Kallen struggled again against the thumbcuffs. The teeth of the zip-tie dug into her skin once again, and she stopped. with her hands behind her back there wasn't much she could do. The rope that forced her arms to her sides kept her from looping her legs through her arms to put her hands in front of her again, and the thumbcuffs kept her from trying to undo the rope. She smirked to herself as she looked again at the ram-head wearing terrorists. They actually knew what they were doing.
She couldn't even flop backwards onto her back. An older blonde woman, obviously terrified at their current situation, touched shoulders with her. All of them were packed close together, shoulders, back, and arms touching another person.
"Wha-what's going on?" Kallen shifted her head to the woman beside her. From what she could tell from their arms touching, she was beyond scared. "A-are we going to be alright?"
Kallen gave something like a reassuring smile. If her hands were free she would have placed on on the other woman's shoulder, too bad they weren't free to do so. "We'll be fine." It seemed her calming exterior had worked, and Kallen turned her attention back to the stage, where one of the ram-heads had commandeered the mic.
"People of Britannia." He placed his hands on the podium, his voice both grave and filled with foreboding. Kallen twisted her head again and laid her eyes on a pair of terrorists holding a T.V camera. So they're using us to send a message. She thought.
"I come to you with a warning. A warning not to continue with this pretense of peace any longer. A warning to those who attempt to reach out their hands to the filth, the unclean. The Elevens have just revolted against us." He spat out the pejorative term with much disdain. "In an attempt to climb higher than the slot they were allotted. We gave them a new Japan, better than before, and yet they show no gratitude for it. We modernized almost every aspect of life here, from infrastructure, to schooling, and yet they still want more. The average living standard of an honorary Britannian is much higher than even the white-collar workers of their old government, and yet they show no appreciation to us for giving them things we never gave to other Areas."
Kallen wanted to spit at the man on the podium. You treated Japanese like dogs, forced them to the ghettos, and then killed us the moment we seemed like a problem.
"There is but one request in our hearts," He lowered his head and dripped humility from his voice. His right arm raised above him, as if preaching, his left held patriotically over his heart. "Disband the SAZ.
Kallen nearly ripped apart the rope right then and there. All her hard work, her brother's death, the death of her friends, Lelouch's rebellion. It would be for naught if the government caved into this- this monster.
"It will only be an exercise in futility. The more power the pigs get, the more they desire. And giving them something they can call a country will only lead to more unrest. There are more protesters at the border fences every day, and they will just keep growing. Of course, this won't have a time limit." He chuckled, and on cue the camera began panning the faces of the hostages, Kallen included.
"These people have made the grave crime of aiding and abetting those terrorists who plunged Tokyo into chaos just one year ago." His index finger now raised to emphasise the point. he then pointed it out towards Kallen's general direction. "Every thirty minutes starting now, We will execute one hostage until our demands are met. It is your choice. The Elevens or your own citizens. Choose wisely."
Kallen's blood froze and her heart sank to her stomach as the speech ended. There was no way that the government was going to refuse now. All her work had just gone down the drain. It would be a miracle if the Provisional Government let them die, and any attempt to save them now would end in a bloodbath. As much as she hated to depend on such a person, their lives were now in Suzaku's hands.
"Take her." She heard them quite a distance away. Her heart fell even further as she heard the screams and scuffling. They were taking Nunnally.
She stared at the tiny white doll across from her, alien in shape with its bulbous head and lack of arms or facial features. Glancing back at the chessboard she moved her knight forward two ranks. She had now guaranteed the momentum in her favor. Unless…
The doll climbed up onto the board, shuffling across pawns and rooks to reach the queen. From its sides grew a pair of arms to pick up the queen, moving it forward to threaten her recently placed knight.
She smirked. The doll, a relative newcomer to C's World, was one of the few she could have a proper chess game with. In her time as the Dimensional Supervisor few had been able to play her properly. It was a title she cared nothing for. If she could be frank, it would be analogous to putting a kindergartener in charge of a daycare. She was only the least bored, suicidal, and emotional of the Code Bearers.
"Why did you move your queen?" She asked.
If the doll could smirk, she bet it would have. "I just feel like it's time to develop my queen." And with that it left their plane in a flash of light. The Dimensional Supervisor shook her head and smiled. It was like it to act all flashy like that.
Nunnally just stared forward blankly as she was led away from the other hostages. The man wheeling her chair carried his pistol with him.
"What are you going to do with me?" She asked as they came to a stop. She tried to hide her shaking as he turned to face her.
"You should know by now, girlie. You're going to die." He taunted her and stuck his face close. She could smell his breath, laced with quite a bit of alcohol. "Although, now that I can see you…"
He grabbed her by the chin and wrenched her head around, examining her like an antique vase.
"It'd be a waste to just kill you like this." She could barely registered what before her wheelchair was turned over and she blacked out.
"Do you seek power?"
The voice was far away, as if speaking to her through some other dimension. Nunnally opened her eyes. She wasn't in the garden anymore. Everything around her was white, and there seemed to be no end to it. In front of her laid a doll. Somehow she knew it was the one talking to her.
"No. All I know about power is that it's done nothing for me."
"Then how about letting it do something for you for once?"
"What do you mean?" She stood up somehow and frowned at the doll.
"You seem to be in a tight spot at the moment. I can give you the power to get you out of this. I can also give you the power to accomplish your goals, my White Witch."
"What do you mean, goals?" Nunnally decided to ignore whatever it just called her.
"You want to see a peaceful world, don't you? Without all this fighting and war, without poverty, without hunger?"
The proposal started to intrigue Nunnally. She wanted to have a normal life again. She wanted world peace so badly. She wanted to take the situation was dire. However she still hesitated.
"Power always comes at a price. What's yours?"
"The power of the kings is a lonely one, My White Witch. From henceforth you will walk a path different from other mortals. You will exist on a different plane of time and space. You will forever be alone."
Nunnally laughed uncharacteristically. "I'm already lonely. I have no one left in the world, except for Kallen and Milly. I am prepared to take such a path, especially for a better world." She didn't know what was making her take such a leap of faith, to put her trust in this doll. But all she knew was that now she had to act. To bring about the world she now wanted, she would have to act.
And so, for the second time in her life, Nunnally opened her new eyes.
A/N: OTL I have no excuse. Really OOC, plot-driving Nunnally is OOC.
Next Chapter (Soon™): Of Kings and Queens