A Dying Geass, A Dying Wish
Chap. 2
Summary: Before Charles di Britannia disappeared from existence, he left a parting "gift" to Lelouch, one that will change the course of history.
Warning: The characters might be a little OOC-ish. This is Yaoi, as well.
IMPORTANT! REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!
I really, really do must state the importance of this… The whole thing is about realization of faults, of true feelings, of the importance of another no matter what that person's done. The realization of that and that one is only human and can only do so much, that a person can only bear so much before they break. The realization that everyone is only human and the people around them must realize that no matter how much they convince themselves that they're different, they're still the same.
Important: Also the "countries" that were former areas only had their "Number" names revoked and given back their identity as their own Nation. They are still part of Britannia.
Dedication:
This chapter is a tribute to a great woman that had just passed away. Her fight for freedom of a oppressed country. Madam Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, the first Woman Philippine President who led the People Power to free us from the tyranny of Ferdinand Marcos' 20 year regime. Madam Cory we will miss you. And we love you so much...
This was supposed to be a one-shot. But I guess a two shot looked better, since it added the suspense.
The travel to Pendragon City took a few hours for the Avalon with the Ikaruga and the Damocles tailing a great distance away since the Avalon was stationed on the high seas just outside Japan. Damocles, launching from Cambodia had joined the Ikaruga, traveling to Pendragon side by side. The giant fortress surprised the Black Knights, making them wonder what it was for. Toudou took the Zangetsu, his Knightmare frame along a transport ship that held Ohgi, Viletta, Kaguya, Kallen, Chiba, Xingke and Empress Jiang.
Landing into the Damocles they were amazed by the sheer immensity of the whole thing. Emperor Charles' Knights of Rounds greeted them and lead them to the top garden where the Royal Siblings, Kanon Maldini and Diethard Reid awaited their arrival.
"Tell us Prince Schneizel, what is the purpose of this fortress?" Toudou asked.
"Truthfully, this is a component for a system we had planned to implement if ever Lelouch showed his, as we dubbed it, 'demonic' side." Schneizel answered.
"What sort of system?" Kaguya asked.
"Damocles is a system of hatred and fear, one that would eventually force people to want peace and will be forced to listen if they don't want to be bombarded with a certain bomb." Nunnally answered, up until then no one had noticed her presence in the garden. When she spoke up this surprised them.
"Nu-Nunnally? You're alive?" Kallen asked.
"Yes, Kallen. As you can see, I'm quite alive." She answered Kallen, whom she hopes would still want to be friends.
"I just realized former Area 11 Viceroy Nunnally vi Britannia, are you from the same family line as Emperor Lelouch?" Ohgi asked.
"Yes, he's my dearest blood brother though I don't know how to approach him now." Nunnally said as she looked away from where the voices of the Black Knights were. Sadness could be detected in her voice.
"Princess Nunnally, if I may be so bold… to speak about your brother…" Viletta said in a voice that seemed to test waters.
"Yes, you may… Umm…?"
"Viletta Nu, your highness. Former Baroness Viletta Nu." At knowing her name, Nunnally just nodded signaling her to continue.
"Princess, firstly you have to understand that during the months that you had stayed in Pendragon, those times before you had become the Viceroy of Japan… Your brother was taken into our… care…" at this Viletta just seemed to lose confidence. The expectant faces of the Royal Siblings and their retainers, the Black Knights and the Knights of Rounds were unexpected. True, she never did tell Ohgi the whole truth about her position in observing Lelouch.
"After ah… Lord Kururugi uhm… sold… your… uhm… brother to the… Emperor…" Viletta was very concerned and nervous indeed. The faces of the present people were of surprise.
"You mean to say that Suzaku, mine and Nii-sama's closest and probably most trusted friend, had actually sold my brother… my Nii-sama to our father? Whatever for?" Nunnally said with anger and sadness present in her voice.
"Yes, he had. He had done so to get the position of Knight of Seven." This time it was Gino that had answered. That little tidbit of information was spread throughout their ranks as the Knights of Rounds.
"How… How could he… Nii-sama LOVED him… and… and… I just KNOW Suzaku had loved him as well." Nunnally's voice wavered as tears ran down her eyes.
"Yes, but sister dearest. Lelouch had just ordered Euphemia to kill all those Japanese and killed HER as well. Suzaku might've not been in the clearest mindset." Schneizel said to Nunnally kneeling down to her side comforting her.
"A-about that… when… umm… Lelouch was under our care we were given a briefing of sorts of what had truly happened that day…" Viletta was about to continue but suddenly a video screen appeared in the garden.
"Prince Schneizel, a message was just sent from the Avalon. We're putting it on screen." A soldier said when his face disappeared and there a message was written.
To those who reads this… This is Lelouch vi Britannia. I KNOW that the Black Knights are aboard your Damocles right now. And quite possibly that Ms. Viletta is there as well as she had been the head of the OSI planted at Ashford to keep an eye on me. I strongly suggest that you save it for now Ms. Viletta; I would like to explain specially anything about the Geass Cult or Euphie. And no, I do not have a bug there so don't try and find anything. I only just calculated the happenings. I will await your arrival in Pendragon.
"And sir a second message came after the last one was sent shall I?" the same soldier came back on screen. Schneizel just nodded. The soldier's face just disappeared and the 2nd message popped up.
Prince Schneizel, though the first message has been sent to you, it was not freshly made, I'm afraid. It was a timed message to be sent as soon as the 2nd hour mark passed by the time that the Emperor's invitation was sent. I'm afraid as his unofficial doctor that his Majesty wouldn't be able to greet you as soon as you arrive at Pendragon City. His Lordship Kururugi Suzaku will go through hell and back to make sure that his Majesty rests before he meets up with any guests. We will of course comply with any demand you make to earn your trust, as long as it doesn't harm his Majesty or his Lordship. Have a nice day then!
From,
Count Lloyd Asplund.
At this they stood stunned at both messages.
"Truly, he is my brother." Schneizel just chuckled and shook his head.
"Count Asplund never changes, does he your Highness?" Kanon asks the Prince.
"Indeed." Schneizel just shook his head again.
"It seems that our conversations have been cut off by my brother. Shall we continue our talks when we arrive in Pendragon City then?" The prince requested from his guests.
"Ah… yes, later then…" The Black Knights just left the gardens in a slight daze. Truly Lelouch was brilliant. As much as satisfied they were when they threw away Lelouch when they found about Geass but they couldn't but feel remorseful and feeling regret as things could've been much more simpler if they hadn't betrayed him.
As they returned to the Ikaruga aboard the transporter ship they used earlier on was then they realized what Nunnally had said about the Damocles.
"The Damocles… They were planning to subdue all the nations…" Kallen said in almost a whisper.
"But maybe it may have been for the best." For once Empress Jiang spoke up. Everyone turned their attention to her as well as Toudou who was in Zangetsu.
"Why is that my Empress?" Xingke asked.
"Sometimes people need to be lead with an iron fist if ever they want peace to prevail. Like parents, I suppose. Parents need to use an iron fist in teaching their children or they'll never learn." She said.
"Quite right Jiang-chan but if you tighten their leashes too much even a loyal dog would rebel." Kaguya asked.
"Yes but that's why parents make space for their children as well. To learn to make their own decisions and to decide for themselves what's right or wrong. Damocles would've ensured that. It would make them learn but when I think about it, what they're doing might be wrong as well." She said.
"Of course it's wrong. It's no better than the treatment Britannia did but with Damocles their aim is peace not conquering." Chiba answered.
"Yes quite. I think we all need rest for now though. Tomorrow's been hectic." Ohgi told them. This made them look at him like he was some kind of lunatic.
"Hey don't look at me like that. We just passed the International Date Line." He said raising his hands in an "I give up" gesture while shrugging.
