"Show me your true form!"
Lelouch ripped off the mask of one of the Shadows that had replaced the terracotta garrison around the gatehouse of the Forbidden City. Gaining entry had been easy enough; the letter that they had taken from the garrison's commander indeed granted access into the city, its gates swinging wide for them as they approached. However, once they were inside, Gao Hai's Cognition recognized them as hostile, and so they had to fight or avoid the Shadows that were on patrol. It was no matter; Lelouch had expected as much.
The Shadow burst, reforming into four smaller Shadows. Three of them were bipedal cat creatures shaped like attractive women, but with white fur, black claws, long tails, and yellow eyes with slit-like pupils. Ironically enough, they were dressed in fur coats, spotted like white leopards, each with a red piece of cloth wrapping around underneath, and broad Chinese-style hats on their heads. They squatted, hands on muscled thighs, and would have seemed ready to pounce if they weren't wobbling from side to side, still dazed from having their mask forcibly removed. Standing behind them was another bipedal cat, though one that seemed much more like an actual cat, much smaller than its companions. It had blue-black fur and green eyes, much like Eliza, but was clad in plate armor, painted light blue, with a cat symbol on its breastplate. A green cape was tied around its neck, and it wore a helmet with a red tuft on top and holes cut to accommodate its ears. Two banners were fixed to its back, one with a cat's paw emblazoned on it in black, and the other with a symbol much like the one on the breastplate. It didn't seem to be holding an effective weapon, just a red cutout of a stylized cat attached to a short metal rod.
From the way their opponents were arranged, it seemed clear that the small armored cat was the leader of the enemy formation. However, the larger cat women stood between them, and would pose a more immediate threat once they had recovered. They had to use this window of opportunity to disrupt the enemy formation or outflank and surround them.
He called out his orders, and the Black Knights launched their attack.
"Master Cat!" Arthur shouted. "Magaru!" Gusts of wind buffeted the enemy's front line, only to be reflected back at him. Master Cat was resistant to its own spells, but Arthur still winced as his Persona was struck repeatedly. Unperturbed, Guren Jigoku rushed in, seizing one of the cat women in its golden claws, and destroyed it with a concentrated blast of radiation to its head, while Maid Marian rained arrows down on the enemy.
Euphemia moved along the flanks, trying to find a clean line of sight from which to attack the enemy, but by then the armored cat had recovered, casting Psio, a psychokinetic spell. Euphemia's mental state was not compromised, so she was spared from the worst of Psio's effects, but it was enough to knock her to her feet. Taking back the initiative, the armored cat attempted to rally the surviving Shadows under its command, casting Masukukaja and increasing their speed.
The cat women maintained their formation, as the armored cat shouted orders, launching their own wind spells agains the Black Knights, but it was a losing battle for the Shadows. Milly charmed one of them, which promptly turned on its comrade, and was itself killed in turn by Guren Jigoku. But the armored cat displayed a tenacity that Lelouch had seen in few Shadows, continuing to fight on even against impossible odds, surrounded on all sides. It lunged into the fray, bearing its fangs as the Black Knights struggled to hit it. What damage they could inflict was mitigated by a spell that had been upon it from the start of the battle, until Shirley summoned Maid Marian again and cast Dekaja, removing both its speed and defensive enhancements.
"The enemy's weakness is wind!" Leila called telepathically as she completed her analysis.
Lelouch found himself even more impressed with the small cat Shadow. Arraying the cat women, who could reflect wind spells, in front of it had effectively covered its own weakness.
"Time for some payback!" Arthur called. "Garula!" The armored cat was struck, and fell to its knees.
"Hold!" Lelouch ordered. "I want to talk to this one." He stepped forward. "You fight well," he told the Shadow.
"I fight for the glorious Huangdi, but now I know the dishonor of defeat!" the armored cat responded. "What do you fight for?"
"For our own justice," Lelouch replied.
"What good is justice without a master?!" the armored cat demanded angrily. "Thieves like you are without honor, doing whatever you please!"
Perhaps a different approach was needed. "Leila, if you would," Lelouch said with a nod.
She understood his meaning at once, and approached the Shadow.
"What do you think you're doing?" the Shadow hissed.
"It's okay," Leila smiled gently as she bent down in front of it, using her French accent again. "I'm not going to hurt you." She really was taking Milly's advice to heart, wasn't she? The dream that Lilim had created aside, Lelouch wasn't sure how he felt about that.
To the surprise of the other Black Knights, Leila then picked the Shadow up. It seemed a bit heavy in its armor, and the Shadow began flailing wildly, demanding to be put down, but then Leila cradled it in an arm and began to pet the base of its ears and under its chin. "We can be your masters now."
"Stop that! That... that..." The Shadow let out a contented purr. "Maybe you aren't so bad, for thieves." Its eyes turned back to Lelouch, even as Leila continued to stroke it. "You're their leader right, a fellow tactician? Why waste your talents on thievery? Didn't anyone ever tell you that stealing is wrong?"
"Stealing may be wrong, yes, but we commit evil to destroy the greater evil!"
