Note: The cover image, and both series that this story is based on, belong to their respective owners.
Prince Lelouch Vi Britannia didn't know what to make of it; not thirteen hours ago he had been standing before his father trying to make him take action in the wake of the death of the young prince's own mother. But the result of the confrontation had no such affect. Now, not even a day after their confrontation, the man had banished Lelouch and his horribly injured sister to Japan as political tools. The two had been taken to a personal jet in less than half an hour and had been whisked away without so much as a second thought from the Emperor.
Lelouch, sitting silently in his seat upon the small personal jet, glanced to his left to find his dear sister Nunnally still unconscious in the seat beside him. She had been paralyzed from the waist down, and traumatized to the point of losing the will to see the outside world during the attack on their mother. She seemed so pale, in fact everything about her seemed faded, like an old photo. Her light brown hair seemed to be closer to white than it had before, and her skin was the same color as a piece of paper.
She seemed so out of place in the large chair. The lush red fabric that it was made from was bright and vibrant, much like the rich butterscotch brown colored wood that made up the walls of the small space, while she seemed so colorless.
As Lelouch looked to her small, frail, form his sight began to grow blurry. It didn't take much to realize what it was. He had cried like this when he had first seen Nunnally the day she had been placed in intensive care immediately following the attack. He had simply sat beside her while silent tears filled his eyes.
He slowly wiped them away, and let out a shaky breath, before looking to the window at his right. It was dark outside and unsettling. The black nothingness made it seem like they were in some kind of suspended reality. He didn't like it. It felt as if that very black nothingness outside was about to creep into the plane and swallow the two children whole. The thought was terrifying and made Lelouch all the more scared.
"We will now be prepping for landing, all passengers please return to your seats and buckle up in preparation." Came the pilot's voice over the plane's internal speakers.
Lelouch shuddered at the thought of what might await himself and his sister on the ground below. He had no way of telling what it would be, but he knew one thing: He and Nunnally were alone in a foreign country with no one to protect them.
Kaneki Kurosaki slowly made his way into the small cargo compartment of the personal jet that had just landed at the Tokyo airport in order to retrieve the luggage that had been brought from, apparently, Britannia. No one really told him why an unscheduled royal jet had landed in Japan at close to midnight, and honestly? It wasn't his place to question it. In all likelihood it was some form of political nonsense that he probably wouldn't understand if he tried. Still, it was strange.
Kaneki made it into the cargo area and began to move the large suitcases closer to the exit in preparation of moving them to the small cart below. As he reached for the first bag, he heard a strange rustling from behind him and immediately turned around to figure out what the hell was in the space with him. Unfortunately, all he saw was brief glimpse of a hooded figure before being punched squarely in the gut, and passing out cold.
Arno quickly hoisted the unconscious man over his shoulder and moved him to the farthest wall of the small space that they occupied. Lowering him to the metal floor, He proceeded to crouch back down and quietly made his way to the side of the door leading outside. Across from him was Connor, who looked at Arno disapprovingly until Arno couldn't take it.
"What?" He questioned in a hushed tone, "he's fine, they'll find him later and wake him up no problem. It's not like I stabbed him to death."
"They'll get curious," Connor replied, "Who do you think is going to take their luggage now?"
Arno cursed under his breath before looking back to the unconscious man about five feet away. He was obviously of Asian descent, and his clothes were far less fanciful than those of either himself or Connor. But then something caught Arno's eye, the man's top had a hood and seemed to be about the same size as himself. Grinning triumphantly, he made his way over to the unconscious man and quickly began to swap clothes.
"What are you doing?" Connor questioned incredulously as he watched his friend begin disrobing.
"Blending in." Arno grunted as he pulled on the other man's pants. "You know, hide in plain sight?"
Connor sighed and began to take up Arno's clothes and the equipment that he couldn't conceal. Tossing the extra items into a duffel bag that he found nearby, he returned to his position by the door and waited patiently for Arno. Moments later, the two were back by the exit. One still wearing his brotherhood robes and one now wearing long, baggy, trousers and a black hoody.
"So how do you intend to trick a group of people that you can't even understand?" Connor asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"I'm not," Arno replied confidently as he grabbed two suitcases and began to exit the craft with his head lowered and hood up, "I'm just testing a theory at the moment. You keep an eye on the boy, I'll catch up"
Connor remained in the craft for a few extra moments before peering out to get a feel for his surroundings. The area nearly mirrored the one that they had just come from with only minor differences. The strange horseless carriages were still present, along with the mysterious building in the distance. What wasn't the same, though, was the fact that the Carriages, and the building were now giving off constant beams of light that Connor couldn't possibly hope to explain at the moment, along with the much more abundant plant life that surrounded this strange "concrete", as Arno had called it, field. A neat field of grass surrounded the space instead of the desert that had been at the last location and then was replaced by a forest of small trees a bout fifty feet later.