"Oh." They chorused with Kallen's eyes cross eyed her nose had a pinched look.
Viletta just shook her head. 'I can't believe that I actually fell in love with him… Oh well, I guess even after all imperfections I still love him anyways.' She thought with a small smile, gently holding her still flat-soon-to-be-bulging stomach.
The transporter ship landed inside the Ikaruga and all of them dispersed into their own rooms. Kallen though walked along the corridors absentmindedly thinking of the happenings that had happened for the last few hours when she found herself in front of the door that was once was Zero's, no Lelouch's, quarters in the Ikaruga. She entered and looked around. The room itself didn't change much just a thin layer of dust occupying most of the room. Kallen then proceeded to sit down on the couch. And thought about the man that held her heart, the man she loved.
'Why? Why would he say such things? He lied; he's always been a liar. He lied to our friends in the student council; he lied to me, to Nunnally, to Suzaku, to everyone. Who are you, Lelouch? Are you truly Zero, the man of miracles, the one that lead us to the freedom of Japan or are you just the outcast Britannian Prince that used us as a way to get the throne? Why did you tell me to "Live on, Kallen."? Back in the time the Black Knights turned their backs against you? Why did you say such things like that to us, the Black Knights, that you've only ever used us? Did you lie? Why do I feel like you lied? Who are you, Lelouch? You're covered in so many lies; I just don't know you anymore. No, I never knew you at all.' Kallen just continued thinking like that for the rest of their trip to Pendragon, never noticing the tears that ran like a waterfall down her cheeks. Unknown to her a certain crippled and blind Princess in the Damocles were having almost the same thoughts.
Both were crying for the man they loved, the man that truly held their hearts.
For Nunnally, Lelouch was everything she had. Ever since the assassination of their mother and the subsequent events of her being blinded and crippled and that they were banished by their father. He was everything she needed, he had always been there when she needed him and she knew he sacrificed a lot of things for her. She knows that she might never know the extent that her brother gone through for her but she knew it was nothing short of hell. She knew that he WOULD go through hell and back for her. Now that she thought about it, she had done nothing good in return for him but give him a lot more grief and nothing short of betraying him. Oh how guilty she feels now that she realizes for herself that she'd done nothing but make her dearest and most loved brother suffer. She wept as she thought of how her brother must have suffered so much because of her. She felt it, knew it, that her brother was hiding more and she wanted to know, to know how much sufferings her brother gone through and find a way to comfort him, to alleviate his suffering. Nunnally just rested herself inside her quarters in the Avalon crying, weeping in the warmth of her bed, inwardly shouting to the high heavens why things happened the way they did, how so unfair it was for everybody.
To Kallen, he had been nothing short of a Symbol of Hope. Her hope had already distinguished ever since the death of her brother and her mother's suffering. He was a man willing to fight a fight truly not his own. He had created miracle after miracle, won battle after battle but in the end he was just that, a man, no a boy that suffered too much. This much she understands as she questions herself inside Lelouch's former quarters. Her love, she realized was not what she first thought. She realized her love for Lelouch was pretty much the same she had for her brother Naoto, now that she actually had the time to think about it. She blushed, thinking that she kissed him like that when he was probably Suzaku's boyfriend by then. 'I want to know more about you Lelouch, to unravel the lies that you hid behind.'
In different parts of the Damocles and the Ikaruga different people started thinking as well.
To Viletta, the boy was something of a son to her, she realized. After overlooking that the boy was Zero and the enemy of her nation, she saw a lonely boy that gave everything and received nothing. She knew that even if a part of Lelouch lied to Rolo, she could see the glint of brotherly love he had for the poor boy. Viletta understood, now that she was becoming a mother, of how Lelouch acted towards Rolo. Before he regained his memory she saw how much Lelouch doted on Rolo and even after his memories returned she saw almost nothing changed. He might've started using him but she noticed it. Just like Nunnally and Kallen, though she didn't know, she wanted to know more about the boy that she "took care of" while in Ashford.
To Cornelia, she saw the boy that was once her brother that turned into a monster, a monster that killed her most beloved sister. But when she truly thought about it, if she was in his position and Euphie was in Nunnally's, she would've probably done the same. Let it be said that even if they didn't have the same mothers she, Schneizel and Lelouch were probably of the same basic mindset, the same mentality when it comes down to it. True, her brothers were probably ten times better at her in strategy and tactics and way more smarter than her but when it boils down to it they were all the same. 'He's just a human, Cornelia, no matter how much you want to believe that he's a demon.' She thought to herself.
To Schneizel, Lelouch was if not always had been the only person that truly held his love. He remembered his own words back in the Ikaruga in his conversation with the Black Knights. 'He is the only person that I ever truly love and fear.' Hate, such a distasteful word, it was. They say that the boundary of love and hate was of a thin line, and they also say you can never love someone you can't hate as well. He remembered the day that his baby brother was banished to Japan; he hoped that he would be alright. But then his father, his uncaring, unloving, undeserving of such power of a father invaded Japan. News came to the homeland, about the death of the children of the vi Britannia line of the Royal Family. From then on, he promised, he pledged, he vowed that he shall exact retribution on their deaths. Then come years later he learns that his brother killed two of their own. Torn as he was, he pushed on with his plans. But now, now he is hesitating. There was something more than meets the eye about the events that were unfolding. He wants to see his little brother, the one that always looked up to him with twinkling eyes filled with curiosity, the one he loved the most and feared for the most, the one he would've destroyed the world for.
Back in the Avalon
Lelouch started to wake up from his fainting spell back in the Lancelot. He immediately noticed that he was somehow back in his quarters in the Avalon also feeling that he was spooned against Suzaku. Having gained enough energy to move slightly about he turned and face Suzaku, who was starting to wake up as well feeling that something was moving within his arms. Bleary eyes opened to beautiful amethyst ones, he smiled and just kissed his emperor. Lelouch himself just smiled at the small gesture.
"You're awake." Suzaku said.
"Of course I'm awake, Captain Obvious." Lelouch replied with a roll of his eyes and a small smile.
"You had me worried back there." Suzaku said to Lelouch as he caressed the side of Lelouch's face.
"Are we starting the same conversation again?" Lelouch said in an exasperated voice.
"Ah, hahaha…" Suzaku just scratched his head in sheepish manner with an equally sheepish smile.
Lelouch just rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's antics.
"Speaking about our conversation, what did you mean by not loving you like you do me?" Suzaku said with a curiosity fit for a child but the seriousness of an adult. At the question Lelouch just sat up and said. "Well would you look at that, our clothes are stained with blood; we'd better change before we get to Pendragon." And he started to get up clearly trying to avoid answering the question.
At this Suzaku grabbed Lelouch's arm stopping him from getting up from the bed.
"Lelouch, answer me please. Explain to me what you meant. You know I love you Lelouch, always and forever." Suzaku said with a loving voice.
"Then tell me do you actually think that I'm convinced that you love me enough to forget that I killed Euphie?" Lelouch said with an icy cold voice.
Suzaku sat up abruptly his face turning grim.
"No, I can never forget that you had killed her." Suzaku held Lelouch's chin and gently turned Lelouch's head to face him. Lelouch's eyes wouldn't make eye contact with the man that held HIS heart.
"But know this; from the start of when I first realized my fault against you when we were children, I knew, I knew you were the one. The one I will love until the end of time, no matter how many betrayals and hurt I had to get through to reach the finish line and be with you forever. Euphie… She… She could've made the perfect wife for me. The perfect little housewife that would forever please me but I didn't want her, I didn't deserve her. Hell, if I had kissed her I'd probably feel like I've kissed my own sister or something like that. But, I had known for a long time, Lelouch, that I'd only ever need you in my life to complete it." As Suzaku talked tears welled up at the corners of Lelouch's eyes, it cascaded down in a beautiful trail of which Suzaku just wiped away.
