2008-10-09 02:50![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
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code_geass
inulovinkit.livejournal.com in code_geassWell, you guys said you liked it, so here is chapter 2:
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: LelouchxC.C., SuzaEuphie, (implied) Suzalulu (and for this chapter, implied ClovisxLelouch? :3)
summary: So, what would have happened if Suzaku had received the Geass in Stage 1 instead of Lelouch? MOAR ANGST, is what!
Chapter 1 here.
I know there isn't much Suzaku in this chapter, but I needed to set up Lelouch's role in the story. Much more Suzaku in the next chapter, I promise.
“No.”
“What?”
“I said no, Lelouch!” Suzaku glared.
Violet eyes widened in surprise…and hurt. “But Suzaku…you’ve just…don’t you understand? You’ve just been given the power to do anything you want! You already don’t like Britannia, so why not use it to—”
“I don’t believe in using underhanded methods to achieve those ends!” He stood up abruptly, looking for some other clothes besides the shirt Lelouch had changed him into. “I won’t use this curse for something like that! It’s wrong!”
Slender fingers clenched into a fist. “Suzaku, its Britannia that’s wrong! You know it’s true! You’ve been in the military—you’ve seen what lows they sink! And yet you serve them! Britannia is unworthy of you—!”
“I know Britannia is wrong,” Suzaku admitted ruefully, “But is your plan any better? You would destroy hundreds—thousands of lives if you try to destroy Britannia! Then who would be in the wrong, huh? It’s better to work with the system and change it from the inside.”
“Change? You think Britannia can change? Hundreds of years running the same system—committing the same atrocities, and you still say—”
“Well, maybe it’s because no one tried to change Britannia in the right way!” Suzaku began putting on his military armor once more, that had been neatly folded in a corner.
“People have tried—!”
“Failed uprisings and rebellions, yes, but Britannia crushed them all in the end! Thousands were killed because of worthless terrorist acts, and you’re telling me that this is the right way to do things? The only right way is to work to change the system from the inside, that is all!”
Lelouch was slowly losing it. “You…you think you can do that? All by yourself? An Honorary Britannian has no place to try to change Britannia, Suzaku! You’ll be blocked and stopped at every corner—there’s no way you can do it on your own!”
“Still, I have to try. It’s worth nothing if I don’t try.”
“It won’t work,” Lelouch snarled nastily. “It won’t, and you know it. That’s why you asked for that power in the first place. And you’re telling me you won’t use it?”
That caused Suzaku’s hands to shake in anger. “I didn’t know what evil this power was when I asked for it, Lelouch! I didn’t know what it would make me do—and you know what? I would have died back there than have this on my conscience!”
At that, Lelouch had no more retorts. Suzaku…would have rather… “You…Suzaku…”
“Hmph, it doesn’t matter,” Suzaku glanced around, and couldn’t find his helmet. He supposed he had left it there. “Maybe like you said, I can’t do this on my own. Maybe it’s just better to continue on the path I’ve put myself on.”
“Ah, I see. You’re not going to try to do anything because it’s too hard on you.”
“Well…” Suzaku, whirled around, glaring, “Why haven’t you tried to do anything, Lelouch?”
“What are you—”
“You’re a prince of Britannia, aren’t you? If you went back, then you’d have the power to change it all—to change Britannia! And yet you stay here in Area 11, hiding away while watching the atrocities continue—”
“You think I have a choice, Suzaku!” Lelouch roared. “I’m staying here for Nunnally! If I went back, what do you think would happen to us, huh? We’d be split up and used as political tools! I wouldn’t be able to do anything—just sit by and watch my rotten life pass me by! I’m not going to do that—not to me, and not to Nunnally.”
“And yet you say you want to overthrow Britannia—”
“That’s the only way Nunnally and I could live without this constant threat—if Britannia were eliminated.”
“So that’s the only reason you will do it? To make a safer world for you? For Nunnally? And here I was thinking maybe you were selfless—”
“A world without Britannia will be a safer world for all, Suzaku.”
“Really?” Suzaku stepped forward, glaring. “Britannia owns half the world, Lelouch. What do you think, you can just topple Britannia and everything will be allright? Have you considered what will happen once Britannia is out of the picture? Chaos! The world will be in complete chaos—everything anyone’s ever known will be destroyed—and there will be more deaths than there would have been under Britannia’s rule! And this is what you want to do?”
Lelouch was silent for a moment, looking away. Then suddenly, an idea hit him. Turning back with determination in his eyes, Lelouch spoke, “Japan, then.”
“What?”
“If destroying Britannia is too much—then I will free Japan. That will make this place safer for Nunnally and I—and will free your people as well, Suzaku.”
Free…Japan…For a brief, wild moment, Suzaku considered it. Though he had thrown away his country, he could not deny that he didn’t like seeing the Japanese suffer under Britannia’s rule.
If it was just freeing Japan…the death’s wouldn’t be so great, but…
Suzaku shook his head. “People will still die in a rebellion, Lelouch.” He told him flatly. Turning away, he spoke, “I will find away to save Japan, by working in the Britannian system. I will do it the right way.”
Suzaku walked out of Lelouch’s bedroom, and Lelouch followed him, yelling down the hall, “You can’t do it by yourself, Suzaku! You know you can’t!”
Suzaku didn’t even turn back. “Even so, I’d rather try all on my own than use your methods.”
Lelouch couldn’t figure out why, but panic raced through him at the thought of Suzaku leaving him behind. “You…idiot!”
“It doesn’t matter if I am. I will follow the rules. Don’t worry though,” he descended the stairs. “I won’t tell anyone about you, or Nunnally—or anything else you told me. As long as you keep your secret about me and that girl. Now, if you excuse me, I probably have an insubordination hearing to get to—”
Lelouch could take it no longer; teeth clenching, he ran to the top of the stairs and roared, just as Suzaku was heading out the door, “You would rather serve Britannia than your own people? You…you traitor, Kururugi!”
Lelouch didn’t mean to say it—and regretted it as soon as he did—but it made Suzaku pause for a moment upon exiting the clubhouse. But even so, Suzaku continued walking away from him, never looking back.
After Suzaku left, Lelouch was silent for a few moments—anger still surging in his veins. But, that soon dulled—and regret sunk in as well.
“Damnit!” roared Lelouch as he slammed his fist into the wall.
He didn’t want to make Suzaku leave like that—and now he was probably so angry that he would never come back. No, he didn’t want that—he had just seen his childhood friend for the first time in seven years and all he did was—
No—it wasn’t just him! Suzaku was in the wrong as well! How could he have a power like that and refuse to use it? After he was given the key to everything, to just—and to willingly bow his head and serve Britannia like some dog—not at all like the Suzaku Lelouch used to know—
“You idiot, Suzaku!”
If Suzaku continued on his path, he would end up dying. Dying for a country that wasn’t even worth his service!
After another moment, Lelouch sighed, and rose up, eyes narrowing. No…it won’t be this way forever.
After Suzaku tried and failed at his objective, he would see. He would see that rebellion was the only way to achieve the peaceful world he was desired. Britannia was the rotten spot in the apple. Cut it out, and the apple would be pure.
To eradicate the taint upon mankind—that was the thing only Lelouch vi Britannia could do.
No matter how long it took him to do it…
But when he finally rose up against Britannia, leading an army that would stretch for miles and miles, there was only one person he wanted—only one he could have—at his side. And that was Suzaku.
“Together, we can achieve anything.”
“The girl is still missing?” Prince Clovis demanded of his advisors, as the scoured the Shinjuku ghetto.
