Yamato Docks
7:50 AM
Monday
Suzaku Kururugi stared at the rubble and steel carcasses surrounding the entire doc area. It looked the scene straight off of war. Bloody. Grisly. Hopeless. Dead Britannian soldiers. Dead Black Knights.
And at the heart of all the coffins, Zero.
The report reached Suzaku's ears two hours after the incident, and even that was only through the gossip of two low ranked soldiers. Zero had caused a massive explosion, furling G-1's mammoth yggdrassil drive as well as the destructive force of twenty fully equipped knightmares housed within the base.
It had caught every Britannian force within a thousand feet. It had completely demolished G-2 base and everything else caught within the maelstrom, grated to a hundred shards by the concussive force.
There were no survivors, except for the Glaston Knights. And, Suzaku presumed, Zero.
He was asked to deal clean up duty, of course. The combat prodigy Lancelot, relegated to the task of menial labor, when he could've saved lives!
Suzaku bent low and retrieved the still form of another knightmare pilot. The man was young, very nearly Suzaku's age, with red hair that lofted in the air.
He was missing a large chunk of torso. The blood had already run thick and dry, death a face long past. With a solemn expression, Suzaku turned and placed on the ground, equally spaced from the other multitudes of dead. The body bags would overcome them soon.
Suzaku turned face to look at the sky, sporadically cloudy, but still bleeding in sunlight, and imagined the Zero's smirked face.
"Damn you, Zero. Damn you. This…everything…..it's all your fault." Suzaku felt tears stain his eyes as he drew his Lancelot into a fighting stance. He aimed a punch at the wall.
"All. Your. FAULT!" He pummeled his fist into the compromised structure of the wall, leaving a large indent where his hands made contact. With a leap, he sprang into the air and mounted his VARIS gun.
"EVERYTHING!" He fired a cleave of green energy. It shot through the wall and blurred through the ruins laying next to it. The wall toppled upon itself.
Dust scattered to the air and gradually settled. Suzaku was panting heavily, despite the minimal movements.
"- warrant officer Suzaku Kururugi, come in! Come in Suzaku!" Cecile's voice crackled.
Suzaku lifted a hand to the receiver. "Yeah….. this is Kururugi. What do you want?" He couldn't help the tone from seeping in, as Cecile and Loyd deserved none of it. They had brought him in, unheeding of his race, and outfitted him with the weapons to defy his future and assemble his dream.
They were good people, even Loyd when he was in a good mood, and they deserved better.
But Suzaku was tired, exhausted emotionally from the bitter events that had transpired.
"Well, um, our systems detected the firing of the VARIS riffle, and I thought maybe you had found an enemy and-"
"It's fine. Just a mistake. Call me if there's anything else." He brushed Cecile off again, and could hear the hurt in her voice as she signed off.
He went back to hunting bodies.
Rear storage units at Yamato Docks:
8:30 AM
Guilford twisted around a final sweep, making certain that he had not been deliberately tailed.
He turned back and faced the building at the outskirts of the dock, one of the few completely untouched by the battle. A couple soldiers were looting the remaining the buildings. Cameras had sited Zero's cockpit touch down in this area, but every search had proved fruitless. The masked leader had vanished, without a trace.
But of course he had. Knowing Zero, he had probably calculated the blast radius down to an inch. To top it off, the remainder of the Black Knights had escaped. With heavy casualties inflicted on Britannian might; everything had played out exactly like Zero had planned.
Everything. But then the SAZ massacre came to mind, as it had in a million and one instances over the past two nights. He'd had his suspicions of its origins the moment it had broadcasted. As much as he wanted to hate Zero, to find a new focus for his ambitions, the facts failed to piece.
Why would the Black Knights attack the Japanese?
Why were there no Britannian Knightmares?
And most importantly;
Why did Cornelia give that order?
He'd been no fool. No direct announcement had been released, but he had heard snatches of small talk from the soldiers. Cornelia had frozen the systems of all knightmares at the SAZ. It was a loophole carefully hidden away among the swathes of white space in the program.
It doesn't make sense….. why would Cornelia deliberately help the Black Knights?
In the wake of their recent defeat, and the Black Knights' escape both here and at the SAZ, the soldiers turned their frustration out upon the infrastructure. Taking what they could find, breaking what they could not.
After all, this was only an Eleven's property, wasn't it?
