(A/N: And, we're finally back. I've got a halfway decent outline for this story—had one since writing chapter one—but I was so busy writing Lie and Seek—shameless plug—that I didn't have time to write this story. I might be able to churn out a chapter in a single day, but that's just it 1 chapter. I'm only human. Oh, I also re-opened my Patr-eon for those of you that wish to support me. Link is available on my profile, but it's broken up cause apparently this website hates that website. Anyway, I'm blathering…let's get to it)
When it came to disruptions to Camilla's day to day activities as Viceroy, usually it was a sudden email, or a very important person had arrived at her building unexpectedly. Very rarely were these mild annoyances so inconvenient as to ruin Camilla's whole day. So, when Camilla answered the phone from a frantic Clovis, she didn't expect what was to come.
"Um, sister, d-don't be mad, but…have you seen the news today?" Clovis asked, sounding frightened.
"Clovis, what did you do?" Camilla asked calmly and then switched on the news.
Down in the Shinjuku ghetto, there was a fire fight on the highway. The news was reporting that poison gas had been stolen from R&D of Area 11 and was going to be exposed to the public via a massive explosion if the terrorists were allowed to maintain control of it.
Nervously, Clovis asked, "W-would it be too much to ask you to retrieve it for me, Knightmare and all?"
The tone of voice in Camilla's response spoke to her lividity with her younger brother. "You made chemical WEAPONS!"
Clovis attempted to defend himself. "It's not what you think, I swear!"
"You have five seconds," Camilla told him crossly.
"I'm telling this to you and you alone, it's not a weapon. In that container is an experiment I've been working on as a gift to his majesty. It's very important that I get it back. Please, I don't have the authority to deploy Corrin's unit, and your finesse on the battlefield speaks for itself. Please…please help me, big sister."
Camilla could not very well turn down a sibling pleading with her for aid. Her big sister instincts would not allow it. With a sugary smile, she said to her brother, "All right then. You just leave those nasty awful Elevens to me. Time to play!"
It took some time for Camilla, Beruka, Corrin, and Corrin's unit to make it to Shinjuku. By the time they did, an even bigger firefight was already underway.
"Clovis!" Corrin declared, pulling up to the Sub-Viceroy bunker in her custom silver-painted Sutherland, "We're here to help! Point us in the right direction!"
"Lady Corrin!" A voice came out over the comms.
"Lord Jeremiah!" Corrin exclaimed with a friendly smile. "It's nice to hear a familiar voice. What's your status?"
"Ejected!" Jeremiah exclaimed. "The terrorists got me good. I was careless! They've taken control of a Sutherland! Proceed with caution!"
"They took over one of our units?" Corrin questioned.
"Sounds like someone's been naughty," Camilla said with a smirk. "Shall we, Corrin?"
Corrin nodded. "Yes. Let's!"
She, Camilla and Beruka proceeded onto the battlefield.
"Enemy spotted at point F31!" An airborne unit commented.
Camilla and Corrin looked at the enemy unit.
"It must be a decoy," Corrin said. "Definitely a trap."
"Then let's see what they're hiding," Camilla said with a smirk. "Send in Squad Lima and have Squad Victor and Squad Yellow strike from the rear!"
Four Sutherlands flanked the enemy on the other side of the wall…only to get shot to pieces, shocking Camilla, Corrin, Clovis and his men on the bridge of his bunker.
"An ambush!?" Corrin shouted. "I'm going to assist!"
"No, Corrin! Stay back! We don't know what else is out there!" Camilla warned.
But she was too late. Signals had already been lost.
"Enemy signal blaring! Three units spotted!" Another soldier shouted.
"Send in Charlie squad and make it fast!" Camilla shouted. She then heard screams over the comms. "But how…?"
Things continued like this for multiple maneuvers. The enemy would send a signal, Camilla, or Corrin, would send in a nearby squadron, and then they'd be ambushed by an enemy unit that seemed to appear from thin air.
Camilla began to shake, not out of fear, but out of shock.
When Camilla wasn't responding, Corrin began to dispatch units over the radio. But she wasn't having any better luck.
"Camilla! I think the enemy has our radio frequency!"
"Switch to Frequency !" Beruka exclaimed when Camilla didn't respond.
This didn't work either.
"Impossible! Is the enemy tapped into our codes?" Corrin questioned aloud, panicked.
More and more panic descended upon the battlefield. More and more lives were lost. And through it all, Camilla could only sit in her custom Harlech in abject shock. Only one person in the whole world she knew could ambush her and Corrin. Only one person in the whole world she knew could hack Britannian frequencies and use them to their advantage. Only one person, in the whole world, could take a simple wipeout operation…and make it feel like a game of chess.
"These are…these tactics are…" Camilla stuttered over the sounds of explosions and warfare.
"These tactics are brilliant!" Corrin hissed. "Whoever's leading the enemy must be a brilliant tactician! We'll have to alter our strategy accordingly. Camilla?"
Camilla didn't respond.
"Big sis?"
Still no answer.
"Do you copy?!"
Camilla couldn't move her hands. They were too busy gripping the controls, shaking with shock. She'd governed this area for years. The Japanese terrorist cells did not have any tacticians, aside from Kyoshiro Tohdoh, who definitely wasn't here, that could fight back this effectively.
Moreover, Camilla knew this playbook. She'd watched it unfold before her eyes for many, many years. "These are Lulu's tactics."
She had just decided to move on from Lelouch, and now it felt like she was up against his ghost or something. She had come to Area 11 with Clovis to let Lelouch sleep, and now someone, it felt like, was mangling his corpse. Using his body like their perverse puppet to mess with her head. Or perhaps Lelouch's spirit had simply risen from the dead to haunt her.
Risen.
Alive.
Lelouch alive.
Camilla gripped the controls to the point of almost crushing them as she began zooming around the battlefield, talking on an open channel at the top of her lungs. "LULUUUUUUUUU! IT'S ME! IT'S CAMMY! I KNOW YOU ARE HERE! TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!"
Corrin heard Camilla's outburst and attempted to reign her sister in by cutting off her warpath. "Camilla! What are you doing? You're going to get shot! There could be terrorists anywhere! We need to keep it together for Clovis's sake. I thought you told me you put Lelouch behind you!"
It had been several weeks since Camilla's visit to Ashford. Corrin thought she was improving. And now…this.
Despite Corrin's attempts to keep her sane, Camilla's feelings and emotions were bursting out like a dam. "THESE ARE HIS MOVES!" She shrieked. "IF YOU PLAYED CHESS WITH HIM AT ALL, YOU WOULD RECOGNIZE IT YOURSELF! LULU! CAMMY IS COMING! JUST HOLD ON!"
