A/N: Nomnomnomnomnom
That is all.
Nunnally wasn't sure how long she had been there, in the new suite of the rebuilt imperial palace. She was made Empress of the Holy Britannian Empire after Zero Requiem
But that meant nothing, she was a figurehead. Schneizel ran the Empire as prime Minister, and Suzaku gave vague orders to him from Nunnally.
She didn't make public appearances. She couldn't.
She rarely, if ever, left her room back then. Why should she? There was no reason, no point.
The one thing that had given her any sense of meaning, the one thing she lived for, was gone.
Her Nii-Sama, big brother. The one who stayed with her for days at a time after she had been mutilated. The one who had done everything he could to make her happy. The one who carried her through a war zone, who starved himself when there wasn't enough to eat, who doted on her, who spent every waking moment of his free time loving and protecting her. The one who tucked her in, who read her stories, who played with her, laughed with her, stuck by her side through everything. Who made her soup when she was sick, who protected her from bullies, who paid for the clothes that she wore, who had made her life worth living.
He was gone. Lelouch was gone.
And it was all. Her. Fault.
She had tried to deny it, at first. She had tried to lie to herself, to convince herself that it was all fake, that he had been a monster from the start.
She couldn't even say it to herself with a straight face.
The moment she touched him, during his last moments, as he drowned in his own blood and choked on his dying breath she saw everything.
She saw how much he loved everyone. The whole student council, and even the people that betrayed him, all of the Black Knights that turned their backs on him. He even still loved Suzaku. And he loved her, Nunnally, more than anything.
He did this for her.
He was dead, and it was because of her.
Dead because of her stupid wish for world peace.
He had given it to her at the cost of his own life.
She entered a fit of mania practically every other day. She screamed for him to come back, to not leave her alone, to wake up from this horrible, awful dream, this pitiful excuse of a life, this nightmare of Nunnally's own creation for her selfish wish.
There where some days where she just laid in bed, clutching her only photo of him, holding it to her chest and desperately going over her memories of him.
Her voice went horse, her eyes bloodshot, her body frail and her skin sickly pale. She didn't eat unless Sayoko forced her to.
She hated it. She hated this so-called peace, hated everyone with rare exception. Jeramiah, Anya, Kallen. Those 3 alone where spared from her all-consuming hatred and disdain.
Suzaku was not. Never, she could never forgive him, ever. Over her cold, dead, body.
He seemed to know that too. The shell of a man never approached her unless it was for official business. And she was pretty sure the "live" command placed on him acted up whenever she so much as looked in his general direction.
Her fury and malice was clear as day, it practically radiated off of her in waves. The burning, unconstrained loathing she had for him was palpable and could be seen in her cold, violent gaze.
She had drawn a gun on him a few times. Her fingers twitching, desperately wanting to pull the trigger even as she cocked back the hammer. Oh how she WISHED she could watch. Him. Bleed.
But that was then, and this was now. And now Nunnally had everything back, everything that mattered to her. Nii-Sama was back and she could be with her again.
She could hear her elder sister's heart beating steadily as her head rested in the crook of Lelucia's neck.
They had been like this for a while. It was Saturday so class was out. Rivalz was working as a waiter/bartender and Nina was working on her personal project that would inevitably become a weapon of mass destruction or an energy source of unmatched potential. Only time would tell which would come first and who would wield it.
Kallen, to her shame, could not help but envy the interaction. She had lost her brother long ago to the machinations of Charles Zi Britannia and his empire.
So she watched the siblings, wishing that she still had what they had. But at the same time she was happy, because Lulu was happy.
That smile, so rare, so honest and genuine, so full of love. Nunnally used to smile all the time, true, but it was a comforting constant.
Lelucia's smile was far more rare, and far more meaningful. A reaction, emotion, expression, reserved for people that she loved, trusted and respected.
It was like a special event. And so seeing it now, Kallen treasures it. She treasured the sight before her, that of Lulu.
Not the mask of enigmatic Zero. Not the mask of the aloof and bored school kid, not the mask of a hate-driven royal angered by betrayal.
Just Lulu, a content, happy, loving person doting on the little sister they hold so dear.
