"I hereby renounce my claim to the throne!" – Regular speaking
'How dare the Emperor abandon Nunnally!' – Regular thinking; Italics not in singular quotations are used for emphasis
"Q-1, strike the left flank now!" – Speaking as heard over radios and other communication devices
"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, DIE!" Speech influenced by using Geass
Here it is everyone, as promised. I can't promise any action, but at least the plot now moves forward.
Disclaimer: I don't own any franchise that is used in this story nor do I make any profit from it whatsoever.
I hope you all enjoy the new chapter.
Chapter 4: The Knight's Fall Part II
(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Nunnally's Bedroom – 5:32 am – September 12 – 2017 a.t.b.)
Nunnally shifted slightly in her sleep under the watchful eye of Nemo. The doll in Nunnally's form sighed as she contemplated the events that had happened after her contractor had fallen asleep in the Ghetto.
(Flashback: Shinjuku Ghetto – Afternoon – Previous Day)
C.C. stared in slight surprise as she beheld the sight in front of her.
The witch honestly hadn't expected much of the doll that Clovis had created from her cells, merely considering it just one more abomination created by that bastard Prince. When it had burst out of the container that she had been imprisoned in, she thought that would be the last she'd seen of it.
And yet, it was standing directly in front of her right now and she sensed a definite link between herself and the doll that looked almost identical to her newest contractor's little sister. She also sensed the contract that the doll had made with the young girl, something that she had never had happen to her before. She had never had two contracts created within such a short span of time of each other, especially not between two people so closely related. But the contract that the doll made with Nunnally felt exactly as though she had been the one to offer the contract to the young girl instead of the doll.
She partially activated her Code, allowing her to speak telepathically to the thing that Clovis had created. "Doll, what have you done?" She asked telepathically.
The doll growled at her and responded aloud since the only other person who could hear her was asleep. "My name isn't doll, witch. It's Nemo."
C.C. took a closer look at the doll, Nemo as she called herself, analyzing the connection between herself, Nemo, and Nunnally with her Code. She had learned to manipulate the Code and learnt much about the mysterious power that forced her to live on in her many years alive, but she had never foreseen it being able to be used in this manner. However, before she could delve deeper into the strange phenomenon, Lelouch called her attention to ask for her assistance in helping his maid. She temporarily contemplated telling Lelouch about Nunnally's contract with her through Nemo, but the former doll noticed her intention and gave her a glare.
"Witch, don't you dare tell Onii-sama about this." Nemo's eyes widened slightly as she realized that she had used Nunnally's preferred way of addressing Lelouch by accident before she shook it off and continued to glare at C.C. and finished her warning. "Nunnally doesn't want Lelouch to know anything about this yet." Nemo made sure to stress the usage of Lelouch's name so she didn't slip up again.
C.C. responded telepathically as she turned to help the young woman who had come to her and Lelouch's aid without hesitation. "Very well, Nemo." C.C. felt the name of the strange entity glide through her mind surprisingly easily, despite having only known the entity as Doll ever since its, now her, creation. "I will not tell Lelouch about any of this, but I want an explanation later."
(Flashback End)
(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Nunnally's Bedroom – 5:40 am – September 12 – 2017 a.t.b.)
Nemo heard Nunnally moan slightly as she awakened, causing Nemo to return her attention to the present. Something that the girl appreciated since she didn't want to relive the stressful explanation she needed to give C.C. on the way to Ashford after they had left the Ghetto. Luckily, she had managed to secure C.C.'s secrecy on the matter concerning Nunnally's contract by promising to become Nunnally's knight, in a manner of speaking, in exchange.
The two of them were well aware of the deep love between the two siblings. C.C. had used her knowledge of the fact that the siblings would do anything for each other; even put themselves in harm's way to protect the other, in order to come to an arrangement with Nemo. The deal they worked out after Nemo had finished her explanation was that, as long as Nemo did everything she could do to keep Nunnally alive and well, C.C. would keep silent about the young girl's contract.
Nunnally silently shook her head as she awakened. She sat up, leaning on one of her pillows, and carefully reached over to press a small button on the clock on the small nightstand next to her bed.
A robotic voice spoke out from the machine, "Five Forty A.M., September Twelfth, Two Thousand and Seventeen A.T.B.." The clock that spoke the date and time after a small button was pressed was one of Lelouch's many ideas that he had taken to Ruben so he could help Nunnally.
It was something he'd thought would greatly help Nunnally since she could no longer see the time or the date using a clock or calendar. He had brainstormed many little miscellaneous things that would help make Nunnally's life a little bit easier by coming up with many different inventions to assist her with the things many people took for granted. Since he had absolutely none of the mechanical skill necessary to invent such devices, he turned to Ruben for assistance that the man was all too happy to give.
Of course, there were some things, like her needing to use the bathroom, bathe or her having her period, which he couldn't really do anything to help her for obvious reasons. He, reasonably, left those kinds of things to Sayoko. But, when it came to pretty much anything else, Lelouch always had little, out of the box, ideas he came up with to help his beloved little sister live her life a little bit easier.
Nunnally gave out a big yawn as she stretched and rubbed the back of her permanently closed eyelids with her hand before stopping in slight shock as she saw Nemo in her bedroom. She quickly recalled that it was Nemo's astral body she was seeing and the hectic events that had happened the previous day, reminding her that she was still blind.
Still, there wasn't any particular reason to be rude to the strange entity that was Nemo. "Good morning Nemo." Nunnally said softly. She realized that she must have ended up sleeping the rest of the day away after she had passed out in the Ghetto. She hoped that Sayoko was alright and that Lelouch and the strange C.C. woman he'd saved had managed to help the stealthy maid. When she asked this question to Nemo, the girl who looked almost exactly like her reassured the younger Lamperouge.
"Sayoko is fine," Nemo explained. "The woman Lelouch saved managed to help your maid out of the car safely." She then detailed what happened once Sayoko awakened and told her of the silent drive, between Sayoko, Lelouch, and C.C. at least, back to Ashford which Nunnally had slept through.
