This is a late update, I suppose, since it's almost officially Saturday, but I've had a rough week, and I haven't had time to really write, so this was the fastest I could get it out to you guys. Please enjoy the continuation of Orange.
Chapter 3
Jeremiah pulled at the collar of his new uniform as he shifted nervously in his seat, made out of expensive Britannian leather that padded all of the seats inside of the jet black Rolls Royce Phantom they were currently riding in.
He knew the specs of the car, having inspected it many times before many a trip taken by Empress Marianne. It was outfitted with tinted and bulletproof windows, and the body was constructed was slightly better materials than average in an attempt to provide more security to any Royal Figure riding inside. In addition, the engine had been vastly overhauled to provide more horsepower, so that the car would have no problem with speed whenever it needed to get the Empress out of a dangerous situation.
Again, he fumbled with one of the buttons of his top, still feeling uncomfortable in the expensive material. It was modeled after the uniforms of the Knights of the Round, mirroring the combination of a jacket and undershirt, but with a distinct difference in that the colors were reversed, with his jacket completely black, contrasting with his crisp white undershirt. He wore white gloves underneath thin silver gauntlets and his feet were covered by a pair of silver greaves that offered more protection than the normal uniform of a Knight of Rounds.
It relieved him to have been given this new uniform, as his old one was full of nothing but painful memories, and he wanted nothing more than to seal it away in his closet and to never lay eyes upon it ever again, lest he wanted to be reminded of his failures. Besides, his new outfit offered superior protection, having been made with a prototypical Kevlar-like material that had relatively strong stopping power while remaining light, a step up from the gray uniform he had owned as a guard of the Aries Villa, which was more ceremonial than practical.
Although now, he doubted that he could really wear such a thing anymore anyways. Even if he had been able to wash off the blood, which would come off eventually, after a few cycles, there never be any way for him to find the strength to wear it again. Not when the only thing the gray material reminded him of was failure, not when there were still stains that would never really come out, no matter how hard he scrubbed. He would know where the blood was sprayed out, down to the drop.
He had seen the photo taken in the police report, and the image had been burned into his mind instantly. He had been standing alone over the body of the dead Empress, a shocked look in his eyes, red splattered out on his face and uniform, and hands twitching in a catatonic state. When he saw it once, he knew instantly that he would never be able to forget, and so far, he had been right.
At his side lay a large sword sheathed in an expensive and lavishly decorated leather sheath that depicted the crest of the lion that also adorned the Britannian flag, symbolizing the fact that the sword was the possession of a royal figure.
From what he knew, the specific blade by his side had been passed down for generations by the Royal Family, and was given to the Empress as a sort of reward for her part in the Emblem of Blood incident, in which she had installed Emperor Charles. And now, in turn, Princess Lelouch, as the one who inherited it, was gifting it to him as a reward for future services not yet rendered. He almost felt that it gave him some sort of connection to the Empress, and that, if anything, it only strengthened his resolve to follow in her footsteps.
It was clear, from the number of heirs that Emperor Charles had sired, that there was going to be bloodshed over the throne, whether it took place in covert or operations, or in all out war. And now, Lelouch was effectively conveying her plans and expectations for him with this sword. She knew all too well the history of this sword as well, so there was no coincidence that it had now come into his possession.
He nodded slightly. He would not let her down. He would do anything within his power to fight for her, and bring her the glory that she so craved. She was going to become Empress, or he would die attempting to make that dream a reality. That would be the only way that he could ever hope to atone for his mistakes and to make his mother proud.
He looked over to his left, where Lelouch was sitting, her head buried in a newspaper while across from them, Nunally was entertaining herself by flipping through a book. The interior of the car was completely still, attributed to the fact that they were driving over freshly paved roads in the middle of the Britannian Capital of Pendragon, and the only sounds punctuating the silence were the occasional scrunch of paper as one of the princesses leafed through a page.
For his part, Jeremiah remained completely silent as well, content to just stare out of the window while his thoughts swirled around in his head, now turning away from Lelouch herself, but to his family. He was scared for his mother, and his last visit had done little to alleviate his fear that his father was getting increasingly abusive.
