(A/N: I appreciate the warmer reception I got to the last chapter compared to 10. All it takes is a little bit of amusing comments to keep this engine well-oiled and full of steam.
I would also like to highlight a hilarious comment I received: "The plot is forever thickening, unless you're named Lorenz where Lelouch reads "roast" and decides just to throw gasoline and incinerate you instead."
Thank you HAWAIIANpikachu for this great comment that got a genuine, hearty laugh out of me.
It's comments like these that keep me writing.
And with that, let's continue)
2nd Day of the Blue Sea Moon
With summer in full swing, the weather was hotter than ever. But for one Ingrid Brandl Galatea who lived near the ravaged "Valley of Torment" in Southeastern Faerghus, the summer heat was hardly a threat. Combat training was her lifeblood and her desire to become a commander in the Faerghus military was her greatest passion. While twirling around an energy lance like it was a monk's oakwood staff, Ingrid kept up the cardio and technical training for multiple minutes in a row, before finally taking a moment to uncap her water bottle and take a drink.
As she took a drink, and caught her breath, Ingrid looked up at the big training screen, noticing that someone was using the HLKMF obstacle training course. The HLKMF on the track was the Blue Marine, the frame of the Violet Tigers' Shirley Fennette. Both a mug shot of the photo on Shirley's student ID and the data profile pic for the Blue Marine were shown on screen. Ingrid watched Shirley go through the course with interest.
The Blue Marine is quite fast, Ingrid thought, but it takes more than speed to master the obstacle course.
Ingrid, curious, pulled up the leaderboard on her training course app that she had to download as an Officer's Academy Student. The leaderboard would always showcase runner attempts in real time. In terms of personal best, Shirley was in 8th place overall within this year's students. The only students swifter than Shirley on the course were Petra Macneary, Shez Lamperouge, Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Kallen Kozuki, Claude von Riegan, Oldrin Zevon, and, of course, Ingrid herself. Shez had a 5-second lead over Petra and both buried the rest of the top five times on the leaderboard.
Shirley's current run was on record for a new personal best, but far and away, it seemed from beating the person ahead of her: Kallen.
Eventually, the Blue Marine came into view as Shirley hit the "STOP" button target with the palm of her HLKMF and dismissed it, hunching over onto her legs panting. Ingrid looked at the scoreboard, a new personal best for Shirley and much, much closer to Kallen than previously.
"Congratulations, Shirley. That's a new personal best," Ingrid said and offered her an unopened water bottle.
Shirley, out of breath, took it from Ingrid and couldn't swallow the refreshing drink fast enough, doubling her head forward with a loud, "Phwah!" after swallowing.
"Eaaaaasy there. It's not good to chug water so soon after grueling exercise," Ingrid told her.
"Sorry," Shirley panted, "Dehydrated. That obstacle course is tougher than you think from the starting line. Too bad there's no swimming section, my score would be a lot better."
"HLKMFs aren't designed for aquatic missions. Very few battlefields are fought on the ocean these days when so many military war machines can fly," Ingrid pointed out. "But swimming is always fun, whether it's at the beach, or in a pool."
Shirley caught her breath and asked, "You swim Ingrid?"
"Not very often, but I've been to the beach in warmer regions of Faerghus, and his highness's mansion has its own private pool, great for swimming," Ingrid stated.
"Eh?! You've been to the Royal castle of Faerghus?!" Shirley exclaimed.
"It's not so surprising. I've known Prince Dimitri since we were both small children," Ingrid pointed out.
"Whoa!" Shirley exclaimed. "You're so lucky, Ingrid! I wish I was long time friends with royalty."
"I am lucky his Highness and the late King Lambert were always so informal. My father used to always drill into my head how a proper lady should act. Then I went to Fhirdiad for the first time and do you want to know what the first thing then King Lambert said to me when I met him?" Ingrid asked, trying not to laugh.
"Sure, what?" Shirley asked, curious.
"Why is this small boy wearing a skirt?" Ingrid asked.
Shirley knew she shouldn't laugh, but considering how much of a tomboy Ingrid could be at times, she could almost imagine the androgynous looking Ingrid as a small girl vaguely resembling a boy.
"His Highness actually complained about his father's rudeness, only for his then majesty to teach us both the lesson about how formalities are for parties and ceremonies and that when it comes to casual meetings between civilians no one needs to stand on ceremony. My blood may be called blue, but it's truly as red as anyone else's and I am just as mortal as the farmer that grows my wheat. Those were the late King Lambert's own words," Ingrid said, unable to stop smiling.
"He sounded like he was a great man," Shirley said.
"He was. We lost a great king four years ago," Ingrid stated.
"The Tragedy of Duscur, right?" Shirley asked.
Ingrid nodded. "I know his Highness said that it wasn't the Duscur people that were actually responsible, but…when I considered how much I suffered that day, it's hard to…" Ingrid trailed off and then reigned in her anger with a deep breath. "Sorry, we started this conversation about me complimenting your achievement and now I'm making this about my problems."
"No! Please! It's fine," Shirley said, waving a hand defensively. "I don't normally get to act this casually with people outside my own class. I'd be happy to call you a friend, Ingrid."
"Ah, I see," Ingrid stated, surprised by the direction this conversation was taking. "In that case, would you like me to help with your training?"
"Eh? You'd do that for me?" Shirley asked.
"I can see that you're working really hard," Ingrid said to her. "That kind of passion only shines through when you're chasing a goal. As a future military commander, I want to be the type of person that can help my own soldiers achieve those goals. So, will you tell me your goal, Shirley?"
"Well, I would, but…" Shirley trailed off, blushing.
"Buuuuuuut?" Ingrid questioned, very confused as to Shirley's silence.
Shirley blushed more. "It's embarrassing."
"Come now, friendship is all about being honest with each other, is it not?" Ingrid asked.
"Urrrrgh, low blow Ingrid," Shirley complained, realizing she'd dug herself into this hole. "Fine, it's just…" she blushed even harder. "I…I want to…impress someone."
"Huh? You mean like…a courtship? That type of impress? You're trying to earn his attention?"
Shirley nodded rapidly. "I um…I just…I'm too nervous to talk to him directly and he's always surrounded by other girls vying for his attention, so I just thought…if I seemed optimal and strong, someone he could rely on then maybe…"
Ingrid blinked. This sounded a bit like… "Um, just to clarify, this person wouldn't happen to be…Sylvain, would it?"
"What? Ew! No! That creep?! Forget it!" Shirley exclaimed.
Ingrid sounded relieved. "Oh thank the Goddess!" She was so grateful not to have to clean up another of Sylvain's messes, she bowed her head forward and held her hands up in prayer.
"He's a bigger perv than Milly. And a jerk! I saw a girl sobbing in the bathroom the other day because he two-timed her!"
Ingrid groaned. Yup. Business as usual with Sylvain.
"I don't know why Milly gives him the time of day. But you know what? If she does, they deserve each other. She's a humongous perv and if he tried to two-time her, she'd probably ask for a threesome."
Ingrid sighed. Oh good. The mess was getting bigger.
"Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to go off like that," Shirley apologized, covering her mouth.
"It's fine, Shirley," Ingrid said, now laughing at how sudden and sincere Shirley's apology was. It was more amusing given how it mirrored Ingrid's apology from earlier.
"But I'd love if you'd train me. We can get stronger together," Shirley said, pumping her fists.
Ingrid nodded. "Your Blue Marine is very similar in design to my Cerulean Pegasus. I can tell you still haven't added a certification to it, while I've already managed to qualify for the Soldier certification. Which one are you aiming for?"
"Oh! Um, I haven't really decided yet! I'm still discovering my strengths. Um…Monk probably. I can use water magic, but I'm pretty handy with a rifle," Shirley admitted, feeling put on the spot.
"I've noticed you're also really good at maneuvering your HLKMF. If you work with me, I think I can figure out a path with you," Ingrid said.
"Really? Oh that would be super helpful! Thank you, Ingrid."
Ingrid smiled. "What are friends for?"
While this was going on, Raphael and Nunnally were sitting down to a bountiful smorgasbord of food in the dining hall. Raphael, growing young man that he was, ordered one of everything on the menu, even stuff he didn't particularly like that much, figuring Nunnally would eat some of it.
"Um, Raphael, why did you get so much food?" Nunnally asked.
"It was your brother and Claude's idea, actually," Raphael said. "Lelouch wants us to go over everything at the monastery to look for anything suspicious. He asked me to go through every item they serve in the dining hall to see if there's anything I'd grade a fifteen out of ten. I'm getting ordered to eat," Raphael remarked, positively giddy, "So I couldn't say no to that. He also told me to keep you safe, so that's what I'm gonna do."
Nunnally smiled. "Lelouch really seems to trust you, Raphael. I'm glad you two are friends."