After Nunnally learned of what transpired, she had a small smile on her face as she heard that her Onii-sama carried her to her room and tucked her into bed after wrapping up her hand once it became clear that she wasn't going to wake up and returned to his own business for the rest of the day.
Once the mundane matters were finished, Nunnally directed a small frown toward Nemo. She asked a question that had been bothering her for a while, ever since she learned that Nemo could see into the future with her new power. "Nemo?" Nunnally asked quietly. "What did you see in Onii-sama's future?" Nunnally was slightly worried about what she would find out.
Nemo sighed at Nunnally's question. There was only one thing she had seen for sure, the rest of his future was too muddled for her to see properly. "As Onii-sama is right now, all paths lead to Zero." Nemo winced as she slipped up again.
Seeing that Nunnally was confused, Nemo elaborated. "Lelouch is going to become Zero. He is going to become a symbol for all those oppressed by those who abuse their power and he will become a legendary revolutionary with help from the Geass he obtained from C.C." That much had been clear to her at least. There were no other paths that Lelouch would take in the near future provided C.C. kept her word.
Nemo ignored Nunnally's gasp of shock as she contemplated why she kept calling Lelouch Onii-sama.
It seemed that, after being inside Nunnally's mind when she made their contract, had inadvertently made her see Lelouch in the same light as Nunnally, at least before her mind was solely hers again. It had been her first contract so she hadn't realized just how deep the psychic connection truly was between contractors. She had been unprepared for the sheer devotion the young girl felt for her older brother and it had overwhelmed her own mind in the process.
She could differentiate between her own emotions towards Lelouch, curiosity and respect with a slight hint of yearning that was a remnant of the emotions she felt from Nunnally, and Nunnally's, a fierce dedicated love mixed with great mischief and devotion, now but she still slipped up sometimes. Nemo had no doubt that, if Lelouch asked her to and she was able, Nunnally would happily burn the world to the ground for him with a smile if that was what he truly wanted.
Her devotion to Lelouch was most definitely not something that a little sister held for her older brother. No, that was far too miniscule a scale to judge Nunnally's love for her Onii-sama. It wasn't anything as twisted as a slave's devotion to her master either, that was far too warped a description for a devotion so pure. It was far more like an Angel's devotion to their God. Not to say she necessarily worshipped him in that sense, but it certainly captured the sheer loyalty that Nunnally had for her beloved big brother.
Nunnally would never refuse anything Lelouch asked of her, just as he would never refuse anything she asked of him, which was why she was so subconsciously terrified of Lelouch learning of her new powers. She wanted to be of use to Lelouch and she wanted to help him no matter what, but if he asked her to, she would never fight again. No matter how much it would pain her to sit on the sidelines while her Onii-sama fought alone.
Nunnally gulped a little bit to wet her throat that had gone dry at the serious tone that Nemo had spoken in. Her hands clenched her blankets subconsciously as she asked her next question. "W-What does that mean? What will Onii-sama become when he becomes Zero?" She was slightly scared of the answer because she knew that the answer was definitely not going to be a hero. She couldn't see her beloved brother becoming a hero with his distorted mind. She didn't care about his Geass that he had obtained from the woman he'd saved and been saved by. She knew that he wouldn't tell her about it because he wouldn't want her to worry about him doing something reckless, so she would ignore it until he decided to tell her.
Nemo sighed in resignation as she answered Nunnally's question honestly. "I can't see that much just yet. I'm sorry." Nemo was unable to see the specifics, but she knew one thing for sure. Zero would become great. Lelouch would become Zero and he would change the world, whether it was for the better though was unclear.
Nunnally clenched her fists tighter in her blankets and nodded in thanks. She was glad Nemo had told her these things, even if it wasn't much.
A knock on Nunnally's door disrupted her tense and introspective mood. "Nunnally, it's me." Lelouch said quietly as he knocked on her door again. "Are you awake Nunnally?" He asked softly.
Nunnally smiled brightly as she heard her brother's voice speak to her through her bedroom door. She never tired of hearing his kind voice during these private moments they had together before the day began.
She responded softly, but happily to Lelouch so he wouldn't think that she was still asleep. "Yes Onii-sama, I'm awake." As she heard her door open while Lelouch walked in quietly, shutting the door behind him after he stepped in fully, she finished her statement. "I woke up at 5:40." She didn't want to make him worry that she had woken up in the middle of the night. She felt her bed shift as Lelouch sat down on her bed next to her.
Lelouch looked at the most important person to him in the world as she shifted slightly to make some room for him to sit comfortably on the large bed. He shifted himself so that she could lean her head on his shoulder and he maneuvered the laptop over his legs.
Eventually, after moving into the Ashford estate, Nunnally had told him that she felt lonely when she woke up without him around since they had usually slept closely together at the Kururugi Shrine. However, they had been forbidden from sleeping in the same room after they gained refuge with the Ashford family because of the fact that it was deemed inappropriate for a brother and sister to share a bedroom at their ages.
Lelouch and Nunnally had protested, neither understanding nor caring about the implications, but Lelouch had been forced to settle for the bedroom closest to the one that was to be Nunnally's, which was rather far away. They had never been separated so far from each other at night, even their rooms when they lived in Pendragon had been close by. It had been uncomfortable for them, but they sort of got used to it. However, as soon as Nunnally mentioned her loneliness, Lelouch had come up with a small routine for the two of them to follow. Every morning, he would arrive to her room at around six in the morning and just relax and spend some quality time with Nunnally if she was awake. If she was asleep he would leave her be until a little while later so she could rest, not having the heart to disturb her sleep unless she was having a nightmare.
Before he started the first part of their usual morning routine, he knew that he should ask her if she wanted to speak about yesterday. But he was apprehensive about broaching the subject. He didn't want to talk to Nunnally about his plans to go to war; he didn't want to worry her.
