Act II – The Calm before the storm...
"N-no way!" Tamaki shouted, wholly flabbergasted and shocked. The person who stood before him was the same woman whom he thought was assassinated a few hours ago. The room itself went quiet as all eyes laid on Princess Euphemia.
"P-princess Euphemia? What…?" Kallen sputtered, unsure on what to think.
The princess waved her hand at everyone and tried her best to smile. "H-Hello! It's a pleasure to meet you all!" she greeted awkwardly, causing Lelouch to crack up a little.
However, his short laugh was short lived. He sensed everyone looking at him for an explanation. "Zero, with respect, what exactly is the meaning of this?" Ougi asked, sounding outraged by his proposal. To Ougi, working with a Britannian reporter was hard enough, but now he had to work with a royal princess from the enemy? It sounded unreasonable.
That was on Tamaki's mind too. "Yeah, tell us Zero!" he shouted, backing up the commander while adding fuel to the fire.
Zero expected this would happen, but he was hoping he wouldn't have to give them a reason. Plus, the current situation needed order in the room; if things kept this way, then all hell would break out. "That's enough everyone. Princess Euphemia is needed for our next goal; we wish to free Tokyo and make it into a nation itself. But first we have to defeat Princess Cornelia, and with Euphemia's help it'll be possible and a lot easier." He explained, it a few of the knights silent, but Tohdoh had a few things to say.
"Zero with all respect, isn't it unnecessary to work with royal blood from Britannia? Explain your reasoning behind this decision and how do we know she's on our side?" Tohdoh asked, hoping he would get a clear and honest answer from the masked hero.
He had planned to use Euphemia to weaken Britannian morale especially Cornelia's which is one of his main objectives. Suzaku comes with that too, with him out of the way it will clear the threat of the Lancelot to all future operations. "Princess Cornelia will be unwilling to fight against her sister; it will bring down the morale of Britannia and will help convince Suzaku to defect from Britannia, we could capture the Lancelot too as a bonus." Zero explained, hoping it was enough to convince them all.
The man nodded; he liked the idea of using psychological warfare against them. Abuse their faith in their loved ones thus rendering them useless in battle, a classic form of war. "I see, an interesting idea, very well I do not oppose the idea." He declared it's an excellent tactical advantage in his mind.
"Yes, that does make sense, I like the idea Zero, even though it may seem a bit… unethical." Ougi added, seemingly agreeing with it too.
Lelouch wasn't going to complain there, of course, it's unethical; he's essentially using Euphemia to defeat Cornelia. However, all he wanted was answers about his mother. "Yes, Euphemia here holds the key to our victory against Britannia; however, this is merely the beginning. Soon the whole of Britannia will recognize the might of the Black Knights!" Zero cheered.
Everyone in the room was clapping and welcoming their new member; somehow Zero had convinced to allow Euphemia to join their ranks. Kallen thought about what had occurred earlier. However, Euphemia was shot, and all she could assume was that Zero was rushing Euphemia to the base for medical attention. Could it be why he sounded like he was about to cry on the radio before? Just who is Euphemia to him? What was his relationship with her? Kallen didn't know what to think, but it was clear that Zero favored Euphemia in a way. 'I'll keep this to myself, but I know Zero isn't one to care if he loses allies, why does he care about her so much? I may investigate this further...' Kallen thought as she clapped alongside her comrades.
Remembering that Euphemia wasn't in the best conditions as of right now, he thought of what he'd do about her accommodation. Making her stay with the rest of the Black knights would seem unreasonable due to her condition and the curse he gave her may come back at any moment without notice.
Sighing to himself, he'd guess he had no choice. Euphemia would have to stay with CC and himself for now, just till he could figure something out for her.
He stayed in the room with the other black knights as they were introducing themselves to Euphemia; after all, he was responsible for her condition in the first place. Euphy getting shot wouldn't have happened if he said something else, now thinking about it he could only facepalm on what he said. 'Kill all the Japanese… I could have said, stand on one leg or twirl around like an idiot… nope, I guess I'm an idiot in a way.' He thought as he sighed to himself.
"Zero, do you mind if we talk in private?" Kallen asked, immediately pulling him back to reality.
