I do not own Code Geass or any series/characters referenced in this story.
Hello again everyone it has been a while. I would first like to apologize for the extremely long wait between chapters it has been almost five months since I last updated. I would like to apologize to everyone who favorited and followed my story expecting timely releases. I am especially apologetic to those of you who commented and PMed with your ideas. I'm sorry for not engaging with you as much as I should have. I won't go into too much detail here at the beginning of the story as the majority you no doubt wish to get into the meat of the chapter. I will just say quite a few personal things popped up and I didn't have the time to write nearly as much as I wanted to. The next chapter should be out within a month or two at the latest no guarantees on any specific dates, but I have more free time now it shouldn't take too long.
Without any more bloated ceremony I present to you:
Code Geass Lelouch The Demon of Britannia
Chapter Two: Bonds Broken and Born
Holy Britannian Empire: Aries Villa [A few hours after the atempt on Marianne vi Britannia's life]
Marianne vi Britannia had never felt so confused in her life; as she tucked Lelouch into bed, he had difficulty falling asleep. Lelouch complained a lot and said he was scared; it made sense after all her son had been through a lot the past few hours, and the only way to get him to sleep was by feeding him a few melatonin gummies. The events of a few hours ago were fresh in her mind, and Marianne was sure that she would need to treat Lelouch carefully if she wanted him not to be scarred from this event. Just thinking about how she almost died made Marianne's face twist into a wicked snarl. The fact that Victor betrayed herself and Charles, his beloved older brother, was shocking.
"Hah," Marianne exhaled and reminisced about the past.
One day ago, she had absolute trust in her brother-in-law; they had worked together for years, shared the same goal, and were both loyal to the same person. The countless people she had killed for her husband's dream clearly meant nothing to the little freak that attempted to take her life. Just before Marianne felt her rage overwhelm her, the elderly head servant Landon Hawthorne rushed over with a worried expression strewn across his face.
"My lady, please get ready to leave immediately. There may be another attack coming. The guards at the front gate detained a suspicious individual trying to enter the grounds."
Marianne's pulse immediately accelerated as she worried about being attacked again. Before she could spring into action, she thought of a certain someone she had called only a few hours ago requesting them to arrive at her house as quickly as possible. Marianne didn't always have their location, so she wasn't sure when they would make it to the villa.
"What did this suspicious individual look like?" Marianne asked the confused servant.
"The intruder appears to be a young teenage girl with dyed green hair. I'm sorry, your majesty, I don't know much more than that as I rushed over here as soon as I learned of the intruder." Landon looked confused as his master seemed very intent on learning the identity of this intruder. He began to worry that the overzealous royal guards might have made a mistake in how they handled the intruder. No one would blame them, of course; their liege was almost assassinated under their watch. The more Landon thought about it, the intruder was lucky they weren't shot on sight.
"Ah, Your Majesty, please wait!" Landon, who was so caught up in his own thoughts, didn't even realize his master was walking away at a breakneck pace.
"What's taking you so long? Have the guards bring the "intruder" to the nearest tearoom, and make sure to get the best quality tea leaves brewing. You know what, get the Da Hong Pao tea out; this is a special occasion, after all. Also, find out if that Italian chef Bernard Gusteau has moved into the servant building yet. Even if Gusteau isn't, light the wood fire grill and prepare to make some pizza."
Marianne rattled off some orders while heading towards the tearoom. Bernard Gusteau was an Italian-Britannia chef at a five-star Italian restaurant in Pendragon who made the best pizzas Marianne had ever had. She hired him as a full-time chef at Aries Villa for the specific purpose of getting herself and Charles out of particular situations that could only be solved with a great pizza. Marianne hoped that Gusteau was staying at the mansion as he was the best shot at appeasing this so-called intruder.
Landon stood frozen in the hallway for half a minute, trying to digest what his master had ordered him to do. Da Hong Pao tea was the most expensive tea on the planet. It came from a small number of trees on the Wuyi Mountain ridge in China. It would cost over $10,000 just to make one pot of this tea, and that was if you could even get ahold of the rare leaves. Only the Emperor or Empress of China could give out the leaves that were deemed a national treasure. Landon realized that the intruder was someone far more important than he could have possibly imagined. The guard's lives and perhaps his own were on the line if this esteemed guest was offended in any way. Judging by the facial expressions of the guards when Landon last spoke to them, they definitely did not treat the intruder kindly.
Aries Villa 10 minutes later
"Good news, my lady, thankfully, Chef Gusteau moved in a few days ago. I sent someone to wake him up and told the kitchen servants to light the wood fire oven. I also had them prepare all the ingredients and toppings Gusteau might need." Landon returned with a slightly flushed face as he clearly ran quite a distance to relay this information back to Marianne.
"Your majesty, we may have a slight problem with how the intru- no, your guest was handled. The guards might have been a bit rough when apprehending them. They have bruises at most, but your guest definitely won't be pleased with how they've been treated. I suggest that we-"
"It's fine. I'll make this guest understand, tell the guards I'm impressed and grateful for their loyalty, but they need to be more careful next time." Marianne's face twitched a little, and she sighed internally. She realized she would need a lot more pizza to appease the approaching immortal than she originally anticipated.
"I'll take my leave now, my Lady." Landon bowed, slowly backed out of the room, and closed the door behind him. Then in a hushed tone that Marianne could barely hear, the servant addressed someone else behind the door.
"What are you idiots doing? Get those handcuffs off of her right away. This person is an important guest that Lady Marianne has been expecting." Landon clearly was addressing the house guards who likely brought the "intruder".
"I am so sorry for how they treated you, my lady. Please rest assured that they will be punished severely; you don't have to worry about dealing with them ever again. Take those handcuffs off of her already, you charlatans posing as guards." There was a slight pause in the conversation, and only the sound of rustling clothes was heard through the door.
"Empress Marianne was unaware that you would arrive so soon. If it means anything, please accept my humble apology as well as my guarantee that this will never happen again. I swear it up on my life. Please follow me Her Majesty is waiting for you in this room." Landon then reopened the door for a young teenager who seemed to be simultaneously amused, annoyed, and bored all at the same time.
"I'll take my leave now. I will be back with the tea do not hesitate to call if you require anything." With that, the servant closed the door and breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"What the hell happened, Marianne? Your house guard has always been loyal and alert but never this rough with a mere guest. They were watching my every move despite having patted me down twice and used two separate metal detectors. Paranoid wouldn't begin to describe how they acted." The immortal guest showed a bit of emotion on her face after venting her frustration with the way she was treated.
"C.C. I'm glad you came so quickly. Please take a seat; we have a lot to talk about. I also have some of that Da Hong Pao tea you once drank straight from the Wuyi Mountains getting brewed right now." Marianne casually mentioned serving up the most expensive tea in the world and asked for her friend to take a seat.