“I’m afraid so, Your Highness,” bowed a general. “We heard word from one of the captains that they had found the girl and the terrorists that captured her, but when we went to the location, the girl was gone, and all the soldiers had been killed.”
“Tsk.” Clovis fell into his chair, muttering about imbeciles. “Do we have any footage from the media helicopters? Sometimes they catch something in the background…”
“It’s possible, Your Highness. We’ll call up all the stations that were taking live footage and look into that for you.”
The whole process only took about thirty minutes for the calls and transfers of data. And then Clovis la Britannia stared dull eyed at the screen before him, scanning several clips of footage from several media cameras. His eyes soon became unfocused, bored—wondering if he would find anything interesting or if this was just a royal waste of his time—
He blinked. “Stop the tape!” Clovis suddenly roared, rising from his chair in disbelief.
“Your—Your Highness? What—?”
Clovis shushed him as he stepped towards the screen, starring at something—someone in the corner of a frame, just barely in view to the side of the television reporter. “Zoom in on that person!” he ordered, blue eyes narrowing.
His people did as they were ordered, still wondering why someone who looked like a fleeing civilian was of any importance. The figure could barely be made out as someone wearing a black school uniform, dark black hair, and a flash of a violet eye as he turned in one moment, realizing the mistake of being caught on camera.
Caught like he didn’t want to be found…
“Your Highness?” the general asked, but Clovis was still silent. He could hardly believe it. It had been seven years…seven long years that he thought that he was dead. And now, practically staring him in the face was the visage of that younger brother that he had loved—and thought he lost.
But if it was really him…Lelouch vi Britannia…
Excitement like no other flooded through Clovis’s veins. “Bartley!”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness?”
“Find out what school that uniform is for. We will be paying a visit to it soon.”
As Clovis walked away, his task there finished, he couldn’t help but hope—Lelouch…is it really you?
“Lelouch!” came the cry of Millay as she bounded across the lawn towards him; making Lelouch and Nunnally look up from their morning tea on the porch.
“Kaichou?” Lelouch asked. “What’s wrong? I thought the Student Council Hide-And-Seek wasn’t until next month.”
“Lelouch!” Millay said, more serious than he had ever seen her. “Do you know what’s happening today?”
“Uhmm…”
“Prince Clovis! He’s coming to inspect the Academy! I just received word from Grandfather, and thought—”
Panic suddenly ran through Lelouch. Prince Clovis. Here. Clovis had never shown up at Ashford before—he had no interest in it. Why would he, all of a sudden, without warning—
His breath hitched as he remembered. That moment when he went to meet up with Sayoko in the Shinjuku Ghetto…there had been a media camera there…he had been caught, but he didn’t think—
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
“Onii-sama, what are we—”
“Don’t worry about a thing, Nunnally,” Lelouch told her, hastily going through his options. “Kaichou, is there a place—”
“Uhm…” the president of the student council thought a moment… “The underground tunnels under the school…only student council members know how to get down there. You and Nunnally can wait until Prince Clovis leaves—”
“Good. Kaichou, can you—”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Millay said with a smile, “I’ve got something planned. It might ruin your reputation a bit, but—”
“That’s fine.” He turned away from her, taking the handles of Nunnally’s wheelchair. “Come on, Nunnally, we’re not going to school today.”
“Onii-sama,” Nunnally asked, sounding worried. “Are you sure this is right—”
“Of course it is,” he told her at once. “You know what will happen if Prince Clovis finds out about us. Now come on; I’ll get a few things from inside and then we’re going to go down to the tunnels for a day.”
“Is it scary in the tunnels?” she asked, worried, as Lelouch wheeled her into the living room to leave her for a moment.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Lelouch smiled back at her. “I’ll be there with you, won’t I?”
“Yes, that’s right—I won’t be scared if Onii-sama is around,” she answered with a smile.
As Lelouch ran into the kitchen to pick up a few things of food—now blankets, a flashlight—mentally ticking off a list, he suddenly bumped into someone unexpected.
“You!” he said shocked, as the girl he had rescued the day before stared him down. “What are you still doing here?”
“You rescued me, didn’t you?”
“But you…you were with Suzaku! Why didn’t you leave—”
“He doesn’t want me to come with him.” She folded her arms and gave an annoyed sigh. “Besides, of the two of you, I have to say I think you’re more interesting.”
Lelouch glared. “Look, I don’t have time for this, or time for you, girl. Right now I’m—”
“C.C.”
“What?”
“C.C. That is what I am called. Not ‘girl’ to you, little boy.”
“That’s not a name.”
“Well, it’s what I am called,” golden eyes narrowed. “Now you had better hurry up before Prince Clovis gets here. “If he sees me or you—”
“You? No, you are not coming—!”
“Did you forget that I was a captive of that man called ‘Clovis’?” C.C. pointed out. “If he sees me or you, the outcome is the same. He will search the grounds for the other one of us. After all—I was bound and gagged. Someone would have had to rescue me, don’t you agree?”
Lelouch thought for a moment, and sighed. “Fine, whatever. But don’t get in the way. Help me carry these.” He dumped much of the provisions into her hands.
“You’re not very good to your houseguests—”
“Shut up, you.”
“Nunnally,” Lelouch told her, putting on a look of false happiness as he came back into the room. “This is C.C. She will be coming with us. She was the other person that came home with me last night.”
A smile came upon Nunnally’s face. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss C.C.” Nunnally reached out her hand.
Though it was a bit difficult, C.C. shifted some of the stuff in her hands, and shook Nunnally’s hand as well. “Pleasure to meet you too.” Though there was no smile upon her face.
“Now come on,” Lelouch said, taking hold of Nunnally’s wheelchair once again. “We have to get down to the tunnels under the campus before Prince Clovis’s people get here…”
“Attention all Ashford Students!” came the excited voice of Millay Ashford over the intercom. “Today we will be having a very special person visiting the academy—Prince Clovis of all people!”
There was a collective gasp all over the campus. “While he will be visiting our school and we expect all students to act accordingly, there is one other thing you have to know. As you well know, our student council vice president, Lelouch Lamperouge is an active gambler.”
Lelouch’s eyes narrowed as he heard the laughs chuckle above him. “And, I hear our irresponsible vice president managed to get a lot of money out of our dear governor-general. So, Prince Clovis might also ask you about his whereabouts or if you’ve seen him recently. Since Lelouch has decided to be a coward and flee, his location is unknown. Therefore, it is an official school activity that you tell the authorities the truth—you haven’t seen him and don’t know where he is, understood?”
Millay…Lelouch thought grudgingly. Though this was no good for his reputation, by taking something this serious and making it into a game—a game where they didn’t have to completely lie to their prince—the students were certain to follow through. Only Millay had the charisma to pull something like this off.
Now, there was just to hope that it worked…
“Onii-sama,” Nunnally asked, as she sat wrapped in a blanket in the dark tunnel along with Lelouch and C.C. “How long are we going to be down here?”
“We have to stay until Prince Clovis leaves. You know that,” he sighed. “But don’t worry—the time will pass quick enough.”
Nunnally thought a moment. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way, Onii-sama…I wish it could be like before…I want to be able to walk up and say hi to Clovis nii-san, Euphie nee-chan…Schinezel…Cornelia…everyone else.”
Lelouch couldn’t help but tighten his jaw. With the exception of one individual, he never wished to see any of them again. But for Nunnally’s sake… “I know, Nunnally…” he said, putting his hand over hers. “But you know if they got a hold of us, we would be split up, and most likely shipped off to different areas as political hostages. You don’t want that, do you?”
