"Beaten by some kids…" the enforcer's Shadow sighed. "If you punks could beat me, I guess I'm the weak one, and the boss's rule is that the weak are devoured by the strong. What do you want?"
"What is the Black King's true name?"
This was it. Three days had passed by as the Black Knights worked tirelessly to crack the mystery of the Black King's true identity, throwing their efforts in Mementos into overdrive. Diethard had continued to investigate any leads that Lelouch fed to him, and now that they had a physical description of the Black King, Jeremiah was surreptitiously working for them within the Government Bureau, calling in some favors with some acquaintances in Intelligence to find a match for the criminal leader. Even if it was known that the Black King was the one behind the ongoing construction of Babel Tower, he had carefully concealed himself behind a number of middlemen and front companies, but that veil of secrecy would finally be breached.
The other Black Knights had been less than happy to hear that Lelouch had gone off to challenge the Black King by himself. Kallen in particular had berated him for doing something so reckless, saying that she could have taken care of the Black King's goons, while Leila admonished him for rushing into enemy territory without adequate intelligence. Milly had predictably told him off for doing something that would have Shirley in a tizzy if she knew, telling him, "How many times have I told you that gambling would get you in trouble, Lulu!" in an imitation of Shirley's voice. Arthur had said he knew the Black King was a rat. Lelouch had tried explaining to them that approaching the Black King with a larger group would have only drawn more suspicion, but even that sounded like a lame excuse to him.
Then there was the matter of how close he had come to having his true identity discovered. In the case of Princess Euphemia, it already had been, a fact that Kallen was clearly uncomfortable with. She had warmed to him, as their leader, Zero, and especially after the incident with her mother, but she remained distrustful of Britannian royalty, especially anyone associated with the Witch of Britannia. Still, Cornelia hadn't come to arrest them yet or to force him and Nunnally to come back to Pendragon, so that was proof enough that Euphy hadn't betrayed his trust.
"I'm finished either way," the enforcer's Shadow said, bringing his mind back to the present. "If you really must know, the boss's name is… Blake King."
Blake King…. For a moment, Lelouch thought that he had heard the enforcer's Shadow incorrectly. Then he burst out into a laugh. In some ways, it was typical of Britannia, a pun, but not a very good one, symptomatic of the nobility's ossified thinking. Yet at the same time, it was fiendish in its simplicity. The Black King hid his true name in plain sight!
The first objective had been cleared… the Black King's Palace awaited.
Days Until Lelouch and Nunnally are Discovered: 17
xXx
The Black Knights had gathered on the outskirts of the Tokyo Settlement, joined by a certain pink-haired princess, her face concealed behind shades and a wide-brimmed hat. The sound of construction equipment filled the air, with several cranes erected around the rising Babel Tower, already an imposing edifice when only slightly more than half-complete, lifting steel beams high to be welded into place, while workers scurried about along the scaffolding that cocooned the structure. Doubtlessly, most of the workers were Japanese, and were being treated little better than slaves, with substandard wages, lax safety protocols, and Britannian overseers who would think nothing of terrorizing them in the name of productivity. The Black King wouldn't care if a few 'Elevens' died in the construction of his tower.
Jeremiah's contacts in Britannian Intelligence had confirmed what they already knew. That morning, Jeremiah had sent him an attachment with a photo of a noble named "Blake King", who was unmistakably the same man as the Black King. There was no doubt as to the mobster's identity now. And much of a debacle as his meeting with the Black King had been, some good had come out of it, for Lelouch was sure that he now knew all of the necessary keywords to enter the Palace.
"Blake King," Lelouch began, opening the Metaverse Navigator. "Babel Tower." He paused. A mere "Shopping Center" or "Casino" wouldn't do. Palaces were always in some way distorted from reality, and Babel Tower would be precisely those things when it was completed. But the Black King had dropped a hint of how he saw Babel Tower in their conversation.
"Resort," he finished, speaking clearly.
Lelouch knew at once he had guessed correctly as he felt a pulse from his phone and the world started to shift around him.
"Destination confirmed," the Metaverse Navigator replied. "Resort of Gluttony. Beginning navigation."
The world finished twisting, and a completed Babel Tower rose before them, clad in a sheath of glittering gold and garishly decorated in glowing neon lights. Constructed on a small artificial island in reality, it now stood along a sandy beach, dotted with palm trees, with the Tokyo Settlement standing like white cliffs behind it, and surrounded by crystal waters on the other three sides.