"Sure, I'll sit down now wha…. wait, did you just say Da Hong Pao? As in the national treasure of the Chinese Federation? I haven't had that stuff in a century or two; how the hell did you get ahold of some?" The usually emotionless C.C. had a shocked expression on her face.
"Yes, Charles received it as a gift from the High Eunuchs after an international incident in which some random Duke's son died. The son was parting on his yacht when a Chinese battleship blew it to smithereens on the orders of an overzealous Captain. The High Eunuchs personally delivered the entire crew of the battleship to the Duke, and sent a kilogram of the leaves to Charles. As you know, Charles is more of a liquor and cigar aficionado. He doesn't really care for tea, so he gave it to me." Marianne explained nonchalantly as if receiving the most expensive tea in the world as a gift wasn't that big of a deal.
"Huh, if that really is Da Hong Pao tea getting brewed right now, then I won't even bother bringing up the roughness of your guards. I was quite mad at how they treated me when I first came to the gate. It's been a while since I was treated like I was some sort of felon, but I can forgive them if this tea is as good as I remember."
"I'm glad that you found a way to forgive them; they are loyal men. I'd hate to lose them over a misunderstanding like this. To be honest, their reactions were quite tame considering what happened today." Marianne paused, closed her eyes, and prepared herself for the barrage of questions she was about to receive.
"In the middle of the night, I received a call fr-"
"I apologize for interrupting your meeting Lady Marianne, but the tea is done brewing." Just as Marianne was about to explain the situation to C.C., Landon opened the door pushing a cart with an extremely ornate tea set on it.
"Thank you, Landon, the tea smells amazing; just leave it next to the table between us. We will call you if we need anything. Make sure no one gets near this room; there are to be no exceptions." Marianne said with a strained smile, she didn't want to be interrupted again.
"Enjoy the tea I promise to keep everyone away from this room. I anticipated that you wanted to be left alone so I left a bell on the tea tray ring it if you require assistance." With a deep bow, Landon left the room.
An awkward silence filled the room as both women looked at one another, then at the tea, then back at each other before Marianne gestured for C.C. take the first sip.
"Please, you are my guest, and you haven't had it for hundreds of years, go ahead and have the first cup."
"Fine." C.C. said trying to act nonchalant as she reached for the teapot and poured herself and Marianne a cup.
C.C. raised her cup to her lips but paused to take a long whiff of the aromatic tea. She closed her eyes and smiled, and took a sip. The smile on her face grew as C.C. took a long sip of the best tea in the world.
"Pwahh that was the best tea I've ever had. This really is Da Hong Pao tea I am in awe of how good this tastes. The last time I drank this, I was working for the Shunzhi Emperor." C.C. opened her eyes and met Marianne's and, with a solemn yet joyful voice, said:
"Marianne, thank you. I don't know what brought this up, but I wanted to give you my thanks it has been a long time since anyone did anything this nice for me."
Marianne paused mid-sip of her own cup of tea and looked a little shocked at the sudden emotion from the ageless being in front of her. She had never heard C.C. say thank you despite knowing her for years. She slowly finished her cup and looked down for a moment with a grim face, then sighed and began to explain what happened a few hours ago.
"V.V. tried to kill me around four hours ago. He called me to the main staircase of the villa so I sent away all my guards so no one would see or hear anything. He then went on a villainous monologue about how I was corrupting Charles and how he was going to save his older brother. V.V. was then interrupted by two of my servants who heard him blathering on and on he then pulled out a SMG and gunned them down. He also tried to kill me with the bullet spray, but one of the servants jumped in front of me and the other dropped his gun as he died. The little goblin then monologued even more before Lelouch blasted his brains onto the floor."
Marianne had started off calmly explaining what happened but as she spoke more the initial grim face turned into a grimace then a snarl near the end of her story. She had rage filled eyes that wanted the blood of the immortal who had wronged her and Charles. Not many people had seen such an expression of hatred before on Marianne and most of those who did usually ended up dead.
Silence permeated throughout the room like a fog as C.C. processed what she had heard. The green-haired immortal looked mad and thoughtful as her contracted friend looked at her warily, waiting on bated breath to listen to her response.
"So that's why the contents of your contract changed. You genuinely love your son now, don't you?"
C.C. then revealed that she knew that Marianne had changed significantly since they last met.
"Wait, what how did you know I only told Charles and Bismarck?" Marianne looked shocked
C.C. smirked as she enjoyed the rare, surprised expression from Marianne.
"As your contractor, I have the ability to feel who you deeply care about. Before yesterday it was around one and a half people with Charles being the center of your life with the half being Bismarck as you somewhat cared about him. Now you have three-ish people you care about. Charles and Lelouch are now very important to you with Bismarck and Nunnally who have half a point each."
As C.C. casually revealed that she had such a convenient power. Marianne looked shocked as the implications of such a power revealed more of herself to C.C. than she ever thought was possible.
"How long have you had that ability? Why haven't you mentioned it before? Years ago, you said you could get a general sense of my location. Can you find Charles and Lelouch if I ask you to?"
C.C. looked smug as Marianne's expression became even more shocked than before.
"Ah, Marianne, do not worry I have a good sense of where Charles and Lelouch are located and a rough idea of where Bismarck and Nunnally are. I have always had this ability, but it took centuries and dozens of contracts to finetune its power and potency. I think V.V. gaining more control of this power is what caused him to attack you so suddenly. V.V. must have felt that you were just as important to Charles as he was. Being the sociopath that he is V.V. thought killing you was the best way to receive all of his brother's love."
C.C. didn't mention her theory on how V.V. was also in love with Marianne as how likely it wasn't the best time to bring it up, considering he just tried to kill her. She then voiced her confusion about V.V.'s "death" it didn't make any sense to her. Marianne had to have been the one to shoot V.V. as there was no way such a young boy could dream of harming an immortal, much less kill one.
"What I don't understand is how Lelouch managed to kill V.V. there is no way that a 10-year-old boy could get the jump on an immortal. You mentioned that V.V. was holding an SMG that he used to shoot your guards. Why didn't he shoot the Lelouch as well?"
Marianne smiled to herself as now it was her turn to shock the immortal in front of her.
"Remember how I mentioned that one of the guards dropped his gun well Lelouch picked it up and shot V.V. once in the stomach and then a second time in the head. It was pure luck, Lelouch had never even held a gun before in his life, yet both of his shots hit his target. I haven't asked Lelouch what he thought when he shot V.V. yet, as I wanted him to get a good night's rest before I take him to see Charles. If he is anything like me, Lelouch just acted on instinct and emotions, which means he is naturally skilled with a gun. His first shot hit V.V. in the stomach and the second one was a shot right above the right eye from what I could tell from the remnants of the skull."
