Chapter 9: "Initiation" VII – Humans are not Created Equal
The scene shows a rather surreal dimension, in which an ancient open-roof temple was shown to be basking in what seem to be an eternal dusk. A tall, old man with several rolls of white hair on the back of his head stood at the very end of the temple, gazing at the eternal dusk.
'That's… that's the Sword of Akasha!' Zero immediately recognizes the peculiar place. 'That means…'
"Your Majesty, The remains have arrived," a subordinate dressed in a cult-like costume informed the tall, old man.
"I was just conversing with Clovis," the tall, old man said in a majestic yet calm tone.
"Huh?" the cult-like subordinate was confused. However, the tall man paid no mind to the subordinate's confusion as he continued, "The plan must proceed without a moment's delay."
Everyone in the auditorium, less Zero, are confused. Sure, they have no doubt who the tall, old man was, but it was the things he said that didn't make any sense to them.
"What the hell was that place?" exclaims Tamaki, "Was that heaven or something?"
Guilford has a stern expression on his face. 'I don't know any place in Pendragon that was remotely resemble to that one His Majesty was in. Was it a top-secret fallout shelter for the Imperial Family?' "Princess, do you…?" he quietly asks Cornelia next to him. Cornelia shakes her head; she doesn't know about that place as well.
'Conversing with Clovis? Father has the power to communicate with the dead?' Cornelia frowns as she recalls the information she gathered from her brief conversation with Bartley in the secret underground Geass facility at the Chinse Federation. 'Bartley said that if father's plan continued on, the world would be on its way towards destruction. I wonder what the plan was… regardless, this would also explain why he had always called the affairs of state "mundane": all he cared about is his plan, whatever it was.' Being a patriot to her country and its people, Cornelia cannot help but to snort at her father's attitude. Apparently her father had abandoned his noblesse oblige to his empire and his subjects, something Cornelia cannot agree to and cannot forgive.
Nunnally, on the other hand, feels that the place is somewhat familiar to her. 'The way the sound resonated in that place sounds familiar to me… had I been to that place before?'
Back at Ashford Academy, Lelouch was going to doze off yet another lesson, only to be shocked at what he saw: Suzaku Kururugi, his childhood friend, became a transferred student and the newest addition to his class.
Naturally, the students in the class were gossiping in disbelief during recess: why would an Eleven be in a Britannian school? Wasn't that guy the suspect for the murdering of Prince Clovis? Was he a terrorist?
"To think we have an Eleven here at school…" Nina murmured to Rivalz and Shirley while staring at Suzaku.
"An Honorary Britannian," Rivalz quickly corrected his timid friend.
"That's the same thing though…" Nina insisted.
"Well, he doesn't look all that scary to me, why don't we just talk to him?" Shirley cheerfully asserted and started to move towards Suzaku, "I'm sure he's totally… huh?"
Rivalz quickly stopped Shirley's advance and shook his head, "You are way too forward…"
"Why was everyone so scared of him? He's a cool guy," Gino cannot understand. He may be an enemy of Suzaku during the Battle of Mt Fuji, but that doesn't make his time with Suzaku as friends and colleagues any less enjoyable.
"Wasn't that obvious? The Britannians treated us as if we were nothing but garbage," Chiba sneers at Gino's innocent comment, or, from her point of view, a hypocritical one. "Though, being a boneless and power-seeking traitor of his people, Kururugi should have expected to be treated as such by either side."
Nunnally frowns at Chiba's insult against Suzaku, but she exercises great self-restraint to avoid making further comments to stir up unnecessary arguments, knowing how hardheaded the Japanese woman is. 'Everything will be fine at the end of this screening,' Nunnally thinks inwardly to reaffirm her resolve in organizing this gathering.
Seeing Suzaku being isolated in class, Lelouch stood up with a stern face and walked towards the door, passing right behind Suzaku. Suzaku noticed Lelouch's move and turned towards the door, only to see that Lelouch pulled his collar right before he left the classroom. Suzaku immediately recognized that code and hurried to the rooftop, where he saw a smiling Lelouch greeted him, "Seven years since we used this signal. Long time, huh?"
"It means 'meeting on the roof'," Suzaku walked towards Lelouch as he recalled the meaning of that code.
"Yeah."
"I'm glad you're okay. I've been worried," Suzaku was glad to see his friend alive from the chaos during the Shinjuku incident.