Guilford breathed out and ran a hand through his hair. The Elevens…. they've lost so much in the past days, what justice is it to continue to beret them?
But he continued on, instead, not able to muster the strength for such an action.
The shattered barrier of ruckus and death cleanly halted only a couple feet ahead. The edge of the blast radius.
A warehouse stood before him
Guilford's senses sharpened instantaneously. Cornelia. What have you gotten yourself into? He thought back to last night, when the call had come.
He'd been at a bar at the time, dressed in civilian wear, staring down an amber colored fluid. So easy, so easy, to down the glass, refill, drink, refill, drink away his problems. Cornelia and Euphemia had been the center of his life…. his heart lacked its better half in the absence of his two princesses.
But despite that, despite EVERYTHING that had happened, he couldn't bring himself to drink the vile liquid. He was no alien to drinking, even sometimes with Cornelia, but she had aptly demonstrated her disdain for drinking away pain.
Drink for fun, but you're real shit when you drink to forget.
The buzz of his phone barged through his thoughts. He checked it briskly, and very nearly set it down. It was an unknown number, but only a select few knew his cell in the first place.
He clicked the switch and held it his ear, marshaling his pride.
"H-" His voice singed and cracked, pathetic even to his standards. Pull it together Guilford. "Hello?"
There was a cackle of radio static.
"Guilford." the voice was soft, but the hard rigidity of it was still there. He was on his feet in a second.
"Vice-Roy Corn-" He started.
"DON'T SAY IT!" the voice yelled. "I'm asking for a favor. I swear I'll explain later, but I need you to bring a large shipping box, about the size to hold four people comfortably. It needs it to be a wooden crate on the outside, but reinforced with steel and impossible to open without a number code. Place it in warehouse 532 at Yamato docks. The key will be the number of tries at the fair."
Guilford paused at that declaration, only two others would know the significance of those words.
This…. this is Cornelia.
"You have 4 hours. After the incident, go to warehouse 532 and await further instructions." Her voice stalled for a second. "And don't…. don't call me Vice-Roy anymore."
"Wait..wait! What incident? What are you-" The call disengaged with a click.
Guilford sat stunned for a multitude of moments, his thoughts a rambling train of "Cornelia is alive." With a smile, he stood from his position at the bar, deliberately knocking his glass to the floor, spilling its yellow liquid.
The box had been created. He had an engineer that owed him a favor, and who could easily whip up a finished product in two hours. The box was supposedly delivered in three.
After his talk with Cornelia, he'd been confined to his room, not to be present at the dock incident. Dalton's astute observation of his suddenly positive demeanor no doubt created worry over his mental health. However, he'd been allowed to play janitor after Britannia's defeat.
Guilford entered the warehouse. He could see why it had been picked. Insulated crates of frozen fish lined the walls in reverse. Dim lit bulbs spilled light in excess across the rows of stacked boxes. A couple had been cracked open and inherently destroyed, but the soldiers had obviously lost interest quickly at the call of more supple stock to vandalize.
There it was. The wooden crate. Placed accurately in the far corner of the room.
Guilford approached it hesitantly, not knowing what to expect from it. He assumed it held his princess, but what state of mind, what physical carnation, was unknown. A black keypad slid out under his touch.
He breathed out once and proceeded with the combination.
New to the top of his horror story list was sitting in a cramped expanse with three other notables of C.C., Cornelia, and Euphemia.
There was only one small vent near the top.
One.
Small.
Vent.
They'd been waiting in rancid breath for the whole of four hours. Temperature had spiked a half an hour in and proceeded only to climb through the duration of the wait. Even at rest, Lelouch was sweating uproariously, a condition mirrored by Euphemia and Cornelia. The bottom of the container was covered in the thick grime of dried sweat. Neither of the three had felt the desire to reduce their outer bulk.
C.C., of course, being C.C., had stripped down to her underwear. The other occupants were too exhausted to hazard it much thought.
"I swear, when I get out of here-" Lelouch began.
"- I'LL be the first one to kill Guilford." Cornelia finished. "And excuse me, YOU'RE not the one dying in a full combat uniform."
"Yes, but I am the one wearing the Zero mask. My face… is capriciously lodged in an unventilated cavity… surrounded by an even WORSE unventilated container." Lelouch growled back.
"- a mask that you'd be perfectly fine without right now. I don't know about you guys, but I'm wearing the full combat uniform, AND extra bulletproofing, AND ten pounds of extra equipment, AND the two layers of bullet armor underneath all this junk." Euphemia spoke up. "Thanks sis."