Raphael laughed. "Me too! You got a good big brother, Nunnally."
"And I'm sure you have just the best little sister," Nunnally said with a smile.
Raphael laughed candidly. "Yeah, I do. Maya's great. Now come on. We gotta get through all this food. I don't know if I can do it all in one day. Oh well! There's always leftovers."
Night of the 3rd Day of the Blue Sea Moon
"Thanks for giving me a hand with the night patrol, you two," Leonie said to Shez and Oldrin as they followed closely behind her. Leonie had an industrial flashlight she borrowed from storage room on the eastern side of the monastery. It was pitch black out for the most part—to help with the atmosphere, Garreg Mach did not use street lamps inside its walls.
"Hey, a night march is always a fun time," Shez said.
"And I couldn't leave you and Shez alone given her back sense of direction," Oldrin said with a smile. "If I left it to just the two of you, you'd spend half the time looking for Shez instead of suspicious stuff."
"Hey, come on, do I really seem like I get lost that easily?" Shez asked.
"Yes. You do," Arval told her, bluntly.
I didn't ask you, Shez communicated to him with hostility.
"Well, I hope you all are ready to burn the midnight oil, cause we're not going to bed until we've scoped out the whole monastery!" Leonie exclaimed.
"We're right behind you," Oldrin said.
During the course of their investigation, this lead Leonie and the others to the maintenance tunnels below the monastery grounds. And, in turn, unbeknownst to them, the other entrance to Abyss.
"Hey," Leonie said. "Hold up a second."
The tunnel was better lit than up above—there were lights on down here after all, so it was easier to observe their surroundings. This led to Leonie pulling out her student map. "That's funny, that corridor isn't on the student map."
Oldrin took out her map too. "Yeah, the map lists it as a dead end."
"Maybe it's a new addition to this year and they'll add it next year?" Shez asked.
Leonie got down onto her knee and examined the ground. "Now, the flooring's too dry and dusty and covered in footprints. This has been here for a while."
"Should we stop our march and report in, or should we investigate further?" Shez asked.
Without even waiting for an answer, Oldrin stepped through the corridor.
"Hey, wait a second, Oz!" Shez exclaimed, but the head of the Glinda Knights was already on the move. Her two traveling companions followed behind her, but found nothing, but a bunch of tunnels that seemed to go in a circle and show that there was, in fact, an entire second half to the maintenance tunnels. However, the most important thing the women discovered was a massive elevator sitting in the middle.
"It only goes down from here," Shez pointed out.
Oldrin projected a 3D map of the area from her smartphone. "Going by the map," she said. "We're still relatively above ground compared to the gorge below the bridge connecting most of Garreg Mach to its cathedral.
"So, would this qualify as a weak point? Maybe this is how the assassins are going to sneak in?" Leonie asked.
"No. Look there," Oldrin said, pointed to a card reader next to the elevator. "You need authorization to access this elevator, so the same would have to be said for where it drops off at the bottom or any other level."
Shez, much like Lelouch's first encounter with a similar reader, did not hesitate to put her own card through the reader, resulting in a successful read.
"Wait! Students can access it no problem?" Leonie asked, recoiling.
"This is fishy," Oldrin said.
"Eh, we're big girls, we can handle it. I say we look into this and I mean right now," Shez stated.
The other two nodded vigorously. Stepping into the elevator, the three came down, all the way down, to Abyss. Upon stepping out, they were greeted by a man with light purple hair, wearing lipstick and eyeshadow.
"Well, well, well, look what our elevator dropped off this time: three lovely ladies," the young man said with a smirk.
"Who are you?" Leonie asked, drawing her rifle.
"Hey, eaaaaasy now, I'm not a bad guy here. The name's Yuri, Yuri Leclerc," Yuri stated.
Arval noticed something about Yuri before the girls did. "Shez, look at his chest."
Shez scanned Yuri's chest region. She spotted the ribbon on his uniform. That ribbon is similar to the one the house leaders all wear. "Are you affiliated with Garreg Mach?" she asked.
"Eh, kind of, but not really. I guess you could call me an…exile, or a special case. This place is called Abyss. It's a little hidey hole for people that don't want to be seen by people above the surface," he said.
"Then this place is exactly what we need to comb through," Leonie said. "We're on an important investigation."
"Protecting Garreg Mach from shady folk looking to exploit the lax security on the day of the Rite of Rebirth, right?" Yuri asked. "Don't worry, I'm well-informed."
"The news traveled all the way down here?" Oldrin asked, surprised.
"Abyss might seem shady, but it's all above board despite being underground. Our caretaker, Aelfric, is a bishop of Garreg Mach's cathedral working directly for Archbishop Rhea. Rest assured, if anything unsavory was going on down here, it would be reported," Yuri said.
"I'd like to be the judge of that myself," Oldrin said. "If you don't mind."
"Of course, not a problem. Search around to your heart's content, so long as you don't mind an escort," Yuri remarked.
"Not trusting us, huh?" Shez remarked.
"If you start a problem down here, I'm the one that has to clean up the mess," Yuri told them. "I prefer that we keep things as clean as a subterranean city can get."
"He might act a bit carefree, but don't let your guard down," Arval told Shez.
Yeah, I know. Gettin' Claude vibes, Shez responded to her partner living inside her head.
"We promise not to cause trouble, but that promise goes both ways," Leonie told Yuri in an upbeat tone. "We may look like just ordinary ladies, but we know how to fight and kick butt."
"Of that I don't deny," Yuri said. "Ah, but I have yet to learn your names."
"I'm Shez," Shez said. She glanced to her right. "This is Leonie." She glanced left, "And this is Oldrin, but she goes by Oz."
Leonie smirked. Oldrin waved.
"Well, now that we're all acquainted, I'm more than happy to show you ladies a good time," Yuri told them.
Yuri showed the girls all around the small city, from its neon lit shops, to the Pagan church tucked away in the corner, to the many, many storage rooms, to its homely pubs, to its one and only Pizza Hut.
"Huh, nothing really seems out of the ordinary here, aside from the Pagan altar," Leonie remarked. "But there are plenty of people left in the world that don't worship the Goddess."
"I'm surprised there's not an Archaic altar down here, myself," Yuri said. "Paganism is the belief in the old gods, the ancients that the Almyrans believe in. Archaicism is the belief in the only religions in rivalry to the Seirosian faith when it was first established."
"Oh, I've heard about that!" Oldrin exclaimed. "I was taught that in middle school history. My teacher explained how, during the early 800s, with the Goddess and Saint Seiros in occupation of Rome, a war was fought for control between them and the Franco Charlemagne. That was right before the war with the Fell King Nemesis that later established the Church of Seiros as the predominant faith in the world."
"It's a bit more complicated than that, but yeah, that's the gist of it," Yuri said with a smile.
"I didn't know anything about that," Shez said, pondering it. "But I guess if that's what the books say."
"Eh, just like with things you find on the internet, don't believe everything you read in a book. But a lot of those books are down here in Abyss because the church censored it all, so I take anything they censor as them trying to cover up whatever makes 'em look bad," Yuri remarked, arching his back, stretching the muscles.
"I didn't know much about that either, but then again Sauin Village is pretty remote. We don't even have our own news station or school system. We have to lynch off neighboring communities," Leonie stated.
"Sauin sounds nice," Shez said. "I was raised in a remote village myself, so I've always considered myself a bit of a country gal."
"I've been to the countryside for work," Oldrin said. "I'm a big fan of horses. Mary and I actually know how to ride horses even though nowadays it's not as imperative to military operations as it once was."
Leonie laughed. "We ride horses all the time in Sauin. Be careful though, the untamed countryside horses of the alliance, aren't like your Britannian tamed mares."
Oldrin laughed. "Challenge accepted."
"If I may interrupt," Yuri interjected. "Is Abyss cleared of wrongdoing? Have I convinced you three we have the best of intentions. Trust me, if I was quickly alerted to you three coming down the elevator, do you really think we would let anyone shifty in and out of here?"
"Suppose not," Shez said. "Thanks, Yuri."
"Yuri! I'm bored!" A whiny voice complained as it came up on the group. "When can I stab more people?"
The girls looked to one side to see a girl with purple skin and orange hair approaching.
"Hmm, visitors?" the girl asked, surprised. She then grinned. "May I stab then?"
"I prefer you didn't. In fact, they were just leaving. Isn't that right?" Yuri asked.
"I…guess we were," Shez said and left with the others for the elevator.
"Wait, hold on a moment," Arval told Shez.
Huh? What's up?
"Take a good look at the girl," Arval told her.
Shez glanced over her shoulder. Following Arval's directions, her gaze eventually fell upon Athame's handle. It was intricately designed, not unlike…
Shez looked at her left hand.