"Huh?" Where's the rest of the city?" Kallen asked. "We're on the outskirts of the settlement, so the ghettos should be right over there, but…"
"Look closer!" Leila called out, pointing up to the tower. Its sides were not smooth, but a hodgepodge of other structures piled on top of each other haphazardly, its ugliness covered only by the thin gold veneer.
"The strong devour the weak…" Lelouch mused darkly. "That's what he said… The city itself has been cannibalized by Babel Tower. I'm guessing most of the rest of the city is underwater, drowned in debts to the Black King."
"And the distortion stretches over such a wide area…" Milly murmured. "Even Coach Nu and Prince Clovis' Palaces were small in comparison…."
"It just shows how twisted the Black King's heart is," Arthur concluded.
"Wait? You can talk?" Euphemia asked, looking down at Arthur in surprise.
"Is that really the question you should be asking right now?" Arthur replied. "You're taking all of this pretty well."
"Well, Lelouch did show me that other Palace at the train station before… but this is still all a lot to wrap my mind around," Euphemia admitted sheepishly. "That you can really travel into a world inside someone's heart…"
"We don't call each other by our real names in the Metaverse," Kallen said sharply. She pointed at Lelouch. "He's Zero now."
"What should I call you then?" Euphemia asked politely.
"I'm Queen," Kallen replied, crossing her arms. "The others are Tama, Diamond, and Bishop," she said, glancing at them in turn. Sighing, she turned to Lelouch. "Remind me why we had to bring the puppet princess with us again, Zero. She doesn't have a Persona. She's just going to be a liability to us, and-"
"That's enough, Queen," he said firmly, cutting her off. "None of us had a fully manifested Persona when we first entered the Metaverse, yet your comrades are no less valuable as members of the Black Knights because of it. Besides, it's important that she see this, so she can truly understand how corrupt our targets really are, and that our methods are just."
"Persona?" Euphemia asked. "I'm already lost here."
"Personas are the masks that we wear. In the Metaverse, we can call upon them to unleash our inner spirits of rebellion," Arthur explained.
"You'll see soon enough," Lelouch reassured her.
xXx
The six of them approached the Palace proper, crossing the white sands of the beach. Along the way, they passed throngs of Cognitions of Britannians, nobles and commoners, who all seemed to be having a good time. Yet as they drew closer to the Palace, they saw that there a number of flimsy-looking structures dotted around the base of the Palace… a veritable shantytown, populated by Cognitions of Japanese people. The Cognitive Britannians around them barely paid the shantytown any attention at all, and most simply proceeded into the Palace, though a few paused to jeer at the destitute Japanese.
Euphemia frowned. "I've seen the ghettos before," she started, "But…"
"From a safe distance, I bet," Kallen interrupted. "You probably think you're being compassionate or something, but you're way out of your depth, Princess. We Japanese don't take kindly to being patronized."
Euphemia looked hurt. "Do you really hate me for being a Britannian royal?" she asked. "If so, then why do you follow my brother as a Black Knight?"
"That's different," Kallen replied. "Zero has proved his bravery and led us to victory time and again. What have you done? While you were being pampered back in Pendragon, he lived here in Japan before the invasion, and then he and his sister had to survive in the ruins. He can actually understand some of what we went through. How could you possibly do the same?"
"As much as I appreciate the praise, Queen, aren't you forgetting to mention how you threatened to slit my throat soon after we first met?" Lelouch interjected sharply. Kallen's antipathy toward his half-sister was troubling, and it showed that as far as she had come in the last months, with her making Britannian friends on the Student Council and in the Black Knights, some of her old prejudices remained.
"I myself am a Countess," Leila added softly, "and though it may not be the side of your heritage that you embrace, you are a noble as well. I don't see what difference a mere title makes. One's actions are what are important, not their birth or upbringing. She's willing to do what she can to help us, and she tried to do something about the Black King, out of concern for those he was hurting. While she didn't succeed on her own, few would have been brave enough to make the attempt in the first place, instead of just turning a blind eye to his crimes."
"I-" Kallen faltered. Lelouch couldn't see much of expression behind her lotus mask, but it was unmistakably one of shame. "I'm sorry… I was out of line, Zero."
"It's not like you to be so submissive here in the Metaverse, Queen," Milly teased.
"Knock it off, Diamond!" Kallen snarled back with her usual fire.
