As with Chapter 3, I've revised this chapter, cutting out the worst scenes (by worst scenes I mean the threesome) that were just unnecessary and adding only a little, since that wasn't the problem. However, I do want to clear something up. Chaos0205, they haven't had an official wedding yet. They're only getting engaged, which means that they still have time to decide whether they are getting married or not.
Also, you guys have convinced me that I need a beta reader, so if anyone would tell me how to get one, or if anyone would want to volunteer to be one, please PM me. I just hope that this chapter has improved.
This chapter might be a little short and pointless, but it's basically the conclusion of the Riser arc and starting from Chapter 6, the next arc is going to start. thank you to everyone who's reviewed this story so far. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I definitely did, if only for the fact that Orange is joining Lelouch's peerage. I know that his choice to join might seem abrupt, but I think that Jeremiah's loyal enough so that he would just join up.
Chapter 5
Lelouch was never an outdoors guy, but he still found himself wandering aimlessly along a dirt road in the countryside. Gino was happily following his order to keep Kallen occupied any way he could. Raynare was still at the castle recovering from her wounds so she could attend the engagement party tonight, and Rias had been roped into helping plan the engagement party by Sirzechs.
For once, he had a moment of peace. Lelouch took a deep breath, inhaling the citrus scent that was thick in the air. He looked over at the endless fields that lined both sides of the road. For as far as the eye could see, there were orange trees.
"Orange." Lelouch chuckled a little as he remembered the Orange incident that he had started. He sighed, loyalty like Jeremiah's was not easy to come by.
"You called me?" Lelouch's entire body froze at the voice. He turned to find himself face to face with none other than Jeremiah Gottwald. He was now dressed with a white work shirt and blue jeans and ironically, had a basket of oranges in his right hand.
"Jeremiah!" Lelouch exclaimed.
"Do I know you?" He asked with a confused expression.
"It's me, Lelouch!"
Suddenly, he felt a tight grip around his throat. In a flash, Jeremiah had his left hand around Lelouch's throat.
"Don't you dare joke around with his majesty's name! He's done more for the world than you could ever imagine. He sacrificed himself for the common good!"
Although he was flattered by what Jeremiah thought, he still had to restore Jeremiah's memories unless he wanted to be strangled.
"Jeremiah, remember!" Lelouch ordered. Although he knew full well that Jeremiah still had his Geass canceller, he didn't expect him to use it for something that didn't pose a threat to him.
Jeremiah's eye became rimmed with red as his true memories came rushing back to him. As they did, the oranges fell to the ground and Jeremiah found himself kneeling before Lelouch, who was rubbing his neck.
"Your majesty? But how?" Jeremiah had been in on the plan, so he knew there was no way that Lelouch was supposed to survive.
Lelouch thought for a moment, but decided that Jeremiah could be trusted with the truth, "I have been reincarnated as a Devil."
"I see. I should have expected as much. After all, you planned to die back there."
Lelouch was surprised, "Wait, you're not alarmed at all by this?"
Jeremiah chuckled, "Trust me, the Geass Order has some dark secrets."
Nodding, Lelouch looked at the field that Jeremiah had come from, "What are you doing here?"
Jeremiah smiled, picking up his basket and whatever oranges were not ruined, "I'm growing oranges. After all, orange is the name of my loyalty."
Lelouch smiled, "Jeremiah, your loyalty truly knows no bounds."
Jeremiah put down his basket and kneeled before Lelouch once again.
"Then please, let me join you, your majesty."
"No, I cannot take you away from your new life." Lelouch shook his head.
"It is my duty to serve you, Lord Lelouch. As long as you are alive, I will serve you."
"Very well, lie down." Lelouch summoned a magical circle and fished out a rook, placing it on his chest.
"I command thee, Jeremiah Gottwald, on my name, Lelouch Murmur, become my servant and once more return thy soul to this land and become a Devil. Thou shall now live a new life with great joy as my rook!"
