"Welcome, Trickster," a deep voice said.
Lelouch didn't even need to open his eyes to know where he was. The Velvet Room again…. What did Igor want in his dreams this time?
"I am pleased to see that you have discovered a new technique."
"The Baton Pass?"
"Whatever you choose to call it is inconsequential," Igor said, waving a hand dismissively. "But in doing so, I trust you have seen yet another of the ways in which your rehabilitation will benefit you."
"Why didn't you say anything about this sooner?"
Igor chuckled. "Some things are better discovered on your own, Trickster."
Lelouch said nothing.
"Should you not be more joyous, Trickster?" the bug-eyed man asked, clasping his gloved hands together as his lips spread into a hideous mockery of a smile. "The band of thieves you lead through the Metaverse has made tremendous progress, and you have forged several new bonds. All of this means that your rehabilitation proceeds swiftly. But there is to time to pause, recollect, and strengthen those bonds you have already made. Cherish these opportunities, for soon you may find that you have none…"
The prison bell rang.
"That is all for now, Trickster. Return to your waking world, and come back here when you will it. I shall not contact you again in this way until your next heist is over, one way or the other…"
xXx
Lelouch woke up. The Black Knights would be lying low for the next few days until Shadow Clovis finally lowered his guard again. In the meantime, he would want to make any necessary preparations for the next infiltration and cultivate his bonds to increase his own powers and those of his allies.
This left him with a rather unique problem. They had fifteen days until Shinjuku was demolished… but he already had twelve confidants who he had received some sort of vow from since he awakened to the power of Persona. Well, he had only ten if he didn't count Igor and the green-haired sisters, Shi and Tsu. He could always find them in the Velvet Room. But that meant that he had only an average of one and a half days to spend with each before they had to steal Clovis's Treasure. Actually, it was less than that, since they would likely need at least two more days to locate the Treasure within the Palace, and then they would need to send the Viceroy a calling card and spend a third day in the Metaverse to actually steal it. So that was a maximum of twelve days and ten confidants. If he allowed another day for unexpected difficulties in infiltrating Clovis's Palace, that left just eleven days to strengthen his bonds…
He had a time management problem.
At the same time, it was also a strategic problem. Was it better to deepen his bonds with as many of his confidants as possible, or to focus on developing just a few at a time? His fellow Black Knights would have to take priority, to expand the flexibility of their battle tactics as soon as possible. But where did he go from there? Some confidants, like Sayoko and Nina, didn't fight in the Metaverse, but offered him valuable expertise or tools that could aid his infiltration. And even his friends, like Rivalz and Suzaku, or even his sister, offered more powerful Personas in their respective arcana.
After a moment, he decided to ask Sayoko to help him with his schedule.
"I'm so glad you asked, Master Lelouch," Sayoko said, smiling cheerfully. "I've arranged a schedule for you over the next two weeks." She nonchalantly pulled up a long roll of paper, covered in minuscule handwritten notes. I've started by setting you up with one hundred and eight dates."
"I don't understand Sayoko… I asked you help me plan meetings with my confidants, not one hundred and eight girls!"
"You never know when you'll meet a new confidant, Master Lelouch. Besides, you're a healthy young man, and have certain needs."
"That's besides the point! I can't meet with one hundred and eight people in two weeks, girls or not!"
"I'm afraid you misunderstand, Master Lelouch. That's one hundred and eight dates on the first day."
Lelouch woke up in a cold sweat.
Huh… he had been still dreaming… Well, he supposed he should be thankful that it had been just a nightmare. Honestly, after the sorts of comments Sayoko had been making, should he have expected anything else? Actually, was he really awake this time? He pinched his arm.
It hurt.
Okay, so he was truly awake now. But his problem remained.
xXx
"You wanted to speak with me?" Milly asked after the other Student Council members had left. "Is this about 'business'?" she continued playfully.
"In a fashion," he replied. "I wanted to see how you were holding up. It's not easy leading a double life."
"Well, I have been falling a bit behind on paperwork ever since we started regularly going into the Metaverse…. Say, you're my Vice President on the Council… if we stay late together, we can get most of work done…. We can chat too… what do you say?"
"That sounds like a plan. It will get suspicious if we neglect our duties for the Student Council too much."
"It's been so exciting to be a phantom thief," Milly said as they worked on budget forms and other requests from the academy's many clubs. "The thrill of the heist…"
"It's not a game, you know," Lelouch said, raising an eyebrow. "Need I remind you what almost happened to you and the others yesterday?"
"There isn't the same thrill if there isn't a bit of danger, is there?" Milly asked. "Besides, isn't it like a game of chess to you, planning your strategy and trying to outwit the enemy? And don't think I haven't noticed the theme you have going with Queen and Bishop."
