Author's Gab: Tinny bitty update folks. (To any of you still reading that is.)
Ruben K. Ashford was old, getting well along in his years. The head of the Ashford Family, he had lead the family to prominence as the primary R&D company for designing and manufacturing the revolutionary Knightmare Frames for the Britannian Empire.
However, he would also bear the responsibility of taking care of the family when it fell from its place in the upper echelons, its nobility stripped and its name dirtied and dishonored. This fall had come with the untimely assassination of one of the Imperial consorts, Lady Marianne, she who had been the reason how the Ashfords could have risen in the first place.
So it was that on that difficult year he had undertaken the laborious act of securing for his family's needs in the wake of their exile from the homeland. As the war with the then nation of Japan broke out, he had been contacted by the slain consorts' children, they whom he knew had fallen out of favor in the Imperial court as well and had been sent to Japan as a political hostage. He had agreed to this clandestine purpose of hiding the Imperial heirs as requested by the elder one, Lelouch. He had done this for he knew that the family would need some sort of backup should trouble again befall the Ashfords upon their arrival and stay in the newly christened Area Eleven.
He had also agreed to the request because he had respected the Lady Marianne who had supported his family, whose home in the Aries Villa where she and her children lived he would occasionally visit on business or pleasure whenever he would bring his grand-daughter, Milly.
He was surprised, then, to find nothing upon the family's arrival on the ravaged land of Area Eleven. No sight of the former Imperial heirs greeted him, and he was forced to reluctantly send out a search party for a time. Upon turning up nothing as well, he was forced to concede, with bowed head, that they had been lost to the war, unfortunate casualties in this wartorn land. He had sent the news anonymously back to the homeland, and had also then informed his heart-broken and saddened grand-daughter.
Which was why it was with a shock that greatly taxed his aged mental faculties that he beheld the elder sibling, Lelouch, seemingly walk out of the shadows of death and into his office in Ashford Academy five years later. He had just settled himself into his desk, eager to finish some paperwork and nursing a slight hangover from the raucous party he had attended last night, when the door had quietly opened to reveal a dark-clad figure standing in crisp attention.
He had used the silent moments of dumbstruck surprise to note the tea slowly staining the papers on his desk, as his mind struggled to comprehend the sight in front of him. He watched as the boy walked on inside and bow. "Greetings, and well-met, Mr. Ashford."
Mentally wondering if it was an illusion brought about by hangover (or age) induced stress, he returned the greeting with ashen tongue, not even pausing to think of offering tea. He merely sat in silence as he returned the boy's gaze from across the desk.
This one standing before him was a far cry from the scrawny boy he had met back in the Aries Villa. For one, he seemed to be more well-built now, though he was a bit lean in the sides. His skin had also seemed to have lost its fair luster, replaced by a dull light tan. But the most striking point, he saw, was the face. It was lined with light marks and scars, as if the boy had underwent tough conditions during his mysterious five-year disappearance. It was also highlighted quite clearly with a brooding frown, the muscles wrinkled to produce such an effect. And then there were the eyes, huge violet orbs that had strangely lost their light, as if they had been sucked away.
Those eyes now regarded him, and the man strangely shivered in spite of himself. Those eyes unnerved him, and he subsequently averted his gaze.
"L-L-Lelouch, right?" he stammered reluctantly.
"Yes," came the cold reply.
"So it is you!" he exclaimed. "Where, where have you been all this time?" he breathed as he comprehended this revelation.
"Me?" asked the boy, walking over to a shelf to his side, where numerous ornaments were displayed. "I hope you mean: where have we, the Lamperouges, been all this time? You," the boy looked back over his head, "do remember my little sister Nunnally, don't you?"
"Well, yes, one can hardly - "
"No matter," the boy interrupted. "I'm sure it is."
Another uneasy silence. "So...back to my question, if you could tell me, Lelouch. Where have you - and Nunnally been all this time?" He saw the boy's back visibly straighten.
The boy didn't answer, seemingly intent on focusing his attention on some of the displays.
"When we...," he continued, "we received the message, I'd assumed...