Nunnally internally frowned as she felt her Onii-sama's nervousness. When she hadn't heard him open up the laptop, she figured out that her brother must have been thinking about how to bring up what happened the previous day, without lying to her. She decided to take the problem out of his hands.
"Is Sayoko alright?" Nunnally asked as she curled up to her brother's warm body. He always felt so warm to her, something that had ended up being a great help during the cold winter at Kururugi Shrine. Even if she already knew that their kind maid was already fine, if she didn't ask it would seem suspicious. Besides, it would help her Onii-sama by bringing up a subject related to Shinjuku, allowing her Lelou to bring up the subject without having her ask him why he brought it up.
After becoming blind and crippled, physical contact and sound had become important aspects of Nunnally's ability to cope with her disabilities. While they were around other people, it was the little things that helped, like hearing Lelouch's laugh when he was smiling at her or when he held her hand, sometimes kissing it, in order to constantly remind her that he was still there. But when they were in private was when they were closest, when she would sit in his lap or curl up to his side until there was barely any separation between their bodies. That was when Nunnally felt the most comfortable; when she was alone with her beloved Onii-sama she could abandon the necessary space between them and be as close as she wanted with her beloved brother.
Lelouch looked down at Nunnally as she spoke. He let out a small smile. He figured that Nunnally must have noticed something was wrong and wanted to help him. "Yes Sayoko is fine." He replied with a warm tenor, in great contrast to his usual cold and aloof tone of voice when they were with other people. He chuckled quietly. "Although Milly's going to be pissed since the car will need to be fixed up."
"And C.C.?" Nunnally spoke quietly as she smiled. The relief that she felt from her brother after asking her first question made her positive that she made the right choice. She knew that her Onii-sama would never lie to her, but she knew there were some things that he didn't want to let her know. So she did her best to not bring them up, since bringing it up would hurt her beloved Lelou when he told her the truth.
At the witch's name, Lelouch grumbled. "Oh, her. Yeah, C.C.'s fine." He thought about just what happened the previous night after they had gotten home.
(Flashback: Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Ashford Academy – Evening – Previous Day)
After arriving back home, putting Nunnally to bed, and ordering Sayoko to get herself checked by the Ashford's private physician, Lelouch went straight to his room. Or he would have if he didn't have to track down C.C. first, the woman having decided to explore her new place of residence to get used to it.
"Damn it woman, don't wander off like that." He hissed as he dragged the green-haired witch by her hand towards his room. "I don't want any rumors spreading around school due to your presence here." He glared at the witch who was smirking at him before dragging her into his room. "Attention is the last thing either of us need right now." He set himself up on his desk and cracked open the briefcase containing his armor.
"Now, feel free to make yourself comfortable, just don't disturb me right now. I have to study this thing before I use it– and what the hell are you doing?!" He cut himself off from his earlier line of thought as he turned slightly to try and show how serious he was before noticing just what C.C. was doing to follow his earlier request.
C.C. didn't even hesitate in continuing her actions. "What's the problem Lelouch?" she practically purred as she peeled off her straitjacket and kicked off her pants and thigh-high boots, leaving her in just her undershirt, which still only covered from her neck to just below her breasts leaving her toned stomach bare, and her short shorts. Though she quickly divested herself of those as well as she continued speaking through Lelouch's shocked silence. "I'm just making myself comfortable after all." The immortal placed her hands on her naked hips, cocking them slightly as an unspoken taunt. "See something you like?" She stated coyly.
Lelouch stared and it was all he could do to stop himself from gaping at the beauty before him. Intellectually he knew she was beautiful, but seeing her like this wasn't exactly something that had crossed his mind. He thought she had been bluffing when she teased him back in Shinjuku, and he was all but certain that was still the case, but he was still rendered speechless by C.C.'s actions. Still, as he gazed openly at the woman who showed no hint that she was going to cover herself any time soon, his eyes caught sight of something rather surprising.
A scar, eerily shaped like the symbol on her forehead, was carved underneath her left breast. He stood up and made his way towards C.C. with a serious look on his face, his eyes not leaving the scar. As Lelouch stood in front of her, he was frozen for a moment by the look in her golden eyes as they stared up at him, no longer having the benefit of her high heels that helped her equal his height. He knew she was mocking him, her smirk was enough evidence of that, but he put the thought out of his mind. "You going to take me up on my offer then, lost Prince?" C.C. taunted him. "I'm sure neither of us have forgotten my offer in Shinjuku."
Lelouch ignored her taunt as he stared her down, ignoring her admittedly good looks in order to try and gauge her reaction to his response. "I appreciate your desire C.C., but what I want most right now is answers." As he observed how she reacted, he began to consider what he should ask someone who had lived for such a long time.
C.C. was actually stumped for a moment. She truly did expect the boy in front of her to take advantage of her willingness to let loose after being trapped for seven years. She was actually a little disappointed, he was rather good looking and even if he didn't have a lot of experience she could teach him easily enough. She frowned and crossed her arms underneath her breasts before sighing. She made a noise signaling her disappointment and made her way to her new bed. "Oh fine, Mr. buzzkill. What do you want to know?" She plopped down, enjoying the bounce of the mattress for a moment, and crossed her legs to show Lelouch just what he was missing out on tonight. She'd get over her mild spite eventually, but she wouldn't let him forget this easily. "I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability, but I can't promise answers to all of them." It looked like she would have to deal with her lack of fun herself later on.
"Are there other Geass users out there?" Lelouch decided to keep his questions to his immediate concerns, he didn't want to ask anything that might result in a tediously long answer. He also studiously ignored the way her breasts enticingly bounced as she made herself comfortable on his bed. He may not have been currently interested in having sex with C.C., but damn was she making her earlier offer tempting. 'Self-control, Lelouch, self-control.' He thought to himself, though not without shifting carefully as he sat back in his chair at his desk.
A nice cold shower would be in order after she had answered all of his questions.
