was strong, hardworking and respectable at court. However, he lacked cleverness and calculation.
Dracord, though he often allowed himself to be arrogant - or even insolent - nevertheless had the mind of a real strategist, he knew what moves or alliances could ultimately be best for both of them, and he always tried to implement his plans - if at all possible.
After a while the pink-eyed girl - who not so long ago caused a real fear in the silver-haired prince - appeared before him again. This time her face seemed to Dracord a little beaming.
I need to find out what this symbol is, or rather a mark. After these thoughts, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he had an overwhelming impression that what was still in his left eye was something that could change his view of the world. After a moment, he was about to ask a question, opened his mouth. However, he did not have such an opportunity.
"Want to know what this symbol is?" She asked a rhetorical question - this time her voice felt a little warmer than before - then pointed her finger at his left eye. "This is the power of geass." She announced as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Geass? The named one said absolutely nothing to Dracord and made him feel confused. His confused expression deepened the longer he stared into the eyes of the tattooed girl. I wonder if I should be concerned to the core? Or should I burn myself in shame because of my ignorance?
"Certainly the term means nothing to you." The pink-eyed girl said and a gentle smile appeared on her face. The whole situation seemed to be amusing her. "I'm not surprised you don't know anything about it. After all, no one has ever seen fit to inform you of the work of your ancestors, a work by which those who died can meet together. "
Nobody found it appropriate? Dracord did not know what to say, and it is hardly surprising for him. "What do you mean?" He asked, considering that was the most appropriate question, at least for the moment.
The tattooed girl only smiled and then said, "Poor child," She said with obvious mockery in her voice. "A child in the fog. Your father apparently never saw fit to tell you about geass, something your ancestors called the power of kings. "
My father hid something from me? But after all, Dracord was not surprised by this fact, after all, he was a member of the imperial family, while the emperors repeatedly found it appropriate not to tell everything to their descendants and they were right, the best proof of this was the great number of emperors who died at the hands of their own sons or daughters.
"What is all this geass?" He asked once more, but this time his tone was a bit louder than moments ago, louder and much more forceful.
The girl, however, did not mind his determination, as if it were all insignificant play for her.
Nevertheless, she decided to explain something. "As mentioned before, geass is something that your ancestors created, something called the power of kings, because once only people of royal position could be honored to wield this power."
The power of kings? The name was clearly engraved in the mind of the silvery-haired prince. If a geass is called the power of kings, it means that it must be something powerful, something that only someone special can wield.
"What exactly is this power of kings?" Dracord asked, his voice clearly showing interest in that power.
"It depends." She replied after a short "blink of an eye" moment with the pink-eyed girl.
"Ordinary people in most cases receive a power that can freely influence the minds of others, frankly the geass of ordinary people is just a pathetic shadow of the possibilities that kings power can give. However, for people who have the blood of the inhabitants of a long devastated island, it is different, in which case that power may be what it was meant to be.
Dracord frowned at her reply. This was clearly not what he expected, but the girl had answered his question to some extent anyway, so he couldn't be mad at her. After all, I still don't know how this power manifests in… The silver-haired prince hesitated for a moment. If he was not an ordinary man, who exactly was he?
Is he therefore more than an ordinary person? Or is it just a delusion that is supposed to hide his lowness and inferiority?
After all, I still don't know how this power manifests itself in those of my kind. I am curious what such power has to offer me. I am sincerely curious about the uses of this power, I feel that thanks to this I can achieve something more than ordinary people. After these thoughts, his face was adorned with a smile full of arrogance, a smile worthy of someone in his social standing.
"How is this power displayed in superhumans like me?" He asked with lightly narrowed eyes and open arrogance, both in his eyes and in his voice.
The girl just laughed in response. She continued laughing for a minute or so, as if asking the silver-haired prince was the funniest thing in the world. However, after the aforementioned minute, she finally calmed down and became serious again.
