Ohh? What's this? It seems like Chapter 19 has been replaced! Let's see where this will go… shall we?
Interlude 1: Where is He?
Damn Zero.
Let him be burning in the darkest levels of hell.
Those were some of Suzaku Kururugi's passing thoughts as he carefully placed down a tea pot and some fragile porcelain cups. The china wear clinking softly in the rather silent room. The second warrant officer poured some nice warm tea into two cups, before carefully placing one to the right of him on the table.
"Here's your tea, Nunnally." Suzaku spoke softly, olive green eyes dimmed at the sight of his best friend's younger sister. Nunnally said nothing, she only gave a small, barely noticeable nod.
She was skinny, concerningly skinny. Nunnally was skinny before, but now the clothes she wore didn't even fit her. They were too big for her. Nunnally's cheeks were sunken in slightly, and she had dried up tear trails own her face. The bags under her eyes didn't belong on someone so innocent and kind. Nunnally didn't deserve to suffer like this. The news of her brother's disappearance hit her hard, and it was still affecting her harshly.
The fraile girl would sometimes call out her brother's name when she thought nobody was listening or watching her.
Nunnally was losing her will to live, slowly but surely.
Suzaku helped her grab ahold of her tea cup and take a sip, some of the liquid ran down her chin as her hands shook. This made the eleven teen's heart ache even more, and he carefully helped Nunnally wipe the mess away with a napkin.
He shouldn't be the one doing this. Lelouch should be here, showering his younger sister with pure love and adoration.
But he wasn't, instead he was gone. Most likely dead.
All thanks to Zero.
He didn't have any exact proof as to Zero or the Black Knight's connection to Lelouch's disappearance, but he just KNEW that they were the reason. The ones responsible for all of Nunnally's pain.
Zero.
Zero knew he had murdered his father, he always seemed to know everything. At times it was rather scary. If he knew what Suzaku had done, and had one Black Knight slipped into Ashford Academy, then he most certainly knew about Lelouch and his backstory. Lelouch, alongside Nunnally.
Suzaku's hand tightening slightly as he took a sip of his own tea. His mind going back to a certain redheaded female. Kallen Staldfeld, or should he say Kozuki? It didn't matter, Kallen was apart of the Black Knights, she worked for Zero. His redheaded friend too far gone in the clutches of the masked devil tricking all of them. She even piloted the Guren that he has a pesky time dealing with. The Black Knight had most certainly integrated herself into Ashford Academy to keep an eye on Lelouch, and take him when the time was right.
And he had let her go scott free back at Kamine Island.
The thought made him desire to hit something, or try and find the Black Knights once again. It was no use however, because they seemed to have almost literally erased themselves from the face of the planet. They didn't stop resisting however, but they were nothing without their damned masked leader Zero. All those terrorists did now was act like the police and stop a bunch of crime and refrain deals. All they do now is act like a bunch of rabid vigilantes.
Princess Cornelia was hammering down on the resistance group severely. The Viceroy taking Zero's disappearance for all of its worth and trying to dispose of the concerningly troublesome, if once dangerous, group. The key word was trying however, because whoever was leading them now was an expert in the figurative game of 'cat and mouse'.
"Any news on my big brother's whereabouts?" Nunnally croaked, the action of speaking seeming to hurt her. The crippled girl having hardly ever spoken unless it was something involving Lelouch. Otherwise, she never seemed to speak anymore.
It made the hole in Suzaku's heart deepen. God, it hurt to see Nunnally like this.
At this rate, Nunnally was going to wither away and join her brother in the afterlife.
Suzaku gulped. "No, nothing yet I'm afraid... I'm so sorry, Nunnally." Suzaku licked his slightly chapped lips as he watched Nunnally slump down even further.
Damn Zero. Even when the bastard was dead he still managed to gain one last victory over the Lancelot pilot.
He could hear and practically feel the masked man laughing down at him from the darkest level of hell which he now resided in.