Lelucia sat cross-legged on the grass with Nunnally in her lap, hugging one another. Lelucia was gently combing through Nunnally's hair, petting her and massaging her scalp. The birds where chirping, the sun was shining, and they where relaxing in the shade of the tree.
Nunnally had her eyes closed. Probably not asleep, but her smile of pure joy and affection seemed to put everyone around them at peace.
Kallen eventually spoke up. "So, Lulu, about the black knights-" she began. "When are you going to Geass them?"
Lelucia opened her eyes, her smile fading into a thin line. "I'm not."
This elicited confused looks from the rest of the group.
"But- but they betrayed you!" Kallen said, shocked. "You're going to risk that happening again?"
"No." Lelucia answered succinctly. "In the first timeline I didn't give them my identity because I wanted them to be loyal to the ideals that Zero upheld, not the person behind the mask. I still want that, but it's going to be different."
"Different how?" Suzaku pondered aloud.
Lelucia shrugged. "For one, I won't be making any brash decisions or mistakes so they won't be doubting my abilities as a commander. Plus with your help, I'll be able to scrounge up data on the Lancelot to help Rakshata expedite her knightmare development program, giving us a technological edge over Britannia. And if everything goes according to plan, the Lancelot will be a Black Knight frame on an official level because I, as Zero, will have swayed the Li Britannia siblings and the white knight of Britannia to our cause."
"That will definitely help." Kallen admitted. "What else?"
"I plan to reveal myself in piecemeal. Rather than dropping one gigantic bombshell, I'll sprinkle in bits and bobs of my identity and who I am as a person. By humanizing myself to my comrades while remaining a remarkably capable leader, I will both reassure the black knights of my ability as their commander whilst simultaneously being more than just a faceless and cold persona."
"You plan to get close to them?" Nunnally asked, finally speaking up, and Lulu nodded.
"Yes. Last time I was too afraid and to cold to do anything other than keep them at a distance. But I realize now that by at least being friendly with them I can lessen the blow of any tactical, or strategic error I make, as well as reduce the risk of hostility should they discover my identity before I am ready."
"Will you tell them about your geass?" C.C. asked pointedly, and Lelucia winced, her hand stopping its motion of petting Nunnally as she reached up to her face, her middle and index finger split across her left eye as she mulled over the question.
"I don't know." She answered honestly. "I want to, eventually, but once I open that can of worms they will always suspect me of wrong-doing. The knowledge that I have the power to remove their free will just by looking them in the eye and demanding it? It would be terrifying, it would make them paranoid. Even if they claim to implicitly trust me they will always fear what I am capable of and that could lead to dissent among the ranks... especially Ohgi..."
"But what if someone like Schneizel figures it out and tells them first? That would be an even worse scenario. Do you want to risk the possibility of someone other than you or a person in your corner telling them about it?" C.C. countered.
Lelucia twitched at the memory of the Black Knight's betrayal because of Schneizel, her hug around Nunnally tightening a little. "That's... a bridge I'll cross when I come to it. I can't make a decision on that right now. I'll either have to endear myself to them or come up with a good sob-story to lie about how I got my Geass to reduce potential backlash. Maybe both."
Everyone seemed to be in agreement, and silence remained for a little while. But eventually Nunnally decided she had something to say as well.
"I want to help."
Lelucia was about to reply with an 'absolutely not' but hesitated as her eyes flickered down to look into Nunnally's. Her little sister was determined and had a 'you can't say no' look on her face.
She bit her lip anxiously and took a deep breath. "Nuna..." she began softly. "I understand why you want to help but-"
"But nothing, I'm helping."
Good god being stubborn ran through the family, Lelucia was sure of it.
"Nuna, I don't know what you'd do. You're young, you're frail, you don't have any outstanding talents, to my knowledge at least-"
"I REFUSE TO BE USELESS!" Nunnally snapped, causing Lelucia to wince. "I don't want to be useless... I don't want to be a burden, never again."
"You where never a burden Nunnally." Lelucia chided softly. "Look... give me time to think ok? I might be able to figure something out but... I don't know what, not yet."
Nunnally sniffled and nodded, burying her face into the crook of her big sister's neck and hugging as tight as she could while Lelucia sighed.
