Chapter 15: A Day in the Sun
Shirley Fenette sat in the colorless student council room. She felt herself becoming numb to the world around her; the man she loved only had eyes for her best friend. She knows she made a promise to Kallen, but right now… she couldn't help but resent the girl. It wasn't a feeling she wanted to have, no, she wanted her friend to be happy. However, this feeling of hurt wouldn't go away, and Milly wasn't helping, especially with her 'girl-time' talk from before.
At first, it seemed like the President was just trying to help her by having a conversation with Kallen, however, it soon turned into a shouting match with the red head denying the accusations of dating Lelouch. And while it would've made Shirley happy to hear that, she couldn't just ignore the signs before her.
"Good morning, Shirley," speak of the devil and he shall appear. Lelouch walked into the student council room, returning color to the orange-haired girl's world, "Is it just you?"
"Y… yeah," she replied weakly, "Rivalz is sick, and Milly's off planning something… I just know it."
"I see…" the boy took a seat next to her calmly.
"Where's Kallen? It's rare to see you two separated. Especially nowadays," she said, the last part in her head.
"She's sick too, though it doesn't seem to be hitting her as hard as Rivalz. Perhaps it has something to do with her medication."
"Ah, okay…"
The two sat in silence, with Lelouch pulling out a book and Shirley just fiddling with her thumbs, "Is there something wrong?" he asked her, breaking the silence.
"What?"
"I mean, you're usually so talkative, so I find it strange that you haven't said much," Lelouch responded casually.
"Oh, that…" Shirley looked down at her hands; at least he noticed her, right? That had to mean something, "It's just, I don't really know how to talk to you right now…"
"What do you mean?" he now faced her
"Well, with you and Kallen dating…"
"We're not dating."
There it was, straight from the horse's mouth, but Shirley couldn't believe it, "Wait, what?" the words practically jumped out of her mouth.
"You heard me; we aren't dating."
With Jeremiah's help, Lelouch didn't see any need to keep up the facade that he and Kallen were together; if Villetta got too curious, then the Margrave would handle it. Perhaps contacting him wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"But you and her-"
"She was just out of medication that day, so I helped her get home. That's all." the Prince responded with pinpoint accuracy, almost like this was practiced.
"So I still have a chance!" Shirley thought, "Ah! What am I saying? It sounds like I was praying for this to happen!" though, she immediately chastised herself by shaking her head violently.
"Are you okay?" Lelouch asked
"Um yeah! I'm fine!" Shirley replied frantically, "Though… if they're not dating, then it's far for me to ask him out on a date, right?" she thought while thinking about the new theme park that just opened up: Clovis Land.
Sure, it was very egotistical of the viceroy to name a theme park after himself, but at the same time, did it really matter? The whole thing was beautifully outfitted with brand-new rides, rigged games, and one special ride: the Clovis Launcher. It's described as a machine that's 300 feet tall, where up to fifteen people could be sent straight up. Obviously, it was branded with a bill board of Clovis' smiling face at the top. Currently, it was the main attraction, and word has it that you should expect to wait at least two hours if you want to try it.
Of course, this ride wasn't what interested Shirley, no, what interested her was the Clovis' special tunnel of love. Despite the disgusting name and… tasteless cardboard cutouts of a half naked Clovis, it was still a love tunnel, and Shirley, being the hopeless romantic she is, couldn't resist a good rumor.
It was said that if you go through the entire tunnel while holding the hand of your partner, you two will be destined to be together forever. Ignoring the fact that the park just opened, this rumor was something that struck a cord with Shirley, as she planned to take Lelouch there for a date, however, that was the same day she overheard him staying at Kallen's, so obviously, that didn't pan out the way she hoped.
But this time, it was different, "hey… Lelouch," she clenched the hems of her skirt, "I was wondering if you'd like to-"
Just before she could finish her sentence, the poor girl was interrupted by the door being abruptly swung open, "We're going to Clovis land!" the perpetrator, Milly Ashford, proclaimed while standing in the doorway with Nina tucked under her arm like a plushy.
From behind the President, a sick Rivalz Cardemonde walked in hunched over; he clearly should still be at home.