The armored cat looked impressed. "You know, I wasn't always a cat... some idiot translated my name wrong, and I got stuck like this, and-" Its eyes widened. "I just remembered! I'm not a Shadow from this world! I come from the Sea of Souls! I'm Neko Shogun! Your future shines bright like a diamond! I'll be your mask now!" Neko Shogun burst into blue and white light, rushing from Leila's arms and flying into Lelouch's mask.
"Why does a Shadow get such high-quality petting?" Arthur whined. "I knocked it down. Don't I get any appreciation here?"
"You're absolutely right, Tama," Leila said, picking up Arthur and petting him as well.
"That's better."
"I think that's the last of the patrols in the vicinity," Lelouch said. "Can you confirm that?"
Leila nodded.
"Excellent. Let's get moving. We have a long way to go until we reach the central complex."
xXx
The quickest way to traverse the Forbidden City of Greed was via small boats that moved back and forth along its many canals. Unfortunately, the Black Knights could not simply ride them straight to the Palace's central complex. Flying Shadows patrolled overhead, and there were few places to hide on the water. Most of these Shadows took the form of strange, black and red birds with heads like seahorses and sickly, multicolored wings that tried to debilitate them by expelling stagnant air that made them more susceptible to a variety of ailments. They weren't the most threatening Shadows by themselves, but they would raise the security level of the Palace if they discovered the Black Knights. Far more dangerous were the dragons that ruled the skies. At a glance, they looked like the brightly decorated dragons that appeared at Chinese festivals, serpentine bodies made of cloth, but Leila cautioned that their power greatly exceeded that of the other Shadows in the area, and they should avoid getting close enough to discover their true forms. So the Black Knights made a number of short trips across the canals, taking cover in the surrounding city districts, as they slowly worked their way toward the central complex.
That was not to say that the city districts were safe. Terracotta Cognitions regularly marched through the streets, and there were other Shadows to watch out for. Some appeared as misshapen mounds of pulsing black mud that were resistant to weapons and tried to rob them of their strength before explosively self-destructing if given the chance. Others appeared like floating starfish with a single eye in the center. These Shadows were highly vulnerable to direct attacks, but they compensated by being magical powerhouses, conjuring columns of searing flames that stronger than anything Milly could cast with Medea, and used the same laser spell that Mao had used underneath Ashford Academy. There were also patrols of Neko Shoguns with fellow feline warriors, but these were easily convinced to turn a blind eye to the Black Knights once they realized that Lelouch had another Neko Shogun as his mask.
The districts themselves did much to put the lie to the Forbidden City of Greed's glittering facade. Much like the shantytown around the Resort of Gluttony, the overwhelming majority of buildings looked ramshackle, as if they were badly in need of maintenance. The Cognitions of the inhabitants were terracotta, like the soldiers, but unlike the shantytown Cognitions before them, which had seemed lifeless, no more than living corpses, these ones were active, performing all manners of backbreaking labor throughout the city. Often, a Cognition would collapse under their burden and shatter into ceramic fragments, which would be crushed underfoot by soldiers. The soldiers themselves were not exempt from this. If one fell behind, the others would keep on marching, leaving the fallen soldier to be quickly ground to dust. They did not seem to be actively searching for the Black Knights, for the Palace's security level was still low, but instead the soldiers were going about collecting taxes from the inhabitants in the form of gold or forced labor. If the resident had nothing to give, the soldiers would shake them down anyway, until blood impossibly began to seep from the terracotta.
It wasn't that Gao Hai was devouring the people of the Chinese Federation, as the Black King had seen himself as doing to those he blackmailed or addicted on Refrain. Gao Hai was using the Chinese people until they broke, and then callously discarding them, all to further his ambitions.
Understandably, his teammates were horrified by what they saw. Shirley had never seen just how depraved another Palace Ruler could be, and covered her mouth to contain her gasp the first time she saw one of the Cognitions collapse, neither making any attempt to save itself nor receiving help from bystanders, before it was crushed. Lelouch firmly put a hand on her shoulder to dissuade her from doing anything reckless.
"Why didn't anyone try to help him?" she cried after the soldiers had passed.
"I saw something like that in the first Palace I infiltrated with them as well," Euphemia said sadly. "The part of the Palace that we were in had the form of a shopping mall. The Cognitions were in a frenzy buying things they couldn't afford, and if they went too far into debt, a thug would come over and drag them off. I tried to save one of the Cognitions, but he didn't listen to us at all, and went right back to shopping."
Lelouch nodded. "Cognitions are a product of the Palace Ruler's minds, Dame. If Gao Hai thinks the people are too beaten down to fight back even when they're abused, then they won't. Cognitions are just simulacra; they may appear to be independent, sentient beings, but they aren't."
He felt his heart clench. His words were indisputably true, but looking at Shirley while saying them reminded him of the time that he had hesitated when Shadow Villetta had used her Cognitive Shirley as a shield, and how real the Cognition had seemed at the time. Grimacing, he forced the thought from his mind.