Camilla began blitzing enemy positions, walloping a stolen Sutherland by bifurcating it with her Harlech's mighty MVA: Maser Vibration Axe.
Honestly, that woman, Clovis thought, watching her peel through enemy forces like butter. Lelouch's tactics though? Ridiculous. She's fooling herself.
Before Camilla could end up landspinning her Harlech into a very deep hole, Corrin bodychecked the frame with her Sutherland.
"Camilla, enough! Calm down! You're going to get yourself killed! If Lelouch is alive, acting crazy won't get him back any sooner, it will just get you killed!" Corrin shouted.
Camilla righted her Harlech from its knocked over position slowly. The sudden shock to her system snaped her out of her crazy rage. "C-Corrin?"
"There you go. Good," Corrin said with a smile. "Are you okay?"
"Corrin, these are absolutely Lelouch's tactics!"
"And what if they are?! It's not as if Lelouch invented them! Warfare is older than the dirt our houses sit upon, Camilla! Get a grip!"
"You're right, Corrin," Camilla responded.
"Phew," Corrin uttered, feeling better.
"Charging after Elevens while screaming is no way to get information. I'll have to manhandle them personally to get what I want," Camilla uttered.
"Ummmmmm," Corrin wasn't sure how she felt about that decision.
"Why don't you go recover that capsule Clovis asked us to recover," Camilla told Corrin. "I'm going to go after a much bigger prize." Camilla sped off, though not in a frenzy.
Corrin sighed. There was no talking sense into Camilla when she'd made up her mind about something.
As Corrin searched the area, she could hear Camilla shouting at terrorists.
"Where is my Lulu?!"
"Who is your commander?!"
"Don't think you can hide from me!"
This was followed by the sound of metal being smashed and sometimes exploding.
Corrin sighed again. There was no point in stopping her right now. At least she was doing her job.
Corrin eventually found the capsule that she and Camilla had been tasked with locating, but there was a problem. Two problems, actually.
Corrin covered her mouth, almost about to dry heave into her mech. She'd never seen so many bodies.
"Camilla! I found the capsule, but it's empty. I'm not getting any poison gas on my radar!" Only Camilla had been told the truth by Clovis. "I…also found a lot of dead soldiers. Please, I need you here, sister!"
"I'm on my way!"
That was the most normal response she'd gotten from Camilla in the past near half hour.
Camilla arrived to where Corrin was, disembarking from her Harlech to survey the area. Corrin used a flashlight to show Camilla all the dead bodies of soldiers.
"What…happened here?" Corrin wondered aloud, now getting a good look.
Camilla, with more worldly experience, stepped into the pools of blood of her dead citizens, frowning. She examined one man's entry wound. A burn mark was next to his right temple.
Point blank…and he's holding it. But that would mean…
Camilla turned and looked at the wall where the soldiers were presumably facing. Shots from a Sutherland's rifle coated the walls, but bore no bloodstains.
The soldiers shot themselves…and then a Sutherland fires warning shots. What could have possibly…?
Lelouch's dastardly smile flashed in Camilla's mind. Yes! Yes, it had to be Lulu! Only he could have caused this! Lulu! Her Lulu! LULU!
"Camilla, breathe!" Corrin shouted.
Camilla gasped, taking a breath.
Corrin pinned her against the wall. "Listen to me!" she exclaimed, glaring at her older sister. She shook Camilla's shoulders. "I played chess with Lelouch too! It's not him! This isn't his doing! It's entirely possible he may have passed on his genius while he was at the Kururugi estate before his demise! We're not fighting Lelouch, Camilla!" Corrin shouted. She then stared at the ground in complete sorrow, clutching a hand near her chest. "It's just his ghost."
For a moment, Camilla seemed to comprehend this. Corrin sounded right at first. Lelouch's ghost. Yes, it was…it was just a ghost.
But…a ghost couldn't hack Britannian frequencies.
A ghost couldn't fight their way out of impossible odds.
Only the real Lelouch could do that.
"No…" Camilla said, shaking her head sadly. "No! You have all given up! It has to be him! It has to be the real Lulu!" She jumped into her Harlech and took off. "I WILL FIND YOU, LULU! EVEN IF I HAVE TO DESTROY EVERY LAST ELEVEN HERE!"
Camilla began to indiscriminately wrecking anything that didn't look Britannian. She'd completely lost herself into a frenzy of denial.
Corrin took a stable, deep breath and called Clovis directly on comms. "Clovis, this is Lieutenant Colonel Corrin su Britannia with a report. Viceroy Camilla no Britannia is emotionally compromised! Therefore, battlefield tactics should now be directed by the Sub-Viceroy until such a time that the princess is mentally healthy again. She's too busy chasing ghosts to direct the battlefield properly."
"Corrin," Clovis responded via video call onboard Corrin's custom Sutherland, "Much as I appreciate your faith in me, you should command. Show father that you deserve to be a Knight of the Round!"
Corrin took a slow inhale and then a quick exhale. She put on a serious expression and then declared proudly, "OKAY!"
"All units! This is Lieutenant Colonel and Princess Corrin su Britannia! I know this battle is not going our way, but we are far from annihilated! Listen carefully to my instructions!"
"YES! YOUR! HIGHNESS!"
Corrin pulled open a map as she descended down the building she'd been investigating. She began issuing orders with her touch screen. "Unit Alpha and Unit Zeta! Circle point A50 and await further instruction! Unit Beta and Unit Tau, ignore the enemy's signal and make a wide berth around the enemy towards point C35. Report in when you've arrived!"
"Yes, your highness!"
As Corrin began directing the flow of traffic of the field of battle, Camilla continued her rampage, sometimes smashing buildings just because they were casting too much of a shadow on the street in front of her.
With Corrin now commanding the battlefield unimpeded by Camilla's attempt at leadership, the Japanese resistance squadron, instead of being encircled, was now being watched from multiple angles.
"Hey, voice!" An irate man by the name of Tamaki shouted. "What do we do now?!"
"They've split up their forces and are taking positions all over the map!" A woman with blue hair named Inoue declared. "What are we supposed to do against this? If we move even the slightest bit out of place, we're going to get annihilated!"
Things were quiet on both sides for quite a long time.
Corrin swung her thumb over the trigger of her right hand controller button back and forth habitually, waiting for something to happen. With a stern gaze, she said aloud to herself, "Make your move." The statement was directed at the faceless, enemy commander, but she knew he, she, or they would never hear her.