"I don't need someone who will love me unconditionally, someone who will do anything to make me happy, it'll just make me feel empty if the person I'd live forever with was like that. But you Lelouch, we both had loved and hated each other to its utmost extremes, we've loved each other as the boys that made promises under the stars, as teenagers that realized that they were in love and now as lovers that have been torn apart by fate again and again only to come back together each time. We had unknowingly then knowingly wanted to kill each other in the battle field, come close to killing each other one too many times and I had sold you to your monster of a father to gain power no matter how much it pained me. That is our love for each other Lelouch a perfect imperfection of chaotic balance." Suzaku said with a smile as he saw the slowly blooming smile on his loves face.
"You are the biggest idiot I've been graced hearing of. You are a total sap and most of what you've said wasn't even that romantic. And you have abused your amount of oxymorons and antitheseses." Lelouch was about to say more but Suzaku interrupted him.
"Antitheseses? Now, now, Lelouch where did you get that word from? Does it even exist?"
"It's something I had to come up with since you've used so many antitheseses. And I'm the emperor, so if I say it exists, it exists." At this they stopped all conversations. They had unwittingly gone closer and their faces inches apart with their lips almost upon each other. They kissed. A small chaste kiss that turned into butterfly kisses that got more passionate as each second passed by. Tongues battled for dominance and Suzaku pushed Lelouch down to the bed. Parting shortly for their breaths to catch up they locked lips again. Hands started roaming and moans sounded and echoed throughout the room. Outside their quarters the guards never minded the sounds made inside the room knowing that their Emperor was in good hands.
Avalon landed just 6 hours after initial departure from the pacific into Pendragon City. Lelouch was rushed back to the palace to rest. There his un-Geassed siblings stood waiting, the story already somewhat explained to them.
"Really now, Lelouch, you've given us quite the scare when you had one of your attacks in the Convention." Odysseus said after greeting his brother.
"Yeah, we were worried that Odysseus had to actually become temporary Emperor there for a second." Marcus si Britannia the 9th prince and the former 13th heir to the throne, said in a jovial tone.
"There was really supposed nothing to worry about your highness except his Majesty might've avoided the incident if he had told us that he was uncomfortable." Suzaku said to Lelouch while he carried him bridal style since only the Royal siblings and the Geassed guards were there Lelouch's pride could be sacrificed.
"Get him to bed Lord Kururugi, he looks quite tired still after your long journey." Princess Guinevere, the 2nd Princess of the Empire, said in a tone that those that knew her before would say that it wasn't her.
"Yes, your highness." Suzaku bowed slightly still holding Lelouch, who was starting to fall asleep. Suzaku went to up the stairs of the Aries Villa, the chosen home of Lelouch, and headed towards the bedroom.
"Has he come home already?" asked Carline, the 4th Princess asked her siblings entering the Villa just missing Suzaku who had disappeared after going up the flight of stairs in the hallway.
"Yes, he seemed quite tuckered out as well." Marcus replied.
"He's always tired nowadays… He just had another attack, how did he look?" Carline asked.
"He looked worse than the last few ones. His health is declining faster than our doctors and scientists can find a cure for it." Odysseus said, sighing. The atmosphere around them was a depressed one. Ever since Lelouch freed them of his Geass and told them the story of what was happening they started to understand as well. It was like their minds cleared of a block which they remembered was once again a Geass that was probably placed on them by their own father, the former Emperor.
"Schneizel and the Black Knights should be arriving soon. I should probably greet them as I'm still the 1st Prince." Odysseus said in a manner that wasn't quite like him when he was still under the Geass put on him.
"We'll come with you brother. We'll all probably be more trusted if we show that we aren't under Lelouch's control." Guinevere said to her older brother.
"Fine, round up the others. We'll welcome our guests into the palace."
As the Damocles sent the transport ships to land and the Ikaruga to set down on land a welcome was met with them. There all lined up where the Princes and Princess of the Empire, the siblings of Schneizel, Cornelia and Nunnally.
"Brothers, Sisters, it is wonderful to see you. Did Lelouch command all of you to greet us?" Cornelia asked with as much contempt and trepidation mixed in her tone.
"No Sister Cornelia. We are all here out of free will. If you'll inspect none of us have red rings in our eyes indicating that we are not being controlled by Geass. Former Baroness Viletta Nu and you can attest to that since you've both seen the true power of Geass while working and or being held captive by the Geass Directorate." Guinevere answered her younger half-sister.
"It is true you're Highness. None of them are under the power of the Geass though the guards here are." Viletta said to the 3 Royal siblings with them.
"I see then, all of you truly do support Lelouch?" Schneizel asked.
"Yes, dear brother. He has quite the story to tell though he didn't tell us everything; he's willing to go under truth serums and lie detectors when he tells us the whole story." Odysseus answered.
"I see. Shall we all proceed to the palace then? I'm guessing Lelouch is resting." Schneizel said.
"Yes, he's quite tired and is probably sleeping in his chambers. Nunnally, do you want to go with me and see him?" Carline asked her little sister.
"Sister Carline? O-of course… If you don't mind, that is." Nunnally asked with trepidation. Carline was never THIS kind before.
"Sure, come here a carriage is waiting for us." Carline then grabbed the wheelchair and wheeled her little sister to the awaiting carriage.
"That is NOT Carline." Cornelia commented.
"Ah, you've noticed then." Maria si Britannia, 3rd Princess of Britannia, smiled at her siblings.
"It's all thanks to Lelouch, I guess." Guinevere had a gentle look on her face.
"It's not that were Geassed by him to be like this but it's our freedom FROM Geass. One that we know our father had cast on us." Odysseus said in a tone that didn't sound like him.
"We would need to have Sir Gottwald un-Geass both of you as well or else who knows what would happen." Marcus said in a jovial tone.
"Us? Under Geass? But you've said it yourselves. The physical sign that one is under Geass is the red rim on the eyes." At this Schneizel was surprised. What they were saying was opposite of what was being said.
"Long term or permanent ones don't have physical signs. Like memory wipes or memory control. Our father's Geass was that, there's no evidence of the short that he Geassed any of us. Yet once Sir Gottwald activated the anti-Geass of his, memories rushed through our heads. Concrete proof of being under Geass influence. Then we asked Lelouch to use Geass on each of us one by one so no accidents occur. We recorded each time." At this Odysseus stopped talking and had a blush on his face.
At this the princes and princesses started laughing, some were giggling, some were chuckling and some were holding in their mirth. Schneizel and Cornelia raised an eyebrow at this. Diethard Reid, ever the reporter listened carefully whilst the Black Knights and the Knights of Rounds of the Former Emperor looked on with curiosity and anticipation.
"Oh dear, poor you Odysseus." Guinevere managed to say, as she was one of who was holding in their mirth, and she then proceeded to laugh out loud.
The guests were perplexed. The Britannian Royal family, as they portrayed themselves was never like… this. Has Lelouch really achieved a miracle once more?
"What is it they find so funny, brother?" Schneizel asked with a small smile, that actually looked genuine and actual mirth was dancing in his eyes.
"Ah yes, you of all people know of the ahh… scandals I've been involved in." at this Odysseus' blush grew, red as a tomato he is. At this point, many of the guests' mouths were twitching. Of course, who hadn't heard of the scandals of the 1st Prince, he was as bad as his father in the matter of women.
"Ah, I understand. And what would Lelouch have commanded that would cause such entertainment and possible blackmail material?" At this question from Schneizel, Cornelia then laughed a rather rambunctious, unladylike laughter whilst clutching her stomach.
