The Flowers on the Walls

"Lelouch, wake up."

Who in their right minds have the guts to whisper in his ear and address him without any formality at such an early hour of the day when even not one of the servants is awake?

"Wake up," the woman repeats and the king just groans in return and turns his back on her.

"We have a problem."

Yes, yes, the woman will indeed have a problem when she doesn't stop disturbing his peaceful sleep. After weeks of tiring and nerve-wracking nights of strategizing against their enemy land, which thankfully resulted to Britannia's sweet victory, and overthinking about the curse, it is only now that he can savour some proper sleep and indulge himself with the softness of his bed.

"Are you dead? Should I feed you to my plants now, boy king?"

Forget sleep for now, he doesn't want to sleep forever. Slowly cracking his eyes open, a silhouette of a young woman hovering above him greets his hazy consciousness. A pair of candle lights stares directly into his eyes illuminating the little of light in his room. No, they're not candle lights. They are actually eyes.

"You must present a very valid reason to wake me up this early or else…"

"Or else?" C.C. lifts an eyebrow as she sits back and crosses her arms infront of her chest. Thank the Heavens and she is wearing something right now. Rising from his bed, the young king helplessly fixes his hair while rubbing his sleepy eyes with the other hand.

"For a king, you surely slack off on your duties. Shouldn't you be the first one to be awake and ensure that your land is intact in the morning?"

"Don't say things you know nothing of. What if this is the first proper sleep that I've had for weeks? Doesn't a king deserve to be at ease for once?"

"Ah, you are a grumpy riser."

"Tell me what the problem is and why you are awake."

Instead of answering, the witch grabs his arm and pulls him out of the bed. In the dark hallway, her thin and flowy lavender nightgown floats with the soft wind like thick fog in the forest. Her cold left hand is grasping his hand as she leads them down the rows of silent rooms and burning candles and it feels like touching morning dew.

"Your walls need flowers. Baby's breaths, daisies, carnations or poppies. Something that will liven up the castle. Red, yellow, magenta, a color that is striking to the eyes," she mindlessly comments.

"As long that they don't collapse, I'm fine with how they are right now."

Finally, C.C. stops infront of a large door that Lelouch can only make out as the library. His eyes narrow. What is she doing at the library this early in the morning? Is she truly that dedicated to their pact? Now, that impresses the king.

"We have a bit of a problem," she says as they enter the room.

The first things that catch Lelouch's eyes are the five candles glowing in the dimly lit room. Then, the pile of books they illuminate and towering on the broadest table at the center of the library. Following the witch, they stood staring at the book collection which, at Lelouch's closer inspection, is a mix of novels, folklores, history, art and medicine books. They share a common characteristic of having leaves or forests drawn at their covers yet some are worldly apart from each other's topics.

"What's the problem?" Lelouch inquires, picking up 'War and Victories' which is his favourite manuscript. Ah, this brings back some sweet and bitter memories.

"They won't read themselves."

"Hm?" Without looking up, he runs his fingers over the cover of 'Flowers and Thorns' which possesses one of the most elegant design covers with its gold-plated vine borders and letterings. Euphy adores this book.

"I said the books won't read themselves," C.C. huffs.

This time, Lelouch glances up and meets the witch's annoyed gaze then transfers his gaze to the books beyond them. His eyes widen.

"You mean, you can't read?" he utters in disbelief.

C.C. shrugs. "I can recognize the shapes and curves of the writings. Forest visitors sometimes drop letters and manuscripts in the forest and never return to retrieve them. Thus, you must teach them how to speak," she declares pointing at the books.

"I can have a trustworthy scholar teach you how to read. Of course, your true identity will be completely safe with me."

But the witch vehemently shakes her head in disagreement. "No. It must be you. As I've said before, the walls have ears and the windows have eyes. Secrets are bound to be revealed as long as there is someone who listens, and the woods, the sand, soil used to build this castle were once alive. They are now vessels of memories that travel through time and the touch of a hand. And if you are sensitive enough, you can relive the memories they hold for centuries just by touching them. So it has to be you. No one must be allowed to enter this library starting today aside from the two of us."