Clovis took one look at how quickly Corrin had taken command of the situation from the bridge and was amazed. Corrin's formation…was genius. She'd set up his soldiers, and her own, into squads of four, each one pointed in a different direction. They had the whole battlefield covered like a field full of scarecrows. Any eleven that moved out of line now was going to be spotted immediately.
And then there was Camilla, still going about on her own. And it was at that moment Clovis understood Corrin's tactic.
She's going to use Camilla's rampage to her advantage! If the Elevens don't move first, Camilla will force them to!
However, whatever Corrin was up against, if it was indeed the ghost of Lelouch vi Britannia, seemed to have a counterstrategy in mind. Somehow, enemy forces had gotten into the corner of Corrin's formation in large numbers and were already spreading out from the southwest corner to the center.
"Units stationed at Northeast, break formation and join in! Units at upper mid-northwest fall towards the enemy!" Corrin instructed.
And then, an attack came from the southeast just as Corrin's forces had already had pressure put on the Southwest.
"Another attack?!" Corrin shouted, surprised. She shook her head. No, don't lose heart! ADAPT! "Center units, break formation and cover the southeast. Mid-Northern units, break east. My unit, cover mid-North unit!"
"YES! YOUR! HIGHNESS!"
And much to Corrin's delight, she still had the numbers to drive back the enemy. However, she quickly noticed that her own strategy had one big flaw, it allowed the enemy to start encircling her units. Fortunately, she was able to see this before she became completely trapped.
"Far northwest and far east units, peel away and regroup. Auxiliary units, form up!" Corrin exclaimed. Several allied formations had not been deployed into her scarecrow formation and were ready and available to flank the enemy.
Corrin then got an enemy in her sights. "FOR THE GLORY OF BRITANNIA!" She opened fire. Direct hit.
I can do this! Corrin exclaimed. I can win!
Unfortunately, numbers weren't everything. What Corrin believed to be a sudden tactical advantage suddenly turned into an absolute nightmare as her units started falling through pits and exploding after they fell.
"They're underground!?" Corrin exclaimed.
She could then hear Camilla screaming over comms as she sped by in close proximity."
In a split second, Corrin spotted Camilla's axe, a nearby building, an enemy formation signal and connected all the moving pieces in her head for an adaptive plan she just thought up.
"Camilla!" She shouted at her sister.
"WHAT?!" Camilla responded in a rage.
"That building!" Corrin pointed. "Lulu wouldn't like it!"
Camilla smashed its support beams with her Harlech's axe, knocking it over.
Not even taking a moment to admire Camilla's handiwork, Corrin shouted, "Main unit! Follow me!"
Using the landspinner gear and relying on the adaptability of the slash harkens, Corrin sped up the now slanted building like a ramp and then used the slash harkens to propel themselves deeper into enemy lines, surprising them. Corrin and her unit used slash harkens to pull them towards solid ground, taking shots at an entire enemy unit from behind.
"That one in the silver Sutherland!" Inoue shouted. "I think that's the commander!"
"What gave you that impression?" A man with black hair by the name of Kaname Ohgi asked her.
"I just saw her at the front of an enemy formation directing troops!"
"What about the nasty one with the axe? Thing nearly killed me!" Tamaki shouted.
"Hey, voice! Any ideas?" Ohgi asked, seemingly to the air.
Whatever was told to the Japanese resistance, Corrin was soon feeling its effects. The enemy was concentrating on encircling her private unit. This was sort of what Corrin was hoping for, but she ended up getting surrounded by way, way too many enemy units.
"We're surrounded!" Corrin shouted.
And that was when help came in the form of a surprisingly fast and adept Knightmare Frame. It was white and gold. It smashed up the unit that the Japanese forces had used to ambush Corrin, allowing her to beat a proper retreat.
"Princess Corrin! Are you all right?"
"I'm all right! Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" Corrin asked.
"My name is Suzaku Kururugi. I'm a soldier in the engineering division," Suzaku responded.
Did he just say Kururugi? "Soldier, where did this Knightmare Frame come from?" Corrin inquired.
A man with silver hair and glasses popped up on Corrin's interface. "You'll have to excuse the intrusion, I asked the Sub-Viceroy to deploy this fine specimen of warfare to your benefit, Princess."
"Ah, Sir Asplund, a pleasure," Corrin said with a smile.
"The pleasure is all mine, Princess. Do put my new machine to good use. I don't just let anyone pilot it, you know."
"Don't worry, I've got this under control!" Corrin shouted.
Things went to hell in a handbasket fast for the Japanese resistance after that. With the new and powerful Lancelot in play, combined with Corrin's tactics, the enemy forces did not stand a chance. Eventually, Corrin's Sutherland was able to corner the enemy ranks. With her silver Sutherland at the center of her formation and a dozen and a half soldiers armed with guns, Corrin had the enemy forces right where she wanted them in an abandoned warehouse.
"Surrender now!" She demanded.
"See?!" Tamaki shouted at Ohgi, gun raised. "Instead of listening to some voice we don't even know, we should've used the poison gas!"
"But he…" Ohgi began, sweating.
"Damn Nagata to hell!" Tamaki shouted, referring to the driver of the vehicle that had the gas he and his group stole.
"Lady Corrin, shall we open fire?" A man asked the silver Sutherland.
From behind Ohgi, a small girl with reddish pink hair gasped. "Did he just say Corrin?"
A much larger woman on the other side of the room, with crimson red hair, nearly dropped her weapon at hearing that name. "Corrin? It…can't be."
"All forces hold your fire for now!" Corrin shouted. She gazed out over the group she had at her mercy. "Who here is your commander?!"
"Our commander?" Ohgi questioned.
"She means the voice obviously, dumbass!" Tamaki shouted. He aimed his rifle right at the cockpit of the Sutherland. "He ain't here! Beat it!"
The commander not among their own forces? That doesn't make any sense. Why would…
Suddenly, the radio Ohgi was holding came over with loud static. And then…
"P1. Hand her the radio."
Ohgi looked shocked. Hand his radio to the enemy?
"You gotta be kidding!" Tamaki shouted.
Ohgi, however, took a step forward, holding his arms up in surrender.
"Ohgi! What are you doing?" The crimson-haired woman shouted.
A few soldiers aimed their weapons, only for Corrin to shout, "Hold your fire! I'm coming out!"
The small girl and the crimson haired woman were floored when they saw Corrin exit her KMF and descend to the ground.
"If bullets don't go flying, nobody gets hurt!" Corrin shouted. "Understand me?! I'd like to not spill anymore blood if I can!"
"Corrin!" The small girl shouted from the back, only to be quieted by the tall, red-haired woman. Now was not the time for this.
