Phase XII: Sympathy for the Devil
A week after the Battle of Narita.
(JLF hideout)
"You did what?" Tamaki said shocked at Kallen's statement.
"The security in the Brittanian camp was loose from the heavy fighting and I managed to make it to Prince Lelouch's room" Kallen repeated her statement.
"What happened then?" Ohgi asked curious, the other Slayers where there and among them a crowd of listeners had formed among them where the Shiseiken and Todoh himself was listening to the conversation.
Kallen the continued to tell what had happened last night.
She was outside the door and was ready to rush in there and stab him to death before he knew what hit him; she reached for the handle but was stopped by the sound of crying coming from within the room.
Short gasps and exclamations of pain were heard.
"Bwah …..ach ach ach , bwah ach ach ach,
Kallen opened the door quietly and there she saw Zero on his knees crying his heart out, his back was turned against her so he did not see her opened the door and he was crying to loudly to hear the door opening, he was still wearing his cape and Kallen saw to his left his mask was on the floor discarded, but she could not see his face because his cape shielded it.
Kallen then noticed that a table was in front of Zero and on that table a picture of a long raven haired woman was upon it.
I…..I evacuated the civilians from Narita and they were transported to five areas away from the battle, so they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire Bwah …..ach ach ach… but one of the camps was….it….was….OH my God! It was in the path of the mudslide!... Bwah …..ach ach ach…200 feet to the east…..IF IT HAD BEEN JUST 200 FEET TO THE EAST NO ONE WOULD HAVE DIED! Bwah …..ach ach ach (Lelouch shouted and sobbed with all his heart)
"I swore that I wouldn't allow civilians to get caught in the crossfire, THAT WAS THE WHOLE DAMMED REASON I JOINED THE MILITARY! Bwah …..ach ach ach Bwah …..ach ach ach …..I could even do that, I couldn't even do that! Bwah …..ach ach ach Bwah …..ach ach ach…..Mother forgive me, I'm as guilty for their death as that red monster who started the landslide Bwah …..ach ach ach…Oh …mother forgive me!... Bwah …..ach ach ach Bwah …..ach ach ach".
Kallen never in her wildest dreams though she would see such a sight, a Prince of Brittannia crying his eyes out for spilled blood! And on top of that Japanese blood!
Before her wasn't the fearsome warrior who bested her on the field, the man before her wasn't the mighty Iron Prince, it wasn't the Niddhog which brought Europe to its knees, before her was a man, that was what Zero really was behind that mask, a simple man who right now was broken from grief, and all her anger, and hatred for him was replaced with pity and guilt since she now from him realized that she unintentionally killed civilians, and if there was one think the Japanese and Brittannian's agreed upon it was that killing defenseless people was cold blooded murder.
The revelation of what she had donned suddenly hit her like a tidal wave hits an ant on a beach, her knees got weak and tears started forming in her eyes, all of a sudden she didn't want to kill the person she wanted to reach out to him, to hug him, to comfort his soul, and so she reach out with her hand until it was a half inch from Lelouch's shoulder, all of a sudden she realized what she was doing, she then quickly and discreetly left the command center.
As she walked away she began to realize that she shared a common sentiment with him, and just know even if it meant her immediate arrest she wanted to reach out to him.
And the thought of her understanding and making a connection with him is what really scared her the most.
"WHAT! YOU MEAN YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO KILL THAT SON OF A BITCH AND YOU DIDN'T!" Tamaki shouted and a part of those present agreed with that statement.
"He was crying his eyes out, and on top of that he was crying because Japanese people died? How could I kill him while he was in that state?" Kallen retorted and another part of those present agreed with Kallen.
Todoh saw that a line was forming between those present and a brawl could be imminent so he decided to step in before it got out of hand.
"What Kouzuki did was the right thing to do!" Todoh said all of a sudden and all heads turned towards him.
"What do you mean Colonel? So what if he cried for the civilians caught in the mudslide, He didn't cry for the JLF members killed by his troops!" and a collective agreement was heard from the other members present.
"Killing in battle and killing in cold blood are two different thinks!" Todoh shouted towards the crowd and it silenced them.
"On the battlefield if Zero's and Cornelia's troops hadn't fought back we would have killed them all, in a battle one's survival instincts kick in, it is kill or be killed, you do not kill because you want to, you do that because you have no choice, so it is only natural for a soldier to not shed one tear for his fallen foe, the same is true for both brittannian's and Japanese" he said and then paused to let it sink in.