"Jeremiah, are you ready for the ceremony?" Lelouch vocalized suddenly, snapping Jeremiah out of his thoughts. He quickly swiveled his head to face Lelouch and quickly nodded.
"Of course, Princess. I am ready to defend your life at the risk of losing mine, if necessary." Jeremiah replied with conviction, no doubt in his mind that he was following the right path. He had decided upon it in his visit to his home. He had to follow Lelouch, no matter where that path took him, if he ever wanted to save his mother. Her will was almost completely broken by now, and he was scared that she was slowly becoming more and more accepting of death as a welcome alternative to the hell that she was living through.
"Thank you for protecting my sister, Sir Gottwald." Nunally chimed in from her seat, some life returned to her voice after a period of time during which she was nothing more than a shell of her former self. Her eyes were still largely emotionless, only occasionally showing the flicker of warmth and life, much like the state of his mother's dull orange irises. She was still nowhere near the same person she was before the death of Empress Marianne, but she was making progress.
"It's my duty, Your Highness." Jeremiah replied, understanding Nunally's appreciation. She had just lost her mother, and had immediately latched onto Lelouch for support. If she had somehow lost Lelouch as well, he could only imagine what the result would be.
The rest of the trip was silent after that, with no one having any words to say, not that Jeremiah minded. With so much on his mind, he could really use the silence to think.
Jeremiah gasped as he saw the expansive set up of cameras, lighting equipment, microphones, and other filming equipment as he stepped inside the Imperial Palace, where his knighting ceremony was going to be filmed and broadcast live for the Britannian Empire. In classic fashion, the government was going to suck every bit of political benefit out of the situation.
There were at least a dozen cameras set up in various angles all over the large ballroom in which the ceremony was to take place, and at least half the room was taken up purely by the mess of wires and microphones that the filming crew had set up beforehand in preparation for the event. Said filming crew was now rushing around, checking equipment and performing test as Jeremiah looked around.
"Good to see you, Your Highness. We've prepared a dressing room for you." A woman in a business suit paired with a conservative skirt informed Lelouch as she strode inside after Jeremiah. The woman looked to be a producer of some sort, based on her appearance and the way that the crew members cleared the way for her.
"Of course." She replied, grasping Nunally's hand protectively as she did so.
"But I need to take Nunally along with me." Lelouch informed the woman, who nodded and led them away, leaving Jeremiah by himself.
He looked around, fascinated by the equipment, and absentmindedly placed a hand upon a camera, and immediately heard shouting.
"Get your hands off of that camera!" A large man with brown hair that was partly pulled back into a ponytail and partly left free as a wild fringe yelled at Jeremiah, who recoiled in surprise at the sudden outburst.
"Sorry." Jeremiah said awkwardly as the man leaned over and carefully readjusted the lens of said camera, before turning to face him, a flustered look on the man's face. However, as he looked over Jeremiah, his expression softened gradually, until the man was wearing a Cheshire smile that greatly unnerved Jeremiah with its obvious facetiousness.
"Oh, so you're Gottwald, the one being knighted, aren't you? Interesting. You look like the type to lead, not follow orders." The man remarked as he looked over Jeremiah, who thought about the man's remark for a moment, but decided against continued thought on the topic.
"That's right." Jeremiah replied, nodding.
"Diethard Ried, producer." The man introduced, extending his hand to shake, which Jeremiah gladly did.
"Jeremiah Gottwald, although you probably already knew that." He replied, to which the man nodded.
"Of course I do." He said, before a glint came over his eyes.
"Say, you wouldn't happen to have time for a private interview, would you?" He asked suddenly.
Jeremiah scratched the back of his neck, "Um…"
"We're starting in five! The Princess is ready!" A crew member yelled out.
"Darn, I guess I'll have to put it on hold. We'll meet again, I'm sure of it." Diethard stated, before he patted Jeremiah on the back.
"Now then, we have a show to put on."