Suzaku leaned over the table and took ahold of Nunnally's hand gently with both of his tanned, calloused ones. "I swear to you though Nunnally. I promise that I'll do my best to try and find him again, to bring Lelouch back. I won't stop searching until I find him and bring him back here, back home… Back to you."
Nunnally gave a small smile, it seemed genuine, but it never reached her closed eyes.
Suzaku felt his eyes cloud over with tears, but he pushed them back. He had broken down and grieved for his friend enough. Now it was time to gain results like his best friend would always say. He would find Lelouch, and he wouldn't stop until he was either dead or dragging his raven haired friend back towards Ashford.
Lelouch always did say he was stubborn.
Though, at this rate, Suzaku didn't know if Nunnally would survive long enough to touch Lelouch's hand once again, long enough to reunite with him. The brown haired teen tensed in his seat slightly as both occupants of the room continued to drink their tea is solemn silence. If Nunnally's condition continued to worsen before he gained any of those results… He may have to bring her back to Britannia.
. . .
At first, Milly couldn't process the fact that Lelouch was really missing. The busty blonde just thought he had hid away somewhere from her mischievous wrath, again.
It was when three days have passed, and there was still no sign of their Vice President, that the thought really sunk in.
And it felt worse than a slap to the face.
She could see the changes because of this heartbreaking misfortune. Even when Milly tried her hardest to bring the Student Council's meetings back into their usual bright cheeriness, there was still the dark grey cloud looming over and blocking their sun. Most of the students had taken the announcement of their Vice President's disappearance with mourning sorrow, especially most of the female campus.
Rivalz. Who was always energetic and excited, especially when it came to Lelouch's high stakes and VERY illegal chess matches, was more tame than normal. His somewhat devious demeanor that couldn't even rival to her own having calmed and vanished.
Nina. Though she never really got to know Lelouch, nor did she have a crush on him like more than half of the female campus, was affected as well. The shy girl becoming even more reclusive, and only really bothered to speak with the rest of the Student Council sans Suzaku. Even then, it was only a few sparse words here and there.
Shirley. The girl still acted as if she didn't really know him as well as she should. However, even she felt saddened and downtrodden by the mysterious boy's disappearance. One time, Milly had even caught her crying in the bath. Then she saw the redness around her cheeks when the orange haired girl had walked in to one of their Student Council meetings a few days ago. She seemed to be taking it hard.
Kallen didn't even go to school anymore. Her illness having gotten the better of her because of her depressed state. The calm headed, rather soft spoken redhead having to go to a hospital out in the Britannian homeland.
Suzaku was probably one of the people who took it the worst. The eleven soldier never having stopped his search even with the lack of time he had. Between going to work for Camelot and school, he still never stopped trying. There were times he even took the Lancelot out when he was searching, claiming that it was to gather data for Llyod. He never stopped trying to search for his first, and best, childhood friend.
The short, curly brown haired boy would often talk about how Zero was somehow involved in it. Him and his Black Knights. The Black Knights who actually went after the real crimes and dangers of Area Eleven rather than sit on their asses and get bribed by the mafia, unlike the REAL Police.
Zero, who Milly had a hunch as to who was underneath that mask. Either way the masked man had certainly piqued her curiosity.
But it didn't matter now, because the masked man was dead. Suzaku having helped killed the man himself, and saw it all with his own olive green eyes.
But none have taken it harder than Nunnally.
Everyone trying their hardest to help comfort and keep her hopes and spirits up, but it was no use. The long, honey blonde was losing her will to live. At the rate it was heading, Milly wouldn't be surprised if Nunnally was willing herself to die.
She hoped, honest to God prayed that something would change. That Lelouch was actually alive, and that the secret prince in hiding hadn't been found and taken in. That the Black Knights didn't actually have him and were hurting him like Suazku thought they were. The Student Council President had taken a liking to their group and the masked man. Don't let this be the one thing that ruins them, and has Lelouch killed.