"Alive and kicking thanks to you," Lelouch said in an uncharacteristically gentle tone, "You almost died trying to protect me…"
"I was just returning the favour from 7 years ago," Suzaku also smiled. However, Lelouch didn't seem pleased to hear that answer and looked away. Suzaku noticed the change and immediately switch topic, "Ah, what about that girl? You know, from the capsule."
"We got separated during the fray," Lelouch told Suzaku what would be considered as a bent truth at best, and then decided to poke and see whether the military knew about C.C.'s escape, "But you would know more about her than I do, right?"
Suzaku answered, "Not really. The only ones who knew anything were the inner circle of Prince Clovis' Imperial Guard. Oh and by the way," Suzaku decides to ask an important question, "Do I still call you Lelouch?"
"The records count my old identity among the dead. I go by the name Lelouch Lamperouge now," Lelouch explained, "And you? What happened at your court-martial? And why did you enroll at the school?"
"I'm as surprised as you are. What are the odds that we'd end up at the same school?" Suzaku answered in a light-hearted tone, "Truth is, someone arranged for me to receive a proper investigation. That person also said that a 17-year-old should be in school."
The screen then switches and shows Euphemia walking down a gallery inside the Area 11 Government Palace, looking at the portraits Clovis had left behind. Among all the portraits that mainly portrayed scenery or objects, one in particular stood out: it was a portrait of an elegant lady in blue dress and with long, black hair sitting on a chair, with what appeared to be her son and daughter on her two sides.
Nunnally immediately recognizes the people on the portrait as her mother Marianne, her elder brother Lelouch and herself. "Oh, Brother Clovis," Nunnally murmurs, "after all those years, you still remember us fondly, didn't you?" She was then saddened by the fact that Clovis had become a merciless murderer who ordered the massacre at Shinjuku, as well as how she had spent seven years hiding from people who genuinely cared about them. 'Was Big Brother wrong to hide us from the rest of our family? Had we returned to the family right after the occupation of Japan, would things turn out quite differently?' the young empress muses.
Milly also sinks deep in thought as she saw the portrait Clovis had left behind. 'Lelouch had been mistrusting almost everyone ever since the occupation… while that might have helped with his and Nunnally's initial survival in a war-torn area, it turns out that he might have made a rather bad choice after all. At the very least, Princess Cornelia, Prince Clovis and Princess Euphemia would have all been on Lelouch's side had he sought their help after the war, and he would have been well protected by Princess Cornelia's army from any harm coming towards him and Nunnally. But then and again, Lelouch was too prideful to seek help from his siblings… after all, he only sought help from us because he had no other options left back then and, even when seeking our help, he had been mistrustful to us at the very beginning.'
Similarly, Cornelia is experiencing an emotional turmoil as she sees the portrait: her regret of not protecting her idol and her children from harm, her sadness about Clovis' death, her anger that her dearest, full-blooded younger sister died at the hands of the half-brother she once cared about the most, and her frustration that her father didn't seem to care about any of those things at all.
Rivalz, however, is concerned over a different matter. 'I have been Lelouch's best friend for more than a year already, yet I knew nothing about the "codes" he and Suzaku were using… did he really not see me as his true friend after all we had been through?' Rivalz suddenly feels sad about not even knowing who Lelouch really was throughout the time they spent together, only to be tapped on the shoulder by Milly, who gave him an understanding smile.
"Rivalz, Lelouch didn't trust anyone entirely back then, not even me when we first met," Milly explains, "you now know the back story of Lelouch, and so I am sure you will understand why he was that mistrusting towards others, to a paranoiac degree in fact."
Rivalz sighs but takes Milly's point, turning back to the screen to see what happens next.
At Lelouch and Nunnally's home, Suzaku was gently placing his hands onto Nunnally's right hand. Nunnally gasped, putting her left hand onto the stranger's hands and eventually realized those as Suzaku's, her long-lost friend. Nunnally was so happy that Suzaku was alive and tears fell down from her closed eyes.
Everybody in the audience is touched by the reunion. Even the usual antagonistic Chiba and attention-seeking Tamaki don't say a word, quietly watching the heart-warming scene. Cornelia and Kaguya both silently reach out and hold Nunnally's hands as they watch the scene; Nunnally smiles at the scene of her past-self reuniting with Suzaku, whose present-day version is sitting right behind her. It brought back all the good memories they share back when there were mere children, and the year they have spent together at Ashford Academy before things have rapidly changed.
