OMG How have all of you been? It's been too long. I missed you. Did you miss me? LET GET TO IT SHALL WE?
I do not own Code Geass, however I do own Leabella
Enjoy~
Ch. 19
Isabella 17
A frown was firmly etched on Isabella's face as she turned away from Kallen when she picked up the phone from 'Zero.' The blonde looked out window of the train looking over the Tokyo settlement. She was sick of this goose chase.
Soon, she felt a tap from behind; turning, she saw Kallen nodding to her and head towards the front of the train. The blonde sighed taking the lead as Kaname and the others followed along. She weaved through a few crowded cars before coming to the doors of the back car. Isabella blinked the entire car was empty sans for a dark figure standing at the end. She gritted her teeth and proceeded to enter the car with the others at her heels.
She didn't walk much into the car, choosing to stay as far from the figure as possible, and she felt Kallen bump into her. Isabella stared at the figure. They had their back to the group and was wearing was looked like a dark cape.
Isabella narrowed her eyes when Kallen spoke up, "Was it you? On the phone?"
The figure didn't give a response, and Isabella tensed when someone from behind her muttered, "Whoa, do you think it's a trap?" What if this was a trap? She had a whole slew of officers in the intelligence department searching for terrorists groups. Though, were any of them this complex in investigations? She highly doubted that, but there was always a chance.
"Well? You're not going to say anything?" Isabella said venting out her frustration.
"Hey,' Kaname said harshly, "We're talking to you."
Suddenly the figure turned to face them, and Isabella's was just about ready to take out the gun strapped to the small of her back under her school jacket but didn't. She took in his appearance. This guy is freaking ridiculous. He was in a bright violet suit with gold accents and trimming. The lining of his cape was a scarlet red which also had gold trimmings. Isabella wanted to scoff; and perfectly hiding his face was a dark mask with dark blue tinted glass obscuring the man's face.
"What did you think of my tour of the settlement?" 'Zero' asked lightly.
"Your tour?" Kaname questioned.
"Unnecessary," Isabella cut in still very much frustrated, "If you wanted us to understand the differences between old Japan, the ghetto, and settlement, you didn't have to take us all over the place. We didn't need to deal with these stupid theatrics."
"Exactly," Kaname added coming up in front of Isabella, "We get it. There is a very harsh difference between the three. It's us and them." Isabella looking up at Kaname's back. Us and them. "That's why we resist them."
"You're wrong," Zero spoke up. Isabella looked at him begrudgingly. "Britannia will not fall to terrorism."
"Fall?" Kaname and Isabella questioned together.
"It's little better than childish nuisance," Zero explained.
Isabella glared at the man in the mask as the others from behind spoke up, "What was that?" "You calling us a bunch of kids?"
"You should know your enemy," Zero said, "It is not people, but Britannia itself." Isabella felt a cold shiver run down her spine. "It is a war you must rage, but not on the innocent. Take up your sword, fight for justice!"
"What the hell do you know about justice?" Isabella snapped. "The most simplistic definition of justice is fairness. How fair is it when you know our names and faces and all we get is a voice?"
"Hiding behind that mask," Kallen bit out, "Why should we even trust you?"
"She's right!"
"Lose the mask!"
"Very well, I'll show you," Zero spoke up quickly, "But rather than my face, bare witness to my power," Isabella's eyes widened. Geass? "If I deliver to you the impossible, then I might earn your trust."
Isabella glared through the mask, highly unlikely. She stared him down, doing what she could with her geass concealed, but she still tried to memorize the presence of his mind.
"You're actually considering trusting him?" Isabella questioned Kaname after the resistance group gathered together to discuss meeting Zero for the first time.
"What bad can it do?" Kaname replied, "He already proved that he is reliable in Shinguku."
"So what if he's smart and knows how to make good strategies?" Isabella scoffed, "We don't know who he is. Think of why someone would want to hide their identity."
"Maybe he's ugly," Isabella groaned at Tamaki's response.
"If he's serious about doing big things against Britannia, that's going to put a big target on us," Isabella started looking hard at Kaname, "We won't be able to work underground anymore; we'll be out in the open. If one of us is captured at anytime, the only thing we would have left is execution."