"H-he commanded br-brother t-to… hahaha… Uh… give- hahaha… a detailed…hehehe… description of the best of his… 'Exploits'…." Marcus answered his brother at best he can while still laughing. At this most if not all of the guests were sent into fits of laughter, obnoxious laughter that is.
"Oh land, please open up and swallow me whole, for I cannot take the embarrassment I have been subjected to." Odysseus said looking up the sky begging for mercy.
"Alright, alright. Settle down people. Our guests needs time to adjust to new surroundings and find them suitable rooms in one of the Villas. All of the present Black Knights, the originals so I've heard, are welcomed into the Palace City to stay there." Guinevere said sobering up from her laughing fit at the expense of her brother.
"Yes, shall we sister? I would like my old room if possible." Schneizel said.
"Of course. I expect the same could be said of you as well Cornelia?" Odysseus asked his younger sister.
"Yes."
"Then I hope the Black Knights wouldn't mind using most of the rooms in two of the Villas then. They can decide on whether they want to bunk in with others. Knights of Rounds, I must ask that you stay in the Villas as well. It would be easier for everyone." Marcus said, announcing it for everyone to hear.
"We would love to." Nnonette Eanneagram answered for her colleagues.
"Though we understand that Lord Waldstein has a room in the Palace already. So we'll just lead all of you to your rooms then." They all left for the Palace City of Pendragon.
They had pointed the Black Knights to stay at the Imperial Scorpio Villa, where the si Britannia line lived. "Some of you are staying here check it out and decide if the rooms are enough for all of you, though this is quite far from the Aries Villa, where Lelouch is staying." Marcus announced but suddenly winced when he was elbowed by his sister Maria. "Your forgetting something brother dear." Maria said tersely.
"Oh, oops. Ahahaha… Commanding officers of the Black Knights: Kaname Ohgi with partner Viletta Nu (Ohgi had blushed at this.), General Toudou and Holy Swords: Nagisa Chiba and Shogo Asahina, Shinichiro Tamaki, Yoshitaka Minami, Kento Sugiyama, Rakshata Chawla and Former Black Knight member Diethard Reid. By order of his Majesty, the Emperor, you are all to be staying at the newly built palace villa the Imperial Ophiuchus Villa. He said that he would explain why when he tells the whole story." Marcuse said in an almost sheepish tone.
"Also, we would like for Empress Jiang Tianzi and Lord Xingke as well as Milly Ashford and Rivalz Cardemonde to stay as guests in the Aries Villa wherein only our brother, the Emperor, his Knight of Zero, Suzaku, possibly our little sister, Princess Nunnally and a few servants stay." Maria extended the given invitation from Lelouch to them.
"We accept." Empress Jiang answered before Xingke can give their reply.
"We would be honored if the Emperor wishes us to stay under the same roof in such a show of trust on both sides." Empress Jiang continued with a smile on her face.
"Ah, I truly do regret missing the chance to marry such a quick witted wife." Odysseus said with a chuckle.
"Ah, but true love conquers all as they say." The young Empress said with a mischievous smile tugging Xingke's robes. At this a laugh escaped Odysseus. "A pleasant change has occurred on you, your Majesty Empress. Perhaps time and experience outside the walls of the Vermillion Palace has been good on you." Odysseus said with a smile.
"Yes, it has. War changes everyone, willingly or not." Jiang said with a sad smile. Kaguya just looked on and realized how different she was when the first time she stepped out of the Vermillion Palace. Kaguya couldn't help but smile at the young Empress' progress.
"Very well then, shall we all leave for the other Villas if this one is not enough? It's quite out of the way so Knights of Rounds if you would all please show yourselves to the Aquarius Villa?" Guinevere asked the Knights of Rounds.
"It's alright your Highness. We shall head on there right now if you'll excuse us." Nnonette answered. They then used the carriage they used to get to the Palace City.
"Shall we get a move on then? Seems like almost all of them decided to stay. All of the rooms have been made into suites accommodating 6 to 8 people after all. Though I miss my old room, our new one is much more homely." Marcus said with a bright smile.
They all had entered their carriages once more and started to move forward to the direction of the Ophiuchus Villa and subsequently the Aries Villa. After showing them their rooms in the Ophiuchus Villa the Royal Siblings, not including Cornelia or Schneizel both of which had already headed towards their own Villas where their lines have always stayed, along with the young Empress, Xingke, Milly and Rivalz headed to the Aries Villa. The Aries Villa, unlike the other Villas that while beautiful had a cold atmosphere; it wasn't a physical coldness, a cold that runs through one's veins like a bucket of ice. The Aries Villa was an epitome of beauty, though much simpler in design and extravagance compared to the others, it held a warm feeling, like a mother's gentle hug in a stormy night. Empress Jiang had a happy smile on her face. Ever since she was young, she had been nothing but a puppet; even her mother was never there, for she had been ripped away from her to be used like she was then. This place, the feeling was unfamiliar yet so amazingly familiar as well. They all had proceeded into the sitting room of which some maids had given them some tea, scones and biscuits. For the guests though they prepared a special tea, Oolong. A type of tea revered in Asia. They then started casual talks as to lessen any tension if there were any at all.
"This place is amazing!" Xingke exclaimed, amazed at the sheer beauty and overflowing warmth of the Villa.
"Isn't it? Tell me Milly Ashford, I know that you've been here in the Palace City and stayed here in this Villa before. Is it that different from then and now?" Maria asked.
Rivalz peered at Milly who he noticed was tearing up.
"It's so much more different than before." Milly said in simple awe. "10 years ago this place still had coldness seeping out in the backgrounds but was drowned out by the warmth of her Highness, Empress Marianne and her children and their half siblings. But now it's, dare I say it, much more beautiful even if it has never changed." Milly had brought her hands to her heart as if in reverence and had wiped stray tears that fell from her eyes.
"Yes and this is all thanks to Lelouch as well. This Villa though had always attracted us whilst in our younger years more than 10 years ago, now this is the center of all emotions here in Pendragon City. Truthfully though, we had lied about whose staying here." Odysseus said smiling to the guests. They immediately tensed.
"Oh don't be so tensed. We didn't exactly lie, just cut off a few of the names of people staying here." Marcus said in his almost ever present jovial tone. "It's just that all of us siblings not counting Schneizel, Cornelia and some of the younger ones are staying here as well." Maria continued for her brother.
"Ever since Lelouch came back and subsequently removed the Geass on us, he had instructed us to stay in this Villa and abandon our other Villas. Our mothers had all moved into the Imperial Virgo Villa. They're quite comfy there, actually. The atmosphere there though is a little giddier than here so to say. The youngest of our siblings are staying there, a haven of sorts for mothers and children alike." Odysseus said chuckling.
"Why?" Kaguya asked
"With father gone, everyone's all a little more like normal but bigger than normal family. Well, as much as we could be since the Geass was lifted on us older children and his wives and almost none of the children had yet been put under Geass." Maria said with a smile her cup of tea held up in front of her mouth ready to be drunk which she did.
"I've been happier now more than my whole life." Said a voice that came from the double doors leading to the hallway, as it was Carline was standing there with a huge smile.
"I completely agree Carline. So where's Nunnally?" Maria asked.
"She's up in her bedroom already. Lelouch was sleeping so we didn't disturb him. Though she and Suzaku talked a bit but then she asked me to take her to her old room. Quite surprised she was when we talked, seems like we'll get along quite fine from now on." Carline said with a bright smile.
"About Lelouch…" Milly started, unsure of what to say.
"We, as in the Black Knights, would like to know of his condition." Kaguya said.
The atmosphere and temperature inside the sitting room suddenly dropped and became depressing.
"All will be explained once he tells his story." Odysseus said standing up.
"Even we aren't clear on the whole of it but we can assure all of you that it isn't pleasant." Marcus' tone of voice was of a serious one, a rare thing.