There were of course gaps in Gao Hai's Cognition within the city districts, providing the Black Knights with safe rooms to use. While resting in one, Lelouch wondered what he should do with the Queen's Necklace. The power within it appeared to slightly enhance most aspects of the wearer's Persona, and doubled as a small reserve of energy that they could draw upon to cast spells, reducing the mental strain upon themselves. Kallen was a natural choice for it. While her Persona was already very powerful, her aggressive fighting style and liberal use of nuclear spells to destroy her enemies meant that she could quickly push herself too far if she wasn't careful. The Queen's Necklace would somewhat mitigate that concern. But he sensed now that if he gave it to Kallen so soon after they had redefined their relationship to include Shirley, it would only come off as a slight to the latter, which he didn't want. That would undermine the understanding that they had reached. But in the meantime, the Queen's Necklace remained unused, something that irked him.
Save for Milly, the others didn't know that he was now dating both Kallen and Shirley. Of course, it was prime blackmail material for Milly, and maybe she was saving it for later, but at the same time, it wasn't in Milly's character to be intentionally malicious, especially where feelings were likely to be hurt. In any case, it wasn't something that they would be able to hide forever.
He shook his head. He didn't have time to be thinking about that now. Their break was over, and it was time to push further into the Palace.
xXx
As the Black Knights continued to make their way toward the central complex, Lelouch noticed that while the vast majority of the buildings in the outlying city districts were run-down, the ones closer to the center progressively grew larger and better-maintained, or at least put forth the facade of being such. He speculated that these buildings represented the residences of army captains and minor but ambitious bureaucrats who supported the High Eunuchs' reign and sought to ingratiate themselves with Gao Hai. It was clearly for naught. Locked out of the central complex, they were not important enough to Gao Hai to be granted admittance into the heart of his Palace, disposable as the rest of those that the High Eunuch ruled over.
Finally, they reached the gate at the outer wall. It didn't look so high that scaling it would be completely out of the question. As a matter of fact, there were a pair of bronze guardian lion statues flanking the gates, one male on the right, its paw on a ball, and a female on the left, watching over a smaller cub. They looked similar to his old Persona Shiisaa, but were much larger. If they could clamber atop the statues, they would be close enough that they could toss a grappling hook over the wall, and use that to secure a rope. There didn't even seem to be any Shadows around...
Instantly suspicious, Lelouch used the Third Eye. The statues seemed to glow a malevolent red against their dimmed surroundings.
"Those statues are Shadows!" Leila warned, confirming his suspicions. "Everyone, brace yourselves!"
Suddenly coming to life, the Guardian Lions pounced from their pedestals, landing in front of the Black Knights and blocking the path to the gate.
"So you're the thieves who are here to steal the Huangdi's Treasure," the male Guardian Lion snarled.
"We shall not permit you to desecrate his inner sanctum with your filth, intruders!" the Guardian Lioness roared.
Lelouch thought quickly. If the guardians before them were indeed similar to Shiisa, then he already knew their weaknesses. Changing Personas, he ripped of his mask. "Arsene! Maeiha!" Tendrils of cursed energy lanced through both guardians. As expected, the Guardian Lion howled, and fell to its knees... but the Guardian Lioness was completely unfazed.
Smirking at him for a moment, the Guardian Lioness, let out a breath. "Mudoon."
What looked like a tall voodoo doll made of bound straw appeared in front of Shirley, whose green eyes went wide with terror. The spell was obviously a curse, which Shirley's Persona was virtually defenseless against. Instinctively, he could tell that this wasn't just any curse either, and she realized that too. If it connected with her, it would surely kill her. Euphy's Persona could revive Shirley if she fell, but that wasn't a risk he was willing to take. If Euphy was incapacitated, Shirley's spirit would be lost forever, and she would be truly dead. He had to prevent Shirley from being hit at all.
He still had some time before the curse took effect. Ripping off his mask without further delay, he called out, "Arsene! Tetraja!"
Tetraja was a spell that created a shield capable of preventing the soul from being exorcised from the body or ripped from it by a curse, though the shield only had enough power to protect each beneficiary's life once before it would need to be cast again. Ever since the incident with Milly back in the Black King's Palace, and knowing just how vulnerable Shirley was to curses, he had been looking out for ways to keep them safe. Tetraja neatly addressed that need, and as one of his fastest Personas, Arsene could be relied upon to quickly cast the spell when an emergency presented itself.
Arsene appeared and began readying the spell as instructed, but Lelouch was already moving. He wasn't going to take any chances where Shirley's life was concerned, so he shoved her out of the way, readying himself to take the curse in her place. Now she was definitely safe. With any luck, Tetraja's shield would appear over him in another moment, blocking the curse. And if it didn't, Arsene resisted curses, so he estimated that he had at least a 75% chance of survival. Those odds would have to do.
"Zero!" Kallen and Shirley shouted in unison.
Needles appeared around the voodoo doll, and drove into it repeatedly. Just a split second before the curse could effect him, Tetraja's shields came into being over him and the other Black Knights. His own shield promptly broke as the curse struck it, but in doing so the curse lost its power and fizzled out harmlessly.
