A/N: Thanks again to Darklord331 for his beta work on the chapter, and thanks to everyone for their feedback. I do apologize this chapter came out later than intended, part of it was a number of real-life stuff I had to deal with and breaking my left hand at work, which did impede my writing a bit as I needed to adapt for the time being.
That being said the posting of my Fate/Grand Order crossover will be delayed, but rest assured I'll post that as soon as I can. Ideally in the coming days or by the end of next week, then it will depend on how long it will take my beta for my story to get through it.
There are no PMs I cannot reply to, so let's move on.
Chapter 9
The Power of a Herrscher
"What did you come from?"
Lelouch looked at the little girl, Cyrille, and she had introduced herself as; her attire was barely held together, and it wasn't a military uniform like Bronya and the others. This girl wasn't part of their group, but Lelouch couldn't see how a girl as young as this could survive alone in such a hostile environment.
"Hmmm, I don't know. All I know is my name, and he always said it's polite to introduce yourself?" Cyrille said, appearing very confused.
"He, is this man a parent, your father maybe?"
"No, nothing like that," Cyrille said, shaking her head. "But he is a very important person; he was smart like my sister. He was the only one who would play with me."
"Ok, but how did you end up away from the city?"
"I…I…I don't know. If he or my sister was here, they could explain everything," Cyrille said, struggling to explain her situation. "Maybe if I got back to the city, maybe if I could escape, maybe it could help?"
Before Lelouch could ask another question, Bronya and Elysia heard the ongoing conversation, so the pair came to investigate.
"Lelouch, who are you talking to?" Bronya asked before she and Elysia saw the little girl Lelouch had been talking to.
"Where did that poor little girl come from?" Elysia inquired.
"That is what I was trying to find out," Lelouch answered, as Cyrille seemed more confused and uncertain.
"I don't recall seeing her with our group," Bronya pointed out. "Did you learn her name?"
"Her name is Cyrille, but I haven't gotten much more out of her yet," Lelouch replied.
"It seems we have a mystery on our hands," Elysia said, with one hand on her chin in contemplation.
"A mystery? Sorry if I cannot explain much, but I've been trapped out here, wandering the snow for as long as I can remember," Cyrille said; her expression said it all; she was struggling to remember anything that could be helpful.
"Do you, by chance, know the name of this person you mentioned? Your sister or this man you mentioned," Bronya asked.
"My sister, her name was…was…Cyrilla and the man who was always nice to me was Stefan," Cyrille answered after much struggling.
"Stefan," Bronya said, putting one hand on her chin in contemplation.
"Do you recognize the name?" Lelouch asked.
"No, but I think I've heard it somewhere before," Bronya answered. "Maybe once we return to Belobog, I can ask my mother for more information. Maybe locate Cyrille's sister and this Stefan person."
"Really, you could do that," Cyrille said, hopeful, while Bronya nodded. "Thank you. That would be wonderful if it doesn't trouble you so much."
"It shouldn't be, but I am curious how you managed to survive here all this time?" Bronya asked, as the one thing neither she nor Lelouch could understand.
Given Cyrille's attire, no one should be able to survive a hostile environment alone.
"Could anyone survive out here?"
"Generally, unless you are properly prepared, you could live out here for a time. But not indefinitely, once your supplies begin to run out, and there is the threat of the Fragmentum to consider, too," Bronya replied.
"So, trying to live out here would be extremely difficult?" Lelouch asked, which Bronya confirmed with a nod. "Unless you had enormous amounts of supplies and a shelter capable of wearing the worst weather."
"Yes, but even then, due to the Fragmentum, your chances of surviving beyond the city are limited as long as the Fragmentum doesn't breach your shelter," Bronya confirmed, adding another important detail.
"So that means Cyrille surviving out here seems highly unlikely unless someone was helping her," Elysia said, coming to the same conclusion as Lelouch.
"Yes, that being said, are you sure you've been alone out here?" Bronya asked Cyrille, who looked towards the trio, seemingly more confused than before.
