Authors Note: Well, it's slightly late, but here's the new chapter. I am quite gratified with the responses I got to that last Chapter, so to all of you who reviewed, my thanks.
Now, this Chapter has a lemon in it. That's why it took so long to write. If it ain't good, it's not that I didn't try.
I got a rather irritated person saying how Suzaku ended up looking like a fool. My answer? He is a fool. He is even more naïve than in canon in my story and (at the moment) disregards tactics he deems to be unjust or dishonourable. As to why the Lancelot didn't strut its stuff, the ambushers were on top of buildings when they engaged him, so the Lancelot, without the VARIS-rifle, had no proper way to respond, giving the ambushers sufficient time to withdraw.
BTW, Tochō is the nickname for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, or Tokyo City Hall. I did mention it in the last chapter, but obviously wasn't clear enough.
Anyway, enough from me. Enjoy this fic!
Disclaimer: If I owned Code Geass, I'd have never have invented the FLEIA weapon. As it's in Canon, I don't own Code Geass.
"Kallen"-Speech
'Lelouch'-Thought/mental communication
"{Die}"-Geass Command
"Halt!"-Loudspeaker
"Roger."-Radio/Walkie-Talkie
WARNING: This Chapter contains a Lemon. If you do not wish to read it, skip over the indicated section!
Chapter 5: Of Plans, Loyalty and Bargains.
With Lelouch and C.C., Ashford Academy, 12.00am
Lelouch sighed in relief as he saw the Ashford Academy Student Council Clubhouse, which had been his and Nunnally's home for the last two years, since his graduation from Ashford's Middle School Division.
'A few hours ago, I thought I wouldn't ever see Ashford, or Nunnally, ever again.' Lelouch though soberly.
After ending his radio conversation with Kallen, he had stashed his second stolen Sutherland at a hidden location near Ashford, he, with C.C. in tow, had walked here.
"How are you going to explain me to your sister?" C.C. asked. The green haired immortal had been silent for the last ten minutes or so as they walked.
Lelouch stopped, turned his head and looked at her shrewdly. He had drawn out several plans in his mind about that subject, so now was as good a time as any to discuss them with her.
"Nunnally isn't who we have to be concerned with tonight, as by this time she should be asleep. My Japanese maid, Sayoko, is the one we have to explain ourselves to." Lelouch replied.
C.C., who had also stopped, cocked her head to one side in silent query.
"Sayoko Shinozaki. 37th Successor to the Shinozaki School of Taijutsu. 24 years old. She has served Nunnally and me since we became wards of the Ashford Family, and was previously Milly Ashford's personal maid." Lelouch rattled off.
"She is aware of our true identities and loves Nunnally dearly. She always refers to me as 'My Lord' or with the honorific's '-sama' or '-dono'. She has helped me keep in shape and has personally taught me both Kenjutsu and Aikido. Her loyalty to us is absolute and she has…dealt with several people who have attempted to kidnap Nunnally, perverts and molesters mostly, and has expressed on several occasions the desire to track down and slay the one responsible for my mother's murder on Nunnally's behalf." Lelouch finished.
C.C.'s eyebrows rose in surprise.
"You remembered all that off of the top of your head?" she asked, sounding impressed.
Lelouch shrugged. "I have an excellent memory. Not photographic, but close. Anyway, telling her my plans will be fairly simple. How to introduce you, however, will be slightly more problematic." he told his companion.
"You have a plan." The immortal stated.
"Several. The first one would be to not hide anything and tell her everything." Lelouch said.
Looking incredulous, C.C. shook her head.
"Second idea, we could say that Clovis was using you for inhumane experimentation, merely omitting precisely what those experiments were for, and you desire revenge on Britannia as a result, joining up with me as a means to that end." Lelouch continued.
C.C. looked thoughtful at that one, but motioned for him to keep going.
"Third idea, you hate Britannia, for an unnamed and private reason, and had tried to assassinate Clovis, but failed and were imprisoned aboard his G-1. I released you and you joined up with me to continue attacking Britannia." Lelouch outlined his third plan with a dubious face.
The Immortal seemed to share his opinion as she shook her head again.
"My last plan is very simple: introduce you and tell her you are an ally. She ought to accept my word on the subject. She'll still keep an eye on you though." Lelouch finished and looked at the immortal, interested in her opinion.
C.C. looked somewhat dubious again. "Do you think she would accept such a….blatant…'this woman's identity is none of your concern' approach?"
"I do believe I would." a soft, feminine voice, located to the left and behind them, spoke up suddenly, causing Lelouch and C.C. to start in surprise.
"Sayoko, what have I said about getting enough sleep? AND about sneaking up on people?" Lelouch asked with a small sigh as he turned around to look at his maid.
"My Lord, you are extremely late. Lady Nunnally was most distraught. She only retired at a decent hour because I promised to stay up and greet you when you arrived." Sayoko said, somewhat reproachfully, as she stepped out of the shadows she had concealed herself in.
"For that I AM sorry." Lelouch told her, sincerity obvious in his voice, "I would never have worried Nunnally unless it was unavoidable, and today it was unavoidable."
Sayoko had been studying Lelouch's face as he spoke and came to a conclusion.
"You have seen death this day, My Lord." Sayoko said, very, very softly.
Lelouch merely nodded.
