Chapter three - The right choice
"Lelouch Vi Britannia, at your service." The dark prince smiled; a genuine smile, "It's good to see you again, big brother."
Even though Clovis acted snobbish towards anyone outside of the royal family, he was still a good person. A man who loved his brothers and sisters dearly; Lelouch and Nunnally even more so. The dark prince had enjoyed the many games of chess they had played as children, or the games of hide-and-seek in the beautiful gardens of the Aries villa with Euphy and Nunnally.
Clovis couldn't believe his eyes. He had thought that Lelouch had died; killed by the Japanese. That was the main reason he had come to Area Eleven and acted so harshly and discriminatingly towards the Japanese; he thought they had taken his dear brother and sister. Yet here said person was, leisurely walking towards the set of chess in the corner of the room, not one care in world, as it seemed.
"L-Lelouch?" He gasped.
Lelouch was already setting up the chess board on the table that served as a map for the command center. "Are you coming?" He asked in a tone that was more befitting of a casual conversation about the weather. Clovis nodded dumbly and made his way to his supposedly dead half-brother.
Said half-brother had just finished setting up the pieces as he leaned back into his chair, a smirk playing across his lips, "So, big brother, have you gotten any better since the last time we played?"
Clovis, having recovered from the fact that his half-brother wasn't dead, answered with a similar smirk, "I like to believe that I have, though I'm probably still no match for you, Lelouch."
"Yeah, I suppose that's true."
Clovis smiled as fond memories flooded his mind, "The only one that was ever able to beat you was brother Schneizel, and even he had a hard time at that." He moved his pawn forward two paces and sighed, "I...I thought you were-"
"Dead?" Lelouch interrupted him, "You were right, I was dead, but let's talk about that later." The dark prince advanced with his knight, smirking at how true his previous statement was. Clovis nodded, and a thought came to his mind, "Lelouch, if you're alive does that mean-" Lelouch interrupted him again, "Yeah, Nunnally's doing just fine; we've been living with the Ashford family for the past few years," he smiled. The current viceroy of Area Eleven sighed in relief, a smile appearing on his face, "That's great; we should depart for the homeland as soon as possible."
"I'm afraid I'll have to decline." Lelouch replied off-handedly as he took one of his opponents pawns. His half-brother stared at him blankly, "W-Why not?" Lelouch sighed, "Clovis, do you know why Nunnally and I have been hiding here for the past seven years?"
Clovis shook his head, as expected. "Those bastards that we used to call parents had abandoned us here, using us as political bargaining chips." Lelouch moved his king forward.
"But, Marianne-" Lelouch clenched his fist, "Marianne deserved to die; the world is a better place without her." That confused Clovis; the two people Lelouch loved most were his mother, Marianne, and his sister, Nunnally. So why was he glad that the former was dead?
"Clovis, I'll tell you this much," the dark prince stared off into nothing, "Our father doesn't care about either of us, or any of his children. He's focused on pursuing that foolish goal of his; he wants to live in a world without a future." It sounded very cryptical, if Clovis' look was anything to go by.
"Let us complete our game, I'll explain everything to you afterwards." Clovis nodded, his brow furrowed in thought as he planned his next move.
The game ended just as expected, with Lelouch as the victor. The dark prince had to admit though that his half-brother had improved quite a lot since their last game. Clovis sighed fondly as he reminisced about their childhood. He was shaken out of his thoughts by Lelouch's voice, "So, Clovis, do you really wish to know the truth about our father, and the death of my mother? I will only warn you once, what I'll show you will change everything."
Clovis gulped, but nodded. "Good, then, let me show you the lie you have been living up until now." The demon emperor held his hand out to his brother, his Geass activated and glowing omniously.
With Kallen
"Hey, Kallen," Ohgi whispered to her as they were escorted out of the battlefield that was the Shinjuku ghetto, by none other than the Britannian troops they had fought against not ten minutes ago.
"What's up?" She whispered back.
"Do you think it was that guy on the radio that made Clovis order a cease-fire?" Ever since that mysterious voice had contacted them, it seemed like one miracle followed after another.
"Yeah, who else would it be?" She glanced back at the transport of the prince, just who are you?