"Yes, there are others." C.C. answered with a nod, laying back in the bed and rubbing her arms over the soft covers. Her contractor had some damn good taste in sheets. The fact that her movement again made her body react in rather enticing ways was purely a coincidence. Purely.
"Will you tell me their identities?" Lelouch pressed as he examined the helmet on his desk, the rest of the armor being too cumbersome to look at right now. His fingers fiddled around the chin and a slot popped open on the right side of the mask. Right where an eye would be. 'Huh, interesting.' He thought as he listened to C.C.'s answer. Lelouch ignored all of her antics as he began to consider certain possibilities that hadn't been available before.
"No. I won't." C.C. shifted so that her feet were kicking up at the air as she lay down on her stomach, her hands supporting her head as her elbows kept her elevated. She stared at the back of her newest accomplice with an amused grin on her face as he turned slightly with an eyebrow raised questioningly. "Well, I will tell you if it becomes a threat to our contract in some way and I actually know who they are." She amended her previous statement. "But other than circumstances like those I think it'll be more fun for you to discover things on your own." She smirked at Lelouch's dissatisfied huff as he turned back to his tinkering.
Lelouch could tell dealing with an immortal was going to be troublesome. She clearly treated life as more of a game, not adhering to any real societal rules if she didn't want to and basing her actions based on whether or not they were "interesting", her whims compelled her to act, or not doing something would constitute "a threat" to her or her goals. Whatever they were.
"Is every Geass like mine?" He did his best to keep his focus on the helmet in front of him. Another few shifts had revealed that there was another slot on the left side of the helmet and both slots could be open at the same time. They were apparently controlled by a mechanism inside the helmet where the jaw would be. He suspected the slots were there so that the individuals inside wouldn't be blinded if their vision was obscured by something on the outside of the mask.
"No, every Geass is tailored to the greatest desires of the individual who receives it." This was a subject C.C. wasn't exactly too fond of with her previous experiences. Still, she said she'd answer to the best of her ability. "Each Geass is unique, but some can have overlapping capabilities." Her own Geass of Absolute Adoration had similarities with Lelouch's Geass of Absolute Obedience considering her enthralled had never really managed to resist her requests.
Lelouch stayed silent for a few minutes as he considered the information he'd learned from C.C. and the new potential offered by the mask in front of him. He carefully worded his next question so that C.C. wouldn't take it as a threat. "Just how exactly are you immortal C.C.?" Lelouch asked quietly, causing the witch behind him to go silent. "I'm just curious, especially since you have granted Geass to many people before me. Yet you don't seem to have one of your own." He hoped he hadn't angered the immortal behind him with this line of questioning, but this was an opportunity to learn more about her. And that was something he couldn't pass up, he didn't like not knowing about the people around him and Nunnally.
C.C. frowned and considered how to properly respond to Lelouch's question. While she did want to keep her word and answer to the best of her ability, she didn't want to divulge too much personal information to the boy right now. She had been stabbed in the back, often literally, enough times to know that trusting too early was a fatal mistake. She decided on a compromise, she'd give him information, but make sure to omit anything potentially damaging for her. "What I have is called a Code." C.C. began. "I am unable to die, no matter what is done to me. Be it being burned at the stake, having my head cut off, or being stabbed or shot. Old age is also nothing I ever have to worry about." She smirked as she decided to tease the boy a little bit as punishment for delving into this line of questioning. "As you could probably tell, my body is flawless despite the fact that I have been alive for well over one hundred years." She laughed as she caught his body freeze in response to her teasing. "This Code is also what allows me the ability to grant the Power of Kings to anyone who I initiate a contract with. Does that answer satisfy you Lelouch?" She finished, successfully hiding the bitterness in her voice at remembering her curse.
"Yes, it does. Thank you for sharing that with me C.C." Lelouch finished calmly as he did his best to suppress his blush. Though now he had another question. "Why do you call Geass, the 'Power of Kings' and what exactly do you mean by it?" That was the second time she had used the phrase, the first time being when she said the "Power of the King" would condemn him to a life of solitude.
"It's not hyperbole." C.C. said as she carefully considered how much to reveal. "Many powerful people throughout history have had the power of Geass bestowed upon them. Many more have been lost to history after failing to use their power intelligently." She snorted quietly in amusement as she thought of a few people who turned out to not be cut out for the power she granted them. "Still, many of the individuals who have ruled as monarchs held the power of Geass at their disposal, hence why it is called the Power of the King." She licked her lips slightly, feeling them begin to dry from talking for so long. "Geass is also referred to as the Power of Kings because often the abilities gained through Geass are similar to the capabilities of what an individual would be capable of had they been an absolute monarch with no checks on their powers." Her time in the Geass Directorate had served her well in discovering more about Codes and Geass, but she still couldn't find a way to dispose of her curse without passing it on to another. She frowned before discarding that line of thought as pointless, instead choosing to focus on how Lelouch was dealing with this new information.
Lelouch carefully committed the new information into his memory. "Interesting." Was the only response he could come up with offhand. He placed the helmet back in the briefcase, intending to study it later. Lelouch felt that paying greater amounts of attention to what C.C. was saying would be the better option right now. Even if he didn't have many questions left. "Thank you for telling me all of this C.C." His next question was something that he desperately wanted to know and he did his best to keep his voice steady. "Please answer this next question honestly. Is V.V. like you? Is that why you know who he is?"
"Yes, to both questions." C.C. said softly. Despite her own knowledge on the matter, she knew that this question was very important to Lelouch. "I can't tell you everything, especially as I've been imprisoned the past seven years, but I can tell you that much." She hoped that her answer was enough for Lelouch. She blinked in surprise though at his reaction.
Lelouch slumped backwards over his chair, a maniacal chuckle weaseling its way past his lips before he clamped down on it. "Thank you for being honest with me C.C." The exiled Prince said with a mad grin across his face that he couldn't suppress as easily as his laughter. "Thank you." He repeated with more sincerity as he regained control over himself. He closed his eyes and just relaxed for the moment, considering once again all that he'd learned.
