Title: And in blood
AN: Thanks all of you! I'm glad to know you've enjoyed it thus far. :D Your compliments are appreciated.
. . . Also, this fanfic got an unusual amount of alerts . . . Not that I'm not pleased as a result, though.
Edit: Know that I realize he had his Geass constantly. I just like describing it. D:
Kallen's hiss ripped through still air, "For Japan! I will never be the Empire's dog!" A red haze, dark against milk-white cradling warm summer green, snaked the curve of his iris as death barreled toward him in a smear of bright steel.
Suzaku's moves were second nature after battles with the Lancelot and training sessions in Ashford's garden—reckless and wild to an outsider, but predictable in that impossible way chaos is. Lelouch had been reluctant to base his assessments on intuition once that damned Knightmare was sliced in two with his best friend at its controls, and had observed him until he knew his lag and muscle endurance—Suzaku's weaknesses were his strengths, after all. Fingers pressed against cold metal, Lelouch timed his footsteps with practiced ease; counted while he rushed from foot-to-foot, gliding easily to the right as his earpiece splintered into shards of white and gold.
The rebellion was undoubtedly a failure; he had instructed that they isolate him in the Lancelot and then have him apprehended and imprisoned in Ashford until his return, yet he was here. The Order had not only lost precious data regarding Britannian military secrets, but the pilot capable of near absolute synchronization—what to bribe that bitch of an engineer with now?! He prayed that they were able to keep their tentative grip on their strongholds at least, but the cowards were incompetent fools without his orders. And Nunally, the bastards . . . they had neglected to protect civilians and students, a mistake surely to lead to internal strife between the different factions were the academy swarmed, and that was disregarding premature violence. He would punish them accordingly upon his return. Oh merciful god, would they pay.
Quiet as his gun slid from rippling cloth, Lelouch sent a twin bullet that buried deep into the flesh of Suzaku's thigh. He hid his grimace as blood was thrown across the stone in wet ink blossoms, "Suzaku. Consider my warning: Britannia will die at the hands of its royal family."
His fingers stained red as they clawed at his mangled limb, Suzaku rasped a feral, "Damn you, Lelouch!"
Silence drowned the room in thunderous calm, ". . . What good is a Britannian soldier in a world where Britannia does not exist?" He pulled into the shadows, pale face dyed in a sea of gray as he turned gracefully on his heel.
Suzaku sneered, collapsing into a mess of dirty white and tousled brown hair, "Wait, you—!"
"It's unfortunate," his whisper was low and guilt-ridden, "I did not want you nor Nunally to. . ." Footfalls danced off the ancient walls, echoing as Kallen forced her legs to move—to stand, still tremulous and weak with the weight of Zero's identity resting on her young shoulders.
"Le—Zero, sir . . ." She muttered cautiously, a look of horrified fascination beginning to fade, and his answer was a handsome, lying smile. The sort that a man bearing the name Zero would grace his vital followers with; the sort that Kallen had wanted so desperately from her idol.
"I—," Lelouch was sharp, authoritarian, and poisonously smooth while he wiped the blood from his eyes, "No, myself and the entirety of the Order, are proud. You have made the correct choice."
The reply was anxious, "Thank you, Sir . . . but, Suzak—"
A raw ferocity crept into his snarl and she shrank from the rage of a long-established leader, "Kallen! We must hurry to Nunally!"
"What happened to—?!" Suzaku doubled over, his voice cracking from pain, "Damn it!. . ."
Her ironclad mask already fractured, Kallen let him see her fear as she recalled a girl as fragile as blown glass, "What did they do to her?!"
"She's been abducted by an enemy of the Order," he affirmed gravely as the angry flare in Suzaku's eyes died. Casting a shadowy glance on his back, Lelouch said nothing when he glowered at the cracks threading the floor's length and resigned to defeat.
Words tinted with disgust, she muttered a bitter, "But what should we do with him?"
"No harm will come to either," it was strong as they both pried the doors apart, "However, Nunally is in more pertinent danger."
"Yeah, but . . ." She meandered, working to keep her voice steady, "Did you have to be that extreme?"
"He would only be a nuisance as he is now. I do not tempt fate where temptation isn't needed," color spilled into the gaping mouth of the shrine, its bowels inky black, "Come—and, for reassurance, know that I fully intend to collect Suzaku as soon as we have confirmed my sister's safety."
The inner sanctum was barren, a misty stretch of blue brick that plunged to abrupt gray at the domed ceiling and dwindled to darkness. It dug downward, the shrine's staircase whirling into eternity as his eyesight drowned in a room comparable to starless skies; empty and desolate, as if it were the universe in its entirety. Kallen crept in beside him, a brush of body heat and clothing, before she pulled it closed and the sunlight was snuffed out.
Lelouch was careful to let her lead, gun pointed outward as they moved through a labyrinth of crumbling stone—there was a sick coating of dust swirling in his throat, and he sifted through his pockets for a flashlight before sending an dim flood of off-white into the cavern's heart.
"Why do you have that with you?"