"At least this time you didn't threaten to kill the Princess as soon as you learned who she was," Lelouch said, softening his tone slightly. "But you need to remain focused, Queen. We won't get anywhere if we're fighting among ourselves."
"Back to the matter at hand," Arthur spoke up, "How are we going to get into the Palace? I can't imagine that Mr. King is going to just let us waltz in the front door."
"Yeah…" Milly agreed. "No way to get in that way without being noticed…."
"Noticed…" Leila mused, raising a hand to her chin.
"I know how we can get in," Lelouch said after a moment.
"How?" Euphemia asked.
"Did you have a chance to see the sorts of people who were working at his club, besides the thugs?"
"I didn't have a chance to see much," Euphemia replied. "But there were those waitresses with the bunny costumes…"
Lelouch chose not to tell Euphemia exactly what sort of work the Black King likely forced those waitresses to do behind closed doors, as that would distract from the matter at hand.
"They were also predominantly Japanese. It's not uncommon for establishments to have a back entrance for staff, especially when the Britannian patrons look down upon them, not merely for being serving staff, but for being Japanese. The Black King thinks he has those Japanese working for him sufficiently cowed, and they're practically beneath his notice, as long as they do what they're told. It's not just the waitresses either… he likely has Japanese cooking, cleaning, and maintenance staff, all of whom would have to use the same entrance."
"That seems to be a reasonable deduction," Leila nodded. "Shall we investigate?"
The Black Knights did so, moving around behind the Palace, where the slums were denser, and sure enough there was a back entrance that did not appear to be guarded.
"Looks like you were right, Zero," Arthur said.
"Is everyone ready?" Lelouch asked.
The other Black Knights nodded.
"Stay close to us," Lelouch cautioned Euphemia. "There will almost certainly be Shadows inside."
"Shadows?" Euphemia asked. "I can tell you don't just mean the absence of light, Lel- Zero," she said, correcting herself.
"Monsters made of people's darkest thoughts and hidden desires," Milly explained.
"They are usually hostile," Leila added.
"Last chance for second thoughts, Princess," Kallen said. Her tone, while it was not entirely free of hostility, was much softer than it had been previously with Euphemia. It seemed she still felt ashamed of her behavior in front of her fellow Black Knights.
"I'm not going to turn back now," Euphemia replied.
There was nothing more to discuss, so the five Black Knights and one Princess entered the Resort of Gluttony.
They hadn't gone far when they realized that the back entrance wasn't as unguarded as they had assumed. There weren't any enemy Shadows on patrol, but there was a Cognition at a desk near the entrance. Its appearance seemed fairly generic, as if it wasn't based on someone who the Black King knew well, but was simply filling a role in his Palace. Its most distinguishing features being that it had the form of a woman and was on the older, slightly heavyset side.
"What are you doing here?" The Cognition asked. "This is the staff entrance. If you're guests, you should be using the main entrance."
They couldn't go through the front entrance, not without immediately drawing the Black King's attention, and the last thing that they needed was this Cognition calling security to forcibly escort them out of the staff area. They needed some excuse to be here.
"You misunderstand," Lelouch said smoothly. "My friends and I are looking for employment here at the resort."
"If it's a job you want, you should…" the Cognition paused as it saw the other Black Knights standing behind him. "What sort of jobs are you looking for?"
"My friends were looking into waitressing work," Lelouch said, continuing to lie effortlessly. Kallen started to open her mouth to say something, but Milly gently elbowed her as a signal to let him finish speaking without interruption. "As for myself, I was wondering if you had any valet jobs available."
The Cognition looked them over, up and down, particularly focusing its attention on appraising the girls. "Most of our waiting staff are Elevens, but we have been looking for some Britannian girls for our most discerning VIPs. I'm sure our female guests wouldn't mind having a handsome valet to assist them either."
"When can we start?" Lelouch asked.
"Right away, if you sign here," the Cognition said, producing five contracts, and sliding them over to the Black Knights. Arthur, as a cat, remained unnoticed at the feet of the others.
The girls glanced over to him uneasily. He gave them a nod, and looked over to the contracts before signing his own. If he would not lead, how could he expect them to follow? Reluctantly, they each stepped forward and scrawled a signature on the forms that had been handed to them. Whether or not they had signed their real names, or if their handwriting was even legible was irrelevant. If they could get past this Cognition without raising the alarm, the first objective would be cleared. Indeed, nominally being employed within the Palace would grant them the freedom to move through it more easily, something that would considerably assist their infiltration.