The circle shone red and the rook implanted itself within Jeremiah's human half. Almost immediately after the light died down, Jeremiah sat up.
"That was a fast recovery, although I guess I should have expected it from a cyborg."
"So, my lord, what are your orders?" Jeremiah asked.
Lelouch chuckled, "First, we need to buy you a suit. We'd better hurry too, otherwise we'll be late for my engagement party."
Jeremiah's lips curled into a smile, "I had no idea that you were getting married, your majesty."
"Anya!" He called out to the former Knight of Six, "I'm going to be gone for a while, so I'll need you to take care of the farm!"
The pink haired girl nodded and wordlessly went back to picking oranges.
Although the party had not started yet, Lelouch had to arrive early to get dressed. He strode into the dressing room, closely followed by Jeremiah, who was dressed in a black tuxedo with an orange bow tie.
"Orange?" Kallen asked, not sure if she was seeing correctly, "What are you doing here?"
"I have been reincarnated as a Devil to serve Lord Lelouch." He explained to a confused Kallen and Raynare.
"There you are, Lelouch!" Gino said, taking off Lelouch's jacket, "Look, if you don't mind, we'll need some privacy." He informed the others.
Kallen and Raynare obliged while Jeremiah merely went to stand guard by the door.
"Gino, you don't need to do this, I can get dressed by myself." Lelouch said, annoyed at his knight's behavior. He looked to Jeremiah, but he found no help there.
"I'm sorry, but I'm just so excited that you're getting married!" Gino exclaimed, happy that Lelouch was going to be engaged to Rias and not to Kallen. As far as he was concerned now, he and Lelouch were best friends.
"This is just an engagement party, I don't plan on getting married until I at least finish school." Lelouch replied, as Gino slipped him into a dress shirt.
"But still, you're making a promise to Rias that you're going to marry her! I won't let you go out there and make a fool of yourself. I promise as your knight!" Gino said, pulling Lelouch's tie into a Windsor knot.
"Again, knights don't have to dress their kings." Lelouch sighed, knowing that Gino was going to ignore him.
"Just look in the mirror!" Gino said, spinning Lelouch around. He was dressed in a simple black tuxedo with a white pleated dress shirt and a violet bow tie. Gino sported the same attire only with his favorite forest green bow tie. Lelouch had to admit, Gino did dress him up pretty well, although he was sure that he could have achieved the same look without his knight's help.
"I'm going to go out there and enjoy the party." Gino said, happily going off to talk to Kallen again.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you, your majesty." Jeremiah said with a bow.
Meanwhile, Rias was having the same problem with Akeno.
"Please, I can dress myself." Rias complained as Akeno zipped up her dress.
"Ara ara, for a sexual beast like Lelouch, you can't take any chances." Akeno replied, finished with her work. Rias turned to look in a mirror and gasped at what she saw. Akeno had forced her into an extremely form fitting red silk dress that left very little to the imagination.
"Sirzechs is not going to like this." Rias muttered.
"Ara ara, let's go impress Lelouch!" Akeno said, pushing Rias through the door and into the room where Lelouch was waiting.
The moment she walked in, Lelouch was speechless. For a Devil, she looked, angelic. Lelouch winced as he thought that, briefly forgetting that he could no longer think about those things.
"You look nice." Lelouch managed, trying to keep his mind clear of dirty thoughts as he admired Rias' dress. He offered his arm to her and she looped her arm through his.
"Well, are you ready, my lord?" Jeremiah asked, standing by the door. Lelouch gulped and nodded. Jeremiah opened the giant wooden doors and waited for Lelouch and Rias to exit before closely following.
Lelouch was taken aback by the large hall he was greeted with. He could see hundreds of high ranking devils all turn their head to him as he exited the doors, the room growing silent as they took in the couple.
Still, despite the large number of high ranking Devils, Lelouch found himself confident in front of the crowd in front of him, "Well, I'd like to thank everyone who came today. The reason all of you have come here is because I, Lelouch Murmur, am getting engaged today to Rias Gremory."