"I don't know, I just remember being alone out here. Unable to find my way back," Cyrille said, a mixture of evident confusion and fear in her voice.
"I see, then there might be one explanation left," Bronya said before trying to offer her hand to Cyrille.
But when she tried to reach for it, some invisible force pushed Bronya, Lelouch, and Elysia away from Cyrille. Driving the two groups apart by some unseen force, one that left Bronya's hand cold and numb for a short time.
"What was that," Lelouch said as his vision blacked out momentarily.
"Lelouch, Cyrille is gone," Elysia noticed, being among the first to regain her wits, having experienced a temporary blackout.
"I knew it," Bronya said as she used one hand to massage her other hand, attempting to return the feeling to it. "That girl was an echo of the Fragmentum."
"An echo, like some kind of ghost?" Elysia said, looking around, but she found no trace of Cyrille.
"Something like that, but an echo of the Fragmentum will take the form of a person from a moment of time captured by the influence of the Fragmentum. Like a living photograph from a moment in the past, but they usually don't show as much awareness as that girl did," Bronya explained, showing relief as feeling returned to her hand.
"So, you mean such echoes will repeat whatever they were doing at that moment while unaware of what has happened around them?" Lelouch inquired, which Bronya confirmed with a nod.
"Yes, usually it's someone's final moment during a battle or something like that," Bronya explained. "But this is the first time I've heard of an Echo that maintained awareness of themselves and their surroundings."
"But Cyrille has no memory of what happened, so maybe there is more to it," Lelouch suspected.
"Look, I found this where Cyrille was standing," Elysia said, picking up an old piece of paper with writing on it.
"It's a letter, but it looks like a page from a diary," Bronya said, looking over Elysia's shoulder to read it.
Despite being written in a text Lelouch didn't recognize, once he began reading it, he understood as if it was Britannian to him.
"It looks like she is talking about this person, Mr. Stefan. She speaks quite highly of him," Lelouch remarked.
"Yes, but Cyrille's sister Cyrilla seems quite popular, gaining a lot of attention, while Cyrille was generally ignored," Elysia said, reading the letter. "She sounds like she had a very lonely childhood."
Lelouch turned his head, noticing Bronya's expression.
"You seemed to have figured out something."
"I might know who Cyrille is or who she was. I am just not certain yet without proof," Bronya said, clearly having realized something from the letter. "I didn't think much of it then, but I am almost certain of my suspicions."
"Hmmm," Elysia said before suddenly walking away and heading towards the cave's rear, where a tunnel leading deeper into the cave was found, concealed behind overhanging stalagmites.
"What is it?" Lelouch asked.
"There seems to be something down in this cave," Elysia said, seemingly aware of something. "Don't you hear it?"
Bronya and Lelouch were quiet, but after listening for a minute, they could hear a voice from the tunnel.
"You have excellent hearing, Miss Elysia," Bronya complimented, prompting Bronya to grab a rifle and something else among their supplies.
"We should investigate, but…" Lelouch began, but an annoyed Mobius joined them.
"How are people supposed to sleep with you three talking?"
"Oh, perfect timing, Mobius. Could you keep an eye on things here? Lelouch, Bronya, and I want to investigate something in this cave." Elysia said, who began pulling at Lelouch and Bronya's arms as they went into the tunnel, taking them underground. "Thank you and bye!"
"Hey, wait! I didn't agree to anything!" Mobius snapped as Elysia, Lelouch, and Bronya vanished into the tunnel's darkness until Bronya lit a spare lantern she had taken to aid in exploring.
Even so, a fuming and VERY annoyed Mobius was left behind.
Meanwhile, around the same time, in Belobog, the fortress city that has stood against the encouraging Fragmentum and endured the Eternal Freeze for seven hundred years, a symbol of human defiance against the odds. At the city's heart was its main seat of power, Qlipoth Fort, towering over the rest of the city as a beacon of hope. Inside the office of the Supreme Guardian, the acting leader of Belobog, the spacious office was nearly empty save for its sole occupant.