"Very good," the Cognition told them. "You are now officially employees of the resort. You'll find your uniforms in the changing rooms just past here, and there will be a short training video on your duties. Girls on the left, and you'll go to the right, young man."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Zero," Kallen grumbled as she headed off to the left with the other girls.
In his own changing room, there was a gray vest, a white shirt, and trousers, not dissimilar from his usual Metaverse attire, though it lacked the trench coat that he wore over the set. He hadn't tried to remove the coat while in the Metaverse before, but he was able to do, and set it down on a hook mounted on the wall of the changing room.
The "training video" was mostly just an expected montage about how to go about valet duties, but more useful was an overview of the layout of the Resort, with shopping centers near the ground levels, guest rooms and other facilities befitting hotel above them, and a casino and luxury penthouses on the upper floors. But at the end there was the reminder that one should keep their head down and accept their lot in life because the "weak are devoured by the strong," which caused Lelouch to clench a fist.
Leaving the room, Lelouch waited outside for the other Black Knights to assemble.
"What do you think you're doing, Diamond?" he heard Kallen's voice growl from within the changing room.
"They're almost as big as mine," he heard Milly's voice reply. "You're really going to wow Zero with this outfit, Queen."
"Get your hands off me, and stay focused on the mission!" Kallen snapped back. "That's the only reason that I'm wearing such a demeaning outfit."
"Are you and Zero dating?" He heard Euphemia asking innocently.
"No. Why does everyone think that?"
"This outfit is tighter than I expected…" Leila murmured, seemingly to herself.
A short time later, the four girls came out of the changing room. Each was dressed in a tight-fitting corset, pink for Kallen, black for Milly, blue for Leila, and white for Euphemia. Each also had a light-colored pantyhose that hugged their legs, a strap-on collar with a bow tie and matching cuffs, high heels in the same color as the corset, and a pair of fake bunny ears fixed to a headband, with a fake fluffy tail strapped to their rear.
"What do you think, Zero?" Milly said, leaning forward in a way that showed off her cleavage, and it seemed almost a miracle that her breasts didn't spill out of her corset and cause a wardrobe malfunction. She batted her eyes, peering out from behind her diamond-studded mask, and raised a finger toward her mouth, which spread into a wide, beaming smile. "Ready for some service with a smile?" she said with a wink. "Can I get you a refreshment? Do you need directions to the pool?" Her voice lowered and became breathy. "Or would you like me?"
"Yowza!" Lelouch heard Incubus within himself. "Make a move, sonny! She's offering herself to you on a silver platter!"
"Milly's always like that," Lelouch thought. "She's just trying to see if she can get a reaction out of me."
"Aren't you the least bit curious, sonny, about how she might react if you were to respond in kind? Would Bodacious Blonde here double down on the flirting and willingly show us even more of her gifts, or would her bravado falter and let us glimpse the blushing maiden hiding behind that killer body of hers? Either case, that's a win in my book."
"What you think is irrelevant."
"Though... I have to say... Miss Fiery Redhead looks smoking hot right there. Not only that, she's like a lioness, so dangerous and prideful yet oh so dutiful and loyal to her chosen mate. All-consuming passion enslaved by inextinguishable devotion! Oh, yes, she'll be such a blast to have in bed once you finish getting rid of the last of her hesitation!"
"What do you mean?" Lelouch asked his Persona warily.
"Oh? Could it be...?" Incubus sounded genuinely surprised. "Seriously? Are you really this blind, or is it that your silly moral worries won't let you acknowledge the obvious outcome of your actions?"
"Stop your nonsense and answer the question," Lelouch replied, growing increasingly irritable.
Incubus ignored him. "I can see why you might hesitate to claim your prize too early, though." The demon leered at Leila. "Brainy Blonde is indeed quite tempting as well... What a vision... one that's so very easy on the eyes... a real stunner."
"I'm not that shallow," Lelouch thought testily.
"Don't get me wrong," Incubus replied. "I may not usually be one for class, but she's definitely a pick for the thinking man. Still, you can't go wrong with any of them, so don't pretend otherwise. Boy, the nobility must be breeding for looks!" Incubus chortled. "All of them, even your half-"
"What did I say earlier about executing you if you got out of line?" Lelouch thought back angrily. He would not tolerate any further distractions, least of all from his own Personas.