"Sorry Lelouch…" he hiccuped, "But… President's orders," after a pitiful attempt at a lunge, Rivalz collapsed onto the table.
"Milly," the Prince ignored his friend entirely, "What's this about Clovis land?"
The blonde laughed, "Sorry Lelouch, but you won't be joining us, as this is what I call… girl's time!"
"Again?"
In an instant, Milly rushed toward the boy, and slammed several pieces of paper into his face, knocking him over, "Due to the mass sickness our students are unfortunately suffering, the clubs are horribly short on help. That's why, you'll be assisting them with club activities!" she announced while walking out of the council room, "C'mon Shirley, let's leave the hard work to the boys for once." then her tone turned serious, and she left one final remark, "Oh, and don't even think about avoiding those task, otherwise, there'll be hell to pay."
The orange-haired girl reluctantly followed Milly out of the room, leaving Rivalz and Lelouch to complete various marked tasks, "Let's see here…" the Prince muttered as he stood up, looking over the paper intently, "Target practice with the Archery Club, tackling drills with the football club, and a horseback relay with the equestrian club? This shouldn't be too hard, right?"
Rivalz gave a weak thumbs up; he was in so much pain.
However, he wasn't in nearly as much pain as a certain Viceroy…
"Prince Clovis, please return to your office, we beg of you!" a guard shouted at the blonde viceroy as he made his way down the long corridors of the palace.
"He's right! If you don't sign those papers, then area 11 is doomed!" another pleaded through heavy breaths
"No! I refuse!" Clovis retorted as he rounded a corner, scaring a secretary that was pushing a cart of concessions, "My fans need me! I missed the opening day of Clovis Land because of that stupid paper work! But that won't happen again! Especially not today when we're officially opening the Clovis' Hall of Memories, AND, having our first showing of the conquest of area 11!"
"But sir… there could still be traitors in our ranks! It's far too dangerous to go out there!"
"Since when did he have such monstrous stamina?" another guard wondered while beads of sweat dripped down his brow.
As it turns out, Clovis had been bottling up this energy for the past few months; he couldn't go outside due to constant important meetings about the growing terrorist threat in area 11, document signings, then to top it all off, you're telling him he can't even go outside because of one traitor? Preposterous! The great Clovis La Britannia won't be kept shackled like this!
In one great leap, the Prince jumped out of a window, dropping only about a foot, before hitting the solid ground of his replica of the Aries Villa garden. "Lord Gottwald!" there stood Jeremiah Gottwald taking a stroll through a tranquil flower path, "I order you to assist my escape!" Clovis demanded.
The Margrave tilted his head in confusion, but complied nonetheless, "Follow me to the Knightmare hangers, your highness!" he shouted as two guards hobbled out of the main building.
"Brilliant idea, Mr. Gottwald! With a Knightmare, we'll be able to make a quick escape," Clovis complimented the Margrave as they dodged… no one. There were only two guards chasing Clovis after all. Everyone else was too afraid to approach the Viceroy, as there was fear of punishment on the line.
After arriving at the Knightmare Hanger, Jeremiah boarded his personal Sutherland, and placed Clovis directly behind him in the cockpit, "I'm sorry for the lack of breathing room, your highness."
"All's well, as long as we get to Clovis land in time! Now, let's take off!"
"Yes, your majesty!" shouted the Margrave as he burst through a concrete wall and onto a security checkpoint below. Luckily, no one was injured.
"That's gonna be expensive…" one of the guards muttered while looking at the destroyed wall, then onto the checkpoint.
"We need to get to Clovis Land, now!" his comrade said as a loose brick finally fell.
Meanwhile…
"Here we are!" Milly announced as her group of Kallen, Shirley, and Nina entered Clovis land.
Kallen was currently wearing a red shirt with blue jeans and a sun hat; her objective today wasn't to get sunburn, so of course she covered her exposed arms with sun screen. Shirley on the other hand, wore a looser outfit, with a green t-shirt and plaid skirt; she covered her eyes with round sunglasses, though, these shades served a double purpose, as no one could tell what she was looking at with them.