"You do have me there," Lelouch admitted. "But the stakes are far higher than any game of chess."
"Still, it really feels like I'm taking charge of my destiny when I'm there, fighting alongside you in the Metaverse," Milly continued. "I may play around as the Student Council President, but at the end of the day, it seems like my future is decided for me…. I felt like that if these days at Ashford Academy end, I'd lose what little freedom I have…. And that's why being a Black Knight is so liberating…"
Lelouch felt something resonate within him. The power of his Fortune Persona had increased.
"Well, thanks for listening to me ramble on," Milly said with a smile. "Oh, look at the time! It's been that long already! I guess we can finish the rest of this later."
It was late, so Lelouch returned to his quarters after leaving the Student Council room. There, he saw Nunnally, sitting at the dining room table.
"Big brother, is that you?" she asked.
"Yes, it's me, Nunnnally," he said warmly.
"Would you like to keep working on those origami cranes together? It's been a while…"
Nunnally was smiling so sweetly that he couldn't say no to her.
The simple act of folding cranes was a precious moment of peace with his sister. No conflict, no lies, just him and Nunnally.
They still had many cranes to go, but they had made good progress by the time that he had to tuck in Nunnally to bed.
"Remember to think of a wish," Nunnally reminded him.
"I will."
Days Until Shinjuku is Demolished: 14
xXx
"You called?" Leila asked, meeting him outside of Ashford Academy, her hair once again styled into twintails and her eyes concealed behind sunglasses. "I thought we weren't gathering again until several days had passed."
"I wanted to discuss tactics with you, and challenge you to a game of chess if you have the time. Most of my opponents these days are mere amateurs, and I'm afraid that they might be making my own tactics stale and complacent."
"You think I would be a worthy opponent?" Leila asked.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you showed more than a casual interest in chess when you asked if I played earlier."
She nodded. "It's funny… your half-brother challenged me to a private match at one of his parties too."
"What can I say? A love of chess runs in the family… though that doesn't mean he was any good at it."
"Very well. I accept your challenge," Leila replied. "Do you know a place where we could play undisturbed?"
"We have a chapel on campus. There usually isn't anyone around there at this time of day. We could play there."
"That will do," she nodded.
"Your school is so large," Leila murmured as they walked across the campus. "St. Lucy's is small in comparison. Then again, it takes only girls, so our student body is naturally smaller than yours. And there's a certain energy here that I don't see at St. Lucy's…"
"You can thank Madam President for that. She likes to keep everyone on their toes, and ropes everyone into the strangest school festivals…"
"I'd like to see one of those one day…. We don't have many such events at my school."
"Trust me, you don't," Lelouch replied. "Unless you're into cross-dressing or the like…"
They arrived at the chapel, and stepped inside. Lelouch took out the chess board he had brought with him, and set it up.
"I'll play as Black if you don't mind," he told her.
"That's fine with me."
"Very well. Your move, Lady Breisgau…"
"Leila," she corrected firmly.
As he thought, she had no love for her noble title when she had no loyalty to Britannia and especially when it had come with the deaths of her parents.
"Of course. My apologies, Leila."
Playing as white, Leila moved first, and recognizing the importance of controlling the center of the board, immediately moved her pawn forward to claim it, while freeing both her queen and bishop to move on future turns. The Queen's Gambit? Or perhaps she would pursue a less conventional strategy of a queenside castle? It wasn't as safe as a kingside castle, but would exploit white's tempo advantage with the first move, and would further shore up her center with a well-placed queenside rook.
Leila had removed her sunglasses once inside the chapel, and glancing into her eyes, Lelouch could tell that she was also busily running scenarios in her head, already planning her responses if he accepted or declined her gambit and anticipating his likely traps, working several moves ahead. Most nobles could only manage to plan one, perhaps two moves at a time, their own estimation of their skill at the game severely inflated. As she met his own gaze, he knew that she had realized that he had read her likely openings, and had begun adjusting her strategy accordingly.
He grinned. He was going to enjoy this. "Well then…"
It was a hard fought match. Leila didn't fall for his usual traps that would leave a lesser player in disarray, and as much as she was able to calculate her moves in advance, she remained flexible, adapting to the realities of the board while maintaining a strong position in the center. Yet as the match went on, Lelouch began to see a weakness in her play; she was too hesitant to sacrifice her pieces at times. At last, she failed to mount an offense that while costly, could have put him on the ropes, and he responded with a ruthless counterattack, at last breaking through her line. His King advanced alongside his pawns, and while Leila rallied her defenses, inflicting serious casualties upon his pieces, he continued to push through.
