Disclaimer: I own nothing of Code Geass, nor of Guilty Gear, nor to a lesser extent, BlazBlue. I do own this story, and all the inspirations along with it. And of course, the brain where the ideas came from.
"Let's see now, what do we have... tell us Mr. Anchorman. Tell our most esteemed mastermind what the current situation is," a man placed a small radio device on the dashboard, before crossing his arms and staring at the driver on his side, a blonde bombshell of a woman, student council president of Ashford Academy.
Milly met Lelouch's challenge with a sunny, almost brazen grin, as streams of the voices of people talking over the news station passed between them. Those warm eyes locked in an epic struggle with the cold, dull eyes of the Vice-President, the Prince of the Shadowfrost.
"'Level 3 Gear alert', now that's not promising. 'Advice caution'? Well, we shouldn't be ignoring that, eh? 'All travel discouraged.'" Lelouch made a tsk-ing sound, flipping the channels constantly. "If only they had issued the alert hours ago! 'Alert to everyone on the Preserve', 'special bulletin from the Sacred Order', 'Britannian local army encourages staying inside warded areas'...Even Nippon National advices caution, even for Ki wielders! Where's Suzaku when you need him...'Dangerous to be outdoors, advice restraint outside of the warded'- I guess it's too late for that!" The youth made a cutting motion with his wrist.
The stoplight had lit up, giving their van a go as Milly stepped on the pedal causing Lelouch, who was strapped to his seat by a multitude of belts, to scream in a high tenor while clutching onto the dashboard for dear life. The President eased up on the vehicle's speed after a while, during which she glanced behind her at the council members who had the ("Unfortunate," the Vice-President had muttered) opportunity to be driven to their destination by the esteemed Ashford. Each of them were in the same state as Lelouch, breathing hard and heavy in the aftermath of the g-force which rocked their systems.
"...It is really is too late for all that, Lelouch. We're halfway there now. So either shut that radio up, or you'll be walking to the sea. Rest assured, this van will keep pace with you, and we will be holding an overnight in case you get us all late to start the party." After a tense moment, the Vice-President made a grumbling sound, reattaching the earphones into the device before plugging them into his ears. He crossed his arms almost like a petulant child before turning to face the window. Milly giggled when she chanced a glance at his expression, especially after it morphed into terror once they reached an almost obstacle-free highway.
)()()()()()()()(
Lelouch stepped cautiously onto the granular sand, taking another step, then another until he'd made an impression on the beach behind him. The breeze shifted, bringing a few grains into his face, with the ars-enchanted glasses preventing any from entering his eyes as they stared out into the vast blue horizon. He looked up and around over the bustling heads of the student council members, the action looking like he was stretching his neck. "It's certainly a good spot," he muttered grudgingly. Whatever her eccentricities, the Ashford heiress knew how to pick a location well. It was as perfect a view of a beach as could be expected, clear cerulean, sand a golden-brown shade, and the sun as clear and hidden as a maiden's face behind her fan. "If only Nunnally were able to join us." His sister couldn't leave the Institute for any amount of time yet, not when they were in a turning point in their research to develop a seeing ars for the blind.
"Yeah, but you can bring your good memories of this place back to her. I think that's what's important, Lelouch," said a voice next to him.
"Waxing poetic, Suzaku? You Japanese sure know your aphorisms."
"N-no, that's not what I intended, I just wanted to try saying something cool, given the atmosphere you seemed to have." Suzaku shrugged, the sunlight catching his young, lithe muscular form perfectly. The Poster Boy was shirtless, wearing only white trousers and sandals. Lelouch looked at him, before pushing up his glasses with a cramped expression. A look of annoyance was gradually making itself known in the youth's expression, followed by exasperation and amazement.
"Speaking of the Japanese..." Lelouch looked pointedly at the load Suzaku was carrying. At present, the Son of Thunder was carrying the root end of a full-grown zelkova tree, perched right on top of his shoulder. And even with that, he looked as normal as he could be, as if he were but carrying a bale of hay. "Hm? What's wrong, Lelouch?" asked Suzaku.
"No...it's..." Lelouch sighed, pushing up his glasses again. He was definitely doing a lot more of that today. "Is that the ultimate power of Ki?" he murmured. The image of a lithe young man carrying a tree of that size and weight was quite incongruous. He told Suzaku, deciding to switch topics, "Once again I question the necessity of having to bring a tree. A damned tree right in the middle of the beach!" They'd even hired a truck to carry the three trees they had uprooted from the Academy. Needless to say, even for this young man who indulged himself in luxuries from time to time, it was a bit too much.