Nina wore a green longe-sleeve shirt, and a black slacks with a camera stapped around her neck, clearly, Milly gave her a task to do, and she wasn't very happy about it. Of course, she would never express her annoyance out-loud. Speaking of the President, she wore a blue dress with a yellow cardigan; she didn't wear any special accessories, but there was no doubt that she was cooking up some devious scheme in her mind.
The entrance to the park was outfitted with several cardboard cut-outs of the Viceroy, each with red buttons that, upon pressing, would activate a speaker that played a pre-recorded message.
"Art is the essence of life, which is probably why I haven't painted you, yet~" one message said
"I can't tell if that was an insult, or an attempt to flirt," Kallen thought as she looked at the revolting cut-out that gave her a thumbs-up.
Shirley looked down at a hand-held map while engrossed in her own thoughts, "I suppose it would be good to study this place before inviting Lulu out on a date… oh, just saying that has me embarrassed…"
"When can I go home?" Nina thought as she sat on a green bench with a smiling statue of Clovis on it. His legs were kicked up, and he had his right arm resting on the other half of the bench.
The President watched as Kallen and Shirley decided on which ride they were going to go on first, "Those poor girls… they're not smiling like they were before. It's all Lelouch's fault! If he'd just choose one of them, then their friendship wouldn't be torn like this!" she mused. Clearly, there was a misunderstanding. Neither Kallen nor Shirley were mad at each other, in fact, they expected Lelouch to choose one of them eventually, which is why they made their deal from before. However, Milly didn't know that, "I might not be able to solve your love troubles, but I'll be able to make you forget all about Lelouch, even if it's just for one afternoon!" the blonde continued.
Nina watched as a smile plastered itself on the blonde's face, "Oh no…" she gulped as the Clovis she sat next to, played a message.
"What's wrong? Dazzled by my brilliance?"
"Not even in the slightest," she muttered
Milly grabbed the meek girl's hand and dragged her over to Kallen and Shirley, where they gathered around a map, "Let's see… how about we hit the… bumper cars first!" she suggested, no, more like demanded.
"But I want to go on the Clovis Launcher before it gets crowded!" Kallen complained, after all, she was an adrenaline junkie at the end of the day, and with the lack of action she's been seeing lately, it's been pretty tough on her.
"No way! I want to see the-" before Shirley could finish her sentence, she realized that saying she wanted to see the Clovis Love tunnel first, wasn't gonna come out the way she intended, so she chose to keep her mouth shut.
"We have to go to the bumper cars!" Milly thought, "This way, both Kallen and Shirley will be able to relieve their frustrations safely!" then, she said, "Fine, let's put it to a vote! To those who want to ride the bumper cars, raise your hand!"
Milly, and surprisingly Shirley both raised their hand, leaving poor Nina to join in out of peer pressure, that meant… "Damn it… I hate democracy," Kallen thought as she sat in a bumper car, waiting for the game to start, in the background, the thrilled screams of people on the Clovis launcher reached her ears, only furthering her annoyance.
This didn't go unnoticed.
"Good… Kallen's getting mad right now, that means once this ride's over, she'll probably be over whatever's on her mind, then we can have some real fun!" the President thought as she eagerly gripped her car's steering wheel.
Meanwhile, Shirley stared off into the distance at the Clovis love tunnel, which had several cardboard cut-outs of himself pointing at the entrance with wide smiles, "So that's it? It looks romantic enough…"
The attraction was all pink, with electronic heart signs illuminating the entrance, where two Clovis cut-outs stood wearing pink suits with heart shaped shoes. Toward the back of the entrance, Shirley could barely see a large screen with three Clovis' doing some sort of weird dance. That's when she suddenly felt her car get slammed from the side.
"Get your head in the game, Shirley!" Milly shouted as she rammed her car again.
"What are you doing!?" the poor girl exclaimed as she moved her car out of the way.
Then, Kallen came out of nowhere, and hit the front of the car, "We're playing bumper cars! What do you think we're doing?"
Shirley yelped as she was knocked back slightly from the force, that's when Milly followed up with another strike from behind, "But why're you bullying me!?"
"Because it's fun!" the President retorted as she backed up.