"I do have a couple of ideas, but I'll need Rakshata first and we won't have her until after Narita, not unless I manage to get Kyoto on my side sooner than before but it's gonna be a while until we can even begin formulating a plan with her... for now I just need you to be my loving, sweet little sister, ok? Can you do that for me?" Lulu asked gently.
Nunnally nodded. "Yes Nii-Sama, always." She answered quietly.
"Good." Lulu replied in kind. "That's all I need from you right now Nuna." She said before kissing the top of Nunnally's head.
As the conversation was ending, Milly was on her laptop nearby, and groaned.
"It looks like Cornelia is going through with the Saitama operation again."
"What the hell!? After everything we saw and went through she's still gonna massacre the ghetto!?" Kallen yelled in outrage, her face twisting into an angry scowl.
"When is it scheduled to happen?" Lelucia asked calmly, and her reserved attitude seemed to make Kallen unwind a little, reminding the redhead that Lulu was still Zero.
"Uh... 3 days from now." Shirley answered, looking over Milly's shoulder while the president took notes about the information available.
Lelucia nodded. "And you can confirm she was there when the time transition took place?"
"Yup." C.C. answered smoothly.
"Mm. It stands to reason then, that Cornelia is playing her role."
Suzaku's brow raised. "Playing her role?"
"Simply put, logic dictates that she has to act a certain way to not draw attention. She is still the Emperor's attack dog as far as the world is concerned, Area-11 is in Britannia's eyes a terrorist infested hellhole that killed myself and Nunnally prior to the invasion and has just now claimed Clovis."
Lelucia continued after taking a breath. "She has to act like she's out for blood. She announced the massacre 3 days ahead of time giving me the opportunity to prepare as well as giving a good chance for Civilians to flee the area leaving only the Yamato Alliance. She satisfies her constituents by acting like the usual witch of Britannia while still giving us time and civilian bystanders plenty of leeway to evacuate."
Kallen calmed down considerably as Lelucia's deduction and felt relieved
"Ok, so what do we do?" Kallen asked, getting serious.
"Contact your old resistance group. Tell them I have another miracle in the works."
Kallen smiled, and Lelucia looked at Suzaku.
"Do you have military clearance to get me close to a Knightmare hangar?"
Suzaku nodded. "The Special Corps van is usually parked by knightmare reserve depots when we aren't in the field."
"Good, and do you have a way to contact Euphemia?"
Suzaku blushed. "She uh- gave me her number."
Lelucia grinned and shook her head. "Shoot her a text, tell her that we're gonna need some security footage to get tampered with."
"Got it."
"C.C. order pizza, we're gonna be pulling an all-nighter, here's my card." The exile said pulling their wallet out of their coat pocket and tossing a debit card to the pizza-addict who licked her lips.
"Don't have to tell me twice." The witch preened and got up, walking towards the clubhouse to use the phone.
"Milly, it's time for the Ashford Gazette to enter production, we need some pro black-knight propaganda ready to spread to the masses. Shirley if you don't mind I'd like you to help her when you aren't hitting the books for your nurse studies."
Milly shot Lulu a thumbs up, while Shirley smiled and nodded.
"What are we gonna do about the Yamato alliance?" Kallen asked. "I heard they inflicted some nasty casualties on Cornelia the first time."
"They preformed well until they didn't." Lelucia drawled in a mildly irritated tone, laying back with Nunnally on top of her.
"What happened?" Suzaku asked the question they all had on their minds.
"They followed my orders at first, but then Cornelia acted outside of my initial expectations and one of them got killed. The moment that happened they broke ranks and stopped following my commands. Got them all killed and their Sutherlands destroyed for all the good it did." She mused.
"Really?" Kallen asked in clear annoyance. "One unit lost is all it took to break cohesion?"
"I couldn't believe it either, but yes. They basically started doing their own thing the moment I miscalculated and it all fell apart." She muttered, closing her eyes and sighing.
"Let's go to the student council room, we need to plan." The exile eventually stated.
"We?" Kallen asked poignantly. "You never shared your plans before, and you never needed help making them."
"I technically still don't need to, but I want to. You are my most trusted friends, allies and accomplices and I value your input." Lelucia declared with warmth as she started sitting back up, and everyone smiled at her words of confidence in them.