"NO!" The woman snapped as she shoved a stack of books off her large wooden table in sorrow and rage.
The woman was wearing what could only generously be called a green cloak, more akin to a loose flowing robe if the robe was made of sashes, a white tunic to go with her thigh-high black boots, which were lined with gold in the front, a golden emblem at the knees.
"Bronya, my Bronya, she can't be…"
Alone as she seemed, within her mind, a voice spoke that had haunted her thoughts for a long time.
"I can't…believe…I lost her," The woman said in between tears and barely suppressed rage.
"Sorrow…grief…useless sentiments, you must abandon them!"
"SILENCE!" The woman roared in anger. "She was my only daughter!"
"I agree, the Stellaron needs to be silenced. Because we need to talk."
The new voice caused the woman behind the desk to snap to full alertness. But the voice that had haunted her thoughts was suddenly gone, followed by a finger snap of the visitor.
"Who there's? SHOW YOURSELF."
"Be at ease, Supreme Guardian Cocolia Rand," Nathaniel said, stepping into the light near Cocolia's desk, the moonlight revealing the Herald of Finality as he stepped out of the shadows. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Director Nathaniel of Heron, and I know where your daughter is."
"My daughter, Bronya, is alive?" Cocolia said, all hostility vanishing from her voice upon hearing her daughter was alive.
"You have my assurances that she is alive. Some of my friends happened upon her and the rest of her cadet class, saving them from the Fragmentum monsters and their would-be assassins." Nathaniel said, pressing a few commands on his glove controller to display a map comparing the group's current location to Belobog's location. "They've been delayed by a snowstorm raging in the area, and those behind the assassination attempt destroyed the bridge they had crossed earlier."
Relief was evident on Cocolia's face, but soon, her mind focused on the man standing before her desk.
"How did you know about my daughter, and why are you coming to me with this," Cocolia said, intent on examining Natheniel's intentions.
"A fair question," Nathaniel said diplomatically. "Aside from ensuring the safe return of your daughter, there is much I could offer you and your people in exchange for a few favors. Then I'll tell you the identities of the ringleaders behind the plot against your daughter, including explaining how I've been kept appraised of what has been happening in Belobog."
"Alright, let's hear them," Cocolia said cautiously.
Traversing deeper into the cave, Elysia led the way, followed by Lelouch and Bronya. As they cautiously advanced, Lelouch and Bronya could hear a voice ahead. The tunnel was natural, with no sign of anyone changing it. But it had no other corridors, nor was it enormous in any way, which made it easier to follow and locate the source of the voice.
"This must go deep underground if it's taking us this long," Elysia mused quietly.
Bronya raised the lantern she held higher to illuminate more of the passageway.
"Wait, I hear something else?" Lelouch said, hearing another sound in the darkness.
"I hear it too, and getting closer…and fast," Elysia said before drawing her bow quickly, readying an arrow.
Bronya was doing the same, making Lelouch realize that danger was approaching them.
"Lelouch, take this lantern," Bronya insisted.
"Got it," Lelouch said, taking the lantern.
Even before it entered the range of the lantern's light, Lelouch deduced what was coming at them. He didn't know what it was exactly, but the loud clanking noise belonged to a machine. A humanoid-shaped machine was charging at them; it stood a towering nine feet tall. It was missing its left arm, but its right arm had a built-in chain-saw sword.
Elysia's arrow shattered its torso in one hit, causing it to fall back into a broken heap. However, the sound of incoming machines continued.
There is still more of them coming, Lelouch thought.
Beyond the lantern's light, Lelouch couldn't see how many were coming. But he suspected it was at least a few or more, judging by how loud and numerous the machine noises were.
One by one, they came into the light; the second machine, identical to the last, was swiftly downed by Elysia. Suddenly, a third machine came into the light, but this time, it looked like a fist of a machine on spider-like legs charging towards them. Elysia quickened the pace at which she unleashed arrow after arrow. Bronya joined in using the assault rifle she brought to provide support fire.