Turning his head to face the brunette, he wondered what was on her mind. "Very well. Euphemia, I'll be in my office." He informed as he walked out of the room, with Kallen following behind.
Black Knights Main Base of Operations – Zero's Office
Once he was back in his office, he turned his attention to the woman who stood in the same room as him. "Now, what do you wish to talk about?" he asked.
Kallen knew that this might raise suspicions, but she had to ask him. It's been on her mind all day now since they left Mt Fuji. "Zero… Just who is Princess Euphemia to you?" she asked, curious.
"She's an ally to the Japanese people and myself, nothing more." He answered immediately not showing any hesitation. "Why do you ask?" he questioned, he didn't want to raise suspicions on the fact that he's a Britannian prince.
Kallen knew that was a lie. Zero showed no emotions, so why was he so upset when he answered the radio call? "That's a lie, isn't it?" she accused, knowing the risks.
"What do you mean by that?"
"When you answered your radio, you sounded like you were about to cry, you rescued her didn't you? So, I'll ask again. Just who is she to you?" she went on, hoping to get her answers.
Lelouch remained quiet, he didn't know what to say, and he couldn't tell her who he was. Euphemia was his first love and his sister, that's why he saved her. It was out of the love and the guilt he felt for cursing her with that command; he didn't want her to die like that.
"Zero… are you…? So, you are a man behind that mask, someone with feelings and a heart. She must be someone special to you then…" she finished, looking down a little in disappointment. "Tell me something, who are we to you? We're not just pawns, are we? The Black Knights I mean."
At first, Lelouch thought of the Black Knights as his army and his servants, but thinking about it, they made him happy in a way. He couldn't think of them as pawns, but they're like family to him. "Don't tell anyone this but, no. The Black Knights to me are like family; each one of them has their special place here; we all eat, sleep and fight together." He admitted, hoping she'd keep it to herself after all everyone looked at him as a heartless leader, who cares about nothing than the results.
Kallen smiled upon hearing that, but the look of disappointment remained on her face. "Zero… just who am I to you then?" she wondered, blushing a little.
'So, that explains a lot. She either likes me or has feelings for me; however, I should stay professional about it. But I also want to tell her that I see her as a woman… I don't know… damn it' he thought, biting his lip a little. "I… think of you as a kind and woman…" He said, yelling at himself at the gears he'd set in motion.
She lit up in a bright blush, breaking eye contact as well. "I-I… I'm thankful! Thank you… Um, I should go!" she said exiting the room quickly. She didn't know what to say next, was that Zero? If so, then she's seen a side of him that usually, no one sees.
Lelouch wanted to hit his head against the wall and go to bed or something. His heart was racing as he said that, he was supposed to let her down quickly, but instead he blurted out the most stupid thing he could say.
"CC I know you're there; you can come out now." Lelouch snapped as he noticed the door to the private bathroom move a little.
CC walked out of the room with a mischief smile smeared across her face. "Lelouch, you know. Playing with a maiden's heart could result in your demise." CC commented as she made her way to the couch.
She wasn't wrong. Lelouch knew that, but right now he had to think about what he'd do next. "CC this isn't time for your jokes." He shot at her. He was just embarrassed too.
She laughed a little; he was acting cute in a way. "You know, I never thought of you like the bold type of guy. But now you've just won over another girl's heart. You're working out to be quite the player, Lelouch." She laughed putting some emphasis on his name at the end, making the boy flush red behind his mask.
Sighing to himself a little he removed the mask and remotely locked the door. "You know there's plenty of important things I have to sort out. CC, do you have any news from Diethard? Since Cornelia would be occupied with Suzaku, we could use this opportunity to cripple the imperial army." Lelouch explained, hoping to get some insight from his accomplice.
"It's too early to be planning anything, but you are right. Cornelia and Suzaku won't intervene on our operations if we do something in the immediate future. I'd suggest crippling the development of Lancelot and intercept the scientists working on the Lancelot project too." CC suggested, however, Lelouch didn't know what to think of it.
