"You're telling me that you ran into the other Black Mask?" Lelouch asked in rising horror. "And not only that, you intentionally approached The Reaper of all things so that you could escape from him? Nunnally, I know that you're capable of taking care of yourself in there, and that you were leading the Irregulars well before I ever knew of them, but do you have any idea how dangerous The Reaper is? It almost killed Kallen, Milly, Arthur, and myself once, we lost our old Cognitive Glasgow to it, and it didn't die even after being run over by a train! I wouldn't have had to resort to that video if I didn't need a way for the Black Knights to move quickly enough through Mementos so we wouldn't risk running into that thing!"
"I know, Onii-sama," Nunnally said, still sobbing as she had been since coming back to their quarters in the Clubhouse, "but I couldn't think of any other way. And now-!"
Lelouch wrapped his arms comfortingly around his little sister. "You did what you had to, Nunnally. In your position, I can't say that I wouldn't have come up with a plan any less crazy than yours. As for that Black Mask... don't assume that he's dead if you haven't seen his body. Medjed came back from what should have been a certain drowning, thanks to his Persona and implants. Until we have evidence otherwise, we have to operate under the assumption that both Black Masks, or Black Mask and Black Armor, as you said the Irregulars have started to call them, are alive. And I think we may know sooner in Black Mask's case rather than later..."
"Big brother..." Nunnally whispered, looking up. "You know who Black Mask is?"
"I've naturally been keeping a short list of suspects, and your description of the Black Mask's general build narrows it greatly," he replied. "One suspect stands out to me above the others though."
He whispered something to Nunnally.
Nunnally let out a small gasp. "Do you really think it's-"
"Short of capturing him and forcibly removing his mask, there's no way to be sure. With our combined numbers, we could probably pull him into the Metaverse, ambush, and overwhelm him, but it would be very risky, and if he is Black Mask we'd then be forced to kill him. You made the right call in retreating when you did, but if we're going that far, there's too much risk in not finishing the job there and then. But if he's not Black Mask, then we'd have given ourselves away as Black Knights and Irregulars."
Nunnally frowned. He could see that neither option was desirable to her.
"And Black Armor?" she asked. "Do you have any idea who he is?"
It was Lelouch's turn to frown. "He's taller than Black Mask, and he was following Medjed, but there's still too much that we don't know." He wasn't entirely without leads, but he didn't want to name someone on such flimsy evidence. It almost felt as if the mere act of doing so would make it true, irrational as it was.
"What do we do, Onii-sama?" Nunnally asked anxiously.
"I'm already working on a contingency plan," he reassured her. "The most important thing is to continue acting naturally for now. If we act prematurely or show our suspicions, we'll alert whoever they're working for, and they'll likely move to arrest all of us. We have to pretend that we know less than we do for now and bide our time, until we find the right chance to strike. I'm sure that's a lesson you already know well," he said, giving her a meaningful look as he briefly touched his nose and moved his finger along its length, as if to scratch it, though the gesture carried greater significance. "That's why I always tried to keep a low profile. Even in our family, there are those who would seek to use us even while claiming to help us, and the stakes are far higher here."
Nunnally nodded. It seemed she understood his meaning.
"Even if we were to succeed at killing Black Mask, doing so would tip off his employers that we were onto them, unless we could make it look like an accident... and I doubt they'd believe that, with how thorough they've been in killing anyone who could reveal the true extent of Britannia's Cognitive Psience research to the public. Even if they don't have us executed, there's a chance that they would try to have us replace Black Mask as their pawns, and we'd scarcely be better off."
Nunnally frowned.
"The other thing is to make sure that you are never alone with anyone who might be Black Mask or Black Armor. They could pull you into the Metaverse, but I doubt that they'll try it if there are too many witnesses around. That goes for all of us." Medjed had already proved how easily it could be done with Shirley and Nunnally, and his little sister had been a fully-fledged Persona-User at the time too. All of his friends were in danger of being kidnapped and murdered by the assassins behind the mental shutdown at any time, and that thought terrified Lelouch, though he didn't show it, as he had to be strong for her sake. "Remain vigilant at all times."
"I'll be careful," Nunnally replied firmly. It occurred to Lelouch that she was likely trying to project the same sort of strength that he was. Nunnally had come to him crying and looking for his support as her big brother, but now she had shifted into her role as the leader of the Irregulars.
"That's all I ask, Nunnally." He paused for a moment. "Now that we've got that settled, I'm curious to know what you and the other Irregulars plan to do now that you've discovered a link between the Chinese Federation's leadership and Britannia's Cognitive Psience research."
"You already know that, brother," she said, fierce determination in her eyes. "As long as Gao Hai is the Consul-General here in Area 11, he'll continue to give cover to other traffickers. No matter how many of their hearts we change, it seems like there are still more of them. But if he confesses and Cornelia finds out who he's been helping under her nose... She's far from a perfect Viceroy, but I can't see her having any tolerance for such despicable people!"
"You realize that if we steal Gao Hai's heart, our dear sister will be gunning for us; traffickers will be the least of her concern. Still, the resulting upheaval is likely to severely disrupt their operations."
"Just let me know when you're next infiltrating his Palace, brother. The Irregulars will be there."
Are the Black Knights Just?