However, the situation changed in an instant, as Nina meekly struck the blonde's car from the side abruptly, then Kallen followed up by speeding past Shirley, ramming Milly's car against the wall at full speed. If neither of them were buckled in, they would've been sent flying from the force. "What was that for!? I thought we were ganging up on Shirley!" the President exclaimed as Kallen struck her car again.
"Not this time. Now, you're the one that's gonna be bullied!" the red head retorted as Shirley followed up by striking Milly's car.
"H-hey! This isn't fun!" the Blonde complained, "Let me go!" she shouted as Kallen held her car in place, allowing for the orange-haired girl to back up for another strike.
Suddenly, Nina aided the president by striking Kallen's car, removing the pin, "I thought you were on our side!" red head roared as Milly drove out into the open, hitting Shirley's car in the process.
"S-sorry," the green-haired girl apologized sheepishly.
"Muwahaha!" the President cackled as she chased Shirley through a crowd of cars, narrowly avoiding collisions expertly. However, the swimming club member wasn't so lucky, as a stray car struck her, sending her into another car. Milly saw this and took advantage of the situation, striking Shirley's car from behind, sending it into a wall head first.
Kallen pushed forward and collided with the President's car, putting considerable distance between them now after the exchange, "Like I said, you're the one being bullied here!" that's when Nina struck Milly's car, pushing her forward slightly, barely enough for Kallen to get an additional hit in. Meanwhile, Shirley finally recovered and flew into the blonde at full throttle, kicking her toward the center of the arena.
Now, the President sat in the middle of a triangle created by the three girls, who were intent on getting their revenge for all the teasing she had put them through; even Nina was getting fired up, though she didn't show it on the outside.
On an unsaid count of three, the girls charged in, leaving Milly with nowhere to run. However, that's when the ride ended, abruptly stopping all three of their cars just before they reached the President. "Thank god!" she muttered while slouching in her seat, "A second longer, and I would've been toast!"
Kallen, however, wasn't as relieved, "You're kidding me! Let's go again! And this time, we're going to crush you!"
"Yeah!" Shirley shouted uncharacteristically.
"Uh oh, it looks like my subjects are revolting…" Milly muttered with a sly smile, "though… I guess this means their minds are finally clear. I wonder how Lelouch is doing? Hopefully he's having as much fun as I am."
The boy in question wasn't having fun.
"How can this be legal!?" he shouted in protest as two members of the archery club tied him and Rivalz to an individual wooden post. They were currently at the far end of the Archery Club's firing range; as it turns out, when Milly wrote down target practice for the Archery Club, what she actually meant was Lelouch and Rivalz being the targets.
However, the blue-haired boy wasn't nearly as stressed out, as he slept peacefully while the archers lined up like a firing squad, ready to execute two criminals. Too bad he was about to enter a world of pain.
"Ready!" the archers pulled their rubber-tipped arrows out, causing Lelouch to frantically try and undo his binds, "Aim!" they pulled their arrows back, forcing sweat to drip down the Prince's brow. "FIRE!"
The first volley soared through the air; luckily, most of the arrows missed the boys, however, the ones that did hit, did devastating damage. The first two arrows came in contact with Rivalz stomach, jolting the boy awake as another hit his thigh. Lelouch was just as unlucky, as two arrows hit his arm, while another struck his collarbone, sending a shockwave of pain throughout his body. Just as they thought it was over, a second volley was fired, this time, Lelouch was struck in the leg and chest by two arrows, while Rivalz was just hit in the chest by three.
"Damn it… if this is what Milly meant by training… then what else does she have planned?" the Prince thought as a club member untied him from the post.
Next on their list: Football practice.
Lelouch stood at the center of the field, dressed in oversized football equipment, while Rivalz sat on the sidelines due to the excruciating pain he was in. Though, there was one problem, "Why is everyone staring at me?" the Prince thought as the quarterback got in position.
"Ready?" the players crowded around Lelouch, "Set!" something was off, "Hike!"
Immediately, every single player tackled the Prince, including his own teammates. After the whistle was blown, the football players got off the flattened Vice-President; the only sound that could be heard was the hysterical laughter emanating from Rivalz on the bench.