Nunnally shook her head. “I just want to stay with Onii-sama forever.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he laughed. “I’m not going anywhere."
“So why do you have to hide?” C.C. broke into the conversation bluntly, looking over the top of the pillow she clutched close. “Why would that man be interested in you?”
Lelouch stopped, but Nunnally spoke, “Onii-sama…she’s hiding too, isn’t she? Can’t we tell her?”
“Fine.” Lelouch glared. “I’ll tell you why we’re hiding, and then you tell us why you hide from Prince Clovis. Nunnally and I are…we are successors to the Britannian throne.” The words were thick with spite. “We were sent to Japan as children as political hostages. To avoid being used like that any longer, we pretended we died in the war seven years ago. If any of the Britannia royal family were to find out…”
“I see…” C.C.’s eyes seemed to mist over for a moment, as if remembering something. “So you are not really Lelouch ‘Lamperouge’…you two are Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia?”
Lelouch stared. “That is right. How did you…?”
“News,” she sighed, turning away.
“Anyway,” Lelouch glared, “What about you?”
C.C. didn’t turn back. “I already said so. I was a prisoner of Prince Clovis. If they caught me—”
“And why were you a prisoner?”
There was silence, before she smirked back. “Who knows?”
Lelouch glared. That was probably all he was going to get out of her now. There was more to this—probably to do with the strange power that was given to Suzaku, but that was a question for another time. He was not going to discuss that in front of Nunnally.
He sighed. “Well, nothing to do now but wait for all of this to be over…”
And they waited. And waited. And waited. Still nothing.
Millay had promised to call Lelouch on the walkie talkie when Prince Clovis had left the campus, but it had been hours, and still, nothing. For that time, Lelouch just sat against the wall, sometimes nibbling on a bit of the food he had brought down, but most of the time musing on it all.
Suzaku’s power…Prince Clovis…destroying Britannia…
If I could convince Suzaku…destroy Britannia…or even just drive Britannia out of Japan, then Nunnally and I wouldn’t have to hide like this…we could…
“You seem lost in your thoughts,” C.C. told him, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
“Possibly,” Lelouch glanced to look up at Nunnally. Good, she was sleeping.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Why do you care?”
“Maybe I’m curious.”
“Hmph. Fine, I’ll tell you my thoughts if you tell me the real reason you were captured by Clovis.”
C.C. paused for a moment, before saying, “It is because I am a witch.”
“A witch? I don’t need fairy tales—”
“Oh, don’t need fairy tales, and yet you believe your friend’s story upon first hearing it?” she smirked.
Violet eyes narrowed. “So you did give it to him, that power…”
“Yes. The Power of the Kings. Geass.”
“Geass?”
“That’s what it’s called.”
“I see.” Lelouch chose his questions carefully. “So what exactly does it—Geass—do?”
“It depends. It varies from person to person—depending upon what you wish for.”
“What you…wish for?”
“Exactly. Though it may not be completely manifested in a way you understand, the Geass draws its power from what you wish for the most.”
“So all of it…Suzaku wasn’t lying. You really were…”
“Shot? I told you, I am a witch, after all.”
“And the contract? He said something about you offered him a contract for your power.”
C.C. smirked. “That is business between the Geass Giver and the Receiver.”
“I see. So you won’t tell me.”
“You are not contracted to me. I cannot.”
Lelouch was silent for a moment, shoving back the question he desperately wanted to ask, and instead opted for more information about this wonderful power. “So why give it? Why Suzaku?”
C.C. thought a moment. “I don’t know…From the moment I gazed eyes upon him, I could see his potential. Potential for the Geass. Not everyone can have it, you know. You have to have a deep wish…an deep ambition for something.”
“And he had that ambition?”
“Yes. In one moment, I saw it all—all that he desperately wanted, but didn’t have the power to do it. Geass helps you achieve these ends.”
“He said it was a ‘curse’ an ‘underhanded power’.”
“Some feel that way. Others…they see it as a wonderful thing. But it doesn’t matter to me,” she sighed. “I just grant it. As long as my wish is fulfilled, I don’t care.”
“And Suzaku will…fulfill that wish for you?”
Golden eyes narrowed. “I…don’t think so. In that moment I reached out to him, I saw all that he was…but what he is most of the time…then he could never do it.”
Once again, that feeling crept up in Lelouch’s gut. That…excitement. “If he isn’t to grant your wish, then who is?”
“Only someone who contracts with me can grant that wish. But all those who contracted with me have all failed in the past.”
“So, when will you make another contract, then?”
“When I find someone else worthy who deeply desires this power,” she spoke bluntly, turning back to him. “But you know…” a smirk came on her face. “The potential, for the Geass…I see it within you as well.”
The potential for it. Of course…if that is all that is needed, then…then…! If Suzaku won’t use his power, then why not I—
But before Lelouch could press the matter, the walkie talkie buzzed. “Lelouch, Prince Clovis has left Ashford.”
“Ah, perfect,” he smiled, noticing Nunnally had woken up with the buzzer. “We’ll be heading back up soon then. No problems?”
“None at all. But be careful, Lelouch. Prince Clovis asked a lot of questions about you…and about the Clubhouse. He suspects that you might be living there…”
“Tell him the Clubhouse is for guests—”
“I did, but he still suspects—”
“Well, no use worrying about it now, right? Prince Clovis is gone.”
“Yes…that’s true…”
“Onii-sama, is it over already?” Nunnally asked as Lelouch came to push her wheelchair.
“Yes, Nunnally, it’s all over,” he smiled back. “We don’t have to worry anymore.”
It was dark outside now, and after Nunnally had been safely put back inside, Lelouch looked out the window. C.C. was there, staring up at the stars. And it looked, to him—as if she was talking to someone.
Talking? How could she be talking to anyone but herself—there was no one there…
Nevertheless he went down to see her anyway.
“Hey, witch,” he asked as he came out the door. She turned to him at once. “What are you doing?”
She didn’t answer for a moment. “Just looking up at the stars.”
“Why?” he walked up next to her. “There’s nothing up there.”
“Maybe there is, and maybe there isn’t,” she spoke in that mysterious quality that she always did.
“Look, what you were talking about before,” he said, not wanting to beat around the bush. “How did you know that I have this ‘potential’ that you were speaking of?”
“I just know.”
“And this potential will give me the ability to wield the Geass?”
“It should.”
“Well then,” a sinister smirk came on his face. “What are you waiting for? You want your wish fulfilled—and I want the power that you hand out. So, C.C.—I wish for that contract.”
She merely stared at him, golden eyes narrowed. “I don’t give out the Geass just to those who wish for it.”
“Liar. You gave Suzaku the Geass—”
“Yes, I did.”
“So why not—“
“Because. You want it and you don’t need it,” she told him flatly. “All you are is a jealous little boy.”
“What? No I’m not—”
“Lelouch,” she turned away, sighing. “I have seen many like you in my long lifetime. Don’t badger me.”
“But—”
“I said no. Do not wish for the Power of the Kings if you do not need it. Like I told your friend, it will make you incredibly lonely.”
“And I said I don’t care,” Lelouch said, pulling her back. “I need this power, C.C. I need it to destroy Britannia. I am prepared for any hardship.”
“Are you, really?” she asked. “Prepared to lose everything you have—your friends, your happiness, perhaps even your very life…just for this single thing? Geass is not a toy, Lelouch. And you are not someone who is prepared for it if you’re going to beg for it when you don’t even know what it is about.”
“Who do you think you are?” he snarled. “Do you try to protect me?”