"Well, at first when there was not sign of the two of you on the meeting zone, we...we sent out search parties. We'd assumed...that the two of you had somehow gotten yourselves lost, or...," he gulped, "..the worst case - you had been casualties."
"How long and far did you search?"
"Lelouch, we did have our circumstances back then-"
"Did you tell the people back home?"
"- err, of course we were the source of the news, though they didn't know it was from us specifically-"
"Thank you," cut in the boy.
Feeling a bit annoyed by the youth's rude behavior, he pressed, "Lelouch, normally shouldn't this reunion be somewhat more...joyous? After all, here you - and of course - Nunnally are after all this time, safe and sound...I'm sure many people, your brothers and sisters from the homeland, would be relieved about this...
"And Milly, you remember her? She'll be overjoyed! You should have seen how she was back then when she was told we couldn't find the two of you...endless weeks spent crying..."
All this time he had been speaking to the youth's back, for the latter did not even turn to look at him when he spoke. Suddenly, the school bell rang, (even though it was a weekend) and he saw the youth's head cock to one side.
The boy now turned to face him once again, "Mr. Ashford, a question if you will." He was a bit unnerved at the way those little violet voids bore into him. "How did your family end up rising from its supposed stupor to create this grand establishment? It seems to be well-known here in the Settlement, and one cannot think that it had been founded by an exiled noble house."
For once, Ruben Ashford drew himself up, his pride of his family taking over, and said, "When we were 'exiled', as you said Lelouch, we did not lose everything. We had the clothes on our backs, and the inheritance of previous generations of Ashfords. Although we have been banished to this Area, we still have our duty to the Empire, and this is how we have chosen to serve it."
He saw something imperceptible flicker across the youth's face for a moment, before the youth presently bowed lightly and said, "I see. Good day to you then, Mr. Ashford."
With that, the boy turned crisply towards the door. "Wait, Lelouch! You still have to answer my questions!" Ashford called out, perturbed at the youth's eccentric behavior.
The boy paused in the open doorway, and again the man was affixed with that unsettling gaze, a look that seemed to radiate a haunting sense of killing intent. "Mr. Ashford, We will be spending some time in the Settlement. If you do see us somewhere in this place, I would advise you not to call out, or you will remember what exactly your current place in society is."
"What are you talking about?"
The door slammed shut, leaving the puzzled and astonished head of the Ashford family alone to ponder on what he had heard.
It was another warm day. Today, they would be visiting again.
In her hand, she held a little creature. A gift from her uncle, it was a cute little thing, resting peacefully in the palm of her hand.
After passing through hallways, trailing behind her grandfather, she found herself standing at the entrance to the gardens.
She could already hear their laughter from somewhere within. Without waiting, she'd bounded into the garden, holding the hamster before her as she ran.
At first, she saw Lady Marianne sitting on a stone bench, who smiled at her arrival and pointed to her right. Bowing and curtsying happily, she ran in that direction, already
calling out, "Lulu! Nana!"
A little girl clad in a gaudy pink sundress runs to her, eyes wide and alight with curiosity at what she held in her hands.
"Milly, what's that?"
She saw the crouched boy next, sweating heavily and panting a little as usual, staring at the creature warily.
"Nunnally, don't get too close. It might bite you!"
"Ehhh~ but it looks so cute..."
"That's right, Lulu. How can something this cute hurt someone?"
"But..."
"Ey~," she tosses the hamster towards the boy.
"Waaahh!" The boy dashed to catch it, almost tripping in his effort. He caught the surprised hamster neatly in his palms and glowered wearily at her. "Hey...that was dangerous, Milly."
"Hey Milly, what do you call this thing?"
"My uncle called it a hamster," she said at the same time the boy blurted, "It's a hamster." Without hesitation, they giggled for some moments as she plucked the hamster
from the boy's grasp.
"It's so cuuuute...What's her name?"
"Uh...Nunnally, maybe it's a boy?..."
"Too bad Lulu, Flomi's a girl~ my uncle said."
Both girls stuck out their tongues at a visibly exasperated boy. The boy made a rueful face, and peered at the creature. "I still think it's dangerous."