Jeremiah felt exposed and vulnerable as he knew the camera was rolling behind his back, but he swallowed deeply and pressed on. He walked forward on a red carpet, exuding a sense of confidence as he did so, trying his best not to be fazed, even as he realized that he was surrounded on both sides by a large gathering of Britannian nobles that was handpicked to be included in the broadcast.
Instead, he focused his attention directly forward, where Lelouch was seated in the throne, the Britannian flag displayed proudly behind her as she stared forward at him. As he did so, he resisted the urge to blurt something out as he saw her, dressed in a regal white dress with gold trim running throughout, just radiating poise and beauty.
Behind him, trumpets blared their music while a small choir of men sang the Britannian national anthem, their voices rising in a powerful unified sound that perfectly embodied the power and strength that Jeremiah had always associated Britannia with. If this had been any other time, he would have felt motivated to sing along, just as his mother had any time she had heard an Imperial broadcast, but the fact that he was on television made him rethink his plan.
Jeremiah took another deep breath and climbed the stairs, falling to one knee as he directly approached her, remembering to keep his head pointed towards the ground while Lelouch sat over him, staring down at his submissive form.
"Jeremiah Gottwald. Do you wish to accept the responsibilities of knighthood, and fight as a champion of Britannia?" Lelouch asked, standing up from her seat and adding the intimidating presence she possessed.
Jeremiah smiled as he heard the words he had waited to hear all of his life. To be a knight in the service of Britannia was his greatest dream, and it was coming true before his eyes. His worries, for the time being, were completely forgotten. What mattered now was that he was finally getting his chance to make a difference, for him, his mother, and the world, and he was going to savor this moment.
"Yes, Your Highness." He replied eagerly, hearing his booming voice echo through the room.
"Do you pledge to be sword and shield to this empire, devoted to its greater good?" She continued.
"Yes, You Highness." He repeated, before he reached over to the leather sheath on his left hip and tightly grasped the handle of the sword stored inside. He quickly slid it out of its sheath until only the tip of the blade was contained by the leather, and gripped it by the blade, leaving the handle open.
Lelouch stepped forward and accepted the blade by its handle, raising it up before her face as Jeremiah bowed lower. She brought the blade down on each of his shoulders, lightly tapping each one before she proclaimed, "I, Lelouch vi Britannia, dub thee Sir Jeremiah Gottwald. May your courage and devotion become a shining example to the people of the Empire."
As she finished speaking, she held out the blade, allowing Jeremiah to graciously accept it once more and return it to its sheath.
"Now rise." She whispered to him, and he complied, standing to his full height and turning to face the crowd of assembled nobles, who stared at him with varying degrees of interest. A second of silence elapsed before the group descended into heavy applause that drowned out all of Jeremiah's thoughts. All that could come to his mind was the registration that he was now a Knight of Honor, and that the Britannian public actually approved of him.
Suddenly, it occurred to him that he should look in the crowd for a glimpse of his father and mother, hoping that they would be there to share in the moment with him. However, as his eyes surveyed the entirety of the crowd, he could not spot them.
It was a long shot, he knew, but still, he had hoped that they would have been able to come and watch their son become the knight they had always wanted him to be. At the revelation that he was alone, his heart sunk, and he felt a pronounced emptiness, as if the accomplishment had no meaning without the ones who had inspired his ambition in the first place.
"They're all applauding you." Lelouch stated form behind him, and Jeremiah found that he was correcting himself.
He wasn't alone. There was someone else sharing in his accomplishment in this moment, and it alleviated some of the emptiness he was currently feeling. Lelouch was beside him in this moment, and he would be beside her in the future, to share in her accomplishments as well because this was the path he chose for himself. He swore his life to the servitude of Princess Lelouch vi Britannia, and that was what was important in this moment.
He had purpose once again, and he was going to follow her until his death. He had found something tangible to hang onto, and he wasn't going to let it go, no matter where she led him.
He almost chuckled at the thought. He was like a lost puppy who was clinging onto anything that he could find as a substitute for the emptiness in his life. Could it be true that the only desire in his life was to serve? As that Diethard said, he looked more the type to lead than to follow. Was he right? Was he really destined to lead?