After seeing they understood what he just said he continued:
"Also I agree with Kouzuki, even though that man is our enemy, he was morning the dead, and killing him in such a state when he can't even think properly is nothing short of cold blooded murder, a warrior does not do something like this!"
"That's right! We are freedom fighter not clod blooded killers!" Ohgi said suddenly which surprised Todoh, but he was happy to have and ally amongst those present in matters of opinion.
Some were of the opinion that Kallen should have killed Lelouch regardless of it being morally correct Chiba was among them, but after what Todoh and Ohgi said the majority of those present had the opinion that if Zero was going to die, he would die in battle as a warrior because out off all the brittannian leaders he was the one which even them the JLF spoke in "mild terms" of dislike rather than hate.
Todoh himself had found something that he knew the JLF was missing; it was the lack of understanding for the common man.
He was an officer and from a prominent family, so in a sense he was a Japanese version of nobility, he knew how to keep an army together and how to lead it to victory and avoid a defeat, but he did not know a thing about the common man.
He saw that Ohgi was looked upon as a hero by those around him, a common man which rose from a simple peasant to slay a prince and lead his people to victory, Todoh noticed that people had a deep love to those who actually achieve a from rag to riches transformation.
He then gave the order for everyone to return to their homes and await further orders.
(Meanwhile at Ashford)
Shirley looked inside her pocket and saw that she had the pair of concert tickets that her father had sent them, she was about to go towards the government building, where Lelouch said he worked on the Phoenix Fund and ask him if he wanted to come with her to the concert.
She was preparing to leave, when she was stopped by Millie.
"Hooo! I see you have decided to finally attack" she said towards Shirley.
"Yes! I'm going to invited him to a concert that is tomorrow " Shirley replied.
"I can understand that, but I think the flowers and chocolates are a bit too much?" she said pointing at them.
"These are for Prince Lelouch, you see my father was at Narita and Zero evacuated him along with other civilians, if it weren't for him, my dad would have died in the mudslide, so I am going there to thank him!" Shirley responded.
"Well I am sure that he will appreciate the present, but remember no matter how charming he may be , you must not cheat on Lelouch with Zero!" Millie said with a chuckle which caused Shirley to blush.
(Lloyd research lab, government facility)
"As you can see your highness, during our damage inspection of Narita we found some rather interesting things in what was likely a secret research facility" Lloyd said gesturing towards the Siegfried.
"it is currently unfinished, but from the specs I can say that this machine when operational will literally be a flying fortress, the four spikes you see are in fact massive slash harkens, also whe discovered research about how to create a human cyborg, a sort of superhuman" Lloyd continued.
"Can you make it operational?" Lelouch asked curious.
"It will take some time, but I am confident I can do it!" Lloyd replied.
"Also, I'd like to ask you, can a V.A.R.I.S handgun penetrate a knightmare?" Lelouch asked.
"Yes! It can go through it like a hot knife through paper, literally! In fact that was the original concept for the V.A.R.I.S to equip our foot soldiers with such powerful weapons, but you see the smaller an electronic device is, the more expensive it gets, the cost of building just one handgun was to be estimated at almost 100 million pounds!" Lloyd said.
Lelouch then went to Lloyd's computer and tapped a few keys and then gestured for Lloyd to look at the screen.
What he saw made him freeze in astoundment; he had never in his life seen such a bank account in his life.
"This is one of my accounts, I trust this is enough for six handguns, also I would like some swords, a roman stile double edge my size and one of japans design single edged katana to be made like the ones from the Lancelot, also use the rest of the money and make one Lancelot for each one of my subordinates, is it enough?"
"YES! Yes it's more than enough for what you requested, why for such a budget I'd have eaten Cecile's cooking for a year!" Lloyd responded which earned a chuckle from Lelouch since he was aware of how awful a cook she was, thankfully she wasn't here to hear them.
"Also I'd like for you to build me a custom knightmare frame, I want it long range, light and maneuverable, with close combat capabilities, here is the design I had in mind" he handed Lloyd a CD.
Lloyd looked at the design sketches on a computer.
"Well the handguns, swords and Lancelots are not a problem, but it will take some time until I can make this your highness, possibly even months" he replied.