Yes: 34.9%
Days Until the Empress is Married: 22
xXx
The next day, the seven Black Knights and five Irregulars gathered outside the Forbidden City of Greed for their joint infiltration of the Palace, the first time all of the Persona-users in each group had been in one place since their meeting in Mementos. With so many Persona-users united in a common purpose, fighting their way through Gao Hai's Palace would be easier than before. If Lanchester's Laws held, they could expect their overall combat strength to more than double when together. Technically, this estimate ignored the fact that Land was not a combatant herself, but her Persona could improve the effectiveness of the rest of them in battle, and freed Bishop to spend more time fighting and less time on navigation, so Lelouch felt that it balanced out.
Of course, infiltrating the Palace with such a large team posed its own challenges as well. Lelouch knew that keeping the Black Knights as a single group had ensured that none of them could be isolated and picked off by Shadows, but it had also necessitated more fights, since it was much more difficult for seven people to slip by the enemy unseen as opposed to when there had only been four Black Knights. Now, with the Irregulars joining them in the infiltration, they had a total of twelve Persona-users. Moving that many through the Palace as a single unit would make it almost impossible to proceed without drawing the Palace Ruler's attention.
Three groups of four would have been the ideal compromise between combat effectiveness and stealthiness, but Lelouch and Nunnally had come to the conclusion that they could only safely maintain two squads of Persona-users, as each needed a Wild Card wielder to be able to adapt to whatever enemies they encountered, as well as a dedicated navigator. These squads would for the most part correspond to the Black Knights and the Irregulars, though the Black Knights would have one of their members join the Irregulars' squad on a rotating basis to even out their numbers and fill in gaps in their abilities as needed. As for operational leadership, Nunnally still asserted the Irregular's independence, but deferred to him for now, saying that the infiltration had been the Black Knights' to begin with.
They made good time through the outlying city. The two groups used the telepathic abilities of their navigators to stay in close proximity to each other and coordinate their efforts, so that they could quickly come together to face larger threats. They also alternated between taking point, with one group taking out any Shadows blocking the path ahead, while the other followed behind them, given a chance to rest but also ready to serve as a rear guard. In this manner, both groups managed to conserve much of their strength while preventing the alert from being raised.
Seeing his little sister in battle against Shadows for the first time, Lelouch couldn't help but feel worried about her recklessness. There were times when she seemed to go berserk against the enemy, and to his shock Nunnally dispatched them with sadistic glee. Even more concerning was Leila's report that Nunnally's aura changed to be almost indistinguishable from that of a Shadow whenever it happened.
Nunnally had mentioned something about making a deal with her other self, but Lelouch hadn't thought much of it at first, believing it was much like how he had made a contract with a mysterious voice and Arsene, who in all likelihood had once been his own Shadow Self. He knew all too well feelings of bloodlust in battle, the joy of outmaneuvering his enemies and ravaging them with his Persona, how liberating it felt to be able to strike back against Britannia when he had been powerless for far too long. In his first battle, Arsene had even told him to "run wild to your heart's content," which was very much something that a Shadow would say.
For the most part, he had remained in control of his other selves. Lilim had briefly managed to give him that dream against his conscious will, but she was still cooling her heels in Lockdown. But Nunnally surrendered control, becoming an extension of her Shadow in the heat of battle, and that was exceedingly dangerous. Coach Nu had shown him firsthand what happened when one became possessed by their Shadow.
He had speculated on it at the time, but Jeremiah's testimony showed how drastically Villetta's personality had changed following possession by her Shadow. Thinking back, Lelouch had even seen some of those changes occur, though he hadn't realized their significance at the time. Villetta had been strict even when she first arrived at Ashford Academy, and was still a bigot, but not much worse than a typical Britannian. Yet she had grown tyrannical, abusive, and virulently racist, especially after the SSDF was founded, allowing her to take over Ashford Academy with surprising speed. That was probably around the time that her Palace formed, allowing her Shadow to overtake her and act without restraint.
Thankfully, it seemed that Nunnally hadn't let her Shadow control her in the real world. As he continued to observe, he saw that Nunnally was consistently able to return to her normal self after battle. Still, there was always the risk that her Shadow Self could become too powerful for Nunnally to control at all, especially if she was in the habit of letting it run unchecked. He was sure that she already understood the risks of what she was doing, and there was no denying its utility in the Metaverse, but he'd be irresponsible as her brother if he didn't talk to her about it later. Then again, he could expect her to berate him in turn for knowingly summoning Personas that were well above what could be considered a safe level of power through Shi and Tsu's "special treatment", which carried just as much risk of going out of control should his will to master them waver.
Still, the fact that Nunnally had such a violent and vengeful side to her, especially one that was so strong, was disconcerting, but it made sense as he gave it more thought. No one would be happy about losing their mother, legs, vision, and being exiled to a foreign country, but Nunnally had put forward a front that had been as cheerful and forgiving as possible under the circumstances. They had only had the hope of revenge and each other left, and she hadn't wanted to lose him to the former, so she had forsaken her own desire to avenge their mother, lest she push him down a path that would take him away from her. But in repressing those desires, they had become part of her Shadow, and they had been ignored for so long they had returned with a vengeance when she finally unleashed it.
Outside of battle, the Black Knights and Irregulars seemed to be getting along well, especially when they had a chance to rest in one of the Palaces' safe rooms. Nunnally and Alice were already very well-acquainted with Arthur, who was a minor celebrity on campus as the Student Council's pet as far as the rest of Ashford Academy's student body was concerned, but Land seemed rather fond of him as well, and even Power seemed interested in petting him. However, Power proved to be a bit too enthusiastic, and afterwards Arthur had complained that her petting had been more like "button mashing".