"I see. This seems a place ill suited for such a conversation. Let us go inside." Sayoko said, turning and walking up the path towards the Clubhouse, Lelouch and C.C. following behind her.
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With Lelouch, C.C. and Sayoko, Time Skip ½ an hour later.
"…And then we came back here." Lelouch finished. Realising that it was pointless to try to conceal her part in the tale Lelouch was telling Sayoko, C.C. had told Sayoko everything Lelouch knew about Geass.
They were currently sitting at the dining table in Lelouch and Nunnally's quarters as Lelouch alternated between telling his story and eating the dinner Sayoko had reheated for him.
Sayoko had sat and listened, showing no emotion in either her face or body language and had interrupted only to ask for clarification of a point.
The only exception was when they had gotten to the part where Clovis' Royal Guard had almost killed Lelouch. Her eyes had narrowed, her fists had clenched and she gave off an aura of intimidation.
After a moment, she had taken a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Go on." She had said simply.
When the tale was done, Sayoko sat for a moment and seemed to be deep in thought, her eyes closed and a mild wrinkle on her brow. When her eyes opened, they looked at Lelouch indecipherably.
"I have three or four questions if I may, My Lord?" Sayoko said, her voice just as indecipherable as her eyes. At Lelouch's nod, she continued.
"Do you intend to rebel against your father, My Lord?" Was her first question.
"Yes." Lelouch responded simply, his eyes locked onto hers.
Sayoko slowly nodded, seeming to have already guessed the answer to that one.
"Why do you wish to wage war? For revenge?" Sayoko asked her second question with a slight inflection of steel.
'Obviously she wouldn't approve of a war driven purely by revenge. It is a good thing that it is not.' Lelouch thought as he regarded his maid.
"I would be lying if I were to say revenge were not part of it, as it is." Lelouch spoke bluntly, respecting Sayoko too much as a person to try to deceive her, "But there are two other main reasons. The first is to repay Japan. During the months before the Invasion, Nunnally recovered far quicker than expected, due to the atmosphere around her, the….attitude…of the people she came into contact with."
Lelouch sighed and looked away, lost in memories. "You have to understand. At Pendragon, in the Imperial Court, even while recovering from losing her own mother and being brutally injured herself, Nunnally would have been forced not to show weakness, otherwise vultures would have stuck to take advantage of that weakness. In Japan, no one had anything on their minds other than aiding in her recuperation. I owe much to Japan, on Nunnally's behalf."
Lelouch returned his gaze to a slightly teary Sayoko. "It's a debt I fully intend to repay."
"And…the other reason?" Sayoko asked somewhat hesitantly.
"To protect Nunnally's future." Lelouch said firmly. "As long as Britannia exists, there is a chance Nunnally and myself could be found. We would be made into pawns on Father's chessboard, made into tools again. That I will not allow." At those last five words, Lelouch's voice became as unbending as steel, determination poring off him.
Sayoko nodded and spoke her third question.
"Will you use this power you have been given, use your Geass?"
"Yes, I will. To not use such an ability would be the height of foolishness." Lelouch told her. "But make no mistake, I was planning to rebel, even without Geass, at some point in the future. Obtaining Geass merely accelerated my timetable by a couple of decades."
C.C. snorted in amusement at that and Sayoko's mouth twitched upwards slightly at his frank admission.
"Hey! That was when I figured I could have amassed sufficient capital and followers to at least begin to fight Britannia!" Lelouch protested their seeming amusement at his honesty.
"As you say, my Lord." Sayoko said with a straight face, "My final question is this then: Can you win?"
Lelouch sat and thought for a moment, then gave Sayoko his answer.
"To say with 100% confidence 'Yes, I can win' would be the height of foolishness, Sayoko." Lelouch said slowly and carefully, "There are far too many unknown variables, factors and possibilities to take into account, even in the short term. Who will replace Clovis as Viceroy and what policies will that person enact? Can I convince the group of Terrorists I worked with today to join me?"
Lelouch shook his head slowly.
"Far too many things to predict, even for me. But, I can promise you this, Sayoko," Lelouch locked eyes with Sayoko, "I will do everything in my abilities to emerge victorious, come what may."
The room was silent after that, as maid regarded prince, with an immortal looking on at the sidelines. Sayoko's face was inscrutable, giving nothing away, while Lelouch's face merely showed determination.
Abruptly, Sayoko stood up and moved to the side of the table where Lelouch sat. Lelouch regarded her warily as she faced him then jerked in surprise as she knelt on one knee, right arm crossed over her chest and her head bowed.
"I, Sayoko Shinozaki, 37th Heir to the Shinozaki School of Taijutsu, hereby swear my life, loyalty and honour to Lelouch Lamperouge. I am your sword and shield, your watcher in the shadows and keeper of your secrets. Do you accept this oath, Goshujin-sama?" Sayoko intoned formally, her words soft and precise.
Lelouch stood himself and reached down to touch Sayoko's shoulder. When she looked up, she saw the small, kind smile on his face and heard his reply.
"I, Lelouch Lamperouge, formerly Lelouch vi Britannia, do hereby accept your oath, Sayoko Shinozaki. You have my word that you shall never regret swearing yourself to me, as I swear to honour your loyalty with my own."
Sayoko beamed at this, the proof that the one she chose as her Master was indeed worthy of her oath.