"All I had to do was tell you that you are more than ordinary people and that you are already so proud, like a peacock." She said dryly. "No wonder the emperor called you a spoiled little brat who thinks he is smarter than anyone else."
Her words made the blood in the veins of the silvery-haired prince boil, but he refrained from venting his fury. Instead, his eyes remained slightly narrowed.
"I will not fully answer your question now, dear prince." Her use of his title was clearly marked by the mocking tone in her voice. "No, however, you will learn the truth about the power of kings, you will learn the truth about your heritage and what led to the destruction of the once thriving island, its inhabitants and the kingdom that these people built."
Her words disturbed Dracord a little. "Wait ..." But he was not allowed to continue.
"But I will show you fractions of those moments." The pink-eyed girl announced, and her voice was clearly deeper than before.
Moments later, she disappeared. At this point, Dracord felt as if he had just started to drift away, the reality he had seen began to blur into millions of different ones. His mind also seemed to blur and split into millions of different ones. Everything that had made any sense so far has lost it. Time and reality began to seem non-existent.
And after a while, Dracord's mind was filled with dozens of different images. First, joy, abundance and development towards a bright future. Then a time of crisis, quarrels and mutual blame. At the very end, the culmination of this process, disintegration, fratricidal struggle, mutual extermination, unimaginable cruelty, death, and finally the cataclysm that led to the sinking of the island.
Dracord watched it all with apparent calm, but in fact his mind had become so incoherent and broken into many millions of pieces that he could not do anything or feel anything, he could only observe everything. Until the end was finally came.
The day seemed calm at first. Everything was supposed to go on as it does on a daily basis, and it did so most of the day. At the Aries villa, no one expected what happened.
"Dracord?" Lelouch asked, scared with difficulty as he stared at his unconscious half-brother. The raven-haired prince did not know what to do in this situation, for a few seconds he was paralyzed by great fear, but after a while he managed to wake up. "Help!" He screamed as loud as possible.
After a while, he walked over to his brother lying on the floor and poked him several times. To no avail, he tried to roll him over onto his back. When he managed to change his brother's position, he immediately put his head to his mouth.
Lelouch could breathe a sigh of relief. Thank god he's still breathing. He can still be saved. Dracord's breathing was weak, but he was. After a while, Lelouch began to help his brother. Fortunately, he knew how to do it, because Empress Marianne taught her children and other patients how to provide first aid, even if only to a limited extent.
For the raven haired prince, the attempt to provide his stepbrother with first aid turned out to be quite a challenge, it was caused by his dubious physical condition, but it does not change the fact that he made an attempt to save his brother.
Thirty compressions and two breaths. Lelouch kept repeating in his head. However, this turned out to be much more of a challenge than he initially assumed. Already with the first thirty tribulations, the raven-haired prince practically collapsed from his dubious strength.
However, Lelouch was very lucky, for after a while one of the guards of the villa, Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald, ran up to him. The turquoise hair guard immediately replaced Lelouch and continued to provide first aid to the silver-haired prince.
It took effect, Dracord's breathing improved. The Margrave decided to take the silver-haired prince to his room and let him rest. Soon they stumbled upon another guard who helped Margrave carry the prince, and after a few seconds Cornelia joined them.
Everyone carried him to his room, it was a rather modest place, even for the conditions of the Aries villa, the main ornaments were books on military arranged on regiments and shelves. The guards and the princess laid the silvery-haired prince on a bed and covered him with a quilt. However, before this happened, Cornelia took off his jacket, the color of which was supposed to imitate, at least to a small extent, the color of silver.
Lelouch shyly approached the bed and watched his stepbrother. Dracord just seemed to be asleep. The raven-haired prince began to assume that his brother fainted during the walk, it was possible because the weather that day was exceptionally warm and Dracord was after intensive training.
"Will the big brother be alright?" Lelouch asked, still somewhat shaken. After a moment he felt a hand gently grab his left arm. The Raven haired prince turned to see his older sister holding her hand on his shoulder with an affectionate expression on her face.