As for her part, Nunnally seemed to regret that she hadn't been the first to meet Arthur in the Metaverse. She said that he would have been perfect as one of the talking animal characters who would guide teams of magical girls in the old anime that used to air before the war. After all, weren't she and the other Irregulars magical girls in a sense, now that they wielded supernatural powers in the Metaverse? Even their clothes magically transformed whenever they entered the Metaverse.
Lelouch moved to cut off that line of conversation quickly. Milly had started listening eagerly, showing an unhealthy degree of interest in magical girls and their costumes. If they weren't careful, she would be dressing Nunnally and Alice up before long. No, Nunnally would probably enjoy dressing up as a magical girl. But Milly was hardly one to do things halfway. The real danger was that she'd make the other girls on the Student Council dress up as magical girls as well, or worse, order the guys to do so.
He was glad when they were back to the infiltration, granting them a temporary reprieve from Milly's antics.
The Black Knights and Irregulars soon reached the guardian lion statues at the wall surrounding the inner Palace complex. The guardians were thankfully still inert. Clambering up the statues' backs, the Black Knights took out their grappling hooks; since their last visit they had secured one for each member. They then tossed their grappling hooks over the walls, shimmied up along the ropes affixed to them them, and dropped down on the other side. The Irregulars followed suit.
Taking their bearings, they saw that the surfaces of every building in the inner complex were gilded, reflecting light like countless mirrors, and if the sky had been brighter the effect would have been blinding. The vast network of canals that had dominated the outer complex was gone, replaced by a pair of moats, crisscrossed by causeways, with the innermost Palace beyond them, raised on a series of steps and surrounded by greenery.
Lelouch immediately saw that the layout of the inner complex posed a problem for them. Compared to the city that they had navigated before, the inner complex was much more open, leaving them with few hiding places. The main boulevard, directly along the city's central axis, seemed particularly well-guarded, and was flanked by two guard towers, which cast very anachronistic floodlights across their surroundings. There were two smaller causeways on the sides that they could use, but each was within the area swept out by one of the guard towers. He ruled out swimming immediately. Who knew what Shadows lurked in the depths? Another option was to use their grappling hooks to climb back up onto the wall, circle around, and drop down on the other side of the causeway. However, there were too many Shadows patrolling the walls that might see them, so Lelouch rejected that plan. It would have to be the side causeways.
After spending a few minutes silently observing the pattern of the floodlights, Lelouch felt that he had a good feel for their timing. With how Cognition worked in Palaces, he could be reasonably sure that they could avoid detection as long as they stayed out of the area illuminated by the floodlights. However, speed would be of the essence. The floodlight would complete its sweep before long and there was no cover on the causeway itself. Leila and Land also confirmed several lesser aerial Shadows patrolling back and forth, in paths perpendicular to the causeway. Each Shadow had a relatively narrow range of vision that did not extend to the next patrol, so the Black Knights and Irregulars could proceed when the guards' backs were turned.
"Is everyone ready?" he asked.
They all nodded back.
"Then let's go!"
It was fortunate that Arsene was a particularly fast Persona, and that some of Arsene's agility became his own in the Metaverse, as there was no way he could have ever run so quickly in the real world, even after training with Sayoko. Still, Kallen put him to shame, and Alice proved how apt the codename Speed was for her, moving across the causeway in a blur, quickly outpacing Kallen.
The two girls apparently decided that waiting for the Shadows ahead to turn their backs was wholly unnecessary, and used their Personas to eliminate the enemy at range. Blue lances of highly destructive nuclear energy fired from Guren Jigoku's outstretched hand, while gales of wind rushed from the tip of Bradamante's spear, the air glowing a vibrant green from the magic used to conjure them. The attention of the guards in the tower was still elsewhere, so they missed the spectacle, but the other Black Knights and Irregulars quietly watched in awe, even as they tried to keep up.
"Well, I guess that's one way to handle things," Shirley said, keeping pace with him, though with her natural talent as an athlete she could have easily overtaken him.
Lelouch felt a bit silly, thinking about how meticulously he had planned the timing to avoid fighting, only for Kallen and Alice to throw that out the window and effortlessly clear a path for the rest of them. Still he couldn't argue with their results, and he hadn't specifically told them not to engage the Shadows, so it would do little good to criticize them for taking initiative.
Reaching the end of the causeway, they stood at one end of a plaza, much like the ones at the real consulate, with the raised steps of the innermost Palace on the other side.
"Our objective is before us! Move along the periphery of the central plaza! Hide in the shadows of the walls, dispatch any enemies that draw too close, and secure a route forward!"
The central plaza wasn't as densely guarded as one would expect, perhaps because of the extent of the Palace's outer defenses, but this was compensated for by the presence of more powerful Shadows than those that had come before. The sickly birds that they now knew as the Zhen were replaced by August Roosters, majestic white birds with a yellow, flame-like mane around their necks, and long, vivid red-orange plumage streaming from their tails, making them superficially resemble the phoenixes of western mythology. Then there were the Insatiable Sheep, short creatures with stubby legs, black wool, and malicious human faces with red eyes, charging up to unleash powerful non-elemental magic if they were not eliminated quickly, which was made more difficult by the fact that they had no elemental weaknesses of their own to exploit.