"Is this pay back for ruining the Masquerade party?" Lelouch thought, "No, there's no way Milly could've known, right? She's probably just punishing me out of suspicion, after all, she's impulsive like that." he stood up, feeling his back crack as he took one step forward.
Fortunately, their next event shouldn't be as physically demanding: modeling for the Art club.
Lelouch now stood on a podium, striking a thinking pose as the students scribbled away on their notepads, "This is more of a hassle than I thought! If I move even an inch, they demand we start over because I've ruined the pose. But that's not the most difficult part, as they took FOREVER, to decide the next pose!" the Prince mused as Rivalz sat on a stool, as stiff as a statue.
Just when he thought this couldn't get any worse, Ms. Villetta walked in. "Lelouch, where is Milly Ashford?" she demanded. However, the boy didn't answer, otherwise, the art club would start over with their sketching; which was something he didn't want to go through again. "Answer me!" roared Villetta as the Prince clenched his jaw. "Fine. If you won't answer me, then I hope you'll enjoy running laps for the rest of the day!"
Lelouch didn't want that either. "Damn you, Milly." he said, causing an uproar which was quickly quelled by Villeta's stern voice.
"Your model will be coming with me. Rivalz, you can stay here and handle this, right?" the teacher commanded as she and the Prince headed outside. Once the door closed, the questioning began, "Now, where's Milly?"
Of course, Lelouch, being one of her best friends would never sell the President out, not like this, "She went to Clovis land," is what you would think. No; like Kallen and Shirley, the Prince had had enough of the blonde's teasing, and now he believed that there should be some retribution for her actions.
"Clovis land? Like the theme park?"
"Yes."
Ms. Nu narrowed her eyes, "I don't believe you. Why would Milly sneak out to a theme park?"
"It wasn't just her!" oh yeah, he was going to tell her everything, "She took Nina and Shirley there. Now, I don't know why she took them, but that's where she said she was going!"
"I see…" Villetta checked the time, "Then let's hurry there."
"What?"
"You heard me. We're going to Clovis land, but know this," she got right up in Lelouch's face, and said in a threatening tone, "If you're lying, I'm strapping you to one of those rollercoasters, and force you to ride it until the next day, got it?"
The Prince nodded in understanding.
"Good. Now, go get a change of clothes, I don't want anyone questioning why a student is outside of school at such an hour."
It was 1:32 PM.
Despite this, Lelouch didn't budge.
"What's wrong? Hurry up." Villeta commanded
"Sorry… I just can't believe you want me to ditch school…" the boy muttered
"Don't play coy with me. I know you and Rivalz spent the past few months going gambling together, then there's your obnoxious dates with Kallen." Lelouch's heart clenched; the memories of what happened last night were still fresh in his mind, "Now, hurry up, otherwise, we might miss your friends."
"Friends… huh?" the Prince muttered as the teacher's footsteps slowly faded into the background.
…
"Here I am, Clovis Land!" Prince Clovis announced as he stood on a bench triumphantly.
Currently, the Prince was in the water park section of his park; the smell of chlorine made its way to his nose, offering an oddly refreshing breath of fresh air
"Nice cosplay, man!" shouted a random bystander
"He really does look like the prince, doesn't he?" a couple of girls whispered
This brought ecstasy to the Viceroy, "Oh! Even my fans can't believe it's really me!" he thought while a geyser of water went off in the background, then he shouted, "If anyone wants an autograph, don't be shy! After all, I don't bite~"
"My lord, please get down from there," Jeremiah pleaded while wearing a disguise that consisted of a black wig, brown trench coat, and orange boots.
Clovis hopped off the bench, "Can you believe it, Jeremiah? Both Elevens AND Britannians have come to my gorgeous theme park just to see my production today!"
That was another thing special about Clovis land: The Viceroy made it so that Numbers and Britannian's alike could attend in harmony. Some saw it as Clovis being a benevolent leader, while others thought he was granting pity upon the numbers. Of course, the real reason was far less noble, as he was just trying to squeeze every penny out of any and all patrons alike.
After all, who has time to discriminate when you're robbing everyone blind? Though, there were very few Elevens who could actually afford such a luxury, and three of them just so happened to be passing by, "Come on Naoto! Smile a bit! It's Clovis Land!" Tamaki shouted with a wide grin.