"Ow, that's cold, sonny! You know, you'll regret it when you're older and-"
"Enough!"
Incubus wisely fell silent once more.
"Will you knock it off!" Kallen fumed, putting her hands on her hips. She had combed down her hair into the style she usually wore at school, when she was pretending to be a frail and meek noble girl, but she spoke in her true voice as a rebel fighter. Lelouch couldn't see Kallen's eyebrows behind her lotus mask, but Lelouch was sure they would also show just how exasperated she was with Milly's antics. Still, he was thankful that she appeared oblivious of the conversation he had just had in his head with Incubus. "Now isn't the time to be trying to seduce our leader!"
"Aw, you're no fun, Queen," Milly pouted. "Afraid of me putting the moves on him?"
"You're already trying to do that."
"I'm just teasing," Milly laughed. "Besides, I've always wanted to wear one of these costumes."
"It's so revealing…" Euphemia murmured, crossing her arms over her chest to cover herself a bit, even as her cheeks flushed slightly. "But I made my choice in coming here… If this is what it takes…"
Leila stepped forward. "While we're posing as workers at the resort, we should be able to move freely through it. As 'waitresses', our employment is on the upper casino levels. I can sense that the Treasure is above us, so we should use this opportunity to get as close to it as possible and scout out our infiltration route." She produced a key card. "This will give us access to the staff elevators. Of course, our cover won't last forever, so we should move quickly."
"I agree, Bishop," Lelouch nodded. "By the way, where has Tama gotten to?"
"Right here!" Arthur called out, stretching lazily. "You guys were taking so long that I ran on ahead."
"Excellent," Lelouch smirked. "Then let us begin."
The infiltration began smoothly enough. Using the staff elevators, they quickly reached the casino level, bypassing most of the Palace. The Shadows on patrol, taking the form of large thugs in fancy suits, or other waitresses in bunny costumes, seemed to ignore them, not seeing them as intruders, but staff who were supposed to be there.
"This is almost too easy…" Milly whispered.
"We're almost there," Leila whispered back. "The Treasure is close now… I sense it…"
"Don't lower your guard," Lelouch murmured.
"What do we have here?" a deep voice boomed. "New goods? Let's take a look at them, shall we, boys?"
Euphemia quickly suppressed a small sound of alarm. Lelouch knew that she recognized that voice, just as he did.
It was the Black King, or more accurately, his Shadow.
The Black King's Shadow was even greater in girth than his real self, bloated to the point of corpulence. His brown suit was switched for a black one, and he now wore a flowing cape, also black, but lined with gold. But most disconcertingly, his teeth had all become sharp, and there was not just one row of them but two, like a shark.
"They'll sell well enough, but I think the buyers would appreciate these bunnies some more if they weren't hiding their faces behind masks," the Black King's Shadow growled. "Get them."
The Black Knights immediately assumed a defensive stance, preparing to summon their Personas. But Euphemia stood her ground, directly meeting the gaze of the Black King's Shadow.
"What are you doing?" Lelouch hissed. "Get back here!"
"You have no right to treat anyone this way!" Euphemia declared. "People aren't goods to be bought and sold!"
The Black King's Shadow lunged forward, far faster than anyone with his girth had any right to, and roughly grabbed Euphemia by the hair, pulling her off her feet with incredible strength.
"I remember you," he sneered. "Didn't learn your lesson from the first time you tried to sneak in, Princess? What did I tell you? The strong devour the weak! That's the rule of this world… my world!"
"Let go of her!" Lelouch demanded angrily.
"I knew she'd be a liability," Kallen snarled.
The Black King's Shadow laughed again. "You must be the Black Knights… I thought you'd be something more impressive… but you're just petty thieves. Now drop your weapons, or the little Princess dies…"
Reluctantly, Lelouch nodded to his fellow Black Knights, and they lowered their weapons. It wasn't as if they were entirely defenseless, as long as they had their Personas…
"No sudden moves," the Black King's Shadow told them, flexing the muscles in his other hand. "Keep your hands where I can see them…"
Lelouch glared at the Black King's Shadow. The implication was clear. If he were to reach for his mask, the Black King's Shadow would snap his half sister's neck as easily as the mobster's real self had crushed that chestnut a few days ago.