"Well EXCUSE ME for thinking of your safety first." Cornelia folded open her hands in a large gesture, or, as large as it could be in the confined space. "I am EVER so sorry for trying to give you the best possible odds. On the other hand, if you had stayed out of combat, like I recommended, YOU'D NEVER HAVE BEEN HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
"Ah yes. But let's not forget the fact that YOU were the one to tell Guilford to make a "box". I told you a freight would be fine, but you had to go and-"
The three forces continued with their familiar banter, Lelouch moving his mask to void the carbon dioxide build up. A small snore from C.C. went unnoticed as she shifted more to the right in her sleep. Lelouch caught the moment with his eye and shook his head, hardly believing her. In a superhuman feat, Drawing upon some scythed wellspring of strength, she had managed to fall asleep.
His thoughts lay conjunct around the slim body resting against his shoulder. His couldn't help but focus on her face, unblemished of hardship in her peaceful state.
This… is the face she wore in her first life. The face that trusted, smiled, laughed and cried. He thought. Before it all. He cocked his head slightly and inadvertently ran his eyes over the rest of C.C.'s form.
He wasn't a stranger to C.C.'s looks, as she HAD been sleeping in the same room as him. But this was the first time that-
"What are you doing?" C.C. asked, face jerking up to stare at Lelouch and smiling slyly. He blushed feverishly underneath her piercing gaze and adverted his eyes downwards.
How the hell does she do that!
Cornelia and Euphemia were now facing him, expecting an answer.
"I… I was-" Lelouch said. A single bar of light expanded from the top corner of the box.
It was being opened.
Lelouch instantaneously slid his Zero mask into place. Cornelia and Euphemia wiped off as much sweat as possible in their efforts to look according. With a loud clank, the steel lined container collapsed to the ground. Silence reigned.
"Vice-Roy….. Cornelia?" A hesitant silhouette asked, illuminated sparsely by the dim overhanging lights.
Besides him, he could Cornelia smiling. Guilford, without a doubt. She thought. With a small ruffle of cloth, she stood.
Cornelia was standing before him. Not a phantom, not a illusion, not a hallucination , a life blooded Cornelia, as real and dignified as they came.
Guilford rushed forward in a second, hugging Cornelia close in an unorthodox show of manners. She lay stunned, in his embrace, for half a second, before returning it.
"Thank god…. THANK GOD you're still alive!" He said, choked with emotion, despite himself. "When I heard the news, that you and Euphemia were assassinated…."
"And Britannia very nearly managed it." Guilford turned to the sharp voice, and saw it manifest in a slightly ajar Euphemia.
"You…. your both are ALIVE!" He moved along the outside rim until he was adjacent to Euphemia, giving her a similar greeting.
Both of them, are safe.
"But, here, we have to go tell Dalton, and the Royal Family, and the rest of the world! There was a day of mourning at your loss, everyone will be overjoyed to hear of you-"
"NO." Guilford paused, taken aback by the fury present in Cornelia's face. Her figures had twisted into a semblance of intense anger, a look he had seen only at the death of Lelouch and Nunnally.
"Let me tell you WHY. Because the beloved Empire is a rabid dog, snarling through foam and polluting the ideals and thoughts of the world. The SAZ…. Britannia's STAGE act. THEY committed genocide, THEY attempted to kill Zero, THEY almost had Euphemia assassinated!" Cornelia spat.
All committed…. by Britannia? He felt his features unconsciously switch to a mixed mold of surprise and horror.
Everything Cornelia said, it perfectly coincided with the material observation of events. Her request, helping the Black Knights, Britannia's odd proclamation, it was all there, all leading back to-
Britannia.
He hid his slated shock and looked evenly at Cornelia and Euphemia. "What…. will you do now? You could leave the country, I have contacts that can create a new identity, you can live a peaceful life outside of Imperial conflict."
Cornelia smiled warmly, shaking her head slightly at his offer. "I apologize, Guilford. But that is one thing I cannot accept, not on my honor or pride. They tried to kill Euphemia, deliberately done! If we're recognized, even once, they'll finish the job."
Guilford grimaced, having expected a similar answer. But honestly, what other choice did they have? "Then, Vice-Roy, Cornelia, what do you, and Princess Euphemia, plan to do?"