“Pro—protect you?” she stammered. “Ridiculous. I hardly know you—”
“But you know my name. ‘Lelouch vi Britannia’. You knew who I was and that it would be safe to tell me exactly who you were. So tell me why—”
“Le—Leouch?” He was cut off as a voice sounded from the bushes.
In horror, Lelouch turned to see someone—someone he had been afraid to meet—ascend before him. Clovis la Britannia.
“Lelouch…it really…it really is you…” Clovis said in disbelief. “I thought…it’s been so long…but after I had hope, I thought I had to come here and see you.”
Clovis? Wait…the clubhouse…so that’s why…to draw me out! Anger flared up in Lelouch’s violet eyes. If he knows…then it won’t be long until—
Clovis suddenly noticed the woman Lelouch had been talking to when he stupidly said his name. “You…aren’t you the girl from—”
C.C. suddenly darted out of Lelouch’s grip. Lelouch stood stunned, as she ran towards Clovis, as if to embrace him—but the second she put her hands upon him, Clovis froze up. The prince’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he mouthed silent screams of terror.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Lelouch demanded.
“This man cannot see me!” C.C. told him. “This will make him pass out for a moment, long enough for us to get away.”
“That doesn’t matter—” he glared. “He knows now…if this gets out that Nunnally and I are—everything will be—”
Somehow, he knew the only option. Yes, there was only one option to keep the secret safe. And with it, C.C.’s secret would be safe as well.
Also, Clovis had heard everything—about the Geass and about Lelouch’s goals. If he were allowed to be left alive—
Glancing back towards C.C., he told her, “Can you hold him for a little longer?” She nodded, and then he raced back into the clubhouse, up into his room—to grab the gun he had taken from a dead soldier the other day…
Clovis found himself waking up with a very bad headache, somewhere on the Ashford lawn. Getting up, flashes of that strange dream came before his eyes…and of him.
For that moment, he thought—did he really see Lelouch there? Or maybe he had just dreamed it?
With a sigh, the Prince of Britannia got up. How ridiculous it was, to dismiss his guards so he could hide himself better in order to know the truth? Well, he would find the truth anyway. He would come back to this academy unannounced someday, so if his little brother had been hiding, he would be caught off guard—
Clovis made his way back to his royal car, parked at the edge of the campus. Perhaps it had been a few hours, since the driver was not there to open the back door for him.
Ridiculous—he would have to hire better help, he mentally told himself, opening the door and sliding inside, shutting at once.
The car took off as soon as he was inside.
It was when they were going down the road that Prince Clovis noticed how dark it was inside his car. How…eerie.
But when he groped for the lights, he heard the sounds of calm breath—breath that was not his own.
Frigid against the seat, Clovis demanded, “Who…who are you?”
“I waited for you, Clovis,” said a sing-song voice. “For a very, very long time. Did it take you a while to wake up?”
“What did you do to me?”
“Ah, nothing much. Just a little something to make you sleep while I prepared.”
“Prepared for what?”
“Our grand reunion,” it was then that Lelouch slid forward—gun in hand and pointed at his half brother, a smirk on his face. “Hello, Nii-san.”
Clovis stared. “So…it really was…you really were…”
“Exactly. I’ve been here all this time—hiding right under your nose, dear Clovis.”
“Why? Why did you hide, Lelouch? If you were alive, then we could have—we all could have—”
“You think I want to go back to that sham of a life!” Lelouch spat. “Just to be used as a political tool? I think not. I will not have my life run by anyone else’s will, Nii-san. I intend to run it myself.”
Clovis’s eyes narrowed. “Are you afraid?”
“Of course not. It’s just easier to find things out when you’re not directly involved.”
“Things? What sorts of things?”
“Oh, wouldn’t you know?” Lelouch’s voice went lower in warning. “About one thing, Nii-san. My mother.”
“M—Marianne-sama?”
Was it Lelouch’s imagination, or did he hear the certain green-haired driver’s breath hitch in their throat? “Exactly. My mother was killed. And one of you people know the answer. So I’m going to ask you right now, Clovis,” Lelouch came closer, leveling the gun right at Clovis’s face. “Who did it?”
“I…I have no idea!” his brother suddenly shouted. “I had nothing to do with it!”
“Are you sure?” Lelouch growled. “If you’re lying—”
“I’m not lying! I swear!”
“Fine then,” But even still, Lelouch grabbed his brother by the collar, the muzzle right under his chin. “But who knows the answer?”
“I don’t—”
“You do, damnit! You know, don’t you? Who was it? Who did it? Who killed my mother?”
The gun shook in Lelouch’s hands as his rage grew.
Clovis suddenly closed his eyes as he began to reveal, “It was—”
But he never got to finish. A shot rang out in the back of the car.
“Hmm?” C.C. turned her head back as she drove along the empty highway. She saw a horrid sight—blood everywhere, Lelouch covered in it—staring at the gun and his brother in disbelief. “I thought you were going to interrogate him before you—”
“I…I didn’t…” His finger had accidentally pulled that trigger. But he didn’t…Oh god, he didn’t…He was so close…if not for that…he would have known! The one who killed his mother was still anonymous! “Damnit!”
C.C. rolled her eyes. “These things happen sometimes. Don’t worry about it—one dead body makes no difference. You were going to kill him anyway.”
“I wanted to find out who did it, damnit!”
“My, you have a temper, little boy,” she teased. “But I wouldn’t worry, if I were you. If he knew about it, someone else must know. Don’t get so upset over a trivial thing. By the way, we’re here.”
She pulled the car over on the broken road. They were in the Shinjuku Ghetto—the perfect place to dump the evidence.
“Do you have your extra clothes?”
There was no more time now to worry about the loss of information. If they waited too long with Clovis's body, it would all be over. "Yes...I'llburn these as soon as I get home. And you?”
“I’ve got it. Drop the car into Tokyo bay before this is found out. Not a problem. You now owe me four pizzas, by the way.”
“Damnit, witch, what is it with you and pizzas?”
“They’re tasty. Watch it,” she spoke, as they tended to taking care of the ‘evidence’ as Lelouch put it—Clovis definitely wouldn’t be found for at least a day.
“You sure no one can spot us?”
“Shinjuku ghetto is still blocked off right now, thanks to you,” Lelouch smirked. “Media aren’t allowed here either. But no one would questions Prince Clovis’s car, would they? Just you be careful. And don’t get yourself too wet—”
“Five pizzas. And a hot shower when I get back,” C.C. muttered, as she pulled the driver’s cap down on her head and got back in the car.
As she drove off and Lelouch—dressed in the armor of a Britannian soldier—took off into the ghetto to take the long way home, his thoughts wandered.
“Everything has begun” like she said…Now I’ve killed Clovis…everything has to be put in place now…
Even if I don’t have the Geass…even if I don’t have Suzaku’s support…still I must do it…
I have no other choice. I must destroy Britannia.
Chapter 3 Here.
I wrote this today because I probably won't get to write anymore until after the weekend, because I'm going to Anime USA. I'm going as Euphie and my boyfriend is going as Suzaku (streetclothes Euphie and Suzaku, BTW).
Hope you enjoyed!
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: LelouchxC.C., SuzaEuphie, (implied) Suzalulu (and for this chapter, implied ClovisxLelouch? :3)
summary: So, what would have happened if Suzaku had received the Geass in Stage 1 instead of Lelouch? MOAR ANGST, is what!
Chapter 1 here.
I know there isn't much Suzaku in this chapter, but I needed to set up Lelouch's role in the story. Much more Suzaku in the next chapter, I promise.