"Even a Princess like you can be sold," the Black King leered, reaching out to stroke Euphemia's cheeks. "Royalty does it all the time… What delicate skin you have… You were raised to be like a porcelain doll… an ornament to adorn the Imperial court and then be married off as convenient. Dolls don't get to talk back… And now that you've foolishly returned to my world, I can't let you off so easily this time… I'm sure I can find a buyer for the privilege of deflowering such an exquisite but fragile doll like you…"
"You won't get away with this," Euphemia gasped as she kicked and tried to free herself. Glaring with malevolent golden eyes, the Black King's Shadow violently threw her to the ground at his feet.
"Of course I'll get away with it," he sneered as he towered over her. "Your precious sister can't do anything without destroying the order in the Settlement she has to preserve."
"You'd have a fortune just from legitimate commercial ventures," Euphemia protested. "So why sell girls into prostitution? Why flood the streets with Refrain? Why brutalize so many innocent people? I don't understand! It's just pointless cruelty!"
"And I wouldn't be in business if there wasn't a demand for my services," the Black King's Shadow laughed. "The appetites of mankind are endless and perverse. If I didn't supply the public with the goods they craved, then someone else would. I see no reason why I shouldn't be the one to profit off the gluttony of the masses. How do you think I got my start anyway? Besides, once you have a taste of wealth and power, you can't help but want more. I'm as gluttonous as any of them. And so I'll continue to devour the weak. What was it that his Majesty said? Ah, yes… We will fight on, we shall struggle, compete, plunder, and dominate! And in the end, the future shall be ours! Indeed, that is the truth of this country, and the world."
The Black King's Shadow looked up from Euphemia, and nodded from his minions to the Black Knights. "I don't want my merchandise damaged too much, but kill them if they resist."
"I'm so sorry, everyone…" Euphemia murmured, her eyes downcast. "This is my fault... I got all of you into this mess..."
"Euphy!" Lelouch called out. "You're not just going to let it end here, are you? There's rage at this injustice boiling inside you! I know there is! Some may say that you're reckless at times, and they're not wrong, but you've always been been firm in your convictions! You know what's right and wrong, and you've never hesitated to help those in need! That's the Euphy I know! You're kind to a fault, but everyone has their limits! If it comes down to it, you'll-"
"Did you not listen to what I just said?" The Black King's Shadow snarled. "Kill him!"
The thug-like Shadows advanced on Lelouch, masses of muscle that would have no trouble snapping him like a twig if they got their hands on him.
"This is the end for you, thief," the Black King laughed.
"No!" a voice cried out. "I won't won't let you hurt him, or his friends!"
It was Euphemia. Pulling herself to her feet, she stood between Lelouch and the advancing thugs.
"What are you doing, doll?" the Black King growled.
Lelouch grinned.
He knew exactly what was going to happen now.
In the next moment, there gust of wind from around Euphemia, throwing the thugs back, and flickering blue flames swept around her.
"I'm glad to see that you're not going to watch helplessly, like a puppet with its strings cut," a female voice echoed around her. "You are no longer content to be just an obedient doll, and do as you are told. But what is more important to you? Being true to your sister, or doing what is right, and protecting those you love, no matter the cost? Shall you be a damsel in distress, or will you take matters into your own hands? The time has come to choose, Princess!"
"Forgive me, Cornelia…" Euphemia whispered, her eyes golden. "I know this is a betrayal… But if it's for their sakes… I shall become as strong as I need to! Today, I leave the weak, naive Euphy behind!"
Euphemia suddenly doubled over in pain, grasping at her face.
"It has taken long enough, but let us seal our covenant!" The voice exclaimed. "I am thou… thou art I… Let us break down the walls that have confined us, and taste true freedom for the first time! This princess has no need of a knight in shining armor to save her."
"What are you gaping at? Kill her already!" The Black King's Shadow ordered.
Lelouch laughed.
It was already too late to stop Euphemia's awakening… and truth be told, he had been hoping for this from the moment they set foot inside the Palace. Kallen had been right, of course. Until now, his half sister had been a liability to them. But what better way to make Euphy see things his way and enable her to protect herself than to turn the spark of rebellion within her into a blazing fire?
The winds around Euphemia howled, blasting back the Shadows back again as she ripped off the mask that had appeared on her face in a spurt of blood. A figure in a long red dress that seemed more like a robe and a head fiery red hair, crowned by a silver circlet, manifested above her. A long white cloak waved in the wind around it, and a necklace in the shape of the crescent moon dangled from its neck. Fastened to its waist was a sword, its sheath engraved with runic characters, and it held a golden orb in its hand that seemed to shine with its own light.