"God Damnit what are we supposed to do!?"
"Have the Blood of the Samurai responded yet?"
"SHUT IT I'M TRYING TO LISTEN FOR RADIO MESSAGES!"
"Don't take that tone with me!"
"We need to be doing something not just arguing! Evacuate the civilians, flee, prepare to make a stand, anything!"
"Oh get off it! You've been doing nothing but sitting on your ass and criticizing the rest of us, what's your excuse!?"
They where all caught off-guard by the sound of the door to their hideout opening, and turned to see-
"Zero!?"
"No way-"
"What's he doing here? And- wait, isn't that Naoto's sis?"
Sure enough, the masked visage of Zero now stood before the Yamato Alliance with Kallen Kozuki by their side.
"Greetings Comrades, I am here to make an offer to you."
Kallen shot Zero a confused look, but it vanished before anyone caught it.
"Oh yeah? And what kind of deal is that?"
"Simple, if I can provide you the means to fight Britannia will you follow my orders?"
"What could you possibly have that could help us?" One asked, crossing their arms and glaring at Zero's mask.
"How about an entire train of factory mint sutherlands?" The redhead asked, sounding just a little smug.
Needless to say, Zero and Kallen walked out of that room with a deal having been struck. Once they where clear, Kallen grabbed Lelucia by the shoulder and turned them around to face her.
"What was that?" She whispered harshly with a frown. "You diverged from the plan, you promised you wouldn't lie-"
"I didn't lie Kallen, I promise." Zero said placatingly, their shoulders sagging. "I am sorry for diverging from the plan, I didn't intend to at first."
Kallen quickly forgot her anger and now became concerned. "What's wrong? Do... you not feel comfortable using your Geass on them?"
"No- no its not that, I mean, it's more difficult for me to do it after everything that's happened but that's not why." Lelucia sighed.
"Taking people's free will, turning them into pawns, it was something I did because it was easy, a crutch, I abused it and it got me into as many bad situations as it got me out of. I still intended to use it though."
"Then... what is it?"
"It's... a strange feeling, a complication I guess. Have you ever had a bad injury, like a deep cut?"
Kallen's worry grew and Lelucia waved her off.
"I'm not injured, don't worry but... my Geass, when I was about to activate it I got this... strange sensation, burning, and tingling, almost like it itched. I've never had something like that happen before, and I was worried that something might be wrong with my Geass... I haven't used it at all ever since the Orange incident, right before our memories where transplanted so it didn't occur to me to check if it was working properly prior to the meeting."
Kallen nodded. "I understand, i'm- sorry for getting hostile like that."
"Water under the bridge Kallen, it's forgotten." Lulu said softly, placing a hand on Kallen's shoulder and causing her to smile.
But the hand was removed as quickly as it arrived, and Zero turned back to look at the Ghetto.
"It will be starting soon. Let's get into our positions."
"Right!" Kallen chirped and ran off to her designated starting position, while Zero loitered for a moment watching her queen leave her side and fighting back a sense of longing. She eventually took a deep breath, sighed, and moved along to her position.
A pair of Sutherlands where riding down the streets of Saitama and maintaining a constant speed on their patrol. They moved, unaware of the danger.
"Damn, there's nothing out here, no terrorists to kill, and this Zero guy looks like a total no show." One of them griped
"Tell me about it." The other began. "We get all dressed up to kill some Elevens properly and they have the audacity to hide, where's the sport?"
"Hah! I bet I could ge- huh? Oh SH-"
A pair of high velocity rockets zipped out of an apartment complex and blew both knightmares to pieces one pilot died because it struck the cockpit block directly, the other managed to eject as its legs where torn off.
In her G-1, Cornelia was not at all surprised when a pair of Sutherlands where registered as "lost"
She also could not care less. Her army was not due to arrive for a while yet so these where expendable local garrison units that she needed to get rid of either way.
'It's the same pair as before. A coincidence or deliberate?' She thought to herself but otherwise did not say anything, not yet, she wanted to see if her second favorite sister had learned any new tricks.
Lelucia stared at the tactical data before her while she idly played with her chessboard with her right hand, and held a radio in her left.
"R-1, R-2 use heavy ordinance."