He knew he would have to face a verbal lashing for his stunt later, but he would deal with that later.
They had a battle to win.
"Dame! Counterattack the Lioness with bless magic!" he ordered.
"Are you-" Shirley started.
"Do it!"
"Maid Marian! Kouga!" Shirley shouted. Spears of light impaled the Guardian Lioness, causing it to roar in anger as it fell to its knees alongside the Guardian Lion.
"Launch an all-out attack!"
The Black Knights charged while the enemy's defenses were down, inflicting heavy damage upon both guardians.
The guardians weren't finished off by the all-out attack, not that Lelouch expected them to be. Rising, the Guardian Lion drew in a breath. "Hamaon." A sphere of cards, glowing with blessed light, appeared around Lelouch, but the leader of Black Knights simply smirked, knowing he had nothing to fear. Even if he didn't have Tetraja protecting him, time spent in Lockdown had not only removed Arsene's former weakness to bless magic, but made the demonic thief immune to its effects. But the spell did at least prove to be of some use, as it blocked another casting of Mudoon from striking Euphemia.
Within him, Arsene laughed maniacally as Hamaon's energy discharged harmlessly around them. "Splendid! You know what to do now! Slaughter the enemy before you to your heart's content!"
"I can't agree more," he thought back to Arsene, before shouting out loud, "Ravage them!" Arsene obliged, once again striking the Guardian Lion, this time with Eiga, a curse that concentrated its power on a single target, while Shirley simultaneously had Maid Marian stun the Guardian Lioness with Kogua, allowing them to launch another all-out-attack.
Realizing that the battle was rapidly turning against them, the guardians changed their tactics, no longer using Mudoon and Hamaon, but bombarding the Black Knights with Maeiga and Makouga, cursed spirits spiraling down around them while spears of light erupted in their midst. Shirley let out a cry as she was knocked down by the former, and the Guardian Lioness wasted no time in charging forward, raising its claws for for a swipe that was clearly intended to finish her off. But Guren Jigoku came to Shirley's aid, driving its knife into the the Guardian Lioness' paw. This did little real damage to the Guardian Lioness, but it wasn't meant to. It was but a feint. Guren Jigoku let go of the knife, and while the Guardian Lioness was distracted, still trying to process where Kallen's Persona had come from, and moved with blinding speed, seizing the Lioness' head in its golden claws. The sculpted bronze that made up the Lioness' features began to glow and bubble, running as Kallen furiously continued her assault, only stopping when it resembled only misshapen slag. The Guardian Lioness lurched wildly, and the toppled on its side.
The Guardian Lion was still fighting, and with several of the Black Knights injured they couldn't commit to an all-out attack, but volley after volley of curses from Arsene had ravaged it all the same. With one last casting of Eiga, it too collapsed, this time for good. Both guardians burst into wisps of black energy before reforming on their pedestals, but this time they were inert, no more than the statues they had first appeared to be.
"Um, Zero," Shirley said softly. "It's not that I'm not grateful to you for saving me there... Really, I am..."
"But what were you thinking, risking yourself like that?" Kallen fumed. "Don't you remember? It's our jobs to protect you, not the other way around!" Noticing that she was getting several funny looks, while Milly looked on in quiet amusement, Kallen quickly added, "You're more valuable than any of us, Zero, with how you can change Personas and adapt to any situation! When you took that curse yourself..."
"You nearly gave us a heart attack!"
"I was as scared as you were," Euphemia said softly. "But when did the two of you start finishing each other's sentences?"
"What are you talking about?" Kallen demanded.
"We're not finishing each other's sentences!" Shirley said quickly. Too quickly, for she only undermined her argument by speaking so soon after Kallen that it sounded more like a continuation of what Kallen had been saying rather than a separate thought.
"A merging of opposites into a new and harmonious whole," Leila whispered, nodding slightly to herself.
"I don't want any of you saying that you're less valuable," Lelouch said before the conversation could go further down that path. "My power wouldn't be much good without the rest of you to back me up." He surveyed the other Black Knights. "How does everyone feel?"
"I believe it would be foolhardy to press on further today," Leila replied. "We risk depleting our strength too much if we move deeper into unknown territory. Now that we have a better grasp of the layout of the city, we should be able to make our way here far more efficiently upon our return."
"Very well," Lelouch nodded. "We'll regroup in a few days for our next infiltration."
"By the way," Shirley asked as they departed, "when did Arsene learn that spell? I haven't seen that one before."
"While I was preparing for this Palace," he replied matter-of-factly. "I passed it to him from a Persona I found in your Palace, actually, Principality."
"Oh?" Shirley's cheeks flushed slightly at the mention of her Palace. "W-well... I'm glad something good came from it."
"That's the least of it, Dame," he told her. "We're here together now, aren't we?"
"Yeah, that's right!" Her mood brightened considerably. "And now I have both Maid Marian and your Arsene to watch over me."
Are the Black Knights Just?