"Do you have any more questions?" C.C. yawned cutely, stretching to try and once again draw Lelouch's attention to her current state to both tempt and tease him. She shifted along the bed, grasping the covers to pull over herself before she heard Lelouch's question.
"I do have one more, actually." Lelouch said quietly as he turned slightly to look at C.C. "How did you get that scar over your heart?" It was the last question he wanted answered because he had seen her shot in the head and she hadn't received so much as a mark other than the strange one already in the middle of her forehead. Despite what she had said earlier about her body being "flawless", Lelouch still couldn't get that scar out of his mind.
C.C. frowned and pulled the covers over her body, ignoring the probing look of the Prince as he turned around in his chair. "That's one question I won't answer just yet, my dear accomplice." She said somewhat coldly, a rather sharp contrast to her earlier teasing tone. "It is a very private memory, one I do not enjoy reliving." She shifted around slightly and decided to end the conversation with an, admittedly petty, jab. "Thanks for the bed, it's very comfortable." She sounded like a spoiled princess, exactly as she intended.
"Wait, what?" Lelouch's reaction was exactly what C.C. was going for as he crawled over her, trying to drag her out from under his blankets. "Damn it C.C., you can't steal my bed like this!" He glowered from his position over her body, trying to intimidate her.
She responded with a flat look. "Well, I just did, so there." C.C. stuck her tongue out at him and turned on her side, studiously ignoring Lelouch's furious glare.
Lelouch let out an exasperated sigh and decided to just make his way back to his seat to study his armor a bit more. Dealing with C.C. right now, when she was very clearly done talking with him, wouldn't be worth the potential headache.
Besides, he had to make sure he knew the armor's capabilities inside and out before using it in a potential combat mission. It would help to study it without any distractions provided by C.C., especially since he was still planning on that cold shower.
Damn temptress.
(Flashback End)
Nunnally giggled cutely at Lelouch's grumble. "Did C.C. do something Onii-sama?" She wondered what the strange woman's relationship with her Lelou was going to be. She had given him the power to fight Britannia and she wondered what C.C.'s role was going to be in that war. Nunnally already knew her own role; she was going to follow her Onii-sama no matter what. After all, he wasn't the only Lamperouge who despised Britannia, barring very few exceptions.
"I don't want to talk about it." Lelouch grumbled as his response caused Nunnally to giggle again. Still, since the woman was the subject of their conversation, Lelouch supposed he could bring up what he had wanted to say earlier now without a chance that he would need to lie to Nunnally. "You know we shouldn't tell anyone that we were stuck in Shinjuku yesterday and we can't let anyone know about C.C. since the military is after her." Lelouch said in a quiet but serious tone. "If we tell anyone there's a chance she could be captured and that we could be found out." Nunnally was a very smart girl, not as smart as him but that was hardly a fair comparison.
Besides, she had a different kind of intelligence. She always seemed to know when there was something he wanted to avoid speaking about since it would force him to tell her the truth and she would change the subject. Her intelligence was different than his, but that didn't mean it wasn't any less potent. She would understand the implications of what would happen if they were found out.
"No problem Onii-sama. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her after all the trouble you went through to save her." Nunnally said with tiny smile. "Now hurry up and get to work." Nunnally playfully slapped Lelouch's chest with the back of her hand. "I want to learn about what's been going on with Anya recently." She her smile turned a little sad as she thought of their friend that had joined the military. Nunnally wished that Anya hadn't done so, but she could respect the other girl's choice.
Lelouch chuckled at Nunnally's scolding tone. He was glad that he managed to get the important conversation out of the way, now he could just relax and spend some time with his beloved little sister. He cracked open the laptop and quickly found the website he was searching for, having logged in before he came into Nunnally's room. He gave Nunnally a small kiss on her forehead and wrapped his arm around her side as she got comfortable, adjusting her body to conform to his, while he described the current main page on Anya's blog. "This page's background has a light pink back, similar to Euphie's hair, with small sunny orbs spaced evenly throughout the screen." He described softly. He always did his best to include references to colors he knew she could remember, like the color of Euphie's hair or the color of the sun, since Nunnally was unable to properly visualize the colors otherwise.
It had been interesting to learn about his old friend's life from her blog, and rather amusing as well when he read some of the stories about what her friend Gino had done to try and get her to 'loosen up a little bit', Gino's words not hers, apparently.
Once he learned that Anya had created a blog, he made sure to incorporate it into his private time with Nunnally so he could help her catch up on news about their old friend from the Aries Villa. Most of what was allowed to be posted were things that Britannia had no problem with allowing knowledge to the public. Obviously no military secrets or things of similar nature were permitted to be posted, so most of what Anya had on her blog were things about her daily life with sporadic mentions of the most recent news. Though, it was Anya's daily life that both Lelouch and Nunnally enjoyed reading/hearing about the most.
Lelouch quietly read the most recent articles on the blog, making sure to describe any accompanying pictures to Nunnally the best he could, as he enjoyed this little moment of peace.
(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Ashford Academy – 11:53 am – September 12 – 2017 a.t.b.)
Nunnally sighed quietly as she breathed in the fresh air on the porch of her home. She wished she could see the view that Lelouch had described to her in great detail whenever she asked.
After Lelouch had finished reading to her about what Anya had posted on her blog recently she had asked him to let her stay home. She was glad that Lelouch had managed to get Sayoko to call in sick for her today; she had some questions she wanted to ask Nemo.
"Thank you for being quiet while I was with Onii-sama earlier." Nunnally quietly thanked Nemo after Sayoko left her alone on the porch at her request. She appreciated the woman not asking why she asked Lelouch to have her call in sick for her today. Now she decided to get to her questions for Nemo. "Is there any way I can speak to you without other people finding out?" She asked. If there was she would like to know about it so that she didn't have to worry about being unable to respond to Nemo if there was someone else around her.