To be honest, C.C. made a good point about how important it is to keep this matter a secret between just the two of them though she somehow lost him during the talk of the sand and soil being alive. Yet, there are two other people that already knew her existence in the castle – Sir Suzaku Kururugi and Bismarck Waldstein. As based on Lelouch's ever reliable judgment, these two men wouldn't tell a word about the king keeping a witch in his quarters. First, because Sir Kururugi is his most trusted knight and adviser who had proven time and time again that he is willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of Lelouch's safety. Suddenly, the memory of the battle in Pendragon invades his thoughts and Lelouch is once again almost stabbed in his chest if not for Sir Kururugi's unexplainable speed and reflex to put himself between his king and enemy.

And second, Waldstein is the father figure that Lelouch has throughout his whole life. His father, the late great King Charles died when he was only three years old and Lelouch can barely remember his face, yet alone his personality. The portraits are a little help when he cannot put character on them.

"Hm. I'll say that Waldstein and Sir Kururugi are the exemptions to the rule. They wouldn't betray us and they have no ill will towards witches."

C.C. tilts her head as if in the manner of listening, then she nods, hums, then nods again. "Alright."

"What was that?"

"What? Oh. The shelves are supplying me stories."

The shelves? His eyes quickly settle on the endless rows of shelves filling the library. What does she mean – Ah. They are made of wood.

When his gaze returns to his companion, C.C. is wearing a knowing smirk.

"They have a lot of fascinating stories to tell. Especially about a girl named 'Shirley'."

"Enough!" Lelouch suddenly bursts out with ears as red as poppies. "As much as it is an advantage to be able to communicate with nature, please refrain from invading private matters, specifically, my private matters."

"You mean your secret escapades with women?" C.C.'s brow is arched mischievously clearly indicating how she is enjoying pushing his temper. There is laughter in her eyes, amusement in her lips and Lelouch is not up for such meaningless exchange early in the morning. "These shelves are quite sturdy, eh?"

That's it. He's had enough. Marching towards her, he grabs her elbow and forcefully makes her sit with him. Without looking at the title, Lelouch retrieves a random book and opens it at a random page where he starts teaching her reading a random word just to make her shut up.

But even when they are already studying, even when she is already learning another topic, Lelouch cannot sit still for it is his wild secrets that she learned first thing in the morning.


They had to part ways before the whole royal household awakens which is a time when the king's supervision is mostly in demand. Often, the problems and concerns of the citizens are raised and addressed during this time of day. But what makes the king's garments twist as the sun rises is the ruckus his family members create every single day. C.C. had stopped listening to the whispers around her about Clovis and Cornelia's feud because the story itself makes her feel exhausted. What a poor king for having to deal with his useless family on top of ruling the land and winning wars. Oh, and finding a way to break the curse and live longer.

Anyway, C.C. absorbed the lessons like cloth with water and now she can recognize most parts of the book she's currently reading. Now, she is back to the forest to solve a problem that wasn't there when she left.

The soil has started crying as the plants and trees weep. The flowers gasps for air while the ants burn. There are boars lifelessly lying on the ground along with squirrels and deers. As soon as she heard their cries for help, C.C. quickly turns into a hawk and returns to the forest.

"My home, what is it that pains you?" the witch worriedly asks while kneeling on the forest bed. "Poison? The waterfalls?"

Immediately, she flies to the Weeping Falls and tastes its water. Bitter with a tinge of metal. All of a sudden, her throat burns like she swallows the fires of sun and C.C. falls writhing on land.

She hears the troubled and anxious words of the grass and trees as they helplessly watch her roll on her back.

What is this taste? What is this pain? She never experienced a poison as lethal as this (though it wouldn't kill her). Her throat has thorns squeezing the air out of her body. They prick, they slice, they stab her flesh without shedding blood.

When she thought that the sky will disappear and the soil will devour her body, the pain subsides and she can breathe easily again. Panting, she rises on her feet and follows the flow of the water's sorrow. She is led to a deep quarry where several villagers are digging the ground. Changing the color of her hair into black, C.C. blends in with the people for it is more unusual to disguise herself as an awake animal than a new face among them.

At first, there seems to be nothing extraordinary that caught C.C.'s attention. It still breaks her heart hearing the land and trees' sadness while being displaced. The people, unaware of the nature's distraught, continue to mercilessly dig for minerals and rocks they wish to sell at a high price. Yet, still, the forest tells her not to interfere.