Yes: 35.7%
Days Until the Empress is Married: 25
xXx
Lelouch awoke, pleased that his sleep had not been interrupted, either by Igor or a certain Persona of his, who was currently cooling her heels in Lockdown.
Nunnally was waiting for him in their dining room as Sayoko served breakfast.
"Good morning, big brother," Nunnally smiled, her violet eyes meeting his own. Lelouch still couldn't get over how precious of a sight they were.
"Good morning, Nunnally," he replied. "I trust that you are well."
She nodded. "And you, big brother?"
"Quite," he replied, and the two of them began eating.
"You've begun infiltrating another Palace, haven't you?" she asked. "You've started coming back late every few days again."
"Yes," he told her.
The two of them had promised not to keep secrets between each other anymore. That wasn't to say that they told each other everything, since it wasn't necessary or even prudent for them to know the complete details of each other's Metaverse operations. It was a simple matter of security, guarding against the eventuality that one of them might be captured and interrogated by the enemy. But if either of them asked a direct question of the other, they would receive a truthful answer.
"Whose Palace is it?" Nunnally asked.
"Consul-General Gao Hai, of the Chinese Federation."
"You're going to disrupt the wedding of the Chinese Empress to our eldest brother." It wasn't a question.
"You know me well, Nunnally. But I assume that the Irregulars have been busy as well."
"We've been exploring Mementos," Nunnally replied. "We can't get too far in there by ourselves, but we've changed a few hearts, and earned enough for the others to be able to support themselves."
Of course the Irregulars wouldn't be able to go as deep into Mementos as the Black Knights. They were the least well-known of the groups that were changing hearts in the Metaverse.
"For the most part, the others have been lying low," Nunnally continued. "They don't want to draw attention to themselves. But if you come across any more information on Code-R, please share it with us."
It wasn't said, but the implication was obvious. While the Black Knights aimed to change the world, the Irregulars' aims were less ambitious, focused instead on evading capture and bringing those behind Code-R, or Britannia's broader Cognitive Psience research, to justice.
"If you don't mind me changing the subject, big brother, I noticed that Shirley seems really happy," Nunnally said after a moment. "Are you... going out with her?"
She had seen through them so easily? There was no point to denying it. "Yes."
"And Kallen... is she okay with that?" Nunnally asked. Her voice was soft, but Lelouch had the feeling that were he to answer no, Nunnally would suddenly become very angry with him.
Fortunately, he didn't have to say that. "I wouldn't have agreed to it if Kallen wasn't. The two of them suggested it, actually."
Nunnally's mood instantly lightened. "That's good. I didn't want you to be cheating on Kallen, but it's not really two-timing if both Kallen and Shirley have agreed to it. Now I can look forward to having two sister in-laws," she smiled.
"Congratulations, Master Lelouch," Sayoko said. "I always knew you had it in you."
Lelouch blanched. He thought Sayoko had left already.
xXx
In the end, he wasn't sure that he had convinced Sayoko of anything. Indeed, he was sure that in her mind he had only confirmed what she thought about him. But at least Sayoko could be trusted not to talk, and Nunnally had promised that she wouldn't pry further into his relationship with Kallen and Shirley now that she was satisfied he wasn't being unfaithful to either.
He still hadn't met with Nina, so he headed down to where she had been working on constructing her Knightmare Frame. Sure enough, Nina was there, busying herself as she made adjustments to it. The machine was shaping up quite well, looking much sturdier than before, and judging from the wires sticking out of it, Nina was in the process of adding electrical systems to it. Moreover, there was a small, cube-shaped sample of refined sakuradite on a table nearby her, its pink glow visible through the walls of its container.
"Were you able to meet with Princess Euphemia?" he asked.
Nina jumped slightly. "Lelouch! How long have you been there for?" Evidently, she had been so absorbed in her work that she hadn't noticed him coming in.
"I just got here, actually."
Nina clambered down from the Knightmare Frame to meet him on the floor.
"Yes, I did," Nina said softly. "About my work... And that incident back in Izu..."
"What did she say, if you don't mind me asking?"
"She said that it was wonderful that I was into science at such a young age, and that with my research, I could do more to change the world than she could as an Imperial Princess, that the difference in our stations didn't matter to her. I was nervous at first, but after a while, it almost felt like I could tell her anything. So I told her about what happened to me..." Her eyes became distant in recollection and her voice became strained. "All those years ago... I told her... How scared I was of those Elevens, and how grateful I was when she helped save me. And then..." She was trembling now.
"It's okay, Nina," he told her.
"She didn't judge me at all... But she said I couldn't keep closing myself away and living my life in fear of El-" She shook her head. "No, she said the Japanese. That not all of them were like that, but that we'd keep hurting each other if things carried on like they'd been. That she lost her brother, Prince Clovis, when his sorrow and rage at the Japanese turned to hatred, twisting a kind man into someone who would do those terrible experiments... I wondered why she was telling me something like that"
Indeed, it must have seemed unusual to Nina that Euphy would so easily acknowledge her brother's crimes, let alone that a princess would confide in a commoner about something like that. Then again, the two of them had already shared a secret, about Euphemia's presence in Izu.