Heavy knightmare cannons blew up a tank platoon.
"P-8 open fire to your 6 o-clock."
A knightmare assault rifle let loose a volley of bullets shredding an unsuspecting infantry squad.
"N-2 fire anchors, 12 o-clock high."
A pair of VTOL Gunships where ambushed and struck with slash-harkens.
"B-1 fire at will."
A well placed sniper round struck jerry-rigged explosives lining the side of a crumbling apartment complex, causing it to collapse and destroy a Squadron of Sutherlands.
"P-1, use the detonator."
The supports of a bridge exploded, taking out various knightmares, vehicles and infantry.
Lelucia sighed. "Your turn, sister."
"Enough." Cornelia eventually declared, sitting on her throne no longer as she stood to her full height and shrugged off her coat.
"Have all units fall back and initiate an inspection. Guilford, Darlton, with me."
Kallen tapped her foot anxiously as she sat inside her new Knightmare. She might not be able to have her beloved Guren until Narita, but this wonderful present Lelucia got her would do nicely.
The princess had seen fit to "Strategically Transport Equipment to an Alternate Location" as she so eloquently put it, and it took Kallen longer than she would have liked to admit to realize the first letter of each word spelled out STEAL, which she laughed at in private.
In this case, the strategically relocated equipment was a Gloucester, its once purple-grey tinted color had been changed to a deep, dark red.
Next to Kallen's red Gloucester, was a white Gloucester.
Because Suzaku was never near or took part in Saitama, he would not be missed here either, and so Lulu had 'borrowed' 2 of the machines. One for each of her best pilots.
They had both argued, vehemently, that Lulu should get one of the Gloucesters for its superior protection but just like always she threw her safety out the window and insisted a Sutherland was fine.
"I'm a commander, my Ace pilots are the ones who need the better frames because they'll be the ones in danger." She had said
Kallen idly sipped from her favorite peach flavored milk box before the radio crackled and she immediately sat up straight.
"Q-1, Q-2, this is K-0. The enemy King and her Queen pieces are on the approach, move to point Alpha as planned."
"Yes, your majesty." Both Kallen and Suzaku replied, elicting a groan from the princess as they exited their hiding spot in a derelict warehouse and accelerated down the street with their landspinners.
Lelucia pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance before switching back to the channel she used for the Yamato Alliance.
"This is Zero, we've caused significant damage to Cornelia's forces, she has deigned to grace the battlefield with her presence along with 2 of her most elite Knights. Take the pre-determined escape route at point 3-5 and rendezvous at the coordinates provided."
"What? You want us to cut and run just like that?" One of the alliance members questioned.
"Cornelia and her entourage are all near-peer to Knights of the Round in high spec custom Gloucesters with years of experience in combat, even with me leading you, many of you would die, I implore you to take this as a victory and retreat before its too late. I'll contact you tomorrow."
"Damnit... fine Zero, we'll bug out."
Lelucia did not respond and switched back to the other channel reserved for Kallen and Suzaku.
"Activate IFF's so we can greet my sister properly." She mused before finally taking her Sutherland off of its rooftop position and hitting the pavement.
Lelucia would link up with the red and white knightmares, her own rather unimpressive imperial blue Sutherland oddly standing out. The trio of revolutionaries would come to a stop on the street as 3 royal purple Gloucesters came into view.
"Hello Zero, quite the welcoming you gave me, and you brought friends I see. Tell me, would you prefer to die here and now by my hand or by the hand of an executioner?"
"I'll take neither Cornelia. I have a proposition for you." Zero answered over the loudspeaker of their Sutherland while the rebel Gloucesters stood to the left and right of their leader, mirroring the warrior princess and her Knights.
"And what proposition would that be?"
"Simple, you wish to know the details of project orange, do you not? A project so damning that Jeramiah would do anything to stop its leak before erasing his own memories?"
"You're offering me information, in exchange for what?" Cornelia pondered, playing along with her sister.
"A mere wager. My Knights against yours, if both your Knights win, I will tell you everything, if they loose I will give you a hint of where to look. If it's a tie then I'll give you partial details and you'll have to figure the rest out."
"Anything else?"
"Regardless of the end result, me and my Knights are to be allowed to leave unharmed."