Cornelia directed her gaze downwards and ran a tired hand through her tussled hair. "We're joining the Black Knights."
"The…. Black Knights?" Guilford whispered. He rocked back on his heels before shoving forward and grasping Cornelia's shoulders. "Are you INSANE! The Black Knights are the worst option! Did you forget how they let the JLF take the fall at Narita? How they KILLED Clovis?" Cornelia winced slightly at the last proclamation. But she never dropped her composure, never offered a recourse of action. She didn't speak for a couple of moments.
"But…what about Britannia." Her tone was cold and laced with cold. "How many civilians DIED in the uprising of Sector 5? How many were killed in the suppression of Sector 3? God, here alone, how many Japanese died at Shinjuku? At the SAZ? At…." the voice lost its pitch, almost coming out as a quiet apology. "At Saitama."
Guilford didn't have an answer to that. He'd gone over the numbers personally over all of the said events, and the death rate only increased.
But he couldn't give in, not to walk their lives straight to Zero. In Britannia, there was semblance of stability, and if they stayed ahead of the game, organized a group of loyal soldiers, they wouldn't have to fear assassins. With Zero… no one could know his next move.
Guilford turned to Cornelia's younger half for support. "Euphemia! You can't do this! You can't walk into the hands of that cowardly madman! You can't-"
"SHUT UP!" Euphemia shouted. She turned towards Guilford, features ablaze in fire. Guilford mouth hung open midsentence at the sight.
Euphemia, you never got angry, you never raised your voice. What has happened?
"SHUT UP! You have NO IDEA what you're talking about! Zero is going against an empire that spans an entire THIRD OF THE GLOBE! And you call him not courageous? Fighting for the meek, keeping hope alive!" Guilford saw through Euphemia's spite to the tears coagulating at her eyes. "He…. he is nothing like you say."
"That's enough, Euphemia. You don't have to say anything else." A voice reaped in cold and incubated in night threatened the air. A third figure stood. Swept in black folds of a midnight cloth, standing tall and straight, mask foreboding in its barrenness. A sinister exclusion wormed its way into the atmosphere.
"Zero." Guilford breathed. It took a second to override his frozen stature. A blink later and a pistol was at hand, aimed stoically at the revolutionaries heart.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO EUPHEMIA AND CORNELIA!" Guilford shouted. "I SWEAR IF YOUR FORCING THEM TO THIS, IN ANY WAY, I'LL KILL YOU, HERE AND NOW!"
There was a mute abeyance as both sides digested the threat.
Cornelia then stared down the barrel of the gun. "Zero. Besides you and Euphemia, Guilford is the only man I whole heatedly trust." She turned around to stare Zero square in the face. "Please."
Guilford griped at the exchange. Zero, the man Cornelia trusts the most?
Zero stared at Cornelia for a second, contemplative of his actions. "Very well."
He slowly raised his arms, slowly and deliberately under threat, to unclasp the binds of his helmet. With a silk flourish, he brought the mask forward and down, making it so Guilford could only absorb his identities in the final seconds.
The man named Zero had the sharp face of a predator. Black hair marred his forehead in thick clumps, while his chin protruded forward with pride. Calculating eyes of a purple color strained against Guilford's own optics, pushing into his mind.
He recognized the face at once.
"Prince…. Prince LELOUCH!" He exclaimed, unconsciously dropping his gun and shifting into the better light. It had been years since he'd raised face against Lelouch's, years since their supposed death. Lady Marianne had been the first figure he'd respected. Earning her position through intense effort and dedication. She was the pinnacle of an ideal soldier. Her death drove him forward to even greater dedication to protect Cornelia and Euphemia to the best of his abilities.
Lelouch, was Zero. The long lost prince, masking himself to turn Britannia to ash.
Guilford chuckled and took off his glasses, cleaning them with the fringes of his uniform. "Well. Three members of the Royal Family, back from the dead. Three similar defects against the motherland." He leaned back to the wall and smiled as a whisper. "What a day this is turning out to be."
Three members of the Imperial Family. Two of of which I'd follow to the ends of the Earth.
"Very well. My car is waiting just outside, I'll be able to smuggle you three out, easily." Guilford said. He had no doubts of his actions, but in them he proclaimed betrayal against the country he had faithfully served his entire life.
"Four." Another person stood up. The voice was high and light, enunciated in a strict monotone. "My, all of you four shouting at each other. It makes it rather impossible to sleep."
