The day has come.
Alfonso was laying in his king-sized bed for what seemed like hours. He had spent the day on the beach, chasing Lelouch with sand alongside Milly and helping Nunnally build a castle. His eyelids threatened to drop downwards, sending him into the abyss too early. Well, that's as what coffee was for. Thank god the kitchen was always operating. He could not afford to sleep at this time.
All preparations had been made. He was ready. The time was now.
It was in the dead of night, simply three and a half days after their arrival. The stars were glistening, animals howling, and the manor was simply dead.
That was how it was at night. All the servants, resting in their quarters as to not disturb the royal guests. Only the guard force was awake at this hour, and even that was relatively scarce inside, with most guard posts and heavy weapons located outside, constantly scanning for unauthorized entrance.
But not exit.
Hopefully.
He studied up all he could. Guard rotations. Servant duties and shifts. Camera placement, as well as what cameras were actually watched and which were simply viewed later on. And especially the escape tunnels.
That was the great thing about the Georges Estate on Long Island. All royally-owned lands used by the Britannian Royal Family had such escape tunnels. After the multitude of assassination attempts by former republicans on Ricardo von Britannia after the Humiliation of Edinburgh (damn him), all such buildings were mandated to have such tunnels. They have come in handy in the past.
As they would for him now.
Why was he attempting to escape, you might ask? Why leave behind Nunnally, Lelouch, Milly, and Euphie? It was simple: he was curious.
Oh, he saw the news all the time. Spoke about the great manufacturing sector overperforming industrial quotas. Espoused the benefits of the corporate sector. Had on great pieces of how one Britannian here managed to rise up to lead a corporation or how another managed to defeat his cheating wife's mistress in a sword duel through sheer force of will (Yes, dueling was legal. They upheld honor to a ridiculous degree).
He wanted to see it. For a while, he was content to simply relax and age normally in the beauty of the palace, working out how to do the most amount of good and to protect his siblings. And then the trip occurred.
His guard's had a large reluctance to take him into the nearby city. He didn't know why. New York here, much like where he came from, was marveled as a center of finance and, in this world, of industry and production. Why wouldn't they want to show him the might of Britannia?
He thought a little about it. Security concerns were most likely, he supposed. Then, of course, propaganda could play a part. He had thought about it, a government lying to its citizens to quell discontent. He was in an empire, after all. However, he wanted to see for himself. Proper conclusions could only be based on unbiased observation and judgement, after all. And, since the guards wouldn't take him, his family wouldn't take him, and he didn't want to get anybody in trouble by asking the staff or more guards, escaping was the only option.
So, he would escape look around the city. The propaganda idea was just a hunch, he admitted to himself, but it wouldn't do any harm to look. For all he knew, the empires of this world acted differently towards their own citizens, and really were more progressed than he had thought.
He would soon find out.
For the hundredth time, he looked over to the clock. 2:45. Perfect.
Glancing quickly towards the door, he slowly shifted his weight and swung his legs off the bed. Then, with a huff, he quickly pushed himself off and landed on the thick carpet. His pajamas were on, but he wore a simple shirt and jeans underneath. Quickly moving towards the large closet, he stepped inside and found the pistol where he had left it: tapped in the innards of a drawer.
Removing it, he performed the proper safety checks and made sure the safety was on. After becoming satisfied, he harnessed it around his jeans under his pajamas.
He walked towards the door. Listened. The guard was there, but breathing slow. He chose this time for an obvious reason: the guard was almost off-duty at three, and would just want to be done with it by now to sleep.
He opened the door as silently as he could. The guard was facing away from him. Perfect.
Shutting it quietly, he tried his best to look like he was half-asleep. Then, he quickly brushed against the guard, which got his attention.
Just fifteen minutes left. Perfect.
He wanted to sleep so badly. Twelve hour shifts had always been the worst, especially since nothing was going to happen. Ashworth was supposed to be the Prince's guard, but even that security nut had to sleep. Damn.