Unwilling to be left as the only one who didn't contribute, Lelouch used his Herrscher powers to create pitfalls, then sealed the portals to dismember the advancing machines. Some had even tripped and collided with one another, disrupting their advance.
Thanks to Lelouch's efforts at crowd control, Elysia and Bronya could eliminate them more swiftly before they could draw too close.
Eventually, after killing what seemed like dozens of them, the last of the machines fell to Elysia's arrow. All around them, the ground was littered with various parts and broken machines.
"What were they?" Lelouch asked, catching his breath.
"They are Automatons; they were made by the people of our world to help against the Anti-Matter Legion when they attacked. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of them simultaneously, of different models to suit their purpose in battle. Belobog can build some, but just nowhere near the numbers the Old World could field, either building them from scratch by hand or salvaging old ones, using parts to repair them or dismantle them to create other kinds of machines," Bronya explained, kneeling down next to one to inspect it.
"They seemed pretty old; some looked like they were barely holding together," Elysia observed as she glanced around the dozens of broken machines.
"These machines must've been guarding this cave for a long time. That might explain why many of them were in a state of disrepair and neglect," Bronya said in agreement before cautiously advancing.
"If there were this many here, what could they be guarding?" Lelouch asked, quickly deducing why there were so many active machines in one place.
"I am not sure, but there isn't much in our way to keep us from finding out," Bronya asked, boldly leading the group forward.
"The plot thickens, I suppose," Elysia mused before turning to Lelouch, placing a congratulatory hand on his shoulder. "Well done on the creative use of your powers; you're getting the hang of them."
"Thank you," Lelouch replied, but he felt the dark persona within, probing for weaknesses so it could take control.
Lelouch wasn't allowing it, but it reminded him that he had to be cautious when using his powers.
"So what do you expect to find ahead?" Lelouch inquired as he followed Bronya with Elysia beside him.
"I am not sure, but I suspect we'll see soon," Bronya replied.
The trio proceeded deeper into the cave until they reached what appeared to be an old shelter. It was old due to the wear and tear and signs of rust on its thick armored walls. Near what seemed to be the entrance was an opened panel in the underground shelter; judging by the machinery and placements within, this was likely where those machines they fought were kept.
"This is an old-world shelter; I remember reading about them," Bronya said, knowing Elysia and Lelouch wanted to know what they found. "This is the first time I've seen one intact."
"Were there others?" Lelouch inquired as he, Bronya, and Elysia entered the opening for the automatons.
"Yes," Bronya nodded. "However, those reported to had been found following the beginning of the Eternal Freeze and Belobog's founding. Most were found destroyed or badly compromised, with only a handful of survivors recovered."
"I am right to assume you couldn't salvage much from the shelters?" Lelouch as he, Bronya, and Elysia entered the shelter through the release doors for the automation defenders.
The doors were trying to close, but it seemed a malfunction was preventing them from closing.
"From what my textbook mentioned, they could only salvage the robots and their parts, with little else left over. Our current level of technology isn't as it used to be, my mother says," Bronya replied as she led them to a door that led into the shelter's interior.
"I see," Lelouch thought, making a note of this.
As I've suspected, their level of technology did degrade after the Eternal Freeze hit, and it was more destructive than I had heard, Lelouch thought.
It was almost unnerving to see firsthand and realize how far the civilization of Jarilo-VI had fallen from the one space-faring capable civilization they were. Hearing about it was one thing, but seeing the signs with his own eyes led Lelouch to envision how it happened, including the apocalyptic events that led to the current state of the world. Lelouch imagined how it all happened beyond the chaos and war the invasion of the Anti-Matter Legion had brought, which was perhaps why Lelouch found it so unnerving. It was hard to imagine how something like that could've happened, but it did.
Despite being unnerved by the idea of it all, Lelouch was still curious about how it all happened. He hoped that by understanding the event that led to Jarilo-VI's decline and near destruction, he could take steps in the new world he would make following Britannia's downfall to ensure such a thing wouldn't happen to Earth.
"Maybe this shelter stayed intact because it was underground?" Elysia said, looking around as the trio approached the door.