"You're guilty of regicide Zero. I can't let you just up and leave."
"Even if it concerns the safety of you and your sister? If I die there's nothing stopping him from going after Euphemia."
There was a great deal of hidden meaning in that warning. Cornelia knew that, and even though she knew for a fact that Lelucia would not harm Euphie, the SAZ still haunted her. However... this entire interaction nearly confirmed what she suspected, that her sibling had undergone the memory merge like herself and Euphie. Still- better make sure.
"And if I decide to stand against you regardless? In spite of all you say here?"
"It would be a requiem for a dream, Cornelia." Lelucia said in a more quiet tone than she intended, but her memories where haunted by that day.
That confirmed it for Cornelia, and so she would confirm for Lelucia.
"You speak as though you are Damocles himself rising from the grave." Cornelia replied.
"Perhaps I am." The reply was short and simple. "After all, I possess the will to destroy."
Guilford and Darlton where of course, confused by the suddenly cryptic turn of the conversation, but before they could voice their opinion, Cornelia spoke once more.
"... Very well, I shall accept your wager. Guilford, Darlton, step forward and face your opponents."
Suzaku and Kallen walked their knightmares forward. The former was facing Darlton, and the latter was against Guilford as the Knights followed their commands.
Kallen and Suzaku both then activated their Gloucester's landspinner systems, and blasted off in different directions, with each Knight following their designated opponent. This left Cornelia and Lelucia alone together.
"So, Zero, tell me, do you take after your mother?"
"I do not claim to be as skilled as she was, but she showed me a thing or two."
One thing that Lelucia had over her past incarnation was that Marianne had allowed Lulu to spar with her in gen-1 knightmare simulators. It was more experience than Lelouch had.
She might not be on par with Cornelia or her Elites, and definitely not the likes of Super-Ace pilots, but she was competent.
It was something she'd have to work on. Beforehand Lelouch either had a co-pilot, or a knightmare that did half the work for him. This time she wanted to be able to handle herself in a proper fight without needing a handicap. It wouldn't hurt for her to train.
"Then perhaps I should try you on for size eh? An effective commander you may be, but if the king leads, they must be strong enough to stand at the forefront of battle."
A test then...
"Very well, witch of Britannia. I don't suppose I can convince you to go easy on me?"
"Not on your life." Cornelia chided. Her Gloucester twirled it's spear before slamming the pommel into the street in challenge.
"Hmph." Zero's Sutherland bent its knees and raised its arms, activating its tonfas. Part of her was tempted to use the KAR magnetically locked to the hip of her frame but she knew she was a good shot. And it was going to be a rare chance to get experience in melee combat against her sister. There where no stakes here, after all, something she would make full use of before the butterfly effect reared its ugly head.
Cornelia raised her lance and charged, its landspinners kicking up dust as her custom frame barreled directly towards the princess. The lance was aimed at the "gut" of the Sutherland, below the cockpit.
Lelucia narrowed her eyes and let her mind do its work. Kallen and Suzaku both acted on instinct, their frames where practically tailored to them, like an extension of their will.
Zero would have to be more tactical in how she fought until she got to that level.
'Her frame is custom built for anti-knightmare combat, her lance is deadly, even a glancing blow would be crippling. Facing her head on would be foolish... she Prefers blitzkrieg style tactics akin to those used by Germany in the second European war both as a commander and as a, it's natural counter is mobile fluid defense.' She thought to herself as she quickly analyzed her situation.
She made her move, carefully timing her counter, she pushed the throttle of her landspinners in a counter-clockwise position, and twisted the arm of the sutherland for a downward strike.
This allowed her to seamlessly pivot around the lance and smash her tonfa into the side of the Gloucesters faceplate, catching one of its antennas and snapping it off whilst cracking the tungsten casing of the head's plate.
Cornelia luickly recovered, using her momentum to her advantage as she spun around and thrusted her jousting lance.
Lelucia was just barely able to deflect the blow, lunging to the side and, smacking the lance off-course.
Cornelia's Gloucester backstepped and the pair of kinightmares stepped around one another.
"Nice, though you could have capitalized on your first strike, you're too tepid."