"Checkmate," he smirked.
Leila examined the board, but it was a formality. She knew she had been beaten.
"You're every bit as talented as the Viceroy says," she said, conceding her defeat graciously. "I wasn't sure at first; it would hardly take a grandmaster to defeat him. But you lived up to your reputation."
"Your mistake was relenting in your attack," Lelouch said. "You almost had me."
"That's true enough for a game of chess," Leila admitted. "But in the real world, what is victory worth if you've thrown away everything to achieve it?"
"Sacrifices have to be made sometimes."
"But when is the cost too high?" she pressed. "For example, would you sacrifice your fellow Black Knights so easily as you did your pieces if it meant that you would conquer your foe?"
"I-" There was no right answer to that question! He couldn't think of Kallen, Milly, and the others as simply being expendable pawns! But if he were to let the greater evil triumph by refusing to do what was necessary - How had she outmaneuvered him so quickly?
"I see," Leila murmured. "Think carefully on that. I will not ask for your answer now. I'm all too accustomed to people saying what they think others want to hear in the moment. Whatever your answer is, I want it to come from the heart when you're ready."
"You're far more devious than you look…" Lelouch said wryly.
"I have to be," she replied sadly. "From the moment I was born, my life has been a lie. I'm a noble, but I detest Britannia, just as my parents did. I never really felt that I belonged here. Even now, I play the reluctant socialite turned Viceroy's lady friend, but I hate every second of it. But in spite all of the masks that I've worn, I try not to forget who I really am."
That sort of loneliness and resentment was all too familiar to Lelouch. Since he had taken the name Lamperouge, his life had been a lie too. He had acclimated to that life and made friends on the Student Council, but there had been a restlessness that he could never quite still. Even as Zero, where he felt freer to be his true self, he quite literally wore masks…
"I think we're more alike than we realized," he chuckled.
The power of the Priestess stirred within Lelouch, binding him closer to his confidant.
"I should be going now," Leila said. "The Viceroy will become suspicious if I'm gone for too long."
"Shall I accompany you to the gate?" It would only be polite for him to offer.
"I would like that," Leila said after a moment.
It wasn't long after Leila had departed that the wisdom of that decision was called into question.
"Hm, interesting," a voice said.
Lelouch turned around. Approaching him was a blonde man, whose hair was styled into a ponytail and a large bang that covered much of the side of his face, and appeared to be in his thirties. The man was well-dressed, with a blue suit jacket over a red turtleneck, and had a cleft chin, but his eyes immediately seemed to establish him as a shifty character.
"Diethard Ried, Hi-TV", the man said, introducing himself in oily voice. "And you are?"
"Lelouch Lamperouge, Ashford Academy," Lelouch warily replied.
"If I'm not mistaken, that young lady who just departed looked rather like the Viceroy's new girlfriend, who everyone in the Area is talking about."
"What are you getting at?" Lelouch said impatiently. Was this man going to try to blackmail him? Well, there was always Mementos to deal with that, but such a distraction was not what they needed while they were trying to steal Clovis' Treasure.
"You misunderstand me," Diethard replied, his voice lowering. "While such a scoop would no doubt catch the interest of any number of tabloids and drive a number of news cycles, I have no interest in such trite drivel." His excitement grew. "I'm looking for the next big story, one that will really shake things up!"
"How does this involve me?"
"There have been a number of strange occurrences around Ashford Academy lately," Diethard continued. "It started a few weeks ago, when a group calling itself the Black Knights issued threats against the former gym teacher here, claiming that they would 'steal her heart'. Are you familiar with these stories?"
"Who at Ashford isn't?" Lelouch replied truthfully. It wasn't anything that the TV man didn't already know.
"By itself, the story would have seemed like occult nonsense, the sort of urban legend that crops up from time to time. But there were other incidents as well. Putting them together, I noticed a pattern - a constantly spreading scope, with increasingly high-profile targets being chosen. The Purist movement in Area 11 has collapsed practically overnight. Yet nobody is reporting on it outside of some fringe internet forums!" Diethard's hands shook with frustration.
"That's why you came to Ashford?" Lelouch asked.
"Yes! I don't know how they're doing it, but the Black Knights might just be the story I need! If their power is real, they could even change the course of history! I want to be there to document their story from the start and jolt the masses out of their stupor! It'll be the highest ratings I've ever had!"
"What makes you think that I could tell you anything about the Black Knights that someone else couldn't?"