While the man's hate for Britannian was vast, to say he didn't have an inner-child would be a blatant lie. After all, with all the original Japanese theme parks being destroyed in the war, the Elevens didn't have anywhere else to go for entertainment, so when Clovis Land first opened, and they heard that they'd be able to attend, those who did have money, lined up cautiously. Then, once the day ended, those same Eleven's returned to their respective ghettos, and spread word about how great Clovis Land was.
"I still can't believe you blew so much money on tickets though…" of course, some were still skeptical, like Ohgi, "We barely have enough for food now."
"You don't need food to have fun at an amusement park!" Tamaki retorted, "All you need…" he wrapped an arm around each of his friends, "Are your best pals! Then you'll be set!"
"While I appreciate the gesture, how'd you get the money anyway? I thought your job barely paid anything?"
"That's easy! I had Naoto pay for it!"
Both Japanese turned to their leader, "Don't get the wrong idea, I still owed Tamaki a favor for finding the warehouse we used from before."
Before the Glasgow incident, Naoto had sent Tamaki out to find a warehouse to store the machine until further notice. Of course, he didn't include that part when describing what happened to Lelouch.
"Still… where are you getting all this money from? First it was those ugly chairs, and now this?" Ohgi asked while they waited in line for a water-ride.
"Ugly!? I thought you liked those chairs!"
"I lied. They're stale, and make my back itch."
Those comments pierced through Naoto's heart, making him kneel over in disbelief, "Impossible…" he muttered
Kaname then picked him up and whispered, "Don't make a scene, remember, while we're still allowed to attend the theme park as Elevens, we still have to wear special wristbands to identify ourselves."
Of course, they were still allowed to enter the park, and weren't discriminated against by the staff, however, Britannians who were attending were free to do otherwise… "Ew… did you see that?" a girl whispered behind them
"Yeah… they have those green wristbands, which means…"
"Knock it off!" Tamaki shouted, startling the entire line, "We're just here to enjoy the park like the rest of ya!"
That's when Naoto put a hand on his shoulder, "Stop. We don't want to cause trouble here. Shouting won't do us any good."
The brown haired man then slumped his head, "Oh yeah… that's right…"
"ATTENTION!" an ear-splitting intercom began to give an announcement, "THE CONQUEST OF AREA ELEVEN DRAMA WILL AIR ITS FIRST SHOWING AT 3:00 PM. PLEASE RESERVE YOUR SEATS BY THE CLOVIS LAUNCHER TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T MISS OUT!"
Naoto, Ohgi, and Tamaki all felt a sour taste on their tongues after hearing such a thing, "To think they'd still parade their victory like this. It's revolting," Kaname muttered
"Next." called a ride attendant as a raft floated down the river
"Oh! That's us!" Tamaki shouted in excitement, completely forgetting about the events that just transpired as he buckled into the circular raft.
The ride itself wasn't anything special; it first started off sending the group down a calm river, where the currents would soon pick up, tossing them around, getting water into the seats, soaking the passengers in the process.
"Why'd we choose this one first?" Naoto asked as the gears below their raft shifted, sending them up a hill, "I really don't want to walk around in soaked clothes."
"Then let's make it a challenge!" Tamaki announced, "Whoever gets drenched the most, pays for the others lunch!" he gripped the center wheel tightly, where they could control the direction of the raft, potentially sending someone back first into a wave. In the center wheel, rested a thin piece of plastic where people could put their belongings to keep dry, of course, they put their phones in.
"I sure hope my hair dye doesn't wash out from this…"
Ohgi watched as Naoto gripped his black hair, "Speaking of which, when're you going to change back to red? The black's really throwing me off; I barely recognized you this morning."
"Perhaps next month," the resistance leader responded, "Right now, it's imperative to keep my disguise."
"Here we go!" Tamaki shouted, ending their conversation abruptly as they crested the hill, "Ohgi! Let's make sure our fearless leader pays up, yeah?"
"Don't gang up on me!"
Suddenly, their raft was released from the gears, sending them hurtling down the hill, crashing into a wave that drenched Tamaki's shoulders, "Oh come on!"