C.C. just sat in her chair and stared at Marianne for a minute, processing what she had said. Her face was calm, but her mind was racing at breakneck speeds, trying to figure out why Marianne would lie to her. C.C. thought of countless scenarios varying from Lelouch distracting V.V. to one of the guards shooting the little goblin. Marianne and Charles betraying her was even thought of, but none of her scenarios even came close to making sense. Then C.C. realized that she wasn't being lied to it wouldn't make sense for Marianne to lie to her about what had happened. The shock caused her eyes to open wide as dinner plates; she looked at the woman sitting next to her and asked a question.
"Lelouch really did shoot V.V., didn't he?"
Marianne, who had been patiently waiting the whole time watching C.C. overthinking everything, smiled in satisfaction.
"Yes, he did. Lelouch managed to not only to take an immortal by surprise, but he also managed to fire his first two shots out of any gun into vital points in said, immortal's body. My boy is truly wonderful it's as Aristotle said, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" with me and Charles as his parents Lelouch is destined for greatness."
C.C. looked a bit annoyed at her friend bragging but it was reasonable considering the feat such a young child had accomplished. Being able to incapacitate an immortal was a tremendous feat regardless of age. The fact that Lelouch was only ten made such an achievement legendary.
"So did you just call me here to brag about your son, or do you have a different purpose for this little tea party. Wait, what did you do with V.V.? He should have regenerated by now are you continually killing him?"
Marianne sighed as she knew the next words out of her mouth might end her friendship with C.C. for good. She had planned on slowly easing into the topic of V.V.'s containment with a few jokes, but Marianne decided to use the trump card she had been saving for such an occasion. She reached for the bell next to the tea set and run it twice.
"Let's take a break I'm going to have Landon call the Italian chef I hired specifically to make pizza C.C. it will make you cry tears of joy.
In response to the skeptical look she was given, Marianne put on a serious face and met her friend's eyes.
"I am not joking it is the best pizza I have ever had in my entire life. Why else do you think I would go through all the trouble of hiring him and bring him to my estate if he wasn't the best?"
Just as C.C. was going to refute Marianne's claim, the door opened and Landon walked in with a small smile on his face.
"Do you require anything, your Majesty?"
Marianne stood up from her seat and turned to look Landon in the eyes as she addressed him.
"Could you please get Chef Gusteau and tell him to bring a pen and paper, so he is prepared to take our orders."
"Of course, my lady, I already assumed that you wanted him to make pizzas for you and your esteemed guest, so I have him waiting outside a few rooms down. I shall fetch him at once, is there anything else you want me to grab any drinks aside from the tea?"
The perpetually prepared butler left the room as he saw both women shake their heads in response to his question.
C.C. looked at the closed door and then to her host.
"Your Butler is quite competent if I do say so myself. As someone who's seen hundreds if not thousands of servants, he is among the upper echelon in terms of experience. Where on earth did you ever pick up somebody so skilled who also has the patience to put up with your terrible character?"
The shocked look on Marianne's quickly dissipated as she smiled.
"Charles sent him to serve under me after years of loyal service to my husband. Apparently, Landon Hawthorne was the son of a famous Butler working for one of Charles' older brothers. In his paranoia of being betrayed, the older brother ordered the execution of almost all of his servants to make sure none of his dirty little secrets ever got out. Charles killed his brother before he could begin the massacre and as thanks for saving their lives, the majority of the servants swore their loyalty to Charles. Of course, he went through all of their memories later and make sure they were loyal to him; surprisingly, almost all of them genuinely gave an oath of loyalty to my husband."
C.C. looked a little interested at the dramatic background of Marianne's head servant but not enough to make her ask any more questions. She had this weird feeling if she opened her mouth to ask any questions, the door would open conveniently mid-sentence and the chef would walk in.
"Your majesty I present to you Chef Gusteau."
Landon spoke as he closed the door behind the newly introduced chef.
"My lady and her esteemed guest, what can this lowly chef prepare for you this evening?"
Chef Bernard Gusteau was a portly man with a balding head and a joyful smile. Despite the imminent baldness approaching his scalp he looked excited to get cooking whatever Marianne and her guest wanted to eat.
"I'll have two personal pizzas; one will be a thin crust pepperoni, and the other will be a Margherita pizza. C.C. do you know what you want? If you don't, I would recommend getting a pizza you are familiar with, and Gusteau will make the perfect version of it."
C.C. looked at Gusteau, then at Marianne then back at Gusteau and snorted.
"Just make me a normal personal-sized cheese pizza and a pepperoni deep dish with butter crust. I'm willing to wait the extra time for the deep dish."
"Do not worry, dear guest I will bring all of the pizzas out at the same time it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes for everything to be prepared. In the meantime, are there any appetizers that you may be interested in trying?"
Ignoring the disbelieving look C.C. gave him, Gusteau spoke confidently and without pause, despite being informed of the importance of the guest he was serving by Landon.
"Fried calamari sounds good doesn't it C.C. maybe some marinara sticks as well or should we just stick with the calamari?"
Marianne looked at her friend with a hungry gaze that made the immortal feel bad for her next words.
"Hmm I don't know if we need all that food, it is rather late let's just get the calamari for now, we have lots of pizza to eat."
The heartbroken look Marianne gave C.C. would make even the most jaded individual crumble but the green-haired immortal simply smiled and looked at Gusteau.
"I'll get everything started right away; the calamari will be ready in 15 minutes. The pizzas would be ready at around the same time, but the deep dish will take a little bit longer, so I'm afraid you will have to wait if you wish to eat all the pizzas at the same time."
With a short bow, Gusteau left the room and quickly went to the kitchen to prepare the meal.
"So, what's his story. How did you manage to get such a renowned chef working exclusively for you in your own home?"
C.C. seemed confused about how Marianne got Gusteau to work for her.
"It's a long story, but I'll shorten it for you because I know you hate exposition. Bernard Gusteau was born as the illegitimate son of a rather famous Britannian chef working at the Imperial Palace in Pendragon. His father was the head chef of the previous emperor his mother was a servant working under the second Prince from the Italian royal family who was visiting at the time. The two fell in love at first sight causing no small number of headaches for both the second Prince and the previous emperor. Unfortunately for the lovers they were separated almost immediately after conceiving Bernard. His father remained in Britannia and his mother was brought back to Italy where she gave birth to a fatherless child. Bernard's early years were spent growing up as an assistant chef working under the Italian royal family unaware of his father's heritage until his mother died her will she revealed the truth. immediately Bernard left Italy and went to America to meet with his father and confront him about leaving his mother."