"Well, after dismantling the Purists, who would be their next logical target, if they really wanted to make a manifesto to the world? Viceroy Clovis. And who do I see you with but the Viceroy's girlfriend? A mere coincidence? There's no such thing. Some may call it destiny, but I say God helps those who help themselves." Diethard leaned in closer. "It may surprise you to know that there have been a number of irregularities surrounding the Viceroy. Or perhaps not. But you, my friend, if you are indeed an acquaintance of Countess Breisgau, are uniquely positioned to have insights that others might not. You too can play a role in shaping this story. What do you say?"
Diethard's perception was alarming. He had already pieced together far too much for comfort. Yet there was a certain fanaticism to him, an obsession with making and shaping history, and he had demonstrated a startling lack of loyalty to Britannia and its institution for a TV man. Such men were dangerous, but also easy to control when you knew what made them tick. Besides, if the Black Knights needed notoriety to advance deeper in Mementos, an ally in the media could be invaluable…
"What's in it for me, hypothetically speaking?" Lelouch asked.
"I would of course keep you and your sources anonymous," Diethard replied. "And I could do any number of favors for you. Bury stories of your dalliances with the Countess? Done. Ruin a rival for you? With pleasure. Pass along the juiciest tidbits that I uncover to you, or even simply writing a favorable letter of reference? All of this can be yours, if we work together. What do you say, Mr. Lamperouge?"
The man was utterly amoral, but he was far too dangerous to have as an enemy, and he offered them so much…
"You have yourself a deal, Mr. Reid."
They shook on it.
"Splendid! You shall not regret this! Here, take my card."
I am thou… thou art I
Thou hast acquired a new vow
It shall become the wings of rebellion
that breaketh thy chains of captivity
With the birth of the Devil Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…
A deal with the devil… But he wasn't a stranger to such deals… "Show the strength of thy will all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!" Arsene's words echoed in his mind.
Of course, there was always a price to be paid.
"Why don't we take this somewhere else, Mr. Lamperouge? I'm very interested in what you have to say…"
Days Until Shinjuku is Demolished: 13
xXx
Lelouch trained with Sayoko the next day.
His maid was a grueling instructor.
Physical fitness was an important prerequisite, she explained, and the training required a great deal of discipline. She couldn't begin to teach him her techniques unless he could demonstrate a certain level of competence and commitment first, lest she dishonor her school and do him the disservice of giving him a false impression of his own skills.
Unlike Villetta, Sayoko was perfectly pleasant, offering him plenty of encouragement, but she could rival his former coach as a slave driver.
He went to bed early that night, exhausted.
Days Until Shinjuku is Demolished: 12
xXx
The Black Knights resumed their infiltration of Clovis' Palace. The security level had finally died down enough that they could make meaningful progress.
"Nicely done, Diamond!" Lelouch called as Milly struck a Shadow down to its knees with a burst of flame from Medea.
"Your turn, Zero!" she replied, performing a Baton Pass to him.
"Ippon-Datara!" he yelled as he pulled off his mask.
The embittered blacksmith, now his Persona, appeared and proceeded to go on a rampage against the enemy, swinging his hammer wildly. Additional power from the Fortune arcana temporarily flowed into Lelouch, lending great force to Ippon-Datara's blows.
Unlike his allies' Personas, Ippon-Datara had no offensive magic whatsoever. It was a purely physical bruiser, but it compensated with an impressive set of resistances, protecting him from wind, bless, and curse spells, and repelling wind spells altogether. Ippon-Datara was highly vulnerable against ice, but he still found it to be a winning trade on the whole.
"Looking cool, Zero!" Arthur grinned as the Shadows burst into harmless wisps.
Progress through the Palace was swift, but it suddenly came to a halt when they reached the Director's Office.
"This door just won't open!" Kallen scowled in frustration, after unsuccessfully ordering Suzuka Gozen to melt it down with nuclear fury.
"It's like that barrier in Mementos," Arthur sighed.
"There has to be a way around it…" Milly said, holding a hand to her chin.
"We thought that barrier might have something to do with cognition," Lelouch said after a moment.
"Yeah, what about it?" Kallen asked.
"If this is the Director's Office, it probably represents somewhere in Clovis's private chambers back in the real Government Bureau. We can probably gain access to the rest of this Theater, if we can find the Palace Ruler's credentials in there, or gain some insight on how to steal his Treasure. But it is impossible for us to open this door from within the Metaverse…"
"Then what do you suggest?" Milly wondered.
"One of us has to open the door in the real world that this one corresponds to," Lelouch continued. All eyes turned to Leila. "And more than that, the Viceroy has to see her do it. If his chambers are no longer as private as he currently thinks they are, that might be enough to alter his cognition and grant us access to the Director's Office. I know I'm asking a lot, Bishop…"
"It's okay… I'll do it…. It's not like my parents were afraid to take such risks themselves… I need to see this through for them."