"I have a use for everything I carry," he finished stoically, and marched boldly ahead with a perfect posture. Lelouch paused, turning a blade over in his hands—feeling the burn of cold metal drain heat from his fingertips—and eased it against a corner, a maelstrom of crimson bubbling at the edge of his pupil.
"Kallen. Keep your eyes closed," she snapped them tight, attempting to hide the thumb pressed delicately to the trigger as he sent light exploding from all corners, "All those present, kill yourselves!" She winced, listening for the bullet whistling through the air, and felt her heart shake in her chest when silence was the hall's reply.
Lelouch gritted his teeth, "Come." The chance of an ambush was slim; absolute shadow limited enemies and allies alike. There were patches of broken dirt—churned in the shape of recent footsteps, and made leisurely, with little concern. No breaks in his steps or width to imply running. Did this idiot feel no great urge to conceal himself? He had practically invited them to his side, and with no escort!
Considering Suzaku's knowledge of the Geass and Nunally's kidnapping, he doubted they intended to kill him; there were much simpler ways to accomplish that. No, he wanted to speak—to meet with him, and so much so that he had bothered to find them both to lure him deeper in. Lelouch broke into a run, fists balled as he launched himself forward with a speed to rival Kallen's. How did they know about his relationship to either—coincidence was far too convenient a term, and cruelly narcissistic given the secret history of Lelouch vi Britannia. Kururugi Shrine was a charred skeleton in the ruins of the ghetto, and Nunally's records had been virtually wiped from the system to avoid any potential harm should Zero be discovered. Dead men have no need for the past, yet they were drawn here by a same force; did they know the truth of his exile? Of Zero? 'Damn it!'
Yes, he was the target, but why? Kallen lingered in the dark as he let his eyes roam the corridors, searching for strings of wire or disturbed earth scattered across the threshold. Bombs were pointless; a massive explosion on the upper levels would lead to destruction of the others, aided by the force of gravity and the weak foundation . Such recklessness would destroy both himself and the enemy—not a prudent move, given that the shrine was difficult to navigate and poised only to head further down.
He whorled on his heel, barreling into the black as worry played a siren song inside his skull, high-pitched and screeching. 'Such a thing has never been completely excavated? No—it is mere fabrication on the part of Britannia; the military stationed here negates their pretense.' His thoughts were clamoring growls, possibilities melting into one another. 'Witch . . . how long has the monarchy known of Geass' existence?! Could that bastard be—?!' Lelouch's iron resolve shuddered at the thought, reminded of blood spinning across the gold marble of their Aries Villa, and the transience of his entire existence in front of power.
Time was racing, minutes shattering into seconds as they were forced to exercise caution—Nunally and Suzaku had no idea of the Emperor's horrors, and were cast as the marionettes of a shadow theater. He needed to remove them as soon as humanly possible, and destroy whatever puppeteer had his fingers playing with their strings. With his strings.
"Lelouch," Kallen said seriously, and he turned to meet her, "You won't betray the Black Knights, will you?"
His answer was silence, " . . . It would be a result of the situation. In most feasible scenarios? No."
"How can you say that?! We—you, you gave us hope!" She sneered, the taint of a lifetime's worth of weakness rising to the surface, "We put our lives on the line, this is everything to us—"
"Is it?" He murmured, dark as black velvet, "You, who use the name of Stadtfelt to further your own agenda. Does your privileged life reflect that of greater Japan?"
The words tore through her throat, "Staying there was necessary—"
"What of those who cannot afford Knightmares, Kallen? Are they any less committed? Any less deserving?" Kallen swallowed empty rhetoric, her eyes averted, "I use the strong and the weak, as do you."
"But my brother—!"
"He knew the consequences that came with anarchy," Lelouch's response was cold, scientific, like a coroner with a scalpel poised over his cadaver, "Do you believe only you have lost loved ones in this?"
Kallen's yells sang throughout the hall, "You killed the innocents we wanted to protect!"
"I did. . . " As a forgotten son of royal Britannia, he did not give sympathy or pretenses, "But that sacrifice will lead to a free Japan. It hardly compares with the continued brutality of Britannia."
It was fractured, a broken contralto born to glorify his fallen heroism, "But you should have been able to do something. . . anything . . ."
He scoffed a simple and accusatory, "Does my being here excuse your own noninvolvement?"
"I didn't know—" she hissed, hand shaking as she clutched the gun's familiar handle.
"One result of our actions was retaliation by independent paramilitaries, rival terrorist groups, and Britannia itself," Lelouch trailed off, coolly detached, "Should I say you didn't know then?"
"I—"
His bluntness cleaved through her, "Losing life is an unfortunate side effect of war."
"Japan needed you!" Kallen threw her arms outward, a chill creeping up her spine, "I . . . I respected you! Respected Zero!"
"They placed me on a pedestal in exchange for power, and I have given them my terms. If it is a crutch, then resign your position as my Knight and return to Ashford," the regret festered deep in her gut—ripping at her mind, breaking her faith into the things of dreams. His free Japan was a utopia fraying at its seams as reality stole her from delusions of security; from the ideal Zero she had sworn her soul to.
"Fine, but why did you abandon us on the field?!"
"I had no other choice," he raged, exhausted with her complaints, "Do you want Nunally to die, Kallen!?"