They all heard Lady Marianne calling for them, summoning them for some snacks. She thrust the hamster into Lulu's hands again.
"For that, you are now to hold on to her tight. You need to see how cute she really is!"
"Huh? Why do I have to do that?"
"Ah, it's a Milly challenge right?"
"That's right, that's right. For the next two hours, as punishment, Lulu will have to discover Flomi's cuteness through close contact," she declared.
"All right, all right, I understand...I acknowledge that she's...cute..." the boy muttered as he held the hamster up. "So will you please take her back?"
"No can do," she refused as she grabbed Nana's hand. "You still have a challenge to do!" she called over her shoulders as they ran to leave the boy behind.
"Hey - wait a minute - wait you guys..." came the boy's pleading voice.
"Oh my, Lelouch, what is that you are holding? It looks cute."
"Et tu, mother?" She watched the boy sigh deeply as he cradled the hamster to his chest. She then had an urge to play another prank, and -
Abruptly, she awoke, seeing before her glazed eyes the familiar ceiling. With a quick yawn, she turned her head to look at the nearby windows that now streamed the warm pleasant sunshine through. As she rose to sit on the side of her bed, she realized that she was still dressed in the party clothes she had worn last night, when a grand party that was to celebrate the third years' graduation from Ashford Academy had been held.
It had been a fairly raucous event, with some highlights that included her particularly drunk grandfather dominating the dance floor together with the graduating student council president. She had laughed her heart out, by then starting to enjoy the evening that she thought would have been greatly boring.(for she thought parties she did not organize herself were such) Afterwards, Milly was then informally inducted by the president into her new position, a position that she had been secretly yearning for since the day she started.
Then she had spent the rest of the night dancing with some of the inebriated men, graduates all, continuously declining their consecutive proposals. When the party had ended, she continued to decline more invitations as she retired to her room with her maid in tow.
The memory of her walking to her room was apparently the last hazy one, she did not recall throwing herself upon her bed with her clothes still on. Perhaps Sayoko-san had been polite for her sake, and for that she was grateful for her non-interference.
Right on cue, her personal maid who was of Japanese origin entered the room as she was undressing, curtsying deeply.
"I apologize for yesterday, milady. I was reluctant to disturb your sleep, and-"
"That's fine, Sayoko-san," Milly interrupted gently.
"Then I shall attend to you now."
"No, no- no need for that. I'm almost done. But I could use something to wake me up though, Sayoko-san. Perhaps if you could-?"
"Right away, milady," her maid bowed again as she left the room to attend to her orders.
Milly sighed as she put on the last of her homewear. Her head was still buzzing a little bit from the hangover, a sure sign of the party's intensity. As she stood near the window in a temporary daze, a thought occured to her to visit her grandfather. She recalled his behavior last night, and wanted to tease him about it.(and she would also ask how that impossible event could have come to pass)
Walking along the corridors of the Ashford grounds, she mused on the rapidly receding details of the dream that she just had. Thinking about those two brought a slight pain to her heart, a wound that failed to close after five years.
Back when she'd first heard about their fates from her grandfather, she had stubbornedly denied it with childish determination. It would only be days later, with no sign of the two in sight, that she'd finally broken down. She recalled those days with a gnawing pang, and it did not help that she had that occasional dream now and then.
Her mind turned to better topics as it fought to stave off the melancholy. Grandpa, she now thought with a snicker, how will you explain last night~? Again, she regretted not bringing a camera last night - yet who could have expected Ashford Academy's head to have acted that way?
SLAM!
As she turned the corner, she was surprised to see a dark-clad figure standing outside her grandfather's office. She paused as the figure started to walk in her direction. Did he have business with grandpa, I wonder? She made to offer one of her friendly smiles, but it faltered when she saw the figure up close now.
Time seemed to slow down for Milly as her gradually widening eyes fought to process what she was currently seeing. As she watched him pass by, she recognized the face: that familiar scowl, the same raven-black hair, the cheeks that used to be clear but were now lined by marks, and the eyes, those eyes...