"Possibly, it likely shielded the shelter from the worst of the Eternal Freeze, but I am concerned about the occupants. We should prepare ourselves for what we might see inside," Bronya warned as she handed her rifle to Lelouch to hold as she turned the wheel on the hatch to unlock it.
Once the heavy metal door was unlocked, Bronya opened it, releasing a rush of stale air.
"It seems no one has been in or out for a while," Elysia said while waving away the old air that filled her nostrils.
Lelouch could only cough in response, but it didn't stop him from giving Bronya her rifle back.
"Let's go," Bronya said as she led the way inside.
Proceeding into the shelter's interior, the group was alert, unaware if any potential security measures were still active. The shelter's interior seemed to be in far better shape than the exterior. Still, they saw no signs of any human remains, perhaps suggesting its intended occupants didn't use the shelter.
Delving deeper into the shelter, the group entered a large hall, likely an assembly hall for meetings for the shelter's occupants. But to their surprise, they found a man standing in the center of the room.
He wore a tattered light blue suit with tanned pants and black boots that had seen better days. He had long, unkempt blonde hair, blue eyes, and a long beard.
The group cautiously approached, with Bronya raising her weapon while Elysia did the same. At first, the man was lost in some kind of delusional state, giving orders to people he expected to be there. But once they were close enough, he noticed them.
"You three, heed the commands of Belobog's true leader; find me followers to retake what is mine!" The man snapped, but it was clear to everyone that his sanity was long gone.
The fact he seemingly couldn't tell he was dealing with children supported the fact the man was oblivious to his surroundings.
"Who are you," Lelouch snapped.
"How dare you question me? I am Stefan Marquez. Now obey me!"
"I know that name," Bronya said with a flash of anger in her eyes, leveling her weapon at the man, ready to shoot. "Stefan Marquez was Belobog's Minister of Internal Affairs; he served under the seventh Supreme Guardian and manipulated the Eighth into a puppet, Cyrille Rand."
"Cyrille," Lelouch said as his mind pieced it all together; Elysia also came to the same conclusion.
"Then the ghost Lelouch met belonged to a former Supreme Guardian?" Elysia said, realizing what likely happened to Cyrille, as did Lelouch.
"Who was killed in a coup and her body dumped in a ravine after she was put into a box," Lelouch said, sure the body he found earlier belonged to Cyrille, given the uniform her corpse was wearing.
"Yes, that is what generally happened. It all began with the mysterious disappearance of Cyrille's sister and the original intended successor to the Seventh Supreme Guardian, Cyrilla. Stefan pushed for her sister, Cyrille, to succeed the missing Cyrilla, claiming she was just as much of a prodigy as she was," Bronya said, restraining much of her anger for someone who was clearly a black mark on the history of Belobog.
"Disappeared, bullshit; he had her killed," Lelouch snapped, feeling his own anger rising.
Stefan began laughing like a madman.
"It was a shame Cyrilla was too smart for her own good; although Cyrille was a failure in every way, she was someone I could manipulate to do as I say. All I had to do was be her only friend, make her dependent on me, making her the ideal puppet. All that I had to do was kill her sister and erase any evidence of what happened," Stefan said, admitting to his crimes with it word only angering both Bronya and Lelouch.
"As you've guessed," Bronya began, clearly resisting wanting to pull the trigger. "Once Cyrille was installed, Stefan used her to pass draconian laws and gain more power for himself and his lackeys for fourteen years until the Architects and members of Silvermane Guard revolted. Cyrille was killed, but Stefan and his followers vanished, presumably fleeing the city once they got wind about the coup."
"So he abandoned his puppet to die while he escaped after realizing he couldn't put down the growing rebellion against him," Lelouch said, now his fists tightening as a sign of his anger reaching its boiling point.
"Then he and his followers fled her, likely aware of this shelter's existence where they presumably slowly died off since they had nowhere to go," Bronya said, while Elysia, who was usually the smiling type, couldn't help but look at Stefan with cold disapproval.