But perhaps even more annoying were the Awakened Gods, Shadows that resembled floating sculptures made in the image of an obscure deity roughly humanoid in shape but with highly exaggerated proportions, bulbous lidded eyes, and a beak-like mouth. While their offensive abilities were limited, they would repel the force of direct or projectile attacks against them, and were immune to Arsene's and Elizabeth's curse magic and Maid Marian's bless spells. They were vulnerable both to Leila's psychokinetic spells and Guren Jigoku's nuclear fury, but if not destroyed immediately the Awakened Gods would erect barriers around themselves that would reflect spells back upon their casters.
Eventually, the last enemies blocking the way between them and the innermost Palace had been eliminated. Ascending the steps leading up to it, the Black Knights and Irregulars stood before the last gate. They had expected that they would have to fight another guardian, but they were wrong. The gate was completely unguarded, but it wouldn't budge at all, and was impervious to Kallen and Power's attempts to break it down.
"The gate is Cognitive in nature," Leila concluded. "Gao Hai considers the area within to be his inner sanctum, which probably corresponds the central complex of the real consulate, containing his personal offices and living quarters. We received a note granting us permission to enter the outer city, but that won't do here. It's like the Director's Office in Clovis' Palace. Nothing short of permission from the real Gao Hai himself will let us cross this threshold."
"As the Third Princess, I could try to arrange a diplomatic meeting with the Consul-General," Euphemia spoke up. "If I was to see him in the real consulate, that would count as permission, right?"
"That won't work, Noire," Lelouch replied. "Firstly, Cornelia will shut down the meeting the moment she gets wind of it. More to the point, it's unlikely that Gao Hai would agree to negotiate with you about anything. As the Sub-Viceroy, your powers in Area 11 only extend to domestic affairs; you have absolutely no bargaining authority on areas of foreign policy unless invested with that power by Schneizel or our father. As such you have nothing to offer Gao Hai. You may be able to secure his permission to tour the outer parts of the embassy, as a matter of cultural interest, and if you're exceedingly lucky he may deign to see you himself instead of sending a high-ranking functionary in his stead, but that won't get us further into the Palace."
Euphemia frowned. "You're right, Zero. In the real world, I'm seen as little more than a puppet princess, so why would Gao Hai care at all about what I have to say?"
"It goes without saying that the Black Knights will have to open the door," Order added. "As fugitives, we can't risk entering the embassy ourselves, especially since Gao Hai is involved with those who want us recaptured." The other Irregulars nodded in agreement.
"We have to think of something, brother!" Nunnally said, glaring hatefully at the gate. Her were golden, and it seemed she was letting her Shadow vent her frustrations.
"We will, Nemo," he said in a soothing voice, though privately he was just as disappointed. "But we clearly aren't going to get any further today, so we should head and rest while we plan our next move. Nothing can be gained by lingering here."
Nunnally nodded, and her eyes slowly returned to their normal violet color. "I understand, brother. We'll join you again when the path forward is open."
Are the Black Knights Just?
Yes: 34.6%
Days Until the Empress is Married: 21
xXx
The conversation with Nunnally had gone far better than Lelouch had expected it to. It was difficult for him to criticize Nunnally for her own risky decisions when he was guilty of making plenty of his own, and such an approach seemed likely to draw out her Shadow. He had instead headed it off by acknowledging his own risk-taking from the start and simply expressed his concerns as her loving brother, emphasizing his continued support for her. On her part, Nunnally had apologized for not speaking more openly about her relationship with her Shadow, and that she had meant to tell him after their promise not to keep secrets from each other, but a good opportunity to do so hadn't presented itself, and he had never asked her about it until now.
Nunnally admitted to regularly conversing with her Shadow ever since it had revealed itself to her, much as she might with any of her Personas, though it remained a persistent part of her while other Personas came and went. As her Shadow was not a part of the real world, it was only visible within her mind's eye. Nunnally said that she had initially found it difficult to converse with her other self, not having a proper name to address her by, so early on she had asked her Shadow if it had a name of its own. Her Shadow had smirked and told her that it was Nunnally vi Britannia, but that if she wanted another name to call it by, she could use Nemo, meaning "no one", reflecting its own lack of reality outside of Nunnally's mind.
That Nunnally had adopted the Shadow's moniker as her own codename showed the extent to which she had accepted her Shadow, and even identified with it, but it was also fitting in that her appearance changed to that of her Shadow in the Metaverse. In that sense, his initial impression that the girl who had rescued him from Medjed might have been Nunnally's Shadow hadn't really been wrong at all.
Nunnally demurred when he asked what she talked with her Shadow/Nemo about, her cheeks becoming flushed as she asked if he really wanted to know. He quickly decided that he didn't want to press the matter further, especially when Nunnally would likely expect him to share some of his own embarrassing conversations with his Personas in turn.
While she kept the details to herself, Nunnally told him that Nemo had a mischievous streak. Her Shadow could be blunt at times, but it was often to make her recognize truths that she needed to hear. Indeed, her Shadow was even fiercely protective of her, even if that meant temporarily taking over her body to lay waste to any who dared threaten her.
Sheepishly, Nunnally added that Nemo had little interest in taking her over outside of the Metaverse. Nemo liked being doted on by her big brother and the other members of the Student Council, which the sweet persona of Nunnally Lamperouge was far more suited for.