"My thoughts exactly," Arval responded. "The special blade I grant you when you borrow my power is very similar to the one that girl is carrying on her person."
You think she's suspicious?
"At the very least, we should report this place and here to Claude and Lelouch," Arval told her. "Something about this place doesn't sit right with me."
That makes two of us, Shez responded. And only now did she, Arval, Leonie and Oldrin leave.
As they were leaving, Kronya stared at Shez. Something about her…feels very familiar…
4th Day of the Blue Sea Moon
"Remind me again why I got paired up with you?" Lysithea snapped at Lelouch. The two were stacking books from around the library on top of a table.
"Would you rather Claude?" Lelouch asked, examining books on a higher shelf.
"I'd rather a dead rat. I can do this myself," Lysithea pointed.
"Logistically you can't," Lelouch said.
"And why's that?" Lysithea snapped rather crabbily.
"Because even I'm not tall enough to reach the top shelf without a stool or chair if other people need the ladder," he answered. There was only one ladder in the entire library that was attached to the shelves and rolled along the underside of the bottom shelf.
"Quit treating my height as if it's some sort of handicap! I can do this just fine! I've memorized the entire library's layout!" Lysithea shouted.
"As have I, but books get misplaced all the time, which is precisely why we're doing this by hand," Lelouch responded to her. He plucked a book off the shelf and placed it on the table. "Besides, getting the books is only half the job. We have to read them too. Claude and I agreed his talents were better suited elsewhere. You're the most intellectual member of the Golden Deer. Discovering rare books or passages in a book you can only find in Garreg Mach's library seemed like the obvious pick."
Lysithea folded her arms. "I will admit, I was pretty impressed that you managed to come up with an entire plan to search the whole monastery even before Claude asked for your help."
"You and I should play chess some time. I'll bet you'd prove a difficult opponent," Lelouch commented.
Lysithea was caught somewhere between acting bratty and actually genuinely touched. It was no secret that Lelouch was the undefeated chess champion of the campus—very few knew he lost to Linhardt and those who did dismissed it as a rumor since the loss hadn't been replicated. Lysithea being told to her face—more or less given she and Lelouch were each facing different bookshelves—by Lelouch himself that she might give him a challenge both stroked her ego and stoked the flames of it.
"I know we're busy, but…I could go for a quick game. I have a chess app on my tablet," she said. "I could set it to local two player."
Lelouch thought about it as he searched the shelf. "Can you multitask while playing?"
Lysithea actually smiled. "I like the way you think. We can play chess while skimming passages." She then frowned suddenly. "Hey, wait a sec. Why are you being so nice to me today? Last time you and I were in this library you were really rude to me."
"Are you holding a grudge?" Lelouch asked her.
"Of course not! I'm not a petty child!" Lysithea snapped at him. She let go of her anger and then said much more solemnly. "I just thought…you looked down on me, as a person, like pretty much everyone else."
"We were at odds in that situation. Right now we're cooperating. And I don't back down from being challenged to my face, be it chess or life. And what I said at the time, I still maintain now."
Lysithea growled under her breath. She remembered Lelouch's words vividly about looking in a mirror. "And I stand by what I said back then, you don't know my circumstances, so don't judge me."
"That your way of saying your physical growth is stunted due to circumstances beyond your control?" Lelouch asked her.
"Hmm, quite astute," Lysithea remarked, wide-eyed at how quickly Lelouch picked up on the implications.
"Poor growth is frustrating. Believe me, if my circumstances were different, you could probably bowl me over with a stiff wind. As it stands, you could probably still beat me in a foot race," Lelouch pointed out to her.
"You've had it rough too, huh?" Lysithea asked.
Lelouch's mind flashed back to his mother's murder. "More than you can imagine."
It took a bit more time—mostly in silence, but Lelouch and Lysithea finally had a stack of books—250 out of the entire library of thousands to be precise—to search through. They had just begun to sit down and do some reading when Tomas came over to their table.
"That's quite a lot of books," the old man said. "I will remind you that the library has a sixteen book per person policy."
"Don't worry, Tomas. These books aren't leaving the library," Lysithea said with a smile.
"Hmmm, so many books, I'm quite perplexed. Not that knowledge isn't the spring of life, but what has you two so entrenched in the pursuit of greater knowledge?" Tomas asked.
Without giving the entire game away, Lelouch answered, "Rare books. Passages you can only find in rare editions of books, and anything suspicious that wasn't put back in its proper spot that was checked out after the 24th of the Garland Moon."
"I see. Well, the Monastery does carry with it books you can only find here," Tomas stated.
"Does that include the books in the library down in Abyss?" Lelouch asked.
"Abyss?" Lysithea questioned.
Lelouch knew she didn't know about it, but he remembered that Tomas did. Now was the perfect opportunity to grill him on it. He scanned Tomas's face for a reaction and was smugly pleased to see the fingers on the old man's cane grip it harder.
"Abyss, hmm? Yes, that place. Many ne'er-do-wells dwell down there. Honestly, I don't know why the Archbishop allows it to remain. The people down there are a bad influence on us more honest folk," Tomas remarked.
"What's this Abyss place exactly?" Lysithea asked.
"It's an entire city underneath the Monastery," Lelouch said. "Difficult to find, but not exactly impossible to discover and any student can go in and out of there."
"If they have their own library, we should—"
"No. No need. They have their own separate security and militia down there. I've wandered in there enough times to know that if the library in Abyss is the target, we have little to worry about," Lelouch said. Mostly because I left that task to Yuri and Constance.
"Do you think we could visit down there after we're done?" Lysithea asked.
"It's not exactly a savory place. I stumbled in there by accident and typically wear a disguise when I venture down there. Don't need people down there beating up a rich guy from Britannia for his money," Lelouch said.
"Pfft. Then I'll be a worthwhile bodyguard. Anyone looks at us funny and I'll blast 'em down the street," Lysithea remarked.
Perhaps child was too kind. Her behavior is like a small dog barking at the world, Lelouch thought. He turned his attention back to Tomas. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Tomas, but weren't you Abyss's biggest supporter up until a few years ago?"
"Ah, yes, well that was a few years ago. When you travel the world and learn more things, you grow wiser, even at my age," Tomas said candidly enough with a smile, eyes closed.
Lelouch picked up on the smallest of cues most would miss and came to one conclusion. He's lying. Openly at that. If I didn't recognize the signs, I wouldn't know.
"Must have been a pretty eye-opening pilgrimage," Lysithea said, genuinely surprised.
She's either oblivious or playing along. No need to ask her about it. Her opinion is unimportant in the matter, Lelouch thought.
"Well, we should get back to work," Lelouch said. "A scholar's pursuits are never done."
Tomas laughed. "Quite right, quite right. Just make sure you put everything back where it belongs when you're done."
"We will," Lysithea said amicably.
The old man walked away.
Lelouch's head suddenly became a buzz of thoughts as he read through several books that it took Lysithea snapping her fingers in her face and pointing to the tablet she'd placed on the table to get Lelouch's attention about their chess game.
Ah, I'd nearly forgotten, Lelouch thought. Well, let's see just how good she is.
Seven Minutes Later…
"Checkmate," Lelouch declared, placing his Rook into a corner, boxing Lysithea's king in. Both players still had their queens, but Lelouch had played so aggressively that she'd been struggling to mount a counteroffensive turns ago.
"Wow, guess you're not considered the best around here for no reason," Lysithea said, shocked. She smiled. "I concede. If you had fumbled that match at any point, it would have been a completely different game."
"I agree," Lelouch said.
"Still, I have to criticize one important detail," Lysithea said to him.
"What's that?" Lelouch asked.
"You move your king far too early. It's such a suboptimal move," Lysithea stated. "Not just against me, but against other players I've seen you play against, like Edelgard. I know what you said, if the king doesn't go into battle, his men won't follow him, but chess isn't war, Lelouch. Metaphors don't win you games. They just make you look foolish."
"Ah, but that's the thing, Lysithea," Lelouch said, holding up a finger. "Who comes across as more dangerous, a mastermind hiding behind the mask of a fool, or a genius that lords his talent for all to see."
Lysithea's mouth hung open a little bit. She understood exactly what Lelouch was driving at. She smiled. "Hey, you know, I wouldn't mind playing chess against you again sometime when we're not busy. I'd like to see your skill when you already know the strength of your opponent. Sometimes the best growth comes from failure."
"All right, but on one condition," Lelouch said.
"What's that?" Lysithea asked.
Lelouch put one of the books they had on the table and opened it to page 213. "I want you to teach me more about dark magic. I'm skilled with the basics, but not so much with improvisation. My talent is in tactics, not crushing the enemy."
Lysithea looked and sounded confused. "What? But you managed to use critical magic twice during the mock battle. You're definitely not an amateur at magecraft."