"It doesn't matter, just built them, I can wait!" he said and then moved towards the door.
"If I may sir, but I've been trying to get funding for my projects for months, how did you manage to acquire all this?" Lloyd asked curious.
At his question Lelouch looked over his shoulder put on his devilish smile on his face and said:
"I play chess for money with nobles and I always win!" he said and left the room.
(Lelouch private office quarters)
"So that was what happened at Narita" Schneizell said from the computer screen.
"Yes, even though I thought of every possible scenario with what we knew about them, I failed to take into account the unknown, I will not make the same mistake twice!" Lelouch replied.
"Don't blame yourself so much, it happens to the best of us, I also have been having a hard time with the E.U. and Chinese as well" Schneizell replied.
"What do you mean?"
"It's not that I its you're fault of anything, but after Narita the E.U though it was a sign that the Empire is weak and I am afraid that the ceasefire maid end soon enough, I expect that soon we will be at war with them once more, especially now since they've recovered from what happened in Siberia and also in seems the Chinese have evacuated Pengai island, I suspect that they intend to give it to the JLF remains which not doubt are planning to leave the country" Schneizell replied.
"So we can expect an attack from the E.U from the north and a Chinese invasion from the South which will be legitimized by the presence of Japanese high profile figures" Lelouch said with a tone of exasperation in his voice.
"That may be so…..but I am confident you are up to the task"
"When will Cornelia's 8th army arrive here?"Lelouch asked.
"I am afraid that the Eastern Federation is receiving massive E.U sponsorship again, so it seems the 8th army will have to remain in Asia Minor to fight it off"
At hearing this, Lelouch took out a cigar, lighted it, took a few puffs and said:
"So unofficially we are now at war with the most efficient army and officers in the world and the largest army as well, we are outgunned ,outmanned and if you look at where Japan is on the map, I am outmaneuvered" he said and then took out another puff of the cigar.
"Somehow you don't seem to concerned by this." Schneizell told Lelouch.
At this Lelouch gave Schneizell a broad smile and said:
"No…..no I am not….because you see the problem when an army faces an opponent of inferior power he generally thinks he won the battle without even fighting it first, the same is true for the situation present, once the field army's are deployed, the politicians from the E.U and China will scream at their generals ATTACK ,ATTACK, and under pressure from that they will attack, they will be forced to rush things, and when that happens I will be there to hit hard where it will hurt them the most! Besides, when your team is the underdog things are much more interesting then" Lelouch said with a broad grin on his face.
"That's what I like to hear! Good luck to you Lelouch, I will talk to you later" Schneizell said and he finished the transmission.
Just then Lelouch's secretary buzzed him.
"My lord a lady Shirley Fenette requests an audience with Zero"
Shirley wants to meat Zero? He this should be interesting! Lelouch said to himself "Let her in" he responded and then put his mask on, a minute latter Shirley entered the office with flowers and a box of candy in her hands, she gave a bow and said: "I thank you for thanking time from your busy schedule to see me your highness".
"No problem at all Miss Fenette, please come in and sit" he gestured towards the chair on the other end of his desk.
Shirley walked to the desk.
"These are for you" he gave him the flowers and candy.
Lelouch looked at them for a moment, then turned his head towards her and with a mischievous tone in his voice said: "I'm flattered you've taken an interest in me, but usually it's the boy who asks the girl out on a date"
At this Shirley blushed slightly and said "No! That's not it you're highness! Those are merely thank you presents!"
"Thank you presents? For what ?" Lelouch asked curiously.
"Well you see your highness my father was at Narita and if you hadn't evacuated him with the other civilians I…I don't know what would have happened" Shirley said both grateful and a scared tone in her voice.
At this Lelouch was taken aback, up until know he considered the civilians deaths in Narita his greatest failure he never until now thought that some good came out of it.
He staggered for a moment and then replied:
"I am grateful for your thanks miss Fenette…..I'd imagine you'd now want to meet with mister Lamperouge " he replied
Shirley blushed slightly at this and said: "Eh? Lulu is here?"
"Yes he is! As of matter of fact I'll go get him" Lelouch said and then went to fetch himself from the other room.
He took oh his mask, cape, and jacket and ascot.
"I should get an Oscar or at least a Bafta award for the rolls I play in one day" he said, he then mentally changed into his Lamperouge persona and after waiting a few minutes went back into the office.