Nunnally frowned, realizing how manipulative her admission made her sound, but Lelouch would never begrudge her that. "Lelouch Lamperouge" was just as much of a mask as "Nunnally Lamperouge" was, playing the role of an ideal older brother to Nunnally, and a friend to the other members of the Student Council. Everyone adopted masks, consciously or not, all seeking to fit into roles so they would be accepted by others, but if one wore a mask for long enough, might it become one's true face?
It was not in the nature of a Shadow to lie to their other self, however unpleasant their words might be. Their view of the world might be distorted, but it rarely contained outright falsehoods or fabrications. Therefore, Lelouch felt that he could trust that Nunnally was in no immediate danger from her Shadow, leaving him much reassured.
xXx
"We have a way in," Leila's voice said over the phone. "The Consul-General is holding a party at the end of the week, just before classes resume at Ashford Academy. Listen to what it says." She began reading. "While we regret that invitations to Her Imperial Majesty's marriage to His Royal Highness Odysseus eu Britannia in Luoyang are strictly limited, in the spirit of celebrating this momentous occasion, the historic bonds of trust between China and Britannia, and our future prosperity together, the Consul-General hereby invites you and a guest of your choosing to a pre-reception and masquerade ball at the Chinese Federation Consulate in the Tokyo Settlement. Further details are enclosed with your invitation. Signed, Consul-General to Area 11, Gao Hai."
"That's unusual," Lelouch replied. "Masquerade balls are hardly a Chinese tradition. I suppose it's a concession to Britannian sensibilities. They were very popular among the nobility in the last century before the loss of the British Islands, and the practice carried over to the new Homeland, though it's considered a bit old-fashioned now."
"I thought so as well," Leila replied. "I can confirm that the letter has been sent to other members of the Area nobility. I spoke to Kallen already, and her mother, Countess Stadtfeld, has been invited. Milly also reached out to me, and she's attending as Earl Asplund's guest. I haven't heard from Euphemia yet, but it's already known that she's scheduled to attend the main event in Luoyang with Viceroy Cornelia, and it's possible that they've been invited to the pre-reception as well."
"Cornelia has little interest in frivolity," Lelouch cut in, "and she'd only permit Euphemia to attend with a chaperone. Jeremiah has escorted Euphy before, and is a noble himself, so he's a likely choice, but there's a possibility that Cornelia might assign one of her own Knights to watch over her sister, if she feels that Jeremiah has permitted Euphy too much leeway in the past."
"There's a chance that the Second Prince, Prime Minister Schneizel, will be attending the pre-reception as well," Leila said softly.
Lelouch grimaced at the mention of the Second Prince, the half-brother who he feared and respected above all others, who he had never been able to beat at chess when he was younger. The pre-reception was an incredible opportunity for the Black Knights, one which had practically fallen into their laps, but if Schneizel was there, his mere presence would make attendance far more dangerous, and he could tell that Leila recognized that as well.
"Wouldn't being on the guest list be sufficient to get us past the gate in the Palace?" Leila asked.
"It likely would," Lelouch admitted. "But there may very well be more Cognitive barriers deeper in the Palace. Gao Hai's invitation will get us in the door, but I'm sure that we'll have to enter the real Consulate at some point if we're to reach his Treasure. If we don't attend the pre-reception who knows when another opportunity to do so will present itself?"
"We can test it," Leila suggested.
"Of course. We'll visit the Palace again in a few days and see if we can get any further, but you should make plans to RSVP the Consul-General's pre-reception in the meantime. That way we'll leave our options open."
It had of course occurred to Lelouch that discussing infiltration plans over the phone was a risky proposition - or it would have been, had he not taken appropriate precautions. There was a device that he had plugged into his phone, where the charger could normally go, shaped like a small gray box with an antenna on one end. In spite of its unimpressive appearance, it was actually a top-of-the line piece of equipment for those overly conscious of their privacy. It would effectively make any phone it was plugged into a secure line, all while leaving no evidence of its use after being unplugged. Leila had a few of her own, which she had inherited from her parents, and had doubtlessly aided their work as spies. He had been able to surreptitiously acquire a few more through Jeremiah and his contacts in Intelligence, and Kyoto had contributed several of the devices as well, so that all of the Black Knights and Irregulars were now equipped with them.
"I understand," Leila replied.
"I will plan to attend as well," he added.
"Lelouch, if your older brother's there and he sees you-!" Leila started. "There's no need for you to-"
"I'm aware of the risks," Lelouch said. "But if the King doesn't lead, how can he expect anyone else to follow?"
Lelouch heard Leila sigh over the phone. "I can't honestly say I expected anything else from you. But you don't have an invitation of your own. You'd need to go as someone's guest. Kallen and Shirley don't have invitations either, Milly's already someone else's guest, and Euphemia will have her own chaperone, if she attends. I don't have a guest of my own yet, but it would attract too much attention if you were to accompany me... and not just from the media."
Lelouch nodded. Kallen and Shirley may have mostly gotten over their jealousy toward each other, but they still showed signs of feeling jealous of and threatened by his closeness to Leila, and he knew that the young countess did not wish to be the cause of further strife between them.
"Besides, I'm supposed to still be in mourning for Prince Clovis," she added with distaste. "As soon as I'm seen in public alone with a man who I'm not already known to be in a relationship with, people will automatically assume that they are now also free to court me. If there was anything good about having to pretend that I was Clovis' girlfriend, it was that my other 'suitors' clamoring for my parents' wealth or to have me as a trophy wife simply had to back off. Yes, Clovis only wanted me as his 'Muse', and had I been forced to go through with a marriage to him, I would have also been a trophy wife adorning his side, with the added baggage of being 'Princess Leila', but at least there was only one of him." She sighed again. "I don't know where I would find the time to keep up a double life if I had to put up with all of that."