"Critical Magic and mastering more powerful spells require two different skill sets. My memory is great at mastering formulas and comprehending more powerful spells, but my body can't handle the recoil, especially in suboptimal combat conditions. Your body is much smaller, yet your fortitude is much better. Teach me your tricks and I'll teach you mine," Lelouch told her.
Lysithea smiled reaching out her hand for Lelouch to shake. He took it, shaking her small hand firmly. "You've got yourself a deal," she said.
The two continued pouring over books, but found nothing of note at first. However, as their pile of books started to dwindle, Lelouch came across something.
"The Immaculate One?" he questioned, staring at the page.
"What's that now?" Lysithea asked.
Lelouch put the book on the table and pointed at it. Inside the pages was a two-page spread of a gigantic all white dragon. Its dimensions, wing span and "sacred green fire" were all well documented. Lysithea read the description of the dragon. "Dragons exist? I thought they were just legend."
"There's more. Look at the image on the bottom left," Lelouch said.
"The crest of Seiros?" Lysithea questioned.
However, before she and Lelouch could discuss the matter any further, someone picked up the book.
"Ah! Hey! We were reading…" Lysithea started to say with an attitude, only to see the person holding the book: Director Seteth. "Oh! Seteth!"
"Lelouch. Lysithea. Might I ask what the two of you are up to?" Seteth asked.
Lelouch gave him a rather put off look. "Our job?"
Seteth groaned, sighing at the same time. "Well, be that as it may, this book isn't supposed to be in the library. Apologies, but it's in your best interest to let me have it."
It's unfortunate that I can't use my Geass on Seteth again, Lelouch thought. However, I know where I will have to look for the book later. He already memorized the spine. He smiled at Seteth. "Ah, well, forbidden knowledge is often the most desirable, but I understand the church has its principles."
"What? We can't even finish examining the book?" Lysithea asked.
"If it's something the church doesn't want people seeing, it's probably not important to our investigation anyway," Lelouch stated.
"Well, I guess that's true," Lysithea said, frowning.
"Very good. I appreciate your cooperation in this," Seteth said, and left the library.
"As if," Lelouch scoffed only loud enough for Lysithea to hear.
"If you feel that way, why did you give up so easily?" Lysithea asked. "Unless…you plan for us to get it back?"
Lelouch nodded. "Let's look for anything else suspicious in our pile and meet me down in the maintenance tunnels at 10pm."
"The maintenance tunnels?" Lysithea questioned, only to say after a brief pause, "Okay. Understood."
That night…
Lysithea got there early, checking her phone repeatedly. She was fortunate the maintenance tunnels were well lit. No chance of ghosts appearing. Ghosts didn't appear where places were well lit…right?
Lelouch rounded the corner after she heard someone climbing down a ladder and walked up to her directly. Good, he wasn't going to be like Claude and sneak up on her. She respected that.
"What now?" she asked him, getting right to the point.
"There's an elevator off the map, follow me," Lelouch said and Lysithea did so. The two ended up near the massive elevator Shez, Leonie and Oldrin had taken yesterday. Lelouch stood there waiting, checking his phone.
"Something the matter?" Lysithea asked.
"No, just checking for…" his time said 10:05pm. "Perfect."
Lysithea heard the elevator moving as the doors opened, revealing a woman with green hair, yellow eyes and wearing what appeared to be a Britannian straitjacket.
"Don't you think it's about time you got a new wardrobe?" Lelouch asked.
"Don't you think it's time you stopped babysitting children?" C.C. asked with a hint of sass.
"Children?!" Lysithea snapped. "Why I oughta—"
Lelouch blocked the snarling Lysithea with his arm.
"Did you bring what I asked?" Lelouch asked.
Wordlessly, C.C. offered him the very book he and Lysithea had been looking at before Seteth took it.
"You're not coming down?" she asked Lelouch.
"Not tonight," he told her.
She nodded and descended the elevator.
"Who was that? Your girlfriend?" Lysithea asked, copping an attitude.
"No. Just a refugee I rescued," Lelouch stated.
"Really? Because she had an awfully interesting choice of words," Lysithea stated.
Lelouch immediately recognized what Lysithea was implying. "Do I really seem the type for moonlit trysts in an unknown city with a strange woman?"
"Your popularity with women speaks for itself," Lysithea remarked, folding her arms.
"Women I don't give the time of day to anyway," Lelouch told her.
"So then what do you go down into Abyss for, frequently?" she asked. "And why at night?"
Lelouch already had an answer for this line of questioning. "C.C., that woman you just met, she's safest down in Abyss. I visit her frequently to make sure she's doing all right."
"Never pictured you as being so charitable," Lysithea asked.
"If that confuses you, you should talk to Shez about how I saved her from a blizzard three years ago," Lelouch stated.
"Hmm," Lysithea said with a smile. "I had you painted all wrong, Lelouch. You're…kind of similar to Claude, in a good way.
"What do you mean?" Lelouch asked, genuinely interested in what she meant by that.
"You and Claude hide how much you're sincere towards others and care about people. But whereas Claude is annoying, I actually respect you, Lelouch," Lysithea said to him.
Lelouch smiled. "Well, no point in going above the surface for risk of Seteth finding out what we have here. Let's take a look, shall we?"
"Yeah!" Lysithea exclaimed.
The two examined the book by sitting on the ground up against the wall of the tunnels and pouring over the book together. According to the text, the Immaculate One was one of five massive dragons spoke of only in legends, existing only a thousand years ago, but that their presence in the world could be felt today. Scholars could not agree on their purpose, only that their presence preempted an incoming calamity on a smaller scale than Ailell becoming known as The Valley of Torment.
"There are five dragons in total," Lysithea read aloud, "The Immaculate One, The Immovable One, The Wind Caller, The Hammer of Judgment, and The Benevolent One."
"Benevolent One?" Lelouch questioned. "Can I see that a minute?"
Lysithea handed Lelouch the book from where they had placed it on the ground. Lelouch flipped through the book and found what he was looking for. As I suspected. "Lysithea, look at this."
Lelouch pointed to the text's depiction of The Benevolent One. The dragon's dimensions were much smaller than the others. In fact, it had fluffy fur over some of its scales. But, most strikingly…
"The Crest of Saint Cethleann?" Lysithea questioned, looking at a picture that zoomed in on the hind right shin of the dragon.
"Each of these dragons has a crest pertaining to the Four Saints, plus Saint Seiros herself," Lelouch commented, thinking aloud. "But many texts and scholarly knowledge note that Saint Seiros was human, defeating the Fell King Nemesis and King Charlemagne on the field of battle."
"Why did Seteth go through the length to hide this?" Lysithea asked.
"I don't quite know. It's knowledge I think we should keep to ourselves for now, though," Lelouch said. "I don't think what our mystery enemies are after has to do with this book."
"If that's the case, why did we go through the trouble? Do you know how hard it is to wander the monastery at night?" Lysithea snapped.
"We couldn't be sure unless we examined it, right? Besides, Seteth went to lengths to hide it from not just us, but others. It's suspicious, don't you think?"
"Well…yes, I suppose, but…hmmmmmmmm…" Lysithea looked rather perturbed by all of this.
"This sounds like a situation that we'll need to keep in the back of our minds for later," Lelouch told her. "I've known for over a month now that the church is hiding things from the general public. And whatever their secrets are, I want to expose them."
"You know, Claude said the same thing shortly after we met. You might want to let him know what you've found," Lysithea said.
Lelouch shook his head as he stood up. Lysithea stood up with him. "No," Lelouch told her. "Sorry, but…Claude is someone I don't know if I can fully trust."
Lysithea looked disheartened. "Lelouch, I know Claude seems shady, but he's not a bad guy, even if he can be a big, obnoxious pain."
"It's not personal," Lelouch said. "I have a hard time trusting other people."
"You seem to trust me," Lysithea said.
"Looks can be deceiving," Lelouch said. "But, I do trust you more than I trust Claude. I understand you better. Claude's an enigma."
Lysithea smiled. She would take that Lelouch trusted her more than Claude. "Hey, Lelouch, may I ask a favor?"
"Huh? Sure, go ahead," Lelouch said.
Lysithea stared at him. He was…tall…and smart…and…handsome. Ack! No! Not handsome! Ugly! A face only a mother could love! Despite trying to convince herself of this, she was blushing. "N-Never mind," she stuttered. "I…just never mind."
"Uh…all right," Lelouch remarked. What was that about?
Lelouch would end up returning the book he and Lysithea took back to Abyss shortly after midnight.
5th Day of the Blue Sea Moon
When it came to examining the storage room for any rare items—rifles, energy swords, axes and such—Rivalz was assigned this task alongside Ignatz. Rivalz was used to picking around store rooms given his job as a waiter and Ignatz had an eye for detail, plus his parents were merchants. However…
"Man," Rivalz complained. "I feel like we got the short end of the stick here."