Command center
"No..no, i-impossible," Clovis was currently kneeling on the floor, his face one of shock and disbelief. "Do you realize now? Do you realize who our father really is?" Lelouch asked from where he was sitting. Clovis just continued to stare at the floor in disbelief, barely registering the words of his half-brother. The dark prince had shown him the truth about their father, but not enough to reveal his little time-travel.
"Tell me, Clovis, why do you hate the Japanese?" Clovis' head snapped up and he stared at Lelouch with wide eyes. "Why do you encourage the fact that they are beaten up and discriminated on the streets every single day?" The prince stared at the floor as he spoke with a small voice, "I-I thought that they had...they had killed you and Nunnally..."
"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine, as is Nunnally." The viceroy of Area Eleven felt ashamed of himself. "Clovis, do you see how wrong you were?" The demon emperor stood up and moved towards his half-brother, who seemed to shrink in on himself.
"That means...up until now, everything, my whole life...was a lie?" The dark prince winced slightly at his tone; he wanted to spare Clovis from such a torture, but he had to know the truth. He deserved to. "Yes, we were both lied to and deceived, by that bastard of a father."
"But...what do I do now...?" He asked, feeling despair slowly take him, enveloping him like an inky darkness; it wasn't everyday that it was revealed to you that the life you had been living up until this moment was nothing but a lie.
"Join me." His head snapped up once again. "Atone for what you did and join me, Clovis." In that moment, as Lelouch held his hand out to him, he didn't just see his brother offering him help, he saw a chance; a chance to live a life without lies and deceit, a real life. It was a ray of light that drove away the darkness that was still further enveloping him.
The viceroy smiled weakly and grabbed his hand, letting himself be pulled into a hug by Lelouch, "It's good to have you back, big brother." He felt the darkness of despair dissipate as he was bathed in a bright light.
"Yes," he agreed, "it's good to be back."
As they let eachother go, Lelouch pulled out his cellphone and dialed a number, "Rolo, it's me," he sighed wearily, "everything's okay now, you can get the civilians to Ohgi; I'll send you his location now," he tapped on the screen of his phone a few times. "Okay, after you're done, sneak into my room in Ashford; don't let Sayoko or Nunnally see you," with that, he hung up.
"What are we going to do now?" Clovis asked his half-brother.
"Well, first off, you need to die." Clovis blinked, and blinked again, before shouting, "W-What?!" Lelouch laughed at his reaction, "Don't worry, you don't really need to die," he assured him, "we just need to fake your death."
Clovis sighed in relief, then a thought struck him, "Why do I need to die? I could help you from my position as viceroy."
"No," Lelouch replied, "we need you to abandon that position in order to get Cornelia and Euphy to Area Eleven." Clovis nodded, and Lelouch noted a slight bit of worry in his eyes. "Don't worry, we won't do anything to harm them." That had the desired effect on the prince as he relaxed visibly.
"So, how do we fake my death?" Lelouch considered a few methods, but in the end discarded most of them. "I honestly don't kn-"
"Leave that to me." The two brothers turned towards the entrance of the command center, and spotted a certain green-haired witch, who was smirking mischievously.
Clovis snapped, "Y-YOU!" Lelouch quickly grabbed his brothers shoulder, "Clovis, don't, she's with me." The viceroy stared at him incredulously, before turning back to C.C., who was calmly walking towards Lelouch.
"Thank you, darling," she cooed and kissed him lightly on the lips, much like he had before, in the Sutherland. Clovis' incredulous stare increased in intensity before he decided to turn on his heels and make his way to his throne, plopping down onto it. "Today is just too stressful," he grumbled.
You have no idea, Lelouch thought while rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I take it you have an idea of how to fake Clovis' death?"
"Of course I do," she replied smoothly and walked towards Clovis, who began to fidget under her gaze. "W-What are you doing?" The viceroy asked, a drop of cold sweat running down the side of his face. The immortal witch gently laid her hand on his shoulder, which made him flinch. A red glow began to emit from the Geass symbol on her forehead as she activated her code.