Lelouch, Suzaku and Nunnally sat around the dinner table to have dinner together. Nunnally sat at the edge of the table, while Suzaku and Lelouch sat on Nunnally's right and left hand side respectively.
"Suzaku, tell me you will stay the night, won't you?" Nunnally asked.
Before Suzaku could answer, Lelouch cut in on his behalf, "Suzaku has enrolled as a student at Ashford Academy now, so you can see him anytime you want to."
"Really?" Nunnally responded with a hopeful tone.
However, Suzaku was sort of low on emotional intelligence and somewhat a killjoy. "Well, I still have military duties, so I can't be here every day."
"Oh, you're… you're still in the military?" quite unsurprisingly, Nunnally immediately became worried about Suzaku's current occupation, her joyful tone was all but disappeared.
Seeing Nunnally becoming downcast, Suzaku immediately explained, "Don't worry. I've been reassigned to the Engineering Corps. It's a lot less dangerous."
"I see, Engineering Corps huh?" Lelouch chimed in with a gentle tone, likely trying to assure Nunnally that Suzaku was in a safe and non-combatant position. He was also secretly glad that it would be unlikely for him to face his best friend on the battlefield. He then picked up a teapot and started to walk towards the kitchen.
"Oh, let me help you," Suzaku immediately offered and got up of his seat.
"Just sit down," Lelouch smiled, "Unlike seven years ago, we get to be your hosts now." Suzaku thought for a moment and then nodded with a smile.
"It's funny. You're a lot mellower than you used to be," Lelouch teased his best friend.
"And you are a bit more rough," was Suzaku's retort.
Lelouch smiled and took the teapot to the kitchen, only to turn to a more serious facial expression as he spoke softly to the lime-haired girl hiding in the kitchen, "I told you to stay in my room, didn't I?"
However, and as usual, C.C. was unfazed. "That boy out there, he is the Britannian soldier from Shinjuku, isn't he? Is that wise?"
Lelouch put down the teapot onto the table. "Don't worry, it's fine. He's… he is a friend… from the past."
"AHA! Suzaku told a truth that cannot be further from the truth!" Lloyd says in his usual cheerful tone, chuckling.
"Earl of Pudding, I never thought you were good at word play," Rakshata chides.
"What? I may be a scientist by profession, but that doesn't mean I can't be good with words and literature!" Lloyd rebuts. Next to him and Rakshata, Cecile tries to calm the rival scientists down to prevent another rather trivial bickering from happening.
Kallen is puzzled. "Princess Cornelia, I thought he was a battling unit under your command?"
"No, he wasn't," Cornelia explains, "he was technically working for Dr Asplund in Schneizel's Camelot Engineering Corps, and so while he was fighting in the front lines, technically he was still a member of Schneizel's unit. In fact, Dr Asplund has put it most cogently: 'a truth that cannot be further from the truth'. I can't think of a better way to sum up what Suzaku had told Lelouch and Nunnally back then."
Tianzi pays her attention on another matter she has just seen. "It's such a heart-warming reunion!" she cheerfully says.
Kaguya and Shirley both look at the scene and agree with Tianzi's observation: Kaguya had been seeing Zero's mask most of the time, and when she finally got to see Lelouch's face after so many years, it was the Emperor mask that Lelouch had been wearing; whereas Shirley had only seen the face of "Lelouch Lamperouge", a fake persona that did not exist in real life. This is one of the few chances for them to get to see a genuine smile of the real Lelouch vi Britannia, as well as his interaction with others, something both girls feel excited to witness, yet still feel sad because they didn't have the privilege to experience interactions with the real Lelouch firsthand.
Cornelia looks at the heartwarming reunion scene and sighs. 'The younger brother that I once cared the most had only opened himself to Nunnally and Suzaku while closing his heart to anyone else. I should be glad that I at least get a glimpse of such precious moments in his short life.'
Nunnally and Zero both look at their past-self with fondness, thinking back the few quiet and peaceful moments they have shared after their reunion. If only such priceless moments can continue forever…
In one of the great halls in Pendragon, countless Britannian soldiers assembled and lined up for the state funeral in honour of Clovis la Britannia, 3rd Prince of the Empire. A giant portrait of the late prince was hung at the centre of the wall right behind the podium, and underneath the giant portrait, there were numerous white flowers that sharply contrasted with the red rose Clovis was holding in the portrait. A number of dignitaries of the empire, including 1st Prince Odysseus eu Britannia and 2nd Prince Schneizel el Britannia, were seated right below the giant portrait, all showing sad and stoic expressions on their faces.