"Why's that?" Ignatz asked, peering at Rivalz over a box from the opposite side of a shelving unit.
"Well I mean, Raphael gets to eat, Lelouch and Lysithea are combing through rare texts, and Sokkia and Hilda get the easy jobs of talking to the professors and checking the donations. Rummaging through an old storage room kind of feels so mundane," Rivalz complained.
"Some jobs aren't glamorous, but every cog in a machine has its part to play," Ignatz said, trying to encourage Rivalz.
"Is that all I'm good for though, a cog in the machine?" Rivalz asked. "I want to make something of myself, man. That's why when Milly offered the entire student council at Ashford to come to Garreg Mach, I one hundred percent said yes!"
"You really like Milly, huh?" Ignatz asked with a smile.
Rivalz beamed. "She's the best woman in the world if you ask me."
Ignatz laughed amicably. "You sound quite smitten with her."
Rivalz sighed. "Yeah, but she'd never go for a guy like me. I'm too ordinary."
Ignatz laughed some more. "Ordinary people can achieve a lot, you know. I'm sure if you try hard enough, Milly will recognize your accomplishments."
"What accomplishments?" Rivalz asked. "I'm a waiter at a dive bar back in Japan. My grades are average, and even here I'm a minnow in a shark tank. You got fabulous heroic figures like Prince Dimitri, Lelouch with his critical magic, knights like that Suzkau guy, and the noblest of nobles that is Ferdinand von Aegir. I'm nothing compared to any of them. Heck, your from an esteemed merchant family. That's more than I got."
Ignatz frowned. "I think you're too hard on yourself, Rivalz," he said to him.
"Easy for you to say," Rivalz said, dismayed, "You're at least in the top ten of at least one of the competitive rankings in the training yard." Ignatz was in exactly 10th place for bullseye distance.
"Hey, come on. Think about it like this, if we find something important, Milly has to recognize it."
This seemed to jazz Rivalz up. "Huh? Hey! You're right! Yeah. Yeah! All right. Let's double our efforts and scour this storage room top to bottom!"
Unfortunately, they didn't find anything of value.
6th Day of the Blue Sea Moon
Hilda strolled out of an office on the second floor of the Monastery's main building, and right up to Sokkia. "Welp, that's a negative on the church donations. What they've collected is way less than 200 grand."
"So it's not money the enemy is after then," Sokkia said.
"Honestly, I'm kinda relieved," Hilda said. "I mean, it would be kinda silly to go through all of the trouble of a fake assassination plot just to steal a bunch of money."
Sokkia laughed. "Yeah, but hey at least now we know for certain."
Hilda smiled. "I gotta hand it to Lelouch and Claude though. They really did think of everything."
"Next stop is Professor Manuela's office, right?"
"Yup. We're looking for rare herbs," Hilda said and stretched. "Of course, I'm a bit tired after all those lectures today." She yawned. "Might take a nap while you do most of the snooping. I'm sure Professor Manuela will understand."
"Sure, leave it to me!" Sokkia exclaimed.
7th Day of the Blue Sea Moon
Among the locations that needed to be searched in Lelouch and Claude's thorough inspection, none were more important than the massive Hangar on the southeast side where all the KMFs, airships and HLKMFs were stored. It was so big, it had to be left to a large group. The hangar had multiple docks and inspecting each one from top to bottom took time.
"Keep it up, guys," Milly said, using a rolled up newspaper as a megaphone. "You're doing great!"
Tink and Leonhardt were currently inspecting the exterior of one of the larger airships. According to Lelouch and Claude's instructions, mysterious messages and wayward USB drives could be hidden anywhere for shady characters to find.
"Milly sure is a harsh taskmaster," Tink commented. "I kind of miss Oldrin and Princess Marrybell."
"Yeah, but Milly's cute, so I'm fine with it," Leonhardt stated.
"You're lucky Marika's not here to hear you say that," Tink reminded him.
Leonhardt tried to defend himself, but found no appropriate words.
While Milly was gazing up at the two men working, Lorenz approached him from behind. "Milly, I have those printouts we needed."
"Oh, take care of it, Lorenz. I'm sure you can handle it," Milly remarked, gazing up at Leonhardt and Tink.
"I…fail to see what keeps you so busy," Lorenz said. "These are a lot of documents."
"So go ask Nina for a little extra help. I've got two men that need my utmost supervision," Milly said dismissively with a flick of her hand.
"Milly, you were a student council president, if I'm not mistaken. As the highest authorities here this task should be left to us."
"Aaaaaand Nina was our treasurer," Milly stated. "I'm telling you, she's got this." She went back to staring at Tink and Leonhardt with binoculars, watching the latter wipe his brow of sweat. "Come on, just a little bit more heat."
Lorenz gave up. "Fine. Very well, but I must say, I would prefer your company to anyone else's."
"Yeah, fine sure, whatever," Milly stated.
Lorenz sighed. "You are not even listening, are you?"
Milly licked her lips, watching as Leonhardt began to unbutton his shirt to deal with the heat.
Lorenz gasped, now catching on to Milly's inappropriate behavior, only for the pair of them to hear a crash. The two gazed in the direction of the noise, only to watch as Leonhardt parkoured his way down to the ground to also see what happened.
The group waltzed over to an open control room where a girl with blue hair had made a mess of connecting maintenance room, containing spare parts. She groaned in pain.
"Oh my gosh! Marianne, are you okay?" Milly asked.
Leonhardt rushed to her side, lifting the blue haired girl into his arms. "Fear not, fair maiden, you are safe. The spare parts can't hurt you."
The blue haired girl sighed deeply. "I'm sorry. I've made quite a mess."
"Accidents happen," Milly said with a smile. "What happened to Marika?"
"W-well, Marika noticed that some things on the order list were missing from this maintenance room so she left me alone," Marianne asked. "I was trying to organize everything while I waited for her to return, but…"
Lorenz pushed the maintenance door open a little more and flicked on an extra light, only to gasp at what he saw. Calling the room a mess would have been a horrendous understatement. "What in the Goddess's name happened in here? Did someone ransack this location?"
"No, I…" Marianne tried to explain, but her voice was so quiet no one was listening.
Leonhardt set her down and drew his energy lance. "Hear me, foul evildoers! You will pay for trashing a simple maintenance room! This is the only door in here! You have no way out!"
Marianne groaned. She knew this was a bad idea. Why did Milly assign her to checking the maintenance logs?
Marika walked towards the group with a document in her hand, not even gazing up. "Okay, Marianne. I think I found out what happened to that missing shipment." She walked up to the door as she checked something off in red marker. "Why don't we…" She gazed up and saw the mess. "What the…HOW?! This room was fine when I left!"
Everyone agreed that maybe it was best Marianne review the documents with Lorenz and Nina.
8th Day of the Blue Sea Moon
"Greetings, Lelouch! Nothing to report!" The Gatekeeper told him as Lelouch stopped by in front of him.
"Any word on that matter I asked you to listen for?" Lelouch asked.
"Oh! You mean the matter related to the Rite of Rebirth? Well, as it turns out, yeah. A lot of people are hoping to catch a glimpse of the Holy Mausoleum. It's open to the public this moon, only you know. It's only during the lead up to the Rite of Rebirth that people are allowed in."
! …Only during this month, hmm? Lelouch thought. "What about security on the day of the Rite?"
"You ask some fishy questions for a student."
Lelouch turned to see a woman in green and black leathers approach him. She had no less than three cartridge rifles on her person. Two were holstered along her legs, the last was strapped across her lower back. She had short, purple hair and didn't seem to mind much about how much cleavage she was sporting from her strapless top, covered by her green jacket.
Lelouch…had not even sensed this woman's approach, nor spotted her on his way to speak with the Gatekeeper.
"Ah! Miss Shamir!" the Gatekeeper exclaimed. "Back from your mission?"
"For the moment," Shamir said. She looked to Lelouch. "Shamir Nevrand. I'm a knight here in servitude to the Knights of Seiros. Five years tenure." When Lelouch didn't immediately say anything, Shamir added, "You're fidgeting like you're suspicious of me, so I thought telling you at least that much might help you stop staring at me like I'm going to shoot you."
"You're amply armed," Lelouch said to her.
Shamir grabbed a knife that she had cleverly concealed on the inside of her jacket and twirled it around. "Always am." She then put the knife away.
"If you've been here even longer than Thunder Catherine, then I imagine you know about what's really going on," Lelouch said.
"Right, the theory about how the plot that was found on Lord Lonato's body could be a ploy to mask a real goal."