Marianne stopped talking for a moment, took a few more sips of tea, looked at the attentive C.C. who's seen oddly interested in the story, sighed and continued.
"Surprisingly Bernard's father never had any other children or even got married. His one true love was stripped away from him. He lost nearly all of his passion for cooking as the love of his life was torn away from him, he was fired from the Imperial Palace not long after. Getting fired was actually the best thing that could have possibly happened to Bernard's father. It allowed him to survive the purge that killed the previous emperor and everyone working or living in the Imperial Palace. After meeting his son for the first time, Bernard's father rekindled his love for cooking, teaching his son everything he knew. Taking what he learned from his father and the influential Italian foods he had growing up Bernard opened a high-end Italian restaurant in Pendragon called La Ravioli. Charles took me there on a date where we both fell in love with the food and ask to meet the chef. Of course, I had ravioli the signature dish served at the restaurant, a simple yet delicious meal. Charles had ratatouille he really enjoyed it so after our meal we asked the server to bring the chef over then I made him an offer he couldn't refuse."
Marianne had an evil smirk as she recounted how she managed to get a world class chef in her services.
"Bernard and his father we're both commoners so the restaurant received amazing reviews from commoners, but the nobility tended to stay away. The only reason me and Charles ended up dining there in the first place was because Charles remembered Bernard's last name from when his father used to serve him his favorite dishes. We both headed there expecting to be served by a former imperial palace chef, but to our surprise, after we asked to meet the chef, we met his son. Realizing that his restaurant was likely going to fail I thought to employ him at Aries villa so I would have his wonderful dishes to eat without even having to leave my home. It took a little bit of convincing and maybe a little bit of threatening, but I managed to get him to work for me eventually. His father is currently still managing the restaurant now with the emperor's seal of approval, the old man never has a slow day. As thanks, Bernard now works for me, but technically he still had to the restaurant if his dad needs help and I'm out of town. So that's how I got my own personal Italian chef."
The smile on Marianne's was incredibly smug as she calmly admitted to threatening the person cooking her food.
Just as C.C. was going to open her mouth to rebuke her friend for such needless actions, the door opened and the chef who just had his entire back story explained returned.
"Lady Marianne and dear guest, the pan-fried calamari with hot cherry peppers is ready. I noticed you already had tea, so I just brought you each a glass of water. I will put the pizzas in the oven as soon as I return to the kitchen the toppings are already on the dough and the ovens are preheated, they will be ready within 20 minutes. Enjoy the calamari feel free to call me if you have any questions or want anything else."
C.C. sighed turned to her Empress friend and finally asked the question that had been on her mind ever since she found out how Marianne almost died.
"I tried asking this earlier and you weaseled your way out of answering but this time I won't allow you to. What happened to that little weasel V.V. where he now? He has regenerated by now no matter how powerful shot he took to the face. Also, what do you plan on doing with him now that he has betrayed you and your husband? I doubt you're going to keep him in charge of the Geass Directorate at this point."
"V.V. is currently incapacitated and will be until we figure out what to do with him. I'm not sure exactly what my husband plans to do with his brother. Charles is most likely going to replace him as the leader of the Geass Directorate. Unless of course you would like to take back command of the directorate? I'm sure quite a few of the older members would be delighted to see you again."
Marianne responded in an uncertain tone as she herself was unsure of what to do with her brother-in-law. She immediately frowned as she called him brother-in-law again instinctually as that's of how she had thought of him for many years now. Marianne needed to change how she thought of him inside her head. Maybe she should think of him as a goblin or a gremlin both were good options, but anything was on the table as long as it was derogatory towards the little shit who had almost taken her life.
"You still haven't answered my question, Marianne. How is he incapacitated and how do you know he won't try to contact his minions to set him free? You have been acting strange ever since I asked you about V.V. what did you do to him?"
C.C. was getting annoyed as she couldn't get a straight answer out of Marianne, she was clearly trying to avoid answering anything related to the vertically challenged immortal.
"I'll answer your questions later, why don't we just enjoy this calamari it is delicious this the cherry peppers make it taste absolutely divine."
The Knight of Two was clearly trying to avoid the conversation as she was focusing all her attention on the plate in front of her.
"Marianne!"
"What!"
"Just tell me what you did we are connected through my Code I can sense your fear and apprehension. Let's get it over with you're making me worried as well."
Marianne exhaled slowly.
"Ok, promise me that you won't freak out. If you promise to listen to everything, I have to say then I will explain everything to you."
C.C. looked at her friend with increased suspicion
"Fine. I just want to know what you did to him."
Marianne looked C.C. in the eyes and spoke calmly as she didn't want to agitate the immortal anymore than she needed to.
"So, the Geass Directorate has made many advancements after you left. V.V. was a brutal leader he never cared about the cruelty or the lack of basic human decency in his experiments. All that little goblin cared about was results it didn't matter how much suffering he caused to get said results. With such dangerous and risky methods, it's natural that new technologies were created with extremely potent capabilities."
Marianne paused for a moment then pressed on.
"The scientists at the Directorate may or may not have created a device that can suppress and nullify the majority of a Code Bearer's abilities. We put V.V. inside of such a device he won't be able to do anything, nor will he remember what happened until we take him out. Unfortunately, it won't contain him for long as the chief designer of the device theorizes that eventually any Code Bearer inside of the device long enough will build up resistance to the suppressive nature of the device. Eventually that little gremlin will be able to slowly influence the outside world and maybe even send messages to his contracted Geass users."
C.C. didn't say a word, her face unreadable as she contemplated what she had learned. Normally someone would show at least a sliver of emotion after hearing such important news but the immortal being with the nickname C.C. was an emotionless statue staring at her host.
"C.C. I want to say I'm so..."
Marianne tried to break the silence only to be interrupted by an angry voice.
"Just shut up for a moment. I need to think."
C.C. Set emotionless staring at the floor as her mind raced, thinking of the thousands of different ways she could be used as a test subject. She had grown soft in her time away from the Directorate she hadn't expected them to create such a powerful technology. The ability to nullify a Code Bearer's powers changed everything she knew about Geass and Code. C.C. was under the impression that only Geass users who had reached the second stage, or another Code Bearers could interfere with anything related to her own Code but now she could be threatened by anyone with this device.
"You backstabbing BICTH!"
C.C. yelled as she stood up from her seat and then spoke in a threatening whisper.
"How dare you call me your friend after what you're planning on doing to me! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you! I thought it suspicious that you were willing to give me such expensive tea, but you did it to keep me here until you can get the device ready!"
C.C. began to move to the door expecting to be stopped by her host.