"W-WHAT?!" Clovis, and surprisingly enough, Lelouch shrieked in unison; the latter with a less high pitched tone, however. There, right next to C.C. stood a perfect replica of Clovis, though less...alive; he was swaying dangerously and his eyes were dull, devoid of any life. "Oh, right, you two didn't know about that power of mine." She still had that mischievous smirk on her face. "It's basically a copy of Clovis, his cells and all," her brow furrowed in thought, "it should be able to hold on until after the whole affair with Clovis' assassination." With that, she pulled out a gun and shot the fake Clovis without a moment's hesitation.
Lelouch sweat-dropped at the action, while Clovis fainted with a "GAH!" at seeing, well, himself getting shot rather unceremoniously. "C.C..." the dark prince paused, "...I don't even know what to say," he confessed. C.C. walked over to the unconcious Clovis and threw him over her shoulder, she then turned to Lelouch, "We had to fake his death, right?" The demon emperor sighed, "Yeah, but-"
"Then I do not see the problem, let's go." She walked past him to the exit of the transport.
Lelouch stood there for a moment and muttered, "Damn witches and their sorcery." He proceeded to follow C.C. out of the transport, leaving 'Clovis'' dead form to be discovered by his subordinates.
Outside the Ashford estate
"So, this is where you have been living all these years?" Clovis had regained conciousness a few minutes after they left his personal transport, after which he fell unconscious again; courtesy of a certain green-haired witch. As they reached the gates of the Ashford academy, he had come back to the land of the living yet again, this time deciding to stay.
"Yeah," Lelouch smiled at the sight of the Ashford academy, "I don't know where Nunnally and I would be if it weren't for the Ashfords." Clovis smiled, "I'll have to thank them, then."
C.C. interrupted them, "No, you will not, idiot." Clovis snapped, "What?!" The immortal witch regarded him with a bored look, "You're dead, remember?" The former viceroy wanted to reply, but couldn't find anything to say that wouldn't make him look like more of an idiot "Right, I forgot." You should be glad you're not actually dead, Lelouch thought, remembering the last time he had confronted his half-brother.
They reached the main doors of the Ashford estate, and Lelouch quickly let himself and his two companions in. "The Ashfords sure have a good taste in interior furnishing," Clovis commented absently as he saw the mansion-like building from inside. Before they arrived at the door which lead to the dining room, Lelouch turned to C.C., "C.C., I need you to head up to my room, I can't let Nunnally and Sayoko know of you just now." C.C. pouted cutely and asked in a mock-hurt tone, "Are you not going to introduce me to them?" Lelouch pulled her into a hug, "I will, but not yet." The dark prince smirked as he pulled out his credit card and handed it to C.C., "Knock yourself out, just be quiet about it." She smiled like a child on Christmas, grabbed his credit card and raced up to his room.
Lelouch sweatdropped before turning to his half-brother, "So, are you ready to see Nunnally?" Clovis smiled at the notion of finally seeing his half-sister again, "Yeah, let's go."
The door to the dining room opened with a hiss as the two brothers entered. They were greeted by the sight of Nunnally and Sayoko, who were drinking tea and folding Origami, a smile on both their faces as they turned to the door.
"Welcome back, mas-" Sayoko stopped mid-sentence as she spotted the person behind Lelouch. She quickly stood up and entered her battle stance, brandishing a kunai in her right hand.
Lelouch glanced at her, "Sayoko, it's alright." She seemed to have wanted to protest, but did as told and sat back down, trusting her master. "Big brother, you're back!" Nunnally exclaimed happily. "Yeah, it's good to be back," the dark prince blinked back the tears that threatened to pour out at seeing his beloved little sister again, "I've got a surprise for you, Nunnally." She held a finger to her chin, "A surprise?"
Lelouch smiled as he and Clovis walked over to Nunnally, the latter feeling the tears starting to percolate in his eyes. "Here," Lelouch gently grabbed her hand, and brought it to Clovis'. Nunnally's brow furrowed in thought as she felt the hand, and gasped as she recognized who's hand it was, "Brother Clovis!"
"Yes, Nunnally," the former viceroy felt tears roll down his face as he knelt down and embraced his sister after such a long time. Nunnally returned the hug, still slightly shocked by the fact that Lelouch had brought Clovis to their home.
"I thought that we had to keep your existence a secret to anyone in the royal family," Sayoko whispered to Lelouch as she smiled at the scene before her. Lelouch, too, was smiling as the two siblings were reunited, "Don't worry, he's no longer a threat to us." The ninja/maid nodded, trusting his judgement.