“No.”
“What?”
“I said no, Lelouch!” Suzaku glared.
Violet eyes widened in surprise…and hurt. “But Suzaku…you’ve just…don’t you understand? You’ve just been given the power to do anything you want! You already don’t like Britannia, so why not use it to—”
“I don’t believe in using underhanded methods to achieve those ends!” He stood up abruptly, looking for some other clothes besides the shirt Lelouch had changed him into. “I won’t use this curse for something like that! It’s wrong!”
Slender fingers clenched into a fist. “Suzaku, its Britannia that’s wrong! You know it’s true! You’ve been in the military—you’ve seen what lows they sink! And yet you serve them! Britannia is unworthy of you—!”
“I know Britannia is wrong,” Suzaku admitted ruefully, “But is your plan any better? You would destroy hundreds—thousands of lives if you try to destroy Britannia! Then who would be in the wrong, huh? It’s better to work with the system and change it from the inside.”
“Change? You think Britannia can change? Hundreds of years running the same system—committing the same atrocities, and you still say—”
“Well, maybe it’s because no one tried to change Britannia in the right way!” Suzaku began putting on his military armor once more, that had been neatly folded in a corner.
“People have tried—!”
“Failed uprisings and rebellions, yes, but Britannia crushed them all in the end! Thousands were killed because of worthless terrorist acts, and you’re telling me that this is the right way to do things? The only right way is to work to change the system from the inside, that is all!”
Lelouch was slowly losing it. “You…you think you can do that? All by yourself? An Honorary Britannian has no place to try to change Britannia, Suzaku! You’ll be blocked and stopped at every corner—there’s no way you can do it on your own!”
“Still, I have to try. It’s worth nothing if I don’t try.”
“It won’t work,” Lelouch snarled nastily. “It won’t, and you know it. That’s why you asked for that power in the first place. And you’re telling me you won’t use it?”
That caused Suzaku’s hands to shake in anger. “I didn’t know what evil this power was when I asked for it, Lelouch! I didn’t know what it would make me do—and you know what? I would have died back there than have this on my conscience!”
At that, Lelouch had no more retorts. Suzaku…would have rather… “You…Suzaku…”
“Hmph, it doesn’t matter,” Suzaku glanced around, and couldn’t find his helmet. He supposed he had left it there. “Maybe like you said, I can’t do this on my own. Maybe it’s just better to continue on the path I’ve put myself on.”
“Ah, I see. You’re not going to try to do anything because it’s too hard on you.”
“Well…” Suzaku, whirled around, glaring, “Why haven’t you tried to do anything, Lelouch?”
“What are you—”
“You’re a prince of Britannia, aren’t you? If you went back, then you’d have the power to change it all—to change Britannia! And yet you stay here in Area 11, hiding away while watching the atrocities continue—”
“You think I have a choice, Suzaku!” Lelouch roared. “I’m staying here for Nunnally! If I went back, what do you think would happen to us, huh? We’d be split up and used as political tools! I wouldn’t be able to do anything—just sit by and watch my rotten life pass me by! I’m not going to do that—not to me, and not to Nunnally.”
“And yet you say you want to overthrow Britannia—”
“That’s the only way Nunnally and I could live without this constant threat—if Britannia were eliminated.”
“So that’s the only reason you will do it? To make a safer world for you? For Nunnally? And here I was thinking maybe you were selfless—”
“A world without Britannia will be a safer world for all, Suzaku.”
“Really?” Suzaku stepped forward, glaring. “Britannia owns half the world, Lelouch. What do you think, you can just topple Britannia and everything will be allright? Have you considered what will happen once Britannia is out of the picture? Chaos! The world will be in complete chaos—everything anyone’s ever known will be destroyed—and there will be more deaths than there would have been under Britannia’s rule! And this is what you want to do?”
Lelouch was silent for a moment, looking away. Then suddenly, an idea hit him. Turning back with determination in his eyes, Lelouch spoke, “Japan, then.”
“What?”
“If destroying Britannia is too much—then I will free Japan. That will make this place safer for Nunnally and I—and will free your people as well, Suzaku.”
Free…Japan…For a brief, wild moment, Suzaku considered it. Though he had thrown away his country, he could not deny that he didn’t like seeing the Japanese suffer under Britannia’s rule.
If it was just freeing Japan…the death’s wouldn’t be so great, but…
Suzaku shook his head. “People will still die in a rebellion, Lelouch.” He told him flatly. Turning away, he spoke, “I will find away to save Japan, by working in the Britannian system. I will do it the right way.”
Suzaku walked out of Lelouch’s bedroom, and Lelouch followed him, yelling down the hall, “You can’t do it by yourself, Suzaku! You know you can’t!”
Suzaku didn’t even turn back. “Even so, I’d rather try all on my own than use your methods.”
Lelouch couldn’t figure out why, but panic raced through him at the thought of Suzaku leaving him behind. “You…idiot!”
“It doesn’t matter if I am. I will follow the rules. Don’t worry though,” he descended the stairs. “I won’t tell anyone about you, or Nunnally—or anything else you told me. As long as you keep your secret about me and that girl. Now, if you excuse me, I probably have an insubordination hearing to get to—”
Lelouch could take it no longer; teeth clenching, he ran to the top of the stairs and roared, just as Suzaku was heading out the door, “You would rather serve Britannia than your own people? You…you traitor, Kururugi!”
Lelouch didn’t mean to say it—and regretted it as soon as he did—but it made Suzaku pause for a moment upon exiting the clubhouse. But even so, Suzaku continued walking away from him, never looking back.
After Suzaku left, Lelouch was silent for a few moments—anger still surging in his veins. But, that soon dulled—and regret sunk in as well.
“Damnit!” roared Lelouch as he slammed his fist into the wall.
He didn’t want to make Suzaku leave like that—and now he was probably so angry that he would never come back. No, he didn’t want that—he had just seen his childhood friend for the first time in seven years and all he did was—
No—it wasn’t just him! Suzaku was in the wrong as well! How could he have a power like that and refuse to use it? After he was given the key to everything, to just—and to willingly bow his head and serve Britannia like some dog—not at all like the Suzaku Lelouch used to know—
“You idiot, Suzaku!”
If Suzaku continued on his path, he would end up dying. Dying for a country that wasn’t even worth his service!
After another moment, Lelouch sighed, and rose up, eyes narrowing. No…it won’t be this way forever.
After Suzaku tried and failed at his objective, he would see. He would see that rebellion was the only way to achieve the peaceful world he was desired. Britannia was the rotten spot in the apple. Cut it out, and the apple would be pure.
To eradicate the taint upon mankind—that was the thing only Lelouch vi Britannia could do.
No matter how long it took him to do it…
But when he finally rose up against Britannia, leading an army that would stretch for miles and miles, there was only one person he wanted—only one he could have—at his side. And that was Suzaku.
“Together, we can achieve anything.”
“The girl is still missing?” Prince Clovis demanded of his advisors, as the scoured the Shinjuku ghetto.
“I’m afraid so, Your Highness,” bowed a general. “We heard word from one of the captains that they had found the girl and the terrorists that captured her, but when we went to the location, the girl was gone, and all the soldiers had been killed.”
“Tsk.” Clovis fell into his chair, muttering about imbeciles. “Do we have any footage from the media helicopters? Sometimes they catch something in the background…”
“It’s possible, Your Highness. We’ll call up all the stations that were taking live footage and look into that for you.”