"Perhaps I am being overly cautious." Lelucia admitted. "But against you I am aware that a single mistep would end our match prematurely."
"Right you are, this battle is far from over, now- HAVE AT THEE!"
Lelucia sweatdropped as Cornelia actually seemed to start trying.
'Since when can you spin-kick in a Knightmare!?'
Darlton did not expect much from his opponent in the white Gloucester.
Now his purple Gloucester custom was missing an arm, and his lance had been destroyed whilst his opponent had suffered nearly a scratch.
His experience and in-depth knowledge of his Knightmare was probably the only reason his unit was still standing, even as warnings where popping up on almost every screen and his knightmare shook.
Sparks went flying as the enemy knightmare dodged his slash-harkens with impossible grace before closing the gap and throwing a punch that would have decapitated his frame if it connected directly, instead only just scraping the side of his frame's head. His landspinners strained as he willed his machine to open up the distance between them to try and re-evaluate, only for the other unit to remain right on top of him.
"Heh, you're good- for an Eleven!" Darlton remarked.
"You're humble, for a Britannian." Suzaku shot back calmly before he fired his own harkens, missing Darlton's frame and going past him.
"Your aim could use some work!" The Britannian general mocked.
"Really? I think my aim is just fine."
"Huh?" Darlton's Gloucester turned to look where Suzaku's harkens landed. Only to see them returning to sender.
Realizing he had been distracted his frame turned back around as quickly as he could and threw out a fist, only for the enemy Gloucester to capitalize on the hasty attack by grabbing the remaining arm of Darlton's frame, and throwing a leg out to trip his Gloucester, causing it to careen into the concrete pavement and scrape against the ground as it tumbled out of control and into a crumbling apartment block.
Moments later, Darlton was forced to eject.
Meanwhile, Guilford was having just as much luck as sweat poured down his face and his hair was disheveled. His mouth forming a grimace as he did battle with his opponent.
'This enemy- it's like fighting Cornelia! They're ruthless, I can't find even a moment's reprieve, damnit, at this rate...'
He didn't have time to finish his thought as he willed his Gloucester to sidestep an incoming punch that slammed into the wall behind his previous position. The red Gloucester was a hyper-aggressive menace. It never defended itself, only redoubling its offensive every time it avoided damage. Guilford was constantly on the backfoot.
He had managed to avoid taking critical damage, but just because his frame wasn't crippled didn't mean the enemy hadn't landed a few good hits. Meanwhile the crimson menace before him hardly had a scratch as it immediately retracted its fist from the wall, and sped forwards to try and land a hit. He fired both his harkens at point-blank range-!
"What!?" Guilford couldn't contain his shock as the enemy pilot somehow reacted quickly enough to both duck beneath his harkens and then grab the steel cables, stopping Guilford in his tracks and then yanking him forward.
The red menace punched low, into the "gut" of his knightmare, grabbing beneath the cockpit block and grabbing onto it, before taking hold of his head and having the audacity to judo-flip his Gloucester, throwing it face-first into the pavement before mercilessly stomping the head of his unit into the ground, crushing it and causing him to eject.
Lelucia grit her teeth her damaged Sutherland reversed at full speed out of a plume of black smoke, leaving a stream of contrails as a warning popped up notifying her of internal damage, and another about low power remaining in her frame's energy filler. Her armor was cracked with pieces of it having been chipped off, revealing some of the delicate internal machinery. Coolant leaked out of cut tubes and oil lubricant was spattered about her frame like blood from an open wound.
'Where!? I don't see her!? Maybe- ABOVE!'
Her sutherland's head tilted up to see Cornelia's Gloucester custom jump into the air out of the smoke, it's ivory cape billowing in the wind and it's lance poised to strike as it came down right on top of her.
"DAMNIT!" She raised her KAR to fire a burst at Cornelia, but the elder sister was ahead of Lelucia, predicting her method of defense, Cornelia pre-emptively fired her harkens into the side of a building and swerved out of Lelucia's line of fire, messing up the aim of the exile, she swiftly attempted to correct herself but before she could, Cornelia thrust her lance forward and in doing so tore off one of the Sutherland's arms completely before Lelucia could evade.
Lelucia sighed.