She saw him look briefly in her direction, and deep inside, Milly Ashford shivered. No sign of recognition dawned there, nothing but a cold fury that radiated from his face. And indeed, if he was who she thought he was, then it would be even more shocking to see this dread transformation. It was as if he had indeed died, and a demon had taken over her dear friend's body.
But she had to be sure. What if it was a look-alike? What if it was just the aftereffects of the alcohol, or the dream, that caused her to see her long-lost friend's face in another's? So she had to be sure. Then I...
"Lulu?" she tentativey called out to the man's retreating back.
The man stopped in his tracks, and Milly could see his back stiffening. Encouraged by this, she repeated, "Lulu? Is that you?"
She saw the man turn his head slowly to look at her. There was a brief moment of silence between them as each glanced at the other, before he said in a voice quite deeper than the one she remembered, "Miss Ashford. Do you have any business with-"
Something within Milly soared to a great height as she broke into a dash and tackled the boy, hugging him with all her might. "LULU!! LULU!! IS THAT REALLY YOU?!!"
Perhaps the boy was too surprised at her sudden action, or he had no way of knowing how to react to this that he spent a few moments choking within her teary embrace. It was only a few moments later that he attempted to free himself, shouting in a commanding voice, "Release me!"
He violently shook her off, an action that surprised her so much that she stood gaping at him as he composed himself.
Up close she could see how much the boy had changed physically. Gone was the fair-skinned, scrawny boy she'd remembered, none of the familiar features could be found in this well-toned young man. The same was true, as she'd noted before, of the youth's face, once quite fair and cute to look at, now marked here and there across its contours with little scars. Worse to note, she noted with disquiet, were the aberrant eyes: it was as if all the light and life had been squeezed out. She was completely taken aback at the way they had bored into her, almost as if they were seeing a potential foe.
Yet there was something quite endearing with the familiar way the boy was panting heavily as he red-facedly arranged his wrinkled clothes. It had been one of his characteristic reactions after undergoing one of her many demands back then. Because of that, she smiled despite the unsettling changes that had seemed to come over her friend.
The boy was done arranging himself and was thus standing erect, fixing his baleful gaze upon her. "Once again, did you have some business with me, Miss Ashford?" the boy cleared his throat.
Milly, who by now had reined in her emotions that threatened to push her to hug him again, was quietly considering her friend. There were many questions that she would have liked to ask, all buzzing around in her slightly hangovered mind, and she struggled to find the right one to ask first.
Seemingly taking her dumbstruck silence for an answer, the boy quickly turned to leave, thus prompting Milly, "Wait, Lulu, what's the matter with you? Two friends thought to have been forever separated meet again after a long time, and this is your reaction? Where's Nana-," she paused as she ran to grab his arm as he continued walking. "Lulu!", she cried reprimandingly.
"Miss Ashford," the boy muttered in a voice that was now slowly dripping with an unseen venom. "If you have no other business with me, then I-"
"Lulu, what's with all this 'business' stuff? Here's your childhood friend, worried sick over you-over the two of you, from the prospect of your having disappeared altogether and this is how you act? All these years, thinking that the world had been unfair to the both of you-" She was not surprised at the tears that had started to flow.
She saw the boy regard her hand on his arm quietly, before he carefully extracted it. "Lulu. We're friends remember? In the gardens, the Villa...It's been five whole years..Why do you have to act so..." she paused when she saw him he walk away again. She did not have the energy, as she was, to stop him again. Everything had happened so fast, so abruptly on this fateful morning, and now she was exhausted before the day had even begun.
She gazed after him imploringly, the tears silently streaming down her face. The girl was intensely hurt at this newfound coldness in him, something which she did not want to see in her friend. "Lulu..." she whispered in a pleading voice.
The boy's pace halted for a moment, a response which she took as positive. So believing, she started to slowly walk towards him, before she was again stopped by his imperious voice.
"Milly. It's good to see you safe.
She gasped, slightly relieved at this,
"But it is not an untruth to say that we have died. Nunnally and I...", the voice paused. "We are both already dead. So please," the boy concluded in a whisper.
Forget about us.