The whole process only took about thirty minutes for the calls and transfers of data. And then Clovis la Britannia stared dull eyed at the screen before him, scanning several clips of footage from several media cameras. His eyes soon became unfocused, bored—wondering if he would find anything interesting or if this was just a royal waste of his time—
He blinked. “Stop the tape!” Clovis suddenly roared, rising from his chair in disbelief.
“Your—Your Highness? What—?”
Clovis shushed him as he stepped towards the screen, starring at something—someone in the corner of a frame, just barely in view to the side of the television reporter. “Zoom in on that person!” he ordered, blue eyes narrowing.
His people did as they were ordered, still wondering why someone who looked like a fleeing civilian was of any importance. The figure could barely be made out as someone wearing a black school uniform, dark black hair, and a flash of a violet eye as he turned in one moment, realizing the mistake of being caught on camera.
Caught like he didn’t want to be found…
“Your Highness?” the general asked, but Clovis was still silent. He could hardly believe it. It had been seven years…seven long years that he thought that he was dead. And now, practically staring him in the face was the visage of that younger brother that he had loved—and thought he lost.
But if it was really him…Lelouch vi Britannia…
Excitement like no other flooded through Clovis’s veins. “Bartley!”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness?”
“Find out what school that uniform is for. We will be paying a visit to it soon.”
As Clovis walked away, his task there finished, he couldn’t help but hope—Lelouch…is it really you?
“Lelouch!” came the cry of Millay as she bounded across the lawn towards him; making Lelouch and Nunnally look up from their morning tea on the porch.
“Kaichou?” Lelouch asked. “What’s wrong? I thought the Student Council Hide-And-Seek wasn’t until next month.”
“Lelouch!” Millay said, more serious than he had ever seen her. “Do you know what’s happening today?”
“Uhmm…”
“Prince Clovis! He’s coming to inspect the Academy! I just received word from Grandfather, and thought—”
Panic suddenly ran through Lelouch. Prince Clovis. Here. Clovis had never shown up at Ashford before—he had no interest in it. Why would he, all of a sudden, without warning—
His breath hitched as he remembered. That moment when he went to meet up with Sayoko in the Shinjuku Ghetto…there had been a media camera there…he had been caught, but he didn’t think—
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
“Onii-sama, what are we—”
“Don’t worry about a thing, Nunnally,” Lelouch told her, hastily going through his options. “Kaichou, is there a place—”
“Uhm…” the president of the student council thought a moment… “The underground tunnels under the school…only student council members know how to get down there. You and Nunnally can wait until Prince Clovis leaves—”
“Good. Kaichou, can you—”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Millay said with a smile, “I’ve got something planned. It might ruin your reputation a bit, but—”
“That’s fine.” He turned away from her, taking the handles of Nunnally’s wheelchair. “Come on, Nunnally, we’re not going to school today.”
“Onii-sama,” Nunnally asked, sounding worried. “Are you sure this is right—”
“Of course it is,” he told her at once. “You know what will happen if Prince Clovis finds out about us. Now come on; I’ll get a few things from inside and then we’re going to go down to the tunnels for a day.”
“Is it scary in the tunnels?” she asked, worried, as Lelouch wheeled her into the living room to leave her for a moment.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Lelouch smiled back at her. “I’ll be there with you, won’t I?”
“Yes, that’s right—I won’t be scared if Onii-sama is around,” she answered with a smile.
As Lelouch ran into the kitchen to pick up a few things of food—now blankets, a flashlight—mentally ticking off a list, he suddenly bumped into someone unexpected.
“You!” he said shocked, as the girl he had rescued the day before stared him down. “What are you still doing here?”
“You rescued me, didn’t you?”
“But you…you were with Suzaku! Why didn’t you leave—”
“He doesn’t want me to come with him.” She folded her arms and gave an annoyed sigh. “Besides, of the two of you, I have to say I think you’re more interesting.”
Lelouch glared. “Look, I don’t have time for this, or time for you, girl. Right now I’m—”
“C.C.”
“What?”
“C.C. That is what I am called. Not ‘girl’ to you, little boy.”
“That’s not a name.”
“Well, it’s what I am called,” golden eyes narrowed. “Now you had better hurry up before Prince Clovis gets here. “If he sees me or you—”
“You? No, you are not coming—!”
“Did you forget that I was a captive of that man called ‘Clovis’?” C.C. pointed out. “If he sees me or you, the outcome is the same. He will search the grounds for the other one of us. After all—I was bound and gagged. Someone would have had to rescue me, don’t you agree?”
Lelouch thought for a moment, and sighed. “Fine, whatever. But don’t get in the way. Help me carry these.” He dumped much of the provisions into her hands.
“You’re not very good to your houseguests—”
“Shut up, you.”
“Nunnally,” Lelouch told her, putting on a look of false happiness as he came back into the room. “This is C.C. She will be coming with us. She was the other person that came home with me last night.”
A smile came upon Nunnally’s face. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss C.C.” Nunnally reached out her hand.
Though it was a bit difficult, C.C. shifted some of the stuff in her hands, and shook Nunnally’s hand as well. “Pleasure to meet you too.” Though there was no smile upon her face.
“Now come on,” Lelouch said, taking hold of Nunnally’s wheelchair once again. “We have to get down to the tunnels under the campus before Prince Clovis’s people get here…”
“Attention all Ashford Students!” came the excited voice of Millay Ashford over the intercom. “Today we will be having a very special person visiting the academy—Prince Clovis of all people!”
There was a collective gasp all over the campus. “While he will be visiting our school and we expect all students to act accordingly, there is one other thing you have to know. As you well know, our student council vice president, Lelouch Lamperouge is an active gambler.”
Lelouch’s eyes narrowed as he heard the laughs chuckle above him. “And, I hear our irresponsible vice president managed to get a lot of money out of our dear governor-general. So, Prince Clovis might also ask you about his whereabouts or if you’ve seen him recently. Since Lelouch has decided to be a coward and flee, his location is unknown. Therefore, it is an official school activity that you tell the authorities the truth—you haven’t seen him and don’t know where he is, understood?”
Millay…Lelouch thought grudgingly. Though this was no good for his reputation, by taking something this serious and making it into a game—a game where they didn’t have to completely lie to their prince—the students were certain to follow through. Only Millay had the charisma to pull something like this off.
Now, there was just to hope that it worked…
“Onii-sama,” Nunnally asked, as she sat wrapped in a blanket in the dark tunnel along with Lelouch and C.C. “How long are we going to be down here?”
“We have to stay until Prince Clovis leaves. You know that,” he sighed. “But don’t worry—the time will pass quick enough.”
Nunnally thought a moment. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way, Onii-sama…I wish it could be like before…I want to be able to walk up and say hi to Clovis nii-san, Euphie nee-chan…Schinezel…Cornelia…everyone else.”
Lelouch couldn’t help but tighten his jaw. With the exception of one individual, he never wished to see any of them again. But for Nunnally’s sake… “I know, Nunnally…” he said, putting his hand over hers. “But you know if they got a hold of us, we would be split up, and most likely shipped off to different areas as political hostages. You don’t want that, do you?”
Nunnally shook her head. “I just want to stay with Onii-sama forever.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he laughed. “I’m not going anywhere."
“So why do you have to hide?” C.C. broke into the conversation bluntly, looking over the top of the pillow she clutched close. “Why would that man be interested in you?”
Lelouch stopped, but Nunnally spoke, “Onii-sama…she’s hiding too, isn’t she? Can’t we tell her?”