"So you're okay with us making sacrifices, even though you don't want to give up anything at all?!"
She sent a chord buried deep inside him warbling, ". . . That may be true."
"Selfish asshole!" It was shrill, and she spat it like he was a poison crawling inside her blood that she wanted to escape.
"However, your rebellion depends on my leadership. What I want to keep and lose are the rewards for my 'services.'"
Sound caught inside her, and it was choking as she felt her retort swell and die, "—!"
"If I leave you, the Knights will simply regress into a mockery—unable to win their battles or receive their supplies and dependent on others. Do you want to return to only straddling the Empire? To humiliate yourself?" It rolled off his tongue, a treacherous reminder of her powerlessness in their corpse of a world.
". . ." She flexed her fingers, feeling tension string in her muscles as he slipped further away— descended into the pit, with Kallen left to stare at his retreating back.
"Would Naoto be pleased with such failure? His death will have been for nothing; a worthless sacrifice, in all manners." She came then, falling dutifully in tow as she thought of her brother gnarled with blood spilling from his trembling lips—her brother, who had been unable to speak, unable to do anything but whimper as the life was wrenched out of his body! The brother who had no grave; the brother who was disowned for defying Britannia and sullying their father's good name; the brother who she left alone and in fear as he died.
"I don't like you, but . . ." Kallen kept her voice strong, "I'm going to do this for Nunally and Naoto. Because they didn't deserve to be caught up in our struggle."
"A fair trade," Lelouch muttered easily, snaking into the dark.
"Although, if you betray the Black Kni—no! If you betray Japan," it was a savage hiss, cruel and ruthless, "I will kill you myself."
"Hah! A fitting attitude for my Knight. I will be curious to see if you can hold true to your word." Silence became their companion, Kallen drifting to the front as they moved through an eternal cloak of shadow—passed markings drawn on the rotted walls that mirrored the seven cycles of the moon rippling across a mimicry of the night sky.
"Damn it," Kallen growled, "This is like walking to hell. How long does it go?!"
"I doubt it stretches much further . . ." Fear was gripping at his heart as time stole Nunally from him. Passing stair flight after stair flight while his legs protested, Lelouch felt his eyes sting when light waltzed across a dirt pathway—and he sent strength ricocheting into his body, charging forward with Kallen at his heels as an arch of doorway waited for them.
"Lelouch! Where are you goin—hey, wait!" He heard nothing as he exploded into a pool of white and gold, orange teasing at his vision. A basilica—its shells of buildings jutting like skeletons, colored cream and shadowy gray—from an older age stood tall and firm, a spin of a stairwell leading to its sacrificial stage.
'What the hell is this?!' Cloud misted the stone floors, bathing the world in a sunset whose colors ran together, much as water poured across a canvas.
"Hmm," the voice was crisp, "So you have come. To think that you . . ."
"Kallen!" Lelouch stiffened when no answer came; when no footsteps echoed.
"Only those chosen by the C. may enter the Thought Elevator," it was unassuming and disturbingly young as he flew across the steps and shot at the boy poised next to a comatose Nunally, her halo of mousy hair splayed across the twisted metal of her wheelchair. He twitched and sank to his knees in waves of luxurious silk, red easing across wide eyes and into his open mouth, and blood matting a curtain of blond thrown against pale skin.
"Nunally—!" Lelouch crouched at her sides, easing fingers against her frozen wrist.
"You are very impolite, as should be expected of an impudent child," he felt his heartstrings tighten in his chest, "I see that your friend isn't here. How unfortunate; did he die?"
'How--!' Twirling on the balls of his feet, he smothered his iris in vivid crimson, "Die!"
His counter was a crooked smile, "I'm afraid such tactics are useless on our kind."
"You," Lelouch rumbled between gritted teeth, "are the same as C.C. Was Suzaku a diversion, or—"
"Yes, I suppose that's accurate," he finished smoothly, reaching for the gun Lelouch sent writhing backwards when he tossed it aside, "As for him, I had instructed that he merely follow you. It seems to have went unheeded." He raised it, balancing the unfamiliar weight of steel as he let the spotter run over Nunally, her heart beating like a crippled bird pressing wings against its cage.
"No, stop—!"
"I do not intend to shoot the girl, provided you consider my conditions," he was low and sharp, "Although I am reluctant to appeal to her filthy blood—"
"What?!" Lelouch spluttered, mad desperation creeping into his words, "Anything! I'll do anything, please—!"
"Fine then," he thundered, a mad spark in his bloody stare shimmering beneath the limelight, "In exchange for her pitiful life, you will relinquish your birthright to the power of C." Lelouch felt himself go weak—the energy draining, slipping away as haze wrapped around his mind—and electric blue rushed in streaks, dancing at his heels as color flared behind his eyes.
He woke drenched in sunlight, Nunally hugged to his heaving chest as a haunting darkness faded from his vision.
AN: Haha, next chapter we get to hear Suzaku wangst like there's no tomorrow! . . . Well. That's fun. L: (Sorry the ending of this chapter wasn't particularly impressive. D: On the plus side, I did pull three thousand words. Oh yeah.)