Guilford adverted his gaze at the sight of her revealed form, coughing lightly with a red face.
"What…. were you guys doing, in that box?"
There was a single moment of silence before the four occupants avidly voiced their outrage.
The Black Submarine
10:00 PM
Kallen sat anxiously in the Black Submarine. They had docked a good five hundred miles from the battlefield on some bloody island. Far enough, hopefully, to be out of Britannia's direct search range.
They'd taken considerable damage from the past battle, catastrophic loses of most of their soldiers and resources. Yet in all of this, they had made well their escape, a due in no small credit to Zero.
His plan had succeeded optimally. Each forward submarine had been smashed, with no casualties on the six knightmare pilots. It had been catch play for a bit, but she'd made it back with the hull intact. And his final ace had guaranteed their getaway.
Alive… to fight another day, I suppose. Her gaze turned towards the hangar. It was overfilling with battered frames. Few had any movable limbs or digits at all, while the rest were twisted hunks of scarred metal. The unwounded pilots lay slumped around their knightmares. All the living quarters aboard had been commandeered for the wounded.
And they couldn't return home, not now.
But the way the we are now, what can we hope to achieve?
Kallen looked up at the purple Sutherland that had absorbed the air of the Guren. Her familiar knightmare had always been packed for transport in the recessed corner of the Black Submarine, a final safeguard for Rakshata's baby. And now it was gone. The slick crimson chrome replaced by an alien Sutherland from an unnamed pilot.
"The Lancelot could wipe us out, singlehandedly at this point." Kallen muttered. She winced as she leaned back and put pressure on her wounded side.
"You look like you could do with some sleep." Oghi said, rearing his face between the blank space of two knightmares. He clasped two mugs of coffee in his hands.
"Yeah. Couldn't we all?" Kallen said, though still taking the cup. Oghi joined her on the bench. Both of them took a moment to survey the scene and relax with the hot liquid.
"Any word from Zero?" Kallen asked in a low voice. The very stirring of that name offered hope in the black windows of the night, a hope she felt none of them were obligated to. As of now, it would likely be a lie
Oghi set down the mug and leaned forward to his knees. "Yeah, he managed to escape the perimeter, and says he'll contact us with further instructions."
Kallen let out a relieved breath. The revolutionary wouldn't be over, not until Zero was dead. Despite their best efforts, Britannia couldn't erase the man's fearsome reputation.
She suddenly stood up and her stretched her arms, uplifted by the small declaration. "Better see if anyone needs help with the repairs."
"Wait." Oghi's hand grabbed her shoulder. His voice was wavering, uncertain.
For the first time that day, Kallen was overtaken by how old the man looked. His eyes and posture had aged decades in the past few days, bags under eyes and bruises everywhere else. The Oghis she saw, was quickly losing hope.
In Zero's absence, he was instantly thrust into a position of high command, him being the most trusted of the senior officers. The death, the losses, the withering purpose of it all, weighed on him.
His eyes implored the ground. "We…. we can still win this, right?"
Kallen watched abated, uncertain how to react. "I….well….." She started. Oghi closed his eyes and shrunk smaller.
"Of COURSE we can WIN THIS!" She jokingly punched his shoulder. "WHAT kind of question is that? Remember what we were before? The gang of bartenders, teachers, janitors, highschoolers… and see how far we've come? Even now, we're twice what we were back then!"
She shouldered her leader to his feet. "Come on Oghi, I hear Tamaki is making trouble again in the cafeteria!"
Oghi paused, halfway between sitting and standing. "Yeah, I'd better go clear that out." He began edging out of the stadium, smiling slightly. "I swear, that Tamaki-"
When he was out of earshot, she sighed and turned back towards the ceiling. If Oghi is in a mood like this, what of the others?
Kallen's ears pricked up as a squad of commotion rushed by the open doorway. She scrambled from her position into the hallway.
"HEY! What's up?" She shouted at the wavering necklines. Only one bothered to turn around.
"Zero's back!" He yelled excitedly before rejoining the mass.
Kallen felt a thrill of coursed variance gush through her. She unconsciously joined the flood forward, only gaining perspective moments later.
This….this is what Zero does. She swiveled around at the various faces, alight with hopeful illumination. The cross haired tragedy had completely been forgotten.
Above everything else… he gives us hope.
Zero absently tapped the desk of his office. It was a plain room, combed bare through necessity. There was a single television screen suspended across the front wall, while a simple computer hogged the desk. Euphemia and Cornelia were amply lounging on the blue couch at the front of the room.