"Domo arigatou gozaimasu, Goshujin-sama." Sayoko replied in Japanese, bowing her head again.
Lelouch smiled gently at his new follower as he gestured at her to rise.
Sayoko rose and re-took her seat, still possessing a small grin on her face at the quality of her Master.
"Now then, with Sayoko on board, keeping Nunnally in the dark will be much easier." Lelouch said aloud, clearly thinking aloud.
"Are you certain that is wise, My Lord?" Sayoko asked, concern plain in her voice, "To keep her unaware of all this seems…unwise."
"I know, Sayoko," Lelouch replied, consternation flashing across his face before swiftly being erased, "I would prefer to tell Nunnally the truth myself. However, she is, bluntly, a security risk."
A single brow on C.C.'s right eye rose elegantly in query. Lelouch answered her unspoken question.
"Nunnally is not unintelligent. Far from it in fact. However, she is very naïve and far too trusting of our estranged family." Lelouch shuddered as he recalled Guinevere, Carina and Odysseus. The vain, clothes obsessed, status-crazy Princess Guinevere, the arrogant, Brattiest Princess Carina and the dull, mediocre Prince Odysseus.
Lelouch swiftly banished the three from his mind and continued making his point to Sayoko.
"The instant she hears I plan on rebelling against father, and that I have already had Clovis killed, she would immediately seek to try to 'save me from my misguided line of thought' by constantly arguing with me, trying to obstruct me and being a constant, not to mention unwanted, distraction, taking the moral high ground the entire time." Lelouch finished, his face adorned with a somewhat sour look.
"My Lord, Lady Nunnally adores you! I am certain she wouldn't…" Sayoko tried to protest, but Lelouch shook his head in finality.
"Sayoko, she views fighting, for any reason barring self-defence, as one of the worst crimes anyone can commit. She is happy and content living together with me right now and would not understand my need to try to neutralise a potential threat to that. No, Nunnally is to be kept in the dark as much as possible." Lelouch countered Sayoko's protest with steely eyes.
Recognising an immovable object when she saw one, Sayoko bowed her head in acquiescence.
"Now, moving on….," Lelouch turned his head to the green haired immortal sitting next to him, "C.C., is there anything about Geass in general I need to be aware of that I currently am not?"
C.C. looked at Lelouch, seeming to weigh the question in her mind before answering.
"The more you use your Geass, the stronger it will become. The stronger it becomes, the more….effort….or perhaps willpower is a better term….you will have to use to deactivate it at will. Eventually, two things will happen, in no particular order: your Geass will become so strong that you will become unable to deactivate it and it will expand to your other eye. I call the first one, 'Geass Intoxication'. " The immortal replied in a bored manner, almost as if she was speaking by rote.
Lelouch and Sayoko looked at each other in alarm at the first of the two inevitable conditions.
"Is there anything that can impede Geass? Anything that can conceal it and prevent its use?" Lelouch asked.
"There is a special kind of glass that can be made into contact lenses. I can tell you where you can acquire it, but even that will eventually become useless as your Geass progresses in strength." C.C. told the former prince matter-of-factly.
Lelouch sat for a moment and processed this information, then carried on with his questions.
"What about something that prevents me from Geassing someone?" He asked. "I already know that I require eye-contact with a person in order to use my Geass, which shows that it can be blocked."
C.C. looked thoughtful for a moment. "I know of only one other person with a Geass similar to yours, and his power can be blocked by something as simple as reflective sunglasses. As your power is similar, the same weakness might apply."
Lelouch filed this in his 'Highly Suspicious' folder.
"Sayoko, do we have any reflective sunglasses? We need to experiment to find out if this applies to my Geass." Lelouch asked the maid, who vanished and reappeared with a pair of the requested glasses.
As she looked questioningly at C.C., the yellow-eyed woman shook her head.
"I am immune to all Geass abilities, so a test on me would be pointless." The immortal said with a shrug. Lelouch made a note to ask her about that later.
Sayoko simply put the glasses on herself and faced Lelouch with a small nod of permission.
Lelouch hesitated and then activated his Geass, the red bird symbol appearing in his left eye as he issued a fairly harmless order to his loyal maid.
"{Sayoko, you will answer my questions.}" Lelouch intoned, the bird symbol flapping as he spoke.
"No, I will not." Sayoko responded. Lelouch deactivated his Geass with a small sigh of relief.
"Well, that proves it. C.C., give Sayoko the location of that contact lens manufactory. She can go and place a small order at some point next week." He nodded at Sayoko who bowed back in response as she removed the glasses.
"Anything else you wish to know?" C.C. asked airily. Lelouch frowned slightly as he turned back to her.
"There is, actually. When we made our contract, I saw a vision of my father, Charles zi Britannia and heard him speak. He said-" Lelouch's frown turned into a glare at this point, "-something about a 'convergence with a Ragnarok Connection' and how 'the myth is beginning once again'."
Across from Lelouch, Sayoko had tensed up and one of her hands was concealed by the table. Lelouch suspected she had palmed a hidden knife.
"So, C.C., is there anything you would care to share with us? Anything at all?" Lelouch spoke, his voice deceptively light as his eyes bored a hole in C.C.
The woman looked between the angry prince and the flight-or-fight ready ninja-maid and sighed.