It sounded interesting, crippling the Lancelot, it was the only reason why he was having so much trouble with, Suzaku would always intervene and jeopardize his operation. "An interesting proposal, however, we don't have any idea on where their main base of operations is, and we can't exactly follow Suzaku's lead too. I'm thinking of an assassination or rescue mission." Lelouch stated, wondering if that would be the best plan of attack.
"Why not bring Cornelia onto our side? You have Geass don't you, why not bend her will to your suited needs?" CC asked, wondering why he never seemed to bend the will of anyone in the Black knights with his geass.
Lelouch knew she'd ask that one day. "It's simple CC; it's not my place to decide the loyalty of one to serve my needs. Everyone has their rights CC; I'm not some monster." Lelouch explained.
"Oh? You're quite the kind person Lelouch; I don't think I've ever met anyone like you. You're turning out to be a quite interesting person." CC commented.
"I wouldn't know about that, but you're right on one thing. It's too early to be making battle plans, I'll take the next few days to resupply at our land base in Tokyo, and I'll figure something out later." he sighed and closed the laptop before him. In his mind now would be the perfect time to reflect and rest.
Five days later… Ashford Academy – Home
After Lelouch had introduced Euphemia to the black knights, he decided that he would return to the academy to fix his attendance. The people around the school were starting to realize that he had gone missing after the SAZ incident and that everyone was worried.
No one knew that he was a prince of the royal empire, but still, it caused some concern for many students who knew Lelouch. Getting back to the school proved to be a chore, it was hard to convince Euphemia that he would be leaving for a few days to return to the school. She wanted to accompany him back too but of course, it would be too risky, and it would only cause more headaches.
After all, the curse that he gave her was still active within her; it was just merely being suppressed by CC somehow. 'I have to fix this soon, but… I hope that she's okay…' The black-haired boy thought as he thought about his half-sister and CC. But things could be worse, like if he couldn't control his power anymore, but contact lens blocked the ability of geass, well CC said so anyway.
It would probably be best to go back inside and say hi to Nunnally, it was already nearly nine in the night, and he didn't want it to be too late. Although he knew what was on her mind and that he couldn't tell her the truth, oh well here goes nothing. Walking through the door and into the living room of where both Nunnally and Sayoko were, Lelouch smiled as the two came into view.
"Hello, I'm sorry I'm late, but I'm back for now." Lelouch greeted, but he could sense the depressing aura coming off his sister.
"Lelouch… have you heard?"
He assumed that she was talking about Suzaku. "Of course, the media is mistaken, Suzaku would never do such a thing." He assured.
His disabled sister looked down and more depressed. "No, it's not that, sister Euphemia was murdered, wasn't she? It isn't true, is it?" she asked.
Kneeling by his younger sister, he took her hand and squeezed it in both sides. "Of course, not. I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding or just some hoax." He said, hoping it would drop the topic.
"Well… If you say so…" she said, of course not entirely convinced.
"We both should go to bed soon, it's getting quite late, isn't it?" the prince suggested, he wasn't planning on leaving tomorrow so he would have all tomorrow to spend with his little sister. He realized that she still had a depressed look on her. "Hey cheer up, don't worry I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon."
"Really? You've been going out a lot I've noticed. Have you finally found yourself someone special?" the girl asked, making Lelouch blush at the topic a little.
He didn't want to think of Euphemia as someone he'd think of in that way and Kallen, well… things were complicated there. "I don't think so sis; your older brother is still single sadly." He announced.
His little sister chuckled a little. "I thought so, do you have someone you like?" she was still pressing the topic on him, and he didn't want to continue amongst it.
"There's no one, well no one yet… time will come I suppose."
"Oh, okay but if there's anyone in the future, you have to introduce me to them," Nunnally concluded.
Lelouch didn't want to say anything, but he guesses a promise little promise with his sister. "I promise, don't worry little sis." He clarified, hoping it would drop the topic.
Black Knights Main Base of Operations – Zero's Office
Back at base, things were going along fine, but Euphemia still got looks from everyone. At first, things were slowly getting better, but Tamaki and some of the black knights even didn't accept her as a black knight.
Sighing to herself as she walked back into Zero's office after having a shower, she was surprised at who was waiting for her return. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
It was Kallen, the pilot of the Guren and she was sitting on the couch across from CC. However, the yellow-haired girl didn't particularly pay any attention to the two, so they acted as if she were never there.