Suddenly, planning a festival with the world's biggest pizza didn't seem that thrilling or appetizing anymore.
. . .
She couldn't take anymore of the suffocating depression devouring the school, and left. It's not like she could go back there anyway, Suzaku knew who she really was, and would most certainly arrest her as soon as she stepped a toe within the campus.
Kallen Kozuki gave another heavy sigh. She had been doing that a lot lately, but there was hope. Her masked leader, Zero, was still alive. The Black Knights still had that chance of freeing Japan from Britannia's corrupting clutches. The pilot of the Gruen thanked kami that Zero was still able to keep making miracles, even with his current predicament.
Though his advisor, or mistress as most of the Black Knights mutter, was certainly an enigma. A very annoying enigma.
C.C. That was the only name she went by. While it was rather strange, the fact that the girl seemed to show absolutely no emotion except for teasing and mischief was even more disconcerting.
Then there was the fact that she was immortal. That was an entirely different concern Kallen had.
Zero's entire inner circle was still in shock and numb over the news. They probably still would be until the masked man himself had returned to his proper place as their leader. Once that crisis was taken care of, that would be when they pester him about geass. However, none of them dared to speak about this to anyone else outside of the inner circle. The world and other Black Knights would simply call them crazy, and not take their words seriously.
Did that mean Zero was immortal like C.C? Was that why he wore a mask? Because he no longer associated himself with a human face?
Kallen didn't know, and she felt horrible at the thought of her questions being even slightly correct.
Once C.C had learned that Zero had vanished, she instantly got into gear and took charge. The light green haired teen had stomped her foot down and taken hold of the reins as leader for the moment. While most of the resistance was looking grim with the lack of new recruits and the loss of their leader, Kallen Kozuki wouldn't back down. The man had done so much for them, and had given them a new, stronger, almost unbreakable belief and hope. Zero had made mountains quake and escaped close calls without a single shot. The man had the devil's luck, and a genius intellect that seemed to go unchallenged to even Britannia's mightiest.
The masked revolutionary had even brought Todoh the Miracle Worker, alongside his Four Holy Swords, into their group. Though the loss of most of the J.L.F was certainly a heavy one. Even Kallen couldn't deny that they had gained a wonderful asset from their demise.
"We have arrived." Blue eyes looked up from within the cockpit of the new knightmare they had attained, Gawain. A little island surrounded by ocean blue water and clear blue, if slightly cloudy skies, began to quickly get closer and closer. Kamine Island, the place where Kallen had been transported before the blasts from the Avalon could kill her.
The place where she was forcefully separated from Zero. The masked man she cared about deeply having been thrown into another can of worms entirely.
She had sworn to herself that Zero wouldn't get into any danger with her as his guard. Hell, she was the Captain of the ZERO SQUAD. How could she allow her masked leader get into such a deadly encounter with Suzaku all alone!
If she had been there beside him, Suzaku never would have taken Zero hostage.
If she was there, she would have taken Suzaku down before he had the chance.
If she was there, they would have gotten out of the way of the Avalon's blasts in time, and Zero would still be here.
All of the 'what ifs' and 'I could have done something' ate away at her insistently. Kallen was assigned to protect Zero. He had trusted her with his life.
And she had failed.
"Kallen."
How could she have failed him.
She let Zero down! She didn't deserve her rank as the Captain of the Zero Squad, or the right to still be beside him once they had gotten him back.
"Kallen!" A female voice spoke up in annoyance, and shook Kallen's shoulder. The redhead looked around, snapping out of her daze. Blue eyes looked straight into amber eyes looking back with an unreadable mask.
"Oh, right." Kallen spoke up, before getting out of the Gawain's cockpit and walking through the island. The Guren pilot making sure to follow C.C closely, seeing as the immortal knew the way around this island. Progress on figuring out how to find a way to bring Zero back was slow, tedious, and VERY infuriating.