"Please drop the subject at least until Lelouch tells everyone at the same time." Guinevere followed her eldest brother's actions and stood up heading for the door to leave.
"The servants will lead you to your rooms, Good day." Maria said in a tone of finality and promptly closed the door of the sitting room which she and her siblings had already left.
The night had passed without incidence, though thoughts were rushing through the heads of the guests. They were quite dumbfounded of what they've seen so far inside the Palace City of Pendragon. Cornelia and Schneizel were baffled of the strange behaviors of their siblings and rightfully so. The whole Britannian Royal Family wasn't all that really. All they've ever cared about was who would take the throne. The whole family was made up of cold people though there had been the exceptions. Euphemia, Nunnally, Clovis and the younger ones were different but were still the same. Politics was a dirty game to play and the whole family is masters of it. It might've looked like that Euphie was just a kind soul that was exceptional from the Britannia bloodlines but she was basically the same as all of them. Each and every one of them was ruthless to a point and manipulative of their human resources.
But if what their siblings had told them was true, their whole lives were lies created by the greed and ambition of their father. No one could deny that Charles di Britannia was a great man but he was a coward. He was a great big coward that hid behind men stronger than him to make him look bigger than life. All of the siblings had realized this early in life but the more that Cornelia and Schneizel think of it, they come to realize as well that they just suddenly didn't care. When they think about it, they don't understand why they hadn't stoop against their father and his wishes. Doubt played in their minds and more questions popped up. No matter how they looked at it, something was terribly wrong in their part. As if they their personalities suddenly changed and that they started hating each other as siblings even if before they weren't aiming for the throne. But as time gone on they followed him without doubt, without exception, without reason. They started to want to please the emperor with their deeds and to get the chance to inherit the throne.
When they thought about it, they ask what had happened to them. All they remembered from their childhood was the events and emotions behind it but a pivotal point presented itself to them unknowingly and they strayed into the path it presented to them. A path they had all secretly sworn to each other never to take. Could it be that their siblings told the truth? That once upon a time, in the time when their innocence of war, bloodshed and politics were to thrive that they'd been put under that damnable power called Geass?
With those thoughts they settled for the night and rested. 'The next day would probably prove itself to be the most tiring of all.' They all thought as they tucked in. Memories of good times plagued their dreams that night. For now they let their doubts to rest and wait for another day.
Inside the Labs located in Pendragon…
Scientists clambered around the labs. With them were Lloyd and Cecil. All of them were testing Refrain on blood samples from Lelouch. Lloyd cleared his voice getting the attention of his fellow scientist.
"Time is running out. This illness is getting worse by each attack. We've managed to stop all attacks for the past 2 weeks but today's attack proved almost fatal." Lloyd said.
"We've managed to deduce that this illness stems from a reaction caused by stress and high emotion in his brain, the body then starts to decompose rapidly starting from his stomach, his shoulder blades and his upper legs." Cecil continued. Lloyd nodded and continued as well. "We've also found out that the addictive drug, Refrain, could stop and reverse the reaction causing the body to revert to its normal self once more. But because we've managed to stop the attacks for the last two weeks in its earlier stages, we've never seen that it had progressed worse than ever. The speed of decay is getting faster and because we've managed to stop it earlier we never saw the progress of it. The isolation of the chemical in Refrain that we need for a permanent solution is at arms reach."
"We understand more than anyone Count Lloyd, Lady Cecil, the importance of the continued survival of the Emperor without this disease." One of the scientists spoke up.
"We 'ave fo' seen ourselves ze improvement of soziety, economy and morale zat ze emperor 'ad managed tu boost even a'ter such short time." A woman scientist with a French accent said.
"His Highness is a child smiled upon by the Gods as much as our own emperors in our motherland. There is no doubt that his highness shall bring forth a golden age." A man of distinct Asian descent said with a heavy accent.
"We are close to finding the cure, people. We're going to burn the midnight oil tonight." And with that Lloyd looked away and started on his own blood sample and Refrain.
Hours pass by until the first rays of the sun finally hit the windows on the side of the Labs. Most of the scientists had heavy eye bags and mugs of coffee lay about. They continued to work unnoticed by the outside world as they tried to save a man who can give the world the salvation they needed.
"You'll get well your Majesty; just hang on a little longer." Cecil muttered, knowing that at anytime of the day the Emperor could have an attack once his talks with the guests start.
As the guests woke up the higher ranking officers of the Black Knights and the Knights of Rounds were requested to convene in the Aries Villa for breakfast. When they got there the Royal Siblings and the ones that stayed in the Aries Villa were all already bustling about chatting to each other. After a hefty amount of "Good Morning"-s they've settled down to their tables. The seat at the head of the table and the seat on its right were still empty while Nunnally sat on the left. The Royal Siblings sat near the head and were still chatting, topics of which were unimportant.
Milly, Nina and Rivalz were all talking lively as they talked, pushing away uncomfortable subjects for a later time. They called Kallen over to sit with them as they reminisced the past, their innocent fun in Ashford Academy.
The doors suddenly opened and in came Lelouch… with a pushcart (?) of food.
"Matte, Lelouch. You didn't have to bring the food here. We could've asked the maids." Suzaku said. It was the first time any of them seen the two after the events of the day before. Lelouch looked much better and Suzaku wore an exasperated smile.
"Oh? Who cooked this morning's breakfast, Suzaku?" Odysseus asked.
"Did you cook again Lelouch? Ooh… I'm so exited… What did you make this time?" Marcus asked with an excited air about him.
"Ooh, Lelouch. We've quite missed your cooking." Milly said with a bright smile with sad eyes. She truly had missed her dear friends. Rivalz and Nina's faces showed the same sad smiles as they thought of the times before everything gone downhill. Kallen's face remained stony but with a gentler tone to it.
"Hai, hai. Wait a moment will you? Everyone's going to get their breakfasts." Lelouch said as he straightened his apron with closed eyes. He the opened them, happiness was evident in his eyes though wariness lurked behind it. One by one he lifted the food trays and set them in front of each guest while he instructed Suzaku with the other trays. In front of the Siblings, Knights of Rounds and the Ashford crew was Full Monty breakfasts that looked absolutely delicious while their guests had surprisingly an Asian style breakfast, though it was more of a Japanese style. Some were fried tonkatsu (pork) or grilled fish with a side of miso soup and rice. Lelouch then headed to the head of the table and set down a different type of breakfast in front of Nunnally and himself while Suzaku carried his own tray of the same type. Theirs looked like a combination of Western style food with its Asian versions used for ingredients.
"I hope that my skills in the kitchens haven't rusted that much and that my style of Japanese cooking won't be unpleasant." He said with a smile. "Nunnally, I made some of your favorites this morning. I hope you like them. Sayoko is still quite injured but she's going to be just fine. I hope you still like your nii-san's cooking and that you haven't thrown away all your love for me once you had found out my secret identity as Zero and me becoming the Emperor of Atrocities." He said to his little sister with tenderness in his eyes as he brushed away stray locks of hair on Nunnally's head. Nunnally was biting her lip and clutching the fabric of her dress.
"Come on let's eat up everyone. I've got a lot of things to do and a lot of things to tell all of you today." Lelouch said with a flourish as he started to eat. All of them soon followed. Cornelia though hadn't started yet. When she looked at Lelouch that morning, it looked and felt familiar. He looked like her. She felt herself in Lelouch whenever Euphy was like the state Nunnally was in. The parallels of Euphy and Nunnally were astounding and as hers and Lelouch when it came to their respective sisters. As she took her first bite, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. The food was just divine! She then noticed how most of the people on the table ate with gusto.
Then a sob sounded through the noise and chatter. They all looked up the table to see Nunnally crying. Lelouch and Suzaku stood up and knelt down by her sides.