'Odysseus…' Cornelia muses at the sight of her deceased eldest brother. Contrary to the meaning of his name, the 1st Prince of Britannia was widely considered to be an overly gentle man when compared to his merciless father. The first prince showed no real malevolence or ambition, and was substantially inferior in his performance when compared to his younger brother Schneizel. When Cornelia was younger, she also somewhat looked down at her eldest brother for being such a mediocre man, especially when his only virtue, gentleness, did not stand out due to Schneizel's equally gentle and caring appearance. It was not until Schneizel revealed his true nature in the Damocles when he gunned down Cornelia after she disagreed with his plan to achieve world peace that the purple princess was finally able to fully appreciate the real and unique virtue of her eldest brother, who truly cared about all of his younger siblings. Cornelia may be the elder sister to Clovis, Lelouch, Euphemia, Nunnally and many others, but she is still a younger sister who once misunderstood her elder brothers.
Zero, on the other hand, recalls a conversation he had with Schneizel about a month after the completion of the Zero Requiem. When asked about his true motive behind all the things he did, a geassed Schneizel informed Zero that he originally wanted Odysseus to be the 99th Emperor of Britannia, believing that his gentle elder brother would be able to lessen the conflict occurring between the three major powers during the reign of their father. It wasn't after the advent of the deadliest weapon known to mankind being conceived at the Dallas Research Institute that had drastically changed Schneizel's mind, leading him to pursue the path of relying on system and force instead to achieve permanent and absolute world peace.
"The 98th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire will now speak," the emcee of the funeral announced. A tall, intimidating old man who was exceptionally well-built, with strangely combed long, white hair into several long rolls resting on the back of his head, yet nonetheless brought forth a pair of piercing purple eyes, walked slowly towards the podium. He gripped the side of the podium firmly and stared at the crowd and camera intently.
The audience falls silence as they see the image of the formidable emperor preceding Lelouch. Lelouch may be merciless in his world domination campaign, but most, if not all among the audience, would agree that his father, Charles zi Britannia, was a much more fearsome and intimidating figure than Lelouch had ever been, simply by the sheer stature of the older man, his bellowing bass voice and his accumulated experience and majesty as the supreme ruler of the largest militaristic empire of the world, compared to Lelouch's apparent youth, lack of physical prowess, tenor-baritone voice and a much shorter two-month reign as emperor.
"Humans… are not created equal!" the Emperor bellowed the thesis of his speech, something that most people would consider to be remotely relevant to anything a father would normally say in his eulogy to a deceased son.
Across the Holy Brtiannian Empire, almost everyone was paying attention to the proceedings: Cornelia and Euphemia were at the Government Palace, the younger with an apparent sadden expression and the elder, while also saddened, put up a more controlled and stoic expression throughout; the Camelot Engineering Corps staff, with the notable exception of Lloyd, all put up their right palm to their left chest as a symbol of their loyalty to the Crown; the military garrison of Area 11, Jeremiah and Villetta included, all stood in lines and listened attentively to the Emperor's words; all the students at the Ashford Academy assembled at the school hall and watched the proceedings of the funeral on the giant screen in front of them; even Ohgi and his group stared at their TV in their hideout to watch the Emperor's speech.
The Emperor went on to elaborate his point. "Some are born swifter of foot, some with greater beauty, some are born into poverty, while others born sick and feeble. Birthplace, upbringing, sheer scope of ability: every human is inherently different! That is why people discriminate against one another, which is why there is struggle, competition, and hence the unfaltering march of progress. Hatred, prejudice, jealousy, sense of superiority – all negative emotions are the fuel for progress."
Among the students standing at the school hall, Shirley was shown to have doubts on what the Emperor was saying, but biting her lips and not saying anything contrary to what her sovereign was talking about; Rivalz looked as if he was amused by the Emperor's rather ruthless performance and gave a shrugging smile; the usually cheerful Milly had her face totally deadpanned, apparently not agreeing with what the Emperor was saying; Nina timidly stared at the floor, not daring to look at the Emperor even though it was just an image of his on the screen and not in person; and Kallen was trying her level best to contain her anger towards the supreme ruler of her sworn enemy. Meanwhile, Lelouch couldn't even contain his anger towards the man who mercilessly abandoned him and Nunnally, snorting upon seeing the man's appearance on the screen. The only exception was Diethard, who showed no interest in the Emperor's speech and instead focused on re-watching the video clip of Zero's debut on his computer at the TV station.