"She said she didn't want that to happen to me," Nina continued," and that she wanted to create a world where I could live without fear, and everyone, Britannians and Numbers alike, would be able to understand each other. A gentler world..."
"I think Princess Euphemia is right," Lelouch said.
"I wish I could believe in that world," Nina said, looking down. "Princess Euphemia believed in it, and she believed in me. But apart from my research, I'm not good for anything."
"You're a member of the Student Council, Nina, and a friend to all of us... even Suzaku. Anyone can change, Nina. Don't you see how far you've already come, Nina? Just last year, you never would have gotten along with Suzaku. And it's not just that. Anyone can change the world, if they truly put their mind to it and have friends who will support them."
Nina sighed. "I know you're trying to help Lelouch. I'm grateful that you came to my aid in Izu, and spoke up for me when we met Earl Asplund. You've changed more in these last few months than I ever could hope to. You're far more outgoing than you ever were before. But I'm still afraid. I just can't move on from what happened so easily." She looked up hesitantly. "Do you think... can the Black Knights... really change people's hearts?"
Lelouch tried to hide his surprise at the question. "Why are you asking me that, Nina?" He asked cautiously.
"They'd never waste their time on someone like me. But I thought... maybe if they stole mine, I'd finally be able to move on, and be able to truly believe in Princess Euphemia's dream."
"Didn't you think that they murdered Prince Clovis?"
"I did," Nina admitted. "But that doesn't make sense, does it?. Why would they kill him before he finished confessing? That's what Princess Euphemia thought." She frowned. "And those leaks all but confirmed that much of what Prince Clovis said was true."
"Well, if you're sure, Nina, you could always anonymously put a petition on KnightWatch. Rumor has it that the Black Knights keep an eye on that site."
She nodded. "Thank you, Lelouch. I think I'll do that."
xXx
"So you came," Shadow Nina said within her Distortion in Mementos, glaring at the Black Knights, who had assembled on short notice. Her hair was no longer in its usual braids, but disheveled, and her glowing golden eyes were not covered by glasses. Her voice was stronger, more hateful, and slightly deeper than the real Nina's, with a touch of mania, echoing in the enclosed space.
"Did my other self tell you that she wanted a change of heart? How foolish of her. Why would I want to change at all? Everything is much more comfortable when I'm hidden in my shell. I don't have to face cruel reality when I'm building Knightmares or programming simulations. I just go along with what the others tell me. What else can I hope for?"
"Nina, that's-" Lelouch started.
"Stop patronizing me!" Shadow Nina snapped. "I've done nothing to deserve your kindness... let alone Princess Euphemia's! I'm damaged goods!" Her eyes drifted over to Euphemia. "She's one of you, isn't she? I'd recognize that hair anywhere."
"Nina, I-" Euphemia said, stepping forward.
"You thought you'd take pity on me?" Shadow Nina sneered. Her expression softened. "I admit, I didn't mind it. When you saved me, you were like an avenging goddess... Before I knew it, I couldn't stop thinking about you. Meeting with you was a dream come true for me... and I wanted you to like me... so I said that I'd try to overcome my fear of the Elevens." She laughed. "But that was a lie. Oh, I'd make a show of tolerance, but no matter how pathetic I am, as long as I can hate the Elevens and make sure that they suffer for what they did to me, I can take solace in knowing that there are people even more miserable than I am!"
Darkness gathered around Shadow Nina, and she transformed, assuming a robotic form, like a Knightmare Frame but more spindly, glowing inscriptions floating around it that displayed a rapidly changing stream of information.
"Now I'm pissed off!" Kallen shouted. "I'm not going to hold back if that's what it takes to beat some sense into you! "
Guren Jigoku rushed Shadow Nina, blasting her with nuclear power.
"Recalibrating," Shadow Nina said mechanically. A barrier materialized in front of Shadow Nina, and suddenly the waves of radiant energy that Kallen was unleashing upon her were rolling harmlessly off of it.
"Take-Minakata!" Lelouch shouted, summoning the Persona that he had first encountered, long before he ever fused it, as the Defeated Avenger in the Black King's arena. "Zionga!" Lightning struck, overloading the systems of Shadow Nina's Knightmare.
"You're just like those filthy Elevens!" Shadow Nina snarled as she bore the brunt of the Black Knights' all-out attack. "No matter... I'll just recalibrate again!" A new barrier appeared.
"Queen! Attack with magic again!"
Trusting that he had a strategy, Kallen summoned Guren Jigoku once more, who fired a beam of radiation at Shadow Nina. Instead of being stopped by the barrier, it went straight through, damaging the Shadow.
"It's as I thought!" Lelouch announced. "She adapts her defenses to nullify whatever struck her last! Everyone, stagger your attacks!"
"Don't think it will be that easy!" Shadow Nina shouted back. She counterattacked with heavy nuclear spells of her own, launched from cannons mounted on her shoulders, prompting Lelouch to switch to Ariadne Picaro. Seeing that her spells were ineffective against him and Kallen, Shadow Nina changed tactics, using Megidola to cut through their defenses.