His friends began to laugh hysterically as they watched his teeth clatter uncontrollably, "Looks like you're paying-" just then, water splashed on Ohgi's back, causing him to yelp.
"Bahaha! That's what you get!"
Naoto tried desperately to hold in his laughter, but failed in doing so, causing a target to appear on his back. "Oh really? Let's see who's laughing after this," Ohgi muttered as he and Tamaki gripped the steering wheel, sending Naoto's side into a big wave, completely drenching him, while getting some water on themselves.
"You bastards!" the resistance leader shouted as he fought for control over the wheel.
"So strong!" Tamaki thought as he felt the wheel slowly slip out of his grasp.
"Damn! He's way too strong!" Kaname joined in as Naoto successfully positioned him against a wave, drenching his body in the process.
Abruptly, their raft came to a stop, catching itself on a gear that pushed them up another hill, "Is that it?"
"Not even close…" muttered Tamaki through clattering teeth, causing the other two men to snicker, "There's one more big wave after this, meaning…"
"There's still a chance!" the trio shouted as they grabbed the wheel. This time, there were no teams, each of them were desperately trying to position the other toward the hill as they finally reached the top, where they now stared face to face with a large wave that was at least 3 meters tall.
"Are they trying to drown us!?" Naoto exclaimed as the gears let them fall.
As they rapidly approached the wave, the men each let out a girlish scream as they were each completely soaked to the bone in freezing cold water. For the rest of the ride, they gently floated down stream; each of them were laid out across the seats, gasping for air as if they just came out from a combat zone.
On a bride overhead, a bespectacled green-haired watched them float past, "I just don't get it! They still seem so hung up on Lelouch!" a blonde haired girl complained as the men disappeared from sight. "Nina! Are you listening?"
The poor girl turned to the President and said in a hushed tone, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
Milly sighed, "What am I going to do with you? Don't answer that." she then looked to the left, where Kallen and Shirley were petting a cat, "Look at them, they might look happy, but I can see past it. I bet on the inside, they're secretly cursing each other! Maybe Kallen's hoping to push Shirley into the river below! Or maybe Shirley's hoping that cat gouges Kallen's eyes out!"
Despite her… questionable takes on what her friend's thoughts are, Milly was right on one thing.
They weren't happy.
Though, it was for two very different reasons.
"What am I going to do?" the red head thought, "How can I regain Lelouch's trust? Especially after what I did?" she then touched her throat, "It still hurts… I wish he would just… magically gain his memories from his past life. That would make everything so much easier," she then touched her forehead, "No! Today, I have to take my mind off that! After all, this thinking is starting to give me a migraine."
"What am I going to do?" her friend, Shirley mused, "How am I going to ask Lelouch to join me next time? It's definitely easier said than done, so I'll have to come up with a plan!" she then turned to Kallen, "But… I can't just ask him while he's with Kallen, right? After all, that'd be pretty rude. I'll ask him when he's alone, which shouldn't be hard, after all, he spends a decent amount of time by himself."
Just then, a voice broke through their thoughts, "Please, Prince Clovis, come back!" a guard shouted as he chased the Prince around a bend, startling the cat.
"I refuse! I won't be caught dead signing another paper!" Clovis retorted before tripping over the feline.
"Are you okay?" Shirley asked the Prince as he struggled to get up.
"No, not at all! Citizen, I need your help!"
"Is this some kind of play?" Milly thought while approaching Kallen from behind
"If you can help me get away from my guards, there'll be a hefty reward in it for you!" the blond remarked as his guard charged in.
Before anyone could object, the President shouted with glee, "We might as well play along!" of course, her inner thoughts were something else, "This should be a great team-building exercise; now, Shirley and Kallen with be forced to work through their differences to solve this puzzle! It's almost like gods on my side or something!"
God was most definetly not on her side.
She grabbed the Prince's hand and helped him up; in a second they were on the run, except for Nina, who watched the exchange from a distance.
"Why am I doing this?" Kallen questioned as she followed Milly down a stone path, where a second guard was waiting for them.