"C.C. think for a second if I wanted to betray you I would do it in a far more efficient manner. Do you think I would waste Da Hong Pao tea on someone I was about to betray? For an immortal you really are great at jumping to conclusions. I understand that you were surprised because of our device but your decision just seems so rash are you thinking properly?"
Instead of trying to reason with the fleeing immortal Marianne insulted her.
"Think C.C. think! Charles and I were just betrayed by V.V. do you think we would really risk our relationship with the only other immortal we know?"
C.C. was reaching for the door handle as Marianne spoke once again insulting the immortal's intelligence, but that insult seemed to have caused C.C. to doubt herself a little bit.
Marianne noticed immediately and argued more in a less insulting manner.
"I didn't even explain to you how the machine works it is a ginormous sphere with a diameter of around two and a half meters. For it to be effective on a Code Bearer they must be placed inside the sphere in addition we haven't found a way to mobilize it yet. We only have one built and it is hundreds of meters underground in a research facility."
C.C. took her hand off the doorknob and turned to the Empress trying to sense her emotions through their contract. What C.C. felt through their connection surprised her. Instead of fear or anger she felt annoyance and exasperation present in Marianne's mind. She was confused as her contracted Empress should have been nervous, yet Marianne seemed to be slightly amused at C.C. paranoia.
"Sit back down and listen. I originally was going to apologize to you for keeping you out of the loop but honestly, I think it was a wise decision seeing how you reacted just now."
Marianne looked at the immortal with a hint of disappointment.
"Of course, I reacted badly. For the first time in centuries, I can be threatened by something. If you had found a way to kill me, I would be less wary, but you only managed to find a way to detain me and stop me from using part of my powers. How can you be mad at me when you were the one who was keeping secrets?"
C.C. seemingly had enough of Marianne's insults and her condescending attitude and struck back at the Empress who had insinuated her stupidity.
"Fine you are partially right. It was wrong of Charles and I to keep secrets from you, especially as it was related to your Code, but you can't pin all the blame on us. Especially because you have done almost nothing for the past five years. Ever since you relinquish control of the Geass Directorate to the hobgoblin you have been lazing around the country trying foods and not doing much else. I apologize for keeping you in the dark about the Code nullifier but don't act like you cared about what we were doing. The only reason you care now is because the Code nullifier threatens you."
Marianne argued more with C.C. but not without apologizing as she truly felt at the immortal had a valid point of view.
"C.C. try to think of why this secret was kept from you. What would you have done if we told you about project Tartarus? I very much doubt you would act rationally it was in our best interest to keep you in the dark. To be honest I was afraid you would run away the second you heard of the project. After seeing how quickly you went for the door it seems my paranoia was not unfounded."
C.C. opened and closed her mouth a few times before thoughtfully looking down at the carpet covered floor.
"I apologize for overreacting, but I'm going to need some time to think. I may need a few years to come back, so please don't look for me otherwise I may never come back."
C.C. begrudgingly acknowledged that she was doing exactly what Marianne and Charles thought she would. With an internal sigh she began to stand up with the intent to return several years in the future. C.C. had many things to contemplate and while she was still furious, she was significantly calmer than she was before.
"C.C. wait you don't want to leave quite yet."
Marianne spoke with a confident tone as a smirk flashed across her face.
"Are you threatening me girl? I don't think you want to do that."
C.C. responded in a venomous tone that seemed to poison the air in front of her.
"I would never dream of threatening you. After all I just told you that the one device, we had that might be able to stop you is currently in use. I just wanted to remind you that you haven't had your pizza, yet it would be a shame to leave without even having a single slice."
Marianne's smirk resurfaced as she revealed the trump card she had been saving for this very moment.
C.C. scoffed in disdain as she rose to her feet.
"Marianne, do you really think a few slices of pizza are going to keep me here any longer? You are lucky I haven't already stormed out. Do you have anything more to say? My patience is running thin, and you somehow think that you are in the right even after what you have done."
The Empress then asked a single question to the immortal who was about to leave.
"C.C., why do you think I had you ordered the pizza after you had the Da Hong Pao tea?"
For a moment no one in the room moved then C.C. turned to her contracted host clearly confused about the question.
"Da Hong Pao tea is most the expensive tea in the world it is only accessible by a select few people. A single cup of this tea has a price tag more than some cars, yet I served it to you almost immediately after you came here. If I wanted to keep you here as long as possible, wouldn't I save it till the end of the conversation. The normal script would have me reveal project Tartarus to you I would then offer the tea as an apology. Clearly that isn't what I did you're smart enough to put two and two together. Why do you think I'm offering this pizza after the Da Hong Pao tea?"
As Marianne spoke C.C. remained frozen clearly listening as she thought of possible answers to the earlier question. Then as she came up with a tentative solution C.C.'s eyes widened in shock as she spoke her answer.
"The pizza is better than Da Hong Pao tea?!"
Marianne smiled with satisfaction at the quick revelation her contractor had.
"Correct C.C. if Gusteau doesn't serve you the best life of pizza you've had in a century, I'd be quite surprised. Of course, you could still leave right now and never know if I was telling the truth but if you leave without trying the pizza you will regret it. Every time you have pizza you always be reminded of the pizza that was supposedly better than Da Hong Pao tea. While tea and pizza aren't directly correlated when considering taste, the fact that I value such an expensive tea lower than this pizza should speak for its quality. So will you wait a few more minutes till the pizza is done?"
C.C. groaned in defeat and sat back down.
"This pizza better be good or so help me God I will make you regret getting my hopes up."
"Some would say God has already helped you quite a bit considering your immortality but while others may view it as a blessing you see it as a curse. You may be entitled to some compensation from God."
A smile played across C.C.'s face for a moment as she thought of God compensating her for her curse. The smile quickly disappeared as she remembered that she was still angry with the jester in front of her.
A few minutes past the silence as both women didn't really know what to say. Marianne didn't say a word as she was afraid the wrong one may cause her guest to leave. C.C. remained quiet as she waited for the supposed best pizza of the century still contemplating what had been revealed to her.
Finally, the door opened with Chef Gusteau pushing a dinner cart with four steaming pizzas each one looking like a piece of art as their delicious smell permeated throughout the room.
"The pizzas are ready I put the deep dish in first followed by the thin-crust pizzas, so everything should be warm and the cheese should be stringy and gooey. if you would like any other drinks before you start your meal I can have my sous chef bring you something from the kitchen directly."
C.C. froze as the smell of the pizzas wafted over her. She felt as if she had been punched in the nose with the flavor in the air. The pizza loving immortal immediately understood why Marianne had saved this for last. She could tell that this was going to be one of the best pizza in the last two decades at least maybe even the century.