Lelouch felt irritation stirring within him as he heard Leila recount her past suitors, and indignation that they would desire Lelia for such base reasons. But a traitorous part of his psyche reminded him that while he was drawn to Leila's intelligence, there were parts of him that were attracted to her on a more primitive level, as the dream conjured by Lilim had shown.
Lelouch forced those thoughts from his mind. "I would never put you in that position, Leila."
"I'm glad you understand," Leila replied. "But you must still have some sort of plan for getting in."
"I do." He explained it to her.
There was a long silence, but he could tell that Leila was frowning.
"Your girlfriends are not going to like that... especially Kallen," she said.
"Wait, did Milly-" Lelouch began irritably.
"I thought it was obvious from the change in their behavior," Leila said, giving the impression that she was shrugging on her end. "I don't think any less of you for it, Lelouch. You love them, they love you, and they're almost like sisters to each other now. As long as the three of you are happy, I think it's a beautiful thing, and I'm glad that it worked out in the end, especially when my own thoughtlessness put you in such an awkward position in the first place. Of course, I won't tell anyone else about it, until you're ready to do so yourselves."
Lelouch was thankful for that, but he picked up on a forlorn note in her voice. Leila was still clearly in love with him. Isis, as a Persona of the Priestess Arcana dwelling within him, wouldn't let him miss that.
"For much grief as that caused at the time, it worked out for the best, so don't apologize, Leila. It's in the past, over and done. Besides, as soon as we're done infiltrating the pre-reception, you'll be joining the rest of us on the Student Council for your first trimester at Ashford Academy."
"A Student Council which is increasingly a front for the Black Knights," Leila said wryly. "When I join, five of its members will form the core of the Black Knights, six if you count Arthur. Nina knows that you're a Black Knight and works for us but isn't a Persona-user herself, and your little sister, who serves as an honorary junior member, leads the Irregulars. That leaves only three members who aren't part of the Black Knights or Irregulars: Suzaku, Rolo, and Rivalz."
"We do a lot of things on the Student Council that aren't related to phantom thievery," Lelouch chuckled. "Granted, most of them are Madam President's ideas, but we still manage to have plenty of fun regardless. You'll be able to make plenty of good memories, and maybe some new friends as well."
"I'm indeed looking forward to it," Leila said, and though he couldn't see her, he was sure that she had a genuine smile on her face, making the power of the Priestess stronger than ever before.
xXx
"I'm absolutely not okay with this!" Kallen fumed.
"It's just for the infiltration, and it's the best way I can think of to get all of us in," Lelouch said as calmly as he could. He had known that Kallen wouldn't be keen on the idea, and so he had deemed it best to meet with her in person, rather than sharing the plan with her over the phone, but he was still surprised by how strong her reaction was. "I'm still finalizing the details of the plan, but both you and Shirley need invitations of your own, and nothing says that the person who invites you has to be a man. Leila can invite Shirley as one of new friends at Ashford Academy, and I think I can pull some strings to have Kaguya Sumeragi invite you as her guest, though nominally it would be as a favor to Leila."
He doubted that getting Kaguya to agree would be difficult at all, provided that she didn't already have a guest. All of the leaders of Kyoto held substantial influence in Area 11, not only in the resistance, but as public collaborators with the colonial government, so it was almost a certainty that Gao Hai would invite her as well. In turn, Kaguya would be eager to meet those who she called her fellow 'Court Ladies'.
"The Sumeragi Concern is large enough that it has dealings with many corporations in the Area," he continued, "including Leila's, so we have a pretext there. Kaguya can be a bit of a handful at times, but I'm sure you can handle yourself. It doesn't really work the other way around. You belong to a noble family, so if Kaguya invites you she can also be seen as currying favor with your parents, but she has no reason to know Shirley, who's a commoner. But if Kaguya can't invite you for whatever reason, we can adjust the plan accordingly. "
"That's not the issue here, Lelouch!" Kallen said irritably. "I understand why neither Shirley or I can go with you, and I get that we have to be invited by other people. I don't even really care if it's a girl who invites me. But why do you have to be going as my stepmother's guest?!"
"I admit, it's unfair of me to be taking advantage of her reputation like that after we changed her heart," Lelouch replied, "but it's the best way for me to get in and have no one think twice of it. It's not like I'm going to be seducing Lady Stadtfeld either. You just need to tell her that you've gotten an invitation and ask her to invite me as her guest, so that after a while at the party, I can slip off to join you as your boyfriend. I understand that Lady Stadtfeld has been doing her best to be a better stepmother to you since her change of heart, so I think we can get her to agree to the plan if you frame it in that way."
Kallen looked like she wanted to strangle him. "How oblivious can you be, Lelouch? You're totally her type! She used to always be coming in with men who were younger than her, and you're more handsome than most!" Kallen blushed, realizing what she had just said out loud. "Um, anyways, you might have missed the appreciative once-over she gave you when you came over, but I didn't!"
"Really?" Lelouch asked. Was that really how Mrs. Stadtfeld had seen him? "I distinctly recall her disparaging me for being a commoner."
"Well now that her heart's been changed, she isn't going to be so picky about whether you're a noble or commoner, is she?" Kallen shot back heatedly. "And if she had known that you were a prince back then... she'd have jumped your bones given half an opportunity! If there's anything that will get that cougar back to her old ways, it's going to be you!"