Good discretion, Lelouch thought. They were still standing in front of the Gatekeeper. Nobody knew about the assassination plot at all aside from a select few. When Lelouch had asked the Gatekeeper for help, he only mentioned asking about things that were different during the month of the Rite of Rebirth and did not go into detail.
"I actually think that theory may be actual fact, but that's just my opinion," Shamir said professionally. "You're Lelouch Eisner, right? Jeralt Eisner is your uncle, correct?"
"That's correct," Lelouch said with a nod. "You've looked into me?"
"I have. How much I'll leave to your imagination," Shamir commented with a smug smirk.
Shamir Nevrand, the greatest sniper in all the Knights of Seiros. 200 confirmed kills on the books, many more never documented. A PMC for hire with a contract with Rome's top brass set to expire at the end of this year, Lelouch reminded himself everything he knew on the name Shamir Nevrand. Now he had a name to match to a face. "Well, I'm not doing anything unsavory, I swear," Lelouch stated with a bow.
"The insincerity in your voice makes me believe otherwise," Shamir said.
She and Lelouch locked gazes.
Gatekeeper swallowed.
Shamir shook her head. "Well, it's none of my business. I'm not getting paid to scrutinize you. But sometimes," she said as she approached Lelouch, "The person you're looking for might be hiding in plain sight."
"Speaking from experience, are we?" Lelouch asked, not showing fear.
"Quite a bit, actually," Shamir replied with an excellent poker face.
The two said nothing for a bit before Shamir started to walk away. "That's your only warning, by the way. If I find out you're an enemy, you won't know that I'm around before I have to shoot you."
"I'll take that into consideration," Lelouch said amicably. I need to keep an eye on her, he thought. Worst case scenario, I'll buy her loyalty myself.
"Don't let Shamir get to you," the Gatekeeper told Lelouch. "She's cold to almost everyone."
"No, I actually admire her professionalism. This situation is anything, but normal." He passed a note to the Gatekeeper. "Have a good day."
"Right, be seeing you."
9th Day of the Blue Sea Moon
With everything out in the open, and the monastery fully inspected, now was the time to piece it all together. Byleth and Manuela were even in attendance.
"Sooooo, what did my little super snoopers find out?" Manuela asked.
A collective groan rose up from the group.
"Oh come on, somebody had to find something," Claude complained.
"Well, if no one else has anything to offer," Lelouch said, standing up.
"Ohhhhh, our bright and handsome Lelouch to the rescue, is it?" Manuela asked, sounding smitten with his smugness. "Go ahead, tell us everything."
"I had the most lovely chat yesterday with our dear Gatekeeper. I heard that the Holy Tomb is open to the public only during the month of the Rite of Rebirth. I was interrupted during my questioning by Shamir Nevrand, but after speaking with my dear Professor, we believe we've gotten an answer."
That was Byleth's cue. "Security is completely lax on the day of the Rite of Rebirth around the Holy Mausoleum. In the interest of Lady Rhea's safety, most guards are around her person and the perimeter of the Monastery, especially this year because of the assassination threat. Alois confirmed it himself."
Claude cackled in delight. "That's our Teach and Lelouch. Sibling teamwork at its finest. What do you think, Mary?"
"Sounds like we've found our solution," Marrybell said. "I advise we begin splitting up our classes between watching Lady Rhea and preparing an ambush for anyone attacking the Holy Mausoleum."
"I agree with that decision. But, your class was originally assigned to protect the Archbishop, so you and Oz should stand guard."
"We made up a plan to some degree already, right Princess Marrybell?" Byleth asked.
Marrybell nodded. "Indeed. Let's meet up later with Claude and divide our strategy into greater detail." She turned to Manuela. "You'll come too, won't you Professor Manuela?"
"Oh, but of course. Ah, but do you think I could be on security detail for Lady Rhea. The Rite of Rebirth is rather important to me given my devotion to the church."
"I'll help Claude with the ambush then," Byleth said with a nod.
I'll need to work with Byleth and Claude to plan this carefully. Arundel will likely want me to assist with the infiltration of the Holy Mausoleum, that means fighting the Deer and the Tigers. This won't be easy. "Might I intrude on this strategy meeting?" Lelouch asked.
"Of course," Marrybell said. "We wouldn't be able to complete a good strategy meeting without our best tactician."
Lelouch grinned widely. Excellent.
That night…
In the halls of the Ashen Wolves's lecture hall, Lelouch passed around multiple dossiers to his allies, including Kronya and C.C.
"What's this, Zero?" Balthus asked.
"This is the list of adversaries we'll be facing during our infiltration into the Holy Mausoleum later this month," Zero stated.
"Huh? How'd you work that out?!" Kronya asked. She hadn't spoken a word of the plan to anyone.
"Zero's sharp, that's why," Yuri snickered.
Kronya growled under her breath.
"Well, let's see who we're up against," Yuri said and began flipping through the pages. Between the Violet Tigers and the Golden Deer, Byleth and Claude would be fighting alongside ten other students: Raphael Kirsten, Sokkia Sherpa, Lysithea von Ordelia, Shirley Fennette, Shez Lamperouge, Leonie Pinelli, Marianne von Edmund, Lelouch Eisner, Milly Ashford, and Hilda Valentine Goneril.
Lelouch had been rather crafty in allowing himself to be part of the ambush. The Holy Mausoleum was quite big according to some maps and old photos. He could easily slip into the battlefield, coordinate with Byleth and Claude where necessary, and all other times give orders to Kronya, C.C. and the Ashen Wolves. With the Zero Matrix, he could change which side he was on—provided he had cover amidst all the chaos and as long as Yuri covered for him, no one would be the wiser.
"Hey, uh, Zero, we're gonna have disguises, right?" Balthus asked.
"Wasn't planning on us needing them, why?" Zero asked.
"…We should probably have disguises," Yuri commented, "Even discounting knowing why you're having hang ups looking at this list, my friend. If the church finds out we're engaging in raiding the Holy Mausoleum…we're in big trouble. Well, Kronya could probably get away with it, but the rest of us should probably wear a mask or something."
"What about our HLKMFs?" Hapi asked.
"And bring the Mausoleum down on our heads? No thank you."
"Yuri's right," Constance agreed. "We'll need some kind of disguise, but you just leave that to m—"
"No," Zero commented.
"Wha—buh! Why not? Don't you have faith in me, Zero? Especially after our previous mission!" Constance complained.
"Yukiya, I leave the matter of disguises to you. Search the black market for anything you can find that looks efficient and buy it in crypto."
"Way ahead of you, Zero," Yukiya said, already scrolling through the internet.
"This will be a tough battle," C.C. spoke up.
"You're coming along?" Balthus asked, surprised.
"I am Zero's accomplice. I go where he goes," C.C. stated.
"Would've helped out a ton last time," Ryo teased.
"I don't have my own HLKMF," C.C. said with a surly stare.
"Sucks to suck," Kronya said with a self-satisfied grin.
"I'll remember that the next time you're hanging over a cliff," the green-haired woman commented.
"In the unlikely event that I'm running late," Zero stated, "Control of this operation defaults to Yuri."
Yuri knew what that meant. It was at times like these that him knowing Lelouch's secret was to Zero's benefit. It opened the possibility of greater strategies. Not to mention, since Zero and Lelouch would both be on the same battlefield, it would be harder to point fingers at the latter of being the former when accusations started flying.
"Ah, no need to worry about that, Zero," Kronya said. "We have our ace in the hole I'll show you when the time comes."
A ringer of some kind? Zero wondered. He turned his attention to Balthus. "What exactly troubles you, Balthus?"
"It's Hilda," he said. "I kind of go way back with her bro, Holst. I…I don't want her to see me like this. I'm kind of like a second brother to her."
"Weren't you the one who said that if someone ordered you to kidnap her for enough cash, you would?" Yuri asked.
"Hey! That's cash, buddy and I would let her go immediately. I don't want to be throwing hands at her. I can explain away a lot of things to Holst, but not that. Hell no! There ain't a safe place under the Goddess's watchful eye he won't hunt me down if the Unladylike King of Grappling gives his sister a black eye," Balthus said, fraught with fear at the idea of angering Holst.
"What happened to 'Ah, Holst isn't that bad. I've beat him before.'?" Ryo asked, grinning.
"Hey, pal. There's a big difference between a scrap with Holst and a scrap with Holst when he's mad pissed and motivated. I'd say even the Ashen Demon wouldn't want that kinda smoke," Balthus stated, sweating.
"Look, you have your orders. I'll be back tomorrow to answer any questions. Study up. This is going to be an important operation," Zero said and prepared to leave.
"Are we really doing the right thing, Zero?" Akito asked as they neared the door.
"We're doing what we have to do. Right and wrong have no meaning in underground war and a quest for true liberation," Zero stated and then left.