Those cowardly Britannian's had vacated the premise of Kamine Island soon after the scuffle Kallen had when she first arrived here. They entered the dark and damp cave, where the stone wall imprinted with the mark of geass shown in some light from another hole in the ceiling. The immortal witch taking long confident strides as she walked right up to the wall, which C.C had said was a gate, albeit reluctantly.
"So, are you going to try and communicate with Zero again through your… Code?" Kallen asked, taking a moment to remember what C.C had called the reason for her immortality. Thankfully, Kallen was there when C.C had finally gotten into contact with their masked leader for the first time. Though it was rather stressful because C.C had just suddenly dropped to the floor unconscious, the mark on her forehead burning a fiercely bright red. When Kallen had grabbed ahold of her hand, she had fallen unconscious as well.
However, she had heard them. She had heard him speaking bits and pieces. Though she could hear next to nothing because their voices were so blurry and fuzzy, but she had heard Black Knights multiple times.
Zero really was alive, and they were going to get him back come hell or high water.
Kallen Kozuki, the captain of the Zero Squad, and Zero's personal bodyguard, wouldn't allow anything less.
. . .
"I'm going to try and find Zero's presence by using the power of my Code." C.C explained slightly. She didn't mention anything relating to the Collective Unconscious, because that would be a foolish mistake and have the others question her more. Most of the Black Knights had undermined her because she was Zero's 'mistress', though she never bothered to deny such childish notions. They were a waste of her breath and time, though Tamaki certainly struck a nerve with her.
Never in her past fifty years of life had she wanted to shoot someone so badly, and she was experimented on by that bastard Prince Clovis for almost 10 years.
"If I do manage to find his presence, I'll be able to pull him back into the ruins with us." C.C finished, before she put one hand on the smooth, cold stone. Her Code flared on her forehead, and the door began to burn a bright red as her mind entered into an area of the Collective Unconscious.
She couldn't do this for long. If only for the fact that Charles and his little jealous brat of a brother V.V would notice, and try to capture her.
It made the work of finding Lelouch that much more harder and absolutely agitating.
C.C had only managed to communicate to Lelouch by absolute pure luck, and the fact that his geass was beginning to run away. The immortal was certain that V.V had something to do with advancing his geass, because it shouldn't have started acting up until very later on.
However, that may be the only way she could find him now. Being his contractor, C.C could sense when Lelouch's geass was getting more powerful, or was going to run away. This connection was going to be exactly what allowed the immortal witch to find her warlock once again, as Lelouch had once spoken after Mao was taken care of. She wouldn't let this contractor go to waste, he had so much entertaining potential. She had intrigued her with his words and understanding companionship, actually making her feel emotions in some moments. The two were accomplishes, contractors, and she won't let him die so easily. Not only that, but he may finally accomplish her long sought wish, after all of the centuries of torture.
She could finally be free, but she had to work for it, and search for him first.
When golden, amber eyed immortal had entered the Collective Unconscious, she immediately started her search. The current Black Knight leader floated around the space of white, greys and blacks. Voices and noises overlapping into one loud buzz as faces or memories wove within the grey smoke.
C.C ignored them all, searching for only one thing. Lelouch.
.
.
.
She found nothing.
After around an hour of searching, C.C had no choice but to stop. Someone else having entered the Sword of Akasha, and she knew it would only be three people that would certainly cause her trouble. With unhappy results for this quest's search, C.C opened her real amber eyes to the world. Those eyes flickered over towards Zero's most loyal, and trustworthy member Kallen Kozuki.
Her sapphire blue eyes widened with hope, but C.C sadly shook her head, and that hope dimmed slightly. "I couldn't find him this time."
"Why don't you continue searching?" Kallen asked, almost snapping. "You've only been here for a few minutes!"
"Time passes faster there than it does in the real world." C.C explained. "I've been in there searching for an hour, and I had to pull back out before someone noticed and tried to stop me." Amber eyes narrowed slightly. "I'd be stuck in that mindscape of sorts, and my real body would be stuck here in a coma. And we certainly wouldn't want that now would we."