'Well, they would have found out anyway, so this isn't too bad.' C.C. thought as she returned Lelouch's glare with an apathetic stare of her own, 'I'll tell him some of the truth, just not all of it just yet.'
"Yes, I know your father fairly well. I should, considering I spent over thirty years in the Imperial Court." C.C. answered, shocking both of her interrogators.
"But people would remember an attractive green haired woman who had the exact same appearance for over thirty years!" Lelouch protested, then paused as a puzzle piece clicked into place. "He did something with his Geass, didn't he?"
"Correct." C.C. smiled as Lelouch's eyes narrowed in thought.
'So, he thinks I'm attractive?' the immortal thought with a barely perceivable blush. 'Interesting….'
"Is his Geass the one that is similar to mine?" Lelouch asked sharply.
"It is. No two Geass are ever exactly the same, just as no two people think alike, but both your Geass and Charles' Geass are fairly easy to classify and are surprisingly similar." C.C. told her two-person audience.
"You, Lelouch, have the Power of Absolute Obedience. You can command anyone to do anything, including altering their memories and making them obedient to you. I wouldn't be surprised if you could make it so they became unbearably horny upon command."
Both Sayoko and Lelouch went as red as cherries at that last example.
"Charles on the other hand, possesses the Power of Mental Manipulation. By making eye contact with his target, he can freely suppress, alter and create memories, even completely replacing one person with another in memories is easily within his abilities. He can also suppress a person's Geass by placing it in a cage of amnesia."
Lelouch was reeling with the information he was confronted with. His father's Geass meant that a face-to-face confrontation would not work as it would lead to his own defeat.
"Did you give him this Geass?" he asked.
"No, there is another person able to bestow Geass in the Imperial Court called V.V. and he is a close confidant of your father." C.C. replied.
"Just how many people in the Court have a Geass?" Lelouch demanded.
C.C. shrugged lightly. "My knowledge is seven years out of date, but when I left, only two: your father and The Knight of One. Another died just prior to me leaving."
"Who?" Lelouch snarled, having guessed who it was already.
"Your mother, although she never activated her Geass until the day she died." C.C. replied, face and voice utterly bland.
Lelouch's face twitched a couple of times as anger fought with control. Eventually, control won and he exhaled a heavy sigh.
"What Geass does Bismarck Waldstein posses?" he enquired.
"The Power of Reading Trajectories. He can 'see' where and how an opponent will move several seconds in advance, allowing him to react accordingly. The only person who has defeated this Geass was your mother, Marianne 'The Flash'." was the stunning reply from C.C.
"Mother was able to defeat an opponent with such a powerful ability?" Lelouch whispered, almost reverently.
"Indeed she did." C.C. told him, clearly amused. "Bismarck held a considerable level of respect for Marianne from his first defeat and trained himself to both not rely on his Geass and combining his Geass with his piloting skill. His skill rose rapidly in a short amount of time. He still never beat your mother, even with his new skill level AND his Geass put together. Before I left I created a seal for him that prevented him from using his Geass unless he fought someone on par with Marianne, by his own request."
Lelouch tried to wrap his head around the new idea that not all members of the Imperial Court had hated his mother, and immediately shelved the information for later analysis.
"And Mother?" he asked.
"I never saw her use it, so I cannot say with certainty." C.C. replied.
'It is the truth. I never saw her Power of Soul Transference, so I cannot be certain that is what it is.' The immortal thought as she deflected his question deftly.
"Ok then. What about this 'V.V.' character. What about him? Or is it a her?" Lelouch asked curiously.
"Him. Moreover, I'd rather not talk about him. He and I get along like oil and water." C.C. replied, her face locking down in an unsuitable mask.
There was silence until Sayoko spoke up. She had, Lelouch noted, put the knife back from wherever she had taken it from.
"My Lord, doesn't the fact that you saw your father imply ms. C.C. still has some sort of connection with someone close to your father?" she enquired.
C.C. was grateful for the deflection and answered Sayoko before Lelouch could recover from his surprise.
"Indeed, I do. However, I am considering severing it." she replied, subtly eyeing Lelouch as he recovered and openly scrutinised her.
"Why?" was his simple question.
"For several reasons. First among them is that you are my new contractor. We are partners. Collaborators. It makes no sense to either passively or actively aid people trying to kill my contractor."
Lelouch nodded, accepting this statement. "That makes sense. Any other reasons?"
C.C. hesitated and gave a sidelong look to Sayoko before cutting back to Lelouch.
"I would prefer to discus that in private."
Lelouch raised his eyebrows but nodded.
"Anything else you would like to ask Sayoko?" Lelouch asked the maid.
"Would it be possible for me to receive a Geass?" was completely unexpected and caused both Lelouch and C.C. to gape at the maid in utter astonishment.
"Sayoko?!" Lelouch choked out.
"It makes sense, My Lord. Your father possesses at least one, probably more, person possessing a powerful Geass. You need something to counter that, and I wish to be the first to aid you in this matter." she told him.
Lelouch conceded that, but it was not up to him. He looked at C.C., who had recovered and was regarding Sayoko with an intent look on her face.
"C.C.?" he voiced his query softly, as if not wanting to disturb her. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye then returned to regarding Sayoko.
"Girl, you realise that there is no way to know what your Geass will be in advance? It might be something completely useless for all you know." The immortal told the maid.
"I am willing to accept the possibility." Sayoko replied, unperturbed.