"We're only trying to help you, Nina!" he called out.
"Don't think I'm ungrateful for you chasing off those Elevens... so I'll make this quick for you," Shadow Nina replied. Blue energy gathered around her.
"Be careful!" Leila warned. "She's charging up for a massive attack! We won't survive if she manages to unleash it!"
Lelouch summoned Take-Minakata again, and the Black Knights launched another all out attack, but Shadow Nina's concentration didn't break.
"It's now or never!" Lelouch shouted. The Black Knights launched a flurry of attacks, one after the other. Shadow Nina no longer bothered to recalibrate her defenses, putting everything into charging her attack.
"Nina, please stop this," Euphemia pleaded.
Shadow Nina hesitated for a moment, and that was all Lelouch needed. Shadow Nina let out a cry as he struck her with Zionga one last time, and collapsed. The darkness dissipated, leaving her gasping for breath on the ground.
"I'm sorry..." she said, not making eye contact with them. "You all must hate me now, seeing what I'm really like."
"What did I tell you, Nina?" Lelouch asked. "We're your friends. We're here to help and support you through anything."
"No one should have to go through what you did," Euphemia said, "especially so young."
"Don't tell me." Kallen said. "She was-"
"Yes," Euphemia said sadly.
"I've known for a long time," Milly said. "But it wasn't my business to share it. I did what I could, and Nina got a lot better once she joined the Student Council."
She frowned. "But these feelings were still festering inside her."
Kallen sighed as she looked down on Shadow Nina. "It's hard not to feel at least a little sorry for you. But just because you're hurting inside doesn't give you any right to call people Elevens!"
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Arthur nodded.
"I know..." Shadow Nina admitted. "Most of them never did anything to me. But it was just easier to hate them, and it gave me strength. At least, I convinced myself of that. All I was doing was closing myself off from the world."
I didn't know, Nina..." Shirley said. "But we won't treat you any differently because of it. They all accepted me, even after seeing all of my faults laid bare. I promise."
Shadow Nina looked up. "Do you... all mean it?"
They all nodded.
Tears began rolling from her eyes, and then she smiled gently. "Thank you."
Lelouch reached down, extending a hand to her, and Shadow Nina handed over the shimmering germ of a Treasure to him.
"I'll return to my real self now," Shadow Nina said. "I can't tell you what it feels like to no longer have that weight on my shoulders..."
She then vanished into light.
Are the Black Knights Just?
Yes: 35.6%
Days Until the Empress is Married: 24
xXx
"Lelouch!" Nina said, greeting him warmly as he found her again, working on her Knightmare Frame. Nina didn't usually look so happy. He also couldn't help but notice that she had let down her hair, as her Shadow had, but unlike her Shadow, it was not at all dishevled.
"You're in a good mood," he told her.
"I woke up this morning, and it was like all the fear and bitterness inside my heart had suddenly gone! They really did it! The Black Knights changed my heart!" She blushed slightly, and looked to the side. "But you probably already knew that, Lelouch."
"What are you saying, Nina?" he asked, taken aback.
"You're one of the Black Knights, aren't you, Lelouch?" She said softly. "To be honest, I didn't post my request on KnightWatch. I was too frightened to do so. You were the only one who knew about it. So that means you have to be a Black Knight if my heart was changed overnight." She shook her head. "But I think I already knew, though I remained in denial about it for the longest of times. All those things I've been making for you... they're not for a play, are they? They're the sorts of tools a phantom thief would use. The Black Knights started here at Ashford too, and you had the motive to change Coach Nu's heart."
He had been careless. What an amateur mistake of him to make. Still, he couldn't fault her reasoning, and he decided it was better to project an image of confidence, so he quickly hid his grimace and chuckled. "What are you going to do if that's true, Nina?"
"Nothing," she replied. "At first I kept quiet because I figured it was best not to ask questions about where you were getting all those materials you brought to me. Then it was because I wasn't sure if my suspicions were right or not, and I was frightened of what would happen if I told anyone. And now... Princess Euphemia is working with you too, isn't she? Her showing up in Izu like that's too much of a coincidence if that's not the case."
"Very impressive, Nina. Perhaps you should have been our class's detective instead."
"I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes," Nina said modestly. "But that's not the point. The Black Knights aren't evil, like I once thought they were. I can't see you killing Shirley's father. Someone else framed you for it, but you're going to bring them to justice, right?"
"We are."
Nina nodded, greatly reassured. "You, Princess Euphemia, and the others... you're all working to make the world a better place. I believe that now. I may not be able to do much... but I'd like to continue helping you make a difference in my own way. I can't think of any better way to thank you for what you've done for me."
"Very well, Nina. I accept your offer."
I am thou… thou art I
Thou hast turned a vow into a blood oath
Thy bond shall become the wings of rebellion
And break the yoke of thy heart.