The self doubt began to swirl all around him as he internally debated, before he turned his head to look at Lelouch. For some reason, as he did, all of his self doubt faded away as she smiled that elegant and graceful, yet powerful and threatening smile of hers that could be construed as either the product of evil machinations or genuine joy.
He could not doubt himself as he stared at her face, so sure of itself and unfazed by the numerous cameras capturing her every expression and gesture. She was the one he was destined to follow, he was sure of it. He didn't understand why, but then again, could anyone really understand fate? It worked in mysterious ways, and it seemed that fate had intervened in his case, leading him to her servitude.
She was the key to it all. He didn't know how or why he thought it, but there was no questioning it. She was going to be the key to everything. The key to fulfilling his dreams of serving the Empire he loved so much, the key to saving the mother he loved so much, and the key to redeeming the Empress he had loved so much.
"Come Jeremiah, smile a bit. You don't want to give the media the wrong impression." Lelouch added softly, and Jeremiah nodded, his lips involuntarily turning upwards in a smile as he found himself actually enjoying the moment with Lelouch by his side.
For once, he felt important, like he had the power to change things. This was completely unlike anything he had ever felt before. During his childhood, he had been helpless to stop his father, and even now, he could do nothing but to idly stand by while his father continued to slowly break his mother, one beating at a time. With the Empress, he had been powerless to stop her death, only reaching her before it was far too late to do anything to save her.
But now, it felt like, just by following Lelouch, he could somehow make a difference. It was empowering, and it felt incredible to know that he was no longer going to just be a bystander. For better or for worse, he now had the power to change Britannian history.
"Princess Lelouch, I am now officially your Knight. What will you have me do first?" Jeremiah asked as the last of the crowd dispersed, the filming having ended long ago in reality. The crew had already packed up and was long gone by now, with only a few nobles who wanted to gain favor with Lelouch remaining. As even they filed out, Jeremiah suddenly found himself almost completely alone with Lelouch and Nunally for a precious moment.
"For now, I don't really have much use for you. I doubt that anyone will attempt anything on a night with so much added security for this ceremony, so I don't see any need for you to waste time guarding me. Tomorrow, we have a planned visit to a local military base, so do whatever you want before we leave." Lelouch informed Jeremiah, who nodded in understanding.
"Very well, I want to be by your side until you reach the Aeries Villa then." Jeremiah responded. At his answer, Lelouch raised an eyebrow in interest.
"You really are an interesting man, aren't you, Sir Gottwald?" Lelouch asked, her previous reservations about the blue haired man surfacing once more.
"You know, any normal person would just go off and celebrate, but not you. I wonder why?" Lelouch asked, and it was instantly clear to Jeremiah that Lelouch was not yet willing to fully trust him.
"It's my duty." Jeremiah replied plainly, realizing how stupid he sounded.
"And do you think, that by performing your duty, that you will avenge my mother's death in some way? Is that the motivation which you did not want to talk about previously?" Lelouch asked as well, taking control of the conversation and steering it in whatever direction she wanted, a small hint of her skills as an orator.
"That is a part of it, yes." Jeremiah admitted, wanting Lelouch to think him honest, if nothing else.
"Very well. I take it I can trust you then." Lelouch said.
He blinked once, then twice as he took in her words. She had accepted his answer without any sort of the disappointment or disgust he had expected. If anything, she seemed…glad about his motivation, in a strange way.
"After all, if that is your motivation, I trust that you will not betray me." She added with a small smile that both reassured and frightened Jeremiah at the same time with its sweetness.
"Of course not." Jeremiah replied defensively, angry that his devotion had been questioned, but understanding of Lelouch's reasoning.
"Well then, I put my life in your hands, Sir Gottwald." Lelouch stated seriously, making it clear that she wasn't lying when she said that she trusted him earlier.
Jeremiah suddenly found himself smiling as he heard those words. It felt empowering to know that he was trusted, and relied upon by someone. To know that he wasn't entirely useless and an utter failure, it was euphoric.
