The White Knight
"Do you know anything about this weapon, Suzaku Kururugi? It was the one used to rob Prince Clovis of his life. The barrel striations leave no doubt." Jeremiah Gottwald. Ever the passionate Britannian soldier, sat before me and explained my conjured crimes to me. Less of an interrogation and more of a 'yeah, we're going to kill you just because we can' kind of thing. It was funny though, I don't seem to remember him being bruised, bandaged, and cradling his left arm last time.
This man was a mockery of the loyal soldier that followed Lelouch to the bitter end two years from now in another world. Just one angry and prejudiced noble among the masses of Britannia now, no hint of his loyalty to Lelouch's she-devil of a mother, nor Lelouch himself. Or Nunally for that matter. Granted, I might be able to change that. All he needed to know was that they were alive and he would go swearing his loyalty to them. The problem was that he would be reckless in his attempt to do so.
Luckily, I had known Lelouch for seven years at this point. I was the one who had saved him from the bombs and the war. Just let that slip, and suddenly things change. The problem is that if I gave him that information here, and now, the last thing he would ever try to do is execute me. Especially for a false crime. And that would mean Zero wouldn't have a reason to make his appearance. I could wait for Zero to make his appearance, but by that point, Jeremiah Gottwald was a disgraced nobleman under suspicion of treason.
Unless I changed that, too. Go to him when his entire country has turned on him. Let him know that I know the children he wants to protect so badly are still alive, and presto. Suddenly I have an ally with me inside the Britannian military.
Lelouch had a spy network building itself for him inside the Britannian military and he didn't even know it.
Nevertheless, I glared at him when he brought up my father. Claiming that as my motive. I didn't bother to deny the accusation. I was just so...irritated. Never mind that Honorary Britannians couldn't even carry firearms according to regulation. No. Clearly I was the killer. Although...He hadn't even actually made the outright accusation that it was my gun.
I opened my mouth to say that, suddenly I felt as if my eye itched.
"Honorary Britannians can't even carry firearms." I noted.
And then I realized the voice that spoke wasn't mine. And that I was staring.
At myself.
'What...the...fuck?' I wondered, blinking, and then suddenly I was back to normal, staring at Jeremiah once more. 'Am I going crazy?' I wondered, looking around the room at the four guards that accompanied the Margrave.
All of whom were looking at him like he was a crazy.
One of the guards took the initiative to kick my chair out from under me, sending my sprawling to the floor. "Your fingerprints are all over it!" He accused. Which had my mind reeling. Jeremiah was running this interrogation. Not this guy. They were just there to intimidate me. So why had he spoken up as if he didn't trust his leader to do it for him?
I glared at him, too. Searching for an answer. Felt my eye burning again.
And then I was looking at myself. Again.
'Why the hell did Jeremiah quote that regulation?! That puts all of our evidence in jeopardy!' I heard the thought. Another voice entirely from my own internal monologue, brush by me. And I furrowed my brows. I had said that. Not Jeremiah...right?
I blinked, still confused.
And I was back to normal again. "What the hell is going on?" I muttered aloud.
My answer? One boot to the face.
Typical Britannia.
The Black Queen
Tokyo Tower. Time to see how much I screwed everything up. Lelouch hadn't outright sent someone to try and kill me in the last two days, so at least he didn't feel like eliminating me from the equation.
He also hadn't talked to me. So either I scared the crap out him, or he just hadn't seen reason to. Hopefully the latter.
I still called all the other members of the resistance to meet me there. Funny, this time I was wondering if I should have. The recording had said to come alone. But I'd brought them last time and Lelouch hadn't even batted an eye. Not that I could see, he was behind a mask when I found him.
Like clockwork, the PA system announced that someone had found 'my' phone. And also, like clockwork, Lelouch called me when I approached the observation deck of the tower. And I answered. "Zero? Really, that's what you're going with?" I teased when I answered the phone.
"I want you to board the outbound train on Loop Line 5, and bring your friends." He didn't even respond to the jab. Although he sounded...somewhat amused.
Alright, so at least I hadn't changed too much. Still going on the same train.
I kept to the script when he called me next. Repeating the answers I'd given him the first time, and continuing to the front of the train as directed.