"So you are with the folks who rebelled against me," Stefan said; a maniacal grin appeared. "My followers, come to me!"
Suddenly emerging from the corridors of the shelter were more than a dozen monsters of the Fragmentum; they were similar to the Everwinter Shadewalker monsters they fought. However, these Incineration Shadewalkers instead had flame-colored crystals that released heat and flames from their bodies instead of ice growing all over their bodies.
Elysia raised her bow to strike down the nearest monster; Bronya joined in but noticed she was low on ammo, having only half a magazine and one full one left. Most of the rifle ammunition had been used up fighting the robots earlier.
"We need to fall back; we'll be surrounded at this rate," Bronya warned, but they didn't have to escape before the enemy could dangerously overwhelm them.
"How could you," a female voice said.
Suddenly, eight golden transparent spears flew from where Lelouch and others had come through. Like homing missiles, the spears found their targets, the Incineration Shadewalkers. The spears ripped most of them in half, giving Elysia the seconds needed to create a dome around her, Bronya, and Lelouch, allowing her to turn one arrow into a dozen, killing many lingering monsters in a barrage of arrows.
Still, the few that remained kept their distance as their unexpected savior entered the room. She appeared to be a woman in her early twenties with short red hair and a black hat covering her eyes, but her skin was unhealthy pale. She was wearing a white, black, and blue uniform with long black gloves and long boots, holding a staff in one hand.
Noticing the red hair, Lelouch realized who she was.
"Cyrille, is that you," Lelouch asked.
"You…you remember me," Cyrille said, seemingly touched by being recognized before turning her attention to Stefan, her tone changing to one of righteous anger with hints of sorrow at the horrible truth the man she trusted the most had used her and murdered her sister. "I trusted you and my sister…you killed her!"
"Cyrille, so you survived. What of it, her death made you ideal to take her place to do what I wanted," Stefan said, showing a complete lack of remorse and not even recognizing what became of Cyrille.
Stefan was distracted as Bronya and Elysia finished the remaining monsters following Cyrille's surprise intervention. However, seemingly aware of his disadvantage facing four enemies alone, Stefan's body grew as ice crystals began engulfing it until nothing resembling a human remained. Now floating in the air above them, a towering nine-foot-tall humanoid monster covered in ice.
With a roar the creature began creating spears of ice before trying to rain them down, but the bulk were deflected by Lelouch opening a portal before reopening it behind the creature, hitting with his own attack.
Unfortunately, they did little but stun him.
Elysia took aim, but despite the monster's hulking form it was remarkably quick, narrowly evading before counterattacking by trying to crush Bronya with its fist.
Bronya and Lelouch moved back to evade, but they noticed the ground around where the fist landed freezing over. The two slipped on the newly made ice, the creature was about to attack again, but Elysia shot its head with an arrow stunning it allowing Lelouch to grab Bronya's hand as the two scrambled to get away.
Did I miss the head, Elysia thought, realizing her arrows didn't seem to inflict sufficient damage on it.
Before she could ready another shot, newly summoned Incineration Shadewalkers tried to attack Elysia, forcing her to turn and eliminate it with an arrow through the chest, blowing it in half. The others were almost upon her, but the sudden arrival of someone else tipped the scales back into Elysia.
With a battle cry, Kalpas arrived on the scene, punching the head clear off the shoulders of one of the Shadewalkers before attacking another. Using a fist, Kalpas unleashed what could only be called a focused explosion ahead of him, stunning the shadewalkers forcing them back allowing him and Elysia to quickly dispatch them before they could recover.
However, being occupied with the shadewalkers would've been fatal to Lelouch and Bronya, if not for Cyrille's intervention, who used her own golden spears to shoot down the new barrage of ice spears. Unfortunately, the one her spears missed, would've stuck Lelouch and Bronya, so Cyrille made a decision to take the blow meant for them.
"Aggghhh," Cyrille cried out in pain.
"CYRILLE!" Lelouch shouted, seeing a spear impale the Fragmentum creature through the stomach.
"Die useless puppet," Stefan declares, preparing more spears to attack with.