Corrin…it's you. It's really you, the red-haired woman thought. But…why are you with Britannia? Why are you fighting for them? She winced. I don't understand.
Ohgi walked straight deep into enemy gun muzzles aimed at him and handed Corrin the radio as he was instructed.
Corrin held it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Princess Corrin su Britannia, I heard you wished to speak with me," the mysterious voice that had been directing Ohgi and the others up until now, spoke.
"Who are you? Identify yourself!" Corrin shouted.
"And if I do, what becomes of Ashford Academy?"
Corrin gasped. How did they…?
"I don't just control this one terrorist cell, I have cells all over Area Eleven. Harm these people you see before you…no, if you don't withdraw all of your forces from Shinjuku immediately, I will have no choice but to set the several dozen explosives I've littered about Ashford Academy off."
A bluff? Possible. But…Corrin could not take that risk. She handed the radio back to Ohgi, turned her back and grasped the elevator to ascend her back into her KMF. She stood upon her KMF's cockpit and declared over an open channel. "All forces, retreat! We're withdrawing from Shinjuku!"
"I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!"
Camilla smashed her way in with her Harlech into the bunker where Corrin was broadcasting from.
"Camilla, we have to retreat!" Corrin told her, getting into her cockpit and sealing it. "The enemy has explosives surrounding Ashford Academy! If we make a move, Milly would die! That would make Lelouch sad!"
"IT'S A BLUFF, CORRIN! IT'S AN OBVIOUS BLUFF!"
"I CAN'T TAKE THAT RISK!" Corrin shouted at Camilla.
Things were quiet for a moment before Corrin heard words she never thought would come out of Camilla's mouth. "…Let them die."
Corrin didn't believe she heard Camilla correctly at first. As a result, she said nothing. However, what followed was probably the most heartbreaking thing she'd heard since becoming a soldier.
"You and Clovis…you are using me!" She couldn't see Camilla's face, but she could hear her crying "I thought you cared about me, but you are no better than those greasy pigs!"
The axe of Camilla's KMF smashed in the nearby wall and nearly brought the whole complex down on everyone's heads, causing the Japanese ghetto dwellers to begin retreating in a panic.
Several gunshots went out.
"HOLD! YOUR! FIRE!" Corrin shouted.
The shooting stopped. Two people had been shot.
"Get those people medical attention! NOW!" Corrin shouted. "Camilla! You're losing yourself! You're going to start hurting the people you care about!"
"I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!" Camilla shouted with rage.
Fortunately, before she could attack Corrin with her axe, the weapon, her frame and her cockpit were all damaged by multiple slash harkens…fired by Suzaku Kururugi's Lancelot.
"Phew. Made it in time," Suzaku commented. He then announced over comms. "Princess Camilla, get a hold of yourself!"
Getting out of her frame, Camilla was absolutely bonkers with rage. "You think this will stop me! ME?! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"
Camilla then began attacking her own people in a murderous rage with an archaic battle axe she always brought with her wherever she went.
Nobody knew what to do other than stay back. Nobody wanted to shoot royalty, but they also didn't want to die. Camilla began swinging her axe in a shrieking frenzy. Suzaku got out of his frame and moved to try and subdue her, getting his shoulder broken in the process of trying to restrain her.
Fortunately, by this point, Corrin had called in a medical team full of tranquilizer guns. Five. Ten. Fifteen…how many shots was it going to take to put this woman down? The answer was thirty. Camilla didn't finally collapse into a comatose slumber until she'd been shot up with no less than thirty tranquilizer darts.
Corrin surveyed the damage. Two dead. Fifteen injured in all the chaos.
We'll have to blame this on the elevens, Corrin thought. Nobody could know that Camilla had attacked her own people in a frenzied rage. It would be the end of her dear sister. Crying, Corrin called to Clovis. "The enemy has fled. …We're withdrawing."
When Camilla finally came to, she was lying on the floor of something bouncy and soft. Sitting up, she found herself inside a room that wasn't very brightly lit. She looked around. Mattress padding clung to the walls, ceiling and floor. She was in a padded room. And, when she couldn't move her arms, she realized she was in a straitjacket.
"Are you finally coming around?"
Camilla's head whipped towards the door at the far end of the room. Corrin's visage was visible through the small window in the door.
"Camilla…I'm sorry, but I had to do this. You were out of control. You attacked our own citizens, our own soldiers."
"Lulu…where is Lulu?" Camilla asked.
"Lelouch is dead!" Corrin shouted through tears. "He's been dead for seven years! And because you went around chasing his ghost, the enemy got away!"
Camilla looked guilty.
"Yes, the Ashford bombing was a bluff, but I couldn't take the risk! How could you?! I thought you were giving Ashford blank checks out of your own savings to help them!"
Camilla didn't know how to respond.
Corrin was crying as she gazed her head downward. "Effective immediately…Clovis will be instated as Viceroy. I've been tasked with keeping you here until necessary." Corrin sounded absolutely heartbroken. "I'm sorry, sister. This is for your own good until you calm down, and until you get better. Please…for my sake…stop doing stupid things, stop clinging to the past, or you're only going to destroy your future."
Corrin then walked away and the lights in the room Camilla was in went out completely.
Corrin…Corrin betrayed her. How…HOW DARE SHE?!
Screaming in an absolute frenzy, Camilla slammed her whole body against the padded wall, headbutting it, kicking it, screaming, biting it. She was a complete and total disaster. Corrin was in another room now, monitoring Camilla through a camera. It was painful to watch.
Camilla continued to try and knock down a door, or a wall, in an attempt to free herself, but all she was doing was wearing herself out. As she landed on the ground again, she made eye contact with the camera. She snarled at it. "YOU ARE NOT MY FAMILY, CORRIN! YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE ONLY CARE ABOUT YOURSELVES! I HATE YOU! I HATE ALL OF YOU!"
Corrin turned off the camera. She couldn't bear to see Camilla like this.
Camilla shrieked. "YOU ARE THE WORSE THAN THE VILEST PEOPLE! THE WORST!"
Camilla then went ballistic, throwing herself against the walls and floor of the room in a complete and total temper tantrum unbecoming of a woman her age. She would never forgive Clovis and Corrin for this. She hated them. Corrin used her weakness to her advantage. Clovis stole her rightful position. She would never forgive them. Never. NEVER!
Camilla's thrashing grew less energetic over time. Eventually, she didn't have the strength to stand, much less hurl herself at the wall. She curled into a ball, crying. Even if she was refusing to admit it, deep in her heart she knew…she'd done this to herself.