"That should be a risk we are willing to take," Kallen's voice cut through the room.
Isabella looked up to look at the red head with cold eyes. Isabella got up from where she was seated to stand right in front of Kallen. Isabella looked briefly behind her shoulder at the rest of the group before turning to start her way out of the warehouse, "I don't trust him. That's finally. You have your own opinion and options to choose from."
Kaname 26 Kallen 17
"So," Zero started slowly, "it's just you two."
"I'm sorry," Kaname said, "We just need a little bit more time. Everyone is siding with Isabella, and she's been our decision maker for a while. If they would just under-"
"No," Zero cut him off, "the two of you will do just fine."
Leabella 17
Eiji looked down the grand hall. No one was there, but he still felt nervous. This was the first time he-or anyone in the guard-was wearing a formal military uniform of the vi Britannia Guard. It was fairly similar from their regular uniform, but the added gold trimming, lavish tassels here and there, and an over cape that hung half off his shoulder then tucked into his belt made him stiff in his boots with stress. The eighteen year old looked over at Yuuto as said man looked between him and Isao standing on the other side of the door.
"Okay," Yuuto started, "You both look presentable." Isao sighed as the second in command chuckled. Eiji looked at him exasperated. Yuuto's uniform was a little more over the top compared to the rest of the guard; he had a full length over cape that was black instead of a dark green like the others with gold pins adorning the color.
"Is there really a need to have two guards outside of a room holding a royal guard?" Isao asked. They normally never had guards posted, much less someone from the guard.
Yuuto replied more formally straightening his shoulders, and the two followed suit, "It's for formalities; someone of royalty must also be protected by image. The guards here normally aren't posted for prosecutors or defendants, and the Princess favored a guard that she could trust fully. That, and the majority of the military is conducting Suzaku's procession here."
"Right," Eiji frowned. They were here for Suzaku's court martial.
"Can you hear me?" Leabella questioned into a communicator.
"Loud and clear, your highness," Valletta Nu's voice cracked through the speaker in the princess's ear formally. "However, my lord, a question if I may?"
"Go ahead," Leabella said turning away from the television in the room that the guard was crowded around that was currently showing the televised procession.
"Why did you choose me instead of Margrave Jeremiah to stay in contact with you during this, my lord?" Valletta asked.
Leabella rolled her eye, catching Yuuto enter the room as she said, "Gottwald specifically asked me to give him full control of the procession, however I am supervising it. If I feel I need to step in, I will. My choosing you has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that you're Gottwald's second in command." Leabella turned again to the television; it was right about time where the resistance group was going to make their move. "Now, simply do your job and carry on with this."
"Yes, your highness," she heard Valletta answered before Leabella put her mic on mute.
"Are we not concerned about what this guy is going to do?" Yuuto asked after Leabella turned her attention to her guard, "There are hundreds of citizens there."
"I told Kaname," Leabella started looking over to the door to make sure it was closed, "If any citizens is harmed because this Zero harmed them, I'm having him arrested no matter what."
"Did he agree?" Kichiru questioned raising an eyebrow.
"It wasn't a request," the princess said coolly, "It was a warning, a very serious one."
"Princess," Katsu's voice caught everyone's attention. Said man was situated in front of television. Leabella looked over seeing Zero on the screen then the gas capsule that the resistance group stole not a week ago.
"How did he find that?" Leabella asked herself settling in the chair in front of the tv, eyes trained on the capsule as it was shown and the reporter commented on it. A soft sigh escaped her lips; she last time she saw that contraption was the last time she saw Lelouch. She briefly wondered what her brother was doing. Probably at home watching the report with Nunnally, worrying about Suzaku's court martial.
"Good strategy," Masanori commented. "Jeremiah still thinks it's poisonous gas."
The collective watched as Zero made his demand to hand over Suzaku.
Kichiru snorted, "Yeah, okay, 'cause that hard ass is just going to give the boy over."
Leabella frowned as Jeremiah refused, using Suzaku's alleged treason as an excuse.