Kallen slumped slightly, and averted her eyes towards the exit of the ruins. "I understand… But I'm just so tired of waiting. I can't stand sitting on my ass twiddling my thumbs!"
C.C moved ahead of Kallen, and began to walk towards the exit. "All of the Black Knights feel that way. You think I haven't noticed?" Lime green hair flew down all the way to the small of her back as she flipped it slightly. "Trust me, I'm much more observant than all of you combined. All of the Black Knights want to do something to get Zero back. It's not just you. Hell, even Rakshata is doing her best in investigating the matter… Though I believe most of it is from the extreme interest of multiple dimensions and endless, unfound, abundant data."
"Yes but-" Kallen sped forward, ahead of C.C now. "It's just that I'm his bodyguard! I'm the captain of the Zero Squad dammit! I should have been there to protect him from all of this bullshit!" The Guren pilot tightened her hands into fists. "If I had been by his side! If only I had-!"
C.C grabbed ahold of Kallen's shoulder, and both Black Knights stopped to look at each other. Amber eyes stared emotionlessly into regretful sapphire ones. "Relax, nobody could see this coming. Not even Zero. Besides, if he wasn't thrown into wherever the hell he is now, he would have died instead." Sapphire eyes flinched back, true fear entering their pools. "But instead he's alive, and we still have a chance. So relax, and focus on the now instead of the past… It helps."
With that, C.C gave a small pat, before passing Kallen and exiting the ruins. Kallen standing their stunned.
"Are you coming!" C.C called out from outside. "Or am I going to be leaving you here?" That snapped Kallen out of her stupor, and she jogged to catch up with the immortal witch.
"I'm coming, jeez." Kallen grumbled out. This witch could really be annoying at times, which was most of the time.
"Right. Let's hurry up and head back to the sub. We can find your masked crush again in a couple of days." C.C drawled as she got into the cockpit of the Gawain once again.
"DAMMIT C.C!" Kallen yelled, and promptly hit the back of the immortal's head rather harshly, though she didn't seem to care.
Kallen didn't worry much either, the bitch calling her out would heal quick enough. However, it didn't stop the slight strawberry colored blush from entering her cheeks at the thought of Zero.
Kallen had thought about the masked man and this rising crush A LOT over the past couple of days. She had even thought about it before the Shikine Island incident, and she had come to realize that this crush wasn't a small one. Kallen Kozuki, the fierce Guren pilot, ace of the Black Knights, along with being the captain of the Zero Squad, had a huge crush on her masked leader Zero.
She completely admired him, adored him- no practically worshipped him. The way he seemed to move nations of people, even the Gods themselves with his words and infectious charisma. The way the masked man could simple gesture his hand, and people would quake and kneel before him, happily cheering his name. The way Zero managed to perform miracle after miracle through sheer intelligence, confidence and daring alone.
Even with his mask on, Kallen couldn't help but imagine multiple scenarios with him. Everything ranging from having dinner together, him trying to teach her more about chess, all the way to where they were getting rather close in the bedroom.
The redhead shook her head violently as C.C flew them back to base.
Kallen had a lot to think about, and all of it was about Zero.
Well well well. It seems we all get to check up on our dear friends from the otherside! The Code Geass characters! These guys will only be in Interludes, not Chapters… At least, not until WAY later into the story. I would like to thank IS6A6E for giving this idea to me, along with raising an interesting point about OC cards.
I wouldn't mind if you guys suggested OC cards for the story. Sure, they may not be put into the story, but there's always a chance. I might also tweak the requirements or effects, but it will mostly stay the same. I will give credit to those who give ideas, so no worries about that. Just as I thank IS6A6E and dsgundam00 for the reviews and comments, along with suggestions and criticism. :D
With all of that out of the way. We can finally see what's going to go down in Chapter 19! (Whenever that posts.) But otherwise, hope you've enjoyed the story so far! -MoonlightWright