"Which pizza would you like first dear guest? I'll plate them for you if you don't mind."
Gusteau received a nod of approval from his master as he offered to serve the important guest first.
"I would love to have a slice of that butter crust deep dish pepperoni pizza first but I'm going to start with the classic cheese."
C.C. was practically jumping out of her seat with anticipation as Gusteau sliced up her personal pizza and brought the first slice before her on an ornate platter.
"For you, my lady?"
The chef then turned to the lady of the house who seemed to be equally as excited as her guest.
"I'll have a slice of the Margherita pizza."
Gusteau then cut up the next pizza in a slightly different fashion as the crust he used was paper-thin and he didn't wish to shatter it.
After both of them raised their first slices to their mouths, C.C. and Marianne locked eyes as they both took their first bites.
Marianne smiled and closed her eyes, letting the rich savory flavors wash over her, making all of her worries disappear for just a moment.
C.C. Had a much different reaction as one would expect of a pizza guru the second her tongue touched the pizza; she immediately began to analyze the flavors only to be shocked as she flashed back to the first time she had ever had pizza. The year was 1874 she was in Naples Italy, the birthplace of the modern pizza. C.C. had been there a few years after the first chef had decided to put cheese and marinara sauce on the traditional flat bread dish served in the city. She had arrived at the perfect time to experience the true start of pizza as the chef whose name she had long forgotten had just begun to perfect his craft a few years after his first dish. The pizza she just ate reminded her of that wonderful moment her first time having pizza shone like a ray of sun through dark clouds.
"Mmm."
C.C. let out a quiet groan of pleasure as she was taken back to a much happier time in her life. While half of her brain basked in the glory of one of her only truly happy memories, the other half was evaluating Gusteau's masterpiece. Every bit of crust had been cooked to perfection the sauce was the perfect blend of sweet and savory and the cheese must have been pasteurized from the best cow milk in the world. The pizza loving immortal was in awe and genuinely forgot about the transgressions Marianne had made as this pizza was not only the best she had had all century but likely some of the best if not the best she had had in her entire life.
"Ah, it seems you are already finished. Would you like me to cut the deep-dish dear guest?"
Gusteau's voice broke C.C. out of her reminiscing in contemplation. She looked down and realized she had eaten the entire pizza without even remembering reaching for a second slice.
"No please wait a moment I need some more time to think about that pizza."
The pizza loving immortal truly earned her nickname as she didn't even notice the victorious grin on Marianne's face. C.C. was too busy reflecting on the pizza she had just ate as her face scrunched up trying to recall all the flavors she had just eaten.
"Could you please cut my second pizza for me Gusteau. I know I haven't finished with my first pizza, but I wish to try the pepperoni one while it's still hot."
In stark contrast to the immortal sitting next to her Marianne simply enjoyed the food that she was served. As he was serving her Marianne beckoned Gusteau closer, in a low tone barely above a whisper she asked her chef a question.
"Are the ovens still on? If they are not send word to the kitchen immediately tell them to turn the oven's back on and prepare to make more pizza if necessary."
After a quick glance at C.C. Gusteau nodded, went to the door and spoke to Landon who was waiting outside. Just as he walked back into the room, he noticed the esteemed guest was looking at him. She seemingly had broken out of her contemplation and was now evaluating him. Thinking now would be a good time to serve that second pizza he moved towards the cart.
"How does that deep-dish sound now honored guest?"
C.C. continue to look at Gusteau and after nodding to herself, she waved him over, not even bothering to speak to him. Her silence was not born out of rudeness but necessity as her brain was racing trying to understand everything that he put into the pizza.
"I see you are quite thoroughly enjoying the pizza. To think you wanted to leave without trying it. Would you like any other kinds of pizza? Regardless of how complex or niche the pizza ingredients are I can have Gusteau make them."
Marianne beamed as she saw C.C.'s eyes light up at the mention of even more pizza. However, her face contorted briefly in shock at the immortal's next words.
"I'm good for now I'm going to need some time to process everything. The information you told me was quite shocking, but the pizza also surprised me quite a bit."
Marianne waved Gusteau out of the room as his job was done. Although he did not know it, Gusteau had shocked an immortal being over 600 years old. Such an achievement could be claimed by a very small amount of people.
"Well done Gusteau the food was magnificent. We will have Landon call for you if we require something else."
Gusteau left with a bow and headed back to the after hearing his footsteps fade away, Marianne began to speak.
"I believe you truly understand why I saved the pizza for last now. My next words may be considered a threat but if you wish to have him make you pizza the only way that's going to happen is if you stay here."
C.C. simply nodded, but her face turned to horror as she heard a threat far more dangerous than project Tartarus.
"Wait what do you mean? You would not really do that to me I mean after all you and I are still partners, correct? You can't just give me two pizzas and then threaten me. Please don't do this you were right I overreacted when I heard about the Code nullifier."
After seeing C.C. begin to panic as a result of her threat Marianne smiled to herself as she knew she had the immortal being exactly where she wanted her.
"Well, I suppose I could have Gusteau make you a pizza or two before you leave, but after that I really think you should stop coming here. After all I am threatening you, I wouldn't want you to feel endangered and if you're not comfortable here then you should leave. If we are partners, I want my partner to feel safe and secure you obviously can't feel that here so leaving is really your best choice."
C.C. felt horrified as she heard the contracted Empress in front of her speak more and more.
"Betrayal hurts and I understand that having just been betrayed by that little Pixie. I think it is in your best interests to cut off contact with us as well. Staying out of the country it's also not a bad idea maybe you could head to Italy and try to find someone as good as Gusteau. I mean it's what's best for you right?"
A shiver ran down her spine as C.C. thought of a life without anymore of Gusteau'spizza. Fear gripped her heart with an icy hold as she imagined never being able to have such wonderful pizza ever again.
"Let's not blow things out of proportion. I said that I was considering leaving for good and I just needed a break. I think a few months should be fine don't you think then I could come back and meet with Gu-I mean you and Charles."
Backtracking heavily the pizza loving and mortal was showing her true interests as she spoke.
"Well, I suppose staying away a few months might be in your best interests. I am still under the impression that you don't trust me anymore and especially don't trust Charles. I don't feel like I could keep someone who doesn't trust me near me myself and my children. You said yourself how important they are to me now. Allowing someone who is no longer in my circle of trust near them sounds like a bad idea."
With an ever-growing smile Marianne continue to push her immortal guest further and further into a corner. She knew exactly what C.C. wanted and now all over the cards were in her hands. she was truly grateful she had met Gusteau.
C.C. said nothing for a minute or two she then took a deep breath she spoke in a calm, collected tone.