Akito did not like that answer one bit, but for now, he was willing to let the matter slide.
10th Day of the Blue Sea Moon
While classes were normally in session on Mondays, today was an exception. After all, very important people were arriving to Garreg Mach. The metaphorical red carpet was getting rolled out and all five house leaders would be making the acquaintance of the arrivals. Their deputies at their sides, Seteth, Rhea, Catherine, Shamir, Jeralt, Alois and Suzaku were all present.
"People of Garreg Mach," a man with long hair in a green robe with a priest's prayer cap on declared, "I give you, his esteemed Prince Schneizel el Britannia!"
A tall, blond man strode forward with a woman with purple hair walking alongside him.
"You are in the presence of Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia!" a man with black hair and glasses called out, opposite the man that had introduced Schneizel, "Show some respect!"
Britannians all over the marketplace and even some non-Britannians were taking a knee as Cornelia walked alongside Schneizel.
"And introducing," a large man said, flanking Cornelia's other side, "The young and charming Princess Euphemia li Britannia!"
He stepped aside to reveal a lovely young lady of student age with flowing, long pink hair in a white gown.
"Whoa, she's beautiful," Suzaku whispered, thinking aloud.
So that's Princess Euphemia, Edelgard thought.
"So that's the elusive third princess," Claude said, putting his hands above his head. "I can see why her older sister keeps her like Rapunzel in a tower."
"Claude, that's rude," Dimitri chastised.
"Oh come on, they do call the second princess the Witch of Britannia after all," Claude said, snickering.
Dimitri sighed.
Horns blared and confetti was showered upon the three Britannian royals.
And, now that the formalities were out of the way, Catherine wasted no time strolling up to Cornelia and putting her in a headlock, much to her shock.
"Ah! Catherine! You're a Holy Knight of Seiros, be a little more professional!"
"Ah, screw professionalism! I haven't seen you in four damn years!" Catherine exclaimed and began to give Cornelia a noogie.
"Unhand me this instant! Guilford, do something!" Cornelia shouted.
The black haired man with glasses put a hand on Catherine's breastplate. "You are making the princess uncomfortable, please take your hands off her."
Catherine did so, laughing hysterically. "You haven't changed a bit." She looked towards Euphemia. "And this must be little Euphemia." She laughed heartily. "Not so little though, I see. You're quite the big girl now, aren't you?"
"Oh, well, I mean, I'm trying to lose weight."
Goddess help me, Cornelia thought, pressing her gloved fingertips to her forehead. "That…that's not what she means, Euphie."
Euphemia just looked confused.
Sheltered was putting it mildly, Edelgard thought.
"I've only seen you from pictures your big sis used to carry with her during her time here. Nice to finally meet the girl in those pictures," Catherine said with a big smile.
Euphemia bowed. "It's nice to formally meet you too, Catherine."
"Sisters! Brother!"
Realizing that formalities had ceased, Marrybell trotted over in her finest formal dress to greet her siblings. She curtsied. "It is good to see you all."
Euphemia hugged Marrybell tightly. "Mary!"
Oldrin bowed to Cornelia and Schneizel once each. "Second Princess. Second Prince."
"Good to see you Lady Zevon. You appear to be in fine form," Schneizel commented.
"Indeed," Cornelia smiled. She reached out as her palm landed firmly on Oldrin's head. She stroked it back and forth. "You'd make your mother proud."
Oldrin smiled, giddy. Cornelia did not give praise out easily.
At this, Rhea and Seteth approached.
"Good day, Prince Schneizel," the Archbishop said to him.
"Ah, Archbishop. It is a delight to see you again in the flesh," Schneizel said. He took Rhea's hand and raised it as he bowed. "You are as radiant as the Goddess herself some days."
"A bit overzealous with the compliment, Prince Schneizel but that's just your character," Seteth said with a smirk.
"Ah, Director Seteth. How are you?" Schneizel reached out to shake Seteth's hand. He used his second hand to grasp Seteth's wrist as he shook downward, giving a friendlier than usual approach to a handshake from the second prince.
"In good spirits," Seteth said, smiling. "As you seem to. The Violet Tigers are doing well for themselves this year." His smile faded. "I am…so sorry about Prince Clovis. I…"
"Seteth, it's fine. We've spoken of this already," Schneizel said, waving a defensive hand.
"Yes, but not in person. I just wanted you to know how sincerely sorry I am. We had hopped perhaps circumstances may have one day changed with Clovis that he might be forgiven, but, alas," Seteth said with a sigh.
Schneizel noticed tiny fingers clutching at Seteth's robes. "Ah, Seteth, you appear to have a small child clutching to you."
"Ah, well would you look at that?" He helped Flayn from around his back. "Flayn, this is Prince Schneizel. He is a good friend of mine. We work frequently together."
Flayn bowed to Schneizel. "Thank you for being so good to my brother, Prince Schneizel."
Euphemia took one look at Flayn, eyes sparklingly as she scooped her up and smothered her with a big hug. "She's so cute!"
"Ah! Euphemia!" Cornelia exclaimed.
"It's fine, Princess Cornelia," Seteth said with a smile. "If there is one group of people I know would never harm a hair on Flayn's head it's Britannia's royal family."
"I wasn't aware you had a younger sister, Seteth. Then again, you hardly speak of your family," Schneizel remarked.
"Flayn is getting to be that age where constantly keeping her at home is against her best interest as a growing girl, so here she is, living at Garreg Mach for the first time."
"Flayn is your…sister, Seteth?" Cornelia asked.
"Something the matter, Second Princess?" Seteth asked.
Cornelia shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Forget I said anything."
Seteth smiled. "Forgotten."
Rhea smiled at Cornelia. "It's been quite some time, Cornelia. How has military life been treating you?"
"I'm in good health, Archbishop. It is good to see you with a smile," Cornelia said. "Admittedly, I wanted to strangle you when you imprisoned Clovis. If it's all the same, I'd like to see the full report for myself. I've been so busy fighting insurgents that I could use more domestic work to do while I'm on vacation."
"Vacation? You seem to have brought quite the escort?" Rhea asked, perplexed. There were no less than half a dozen men standing behind the large man that introduced Euphemia.
"Guilford is my knight. Where I go, he goes. And General Darlton is a stand-in for Euphemia not yet having been assigned a knight of her own. And, where all of us go, the Glaston Knights will follow," Cornelia explained.
"Princess Euphemia hasn't been assigned a knight yet?" Oldrin asked.
"I've been getting home schooled a lot, so having a knight hasn't been so important," Euphemia answered. "I was actually hoping to find a knight of my own here at Garreg Mach, actually."
"In that case, perhaps this is a good time for us to get in on this conversation."
Claude, Edelgard, Dimitri, Hilda, Hubert, Dedue, Kaguya and Inoue all approached.
"Ah, of course," Rhea said with a smile. "Princess Euphemia, Princess Cornelia, Prince Schneizel, these are our house leaders this year: Claude von Riegan."
"Sup?"
"Edelgard von Hresvelg."
"Charmed, I'm sure."
"Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd."
"Honored to meet you." Dimitri then bowed.
"And Empress Kaguya."
"It is good to meet you," Kaguya said, bowing as well.
"With them are their house's second-in-command. Hilda Valentine Goneril."
"That's me!"
"Hubert von Vestra."
Hubert merely smirked and let out a brief chortle.
"Dedue Molinaro."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Dedue said, bowing lowly.
"and Naomi Inoue."
Naomi also gave a low bow to show respect. "Honored by your presence."
"Quite the turnout this year," Cornelia stated.
"It just sorta worked out that way," Claude said cheekily.
"Well, now that introductions are over, perhaps we might see our suites?" Schneizel asked. "It's been a long journey."
"Of course," Seteth said. "Right this way," he gestured towards the knights that would be helping Schneizel.
Byleth, in attendance with her father, watched Schneizel pass her by. The two briefly made eye contact. It was their first meeting, but something about Schneizel's smile felt plastered on to the young merc turned professor.
Cornelia was just assigning her bags to a member of the knights when she noticed Euphemia wasn't following her. "Euphie, are you not coming?"
"Oh, um, I'll catch up with you later, if that's okay," Euphemia said to her sister.
Cornelia looked at the house leaders. "Make sure she stays out of trouble."
"Don't worry, we'll have her home before she turns into a pumpkin," Claude joked. Edelgard elbowed him hard in the ribs. "Ow!"
Cornelia tried her best not to laugh as she left the area, leaving Euphemia in the care of her peers.
For the entire day, it was the young princess's first time being around other people her age since becoming a teenager. She got to see all the wondrous sights at the Monastery from the dining hall, to the fishing pond, to the cathedral.