“Fine.” Lelouch glared. “I’ll tell you why we’re hiding, and then you tell us why you hide from Prince Clovis. Nunnally and I are…we are successors to the Britannian throne.” The words were thick with spite. “We were sent to Japan as children as political hostages. To avoid being used like that any longer, we pretended we died in the war seven years ago. If any of the Britannia royal family were to find out…”
“I see…” C.C.’s eyes seemed to mist over for a moment, as if remembering something. “So you are not really Lelouch ‘Lamperouge’…you two are Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia?”
Lelouch stared. “That is right. How did you…?”
“News,” she sighed, turning away.
“Anyway,” Lelouch glared, “What about you?”
C.C. didn’t turn back. “I already said so. I was a prisoner of Prince Clovis. If they caught me—”
“And why were you a prisoner?”
There was silence, before she smirked back. “Who knows?”
Lelouch glared. That was probably all he was going to get out of her now. There was more to this—probably to do with the strange power that was given to Suzaku, but that was a question for another time. He was not going to discuss that in front of Nunnally.
He sighed. “Well, nothing to do now but wait for all of this to be over…”
And they waited. And waited. And waited. Still nothing.
Millay had promised to call Lelouch on the walkie talkie when Prince Clovis had left the campus, but it had been hours, and still, nothing. For that time, Lelouch just sat against the wall, sometimes nibbling on a bit of the food he had brought down, but most of the time musing on it all.
Suzaku’s power…Prince Clovis…destroying Britannia…
If I could convince Suzaku…destroy Britannia…or even just drive Britannia out of Japan, then Nunnally and I wouldn’t have to hide like this…we could…
“You seem lost in your thoughts,” C.C. told him, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
“Possibly,” Lelouch glanced to look up at Nunnally. Good, she was sleeping.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Why do you care?”
“Maybe I’m curious.”
“Hmph. Fine, I’ll tell you my thoughts if you tell me the real reason you were captured by Clovis.”
C.C. paused for a moment, before saying, “It is because I am a witch.”
“A witch? I don’t need fairy tales—”
“Oh, don’t need fairy tales, and yet you believe your friend’s story upon first hearing it?” she smirked.
Violet eyes narrowed. “So you did give it to him, that power…”
“Yes. The Power of the Kings. Geass.”
“Geass?”
“That’s what it’s called.”
“I see.” Lelouch chose his questions carefully. “So what exactly does it—Geass—do?”
“It depends. It varies from person to person—depending upon what you wish for.”
“What you…wish for?”
“Exactly. Though it may not be completely manifested in a way you understand, the Geass draws its power from what you wish for the most.”
“So all of it…Suzaku wasn’t lying. You really were…”
“Shot? I told you, I am a witch, after all.”
“And the contract? He said something about you offered him a contract for your power.”
C.C. smirked. “That is business between the Geass Giver and the Receiver.”
“I see. So you won’t tell me.”
“You are not contracted to me. I cannot.”
Lelouch was silent for a moment, shoving back the question he desperately wanted to ask, and instead opted for more information about this wonderful power. “So why give it? Why Suzaku?”
C.C. thought a moment. “I don’t know…From the moment I gazed eyes upon him, I could see his potential. Potential for the Geass. Not everyone can have it, you know. You have to have a deep wish…an deep ambition for something.”
“And he had that ambition?”
“Yes. In one moment, I saw it all—all that he desperately wanted, but didn’t have the power to do it. Geass helps you achieve these ends.”
“He said it was a ‘curse’ an ‘underhanded power’.”
“Some feel that way. Others…they see it as a wonderful thing. But it doesn’t matter to me,” she sighed. “I just grant it. As long as my wish is fulfilled, I don’t care.”
“And Suzaku will…fulfill that wish for you?”
Golden eyes narrowed. “I…don’t think so. In that moment I reached out to him, I saw all that he was…but what he is most of the time…then he could never do it.”
Once again, that feeling crept up in Lelouch’s gut. That…excitement. “If he isn’t to grant your wish, then who is?”
“Only someone who contracts with me can grant that wish. But all those who contracted with me have all failed in the past.”
“So, when will you make another contract, then?”
“When I find someone else worthy who deeply desires this power,” she spoke bluntly, turning back to him. “But you know…” a smirk came on her face. “The potential, for the Geass…I see it within you as well.”
The potential for it. Of course…if that is all that is needed, then…then…! If Suzaku won’t use his power, then why not I—
But before Lelouch could press the matter, the walkie talkie buzzed. “Lelouch, Prince Clovis has left Ashford.”
“Ah, perfect,” he smiled, noticing Nunnally had woken up with the buzzer. “We’ll be heading back up soon then. No problems?”
“None at all. But be careful, Lelouch. Prince Clovis asked a lot of questions about you…and about the Clubhouse. He suspects that you might be living there…”
“Tell him the Clubhouse is for guests—”
“I did, but he still suspects—”
“Well, no use worrying about it now, right? Prince Clovis is gone.”
“Yes…that’s true…”
“Onii-sama, is it over already?” Nunnally asked as Lelouch came to push her wheelchair.
“Yes, Nunnally, it’s all over,” he smiled back. “We don’t have to worry anymore.”
It was dark outside now, and after Nunnally had been safely put back inside, Lelouch looked out the window. C.C. was there, staring up at the stars. And it looked, to him—as if she was talking to someone.
Talking? How could she be talking to anyone but herself—there was no one there…
Nevertheless he went down to see her anyway.
“Hey, witch,” he asked as he came out the door. She turned to him at once. “What are you doing?”
She didn’t answer for a moment. “Just looking up at the stars.”
“Why?” he walked up next to her. “There’s nothing up there.”
“Maybe there is, and maybe there isn’t,” she spoke in that mysterious quality that she always did.
“Look, what you were talking about before,” he said, not wanting to beat around the bush. “How did you know that I have this ‘potential’ that you were speaking of?”
“I just know.”
“And this potential will give me the ability to wield the Geass?”
“It should.”
“Well then,” a sinister smirk came on his face. “What are you waiting for? You want your wish fulfilled—and I want the power that you hand out. So, C.C.—I wish for that contract.”
She merely stared at him, golden eyes narrowed. “I don’t give out the Geass just to those who wish for it.”
“Liar. You gave Suzaku the Geass—”
“Yes, I did.”
“So why not—“
“Because. You want it and you don’t need it,” she told him flatly. “All you are is a jealous little boy.”
“What? No I’m not—”
“Lelouch,” she turned away, sighing. “I have seen many like you in my long lifetime. Don’t badger me.”
“But—”
“I said no. Do not wish for the Power of the Kings if you do not need it. Like I told your friend, it will make you incredibly lonely.”
“And I said I don’t care,” Lelouch said, pulling her back. “I need this power, C.C. I need it to destroy Britannia. I am prepared for any hardship.”
“Are you, really?” she asked. “Prepared to lose everything you have—your friends, your happiness, perhaps even your very life…just for this single thing? Geass is not a toy, Lelouch. And you are not someone who is prepared for it if you’re going to beg for it when you don’t even know what it is about.”
“Who do you think you are?” he snarled. “Do you try to protect me?”
“Pro—protect you?” she stammered. “Ridiculous. I hardly know you—”
“But you know my name. ‘Lelouch vi Britannia’. You knew who I was and that it would be safe to tell me exactly who you were. So tell me why—”
“Le—Leouch?” He was cut off as a voice sounded from the bushes.
In horror, Lelouch turned to see someone—someone he had been afraid to meet—ascend before him. Clovis la Britannia.
“Lelouch…it really…it really is you…” Clovis said in disbelief. “I thought…it’s been so long…but after I had hope, I thought I had to come here and see you.”