They were both dressed in Zero costumes, in the time of a couple hours, he'd managed a mint set of clothes through his Geassed tailor and had them delivered to a drop off point. Their costumes were not complete mirrors of his own, slightly modified in alternating colors with masks of separate decals.
Euphemia's flared a dark rose theme, perfectly suitable to for her. Lighter accents of pink and a lighter red ran down the front and back. It had been slimmed down substantially, with focus on quickness and agile movement. Her mask was thinly sharpened in an oblong figure.
Cornelia's costume had been modified in similiarily. Her suit had been styled with shades of a dark blue and grey. Contrary to Euphemia's, Cornelia's design was created to reflect her resolute stature. Her shoulders were protected by thick pads that ended in spikes. A large rectangular cape hung straight to her legs. Besides two hornlike protrusions at the top of the mask, the design had remained the same.
Both Cornelia and Euphemia were disheveled, their faces said it all. The ride had offered a small respite from the rising fire, but not enough to be substantial
My first reason for the mask; Leaders can't afford to put forward weak air.
"3 minutes." Lelouch said. Euphemia straightened herself and put on her mask. Cornelia hesitated a second longer, scrutinizing him under a purple eye. She shoved the mask to her face.
I'm shoving them to the sharks. The people who have the most reason in the world to hate them. He looked them straight through the shielding material of his helmet. Their trust will be validated.
He gripped the open door, beckoning the pair to follow.
Tohdoh watched the gathering crowd from the rear. The large hall, capable of holding nearly all members of the Black Knights, was not only a quarter full. A slight doorway just left of the stage was the set location of Zero's arrival.
Scanning the clouds, the toll of the last few days was blatantly obvious. Each face held its shares of scars, wounds, wrapped bandages, untold demons lurking behind haunted eyes. More than that was the expression they all wore, faces filled with light, a pale reverence to the masked revolutionary. The darkness that had shrouded them, it drove them to desperation.
No man should command that type of follow.
But he couldn't fault Zero for that. The recent events had arced wildly out of his control.
He individually picked out figures among the crowd; Chiba ten feet forward, Senba to the right, Asahina cast to the side, Urabe in the back. Each of them held back baleful gazes of disgust at the near worship demonstrated by Zero's followers, all more by the fact that those feelings weren't unfounded.
As much as Tohdoh hated to admit it, there was only one man with the capabilities to overstep their destruction.
A hush fell across the room in a rolling wave of turned heads. A silent phantom had entered the room, his figure looming over the rest. The dark cloud of cold intensity was felt by all.
Zero stopped dead center. When he moved, he moved with fast precision, voice rising quickly and thundering across the open room.
"I am aware of the events that have transpired over the past days. We shudder at Britannia's crimes, the SLAUGHTER of the weak, the planned GENOCIDE against innocents who deserved none of it. By their actions, they have distinguished themselves execrably in the pits of cowardly desecration."
Tohdoh could feel the heat of emanating anger from the audience.
"But…. in this distrust, this FARCE, we found strength. STRENGTH TO RISE, STRENGTH TO FLY, TO DENY THE FATE CONDEMNED TO US."
Zero swept his cape, refocusing the gaze of all present.
"For you, I have nothing but pride. Fighting, outnumbered twenty to one, backed into a corner and beaten and kicked and flayed and YOU DID NOT BREAK!"
"You did not break. Not with anything that Britannia threw at you."
He paused for a second.
"The road forward…. it has only darkened. Filled with treachery, deceit, and all manner of able bodied corruption. But we will take it in stride, NEVER faltering, NEVER hesitating, forward to JAPAN! Forward to the shattered clasp, day scarred black in rising swells, THE DAY THAT BRITANNIA FALLS!"
A deafening cheer reverberated through the dense enclosure of the submarine. People were shouting their support, personal pain completely forgotten in the dream bigger than all of them.
Tohdoh nodded assertively, smiling despite himself. Zero. You didn't fail to impress.
"And we are flanked by new allies." Tohdoh leaned inwards as two figures walked to Zero's sides. His hand extended leftward towards the figure of red. "The BLACK HARPIE. And the BLACK GRIFFIN!"
A grumble arose from the cheers. Eyes shot at the two figures with suspicion.
It was hard enough for them to accept Zero, but two more? Tohdoh thought. What game is he playing at….