Still, at least he wasn't one of the poor sods outside, constantly having to move and watch. He could just stand still and-
Bump.
Something hit his leg. Turning around, he noticed that the door was opened. That was strange. Looking down, he saw the Prince, violet eyes looking up to him wearily.
"My Lord! Is everything okay?," he quickly rambled off.
His charge didn't seem to respond for a minute. Finally, all he got was a "Sorry. Bathroom."
Before he could respond, the Prince simply started to walk off down the west hall, towards the bathrooms.
Well, he supposed, that would make this an interesting shift. Fifteen minutes later, when his replacement came along, the Prince was still not back. However, it was no longer his problem, so he left for the evening to go to the barracks and rest. What could have happened, anyways?
Needless to say, he would shortly thereafter be fired and nearly killed by a very pissed off (and terrifying) mother.
Yeah… that could happen.
He made it.
To be honest, he was terrified that it would fail, that his acting wouldn't be good enough. But, it was, so he continued on.
After slowly shambling down to the end of the highly decorated hall (really, what hall needed so many portraits of landscapes and fancy rugs?), he quickened his pace once the guard was out of sight. Then, quiet as he could (and thankful for the lack of security cameras this deep in the mansion), he found his way to one of the libraries.
This one was the historical archives area of the building, he remembered. Structured as a library, with shelves upon shelves of books and a few couches littering the floor, it contained a wealth of knowledge on the political, economic, social, and cultural history of the world, but focused on Britannia.
And, as it just so happened, this was the location of the escape passage.
Thankfully, as a noble, all the information about the escape passages was open to him. In fact, it was a requirement to know wherever they went.
Struggling through the room in the darkness, with only moonlight from the grand windows to guide him, he stumbled. Hitting the floor, he quickly ignored the pain to look around, scanning the surroundings. Thankfully, nobody heard.
Picking himself back up, he eventually found his way to the center of the left wall. A grand bookcase awaited him. Multitudes of leather-covered books on each beautifully crafted wooden shelf, it was a thing of beauty.
But he didn't care about that for the moment.
He got to looking. While it was indeed a dimly lit night, he was still able to read the titles, albeit after a moment. And, after a few minutes, he finally found his target.
The Ascent of Britannian Shipbuilding in the 19th Century, by Phillip Newman.
Thinking back on it, he chuckled. Not one person would ever care about ships, especially not so long ago, when it consisted of nailing some wood together and putting some guns and men on the result. That was the trick to the thing. Make it boring, and nobody will notice. Clever.
Taking hold of the soft leather spine, he slowly and carefully pulled the book back. While the top began to move outwards, the bottom remained fixed, as if it were super-glued to the hardwood below.
And then, after a point, a soft click was heard. Success!
Slowly placing the book back to its rightful position, he grabbed the edge of the bookcase and, with a moderate amount of force, pulled it open.
The result? A staircase emerged, bright and steep, that traveled into the well-lit corridor below. Elegant carvings made their way down the sides of the stairs and continued to infinity, with a nice blue carpet cushioning the floor. Even in emergencies, the nobles just had to be fancy, didn't they? Taking one last, brief look behind him, he journeyed forwards.
Unaware of the pair of eyes watching him from the other side of the room.
So late. But the excitement from earlier was too much to allow for much sleep! Even if the tiredness was extreme, they would brave through it!
The beach was amazing! The sand, the games, the dolphins… even though they weren't able to pet one.
Yeah… that was sad. But the other stuff was fun! Maybe they would get to do it again tomorrow!
They watched the T.V. until late into the night, determined to stay awake. And… like any child trying to do such a thing, they collapsed onto the bed within the hour.
Until… they woke up. At 2:40. In discomfort and pressure. Yeah… maybe they shouldn't have tried to drink so much chocolate milk. But Alfie started it!
Getting up (after sadly realizing their failure to stay awake), they quickly rushed out and, with only a quick word to the guard, standing vigil as usual, they rushed to the bathrooms located just down the hall.