"In addition, a Geass is not free. It is given in trade for something. An exchange of services. What would you give in exchange for power?" C.C. continued, eyes locked on Sayoko's own.
"Nothing that will harm, betray or otherwise inconvenience Lady Nunnally or my Goshujin-sama. Other than that, you may ask whatever you will of me." Sayoko replied, as she returned C.C.'s searching gaze with an impassive one of her own.
"Pfff…..Hah, hahahahahahahaha!" C.C. erupted into laughter, throwing her head back and closing her eyes.
"Ah….such a strong resolve. Such determination. Such devotion! You will have to tell me what my partner here did to evoke such loyalty from you someday." C.C. said after she stopped laughing. "Very well. I shall grant you power. In exchange, you must grant one wish of mine. Do you accept?"
Sayoko nodded. "I do. What must I do?"
"Merely touch your hand to mine." C.C. said extending her right hand. Sayoko, without hesitation, grabbed on to it and immediately froze up. C.C.'s mark on her forehead glowed a luminescent red as she began the contract.
Lelouch looked on, of two minds about this. On one hand, it was interesting to see a contract being made from the outside, but on the other, it was worrying he had no idea what condition Sayoko was agreeing to.
C.C.'s mark ceased glowing and Sayoko unfroze and looked around in something of a daze.
"Sayoko, are you alright?" Lelouch asked, concerned.
"Y-Yes. I'm fine, My Lord. It is merely somewhat…disorientating to go through. I'm….amazed you were able to function properly so soon after making your contract." she replied, somewhat breathless.
"The threat of being killed focuses the mind wonderfully." Lelouch replied dryly.
"It did help that you have a very resilient and adaptable mind. The initial strength of the Geass depends on a person's mental strength and mental complexity." C.C. remarked to Lelouch.
"Interesting. Anyway, do you know what Sayoko's Geass is?" Lelouch said, curious.
"Not a clue. We won't know until she activates it." C.C. said with a shrug.
"Sayoko, do you feel up to trying it out?" Lelouch asked. Sayoko was back to normal and nodded briskly.
Sayoko focussed and the Geass sigil appeared in her left eye. Sayoko frowned for a moment and looked around the room. She gasped when she looked at Lelouch.
"Oh my."
"What? What is it?" Lelouch asked, eager for information.
"I-I can see an….an aura around you, My Lord. It's…..royal blue. And I get the impression of immense intelligence and curiosity." Sayoko replied, seemingly entranced by what she could see.
"Interesting." C.C. commented. "Lelouch, what were you thinking of when Sayoko looked at you?"
"I was running through all of the powers Geass has manifested thus far and theorising all the possible abilities there could be based on those abilities. I was also curious about what kind of Geass Sayoko would manifest." Lelouch replied.
"Think about something else. Your sister." The immortal directed.
Lelouch did as he was asked and thought about Nunnally. Her smile, her gentle nature, her resilience and how much he loved her.
"Oh my," Sayoko said, sounding somewhat awed. "Your aura….it's changed. It's now a light pink, tinged with a light blue and edged with black."
"What impressions do you get from the Aura?" C.C. asked.
"Love. Incredibly strong love, tinged with sadness and grief." Sayoko replied softly.
"Well, this Geass is fairly easy to classify. It's the Power of Emotional Reading." C.C. said with an air of finality, "You'll probably be able to delve deeper and get a picture of what the person you are reading is thinking about once your Geass gains in strength."
"Oh my." came from Sayoko again as she deactivated her Geass.
"Sayoko, this is an excellent Geass you have acquired. Imagine it: you'll be able to tell if someone's lying or if they plan to attack Nunnally or….the possibilities are numerous!" Lelouch expounded with a smirk.
"An ability perfectly suited to a bodyguard." C.C. agreed.
"My thanks, Lady C.C." Sayoko replied. Lelouch raised an eyebrow at Sayoko's change in addressing C.C., but it made sense, as C.C. had done an immense favour for her.
"Now, as I have school tomorrow, we had better wrap things up, but before we do, let's talk about how we go about rebelling against Britannia. We will need disguises and alter egos. The last thing we need is anyone recognising any of us." Lelouch said, laying out his ideas. Sayoko and C.C. both nodded.
"Sayoko, you have been a shield against our foes for years. Your codename shall be….Aegis." Lelouch told Sayoko, who bowed in her seat at this.
"C.C., you offer considerable experience due to your long life and can tell us what we need to hear, rather than what we want to hear, therefore your codename shall be….Augur." Lelouch told the immortal who merely rolled her eyes at his fanciful name.
"And yourself, My Lord?" Sayoko asked.
"Britannia has been obsessed with Numbers for years now, calling all their conquered territories by Numbers." Lelouch said, a chilling grin on his face, "So then, I shall become the absence of Numbers: I shall be called…..Zero."
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Lelouch's Room, Ten Minutes Later
"So, C.C., what is it you wished to discuss away from Sayoko?" Lelouch asked as he sat at his desk, lazily finishing his homework that he had due for the next day. Latin, History, Mathematics, Political Sciences….all done, leaving only the report on nutrition for Home Economics.
All fairly easy for Lelouch.
C.C. was reclined on the bed, waving her legs and leaning her head on her arms.
"Are you not going to ask about what Sayoko promised to do in exchange for her Geass?" C.C. asked, probing the boy for a reaction.