"Inequality is not a vice; Equality is!" the Emperor continued before pointing his finger at the other world powers. "What of the EU, which made equality a right? Rabble politics by popularity contests. As for the Chinese Federation, with its equal distribution of wealth, it is a nation of nothing but lazy dullards…"
Tianzi, being the last Empress of the Chinese Federation and the current Symbol of Unity of the United States of China, is displeased at hearing how the Britannian Emperor deriding her people as "lazy dullards". However, she is scared by Charles' piercing gaze and booming voice, hiding herself in Kaguya's embrace and only showing her displeasure through her shaking shoulders. Kallen, Tohdoh, Ohgi, Chiba and Tamaki all stared at the person ultimately responsible for their 8-year suffering in deep contempt. Even though Charles' reign is no more, they can never forgive all the tragedies and pain he had brought to the Japanese.
"… but not my Britannia – we fight, we compete, and we continue to evolve."
'"Continue to evolve"… such a pretty little thing to say,' Lloyd smiles at the phrase.
"Britannia alone moves forward, advancing steadily into the future," the Emperor asserted, "The death of my son Clovis is a shining proof of Britannia's unfaltering commitment to evolution."
'Tch…' the present day Cornelia snorts at his father's words on Clovis' death, her fists grips hard. 'I have known this long ago already, but even us, your sons and daughters, meant nothing more to you than being rooks and bishops for your own ambitions, father. Clovis, Lelouch, Nunnally, Euphy, me myself… you never cared for any of us!'
"Fight on! We shall struggle, compete, plunder and dominate. At the end of the path, the future shall be ours!" Charles bellowed, before raising his right fist into the air and roared with his trademark bass and majestic voice at full volume:
"ALL HAIL BRITAN~NIA!"
"All Hail Britannia! All Hail Britannia! All Hail Britannia! All Hail Britannia! All Hail Britannia...!" Everyone in the grand hall chanted enthusiastically, patriotism engulfed the whole venue immediately. It was doubtful if anyone inside the hall was still conscious enough to realize that the occasion was supposed to be Prince Clovis' funeral, not yet another of the emperor's raging patriotic rallies.
Having witnessed how the emperor delivered his "eulogy", Suzaku quietly frowned and held his grip tighter, getting a sense of the extremely steep slope he was trying to overcome to achieve his goal; Lelouch simply narrowed his eyes further to contain his fury towards the man he hated the most.
"So… this is Lelouch's enemy. Well…" Back in Lelouch's room, C.C. mused as she sat on Lelouch's bed and watched the state funeral proceedings on Lelouch's TV, holding Zero's helmet in her hands.
"I think I have asked this question right already, but let me ask the question again: what's wrong with that man?" Chiba screams as she points her finger towards the screen, still cannot believe how Charles had turned his son's funeral into a political rally.
Kallen nods to Chiba's comment with an angry expression on her face. "I would be first to admit that I would have never thought of saying this, but I actually feel bad for Prince Clovis, Lelouch, Her Majesty and Her Highness to have such a bastard of a father! I mean, my father was bad enough to ignore the plight of my mother already, but that man was a million times worse!"
Gino and Anya, having previously served as Charles' personal knights, have their lips tightly sealed; while they tend to agree with Kallen and Chiba after having watched the whole ordeal again from an outsider's perspective, they don't want to bad-mouth their previous liege; it was their last bit of loyalty they owe to Charles as his Knights of the Round.
Ohgi decides to chips in the conversation. "Regardless of our opinion on Emperor Charles' policies and his ability as Emperor, I think it is safe to say that we all agree that he was a terrible father."
Tohdoh nods in agreement and chimes in, "For anyone of us here trying to be a good father, we should simply do the opposite of what Emperor Charles did as a father." He then holds Chiba's hand quietly but firmly. Chiba blushes as she understands that her man is making an implicit pledge to her that he will never be a terrible father like Charles to their future children.
Nunnally witnesses the reactions from the audience around the room, but then turns back to the screen and silently ponders something else instead. 'I wonder… did my mother really fall in love with such a ruthless man?' she muses.