"You really are something else, Cornelia-Oneesan." She chuckled. "I pulled out every trick in the book and it wasn't enough to even cause moderate damage."
"Don't sound so disappointed in yourself." Cornelia chided softly, her Gloucester standing up straight and it's lance raised in a standby position, pointing upwards. "You lasted a pretty long while all things considered. Guilford is the only one who's ever managed to match me blow for blow and we're both combat veterans, if you where a regular pilot in my army you'd easily match an elite in the regular squadrons."
"Nevertheless-" Lelucia began "It isn't good enough, I need to grow my skills, this battle has taught me much sister, and I thank you for the learning experience."
"You're most welcome." Cornelia replied. "And... sister?"
"Yes?"
"I'm proud of you." Cornelia said warmly. "Remember that."
"... Thank you."
A comfortable silence passed between the royal half-sisters before Cornelia finally spoke again
"You have a pair of incredibly talented pilots, and one of them is eventually going to be my brother in law." She mused. "I expect them both to put you through the ringer in the simulators, I want you to grow strong, as strong as you possibly can be so that I can know that you're as safe as you can be when the real fighting starts."
"Hah, they won't let me have a moment's rest I wager."
"They better not."
Lelucia grinned.
"Though, sister, I must admit I may have told a small fib." The exile admitted.
"Oh?" Cornelia asked with a raised brow.
"Yes, you see I didn't use EVERY trick in the book, I had one more hidden up my sleeve."
"Huh? Oh you cheeky little-" Cornelia began, as she realized just a split second too late what Lelucia was doing as she fired her undersling grenade cannon of her KAR at the pavement beneath the feet of her Gloucester, causing her to fall into the dilapidated subway tunnel below and half bury her frame in concrete.
"YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE WHEN I GET TO ASHFORD LITTLE MISSY!" Lelucia heard Cornelia shout over her loudspeakers, causing her to snicker, and she let her head pop over the edge of the hole she made to look down at the elder sister's knightmare.
"Sorry Cornelia, all is fair in love and war you kno- WOAH!" She ducked just in time to avoid having one of Cornelia's slash-harken's hit the head of her Sutherland.
"Temper temper!" She tsked before giggling and fleeing the area, leaving Cornelia to grumble about cheap shots as she dug her way out of the rubble.
Lelucia sighed
"Please stop pestering me about it, I'd rather just figure things out on my own."
She was sitting in the student council room with the others. All of them looking concerned, except for C.C. who was just annoyed.
"I understand that you want to solve your own problems, but while you may understand what your geass does, you don't truly understand how it works."
"Oh and you do?" Lelucia countered, crossing her arms and staring up at C.C. "Last time I checked this thing didn't exactly come with an instruction manual."
"It didn't, I learned everything I could through experimentation and then by connecting with C's world. I have experience which makes me more qualified to solve your problem than you do. I am your contractor, after all."
Lelucia grumbled. "Fine, what do you want me to do?"
"Just activate your geass, or try to at least."
Lelucia nodded, and willed her Geass to activate, that same strange sensation was felt once more.
"... Aww hell." C.C. mumbled as she glared at Lelucia's left eye.
Kallen, Milly and Shirley alongside Suzaku all gathered around behind C.C., looking over her shoulders
"What?" Lelucia asked while everyone stared at her eye, making her feel uncomfortable.
"That's bad right?" Kallen asked.
"It looks pretty." Shirley offered awkwardly
"Buuuuut it's probably not a good sign now is it?" Milly pitched in.
"Probably not." Suzaku answered
"Don't leave me hanging, whats going on?" The exile asked, annoyed and a bit freaked out.
Kallen pulled her makeup kit out of her purse, handing Lelucia the mirror she had to look at her reflection.
Her eyes widened as she looked at her left eye. Rather than a bright, solid red, she was met with a flickering and uncontrolled blue that shifted positions inside her Iris, warping, expanding, contracting, growing brighter and dimmer like it was glitching out.
Fractures where visible, it almost looked like it was cracked... damaged...
Broken.
Lelucia stared at it for a good, long moment, there was only one word that came to mind to express her thoughts on the current predicament she found herself in.
"Ah... Fuck."
A/N: Plot twist, no magic eye jutsu for Lulu, she gotta control people manually.