Clovis? Wait…the clubhouse…so that’s why…to draw me out! Anger flared up in Lelouch’s violet eyes. If he knows…then it won’t be long until—
Clovis suddenly noticed the woman Lelouch had been talking to when he stupidly said his name. “You…aren’t you the girl from—”
C.C. suddenly darted out of Lelouch’s grip. Lelouch stood stunned, as she ran towards Clovis, as if to embrace him—but the second she put her hands upon him, Clovis froze up. The prince’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he mouthed silent screams of terror.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Lelouch demanded.
“This man cannot see me!” C.C. told him. “This will make him pass out for a moment, long enough for us to get away.”
“That doesn’t matter—” he glared. “He knows now…if this gets out that Nunnally and I are—everything will be—”
Somehow, he knew the only option. Yes, there was only one option to keep the secret safe. And with it, C.C.’s secret would be safe as well.
Also, Clovis had heard everything—about the Geass and about Lelouch’s goals. If he were allowed to be left alive—
Glancing back towards C.C., he told her, “Can you hold him for a little longer?” She nodded, and then he raced back into the clubhouse, up into his room—to grab the gun he had taken from a dead soldier the other day…
Clovis found himself waking up with a very bad headache, somewhere on the Ashford lawn. Getting up, flashes of that strange dream came before his eyes…and of him.
For that moment, he thought—did he really see Lelouch there? Or maybe he had just dreamed it?
With a sigh, the Prince of Britannia got up. How ridiculous it was, to dismiss his guards so he could hide himself better in order to know the truth? Well, he would find the truth anyway. He would come back to this academy unannounced someday, so if his little brother had been hiding, he would be caught off guard—
Clovis made his way back to his royal car, parked at the edge of the campus. Perhaps it had been a few hours, since the driver was not there to open the back door for him.
Ridiculous—he would have to hire better help, he mentally told himself, opening the door and sliding inside, shutting at once.
The car took off as soon as he was inside.
It was when they were going down the road that Prince Clovis noticed how dark it was inside his car. How…eerie.
But when he groped for the lights, he heard the sounds of calm breath—breath that was not his own.
Frigid against the seat, Clovis demanded, “Who…who are you?”
“I waited for you, Clovis,” said a sing-song voice. “For a very, very long time. Did it take you a while to wake up?”
“What did you do to me?”
“Ah, nothing much. Just a little something to make you sleep while I prepared.”
“Prepared for what?”
“Our grand reunion,” it was then that Lelouch slid forward—gun in hand and pointed at his half brother, a smirk on his face. “Hello, Nii-san.”
Clovis stared. “So…it really was…you really were…”
“Exactly. I’ve been here all this time—hiding right under your nose, dear Clovis.”
“Why? Why did you hide, Lelouch? If you were alive, then we could have—we all could have—”
“You think I want to go back to that sham of a life!” Lelouch spat. “Just to be used as a political tool? I think not. I will not have my life run by anyone else’s will, Nii-san. I intend to run it myself.”
Clovis’s eyes narrowed. “Are you afraid?”
“Of course not. It’s just easier to find things out when you’re not directly involved.”
“Things? What sorts of things?”
“Oh, wouldn’t you know?” Lelouch’s voice went lower in warning. “About one thing, Nii-san. My mother.”
“M—Marianne-sama?”
Was it Lelouch’s imagination, or did he hear the certain green-haired driver’s breath hitch in their throat? “Exactly. My mother was killed. And one of you people know the answer. So I’m going to ask you right now, Clovis,” Lelouch came closer, leveling the gun right at Clovis’s face. “Who did it?”
“I…I have no idea!” his brother suddenly shouted. “I had nothing to do with it!”
“Are you sure?” Lelouch growled. “If you’re lying—”
“I’m not lying! I swear!”
“Fine then,” But even still, Lelouch grabbed his brother by the collar, the muzzle right under his chin. “But who knows the answer?”
“I don’t—”
“You do, damnit! You know, don’t you? Who was it? Who did it? Who killed my mother?”
The gun shook in Lelouch’s hands as his rage grew.
Clovis suddenly closed his eyes as he began to reveal, “It was—”
But he never got to finish. A shot rang out in the back of the car.
“Hmm?” C.C. turned her head back as she drove along the empty highway. She saw a horrid sight—blood everywhere, Lelouch covered in it—staring at the gun and his brother in disbelief. “I thought you were going to interrogate him before you—”
“I…I didn’t…” His finger had accidentally pulled that trigger. But he didn’t…Oh god, he didn’t…He was so close…if not for that…he would have known! The one who killed his mother was still anonymous! “Damnit!”
C.C. rolled her eyes. “These things happen sometimes. Don’t worry about it—one dead body makes no difference. You were going to kill him anyway.”
“I wanted to find out who did it, damnit!”
“My, you have a temper, little boy,” she teased. “But I wouldn’t worry, if I were you. If he knew about it, someone else must know. Don’t get so upset over a trivial thing. By the way, we’re here.”
She pulled the car over on the broken road. They were in the Shinjuku Ghetto—the perfect place to dump the evidence.
“Do you have your extra clothes?”
There was no more time now to worry about the loss of information. If they waited too long with Clovis's body, it would all be over. "Yes...I'llburn these as soon as I get home. And you?”
“I’ve got it. Drop the car into Tokyo bay before this is found out. Not a problem. You now owe me four pizzas, by the way.”
“Damnit, witch, what is it with you and pizzas?”
“They’re tasty. Watch it,” she spoke, as they tended to taking care of the ‘evidence’ as Lelouch put it—Clovis definitely wouldn’t be found for at least a day.
“You sure no one can spot us?”
“Shinjuku ghetto is still blocked off right now, thanks to you,” Lelouch smirked. “Media aren’t allowed here either. But no one would questions Prince Clovis’s car, would they? Just you be careful. And don’t get yourself too wet—”
“Five pizzas. And a hot shower when I get back,” C.C. muttered, as she pulled the driver’s cap down on her head and got back in the car.
As she drove off and Lelouch—dressed in the armor of a Britannian soldier—took off into the ghetto to take the long way home, his thoughts wandered.
“Everything has begun” like she said…Now I’ve killed Clovis…everything has to be put in place now…
Even if I don’t have the Geass…even if I don’t have Suzaku’s support…still I must do it…
I have no other choice. I must destroy Britannia.
Chapter 3 Here.
I wrote this today because I probably won't get to write anymore until after the weekend, because I'm going to Anime USA. I'm going as Euphie and my boyfriend is going as Suzaku (streetclothes Euphie and Suzaku, BTW).
Hope you enjoyed!
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“I waited for you, Clovis,” said a sing-song voice.
-dies laughing- Oh, I definitely enjoyed reading it. xD!
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And you totally know Clovis is the only royal who would sit in the bushes in wait for Lulu.
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Nice one C.C., not giving the Geass to Lelouch! And oops, she slipped her tongue.
Y'know, with the mind Geass that Suzaku had, if he thought, "If only Lelouch has the same idea with me," and Lelouch will comply, then all of these mess wouldn't happen. But nice one to make Lelouch couldn't argue more, hehe. Suzaku wins!
Mwahahaha...!
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Yeah, but you know Suzaku. He'll try not to use it even if it makes everything easier. >.>
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Your fate never changes... Q_Q
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Also, died laughing at the "I waited for you, Clovis" line.
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It had to be done. XD
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Have fun at Anime USA :3 Bring back pictures~
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I'm such an attention whore.(no subject)
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