"I doubt you would tell me if I did." Lelouch replied dryly, as he closed his notebook and swivelled his chair around to face the immortal woman, leaning his head on one hand as he did so.
"I will confess, I am curious, but as Sayoko set her limits before you made the contract, I am not too concerned." Lelouch finished with a small shrug.
C.C. looked at the boy in front of her and stopped herself from licking her lips. He had discarded his uniform top and his shirt was half-unbuttoned, revealing quite a bit of his well-muscled chest.
Now, C.C. wasn't unfamiliar with well-muscled men, having been born and raised during a time period where a soldier had needed to get up-close and personal with the foe, and had trained accordingly, but Lelouch was something else entirely.
C.C. had been sold off as a girl to be a slave to a wealthy feudal lord in what was now the Euro Universe. Slave girls had next to no chance of retaining their chastity, and C.C. would have suffered the same fate had her master, most of his male servants and all of his guests, not been homosexual.
That, however, did not mean she was not beaten, starved, degraded and, all in all, put in a situation where she frequently wished she was dead. After she had been beaten near to death, escaped from her master and then received her Geass of Love Attraction from her contractor, she had simply revelled in the simple joy of not getting beaten, of people actually acknowledging her existence being above trash.
Then, her contractor had betrayed her, forcing the Code Geass upon her and died, leaving her alone.
C.C. had despaired and tried multiple times to kill herself, only to come to the conclusion that she was 100% immortal, after she failing to drown in the Channel.
As the centuries passed, she found herself unwilling to give her virginity to anyone, male or female, until she began to wonder if she had been rendered utterly asexual as a result of the damn Code.
Oh, she liked looking as much as any woman, but she had no desire to touch or kiss whatsoever. It was maddening to think that not only did that thrice-damned nun steal any choice she had in her future, she had, it seemed, also stolen any and all of her desires as an encore.
I mean, what was the point in doing anything if you didn't enjoy doing it?
Especially sex of all things!
At least, until she had met Lelouch.
He seemed to embody the traits she found most attractive in a man -smart, strong, handsome, caring, devoted and humble. When she made contracts with a person, she gleaned a slight understanding of who the person was at their core, their true self.
Fury, grief, despair, a healthy desire for vengeance -all of these were present within Lelouch. However, they paled in comparison to the strength of his will, his unthinking charisma, his sheer determination and the devotion he felt for his crippled, blinded, utterly adorable sister.
Lelouch wasn't just a diamond in the rough, he was a damn giant among dwarves.
"C.C.?" Lelouch called her name, jerking her out of her introspection.
"What? Sorry, I got lost in thought for a moment." C.C. said, inwardly cringing at such a lame excuse.
"I asked what you wanted to do regarding school. Do you want me to pull strings to enrol you?" Lelouch repeated his question, with no visible sign of irritation.
"Why in God's name would I want to enrol in high school of all things?" C.C. asked.
Lelouch shrugged. "To pass the time, to keep a closer eye on me….anything else you wish to add?"
C.C. thought for a moment, then shrugged.
"If you wish me to attend, by all means do so. I have no preference." she replied, returning his shrug.
"Fair enough." Lelouch said, making a note on a notepad, then looked her square in the eyes.
"Why have you been so open?" he asked intently.
C.C. raised an eyebrow coyly.
"Don't give me that. You refuse to say what wish it is you wish me to grant you, but readily tell both me and Sayoko a considerable amount of information about Geass, my father and even gave Sayoko a Geass of her own." Lelouch said, gazing intently into her eyes without blinking, "That leads me to conclude that either whatever it is your going to ask of me is not something I will like and are diverting me with superfluous and excessive information or you are uncertain as to your own wish. Which is it?"
C.C. blankly stared back at him for a moment then, cocking her head to the side slightly, asked, "Can it not be a bit of both?"
Lelouch sat still for a moment before uttering a single word, "Explain."
C.C. responded by revealing her Geass sigil on her forehead, usually hidden beneath her bangs.
"This is called Code Geass. It grants the person who bears it eternal youth, eternal life and immortal regeneration, in addition to grant people the power of Geass, also known as the Power of the King." C.C. told him, before concealing the mark with her hair again and continued.
"I had this curse forced on me over 700 years ago, during what you call the High Middle Ages. Every day I have been forced to live has been full of little but dreary days where I had go on, just trying to find a way to rid myself of my Code." C.C. had a melancholic look on her face as she spoke, her eyes haunted.
"In that time I have been 'killed' in numerous ways, from a sword to the heart, to poison, being trampled to death. I was even burned at the stake once. In all that time though, I was always still viewed as a human, as someone who was equal with other people, regardless of my abilities."
C.C. then ground her teeth and had a furious expression on her face.
"Then that, that…..pompous ass Clovis captured me. I was relegated to a status lower than a pig, lower than even a slave by that man! I was merely experimental material for that man, one he knew couldn't wear out or die. Never have I been so humiliated, lain so beneath contempt that I was referred to as 'Prime Material Number 00' by those bastard scientists!"
Lelouch's eyes were ablaze with fury as he looked at her, although anger was all that showed on the immortal's face.