Eventually, of course, Edelgard had to go, having been called away by her uncle. Claude left not soon after, something about a strategy meeting. Marrybell and Oldrin had their own matters to attend to. As for Kaguya, Ohgi still wanted to run an afternoon lecture, so she and Naomi left for that. That left Euphemia with only Dimitri and Dedue for company.
Left completely out of his element—Dimitri fumbled a lot when talking to women he didn't know—Dimitri tried his best to make small talk with the younger Euphemia. "Shall we…find a spot to rest? I imagine you're a bit tired."
"Oh, that would be nice. We have been walking around a lot," Euphemia replied with a smile.
"Dedue, might you procure a snack or two for us from the market?" Dimitri asked.
"It would be my honor, your highness," Dedue said with a smile and left.
Dimitri and Euphemia ended up finding a spot to sit along a paved road in the monastery between the student lounge and the cemetery. In fact, the cemetery's staircase was within view. Most people would have found a spot to sit with a princess that wasn't in full view of gravestones, but this was Dimitri. Though strong and chivalrous some more…basic points of social etiquette were not his strong suit.
"So, you are staying until after the Rite of Rebirth?" Dimitri asked.
"That's right. I've never seen it before and neither has my brother or sister so we all wanted to come see it for ourselves," Euphemia said. "Actually, this is my first time out of the country."
"Oh? Is it now?" Dimitri asked. "Rome was my first destination outside of Faerghus too, actually. Of course, I've had time to get used to the scenery for a couple of moons now."
"Garreg Mach seems very peaceful," Euphemia stated.
"Peaceful is certainly a word I would use. Since its construction, enemies of Rome have never once entered Garreg Mach Monastery," Dimitri said.
"Yes, it's such a happy place to be," Euphemia said, fingers interwoven together with the sweetest smile Dimitri had ever seen.
Euphemia's bright and cheery innocence was something Dimitri hadn't quite yet encountered before. From lunch, to the scenery to this, she seemed so…peaceful with herself.
"Say, Prince Dimitri, what's Faerghus like?" Euphemia asked. "It might be a nice place to visit someday when I'm old enough to travel on my own."
"Oh? Faerghus. Well, I've only ever really been in Fhirdiad and scantly elsewhere, but the capital is quite the place, especially from the castle," Dimitri said. "Of course, many will complain Faerghus is very cold, especially compared to places in Britannia near the equator."
Euphemia laughed cordially.
"I'm…sorry, did I say something amusing?" Dimitri asked, completely confused.
"No, it was the way you said it that just seemed funny in some way. Sorry, should I not have laughed?" Euphemia asked, suddenly regretful.
"No, it's fine. I am playing host more as house leader of the Blue Lions than I am as Crown Prince of Faerghus. If I can entertain you, I am doing my diligence as a knight in training," Dimitri said with a smile.
"I've always liked knights, more the chivalrous ones in books than the modern variant. You know, knights traveling to far away lands to rescue princess's from monsters," Euphemia stated.
"Ah, you're a book lover, I see. You, Mercedes and Annette would get along quite well then," Dimitri said.
"Are those your classmates?" Euphemia asked.
"Yes. Mercedes is from House Martritz and Annette is from House Dominic," Dimitri answered.
"Oh, I would love to meet them during my stay here," Euphemia asked. "Do you think I could attend one of your classes too?"
"Er, would it not make more sense for you to attend classes with the Violet Tigers? They are your own people," Dimitri said.
"The point of the Officer's Academy is to learn about other cultures, right?" Euphemia asked. "Well, I want to know more about how Faerghus teaches. Is…is that okay?"
"Er, um, well…" Dimitri stuttered and then inched away from Euphemia. "Wh-where is Dedue with those snacks? That kind-hearted man, I imagine he's stuck helping small children reach something in the market from a tall shelf. Aha ahahaha." Dimitri's acting was so wooden at the moment, one could put leaves on his head and call him a tree.
"Dedue seems nice," Euphemia asked.
The change in subject helped Dimitri calm down. "Well, yes, he's a man I would trust with my life." He thought about the last four years he'd been with Dedue. "Actually, I think he's saved more than enough times to repay me for saving his."
"Oh, how chivalrous! Tell me more!" Euphemia exclaimed.
"I'd…rather not. It's…not a story I enjoy telling," Dimitri said.
"Why not?" Euphemia asked, disappointed she wasn't being told the story.
"Because it reminds me of the most awful experience of my life from four years ago. You've heard about it, right The Tragedy of Duscur?"
"Heard about it, but I don't know much," Euphemia admitted.
"Even more reason not to talk about it," Dimitri told her. "Four years ago, I lost my father and stepmother to an awful fire and so many people died then and the ensuing skirmish. I'm still haunted to this day by it."
Euphemia stared at her hands, which were now in her lap.
"See? Just hearing about the most basic information has already brought your mood down."
"No. It's not that," Euphemia said, head aimed now more at her shoes. "Seven years ago, I lost a very important brother and sister to me. My father, the emperor, he exiled them from Britannia because my brother, Lelouch, accused him of not protecting Lady Marianne enough when she was assassinated. When he and his sister boarded the airship to Japan…that was the last any of us saw of them. Two months later…people declared them deceased. His body was never found and neither was Nunnally's. I just…when I think about them dying alone, I just…"
"Lelouch and Nunnally," Dimitri repeated the names, sitting there, thinking about it. "Princess Euphemia, are those names…common in Britannia?"
Euphemia nodded. "Rather common, why do you ask?"
"Ah, sorry, it's just, the Violet Tigers have a Lelouch and a Nunnally in their class and they're also brother and sister. Lelouch and Nunnally Eisner, I believe. Yes. Eisner. Sorry, I should remember the niece and nephew of the captain of the Knights."
"Oh! Is that so? Well, if Lelouch is dead, I doubt it's the same people. Still, funny coincidence," Euphemia said.
"Aha, indeed, Princess Euphemia," Dimitri said with a chuckle and a smile.
"You can call me Euphie if you'd like, Prince Dimitri. We're both royalty, I don't mind," Euphemia said politely.
Dimitri blushed. "That would be highly politically inappropriate."
"Oh, phooey to inappropriate. I want to make at least one friend around my age," Euphemia pouted.
Dimitri actually laughed at this, quite hard in fact. "You are definitely not a usual princess. Then again, I have very little to compare you to."
"Well for what it's worth, I think you act more like a prince than my older brother does, Dimitri. I think you're exactly how a prince should behave," Euphemia said with a smile.
Dimitri shook his head. "No. No, I don't deserve to be called a golden standard for a prince," he said, feeling unworthy of such a compliment. "I've done terrible things as a royal, Euphemia. Things no prince should have to do, even before I came to Garreg Mach."
"I don't think terrible deeds have anything to do with what makes a person good or bad, I think it has to do with how they feel about those terrible things." She gave Dimitri a warm smile. "I think the fact that you feel remorse for your misdeeds shows that you're truly worthy to be a great king for Faerghus someday."
Dimitri smiled. For the past four years, a painful darkness had engulfed his inner mind. A loud cacophony of voices calling for vengeance crowded his inner ear. Yet, for the briefest of moments, that loud cacophony was silenced by the warmth and sincerity of Princess Euphemia li Britannia's smile.
The sound of a squeaky wheel was then heard as Dimitri saw Dedue pushing a wheelbarrow full of store-bought snacks. Dimitri groaned shaking his head towards his knees. "Dedue, what am I going to do with you?"
"Pfffft, ahahahahaha," Euphemia laughed and laughed.
Dedue, serious person that he was, failed to see what was so funny. "I was not sure what would be appropriate for a Princess's palette, so I bought a little bit of everything I could find that seemed tasteful enough."
Dimitri sighed and put on his best smile. "It's fine, Dedue. Thank you for being so thoughtful."
He went over to the wheelbarrow and grabbed a box of Cheez-its to open them.
As Dimitri, Dedue and Euphemia snacked, Edelgard and Hubert were watching them from the second floor of the student lounge, the former having concluded her business with her uncle.
"It would seem Princess Euphemia has taken a shine to his Highness," Hubert commented.
"And her naivete is just as I surmised," Edelgard said. "Princess Marrybell was absolutely the better choice to lead the Violet Tigers."
"Does the mission stay its course?" Hubert asked.
"It does. We haven't much choice. Besides, I've heard Zero will be participating," Edelgard stated. "All we have to do is watch…"
…And stay one step ahead.
(A/N: And so, the cast is all assembled. Next two chapters I plan to showcase the Lions and the Eagles interacting with Rolo, Clara and Euphemia. After that, it's ambush time. At least, that's the plan. But who knows? After all, I could be lying. I could change my mind XD. And if there are character interactions you are looking forward to seeing, feel free to leave them in your comment/review. Your feedback keeps my fingers on the keyboard and my face glued to Microsoft Word. Anyway, until next time, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)