"Stop!" he shouted as the group split in two, each running down seperate paths, with the bigger group heading left, while another headed right.
One half had Clovis, Milly, and Shirley, while the other only consisted of Kallen, who was basically scot-free. However, she soon came across a familiar Margrave, "Ah, Ms. Stadtfeld. It's good to see you. Have you come across Prince Clovis? I seemed to have lost him while grabbing some cotton candy."
"Wait, that was the real Clovis!?" the red head exclaimed, "I thought that was just some play!"
Jeremiah smirked, "While Clovis land does host a bunch of random events featuring Clovis look-alikes, I find it mildly insulting that you couldn't recognize his highness' brilliance among the fakes. Though, I shall forgive this infraction due to your relationship with Prince Lelouch."
This caused Kallen to shift slightly, "Ah… about that… we're not doing so well…"
"I see… it must be because you searched for my aid, correct? If so, I apologize, but I personally think you made the right choice, as I can finally fulfill my duty as a Knight of Britannia. So, allow me to be the first to thank you for your actions." he bowed, then rose, "Now then, I must search for the Viceroy. I shall see you later."
As quickly as he appeared, the Margrave disappeared around a corner. The small talk he gave Kallen did little to reignite her spark, as she still regretted her actions. If she was given a second chance, she definitely would've done things differently.
"Hey, Kallen!" she heard someone call her name, "Kallen! Over here!" she turned to her right, and saw her brother, Naoto Kozuki completely drenched, hiding behind a stall, "What's wrong? You looked pretty down."
"I'm fine. What about you? What're you doing here?" Kallen asked as she looked at the stall her brother was standing behind. Turns out, it was a drying stall with two spots, which were currently occupied.
"Tamaki wanted to come here, so he begged me to take him and Ohgi. Right now, we're just drying off." Naoto noticed his sister's tone shift when she replied, but didn't say anything, "What about you? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
That's when a light bulb went off in her mind, "Never mind that! We have to act quickly now!" she ignored her brother's question completely, "If we're fast, we can capture a Prince today!"
"A Prince?" Ohgi's voice called from within the drying stall, "What does that mean?"
"Prince Clovis is here today! He's currently trying to get away from his guards, but if we capture him instead, then we'll-"
"We'll what? Bring hell upon the Shinjuku Ghetto?" Naoto finished her sentence, "We barely escaped with our lives in the last operation. Imagine what would happen if we took a Prince captive?"
"Oh come on!" Tamaki's voice cut in, "Then we won't capture him, we'll just kill him!"
The resistance leader quickly forced open the door, and slugged his friend, "Watch your mouth! What if someone heard you?" he then lowered his voice, "And kill the Viceroy? That's even worse! Even if we magically don't get caught, then his replacement will just be worse! Right now, we're pretty lucky that Clovis isn't as proactive in his viceroy duties as his siblings, otherwise, Japan would truly be dead!"
"So, what do you suggest we do?" Ohgi asked.
"Simple. We're going to help."
This earned a surprised yelp from the group, "Help our enemy, are you insane!?" Tamaki shouted as Naoto slammed the door in his face.
"Think about it. If we, as Elevens, assist Clovis, then maybe… just maybe, his opinion on numbers will change, even if it's only slightly." the resistance member explained, "Then, we'll have more breathing room for our activities."
The rebels thought about it for a moment, but of course, Kallen was the first to agree, "All right, then what's the plan?"
Due to this, Ohgi and Tamaki soon folded, and exited the drying stalls in their newly dried clothes. "Well, I'm no le- I mean, I'm no Tohdoh, but I've got a plan in mind," he replied while entering a drying stall.
AN: If you look up Clovis land on the Code Geass wiki, it's the theme park where Lelouch and Mao had their second stand off with C.C, however, I refuse to accept that I Clovis land. I mean, it just looks way too small, especially with how egotistical Clovis was, I would've expected that thing to at least be the size of Disneyland. Of course, we didn't really see much of it in the anime, though from what I heard, there was something about it in the manga, but I have a feeling whatever's in there, won't be very much. So, a lot of things about Clovis land are just a mix of theme parks I've seen in real life.
I hope the pacing in this was good, as I'm really trying my best to work on that.