The day's infiltration brought to a premature end, Lelouch returned to the Palace entrance with the others, and then stepped into the Velvet Room.
It was time to complete Tsu's request.
"This is cruel to your sister, you know," he told her coldly as he called forth the Personas to be executed: Makami and Jack Frost.
"Are you going to get on with it or not?" Tsu asked.
He nodded with a heavy heart.
Shi was bawling her eyes out, her eyes on Jack Frost even as she prepared Makami for execution.
"Don't cry, Heeeee-ho!" Jack Frost called out as Tsu roughly pulled the hood of the condemned over the mascot Persona's head, silencing it, before shoving it into place on the guillotine.
"Commence the execution!" Igor commanded pitilessly.
The heavy blades whistled through the air as they fell and beheaded Makami and Jack Frost. A moment later, the Persona's corpses dissolved into brightly shining motes of blue light, which swirled and merged together in a brilliant flash.
"Me Shiisaa," the new Persona said, a four-legged beast that appeared like a cross between a lion and a dog, with yellow fur, a green mane, and a bushy tail. "You have mask... You and me... Don't worry, be happy!"
"Very good, Inmate," Tsu said. "You have successfully created Shiisaa with Frei."
"Big sister, why?" Shi sobbed inconsolably. "I liked Jack Frost! He was my friend!"
"Death is a part of life. All things die sooner or later," Tsu replied. "Why attach yourself to such things when you will inevitably lose them? You will only hurt yourself. Don't you see that it is better to avoid making such foolish attachments in the first place?"
"Then why bother making bonds with others at all?" Lelouch spoke up.
"Excuse me, Inmate?"
"What's the point of my 'rehabilitation' if making bonds is meaningless? You must know that's simply not true. Just because things die is no reason to give up on that!" he shouted angrily at her.
"How limited your understanding is," Tsu replied harshly. "You have no idea what it is like to watch everyone you've ever known die."
He shook his head. "Recall Jack Frost from the Compendium. I hope you're happy with this."
"You were the one who told me to execute Jack Frost," Tsu replied. "Do not run from your own responsibility in this. That will be thirty-four pounds and eighty-nine pence, by the way."
She was overcharging him, but this time he knew better than to talk back, or Tsu would raise it again.
"Why are you crying, hee-ho?" The resurrected Jack Frost asked, bounding over to Shi. "I'm here, hee-ho?"
The small green-haired girl wrapped the frosty Persona in a hug, and Lelouch wasn't sure if she would ever let him go.
"Since my sister is currently indisposed to giving the next request, I shall do so in her stead," Tsu said after a moment. "Bring me Matador with Magaru," she continued, her glowing golden eyes challenging him to protest.
He didn't give her that satisfaction.
Days Until Shinjuku is Demolished: 11
xXx
Shirley was in a tizzy about rumors of him being with a beautiful girl from another school a few days ago, but Milly quickly covered for him with a story about how she had asked Lelouch to serve as a tour guide for a potential transfer student. Shirley seemed to accept this, but she clearly wasn't happy about it.
He wondered how Leila was doing with her mission, but there wasn't anything he could do to help her. He couldn't hope to enter the real Government Bureau, not without revealing his survival to Clovis and compromising Nunnally, so he could only hope for her success.
He didn't feel up to returning to Sayoko's training that afternoon, so he decided to accompany Kallen instead as they did some shopping for the Black Knights.
"Say something, you stupid Eleven!" a voice suddenly shouted.
Kallen froze next to him, and turned to face the direction the sound was coming from. Five Britannians were beating up a Japanese street vendor. Other passerby paused for a moment to see what the commotion was about, and then went back about their business, pretending that nothing was happening.
"Apologize already! That's what you Elevens are good at, right?"
"Elevens…" Kallen murmured. She took a step forward, but Lelouch reached out a hand to stop her.
"There are five of them," he told her. She couldn't use her Persona in the real world, and although she might actually be able to take them on by herself, doing so would blow her cover as a supposedly sickly student. "Besides, what do you think would happen if you helped him and won? He wouldn't be able to do business here tomorrow. He himself chose to be a Britannian slave. That's what it means to work in the Settlement."
"But -" Kallen started.
"You got a problem?" one of the Britannians sneered, as he and his friends approached. "Feel sorry for the Eleven?"
"No, he wants to join us, right?" another asked.
"No way," Lelouch replied. "I've got better things to do than bullying a helpless Eleven who won't fight back. It makes you look real tough."
"Why you!"
Lelouch found himself promptly punched in the face by one of the Britannian bullies, sending him tumbling to the ground. That was going to leave a mark!
"Lelouch!" Kallen cried.