Euphemia's clothes had changed as well. She was dressed in the same colors as her Persona, but instead of a dress, her outfit seemed vaguely militaristic. It had heeled, thigh-high red leather boots over white leggings, fastened to a matching top that provided ample padding to her torso, but its tightness also made her chest appear much more pronounced. Her arms were protected by long leather gloves, also wine red, and she held in her hands a weapon that seemed to be a strange cross between a gun and a rapier. As she raised it high, a white mantle flowed around her.
"Protect them, Eilonwy!" Euphemia commanded.
"Try all you like, you'll be devoured all the same by my hounds!" the Black King's Shadow snarled. At once, the thugs transformed into a pair of monstrous two-headed dogs with long, spiky and scaly tails. At once, the twin-headed guardians charged.
"You'll go no further!" Euphemia cried. "Mabufu!" A wave of ice intercepted the hounds, freezing them in place.
"Impossible!" gasped the Black King's Shadow.
"You know what it's time for, everyone!" Lelouch shouted. "Sieze the initiative, and launch an all-out attack!"
The Black Knights rushed forward, and pummeled the two canine Shadows.
"You'll regret that!" the Black King's Shadow growled. "These hounds will fight to the death when cornered!"
Indeed, the twin-headed guardians fought tooth and nail, snarling, snapping with vicious fangs, and throwing fireballs into the mix. But the fight was two against six, and the Black Knights already knew how to exploit their weakness.
Before long, the guardians were no more.
"I'm not the weak doll you thought I was!" Euphemia shouted at the Black King's Shadow, leveling her gun at him, though a trembling of her hands betrayed that she wasn't quite accustomed yet to the idea of pointing a weapon at another person, even one as monstrous as him.
"You win this round, Black Knights," the mobster's Shadow spat. "But I am still the Black King!" Red lights began flashing, and klaxons sounded. "You'll never claim my Treasure… unless you can fight off all of my men at once."
"He's raised the Palace's security to maximum!" Arthur moaned.
"We have to turn back," Lelouch said, quickly assessing the situation. "It won't be long until the Black King revokes our clearances, and then all he'll have to do is trap us on a floor and drown us with Shadows.
"I agree," Leila nodded. "Are you still able to fight?" She said, turning to Euphemia.
"I feel suddenly tired," Euphemia admitted, "But should it come down to it, I'll give it my all."
xXx
The Black Knights managed to escape from the Resort of Gluttony, though the Black King was relentless in his pursuit. Even as they ran across the beach, floodlights from the Palace beamed down on them. It was only when they had regrouped in the entrance of Mementos that they were able to pause to discuss what had happened.
"Given how close we got to the Treasure, security is going to be elevated for longer than usual…" Arthur murmured. "I don't think three days is going to cut it this time… it might take four, five, or even six before things settle down there enough for us to attempt another infiltration."
"That's true, but I think there's another thing on everyone's minds," Milly said. "Today we learned that we have not one, but two psychics on the team."
"Huh?" Kallen asked. "Bishop's the psychic… I don't know what you're…"
"Don't you remember?" Milly teased. "You were predicting who would be the next person to join us. I distinctly recall you saying, 'What's next, a Britannian Princess?', or something like that. Congratulations, Queen. You're a psychic!"
"I wasn't being serious!"
"She's just teasing you," Lelouch replied. "But at the time, I wouldn't have dreamed of it coming to pass." He turned to Euphemia. "So what of you, sister? Have you seen enough to be convinced of the need to change the hearts of people like the Black King? Will you join us as a Black Knight?"
Euphemia nodded, her face now partly hidden behind a black domino mask. "I can't go back to how things were. I have to see this through to the end. But I won't hold you back… will I, Zero?"
"You did fine, sister."
"That's a relief…" she sighed.
"You'll need a codename then," he replied. "Might I suggest Blanc?" Not only did it match her outfit, but Euphemia would figuratively be his noble piece behind enemy lines, masquerading as a White Queen when she was really a Black Knight.
Euphemia shook her head. "I think 'Noire' suits me better," she replied, tapping her mask. "I can't let myself forget the sin I've committed in betraying my sister's trust and joining the very group she is searching for. Besides, doesn't 'Noire' show that I'm one of you now?"