"No, you're mistaken, Jeremiah. He's no murderer," Zero said, catching Leabella's attention. In that instant, she felt her blood run cold; vaguely, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, and with her geass, she sensed that it was Yuuto. "The man who killed Clovis...was myself."
In that moment, Leabella rushed away from everyone. Her heart was pounding in her ears, stomach in knots, her knees were shaking. She felt like she was falling only to be held up by Yuuto.
"Leabella," Yuuto's steel voice erupted in her ears. "You need to calm down."
"Yuuto, I've been with him," Leabella spurted out tearing herself from Yuuto's grasp, "I had the chance to arrest him, to kill him. He knows about the school, Yuuto." Said man came up to her to stop her vigorous pacing around the room, "He could find Lelouch and Nunnally." By that moment, the princess was a good three shades paler, and the guard was ushering her to a chair with a glass of water pushed into her hand.
Leabella took to water before covering her face in her hands. "Somebody contact Ashford. Lelouch and Nunnally need to be relocated. We still have relations with that Indian scientist. We can probably work something out."
"Leabella!" The princess jumped at the yell, quieting and looking at Yuuto rudely. "You need to focus on what's going on now. Suzaku has already been handed over."
"What?!" Leabella dashed to the television. The image of Suzaku with Zero and what Leabella assumed was Kallen under a disguise flashed before it turned to the gas capsule as it released a pink gas.
"What is that?" Kichiru asked panicked.
"Valletta!" Leabella called urgently over the communicator.
"Y-yes, your highness!" Velletta answered exasperatedly. On screen, they could all see that Jeremiah was attacking her for going after Zero.
"Leave Zero be," Leabella grit out, "Ensure the safety of the civilians."
"What!?"
"Jeremiah has already released Suzaku. You can not capture him unless given the order by Jeremiah. Now, follow orders and do your duty as a knight. For every citizen injured it will be on your head," Leabella said harshly before cutting off communication.
After that the room for silent.
After a few moments, the princess spoke again, "Yuuto, go relay orders to the Knights of the Crown to detain Gottwald. Masanori, go get in contact with emergency and medical dispatch to take care of any injured citizens, tell them they'll need a lot of oxygen tanks. Also, have them do a head count of all injured civilians," after that Leabella looked down at the watch on her wrist, " Kichiru, Katsu, go to the courtroom to let Lloyd know what's going on. Keep us updated on the situation of the court martial, it should start in an hour." After the men filed out, Leabella strode over to where she had left her cellphone. "The rest of you, go guard the hall with Isao and Eiji."
Leabella sighed when she was finally felt alone in the room. She plopped herself down on the seat in front of the television. The broadcast had stopped now, and the news network was now on standby.
Dialing a familiar number, Leabella switched out her earpiece for her phone.
'Hello?'
"Hey, it's Isa," the princess replied, "How is everything on your side, Kallen?"
'Um, I guess you can say mission success,' Kallen replied, 'Nobody's hurt, and we got Suzaku. Right now, Zero is talking to him.' At that, Leabella frowned deeply. 'I think he's asking Suzaku to join us.'
Leabella is ready to retort when the television in front of her comes to life showing a video call request with a familiar ID. The princess narrows her eyes.
"Kallen, I'll have to call you later."
'Okay, be careful, Isa.'
Forty minutes later
Yuuto sighed. The Knights of the Crown were finally able to detain Jeremiah once Zero had left the bridge. The civilians were being accounted and taken care of, and now, the courtroom was becoming somewhat organized.
Yuuto walked down the hall that led to Leabella's room in the courthouse. Lining the walls were the other members of the guard. He raised an eyebrow at Isao, who was standing right where he had left him.
Without question he said, "She ordered everyone out about an hour ago. She hasn't given us any other order."
The second in command sighed for about the millionth time that evening before opening the door to the room. Leabella was still situated in her chair and made no move to greet him or speak.
"Leabella," Yuuto started once he shut the door. "The court martial will start soon." No response. Yuuto forwarded his brows walking over to the princess. He blinked when she came upon her stiff posture that stared at the television intently. "Leabella?"
"Cornelia," she uttered softly, "She coming to Japan. She wants to be viceroy."
Wa! It's finished! I hope you liked it!
See you hopefully soon!