Being certain to remain out of sight, Connor made his way down the ramp that led to the ground below the contraption he was in, and hid behind the nearest Carriage. Looking over the top of his cover, the assassin activated his Eagle Vision and began to search for the child that they had followed on-board the strange bird-like machine. Moving silently from cover to cover, Connor swiped left to right until finally seeing the distant shine of two golden figures and their escorts about half way towards the building. He recognized the boy immediately, and then took in the sight of the small girl who was sitting in a chair with wheels on it.
"The sister," Connor whispered, recalling the fight the boy had with his father.
Filing away the fact that there were now two targets to keep track of, Connor quickly began to follow. He moved from shadow to shadow, making certain to stay out of any of the bright lights that emanated from the front of the Carriages. Slowly but surely, He gained ground on the targets until he encountered a problem…
The targets had entered the building and, unfortunately for Connor, Were going through some form of checkpoint that seemed armed to the teeth, and held some form of alarm system within arm's length of each guard. He couldn't just simply waltz through in the outfit he was currently wearing, and he wasn't about to try to go in with his sword held high. He ground his teeth together in frustration before something came to mind.
"Blend in…"Connor mumbled before turning to look at a nearby pedestrian that, thanks to the slightly chilly climate, was wearing a hooded jacket. "Well, I guess I'll have to give Arno credit for this one."
Arno calmly walked towards the building directly ahead, guessing that it was the most likely place for a bag boy to go, and made sure to keep his head down to ensure that those around him would be unable to see his face from beneath his hood.
He glanced around, looking for any kind of indication as to where he should go, and decided that simply walking with a purpose was his best bet. As he came up to the side of the large building, he opened a small, rusty side door that seemed as inconspicuous as he was going to get. Making his way inside, He found himself in a small hallway consisting of a smooth tiled floor, and white brick walls.
"They may figure out that something's wrong," Arno whispered to himself as he made his way down the corridor, passing several unsuspecting workers, "but at least I have a good disguise now."
As he reached the end of the hallway, he found himself before a pair of bright red doors. Activating his Eagle Vision, he opened the door and walked into the next room. Far off to his right was what appeared to be some form of checkpoint filled with guards. All around him were sets of generic chairs that seemed to have been bolted into more polished tiles like the ones in the hallway from before. The walls, however, were replaced by smoothed out surfaces that Arno had never seen before. Then, finally, to his left was a hallway connected to the left side of the room. His senses were able to pick up two golden silhouettes just around a corner to his left. He, much like Connor, took note of their newest addition to their little chase, and her confinement to a chair with wheels attached to its sides.
"Well there's prince charming and dear Rapunzel," Arno joked as he looked at the shape of the boy they had followed and who he assumed was his sister. "Now where is Connor?"
"Closer than you would think." Came a sudden reply from behind him.
Arno instinctively spun to face the newcomer, raising his hands in preparation of any possible attack, only to find himself face to face with Connor himself, now also adorning unsuspecting clothes akin to Connor's own, along with a large duffel bag. "Christ man, don't do that!"
"Come, we need to keep up with the children." He said, passing Arno and moving to tail the children as they were taken towards another exit.
"Right," Arno agreed, quickly falling into step behind Connor after leaving the suitcases he had been carrying next to an empty chair, "Nice outfit by the way."
"Very funny," Connor shot back as he continued his pursuit.
"So what's the plan this time?" Arno asked as the two exited the building and found themselves surrounded by random civilians as they went about their business. The pair watched as the children were taken to another of the horseless carriages. "We can't just hop in like we did last time, there's too many witnesses."
Connor stood still for a moment, watching as the two little figures entered the car. He watched as one of the people that had been guiding the young royals took up the small wheelchair the girl had been sitting in and folded it neatly before storing it within the rear compartment. Sighing in defeat, he realized that they had no real way to continue their investigation for the time being.
"We'll have to let them go for now." Connor answered finally, frowning as he began to slowly stroll down the street to his left.
"What if something happens to them?" Arno asked, following his companion. It was obvious he didn't exactly like leaving the safety of the two youths to fate. Still, he could see the logic in cutting their losses.
"We just have to hope they'll be safe until we can find them again." He sighed as he watched the car with their charges drive away. "For now, we need to figure out how things work in this strange world."
"Easier said than done," Arno scoffed, "but it's better than just blindly running around without a clue."
"Glad we're in agreement," Connor managed as he stifled a yawn. He could already feel fatigue begin to set in after the day's hellish chain of events that left no room for respite. "First things first, we need somewhere to sleep, agreed?"
"Agreed." Arno moaned through a yawn of his own.