Crossroads
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass
In an unknown island
Kanon gasped. He did not expect to meet him here. However he did not lowered his gun. Kanon stared at him and aimed the gun right at the heart. If Kanon was attacked, a bullet from the gun will directly hit the heart of the man.
Growling, Kanon said "Why are you here, Luciano Bradley?" Luciano Bradley, the Vampire of Britannia managed to survive after being defeated by Kallen Kozuki, the pilot of the Guren. However, half of his face was badly burnt which make Luciano more scarier than he used to be. The heartless and blood thirsty former Knightmare pilot stood there with a smirk that displayed his sharp fangs.
"Chill, Kanon Maldini. I am a friend, not a foe" Luciano said. He dropped his weapons on the floor. Kanon gritted his teeth.
"What do you want?"
"Let me see, I have known you since we were in the military as new recruits 8 years ago. Then I became a knight and you as a loyal dog, no I meant servant to Schneizel. I know your habits so do you."
In anger, Kanon pulled the trigger of the gun. It missed Luciano by whiskers. "Hurry up and go straight to the point. I have no time to listen to all those bullshits!" He hissed.
"Alright, alright. You have a specific way of shooting. Kanon Maldini will always shoot from top to toe. The first bullet goes to the head, the second the neck, the third the heart, the fourth the chest, the fifth the right leg and the sixth the left leg." Luciano said. He dust off a big rock and sat on it. Kanon frowned.
"So?"
"And that was how the Demon Emperor was shot today. I saw the replay a dozen times. And I knew it was you, Kanon Maldini" Luciano grinned. Kanon gasped. His hands shivered. Is he here to sent me to the police? Kanon thought.
"But" Luciano said and paused. He took out a cigar and lighted it up. "I am not here to catch a criminal. In fact I am thinking of joining you. This was Schneizel's orders right? You are not that brave to do all these jobs"
Kanon gasped again. He lowered his gun. "You knew it was Prince Schneizel? How-How did you know?!" He exclaimed.
"I dunno. I just guess. Looks like you have told me the truth. But I heard your prince had been some sort of hypnotise by the Zero's black magic?" Luciano said and offered Kanon a cigar. Kanon shook his head.
"Yes, that's true. Prince Schneizel was geassed. I saw it right in front of my eyes. But soon I met a weird guy who wanted offered me power like Zero, geass"
"Geass?"
"It's like a superpower. Mine is right here" Kanon said and pointed at the Geass sigil on his left eye. Then he quickly covered it with his hair.
"The man told me the power of the Geass depends on its owner. It manifested inside the Geass user according to the person's heart and desire. For me, I wanted to cancel out the Geass stuck on Prince Schneizel. That's my only desire."
Luciano rubbed his chin. "So your power is to cancel geass?" Kanon nodded. "Yes. My geass is Geass Canceller"
In Schneizel's office in Pendragon
Schneizel sat on his office chair and watched the news of Lelouch's assassination attempt. The media were still talking about it and several conspiracies had rose up about the incident. Some said it was Zero's plan while others said it was the Emperor.
"How foolish" he whispered. Schneizel glanced at all the hidden cameras hidden in his office. It seemed that Suzaku had been watching all his movement at every minute. Schneizel grinned. He pretended to watch the news attentively while actually his mind was somewhere else.
The blonde prince was thinking about his meeting with Kanon the day before the execution. Kanon had sneaked in into the jail and cancelled his geas using his new power, Geass Canceller. Kanon told him about Lelouch and the truce plan he had heard from Zero. It seemed than Kanon had been spying Zero and accidentally heard about the truce. Kanon also told him that he saw Suzaku Kururugi as Zero.
Schneizel felt over the moon when his geass was cancelled. It was like a bird being released from its cage. He felt free. Then Kanon appearance was like a trump card to him. He had finally found a way to regain his title as the heir of the throne and the supposed to be 99th Emperor of Britannia.
As he listened to the information from Kanon, he suddenly thought of a plan. Why don't just kill the emperor straight away? Then, based on the bloodline Schneizel will be next to the throne. The House of Lords would not choose a crippled Nunnally as the Empress. They won't even agree with the anonymous Zero as the new Emperor.
But first before killing Lelouch, Schneizel had to wipe off the geass from the royal members whom support Schneizel. Lelouch had forcefully used his geass to force them to acknowledge him as the emperor. Schneizel needed their support to topple down Lelouch's reign.
So, now the royal members whom geass had been cancelled by Kanon who sneaked in into the palace were going against the fact that Lelouch was the emperor. They were asking for legal actions to be taken against Lelouch for killing Emperor Charles. Even the Purist Faction led by Kewell Soresi's children supported the royals. There was no way they could except a half blood prince as the emperor.
However, Schneizel had kept his awakening from the geass a secret from anyone except Kanon. It was too dangerous to reveal it. He would be killed if he told everyone. Now, his plans were starting to come by. It started with Lelouch's assassination, rebellion of the royals, the Purist Faction and now his ultimate strategy- which he will unveiled soon when the time come. Schneizel smiled evilly. If Lelouch doesn't die, it's ok. He just need to scare his little brother off.