A few days passed, Camilla's condition didn't seem to be improving. In fact, her condition was poor enough that Corrin had to come visit her. According to the medical staff, Camilla was refusing meals, and sleep. She was also frequently requesting Corrin's presence.
As a result, Corrin stepped up to the room's window, raising the lights a bit to get Camilla's attention and spoke through the push to talk speaker.
"Camilla, please don't give up on life. Please take care of yourself," Corrin requested calmly.
"Please, Corrin. I…I need a hug," Camilla said, sniffling. "If you love me…please."
Reluctantly, Corrin entered the room. She embraced her older sister, the purple haired woman snuggling up to her.
"Please let me out, Corrin," Camilla sobbed. "I don't hate you. I want to get lunch and…and…" she hyperventilated, "Run Area 11 again. Please…please don't leave me alone in here. The nightmares are keeping me up."
"Nightmares?" Corrin questioned.
"Lulu blaming me for his death…telling me I failed him…as I watch his body melt due to poison gas…"
"Shhh shhh shhh shhh shhhh shhh shhhhh shhhh," Corrin shushed soothingly. "There. There. It wasn't poison gas, Camilla." Corrin didn't know that Camilla already knew that. "Lulu doesn't hate you. Everything's okay."
Camilla sobbed more, incoherently, for a little bit. And then, she made a request. "I want to go home."
"Camilla…"
"Please Corrin…I…I can't stay in here. I'll die. I'll die from fear. Please…please let me out. I promise I won't hurt myself. So please…"
Corrin was at a loss. On the one hand, she really didn't want to go over the medical staff's heads on this. On the other, she was royalty and if she wanted her sister out of the nuthouse, people had to listen."
Corrin sighed deeply. Against her better judgment, she was going to free Camilla. "Okay, I'll get you let out, but you're not going back to work. You'll eat. You'll sleep. And you'll let me watch over you until you're much healthier mentally."
"Please let me work," Camilla begged. "Please…I need to work. I neeed to get my mind off Lulu. Corrin, I'm begging you. Let me be Viceroy. It was the only thing that was keeping me calm."
"You're in no condition for that," Corrin told her. "Please. If you promise to come with me and eat and sleep when I tell you, I promise to tell you the results of my investigation at Shinjuku, okay?
Camilla nodded weakly. She smooshed her head into Corrin's collar. "I love you, Corrin. Thank you."
"I love you too, sister. Wait right here, okay? I'll be back shortly and we'll get you out of that straitjacket."
"Thank you, Corrin," Camilla said, choking on tears. "Thank you."
Camilla was released from her treatment under Corrin's watchful eye and straight into the limo where Beruka was waiting to drive the two to a destination.
"I'm so sorry, Beruka. I've been a terrible princess," Camilla apologized.
"I've told you before, Princess. I am at your disposal." Beruka then frowned. "Regrettably, I can never save you from yourself."
Camilla almost laughed. She knew Beruka didn't mean it as a joke, but it was the sentiment that made her smile.
"To where are we bound?" Beruka asked her liege.
"To the nearest buffet. I'm positively starving," Camilla stated.
"Very well. To a buffet!"
Camilla practically inhaled the buffet, almost eating the place out of their lunch with how hungry she was.
"It's a good thing your appetite hasn't gone anywhere," Corrin said. "Feeling better?"
"After a meal like that? Yes. Much," Camilla answered, patting her stomach.
"Do you need a nap?" Beruka asked. "I know you haven't been sleeping well."
"With the sunlight on my face and food in my stomach, I feel right as rain for the moment," Camilla said with her usual upbeat demeanor. And then immediately she began to look drowsy.
"Yup. That checks out. So much food," Corrin remarked, a bead of sweat forming at the side of her right temple.
After a hardy rest, it was nearly 5pm. Camilla was waking up in her Viceroy bed, having had a dreamless sleep caused by a food coma. Corrin was in her bedroom, as was Beruka.
"Corrin? Beruka? I just had the weirdest dream. I dreamt that I was held prisoner in a padded room and…screaming at everyone."
Corrin thought it best not to touch that for now. "Y-Yes, wh-what an awful dream. Do you…um…want to hear about my investigation?"
Camilla was silent a moment. After rubbing the sleep from her system, she realized she hadn't dreamt that at all. It was all real. The pain. The nightmares. Screaming at Corrin. Oh god, she killed her own people.
"Um…send a sorry basket to the families of the people I killed."
"You didn't kill anyone. The Elevens did it," Corrin told her.
"Oh, well in that case…that's…that's good. So…you did lock me in a padded room."
"You went completely overboard and attacked our own people, Camilla. It took thirty tranquilizer darts to subdue you. You were completely out of control. I'm sorry…I didn't want to do that. Can…can you ever forgive me? I…I didn't know what else to do."
Camilla hugged her sister. "Oh, Corrin. Of course I forgive you. I could never be mad at you." She firmly pat the back of Corrin's guilty feeling head. "However," she said, squeezing her sister tightly. "The reason for my rage I am not sorry for."
"R-right," Corrin said. She then tried to break Camilla's grip.
"Not done," Camilla said, holding Corrin closely, hugging her until she was satisfied. She then sat back down on the edge of her bed. "Now done."
Corrin nodded and began to tell Camilla what she'd dug up since Camilla's time spent in lock up. "One of the soldiers under our command encountered a Britannian school boy in the ghetto. He seemed really out of place in all of the chaos. She said she was about to talk to him, but then the next thing she knew, he vanished and so had her Sutherland, and the key to it. And, get this, he claimed his name was Allen Spacer and that his father was a duke. But, I looked into it, and it turns out not only is there no Allen Spacer attending Ashford Academy, there isn't a duke with the last name Spacer either. I thought maybe she misheard him so I contacted Duke Spencer, but he claims he never had a son, only two daughters."
Camilla had to take a moment to process all of this. Allen Spacer. An alias no doubt. But…nothing connected it to…to…
She shook her head violently. "S-So," she began. "Wh-what does this mean?"
Corrin looked positively giddy. "I have absolutely no idea. But the mystery is kind of exciting, don't you think?"
Camilla nodded in agreement. "Once I've fully recovered, I shall go to Ashford Academy again and investigate."
"I'd love to have you there!" Corrin exclaimed. "But…Ashford might be a dead end. This is just a theory, but…this Allen Spacer guy might have graduated from Ashford and is now going under a pseudonym."
"If he was wearing the uniform, it's unlikely he graduated just to show up to help the Elevens," Beruka pointed out. "No doubt the man we are looking for is still there. We just have to track him down."
"Did this fortunate soldier offer a description of our dear Mr. Spacer?" Camilla asked sweetly.