"It seems I was hasty in my judgment of you. For the record I am not saying this because of the pizza while it did certainly soften the mood. I'm not so stupid as to forgive or forget anything just because the pizza is some of the best I've ever had. Marianne, I want you to know it truly hurt when you told me what you and your husband had done behind my back. Of course, I am partially to blame as I did step away from the Order and I began to isolate myself I claim full responsibility for that. Project Tartarus as you call it is a powerful weapon that has the capability to truly shake the foundations of society. If other Code Bearers work to hear of such a device, they would use all of their resources to destroy it. you would be constantly attacked by Geass users from across the globe serving many different Code Bearers."
After a quick pause, C.C. resumed talking, this time a little bit of emotion leaking into her voice.
"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions it was wrong of me to not hear you out fully. I do not believe our relationship will ever be the same but that does not mean we cannot remain friends. We have known each other for quite some time and although you have not used your Geass I still hold out hope that you may someday grant my wish through Ragnarök. Although you are missing a Code with V.V.'s betrayal, I still believe you can complete your plan. If you need a second Code, I am still willing to offer mine."
Marianne felt very conflicted as she could no longer goof around with C.C. the contents of their conversation was now serious. She paused for a moment considering her options move for responding. C.C. was partially right as she had admitted earlier but she brought up a fair point considering the other Code Bearers of the world. Being constantly assaulted by various Geass users 24/7 sounded very annoying and something she definitely did not want to deal with. Marianne also had to consider her abandonment of Ragnarök if she truly did abandon the plan to kill God, it would be very unlikely that C.C. would return to Britannia. As Marianne wasn't even sure herself what she was going to do she decided to air on the side of caution and continue as if Ragnarök was still her main objective.
"Believe it or not I don't think we have to worry much about the other Code Bearers. Even if they learn of project Tartarus it won't matter in the long run as they will be too afraid to directly challenge us. You mentioned how powerful the weapon is and how dangerous it would be to most immortals. I believe majority of them don't wish to anger the only people on the planet who have a real chance of harming them. Well, we don't have to worry about traitors for much longer either as Charles is going to purge a decent portion of the Geass Directorate. Instead of losing strength we should just view this as trimming off the fat. Also, because the little gnome can't use the majority of his Code powers almost everyone will assume that Charles killed him and is now the immortal leader of both the Holy Britannia Empire and the Geass Directorate. Who would want to piss off a man who can't die and controls more than a third of the world in addition to having an entire secret organization full of superpowered assassins?"
C.C. contemplated what she had been told by Marianne. It made sense that the Empress was so confident as she wasn't necessarily wrong. C.C. couldn't imagine many Code Bearers who would be willing to risk exposure and possibly permanent imprisonment just because the beginning of Charles new regime would be a bit unsteady.
"So, what are you going to do with V.V.? Obviously, he needs to be taken care of do you think Charles will kill him and take his Code? Or do you and your husband have something else planned for that little brat?"
Marianne smile sent shivers down C.C.'s spine as she saw it the Empresses' pupils had dilated to a degree that seemed quite unnatural.
"Don't worry, I have a bunch of ideas, but I can't wait to try out on him. I'm not sure if Charles plans to take his Code but he won't do so immediately as I have unfinished business with the leprechaun. I will make him suffer so much he will regret having a Code. I'm quite glad he is immortal it means I can rip apart his body with no consequences whatsoever."
C.C. sighed as she reminded herself not to anger the woman in front of her. The look in her eyes was frightening even to someone who had lived countless years and had seen innumerable deaths.
"Are you sure your husband will let you do whatever you want to him? Charles and Victor were extremely close given their traumatic past. Even with Victor's betrayal, I don't think Charles will allow you to torture him to your heart's content. You would have to convince Charles that victor is completely insane and doesn't care about anything anymore. I'm not sure how you would go about doing so but I could give you a few pointers I've seen his type before he shouldn't be too difficult to manipulate."
"I think it will be easier than you think all I need to do is convince Charles that his disgusting dwarf of a brother with lie just to save his own skin. If we can get him to blatantly lie Charles would have no reason to trust him or stop me from doing what I want to do the imp."
Marianne seemed oddly confident in her ability to expose the true nature of her assailant. She seemed eager to do so as well as the quicker she revealed the lies, the sooner she could get to her revenge. Marianne then realized that C.C. had finished the last slice of her deep-dish pizza and likely would be leaving soon. Deciding to buy some time, she brought up a conversation that she never thought she would have before: succession.
"C.C. I have a favor to ask of you."
The immortal having finished wiping her face of the cheese and sauce that had previously covered her lips looked surprised as Marianne very rarely asked for favors.
"What do you want me to do? I certainly hope it isn't related to me staying in the country as much as I love Gusteau's pizzas they aren't enough for me to stay here for much longer."
"In the event of my death I would like you to offer a contract to Lelouch. You don't have to explain to him what your wish is if you don't want to. Just give him a Geass and I'm quite certain he will do the rest despite him being so young."
C.C. was shocked at the proposal, having not seen such a selfless request being made. In hindsight however she should have seen it coming considering Marianne's newfound love for her eldest child.
"I believe you said that you weren't worried about being attacked by other Code Bearers and their contracted assassins. What's with the sudden change of heart do you actually feel threatened or is this something else you are worried about?"
Marianne's face showed a new motion that hadn't been seen all night deep genuine fear.
"I was not lying when I said I wasn't worried about assassination attempts from other immortals. just the thought of Lelouch on his own and defenseless enough for me to ask you for this favor. I understand that it's unlikely that I'll be harmed, especially with all the precautions Charles, and I will be taking. However, unlike Charles my darling son doesn't have any supernatural powers and he is just a young boy, so he is in much more danger on the off chance that something did happen."
The gravity of Marianne exposing her vulnerability to her guest was not lost on C.C. she did not mind agreeing with such a heartfelt request.
"Sure, if he is ever in need or in a desperate situation, I will offer him a contract. I swear it upon my name and my honor but Marianne, do you realize him receiving a Geass will ruin any chance he has at living a normal life?"
The fearful look on Marianne's face disappeared almost immediately as she heard her friend promise to protect her son in a roundabout fashion.
"C.C. thank you, but I don't think you have to worry about ruining Lelouch's chances at a mundane existence. He is a Prince, not to mention the son of the best Knightmare pilot in the world I very much doubt he would end up as a normal schoolboy or a paper salesman in the future."
C.C. smiled as well thinking that the Empress was quite right. Lelouch would never live a normal life, especially with intellect and lineage that he possesses. She then stood up from her chair, hopefully for the last time that night, as she had some plans to hash out and a few people to visit before she left the country.