Always.

Even though it is hurting everyday because of the human's activities, the forest tells her not to attack them. She had asked why but it would only shake the trees as if saying 'No', but now C.C. understands the reason behind its kindness.

The past witch may not be able to tell her about the agreement between the humans and the witches but the forest has been telling her all along.

The past witch, huh? She never questions her absence since C.C. began to understand the way of the forest. It was a given situation that the young girl readily accepted for everything she needed, everything she wanted was being provided by the forest. The Forest is the mother she knew and the puzzle on how it nourished her during her infant days is something that C.C. doesn't dwell on.

But now, after hearing the king's story, a curiosity blooms in the witch's nonchalant heart.

A burly man carrying a large sack of land catches C.C.'s attention and follows him to the edge of the river. Concealing herself among the trees, she sees a few more men squatting by the riverbank, a plate in hand, filtering the minerals with water. This process is nothing new and had been done ever since C.C. came across the miners several years ago. What calls her attention, though, is the substance that the men added as they filter the minerals from the soil. A silver-colored liquid which C.C. has never seen before. She runs along the direction of the river flow and away from the quarry. Then, she kneels by the bank and watches as the sleeping fishes started floating on the surface of the water.

They are dead and she is completely certain that it is the mystery substance that's causing the forest's despair. She has to stop this before it kills the whole forest.

She won't let them kill the only mother she knows.


C.C. has been missing for five days now.

At first, Lelouch has been lenient and patient on her disappearance considering that she still has her own will to leave the castle despite their pact and the residence he bestowed her in the Royal Tower. He definitely understands her other responsibility in the forest which, if he will be truly honest to himself, is larger and far more important than solving his problem. After all, her loyalty lies with the forest and not with the ruler of the land.

So as days passed by and as he solved the problems of his own land such as the mysterious sickness that suddenly infects his people and the equally mysterious case of injured men emerging from the forest, Lelouch tries to put his worry for the witch's disappearance at the back of his head.

But!

But he trusted her, and she gave him hope for his curse so just thinking that she decided to leave and break their pact after seeing her very eager to learn how to read does not sit well with Lelouch's logic and keeps him bothered all day.

So for the second time, the king went to the forest alone in search for the missing witch. With the aid of his ever reliable horse, he navigates the dark forest seamlessly as if he it was a route he frequently traverses. However, there's a different energy, or rather, there is a lack of energy enveloping the place. Somehow, the trees and the plants are bent not as if they're sleeping, but as if they're exhausted and dying. Every step Arthur makes feels like stepping onto a quicksand that could swallow them whole. The air is stale. Sometimes, it feels like there's no air at all.

Through his sharp sense of smell, Arthur finds the witch's current lair by the riverbank.

C.C. is back to wearing nothing but her skin. Surrounding her are dead fish lying on the ground, arranged like ritual stones as they form a circle around her. Eyes closed, the witch is in a praying position that she didn't notice Lelouch's arrival. Or perhaps, she already knew that he is coming, all her talks about nature being able to listen and tell are starting to rub on him.

He is about to announce his presence when something to his left catches his attention. Turning, he is dumbstruck to find two unconscious men tied against a tree with its roots wrapped around their legs. The roots' grip is tight and sturdy leaving no space for a desperate struggle.

Lelouch takes a step towards them only to be stopped by a sharp breeze striking his abdomen. But as quick as the pain hit, it quickly disappears like a phantom memory.

"Wh - ?"

"Don't."

Glancing up, the king sees the witch gazing at him with glowing gold eyes. There's a heavy energy surrounding her that could have warded off anyone who comes across her path but not Lelouch. Well, simply because there are roots wrapped around his ankles, too, now.

"What are you doing with my people?" confronts Lelouch as he unsheathes his sword and directs it towards C.C. Weaponry against witchcraft? Lelouch is clearly at a disadvantage.

C.C. takes a step forward and Lelouch could have stepped back if not for the roots clinging onto him. "Your people are killing the forest."

"So, you're the one who's hurting the miners."

"I asked them nicely but they wouldn't listen. All they cared about is the gold they can unearth and the money they will earn. The forest is always the one who is giving and the people just take and take more than what they actually need. They never think that they are causing damage to the place that warmly welcomed them."