Clearly, Kallen still had no love for her stepmother, even after Mrs. Stadtfeld's change of heart. Still, he was surprised that Kallen even perceived her stepmother as a possible threat to her relationship with him at all.
"I guess I'll have to be careful then," he said with a small chuckle. "But even if I'm her type, she's not my type, so I won't let her try anything, or try anything myself in turn. You have my word, Kallen. Besides, I know that I'm asking a lot of you, and I wouldn't do so if I had a better way to get in to the party."
The anger in Kallen's eyes faded, replaced by acceptance, however reluctant. "Fine. I'll speak to her, Lelouch, and I'll even ask her to invite you for me. But only if Shirley agrees to it too!"
"It's getting late now, but I'll speak to Shirley about it tomorrow."
"Make sure that you do, Lelouch."
Are the Black Knights Just?
Yes: 34.4%
Days Until the Empress is Married: 20
xXx
"A m-masquerade ball?" Shirley stammered.
"Technically, Leila is the one who will be inviting you as her guest, as I don't have my own invitation to get you in the door. If all goes as planned, one of Leila's business partners, who has supported us in the past, will bring in Kallen as their guest, and I'll slip in as the guest of Kallen's stepmother, but I'm not going to stay with her. Once I'm inside, I'll find you and Kallen. I promise."
"It's not quite what I hoped for," Shirley admitted, frowning slightly. "I mean, you going as the guest of an older woman, Lulu... and a noblewoman at that. But if it's the only way to get you in... I suppose that's a sacrifice we can make. Besides, it's not like you're going to do anything funny with her if it's just for our mission."
"You're taking it pretty well," he said. "Kallen gave me a similar warning, but she needed much more convincing. There was a lot bad blood between Kallen and her stepmother before we changed Mrs. Stadtfeld's heart. I doubt that Kallen will ever forgive her stepmother for making her mother's life a living hell and the scorn she received as an Eleven's daughter."
Shirley looked sad. "I've said it before. Nothing is unforgivable. If her heart's been changed, Kallen's stepmother is pretty much a totally different person than she used to be. Why hold a grudge instead of trying for a fresh start between them? I'm sure Mrs. Stadtfeld regrets how she used to be. Kallen's already lost her brother, her real mother's in prison, and her father's back in the Homeland, so her stepmother is pretty much the only family Kallen has left at home... and Kallen still hates her all the same. That's... got to be so lonely."
"I think Kallen views the Black Knights as being like her family now," he told Shirley.
"Maybe you're right, but I still wish she could patch things up with her stepmother... and you with your father."
"Not happening. Even if I somehow could forgive my father for what he's done, and I can't, the only sort of reconciliation my father would accept would be submission to his will. I'll never give him that pleasure."
"I see..." Shirley murmured. "Well, I'm still glad you thought to invite me to the masquerade ball! Even if it's in such a roundabout way."
"It's still 'work' for the Black Knights. You deserve better, Shirley, but with the infiltration of Gao Hai's ongoing, I suppose we haven't even really had a proper date yet."
"That's true, Lulu."
"Well, I'm free for the afternoon. If there's anywhere that you want to go together, I'm up to it, Shirley."
"Really, Lulu? You mean it?"
"I wouldn't lie to you, Shirley... not anymore."
"But what will others think if they see me going out with you, Lulu? The other students at Ashford know that you're already going out with Kallen."
"Who cares what they think? If we really cared about what other people thought, would we be Black Knights, or even in such a relationship in the first place?"
Shirley giggled slightly. "You're so self-confident, Lulu! Even when you're breaking rules, or going against what society expects of you, you remain unflappable." She shook her head. "At first, it drove me crazy, seeing you cut classes, and waste your talents on something as disreputable as gambling. But you must have been bored out of your mind! Still, it really was your willingness to go against the crowd that drew me to you. You didn't care what other people thought or worry about retribution when you helped that old couple. You just did it because it was the right thing to do."
"You make it sound like I'm some kind of hero, Shirley."
"You are to me, Lulu."
He gave a short laugh. "If it weren't for you and the others on the Student Council, I'd wouldn't be a hero but a demon." He shook his head. "Maybe I already am a demon. I'm sure you know I never intended to get you involved in all of this, Shirley. The way you always believed in the best of people, even in a world as cruel as this one, was always something that I treasured. You'd already suffered under Coach Nu, but I wanted to let you hold onto what remained of your innocence. But in the end, I made you into a criminal like me." He frowned. "Sometimes I wonder which would have been more selfish of me; to keep you in my life by not destroying your Treasure, as I did, even knowing that you would follow me without hesitation, or to force you to remain in ignorance and rob you of your most precious desire, all so that you would stay safe."
Shirley put her arms around him, pulling him into a gentle, warm embrace.
"It's okay, Lulu," she told him, her green eyes just as bright and earnest as ever. "I have no regrets about my decision to become a Black Knight."
Lelouch felt the tension within him melt away. It was the same sort of warmth that he had felt from her when she had placed her hand on his back in her Palace, a simple gesture that had been enough to keep him from making a mistake he would have sorely regretted. There was no doubt of that in his mind now. Had he destroyed Shirley's Treasure, he would have lost something that was irreplaceable, all from a moment's well-meaning but ultimately misguided impulse.