Nemo gave Nunnally a tiny grin. She wondered when the young girl was going to start taking their contract seriously. It was good to see that Nunnally was planning on taking the initiative on finding out about her new powers. "Of course there is." Nemo responded. "If you direct your thoughts to me, it should allow me to hear you telepathically." Telepathy had been the first skill she worked out while under the Code-R scientists 'gentle care' so she could perceive the outside world from her prison. She couldn't read any thoughts that weren't directed towards her deliberately, but she could still use her telepathy to learn about her surroundings. As long as there were sentient beings nearby at least.
Nunnally cocked her head in confusion. "Um, okay," she said uncertainly. "I'll give it a try." Nunnally relaxed slightly as she tried to clear her mind and did her best to direct her thoughts toward Nemo. Thankfully, the serene atmosphere made that a relatively easy task. 'Nemo, can you hear me?' Nunnally thought to the girl.
Nemo smirked as Nunnally relaxed herself. The girl was very smart. The mind was far more open when it was relaxed, making it far more susceptible to telepathy. In this case, that was what Nunnally wanted since she wanted to contact Nemo with her mind. "Nemo, can you hear me?" Nemo heard Nunnally's voice echo quietly in her mind. She walked over to her skilled contractor and squeezed her shoulder in congratulations. "Yes, Nunnally, you did perfectly." She may not have been able to be seen, but that didn't mean that she couldn't interact with the world physically.
She just needed to concentrate so she could directly affect the physical world when not in her Mark Nemo form. It left her in a sort of half astral state when she did this, preventing her from being seen, but still allowing her some form of connection. If she fully left her astral state while not in the form of her Knightmare she could be seen by anyone who wasn't blind. It was somewhat ironic that Nunnally would only be able to see her while she was invisible to the rest of the world and wouldn't be able to see her when she was visible to others.
Nunnally smiled at her success. Now she wasn't at any risk of being unable to speak to Nemo if she needed to with others nearby. "Thank you, Nemo." Nunnally mumbled quietly. She knew that what she just did wasn't exactly telepathy; it was just her opening her mind and directing her thoughts to someone who could use telepathy. Still, she was glad that Nemo had managed to help her learn how to avoid getting caught.
Now that she thought about it, she still didn't know what Nemo was exactly. "Nemo, just what are you?" Nunnally asked in confusion as soon as the near identical girl released her shoulder. She had been so happy that she could gain the power necessary to help her Onii-sama, that she hadn't bothered to ask and after learning about the power she gained she felt that she had more important things to ask, especially since they concerned her Lelou. Before now, the thought of just what Nemo was had never mattered. It still didn't, but Nunnally was curious about the answer.
Nemo directed a small frown toward Nunnally. "Are you sure you want to know? You may not like the answer." She cautioned the young girl.
Nunnally simply nodded and said, "Yes, I don't care what you are, you gave me the power to help my Onii-sama, so I will always be grateful for that, but I'm still curious." Nunnally waited for a moment before Nemo sighed in resignation.
"Very well, Nunnally." Nemo acquiesced. "I will tell you what I am." She moved until she was standing directly in front of Nunnally before beginning her explanation. "I am a quantum-like entity that was created from the cells of a witch. At least that's what I was when I was a doll." Nemo sighed as she continued to the most important part of her explanation. "Now though, by taking your form through our contract, I've changed. What I've taken from you is what I've become."
"What did you take from me?" Nunnally asked cautiously. She figured that Nemo had most likely not looked like her before their contract, but the young Lamperouge wasn't sure what she had been before. Besides, there were some very clear differences in their appearances. The spandex-like clothing that Nemo wore, only open slightly below her breasts to expose her midriff before covering her up again. It also exposed parts of her thighs and arms, but it was so skintight that it left absolutely nothing to imagination. Her platinum blonde hair and her crimson red eyes also distinguished her from Nunnally's own appearance despite their identical body types.
She had a feeling that Nemo looking almost exactly like her had something to do with their contract. The contract had changed both of them, something that Nunnally wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Other than gaining the power to help her Onii-sama, Nunnally was unsure of what exactly changed after the contract between her and Nemo.
"The darkness inside your heart." Nemo responded simply to Nunnally's query, placing her hand on her chest. It had surprised the former doll; she hadn't expected so much hatred and rage to exist inside such a young girl. In fact, the only thing that could match the level of hatred inside the young girl was her love and devotion for her older brother. No other emotion came close to matching those two emotions in sheer potency. She closed her eyes before continuing her explanation. "By utilizing those feelings of hatred, rage, and vengeance, I've evolved from a mere doll into a higher entity." Nemo opened her eyes and directed a small smirk toward the young girl. The next part was something that she found immensely amusing. She gestured with her hands toward Nunnally. "In a way, I am the manifestation of all of the hatred and rage inside your soul and thus, I am an alternate version of the girl Nunnally vi Britannia." She and Nunnally, when they had created the contract, had essentially become twins, in a manner of speaking.
"My feelings of vengeance?" Nunnally murmured in confusion. "What does that–" She was cut off before she could finish her statement when the door behind her wheelchair opened up and Sayoko walked toward her. Nunnally turned slightly to face the direction she heard Sayoko walking to her and hoped that the shinobi maid hadn't noticed her seemingly one-sided conversation.
"Young mistress?" Sayoko's voice asked in a confused tone. "Are you speaking to someone? I heard your voice." Nunnally felt like releasing a sigh of relief when she realized that Sayoko had only heard her speak and not specific words.
"It's nothing you need to worry about Miss Sayoko," Nunnally reassured the maid with a smile. "I was just thinking out loud that's all." It was just a small white lie that was mixed with a truthful statement.