Thou hast awakened to the ultimate secret
of the Hermit, granting thee infinite power…
A new possibility emerged within him... Ongyo-ki, the strongest Persona of the Hermit Arcana. It was ironic that Nina would give rise to a Japanese Persona within him. He would have expected one like that from Sayoko. But perhaps it was a fitting reflection of Nina leaving her prejudice behind.
"Thank you for everything, Lelouch," Nina said. "I'm not going to hide in my shell any longer, and I'll be behind you every step of the way."
xXx
Lelouch returned to the Student Council room after meeting with Nina. Suzaku was there, doing some paperwork as part of his duties on the council. He was listening to the news, which was reporting on the upcoming marriage of the Chinese Empress to Crown Prince Odysseus.
"There you are, Lelouch!" Suzaku called out. "Have you come to help with the paperwork?"
"I have," Lelouch replied.
"That's a relief," Suzaku sighed. "There's still so much that needs to be done before the next trimester starts."
"No time like the present then."
They had been working together for a while when Suzaku said, "You know, it's awfully tricky to find you these days. It always seems like you're off doing one thing or the other. We don't often hang out like we used to."
"I know. My schedule's been pretty full these days," Lelouch replied.
"Going out on dates with Kallen, right?"
"Suzaku, I-"
"It's fine, Lelouch. I totally get it. I'm glad to see that you found someone for you. We're guys, and getting interested in girls and dating is of growing up. Don't think it's just your fault that we haven't been able to spend much time with each other either. Work has kept me pretty busy lately as well."
"Engineering, right?"
"Yeah."
There was an awkward silence before Suzaku spoke again.
"There's been something that's been bothering me, Lelouch."
"Oh?"
"It's about the Black Knights... they've been awfully quiet lately, haven't they?"
Suzaku was still going on about them? Making sure not to show his annoyance, Lelouch replied, "I'd say so. They haven't had a high-profile change of heart since the Black King."
"It makes me worry..." Suzaku frowned. "It makes me think they're planning something big."
"Like what?"
Suzaku gestured at the television. "They'll want to disrupt Prince Odysseus' royal marriage to the Empress of China. They'll go after Prince Schneizel or the Consul-General, if the Glinda Knights back in Pendragon don't get to Prince Odysseus first. Though that last one is a bit of a stretch, if you ask me."
That was a remarkably accurate deduction. "Have you been discussing theories with Rolo?" Lelouch asked, putting on a good-natured chuckle. "But why not target the Empress herself, and have her call of the wedding?"
"The Empress is just a child. She's not the one running things in the Chinese Federation, and I doubt she's committed the sorts of crimes that the Black Knights make people confess to. She's too young for that."
"So you admit that that Prince Schneizel and the Consul-General have committed the sorts of crimes that would make them likely targets of the Black Knights?"
'That's not the point!" Suzaku said heatedly. "The Black Knights are criminals too! Don't get me started on that last stunt of theirs! Not only are they already causing the Viceroy to crack down more harshly than before, but if their leader Zero brainwashed those girls into following him..."
"Don't tell me you've been reading those trashy stories on the internet," Lelouch said testily. "They're no better than tabloid nonsense. Besides, criminals they may be, but as far as I'm concerned, those the Black Knights have targeted have always been worse, and had it coming to them."
"Lelouch, this isn't something to joke about! If the Black Knights disrupt the wedding and cause an international incident, who knows what will happen?"
"If they don't, then Britannia will do to China what they did to Japan. Not that I hear that China's High Eunuchs are much better."
"I still can't condone them changing people's hearts like that... especially if it's going to get a lot of innocent people caught up in the upheaval!"
How curious it was that Suzaku would raise the same objection that Euphemia had.
"Relax, Suzaku," Lelouch replied. "It's not like it's your job to catch the Black Knights. Leave that to Rolo."
"Yeah..." Suzaku said, looking down.
"We've been over this before, haven't we, Suzaku? I don't want to do anything that would make Nunnally sad."
"Yeah," Suzaku said, looking up. "Well... just be careful Lelouch... things could be getting pretty crazy here soon."
"I will. Make sure you take care of yourself too, Suzaku."
"I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."
"Overconfident as always."
"I could say the same of you," Suzaku retorted.
"Arguing just like old times," Lelouch grinned, and he felt the power of the Justice Arcana grow a little stronger.
No matter what happened, he would still have that bond with Suzaku.
Are the Black Knights Just?
Yes: 35.3%
Days Until the Empress is Married: 23
A/N:
Three hundred sixty-four days, nearly 280,000 words, and fifty two chapters... to think I've come so far in so short a time. It's far more than what I imagined when I first published the prologue. There's no doubt that this has thus far been my most successful story to date, and I would like to extend thanks to everyone who's read, followed the story, reviewed, and left constructive feedback. Also, great thanks to my current beta readers, who have been a tremendous help.
Of course, there's still quite a way to go, but I think I can still get a few more chapters in over the summer. I'm thinking that it may be good to have an interlude from the perspective of the Irregulars soon, as it was correctly pointed out that we haven't seen much of them yet in the story (though they will come into play again in the main narrative later). But then we'll be back to the Palace.
Thanks for reading!