Confused and dumbstruck, all Milly could do was watch with sorrowful eyes as her friend swiftly departed. Eventually, when he'd already disappeared, the flood of emotions that had threatened to burst out were now let loose, resulting in her rapid descent into unconsciousness.
Lelouch, after infiltrating back out of the Ashford Academy grounds, immediately broke into a frenzied dash, his black cloak whipping after him as he ran.
He had no idea how this day could have possibly come to the worst conclusion. At the very start, when he'd stepped out of their temporary quarters in order to make his way to the Academy, he was confident in what he was about to accomplish.
Exactly what that was varied as Lelouch's thoughts had drifted from a crisp interrogation to outright murder. When he'd neared the prestigious Academy that the Ashfords had built, he'd been filled with a concrete sense of purpose, and he felt that now, after almost five years of dwelling in the dark, he'd find his answers.
The head of the family, Ruben Ashford, was the same old man as he'd remembered. He had no patience for the man's blubberings, in fact he had been thinking all throughout their conversation, (if it was one) of ways to safely and discreetly knock out the traitorous man and drag him to another place for a more thorough interrogation.
The unsuspecting man had been saved by the bell, whose shrill gongs had knocked the boy out from his murderous stupor into the reality of the situation: he had unwittingly revealed his and Nunnally's existence! So after giving veiled threats to the man and already concocting a scheme to secretly abduct him later, he'd made his leave, to quickly avoid being seen by too many people from the Academy.
The approach had been a tactical mistake on his part, but the worst was to come during the exit on that very corridor when he saw Milly Ashford walk around the corridor into sight. For the first time in the day, his simmering anger had been calmed at the sight of an old friend, a familiar face that had briefly summoned into his mind a dull memory. Cursing himself yet again for this slip-up, he'd made to ignore her by hiding his face, yet he could not resist confirming if indeed it was Milly, now older like he was, and for that their eyes had met, and then things went haywire from then on. The day had come apart before it had even started.
Desperately holding off the faint urge to throw his arms around his old friend to plead for deliverance, he controlled himself and shook off every one of Milly's advances, leaving her with another veiled threat. From the corner of his eye, he saw her fall to the ground in a swoon, causing him to hasten his pace towards the exit.
Remembering her prone frame spurred the boy even further, causing him to grit his teeth in sheer frustration. He hurtled through other people on the sidewalk without nary a care, not bothering to apologize to those he knocked down. He continued to run like a man possessed, as if there was something behind him that was stretching out its hands to catch the boy.
By the time he'd reached the vicinity of their safehouse, he was an exhausted mess, panting heavily and sweating profusely from the heat of his clothes and the midday sun. Yes...Nunnally, please... he thought in desperation to himself as he ascended the wooden steps towards their room.
Charles Augustus Portland enjoyed a lazy cigar as he stood to stare at the gates to Ashford Academy. To a passersby, it would seem as if the man were enjoying the ornate designs carved into the gates, yet the few who knew the Innocence Breaker recognized the distinct look which implied that the Breaker had found a new sport.
Yes, he had been treated to such a rare sight that very morning when he'd tailed the elder subject upon his departure during the early hours. The man was curious, for the boy's action was something that seemingly deviated from the plan. (Though in truth, there were no concrete orders for now, as Portland was waiting for more intel from the man from General.)
He was then subsequently surprised to see the boy's path lead straight to Ashford Academy, one of the places that the bartender had mentioned last night. Apparently, it was one of the Settlement's main landmarks, for it was the only major educational institution in the immediate area, serving hundreds of privileged Britannian youths that were currently living in the Area. He watched the boy enter through a clandestine route (the boy had been taught well!) and disappeared into the grounds.
Portland wondered what business the boy had with this place. As he could not enter for practical purposes, he was then forced to watch the gates, taking up a distant observer position.
When he saw the boy exit hurriedly, Portland smiled despite himself. He recognized the harried look the boy's face had, it was one he had seen frequently in escaped prison convicts. Just what exactly the boy had met, he did not know, but he was content in the knowledge that there really was something in the Academy that was connected to him, something which he was now desperate to avoid.