"Yes." The purple-haired princess replied, her voice showing no doubt or concern. "Our brother probably just fainted. Nevertheless, I decided to call in someone who could assess his condition much better. "
Her words calmed the young prince, who after a short moment nodded and then looked at his half-brother, then grabbed his left hand.
Suddenly, there was a great rumble in the room, Lelouch, Cornelia and the guards turned towards the door, where the sound was coming from. They saw Phobos standing in the doorway, probably for the first time in his life the man was so scared, his hands literally shaking like jelly.
"Dracord!" He roared with unimaginable despair in his tone, then ran to his brother's bed and fell to his knees, in the next few seconds perhaps tears began to flow from his eyes. "Don't you dare die." He said in a low and emotional voice.
"Big Brother Dracord!" For another time, there was a roar in the room from the door, this time the princesses Nunnally and Euphemia were responsible. They both ran immediately to the bed and sat down next to their brother -Nunnally on the left and Euphemia on the right- and cuddled up to him.
After a while, Empress Marianne also entered the room, she was not delighted with the condition of her ward, but she remained calm, the only difference was the lack of a characteristic sense of humor and smile.
Dracord lay there for over five hours. In the meantime, a doctor - summoned by Princess Kornelie - arrived at the villa, but his diagnosis was gloomy and did not fill anyone with optimism. He stated that the cause of the silvery-haired prince's loss of consciousness was an epilepsy attack.
It surprised everyone, because so far Dracord showed no symptoms, the called doctor had to explain to them that the cause of the disease in most cases is unknown. Dracord's future was not bright, to say the least. Repeated seizures of epilepsy could prove dangerous to the silver-haired prince, so he would always need someone to look after him if needed.
All in all, Dracord had been unconscious for more than seven hours, the entire time there was always someone by his side. However, after some time some people started to leave the room, Empress Marianne had a few urgent matters to do, Princess Cornelia had to return to supervise the security, Phobos was no longer able to look at his unconscious brother and left with tears in his eyes, probably the fifth prince went to his own room to fall asleep.
Outside, standing in front of the door was Jeremiah Gottwald, faithful and ready as ever. It was almost midnight, and a total of four people remained in the room. Dracord who was still unconscious. Euphemia and Nunnally fell asleep, cuddled tenderly in their older half-brother. The last person left was the black prince, Lelouch.
The eldest of the vi Britannia siblings sat in one of the leather armchairs, almost fell asleep.
I guess I should go to sleep. He thought and his eyelids seemed to buckle under the weight of overwhelming exhaustion, only his willpower kept him from losing consciousness and putting himself in the embrace of sleep. If I don't fall asleep quickly tomorrow will be really bad and unpleasant.
After which the black prince rose to his feet, stood up with as much dignity as his present condition allowed. He took a few steps towards the door and then heard words addressed to him.
"Lelouch." Someone said, but the raven-haired prince recognized the voice almost immediately.
Lelouch turned to the bed and saw his older half-brother with his eyes open, the moon was full that night and it was well illuminating the face of the silvery-haired prince.
"Dracord, big brother." Lelouch muttered softly, and he felt tears starting to accumulate in his eyes, tears of sincere joy. Then he walked over to his older brother and hugged him as tightly as he could.
"I feared the worst for a long time." The raven-haired prince began with sincere concern in his voice. "I was afraid that ..." But he didn't have a chance to finish.
"It's okay, Lulu." Dracord interrupted him, then kissed him tenderly on the forehead. "I'm not going anywhere," he announced in a confident voice. "Not yet. Not when we're both so young and have our whole life ahead of us. "
AN: And this is next chapter, divine and wonderful. Let the fanfares ring out.
Completely honest, planned to post it in a few weeks but yesterday I got an amazing flow of inspiration for further work. So you can enjoy, of course if story is fun to read for you.
For those of you who don't want to read about childhood of di Britannia twins and they bond with vi and di Britannia I want to reassure you, soon we will go to the main action.
And for now its all, see you someday.