They were finished. Now they could return to bed. They had to wake up early in the morning, it was parasailing day with the others!
Quickly exiting the bathroom, they started to make their way back to their room. They were quite sleepy, however, and made slow progress of it. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foo-
Bang!
Whut?
Their sleepy mind, while dulled, still heard the rather loud crashing noise. It came from the left corridor, didn't it?
Now more awake (but still shambling a little), they walked down the hall, peering into the opened rooms of the central dining room, secondary welcoming room, and a library. Wait, there! Motion!
Light!
Slowly walking into the library, she saw a figure going through… a hall? In the wall? What was that…
Wait, Alfie!
The light had suddenly illuminated him, so they could see his face, even from this grand distance.
What was he doing? Was he going on an adventure. They wanted to go, too! And they could also sneak up on him for what he did earlier on the beach, if they timed it right!
And so, Prince Alfonso gained a partner in his quest (even if he remained unaware of said fact).
Although… maybe they shouldn't have ignored the camera placed above the entrance way while leaving. Great job, guys.
"My Lord, urgent information from Sector L-2!"
This room in particular was out of place in a mansion of such grandeur as the Georges Estate. Instead of velvet or wooden floors, it boasted one of solid steel and concrete, which also made up the walls. No paintings were present, instead substituted by the multitudes of television screens scattered around the room, each group of which having a second-rate member of the Second Guard Division keeping vigil over the goings on of the mansion.
At the head of the room, Colonel Aaron Rathers was rather pissed off.
Normally, he could sleep in at this time, pushing his duties off to the Lieutenant for the night. Tonight, however, he now had other plans. Being woken up by an urgent presence alarm in his room would do that.
Teeth bared, he went for the aggressive approach, if for nothing else than to vent off some steam. Speaking to the figure behind him, he growled out: "What, Private, is so goddamn important as to not wait a few hours!"
The private, while terrified and shrinking back, still had to deliver the news.
"M-my Lord! Security footage in corridor E-4 has picked up movement from multiple figures!"
E-4?
His face softened slightly from its anger. That was serious.
E-4 was one of the escape tunnels, which are only to be used in emergencies. Unguarded, as to ensure its secrecy, it should never be used unless as a last-ditch escape from a threat. And all the royals were accounted for. So that left outside penetration.
His mind raced. Could it be assassins? Heaven knew there were too many of those, noble or foreign. Terrorists? Foreign or domestic? Either way, his mission couldn't be put in jeopardy so soon. He needed his nobility tickets alive.
After a moment of thought, he spoke quickly and forcefully.
"Give me all relevant information. How many figures? Profiles? Weaponry and location?"
Nervous and slightly shaking from his superiors anger and the suddenness of the situation, the other man quickly tried to supply answers.
"There w-were two figures seen, M-my Lord. Seen exiting Sector L-2 at a 2-minute interval. They appear to be Ardent and Optim, based off of their figures in the lighting."
"Ah, I see…"
His worries died out in his chest, replaced with urgent plans, but also anger. So it wasn't an attack, but some sort of escape? This… would complicate matters, but it was recoverable. But the question was why. Both why they did it and why it happened at all.
"Goddamnit, how did they get out Private! Full status report, right now!" He sounded livid.
"It is u-unknown at this time how either got out, My Lord, but both had-were, in the bathrooms. Their movements afterwards were-are, unknown."
Well, that was unfortunate. He turned to the nearest monitor, one of the few permanently stationed at the manor and not part of his group. "You there, where in the hell were the guards at the tunnel!?"
The woman, after taking off her headphones, simply looked to him, unperturbed by his shouting. "No guards are stationed there, My Lord, as it would be useless to have them there in the instance of an attack, would it not?"
"Well, they were clearly needed today!"
She still was calm. Probably due to her position. He couldn't touch her. Not in his purview. "Well, the incompetence of the guards in charge of guests had not been needed to be taken into account. At least, until today, My Lord.
He had enough. "Get back to your station, Sergeant."