Corrin shook her head. "She was having memory problems, so she said she couldn't recall."
Beruka looked displeased. "So we're basically dealing with every male at the school."
"Well, you know what they say," Camilla said. "When looking for a needle in a haystack." She turned to her bedside and picked up her trusty axe. "Simply shrink the haystack."
"Let's…not…hurt anyone over the course of this investigation, okay?" Corrin asked, nervous.
Investigating Ashford Academy was quite mundane. At first, Camilla thought it would be just her, Corrin, and Beruka, but Corrin invited another person to join them: Suzaku Kururugi. He'd been instrumental in locating the "poison gas" capsule, and had saved Corrin's life. Since he was young enough to be attending Ashford Academy, even if he was an Eleven turned Honorary Britannian, Corrin made the personal decision to have him along. Four pairs of eyes were better than three after all.
During the course of the investigation, Camilla couldn't help but notice how in sync Corrin and Suzaku seemed.
"I'll go this way, okay? Meet back in five minutes?"
"I can get it done in three."
"Then scan the windows to make up the extra two."
"Got it."
It wasn't just investigative tactics that painted a picture in Camilla's mind either. During the course of the investigation, Suzaku said something to the effect of…
"Allen Spacer though, huh? Boy, this terrorist kid has a real sense of humor. Who's next, James Pond?"
The way Corrin laughed intrigued Camilla's sensibilities. So, while the group was taking a break, as Corrin left to go get some drinks at a vending machine, Camilla spoke to Suzaku directly. "So, you like my Corrin, hmmmmm?"
"Uh, your Corrin, princess?" Suzaku asked, sweating as Camilla loomed over him.
"You had better treat her like the princess she is," Camilla told him overly sweetly. "Or I'll kill you."
Suzaku laughed nervously. "I uh…I thought I was?"
From behind, Camilla brought her hand down onto Suzaku's head and caressed it firmly. "You will have a minimum of six children."
Suzaku began to sweat profusely juuuust as Corrin walked back towards the group. "I'm back with the drinks!"
"Oh, thank you, Corrin! So thoughtful," Camilla said and cracked open hers.
Corrin then looked at Suzaku. "Why do you look so on edge?" she asked, handing him his drink.
"No reason," Suzaku almost squeaked.
In the end, however, Ashford turned out to be a complete dead end. The group had no choice but to leave by nightfall.
A few days later, Camilla found herself in her office, back to full strength. It was her first day back on the job of full-fledged Viceroy duties. During these duties, she was combing through soldier reports of the Shinjuku terrorist attack to gather the information she didn't know that Corrin did for herself. During the course of this report combing, she spotted a report that had been written by Suzaku.
At first, Camilla suspected nothing. Then she read his full name. Suzaku Kururugi, as in Genbu Kururugi, as in Japan's last Prime Minister, as in the Kururugi Estate.
Memories of digging through that neighborhood flashed in Camilla's mind. With a serious look on her face, she suddenly realized that if anyone knew about what happened to Lelouch in his final moments, it would be Suzaku. She immediately put in calls to have him brought to her office immediately.
He showed up in an…acceptable amount of time, but he could have been faster.
"You called for me, Princess?" Suzaku asked, saluting.
"Yes. Shut the door and have a seat."
She's not going to lay out a marriage plan for me and Princess Corrin, is she? Suzaku thought, concerned for his own health. I sure hope not. He did as he was asked.
Camilla looked at him seriously. "I'm only going to ask you this once and lying to me will result in your immediate death, do you understand me?"
Suzaku nodded, not the least bit afraid.
"Did you or did you not know a Lelouch vi Britannia?"
Ah. Of course she'd ask about that.
Fortunately, while Suzaku was nowhere close to Lelouch's level of careful planning, he had absolutely prepared himself for questions such as these for his best friend's sake. "Huh? Lelouch?" he began, sounding startled. "Yeah. Of course I did. He was living at my family's estate before the war broke out."
"Then…then he's alive, right?!" Please, please tell me my Lulu is okay!" Camilla shouted pleadingly. Her eyes blinked rapidly, suggesting she really, really wanted to hear good news.
Suzaku stared at his lap. "He was alive when we parted ways after the first wave of bombs dropped, but…it wasn't long after that I heard Britannia declared on the news that he was dead. Maybe a stray bomb got him or maybe he starved to death out in the wilderness. I don't know."
For a moment, Suzaku thought Camilla was going to execute him on the spot. When she smiled, he was even more disturbed. "So there's a chance he's not dead after all."
"Princess," Suzaku began, "I know that Lelouch means a lot to you, but…I don't think Britannia would declare him dead unless he actually was."
Camilla went from smiling to glaring. "Britannia has proven time and again that they're not to be trusted," she snapped. "Unless a body was recovered and displayed, which it has not, there is still a chance."
So much for letting things go, it seemed.
Suzaku sweat a little. "I…suppose that's true. But, um…are you sure it's a good idea to go around chasing ghosts? What about the here and now?"
Camilla looked very solemn. "Listen to me. I know it's crazy but you need to understand, he was the only one I ever really and truly loved. I know he's hurting. I know he probably doesn't even remember me, and I know more than likely he may be dead, but…if there's a chance he's not…and I can embrace him once more…" Camilla looked almost to be in physical pain as she uttered the words, "I would fight to make that happen."
Suzaku could not help but smile. "I'm sure, Princess Camilla, if Lelouch were alive to hear that, he would be happy to know how much you care about him, wherever he is, alive or dead."
"...fifty children," Camilla suddenly uttered.
Suzaku made very funny sounding, startled noises of great discomfort.
The Sumeragi family was the noble lineage of the last of Japan's dynasties. After losing its Empress, Mikoto, it was survived by five separate children: the eldest, Ryoma, the youngest, Sakura, the feistiest, Takumi, the closest to Mikoto's spitting image, Kaguya, and…finally.
"YAH! HIYAH! HOYAH!"
The most stout, devoted, disciplined, and second eldest, age 22, Hinoka Sumeragi.
With a naginata in hand, she was busy practicing her form and impaling it through tires and stacks of cardboard boxes that she had set up in place of more practical training dummies. When she finished with her workout, she wiped her brow and planted the blunt end of her weapon onto the filthy ghetto floor.
"Phew."
She was approached by a girl in her late teens from behind. Said girl was Japanese, just like Hinoka. Despite having a head full of red hair, just like Hinoka, the two women were not related. Of course, the difference in shade of red could have been an easy clue.
"Hinoka, are you done practicing?" the girl asked.
"Oh, hey, Kallen," Hinoka said, turning around. "Yeah, I'm done."
