Vengeance
The sun was sinking behind the tall mountains afar, and the sky composed of violet bands. Lelouch reached into his vest pocket for his timepiece and checked the time. I was nine o'clock. When he turned around a wall to the front door, he noticed the door was left open. "Cecilia," he shouted, "Are you home?" There was no answer. He tried again, "Cecilia, are you in the house;" still no answer. He stepped into house and it was pitch black. "Cecilia, I hope you aren't teasing me again," he hollered in the dark. Lelouch found a note stuck to the door with duct tape. "What the hell," he said as he ripped the note off. He reached his hands for the light switch and flicked it on. To his shock, he discovered a pool of blood on the floor before reading the note. "No," he yelled in dismay, "No! Who could have done this?" He read the note immediately:
By the time you've picked up this note, your mistress C.C. would have been kidnapped. If you want her back, decipher this code (this one should be a cinch) and it will lead you closer to her. I promise I will not do anything to her.
P.S. my henchmen were told to apprehend her in any fashion necessary.
JRWR ELJ FORFN WRZHU LQ IHQLA
Lelouch looked at the piece of paper and laughed at its mediocrity, "Do they think I am retarded? Everyone knows this is the Caesarean Cipher! All I have to do is look for the distribution and calculate my way! Judging from the number of R's in this string, R must equal E or O!" he picked up a pen from his left pocket and scratched to lines. He worked on the code for twenty minutes and deciphered the message. It read: GOTO BIG CLOCK TOWER IN FENIX.
He commented on his labour, "I take it back; they were quite clever to play with the syntax, merging go to and changing Phoenix. Then there is more reason why they must pay!" Lelouch shut the front door and tucked the note underneath. He released one of the horses and jumped onto the back of the horse from the seat of the cart. "Hyah," he yelled and rode into the night.
Lelouch arrived at the big clock tower in Phoenix at twelve o'clock sharp. The bustling city was overwhelmingly decorated with bright lights at midnight. He glared at the tower of grandiose proportions as it rang twelve times. It was a magnificent work of engineering, with the many gears moving in sync, gilded everywhere, but he was not in the mood to take a second gander. He thought to himself in deepest hatred, "Those bastards won't get away with this," and marched into the oversized grandfather clock. Lelouch entered an old elevator to the observation deck, where he expected C.C. was taken. When he arrived at the top, she was not in sight. Instead, he saw a girl in her late teens, enjoying the full moon on the observation deck. She was wearing a beret and carrying a bag around her shoulder, appearing stylish as if she was scheduled to meet her lover. "Sorry to bother you Miss," Lelouch said with respect, "I must be on the wrong floor." He turned around and stepped away.
"This night view of the city is so beautiful, too bad you aren't here to enjoy it with me," the girl said. Her voice sounded sweet like a little girl's.
"Huh," Lelouch was alarmed, "Are you talking to me."
"If C.C. is who you are after, you have guessed the right floor," the girl replied. Lelouch stopped immediately with a cold shudder, "Who are you?"
"That is none of your concern."
"Alright then, where is C.C.?"
"I'm afraid to tell you, she is not here."
Lelouch returned to the girl and she turned around as well. He never met this girl before. She had mahogany hair, red eyes and a tiny mole under her left eye.
"You're leader told me to come here after he kidnapped her and tells me she is someplace else," Lelouch asked.
"Bingo. My master wants something in exchange for C.C," the girl said.
"What is that?"
"My duty here is only to tell you what my master expects from you. After that, you can do anything to me and he wouldn't care."
"You are a dirty girl working for a sick man! Just to tell you, her life is not something that can be traded."
"Do you speak about your love for her or her immortality? My master is well aware of Geass, Code, C.C. and you, Lelouch Lamperouge!"
"Who is this all-knowing master you refer to? Why is he such a coward not to show me who he is?"
"Weren't you the same Lelouch Lamperouge? Weren't you once a masked terrorist yourself?"
"I fought for justice!"
"How do you know my master is not as well? If you want a video message, here is one."
The girl reached into her bag and pulled out a phone. She showed the video recording and Lelouch jaws dropped at the sight of it. Before the leader spoke, Lelouch immediately recognized the face.
The video played:
Greetings Lelouch Lamperouge! I am Zero! I know you are still alive and will be living for quite a long time…unless I slay you! You are a despicable demon who must be slain! I cannot allow you to live!
"Suzaku! I thought you promised me that you will live only as Zero for peace," Lelouch yelled in anger, "What have you done?"
If you think Suzaku Kururugi is behind this mask? Think again! Suzaku is right here!
In the video, Suzaku's eyes were wide open and his head was stuck on a stake. Beside the severed head was his torso and limbs locked in chains. It was a gory sight to gruesome to describe.
That's right…the lord protector has been slain as well. Soon the world will learn of this truth and all of your efforts for order will be wasted. If you were wondering how your friend was decapitated, haven't you ever heard of stun weapons, HMMM? C.C. has been a good girl for she is a very valuable asset for luring you, and maybe even Nunnally! So long sucker, taste vengeance! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
"THAT AMATEUR CREEP," Lelouch yelled in rage, "He killed Suzaku in such a horrendous way! Now he wants to interfere with the Empress! GAAAAAH! This I cannot tolerate!"
"Doesn't that remind you of anyone in particular," the girl said with a smirk, "By the way? How are you so sure my master is male?"