"It's been so long, Clovis," Nunnally had tears rolling down her cheeks as well as she held onto her half-brother whom she hadn't seen in more than seven years. Clovis smiled; a smile he didn't have on his face for a long time.
They let go of each other after a few moments, both of them still smiling fondly. "You've really grown, Nunnally," Clovis commented as he sat down next to Lelouch. Nunnally's smile widened even more, "Thank you, but, why are you here, Clovis? Aren't you the viceroy?" She, too, wondered why Lelouch had brought their half-brother here when he had told her that no-one in the royal family could know of their existence. "Not anymore," Clovis answered, "Lelouch convinced me that I was better off with you two." He gave Lelouch a smirk, which the demon emperor returned. Suddenly, his eyes widened a fraction, "Oh, right, don't worry if the news reports me dead tomorrow; we faked my death." Nunnally tilted her head to the side, "Why did you do that?" Lelouch was the one to answer, "Nunnally, all that matters right now is that we have our brother back, but be sure not to let this get out," he glanced at Sayoko, who nodded. Nunnally pouted, an incredibly cute action, but agreed, "Okay, I trust you two." Lelouch and Clovis sighed; their sister was much smarter, and in some instances much more devious than they gave her credit for.
Lelouch glanced at the clock, which read half past ten, "How about we continue this reunion tomorrow? It's getting quite late," he yawned. "Should I prepare a room for our guest, master?" Sayoko asked in her usual polite tone. "Yes, I'd appreciate that, thank you, Sayoko," the dark prince replied with a smile.
...
Lelouch glared at Clovis and elbowed his side, "T-Thank you, miss." Sayoko's smile widened as she nodded. "I'll bring Nunnally to bed, then," the demon emperor stood up and stretched, moving behind Nunnally's wheelchair. "Goodnight, Sayoko, Clovis," she smiled as Clovis once again kneeled down to hug her, "Goodnight, Nunnally." With that, the two siblings left the dining room.
"Lelouch?" The dark prince was laying Nunnally into her bed, "Yes, Nunnally?" His sister smiled, "I don't know how or why you did it, but I'm glad that Clovis is back." Lelouch pulled the covers over his sister and smiled, "Yeah, me too." He bent over and kissed her forehead, "Goodnight, Nunnally, I love you." Nunnally gripped his hand and replied "I love you too, big brother." Lelouch smiled as a tear rolled down his cheek. Exiting her room, he quickly wiped the tear away and headed to his own room.
As he was approaching the door to his room, a familiar smell assaulted his nose; one that he had smelled the majority of the entire last year. Pizza. Well, I did tell her to knock herself out, he thought. Oh well, probably isnt that much anyway.
His assumption was proven incorrect as soon as he open the door to his room, and found himself in a veritable maze consisting of high stacked pizza cartons. What the hell was I expecting? He thought with a sigh as he made his way through the maze to where he thought his bed was located. As he found his bed, he saw C.C. and Rolo sitting on it, a carton of pizza between them as they both chewed on a mouthful of pepperoni pizza. "Oh, hey, big brother," Rolo greeted his brother after he swallowed his bite of pizza. C.C. just looked up at him with a blank face, "Lelouch, when are you going gambling again?" The demon emperors eye twitched, "Why do you ask?" The immortal beauty took another bite of pizza before replying flatly, "Your account is empty."
Lelouch felt his eye twitch again, albeit much more violently, before exploding, "C.C.!"
Ashford dorm
"Hey, did you hear that?" A student asked her friend as they were all violently woken up by a furious roar.
"Yeah, what do you think it was?" Just as she finished, another student burst into their room, "Did you guys hear that?!"
"You heard that, too?!" She replied.
"Sure did, the whole school is awake," as he said that, more students were heard from the corridor, wondering about what the hell it was that woke up the whole dorm in the middle of the night.
AN:
There you go, another chapter, as per the overwhelmingly positive reviews. I have to admit, even though this chapter was a pain to write, I had a lot of fun writing it. I also had a difficult time figuring out what to do with Clovis, but I think I made the right choice.
Yes, reviews are still very much appreciated.
Until the next chapter of Code Geass - Take Two!