But he didn't have a chance to attack again, as multiple portals opened up around the monster followed by a sudden bombardment of sub-space lances. Elysia was shocked, but she knew Lelouch was responsible for seeing one of his eyes turn red. In the onslaught of lances, the creature that was Stefan was obliterated in the retaliatory strike.
After it was over Lelouch dropped to his knees, and Elysia realized it wasn't due to Lelouch being exhausted, she realized his other persona was likely trying to use the chance to gain control over his body.
Good thing we were ready for that, Elysia said, using a remote hidden in a pocket, to trigger the release of a suppressant, to keep the hostile persona within Lelouch in check. But as a side-effect, it caused drowsiness, causing Lelouch to pass out.
"Lelouch," Bronya said, worried as she hurried to him.
Bronya managed to catch him before he could hit the ground, tossing aside the rifle she had in order to do so.
"Don't worry, that just took a lot more out of him than he expected," Elysia offered reassuringly.
"Well done I say," Kalpas said, having finished off the last Shadewalker. .
"Oh Kalpas, were you worried?" Elysia chimed in.
"Hardly, but you three were making such a racket it was hard to sleep. But on my way here I got attacked by monsters while chasing that one," Kalpas said, pointing to the wounded Cyrille. "I just finished killing them all before I entered this place. Leave the last one for me, that creatures seems unable to fight back."
"Actually…" Elysia was about to say, but suddenly time was frozen.
"Huh," Cyrille said, noticing everything but her had become frozen.
"I must say Miss Cyrille Rand I am very impressed," Natheniel said, making his presence known. "Me and my scientists have kept this world under observation for hundreds of years and we've seen all manner of echoes produced by the Fragmentum. But never have we seen a case such as yours who retained their consciousness in a fashion such as yours."
"What do you want?"
"Nothing, except to offer you a chance for a fresh start. Someone as rare as you, it would be a waste for you to die again. Not when I grant you a new body and new life," Natheniel offered before adding to nudge Cyrille into agreeing. "Besides, Elysia always likes to make new friends, as long as you become friends with her that is enough. Furthermore, you could pursue a friendship with Lelouch and Bronya, since they treated you better than Stefan did, didn't they?"
"I…"
The following day, Lelouch woke up, but he found himself lying in a comfortable bed. It was unexpected, but not unwelcome, but as his vision cleared, he began searching trying to grasp where he was. The walls were nicely panted and he saw wooden furniture, very different from the shelter he remembered.
Wait…the shelter, Lelouch thought as his mind finally caught up.
Noticing the look in his eyes, Elysia spoke to make her presence known. She had been sitting by the window reading a book with a battered and worn leather cover.
"Good morning Lelouch, and don't worry you took care of Stefan," Elysia said, approaching his bedside.
"Elysia, but…what happened, where are we?" Lelouch asked, sitting up in bed now.
"Well," Elysia said while she dragged a chair over to sit next to Lelouch's bed. "We're in Belobog, or more specifically the Goethe Hotel. Pretty nice place and the beds are comfy."
"Then we were rescued?"
Elysia nodded, "That's right, as it turned out Nathaniel spoke to Bronya's mother and made some arrangements with her. Part of it was ensuring the safe return of Bronya and the rest of the missing academy students. After that he arrived with transports just as the snowstorm cleared outside and soldiers to secure the area and help everyone get out."
"I see, so Bronya is likely reunited with her mother?"
"Most likely, but she told me to tell you that she intends to check on you later."
"And Cyrille? What happened to her?"
Elysia was about to explain, when a knock came at the door.
"Come in," Elysia beckoned, and the door opened.
"Oh he's awake," a familiar voice said, which a familiar redheaded girl entered the room wearing a black pants with a plain white shirt and blue jacket on. "I am glad you are doing alright Lelouch."
"Cyrille is that you?" Lelouch asked, which Cyrille nodded. "Nathaniel had something to do with that didn't he?"
Elysia and Cyrille nodded in confirmation.