"Shut up you pathetic subordinate! I don't understand why a young woman like you would work for this perverted person! Give me that," Lelouch snatched the phone from her hands and bent it in two.
"Destroying my phone will not help you in any way," the girl said.
"It will prevent you from escaping me," Lelouch said, "Because I want to know what your master wants?"
The girl pulled out a pistol and points it at him. She fired a round through his chest but he didn't budge, "I have Code if you don't know. Weapons will not affect me!" Lelouch grabbed he girl's arm and tapped into her memories. She was petrified by the influx of memories, shaking in fear. Lelouch closed his eyes when the gun shook out of the girl's hand and dropped to the floor, "I see now. You were forced into this business. You were coerced by the corrupt nature of men. I see the pain, the suffering from what you had to go through…Claire."
"Stop master," the girl yelled in tears, "Please, don't go in!"
Lelouch stopped the search when he saw those painful recollections and fell short of breath. The girl, Claire shuddered in fear and collapsed. Lelouch stopped her from falling and brought her into the clock tower's interior. "Claire, you are a poor soul, I don't want you to see him again," Lelouch said as he held onto her while sitting against the wall of the clock tower. Minutes later, he fell asleep.
"Lelouch," cried a voice but he couldn't see her. It was the voice of C.C. in danger.
"C.C.," he yelled with a heavy force pressed against his chest.
"Don't leave me," C.C. voice echoed from another direction. He heard the sound of sobbing as well.
The clock struck three. Lelouch awoke from the call and the sun hasn't appeared in the sky. Claire wasn't with him when he awoke. "Huh? Where did she go," he wondered. Then he heard the sounds of a crying maiden. "Claire," he shouted. The girl looked at him in sorrow, stood up and ran for the elevator. Lelouch followed her and found her pressing on the elevator button incessantly while crying. "I am deeply sorry I hurt your feelings Claire," Lelouch began to sympathize with her; "I won't do that again."
"But you did it once and that was despicable! Those memories were private! I felt violated inside," Claire yelled.
"I am sorry," Lelouch repeated, "It is something I should have asked for permission."
Claire slapped him across his face and said, "Do you think apologies are enough?"
"No, I don't. But I wanted to know who stole C.C. from me."
"My memories are not for you to know. You peeked into my past for what you seek."
"They weren't good memories. I was crying inside."
"You wouldn't understand! You are lucky to be born a man!"
"You are wrong. A man is not born luckier than a woman! They are cruel and exploitive, corrupt in every way. I wouldn't call that luck, I call that evil."
"Then you are the same."
"I can't deny it. I can't deny my father was any better."
"Then leave me alone."
"Look, if we don't talk this out, you will always be hiding in your own shadow and produce tears of despair. What are you going to do when that despair accumulates?"
"I don't know and it is none of your business!"
"You will sink deeper into the pit of despair and that will lead to death if you do not accept how lucky you are to be alive."
"How am I lucky to be alive? It is because I am alive that I have to suffer! My family was killed by the nobility and I was forced to serve them. My life was the opposite of a blessing."
"Do you feel better being a criminal? Is it gratifying to kill others and rob them?"
"No."
"Then why do you follow them?"
"I am trapped. I can't leave I will die."
"Then do not follow them. Join me and I will protect you. I swear, I will protect you and end this dirty business of theirs."
"Can you promise that?"
"I vow as long as I live, I want to see you die with a smile."
"Alright miracle maker, you have my trust."
"Now, I want you to tell me who is in charge?"
"He is a wealthy man who wants your head."
"Where did he learn of Geass and Code?"
"He is familiar of the lore."
"What does he want from C.C.?"
"There is one thing you don't know about Code. There is another way to kill people like you."
"He also wants her dead? But he promised he will not do anything to her."
"Do you trust a man like that? He wants to exterminate your kind."
"How does he know she was with me?"
"From the young man he killed."
"That twisted man! He will pay with his life!"
"Now you know how evil he is."
"I have one more question. What is his name?"
"He goes by the name Lord Halford."
Lelouch remembered an aristocrat by the name Halford when he stripped them of their rank. A supervisor of Geass research, he was close to Emperor Charles and V.V. "So, James Halford, count of New Virginia. You've came back to plot a personal vendetta," Lelouch thought to himself.
The elevator made its way to the top from the ground floor and Lelouch escorted Claire in. "So you lost your parents to aristocrats," Lelouch asked. Claire nodded in grief and cried against his chest. Her tears mixed with his blood.
"No matter how much I think about them. They will never be with me," she sobbed.
"I hated the nobility of Britannia. That is why I became Zero. I did what I must to bring justice into light and stop the insanity those over-privileged vermin who plundered from people below them."
"What you did change everything for the future but let's face it. It cannot change the past."
"I know what you mean. My mother was assassinated, and my sister crippled. Even with all the knowledge, all the power, I could not bring what was lost back to life."
"Sadly, some aristocrats have surfaced from their demotion through wealth and are plotting vengeance against you. If you do not hurry, your sister will be in danger. They want their ranks back, knowing she would not imprison or kill them."
"We will need all the resources we can get. If I can crush a superpower, I can surely crush this insurgency."
The elevator reached the bottom floor and they stood, looking at the bustling night city. "Claire," Lelouch began, "You and I, we are very alike. But if we want to see change, we must struggle for what we want. Only through struggle can our hopes become reality. Also, we fight for the people we care about, even the ones who we won't be seeing again."