"The time will come, little brother. And it will be your doom"
Outside of the Imperial Palace
The royal members of the Britannia Imperial Family, led by Princess Guinevere and Princess Carine protested outside of the palace. Among the royal members were also the member of the Purist Faction. Kewell Soresi's son, Ludwig Soresi led the Faction. They shouted for the Emperor to step down from his throne and even burnt his picture. The other nobles whom supported them also arrived at the scene.
Reporters and cameramen were everywhere as they took footage of the protest. The Imperial Guards did not dare to push the protesters away as most of them were of royalty and nobles. The protesters became more violent when their demand were not fulfilled. They threw eggs at the guards and set up fire.
Jeremiah couldn't stand it any longer. He stood a few metres away from the guard and instructed Tamaki to bring the microphone. Tamaki reluctantly brought the microphone. He didn't want to help Jeremiah actually, but he accidentally bumped into the blue haired knight who was looking for someone to help him. Actually, Tamaki was supposed to attend a Black Knight meeting in Pendragon but it was cancelled after the Emperor was gunned down. And now he had 3 days of nothingness to spend in the foreign city. Unfortunately, he met Jeremiah who thought he was looking for a job in Pendragon and decided to give him a job of being Jeremiah's assisstant.
Clearing his throat, Jeremiah said "His Majesty is not well. He will not be able to go out. So please, disperse!"
However they ignored him. Instead, the protesters threw more rotten eggs at them. Tamaki hid behind Jeremiah.
"Shut up! You traitor!" Princess Carine shouted. The others booed Jeremiah.
Jeremiah wiped off the stain of eggs on his face. Biting his lips, he felt like giving them a tongue lashing but that was not his job. He was ordered to make sure the protesters get away from the Imperial Palace. Tamaki stared at Jeremiah. "What are we gonna do, Orange-kun?"
Jeremiah pulled out his phone and dialled Zero's number. It rang for a while before Zero picked it up. "Zero! What should I do now? They are not moving!"
"What? Wait, let me think. What would Lelouch do..." Suzaku thought. Damn! Why can't he just think like Lelouch!
Just then, Schneizel appeared. The blonde Prince grabbed Jeremiah's phone and answered Suzaku. "Don't worry, Zero. I will handle it" Then, he killed the call.
"What the hell is Schneizel doing?!" Suzaku shouted from his phone. Of course, they couldn't hear him as the line was cut off.
Jeremiah and Tamaki were startled at the sudden appearance of the Prince. The crowd was silenced when they saw Schneizel. Schneizel grinned.
"I command all of you to leave in the name of Second Prince Schneizel" he ordered in an authoritative voice. A few seconds later, all the protesters nodded and walked out from the palace. The guards came out and cleaned up the mess. Jeremiah and Tamaki stared at Schneizel. What did he just did?
"Hey, Orange-kun, isn't this just like Geass? I mean they just leave like that!" Tamaki whispered. Jeremiah was speechless. Tamaki was right, it was like Geass. But that wasn't possible! Schneizel was geassed not having Geass power! What's going on?
Schneizel sensing their suspicions turned around and smiled. "Well, they just leave like that. I guess my power as the Second Prince is still strong. I should be leaving now" Schneizel said. He felt amused watching the shocked looks of the two idiots. The blonde Prince headed back into the Palace and laughed his heart out.
"I think...I am enjoying this Geass" he whispered.
In the hospital
Lelouch sat on his bed and watched the footage of the protest. He yawned and seemed to be not interested in it. The raven hair emperor laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
"I don't know what you are talking about. I think you have gotten the wrong person" he said to Kallen and C.C who was sitting opposite his bed and trying to show all videos related to him as Emperor Lelouch. Kallen bit her lips. Why is he so stubborn? She whispered.
"You are just afraid aren't you? You just don't want to remember" Kallen snapped. Lelouch looked at her. He frowned. Chuckling, C.C pulled out a chess set from Kallen's bag and handed it to Lelouch.
"Maybe this will help"
Lelouch's eyes widened. He quickly got up from his bed and seized the chess set. He fiddled with all those pieces with great enthusiasms. It was like watching a kid playing with his toys. C.C smirked at Kallen. The red haired girl seethed.
"Fine. You win, witch!" She hissed. C.C guffawed. The two watched Lelouch whose memories of chess strategies were still intact with him. The raven hair lad started arranging the chess pieces and moving those pieces in the board just like when he was still Lelouch vi Britannia.
"Hey, kid. Let me play with you. Let's see who's better" C.C challenged. "If you win, you get a slice of pizza, ok?" She continued. Lelouch nodded. C.C headed towards him and moved the white rook on the board. Lelouch as usual played black.
Kallen thought to herself as Lelouch defended his black King furiously against C.C. C.C was losing rather horribly. Kallen swore she saw C.C biting her lips and Lelouch smirking. "Wow, he's really a damn bastard! He chose to remember chess instead of something more important- wait." She paused. Kallen rubbed her chins. Lelouch most important asset as an Emperor was his devious and full of tactics brain. And that's it!
"Without Lelouch's memories as an Emperor, he could still rule!" Kallen exclaimed softly. Grinning, she watched Lelouch fiddled with the White Queen in his fingers.
"I will make sure you will accept yourself as the Emperor, just wait Lelouch."