Getting up off the couch, she turned her attention to the princess before her. "Princess I have a question for you…" she said. However, it only earned her a sour look from the woman she was talking to.
Euphemia was fed up with being called a princess when she's not anymore. Sighing in annoyance, she corrected her. "I'm not a princess anymore; you can just call me Euphemia." The pink haired girl said slightly irritated.
"Oh… right, Euphemia, um I wanted to know what's your opinion on Zero?" She was still curious about what she talked about with Zero; she wanted to know what's the relationship between Euphemia wand Zero was.
Euphemia thought it was strange for Kallen to ask such a question, but it shouldn't be too surprising. They were both on the island before, and she knew that there was a unique relationship between her and Lelouch. "Why do you ask?" she wondered.
"Well… I want to know what you think about him; it's obvious that he favors you in a way. I just wanted to know why I'm interested that's all."
Euphemia wondered if she should tell her. "Well, yes we are slightly close, but we're more friends than anything else. I've known him for quite a while." She mentioned.
"Like before he became Zero?"
Not paying attention to what she said, Euphemia accidentally blurted out something she wasn't supposed to. "Yeah, we grew up together…" she carelessly announced, utterly unaware of what she had just said.
"Wait… What…?"
Next morning, Government Bureau – Holding Cells.
Suzaku sat there confined to his cell, reflecting on what had happened. Zero must have done something to him; there's no way that he'd murder the woman he loved. That man had to have something to do with the assassination with Euphemia. However, he had heard what had happened to her body by overhearing a few guards. It wasn't there; it was as if it vanished and no one had any memory of it too.
"Suzaku Kururugi, do you wish for power?" a boy asked, out of nowhere.
Looking up, he saw a child in unique clothing; he looked strange too. "What do you mean…?" he said, wondering what he was proposing.
"Do you long for the power to change the world?" he offered once again.
Blinking a few times to ensure he didn't see things, he soon realized that things were still real, the pain in his mouth and his body were still all there. "To change the world… how am I supposed to change the world if I am like this…? I murdered the woman I loved and the man I call my father…" he remarked, thinking of what a disgrace he was.
"You are wrong; you are cursed and that woman you speak of still breaths. I will ask once again; do you wish for the power to change the world?"
He needed to know more answers if what he said was true than Euphemia was alive and what does he mean that he's cursed? "What do you mean by that? How am I cursed?" Suzaku asked, curiously.
"The power of Geass lingers inside you. You're being forced to live on, even if you don't want to. The woman you speak of, she is alive, and the person who saved her is the very person who cursed you." The boy explained.
'Geass? What the hell I that? What does he mean by Euphy was saved by the person who cursed me? Is he talking about Zero?' Suzaku wondered. "What is this Geass you talk about?" he asked, confused.
"You're a man full of questions… fine, I'll answer them. Geass is the power your enemy possesses; I'm talking about Zero. He has the power to command any man, woman or child to do anything he pleases. I see that he's cursed you with the command to live, even if you wish to commit suicide, you can't, when faced with the dangers of life and death situations you will always try your best to live even in dire situations. Does it make sense now?"
It was a lot to take in; it all sounded outlandish and absurd. However, it had some grounding to it. How was Zero able to do such feats? It wouldn't be possible with reasonable means, so it was plausible in Suzaku's eyes. "I see, however it's hard to believe but your maybe right. His victories are… questionable. But why are you telling me this? Why offer me power?" Suzaku asked.
"I sense a strong desire from you, so I'm offering you the power in exchange you make my one wish come true." the child explained. "So, I'll ask you once again, do you wish for the power to change the world?" he offered.
"I…"
Author Notes: I rewrote this chapter five times. I wasn't happy about the pacing of the story and how it progressed too quickly. I hope this is enough to satisfy the wait for it and err… I hope you all enjoy it and well… tell me what you think, if you want.
And Yes, this is where things take a different route and well I hope it's exciting. Oh well, I have an idea where I'm going to take the next few chapters, I spent days planning the story table and plot line, so hopefully, I'll have the next chapter out by next week. Thank you for following the progress of this story again.