"Are…you doing all right? You and Sakura…haven't seemed quite yourselves since Shinjuku."
Hinoka stared at Kallen with a serious and intense gaze. She frowned slightly. "Well, I guess I can tell you, about Corrin, I mean."
"Corrin, you mean that girl that Ohgi handed the radio to?" Kallen asked.
Hinoka nodded. "Corrin…is actually one of my siblings. I don't know why Britannia is touting her around as their princess." She frowned hard, looking frustrated. "But her real name is Corrin Sumeragi, and she's my younger sister."
Kallen looked surprised. "What?!" Corrin didn't even look Japanese. Was she a half-blood, like Kallen herself?
"I don't know what Britannia did to her, but she's been missing since she was little, about six years old," Hinoka said. "I…I want her back, Kallen. But I…I don't know how we're going to do that. If only Ryoma was here, he'd know what to do."
"Ryoma's in hiding just like General Tohdoh. You're the best we've got!" Kallen exclaimed. "Naoto always believed in you, Hinoka. You've been like a big sister to me too."
"But what if I mess up? Corrin's been missing for fourteen years and now when I see her again, she's my enemy! What if she doesn't even know who I am?" Hinoka worried.
Kallen thought about it. "Corrin…actually goes to my school. I could…ask her if she knows about anything about the Sumeragi family. I'm half-Japanese, so it's fine if I ask just out of curiosity."
"You'd…do that for me?" Hinoka asked.
"Hinoka, you've led this charge against Britannia unimpeded for as long as I've been following you. I'd put my life in your hands if it came down to it," Kallen told her seriously. "This is the least I can do."
"Thank you, Kallen. Corrin and I…we're the closest in age, only two years apart. Takumi's three years younger than her, so I…she was…she was always around me when I was growing up. When she disappeared…I was…I was devastated, Sakura couldn't stop crying about it for days."
"She means a lot to you. I get it," Kallen said. "We can get her back, Hinoka. I promise!"
At Kallen's declaration, the young Sakura came running towards the two redheads, seemingly out of breath. "I…um…I um…"
"Sakura, what's the matter?" Hinoka asked, greatly concerned.
"Ph-Phone…" Sakura said nervously.
"A phone? What about a phone?" Hinoka asked.
Sakura took a phone out of her pocket that looked brand new. "S-Setsuna brought it to me and said it…it was important."
"Setsuna said it was important?" Hinoka asked. "How would she know?"
Sakura played a voicemail on the phone.
"If you can hear this, my name is Zero."
"It's that voice!" Kallen exclaimed.
"I'll be waiting for your call. The number should already be in the call history. Dial it and you might just learn more about Princess Corrin than you ever thought possible."
Hinoka felt short of breath and didn't realize that she had violently pulled the phone out of Sakura's hands, dialing the number in the call history.
"Hello?"
"You must be Hinoka Sumeragi," the voice on the other end said.
"Who is this?!" Hinoka demanded to know.
"I believe I told you in my voicemail, my name is Zero."
"What do you know about Corrin?!" Hinoka demanded to know.
"Ah, right to business is it? In that case, please follow my instructions, just as you and your resistance group did back in Shinjuku," Zero told her.
"You…"
"You have twenty minutes to make a decision. I'll be waiting for you on the outbound train of loop line nine. Bring your sister and as many of your resistance group members as you wish. I'll be waiting." He then hung up.
"HEY!" Hinoka shouted. She dialed the number again.
She got an automated, "We're sorry, but the number you have dialed is not in—"
Hinoka growled as she ended the call.
"What now?" Kallen asked.
"Kallen, grab Ohgi, Tamaki, Azama, Subaki, Setsuna and Hana. We're going on a train ride."
At the Tokyo train line, nine Japanese people prepared to board loop line five outbound. Present was Hinoka and Sakura Sumeragi, Kallen Kozuki, their fellow resistance members, Tamaki and Ohgi, and four others. The first was a man with a bushy head of hair. His name was Azama. The second, a younger looking man with his hair styled into a ponytail. His name was Subaki. Along with them were two young women, a girl with blue hair named Setsuna, and a girl with long, light brown hair named Hana.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Lady Hinoka?" Hana asked. "Not that I want to doubt your leadership, but…"
"Look, this Zero guy helped us out in Shinjuku. A lot more people could have gotten hurt that day if it wasn't for him," Hinoka stated. "We owe him as far as I'm concerned. It's…it's just a train ride."
"Oh come now, Hinoka," Azama said with brazen wit and charm that he was well known for, "Don't act as if you aren't doing this just because some random stranger suggested he might be able to help you swaddle Corrin in a blanket and feed her hot soup."
Hinoka's face said it all that Azama was right on the money.
"Ahaha, my apologies. I did not mean to hit so close to home," the man responded, even though that was far from the truth.
"Look, Corrin or no Corrin, I wanna know what this Zero guy has to say," Ohgi said. "Are we doing this or what?"
Hinoka looked at the time on her own cell phone. "Definitely not an 'or what'. Let's move."
The nine of them boarded the train. So far, business as usual.
"Hey, Setsuna, how did you get this phone anyway?" Hinoka asked her.
"How did I get it?" Setsuna wondered and thought about it deeply. "Honestly…I don't remember. I just…was wandering around and then…suddenly I was holding it." She pursed her lips. "When I played the voicemail though, I knew it had to be important. I couldn't find you, so I passed it off to Sakura."
"Let me get this straight, you simply…had it…in your hand, like it dropped out of the sky?" Azama asked her.
"That's…typical of Setsuna. She's always been a bit of an airhead," Subaki stated.
"Well, I can't fault that," Azama replied. "Still…"
The nine of them boarded the train and stood in the same car together. Once the train was several minutes into its trip, the mysterious phone suddenly buzzed. Zero was on the caller ID. Hinoka held it up to her ear.
"Face forward and look to your right. What do you see?"
"I see…the Britannian-stolen prefecture of Tokyo. Specifically, I can see the Lelouch vi Britannia Public Library. It's way in the distance," Hinoka said. "But it's so big it's unmistakable."
"And what do you see to your left?" Zero asked her.
"I see what's left of the war-torn landscape of Kawasaki district after the Britannians bombed it to an unlivable state."
"Good answer," Zero told her. "Now make your way to the front of the train."
The line then went dead.
Wordlessly, Hinoka lowered the phone from her ear and went for the front car of the train. Her entourage followed.
"I will never understand why Princess Camilla thought to build such a big library for her deceased little brother. For a woman that claims she wants to help us Japanese, she sure spends money lavishly on things that make her happy," Azama pointed out.