"Thank you, Shirley." He shook his head again, but this time without his earlier gloom, and he let out a chuckle. "Now where were we before we got onto all of that? We were discussing plans for a date. Is there anywhere that you'd like to go?"
"Umm... well, it's all of a sudden, so I don't really have any plans," Shirley said, blushing a bit. "Maybe we could just go out shopping, or go on a walk together? You know, something casual, Lulu." She paused, a thoughtful look on her face. "I have been meaning to look for a new diary. I feel like I've started a new chapter in my life, and I want to fill it with lots of memories."
"If that's what you want, that's fine with me, Shirley."
xXx
They headed to the mall together. Shirley said there was a store there that was her favorite place for buying stationery. As they neared the store, Lelouch found that Shirley was no longer at his side. Turning around, he saw that she had stopped and pressed herself against a window, looking inside excitedly. It was a bridal shop, and a gorgeous, elaborately decorated white dress was on display behind the glass.
"I always wanted to wear a white dress like that," Shirley murmured to herself. "I used to always say that I'd be my Papa's bride... even though I didn't really understand the concept of marriage at the time." She frowned. "It still feels unreal... knowing that he's gone... and that he..." Her voice trailed off, and she choked off a sob.
Lelouch reached an arm around Shirley's shoulder to comfort her, causing her to jump.
"Oh! Lulu! I'm sorry... I got so lost in my recollections that I almost forgot that you were there for a moment!" Her cheeks were red. "I mean, I should be happy because I'm with you, but-"
"It's okay, Shirley. You have nothing that you need to apologize for."
She nodded. "Thanks, Lulu." She turned back to the dress. "I guess I'll have to find a new dress if we really do end up going to that ball, though it won't be white like that one. I'm still saving white for that special day," she said, blushing slightly.
"Make a suggestion," Mermaid whispered in Lelouch's mind.
"About what?" he thought back.
"About what she can wear to the ball! Maybe start with the color or something!"
"Maybe you can wear a green dress to the ball?" Lelouch said, feeling awkward as he followed his Persona's advice. "To go with your eyes?" he continued at Mermaid's further prompting. "Or maybe blue would look good on you?"
Shirley laughed lightheartedly. "You're really not used to this, are you, Lulu? Still, that's rather sweet of you."
Within him, Mermaid signalled her own approval.
They walked a little further. Shirley's pace picked up as they reached the stationery shop. From the outside, it looked perfectly ordinary, but once they were inside, Lelouch saw that it was fairly high-end, with a rich variety of paper, pens and pencils, inks, and a whole section dedicated to journals and diaries.
"Which one do you think I should get, Lulu?" Shirley asked. "There are so many!" After a minute or so of looking, she picked one up. "How about this one? I think it looks cute!"
"Have you even checked the price?" Lelouch asked.
Mermaid groaned within him, and he knew that he had said the wrong thing.
"Lulu! It's..." Shirley turned the diary over in her hands. "So expensive..." she frowned, her excitement deflating instantly. "I can't just spend that much on a diary."
"I can buy it for you if you really want it," Lelouch offered, trying to make up for his mistake.
Shirley shook her head. "I would feel like I'm taking advantage of you if I asked you to get it for me. You need money for Nunna's medical bills, and-" She cut herself off.
Technically, money wasn't really an issue with the amount they brought in with fenced loot from the Metaverse, but they had always invested it back into the Black Knights rather than using it for their own benefit in the real world. Nunnally's hospital bills were an exception, but her treatments were necessary, and Lelouch needed to replace the income he had once made from gambling to pay for them now that he was regularly infiltrating Palaces and managing an increasingly busy social life between heists. He knew Shirley felt strongly about the Black Knights fighting to "protect the weak", but that would feel hollow if they gave into greed.
"Well, maybe not this one then," Lelouch said, "but we can find you a different one. And don't worry about taking advantage of me. I made the offer, didn't I?"
"Okay, Lulu," Shirley said with a nod and a small smile.
They spent several more minutes searching through diaries. "I think you might like this one, Shirley," he said, picking up another diary with a red cover. It had been buried under several of the others, but a quick look over it told him that it was the one he wanted to give Shirley.
"Oh, I like the color, and it's big enough to put lots of memories in!" Shirley beamed. She then gave him a sly look. "But be honest, Lulu. The first thing you looked at was the price, wasn't it?"
He swallowed.
She shook her head. "Some things don't change, Lulu." She smiled again. "But it's enough that you picked it for me. It means a lot, Lulu. I'll treasure it." She noticed he was giving her a funny look. "No, not Treasure like that, Lulu!"
Lelouch found that he was grinning in spite of himself, and he felt a pleasant warmth welling up inside of him. And with it, the power of the Lovers Arcana grew.
Are the Black Knights Just?
Yes: 34.2%
Days Until the Empress is Married: 19
A/N: Another chapter that took longer than originally planned, and again broke the "longest chapter so far" record. Since I tend to be writing longer chapters now than when I first started the story, I guess 2-3 weeks between updates are more realistic these days, while I'm not on vacation, though I'll go faster if I can. There's also more "moving parts" so to speak, which adds to the complexity, and I have a much more thorough beta process than I used to, but I think that goes a long way to maintaining the quality of the chapters, so I'd rather do them well than rush to get them out as quickly as possible.
This chapter mostly focused on addressing the repercussions of the last chapter and setting the stage for the next, so it's hardly an action-filled chapter. However, I hope that you'll still enjoy it, and the 5th arc will really start picking up steam after this.
Until next time!