Standing before him, Lelouch realizes that the glow from C.C.'s eyes are not a product of her witchcraft or anger, instead, they are fresh tear stains drying under her eyes.

"Tell me what happened," Lelouch commands.

"Go to the river and smell the water," C.C. orders back.

Lelouch does and with his hands, he scoops some water from the river and puts his palm under his nose. Metallic.

Returning his gaze to the river, he finds dead fishes floating and being carried by the current. He looks back at the fishes lying on the land and notices the unusual color of the soil.

"The miners are using something to filter the soil from gold more easily in the water. They wash it at the river above that cliff and the water travels down the Weeping Falls carrying the poison with it."

Something to filter the soil?

A memory suddenly awashes Lelouch bringing him back to a meeting with his subordinates that happened a week ago.

"A merchant from the east is offering to sell to the kingdom his magic water," Clovis excitedly shared while rubbing his hands together.

"Magic water?" Lelouch repeated lazily, already uninterested by another of his cousin's ridiculous ideas.

"Yes, Your Majesty. According to him, it can turn ordinary sand into gold. All the miner has to do is to pour it over the dug sand and wash it in the river. Then, the sand will copy the properties of the real gold. It sounds really amazing."

"And how much does the merchant priced his 'magic water'?"

"Well, uh, three thousand gold coins, Your Majesty."

"Three thousand gold coins for fake gold?" the king uttered in annoyance. "Ridiculous. What's the next issue, Suzaku?"

"But Your Majesty!" Clovis appealed. "We can easily earn back what we spent, and we can be the richest kingdom in the world that can buy whichever land it wanted. You wouldn't have to go to war and endanger your life. Please, consider it, Your Majesty."

Lelouch raised an unimpressed brow and looked down at his cousin. He was certain that his safety was the last thing in Clovis' mind. What the older man was truly after was the riches it would bring him if Lelouch's agreed to his proposal. Heh, Lelouch would bet his life that Clovis had a cut with the price that he said earlier. "I wouldn't waste our resources to produce fake gold that will certainly cause more wars if discovered by other countries." He addressed the whole room. "No one shall purchase the 'magic water' from the merchant. Anyone found to be disobeying my order will face punishment equal to fraud."

But it seems like someone did not heed his orders.

"Gold, huh?" he kneels on the ground and grabs a handful of yellow soil. The 'magic water' didn't turn the soil into gold but poisoned it.

Rising, he faces the witch and says, "You broke the agreement between the kingdom and the witches."

Upon hearing his words, C.C.'s anger becomes the air they breathe and Lelouch is being suffocated by the feeling of grief and betrayal.

"The forest is dying and that's all you can say? Your people did it first."

"That's right. They are my people. They are my responsibility. You should've told me first before resorting to hurting them." Putting his hands on his hips, Lelouch sighs. "I am not your enemy, C.C. Let me help you in saving the forest."

"Help me?" the witch asks in confusion as if they are words she heard for the first time and that's when it hits Lelouch – why she acted on her feelings in order to protect her sanctuary without thinking twice – she has been alone throughout her whole life that she doesn't know how to ask others for help. According to the books he'd read, the witches from the Forest of the Winter Moonlight lives solitarily for each generation. They effectively isolate themselves from civilization that some associate their existence to a myth. "And what can you do?"

"I don't know, perhaps I can order an immediate suspension of the mining and arrange a group of scholars that will find a way to control and stop further damage to the forest." Lelouch shrugs. "You know, because I'm the king and all, they would probably follow my command at once."

But C.C. remains skeptical though he sees that the anger in her eyes is beginning to fade away. "You'll do that?"

Lelouch nods, and in a serious tone he says, "Yes. We are accomplices, after all." And to prove his point, they – C.C. in a form of a crow flying above his head – proceed to the quarry after freeing the unconscious miners. True to his words, Lelouch quickly orders its temporary closure and an investigation on how the miners got a hold of the 'magic water'. For the mean time, ordinary people are not allowed to enter and hunt in the forest as they will let it heal and recover the life it lost.

Back in the castle, except for the king and the witch who made a little haven in the library, its residences and servants are engulfed in wonder as yellow trollius flowers began growing out of the castle's walls.