"Why are you crying Nunnally? Does the food taste that bad? Maybe I should have had let the servants cook." Lelouch said wiping away her tears. His own starting to fall as well. She then threw herself to Lelouch wrapping her arms around his neck clinging unto him tightly and finally cried out loud. "Nii-sama!"
Lelouch just cradled her like he always had patting her head and nuzzling his face on her soft hair.
"No need to cry Nunnally. I'm sorry for everything, I really am. I'm the worst brother there is and no one is lower than the scum I am. But no matter how much you hate me Nunnally, I love you like the angel you have always been." Lelouch said, his voice cracking up from unshed tears and the grief that accumulated inside him. Nunnally just cried louder and held him tighter. "Now, now Nunnally, haven't I taught you that you shouldn't waste food? Remember the times before Milly's family found us that we had skip meals to get through the day? So let's get you back on your chair and eat up ok?" Lelouch's voice was thick and heavy from tears that stored up. Nunnally just nodded and Lelouch set her back into her chair but never left her side. Suzaku returned to his seat. Lelouch stayed on Nunnally's side kneeling, picking up a fork and lifted some of the food to her mouth he fed her. She ate what was offered to her and Lelouch continued feeding her like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Shock was written on the faces of most of the guest but the Royal Siblings excluding Schneizel and Cornelia had small smiles on their face. They knew that their brother was not the monster everyone portrays him nowadays. He was caring and loving if not a little crazy but who isn't in their family. Nunnally finally stopped Lelouch from feeding her. "Nii-sama, you should eat as well. You've always been scrawny and if a little bit weak. Eat up. You've said it yourself haven't you? You've got a lot of explaining to THEM. Right now, I know and understand the whole story." She said, capturing the attention of everyone in the table.
"Somehow I think I don't want to know how you know." Lelouch said with a small smile. C.C. had already warned him that Nunnally might be in possession of a Geass power but wasn't sure herself after all she wasn't the contractor. "Powers beyond human comprehension is all there is to it. Beyond our comprehension, we shouldn't try to understand it or even attempt to." Lelouch then sat down on his chair and started eating, not meeting the eyes of anyone in the room.
They all realized that he wasn't going to answer their questions any time soon they started on their delicious breakfast once more and were chatting as well. Lelouch, Nunnally and Suzaku had a private conversation unheard by the guests since the Royal Sibling separated the three from their hearing range. Every once in a while Lelouch turned his attention to Nunnally who accidentally dropped or spilled something which he quickly brushes off or wipes her mouth. As they all finished their breakfasts Lelouch was the first to stand up and took Nunnally with him to the doors leading to outside the Dining Hall. The door opened to be Jeremiah Gottwald. Lelouch stopped before he left the room and faced his guests.
"Jeremiah, as many of you know has had a Geass Canceller installed into him. He will activate it right now. Brothers, Sisters if you don't want to relive those nice moments while I reused the Geass on you please proceed to my private Study Room, you too Suzaku. Once he has cancelled any Geass on you please follow me to my study room as well." Lelouch said to them. Suzaku was looking at something on his wrists and then stood up to leave.
The Royal Siblings quickly left the Dining Hall followed by Suzaku who stopped and whispered into Lelouch's ear. "Everything's going to go just fine. Lloyd and Cecil just sent me a message, the antidote for you is nearly completed and perfected. Today's going to be just fine."
"I hope so, Suzaku. I really do." Lelouch whispered back. As Suzaku's silhouette disappeared into the hallway he nodded to Jeremiah to activate the Geass Canceller. Immediately, a blue field sprang out and those who had been under Geass stiffened and their eye's rimmed blue, those who were never under any Geass in the first place looked at those who stiffened, wary of what was happening. They were shocked though that Lelouch had also stiffened and his eyes glowed blue as well. Then slowly those who had stiffened namely: Schneizel, Cornelia, Kallen and Cornelia relaxed.
"I see. You weren't lying then." Schneizel said with slight contempt in his voice.
"What kind of a father was he? Did he truly not love us? We are his children he was supposed to see us as his most precious treasures." Cornelia said with open anger.
"Lelouch, you really didn't force me or any of us to serve under you did you?" Kallen asked with teary eyes.
The only answer they got though was silence. Lelouch was considerably much tenser than moments ago. His eyes widened like he was seeing something incredibly unbelievable, his hands clenching and unclenching.
"He's a despicable, horrid and disgusting of a father. If I had actually remembered all this, I would have made you suffer more than what I've done to you back then. I can't believe that I've been sired by such a monster." Lelouch's eyes cleared up, rage building in his eyes. He looked at Bismark Waldstein as if he were the most despicable being on earth. Lelouch then took out his gun and pointed it to Bismark.
"Jeremiah, be at stand by with the Geass Canceller, he has a Geass." At this many of the guests moved away as fast as they can from Bismark's area. Lelouch removed his contacts and used his Geass on him.
"Bismark Waldstein, I would only ask you this. Do YOU think you deserve to live after all the things you've done?" Lelouch asked as Bismark's eyes become red rimmed. The guests all saw this and even though Lelouch's Geass was activated, they knew they weren't affected, since they didn't have a memory black out.
"No." As Bismark answered Lelouch's question the Geass on him died and Jeremiah activated the Geass Canceller knowing his cue. Memories rushed back to Bismark as he realized what he had said. Jeremiah then deactivated it once more.
"You've answered it for yourself Lord Waldstein, now once more." Lelouch then used his Geass on him again. "Bismark Waldstein, I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you to willingly surrender yourself to your fellow Knights of Rounds, confess to them of the atrocities you and my father had committed and not fight back."
Bismark then proceed to go to the nearest Knight of Rounds, which was Gino and told him. "I, Bismark Waldstein, have committed inhumane acts upon Lelouch vi Britannia and several others whilst under the service of his Majesty, Charles di Britannia." Bismark then held up his hands in a universal sign of "I Give Up." Gino then took his hand and with cufflinks that they always carry around as Knights he cuffed him.
He then handed him off to the guards standing outside the Dining Hall. The Black Knights wore guilty faces, one that spoke of asking forgiveness.
"Lelouch, we're so sor…" Ohgi started but was interrupted by Lelouch's hand that had signaled him to stop.
"There's nothing to forgive, Ohgi," He said turning his sister and him around about to step out of the Dining Hall.
"for there's nothing to apologize for. For all the lies that I've hid under I don't doubt that even after everything is over, none of you will ever trust me." Lelouch said finishing what he was saying and walked away heading up to his private study for the talks he promised. They had all followed after him after that, silence reigned as they trekked the seemingly long passage to his private study.
As they entered the room, the ones that had gone first had settled themselves in sitting mostly on the floor near the fireplace or leaning back to one of the bookcases in the room. A normal relaxed family setting, of which its members are chatting and/or laughing about. The ones in the room all quieted down as the others entered. "Make yourselves at home. We'll just have to wait of the rest of my audience to come up here." The Black Knights, Schneizel's group, the Ashford Crew and the Knights of Rounds made themselves comfortable in the room. Lelouch pushed Nunnally until her wheelchair was on Carline's side and the last of the listeners came in. Jeremiah Gottwald had accompanied Shinozaki Sayoko, Lelouch and Nunnally's former maid and body guard, as well as a set of two tired scientists namely Lloyd Asplund and Cecil Croomey.
"As promised I will tell the whole story of what has been happening behind the scenes of the past few events that had occurred. The Witch, C.C. though will not be joining us, as aside from Suzaku, me and Nunnally, as the Witch knows the whole story as well, though on Nunnally's part, you'll have to ask her yourselves. And also as promised, I am willing to be put under any truth serums and lie detectors that you want and that if you also do want to, use anti-Geass protection, namely visors or sunglasses." Lelouch said.
"I think I can speak on behalf of everyone here." Kaguya spoke up.