"Now, now. It's what Milly wanted. Look at the bright side, now there's more than enough shade for everyone," Suzaku replied optimistically.
"Oi, Kururugi. How long are you going to just stand there? My feet are burning!" shouted a voice from behind. Lelouch chanced a look, and found himself once again, pushing up his glasses. Kallen Kouzuki was carrying the branch end of the tree with almost the same effortless ease as Suzaku, though was holding her end with two hands instead of one, and was glaring across its length at the two. Suzaku waved apologetically, shifting the tree and walking on forward.
When Kallen passed him, Lelouch bowed stiffly, "Kouzuki."
"What, Lamperouge? Do you want to carry the tree with your best bud?" asked Kallen.
"No, just gazing upon a marvel of human evolution. Truly, good lady, you are a paragon of the species," remarked Lelouch in a lecture monotone.
Kallen huffed, pushing the load forward. She was wearing a modest two-piece under a red jumper and shorts. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were complimenting me. But we both know better, eh ice-butt?" The two exchanged a heated exchange with their glares before Lelouch smirked and stepped away on the sand. He watched the two Japanese place the tree on a spot designated by Milly, pushing his glasses up again when Suzaku got to scooping up loads of sand to create a small crater with a shovel in mere seconds.
"Lulu." He turned to see Shirley holding a basket and several paper bags of food. She was smiling, a pair of blue sunglasses perched carelessly on her forehead. "Would you mind helping me-?"
Lelouch obliged, anything to stay out of the scrutiny of the President-turned-overseer, who was giving orders to the members left and right. He took the basket from Shirley and accompanied her to a place where he was told the next tree would be placed.
In time, all the preparations were completed, and Milly wasted no time to begin the actual party. Before that though, she had much to say about Lelouch's clothes.
"What's wrong with them?" he asked, lingering near the farther tree, where most of the supplies were placed. He looked down at his outfit; formal, standard for excursions.
Milly, whose engaging figure could be seen quite clearly from her beach gown and the black two-piece underneath, gave Lelouch a look. He had no way of denying the intent of that look, but he still stubbornly returned it, lips pouted in a frown. "Lelouch, are you honestly wearing that... sweat suit in this weather? In this place?"
"I find the winds here quite refreshing enough, thank you very much," replied Lelouch, looking away from her to stare out at the horizon. "I don't intend to go over and swim, so don't worry yourself on that account. These are more than enough for my participation in this... 'event'."
"Then, what happens if some of the more rowdy bunch splash some water on you? In fact, what if water gets splashed on you? Hm?" pressed Milly.
In response, Lelouch spread his hands in front of him, producing a fine mist of ice that cascaded down on the packs of fish. He made a victorious smirk when Milly stalked off in a huff, muttering something about "punishment games" and "reckonings".
The party began in earnest, with games aplenty for most of the council, and bone-tiring, skin-scorching tasks for the unlucky rest. Lelouch kept out of the way for the most part, shadowing the same tree and merely keeping his eyes on the happenings. He thanked the stars that Milly seemed to have forgotten him, not knowing the reason why but glad nonetheless. She seemed to be too busy directing the games over near the water's edge, with Suzaku and some of the other Japanese kept to the side to play their own games. He knew he couldn't last in any game; it would just be another case of people sharing weary glances as soon as his "legendary" stamina kicked in.
The smell of the various burnt and roasted foods filled the warm, breezy air, causing Lelouch's eyes to droop. He'd volunteered to help in the preparation, but caught himself when he remembered that there wasn't a "proper" kitchen in sight, and he had a feeling Milly had known along that he wouldn't be useful. That clever cat... He shook himself, walking over to an empty barrel to sit on top. He watched as Suzaku delivered a devastating spike during some sort of bizarre Ki-volleyball, causing a mini-tidal wave to erupt, with Kallen's team reciprocating with a distracing splash that allowed the ball to land undefended. Over at another end, some people were dancing, with Milly joyfully changing partners after almost every moment, a flustered Rivalz looking put out for some reason. Shirley, Nina and a few other girls were further on the water, walking on top of the surface with the help of a few ice ars. He raised an eyebrow. Not too shabby work. He smiled briefly and cast his gaze about, slightly annoyed at the smoke that seemed to waft his way, fouling the pleasant, hot breeze and obscuring his vision, getting into his eyes even through the ars-enchantment on his glasses. Damn, maybe he should move to another place, somewhere quieter...
"Watch out!"
The cry rang out, and Lelouch woke up just in time to see the spherical projectile linger on the sky right before it dove into his abdomen.
"Guhah!" he cried out, instinctively causing a barrage of icicles to erupt from the sand around him. He stared at the offending ball, knocking it away as he struggled to stand, his hands on his waist.