"Yes, My Lord."
After a moment, he calmed. Punishment could be handed out later. Turning back to the private, who to this point looked like he wanted to leave, he stated, "You may return to duty Private, I shall handle it from here".
The private, wanting to leave, decided to overcome his fear to sate his own curiosity.
"But, My Lord, what about the plan? Only Ardent was supposed to be targeted."
"Yes, yes, I know the plan, I damn well created it!"
Not expecting the sudden viciousness, the private shriveled back, but the Colonel wasn't quite finished. Adopting a more pacified and inquisitive look rather than the murderous one he held a second ago, he contemplated.
"However… you do raise a valid point. The plan shall be adjusted."
He smiled. It's not like he cared for the brats or anything. Pawns in a larger, more personal game.
"They won't get far. No matter how far the pesky little ants may run, the boot will come down eventually. It's just a matter of time."
"Yes, my lord!"
Feeling better now, the private proceeded to return to his station.
And the Colonel began to make his plan.
He made it. Again.
It seemed like hours. The maze of tunnels, all draped with the same red carpets and velvet couches and nice lights and small tables and-
Well, you get the point. Although, it didn't surprise him the least bit that even the escape tunnels would be so lavish. Nobody took attack's serious nowadays, so their looks outweighed their usefulness.
At least they still were useful.
Opening the last wooden door with a creeek, he stumbled out into the world.
The trees were dense in this part of the forest. It didn't serve any actual purpose, but the woods near the estate were simply kept for aesthetics and hunting. That explained the running deer.
It was nice to be back out amongst nature again. It had been years. He was never allowed to go out in his time at the palace, so being amongst the true world again just felt… natural.
Stumbling his way towards the nearby creek, he decided it was time for a rest. His mind might be old, but the body was young. Too young. Couldn't be counted on to last this long.
"I'll… just rest a moment," he said to himself, for assurance more than anything.
He laid down. "Yes...rest….."
He was asleep within the minute.
Tingling.
Discomfort.
Shuffling.
Pressure.
He was up in an instant, forcing his body awake. Where was he? Who was that blur?
He had no idea where he was. And that was a bad thing.
He darted for a weapon of some sorts. Something, anything, that could help him. Save him. His right hand closed around a small tree branch next to the creek shore. It would have to do.
He got up quickly, trying to find the figure again. His eyes, by this time, had recovered. But he saw nothing.
Crunch!
There!
It was behind him. He started his swing. He wouldn't go down without a fight. He was prepared to do what he could.
Looking back on it, he would have to say it was the pink that stopped him. What type of enemy would wear it? Too late to stop the swing, he repositioned it towards the feet, instead of the chest. It was good that he did.
Impact.
"OW!"
That voice… but she couldn't be here!
He looked. It was indeed her. She was on the ground, holding her foot covered in nothing but a slipper. Her bright-pink nightgown was… unsuited for the conditions, to say the least. Tears were spilling from her eyes. She was crying.
"Alfie...why...Brother," she got out in between sobs.
He ran over to her, trying to put pressure on her foot and help her.
"Nunnally, what are you doing out here!?"
Hello all! Offtimeotaku here again.
Sorry if the upload is a little later than expected, but it will be like that from now on due to… life events. Mostly classes. Ugh. But, that's life.
Anyways, reviews!
JustAShadow4: Why, thank you. I will try my hardest to not end this story abruptly. I will see it out to the end!
Amir-015: Certainly a possibility, but I have not written romance before, so it might not be up to par in this story. I will try, however, and that pairing is one of about three I am thinking about so it's a solid maybe.
Next time, we will see what happens when two unescorted children begin to wander the streets of town, and what plans are being put into motion. Just what is special about Alfonso? We shall soon see.
While your here, go ahead and write a review! I like to read them, and as long as they aren't vague and malicious criticism or blatant advertisement, they are welcome!
That's all from me for today. I own nothing of Code Geass and the only aspects which are mine are the OC's used in this story.
Have a nice day!