Zero nodded expectantly. "I understand your distrust, and apologize for withholding secrets. But it is of upmost importance that the identities of these two remain secret, two fold for their personal safety and our mission. But trust me, these two are our staunchest allies."
He pointed towards Griffin. "She is a high ranking noble-" Singular shouts rang out. "-who is risking everything to supply us with inside information. Should she be caught, she will be tortured and killed."
"Harpie fought Nonette Eneagram, KNIGHT OF 9, and emerged VICTROIOUS. She will fight as one of us, a sister in arms crossing swords with Britannia ON THE BATTLEFIELD."
"To all of you…. I ask to judge them by their actions, their bravery and determination, before their roles of birth." Zero's faceless mask independently held the breath of the audience, challenging any to say differently. He turned, satisfied.
"You will receive orders in a couple days. Rest, and be ready to give it your all. Tohdoh, Kallen, Oghi, and the Four Holy Swords, stay."
Tohdoh leaned back against the wall, as the masses departed. Each one of them cast a backwards glance at Harpie and Griffin before exiting.
And then the room was empty.
Kallen was sitting straight in a chair next to Oghi, who was fidgeting nervously with his watch. Asahina, Chiba, Senba, and Urabe slowly moved to his sides. Zero stayed at his perch atop the stairs.
Eyes turned to Harpie as she stepped down from the ironclad stage, pulling up a chair. She sat in it with a slump and rested her head against a nearby table.
"HARPIE!" Griffin spat. The voice was low and strong, laced with commanding authority. "Stay standing! Suit your status!"
"I'm sorry. But I haven't had sleep in 24 hours." Harpie moaned. The voice that replied was of a higher pitch, younger and more innocent. She turned her head, away from the voice. "That tends to make someone sleepy."
A sudden clank bludgeoned the room. Seven heads turned towards the iron sheets that had slid down the doorways, sealing the room.
Asahina stood fiercely. "Zero, if this is you ideal of a trap-"
"Trap?" Zero interrupted. "After the SAZ, after Yamato docks, I have still not earned your trust?"
Asahina crossed his arms and eyed Harpie and Griffin. "Hmph. Like I can trust anyone with a mask."
"No, I could never expect that of you. But after all of this, I expect you to trust the mask, my intentions at the very least, to always move forward towards Japan."
Chiba took a step towards Zero. "Fine. We have faith in you actions. But what of them?" She pointed back towards the masked duo. "HOW DO WE KNOW WE CAN TRUST THEM!"
There was a stalled silence. "That, Chiba, is exactly what I hope to rectify. Harpie, Griffin please remove your masks."
The room was quiet as eyes turned and focused on the two of them. Harpie took the moment to stand and grab her helmet, an action copied by Griffin. There was a short buckle as clasps were released, followed by the two helmets being forced upwards and out, revealing-
Euphemia and Cornelia.
Euphemia li Britannia and Cornelia li Britannia.
Tohdoh's initial reaction was to go towards the gun concealed at his hip, and fire unhesitatingly, but Chiba was a second faster.
Before Zero could react, a shot pierced iron Cornelia's arm lower arm, exiting cleanly and impacting on the wall behind. Cornelia fell to one knee, hand clutching at the bleeding puncture.
Damn, they acted faster than I thought! Lelouch thought, instinctively moving towards Cornelia.
"YOU UNHOLY SCUM!" Ciba sneered. "THE NEXT SHOT GOES TO YOUR BRAIN-"
"No." Zero stood in front of the barrel, shielding Cornelia from fire. His voice wavered slightly, an alarming characteristic. "It won't."
Chiba's eyes didn't blink. "Zero, you've earned some cardinal respect from me, so I'll give you a second to get out of my way before I KILL THIS WRETCH!"
Tohdoh grabbed her shoulder. "Don't shoot, Chiba."
"And why THE HELL not!?" She asked with contempt. "This witch has slaughtered THOUSANDS. Remember Saitama? Area 18? Zero crossed the line when he allied himself with her! There's no telling when she'll betray us all!"
"Chiba, you saw the footage, at the very least! Zero wouldn't be alive if it weren't for them!" Kallen stated, jumping into the conversation.
Chiba narrowed her eyes. "So she saves ONE person. Does THAT somehow EXCUSE everything else? SHE STILL HAS TO PAY FOR-"
"What about the JLF hostage exchange?" Zero asked, cool voice shooting through Chiba's arguments. "The landslide at Narita that crushed a town? The poison gas that the predecessors of the Black Knights were planning to use?" Kallen and Oghi cast guilty glances downwards at that injection.