"Hello Shirley! Zero said you wanted to where here, so thought I'd come to say hello" Lelouch said with his usual lady killer smile, even though he himself was not aware that he had such a smile.
"Yes! You….you see Lulu" she stuttered a little and blushed and then pulled out the two concert tickets "Father is away a lot from home, so he sends me things like this to make me feel better, would you like to go with me to the concert?"
Lelouch thought about it for a moment, and then remembering that a night of classical music would do him well.
"Sure, I love the opera" he responded.
Shirley was ecstatic at this, she gave him her ticket and then she quickly left the room, Lelouch looked at the ticket "Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)? She is strangely very happy to see a tragic play?" Lelouch said to himself puzzled.
After a moments of pondering Lelouch went the closet which was in his office, he opened it and there, were letters and all of them were letters of thanks, if one think Lelouch found odd of the Japanese is that they where a very formal people, the letters where all letters of thank you from the dozens of thousand of Narita citizens who were saved by Lelouch's evacuation order.
"I really can't avoid doing it can I?" he said to himself, he then looked at Shirley flowers and as that they where red roses, so he took two of them from the bouquet, put them in a box, and then left for Narita, there was a small shrine erected there for the dead at after the conversation with Shirley as Zero and looking once more at the letter's of thank you as Lelouch neither one of his 'personas' could now have an excuse to return to Narita and pay their final respects for the tragedy.
(Knightmare pilots training gym)
Since 6 o clock this morning Jeremiah had been training himself, but to say he was training intensely was an understatement, the sheer amount and high difficulty of the training he had been doing was more like torturing oneself rather than training at this point , and he had been doing this daily since he got back from Narita. Currently he was on his back on the weight lifting table, with Kewell at his head ready to put the weight back into place if it proved to be too much for his friend. "Hey Jeremiah take a break already! You've been killing yourself like this since Narita if you don't 'stop you're likely to die from exhaustion" Kewell said to his friend.
Jeremiah then placed the weight back in its support and said "Five minute brake *panting* panting*then I start over again".
"Why are you killing yourself like this, in a month and a half the 42nd will be ready for action and how are we going to fight if you kill yourself like this?" Kewell asked his friend
"Because * panting* back at Narita I got into a duel with Todoh and I wasn't sure if I could have survived facing him, let alone beating him*panting* panting*, when we go into battle again, we will face him again, and I have to be prepared for when that happens" Jeremiah replied and the resumed his weight lifting.
"If the prince would have been next to me and I would have lost against Todoh…. , I am Prince Lelouch's knight! I will protect him!, that's whyI must get stronger, I will fulfill my vow to protect him and avenge my failure to protect Lady Marianne…even if it costs me my life!" Jeremiah said to himself as he continued his training.
(Narita mountain range, medical camp)
Diethard Reid had just arrived at Narita, and on his left shoulder was a travel bag hanging from it, or at least that what it looked out from the outside, in the inside there was a hidden camera which was secretly filming everything he saw. Diethard came here to do a coverage about the battle, the landslide and how the government was reacting to it, the reason he was using a hidden camera was because he was used to the bureaucrats only showing them what they wanted to be seen, so he decided to go incognito and fill it all raw, authentic, without sugarcoating. He continued to walk for a few more steps when he something that shocked him completely, he saw Princess Euphemia tending to the wounded of the landslide, she was wiping one's forehead with water a moment latter she was changing another one's bandages, then she was helping another one eat, and what shocked Diethard even more was the fact that the above mentioned patients were of all elevens, and her crisp clean dress was now dirty, no doubt from how much an effort she was putting in helping the wounded.
"The hell with the battle, and screw the landslide! This is the real story 'Princess Euphemia, the white angel of Narita" he said to himself and focused his hidden camera on Euphemia entirely.
On the other side of the mountain Suzaku was with Cecile and was helping with moving the ruble. He stopped for a minute and got out to have a drink, which was offered by Cecile.
"Look at all this! Just what the JLF hope to accomplish with all this?" Suzaku asked.
"Well the JLF are fighting for your people's freedom" Cecile answered concerned at how angry Suzaku's voice was.
"This is what it means to fight for freedom?" Suzaku retorted angrily and crushed the now empty water bottle with even more anger in his fists than his words.