As soon as he finished, enthusiastic clapping came from the back of the hall. A few heads turned to see Sirzechs clapping loudly while an embarrassed Grayfia tried to disassociate herself with him. Polite clapping began erupting from most of the crowd.
"I'm so proud of him!" Gino exclaimed, dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief. Lelouch's and Rias' respective peerages were all assembled at the front of the hall, where they were the closest people to Lelouch and Rias.
Kiba smiled, "You act like you're his dad or something." He was always thoroughly entertained by the fellow blond haired pretty boy.
"Ara ara, it looks like Lelouch is ready to take her tonight." Akeno said, observing Lelouch's pants, which were slightly tighter than usual.
"I can't let anyone take my Buchou's virginity, even if he is the Harem God!" Issei exclaimed before being held back by Asia.
Likewise, Raynare and Kallen were about to go after Rias when they remembered that Sirzechs was present and probably wouldn't take kindly to someone ruining his sister's engagement party. Not to mention the fact that Jeremiah was back and he was trailing Lelouch.
Koneko merely observed the scene in silence, enjoying an orange soda. Truthfully, she was happy that the two were getting married. She didn't want to ever face off against Lelouch, who was the only person she was legitimately concerned about fighting besides Sirzechs.
Lelouch and Rias were being quizzed by a group of older Devils about their wedding plans when a middle aged man with crimson hair and a woman who looked exactly like Rias, albeit with brown hair, walked up to the two.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, future son in law!" The woman exclaimed.
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Gremory, it's an honor to meet you." Lelouch said.
"My, what a polite young man, not like that Riser. Not to mention, he's quite strapping." Lady Gremory observed, clearly checking Lelouch out.
"Mother, he's my fiancé, not yours." Rias said, holding on to Lelouch tighter than before.
"You know, you don't have to save yourself for your marriage. We'd happily welcome grandchildren anytime! The Gremory Clan can never have too many members." Lord Gremory told Lelouch, gesturing towards a blushing Rias.
"That's nice to know." Lelouch managed.
"Hey, brother!" Sirzechs said from behind, leaning on Lelouch's shoulder. He looked over at Rias and his eyes widened.
"So, are you planning to have your way with Lelouch tonight or something?" Sirzechs asked his sister, observing her dress.
"No!" Rias stammered, clearly embarrassed.
"I can't believe that Lelouch is getting married!" Raynare moaned. When she had told him to forget about Euphemia, she expected him to fall in love with her, not Rias! Even though Lelouch had never explicitly said it, she had always assumed that they were dating.
"Join the club." Kallen said bitterly. She was in love with Lelouch, couldn't he see that? Everything she had done for him, it was out of love.
She had even put up with him screwing half of the Britannian military because she thought that he would eventually come to his senses and figure out what he wanted. To think, she had given him her virginity and now he was marrying someone else. She never should have let Kaguya talk her into it in the first place. And now, she had become a Devil to be close to him.
"Do you two have a problem with what His Majesty is doing?" Jeremiah asked, extending his blade.
"Of course not! Whatever gave you that idea?" Kallen laughed. But inside, she knew that she had to talk to Lelouch about this eventually. Preferably when Jeremiah was not around.
"Hm, if brother had won that Rating Game, we'd be at his engagement party." Ravel said with a huff from her corner in the hall. Although Rias had insisted on not inviting Riser, she had no problem with Ravel attending the engagement party.
From across the room, Gino noticed the peeved blond haired girl, and immediately felt bad about what he had done to her in the Rating Game. He decided to suck up his pride and to go and apologize, as any knight should to do someone he wronged.
Although she was still in a sour mood from the loss, Ravel's spirits were immediately lifted as she saw an dashing blond make his way towards her. She quickly glanced around to make sure that he wasn't heading towards anyone else just as he approached her.