"Not cool man!" One of the Britannians shouted.
"The Eleven-lover started it!" the one who had punched Lelouch protested.
"Everyone's staring now!"
"No one cares if you beat on Elevens, but striking another Britannian is different!"
"Ah yes," Kallen suddenly said in an affected, sickeningly sweet voice. "Did I mention that my father is an Earl? I'm sure he'll be delighted to know that you thugs assaulted my boyfriend."
"She's a noble?"
"Shit! The last thing we need is this bitch's father throwing a lawsuit at us!"
"Everyone knows the courts almost always rule in favor of the nobility!"
"Let's get out of here!"
The bullies made a hasty retreat and vanished into the crowd.
"Are you okay?" Kallen asked, bending down next to him.
"I'll be fine," Lelouch said, rubbing his head, though he was still a bit dazed. "Check on the vendor first. I'm sure that he has it far worse than me."
"Right."
"A Britannian student?" the cowering vendor asked, looking up as she came over to him. Immediately, he went into his pitch, seemingly ignoring the fact that he had just been beaten up. "Hello. How about a California Dog? Would your boyfriend like one too? I've got ice cream as well!"
The vendor couldn't be dissuaded from giving them something, and wanted to give it away to them for free, undoubtedly as thanks for helping him, but Lelouch couldn't allow that in good conscience. The vendor may have chosen to be a Britannian slave, but the lives of those like him were already difficult enough as they were. He paid the vendor, who thanked him profusely, knowing better than to refuse a Britannian, and then Lelouch when on his way with Kallen.
"So I'm your boyfriend now?" he asked sardonically. "What changed? I was under the impression you didn't like me very much, Kallen."
"Give it a rest, Lelouch!" she snapped. "I was lying, obviously! I only said that because it was the only thing I could think of that would get them to leave without a fight! I so wanted to hit them back though…" She clenched a fist. "You know you're probably going to have a black eye…"
"Nothing that a Persona can't heal…"
"Still, that was pretty brave of you… Surely you realized they were going to hit you."
"It was not my preferred outcome, but within expectations."
"Will things really change, Lelouch?" Kallen asked quietly after a moment. "If we take down Clovis, I mean. We'll at least stop him from demolishing Shinjuku…. But Britannia will just send in another Viceroy, and we'll be back to square one again."
"No, Kallen… life will change… not just in Japan, which they call Area 11, but through all of Britannia… This is just the first step. Only then will we finally be able to take off our masks and be free.'
Days Until Shinjuku is Demolished: 10
xXx
There was still no word from Leila, so Lelouch resumed his training with Sayoko. He had made a side trip to Mementos with Kallen after the incident with the vendor so that he could summon Apsaras and erase his brusing. Sayoko would have told Nunnally if she saw him return injured, and there was no need to cause his sister undue anxiety.
If only a Persona could do something to relieve the fatigue he felt after training. He loathed such physical activity, but Sayoko seemed pleased that he hadn't just given up, and the power of the Hierophant seemed slightly stronger now.
Days Until Shinjuku is Demolished: 9
xXx
"I did it," Leila breathed. "It took a while to figure out how to do it without getting myself arrested, but I actually got the Viceroy to let me in himself… in the end, I can't believe that it worked so smoothly."
"What did you have to do?" Milly asked. "Maybe bat your eyes at him and say, 'Clovis, darling, let's go somewhere more comfortable, away from prying eyes?' Did you kiss him? Or maybe -"
"No!" Leila gasped, putting a hand to her mouth, her cheeks flushing bright red, horrified at the suggestion. "I heard there was a special painting that he kept in his quarters, so I asked him if I could see it with him. We played a few games of chess together afterward. That's all."
"Aww… my way was more fun…"
"That should work," Lelouch said, cutting off Milly. "If everything goes as I predict, Clovis' cognition should be changed to 'Leila has permission to enter my room'. That should also mean that she now has permission to enter the Director's Office in his Palace. That cognition may not last forever though, so we should act quickly."
"Agreed," Leila nodded.
xXx
A while later in Clovis' Palace, they once again stood outside of the Director's Office.
"Here goes nothing," Leila said. Stepping forward, she put her hand to the door.
Whereas it had previously refused to budge, locked tight, it now easily swung open for her.
"This way," she gestured to her fellow Black Knights, as she held the door open.
The Director's Office was even more opulent than the rest of the Palace. Prominent on the wall was an oversized portrait of Clovis, though it appeared to be harmless. Arthur preemptively destroyed a pair of Clovis statues in the back of the room before they could trap the girls again, and then they filed in for a more thorough inspection. The most obvious item of interest was the Director's desk, made of an expensive hardwood featuring intricate carvings and gaudily gilded with excessive amounts of gold leaf. It was littered with documents, some of them scripts for the Directors' plays, others architectural blueprints for his building projects, with concept art of the renovated 'Shinjuku Redevelopment Zone' displayed on an easel, which made Kallen scowl.