Cecile wanted to answer, but before she could Suzaku went inside the tent to change his outfit.
"It's getting late and I am going to pay my respects at the shrine on the other side of the mountain before night falls" Suzaku said and left, the reason Suzaku changed from his piloting sit was that he felt in would be disrespectful for the dead is he showed up in military uniform.
(The Narita Shrine)
Kallen was a few feet away from the shrine and just then Lelouch appeared to her right and Suzaku to her left. "What are you two doing here?" she asked.
"I came to pay my respects for the dead." Lelouch answered.
"Some goes for me." Suzaku replied and Kallen gave the same answer as well.
Lelouch placed his two roses on the shrine and sad a Christian prayer for the dead, Kallen put flowers as well and Suzaku lighted some incense, among their offerings were, candles, pictures and prayer leaflets left by other people for those who perished during the landslide.
"This I what happens when you try to achieve results with the wrong means, death and sadness, the JLF are nothing but cold blooded killers!" Suzaku angrily blared out.
Kallen despite being in grief herself could not simply let herself stand silent as Suzaku insulted the JLF.
"How can you say that about your own people freedom fighters!" she angrily shouted at Suzaku.
"Freedom is worthless, if the only ones left are to sick stricken from the death of their loved ones to enjoy it!"
"So what are you saying that what they're doing has no value, that they can't change thing, that they should just now their heads and submit?" Kallen shouted even angrier.
"All I am saying is they're doing it the wrong way, let me ask you this, how many gallons of blood has to be spilled before they see that they're using the wrong methods"
"ENOUGH!" Lelouch suddenly shouted which silenced both Kallen and Suzaku. "Both Todoh and Zero have no choice now….both of them have walked to far down the path of power to just stop…..both are fighting to change the world…both are using different means to the same end, but regardless of whatever means you use, the right of the wrongs ones people will die, it's just not a matter of if it's a matter of how many….but both must continue not in spite of the blood spilled, but because of it…..Zero and Todoh must continue to fight, continue to shed more blood, because if they don't then all of the blood spilled up until now will be in vane…..The old world must first be destroyed before the new one can to be built" Lelouch said to them and it calmed both of them down.
A few minutes later they all left to go about their business.
(Lelouch's apartment Ashford Academy)
"You knew from the start that people would die" C.C said to him.
"I know that!" Lelouch replied with his back towards her.
"All of those that you killed they all had lovers friends and family" C.C continued.
"I know that!" Lelouch said and he pushed C.C on the bed with himself on top.
"I know that, and now I know what the cost will be to change the world, if need be I will spill as much blood as it takes, bring more sorrow, more destruction so that a new world can arise!" he paused for a moment.
"From what you're saying it sounds like you intend to become a devil." C.C replied.
"If a devil is what I have to become, then a devil I will be! I will do it without geass" Lelouch replied in a cold, emotionless voice . Just then Nunnally came into the room.
"Big Brother if it's possible I'd like to go to Narita to help sister Euphemia with the wounded and the…." Nunnally paused and from the sounds she heard she could tell that her brother was on the bed and he was not alone on it.
"Is someone here with you?" Nunnally asked innocently.
"Hello Nunnally, I was hoping you'd teach me some more origami, but unfortunately your brother is quite insatiable" C.C said in a tone similar to a worker who had just been told by her boss she has to do overtime after a long day.
"I….Insatiable?...I am sorry to interrupt" Nunnally said and exited the room.
Lelouch was now mortified at how things had transgressed.
"WHY ON EARTH DID YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT? NOW SHE THINKS I'M SOME KING OF SEX ADDICT!" Lelouch shouted at C.C angrily.
"It's your own fault boy, what other possible explanation could there before our current position?" C.C replied with a devilish smile.
And only then Lelouch realized that the way he was on top of C.C and since she was on the bed, they were in the missionary position, and upon this realization he just covered his face with his palm in frustration and rolled over of C.C and to a position next to her.
"Why do I keep finding myself in these kinds of situations? Don't I deserve a normal day without this? Don't I deserve a little rest, a little bit of sympathy?" he asked with a frustrated and exhausted voice. C.C simply hugged her Cheese-kun doll and said:
"There is no Sympathy for the Devil."
And Lelouch after hearing those words instantly fell asleep, it had been a long day.
Authors note: Read and review let me know if I should continue.