She felt her pulse quicken as he stood in front of her and took her hand. He really was a handsome man.
"I'm so sorry my lady." Gino said as he bowed, allowing his braids to fall down his shoulder.
Suddenly, Ravel remembered who he was.
"Wait a second, you're that knight!" She said, snapping her hand away, all attraction forgotten.
He nodded and with a hint of sadness he bowed again, "I hope you can forgive me for what I did."
"I don't know. You really hurt me back there." She said, turning away from him. Gino, not being one to abandon his goals, forged onwards.
"Let me make it up to you." Gino said, pulling out the saddest face he could muster. Ravel turned around slightly to see Gino with practically tears in his eyes as he stared apologetically back at her.
Powerless to resist such a sad face, Ravel gave up.
"Okay, I'll let you make it up to me," She groaned, drawing an immediate smile from Gino, who kneeled down to hug her.
"You truly are kind, my lady." He murmured in her ear.
"Well, thank you." Ravel replied, trying to force him off of her. She got the impression that he was really touchy feely.
"Oh no, I almost forgot to do my job!" Gino cried out as he let go of Ravel and immediately dashed off. She sighed. How that blond idiot had managed to beat her was a mystery.
Just then, Sirzechs' voice rang out.
"Well, I know that the night's still young, but I'm sure that Lelouch and Rias are just itching to get to the bedroom." Sirzechs announced, winking at a horrified Lelouch, "So we're going to let the lovebirds retire for the night."
Before Lelouch could respond, he and Rias were quickly ushered out of the hall by Gino and Jeremiah and straight to the master bedroom.
As Sirzechs said that, Kallen felt her heart drop even more, if that was possible. Now Lelouch and Rias were actually going to have sex. The wedding seemed more and more of a real possibility.
"Kallen!" Gino said, noticing how down she was and intending to cheer her up.
"Don't bother me right now." Kallen replied coldly, pushing past him.
Gino sighed. It seemed like no matter what he did, Kallen was never going to see him in the same light as Lelouch. She was stuck in the past, and didn't want to think of a new future. One that included him. He was probably going to have another sleepless night again, for the first time in weeks.
Gino's eyes snapped open as his alarm went off. He reached around for the alarm clock, finally shutting it off. Remembering his promise to Ravel, he immediately bounced out of bed and began dressing himself.
Gino picked up his cell phone and closed the door behind him. His brow furrowed in confusion as he realized he had no idea where to go. Most of the guests, including Ravel, had stayed in guest bedrooms last night, but he still had no idea where they actually were. He began wandering the halls of Sirzech's massive castle. How one man could use so many rooms was beyond him.
By some miraculous stroke of luck, Gino managed to spot Ravel just as she exited her bedroom. A half asleep Ravel had not even closed her door when she was assaulted by an energetic blur of blond hair.
"I'm so glad I found you! I was scared that I was going to get lost!"
"Get off of me!" Ravel said, kicking him off of her, "Is not touching other people a problem for you?"
"I'm sorry, my lady." She began dusting off her blue dress and made sure that her curls were still in place.
Ravel could tell by his voice that he was being sincere, so she decided to go easy on him.
"It's fine. I'm just not awake yet. And also, call me Ravel."
"Okay, Ravel." Gino said with a smile.
"So, what were you planning to do today?" Ravel asked, already regretting her decision last night.
"Well, I thought that it would be really cool if we hung out like regular people do!"
"How is that supposed to be fun?" Ravel asked, the disdain clear in her voice.
"Haven't you ever wondered what regular people do for fun?"
The hopeful expression on Gino's face made Ravel powerless once more, "Okay, I guess it couldn't hurt."
"Great!" Gino said, hugging Ravel, only to be hit with a fireball.
"Don't touch me." She said, making a magical circle. Gino quickly got to his feet and jumped inside before Ravel began the incantation to take them to the human world.
Gino's eyes widened as they found themselves in the middle of a large crowd.