"The experiments were…..awful. The pain….oh, the pain was monumental. And constant. I was dismembered, injected with acid, beheaded, skewered, exsanguinated, beaten, broken and killed in almost every imaginable way." C.C. said bitterly, "Throughout it all, they tried to artificially replicate my Code and bombarded me with questions whenever I had just revived. As if I would tell them anything. And on the torture went: electrocution, poison gas, neurotoxins, suffocation….the list goes on."
"C.C….." Lelouch spoke up, concern in his voice.
"Let me finish. Please?" the green-haired woman asked him. When he reluctantly nodded, she continued, "What made it worse was the fact I knew Charles had found out about Clovis' project and had given his unofficial blessing. The pompous fool told me himself, not a month ago." C.C. shook her head and laughed bitterly.
"Ironic isn't it? One of the few people I have trusted in a century betrayed me, even going so far as to give Clovis blueprints for a device that prevented me from using my Code to escape." C.C.'s voice was full of emotions, rage and betrayal chief amongst them.
"Then today, those terrorists showed up and stole me, removing me from the device's envelope. For the first time in over a year and a half, I could access all of my abilities. I knew that it was only a matter of time before Clovis deployed forces to chase me, but still, I hoped I would get away…" C.C. allowed her voice to trail away as she turned to look at Lelouch.
"Then, who should come across me but Marianne's son? I could feel your mind, concerned and proud, faintly at the edge of my awareness. I had promised Marianne to give you a Geass if she was unable to protect you herself, so I had planned on finding you in Japan, but I got caught by the buffoon before I could find you."
Lelouch's eyes widened at this revelation as C.C. continued her tale.
"I tried to speak using my Code as a medium for telepathy, but Bartley's people had doped me up with sedatives, so I was unsure if you heard me or not."
"I did, very faintly." Lelouch told her.
"I see…. Anyway, when the capsule I was in opened, the first thing I saw…was you and your soldier friend. I was so relieved to see you that I succumbed to the sedatives. When I came to, we were in the tunnels. You know what happened after that." C.C. said and Lelouch merely nodded.
"I do." he said, regarding the woman in front of him with new respect. To have endured what she had, not just while in Clovis' clutches, but over her entire 700-year lifespan, was humbling and demanded respect for her strength of mind and will. He doubted he could keep it together after all of that.
"To answer your curiosity, my contract with Sayoko is this: she will do her utmost to ensure your survival and not interfere in my relationship with you, whatever form it might take." C.C. told him, a small smirk on her face.
Lelouch was rather startled at the sudden non sequitur. Then his eyes narrowed suspiciously as he processed her words.
" 'Your relationship with me?' " he parroted as he crossed his arms, "By that you mean….what, exactly?"
"Precisely as it sounds. At the moment we are collaborators and acquaintances. I would like it if we could become more than that." C.C. told him bluntly.
"I….see." Lelouch said, drawing out his response to give his reeling mind more time to think.
'Does she mean what I think she means?' Lelouch thought incredulously.
C.C. smiled as if she could read his mind.
"Yes, Lelouch. I would like to become your lover. Or your mistress. Either will suit me fine."
"Can…I ask precisely why?" Lelouch managed to get out.
The immortal gazed at him as if to say 'Are You Kidding?'.
"Let me see. A handsome, honourable and strong man saves me from the clutches of an evil prince; directs a rag-tag crew of misfits to victory over vastly numerically superior forces; captures said evil prince and allows me to exact my vengeance against him; then offering me sanctuary at his own home." C.C. recited, sarcasm evident in her voice, "No, I cannot think of a single reason whatsoever why I might feel indebted, attracted and grateful to you in any way."
Lelouch suspected she was enjoying this immensely.
"To sweeten the deal, I will break my connection with the person in Charles' Court, Lelouch." C.C. said softly, causing Lelouch to look at her intently. This was the first time she had used his name rather than 'boy', so she must be serious.
"How much does this person you are in contact with know about me?" he asked.
"Nothing, other than the fact you are male." C.C. replied.
Lelouch sat and thought for a moment.
"Is the link fully within your control?" he probed.
"Not entirely. I am the one who can open, close and sever it, however once opened, it must remain open for at least an hour before I can close it again, unless I am 'killed'. In addition, once the link is severed, the backlash will leave me somewhat light-headed for a while." C.C. told him.
Lelouch sighed in resignation. There were no two ways about it, this was a backdoor in his security he couldn't not close. He had underestimated her tremendously: C.C. was extremely sneaky and ruthless when it came to getting what she wanted.
'Kind of like Milly, now I come to think about it.' Lelouch thought wryly.
It wasn't like the idea of having the woman as a lover repulsed him, far from it in fact. The fact he was, despite his battalion of fan girls, a virgin was one part of his hesitation, the fact he was being slightly pressured into this was another.
"You really won't take no for an answer will you, C.C.?" Lelouch finally said, half-rhetorically.
C.C. batted her eyelashes at him in a come-hither fashion.
"When a girl sees something she wants, she doesn't stop at half measures if she wishes to get it." C.C. told him smugly.
"Hahhh. Fine then, I'll agree to your terms, on the condition you sever the connection right now while I have a shower." Lelouch relented with a sigh, recognising when he is outmanoeuvred.
"Agreed." C.C. said with a nod.
Lelouch then padded off to the shower, leaving C.C. to her task. She was glad she had been able to distract him with an abridged version of her life story. He wasn't yet ready to hear what he wished to know.