"Princess Camilla is the worst," Tamaki grumbled. "I'd sooner have Clovis in charge."
"Clovis nearly got us all killed, remember?!" Hana shouted angrily. "Because we stole his precious poison gas!"
"I said it was a bad idea to steal a biological weapon," Azama chimed in. "But did anyone listen to me? Noooooooo."
"Zip it!" Hinoka exclaimed. "What's done is done."
"Well, well, my apologies."
The nine Japanese resistance members made their way to what was now an empty train car. At the back of the car, stood a figure garbed in a helmet that didn't expose any of their facial features. They were dressed in a cape and was dressed lavishly, as if they'd just stepped out of a Japanese Tokusatsu.
"Well, well, well, I didn't know the cosplay convention was in town," Azama joked.
"Are you Zero?" Hinoka asked.
No answer.
"Answer Lady Hinoka if you know what's good for you!" Hana snapped.
At this, the figure spun on their heel and faced forward as the lights to the car went out. Sakura whimpered and proceeded to use Kallen as a shield.
"What do you think of my tour of the settlement?" The mysterious masked man asked.
"Your tour?" Ohgi asked, confused.
"Following a man in a mask, how quaint," Azama commented.
"Personally, I had no issues with it," Subaki answered politely.
"I wanted you to be able to properly compare the two!" the masked man declared. He extended his left arm. "The settlement!" He extended his right arm. "And the ghetto!"
"Oh my! A show, but we have no dinner," Azama commented.
Kallen shushed him.
"Everyone's aware of the difference between Britannia and Japan, so what?" Tamaki asked in an exasperated tone. "That's why we fight 'em!"
"You're wrong!" The masked man rebutted. "Britannia will not fall to terrorism."
"Fall?" Hinoka questioned under her breath.
"It's little more than a childish nuisance," the masked man responded.
"I daresay, I think he just called all of you a bunch of children," Azama replied with a charming smile.
"Man, don't disinclude yourself," Tamaki complained to him. "You're right here."
"You should know your enemy!" The masked man exclaimed. "It is not people, but Britannia itself! It is a war you must wage, but not on the innocent! Take up your sword! Fight for justice!"
Kallen growled. "Oh, please! That's all easy enough to say, isn't it, hiding behind that mask? Why should we even trust you?"
"She's right! Lose the mask!" Tamaki shouted.
"Yeah, show us your face!" Hana exclaimed.
"All right, I'll show you," the masked man stated. "But rather than my face, I will show you my power. If I deliver to you the impossible, then I might have earned your trust."
"What do you mean?" Hana snapped.
The train passed a bank and came to a stop. "Come," the masked man said. "Follow me."
"Oh come on! Are we really going to do what he says?" Tamaki asked.
Hinoka hissed under her breath and then exited the train, following after who she presumed to be Zero.
"Hey, Hinoka!" Tamaki shouted, only for Ohgi to follow suit. "Not you too, Ohgi!"
One by one, however, the group followed the masked man, eventually reaching what was essentially a junkyard as he stood atop a pile of scrap.
"What's all of this about?" Hinoka asked. "What does all of this have to do with Corrin?!"
"In Britannia, there is an old children's story of the Princess Rapunzel, locked away in her tower, ignorant of the world at large," the masked man replied. "Princess Corrin is very similar, don't you think?"
"You…what do you know about Corrin?" Hinoka demanded to know. "Answer me!"
"If you follow my orders to the letter, I can bring Corrin safely to your arms, Lady Hinoka Sumeragi," the masked man told her. He extended a hand. "All you have to do is trust me."
"Trust you?!" Tamaki shouted. "We barely know you."
"I agree with Tamaki," Subaki said and then added under his breath, "Never thought I'd say that."
"Heyyyyy!" Tamaki exclaimed.
"But he has a perfect point," Subaki stated. "How do we know we can trust you? You say you can bring Corrin to us, but what does that mean?"
"Exactly as I said," the masked man stated, lowering his head a little. "Princess Corrin, or, rather, Lady Corrin Sumeragi, will be returned to her place of birth. I have the power to do so. And, if we are lucky, I can also bring the current government of Area 11 down to rubble."
"This guy's nuts!" Tamaki exclaimed.
Everyone was surprised when Sakura stepped forward. "Um…Mr. Zero, sir?"
"You can just call me, Zero, Lady Sakura. No honorifics needed," Zero said to her.
Sakura then said quite forcefully and loudly for someone of her size and stature, "Um…please bring Corrin back to us!"
"S-Sakura…" Hinoka was at a loss for words.
Sakura sniffled. "My sister has been missing since I was very little. I…really never got to meet her. But…I just remember crying a lot. I…I want to meet my missing sister!" Sakura shouted. "If…if you can help with that, please do!"
"Sakura…" Hinoka was now far more sympathetic to Sakura's plea than the sheer shock from before. Sakura was being brave. She was willing to trust a stranger…for Hinoka's sake.
And it was Sakura's bravery that helped Hinoka find her footing. She took three steps towards Zero. "You already know it," Hinoka said. "But I'll say it again anyway. My name is Hinoka Sumeragi! I am the leader of the Sky Heron Ronin!" She assumed a pre-bow stance. "On behalf of all of those that follow me…" she bowed low to Zero. "Please bring my sister back!"
There was silence in the air for a short bit, tense silence at that.
"Lady Hinoka," Zero finally said. "I have measured your resolve and deemed it worthy. We shall strike at Britannia post-haste. And, I promise you, that when all is said and done, your sister…will be back in your hands!"
(A/N: Oh cue the Code Geass ending theme! I hope everyone likes seeing two out of the four Hoshidan royals. Yes, I decided that because Sumeragi is their father's name that that's just the family surname in this story. Surprise! If you're wondering why only Hinoka and Sakura are here, it's because I like their characters a lot, plus some more nuanced reasons. Sakura is one of the first characters to join Corrin's party in the routes where she's playable, and Hinoka is Camilla's foil, so she deserves to be here. Ryoma not being here is because he is far too strong for this stage of the game—man should be Tohdoh's equal for lore reasons.
Distant voice: What about Takumi?
What about Takumi? You really think we need him here calling Zero "Britannian Scum" every five seconds. Nawwww, fam.
Anyway, I'm at about page 19 of what's currently a 44 page outline. That outline is not the whole story, I still have no idea how this story is set to end, but I'm planned up through a good chunk of a decent narrative before an indefinite hiatus.
Please consider subscribing to my Pat-reon if you feel so inclined. It helps support me as a creator and it will eventually see updates come out faster.
I'm not sure when I'll be updating this story again, but until I do, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic.
Ja ne!)