"Wow! You know, I've never actually had time to hang out among regular people." Gino exclaimed, fascinated by everything around him.
"Let's get this over with." Ravel groaned.
"Let's go get some ice cream first! Suzaku used to tell me about the great ice cream shop around here. We were going to go during the break." As he said that, his face suddenly dropped.
"Is everything all right?" Ravel asked, concerned about the sudden change in emotion Gino had just undergone.
"No! everything's fine!" Gino replied, flashing his famous smile. Ravel looked at him for a second, but before she could ask him, she was being dragged through the crowd by Gino.
"Why are you holding my hand? People are staring!" Ravel asked as Gino continued to force his way to his destination. She was right. The fact that the Knight of Two was holding the hand of a fifteen year old was not going unnoticed by the crowd.
"Well, we might get separated if we're not holding hands, and you could get lost. As your friend, I won't let you get lost!" Gino explained, suddenly stopping.
"Friend, huh?" Ravel said to herself, softly enough so that Gino couldn't hear.
"Well, we're here!" Gino said, stopping in front of a small ice cream shop.
Ravel looked at the place with little interest. It didn't look spectacular in the least. But there was something about it that was making Gino giddy with excitement, so she decided to go along with it.
As the two walked out with their ice cream cones, Gino's eyes widened once more.
"Hey, a movie theatre! Can we go inside? Please?"
Ravel sighed, "Sure, you were supposed to be the one taking me around anyways."
As soon as she said that, she found herself being dragged along once more, almost dropping her cone.
"Hm, what kind of movie do you want to watch? Oh, how about a comedy?" Gino asked as he looked over the movie times and titles. Before she could respond, Gino had already bought the tickets.
The movie itself was not very good, but it was funny enough to get a few laughs out of Ravel. Gino smiled as she laughed. It brought a smile to his face just watching her enjoy herself.
Ravel noticed the blond haired man staring at her and quickly put on a stoic expression. She definitely didn't want him to think that she was ready to forgive him for anything.
As they walked out of the theatre, Gino's head was on a swivel.
"An arcade!" He exclaimed, dragging Ravel along with him.
The inside of the arcade was much like the outside, with lots of colorful flashing lights and loud music.
"Oh! Let's try this fighting game! I've got to be pretty good at this." Gino said, taking out some money from his pocket.
"Sure, whatever." Ravel said disinterestedly, placing her right hand on the joystick and hovering her left hand over the buttons. The game itself was a Knightmare fighting game. Gino, being Gino, chose the Tristan Divider while Ravel chose the Lancelot Albion, not noticing how Gino flinched as she selected it.
As they began, Ravel began slashing away at Gino, who made no move to attack, and instead, only tried to dodge. Once Ravel had cornered him however, he made no move to dodge the attacks from the Lancelot, quickly losing the round.
Ravel decided to switch to the Galahad and immediately, Gino began to attack her. But she was still better than him at the game and easily dodged him before attacking with Excalibur.
After beating him handedly a few times, Ravel was starting to enjoy herself.
"You could've let me beat you at least once." Gino pouted as they decided to go look around for another game.
"Well, you could've let up on me in the Rating Game." Ravel retorted, shutting Gino up. After all, she was in the right here.
Gino noticed that Ravel had suddenly stopped in her tracks and followed her line of vision to a crane game.
"So, you want a stuffed animal?" Gino asked, causing Ravel nod her head, embarrassed. He grabbed her hand and led her to the machine.
"No problem! I have to be good at this game." Gino said confidently, putting in some money. He delicately moved the stick so that he would have the perfect angle. He pressed the button and watched intently as the crane lowered slowly and found its target. He flinched as the crane seemed to lose its grip for a second before pulling the stuffed animal up in the air.
"Come on, almost there." He muttered as the crane approached the drop hatch. He gave a sigh of relief as the crane stopped and released the prize.