The question remained still: what was that in the Academy that concerned the boy? He knew he could not garner an answer so easily even in his position, for the new environment that they had been thrust in had too many unknown factors to consider an overt interrogation. Although he was assured, for now at least, of the subjects' servility, he would not risk losing five years of submission in this wide-open place.
And that meant that the question would have to remain unanswered for now. Perhaps the man from General might be able to give a good explanation, and it would be then that Portland, as head of the Project, would come to a decision.
The man grinned widely again, crushing the end of his cigar between his teeth. The boy had revealed another weakness, and it was too delicious for this Breaker to ignore. He wanted another thing to exploit, something to bind the subjects more to him.
For he would very much need their honed skills in his future projected plans.
She had spent arduous minutes lying in her bed, ignoring the calls for breakfast that came through the door. Aside from preserving her identity as a blind invalid, she was also stubbornly waiting for her brother to come back, from whatever business he apparently had.
She endured for a long time, her stomach already sounding the tell-tale signs of hunger, yet she persisted so as to inconvenience her brother when he'd come back. He'd been so rude in leaving without a word after all.
Just as she was about to drift off to sleep from all the waiting, she heard familiar footsteps from outside the door. Rising from the bed, she turned her head towards the door and prepared to deliver a vicious reprimand.
"Welcome back, nii-sama-" she started to say icily, but she was stopped from launching her tirade when she felt Lelouch suddenly seize her in a tight embrace. The sudden action surprised her, and she patted her brother's back tentatively and quizzically as she returned the strong embrace.
She was surprised to hear her brother's anguished sobs. Realizing this, she promptly tightened her embrace, reciprocating his own. She whispered words of consolation, in an attempt to relieve whatever it was Lelouch was suffering from.
After a while, the shaking ceased, and they then spent the rest of their time huddling close to each other on the bed.
"Sorry..." she heard him mutter. "It's just..."
"Sshhh..." she chided. "No need to talk, or apologize. I'm here for you, Lelouch."
"Yes, I know it's just..." he paused. "Perhaps it's best that I told you the purpose of my trip. I went to Ashford Academy."
"Ashford? You mean-"
"Yes, it's them. From the files I'd read that they had built their own school in this Area, and, well-"
She did not need to hear her explanations. She had long since known about his brother's suspicions, had heard him talk of wanting to learn the answers if he could be given the chance. Now had apparently been the time, seeing as he had not been idle. So that had been the reason for his behavior last night, though that left one more question...
"And? Did you find what you were looking for? Was it worth-"
"I met Milly."
She gasped, genuinely surprised and stunned in her turn. That name evoked a familiar memory, the images of their times together struggling to surface from within the hazy murk of her mind.
Nunnally trembled inwardly, not trusting in her voice to be firm, fearing that her breaking down now would just bring the both of them crashing back into a teary-eyed frenzy.
So instead, she buried her face within his chest. It was some more moments later before she summoned the strength to inquire, "So how was Milly doing? Is she fine?"
"Yes, apparently."
"I see," she whispered. For that at least, she was grateful and thankful. "That's good to know..."
The Lamperouge siblings spent the rest of the day without doing anything else, only spending the hours huddled beneath the covers, enjoying each other's warmth, as if trying to ward off a cold draft that only they could feel.
Entry Log:
....AND STILL NO WORD ABOUT THE SAKURADITE!! (static sounds) WHERE IS MY SAKURADITE!!? That fool Portland just left without giving the requisite orders to that woman, and now she's purpose-(cough) purposedly depriving me of resources! Oh yes...(giggle) I know full well what that woman is scheming, it's all too obvious, did she think I would not know? And here I am, just when I am on the brink of my breakthrough!!! (various muttering) These designs....I knew that they seemed so familiar...it seems one of my former students has stolen my designs....(laugh) so obvious, even at the institute, many of them had already born witness to the beauty that was the Had-(cough) Hadron Laser Variant! Even that woman, yes she was a student too...like so many of the others...I wonder what that particular batch is doing now? Well one thing's for sure, I hope that plagiarist chokes on his food and dies a slow, painful death!!! I MEAN IT!!! (static sounds)
R. Valdez