"The truth, all of us have hands that run black with curated blood of innocents." Zero spread his arms. "And we go on. Because we believe our purpose, our goal is singular to that sacrifice."
"It took those deaths and more, for Cornelia to understand. Understand Britannia's crimes, and what must be done." Zero's voice dropped in volume. "At the end, we will all pay for our crimes. None of us are exempt from that. But for now, this is war. And she is needed to WIN."
Chiba's hand shook slightly, indecision clearly written out across her face. "No! I-"
"Will NOT shoot Euphemia, or me!" Cornelia rotated around Zero and raised her own gun, with her good arm, firing a bullet straight down the downwards slant of Chiba's weapon. It exploded the magazine, making Chiba drop the ruined gun to the ground with a yelp. She glared at Cornelia with death.
"Zero, Chiba still brings up a good point." Oghi said, leaning inwards. "How do we know for sure that we can trust them?" The question hung, suspended in the air.
"Do you have a choice?" A chilled voice asked. The group turned to look back, towards the bubble-gum haired princess. She stood upright from her seat, advancing straight towards Oghi. "Let me lay out the facts. Approximately 60% of the Black Knights are DEAD. The enemy has cut all of your resources. You are now limited to everything left on this submarine. And let me tell you, no one in the WORLD is looking to help you out, not now." Her face was now positioned inches away from Oghi's, eyes intensely bearing down on his.
"So your asking... why you should accept OUR help? Seems to me that you should be DOWN ON YOUR KNEES GRATEFUL that me and my sister are-"
BAM!
Kallen slugged the errant princess in the stomach, instantly dropping her to her knees.
"Euphie!" Conrelia called, rushing over to her side. She aimed her gun at Kallen. "If you touch her again-"
"SHUT IT." Cornelia froze at the fury in Kallen's words. "You think we NEED your help, Britannian filth? Let me say that we've done FINE without the likes of you, and will continue to, with you or not." She turned to face Euphemia. "So LET me tell you something, you little BITCH. You think you can stroll in here, and tell US what to do? Get off your high horse and smell the mud. You're in OUR world now. Get used to it."
Euphemia sat motionless, eyes still directed downwards. With a start, she suddenly stood up, her eyes quickly flickering from face to face.
"OH! Um... why's everybody looking at me?" She asked, voice woven with uncertainty. The coldness had fled her features. The group just stared at her with stony eyes. "Sorry...um, my name's Euphemia?" She held out her hand to Kallen, who stared at it with disgust.
"Save it, princess." Kallen brushed past Euphemia and retook her seat at the back of the room.
Zero watched Euphemia with a worried gaze. What... what was that just now? I've never seen Euphemia act like that before...
Tohdoh broke the stillness. "Everyone. You know the situation. You know what we're up against. We must take all the help we can get, even if that help is of questionable character." Tohdoh looked towards Euphemia at that statement. For the most part, Euphemia simply stood confused, not quite understanding the hostility directed at her. " Zero. I'll trust your judgment for now. But if they step out of line, show any indication of betraying us, and I'LL be the one pulling the trigger."
Zero nodded and clicked a switch, opening the doors. "Let me finish by reminding all of you that this conversation does not leave the room. It is imperative, for all future missions, that the information discussed here remain secret. Dismissed."
The group stepped forward from their places, slowly making their ways to the door. None of them turned their backs to Cornelia until they reached the hallway.
"Wait. Kallen." Cornelia stated, quietly. Kallen stopped, barely turning around.
"Yes-" A shot buried itself within the iron hull a couple inches away. She jumped back in surprise.
"If you EVER hurt Euphemia again, I'll kill you myself." Kallen mentally shuddered at the threat from the Witch of Britannia. She nodded once before joining the others in the hallway.
Euphemia looked at Zero from under her replaced mask, after the group had left.
"Well, that could've gone worse."
A/N: Well, another chapter done and done. I got rid of the "C.C. x Lelouch" in the initial description box, because I'm debating another pairing. Probably won't change from my original idea, however.
On another note, I finished watching Deadman Wonderland. I actually enjoyed watching it, but I definitely recommend watching the first episode, and ONLY the first episode. Because boy, does Ganta's whining get on your nerves after a while.