Lelouch nodded. "Very well, Noire. From this moment forward, you are officially a member of the Black Knights!"
Days Until Lelouch and Nunnally are Discovered: 16
xXx
"My name is Rolo Haliburton," the transfer student announced, making a polite bow. "From this day forward, I will be studying here at Ashford Academy. "I'm investigating the cases of the mental shutdowns around the Tokyo Settlement. It appears that the Black Knights, who are wanted in the death of Prince Clovis, first made their appearance at this school. If you know any information that might prove helpful to the investigation, don't hesitate to speak to me," he said with a smile.
Lelouch fought to contain his shock. Another spy at Ashford Academy? So soon? And casually announcing his role as such in front of the class?
This was not the sort of distraction they needed as they prepared for the next infiltration of the Black King's Palace.
A/N:
"Blake King" is of course not the original name of the Black King, for no name is given for him in the original series. I hope you will forgive the pun.
In canon, Kallen didn't really fully get over her prejudice against Britannians for quite some time, and she reacted highly negatively to Euphemia when they first met, so I reflected that here.
The exterior appearance of The Resort of Gluttony is very loosely inspired by that of Tartarus from Persona 3.
In the canonical first episode of Code Geass R2, Kallen dressed up in a bunny suit to infiltrate Babel Tower. Here, all of the female Black Knights end up pulling a similar stunt.
Now onto Euphemia's Persona and awakening. Her Persona is Eilonwy, based on the character from the Chronicles of Prydain (the novels, not the Disney adaptation thereof), which was inspired by Welsh mythology, especially the Mabinogion. Eilonwy is an early example of the "rebellious princess" archetype in modern literature, and notably in her first appearance helps the hero escape from her evil Aunt's dungeon and steals a magic sword in the process, qualifying her as a thief. I am playing a little loosely with the dates. In the real world, the first book in the Chronicles of Prydain, The Book of Three, was published in 1964, while this story takes place in Ascension Throne Britannia (a.t.b.) 2017, which is the equivalent of 1963 in our world. However, seeing that I am already bringing in some characters and plot points that originally appeared in a.t.b. 2018 in the show (1964 in our world), I don't think this should be particularly problematic. And in any case, we can just say that Euphemia received an advance/draft copy of the novel, prior to its official publication in her world, if it was not released earlier. Or the Sea of Souls isn't simply limited to one timeline, as suggested in one of the reviews. As an aside, the nationality of the author of the Chronicle of Prydain, Lloyd Alexander, was American in real life, which would translate to Britannian in Code Geass' timeline, as the American Revolution failed in that world.
Euphemia's Persona Eilonwy is resistant to Ice and weak to Psychic. Eilonwy hailed from the water kingdom of Llyr, and Ice is a form of water. Moreover, in the third novel, she was (temporarily) placed under mind control by her evil aunt. Ice is also an element which has been used by another notable Persona-user of the Empress Arcana, Mitsuru Kirijo of Persona 3. The Psychic weakness also refers to a certain unfortunate incident involving Euphemia and psychic powers in canon, though that shall not be elaborated upon further here, to avoid more significant spoilers for those who are not as familiar with the Code Geass side of the crossover.
Euphemia's thief outfit is based off Cornelia's outfit from R2, when Cornelia was going rogue. In many ways, Euphemia has modeled her new self as a thief after her sister, whether consciously or subconsciously. Cornelia's lifestyle as a military leader and combatant is in many ways the opposite of the role that Euphemia was supposed to fill, so emulating her sister can be thought of her way of rebelling against being a mere "puppet princess". Cornelia's personality can also be icy at times, which is also reflected in her sister Euphemia's Persona.
The distinction between Euphemia's chosen code name "Noire", and the codename of Haru Okumura in Persona 5, "Noir", is deliberate and not a misspelling. "Noir" is the masculine form of the French word for "Black", perhaps befitting Haru's very unladylike approach to combat (with an axe and grenade launcher). "Noire" in contrast is the feminine form of "Black". While Euphemia is still rebelling against broadly similar expectations as Haru, she nonetheless has a greater sense of restraint in combat, and was even more traditionally ladylike than Haru was in the first place.
Lastly, it is needless to say that Rolo is operating in a significantly different capacity than in canon, which will affect the cast's interaction with him.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Edit: Slightly revised Euphemia's awakening scene to give it a bit more build-up, and expanded Incubus' antics.