For his entire life, he had sat idly by while his mother was abused, unable to lift a finger in response to his father. She had never been able to, and likely would never rely on him. If anything, he relied on her. Whenever things had gotten tough at the Institute, he had always come back to something she had once said, or imagined her smiling face, the one he hadn't seen in years, and it gave him the strength to forge on.
Now, he was the one being relied on, and it made him feel stronger than ever before, with both a clear purpose ahead of him, and a feeling of responsibility being thrust upon him.
It was a wonderful feeling, one he wasn't planning on forgetting anytime soon.
With a smile, he began leading the way for Lelouch, intending to keep her within his sights the entire time when he suddenly noticed a feminine figure with green hair in the doorway that disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. His eyes widened in surprise and confusion at the odd attire that the woman had been dressed in, which was a medieval style robe that completely obscured her figure, save for her face, which bore burning yellow eyes that had already been seared into his mind with their unusual hue and intensity.
Registering that the person could possibly be an assassin of some sort, Jeremiah turned to Lelouch, his smile gone.
"Princess, get to the car through another exit and get out of here. I suspect that there is an assassin of some sort here." Jeremiah informed Lelouch, who did as she was told, ushering Nunally along in front of her.
With the speed of a driven and focused individual, Jeremiah tore off in pursuit of the figure, finding that his new uniform allowed for a surprising range of motion, a detail that he noted appreciatively as he sprinted out of the exit. His eyes darted around the palace grounds, which were virtually a maze of hedges and fountains that covered miles of grounds in the middle of a large assortment of buildings.
Amongst the green of various hedges, he searched for a lighter hue, spotting it almost immediately just before it disappeared behind some shrubbery. Not pausing for even a moment, Jeremiah willed his legs forward, his boots crushing some leaves underfoot as he dashed forward, intent on catching the would-be assassin.
He rapidly approached the leafy structure, only to find that it led into one of the many garden mazes on the property. Cursing his luck, Jeremiah slowed down, moving more cautiously amongst the more dangerous surroundings, ready for the woman to pop out at any time from one of the hedges that she was possibly hiding in.
He took deliberate, planned steps forward as he eased through the maze, eyes constantly wandering around as he looked for any sort of movements that would give away her location, but being severely disappointed by the lack of activity around him.
As he checked his progress by observing the distance he was from the exit of the maze, he realized that he would soon be at the center, and possibly, facing the mysterious figure. With shaky hands, he unsheathed the sword attached to his hip and whirled it around in his hands a few times, getting a feel for the metal before his expression hardened and his hands stopped, ready to protect his charge. He would not let any sort of fear dissuade him from protecting the Princess, that was for sure.
He slowly turned the corner of one of the green walls, and instantly, put the sword up, raised level across his shoulders and right in front of his face, only to find himself facing an unarmed woman. Her eyes, the same bored yellow irises that he had observed earlier, stared straight at him, allowing him a perfect view of her face. She was beautiful, with soft features that were framed by torrents of beautiful lime hair that reached down to the small of her back. She was rather thin, with the bulky robes that she wore adding to her figure, but not enough to hide her true size underneath, yet had a resilient quality about her, as if she were a jaded old matron, and not the beautiful young woman standing before him.
She smiled a little as he lowered his sword, confused by the sight in front of him, which was now clearly not an assassin, as he had previously thought. As he did so, he could see her wave at him, and spoke for the first time.
"Hello, Jeremiah."
Well, you guys probably know who that is, but I won't spoil anything for anyone who hasn't connected the dots yet. For those of you who have figured it out, yes, I am planning to give Jeremiah some sort of Geass, though it will be radically different from Lelouch's, as she manifests the kind of power that would be valuable to a king, while Jeremiah is going to have some sort of Geass that is related to his more subservient position and personality. I don't have it all figured out yet, but I am definitely going to find one that suits his personality and goals like Lelouch's does for her.
However, if you guys have any specific ideas for the abilities of his Geass, be sure to leave it in a review or PM me. I really would appreciate any and all thoughts I can get, as they really do improve and add to my writing. Thanks for reading so far!