Gino grinned as he held up the stuffed phoenix and handed it to Ravel, who blushed as she received it, "I told you I could get it. I'm the Knight of Two for a reason!"
"Thank you." She managed, hugging the stuffed animal close to her chest.
Gino looked outside of the arcade to find that it was already pitch black.
"Well, it looks like we need to get going." He said, leading Ravel outside. Instantly, the two were assaulted by cold air. Noticing the shivering girl beside him, Gino took off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. Although he was cold himself, he knew that was the gentlemanly thing to do.
The crowd had already dissipated a few hours ago, leaving the two as the only ones on the sidewalk.
"No one's around, are we going to summon the magical circle now?" Ravel asked.
"Let's just enjoy the sights for a little while." Gino replied, looking over the colorful lights that clashed with the blackness of the night sky.
The two walked in silence for a little while, just taking in the sights.
"Say, what happened earlier?" Ravel asked.
Gino stopped with a confused look on his face, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, when you were talking about the ice cream place, why did you look so sad?"
She could see Gino hesitate as he tried to speak. It was clear that whatever he was thinking about earlier wasn't out of his mind.
"It's my friend, Suzaku. He was my best friend, but he died when his Knightmare exploded." He sighed as they reached the edge of the city.
"Suzaku Kururugi? Isn't he the Knight who fired the FLEIJA?" Ravel asked, reminded of the news from the human world.
Gino nodded as they stopped in front of some railing. They were overlooking the large crater that the FLEIJA had left behind during the battle in Tokyo. Gino had tried to stay away because the sight always reminded him of Suzaku, but it was as if some magnetic force was drawing him towards the crater.
"He killed so many people, yet, when he died, his death meant more to me than all of those lives. We were best friends. And despite that, I helped his killer get away." He said, letting himself lean on the railing and pointing his eyes to the ground.
"I don't think I can ever forgive myself for loving Kallen. After all, she killed my best friend. But still, I can't stay away from her. I don't know why. I should want revenge for Suzaku, but all I can think of is marrying his killer. He's probably rolling over in his grave right now because of me."
Ravel looked at the blonds' now serious face. She had no idea that any of these things had happened to him, or that he actually had those kinds of feelings hidden away. She had always assumed that he was some hyperactive blond pretty boy, not a war veteran riddled with guilt.
Gino gave his trademark smile and looked up at Ravel, "But now I'm just boring you! Come on, let's go get something to eat before we go home."
Gino grabbed her left hand without any resistance and they began walking back towards the city. With her right hand, which was still holding the phoenix, Ravel wrapped Gino's jacket closer to herself as another cool breeze blew into their faces.
"So, am I forgiven yet?" Gino asked.
"Well, I'm not sure if I forgive you yet, but you're on the right path." Ravel replied.
As they passed by a Pizza Hut, Gino noticed something going on inside the restaurant.
"What's going on?" Ravel asked, looking inside.
Gino's eyes widened as he took in the scene, "I have to call Lelouch right now."
First things first, I'm letting you guys know that the updates will start slowing down and they'll start to pick back up in winter because school starts for me soon, and with that comes homework, work on the play, and volleyball. If I don't update for a few weeks, don't take that as a sign that I've stopped, because it means that I'm busy with one of the three things I listed above. Okay, on the main author's note.
I'm pretty sure you guys know what's happening next. Chaos0205 makes an interesting point. If C.C. is immortal, can she be reincarnated as a Devil? If not, she'll still be a part of Lelouch's harem, just not a part of his peerage. Also, I'm just wondering about what you guys think about a Ravel and Gino pairing? At this point, Ravel sort of has a little crush on Gino since he has that effect on most girls, but Gino only sees her as a friend. Since a Kallen and Gino pairing is out of the question, I'm leaning towards this, even if they have an age difference. I think that this has the potential to be a good pairing. Other than that, if you guys have any ideas or thoughts, either leave them in a review or PM me.
Again, anyone who can tell me about where to get a beta reader or would like to be one, please PM me.