She knew that Sayoko would spot a lie in an instant, but if she mixed a truthful statement with her lie Sayoko would be unable to pick up on it completely. Lelouch wasn't the only Lamperouge to be a master, or mistress in her case, of deception. Besides, sometimes Nunnally would think out loud if she didn't have anyone to talk to, since she could no longer occupy her time with looking around or other activities, just so that there was some sound for her to hear. Even if it was only her own voice. She made sure to be careful about what she thought about aloud though, just to be safe in case someone tried to eavesdrop on her musings. So her thinking out loud was a definite possibility since there were no other people visible to Sayoko at the moment. Still, despite her skills in deception, she would never turn them on her Onii-sama if she couldn't do it without lying to him.
She knew that they didn't tell each other everything, there were some things that neither gender truly wanted to know about the other after all and there were some things that were meant to be private, but they allowed themselves to, not lie, but change the subject or refuse to talk about certain things to prevent their promise from making them tell each other the truth about an uncomfortable subject.
"I see." The maid responded politely. She quietly made her way to Nunnally and set down the tray of food she had been carrying before gently guiding Nunnally's hand so she could feel where everything on the tray was. "I've brought you some lunch and Master Ruben called a few minutes ago to say that Miss Alice will be bringing you any homework you missed today after school is out." Sayoko explained as she finished 'showing' Nunnally where all the things on the tray was.
Nunnally perked up at the mention of her best friend. "Alice? That's great." Nunnally said happily. "Could you please show her to me when she arrives Miss Sayoko?" She wanted to talk to her friend and apologize for leaving the nurse's office so abruptly like she did. Her worry for her Lelou had made her practically, and ironically, blind to anything else going on around her. Now that her worries had been eliminated she felt slightly bad for what she did to her friend.
"Of course young mistress." Sayoko responded simply before turning to leave the room. "Just give me a call if you need me." The shinobi made sure to keep her phone on her at all times since it was the easiest way for Nunnally to keep in contact with her. A single call on Nunnally's specially made phone was the simplest way for Sayoko to know what the younger Lamperouge wanted.
Once Sayoko had left the room, Nunnally carefully began eating her lunch. Happier than she had been earlier once she learned that her friend would be coming to see her, even if it was for the homework she had missed today. 'Nemo, I'm going to be trying to talk to you like this from now on to avoid being caught. Is that alright?' Nunnally directed her thought to her new 'sister'. She figured she might as well use Nemo's telepathy to avoid being caught talking to her. It would be useful if she and Nemo could figure out a couple more things about their unique connection and she didn't want to be questioned by anyone for asking strange questions to thin air.
"Yes that's fine Nunnally." Nemo agreed easily. It wasn't like there was a difference to her whether or not Nunnally spoke aloud to her. Plus, this way they didn't run the risk of anyone overhearing their conversations.
'What did you mean when you said you were the darkness inside my heart Nemo?' Nunnally was curious as to what exactly that meant. She hadn't felt any different emotionally after accepting the contract, she still absolutely hated her father, so she knew she still had her darker emotions, but she could also feel that Nemo wasn't lying. It was pretty confusing for the young teenager.
That question, despite its complexity, wasn't that hard to answer. "What it means is that I am fueled by your negative emotions." Nemo tried to explain. "I don't take the emotions from you, they still remain where they belong, but the stronger the emotions you feel, the more powerful my Knightmare form becomes." The Mark Nemo wasn't fueled with Sakuradite, it was fueled by Nunnally's hatred. "Now, this doesn't mean you have to feel these emotions whenever we use the Mark Nemo, having them residing in your heart is simply enough to fuel it, but in battle, whenever you do expose yourself to your darker emotions, the Mark Nemo will become stronger." That's how it was able to move quicker than a Sutherland despite the lack of Landspinners.
However, it wasn't just the Mark Nemo that was influenced when it came to her inner darkness. "I also have this form because this is what the darkness inside your heart would look like if it had a physical form." At least that was Nemo's best hypothesis. "Now, I am not just a creature of your negative emotions, I do have my own mind and my own feelings, but my connection to your heart is quite strong." That was likely why she occasionally referred to Lelouch as Onii-sama. If there was anyone that resided in Nunnally's heart deeper than any other, it was her elder brother.
"I see." Nunnally said quietly as she reflected on everything Nemo had just said.
It was quite a lot to take in after all.
(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Camelot HQ - 1:30 pm – September 12 – 2017 a.t.b.)
Lloyd Asplund was not a happy man. Of course, anyone sitting next to Colonel Madd, the man who led the "Britannian Special Honorary Foreign Legion", or as it was more commonly called within the military, the Irregulars, would be hard pressed to find themselves feeling any kind of enjoyment.
Currently Lloyd found his genius mind being forced to play ignorant as to just how his internal competition's Knightmare Frames failed to properly activate during the Shinjuku incident.
He ultimately knew that if it was discovered that he "happened" to know the cause of the technical issues in the Irregular unit's Knightmares, forcing them to use Sutherlands as they were the most advanced Knightmare available at the time and likely contributing to their humiliating defeat (something he most definitely did not gleefully celebrate with a cup of his favorite pudding once he found out about said defeat from the post-action report), that, even with the reputation of being the first person to have a seventh generation Knightmare Frame successfully built and deployed, he would be severely sanctioned by his patron.
"Please explain to me," Prince Schneizel, sponsor of the Camelot Project, Second Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and its Prime Minister, spoke coolly as he observed the incident report in front of him, "just how 'thirty-seven terabytes of softcore pornography' ended up infecting the Irregulars' Knightmare systems with malware?" Now there was a sentence the Prince never thought he would ever say before.
He suspected that Earl Asplund may have had something to do with the incident, the man did seem rather insistent on ensuring that he had his place in history by being the one responsible for the world's first seventh generation Knightmare being used in combat and Schneizel thought he would probably do something outrageous to make sure that his accomplishment would not be threatened by a competitor like Clovis' Irregular unit, but Schneizel didn't really care for mainly one reason.
He didn't want his upstart younger brother to be responsible for the first use of the most advanced generation of Knightmares created. If anyone was going to be responsible for the creation of advanced technology, it would be his Camelot Project. He had specifically created the research division under his control so that he could move without having to go through official channels and advance his own agenda quicker than his rival siblings.