"Before the Fragmentum being she was expired, Nathaniel took her consciousness and moved into a new body made using the DNA of her original. She wanted to stay friends with us, so Nathaniel remade her body into that of a child," Elysia explained.
"I see, then I guess all I can say is congratulations on a new lease on life then."
"Thank you, but I wish my sister had a chance for it too," Cyrille said, as her expression was one of sadness, remembering the truth about Stefan's role in her death.
"I understand."
"Yes, and his journal we found at the shelter confirms he was behind it all," Elysia said, holding up the tattered book. "If nothing else it could help future generations look at Cyrille's past as a Supreme Guardian more kindly, now that it's understood she was a victim."
"One can hope, after all Cyrille endured at the end," Lelouch said, but as someone who lost a sibling, especially one who was sacrificed for another ambition, resonated with Lelouch.
It was because he had feared such a fate would have befallen him, Nunnally or both of them. It was that he sympathized with Cyrille and was outraged over how Stefan murdered Cyrille's older sister for the sake of his own goals with the intent of using Cyrille as a puppet.
I guess some things are the same no matter the universe, Lelouch mused internally.
"So what happens now?" Lelouch asked.
"That's a good question, but I heard Nathaniel is arranging for a special trainer for you," Elysia replied with one hand on her chin in contemplation.
"A special trainer? Who?" Lelouch asked, but Elysia didn't seem to know.
A/N: You know the hardest thing about this chapter, was the fact that for those who know what Elysia is, its difficult to imagine ANYTHING on Belobog being much of a threat with a possible exception. Even if she has been pulling her punches so far in a way, but she might not from this point on seeing how they nearly got swarmed by enemies, but good thing they had Kalpas and Cyrille.
I will not lie, while having Kalpas off Stefan would've been satisfying, it was easier to justify in story and have Lelouch do the job, tapping further into his powers while running a higher risk of being possessed. Thankfully it seems everyone was prepared for it.
Cyrille, I had planned on involving her in the story, and I did adapt and shorten the quest around her from Honkai Star Rail, I do feel she deserved better than what she got. Now with Nathaniel, being the scientist, couldn't resist a chance to experiment gave her a second chance and a new body to stay with her new friends.
I will admit Cyrille is a potential harem candidate, but a back up if none of the other candidates end up working out. Otherwise, I might pair her and Rivalz together, of course Pardo and Rivalz seems to have potential too.
Speaking of which, I did post a poll of the harem candidates for Lelouch being considered. Both to serve as a handy list for me to keep in mind whom me and friends who had helped me planned this story narrowed down from Code Geass, Honkai Star Rail, and Honkai Impact would work best. However, further work is needed to decide on the final line up of pairings and most importantly how it will all come together in a way that is believable for those involved. As a reminder if I cannot, then I'll go to my original plan of doing a threesome or a foursome, because I do take my pairings especially harem building very seriously and I don't want it to be solely for fan service.
Why am I letting people vote on the poll, well partly not to let it go to waste and to gauge if no one would mind certain pairings. I did this for Kiana and Mei for example, inspecting the possibility of them working well with Lelouch, but knowing that people have strong feelings about certain pairings I thought it be wise to play it safe and test the waters. The second reason is that since Luna and Griseo have appeared grown up in the story, I want to be sure if the story ends up favoring them paired with Lelouch, or anyone else, it wouldn't be an issue for anyone. So in short the poll is to check on which pairings people would be cool with, but remember characters who win the poll DOESN'T ensure their entry into the harem, heck even characters not on it might still have a chance like Kiana. Its only to gauge which pairings people would be cool with if the story ends up favoring them.
Other pairings, I am toying with Dalton and Natasha (Honkai Star Rail version), although I did consider her and Jeremiah as possibilities, but I might keep to my idea to pair him and Himeko together with Yukong as a back up for him, or a threesome if possible but I am doubtful on that.
Now that is out of the way, thank you all for reading and I will try to get another chapter out as soon as I can. For those who wanted to vote on the Genshin Impact poll, there should be a link on my profile page that should take you right to it.
See you all next chapter.