"There is no need of any of the proposed precautions previously set by both parties. You've shown us that we can partially trust you but not fully, just yet Lelouch." She continued.
"Understood, Lady Sumeragi." Lelouch said.
"No need to be so formal, Lelouch. After all even if you had hidden under constant lies, you had been Zero, our, Black Knight's Leader." Kaguya countered his formality.
"I see, so then I won't use 'Keigo' then with any of you." He asked.
"It's perfectly fine by us." Toudou answered.
"I shall start then. I will not sugar coat things as it will probably make things worse. Please do not interrupt me at any time until I am done for I will not stop until I deem it that it is done. I will try to elaborate everything as much as I can." Lelouch then started his tale.
"What are you going to do now, Lelouch?" C.C. asked her accomplice.
"Yes, what indeed." Suzaku said unsheathing his sword and pointed it to Lelouch's neck ready to strike and kill.
"I on the other hand know what I'll do. You've been nothing but a cruel heartless bastard, Lelouch. You are inhumane and you don't deserve to live. Heck, you killed 3 of your own family; you're nothing but a monster, a lia-…" Suzaku's monologue was stopped by Lelouch's slap to his face.
"Don't you dare call me a monster for killing my own family, you damn hypocrite!" Lelouch almost shouted as started to feel the beginning vestiges of a pain that he didn't quite understand. Suzaku then adopted a horrified face.
"What you've done was no better than what I've done. You've killed as much as me. You've stained your hands of the blood of others, and someone that shares your blood as well, just like me. We've fought for an ideal brand of justice but our means had separated us. If you had taken my hand back when I had saved you from your trial, the outcome could've been so very different." Lelouch said with restrained anger and sadness in his voice.
"Ha! Of course it would be different. Euphie could have lived!" Suzaku shouted, slightly crazed.
"Is this all about her?!" Lelouch said with boiling anger.
"GIVE. IT. UP! You think that you're the only one devastated by her death?! DID YOU ACTAULLY THINK THAT I WANTED TO KILL HER?! I LOVED her, Suzaku. She was MY first love! Aside from Nunnally, I treasured her most out of all our siblings. You may have loved her, but your love can never compare mine to hers! I broke my own heart that day when I forced myself to pull that trigger on her." Lelouch practically shouted with tears streaming from his eyes.
"THEN WHY DID YOU USE GEASS ON HER?! She was an innocent, Lelouch. All she wanted was peace." Suzaku said in almost a whisper and by then he had lowered his sword.
"I didn't do it on purpose, Suzaku. Someone pushed me to do it, someone with another Geass." This caught the attention of Suzaku.
"I've only come to recently learn of it, as my mind wandered here in the World of C, while I talked with my father. People in possession of Codes and Geass are set apart from the Collective Consciousness of the World of C. My mind browsed the eternal library of human memories and found what I needed. Vincent di Britannia, my father's elder brother ordered his Geass Directorate to force evolve my Geass in Permanence." Lelouch spoke as he looked out into the distance inside the World of C.
"I hadn't realized it at that time. I was talking to her when my Geass flared and as I remember you, yourself saw the time of it happening except you saw C.C. going down in pain as same as me back then. We had talked and came to an understanding that we could work together for a better future. Then I had joked to her while facing away that I could have commandeered her to kill me even against her own will. She digressed but then I looked at her unknowing on my part back then that my Geass had become permanent and I had joked to her that I could "Command you to kill all Japanese." As it was, it had been a stupid move on my part but it was done. She tried to fight the order but succumbed to it like many others. I tried to retract the order but it was an exercise of futility. Once I give out my order, it can't be retracted. She left and committed the act that branded her as the Murder Princess." Lelouch finished.
"You're Lying." Suzaku said his voice telling them that he didn't believe it.
"Then, if what he had said is true then I'll show you." C.C. then activated the World of C and the memory plays right before their eyes.
"This world is a world without lies. Archived by the dead for they are what composes this world. Everything you see here is real." C.C. said.
Suzaku dropped to his knees like a broken man and sobbed.
C.C. somehow knowing something was to happen left, gone to the side to think a bit. After all she spent more than half a century planning her eventual death at the notion that her Code was to be taken by Charles or Marianne.
Lelouch just nodded to C.C. in thanks and then started forward to the sobbing man. He knelt in front of Suzaku unlike how he had a few days ago. Tentatively, Lelouch reached out his hand to cup Suzaku's face but stopped inches from it cautious if the younger boy would allow him. Suzaku took initiative and just laid his cheek on Lelouch's hands like a puppy would its master. Lelouch went closer and took Suzaku's head and put the boy in an awkward cradle. Lelouch laid the others boy's head on shoulder and he wrapped his arm around Suzaku.
"It's going to be alright, Suzaku. We'll achieve her dream world. We're…" Then a flash of pain went through Lelouch. He cried out in pain and let go of Suzaku, who quickly supported himself, and clutched his body.
The pain was so unbearable that Lelouch just curled up on the floor wailing loudly. C.C. came up quickly and tried to assess what was happening.
"Lelouch, calm down and tell us where it is hurting?" C.C. asked as calmly as she can.
"I-inside. I fe-feel like I'm melting." Lelouch said as blood slightly seeped out of his mouth. Suzaku and C.C. looked at each other and nodded both of them then proceeded to open up his clothes to look at any physical sign of internal damage. They saw his stomach started to have a blackish-greenish-purplish tint that looked to be spreading at a slow rate. C.C. gasped remembering a similar circumstance that had happened a few centuries earlier. Quickly she activated the World of C to find a possible cure, it's been hundreds of years but surely someone would have found a way even by a small chance.
"Suzaku, his body's deteriorating, no, decaying. We need to get him…" Then C.C.'s eyes grew wide. It seemed that a group of scientists found the reason why the reaction occurs. "We need Refrain…" C.C. barely whispered shocked at what was the only possible cure for Lelouch.
"W-what? Refrain destroys, C.C. It doesn't heal or cure anything." Suzaku looked at C.C. with upmost contempt.
"No, you don't understand. If used in a right amount his body will return to its former state. The reaction is caused by the brain. Something happens in his head of his and the reaction occurs almost instantaneously. Look I have proof." C.C. said as she pointed ahead where images of Scientists used a primitive form of said drug on the patient. The patient's body returns to normal. But since the form of the drug was a sort of prototype the patient succumbed into the effects and became a vegetable after a few weeks of the treatment. No other patient was presented to them and the project was shut down.
It seemed that all of the patients were somehow connected to the Code or Geass or more importantly, have ventured into the World of C.
"Alright then, but we have to find a better way than this." Suzaku said pulling out something from one of his hidden pockets. An injection gun loaded with Refrain.
"Why do you carry that around?" asked C.C.
"I was going to use it on Kallen when we still had her and I keep it on me if I ever need it to interrogate stubborn prisoners." He answered.
"How much of it do you think we need? Surely a full dose is too much." Suzaku said clutching Lelouch's pain filled body nearer to him.
"Just 1/5 of it. But inject it directly to the brain. I feel that if we do that, the dosages don't need to be so potent." C.C. said.
Suzaku's eyes widened, he understood her logic but her measures were a bit too much.
"I know what your thinking boya. But we don't have much of a choice do we?" C.C. asked Suzaku, her determination set in her voice.
"Alright." Suzaku finally relented and shot 1/5 of the Refrain straight into Lelouch's brain via the back of his head near the base his spine.
"Within 2 months we were able to infiltrate enough into the ranks of Britannia's militia using my Geass. But my disease got worse and worse. The amount of Refrain we used each time got higher and higher and soon became more potent. By the time I got into the palace and announced my succession to the throne, I had asked Suzaku to warn Lloyd and Cecil to wear anti Geass equipment when my announcement comes."