Closing her eyes, C.C. delved into the World of C, seeking the connection between herself and Marianne that she had forged after the woman had been killed by that jealous, petulant brat V.V.
'The boy creates a contract with Charles to never lie to each other, then lies to him about killing her. Hypocrite.' C.C. thought with disgust as she set about dismantling the connection.
The fact the 'brat' in question was a good sixty years old was neither here nor there for the 700-year-old woman.
She felt the connection pulse. Apparently Marianne had felt what she was doing and was trying to get her to open the connection to find out what it was she was doing and why.
'Sorry Marianne, but if I must choose between a former contractor and a current one, you know what my choice must be.' C.C. thought as she severed the last anchor of the connection, causing it to dissolve into nothing.
Immediately, she felt the backlash hit her and she felt immensely tired, yet relieved at the same time. Reabsorbing power from dissolving a mind-connection in C's World was always tiring as her body adjusted to the excess power that usually sustained and powered such links.
C.C. opened her eyes to see a sight for her eyes: a half-naked Lelouch with a towel around his waist, towelling his damp hair with another. It was all she could do not to drool. Her womanhood throbbed as well, in a most distracting way.
"You can go in now, if you want. I can't imagine Clovis'….hospitality didn't run to much in general hygiene." Lelouch told her as he draped the towel over his shoulders.
C.C. nodded somewhat dazedly and tottered off to the shower. Once the door was shut, she leaned against it, panting.
'My God. The boy….Lelouch….is amazing. I got wet just looking at him half naked!" C.C. thought in wonder.
She quickly stripped off the prisoner restraint suit and threw it in the bin. If she never saw the damn thing again, it would be too soon. As she stood under the heavenly torrent of hot water, she ran her hand over the ugly scar under her left breast.
It was the only wound on her body, the only blemish that never faded. The proof of her own contractor's betrayal of her.
The wound that killed her and activated the Code that had been forced on her.
She had, after recovering from her despair induced attempts at suicide, sworn to never do the same thing. A Code given in such a way was a curse. Her yearlong attempt at suicide was proof enough of that.
No, she would give her code to someone who both knew about it and wished to possess it. Then she would live the rest of a natural lifespan and die at long, long last.
She would wait, she decided, before telling Lelouch about the Code's transference conditions. If she sprung it on him too soon, there was no telling what his reaction would be.
As she dried her body, she began to feel nervous about what lay ahead. She was a virgin and she suspected he was as well, given all the visual cues she had been giving he missed.
'Well, in for a penny, in for a Pound.' C.C. thought as she wrapped a large towel around herself and breathed deeply a couple of times before padding back to Lelouch's room.
****Insert Lemon Here! Unfortunately, due to a prudish git, I can't post lemons anymore. Look to Archive of Our Own for the Lemon Scenes.****
C.C. cuddled in with him and smiled at him somewhat shyly.
"That was incredible, Lelouch. Thank you." The immortal told him, blushing slightly.
"That was incredible, I agree." Lelouch said, blushing himself, "Now I can see why Rivalz is so eager to get a girlfriend."
"Rivalz?" C.C. asked with a small frown. She hadn't heard about him yet, save a passing reference to him during his tale to Sayoko.
"A friend of mine. He's the secretary of the Student Council and my gambling accomplice." Lelouch told her, putting an arm over her shoulders, earning him a pleased hum from the immortal, "He also has an unrequited crush on Milly Ashford, the Student Council President and his grand ambition in life is to 'get a girlfriend and spectacularly lose his virginity before he turns eighteen', or so he says."
C.C. shook her head at that and returned to smiling up at Lelouch, her mind still unable to believe how he had made her feel better, both physically and mentally, than she had in centuries.
"Well, we've both had a long day, so we really should get some sleep." Lelouch said, looking down at the woman in his arms, his eyes seeking permission.
C.C. nodded and Lelouch turned the lights off, plunging the room into darkness.
Soon, Lelouch was asleep, his light and regular breathing a soothing rhythm for C.C. as she steadily became more sleepy.
Just before she fell asleep, the immortal smirked and though, 'Accursed Nun! Foul betrayer! One part of your curse has been lifted! I can feel again! Just you wait. I will rid myself of this curse of Immortality and be free of your memory forever!'
In the corridor outside, a red faced Sayoko stood, frozen with shock. She had heard a disturbance and had moved to investigate. She hadn't expected what she had discovered however.
Irrationally, she felt somewhat jealous of C.C. for being able to sleep with her Goshujin-sama. Wait, Jealous?
'This is ridiculous. You are twenty-four years old, Sayoko! Lelouch-sama is seventeen! You've even sworn yourself to him and sworn not to interfere with their relationship as part of your contract with C.C.-sama!' Sayoko mentally scolded herself as she unfroze and walked off.
She needed time to think thing through.
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Next Chapter: Kallen and the Student Council.
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Authors Note: Well, that's it for this chapter. I seem to write more each chapter. Is that a bad thing?
This chapter has several twists, the most important two being Lelouch getting informed of Geass intoxication and how to counter it, and Sayoko getting a Geass. What do you think of it? Read and review!
In the Poll, thus far 53 people have voted. Out of over 6000 people who have read my story this month. A few have said that they don't like to vote on a poll without a wee overview. I merely wish to see what title catches your attention the most, with zero background info to go on.
See you on the 30th!