"What's this?" Milly asked, holding up a handful of sketches.
"It appears to be designs for female swimsuits and lingerie," Lelouch deadpanned. "Not of interest to our infiltration. Keep looking."
"That's not the same painting that I saw in his quarters…" Leila murmured. Her gaze drifted to another easel in a corner of the room…. "Wait… what? I never posed for one of his paintings! And why am I dressed like that?"
"Let me see!" Milly said excitedly.
It was a boudoir portrait of Leila, photorealistic in its detail and quality, showing her reclining on a vintage couch, wearing a sheer, lacy black babydoll that did little to hide her elegant form and its sensuous, alabaster curves. Matching silk stockings, fastened in place by garters, sheathed sleek and toned legs, while golden butterfly pins held up her luxuriant blonde hair. Draped around her neck there was a necklace featuring a brilliant blue gemstone, carved into the shape of a heart, suspended by a string of pearls and surrounded by smaller glittering diamonds. The jewel rested between her breasts, drawing attention to just how... well-endowed she was. But more than any of that, the Leila in the painting had a breathtaking smile, sweetly innocent yet somehow subtly seductive at the same time, and her eyes seemed to invite the viewer to become lost in their amethyst depths.
Lelouch felt an unfamiliar sensation stirring within him, not entirely unpleasant on its own, but one that nonetheless made him feel uncomfortable. He didn't quite understand it... but somehow, looking at the painting of Leila made him feel strangely vulnerable, like he wasn't entirely in control... Indeed, his body was growing quite warm of its own accord, and his heart had noticeably picked up its pace, while a certain part of him was rapidly starting to stiffen.
He hated not being in control. If anything, it reminded him of how his body had acted seemingly on its own during the incident with Kallen back in the Clubhouse's bathroom...
"Wow… does your figure really look like that?" Milly asked.
"Enough, please…" Leila protested.
"We're wasting time," Lelouch said irritably, pointedly averting his gaze from the portrait before his body could betray him further.
"Yes, we are!" Kallen agreed.
"Come on!" Milly pouted. "So yeah, a little creepy that the Viceroy fantasizes about you like that, but other than that there's nothing to be ashamed of. It's pretty tastefully done, all things considered, and makes you look completely gorgeous, Bishop! Girls would kill to look like that! And don't think you're fooling anyone for a moment there, Zero. You're as much of a warm-blooded male as anyone, even if you'd like us to think you have veins of ice."
"I have no comment."
"While you were gawking, look at what I found," Arthur said. He had clambered up onto the Director's chair, balancing on his hind legs, and begun ransacking the drawers, using his front paws to pull them open. "Top-Secret: Code-R Monthly Report… Development of Artificial Potential and Mental Enhancement Using Breakthroughs in Cognitive Psience…" Arthur skimmed down the page… "I can't read most of these words… it's gibberish to me… most of it is redacted too…. Oh, but there's a key card here… it's labeled 'Backstage Pass'. "
"Good work, Tama!" Leila said, petting him affectionately.
"It was nothing… any good cat burglar could have done it," Arthur said modestly.
"Let's take a look," Lelouch said.
"Indeed," Leila said. "I think we'll finally figure out what my parents gave their lives for."
They headed downstairs, to another previously locked room that had resisted all attempts to open it, labeled 'Backstage - Authorized Personnel Only'.
"Here it goes," Kallen said, inserting the key card into the reader.
There was a hiss as the door opened, much unlike what one would expect of a door in a theater, and the area they stepped into next was even more out of place.
It was a laboratory.
Faceless Cognitions garbed in lab coats moved to and fro, occasionally pausing to jot something down on their clipboards. Clamped down to tables, or suspended within vats, oxygen masks strapped around their faces, were dozens of experimental subjects… people. The steady beeping of vital sign monitors filled the air, and occasionally a probe was extended into one of the subjects, sometimes injecting drugs or at other times delivering an electric shock that caused the subject to scream and thrash wildly.
"Subject FJ18 an abject failure…" they overheard one of the Cognitive Psientists read off a clipboard. "Artificially induced potential could not be contained, leading to mental shutdown and subsequent organ failure… Post-mortem dissection of the subject's brain reveals…"
Milly could no longer contain her nausea, and threw up on the lab floor.
"Who's there?" the Cognitive Psientist demanded. "Intruders in the laboratory!"
"Quick! Silence him before he can raise the alarm!"