"I assure you my Prince," Lloyd stated with cheerful disregard, "I have no idea how Mr. Madd could be so careless with his unit's materials." The Earl ignored the glare sent his way and merely gave a small bow to the screen Prince Schneizel was currently on to hide his grin. "But if he treated the security of his Knightmares like he treats his Devicers I am not that surprised that some mischievous hacker or some other kind of individual would find a way to wreak havoc on his systems' integrity." He looked up innocently as Madd appeared ready to blow a gasket and twisted the metaphorical knife even deeper. "I can assure you however that we at Camelot have had no troubles with our Lancelot Frame, in fact we even found a very skilled Devicer just the other day by the name of Suzaku Kururugi who managed to pilot the Lancelot with a rating of over ninety percent efficiency. While injured."
When Lloyd had seen the numbers, even he was surprised at just how well Kururugi had meshed with his prized creation. The Knights of the Round were currently having their personalized Knightmare Frames commissioned, hence the creation of the Lancelot in order to test prototype weaponry and push the advancement of the Knightmare Frame even further to ensure the Knights had nothing but the best, and the target level of synchronicity and efficiency was benchmarked at ninety percent.
Lloyd could not have asked for a better Devicer to fall into his lap. Who better to help improve the Lancelot than a potential Knight of the Round? Oh sure, there was the minor issue of the boy being an Eleven and underage, but Lloyd couldn't care less.
As long as Kururugi continued to pilot the Lancelot as well or better than he already had, Lloyd really didn't care what happened beyond that.
"Prime Minister," Colonel Madd spoke through gritted teeth, "I can assure you we took every reasonable precaution in securing our equipment. Despite what Earl Asplund says, I am positive that no outsider could have infected our systems without inside assistance or simple human incompetence far below our ranks." Words could not accurately describe just how much Madd loathed dealing with noblemen like Asplund or members of the Imperial Family like Schneizel. Even though he was a Colonel in Britannia's military, a respectable rank by any stretch of the imagination, and the head of an Irregular unit that was incredibly successful, he still had to address them with a level of respect he most certainly did not hold. For either man.
"Our ranks, Colonel?" The Prince quoted carefully. "You presume much to compare yourself to myself and Earl Asplund." Schneizel leaned forward slightly and his tone shifted softly, but conveyed a far greater sense of danger than his voice normally held. "You would do well to remember that, without my dear brother's patronage, you would be just another Colonel in our military machine. I know not of what he saw in you to allow you to lead his Irregulars, but do not presume to be on equal standing with those above you." Seeing his point made when Madd nodded carefully, the Prime Minister leaned back into his chair. "Glad to see you understand, be sure to take my advice. You'll live longer that way." He finished carelessly, as if he had not just threatened the Colonel's life. He didn't usually lord his status as Prince over those below him if they were his allies, there wasn't usually a need to since everyone who worked under him, even Lloyd, as eccentric as he was, respected his authority and decisions, but when he was disrespected in such a way it was useful to remind others of just who they were speaking to.
Clearly Clovis had not done enough to instill a proper sense of respect into those under his authority.
"I understand sir." Madd fumed silently as he backed down from the implied threat. "Nonetheless, my point still stands that, aside from the assistance of someone from the inside or human error, our security system should have prevented the Irregulars' Knightmares from being tampered with." He was not going to take the fall for this debacle. Not after he clawed his way up through the ranks to get where he was now. "At this time all I can suggest is a security check of all those involved in securing our base in Shinjuku yesterday so that we may find the culprit. We may also be able to find the one who murdered Prince Clovis on his throne."
Schneizel sighed. That was also an issue that would need to be addressed soon. But seeing as he was busy. "I will allow the ones currently in charge of Area Eleven to address that issue. Someone will be sent to take over in his place soon enough. Do not do anything during your security check that would potentially cause a leak of the information we discussed here today to become public knowledge, or you will be held responsible Colonel. Do I make myself clear?" Clovis' death was a loss, but it did allow for him to make a few moves of his own to better position himself so it wasn't a total waste.
"Crystal sir." Madd growled after the video feed cut out. He rounded on Asplund who was giving him a smug grin as he stood up and began to leave. "I don't know how you did it you airheaded, pompous ass, but I will not let myself or my unit be sidelined for some fucking Number brat running your little toy around!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about Colonel." Lloyd said airily. "Do try to stay in good health, I delight in having these riveting conversations." As he walked through the automatic doors and made his way back to his division, Madd took a few moments to compose himself before following suit.
What had Asplund said about his new Devicer's name? If it was the name Madd thought it was, perhaps he could strike back against his opponent on an even more fundamental level. After all, Kururugi was the name of the Prime Minister of this backwater nation before it was conquered. Who better to have as a scapegoat for the assassination of the Area's ruling Viceroy? And, as a little extra bonus, it would rob Asplund of his Devicer.
A Knightmare Frame, even one as advanced as the Lancelot, was useless without a pilot.
Again, I'm really sorry about how long it took for me to update this story. I will do my best to make sure it doesn't take me over a year to update again.
I didn't want to end the chapter here, but if I got into the next part of the story this chapter would definitely not have been out by the deadline I had promised. I mostly intended for this chapter to deal with any plot issues that had not been explained either in story or were not covered in previous chapters before Zero's debut, but I only managed to get most of it written out instead of all of it. As a result, the chapter with Zero's debut will be made a little bit longer, but considering my earlier chapters' length that's not saying much. I'll try to avoid 20,000 word chapters since they take way too long, but I'll try and make them at least over 5,000 words.
I also hope that everyone enjoyed the little Easter egg I snuck in as a reference to Code MENT (I could totally see Lloyd doing something like infecting other seventh generation Knightmares to make sure his was used first).
Anyway, that's a wrap. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, even if it was mostly exposition and fleshing out the plot.
King Draconias Over and Out.