Lloyd and Cecil followed Lelouch into the Aries Villa where he told them of his condition. Unexpectedly, he had an attack. Lloyd and Cecil were at the right time and the right place to see the first of many of the attacks they'll stop and/or prevent. Suzaku was watching in the background while the three had their talks and soon rushed over to help Lelouch as he collapsed on the floor. He opened up Lelouch's uniform to assess the damage. After properly calculating the amount needed in his mind he injected the Refrain.
Cecil and Lloyd sat stunned at what had happened more importantly what they used for a cure.
"Refrain? Even by our standards as War Scientists, this is a dangerous gamble, Suzaku." Cecil said. Lloyd was just silent his eyes shadowed by his bangs.
"We know… That's why I need your help." Lelouch said recovering from his attack. He was used to it by then. Two months of attacks made him slightly immune to its pains.
"I've seen how Refrain affects people. Even my cold, uncaring heart cannot withstand the inhumanity of the drug." Lloyd barely whispered.
"You would have to let us examine you, Emperor. If you've been taking that drug for two months, SOMETHING must be wrong with you other than that illness of yours." He said with a surprisingly sane voice that he wasn't known for.
"Do as you please. I'll give you your freedom in deciding if you want to help me. I rather true loyal people under me rather than ones that I have Geassed." Lelouch said standing up and sitting down on a chair. The two scientists took that as their cue as Suzaku presented them empty injection guns soon filled with samples of Lelouch's blood.
The next few weeks were painful for everyone as they found out the effects that the unneeded other chemicals of Refrain done to Lelouch's body. His White Cell count was an all time low, he could not be bothered by any other illness or else he could die. They also found traces of poisoning in him. The unneeded chemicals in the Refrain were going to kill him if the disease wouldn't get him first.
Lloyd and Cecil used their names and spread around that they needed help via underground. Scientists popped up all over the globe wanting to help the young emperor.
Day by day, week by agonizing week the scientists made progress. Lelouch's siblings watched as each time Lelouch came out of another attack weaker and weaker. Odysseus finally forcing Lelouch to act upon the last of the plans that he had kept secret from them.
"And thus, here we are. I am now going to reveal the whole of my plan." Lelouch said as he stopped pacing sitting down on his chair on his study table of which he drank from a cup of tea of. "In my point of view peace is nonexistent." Lelouch said shocking everyone. "Peace is what people make it to be because they're free. The 'Peace' everyone seeks is freedom. Freedom from the imposed Social Darwinism by the old Britannia, freedom to build their own government from the scrap pieces left behind by colonizers, and finally freedom to do what they think is right by the masses. Peace is what they want things to be and the only thing that can get them what they want is freedom." Lelouch said as his eyes darkened of memories long past.
"So far, what we've all done is spoon-feed the people of this world the peace they want. And because of this none of our plans will work." Lelouch said to them looking each of the in the eye. They were shocked but saw the truth in his words.
"For them to achieve peace they have to work for it. I've ended tyranny on my part and started to give them their own freedom on their part. To let them start making their own decisions. Peace is not something so naïve as that it can be given just like that." Lelouch said snapping his fingers.
"Peace is like a brand new toy that you give to a child. You expect the child to treasure it, to love it, to take care of it and the child does. But after a while takes it for granted and throws it aside but when the child wants it back it's not so easy anymore. Peace is something so easily lost and so hard to take back. But when you let a child earn a something they learn to truly treasure it than what was just given to them. People have to learn and earn to achieve peace, not just spoon-feed them everything. Eventually things collapse because they take it all for granted." Lelouch told them in a way that they fully understood. Unknown to most of the listeners, starting pains, signs of an incoming attack started within Lelouch. He couldn't stop; he had to finish what he started so he endured it.
"To let them acclimate to be on their own once freed from the ruling hands of what Nation their under. If we can manage to convince the Euro Universe to go with the same plan as ours with the guidance of the UFN then we will have separate nations and states to their satisfaction. This will satisfy them for a while but it will not last." Lelouch looked straight at Kaguya startling her from her seat.
"This is where the UFN, if my plan proceeds as expected, comes in. Interference is their job. But they must let the countries do their own work and not rely on an international body. The UFN will still have control but only on international affairs. This will satisfy most of them but will take some time for those who doesn't understand why other nations don't help. With threat of looming war with weapons like F.L.E.I.J.A. they will have to somehow to learn to cooperate. Unlike the plans that Brother Schneizel has, I do not want to make the world bow down on their knees forcing them into peace. My plan is presenting them all with the option of using F.L.E.I.J.A. but hat if they use it they must expect no help outside their own alliances and those allies will lose support as well from international communities." Lelouch said as his voice started wavering slightly but gone unnoticed caused by emotions included in the unveiling of his grand plan.
"I had also considered Britannia's own freedom. As that I'm going to free all former areas, I still have a large amount of population left, namely all of Northern and Southern America as it always had been Britannian lands. I had gathered enough willing and loyal people that have political practice among the Nobles that they can form a parliament government of sorts. An upper house and lower house, a Court of Lords and a Court of Commons. The Court of Lords' positions are titles that are inherited, giving some of the Nobles, that I've gathered, powers back. The Court of Commons is where the Prime Minister will be chosen from, composing of a Majority and a Minority. These people are chosen by district by the Britannians. Forming two parties among themselves, then letting the People choose which party they want to be. Each Prime Minister lasts up until 3 years from which a new election co-…" Lelouch finally succumbed to the pain that plagued him for the past hour. Blood dribbled down from the corners of his mouth and he cringed as he held himself as the decay started once more. Eyes widened as they saw another of his attacks once more. Suzaku ran up next to him and opened his robes just like every time his attacks happen. This time though was the worst of all. His whole chest had already deteriorated. Lloyd and Cecil shot up their seats and took up two vials that they carried with them. One had white water like substance and the other red as blood. Taking out an injection gun and loaded up a shot with both liquids that turned into a nice milky pink shade unlike the bright pink of Refrain.
"This is it, Suzaku. This is the isolated chemical in Refrain that turns his body back. We added his blood to it for it seems that it was safer if done so." Lloyd said handing the injection gun to Suzaku.
Suzaku took it and without any hesitation shot it straight to Lelouch's brain. Lelouch stilled, his breath calming but not opening his eyes. Lelouch's body then went limp. Eyes widened at the thought that the young Emperor was dead.
"W-what's happening? Big Brother?" Nunnally asked unsure as she couldn't see.
"No, no, no, no. NO!" Suzaku said as he tightened his hold on Lelouch.
"Come on Lu, wake up. I told you not to scare me like this anymore. Damn it, wake up!" Suzaku said as he checked for his pulse and his breath. He had a stable pulse and was breathing. The deterioration was gone but Lelouch was still limp in his seat. Lloyd, Cecil and Rakshata came up and started to check vital signs. He was fine but just won't wake up.
"He's in a coma." Cecil pronounced their diagnosis.
Suzaku with tears in his eyes picked up Lelouch's body and headed out of the room. Nunnally hearing that her brother was in a coma became so surprised that she opened her eyes. She saw what she remembered looked like her brother being carried away by a brown haired boy the same age as she guessed her brother was. Tears sprung up in her eyes as she realized she could see again. She pushed her wheelchair forward to Suzaku but couldn't catch up as the two disappeared into the hallway. "Nii-sama!" she shouted. The whole room looked at her surprised at her opened eyes but they looked towards the empty doorway at which she was looking at.
"I'd rather had been blind forever than to have seen this…" Nunnally cried as Carline just half hugged her in her wheelchair.
Done and Done. This is the end people. Don't expect another chappie cause in my head it stops here. There MIGHT be a sequel but I doubt it. Plz R&R. If I get enough reviews for a sequel I'll do it probably a oneshot or a two shot depending...