Five Personas descended upon the Cognitive Psientist with righteous fury.
It never stood a chance.
"What the hell?" Kallen raged. "Don't tell me we're not killing the bastard after seeing this!"
"It is unforgivable…" Lelouch said. "But if this came to light… it wouldn't be just the Japanese who would revolt… it would completely disillusion many Britannians as well. They may well rise up against their own government. You can kill him afterward for all I care. I'd even support you in doing so. But keep in mind the bigger picture! We need him to confess to his crimes first! That's the whole point of a change of heart!"
"I know we're all upset by what we've seen here," Leila said, struggling to maintain her composure. "Such inhumanity… it's more monstrous than I ever imagined… but now we know exactly why my parents had to die." She took several breaths to calm herself. "We're almost at the Treasure now. Just keep it together a little longer."
The Black Knights stealthily slipped through the laboratory. There was nothing that they could do to help any of the tortured souls within, for the experimental subjects were Cognitions like the Psientists. The only mercy they would have was when they stole Clovis' Treasure, collapsing the Palace and ending the nightmare.
They finally reached the stage and the main auditorium… except it wasn't an auditorium at all, but a winding labyrinth of gilded stairs that would look at home in an Escher drawing, spiraling down into the abyss.
"The Eleventh Prince", a sign read.
"The distortion is high here! Be on your guard," Leila cautioned.
They fought their way down the steps, passing by dioramas in which scenes from Clovis' life were re-enacted by ghostly Cognitions. What started as a heartfelt, moving tribute to the memory of Lelouch vi Britannia, his sister Nunnally, and their mother, the Empress Marianne, focusing on the happy times they had shared together, slowly changed into something less wholesome and more maniacal. The orchestration grew more bombastic as the play went on, with a certain refrain eventually drowning out all of the other notes. In the second act of the play, after the assassination of Empress Marianne and the exile of her children, the title character was quickly forgotten, and the play quickly turned into a paean extolling the virtues of Director Clovis, an under-appreciated genius who was looked down upon by his family. But eventually, he would overthrow his siblings and his father, establishing a golden age of prosperity and justice, where he would be venerated by a grateful world.
"He believes this crap?" Kallen said, shaking her head incredulously.
Finally, they reached the bottom of the distortion, where Clovis' Treasure lay hidden.
It was a place that Lelouch knew all too well.
"The Aries Villa," he whispered.
Days Until Shinjuku is Demolished: 8
A/N:
A lengthy chapter, involving plenty of Confidants, new and old, and some significant mood whiplash. The laboratory scene may be disturbing, but Clovis' canonical experiments may have been even more graphic.
Lelouch's nightmare at the beginning of the chapter is based on Episode 12 of Code Geass R2, where Sayoko, impersonating Lelouch, sets him up with 108 dates under the mistaken belief that he is a womanizer.
It occurs to me that my portrayal of Diethard may have been influenced by Kotomine Kirei, from Fate/Stay Night. Then again, this is probably because Diethard's voice IS Kotomine's... Diethard's English voice actor is Jamieson Price, and his Japanese voice actor is Nakata Joji... both of whom have voiced Kotomine before.
Continuing the parallels of Clovis to Madarame, we have the door barrier and the staircases appearing from his Palace, though in slightly different forms.
The scene with Kallen, Lelouch, and the hot dog vendor is taken from Episode 9 of Code Geass, though it plays out a bit differently since Lelouch doesn't have his Geass power in this story to compel the bullies to leave.
Leila's portrait in the Director's Office is inspired by the "draw me like one of your French girls" scene from the movie Titanic, though less revealing. It would be anachronistic to say that Clovis based his portrait on the movie, but it's more of a visual pun on my part. After all, in the original canon, Leila was raised in France, and is hence a "French girl" (albeit Britannian by blood).
I have been able to maintain a steady pace of nearly daily updates this week, as I am on vacation. This pace will inevitably slow after I am not longer on vacation, and it may be a few weeks between updates again, as I will not have nearly as much uninterrupted time to work on the story. However, I have plenty of inspiration for the coming arcs, and I think I will be able to wrap up the second Palace before the end of the weekend, so stay tuned... the showdown against Shadow Clovis awaits!
Edit: It has been brought to my attention that "Count" is not an actual noble rank in either historical England, nor in Britannia itself, the closest equivalent rank being "Earl", though the wife of an Earl or a female with equivalent rank was traditionally referred to as a "Countess". Therefore, I have changed the title of Kallen's father accordingly, and I will be making the appropriate adjustments elsewhere in this story momentarily.
Edit 2: Fixed a typo on Diethard's surname, which is "Ried", rather than "Reid"