And there he was. Zero. Lelouch really knew how to make that suit work. I doubt Suzaku would ever be able to carry the hearts and minds of the people as well as Lelouch had. He just didn't have the charisma or the mind for theatrics.
"-Take up your sword! Fight for Justice!"
I couldn't even bring myself to pretend to be as skeptical as I was the last time. Kinda ruins it when you know exactly who's wearing the mask. "You want us to wage a war against Britannia?" I clarified, stepping forward. "We don't have the power to do that."
So maybe I cut out a little bit of the middling distrust from Ohgi, Sugiyama, and Yoshida. And maybe I had been a little deliberate with my words…
"You will. How about I show you? If I deliver to you the impossible. Will you follow me?"
But hey, it worked.
The White Knight
Ah. Lloyd. I wonder what he was here for? I hadn't asked about Lelouch and C.C. this time. So, presumably he was just here to inform me how deep a pile of shit I was in this time.
"Congratulations! Your operational efficiency clocked in at a hundred percent! That's amazing!" Lloyd greeted cheerfully.
...Or maybe he was just here to talk about the Lancelot. Should have known.
"Not much luck otherwise though...You may be getting a trial, but no one is pulling for you…"
'Lloyd, you have no idea.' I smirked mentally. I let the expression make it onto my face by twisting it into a wry, sarcastic look. "Let me guess, Smoke and Mirrors?" I asked dryly.
How had I ever had faith in the Britannian justice system? Really? How naive had I been before Kanime Island?
"I'm afraid so. The truth is scarce as of late…"
You know that saying? About how time is like a river? You can throw a rock into it to cause a ripple, but it always goes back to normal in the end?
Yeah. That's what this felt like with this conversation.
"I'm not too worried just yet. It isn't over until they hang me." I answered calmly, feeling my eyes burning in passion.
And then I was on the other side of the glass. Staring at myself, bound and deposited on the floor of the surprisingly large cells. I wasn't bound. I was sitting. I was…
In Lloyd's body.
I closed my eyes. And returned to my own body, looking back at Lloyd, who seemed to be as confused as Jeremiah and that guard had been back in the interrogation room.
'What the hell is going on?!'
The Black Queen
It was much easier to appreciate Zero's first public performance when you weren't scared out of your mind that it would all go to hell in a handbasket. The first time, I had thought we were committing suicide. This time, it seemed like child's play. The oddity, was the status of Jeremiah Gottwald. He was covered in healing bruises and bandages. And his left arm was in a brace.
Of all the changes I expected to happen to this particular event, that was not one of them. And I was searching my brain for where and when it happened. It had to have been in Shinjuku. But...beyond the Lancelot simply toying with us more than it had before, not entirely sure what that had been about, the only difference of that entire battle…
Was me.
Had I fought Jeremiah at some point during that battle?
Reliving a memory of reliving a memory while you're reliving a memory is a surreal experience.
The White Knight
"It looks like they've treated you rather roughly. Now you know what they're really like, Private Kururugi. Britannia is rotten..."
'Oh, Lelouch. You have no idea.' I snarked in my head, wondering how I had ever been so stupid that I'd believed him wrong in the past. But...
"If you wish to bring change to this world, then join me!"
That, I just couldn't do.
"I can't. If I skip out on my court martial, it'll set a precedent for Japanese and Honorary Britannians everywhere. The repercussions are just too risky. I have to go. My court martial begins in an hour. I might make it if I hurry." I declared, turning to leave. 'Not to mention I have to get to Jeremiah at some point.' I mused.
"Are you mad?! The only reason they're giving you a trial is to find you guilty! The judge, the prosecution, AND defense!"
I chuckled softly under my breath at Lelouch's appalled exclamations.
"I don't know. You put up a pretty good case for my innocence. I don't think the manufactured evidence they have against me, presented by a likely soon-to-be-disgraced Margrave, will hold up to a confession." I smirked, glancing back at Zero over my shoulder. "Thank you, for that. You've probably saved me either way this conversation went."
I almost chuckled again as I left, imagining what Lelouch was probably thinking of me in his head right now for denying his plans.
He didn't know I was joining him. I just had a better idea of how to do it.