"Do you have any more favors you wish to ask of me before I leave? I don't plan on coming back for at least a year or two, maybe more depending on how much I miss that pizza. On a serious note, I will probably be in China for a little bit taking of a young boy who I granted a Geass to named Mao. I will call you on one of the numbers you gave me don't bother trying to call me or find me as I will likely have a lost the one cell phone, I plan on bringing with me. If all goes well, I should return with Mao in tow, who knows he might be end up being a good friend for Lelouch."
Marianne also rose from her seat a sad smile now adorned on her face as she realized that she might actually miss the sassy immortal once she left.
"Unfortunately, I can't think of anything else I can ask of you for the moment. I can't just let you leave without having any resources to use. I will have Landon prepare a few accounts with a few million pounds you can access whenever you need to. If you ever need anything you have those numbers use them without restraint."
For a moment Marianne considered mentioning that the new Geass Directorate headquarters was in China. Marianne decided against it as she didn't want to pressure C.C. into not visiting the little Mao boy.
"I was going to jokingly threaten you with no more pizza again, but I feel like that would be in poor taste. C.C. have a safe trip I hope to see you in a year or two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do and certainly don't do anything I would do."
Marianne's smile stretched across her face, her eyes full of joy with a hint of somberness. She then moved to hug C.C. surprising her immortal friend.
"Goodbye my friend."
C.C. weaseled her way out of the bone crushing hug the Empress was administering to her. Still somewhat shocked with the actions Marianne had taken C.C. walk towards the door and turned to her host one last time.
"See you in a bit Marianne. Safe and try to keep a lookout for any rogue Geass Directorate members please for your son's sake."
With that C.C. left the room and was escorted out of Aries Villa by a different group of House Guards. She was then offered to use then keep any car in the garage as Marianne had apparently called the servants working there earlier and instructed them to let her take anything she wanted. As the roar of a brand-new Ferrari 458 Italia faded away, Marianne returned to Lelouch's and Nunnally's bedrooms planted a kiss on each of her children's heads then promptly went to sleep as she had a long day ahead of her.
End of Chapter Two: Bonds Broken and Born
Oh boy that was one long chapter it totaled around 10,800 words without any of the author notes at the beginning or end of the chapter. With the author notes added to the total you have a chapter word count of around 12,600 words nearly double chapter one. While this is a more extreme example as chapter two is double the length of chapter one. I am not sure how large I want each chapter to be depending on what needs to happen in each chapter the length may vary. I think chapter three will be somewhere in between most likely around 9,000 to 10,000 words including the author notes which is a bit longer than what I want. I'm going to try to aim to keep the chapters around 7,000 words so I might trim chapter three down or split it into chapters if it gets too large. The only time I won't split chapters is when it wouldn't make sense like this chapter would be quite odd if I had made it into two separate chapters considering it was just one conversation.
To be honest I never expected this chapter to be so long and after reading it you can tell it was essentially just one long conversation. While there was a bit of bloat here and there the majority of the exposition in this chapter was setting up for the future chapters as well as flushing out some of the rationale behind Marianne's feelings. For now, the majority of chapters will be mainly just characters talking with one another with not a whole lot of violence and action quite yet. However, in three to four chapters from now there should be a few action scenes. Obviously once the story starts to pick up steam there will be action set pieces every other chapter if not every single one so enjoy the peace and simple conversations while you can. (I have no idea if I will be able to write a fight scene that most people can comprehend.)
I promised an explanation on the long wait between chapters. I apologize if this sounds like I'm making up excuses, but I don't want to give anyone the impression that I'm dedicating the majority of my time on this story. I don't believe I mentioned it my first chapter but am currently in school right now with not a lot of free time to write at all. It also doesn't help that Elden Ring came out a few days after I released my first chapter so that sucked up a lot of my time. instead of writing this story I ended up spending the majority of my spring vacation playing Elden Ring. Once spring break was over, I had midterms then finals a few weeks later which meant I was spending the majority of my time studying. It is now summer and while I am in summer school for those extra sweet credits I have a lot more free time so that means more time to be writing chapters. The next chapter should be out before the end of August and considering how much of the next few chapters I have planned out I hope to get chapter four out before the end of the year.
Enough about me let's get onto the story and the changes I made to cannon obviously this conversation never existed as one of the participants was dead at the time. I decided to really flush out the relationship between C.C. and Marianne. Obviously, project Tartarus is the predecessor to the Code nullifier we first see C.C. inside of in episode one. I personally don't think that Clovis' little band of scientists could make something sophisticated enough to stop an immortal. The prototype might have had its blueprints leaked in the future or maybe even a more refined version had its blueprints leaked. There will be little changes like this to canon just to make the story flow better. C.C. and Marianne seemed to be quite friendly with one another throughout the series always joking around with one another. With Marianne becoming less selfish their friendship would naturally grow this chapter was written to show that change.
Once again, I am asking for new names and OC characters. Landon the Butler was something someone had PMed me almost immediately after I published my first chapter so I decided to include him in this chapter he will be a recurring side character throughout the story.
If you couldn't tell from the obvious name and pizza flashback Chef Bernard Gusteau is a reference to Auguste Gusteau from Ratatouille. Ironically Auguste Gusteau was off of Bernard Loiseau, a gourmet French chef so the character in my story it's based off of a fictional character based off of real person. Expect to see more from Gusteau in the future but not too much he will likely appear only in the occasional food-oriented chapters.
I also received a lot of requests and recommendations for the lovers Lelouch might have. In addition to C.C., Kallen, Milly and Euphemia the list now includes Marrybell mel Britannia, Oldrin Zevon, Monica Krushevsky, Leilal Mackal, Anya Alstriem, Kaguya Sumeragi, Shirley Fenette and Empress Tianzi. If the lucky lady, you want Lelouch to end up with is somehow not on this list be sure to comment or PM me before I start to pick and choose who will be in the theoretical harem. A lot of these are reasonable and quite possible love interests while I won't spoil too much of what I have planned I can guarantee you that every single person on this list will at least have one or two interactions with Lelouch before the story reaches its halfway point. That doesn't mean that they will be romantic interests but the majority of them will be recurring side characters depending on where Lelouch is in the world. I am trying to please as many people as possible with this story so the more people who comment a potential lovers name the more likely I am to make it come true.
Side note: I have a question for everyone reading this story. How do you pronounce C.C. when you read it? Is it C2 like the show or do you think CC Makes more sense I oftentimes catch myself saying both? I watched the subtitled show so my brain would read it as CC but I would hear C2. Which do you use and you alternate like me or are you sane and managed to only use one?
I think that's all the rambling most people would want to read after 12,000 words so I'm going to cut the notes here. I hope you enjoyed the chapter if you spot any huge issues with grammar or sentences that just don't make sense please comment or message me so I can fix them.