"Lelouch, are you okay?" Suzaku said as soon as he dashed over, upsetting a torrent of sea and sand. He reached a hand to help Lelouch up.
"Damn...Japanese legacy..." Lelouch said through a bracing haze of pain. He pointed at his friend, who was still looking at him with concern. "Was that...you...?"
"Partially...I mean, there was this face-off in midair, and seeing as I didn't want it to hit Chisa's face, I sort of just kicked it randomly, and-" Suzaku's explanation was cut off by an explosive blast of air from a sound ars that knocked him straight back and into the shoreline. He recovered to look at Lelouch in bewilderment, who had his arms stretched out, seithr sizzling in his palms.
A hush settled on the party, with most eyes turning towards the sudden burst of ars use. Lelouch averted his eyes, shifting uncomfortably, before he shrugged and turned away. He limped forward, hunched over, walking on and out of the party area.
"Lelouch!" Suzaku pursued him, stopping just behind him. Lelouch turned to look at him from over his shoulder. "Hm? Was there something else?"
"No, er, I mean, why're you leaving like that?"
A faraway look settled on his face for a brief instant, replaced by his normal, cold expression. "I'll just be walking over there," he pointed to some rocks on the far end of the shoreline. "-to shake off the pain. Tell the President not to worry. I shan't be long." With that, he restarted his walk, waving a lazy hand in goodbye.
Suzaku stared after him worriedly, before he clutched the ball and headed back to the others.
Lelouch's feet took him over the huge slabs of rocks and boulders matted by moss and inhabited by a smatter of birds that took flight when he scrambled over. He looked back after scaling a large, canine-shaped rock to see that he had come a long way, and before him was another swathe of rocky shoreline, the sand overrun here and there by outposts of stone.
On these he tiptoed across the flat-tops of the rocks, listening to the ebb and flow of the waves and the roaring undercurrent of the sea. He put a hand to his collar and loosened it, allowing the fresh, hot air to seep inside his shirt.
After a while he reached what looked another interruption: a pathway of stone that somehow led into a cove-like structure. He looked down and saw the sea crawling in between the rocks; should he need to cross, he would've had to get his shoes wet.
Good thing he had ars, and that he was a frost adept at that. Although the weak transformed ice melted quickly under the afternoon sun, they lasted long enough for Lelouch to skip over towards the opening of the cove, where he jumped on top of a high rock to attempt to peer inside. As he was about to cast an ars, he paused, looking back down the way he had just come. His footprints had already disappeared in the sand, swallowed by the tide-born winds. Lelouch adjusted his glasses, and after a muttered spell, a bright, violet glow appeared on his hand, allowing him to pierce the darkness beyond the entrance of the cove.
He was no spelunker, but he took care nonetheless, erecting the same ice barrier ars he'd put on Suzaku on that hectic day in case a predator made its home here. He kept his eyes on the floor below, looking for sudden holes or a protruding rock, only sometimes looking up to survey the natural stone walls that surrounded him.
Something caught his eye, or rather, something had been caught on the edge of his light. He focused, and his heart skipped a few beats when he saw a leg. A human leg.
He looked around at that instant, at first heedful of an ambush, before pre-casting an ars in his hand. He then looked back down, directing his light further so he could see the thing clearly. Slowly, the rest of the thing revealed itself, first another leg sprawled over the other, then a slim body, then arms folded in front of a chest, smatterings of mottled green hair, and...a sleeping face.
Lelouch blinked. His first thought was that it was a corpse, long abandoned inside this cove. But no, the chest was moving up and down, albeit at a very slow interval. So, not dead. He took note of the other features of the girl, for it was a girl, diminutive in stature with a slight figure. He stepped back to see the body in its entirety.
(He then noted, at some stubborn part embedded in the back of his mind, that the girl's ageless face seemed naggingly familiar, as if it were a mother long since thought lost.)
Well, conjencture could come later. His hand produced the cellphone from his pocket, while his eyes surveyed the darkness beyond the body. One thing at a time, quite an unexpected discovery here-
"Get out of my sight, Gear."
Before he could react to the imperious, echoing, unearthly voice, a blast of something hit Lelouch Lamperouge right in the face, and nothing was all that he could do before he felt himself being wreathed in hot air that pushed and stabbed and seared him, his skin seeming to shrivel before his very eyes, his consciousness descending into a spiral of neverending pain. In his lingering, waking moments, he saw green, and amber and white, and a face that was beautiful beyond imagining.
AN: I'm wondering if she should require a personality shift like her Anarchy version...something to think about.
Merlin out.